RIP Picard, Hello Listener Tommy

Episode 415

In this episode, Jerry and Gaby welcome listener/BGS Discord alumni and geometry teacher Tommy from Texas. The trio covers Patrick Stewart’s passing and Star Trek deep cuts, the Mandela Effect, gateway games like Catan and Ticket to Ride, the slide into 18XX and Splotter titles, family caregiving realities, film favorites from Brick and Ad Astra to gloriously terrible cult picks, and plenty more. Perhaps too much more. Nonetheless, enjoy!

 

Timestamps

0:00 – Intro / cold open

0:15 – Recording date (Oct 29) and Patrick Stewart’s death; deep impact discussion

0:48 – Kid Craddick, Paul Walker, and Roy D. Mercer tangents

2:25 – Listener Tommy from Discord joins

3:00 – Tommy intro: high-school geometry teacher, physics degree background, dog appearance

4:20 – Geometry usefulness, favorite theorems, and teaching path

7:00 – Return to Patrick Stewart / Star Trek talk; “The Inner Light” debate

9:20 – The Ark comparison and more Trek discussion

10:40 – Walter Koenig (Chekov) death news

12:00 – Mandela Effect deep dive (Fruit of the Loom cornucopia, Chinatown B&W version, Judi Dench “death”)

19:40 – Formal interview questions begin

20:30 – How Tommy got into board games (Catan / Ticket to Ride in college, hurricane dorm sessions)

22:45 – Path into 18XX and BGG.Spring

23:50 – Name discussion (Tommy / James) and host banter

26:00 – Family caregiving, Bell’s palsy, mother-in-law’s hip fracture

30:00 – Favorite games (Indonesia, Splotter titles, Food Chain Magnate, Zólkin, Barrage, Horseless Carriage)

35:00 – Hamper etymology rabbit hole and cloth-diaper digression

39:00 – Enrique call about Patrick Stewart; ongoing Next Generation rewatches

40:40 – TNG uniforms, beards, Wesley Crusher, and Will Wheaton opinions

44:00 – Ready Player One / Dungeon Crawler Carl / audiobook narration praise

48:50 – Baseball vs. football, umpires, AI, and armchair-quarterback rant

55:50 – Other hobbies (Gundam models, disc golf)

57:00 – How the hosts met and possible Dallas / BGG.Spring meetups

58:50 – Favorite movies and genres (Bride of Frankenstein, film noir, Brick, Spider-Noir)

1:05:00 – Ad Astra, Interstellar, The Assassination of Jesse James, and broader film talk

1:11:00 – Jason Statham as comfort food and “10/10 movies no one else would rate that high”

1:19:00 – The Fanatic (Fred Durst / John Travolta) recommendation and “so-bad-it’s-an-experience” pitch

1:23:30 – Stephen King, Misery, and premise-vs-ending discussion

1:29:00 – Theory of humor, Norm Macdonald’s moth joke, and long-bit comedy

1:34:00 – Worst movies (Battlefield Earth, Jaws: The Revenge) and baseball films

1:36:50 – Closing: BGG.Spring plans, Star Trek: Ascendancy hopes, goodbyes

 

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