Storytime with GamerDude

In this week's episode, GamerDude talks about how the corona virus, which is on everyone's mind these days, has reintroduced people to the ideas his mom drilled into his head when he was young, like washing your hands and covering your mouth when you cough. He then takes a more serious look at the fear and anger that the virus has stirred up in society. He talks about the importance of recognizing...

As regular listeners know, food is one of GamerDude's favorite subjects. This week, he talks about meal time, and how his mother's homemade biscuits were part of many of the meals he had while growing up. He talks about the biscuit as a side dish, and as the base for his mother's homemade strawberry shortcake. He talks about his struggles trying to learn how to make good biscuits on his own, and h...

As regular listeners of Storytime know, GamerDude is a huge fan of the movies. In this "Best Of" episode, GamerDude has compiled many of the movie tropes he loves to hate.  From the "always present parking space" that's always there for the protagonist, to the "easily exploding car" that so many action movies seem to have, to someone always running upstairs, or onto the roof, to escape pursuit, to...

As GamerDude has mentioned numerous times, the way society viewed things, and the way things were when he grew up, was very different than it is now. In this episode, GamerDude talks about how embarrassing it was to have to go into a store and buy "prophylactics," which is what condoms were called when he was a kid. He talks about how he felt guilty and embarrassed about the whole "condom buying e...

This week's episode is all about TV. In the first part, GamerDude talks about several TV plots that have been re-used and recycled over the years in the various TV series he's watched.  He talks about several different plot points, including how tired he is of the "Falsely Accused" plot, and the "Is Our Hero Dead?" plot. Unless it's a series finale, GamerDude is quite certain that the hero is not...

GamerDude grew up with a lot of things that were part of his everyday life that either no longer exist or have become obsolete.  In this episode, he talks about a few of them.  He remembers when "going on-line" involved using a dial-up connection and a modem for the phone; you can even relive the "excitement" of the dial tones and the static that everyone heard as they tried to go on-line before t...

GamerDude revisits the topic of games, which he first talked about in Season One. This time, he takes a deep dive into some of the games he enjoyed as a kid.  He talks about how he enjoyed playing games so much that he would sometimes play four person Monopoly and play all four seats. He talks about how he developed a love for trivia games, starting with the early editions of Go To The Head Of The...

When GamerDude was growing up, a "normal" relationship in society was a father who worked and a mother who stayed at home and cooked, cleaned, and took care of the kids. Dating back then - whether conciously or unconciously - was geared towards finding a mate to complete this "normal" relationship. GamerDude talks about how the attitudes of parents, and schools, helped cement this mentality of wha...

GamerDude continues to share his passion for movies in this episode.  He talks about 10 classic, pre-1980 movies that you'll probably enjoy. He goes back to the era of "film noir" for three films, including the classic Double Indemnity.  He then talks about seven more classic films, which run the gamut from Whatever Happened To Baby Jane to Monty Python and the Holy Grail. (As usual, you'll have t...

GamerDude has gone back to Season 1 for some stories for this "Best of" episode.  He brings back the story of learning to drive when he was 11, while visiting his aunt.  He also tells the story of learning to bake with his dad.  He also brings back the story about his "golden age" of television, and the syndicated shows he watched on the six television channels that existed in his area when he was...

"Doing chores" was a big part of GamerDude's childhood, and this week, he talks about all that was expected of him as a kid.  Looking back, it doesn't seem like the chores were too much, but to a 10 year old, having to spend thirty minutes doing something that wasn't fun was a huge burden.  What the chores taught GamerDude was that there were times in your life that you had to do things that you d...

In the first episode of Season Three, GamerDude talks about New Year's Resolutions. He breaks open the history books to talk about how New Year's resolutions date back about 4,000 years, and how the early promises the Babylonians made to curry favor with the gods are the precursors to the promises we make to ourselves every year to try to improve ourselves. He talks about how he never really made...

With the holiday season in full swing, GamerDude wanted to take a few minutes to share a story that was written by Phillip Van Doren Stern back in 1943.  The story, called The Greatest Gift, had humble beginnings - the author is reported to have come up with the idea while shaving one morning - but it may sound quite familiar to you as you listen.  No spoilers, but this simple story slowly grew in...

Christmas time can be fun and exciting, chaotic and stressful, sad and depressing, and all on the same day! GamerDude talks about what Christmas was like for him growing up; as a child, the birth of Jesus was one of the focal points of Christmas, but that was always competing with the desire for new toys! He talks about the seemingly never ending battle between the spiritual and the material aspec...

As regular listeners know, GamerDude is fascinated by words and language, so when he remembered how his grandmother used to say it was "half-past nine" to say that the time was 9:30, he got to thinking about some of the other words and phrases that he grew up using but that are rarely - if ever - used anymore.  In this episode, he talks about a number of those words and phrases, how they were used...

When GamerDude was growing up, without the benefit of DVDs or VHS tapes, if you wanted to watch Santa Claus is Coming to Town, you had one chance per year to catch it when it aired. As a result, all of the holiday specials were truly "special occasions," and "appointment TV" for anyone wanting to catch a bit of the holiday spirit. In this episode, GamerDude talks about his five least favorite, and...

GamerDude celebrates Episode 100 of the podcast with some stories about Thanksgiving. He talks about the family gatherings he had during the holidays, and talks about his first family political battle: trying to graduate from the "kids table" at his grandmother's house. He talks about his grandmother's famous rice ring, her infamous undercooked turkey, and the tasty appetizer she always served (or...

As hard is it may be to believe, there was a time before Star Wars ever existed, and GamerDude lived in that time. He talks about his first experience with Star Wars in 1977 (when there was only one movie and it was simply called "Star Wars"). In this episode, he talks about his history with the movies. He talks about the surprise he felt when they retitled Star Wars as "Episode IV" in 1980, and t...

In this episode, GamerDude has compiled a number of short stories about various memories he has from growing up, about a wide variety of topics.  He talks about the one time he went sailing in an old school sailboat.  The story about sailing reminded him of the one cruise he and his family went on, and he explains how "fun" the cruise experience was. GamerDude also talks about a couple random driv...

One of GamerDude's oldest memories is of his grandmother making homemade applesauce. He talks about how he helped out with the cutting and peeling of apples when he was a kid, and the wonderful smell that fills the house when cooking homemade applesauce. He also talks about his first paying job, which was at an apple orchard. He learned all about apple-picking, and climbing ladders in the orchards...

When GamerDude was growing up, Halloween was more intended for the kids than it is today. It was all geared towards dressing up in a costume and - most importantly - collecting candy! GamerDude remembers getting ready to go out trick-or-treating, and planning the route to take with his friends.  Trick-or-treating would last for, literally, hours, and the goal was to collect as much candy as you co...

Two of GamerDude's passions - movies and music - come together in this episode. He talks about the power of music in the movies, and gives a list of his fifteen (okay, sixteen) favorite, most memorable, most iconic movie theme songs.  No spoilers here - if you want the list, you'll have to listen to it! But, here are a few hints: 1) some of the movies mentioned date back more than 60 years, 2) one...

GamerDude's love for amusement parks was not shared by his parents when he was growing up, so it wasn't until he was on his own that he was able to plan a trip to Disney World. In this episode, he talks about planning his first trip to Disney World. He explains how he spent time in the library, and reading guide books, learning about Disney World, and planning his first "grown up" vacation to Flor...

From an early age, GamerDude loved to stay up past his bedtime. As early in his life as he can remember, he stayed up late. He loved to get up after his parents went to bed so that he could watch movies on the CBS Late Movie. He remembers sneaking out of bed to watch the movie The Monkees made, Head.  He also remembers making a point to stay up to watch Raquel Welch in her fur bikini in One Millio...

This week, GamerDude passes on things he's learned, knowledge he's acquired, and life advice.  He talks about a wide variety of topics, from the fact that not everyone's going to like you, to the importance of going to the dentist, to the significance of having a good reputation.  He talks about people who "are just being honest," and political correctness. He talks about picking up after yourself...