Blurry Photos

Dark Mark Soloff returns to Blurry Photos to discuss the ever-fascinating yokai! A refresher and some new stories of yokai await, as Dark Mark nerds out with Flora on Japanese lore. Not visited for over 230 episodes, David brings Mark back to the show to revisit this fun and interesting topic. Japanese lore is rich and deep, and the boys talk about the origins, evolutions, and history of the Japanese ghosts. They also tell about some specific and fun types, including their favorites and ones used often in pop culture. Three stories are also read, all from Lafcadio Hearn's Kwaidan. Tune in and enjoy the silliness and spookiness from the land of the rising sun on this episode of Blurry Photos! Don't forget to watch me stream games on Twitch!   Sources Hearn, Lafcadio. Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things. Republished by Xist Publishing. Tustin, CA. 2015. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1210/1210-h/1210-h.htm#chap09   Music Danse Macabre, Midnight in the Green House, Ice Demon - Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Music: Lightless Dawn by Kevin MacLeod Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/3982-lightless-dawn License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Artist website: https://incompetech.com    

David and Jason return for the second part of Angels! Completing the hierarchy and discussing the evolution of Angels visually, the boys continue their fascinating journey through religious lore. The highest choir is discussed, with 3 more beings and their responsibilities described. Then Flora pivots to how such beings came to be viewed through a modern lens. How did they get wings, lyres, and halos? Is there any origin to how most people view them today? Jason answers with some very interesting scholarly explanations. Polish that halo and tune that lyre, this episode of Blurry Photos might just be heaven on earth! Join me on Twitch to watch some horror games and other fun content! The Dragons in Genesis Podcast Music Danse Macabre - Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Flora, Derek, and Zenger are back with a special guest to discuss the 2019 film Hoax! The boys speak to writer/director Matt Allen about his indie film Hoax and get some insights to the making of it. Matt relates several stories and experiences in the making of the film. Flora learns about the dangers lurking in his backyard while Zenger learns his love of bacon outweighs movie gore. Check out the film and then listen to the roundtable (or vice versa) for a great behind the scenes experience! Don't forget to check out another roundtable while you're at it. Find more from Matt on Twitter @RealSlimMattyA Watch the trailer for the film Find Derek at Monsters Among Us Find Zenger at Zeng This!

Jason from the Dragons in Genesis podcast returns to discuss Angels in this 2-part episode! Flora and Jason dive into the history and origins of the concept of Angels in this first part of a two part episode. Where did they come from? Did they always look like what most people picture these days? David and Jason tackle some fascinating comparative mythology and also begin breaking down the hierarchy of these wild religious beings. Leave behind what you think you know - these things have morphed and changed more than a Power Ranger on his tenth cup of coffee! Enjoy this slice of religious mythology on Blurry Photos, then go check out Jason's show for yourself! Join me on Twitch to watch some horror games and other fun content! The Dragons in Genesis Podcast    

EXPLICIT WARNING (some swears) The time has come - the ballots are in and we have an ultimate cryptid to crown in the 2022 Miss Cryptid Contest of Champions! Flora announces the winner of the 2022 Miss Cryptid Contest of Champions as voted by YOU the listening audience! The past 10 years has come down to this: Batsquatch vs. Gef the Talking Mongoose vs. Hoover the Talking Seal. One will walk away with the title of Ultimate Cryptid. And three lucky listeners will win prizes for participating in this year's voting. Find out all the winners (and maybe a little more) in this bonus episode of Blurry Photos!    

Flora welcomes the boys from Monster Fuzz Podcast for a fun and lively discussion! Rob and Eamonn from Monster Fuzz Podcast join to converse about cryptids, podcasting, Lego, Ireland, and more! David waxes about his 10 years of podcasting including favorite episodes and weirdest cryptids. Rob and Eamonn discuss Gef the Talking Mongoose, learn about Hoover the Talking Seal, and ask about David's crazy times in Ireland. Make sure to give them some love wherever you listen to Blurry Photos! And stay tuned later in the week for the Miss Cryptid winner announcement. Find Monster Fuzz here!    

The final contestant has made it to the finals in the 2022 Miss Cryptid Contest of Champions! The winner of week 3 is announced and the 3 finalists are heard once more for the 2022 Miss Cryptid Contest of Champions. You've helped them get this far, the top 3 cryptids of the past 10 years' contests. Now you have a sacred oath to choose the ultimate winner, the people's champeen, the valorous victor of it all! Cast your vote on the Blurry Photos home page and make a dream come true! Make sure to head to the Blurry Photos home page to cast your vote! You can also enter to win a Miss Cryptid prize pack of your very own.    

Our last three winners step into the squared circle for week three of the 2022 Miss Cryptid Contest of Champions! This week, France's Lou Carcolh battles Boston's Hoover the Talking Seal and Australia's Drop Bear in a righteous slugfest! It's a worldwide skirmish of two fantastic creatures and one very real one. And of course, you control their fate. Cast your vote on the Blurry Photos home page for a chance to win a prize pack! Prize pack winners will receive toys, collectibles, a book, shirt, candy, and their very own Golden Goatman Trophy (replica). One runner-up will win a T-shirt, and one lucky entrant will be Miss Congealniality and win some stickers and magnets. Make sure to cast your vote soon, there's only this week and the finals left! Listen and decide, and find out who is moving on from week 2 on this episode! Make sure to head to the Blurry Photos home page to cast your vote! Music Danse Macabre, Chee Zee Jungle, Come Play with Me, Echoes of Time v2, Duet Musette, March of the Spoons - Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Sources

• Switek, Brian. “Giant Flesh-Eating Koala of Legend was Real.” National Geographic. Mar. 9, 2016. Web. http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2016/03/09/australias-real-drop-bear/
• Middleton, Amy. “Drop Bears Target Tourists, Study Says.” Australian Geographic. Apr. 1, 2013. Web (joke). http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2013/04/drop-bears-target-tourists,-study-says/
• Australian Museum Entry on Drop Bears: https://australianmuseum.net.au/drop-bear
• Rose, C., 2001. Giants, monsters, and dragons: An encyclopedia of folklore, legend, and myth. WW Norton & Company.
• Bane, T., 2016. Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore. McFarland.
• Wu, Katharine J. Talking Seals mimic human speech and validate a Boston Legend. PBS website. June 6, 2019. Web. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/seals-mimic-speech/ 

   

The bloodbath continues with week 2 of the 2022 Miss Cryptid Contest of Champions! This week of the Miss Cryptid Contest features the Specter Moose of Maine, Gef the Talking Mongoose, and the Beast of Gevaudan. A phantasmal legend of a creature. A legendary creature of a phantasm. And a creature phantom of legend. These powerful fiends square off for your adoration and entertainment, but who will move on to the finals and who will have their final fight? It's up to you to decide! And speaking of, we learn who you decided should move on from week 1 to be out first finalist for 2022. The contest is hot and heavy, and you are in the driver's seat - choose wisely! Make sure to head to the Blurry Photos home page to cast your vote! You can also enter to win a Miss Cryptid prize pack of your very own. Music Danse Macabre, Interloper - Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Sources

• Copeland and Overson. Maine’s Specter Moose. Williston Graphic. Williston, ND. Dec. 6, 1900. Print. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88076270/1900-12-06/ed-1/seq-2/
• Weiser-Alexander, Kathy. Specter Moose of Maine. Legends of America. 2018. Web. https://www.legendsofamerica.com/specter-moose-maine/ Boese, Alex. The Specter Moose. Museum of Hoaxes. Aug. 1, 2006. Web. http://hoaxes.org/weblog/comments/the_specter_moose
• Heuvelmans, B. On the Track of Unknown Animals. Rupert Hart-Davis, London. 1958.

   

Back at the roundtable once again, the boys review the 2014 horror film It Follows! A unique spin on the horror genre, It Follows is a well-thought out and tension-filled film by David Robert Mitchell. That doesn't mean the boys enjoyed it, however. Not all of them, anyway. Flora discusses the plot and behind the scenes details with Derek and Justin while hearing their take. Is it a genre-bending game changer? Or is it a bit too slow to keep the attention? The boys talk all about it in this bonus episode! Don't forget to check out another roundtable while you're at it. Find Derek at Monsters Among Us Find Zenger at Zeng This! #Ad #MeUndies