Hank Watson's Garage Hour Podcast

Hate windmills?  Love HG Wells?  Like movies?  Despise big government?  Tired of Farcebook?  Have an opinion about women in front-line infantry?  Think Quebecois chicks are hot?  Need to know more about hunting, eating, drinking, racing and Sasquatch?  Want to hear a Marine, a well-read socialite and a professional wheelman argue everything from cars to trucks and beers to guns?  Grab this Garage Hour. When you absolutely positively have no clue what to talk about on your radio show, just put .45 Phil, 27-year Marine, and Crag Maxwell, political mover and shaker and secret bookstore owner, and former factory test-driver and ongoing adventure journalist Justin Fort in the same studio and pour on the indignation. jf PS> Admit it, as soon as you saw the image for this episode, you remembered the alien ray-beam noise from "War of the Worlds". Best sci-fi sound ever.

Getting back to our roots - this Garage Hour is all off-road, all the time.  Well, some of the time, because we also promoted our next Sasquatch Run, talked trash on Jeepers (Toyota guys, go figure), hit a bunch more high-Q gearhead stuff like all the parts that don't break on Toyotas, and took a few cheap shots at the Prius - fish in a barrel, there. We also managed to get Jimi Day from the Ultimate Street Car Association on the horn to speak about the series' upcoming Daytona and Fontana speedway events.  We'll have them back, because anyone who's making race-time available for part-time racers is worth our full-time attention. jf

The political silly season is on, so the Garage Hour is using some of its gearhead cred to dig up answers from real candidates, with Dr. Fred Simon (San Diego's 52nd) and Judge Pro-Tem Ken Gosselin (running for San Diego County's 25th Superior Court seat) joining us in the studio. How else would we learn about their understanding of important challenges like boxers V briefs, Ford V Chevy, beef V chicken, and actual serious issues like parents rights, distracted driving, international leadership, and all those trivialities you always wanted to ask about but forgot when the SEIU guy thumped you in the back of the head for raising your hand. Don't worry - we've also got cars, trucks, beers and guns, and we'll have .45 Phil go get the SEIU guy.  Grab the podcast. jf

One of those Garage Hours: everything from tanks to trucks and Speedvision to Jeremy Clarkson punching out Piers Morgan, plus WW2 dogfights, Paths of Hate (just search for the video and you'll understand), the Lake Elsinore Grand Prix, shooting with ASDS in South Bay, local police becoming a staging area for military equipment (dark clouds forming), and the definition of a absentee politician (AKA Tom Harkin). jf

This one's an educational show: we learn about the gun-banning laws and regulations being pushed by the deliriously nutty progressive freakshow called the state of CA (some in the dead of night), and how those laws are going to make you suffer (if you're lucky) or instantly turn you into a criminal. Eryk from Cal Guns (.net), .45 Phil and host Justin Fort explore everything from the laws, the bad behavior and backroom deals necessary to sneak some of the scarier laws through, and how the groundless (and often feckless) regulatory actions will affect regular Californians - and not just Californians who like the Second Amendment. This is big AM talk, after all, so the gearhead goons of the Garage Hour also take some shots at CA traffic, CA politicians, Marines, shotguns, old actors and old metal artists, and makers VS takers.  There's also a sporty tale of two rugby guys pounding on some muggers, which makes everyone feel good (except the muggers...). jf

This is what happens when you let the guys who usually operate the show take over the mic...  With a 100%-everything list of gearhead topics, from international racing, local politics, the idiots in movies, the idiots in the real world, the shame that is a remake of Mad Max (some movies are too perfect - leave 'em alone), and Mr. Rogers VS the Frugal Gourmet guy, we set every trap and the board ops fall in every one. Hostus Maximus Justin Fort and retrohost Dirty Dave let alllllll of the old Garage Hour board ops into the studio, from Cameron "Scacrow" Bradna, Daniel "Barrister" Hilton, Paul "Snaggletooth" Drivas, Todd "Missing Man" James to Nick "The Trick" Lane, and they proceed to demonstrate to the world why they belong on the other side of the glass.  Grab this podcast and prepare to thank your lucky stars for on-air talent. jf PS>  Special thanks to Missing Man for cooking up this episode's promo poster.

Killer Garage Hour: the Villains Episode.  We collect more than 70 movie villains of every stripe, from Blofeld to Little Bill, Darth to Ming, Jaws to Angel Eyes, plus Cruella DeVille and the horde of nutbars from Fatal Attraction.  Dirty Dave, Crag Maxwell and host Justin Fort put together some rules for villains, too, and in the process discover that Jaws is much more of a uberhenchman than an outright villain, much to Justin's dismay. Credit where credit is due: the genesis of this classic Garage Hour episode was at a brewery in Ouray, Colorado - Mr. Grumpy Pants, to be exact.  Off-Road.com editor Jaime Hernandez asked what had happened to Richard Keil (Jaws), and it all spun out of control from there.  Good times. jf

With the guys from Look Up Here in-studio, SuperMeg, East County Beerlord Jeff Trevaskis and former factory test driver Justin Fort whip up a batch of gearhead-talk radio superiority on Saturday's show.  You can't go wrong (well, you probably could) with a room full of punk rockers, and we pull off a show full of explosions (propane, acetlyne, Sobe and snow), desert toys (LS1, anyone?), gas prices, corporate skulduggery and beer-sipping refinement.  Someone even mentions brisket. The call is also out for Sasquatch Run 3: The 'Squatchening; which is looking likely late in May, so stay tuned. jf

Put a bunch of guitar experts on a gearhead show and you'll get more than you bargained for, including all sorts of stories about the rock and rollists, tales of humbuckers (whatever the Hell they is), pickups and frets, plus cars, trucks, beers and guns (of course). Joining host Justin Fort and irregular cohost/food ninja Chef Jeff on this week's Garage Hour are none other than off-roading buddy Seth Hollander, guitar instructor of some repute (SethMetal.com) and the proud owner of the DeathRunner and lots of guns, and Battleship Dan, pro guitar builder (TopGearGuitar.com), guitar tech to the stars and confirmed Garage Hour superfan. Also, the sincerest of Garage Hour apoligies: due to an ill-timed Kong infestation of KCBQ's 50,000-watt broadcast tower on the east side (of El Cajon), we lost a few minutes of the second hour.  Better luck next time. jf

With everything from electric cars to electric stereo parts, this Garage Hour episode is chock-full of good gearhead talk.  Mike the Mic joined Hostus Maximus Justin Fort, Agent Aya and .45 Phil for what was originally slated to be an episode about stereo equipment (a fondness held by Mike and Justin), but the ship of state quickly veered off course in true Garage Hour fashion.  The topic list expanded to Solzhenitsyn, Batman, Freud, Chuck Norris, ammunition prices, new beer, old bombs, new tanks, and monoliths versus obelisks. We also get a tidy history of the WW2 siege mortar called the Type 98 by the Japanese who lobbed 'em at us, and Screamin' Jesus by GIs who had to watch them tumble, from our very own military historian, .45 Phil. jf

This is the episode that catapulted the Garage Hour to doubled listenership, and the show that put the gearhead goons from San Diego into an expanded time slot.  Download a full hour of everything from Flight 800, the FBI, NSA, DHS, drones, Stingers, the .50-cal ricochet, Sasquatch, Japan's thirst for 5.56 ammo, the populist media's unfortunate contribution to it all, and how the Garage Hour plans to fix it.  Oh yeah, with cars, trucks, beers and guns. Grab a load of this podcast for a big fat conspiratory freakout, with Agent Aya (suspiciously good with a handgun), .45 Phil (27-year Marine storm trooper from back in the Reagan days) and former factory factory test driver and Hostus Maximus Justin Fort, because they'll also take a few shots at Mayor Bob Failner, Manzanita Brewing's Apricot Blonde, Restore the 4th, antique steaem, the patheticness that is Joe Biden, and the value of America's enlisted military in times of crisis. jf

All gearhead, all the time...  Host Justin Fort has Bret Norgaard from Yawsport and Neil Alexander from the Lone Pine Time Trials (coming up in May) to talk their little slice of road-racing heaven, the adventure that is high-speed time-attack on a real airport course, and the parties that go on in tandem with it all.  We also get into everything from Hayabusa-powered Smart cars (why people are tipping them over), to the failed Dodge RamRunner (and why it was no Raptor), hillclimbing for folks on the West Coast, Powerstroke and 502-powered crawlers and a truckload of other awesomeness. Okay, so Han Solo and Greedo get into the mix, and there's some chatter about Rio shotgun shells, the police and English politics, but it's the Garage Hour - we digress. jf

Excellent early Garage Hour - episodes like this are what brought the show to life way back in 2009...  Everything from CanAm to Batman, fake mechanics and poseur Farves, Orwellian education, chicken legs, Grand Prix.com, team orders, TV laws, smog laws, thunderboats and deep-vees, the unfortunately named Dimebag Darrell (RIP) and tales of a mentally insane cannibal who was taken to the fair. And like every Garage Hour, there's a serious moment or two - Dirty Dave, Grizzly Chris and hillclimbin' slicer-dicer Justin Fort chat about the need for conservatives to conserve on their own, before someone with less scruples but a bigger stick up their butt tries to force you to. jf

Killer show! This reloaded Garage Hour features a pile of legendary topics, including the Ferd FTeenthousand (whale house!), Sasquatch, scary celebrities, Beck's Scientology, Gavin Newsbag, Amon Tobin, stoner metal, Israel, the 24 Hours of leMans, Franchi shotguns, busting clay and Kevlar tornado shelters. While we're at it, Black Ryan, Dirty Dave and former factory test driver Justin Fort also beat the Hell out of Glenn Danzig (who hasn't?), Moby (everyone should) and President Pickle (he's asking for it), and talk up the awesomeness that is engineers, shooting trap and the British VS the Argentines. It's gearhead radio: who are you to resist? jf

You can't spell politics without... a "p"... and the Garage Hour can't get this close to the mid-term elections without having some hopeful congressional candidates in the studio.  What can we say?  Gearheads like to vote.  Besides, we all want some more change. This episode featured Dr. Fred Simon, candidate for San Diego's 52nd Congressional District, and before you get bent out of shape that we were talking politics again, don't you want to hear his thoughts on things that matter, like Ford VS Chevy, protections for off-road access, and whether Fred plans to run guns for Islamic terrorists in the Philippines with a Chinese mobster named Shrimp Boy (which we advised him against)? There's also some actual serious questions, such as the good doc's positions on the Second Amendment, getting things done instead of talking about getting things done, equal opportunity VS equal outcomes, and who his favorite Supreme Court justice is.  He had very good answers for everything but his preference for Chevys. Grab the

Well, some episodes don't stay gearhead for long, and this one went decidedly cartoon in about five minutes.  Join us for an hour (one of the last hour-only Garage Hours) of unrelenting comic book action, with none other than SuperMeg (before the nickname), Jesse Caverly, author and zombie expert, and .45 Phil, a walking, talking comic book hero in his own right. It's not like we didn't try - there were gun stores, shooting events, big Buicks, an attack on hipsters (because they're there) and an attack on mayors (because Failner), but we kept winding up talking ComicCon, Batman, Superman, bad guys, Aquaman, Han Solo, Brock Sampson (just because), geek VS nerd and the Venn diagram necessary so it all makes sense. There will be cars and trucks and beers and guns in the next episode.  Promise. jf

How about something completely different? The Garage Hour goons (and the vice mayor of La Mesa) had a really involved conversation about the environment, with none other than a real environmentalist!  Apparently, nature tastes like steak. Sure, cohosts .45 Phil and Crag Maxwell happily joined Justin Fort to chat off-roading and shotguns (sounds like we're ready for a Sasquatch Run!), but they were also educated by an environmentally aware friend of the show, Leslie Rapp, on the topics of dolphins, Blackfish, free-range whales (did we say that right?), and we were escorted through the serious California politics behind the attacks on Seaworld by Kristine Alessio, vice Mayor of La Mesa.  We also figured out that it's the silly names people give killer whales that make them... kill people...  What the Hell kind of name is Tillikum?  Call the poor things Tyrone or Pete or Emily and they'll be so much happier.  There's also a fun bit of shrapnel for the nutjob envirowhackos who are giving granola a bad name.  Chil

We dish out some real respect on this Memorial Day, with extensive chatter about Americans who've given the ultimate measure in the name of God and country. Like the icing on this Cake of Respect, the Garage Hour goons also discuss San Diego's Freedom Station, American POWs from all conflicts, and a serious heap of war movies. In this episode, former factory test-driver, road racer and all-around professional Justin Fort also renews his long-standing argument with cohost Dirty Dave regarding the historical relativity of Abraham Lincoln's unfondness of vampires.  They also get up to monster trucks, tracks from Metallica, ZZ Top, Led Zeppelin, Soundgarden, Nick Cave, and live shows with Buddy Guy, plus the movie Bullitt (happy birthday, Steve), the Mumford Lane, and pizzas from superfan Tristain. Don't let the hybridiots get you. jf

When one of these unscripted episodes turns out right, it's such a great feeling. Hostus Maximus Justin Fort coupled SuperMeg and the return of Chef Jeff from Eastbound Bar & Grill to do two hours of everything that's wrong with traffic (because we can all relate). You can't go wrong with an endless list of the things that incompetence, ignorance, insomnia and insolence do to the already insufferable dense driving in southern California, and we charged full-steam into all the causes of and answers to.  If there's anything you can get on board with, it's SoCal traffic being off its rocker. Just like the Garage Hour, however, we dive deep into a host of other awesomeness (because gearhead!), including the Silver State Challenge (260mph, anyone?), tactical shotguns, how hipsters are uncool by nature, and more Dude Food. Grab this one before it's gone (though it won't be - hurry because we care). jf

Intriguing or offensive, but never boring: it's your kind of doom on the hoof, and now for two hours!  Join us for some adventures in beer (Night Fighter), off-roading, railguns, Beer-Con, and the introduction of the Garage Hour's PSA (unphone, dammit!). And as was born Night Fighter English Ale, we were joined by Manzanita Brewing so we could get down to naming their newest beer, an English-style brown ale with hints of coffee and stone fruit. We go through the whole list of beer names, including crowd pleasers like Improper Copper Ale, Bob's Your Uncle, Cajon Oval Brown, Bulldog Brown, Monkey Wrench, Cuyamaca Mud and, God help us, Jerry Brown Ale and the totally unnecessary Filner Pilsner. We also chase Calguns' next Meet & Greet, a little bit about off-road maintenance and good summer trails in San Diego, what was up at that day's Beer-Con, the geek wonderment that are railguns (yay!), a few items from "The Reasons Tony's Pissed" List, courtesy of Tony's Lube & Tune, and a full studio with .45 Phil