Ready Player One is a futuristic novel by Ernest Cline (writer of Fanboys) that presents a dismal future in which most of the population spend all the time inside a vast virtual world called the OASIS. The eccentric inventor of the game was obsessed with 80s pop culture. Upon his death he devised a game to pass off his massive fortune to someone who could beat a series of challenges designed to test the player’s knowledge of the geeky bits of culture he was so obsessed with. Join Rob, Tim, and Tommy as they discuss the book, including spoilers, and try to decide if the pop culture references make the book unique or ruin the whole story.

In today’s episode Tim and Tommy are joined by The Cult of LEGO co-author and BrickJournal founder Joe Meno. We discuss the new book, his awesome LEGO magazine, trips to Billund, Denmark, the joys of fan conventions, favorite LEGO themes, and much more.

The year has come to a close and it’s been swell. This time last year, we had just changed the name of the site from Saturday Morning Central to Top Hat Sasquatch, and the team began to grow. The first group effort was an article about the best movies of 2010. It’s fitting that a year later, after the site has grown with the addition of Bubble Pipe Theater, that we would end with a best movies podcast. It’s the first show that our good friend and contributor Justin Lacey of HorribleNight.com has sat in on, and we were glad to have him. In the show we talk Apes Rising, Captain America and Thor, Super 8 and Attack the Block, Hugo and Hanna, and everything in between.

It’s the show’s very first Christmas, and Tim, Rob, and Tommy spend it getting nostalgic about their favorite toys over the years and the presents they never got but always wanted. In this episode you’ll hear about Tommy’s penchant for sneaking around and finding presents early, Rob’s lifelong obsession with getting an AT-AT, and Tim’s knack for living vicariously through his kids, with a ton of retro Christmas and toy commercials sprinkled throughout.

To celebrate the release of the new (and awesome, I just got back from seeing it) Muppet movie, Tim, Rob, and Tommy sat down to talk Muppets, Jim Henson, Fraggle Rock, Dark Crystal, Muppet Babies, and everything in between. Rob discusses his article on the legacy Muppet Babies left behind, Tim and Tommy get nostalgic about Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas, and Tommy can’t help but sing a song. Celebrate MuppetWeek with Bubble Pipe Theater, see the new Muppet movie, and then see it again!