Heyyy, welcome to the GNAPcast: your source of geekly entertainment! Tune in every Thursday as we talk about everything from LEGOs to Brit Lit and beyond!
Episodes
Thursday Jun 20, 2019
Thursday Jun 20, 2019
Heyyy, welcome to the GNAPcast--your source of geekly entertainment!
It's been in the works since Season 1, and it's finally here--a Swedish polka episode!
...okay, maybe not. The booking didn't exactly work out on that one.
Instead, how about another "explains" episode? This time, Seth takes the plunge and workshops David through several different stage accents! (If you've already listened through the GNAPcast's Improvapalooza episode, you'll know that this may not end well...)
Come along with Seth and David as they explain, attempt, and laugh their way through four different stage accents (while also apologizing profusely for the sheer amount of exaggeration).
Fun Facts & Extra Stuff! - Seth
As it turns out, neither one of the "spoilers" I found for Infinity War turned out to be accurate...I mean, people have been saying that Cap or Tony would die since Age of Ultron, but nobody talks about Tony Stark losing an arm, so I thought it might actually be accurate. Shows what I know.
Received Pronunciation (RP) - Though less common in actual society than it used to be (considering that this accent sort of assumes that the middle class doesn't exist), RP is still one of the quintessential stage accents. It's notable for strong 'T's and an overall sense of precision, as if every sound is carefully chosen beforehand. One must put up a good face for one's people, after all.
Cockney - Interestingly, the modern London accent has a lot of overlap with Cockney, though a bit less pronounced. For an excellent example of both strong Cockney and RP accents, watch the film "My Fair Lady." Cockney is also notable for its extremely long vowel sounds and its impressive lilt, or pitch fluctuations.
Italian - One of the most impressive Italian accents I've ever heard from a non-native is Roger Craig Smith's portrayal of Ezio Auditore da Firenze, from the Assassin's Creed games. For a long time, I didn't even realize he wasn't Italian because the accent sounded so natural. Two of the defining characteristics of this accent are its rate of speed and its vocal bounciness. Even in a more subtle Italian accent, the sound seems to go up and down more, if that makes sense.
Irish - The Irish accent has this strange mixture of softness, energy, and musicality. Different speakers and different roles may choose to emphasize one more than the other, but all three are there in some capacity. Liam Neeson is one of the most prominent Irish actors nowadays, but he doesn't use his native accent all that much... except in The Phantom Menace, for some reason.
Thursday Mar 28, 2019
Thursday Mar 28, 2019
Heyyy, welcome to the GNAPcast--your source of geekly entertainment!
Last week we talked about film scores that we really enjoy listening to, which got us thinking--what about productions with songs and choreography set to no discernable music source? That's right, guys--it's another episode about musicals!
Join Seth and David as they chat about, spoil, and sing pieces of their favourite songs from musicals. Along the way we'll learn how David and Seth first met; that Seth has a penchant for really depressing songs; and that even after almost a season and a half of being around Seth, David still can't do stage accents at all!
David's Fun Fact:
In case you hadn't already picked up on this, I've been involved in musical theater a fair bit longer than Seth, meaning that I know quite a few more musical numbers than he does. If it seems like I'm talking for the majority of this episode, first of all I apologize; but second, that's why.
Thursday Feb 28, 2019
Thursday Feb 28, 2019
Heyyy, welcome to the GNAPcast--your source of geekly entertainment!
Now that we've firmly established the "Geeks and Nerds" part of our title, it's finally time to unpack the other two letters! Join Seth and David this week as they talk about absolute pitch, the phenomenon of recognizing a musical note with no point of reference.
Along the way we'll hear some goofy high school anecdotes, the pros and cons of having perfect pitch, and discover why the national anthem triggers Seth!
Seth's Fun Fact: Remember that microwave/oven beeping that David mentioned two-thirds of the way through the episode? That same thing happened to me not too long ago, and it was bad enough to trigger a violent physical reaction which resulted in me almost dropping a full dish of mashed potatoes. It's hard having perfect pitch...
Thursday Aug 02, 2018
Thursday Aug 02, 2018
Heyyy, welcome to the GNAPcast! Firstly, we'd like to say that we're okay--we just weren't able to publish last week's episode due to more technical issues. Yay!
Okay, now that that's out of the way, on with the show!
From The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to Meredith Andrews' The Music Man! and some (terrible) stage accents, join Seth and David as we talk theater and drama stuff with returning guest Anna. As a subject that's dear to our hearts (but one that some of us don't have much experience in), we end up with a wide variety of perspectives...as well as an unfortunate incident with a tree and a cat.
This episode features Anna once again, our foremost theater expert from Iowa and an IRL Lucy Pevensie!