Idle F***in' Thumbs Podcast

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Right, so, Idle Thumbs? Pretty OK, you guys. So help bring it back! All the cool kids are doing it.

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If it bothers you, then I would stop listening. I was in the military, so I just tone it out naturally. Idle thumbs has become one of 3 podcasts I'll bother to listen too.

I felt the same way when I first started watching Deadwood and that turned out to be amazing.

Yeah I do not notice it that much at all. I really love the podcast and I would suggest you go back and listen to old episodes the guys really grow on you.

I am loving this podcast now.

garion333 wrote:

I felt the same way when I first started watching Deadwood and that turned out to be amazing.

Yeah, but Deadwood is scripted and does it for a reason. Not because they need a second to collect their thoughts and are afraid someone might think they're done talking.

LobsterMobster wrote:
garion333 wrote:

I felt the same way when I first started watching Deadwood and that turned out to be amazing.

Yeah, but Deadwood is scripted and does it for a reason. Not because they need a second to collect their thoughts and are afraid someone might think they're done talking.

I would recommend to give the older episodes a listen because like Wired said they grow on you.

Weird, I never notice much swearing from those guys. Rob has probably desensitized me.

Certis wrote:

Weird, I never notice much swearing from those guys. Rob has probably desensitized me.

I only noticed because the level is higher than that of GWJ CC, but it still doesn't bother me. 1-up also tends to be higher in the f-bomb content, especially if they're really drinking.

That's pretty much how I talk too. Except I tend to throw "{sexist slur}" into the middle of sentences at random as well. I can't help it.

Sounds like the Sharkey appearance on Listen Up from a couple of weeks ago.

The Idle Thumbs episode I tried didn't have that, but it had a whole bunch of other stuff that effectively turned me off from it. Not exactly the best first impression. That being said, Chris Remo seems pretty sharp (from what I've heard on the GWJCC and seen on Twitter), so I may give it another spin down the line.

Idle Thumbs has taken over as my favorite gaming podcast ever.

I have not checked out their podcast, but this is the fourth time in a week I've heard about it. Might have to check it out. Like Shoal, my time in the military desensitized me to just about all forms of derogatory, lewd, lascivious, nasty, totally inappropriate forms of speech. Though if I were listening to a podcast and it was coming at me a million miles an hour, it might grow tiresome.

My real initial concern is quality. GWJ is really the first 'amateur' podcast I started listening to, and the quality has absolutely spoiled me. I ldo isten to a couple of others, Three Moves Ahead being the most regular, and the audio quality there is sometimes distracting. I don't mean to give Rob a boner, but he does great work, and your use of good equipment shows.

LockAndLoad wrote:
Sounds like the Sharkey appearance on Listen Up from a couple of weeks ago.

I absolutely hated that episode. I had to turn it off when he went on his 10th expletive filled pissy tirade because someone liked something that didn't measure up to his grand incredible god-like standards. I twittered something like "No one swears that much except in high school or Kevin Smith movies." after I finally gave up on listening to it.

I thought you were talking about Garnett Lee for a second.

Sounds like the Sharkey appearance on Listen Up from a couple of weeks ago.

I absolutely hated that episode. I had to turn it off when Sharkey went on his 10th expletive filled pissy tirade because someone liked something that didn't measure up to his grand incredible god-like standards. I twittered something like "No one swears that much except in high school or Kevin Smith movies." after I finally gave up on listening to it.

All in all though, I haven't thought Idle Thumbs was all that bad. I'll probably be more mindful of it now that I'm thinking of it.

Update - Minor clarification.

LockAndLoad wrote:

I absolutely hated that episode. I had to turn it off when he went on his 10th expletive filled pissy tirade because someone liked something that didn't measure up to his grand incredible god-like standards. I twittered something like "No one swears that much except in high school or Kevin Smith movies." after I finally gave up on listening to it.

I have never understood Scott Sharkey's appeal. He speaks about everything with a foot thick layer of snark on top and yeah, I don't know if he'd been drinking during that ListenUP episode (not uncommon there) or if he just had a bad day but even games he said he liked such as Overlord II he just went on swear filled tirades on. I found it interesting that he was gone after the first segment and they never mentioned anything about it.

There is some swearing in Idle Thumbs but I find it to be minimal compared to what I'm used to in most podcasts and it never struck me as out of place of purposefully inserted for effect, though maybe I'm desensitized to that like others are. I have really come to like them due to the amount of time they spend not only on PC but on older and more niche PC titles that get totally overlooked by the mainstream podcasts. I just wish they'd get a new theme song because the one they have gets in my head and drives me nuts.

Shoal07 wrote:
Certis wrote:

Weird, I never notice much swearing from those guys. Rob has probably desensitized me.

I only noticed because the level is higher than that of GWJ CC, but it still doesn't bother me. 1-up also tends to be higher in the f-bomb content, especially if they're really drinking.

I'd really like to know why it seems to be acceptable to be drunk during a podcast. I've stopped listening to some podcasts because they talked about drinking so much, and what they were drinking AT THAT MOMENT, and how drunk they were. I got enough of that in college and I don't care if they're having one to relax, but do they really need to drink so many you can tell they're tipsy? Do they really need to let us know about it?

WiredAsylum wrote:

Garnett Lee

And that's the reason I stopped listening to 1-Up. Nothing against the guy, just not a fan of how he interacts with the others on the podcast. I won't go into it because I don't want to bash him.

HedgeWizard wrote:

My real initial concern is quality. GWJ is really the first 'amateur' podcast I started listening to, and the quality has absolutely spoiled me. I ldo isten to a couple of others, Three Moves Ahead being the most regular, and the audio quality there is sometimes distracting. I don't mean to give Rob a boner, but he does great work, and your use of good equipment shows.

This is very true of me. I don't want to suck up too much but the GWJ podcast is so far above the normal. The production quality, the dialog, everything. Just head and shoulders above, and I've started wondering why I (or anyone else) should settle for anything less.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm an elitist who demands a professional product for an amateur price.

Are you sure you're not talking about Drunken Gamers? I've never noticed much swearing in Idle Thumbs, and generally find it really good. There was a discussion about Civ IV last week that had some of the most insightful and intelligent thoughts about games I've ever heard.

I'm a huge Idle Thumbs fan. I've never noticed the cursing, probably because I do it all the time. What episode where you listening to? Did you find all the guys did it or just one of the guys and which one?

I highly recommend you stick with it. For people thinking about jumping into Idle Thumbs, i suggest you go back and listen to the older episodes. One thing that makes Idle Thumbs a little off putting to new listeners if there are a good amount of inside jokes or running jokes.

Chris Remo is the Robert Allen Zimmerman of the video game community.


The Wizard
by Chris Remo (Warning- this song contains naughty words)

LobsterMobster wrote:

I'd really like to know why it seems to be acceptable to be drunk during a podcast.

You can probably thank the poolside episodes of 1UP Yours for that.

Parallax Abstraction wrote:

I have never understood Scott Sharkey's appeal. He speaks about everything with a foot thick layer of snark on top and yeah, I don't know if he'd been drinking during that ListenUP episode (not uncommon there) or if he just had a bad day but even games he said he liked such as Overlord II he just went on swear filled tirades on. I found it interesting that he was gone after the first segment and they never mentioned anything about it.

I like listening to Scott Sharkey on Good Grief because a lot of people take this silly pastime too seriously and it's nice to hear a cynical, snarky bastard rag on it occasionally. Also his articles (of the less top-5 click-grabbing variety) are pretty good. Plus he swears a lot, which is a philosophy that I endorse.

I do agree that the episode of ListenUp that he was on last week didn't come out all that well, but that's the problem with having a show that's styled to be organic and conversational - sometimes organic conversations go sideways, and if you try too hard to keep it level you wind up overthinking things. Especially when it's a bunch of fairly nervous video game nerds talking. When it works, though, it works pretty well.

Other than a couple personal preferences about the words they choose (I find using the word "rape" to replace "I lost a lot in a game" to border on the offensive, and is boring anyways), I haven't noticed their language on Idle Thumbs to be any worse then anywhere else.

Anyways, the quality of the podcast is worth it. I've been singing their praises in the podcasting thread for ages. (You know, finding a relevant thread instead of starting a new one, Lobster Mobster. It's a hot new trend). As PXA noted, gaming media that talks about PC gaming that isn't either elitist or boring is hard to come by. In general though I think they fill in the gap that GFW Radio left, intelligent gaming discourse mixed with silliness. The episode with Chris Remo's "Killzone 2" song is pure gold.

And yeah, I like Sharkey on Retronauts and he's obviously knowledgeable, but he's clearly the typical nerd who is uncomfortable socializing because the two times I've heard him on ListenUP, he's come off as a confrontational douche.

I made it through the episode that inspired me to post this and the swearing got a lot better over the course of the episode. Maybe he only does it while he's still getting into his groove?

I will say that they do have one leg up on Conference Call... They've got harpsichord in their themesong. Get on that, Podunk!

And kuddles, I had to post a new thread because my questions and observations are worthy of individual note. Duh.

OzymandiasAV wrote:
LobsterMobster wrote:

I'd really like to know why it seems to be acceptable to be drunk during a podcast.

You can probably thank the poolside episodes of 1UP Yours for that.

I dunno... seeing as people are doing this for free and to have fun, I think they're entitled to do things however they wish (just as you're entitled to hit that big "unsubscribe" button...).

SommerMatt wrote:
OzymandiasAV wrote:
LobsterMobster wrote:

I'd really like to know why it seems to be acceptable to be drunk during a podcast.

You can probably thank the poolside episodes of 1UP Yours for that.

I dunno... seeing as people are doing this for free and to have fun, I think they're entitled to do things however they wish (just as you're entitled to hit that big "unsubscribe" button...).

Er, I wasn't trying to be judgmental there. My point was that people have celebrated past episodes of other podcasts where people have been drunk out of their minds, so current podcasters don't have to worry about any real backlash for it. (Well, except for Lobster, of course. :D)

I don't think that it's a matter of 'he can't find a better verbal pause' as much as it's just that 'he doesn't care to'.

I don't swear in front of my bosses and I don't swear in front of my parents (or gf's parents). In those situations I know my audience. I care how they view me and I don't want flagrant swearing to get in the way of the meaning of my words. On the other hand, when I'm at home or in conversation with friends, I swear like a f***in' sailor who just stubbed his f***in' toe. I drink. I swear. I like colorful use of language.

The Idle Thumbs' are probably just like me. They can behave themselves given the right situation. In this situation, though, maybe they don't want to. They've created a Podcast so that they can talk about games, freely. Before their first episode they had no audience. They are creating their own audience. I'm supposing that's an audience that can tolerate a few curses.

I like the Podcast because the guys seem to have a lot of good ole' fashion fun talking to each other. They were reading listener emails, last week, and one of the Thumbs thought the guy's last name was "Cyborg". The ensuing banter had me laughing out loud in my car.

I guess, its just, "are you the audience for this particular Podcast?". I would give it more time, because they really do know what they're talking about. They can actually be quite intelligent about games, even if its hidden beneath a blanket of foul language.

GWJ is about as low-brow as my gaming podcasts go. Idle Thumbs just didn't sick with me.

OzymandiasAV wrote:
SommerMatt wrote:
OzymandiasAV wrote:
LobsterMobster wrote:

I'd really like to know why it seems to be acceptable to be drunk during a podcast.

You can probably thank the poolside episodes of 1UP Yours for that.

I dunno... seeing as people are doing this for free and to have fun, I think they're entitled to do things however they wish (just as you're entitled to hit that big "unsubscribe" button...).

Er, I wasn't trying to be judgmental there. My point was that people have celebrated past episodes of other podcasts where people have been drunk out of their minds, so current podcasters don't have to worry about any real backlash for it. (Well, except for Lobster, of course. :D)

No, my comments weren't aimed at you I was just saying that people (mostly) do podcasts for free, and they take up a lot of time and energy. Some people turn it into a "party" kind of thing, apparently, in order to have a bit more fun while recording.

Maybe I'm a bit defensive because I produce my own podcast. I often feel a bit bothered when people expect professional production values on something that is being done as a labor of love.

Idle Thumbs is the only podcast I've listened to more than twice that isn't the GWJ podcast. Many times I've blurted out laughing at work while listening to those guys.

The thing that bugs me about this podcast, and almost every other podcast I've tried is that they deteriorate to a point of discussion where they seem to forget they're recording this for other people to listen to and not just for their own personal enjoyment. GWJ podcast is the only one I've ever listened to that keeps a healthy balance of fun and presentation.

mrwynd wrote:

Idle Thumbs is the only podcast I've listened to more than twice that isn't the GWJ podcast. Many times I've blurted out laughing at work while listening to those guys.

The thing that bugs me about this podcast, and almost every other podcast I've tried is that they deteriorate to a point of discussion where they seem to forget they're recording this for other people to listen to and not just for their own personal enjoyment. GWJ podcast is the only one I've ever listened to that keeps a healthy balance of fun and presentation.

I've started listening to the Drunken Gamers, and they do a pretty top notch job, as well. But Jesus f*cking Christ, don't let Lobster listen to it! I have not heard Idle Thumbs, and do plan on trying it, but I don't think you can drop more F-Bombs than they do. Al Pacino blushes when listening to these guys. But they really do some nice reviews, and are pretty funny as well. Thanks to Shawn for getting me to give them a try!

Here's a clip of a movie I was watching with Lobster's mom the other night.

Oh and it is NSFFW!

OzymandiasAV wrote:

Sounds like the Sharkey appearance on Listen Up from a couple of weeks ago.

Seriously. Jesus. I turned that episode off and didn't even bother finishing it. I got so tired of listening to Sharkey I just had to switch and listen to something else.

Never had an experience even remotely like that with Idle Thumbs. It's quickly become my favorite podcast. I still like the conference call better for the more involving conversation topics,, but when it comes to the humor and fun stuff Idle Thumbs is willing to wander off topic a bit more and just roll with the conversation, but without overdoing it. I really like that.

And as Jayhawker just mentioned... there's far worse podcasts out there if you're worried about the f-bomb. The Drunkengamers cast drops more F-bombs in a half an hour than the Idle Thumbs guys probably do in a whole episode.

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