10-09-25 - Entertainment Drill - THU - w/Dale Hellestrae - Dale Has An Update On Dolly Parton

Summary

Podcast Summary: Holmberg's Morning Sickness – Entertainment Drill THU w/ Dale Hellestrae

Episode Date: October 9, 2025
Main Theme:
A snappy morning show episode centering on celebrity culture, tipping stories, and a humorous yet heartfelt update on Dolly Parton's health—all delivered in the naturally teasing, irreverent banter of John Holmberg, Dale Hellestrae, and their crew.

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Episode Overview

This edition of the Entertainment Drill brings together John Holmberg, Dale Hellestrae, Chris, and others for a classic roundtable of laughs and celebrity tales. The episode’s highlights include an insider discussion about celebrities and tipping etiquette, ribbing between Dale and John about their personal lives and golf games, and a recurring update on Dolly Parton’s well-being, spun with hallmark sarcasm and affection.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Host Banter & Golf Course Comedy [00:41–03:20]

• John and Dale kick off with their usual friendly antagonism, recalling playful banter during golf—often at Dale's expense.
• Memorable moment: John jokes about Dale’s son-in-law, Scott, having seen Dale’s daughter naked more than Dale has, using this irreverent material to psych Dale out during his golf shots.
  • Quote: “Hey Dale, do you ever think of the fact that Scott...he's your daughter naked more than you do?” – John [02:44]
  • Dale’s Response: “That is a little bit far. Too far. Funny, but it is far.” [03:03]

2. Celebrity Tipping Stories [04:23–07:28]

• Buzzfeed’s annual celebrity tipping survey is discussed, prompting stories about generous and stingy stars.
  • Elvis Presley: Was famous for massive tips, leaving a $5,000 gratuity, which John converts to “like $25,000” by today’s standards [05:00].
  • Bruce Willis: Known for tipping $100 per drink—“friendly, low maintenance.” [05:16]
  • Jennifer Lopez: Reportedly rude and never tips a penny according to multiple servers [05:38].
  • Scotty Pippen: Nicknamed “No Tippin' Pippin” for his notorious stinginess [06:52].
  • Charles Barkley: Appreciated for his generous tipping, sometimes compensating even for accidentally destructive nights.
    • Quote: “Barclay used to hand money out like crazy...even that night he left a nice tip.” – John [07:04]

3. Dolly Parton Health Update [07:28–11:27]

• Dale shares an update to dispel rumors swirling about Dolly Parton’s alleged serious illness.
  • Dolly, 79, appeared in a video looking healthy, assuring fans she’s “not dying” regardless of what her sister Frida has implied.
  • John and Dale riff on the colorful ‘hill people’ culture in which Dolly was raised, playfully exaggerating their “wizard and home remedy” solutions.
    • Quote: “She's down in the holler. We've rubbed all sorts of lizard guts all over and now we need help from wizards.” – John [08:06]
  • John proposes Dolly’s famous assets, specifically her breast implants, belong in the Smithsonian after she passes, as a symbol of Americana.
    • Quote: “Do you agree with me that her breast implants when she dies needs to be in the Smithsonian? She's part of Americana. That's what she leads with.” – John [09:18]
    • Dale agrees: “Well, they are what she's known for...she's used them to her advantage.” [09:30]
  • The discussion closes with a salute to “old, old country” music’s hard-living history compared to today’s pop-country.
    • Quote: “I like George Jones that he may finish the song or shoot a band member. That was when country was fun. That was when country was rock and roll.” – John [09:48]

4. Reflections on Family, Faith, and Mortality [11:27–11:43]

• The hosts riff further on the “prayer request” culture, with a tongue-in-cheek view on calls for heavenly intervention.
  • Dale and John admit they probably wouldn’t be the first to request prayers for each other.
  • Quote: “You wouldn't pray for me, Dale?” “No.” “The sky wizard wouldn't help me.” “No.” – [11:35–11:40]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “It was awesome. So every time Dale had an important shot, I'd be like, Scott, let me smell your fingers.” – John [03:03]
• “Bruce Willis was another good one. So he tipped me 100 bucks for every drink I served him.” – Chris [05:14]
• “That was the place. I think [Barkley] ended up throwing somebody through a window. But even that night, he left a nice tip.” – John [07:12]
• “Dolly post a video from the set of an upcoming Granole Opry commercial...I want to put everybody's mind at ease. John, you can sleep well tonight. And I appreciate your prayers because I'm a person of faith.” – Dale impersonating Dolly/relating the update [08:34]
• “Do you agree with me that her breast implants when she dies, needs to be in the Smithsonian?” – John [09:18]
• “That's when country was fun. That was when country was rock and roll.” – John [09:48]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Friendly Banter/Golf Jokes: 00:41–03:20
• Celebrity Tipping Stories: 04:23–07:28
• Dolly Parton Health/Smithsonian Discussion: 07:28–11:27
• Family, Faith, and Prayer Sarcasm: 11:27–11:43

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Tone & Conclusion

The show’s trademark is its raw, irreverent, but affectionate camaraderie. Jokes push boundaries but maintain light-heartedness, particularly in their doling out of celebrity gossip, mockery of superstition, and the back-and-forth about family. Listeners get genuine entertainment news—filtered through sarcasm and local flavor—with returning reminders why the hosts and their rapport continue to make “Morning Sickness” Arizona’s favorite morning show.

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For fans and newcomers alike, this episode offers a blend of nostalgic celebrity lore, ribald humor, and a little slice of American cultural absurdity: all in less than 15 minutes.

Transcript

[John]

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[Dale]

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[John]

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[John]

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You've been deceived by an agent of Satan himself.

[John]

He's evil. Sitting right here.

[Dale]

Come on. No, no, he's not.

[John]

He's not evil. He's just a bit rude. Hey, Dale, have you seen me on those Doug Hopkins commercials on Sundays during a Cardinal game?

[Dale]

I haven't. I. You know, I love Doug Hopkins, but everybody does. I mean, his commercials, he needs to hire. So, like Nash.

[John]

If you say anything about Nash, like.

[Dale]

He needs to hire somebody for some eye candy like me.

[John]

Yeah, he did.

[Dale]

He did.

[John]

No, I'm in the commercials with him.

[Dale]

Dale, I heard you talk earlier. John, the reason you didn't procreate is you did not want to give that mug to a girl.

[John]

And it's a man's mug. And in standing next to Doug Hopkins. Pretty awesome stuff.

[Dale]

Yeah.

[John]

I'd have had kids with him. Would have been his fault.

[Dale]

The kid was ugly. Oh, my God. Could you imagine that?

[John]

The Hopkins Hornburg baby.

[Dale]

Yeah.

[John]

If it was ugly, it would have been Doug's fault. Imagine how horrible it has to be. Anyway. Yeah, you keep an eye on it. Every Sunday during on Fox football games, there's me and Doug.

[Dale]

Do you say anything or.

[John]

Oh, yeah, no. I do most of the work, just like everybody.

[Dale]

Oh, boy. You spent the entire commercial break talking about how you do everything.

[John]

It's so true. Thank you for. Thank you for acknowledging. Thank you for validating it.

[Dale]

No, no.

[John]

Thanks for validating.

[Dale]

Jonathan Gannon.

[John]

It's time for the entertainment drill. People think we hate each other. Dale and I do this all day. Golf course, everything as we're riding in the cart, and it is just a laugh riot. Oh, we're at each other's throats in the most fun way. Somebody said that we were golfing, like, these two are horrible to each other, and we're just laughing like. Yep.

[Dale]

Well, I. I mean. And John will always tiptoe over the line a little bit. You know, I try and keep it. I try and keep family out of man.

[Chris]

I don't believe that.

[Dale]

And all that. And I'm standing in the tea shop for a important shot. And this after he hit two in the bushes when he saw the car. Girl, you're hitting the ball great. And got distracted. And I'm up on the tee box golf with my son in law and Johnny looks up and again tiptoes over the line. He said, hey, Dale, do you ever think of the fact that Scott. He's your daughter naked more than you do?

[John]

He's nailing your daughter.

[Dale]

Come on, Bert, you're not laughing at that, are you?

[John]

It's pretty great. It was awesome. So every time Dale had an important shot, I'd be like, scott, let me smell your fingers.

[Dale]

That is a little bit far. Too far. Funny, but it is far.

[John]

Scott was like, oh, dude, this middle.

[Dale]

One.

[John]

Look, he's not. He's.

[Dale]

He's.

[John]

You're getting somebody's melon.

[Dale]

Yeah.

[John]

You just don't lay hands on him.

[Dale]

Don't touch. That's right.

[John]

Not like Scott does.

[Dale]

So you're telling me if G walked up to debaro and said, hey, smell my finger.

[John]

Hilarious.

[Dale]

It's okay.

[John]

Yeah, yeah. And we would have said it to him. He's like, smell my fingers because it smells like what you are. That would have been totally appropriate. I'm just saying it's not worth the risk of laying your hands on a player. You're going to get in trouble. It's time for the entertainment drill. It's brought to bear [e-mail] the home of tactical black self defense training. Train yourself to just be better at being you beautiful things. And you get out there and you stop being a victim. You don't realize how often you're victimizing yourself. And you walk around staring at your phone, you put earbuds in. You're automatically disconnected from society. Women, especially with all the good weather going on, are going to start wandering around on trails and biking things and doing whatever. And if you're not paying attention, bad guys notice that way before you realize what you're doing, they. They teach it right out of [e-mail] plus, you're going to get in great shape while you're learning about how good you can actually be. Check it all [e-mail] it's the home of tactical black Brady entertainment.

[Chris]

I think Buzzfeed does this every year. They ask readers about their experience waiting on celebrities and how much they get tipped or got tipped.

[John]

Okay.

[Chris]

The good ones. One person talked about Elvis Presley.

[John]

Been a minute.

[Chris]

I know that's right. But he goes, he came to my place, had a meal, he had a few beers, left me a $5,000 tip.

[John]

Chris, how old is this waiter and.

[Chris]

Other officers they talked to at the time says oh we noticed Elvis did that all the time.

[John]

He's is 50 years ago. So if the waiter was 20, we're talking about 70 year old man who's still waiting tables life.

[Chris]

He was talking about his experience with Elvis.

[John]

He wasted that five grand. That Elvis gave his five grand back in the 70s is like $25,000.

[Chris]

Yeah, it was a lot and he was doing it more often. Bruce Willis was another good one. So he tipped me 100 bucks for every drink I served him.

[John]

That's pretty good.

[Chris]

Friendly, low maintenance.

[John]

What's the most Joe Rogan have you ever tipped anyone? Dale? I've never seen it so well you.

[Dale]

Did the rah rah hitching your giddy up and oh, you already paid for a deal. Oh because I already paid for three.

[John]

Of your meals there.

[Dale]

Yeah, the $92, the shrimp scampi that you. This is rubbery.

[John]

Oh Christ.

[Chris]

He's complaining on the other side of it the Jennifer Lopez can't tip. She's eating at my restaurant. And all the servers who waited on her all say the same thing. She's rude, entitled and doesn't even tip a Penny Brady.

[John]

Who is the most celebrity type person that came to Porkopolis? You had that Steve Kyle Poppin every once in a while but he was too drunk.

[Chris]

He was a good tipper.

[John]

Was he? I bet he was. I haven't heard.

[Chris]

I didn't hear any.

[John]

Count by the time how much is in my wallet. Here, just take the whole goddamn thing. Who's another celebrity that came in?

[Chris]

I haven't heard any that that didn't were bad tipping.

[John]

Yeah but who are they?

[Chris]

There are some. I there was a couple of cardinals that came in.

[John]

Cardinal players didn't know who they were.

[Chris]

No.

[John]

And most of the time Cardinal players.

[Chris]

I would say Michael Irvin. Oh yeah but he, but we I.

[John]

That was catered. Yeah, yeah but did he tip and he. That was the church that signed a shirt. Yeah, the church paid for that.

[Chris]

It was good. That was a good tip.

[John]

I bet they've got a ton of.

[Chris]

Money and they all they gave it to Pork.

[John]

They're charging admission for special guests. Those guys were rolling and dough the.

[Chris]

Last Scottie Pippen didn't leave a tip and in fact the restaurant had A nickname for him. No, Tippin. Pippin.

[John]

Okay.

[Dale]

I heard Michael Jordan was a little cheap.

[John]

He was cheap. Yeah.

[Dale]

And I heard Charles Barkley was very generous.

[John]

Barclay used to hand money out like crazy. There was a place called Dutch John's that used to have. You remember Dutch John's? It was great. Way out there, but evidently he. That was the place. I think he ended up throwing somebody through a window. But even that night he left a nice tip.

[Dale]

Yeah. Here's a little extra point.

[John]

That's gotta go. Clean up. Clean up all that glass. Here's a couple thousand dollars. Sorry about all that.

[Chris]

That guy was an. Dale's got a Dolly Parton update.

[Dale]

Oh, you're talking good about Dolly.

[John]

I love Dolly. Yeah, Dolly's amazing. Yeah, Yeah. I understand she sings.

[Dale]

She sings beautifully.

[John]

I've heard. I've heard that she has songs, good lungs. Yeah, she's got great. And all I said was her breasts when she dies, should be in the Smithsonian, okay? Because I know that people who live in things called hollers, the second one of their family members asks for prayers, they're done. And her sister was rooting for her to die. So it turns out Dolly had to do a video to go.

[Dale]

Rooting for her to die.

[John]

Clearly she ran to TMZ going, we.

[Unknown Female Speaker]

Got to pray for Dolly.

[John]

Got to play. She's down in the holler. We've rubbed all sorts of lizard guts all over and now we need help from wizards. That's basically what she said. That's kind of true, dude. They're hill people. Miner's daughter.

[Dale]

Holler.

[John]

No, that was Loretta Lynn. Know your people.

[Dale]

79 year old Dolly Parton wants to assure fans that she's not dying after her sister Frieda. I mean, come on.

[John]

Frida, partner. Frida Parton hates Dolly, by the way. There's no way she doesn't.

[Dale]

Dolly post a video from the set of an upcoming Granole Opry commercial. So she's still making commercials? I know lately everybody thinks I'm sicker than I am. Do I look sick to you? Johnny, look at me. Look at me.

[John]

I don't know. I don't know. You've got so much makeup and stuff on, I'm not sure what's under 79.

[Unknown Female Speaker]

That's right, Dan. We're going to make this work out for both of us. I feel just fine. I don't need the Wizard's help at all.

[Dale]

I'm working hard here. Anyway, I want to put everybody's mind at ease. John, you can sleep well tonight. And I appreciate your prayers because I'm a person of faith.

[John]

Color. Oh, I'm sorry. Misunderstood. That ain't gonna go over well in the holiday said. She's a person of color. She ain't arrived back in the holler.

[Unknown Female Speaker]

I'm making this holler here, folks.

[John]

Do you. Do you agree with me that her breast implants when she dies, needs to be in the Smithsonian? She's part of Americana. That's what she leads with. I think it would be, you know, Mr. Rogers sweater, Archie Bunker's chair.

[Dale]

Well, they are what she's known for.

[John]

And she has not hidden from that.

[Dale]

No, no. She's used them to her advantage.

[John]

Absolutely. And she's talented on top of it, which is a nice combo.

[Dale]

Look at that.

[John]

I think Dolly's great. I like old, old country. Back when they were swilling booze hound hillbillies.

[Dale]

Okay.

[John]

Awesome. This crap today.

[Dale]

Yeah.

[John]

This pop nonsense silliness. Horrible. I like George Jones that he may finish the song or shoot a band member. That was when country was fun. That was when country was rock and roll.

[Dale]

Finish the song or fall down.

[John]

No, he's. Or his liver's gonna jump out of his body in front of us.

[Dale]

Yeah.

[Chris]

That was great ride for her at Dolly. Dollywood.

[John]

Yeah.

[Chris]

Like some kind of like motorbike motor.

[John]

The motorboat where you just. Yeah. You splash into the middle of it, come out all sweaty. I got in between there and mashing about that. Don't sink down to their level. Yeah.

[Dale]

That's unbecoming.

[John]

Don't work blue.

[Unknown Female Speaker]

My kidneys are just fine. So you can stop asking the wizard to save me.

[John]

Yeah. When hill people ask for that, they've rubbed all the leaves and poison ivy all over their body. They've gotten like blood from a snake. And they, you know, they do all their little home remedies down in the hollow. When they're still coughing, boy, that's when they start.

[Dale]

Does anybody say what it was?

[John]

Kidney stones.

[Dale]

Oh, kidneys.

[John]

Something fierce though treatment.

[Dale]

You know what kidney stones are?

[John]

Yeah. But she was evidently had an infection. It didn't look good. She's like 70 something.

[Dale]

Well, just have it taken out.

[Chris]

If she had what I. You know, if they had to go in there and pull them out.

[John]

Yeah.

[Chris]

It makes it a little tough, right?

[John]

At her age, that's tough for anybody, really. Yeah. That's why she was asking for Skywizard to save her. But then her. That was her sister who. Fingers crossed.

[Unknown Female Speaker]

Dolly's gonna die. We better help out.

[John]

And you know, the second Dolly dies Frida's gonna be the Dolly Parton Experience with Frida Parton. And she's going to stuff her blast and go, that I'm close thing.

[Unknown Female Speaker]

You got to her now.

[Chris]

She'll do it. She'll record it.

[Unknown Female Speaker]

My sister's dead because the wizard didn't help her out.

[John]

It's true. Anyway, if you ever hear anybody saying, john's not good, ask for prayers, you know, I'm done.

[Dale]

Oh, yeah?

[John]

You wouldn't pray for me, Dale?

[Dale]

No.

[John]

The sky wizard wouldn't help me.

[Dale]

No.

[John]

I'm with you on that one. I think you'd be like, yeah, right there. You get a note back. What are you doing? God, no. Anyway, that's it for us. We're all done. Thanks, Dale. Great job.

[Dale]

Always good to see you, Johnny.

[John]

Always good to see you, Dale.

[Dale]

Hell, talking to you on our podcast.

[John]

We got another hour of this crap.

[Chris]

Someone's gonna get hit.

[John]

Yeah, well, because somebody's gonna be a baby and lose control, and they don't know how to be a functional adult. That's right. It is. It's 10:12. Larry's coming up.

[Chris]

Or.

[John]

No, no, not Shannon. Shannon's in for Larry. Larry's on his adventure. So that's it for us. We'll see you guys tomorrow right here in the morning sickness. Hello.

[Dale]

It's not weird.

[Chris]

It's pretty cool, actually. No membership fee.

[John]

I have heard enough of this.