Nerd Hurdles

The best podcast in Canada — and one of the best in the world — has a new home: nerdhurdles.com.

This is geekery examined with a neat slant. Each week, Jakob and Mandi take a topic that people might think is too nerdy to enjoy, and rip into it. Sometimes it’s something the average person would avoid due to a perception of nerdishness, like The Nerd Store. Sometimes it’s something even geeks think is too much, like Transformers (we older geeks aren’t into that sort of thing).

It’s all presented with classic J&M wit, bite and brains. It’s a podcast you should hear.

The new site, meanwhile, links to their entire world, parts of which I have mentioned here before. Books, music, art, pictures of broken toys … it’s all there. And a forum, too, which is fun.

P.S. Nerdles.

Weather Station 3

So, we’re a month into the new Weather Station 3 podcast, and things are going pretty well. New listeners are coming aboard every episode, and I’m having fun doing it. Actually, people are still downloading the old shows from the Clickcaster feed — when it works — so that’s good, too. Those links are to your right.

I’m going to stick with the current format for now, which is half news commentary, half backup feature. So far, the backing features I’ve introduced are Big Bad Hair (a look at 80s music), A Foreigner’s Guide to Canada (pretty much what it sounds like) and Imaginary Friends. That last one promises to be fun; it’s an exploration of how relationships have changed in the Internet age.

I’m always looking for someone to talk to, so if you want to pop in via Skype and help out, drop me a line.

Today’s Moron: Daniel Duran

Something I’ve noticed over the past year of cataloguing morons: If your stupidity involves your goods, you’re going to end up featured here.

This is the case with Daniel Duran, an alleged bank robber. He hasn’t been convicted, so he’s technically not guilty, but really, the evidence is pretty clear. A man held up a bank in Houston the other day, and jammed the money bundles down his pants as he made his getaway. What he didn’t know was that the crafty teller had given him money tricked out with those exploding dye packs.

Dye packs are a good idea. Yes, it ruins the money. But they can help identify and catch robbers. Plus it’s funny when stuff explodes on bad guys.

That’s what happened here. When police located their suspect, they found Duran, shirtless, his crotch blasted blue. In fact, he was quite severely burned down there by the explosion of the dye packs. He was treated for second-degree burns, and charged with robbery.

Should I be drawing attention to this guy’s moronic tragedy? Yes. Crime doesn’t pay, kids. And sometimes it really, really doesn’t pay. So stay in school and don’t do drugs. Also, don’t stuff explosives in your drawers.

Meanwhile, there used to be a TV entertainment anchor here in Canada named Dan Duran. He and I were hanging out at a film festival once, and I asked him about his name. He told me it was a pseudonym, and revealed his real last name to me, and I agreed that Duran was a good choice.