Patreon Newsletter #15: December!

Hello all you Grogo’s out there! It’s the end of the year and we want to thank you all so much for being by our side through this shit storm! We hope we have brought you some joy and laughter or at least a well needed distraction during hard times. Have a wonderful upcoming holidays and stay safe! Here’s whats new with us!

From Adal:

Like everyone else in the world, Jemma and I were bummed about spending Thanksgiving in quarantine but it was actually pretty nice! ZOOM chats with my family and then Jemma’s was great and the kippies kept us wildly entertained. We also lit our first fire in the fireplace and bummed in front of it for a little bit which was truly a delight.

Jemma is still rocking the SMULE world! If you want to duet with her you can download the app and look her up. Let me know if you can’t find her! I might open an account just to join some of her songs and do bits, we’ll see! It seems pretty neat.

I mostly love this time of year because of all the Best of the Year Lists! If you find any you think I’d enjoy please post them in the comments OR better yet, let me know your best of the year list! Pop Culture is my fuel!

Here’s what I consumed in November!

TV:

• Ted Lasso - Apple TV original that’s way better than it has any right to be. Full of kindness and empathy and smart, witty writing.
• Marvelous Mrs. Maisel seasons 1, 2 & 3!
• Somebody Please Feed Phil season 4 - nice way to live vicariously through someone travelling and eating around the world!
• Gangs of London - wild show I started watching because someone in the Patreon comments mentioned it! Directed/written(?) by the guy who created The Raid and The Raid 2 which are two of the best action movies of the past 600 years.
• Bluey - a friend said this was there children’s favorite show. It’s an Australian kids show about a family of dogs and it’s a goddamn delight. First episode made me laugh and almost cry! I’ll be eating more edibles and watching more.
• The Crown Season 4 - so good! The woman who plays Princess Diana is great and Gillian Anderson is incredible. Please let’s all play a round of Ibble Dibble at the next live show?
• Eater’s Guide To the World
• The Owl House
• Aunty Donna’s Big Ol’ House of Fun!
• Lucifer - a student in the UIC class I teach said that Lucifer is the best show ever made so I watched one episode! Everyone is very attractive!
• Toast of London
• Fargo Season 4
• Mandalorian

Movies:

• The Trial of the Chicago 7
• The Money Pit
• The Mighty Ducks 2
• Belushi - Showtime Documentary about John Belushi
• Bill and Ted Face The Music
• Grease
• Grease 2
• Saving Mr. Banks
• The Beast
• Anna
• Let Him Go - a weird, bonkers, Western?? That goes to some dark dark places
• Hot Rod

Video Games:

• Hades! - Casey, JPC and our friend Rush got me to finally check this out and I’m HOOKED. So much fun and so replayable. Really satisfying to work your way to a new level and upgrade weapons and unlock new items, etc. Shield is best, fight me.

Books:

• Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosch
• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Podcasts:

• Threedom
• Dead Eyes
• The Besties
• Make My Day
• Here’s The Situation
• Bill Buds
• Pop Culture Happy Hour

Also here’s a list of some wonderful podcasts that were kind enough to invite me on!

1. Here’s The Situation - got to guest on one of my favorite shows! I think my episode will be up in mid to late December!
2. Man Now Dog Podcast - hey got to guest on one of my other favorite shows! What a month!
3. Blokebusters Podcast - talking about Star Wars!
4. This is Gonna Work
5. Another Episode Podcast - talking about The Money Pit!
6. Bat Boys Comedy Podcast

Here’s a short December/Christmas playlist for anyone who wants to listen! I tend to listen to music on the sadder side in the winter but there’s nothing hopefully too depressing in here AND I threw in a Aquabats song just to boost the mood a bit: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0hikRxbvx06bkC4vHKwogz?si=OTV3IwgLSjiD8n-zMLU9Hg

Hey! You’re all fucking great!

7:17pm FOR LIFE

Love,

Adal

From Erin:

Hello!

I don’t have much to say!

I made a turkey for the first time on Thanksgiving and it turned out great and I was so proud of myself. I’m a real grown up!

I’ve watched three seasons of Survivor in the last couple of weeks. I haven’t watched in like 15 years. Update-I’ve convinced myself I could win the show. It also makes me cry.

I also cried laughing at some Aunty Donna moments from their Netflix sketch show. Full crying. If you like Monty Python’s flying circus I think you’ll enjoy at least some of their show.

Here is a playlist for this month that isn’t Christmas. This playlist is for doing the dishes. It’s illegal to listen to these songs  when you’re not doing the dishes. So put that shit on shuffle and get to work.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3LVCLn6gPn81JmwRVHoGwt?si=zck1Dh9DQdWSWc4pUDEPtw

And here is my Christmas playlist from last year.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2RoQ7J7XChcKxukcSc3tcF?si=wDO2Q5uoQcCsX6PBPp_Yaw

Fuck you 2020. You’re unpleasant. See you next year!

-Erin

From JPC:

Reading: I've been bad about reading! But I did manage to read Dying for an iPhone by Jenny Chan, Mark Selden, and Pun Ngai. It's a really heartbreaking read about the Chinese workers in the Foxconn manufacturing cities in China putting together iPhones, iPads and tons of other consumer electronics. It's one of those read where I felt guilty the entire time I was reading it but it's also very important to understand how my purchasing decisions have supply chain ramifications for people I'll never meet. The text is also interspersed with poetry from the workers that is both beautiful and gut-wrenching. I'd recommend it, but I'll also add that the subject matter does reference suicide. For December, I've set a goal to read 3 books, so we'll see if I can do it. I'm currently reading a book of short essays and a novela, so I like my chances.

Video Games: I played through Hyper Light Drifter on a recommendation from a Tankling (shoutout to Raf!) and really enjoyed it. There are some parts that are very technically challenging and a ton of secrets (that I didn't uncover) but all in all, great soundtrack, great art direction and a fun experience. I also started and finished playing Control (now working through the DLC) and that's another one I'd absolutely recommend. It's a third-person shooter with a horror element and a really intriguing story. Lots of lore baked into the world too. Kinda has a 50s mystery vibe to it, mixed with "magic" powers. I also just picked up Doom Eternal and I've only played one level (not on stream) but I can already tell I'm going to enjoy the hell out of that game. I really liked Doom 2016.

Will I do some more Among Us stream? Eh, yeah! Probably! Hard wrangling folks with the holiday, but we will see! If I do, I usually do them on Friday or Saturday evenings (Chicago time)

TV: Mariah and I just started watching Stephen Universe on Hulu. We are only like 15 episodes in (we don't watch much tv, so we move very slowly) but it's a blast so far. Excited to watch something that is already complete for once.

Podcasts: This is absolutely fresh on my brain but I just listened to the Boots Riley interview on Bad Faith Pod today and I highly recommend it. If you haven't seen his movie Sorry to Bother You (2018) or listened to his music (The Coup) you absolutely should. Steal This Double Album was in  heavy rotation for me back in 2007. I may or may not still know every word to 'Me And Jesus The Pimp In A '79 Granada Last Night'. I also guested on an upcoming episode of Here's The Situation with my friends TJ and Rush. It's a real podcast about hypothetical situations and it's one of my favorite parts about my Monday, so check that out.

Weather: It's fucking cold outside! I put away my fall gloves and brought out my early-winter gloves. Resisting breaking out the mid-winter gloves for as long as possible. Stay warm!

-JPC

Other News!:

• We want to do a Best Of episode this year to celebrate a year of awful scene work, terrible riddles, and the slow descent into insanity--and maybe provide an entry point for new listeners to get familiar with the show as well. We have a few scenes in mind, but we also wanted to get feedback from all of you. If you'd like to submit, head over to the discord and the #best-of-2020 channel. You can submit whole episodes (include ep number!) or specific scenes or sections (rough time stamp!). If you see a suggestion that someone else made and you want to support it, just throw a heart react on it! We'll try to prioritize the posts with the most hearts. Oh, and this is main feed only. No ads or Patreon eps! We have something special planned for our Patreon Christmas episode... Submissions will be open through 12/15.
• We’re super excited for our December Stream which will include our 2nd annual Xmas gift exchange! That should be up by Monday December 7th!
• Review Crew poll is coming later today! Also don’t forget RC episodes are now released the 2nd Monday of the month!
• We have some incredible new merch in our TeePublic store! https://www.teepublic.com/?ref_id=9168

Women Be Hummus design by Jasmin Darnell (insta @ya.hime) and J.P. Riddles design by Kristina H. (insta @kristina_marina)!

• Audio Daddy Casey Toney has a GoFundMe if you have the means and would like to support! Here’s the link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/helpcaseyedit

And some context!:

Hey there!

I'm Casey Toney and if you're here you're probably familiar with some of my work as a podcast editor, engineer, and part time performer on shows such as NeoScum , Campaign Skyjacks , and Hey Riddle Riddle .

As an audio professional, I spend a LOT of time on my computer editing, striving to push the boundaries of audio production and sound design in the projects I work on. But with that comes demanding system needs and a lot of wear and tear. In the past month, technical issues with my current laptop setup have resulted in hardware failure, crashes, corrupted project files, and delayed releases.

So, for the sake of my work, it's time to transition to my first ever custom built PC.

Any and all funds earned in this campaign will go directly to paying off the investment I've made in this setup.

I'm seeking $3000 USD to cover the full price of a state-of-the-art editing workstation and a second monitor to replace the additional display my laptop provided. (This goal covers tax and relevant platform fees.)

With my new system in tow, I'll be able to work more efficiently without worrying about slowdowns, crashes, and instability. With fewer barriers between me and my ideas, I can produce more creative, complex, and consistent work.

By contributing to this campaign, you're helping me afford what is, unfortunately, a prohibitively expensive need. And in doing so, you're investing in the future of my work. Increased productivity, workflow, and hardware reliability will make every edit better, and each new release is thanks in part to you. For that I am incredibly grateful.

Any help you can offer means the world to me. Thank you so much~ ♥

THE END!

That’s all from the Clue Crew! We’re thrilled to put this year behind us and see you all in 2021 where we should have some fun ass stuff popping off and we hope to see some of you all in better circumstances! Be kind to each other, be wonderful to yourself, adopt a cat/dog, laugh often and something something sunscreen!

As always let us know what YOU recommend in the comments below and if there’s anything you’d like to hear us do on a Patreon episode!

Love you all and thank you for the support!

Adal, Erin & JPC