the Semi-Retired podcast

52 | We turned 50 into an 11

Tue, 04 Jun 2024 06:00:00 -0400

According to industry statistics, only 11% of podcasts make it to fifty episodes, and 90% never publish more than three episodes before drowning in a raging torrent of abject shame, humiliation, and self-abuse. (We may have made up the part about the torrent.)

Founded in August of 2022, the same month the FBI raided Donald Trump's Palm Beach bolthole looking for classified documents he ripped off from the White House on his way out the door, we are now proud members of the elite 11%. In this week's episode, we celebrate our historic Big Five-O by re-living some of Semi-Retired's more or less memorable moments.

As a bonus, Dave recounts his recent fall from social media grace at the non-corporeal hands of an Instagram AI "team member."

Warning: Some content verges on self-abuse. Listener discretion is semi-advised.

Music and image credits:
Episode graphic by Richard Bonomo and ChatGPT (or is it the other way around?)
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

51 | AI is coming. Anybody got a spare swimsuit?

Thu, 02 May 2024 09:00:00 -0400

Not a day goes by without news about AI making the headlines. From last summer's actor's strike, to AI-assisted documentary film-making, to a recent AI beauty pageant, even AI podcast co-hosts (take note, Richard), there's no telling where this rapidly metastasizing technology will turn up next.

In their latest guaranteed100% Grade B+ human-generated episode, the guys take a look at some of the latest AI escapades and wonder aloud: where's it all going?

Music and image credits:
Tsunami image by Erik Nikolai Halsteinrud from Pixabay
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

50 | Eclipse 2024: Random notes from under the Path of Totality

Tue, 23 Apr 2024 08:00:00 -0400

On the eighth day of April 2024, Montreal found itself in an extremely unusual and fortunate position. For the first time in ninety-two years, and the last time for another eighty-two, its citizens were directly underneath the tiny shadow cast on the Earth by the Moon as it passed in front of the Sun AKA the Path of Totality. And if you're hearing the 5th Dimension's shimmering pop hit from 1969, "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" playing inside your head, you're not alone. Although that's astrology, not astronomy, and never the twain shall meet.

In this week's double-barrel episode, Richard and Dave talk about their eclipse experiences, but only after indulging themselves in a discussion about recent sci-fi movies and streaming series that cast dark shadows across their notoriously fickle attention spans.

Music and image credits:
Totality as seen from Montreal by Megan Ranco
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

49 | This week: We boldly go where many have gone before

Wed, 10 Apr 2024 05:00:00 -0400

Is it even possible to imagine a cultural vocabulary that doesn't include phasers, photon torpedoes, communicators, the bridge, the transporter room, sickbay, beaming down, beaming up, the Enterprise, shuttlecraft, warp engines, dilithium crystals, The Federation, Star Fleet Command, Vulcans, Klingons, Romulans, the neutral zone, Talosians, Andorians, Gorns, Metrons, tribbles, subspace radio and open hailing frequencies? And what about Harcourt Fenton (Harry) Mudd and his mummified wife Stella? What about them?

In our opinion, a universe without Star Trek would be like a day without starshine.

Music and image credits:
Starship Enterprise by p2722754 from Pixabay
Star Trek theme "Where No Man Has Gone Before" by Alexander Courage
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

48 | Do you speak newspeak?

Tue, 02 Apr 2024 03:00:00 -0400

Sir Winston Churchill (not the guy who ran the Crescent Street pub) described the United States and his own country as being two nations "divided by the same language." The same could be said of the generations, each of which develops its own set of expressions in order to assert its sense of linguistic individuality by infusing their day-to-day conversations with terms, phrases, and metaphors that reflect their life and times.

In their latest bad ass pod, hep cats Richard and Dave groove deeply on some of the newspeak jive they've heard recently, and ask themselves where all this kludgy word salad could be heading.

Music and image credits:
Episode image graphic courtesy of ChatGPT
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

47 | This was Spinal Tap (warning: this episode goes to 11)

Wed, 27 Mar 2024 05:00:00 -0400

Ah, the wretched excesses of late-70s English rock bands with roots in the kaleidoscopic, Swinging London days of the UFO Club, Carnaby Street, Twiggy, Vidal Sassoon, and Sgt. Pepperland. Rob Reiner's first-of-a-kind 1984 'mockumentary' follows fictional hard rock has-beens, Spinal Tap, as they try to get it together for just one more US tour to promote their pungently titled new album, 'Smell the Glove.'

Richard and Dave take their love of rock music to 11 this week with a characteristically freeform examination of this riotous masterpiece of cultural satire, in an episode that somehow devolves into fond reminiscences about paintball-related injuries in the closing minutes. For added content value, Dave provides a progress report on his avoidance of using five really stupid expressions.

Long Live Rock and Roll! Long Live Tap!

Music and image credits:
Dial at 11 by Three-shots from Pixabay
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

46 | Albums that left a mark: Who's Next

Sun, 17 Mar 2024 11:00:00 -0400

After being stuck in heavy traffic on the outbound T-Can for close to six months, Richard and Dave regrouped to complete production on this fond look at a milestone album in the first installment of a new series titled Albums That Left a Mark.

Along with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Kinks, The Who rank as one of the key bands that led the British Invasion of the mid 1960s. Originally known as a singles band with hits like I Can't Explain, My Generation--check out their explosive performance of this signature pre-punk snarl of youthful protest on the Smothers Brothers Show (you can find it on YouTube), and I Can See for Miles.

In 1969, the Who broke new ground with their acclaimed "rock opera" Tommy. This was followed in 1971 with Who's Next, the remnant of a second rock opera concept titled "Lighthouse," which never saw the light of day. Who's Next remains one of the finest rock albums of all time, featuring masterpieces like Baba O'Riley, Behind Blue Eyes, and Pete Townsend’s defiant look back at the failed promise of the sixties counter-culture revolution, Won't Get Fooled Again.

Music and image credits:
Photograph of the Who in 1970 from the Trinifold Archive
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

45 | Part Two: Stuff that jumped the shark (not us)

Wed, 27 Sep 2023 10:00:00 -0400

While trying not to jump any metaphorical sharks themselves (see below), the guys return for the second part of their investigation into this irritating cultural phenomenon. Along the way they identify the one popular movie franchise that jumped the shark, didn't like what it found lurking on the far side, and had the balls to turn around and jump back a full four decades later. Better late than never, we say, sort of like this episode. A few bonus movie reviews are tacked on at the end because, why not?

According to Wikipedia: "The idiom 'jumping the shark' is a pejorative used to argue that a creative work or entity has reached a point in which it has exhausted its core intent and is introducing new ideas that are discordant with, or an over-exaggeration of, its original purpose." The phrase was coined in 1985 by radio personality Jon Hein to describe what Henry Winkler had done, given that the stunt was his idea.

Music and image credits:
Shark jockey by Three-shots from Pixabay
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

44 | Part One: Stuff that jumped the shark (not us)

Tue, 05 Sep 2023 05:00:00 -0400

After a long and largely unplanned summer vacation, the guys are back with an apex predator of a two-parter.

On September 20, 1977, something momentous happened. On that last day of the third summer of disco and the second summer of the Son of Sam, Happy Days actor and former water skiing instructor Henry Winkler, AKA "Fonzie" and/or "The Fonz," made history when his character (ostensibly a motorcycle hoodlum from Milwaukee) jumped over a shark while on water skis in Los Angeles. The Fonz did this in response to a challenge to his bravery.

According to Wikipedia: "The idiom 'jumping the shark' is a pejorative used to argue that a creative work or entity has reached a point in which it has exhausted its core intent and is introducing new ideas that are discordant with, or an over-exaggeration of, its original purpose." The phrase was coined in 1985 by radio personality Jon Hein to describe what Henry Winkler had done, given that the stunt was his idea.

This week and next, take a long, leisurely look at just some of the shark jumpers that came to mind as Richard and Dave stared at each across the table in the (now virtual) Semi-Retired studio.

Music and image credits:
Frenzied shark by Pascal Le Lay from Pixabay
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

43 | VR is here: what could possibly go wrong?

Tue, 18 Jul 2023 05:00:00 -0400

With the recent release of Apple’s technologically astounding and eye-wateringly expensive Vision Pro virtual reality headset and the threatened release of its far cheaper competitor, Facebook’s Oculus Quest 3, VR may have finally reached early adulthood.

Distant progeny of the mid-20th century red plastic View-Master personal stereo viewer, through which children could stare at tiny 3-D images of the Great Pyramid or scenes from The Beverly Hillbillies, today’s VR headsets take advantage of the latest technologies to further free or tether us, depending on your point of view.

And while they could be a boon for virtual tourists, gamers, and porn aficionados, the idea of adding another ‘device’ to the household gear manifest with the attendant software updates, battery charging needs, and periodic hardware upgrades, could leave some feeling this could be a bridge too far.

What about family time together? The Brady Bunch would’ve needed nine VR headsets (if they wanted to include Alice) just to watch the latest Disney epic unfold around them as a magnificently immersive virtual experience.

Listen in as the guys strap on their brain caps for a look at what VR has become in 2023 and where it could go in the years ahead.

Music and image credits:
Cyclist with VR headset by Pexels from Pixabay
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

42 | From Planck to Parsec: the madness of measurements

Tue, 04 Jul 2023 02:00:00 -0400

Q: How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
A: That depends on which measurement system he/she prefers.

Measurements, i.e. specified quantities of a wide variety of 'somethings', are so ingrained in the way we think about the world, that we barely notice their existence. If you've ever rushed out of your underpaid 9-5 job at 5:30PM, got a $75 fine for breaking the 100KMH speed limit on the way home, thereby making you 45 minutes late to pick up the kids from after-school class where they've melted into howling bloblets in the 92° Fahrenheit, Humidex 38 heat, you'll see what we mean.

Over the past several millennia, deep thinkers around the world came up with numerous systems of measurement designed to standardize our understanding of quantities. You can thank them for sentences like the one above as you decide whether or not to spend the next 32 minutes and 8 seconds listening to this podcast while trying to shed a few unwanted pounds working out. Or, if you're like us, you'll shell out twenty bucks for a pizza, dial up an old episode of This Hour Has 22 Minutes, and call it a day.

Music and image credits:
Hoagie and calipers by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay
Excerpt from Heaven is Ten Zillion Light Years Away by Stevie Wonder
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

41 | All about Saturday morning cartoons

Tue, 27 Jun 2023 02:00:00 -0400

Our parents said our eyes would turn square. We feared the mundanity of household chores would interrupt the magic of the moment. By Richard's own admission, his eyesight was weak and blurred as he crept upstairs and into the light like a stunned mole after each Saturday morning of sustained cartoon absorption. We were in such danger all the time. And loving it.

Although we occasionally hyperlink forward to more contemporary animated classics like Watership Down, the Simpsons, Johnny Bravo, Beavis and Butt-head, and Cow and Chicken (while unforgivably overlooking the enlightened genius of SpongeBob SquarePants), this episode is all about the Golden Age of Saturday morning cartoon characters like:

Fred and Wilma Flintstone and Barney and Betty Rubble, George and Jane Jetson, Bugs Bunny, Sylvester the Cat, Foghorn Leghorn, Rocket Robin Hood, the Mighty Hercules (and Newton), George of the Jungle, Roger Ramjet, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Sherman and Peabody, Tennessee Tuxedo, Johnny Quest, Woody Woodpecker, Felix (not Fritz) the Cat, Space Ghost, Cool McCool, and the list goes on and on.

As a bonus, or perhaps not depending on your taste, Dave rants about the recently inflated price of his favourite tourtière.

Music and image credits:
Kids watching the boob tube by National Library of Medicine on Unsplash
Bugs Bunny Overture (This Is It!) by Mack David and Jerry Livingston
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

40 | Musical genres we dig, and some we don't

Tue, 13 Jun 2023 02:00:00 -0400

Richard (now re-christened a Templar-esque 'Ranchard de Valois') and Dave (still just Dave) reveal what kept them from publishing an episode last week before seguing into this week's topic: musical genres they love and musical genres they love less.

Under the dual-microscope are the mother ship--rock and roll itself, progressive rock, psychedelic rock, new wave, jazz, so-called protest music, and rap. Brief mentions of 80s hair bands, glam, reggae, and bebop round out the program, punctuated as always by random hyperlinking to anecdotes with varying degrees of relationship to the subject matter at-hand.

Music and image credits:
Grey haired guy (who looks like Nick Lowe) by Ryan McGuire from Pixabay
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

39 | Expo67: The year the whole world came to Montreal

Tue, 30 May 2023 02:00:00 -0400

It was Canada's 100th birthday year.

In January, Timothy Leary told the world's youth that it was time to "tune in, turn on, and drop out." Across the Atlantic in Swinging London, the Beatles released Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. In San Francisco, people from all across the nation came to the Haight Ashbury district to wear some flowers in their hair and celebrate the Summer of Love. Many would head down the coast to attend the Monterey International Pop Festival where artists like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, and The Who first broke big. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, The Doors had already broken on through to whatever was waiting on the other side. And on a more somber note, US helicopter gunships, Phantom jets, and B-52 bombers rained death and destruction on the innocent people of Vietnam.

Up north in Montreal, the same week that Sgt. Pepper's acid-seasoned soundscape began enlightening the airwaves, Expo67 opened its doors to the world. By the time it closed them in October, more than 50 million people, including numerous international dignitaries and celebrities, had visited the 65 national pavilions that dotted the Expo67 site which, against all odds, had been built on man-made islands huddled in the St. Lawrence River along the south coast of the island of Montreal.

So put your feet up (unless you're driving), and take a trip back to the astonishing cultural event that put Canada on the map, a magical time when the whole world came to Montreal.

Music and image credits:
Cheerleader image from the Library and Archives of Canada & Expo67
The Centennial Song was written by Bobby Gimby and performed by the Young Canada Singers
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

38 | Cameras we love

Tue, 23 May 2023 02:00:00 -0400

Dear Semi-Retired listeners,
My humblest apologies for not being here for you last week. Dave was so emotionally fragile over the nightmare surrounding his Crave TV account scrub, that he couldn't hold himself together long enough to record a new episode. Things are better now.
Yours, Richard

This week, the guys look back at all the cameras they've loved before. From Richard's 2 1/4-inch honeymoon dream, to Dave's high school sweetheart rangefinder, from TLR to SLR, from roll film to CMOS sensor, and everything in-between, Gearheads: it's time to buckle up. And remember to keep your hands and feet inside the automobile at all times during the podcast.

Music and image credits:
Yashica Mat 124 Image by Michael Gaida from Pixabay
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

37 | Overrated stuff we love to hate

Tue, 09 May 2023 02:00:00 -0400

In our humble opinion, popular culture often gives actual culture a bad name. Certain oeuvres and oeuvrists ooze onto the cultural landscape and proceed to suck up an ungodly amount amount of praise and attention that we feel is richly undeserved. There's a veritable mountain range of material to choose from, so we took a nice, thick first cut and proudly serve it up here, expertly seasoned, for your listening pleasure.

As added value, Dave rants at length about a horrifying (as yet unresolved) customer experience with Canadian streaming service Crave TV.

Music and image credits:
Aqualung doppelgänger by Daniel Páscoa on Unsplash
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

36 | All the codes of our lives...

Tue, 02 May 2023 02:00:00 -0400

Codes, passwords, PINs, logins, credentials, two-factor authentication, encryption and decryption, keychains and resets, are among the more irritating features of modern life. Who would have thought that it all started with the concealment of sensitive information by shaving a servant's head? Or that it might end with quantum computing. (That last part's uncertain, but so is quantum mechanics. Or so they say.) This week, Richard and Dave bisect, trisect, and dissect the realm of information hidden, and not so hidden, and the many ways resourceful humans have tried to hide it.

Semi-Retired trivia note: The battered combination lock used for this week's episode graphic is Richard's actual high school locker lock, the unforgettable 41-15-54. What tales it could tell, if only combination locks could tell tales.

Music and image credits:
Combination lock and notebook image by Richard
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

35 | We're back! This week we shoot the shit, so you don't have to

Tue, 25 Apr 2023 02:00:00 -0400

Back behind the microphones after the week-that-became-a-month off, the guys get their podcasting groove on by talking about what they did on vacation, complete with hyperlinking to topics that have varying degrees of relationship to each other, and what's actually being discussed.

We missed you. It's good to be back.

Music and image credits:
Piggybackers by Jade Masri on Unsplash
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

34 | Conclusion: Two atheists and a Christian walk into a bar... A discussion with Sam Piazza

Tue, 21 Mar 2023 17:00:00 -0400

In the concluding episode of our first three-parter, we delve into issues like good and evil, the existence (or lack thereof) of Satan, the relationship (or lack thereof) between science and faith, and what it would take to convince each of us to change teams. We thank Sam once again for taking the time to sit down and wrangle with us. We all had a lot of fun.

Music and image credits:
Neist Point Lighthouse by Frank Winkler from Pixabay
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Maple Leaf by Vectoro Artworks from Vecteezy
Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

33 | Part Two: Two atheists and a Christian walk into a bar... A discussion with Sam Piazza

Tue, 14 Mar 2023 19:00:00 -0400

The existential voyage continues as Richard, Dave, and their guest Sam Piazza, wrestle with some of life's most enduring and controversial questions. Valiant attempts to breach various walls of belief and conviction are made, but no breakthroughs are achieved. This one was so big we made it our first three-parter, with the concluding episode on-deck for next week.

Music and image credits:
A compass and the road ahead by Ahmed Zayan on Unsplash
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Maple Leaf by Vectoro Artworks from Vecteezy
Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

32 | Part One: Two atheists and a Christian walk into a bar... A discussion with Sam Piazza

Wed, 08 Mar 2023 13:00:00 -0500

Our sincere apologies for the late release of this episode. Real life gave our finely tuned production schedule a small kick in the ankle. All is well now, and we think it'll have been worth the wait.

Two weeks ago we sat down to talk with a young man named Sam Piazza, who was introduced to us by Dave's eldest daughter. Sam is a person of strong Christian faith, whereas we pitched our tents well on the other side of that particular fence many, many years ago. So we thought it would make for some lively and engaging conversation if we were to explore each other's beliefs a little bit and hopefully bump up against some universal truths while doing so.

We hope you enjoy part one of the show and thank Sam for his time, his willingness to get into the weeds with us, and for enduring more than a few verbal U-turns with grace and good humour.

Music and image credits:
Man with a lantern by Evgeni Tcherkasski from Pixabay
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Maple Leaf by Vectoro Artworks from Vecteezy
Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

31 | AI helped make this podcast - with special guest: ChatGPT

Tue, 28 Feb 2023 02:00:00 -0500

Is AI coming to recommend our next vegan lunch? Or eat it?

This week, Richard and Dave satisfy their simmering hunger for knowledge by cozying up to ChatGPT, the headline-dominating AI language model developed by a company called OpenAI and launched a mere three months ago.

In a wide-ranging interview with this flashy new bundle of code, the guys try to get the measure of just what a language model AI is, what it can do for us and what it can't, and wrap up with a Siskel & Ebert-style assessment of where all this might be going.

As a bonus, Dave opines on America's swift and glorious victory in the recent Balloon War with the People's Republic of China.

Special note: The thumbnail graphic for this episode was generated in DreamStudio by Stability AI, a new AI system powered by Stable Diffusion, which is a deep learning text-to-image model released in 2022. Stable Diffusion can create realistic images, art, and animation from a description in a natural language prompt. Richard supplied the natural language prompt 'AI chatbot conversing with two podcasters in the style of Ralph Steadman.'

Music and image credits:
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Maple Leaf by Vectoro Artworks from Vecteezy
Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

30 | Part Two: Great photography is all in the head

Tue, 21 Feb 2023 16:00:00 -0500

Our two-parter on the creative impulse behind photography concludes with a discussion that ranges from photographers who've influenced us, to favourite photographs we've taken, our thoughts on and approaches to post-processing, the thorny question of titling, equipment we currently use and equipment we'd rush out and buy if money was no object. Which it is.

Music and image credits:
Fuj and Friends by Dave
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Maple Leaf by Vectoro Artworks from Vecteezy
Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

29 | Part One: Great photography is all in the head

Tue, 14 Feb 2023 07:00:00 -0500

These days almost everybody's packing a very capable high-resolution camera, and nearly two trillion photographs are taken every year. (Note: we still don't have a decent shot of a UFO.)

Join the guys as they get back to their photographic roots in the first half of a two-parter that tries to uncover the essence of creative photography. Starting with memories of their first cameras and earliest photographs, they dig into existential questions like: Is Instagram food photography actual photography? Is the ubiquitous smartphone camera truly worthy of that name? And is there a 'cult of sharpness'?

Find out why Richard took 14 lenses, 2 flashes, and a tripod on his beach vacation one year and came back without any photos. Find out why Dave felt it was necessary to pack a compass and hunting knife on suburban photo trips where he was never more than a few hundred yards from his parked car.

And much, much more...

Music and image credits:
Fuji X100s camera porn by Dave
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Maple Leaf by Vectoro Artworks from Vecteezy
Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

28 | Will aliens try to: a) replace us b) help us c) kill us d) eat us e) other

Tue, 07 Feb 2023 02:00:00 -0500

Someday something's coming
From way out beyond the stars
To kill us while we stand here
It'll store our brains in mason jars.
— The Mountain Goats | Lovecraft in Brooklyn 2008

No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own. Yet across the gulf of space, … intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against us. … (But) before we judge them (the Martians) too harshly, we must remember what ruthless and utter destruction our own species has wrought. … Are we such apostles of mercy as to complain if the Martians warred in the same spirit?
— H. G. Wells | The War of the Worlds 1898

“I'm frequently asked, ‘Do you believe there's extraterrestrial intelligence?’ I give the standard arguments; there are a lot of places out there, the molecules of life are everywhere, I use the word ‘billions’, and so on. Then I say it would be astonishing to me if there weren't extraterrestrial intelligence, but of course there is as yet no compelling evidence for it.”
— Carl Sagan | Scientist and Author 1934-1996

There's a whole lotta time and space out there:
- The universe is 13.7 billion years old
- There are between six and twenty trillion galaxies in the universe
- Our home galaxy, the Milky Way, contains 100 billion-400 billion stars
- Its diameter is 100,000-120,000 light years (1 light year = 10 trillion kilometres)
- The central bulge is 12,000 light years thick, the disk is 1,000 light years thick
- Our nearest neighbour galaxy, Andromeda, is 2.5 million light years from us
- Each sun-like star in the Milky Way likely harbours one half to one rocky planet in the range of orbital distances where liquid water could be stable on the surface
- Liquid water is necessary for life as we understand it

Music and image credits:
Lovecraft in Brooklyn by the Mountain Goats from their 'Heretic Pride' album
Huge, really pissed off alien by Pete Linforth from Pixabay
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Maple Leaf by Vectoro Artworks from Vecteezy
Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

27 | Edward Bernays: Public Influencer No. 1

Tue, 31 Jan 2023 02:00:00 -0500

“Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility.”
—Sigmund Freud | Founder of psychoanalysis and uncle of Edward Bernays

"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country (America)."
—Edward Bernays | “the father of public relations” from his book, Propaganda, 1928
Watch a summary of 'Propaganda' by Edward Bernays
Listen to a full audiobook of 'Propaganda' by Edward Bernays

“The public must be put in its place … so that each of us may live free of the trampling and … roar of a bewildered herd.”
—Walter Lippmann | American writer, reporter, and political commentator, writing in the 1920s
Watch a short video about Walter Lippmann and his book 'On Public Opinion'

The engineering of consent is the “use of an engineering approach—that is, action based only on thorough knowledge of the situation and on the application of scientific principles and tried practices to the task of getting people to support ideas and programs."
—Edward Bernays | The Engineering of Consent 1947

The Century of the Self is a British television documentary by filmmaker Adam Curtis. It focuses on the work of psychoanalysts Sigmund Freud, his nephew Edward Bernays, and daughter Anna Freud. Curtis says, "This series is about how those in power have used Freud's theories to try and control the dangerous crowd in an age of mass democracy."

Not to know the past is to be in bondage to it, while to remember, to know, is to be set free.
—Sigmund Freud

Music and image credits:
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Maple Leaf by Vectoro Artworks from Vecteezy
Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

26 | Part Two: It seemed so innocent in 1975... then digital overhauled our lives

Tue, 24 Jan 2023 06:00:00 -0500

As they continue to access their collective read-only memory (ROM) at blazingly fast speeds, Richard and Dave unearth more fading snapshots of an old world since replaced by a shiny-binary new one. Re-live the early browser and email wars (which sound a lot more dangerous than they were), the ripping of MP3s (which sounds a lot more bad ass than it was), and the flying of combat flight sims (which definitely sounds a lot more manly than it was).

Experience one of the first really big Internet ‘memes’ as discussed in this episode

Richard admits to leaving ‘Leisure Suit Larry’, a lovelorn, polyester-clad cruisebot in a state of permanent unfulfilled mission-hood on a Radio Shack computer he sold off decades ago. After stumbling upon multiplayer gaming while dabbling in ‘Quake’, Dave teams up with a group of gentlemanly Finns to fly his fave flight sim in friendly formation high over virtual war-torn Europe.

In the realm of digital photography dear to the hearts of many of our first listeners, the guys talk about how they transitioned from film to digital, remember some of their favourite cameras and the discovery of Instagram before it became somewhat polluted by selfie-porn and photographs of food. (Our photographer friends will grok.)

This epic double-episode wraps up with a discussion of digital technology in podcasting, a look back at low-tech prank phone calls made in the 1970s, and a vow to explore Dave’s ‘bunker’ where, it is rumoured, those prank phone calls are preserved on analog magnetized tape thingies called cassettes…

Music and image credits:
Tiger budgie by Sarah Richter from Pixabay
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Maple Leaf by Vectoro Artworks from Vecteezy
Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

25 | Part One: It seemed so innocent in 1975... then digital overhauled our lives

Tue, 17 Jan 2023 09:00:00 -0500

Realizing they are of a perfect vintage to have experienced the fall of analog and the rise of digital, Richard and Dave decided to swap stories about how the bit, the byte, and the pixel slowly took over their work in the graphic design and graphic arts fields, as well as photography and pretty much everything in-between.

If you can remember the days before there was a PC in every pot, you’ll enjoy this trip through the past few decades as someone who lived it, too. If you grew up with an optical mouse firmly in-hand, you may find these accounts of first contact with video games, email, the Internet, hardware, software, firmware, malware, ghostware, and tupperware an intriguing time capsule full of not-so-distant memories.

PS – It’s our 25th episode, so bottoms up everybody!

Music and image credits:
Classic TV image by sithuarkaryangon from Pixabay
Pong video game image by Perlinator from Pixabay
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Maple Leaf image by Vectoro Artworks from Vecteezy
Perforated steel image by YuriyC from VectorStock

24 | We know, it's only Rock 'n' Roll... with special guest, Katherine

Tue, 10 Jan 2023 03:00:00 -0500

On this week’s return to our popular rock music series, we welcome special guest, Katherine, a friend and colleague of Dave’s eldest daughter, Alexandra. Kat’s father introduced her to the artists of his (and our) era, many of which she loves. We asked Kat to expand our musical horizons by recommending artists from more recent times, artists we might not have heard of or, if we had, not heard their songs. We listened to her recommendations and the conversation you will hear, which ventured far and wide, blossomed from there...

Listen to Kat’s playlist on Spotify

Baby Was the Devil by Robert Francis
Black Smoke Rising by Greta Van Fleet
California by The Lagoons
Call Me by St. Paul & The Broken Bones
Cigarette Daydreams by Cage The Elephant
City Club by The Growlers
Confidence by Ocean Alley
Confirmation by Westerman
Fade Out by James Bay
Feeling Good by The Sheepdogs
Freakin' Out On the Interstate by Briston Maroney
Gap in the Clouds by Yellow Days
Hey Mama by Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
Hold On by Alabama Shakes
The Kiss of Venus by Paul McCartney & Dominic Fike
Kiwi by Harry Styles
Left Hand Free by alt-J
The Less I Know The Better by Tame Impala
My Lady's On Fire by Ty Segall
ОСТ 33 by Black Pumas
Pain by The War On Drugs
Pool House by The Backseat Lovers
Rita Mae Young by The Record Company
Sacrilege by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Sedona by Houndmouth
Soulfight by The Revivalists
Stick Season by Noah Kahan
Under the Pressure by The War On Drugs
Woman by Harry Styles

As a bonus, here are some current artists recommended by Richard’s son, Griffin:
Madvillain, JPEGMafia, Kendrick Lamar, Brockhampton, Stromae, Aesop Rock, and Run the Jewels.

We know, it's only Rock 'n' Roll... but we love it!

Music and image credits:
Illustration of Jimi Hendrix by Vicki Hamilton from Pixabay
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Maple Leaf image by Vectoro Artworks from Vecteezy
Perforated steel image by YuriyC from VectorStock

23 | Hunter S. Thompson: Freak Power in the Rockies

Tue, 03 Jan 2023 02:00:00 -0500

This week, we salute Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, founder of Gonzo Journalism

In the February 15, 1973, issue of Rolling Stone, Thompson said: "If I'd written the truth I knew for the past ten years, about 600 people—including me—would be rotting in prison cells from Rio to Seattle. Absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context of professional journalism."

He also wrote: “Music has always been a matter of Energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel. I have always needed Fuel. I am a serious consumer. On some nights I still believe that a car with the gas needle on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio.”

And this: “when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro .”

Selected works of Gonzo Journalism
Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (1967)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1971)
Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72 (1973)
The Great Shark Hunt (1979)

Selected movies and documentaries
Where the Buffalo Roam (1980)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride: Hunter S. Thompson on Film (2006)
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (2008)
Freak Power: The Ballot or the Bomb (2020)

Music and image credits:
Gonzo Fist by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay
Aspen lake image by Abhay Bharadwaj from Pixabay
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Maple Leaf image by Vectoro Artworks from Vecteezy
Perforated steel image by YuriyC from VectorStock

22 | Part Two: Movies to darken your holiday season

Tue, 27 Dec 2022 06:00:00 -0500

To recap: The dictionary says there are two types of dystopian society, i.e. one in which there is great suffering or injustice:

1) Totalitarian - With a system of government that is centralized and dictatorial and requires complete subservience to the state.

2) Apocalyptic - In which an event involving destruction or damage on an awesome or catastrophic scale has taken place.

If you thought last week’s episode was bleak, brace yourself for something truly, downright awful this week.

And thus draws to a shuddering close, the somewhat chaotic year 2022. Looking out on the new year to come, to quote John & Yoko: “Let’s hope it’s a good one, without any fear.”

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Music and image credits:
Image of urban hellscape brands amon from Pixabay
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Microphone image by Macrovector from Vecteezy
Maple Leaf image by Vectoro Artworks from Vecteezy
Perforated steel image by YuriyC from VectorStock

21 | Part One: Movies to darken your holiday season

Tue, 20 Dec 2022 02:00:00 -0500

The dictionary says there are two types of dystopian society, i.e. one in which there is great suffering or injustice:

1) Totalitarian - With a system of government that is centralized and dictatorial and requires complete subservience to the state.

2) Apocalyptic - In which an event involving destruction or damage on an awesome or catastrophic scale has taken place.

The jury’s out on which we’d prefer to live in, but suffice it to say that both types enflame the imaginations of film-makers on a regular basis. And so, in this penultimate episode of 2022, we crack open a tall, frosty can of utter despair, abject misery, and really bad vibes as we haul ass up the mighty River Dystopia without so much as a used Canadian Tire paddle and what remains of our wits to guide us. (Sorry, got carried away there.)

BONUS: Dave reaches out to results-driven folks everywhere by sharing his suggestion for a New Year's resolution going forward. Don't push back, double down, or hop on a call until you've tried it.

All that gifting aside, we wish our listeners none of the above, but rather oodles of peace, love, health, and harmony this holiday season. Part Two'll be a-waitin' on the other side…

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Music and image credits:
Image of weirdo in gas mask with tablet by Stefan Keller from Pixabay
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Microphone image by Macrovector from Vecteezy
Maple Leaf image by Vectoro Artworks from Vecteezy
Perforated steel image by YuriyC from VectorStock

20 | Part Two: Philip K. Dick through the future, darkly

Tue, 13 Dec 2022 02:00:00 -0500

“There will come a time when it isn't 'They're spying on me through my phone' anymore. Eventually, it will be 'My phone is spying on me."
― Philip K. Dick, American science fiction writer, 1928-1982

Writing in the New York Times on October 26, 2022, book critic Molly Young had this to say about PKD: "The best of his work is fueled by nuclear-strength imagination, grand metaphysical and theological explorations, and prescience in matters of technology, marketing, consumerism, media, and ecological catastrophe. Dick picked up on sinister cultural undercurrents the way a cat senses a can of tuna being opened six rooms away."

PS - While reviewing "The Adjustment Bureau", the guys discover they both worked at the Hudson's Bay Company 40 years ago and may have inflicted the same non-life threatening injury on themselves while doing so.

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Strange men under oval light image by MOM from Pixabay
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
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Microphone image by Macrovector from Vecteezy
Maple Leaf image by Vectoro Artworks from Vecteezy
Perforated steel image by YuriyC from VectorStock

19 | Part One: Philip K. Dick through the future, darkly

Tue, 06 Dec 2022 02:00:00 -0500

“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.”
― Philip K. Dick, American science fiction writer, 1928-1982

Movies made from Philip K. Dick’s books include: Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly, and The Adjustment Bureau. The Man in the High Castle, a 1962 Hugo Award winner, was made into an Amazon Prime television series. A groundbreaking writer whose novels and short stories often depict the psychological struggles of characters trapped in illusory environments, PKD's own life was coloured by mental illness, drug abuse, and limited financial success. In the fullness of time, he is now considered a master.

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Music and image credits:
Dark skyline image by Angela Yuriko Smith from Pixabay
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
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Microphone image by Macrovector from Vecteezy
Maple Leaf image by Vectoro Artworks from Vecteezy
Perforated steel image by YuriyC from VectorStock

18 | Part Two: We, for one, welcome our Robot Overlords

Tue, 29 Nov 2022 02:00:00 -0500

Richard and Dave conclude their investigation into the role robots and androids play, and have played, in popular culture. As literature and movies progressed, fascinating and troubling issues about the morality and ethics of creating synthetic life emerged. Meanwhile, tech entrepreneurs traffic in the business of fully equipped synthetic companions. Ew.

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Music and image credits:
Image of android by Steve Bidmead from Pixabay
Robot SFX courtesy of All Sounds on YouTube
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Microphone image by Macrovector from Vecteezy
Maple Leaf image by Vectoro Artworks from Vecteezy
Perforated steel image by YuriyC from VectorStock

17 | Part One: We, for one, welcome our Robot Overlords

Tue, 22 Nov 2022 02:00:00 -0500

Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics
The First Law: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
The Second Law: A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
The Third Law: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Richard and Dave take a look at the appearances of robots, androids, and cyborgs in popular culture and ask themselves the six million dollar question: Are they more likely to help us, or eat our lunch? Dave fulminates about unconscionable profit margins.

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Music and image credits:
Image of android by Jean-Paul Jandrain from Pixabay
Robot SFX courtesy of All Sounds on YouTube
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Microphone image by Macrovector from Vecteezy
Maple Leaf image by Vectoro Artworks from Vecteezy
Perforated steel image by YuriyC from VectorStock

16 | Part Two: No dogs on THESE discs!

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 02:00:00 -0500

Richard and Dave conclude their recommendations for record albums that deserve to be listened to from start-to-finish. Richard’s picks span a full half-century while, with one exception, Dave remains badly stuck between 1965 and 1977. In stark contrast to the accursed shrinkflationeers, the Semi-Retired guys serve up a hearty helping of bonus musical musings.

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Music and image credits:
Image of guy in hoodie by Lee Murry from Pixabay
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Microphone image by Macrovector from Vecteezy
Maple Leaf image by Vectoro Artworks from Vecteezy
Perforated steel image by YuriyC from VectorStock

15 | Part One: No dogs on THESE discs!

Tue, 08 Nov 2022 02:00:00 -0500

Some record albums are mere collections of songs. Others transcend that lowly standard, rewarding those who listen to them in one, uninterrupted session. To explore this idea, Richard and Dave each came up with a list of ten albums they feel deserve to be listened to from start-to-finish. In this week’s episode, the guys present the first halves of their lists, while Dave reports on two particularly egregious examples of shrinkflation.

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Music and image credits:
Turntable image by javier dumont from Pixabay
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Microphone image by Macrovector from Vecteezy
Maple Leaf image by Vectoro Artworks from Vecteezy
Perforated steel image by YuriyC from VectorStock

14 | Meet award-winning Canadian photographer Peter McCabe

Tue, 01 Nov 2022 02:00:00 -0400

British Columbia-born, New Hampshire-raised Peter McCabe brought his newfound love of photography with him when he moved to Montreal, Canada, in 1974. Over the next decade, he photographed a large group of friends and classmates, creating a heartfelt portrait of young people as they grew through their formative years together, near a place called Coolbrooke Park. As a photojournalist, Peter’s work covering the 2006 Dawson College mass shooting incident earned First Place in the Spot News category at the News Photographers Association of Canada Pictures of the Year awards. Join us as Peter recounts some of the highlights (and a few mishaps) of his life and career as an outstanding photographer of people.

Peter's Coolbrooke Park Facebook
Read about the Coolbrooke exhibition
Peter's Instagram
Peter's website
Christopher Curtis on Ricochet

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Music and image credits:
Self-portrait courtesy of Peter McCabe
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Microphone image by Macrovector from Vecteezy
Maple Leaf image by Vectoro Artworks from Vecteezy
Perforated steel image by YuriyC from VectorStock

13 | Part Two: Movies from off the beaten path

Tue, 25 Oct 2022 02:00:00 -0400

Richard and Dave continue to hack their way through the cinematic undergrowth with a further ten personal favourites (five each). Their choices run the gamut from spine-tingling supernatural horror, to murderous deep state treachery, a dystopian eugenics nightmare, a fateful encounter with modern day pagans, and more. You’ll probably want to listen to this one with the lights on…

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Music and image credits:
Movie theatre image by Pavan K Gireesh on Unsplash
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Microphone image by Macrovector from Vecteezy
Maple Leaf image by Vectoro Artworks from Vecteezy
Perforated steel image by YuriyC from VectorStock

12 | Part One: Movies from off the beaten path

Tue, 18 Oct 2022 02:00:00 -0400

We all love movies, but does the world really need another review of the Godfather? Or Star Wars? Or Terms of Endearment? We didn’t think so either, so we picked a list of movies we love, from more or less off the beaten path. We’re doing ten this week and ten next week, in no particular order. Put your feet up and dig in!

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Music and image credits:
Dude with popcorn image by Sam Williams from Pixabay
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
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Microphone image by Macrovector from Vecteezy
Maple Leaf image by Vectoro Artworks from Vecteezy
Perforated steel image by YuriyC from VectorStock

11 | La Jetée: The greatest slideshow you've never seen

Tue, 11 Oct 2022 02:00:00 -0400

What do you get when you combine French New Wave film-making with gritty black and white photography, dystopian science fiction, and time travel? You get “La Jetée”, a slideshow with narration and music that is No. 50 on the British Film Institute’s list of The 100 Greatest Films of All Time. Join Richard and Dave in a wide-ranging discussion that includes Richard’s discovery of a family connection to an iconic Hollywood villain.

Watch La Jetée with English narration
Watch La Jetée with French narration
Read about La Jetée on the IMDb
Watch 21-87

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Slide projector image by Berend Van Rossum at Unsplash
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
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Microphone image by Macrovector from Vecteezy
Maple Leaf image by Vectoro Artworks from Vecteezy
Perforated steel image by YuriyC from VectorStock

10 | Part Two: (We've got) Toys in the attic

Tue, 04 Oct 2022 02:00:00 -0400

In the conclusion of (We've got) Toys in the attic, Richard and Dave continue their stroll down memory lane. Stops include Monopoly, the Game of Life, tabletop hockey, plastic model kits, Sea-Monkeys and their shady ilk, trading cards, and woodburning kits. Dave recounts a tragic incident in which he destroyed a birthday gift by imitating a TV commercial.

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Music and image credits:
Monopoly board game image by LuckyLife11 from Pixabay
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Microphone image by Macrovector from Vecteezy
Maple Leaf image by Vectoro Artworks from Vecteezy
Perforated steel image by YuriyC from VectorStock

9 | Part One: (We've got) Toys in the attic

Tue, 27 Sep 2022 02:00:00 -0400

In a time long before personal computers and high-touch parenting, boys played outside with plastic “army men”, firecrackers, lawn darts, and BB guns. This week, Richard and Dave swap stories about the toys and games they grew up with in a chat that ranges from the aforementioned military-themed, to a few artsier and brainier activities.

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Army Man image by Martijn Hendrikx on Unsplash
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Microphone image by Macrovector from Vecteezy
Maple Leaf image by Vectoro Artworks from Vecteezy
Perforated steel image by YuriyC from VectorStock

8 | Part Two: JFK, Apollo 11, Flat Earth, 9/11, QAnon, COVID-19, WTF?

Tue, 20 Sep 2022 02:00:00 -0400

In the conclusion of “JFK, Apollo 11, Flat Earth, 9/11, QAnon, COVID-19, WTF?”, Richard and Dave discuss September 11, 2001 and its aftermath, ask questions about QAnon and its Canadian Queen, and cover some convoluted COVID-19 confusion. Dave rants about possible evidence of shrinkflation.

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Conspiracy theorist image by ajr_images from iStock
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
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Microphone image by Macrovector from Vecteezy
Maple Leaf image by Vectoro Artworks from Vecteezy
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7 | Part One: JFK, Apollo 11, Flat Earth, 9/11, QAnon, COVID-19, WTF?

Tue, 13 Sep 2022 02:00:00 -0400

Conspiracy theories are everywhere. And saying that doesn't make us paranoid. In this week’s episode, Richard and Dave delve into some of the most prominent conspiracy theories of the past 60 years and ask themselves why lots of people believe some very outlandish things.

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Conspiracy theorist image by Marc Dufresne from iStock
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
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Microphone image by Macrovector from Vecteezy
Maple Leaf image by Vectoro Artworks from Vecteezy
Perforated steel image by YuriyC from VectorStock

6 | This is our home in the universe

Tue, 06 Sep 2022 03:00:00 -0400

The universe, galaxies, stars, planets, moons, atoms. This week, Richard and Dave attempt to explore the infinite in a discussion that ranges from astronomy to cosmology, types of telescopes, the new James Webb Space Telescope, and what makes stars work. Strap yourself in and blast off for the final frontier.

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Milky Way image by Pexels from Pixabay
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
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Maple Leaf image by Vectoro Artworks from Vecteezy
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5 | Part Two: We know, it's only Rock 'n' Roll...

Tue, 30 Aug 2022 02:00:00 -0400

In the conclusion of “We Know, It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll…”, Richard and Dave continue their epic journey through the green, green fields of rock music bands and trends, good and bad, trade personal stories of musical discovery, and wrap-up with an in-depth discussion about the Fab Four, AKA The Beatles.

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Drum kit image by StockSnap from Pixabay
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
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4 | Part One: We know, it's only Rock 'n' Roll...

Tue, 23 Aug 2022 02:00:00 -0400

For many of us who grew up in the 1970s, rock music was more than just the soundtrack to our lives. Richard and Dave discuss the engrossing world of local radio stations, concerts, album artwork, listening to entire albums after school (on-purpose), different musical trends, and, of course, the bands.

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Guitar image by obBilder from Pixabay
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Maple Leaf image by Vectoro Artworks from Vecteezy
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3 | We really, really want to believe

Tue, 16 Aug 2022 05:00:00 -0400

Are we alone? Is anybody out there? Or are “they” already here? After a couple of quiet decades, UFOs are back in the news. From The Roswell Incident to Chariots of the Gods, from The Wow! Signal to The Phoenix Lights, Richard and Dave travel great distances in search of the truth.

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The rabbit hole beckons...
Chariots of the Gods (film)
Unidentified Flying Object
Foo Fighter
Roswell incident
Area 51
Grey alien
Village of the Damned (1960 film)
Barney and Betty Hill - abductees
John E. Mack - alien abduction experiences
Wow! Signal
Finding our place in the cosmos with Carl Sagan
Explore CIA's collection of UFO-related documents
MUFON - Mutual UFO Network
Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
List of reported UFO sightings

Music and image credits:
Alien road sign image by Elias from Pixabay
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
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Microphone image by Macrovector from Vecteezy
Maple Leaf image by Vectoro Artworks from Vecteezy
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2 | Severance cuts deep on Apple TV+

Mon, 08 Aug 2022 13:00:00 -0400

What if you could sever the connection between the person you are at work, and the person you are when you leave the office? And neither of you would know the other existed. Would you do it? Richard and Dave discuss the Apple TV+ series, Severance.

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Twins image by Pretty Sleepy Art from Pixabay
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
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Maple Leaf image by Vectoro Artworks from Vecteezy
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1 | Did Google create a sentient AI?

Tue, 02 Aug 2022 09:00:00 -0400

sen·tient / ˈsen(t)SH(ē)ənt
adjective:
1. able to perceive or feel things
2. finely sensitive in perception or feeling
3. aware

Richard and Dave discuss the recent news that a Google engineer was put on leave after claiming a chatbot AI he had worked on had become sentient. A 5000-word interview with LaMDA (Language Model for Dialogue Applications) is available online here.

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AI image by 0fjd125gk87 from Pixabay
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
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0 | Introducing Semi-Retired

Tue, 02 Aug 2022 09:00:00 -0400

Hosts Richard and Dave give you a sense of what to expect (it's definitely not retirement advice) from Semi-Retired each Tuesday.

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Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
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