Mt. Rushmore Podcast

Richard may have come up with a ridiculously long title this week, but I, Michael, can sum it up with one word: Poseur. And HE went to school to be a writer... This week we debate all the things we pretend to like so that someone cool will like us. Look, have you met us? It's really the only way we're gonna get into the cool kids party.  From Punk Rock to Politics to Picasso. We put the P in Poseurs. 

There's nothing like sitting through 30 minutes of trailers and two hours of movie only to feel like you need to sit through another 10 minutes of credits. Why? Not because you really want to find out who the Best Boy Grip was on the production - no, you're stuck there because you have to see if there's any extra scenes hidden in the credits. This week we're taking on mid- and post-credit scenes. Amazingly, there once was a time when the movie actually ended before the credits! We remember this because we're old. Stick around until the end and don't miss the bonus scene where Jeff acquires the Power Disc of Podcast Immortality. What will this mean for next week's episode? SHOW NOTES The Avengers "Schwarma" (Richard's Choice) Iron Man "Avengers Initiative" (Michael's Choice) Cannonball Run "Outtakes" (Richard's Choice) Napoleon Dynamite "Kip's Wedding" (Michael's Choice) Airplane! "Taxi Fare" (Richard's Choice) Rumble in the Bronx "Outtakes" (Michael's Choice) Ferris Bueller's Day Out "Go Home" (Richard's Cho

Imagine if you had someone who looked and sounded JUST LIKE YOU. Except they had one difference that made them totally evil - like being the type of person who microwaves broccoli in the work lunchroom and smells the whole place up for the rest of the day. How frightening would THAT be? This week we're exploring lookalikes - both as harbingers of pending doom and as wacky celebrity impersonators. SHOW NOTES MyClone (Michael's Pick) Lincoln Doppelganger (Richard's Pick) Shadow Link from Legend of Zelda II (Michael's Pick) Nega-Scott from Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Richard's Pick) Evil Spock (Michael's Choice) The video for "Bad Cover Version" by Pulp (Richard's Pick) Doppelganger Spider-Man (Michael's Pick) Toni Braxton Impersonator Trina Johnson-Finn (Richard's Pick)

This week's episode is about the act of losing something, which can go in many directions. It could mean losing something physical, like a toy or tickets to a sporting event. Or, it could mean something a little more ethereal, like a loss of innocence.  But mainly, it's about how annoying it is to keep losing your earbuds. Isn't that just the worst? SHOW NOTES Soccer tickets (Richard's Choice) Moss Man action figure (Michael's Choice) Your sense of invulnerability (Richard's Choice) An old Hotmail account (Michael's Choice) Earbuds (Richard's Choice) Our Rushmore hard drive (Michael's Choice) The contents of Richard's stomach (Richard's Choice) A wedding ring (Michael's Choice) A cat in the walls (Jeff's "Borglum's Bag" choice)

A great movie or TV shows transports you out of your normal, humdrum existence into another world. You become so absorbed in the people, places and things that are happening in front of you that you eventually forget that you're watching a screen and feel like you are actually part of everything happening in front of you. And then some ding-dong actor swings his "full" coffee mug around and makes it clear that it's actually empty. RECORD SCRATCH and all of the illusion is ruined. So this week we're talking about the moments that take you completely out of a film or TV show and just ruin the whole experience. SHOW NOTES Gift Wrapping (Michael's Choice) Empty Coffee Cups (Richard's Choice) Costumes That Are Way Too Good (Michael's Choice) Bad Accents (Richard's Choice) Adaptive Choices (Michael's Choice) Overplayed Songs (Richard's Choice) Video Games (Michael's Choice) Age Gaps (Richard's Choice)

We may have a Monopoly on the idea of what belongs on the Mt. Rushmore of Board Games, but that doesn’t mean we have a Clue. This week we’re looking at everyone’s favorite time-waster/family fight starter. Our choices run the gamut from all-time classics to forgotten personal favorites. Want to know if your top pick made the list? I guess you’ll have to listen and Yahtzee. (Sorry, that last one was terrible. Nothing but Trouble if you ask me.) SHOW NOTES Monopoly (Joint Choice) Risk (Richard's Choice) Oh, What a Mountain (Michael's Choice) Scrabble (Richard's Choice) Mouse Trap (Michael's Choice) Statis-Pro Baseball (Richard's Choice) Girl Talk Date Line (Michael's Choice)

This week we turn the magnifying glass on our younger selves to analyze those things we were just too young to appreciate. A good glass of brandy. A fine pair of sneakers. Hell, even the crushing, yet liberating, weight of being absolutely alone. But not in that Lydia Deetz sort of Beetlejuicey/goth way.

Can you imagine someone having to pretend to be the President of the United States? No, seriously, we’ll wait for you to stop laughing. We mean REAL ACTORS. After all, our presidents are among some of the most recognizable figures in American history. Whether they are heroes or scoundrels, they cast a large shadow. Put it this way: everyone can do a bad JFK impression, but how many people can do it well enough to be credible in a movie or TV show? (Answer: Not Greg Kinnear in “The Kennedys”)  This week we look at the people who got it right, whether their performance was carefully crafted homage or scathing satire. SHOW NOTES Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln in “Lincoln” (Joint Choice) Anthony Atamanuik as Donald Trump in “The President Show (Michael’s Choice) Edward Herrmann as FDR in “Annie” (Richard’s Choice) Robin Williams as Teddy Roosevelt in “Night at the Museum (Michael’s Choice) Phil Hartman as Bill Clinton on “Saturday Night Live” (Richard’s Choice) Paul Giamatti as John Adams in “John Adams” (M

Do we have to spell out what this week's episode is about? Well, we probably should. It's all about S to the Izzo, P to the Pizzo, E to the...uh, E-izzo...look, this is getting complicated. Just...we're talking about songs featuring spelling, OK? And no, we don't mean Tori Spelling. We mean words being spelled out during the course of the song. So get out of here, "Alphabet Song" - you're not spelling anything out. Here's a hint for one of this week's choices: if you don't R-E-S-P-E-C-T our choices, you can P-O-U-N-D S-A-L-T. SHOW NOTES "Respect" by Aretha Franklin (Joint Choice) "Ouija Board, Ouija Board" by Morrissey (Michael's Choice) "Saturday Night" by the Bay City Rollers (Richard's Choice) "Safety Dance" by Men Without Hats (Michael's Choice) "Gloria" by Them (Richard's Choice) "F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E." by Pulp (Michael's Choice) "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" by Tammy Wynette (Richard's Choice)

Let's PUMP UP THE JAMS! This week we're discussing the songs that get you READY TO ROCK at the stadium when you go to see your favorite sports team. Expect more RADICAL ALL-CAPS WORDS in this episode than ever before. Seriously, if this episode doesn't get you FULLY READY TO BLOW SOME SHIT UP then you don't have a sports bone in your body.

You kids today, with your iPhones and your podcasts. We didn't have anything like that in our day. If we wanted to hear something interesting, we'd listen to our ears ringing after our Dads boxed our ears in for showing up five minutes late for dinner. That's the way that it was AND WE LIKED IT! This week we explore all of the things that we're dealing with as we get older. We strongly encourage you to get off of our lawns and want to let you know that your "boy bands" today can't hold a candle to The Monkees. SHOW NOTES Parking in front of your house (Michael's Choice) Going to sleep before midnight (Richard's Choice) Body aches (Joint Choice) Lack of interest in new music/finding new music past 30 (Joint Choice) Salad Talk (Michael's Choice) Going to Vegas and not drinking or gambling (Richard's Choice)

"In the summertime, when the weather is hot You ca-..." GET OUT OF HERE MUNGO JERRY!!! NO ONE LIKES YOUR AWFUL SONG! AND TAKE YOUR CREEPY SIDE BURNS WITH YOU!!  OK, now that we've cleared out the riff-raff . This week we're unpacking stories from our childhood to offer up our Mount Rushmore of Summer as a Kid. You know: those halcyon days when the days, weeks and months stretched on forever and responsibility was nothing more than a spelling bee word you just couldn't get right. 

If the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, then the road to Fast Food Hell is paved with bacon, cheese and more bacon. This week we take a look at the most artery-clogging, gut-busting creations ever to ooze their way from the laboratories of Big Fast Food Inc. You'll be amazed at some of the things that they thought we would eat! And probably ashamed because you've had several of these. USA! USA! SHOW NOTES Fatburger's The Triple King (Michael's Choice) Wendy's The Baconator (Richard's Choice) Wendy's Baconator Fries (Michael's Choice) KFC's The Double Down (Joint Choice) Burger King's Mac n Cheetos (Richard's Choice) Hot Dog Crust Pizza (Pizza Hut) Frito Chili Cheese Pizza (Papa John's)

Like, TWO SECONDS after mankind created fire you know that he burnt himself with it. Mankind goes on to create the wheel and FOR SURE it rolls over his toes. Yadda yadda yadda. George Jetson is crying for help on his space treadmill.  Rounding out our three weeks of TED Talk episodes we gripe the light fantastic about how lights aren't that fantastic and complain about all these technological terrors that ruin our ordinary lives.     

Mankind creates fire. Mankind creates wheel. Mankind decides this remote control isn’t working for me, what if it was also a watch?!  This week our Mount Rushmore of Old Electronic gadgets draws from our formative years. From the VCR to the BOOM BOX to Nintendo’s Power Glove, we crank the !!!TURBO BASE!!! on nostalgia All. The. Way. 

I find it hard to believe that there’s a sucker born every minute. After all, people are putting their hard-earned money into Kickstarter campaigns a lot more often than that! This isn’t to say that every crowdfunded invention is a grift. It’s just that for every Oculus Rift, there are 100 products that don’t work as advertised or just plain never see the light of day, leaving “investors” holding the bag – and a worthless receipt. This week we’re looking at the crowdsourced concepts that should have stayed as concepts. We touch on everything from heavy duty coolers that are a bit too heavy duty to movie auteurs panhandling for money online to make their latest dud “with their vision.” We hope you enjoy it. Also: remember that with $100 donation, you’ll receive a phone call from us thanking you for listening.

This week’s episode answers a critical question: if we didn’t start the fire, who did? Probably those damned Ruskies, that’s who! A companion piece to last week’s episode on REM’s “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine),” this week we delve deep into another list song: “We Didn’t Start the Fire” by one William Joel. The whole song is basically just as many political and pop culture references as you can pack into a 3:30 pop song, including some really obscure pulls. We also discuss the iconic music video including Richard being shocked that there was a different mom for each decade.  Like our show? Make sure you subscribe on your favorite pod catcher. You can also review and rate us on iTunes and connect with us on social media. SHOW NOTES   2:35 – The Ghostly Apparition of Billy Joel (Richard’s Choice) 8:55 – The Music Video Being Centered Around the Kitchen (Michael’s Choice) 12:50 – Rock and Roller Cola Wars (Richard’s Choice) 13:22 – Two Moments of Anger Amongst the Sea of Monotony (Mi

Is “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” REM’s greatest song? Probably not. But it might be their most catchy and it’s definitely the one you are most likely to know about 1/10th of the words to. It’s such a cultural touchstone that Michael, Richard and Jeff have devoted an entire episode to every aspect of this song, from specific people mentioned to its appropriateness as a karaoke song. And yes, we definitely get into LEONARD BERNSTEIN! So, it’s time to brush up on your celebrities with the initials “LB” and get ready for a symbiotic, patriotic slam but neck, right? Right! SHOW NOTES Leonard Bernstein - Richard's Choice The Dreamtime Origins of the Song - Michael's Choice Lenny Bruce - Richard's Choice Two Types of People - Michael's Choice Operation Rescue (Misunderstood Lyric) - Richard's Choice Being an A+ Karaoke Song - Michael's Choice Being Fine With It Being the End of the World - Richard's Choice Right? Right. - Michael's Choice

What’s the deal with stand-up comedians? I mean, they don’t really “stand up” during their shows – they walk on-stage and then stay standing the whole time! And also, what’s up with all of the hacky premises that get used for routines? No, seriously – what’s up with them? This week, we try to find out and we’ve brought along a special guest – stand-up comedian and host of the Road Stories podcast Murray Valeriano. He and Jeff share their tales from the road and their takes on some of the hackiest of stand-up topics, while Richard and Michael take on the role of opening act and special judges. SHOW NOTES 1:35 – “Give it up for the Troops” (Joint Pick) 6:10 – White Girls Rapping in an Awkward White Girl Voice (Jeff’s Pick) 12:04 – Weed Jokes (Murray’s Pick) 18:34 – Inauthentic Comedians (Jeff’s Pick) 26:34 – Tinder Jokes (Murray’s Pick) 29:10 – “I Look Like a Cross Between Blank and Blank” (Jeff’s Pick) 37:52 – “I’m a Drunken Whore” (Murray’s Pick)

Let’s take a trip down memory lane this week and head to your favorite place as a kid: the mall. Where else could you see a movie, eat some questionable “pizza” at the food court, wash it down with a frozen “orange” drink and then blow the rest of your money at the arcade playing Street Fighter AND still have time left over before your mom picked you up? The mall experience is dying in America: today’s teens are spending all of their time cybershopping and playing Fortnight to do something productive like mill around Sam Goody’s for a couple of hours. It’s a shame, but that doesn’t mean we can’t wallow in nostalgia and remember all of the best – and worst – parts about a day at the mall.  SHOW NOTES The Food Court – Joint Choice IDing Malls in Films – Michael’s Choice Parking – Richard’s Choice The Mall as the Internet of Its Day – Michael’s Choice Claire’s Boutique – Richard’s Choice The Sadness of Dead Malls – Michael’s Choice Sam Goody’s – Richard’s Choice