Podcasts are part of who we are at Junction Point. So I wanted to start off a series highlighting some shows I’m listening to. And hopefully some of the shows you’re listening to.
This week I’m going with a narrated, science-fiction adventure written by Gary Whitta, a writer behind Rogue One, called GUNDOG.
GUNDOG is an intriguing look at a post-war Earth and a humanity that is, aside from a few stragglers fighting to survive, completely enslaved by a group of alien machines known as the Mek. The production is enhanced greatly by the vocal talents of Shannon Woodward, who expertly narrates the tense and action filled story. Woodward deftly switches between the detailed action scenes and the protagonist’s inner monologue. GUNDOG follows a weary Dakota, who is imprisoned in a labor camp along with her brother Sam. Dakota spends most of her mental energy trying to make sure that her brother, who is already a liability after losing an arm, stays within the Mek’s good graces and avoids being recycled.
The pacing of the story really lends itself to addictive listeners. I often find myself letting a whole season’s worth of narrative fiction download before I start binge listening. Had I known I would have enjoyed it this much before trying it, I probably would have here. As it stands, I find myself waiting for each new episode, each with its peeks into the world that Witta helps us explore and draw to keep us wanting more.
If you are into good science fiction, large machines doing battle, or a look at a future where humanity may not be alone after all, I definitely recommend downloading the first episode of GUNDOG and giving it a try.
As I type this, I have one week of work left before taking my first full week of vacation of the year. To say I’m looking forward to it is putting it mildly. My wife and I are heading to Kansas to visit her old roommate. Oh, and the pro disc golf World Championships are happening there too. So while I get ready to take time off, ironically it’s at the same time I’m deciding to push forward and stop taking time off with posts here at the site.
While I have been planning and projecting for the site over the past year, the site itself has gone silent. And that’s not okay. We’re not ready for all of the moves I’m planning on making yet. But the site will see flickers of life along the way. My last project, Generally Trivial, got going the same way. To that point, one of the things I’m looking to do is fold that project into the umbrella of Junction Point. But more on that later.
Now, my focus is on enjoying some time off with my wife. For me, when visiting a new place, I love finding a new spot to get some disc golf in. As a big fan of the game, I always enjoy thinking about some of the beautiful courses I’ve seen while away from home. For us, we always have to find at least one great place to grab a meal and hopefully a local coffee spot. Grabbing a great cup of coffee in a place with a great atmosphere often ends up being part of the story we share about our time together. I’d love to incorporate some new family traditions during our trips. I’ve looked into the idea of finding the best possible places to catch the sunset in the area. Maybe learning to improve our photography skills. Do you have any tips or traditions that you think we should incorporate? Let me know what you guys do while on vacation in the comments.
Pocket Casts, one of the most popular podcast listening apps, was just purchased by the parent company of WordPress and Tumblr, Automattic. The podcast scene has seen a lot of consolidation lately. There is money to be made and the big boys in the industry are making moves to make sure they get a bigger slice of the pie. This move is intriguing to me to see where Automattic takes the the popular app that is available on both the Android and Apple platforms. Integration with WordPress seems extremely likely and many podcast hosts already use the service when publishing their episodes.
When theorizing what moves could be made, the lack of big time apps for playing podcasts is drawn into sharper focus. The biggest two apps also have directories and exclusive shows on their platform, with Spotify into hosting with their Anchor service and Apple being the long time defacto directory to list your podcast when creating a show. Many other small time podcast apps draw their search directly from the Apple directory. So what does Automattic plan to do with their new toy? There are some obvious seeming moves. And there are bigger gambles that present themselves, like getting into hosting and exclusivity with content. As a user of the Pocket Casts, I am looking foward to finding out.
The 2021 Professional Disc Golf World Championships gets rolling today in Ogden, Utah. While crowing a world champ always carries a lot of weight, this year in particular has a lot riding on the men’s pro open (MPO) division. Who will come out on top in Utah? Which legacies will be impacted the most? I’d like to take a quick look at the landscape leading into the tournament and the three competitors that, in my opinion, have the best shot at securing the win.
As parts of the world slowly turn toward normalcy after bearing through a year plus of a pandemic, 2021 brings a return of the disc golf World Championships, held yearly since 1982 until last year when Covid-19 threw a wrench into the plans for the tournament in Ogden, Utah. But the effects of the pandemic weren’t all negative when it came to disc golf. Creating a need to find activities that allowed for social distancing, the indirect effects resulted in a massive spike in popularity of the sport. For most fans, Youtube has been the place to catch tournament coverage over the years on channels like Jomez Pro and Central Coast. Now, fans have the Disc Golf Network but one of the things adding hype to this year’s Worlds is that two different tournaments made network television, on CBS Sports Network and ESPN 2 respectively. This increased level of interest in both breadth of ways to view disc golf content and total numbers of players in the sport, the one year break creating a pent up energy to find the next champion, and what this year’s title could mean for legacy all add up to bring a lot of excitement when players tee of on Tuesday June 22nd.
The first name that you have to bring up while discussing the men’s field in disc golf right now has to be Paul McBeth. He is the best player in the game and the newly minted ten million dollar man. He’s been making big moves on the course and off, garnering a Discraft sponsorship the likes of which the sport has never seen. He’s already second all time in total MPO titles with five and would likely have been the favorite to pull off another win in 2020 if the event had been held. Since his first Worlds win in 2012, his finishes are more than impressive, finishing first, first, first, first, second, second, second, and then first again in Peoria in 2019. In 2015, he took down every major of the year to complete the Grand Slam. This is the greatness that has come to be known as McBeast mode, often the name given for McBeth’s obsessive focus that has helped him demoralize opponents with his skill. After losing the chance to add to that total of six in his pursuit to catch Ken Climo’s 12 wins, McBeth has to be itching to get out there and prove once again that he’s the best in the game.
I was able to snap this in Peoria minutes after McBeth hit the final putt to become Champion.
While the past decade or so has belonged to one man, there has been consistently one competitor who has pushed McBeth the most, Ricky Wysocki. Twenty years from now, I expect to be watching a 30 for 30 style documentary about the story of Paul and Ricky. Their rivalry is the most enduring storyline of the 2010s. Entering the tournament on the men’s side, the two represent the only multiple time winners of the event. Ricky is coming in hot, having torn up Texas early in the season and ending up in second place behind Emerson Keith at the most recent even held at the Fort, one of the courses in Ogden that will make up this Worlds. Remember McBeth finishing second in every year he didn’t win? Wysocki was runner up in four of McBeth’s five title runs. He’s the only other competitor to prove he can lean on his mental toughness along with his physical gifts over and over again. Wysocki is already among only six MPO players to win multiple championships, another win for Ricky puts him ahead of Harold Duvall and in a tie with Nate Doss for third most wins all-time. It would also pull him again to within two of McBeth and only add heat to the sports best rivalry.
As has been the case for many, many major championships over the years since the Paul and Ricky show began, there isn’t one clear cut third favorite. My third challenger for taking home the win in Utah this year is the field. Unlike some previous contests though, the field isn’t some risky bet. Many people could make arguments that players like Eagle McMahon, Kevin Jones, or Calvin Heimburg could easily even be considered favorites. That’s without even mentioning Emerson Keith, the player who just beat out Ricky in Utah or James Conrad who tied Keith for third in the last Worlds in Peoria in 2019. Of the players I’ve mentioned here, I would think Eagle would have to be the favorite after a huge win in Portland, even holding off a late charging McBeth. Eagle currently sits second in PDGA ratings behind only Wysocki and is at the top of the newly released Udisc World Rankings. A win by someone in this group solidifies the thinking that parity is coming to disc golf and that the pack is catching up to the top two.
Who do I think will come out on top? I have to go with McBeth. Even though he may not look as dominant as in year’s past, I have to go with the guy who’s showed up time and time again on the game’s biggest stage. I for one am excited to see how it plays out. Below are my Grip6 fantasy picks for Utah. I went pretty much chalk with it, who would you swap in if you were picking?
Junction Point 