Geek Week Speak




Geek-Week is awesome. I doubt such a show could really exist before today. The 70’s were a catalyst for everything geek with Star Trek being syndicated like crazy, comic books as popular as ever, video games just starting to be the norm, and a little movie franchise popping up starting with the two little words “STAR” and “WARS” incorporated in the title. The little kids who were mesmerized by these mega franchises and entertainment outlets have grown up getting good jobs, starting families of their own, and many of them in the very same industries that made them into geeks in the first place. So of course don’t these geeks want to make programming they would of swarmed to when they were younger? OF COURSE! So a brilliant concept called GEEK-WEEK was born and may the heavens help us to the fact this is going to catch on.

With that in mind allow me to be philosophical at the BIN if not for a moment. I will get back to geeking with you before you know it! It is amazing on this BIG planet that things – even in geekdom – come full circle. Every Saturday on my way home from work I listen to a great radio program called The Kim Komando Show who was talking about this popular new website MySpace. After making my usual stop at the corner store for my beginning of the weekend beers I immediately drove home to check out the site. I wasn’t very impressed. I signed up and the next day Candy, Bambi, and George all wanted to be my friend, but in a special way. But as I explored the site further I found that MySpace could actually be used for good. I write comics – others write comics – I started adding people who were interested in comics to my friends. It is in these searches that had a YouTube video of something called “Geek Week”. Interested, I clicked on play and there was a familiar guy in it and then another familiar guy in it. HEH! These were the cats from Amanda Hades – an old online Webisode series I absolutely loved. So I emailed Sean Rourke (one of the masterminds behind Hades) and sure enough it was Jack Conway and Brian Stevenson from the old series. So I guess the world wasn’t as BIG as I thought. That was my deep “Small World” story.

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Kristen Meinhold (Amanda Hades), Christina Rohling (Stinger), Jack Conway (Troubleshooter)

ANYWHO I became the same big fan of Geek-Week as I was with Amanda Hades. I was so very pleased to see many of the same faces doing what they were born to do, entertain – along with a fresh new beauty, Sarah Beattie. At about the same time I started writing for the Bin so the very reason for this interview. Actually I have to thank Mr. Bill Murphy who set this up. I was so very excited to chat with everyone!

As I started to edit the interview I had a change of heart because I found a lot of the funny stuff I was taking out and it just became a regular interview. So I decided to go back only editing for confusion sake (my confusion). As the cast of GW were popping jokes left and right I found it fitting to post the entire chat. In the end the cast of Geek-Week are exactly who they are in their podcasts – just as hilarious in an IM chat – and I am sure just as crazy in real life.

SEAN ROURKE: Sean here!

FAN FILM FOLLIES (through Christopher Moshier): Mr. Sean!

SEAN: What-up?!

FFF: Nice to finally say hello…even if via chat.

SEAN: Seriously! How you been?

FFF: Not bad…same ole fanboy…always your own personal email stalker.

JACK CONWAY: Hey Christopher! Chris? Which do you prefer?

SARAH BEATTIE: How about Chrissy?

JACK: Kristoff the Destructor?

(NOTE: I was not ignoring Jack. Everyone was using their IM names so I was trying to differentiate who was who. BUT!!! Kristoff the Destructor has a nice ring to it!)

BILL MURPHY: Does this thing have spell check cause if not we’re in trouble?

JACK: My iChat has spell check SUCKASS!

SEAN: Whutz spelll chex?

JACK: Sean and Bill…heh, you’re on your own Chris, good luck!

BRIAN STEVENSON: mmmmm…chex…its good with milk. Is it OK if we drink during this interview?

BILL: God I hope so!

FFF: Thanks for coming guys…this is awesome. I am having a major fanboy moment as I have been a giant Amanda Hades fan…this will probably be chaos as I ask you stuff so I guess we’ll go with it.

BILL: Rock on!

BRIAN: I had to go wash my hands they smelled like Jack’s mom.

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Jack Conway

JACK: Like mulling spices and HATE?!

SEAN: Oh no…Are we really gonna start this? The Momma Jokes?

FFF: Lets go in alphabetical order per last names and introduce yourselves.

SARAH: I love being a “B”? Jack go first.

JACK: Sarah’s a girl. They have no place behind the keyboard. Sorry, that okay, Chris? Sarah got temporary cold feet. She is a timid flower.

SARAH: I’m already crying, this is too much pressure!

JACK: She’s only half a cup in, have the interview about two hours from now and you can’t shut her up.

FFF: Sure. Go ahead

JACK: I’m Jack Conway, I actually went to college with Bill and Sean in New Mexico. When they came to LA they knew they had to ask me to be in their stuff or I’d just show up in costumes anyway. Also I’m no good at finger sandwiches so they couldn’t make me the caterer. Sean came up with Amanda Hades and said he had a part for me. I loved it, and we shot for I think 3 years. We were really sorry to let go of that show but it had been shopped and cut off at the knees because it had the phrase “broadcast terrorists” in it, and the T-word wasn’t selling so well around the end of 2001. Next was a feature length film about the video game industry, it rocked, sound issues kept it from really hitting, then Bill said “I want a show I’d actually watch” Viola. Geek-Week.

SEAN: Well, Bill and I started 3rd Floor back in the day with Amanda Hades. Then we went on to do a short called Ninja Justice for an Activision film competition. Then we shot our first feature, 1st Person Shooter, and now, we’re all up in the Geek Week.

BILL: That about sums it up. After AH, Jack, Brian & Sean & I kept talking about a geek show and we decided to shoot some stuff. Geek Week was born.

BRIAN: I’m a stray that just follows Bill around. Actually, I met Bill in Oklahoma the day I moved to LA, we started hanging out cuz I knew absolutely no one here. He introduced me to Sean, Jack, Kristen (Amanda), Kyle and the lot. Then Sean asked me to play a role in Amanda Hades – Thanks Sean.

SARAH: Jack was a long time friend of mine on the intermanet, introduced me to Amanda Hades, through him I met Bill and Sean and Brian, they started up Geek Week, and wanted me on it. Which was insanely flattering as I can’t act at all.

BILL: We needed a HOT geek and Sarah fit that perfectly. Plus we like her better than Jack.

FFF: Is Kyle Devriendt still among you?

SEAN: Kyle is still in the group, but he’s not one of the Geek Week heavies.

FFF: He is like the non-geek…what people call…”normal”?

SEAN: That’d be Kyle

FFF: So the whole Amanda thing was behind you and you talked geek week…what was the decision to finally get the site up and start going to cons and filming?

BRIAN: We love geek-dom and no one was doing it justice.

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Bill Murphy

BILL: Well, I didn’t want to do a PODCAST at first. Just shoot some stuff for a pitch to G4. Then I think Jack or Sean said we should do some podcasts. I didn’t know wtf a podcast was.

SEAN: What? Bill was the one who said PODCAST. We were like…Wow…that’s a great idea.

BILL: Really, OH Wait! I do have ALL the good ideas.

SEAN: What? Nobody was doing a Geek related podcast with VIDEO at the time.

BILL: That’s true.

SEAN: Now a couple have sprung up since we went online.

BILL: There were some audio ones, but no video.

BRIAN: Funny how most of them look and sound like us too, huh?

BILL: Imitation is the best form of flattery.

BRIAN: The more shows that spring up like ours, the closer we get to being recognized as the pioneers.

JACK: Ironically, he’s never watched more than the first 30 seconds of any episode. Says it’s “Just not for him”.

BILL: Yeah I’m not really into all this stuff.

SEAN: That’s true. Yeah, Bill hates comics.

BILL: I like chicks and football. Football is the one with the bat right?

SARAH: That’s why we get along.

JACK: He always bullies us on set. I’ll come in with a stack of comics to discuss and Bill will slap them out of my hand and say “Baby gonna cry?! HUH?!!”

SARAH: He gives me cookies.

FFF: What are you doing to shop the idea around?

BILL: Yeah, we are working on a pitch right now for G4 as soon as we finish the SDCC episode. When I say “we” I mean me and “Sean”

SEAN: Should be up some time next week.

BRIAN: I think we are focusing more on getting the concept pitched to the likes of G4, Spike, and MTV type outlets and other episodes will come in time.

FFF: That should be cool…I didn’t really find G4’s coverage of the con all that good. I think you guys are more natural in your videos than “Attack of the Show”.

SEAN: That’s entirely because our hosts LOVE this s–t!

JACK: And by “this s–t” he means “heroin”. Only thing that keeps us going really.

BILL: Yeah I heard a lot of folks were disappointed in their coverage.

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Brian Stevenson

BRIAN: AOTS really only covered the glitzy stuff, and we dig their barebones roots of all geekness. I live, eat, sleep and breathe this stuff. Each time we shoot an episode I feel truly in my element and have never been better at anything in my life than this. I also would love to write all my toys, comics and video games off as business expenses on my taxes.

JACK: That’s not entirely true, Brian. You give incredible foot rubs. That could also be a focus.

SARAH: Whereas I cry for 20 minutes before every shot.

BILL: That’s what I LOVE about these guys, you can really tell they are into all this stuff.

SEAN: You can really tell when you watch our show that the opinions are coming straight from the hosts, and not a battery of Producers in the background.

BILL: As a producer that’s important.

FFF: The guy that interviewed Sam Jackson…Sam looked like he was about to bop him one.

BILL: That would have been funny.

JACK: Sam should have.

SEAN: Snakes.

BRIAN: If I interviewed Sam he probably would’ve punched me too.

SEAN: SOAP

JACK: Don’t CROSS Ultimate Nick Fury, bitches!

SEAN: SOAP

JACK: BUT!

SEAN: SOAP

JACK: We don’t wanna bash the place we would all be verrrrry happy to get a call from.

BILL: True, but really they’ve been trying to find their legs for the last couple of years.

SEAN: SOAP

JACK: S.O.A.P. = Snakes On A Plane. (sarcastically) I didn’t get it.

SARAH: I thought Sean just felt really dirty.

BILL: I love what that channel could be.

SEAN: And some of the G4 shows have great hosts, but they’re usually paired up with someone who was obviously just a wannabe actor before they showed up.

FFF: Right. Blair Butler would fit right in with you guys.

SEAN: SHE SO WOULD.

BILL: There was an article in wizard about her today.

FFF: YOU NEED TO STEEL HER WHEN YOU GET PICKED UP.

SEAN: Done and DONE.

JACK: Yeah, but we have a rule here. Blondes can only be on if they do pillow fights with Sarah.

BRIAN: I was blond before my first pillow fight with Sarah.

SEAN: Sarah slapped the blonde right outta Brian.

FFF: Sarah slapped the Jim Beam right out of Brian.

BRIAN: NICE.

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Sarah Beattie

SARAH: I’m good at that. I hate friggin blondes, and DRUNKS.

SEAN: How’d you know what he drinks?

FFF: I read his BLOG.

JACK: What’s a Blog?

BRIAN: Oh good, thought I had a stalker.

JACK: Is that treatable?

SEAN: It’s like a Frog.

FFF: They are very funny. Always thought provoking.

SEAN: That’s Brian for ya…A regular Socrates. A regular Plato.

BRIAN: Thank you, I like to pontificate on occasion and its cool to know I have my true believers out there that enjoy my ramblings.

SEAN: Brian’s wearing a smoking jacket right now.

BRIAN: Smoking jacket …. no pants.

FFF: Who is the craziest fanboy (or girl) or story you had the pleasure or displeasure of dealing with to date minus each other and BESIDES ME!?!

SARAH: Yeah, I freaked on LowLux (Brian) the first time I met him.

BILL: Sean and I don’t have fans cause we’re behind the camera all the time.

SEAN: Yeah, we never get any of the chicks.

JACK: Can I tell about the Geek-Week fanboy?

SEAN: I’m not sure I know this story.

JACK: Had a really nice kid that was 14 I think that messaged us on MySpace, YouTube, Gmail, you name it.

SEAN: Oh that’s right!

JACK: Wanted to be our intern for Geek-Week which has a budget of whatever’s in our pockets that week and then he asked how we would be getting him into G4 or was it ComicCon?

SEAN: Comic Con.

JACK: Anyway, yeah, he was persistent. I thought it was awesome. Never did write him back, did you Bill? I think Sarah went on to date him for about 2 weeks. Or was that Sean?

SEAN: That was me. He was perky.

JACK: Man Eater.

SEAN: Yeah I told him the only position open was under Jack’s mom. Oooh…yeah, I highly recommend that position.

JACK: Whom I WAS going to send this interview to – ass.

BRIAN: I got recognized Friday at SD Comic-Con by a hottie fan-girl who asked me to autograph her “wife beater” tank top , which she was wearing, and there was not a friggin’ camera crew anywhere to be found cuz we only shot on Saturday.

JACK: Captain Cartoon almost counts.

geekweek_004
CAPTAIN CARTOOOOOOOOONNNNN!!!!

BRIAN: CAPTAIN CARTOOOOOOOOONNNNN!!!! The Brian’s celebrity interview in the WW LA episode was with a guy named Captain Cartoon who does Anime characatures, really poorly I might add. He came up to us and said you should interview me, I’m interesting. I sat down at his table and asked him one question, he then rambled on for 20 minutes before Sean finally faked running out of tape just so we could get away from this nut case. I keep trying to get them to put the whole un-cut version on the site.

FFF: And there was that Joss Whedon look alike.

JACK: Dude, that guy won’t leave us alone.

FFF: Have you considered at all taking in other people videos for geek week? I mean as part of your “weekly” updates?

BILL: I haven’t thought of that.

BRIAN: Parodies would be cool to do at some point, I’ve seen some really funny stuff out there.

BILL: We could do a video of the week…er…month thing.

SEAN: You mean like fan journalism, or like narrative fan films?

SARAH: Man, I got some videos I can contribute.

SEAN: I’m ready when ever you wanna get those to me, Sarah.

JACK: If you mean like Rocketboom, where we take fan correspondences, if they’re good enough I don’t see why not. It certainly saved Gamelife.

BILL: We do have plenty on content, but as we all have full time jobs it’s tough to get these episode out on a regular basis.

BRIAN: But then we have to share our bags of money with them later.

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Sean Rourke

SEAN: All those bags of money…

JACK: Sacks…and I don’t share my sack, people.

SEAN: It’s a fun idea.

JACK: I think that’s a great idea to steal…er…think about.

SEAN: Nobody’s ever contacted us saying they’d like to add something to our show…but that’s the great thing about online media…it’s about collaboration.

BRIAN: I’ve seen some stuff that would fit great with our format, but some people won’t give the permission to use it.

BILL: We want to do more stuff, like I have lunch with the guy who won “who wants to be superhero” today. It would be fun to interview him.

JACK: Brian, the tapes you showed at my house that night do NOT fit into our format.

SEAN: I still haven’t gotten to interview the cast of Airwolf yet.

BRIAN:Those were for my other show Jack.

JACK: Hell, I don’t know how they even managed to fit that thing into…never mind. They just weren’t right, okay.

FFF: OK Guys (and Gal)…didn’t mean to get off target.

SEAN: Right…where were we?

FFF: UMMMM! God…I forget!

SARAH: I’m pretty.

BRIAN: No – you’re Sarah.

SEAN: Sarah!

BILL: I’m Sarah!

SEAN: I’m Sarah!

SARAH: I’M SARAH!!! How dare you.

JACK: This re-enactment of 3 hours onset brought to you by AOL. Just repeat the last 5 posts over and over. It’s like you’re there.

FFF: I had some questions written down so I’ll shoot through them. One of my favorite bits on GW is the time clock with Brian & Jack. How did that come about?

BRIAN: That was all JACK.

JACK: TELL THEM BILL.

SARAH: Oh god, here it comes.

JACK: Bill HATES the clock. Only Bill may answer.

SARAH: Waiting on Bill.

SEAN: Bill is stewing in HATE right now.

JACK: mmmmm…Hate stew.

BRIAN: Bill just kicked his dog.

FFF: Perhaps he started the clock to answer.

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Jack & Brian find "Time to Bitch"

JACK: Or he just threw his keyboard and left. “I said, NO QUESTIONS ABOUT THE CLOCK!” Okay, Bill’s a coward, I’ll do it. But I’ll reveal my original concept

BRIAN: He’s swallowing a big mug of “TOLD YA SO!” That bit does seem to be a fan favorite.

SEAN: I THINK IT’S THE BEST PART OF THE SHOW. Sorry to yell.

SARAH: I don’t like it cuz I’m not in it.

FFF: Is he OK…should we call 911 or 411?

SEAN: Seriously.

SARAH: He’s just making cocoa.

JACK: Seriously, first time I mentioned a timed bit, it was going to be Brian heating a Hot Pocket for 2 minutes and telling me I had that much time to tell him my stupid opinions. I get my two minutes, Brian gets a Hot Pocket, everyone’s happy.

BILL: I don’t talk about the clock.

SEAN: Bill didn’t want the clock.

BILL: I hate the clock.

FFF: But dressing up as Superheroes in the park was OK?

SEAN: We were shooting the first episode, and we felt like something was missing from the comic review.

JACK: Later we shot something of me and Brian debating comics, and we both have a passionate love affair with our own words and opinions. It was like 20 minutes long so I brought in the clock.

BRIAN: I dig the clock cuz I used to do radio, so saying all I want to in a timed setting is a challenge.

SEAN: Jack brought up the idea of the chess clock for the fourth time, and Bill said no. Then Jack pulled out the chess clock, and he and Brian just started goin’ with it.

BILL: The only good thing about the clock is to shut them up.

BRIAN:>/strong> We have to be clear about what we have to say and get to the point, or we run out of time.

BILL: Ok…really…I hated the idea, but Jack is persistent…and now we have the clock…and the clock is good.

FFF: WELL! I like it if my vote counts.

JACK: Chris has a very valid point.

SEAN: It was great, and at the end of four minutes, Bill said “Well F–K.”

JACK: We’ve gone through 7 clocks. Bill hides them.

BILL: Yeah – I was sad cause Jack was right. I HATE it when Jack’s right.

SEAN: It was the last time Jack was right.

BRIAN: Ever.

SARAH: And the only. And I cried. I don’t like Bill angry.

JACK: He was so quiet and mad, and Sean said “are you okay?” and Bill said “NO! Jack was RIGHT! DAMMIT!” It was a first. And last. Anyway, clock good.

SEAN: Clock good.

BRIAN: I dig is cuz its the best energy and chemistry Jack & I have on the show.

FFF: OK! You all have 30 seconds from my clock! What do you think more evil and addicting the world; crack cocaine, reality television, or MySpace?

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Click on Image to go to the Geek Week MySpace site

BILL: Damn that’s hard.

SARAH: Reality television.

BILL: Yeah – reality television.

BRIAN: Oh – MySpace definitely.

SARAH: MySpace is stupid.

SEAN: The Bachelor.

BILL: Myspace close 2nd.

SEAN: I’m blogging about this right now on MySpace.

BILL: But I have found some old friends on Myspace.

BRIAN: It has ruined my life. I have no friends now because of it. Kidding I love the MySpace, Republicans have ruined the world.

JACK: Can I say “The new KFC bucket with chicken, corn, and mashed potatoes, and gravy, and cheese, and EVIL”?

BILL: DUDE that bucket is KING.

JACK: Or as I call it “The Bucket of History”.

SEAN: That bucket IS the devil.

JACK: I think about it a lot. I’ve only had it once. But I think about it.

SARAH: You had it on a dare!

SEAN: I’m thinking about it right now.

JACK: Like a relic, pulsating, hidden in the closet. It calls to me.

SARAH: Actually, crack probably should win from a medical standpoint.

BILL: Yeah – good point Sarah. I’m gonna stick with reality television.

FFF: Sean mentioned 3rd Floor Productions had a cool project coming up in his emails…any tidbits?

BILL: Really…

BRIAN: He hasn’t even told us yet. I just want to be on TV and be famous…oh and I want a pony.

SEAN: Alright, here’s the truth…I ALWAYS say we have a new and exciting project coming up because it makes us sound cool. But you can’t print that I said that, because I say it every year at the Comic Con film school. We can’t let people know I’m faking.

BILL: We do have a few things cooking, but we’re focusing on getting GW out there.

JACK: I remember an old interview with Trent Reznor’s band of Nine Inch Nails in Rolling Stone. The interviewer said “so, I hear you guys are going on tour next month” the band members said “we are?” That’s Sean and Bill.

FFF: That’s OK…I told all my friends I was interviewing Aerosmith tonight so I understand.

JACK: Ask me about my daughter Liv, I think we can totally fake it and help you save face. Wait, no, if I start describing my daughter Liv’s luscious lips people may have questions

BILL: She’s the elf right?

BRIAN: My keyboard is sticky….wait that’s my lap.

FFF: She was the Elf and the whiner that kept wanting her dad home in Armageddon.

BILL: Poor Bruce Willis. That damn astroid.

BRIAN: That astoid damn?

SEAN: Astoi.

BRIAN: Aristotle.

SARAH: I’m Sarah.

SEAN: I’m Sarah!

BRIAN: These are Sarah!

SEAN: WE are Sarah!

SARAH: I will kill you.

BILL: “I will kill you” Lime Kitty. I love Lime Kitty.

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"I will kill you!"

SARAH: I love Bill.

BRIAN: Lime Kitty was the greatest addition to the show in my opinion.

JACK: AGREED! I have asked Bill and Sean no less than 10 times to replace me with Lime Kitty.

BILL: I miss him.

SEAN: We all miss Lime Kitty.

BRIAN: Next to the pillow fight.

SARAH: So, Jack, who’s the prettiest cast member?

BRIAN: ME!

SEAN: Kang.

BILL: I love Kang.

SARAH: I ASKED JACK.

BILL: I love lamp.

FFF: Anything else we should know about Geek-Week…the project Third Floor isn’t actually doing, anything in your lives, and beyond?

BILL: I can’t eat cheese no more.

SEAN: That’s true.

BILL: This makes me sad.

SEAN: It’s a sad time for Bill.

SARAH: I’ve come to appreciate pillows.

SEAN: We all have, Sarah.

BILL: And feathers.

SARAH: God, I hate feathers.

SEAN: That was Jack’s idea.

BRIAN: I’m moving from my digs in Glendale to a Sweet-Ass condo closer to Bill, Sean, Jack, SpyMagician and all my nearest and dearest. I’m excited about that.

BILL: Well the fans should know that we are doing our best to get GW on the air so we can do this full time.

SEAN: I’d love to talk about anything exciting in the future, but really, Geek Week is where it’s at right now.

JACK: Well, okay, I’ll answer. I think you’ll see a change in Geek-Week around October. Bill is focusing more on pitching the episodes we have and Sean always has roughly 30 million projects in the air at once. I’m scared to ponder this, but Geek-Week episodes may continue, but with a slightly different look meaning what Sean does is Hollywood quality. And we’ve talked about having the huge “special episodes” like Comic Con and Wizard World, and hopefully Sean will want to keep digging into those. But we’ve discussed, loosely, also doing some shorter episodes in between. I can’t guarantee to put the “Week” in “Geek Week” right away, but I think it’s possible to actually have mini episodes just covering Geek news that’s important.

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The hosts of Geek Week - Jack Conway (Mr. Fantastic) & Brian Stevenson (Superman)

BILL: And maybe another curious little podcast…OH – I said to much. Also thank you Chris for supporting us along the way.

SEAN: Seriously, Chris…You’ve been our most vocal fan since back in the day, and we appreciate that!

FFF: No problem…like I said I have been a big fan of you guys since Hades. Thanks for letting me into your world tonight…I had fun…it was like hanging out with my own friends where we basically destroy each other.

SEAN: Every time I go to the FFF MySpace page, I cry a little tear of joy to see that Amanda Hades is there.

BILL: Yeah – it lives on. So will geek week.

BRIAN: I would love to do an Amanda follow up episode in the future (nudges Sean).

FFF: Thanks guys and girl. Keep in touch!

SEAN: Take care, Chris!

SARAH: THANK YOU CHRIS!!

BILL: These aren’t the droids your looking for…move along.

BRIAN: Thank you Chris, Keep reading and watching.

SARAH: Well, I want to read Brian’s blog now.

BRIAN: READ!

SEAN: I want to rub Brian’s feet now.

FFF: Mr Brian…Mr. Sean…Mr. Bill…Mr. Jack…Ms. Sarah…PEACE OUT!

BILL: Thanks again. Murph out.

FFF: Go rub Brian’s feet for god sakes!

SEAN: ON IT! Rourke Out.


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