#4339 Charlatan Chew

Summary

Podcast Summary: TBTL Episode #4339 - "Charlatan Chew"

Release Date: November 18, 2024

Hosts: Luke Burbank and Andrew Walsh

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1. Introduction to the Episode

The episode kicks off with Andrew Walsh discussing a new project titled "New Medusas." He humorously outlines the premise: a show about three women running a Soho salon with snake hair that turns men into stone. The conversation showcases the hosts' playful chemistry as they delve into the creative process and the potential Sally Reid could bring to the project.

Notable Quote:

• Andrew Walsh [00:01]: "So this new project we have, it's called the New Medusas, and we think it could really use the Sally Reid touch."

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2. Horoscopes and Personal Reflections

Luke introduces the topic of horoscopes, leading to a lighthearted exchange about their respective zodiac signs. Andrew shares his Sagittarian traits while Luke expresses skepticism about astrology. They discuss the relevance of daily horoscopes, dabbling into humorous takes on predictions related to love, career, and finances.

Notable Quotes:

• Luke Burbank [07:20]: "That's a pretty good year to be born in."
• Andrew Walsh [09:05]: "Let me give you your money horoscope today."

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3. Navigating Blue Sky Social Media

The hosts share their experiences with the emerging social media platform, Blue Sky. Luke talks about transitioning from Twitter to Blue Sky, emphasizing the ease of posting and deleting content. Andrew reflects on the platform's growth and the influx of new content, expressing both excitement and nostalgia for the earlier, more intimate interactions.

Notable Quote:

• Luke Burbank [02:58]: "I spent the weekend over on a Blue sky and welcome to the Internet. I'm loving it, Jerry, I really am."

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4. Sports Banter: Seahawks and Vikings

A significant portion of the episode revolves around their love for football, specifically the Seahawks and Vikings. Luke recounts a memorable game where he bet on Geno Smith scoring a rushing touchdown, leading to a thrilling finish. Andrew shares his experience volunteering during the game, witnessing the joy of Seahawks fans celebrating a last-minute victory.

Notable Quotes:

• Luke Burbank [15:02]: "Seahawks win. Ken Walker scores a touchdown. And then this was the part that pushed it into plus 1100 territory."
• Andrew Walsh [16:04]: "They were screaming from the parking lot. Those are screams of happiness."

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5. Interlude: Interaction with Stu Bot

In a humorous twist, the hosts mistakenly believe they are conversing with Norm Charlton, an ex-Mariners pitcher, leading them to call in Stu Bot to clarify the confusion. This segment showcases their playful dynamic and adds an unexpected layer to the episode.

Notable Quotes:

• Andrew Walsh [69:04]: "Hey, Stu, how you doing, buddy? You're on TBTL."
• Stu Bot [71:08]: "Hello, this is Stu."

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6. Merchandise Updates

Luke and Andrew announce the rejuvenation of their TBTL merchandise store. They highlight new additions like the "ish" water bottle, inspired by Luke's personal journey, and discuss the limited profit approach to ensure the store remains a fun option for listeners. They emphasize that purchases support the show without being a primary revenue source.

Notable Quotes:

• Andrew Walsh [48:58]: "We've added some new merch to the merch store."
• Luke Burbank [51:24]: "We're not getting rich off of this. In fact, we are barely making any money."

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7. Snack Foods and Nostalgia

The conversation shifts to favorite snack foods, reminiscing about childhood treats like Oreo-style pies and Gardettos. They discuss the emotional connections to these snacks and how advertising impacts their perceptions. The hosts share personal anecdotes, blending humor with genuine reflections on changing tastes and memories.

Notable Quotes:

• Andrew Walsh [35:21]: "I've talked about these cows at length on the show, but I'm obsessed with a particular herd."
• Luke Burbank [61:03]: "You probably have grown my mouth bigger."

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8. Reflections on Social Media and Personal Well-being

Towards the episode's end, Luke and Andrew delve into deeper topics like the impact of social media on mental health and the importance of maintaining personal well-being amidst external stresses. They share personal strategies for coping with anxiety and emphasize the significance of gratitude and personal blessings.

Notable Quotes:

• Andrew Walsh [97:04]: "Like, I just have this feeling that, like, when I'm done with it, I'm not going to be like, that was worth it."
• Luke Burbank [105:42]: "I have a weirdly unproblematic relationship with specifically sports betting."

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9. Conclusion and Final Thoughts

The episode wraps up with the hosts expressing gratitude towards their listeners and donors. They reinforce the message of staying positive and maintaining connections with friends and the community. The playful banter continues until the very end, leaving listeners with a sense of camaraderie and anticipation for future episodes.

Notable Quotes:

• Luke Burbank [110:12]: "We have to remember to take care of ourselves while supporting those who need us."
• Andrew Walsh [110:25]: "But that was fun, by the way. It was."

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Key Takeaways:

• Creative Projects: Introduction of "New Medusas" highlights the hosts' ongoing creative endeavors.
• Personal Connections: Emphasis on friendships, both real and online, underscores the community aspect of TBTL.
• Humor and Relatability: The playful exchanges and shared anecdotes make the podcast engaging and relatable.
• Mental Health Awareness: Discussions about dreams and coping mechanisms reflect the hosts' commitment to addressing deeper topics.
• Support for Listeners: Promotion of the merchandise store and acknowledgment of donors showcases appreciation for their audience's support.

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This episode of TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live offers a blend of humor, personal reflections, and engaging discussions on a variety of topics, from horoscopes and social media to sports and mental well-being. Luke and Andrew's dynamic ensures that both regular listeners and newcomers find value and entertainment in their conversations.

Transcript

[Andrew Walsh]

So what is this new project you guys have for Sally? Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. So this new project we have, it's called the New Medusas, and we think it could really use the Sally Reid touch. So it's a show about three women who run a salon in Soho who are just trying to get by, and they have snakes for hair, and they turn dudes into stone. Okay, so right now, the show, it's a little. I don't know. Mm. And I think that you, Sally Reid, could bring to it more of a. Mm. I don't know what you mean. So right now, the show, it's more. Yeah. And you could bring it to more of a. Yeah, I think I know what you're saying. I have a client right now that's bringing. Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

To a Fox show that before was just.

[Andrew Walsh]

So we're looking for less and more. That actually wasn't in the email. Tbtl.

[Luke Burbank]

Dear tbtl, you're so amazing, and I know you're gonna do better.

[Andrew Walsh]

Luckily for me, I've processed all my feelings, and I've gone through the five stages of grief. Denial, anger, Internet commenting, cat adoption, African dance, cat returning to the adoption place, watching all the episodes of Murphy Brown and not giving a flying fart. Whoa, Watch out. Says that bird.

[Luke Burbank]

Ew.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's got a snake. Oh, it's chasing a jackal. Oh, my gosh.

[Luke Burbank]

That's the voice of the youth of America.

[Andrew Walsh]

Have a good show, dummies. What you do is so important.

[Luke Burbank]

All right, hello, good morning, and welcome, everyone, to a Monday edition of tbtl, the show It Just Might Be Too Beautiful to Live.

[Andrew Walsh]

And boom goes the dynamite.

[Luke Burbank]

My name is Luke Burbank. I am your host. You want showmanship? You got it. Coming to you from the Madrona Hill studio, perched high above the mighty Columbia, where it is. Didn't know you like to get damp, though. It's not actively raining, but it's not actively nice out either. It's actively November 18th is what I think we're dealing with. Which brings us. Let me check the calendar. 2, 1, 2, 3, 4 days until I'm done with this 75 hard, ish, ish thing that I've been doing. Which emphasis on the ish. Boy, time flies when you're contemplating the existential threat to America. Day in and day out, moment by moment, start to forget that you're drinking a gallon of water a day, trying to shake a leg more than you used to. Anyway, this, speaking of numerology, is episode 4000, 339. In a collector series.

[Andrew Walsh]

Let the fun begin.

[Luke Burbank]

I spent the weekend over on a Blue sky and welcome to the Internet. I'm loving it, Jerry, I really am. And I know that Blue sky has actually sort of filled the Twitter shaped hole in my heart because I'm back to. And posting poorly thought out dumb posts and then deleting them, which is my whole. That was my whole move on Twitter. Tweeting and deleting since 2013 or whatever. Well, now I'm skeeting and deleting over there on Blue Sky. We can talk about that. Speaking of Internet things, the tbtl.net website has some interesting and exciting Internet related news. The new phone books here.

[Stu Bot]

The new phone book's here.

[Luke Burbank]

Which we can get into and we can talk to this guy. Longest running cobra of the show. Maybe best known for his depictions of the tall ships. We recently did one of those kind of like personality tests to try to figure out how to play to our strengths as a business. Andrew and TBTL employee numero uno John Sklaroff. And this was the exact actual designation that Andrew got. A good boy eager to please his humans. A jokester. He is Andrew Walsh, and he's joining me right now. Good morning, my friend.

[Andrew Walsh]

You know, Luke, listening to that intro montage of Drops, I had a thought. Good morning. By the way, we play drops from TikTok. New stuff that you send me, but we play old stuff. We play stuff from Columbo every now and then. A Murder She Wrote drop will sneak it.

[Luke Burbank]

We pray to the old and new Drop.

[Andrew Walsh]

I mean, there's a WKRP in Cincinnati intro floating around featuring Lonnie Anderson. I don't think that. Actually it does feature Lonnie Anderson. Yes, we're talking before the show about how Lonnie Anderson remains. I believe my Uncle Frank's number one go to sort of attractive lady reference.

[Luke Burbank]

Honestly, I find that really charming. I'm glad he's not updating.

[Andrew Walsh]

I gotta say, I haven't. We haven't had a con. I would say the last time I.

[Luke Burbank]

Heard him, like, Addison Ray. I just remember, like, calm it down, sir.

[Andrew Walsh]

Being like a teenager in the 90s and him being like, oh, is she a real London Lonnie Anderson type? And I would say, go back to bed, Uncle Frank. No, I. But I was just thinking as I was listening to that intro that there's a honey badger drop that made its way into that montage I just heard, and somehow that feels more Honey Badger.

[Luke Burbank]

The original tape that spurred it. Honey badger don't care Honey Badger don't give a shit. 1. Or was it a reference to the football player who got the nickname the Honey Badger after the.

[Andrew Walsh]

After the virus? No, no. We just heard. And I don't have the isolated tape here, but at some point I had that isolated honey. Honey Badger don't care. And we heard a little bit of that in the time that was. That's what I mean. Like, I enjoyed hearing it. But my point, if I have one, is that somehow Honey Badger, maybe because things speed up so quickly in the Internet age or whatever list, somehow the Honey Badger seemed more dated than even possibly a WKRP in Cincinnati drop. Like there was something about Honey Badger that's like. God. Remember the. Remember the Honey Badger year?

[Luke Burbank]

The year of the Honey Badger. We're coming out of the year of the Monkey, right? Are we entering the year of the Honey Badger?

[Andrew Walsh]

Ooh, maybe. I am.

[Luke Burbank]

By the way, see him on the Chinese zodiac.

[Andrew Walsh]

What is your Chinese zodiac? How have we never talked about this?

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, I could. I could. I can barely tell you what my, you know, astrological sign is. I am the absolute worst at knowing those kinds of things. I did used to have a joke that I stole from almost live that I thought was the. One of the funniest things I'd ever seen at the time. But it. It's both a very old joke and also refers to a sort of financial technology that we don't use anymore. But it's like, it's been the Year of the Rat for six months, but I'm still writing Year of the Monkey on my checks. That was a solid joke in 1993.

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't know what. I don't know what the symbols mean. But I will say that for some reason, I'm very. I'm weirdly proud, even though I don't believe in astrology. I believe in astronomy mostly, but I don't believe in astrology necessarily. But I like the fact that I'm a Sagittarius, and I like the fact that I was born in the Year of the Dragon. Both of them seem.

[Luke Burbank]

That's a pretty good year to be born in.

[Andrew Walsh]

They just seem cool to me. You know what I mean?

[Luke Burbank]

Wait, well, well. But you were born in 77.

[Andrew Walsh]

76.

[Luke Burbank]

76. So that means we're both Year of the Dragon.

[Andrew Walsh]

I believe so. I mean.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, hell yeah, dude.

[Andrew Walsh]

We used to always. Pretty good. Welcome aboard.

[Luke Burbank]

I feel 10ft tall. I'm also Year of the Dragon.

[Andrew Walsh]

But you're. You were born in May, right? So what's your astrological sign.

[Luke Burbank]

You must know Horus the bull. I do know. I know. I know that much. I'm not pleading complete ignorance. I just. I'm pleading complete skepticism.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, none. Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

On the whole. I mean, I've said this probably recently on the show, but I'm so not moved by questions of astrology or by, you know. Well, he's being such a Pisces right now that if I. If I were. If I were to meet someone, let's say I was single and I meet someone, and I'm extremely interested in them romantically, and they are one click north of. Of just basically where I'm at with astrology, which is like, I will allow them to know what their sign is, but if they go one click north, if they attribute. And if they seriously attribute any behaviors by anyone on their signs or on something rising somewhere or the cusp of something, I would have a really. It'd be like somebody who voted for Trump because of the price of eggs. I would just be like, this is such a fundamental break in the kind of person I am from the kind of person you appear to be that I don't think we can recover from this.

[Andrew Walsh]

I voted for Trump.

[Luke Burbank]

I am not trying to conflate the two, by the way.

[Andrew Walsh]

By the way, it was my Sagittarius that led me to the polls to drop my ballot in and vote for Trump. I got to give it to you, though, Taurus money horoscope today. I mean, I was going to give you your. Do you want your love horoscope, your career horoscope, or your money horoscope?

[Luke Burbank]

Which is the best one of the three?

[Andrew Walsh]

I mean, they're probably all pretty cool. I don't really. I never read this stuff, so I really don't know. Let's give you. You know what?

[Luke Burbank]

Want me to read yours?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, sure.

[Luke Burbank]

Look up Only fair. So I'm looking up Sagittarius.

[Andrew Walsh]

Sagittarius, yeah. The first popped up for me. I just Googled, like, Taurus today, and it just.

[Luke Burbank]

Okay.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm on the Hindustan Times, by the way. Oh, of course.

[Luke Burbank]

I get home delivery. I'm also on the Hindustan Times.

[Andrew Walsh]

We'll read this one off the Internet.

[Luke Burbank]

I will be honest with you. When I see a story on the Hindustan Times, I do feel slightly erudite.

[Andrew Walsh]

Sure.

[Luke Burbank]

Like I'm keeping up on the comings and goings of the Hindustan people. But then I also wonder if it isn't, like, a front for the Moonies, if it isn't like the Epoch Times. Which is like the. The Moonies newspaper that they still have billboards for somehow in Portland, which is insane. Other than Shenan. It's the only crazier thing. Like there's still money for billboards about the Moonies newspaper.

[Andrew Walsh]

And that's the. I remember that the Moonies had a newspaper.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, they have the Washington Times.

[Andrew Walsh]

The what? That's what I'm thinking, but Washington Times. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

I can't say that word for some reason. How do you say the word epoch?

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't know. I've never heard it pronounced before. Honestly, I'm not even joking. I've seen it. I have no idea how to say it.

[Luke Burbank]

I mean, like an. Like an epoch. Like a kind of like an air. A period of time. Right. Like we're in an epoch right now. And I think we're actually. I think the epoch that we're in. Or epoch is. What's the. Oh, fui. It's the. John Green had a great podcast about it that I really loved. Basically, the human. In the human centered epoch. Epoch, epoch, epoch. Thank you.

[Andrew Walsh]

I would never have. I love it.

[Luke Burbank]

Of all the ways I said it, the right way wasn't one of them.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's so weird.

[Luke Burbank]

35 different ways and somehow missed. Can you play that again?

[Andrew Walsh]

Epic. It's almost like epic. Like, this is an epic story. Epic only.

[Luke Burbank]

Right. And I think. Let me try to find the Anthropocene. We are in the Anthropocene right now, Andrew, which means we are in the epic that humans have shaped more than, let's say the Jurassic period or other periods of the existence of living things on this planet. We're in the Anthropocene.

[Andrew Walsh]

I see. Or. And it can be more macro or micro as well. It could be the Victorian epic. It says here.

[Luke Burbank]

Let's see. Moonies. I don't think they're called the Moonies anymore. But yeah. How the conspiracy fueled Epic Times went mainstream. Oh, it's also Falun Gong, so I think it's also Shenyang. I think Epic Times is just the newspaper version of Shen Yun, which is.

[Andrew Walsh]

Different than the Washington Times, which is. That's the Moonie. Thank you. Yes. Yes. Okay. Okay. So some separation there cleared all that up.

[Luke Burbank]

And by the way, if any of that's mentioned in my horoscope today, Andrew, I am officially a believer.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, here's. I don't know why it starts with this. I don't even. This is. So. This is also new to me, but it just says Daily horse, Daily horoscope prediction Says your valor speaks your personality. Keep the love affair subtle and cool today. I love this. Ensure you both spend more time happily. Be careful to meet the professional requirements. Health is also good. Luke, how are you saying that? This is bullshit. Health is also good.

[Luke Burbank]

I mean, I honestly can't disagree with anything you've read to me.

[Andrew Walsh]

Resolve the tremors with the lover and ensure you spend more time together. Perform the best. Perform the best at the workplace. While there will also be major monetary issues, but handle wealth carefully. Health is also good today.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, Andrew, I'll tell you what. The overlap between the Taurus experience and the Sagittarius experience is pretty, pretty surprising. It's in that there's a lot of it. Your daily horoscope prediction, also according to the Hindustan Times, says you love challenges. And then underneath, some kind of a Zergnet ad for a lava storm 5G, which is something you can apparently buy on Amazon. It says, handle relationship issues with responsibility. Your attitude is crucial in the job. Keep the clients happy. Read me. I'm the client here, Andrew. Handle wealth carefully while health will be normal. So bad news on the health. It's going to be normal.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Which. Oh, dear. I was really hoping we're going to go up a little bit. Oh, wow.

[Stu Bot]

Oh.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, God. I am so excited to read you your love horoscope today, Andrew.

[Andrew Walsh]

Did you say horror scope? Because I'm worried that's what it is.

[Luke Burbank]

It sort of is. Horoscope. Horoscope.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay.

[Luke Burbank]

Do I say horoscope? Despite your sincerity, the lover may not agree with you and the ruckus can last for a day or two.

[Andrew Walsh]

I have a shitty one today. Why is yours so.

[Luke Burbank]

No, Andrew, the fact that you. At your age. I can still create a ruckus in the bedroom. Honestly, dude, a major, major props. I am impressed.

[Andrew Walsh]

If the. If. If your love horoscope was rather broad today, I will say your money horoscope is very specific in that it breaks down the day into halves. Says, financially, you're in. You are good. Financially, you are good. And from a text I saw from you this weekend, after a little bit.

[Luke Burbank]

Of sports, I honestly, I'm not. I was not mad at that. I was down. I was at Becca's house on Saturday, which put me in the state of Oregon, where I am allowed to make little bets on my phone, which I just. I don't think I'd even hacked into that account in like better part of six months or something because I just kind of out of sight, out of mind. But I thought, oh, you Know, the Seahawks are playing tomorrow. I'm actually going to be home on a Sunday without any, you know, anything I really had to do. I was like, oh, this is going to be so fun. So I made a big old thing of vegetarian chili. Andrew. I really. I really cozied up and I watched a lot of football and I had a bet that was. That the Seahawks would cover. They were six and a half point dogs, which I kind of get. Honestly, like, oh, yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

On the road in San Francisco, at San Francisco.

[Luke Burbank]

I was not. Yeah, it was not. Yeah, there was not a reason for optimism. But again, that's just. I'm overly optimistic about many things and remain so. So it was. Seahawks win. Ken Walker scores a touchdown. And then this was the part that pushed it into plus 1100 territory. Gino Smith scores a rushing touchdown.

[Andrew Walsh]

I didn't even realize that happened. I didn't get to see the second half of the game. And that must have happened the second half, right?

[Luke Burbank]

It happened with 13 seconds left.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, that's how that was. Final touchdown was a rush.

[Luke Burbank]

Maybe not 13 seconds, but a very, very small amount of time.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Game almost over. Geno Smith on, like a. On a long quarterback scramble into the end zone where he then did the Steph Curry I'm putting you to sleep hand sign, which really ticked the locals off because of course, he's a Bay Area guy. So that was hype. And then last night, all I was doing on TikTok was watching TikToks of 49ers fans watching the end of the game.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, wow.

[Luke Burbank]

Their tears were like water in the desert for me.

[Andrew Walsh]

Andrew. I didn't get to see that I was volunteering. And the folks who pick. It's kind of a little bit complicated, but at the end of us giving out food, somebody's got to come and pick up all the tables and chairs and supplies and take them away. I used to do that. I don't do that anymore. And the folks who were volunteering to do that yesterday are huge Seahawks fans. And I felt terrible. I was sort of like following the score on my phone but not really knowing what the ins and outs were. And these guys, like, they watch every second of the Seahawks games or married couple. And I'm looking at my. At my score and my watch and I see, oh, wow, like we're getting really close to the end of the game and we are making these poor folks leave their home to come pick up these tables and everything, return them back to the storage area. And I felt really bad about that. But there's not a lot I could do. So they show up and they open up their car doors, and they, like, are kind of blasting the radio as loud as possible so they can hear the end of the game, and we're all trying to hurry up and load their car up. And then I sort of. But I'm out of it. I'm, like, talking to people about this, and who's taking the spoons to wash them, blah, blah, blah. And all of a sudden, I start hearing screaming from across the parking lot. And when you're just like. You know, when you spend a couple of hours every Sunday underneath a bridge, like, and you hear screaming in the parking lot, usually it's like, I have a little bit of a. I never.

[Luke Burbank]

Want to feel like I did that day.

[Andrew Walsh]

Just. It's a bad. It's just sort of a. What. What's going on? You know, you're a little bit. You know, you're. You're a little bit on alert. Like, why are people screaming? You know? And then you realize, oh, my God. Okay, the football game is over. And that is. Those are screams of happiness. That is not somebody who is having an episode that I need to get involved with.

[Luke Burbank]

Cigarette?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, exactly.

[Luke Burbank]

Screams of happiness about a Seahawk game. Now, that's. That's a name I haven't heard in a while.

[Andrew Walsh]

So I was very, very excited that they got to hear it, but it would also. It was also. I had no idea exactly what went down, other than I knew that it was down to. And I was also wrong, because I thought they needed a touchdown to tie the game and send it into extra innings. So extra innings into. Over. Into extra quarters, as I like to say.

[Luke Burbank]

Penalty time.

[Andrew Walsh]

Penalty time. And so I was a little bit surprised they were that excited, but I'm like, yeah, it gives them a shot at it, but I didn't realize that that sealed the game. So. Good for you. Good for them. I'm sorry to Susan and David that I peeled you away from your beloved Seahawks, but that gives us no more closer to Luke's Taurus money horoscope, which, again, is very specific and also calls out your siblings in a way that I'm thinking.

[Luke Burbank]

Interesting.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm thinking Hannah might be on alert.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, today is my niece Marion's sweet 16 birthday. That is my sister Hannah's daughter.

[Andrew Walsh]

That would make sense, because listen to this. Financially, you are good. And the second part of the day will see you gaining good returns from stock in speculative business. So that's pretty good. The second half of the day you're gonna have a good stock return. But then it says a sibling will need financial assistance for a health or legal problem. And I'm wondering, wait, usually that's.

[Luke Burbank]

I'm the sibling who needs assistance for.

[Andrew Walsh]

A health or a legal problem. Right.

[Luke Burbank]

I know that's very off brand for my sister.

[Andrew Walsh]

Exactly.

[Luke Burbank]

I mean, or really any of my sibs.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. But I'm thinking that Hannah might come a knockin. I'm not exactly sure. You may also provide money for charity in second half of the day. I'm dubious of that. Those who have children studying abroad will need money. Do you have children studying abroad? I don't think so.

[Luke Burbank]

I've asked daddy to stop referring to women that way.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, it is.

[Luke Burbank]

I think she's. I think she's done with that. You know, I'm not saying that I'm not. I'm not saying I am the most charitable person, but I have recently, Andrew, been donating a dollar to the turkey fund. When I met. They hit you up with the turkey fund yet?

[Andrew Walsh]

Where would. Who is.

[Luke Burbank]

Who is there when you're checking out of the grocery store? Oh, either at the self check or. Or in the line, like if you go to saf, which I don't know if you're really a Safeway man, but like, they are. They come up to you, they go, do you want to donate a dollar to Thanksgiving turkey for a needy family? And it's weird because I always say yes, and I donate a dollar. I don't even really right now fully believe in the turkey industrial complex. I listened to the New York Times interview a few weekends ago with Peter Singer, the kind of noted animal rights activist and I guess what philosopher you might call him, and he wrote a book called Consider the Turkey. And it's really just about how, like, how messed up the. How messed up the kind of like, it's, it's. It's not really. It's not good for the turkeys that every American kitchen can have a giant ass turkey in it for a reasonable price on Thanksgiving. You know, like, the way that that is achieved is through very poor conditions for the turkeys. And I had just gotten back to eating turkey a couple of Thanksgivings ago. I just said, you know, I'm gonna. I love the tradition and everything. And now I'm back off of it this year, which kind of sucks because I listened to that. But I'm. Meanwhile, I'm donating money to buy more turkeys for people. And I don't even agree with the concept.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay. Two things in this. Number one, I love the fact that everything's coming back to David Foster Wallace. This or this.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

Consider the lobster this epic that we're going through this TV tell your favorite word. But also, did you see. Because I watched. I came home last night and I watched some Sunday Night Football and I miss. I saw commercial air several times, I think during that. That must have also aired during the Seahawks game as a TV commercial.

[Stu Bot]

Luke.

[Andrew Walsh]

So if you can picture that, it's like a tv, right?

[Luke Burbank]

I mean, okay, I'm picturing TV and advertorial message on a television.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes. And so they're, they're pushing a message. No, I'll, I'll. I'll skip to the point here. It's a beautiful commercial that makes you feel really good until the end. And you realize it's for the Washington Cattlemen's association or something like that.

[Luke Burbank]

I have not seen that.

[Andrew Walsh]

Or it's just like this beautiful. It like, shows, you know, like a cowboy on a H. And his name. Oh, my God, it is such a. It is such a name of a modern cowboy. I wish to. It's something like cowboy bucket hat or something like his name is.

[Luke Burbank]

This is a real person, though. Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

I mean, supposedly. Yeah, he's like a farmer, right?

[Luke Burbank]

And it, like, name is probably Colton, right?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, maybe it is Colton.

[Luke Burbank]

Colton Jackson or Colton Colton Leather band.

[Andrew Walsh]

Or something like that.

[Luke Burbank]

There's an entire, like, generation of Coltons that are. God bless, by the way, if your name is Colton. But there's like, you get outside of the. You get outside of the cities and it's just there, everybody's getting named Jackson or Colton.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm looking to see if I could find this commercial. But anyway, it's beautiful. It's got a cowboy and a horse and a single cow just grazing this pasture that is. It's like. And he's making the point as he's sort of like, you know, it's kind of documentary style or whatever, and he's kind of talking to the camera, a little bit of voiceover and just the most beautiful scenery you can imagine in a single cow out there. Enjoying. Enjoying its time as it's like. And he's talking about how you need a lot of different kinds of plants in a prairie to make it like both the. Both literally the soil and earth sort of sustainable. And also it's good. And then at the end, you're just like, this is so great. This is so wonderful. And then at the end it's like Washington Cattlemen's Association. I'm just like, are you kidding me? I know how you're treating those cows. It is not one. I thought of you as like, if you see this, you're going to have steam coming out of your ears. Because it's just like. Like, yes, the idea of this commercial is so wonderful. I mean, it's so beautiful. But then, oh, my God, you don't have to go to PETA to see, really, the conditions that these cows are in. And by the way, I'm not on a high horse here. I'm not a vegetarian. Like, I am absolutely complicit. But, like, I just found this to be. And I don't know, like, why would I find that to be galling? Like, it's a commercial. That's the point. You.

[Luke Burbank]

Because you felt baited and switched.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I did. And it's just kind of like. And it's just like, it's so far from the truth. Like, can you just say hamburger good? Like, can you not lie? Hamburgers are good. You know?

[Luke Burbank]

Well, I mean, you see the versions of that commercial, too, where it's like a. An appropriately, like, diverse and thoughtful sounding group of employees that are on the cutting edge of science, and they also happen to work for Exxon.

[Andrew Walsh]

Right, right, right, exactly.

[Luke Burbank]

And you're like. It takes you a long time to figure. It's like people in lab coats and they're like always. The pipettes and stuff.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

And then they're like. And then it's like. And that's why we're working for Monsanto, to provide you the best. It's just like, Shut up. Like, like you said, just say hamburger tasty. Like, and we're all. We all know. We all. We all. We've all basically signed up for that deal. There are some cows. I have a. I've talked about these cows at length on the show, but I'm obsessed with a particular herd of cows. I call them the island cows. And it's weird because I both. I love them, I would die for them. And also I would be fine if they became a hamburger that I'm eating. Andrew. They live, I don't know, five to 10 miles down Interstate 5 from me. And they are. If you're driving south on i5 and you are a little bit north of, like, the town of LA Center, Washington, and you look to your right, you're going right along the Columbia river, and then there's this little island, and there are these cows that live on the island, and they are the free rangest of cows you have ever seen, they are just chilling in the summertime. They're just standing in the river. They're like, you know, kind of like halfway up there. They're like, I don't think they have elbows, but whatever you call it, they're elbow deep in the water. They're eating seaweed, they're drinking water, they're chilling, they're cavorting. They have the best life I've ever seen for a cow. And my thought is like, first of all, I love these cows so much. Like, I just, I'm so happy for them that this is their life. And conversely, I wouldn't feel terrible if these cows humanely met their ending to become food because I would think, well, they had a pretty good time on this planet. They have a life that I think I would actually take if given the opportunity.

[Andrew Walsh]

Right, exactly. And I guess it's the humanely part of that. Like, I'm somebody who. I do eat meat. And so, like, what I have to do is sort of not think about it too much. I had like, I had almost like Luke, you know what I had. I just like went on my little rant about this and I'm sorry, I can't find the commercial. I'll give it up now because I'll be too distracted if I keep looking. But I just wish I could remember this cowboy's name. Actually, isn't that a song? I wish I could remember that cowboy's name.

[Luke Burbank]

It's Kelsey Ballerina.

[Andrew Walsh]

I had an opposite feeling when I was again watching Sunday Night Football. And it wasn't even a commercial. You know, like the game last night was taking place in Los Angeles. So all the cutaways or the kind of bump ins will show something that reflects the food culture of the area in some way. And I just saw, I saw somebody making like some of the most delicious looking pork tacos. And I'll every now and then still have a carnitas taco, like if I'm by myself. But like, you know, Genevieve doesn't eat pork, so there's not a lot of pork in my life these days, which is fine, but like, sort of seeing it as kind of like, oh my God, that looks like the. Like I wanted to. I wanted to get up out of my seat and just go find pork tacos somewhere. I literally did sort of an assessment of like, oh, God, would El Camin be open right now? It was like 10:00 at night. I'm like, no, it wouldn't be. And then I had this thought of Kind of like, man, I really did. I even thought, yeah, but those were pigs. So, you know, just like being. I mean, I'm not saying how much it influences my behavior, but just being around people like you or Genevieve who think about these things does impact, even in small ways, the way we think about them. You know, I probably would have eaten a pig yesterday if it wasn't so late at night, but at least I'm thinking about it.

[Luke Burbank]

There you go. And again, I don't. I sure as heck hope that I don't sound like I'm judging anyone else or moralizing, because I'm really not. And because I'm not even a vegetarian myself, I just generally don't eat a lot of meat, which is sort of like being, you know, a little bit pregnant. It's like, is it important to me or is it not? Because I'm not really. I don't have. I'm very fluid with my personal boundaries around a lot of this stuff, but.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, I mean, is that. I don't know. I don't. I mean, I guess I'm interrupting, but in your defense, I know that you're feeling a little bit, like, sheepish about looking like you're standing up for something that maybe you don't want to stand up for. Might be the face of the.

[Luke Burbank]

Somebody sees me pulling out of the Arby's drive Thru, I don't want them to be crushed.

[Andrew Walsh]

Right? Oh, God, I haven't had Arby in so long. And I don't even think that's really animal. Like, come on, something died for that. But I don't think it was an animal that we have to worry about.

[Luke Burbank]

Reminds me of. Reminds me of. I've been, for some reason, like little 30 rock clips have been reemerging in my TikTok feed. And when Jack Donaghy is finally trying to finalize his divorce with Isabella Rosalini's character and they're dividing up all of their stuff, or at least he's. I think what he's trying to do is he doesn't actually really want the divorce to be settled because then they really will be out of each other's lives.

[Andrew Walsh]

I forgot that that was even a subplot. I forgot that she was part of the show because he's still. There's. They're divorcing, but he still really loves her, Right? Or he.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes. And he's kind of addicted to the, like, the sort of intense dynamic of their relationship. And so he makes these totally unreasonable demands about the division of the assets Thinking that it will continue. She's there with her lawyer, and he's demanding all this stuff, which. Which I think in his mind, it's like, this is going to keep this going for another 20 years, because there's no way they're going to go for this. He's sort of asking for the world, and they go for all of it. And it really crushes him ultimately, I think. But he's just listing the different things, and first of all, just the assets in their marriage, or it's just a bunch of jokes, you know, written in. But one of them is. And the Arby's franchises we own, I think, in, like, Wyoming. And she goes, jack, you know, I love my Jack, you know, I love my beef and cheddar or something was like Isabella Rossellini saying, jack, you, jack. You know, I love my beef and cheddar. It's just like the funniest thing to me for some reason.

[Andrew Walsh]

And.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

And they, as a power couple, represent everything that would be the opposite of an Arby's in middle America somewhere. But I would just say that I don't know that it's like, say I. I don't. I don't agree with your assessment that it's all or nothing. Like, every little thing you do. Right. Like, every. Every dollar you give the. Every little thing you do is magic. I mean, I feel like every decision that you make that you're not eating an animal, well, then that's. That's one fewer animal that had to give itself to your plate that day, you know?

[Luke Burbank]

And yet I'm donating money so that turkey can happen for people that can't afford a turkey. Because I guess I feel worse for a person, a family that couldn't afford a Thanksgiving dinner than I feel for the turkey.

[Andrew Walsh]

But let me ask you about this. When you say they come, you. You kind of mentioned they come up to you. I wasn't sure if you were speaking, like, do people actually come up to you, like, and say, will you donate? Will you throw a dollar in this tin? Or is it like at the checkout?

[Luke Burbank]

Where at the checkout they have a little, like, laminated, you know, card that's got a barcode on it. So it's one of the people that works for the store. Yeah, it's the person who's running the self.

[Andrew Walsh]

I forget that. You don't. Okay, so you're still doing self check in.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, the Safeway that I go to has one human.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Working now. So it's not even like it's not even a possibility. I mean it is but. But there's never not a line for the human being. I mean they've really, really much like a cattle. Much like a cow in a kill chute. They've really routed us into this self checkout world. Eventually all of those lanes will go away. I have never in my life seen more than one human operating a checkout. And in fact and I don't know how it is where you are in Seattle but I think this is pretty standard now. Like can you remember maybe on like Thanksgiving Day itself or Christmas day like maybe on whatever the super bowl of grocery stores is. But other than that can you remember a time when you have seen two lanes open, two checkout lanes with human beings actually taking the you know, scanning the stuff.

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't really pay much attention but I'm pretty sure the Holman road always has two human lines and then they have two on either end big banks of for self checkout. But honestly like I'm so not interested in having humans do it because I would like to pack my groceries my own way. They always do it wrong and wrong. You know I just like I just don't. I don't want anybody else messing with my groceries. So I that but. But I guess I. One thing I want to say about that is and I think I have this on good authority but I wouldn't. I mean listen, maybe I'm wrong about this but I wouldn't donate through a grocery store those big and you know.

[Luke Burbank]

Like I mean I'm sure that it's.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah it's just a tax write off for them. It's like they can count it as their donation. So it becomes a huge. Because you're like look at all this money we raised. So like it just basically helps their bottom line and profits. I think you can do so much better good by giving that dollar to somebody thinking Kroger's. Yeah, right. Exactly.

[Luke Burbank]

Poor poor Kroger.

[Andrew Walsh]

I know that's so preachy sounding or whatever but like I even. And now with self checkout all I have to do is tell a computer no. But even if it's a human I'm just like no. Like I'm. Yeah. I'm doing other the way they get.

[Luke Burbank]

You is you are buying a bunch of food for yourself. You are. You are taking a bountiful harvest of if my dad's over nutty buddies dinty more chili and one bruised peach. No I don't. Whatever random food my parents bring over. But like it's from an optic standpoint. And from it's. It's one of the, it's one of the things that I am. I have the hardest time turning down. I'm okay at, at saying no thank you to certain charity opportunities. But it's. If I've got a big basket full of food that I'm buying pretty much for myself to consume and they're saying, sir, could you spare a farthing for a family that doesn't have a turkey this Christmas? There's something about the juxtaposition of the food I'm buying for myself, the amount I'm spending on it, the small amount that $1 is to go towards a turkey, that it really. I have a hard time looking that person in the eye and saying no. But I think you're right. I don't think it is the most efficient way or effective way rather to try to move money from the people who have it to the people who need it.

[Andrew Walsh]

So there is a store I go to a lot. This is regarding Nutty Buddies, by the way.

[Luke Burbank]

Finally gotten there.

[Andrew Walsh]

Do you. They used to have a different name. I think they were called Cash and Carries back in the day. And now they're.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh sure, I love those stores.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes. And there's one near, kind of near my house and I go there all the time to stock up on supplies for our, you know, for our food operation on Sundays. And so I'm often there buying cups or like clamshell containers for food or whatever. And so I'm in there usually about once a week. And the way the line is set up and by the way, there's no self check out there or anything. Again, it's like this is a place where usually the person in front of me is clearly running like a small restaurant. They got like two 20 pound bags of beans on a cart, you know, and like a thing of lard that you could like jump into or whatever. It's just like, it's fun.

[Luke Burbank]

So it's like a frozen yogurt place or something.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, exactly.

[Luke Burbank]

I was trying to think of what restaurant would be least likely to be purchasing two huge things of beans and a thing of lard.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's a flower shop.

[Luke Burbank]

It's a menchie.

[Andrew Walsh]

So anyway, and I'm just in there usually buying my few things, usually a paper product. Actually Vives and I went there to buy a bunch of fruit for a fruit salad recently. But all of that is to say the line sort of. And there's no self checkout, but the line is, it's Sort of. It. It snakes its way sort of a strange way, sort of perpendicular to the. To the checkout stand, as opposed to just like having a straight line. So you're sort of looking at products. It feels like a more industrial place. It's not like your Safeway or a regular grocery store. But they do have some products sort of set up. And I guess they're supposed to be impulse buys. And one of them, Luke, is. And this is not usually you're buying things more like kind of in bulk quantity here. So impulse buys.

[Luke Burbank]

These are impulse buys for, like, a restaurateur.

[Andrew Walsh]

Right. Except they have. And I don't know if it's the same one or if they keep resupplying it, but there is, like, one box, not of Nutty Buddies, but of those oatmeal sandwiches with the cream inside that I used to eat as a kid. And it's a box that's open. Like, I could just take one and buy one and eat it in the car. Oh, I see.

[Luke Burbank]

Okay.

[Andrew Walsh]

And every time I'm in that line, like, they caught me again. Like, I am sitting there staring. I'm like, is today. Because I think I was there on Saturday.

[Luke Burbank]

Are they Little Debbies?

[Andrew Walsh]

Whatever the brand, I think it's the real brand. Yeah, probably. And, like, I don't think I've had one of those. I literally don't think I've had one of those since I was a child. It's been forever. But, like, I can feel the. I can feel the texture of it in my mouth for that first bite. Like, I remember loving those things.

[Luke Burbank]

Very soft, right?

[Andrew Walsh]

So soft and so good. And I will stand there. And, like, I swear the other day, I was almost reaching to grab one when they said, okay, next in line. I was like, zoink. Okay, good. You saved me. Because, like, it didn't have to enjoy.

[Luke Burbank]

Andrew, get some GD Oatmeal cream pie.

[Andrew Walsh]

Here are the two things that honestly stopped me from doing that. Number one, the cost. Who has a penny farthing these days?

[Luke Burbank]

No, sir. Can you please buy oat milk cream pies for a needy family?

[Andrew Walsh]

Obviously, like, I am not somebody who treats my body like a temple. Last night, I ate a half a thing of gummy. But you do.

[Luke Burbank]

Temple of doom.

[Andrew Walsh]

It is a temple of doom.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes, you can pull your beating heart.

[Andrew Walsh]

Out of your chest, but any moment that I can. Any moment that I can stop myself from having a moment, like, just like eating a Little Debbie in the middle of the day in my car, I just have this feeling that, like, when I'm done with it, I'm not going to be like, that was worth it. I just feel like no matter what, it's going to be set up for disappointment. I'm going to feel a little bit, like, kind of gross about doing that. And secondly, because I haven't had one since I was a kid, I think it's going to seem really small and insignificant and not as good to me. I mean, literally, my mouth is bigger. You know what I mean? Like, I just don't think it's going to be the same sensation. I don't think it's going to be worth it. I think it's better in my head.

[Luke Burbank]

Interesting. You're probably right. There's probably some shrinkflation going on in that. They're actually probably getting smaller. You definitely have grown my mouth bigger. Your mouth is bigger. And it's also, you're not a kid. Like, I don't know, at your dad's, you know, fab shop. Like, you know what I mean? I associate a lot of that kind of stuff because, you know, my dad's a sign painter and I grew up, you know, going and doing stuff at the shop and then sometimes going up to Chubby and Tubby and getting like. I was big on the iced molasses Old Fashioned cookies. You know, like two large. I think those might have been like called grandmas or something. That was like the brand. But they would be two big cookies. They seemed huge to me at the time. And sometimes my dad would get one and we would each have a cookie.

[Andrew Walsh]

Like chocolate.

[Luke Burbank]

They had chocolate chip. Okay, they had chocolate chip. They had like a peanut butter one. And then they had like an iced molasses one that was really soft. I was an iced molasses guy if I had my choice. But so much of that stuff I associate with being 13 years old and also being on a job with my dad. We're going somewhere he was big on. I've talked about this before, something called Violet Crumble, which is like an Australian candy bar delicacy that my family is still obsessed with, which is kind of weird.

[Andrew Walsh]

Sounds very Narnian, for sure.

[Luke Burbank]

It was pretty Narnian.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, but.

[Luke Burbank]

But yeah, like, that kind of stuff. Like, I don't know if eating a Violet Crumble would bring me great joy today, but it brought me great Joy at age 11. Same with those Grandma's Old Fashioned Cookies.

[Andrew Walsh]

For some reason I think of these and I don't even know why. Mike. I have this vague sensation of associating the oatmeal cream sandwiches that I'm talking about more to like, maybe a field trip in school or something like that. I know they weren't packed in my lunch on the reg, but I do have an association of eating them as a special treat on certain lunch things. However, that feeling of eating a special sweet snack that you associate with some sort of industry. I had the same feeling in that same store, but I was there with Genevieve, and we were in the back of the US Chef store, and they had. I don't know what they're called, but they're like little pies. But they're almost like little turnover pies. And then they were coated in some sort of very, very thin icing and then packaged up in, like, white bags with, like, bright colors, almost white, waxy bags.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, of course.

[Andrew Walsh]

What I'm talking about.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes, I totally can. So it's like a fruit pie, but it doesn't always have to have fruit. It could have, like, pudding in it.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, yes, yes.

[Luke Burbank]

Like a real lemony kind of tang thing.

[Andrew Walsh]

And I swear to God, this was probably a week ago. Vives and I were standing in the back of the store, and I was like, look, we should get those. I remember those from my youth. And then we both immediately were like, no, like, they. Even in. Even when we were kids, they weren't that good. I was just having a total.

[Luke Burbank]

They were so bad.

[Andrew Walsh]

They were so. There was so much of the crusty, crumbly, like, crust. Right?

[Luke Burbank]

Yes. And also they were like three for a dollar.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

So what used to happen was. I remember vividly. Speaking of Safeway. I remember. I don't. I think it's actually still there. But, you know, there's that Safeway that's at, like, Roosevelt and 75th. No, it's. It's. It's up. It's. Oh, gosh, I'm so bad with. With geography and now Seattle geography. I want to say like 85th. It goes up and crosses i5 and then kind of bends around and then gets over near where the Ravenna kind of area. Where the. Where the. What's the. What's it called? The. Where the reservoir is. Reservoir.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's 75th. That's my store.

[Luke Burbank]

That is 70.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's my main store. Yeah, yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

So that this family that we used to go to our church, the Stevenson's, used to live in this kind of rental house that was along 75th. Right. Where the road kind of. Of bends before it. It straightens out and shoots over towards where that Safeway is.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. And Then you get into Lake City Way area. Yep.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah. And that Safeway is. Now, I consider that a new Safeway. The one that you go in is like a fancy new version, even though it's probably 20 years old. But it was like an OG Safeway in the day. Like, you know, a big kind of round Quonset hut style building with the big letters. And we. I remember, we, like me and Jesse, we, like, somehow, you know, dug around on the couch cushions to. To get some change. We really wanted something that was a treat. And I think we might have had like $2 or something total collected. And we walked to that Safeway because I was, like, spending over at their house. We walked to that Safeway and those pies were like three. They might have even been like four for a dollar. And I was like, this is amazing. We can get like, 15 of these or whatever. Like, we can get. So we just bought so many of them because that felt like maximizing our money. And I remember getting back to their house and being all ready to eat my, like, six of these pies that were, like, allotted to me and just biting into the first one and getting two bites in and just being like, okay, well, that's enough of that.

[Andrew Walsh]

Right? Especially, I mean, I could see. And again, I haven't had one of these, like, for some reason. I. My grandfather drove a Lance truck, which I don't think is a brand around here, but, like, Lance was a. And still is, I believe, in the Midwest and in Ohio. Like, it was the type of snack food where he would drive around my dad's shops and like, reload vending machines with, like, peanut butter crackers and cheese crackers and these kinds of pies and that kind of.

[Luke Burbank]

And they call it Schwann. Well, a version of that that just went out of business in the Northwest was Schwann's.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay. Yeah. And, I mean, I can. I think when I go back to Cleveland, I will see that Lance logo, which is not a special logo. I think it just says Lance and a certain font. But. But anyway, all of that is to say that, like, maybe if you bought seven of those pies you're talking about and took one big bite out of the middle of it, like, the part where you can get, like, maximized most filling, fruit filling or whatever, and then throw the rest away, like Ramona Quimby, like, maybe that would be satisfying. But, like, I remember, like, that hardened crust all the way around that was sort of pressed like, oh, my God, no, thank you.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, it was so much of that outer. Oh man, I'm looking at probably the exact kind. We probably bought them from Franz out here. F, R A N Z, which is I believe actually a local company to the Northwest. And I think that might have been the, the brand that we weren't buying Hostess. We weren't fancy but in fact we might have even been buying the generic brand. That's probably why we could get so many of them because we probably, they were like not even probably friends and definitely not Hostess. Some kind of a, some kind of generic knockoff thing. But yeah, those, those things were much better in theory than they were in practice.

[Andrew Walsh]

Man, I'm trying to figure out. I, I wanted to use a photo of, of these for the show pic today. Do you think it's Franz is like sort of the, the most generic looking one?

[Luke Burbank]

I, I would say if, if we have a majority of listeners in the Northwest that might be what looks most familiar to them. But you know, I'm looking at one of these. Oh, look at somebody. If you go on the Walmart.com they're like giving you helpful instructions on how to enjoy your France BlackBerry featuring natural and artificial flavorings. And it's like it's on the left side, there's just like some little thumbnail shots and one is just actually this is the picture, Andrew. I'm going to send it to you. It's just like this exact sad ass pie you're talking about that's mostly crust just with, with a big scoop of ice cream on it.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh sure, yeah, yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Like they're like, here's a thing you can do with this. It's like, yeah, thanks for the help, Walmart.

[Andrew Walsh]

Crumble it up, break it up. Scoop out the fruit pie, throw the rest of it away and put it on top of a better pie.

[Luke Burbank]

Right. Thank you for being a tail. Sir, would you like to donate $1 to a needy podcast?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, now that I will always say yes to.

[Luke Burbank]

And guess who else said yes? Our donors today, Andrew. These folks are supporting TBTL with a monthly gift and it is very big for us. It's how the show is able to occur five days a week. Folks like Richard Lomeyer in Monroeville, Pennsylvania.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, that's a good working town.

[Luke Burbank]

Sure is.

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't know.

[Luke Burbank]

Monroeville.

[Andrew Walsh]

Sounds like it. Yeah. Thank you, Richard.

[Luke Burbank]

Thanks, Richard. John Pelletier is in Phoenix, Arizona. Another working town.

[Andrew Walsh]

Definitely We've been to Phoenix together.

[Luke Burbank]

Hard working folks down there in Phoenix. Jeremy Jewell is in Leawood, Kansas.

[Andrew Walsh]

Nice. Never been there. But Jeremy, Jeremy's there so That's a reason to go. Thank you, Jeremy.

[Luke Burbank]

Indeed. Bettina Mackey is in Bothell, Washington. Don't say it. Think it, but don't say it.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay.

[Luke Burbank]

Thanks, Bettina. Thanks to Laura Hahn in Kennekey, Michigan. How do you think I did on that pronunciation?

[Andrew Walsh]

I'll bet you you did well, because you're more right about these things than I am. But I will say, when I saw it, I was pronouncing epic.

[Luke Burbank]

Early epoch.

[Andrew Walsh]

Epic. Epic. Kanoki. Could it be Kenoki, Michigan?

[Luke Burbank]

It's probably Kanoki. I think I was thinking. I'm thinking of Kankani. Kankani, which is a different place and which took me years to learn how to say. And I'm trying to apply that to Kanoki. I bet you it's Kanoki. Mission, Michigan. Thanks, Laura. Thanks also to Jamie Bever in. How do I say this one? Seattle, Washington.

[Andrew Walsh]

Seattle. Seattle.

[Luke Burbank]

Seattle.

[Andrew Walsh]

I think. I don't know for sure, but I think it's Seattle.

[Luke Burbank]

Seattle, Washington is where Jamie.

[Andrew Walsh]

Thank you, Jamie.

[Luke Burbank]

Thank you so much, donors. Thanks for making TBTL happen. We couldn't do this without you. Hello and welcome to top story. Oh, hey, you know what? Our top story, Some exciting news, Andrew, that the TBTL merch shop has been rejuvenated.

[Andrew Walsh]

Refreshed.

[Luke Burbank]

We have. Refreshed. That's the word I'm looking for. Revivified. I'm not saying it was dead. I'm just saying it's got a lot of new cool stuff on there that you can purchase for yourself or someone you love. What do we want to tell folks about the merch store? Refresh?

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, first I want to start with the personal loop, because you get to.

[Luke Burbank]

The universal through the personal.

[Andrew Walsh]

Did you see my brain lock up for a second when I mentioned font when we were. We were talking about lance cookies and I said lance, their logo. I can remember their logo. Oh, it was just a font. And then all of a sudden, I don't know if you saw me freeze up for a second. I was like, oh, yeah, we got to talk about the merch store. I just wasn't sure if you had noticed that. I didn't since we can basically read each other's minds at this point. But yeah, it's been a lot of fun. John. John Sklaroff, TBTL Numero employee uno, as we famously say on the show.

[Luke Burbank]

Yep, number employee one.

[Andrew Walsh]

Exactly. Worked hard over the weekend to make sure that this would be ready for today. And so thanks to John for doing this. But we did. We added some new merch to the merch store. And the reason we did this is because the holidays are coming up and a lot of people like to buy things either for other tens in their lives or sometimes I will get emails. Often I'll get emails from eleven or fives and saying, hey, you know, somebody in my family is a listener. I don't know what the hell's going on with you guys over there, but how can I get them something special for the holidays? And so we wanted to make sure that there was some new stuff up there and we refreshed, we took down some of the older stuff, left some stuff up, added some new stuff and so and actually rebuilt the webpage. It's got a new look. So if you want to get a T shirt or a hoodie and do you want to talk a little bit about like the water bottle is a fun addition as well? Luke, we have a drinking vessel inspired by your own personal journey.

[Luke Burbank]

I believe this was maybe your idea or maybe John's idea, but it was a very smart one, which is because I've been on this 75 hard ish kind of journey and one of the things is drinking a gallon of water a day and I've had this silly water bottle which of course today of all days, I left it in the house. But so, and we've never, I don't think we've. That I remember had a water bottle like for sale. So we've got a TBTL water bottle that just says ish. Ish on it. Ish on it. And then it says tbtl.net down at the bottom in case you ever forget what the website is. That's a. I mean water bottles are useful. You've got to carry out. You know, you probably, you know, you live in 2024America. You probably carry a water bottle here and there. Why not carry one that says ish?

[Andrew Walsh]

It's a cute little bottle too. It's a sleek one. It does. It doesn't carry a half a gallon like you.

[Luke Burbank]

No, it's not, it's not a gallon.

[Andrew Walsh]

Size one, but it's a nice little metal bottle with the, with the type of cap that you kind of unscrew, take your swig, put it back in your, in your, in your bag and go on your very. On your marriage and think of tbtl.

[Luke Burbank]

Think of your pals at tbtl.

[Andrew Walsh]

Ish.

[Luke Burbank]

Ish. And the fact that, you know, and also just use it as a, I would say use it as a motivation to try things but also to not be too hard on Yourself if you only half do the thing, like. Like trying something that's good. Being mean to yourself because maybe you didn't do the thing exactly the way you had intended. Whether it's a. Some sort of workout plan or special new diet or God knows what. Like be nice to yourself. Basically, now of all times that we should be nice to ourself. I think right now is a time so.

[Stu Bot]

Ish.

[Luke Burbank]

Ish. The ishikation of life I think is sort of okay. Right now.

[Andrew Walsh]

The ishi fication. We have a tall ship shirt now just says CBTI with a tall ship on it.

[Luke Burbank]

It's beautiful. This is a handsome shirt, Andrew.

[Andrew Walsh]

Handsome. And then, well, John found that picture of the tall ship and then tbtl. And this is something that had been kind of an idea for a while. I think it was yours or John's to have a shirt that just says a TBTL 10, TBTL 5 or TBTL 11 so that you can, as a family, you can go out, you can all buy one and identify yourselves or if you want to get like. I think we have like youth size TBTL 5 shirts as well as adult sizes. I believe you can see all the different options and hoodies and everything. So you can proudly declare yourself a TBTL 10 or an 11 or a 5.

[Luke Burbank]

And I would like to be clear here. We don't really make very much money on any.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm glad you brought that up. I wanted to talk about that too. Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

This is a lot of work for John. This is a lot of work for you, Andrew. This, per usual, is the least amount of work for me. But it's like if we wanted this to actually be like a significant money maker for the show, we would need to charge double.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes.

[Luke Burbank]

What everything is on there and we're not because this is not how we're trying to support the show. This is just because we know that the tens, particularly around the holidays and again, the people who love the tens, they would like to get a T shirt that says something about tbtl. This is. We are not getting rich off of this. In fact, we are barely. I think we make a little bit of money but hardly anything because we just want people to have TBTL stuff if they're so inclined.

[Andrew Walsh]

Exactly. I'm glad you said that because as I'm talking about this and I want to know, you know, I want to let people know everything that's on the site. I sound a little feverish. Like I'm. Like I'm pitching something or like it's the TBTLathon and so I do want to make that very clear. This stuff is there for you guys if you want it, and we want to keep on keeping it refreshed. In fact, we have a couple of fun ideas, too, that we'll hopefully add. Again, we want to just keep it a fun place where you can check out stuff and maybe get some TBTL gear. But this is not the fun drive, and we're not doing this to make money. So please don't do it as a. I don't know if this sounds like a weird thing to say, Luke, but, like, we are so earnest when we come to you one week a year and say, please, like, we really need your support here. This, we're doing as an option for you. If you want it. This is not how we're paying our bills, so don't do it for us. But if you want it, like, it's there for you. And we love. And we love making this stuff.

[Luke Burbank]

Absolutely. And it's very fun to think that there will be folks walking around wearing, like, a hoodie that says TBTL10 or has a tall ship on it. It. And maybe it spurs a conversation. Oh, hey, I like that tall ship on your shirt. What is that? Oh, well, okay. One of the guys on the show used to be a producer in New Hampshire Public Radio. He worked for a show where they used to sometimes have a guest on who was known for his depictions of the tall ships. And then they look over, and the person they're talking to has passed out with two X's over their eyes, and their feet are flying up in the air like a little Abner cartoon.

[Andrew Walsh]

I always would treat them as a skeleton still wearing the clothes that they were wearing at the beginning of the conversation.

[Luke Burbank]

That is also a thing that has happened when you try to explain TB tell to people. But, yeah, I'm really. And again, Andrew, thank you for the work that you put on this. And he'll hear this, but to our friend and colleague, John. Thanks, John. I'm really stoked about this. Like, I really like all of these designs, and I really like all of this stuff that I'm looking at on the. On the. On the merch shop. So go. Go check it out. If you're inclined towards TBTL merch. I am inclined towards. I was inclined, Andrew, towards two things this weekend. One, I do feel like I have actually, I made some sort of emotional connection. Again, may not be a good thing. I've made some sort of connection with Blue sky that feels like it could be permanent. Whereas with Threads, I was all excited about it at first, and then I was like, this is going to be my new thing. And then two days later, I forgot it ever existed. That has not been the case with me and Blue Sky. I am thinking about, like, when I have a minute again. This is why I'm not even saying it's a good thing, but what it is is a thing that my brain thinks about going to when I have some downtime or I'm standing there waiting for my soup in the microwave or what have you, like. And I've been posting on it and I've been deleting posts, which is always a good sign. It means I'm very engaged with the discourse there. I'm loving it. Have you been messing with Blue sky lately? I mean, do you feel like Blue sky is something that you're going to actually spend a decent amount of time on?

[Andrew Walsh]

I mean, again, like, I haven't. I've been on it for a couple of years now, I think, and so I haven't really changed.

[Luke Burbank]

Not much has changed for you. Does it feel energetically different?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes. As a reader of it, and I think I mentioned this last week, I really love that there's more content there now. And it's a little bit of a weird feeling because now, now I'm following all these people that I used to follow who are like big names, you know. Like, again, I think I threw out Mina Kimes. I'm Chris Hayes, by the way. Has been there since the beginning too, by the way, and did a good job of updating that, but for a lot, because Blue sky was so niche for so long, like, you would just. I was desperate to find anybody with similar interests, usually around the Mariners. So I started following these people that I don't really know that well, and they were the only people in my timeline and they're sort of like strangers who now I feel like I sort of know online. And now that there's such a flood, because I've been signing up for more accounts, now there's such a flood of content in my feed, I feel like, oh, those people that I. This little band of explorers that we had early on are starting. We're starting to kind of disband a little bit and sort of like float further and further away from each other. But still, it's fine. I prefer it this way because there's so much more content there. I saw finally a headline in the Seattle Times today which was like, how to join Blue Sky. You know, and so the more people There the better now you. I. I'm not on there all the time. It's not still my, like, you know, maybe once a day I'll check it or something. I'm still not like, checking it. Like, I did Twitter all the time and I think that's good. By the way, I'm hoping not to get back into all bad Twitter habits on bluesky. It's been kind of nice to be able to, like, sort of take a bit of a step back, but know that it's there if you need it. Having said that, and I don't want to start an argument with you, but I am very curious about something that you post this weekend. And I saw it. You happened to post it like 33 seconds before I opened Blue Sky. So it was there at the top of my feed. And you mentioned at the beginning of the show today that you've been kind of like, I really don't want to repeat it.

[Luke Burbank]

But skiing, skating and deleting.

[Andrew Walsh]

Which actually, maybe that is the show title. Like, maybe I changed my bio.

[Luke Burbank]

My Blue sky bio.

[Andrew Walsh]

Maybe. I can't deny it. My Blue sky bio is really weird, by the way. And I don't remember. I think I heard a commercial one time. I don't remember. I went back and looked at my profile this weekend, and I have no recollection of writing this as my profile. Here's my profile. Andrew Walsh and Blue Sky A Results driven Blank with the proven track record of blank. I have no idea. Like, I must.

[Luke Burbank]

That sounds like you had just heard an NPR underwriter.

[Andrew Walsh]

I think that must have been it. And I was just like, oh, yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Hallucination free AI scalable for your business.

[Andrew Walsh]

I think I need to change that now that people are actually on the site. But anyway, so I don't know if this is something that you skeeted and deleted or had other thoughts about, but I'm really interested in your. And again, this brings us back to snack food. I'm not interested in your tweet so much as your skeet. Your post so much as I'm actually interested in your thoughts on a snack food that I. I really like. And it's Gardettos. I believe you had posted something like. And you had taken out. I think you're referring to the little. The little toasted. Like there's. There's little rye chips in there and then there's. What are the dark ones? Pumpernickel chips in there. And you said you want a cereal episode or a serial season all about those. And I wasn't sure exactly why. Do you not like those?

[Luke Burbank]

No, I. Well, first of all, I've got cereal on the brain. As in the season, as in the show, because I listened to all of the new cereal this weekend.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, and what is that? What is that?

[Luke Burbank]

It's about Keiko the killer whale.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, I didn't. I totally missed all this.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, it's really. I. Quite compelling. It's not. It doesn't feel like it's as long. Like there's five episodes and they seem to average around 30 minutes. It's not quite as. As. As involved as like the Adnan Syed season or whatever, some of the other ones. So you can kind of. If you're like, for instance, if you're painting a room, Andrew, you can really get through the whole thing.

[Andrew Walsh]

But.

[Luke Burbank]

So I think I had. First of all, I think I had the idea of serial, the. The kind of deep dive investigation in my brain. And then I guess what I meant by that more generally was just I find this to be fascinating as a thing. And I guess I was just trying to make a statement about how, like, I could have. I could listen to a lot of discourse around the topic of these little. Are they the rye crisps? Is that what I have a picture of on the Internet?

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't. Is it still up there? I don't remember. I wasn't. I thought you maybe had a pump.

[Luke Burbank]

This is one of the skits I stand by.

[Andrew Walsh]

I was. I wasn't sure if you had a pumpernickel one, but I was. And again, like, I love talking about snack food with you. And we just did that for like an hour. One thing I don't like is when people pretend to be like, angry about their. Oh, you're wrong about what you like as a snack food. You know what I mean? You know how the discourse can sort of slip into that. And I think that's very kind of just tired. Is.

[Luke Burbank]

Gardetto's a sandwich.

[Andrew Walsh]

These Gardetto's a hot dog. Exactly. It's a better joke. But I. But I am without being. Without being judgy and having my own strong feelings about it. I'm curious was.

[Luke Burbank]

I love them. I do love them.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay. I guess they were like, these are a crime against humanity.

[Luke Burbank]

No, no, no, no. I like them a lot. And that was what I was. I don't know what I was trying to say. Like, you're right. When. When. By invoking the term serial or any of these other, like, you know, investigative sort of things, it sounds like I want this to Be looked into further because I have some problem with it. And really what I was trying to say was I would listen to a long, long, long celebration.

[Andrew Walsh]

A celebration.

[Luke Burbank]

So maybe, yeah, maybe that. Maybe that's a skeet that I'll delete at some point.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm not trying to get here. I was just legit curious because I was like, if you don't like those. I was like, no, I like them. Think you'd be on the outside because they're the only ones that have been isolated and sold as their own bag.

[Luke Burbank]

Which someone explained to me on Blue Sky.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, really?

[Luke Burbank]

You can just buy. Which I don't trust myself with that.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, that's the thing. And I feel like it will devalue it on your taste buds a little bit. Like, this is something that I struggle with every time I've been like a 711 snack section on a road trip. Trip. Because that's like my main gardettos. And by the way, terrible. Like, you should not be eating them when you're trapped in a car and your fingers are getting super greasy and the whole car just smells. But that's when I want them the most. Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

I don't even know where that. I think Walt might have brought a bag of Gardettos over, which, first of all, it's amazing that he went named Bram. That it's not like Gardontos, you know, that, like. Yeah, I. But. But I. Yeah, I would, like, was like, the other night, I was feeling a Mike Peckish, and I found this bag of Gardettos in the cabinet, and I was like, all right. And then I was like, oh, my God, the little. The little toast chip thing is just so incredible. But, yeah, I think that was unclear.

[Andrew Walsh]

What I was saying. Mike Peckish. Is that. Do I have that right?

[Luke Burbank]

Of the show. A friend of mine, Mike Peckish, just.

[Andrew Walsh]

You drop these references night. It's hard for me to keep up with them. But, yeah, I just. Maybe we've had this conversation before. But as much as I consider those little chips to be the treasure inside the bag of Garganos, I don't want just the treasure. Like, I don't want to buy just the bag of them, because I just sort of feel like the. The joy is having to get through a couple of just regular pretzels in order to get to one of those things.

[Luke Burbank]

You know what I am trying to do. And I know this is, like, way more conversation around Blue sky than anybody really wants or needs, but I'm actually trying to not force myself. But just Actually do a lot of whatever we call it, posting on the site, whether or not the posts are good. Because I want to get into the habit of it, which again, is a strange thing because my. Before Twitter became completely toxic politically, my relationship with it was kind of not super free and easy because I think a lot of it for me was, you know, going on there to try to post a tweet so that then the right people would notice it and retweet it, and then I would. Would feel some sort of happiness, which is not a good relationship to have with social media. And yet I'm actively trying to get myself back into that relationship with Blue sky. Like, because. Whereas with. I guess I technically have a lot of posts on Threads, but that's only because it auto posts my Instagram stuff to threads. Like, I've. I have. I don't. I can't remember going to Threads and intentionally putting something on there.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, you probably did way back when it was brand new.

[Luke Burbank]

Maybe in the, like my first week of being excited about. I probably posted like three threads intentionally. And then anything else that's on there is just because my. My Instagram does it automatically. And then for a long time I've been trying to use Instagram the way that I used to use Twitter. And that also kind of never quite worked for whatever reason. But now I find myself being like, I want to get in the habit of posting on Blue sky. And not every post has to be particularly good or light the world on fire. It's just getting in the habit of. And it's also generating enough content that the people who are like, following me become used to me posting content and engage with the content. And like, I guess I'm trying to will this into being a real thing, but it's kind of a weird feeling because again, if I'm successful at it and if I end up with sort of what for me was a lot of followers on, like, Twitter and the relationship I had with it, I don't know if that's a good outcome or not, but I'm trying to kind of get that. I'm trying to get that old magic back.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm. I'm kind of enjoying and I don't. Our relationship to the Twitter website and this type of stuff is very different. Different anyway, I think, or, you know, different, if not very different. And so maybe we're starting from different points, but I actually kind of like not feeling a lot of pressure to do it, like having it, like maybe saying, hey, this is a refresh, like Twitter. A couple of times in my relationship with it got to a point where I was like, what is this doing to me? Like, this is making me in some way agitated in a way that I don't like. And I'll always remember being. This was so weird on a beach, literally on a beach on New Year's Day, saying, I'm going to get the people I follow on Twitter down to, like, under 100 and try to keep it there, because, like, I am just seeing an echo chamber of. I'm sure it was during the first Trump administration. I hate saying first, and it's just I have a lisp, so the S is hard. But I remember just thinking, like, I just don't need everybody I follow yelling the same thing into the void. And I need. And so, like, I kind of went through a refresh then, but then it kind of built up again, and it's kind of like. And one thing I sort of like right now is like, oh, this is like, I love a clean slate. I mean, this is what for Very specifically, this is such a micro thing. But very specifically my generation, which is an older generation now when it comes to technology, what we went through was sort of a refresh of social media every year or so. When social media was new for me, I started on Flickr, which was a photo site, so that's a little bit different. But then you had Friendster. I can't remember if it was Friendster. That was first, then.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, God, MySpace.

[Andrew Walsh]

Exactly. Then MySpace. Then. I can't remember if there was something in between that and Facebook, but I remember thinking, oh, well, and Facebook is just going to be here for another year or two, too, and until we move on to the next thing. But then the next thing, you know, Facebook just did not go away and started impacting world politics, you know what I mean? And then that became such. I hated what Facebook felt like after a while, and so I just got rid of it. But I didn't have the next thing to go to. And listeners of the show will know I have gone on a lot of. I've been looking for that second vine or that fifth vine for a long time now. Going back to remember our conversations about Ello back in the day when I was in Los Angeles. Did you say hello to, like, just all these. To the. To the people that recreated my space? Remember somebody recreated MySpace a few years ago and it act. It acted exactly like the original MySpace did. And I got a bunch of tens to follow me over there until we all just. Or at least I just gave up on it after a week or whatever. There was just, like, no momentum. And so it's really fun to see something new start here, but also just a refresh of everything. Like, I don't have to follow all the same people I used to follow, and I don't have to slip back into the old habits. I probably eventually will, but I don't feel a need to, like, sort of prime the pump on it.

[Luke Burbank]

As the person who tweets under the name Norm Charlatan.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Who's a somebody that. Our friend the Stu Bot. By the way, I'm following the Stubborn on there. Although the Stu Bot already has, like, thousands of Blue sky followers.

[Andrew Walsh]

He's been on for a long time, too, by the way. He's been. Oh, okay.

[Luke Burbank]

I didn't realize that because I only recently got there, Andrew. I assume it only, like, I breathed life into it. Like, it was just. It was the void before I got there. There's no way anyone was on Blue sky predating me. But Norm Charlton said something to the effect of his. His post on Blue sky was like, if you're somebody that I was following over on the Other Place and I haven't followed you yet, please know that I'm just working on rebuilding my list. If you're someone that was following me on the Other Place and you're not following me now, I will hunt you down.

[Andrew Walsh]

He's the best. He must loom large in your. In your Mariners memories, no?

[Luke Burbank]

Well, I very much remember. You mean the pitcher, Norm? You mean the sheriff?

[Andrew Walsh]

This is him. This is him. He and Stu Butter Budd.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, but it's not. He's not Norm Charlton, the pitcher?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. I mean, Stu is friends with him, and he's a hilarious Twitter follow.

[Luke Burbank]

Wait a minute. The former pitcher, Norm Charlton?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

One of the nasty boys from the Cincinnati Reds, along with Rob Dibble and others who then came to Seattle and was called the Sheriff and pitched for us, is also Norm Charlatan.

[Andrew Walsh]

I didn't know that he changed his name on that, but I know that he's a really funny Twitter follow and that he's kind of buds with Stu Bot to a degree that they know each other and can hang sometimes. And also because when I posted a video of him closing out one of the games in the 95 series and I digitized it and posted it like, stubborn shared it with him.

[Luke Burbank]

But that is if that is really the baseball player, I thought that was just a funny. I thought that was a fellow, like, Midwest baseball commenter Person. Person who was doing a funny play on the name Norm Charlton. I did not think that was the baseball player Norm Charlton. If that is. My mind has exploded out of my brain and I need you to host the rest of the podcast. I mean, be a slumped over shell.

[Andrew Walsh]

Unless I'm. Because Stubbot is a 61 year old.

[Luke Burbank]

From Fort Polk, Louisiana, has that level of sense of humor that is incredible.

[Andrew Walsh]

He's amazing.

[Luke Burbank]

That's insane.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes. I mean, unless I'm. Unless I'm missing some sort of layered upon. Layered upon, layered joke. Because Stubborn has even mentioned him on the text chain before. He has watched Viking Seahawks games with Norm before, I believe.

[Luke Burbank]

I don't think it's the picture. Norm. I don't think that guy lives in Minnesota.

[Andrew Walsh]

I think he does.

[Luke Burbank]

Really? The Norm. The sheriff moved to Minnesota and became friends with the Stu Bot and is not just like a different rando sports commentator who is using a funny name.

[Andrew Walsh]

Is it that. I mean, can I just call this tube out right now and see if he picks.

[Luke Burbank]

Will you.

[Andrew Walsh]

Is there a way.

[Luke Burbank]

I want this to be true so badly because I. I want this to be the case. I mean, seriously. Seriously, because I never even. There was no universe in which I considered this a possibility.

[Andrew Walsh]

I need to. What I need to do is tell this. I need you to buy me some time because I need to tell this dude about. I'm calling him from a strange number, but I need him to pick up. Okay.

[Luke Burbank]

Okay. I'll read you some other stats about Norm Charlton, the baseball player. He was the bullpen coach in 2007 for the Mariners. He was not. His contract was not renewed when they hired Don Wakamatsu to be their field manager in 2008. I guess the field manager gets to pick some of the position coaches. And Don Wakamatsu was apparently not a. Not a Norm Charlton fan. He graduated from Rice University. He was a political science major, but he also majored in religion and physical education. While at Rice, where he played baseball, he had an ERA of 2.25 and an 11 win season. His dad was also a Rice alum. So you could say he was a legacy person there. Let's see some other interesting things.

[Andrew Walsh]

Doing great, by the way. Thank you. As I leave you while you're. I do think that. I do think that Stubbot is going to pick up here because I text him and he responded right away.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, I love it.

[Stu Bot]

Hello, this is Stu.

[Andrew Walsh]

Hey, Stu, how you doing, buddy? You're on tbtl.

[Stu Bot]

Am I on live?

[Luke Burbank]

You are yes, you are. Oh, yeah, buddy.

[Stu Bot]

Oh, this is great. Oh, man, this is the best.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, what's going on, old friend 98? So good to hear from you. We're having a Blue sky related conversation. And. And your name came up as it related to the person who posts on. On. On places. I was trying to quote somebody that you follow and repost a lot on various places. Who goes under. Is it Norm Charlatan or Norm Charlton?

[Stu Bot]

Yes, Norma Charlatan.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes, Norm Charlatan. And he had said something very funny about the migration of Blue sky and how basically like, if he's not following you back, he's. He'll get to it and if you're not following him from the other platforms, he will hunt you down or something. Something.

[Stu Bot]

Yes. To the ends of the earth.

[Luke Burbank]

But, but, but the. What we're trying to understand is, is that person actually the one time nasty boy Norm Charlton, or is that a. An indoor kid sports poster who's using the funny name Norm Charlton?

[Stu Bot]

The latter. He is.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay, I'm sorry. I argue. So are you not friends with the original pitcher? Did I totally have that wrong?

[Stu Bot]

No, I am. I'm only friends with Rob Dibble and Ken.

[Andrew Walsh]

I am Luke, by the way, Rob.

[Luke Burbank]

Dibble has been name checked in this episode. That is second Rob Dibble mention.

[Andrew Walsh]

I am absolutely embarrassed and absolutely mind blown. I had a whole scenario where you were friends with him because you. I one time digitized. I one time digitized a piece of tape with the actual picture in it, like from some 95 game. And I thought you shared it with him. And I thought I was like, wow, I am like one degree of separation away from this legendary closer. And I am not. And I'm literally blushing right now. I am so embarrassed.

[Luke Burbank]

God damn it, Andrew. I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to set this up.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm glad to know.

[Luke Burbank]

I mean, damn it, I wish we could go. I wish we had a time machine. I mean, for a lot of reasons. But I wish we could go back to before this conversation so Andrew could continue thinking that Rice University graduate Norm Charles is also a hugely funny sports poster. I mean, that would just make my year.

[Stu Bot]

I can't.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, boy.

[Stu Bot]

That's amazing that Andrew thought that. I am.

[Andrew Walsh]

I am for clumps. So when you were. When you didn't you one time text to the text chain that you were watching a Seahawks Vikings game with a former pitcher? Or were you just hanging out with this Internet nerd?

[Stu Bot]

Oh, God, come on.

[Andrew Walsh]

Now I'm turned. I'm sorry, what's that? What's that? Stiva?

[Stu Bot]

I was just hanging out with the Internet nerd charlatan.

[Andrew Walsh]

I love this Internet nerd, but, boy, do I have egg on my face. I was just arguing so vociferously with Luke before you got on the lobby.

[Luke Burbank]

I was so ready to be wrong. I wanted. I am. I'm. I'm typically wrong. And I've never wanted to be wrong more than this. Than in this case. Case. It just. I think, part of it. Andrew, this just has to do with. If you had, like, lived in Seattle in the 90s and you'd ever watched Norm Charlton walk to or from the mound, you would know that this is a person with bad takes.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay, that's a bummer.

[Luke Burbank]

He's the physical manifestation of a bad take.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, man. You know what? I gotta stop. I think I just started following on Blue Sky. I'm gonna take a little break. I'm unfollowing him now not because of. And because I actually think your friend is absolutely hilarious.

[Luke Burbank]

Nothing.

[Andrew Walsh]

He's hilarious, but if I follow him every time a little tweet from him comes up, I will remember this conversation and be re embarrassed. So I need to take a break from this. I need to maybe take a break from both of you guys as well. Come back in a year.

[Luke Burbank]

Quiet week.

[Andrew Walsh]

Luke, I sincerely apologize for yelling at you.

[Luke Burbank]

No, you didn't yell at me. You merely really stood your ground for once, which is a reasonable thing.

[Andrew Walsh]

Never do that.

[Luke Burbank]

Never do that.

[Andrew Walsh]

Stu, how are you?

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, right. God bless the broken road that led us to our friend, the Stubbot. Hey, buddy.

[Stu Bot]

How's it going?

[Andrew Walsh]

Not great.

[Luke Burbank]

Very little has changed since the last time we had you on the program.

[Stu Bot]

No. Oh, my God.

[Andrew Walsh]

I.

[Stu Bot]

That's. That is so great, though. I'm going. I'm going to talk to Norm Charlatan online after this.

[Luke Burbank]

You can point him towards the exact moment on this show that his nom de Internet is invoked. And he can listen to that, probably with great delight that he became such a topic on today's show.

[Stu Bot]

Oh, God, he will, because, yeah, he's like. As I mentioned, he is a native of the PN dub. And, yeah, he'll think this is a hoot.

[Luke Burbank]

Congratulations, by the way, on the Vikings school. You guys got real good.

[Stu Bot]

Oh, man. Yeah. Yesterday was just fantastic. I got that. Got a tough dub against Tennessee. Got a Geno Smith. Just bananas. Game ender against the Niners.

[Andrew Walsh]

I mean, great.

[Stu Bot]

Great day for this little crew here.

[Luke Burbank]

Indeed I was. In fact, that was Part of my whole blue sky thing, which I just joined a few days ago, and now I've been seeing you on there and other folks and Andrew and you have been on there for quite some time, I guess. But yesterday just felt to me like the perfect day to have a new way to connect on social media around the sports that I love, because it was a good day to be a Seahawk, which we can't say very often. And. And also, I like this trend on blue sky. It's like 5% corny, but I kind of go for it, which is posting pictures of the actual blue sky. And I posted a picture of the actual blue sky where I live as the Seahawks were embarking on their final drive. And a big part of me said, this is a. This is a terrible, terrible jinx burbs that you're putting out there. Because, like, usually when I get overconfident, the recent election comes to mind. I'm proven disastrously wrong. And so I posted that. I said, you know, this blue sky is dedicated to Nick Bosa feeling emotional pain and physical pain. And then we ended up actually pulling it out with that Geno scrambles. So, yeah, it was a good day all around for. For the. You know, for. For people who love justice and the American way. And the Seahawks climbing out of the basement of the NFC West. Do you think, Steve, that the. What were you say.

[Stu Bot]

I was gonna say Ders only sound like six negative texts in the.

[Luke Burbank]

Doesn't sound like anything.

[Andrew Walsh]

Do you still have him blocked?

[Luke Burbank]

Uh, I do. I don't know if Stu does.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, no, I don't think Stu blocks.

[Stu Bot]

No, I. Oh, he still comes through.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, no, it's. Do you. I don't want to. I don't want to get you. I don't want to force you into a corner or make you make a prediction that that might be some sort of a jinx. But, I mean, you got to be feeling pretty. Pretty good about these Vikes, like, you know, super bowl material.

[Stu Bot]

Yeah. Honestly, the Lions look so good, man, if they can get.

[Luke Burbank]

Who knew knee captain fighting was such a path to victory?

[Stu Bot]

Jesus. But, yeah, they're just rock solid. Vikings are good.

[Luke Burbank]

Good.

[Stu Bot]

Very good. They'll. They'll make the playoffs. What'll be a fun game. And I'm sure you both have this circled on Your calendar. Is 1223 at whatever you call the stadium in Seattle this year. It's. It's Seahawks, Vikings, the two days before Christmas.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, I didn't realize that.

[Luke Burbank]

That's going to be big. I'm. I'm. You know, I still haven't forgiven my city for the Blair Walsh situation. Stew, like. And as much as I would, I enjoyed that at the time. I hated that it had to come against my good friend Stu and also the city of Minnesota that I love. So I'm hoping. It's like, I want the Seahawks to win, but also if we. If we've. If we've managed to fall out of contention by then, I won't be that sad if the Vikes wings. I feel like the Vikings have more upside than the Seahawks do this year. And we owe you after those flair Walsh kicks.

[Stu Bot]

Yeah, yeah, it feels that way this year, but, man, I don't. I mean, I think that game's gonna be. I'm fairly bullish on the Seahawks this year. I think they've got a. They've got a chance to, like, you know, be a little. Be a little frisky here towards the end and maybe sneak into the. Sneak into, like, the six or seven spot and who knows, Chip in the chair, guys. You get in the playoffs, anything can happen.

[Luke Burbank]

We're the Daniel Negronu of football. I love this. I love that all the Seattle sports writers who four days ago were, like, writing the Seahawks off are now, like, you know, this is exactly the defense that Mike McDonald had planned all along. Like, now we're good all of a sudden.

[Andrew Walsh]

Is this all of them, or is this one in particular who I know gets.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, I'm honestly, like, I'm with most of them at least of a week ago, saying that the Seahawks seemed like they were a bit adrift. I don't think one. One win fixes it for him, but it was. And again, critically, to my bank account, I had the coveted Geno Smith rushes for a touchdown bet laid. So that wasn't the worst thing to happen on a Sunday.

[Andrew Walsh]

Do you mess around with betting? Do you ever do. Can you do that where you are?

[Stu Bot]

Nope, we still can't.

[Andrew Walsh]

We got.

[Stu Bot]

We got weed last year from the. From the state ledge, and I think we get sports betting either this. This 2025 or 2026. I think that was the. The agreement. From what I've heard from my sources.

[Andrew Walsh]

At the Capitol, do you think that'll affect. Like, would you. Would you go in for that? Are you more reserved when. Oh, hell, yeah. Yeah.

[Stu Bot]

Oh, no, I'd have a blast doing it. I'd have to be careful, obviously, because I think we know that's when you have the ability to bet on the Vikings under. On your phone from Your couch?

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, I have. I think I have the advantage. It's not legal in Washington yet where I live technically. So I can only do this if I have the forethought to lay some bets while I'm in Oregon, which I generally don't. So it's kind of a good, like. Yeah, it's a good control mechanism on the whole thing.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Are you kind of glad of that, Luke? I was going to ask you that earlier. Like, do you, like, I know. If you could flip a switch and make it legal in Washington, I think you would. But as part of you. Glad that you can.

[Luke Burbank]

I have a weird rel. I have a weirdly unproblematic relationship with specifically sports betting, which is strange. Like, it's just I have had the same, I don't know, 2 to $500 in DraftKings ever since I set the account up. I don't know why. It's just either. I just don't know enough about sports. I don't think about it enough. Like, it's not something that I think I would get crazy with. Well, like, because when I lived in Oregon, I had it on my phone and it wasn't something I got particularly crazy with, which is funny because other. Other forms of betting, something that I've needed to sort of be careful around. But for whatever reason, this. It's like me and marijuana. Like, I've enjoyed it at times in my life. It's not something that I think about hardly at all when I'm not in the midst of engaging with it. And I can't explain why that is, because all of the, you know, all of the indicators point towards I should have a sports gambling problem, but I don't.

[Stu Bot]

Absolutely the same here.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah. Do you have a ha. Problem Is the real question. When's the last time you had a.

[Stu Bot]

Hair of a haggis blessing? They have them in grocery stores now, so I had one, like, last month.

[Luke Burbank]

So it was nice.

[Stu Bot]

Delightful. It was the inferno. It's one that has jalapeno peppers on it. Oh, let me tell you, brother, I'm.

[Luke Burbank]

At the age where I have to really strategically plan out when I eat something with jalapenos.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. I have to plan out all kinds of food now. I have to think about that. I'm kind of like, well, well, I mean, I don't want to get into this, but here I am. But, like, there are times where I'm like, okay, I got a bunch of errands to run, and one of those things is to eat lunch and then I think, you know what, Maybe we make lunch last on the stops because afterwards I don't know where I'm going to be. And maybe I don't want to be in line at the post office as I, you know, like a half hour after eating. These were never thoughts I had to consider before.

[Luke Burbank]

I remember being at the. At the Legion on Phelan after we did that live event. Event and just absolutely, just deeply disrespecting a haggis pizza by tearing all of the.

[Stu Bot]

Oh, my God.

[Luke Burbank]

I believe you described it as a flayed man Andrew approach.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, it was. There were dark days that was in.

[Luke Burbank]

My all carbs, no gas phase of life that has long since departed me.

[Andrew Walsh]

But.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, listen, Stu, thank you for picking up. Thank you for settling this disagreement. Please only answer these things when I will be the one who is proven right. Right. If it's an Andrew thing and he's going to be right, just do not disturb that call. If you would. If you wouldn't mind, I can do that.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm so embarrassed. But honestly, thank you for clearing it up. Like, honestly, this is the type of thing I'm going to think about a lot, especially when I'm. I don't want that. No, but it's just like. It's not even. It's not even this moment of being so wrong, so loudly, so wrong so publicly. But it's also just the world that I've lived in for three. I don't know when you started like kind of retweeting and posting and I started following him. I mean, his. The fact that it's charlatan and I never even noticed that it was right there in front of me the whole time. It's just like waking up from a dream or something where the reality that I thought, like, I really thought you were friends with an ex Mariner baseball player.

[Stu Bot]

Sadly, no. I apologize.

[Luke Burbank]

I'm trying to think, honestly, if there is a Mariner who is an ex Mariner that would have the highest kind of like. I mean, of like legendary status, not of like cup of coffee status. I want to say, believe it or not, even though he's. He's real salt of the earth guy, but it's a. It's a Gopher State alum. It's a Land of a Thousand Lakes alum, I should say. Really. And maybe Dan Wilson, maybe current head coach Dan Wilson. Just because I've seen him. I've seen him eating at various cool restaurants in Seattle, which means you think he's a little Plugged in.

[Stu Bot]

That's possible.

[Luke Burbank]

Anybody? I mean, I'm trying to.

[Stu Bot]

I'm trying. I'm running through old Mariners in my head right now. This is.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah.

[Stu Bot]

Gonna distract me from.

[Luke Burbank]

Probably not Mark Langston. Probably not. Let's see. Probably not Spike Owen. Yeah. Edgar. No Edgar. Maybe. Maybe in his. Yeah. I'm trying to think if there's. Is there a Minnesota. What about maybe little Joey. Yeah. Is there. Is there a Minnesota Twin who you think actually could be, like, a funny Twitter presence? Do you guys have any. Any historic oddballs? Ken Herbert.

[Stu Bot]

Oh. Oh, God. Oh. Herbeck was.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Stu Bot]

He posted Fishing with John Lurie guacamole once. Oh, man. Herbeck would post every once in a while, and it's picture of his wife's just whole, like, appetizer spreads that she would make. People would make fun of.

[Luke Burbank]

I could get down with that.

[Stu Bot]

She made this, like, guacamole that looked like the toilet and train spots. Train spots. So that's how I got blocked by Kent Herbeck on the old.

[Luke Burbank]

One. Too many Irving Welsh references. Anyway. All right, well, listen, man, it's so. It's good to catch up with you. Give our love to the fam. Okay.

[Stu Bot]

You know, I will. Thanks for calling, guys.

[Andrew Walsh]

Take care. Bye.

[Luke Burbank]

Adios.

[Stu Bot]

Later, skaters.

[Luke Burbank]

Here I go once again with the email.

[Andrew Walsh]

Every week, I hope that it's from a female.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, man. It's not from a female.

[Andrew Walsh]

All right.

[Luke Burbank]

Emails or females.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, we got a voicemail that I wanted to share with you. This was in regards to something we talked about on last week's show. A headline, a somewhat. Somewhat dubious headline from the New York Times that said.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, yeah. That the viewers were leaving MSNBC and flocking to Fox as if it was the same people.

[Andrew Walsh]

Exactly. But basically the story was that viewership numbers are down from MSNBC after the election and viewership numbers for Fox News or up because. Yeah. What's wrong?

[Luke Burbank]

I'm sorry. I don't mean to stop. You remember how when we were just done talking to the Stu Bot about a Kent Herbeck post where he mentioned train spotting and I said a little too much. Irving Welsh, that's the guy who wrote the book Train Spotting. And now you're setting this. You're setting this voicemail up regarding that New York Times thing, and I just glance out on my phone and I just get like, a blue skies. You know, they're pushing. I haven't had the discipline. Discipline to turn off whatever their push notification stuff is yet. And it just shows me a push notification from Irving Welsh. Good morning, Mr. And Ms. Blue Skies. Why did you have to hide away for so long? Okay, we get an ELL reference deadline today on submission of my novel to be published next year. So see you all later. The post is from the writer, Irving Welsh.

[Andrew Walsh]

So that's. First of all, I've never gotten, like, pushed tweets from people like, I don't follow before.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, it wasn't a push. It was just like something went up on my phone. I kind of tapped it instinctively.

[Andrew Walsh]

I think it was just.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah. I somehow engaged with Blue sky, and it's a. It's. The first thing that I see is a post from the. Is the Scottish writer, I'm sure.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I think so.

[Luke Burbank]

I haven't mentioned that guy's name probably in my life.

[Andrew Walsh]

And here it is.

[Luke Burbank]

And here it is. And I mean, whatever. I guess it's just a coincidence, but that's a really strange coincidence.

[Andrew Walsh]

You know, it's even a bigger coincidence is the stu bot is personal friends with Irving Welsh. Did you know that they watch games together? Dude, I swear to God, there were text messages.

[Luke Burbank]

I apologize for totally destroying our flow there.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, it's okay.

[Luke Burbank]

I just thought that was really strange. Keep going.

[Andrew Walsh]

Anyway, just in regards to the fact that MSNBC numbers, viewership numbers might be down in the wake of the election because we don't want to, because a lot of people who voted.

[Luke Burbank]

Reminded.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. For Kamala Harris. Are not really interested in following the news cycle these days because it's just so, so, so depressing. We got this voicemail from somebody who is actually almost showed up in your horoscope today. One of your siblings, Rob Dibble. This is, of course, David from the basement. So let's open up.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, I know that.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, let's open up the basement door.

[Luke Burbank]

Hey, Luke and Andrew. Cfpb. I just wanted to call after, you know, couple tough weeks here, especially working in news media. I called because I wanted to address Luke. You had talked about MSNBC ratings going down in my own kind of private protests here at a news station which leans a bit right, certainly away from my sensibility. I have been changing every single television station all around the newsroom, to msnbc. Both a protest and also to help.

[Andrew Walsh]

Out our friends over there.

[Luke Burbank]

And it gives me a little bit of joy to know that certain conservative talk hosts come into their studio to find the station on MSNBC instead of Fox News. And that gives me a little bit of happiness.

[Andrew Walsh]

All right.

[Luke Burbank]

Anyways, love you both.

[Andrew Walsh]

Pow. Wow. I know that we need to get out of here. Luke.

[Luke Burbank]

But I'm so here for it.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I don't know if you are. I think you were aware of this maybe slightly, but maybe. I don't know if it's something you would remember, but when we worked together at Cairo Radio, which I have no idea where David from the basement works, but you and I work together at Cairo Radio from Anonymous radio station. And you had this show. Let's see, I produced it. And it was you And Dave Ross, 9am to noon. Right. And then Dory Monson would come on after that, the conservative guy. And I remember, like, we would have MSN because so many of the studios around there would just have Fox News on because so many of the people were like kind of Fox leaning, especially Dory, of course, but we would always have on like cnn, msnbc, I think, and then maybe a local on the third station. I just remember like Dory and his producers or news people coming in and like, just trying to change it off of MSNBC as fast as possible and get it back on to get it.

[Luke Burbank]

And I even your feelings, Andrew, F. Your feelings.

[Andrew Walsh]

I literally remember because I was pretty new out of public radio at the time. I remember Dory coming in, seeing a woman on msnbc and I think she was a presenter. Like, I think she was anchoring something and him and his, like, news person at the time being like, oh, look at her. She would never be allowed to be on Fox News just based fully on her, like, sex appeal. Like, I was just. I remember just being like, are you. Where am I working? Like, what is this, by the way?

[Luke Burbank]

That was probably the good old days. I mean, like, that was. That was unfortunately, as. Again, and we're talking about different radio stations, of course, as DFTB is referring to. I'm guessing that there's just generally been a right word drift if you look at the programming lineup. I mean, Dory is obviously no longer on this planet. But like, you know, those were. There was probably some amount of at least centrist pushback happening in those days. Maybe me doing some of that. I don't know. But like, yeah, that's. Those are the kinds of conversations and the kind of thoughts of like somebody dismissing an MSNBC a host out of hand because of how they physically appear to that person. Yeah, it's like that's the kind of thing that still that sends me spiraling because those people right now are winning. I don't think they're going to win forever, but they're winning right now. And every bit of news just feels more and More like they're winning. The worst people are winning right now. The people with the worst instincts and the, you know. But I do just say what I keep saying. I, it's. I know I say this too much, but the future is not written. But also just like I, right now, I'm almost taking it as like, like, I'll give you an example yesterday when the Chicago Bears, and we have lots of listeners in Wisconsin and lots of listeners outside of Wisconsin who love the packaging, you know, peace and love. I'm not trying to be mean, but it's like, I feel like I'm rooting for the Chicago Bears because our friend Chris Hayes is a big fan and because the Bears have just been beleaguered.

[Andrew Walsh]

Would you say peace and Jordan love?

[Luke Burbank]

I would absolutely say that. And, and like yesterday, you know, and also the fact that the Bears have this guy named Rome Odunze who's a former UW Husky and he was taken in the first round along with Caleb Williams, their quarterback. And I sort of like both of them as people, as far as I can assess. And the idea of like them being a dynamic duo and Chicago, you know, getting some love after they've just been really, really bad for a long time and they're playing the packers who always bedevil them, and I'm texting with our friend Chris Hayes and the Bears drive the field and they like, are actually have a game winning field goal and it's reasonably close by field goal standards, not like a 60 yarder. And of course it gets blocked and it just feels like, is, are we ever going to get a W anywhere on any level, be it sports, be it, you know, politics, I don't know, like it. And I almost laughed when that, when they missed that. I just thought, you know, I'm, I feel like we're entering into the like, can you make it rain harder territory sometimes. Like, famously Prince, when he was performing at the super bowl halftime show, it started raining and everyone was fretting and then he supposedly, who knows if it's real or not, said, can you make it rain harder? I'm kind of trying to lean into that a little bit. Like, can you make it rain harder, Universe? Like, I don't mean I want more bad things to happen or more people to have fewer protections, but it's almost just like, is that all you got, universe? And it seems like it's applying to this weird wide variety of things, whether it's like a stupid football game or Matt Gaetz, you know, it's just like can you. Like, it just feels like all the bad people are getting all the W's right now, but I don't think that is how life is going to be permanently. It feels like it right now. I just don't think that's what's going to happen. I don't know when it's going to break. I don't know what's going to change, but I just don't think it's always going to be like this. At least that's what I keep telling myself.

[Andrew Walsh]

And, you know, I certainly don't have the answers. And I don't mean to say something here that's going to sound like I'm trying to be wizened or talk down to you in any way, but I would maybe suggest avoiding the instinct of grouping it all together. Not that I'm not doing it myself. I'm just saying, like, if I can sit here now and kind of pull myself away from it a little bit and, like, I think we'd be doing ourselves a favor if we don't associate a field goal with. And I know it sounds like, I.

[Luke Burbank]

Mean, the fact that, the fact that the, that the packers had studied the kicking trajectory of the Bears place kicker or field kicker and realized he had a low trajectory and therefore were expecting to block a kick, don't conflate that with Matt Gaetz being the highest law enforcement officer.

[Andrew Walsh]

Right. Or a Fox News host leading the Pentagon, which just saying those words just gives me heart palpitations. But no, I mean, I do think that I know what you mean, and I'm not trying to dismiss that. But you can. I, you know, like, I kind of comes in waves for me. And there were some times this weekend where I was just like, you know, like, whatever, like, literally, like, I don't know, somebody cuts you off in traffic or is rude to you in the grocery store or whatever, steals your spot.

[Luke Burbank]

At Costco, as happened to me this week.

[Andrew Walsh]

And you can, in a Tesla and see and you can, like, start to. And then you can, like, build a whole narrative around them and how it fits into the geopolitical or the national landscape or whatever. And it's like, okay, that's not healthy. That's not healthy. This person cutting me off doesn't have do with the Department of Defense right now. Like, and I guess you're right, it sounds preachy. I'm not saying that I don't slip into it, but, like, maybe that's like something we got to remind ourselves. Like, okay, let's, let's let's at least not make it harder on ourselves.

[Luke Burbank]

Something I was struggling with yesterday as the Seahawk game was. Was going on was. And this is sort of related to the. This stuff, I guess. There have been times in my life where, like, I'm getting really, really worked up about a football game, and then I remind myself it's not life and death. It's like the wider world. Let's just say the Seahawks are playing, but Barack Obama is president, okay? And it's like, I'm super stressed about the game, and then I can tell myself that's just a football game. It's not like, you know, fascism is on the rise and, you know, like, I could fall back on the real world being a better place than, you know, it might otherwise be and use it as comfort against something meaningless like football, if that makes any sense. Think like, you know, you're really upset about this, Luke, but it's not like the Nazis are marching in Ohio. Yeah, in Ohio. You know, I mean, I really would think thoughts like that. And I don't know, that's probably not a particularly good way to kind of, like, you know, manage one's feelings about football by going, well, it's not the real world. The real world is sort of okay right now. Instead, now it just magnifies it. It's like, okay, it's not the real world, but the real world is really messed up. And, like, I guess it's in moments like that that I realize how. How messed up the world is that we're about to go into and how it sort of doesn't leave me anything to fall back on for comfort, I guess, in those moments. And then I have better moments and worse moments, but it's like.

[Andrew Walsh]

And try. It's kind of trying to think of your own personal life, though, too, like. And I'm sorry, I shouldn't tell you what to do or how to think.

[Luke Burbank]

No, I'm all in.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'll just tell you what I do, because even. Even recently I've been. I been thinking this. And again, not to, like, say, oh, well, you know, like, I'm okay, so I don't have to worry about the rest of the world. That's obviously not the lesson here, but when you're in a moment where you're like, everything seems really dark, or especially if it's something like a football game or whatever, something silly like that or something more important, like, for me, like the sort of, like, counting my blessings or whatever you want to call it is just thinking, like, man, still Pretty healthy. Like, still with the woman I'm deeply in love with, have a cute little house in Seattle. Like, none of this stuff is perfect. Trust me, Genevieve.

[Luke Burbank]

Cats.

[Andrew Walsh]

Genevieve is not perfect. The house is perfect. Genevieve. No. You know what I mean. Even thinking last week and, like, you talking about all the stuff around. Around your house and how beautiful it is, and I sort of think, like, yeah, I really should have done more with this basement or whatever. I'm like, you know what? It's a cute little house up in North Seattle, and it is what it is. And, like, I'm so happy. Like, Viva and I will honestly, just out of the blue, sometimes just say to each other, like, she'll just say, God, I just love our little house here, you know? And so sometimes it's helpful to see say, not that. Not that we have to give up on the people that need us to be strong now, but also that, like, there are a lot of personal blessings in our lives, too, you know?

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah. And I think we can take a moment to appreciate those. And I don't think that that's us turning our backs on anybody who needs our, you know, support. I was on that little. I was on a jog with Becca on Saturday and was saying how, like, we were just talking about where we're at in life and our ages and stuff, and I was like, you know, we are going to look back on this someday and just be like, can you remember when I was 48? You know, like, I will look back on this someday. You know, I was having. I had had coffee with somebody on Friday, my buddy Marshall, who's older than me. And I was talking to him just about various things in life. And he was like, well, how old are you? I was like, 48. He was like, oh, you got it made, dude. And I was like, so hard to think about that. I will look back on this and just be like, when I was 48 and my body allowed me to get out and go on runs and do these things, it's such a privilege, and it's easy to lose sight of it in the moment, and it's easy to be overwhelmed by the larger political news. But I also have to, within this moment of my life, be really grateful about the things that are going on in my life. So, yeah, that's. I think that's a. That balance is going to be the thing that we're all going to have to kind of, like, figure out. I mean, I listened to the Daily. This morning on my run, I listened to an entire conversation about Matt Gates. I don't know what that means either of, like, I'm reengaging with the content.

[Andrew Walsh]

Or I'm exposure therapy.

[Luke Burbank]

Exposure therapy slash self harm. I don't know. But I was really waiting for the part where the New York Times reporter was and say, here's why the Senate Republicans will not approve this.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Never quite got that answer.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, for sure.

[Luke Burbank]

But that's what I was looking for. That's what my brain was looking for was some piece of news that said, this is why this may not actually happen. And then I can spin that into, like. Well, then that creates dissension in the ranks. And now this whole thing's. The wheels start to come off for this guy. You know, this guy being Trump. But didn't help, by the way, that there was so much celebration this weekend, and that was people doing Trump dances.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, I see. I'm not exposed to that.

[Luke Burbank]

Good.

[Andrew Walsh]

Don't be.

[Luke Burbank]

Some NFL guy did it. It's just this normalization of his. There's this meme going around because basically, Trump is as he is with everything. He's a horrible dancer, he's a horrible person, horrible dancer, horrible everything. But his horrible dance has now become like him basically on stage, listening to some music when he's having a mental breakdown like he was. And wherever that was him, dancing awkwardly has now become its own meme. And people doing it. Like the guy, Jon Jones, who's a UFC fighter, won something this weekend, and I think the whole thing, and then he does the dance, and guess who's in the crowd? Trump. It's just like this normalization. I mean, that's when it just feels like. It's like, universe, could you stop kicking me in my heart's ball sack? You know? And I do mean the poet, Balzac.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. No, we don't have to.

[Luke Burbank]

We don't have to bleep that. That's a reference to Balzac.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay, I'm gonna. Okay, so we've gone really long here, and so I'm purposely burying this.

[Luke Burbank]

I blame David from the basement.

[Andrew Walsh]

I blame you for falling for an Internet prank. And then we had to call the stewbot to sort things out.

[Luke Burbank]

But that was fun, by the way. It was.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, it was great radio. That's the one thing is, first of all, it's great to hear from the stewbot again.

[Luke Burbank]

It makes you mad that it was great radio, but.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, no, no, it saves me that it was great radio. Like, I'm so embarrassed right now, but just gotta remember, like, to everybody else, that was hilarious. So that's good. And it was hilarious to me, too. I just also feel like I don't know what's real anymore. But having said all of that, this is a really weird thing to say.

[Luke Burbank]

Okay.

[Andrew Walsh]

And I'm almost sort of embarrassed to say it if my prediction is right. But one thing that, like, I've. I love talking about my dreams, right. And I've told you on the show before that I have a lot of, like, kind of not recurring, like, everything is the same, but very thematic recurring dreams. Almost my entire adult life, as far as I can remember. Travel is always a big packing, cleaning, stuff like that. And I have now had in. And I believe all of these have happened since the election, although I'm not for sure. I'm in the last, like, I don't know, couple of weeks. I have had three dreams that all fit a pattern that I've never had before, which is like, being somewhere on the street somewhere. And, like, three or four tough guys kind of start chasing me. Like, you know, like they're thugs or toughs or what street toughs, you know, or whatever. And, like, I remember in one, they're chasing me, and I finally get behind a door and they're pushing on the door and I'm trying to keep them out. And another one, I have a bicycle. That's how you know it's a dream. Like, I take my bicycle and I try to fight them off with my bicycle. And I can't remember what happens in the third one. But the fact is that people are trying. That, like, people are trying to actively beat the shit out of me. This is not a dream I've ever had before. And, you know, as a kid who was bullied and everything, that was not a dream that I didn't have to dream it. No. But, like, the idea of that wasn't.

[Luke Burbank]

How your brain processed. Whatever this particular anxiety is.

[Andrew Walsh]

Several adult men trying to chase me down to beat me up. And the dream never gets to the point where, like, you know, punches are thrown. And I was just like. I was thinking about it on Sunday. I'm like, that's really weird that I'm suddenly having this recurring dream that I've never had before. And then I thought, could it be? And this is maybe ridiculous, but I was like, could it be that I just sort of feel like the bullies. Wonderful that the thugs won.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

And is that what it is? And they're just, like, trying to punch me in my dreams. I don't know. That's why I waited until two hours into the show to throw that out.

[Luke Burbank]

I actually think that's very interesting that there's new dreams that are being integrated into your dreamscape at your age. And it is, it has to be related to a generalized feeling of like, the bad guys won, they did it, they won. It feels, and it makes no sense that they won because it's like it goes against the interest of many of the people who voted for them, you know?

[Andrew Walsh]

Right.

[Luke Burbank]

Like, it's like this feeling of, of and, you know, like, I made the mistake of like, I haven't read the New York Post since the election. I was already kind of souring on. I mean, the thing I always say about the New York Post is like, they have some funny headlines. They would sometimes kind of like find a weird story that worked for us because they don't have any journalistic standards and are just a trolling institution. But sometimes it would, they would, they would have a story that I thought was kind of entertaining, a non political story. But I haven't been able to go there because I'm like, I don't want them gloating. Well, it's worse than I thought, you know, when you go to the New York Post. But it was just so thorough, the gloating today. And every. Like it used to be there'd be like two, two annoying editorials about like, why Trump is better than Kamala Harris or something. And I would just skip past those. The whole newspaper is just basically a victory dance. Right. It's so, it made me feel so. And it, and it really felt like the bullies won, the bad people won, we lost. I thought of it because they were describing, apparently Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski had a meeting. They went to Mar a Lago and had a meeting with Trump that they talked about. I, I haven't read what they said back to MSNBC talk, but my guess would be they said, look, like it or not, this guy is going to be the president. And it's better for us, us as a society and us as a movement to the degree that Joe Scarborough is a, is a lefty. I mean, the guy is a Republican congressman. It's better for us to engage with this person than to not engage with him. Which I think is. There's probably an argument for that, you know, like, but it was like, I swear the headline in the Post was something like defeated Dem commentators or something. Yeah, it's just like, it's like we're in the part of the movie where like, we're all, all you know, we're in the part of the movie where the bad guys seemingly have won and we're all subjugated or, you know, we're chained up in the basement of the castle, or we're. Whatever. We're in the bad. We're in the part of the movie where it looks like there's no hope. And life is not a movie. That's the thing. Life is real life, and movies are movies. But it's like, it feels like we're. We're in that part of the movie. And what I'm hoping is that this is. This is the worst of it and that we. We also move into the part of the movie that nobody sees coming where we actually figure out some way to prevail, you know, or some way to get some amount of our power back. I. I will remain hopeful till the day I die that we get that power back somehow, that we get that agency back. I don't know if we will, but I'm going to remain hopeful that we do, because I don't know what the alternative is for me.

[Andrew Walsh]

You know, what we need to do, Luke, is take the mattresses away from the body bottom of the ramp. Remember the movie Rad? Do you remember the big lesson in the movie?

[Luke Burbank]

You know, Andrew, for a guy who was pretty obsessed with like, BMX bike tricks and stuff, I don't know if I've ever watched Rad. I've heard the trailer to Rad. I think. Wasn't that a. Yes, a TBTL intro drop?

[Andrew Walsh]

Maybe. Maybe I'll use that tomorrow. I think I still have that, but. So I don't remember much about it. I remember seeing it in the 80s or maybe even in the early 90s, past its peak. But for me, the one thing I remember, and maybe I'm totally wrong about this as well, like, nothing. I mean, trust nothing that I say, obviously. But I think there's a big part in it where, like the hero, he's like practicing these. You know, he's jumping off a ramp. I don't know the terminology for. He's riding his bicycle and he's going off this ramp and he's trying to land it, but he can't land it. But then he meets another psych. Do they call him cyclist? I don't know. And I sure.

[Luke Burbank]

I think it's like.

[Andrew Walsh]

I think it's a girl who probably becomes a love interest as well. And I sort feel like she teaches him, like, listen, you're scared that you're going to hurt yourself, so you have all these mattresses. So you're landing on mattresses. You're never going to be able to land it. If you have mattresses down here, you have to remove the mattresses and then land it on the concrete. And that's what we're going to do eventually.

[Luke Burbank]

That's right. Get the mattresses out of here. And then we can gleam that cube.

[Andrew Walsh]

And then we can glean the cube. I have no idea. If anything, I like. We gotta get out of here.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, again, Andrew, I don't want you to feel. I don't want you to feel embarrassment or be hard on yourself about our. Our Norm Charlton conversation because it led to us getting to say hi to our friends. And what's more important than reconnecting with. With. With our friends and our community? What's more important than that? Right now? I can't think of any.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's right. Well, thanks again to the Stubbot for picking up, by the way. That was really good. It was. You're right. It was a broken road that led us back to friendship.

[Luke Burbank]

I believe that's a Rascal Flats song. I don't want to steal valor from the boys of Rascal Flats. That's my. Oh, there's my music for your weekend, Early.

[Andrew Walsh]

Good. Write it up.

[Luke Burbank]

Yep. All right, thanks for listening, everybody. We're gonna be back here tomorrow with more imaginary radio for you, so please join us for that. In the meantime, have a good Monday. Take care yourself. Stay dry and warm and safe. And please remember, no mountain too tall.

[Andrew Walsh]

Good luck to all.

[Luke Burbank]

Power out.