
Michael Daniels
Co-Host of The Front Porch
Life long geek and proud of it. Proud father of two girls. Michael has come from his roots in video games all the way back as a kid with the Colleco and Intellivision, playing AD&D with friends at Wet and Wild, and picking up his first comic book of Silver Surfer #50 in 1991. His favorite movies include Excalibur, Dragon Slayer, and Last Man Standing. He can't get enough of everything Marvel Comics and the fantasy genre as well as wearing out his copies of Firefly. He has two tattos on both arms. One of the Decpitcon/Cobra logos and the other is the Arashikage Clan from GI Joe. He works professionally as the Web Designer and Manager for one of the nations top technology schools and has a degree in Informatics (Design) from Indiana University and a minor in Computer Science.
Topics
Video Games
I go nuts here. I still have my NES, SNES, Genesis, Turbo Graphics 16, PS2, and PS3 hooked up to my game room tv. All powered on with a flick of the switch. I really enjoy Fighting games (Mortal Kombat), RPG's (Elder Scrolls), and the occasional FPS (Overwatch).
Board Games
I play weekly with a group of friends and we enjoy everything from legacy games (Pandemic Legacy), Campaign games (Imperial Assault), Strategic (Kemet), to miniatures (Mechs Vs Minions) and RPG's (D&D). I love to play TCG's but have almost exclusively gotten out of that field and dove into living card games instead.
Movies
OK, I watch too many of these hands down. Something about sitting for hours in a movie theater with popcorn that I'll never give up. I'm pretty easy and can watch almost everything. I do love the super hero craze going on these days but any heroic journey story will sucker me in.
TV
I used to watch too much TV as a kid and it's stuck with me. While I didn't watch a ton of Star Trek: TNG when it aired I am a huge fan these days. Firefly is my all time favorite but I still enjoy candy shows like The Flash, Supergirl, and Agents of Shield. I eat up everything Marvel on Netflix but about lost my mind watching Iron Fist. Oh, and I love me some old school cartoons like Transformers, Mask, Voltron, and GI Joe.
Books
I am a slow reader. I won't try and deny it. But I do try to keep my nose in a book when I can. My favorites are anything by Brent Weeks (Night Angel Trilogy) and Robin Hobb. I have a soft spot for all the old TSR paperbacks and especially the Drizzt ones.
Comics
At 15 I worked with some people who read comics so I stopped at the local drug store and bought one with one of my first paychecks. IT was Silver Surfer #50 and it sucked me into the precursor to The Infinity Gauntlet. I've been bonkers for comics ever since. I'm currently pulling all the X books, Thor, Guardians of the Galaxy, Star Wars, and Champions.
Michael Daniels has hosted 397 Episodes.
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Episode 13: Ender's Porch
November 27th, 2017 | 1 hr 41 mins
roleplaying, star trek, star trek adventures, star trek discovery
All Star Trek this week. We discuss most of the first half of Star Trek Discovery, and some of Dennis' experience with Star Trek roleplaying, and our plan to start a Star Trek Adventures campaign.
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Episode 12: Stranger Porch II
November 20th, 2017 | 1 hr 40 mins
black friday, lord of the rings, movie music, shopping, stranger things
Part two of our Stranger Things discussion, some stories and commentary on Black Friday shopping, and wrap up with our favorite emotional movie moments.
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Episode 11: Stranger Porch I
November 13th, 2017 | 1 hr 42 mins
blizzard, blizzcon, heroes of the storm, hulk, marvel, stranger things, thor, thor:ragnarok, world of warcraft
We chat a little bit about paint and tattoos, before giving our spoiler-filled impressions of Stranger Things 2 episodes 1-5, and Thor: Ragnarok. Wrapping up with some Blizzcon news.
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Episode 10: Front Porch: The Live Album
November 8th, 2017 | 1 hr 20 mins
board games, comics, esports, game of thrones, games of thrones: the iron throne, sports
First ever live show, we talk about diplomacy board games, spectator sports and esports, and Mike recommends some comics.
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Episode 9: The One with Trotzke
October 30th, 2017 | 1 hr 37 mins
apple tv, board games, chromecast, guest, kickstarter, microtransactions, mobile, roku, video games, youtube tv
Guest host Mike Trotzke joins us to talk about board games, kickstarter, and mobile game microtransactions. We wrap up with our impressions on TV casting devices.
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Episode 8: Beyond Thunderporch
October 23rd, 2017 | 1 hr 38 mins
audiobooks, books, heroes of the storm, holidays, marvel legendary, overwatch, rifftrax, world of warcraft
We do a deep-dive into Marvel: Legendary, talk about holidays in video games, and wrap up with some personal book recommendations.
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Episode 7: Pod Runner 2099
October 16th, 2017 | 1 hr 33 mins
artificial intelligence, battlestar galactica, blade runner, caprica, lord of the rings, stories, story endings, the singularity
Blade Runner 2049: nudity, storytelling, and some philosophy.
SPOILERS for Blade Runner, Blade Runner 2049, Battlestar Galactica, Lord of the Rings, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Caprica. -
Episode 6: Dennis vs Mechagodzilla
October 9th, 2017 | 1 hr 36 mins
binge, game of thrones, netflix, reality tv, sports, star trek, twitch
The TV episode. We talk about Netflix, weekly versus binge-release shows, and wrap up with some live tv talk.
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Episode 5: The Search for More Money
October 2nd, 2017 | 1 hr 34 mins
arcades, campaign games, consoles, legacy games, pandemic legacy, risk legacy, travel
We share our personal history with arcade games and video game consoles, and talk a bit about legacy and campaign board games.
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Episode 4: The Front Porch - The Motion Picture
September 25th, 2017 | 1 hr 30 mins
anime, black desert online, elder scrolls, mmos, netflix, stranger things, world of warcraft
Anime and MMOs
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Episode 3: The One with Fox
September 18th, 2017 | 1 hr 21 mins
batman, dark tower, dc, deadpool, geekscholars, hancock, infinity gauntlet, marvel, movies, ready player one, the joker, unbreakable
Special Guest Fox from GeekScholars, we talk all things film, mostly superheroes.
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Episode 2: The Wrath of Dennis
September 11th, 2017 | 1 hr 42 mins
board games, netflix, star trek, star wars
Star Trek, Star Wars, and licensed or thematic board games
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Episode 1: The Phantom Podcast
September 4th, 2017 | 1 hr 38 mins
cooperative games, game of thrones, gencon, legendary, pandemic
Pilot episode. Gencon and Game of Thrones.