I usually don’t think it’s necessary to go into a whole explanation of what The Halloween Special is all about, so I will let it speak for itself. What I can tell you is that, as always, we had fun making this and I think it really shows. The work that I put into it on a personal front usually brings me to the brink of death, but in the end it’s all worth it. I get 3 or 4 hours of sleep for about a month straight due to late night editing and filming pick up shots and b-roll. Do I take this too seriously? Maybe, but it’s what I love. It’s not like I’m making the Shining, but it’s nice to have dreams.
I pushed really hard to make this one move quicker and have a run time that was roughly in line with a TV sitcom episode. I would love to talk about my inspirations but a few of them would be spoilery. One of them isn’t though and that’s the Rocky Horror Picture Show. It’s NOTHING like that and nowhere near that epic level, but I always aspire to those heights. This was more of a nostalgic type of fun party romp and I hope you have fun watching it. Happy Halloween and there is a quite a bit more to come this season between more videos from me AND also coming to you is more Purple Stuff Podcast with me and Dino Drac! Thanks to everyone who helped me make this Special happen. From the title intro to the music to the cast, it’s always a labor of love. If you haven’t yet seen what brought us to the party, go back and watch the previous 7 installments! They’re all there in a neat little playlist.
Summer Saturday’s on the Purple Stuff Podcast continues! All month long me and Matt are bringing you new episodes you can listen to as you try to beat the heat. We’re happy to have you along for the ride! In this week’s episode we answer all kinds of summery questions that were sent in by the listeners. We take a total cruise line down memory lane. Slip and Slides, Summer TV lineups, and toys all get discussed. We basically got sent to SUMMER SCHOOL so listen to find out if we passed! We hope you dig it!
If you’d like to support our show, you can visit us at Patreon.com/PurpleStuff where we do an exclusive monthly bonus show for our “Patronies!”
The hot, blazing summer has come for all of us. Just think, if we make it out alive we are one step closer to the Halloween season! At least that’s my incentive to persevere through these hellish, humid days. Even though it’s my least favorite season, I admit that theres so much to enjoy about it. If you can deal with swamp ass and drenching back sweat then you’ll have no problem appreciating the finer things that the summer has to offer. To encapsulate it all into one tiny nostalgic trip, The Purple Stuff Podcast is very excited to bring to you SUMMER SATURDAYS! We look at this as a way for you to savor the summer while sipping Shasta cans in the yard.
What is Summer Saturdays you ask? Essentially, me and Matt will be bringing you a new podcast every Saturday throughout July focusing on some of the highlights of summer for us. We’ll be presenting a variety of different themes during this extravaganza, but first, to kick things off, we have a music show for you compiling our summer playlists. You know us by now, we intentionally try to avoid the typical fare in favor of spotlighting the slightly more obscure stuff.
Whacked out is the best way to describe the variety on this episode. From songs heard in horror films to more songs heard in horror films to a member of the Mickey Mouse Club, to The Lost Boys on the beach, to fun with Phoebe Cates it’s just bananas. Check this one out if you’re chilling by your pool, doing yard work, *PAINTING THE FENCE, or just living that sloth life on your couch in the air conditioning. It’s a fun way to kick off your summer and we’ve got a lot more in store for you this month so stay tuned!
Thank you for listening to the show! If you would like to support The Purple Stuff Podcast we greatly appreciate your help! You can spread the word to friends IRL, leave us a positive review on iTunes, share us on social media, or join in the fun on our Patreon where we present a monthly bonus show exclusively for our “Patronies.” Thanks again and we hope your summer kicks ass.
*Can you name what movie this references? That’s another hint to a movie that gets brought up in this episode thanks to the awesome summer song!
In many ways, I’ve spent my life prepping for the crap that Dino Drac and I discuss on the Purple Stuff Podcast. Who knew that all those hours as a couch potato on those summer days that were too sweltering to even swim under the sun would actually prove to be useful someday. Well, useful is a stretch, but all those memories certainly fuels our Mr. Fusion of inconsequential nostalgia. For a little trip back in time to when TV sitcoms ruled our world and they were only available through that giant box in your living room, dial up our first TV Theme Songs show from May 2016!
If you don’t need the refresher, well, as Freddy said, WELCOME TO PRIME TIME BITCH! We’ve got 10 TV Themes to discuss and dissect. We don’t only talk about the music, we also get into the details of the actual intros themselves in some cases. No matter what, these are some oddball choices as always. You’ll hear everything from Harry and The Hendersons to Jem! Things are about to get weird so take a listen on your favorite podcast app. Thank you for listening and feel free to add your favorite TV Themes in the comments!
If you dig the show and would like to support the show you can share the show on social media, or recommend The Purple Stuff Podcast to one of your friend IRL! So many people I know are through with social media altogether that you may want to have an actual convo with them and say “Hey, this is a show I enjoy listening to and you may like it as well!” If you aren’t into that option, we would love it if you could give us a 5 star rating on iTunes. And last but not least, you can support us on Patreon for an exclusive monthly bonus show! www.Patreon.com/PurpleStuff Thanks again for listening and reading!
Ready or not, the holidays are here. To say that I am ill-prepared is an understatement. In the plus column though, a new episode of The Purple Stuff Podcast is on deck and all set to be fired up. Whether you are baking cookies, cleaning the house, or getting some last minute shopping done, whatever you find yourself doing you can make this episode your accompaniment since it’s Christmas cheer for your ears.
In this episode, me and Matt explore various Christmas customs that we’ve taken part in through the years. We talk about foods we look forward to each year, stuff we watch, and in my case, a special recurring piece of clothing. Nothing beats reminiscing during the holidays over a cup of egg nog (It’s good, it’s good.) At first, I didn’t realize that I had so many little traditions until I really sat and thought about it. It turns out that I have quite a few and at least 3 or 4 didn’t even make the cut! Do you have any Christmas traditions that you find yourself doing every Christmas season?
If you are here reading this, I want to take this opportunity to thank you for reading, listening, and watching my various endeavors. It means a lot to me that you take the time and show your interest here. My blog began to become a ghost town the past couple of years but as indicated in the pretty recent past, I am easing back into things. Who knows what 2019 will bring in terms of unexpected events, but either way I am still keeping this trash heap alive mark my words!
Chances are this may be the last post of the year (If I have time, I might post something quick) so I hope you enjoy the holidays and get to spend them with your loved ones. As much as I prefer my solo solitude, being with my friends and family during Christmas time is what it’s all about. There’s literally no other thing I’d rather do during this season than just hang out with the important VIP people in my life. I’m very grateful and appreciative of all of you! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Now go listen to that new episode ya’ filthy animals!
Christmas Wonderland at Maple Leaf Farms, Route 9 South, Manalapan, NJ
Finding quirky and offbeat stuff to do for Halloween seems to be super easy for me. Christmas on the other hand, there doesn’t seem to be nearly as much going on. It’s ironic to think about because Christmas is such a mega holiday in terms of spending and venturing out to holiday themed events with the fam. As you may have guessed, I’m not really one for the typical nonsense. For example, I ice skated once in my life and although I didn’t bust my ass, I felt like any second I could plummet into the darkest regions of hell. It was not fun. Sliding around in circles on ice, while balancing on a thin, sharp blade is not my idea of fun, especially in the cold. Going to see the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree is always an annual “must” for locals, but I’ve been there, done that a million times. Nowadays it’s even more of a hassle because the vicinity around the tree is so crowded with tourists, and as crotchety as that makes me sound, it’s even worse than you could imagine. I get claustrophobic in crowds and it isn’t just there, Manhattan in general during the holidays that gets overwhelmingly packed with people. So not my jam.
I had way more fun lounging on the couch sipping Diet Cranberry Ginger Ale and watching The Christmas Chronicles on Netflix than I could ever have battling holiday traffic and crowds. Ugh, such nonsense! If I sound like Scrooge, then I can’t argue. Recently, an esteemed colleague at work affirmed this very sentiment for me. She told me that during the holidays she goes away to Florida to her summer home (must be nice!) and for the entire stretch of the season she relaxes with her husband and they literally don’t do a damn thing except snack and watch movies on the couch. She went even deeper to declare that is what the holidays are all about for her. Not to beat a dead horse, but I recently learned that my co-host on The Purple Stuff Podcast, Matt from Dino Drac, feels the exact same way.
While I always consider myself a champion of vegetating on the couch whenever possible, conversely I may be a bigger proponent of devising elaborately stacked plans of themed things to do. What can I say? Points of interest pique my interest and Clark Griswold has always been one of my idols. Maximizing the fun is one of my main objectives in life.
I didn’t want to piss this holiday season away without some actual merry making. After a lot of useless Googling, it felt like finding a unique, Christmassy thing to do in Jersey was becoming hopeless. But, right around the moment when I was about to give up, we drove passed Maple Leaf Farms on the way home one night. I noticed a sign that said “Christmas Wonderland,” as I swung an abrupt General Lee style turn into the parking lot. The building’s exterior is similar to any other run of the mill country store, except for being adorned with an over-sized, inflatable Santa Claus. The best part about this is that I had no idea what to expect inside. Would it be a bunch of crafts, wooden soldier centerpieces, and cinnamon sticks OR would we be delighted by a decked out display of endearing decor? That sentence was Heavy on the D.
Watch the video to see what I discovered inside the Christmas Wonderland. If you don’t have 5 minutes to spare, it was a sight to behold and totally lived up to its namesake! This traditional walk through, accompanied by a laid back Christmas playlist running throughout the space, is comprised of animatronics that the proprietor has rescued from old store window displays, malls, and various other means. He restored them superficially as well as their electronic components inside that made them seem magically alive in their heyday. It’s like he is a human droid factory. After speaking with him about his undying attention to detail and his commitment to the Christmas spirit, his goal was creating a vintage Christmas vibe and he succeeded, and then some.
My nostalgia needle was off the charts in this place. In a world of Nintendo Switch and Occulus Rift, these old school animatronic characters may not bowl a lot of you over since our technology expectations are so far beyond them, but these are the kind of novelties that I absolutely love to gaze at. My affection for them can be likened to why I love the old Telco Motionettes. Those were like the home versions of these little dudes! Inside the Wonderland, the snowmen move in slow motion, Goofy’s arm goes up and down, and there’s even a little tribute to the time Santa conquered those Martians! Snow covered Christmas trees are set up in every corner and adorning the pipe and draped halls leading to each next display were actual Christmas themed product ad posters from the old days bestowing that extra spoonful of authenticity. Just when you think it’s over, the finale leads you to a BIG room with the BIG jolly man himself. That’s right, pictures with Santa are included with your minimal entrance fee.
Experiencing this throwback to simpler times was a much needed little break from the world. Take the family on a little drive to Manalapan, NJ down route 9 for a dose of Christmas cheer before the season is out and see for yourself. There’s a TON of heart and LOADS of Christmas spirit poured into this and making it a success will ensure that it continues every year!
Relinquishing my death grip on Halloween just ain’t gonna happen. It never does. Even when the holidays start creeping up on us, I’m still bummed that WINTER IS COMING. I spend the rest of the year trying to engineer my life so it seems like it’s Halloween. That’s not to say that I don’t mildly enjoy the holidays! They deserve some love too. For example, Thanksgiving has always been a holiday that gets tossed aside by many in favor of focusing on Christmas. This is unfair and even I need to take the time to celebrate Thanksgiving and all the stuff…or stuffing that it represents. Let’s get to it.
On the latest Purple Stuff Podcast, me and Matt from Dinosaur Dracula are providing a feast for the ears. Join us as we go back to 1994 and watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and discuss all the most notable moments from it. From Richard Simmons tossing his cookies to the Superstars of the WWF, this parade has a little bit of everything and much of it is totally whacked out. Enjoy the show and we hope it’s a nice appetizer for your big Thanksgiving dinner!
*We’ve also started a Patreon page for The Purple Stuff Podcast. If you would like to support the show please click this link to read all about it! We’re interested in creating an exclusive episode just for our most avid listeners! Check it out if you would like to be in on it. Thank you reading and listening!
Hard to believe that this Halloween season has already come and gone. Time flies is a total understatement in this case. It feels like a few weeks ago when I started hitting stores for Halloween stuff and filming the Halloween Special. Now here we are, it’s almost November. Crazy.
To me, one of the most fun things about Halloween is reminiscing about previous Halloween seasons. We do that often on the Purple Stuff Podcast, but this time around, this season has demanded a bit of a retrospective. Me and Matt from DinoDrac will be running through some of our favorite stuff from this Halloween season. At first, the season didn’t seem like it would yield much of a bounty, but it was surprisingly massive.
With so much to discuss, we had to narrow it down so we wouldn’t be recording for 3.5 hours. Some topics included in this episode are movies, animated plush toys, old Toys R Us sites, and green bun burgers. Check it out wherever you like to listen to podcasts!
Thanks to all of you who are reading this. Much appreciation for the tweets, shares, and comments whether for The Sexy Armpit Halloween Special and The Purple Stuff Podcast. It’s awesome to have you on board and stay tuned for more podcasts and videos really soon! I hope you have a kickass Halloween!
Pursuit of maintaining childlike wonder requires excitement, even for the simplest things. Submitted for your approval: ICE CREAM.
The newest episode of The Purple Stuff Podcast is a big one. It’s all about some of the most outstanding ice cream and frozen treats. You need not be an expert on every single offering in your grocer’s freezer or every single Good Humor variation displayed on the side of your neighborhood ice cream truck to enjoy this one. Once you start thinking about your favorite frozen treats from throughout your life, the floodgates open. This is what happened to Matt and I in this episode. There were so many great ones that we had to try to squeeze them all in!
There’s a brain freezing treat awaiting everyone who listens to this one. Maybe you dig Italian ices? Maybe you are a soft serve type of person? Or you may be a fan of one of the more obscure ice pops that was only sold in one section of the world in 1991? No matter what, it’s pretty safe to say that everyone has a special spot for some kind of frozen treat so this one celebrates that. Memories of hot summer days chasing down the ice cream truck will rush back into your mind. Remember when you would eat a colored ice cream pop and your mouth, lips, and tongue all turned that color? Fortunate for us, the summer is almost here so we are celebrating that feeling by digging deep into our memories and telling you all about a slew of our ultimate Ice Cream entries.
In this episode we will touch on everything from shark pops to alien cakes to great balls of ice cream. It’s a creamy and delicious audio compendium of our favorite frozen treats. Please subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play Music or Podbean, OR you can check it out at the link above!
It’s that time of the year again! The weather starts cutting out the below zero temps and gives us that Spring feeling of being alive again. Although the Fall is by far my favorite season, Spring is second, but not because of blooming flowers…because of booming bodyslams! That’s right, its time to celebrate the WWE’s grandest event of the year, WrestleMania! Even if the last time you watched WWE was when Stone Cold Steve Austin was still the champ, you can still hop back on board at any time. Right now is the best time because WrestleMania is always a fun time. Hardcore fans dissect every event and suck the goodness out of everything, but this is one block of 4 hours each year that I dive completely into the pro-wrestling zone and enjoy it as if I were 5 years old again. It’s actually pretty refreshing, and maybe even more-so if you are not super into the WWE world. If you aren’t jaded to all of it you may even have more of a blast than many of us critical bastards! Regardless, here are 6 tips on maximizing your WrestleMania day:
Eliminate interruptions. You may be tempted to hop on Twitter or scroll through your Instagram feed during any lulls, but trust me, it can wait. You’ll have time during the Kid Rock promo so plan the social media breaks strategically. Many bands have banned cell phones at their concerts, so take a cue from The Misfits and enjoy WrestleMania as if it was the ’80s and early ’90s when you weren’t bogged down by the damn phone. I’m sure I will get texts during the show, but unless it’s an emergency, it can wait! When The Goddess is on TV, everything else gets put on hold.
2. Drink. Doesn’t have to be liquor. If you aren’t into that, get a lot of Root Beer or Mountain Dew on ice. You will need to have an excuse to run to the bathroom if a match starts to bore you out of your smoking skull. (that’s a Stone Cold reference if you didn’t catch it!)
3. Set up a comfortable viewing area, but not too comfortable! You want the pillows and blankets, but don’t accidentally promote a sleeping environment for you and your squad. This is a mistake. There’s plenty of time for that later on. If this is your first WWE event in a while, it will feel like it’s 17 hours.
4. Food! You can actually get winded just by living vicariously through watching these super athletes do what they do best so you will need nourishment. My advice is to balance out the crap with some good healthy stuff. Sounds boring, but you’ll thank me afterward! If you’re eating nothing but garbage all day and night, by the end of the event you’ll want to bust. You’ll feel like an alien is ripping out of your stomach. It’s worthwhile to cut up some fruits and veggies and drink water here and there. You have to pace yourself between all the Doritos and buffalo wings.
5. Treat the day like it’s a holiday. For me, WrestleMania has always been a holiday. To some, The Super Bowl is the big day, but for me this is monumental. Even if it winds up sucking, there’ so much excitement and enthusiasm on this day. The memories of Mania’s past come rushing back and you can enjoy them all day long if you have the WWE Network. With all great holidays, reminiscing is a major part of them and this is no different. You might wear an ugly sweater to a Christmas party, so be sure to wear your favorite Wrestler’s t-shirt or hat. I can’t forget this one, the music! We listen to Christmas carols during Christmas and spooky music during Halloween, so get your bluetooth speaker out and stream WWE music all day long, heck, all weekend long! And since you’re going to be up late and all pumped, think about taking the next day off. They won’t kill you.
6. LISTEN TO THE NEWEST EPISODE OF THE PURPLE STUFF PODCAST! The newest episode of The Purple Stuff Podcast is all about inconsequential aspects of all the WrestleManias so far. Matt from Dinosaur Dracula and I have compiled 10 pieces of minutiae that we find interesting enough to talk about for an hour. Topics include, The Undertaker’s outrageous act, A whacked out Piper’s Pit, The Mistress of the Dark, and the greatest pro wrestling entrance of all time! Check it out on iTunes, Stitcher, Podbean, and the Google Play store! Thanks for tuning in.
Now, let’s take you down to our broadcasting team of Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse “The Body” Ventura…
