Robert Stark and co-host Francis Nally talk to Vaporwave artist Spear 槍. He is a musician and DJ who attends Pennsylvania State University. Check out his music on Facebook, SoundCloud, and Bandcamp.
Topics:
Intro: 名誉
The Vaporwave genre
Slowed down compressed 80’s music
Lo-Fi Trip Hot
The revival of cassettes and VHS
Adult Swim
Vaporwave as a surreal idealized consumerism
Mallsoft
The visual art for the videos
The Vapor Room show
Saudade; a Portuguese term to describe the longing for and memories of good times
Hypnagogia; the state between being awake and being asleep where you can’t distinguish between what is real and what is not Vaporwave Literature(Robert Stark’s Journey to Vapor Island)
James’s writings about life in Baltimore
The city’s descent into chaos
Personal experiences with crime and violence
Police corruption and the Police’s ineffectiveness in dealing with crime
The 2015 Freddie Gray Riots
Making a living as a writer
James’s fantasy and science fiction novels
James’s book The Jericho Bone Robert E. Howard and Louis L’Amour
Hank(David Duchovny) is an established author, kind of like every independent man’s dream, though he could easily get taken advantage of by every woman he sleeps with, starting with Mia(Madeline Zima)
How Hank never seems to learn anything, if anything in later seasons he becomes less intelligent…he even admits it…he is a “writer, non-practicing”
Hank is very well connected, demonstrating implicitly that his lifestyle can’t be forever or for everyone
There is something surreal about this show in that no man, not even the powerful get hit on this much by women
Hank ironically suffers from writers block but interestingly, always “writes about what he knows”
Hank’s nihilistic novel being turned into a cheesy romantic comedy
Mia stealing Hank’s novel based on his encounter with her which is latter turned into a film Madeline Zima in the new Twin Peaks
Similarities between Hank and major sex positive male feminist who have been accused of sexual harassment
The ridiculous sex scenarios Hank gets into
How by the end of the first season it’s interesting how his unmarried “wife” still prefers him which logically doesn’t make much sense but does make sense when you think of his “I don’t give a damn” characteristics
Hank’s agent “Charlie Runkel” who is probably closer to what Hank would be like if he were a real life character
How on some level Hank is genuinely self-loathing
The relationship between Hank and his daughter
Charlie’s boss Sue Collini(Kathleen Turner) who is intimidating even for a cougar and has a very attractive histrionic personality Sue Collini isn’t the romantic type, she only wants sex from her clients; “Sue Collini always get’s the weenie”
Mia having a preference for older men behind her father’s back while sending every possible signal that she was doing so anyway
How the show has almost every possible sexual fetish in it mentioned
How the show is based on repetition rather than an overall plot
How a lot of Far-Right people watch this show despite that they would all call it degenerate
How the show relates to the ongoing Hollywood sex scandals; the line “You’re no Brett Ratner”
Robert Stark is joined with Francis Nally and Brandon Adamson to discuss his new novel Journey to Vapor Island.
Topics:
Brandon’s review of Journey to Vapor Island(Contains Spoilers)
The cover art by Mark Velard
How listeners to the show will instantly recognize favorite topics when they make cameo appearances in the book or manifest themselves as part of the underlying themes
Internet memes in the book(ex. the men in the frog masks)
The fusion of genres including Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction, Science Fiction, and Dark Comedy
A disclaimer that this book is not for anyone that is squeamish about sex or easily shocked or offended
Brandon’s observation that the sexual scenes in the book are more akin to the “random battles” in old school Super Nintendo RPGs like Final Fantasy IV
The theme of how central sex is to people’s motivations, and the overall perception of status in society
The main character Noam Metzenbaum who is a socially inept yet intelligent student with illusions of grandeur
The Chads and the theme of the nerd getting revenge against bullies and the popular cliques
Noam’s crush Natalie Bloom and his lifelong obsession with her
The Retro-Futuristic surreal fantasy world in the book; an adult Never Ending Story
The Roger Blackstone character who could represent a Trump-like figure, but could just as easily be a Ross Perot or even Willy Wonka
The outrageous comic elements in the book
The theme of the commercialization of tragedies and the celebrity status of mass murderers
How the book is timely with the ongoing Hollywood sex scandals
The theme of living in ones fantasies and how that shapes the book’s narrative
Robert Stark talks to director Richard Wolstencroft about his new film The Second Coming Volume II. Volume I is free to view on Vimeo.
Topics:
Intro: Johnny Tyler – God’s Gonna Turn Us To Dust
The film’s inspiration from the poem The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats and the film’s segments based on passages from the poem
“A low budget epic”
The film’s influences including Kenneth Anger, Andy Warhol, Lars Von Trier’s Dogma, Godard’s My Life To Live, and Terrence Malick
The film’s aesthetic
The film’s theme of man trying to usher in the Apocalypse
The conflict between the black magicians and the white magicians
Aleister Crowley and Occultism
“Charles Manson put a curse on Western Civilization”
Cameos by Jim Goad, Boyd Rice, and Adam Parfrey
Music by David Thrussell and old Country Western Music
Filming locales including Thailand, Australia, LA, Switzerland, Barcelona, and London
Robert Stark talks to Lynn Zook about her new book Gambling on a Dream Volume 2:. This second volume of a two-part multimedia book tells the fascinating story of the Las Vegas Strip hotels built during the turbulent years of cultural and societal change, 1956-1973. Nowadays, alongside traditional casinos, people can go online to sites such as togel singapore for easier access to their gambling/lottery needs. In the digital age in which we live today, online gambling has really taken over the world. This is indicated by the number of people using parhaat nettikasinot (the best online casinos) for entertainment or as preparation for a real casino setting. Competition is still fierce though. Online casinos have to offer bonuses and other initiatives to tempt gamers in. Want to learn How to receive the first deposit bonus? If so, doing some research on casino review websites is strongly recommended. Back to the book though, Lynn Zook also runs the website Classic Las Vegas, and has produced an hour-long, first person narrative documentary on the history of Las Vegas entitled “The Story of Classic Las Vegas. Check out Robert Stark’s first interview with Lynn Zook on Gambling on a Dream Volume 1.
Topics:
Lynn’s first book Gambling on a Dream: The Classic Las Vegas Strip 1930-1955
Lynn’s interest and personal connection to Vintage Las Vegas
Caesars Palace
The Hacienda
The Stardust
The Aladdin
The original MGM Grand which is now Bally’s
The International which is now the Westin The English Tudor themed Tally Ho which was built by the creator of Yahtzee
How the Tropicana and Circus Circus are the last two remaining from this era
The Sin City Era
The Rat Pack and Frank Sinatra
The showrooms and variety show performers
The role of the Mob
Historic Preservation and the Neon Museum
Lynn’s upcoming book on Fremont Street and Downtown
How Robert met Dain at a Bay Area futurist meetup
Growing up in Sacramento, CA
Life in the Bay Area
The Bay Area’s economic situation and housing crisis
Dain’s political views, how he is fairly centrist economically, and opposed to SJW culture The Grey Tribe
The Culture War; the humanities vs. the sciences
The political climate of the Silicon Valley
The firing of James Damore from Google Neurodiversity
Dain’s article Asian-American Leaders Are Scarce in Silicon Valley. And?
Dain’s article Meet the New Boss about how well behaved Millennials are
Futurism and science based politics
The Harvey Weinstein Scandal(note: the show was recorded before the recent SNL)
Robert Stark, Sam Kevorkian, and J.G Michael talk to Swedish Synthwave Artist Damokles. Check out his work on SoundCloud, Facebook, and Future 80’s Records which produces his music.
Topics:
Intro: Into the Future from the new Time Machine album
Damokles’ new 14 track album Time Machine
The Time Travel Theme; Back to the Future
Creating synth music since the 70’s
Influences including Kraftwerk
Favorite songs including Yazoo’s Don’t Go and Don’t You Want Me? by the Human League
Experimentation with synthesizers in the 80’s
Being a DJ in the 80’s and how DJ culture has evolved
Working as a piano bar entertainer
The New Retrowave genre and how it is different from original 80’s synth music
Industrial music
The future of electronic music, the mainstreaming of synthwave, and the need for an alternative to mainstream pop
The pros and cons of producing music online without large corporations
Cinematic influences; sci-fi and horror
The illustrations for the albums
80’s Retrofuturism
Visions of the future and how humans are becoming cyborgs
Robert Stark and co-host J.G. Michael talk to filmmaker Jared C. Shumate about his upcoming horror comedy film Last Night Out which is set to be released on Halloween and will be available to view online. Check out the Facebook page for Last Night Out, the Official Trailer, and the poster which is available on the Facebook page.
Topics:
Intro: Jerry Galeries’s In For A Long Night which is used for the film and trailer
The basic plot
The horror genre
Dark Comedy with some slapstick thrown in
Jared’s influences ranging from Wes Craven’s Scream to Scooby-doo to David Lynch
The 80’s theme, the New Retrowave genre, and how the music influenced the film
The filming location in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, the abandoned lingerie factory, and the surreal atmosphere of forest and ghost towns in North Carolina
The special effects
The actors and characters including a group of teens and two drifters
The plan for a feature length version which might introduce a supernatural element
Jared’s short thriller, The Ramifications
Jared’s Film Noire set in 1946, The Picture Room
Jared’s screenplay, “Otto” which is based on the true story of the outlaw Otto Wood
Robert Stark and Pilleater talk to returning guest Count Fosco. Count Fosco has a background in the film industry in Canada.
Topics:
Count Fosco’s background in the Canadian Film Industry
The economic mechanisms for funding the arts
Conservative opposition to funding the arts Robert Stark’s debate with Joseph Dobrian on funding the arts
The cultural left’s influence on grants favoring politically correct demographic groups
Where the free market falls short and the importance of having an economic safety net for artist
Being an artist as a luxury for the rich and the importance of having the right connections and patrons
The fallacy that the best artist are rewarded economically(ex. Van Gogh)
Preferred relative guidelines for artistic funding and support for relative artistic freedom
How grants work for the film industry in Canada Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 Hour Rule’ and how it applies to the arts
Should art serve a purpose for society?
Censorship in the Art World
The debate about what is art and what is pornography and the concept of “degenerate art”
Creating new artistic sub-cultures
Low Brow Pop Surrealism
Surrealism from Dali to David Lynch Robert Stark and Brandon Adamson’s Art
The animated series Braceface staring Alicia Silverstone
