http://www.galacticwatercooler.com Each week (for three years running) GWC\'s geek hosts jump into new material, becoming fans and passing on the experience with the help of what\'s widely recognized as the friendliest community in science fiction and fantasy. Rolling Stone magazine called GWC \"the NPR of BSG,\" and Howard Stern agreed, describing GWC (and geeking in general) as a \"guilty pleasure.\" Past topics include The Guild, Alien, Eureka, Eve Online, Star Trek, Terminator, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, Serenity, Dr. Horrible, Tron, War Games, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Cosmos, Batman, Transformers, X-Men, Mass Effect, SyFy and sci-fi programs, individuals such as Will Smith, Felicia Day, Joss Whedon, and many more! Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:48:30 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en This week: We talk father/son relationships in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. We analyze leadership in Firefly. And we run down the week in geek, including critical reactions to Tim Burton's new Alice in Wonderland flick, Rachel Nichols' upcoming non-green work in Conan, Comedy Central's new Futurama eps (coming ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2010/03/07/gwc-podcast-209/ This week: We talk Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Audra and Chuck learn to use a whip and chat with David and Will Morgan, the folks that made the original whips for Dr. Jones. We find out from listeners who's best in the sack, Indy or Sr. And ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2010/02/28/gwc-podcast-208/ This week: We dive into the world of every geek's hero -- Indiana Jones. We finally talk Firefly in the first of a 7-part, 14-week Firefly arc. And we judge the Harry Potter porn titles contest. We also run down the week in geek, including Michael Trucco's upcoming appearance on ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2010/02/20/gwc-podcast-207/ This week: We take some air time to round up some of the awesome TV we've been watching over the last couple of months including Caprica, Chuck, Big Bang Theory, and Sanctuary. We wrap up the fantasy sci-fi challenge with an awards ceremony. And we take some sweet listener calls. ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2010/02/13/gwc-podcast-206/ Wondering why 205 was delayed a week? It was preempted by Sean's beautiful new daughter! This week: We chat about '50s stereotypes and awesomely-wacko AI in 2001. In the final round of the fantasy sci-fi challenge we tackle the ultimate challenge: fighting our own team -- written onto super-hot Dollhouse ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2010/02/06/gwc-podcast-205/ Podcast 205 will be delayed one week due to Sean's new status as a Father (no, not Reverend, but a Daddy). Please join us in congratulating him here http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2010/02/02/podcast-205-delayed/ This week: We talk foamy boobs and pod people in this week's penultimate classic sci-fi feature, Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Our fantasy sci-fi tournament takes a turn for the worse as our poor producer Solai is kidnapped by pissed-off Klingons. And we run down the week in geek, including ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2010/01/23/gwc-podcast-204/ Wassup all -- it’s the Operator! It’s award season! That special time of year when LA folks start name-dropping and talking incessantly about who’s who of the what's what in movies (okay, that’s year round). ANYway, the Producers Guild of America has chosen their nominees for Best Picture. Usually, this list ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2010/01/18/it%e2%80%99s-an-honor-to-be-nominated%e2%80%a6and-it%e2%80%99s-about-time/ This week: Bioware guru Casey Hudson clues us in on Mass Effect 2's characters, story, and awesome new gameplay features. We talk damn dirty apes in this week's classic sci-fi feature, Planet of the Apes -- including Sean's Moses run-in. And our fantasy sci-fi teams struggle to get lucky with ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2010/01/16/gwc-podcast-203/ This week: Leading up to tomorrow's Chuck season three premiere we talk to some Chuck cast members including Tony Hale (Emmett), Julia Ling (Anna), Josh Gomez (Morgan), and Bonita Friedericy (General Beckman). We tackle fantasy sci-fi challenge number two with another round of, um, unique solutions to an age old ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2010/01/09/gwc-podcast-202/ Normally action games aren’t really my style but in this case Bayonetta has more style in general than you can shake a really sexy stick at. In this world, Heaven and Hell had the out and out battle of the ages throwing hell into the loser’s bracket – which put ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2010/01/09/fight-heaven-itself-with-bayonetta/ This week: We discuss one of the most awaited movies of 2009 -- Avatar. We take on our first fantasy sci-fi challenge. And we dive into 1951's The Day The Earth Stood Still, the first movie in our classic sci-fi arc. We also run down the week in geek, including ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2010/01/02/gwc-podcast-201/ I realize that I’ve already posted about Dragon Age Origins recently but there is something of great note I discovered a few days ago – there is a playable dog character. That’s right, take a gander at my new pup Bronx. He’s a playable, levelable character just like any of the ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/12/30/my-new-dragon-puppy/ SLINGERS from Mike Sizemore on Vimeo. It's got circa-1960s style and spaceships. It's got con artists in black-tie formal wear and holographic roulette wheels. It's got a classic casino heist storyline and a self-aware pistol with a sense of humor.  It's got women in cocktail dresses...and one who changes out of hers ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/12/28/slingers-trailer-proves-heists-are-so-much-more-fun-in-zero-g/ Music fans, take note. John Boswell, a recent Galactic Watercooler guest and producer of the Carl Sagan inspired A Glorious Dawn video/song, has added yet another entry to his playlist of science-themed multimedia musical works. Our Place in the Cosmos takes its place, appropriately, beside Dawn and We Are All Connected on ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/12/28/symphony-of-science-plays-on/ Part of the Xmas loot this year was Dragon Age Origins for XBox 360. Both my brother and I got a copy and spent the day after playing it up. After spending about 8 hours with the title I can say without fear of contradiction that Bioware is becoming my ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/12/28/dragon-age-origins-and-tng/ This week we just sit around and shoot the bull, taking a week off to reminisce about our last 199 podcasts. If this is your first GWC download, you might want to back up a week to #199 (or grab next week's #201) to get a better sample of normal ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/12/27/gwc-podcast-200/ This week: We discuss leadership's role in the Return of the King. We draft teams for our upcoming fantasy sci-fi game. And Audra and the Tolkein Professor speculate on why fantasy literature gets the shaft among the cognoscenti. We also run down the week in geek, including the critics response ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/12/19/gwc-podcast-199/ This week: Audra talks middle-Earth technology with The Tolkien Professor. Sean relates his awesome Tekken 3 tournament experience and teaches Chuck -- and you -- how to go from zero to hero in Tekken 6 with just a few hours practice. And we discuss battle tactics and leadership in Lord ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/12/12/gwc-podcast-198/ This week: We dive into Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Miracle Laurie joins us to talk dolls, acting, Uke Box Heroes, and the return of Dollhouse for its final run. Audra chats lit with the Tolkien Professor. And we run down the week in geek, including ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/12/05/gwc-podcast-197/ My introduction to Simon Pegg was via Shaun of the Dead, which I first watched around Halloween last year for our '08 GWC special. And, of course, I saw him in Trek 11 (or one, depending on how you're counting.) But my first real Simon Pegg experience came over the ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/11/30/what-is-paul/ This week: We explore Batman's utility belt and batcave of gadgets, laying out our top ten. We discuss Battlestar Galactica's direct-to-DVD movie The Plan. And we run down the week in geek -- complete with new intro music -- including the newly-released start dates for new Scrubs and Chuck, New ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/11/28/gwc-podcast-196/ This week: We tackle the difficult question of who's the best movie Batman. Audra talks nipple armor. We discuss our second impressions of this year's Trek movie after watching it in the comfort of the GWC lair's home theater. And we run down the week in geek, including a newly-released ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/11/21/gwc-podcast-195/ Two years ago this month a game arrived in an overly saturated market that changed the gaming landscape forever -- and my perception of first person shooter games. That game was Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare from Infinity Ward. It was the third game of the series and a ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/11/17/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-2/ This week: Former DC and Marvel Comics editor Bob Greenberger brings us up to speed on Batman and discusses his awesome Essential Batman Encyclopedia. We get our a capella geek on with The Blanks (a.k.a. Ted's Band from Scrubs). And we talk V, sharing our thoughts about the new remake. ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/11/14/gwc-podcast-194/ Morning. Coffee synthesizer on the fritz. Again. I ask myself for the twentieth time why I hadn't spent the extra cash for a Mac iBrew. Maybe I can grab a cup at work. I dress slowly, pulling on my jumpsuit, buckling the belt. Shuffle to the bathroom, where my shaved head stares ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/11/12/lift-us-up-where-we-belong/ This week: Ann Druyan and Nick Sagan give us a unique and heartfelt look into the origins of Cosmos and Contact -- and what esteemed scientist, citizen, father, and husband Carl Sagan was really like. SETI @ Home chief scientist Dan Werthimer explains humanity's actual plan for how to deal ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/11/07/gwc-podcast-193/ An unsuspecting Big Apple played host to a Galactic Watercooler Fall Meet-up on Thursday, October twenty-ninth, and while Snake Plissken was a no-show, the I and the other attending NYC Crüemembers had no trouble making our way across Manhattan's fashionable West Side. And as usual... making our own fun, too. We ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/11/03/gwc-escape-to-new-york/ It's Halloween, and we have a very special podcast for you. We check out perennial season favorite Shaun of the Dead, Sean offers his thoughts on Tekken 6, and we relate our early ODST experiences. http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/10/31/gwc-podcast-192/ Ares I-X Test Flight; Oct. 28, 2009 In the wake of the epic Cosmos podcast arc, it seems fitting that the discussion about the future of space flight has come into the forefront of the news. With the Space Shuttle program due to be retired in 2010, NASA has taken a ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/10/31/the-ares-i-x-our-next-starship/ Anyone geeky enough to have spent a few nights board-gaming with friends will recognize Settlers of Catan's catch phrase above. But did you realize you can now play your favorite hexagonal empire building game on the iPhone? Reading the description on the iTunes store, it looks like you can either play ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/10/30/you-can-have-wood-for-sheep-on-the-go/ I’m a big fan of fighting games. It’s something of a lost art here in the 21st century. The console has largely killed the tightly-packed throngs of teens waiting their turn at the controls of the latest button-masher. It is my most sincere hope that Tekken 6 helps turn a ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/10/30/tekken-6-the-kings-of-iron-fist-return/ A funny thing happened on the way back from the Apple Store… I confronted myself from 1999, and me from ten years ago was horrified at what I had become. Today I set up an appointment with the Genius Bar on my iPhone. The time was 11 a.m. and I was ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/10/26/what-if-thoreau-had-an-iphone-at-walden-pond/ This week: We run down some awesome news items including the upcoming Tekken 6 release, The Plan's leak (no spoilers, of course, as we won't see it until the release next week), some awesome SG-U featurettes, Dollhouse's fate, and Joss Whedon's Glee gig. The guys from HowStuffWorks.com's TechStuff podcast join ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/10/24/gwc-podcast-191/ This week with continue the Cosmos arc, taking some time out to dive into a cool way to contribute to the search for alien intelligence: SETI @ Home. Highlights: we wonder where our flying car (and Space Shuttle replacement) is, wonder if concentration of political power might have affected past ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/10/17/gwc-podcast-190/ We set aside some time to take some of the many calls we received over the last few weeks. Highlights: we talk about Stargate's "hard-core sci-fi" credentials, discuss the difference between "not liking" a show and calling it "crap," express our opinions about Gua'uld history as related to Earth's, speculate ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/10/10/gwc-podcast-189-call-show/ In this episode we get down on some science fact! Highlights: we get the "billyons and billyons" jokes out of the way up front, enjoy Cosmos' wonderful mix of astronomy and humanities, ponder the role of man in the keeping of history, discuss the difference between fact and opinion, enjoy ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/10/10/gwc-podcast-188-cosmos-part-i/ Having seen the two-hour premier of the new SyFy series Stargate Universe, I am stoked for what looks like another well-crafted, action-filled sci-fi drama. As we've seen in shows like Battlestar Galactica, established actors can bring the skill and gravitas required for a good dramatic series -- in this case, ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/10/03/stargate-universe-premier/ We enjoyed this week's SG-U premiere! Highlights: enjoy Robert Carlyle's awesome portrayal of the complex Dr. Rush, wonder if Rush really did talk to O'Neill, love Eli's portrayal of the geek, ponder who'll be this series' Carter, we hear about Audra and Chuck's wah meter, give Sean crap for having ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/10/03/gwc-podcast-187-stargate-sg-u/ Our own Mr. Lister, Sir -- great forum name, BTW -- discovered today that Hulu added the complete Robotech: Macross Saga to their full-episode lineup. That's great news for any of you who (like me) haven't seen all of it and don't have the cash to go out and buy ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/09/30/free-tv-robotech-macross-saga-on-hulu/ Yeah, auto-tune's become all the joke lately, with enterprising folks applying T-Painery to everything from cats meowing to Mr. T. But the above video is no joke. It's pretty darn bad-ass. And it's significant when you consider that we're just a few weeks away from taking a fun look at ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/09/28/a-glorious-dawn-feat-stephen-hawking/ I finished the storyline for Halo3 ODST this afternoon and to sum it up in two words - it rocked. I didn’t quite know what to expect and it took a level or two to get my bearings but in the end I think many will agree with me. The first ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/09/27/halo-3-odst-badassery/ We watch Stargate Continuum in our last podcast before the SG Universe premiere -- and enjoy a visit from Amanda Tapping! Highlights: we love Continuum's fun take on the classic time-travel story, debate what makes one timeline more valid than another, hear Ms. Tapping's take on Samantha Carter, women in ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/09/26/gwc-podcast-186-stargate-part-3/ Aw yeah. In September, two-thousand and six, the Galactica Watercooler blog and podcast made its first foray into the wide wide world of the interwebs. Charles "Chuck" Cage, Audra Heaslip, and Sean O'Hara made the decision to spend some time each week writing and 'casting about their favorite TV show, ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/09/22/happy-birthday-galactic-watercooler/ We've been waiting for it. We've marked our calendars and counted the months for the Battlestar Galactica tele-movie, The Plan. Sometime in June SyFy president Dave Howe mentioned it would air in November. However, now the network says The Plan will not air in 2009. This should come as no surprise. Why? ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/09/20/all-this-has-happened-before/ This week we add Atlantis to the continuing SG-1 discussion. Highlights: we discuss Stargate's portrayal of the military, again note Stargate's continual references to history, culture, and Earth mythology, enjoy Atlantis' update of two SG-1 also-ran characters, compare Atlantis to later TV trek, and generally enjoy the 'gate. Remember: We're ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/09/19/gwc-podcast-185-stargate-part-ii/ The Magic Kingdom's Cinderella Castle may soon be due for renovations. Over five thousand characters from the Marvel Universe could be moving to the Disney camp, as Disney head Robert Iger and Marvel CEO Ike Perlmutter announced their plans for the acquisition of Marvel Entertainment by The Walt Disney Company. ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/09/17/mickey-mouse-meet-tony-stark/ The 2009 Creative Arts Emmy winners were announced Saturday, September twelfth in Los Angeles. Please join in congratulating a few old friends in their Emmy win! So say we all! For Outstanding Sound Editing in a Series Battlestar Galactica • Daybreak (Part 2) • Syfy • R&D TV in association with Universal Cable ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/09/17/and-the-emmy-goes-to/ The newly-refurbished Hubble Telescope is back in action. After several months of calibration and tests, NASA has released (Wed, 09-09-2009) a series of spectacular photos, and they clearly show that the magnificent images of the past might pale in comparison to what we can expect in the future. The old ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/09/13/hubble-telescope-one-awesome-cougar/ As we kick off our Stargate arc we're joined by Cliff Simon. Highlights: we relate our introduction(s) to 'gate, enjoy how in the Stargate universe humans live by their wits and understanding of culture as opposed to our technology, note that the "non-interference" program only really works when you're at ... http://www.galacticwatercooler.com/2009/09/12/gwc-podcast-184-stargate-part-i/