#4435 I Saw The Sign

Summary

TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live – Episode #4435 "I Saw The Sign" Summary

Release Date: April 1, 2025
Hosts: Luke Burbank and Andrew Walsh

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Introduction: Navigating April Fool's Day

Opening the episode on April 1st, hosts Luke Burbank and Andrew Walsh establish a no-nonsense tone by declaring, “We will not be participating in any April foolishness here on this program. We would never, never do that” (01:43). This sets the stage for a day typically rife with pranks and jokes, highlighting their commitment to delivering genuine content despite the date's traditional penchant for humor.

Nostalgia for April Fool's: NPR's "Slow Internet Movement" Spoof

The duo delves into a nostalgic exploration of past April Fool's traditions, reminiscing about NPR's 2011 spoof on the "slow Internet movement." Luke introduces the topic by referencing a 13-14-year-old segment:

“They [the podcast] play you the ad coming up here in a moment” (01:23).

Genevieve, a recurring guest, shares her confusion and eventual realization that Heinz Beans' playful tweet was part of an April Fool's joke. They critically analyze the evolution of such pranks, noting a decline in widespread participation:

“I believe We've grown up and everybody's dropped it now, right? In 2025.” (05:59)

Their discussion underscores a shift from overt pranks to more subtle or non-existent April Fool's humor, reflecting broader changes in societal engagement with the tradition.

Spotlight on Netflix's "Adolescence": A Masterclass in One-Shot Filming

Transitioning from nostalgic humor to contemporary media, Luke and Genevieve discuss Netflix's acclaimed series "Adolescence." The show is lauded for its ambitious one-shot episodes, a technique where each episode appears as a continuous, unbroken take. Andrew expresses admiration for the technical prowess required:

“They played you the ad coming up... the camera technology... it's a beautiful single camera shoot” (14:14).

Genevieve and Andrew dissect the complexities of executing seamless transitions, such as shifting from handheld cameras to drones without visible cuts. They ponder whether these techniques serve the narrative or are merely stylistic gimmicks. Andrew concludes:

“It absolutely serves the purpose of the show. It keeps you as the viewer really, really engaged” (32:07).

Their analysis highlights the delicate balance between innovative filmmaking and storytelling efficacy.

Tech Troubles: FuboTV's Zip Code Glitch Impacts Mariners Viewing

Interspersed with media discussions, Andrew shares a personal tech mishap involving his FuboTV subscription. Due to a zip code error, he was unable to access Mariners games, leading to unexpected price changes:

“It literally somehow changed my zip code in my settings. That is so bananas” (37:52).

Genevieve assists by researching the issue, uncovering that the glitch occurred when Andrew accessed FuboTV from New York City, inadvertently altering his account's location settings. This anecdote not only adds a personal touch but also emphasizes the frustrations of modern streaming services.

Advertising Fiascos: Critiquing EQC Casino's Incomplete Comedy Commercials

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to critiquing Emerald Queen Casino's (EQC) recent advertising efforts. Luke plays a 15-second commercial for comedian Michael Blaustein, which the hosts find humorously flawed:

“My gym costs $9 a month” (43:21).

Genevieve and Andrew discuss how the shortened version loses the punchline, rendering the joke ineffective. They propose better editing strategies, suggesting that including the full joke would enhance viewer engagement:

“Don't make his joke into nonsense or an incomplete thought so that you can create enough time” (48:59).

This segment underscores the importance of coherent storytelling in advertising and the pitfalls of overly condensed commercial formats.

Al Hamilton's Uncle Sam Billboard: A Legacy of Controversial Messaging

One of the episode's central discussions revolves around the iconic Uncle Sam billboard near Chehalis on Interstate 5. Originally maintained by Al Hamilton, the billboard became infamous for its conservative and often offensive messages, ranging from conspiracies to inflammatory political statements:

“If you won't support the team, get out of our stadium” (71:25).

With Hamilton's passing and the billboard now up for sale at $2.5 million, Luke and Genevieve speculate on its future. They express hope that a non-political entity, such as a local business, will acquire the property to preserve its aesthetics without perpetuating its contentious legacy:

“I very much hope that the piece of property sells... And they take up the sign, they make it a D sign” (81:00).

The hosts also touch upon legal battles surrounding the billboard, including a 1975 Washington State Supreme Court case that initially allowed Hamilton to display political content due to partial business advertising. This historical context frames their discussion on free speech versus public decency.

Personal Anecdotes: Live Shows and Kitchen Mishaps

Interspersed with topical discussions, the hosts share personal stories that add a relatable dimension to the episode. Genevieve recounts a memorable live show experience where she tripped on stage, while Andrew humorously describes stirring a cocktail with a remote control—a mishap prompting advice on better kitchen practices:

“I let it soak overnight. ... I'm telling you. That deglazing technique is what I should have done” (91:00).

These narratives not only provide entertainment but also showcase the hosts' camaraderie and ability to find humor in everyday situations.

Conclusion: Embracing Community and Looking Forward

As the episode wraps up, Luke and Genevieve reflect on their bond and the support from their community, including mentions of loyal donors and fellow podcasters sending well wishes from various locations. They conclude with light-hearted plans of potentially relocating to foster a more dynamic podcast environment, blending personal aspirations with professional endeavors.

“We may all need to move somewhere together... a community of a few hundred people” (57:18).

Their closing remarks reinforce the show's spirit of friendship and collective journey through life's quirks, leaving listeners with a sense of warmth and anticipation for future episodes.

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Notable Quotes:

• Andrew Walsh (03:11): “We will not be participating in any April foolishness here on this program. We would never, never do that.”
• Genevieve (05:59): “I certainly hope that the not April Fooling is the new April Fooling.”
• Andrew Walsh (14:14): “The camera technology... it's a beautiful single camera shoot that somehow just never friggin cuts.”
• Genevieve (48:36): “This is exactly 15 seconds where I stopped it. That... Yeah, that's the cut.”
• Andrew Walsh (81:00): “I very much hope that the piece of property sells. What I really hope is... it just sold to like a DSW, like a designer warehouse shoes.”

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This episode of TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live masterfully blends nostalgic reflections, contemporary media analysis, personal anecdotes, and critical discussions on societal issues, all while maintaining the hosts' signature humor and camaraderie. Whether dissecting an old April Fool's prank or contemplating the future of a controversial billboard, Luke and Genevieve offer listeners a rich tapestry of insights and entertainment.

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Transcript

[Luke Burbank]

Did you know that you're strong? Did you know that you're very, very strong? We as people have enough iron in.

[Andrew Walsh]

Our blood to build a nail. Did you know that? Nobody's taken us down. Unless you're anemic, like I am, in.

[Luke Burbank]

Which case, take an iron supplement really helps.

[Genevieve]

DBTL Are you saying boo or Boo urns? I was saying boo urns.

[Andrew Walsh]

I should have prepared, but I just watched tv. Just like the drop says. I cannot contain my joy. I don't think I've ever related to a drop so much right now myself. I can't contain my Jordo.

[Genevieve]

This is Hella Toys.

[Andrew Walsh]

All right. Hello, good morning and welcome, everyone, to a Tuesday edition of tbtl, the show that just might be too beautiful to live.

[Genevieve]

It's a kind of magic.

[Andrew Walsh]

My name is Luke Burbank. I'm your host. Another day, another victory for the OG.

[Genevieve]

Taking down the sweats.

[Andrew Walsh]

The imposters among us coming to you from the Madrona Hill studio, perched high above the very foggy Columbia river today. Cloud, fog, totally enveloped in fog up here at the studio, which is kind of cozy in a way. It's April 1st. April Fool's Day.

[Genevieve]

I cannot believe he just told that joke.

[Andrew Walsh]

We will not be participating in any April foolishness here on this program. We would never, never do that. On episode 4435 in a collector series, Let the fun begin. If you grew up in the Northwest like I did, traveling up and down Interstate 5, you are aware of that Uncle Sam sign that's in Napa? Vine, technically, I guess. You know, the conservative sign that's been up for, I don't know, 30, 40 years. What's the symbology there? There's a chance it might finally go away, which I think would be kind of great. We'll dig into that. Also, if you were to travel north on i5, not far from that sign, well, maybe an hour or so, you'd run into the Emerald Queen Casino, the capital of the entertainment capital of the Northwest. And they've got a new ad that's got me and Andrew annoyed. Is this a thing people care about? No. We will not let that stop us. We will play you the ad coming up here in a moment. Speaking of my good friend Andrew Walsh, longest running cobra of the show, may be best known for his depictions of the tall ships. He pinged me this morning early and said, when I introduce him, can I use his new nickname? Which is nice, Mr. Seed. And he's joining me right now. Good morning, my friend.

[Genevieve]

That was. I wanted you to call me Colonel Mustard. There was a mistake there, by the way.

[Andrew Walsh]

Another prominently featured character at the Mustard Museum. Lots of Colonel Mustard ephemera around.

[Genevieve]

Hey, that actually is kind of related to what I want to tell you at the top of the show, because I saw a post on social media yesterday. It was on Blue sky, and I. The only connection to Mustard is. I'm pretty sure the brand that was posted or the brand posting this thing was Heinz, which of course makes Mustard.

[Andrew Walsh]

I guess that feels. That feels out of their lane to me.

[Genevieve]

I'm pretty sure they're the ones who signed DJ Mustard to the.

[Andrew Walsh]

They probably. I'm sure you're right. They did. I'm just so. I'm just so focusing on the ketchup portion of their portfolio.

[Genevieve]

Sure. No, I mean, a lot of people do, but you'd be missing out on so much. But I don't care about that. I was gonna say they did. It was kind of late last night. Somebody reposted this, and I think it was from. Check this out. Heinz Beans. Luke, I'm pretty sure beans. Not beans.

[Andrew Walsh]

Bees.

[Genevieve]

Beans. I think that they tweeted out, and I could be wrong about the actual brand, but I'm pretty sure Heinz Beans posted bees, beans. Something that said, we are beads. We are not going to lie to you tomorrow. That is our promise. And then somebody reposted that and said, yes, everybody, just be cool. More of this, please. And it took me a while to figure out why Hines was saying, we're not gonna lie to you tomorrow. And then I realized, oh, yeah, today is April 1st. There was a time in the. In the legacy of the Internet when this was the biggest holiday. This was a high holiday.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes.

[Genevieve]

Everybody's dropped it now, right? In 2025. Have you seen any kind of foolishness on April Fool's Day? It's done, right?

[Andrew Walsh]

I didn't see much this morning, thankfully, but I was also on the ascendant social media. I'm gonna keep saying that until it's true. Platform Blue sky this morning. And I was just scrolling, and I also had forgotten it was April 1st. And then I saw a guy on there. There's absolutely no winning with me is the takeaway from what I'm about to say. Somebody on there, I don't think I follow them, just said, like, well, welcome to officially the most annoying day to be on the Internet. And then I was annoyed with him for posting that. And then I just got off of Blue sky because I was like, that seems. Which side note is probably a version of something that we've said a million times. In other words, we're not, we're not into the April Fool's spoofs. But then something about somebody else just kind of being like, okay, welcome to the most annoying day on the Internet that annoyed me. And then I just. But I also didn't want to get hit with any spoofs. And then I just, I just, I consciously uncoupled from, from blue sky and social media at that point. So I haven't seen anything. But I could very much, I could very much imagine, Andrew, that not April Fooling is the new April Fooling.

[Genevieve]

I certainly hope so. One thing that bothers me here though is because I wanted to fact check myself. Now I didn't fall for an April Fool's joke per se, but I did fall for a misleading handle. This is not the first, first time this has happened to me on this show. This is just somebody who is funny online who goes by the handle Heinz Beans. This was not the official account of Heinz. I now that I say that I don't even know if Heinz makes beans. And I'm a little bit mad at myself right now.

[Andrew Walsh]

I was curious what Heinz beans? What? Yeah, like there, if there was a ketchup bean that I didn't find out about when I was reporting on that.

[Genevieve]

Yeah, you reported on high. Just. You didn't do a bean story that I know of?

[Andrew Walsh]

No, no, no. I just mean I didn't. I was in a two tomato field in central California. I didn't see any beans. I was wondering what the Heinz beans. When I thought that was a real account or the, an actual Heinz account? When you just mentioned it, I was, I was wondering what the beans thing was.

[Genevieve]

Well, they do make baked beans. I'm looking at those now. Heinz does make baked beans in a can. But this was not the official baked beans of Heinz who was saying they weren't going to fool us. It was just somebody who I guess is a, I guess enthusiast for the product prankster. So much so that they named themselves after it. But I do believe the post was earnest. Just saying, listen, I'm a golf gullible person. I would prefer nobody lie to me. I'm not gonna lie to you tomorrow. Let's all just be cool. And I just really liked that as, as a new way of going forward into this beautiful month.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, I think the larger question remains though, which is from these corporate accounts because most of these corporate accounts are now run by I would say young people. But they're probably in their 30s themselves. Back when it was like Wendy's was talking about give me the nugs.

[Genevieve]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

It seemed like they had, you know, young children running these things. But, you know, there is a real sort of, I don't know, you could say kind of fraternity or sorority or camaraderie of some of these huge brands. And then again, their social media teams and they tend to kind of jump onto the same. They're as influenced by trends as anyone is. And I could see the trend for like, let's just. Again, this hypothetical person's 28 years old and they're the social media person for, you know, Wendy's or one of these other companies or Heinz Beans. And their boss is like, okay, what are we doing for April Fools? And they're going, actually, that's kind of like, that's not very like, that's, that's not really like what cool social media accounts are doing anymore is like writing something that's patently false to get the likes. Because we've moved on now. The cool thing is to say you're not doing that. I could see that being, as I said, not spoofing is the new spoofing.

[Genevieve]

Yeah. Back when I was a young adult and just, you know, early in my career in public radio and just early in my infatuation with public radio, in fact, this might even. And now I don't think this would predate my time as an employee of public radio. But very early on in that relationship, I remember, all things considered, they were famous for doing fake stories and just slipping them in there very dryly, very drolly. And the first one that I remember was the slow. Oh, yeah, this. I must have been well into my career at this point, but it was the slow Internet movement. Do you remember that story? Yeah, it was when everything was like, the slow this movement, the slow, that movement. I believe it was like, I don't know, probably even the ATC crew that you and I kind of grew up with. It was probably like Noah Adams or something doing a very dry introduction to a story about people who, you know, young hipsters who are just like, the Internet is too fast these days. And it was chockablock with that old Internet dial up sound or whatever. It was a pretty good spoof. I mean, back then it wasn't oversaturated.

[Andrew Walsh]

Melissa block reported for NPR's All Things Considered. I bet you she was reading the intro.

[Genevieve]

Oh, yeah, I must be wrong.

[Andrew Walsh]

Maybe.

[Genevieve]

I guess I got a lot of that wrong.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, no, no, no. It was a 2011.

[Genevieve]

Yeah. Still not slow Internet movement. Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

And what I'm trying to figure out is the piece itself. This is where I'm going to take it from mildly interesting to deeply uninteresting. I'm on hoaxes.org I couldn't find the. I couldn't find it@the NPR.org site, but hoaxes.org is citing it as a April Fool's joke. But they're saying Melissa block reported for NPR's All Things Considered about the slow Internet movement was a. Which was a rapidly growing in hipster enclaves such as Portland, Oregon, and Autumn, Iowa. Now, this is where, where my brain goes. Was it actually a Melissa Block piece? Was it like a cut and copy, as we used to call it, where Melissa Block is reading, you know, a script and then they're playing fake tape? Or was Melissa Block just the person reading the intro and then handing it off to a reporter who did the joking or. You know what I mean?

[Genevieve]

Yeah. Like, a lot of times, I got a lot of that wrong. My memory was her reading into a package that a reporter had. Well, that could be very wrong.

[Andrew Walsh]

That could be the case. This is. This is. This is where my brain now fixates. A lot of times people who don't. What are they called? Normal people. A lot of times normal people, if. If they were like, oh, I heard that story on All Things Considered, you'd be like, who did the story? And they would be like, oh, it was. It was Melissa Block. And abnormal people like me would be like, no, no, no. Melissa Block was hosting All Things Considered. She read the lead spelled L, E, D, E, because. Let's just get as pedantic as we can. And then some other reporter did the piece, but because Melissa Block read the intro. Now, in this case, she may have also read the piece itself, but I get hung up on that kind of stuff because I feel like it may. May or may not have been a Melissa Block story. It may have just been something. And Melissa is a friend of mine, and I'm a fan of her work. This is no shade on her. But I'm curious if the Museum of Hoax has got this exactly right.

[Genevieve]

Well, okay, I'm going to make things even more complicated here. Oh, wait, yeah, this was 2000, because I thought I couldn't find the original audio on NPR anymore, and I wondered if they had scrubbed their old April Fool's fake stories in the era of a lot of fake news actually happening and people not knowing what to believe. But it seems like I might have it here and There's a. So I see here that on NPR I can play for you their follow up story which was them reacting to emails from listeners about it. But I think April 5th, this is the real thing. This says April 1st, 2011, I think.

[Luke Burbank]

Let's see here on the program, we heard about Google's choice of Kansas City, Kansas as the winner of its ultra fast fiber optic network.

[Genevieve]

By the way, this is a long story. I'm willing to go all in on this. I don't think that. I mean, you tell me when, Andrew Walsh.

[Andrew Walsh]

You tell me. It's got a ring to it.

[Genevieve]

All right, you tell me when to kill this work.

[Luke Burbank]

It promises Internet Access more than 100 times faster than home broadband. Well, today we explore a movement that's bucking the trend toward ultra fast.

[Genevieve]

I love the way we are now the ones doing April Foolish Stories.

[Andrew Walsh]

I started the show by saying there'll be no April foolishness on today's episode. And what we're doing is playing a piece from 13 to 14 years ago. I guess 14 if we're doing the math. Yeah.

[Genevieve]

All right, well, sorry, just people who.

[Luke Burbank]

Revel in getting back to a slower pace online.

[Andrew Walsh]

Much slow 3 shot miracle.

[Luke Burbank]

If we're all now speeding down the information superhighway.

[Andrew Walsh]

Now, can you pause it so it is a Melissa block. Cut and copy. Okay, so I'm sorry, Museum of Hoaxes.

[Genevieve]

Well, this is six minutes long. And the credit, it looks like it's going to Becca Grimm. Unless Becca Grimm is someone who just wrote it up online, I'm not sure. Let's see where this goes.

[Luke Burbank]

This a detour onto a bumpy country road.

[Genevieve]

Coffee.

[Luke Burbank]

Enjoy it slowly at the coffeehouse Drip. Here in Washington, they specialize in hand pours each cup of Burundian Buzira Guhenda, individually crafted Drip's owner is 33 year old Hunter Fantuzzi.

[Genevieve]

We really focus on slow coffee, slow Internet, slow everything, really. No, you're clearly right. Becca Grimm must have just been the person who wrote this up. This is clearly a cut and copy.

[Andrew Walsh]

Can I get two hours of dial up?

[Luke Burbank]

Drip is just one outpost of what its practitioners call the slow Internet movement. You'll find coffee houses like this one offering dial up only in hipster enclaves in Portland, Oregon, Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Ottumwa, Iowa. Drip enforces a strict no smartphone policy. They've lined their walls with lead to block wireless signals. Instead, they offer dial up at 28.8 leisurely kilobits per second. Order dial up and Drip will activate one of the many phone Jacks lining the brick walls here. 99 cents an hour.

[Genevieve]

I don't think that anyone who's ever bought Internet time here has spent less than four hours and that's just checking email.

[Andrew Walsh]

People say that the fun part of dating is the chase. And I realized that that was how I felt about the gathering of information.

[Luke Burbank]

That's drip regular Sadie Goldberg Patel. I found her hunched over her vintage 1987 Kaypro 2 portable computer. Computer waiting to connect.

[Andrew Walsh]

Now when I'm waiting for the Internet to load up, I get butterflies.

[Genevieve]

And those butterflies I think do a great job with some of the details of the story, the descriptions of the coffee shop and everything. The one thing. Now I've had 14 years to think about this story as being untrue. But I will say the one thing that sort of gives it up a little bit is the acting in the film.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, I was gonna say I thought the acting was pretty good.

[Genevieve]

Really? Again.

[Andrew Walsh]

Cause you know, it's like production interns.

[Genevieve]

Yeah, ye. No, it's probably, it's certainly better than I could do Goldfish. So yeah, I'm not trying to throw stones there, but if I was really very critically, I'm like, yeah, this is.

[Andrew Walsh]

This is funny how subjective these things are. I guess I was expecting it to be the acting to be worse. Yeah, whatever that means.

[Genevieve]

Sure. Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, and like I was also, I was expecting to hear some NPR person that I know from the background of whatever like Leo Delagula being one of the voices or some engineer, some kind of off air person. And so I, that it's, it's exceeding my expectations from a, from an acting standpoint. But, but also I could see how it might not be, you know, it's not going to win an OBI award.

[Genevieve]

Or anything but I'll let that, I'll let that lie there. I think this goes on for another few minutes. We're only two minutes into a six minute story. I think it ends up becoming a story about how the lead singer of OK Go has created a pro dial up anthem which must take up the rest of the story.

[Andrew Walsh]

I mean I give them credit like that was my friend. Robert Smith is a fellow public radio veteran, used to say, I think with. I don't even think this is damning with faint praise. This is damning with the faintest of praise. He would, sometimes we'd be doing something on like rewind and he'd be like that's funny for public radio or whatever. Like, like the whole idea of the standard of what humor on public radio Is is so different than in other places. Like, of like, if I watch something on Netflix that was as humorous as what we just heard or as humorous as, wait, wait, a show that I'm on sometimes I'd probably be like, this is a little down home. This is a little slow paced. If certainly the old version of A Prairie Home Companion. If the sponsored by Powdermilk Biscuits. There's a whole just category of funny by public radio standards, and I think that this exceeds that. I think this is pretty good by public radio standards in the humor department. I wonder and we don't have to jump forward to April 5th because I believe that I was seeing the same Internet listings of them responding to the emails. But like, I wonder how people took this. Like, I wonder if I'm guessing that the responses they read were people that were saying, I enjoyed your piece about. You know, I doubt anybody was up in arms about it because what they, what they did, I would say wisely here is they picked a topic that's so meaningless. Like, I always bring this up. I believe it was Almost Live, which was the kind of local sketch comedy show in Seattle that used to come on before Saturday Night Live. When I was growing up. I grew up in the only city in America where Saturday Night Live started at midnight local. They bumped it by a half hour to make room for Almost Live. And Almost Live, famously in the Seattle area, did I think it was an April Fool's sketch where they said the Space Needle had tipped over and the whole observation deck was rolling down. I don't know if it was Fifth Avenue or Broad street or something. And I think it caused a genuine panic. So what the NPR folks understood is pick a topic where there's no potential for loss of life. Also, I would probably go to one of these cafes if they existed. That's the thing, Andrew. Like, you know me, I'm always trying to use external circumstances to fix my internal problems. And like the idea that, the idea that there's a coffee shop that I could go to where they basically confiscate my phone like I'm at a Dave Chappelle workout show, right? And then there's no Internet because they've lined the walls with lead and I would just be forced to be in there with my thoughts. Like that's actually appealing to me as a concept.

[Genevieve]

There's something about this whole thing that, I mean, I know that I'm being. I'm a little bit bummed at myself for getting the timeline so wrong. I remember this as being a much More earlier story but of course, as I was describing it to you, I realized that couldn't be the case because when I was new in public radio, the Internet was still the slow Internet movement by necessity. But even still 2011, I'm solidly into my adulthood at this point. I've already moved out to Seattle and have been living here for a couple of years. So I don't even know where I was when I first heard this story. Having said that, this still makes me nostalgic for some sort like, I'm not somebody who this all started with me saying I don't like April Fool's Day, and I really don't. But the fact that NPR could just do this, that even in 2011, when things were still, you know, things were getting a little, things were getting a little itchy politically in this country, but it was still a safe enough place for the folks at ATC to like spend some real production time to do a six minute block on at for just a harmless, fun, silly little joke. I don't think there's any chance anybody in NPR is putting false stories out there into the, into the water supply these days. Intentionally not do it.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I know you. Absolutely. It would be, it would be a, you know, it would, it would be asking for trouble in the worst way, which is, you know, of the many, many things about our current world and our current country that are just beyond depressing. It's pretty low on the list, but it's on the list.

[Genevieve]

It just reminds me. Yeah, I'm not even, it's on the list. I'm not even saying I wish and to be very clear, it's not a wish of mine that, all things considered, could go back to doing April Fool's Day jokes. I don't care about that. In fact, I prefer that they don't. Having said that, I'm just the old April Fool's Day. It just makes me nostalgic for the time that that was acceptable in some way because of everything else it says about that part of our time.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, exactly. Like the idea that it's so, it's like public broadcasting is hanging by such a thread right now. And the fact that for them to put out an obvious joke story would very much probably lead to even more grief for them and maybe their, their cancellation or something. It's just, it's just so depressing. It's so, it's like we don't want it back. But the idea that it could literally end public radio as we know it if you put up A story about slow Internet cafes that was just a stupid April Fool's joke is, is rough. Let's, let's move off of that if we can, and onto this Netflix show that I, I watched the first two episodes last night that's getting a ton of attention. I'm guessing you've been hearing about it too. Adolescence.

[Genevieve]

Genevieve mentioned it to me, but I haven't been following it closely.

[Andrew Walsh]

The reason that it's getting so much attention is because each episode, Andrew, they're like an hour long. And so basically it's a, it's a very, it's kind of an intense British crime show about, about a murder that goes on and I think 13 year old boy who's arrested for the murder and trying to figure out what really happened and who did what. Each episode is one shot.

[Genevieve]

And this, that's right, that's what Phoebe's was saying. And it's a real shot. This is what I was trying to get to the bottom of. It's a real one shot. It's not like that movie 1914, where it seems like it's one shot.

[Andrew Walsh]

The, the, the director, Stephen Graham, who's the adult star of it, and, and I think one of the cinema. I read an interview with one of the cinematographers in Variety. So like last night I watched this and then I just immediately got on my computer to try to solve the mystery of like, did they really do this in one shot? Like how, what. And they're all saying it was one shot and that sometimes they would mess up and they'd have to start over. They'd be like, they'd be 35 minutes into the episode and then like somebody like this, the guy that I was reading interviewed in Variety was like, I came around a corner and I bumped into a wall with my camera and there was no fixing it. And they were using something called a Ronin, which is funnily enough, a camera we use for CBS all the time. And it's on a gimbal. It is incredible, the camera technology. Now, Andrew, for some of these things and these gimbals are like. It's like a Steadicam essentially, but you hold the whole thing in your hand. Like one of the things this, this cinematographer was saying was they had to figure out how to shoot this on cameras that were light enough that someone could hold the camera for an hour. You know, like, there's just a million considerations. And the other thing is like, so the, the first, the first episode, it starts with these two British police officers, or detectives rather, are like Sitting in their car, waiting to basically. For the. Like. I'm just gonna use the term SWAT team, whatever they called in England. They're basically sitting in their car waiting for the SWAT team to show up to basically kick down the door and go in this house and arrest this kid. And you start with these cops or detectives in their car, and then you go down the street with them. This is all real time, dude. It's crazy. The door gets kicked in. You go in with them. They get the kid out of there. They take the kid. They put the kid in the. In the van. They're talking to the kid. They're going to the police station. They come out of the van. All of this. It's all one shot. There is never a cut and there's never like a. I was looking very carefully for, like, a secret edit point somewhere where the camera moves in a way that you could have just now. What they do do it sometimes is they switch camera. So in the second episode, they go from this final scene where they're at this school and these kids are walking around. And then it's. It's somehow they. Then the camera is a drone, and it's. But it's weird. It's not like a fade. It's not like it goes from one camera where it, like, blends into another camera. You. At some point, they somehow seamlessly shift from a handheld camera to a drone because the drone flies up and over to a different location. So I don't know if you consider that an edit or not, but it's. It's totally seamless. You would never understand. It's. It's as if they were filming the whole episode with a drone that just then goes over to this other place. Like, I don't know how they did it. I will say this. For me, the first episode I thought was very taught in a good way. Like, it was very well acted and very intense and insane that they're doing this all in one take that no one can mess up. No one can forget their line. No one can look into the camera. Like, no one can. Like, the choreography of all the people doing the camera work must be insane. Like, when we're shooting something, a cybersecurity thing for a major software concern on the east side that I'm in. It's really hard. Like, if there's a background actor supposed to walk behind me, like, I'm going here, they're going there. And then I'm going to say this. It'll take us an hour to get that right.

[Genevieve]

I am looking at this drone shot thing, trying to get to the bottom of it. And again, by the way, like, it's. I have a lot of questions about this that I'm worried are going to sound a little bit like Haterade. And I don't mean it to be like, it sounds like every. So far you've seen the show, Genevieve has seen the show, some friends I had brunch with on Saturday had seen the show, and everybody's saying good things. So I just have questions, though. I don't.

[Andrew Walsh]

You're just asking questions.

[Genevieve]

I'm just asking questions. I don't personally care if it's legitimately one shot or if it just appears to be one shot, because I don't know how to say this. Like, I'm. I'm nerdy enough to appreciate it when you see it in movies. Like, I remember seeing the movie the Player for the first time and just being like, seriously, this is still going on. I can't remember how long that shot is. It's like, is it a full 10 minutes, 7 minutes or whatever? It's one of the most famous, like, one shots in cinema history. And, like, I get a kick out of that, you know? But that was also the 90s, right. And now. And by the way, I misspoke before. I guess the movie is 1917, which I had not seen. Not 1914. 1914 might have been a video game I played on NES or. No, that was 1943.

[Andrew Walsh]

That was the one with the big old bomber.

[Genevieve]

Right. They had 42 and 43 exactly on.

[Andrew Walsh]

The double machine with something I thought was called Zadius, but I think it was radius or something, like a really weird. Like a really weird script. Okay, I'm sorry.

[Genevieve]

Yeah, I think I can picture that too, because I think it was Konami. Right? Those Konami machines. Anyway, so all of that is to say that movie 1917 also had the feel, apparently, and I've never seen it, of being all one shot. Right.

[Andrew Walsh]

Is that a Nolan thing?

[Genevieve]

I don't think so. That I can't kind of talk and Google that at the same time. I'm already messing up too much. I already said called it 1914, but I'm pretty sure it was a World War I movie that. That kind of appeared to be on all in one.

[Andrew Walsh]

Sam Mendes.

[Genevieve]

Oh, yeah, right. And then they. But they said, like, it's not literally one camera the whole time, and that's fine. They were using it because it's the best way to tell their story. That's great. That's Fine. In this particular case. I'm just curious because it says here I'm reading from the Independent and the subject line is how Netflix's new show pulled off the impossible drone shot. Impossible in quotes there. And it says the magic of the scene has since been revealed by the writer Jack Thorne, who told Deadline. So we strapped a camera to a drone that took off over traffic lights and then suddenly you're at the murder scene. Emotionally it kicks you in the stomach. But it sounds like attaching it to. They must have stopped down for that moment to attach it to the drone. Right. And then, then made it seamless in editing. I don't. Wasn't like the camera flew out of the person's hand after.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, that.

[Genevieve]

For a half hour.

[Andrew Walsh]

That part was. Yeah, there's. I'm a little confused about. About how it all worked. But what I do believe to be the case from reading a bunch about it last night was that it was the case that any of these episodes like. And that is to say they said that they shot every episode like maybe 10 times. So imagine each one is like. Imagine each one is an hour long play, right?

[Genevieve]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

They shot and I don't know how many episodes is. Maybe it's four episodes or something. I've only watched two. Let's imagine each one is a one hour play. They shot each one maybe 10 times. First of all, they rehearsed it like meticulously as you would imagine, like to a crazy degree. Basically the guy, the folks making the film, the director and the cinematographer, they would go to the screenwriter, that guy Jack Thorne that you were mentioning, and they would basically say like, okay, we're looking at the script and when this person. It doesn't make sense for the camera to go from this thing to that thing. We have to create a motivation for it. So you have to rewrite the scene or rewrite that part of the scene so that a character decides to go down to get a cup of coffee at the police station, which then brings the camera to that place. So the amount of coordination. And again, particularly the second episode, which happens at like a. I think it's like, I can't tell how old British kids are. I think it's a middle school, somewhere.

[Genevieve]

Between three and 30.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's somewhere between the cradle and the grave. I think it's. Yeah, I think it may be a middle school, maybe a high school. Anyway, it's at a school. And honestly, I don't. I'm not blown away by the writing or acting of the second episode. Like It's a little melodramatic. In fact, the. The.

[Genevieve]

The.

[Andrew Walsh]

The drone scene that we've been talking about, it's. It's a little mystic river for me. It's like, without giving away too much, it's like this drone goes from the school to. You've already mentioned the scene of the crime where there's flowers that are laid. And as it's traveling down this street, it's like a children's choir is singing. Like, it's a little like the content of this show to me. And I haven't gotten to the third episode yet, but it's. I don't. I don't. Let me put it this way, Andrew. If they did not do the single shot thing, I would not be nearly as intrigued by this. It would feel a little more kind of middle of the road, you know? Again, it's got powerful mystic river vibrations.

[Genevieve]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

But the other thing, I'll say you were talking about.

[Genevieve]

Can I actually clean one thing up, though? Because I have messed this up by fumbling around. I'm hearing about it for the first time. I'm asking questions that my ass can't answer. And I was asking about.

[Andrew Walsh]

Please continue answering primarily with your mouth.

[Genevieve]

We'll try. We'll effort that. No, but I just. While you were talking there, I was also watching with the sound off a. Behind the scenes of that particular shot, just because I was so curious. How are they doing this?

[Andrew Walsh]

What did happen? What have you found out?

[Genevieve]

They developed some sort of a drone or they acquired or developed some sort of a drone thing that can grab the camera. And what they do is. I was just watching it. There is the camera person who is like holding the camera and running around, I think, chasing a kid or something. The camera is sort of chasing the kid. And then like three tech people have this big drone thing that is like kind of, you know, flat and wide. And it's like three people, I think, taking it and then they kind of attach it to the camera. What does that happen?

[Andrew Walsh]

Jostling?

[Genevieve]

I don't know. But here's what I want to say, though, though, because that was really impressive to see. But what you're getting at here. And again, I'm really not trying to spill haterade all over the place, but what you're getting at here is my fundamental question about all of this. Is it. Does it. Is it a gimmick or does it serve the purpose of the show? And is it like saying, oh, Andrew.

[Andrew Walsh]

It'S serving okay, as the young people would say, they're saying, oh, he served.

[Genevieve]

Like, it's like, well, yes. It's like, did you have any friends in the 80s who would have been really, really impressed if somebody came out on stage and there were three necks on a guitar or maybe even four necks on a guitar and you'd be like, yeah, but the music isn't really for me. But your friends, like, yeah, but look at that guitar, man, it slays. I'm sort of like a little bit like, well, is it a good show and this is the best way to tell it, or is it like, oh, we really want to play with our toys and the show? It doesn't really, it's not really necessary.

[Andrew Walsh]

I do have one friend who was pretty obsessed with that. The man who brought the rock and.

[Genevieve]

Roll edge to the Eagles. Oh, Don Fingersfelder. Oh yeah, that's right.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's right.

[Genevieve]

I forgot you guys went to school.

[Andrew Walsh]

Rarely in the driver's seat anyway. No, here's what I'll say it. It serves the entertainment. Entertainment's a weird word to use when it's such a serious and kind of grim show. But it, it absolutely serves the purpose of the show. It. As the viewer you are. That's why to me, it wouldn't have mattered. It wouldn't matter if this was like you said that movie 1917, if it was very cleverly constructed so it had that feel. But they actually, you know, had some edit points built in so that they didn't like get to the 39th minute of filming and then just like somebody bumps into a wall and they're like, let's go back to, you know, the first scene. So it very much, it very much keeps you as the viewer really, really engaged because you have a very ground level view of the whole thing. And another thing that, if I remember right reading this interview with the cinematographer or whomever it was, I think he might have been the camera person and the cinematographer. A camera person and cinematographer. So he was kind of doing both things and talking a lot about the technical aspects of the camera work. But like, they didn't want it to be like super shaky either. Like, because sometimes if you do like a Blair Witch Project type of deal, like what you. I could totally see a conversation where it's like, okay, this is going to be really gritty and really like no artifice. And therefore the camera can be like jostling around and like, it can be, it can become pulling in, out of focus and like that's just gonna be, it's gonna be verite, like in the Extreme. Yeah, that's not what this looks like. It looks like a beautiful single camera shoot that somehow just never friggin cuts, you know? And. Okay, I'll tell you, like, this is the one thing about it that is a little bit. This is when I started to become a little bit less excited about it, but that there's a. I'm not giving anything away particularly, but basically, like, this entire. It would appear that this show is a commentary on the incel movement, and they literally name check Andrew Tate. And, like, I think that's their version of being very relevant to the culture and of pointing out something that is extremely toxic, which is, you know, toxic masculinity to the degree that the Insult movement is a coherent ideology and group of people. But it's like, it. Something about this idea of, like, what.

[Genevieve]

You want about communism, Dude? No, that's not it, is it. It's socialism. I knew I was gonna. I interrupted you, and I messed up the line from Lebowski when.

[Andrew Walsh]

When. Who says that?

[Genevieve]

Isn't that. Oh, I interrupted you, and I can't even hold up the thing that I broke it. It's. It's John Goodman's character. Say what you want about socialism, Dude. Sorry, man.

[Andrew Walsh]

No. Any excuse to revisit that character.

[Genevieve]

Yeah, any. Any. What's his name, by the way? It's.

[Andrew Walsh]

His name is. His name is John Goodman.

[Genevieve]

His name is John Goodman. Let me just see.

[Andrew Walsh]

Nazis. They were Nazis, Dude. Oh, come on, Donnie. They were threatening castration. Huh? Are we gonna split hairs here now?

[Genevieve]

Am I wrong?

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, man, they were nihilists, man. They kept saying they believe in nothing. Niles.

[Genevieve]

Me?

[D]

I mean, say what you want about.

[Andrew Walsh]

The tenets of national socialism, Dude. At least it's an ethos.

[Genevieve]

Okay? At least that contained the audio that.

[Andrew Walsh]

I really think he's referring. I think what he's saying. National socialism. That's a reference back to the Nazis, right? Because weren't they. Weren't they. Yeah, yeah, maybe. I don't know.

[Genevieve]

I'm not sure.

[Andrew Walsh]

What's it. What's his character's name? It's going to bother me.

[Genevieve]

Something. Chick. Loeb. Chick. Did I get close?

[Andrew Walsh]

John Goodman. Lebowski.

[Genevieve]

You were in the middle of a. Thought. You were in the middle.

[Andrew Walsh]

Walter Sobchak.

[Genevieve]

Sobchak, right.

[Andrew Walsh]

Walter. Soap. Check.

[Genevieve]

What did I say? I think I said it perfectly. I don't think I said anything.

[Andrew Walsh]

I think you were pretty close. Don't, don't, don't, don't. Don't you be mean to my friend.

[Genevieve]

Andrew Listen, all this, an ethos.

[Andrew Walsh]

All this is to say I. I don't know if by the end of this, I don't know if I'll be as if I'll be as intrigued by the plot as I am by the just masterful way that they did this, but it definitely makes it more interesting to me, and I'm definitely going to watch the next episode. Probably tonight or something. Probably tonight, when the Mariners have. Have been eliminated from the postseason. I'll tune over.

[Genevieve]

They're statistically out of it already.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, the thing is, their tragic number is two. If they lose two more games, they're statistically eliminated.

[Genevieve]

But the thing is, if you're watching root sports, Luke, you're not watching for the baseball. You're watching for the EQC casino commercial.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, man, what a transition. Andrew, you know what? That's a single. This is a single shot. Today's show, absolutely no edit points.

[Genevieve]

Seamless.

[Andrew Walsh]

Masterfully, masterfully moved us into the next part of the conversation, which is, of course, yesterday was the first time that I actually was able to watch Seattle Mariners on my television here at home with my FUBO system. And there are a couple of things. I don't want to get into the deep weeds of that. That I was Borg you through text message with yesterday afternoon. But what I figured out was when I was talking about my price going up the other day, it was because FUBO thought I lived in New York, because I went on to the website from my laptop when I was in New York City, and it literally somehow changed my zip code in my settings. That is so bananas.

[Genevieve]

I know that you. I know you said you don't. You don't want to go into too much detail. And I. I agree with that. But I do want to say in principle, when I think it was off air, that when you were talking about getting this. No, you know, I think it was even before we dialed on that day where you talked about getting this note saying your price was going up pretty significantly. You had texted me about it in the morning, and I remember my initial reaction being like, how is this not rippling across all of the Mariners chatter that I follow? Yeah. And I'm googling, like, FUBO root sports, price going up. And the only thing I got was a few people complaining about it in a subreddit. But that subreddit was based in New York. And you said, and again, this was all off air. You're like, maybe the system. System thinks I moved to New York because I'm here on business, which Seemed like a strange thing, but it turns out that's exactly what happened. That's.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yep.

[Genevieve]

What is going on with technology? It's too smart. It's outsmarted itself.

[Andrew Walsh]

Me, Me. I, like, I. Yesterday at about, I don't know, four or five, I was like, getting ready kind of like you were for actual opening day. Like, I was like, okay, I've got the game. I'm gonna watch it tonight. And then I was like, well, I better figure out how to watch this through my overpriced FUBO system, because I'm not going to go get a Roku and run a power cable and do a whole floppy disk and all that. So I was like, let me just. Let me just see what the deal is with Fubo. And I go on to Fubo, and it. It literally doesn't know I'm doing the search thing. It doesn't know there's a thing called the Seattle Mariners. I'm putting in Mariners nothing. I'm putting in root sports. I'm getting many versions of the Alex Haley classic roots. I am getting. No, this system has.

[Genevieve]

Trying to protect you. Yeah, it doesn't look like anything to me.

[Andrew Walsh]

I mean, maybe. And maybe I should have trusted it because so then I. Then I kind of go on like some Reddit's kind of going like, I can't. You know, it's like, search terms are like, I'm in the Northwest with Fubo. It does. It won't locate root sports or something. And finally there's some mention there about, like, maybe you got to change your zip code. And I was like, oh, yeah, that does think I'm in the 1019 or something, which is New York. So I went into my account and I changed it to the account, the zip code of the Madrona Hill studio. And immediately root sports pops up. And also my, my, my overpriced Fubo drops from 131 to like 117 or something. Whatever. I texted you yesterday.

[Genevieve]

You said, but that's 127.

[Andrew Walsh]

So it was $4 of saving.

[Genevieve]

But it's not an increase, though, right? You said you've been. I don't think it was an increase127 this whole time because you. Yes, we always say Fubo is $80. Think that you probably signed up, as I said, for like, the Cadillac of Fubo or something. Okay. So we can kind of put all of that price raised, price raising and price gouging stuff a little bit out of the conversation, because it is. Basically, you could still probably Watch the mariners for about 80 bucks a month were you to choose that package?

[Andrew Walsh]

Probably so. And in fact, I might see about going down to that package for this time of year. If I get my MSNBC and I get to my Mariners.

[Genevieve]

Yeah, that's.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm good. I don't need. I don't need anything extra over and above that. Now when football season comes back around, I feel like. Like whatever I signed up for was to make sure I could get all of the NFL that I could eat. But all that is to say. All that is to say I was. I was able to watch the Mariners game yesterday and it couldn't have been on for more than five or ten minutes when I see one of these Emerald Queen Casino ads pop up. And now we've, you know, we've been obsessing over the ads that they're running for Don Felder. By the way, he is still yet to play there. That is still in the future.

[Genevieve]

May something right now still being promoted.

[Andrew Walsh]

Heavily on the Mariners broadcast.

[Genevieve]

And can I not to step on you setting this up? But it's. I think that ties in directly here because this is. They've turned this into a single EQC casino commercial that always begins with a quick 15 second cut of the Don Felder, you know, upcoming performance commercial and then it leads directly into this next performer.

[Andrew Walsh]

So we've been making fun of the. A little bit, maybe hokey or whatever the Don Felder ad is, which does of course feature this little gem, the.

[D]

Man who brought the rock and roll.

[Genevieve]

Ads to the Eagles.

[Andrew Walsh]

And there is this thing going on with the EQC where they're, you know, they're pummeling the Northwest airwaves, be they radio or television or Fubo or whatever it is with ads for their upcoming performances. But it would seem that they've made some bad decisions in the interest of timing. Where they like the giggle squad, one that's apparently a very popular podcast, but because they needed to fit it into like 15 seconds, it was a kind of an incomplete joke, if I remember right. Yeah, just a thing that didn't make sense.

[Genevieve]

It sounded like absolute nonsense.

[Andrew Walsh]

And now there seems to be a new one which is for this comedian that is named Michael Blaustein who's coming to the Emerald Queen Casino. And I know that you and Genevieve noted this when it came out. A listener noted it.

[Genevieve]

Yeah. So why don't you play it and then I'll tell you about my. Oh, okay. Yeah. You want to play it from my end? Yeah, No, I can Play it. So this is it. So you imagine. Imagine this. You're watching the mariners game. You're sort of. You're weeping a little bit. Not too much because it's early in the season, but you're seeing some familiar patterns, and it's kind of killing you. But that's okay. Now comes a nice. A nice little break. And it's a commercial break. And you've watched Don Feld fingers Felder. He's coming to the eqc. And then they roll directly into this.

[D]

It's comedy night at emerald queen casino event center. Sunday, May 4, with Michael Blaustein.

[Andrew Walsh]

My gym costs $9 a month.

[D]

Don't miss this hilarious high energy show. Michael Blaustein, May 4.

[Genevieve]

My gym costs $9 a month. Veeves and I saw that. We lost our shit. We started laughing so hard. We're just like. Like, where's the. Is that. Where's the rest of the joke? Genevieve keeps yelling every time we see it. She's like, it's not a bad setup. It's not a bad setup. But that is not a joke. You can't just put that in your commercial and say, I'm now coming to the EQC to hear this guy. And then I believe it was. Maybe it was an opening day or the day after opening day. I got a random text message from a listener. I have no idea who this is. They're coming from the 253 area code. They've never texted before. They just texted, my gym costs $9 a month. Hashtag EQC. And I was like, oh, my God, we're speaking the same language. And they're like, I'm thrilled that you got that reference. My CO10 thought it was a stretch. No, we're all dialed into this listener. We're all dialed in.

[Andrew Walsh]

It was like we all looked up at a beam of light shot into the sky, and we all were in different places, and we stopped. We were doing it. We looked at it. If you see, this is really hard to read. I texted myself last night, Luke's new favorite EQC ad, Michael blaustein, quote, my gym cost, dot, dot, dot, nine dollars a month.

[Genevieve]

Now, I have a. I have a question for you, and I don't know if this sort of ruins the bit, but I was looking for this tape today, and I also found, as is often the case, the full 32nd version of this commercial. Because clearly what happens. And you see this in all kinds of commercials, but usually just not so terribly. But you'll see, you know, they'll make a commercial that is a minute or even 30 seconds and then continue to cut it down shorter and shorter for different platforms, different time slots, whatever. The version of this commercial that is living online is 30 seconds long and you hear the payoff for the joke. And I have a specific question for you about this. Okay, so let's listen to the full thing as God intended it.

[D]

It's comedy night at emerald queen casino event center Sunday, May 4th, with Michael Blaustein.

[Andrew Walsh]

My jam cost $9 a month, guys. I go to the gym for the same price as an airport muffin.

[D]

[e-mail] so I'm obviously single. Don't miss this hilarious high energy show. Michael blaustein.

[Genevieve]

I am obviously single is another just statement that one doesn't have a. Doesn't have a payoff even in the long version. But my question for you, though, luke.

[Andrew Walsh]

Is, is it legal to be this insane?

[Genevieve]

Is it legal to be this insane? How about you drive your laser car off a laser cliff?

[Andrew Walsh]

Is it legal to be this ins. Insane?

[Genevieve]

When you hear the long version of that, now you're put yourself in the editing booth and you know, like, you know that you're doing hatchet jobs on this. I know whoever is doing this hates what they're doing. Like, they're like, this is not how it should be, but we just got to get this stuff out there. Wouldn't you at least take the second half of the joke? Wouldn't the my gym cost the same amount as an airport muffin that stands on its own side?

[Andrew Walsh]

That's a more complete header, right? Yeah, absolutely.

[Genevieve]

It's not great, but you probably don't get a full segment on tbtl if you choose that one also.

[Andrew Walsh]

Can you hold on? Can you play the full tape? I want to do some forensics here. I've got my stopwatch out.

[Genevieve]

Okay, you ready?

[Andrew Walsh]

My telephone. And yeah, can you just play it from the top?

[D]

It's comedy night at emerald queen casino event center Sunday, May 4th, with Michael Blaustein.

[Andrew Walsh]

My Jim call costs $9 a month, guys. I go to the gym for the same price as an airport muffin.

[D]

[e-mail] so I'm obviously single. Don't miss this hilarious high energy show. Michael Blaustein, May 4 at Emerald Queen casino. The entertainment capital.

[Genevieve]

I see where you're going with this.

[D]

21 and older. Need gambling help. Call 800-547-6133 or visit emerald queen.com I.

[Andrew Walsh]

Was wondering if the so obviously, so obviously I'm single. Is long enough that if you lost. So obviously I'm single, You could add back in. You could complete the thought about the gym. You know, this person.

[Genevieve]

But the single joke isn't in the 15 second version.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's not?

[Genevieve]

No, no. The single. The 15 second version only has one clip of the comedian, and it's him.

[Andrew Walsh]

Saying, can you play the 15 second version?

[Genevieve]

Yeah, exactly. But I'm onto something else here, though.

[D]

It's comedy night at emerald queen casino event center, Sunday, May 4, with Michael Blaustein.

[Andrew Walsh]

My gym costs $9 a month.

[D]

Don't miss this hilarious high energy Show, Michael Blaustein, May 4th at Emerald Queen casino.

[Genevieve]

See, what you could do is you don't need the announcer saying high energy and everything. I'm gonna play. Okay. This is the last time we're gonna. I'm. I'm hitting play.

[Andrew Walsh]

I can hear this too much, honestly.

[Genevieve]

I am hitting play on the 32nd version. On the full long version. But then I'm gonna stop it myself where the commercial could come to a clean end. You ready for this?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes. Yes, yes.

[D]

It's comedy night at emerald queen casino event center, Sunday, May 4, with Michael Blaustein.

[Andrew Walsh]

My gym costs $9 a month.

[D]

Don't miss this hilarious high energy Show, Michael Blaustein, May 4th at Emerald Queen Casino.

[Genevieve]

That's exactly 15 seconds where I stopped it. That. Yeah, that's the cut. You leave the whole joke in there. Tickets at emerald queen casino. You don't need the, like, hot. Don't miss out on this high energy performance by a guy you've never heard of.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, absolutely. Is it too late to get a hold of whoever is cutting these things for eqc and show them the. The way.

[Genevieve]

What if. Show them the way.

[Andrew Walsh]

The truth and the light. That. That's. That's such a better edit. All you're losing is kind of pukey Pablo. And you get the complete joke in which show? Don't tell. Give us the best version of michael blaustein. I cannot remember how to say this guy's last name. Give us. Give us the best representation of michael blaustein. Don't like cut. Don't make his joke into nonsense or an incomplete thought so that you can create enough time for the guy to talk over the thing because that's not going to make me more likely to go to the show. I need a solid joke from mikey B.

[Genevieve]

That's right. Let him speak for himself. His comedy stands out. Let the man speak. That's right. I'm with you. Let me ask you this. Do you think? Think if I spend this summer going to the EQC YouTube page and taking all of the long 30 second versions they have and doing my own 15 second edits on spec. And then I march down to the EQC casino. I'll drive down there. I go down there. Yeah, exactly. And I have all of my digital clips on a thumb drive. And I go in, I say, listen, I've been chopping down. I can do this job better than whoever you have on staff right now. And hopefully I'm not talking to the person who has that job. Do you think I can talk my way into a lucrative career at EQC being the man who cuts these?

[Andrew Walsh]

It's a classic. It's a classic origin story.

[Genevieve]

I feel like this is strong.

[Andrew Walsh]

You know what I mean? It's like you basically, you know, you're. You're proving to them that you have what it takes and you've been doing this totally on your own. But once you show them the result, they will be absolutely blown away and.

[Genevieve]

You will have no choice but to hire.

[Andrew Walsh]

Exactly.

[Genevieve]

And then I'll be rich.

[Andrew Walsh]

Then you'll be the man. Then you'll be squarely in the driver's seat for 2025. We was hoping for some razzle dazzle. Razzle dazzle. That's right, man. Razzle dazzle. On your mark. On your mark. Get set, get set now. Ready, ready, go. Everybody rattle dazzle. All right, let's thank some dazzling donors. Andrew. These are the generous people who brought the bank account edge.

[Genevieve]

Yes.

[Andrew Walsh]

To tbtb.

[Genevieve]

Indeed, indeed.

[Andrew Walsh]

These are the Don Felders of donors and we could not do the show without them and their generosity. Talking about David Samoot in Woodland, California.

[Genevieve]

Hey, David. That's a familiar name. Thanks for your ongoing generosity.

[Andrew Walsh]

I know where Woodland California. I know where Woodland Hills. My dad used to live in Woodland Hills. Where's Woodland? And how many Woodland California's are there? It's a. Depending on where you are. It's a very wooded state. Woodland is. Well, it's. Of course it's near Velocity Island Park. That's what everybody knows.

[Genevieve]

I like that name for a park.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, it's in YOLO County.

[Genevieve]

Oh, hell yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

We drove through Yolo County. I believe.

[Genevieve]

I believe that's where Katt Williams stolen. Stole a ATV temporarily. And I remember this is the first week of the Andrew Walsh show trying to make a case that you should be allowed to do that in a county. Yolo.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's not a bad take. It's not a Bad take at all. David said, I'd like to use this moment to provide a PSA for the biz boys and the tens of listeners. If you've ever thought that you might want to travel and take in the charm and culture that Europe has to offer, but find yourself slightly intimidated about being in a country that may present language barriers or even being amongst people who might have dim view of Americans, I would ask you to consider the island of Malta. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean, you will find a country deep in history and culture and a proud people who will welcome you as guests to their homeland. Malta was once part of the British Empire and as such, English is their second language. History buffs will be astonished as to how much of the world's culture has been deposited on the island. There are stone temples that are older than Stonehenge and the pyramids. Food and lodging are very reasonable and the color and clarity of the sea is unbelievable.

[Genevieve]

Wow.

[Andrew Walsh]

Take a minute to Google Malta. You won't be disappointed. Brought to you by David and the Malta Tourism Board.

[Genevieve]

Interesting. So I wonder if David.

[Andrew Walsh]

I added the last part.

[D]

Oh.

[Genevieve]

Because I was on the map looking at Malta.

[Andrew Walsh]

It really reads like it really does.

[Genevieve]

I was wondering if what Dave, David's passion for Malta, if it's completely personal or if it's possibly also somewhat professional. I don't know, but you sold me.

[Andrew Walsh]

Absolutely. I love what I'm hearing, you know what, But I actually, I can sort of verify some of this. My parents were once on a Mediterranean cruise. We, the kids, once we were all out of the house, I think, well, that's not true. David must have been gone by then too. We got our folks like a cruise around the Mediterranean because they'd never been, I think, even like out of the country at that point. And I remember my folks talking about one of the stops was Malta.

[Genevieve]

Really?

[Andrew Walsh]

And that there were all of these really amazing old, like, relics and little, you know, churches and kind of historical spots. They really, really friggin loved Malta. And now David, I mean, David's confirming this or he's said it and my parents have confirmed it, so. And also it sounds like in Malta, maybe they'll. Maybe they're able to separate the art from the artist. Maybe they're able to figure out that even if we're from America, it doesn't mean that we agree with the things that are happening at the highest political level. I don't see myself fully doing this, but it does feel like one of those times where you want to throw an old Canadian flag on the back of your backpack.

[Genevieve]

Yeah, right. You get a backpack. I don't use a backpack. Get a backpack.

[Andrew Walsh]

Get a backpack. Throw a Canadian flag on there and just sip a Tim Hortons as you walk through various other countries.

[Genevieve]

I think the problem is going to be getting us out of Malta, not getting us to Malta. When they're like, okay, sir, it's time to go home. Be like, nope, you can't make me. I live here now.

[Andrew Walsh]

Becca texted me the other day and was like, listen, if it was the day, I don't want to get serious again and bring everybody down. But it was like. It was like the day that the sort of. What do you want to call it, the news cycle was that Trump was saying, I'm not joking about trying to do a third term. And she was like, if that happens, we're leaving this country. And I was like, why wait?

[Genevieve]

Yeah, why.

[Andrew Walsh]

Don't delay, Joy. We should. Maybe we.

[Genevieve]

Maybe we.

[Andrew Walsh]

Maybe we'll get out of here, like, now. Ish.

[Genevieve]

Because I know I've said this to you before, but that's why Genevieve started learning French, and she's been doing duolingo now for, I guess, nine years. Because I swear, maybe she started at the beginning of the first Trump administration, but I swear it might have even been leading up to it because she was good.

[Andrew Walsh]

She'll be by the fourth Trump administration.

[Genevieve]

Yeah, I think she was pretty confident that he was not gonna win. So it must have been maybe after that, that first election. But anyway, yeah, so it's been a long time. But now, I mean, I don't really know much about this stuff, but I just wonder. It seems like it might. As more and more Americans might be having these notions, it might be harder and harder for Americans to find places to decamp.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, those, like, $1 Italian villas that they're selling out in the middle of nowhere, getting more and more appealing. The other thing is, it would be actually ideal, maybe. Yeah. Ideal. I think it'd be ideal if you lived in France and I lived in the States and we still did this show. Because you then could start doing the show at like. Like 6pm and I could do it at. I'd be doing it at 8am and you'd be doing it at 6pm that's.

[Genevieve]

Interesting, because I. I literally was having these thoughts the other day, only I was the one who's in Europe. So I guess we'll see. Maybe. You know what? Maybe we'll all just be living together in some nice little traffic village.

[Andrew Walsh]

Actually, not A bad idea either.

[Genevieve]

Genevieve's been practicing her French. You've been practicing your cooking. So we can come home. You'll have, like.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'll bring my e bike.

[Genevieve]

I'll just.

[Andrew Walsh]

Just ride around this little town with a baguette strapped to the back. Hey, look, they just banned Marie Le Pen. Yeah, I mean, go France.

[Genevieve]

Things are looking. Or banned her, I think. Found her guilty, right?

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, yeah, I guess. It said she can't run for office for X number of years.

[Genevieve]

Oh, because of the. The conviction. Yeah, because of the guilty verdict. But I, I. I'm just trying to think, what is my role in this French thing? You know, like, you're cooking. Genevieve is.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm not cooking. I'm getting the bread.

[Genevieve]

Oh, you're getting the bread.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm taking my backpack to lay sars.

[Genevieve]

You know, you have your fancy pans, though. You're bringing your fancy pans, huh? Or maybe Beck. Is Becca the one who's doing. She's. You think she's definitely the cook, right?

[Andrew Walsh]

She's. Yes, she's the chef.

[Genevieve]

You're doing the shopping. I think I gotta be a chimney sweep or something.

[Andrew Walsh]

You're archiving French VHS tapes.

[Genevieve]

That is not. I don't think. Well, no, I guess, you know, it is time for me to be rich. You're right. I should do that.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, no, we're still doing tbtl. This is still our job.

[Genevieve]

Oh, that's true.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, for hobbies, for what you're adding to the communal life. You're uploading and archiving and documenting French ephemera from the video variety. So, David, thanks for turning us on to this new plan for all of our life. You know, we started in the early days of tbtl. We sort of made a joke about starting a kind of a religious cult because we realized we were accidentally kind of making one with tbtl. And that was played for comedy back then. But we may all need to. We all may need to move somewhere together. A community of a few hundred people at some point. But here we are for now. And we are supported by David. Thank you so much, maestro. On your mark. On your mark. Get set, get set now.

[Genevieve]

Ready?

[Andrew Walsh]

Ready. Go. Everybody rattle. Hey, it's Asha and Cameron Little.

[Genevieve]

Hey. Hey, guys.

[Andrew Walsh]

In Taos, New Mexico.

[Genevieve]

Now. I'm pretty sure Asia and Cameron. I don't want to mess this up. And I'm pretty sure they're always on the go, right? They're traveling around in an RV or were doing that for a while. They were road dogs. Am I right about this?

[Andrew Walsh]

Here's what I think of when I think of Asha and Cameron. I think there was a year that we had a typo. I thought Cameron's name was Camion. And I feel like we did a hot maybe 15 minutes on Camion's name. And it's only now that I'm learning it's Cameron. And that makes so much more sense.

[Genevieve]

Yes. Because Camion is a musician though, right? That's a real.

[Andrew Walsh]

Cameron is camera, not cam. Apostrophe.

[Genevieve]

Yeah, yeah. No, Cameroon. Okay. And I might. You know what I think. My apologies. I can't find any evidence that I'm right about them being road dogs. Maybe they are home dogs there in Dallas, New Mexico. I'm not sure they live in.

[Andrew Walsh]

I believe the nickname for the. Maybe the nickname for Taos is the Land of Enchantment because that's what Asia says. Asia and Cameron, AKA Camion, AKA Cameron, say sending the tens well wishes from the Land of Enchantment.

[Genevieve]

Nice.

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't know if I've ever been to Taos, New Mexico. It Sure. I think my uncle Roy lives there randomly. I think my dad's brother. It's weird that my dad and his brother are named Walt and Roy. And that's also the name of the Disney brothers. Walt and Roy Disney.

[Genevieve]

Oh, I don't think I knew about that.

[Andrew Walsh]

Was. I don't think that my. I don't think my grandparents, Farnham and Virginia were like Disney enthusiasts. I don't know if Disneyland existed at that time. It probably did. But their sons have the same name as the Disney brothers. Is interesting. Anyway, Taos looks like an amazing place. Place. Asia and Cameron say sending the tens well wishes from the Land of Enchantment, period. Well, guess we're keeping it short and sweet this year. Power out. I hope that's keeping it short and sweet because you're out enjoying all that Taos has to offer and not because of what keeps looming over everything, which is the world. Oh, yeah. Taos, New Mexico and the Land of Enchantment.

[Genevieve]

The Land of Enchantment might be the nickname for the state I'm getting here.

[Andrew Walsh]

Of actual New Mexico.

[Genevieve]

New Mexico. A state in the United States with the official nickname a Land of Enchantment. I love that as a nickname, by the way.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, it's very inviting. I'm looking at it.

[Genevieve]

We.

[Andrew Walsh]

We went through New Mexico right on our voyage to Austin. We must have passed through feel like we did.

[Genevieve]

Although that was a long time ago, Luke. We were children.

[Andrew Walsh]

Our only takeaway from that is the miracle on Dirt.

[Genevieve]

We had the miracle on dirt. I mean, the event itself. I remember. I remember. I remember the food that you and I had a good, like, barbecue l beforehand that I liked. I remember, like, trying all the different kind of barbecue sauces they had. I remember that. I remember the show itself. I remember stumbling. I think that was the one where I fell on stage. I think as I was coming out into the crowd, I literally tripped on the stairs. And then I just got up and I said, I guess the worst is behind me, or something along those lines. I don't know if I remember feeling that, like, Well, I guess it's all uphill from here.

[Andrew Walsh]

Andrew, if I can say this, I. That rings the faintest of bells in my mind of you having maybe a bit of a stumble, but I. If you asked me, like, added. It had completely left my mind as well. When you say that, I'm like, oh, maybe that happened. But if you would have asked me what was memorable about our show at Stubbs Barbecue in Austin, Texas, I would say the amazing group of tens that showed up. I would say the fact that Shaky Graves agreed to play. Yeah, he's like a pretty big, pretty famous dude for playing our little podcast. I would. There's a million things I would have.

[Genevieve]

Said living in Sarah's driveway for a day or a lifetime.

[Andrew Walsh]

Absolutely. Like, I would have never remembered that you stumbled getting on stage. Which, my point in all that is to say that's, I think, what happens with a lot of stuff that causes us personal embarrassment. It's so much more primary in our minds than anyone else's. I would. I would have never remembered that. So if there's any way for that to lower the noise on that in your brain of that happening, please let it, because, like, I totally forgot that happened, if it happened at all.

[Genevieve]

This is a weird thing to ask you here, but since Asia's and Cameron's note was so short, maybe we can.

[Andrew Walsh]

I would say economical.

[Genevieve]

Economical, exactly. Maybe we can lay out here for a little bit. You have taken the stage, or a stage, like, in multiples of 100 more times than I have have. So I don't expect you to remember this, but do you happen to remember or even have a vague memory of the moments before we went live on stage? Because the stage was, like, there was no official green room or anything. Oh, you mean at Stubbs in Austin? Like, there was. And so there was no place for us to sort of hide out and then come out from behind the stage. We had to walk into the room and walk up the stage. Walk up the stairs to the stage.

[Andrew Walsh]

And I feel like it wasn't very clearly marked, to be honest with you.

[Genevieve]

Well, I do have a lawsuit pending.

[Andrew Walsh]

The rise between the floor because it's kind of like almost. Almost old western. I remember like a lot of wood and kind of a bit of a creaky stage.

[Genevieve]

So I feel like there were stairs. I felt like there was two or three stairs.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Up to the stage.

[Genevieve]

Up to the stage. They're like right in the center of the stage. But I remember being pretty chill about everything. And then I feel like, like literally in the five minutes before it was our turn to go on stage or our time to go on stage, the nerves hit me and we were in a very weird little place because the Stubbs campus is kind of like that a campus. Right. Remember, there was a big outdoor stage as well that was not being used because I think it was.

[Andrew Walsh]

And it has like crazy green rooms with it.

[Genevieve]

And then that had green room. So you and I were in some like green room that was sort of outside, but it felt like it was more like the green room for the main stage. And nobody was there and it was empty and we were just sort of in like this. I remembered as being almost like a weird cabin kind of thing. It was very nice. I'm not trying of stubs.

[Andrew Walsh]

It was fancy. It was for performers of a much higher order than us.

[Genevieve]

Exactly. But it was like we. It was just a. We were more like hunkering down there. I feel like the lights weren't even on in that green room potentially. Or maybe they were. And I was just in my own little head. And I just remember being like, okay, this is fine, this is fine, this is fine. Then suddenly being like maybe like the moment you jump out of the airplane with a. Hopefully with a parachute on your back. Maybe it's like those. Those last few moments, you're like, oh shit, what am I doing? I just remember it hitting me kind of hard in this weird sort of dimly lit green room that was not attached to the stage.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I do remember that because they. Like I said, I seem to remember it being pretty nice because again, the outdoor venue at Stubbs holds, you know, I don't know, 800 or 1,000 people. And you have pretty legit acts that we were in this kind of little small, you know, kind of room with the stage that's more close to the actual restaurant, et cetera. Etc. But so because there was nowhere for us to hide, someone was nice enough to let us hide out in the real artist green room. But it was. It was like an outbuilding. And then we had to walk a certain number of steps through this kind of dusty, empty venue and then go into this room that was packed to.

[Genevieve]

The gills with tens.

[Andrew Walsh]

And it was sort of energetically, it was interesting to go from kind of this abandoned area to this little small area that was full of people who had come to see us. And so, yeah, it was kind of a lot. It was like doing a. It was like doing a cold plunge right into a sauna or a sauna right into a cold plunge or one of those things.

[Genevieve]

And we didn't know it at the time, but we were leading up to one of the most memorable moments of that trip, which was you later that evening stirring your cocktail with a remote control room.

[Andrew Walsh]

I think that was in Mississippi.

[Genevieve]

I don't think so. Because that we were hanging out with our friends. We were hanging out with Amy Woo and Angie. It was after the show when we were staying in that hotel room. Remember?

[Andrew Walsh]

I definitely remember it. I think I misremembered.

[Genevieve]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

Hence. Well, let's put it this way. If. If and when you see me stirring my cocktail with a hotel room remote.

[Genevieve]

Control, you're probably not going to remember the details.

[Andrew Walsh]

Remote control at night. Luke's memory has gone white.

[Genevieve]

Has gone to flight.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, exactly. So, God. God, what would possess a person? How about a finger?

[Genevieve]

Yeah, I don't know. How about a finger?

[Andrew Walsh]

How could that ever be? For those who don't know, for those about to rock, we salute you. Yeah, we were having some drinks. I clearly had had a lot of drinks before. This was making up some kind of a concoction, probably a vodka soda or something or other. And wanted to stir it and instead I didn't have anything, didn't have the right thing. And instead of, I guess using my finger, which by the way, also gross. But. But like. But you know, it's my gross. Come by it honestly, it's my own gross finger. I've got to live with it. I use the remote control in the hotel room, which is a known vector.

[Genevieve]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

Of gross.

[Genevieve]

It's one of the bigger ones.

[Andrew Walsh]

I mean, there's a reason.

[Genevieve]

Well, there is no toilet brush available. What were you gonna do?

[Andrew Walsh]

There's a reason why they performatively put those things in plastic bags. Yes. Which I'm sure doesn't do. I didn't do. I didn't clean. Anyway, thank you, Asa and Cameron for the support. We really do appreciate you. And also to David, we could not do this without you. Hello and welcome to Top Story. Hey, Andrew, this is no April Fools.

[Genevieve]

Are you releasing a new pickled flavor Skittle?

[Andrew Walsh]

But that is the perfect. If you just made that up with your brain, I want to tell you, that's the.

[Genevieve]

Thank you.

[Andrew Walsh]

Perfect. Perfect would be April Fool's Day spoof that one of these, like one of these corporations would totally put out and then somebody would reblog and then we'd be talking about it. We wouldn't be, no, but we are right now, even though it doesn't exist, although it will soon. No, this is no April April fool spoof, Andrew. But from the Seattle Times, Washington Uncle Sam billboard property is being sold. Now, if you grew up like I did as a kid going up and down Interstate 5 between Seattle and Portland, you would have passed this sign. It's called the, I think it's colloquially known as the Uncle Sam billboard because it's got like a illustration, like a cartoon of like an Uncle Sam. It's technically in Napa vine, which is in Lewis county, which would be the first that many of us have heard of Napa Vine. I'll put it this way. It's probably an hour north of Portland or maybe two hours south of Seattle is about where you'd pass this sign. And it was for years. It's a 40 foot by 13 foot sign. It's a large, large, kind of like billboard style sign called Hamilton Corner. Which I always, I remember being a kid and seeing Hamilton Corner and thinking, what the hell is a Hamilton Corner? But the reason it was notable was because the guy who put the sign up and owned the property was obviously a very conservative dude and would just every, I don't know, couple of weeks would go up there and put up some wackadoo message about, about, you know, conservative politics. Previous message messages on the board were archived by online onlookers and online message boards and Facebook and even Yelp. They've over years, over the years, they've echoed birtherism, conspiracies about former president Barack Obama. They decried COVID 19 pandemic lockdowns and hounded various politicians. This guy Hamilton, the guy whose property it was, once told the Oregonian his favorite message was, quote, let's keep the canal and give them Kissinger. A reference to a treaty ceding control of the Panama Canal. He said many of the billboard displays came from the John Birch Society. Well, you know, it's good if it's from the John Birch Society, Andrew.

[Genevieve]

Well, you know, it's good if Kissinger is too liberal for you, right? Like, I had to reread that a few times. Be like, I, you know, I'm not smart enough to be.

[Andrew Walsh]

You mean noted war criminal Henry Kissinger?

[Genevieve]

But like, yeah, this person's like, ah, keep that hippie Kissinger.

[Andrew Walsh]

Exactly. What was this guy's name? Was it Bob Hamilton? I feel like it's kind of maybe because I'm trying to do this on the fly. Al Hamilton. Al Hamilton was the name of this guy. I think he owned like a. Like he was like a turkey rancher.

[Genevieve]

And something else like cattle, it looks like.

[Andrew Walsh]

So he had some property somewhere, but where that. I don't think the ranching was happening next to i5. But he did also own this land that was really close to the freeway. And for years and years. Here's another one that they put a picture of in the Times. Bill and Hillary have their own White House soap opera. Colon the Days of Our Lies. Andrew. That is Days of Our Lives.

[Genevieve]

What about the one at the top photo of this? This is from 2003. Because this guy Al's been dead since 2004. I think it says, if you won't support the team, get out of our stadium.

[Andrew Walsh]

I feel like they really. They were never great, but they got worse as he got older and less sort of plugged in. I also felt like some of them were just his best. Like some of them were probably stolen directly from conservative media and some were maybe his best guess, his best attempt. And I don't think he might have been a qualified turkey farmer. I don't think he was a qualified billboard writer. Even the ones I'm guessing. I don't know, maybe his kids. Because what happened was he died and then I guess his kids took it over. But they clearly their heart wasn't in it as much because it's just had these two for. Like it says in the article for the last. However many, like I want to say it's been going on over a year or maybe more. They've just had these two ones that were just kind of. One of them is, and I'm paraphrasing here, how many Americans will we leave behind in Ukraine?

[Genevieve]

So I guess more of an isolation. Isolationist sentiment there. Like we shouldn't be getting involved in Ukraine.

[Andrew Walsh]

Right. I guess that's what it is. And that's when you're driving north, you see that if you're going north on I5. Yeah, I guess the argument was. Which is also an interesting.

[Genevieve]

He's been dead since 2004. So somebody else put that.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, his sons. I remember when he died, it was a story that his sons had. His sons were now taking control of the billboard and they were gonna try to keep his legacy. There was literally another article written about him passing and about the torch being passed to his sons. But you could just kind of tell, like so often happens generationally, the sons, I'm sure they have bad politics too, but, like, they just weren't. They just. This wasn't as big of a pet project for them. So, like, the sign didn't. The billboard didn't turn over as much with weird wackadoo messages. And again, I guess, yeah, what they were saying there is, we're going to. In defending Ukraine, we are going to send troops, which by the way, never happened, if I got that right. We don't.

[Genevieve]

We've.

[Andrew Walsh]

We have not sent U. S. Troops to Ukraine, have we?

[Genevieve]

Formally, No. I mean, there's some, some Americans went there.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, some. Some guys that are mercenaries or whatever. But, like, how many Americans will we leave behind in Ukraine? I guess is trying to say it could become another Vietnam war. Certainly doesn't appear to be the case. And also that. Which is a weird place for me to take it, that went up at a time, that sign went up at a time when I thought we were all on board with helping Ukraine. In other words, my, my liberal bubble was telling me that we all agreed that Russia trying to take over a sovereign nation was a bad thing. And. But what I can take from this is there was early on weird misgivings. You can call in the, like, ultra conservative world about this, because when that sign went up, I was like, what are they even talking about? We all agree this is bad what's happening in Ukraine, but there must have been, you know, chatter in the darker corners of the conservative world, even in the early days that we shouldn't be helping Ukraine out. And then the other side is the one about, I believe.

[Genevieve]

Weren't there some poems written about it? Dear president Vladimir Putin, I'm so sorry that I was not your mother. You would get so many raspberries after your bath.

[Andrew Walsh]

Real funny ones on your little Putin belly.

[Genevieve]

Do you remember this at all? Do you have any idea what I'm even playing here?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, but wasn't this a person trying to make the larger point that Putin was unloved?

[Genevieve]

I think. Well, this was a parody, though. I think there was somebody who maybe wrote a really earnest poem to Putin about him not being loved. And then we played this, which was. Looks like it's oh, it's. Well, this is somebody named Kate at barstool, so. Barstool.

[Andrew Walsh]

I. Oh, I misread that whole story. I thought, thought somehow I thought that that Dear Vladimir Putin, you should have gotten more raspberries was basically all written from the perspective of this guy was unloved and if he had been loved properly, he wouldn't be the Vladimir Putin that we all know.

[Genevieve]

I think that was a real thing. I don't know if the raspberry thing was in there. I think it was like that was a real sentiment that somebody had record. It was a little bit like the. What's her name, the, the Wonder Woman. It was a little bit like Imagine Godot. Imagine. I think there was a somebody who earnestly wrote some open poem and recorded herself saying it. Then I think this person, this tape that we played was a bit of a send up of that. I'm sorry, that was so non critical to the story of this sign.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, I was the one that was taking it into. At what point did we turn on Ukraine?

[Genevieve]

Right. But the other side of the sign, by the way, that's still standing. Like, I think that really puts that in like the Ukraine war has been going on for like what, three years now.

[Andrew Walsh]

Freezes it in the amber.

[Genevieve]

Yes. Because the other side of the sign, I believe if you're heading south or maybe north, but I think south is something like our World War II veterans didn't, you know, sacrifice or risk their lives so that we would have to show ID to buy food. Which I think was a pandemic reference to having to show your IDs to go into some sort of restaurants in some parts of the world or country, I think, anyway. So it's just sort of weird that it just has not changed since, since then. And those are very. Those aren't just sort of like keep government small. General conservative ideologies. Like, those are very specific references that have just been molding on this sign for quite some time.

[Andrew Walsh]

By the way, the. Another article that was written in years past about this from Eric Lucidis at the Seattle Times, who I'm a giant fan of. The headline was i5's Uncle Sam billboard 50 years and still ticked off off near Chehalis. And he goes on, this is obviously after this was written in 2017. So Al Hamilton is dead. But I think this was Eric, if I remember right, interviewing the family members who were kind of keeping the thing going. And what's interesting is there's a link to that story in this latest Seattle Times article. Because the gist of this new Times article is that the family has put the property up for sale. And so if somebody buys the property, they will get to do whatever they want with this billboard. And there's no official ruling on if they have to. Like, there's no sort of. What would you call it? What would the. We should call our friend Sarah, the real estate agent. Agent. There's no. There wouldn't be anything in the contract that would specify what the political leanings of the billboard need to be. If you buy the property, it's just going to be.

[Genevieve]

You'd assume that somebody like that. That was my first thought and probably almost everybody's first thought is like, it would be great to buy this billboard and then just like program it turned.

[Andrew Walsh]

Into a friggin for lefty liberal trans visibility day billboard.

[Genevieve]

Although there was one. And I'm taking this into a part of the conversation that you and I are probably not super equipped to get into. But I did think it was interesting there had been legal challenges to this sign.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. And I didn't know about that.

[Genevieve]

And I was, well, why would there be a legal challenge to assign. Because like, it is literally free speech. It is somebody who has a sign on their own property saying how they feel about the world of politics, even if I don't agree with it. But apparently there is something like a. I don't have it in front of me, but it was like a 1971. What's that? Well, I think it was a 1971 law. Right. That was the Scenic Vistas law that I'm getting at here.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. The billboard survived a lawsuit in 1975 that made it to the Washington State Supreme Court where they argued that his billboard was, quote, used to display political and religion commentary in violation of the Scenic Vistas Act. But the court ruled in his favor because.

[Genevieve]

And again, I don't have in front of me. But the reason the court ruled in his favor was because there is a small part of the sign that does advertise his business. And I'm like, what? That is so strange that the only reason this passes free speech muster is because it's an advertisement as opposed to just a purely political or ideological message. Why are you not allowed to share an ideological message unless you're also like, like, buy my turkeys. Doesn't make sense.

[Andrew Walsh]

Exactly.

[Genevieve]

To me. But it must have something to do with it. It's a scenic law, so it must have something to do with like local zoning or something.

[Andrew Walsh]

Also in 2020, this article says there was A petition that gathered more than 75,000 signatures, which is a lot.

[Genevieve]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

It demanded that the Chehalis City hall remove the billboard for, quote, publicly posting racist and offensive statements. That June, an arsonist even tried to burn the sign down, but only succeeded in charring its base polls. About 100 counter protesters gathered to defend the billboard shortly thereafter. This is interesting, too, because I feel like you can really track to some degree where the discourse was, because 2020, obviously, that's. The pandemic has started. Right. Is that true? And we're in. You know, we're. We're. That's. Is that post the murder of George Floyd?

[Genevieve]

I think that's 2020 as well.

[Andrew Walsh]

I think we're. I think depending on exactly what the timeline is, is we're in a moment where it was like there was an uprising. There was. There was a pandemic. There was a very, very fraught time. And I do feel like there was a lot of vocalizing of basically tearing down institutions, whether it's Civil War statues that, that, that, you know, sort of celebrated, you know, folks that were on the side of the south, et cetera. I feel like there was a moment where the large. The public discourse was really moving against things that were seen as hate speech and as, you know, like just something that we don't want to see. And that was. So that would check out that 75,000 people in 2020, we're going to try to take this thing down for publicly posting racist and offensive statements. And obviously it did not. That was not successful because the thing is still up there. But anyway, I do. I think it'll be really interesting to see what happens. I think I saw the number of two and a half million dollars is what this piece of land is for sale for. I mean, I.

[Genevieve]

Can you scrape together?

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, that's the thing. I mean, could we kick start this? Yeah, like, it just. It does. We have so many. We have so few W's right now, Andrew. So few W's. Like, I beat. I donate. I donate 500 bucks to this. How many 500 bucks does it take to get to two and a half million to get to the middle of that Tootsie Roll and then just like, leave Uncle Sam up, by the way. Yeah, you leave the Uncle Sam up there. Because when I was a kid, when I was very young, most of my fascination with this sign was that I had a huge cartoon Uncle Sam on. I don't think I understood what the. What the writing was about, particularly. I don't think, you know, just like, you leave the Uncle Sam up, but this is. This is woke Uncle Sam.

[Genevieve]

Oh, you put. You leave Uncle Sam up. You put him in a dress.

[Andrew Walsh]

I love it.

[Genevieve]

You put a bow in his hair.

[Andrew Walsh]

I love it. And then it's just like. And then it's just like, absolutely, like progressive liberal, far, far to the left statements going up. And then. And then we'll see how long the defenders of freedom of speech enjoy this billboard existing. But my guess is, first of all, I very much hope that the. I very much hope that the piece of property sells. What I really hope is what I think the realistic outcome and what I hope the outcome is, is it's just sold to like a dsw, like a designer warehouse shoes. And they put up their DSW and they take the sign, they make the sign a D sign, because they're like, we have no interest in being political here. That's what I really hope doesn't happen. Is that the John Birch Society or some other, you know, some other folks don't take it as their responsibility to buy this property and keep this stupid sign going in perpetuity.

[Genevieve]

I want a shoe so small I can drown in the bathtub. That's what the DSW sign.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm telling you. That and your pickle skittle. Sure.

[Genevieve]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

I want you to remember those two. That was a very solid Grover Norquist joke.

[Genevieve]

The bathtub. I will say that that's. That Norquist joke has been. I mean, you've raised the specter of that ideology many times on the show. So it's sort of easy pickings. But do. You know. And we gotta get out of here. But I'm sure I've told you before, when you've brought up Norquist, that I one time had to find his special pen because he had come to New Hampshire Public Radio. He was a guest on our talk show. He was talking to Laura Kanoy. Do not call her Laura. No doy. And he was being interviewed, and then he left. And I think. I'm trying to think I might have booked him, but, you know, with high sort of high profile people, like, that booking is pretty. You know, you just kind of get permission. He comes in. But anyway, I believe he left. And then the front desk, like, a couple of hours later is like, grover Norquist has lost his special pen.

[Andrew Walsh]

Did he leave it in the studio?

[Genevieve]

And I just remember. I can't remember if I found the pen or not, but I remember having to search around the studio for Grover Nordquist's pen.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, we used to have him on, you know, various conservative talk shows that I produced over the years, whether it was Wiseback or Kirby Wilbur stuff. And like, you know, look, I don't want to come off as pro Grover Norquist, but like, I would be. I'm not going to do this because I'm too lazy. But like, it'd be interesting to go back and see what the furthest, most extreme thoughts of someone like Grover Norquist were.

[Genevieve]

Yeah. As compared back in like the early 2000s or whatever.

[Andrew Walsh]

And just because again, what you made a reference to and what this person, he was a, you know, he was a huge critic of government and of spending and famously said, I want government to be small enough you can drown it in a bathtub. Which is a really extreme and kind of upsetting thing to say about anything. I'd be curious to see what these, like what the most extreme proponents of kind of right wing small government ideology where they were at compared to what Doge is doing doing. It would be interesting to see if they actually fell to the left of what is happening right now.

[Genevieve]

You know, because his was fundamental. He was fundamentally. Like, it was about taxes. Right. Like, it wasn't about like the birtherism or whatever started all.

[Andrew Walsh]

If I unders. If I remember right. Yeah, it was, it was that whole thing. And there was a guy named Stephen Moore at a place called the Club for Growth and their entire. The hill that they were all dying on was government is large and wasteful and taxes are too high. And I don't think, I mean, I'm sure that in the back of their minds they had not great thoughts about reproductive rights, et cetera, but they weren't. That was not their thing. They were not into any of that stuff. They were all about what they saw as the dollars and cents of it. But it's like to see like their wildest dreams coming true is just freaking weird. It is very weird to consider, but this is not a show that talks about politics and Andrew, this is a show that talks about the question of if I should bet on Julio Rodriguez hitting a home run tonight, should I drive to the Washington, Oregon state line?

[Genevieve]

Please stop doing that. He does not do well when you bet on him.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay, well, the answer is no.

[Genevieve]

What I need you to do is I need you to play some bets on the Pirates, I think, right. Or no, no, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. The Tigers, rather.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I, that's though. That's what I need to do. That's the hero move, Andrew.

[Genevieve]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

Is for me to bet on the Tigers knowing and praying that I will lose that money so that that will help the Mariners prosper. I will say this. Last night, as we were getting shellacked, I was. I felt like my prophecy was foretold when on yesterday's show I said, I'm so excited about the Seattle Mariners being on television in my home tonight. And I'm also. I know that it will mostly be heartache and pain for me and that that was exactly borne out.

[Genevieve]

I will say, though, it was a more interesting game than the previous losses. Like, it did not follow of, like, really good pitching from the Mariners and just a very low scoring game. And the Mariners just are, like, terrible at the plate. I mean, they were terrible at the plate, but they basically get no hits. They got a few hits. It was.

[Andrew Walsh]

Still got six runs.

[Genevieve]

Yeah, they did get. Did they end up with six? I thought they ended up with four. I guess I'm misremembering. Did they end up bringing it up to six? Okay, yeah, sorry, I forgot that. But, yeah, that's more than I thought. But the game was so weird because they were just like. It was like they were like the Savannah bananas on defense, only they weren't on roller skates. Like, it was just so unbelievable. Weird. It was such a strange game, but at least it broke the pattern. I honestly was sitting there watching, being like, well, they're not going to win this game. I was very optimistic. Even after we took. After we were like down six, nothing in the first inning. I was with you.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Genevieve]

I still. I truly believe we were going to come back to win that game. I thought it was going to be a really weird game. We did not. But it was an interesting game. Not for the right reason, but it was interesting.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Like, I. It was. It really. It really was uncomfortable to watch our starting pitcher for the Mariners just get absolutely hammered. That does not happen very much. But I was like, well, at least it all happened in the first inning. You know, life is long. This is a nine inning game. We could conceivably. And you know, they had a rookie pitcher goes like, we could conceivably score eight runs this game. We didn't, but you're right. Like, there's almost something maybe cleansing, maybe sort of shamanic about like, like, you know, like you lose in a different way and you shake something loose. Like again, scoring six runs as the Mariners should be a w. Based on our pitching staff. Like, if we can get. If we can get loose and start scoring runs, then we might be all right. So maybe. Maybe we I don't know, maybe we needed that. You know me, I'm always looking for some kind of. Some kind of a totally ludicrous silver lining and everything that would be that.

[Genevieve]

It has been weird like. Like ever since I've. I've made the huge purchase of Root tv. I have watched every game now. And, you know, I knew I was very excited for opening day. So, you know, I got, you know, it's all. Had it on my calendar. I was ready for it. And so, like, that's not surprising to me. But then that was Thursday night, then Friday, Saturday, Sunday, I didn't watch because I was busy and it was a day game. But aside from that, every game I've been available for, like, I would usually by this point be deep into listening on my headphones and like, kind of going around the house, but now that it is, I can't tell. Tell if it's like, well, I paid for this, I should use it, or if it's. I've just got now gotten into the habit of sitting there watching a game. But I'll be honest with you, I think I need to diversify a little bit because if I'm spending three hours just sitting there, like, watching TV every single night, like, that cuts into a lot of podcast listening, dark throwing, cleaning the various rooms of the house type situation, which I feel like that's a better thing for me to do to stay in motion. Otherwise I'm just going to wear a hole in my couch.

[Andrew Walsh]

Right. Like, it was better for you when you had that jank system because it was a little less appealing, probably. And so on certain days you would just. Hey, I have a cleaning question for you. I know we gotta go. You could even start bringing the music if you want to force the issue because you host a great podcast with Hannah Brooks Olson. Spotless. And so this must have come up. I was grilling up a salmon burger last night and it got a little charred. And so the pan that I had fried it in had a little bit of a. A leftover, you know, charring or whatever you want to call that. It wasn't just going to be the, like a throw it in the dishwasher or give it a quick scrub. It was going to need some help, so I let it soak overnight. And I. I didn't want to clean it with. I have one of those, you know, like metal pot scrubbers, but it's a nonstick pan, and I'm assuming that that's a bad idea. I wanted to try to go gentle on It. And so I grabbed the next best thing, the next couple of the next, what you want to call it, like, scratchiest thing, which would be a scrub daddy. And I bought, you know, I've got like, a box of these scrub daddies I bought probably at Costco or something. And this scrub daddy that had just been sitting in my sink for not very long, I want to say, for maybe a week or something. When I picked it up, it had that mildewy funk in it. And I feel like I have not figured out how to. Every scrub daddy I use is a single use scrub daddy.

[Genevieve]

Because.

[Andrew Walsh]

Because I'll use it once. And if I don't need to use it again until a week later, it has taken on an unpleasant kind of. I'll just use the term mildew odor. And then I have to throw it out and get a new one. What am I doing wrong?

[Genevieve]

I don't know. I don't use scrub daddies that much. But I'm pretty sure that you can put that in your dishwasher. So I'll bet you running that through the dishwasher, it'll come out not smelling funky anymore. I bet you.

[Andrew Walsh]

I bet that's a good idea. I guess I just don't like the idea that this miracle solution, I have to also wash it every three cycles to keep it from doing a thing that I was thinking the whole design is for it to not do that.

[Genevieve]

Well, it also sort of sounds like you're taking it while it's still damp and putting it underneath your sink where it's dark. No, it's getting sunlight.

[Andrew Walsh]

It sits on. So I have, like, these grates in the bottom of my sink so that, you know, like a metal grate. And I. And so what I'll do is I'll ring it out. I don't use it. The thing is, I don't use it that often, but I'll. I'll soap it up and ring it out. Like, I'll get a new one. One out of. So the new ones live. Like the ones that have never been used live under the sink in a box from Costco. I'll pull it out like I did this morning. I'll get it watered up. I'll add some soap. And then this is a new one, so it's fine. Then I'll use it. Then I'll rinse it out. Then I'll place it on the grate next to some of the other stuff in the sink. So it's not touching anything. It's anything.

[Genevieve]

Yeah, it's getting air on almost all sides. If it's on that grate, I don't know.

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I mean, I will, I guess, start running them through the dishwasher, but. But it just. This was supposed to be, you know, this. People would go on and on and on about this product, and I think I found it to not really deliver on the promise of a new tomorrow.

[Genevieve]

I thought you were going to ask me about your pan. Can I say something to you?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes.

[Genevieve]

Can I say something to you? So I'm a little bit nervous here because we talk about what we do in the kitchen, and I don't really. I didn't grow up.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's the. What we do in the shadows.

[Genevieve]

Exactly. It's very boring. It's mostly vampires making omelets. But, you know, as has been well documented on the show, I'm not somebody who, like, kind of grew up to be comfortable in the kitchen. Like, I just didn't learn those skills. And so as an adult, I think both of you and I have been sort of, like, easing into it in different ways and enjoying the moments that we do do some cooking, but both being very reluctant to sound like we actually know what the hell we're talking about. Maybe more so than me, than you these days. But one thing that I learned about when you have a pan with a bunch of sticky stuff on it, when you're done cooking with it, and I learned this as a cooking technique from one of those boxed meal companies we used to do ads for.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, is this a deglazing conversation sort of.

[Genevieve]

Or just shocking the pan? What I do is because I have, like, this started for me, aside from that one recipe I was following where you sort of, like, you put in. You put cold wine into the debris of whatever you were just cooking, and it sort of shocks it, and then you can, yes, sort of glaze it. But. But, like, even if you're not using that as, like, kind of a step in your cooking process, when I'm done cooking something that maybe is leaving char on the bottom of my skillet, which I cannot use soap on my skillet, you know, it's like an actual cast iron skillet. I just, like, get it really hot when the food is off of it, and then I take literal ice water and I pour, and I wait for the water to get nice and cold, and then I pour it right in the hot pan, and then I just sort of, like, stir it around and cook it for a long time, dump it Right into either a jar or, if it's not too greasy, right into the sink. And that is how. That way you don't have to soak overnight. It comes right off.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's what I should have done last night. I didn't even think to do that. What I was doing. That's just the opposite. And it's dumb. Is for a while, if I had a pan and it was kind of getting a little bit, you know, greasy or whatever, I would take it when I was done cooking, and then I would put it in the sink, and then I would run water into it. But the only problem with that is it created a ton of steam. And I have, like, a smoke detector somewhere nearby, and I didn't want to, like, set it off. So. But that's what I should do. I should effectively deglaze it, like you said, which is just like. But not for the purpose of, like, making a sauce and putting on my food, but just. Yeah, I'll do that next time. That's a really good point.

[Genevieve]

Use really cold ice water and turn your hood fan on, because if you're doing it over your. If you're doing it right there on the stove, the hood fan will take care of that smoke. And you're not holding something really hot in the sink. That is. It's not going to, like. I will still continue to kind of stir it around a little bit. Almost like I am making something, only it's just water that's dirty water that's going to go down the yank.

[Andrew Walsh]

I should totally do that. I was proud of myself that I at least remembered to not use the, like, abrasive metal thing thingy on my caraway pans. But you know what I made last night. And you can really bring the music. I know we all have places to be. This. I. This is. I can't believe I'm even calling this a recipe. It's so simple. But I really love Jacques Pepin the chef. And I, like, follow him on TikTok and stuff. This is, like a sweet old French dude. And he's always just pointing out these things that are so simple. Why didn't I think of it? So he's like, this is how my daughter. I'm not gonna do my Jacques Pepin impression. This is how my daughter. Daughter taught me to make French fries. He goes, because if you're trying to. With a fryer, it can be like, a whole hassle. He's just chopping up a potato, like, you know, into French fry kind of shape, and then he washes it. What he does at Smart is he washes it after he's chopped the potato up, he washes it in a bowl, which I thought was very smart. You drain the water out, you dry the potatoes off, you throw them on a baking sheet, or you. In the bowl, you throw a little.

[Genevieve]

Bit of peanut oil, paprika, peanut oil.

[Andrew Walsh]

A little peanut oil, paprika. He put in some herbe de province. I didn't have that. I just put in some dried herbs, put it on a cookie sheet, you cook it for 45 minutes, you pull it out, you hit it with some salt. You've got delicious, healthy french fries. I made that last night with a little tartar dip. It made me almost not sad about the Mariners. That's how good it was.

[Genevieve]

Wow.

[Andrew Walsh]

Just so. It was delicious. And it's a whole food. It's a potato, like would recommend. That's all I wanted to say.

[Genevieve]

I do something similar with those little baby red potatoes? Oh, yeah, yeah. Same.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Genevieve]

Deal. Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay. Well, listen, that's quite enough TBTL for today. I have amazing news, though. We'll be back here tomorrow with more imaginary radio for you, so please do get at us for that. In the meantime, have a great Tuesday. Take care of yourselves. Go, Mariners. And please remember, no mountain too tall.

[Genevieve]

And good luck to all.

[Andrew Walsh]

Power out.