#4375 The Keurig Of Bird Houses

Summary

TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live

Episode: #4375 The Keurig Of Bird Houses
Release Date: January 7, 2025
Hosts: Luke Burbank and Andrew Walsh
Guest: Genevieve

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Introduction

In episode #4375 of TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live, Luke Burbank and Andrew Walsh delve into a variety of entertaining and reflective topics, blending humor with heartfelt conversations. Joined by Genevieve, the trio navigates through personal anecdotes, technological musings, and nostalgic memories, all while maintaining the show's signature playful banter.

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Anniversary Reflections

The episode opens with a celebration of the show's 24th anniversary. Luke reminisces about his early days in broadcasting, sharing anecdotes about his initial interactions with Genevieve and Andrew.

• Luke Burbank [04:03]: "It was 17 years ago on this very day that a young Luke Burbank took to the microphone."

Andrew and Genevieve reflect on their longstanding relationships and the evolution of the podcast, highlighting the deep friendships and shared histories that fuel TBTL.

• Genevieve [04:25]: "We're registered at Tubs. Stop the show."

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Taxi Cab Confessions: Real or Staged?

A significant portion of the episode debates the authenticity of the past radio segment "Taxi Cab Confessions." Andrew questions whether the confessions were genuine or scripted, drawing parallels to shows like Jerry Springer.

• Andrew Walsh [22:15]: "I want the definitive oral history on Taxi Cab Confessions and what was really going on."

Genevieve expresses skepticism about the show's legitimacy, suggesting it may have been as staged as other controversial programs.

• Genevieve [22:07]: "And by the way, I'm accidentally doing this logged in as the TBTL account."

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Bird Watching and Technological Gadgets

The conversation shifts to hummingbird feeders and the integration of technology in bird watching. Andrew discusses his experience with Bird Buddy, a feeder equipped with a camera, highlighting its pros and cons.

• Andrew Walsh [25:35]: "So here's what's been happening... I need to somehow get a message to the hummingbird community. It's over here now."

Genevieve shares her practical approach to bird feeding, emphasizing the joy of interacting with nature without over-relying on technology.

• Genevieve [31:25]: "Genevieve is not somebody who really leans into technology anyway."

Notable Quote:

• Andrew Walsh [32:24]: "Basically, the Keurig of Birdhouses."

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Digital Frames and Photo Sharing

The hosts explore the evolution of digital frames, reminiscing about older technologies like PDAs and discussing modern solutions like Skylight frames. They touch on the challenges of sharing photos and maintaining privacy settings.

• Genevieve [37:10]: "I just want to know that you were feeling insecure around me."

• Andrew Walsh [38:05]: "I think that's part of it."

Notable Quote:

• Genevieve [41:54]: "This is really, really rude, but there are just some. Again, this is just. I'm such a jerk, Luke."

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Restaurant Experiences: The Decline of Salad Bars

A heartfelt discussion unfolds about the transformation of dining experiences post-pandemic. Andrew laments the decline of casual restaurants with classic salad bars, attributing the shift to increased takeout and delivery services.

• Andrew Walsh [68:13]: "There's something about being in a pretty large American city that's fairly hip."

Genevieve agrees, noting the loss of cozy, dine-in establishments and the rise of impersonal chain restaurants.

• Genevieve [71:02]: "It's all part of a."

Notable Quote:

• Andrew Walsh [73:44]: "Everything is turning into basically a DoorDash factory."

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Thermostat Settings and Home Heating

The hosts delve into the nuances of maintaining comfortable home temperatures, discussing various heating systems like mini splits and infrared heaters. Andrew shares his strategies for balancing warmth with energy efficiency.

• Genevieve [75:15]: "Now I want to caveat this by saying it really..."

• Andrew Walsh [75:46]: "I run that at like 85."

Notable Quote:

• Andrew Walsh [82:56]: "Like you're jumping out of an airplane without a parachute."

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Humor and Light-Hearted Banter

Throughout the episode, Luke, Andrew, and Genevieve engage in witty exchanges, referencing pop culture, personal quirks, and playful teasing. Their chemistry brings a lively and relatable energy to the discussion.

• Andrew Walsh [86:00]: "The show is a very cryptic mystery that you have to solve by listening for 17 years."

• Genevieve [86:13]: "Sometimes I'll say the sexy daily podcast."

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Conclusion and Donor Acknowledgments

As the episode wraps up, the hosts extend gratitude to their donors, sprinkling in humor and light-hearted interactions.

• Andrew Walsh [44:22]: "Thanks to Andrew Tentio of Kensington, Maryland."

• Genevieve [45:05]: "I know some Genevieve works with somebody with that name."

They reaffirm their commitment to delivering engaging content five days a week, leaving listeners with a mix of laughter and thoughtful reflections.

• Andrew Walsh [86:29]: "And happy anniversary to us as a show and to all of you who have been listening either for a very long time or are new to the show. We love. Love you all."

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Notable Quotes

• Luke Burbank [00:40]: "I need 900 billion, no jillion TBTL."
• Andrew Walsh [00:47]: "Take a hot dog, stuff it with some jack cheese, fold it in a pizza, you got cheesy blasters."
• Andrew Walsh [38:05]: "I think Genevieve's outside. I secretly sort of over."
• Genevieve [41:54]: "But it's all part of a."
• Andrew Walsh [73:44]: "Everything is turning into basically a DoorDash factory."
• Andrew Walsh [82:56]: "Like you're jumping out of an airplane without a parachute."

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Key Takeaways

1. Evolution of Personal Relationships: The hosts reflect on their long-term friendships and professional collaborations, highlighting the deep bonds that sustain TBTL.

2. Authenticity in Broadcasting: The debate over the authenticity of "Taxi Cab Confessions" underscores the importance of genuine content in media.

3. Technology and Nature: Balancing technological gadgets like Bird Buddy with simple, natural interactions emphasizes a harmonious approach to hobbies.

4. Changing Dining Landscapes: The shift from dine-in restaurants to takeout and delivery services impacts social experiences and community vibes.

5. Home Comforts and Energy Efficiency: Managing home temperatures effectively combines comfort with sustainable living practices.

6. Humor and Relatability: The hosts' playful interactions and relatable anecdotes make complex topics accessible and engaging.

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Conclusion

Episode #4375 of TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live offers a rich tapestry of conversations that weave together nostalgia, personal growth, and contemporary challenges. Through insightful discussions and infectious humor, Luke, Andrew, and Genevieve provide listeners with a multifaceted experience that is both entertaining and thought-provoking. Whether reminiscing about past broadcasting moments or contemplating the future of dining and home comfort, TBTL continues to captivate its audience with authenticity and charm.

Transcript

[Luke Burbank]

I like it when I go traveling. I like to have a cell phone. Cause it's really important to have a cell phone. Especially when you're gonna pretend like you're a business person. And I'm a business person too. I'm a business person. I have pens, I have a checkbook, okay. And that's what I like to do. I like to go like when they have a conference in the hotel. I like to go down and mingle. My cell phone. Pretend like I'm there for the. Yeah. Uh huh. Yeah. Can you believe that? They let me out on bail. Yeah. Yeah, man.

[Andrew Walsh]

Shit.

[Luke Burbank]

No, I did it. No, I did it anyways. Uh huh. Uh huh.

[Genevieve]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

I need 900 billion, no jillion TBTL.

[Andrew Walsh]

Take a hot dog, stuff it with some jack cheese, fold it in a pizza, you got cheesy blasters. And then all the kids say, thanks, meat cat. And then meat cat flies away on his skateboard. You know, what happened next was, you know, they'd open their mouth, they'd speak, they'd get laughed at, they'd get called Polo. And they didn't want to go through that.

[Genevieve]

You know, they wanted to get rid of that, that stigma. There is something about the soul of a snake.

[Andrew Walsh]

We're gonna make you work for your dollar. Say something with that great radio voice. Well, all right. Hello, good morning and welcome everyone to a Tuesday edition of tbtl, the show that just might be too beautiful to live. We're getting medium play on three independent.

[Genevieve]

Radio stations in central Europe.

[Andrew Walsh]

My name is Luke Burbank. I'm your host. Give it out. Coming to you from the Madrona Hill studio perched high above the mighty Columbia, where there's still a fairly distinct band of fog hanging above the river. Cloud. Fog. It was insanely foggy this morning. Well, I have to assume it was at about 3:30 in the morning because the, the ships making their way up and down the mighty Columbia were just absolutely jamming on their foghorns. Like it was so loud and so sleep disruptive. I've said this before though, if I'm going to have my sleep disrupted, there's something about like, you know, a large river going ship using its foghorn in the night to avoid a crash. It's not the worst thing to wake you up, but it's also not the best thing for your sleep. Many people use this product TBTL to help get to sleep. So there's no judgment around that. You're at episode 4375 in a collector series.

[Genevieve]

Let the fun begin.

[Andrew Walsh]

If you happen to be scoring at home. Speaking of sounds, we have a new segment today.

[Genevieve]

Hey, wanna hear the most annoying sound in the world?

[Andrew Walsh]

Calling it Random Audio Roundup. I basically have been seeing little things on the Internet and hearing little bits of sound that none of them by themselves probably rise to the level of something that we need to play on the show. But taken together and put into a kind of a grab bag, a roundup, if you will, we're gonna try this random Audio roundup. Also, I feel like I'm really letting down the bird population, a specific segment of the bird population here at the Madrona Hill studio. Early bird gets the worm. But who wants to live on worms? Legitimately had a moment of deep, intrusive animal empathy yesterday, which we can talk about. And we can talk to this guy. He's the longest running cobra of the show, maybe best known for his depictions of the tall ships. He lives by one. I mean, you know this guy, right? This guy is one of the all time great competitors, right? He lives by this mantra you play to win the game. He's Andrew Walsh and he's joining me right now. Good morning, my friend.

[Genevieve]

Good morning, Luke. It was 17 years ago on this very day that a young Luke Burbank took to the microphone.

[Andrew Walsh]

Are you serious?

[Genevieve]

Cairo Radio in Seattle, Washington, to say, you're welcome, America.

[Andrew Walsh]

Whispering, you're welcome, America. Into the microphone.

[Genevieve]

America. No, I don't. Why did I.

[Andrew Walsh]

Young Luke Burbank whispered, I'm not ready. Into the microphone was a Panini, Steve Brule style.

[Genevieve]

Steve Brule.

[Andrew Walsh]

It probably was a Steve Brule drop.

[Genevieve]

Bruhl was sort of the patron saint of early tbtl.

[Andrew Walsh]

I feel like that was a mentor I considered him when it came to broadcasting.

[Genevieve]

Indeed. Happy anniversary.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's easy to say as well.

[Genevieve]

I can't believe it took me this long to realize this, but I think last year was the year that we realized, and this year was the first year that I remembered that my personal anniversary with Genevieve falls on the same exact day as the TBTL anniversary, which.

[Andrew Walsh]

Just as a anniversary to both of you.

[Genevieve]

Yeah, I said that as a reminder in case you wanted to get us anything.

[Andrew Walsh]

Wait a second.

[Genevieve]

We're registered.

[Andrew Walsh]

Hold on, hold on, hold on. Stop the show.

[Genevieve]

We're registered at Tubs. Stop the show.

[Andrew Walsh]

You and Ves have been together for how many years? This is not a quiz or. It's not meant to put you on.

[Genevieve]

This is 24. I believe we start counting in 2001.

[Andrew Walsh]

Gotcha.

[Genevieve]

Gotcha.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, Somehow I thought it. I don't know why I always. When. When I'm talking about you and Genevieve, I will commonly say I think they've been together for, like, 20 years. That's the number.

[Genevieve]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

That I have in mind. But. And then the reason that I stopped the show was because that if. If that were the case, which it's not, that would have meant you and Genevieve had been together a mere three years by the time TBTL was birthed. But. But that was not the case. You guys have been together. My point in all that is when I met you, you both. You just seemed like you'd been together forever. And I said that in a good way. Not in a lock. Not in a lockhorns kind of way, but in a. Just like, you know, I knew you guys had lived in different places and owned a house in New Hampshire and just, you know, lived a life together already. So for a brief moment, when I thought you were noobs, when I met you, I was confused.

[Genevieve]

No, that's an interesting perspective on my relationship because. And that's what the show is about today, my relationship. Genevieve, I would invite to welcome the.

[Andrew Walsh]

New listeners who heard about us on this American Life. Welcome.

[Genevieve]

Oh, yeah. Yes. Hi. I'm Andrew. I'm the other guy. I've been together with my girlfriend for 24 years. It's interesting. I think a lot of people at this point, I'm, you know, as. As I. As I continue to deepen in my middle age, I don't think people are shocked to hear that I've been with Genevieve for a long time. But around the time I met you, I think a lot of people were surprised when we told people how long we'd been together because we weren't married and because we do use the phrase girlfriend and boyfriend or. I think we do. I don't know. I do.

[Andrew Walsh]

I think that's part of it. Yeah.

[Genevieve]

And some people are like, what, You've been together for 20 years? And so I think people were usually shocked. I didn't realize to you we were a couple of old battle axes.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, that was the thing. I mean, you could barely stand to be in the room together.

[Genevieve]

Yeah, exactly.

[Andrew Walsh]

When I was giving you a ride home in my Audi A3 from TBTL one night, a thing that I somehow both, I guess, did and then completely erased from my memory until sometime later. You remember this, right?

[Genevieve]

Which. Which a lot of rides.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, the first time that I met you and Veeves, if I remember right, you came to hang out and watch tbtl. You were both relatively new to The Northwest and brand new.

[Genevieve]

Brand new. Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

And. And. And so we chatted. You both seemed perfectly nice. And then. And then I was heading home, and you guys were up on.

[Genevieve]

Should I just mention that we didn't know each other at all? I'd been listening to TBTL from the other coast, and then.

[Andrew Walsh]

And you had been working at KUOW with an ex of mine, and not at those points.

[Genevieve]

No, no, no, no.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, really?

[Genevieve]

No, no. So the deal was I. You were doing the Bryant park project. I was working at New Hampshire Public Radio, working with a boss who wanted us to be listening to public radio. I was working with a boss who wanted me to start a new radio show, but he was trying to get me out of my public radio rut a little bit and having me listen to various things. And then at the same time, there were other new public radio projects going on around the country of people trying to, I guess, rattle the birdcage, a little bit of public radio programming, and you were one of them. So you were sort of on my radar with the Bryant park project. And then you moved out to Seattle to take this job at Cairo, which really intrigued me, because I was like, maybe if we can't make public Rad sound a little bit more commercial, maybe Luke, this guy Luke is going out to Seattle to make commercial radio sound a little bit more like public radio. Anyway. That's a lot of detail, but that's why you were, like, so on my radar. So a couple years later, when I moved to Seattle, I shot you an email. I'm like, you don't know me. I probably. I sent you that Bob Edwards drop. It's the saddest thing I've ever heard. I'm the Bob Edwards guy. Can we. I'm moving to Seattle, and we're out there. Can we come visit you? And you're like, yeah, sure. Just swing by the station sometime. And so we did.

[Andrew Walsh]

Saddest thing I've ever heard.

[Genevieve]

So you didn know me from Adam. I was. I was a listener at this point. Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay. I. Because then eventually we all became, you know, friends, and you became friends with. With my ex and everything. But, like, I remember. I actually remember that night of you all being at the show. And then I was like, well, I'm going up to Capitol Hill anyway, where you guys also lived. So I think I. You hopped in the back and we. We rode up there. But then I like, deleted that from my memory somehow for, like, six months, some long period of time. And then when you went to KUOW and You sort of became friends with my ex and everything. Then we were sort of reintroduced at some point. And I feel like my memory of it, it was. Was like being embarrassed that I thought we were meeting for the first time. And. And either you said it nicely or I became aware of it. Like, no, no, no. We've been in your car. We've been at your nighttime radio show for hours. Like, we already had a whole meeting, you and I and Genevieve. That then I had, like, again, I had somehow not grasped that we were talking. I was talking about the same people.

[Genevieve]

That's funny.

[Andrew Walsh]

When we all met up somewhere.

[Genevieve]

If you've told me that I did not remember that, I just like to know that you were feeling insecure around me.

[Andrew Walsh]

Could have gotten away with it.

[Genevieve]

I do love, though, that I kind of. I did forget about that part temporarily, that the very first time we met and we were strangers to you, visiting you at your workplace, yet you gave us a ride home. Boy, that really set the stage, that kind of guy. But it also just set the stage for you, right? Driving our ass around Seattle. Like, I'm trying to read, like, what were Veeves and I thinking? We would have had a car, but I guess we were already that deep into the bus lifestyle. Like, we were only here also a little bit.

[Andrew Walsh]

Cairo was not far from your.

[Genevieve]

Where you all live down there. Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

In like, in like, under probably 20 minutes or something.

[Genevieve]

Not quite that, but you're right. It was. You're right. It's not that far. But it is interesting to think, like, I guess V was like, well, let's just take the bus. Like, why wouldn't we have driven? Like, we were going to a radio station at night.

[Andrew Walsh]

You probably had. You probably had a parking spot. Did you guys have a dedicated. By the way, if you are just catching up on this show, it's mostly about parking from 17 years ago. Did you guys have dedicated parking at your place?

[Genevieve]

We did. So it wouldn't. About us losing that parking lot.

[Andrew Walsh]

My theory, out of the water.

[Genevieve]

It blows my mind that, like, what. Why did we. But here's what also is blowing my mind.

[Andrew Walsh]

And again, I do like dur's a ride too.

[Genevieve]

If we do have new listeners, this is not my best performance as we start the show with down Memory Lane. But to think that this was before the. What we would call rideshare services. I think people. I think people are stepping away from rideshare. Right. Like, we've just been calling it that all this time where, like, the concept of rideshare is so that is so benevolent towards the industry. It's not rideshare, it's not couch surfing for your car anymore.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's a really good point because it's also. I don't even know if is. Is. Is sharing the ride an option?

[Genevieve]

No, we're not sharing rides anymore. We're paying.

[Andrew Walsh]

That was one of the early promise of this, was like, oh, yeah, rideshare. Someone's going somewhere, and you'll be one of the people that jumps in the car and you'll get where you're going and it'll, you know, like, I. I don't think that that's. I don't believe that's a part of the service that people avail themselves of much, much more anymore.

[Genevieve]

No, I mean, I guess that was the roots of it, though, like, supposedly, right? Like, hey, you're a person, you're heading somewhere, you just download the app. Somebody else can download the app. I mean, it was part of the. I remember maybe a few years before this, my friend Avishai was way into some website that was basically just a couch surfing app, which, you know, that was the early days of Airbnb. Or do we say Verbal creeper guy? Right?

[Andrew Walsh]

I used to go on that website sometimes.

[Genevieve]

Oh, creeper guy.

[Andrew Walsh]

Creeper guy. I believe that was. If you went the back end, if you looked, that was. That was what was running. No, I'm kidding. But I mean, feel like the idea of couch surfing, I feel like it could have potentially been a thing where there was a lot of dudes offering up a lot of couches and then screening out who was going to come stay on the couch. I don't know. Maybe I just. Maybe I'm just somebody.

[Genevieve]

Maybe you're the creeper guy.

[Andrew Walsh]

You know what? That's for the courts.

[Genevieve]

Can you hand. Give me your phone. I'm taking your phone away. As Maria.

[Andrew Walsh]

You can't do that without a search warrant.

[Genevieve]

Give me your cell phone. I'm taking away your cell phone.

[Andrew Walsh]

I just mean, like, I feel like to me, when you say. Obviously, because I just said it, when you say a website that helps connect people with couches to surf on, I just. For some reason, my mind immediately goes to guys with poor boundaries. I don't know why. It just feels like a thing that would happen. It just seems like it's ripe for problems. I think it was strangers surfing upon other strangers couches.

[Genevieve]

But my point of this was it was the very earliest days of what we now know as Airbnb. Like, that's all it was. It was like, that's what I'm trying to draw the parallel between the. We call them ride shares now. Now we're cooking. Welcome new listeners. We call them rideshares because the early days we were at least told that the idea was no, it's just for we're literally just sharing rides. We're using apps and technology just so that humans can help out other humans. Whereas obviously it's just all of these things have just become huge industries that are modern day, essentially hotel services or rental services or services with less regulation.

[Andrew Walsh]

But deregulating to keep people safe.

[Genevieve]

I think the couch surfing thing was more like people like Avishai who were young and broke but loved to travel and were trying to figure out like, hey, if I go to Philadelphia for some music festival, how can I go without having to pay for a hotel or whatever.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, you know what else was 24 years ago, Andrew? And we've already referenced this a couple times in a kind of sidelong way. But was, I think that story that I did for Tal about the guy who dresses like Superman, which I mean literally, I think it was about 24 years ago. Cause I'm 48 now. I would have probably been 24 or 25. And I did not realize that that story was re airing on this American Life this weekend until somebody yesterday texted me and said, because my friend Jim Brunberg, who's a dear friend and a guy who owns and runs a lot of the kind of cool venues in Portland like Revolution hall and the Mississippi Studios and things like that, and I'm trying to find the exact text from he said, let's see. I liked your soft Tal voice. Great piece. Back to whispering into the microphone and I was like, then I texted you and John and I said, I guess that they re aired this story on this American Life so maybe we'll get some new listeners this week. I'm surprised that I'm only hearing about this now because usually that's a pretty big show and if we're associated with something like that, usually we hear from people. And then Andrew, last night I opened my TBTL email account for the first time in a long time because, you know, holidays and things and me being lazy and the like. And There were like 20 emails from some people I know, some random people being like, loved the piece. Here's, here's the thing I'm pitching you now that you could do another story on and also critically, a producer from this American Life. Three emails asking me basically, what are you up to now? So we get it correct on the show.

[Genevieve]

Oh, that's it. I was gonna say, not that they would have to because obviously it's their story. You did it for them. They paid you.

[Andrew Walsh]

I.

[Genevieve]

But I would think an operation like this American Life would have somebody reach out. I was going to say that I'm really surprised that somebody from the show didn't just give you a heads up. Hey, we're replaying this old thing. And also like, yeah, what do you want in your bio? So they apparently just Wikipedia you.

[Andrew Walsh]

And I think they got it mostly right because my, my friend Jim said they mentioned TBT and Livewire, which are the two biggies. But yeah, I was, I was having this thought. I was like, that is kind of interesting because, you know, they've re aired this in the last. In the intervening 24 years. That pieces aired a couple of times and they always reach out and they say, like, what are you up to now? We want to make sure we're getting this all right. And they hadn't done it this time. And I thought, boy, they're really slipping. No, I'm really slipping on checking my, my work email. I have now. I'm all caught up now. I've seen if you emailed me in the last two weeks. I've now seen your email. I may have even responded to it. But I guess I'm relieved that they, they at least got the TBTL part right. So welcome new listeners. And if you started yesterday, I wish we would have come out stronger on Monday. Had I known I would have really given it my all instead of giving it my mostly, which is what I was giving it yesterday.

[Genevieve]

I think yesterday was good. I feel like I. I feel like today. Let's. Can we post more yesterday's show and what we've done so far today? Can we just take a moment to talk to just talk about what we've done so far in the first 15 minutes of today's show and then just talk about what we improve upon.

[Andrew Walsh]

We did the open twice, because the first time I had an air embolism from coffee and had to stop one minute into the show and then run around the studio trying to burp. So that was an auspicious beginning to.

[Genevieve]

Today'S program, but nobody heard that part. And then you did an intro. We heard some old tape from Maria Bamford where we're still referring to phones as cell phones. Making me think probably pretty old tape. And then I brought up my personal anniversary with Genevieve. And then we went down memory lane and really didn't bring I don't feel.

[Andrew Walsh]

Like I didn't clarify that. You did have parking.

[Genevieve]

No, that is true. That was a good part. We can isolate that and put that up on Instagram, share that on the social.

[Andrew Walsh]

Hey, John. If you want to throw that out on socials.

[Genevieve]

John, we're being sarcastic.

[Andrew Walsh]

So, yeah, I mean, you know that feeling. I mean, who am I talking to that, like, it's so weird how I can snatch, you know, defeat from the jaws of victory so quickly. It goes from being like, oh, that's kind of cool they re aired that thing to like, why wasn't I a. Why wasn't I aware? Why wasn't I checking my email more closely? Because then I could have handwritten the thing. Whatever. I haven't. Haven't listened. But whatever it was Ira Glass said at the end of the piece, which I'm sure was Luke Burbank's, the host of TBTL and Livewire. But I could have finessed it. Maybe like now when I'm on. Wait, wait. I always say the daily podcast, tbtl, because I want people to know it's five days a week.

[Genevieve]

Sometimes I'll say the sexy daily podcast. You ever say that?

[Andrew Walsh]

They asked me to stop doing that. I'll say the. I'll. Sometimes I'll say the daily. The confessional. I really will use the word confession.

[Genevieve]

Oh, I like it.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm trying to, like, think what slightly might kind of differentiate what we're doing. I mean, one of the things is it's five times a week. So that's. I feel like kind of our number one deliverable at this point is just that we do it a lot. And then I thought, like, you know, confessional might make people kind of understand that it's people being very, very real. There's no artifice here. But I wish I could have finessed it. But anyway, I go from being like, oh, that's kind of cool that they use that thing from a quarter of a century ago to being like, why don't I check my email more? Because then I could have finessed it. Then we could have gotten more listeners. Then I could have been better on Monday show. Then we would have. Then we would have taken off like a rocket ship. And then, you know, like Nikki Glaser said at the Golden Globes, the goal of making art is not awards. It's to become so successful that you can start a tequila brand, which means you never have to make art again.

[Genevieve]

Yes.

[Andrew Walsh]

I think that was the best joke of the day.

[Genevieve]

Yeah, right.

[Andrew Walsh]

I just want to Be successful in the podcast that we can make a tequila brand Andrew, and we never have to podcast again. That's the goal.

[Genevieve]

I like the fact, though, that you're throwing confessional in there. Yesterday on the show, you were, I guess, looking back on the glory days of. What was it? Taxi Cab Confessionals is that.

[Andrew Walsh]

Which I was 100% wrong on. I thought it was like a. A fictionalized thing, but apparently it was. It was real. You looked it up. It was like an HBO kind of after hours kind of. You know, it was one of those kinds of things that if I was at my cousin's house in Philadelphia and my Uncle Johnny had gone to sleep, I was beelining it for the TV room to try to watch whatever they were showing on HBO after, say, 11pm because it was going to maybe have some nudity or at least be highly sexualized content again. I'm shocked that they were able to get enough good taxicab confessions that people were signing releases on.

[Genevieve]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's why I kind of assumed wrongly yesterday that it was like a kind of, you know, like. Like basically like a Penthouse Forum letter.

[Genevieve]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

I never thought I'd be writing this because I just, like, how do they get people to admit to something that's interesting enough to put on HBO, but that they then sign a release to let you use on hbo? That's crazy to me and actually, like.

[Genevieve]

Legally being able to record people. But, I mean, I feel like there's a lot of kayfabe here. I'm gonna take a listen to this. This is a promo from 2001. Get in on the action. Backseat action.

[Andrew Walsh]

I got whipped. Paddles where the stakes are high.

[Genevieve]

I want to pick up a crack.

[Andrew Walsh]

And all bets are off.

[Genevieve]

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Did you hear that? That was that.

[Andrew Walsh]

I didn't have to bleep. You have to bleep out that entire. Is that literally the promo?

[Genevieve]

This is a promo for it. So apparently on hbo. They really leaked.

[Andrew Walsh]

They were saying that on hbo.

[Genevieve]

Oh, I guess this is HBO plus. We were seeing, by the way, like, clips of the people in the car. Sorry that the audio was so low. I'll try to fix the post. That was.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, honestly, it's better just hearing what they were saying.

[Genevieve]

Ye. No, that was rough.

[Andrew Walsh]

Say lower it.

[Genevieve]

But then they're showing, like, these, like, steamy scenes of just, like, strippers from behind, like, and it's just, like, it's really leaning into.

[Andrew Walsh]

No way this was real.

[Genevieve]

No, I.

[Andrew Walsh]

Listen, I.

[Genevieve]

Now, you know what? It's time to do an investigation. Where's Jesse? I'm getting Jesse on Taxi Cab Confessions.

[Andrew Walsh]

Get me. I want. I want the. I want the definitive oral history on Taxi Cab Confessions and what was really going on, because I am telling you, I used to live in New York City in the pre rideshare era. Andrew and I took hundreds of taxicabs and often probably fairly inebriated. Nothing interesting ever happened. There's no flipping way that they just hooked up some GoPros, which by the way, didn't exist at that time. These would have been some giant ass. You know, like, who even knows what kind of camera they were using rig in this taxicab and then just happened to get a bunch of people that wanted to talk graphically about their sex lives like something's. Something's rotten in Taxicab Confession Ville as far as it being just a straight up documentary program.

[Genevieve]

This little promo that I just played for you, which was a terrible idea because the audio was awful.

[Andrew Walsh]

That was not a terrible idea.

[Genevieve]

They said things that I now have to bleep has absolutely. I mean, one search on that has absolutely destroyed the YouTube algorithm for me because I'm going to tell you some of the things it's now suggesting that I watch. And by the way, I'm accidentally doing this logged in as the TBTL account.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, great.

[Genevieve]

So first of all, this is interesting. I want to. I feel like this may take us down. I could fall down too far of a. Of a rabbit hole here. But the first thing is Taxicab Confessions Las Vegas. Sarah Palin. Is there a chance that an unknown Sarah Palin at the time was on this? Or is this just somebody who looks like her? And the Internet is just.

[Andrew Walsh]

I would be unsurprised to find that it was really Sarah Palin. I saw some clip of. Of. Of Marjorie Taylor Greene trying out for like American Idol back in the day.

[Genevieve]

Oh, really?

[Andrew Walsh]

Which was upsetting to see her in any context, including that one, according to AI because as we've mentioned on the show many times, Andrew, the era of good Internet search is long gone. Now when you try to find something out, you get this AI crap. But here's what the AI Crap says. No, Taxicab Confessions was not entirely real. The cab drivers on the show were loosely scripted and were actually show producers who were not clearly identified as such. The conversation between the passengers and cab drivers were recorded using hidden cameras. Blah, blah, blah. Well, that's not much. This is what that. That AI. You better check your hypotenuse, AI. That was a very Unsatisfying answer. But. But I just. I just. Again, this is, for some reason, the hill that I'm going to die on in 2025. I. There's. That had to be staged in. So in the way that, like, you know, elements of the Jerry Springer show were staged. Right. Like, in that. I don't think that Jerry Springer show went. Oh, my God, Andrew, I'm sorry. We have TBTL breaking news that I have to. Well, let's stop the show. I'm gonna put aside my taxicab confessional conspiracy tinfoil hat and put on my intrusive animal empathy pants that I wore in the Prince of Tides. So I just saw a hummingbird doing something that has been happening now for the last two days, and it is shattering my heart. For Christmas, Becca got me a really cool hummingbird feeder. Like a real kind of designy one that's very aesthetically pleasing. And also this one of those bird feeders that has a camera in it called Bird Buddy.

[Genevieve]

Did you used to. Used to have one of those, you said, Right.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, I bought a Bird Buddy, and then I got out of the packaging, and then I realized it was 200, and I. That was not a good use of 200 for me legitimately.

[Genevieve]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

And I sent it back because I was. It was at a point in the remodel project where I was counting every 200, and I just had this moment of clarity that was like, this is not. Like, this is not how I need to be spending this money.

[Genevieve]

Well, that's a good gift. So you never even took it out of the box, and now you get one to play with.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes. And it's set up, and it's pretty cool. What's uncool about it is, like, I wanted to. You can invite. Get. You can invite other people to come and, like, look at it. And I was gonna invite Becca and even, like, if Genevieve, who's a bird person, was curious. But you have to have the hundred dollar a year premium. Oh, my Christ service to let anyone else see what's going on on your birdhouse, which is.

[Genevieve]

Oh, so let other people see it.

[Andrew Walsh]

What about, you know, I. Apparently, allegedly, I can see it. Although I have yet to have any. I put it up yesterday. I've yet to have any birds visit it, but they tell you that that just. It takes time. But the other thing is, I got this hummingbird feeder, which is much less involved technologically. You just do the little kind of nectar. She also got me a packet of. It's probably sugar, but it's pitched as like the ideal like hummingbird, you know, feeder, nectar or whatever. So I put that all together and because it was like a rainy, gloomy, I think it might have been Saturday or Sunday. I just went out to the. Just outside my little living room. There's some sliding glass doors out to a deck and I had a hook that was. That had been holding like a. One of those yellow like wasp trap things, you know, that's like kind of a. Or like a tube. And the wasps have long since decamped for southern climes. So I don't know why that was still up. But I took that down and I hung up the little hummingbird thing. Not as the final destination, if you will, not as the permanent home of this, but just somewhere I could put it mostly so I could take a picture and send it to Becca and go like, hey, look. I set it up. Well in those like two days, I guess the hummingbirds got the memo that that's where it was always my plan was to hang it up here outside the studio, the Madrona Hill studio where it currently is, kind of on one side of this window and then have the bird buddy bird house with a camera on the other side of a window. So I just kind of have like this whole bird central going. So I moved the hummingbird feeder over here and hung it up and it's great. I love where it is. It's perfect. Easy to change the water. I can see it. I'm going to make this. I'm going to be like a. A guy in a frickin one of those Disney movies where they're alive but then cartoon birds are landing on them. That's my plan for the spring. I'm going to become the most beloved human amongst the bird population out here.

[Genevieve]

Are they going to pull at your sweater or your shirt a bit?

[Andrew Walsh]

But, but, but you know, in a, in a kind of like a loving way. Not in a attacking way, not in a like Tippy Hedren the bird's way.

[Genevieve]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

But more in a, you know, oh, what a beautiful morning kind of a way.

[Genevieve]

What if it turns out the birds in the movie, the birds just didn't know how to love. Like really. They were, they were honestly that they were just trying to say they were.

[Andrew Walsh]

Like this is for like this is how we. This is our love language to other birds.

[Genevieve]

Right, Exactly.

[Andrew Walsh]

Sorry that you're covered in this like kind of very easily pierced, kind of fatty, you know, organ known as your dermis. So here's what's been happening what just happened a minute ago, Andrew? Hummingbirds will fly over to where the feeder used to be.

[Genevieve]

Yeah, for like 24 hours, right? Or was it there for longer than that?

[Andrew Walsh]

It was there for a max of 24 hours, but as soon as I moved it starting yesterday and I was working, I was in my living room doing some work yesterday and I swear at least five hummingbirds, like zoomed hummingbird over to now where there is no feeder and just kind of like looked around like, wait, we were told there was gonna be food here. And then they just like zoomed off and it keeps happening. And I need to. I need to somehow get a message to the hummingbird community. It's over here now.

[Genevieve]

You guys, can you just put up a little sign?

[Andrew Walsh]

I put up like three different signs and they're. Apparently illiteracy is one of the number one issues facing the hummingbird community because.

[Genevieve]

Well, you didn't write them. Did you write it in English? Hummingbirds don't read English. They speak French.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, okay. Okay. Well, that's.

[Genevieve]

Oh, my God. You know nothing about birding. This is real. I don't usually like to dunk on you, but that's really embarrassing. So you put up signs in English saying, we've moved the bird.

[Andrew Walsh]

We, monsieur.

[Genevieve]

Good answer.

[Andrew Walsh]

So I don't. Yeah, so I don't understand. And I. It's just a matter of time. They'll figure it out over here. But in the meantime, I don't know, do I buy another hummingbird feeder and put it over there? I have, like, this is the thing about, about hummingbirds this time of year is I get very concerned about their well being because you don't have the normal, you know, flowers and things. Like whatever it is the hummingbirds are surviving off during the spring, which is probably the abundant time for them. It's not happening right now. Weren't you saying Viva's got some hummingbird feeders, right?

[Genevieve]

Yeah, she's got a few of them. In fact, this is a conversation we had recently. We were, we were in Home Depot looking for some lighting, and nearby was like kind of a shelf full of various hummingbird feeders and stuff. And I said, and I was not joking. I said, vivs, you need anything here? Like, they had food or whatever. She's like, no, I am, I am highly indexed in hummingbird. She's like, I got three hummingbird feeders right here. And I was like, oh, yeah. And it reminded me, like for the longest time I was thinking about getting her one of those. Exactly. Probably even. Probably the Same brand that you have. I was being targeted with ads for like a year for those hummingbird feeders with the camera.

[Andrew Walsh]

And those are different. That's, that's just a bird feeder. That's with like suet and stuff with.

[Genevieve]

The camera on it.

[Andrew Walsh]

The camera, yeah. So there's two things. The, the thing that I'm. The hummingbird feeder has like a liquid in it. And the thing with a camera is for.

[Genevieve]

Oh, you're right, that's not for hummingbirds. I'm sorry. Yeah, yeah, yeah, sorry. That's just for, for other.

[Andrew Walsh]

Who doesn't know anything about birds now, monsieur.

[Genevieve]

That's all I know French. I'm sorry. Yeah, yeah, but that. We are talking about the same thing. I just forgot that. That is right. You meant the bird.

[Andrew Walsh]

You meant the bird buddy one.

[Genevieve]

But it did raise that again. And I said, oh yeah, because I was really thinking I was gonna get that for Genevieve. I think also we may be past the peak of it now, but I feel like two or three years ago everybody was talking about birding, at least in my social circles and social feeds. But Genevieve is like highly disinterested in the camera one. She's like, I just like looking at the birds from the way the birds present themselves. She's like, I just don't need. Did you get one?

[Andrew Walsh]

Keep, Keep talking, keep talking. I'm going to try to photograph this. I believe we've, we've got a hummingbird sighting, my friend.

[Genevieve]

Yes. At the right place now. Yes. Yeah, they'll find it. I think they're especially appreciative in winter time, by the way, so.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, that's the whole thing. That's. Okay, first of all, amazing. Go tell your friends now. He's just this dude. This hummingbird is friggin loving this right now. That's the thing is I know that they need, they need this, this, this nutrition. They need this sugar or whatever, this nectar so badly right now because it's cold out because their bodies are constantly burning, you know, calories, etc, that like I, I just, I feel a personal responsibility. Now back to the question of Genevieve and the camera thing. I actually, believe it or not, I kind of get it. Like I'm both excited to have this thing because you know me, there's no, there's nothing that I love more than technology that will change me as a person. And you know, if I can just see the birds on my phone while I'm at the casino, Andrew, then maybe I'll become a friggin Ansel Adams or Something, you know, I was trying to remember which one. We don't say Audubon anymore. Apparently was a bad dude.

[Genevieve]

Oh, yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

So then I just changed to a nature photographer. Okay, cool. I got. It's like, last name, starts with A. Was associated with nature a hundred years ago. But anyway, I'm excited to have this thing. I've got it all set up, but I'm kind of with you a little bit that. It's like, for instance, that hummingbird that I just saw fly up and drink out of the new hummingbird feeder. It was not. Well, technically, it was documented by a camera because I took a picture of it. But generally speaking, it won't be. It's just an event that happens. It's a moment in time, a moment in nature where to some degree, I guess I'm interacting with nature. And it doesn't have to be anything more than that. It doesn't have to be technological. I don't have to share it with my Instagram feed or whatever. You know, I actually kind of get where Viva is coming from on this. Yeah.

[Genevieve]

And Genevieve is not somebody who really leans into technology anyway. You can. You can tell because if you text her right now, she'll get back to you in the next four or five days. She kind of proudly so. And same with Instagram. Like, she's been working on various sewing projects and getting really good at it lately. And she. I know she enjoys sharing her projects on Instagram, but aside from that, like, I'll ask her something about Instagram. She's like, I don't know. I don't know how to do stories. I'm not interested. Like, she just has this, like, this almost obstinate kind of approach to, I think, technology. And so I think she's like, what? Like, I love going out. She likes. She likes changing her bird food and the bird seed and the water for the. Or, you know, the sugar water. She boils up the sugar water herself for her hummingbird. She likes doing all of that. She's engaged, but she's like, what am I gonna do then? Go down to my computer? And now it sounds like I'm. Now it sounds like I'm disrespecting the gift you got. I actually think it's really cool. I would be interested in doing that. But Genevieve's just like, no, I. I like the relationship I have with birds. I don't need them in extreme close up on my phone, when I'm sitting behind my computer or on my phone or whatever.

[Andrew Walsh]

I think for me, the Appeal of it. I was joking about being at the casino, but I do think like the idea because I tend to be gone so much of the time in far flung places or near flung places. I think in the springtime, particularly, like, if. If I can, like kind of while I'm sitting in some airport feeling.

[Genevieve]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

You know, disconnected from everything. If I could kind of like see a little cute bird, you know, eating a sunflower seed at my house, I think that might have been kind of an enjoyable experience. Again, I was mostly excited to share the, like, you know, invite Becca to check it out. So it'd be like, oh, hey, look at this cute thing that happened. You know, that we can both experience. The fact that I have to spend or she has to spend $100 a year for that is like kind of to shit. Yeah, that's, you know, kind of some bullshit.

[Genevieve]

And I'll be straightforward on this.

[Andrew Walsh]

Basically, the Keurig of Birdhouse.

[Genevieve]

It's the Keurig of Birdhouses. That's a show title right there. I. It's similar to. Do you still have your digital frame? Sort of flipping.

[Andrew Walsh]

I sure do, Andrew.

[Genevieve]

Somewhere. Yeah. And I still have mine.

[Andrew Walsh]

Skylark Skylight.

[Genevieve]

And so we were the reason you and I both have these digital frames, which is such a funny thing because I think of digital frames as being almost pre Internet. Like, I remember digital frames were something right. As the Internet was maybe sort of becoming more popular and kind of an everyday thing. But we had these technologies right before then that were locking. That were like knocking on the door of Internet y things. Like, I'm thinking about our PDAs, and I'm not talking about public displays of affection for a change. Talking about our. What is it? Personal digital. Yeah, like Palm Pilots. And like, we had various versions of those. And like, we were like, tapping them together with Bluetooth to like trade vCards. Which sounds really filthy when I say it like that.

[Andrew Walsh]

From PDA to VCard, right, exactly.

[Genevieve]

They're gonna be, hey, this is a taxicab confessional. But anyway, you know how we had those sort of things that then eventually the Internet came along and everything was just slicker and more interconnected and we didn't need to do that anymore. I think of digital frames as being part of that whole thing. But then a few years ago when we were still with American Public Media, a company called Skylight said, hey, we have these modern digital frames where you just upload photos from your phone and you can share it with friends or whatever. And I was like, yeah, I'll give it a go. And I actually love mine. It seems sort of antiquated. I absolutely love mine. I have it, like, kind of constantly rotating in a little dart area down here. So we're playing darts, listening to records, looking at photos from the past. It's like just kind of a nice little vibe to have in the corner. But I will say, the thing is, if you want to, like, engage with it in a way where you can share it with other people, like, they're.

[Andrew Walsh]

Right. Because that was part of it.

[Genevieve]

Right.

[Andrew Walsh]

I think I was theoretically sharing mine with you at some point. Well, yeah.

[Genevieve]

Well, I got to say, I'm still. You know, I don't know if I've told you this, and I'm still a little bit mad. You. You gave me the link so that I could send photos directly to your frame. But you never set the. But you never set the privacy settings right. Like, it just like somewh, like, from three years ago, there is still, like, an email inviting you to allow me because I had a photo of me kind of like making almost monster hands. I took a selfie of me sort of like you were getting into the.

[Andrew Walsh]

Camera making monster hands integrated into my photo, my photo roll.

[Genevieve]

Like, I'm kind of coming at you like I'm gonna strangle you or something. And I took that photo years ago, and it just kept on saying, like, oh, Luke hasn't accepted your invitation.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay, you know what? You know what, Andrew? This is. This is new Year, new us. Okay? I was just moving that thing, that frame, because of reorganizing some stuff in the house and whatever. And speaking of technology tomorrow, maybe we're not at the end of the show yet, but just remind me tomorrow, can I tell you about the love affair between me and my new techno toilet? No, no, really something. No, it's not. It's actually not. That's. It's not as gross as that sounds. But anyway, I was moving that skylight frame from where it had been sitting, and I was trying to figure out its new home. Part of the thing that's a little bit challenging is it needs to be plugged in. So that creates a little bit of a. Like a kind of a cord, a cable management issue, you know, like, because normally a picture frame, you hang it on the wall. There it is, this one. It's got to be near power. It's got to be. You've got to figure out kind of what to do with the cord so it doesn't look janky. It's not just kind of Hanging. But I will. I will figure out how to reshare this with you, because I think it would be a funny thing. Will you. But here's the real question. Will you.

[Genevieve]

But at least I will.

[Andrew Walsh]

I believe we. This. We had this conversation, like, four years ago, right? Because you are not willing to let me raw dog your skylight. But you want to be. You want to be able. I thought it would be funny if we both have the ability, within reason, to occasionally drop a photo into each other's. Just to, like, if I just. What if I just dropped a Ryan Court baseball card into your lineup, and then you can delete it, but it'd just be, like, a funny visual joke. I would. I will share that with you.

[Genevieve]

Well, do you. This was a. I'm gonna lower my voice here. This was a little bit of a sticky.

[Andrew Walsh]

I want you to sound like me in all of my radio productions of.

[Genevieve]

25 years ago when we first got this frame. We set it up. We're having fun with it, and I. You know, me, like, I have a bunch of photos that I like, you know, as a. Sort of has a bit of a hobbyist, right? And I sort of have. I would be absolutely loathe to pat myself on the back as far as my photography skills, but.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, you're a really good photographer.

[Genevieve]

I do have. You know, I have the eyes that I have, and I like the photos that I take, and they sort of fit all into. I sort of feel like an aesthetic, which is a word I was avoiding because I really can't say that word with the lisp that I struggle with.

[Andrew Walsh]

But I also already used it once, probably incorrectly. So we've got a lot of problems with that word today.

[Genevieve]

But having said all of that. So I loaded it with, like, all these photos that are of, you know, various things. I mean, going back into my archives, just some of my favorite photos. And let's say when we first got it, maybe I loaded it with 20 or 25. And then Genevieve's like, oh, how can I load things? I was like, sorry, what? She's like, well, I want to load things under the frame, too. I'm like, oh, yeah, that does sound like a fun thing that we could do together.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'll just get. I'll go ahead and. Let me try to figure how to log into this and then just stall.

[Genevieve]

This is really, really rude, but there are just some. Again, this is just. I'm such a jerk, Luke. I can't believe I'm saying this. On my anniversary and on TVTL's anniversary.

[Andrew Walsh]

On the anniversary of TVtail as well, on the day of my podcast anniversary.

[Genevieve]

There'S a photo, a very, very nice photo of. Of Genevieve standing next to. What's the husky's name? Dubs, I think. Dub.

[Andrew Walsh]

Dubs.

[Genevieve]

Dub or Dubs. You know, the real life husky dog that sort of represents the University of Washington is on some step and repeat or something like that at some event. Just a photo of Genevieve posed and stand. And I guess that would be one thing. Like, none of the photos on my frame are of anybody posing for the camera. You know what I mean? That's just. They're photos that I've taken around town or in my travels or whatever, but it's never like, hey, here's my. My frame does not have any selfies on it or anything like that, you know, and so it's like, it would just be like, oh, here's a photo of sort of a stranger walking by some graffiti from 10 years ago. Here's a photo from inside a library that shows some really interesting kind of architecture and angles. And here's a brightly colored blue wall next to a brightly colored red wall. And then here's Genevieve standing next to Dubs on a step and repeat outside Husky Stadium. And I was kind of like. I don't know, you know, it was. It was. It sort of. It sort of killed the vibe. I was. I kind of secretly. Genevieve's outside. I secretly sort of over. Because that was years ago, and she's lost interest, and I've deleted them since. Just quietly. One.

[Andrew Walsh]

You let them. You. You let them on there, but then you kind of. You did a little.

[Genevieve]

I didn't have a lot of choice.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, Curation.

[Genevieve]

Yeah. I.

[Andrew Walsh]

Here's the thing. If you. If you. If you. If you allow me access, I promised you it would only be jokes that I send you maybe after a couple of NA beers, and then you can delete them right away so I wouldn't pollute. I would never expect you to leave them in, but I just want the ability to send you a picture that I think will make you laugh when it hits you by surprise.

[Genevieve]

No goatsy.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's a taxicab confession.

[Luke Burbank]

Thank you for being a T.

[Andrew Walsh]

All right, let's thank some of our donors today. These wonderful, generous people making TBTL happen, making the confessional podcast tbtl, which you can hear five days a week, happen.

[Genevieve]

The steamy podcast.

[Andrew Walsh]

The steam. That's the word that I'm looking for.

[Genevieve]

Steamy right there.

[Andrew Walsh]

Ever let me back on. Wait, wait. I'm gonna ask them to please call it the Steamy Podcast. Thanks to Andrew Tentio of Kensington, Maryland.

[Genevieve]

Thank you, Andrew.

[Andrew Walsh]

Sounds like a fancy mustard. Kensington, Maryland.

[Genevieve]

Oh, does it? Wait, what?

[Andrew Walsh]

Sound like a Kensington? Doesn't that sound. I mean, there's a, there's a Kensington in, in Philadelphia. That's a neighborhood that's definitely kind of, let's just say, suffering through some stuff. But the, just the. So the term Kensington sounds like a guy with a monocle who's handing me some Poupon.

[Genevieve]

Oh, okay. With the gray Poupon, I see. Yeah, I think so.

[Andrew Walsh]

Don't you think Kensington a bit?

[Genevieve]

I think that the man's name is Kensington, not the mustard.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Genevieve]

Well, okay.

[Andrew Walsh]

Poupon.

[Genevieve]

Okay, great. Okay, there we go.

[Andrew Walsh]

Embarrass yourself again in front of Andrew and in front of Anastasia. Todd, who's in Maricopa, Arizona.

[Genevieve]

Hey. Thank you. Now, did you. You said Anastasia. Anastasia.

[Andrew Walsh]

Anastasia.

[Genevieve]

Anastasia. Thank you. Anastasia.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's what I'm. I don't know. What do you think?

[Genevieve]

I know some Genevieve works with somebody with that name. And when Genevieve asks her. We were just talking about this the other day. Genevieve asks her, how do you prefer to pronounce your first name? She always says it doesn't matter. Which is very, very nice and such a chill way to go through life, but also incredibly unhelpful.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, here's my thought. And Anastasia, you can please correct me on this. I feel like there is a name Anastasia and then there's a name Anastasia and they're spelled differently.

[Genevieve]

So it's spelled differently. I didn't realize that.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, like this has got some extra letters in here. And the only reason I'm dialed in on Anastasia, at least the kind of most common spelling, is because Addie had a VHS tape of a movie called Anastasia, which was kind of like an off brand. It wasn't made by Disney, but it was kind of like an off brand, like animated Disney style movie, but not made by. I don't think it was made by the Disney folks, but in the way that you want to. We're talking about like, I don't know, the olden times and pre Internet and web TV and the like. Like, where am I going with this? The thing like my daughter is old enough that she grew up in the era where sometimes if you just had like three or four VHS tapes at your dad's house, that's what you were jamming out to. Like you just didn't have a million billion options. And so you would just watch these things and then by extension, your dad would watch these things over and over again. And Anastasia, the cartoon, first of all, I thought it was actually pretty good. And it had Hank Azaria plays her friend, a bat named Bartok. And. And I. I think I actually mentioned this not that long ago on the show. But there's this moment where, you know, basically, you know how in all these Disney movies, you got kind of the main character, and then they've always got some, like, wise Kraken sidekick that's usually, you know, maybe not the same species. And in this case, it was like you had Anastasia. I think it's like the whole thing is, like, vaguely Soviet, right? Kind of like, like. Or Eastern European. So, of course, the bat is named Bartok. I think, like the composer Bartok. And, you know, Bartok is always, like, having problems and flying into things. And then at some point, there's some kind of a plan being hatched that Bartok thinks is a bad idea. And Hank Azaria, as Bartok the bat goes, this can only end in tears. Good drop. Addie and I spent a significant portion of her childhood, and honestly into her adulthood saying this can only end in tears because of Anastasia. So, anyway, that's why I have very specific thoughts about how we say this person's name, which could be totally wrong, is Bartok.

[Genevieve]

I say I'm not as steeped in these. In this is not a Disney film, but these animated films from this era, I'm not steeped in them the way you are. By the way, this came out in 1997. Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, great guy. Christopher Lloyd, Hank Azaria, Bernadette Peters, Kirsten Dunst, Angela Lansbury. That is actually. No, no joke. I mean, I know that you can get some pretty big names for the voice acting on these things, but that's a hell of a lineup. All that is to say isn't. Is Bartok like, the. What did you say? He's a raven. Is he the raven equivalent? No, he's a bat or a bat. Didn't one of the movies have a sassy parrot or something? Wasn't there another sassy bird?

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, yeah, but bats, I don't think are birds, but yes, flying thing. Yeah, that was Aladdin.

[Genevieve]

Oh, okay. That's Aladdin.

[Andrew Walsh]

Iago, the parrot voiced by Gilbert Gottfried.

[Genevieve]

So you have coming to your hummingbird feeder and you're taking photos of them. That's what's happening there. Okay, great.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm gonna send you the pic.

[Genevieve]

So I'm wondering if Bartok is a Bit of a ripoff is maybe too strong of a word, but.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, definitely influenced by.

[Genevieve]

Yes, exactly.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. I think Bartok. I think that they use. Bartok was like a Romanian composer who did a lot of real, kind of like edgy, kind of atone. Not atonal, but, like, it wasn't like super. It wasn't like Tchaikovsky. Right. Like this beautiful, lush kind of baroque music that really kind of welcomes you in as a listener. I want to say that the music in the Shining might be Bartok, some of it, anyway. Like, I just remember him being. Because my friend Peter growing up was, you know, a really, really serious cellist. And I would go to a lot of these concerts and sometimes they'd be playing, you know, Tchaikovsky, and I'd be like, this is great. And then sometimes I'd be like, what was that? He's like Bartok, like, real, like, angular, kind of, you know, kind of. You're in a. To take it back to another Hitchcock movie. You're in a shower at the Bates Motel and it's not going to end well kind of music. Which I thought even then, I was like, that's a pretty. Actually, you know what? I'm looking this up. He's Hungarian. Bela Bartok. Hungary, not Romanian. I don't want to get. I don't get in trouble with our Hungarian and our Romanian listeners, or I don't want to get in trouble with Amy Mazone or Mazzoni, rather, who's in Mill Creek, Washington.

[Genevieve]

Thank you, Amy.

[Andrew Walsh]

Thanks, Amy. And I pronounce that Amy, by the way, Andrew, I don't know how you pronounce it a me. Thanks to Sarah Longino DeKalb of Moxie, Washington. This has come up before, and we've looked up Moxie Washington, because that's a hell of a name.

[Genevieve]

It really is. It's a town that you. It's got sass. Moxie, Washington. Certainly it's got moxie, is what it's got.

[Andrew Walsh]

It really, really does.

[Genevieve]

And I always ask you this, but have you tried the soda moxie yet? Or that's still something you haven't tried?

[Andrew Walsh]

I haven't tried it yet. And then usually right after that, I tell you that the. I guess magician, you'd call him Penn Jillette. His daughter is named Moxie. Crime fighter.

[Genevieve]

Oh, that's right. I did that.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's how this conversation goes. Once a year.

[Genevieve]

Once a year. And I will say thanks to Sarah, if you have never tried moxie, don't. But you really hate yourself. But you love soda Moxie Is the soda for you? For self hating soda lovers.

[Andrew Walsh]

You know what I tried the other day? That was. I couldn't quite decide how I felt about it, but it was a 7Up 0 Shirley Temple. It was a can of 7Up that's like diet 7Up. 7Up with no sugar in it. But that was surely Temple flavored. Becca just had it in her refrigerator. She is like, speaking of birds or bats, she is like a crow when it comes to sparkling water or bubble water drinks. Like, and this is what I mean, I think, you know, she has a lot of work events and things. She has a lot of events for her work. I mean, she's literally an event coordinator where there must just be a lot of like loose cans of soda water around. Because when I come over to her house, like, and she must just throw a couple in her like, tote bag on the way home. It's like, if you come into my house and I've been on a grocery run, you will see in my refrigerator a bunch of, you know, whatever kind of soda water was like on sale at the store. And they will be, it'll be the lime ones and then it'll be the black cherry ones and then whatever. And it'll be clearly like, you know, 12 packs of them or six packs of them. You go into her fridge, there's a million cans of soda water. And like, many of them are just, are. Are basically orphans. Like, including a Shirley. A seven up zero Shirley Temple.

[Genevieve]

I'm going to recommend we start installing some metal detectors for the way out of these events that is going to.

[Andrew Walsh]

She's like, can't figure out why the Portland Chamber of Commerce budget is. They cannot seem to rectify it. They're like, we don't know. We're like, the money coming in should match the money going out, but we're losing money somewhere in. This is it, the Shirley Temple 7up.

[Genevieve]

Becca's got a huge bag, she can barely lift and she's yelling. We're all looking for the guy who did this.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm actually going to text her right now, where did you get that 7up Shirley? Because I know she didn't go out and buy like a six pack of that. Anyway. It was, it wasn't. It was not terrible. I could. What I said was if you were doing like, you know, dry January, as it were, or if you were going to a party and you kind of, you weren't going to drink alcohol, but you wanted something that seemed kind of festive, it would definitely do the trick. But as far as like a daily thing, something you would consume on the daily, it was a little too sweet, a little too flavored for me.

[Genevieve]

It doesn't sound great to me. But honestly, I'm not a diet soda drinker at all. But I like a bubbly water every now and then. And of course, you and I were praising Fresca. I do love Fresca. We almost always keep that in the fridge these days. And so I sort of feel like if it was a seven, a diet seven up, if I can't explain it, I do not want a diet cola. I don't want to diet root beer. I don't want to diet Dr. Jazz or whatever, the generic Dr. Pepper, I.

[Andrew Walsh]

Bet you that was on that list.

[Genevieve]

Probably. But if it's a, by the way, Diet Dr. Jazz, but if it's a clear soda, like 7Up and then it's diet and sort of, if he can cut the sweetness down to a level where it's almost more like a bubble water, as opposed with just like an idea of that 7Up and cherry flavor. By the way, I haven't had a Shirley Temple since I was a kid. I assume, is that just like Spriter 7 up with maraschino cherry juice and just a little touch of whiskey?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, just a thimble full of whiskey. Just, you know, kind of to help you go to sleep because you're teething. I, you know, got every, every conversation that we have or every statement that is made then leads to another, the whole waterfall of statements. I honestly have never had a Shirley Temple in my life. Because, I mean, until this one that I had the other day, which does not count because again, this sounds like I'm constantly trying to drive home. I don't want to say how hard Scrabble my life was. It wasn't that I did not have a hard Scrabble life. I didn't live in a world where we went to restaurants and we were allowed to order a soda related drink from like, we were never allowed to order. First of all, we never went to a sit down restaurant one time in my life as a family, as a kid, we would go to Burgermaster at Northgate Mall or someplace. We had a coupon. It was never like someone comes to the table and says, what would you like? And if we would have been at that place, in no universe would I ever have been allowed to say Shirley Temple, please. Even though I was fascinated with the concept as a kid because I knew it's what kids ordered at places where grownups were Maybe having drinks. It was like a kid thing that was fun, but didn't obviously have alcohol in it. And. And where this is really going is my. My. My beloved daughter. And how. The weird thing about parenting is you want life to be better for your kids than it was for you, but you also low key, resent them for the fact that it's better. And I remember once being on a flight with Addie and her. By the way, we have another hummingbird sighting. God, it just.

[Genevieve]

At the bird feeder, though. Or at the.

[Andrew Walsh]

At the right. At the correct bird feeder. And it's a different hummingbird. This one has a green belly, the other one had a red belly. I don't know if they know each other.

[Genevieve]

I. I wouldn't, I wouldn't get into profiling them. Luke, you get into some.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's fair. You know what? That's absolutely fair. I don't see. I don't see hummingbird color. So the. I remember being on a plane and the flight attendant, you know, taking my drink order, which I was probably getting a, you know, gin and tonic or something, and Addie going. I forget what she said. Something like, okay, can I have a, like a Sprite? But can you just. Can it be like half cranberry juice, half Sprite or something? She was just like, asking for something. And I remember looking at her with like so much annoyance, being like, like, where do you like, first of all, you're on an airplane. That's amazing. That's even happening for you. And then second of all, really, you're gonna like, order an off menu cocktail from this poor, hardworking flight attendant.

[Genevieve]

Honestly though, just wave the cranberry juice over the seven of these.

[Andrew Walsh]

Exactly. Just precisely. But like, it's like, that was so not a big deal. It did not in any way. I don't think it negatively impacted the flight attendant. In fact, they're probably, like, cool. They probably had made four more annoying things before that. It was just like, can I get half and half of this? Or whatever. But somehow in my mind, because I was so. I grew up in such a culture of. And again, a very loving, very warm. Like, I didn't grow up in. In a house where we were being, you know, criticized overly. Like, I'm very lucky with my childhood, but it was not the kind of place where you ever. We're talking to an adult and going, can I get like a. We'll get like a splash of crayon in that. Or whatever. Like, that was just not. Because you know why that might cost extra. And so that it was all financially related. It was all like, you're not ordering from the. First of all, none of you kids are ordering because we can't trust you with that. We are ordering with what we have from the entertainment book. And we have a plan going into this Burger Master of what we're getting. Which leads us to another conversation. Andrew. Which maybe we need a table for another time. Salad bars. Will they ever return?

[Genevieve]

Oh, interesting. Are you.

[Andrew Walsh]

Do you think. Do you think Kim Kerr of Seattle, Washington wants to hear a salad bar conversation?

[Genevieve]

Well, she wants us to carry that over into the D block, I believe.

[Andrew Walsh]

But we'll sweep the C block and we'll go right into the D block.

[Genevieve]

I'm just curious. Let's not get into the topic now because, I mean, it just seems like such a.

[Andrew Walsh]

We owe it to Sue Strauss of Orlando, Florida, one of our favorite places to broadcast from. A Waffle House.

[Genevieve]

That's right. Yeah. But I wanted to ask you why. Why are you bringing this up? Is this something that came up in your life recently? Are you missing what. What is the basis of your question? Are you missing salad bars? Are you glad they're gone?

[Andrew Walsh]

Becca and I were driving and we were talking about Sizzler for some reason. We were talking about like what we were talking about was how Oregon seems to over deliver on having the last of something. Yeah, like they got the last blockbuster in Ben. They've got the. There was something else they have the last of. And then we got onto the topic of Sizzler and I said, you know, I didn't ever go to Sizzler as a kid because again, see previous comments. But as an adult, a few years ago I went to a Sizzler near Sacramento and I was psyched because I thought it was like a kind of a mid steakhouse, but really it's just an all you can eat free for all of like taco fixings and salad bars. And then we started going off on that whole. The dressing, the salad dressing at a salad bar from the 80s is an iconic thing that was like that red kind of cylinder. Sometimes it might be an ice. It would have the long spoon and the spoons would be labeled and it'd be like spilled ranch. And there was for a while we were trying to. They were trying to get us to call French dressing Catalina, I think, or maybe those were slightly different. But I remember there was one that was called Catalina and there was one that was, you know, ranch and whatever, blue cheese. And we were talking about salad bars and Becca was Speculating that they went away because there was concerns about, like, that kind of salad bar that we grew up with in the restaurant that they went away because of concerns about, like, you know, germs and maybe the pandemic or something. And I was saying, I wonder if it isn't just because we don't. People don't eat out at restaurants the same way anymore. Like, people don't go spend their evening at a Sizzler and go to the salad bar.

[Genevieve]

You know, I have. And by the way, I just want to reiterate because it was the last name on our list today, and I sort of talked over you. Thank you. To Sue Strauss of Orlando, Florida. I know you got it in there. I just talked over it. So I just wanted to thank sue once again. I don't want you to feel left out. This raises. So leaving the salad bar thing aside for a second, because we did talk about that a little bit. I think maybe it was actually pre pandemic. They were starting to really go away, I think. And remember we read that article that really stuck with me about, like, all of the issues with a salad bar from even just the outside of the cantaloupe being dirty. Like, I just remember there are all these details of germs and, you know, maybe even possible contagions that salad bars do not protect you from. Oh.

[Andrew Walsh]

I mean, I'm sure if you shined a black light on it, it'd be.

[Genevieve]

A pretty rough scenario. One thing that I've been struggling with lately, I don't feel like we can get into this. I don't know what I'm doing today. Can we start. I almost want to start the show over. I. And I've been trying to examine whether or not this is because it's the type of places I go and am gravitating towards, or if it's just because it's a kind of a regional thing around here or what. But one thing I've noticed lately is I can't seem to just go to a. Vivus and I are going out for the evening, and we're going to a slightly upscale restaurant that will have a very cozy feel to it. You know, the type of place where, you know, they might change out the menu and they want to make sure you've been there before and stuff. Like, I kind of tease about that stuff, but sometimes it's a very nice night out. Right. But generally speaking, if I'm grabbing a bite somewhere or I don't want to go to someplace that sort of seems More high end. I just want to go to a regular restaurant. I'm finding it hard to find a restaurant around here that are like some that are just sort of in between. I feel like every place I go is just. And maybe this is just the wintertime, but every place I go now seems cold. Sort of like everything feels like. It feels like everybody's keeping their heat way down, probably to save costs, but also like. And it might just be because I'm not. Veeves and I were up in, I think Linwood or another more suburban community this weekend. We were running some errands. I had to return some shoes to dsw. And then once you're there, once Viv's and I are in like in a mall esque area, we're like, oh, look at video only. And like all these kind of chain stores and restaurants that we don't usually see. Right, exactly. And so we found ourselves in some chain restaurant with some of the worst font and logos I've seen. But it was serviceable enough. It was called Indigo. I don't know if that's a chain that you've heard of or not. It's just like, whatever. It's nothing that you would. That you would write a review about. But it was totally fine. It was acceptable. But like, we went in there and you know what? It was cozy. Like, it wasn't a fancy restaurant in any way. It wasn't elevated. It was, you know, very kind of suburban. Basic restaurant, but it had carpeting and booths and booths. Booths, Booths, booths, booths. Booth.

[Andrew Walsh]

Bees.

[Genevieve]

Bees. I just thank God you were there. I could have just been doing it if you were there.

[Andrew Walsh]

I come back tomorrow morning. I dialed the line. You're just boots.

[Genevieve]

Somebody unplug him and plug him back in. But like, it felt. And maybe it's because, like I associate that with. Because I did go to restaurants as a kid. Did you see the font? Did you just look up the font?

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, yes, but it also says, welcome to your friendly neighborhood restaurant. So it's. This is the website for. For Indigo. Yeah, this is like. This is like you couldn't get the rights to papyrus.

[Genevieve]

Right, Exactly. It's an elevated papyrus. Speaking of elevated. But anyway, my dislike of the. And by the way, all the signs like that were printed out from their printer. Like there was one sign stuck to the door and Genevieve's. Like, that's definitely papyrus. Like we were examining as we went in. But anyway, all of that is to say was. It was a nice little. Like we sat in a booth and. And you know, some. Some very like tasty, but like, you know, mediocre clam chowder and whatever else, you know, like we had. We shared some steak bites, I believe, and everything was like, totally fine. But my point is, like, it was nice to be in a place that was sort of warm and cozy with a carpet on the floor. I feel like unless I'm going out for the evening to the natural, like kind of nice restaurant everywhere I find myself. And I love a diner. I love like a teriyaki place. But every place I go just sort of feels cold and like more like they would prefer it if it were takeout. Maybe. That's too. That's too strong of a word.

[Andrew Walsh]

Everything is turning into basically a doordash factory. Yeah. Like even in where their main thing is just getting everything out the door because there's a million doordash orders coming.

[Genevieve]

Yeah. And like I was trying to avoid the feeling of being in like kind of a takeout place, but we just wanted some Thai food. So Vivs and I were like, well, let's go to that Thai place that's right on Greenwood. Like it's right in the main stretch of Greenwood where there's a bunch of little restaurants and stuff. You know that area really well. I'm guessing this place has been around for a while. And I grabbed takeout from there one time. I thought it was pretty good. And so we went back there. I'm like, yeah, maybe this will have more of a restaurant vibe to it. But it's very small. It had like five tables in there. And like, I don't know, people were coming and going and picking up orders. And you're right. It just sort of felt like it's hard for me to find a place that is like, like maybe I just need to move to the suburbs. Maybe that's the key here.

[Andrew Walsh]

Or a smaller city. Because as I look at this Indigo kitchen in Linwood, it reminds me of about 10 different places that were in Bellingham when I lived there and that I could probably find if I went down the hill to good old Lungview, Washington. It's, I think what you're, you know, there's something about being in a pretty large American city that's, that's fairly hip. Like Seattle is not that you guys are. Are in the like annoyingly hip section where everything is, as you like to say, you know, a two word name other than Handy and Andy. Most things around you are not two word named.

[Genevieve]

But funny, if Handy and Andy rebranded.

[Andrew Walsh]

As Handy and Andy and Andy plus Andy. God, that would be incredible. But. But, yeah, this. This looks like there's something about kind of like suburban places or some. I would say, maybe even smaller cities, smaller towns, where it seems like you've got more people taking a swing at kind of opening their. I think about, like, when we. When Beck and I go out to visit her. Her. Her brother and his wife, they live out in an area that's, I think it's called, like, Cedar Hills or something. And in fact, there's, like, there's this. Sometimes we're going out there, they have a swimming pool, and we'll go out in the summertime, and we'll stop off at this little grocery store, New Seasons, and get some stuff. And it's in the. This newer mall development. But in that mall development, there are at least four restaurants that are versions of this thing that I'm looking at, which are, like a little place that, you know, you know, somebody to do their dream had, like, opened a little. Little brewery or a little, you know, restaurant of whatever. You know, maybe it's. It's Mediterranean or Italian or whatever you want to call it. And it doesn't matter. It's immaterial. Andrew. I might have Italian for dinner. Anyway, point is, when I look at this, I can think of, like, 15 examples from places I've lived that were not Seattle or New York or Los Angeles. So part of it just might be, you know, being in Seattle, the fact.

[Genevieve]

That I can't find a sort of mid place. You mean, like.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, well, the place that's like this. A place that's not fast casual, that's not a chain, and that's also not like maybe a, you know, a kind of a can list or something like that. There's this. Whatever we call this, this kind of strata, if you will, this layer of, like, our dining experience that there just aren't tons of them. Most things are either like some big operation like a Chipotle. I mean, I also think there's a fast casualization.

[Genevieve]

I do, too, of American cuisine. I also. I think there's that. And I didn't think about this until you said it, but now I'm leaning into it. In the past five minutes, the idea that maybe because the pandemic forced so many restaurants to go towards a takeout model that didn't do it before. What. I mean, like, I don't know, your Patty's Egg Nest or whatever, suddenly the only way they can survive is by just churning out these orders. But then when things sort of return to normal but not even quite. That's probably where most of the profits come from, I would guess. Like, there is a teriyaki place. I'm not going to name it, but it's one of our. It's a place that I know that you used to like on the Ave as well. Just like, you know, a very to go type of place. It's always been a to go kind of place, but it's got a bit of a dining room and it's long, kind of this long dining room dining room with, I'm going to say, maybe 20 tables in there or something. And again, very, very quick, lunchy kind of place type of vibes. But when the pandemic happened, you would go in there and everything obviously was to go. So they would just give you a bag instead of like bringing out to your table on plates, your teriyaki meal, whatever it is, they would just give you clamshell containers and a plastic bag and then out the door you go. Now, several years after things have reopened, and I will stop in there if I'm working at Kuow or something, and I'll go in there with Ders. And it is such a turnoff. We will go and we'll say we are eating here. Then they'll say, okay, and they'll take our order and then they come by our table and everything is packaged up in the clamshells and in a to go bag, which, by the way, is just a waste of plastics. Like, they just seem. They can no longer, even though they are paying to like, maintain space, they just cannot not understand the idea that we want to eat this here and we don't want to cut open a bag to get to our food when we're sitting there at the table and it's a waste of their bags.

[Andrew Walsh]

They. They opened this new Indian restaurant down in the neighborhood that Becca lives in, which I was stoked about because I love Indian food. There's none of it out here. And so the other day I went down there. Becca is medium. I don't know if you and Genevieve have these kind of conversations where the other person clearly doesn't like something, but they refuse to admit they don't like it. And I don't know why, but it's like every time I suggest Indian food, she's like, ah, maybe not tonight. And I'm like, well, you don't like Indian food? I don't not like it. I just have never felt like it once ever in five years. Well, I see a pattern here. So I was like, well, I'm gonna go. I was, I was gonna head home, but I was like, hungry, so I was like, I'm gonna go get some Indian food at that place. And, and it was crazy. The, the, the server was like so nice, so super nice. And the food ultimately was very yummy. I was very happy with the whole experience. But man, I was the only person in the restaurant. And I'm sitting at a booth and it must have taken 45 minutes for me to get the food because the amount of to go orders that were flying through that joint and the number of people, people that were just sitting there with AirPods in and their phone up, presumably doordash drivers and other, you know, food delivery services that were just waiting to get their orders. Waiting to get their orders. And I was like, man, this is a different world we're living in now. You know, these places are. And again, I understand why they're just reflecting where the, you know, possible business success is. But it's just, it's. I do think that we've somehow moved away from a dine in experience and we may never go back to how things were.

[Genevieve]

Yeah, you're, you're right. And things will just continue to evolve. So I was just trying to figure out. And that's why. And this has actually been a very beneficial conversation because it's something I've been thinking about a lot. Like just this idea that I kind of can't seem to like. I went to a nice little Thai place for lunch and I remember it was New Year's Eve and I was having a very late lunch and I was having a lot of trouble finding places that were still open. It was like 3:30 and a lot of places were closing for the night at that point. I sort of missed the lunch area and so I went to this place, you know, Monkey Bridge in Fremont. It's a tiny little. It's a tiny little corner Thai restaurant that is. It's like kind of across from the Majestic. I mean, unless you had been there, there's no reason to necessarily notice it, but it's totally fine. I had food there before, but I go in there.

[Andrew Walsh]

Is it in Ballard maybe?

[Genevieve]

What did I say? Did I say Fremont? I'm sorry, I meant Ballard.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, but I'm just looking it up. I'm trying to get eyes on this.

[Genevieve]

It was just so cold in there the whole time. I'm like wearing my coat the whole time. It was a cold day outside too, but like it could be a cozy little place in there. But maybe I'M just running cold too, but I just sort of feel like I can't.

[Andrew Walsh]

Are you losing weight, Andrew? What's going on? I can always tell if I've managed to shed a few pounds because all of a sudden I'm like, has it always been this cold in the sun?

[Genevieve]

Oh, really? No, I don't think that's the case for me. I did shave all of the hair off of my body, so I don't know if that has something dirty. Dad. That it's dirty. Yeah. So anyway.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. So what we can take away from this conversation is really somebody needs to open a restaurant that's main sort of core competency is it's warm in here.

[Genevieve]

And by the way, and cozy.

[Andrew Walsh]

And I don't want to gender things because, like, you know, you're, you're assigned male at birth. Andrew. So I don't want to say this is uniquely the women in my life, but I will say this. I've never been in a relationship with a woman who was not significantly more cold than I was in most places. That's my personal experience. And if, if you told any of these women in my life there's a restaurant where the number one thing we promise is you are not going to be cold if you're in this restaurant, that would immediately be the number one restaurant that we went in.

[Genevieve]

And me, let me ask you this.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. I'll add you to the list of long term relationships in my life.

[Genevieve]

I was man, sometimes it's just funny.

[Andrew Walsh]

How once you let me into that skylight.

[Genevieve]

Yeah, we'll see the skylight frame. But I was just reading a thread on Reddit. I like the Seattle subreddit. Somebody said, what do you guys keep your thermostat at? Now I want to, I want to caveat this by saying it really. There's. I don't think that there is a level playing field for answering that question. It really depends on your home and how well insulated it is. And if it's a smaller place, setting the thermostat at something may be like, it may be more accurate throughout your apartment than here, where we have a basement and we spend most of our time in the basement, but the thermostat is upstairs. And so setting it to whatever upstairs may not reflect what we're actually living in downstairs. So putting that caveat out there, generally speaking, what is your temperature in your home? Where do you keep things in the winter?

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, my home is extra confusing because like, like I have a mini split. Right. Which is one of those it's like a big fan unit that lives outside, but then has this pipe that. It goes up into this vent inside my house. But that's just one corner of my house. That's the only. Currently. That's the only, like, permanently installed H vac in the house. So I run that thing. I'll run that pretty hot. I'll run that at like 85.

[Genevieve]

Oh, wow.

[Andrew Walsh]

Because it needs to.

[Genevieve]

Well, first of all, just to get to the heart of the question, then, like, what about what is a good.

[Andrew Walsh]

What. What temperature going for?

[Genevieve]

You're literally in. Under construction right now. So that. But like, just generally speaking, at houses where you've lived where things have been more stable and everything is insulated.

[Andrew Walsh]

Never.

[Genevieve]

You're obviously. You're not keeping it at 85. That's like swell. That's growing.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, no, no. Probably. I would think, like, I would think 78 in the winter.

[Genevieve]

No way.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Like, again, well, okay.

[Genevieve]

Yeah. You must live in drastic places. Yeah. This is because that is. We have to separate so far beyond. Because I keep it at 71 and it's like everybody is like 71. I keep it at 65 and like.

[Andrew Walsh]

So 71 is hot. I guess. Listen, if we think about a comfortable temperature. 70 sounds comfortable to me. If it was 70 degrees outside right now and I went and sat to finish my coffee, that would be a good temperature. I think I'm confusing it with what do I have to jack the heat to. To get the outcome of 70 degrees?

[Genevieve]

Yeah, I guess that.

[Andrew Walsh]

I can't give you a good answer.

[Genevieve]

The. Because one of the things that always sticks in my head is I don't think it was Genevieve who said this. I think it was Genevieve's friend or our friend Jessica, who lived with Genevieve for a long time. Time. Who would say a house is not a blanket. Put on a sweater or get a blanket. And I think about an 80 year old.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes.

[Genevieve]

Because I am always like, I like my house to be a blanket. Honestly, like, I look, I'm wearing short sleeves right now in the winter, I like to be warm in my house, but not having to be bundled up.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, let me give you an example of this. In my little house. So I have the two heating sources literally in the whole. I mean, I have heaters and things. And in fact, I just bought yesterday this crazy thing called a Kelvin from a company called Boulder. And it's an infrared. It's a flat piece of glass that is infrared heat. And that basically, like, if you. If you. If you're. If you are within like sight of this thing. It physically warms your body up. It does not warm up the air temperature. It warms your body up. Yeah, it's crazy. I'm on the waiting list for this.

[Genevieve]

Oh, you haven't tried it yet? Because I was like, what is that sensational?

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, I'll tell you when I. When they send it to me. But I'm gonna put it in a bathroom of mine where I don't want to. Whatever. Here's the thing. In my little house, there is this pellet stove. And that a bag of pellets at Home Depot is 6.99. And if I were to run that stove all day, it might. It might eat up a two thirds of a bag of pellets or whatever. So I think of it as like running that thing is costing me $7 if I'm gonna do it all day. Day. It is very effective. It really warms the house up. The mini split is so much more efficient. I could run the mini split at 88 degrees and it would raise my. At the end of the month, it would raise my power bill by three bucks for the month. It's like insane how, how efficient these mini splits are. So really what I should be doing is just run the mini split as warm as I want it to be. And. But I like the coziness of the fire.

[Genevieve]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

It gives me a good feeling. And also I like. I run them both at the same time so that when I wake up in the morning, I come out of my little bedroom to make my coffee. I'm not freezing. And every time I do it, I think, this is so decadent. This is. I just, I'm. I'm not running the, the pellet stove overnight, don't get me wrong. But I'll. First thing I'll do, I'll walk over to it. I will turn it on because it is cozy. It makes me feel good in the wintertime when a lot of things make me feel bad from a weather standpoint point. And I'm always hearing like, you know my mom and dad, who are extremely careful with things like heat. And I'm thinking basically what you're saying, Andrew, which is I want my house to be a blanket. I live here. There's so much about this world that is not comforting right now. If it's gonna cost me at the end of the month an extra 50 bucks to feel comfortable. And it's something that I can do by just like leaving that mini split at 4 degrees warmer. It's the best 50 bucks I'm gonna spend, I think in the month. That's the constant conversation in my head.

[Genevieve]

You know, what I've been doing lately. So I. Over the holidays, Luke, I was staying up so late. Like, literally, if I was getting to bed at 3:00, that was pretty good. I was. I was staying up until 4am at times and then like, sleeping super late. And like, it's like you need the.

[Andrew Walsh]

Rhythm of tbtl, regular TBTL to just stay alive. Right.

[Genevieve]

I gotta say. Like, it, like, it was really, really nice at first, but then you do get to a point where you're like, oh, yeah, I need a little bit more structure here because I, I definitely. Because I'll just start staying out and then eventually four could become five. You know what I mean? Like, I literally. I don't know what it is about me, but I. I like the nightlife, if the nightlife is sitting behind my computer. So anyway, all of that is to say I'm trying to get into better habits now. And I'm. And so I'm trying to get out of bed early.

[Andrew Walsh]

Earlier.

[Genevieve]

Not, not early. Let me correct that. But like, you know, I just sort of feel like if I can be out of bed by like 8 or 8:30, like, that's a pretty good head start on the day that's not late. I'm sorry, that is not early by most people's standards. That's actually probably quite late by most people's standards. But, you know, I am who I am. My point is.

[Andrew Walsh]

And you can say that legally now.

[Genevieve]

I can say that, but I can't say it with spinach in my hand. Or.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, no, no, no, no, no spinach, please. See, yesterday, today's show, if you wonder what the hell we're talking about, I was trying to.

[Genevieve]

Does he laugh like. Or no. Was I doing the Three Stooges there?

[Andrew Walsh]

You're doing a. More of a Three Stooge, which is that. Hold on, let me. Is that in the public domain?

[Genevieve]

What does he do? What is. Doesn't he have a laugh? What do Pie do?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. What I am what I am what I am what I am. Now I'm being Robin Williams as the live. Was that Coppola or Scorsese? I think it was one of them. Live Action Pop. I. That was one of the, like. That was like a great director that did the. Altman Robert.

[Genevieve]

Oh, Altman. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Oh, that, that Live. I remember that movie. I remember being a kid. I want to finish my thought about the Heat really quickly, but That I remember that movie as a kid. You're like, oh, yeah, I like Popeye. I've seen Popeye cartoons. Let's rent the Popeye movie. And you're like, what the hell is going on? Is this darkness? It's like, I just remember it being like shot in like kind of a gritty dark in that. Who plays olive oil?

[Andrew Walsh]

That's what America needed, was a grittier Popeye.

[Genevieve]

And the woman, Shelly Duvall, Shelley Duvall, not Shelley Long, plays olive oil. All of that is to say, one of the things that I have been loving about my new thermostat, which I can control from my phone, is when I'm trying to wake up at just like a quasi decent hour in the morning. And it's so easy just to like kind of roll over and go back to sleep because I stayed up too late, is I can use my phone to turn the heat up a little bit because I've got it set on a schedule now where the heat drops down to 65 at night when we're sleeping because you don't need it to be blasting. And also it gets too hot. But if I wake up around like seven or something and I'm like, oh, I don't want to get out of bed. And also it's a little bit chilly. I can just open my phone and tap out a hotter and let the house heat up a little bit. And then it makes getting out of bed so much easier. There's something about getting out of a warm bed into a cold air is.

[Andrew Walsh]

Like you're jumping out of an airplane without a parachute.

[Genevieve]

I hate it so much.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, that's the thing is that I, I. So my bedroom now also doesn't have any like, you know, heating vents or whatever. There's a heater in there, but I never use it at night. In fact, I have my window open. I'm a maniac. I like, I'm like. This is the most. I like German thing about me is that because I think they're famous for. What are they famous for? Well, one of the things is that they really, really like to have like the windows open even in the winter, and the their bedroom and the house really cold. And then you're under like a really warm, you know, like, you know, duvet or whatever. I love that feeling. But because I'm a man of a certain age, I also have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. And this is the constant dance because I sleep better if the room is cold. But then, then I have to get up and go to the bathroom, but I'm freaking freezing. And then same problem in the morning. So I don't know what the solution is other than maybe get on that remote control train that you're talking about. Eventually, this, the Madrona Hill studio will have a mini split in here. So the temperature will be. Because right now I just have like two different heaters going. The temperature will be regulated in here. I'm going to have a small mini split in my bedroom room and then one upstairs. And hopefully we'll be able to have some. The problem with it is they're all different systems. It'd be nice. It was all integrated. And maybe there's a way to do that. The listener knows. Can you integrate mini splits from different companies? If somebody knows about that, get at me. But yeah, it's. I guess that's the downside of buying a house from the 1930s.

[Genevieve]

Genevieve. You know, and I'm on board with this. I don't mean to put it on Genevieve, but as kind of a cost cutting measure, what we're doing for the basement, again, because the temperatures can be so, like, kind of divergent, is we have like a. Like a 55 gallon drum that is. I kind of. It's got some garbage and stuff in there. And we just light that on fire here in the basement. And we sort of like. Like after the show, like, I'm freezing right now, but after the show, I'll go out there and be like, I'll huddle around that for a little bit.

[Andrew Walsh]

Have you considered getting some new, like, shoes? Because that one. Your right one that the top is just blown out on.

[Genevieve]

Yeah, right. Well, you can see my toes. Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't think that that's necessarily the best look for you.

[Genevieve]

I don't know. It's all part of a.

[Andrew Walsh]

What do you got in that bindle? Do you have a different sho. That bindle you could replace it with? All right. We did not get to random audio roundup today, but I'm actually kind of weirdly excited to play you this tape. Although I don't know if it's really going to work, but we're going to have to find out tomorrow together. I am proud that at least yesterday we kind of, as a bank shot, we did get to the top story that we promoted in the beginning of the show.

[Genevieve]

Today when you were promoting things.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes.

[Genevieve]

You didn't. Did you promote the story that was on the show sheet, or do the listeners not even know? The listeners don't even know what I'm talking about, right?

[Andrew Walsh]

They don't even know what you're talking about.

[Genevieve]

Wow. Well, welcome, new listeners.

[Andrew Walsh]

Don't even know why you use the term fresh. Hell.

[Genevieve]

What? Welcome, new listeners. I hope you enjoyed the show today. I have regrets.

[Andrew Walsh]

The show is a very cryptic mystery that you have to solve by listening for 17 years.

[Genevieve]

That's actually kind of true. That's like the best. That's the best description of TBTL I've heard. Well, that's. And steamy, I guess.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, right. All right. We were going to be. We are going to be. We were going to be back here tomorrow. And in fact, we are going to be back here tomorrow with more imaginary radio for you. So we hope you'll join us for that. In the meantime, everyone, have a great Tuesday. Happy anniversary, Andrew.

[Genevieve]

Oh, yeah, you too.

[Andrew Walsh]

And. And happy anniversary to us as a show and to all of you who have been listening either for a very long time or are new to the show. We love. Love you all. All right, we'll see you tomorrow. In the meantime, please remember, no mountain too tall.

[Genevieve]

And good luck to all. Power out.