This sort of bummed me out (yes, it's a thread made by me):
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1318545
Maybe it's a me thing, but I've been finding Vinny more grating recently, mostly when he goes on tangents on the Beastcast. Him just shooting half-cocked references and ideas and then keeping the bits going way too long. I think he'd benefit from a host who'd rein him in every now and then. He's totally the Dad Joke guy now. Beastcast definitely isn't at full strength, that's for sure.
totp edit: I just don't get this feeling anymore like I used to, you know?
While I don't agree with your main point, I do somewhat agree with your final sentence. I think the Beastcast was at its best with Vinny, Alex, Jeff, and Austin. Now that its Vinny, Alex, and Jeff, it's not quite the same (even though that's how the podcast began). I think having Dan join will bring that extra strength that having Austin on did. I mean, we got the whole "In The Beginning" thing when Dan was visiting. Granted, Austin was also a guest that day, but still... I look forward to Vinny pranking Dan. Surely that will happen, right?
Also, as for the Beastcast, I sent in my first ever e-mail. Doubt it will get read due to its length, but it continues their Die Hard discussion. In the e-mail, I explain that most of the movies have weird inspirations. Die Hard was based off of an unrelated book (which was a sequel to another book), Die Hard 2 was based off of yet another unrelated book, Die Hard With a Vengeance was a reworked screenplay of an unrelated movie, Live Free or Die Hard was based off of a Wired article on cyber security, and A Good Day to Die Hard was based on nothing, but was originally going to be titled Die Hard 24/7, leading many people to speculate if they were trying to make a Die Hard/24 cross-over featuring a team-up of John McClane and Jack Bauer. That would've been awesome!