A NON-EPISODE of Political and Religious Dissent

This IS NOT a standard episode of Empty Checking. If you are unfamiliar with the show, this is not a good starting point. This upload is my reaction to the recent election in America and also includes my thoughts on the Christian Church and its relationship to politics. This is VERY FAR REMOVED from the typical, fun nature of this show. But I felt like it needed to be said and I needed to make my position clear, as the person behind this podcast.

If you want to skip this one, I more than understand. But I think there are probably some of you who really need to hear it.

Also, I've been suffering from walking pneumonia and you can definitely hear that in my voice in this upload. Sorry about all the inhaling that gets more and more pronounced as the talk goes on.

Thanks.

-Uncle Derek

Episode 191 - Put That In Your Pipe and Suck On It

This episode goes a lot of sleep-deprived directions in under an hour. That's fun, right? I definitely talk about the passing of Teri Garr, then music from Matthew Sweet (and his current medical issues), Justin Rutledge, Devin Townsend, Japandroids, and The Pixies. I round it out by talking about the Rocky Horror Show video game and Lost in America. It's kinda nuts, but I think you'll enjoy it!

Blog: http://emptychecking.blogspot.com
Music: http://derekbrink.bandcamp.com
email: db@derekbrink.com

Matthew Sweet's GoFund Me

Time Index:

• 0:00 - Intro (Including discussion of Teri Garr's passing.)
• 14:13 - I Hope You're Happy
• 14:43 - Music Releases (Including Matthew Sweet, Justin Rutledge, Devin Townsend, Japandroids, and Pixies. Sorry I didn't break the time index down further. I'm tired.)
• 32:13 - Useless
• 32:43 - Lost In America and the Rocky Horror Show video game.
• 39:50 - That Weekend (Blue Tattoo)
• 40:20 - Outro

Photos:

Here's the cover photo for your weird collection of these photos. I know you have it. You know you have it. We've never talked about it. Why won't you talk about it?

Here are a few of the Matthew Sweet CDs I mentioned. Girlfriend is the go-to for most people, but the covers albums with Susanna Hoffs are stellar, too. (As are a bunch of his other albums.)

This album is basically closure for my segment on the Tragically Hip from the other week.

Devin Townsend's "Powernerd" is not near as goofy as the title may suggest. It's actually a great prog-metal album, as you might come to expect from Heavy Devy, if you start digging into his stuff!

Meet the new Japandroids album. Looks a lot like the previous Japandroids albums. Sounds like them too. And that's meant as a compliment.

It's so nice to have another new Pixies album. I'm glad they're still doing things. It's neat.

Deepening my Albert Brooks kick with a sleeper of a great movie. It's a lot of fun, and given it's from 1985, it hasn't aged too terribly. Yay!

Yeah. Okay. I took a photo of my Switch with my phone, rather than screenshotting it. So what?

I would be remiss if I did not include something to represent Teri Garr. Young Frankenstein is probably most people's go-to movie with her in it, but if you listen to the show, you'll get a big ass list of other options! What a career!

Episode 190 - I Didn't Pay Enough Attention to Myself to Have a Title

In this episode, I talk about really old Albert Brooks movies, a new documentary on The Tragically Hip, and (mostly) new music releases from Godspeed You Black Emperor, James and the Shame, Judas Priest, The Linda Lindas, and Pete Townshend. It's a fun one, if you ask me, but I'm the one who recorded it, so who can say? Maybe YOU if you listen to it!

Music: http://derekbrink.bandcamp.com
email: db@derekbrink.com

Time Index:

• 0:00 - Intro
• 6:27 - Live Your Life
• 6:57 - Recent Watching
  • 7:50 - Defending Your Life
  • 14:47 - Broadcast News
  • 20:16 - The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal
• 35:12 - Every Day
• 35:42 - Music Releases
  • 35:42 - Godspeed You Black Emperor - No Title as of 13 February 2024 28,340 Dead
  • 39:50 - Pete Townshend Live Box Set (That's probably not the name of it, but whatever.)
  • 43:10 - James and the Shame - Nothing Left to Love
  • 45:28 - Judas Priest - Invincible Shield
  • 48:22 - The Linda Lindas - No Obligation
• 52:02 - Heaven Knows
• 52:32 - Outro (including talk of Oktoberfest and Ren Faires!)

Photos:

Here's your cover photo for the folder you've got saved to The Cloud... Y'know I've got all of these saved on my laptop. It's 30GB. I really need that space for other shit...but here we are...

A couple Albert Brooks-centric movies. I liked one more than the other. The only way to find out which is to listen to the show. But if you're reading this, you're probably the type of person who will do that anyway. So yay!

This isn't the Tragically Hip documentary I talk about in the show. This is a different Tragically Hip documentary. But it was a substantial part of the show and this band means enough to me that it didn't seem right to just NOT have them in the photos... So here it is. The wrong documentary.  I hope the right one gets a BluRay release and it's in a region my player will read. That'd be keen.

New Godspeed You Black Emperor album! It sounds like them! But...in what way? Listen and learn!

Pete Townshend box set! McGuire took interest while I was taking the picture and tried to eat it. So there he is...but who cares? On this show, we work with cats.

New Linda Lindas album. It fucking slaps.

New Judas Priest album. It would be weird to say it slaps. But it's good!

New James and the Shame EP. Does it slap? I don't use that word in the podcast at all for any release, but you can still listen to find out if I liked this or not!

Episode 189 - Missouris?

In this episode about 50% of the things I talk about aren't in the photo because that's how streaming media works! But I talk about my fountain pen collection, the Mr. McMahon documentary, The Grand Tour, Only Murders in the Building, Frasier (briefly), and music from Drive-By Truckers, Alex Lifeson, David Gilmour, Jack White, Nick Lowe, and The Heavy Heavy. I got a lot of stuff into this one! Check it out!

email: db@derekbrink.com
FREE Music: http://derekbrink.bandcamp.com

Time Index:

• 0:00 - Intro, including my probably slightly bad take on Dave Grohl.
• 8:32 - Losing Sleep
• 9:02 - Fountain Pens!
• 19:02 - Slainte
• 19:32 - Recent Watching/Podcasts (Including Mr. McMahon, The Grand Tour, Only Murders in the Building, Frasier, and Pod Meets World
• 33:40 - Safari
• 34:10 - Recent Listening (Including Drive-By Truckers, Alex Lifeson, David Gilmour, Jack White, Nick Lowe, and The Heavy Heavy
• 49:04 - Where You Are
• Outro including updates on my chair, a quote from Jim Henson, and more.

Photos:

Here's the episode cover. The pens I talk about are in this photo, but for some reason I didn't take a photo of them on their own. Whatever. This isn't even all of them. It's just the ones I have ink in right now.

Sometimes someone will come over to the house and ask me what I keep in my card catalog. Among other things, lots and lots of ink for my fountain pens!

Here's an example of some of the inks I use. This isn't the best example...a couple of the colors look black when they're actually blue or brown or dark green. Oh well. See the really bright green? That was written with one of my more expensive pens...and that pen has a really bad bleed to it. And that ink is supposed to be "Racing Green," but that's fucking NEON.  So...y'know...sometimes the pricy stuff isn't the best. Most of the rest of these were written with pens that were between $8-15.

This is my glass pen, with a little purple on the tip. It's fun to write with, if you want a Hobbity vibe about your journaling. (And who doesn't?)

DBT released a "Deluxe" version of one of their most beloved items. It sounds great an the extras on it are pretty good. The CD version is better than the vinyl, and I get into why in the episode. (In fact I kinda go nuts about how I'm sick of vinyl...so that's fun.)

Alex Lifeson's "Victor" is finally actually findable! So I found it!

Probably Gilmour's best work since Floyd. And I don't mean "Endless River" Floyd.

Jack White's newest album is an example of both everything I like and hate about him. Did I like it more or hare it more? Find out!

A lovely little Nick Lowe album hit the stands, and if you like him, you should probably buy it.

Episode 188 - The FAB 15 Songs About Rain

In this episode, your Papa Dave and Uncle Derek are picking out Fab 15 Songs About Rain! It's sort of an Autumnal episode and it's a lot of fun. Check it out!

***SPOILERS***
The full lists are posted on this blog, but not in any podcast app's description. If you do not want the lists spoiled for you, please return to this page AFTER listening to the show.

Blog: http://emptychecking.blogspot.com
email: db@derekbrink.com
Bandcamp: http://derekbrink.bandcamp.com 
Dave's Blog: http://davidbrink.home.blog
Spotify Playlists: https://open.spotify.com/user/317eypfciiajkyay2kxloz3kreoa?si=f046115ad0514079

Time Index:

• 0:00 - Intro, including discussion of list-making, rules for this list, links, and the last time Dave rode a horse.
• 12:15 - The List Begins
  • 12:15 - #15 - "I Love a Rainy Night" by Eddie Rabbit / "Africa" by Toto
  • 15:41 - #14 - "Rainy Day Sun" by Spinal Tap / "MacArthur Park" by Richard Harris
  • 21:14 - #13 - "It's Raining Men" by the Weather Girls / "Another Rainy Night" by Queensryche
  • 25:56 - #12 - "Set Fire to the Rain" by Adele / "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" by BJ Thomas
  • 31:40 - #11 - "Only Happy When It Rains" by Garbage / "November Rain" by Guns 'N' Roses
  • 36:38 - #10 - "Here Comes the Rain Again" by Eurythmics / "Dry the Rain" by The Beta Band
  • 42:37 - #9 - "Singing in the Rain" by Gene Kelly (EXACT MATCH!)
  • 44:37 - #8 - "Laughter in the Rain" by Neil Sedaka / "Tornadoes" by Drive-By Truckers
  • 51:01 - #7 - "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" by Willie Nelson / "Love Ain't for Keeping" by The Who
  • 56:14 - #6 - "It's Raining Again" by Supertramp / "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" by CCR
  • 1:03:29 - #5 - "Rain" by The Beatles / "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" by Willie Nelson
  • 1:06:22 - #4 - "Fool in the Rain" by Led Zeppelin / "Rain" by the Beatles
  • 1:09:22 - #3 - "Another Rainy Night" by Queensryche / "Purple Rain" by Prince
  • 1:12:16 - #2 - "Who'll Stop the Rain" by CCR / "Rainy Night in Soho" by the Pogues
  • 1:16:54 - #1 - "Purple Rain" by Prince / "The Rain Song" by Led Zeppelin
• 1:22:18 - Honorable Mentions
• 1:39:08 - The Final 15
• 1:43:26 - Picking #1
• 1:45:57 - Confirmed Final List and outro
• "Purple Rain" is our agreed #1. The following 14 are in no particular order.
• Another Rainy Night
• Singing in the Rain
• Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain
• Rain
• Who'll Stop the Rain
• Rainy Day Sun
• Set Fire to the Rain
• Here Comes the Rain Again
• Laughter in the Rain
• Rainy Night in Soho
• Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head
• November Rain
• The Rain Song
• It's Raining Men

Episode Cover for those who just NEED that to happen:

Episode 187 - Tinge??

In this episode I talk about music from Jason Isbell, John Craigie, and Nick Cave. Then I also talk about Boy/Pod Meets World, Little Shop of Horrors, and the present season of Only Murders in the Building. Plus some of my usual nonsense. It's a fun one! Enjoy!

Bandcamp: http://derekbrink.bandcamp.com
Email: db@derekbrink.com

Time Index:

• 0:00 - Intro
• 12:55 - All My Days
• 13:25 - Recent Music Things
  • 13:25 - Jason Isbell in St. Louis
  • 21:16 - John Craigie - Pagan Church
  • 24:59 - Nick Cave - Wild God
• 30:57 - Forever Home
• 31:27 - Recent Watching
  • 31:27 - Boy Meets World/Pod Meets World
  • 41:26 - Little Shop of Horrors
  • 48:25 - Only Murders in the Building Season 4 (SPOILERS!)
• 56:39 - You Only Hurt the Ones You Love
• 57:09 - Outro

Photos:

Here's the cover photo. That's how you can tell it's an episode.

My poster from the Isbell show! Does anyone who's been in my house have any idea where the hell I should hang it?

New album by John Craigie--or "Stereo" as far as you could tell from the cover... I understand the artistic design of sometimes not putting a name on the front...but I don't understand the function. Especially when this is all the photo is... But hey, I like the album a LOT more than I like the cover!

What could be weirder than having Nick Cave write something life affirming? No, seriously. I'm asking. Because I've heard it and I need to know there's something weirder out there than that! What a beautiful, moving album!

Okay...so I'm only 38 years late in talking about Little Shop...but hey...

I thought I was going to talk about Boy Meets World, but I ended up largely ranting about POD Meets World. I maybe should've dialed that back. But it's out there.

Episode 186 - Check-Mistresses?

In this episode, I talk about music from Mr. Big and Talking Heads. I also talk about So I Married and Axe Murderer, The Drew Carey Show, and Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me. I also learn that there's about to be a new Godspeed You Black Emperor album in real time and get excited about it. It's kinda all over the place. Enjoy!

Time Index:

• 0:00 - Intro
• 9:37 - Losing Sleep
• 10:07 - Mr. Big - Ten
• 14:57 - Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense
• 21:13 - I Wanna Write Songs For You
• 21:43 - The Drew Carey Show
• 28:34 - So I Married and Axe Murderer
• 33.50 - Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me
• 38:40 - Jean Jacket
• 39:10 - Outro

Photos:

Here's the cover photo. Somewhere, someone has a folder on their desktop full of 186 of these. And yet I still sleep at night. Go figure.

Newest album from Mr. Big. The cover photos have always been a HUGE part of the band's image. This on is...two hands... Well, there ya' go...

Talking Heads "Stop Making Sense" is one of the all-time top five concert movies. I had to make two separate purchases to experience it correctly. How did I feel about that? Listen to the fucking show!

A 1990s classic. Or at least a classic to me. I genuinely love this movie. And I talk about it. In the show. Who'da thunk it?

I already liked Big Star...but this movie started my OBSESSION with them.