The Real Brian Show

Brian and Nightfox hit the ground running in this first Tuesday installment EVER! Each week you'll get a double dose of this dynamic duo, bringing on the discussions of relevant entertainment and life. We'll get crazy, we'll get serious, and, heck, we'll get crazy serious. Buckle up. In This Episode Visiting family and Memorial Day Weekend events Fidget Spinners... they're a thing, and they're a big thing In honor of Chris Cornell, we've got to recommend a little Soundgarden And then Muse, because... Muse Me and Ed's Pizzeria is a MUST if you're making your way through California Moves: Baywatch Television: Stranger Things Video Games: Left 4 Dead 2

In this installment of Superhero Friday, we welcome Whitney (aka Positive Entropy) back to the show! You'll remember Whitney from the St Patrick's Day episode when we talked about all sorts of wonderful Irish things and, of course, Happy Lucky's Tea. Today, Whitney is running the show... so we'll have a lot of surprises and some really good discussions! In This Episode Welcome back, Positive Entropy! Culturally relevant TV shows that we're staying away from Like, Black Mirror We're missing all the references! Daniel's Tea. Yes. Decision Making: how do you decide what to eat on the menu? Buying contacts online Inviting trouble into life... Is it necessary? Do we need to be entertained? Moves: Alien Covenant, Wonder Woman Video Games: Bovarian, Fluxx Links Alien Covenant Trailer Wonder Woman Trailer The #1 reason to watch Parks & Rec

Happy Superhero Friday! We are thrilled to welcome Kevin Bachelder to the show, a podcaster with whom both Brian and I go way back with (Brian longer than I). We met Kevin during our time at TV Talk, where he and Brian started an Arrow podcast, which they brought over to Golden Spiral Media and added me to the fray. Kevin's adventures in podcasting have led him around the sci-fi/fantasy world, from his long-standing podcast Tuning into Sci Fi to his newer podcast for Wynonna Earp. In This Episode Origins: Kevin was Brian's first..... podcast co-host Everyone has their strengths The Wynonna Earp fandom is uh-may-zing A little about Kevin's involvement at DragonCon Remember when HR made a raspberry and coriander latte on The Flash? Sci-Fi recommendations: Dark Matter, Killjoys, Midnight Texas, Blood Drive Tuning into Sci Fi Every conversation with Kevin really is tuning into sci fi (cue drum beats). In all seriousness, this guy knows his science fiction and fantasy, both TV and film, and is a wealth of knowle

In continuing the discussion of mindset and attitude, we're here today encouraging you to choose a positive, healthy approach to your life. The first step to dominating your circumstances is to not let them rule over you, don't let them win! Dominate Dominate... to exercise control over or have a commanding influence. We use the word to describe competitions in which one person or team won decisively over another, in which case it is either positive or negative depending on which side you're rooting for. But the Latin root of dominate, dominus, literally means lord or master, ruler or governor, and as such can be purported in contexts that denote a more master/slave connotation. Set aside preconceived notions about domination for a moment and think objectively about what the implications are of being dominate over another person, team or nation. To dominate means to command, to run the table. Winning decisively is not the end of the mission, it is only the beginning. Dominating our circumstances requires cons

Happy Superhero Friday! This week Jess joins Brian for another epic, anything-goes discussion. Jess is often better known by her alter-ego, Harley Quinn. We had the amazing opportunity to meet Jess in Atlanta for Dragon Con a couple years ago and have enjoyed an awesome podcast relationship with her. When you're through listening to this episode of The Real Brian Show, go check out her Legends of Tomorrow podcast (link below). In this Episode Snow. In May. Happy Birthday Week, Brian!! The Origin story of Harley Quinn Making it through the workday. With podcasts! Parks and Recreation, The Flash.... only the best Links Tomorrow's Legends (A Legends of Tomorrow Podcast) Froggy Fresh - The Baddest Epic NPC Man (it's better in a playlist)

Whether the struggle and pain we face manifests itself in a visible physical ailment, or it is something less obvious, simply not talking about it doesn't make it not real or not prevalent. The topic brought forward for discussion in this installment of the Real Brian Show addresses the idea that in order to be a genuine leader, you must be willing to be vulnerable with weakness. In other words, you must walk with a limp. Never trust a leader who doesn't walk with a limp. Dr. J. Robert Clinton The most populate teaching method is using illustrations. Political leaders do it, religious leaders do it, motivational leaders do it. It's the easiest way to relate complex idealisms in an accessible way. So by default, people are primed and ready to be taught through illustrations. Sometimes it is most impactful to tell stories about people you've encountered who overcame incredible obstacles or accomplished impossible feats because it describes something far outside what you'd ever experience. But pain and struggl

Happy Superhero Friday! You may want to be well-fed before listening to this podcast, because we will make your mouth water. This week we welcome Mark Des Cotes to the fold (sometimes known as The Wraith). You can hear Mark talk about The Expanse, Orphan Black, Killjoys and other awesome sci-fi shows over at Solo Talk Media. In this episode we talk a lot about gaming, including Diablo II, World of Warcraft and Zelda; we talk about some of our highlight food and drinks from the week; and as the title of this episode might suggest, we discuss the situation in Canada where a Star Trek fan was forced to change his license plate or else have his insurance cut off (a link to the article can be found below). In This Episode Welcome Mark! A little background on superhero names. Making money playing Diablo II. What?! White Hot Chocolate with and Apple Cinnamon tea bag Political correctness and what it means for civilization Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, The Expanse, Bosch Assimilated Do you get offended easily? If

Decisions. There is a continuum that represents a decision maker. On one extreme we have the impulsive, in-the-moment decision maker who takes little time for contemplation or reflection; on the other extreme we have the overly-cautious, analytical type who is paralyzed by the contemplation of an impending decision. As with everything in life, here at The Real Brian Show we hope to help you think about finding a balance between these extremes because sometimes situations call for us to lean toward one or another side of this spectrum without going overboard. Decision The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of... We know the truth not only by the reason, but by the heart. Blaise Pascal Just last month, NPR released a TED Talk on decision making. It reminded me of a very important factor in decision making that hasn't always been around, and that is the sheer number of choices we are all faced with on a daily basis. The effect of living in a society that provides many choices has had a ripple eff

Please give a proper Superhero Friday welcome to this week's guest, The Nightfox (aka Camron)! He jumps right in with Brian and they chat about the new format of The Real Brian Show, about gaming, and about how Starbuck's unicorn frap sold out the first day. With a new host comes a new slew of favorites-of-the-week, including a couple videos which you will find links to at the bottom of this blog post. In This Episode It's STAR WARS WEEK! (Yesterday was Star Wars Day) Wind, wind, wind. And unicorn frappuccinos. Recommended YouTube watching: Wax Audio and Awaken with JP LIGHTSABERS! Game until your eyes bleed Fate of the Furious Now Watching: Stranger Things and Freaks and Geeks Reinforcement Count It was a fantastic treat to have The Nightfox on The Real Brian Show for Star Wars week! As this show continuously attempts to be more interactive, talking with you guys as well as any special guests we have on the show, we want to make sure you know this communication goes two ways. If you're looking for a way to

Do you make time to rest? Intentional, unadulterated rest? Between professional responsibilities and home life, it's easy to get swept away and forget to return to a basic fundamental like resting. It's more than sleeping, it's taking a break, both body and mind, from the strenuous activities that otherwise occupy our time. The idea behind rest is to recover and there are some things as human beings we cannot do to recover, sometimes it requires not doing. Rest Brian's experience with rest comes at a very coincidental time in my own life. I've been playing catch-up at work and in my personal life for the last year. For a long time, for over a year, it felt as though I kept drawing breath, inhaling over and over, and only once in a while getting to let a little of it out. This past week, I've finally been able to exhale. There are a couple things I've learned from the past year, in which it felt like I had a severely skewed ratio of work to rest. 1) No one is going to give me rest. People can tell me to take r

Happy Superhero Friday! This week we welcome back the Mad Scientist and guarantee we'll either better your life or waste your time, but we sincerely hope to do both. We've got more on the Nintendo Switch, we'll dive into some music and gadgets of the week, and we'll also talk about variety. In This Episode The Mad Scientist returrrrnsss! More about Nintendo Switch ...of the Weeks! Variety is the spice of life Bad Lip Reading: The Force Awakens More of the Same You've heard the adage, "variety is the spice of life"? Because Brian brings it up and expresses his opinion on the matter, I thought it applicable to dive a little bit into the adage. Idioms are funny beasts; they become so much a part of our language, unfamiliar to foreigners or even untraceable in certain cases, that we don't often know where they come from or why they became so popular. This idiom comes from a poem called The Task by William Cowper. (If you're super interested, you can read the whole thing here.) The idealism extends back much fur

Join us in welcoming Mishael Morgan to The Real Brian Show! If she looks familiar, you need go no further than the Total Recall reboot or shows like Supernatural, Beauty and Beast, and Covert Affairs. Currently, Mishael stars as Hilary (Curtis) Hamilton on The Young and Restless. In this fantastic interview, we hear the incredible story of Mishael's recovery after breaking a neck bone and how her journey as an actor and artist has changed her life in so many ways. In This Episode Meet Mishael! Early goals, changing plans Serious injury and overcoming it Life changes as an artist Expectations going in different from the results of acting Mishael drops some great advice! Mishael Morgan Two weeks ago we heard from Mishael's associate, Andrea Drepaul, who were both introduced to Brian through author Lee Stephen. Andrea and Mishael joined forces to work on their project, The Awakening. Early in life, acting wasn't even on her radar, but in this interview you'll get to hear how a broken back and an influential h

LIVE Until You Die! Don't live with one foot in the grave. Embrace life and get rid of that negative attitude holding you back from living the life you want. Every man dies. Not every man really lives. William Wallace LIVE Until You Die Have you heard that quote before? I've played it before, considered it before, but I don't know if I've ever heard it presented in a way emphasizing live until you die. Don't live with one foot in the grave. I've been hearing it so much lately: "I'm getting old." The attitude and lifestyle that traps us in the negative, sad, fearful and boring life stemming from this perspective, of getting older and thus less capable or less able, is robbing us of truly living. Life is short, dang it! I talk a lot of mindset on this show because it has significantly changed my life and I am passionate about it. We all have a backlog of experiences that fall into the negative, sucky, bad, or heinously traumatic categories. No one has it easy, but with that in mind we are ultimately confronte

Happy Superhero Friday! We're excited to welcome back CJ Thunder to this anything-goes conversation. If you missed Carl's first appearance on The Real Brian Show, you can listen here! Brian and Carl have a lot to talk about this week, from Zelda and the Nintendo Switch to bullying and suicide prevention, and of course their preferences of the week - everything from food to YouTube videos! In This Episode Zelda - Nintendo Switch 13 Reasons Why Bullying & Suicide Prevention M83, Zayde Wolf, Lecrae Caralluma Fimbriata You've been thunderstruck Thunderstruck Thunder! Thunder! I was caught in the middle of a railroad track. I looked round and I knew there was no turning back. It's hard to believe this song isn't yet 30 years old, and also that it's as young as it is! The opening guitar riff has got to be one of the most recognizable in classic rock (I mean, after the likes of Smoke on the Water, Whole Lotta Love, Satisfaction, and even AC/DC's own Back in Black). I remember reading an interview with Angus

Meet Mabel! Author, speaker, self-proclaimed inspirational junkie. On the road of self-development, there is one vital truth: if your attitude is right, you will succeed. Mabel has an incredible story about her journey through self-development and the transformation it made in her life. In This Episode Welcome Mabel! Tell us your story... Attitude of missing something in life and "grass is greener" mentality Filled with negativity, guilt, shame Epiphany! Holistic approach to healing Self-Development If I want to get better, I have to get real. The hardest part about getting better is simply asking for help. In order to avoid asking, we often do things that, intentionally or unintentionally, put us in the viewing frame of someone who knows how to help us. Meanwhile, we're overwhelmed with the feeling that people around us are more interested in fixing a problem versus healing a person. When help comes in a wrong form, we react poorly, reject it, and it validates our anger. No one can take the first step t

Happy Monday! In today's Monday Experience, Brian talks simply about simplifying and how he didn't even realize the effect it was having on his life. His frame of reference for simplifying was being on time; after receiving a ton of negative feedback and criticism for always being a few minutes late to things, he found that after in his somewhat-separate efforts toward simplifying his life... being on time to things was a natural side effect. Pretty cool! Simplify Simplifying doesn't seem simple when life has so many layers. Have you ever found yourself wondering, "Why is this so hard? It shouldn't be this hard!" I've been asking myself this a lot lately, actually. I'm trying to find a place to live, so in one hand I have an ideal cap to my budget and in the other hand I have a list of things I want. Why is it so hard to find something? This week I went from considering a place that had a beautiful wall of windows that let in plenty of sunlight, but was a little higher in price than I wanted and a little too

Happy Superhero Friday! Brian's guest today may sound familiar to you... and if so, then you are definitely one of us; if not, please, please go check out his podcasts! You can hear him on The Packers Fan Podcast and The Blacklist Exposed, as well as others (which we will definitely be talking about in the episode). We first connected with Troy while podcasting for TV Talk, and continue to enjoy his friendship through a handful of networks. In This Episode Troy Heinritz... TV Talk, Golden Spiral Media Stuff Of The Week! 13 Reasons Why... & Big Little Lies Police Brutality Scare the Crap Out of... It's interesting how context and environment can change the way someone sounds, isn't it? Troy's story of getting the crap scared out of him when Brian's voice comes on in the car is a perfect example of this. A voice can sound so different when it's whispering versus yelling, different in a small room with no one in it versus a large open room with no one in it. It also changes because of what we're expecting,

In a world swimming with selfish ambitions and entitled attitudes, we are incredibly excited to bring you a breath of fresh air in the form of Andrea Drepaul. You may have seen Andrea on shows like Covert Affairs, Beauty and the Beast, or The Expanse, but how much do you really know about the Canadian-born actress? As both a woman, and a woman of diverse ethnicity (she's of Portuguese and Guyanese descent), she is becoming a huge voice and advocate of diversifying Hollywood while helping to change the perception of actors by modeling leadership in her field. In This Episode Welcome, Andrea! Andrea's driving purpose, her story to tell Understanding the human psyche and representing that through acting Gratitude and starting off every day with 10 things she's thankful for Returning compliments with "Thank you!" Gratitude Imagine how your perception of a day could change by waking up and, before anything else, bringing 10 things to mind you are thankful for. Big things, small things, the things that often go o

Happy Monday! Can I ask you something? Are you content in your life? Do you feel satisfied, joyful, happy? Do you have purpose, and is that purpose increasing the value of the lives around you? I know why I get out of bed every day, and I know that today will be the best day ever. What about you? Can you answer my questions with confidence and share in my optimism about today? Let me break it down for you. When The Real Brian Show started, my slogan was Embrace Your Inner Nerd and Unleash Your Superhero. The concept wasn't as well received as a I'd hope and people were confused as to what it meant, so I dropped those slogans. In thinking about this, recently, it occurred to me that this might've been a bad move. These concepts are what The Real Brian Show is founded on. I love chatting about embracing your inner nerd because it is unique for every person. You and I can nerd out about the same things and different things. It can be anything that we passionately love. But it's a new enough concept that I realiz

It's Brian vs Bryan to ring in Superhero Friday! The culmination of 16 years of friendship spills out in explosions of heinousness. We've got a full lineup for you... including Final Four, Black Insomnia Coffee, the difference between equal opportunity and equal treatment. In This Episode Welcome Bryan! Bweenese: the language of the highly caffeinated Final Four, Falling Up, Ellogram, Demon Hunter New slogan for The Real Brian Show! What do you think? Sameness vs Equality Explosions of Heinousness You know how it is when you are around one of your oldest friends? The inside jokes, the ease from familiarity, the shared memories. As an introvert, these are some of my favorite conversations to listen to because I can sit back and just let them do all the talking while I absorb the dynamic and chemistry between two people. That's definitely what Brian and Bryan bring to the table, here. I have this sort of rapport with most of my family, believe it or not. We spend a lot of time together, so it stands to reason