Episode 1500 Talkback - Uncle Sal Lives!

Pants

Sal Abbinanti has been a friend of ours for quite some time and we're very happy to have him for Episode 1500 to regale us with stories on Comic-Con, his family, and so much more. And away we go! (2:35:04)

Listen here.

AxelBrass

YES!

Mr_Cosmic

EPIC!

'nuff said!

Pants

Here's a link to the CNN interview that Sal referenced in the episode:

ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1156207

RepoMan

I need to go back and listen to those early episodes with Uncle Sal. They sound like it was a great time!

luke52

Congrats on 1500 episodes guys. A great achievement. Here's to 1500 more!! :)

SharkJumper

Good to hear Sal again.

I agree with what Sal was saying about cons and the indie creator. Being a small "fish", I do better in "small ponds". Big Wow! in San Jose is a great show for the fan but many of us mid-level and smaller guys took a bath this year and did half the business we did in 2013 and lost money. Then I worked Stockton Con the other week with less big names and did better in one day than three in San Jose.

I'm not so sure about APE though. I haven't lost money yet the last two times but it has never been a con for lots of business (many other poor creators walking around). And the table prices are up there now with a Wizard show (APE early bird table=$300. That's a lot of $4 books to sell). And last year, as much as people want indie books, the ones that belong to a sub genre and social media the hell to that fan group did okay. The rest of us struggled. People want familiar, even on the indie level, it seems.

TheOriginalGMan

Congrats on 1500 guys, as well as your successful Jamie's Avengers fundraiser.

I've been listening to CGS for less than a year, so this was my first experience hearing Sal. Because I'm, well, an idiot, I was unaware he was in the comic industry. I thought he was just some guy "from the neighborhood" who you guys had on to tell stories. What is Sal's connection with Alex Ross? He mentioned him quite a bit. A quick scan of Google didn't do much to clarify it for me.

Have to agree with the Olivia Newton John comments ... *EXCEPT* for that final scene of Grease. Oh my, those black leather pants of hers ...

Also have to agree with the "WTF were they thinking casting the guy from The Warriors in Xanadu" comment. If I were being water-boarded at Gitmo, I'd have to confess to liking some of the music from that movie though ("Xanadu" and "Magic" by ONJ and ELO's "I'm Alive")

I wouldn't care if the only thing Pants did on the show is laugh. Holy cow. That belly laugh of his makes me actually laugh out loud myself at times. 2:1 odds says he actually shed a tear during that episode from laughing so hard.

And finally, loved the Marvel-esque "post credits" bit. SPOILER ALERT: "Ah, cabbage!" If there's some deeper meaning to that, well, like I said, I'm an idiot and it flew over my head (Where's Drax when ya need him?). Wasn't sure if that was on purpose or if Pants recorded this episode over his grocery list?

Pants

TheOriginalGMan said:

I've been listening to CGS for less than a year, so this was my first experience hearing Sal. Because I'm, well, an idiot, I was unaware he was in the comic industry. I thought he was just some guy "from the neighborhood" who you guys had on to tell stories. What is Sal's connection with Alex Ross? He mentioned him quite a bit. A quick scan of Google didn't do much to clarify it for me.

And finally, loved the Marvel-esque "post credits" bit. SPOILER ALERT: "Ah, cabbage!" If there's some deeper meaning to that, well, like I said, I'm an idiot and it flew over my head (Where's Drax when ya need him?). Wasn't sure if that was on purpose or if Pants recorded this episode over his grocery list?

Sal is Alex Ross' art representative. Alex also used Sal as reference for Captain Marvel in Kingdom Come.

Listen again around the 1:19:40 mark to get the other reference.

TheOriginalGMan

Pants said:

Sal is Alex Ross' art representative. Alex also used Sal as reference for Captain Marvel in Kingdom Come.

Thanks, Pants. Oh, forgot to mention ... congrats on the 30lb weight drop. That's fantastic.

Pants said:

Listen again around the 1:19:40 mark to get the other reference.

Ah, will do. My podcast reset to the beginning when I came back to it later and I had to kind of estimate where I was on it. Must've missed it.

i_am_scifi

I will now NEVER get the image of Sal shitting into a teapot out of my head.

Job well done, fellas. Here's to 1500 (1832) more.

i_am_scifi

And good job on the album art for this episode on the main page, @Pants‌! :-bd

i_am_scifi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd-OvSGeOK8

TheOriginalGMan

Lesson learned: Only invite Sal to places with multiple bathrooms.

alienal

Congrats on 1500 Episodes! And it was a nice choice to have Uncle Sal on! After this I KNOW I'll have to think more about the possibility of having kids...or not. Man, there's so much that I laughed at that I can't hardly comment on it. Phoebe Cates! Mr. French! Uncle Charlie! Jane of the Go-Go's! Tiz! Well, I hope to get another fix at Fan Expo!

penn2k

Best thing about Uncle Sal on CGS? The strange looks I get from other people as I'm listening to the podcast through my earbuds and laughing hysterically in public places.

JDick

Sal is a cool dude. When the Alex Ross thing opened at the Warhol AR did a free signing on the day it opened and it was packed. I was more excited to see Sal although he was insanely busy. He walked by me and my daughter and I yelled "Uncle Sal...Comic Geek Speak". He looked back at me and said "Yeah...it gets me in trouble".

The_Ancient_One

RepoMan said:

I need to go back and listen to those early episodes with Uncle Sal. They sound like it was a great time!

And there is no such thing as a bad Uncle Sal episode. Every damn one a classic!

bamfbamf

I know Sal married a Japanese lady and it was just part of his shtick, but I just wanted to make it clear that "CHINAMAN" is a slur. I think he dropped the "Gook" slur too. So if he's going to use those slurs, then he might as well use the N-word, S-word and the K-word too. =) Equal opportunity right?

Funny episode as always!!!

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/07/rules-of-engagement-for-ethnic-slurs/374769/

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/bob-beckel-racial-slur-chinese-hackers

http://blogs.wsj.com/dailyfix/2014/03/12/in-the-mets-locker-room-an-old-slur-resurfaces/

bralinator

Sal is an equal opportunity offender - I can't say I'm much of a fan of the episodes where spends time lamenting married life or having kids, but the geeks are amused with his schtick and a few comic-related topics are usually thrown a bone, so...

TheOriginalGMan

TheOriginalGMan said:

If I were being water-boarded at Gitmo, I'd have to confess to liking some of the music from that movie though ("Xanadu" and "Magic" by ONJ and ELO's "I'm Alive")

Latest issue of Guardians of the Galaxy features Peter Quill revealing himself to be a closet fan of the Xanadu soundtrack.

1 internet point for The Original G Man. #winning

Matt

bralinator said:

Sal is an equal opportunity offender - I can't say I'm much of a fan of the episodes where spends time lamenting married life or having kids, but the geeks are amused with his schtick and a few comic-related topics are usually thrown a bone, so...

Since I've gotten married & now a father, I find his stories of kids & married life even funnier.

M

bralinator

Since I'm a father of a teen daughter I adore and am quite happily married myself, I'm merely bemused at his take I suppose.

RepoMan

I love it and sympathize as well. And. It is HIS take. He's not really asking for anyone to agree or not. He just likes to vent and have a good time. Critiquing an Uncle Sal episode seems ridiculous to me. It's observational humor to a degree. And personal. Of course not everyone's experience is the same. Analyzing it gets you nowhere. :)

And loved the honeymooners references!!!

bralinator

Never criticized it outright or even analyzed it, but I think it's okay to admit the Uncle Sal appearances don't do much for me.