The show starts out typically enough with the Scrollbar. Opening the show with the crew was Rick, a stand up guy who plays at the N.E.R.O event as a player character (PC). Rick was able to provide some insight on the first story of the day that touched upon a photograph taken by a reporter of a Marine who lay dying during a battle. **Please know that by viewing this story you will be able to view the controversial photo. Click here to proceed.** Moving on to a more lighter note, swine flu once again graces the lips of the hosts, however, this time it’s not so much to discuss the breaking headline of the 2,000 students sick at Washington State University, but this time it is to talk about CDC gift shop now selling cuddly stuffed “animal” versions of the swine flu cell. Can it get any weirder? Perhaps… Next on topic was how a group of activists toppled radio towers because of the belief they were causing cancer. Oddly enough, the activists group is the Earth Liberation Front (ELF). Nope… we can’t make this stuff up.

Moving through the next segment, the crew split open their personalities and become their N.E.R.O. characters to explain the in-game world of N.E.R.O.. Interesting tales are told of how their characters came to pass through the in-game town of Stonereach. If you ever wanted to hear an interesting quote… this is the segment to listen to. “…and after the second time the house blew up they decided to let me move out”. The guys also discuss the idea of necromancers owning a house and if that really affects the property values.

Coming back into their third and fourth segments the guys bring back Chris Hill, the owner of the Valor chapter and discuss the logistics of running a N.E.R.O. event. You’ll even hear combat going on in the background. Another player character, “Red”, joins the crew after Chris had to step out for a moment to attend to the game. Red discusses out-of-game stereotypes with the guys of the larping world.

Wrapping up the show just wouldn’t be complete without a Dave’s Dump. This week Dave gets angry at people who drive slow in the fast lane. It goes without saying that it was a bit of a trip coming out of Northern Virginia into Richmond. Slow drivers in the fast lane only complicated it more for Dave.

Special thanks goes out to Chris Hill, Susan Hill, the logistics crew that handled the event and all the players at the N.E.R.O. Valor event. Another thanks to Pocahontas State Park which was absolutely beautiful.

It seems to be a weekly occurrence now as the Off-Topic crew ends up covering a death in the news. This week the honors went to Senator Ted Kennedy who passed away at the age of 77 and to DJ AM who passed away at the age of 36. It has become apparent to the group that death and mayhem are just too much of a downer for the Scrollbar segment. Thus they press on to find more upbeat news such as British Bobbies who hunt burqa-clad bandit (say that ten times fast). On a more serious note (but still somewhat upbeat), a brief discussion ensues on the woman who returned to her family after being kidnapped and held hostage in her kidnapper’s backyard for 11 years. In reviewing the headlines, they also stumble upon a story that talks about 13 people who became sick after drinking raw milk. Guess milk doesn’t do a body good all the time. Are our organs really doing what they are suppose to be doing? And speaking of milk… how about the goat that was discovered in a lady’s trunk when she dropped it off for repairs? The woman apparently warned the mechanics not to check the trunk, but the goat’s cries were too loud to be ignored. How dumb can people be? Oh wait! The crew covered that too with the story clothes encounters of the dumb kind where criminals were caught mainly because of their appearance. Wrapping up the week’s news the group talks about Jenna Bush joining the Today Show and just how could India lose contact with a satellite. Don’t they have enough tech support for that not to happen?

After a rousing conversation on law enforcement and firemen using equipment in scandalous photos while off duty, the crew moves on to the Fastball and talk about the outcome of the UFC 102 match-ups. All while Dave admires Nogueira’s ears. Quickly moving on with manly grunts the guys discuss Vick’s playing schedule and the Redskins vs. Patriots game.

Game Corner brought out another review of Arkham Asylum. Turns out, the game was named in the Guiness World records for being that good. Also, Champions is championed by Microsoft as Cryptic says Microsoft is holding back on releasing Champions on X-box.

The day is concluded with Dave’s Dump to which Dave grinds on people telling him to hurry up. Unfortunately, they had to hurry up to finish the show.

The Off-Topic crew will be at N.E.R.O. for their next show. The event takes place in Richmond, Virginia from 9/4/2009 to 9/7/2009. For more information visit www.valornero.com.

Music during today’s show was brought to you by Pictures in Pieces. You can check them out at www.myspace.com/picturesinpieces.

As always, if you are a web designer, t-shirt designer, or can help us out by providing us with printing services from flyers to t-shirts; let us know at theshow@off-topicradio.com. Your efforts could be rewarded greatly.

Off-Topic Radio is on target when it comes to giving our fans what they want! This week not only was the Off-Topic crew live (as usual on BlogTalkRadio.com/Off-Topic-Radio), but the crew was live at www.Justin.tv/OffTopicRadio. Fans were able to view the guys as they joke and explode at one another which proved rather entertaining this episode. The only thing the fans couldn’t see was DIB crawling under the desk to escape her station to take care of some things. We plan to keep the Justin.tv feed running concurrently with the show each Sunday until BlogTalkRadio.com decides to feature our show.

With that said, please friend request the crew/show at BlogTalkRadio.com/Off-Topic-Radio and get your friends to listen. You can also join our fan page on Facebook by searching for Off-Topic Radio or clicking here.

What made this show big this week? First we had an in-studio guest, Mr. Chris Hill, who owns the N.E.R.O. chapter Valor which is played in the Richmond, Virginia area. He came in to the show this week to discuss N.E.R.O. and the upcoming Valor event over Labor Day weekend. Which leads us into bigger news. The Off-Topic Radio show is going to be LIVE and ON LOCATION for their show on September 6, 2009 at the Valor N.E.R.O. event. We hope to have Chris back on the show to continue talking about N.E.R.O. and roleplaying. His segment with the group proved quite informative as they talk about rules of the game, a little bit of history, and how the game does have its’ “in-game” and “out-of-game” aspects that affect people. For more information regarding N.E.R.O. you can visit their national site at the link below or just check out the N.E.R.O. Valor site for Chris’s chapter here where you can find rules and resources readily available at your fingertips. N.E.R.O. National Site

But we didn’t stop there… oh no… we brought on Gary Cantrell from The Shoot to help us review the upcoming pay-per-view wrestling event, Summer Slam, matches. Gary is a great sport and his review prepared the group for the evening’s theatrics and just what to expect as to who would win each match. And how could we not let Gary go without a good laugh by replaying his latest karaoke experience when he sang “Bye Bye Bye” by N’Sync.

Needless to say, yes, big show this week. Let’s go back though and review the Scrollbar and Fastball events of the week. Starting with the Scrollbar the guys discuss how waste water from food plants is making life more colorful for some Michigan residents. Instead of mowing the traditional green grass, how about getting out and mowing your orange lawn? While you are out in that lawn you may be shocked to see a 9 year old girl taking police on a car chase. The guys discuss how this occurred in Nashville, Tennessee. Running from the law triggered a discussion on how Usain Bolt is receiving a piece of the Berlin Wall (nearly three tons of it) for his accomplishment of setting a new world record for running the 100 and 200 meter dashes. Still on the “running” theme, the guys transition into talking about two car stories this week. The first story was briefly about how Toyota is not focusing on producing their electrically run cars. This of course led Scott to talk about the latest in car dealerships and guns. Apparently, a dealership in Missouri is now selling guns at their dealership along with the cars. Wrapping up the scrollbar the guys discuss how typical America can be when it comes to breaking the law or suing people. Debt collectors illegally threatening arrests to individuals if they do not pay their debts and how a woman is suing a zoo over her fall occurring where the dolphin’s splash. Oh yeah, Off-Topic and Korea… yep… we mention the news of Korean ex-president Kim Dae-Jung’s funeral.

That was just the Scrollbar! Moving into Fastball the guys discuss the NFL (which starts in two weeks) and the story of Brett Favre signing with the Vikings affecting the fans. The guys then discuss some more Mike Vick news and when he may play followed by how the Redskin’s beat the Steelers in their last game. Moving away from the NFL, the group presses on into talking about the MLB with Pedro returning to the Mets, Smoltz signing with the Cardinals, and of course, more news on Strasburg being introduced to the Nationals. Wrapping up the Fastball the crew begins to discuss some wrestling before moving into their interview with Gary Cantrell who gives us his predictions for Summer Slam.

After an extended segment of discussing N.E.R.O. with Chris Hill, the guys wrap up the show with Dave’s Dump. Dave starts to dump on people who call you many many many times while you are asleep or are too busy to talk and how they don’t get the clue you just aren’t going to answer the phone. This of course leads into Dave talking about tact and who in the Off-Topic Radio show has it, and doesn’t have it.

As always, if you are a web designer, t-shirt designer, or can help us out by providing us with printing services from flyers to t-shirts; let us know at theshow@off-topicradio.com. Your efforts could be rewarded greatly.

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Besides the games, the crew started their show reviewing the sad and then happy news occuring in the world. To end on a happier note, they hit the worst of the news first by covering the fire in Kuwait that killed 41 women and children. The description of the scene led Dave to jump into the happier news immediately by talking about a very lucky man whose parachute did not deploy. Closer to his heart, Dave pushed on to talk about how a family honored a fallen soldier by bringing his dog home from the war zone. In sticking with the animal theme Tom interjected with a story of how an elephant in Thailand received its final artificial leg. Trying in vain to end on a good note, Tom brings up an interesting article on the 10 mysteries of human behavior that can’t be explained by science. Boogers anyone? But even on that light hearted attempt at an ending on the news in the world, one final story comes to the surface as the group discusses karma and the Sprint executive who was recently killed when a boulder his his car.

Moving into the world of sports, during the fastball Mike Vick signing with the Philadelphia Eagles took up about thirty seconds of the crew’s air time. They quickly moved on to discuss the signing of Stephen Strasburg with the Washington Nationals. And how do you think you would do riding a bike with a flat tire? Could you win a race by doing that? Well Lance Armstrong did as he won the Leadhill 100 race. Finally, in Dave fashion, the guys end on a more reflective note discussing the reunion of the first Little League players from 1939.

The show wasn’t complete without Dave’s Dump to which he ranted on why companies tend to not let you know the reason you were rejected from a job. Can “knowing too much about guns” really be a fair rejection reason when applying for work with a government agency? Or can you really be “too honest” for a job?

If you are a web designer, t-shirt designer, or can help us out by providing us with printing services from flyers to t-shirts; let us know at theshow@off-topicradio.com. Your efforts could be rewarded greatly.

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Off-Topic managed to stay on topic this week when it came to defining two things. The first being the English language and the second being courtesy.

Before diving into those matters however, the group tackled the bigger headlines in their Scrollbar segment to include the earthquake in Tokyo, typhoon in China and Taiwan, and the small plane vs. helicopter crash in New York. Moving around the world the group discussed Afghan families being addicted to opium, Australians being authorized to kill thousands of camels, very very briefly the new breastfeeding statue of Angelina Jolie being erected. Just when you think this is going weird… they wrap up their scrollbar talking about a 90 year old man regaining his sight and hitting on an anchor woman, a New York snack vendor and his $54,000 rent for his snack cart.

But on a more somber note, another celebrity death sparks conversation as the crew talks about John Hughes who passed away at age 59. In memoriam, the song breaks were given a throwback theme allowing each Off-Topic member to choose a song that reminded them of their adolescent years driving around in their cars. For a list of break songs, see below.

Scott - Summertime: Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff

Dave - Hard Working Man: Brooks & Dunn

DIB - Wherever I May Roam: Metallica

Branden - Cold As Ice: Foreigner

Tom - This DJ: Warren G

The crew moves on to talk some sports in the Fastball segment reviewing how some players can be too whinny sometimes when they hold out for more money (Michael Crabtree and Roddy White). Then how some players just get booted from their teams… John Smoltz. Wrapping up the fastball is the UFC results.

And where would be we without a movie review?? The group reviews G.I. Joe giving it their approval. Don’t worry, no spoilers in this episode. Close calls, but no spoilers. After a movie review it’s on to talking gaming in the Game Corner. The group gives their opinions on throwback games that would be cool to see come back now. Branden chimes in with a review on the “pretty” Arham Asylum demo. Not to mention a nod to Halo fans by tossing out the tidbit that Steven Speilberg may be involved with a Halo movie.

Opening the Tech Closet up this weeks urges listeners to check out moonbows. Also, a newer satellite (Kepler) has found a newer planet in just 10 days. And scientists have identified the neurons that tell you “hey… scratch that itch (from the mosquito that is)”. The boys chirp in on Twitter and Facebook attacks and close the closet with Illinois being another state to ban texting while driving.

The larger topics of the show however revolved around Branden’s grandfather’s e-mail that made us think about the English language and just how “easy” it is to use. This topic fired up the chat room while Dave’s Dump this week on the courtesy of alerting people to your plans rolled in a call from a fan’s brother… who’s sister may have done much harm to him as he seemed to agree that women take the directions on shampoo bottles too literally. Everyone encounters that person who says they’ll go out or meet you somewhere and then at the last minute cancel with a blatten lie… we mean excuse. Off-Topic likes to call those excuses out.

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