Our watch has ended. This is it, the last Game of Thrones commentary of all time. Are we satisfied with the ending? You don’t know. Nobody knows (except Bran, because he’s a huge cocksucker). Come listen to Law and Moreno say goodbye to one of the most important television shows ever made. We loved it. We yelled at it. We finished it. Fuck off, Winter.
Is it as great or horrible as people say it is? Does Moreno stop yelling at any point during this episode? Is there any way that character isn’t really dead? How does it all play out on the last of the last next week? Where the fuck is Davos? There are almost too many questions to be answered during our penultimate commentary for Game of Thrones but Law and Moreno do their best to get to the bottom of all of it. Everything is fine. Snow dick. Camera wink wink.
There’s just no other way to put this, so here it is: Bostonpalooza exceeded every expectation. If you were there, you know. If you weren’t, you better get your ass to Lawlapalooza because if this weekend was any indication of what is to come then…well…we’re gonna need some serious liver conditioning between then and now. So, for those of you who need it, here’s a recap of what happened from my perspective. Granted, we’ll probably talk about this on a pod, but this is worth getting out there now, so here it is.
On Friday Meg and I arrived in Boston a little after noontime and got settled at the hotel. Once we were ready, we took off towards the guys’ place. When we get in the area, the fantastic Liz and the enigmatic Boston Jess met us with their key to the garage, and we parked and headed up to the room. A few wrong elevator rides and walks later, the moment arrived: the meeting of Valley, Law, Moreno and Ammon. In a word, surreal. There’s something weird about walking into a room of people you know well but have never met, but within minutes and a couple mojitos (based off a great recipe from the Laws) we were soon killing time with Liz while watching at least ten hours of HGTV. After nap time, we got together, had some REDACTED and took off towards the venue.
Then, it was on to The Harp, the type of place none of us would ever be caught dead in regularly. But this is The Kicks, so we were there in full force. Walking through the door and seeing the familiar face of PeteMC was awesome. The (maybe) piss-drinking drummer was every bit as excited to see us as we were to see him, and we posted up to order some drinks and food. Soon after the rest of the band joined, including TM and KariTM. The band was working, but they squeezed in a little time between sets to have a drink and eat some food with us, which was great. At a certain point in the night, between some serious giggling and shit talk, REDACTED. I can’t describe this any other way, but for me time seemed to slow down to a crawl. For a good 10-15 minutes I could not speak at a normal speed, all the while Law couldn’t stop giggling at everything I said. We made it out of night one without any fights or injuries, so that was at least something. We all headed back to the apartment but Meg and I peace’d out early – at 230AM – so we’d have energy for the next day.
We wake up and get going at around 12ish for some brunch back in Boston. We are then joined by the singularly cool Eric King, a guy whom came prepared with some fantastic jerky…but more on that later. At this point Ammon clearly had gone too far over the edge earlier that morning and headed back to the hotel for some much needed recovery and rest. We break from the tavern and go with the Laws, Liz, Meghan and myself for a walk to Boston Commons and, eventually, the original Cheers bar. Place was awesome. I managed to negotiate a quick visit to the set bar, which was closed for a private function, with the host despite the fact I was decked in my TB12 gear since he was a Falcons fan. I thanked the guy and told him “They’ll be back, don’t worry”. We head back downstairs to the real bar that the set bar was based on (got that?) and drink beers in the famous Cheers dimple glasses. It was the tits, and I went for a Sam Adams, because of course I did.
After Cheers, aka the Bull and Finch, we headed down Newbury Street to visit the famous Newbury Comics. Newbury is our version of Amoeba Records, or even the famous Tower Records, and worth checking out if you’re ever in Boston. I had to grab a Rick and Morty shirt and then we took the T back to North Station. Upon arrival, we realized that North Station was right next to the guys’ apartment, and we headed back to kill some time before returning to The Harp. At this point, Meg and I got to sit down and talk with Ammon for a bit, which was pretty great.
After a while, Meg and I left to meet our friends Brian and Val for dinner at Boston Beer Works before hitting The Harp. Maybe we were being too judgy but the busboy/host at the Beer Works was totally eyeing me during the meal. Not sure if he was offended or wanted a piece of this, but by the end of dinner we needed to get lost. Que The Harp for round 2. REDACTED, but drinks-a-plenty. We get there and The Kicks are holding down tables for us near stage-right, which is fantastic since we can cut through the Jock McF&*#face douchebros all over the dance floor. We chill for a bit and meet some more friends (JFernandes and his chick) and some family (Meg’s cousin and girlfriend). Soon after, the rest of the podcasters arrive and we get going. Hendricks and tonic galore, Eric King almost sleeping through the Kicks set and a PeteMC bighead punctuated the night that, unbelievably, topped the night before on every level. I got to take a piss with Jim Law twice, and we didn’t even plan it. I mean what more is there to life now that I’ve achieved this?
The night ends and a few of us go back to the apartment to sober up…until someone pours me a rum and coke that forces me to keep going. Three or four drinks later we’re eating the previously referenced Eric King jerky, learning all about Kingologists and their beliefs, talking on Facebook Live and doing Boston accents with Boston Jess. I think we ended up heading home around 430/5AM and grabbing a few hours sleep before noontime checkout and breakfast with Binge to cap the weekend.
We arrive in Cambridge and hit some bar. To be honest, I don’t remember the name, only that the waiter had no clue what he was doing and that both the freshly squeezed Grapefruit juice and the Huevos Rancheros were delicious. At this point, it’s Eric King, all of The Kicks, the Laws, ‘Reno and Liz, Ammon, Meghan and myself, and it couldn’t have been a better sendoff. We walk back to our cars, go our separate ways and end the weekend the way it began, with a drive back to reality.
Bostonpalooza felt like the goal for a long time. This week was special for a lot of reasons for me and something I really worked hard towards. While Binge seems to be this nebulous thing where a group of people got together to talk movies with one another, this weekend reminded me that the people behind all these podcasts are what matter, and I’m (Logan) ultimately thankful they’re all a part of my life. There is nowhere to go but up for Binge, and I hope that Lawlapalooza finds a way to somehow surpass Bostonpalooza. So, to Law, Boston Jess, Moreno, Liz, PeteMC, MC, TM, KariTM, Pat, DP, Ammon, Eric King, JFernandes and everyone who came out of the woodwork to see us, it’s great to know all of you, and thanks for one of the truly legendary weekends.
Binge Media has been a labor of love from the start. Not to get sentimental, but a little over three years ago Law and Moreno started the party, we just all showed up and haven’t left. A lot of what makes Binge Media work is the fans, so before we say anything we would like to take this opportunity to say, without irony or callousness, thanks to all of you for making the site what it is. The “sauce” of Binge consists of a few ingredients, one of the main ones being the listeners, so thank you for sticking with us so far.
With that being said, we are excited to share with you the next era of Binge Media. As of today we are now on Patreon, a website you can find at the link below:
So what is Patreon, you ask? Patreon is a site that it allows you to support us directly through tiered donations in exchange for a bunch of cool gifts and some podcast goals we have put together on the site. Here is what we have in terms of goals for the first few milestones:
$50 – User poll for a Podcast topic of your choosing!
$100 – Movie Commentary poll for either the BingeCast, Binge GameCast or Binge SportsCast!
$150 – User poll for a Podcast topic of your choosing!
$200 – Movie Commentary poll for either the BingeCast, Binge GameCast or Binge SportsCast!
$250 – User poll for a Podcast topic of your choosing!
$400 – Moreno and Jack Valley will record 3 commentary episodes for the first two seasons of The Wire each. That’s 3 per season, 6 total! Math is fun!
$450 – User poll for a Podcast topic of your choosing!
$500 – Law and Moreno will record a commentary for Magnolia and fight each other to the death! We plan on adding goals as we go, so your support is welcome! As a community of movie fans we pride ourselves on delivering Podcasts that you all want to hear, and it is with this idea in mind that we set up Patreon. As we all are aware, the site has operational costs, and we want to keep things running for as long as we can. Your support would go a long way towards helping that happen, so check out the page at the link above and support the site today!
I am finally back from my honeymoon, relaxed and feeling better than ever. As much as I loved being on a beach, playing the ukulele, drinking frozen drinks with my lovely chick, being home has many a perk. Like playing the ukulele, drinking frozen drinks with my lovely chick on MY COUCH. Ahhhh.
Before the craziness of Weddingpalooza, JackieBoy (aka MovieFreak aka Episode 4) Prop Joe’d me by asking if I’d be interested in flipping the script and having him interview me. Without even thinking I said yes because A) it sounded like he was going to be doing a lot of the heavy lifting, and B) why not have another experimental edition of MMM?
We finally got down to business this past week and honestly, I was on edge a bit. I wouldn’t consider myself a control
freak, but I do like to handle things myself and get a little antsy when things like this are out of my control. But it’s one of my favorite things to do in life: take myself out of of my comfort zone. In this episode, we talk about the stories behind my tattoos, the stories behind the friendships that have grown out of Binge Media, music, film, and even throw in a pee break sounder just because. Deal with it.
Hope you enjoy.
What kind of experimental show would you like to hear on Monday Morning Moreno?
If you’re reading this the day of release (9/21/15), I am sitting on a beach with my chick, drunkenly playing the ukulele and relaxing after a crazy fun wedding. In order to have some content for your ear holes, I decided to once again experiment with the format of MMM. After hearing the 100th special episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, I hijacked his format of drunk calling listeners and applied it here. If you’re gonna steal, steal from the greats.
But I changed it slightly: I got one of the listeners to co-host with me. And that co-host is none other than Oh Hai Denny Luis. After talking about what he does for a living, Canadian stuff and Alex Jones, we get to calling a few listeners. We talk to Robert Anthony Richard (aka Creepy 209 guy!), PJ the Intern, Pedro Nunez, Logan goddamn James, PeteMC and finally, TM. Just fair warning, things get sloppy in the end.
Now let me get back to my goddamn honeymoon.
What kind of experimental show would you like to hear on Monday Morning Moreno?
I’ve had quite a few road trips in my day but my most recent one to the tri-state area ranks as one of the best ever. I’ve never driven East before, so that’s a first. And it’s the first long distance road trip I’ve had with my chick (another first). Plenty of people told us that we’d want to kill each other by the end of it. Why? If you enjoy someone’s company, spending 24 hours in a car with someone is no big deal.
This is another experimental podcast in the ever changing landscape that is Monday Morning Moreno. I grabbed a couple of mics, my digital recorder, and popped in for updates from the road, at a tattoo shop, Central Park and during our drunken partying at PeteMC’s house. There’s drunk sounder rehearsals, drunk talk and even a drunk MiniBinge. Goddamit TM.
Hope you enjoy.
What kind of experimental show would you like to hear on Monday Morning Moreno?
Take a good look folks. This is the last time you’ll be seeing an article on Binge Media that begins with this iconic image. Okay, maybe it’s only iconic in my brain, but I digress. And before you start sending messages, yes, I know that it’s Monday and not the weekend, but if you had the weekend that I did, you wouldn’t have had the energy to write anything yesterday either. Plus, I know a ton of you are already on the site to download the newest BingeCast, so I figured I’d wait for you. See how smart I am. With all of that being said, I am coming to you today to announce that this indeed will be the final installment of Working the Weekend with Luke.
I would like to go on record and say that this was not a decision that came down from Moreno and/or Law, but a decision that I’ve come to over the last month or so. There’s a reason that you haven’t seen this column in a while. It’s not that I haven’t watched anything new or listened to anything new, but honestly, the BingeCast covers so much that it would be somewhat redundant to put out some of the same thoughts on the same site. And with the fast-paced world we live in, who the hell has the time for that? Tack on the addition of Garrett’s amazing movie reviews, and you’re getting even more great content from so many talented people. That’s not me kissing anybody’s ass. That’s the actual truth. The fact is that although it’s nice to write about things outside the world of Binge Sports, this site really doesn’t need me to do that. I refuse to put out content just to put out content. Your time is valuable and I will not waste it.
To my loyal readers of Binge Sports and my loyal listeners of the Binge SportsCast, fear not. Those two things aren’t going anywhere. The numbers continue to grow on the show, and I’m having an absolute blast with it. I’ve had so many different people come on the show to talk about a lot of different things, and it’s only going to get better. There will be an all-new episode coming your way later this week, so stay tuned for that. I’m also kicking around a few ideas for the upcoming NFL season that I’m very excited about, so make sure to keep checking back for all of the info on that as well. So now you can take a deep breath. I’m not going anywhere. I just want to stay focused on the reason that I was hired by Binge Media in the first place. I’ve also got a few ideas about doing some commentaries on some classic sports movies, so I won’t be completely getting away from talking about movies altogether. And I’ll still be doing the Better Call Saul commentary with Supka and Episode IV when that rolls back around in a few months. Garrett and I also have a special show planned for the fall, Moreno and I have discussed a follow-up show to the Up Close and Personal w/ Luke Norris episode of Monday Morning Moreno that we recorded a couple of months ago, so believe me when I tell you that you’ll be seeing and hearing plenty from me at bingemedia.net.
But if you do get the itch to read something from me that’s not Binge Media related, I encourage you to visit my personal blog, The Luke Norris Experience, or visit LukeNorris.net, which houses all of my writing, including links to every single thing I’ve ever written for Binge Media. You can also receive updates by liking the LukeNorris.net Facebook page. There is going to be a ton of upcoming content from me in the future, so if you’ve liked what you’ve read from me on this site for the past eighteen months, I encourage you to continue to come along this continuing journey with me.
I want to thank Law and Moreno for giving me this outlet and I especially want to thank each and every one of you who have taken the time to read even one word of Working the Weekend with Luke. You can do anything with your time, and you choose to spend some of it with me, so I thank you for your continued support. And speaking of support, let’s get back to Binge Media business. Go to the top of this page to check out the brand new Binge Media merchandise store and do yourself a favor and sign up for the Binge Media Newsletter for exclusive content. This week’s movie homework is fantastic. And as I said earlier, a brand new Binge SportsCast comes your way later this week as I talk the passing of Rowdy Roddy Piper and much more with Batch and possibly a first time special guest as well. Maybe even some of those NFL plans will be revealed. I guess you’ll have to tune in to find out. Don’t forget to follow @BingeSports on Twitter as well for all the latest. Until then, let me know what your favorite Working the Weekend with Luke column was. You can leave comments below or follow me on Twitter @THElukenorris. I hope you’ve enjoyed this column as much as I have. Thanks.
Well, there’s not too much I can write for this description of the all-new Binge SportsCast. Well, I could actually write for days and days about Hulk Hogan and this unfortunate situation (and I almost did), but I decided instead to invite my tag-team partner Batch and our sometimes six-man tag partner Garrett to the show to discuss the biggest story in pop culture from this past week. We get into the rant itself, how it affects the childhood of millions, what’s next for Hogan, racism in wrestling, and so much more. What’s your take on this whole fiasco? Comment below or let me know @BingeSports and/or @THElukenorris. You can find Batch @multiversefive and Garrett @GarrettCollin13. Enjoy…or cry. Either way, sign up for the Binge Media Newsletter before you listen…BROTHER!!!
