mattbaume

So Weird and So Cool (Ep 259 - Baldur's Gate/Liam Esler)

My guest this week dreams of great big musical adventure. Liam Esler is the co-founder of Summerfall Studios, a game company that’s currently in development on a game called Chorus, which promises to be an adventure story that’s also an interactive musical. Currently crowdfunding for the game, Liam leaned heavily on prior experiences to develop the concept — he went to school for theater, but in his free time taught himself to modify video games to include queer content. Now he’s fina...

Cozy Pants 39: Shmofia Schmoppola

Pardon our sniffles this week, we've come down with a case of the Mondays, and also a very common cold. This week on Cozy Pants, we discuss the sci-fi names in the Bible, my humps, Judy Dench's worst nonexistent roles, and the recycling of John Williams music. James gets so upset around the halfway mark that he punches the podcast, and then we go for QUITE the meander about Les Miserables before bringing it in for a landing on the latest Modelland chapter, and rumors of Tyra's odd new beau. 2019-11-05 14:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post

The Sewers of Paris: The Moment I Saw the Hair on Ed Asner's Arms (Ep. 258 - The Smiths/David Schmader)

My guest this week has spent his life traveling the country to bear his soul, and now he’s settled down in the last place he ever expected — the town where he grew up. David Schmader is a writer and performer who wrote for The Stranger in Seattle by day, and who turned his articles into dramatic theatrical performances by night. He’s also the country’s foremost expert on Showgirls, and appears on the commentary track on the official DVD. These days he’s doing more writing than ever,...

Cozy Pants 37: The Warranty Ran out on my Leg Insurance

Well hello! I'm back from my travels and that means the cozy pants are once again on my legs, and James and I are babbling at each other about nonsense. We recap my three-week visit to the midwest, including a haunting tale of a missing wall and an encounter with royalty. Somehow we get on the topic of the time John Wayne spanked a lady, and also Chevy Chase's most horrible appearance ever. We also romp with a bouncing bustle before drifting off to slumberland. Whee!

The Sewers of Paris: Heterophobic (Ep. 257 - Mary Poppins/Devlyn Camp)

My guest this week is Devlyn Camp, creator of the wonderful podcast Mattachine, which tells the story of the work that preceded the modern queer liberation movement. Devlyn is surprisingly young for someone with so close a connection to the past. But with their historical storytelling, they’re able to pull off an impressive feat — creating new queer community by diving into old queer community.

We’ll have that c...

Sewers of Paris: People Wearing Masks (Ep. 256 - Hocus Pocus/Rantasmo)

Hello, and welcome to The Sewers of Paris! Apologies for this episode posting a few days late — I’m on the road all this month, but I finally made it to a spot with wifi, and as we draw to the close of October, I wanted to bring you an episode from the Sewers of Paris vaults that asks the question — why is Halloween so gay? The topic is Hocus Pocus, Eerie Indiana, and Black Mirror.

Back in 2015, I spoke with Jamie Mauer, who you may know as the Needs More Gay culture critic Rantas...

Sewers of Paris: Mamma Mia Murder Mystery (Ep 255 - Miss Marple/Jorge)

My guest this week grew up surrounded by mysteries and clues, but of course he carried a few secrets of his own. Not just that he was gay, but also that his tastes didn’t quite match those of his friends. It took a long time for Jorge to accept that it’s OK to love the things you love, and in fact doing so means that you can finally find others who share your passions. It was a physical response to seeing Meryl Streep sing that finally convinced him that it was time to make some changes i...

Everywhere we Turned Was a Song (Ep 254 - Pippin/Cam Clarke)

My guest this week is Cam Clarke, who grew up in a showbiz family that’s been entertaining audiences since the early 30s. If you’re not familiar with his work as one of the the youngest members of the King Family Singers, you might know him as the voice of Leonardo on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or as Kaneda from Akira, or as Liquid Snake in Metal Gear. He’s been the voice of He-Man, Simba, Jen from the Dark Crystal, and hundreds of other roles. Cam’s always had a gift for voices an...

Sewers of Paris: No Greater Act of Defiance (Ep. 253 - V for Vendetta/Justin Hall)

My guest this week has traveled the world to create images of the varied lives human lead — including the sexy secrets hiding in their erotic imaginations. Justin Hall is the creator of numerous comics and graphic novels, and I was lucky enough to catch him while he was reachable at home rather than voyaging from country to country with just some paper and ink. He shared stories of finding freedom and himself i...

Cozy Pants 36: Fishbowl Friday

It's been another busy week down on the farm, and this week on the Cozy Pants podcast we discuss some goose-related shenanigans in both videogame form and real life. James' shoulders have betrayed him by sustaining a podcast-related injury, and I struggle to figure out what kind of Ghostbuster Jane Krakowski would be. Heathcliff has presented us with yet another mystery, and we apply our combined science fiction and religious expertise to get to the bottom of the fishbowl situation. Plus we r...

The Sewers of Paris: Behind the Orange Curtain (Ep. 252 - The Real World/Brian Moreno)

Where do you find the nerve to stand up for yourself? My guest this week is Brian Moreno, who discovered a big wide world of gay culture in his conservative town. By day he was a shy nerd, by night a nightlife photographer documenting wild queer parties — at one point helping to throw a gathering that, to his shock, drew twelve hundred guests. These days he’s set that life aside, but he still uses the confidence he found at those parties to remind himself that he’s capable of so much mo...

Cozy Pants 34: The End of the Elephant

Hello and goodnight! This evening on the podcast, we sleepyheads discussed Count Chocula commercials and the elusive Count himself. We have some thoughts about The Lord of the Rings, how timely. And I engage in a bit of horticultural dreaming, and also share a story of a harrowing social encounter. There's also a bit of mystery involving Tookie DeLaCreme, perhaps the most engaging question yet posed by Modelland -- and that's truly saying something.

September Update: Here's to a Fabulous Fall

Hello there! 

My apologies for sending this month's update so late! It's been a real whirlwind of production over here, but (some of) the dust is settling and I've got some great stuff in the works that I think you'll love. For example:

• Livestreams! Come say hello, share your recommendations for stuff to watch, and make friends in the chat! I love getting your entertai...
  2019-09-14 19:33:16 +0000 UTC View Post

The Sewers of Paris: Dad at the Gay Bar (Ep 251 - Fame/Pete Rush)

Where do you pick up the skills to design the life of your dreams? My guest this week is artist and theatrical designer Pete Rush, who fell in love with drama at an early age and thought he’d be a New York actor until he realized he had an aptitude for stage design. So he crossed over from creating characters on-stage to crafting the world around them. And in the process, he learned how to craft a daring world of art and adventure around himself… often with as little clothing as possible....

Cozy Pants 33: Cut-Lip Kissing

On this week's Cozy Pants podcast, we're having a classy time at the farmer's market with banana-tomatoes and chemically-constituted cuisine. James expresses his distrust for the natural world, and we speculate about Ricky Ricardo's nightclub. I discuss my experience getting into drag on a livestream (IT WAS WEIRD, and you can watch it here). We both speculate about the context of The Boys in the Band, a gay p...

Cozy Pants 32: An Elaborate Necromantic Cave

Surprise! There is indeed a Cozy Pants this week, a day or two late but no less exuberant. This week we discuss my time at the PAX convention, the bad pigeons in our stairwell, a party sponsored by Octopus Rift, and the inventor of the rollerblade, van art, and Elvira. Also on our radar is The Dark Crystal (it's very good!), Final Fantasy crimes, and my swooning for that heartthrob, Hubert. James introduces us to a robot version of Mae West, and also our disappointing son, Rancid. We also tal...

Gay Love Stories (Ep. 249 - The Book of Mormon/Matt Olshefski, The Shirtless Violinist)

When it’s time to start a new life, how do you decide what to shed and what to keep? My guest this week is Matt Olshefski, also known as The Shirtless Violinist. He came to terms with being gay at a silent retreat, but after his family learned the truth he had to endure a hostile home life until he finally climbed out a window with only the things he could carry. These days, he’s gained fame online for music videos featuring gay love stories, but it took a lot of time to rebuild a new lif...

Cozy Pants 32: A Birthmark Shaped Like a Tuxedo

Hello! Behold! It's the latest episode of Cozy Pants, a special podcast for Patreon pals where James and I talk about our pop-cultural passions. This week, I struggle to remember the name of Family Matters, a sitcom starring Mr. Carl Family. We reflect on the shortcomings of Jupiter Ascending, a movie about a roller-blading space werewolf. We've got some shady Tyra Banks news. And of course we delve deep into the latest chapter of Modelland, where things get uncomfortably real.

The Family I Always Wanted (Ep. 248 - The Sims/Christopher Smith Bryant)

Human interaction is challenging even under the best of circumstances, and for years this week’s guest was resigned to just always having difficulty understanding other people. Comedian Christopher Smith Bryant picked up techniques for socializing from interactive entertainment like video games, and later from improv classes. His adult life has been a series of unexpected discoveries, from the realization that he actually shouldn’t be a minister to a recent diagnosis that’s helped him u...

Gay Men's Catnip (Ep. 247 - The Wizard of Oz/Josh Trujillo)

Hello, and welcome to the Sewers of Paris! This week is the 80th anniversary of the premiere of The Wizard of Oz, and to commemorate that, we're diving into the Sewers of Paris archives. The very first interview I recorded for the show was with Josh Trujillo, a writer then based in LA and now living in New York. The Wizard of Oz played a major role in his life -- as a kid, he was obsessed with film, and later discovered that Oz conventions (yes, there really is such a thing) served as a sort ...

Cozy Pants 31: The Clown at Sears

This week we've got some harrowing tale of childhood clowns and the disillusionment of youth. We've got early Ronald McDonaldses, Borgninesque men at Sears, balloon creatures, and more. We discuss the conclusion of Good Omens (no spoilers!) and also the confluence of Snowpiercer and Willy Wonka. And there's more to be said about Fire Emblem and my many lovers! Plus a catty surprise from Tyra in this week's Modelland installment.

I Was a Regional Rockstar (Ep. 246 - Hellraiser/Old Witch)

Picture the creepiest, most sinister decaying swamp hag you can imagine, and that’s my guest this week — the Seattle drag queen who goes by the name of Old Witch. She’s the product of a delightful shy nerd who grew up in a tiny Montana town and who struggled to find housing before finding her footing as a rock star, a champion of literacy, an adoptive parent, and a pillar of the community in the Pacific Northwest.

Also, a reminder that I host 2019-08-08 13:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post

Cozy Pants 30: Isolde House

It's a sultry southern afternoon in Seattle, and our stickiness knows no bounds. This week on the Cozy Pants podcast, we're watching the new Good Omens series on Amazon and reflecting on the casting triumphs, as well as some of the less successful choices like the criminal misuse of Frances McDormand. We debate the relative merits of the hunks in Fire Emblem, and also dance around the title of Tristram Shandy with one of the worst what's-his-names to date. And it's time for more Modelland, fe...

Patreon Survey! What do you like most?

Hello friends!

Every month, your support makes it possible for me to serve up a whole bunch of videos and podcasts and livestreams, and I couldn't be more grateful! I'd like to know which are your favorites, so I can prioritize them and develop new stuff that you'll love. 

Which of these did you become a patron to support?
(You can pick more than one.)

The survey closes on Friday, August 9, at midnight. Thanks again so much for all your support!...

August Update: The Dog Days of Summer, Ruff Ruff

Hello friends! 

Ohhhh boy it's hot. You know, I moved to Seattle because they told me it was rainy and grey, but I suppose those days are behind us and now it's basically Death Valley with pine trees. So let us cool our fevered minds with the calming pleasures of super-queer internet goofiness!

Here's what your support makes possibly throughout August:

• Livestreams! Co...
  2019-08-02 15:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post

Gay-Porn Summer Camp (Ep. 245 - Star Wars/Jasun Mark)

You never know how your dreams might manifest. My guest this week is Jasun Mark, who dreamed of being a filmmaker as a kid. After some time in a tiny farming town and performing in a successful Canadian pop band, he got an opportunity to pursue that childhood dream in a particularly exciting niche — as a director of dozens of porn films, a line of work that he both enjoys and also allows him to pursue his own personal passion projects.

Also, a reminder that I host 2019-08-01 13:01:03 +0000 UTC View Post

Cozy Pants 29: Full of Christmas Cheerio

Everything has changed in our home, thanks to the arrival of a pot! This week we discuss our fear of the new pressure-cooker sent by my mother -- is it a kitchen boon or a deadly trap? We also debate the relative edginess of Cheerios versus Cream of Wheat, and take a loooooong dive into all of the problems (and the good things too!) about the movie Valerian and the City of a Bunch of Things. And we're back on out bullshit with Modelland, crossing the diabolical divide of being halfway done wi...

Sewers of Paris: Something from Another Planet - (Ep. 244 - David Bowie/Orlando Ortega Medina)

My guest this week is musician-turned-novelist Orlando Ortega Medina. Growing up in the music scene in and around Los Angeles, he was never really in the closet — or at least, he didn’t think of himself as closeted, until he realized that his own parents didn’t fully understand that he was married to a man. Explaining to his mother that she had a son in law wasn’t exactly comfortable, but it changed everything for his relationship with his parents. And he processed the experience in t...

Cozy Pants 28: The Trash Ape

Okay yes we have seen the Cats trailer and yes we have a lot of opinions about it. (And also some deep thoughts about Neon Genesis Evangelion, which is a different sort of show but also kind of related? Sort of?) James is introduced to Heathcliff's trash ape, and we speculate about the nature of reality and owls. And I am CALLED OUT for who I was in high school.

The Sewers of Paris: The Lost Art of Cruising (Ep. 243 - Donahue/David Quantic)

For years, David Quantic’s only connection with queer community was cruising the bathrooms at the local mall, slipping away from his parents while the family shopped to meet up with men in stalls. But gradually, he found windows to a more expansive view of what the gay world could be, watching afternoon talk shows and eventually running away to Texas and then New York to capture queer life through a camera lens. It’s probably no surprise that these days his lens is turned towards sex, tel...