Episode 254 - Detroit Rock City — Here's What I Don't Get

This week on WHAT WAS THAT? YOU'LL HAVE TO SPEAK UP SON! our two old men are at it again! With an industrial-sized tub of Ben Gay, a fresh stack of adult diapers, and a 2 LB bag of Werther's Originals, these grumpy old men are ready to... to.... what was it we were doing again? Where am I? Who are you? I've got to get back to base! I am Sergeant Handlebreaker with the U.S. Air Force and I am commanding you to stand down! ATTICA! ATTICA! ATTICA! Remember to call in if you want to leave a voicemail or talk to the ghost of Johnny Carson that lives in a potato. TURN THE SET BACK ON, THE VIRGINIAN IS ON! Back to you, Chet.

- Getting Old
- The Hate Rectangle
- Legacy IP
- Trust the Plan

Thirty isn't old, we know. Doesn't mean we can't channel our inner Walter Matthau though! I'm sure you olds that listen to the podcast are scoffing at our bodies slowly deteriorating to the level of your own while we're still living large without acid reflux and kidney stones. Well, we'll get you an ice pack while we can. Sooner or later we'll be the ones laying on the floor groaning about lumbar support or something or other.

Live music is awesome. One of the best experiences you can have in your life. The physical air being pushed toward you by ginormous speakers, the electricity in the air as you eagerly wait for the band to take the stage, being hit in the chest by the drummer's stick, the smell of the devil's lettuce wafting in from outside mixing with the beer about to be sloshed onto you by a drunk oldhead, the smile the frontman gives you as you sing along to the words he wrote. It's more than just sound and lights. So, the best way to experience it? Watching the video your buddy took during a show, his phone pointed at the jumbotron, while he missed all of this, so he can post it on Facebook, out of focus most of the time, the music overloading his phone's tiny speakers.

IP is king. It's why Lord of the Rings is happening AGAIN. Horror movie slightly successful? 5 sequels in 7 years. And a TV show. Successful movie from 20 years ago? TV series reboot. Screw up the last season of your ultra-popular TV show, you better fast-track that prequel series. Yet, I'm sure Hollywood has 50 years of optioned scripts from thousands and thousands of books that they could produce at a moment's notice. Someone has their next Star Wars or Harry Potter movie sitting in a desk in their office that has a post-it on it that says "Call me back when you hit 5 million sold".

Has anything you ever planned gone just the way you imagined it? Congratulations, then. But what's your rate of success? One in a million? One in one hundred even? You can't successfully plan for anything that involves more than just yourself. People are chaotic beings that follow their own sense of whimsy, their own rules and their playing a game of 8D chess you can't even fathom. Or they're playing with a laser pointer like a cat. And everything in between and none of them are games you even vaguely realize. There is one plan in our universe, and it's "there is no plan".

All this and more on this week's episode! Don't forget to join us on DISCORD, support us on PATREON or by BUYING A SHIRT.