#4660 Stockholm's Syndrome

Hello, this is Kristen, uh, from Ontario, from Thunder Bay. Anyway, I was calling because I've been sick this week and I've been losing my voice, sort of, but then I realized I sound like the chicken lady, so I wanted to call and just wish you all no mountain too tall and good luck to all and just check to say, you know, I love life and, um, you want some eggs? TBTL! don't you latte sipping leeches understand i've seen enough of these hollywood super hunks we need a dumpy unappealing loser and every man don't take this the wrong way but you've just been kind of hanging around a lot lately which isn't a bad thing but it's also not a good thing i feel like we're just like in that tired mode where you're delirious and you're laughing at silly things. Well, you have found my flabbergast button, and guess what? You've pressed it. The comedy factor speaks for itself. It's just painfully obvious. It's an unfulfilled prophecy. It just has to be played out. My door's always open, except when it's closed, but you can open it when it's closed. All right, hello, good morning, and welcome everyone to a Tuesday edition of TBTL, the show that just might be too beautiful to live. My name is Luke Burbank. I am your host coming to you once again from today, slightly less beautiful Los Angeles, California, but still still tolerable. That's how I consider my contribution to the world of podcasting. It's not so beautiful, but it is tolerable. And I hope you're going to enjoy yet another episode of TBTL, yet another episode where I don't have my full complement of audio wizardry because I did leave my recording equipment in Portland in my car. And I had to buy a temporary USB microphone, which is what you're hearing me on right now. It also means no audio drops. I don't know. Maybe for some people, that's a relief. There might be some people who they're like the people that watch the Super Bowl, but they just want to see the ads. they listen to the TBTL but they don't want any part of the drops and this is going to be a great couple of days for all of you you know what, I think it's going to be a great day and a great few days for all of us because I just have that sense I just have that feeling here as we arrive at episode 4660 in a collector's series see right there you would have heard a bell ding if I were at the Madrona Hill studio or even if I had my sound effects hey, there you go who do you think dinged that bell. Was it Elisha? We always set a place for him here on the podcast. No, I think that might have been the longest running co-bro of the show. Maybe best known for his depictions of the tall ships. He's Andrew Walsh. He's getting my back today. Good morning, my friend. Never has a man scrambled for a bell as quickly as I scrambled for that bell. Maybe there is actually, that was quick reaction time in my opinion. Are there historic stories where somebody needs to ring a bell as quickly as possible? Anybody have to ring the Liberty Bell or anything really quickly? Right. It's sort of like a Paul Revere-esque moment or the marathon. Like one of those things where for some reason, somebody, Audie Murphy, somebody had to like ring that bell to let the French know that the Germans were coming from the other direction or something. Yes, exactly. Hey, I had a question for you. Hold on. Wait, before I start picking apart your intro, which is not a nice thing to do. Let me see here. I'm typing in most famous bell ringing into Google. We're at a tissue talk today. You're probably going to get Mike Tyson versus Buster Douglas. Oh, right. Boxing has bells. Let's see here. Westminster Abbey comes up a lot. So in your analogy, the drops are the football game, and you talking, you and me talking, are the commercials? Yeah. You didn't assume that? I just wasn't sure. I just wanted to make sure that I was following that. I figured most people tune into this show to hear Cisco Morris go ooh-la-la. Ooh-la-la. And they just tolerate the other, I would say, 99.9% of the show where we're talking until the next day when they can hear some more drops at the top of the show. That's what my independent research has generated, is that people tune in to hear snippets of audio, and then they stick around to just kind of like endure the parts where we're talking. There's got to be an AI somewhere that can strip every part of the show away except for the drops. And then it's just a nice, tidy little four-minute show. Oh, now there's a question for you. I mean, it's not an interesting question. It's terrible content, but it's a question for you. What should we do, percentage or time? I like time. On your average TBTL, which is like, let's say, a 90-minute program, right? Mm-hmm. How much of that is actually drops? Now, we know the intro tape package is usually about 90 seconds, right? So right there, you've got about a minute and a half. Then you come in and you're talking, but we're not counting the time that you're talking. We're talking just the drops themselves. How many drops do you think you play in a day time-wise? Probably six. I would say as few as five and as many as seven. Oh, okay. So those are the number of drops at the beginning of the show. Yes. Which is maybe, again, taking away all voice that isn't a drop. I'd say call them three seconds each. Call them three seconds each. So you're like under 30 seconds on drops. We're only delivering. And then here and there throughout the show, you'll drop them down. But we're delivering like three minutes of drops a day. Is that it? And can we get those numbers up? Well, this is why it's so incredible. that people stick around for the rest of the show. I mean, the ratio is really off. In fact, you know what, Andrew, to bring it back to the football analogy, somebody did this once, and this used to be the, I was listening to Chuck Klosterman talk to Pablo Torre about this, that the knock on football at one point when maybe it was a little bit less of a national obsession was that I think an entire football game only has 11 minutes of actual football being played, Which is crazy to think about because I mean a quarter is 15 minutes So right there you think you'd have more but no we're talking between The guy saying hike and then the referee blowing the whistle When you add all of that up this four hour experience has 11 minutes Of actual something like actively going on I have that book by the way have you read it? No I need to start it on the flight home I'm interviewing Chuck by the way next week on Livewire I had a feeling that seemed like because I know he'd been on before it seemed like something that you guys would do And a friend had him on their show, and so she gave me the book. How handsome is that book, by the way? It looks great. It's just sitting on my couch. It's better just to let it sit on the couch. It looks like we have workers who've been coming in and out, and they all think, like, this man likes to read handsome books about football. It just says football on the cover. It kind of looks old and kind of leather-bound in a way, and like somewhere between the Bible and maybe like a coaching book that Vince Lombardi would have written or something. I think it's just got like a super classic vibe to it. Speaking of, not to change the subject from TRT, total runtime of our, that's a TV term, Andrew. That's fine. Sometimes we'll say it's 514 TRT plus the sun. That just means the story, total runtime is five minutes and 15 seconds. And then a little CBS Sunday morning sun appears after it. That's usually kind of sort of made to look like something related to what the thing the story just was. I think that more is the CBS morning show, son. You and a lot of other people, Andrew. And we can talk about that off air if we'd like to. You think I can make a living on TV? On TV? You got another thing coming. You better be rooting for CBS. No, no way. I don't know. I don't know if you interpreted my riff the way I or my. Oh, no, no. I know exactly what you're saying. You've just mentioned on the show before that that used to be just the hallmark or just the logo of Sunday morning. And then the morning show took it. And I know that that's a little bit. It's a little bit of a. Well, it's a little sensitive because that was our little special thing. And when you saw the particular branding, a person would be like, oh, that CBS Sunday morning. And now I also will see something. Oh, wow. We did that story. I didn't even know that. And I realized, no, I'm watching CBS this morning right now. Or I'm watching a clip. They literally stole your sunshine. They did. And we were just a little humble Sunday morning show. The reason I said we better hope CBS exists is because I think the fear around the other show borrowing our branding is that it then made it less special for us. Therefore, we are less special. Therefore, we will cease to exist. That's I would call that spiraling on my part. But it's one of my favorite activities. Well, what were you going to say before I interrupted you with a questionable spoof? I completely forgot. By the way, that wasn't a questionable spoof. That was a great callback. And I appreciated it. I totally forgot that you all are still in the midst of a construction zone there. The power was out for a bit last week while things were getting rewired. Genevieve was sending Roden and I pictures of your new breaker box. Yeah, pretty sexy, right? I mean, honestly, you're going to lock that thing up. You can have every Tomcat coming around for that breaker box. So what's the latest? Where are things at right now? Things are a little bit paused right now because of the workplace injury, unfortunately. Oh, no. I'm sorry. Am I bringing up a sensitive subject? No, I think it's okay. But these – so it's basically we have one main contractor, and then he has a guy that works with him, a young man who works with him. And their names are Adrian and Michael. And I like them a lot. And Adrian's really cool. We're kind of, as I've mentioned before, sort of kind of like having an ongoing conversation about kind of designing and choosing like design elements and hardware and whatnot as we sort of go along. Like Genevieve's been spending Saturdays going down to the reuse store down in one in Ballard, but the one down in Soto, I think, and like looking at cabinetry and stuff. because we're thinking about maybe getting something that is kind of, you know, that has been used before because we don't want – he keeps on – what is the name of the stuff that is not wood but it's like particle board? I call it particle board. There's an industry term for it that's three letters or something. I can't think of what it is. Oh, OSB? Something like – I don't know. Yeah, it might be that. But basically it's like – it's the stuff – when we redid my bathroom, We went to Home Depot and we bought like a vanity, right, with a drawer and some, you know, and just to put around the sink or whatever. And it looked good, but it's particle board. And so any moisture, it's already kind of swelling or whatever. So we kind of don't want that. I think we're looking at something that might be like a plywood or something along those lines. So it's kind of this ongoing conversation of like both Adrian and Genevieve being at different reuse stores. Yesterday or I guess on Saturday, Genevieve was at the reuse store in Soto. Adrian was at one in Ballard. They're texting back and forth. I'm at home just puttering, cleaning, giving my opinions, but doing absolutely no work at all on this project. And so while they're picking those things out, they were also like kind of doing the first step, which is really getting our wiring in order. And like you said, installing this breaker box, a new breaker box. And there's a lot of mess inside the walls, especially down here in the basement, as far as the expansion of the electricity of the when they when they turn this basement into kind of a living space. So kind of ripping all that out and redoing it right and installing some lights and stuff while we sort of figure out the big plan. But we did just uncover and Genevieve told me what the square footage is. I'm not sure. But we just sort of uncovered a space in the wall. I saw it sort of tearing. Oh, yeah. Did she tell you how much that is? Because she was so excited she measured it that we can. Oh, I didn't know the measurement. I just know you're going to talk about doing some built ins. Yeah, exactly. So that'll be really. So we're kind of like kind of discovering it on the on the go. So basically, the last big project was, I think, Thursday. Genevieve and I had to get out of Dodge. Remember, I did the show from the campus that day from the UW because power was cut here. Well, they basically got everything installed for the electrical work on by Thursday evening and everything was up and running. And then on Friday, Adrian was not going to come. It was just going to be Michael, the young man who works for him to come and kind of like finish up that job, pull out a little bit more drywall in some areas and just kind of finish up for the week. And then something happened where he pulled his shoulder out. He was actually opening our garage door. I don't think I'm liable for this. Maybe I shouldn't be saying this on tape. But he was opening our garage door, and the garage door came off its track. And somehow he kind of hurt his shoulder in doing that. He didn't use the human door? They're mostly using the human door, but he needed the big garage door to be open. But since we have that, what we now call the human door on the side of the garage, we're not opening that big old door all the time. And it's the kind that's just like a big for folks who don't know my garage door. It's not the kind that's divided into sections that kind of curve around the track. It's just like it's an old fashioned, big, flat door that swings up and then, you know, goes into the garage. And I kind of like this, by the way. Yeah, classic. That's what I grew up with. Like that was the default setting for a garage door. It was a big kind of somewhat heavy thing that was just on a fulcrum point so that you could, you know, you'd reach down to the very bottom and you'd grab that handle. And then because of how it was, you know, sort of anchored into the at the midpoint, it would you'd raise it up, you'd swing it open. That's that's that feels vintage 1980s to me. Yeah, I like it. We did not have that growing up, but I do like it. And unfortunately, though, you know, it's pretty decrepit at this point. And so it was so it kind of and we hardly ever use it anymore. So my guess is somebody who's never opened that garage door before is probably going to do it with more oomph than one needs. And so I'm guessing that maybe like Michael expected to be heavier or something. So he's like, I have no idea. But it kind of came off the track, which happens from time to time. It's not a big deal. But I think in maybe trying to save it or do something, he because when it comes off its track, it doesn't come crashing down or anything. It just is unstable up there, and you've got to get it back in his track. So anyway, I think he was trying to fix it. His arm is over his head. I don't know what happened. Something happened. He pulled his shoulder out. He said it had happened to him before. It's something that he works with. So that basically takes him out of the game for Friday. So whatever work was going to be done on Friday was not done, and then he was still apparently dealing with that on Monday as well. So things are a little bit paused here. I mean, is the fact that this is happening around Super Bowl weekend suspicious? Which is the fact that he has a new Seattle Seahawks face tattoo. Yeah. Does this play into it at all? No, I don't think he's a Seahawks fan. Actually, he's an Eagles fan. So I can't accuse him of that. So anyway, that's where we are now. Things are a little bit positive. So yeah, you're experiencing one of the great common experiences of any construction project, which is the construction project not happening. Well, I'll tell you what. I'm pretty sanguine about that. We said we're not in any kind of huge hurry. I don't like having – the bummer is that as this is happening, we're pulling more and more stuff out of storage spaces that they need access to. So our basement is starting to look a little bit more basement-y because there are shop vacs and just everything is pulled out of storage in certain areas and it kind of looks ugly. But it's funny how you kind of get used to that. But Vives and I said from the outset, like, we're not in any rush. Like, we're so lucky that this is just – this is a lanyard. You know what I mean? We have a working kitchen upstairs. We have a refrigerator. We have everything we need to live is still accessible in this house. So take time on the project to do it right and don't charge us too much. Like I'm just more I'm more worried about like what this is going to be at the end of the day, because as we continue to sort of do this project, the numbers will continue to sort of like kind of fluctuate. I don't know if fluctuate is the right word. I'm guessing they go in one direction. Yeah, that's what I'm sort of thinking. Can I ask a question that you're under no obligation to answer if it's like too personal? But I just, you know, having been through a lot of these kinds of projects, I'm curious how without going into too much detail, how exactly did you all land on this particular contractor? Did you use Angie's list? Was it somebody you knew who had used this person? How did you guys get to get to the person that you ended up hiring? Genevieve had did as with everything Genevieve did the research had a couple of people I trying to think of it We had two or three different people kind of come out for consultations And I don know I don know exactly what source she used but she just was Googling around and maybe used some recommendations of neighbors Although I don't know that we know anybody who's used him before. But then once we kind of were getting very, very close to signing the contracts or whatever, I did do a little bit more background as well. I just wanted to kind of make sure that everything seems good. And he seems very well loved. Or he's just the he's one of the smartest, the world's greatest internet. I doubt it. Exactly. I doubt it. No. So I actually I mean, I think I don't think we are we have any trust issues when I say that. And I also think that I mean, a lot of the conversations we're having are about like how we can save money on this. He seems to be, you know, pretty money conscious. And so, you know, and we got an estimate. But that estimate we knew would continue to kind of grow as we would potentially add things to this project. But speed is not an issue. Like, I'm not I'm not like I don't I think it was maybe a little bit harder when we were first tearing into walls because it's kind of like I had mentioned to you that or maybe I didn't. You know, I might have talked more about this with Hannah, but like I feel like you just know me well enough and the listeners know me well enough that like I'm really, really, really looking forward to having this beautiful, nice space that we've created and made all the decisions about and really have it be ours from the get go. and we got a new sink that I'm excited about. And I just know that if anything happens, if I ding that sink, it's my ding. You know what I mean? I'm very, very much excited. Sorry about that. I'm very excited about all of that. But the anxiety, I think, was a little bit right at the beginning of work because as much as I like having nice things, I don't like my routines interrupted that much. And so just like being without a basement sink for a while, I knew it wasn't a matter of life or death. Like I say, we have a sink upstairs. We're so lucky this is just an extra little kitchenette we're doing. But to say goodbye to my big basin sink in the basement for a couple of months or whatever it's going to be, where I wash my big coffee thermoses for my pop-up gig or whatever, just having to kind of adjust to that or not having everything put away nicely and instead having closets full of cleaning supplies emptied and out on the floors. Like those are the types of things that usually get in my head a little bit because I'd rather just have things stable and nice and clean and tidy, even if it means it's not the nicest kitchen in the world. Everything is put away. Right. I emphasize things being put away too much. I think my parents instilled that in me a little bit too much. So I think there was a little bit of anxiety at the beginning of this project about just like feeling disrupted. But it's amazing how quickly I get used to that, too. You know, like we're just like now I got a pile of shit in front of my bathroom door. and every time I look at it, I think it's going to be really nice when we get to put that stuff away, but I'm not feeling anxious about when is this going to be done. I'm kind of enjoying the process, but again, I want to be very, very clear here, and it's not just because Genevieve can probably hear me through the door live, but my contribution to this project has been very little other than having some opinions here and there. I really got to give Genevieve the credit for getting the ball rolling on this and actually actively going out and looking at designs and stuff because like I have opinions, but I just don't like shopping. That's a huge, huge difference between like me and you and Genevieve. They should study your brain chemistry and figure out if they can make that into a GLP one of not being a consumer because I will I'll inject myself or take the pill or whatever people do because like I wish that I liked shopping a little less. Yeah. Yeah. Somewhere between us would be ideal because I like it a little bit too too less. I think that was – this conversation could quickly expand, but I think that that was part of – I was having some issues when we decided we weren't going to use Amazon anymore, which is, of course, something that I strongly believe in us not using Amazon anymore. It wasn't something I had to be talked into. But it was like I had just gotten into some routines of like, okay, when I'm out of my Argyle socks, I know that I go to Amazon. I just go to things I've already ordered, and I order another two bags of those or whatever. You know what I mean? Like there were just certain things in my life that were that took me a while to sort of set up because I do hate shopping. And then I sort of found myself just like a few months ago, you know, generally feeling a lot of unease in life anyway in these United States. But then like like really focusing on like, I just don't know where to get my V-neck shirts. Like it's not a big deal. I can get some V-neck T-shirts like anywhere. But it's like I had to sit down and shop. And like think about that sentence. I had to sit down and look at my phone like that. That was it. But I just don't have the patience for it. And so when I actually found some new let's call them suppliers for some of my like kind of regular regular needs in life. It was such a relief to me. And now I know I can. OK, I don't have to go to Amazon. I can go back to this company or this company or I can't remember. I think it doesn't really matter. But like for these colored V-neck T-shirts that I like to wear, I know I can go right back to it's not the gap, but it's something like that. You know what I mean? And I know that they're tested and I can just hit reorder again. Like that's really important to me because I hate the hunting. Well, something that I have noticed with you when you're talking about and granted, a V-neck T-shirt is not the kind of purchase that a computer is. But I know something that you've expressed is that sometimes making purchases is stressful for you because you really don't want to buy the wrong thing. So it just feels – and again, that's probably different when you're talking about your new computer versus some Argyle socks. But just I think you're – I do think that's different. I think I get – I think that is a little bit of a different thing with me in technology because I do think computers – it's a much bigger investment. I don't think it's a money thing for me. It's just a patience thing when it comes to the smaller things in life. When it comes to the computers and stuff, it's like, well, it's so much money and I'm going to learn that it doesn't have this one small driver that I didn't realize was a change in a Dell computer and suddenly I can't create a mix minus with you or something. I think I get frozen on those things a little bit differently than I do with my Argyles. Well, the thing that I'll say about which you you didn't ask and nor did Genevieve. But my hope for you is that you guys continue to be the primary project for this construction company, because what's happened to me and this is I get a little nervous when I hear we're not on any timeline because I get nervous about them hearing that. because one thing that's happened to me is, you know, I've had folks doing work on various places I've lived and then there just keeps being, I don't think that this is what we're dealing with right now, but they're just, I'm not prophesying this for you. I'm prophesying against this, but like something that has sometimes happened to me is like, we'll get some two days of work and then suddenly it's like, we had to go do this other job or we're waiting for this part, which really means we were going to do this other job because someone else was paying a little more money and they were the rush was on them and then things can kind of like and again the stuff that I've mostly been having done is like actually it's pretty it's pretty massive and so it's like it not being done is a huge problem whereas you've already got this figured out if like you know it takes an extra two weeks it's not going to ruin your life for me it's like one side of the house is missing and if it doesn't go back up soon all the furniture gets rained on so it's not it isn't going to be as as critical for you but i'm just hoping that you and by the way the whole thing with contractors in my experience is it is just so luck of the draw i have had some of the best most awesome folks and most reliable folks that have just done amazing stuff less the case for me thankfully but there have been a couple times where it's been just like making me a little crazy and one of the things that made me crazy was the pace of work because i would never i i'd also be like getting up early, making sure I don't look like I just got out of bed at seven, even though I did. And because the guy is supposed to be there at seven and then they just like never show up that day. And you're like, hey, what happened? I was like, oh, we were on this other thing or, oh, no, we're not coming out till Friday now. Oh, OK. So anyway, again, I don't think you guys are in a pickle with this. You've already said that, but I'm hoping that I just heard the door. Apparently, I didn't even know this, but apparently someone's here today because I just see my anxiety for you brought them there. So you're welcome. Well, that is certainly that's not that's not where my anxiety lies right now, because if anything, they're they're very, very, very attentive. And they're like last night, Genevieve and I recorded a three hour episode of After These Messages yesterday, which, by the way, was a huge accomplishment. Last year's episode after the Super Bowl was four and a half hours long. So the fact that we shaved 90 minutes off our final product yesterday on time and under budget. Absolutely right. No cost overruns here. And I know that even Adrian Was texting us during the show saying hey I just need to swing by And check on this other thing So I feel like they're very very attentive He just swung by now Or somebody that I assume it's that Or Genevieve has taken a lover Let's hope it's door number one Yeah me too Although what a plot twist for TBTL If it's door number two Maybe he or she can help pay for the project I'm open to really anything at this point That is something else that Genevieve said to me and Roden I don't think she'd be embarrassed if I repeated this, but I said, oh, my gosh, that's so incredible. She goes, yeah, I'm really excited about it. She goes, this was probably the most expensive day in the history of me and Andrew's relationship. Oh, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Getting that electrical work put in. Well, here, I mean, I do think that we're sort of burying the lead a little bit here, because here's something I forgot to mention, which is that Michael, who maybe he's the fellow who's here right now. I really don't know. The door is closed, but I heard somebody come in. But we are turning him into a TBTL 10, one vinyl greatest hits record at a time. So I gave him the – he showed some interest in my background in radio and was asking me some questions. And I said, well, if you're interested, here is a TBTL's greatest hits record. And so he took that home. I have not heard – it was right around then that he started to feel not so well and started no-showing for jobs. The timing is interesting on that one, I'm going to be honest with you. We was hoping for some razzle-dazzle. Razzle-dazzle. That's right, man. Razzle, dazzle. On your mark. On your mark. Get set. Get set. Now ready. Ready. Go. Everybody razzle, dazzle. Well, what do you know? That music indicates that we have entered into dazzling donor territory, like the swallows returning to Capistrano, as I love to say. It's about that time of year, Andrew, where we are starting to thank a whole new batch of donors. These folks are donating a truly dazzling amount of dough, and we want to thank a couple of them and also read a message that they've submitted of one kind or another. By the way, if you have been donating a dazzling amount of dough and you have not received an email, there's another one that's going to be going out pretty soon that's just a little reminder that if you would like to submit a message and have us read it and have your name read on air, We would be happy to do that. Also, if you don't want to do that, no pressure. We're going to start off thanking Molly Simon, who's up there in Stanwood, Washington. Beautiful Stanwood, Washington. I heard it's going to be incredible tomorrow, by the way, in Seattle. I won't be there. I'm looking outside. You said it's not so nice in L.A., right? I'm looking outside. It is literally beautiful blue skies and sunny outside. I don't know what the temperature is out there right now. 46 degrees. It feels like 52. That's what the Internet's telling me. Yeah, it is incredible here. And so tomorrow's the big parade. And you've got Seahawks parade. Literally nothing but sunshine on the schedule all day today. And meanwhile, I'm down here in Los Angeles in the clouds. What in the? It's Junuary. Wait, what? Sure is. June Gloom. Luckily, I'm guessing if it's nice in Seattle, it's nice up in Stanwood where Molly is. Here's what Molly says. Oh, the steadfast joy TBTL brings to my daily life. Your consistency and reliability are a rare experience that I've come to depend on. Thank you for being here. For me, the tens, the people of the world, five days a week, peace and love, peace and love. This year, my donations are related to my business, Simon Forensic. We are a materials testing lab in Warm Beach, Washington, a beautiful rural community near Stanwood. That's right. Warm Beach. That used to be where some of the Christian camps that I went to were. Oh, I've never heard of Warm Beach before. That's new to me. if you are a let's see here we are a we are it seems we're perpetually looking for the next metallurgist chemist material scientist or machinist to join our small but mighty crew did you guys hear molly is hiring molly is hiring over there at simon forensic if you are a metallurgist if you're a chemist if you're a material scientist or a machinist you could join this small but mighty crew. If you're looking for a TBTL friendly work environment, you can find me on our website, simonforensic.com. As I work away here in Northwest Snowhoe, I'm going to go with Snohomish County, earbuds locked on my favorite pod cart. I look forward to many more years of daily companionship. Thank you, Luke, Andrew, John, and fellow tens. May your microphones never fail. Your cords be tidy and your stories abundant. Go Mariners. I love Molly has rewritten an old Irish blessing yes may the uh may Riverside always rise to meet your back Andrew right may may you be in Riverside a half hour before the devil knows you gave up on that's a really good point because I have been watching our little connection here today very carefully yesterday's show um this is so boring and technical but basically the recording stopped somewhere in the middle and I didn't note it so I didn't I wasn't able to tell you and then we had some other hassles associated with that so I'm trying to be a very good co-bro today and by the way it has not yet disconnected and I I'm not saying Molly Simon is is is uniquely responsible for that but she played a role I feel definitely and I would like to mention as well so I'm on the Simon forensic website right now I have not I am not a metallurgist as you know I have no background in this field. Are you a material scientist? Are you a chemist? I'm looking. Are you a machinist? No, I'm not. Are you a TBTL listener? I'm a TBTL listener. I like the idea of a TBTL friendly work environment because that's not what I'm dealing with right now. I am jealous of people who can apply for this job. I'm wondering, Molly, can I learn on the fly? I'm a quick learner. I definitely think chemistry is one of those things you don't need a lot of no a lot of um sort of schooling on i think that's one of those kind of learn on the jab yet it's definitely it's it's more of a just a vibe yeah and you just sort of feel your way through it i do like metal i was actually listening i was thinking about you luke i was listening to um master of puppets this weekend yes i don't know why i never i liked that record quite a bit when i was a young man and i had not gone back to it in a long time but some little voice in my head said hey andrew you should go back and listen to master of puppets i listened to it all the way through it's very it's very good if you're into heavy metal which molly certainly is and i am i mean too so i feel like i'm kind of read up on it and if you were to work well actually this you'd be the worst example of this but if there's another 10 who ends up working at simon forensic then maybe molly doesn't have to have the earbuds in the earbuds maybe we can if we all like tbtl then we could uh just you know they could put it out on a bluetooth speaker or some of some kind I said you'd be the worst, Andrew, because I don't think you'd want to get done with your shift on TBTL and then go up to Simon Forensic and then start listening to TBTL on the speaker. I think that would really embarrass you because I know that would really embarrass me. That is true. I don't think I told you this, but I had a dream. Sorry. I had a dream a couple of weeks ago that me and a bunch of friends were going to go to a cabin together. And our friend, I'll name him. I'll name him and blame him. In the dream was our friend Aaron Roden, who's often mentioned on this show. And Aaron called me aside in my dream and he said, hey, you know, there's only about like nine of us who are who are going to the cabin. And I thought he was going to say, so maybe you're comfortable like swimming with us or something. And I said, yeah. And he said, so I was thinking maybe we could listen to TBTL in the car ride out there. And I remember in my dream being like no no no no no no I said why don we just have a nice conversation instead What an incredibly conceited dream It really was This is the new me This is the new me No, it was really nice. Can I just say something? This is on Molly's dime, by the way. This is Simon Forensics is paying for this anecdote. Forensic. Forensic. Sorry. I also, by the way, that's my other thought. When I think Simon Forensic, I picture like a superhero, but like a detective character. Well, because you had Simon and Simon. That was a TV show. And then Forensic right there. It sounds like the other one. I'm Simon Forensic, and I'm here to help. Just think about that, Molly. You know, that dream I had about just like a bunch of friends spur of the moment saying, hey, let's go on a road trip together was very nice. And it was just a pleasant dream. You know how you and I sometimes talk about how, like, is every dream some sort of a tension dream? And actually, there was some tension in it because I think the plot was I didn't feel like I had packed my bags, but I didn't want everybody waiting on me. How Andrew is that? Like, literally, that dream was about, like, everybody's like, we're ready to go. And I'm still looking for my bags. And I'm really concerned that everybody's, like, tapping their toes waiting for me. But the point is I've been having terrible dreams lately, Luke. Last night, I had a bad dream. Or this is, like, two nights ago. I had a bad dream. I woke up from it and said, ha, glad that bad dream's over. And I went to bed and I had a dream that was 10 times worse, man. I am having bad dreams all the time. How's your mental health? I had a dream the other day that I was part of an influencer family. I was one of the children. I almost spit out my coffee. Go ahead. This was my dream Saturday night. Not the Seahawks. not going to rodent's cabin with with uh stress packing uh-huh it was i was by the way i was i am i was the age i am now the parents these influencer parents and their kids were younger than me okay interesting so i was somehow a like i again i was somehow part of this family that was like a kind of a a relatively young i'll say you know in their 30s husband and wife they had some kids that were maybe let's say like age nine through age four or three of them and their whole thing they were like an influencer family whose whole thing was personal family finance so their big thing was talking about how you can like pay down your credit card debt and you can save money but they kept saying they but they but they said but that doesn't mean we're not going to take our family trip to denali and all the kids were so excited to go on this family trip to denali and they kept this kept being their thing was like just because we're saving money and just because we're paying down our credit card debt, it doesn't mean that we're not going to Denali. And I had two thoughts. One was, do I get to go to Denali even though I'm 49 years old? I am a child in this family. I am a kid in this family. I'm just weirdly old. Oh, and by the way, Andrew, a different race. But I was like, do I get to go to Denali? And then later I thought, how great, how unracist am I that I didn't think it was Mount McKinley? Even in my dream. even in my dream i'm using the right terminology for things yeah if my dream was conceded yours is self-righteous mine was just act mine was just accurate okay i'm one of the great non-racists of our time oh my goodness gracious that's a that's a double anti-racist dream that's wonderful it's not enough to be anti-racist in your dreams you've got to be double anti-racist and i'm the doing it i we never i never got to the end of the dream i never got to the part where the family went to denali andrew i just just remember thinking like am i gonna get to go or not but did you ever get into the because for me it's always the trip right it's always like oh that we never even got on the trip never got in the car never on the plane nope nope unfortunately but um but yeah that was my that's my most recent dream uh hey molly thank you so much for your support and uh yeah i I mean, what a cool thing if you're looking for a job in those industries or with those qualifications that we read. Check out simonforensic.com. We know Molly's good people. So, you know, this should be a great fit. Maestro. On your mark. On your mark. Get set. Get set. Now ready. Ready. Go. Everybody rattle, sattle. Look at you, Andrew Walsh. You're in mid-season form. With the Maestro. Ready to go there. With the Maestro. Yeah, dude. That was amazing. I just remembered it at the last minute. I kind of scrambled. No, no, no. 15 seconds before you said it. I mean, but hey, that was elite. Well, the game's slowing down, Luke. Well, I would just expect, you know, we are pitchers and catchers reporting for Dazzling Donor Duty. It'd be all right if you, you know, want to play the long toss first. I don't expect you to be whizzing in smokers like that, but you were, man. Congratulations. Well, I just hope I didn't set too high of an expectation for the rest of the Dazzling Donor season. I'm already buying my World Series tickets based on how competent you've already seemed early in the season Hey, we want to thank Catherine Kachunis who is in Ann Arbor, Michigan We were talking extensively with absolutely no background information, Andrew about Michigan recently Oh, that's right, on the show I was like, I don't remember that Hopefully that wasn't on the air but of course it was Because I was talking about Art Prize in Grand Rapids and you were saying, what about Ann Arbor? and I said Ann Arbor's beautiful. That was what I had to offer to the conversation. Well, that is what I think of when I think of Ann Arbor. And that's what I was trying to remember. You were talking about areas that have specific art spaces and art events, which Ann Arbor fits that description. And you just always hear how unbelievably beautiful Ann Arbor is. And you also hear from people like Catherine how great Faygo is. And Catherine sent me, because I did not have access to Faygo for a while. I don't know if you recall this, but Catherine mailed me a package of, I believe, like four or five bottles of various flavored Faygo a while back. Luke, the shipping must have been triple the cost of the soda inside. Well, it's interesting, Andrew, because I've already read ahead a little bit and Faygo makes an appearance in Catherine's dazzling donor message. Catherine says, sending love and support to you tens and a sincere thank you to the business boys for bringing us together. May we find peace and strength with one another. Best wishes to you all. Cheers with a glass of Fego Rock and Rye. Oh, the Rock and Rye. Did you have a Rock and Rye, if you can remember, in that batch that Catherine sent you? I feel like I did because I feel like there was a conversation maybe about Rock and Rye that actually brought it to the forefront. But I'm looking at this now, and I was thinking that Rock and Rye is the one that's like a cream soda, right? The internet says it's often described as a mix of vanilla cream soda and cherry cola. Yes, yes, yes, that's right. That's right. Oh, my God. Oh, my goodness. You know what this is going to do? And I'm not even joking. You'll be surprised to hear that the SARS by my house has a large Faygo cooler. Really? A lot of different options. I'm actually surprised to hear that. Yeah, I haven't had any yet, but I might go over there today because now I'm thinking about this Rock and Rye. There was a restaurant in Bellingham called Rock and Rye. It might still be there. And I think they were called Rock and Rye because they were like, we have oysters and we have whiskey. Oh, it's like one of the rock. Okay. Yeah. So the oyster was the rock because it looks like a rock when the full shell is on. And the rye was a reference to the rye whiskey that they served. Rock and rye. Yes. That was one of our go-tos up there. Well, listen, Catherine, thank you so much. And thanks for supporting the show. And thank you for keeping Andrew well-stocked in Faygo. So I don't know how much Faygo they have down here in this part of Los Angeles, but I'll go on the hunt later today and see if I can. Actually, you know, I'm looking at a giant Mr. Pibb billboard. Really? Mr. Pibb has billboard money? They've got Hollywood billboard money. Let me just give you a quick. For your consideration, Mr. Pibb. Seriously, I'll tell you the, because I'm staying in Hollywood, and I'll tell you the billboards that I'm looking at. I'm looking at a Mr. Pibb. It says crack open some cherry chaos So obviously they've rolled out a Mr. Pibb cherry product Then of course one entire side of a building is skims Skims is the Kim Kardashian Like underwear Like lingerie? Not but it's I think it might be body shaping too So it's not just Victoria's Secret per se It's kind of like I think that it's stuff that you might wear under your regular clothes to kind of contour and shape your body more in some kind of way that you're wanting. But there's a big Skims ad, which kind of checks out. We're in Los Angeles. Then there is a billboard that I have to say has been very effective because it did make me Google it. I've been looking at it out my window. And then yesterday I had walked out to get a little bit of dinner. And as I was walking back on Sunset, I looked up this big billboard that said, says, what's the deal with Hit Boy? I kind of like marketing that makes you go figure it out Well, and Andrew, you'd actually I'll take a picture of it It's not going to be particularly helpful Because it's sort of, how do I put it? It's to the side I'm a little bit to the side of this billboard So I don't know how this photo is going to turn out But I'm going to try to take a picture Because what I really like is the layout You're a layout guy, you're a font guy Sorry, I'm using one hand to hold the microphone The other hand to try to steady my phone so I can take this picture and I'm going to send it to you right now. I thought you were burping. No, I do that usually in the email and V-mail segment. Okay, gotcha. But it actually worked. I gorgled Hit Boy to figure out what the deal is with Hit Boy. What's the deal with Hit Boy? I think Hit Boy is a hip-hop producer. That's what Wikipedia said. Well, you mentioned the Cherry Chaos, and it sounded good. And I feel like I don't know how to describe how I feel right now, but I Googled Mr. Pibb Cherry Chaos. And the first result is an Instagram hit that says, you up? Mr. Pibb knows you're looking for Cherry Chaos. And I was like, I am. Whoa. I am looking for Cherry Chaos. It's a little forward. That's the, yes. I was feeling a little taken aback by the forward nature of this. And then it's like a 15 second Instagram post. It looks like somebody just opening up their refrigerator door. Let's see here. Do we have any audio? Mr. Pibb is just getting started. When Mr. Pibb texts you up, it's not a question. It's a promise. Because trust. One sip, you up. Bull kick a chair. I know Mr. Pibb. Most sodas call it at a reasonable hour. That's when Mr. Pibb is just getting started. See, I kind of cut off the beginning of it. Don't leave your girlfriend alone with Mr. Pibb. This is a very forward. word to miss it but it also looks good well that's the thing i mean you throw some cherry yeah in about any cola product and i'm pretty much there you know that this is this is we need to just know you know what i'm not going to get into it i have a whole at some point we we should talk about the mug root beer labeling situation because essentially what happened to andrews was i crushed i would say 10 to 11 to 12 to 13 to 14 mug root beers that i thought were diet mug root beers there were zero sugar mug root beers and they weren't and i remember drinking them and thinking god this is good this was made into a hey dummies video that then didn't make it onto the newsletter feed well it is on the internet it just wasn't in the newsletter yet we'll get a link to it next time but yeah i was delighted by that part of the newsletter drank an entire like a whole whatever you call it like a giant rectangle you know like a rectangular 12 pack like a 12 pack and i was just like i every time i would take a sip i'd be like they have officially cracked the code on making this taste like the real stuff. And then it was only while I was making that video, legitimately making the Hey Dummies video, did I look at the thing and realize it is not the diet root beer I thought I was drinking. Is there any reason why I assume you bought it, right? Or did somebody bought it at your house? I bought it. I think I might've bought it when some of my family was coming. My parents are really anti any kind of diet or zero kind of sugar soda. So I think I might have bought it to have it around but it just got mixed up with everything else and again they were running that crazy deal where it's like buy buy what to get three 12 packs free or like so i'm just like to own the company exactly so i'm just like i'm like i'm just like pulling them off the shelf and it's like i just think it got in the fog of war it just got it got crazy and um and i just didn't realize and there's you know i've got like three different kinds well not three but two different kinds of root beers going on and got some in the Madrona Hill studio refrigerator, some down in the house. It's just like a lot happening and I just lost track of the thread. And the thing is, I think of a can of regular soda. I tend to think of it as being 100 calories. I don't know if that's true or not, but that's just kind of my. So I'll have a regular Coca-Cola now and then, but I'm just thinking, OK, that was 100 calories. That's what that was. Well, these were like 130 or maybe 160. I felt like they were not only were they not diet, they seemed like they were especially decadent as far as a can of soda goes. So what I'm worried about is you now because you've loved diet Dr. Pepper for a long time. I'm sorry, diet Dr. Pepper and diet root beer, which you're talking about now. I think for a long time you have said those are the they've cracked the code on those two flavors. The diet stuff is really good or the zero sugar stuff is really good. But now you've been you've been drinking the real stuff thinking it's diet. I'm worried about you going back and realizing how chemically those other things are. 100%. What this proves is they were chemically the whole time and I was just lying to myself. Because as soon as I had a sip of that sweet, sweet nectar of the real stuff, I was like, oh, my God, this is like the best diet soda I've ever had in my life. Why? Because it wasn't diet. Oh, my God. I'm going to get some Faygo and some Chaos Cherry. Cherry Chaos. What is it? Yeah. You up? Cherry Chaos, some Mr. Pibb Cherry Chaos. I need to try those. Absolutely. Hello and welcome to Top Story. Andrew, we didn't get into it yesterday because we're kind of running out of time. And once again, we find ourselves, we've got a little bit of time here to talk about this. But I know that you did, as you said, a very restrained episode of After These Messages. I'm assuming, is that show out? Can people find that? Yeah, we posted it last night. And in fact, I will even say since we're on a little bit of a timeline here, I will try as much as possible to not interrupt you and give you the floor, because if you want to hear my thoughts on the Super Bowl commercials, oh, they're out there. OK, I appreciate that. I don't know if it's the good news or the bad news is I don't have a huge like I don't I didn't do anywhere near the research that you did. I don't host a advertising podcast, so I don't have a particularly, I don't know, thought through take on all of the commercials. I did have well, one thing was I did find myself. It was actually Monday morning. I was rewatching the Super Bowl, which meant I got to see the commercials as well. That was I just let them. I normally would skip through the commercials, but I just let them happen. And I will tell you that I was a bit surprised at myself that I got emotional from the Lay's potato chips commercial. Like I didn't know that's where that was going. It's like, you know, it's a farmer is ready to turn his farm over to his daughter. And they're just having I mean, it's I almost was expecting it at some point to turn into some other kind of commercial because it was so sort of nostalgic and you could say a bit cheesy and a bit obvious. And I was like, OK, I know how this goes. These you know, this is what they do to make you think you're watching one kind of a commercial. And then all of a sudden, Mr. Pibb shows up and starts, you know, hitting on your dad or something. Mr. Pibb. But it didn't that it just it just ended up being for lays. But like the argument was these potatoes are grown by people who really love each other. Therefore, you should eat these potato chips. It caught me in my feelings a little bit, which again, it could be the state of the world. It could have been residual Seahawks joy in my heart, though. But I was surprised that commercial actually kind of worked for me. It is definitely designed to do that. They show the people choking up. They show the adult daughter choking up, which is like it's such a cheat. It's in a certain way. It's a cheat code. I'm not trying to be mean about it, but like the that one, like I watched it a couple of times, got choked up both times, but also was a little bit like. But I seen it so many times There something about the daddy daughter ads that like um it it it become kind of cliche and they were all over the place a few years ago maybe five years ago. I feel like Vives and I did a show on that and I'm not trying to take that away, but it's like sort of funny how like you are moved to feel the emotions they want you to feel, but the levers are also like so obvious. They're like very manipulative. And yeah, but I will tell you the one that got me a little bit more kind of in this I'm saying in this category because Genevieve and I give out Bowley Awards and we divide it up into different categories and this this was best drama category and the Lays one was a tearjerker I you know what hit me a little bit harder than I expected to the universal the minions one the the Universal Orlando one with the two brothers who were like I don't know that maybe one of them was four or five years younger than the other one and they have a very loving relationship but like the older brother is always calling the little brother little guy or little bro because he's shorter i don't think i saw that commercial ruffling his head kind of and it's interesting because it's not the the um the characters aren't like archetypes if that's the right word it's not like the older brother is a bully and the little brother can't ever get his way it's more like they show them just living their lives in in kind of a montage and they're very loving and the the older brother's always looking out for the younger brother but he's just always saying things like here let me help you a little bro or whatever but you see the little kid getting more and more kind of a little bit peeved but as at his older brother because he keeps saying like i'm not that little like don't stop talking down to me a little bit but it's like kind of a subtle thing and then they go to orlando uh resort or whatever universal studios whatever and they're having a great time there and it's still generally the same dynamic but then the older brother is just a little bit more nervous to go on the roller coaster than the Oh, that's a good, that's a clever idea. It's really, and so then they go on and, but it's, it's all joyful. None of it is like, oh, the older brother's mean and he gets his comeuppance. It's all like in the middle. It's like all very, very sweet. And I got to tell you, Luke, I think that was the thing with the Super Bowl this year. Did you notice there was not a lot of like the, the weird commercials, like the really outlandish Skittles commercial, the, the, the Skittle turns into a dog that turns into a duck that attacks a unicorn. Like there was hardly any of that this year. It's all this very sentimental, like neighborly stuff. It's like very much, I think, I think the advertisers are kind of like, we know that we are at war with each other in this country. And they were really leaning into these really sentimental storylines, I feel like. Yeah, I kept waiting for more of those. Just like you said, like what was it? Was it Paramount or who did the one? you know with it's not the most weird but the one that had um uh you know the the guy from star trek um captain picard oh i didn't see any picard ones no no but i mean the previous year i was just trying to think of an example oh yeah oh yeah yeah paramount they're up on the top of the mountain i'm sorry yes yes yes that kind of a thing yeah what that like um that sort of energy of just like we're gonna get weird and then we're gonna get weirder and then it's gonna be like that's why you're going to be talking about this commercial, they felt the ones that I saw, which was probably most of them, felt like there was a little bit more, generally speaking, a little bit more, I guess, sincerity woven in them. I will tell you the one that fully got me, and I'm sure even if you were home, this wouldn't have gotten you, Andrew, because this was like a litmus test or a Rorschach test on the kind of person you are. But it happened to be that I was at, of course, Becca's brother's house and I was there with her family and like her brother Scott owns a bar in Portland 21st Avenue pub that has like the best karaoke in Portland he loves karaoke his wife does we all sometimes we'll sing it at their house it was the Coinbase ad hands down best commercial oh you agree oh hands down that is how you advertise in the Super Bowl I can't it got me so because it was like yeah I'll just talking talking talking I mean you probably already analyzed this you know with Veeves and maybe in other places, but like we're just at the Super Bowl party. We're talking to all of a sudden the things playing. It's kind of low. And I'm like, oh, this is clever. They're making it look like a karaoke screen. And then, and then, you know, like 10, no, 15 seconds in one person in our party starts singing, realizing it's, what is it? Uh, every, it's a, like, um, it was a, uh, which song? Backstreet Boys. It's Backstreet Boys. I'm trying to play it. The reason I, but I forgot this link is broken, but yeah, Backstreet's Back So about 15 seconds in One person starts singing it And then everybody pretty soon There's like 15 people Loudly, me included Are loudly singing along with it And it's actually the karaoke track too Which I think is interesting It's not It starts with the countdown It's like 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Getting everybody ready And it's too quiet by the way Because it's the background track It's the actual karaoke track. Yeah, right. So it's like it's like you're kind of again. That's why it throws you a little bit because it's like, oh, did somebody mute the TV or why is this? It's like, well, no, because this is exactly what happened if you went to the Vibe sports bar. Do they have karaoke anymore? Yes. Yeah. If you were at the Vibe doing karaoke, this is what it would sound like to a T. And and and yeah, then pretty soon a couple people are singing and everybody sing. And then we're all just scream singing along because we're so excited. And then it just absolutely nails us with the word Coinbase. Yes. And no connection to the product or service. It just says Coinbase at the end. And again, this is not a statement about Coinbase. In fact, I was glad that there were so few crypto ads this year. There were so many a couple of years ago, which makes me feel good about the future of all this AI shit. Because this year it was all AI ads. And I'm like, well, how'd that crypto shit work out for you guys a couple of years ago? Maybe this will go away, too. But it just says Coinbase at the end. But as far as getting the most out of your dollars, not hiring Danny McBride to do some distu... That to me, that Danny McBride, Keegan-Michael Key thing, I generally like those guys. But that to me is the quintessential bad Super Bowl commercial. Tons of money, cliche idea, song from the 90s, get Bon Jovi. It just was like, it's so lazy and stupid. And this one is like, let's be smart about this. Let's just get the whole room singing with a simple karaoke thing. It's like it's such a good use of the space and of the dollars and to get the attention to actually break through. You got to do less, not more. Do you remember what the experience was like at the Eagles when that played? Yeah. We went. So these are the same thing. Same exact thing. We're all kind of like, wait, what is this? What is this? And then Vives is like, oh, wait, I know this song. And then as soon as the kind of, you know, the chorus kicks in, like Genevieve starts singing first, I think, and then Scott starts singing. And then by the end, by the time the chorus kicks in, everybody realizes what's happening. I mean, it's the Eagles. I mean, I was wondering how this hit in other parts of the world or other parts of the country. Maybe if you're at home, it hits differently. But like we are at Karaoke Central, you know, in a room full of people who come to the Eagles to do karaoke. now for 30 seconds everybody's just doing karaoke on the huge screen it was great very very effective now one thing um that is not specific to any of the commercials but that i had read somewhere that i thought was really an interesting take on super bowl commercials and commercials in general the guy was talking about how if it feels like super bowl commercials maybe aren't quote-unquote hitting like they used to or just commercials in general maybe it's because in his opinion commercials used to be the only really the only place for short-form video comedy because we didn't have vine and we didn't have tiktok and and you know hollywood movies are an hour long and tv shows are a half hour and even even snl yes seven minutes you know like there i feel like snl sketches the hit on them You had a good five minutes and then two more minutes, right? Yeah. Like there was no – the only place to look for 30 and 60-second video that would be funny or thought-provoking or whatever was pretty much commercials. And now there's a whole entire world on TikTok and YouTube. And this guy was saying, look, if you put the 10 best – the 10 funniest TikTok videos of any week up against the 10 commercials, it's not even close. like and it's like oh i hadn't thought about that but yeah you know they're now we have a whole other place that we can go to experience 30 and 60 and one minute and eight second because also not bounded exactly by the bounds of like television advertising you know time slots but like yeah there's a lot of places i can get short form content now that didn't used to exist well that is not what i've been hearing because i've heard that comedy is dead in the united States because you can't say anything anymore. You got to go down to Saudi Arabia to really have free speech and really be funny. Or to the Kid Rock halftime show. Or to the Kid Rock halftime show. Where the organizer said, I was reading the Times, the New York Times review of that today, and the Turning Points USA, like Guy, whoever it is now, said, we just want to have a Super Bowl halftime show that is free. It's for everyone and it's free of politics and it's about faith, flag, and freedom. I thought that was one of the most amazing statements I've ever read. Yes, one We just want to get politics out of it and just have a nice thing that's about faith, flag, and freedom that we can all just enjoy. That's non-political. Here I go once again with the email. Every week, I hope that it's from a female. No, man, it's not from a female. All right. Some emails or V-mails before I rush on over to— Oh, by the way, on Tomorrow Show, I want to tell you about this. This artist that I'm doing the story about, his name is Robert Therrien. Andrew, you would friggin' love this stuff. All right, I'm intrigued. He's all about scale, my boy. Oh, I do love scale. It's all about scale. I walked into the show at the Broad, and I was like, oh, man, I wish Andrew was here. You would be into it, I think. Oh, nice. Scale and shadows. Those are my love. He's got them both. He's got them both. He's got them both. Big shadows, small shadows. All right. I have a voicemail here that I want to play for you, and it's kind of self-contained, And what I love about this, this is from Eric in Stockholm, and I love the sound quality of this. You can hear Eric's feet, like, kind of crunching on leaves or something as he's walking, telling us this story. And I don't think it really needs much setup other than the fact that you and I, from time to time, the topic of Mary Lou Henner comes up on this show, the woman who had kind of like, I don't know what you call it, kind of total recall. She was able to, like, remember very specific dates and what happened in the world and around her life. She remembers or she was on Taxi, by the way, too, and was, you know, that's how it came up. An actor in a variety of things, including Taxi. But then as a side thing also has like perfect memory of every single day of her life. And they've sort of tested this, too, because a lot of people would say that certainly in an argument. I've been known to say it. I remember everything, but it's not true. But she is one of those people that it actually appears to be true. It's incredible her ability to recall specific afternoons from 30 years ago. Hi, this is Eric from Stockholm. I'm walking home from the grocery store and I was thinking about the story you told about Mary Lou Henner and her ability to pair sort of a historical date to a certain day of the week. and I have a friend who has that same kind of ability and it actually helped him solve a crime a couple of years ago. He was at the bar and he was sort of showing this ability off and people came up to him and gave him their birth date and he said which day of the week they were born. And later on that same evening at the same bar, one of the guests stabbed the bartender and it turns out that the stabber early in the evening he'd given his birthday to my friend and my friend remembered this detail when the cops showed up so by him remembering the date this guy was born they could identify the suspect and later on arrest him and the case closed thanks to this someone like ability uh yeah that's it power out love the show bye that is a great voicemail for a lot of reasons oh my gosh that's incredible eric will you start a weekly series where you just walk around the gravel roads of sweden and tell us stories with your flawless english but which has the most wonderful uh swedish accent i love it uh And also, what a story, too, right? Totally. Well, you know what? It's annoying to have this ability, though. Do you think after a while it would get old? Like, hey, do it. We're at the pub. Hey, do it. Do it. Do the thing again. And then all of a sudden, a line of strangers is coming up to you. No, I mean, I would. First of all, you know me. If I had some kind of a cool ability that I could break out at a bar, I would never tire of being the center of attention and being the cool guy. but also it would be absolutely terrible to be in a relationship with that person because you would and and it would be again it would be verifiable it wouldn't be one of those things where we just remember it differently it'd be like well no the person who remembers everything yeah remembered it also what i was hearing from eric's message was that um this definitely sounds like the makings for a show that my dad will have me watching at my house that he is yeah it sounds like it's a it's a it's a real natural uh follow-up to um Shetland because in Shetland they're always going up to Bergen now I know Bergen is Norway I know that's not Sweden but it just still feels energetically like I could see a Swedish show well here's what it will be it'll be produced by ITV or the BBC the characters will be in Sweden they will speak perfect British English for some weird reason and the star will be eric's friend who can remember everything and is solving mysteries because of it i'm trying to think of what is is it what is it called is it called stockholm syndrome no oh wow i don't know but it's not really about quite as the thing about those british shows is they're they're classy they go with things yeah you know what i mean they go with shetland they go with the father brown mysteries they go with the name of the pub maybe it's like yes there you ago, Broadchurch is another one. Like, that's what they, you know what I mean? They don't get all cutesy like we do over here in the States. God, I wish they would just make one more season of Broadchurch that doesn't involve a murder. Just give me, like, this is what I want. I want shows like Broadchurch that aren't grisly at all. It's just a bunch of people living their lives. There's no tension. You want the characters of Broadchurch dancing in a fountain. I don't want it to be that corny. I just want it to be nice. I want them to have conversations over coffee. I want them to go on long walks, and I want those swooping shots of the bluffs. This sounds, Andrew, like an editing project for you. And by that, I mean... Everything related to murder. Yeah, exactly. Like Broadchurch, but not as sad. And then you just recut it with a slightly different soundtrack and use some of those shots. After you get done digitizing all the VHS tapes in the world, you can move on to that. All right. Sounds good. Put it on my list. Eric, I'm being serious. That was like a mental vacation for me. That was great. Getting to hear you in Stockholm talking to us. So I really hope that you will call us back with anything on your mind. You've heard the show. It doesn't have to be interesting. Okay. All right. Well, that's going to do it for today's episode. But I've got some great news. We're going to be right back here tomorrow with more imaginary radio for all of you. So please, if you can, join us for that from wherever you might be. In the meantime, have a great Tuesday, everybody. Stay safe. Take care of yourselves. And please remember, no mountain too tall. And good luck to all. Power out.