Well, folks, you didn’t ask for it and here it is.

THE BEST OF THE UNKNOWN PENGUIN PODCAST ENHANCED!!!!!

From October 2008 - March 2009 we presented a sketch comedy podcast, somewhat improvised, somewhat scripted, entirely unnecessary. And, just when it had become completely forgotten and irrelevant, we dug out the tapes and made one big, mondo episode of our best bits for your best bits. (…What?)

You can listen up there and/or download here or from iTunes (clicking will launch your iTunes player).

The content is free but the emotional damage is forever.

As always, you can listen to and download all the episodes of The Unknown Penguin Podcast right here at the Dot Com or via the iTunes (again, player launching).

THE BEST OF THE UNKNOWN PENGUIN PODCAST
written and performed by Seth Brown & Patrick Flynn & Chris Mathieu & Amanda McCann & Jason Murphy
featuring Gbenga Idowu & Steve Heaton
produced by Flynn/Mathieu

It’s been a rollercoaster glass case of emotion for us Phillies fans this week. But Doc Halladay (above), some good luck, and Jayson Werth’s homer have taken the Pennant race back to Philadelphia. Don’t call me this weekend.

The Best Of The Unknown Penguin Podcast will come out NEXT WEEK! You can listen to past Podcasts right here or you can download them from iTunes (clicking will launch your iTunes player). Get pumped!

I’ve been listening to the new Ben Folds/Nick Hornby album Lonely Avenue almost on repeat for the last several days. Great stuff!

Have you seen The Closer?

In honor of the Philadelphia Phillies clinching their 4th consecutive National League Eastern Division Title, here’s a podcast I did last year after famed Phils announcer Harry Kalas passed away. It was sad last year but the patina has made it bittersweet & nostalgic.

Our final shooting day for I Live With This is Sunday. Very excited to have Jen Bascom and Laila Ayad joining the cast! Series release due in late October unless someone buys it and tells me otherwise.

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Finished the edit for the Best of the Unknown Penguin Podcast podcast. Once Ma2 approves the edit (and he will!) it should be set for release in November.

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Rehearsals begin next week for CONfidence: a long-form improv show created by Eddie Quintana that I am . . . dramaturging, I guess you’d say. It’s an improvised con a la The Sting or The Spanish Prisoner. It goes up at Comedy Sportz LA mid October.

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New Doctor Who Magazine hit the stands Wednesday, so I’ll be getting that.

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Watching:

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And this week, God hates Polar Bears.

-p

The Power of Nothing: A Brief Metaphysical Study of Evil Forces in The NeverEnding Story
by Michael J Flynn, Bachelor of Arts in History & Humanities, Villanova University

Although, I have not seen The NeverEnding Story since I was twelve or so and remembered it as a soporific tale with a giant fluffy and not so cool dragon; I find that the concept of the nothing as a deeply meaningful enemy. Whereas most 1980’s children’s fantasy movies rely upon large nightmare inducing anamatronics or puppets, The NeverEnding Story provides a more philosophically complex antagonist: The Nothing.

The physical manifestation of impending nothing provides an illustration of the Christian Platonist’s belief that the greatest evil is the absence of being or “nothingness.” When The Nothing is being generated from the ill Empress, this illustration is enhanced with metaphysical  implications. It is the sickness of man which detracts from the greatest good (being) and thereby promotes or even creates evil. Such analysis is the underpinnings of the answer to the popular theological question: “How does God allow evil to exist?” The NeverEnding Story would support the Neo-Platonist/Augustinian traditions’ response that it is man who creates evil in the world bringing about nothingness where God is being.

While these deeply metaphysical questions may not have been asked in the two sequels or the animated series, The Neverending Story the Adventures of Bastian Balthazar Bux, or even the video game of the same title; that does not reduce The NeverEnding Story’s attempt at introducing children to Neo-Plantonism nor does it tarnish the philosophical power of the nothing.

The End

Something for Google’s birthday.

As you may or may not be aware, this past Monday Gmail was offline for about 100 minutes. While that may not sound like a big deal, the Internets came alive during that 100 minutes with a kind of frenzy not seen since Twitter went offline for a few hours last month.

Three days later, we look back at one of the darkest parts of a section of an afternoon.

Enjoy.

More on the Gmail outage.

Starring & improvised by Patrick Flynn, Andre Meadows, & Burl Moseley.

Audio clips from Buzz Out Loud: CNET’s podcast of indeterminate length, episode 1055: “Sign me up for awesome” featuring Tom Merritt, Molly Wood, & Rafe Needleman. Video clip from CNET’s The Buzz Report: “Texting While Driving: The Horror!” (9/3/09) featuring Molly Wood.

This week the Unknown Penguin Podcast is dedicated to the late, great voice of the Philadelphia Phillies: Harry Kalas. Harry was very important to all Phillies fans and he will be dearly missed. Listen on iTunes or HERE.

Read Patrick’s review of Derrick Comedy’s debut film Mystery Team for CinCity2000 HERE .

Here’s the trailer:

This week we present a new segment in our movie discussions in which Patrick watches a classic film he’s never seen. This week: The NeverEnding Story.

Joining Patrick ’round the table are Burl Moseley & Wes Whitehead.

On this week’s Unknown Penguin Podcast we discuss movies you stop and watch when they’re on TV from The Bourne Trilogy to Coming to America.

Chris Mathieu from Unknown Penguin’s Festivale (David Johnson) and The Rochambeau Kid (Johnny Cobra) as well as ComedySportz LA.

Burl Moseley from Unknown Penguin’s FringeNYC production of Untitled Masterpiece as well as the Fox series 24.

Wes Whitehead from IAMA Theatre Company.

FEATURED FILM

The Fugitive (1993, Andrew Davis) Harrison Ford; Tommy Lee Jones; Joe Pantoliano; Julianne Moore  *Patrick Owns It*

MOVIES DISCUSSED

The Bourne Identity (2002, Doug Liman) Matt Damon; Franka Potente; Chris Cooper; Brian Cox; Clive Owen *Patrick Owns It*

The Bourne Supremacy (2004, Paul Greengrass) Matt Damon; Franka Potente; Brian Cox; Julia Stiles; Joan Allen *Patrick Owns It*

The Bourne Ultimatum (2007, Paul Greengrass) Matt Damon; Julia Stiles; Joan Allen; David Strathairn; Scott Glenn; Albert Finney; Paddy Considine *Patrick Owns It*

Casino Royale (2006, Martin Campbell) Daniel Craig; Eva Green; Mads Mikkelsen; Judi Dench; Jeffrey Wright; Giancarlo Giannini *Patrick Owns It*

Coming to America (1988, John Landis) Eddie Murphy; Arsenio Hall; Shari Headley; James Earl Jones; John Amos; Eriq La Salle; Samuel L Jackson

Demolition Man (1993, Marco Brambilla) Sylvester Stallone; Wesley Snipes; Sandra Bullock; Nigel Hawthorne; Denis Leary; Glen Shadix

Die Hard (1988, John McTiernan) Bruce Willis; Alan Rickman; Bonnie Bedelia; Alexander Godunov; Reginald VelJohnson; Paul Gleason *Patrick Owns It*

Die Hard 2 (1990, Renny Harlin) Bruce Willis; Bonnie Bedelia; William Atherton; Dennis Franz; Reginald VelJohnson; Franco Nero; William Sadler; John Amos; Fred Thompson *Patrick Owns It*

Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995, John McTiernan) Bruce Willis; Jeremy Irons; Samuel L Jackson; Larry Bryggman; Graham Greene; Colleen Camp *Patrick Owns It*

Forrest Gump (1994, Robert Zemeckis) Tom Hanks; Robin Wright; Gary Sinise; Mykelti Williamson; Sally Field

Grosse Pointe Blank (1997, George Armitage) John Cusack; Minnie Driver; Dan Aykroyd; Jeremy Piven; Alan Arkin; Joan Cusack *Patrick Owns It*

Jurassic Park (1993, Steven Spielberg) Sam Neill; Laura Dern; Jeff Goldblum; Richard Attenborough; Joseph Mazzello; Ariana Richards; Martin Ferrero; Bob Peck; Samuel L Jackson; Wayne Knight *Patrick Owns It*

The NeverEnding Story (1984, Wolfgang Petersen) Noah Hathaway; Barret Oliver; Tami Stronach; Moses Gunn; Patricia Hayes; Thomas Hill; Deep Roy

The Shawshank Redemption (1994, Frank Darabont) Tim Robbins; Morgan Freeman; Bob Gunton; William Sadler; Clancy Brown; Gil Bellows; James Whitmore *Patrick Owns It*

ADDITIONAL MOVIES MENTIONED

The Client (1994, Joel Schumacher) Susan Sarandon; Tommy Lee Jones; Brad Renfro; Will Patton

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008, David Fincher) Brad Pitt; Cate Blanchett; Taraji P Henson; Julia Ormond; Tilda Swinton; Mahershalalhashbaz Ali; Jared Harris; Jason Flemyng

The Dark Crystal (1982, Jim Henson & Frank Oz) Stephen Garlick; Lisa Maxwell; Billie Whitelaw; Barry Dennen; Michael Kilgarriff

Diamonds are Forever (1971, Guy Hamilton) Sean Connery; Jill St John; Charles Gray; Lana Wood; Putter Smith; Bruce Glover; Norman Burton; Bernard Lee; Desmond Llewelyn *Patrick Owns It*

Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994, Mike Newell) Hugh Grant; Andie MacDowell; James Fleet; Simon Callow; John Hannah; Kristin Scott Thomas; David Bower; Charlotte Coleman; Rowan Atkinson; Anna Chancellor; David Haig; Sophie Thompson *Patrick Owns It*

From Russia with Love (1963, Terence Young) Sean Connery; Daniela Bianchi; Lotte Lenya; Robert Shaw *Patrick Owns It*

Goldfinger (1964, Guy Hamilton) Sean Connery; Shirley Eaton; Gert Fröbe; Honor Blackman; Harold Sakata *Patrick Owns It*

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008, Steven Spielberg) Harrison Ford; Cate Blanchett; Karen Allen; Ray Winstone; John Hurt; Jim Broadbent; Shia LaBeouf

Labyrinth (1986, Jim Henson) Jennifer Connelly; David Bowie; Toby Froud

Lethal Weapon (1987, Richard Donner) Mel Gibson; Danny Glover; Gary Busey; Mitchell Ryan; Tom Atkins; Darlene Love; Grand L Bush; Steve Kahan *Patrick Owns It*

The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996, Renny Harlin) Geena Davis; Samuel L Jackson; Patrick Malahide; Craig Bierko; Brian Cox; David Morse; G D Spradlin; Tom Amandes; Yvonne Zima *Patrick Owns It*

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969, Peter R Hunt) George Lazenby; Diana Rigg; Telly Savalas *Patrick Owns It*

Poltergeist (1982, Tobe Hooper) Craig T Nelson; JoBeth Williams; Beatrice Straight; Dominique Dunne; Oliver Robins; Heather O’Rourke

Pulp Fiction (1994, Quentin Tarintino) John Travolta; Samuel L Jackson; Uma Thurman; Bruce Willis; Harvey Keitel; Tim Roth; Amanda Plummer; Maria de Medeiros; Ving Rhames; Eric Stoltz; Rosanna Arquette; Quentin Tarintino; Christopher Walken *Patrick Owns It*

Quantum of Solace (2008, Marc Forster) Daniel Craig; Olga Kurylenko; Mathieu Amalric; Judi Dench; Jeffrey Wright; Giancarlo Giannini

Quiz Show (1994, Robert Redford) John Turturro; Rob Morrow; Ralph Fiennes; David Paymer; Paul Scofield

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981, Steven Spielberg) Harrison Ford; Karen Allen; Paul Freeman; Ronald Lacey; John Rhys-Davies; Denholm Elliott; Alfred Molina *Patrick Owns It*

The Ref (1994, Ted Demme) Denis Leary; Judy Davis; Kevin Spacey; Donna Holgate *Patrick Owns It*

Regarding Henry (1991, Mike Nichols) Harrison Ford; Annette Bening; Mikki Allen; Bill Nunn

The Secret of NIMH (1982, Don Bluth) Elizabeth Hartman; Derek Jacobi; Dom DeLuise; John Carradine; Arthur Malet; Hermione Baddeley; Peter Strauss; Paul Shenar; Shannen Doherty; Wil Wheaton

Swimfan (2002, John Polson) Jesse Bradford; Erika Christensen; Shiri Appleby; Clayne Crawford; Jason Ritter; Dan Hedaya

Thunderball (1965, Terence Young) Sean Connery; Claudine Auger; Adolfo Celi; Luciana Paluzzi; Rik Van Nutter; Desmond Llewelyn; Bernard Lee *Patrick Owns It*

Trading Places (1983, John Landis) Dan Aykroyd; Eddie Murphy; Ralph Bellamy; Don Ameche; Denholm Elliott; Jamie Lee Curtis

U.S. Marshals (1998, Stuart Baird) Tommy Lee Jones; Wesley Snipes; Robert Downey Jr; Joe Pantoliano; Tom Wood

Witness (1985, Peter Weir) Harrison Ford; Kelly McGillis; Lukas Haas; Danny Glover; Jan Rubes; Josef Sommer *Patrick Owns It*