
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 403 Episodes.
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Episode 19: Back to the Porch
January 8th, 2018 | 1 hr 46 mins
bioshock, board games, firefly, nintendo switch, star wars, video games
Special guest Andrew joins us to talk about gaming with family, Firefly the Game, Star Wars Battlefront, the Switch, and more.
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Episode 18: Days of Future Porch
January 1st, 2018 | 1 hr 43 mins
deck builders, disney, fox, hero realms, legendary
Kicking off 2018 we talk about some board games, the Disney acquisition of Fox, Disney Parks, and wrap with our favorite things from 2017.
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Episode 17: Last Porchmas
December 25th, 2017 | 1 hr 35 mins
board games, star wars
Special guest Bill joins us to share all our Festivus Grievances with The Last Jedi.
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Episode 16: Porches and Dragons
December 18th, 2017 | 1 hr 30 mins
Fox returns and we're joined by Pat to talk about Roleplaying Games.
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Episode 15: The Last Porchfighter
December 11th, 2017 | 1 hr 47 mins
dceu, justice league, mmos, pc gaming, ps4, shadow of war, warcraft, world of warcraft
After Michael built his new PC we talk about video games, the Warcraft movie, and some thoughts on Superhero Films vis-a-vis Justice League.
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Episode 14: The Porchbuilding Game
December 4th, 2017 | 1 hr 31 mins
black friday, pc building, pc gaming, shopping, star trek discovery
This week we report on our Black Friday purchases, talk about Michael's new PC build project, and wrap up with his thoughts after seeing the Fall Finale of ST: Discovery
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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