The Grit City crew is back, and things get weird. Again.

This week, Jeff, Scott, Mike, and C-Note catch up on everything from breakfast at Top Gun in Puyallup to hiking Mount Rainier, running marathons (or avoiding them), and the latest Grit City Comic Show.

Mike shares his comic-con adventures, including catching up with local creators, meeting author Ben Thompson, and discussing the show's decision to keep AI-generated artwork off the vendor floor.

Then Halloween enters the conversation, complete with questionable costumes, trick-or-treating strategies, and enough candy to cause a neighborhood crisis.

Somehow, the guys move from anime recommendations and Tacoma Stars soccer to The Matrix, digital immortality, artificial intelligence, and the horrifying possibility that humans are just meat puppets for machines.

Throw in intelligent fungi, zombie video games, and the usual completely unnecessary rabbit holes, and you've got another beautifully unhinged episode of Saturday Night Grit.

It's Tacoma. It's nerd culture. It's existential dread with dick jokes.

Just another night on the Grit City Podcast.

🎙️ Listen at www.gritcitypodcast.com

📞 Got something to share? Call the GCP hotline at 855-474-8272.

Chapters with timestamps
00:00 - Cold Open — Is This Thing On?
01:34 - Welcome Back, C-Note's New Job, and Catching Up
02:54 - Breakfast at Top Gun in Puyallup
04:49 - Mount Rainier, the Skyline Loop, and Mountain Goats
09:20 - Marathons, Running Clubs, and Why Running Sucks
12:00 - Tacoma Adventures and a Day at Grit City Comic Show
19:31 - Ken Carlson, Independent Films, and Local Creators
22:09 - Meeting Author Ben Thompson and Comic-Con Surprises
25:59 - Grit City Comic Show's No-AI-Art Policy
29:32 - Furry Conventions, Costumes, and Unexpected Detours
30:37 - Halloween Costumes and Trick-or-Treating
37:58 - Anime Recommendations and Scott's Anime Struggles
44:08 - Listener Voicemail: Winterizing Your Outdoor Faucets
45:47 - Tacoma Stars, Indoor Soccer, and the GCP Discord
49:20 - The Matrix, Human Batteries, and Virtual Reality
52:04 - Digital Consciousness and Living Forever
55:16 - AI, Immortality, and the Meat Puppet Theory
57:53 - Fungi, Strange Intelligence, and Video Games
59:34 - Zombie Games, AI Development, and Unreal Graphics
1:02:07 - Closing — You've Been Listening to Grit City Podcast

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• The Union Club: The Union Club is a coworking space contributing to Tacoma's growing artistic and entrepreneurial communities. It combines a maker studio, event hall, and office coworking space, in a 15,000 square foot historic building in downtown Tacoma, Washington.
• RCF Exteriors: Cut Wood. Not Corners. RCF Exteriors specializes in Window and Door installation across the South Puget Sound region. RCF Exteriors is a customer service orientated company with 20+ years experience in window and door installation. Our efficient and knowledgeable team is dedication to making sure you are satisfied with not only the final product but throughout the entire installation process. Email: rcfexteriors@gmail.com Phone: 253-446-8854

Support The Grit City Podcast

Links:

• Top Gun Bar & Grill–Best American Restaurant in Puyallup
• Mount Rainier National Park (U.S. National Park Service)
• The Valley
• Comic Book Convention, Tacoma, WA | Grit City Comic Show
• Grand Cinema Tacoma | The Grand Cinema | Weird Elephant
• Badass (book) - Wikipedia
• Arts at the Armory | Tacoma Arts Month
• Ben Thompson, Famous Author — Badass of the Week
• SOS Pro Wrestling
• Galactic Druid Treats, LLC.
• ETHAN HD (ALL CAPS) (@ethanhd312) • Instagram photos and videos
• Home | Monlux Illustration
• KenzoFKC – I make stuff.
• Dead Drift (TV Series 2015–2016) - IMDb
• Samurai Champloo - Wikipedia
• Amazon.com : sexy angel costume
• Avatar: The Last Airbender - Wikipedia
• High School DxD - Wikipedia
• My Hero Academia - Wikipedia
• New Home Page - Tacoma Stars
• Stars Reserves - Tacoma Stars
• Johnny Mnemonic (film) - Wikipedia
• Upload (TV series) - Wikipedia
• Meat Puppets - Wikipedia
• BionicandtheWires - YouTube
• Bodycam - Official Zombie Mode Trailer - YouTube
• Instagram
• I Built a Full Game in One Day Using AI Agents — Here's What Happened - DEV Community

01:17 – Jeff starts the show discussing how he and Derek met, Suzanne gives a shout-out to the next Drinking for Conservation upcoming event, Owl Have a Drink, and shares some of the other animals and habitats they’ve supported through drinking.  Derek talks about his recent trip to Tokyo, the primary places they focused on, and Suzanne expresses how amazing the food is in Greece. 

14:33 – Derek talks about the weather while there, Jeff recommends the Grit City Podcast coloring book, and jumps into the top ten Halloween costumes of 2024.  Derek and Suzanne guess the costumes they think made the top, discuss the resurgence of the Raygun Costume, and Derek explains the costume Poppy Playtime CatNap.

29:50 – They rank candies that Jeff puts head to head, what they want to see in their Halloween Bag, and Derek shares the candies he brought back from Japan.  Jeff talks about when he enjoys a plain Hershey candy bar, Suzanne talks about the gluten-free goodies she loves, and Jeff kicks off the head-to-head scary movie rankings.

44:55 – Suzanne shares her appreciation for creepy literature turned into film, Derek talks about why he would go with the movie Long Legs over the movie Strangers: Chapter 2, and they all choose Late Night with the Devil over I Saw the TV Glow.  Jeff reviews the movie Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls, Suzanne talks about her favorite Halloween costume, and what she loves most about Halloween.

Special Guest: Suzanne Akerman.

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• RCF Exteriors: Cut Wood. Not Corners. RCF Exteriors specializes in Window and Door installation across the South Puget Sound region. RCF Exteriors is a customer service orientated company with 20+ years experience in window and door installation. Our efficient and knowledgeable team is dedication to making sure you are satisfied with not only the final product but throughout the entire installation process. Email: rcfexteriors@gmail.com Phone: 253-446-8854
• Die Cut Stickers: Use the code GRITCITY15 at checkout and get 15% off your entire order! · Insanely custom stickers crafted to survive the PNW and beyond! Promo Code: GRITCITY15

Support The Grit City Podcast

Links:

• Derek Graziano (@sometimesgeek) • Instagram photos and videos — Voice in people's ears. Sometimes Podcasting. Sometimes Voice Acting. Always posting video game stuff and board game stuff.
• ICHIRAN | Japan's #1 Tonkotsu Ramen Restaurant
• Kizuki Ramen- Authentic tokyo style Japanese ramen near me — Our food is still prepared the same way as it is in Japan; utilizing a unique method of roasting bones before boiling, which is similar to the French style of making consommé.
• The Grit City Podcast - GCP Coloring Book! — The Grit City Podcast Adult Coloring Book!
• Longlegs - Wikipedia — Longlegs is a 2024 American horror-thriller film written and directed by Osgood Perkins and starring Maika Monroe, Nicolas Cage, Blair Underwood, and Alicia Witt.
• The Strangers: Chapter 2 - Wikipedia — The Strangers: Chapter 2 is an upcoming American horror film directed by Renny Harlin, and written by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland.
• I Saw the TV Glow - Wikipedia — I Saw the TV Glow is a 2024 American psychological horror drama film written and directed by Jane Schoenbrun.
• Late Night with the Devil (2023) - IMDb — A live television broadcast in 1977 goes horribly wrong, unleashing evil into the nation's living rooms.
• The Monkey (2025) - IMDb — When twin brothers Bill and Hal find their father's old monkey toy in the attic, a series of gruesome deaths start. The siblings decide to throw the toy away and move on with their lives, growing apart over the years.
• Alien: Romulus - Wikipedia — Alien: Romulus is a 2024 science fiction horror film directed by Fede Álvarez and written by Álvarez and Rodo Sayagues.
• Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls (2023) - IMDb — Fledgling occultist Onyx and a group of worshipers attend a once-in-a-lifetime ritual at their idol BARTOK THE GREAT'S mansion.
• The 2024 DB Cooper Conference — On November 24th, 1971 in Portland, a man calling himself “Dan Cooper” boarded a Northwest Airlines 727 jetliner bound for Seattle.
• Cosmic Bottles - Covington Place, Covington, WA — Craft Cocktails - We have a killer craft cocktail menu. Come by and try something new!