This week we talk Father’s Day, lightsaber obsessions, swimming pools, Gravity Falls, cyberpunk light bulbs, Spider-Man, Star Trek, and the sci-fi shows and movies our families can’t stop watching.
Real Life
Father’s Day was in the air this week, and Devon assumes his son was probably excited about it, though kids have a funny way of keeping those things mysterious right up until the last minute. Meanwhile, Steven has found himself completely obsessed with lightsabers lately and thinks he may have finally figured out why these glowing space swords continue to have such a grip on his imagination decades later.
Ben’s family adventures continue as his son returned from a school trip to Washington D.C. and New York City. Despite photographic evidence suggesting he spent the entire trip looking mildly inconvenienced, his teachers insist he had a fantastic time. Ben also recently visited the incredible MOTHERSHIP restaurant in San Diego, a themed dining experience designed to look like a crashed spaceship hidden inside a cave. The food was delicious, the atmosphere was unforgettable, and highlights included a “Kylo Ren” inspired bathroom with a mirrored ceiling and an astronaut radio transmission looping over NASA-style beeps. Meanwhile, Ben’s son has become obsessed with space, watching Apollo 13 and spending hours playing Kerbal Space Program, which Ben wholeheartedly approves of.
Devon reports that his son has learned the theme from Gravity Falls on piano and now plays it constantly. If you know the theme, you already understand exactly what Devon’s household sounds like right now.
Ben brings a fascinating indie game to the table with CASCADER, a Portal-inspired puzzle game set in a mysterious supernatural forest that constantly shifts and changes around you. If you enjoy environmental puzzles and weird atmospheric settings, this one might deserve a spot on your wishlist.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4766800/CASCADER/?curator_clanid=45973849
Steven highlights Star Trek: Outposts Unknown, an upcoming strategy title set in the Star Trek universe. We discuss the appeal of building and managing a frontier outpost while trying to survive the dangers of deep space.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3469910/Star_Trek_Outposts_Unknown
Summer has clearly arrived for everyone involved. Steven’s kids have practically moved into the swimming pool, while Devon’s children are also spending as much time in the water as possible between rainstorms.
Ben has been playing Detroit: Become Human, which naturally leads to a discussion about Quantic Dream, Star Wars: Eclipse, and whether that game actually exists or is simply an elaborate collective hallucination.
We also dive into the surprisingly complicated world of chess set consolidation. How many chess sets does one family really need? The answer is apparently fewer than Ben owns.
Future or Now
Devon wraps up a few television reviews, including Hulu’s Paradise, which has completed its second season and is already confirmed for a third. He also talks about the finale of Widows Bay, which somehow feels like Parks and Recreation wandered into a Stephen King novel. We also get a brief review of For All Mankind Season 5. Devon’s verdict: “I didn’t mind it.”
Ben shares one of the most delightfully cyberpunk projects we’ve seen in a while: someone converted a cheap WiFi-enabled smart light bulb into a tiny hidden server that hosts digital copies of banned books. The result is part embedded systems engineering project, part hacker art installation, and entirely fascinating.
https://www.richardosgood.com/posts/banned-book-library
Steven checks out the trailer for Spider-Man: Brand New Day and discusses what Marvel appears to be setting up next for everyone’s favorite wall-crawler.
Finally, Devon reports that his kids are fully locked into movie hype mode. Toy Story 5 is on the radar, and they’re especially excited for Minions & Monsters, which recently made headlines by casting George Lucas after the Star Wars creator revealed he was apparently a huge fan of the franchise.
https://www.ign.com/articles/george-lucas-cast-minions-monsters-movie
Whether it’s crashed spaceships serving vegetarian food, cyberpunk light bulbs distributing banned literature, or kids turning swimming pools into second homes, this week’s episode has a little bit of everything.
Leave a Reply