Visser of Ozcast is back for its 16th installment and boy do we bring the heat!

With the fire of a thousand suns, we scorch the earth with incendiary topics such as:

(0 - 17) NBA Playoffs! We discuss what’s worth paying close attention to over the final days of the regular season, what potential first round match-ups intrigue us, and lastly, we offer up our predictions for the West, East, and the whole Finals schabang.

(17 - 33) Mad Men! Only four episodes in to S5 and there have already been so many memorable moments (dinner parties, fat Betty’s, office fight clubs!), but we worry Mad Men is a little too unsubtle these days! Do you feel like you have to put on your “Unpacking Metaphor” hat every time you watch the show? We unpack that question in this segment, but eventually talk off our Metaphor Hats and put on our We Enjoy This Show Hats!

(33 - 51) Lastly, we discuss this season of Justified, including the EXPLOSIVE finale. We debate all the hard questions: did the show take a step back this season in the villain department by going with quantity and quality? Is Boyd better than Raylan? Listening to this segment is the ONLY way too hear the definitive answers to these cut and dry questions, so don’t miss it.

Thanks for listening, guys. Tweet us your thoughts at: @visserofozcast, @peteroverzet, and @austipasti.

For Episode 15 of the Visser of Ozcast, we welcomed dear friend and fellow podcaster Pieter Baker (@PieterABaker & WiFi Radio) into our continental Skype studios for a fun discussion. This episode breaks our usual mold of systematically discussing a handful of select topics. Instead we let the good vibes and good company direct us in a myriad of fun tangents. Don’t worry, regular listeners, we still hit on all of the usual pop culture and sporty goodness you expect and love from the two-man wrecking ball crew at the VoO, but Pieter injects some welcomed easy going vibes to our usual buttoned-up affair.  It’s tough to nail down a theme from this ep, although we do spend a good portion at the beginning of the episode discussing the Hunger Games phenomenon. SPOILER: kids get mutilated by tridents and we all agree to disagree about its artistic and entertainment merits! Anyways, buckle up for this free form ride and be sure to check Pieter out on Twitter and at his own podcast when you get a chance.

Until next time!

Long time no see, friends/listeners/lovers! The boys at Visser of Ozcast are back once again with a super special St. Paddy’s Day blowout episode. So set down your potatoes and stop balancing that green beverage on your stupid head, ‘cuz it’s time to feast your ears on a variety of topical sports and culture talking points. We at the Visser of Ozcast would like to believe that we offer a little something for everyone, so if any of the following nuggets don’t even remotely pique your curiosity, then you probably don’t have a pulse:

- NFL Free Agency is heating up and now that the Colts sucked for Luck, a trio of teams are now panning for Manning. We break the news on which team’s are cravin’ for Peyton. Don’t miss this exclusive, guys! (0:07:28 - 0:26:30)

- The NBA trade deadline passed on Thursday and a handful of significant players swapped teams. We’ll let you know the massive implications of the moves, including the birth of the Javale McGee renaissance in Denver. You won’t want to miss us talking about all of the text messages Ms. McGee sent us after the trade! (0:26:30 - 0:43:16)

- Finally, we take a break from sports talk, to dish on high culture: the Guggenheim’s newest performance art exhibit, Justified’s third season, the return of Mad Men, and the best comedy show on TV right now, Key & Peele. We rank ‘em, spank ‘em, and flank ‘em. Don’t get caught out in the cold on this one, guys! (0:43:16 - 0:51:20)

Well, well, well. It’s been too long, members of Visser of Ozcast Nation (and by “nation,” I mean these two). After an eighth month hiatus, we are finally back with a JAM-PACKED episode of that fire-breathing, pop culture/sporty goodness you’ve come to expect from this transcontinental podcast operation.

We waste little time dusting off the cobwebs, jumping right into a discussion about season two of AMC’s The Walking Dead. Despite never-ending plot holes, repeated inconsistencies, 2D characters, and a pacing equivalent to the limp of a zombie, we somehow arrive at the sad conclusion that we will continue to do the mental gymnastics necessary to justify watching the show. Gluttons for punishment, we are. 

To cleanse the AMC pallet, we do a very belated wrap-up of the terrific fourth season of Breaking Bad. Does the Walt/Lily of the Valley math add up? Should Giancarlo Esposito win an Emmy for his S4 performance? And just how badly will shit hit the fan in the remaining 16 episodes? If you think those are just rhetorical questions, boy are you in for a treat upon pressing the little play button down below.

We then make the jump from unparalleled scripted TV drama to the NBA lockout, which is playing out like a horror movie script (with David Stern playing the timeless role of “Man Wielding A Chainshaw”). We break down the owners and players positions, who we think is at fault, and why there is little reason for optimism at this point. Sigh.

Lastly, we bring the show on home with some NFL and fantasy football talk for all of you fake footballers. One of us promises the Chargers will turn it around this week against the undefeated Packers. So take that to the bank and don’t think twice. 

Alright, now that the table is set, go ahead and sloppily tuck that napkin into your shirt and dig in to this auditory feast:

Walking Dead: 0:00

Breaking Bad: 0:13

NBA Lockout: 0:27

NFL/Fantasy Football: 0:39

Thanks for listening! If you want to shoot us an e-mail with any show topics you’d like to hear in the future or just to tell us why we are idiots, you can do so at visserofozcast@gmail.com. Hear ya later!

Whoa! It’s Visser of Ozcast’s 10th episode and it still feels just like it did the very first time!

We decided to put all of the fanfare on ice (we’re saving ourselves for our 1,000th episode!) and just get down to business. Very important business! Especially very important business if you’re Eric Spoelstra and a square peg/round hole team of tear-prone prima donnas.

Yup, we kick off the show dishing on America’s favorite team to hate: The Miami Heat, or as some people like to call them these days, Two and a Half Men (for the record, Sheen jokes are not funny anymore unless they come at the expense of Chris Boshtrich). After Sunday’s 4th straight loss (UPDATE: Now 5 after Portland blazed a trail of tears through South Beach last night) to the Bulls, the Heat are looking like a team primed for a second round playoff drubbing. 

And while the Miami Heat have a medley of internal problems (late game inefficiency, questions surrounding alpha dog roles, a supporting cast not up to the challenge, a cry-snitching coach, etc.), their biggest problem on Sunday was Derrick Rose. At this point in the season, it’s no surprise to watch Rose carve up any team, but the way he methodically and efficiently got to the hoop and consistently finished looked like a bullet point on a M.V. P. resume.

From there, we take our talents to the silver screen to talk about two movies: Monsters and The Adjustment Bureau. One of which is a pleasant, unheralded surprise and an uncovered sci-fi gem with a modest budget. The other, the poor, poor, poor man’s Inception filled with plot holes, smoke and mirror stakes, and angels in hats! 

So pull up a chair and grab a Q-tip. You’re going to want your ears fully optimized for this one. 

Breakdown:

NBA: 0:00 - 13:00

Monsters: 13:00 - 18:00

The Adjustment Bureau: 18:00 - 27:00

It’s Episode 9 and we’re talking loads of NBA and a dash of Friday Night Lights!

The NBA All Star Weekend and trade deadline have combined to create a tsunami’s worth of Visser of Ozcast fodder! We kick off the show with a brief recap of the weekend’s All Star festivities. We stop just short of calling the dunk contest “officially back” and join Demar DeRozan in making a plea to eliminate all of the props from future dunk contests. Unless you’re name is Javal McGee and you want to dunk like 19 balls in 13 hoops simultaneously, in which case, by all means because you are an athletic freak. We also touch on the All Star game and Kobe being Kobe and LeBron being Lebron. The real winners, though? The coaches (Pop and Doc), who somehow got away with playing their conference rivals’ stars (Kobe/Pau and Heatles) ridiculous minutes while resting their own (Duncan, the Cetlics). We also join the internets in lavishing praise on The Basketball Jones, who easily won the weekend with all of their video goodies. Seriously, check some out over atwww.thescore.com/tbj, but don’t fall in love too much! *We’re* your one-stop shop for delayed reactions to NBA news!

Whoa, this recap is already ridiculously detailed and kind of laughing in the face of the definition of “recap.” So, I’ll make this quick. We transition from the All Star game to the massive Melo trade that finally went down. Everyone wins, although we’d rank the winners in order as 1) Melo 2) The Nuggets and 3) The Knicks. Like any trade, let’s reevaluate at the end of the season!

Finally, we both reveal our new obsessions with Friday Night Lights. We know, all the cool TV heads have been hip to the dusty, Austin-based football drama for years now, but please make room for us on the cattle car, will ya? 

That’s it for now, folks. Thanks for listening to us talk:

NBA All Star Weekend: 0:00

Trade Deadline/ Carmelo Anthony Trade: 16:00

Friday Night Lights: 31:00

It’s Episode 7 of the Visser of Ozcast and we’ve got a classic case of Blake Griffin-Oscar Nomination-Destroyer-Lights Out FEVER!

I’ll spare you the extended “fever” metaphor, but just know it would have been sick! We open up the show by joining the NBA hype machine/echo chamber with some good ‘ol Blake Griffin gushing. But don’t worry, we stop the basketball fondling soon enough and transition into talk about the recently released Oscar Nominations. We hem and haw about The Kids Are Alright, oooo and awww about Natalie Portman, and draw lines in the sand between True Grit and Black Swa…n 

After escaping from the quagmire that is discussing award shows like they are actual, meaningful things, we dish on the album of the year front runner, Kaputt, by Destroyer aka Dan Bejar. We talk about Bejar’s styistic shift and even quote a few of our favorite lyrics, which may or may not include references to cocaine and woman. Uh oh, that sound you hear is the dreaded PG-13 tag being slapped on the Visser of Ozcast! We’re doomed!

We wrap up the show by making another plea to watch a woefully under-the-radar FX show, Lights Out. I know, I know. As if we need another story about a down-and-out boxer. Trust me, though, FX does it well. I’d even go as far as saying it PACKS A PUNCH!

That’s about it. Be sure to tune in next week when we broadcast our monumental 8th episode. Plans are already in the works to celebrate our 10th episode. It’s going to be great.

(BREAKDOWN)
Blake Griffin: 0:00
Oscar Nominations: 7:45
Destroyer: 16:00
Lights Out: 21:00

On Episode 5, the Visser of Ozcast take a break from shoveling snow to right the ship after last week’s completely non-sports related show. In fact, other than a brief Michael Cera/Scott Pilgrim non sequitur, we stick strictly to the sports. Eventually we’ll find the perfect balance of topics to launch the podcast into another stratosphere of fame and popularity, but for now we are content on being unpredictable and unbalanced!

We kick off the show with a little bit of discussion on Onion’s new show on Comedy Central, SportsDome. For all of the inane, ridiculous sports things rooted in reality that occur daily, it’s a bummer that the lol-factory over at the Onion is going for a 100% satrical bent. We’ll give it a few more episodes before we really begin to tsk tsk, though.

From there, we reluctantly attempt to break down the Carmelo Anthony InDecision/Melodrama/Cluster-phooey. With multiple teams and over 15 odd players involved (sorry Chauncey!), and a whole lot of subterfuge and ambiguity, there is a whole lot to sort out. 

We wrap up the show with the requisite (and quick, I promise!) breakdown of this weekend’s NFL playoff slate. Will Marshawn Lynch create another seismic rumble in the Windy City? Will this  be the Ravens/Steelers tilt that results in a fatality? Will Tom Brady throw at Antonio Comartie 135 times? Will the Packers be responsible for yet another widespread (dirty) bird death? We tackle (football puns!) all of this and more in, like, seriously less than 10 minutes.

Now close your eyes and pull your ears close to your computer for total audio seduction:

SportsDome: 0:00
Carmelo Anthony: 6:30
Scott Pilgrim: 19:00
NFL: 24:00