CLICK TO LISTEN

The things to note in this part of the podcast preview is that we spent 90% of the time discussing Nick the Magician and there’s basically 45 Michaels and 28 Nicks on this season.

Also, don’t forget, I’m doing a $50 Amazon giftcard giveaway and to enter, all you have to do is click here and submit your entry.

CLICK TO SUBSCRIBE

The post The Bachelorette Podcast Preview Part 2 appeared first on Knox McCoy.

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW YEAH.

It’s that time. Is everyone ready? Don’t you feel like the time between these shows gets smaller and smaller? Soon, a rejected Bachelor/ette will step into the rejection car and then be taken directly to the Bachelor/ette Mansion to begin their own season with a new group of 25 people and ABC will just be this giant network devoted to not helping anyone find love despite airing it 24/7 and no one will have any problem with this. Why? Because it’s FOR LOVE, guys. For love is always the answer to any question.

Before we start, if you missed it, Jamie and I did Part 1 of our podcast preview for this season on the Xtra Bacon Podcast Network so make sure to  listen to that here AND subscribe to the network. Part 2 goes up tomorrow.

ALSO, I’m doing a $50 Amazon giftcard giveaway this week, so if free things interest you, click here to submit your name to win.

ON TO THE SPECTACLE…

Name: Juan Pablo

+ LOOKS LIKE: He is intending for that neck beard to be a real thing.

Age: 31

Occupation: Former Pro Soccer Player

+ OH OF COURSE HE IS. Why the hang up on Euro soccer players? They all act like they’ve been hit with a scud missile in the trapper keeper every 5 minutes. How is that sexy? Do women like the thought of their love interest getting decked in a Gap because they grazed a mannequin?

Hometown: Barquisimeto, Venezuela

+ 100 billion dollars on him SUPER pronouncing the name of his hometown so we get the full pronunciation experience of it in case we’re watching at home and we’re like “BARQUIZMEATO? What kind of name is that?”

Height: 5’11″

Shoe Size: 11.5

Tattoos: 1

Favorite Childhood Memory: Winning a youth soccer tournament

Hot-Spot Club or Low-Key Bar: Hot spot, because that’s where they play the danceable music.

Favorite Book: Don’t read

+ Can we just pause for a second about how fantastic this answer is? Most people don’t really read but they treat this answer as some kind of thing where they can prove their intelligence by saying something like East of Eden, but JP is SO dismissive about this possibility that he doesn’t even give a pat answer. He just nukes the entire concept by confirming that he “Don’t Read.”

AND I MEAN HOW COULD HE? That open shirt / chest exposure doesn’t just happen in nature, guys.

Would you describe yourself more as “the party-starter,” “the wingman” or “the laid-back one”?
The laid-back one, but with great music, the all-night dancer.

+ Can you really be the laid-back one and the all night dancer? You’ve got to pick a lane, JP.

Where do you see yourself in five years?
As one of the most respected agents in sports and music.

+ So great. QUESTION: Does he know reading is kind of a huge thing with agenting? Like contracts and stuff? Or will he all night dancer the negotiation into his favor in a Billy Elliot kind of way?

Describe your idea of the ultimate date.
Having a special lunch with the love of my life on a tepui (a mountainous plateau) in Canaima [National Park in Venezuela]. Flying on a helicopter around the jungle and stopping to eat on top of a tepui.

+ I’m surprised he went lunch. Lunch is such a casual thing, right? For an ultimate date it would seem like you’d go dinner, but then again, that would leave so little time for this tepui-hopping he mentioned 85 times.

Meatloaf said he would “do anything for love, but he won’t do that.” What will you not do?
(Answer left blank.)

+ He won’t answer this question for love evidently. (RIM SHOT!)  Guys, I came up with that one all by myself, FYI.

Name: Jonathan

+ LOOKS LIKE: A villain character from One Tree Hill

Age: 26

Occupation: Attorney

+ Interesting. I’m always interested when people with law degrees do something like this. It’s like, “Guys, YOU are supposed to have it all figured out. Leave this arena for the people who believe reality tv to be a viable option in life.

Hometown: Hickory, NC

Height: 6’1″

Shoe Size: 11

Tattoos: None

Three Favorite Groups/Artists: Garth Brooks, Kings of Leon, The Avett Brothers

+ STRONG music selection, guys. You are just absolutely kidding yourself if you don’t think I went through an insane Garth Brooks stage at 13. The Dance? REAL TEARS. Haha just kidding. But no seriously, I was an emotional kid.

Biggest Date Fear: No chemistry

Three Best Attributes: Height, shoe size, vertical leap

+ I kind of love his disdain for the question and we can see it in his answers. Not to be a shoe size snob, but 11 is nothing special, ok? Also, his vertical leap has to be absolutely insane OR he just hates the stupidity of the question THAT MUCH.

What do you hope to get out of participating in this television show?
Meet an awesome girl and see some awesome places.

+ If Janis from Mean Girls was here, she’d be like, “And maybe you’ll have an awesome time and drink awesome shooters, listen to awesome music, and then just sit around and soak up each others awesomeness.” And we would all be like, “Ahahaha MEAN GIRLS BURN!”

Describe your top three favorite/least favorite things to do on a date.
Favorite: 1) Adventure 2) Laugh 3) Make out

Least Favorite: 1) Completely blow it 2) Family dinner 3) Get slapped

+ The fantastic thing here is that we know that if he advances he will be forced to have multiple family dinners, which is why it’s so great that he openly reveals that he hates them.

What’s your worst date memory?
The girl yelling expletives across the street as she went back to her building. It didn’t end well.

+ So to recap here, he doesn’t like getting slapped and his track record has lead to a girl cursing at him from across the street. This is what we call context clues, I think.

What are your deal-breakers when it comes to relationships?
Lack of openness/communication, over 6′, under 5′. No real “deal-breakers.” I think you can never know someone until you spend time together, so how someone appears on paper or traditionally acts doesn’t really matter if two people click.

Name: James

+ LOOKS LIKE: He was probably entirely too invested in the Sam/Ronnie relationship on Jersey Shore.

Age: 27

Occupation: Sales

+ Does this mean “mall kiosk”? I feel like it does.

Hometown: Marietta, GA

Height: 6’2″

Shoe Size: 13

Tattoos: A bull on shoulder, an Indian on right shoulder.

+ SURE OK WHY NOT. 

Also, since ABC is giving us the PDF’s of these answers, why not also give us the pictures of these tattoos because I have the feeling that James’ idea of an Indian and my idea are probably very different things.

Three Best Attributes: Outgoing, creative, I am loyal

+ I wonder why he felt the need to spell out his loyalty as opposed to just saying “loyal.” It’s as though he didn’t trust us to make the connection or like he JUST thought of it and wanted to make sure to get it in.

Favorite Author: Dr. Seuss

+ Lol but no. No, James. Not ever.

Do you prefer a woman who wants to be pursued or a woman who pursues you and why?
I love a woman who pursues me. That tells me that she’s confident.

+ This tells me all about his mall kiosk strategy. He’s the dude who just flies the robot helicopter and only works the sale if people approach him.

What are your deal-breakers when it comes to relationships?
If a woman is not confident in herself or her relationship with her spirituality, that can be a deal-breaker.

+ I’m not really sure what “confident in her relationship with her spirituality” means but it feels super complicated, right?

Describe the perfect hometown date.
We would go to the lake with all my friends.

+ Hahaha admit it, James, you are in this for the giant bro hang, aren’t you?

What’s your biggest date fear?
That I spill tomato sauce on my white shirts…

+ There it is.

Name: Drew

+ LOOKS LIKE: The protagonist from an ABC drama that is about a conman, but a conman WITH A HEART OF GOLD.

Age: 27

Occupation: Digital Marketing Analyst 

Hometown: Scottsdale, AZ

Height: 6’2″

Shoe Size: 11.5

Tattoos: None

Favorite Flower: A rose, obviously. Haha.

Favorite Author: Hemingway. I love his characters and writing style.

+ Sure you do. Look, guys who look like you don’t read Hemingway. It’s fine. Just don’t lie.

Favorite Sports: I love to snowboard, surf, and play basketball.

What are your 3 worst attributes?
1) I have a bad sweet tooth

2) I can become uninterested in boring conversations

3) I think I just discovered my left leg is longer than my right

+ I like this answer because it suggests that he’s so bored with this process that he’s actively gauging possible eccentricities about his body.

If you were stranded on a desert island, what 3 things would you bring with you and why?
A sailboat, a radio, a case of Cabernet, and a few books.

+ First thing, I give him credit because he actually answered the question instead of saying something like, “DURR A SATELLITE PHONE TO RADIO FOR RESCUE DURR.” Nothing makes me angrier than that.

I do have to rescind credit because he named four things, with one of those things being “a few books” so really he has like checked luggage and a carry-on for this trip.

Who is your favorite actor & why?
I love Tom Hardy and Christian Bale right now. They are how I would cast myself as an actor.

+ Ok, while I like his choices, it is a little concerning that he has the bobos to want two of the most attractive actors in Hollywood to play him instead of someone like Turtle from Entourage.

Also, I would have said Chris Evans should play him but only if he grows his hair out and goes on the Anne Hathaway from Les Mis diet.

What are your deal-breakers when it comes to relationships?
There has to be trust, a strong connection… I’m looking to find my best friend and marry her, so she needs to have all the qualities a best friend has.

+ THEY ASKED FOR DEALBREAKERS. This isn’t time for you to be philosophical. We want to know if you get crazy about if she’s obsessed with Ryan Reynolds movies or something.

Name: Diogo

+ LOOKS LIKE: The before photo of one of the characters in those insane Japanese horror movies who becomes some kind of demon and crawls out of ceilings and/or TV sets.

Age: 29

Occupation: Marketing Manager

Hometown: Penha, Brazil

Height: 5’10″

Shoe Size: 11

Tattoos: I have “Blessed” on my left bicep

Three All-Time Favorite Movies: No Strings Attached, The Lucky One, The Hunger Games

+ Hahahahahahahaha. Diogo. DIOGO. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Diogo why did you let your 13-year old sister answer these questions? DID YOU REALIZE THEY SAID ALL TIME? You aren’t boxed in here by having to pick something within the last three years. Natalie Portman didn’t even like No Strings Attached.

Favorite All-Time Book: The Alchemist(Paulo Coelho). It is all about having your dreams come true

Ultimate Date: Horseback ride on the beach

+ Diogo. I don’t know what to do with you. I feel compelled to hide you away and keep you safe. I don’t think the world is ready for you. You should exist only in a Hello Kitty stores. Look at me. Diogo… (Takes Diogo’s face in hands and makes meaningful eye contact) no matter what happens to you on this season, stay gold. Stay gold, Diogo.

What do you hope to get out of participating in this television show?
First, I believe in love, and love is the only thing missing in my life.

+ Besides an undershirt AMIRITE? Guys? 

Second, I have a life story and I wish to inspire people that anything in life is possible when you believe you can.

Do you consider yourself romantic and why?
Very much romantic. I tend to discover her desires and make them happen. I’m somewhat old-fashioned. I always give flowers and open doors…

+ I like how he phrased “discover her desires” and made it seem erotic when really it’s just that she wants Reese Eggs in the house at all times but never where she can find them.

What does your ideal mate look like?

Girly.

(Lapses into hilarity-stricken coma)

Name: Dan

+ LOOKS LIKE: The Warren Buffet of spray tans OR Jeff Probst’s less attractive brother.

Age: 30

Occupation: Beverage Sales Director

Hometown: Dublin, CA

Height: 6’0″

Shoe Size: 10.5

Tattoos: None

Worst Three Attributes: Taking on too much at once, always trying to please, too trusting

+ Great answers, you guys. This is a clinic on how to answer the tricky “worst attributes” question. You can’t ACTUALLY tell people that you are stingy with food, have insane body odor in the morning and have sleep rage.

Three All-Time Favorite Movies: Dumb & Dumber, Inception, any of the Bourne movies

+ So great. Doesn’t this explain America? And believe you me, I love D&D as much as the next guy.  BUT ALL TIME GUYS. ALL OF HUMAN TIME.

Favorite Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio

If you could be someone else for just one day, who would it be and why?

Ray Kurzweil to see how his brain really works and see what kind of good I could do with it for a day.

+ Douchebag answer because it begs the follow up of “Who is Ray Kurzweil?” and then this guy with the mega spray tan gets to talk down to you for 12 minutes about the genius of Ray Kurzweil.

Name: Chris

+ LOOKS LIKE: Someone who has been or has been predestined to appear in a commercial for a product that regrows hair.

Age: 27

Occupation: Mortgage Broker

+ BORING

Hometown: McMinnville, OR

+ BORED

Height: 6’4″

Shoe Size: 12

Tattoos: None

+ SUPER BORED

Favorite Board Game: Scrabble

+ INFINITY BORED

Time it takes to get ready for a big night:20 minutes

Favorite snack: Almonds

+ THE KIND OF BORED THAT MANIFESTS ITSELF AS A PERSON AND IS TILDA SWINTON.

Look. I’m not asking you to put “chocolate-covered scorpions here or anything, but you already pretty much appear to be the most boring human being to ever wear a purple shirt, so why clinch it by saying almonds? And seriously? Almonds? Whose favorite snack is legit almonds?

What is your greatest achievement to date?
Being drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 2007. Being part of 2 no-hitters in baseball.

+Thank you. We get that no hitters happen in baseball, but thank you for clarifying. If you hadn’t said that, the stock market would have plunged as we all searched for answers on how one can achieve a no-hitter in golf.

What is your biggest date fear?

The girl talking uncontrollably loud and being obnoxious.

+ Again with these terrible answers. I think the answer to this should always be, “Asking a girl out, having dinner with her, making out and then realizing she’s a dude.”

Who is the person you dislike most in the world and why?
I don’t dislike anyone enough to write something. Honestly.

+ OMG HAVE A PERSONALITY. It’s K-Stew. Guys. If you are at a loss about who you dislike, just say Kristen Stewart. No one will argue with that answer and it will ingratiate you to women.

What do you wish we asked you?
I have an “artistic” side in that I used to write poetry and have a personal book of about 75 pieces that only a few people know about. Most pieces were written about relationships, baseball and places I got to go to from 2009-2011.

Only a few people and now most of North America. And Hashtag Real Talk guys? The margin for error on poetry is 0.5%. And this is coming from a guy who did the poetry thing in college. More than likely, it’s going to be terrible. This is speaking in a general sense. But now, you’re telling me that your poetry is about BASEBALL and that time you went to Italy? NO GO, BRO.

What do you hope to get out of participating in this television show?
I hope to gain experience I have never sought out before and to potentially meet the girl I could spend the rest of my life with. I know that it is a short time to make such a serious decision, but am willing to see where this takes me!

+ You see how he shoe-horned that exclamation point because even he knew that he needed more energy? That’s not the kind of sentence you exclaim on, TS Eliot.

Name: Bryden

+ LOOKS LIKE: The male nurse from The Mindy Project had a baby with one of the Klitschko brothers.

Age: 26

Occupation: Iraq War Veteran

Hometown: Havre, MT

Height: 6’1″

Shoe Size: 11

Tattoos: None

Greatest Achievement to Date: Second place at the 2010 National Soldier of the Year competition

+ That’s a real thing? I’m for real asking. We have Real Housewives Des Moines on TV but we can’t get the Soldier of The Year competition on TV?

Favorite Flower: Tiger Lily

+ Juan Pablo’s response to this?: “DON’T FLOWER.”

Favorite Artist: C.M. Russell

Juan Pablo’s response to this?: “DON’T ART.”

I love it when my date…
…dresses up or prepares herself. It shows she cares.

+ All I’m saying is let’s raise the bar a bit? Let’s expect a little more than respiration. you know?

Name: Brooks

+ LOOKS LIKE: He’s auditioned for a boy band at some point in his life.

Also? I don’t know I should make fun of his style or be jealous of it. Real talk there, guys.

Age: 28

Occupation: Sales & Marketing

Hometown: Salt Lake City, UT

Height: 6’4″

Shoe Size: 11.5

Tattoos: None

Favorite Activities to Do with a Group:Play games, conversations, camping trips

Music: Indie

+ Isn’t this just the best answer? That’s like when saying “alternative” used to be a viable way to answer the music question. But we have iTunes now. What does “indie” actually mean anyway? That sounds like someone who doesn’t listen to music, but they think that’s what they’d listen to if they weren’t always playing board games and doing camping trips.

The Ultimate Date: Anything that’s fun and involves conversation

+ GUYS. HEY GUYS. GUYS. GUYS DO YOU THINK HE LIKES CONVERSATIONS OR NO?

What do you hope to get out of participating in this television show?
I feel it is a great experience. I acknowledge the reality that I may not fall in love. However, crazy things have happened. As in, you never know. Maybe I do. That’s an okay bet for me. Nothing to lose — everything to gain. I hope to make some friends along the way. If I am here, I might as well connect with others.

+ “As in, you never know. Maybe I do.” So is Brooks teasing here that he’s psychic? It kind of feels like he is. And doesn’t he have a little bit of a magician look to him? Why haven’t they had a psychic contestant on ever? IT’S TIME. Someone needs to break the glass ceiling of psychics.

How important is your family’s approval to you when it concerns dating a certain someone?
Pretty important. You don’t just marry the girl, you marry the family.

+ I kind of hope Brooks makes it to the family stuff now so that they can introduce Des’s brother like a WWE villain and put that answer to the test.

What do you do for a living, and how important is your career to you?
I feel that we get caught up in defining who we are by what we do. I am not so concerned with the perception of others. If my work becomes dull or boring but is prestigious, I’ll change it.

+ Hahaha I feel like my dad would say that this answer sounds like someone who doesn’t really have a job. Also, am I the only one reading these answers like, “(LONG TOKE FROM A JOINT) If my work becomes dull or boring but is prestigious, I’ll change it. (exhales a cloud of smoke and then another long toke)”

Name: Brian

+ LOOKS LIKE: Nick from New Girl’s super less attractive younger brother.

Age: 29

Occupation: Financial Advisor

Hometown: Olney, MD

Height: 6’2″

Shoe Size: 13

Tattoos: None

Three All-Time Favorite Movies: The Rock, The Notebook, The Count of Monte Cristo

+ (RECORD SCRATCH) And, are you as stunned as I was that Miami Vice wasn’t in there? I mean is there a bigger pu pu platter of all time favorite movies than his?

Neat, Messy or In Between: Very neat

What do you hope to get out of participating in this television show?

I hope to get an in-depth look in a larger-than-normal-life setting of the reality of the idea of love and connection. The idea of the integration of normal love and companionship into the various situations this show presents would be something I believe very worthwhile.

+ When Siri becomes self aware, doesn’t that sound like an answer she will give about this show? For someone blowing up the pink V-neck under a blazer, that was a surprisingly robotic answer.

If you could be someone else for a day, who would it be and why?
Donald Trump; his business practices.

I think Donald Trump is the go to answer for people who think they are basically like the people on Shark Tank but are actually not. Does Brian know that they are like 400,00 more intelligent, accomplished business people to pattern your life after instead of Trump? THE MAN KEEPS BRINGING BACK GARY BUSEY TO WORK FOR HIM. This is not, as they say, a “sound business decision”.

Name: Brandon

+ LOOKS LIKE: Corey Feldman’s younger brother.

Age: 26

Occupation: Painting Contractor

Hometown: Blaine, MN

Height: 6’1″

Shoe Size: 12

Tattoos: I have a cross in the center top of my back

Three All-Time Favorite Movies: The Sandlot, The Goonies, Lean on Me

+ Ok, at least Transformers wasn’t in here. But I will say that he’s heavy on the older, nostalgic movies. I love Wendy Peffercorn as much as the next guy but I mean All Time?

What do you hope to get out of participating in this television show?

I got to this point for a reason… I don’t know what that reason is yet… But I know it’s positive and amazing. Optimistic and excited for the future. The love of my life is out there. I have been lead to this point for a reason.

+ Doesn’t this answer sound like the teaser trailer for some super dramatic new show coming up from NBC that will be canceled 21 minutes after the pilot episode airs?

What are your favorite sports?

Wakeboarding. Nothing better than a perfect summer day in Minnesota…

+ Except for a summer day anywhere else…ZING!

…Snowboarding, because you have to do something in the winter to stay sane!! Football. Vikings fan for life. Golf gives me time to reflect on life. Hockey. Wild fan. Baseball, skiing, biking, surfing, dirt biking… You get the point.

Who are your top 3 favorite groups/artists & why?

Macklemore, Weezer, Sublime. Music is a huge part of life for me. It has given me hope for the future, quieted my thought in times of sorrow, and given me an excitement for life like no other!

+ Macklemore? A little trendy but I’ll allow it because his whole album is pretty good. Big Weezer fan so we’re good there. Sublime though?

And doesn’t he seem to have this weighty gravitas to apply to every answer? Like his life has been an ongoing season of LOST and every thing has super significance?

Name: Brad

+ LOOKS LIKE: He not so secretly watches all the Real Housewives shows.

Age: 27

Occupation: Accountant/DJ

+ WE HAVE A WINNER. SERIOUSLY GUYS. SHUT IT DOWN. (Cue R Kelly’s I Believe I Can Fly) This was a great season. Thanks for reading!

Hometown: Denver, CO

Height: 6’3″

Shoe Size: 12

Tattoos: None

Most Romantic U.S. City: Seattle. Chances are high you will be dancing in the rain.

+ Hahahaha are they? ARE THEY? No I’m serious, are they? Because no one on Grey’s ever dances in the rain and if anyone is going to dance in the rain, it would be the people from that show.

Favorite Snacks: I’m basically obsessed with peanut butter.

+ I just don’t know how to accurately describe how much this answer delights me. It’s just the strangest, most fantastic answer to anything I’ve ever heard a guy say because it sounds like such a thing that you’d hear a lady friend say. “I just don’t even know what my deal is right now. I can’t stop eating and I’m basically obsessed with peanut butter.” If you say that sentence in your head, is there any chance you aren’t doing it in a female voice?

To properly hear my reaction, just hit play below and fast forward to the 10 minute mark in this podcast to hear me completely lose it when discussing it…

What do you wish we had asked you? Tell us!

I wish you would have asked me how I would approach a girl knowing 24 other men were trying to do the same thing. I think that’s what makes the show so interesting because it’s basically a fight for time and to be noticed. I don’t have an answer for that. It would depend on the girl and what I thought would be most effective and memorable in my approach.

+ So let’s recap this answer. The question he wished the producers had asked was about how he will approach Des EVEN THOUGH HE READILY ADMITS THAT HE WOULDN’T HAVE HAD AN ANSWER TO THAT.

But what if he was like,” I don’t have an answer (dramatic pause) BUT I DO HAVE A BEAT (turn tables emerge from the ground, headphones collapse onto his ears and he begins mixing a song so profound and transcendent that it actually DOES answer the question he never actually got asked).

Name: Ben

+ LOOKS LIKE: He has a secretly great falsetto and is entirely too into The Voice.

Age: 28

Occupation: Entrepreneur

+ This is that super nebulous answer we always get with this stuff, but definitely think they should be forced to clarify. Does he have 8 businesses across the globe OR does he have an eBay shop in his basement? There’s a massive red line between the two.

Hometown: Lubbock, TX

Height: 6’2″

Shoe Size: 11.5

Tattoos: Yes, left side of the rib cage

Three All-Time Favorite Movies: Tommy Boy, Avatar, Transformers

+ Oh Ben. Ben Ben Ben Ben Ben. BEN.

Favorite Magazine: Men’s Fitness

+ Don’t you get the sense that Ben lacks a sense of personality? I do. Men’s Fitness is the guys magazine that seems decent, but then you flip through it and it’s just a bunch of swolled out dudes talking about how much protein supplement they eat.

What is your most embarrassing moment?

Getting turned down by a girl in the 7th grade. (Pathetic I know!)

+ The getting turned down in 7th grade part or the that being your answer part? Or the superfluous use of exclamation point part?

What are your worst 3 attributes?
Short attention span, sometimes a bad listener, bad at keeping in touch with friends

+ Ben, I have to say, this is pretty much the triumvirate of worst possible answers. You basically told Des that you will frequent stop paying attention to her, you definitely don’t listen and you lack the part of your soul that makes you want to maintain relationships. Other than that, SS DREAMBOAT.

PART 2 coming later this week…

The post Meet The Contestants: The Bachelorette Preview Part 1 appeared first on Knox McCoy.

So I’m doing a $50 Amazon giftcard giveaway and I want YOU (imagine me standing up and point at you like literally right now) to have a shot at winning. To enter, all you have to do is click here and submit your entry.

The thing about this giveaway is that there’s several available methods to increase your odds at winning. You can like me on Facebook, subscribe to my podcast, send me $10,000, etc, so if you want to max out your odds, do as many of those items to increase your chances.

The winner will be announced this Friday so make sure to check back here on Friday to find out if you’ve won.

The post I’m Giving Away A $50 Gift Card, Do You Want It? appeared first on Knox McCoy.

CLICK TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST

In this episode, Mark, Joseph and I discuss Mad Men’s trippy episode “The Crash” and analyze the themes of parenting therein. We also discuss the glory of Stan, and his exacto knife invincibility and how Bobby Draper has racial confusion.

The post Ken Cosgrove Tap Dancing: The Mad Men Podcast Recap appeared first on Knox McCoy.

GOOD READS

Where Americans tweet hate messages the most…

Nashville High School has its own record label… 

 10 facial reconstructions of historical figures…

Serious questions for female body builders…

Which anger style are you? 

GOOD CONTEST

Do you want to win a $50 Amazon Gift Card? Click here to enter FO FREE.  The winner will be announced Friday.

GOOD PICTURES

GOOD VIDEO

(Fast forward to the 0:36 mark. Thanks to Nolan Rumble for the heads up…)

(2-3 stray curse words involved)

GOOD PODCASTS

The Bachelorette Preview Part 1: The TV Asylum Show

 Everything Repeats Itself – The Mad Men Podcast Recap on The TV Asylum Show

Golden Moon Buffet: US vs. Britain, Movies That Were Better Than The Book, and Guilty Pleasures

GOOD SWORDHORSE.COM VIDEO

GOOD AWKWARD FAMILY PHOTO

The post The Monday Morning Meatloaf 5.20.13 appeared first on Knox McCoy.

IT’S THAT TIME. Didn’t it feel like we were JUST seeing Sean Lowe on every clip of television generated by the human species? OH WAIT WE STILL ARE.

But it’s not his time anymore. It’s Des’s time. It’s not her bang’s time either (RIP) nor is it her crazy brothers’ time. This is all Des, you guys.

The blog preview is coming next week, but for now, I have part 1 of the podcast preview Jamie Golden and I did. Part 2 is coming next week.

Also, can I ask a favor? Would you mind subscribing to our podcast network on iTunes? And also could you review it? It helps a lot.

The post The Bachelorette Podcast Preview: Meet The Contestants – Part 1 appeared first on Knox McCoy.

Brought to you by Sword Horse Studios…

Directed by: Tyler Tarver

Written by: Jared Hollier and Myself

Craft Services by: Dame Judi Dench

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So Kim Kardashian’s pregnancy, right? Have you heard of this? Did you even know she was pregnant? Spoiler alert: she totally is. I hope I didn’t just break that news to you because unless you’ve been living next to Charles Ramsey for the last few years, this news has basically been everywhere.

And why wouldn’t it be? Kim, and really the entire Kardashian family, have defined themselves by their existence in relation to the tabloid magazine culture. It started with Kim’s inauspicious debut from her sex tape and they managed to cobble together some kind of greasy, distasteful reality TV empire.

Strangely, at the same time, they embody everything that’s bad about America (superficiality, vain, an existence built on nothingness) and everything that’s good (self-made, shrewdly capitalistic, opportunistic).

Regardless of how you feel about them personally, you can’t deny the “success” (meant in the sense of achievement, not in any intangible sense to be sure) they’ve earned. They are famous, seemingly wealthy and they know how to play the strings of the world in which they exist.

But we’re seeing the flip side of this life they’ve built and we’re seeing it specifically in regards to Kim and her pregnancy. If you traffic the murky waters of celebrity magazines in any capacity or if you are just super attentive at pharmacy / grocery store checkout lines, you’ve no doubt noticed how vicious some of the magazines have been with Kim’s pregnancy.

Has weight been gained? Sure.

Has she maybe worn things that didn’t fit the best? Yes is the way that question should probably be answered.

Has she been photographed in super unfortunate circumstances while eating that makes it look like she’s trying to inhale an entire ice cream cone in one bite? Yes.

And these are things we all do, right? There’s a reason I don’t eat ribs in public and there’s a reason I’m glad that movie theaters are dark and conceal what happens between me and a bag of popcorn.

But when you build a life, an image, a perception even based on getting people to watch you do almost every facet of your life, the downside is that your vulnerabilities are no longer able to be hidden or shuffled away.

You live by them, but you also die by them.

Relating this to Christians, in a sense, we fancy ourselves reality stars. Not on TV but certainly in life. The idea is that we want people to watch us in hopes that our faith and spirit will have a sort of contagious effect on them. But there’s a downside to this too, isn’t there?

Encouraging that kind of round-the-clock attention also means that we will be watched when it’s pretty inconvenient like when our (my) road rage overwhelms our (my) heart for others.

For Kim, it’s easy to do her thing when she’s spending boatloads of money during a shopping spree or doing a photo shoot or whatever other idealized pursuits occur in what she portrays as a charmed life.

Similarly, with Christians, it’s easy for us to play the visible Christian with a charmed faith when things are good and faithfulness comes easy.

But now that Kim is pregnant and dealing with a disproportionate amount of negative attention, I wonder how much she enjoys the sort of expectation and atmosphere she’s set up for herself.

To be clear, the problem isn’t that Kim is pregnant, nor is it that she’s gained a lot of weight. Weight is gained during pregnancy and some women gain a bunch of it. The problematic part is that Kim has existed within a specific world and pandered to a specific person / tabloid outlet.

This is an audience that doesn’t exactly contemplate Kim on an existential level thus their sensibilities are more shallow so the nuance of pregnancy doesn’t always fit well into this. They just know that Kim has gained weight and some of her fashion choices haven’t exactly complemented this figure in the best way, thus ridicule and insults invariably follow.

Looking at this idea through a Christian lens, in an experiential sense, we construct who we are in the hopes that it will be a beacon to the large swaths of the population who are non-believers. The hope is to be Christ-like, right?

But in creating that dynamic, we’ve also managed to build in a layer of antagonism because, from their point of view, we’re telling them, “You need to be less like you and more like me.” Obviously, we don’t really mean “me” when we say that. We mean Christ. But most of the time and especially to them, it comes off like “ME”.

The yield from this, along with a storied history of judgment is a feeling of antagonism. It’s unfortunate, but true. We’ve yet to perfect a method that conveys the larger sense of us wanting to share awesome things that have happened with us and the anchoring benefit of our faith and not the idea that we judge harshly and condemn people who believe differently from us.

Thus most non-believers get a kick out of seeing Christians flop, because of what seems to be this overarching sense of holier-than-thouness. And it’s not even about being necessarily malevolent towards Christianity. It’s more about watching someone say one thing and then do the opposite.

On a macro level, It’s why the stories of mega pastors and their sexual sins, be they heterosexual or homosexual in nature, are so sensationalized in the news, because for non-believers, it validates the idea that we’re just a big bunch of phonies.

On a micro level, it’s why when someone says they are going on a diet or starting a new project, on some level, people enjoy seeing their failure. Why? Because when someone differentiates themselves from others, there’s a friction to that because it dredges up this idea in others, on a subconscious level, that the person is either superior or considers themselves superior, and neither option is great. So that person’s failure is a satisfactory regression to the mean regardless of if they ever actually felt any sense of superiority.

We see this in politics all the time. Republican politicians, traditionally, are more known for their support of family values, right? Democratic politicians, on the other hand, largely don’t identify with any kind of specific value system. So when a Republican goes on and on about the sanctity of marriage and then we find out that he’s been cheating on his wife since the day they were married, it’s more impactful, right?

Had he not been so vocal about his beliefs, no one would care as much, which is why when Democratic politicians get into ethical trouble, no one really cares because they weren’t so preachy about it in the first place.

They didn’t create any personal expectation for themselves so why freak out about it?

When you think about it like that, it kind of sounds better to be someone who keeps a low profile. There’s no risk with looking like a giant hypocrite when you don’t really ever articulate what you believe.

The downside to this is that in the safety of obscurity, what is your impact? What do you stand for if you fail to ever truly define yourself?

The post Bad Christian Analogy #6: Pregnant Kim Kardashian appeared first on Knox McCoy.

In this episode, Mark and I recap Mad Men’s episode “Man With a Plan” and discuss the glory of Roger Sterling getting to refire Burt Peterson. Also, we address the idea of history repeating itself in various ways on the show (and in life) and what new developments are on the horizon for Bob Benson.

The post Everything Repeats Itself: The Mad Men Podcast Recap appeared first on Knox McCoy.

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