Chris

Important If True 45: Wax House, Baby

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Important If True 45:

Important If True 45


Wax house, baby.
In the first Important If True recorded in the new year, we put our fresh reality through its paces. Kick the tires a bit. Ask the questions that really matter in 2018. Questions like: Is the saxophone cool, or is it too real to be cool? If your coworker starts wearing puka shell necklaces as self-flagellating conversion therapy, is he still a bro? And if you become trapped in a fictitious world of your own design, will a Wikipedia editor ask for a citation? Only one thing’s for sure: it’s a wax house, baby—we all just live in it.

Discussed: 2018, Nick's Halloween Dreams, the unappreciated coolness of saxophones, psychic neural infiltration, explicit dream roasting, the Wikipedia page for the 2005 film "House of Wax", the internet sabotage long game, "Wax House, Baby", shared fictitious realities, Agloe, New York, Snakes on a Plane, the fractal-like world of online ersatz cheap brand creation and marketing, becoming an accidental bro, Pavlovian anti-bro enforcement methods, climbing out of your bro-hole with a ladder made of bones, rare Domino's Pizza Rolex watch, Nutcracker barfees, horrible barfing Nutcracker toy

Send us your questions at [email protected]. If you enjoyed this and would like to subscribe to an ad-free feed, please consider supporting Idle Thumbs by backing our Patreon.

Chris' Endorsement: Getting a huge hard drive (like this massive 3TB drive I bought) for way cheaper than you'd think, and putting all your crap on it while experiencing a nostalgia trip

Jake's Endorsement: Wizard Jam, the semiannual Idle Thumbs community game jam. Check out The Garfing Garfo because it is strange and surprising, and The World Begins With You because it is beautiful

Nick's Endorsement: "HQ Trivia is a Harbinger of Dystopia", Ian Bogost's deep dive into the strange trivia game HQ; and "If You Run This Profile, We're Fire Our Host", a completely unhinged interview with the CEO of HQ Trivia

Sponsored by: Quip electric toothbrushes with $10 off your first brush head refill

 

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I usually listen to episodes on Youtube, and when I opened this one I was dismayed to see how far the normalization of Nick's telepresence has progressed.

 

In the last few episodes, Nick's old microphone and pop filter were still on the table, but pushed to the side to give a clear view of the newly-installed Nick screen (on which you can see the microphone Nick is talking to in Canada). That seemed perfectly natural to me, the transition to long-distance podcasting went relatively smooth and it makes sense to keep the three mic setup in case you have a guest in the studio or whatever.

 

However, when I clicked on this episode, I was shocked to discover that Nick's old microphone was now positioned directly in front of the screen, as if the screen itself was talking into it. This is a small change, but it makes a big difference conceptually: up until now, you cleared up space to show video footage of your human third host joining you live from Canada. Now, however, the video station has itself become the third host and it is but one small step for Nick's face on screen to be replaced by a simulated recreation, or something even more sinister.

 

Don't let your guard down Thumbs.

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1 hour ago, Deadpan said:

I usually listen to episodes on Youtube, and when I opened this one I was dismayed to see how far the normalization of Nick's telepresence has progressed.

 

In the last few episodes, Nick's old microphone and pop filter were still on the table, but pushed to the side to give a clear view of the newly-installed Nick screen (on which you can see the microphone Nick is talking to in Canada). That seemed perfectly natural to me, the transition to long-distance podcasting went relatively smooth and it makes sense to keep the three mic setup in case you have a guest in the studio or whatever.

 

However, when I clicked on this episode, I was shocked to discover that Nick's old microphone was now positioned directly in front of the screen, as if the screen itself was talking into it. This is a small change, but it makes a big difference conceptually: up until now, you cleared up space to show video footage of your human third host joining you live from Canada. Now, however, the video station has itself become the third host and it is but one small step for Nick's face on screen to be replaced by a simulated recreation, or something even more sinister.

 

Don't let your guard down Thumbs.

I’m with you, but the people demanded this. Ever since nick went remote, people have asked why he doesn’t have a microphone and “it’s on the screen!” didn’t satisfy them. Maybe this abomination will. 

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10 hours ago, Jake said:

I’m with you, but the people demanded this. Ever since nick went remote, people have asked why he doesn’t have a microphone and “it’s on the screen!” didn’t satisfy them. Maybe this abomination will. 

 

People are too quick to look at a pile of tech and say "I wuv you, wobot!"

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Somebody on the wikipedia page of House of Wax already corrected everything,  actually citing this episode. I've never felt so much (relatively) unfunded hatred towards a wikipedia editor person... Strictly no fun allowed I guess :/

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I'm impressed by how effective the reader's plot to erase an alternative title, they did not like, was. 

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Surely if this hoax was successful enough to permanently change the film's online presence it is significant enough to still be mentioned in its wikipedia article. Surely this is the most actually noteworthy thing about the film.

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23 hours ago, Jake said:

I’m with you, but the people demanded this. Ever since nick went remote, people have asked why he doesn’t have a microphone and “it’s on the screen!” didn’t satisfy them. Maybe this abomination will. 

 

I have looked into the 2025 Important If True episode 388 for January 2025, and found this image of a more advance robot Nick Breckon:

 

 

jgsBuuD.png

 

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12 hours ago, Jake said:

That’s just the official term I think. It’s always been called that. 

Are you sure? I seem to remember the term being "Defaced Article, Baby."

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I went through the House of Wax edit history and it looks like the original update didn't have a citation for "Wax House, Baby" at all, but three months later it's added with the comment "adding cite i missed during the article overhaul" which, I don't know why, but I find even more hilarious.

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Someone now needs to be the guardian of "Wax House, Baby." Changing the wiki edit back at random intervals. Not that I would do anything like that, it just sounds exhausting...

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30 minutes ago, Clonefreak1 said:

Someone now needs to be the guardian of "Wax House, Baby." Changing the wiki edit back at random intervals. Not that I would do anything like that, it just sounds exhausting...

Sadly, repeated alterations like that would lead to the page being locked down, which is no fun for anyone. At least the edit history sticks around, which paired with this podcast makes for a good historical record.

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As I listened to this episode, suddenly slid into place with an audible click, like that Nintendo Switch *snap* sound...

 

Chris: "... sitting here next to Robot Nick..."

 

robot nick... oh my god.... CLICK

 

download.jpg.556efed03412849b92187386b5e13f00.jpg

 

I'm sure I'm the last one to realize this.  

 

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I approve of this sort of Wiki-sabotage.

 

Several years ago a friend and I, both fans of Paul McCartney, became aware of this music video for his 1986 single 'Press', from the album Press To Play.

 

 

We amused ourselves by imagining that Macca super-fans would make a special pilgrimage to the London Underground stations seen in the video (despite the song being a largely forgotten piece of his unloved mid-80s output) and edited the Wikipedia articles for Piccadilly Circus tube station and the single itself, to reflect this fictional subculture. All credit to my friend for the brilliant, totally standards-trolling turn of phrase here (link to the version of the page from August 2013).

 

Sadly, the Wikipedia vigilantes struck and the edits did not last long - but long enough for the misinformation to filter down to a few blogs and, most excitingly, the official Transport for London website! Our absolute nonsense eventually surfaced here in a blurb for Art on the Underground: https://art.tfl.gov.uk/labyrinth/artwork/piccadilly-circus/

 

We are still hoping McCartney himself will somehow end up acknowledging the phenomenon in a interview, maybe when the album gets reissued.

 

Wax House, Baby!

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4 hours ago, Crunchnoisy said:

 

As I listened to this episode, suddenly slid into place with an audible click, like that Nintendo Switch *snap* sound...

 

Chris: "... sitting here next to Robot Nick..."

 

robot nick... oh my god.... CLICK

 

download.jpg.556efed03412849b92187386b5e13f00.jpg

 

I'm sure I'm the last one to realize this.  

 

 

This is very good

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Now that Nick's identity as a saxxer is revealed, I am now requesting that he video call into someone's Far Cry 2 stream and improvise a soundtrack!

Also, how loud are Quips? I have an electric toothbrush that I don't use because it's 79 decibels and extremely distressing.

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