#4566 A Cry For Yelp

Summary

TBTL #4566: "A Cry For Yelp" – Episode Summary

Podcast: TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live
Hosts: Luke Burbank & Andrew Walsh
Date: October 1, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Luke and Andrew navigate a classic TBTL mix of playful banter, spontaneous storytelling, and pop culture deep dives. The main throughlines are:

• Luke’s recent Yelp "crusade" after a disastrous HVAC service call
• Raves (and mild spoilers) for the new Paul Thomas Anderson film "One Battle After Another"
• General observations about generational divides, movie theater etiquette, and upcoming Seattle sports

They jump spiritedly between sincere analysis, comic digressions, and the everyday foibles that have endeared TBTL to its listeners.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Punslingers Warm-up (00:01–01:07)

• The show opens with quick-fire business name puns for an imagined Italian restaurant, including "Planned Pizza Hood," "Pizza Paul and Mary," "Venice the Menace," "Spaghetti Museum," and "Lord of the Pots."
• Sets the episode’s playful, improvisational tone.

2. Fall Vibes & Movie-Going Weather (01:47–03:44)

• Luke relates how a rainy, windy day led to a home power outage, inadvertently sending him to the movies to see "One Battle After Another."
• "Officially broken out the Denzel Washington for the incoming fall and winter seasons here in Southern Washington." — Luke (01:51)

3. Denzel Washington & Actor Analysis (04:00–08:39)

• Andrew’s back-to-back Denzel viewings: "Devil in a Blue Dress" and "Inside Man."
• Conversation about Denzel’s reputation, career choices, and his famously direct interview style (contrasted with Sean Penn).
• "Denzel Washington actually: good actor and kind of good looking." — Andrew (05:44)
• Both hosts revel in Ethan Hawke’s respect for Denzel’s command and improvisational skills, especially on "Training Day."

4. The Power Outage Movie Mission (12:19–23:12)

• Luke recounts the chain of events: power outage → needing to leave the powerless house → scrambling to see "One Battle After Another" at a sparse Tuesday matinee.
• Extended joking about generational divides at the movie theater, assigned-seating oddities, and older couples talking loudly during films.

Notable Quotes:

• "I want what I eat at the movie theater to be something special from movie theater life." — Luke (17:10)
• "If someone talks during a movie, passive-aggressive seat-moving is fair game." — Andrew (21:18)

5. On Expectations and Spoiler Sensitivity (23:36–28:46)

• Luke and Andrew weigh the challenge of discussing a buzzy new film without spoiling it.
• Recognition of how hype and critical consensus can warp audience expectations — and the unique anxiety this causes for people in media.
• Andrew self-identifies as a "spoiler extremist," Preferring absolute plot ignorance.

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The HVAC Saga & The Power of Yelp (41:12–78:16)

Timestamps: 41:12–78:16
Key segment for listeners interested in modern customer service war stories, generational divides, and the catharsis of online reviews.

Story Breakdown:

• Luke hired Felton’s HVAC for his malfunctioning mini split, installed by his dad.
• The first tech visit yields no meaningful diagnosis, a $270 bill, and a dose of condescension ("Grumpus #1" blames Luke for unspecified install mistakes, brings no 'sniffer' tool, cuts drywall unnecessarily).
• A follow-up call with Felton’s dispatch is redirected to "Al," a similarly crusty gatekeeper who offers blame but no solutions — and abruptly hangs up when Luke politely details his grievances.

Memorable Moment:

• "All he might have heard, maybe he was just like, I only input two at a time—I’ll call back later for number three… but he didn’t even let me finish about the drywall. And when I tell you I was feeling a lot of frustration, I decided to go to the court of last resort, which is Yelp." — Luke (63:41)

The Review

• Luke posts a one-star review on Yelp ("Worst service ever. These guys came out, charged me $270, couldn’t diagnose the issue… He then hung up on me. Avoid this company at all cost, Luke Burbank.")
• Andrew reads the review live, gently teases Luke about the "each word capitalized" and signature.
• Discussion of the ethics, reputation impact, and self-awareness involved in becoming a “Yelp complainer.”
• Both hosts joke about generational workplace divides—old-school techs vs. younger, customer-friendly outfits (“Rascals HVAC” run by “children”; 56:01).

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6. The "One Battle After Another" Deep Dive

[Main Film Discussion Begins ~81:20]

• After spoiler warnings, the hosts dig deep into Paul Thomas Anderson’s sprawling new film.
• Both are blown away by the film’s propulsive narrative (unusual for PTA), political edge, emotional core, and the performances (esp. Sean Penn, Leonardo DiCaprio, Benicio Del Toro, and Teyana Taylor).
• “This film felt to me like the best Quentin Tarantino film I’ve ever seen in my life… except with an actual emotional center and a coherent worldview.” — Luke (86:18)
• Luke and Andrew agree on some tonally odd moments early on (the opening sexual humiliation scene, some intentionally corny touches with the Christmas-named white supremacist group), but these are quickly absorbed by the film’s momentum and gravity.
• Extended, impassioned praise for the film’s urgency, relevance, and craftsmanship; both are eager for a rewatch.

Notable Quotes:

• “There were just moments where I wanted to cry because I thought—this movie is so f*cking good.” — Luke (98:24)

• “One Battle After Another meets the moment. It doesn’t just depict the moment, or react to the moment… this goddamn movie meets the moment we are living in right now.” — Andrew (96:58)

• They relish the darkly comic “revolutionary customer service” subplot ("the guy who won’t divulge the secret codeword has old-man energy—totally unexpected!").

• Listener email reveals a TBTL fan’s son plays a pivotal role as the daughter’s friend—delighting both hosts (107:16).

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Additional Highlights & Moments

• Generational Rants: The HVAC saga becomes a broader commentary on aging tradesmen, industry disruption, and youthful customer service.
• Movie Theater Microdrama: Passive-aggressive seat relocation due to chatty older patrons (20:32).
• Sports Preview: Luke and Andrew look ahead to a jam-packed Seattle sports Sunday: Mariners playoffs, Seahawks game, and the city’s buzz around the World Cup coming to town (120:32).
• "I think I used up my bad luck against the Guardians. That was just rough… honestly, I feel like we used up our bad luck when we had that abysmal road trip against them." — Luke (132:41)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Exchanges

• On Yelp Reviews:
  "My number one job here is to be concise and to seem reasonable, my friend. Do not be the all capper." — Andrew (65:09)

• On Paul Thomas Anderson’s Film:
  “I couldn’t leave the theater… I didn’t want this movie to be over. I didn’t want to stop living in the universe of this movie.” — Luke (99:22)

• On Cross-Generational “Work Wisdom”:
  “I don’t think guys, these guys of a certain age, like working on this shit because it’s not what they’ve been working on for 30 years.” — Luke (49:30)

• On the Power of Spoilers:
  "Don’t trust us to not ruin it, especially if you’re like me… I want the absolute least information going into a movie." — Andrew (23:36)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Pun Business Name Game: 00:01–01:07
• Denzel and Actor Analysis: 04:00–08:39
• Power Outage Movie Quest: 12:19–23:12
• Movie Spoiler Anxiety: 23:36–28:46
• HVAC Yelp Saga: 41:12–78:16
• Deep-Dive "One Battle After Another": 81:20–118:58
• Listener Email (Tamara’s Son in the Movie): 107:16
• Sports/Seattle Events Banter: 120:32–135:19

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Closing Thoughts

• The episode showcases TBTL’s strengths: genuine friendship, relatable frustrations, cultural curiosity, and old-school podcast rambling at its best.
• From Yelp catharsis to cinematic revelry, this is one of those "something for everyone" TBTLs, whether you’re here for the movie analysis, the tales of domestic inconvenience, or the old friends' marathon vibes.

"No mountain too tall... and good luck to all."

Transcript

[A]

Punslingers. We come up with pun names for your business. We don't do doggy daycare, haircutting places, or faux. Oh, Italian restaurant. Okay, that sounds good. Where are you gonna be located? Okay, get your number. Okay, Gige. Italian Restaurant. Great. All right, so what do you got, Gige?

[B]

You know, could be construed as controversial.

[A]

But it's a great restaurant name planned pizza hood.

[B]

Oh, nice. Yeah, yeah. Love it.

[A]

I thought of Pizza Paul and Mary. Love it. That's good. Should we think more in the Italian thing? Venice the Menace. Crust me, like, trust me, out of harm's way. Oh, right. That's really terrible. Yeah, I've got one. What about Spaghetti Museum? Spaghetti Museum.

[B]

Is that a pun?

[A]

Lord of the Pots, Pasta Rings.

[B]

How about that?

[A]

Wait, what was it again? Lord of the movie is the Hobbit.

[B]

Okay, I've got a movie.

[A]

15 easy pizzas.

[B]

TBTL. Excited to be here.

[A]

Equally excited for you guys to truly.

[B]

Take in how physically imposing I am. So whenever you guys are ready to.

[A]

Start, let's do it. I yell at you because I love you.

[B]

You listen to me because you love me. Is this a weird dynamic?

[A]

Yeah, sure. From the outside, you don't have a choice. If you don't like it, you can quit. That's a quote from upstairs. Bada bo. You don't have to make rude noises. That's all right.

[B]

I don't mind. Oh, won't somebody please think of the children?

[A]

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

[B]

This ship doesn't go anywhere except in circles.

[A]

My name is Luke Burbank. I'm your host. I'll do it until it stops. Will you please stop? Coming to you from the Madrona Hill studio, perched high above the mighty Columbia, where it. It is very rainy. Didn't know you like to get wet, though. That's right, folks. Officially broken out the Denzel Washington for the incoming fall and winter seasons here in Southern Washington. Good news is it's warm and dry here in the Madrona Hill studio. And we are ready to go with episode 4566 in a collector series, Let the fun begin. There was essentially, in my mind anyway, an act of God that occurred yesterday here at my house. When you got God, you got a friend. And that friend is you. And it caused me, nay, it forced me to go see a film. So who needs a movie called One Battle After Another? And I'm really glad that that force majeure got me down to the movie theater because I want to talk about that movie with my pal Andrew Welch. Also, I want to talk about.

[B]

The.

[A]

Interaction I just had about 10 minutes ago, which involved someone hanging up on me on the phone and then me immediately opening my laptop and getting onto Yelp. I'm a verified Yelp complainer. I don't want this show to deteriorate into just me complaining about airline travel and other related customer service issues. This one is not airline related, I'm happy to report. But anyway, we'll probably get into it. We'll also, of course, talk to this guy. If there's anybody who I trust to put me in touch with a higher power, it's this dude.

[B]

Please welcome God's one and only voice of comedy.

[A]

He is the longest running cobra of the show, maybe best known for his depictions of the tall ships. He's Andrew Walsh and he's joining me right now. Good morning, my friend.

[B]

Good morning. It was great to hear Denzel. Back in the intro, I had a. I just watched two Denzel Washington movies. You've been on a real quick succession.

[A]

Was that Devil in a Blue Dress.

[B]

Devil in a Blue Dress, which I've now watched from the beginning three quarters of that movie twice in a row. Still haven't watched the end. I just keep on getting.

[A]

It's basically trying to write my next great novel. It's like I write the first four pages and then I go back and then I erase them and then I rewrite them and then I go back. And by the way, next great novel, that indicates there was a first great novel, right?

[B]

Sure.

[A]

The existence of a second great novel presumes the existence of a first great.

[B]

I really let that slide. I really fell down. Thank you.

[A]

I needed a job there. Dealing with a lot over here, as you'll find out.

[B]

I also watched Inside Man. I did watch that one all the way through. I watched that when I was in the hotel room in Arizona a couple of weeks ago.

[A]

Is that another Walter Mosley situation?

[B]

No, that is a Spike Lee joint loop. It's a really great bank robbery. Yes. Yes, I watched that.

[A]

Yeah, that was good.

[B]

It's so good. And I don't mean this as an insult to the movie. It's a great movie, but it's also a really great hotel room movie. I don't know exactly what makes a good hotel room movie, but it was just like exactly what I needed. Something I'd seen before, but of good quality. I was ironing a lot of shirts and pants. I Don't know if I think you do that too sometimes when you're in a hotel room. Just like a little bit of extra time. Exactly what America wants. Maybe I do a little bit of ironing of the clothes that got wrinkled in your luggage. And I'm watching that movie and vibing and I have this thought. First of all, my first thought is Denzel Washington is a good actor, which is a take that I'm willing to stake out myself. I'm willing to write that article on Slate. Denzel Washington actually. Good actor and kind of good looking.

[A]

I wonder if Slate's still doing that. I've kind of have. To be honest. I know you're still somewhat connected to the Slate universe because I think you listen to some of their podcasts.

[B]

No, actually, I'm pretty far away from it and I miss it.

[A]

I wonder if they're still over there writing those kinds of counterintuitive articles. Why cancer is actually good for you.

[B]

Right. Exactly.

[A]

Classic slate headline of 10 years ago.

[B]

Slate. So anyway, I had this thought. What if I watched all of Denzel Washington's movies in a row? Not all in one sitting. I think if I can't get through one movie. Yeah, I feel like I'm not going to do that. But what if I just started with his first movie and watched them all?

[A]

They.

[B]

I feel like. I don't know. You were saying this about Leonardo DiCaprio yesterday.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

That he doesn't. There's not a lot of, like just. I'm doing this movie to make the money on his filmography and I'm. I'm hoping. I don't know, but I'm hoping that might be the case with Denzel. Like, I haven't. I don't think of him as being in a lot of schlock, but he's also been acting for a really long.

[A]

Time and kind of seems like he doesn't really like acting in movies anymore.

[B]

Is that true?

[A]

Yeah, I've seen that.

[B]

He hasn't been in one at all. I think he was.

[A]

Yeah, he was in. He was in a Broadway production.

[B]

It was.

[A]

I believe it was Shakespearean. It was him and Jake Gyllenhaal. And I think it was a kind of one of those sort of updated adaptations of. I don't know if it was Hamlet or King Lear or one of those. And he was doing a lot of interviews around the Broadway performance and he kept seeming to say that he's kind of done with acting in films or. He has a very. He never. He's never Watched any of his performances on film. He seems like a real wild card to interview, I'll tell you that.

[B]

Really? But in a good way, kind of.

[A]

No, in a bad way. I mean, if you're the interviewer, which is the person I always identify with in the interview process.

[B]

Yeah, like.

[A]

Like, he. I remember. I think I was in. It was that first trip that I took to London for work sometime back when they lost my luggage and was buying my pants at uniqlo. And I was listening to him on the interview, that New York Times interview show that I really like. And it felt to me like every question that the interviewer David Marchesy asked, Denzel Washington certainly took the answer in a place I would not have expected. And it was kind of like I, again, was identifying with the interviewer. All that is to say.

[B]

Can I actually ask you a question about that before you get to all that is to say, which we really need to start a sub podcast? I think a listener suggested that you've got. All of this is to say, we do say that a lot. Love that. But you say you think about it from the interviewer standpoint, like, oh, that could be a difficult sort of conversation to wrangle. But as the listener, as far as information you were getting, was he being difficult or was he being expansive just in ways that the interviewer wouldn't maybe be prepared for? Like, was it interesting? Was there any interesting information about him and his life?

[A]

It was an interesting view into him, but I did feel that he. I don't think he was intentionally trying to be adversarial, but it was. It didn't strike me as, like, for instance, I actually just listened to the interview with Sean Penn last night on the same program Sean Penn was promoting one battle after another. And Sean Penn is also, I think, a challenging interview subject in the same way, probably, that Denzel Washington might be. Like, they're both actors of great renown. They both are very, very smart people, and they both are not particularly worried about, like, if the interviewer likes them or their answer. Like, that's just not something that's stressing them out. And then in both cases, I think they're both slightly smelling their own farts.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

In having listened to both interviews, it's kind of the same energy. It's kind of like a person who is a person who for a very long time has not been told, I don't know what you're talking about. And because they're phenomenal actors, very good at their craft, there's no reason that Anybody would give them that feedback because when they show up on set or whatever, they usually turn in performances that are pretty spectacular. In fact, I just saw Ethan Hawkeye being interviewed about what he learned from Denzel Washington on the movie Training Day.

[B]

Oh, Training Day. Of course. That's where that drop comes from.

[A]

And it was. It was like one of the. I thought it was. It was. It was an incredible sort of co sign on who Denzel Washington is as an actor and I guess maybe as a person on set. Ethan Hawke was saying he'd been in, you know, a number of movies before he was in Training Day, but he never really understood what it was like to be truly excellent in a movie until he was in Training Day with Denzel Washington. And watching the way Denzel Washington was both on camera and off camera and the way he just, like, he understood what this movie should be in a way that almost nobody else on the set did. And therefore, he pushed the movie and the director and everybody in certain directions and was just a force of nature on the set, including the fact that he improvised that whole King Kong ain't got nothing on me scene.

[B]

Oh, really? I don't know that I've seen that movie all the way through, but I've seen the. The. I've seen some key scenes from it. And I know that you said he kind of pushes that movie, and that is a movie that really pushes the viewer as well. Right. It's a very uncomfortable watch also, I think even Hawke. I don't know if I was reading the same.

[A]

That's my movie podcast, by the way. Uncomfortable watch.

[B]

Uncomfortable listen. Sure.

[A]

So I sit next to you eating popcorn.

[B]

A little too loud, a little and a little bit too close. He also learned never bum a cigarette off of your partner is another lesson. Isn't that where the. Didn't know you like to get wet, though, comes from. Doesn't his. Yeah, I believe dip a cigarette or a joint maybe in pcp.

[A]

Yeah, exactly. I think that's like. Yeah, considering, like, that's a wet joint or something.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Didn't know you like to get wet, though.

[B]

Yeah. Anyway, so all of that is to.

[A]

Say I saw a movie yesterday, Andrew. This is why I'm in a very cinematic state of mind. I'm also now in a real Thomas Pinchon state of mind. We have the same birthday. Did you know that, Andrew?

[B]

No, I didn't know that.

[A]

Number one, Thomas Pinchon, appreciator, logging in now.

[B]

May, right?

[A]

May 8th.

[B]

May, yes. I always want to say fifth, but that's Josh Rogers.

[A]

Uh huh. I'd be often confused. Both public radio luminaries, me and Josh.

[B]

Rogers, your wikis link to each other.

[A]

Our wikis have leaked into each other. Now we're the same person.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

So here's what happened yesterday. You and I had talked about one battle after another on the show because you had just seen it two nights ago, I think, and you mentioned that you really liked it. And I said I gotta get out and see that movie because I'm just hearing a lot of good reviews and it's got me nervous because I'm worried that I'm gonna go in with unrealistic expectations and I should get out and see that movie. Now if you remember, Andrew, I said the same thing about the movie the Naked Gun. I was sitting in this very chair talking to you and I said, I gotta get down the hill and go see the Naked Gun. And I never did it. And let's be honest, there was probably a decent chance that that was going to be another empty promise by me that I was going to go see one battle after another. Except yesterday at about, I don't know, 3:15 or so, I was sitting in my house, I was working away on my computer, I was doing some CBS related stuff and out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of light. I thought, is that lightning? And I realized, oh, a windstorm has kicked up, it's very windy up here at the Madrona Hill studio. And now I see this flash of light, I think, ah, is that lightning? And then I wait for the thunder and it never comes. And then I look around and I realize, oh, the power has gone off to my entire home and also to the entire studio. And now the thing about that is these are on the, the studio and my house are on different breakers because you kind of need a lot of power out here. This is also like basically a separate apartment. I've never had it be the case that both of them have gone off at once. Like maybe the house would lose power, I'd go flip the breaker, it would be fine. Or maybe something might happen in the studio. Both of them being, you know, not having power and flipping the breaker in both places and nothing happening. Told me we've got a power outage here.

[B]

Yeah, in the, in the entire area, whatever that area in the area is. Yeah.

[A]

And I gotta give some credit where credit is due. First I call the power outage number in my county and I get an automated thing and I'm, first of all, I'm running around the outside of my house trying to batten down the hatches because it's so windy at this point I'm trying to like turn over deck furniture so that it won't blow off the deck. And like I'm trying to lit like on the phone hoping to get a human being. I'm getting this automated thing that's just trying to tell me if my power bill has been paid. You know, I'm in the like automate, I'm in the wrong part of the automated system of, of the, of the local utility.

[B]

Do you have a map? Do you have the map on your outage map?

[A]

Well yeah, but I'm, I'm clicking on it again. I'm running around and doing all this stuff and it's, it's, it's super duper windy and so it's kind of a lot going on. The map doesn't seem to be loading. Anyway, get inside the house and to their credit in about five minutes I've got an email from the PUD out here and they said you, your address is part of an affected area where there is a power outage. Power went out at 308. And he said estimated time that it'll be back on 6:08. And I looked at that number Andrew and I said that's about three hours.

[B]

Three hours. What else is three hours?

[A]

What else is three hours long? Well the tour that the castaways went.

[B]

On, that was a three hour tour.

[A]

Before they ended up on Gilligan's Island.

[B]

That's a really good call. So you're thinking that first.

[A]

So I was like definitely don't go out on the Columbia river on a three hour tour. This is not the day for that.

[B]

Smart, smart.

[A]

Learning history.

[B]

Good.

[A]

Something else is my friend Andrew was recommending the movie One Battle after another that he, I remember him mentioning it runs three hours.

[B]

And he talked about it for about three hours on the show or at least it felt that way on yesterday's episode.

[A]

And I got on my cell phone because that still worked. And wouldn't you know, at 3:30 the movie one Battle After Another was playing down at my local theater. And so I hopped in my car and I raced down there and first I, you know, they don't like, as you noted the other day, they don't really sell you the ticket at the ticket booth anymore. Maybe like on a busy night they would, but this was not, this was a Tuesday at 3:30 so you gotta go to concessions. Which now, yes, I was planning on buying popcorn anyway, but I do feel like they're also kind of, you know, they're getting you there. It's like if you, you know, you have to go in and buy your ticket at the place where all the delicious snacks also exist, you know, I.

[B]

Mean, I can't imagine watching a movie and not buying snacks. So for me, it doesn't feel like it. Gotcha.

[A]

Yeah. You know, that's only been in the last, I'd say, 10 years of my life that the enjoyment of snacks and the enjoyment of movies became connected for me.

[B]

Really?

[A]

I know that sounds insane. I just lived a lot of my adult life with a lot of weird food rules for myself and, like, popcorn would probably not be on that list, etc. But now that I've embraced. Now that I've embraced that lifestyle. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Popcorn and even Milk Duds. Andrew. This is the thing. I used to flex that I'm young because I could drink coffee before going to bed. My new flex is I can eat.

[B]

Milk Duds without having your fillings pull out.

[A]

It did not appear to remove any of my dental structure. That's my new flex. And I was standing there, man, I had the Peanut M and Ms. In one hand. But the thing is, I eat Peanut M and Ms. In regular life, and I feel like what I eat at the movie theater needs to be something special from movie theater life. Interesting, because I probably got Peanut M and M somewhere in my house right now. Like, that's. They're yummy, but I don't. I want to be having. I don't eat popcorn in my house generally. It's not a rule. I just don't think to make it like I want. I want this to feel special to the movie experience. And so I was like, but also, can I pull off Milk Duds at this age?

[B]

And so it's been a while for you since you've had Milk Duds?

[A]

Oh, years, probably. And the last time I had them was at a movie. I'm sure they were always my go to movie candy in the period of time after I started eating at the theaters and before I started worrying about pulling out my fillings. But anyway, that went great. And yeah, I watched the movie. It was funny because it was one of those films or it is one of those theaters, of course, where you got to pick your seat. And so I picked, what is like to me, the most logical seat to pick in an otherwise. I mean, there was three people in the theater other than me.

[B]

You picked the most logical seat, which was in a theater showing Downton Abbey. Like Your friend Andrew did the other day.

[A]

Precisely. Yes, I. My parents saw that, by the way. My mom.

[B]

Yeah, good.

[A]

Gave it a terrible review. Really?

[B]

But. And they're in. She's pretty.

[A]

They love Downton Abbey, and they'll watch anything. Maybe said it was terrible.

[B]

Is it the first Downton Abbey content they've seen that didn't come off of a thumb drive? Is it the lack of thumb drive in the viewing experience?

[A]

I know my dad asked the projectionist if you could bring a thumb drive up there.

[B]

I brought the film here. You're gonna have to, like, swap out the thumb drive about halfway through.

[A]

I'm actually asking my mom. I was on the phone with my mom this morning about something unrelated, and she mentioned that the Downton Abbey movie was terrible. But what I realized is this is my mother, so there's no guarantee she's seen the movie. Was that just your hunch? Like, in other words, my mom is very capable of issuing a scathing review of a film that she has not seen.

[B]

Oh.

[A]

So she's saying. Well, I don't know. I'm saying. Yeah, she told me the movie was bad this morning. What she didn't confirm was if she's actually seen it.

[B]

Yeah. Okay. This is. Well, this is. I'm interested in hearing the answer to that question.

[A]

As am I. I just texted her, did you see the Downton Abbey movie, or was that just your hunch?

[B]

Okay, okay. That.

[A]

It's.

[B]

That does sound like something. With all due respect, the apple does not fall far from the tree. The fact that you listened to a whole review about how bad something was, and there's a chance that your mom hasn't even seen it. I could see you doing that about something.

[A]

Absolutely. That's the secret sauce of this show, Andrew. And my whole personality.

[B]

Yeah. No, I mean, you both got takes. I'll give you credit.

[A]

So I'm picking my seat in the theater. And it's like, you know. You know the move, Andrew. They're like, the blue seats are available. It's a sea of blue seats. So of course I pick what I think at middle. Middle. Just like I hope the Mariners pitches are not in the coming playoff series. I do not want middle middle for my pitchers. I do want it for me. But what do you think everyone else, all three or four other people have picked, is middle. Middle.

[B]

Yeah. So you got yourself. You're looking for a real Robbie Ray.

[A]

Precisely. Because, like, of course, duh, everyone. Like, no one. When you have your pick of any seat in the theater, no one's going like far left and back or something, you know what I mean? It was like. So I get in there and I realize, ah, shit. Like I'm next to this couple who I'm giving props for showing up to this movie because it's a very political film in a way and it's definitely edgy. And these folks were, you know, of my parents generation. And I salute them for being there. I don't salute them for talking to each other at a pretty loud volume. That's okay though, because there was so much room in the theater that basically about 15 minutes into the movie, I just moved like three or four rows back and then it was totally fine.

[B]

Good. I hope they noticed though. I know you weren't doing it to be passive aggressive, but it would be nice if people are disturbing other people in a movie theater. Especially in the day and age where you have sort of assigned seats and that could have been a more crowded theater. It would be nice for me if somebody saw that and said, oh, you know what? That guy, he wasn't rude to us. But I'm suddenly realizing we're ruining other people's moviegoing experiences. We're adjusting our behavior in the future. There's nothing wrong with that.

[A]

I think this had to do also with hearing loss. And I'm being very serious. I think these are people that just when they talk to each other, they have to talk at a higher volume so they can hear each other again. I felt like the yuts because there's, I don't know, 700 available seats to me.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I'm sitting three seats over from the only couple in like the only people. No one else could even talk to anyone because it was just guys like me at the movie. Otherwise, you know, it's like dudes by themselves of my age who are like, you know, P.T. anderson heads or whatever. So all that is to say the movie gets started and we should probably. You and I should talk about what we talk about when we talk about one battle after another. Because this is a brand new film and I don't want to ruin it or spoil it for anyone. Are we capable of talking about the film without spoiling it for folks? I mean, honestly, as you said before, it's difficult to encapsulate this film in the trailer. And it's also, I feel like it's kind of, it's. It is plot driven. Like I was riveted.

[B]

It's. Yeah. Almost more than any of his other films. It is just like a straight arrow of a plot it doesn't mean it's simplistic, but it's a straight arrow of a plot that never meanders like this show.

[A]

I didn't even know that Paul Thomas Anderson knew how to make this kind of movie. I mean, seriously, like, I'm talking about it being action and the action of it, and it's being propulsive.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I might be forgetting about one of his other films, but, like, I mean, I just was. I was so impressed, so incredibly impressed by. By this film. And I guess I would just say if you are. If you're planning to go see the movie soon and you don't want. I'm not gonna. I'm not. I'm not intentionally gonna try to spoil anything, but in talking about it, I don't know. I can't promise that I won't accidentally mention a few things.

[B]

Yeah. If. Folks, if you actually. I didn't know you actually wanted to talk about the plot of the movie. I'll tell you what. Like, just even before I was on the show, I knew that TBT sort of had a reputation for saying, we're not gonna spoil anything. But if you're like me, you want the absolute least information going into a movie. And I'm really, like, strict about. Not strict, where they're like, I'm telling people to shut up. But just, like, if I have the opportunity to go in with absolutely no information, that's how I prefer it. Like, even.

[A]

Should we put this at the end of the show? I can complain. I can talk about Yelp complaining if you want to just.

[B]

Yeah, you want to do that, or people. You know, I was going to say people could skip. And I'm not trying to be catty about it. We can have the conversation, but, like, I would just want to say, don't trust us to not ruin it, especially if you're, like, sort of a. I don't know, extremists like me when it comes to this particular thing about going in. In fact, Veev saw the film before me. She saw it on Sunday at imax and she. And I said I'd really been wanting to see this film. This is not plot talk, by the way. I'd been really wanting to see this film, but I only want to see the film because I'm a PT Anderson fan. I saw the trailer a couple of times. I thought the trailer was okay. I knew that Thomas Pynchon also did Inherent Vice or, you know, wrote the book that Inherent Vice was inspired by. And I like that movie. And so I was kind of like, oh, this is going to be something to see. I did not realize how buzzy this was until, like, after I saw the movie. I texted my buddy Nick, who's a big cinephile, and I was like, have you seen it yet? He's like, no.

[A]

Noted. Noted. Fight. Not haver.

[B]

It never occurred to me that you'd be mad at him for not getting more involved. No, no. Don't drag him into my misbehavior. But I think I. Viva love revolution.

[A]

Andrew.

[B]

This movie has only been out since this weekend, and I made a point of seeing it with friends, who then went to see it on Sunday when I couldn't go, which was totally fine. I said, don't wait for me. Go see the movie. But I made an appointment for myself to see it on Monday after Genevieve and our friends had seen it on Sunday. And so I had it on the agenda, but I just thought it was my own. I know that people like P.T. anderson. I'm not trying to sound like I'm some unique person because I look forward to his films, but I just thought it was my own goal to make sure I saw it in the theater before it goes away. I didn't realize until I talked to you yesterday. And then I texted Nick to say, hey, have you seen it yet? He's like, no, but I'm really worried about expectations. People are gushing over this movie in a way that I don't think it can live up to the expectations. I'm like, damn, dog. This thing just came out on Friday, and we're having this conversation on Tuesday. I don't think I fully realized how high expectations are and how great the kind of general consensus is about this movie.

[A]

Well, not to mention the fact that I would be unsurprised to hear calls on the right for this film being pulled from theaters. I mean, there was already a review in one of the. I forget if it was. I don't want to try to cite the publication. I read Michelle Goldberg wrote an excellent review of the film and where it fits into politics in the New York Times yesterday would recommend Big Michelle Goldberg fan here.

[B]

You read that before you saw it or you read it after?

[A]

No, I read it after. Or just by coincidence.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like, I was just looking at the Times last night and saw that she talked about the film. And then I was, you know, But I was actually glad I had seen the film before I read the review again. It's not. It's not even so much a review as it's a. Like, where does this fit into the political conversation right now. But she mentions a review from a. I don't even think it's a right wing publication, but a more conservative publication that calls it the most irresponsible film of the year because of the content. And I was texting with our friend, television's Chris Hayes, and I was like, hey man, you gotta go see this film. He's like, yeah, I'm planning. I was like, you might wanna do it before they pull it from theaters.

[B]

Like it's.

[A]

It. It feels dangerous to be in, I think a good way because I think it's portrays this moment in our politics and our law enforcement, I think extremely accurately. And that's probably upsetting to the people that are trying to try to perpetrate the things that are. That are portrayed in the film. But. So are we having the conversation now or are we coming back to the conversation?

[B]

Maybe we can hold off on that. But I will just say, yeah, I didn't realize that the movie was so buzzy that people are now worried about it not living up to the expectations. I'm glad though that you went into it sort of knowing that and with high expectations, but then left the film still feeling like, oh my God, that was great. You know, I really worry about that. But in general, but I especially worry about it with you and I, maybe because it's our job to talk about this stuff so much. And I know you're a very particular film goer. So sometimes when I'm recommending something to you or film viewer or whatever, like.

[A]

If things are more of a Downton.

[B]

Abbey guy, well, you're definitely down. I think that's the most irresponsible movie of the year. Honestly, if they're not labeling where what theater it's playing in, it's very dangerous. When you sit down, you think you're watching one movie and then suddenly it's Downton Abbey with those classic little fonts. Anyway, so, yeah, we'll come back around to it. But I'm glad to hear that both the expectations are high for this movie because the reviews are so good. But it's also living up to those expectations. So I'll just say that I'm happy about that. And then, yeah, if you want to come back later and actually dig into some of the plot stuff, that would be fun.

[A]

So here's what I'm going to do. Let's thank the donors today so that if people do need to check out of the show at some point later on, I don't want them to miss hearing the list of folks who have been supporting tbtl. So maybe let's do that.

[B]

Thank you, baby.

[A]

Of course, when we talk about donors and people supporting TBTL, this is 100% listener supported podcasting. We're talking about folks like Dana Sretsky of Lexington, Kentucky. Go Wildcats.

[B]

Absolutely. I was gonna say go Wildcats because I know that the Wildcats are from Lexington, Kentucky. Are you talking about Classic.

[A]

You're a Rex Chapman head.

[B]

I am.

[A]

You're a Scott Padgett guy.

[B]

Oh, Scott Padgett. Yeah, I was. I kind of got into that.

[A]

You're a Jamal Mashburn dude like your father and his father before him.

[B]

Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. What are we talking about? What sport?

[A]

I believe. I hope. God, this is going to be humiliating. I believe those were all Kentucky Wildcats basketball players. Basketball throughout the years. Yeah, Kentucky. They're in Lexington. The Kentucky basketball team is, is, is, is very good and very beloved in the local area. The one that I'm nervous about really is Scott Padgett Wildcats. Still haven't heard back from my mom, by the way.

[B]

Oh, yeah, Nice.

[A]

I got the Scott Padgett.

[B]

Nice co sign.

[A]

We love it. I believe he's see the head coach at Mississippi State now.

[B]

Did he go on to play in the NBA and now he's a.

[A]

Did I believe he played for Rick Patino and Tubby Smith and then he went on to have an eight year NBA career as well.

[B]

So you name your kid Tubby? You know, you're.

[A]

Well, that's, you know, I have to say, even as a kid, whatever. Tubby. Smith's. He was a legendary basketball coach as well. Whatever Tubby Smith's real name was. I was like, how'd you let him. How'd you let him put the. Hang that one on you? Because I promise you it's not Tubby. It's probably like James or something. But he embraced it. He went by it.

[B]

He's a. He's not a especially rotund fella.

[A]

No, that's what I'm saying.

[B]

Well, then I think that's your answer right there.

[A]

If I was Orlando Smith, much better name than Tubby.

[B]

I don't know, they're both kind of good. I gotta say, if I'm a handsome man like Orlando Tubby Smith, I don't mind being called Tubby. I probably mind being called Tubby if I'm, you know, carrying this around. If you're. Yeah, fair enough. Yes.

[A]

I don't know if Michelle Jenkins minds being called Michelle Jenkins, but we're gonna do it because that's the name on the list. And Michelle is supporting TBTL from out there in Sammamish, Washington. Washington out on the Sammamish Plateau.

[B]

Love it.

[A]

Thanks also to James west of Thornton, Colorado.

[B]

Go Wildcats. I'm assuming that there is a high, like the high school I went to. Safe bet St Ignatius. They were the Wildcats. I feel like you could say, go Wildcats, to almost any town and there's going to be some sort of, like there's going to be some high school team or something called the Wildcats. Right.

[A]

Let's figure out what the Thornton high school team in Thornton, Colorado is. It looks like it might be Andrew. Wait for it. Well, first of all, I'm getting the website. Attendance matters.

[B]

Yes, it does.

[A]

Showing regular attendance contributes to better achievement, stronger peer relationships, higher graduation rates, and it even provides more financial resources to support student success. It's looking like maybe the Trojans.

[B]

I'm getting Trojans here, too.

[A]

I'm seeing a Trojan mascot. So Trojan man. Thanks also to Holly Snap, who's in Bremerton, Washington. I could probably almost. I should be able to do the Bremerton High. You should be mascot by memory because, of course, it's in Washington State and I'm. I have to. Let's see.

[B]

I'm looking. Oh, it's interesting. Singular. It looks. Oh, no, wait. It's the night.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

The night.

[A]

Doesn't it?

[B]

Well, it does say the night. Yes, that's what I was trying to say.

[A]

AI overview is the night.

[B]

Is it the AI overview? That's what I'm trying to figure out because I wrote in the mascot. That would be weird if it's just. That would be awesome, though. I love and I feel like, and correct me if I'm wrong, some like WNBA teams and other, like, sort of new teams to leagues, whether it's NHL or wnba. I feel like this. There's this trend of sort of like ideas naming a team about it. Like the Freeze. Is there a team called the Freeze or do I just want the new hockey team to be called the Freeze here in Seattle? I think some.

[A]

They've gone with Kraken.

[B]

No, there's a new women's hockey.

[A]

Oh, nice.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

What are they debating between names?

[B]

I believe. I don't know if they've come up with one now. Women's hockey team anyway. But I. Do you know what I'm talking about? I feel like there's a Minnesota.

[A]

Like the Minnesota Wild.

[B]

The Wild. What is the Wild? You can't contain it. I actually really like that.

[A]

Well, this Isn't. I believe it's the Knights. I think that's just the AI overview is like what is the mascot?

[B]

Yeah. Right.

[A]

So the stand like the person in an outfit. Also I was like, why does Bremerton High and football ring a bell? It's because that was the school where the guy, the coach wanted to pray after the games and he got fired.

[B]

The Supreme Court and won. Right. And then he like so gross.

[A]

Coach one more game and then retired to become a full time, full time conservative speech giver.

[B]

Yeah. And then like what did he do as soon as he won the Supreme Court case? And then he goes back, he does one game and they all pray at the, at the 50 yard line. Right. It was a football coach, right?

[A]

Yeah. I don't even know if he came back for a game. I don't know if he might have retired.

[B]

Did he come back? I thought he did. And made a big deal about like gathering for a non prayer prayer right at the, at the 50 yard line. And then Mike dropped his way right out of that. And on to Fox News.

[A]

Yeah, I'll see you at the next CPAC conference guy. AJ Nolan is in Norfolk, Virginia. One of my favorite places to say. Because it sounds like I'm swearing because.

[B]

You get away with it. Thanks, A.J.

[A]

Yes, you do, A.J. thank you for supporting the show. And then thanks to Katie Isaac who's in Seattle, Washington. Another one of my very favorite places to say yes. Because I love Seattle.

[B]

Oh, Katie, can I, can I tell you a little story about Seattle, Washington? Luke? Genevieve. So do you know that the World cup is coming here? Is it in 2026, I believe here in Seattle.

[A]

I don't think I knew that. Now is it, it's, it's part of the World cup is coming to the United States. Right. And so it's hosting one of the regional things or the, the actual thing. Like the thing.

[B]

It was my understanding that the big game is going to be held here, Luke. But I'll be honest with you, I don't know too much about it. I know there's a lot of buzz about the World Cup 2026 coming to Seattle. Trump was actually making headlines.

[A]

I think they're staging group, they're hosting group stage matches.

[B]

I know that over the weekend Trump was saying we got to, he was like lobbying FIFA to make sure the world that they change it so that they don't come to Seattle.

[A]

Because Seattle's a half of the famously non corrupt organization.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Looking at you. Sep bladder.

[B]

Yes, exactly. Exactly.

[A]

Anyway, a guy wants to run your organization. His name is Sepp Blatter. And you think that's gonna go well?

[B]

Yeah, I know, like, literally it's like Trump and FIFA hand in hand. But all of that is. Say it's. I haven't been giving it a lot of thought, but obviously there's going to be a lot of buzz. I mean, when the All Star game came to Seattle, that was a huge deal. This is like a hundred times that. Right? Because it's such a global event. Genevieve, yesterday, sometime after I'm done recording TBT with you, I'm sitting in my office doing some work and she just kind of comes over and says, hey, I have an idea. And I said, yeah. And she says, you know how the World cup is coming to Seattle next year? And I'm like, yeah. And she says, what if I rented us a place to stay outside of Seattle for about two weeks and. And we could rent out our house. And Luke, I've never said no to something so quickly. I don't even think the idea was fully out of her mouth. And I didn't mean to be rude about it.

[A]

It's like when I walk by one of those, like, kind of assisted toilet things. Like, it's a toilet seat with a kind of a walker and you can use it to use the toilet if you're having trouble in the mobility department. And I see one of those and has a free tag on it. And I think I've never hard node something faster.

[B]

Right, exactly. And I wasn't trying to be rude about it, but I was just like. I think I said no, I like my house. Like the thing about. The thing that I like more than anything in the world is living here in my house and having all of my doodads and my darts and my games. But like, the thing is like, if.

[A]

We were to sweet, sweet Mammon.

[B]

I mean, well, that's kind of the thing. Not to get into finances, but like, we're not trying to dig out from under debt or anything like that. Like, we don't need it. We also don't have a showpiece on the Columbia River. But like, I like being. I just said, no, I like living here. And then I thought about it and Genevieve was just like kind of like fine and just kind of like walked away and that was fine. I mean, she must have known it was going to be a. If not a non starter, a pretty tough sell. But like, also, what is the thing. What is the one thing that I like more than being home is generally, I thought you Were.

[A]

I thought you meant of the things we eat.

[B]

Generally vibing off of other people doing activities, but not actually doing the activities myself.

[A]

Oh, right.

[B]

Like, that's why I like for Seattle.

[A]

To be overrun with World cup fans.

[B]

It didn't even occur to me until I was thinking about it later. I was like, what a crazy idea to try to get me. Try to separate me from my house. But then also, why don't you come.

[A]

Stay here, and then Genevieve and I will avoid your house, and then she can rent it out. I'll stay with Kamaro. Kev.

[B]

No. But the whole thing is, I want to be in the city when something is buzzing. Can you imagine me being like, I'm gonna go live out in the suburbs, away from the city I love, during a historic, historic moment in the city that I love? Of course I want to be here. I don't have to go to the games. I don't know how soccer is played. You can't use your hands. I know that.

[A]

Unless you're a goalie or Diego Maradona in the Hand of God play.

[B]

I was going to say that, but it seemed like an obvious reference.

[A]

Classic Kentucky Wildcat Diego Maradona.

[B]

If I just ride the E line up and down Aurora and just sort of vibe on the World cup vibes, then that is how I will enjoy my city. The idea of me leaving Seattle for a big Seattle event is. Is banonkers.

[A]

You know, That's a really good point. I remember being a kid and also feeling the same way. Like, if something big was gonna be happening in Seattle, I was excited about it because of the energy. Seattle hosted the Goodwill Games. This is like Ted Turner's version of the Olympics that he tried to start. And I went on for a while. I gotta give him credit. I mean, it happened. It may still be happening. But I remember, like, Seattle was not gonna get the Olympics, but we did get the Goodwill Games. And I was so psyched about. I was like, maybe 91 or something was like, the Goodwill Games are coming to Seattle. It's just going to be Russian power lifters as far as the eyes can see, things like that. So I'm with you. Like, I like, generally speaking, when something exciting is happening in a place where I'm at, you know, on a semi. I don't want to say regular basis, but, like, also, I don't think you want the World cup to be happening every weekend in Seattle, but for a couple of weeks, it's fun.

[B]

Yeah, I definitely. I mean, maybe. I mean, I don't Know, I just like. I like sort of that energy. So I just. Genevieve started saying, you know how? And I was just like, is this going where I think it's going? Do you think you're going to get me to leave my house? Well, just full stop.

[A]

Have you met me?

[B]

Have you met me? Thanks, donors.

[A]

That's also going to be, I think, the name of your forthcoming autobiography. I should say biography.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Have you met me?

[B]

The Andrew Walsh Story Ghost Written by youy. Though it's gonna be your next great book.

[A]

My third great novel.

[B]

Hello, and welcome to Top Story.

[A]

All right. Because we're still stalling on talking about the movie, which is have we stalled long enough or should we get to your.

[B]

Your call?

[A]

All.

[B]

I wasn't trying to talk anybody. I wasn't trying to talk us out of having the conversation. I just didn't want to mislead the listener, trusting us that we could do it spoiler free, because I don't think we can. So whenever you want to talk about it, we've put up a spoiler and do it to it, my dude. Although I am sort of legit interested in knowing what your. What your beef is.

[A]

Oh, my.

[B]

The help thing.

[A]

Okay. I don't think this has to take a super long time. Last week, I was talking about this. I have a. What's called a mini split, which is a heating cooling machine. That's that my dad and I installed. And by that, I mean my dad installed on the side of my house. And it's supposed to kind of control the temperature in the upstairs of my house up where there's a couple of little guest rooms. And it's the second one of these that my dad has installed. The first one that he installed works great. This one, not so great. And so I had to call a my dad. So I had to call this company to come out and take a look at it. I called a few companies and they said, look, we don't come work on one of these unless we installed it. This is something I'm learning about the whole world of these mini splits. One thing is I looked at the warranty information online, and the second you install it, it voids the warranty, which is a pretty wild thing to have. Have it void the warranty really is.

[B]

I. You know, I totally forgot when you said that you were filling out a Yelp. I forgot that we dedicated what, all of Thursday show or something to the world's biggest grumpus who came out and basically was just a kind of a jerk to you. And Told you all the reasons they couldn't fix it and then like kind of second guessed you on everything.

[A]

The basic thing, there was two guys. One of them was totally nice and one of them was really kind of sort of a ball buster. I don't think, I don't think he understood in his mind how he was coming off. I don't think he was. He thought he was being rude. I think he thought he was being. No nonsense. But the issue was from the moment he showed up, he acted annoyed that I had hired him to come out and try to fix something for me. The original sin seemed to be that I didn't hire them to install it. Which, okay, fine, you know, if you're mad about that, you could also just have the policy that you don't work on these unless you've installed them. That was the case with some other companies I called. But now that you're out here.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You have a million questions about my process of installing it. I don't know. I didn't install it. I hired my dad to install it. And I, to be honest with you, feel pretty confident in his abilities to do these things.

[B]

Like.

[A]

And sure enough, they got up on the ladder, they took some parts of the thing apart. The install was fine. There was nothing wrong with the installation of this thing. It's something with the, I don't know, some part of the machinery of it that is basically my hunch right now is that they just sold me a lemon. Like this thing is just kind of non working for some. It basically worked for one day I turned it on, it seemed like it was working. And then a couple weeks later, when it was time to actually use it, I turned it on and it wasn't doing any good. It doesn't seem to have quite enough pressure in the line. But the thing is, and you'll remember this, Andrew, they couldn't even test where the leak was because they hadn't brought something or someone called the sniffer.

[B]

They didn't bring the sniffer.

[A]

They call me the sniffer. I've been sniffing low and high. High. Boy, that's a tough note to get to. And so also they charged me $270.

[B]

Or whatever it was to come out and abuse you.

[A]

Yeah, Just kind of treat me with suspicion. And again, I want to be clear, it was one of the guys, not the other guy, to come out and treat me with a bunch of suspicion about how I did this wrong. And I'm like, okay, so even if I did it wrong, that's why you're here to fix it or to tell me what's wrong with it. Like, why do we keep going around and around on this? So anyway, I got family coming over this weekend. I got my, my sister and my niece stopping by on Friday. They're on their way home from the Benson Boone concert. The world's number one backflip artist slash singer.

[B]

Oh, okay.

[A]

Yeah, this is all new. And, and then on Saturday, DFTB and his lovely wife and the lovely daughter are going to be staying over, which I'm really looking forward to. But I kind of got in this mode this morning. I was like, I would like to know what's going on with this heating cooling situation upstairs. I'm gonna start having people over, and it's getting colder, and I would like it to be comfortable upstairs in the hallway if you're leaving one of the guest rooms and going to the bathroom. So I call. But here's my thought. I'm calling up this, this heating cooling place because like last week, when I asked the grumpy guy, when he said, well, we need to bring the sniffer out to figure out really where the.

[B]

Leak is, get the sniffer.

[A]

By the way, he wrote that into the receipt. If you think I'm just playing fast and loose with the terminology, he wrote the word sniffer.

[B]

I never doubted you. You.

[A]

And so I, I, I said, well, when can you come back with the sniffer? And he goes, I don't know. That's up to dispatch.

[B]

It depends on the sniffer's mood.

[A]

Yeah, so it's. It depends on if a cold front is moving in. That's how you know a cold front's moving. And the sniffer gets a pain in his knee, starts acting up. So, so I call the place this morning, by the way. I don't care. I'll put them on blast. They're called Feltons H Vac, I believe, of Longview, Washington. I call Feltons up this morning, and I have sort of two thoughts, and I have two goals for this phone call. One is to schedule them to come back out with said sniffer to try to locate where the issue is. And two is to not pay more money for them to come back out with the sniffer because I feel like this should have been handled the first time because they, they've. Now, mind you, they haven't fixed anything on this, but they have also not even told me definitively what's wrong with.

[B]

The thing, and they didn't bring the tools that they need. I mean, it sounds or what I know. What I know about sniffers is you bring them with you.

[A]

It would seem that that's a. If there's a tool that locates where the leak is and you're up on a ladder with part of the housing of this kind of, like, special line that runs up to the upstairs out and exposed, wouldn't that be that you've got the. You've got the whole side off of this machine. Wouldn't you be finding the leak then? Wouldn't that be when you do it? So I talk to the dispatch and I say, hey, I'm just wondering, first of all, I need to schedule to have these guys come back out or somebody to come back out with a sniffer. I go, but also I'm wondering, like, I paid $270 and we still don't know what's wrong. Am I going to have to pay again for them to come out? And she said, not rudely, but she goes, well, if they have to come back out, there is going to be a charge. But she goes, let me talk to. Let me talk to Brian. I'm going to pull your ticket and let me talk to Brian and see. And I'm assuming that Brian is maybe the owner. By the way, neither of the guys who came out are named Brian.

[B]

I was going to ask. Okay, so you don't. You don't think that Brian.

[A]

I don't think I've interacted with the owner yet.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

So anyway, I said, yeah, that'd be amazing. Thank you so much. So she goes, let me schedule. I'm going to schedule the guys to come back out on Friday morning. I'm also going to talk to Brian and we'll see what we can do about, you know, what it's going to cost you. I said, okay. So that's. I don't know, maybe 7:30 this morning or something. And then sure enough, later on, I'm actually on the phone with my parents. Still no update from my mom, by the way, about Downton Abbey. I was actually calling my dad on the subject of this mini split because I found as I was rummaging around upstairs, I found what I thought might be a part for it that had never been fully installed. And I thought, maybe this is our issue. Turns out it probably wasn't the issue. But I was on the phone with them, and then I get this call on the other line, and I recognize it. It's Felton's. So I go, hey, I got to jump off. Yeah, I jump over and Andrew, if I don't get the exact. Not the exact same guy. Not this. Not the same guy who was the grumpus, but a totally different, but exactly the same grumpus named Al. Now, Al is not one of the two guys that came out, and he's not Brian the owner, but he is cut from exactly the same cloth as the first grumpus who came out. He says to me, hey. So I mean, he like, starts off saying, well, did you bleed the line? Did you. What you're supposed to do when you install is you're supposed to bleed the line. I said, well, I go, we don't have the tools for that. You're supposed to vacuum it out and make sure there's no air in there. I go, okay, well, we don't have the tools for that. He goes, well, yeah, well, that's what you're supposed to do. And I was like, okay, so again, you're blaming me for doing the install wrong. Let's just go with your theory that I did the install wrong. Can you guys come fix it, please?

[B]

Right?

[A]

Like, it's exactly the same thing the first guy was saying, which was. And here's. Honestly, part of what I think it is, is I don't think guys, these guys of a certain age like working on this shit because it's not the technology that they've been working on for the last 30. It's within the last five years. This has become a thing. And by the way, Grumpus, number one, one of the first things he said is, oh, we don't work on these Pioneer. We don't work on this brand. And I'm like, okay, well, maybe you should read up on it, dude.

[B]

Like, watch a YouTube video. It's your job.

[A]

It's one of.

[B]

I hired you. You should. Yeah. And also, it's just like, I just can't believe that you're getting this information once they are actually setting foot on your soil. Like, if. Yeah, it's totally reasonable for a company to say, we don't service this type of device or this brand of device.

[A]

Or you installed it yourself and we won't work on it. I was mad at those companies that said that.

[B]

But you need that information before you have already scheduled them to come out. Which is. And again, I also understand that any kind of house call. I've had this said to me, like last year when we had somebody coming in to look at the furnace, they said, there's, no matter what, there is going to be a fee for sending somebody out. I also think that that is reasonable. Like, we just can't run a business if we're just sending people out on flyers and saying, we can't fix that. And then, yeah, you're just losing an hour or two of, you know, labor or whatever. I understand that that's not how it works, but you gotta be upfront with that information.

[A]

Right? I am not mad that there was a fee associated with this service call. I'm a little annoyed that they were here for under an hour and it was $270 and they still didn't fix the issue. Yeah, which is why I thought it would be fair to have them come back out at the very least at a discounted rate. But when I get on the phone with Al, instead of Al saying, oh, hey, I'm looking at the report here, and I see that we didn't actually figure out the problem, so I'll send them out for 100 bucks or something or whatever. He doesn't do, like, hey, I'm sorry you're having a hard time with this. He comes in hot with the exact same energy of like, well, you didn't do this part right when you installed.

[B]

Well, that's.

[A]

He goes, well, did you? You know, you're supposed to vacuum out the lines. I go, well, by the way, first of all, that's absolutely not the case, because here's the thing. These things are sold as a piece of equipment that you can install yourself. And most people don't have the, like, weird pressure valve tester thing that the H VAC professionals carry around. That's not a normal thing someone has in their house. And I'll also point to the other.

[B]

Device that might sniffer. I mean, we all have sniffers, obviously.

[A]

Listen, what's in my basement, Andrew, is between me and my guy. That's right. You don't go down there. But. So, like, the point is, my dad installed the other one, and it's flawless. And again, when they got up on the ladder and analyzed this thing, one of the things they told me specifically was there was nothing wrong with the install. And I'm not just trying to be defensive of my dad. It's just the case that this guy is belt and suspenders. So Al is calling me without the full story. And Al is also, again, I think, highly suspicious of the entire existence of these mini splits. Because you know what it's not? It's not a giant ass furnace in someone's basement with a bunch of ductwork snaking up and around the underside of your house and through various vents. You know why that's what Al's been dealing with for the last 40 years at Felton Heating and Cooling.

[B]

He was so close to retirement before all this bullshit happened.

[A]

He's getting too old for this shit.

[B]

He is.

[A]

They pulled him in for one more job. So like, I'm rapidly becoming annoyed at the tone of this conversation because again, I'm right back where I was with the other dude. It's like I don't know the answer to these questions, but I also don't feel like I should be on trial here. I've also already paid you. I've already paid you a significant sum of money for nothing being improved. Now let me also throw this in the mix, Andrew. And this is you could either say poor storytelling on my part or non linear storytelling. I prefer to go with non linear storytelling. Okay, okay.

[B]

Cook PT do it.

[A]

Thanks. Let him cook. And by. Please call me tp as in Thomas Pinchon because that's my new hero. We have the same birthday. I don't know if I mentioned. Yeah, I did. By the way. Very reclusive. Very reclusive. Tp. I'm now obsessed with finding the very few pictures that exist of Thomas Pinchon. There was one that was taken when he was taking his kid to school in New York 20 years ago, which when I looked it up, the subtitle was in Spanish and it was just like privicio invasione.

[B]

And he's about seven and a half, eight feet tall, he's covered in hair and he's in this position right like mid stride.

[A]

Yep, exactly. It's blurry. He's flashing a peace sign. I feel like he's starting to be. He's conservative, coded for some reason. Okay, so I'm. Now here's the plot twist that nobody saw coming between 7:30am When I talked to the dispatch at Felton Heating and Cooling, I started to get a bit of a feeling, Andrew. I started to get a tingling, a spidey sense that I don't know if these are going to be the folks that are going to really be able to help me solve this situation. Because why would I expect the same two jabronis? And again, that's not really fair to the one guy. The one guy was nice. Why would I expect this same company that's already charged me $270 and it's unclear if they're going to actually cut me a break on this secondary service call? Why would I expect them to come back out and to like fix this to my satisfaction? I've already had one Very poor experience with them. And there are many, many other companies that do this kind of thing. Maybe I should find a different company. So I expand my little search. This is again now about 8:15 this morning. I expand my search of Mini Split Repair in my region and I see that there's another company. I mean there are multiple other companies, but I see another company. And this is where I want to be very careful, Andrew, because you know, we have listeners of all ages on this show and I don't want to, I don't want to overly describe this as an age related issue because that's just a hunch that I have. But what I saw on the Internet were other companies and I saw a company where the photo of the people that seemed to own the company and run the company were children. It was, they were, I would say seven to eight if they were a mint.

[B]

I'm telling you, I know you don't want to be ageist, Luke.

[A]

It's called the Rascals H Vac. It's like a kind of a finger painted font that they're using.

[B]

I mean, you got to give them credit for get up and go. I mean, absolutely.

[A]

But honestly, you hear a lot of shit talking about kids these days. The iPad generation, these little Rascals, no good for them.

[B]

But I also don't think it's ageist. Just to say that maybe a little bit more experience would go a long way in this industry.

[A]

I think that. So I call up one of these other companies and I'm immediately, Andrew, feeling better about the situation. The person who answers the phone is a young woman, much younger than me, I'm sure, very pleasant, very friendly. And I say, hey, I've got a mini split and it's not working right now. And she says, okay, I can have somebody out tomorrow. First of all, that's a quick turnaround time. And I said, okay, let me give you a little backstory. I had a different company out here and they couldn't seem to fix it, but they did identify what it wasn't. It wasn't the flare, which is this particular part where the hose, the, the copper piping meets. I go, it wasn't the flare, it wasn't this, that. And I kind of read her this list. I'm holding the report from the first company. And she says, she says, okay, I'll put all that in the notes. And she goes, well, she goes, how about between four and six? I go, you know what, I'm actually going to be running some errands until about Five. She goes, no problem. I'll make it five to six. Just like, this is amazing. This is great. And I go, now I'm just wondering, is there a charge for this? She goes, well, she goes, yeah, because this is a diagnostic. It's like $120. She goes, if it was an estimate for installation, that's free, but diagnostic is not free. I totally get it. That's fair. Absolutely. Thank you very much. And then she gets my number and everything, and I hang up. And then in my text message, I get a notification that we have an appointment scheduled for tomorrow from Cova Heating and Cooling at. At the appointed time. And like Andrew, I know that I'm. I know that I'm sort of like hanging a lot on my theory that this is generational, but I just have a hunch that it's gonna go better tomorrow at 5pm Based on my very brief kind of conversation with the dispatch person and also just with the whole. I'm going off of a photo here, but the. The photo of the folks makes me think, these are folks that have worked with a lot of these mini splits. They're going to come out. They're going to. Also, they will have a bit of a head start because I do have the $270 report of what it's not. So that's a good thing. Now this is all happening, Andrew, before Al has called me back. And I'm already thinking, once I make the appointment with the other guys, I'm thinking I should probably go ahead and cancel with the initial company. But I also want to hear what they have to say. Maybe they'll call me back and say, hey, we're going to come out for free and we're going to make this right. We're sorry. Oh, by the way, another thing that they did that I didn't even mention because this sounds petty. There's this big plastic kind of hood that goes over the. The apparatus in the hallway. It kind of clicks on over it. And the guy, grumpus number one was trying to put it back on for reasons that are unclear to me. It seemed that he understood this thing less than I did, honestly. And he's like, oh, the drywall. Because I just had new drywall installed around it. And he goes, oh, it's drywall. There's too much of this drywall. So he just starts cutting it with a knife without asking.

[B]

The plastic or the drywall?

[A]

No, no, no, the drywall. He starts scoring out and cutting out the drywall so he can fit this hood Back over. Back onto where it's supposed to go.

[B]

Now, hold on one second. Has this hood been on since the drywall was installed?

[A]

It has not.

[B]

Okay, okay.

[A]

But regardless, here's what happened. So he didn't even really clear this with me. When he comes downstairs at some point he goes, yeah, I had to. He goes, a drywall. There's too much of that drywall. I had to cut around it. I had to cut it out. And I said, okay, well, so you put the hood on. He goes, no, I couldn't get it on because you're gonna need to cut more of the drywall. So I was like, okay, interesting. So last night I go up there. I know the story is jumping around, but this is classic Thomas Pinchon.

[B]

Yeah, it's all over the place.

[A]

I go upstairs last night because I'm still thinking maybe I can kind of like fix this or whatever. I personally, as a non trained H vac person, as a person whose job it is to podcast, and I'm barely competent at that. What do I do? Last night, Andrew? I fit the entire hood back on over the thing. I reinstall the temperature gauge so that it is visible. I basically put the entire thing back together. What this. What Grumpus number one could not do.

[B]

Did you have to gouge any more drywall? No.

[A]

In fact, the drywall had been gouged too much.

[B]

Yeah, I had a feeling it was going to be gouged too much, Luke. And like, I took gouging somebody. Yeah, you can't go gouging guy at.

[A]

Bleachers and you fight the guy from Feltons.

[B]

Okay, I'm winding up my Popeye arm right now.

[A]

This would be a good guy to use it on.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But try to get him and Al in the same punch. So I put this whole hood back on last night, and what I realized is it fits back on the drywall guys knew what they were doing. They had. Because they had the hood there, it was like it was, you know, on the ground. They. And they're very precise, actually, when I put the fit of the hood back on and clicked it all in and was turning the device on and off. Now, granted, it's still not doing what it's supposed to do with the heating and cooling, but it's all reinstalled and the plastic.

[B]

Does the plastic cover up the gouging?

[A]

No. I'm gonna have to re. Patch.

[B]

No shit.

[A]

Yeah, I'll send you a picture. I didn't even. I barely. I didn't even. Haven't even brought this up with Al on this call, right? So I'm talking to Al, and Al is giving me the business, basically. And he's, he's, he's exasperated from the moment that he's talking to me, if that makes any sense. Like, again. And I think what it must be is that the dispatch person must have said to him, I've got a customer. We went out and looked at the thing. We didn't fix it. We got to go back out, but he wants us to come back out for free. And this guy Al, who I assume is the owner, or maybe he's just a higher up manager, was already on the defensive because he feels like, again, I think he's just mad that the industry is changing, but he feels like it's ludicrous of me to suggest to them that they would come back out for a discounted price because of whatever. So Al's talking to me. He's being very judgy and dismissive. And at some point I just go. And I go, hey, Al, I gotta run, but I just need to let you know three things. Al, I'm gonna stop you right there. I just go. First of all, when your guys showed up to work on this, one of them was extremely rude. Second of all, I've paid $270 for this, and there is absolutely no. Oh, he. One of the things he's saying, he's like, because we're have to come out and we're have to replace all the tubes or whatever. And I said, that would have been great to know the other day when the guy was here. They didn't bring the actual tool that they need to figure out if that's the case. And so I said, let me, Let me just tell you three things. One, guy was very rude when he showed up. Number two, he doesn't actually. He wasn't able to actually diagnose what the issue is. So I'm out $270 without a clear plan, and I go, and number three, he was cutting up the drywall on my wall in a way. And as I'm saying the word drywall, Click. Al hangs up on me.

[B]

You're kidding me. He didn't hear. Number three, he didn't.

[A]

All he might have heard, maybe he.

[B]

Was just kind of like, I only didn't put two at a time. I'll call back later for number three.

[A]

Hey, can I get back to you on numero trace? Oh, he didn't even hung up on me. Al of Felton Heating and Cooling of Longview, Washington, Hung up on me as I was in point number three about the drywall. And when I tell you, Andrew, that I was. I was feeling a lot of frustration and I didn't really have anywhere to put it, I. I decided to go to the court of last resort, which is Yelp. Now, I need you to do me a favor because I still don't actually know if this post is up. I. I can't quite get. I can't get. I've gotten an update from Yelp that says that my review has been posted, but I've got another one that says I need to wait to verify my email. Okay, but listen, I will say this. I stand by the review that I wrote and I actually kind of was careful about initially, I was going to write something to the effect of do not under any circumstances call this business. I was going to do it in all caps so that it would. So that it would kind of immediately jump out to people. But then I thought, no, no, no, no, no burbs, all caps. No, that's a crazy person.

[B]

You do not. Do not fall for that.

[A]

Yes, you're gonna be. My number one job here is to be concise and to seem reasonable, my friend.

[B]

You have to seem reasonable. Do not be the all capper.

[A]

I cannot be the all capper here. I need to all capertan. I cannot be all cap or tan here. I need to like, come off as. As. As. I mean, I'm not even going to say that I came off as reasonable and I don't have the review right in front of me. And I'm actually not sure if it's been posted yet, but.

[B]

Well, can I tell you this? There are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 reviews. It looks like. It looks like there were 10 total reviews for this company spanning back to 2019.

[A]

Mine should be the top review, the most recently left review.

[B]

And this unfortunately not sorted by. Well, you can sort by a rating. But anyway, they're all. They're all five star reviews. They're all five.

[A]

Mine is a one star review with.

[B]

The exception of one that was posted earlier today by. Oh, good. B. And it's a one star review. And see it, it says please. Worst service ever.

[A]

Okay, I kind of regret that now that I'm hearing it. A little comic book.

[B]

Well, the only reason I say it that way is each. It's not all caps, but each word is capitalized.

[A]

That's a little unhinged.

[B]

No, it's okay. We're service. But these guys just.

[A]

Can you Please, I just want to say, in my defense, you're imaginable.

[B]

Because I'm doing it in that voice.

[A]

No, I'm uncomfortable because I'm realizing that I could have done a better job with this. I was in a very emotional moment when I wrote this.

[B]

Okay. Mm. Says, worst service ever.

[A]

Ever. Hold on. Let me get my ponytail into a rubber band.

[B]

I woke up this morning, and I shaved my entire body. Wait, why are you starting with this? Luke? That is such a strange. Well, body is in all caps. No. Okay. Worst service ever. These guys came out, charged me $270, couldn't diagnose the issue with my mini split. Then when the owner called me back, he blamed me for not bleeding the lines properly. This is why I hired them to fix. He then hung up on me. Avoid this company at all cost, Luke Burbank. And then you sign your name. Now, that's an interesting move. I will say signing your name, your move.

[A]

Felton, minor regional celebrity of the.

[B]

But then you signed your name, which does sort of have signing a text message energy. But I say that as a man who likes to sign my text messages, so don't be insulted by that.

[A]

I would be happy for Felton's heating and cooling to Google me. Not that I'm some big wheel down at the cracker factory, but just, like, I totally stand. I mean, I wish if I had that to do over again, I would have written it a little bit. Still even less kind of obviously triggered and angry because I just come off as a little bit much. But, like, I stand by what I wrote in there, and I really hope that people see that before they hire this company now.

[B]

So I'm looking at your profile here. The only other review you've written is for a place called Lovers. It looks like Near Sea Tac also.

[A]

By the way, five stars. They know almost nothing about H Vac.

[B]

They did sell you something called a mini split, but it seems to be a totally different contraption altogether.

[A]

This is a real question. Do I. Are there any other reviews from me? Because I thought about this. I. The only time I can think I would ever write a Yelp review would be if I was mad. And so now I'm concerned. Like, I do think it's also a poor ref. Like, I would be less likely to believe someone's opinion about a company if every Yelp review that they had written. Remember we went down that rabbit hole with the woman who had written a terrible review of the Hudson News bookstore in a random airport? And then we found that she was very upset about a different place. I want to say it was a nail salon or a hair salon. That's right.

[B]

That's right. Yeah.

[A]

So I'm literally. I have no idea if I've ever written any other Yelp reviews. Are you able to look at my profile?

[B]

Yeah. So, yeah. So you don't have any other reviews, but you didn't just create. I like this about this. You didn't just create the Yelp account for this review. It does say, and I don't know who's digging into this that much anyway, but it does say that you've been a Yelper. No, I'm sorry. You've been Yelping. And that's seriously the language I use. You've been Yelping.

[A]

Did he Yelp or did he Yip?

[B]

I'm a verified yelp complainer since July 2024. So I am somewhat curious to know what led you to sign up for Yelp about a year and a quarter ago, but not actually review anything.

[A]

So I have a feeling I wanted a phone number of a business and somehow Yelp was depriving me of it. I'm sure it was a means to an end. Probably not related to reviewing something, but more related to getting of information. But I'm also kind of pleasantly surprised that this got through, because Yelp itself is a very, very fraught and complicated situation. I mean, it has a certain air of a protection racket, right? Like, huh, be a real shame if there were some bad reviews of your restaurant on a website that everybody looks at. But you can pay us a little bit to make sure that bad review doesn't get to the top of the list. You know, like, Yelp creates this ecosystem and then allows people to post things and then charges the businesses to deprioritize those bad reviews. Like, I kind of have complicated feelings about that, even though it's literally what I was doing this morning. But that being said, like, I fully.

[B]

Expected, I'm not sure that Yelp has that service. I just want to clear their name a little bit, because I know that you've said this, you've been saying this for a really long time, but I don't know if things have changed or not, but I don't think that Yelp anymore, at least in this day and age, has a service that you can pay Yelp to clean up your review. It says, I'm looking on their website, and it looks like with a court order, you can have things examined.

[A]

Well, I'm getting one.

[B]

You're getting a quarter. Now, again, I'm researching this just like on the fly here, and I do think that there might be other third parties or whatever, but I just want to. Before we write a Yelp review for Yelp here, that is negative, we should just make sure that we're actually right about that.

[A]

Well, let me. I think in the olden days, I think in the original days, there was some. And they probably got kind of criticized over it. And so I don't. I think you're right. I don't think it's the case any longer that you can, if you're a business, sort of pay extra to either delete or deprioritize them. That I do think that maybe in the early days that was part of it. But all that is to say, and this is also, I guess, kind of sort of, this is verifying what you're saying or supporting your premise, which is that review just went right on up and now it's the top. I think, you know, it's the most recent review given of that company. And I'm kind of pleasantly surprised by that because I was wondering if. If there was a way in. In much the way that I think we've talked about this with, like, maybe Airbnb at one point, which is like. And I guess Airbnb and Yelp are pretty different in what they're in. In what their utility is. And so maybe that's part of this too. Like. Like, I guess the utility of Yelp is both good and bad when it comes to good reviews and bad reviews of companies. Like, whereas Airbnb kind of only wants good reviews because Airbnb wants you to think that every single potential Airbnb is amazing.

[B]

Yeah. And they can brag. And the same with the ride share services too. Right? That always bugged me a little bit, is kind of like, no, no, we only want five star reviews. So they can say our drivers have five star reviews.

[A]

Right. Because Airbnb wants you to rent more Airbnbs. So they want every Airbnb to be considered amazing, and then they want every Airbnb customer to be considered amazing so that the Airbnb rentor wants to get the rentee in there. It's this kind of grade inflation. So they, I think, are pretty nervous about letting really bad reviews go up and live because they don't want that to seem. They don't want Airbnb, Airbnb to feel like an ecosystem where there's a lot of, like, lame stuff going on. They want it to all feel really good and positive where I guess that's not the stated goal of Yelp. Like, I guess Yelp doesn't care. Theoretically, if a place is lousy and I say that it's lousy, I mean, it doesn't really hurt Yelp. I guess that's considered useful information. But I'm actually quite chuffed that that's. Now, if you go to that place, if you go to the Yelp page for that heating and cooling system, that that's what you see is my a little bit, A little bit extra review that I left. Although again, I feel like the facts of that review are accurate.

[B]

Now, here's. And I don't think you're probably going to do this, but we've talked about this on the show before. I'm looking at my own Yelp now because I'm sniffing my own Yelps. And I have talked about the fact that usually if you're leaving a review on Yelp, number one, it's gotta be you're angry about something. And then number two, you're really happy about something. And then number three, you're somebody who actively uses Yelp.

[A]

It's almost your social media page or something.

[B]

Yeah, exactly. And people really enjoy writing reviews and they will try new restaurants. And as part of, you know, I actually really see that it's not for me, but I see the appeal in that. Like, hey, me and my partner, we like to go try new places and then write thoughtful reviews on Yelp or whatever, you know, there's no disrespect there. That sounds interesting, but as somebody who is often pushed to Yelp myself, not in a habitual way, but just when I'm really feeling peaked, either in a good way or a bad way, I try to make sure it balances out. I don't want my Yelp to just be all negatives. And I'm looking here, it looks like by far I have, I've only written. It looks like maybe it's a little bit hard to see, but I've reviewed, you know, a handful of things. Let's say maybe less than 20, I'm gonna say, but I have more five star reviews than one star reviews. Certainly a couple of fours and some threes. And so it's probably smart also if you want people to take you seriously. And I don't know how much you care about this, but, you know, making sure that you're a little bit balanced here, not just maybe.

[A]

I could write a review of tbtl.

[B]

Like give us a five star write A review of tbtl.

[A]

Are we on Yelp? Do people review podcasts?

[B]

I don't think so. Like I told you before, the show is Yelp on Yelp. Like, can you write a review of how. Like, ease of use of Yelp. How is the ui? How is the experience of Yelping? You know, can we write a Yelp review for Yelp UX now? Because I'm cool. Oh, user experience. Instead of what I say.

[A]

User hold the E. That's the dumbest thing. But that's like.

[B]

And I see UI too.

[A]

What is user interface.

[B]

Interface. Because it was UI back in the day, right?

[A]

Of course it was. And it probably still should be. I think UX is the weirdest thing because it's. It's like user experience. But.

[B]

But the Drop the E. Yeah, yeah, like the. I was watching a commercial for a razor blade yesterday and they dropped the E and they just start it with X. That has a real kind of like late 90s, early 2000s feel to me. Like everything started with X back then anyway.

[A]

By the way, bring their. I brought their rating from five stars down to four and a half because.

[B]

They probably don't have that many review. Oh no, they don't. We counted them up. There's about 10. Right?

[A]

Yeah, 10.

[B]

Right.

[A]

So I just, just. I'm not going to do this because this is sketchy, but man, I could, I could. You know, it wouldn't take me long to get this thing on down into the single digits. I won't. I've done my part. I've contributed to the discourse. Oh, did I tell you here, I'm.

[B]

Going to interact with this to see if I can boost it up more. There's reactions that other users. I can list it as helpful.

[A]

Oh, you're going to upvote mine.

[B]

I can. I can react with helpful. Thank you. Love this. Or oh, no, never cared about your old friend Luki B. I'm going with rnr. I'm going with oh no R. NAR and now you should get a little notice that says somebody found your review helpful.

[A]

Now, Andrew, this is what I think is the most amazing part of this whole story is the vertical integration. The. I believe our friend Chris Hayes may have called it the self licking ice cream cone of Internet life in 2025. Guess what I got right as we were starting the show? An email from Yelp. Still need an H Vac Technician Luke.

[B]

Oh, okay. This is how they can emoji of.

[A]

Guy holding his chin looking up quiz.

[B]

That's smart.

[A]

Think about this. Yeah.

[B]

That's really smart.

[A]

They're getting you coming and going. They're like, oh, you're mad at Felton Heating and Air Conditioning, by the way. I want to be clear. If you. If anybody goes to their website, that's all stock photos. None of the nice, kindly, informed people you see looking at mini splits on their website are any of the people I've dealt with. It's a sham. It's a. It's a stock photo sham. But anyway, it's hilarious to me that Yelp, of course, of course, they're like, problem or a blessing. Oh, this guy is rip shit about his recent experience with an H Vac situation. Well, guess who. Guess who's in the market for a new H Vac company? That guy. Let's send him an email.

[B]

That doesn't bother. Does it bother you?

[A]

No, I just think it's free.

[B]

So it's like you got.

[A]

I'm not even mad about it. It's almost a tip of the cap situation. It's just kind of like a. Oh, yeah, of course, of course. Of course you thought of something good here, which is, if someone's really mad about something on Yelp, it probably means they need a new place to do that thing that they're really mad about the other place doing badly.

[B]

Which means if you're a company, you can advertise with Yelp for this exact thing. Which makes me wonder if somebody writes a bad review, sloppy seconds of comedy, bang, bang. Could we buy some ads and say, we heard Scott Aukerman let you down? How about Luke and Andrew?

[A]

We heard that you didn't enjoy that 74th improv character that Paul F. Tompkins was doing.

[B]

That's right. The guy from Philly.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Who runs the convenience store. Whatever his name is.

[A]

That's right. It's like Philly Dill or Philly Gil.

[B]

That'll be hard to look up because, like you said, he does thousands of characters.

[A]

It's like. It's a weird. It's like the second name of it, the second part, it's Philly Something. That's like three letters. And I always get confused because I. I confuse it with the Philly Special, which is the play that the Eagles ran at the end of the first half where they. It was a. It was a. Basically a. A court. A throw to the quarterback, Nick Foles in the end zone. I think that was called Philly Philly or the Philly Special.

[B]

I didn't remember that, but I'm looking it up. Could it be Philly Collins? I Don't think. No, no, that's.

[A]

That's more the singer, really.

[B]

Yeah. Anyway, it's just too. It's. The resume is too deep for me to find it on the fly here.

[A]

All right, we're about 81 minutes into the show, and I think it's safe for us to say hooray for Hollywood. Take a moment to talk about one battle after another. I did go into this movie with pretty high expectations, based on the reviews and based on the fact that you liked it, Andrew. But also, I was remembering in the back of my mind that sometimes Paul F. Paul F. Tompkins, Paul Thomas Anderson. I'm mixing up my three initialed auteurs, but I was, like, trying to remind myself that sometimes Paul Thomas Anderson does use unconventional storytelling, much like my story about the H Vac situation. Nonlinear narrative. So I was trying to. And also the fact that you like that kind of stuff, I think. I think you are much more open to a movie that's maybe a little more experimental or is a little bit less linear than I am. And so I was really trying to remember that, like, this movie might not be linear enough for me. There might be, you know, a variety of things about it that don't totally work for me. So I was kind of lowering my own expectations as I was going into it, which was good because it then greatly, greatly exceeded them at the beginning. I will say this. The other thing that helped was there was a scene at the beginning of the film that was a little bit. I mean, what it was was establishing something that would be an ongoing plot of the film, but it was the scene where the sort of lead female character is. She's sort of. You know, they're liberating, like, a migrant detention facility. They're liberating the folks that have been detained. And she goes in. It's Tiana Taylor, I think. Right. Is the actor.

[B]

That's the actor she plays. Perfidia.

[A]

Yeah, perfidia. There you go. She goes in and as they're sort of doing this liberation, she finds, you know, the guy that's in charge of this place, played by Sean Penn. She sort of. Of finds him sleeping. And they have this very kind of like, sexualized interaction.

[B]

Very. Relatively graphic. I was gonna say very graphic. I'll say relatively graphic in a way you do not see a lot in films.

[A]

Yes. And I gotta be honest with you, I was a little turned off by the scene. I just thought, like, this is not what people do in these situations. Like, in this. I'm going somewhere with this I think anyway, which is this was ultimately very good for me in my enjoyment of the film because what I would say for me, the like maybe one moment of the entire film that I just wasn't quite 100% there for happened in the first four minutes.

[B]

And I'm with you by the way on that. I'm kind of like this. And again, things don't have to be hyper realistic for me. But there was something about that scene that didn't seem right to me. And I don't mean that in a moralistic way, obviously. You know what I mean? It wasn't a pearl clutching way, although that could be a reaction. But I was just kind of like. It didn't seem to fit. Like this didn't seem to scan with my idea of what was going on or how this would, how this would unfold in that way.

[A]

Right. Like you guys are there to try to get these folks that have been detained safely to somewhere else. Why are you wasting time with this kind of sexual humiliation of the Sean Penn character, which of course is a big turn on to him, it turns out, et cetera, etc.

[B]

It just.

[A]

And then I was like, well, is that what this movie's gonna be? That isn't what the movie was. And by the way, it was great because like for me the movie like took off like a rocket ship from there. Like, I just thought the, the cinematography, the writing, the acting, everything about this movie had me completely and totally locked in from pretty much that point on.

[B]

There were a couple of just and such. So weird that you and I maybe have the inst. To maybe I'll just put this on me to maybe point out the negatives. But I guess the one other thing that sort of just struck a somewhat weird tone to me and I think it was just supposed to be funny and I should let it go. But you know, there's a. There's a group of white supremacists. A very secret, very powerful cabal of white supremacists. We're just doing, I mean we're being a little bit careful here, but this is. We've given spoilers like we're just. You if you don't want to know what's happening in this movie, you know, save this conversation for another time. I want to feel free to speak here if we're just doing a spoiler conversation. But there's this secret cabal, this white supremacist group that plays a large role later on in the movie and it's kind of funny. It has a somewhat goofy name related to Christmas. And then later on, there's sort of a. I think it's supposed to be a laugh line, but they do their little chant or something like that. You only see it once, and it's a quick little, like, not quite a chant, but almost like sort of a bowing of the heads, and they. And they sort of say a few words or whatever, and I can't remember exactly what it was. Was. And I know it was supposed to be funny, but it was a little bit. For a movie that has so much grit to it, it was a little bit corny to me.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Do you remember what I'm talking about?

[A]

Yes. I think by that time, I know exactly what you're talking about. Well, my thought on that was, there's no way someone could dig a tunnel that large underneath someone's house.

[B]

Oh, oh, oh. When. When he's on the run, you mean? Yes.

[A]

Well, no, no. When the guy shows up for the. For the Christmas adventurers, the one guy walks in, he goes into a house. He's talking to this nice older woman whose house it is about. She's going to make her famous banana pancakes for him. And then he goes down into the basement, and then he opens another door, and now he's in an underground system of tunnels that rivals anything at the Pentagon.

[B]

Okay. Yes, but this is. And, okay, you're just saying that's another thing that sort of took you out. It's not related to the little thing that they said. I always.

[A]

It's not related to the thing they said. I'm just saying it was like there was. But. But. But the thing for me was, by that point in the movie, I was so in the bag for the movie.

[B]

That I was just like.

[A]

Like, I was. I kind of like, if that. If the. If the. I know what you're talking about. I can't remember the specific little. Kind of like, you know. You know, may Kris Kringle bless us.

[B]

All right. It was something like that. Yeah.

[A]

Like, may Santa. May Santa realize we were good boys. Like, whatever it is they say, I'm with you. If that would have been in, like, minute two of the movie, I would have been like, oh, come on. But by minute, whatever. That was 96. I was just like, whatever this movie's doing, I'm here for it. You know what I mean? Like, that was where I had sort of ended up as the viewer. But, yeah, I'm with you. There were a number of moments like that that maybe were not sort of perfection, but I would just say, like, I said this when we started talking at the beginning, and then we sort of hit pause. I really didn't know that Paul Thomas Anderson knew how to make this film. This film felt to me like the best Quentin Tarantino film I've ever seen in my life.

[B]

Interesting.

[A]

Like, it was like a Quentin Tarantino film, except with an actual emotional center and a coherent worldview, you know, like, which I just. I just thought it was. It was so incredible. There are, I mean, so many sort of scenes that come to mind, but, you know, one of them that I just thought was phenomenal and this was played for comedy. But it's like when Leo DiCaprio's character is basically getting revolutionary customer service and he is on the phone with customer service, and he's having the frustration that we've all had about things with much lower stakes. Like, I was dying during that seat. I thought that was. And it also was sort of a. I thought a meta statement about the sort of, you know, the idea of resistance and the idea of pushing back and the idea of, like, the ways that the left can turn on itself and that parts of the left can be maybe not. What's the word I'm looking for? Committed enough to the cause, and other ones can be so committed that they might be losing certain sight of what the cause is.

[B]

Like. I just thought this commitment could look different to different people. I know that's another way to perspective. I mean, you'd be surprised that I, the rule follower, would. Would. Would try to defend that. Like. But also systems are in place because it is an incredibly dangerous, important situation to make sure that the security passwords are enacted. You know what I mean?

[A]

It's literally landed on password management, but.

[B]

I mean, literally, life or death, you know, I mean, they're. They're sort of like. Like, they're sort of portraying it like the main character can't get the information he needs because he can't remember the secret code words. But also, if we're not. If we're not. And again, this is such an Andrew argument. But if we're not implementing the code words, then why even have the code word system then? I mean, and especially for something that is literally not trying to get into the MLB app, but life or death for many other people.

[A]

Fine, then, Andrew. I'm going to call in a Greyhawk now.

[B]

Hey, can I. Speaking of this tedium. Because there's one person who's, like, being a real stickler, like, won't give up the information without the passwords. And again, I'm just talking now like anybody who doesn't, you know, want this world has, has bowed out because I'm going to start giving stuff away. Not huge things, but for me, I was talking before about how the little joke about whatever their little like kind of prayer was regarding the white supremacy group. It was like, oh, okay, that is a little bit corny. Doesn't seem to fit the tone of the movie. My favorite joke of the movie is pretty subtle, but like the guy who won't give out any information without the proper password, the guy who's being like a real like stickler for it. He's also throwing out certain language that you never. You don't see him for the longest time. He's only a voice at the end of the phone. And he's throwing out this sort of like safe space kind of talk. Exactly like you're making. You're invading my safe space when you talk to me that way. This very sort of like kind of boundary, very modern. And you're picturing a young person, right. I don't know if you're picturing Gen Z or whatever. I can't remember the generations anymore. But like whatever's between Z and Millennials or what. You're just picturing a young annoying person who's new in the workforce. Right. And then we get a quick reveal later of who, who he is and he's a guy like my age or older. And there was something about that. I think I might have laughed out loud for a split second when we actually saw the reveal of who the stickler was and that he wasn't some like new like mamby pamby touchy feely kid, but actually a guy my age. That actually made me laugh out loud. I thought it was hilarious.

[A]

Is. Yeah, I thought that whole scene was just phenomenal. I thought every single thing that involved Benio del Toro was just like magic.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Like I want an entire, I want a spin off movie that's just that.

[B]

Character, like, I mean, so calm, just.

[A]

Such a presence, you know, and like the way, you know, the way that this film, I think and granted, you know, it's obviously it's, it's a work of fiction and it is, it's entertainment to a degree. I mean, I don't want. It's not a documentary and there's a, it's, it's very much trying to entertain people by creating heightened versions of people and movements, etc. But I also just, I think it did this. Uncanny. I kept thinking, did they shoot this film a week ago. Like, I couldn't figure out how they got it, how they nailed it so much. And maybe it's just because unfortunately everything is sort of slouching towards worse in our society in terms of like ice and law enforcement and, and, and, and detaining people and stuff. But I mean, the movie felt like they shot it over the weekend or something. And maybe it's also relevance is concerned. It's relevance. Like, like it just was. So. And this idea that you had, the sanctuary city. Oh, by the way, was it called Bacchus Cross?

[B]

I don't recall. But as close to that. Is that a connection to something that you noticed?

[A]

Well, it's Backton Cross, I think, is what they called this town where Benicio del Toro is. Well, it's actually where Leo DiCapri daughter living at. Where Benicio del Toro was like a karate teacher slash kind of running this network of taking care of folks who are undocumented. It's kind of this, you know, resistance city. I was like, bacton Cross is not a real place, but goddamn if that doesn't look like where I lived as a little kid. And yes, they filmed it in Arcata, California.

[B]

Oh, really? No kidding.

[A]

I was like, this looks like Humboldt county to me. Sure enough it was. Yeah. So that there isn't really a place called Backton Cross, but there is a place called Arcata, California, which is where that's all set.

[B]

And that's also where. And again, just, you know, just say putting it all out there. That's also where the sort of community of nuns is. Right. And so that would fit in with.

[A]

That looks a little more deserty to me. Like, I think they're kind of playing fast and loose with geography there.

[B]

Okay. Because I was sort of tying it to this idea of kind of a culty area, sort of like kind of a place where you have communal living and that kind of thing.

[A]

I definitely could have been. Although I get this is. So I'm sorry, this is on me for taking it to the Arcada, California thing. Nobody cares the real life setting for this. But my sense of when they get out to the. To the. To the nunnery is that seemed a lot more arid. So probably maybe somewhere in kind of more the Central California or something. But. But yeah, like, I don't know. I just also. Sean Penn's performance, I'm kind of like. Like I said earlier in the show, like, I don't exactly always know how to feel about Sean Penn. I think he's a little bit of a divisive Figure. He's certainly a person who is not lacking for confidence. And I think some of the stuff he's done is great. Some of the stuff I'm talking about just in life, he can be a little much, but, like, man, I've never seen him act like I thought he was acting in this film as the kind of chief bad guy. Like, his physicality.

[B]

I was about to say his physical performance is amazing.

[A]

His walk, he should win an Oscar for how he walked.

[B]

Absol. So I could not agree more. That's the first thing I thought of when you said that is just like, just the way. And the way that walk changes a little bit depending on the circumstances. The way he holds his arms, the way he gets close to people.

[A]

I mean, he looks like Ross Perot in a tube. And it was totally and completely effective. The scene where he's combing his hair in the elevator, where he licks his comb and combs his ridiculous jarhead forelock.

[B]

Yes, this kind of. But it's also like, it's a comb over, too. It's like he's somewhat Trumpian in that. It's like he's got a little bit of hair and he's trying to do the.

[A]

In no way improves the look of it by combing it, but he kind of does it like there's just a million. And again, I give him credit for that as the actor. I give Paul Thomas Anderson credit for that. As the director. I give Paul F. Tompkins some credit just for being a force of good in the world. What were some other standout moments for you or what are the things that you want to say about this movie?

[B]

Well, here's what I wanted to say regarding. And you were sort of, like, kind of leading up to this about, like, how it feels. Not even prescient, but just so of the moment. And when I. This is going to be a strange comparison here because it's a very, very different kind of movie. But I wanted to see the new Superman movie because I knew James Gunn directed it. And I'm not a huge super, you know, like a superhero movie guy. I've seen a whole bunch of them on the Marvel side of things. But, you know, I'm. No, no John Sklaroff. I don't know the ins and outs. And I can't, like, kind of trace both in the universe and then also in the kind of creative director universe or whatever who did what. But I do know that I like James Gunn's work in some other, like, kind of comic book stuff. I also know to be somewhat reluctant to see Superman movies because there. It's just not. It's nobody's favorite story these days. It's so, you know, Americana, and it's. We've seen the origin so many times. Knew that James Gunn was going to skip the origin, but it was just like, I don't know, Superman. Is it ever really going to pay off? So I saw the Superman movie, and I'm glad I did. There's some good moments in there. But the thing that I kept telling people, and this was a very vague thing to say, but it felt like it didn't meet the moment. Now, you could have made a Superman movie that had nothing to do with what's going on in the world right now, and that could have just stood alone. But the Superman movie clearly was inspired by what's going on in the world and sort of addressed things in various ways. The way the Lex Luthor character isn't like an older guy. He's like a young, not techie guy, but more like kind of in that world of, like, the kind of pernicious, young, evil people that we're literally seeing in power right now. Right. And portraying Lex Luthor in that way was, like, very much of the moment and a very smart thing to do. But what I was kind of making.

[A]

Him a Peter Thiel type.

[B]

Exactly. Something like that. Like, but, you know, more violent. But. But anyway, so there are. The Superman movie brings elements of the world in. In a way to try to make you think and consider and whatever, and I'm glad it does. But what I was saying was it doesn't meet the moment somehow. And I didn't know how to define that. It just didn't meet the moment. It was sort of of the moment, but at the end of the day, it was still a Superman movie. And it left me feeling like, kind of like, oh, okay. I mean, it still ends kind of on a smile. You know, it deals with some serious stuff, but then it just sort of ends on, like. And everything's gonna just. I don't know. I'm not saying that the point of the movie was everything is gonna be okay, but it did not feel like a satisfying movie, a satisfying ending for a movie that brought. That made me think about the terribleness of the world right now. And I will just say that one battle after another meets the moment. It doesn't just depict the moment. It doesn't just react to the moment. However you define it, and I'm not doing a good job of defining it, this goddamn movie meets the moment we are living in right now.

[A]

Absolutely. I felt like there were periods. It's a long film, so you're on a real journey as the View viewer, Like. Well, first of all, there's also a kind of a father daughter plot, which was, you know, obviously, as somebody who has a daughter and, you know, and who was living secretly under assumed names with that daughter for many years while hiding out from the federal government, a lot of it resonated with me. No, but the father daughter plot, like, really kind of was, you know, felt powerful to me, but just there were. Again, I know I sound sort of crazy. There were just moments while watching this movie, Andrew, where I felt like I was getting emotional because of how good the movie was. In other words, it wasn't even a moment that was, like, designed to pull on heartstrings. It was just moments where I, like, wanted to cry because I thought this movie is so fucking good. And they were just random moves. Like when Benitzio del Toro was just, like, walking through whatever that, you know, it's not the dojo, but it's like this other place that I think has like a vape shop or something on the ground floor. And then upstairs is where he's got all these different folks that are being protected from, essentially, ice, and there's all these trap doors and different things, and he's just walking around. Also, by the way, constant Modelo presence, just like always with the Modelo, which I thought was hilarious. When he breaks Leo out of jail, he's like. I mean, like, what a weird touch they get Leo out of. Basically, he's about to go to jail and there's network of people that are working for Benzio del Toro. Get him out. Out. He gets into the car and the first thing he does, just hands him, like, a four pack of Modelo.

[B]

I think it was a six pack with a couple of missing. Because he was.

[A]

Maybe that's what it was.

[B]

Okay. Yeah.

[A]

But, like, I just was like, what a weird. What a. What an interesting little moment. Or touch. But. But there were just. There were points in this film where I honestly wanted to start crying because of how good the film is and because of how much I was enjoying it. Like, I don't think I've had an experience like this. I also don't see a lot of movies in the theater anymore because my power doesn't go out a lot lot. But, like, I. I don't think I've had this strong of a reaction to a movie in a long time. I don't know if I can remember a time where I felt this engaged with a film to the point where I was just having this emotional. I didn't. When the movie was over, I waited until the credits were done. The guys were sweeping up the popcorn, and, like, I was just in. I couldn't leave the theater.

[B]

Like, where's the shawarma scene?

[A]

Really? Like, I was just sitting there, like, I don't want this movie to be over. I don't want to stop living in the universe of this movie. I just didn't want to. Like, you know, I just was so impacted by it. And again, because it also felt and felt. I want to be careful with how I say this, because obviously, I do not advocate any sort of violence. I really don't. And I think something. This is something, I think Michelle Goldberg points out in her Times review for people that would say that this is a movie that glorifies a violent resistance to the government. I think it's more nuanced than that because, like, what it shows is that there are people that get into those movements that have bullshit motives and that use it as an excuse, and then there are those that are just, like, burnouts, like Leo DiCaprio, who just smoke their life away, which also. What an interesting. I mean, this seriously. What an interesting place to take the Leo character. Like, I just think that was a fascinating kind of. In the writing of it by Paul Thomas Anderson, a fascinating thing to do to the Leo DiCaprio characters. Make him just kind of a sort of a joke.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I mean, it was like.

[B]

Did you think Lebowski at all? Because he's running around in a robe, smoking cigarette.

[A]

100%. It's like you turn Jeff Lebowski loose in a Quentin Tarantino film, and he's. And it's like, I kept being like, get those fucking wraparound sunglasses off. You can't. It's nice. You can't. It's already dark.

[B]

Right.

[A]

It's darker now. You're on a roof.

[B]

And it's not helping you blend in, by the way.

[A]

No, get those off. You're on a roof with skateboarders.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

But, no. I mean, I was, as is evidenced, evident to anyone who's still listening. I was just absolutely floored by this film. Oh.

[B]

And.

[A]

And I don't think. I don't think of it as a call to arms about. I don't think. I don't. I don't consider the movie to be endorsing political violence, but I do think it's a movie that absolutely depicts the horrors that are the way that we are treating people in this country right now from a law enforcement standpoint, particularly from the standpoint of ice. And I think it's a. I think it's an incredibly important movie right now. And I don't think anybody on the right will see it because it's probably already been declared, you know, a subversive piece of propaganda, I'm sure. Because I'll tell you what, if I was Stephen Miller, this movie would have me crapping my pants if I actually sat down and watched it. Because I would be like, what have I wrought? You know, I don't think that's the way his brain works. I'm sure he would watch it and think of all the ways that it does not accurately describe, or he would just figure out a way to have Paul Thomas Anderson put in jail. But I just think it's an incredibly powerful piece of filmmaking. Again, not so much from the standpoint of like, people should be going out and choosing violence because I don't think that's the message of the movie. But to basically point out that we are all existing right now on a razor's edge of our liberties and what the federal government could do to us is already doing to a number of us and could do to the rest of us very, very quickly.

[B]

And the way the people in, especially in regards to like the ICE organization and also I do want to. Well, the way that they talk about and just think of, you know, anybody who's here, I mean, the way they discuss the words that they use to talk about people who are here, you know, undocumented or whatever is really disgusting. I have a. I have to share something with you. It's an email from a listener that was sent in a couple of weeks ago before we'd even seen this movie that you're going to find especially interesting right now. But one other question about the movie. Was it a big reveal to you? Because it was a big reveal to me that when, when Sean Penn and his, you know, small cadre of military characters go into that town and start, you know, like they go into the high school and they start busting up like the taco stands or whatever. That is not the US government. Those are. That's his band of mercenaries. They mentioned that really quickly in another scene. I'm like, oh, that wasn't even sanctioned. Where'd they get that helicopter?

[A]

Uh huh. Right. And that's a real thing that has that, that, that the current president has been floating and working towards. Was Essentially assembling a kind of a military force that does not like, you know, sort of follow the normal chain of command. Yeah, and, and, and yeah, you're right, that's, you know, and also by a.

[B]

Guy with a very personal agenda. And they just go in and wreak havoc in this town.

[A]

And the terminology that they use is so, or the, I should say the, the, the pretext that they use to go into this town, this whatever it's called Bacton Cross, AKA Arcata. When they go into Bacton Cross, they just say in this meeting, this is again Sean Penn's kind of paramilitary force. They just go, we're going to go to this chicken processing plant and we're going to bust them for being a heroin operation, a front for a heroin operation. And they're just doing exactly what the current government is doing, federal government is doing with ICE and sending in the military into US cities which is just declare that there's an issue, declare that there is a hostile foreign enemy that is a country that they think is sending fentanyl to the US and therefore we're essentially at war. Therefore all of the normal rules, rules do not apply. Like it's a complete pretext and they basically nailed it in this movie using the exact pretext that the current government is actually using to go into places.

[B]

Yeah, I mean it's, you know, and just knowing that there are people who completely believe that who are just like oh yeah, the dangerous immigrants. The dangerous immigrants. You know, the. What's going on in the world right now is especially scary to me because I know that the message is landing unexamined in a lot of people who otherwise are just living like nice middle class lives and they're just like oh yeah, no, we have to work, protect the country. Because they're just believing all of the lies that are coming from the administration and then being spit out by Fox News.

[A]

And again, I wish, I know it's, this is a cinema, this is a fictional work, but I wish somebody who thinks that we need to deport people because they're, you know, we're just, we've allowed in too many criminals and rapists, et cetera, could see the scenes where they're busting into this chicken processing plant and you just see the people, people who are just in a hairnet working at a conveyor belt because it turns out those are a lot of the people who are being swept up right now. Of course, like there aren't enough bad ombres, by the way, they use bad ombre a lot in this movie as a total burn.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

They, like, take back bad ombre, basically.

[B]

I do love it. I'm gonna. I'm gonna transition here for a second once again with the email every. Every week. I hope that it's from a female. Oh, man. It's not from a female. We got an email the other day, Luke.

[A]

I consider that a. That's a. That's a military takeover.

[B]

No, we're not wrapping up the conversation. I'm not trying to push us out. I'm just. I need to share something with you. And since it's an email, I wanted to format it correctly. We got this email from Tamara a couple of weeks ago. Actually, it looks like it was almost exactly a month ago ago. Knowing that I was interested in seeing the new Paul Thomas Anderson movie, but I'd only seen the trailer a couple of times. Tamra writes, I heard you mentioning being excited about the new PTA movie a couple of times. I have to share my excitement that my son has a small part. And, Luke, this is not that small of a part. When the daughter's friend comes to pick her up and Leonardo DiCaprio puts him in a headlock. That's her son.

[A]

He's been.

[B]

He's been hearing TBTL in the background for just about his entire lifetime. Be sure to keep an eye out for a TBTL5 in the movie. Signed, Proud Mom Tamara. I am so excited. We are. That kid's one degree away from P.T. anderson.

[A]

That kid's great in the.

[B]

Very good. Your dad's aggro.

[A]

Yeah. I mean, all of. And then there's, you know, those kids are hauled into this kind of interrogation. So, I mean, the.

[B]

There's.

[A]

That's. Those are not small parts. Those. And those are the kids with the cell phone number.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, like, those kids are integral to the. To the plot of the movie very much.

[B]

I mean, he does a great job. And it's not just one scene. He comes back for, you know, a couple of scenes. He's in the high school. Dude.

[A]

That's amazing.

[B]

That is amazing. That kid has heard tbtl, Luke.

[A]

I mean, I am like, so it's Almost like Leo DiCaprio is a listener now.

[B]

I mean, that's what I'm saying. We're kind of. I wouldn't say best friends. We're kind of friends also.

[A]

I think this is where like, the dad energy for me comes in. I sort of. I don't know how much this was part of the plot, but this actually kind of relates to the scene with Tamara's kid in it, like, you know, like, you know me. I. I have a couple different shirts that say old guys rule. You know, that's kind of like my go to. That's my, you know. You don't have a T shirt that.

[B]

Says world's number two dad.

[A]

I do. World's okayest dad, World's number one dad. On my weekends, when I have visitation, when I have court supervised visitation. But, like, I thought it was such an interesting thing, such an interesting thing for Leo DiCaprio's daughter to, I think, assume, and you would guess, rightfully that he is just a paranoid crank. And I was kind of. I was kind of low key stoked for the part where she got to realize, oh, my dad. Dad is not just a paranoid crank. This is all a real thing. Because think about her perspective. Her only conscious memory is like, living in Northern California with a pot addled dad who's just kind of a burnout at this point, but is constantly making her take around this, like, radio transmitter thing and teaching her these code words and talking about the good old days. And as a kid, as a teenager, you would just assume, your dad's full of shit.

[B]

Yeah, right.

[A]

And I was, like, kind of psyched when, like, she's in the bathroom at the date and then that other French 75 person comes in. I'm like, she's gonna learn that her dad doesn't suck as much as she thought.

[B]

You're still waiting. You're still waiting for that moment. Of course.

[A]

Yeah, we'll get there by 40. I'll probably. By the time Addie is 40, I'll probably finally get my redemption arc.

[B]

But in the texture of the movie, everything you said is right on. But also, I find it super interesting. And important, though, that she might think her dad is just a paranoid crank, but she has learned, memorized, and internalized all of the lessons and plans that he has instilled in her. In case of emergency like this happening, who doesn't remember the plans, who doesn't remember the passwords, who does remember the coach? You know, she might have thought that he was full of shit, but she took it seriously enough to learn it and remember it when the time came and he. He didn't.

[A]

How about that scene when they disappear the billy goat, the guy who's got the little ham radio set up, and there's just like, some kids across the street, they disappear this dude, and then those kids just go in there and freaking, dude, that was so sick.

[B]

And they put it on the loop.

[A]

And then you see the little microphone.

[B]

Do you love the little piece of paper you see that they were reading off of these small little touches.

[A]

Operation Snap, crackle, pop.

[B]

So good.

[A]

That's what I mean. Mean, like. Sorry.

[B]

No, no, go ahead, go ahead. I was just gonna go back to an old.

[A]

Aside from. That's what I kept. That's what kept happening to me with this movie was like, again, I've spent probably too much time on the like the political statement of the movie and the where is America in 2025 part. But like, it was just a freaking badass movie. Like there was just like that where it was like the kids go in and they like. They activate the epirb, you know, and then you could see that, like Billy Goat knew this is probably going to happen to him. So he had left these instructions. And it was like. It was almost like a heist film or something. It was like a. It was, you know, putting all of the politics out of it. It was just a cool fucking movie. All those driving shots.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

And the way that the. I mean, I don't even know how to describe exactly what he's doing with those rolling hills because it's. It's not. It's not just a POV from a camera that's mounted on the front of a car. It's almost a little surreal.

[B]

I think it's really low on the front of a car, by the way. I was thinking about that. I think that's how you take take. Because nobody is actually creating roads that are that hilly in that area. I mean, some hills, but like a roller coaster. And I think he dropped that camera. So it's almost all the way down at road level, so, you know, several feet lower than it would look if you were behind the wheel.

[A]

It's like almost dreamlike.

[B]

Yeah. Now that's one of the things. I did not see it in imax. I'm assuming you did not either.

[A]

I saw it in this. I'm not kidding. It was like prx. I think it was kind of like the, like the not as good version of imax.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

Because I was in a theater that had like an X on the side of the wall. I think it's kind of like they're trying to like be like. It's almost IMAX or something.

[B]

So this was an IMAX release. But I don't know enough about this. I'm sure our listeners know more about it than I do. Like, you have things like the huge IMAX center at the Seattle center and that's where Genevieve and our friends went to see it because they really wanted the full IMAX experience. But then you have IMAX theater that are smaller, like the ones at Thornton Place. Is that the second time Thornton. Thornton has come up today on the show?

[A]

Thornton, Colorado?

[B]

Yeah, that's right. Home of the Trojans, the Wildcats, but they have smaller IMAX theaters. And I almost made the effort, but I'm like, I just don't think I need that. And I really just was in love with this idea. I had this on my calendar. I literally, when I realized I was gonna be able to join my friends to see this, I looked at like on Saturday, I looked at Showtime for Monday and I put it on my calendar to see the 4:15 showing in my neighborhood. And I just sort of liked that. I'm like, okay, so I won't see it on imax. I don't think that matters to me too much. I love the idea of just walking over to my theater, which is like less than 10 minutes away from me. It's like a five minute walk or something. Just walk over there and then maybe I like to see a movie and then go to the Vibe next door and maybe just sort of like read a review and sort of. Especially after a movie like that. Unfortunately, that didn't really work out for me. The vibes were weird. At the Vibe, I went in there and it was like too many people who had been sitting there all day drinking. It was just weird. Nothing, nothing aggro, just. It was one of those things.

[A]

You didn't want to have another bleacher situation on your hands.

[B]

It wasn't even that. And then Genevieve was like, well, I'll come meet you. But there was literally no place at the bar for her to sit. And that's one of those bars where it's like, well, if I'm going to sit at a table, I have nicer tables at home. Like, I don't have a bar to sit at at home, but I'm not going to sit at a table.

[A]

Daddy, can we get tables? We have tables at home.

[B]

We have tables at home. So anyway, it was one of those things where it just sort of didn't work out, but it was. I just had this vision in my head of going to see this long movie and then going to maybe have a beer and process it or whatever. And that's what I went with. All of that is to say I don't. I don't feel bad that I didn't see it on imax. I'M sure that the driving scenes would have been pretty incredible. Genevieve says it was almost like she had a physical feeling of almost car sickness or whatever, which I don't really know if I need that necessarily. I enjoyed seeing it just on the screen. And I am. I don't think I'm going to do this because it's such a time commitment, but I'm kind of jonesing for more last night. I've never done this before. You know, I will, like, download. I have ways, you know, of bit torrenting movies. I download movies. I don't think too much about it. I've never tried to bit torrent a movie that hasn't been released for home audiences yet. I was looking around yesterday to see if anybody had bootlegged the movie yet so I could just sort of casually rewatch it at home. I'm thinking about maybe going back to the theater, but again, three hours is kind of a big chunk of time.

[A]

I actually told Becca. I was like. Like, I was literally, like, texting anyone I could think of last night to be like, you must see this movie. This movie is absolutely phenomenal. And I. I said to her, like, I will absolutely go to this movie. She's in Minnesota still, but I will absolutely go to this movie. Excuse me, that was not supposed to be on the radio. I said I would absolutely go to this movie again. And that's something coming for me. It's a three hour film, but I really want to see it again. The reason I was activating this movie, this music amp.

[B]

I think I know this music. This is heartbreak. Feels good, right?

[A]

I want to answer your question about if you can torrent a movie that's currently in theaters. And I know that the answer is yes, because Susie B. Has logged back into the discord.

[B]

Oh, this is Downton. Is this Downton?

[A]

I asked her, did you see Downton Abbey, or was that just your hunch that it's bad? She said your dad downloaded it. So we watched it on tv and.

[B]

Then she sent you the file, or you just found this?

[A]

No, I just. No. What I mean is if they could. If my dad can illegally torrent Downton Abbey, which we know is in theaters because you almost saw it the other day.

[B]

No, no.

[A]

I have a feeling you can get your hands on one battle after another.

[B]

Truthfully, Luke, I don't think so, because I found Downton Abbey last night, but they did not have one. I mean, there might be other corners. I do think that certain movies are, like, locked down. And I think that they majorly locked down, this movie. I also think Downton Abby's been out a little bit longer.

[A]

I was going to say, do you feel like. It's like. The difference is they've got some kind of, like, you know, young tech savvy, revolutionary handling the, like, keeping the one battle after another from getting out. Meanwhile, they've got the Dowager Countess in charge for doubting. Yeah, what is it? What is a bit torrent?

[B]

Yes. Right.

[A]

What is this? What is this Pirate Bay you speak of?

[B]

But anyway, people still using the Pirate Bay. There is pirate. There are mirrors for Pirate Bay. I have some other places I like to go, but we don't have to get into all that. But anyway, I did not find it. Oh, also, I. Then I was like, well, I'll just put on Inherent Vice again and watch the beginning of that movie for the thousandth time. But they've apparently moved. I think I used to watch that on HBO Max, and it's gone now and it's only on Amazon prime, which I no longer have, so I gotta.

[A]

Well, what's funny is. And we're. We're just blowing through nap time here, so who cares? Maybe some people will get a charge out of seeing that the. That today's show is almost as long as the movie. One battle after.

[B]

Jeez, we are.

[A]

How about one podcast after another? Is that.

[B]

Well, yesterday was one Abby after another. Oh, so we should probably avoid that.

[A]

All right. I should really look at what the show titles are before I shoot off my mouth, but. Oh, shoot, I've lost my train of thought. And it was gonna be something, I think extremely important about that film, which I'm now forgetting, which now means the show's grinding to a halt.

[B]

We got it. We're still a couple of minutes shy of two hours. I feel like we need to.

[A]

We gotta get to two hours. But, like, I feel like it was not about torrenting things. You said you weren't gonna get into that. Well, I don't know. Maybe I'll remember for tomorrow. I know all you. The way you can help is just keep talking, and then my brain will. As soon as I stop trying to think about it, it'll shoot back into my brain.

[B]

What I'll say here is I opened up my email to find that email from listener Tamara, and I'm seeing another email here that maybe this could. I mean, so few people are going to hear this so deep past the spoiler section of the show, but apparently Libsyn, the service that we use to host our podcast, is having some sort of issues and they seem to be aware of it. But apparently, and I'm checking this out right now, it says that the massive archive of episodes this is an email from listener Laura. The massive archive of episodes that I've been slowly making my way through has vanished off of Spotify. So if people are looking for tbt, I on Spotify, I don't know why the archives would have vanished, but I think that they know there's an issue and hopefully they're working on it.

[A]

So that isn't like a thing where we've been pulled down because I played too many Downton Abbey theme songs, I.

[B]

Wouldn'T guess, because I think I would have gotten an email about that. But I do see that recent okay, so recent episodes are on Spotify. I guess it only is going back to May, though, which is kind of weird because, you know, it should be showing, you know, at least 10 years worth of shows, if not more than that. So anyway, we will keep an eye on that situation and Sounds like nothing I said actually helped the situation here, though.

[A]

I don't know, it just whiffed out of my brain. If I remember tomorrow, I'll awkwardly insert it back into the conversation. Oh, you know, this isn't what I was forgetting, but it is an interesting plot point, although it really doesn't unfold until tomorrow afternoon. But it will be interesting on Friday to see see if my whole theory about H Vac repair and the generation, the generational difference between a company run by people in their 20s who I feel like have been raised on these mini splits, versus a company run by people who probably are only recently getting to it as a technology. It'll be interesting to see what happens with all of that. That's not a reveal for tomorrow because it's going to be tomorrow afternoon when they stop by. But. But on Friday I'll have a full report on that. How are you feeling about this weekend and the Mariner scheduling, by the way?

[B]

Oh, I'm feeling great about the scheduling, by the way. One quick and I don't think anybody cares about this, I don't even think you care about this. But the notice at the top of Libs and right now is totally in line with what Laura just said. So while it's a pain in the butt, at least it's not a mystery. That's where I always get into a lot of trouble with these companies. Like they'll, like Spotify will blame Libs and will blame YouTube or whatever. But it says here right at the top of it Our provider while we work to resolve the issue. Shows are going to be limited to their most recent 100 episodes. We'll provide updates on the issue. So the archive should be restored eventually. It's not apparently a mystery, at least for us. They are working on it. As far as the scheduling of the games, I'm very psyched. The one that we definitely know for sure is the second game in the series and it will be Sunday night after Pop Up. It will be perfect for me because I had decided, even if it was a day game, I wasn't going to take the time away. Taken too much time away from the volunteering gig. So I'm so excited that Sunday is laid out for me. I'll get home from Pop up and that's my puttering time. I'll be putting everything away and listening and then watching the game. And then. We still don't know the Saturday's timing, but I have Saturday free. It's either going to be 1 o' clock or 5 o', clock, right? Depending on whether or not the Yankees or the Red Sox win. I don't know why that affects us, but it doesn't matter. But I'm pretty psyched.

[A]

To me it doesn't.

[B]

It does matter to you why I'm now.

[A]

I'm now rooting hard. I never thought I'd say this. I'm now rooting hard for the Yankees. Yankees. Because if the Yankees win the series, that means they move on to play the Blue Jays. And that means the game will be played. The Mariners game will be played at 5:58pm or like 6:00pm on Saturday, which will allow me time to get home because I'm filming for CBS on Saturday.

[B]

Oh, okay.

[A]

I'm gonna be filming at something called Dozer Day.

[B]

So you don't want the day game.

[A]

I would love it if I could get home and DFTB could get down here and I could actually watch the game at like six. That would be like so perfect. And it starts at one. I'm gonna be working, working. I'll be filming still. I don't think I'm done filming till three or four, so I might miss a significant portion of the Saturday game. I would love it, love it, love it. If I can actually like come home, watch that game Saturday night. Hopefully there's a good outcome. And then, Andrew, I almost, I mean this, I'm sorry, this really should be a Friday conversation. But I'm just having it with you now. I'm almost like, I'm almost already worried about how much sports I'm going to want watch on Sunday and how crazy it's going to get for me because. Well, first of all, Becca's running the Portland Marathon. So at like 10 in the morning, I'll be down in Portland cheering her on as she finishes. And then I'll probably carry her to her car or carry her to my car, get her home, get her all kind of like squared away. Then it's Seahawk football against your favorite team, the Baker Mayfield led Tampa Bay Bucks.

[B]

And they're, they're, they can be a little bit of a problem.

[A]

Yes. And Baker Mayfield is like a good quarterback these days and like a formidable quarterback. So like there's like a meaningful Seahawk game, home game, by the way. And then that's how 1, 1 ish. It's at 1 ish. Rolling right on in to Mariners playoff baseball that night. Has there, I mean, has there been. I can't think of a. I can't think of a Seattle sports day that's held more promise for me than, than this coming Sunday. I'm already like, I'm already kind of on pins and needles about it.

[B]

Yeah. I gotta say, I did get to a point, I think it was last weekend where I was like too much sports, I think. Well, the Dodgers game, I wasn't following that closely, so I might be thinking about the weekend before that. But it was like kind of a combination of like a Thursday night football game, which I was able. I mean, it's all good. But I remember there was some day of the week, I don't know if it was Sunday, and I was actually starting to feel a little bit gross. Like I was kind of like, I've been ma lining this stuff. I got to go out and touch some grass, as they say. But I am very psyched that I guess I will be missing the Seahawks game. But I've been very lucky that I've been able to catch most of them, so I'll have to skip that. But I am very excited for the Mariners first two games. So let's see, they play two games here, then a day off, then they're going to travel to either Detroit or Cleveland for game three. Is that right?

[A]

I think that's how that works. I didn't realize that this round is three games at the home stadium of the team that had the better record. Yeah, that's what wild card.

[B]

That's why we played in, we Toronto. In Toronto that time because I forgot.

[A]

They all happen in the same park.

[B]

Yeah, they were the, the Wild card is a three game series and I kind of. It sticks in my brain, Luke, because of our incredible come from behind win to actually end up taking the wild card round. I was at T Mobile park watching it on the Jumbo to they had.

[A]

I was with Hannah Brooks, Olson and her.

[B]

Oh, that's right. And I think we talked after the game and I couldn't, I couldn't speak to you because my voice was so blown out from screaming.

[A]

And mine was so blown out from not drinking whiskey.

[B]

Right, of course.

[A]

Oh, wait, I mean drinking whiskey. I was beside myself over that game. That was wild. So here's what, here's, here's what I'm going to say. And I know A, we don't need to do sports talk and B, word, this is sports talkus prematurus. But much like the movie, One Battle After Another had hugely high reviews and yet it exceeded my expectations. I am going to hope I'm going to pray over the Seattle Mariners right now and I am going to say I'm going to prophesy it. The same thing's going to happen, even though the expectations are actually pretty high. I keep seeing the algorithms now. Andrew keep giving me articles about why the Mariners are well positioned to make it to the World Series Series and maybe win it. And I'm like, I don't need you to tell me that because that feels like a jinx to me.

[B]

Yeah, I know. I, I hate that talk.

[A]

Scares me.

[B]

It. I don't. And, but I'm not trying to be a negative Nelly here. No offense to Nellie's. You know, we never talk about that.

[A]

No. Do we have any Nellies out there.

[B]

Listening in the audience? I don't know. But I, I'm not trying to be a negative Nelly and I'm not trying to be overly negative. But I also just need to protect my feelings. Like the Astro. Somebody put in some comment somewhere. Like when Luke and Andrew were talking about losses, they totally forgot about the 18 inning zero.

[A]

Yeah. The 10 loss. That was somebody on Blueski.

[B]

I think I was like, how in the world would you think that I have forgotten about that? Like, that is a game that I will never forget. I reference it all the time. That was the day.

[A]

That was your 9 11.

[B]

That was the day we brought bingo home. And I always joke around like, no, that, that, trust me, that I do not forget that. And I do not forget, forget the, the loss to the Astros, I think earlier the game one and that's Jordan Alvarez home run. And that didn't. I Even just make a Robbie Ray joke earlier in the show. I can't recall. The show has gone on for four days. I think it was the show. So, anyway, trust me, I did not forget show title.

[A]

I didn't.

[B]

I most certainly did not forget about that. But anyway, I am. After. After that heartbreak, we got swept. Right. Last time in the. In the playoffs. I think the. We never won one.

[A]

We didn't even win one.

[B]

Oh, I mean, because we won the first round in Toronto, but I'm pretty sure that we just went out and.

[A]

Lost three to the Astros.

[B]

I think so. Because we never made it that series. Never came back home. Right.

[A]

Brutal.

[B]

Or something like that. I may be messing up because I know that the. The Mariners. That's 2021, 2022. And I know that the Mariners still have not one playoff game at home since 2001. So anyway, all that is.

[A]

Andrew, you're totally right. Houston won 10 on October 15th. Happy Bingo Day to all who celebrate.

[B]

And that was game three, I think. Right?

[A]

I think that was. Yes, you're right. Sorry. So the first game. The first game was the Jordan Alvarez. I think that was the Jordan Alvarez home run game.

[B]

Yes, I think so. I think game one was when we were leading the whole time, but then gave it up in the. In literally the ninth inning.

[A]

Right at game two was Astros winning.

[B]

Four to two, which I don't remember. That's when I will admit I don't remember the details of that.

[A]

And then game three was 10 in many, many, many, many, many innings.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And. Yeah, I don't.

[B]

Listen, you know what? No, that game was at home. That game was at home. That 18 inning game was at home right in the.

[A]

In the.

[B]

Because Felix threw out the first pitch. And I said, don't let that guy throw the first pitch. He's cursed. And I'm sorry. I know that he was very good to this town, but the man is cursed. And then we played an 18 inning shutout game that is absolute.

[A]

I'm looking at the stat line. 18 innings. 18 innings. Do they. Do they get rid of the. The ghost runner? They get rid of the ghost runner in the playoffs, right? Is that why it went 18?

[B]

Oh, you're right. They do. I wonder if they'll stick with that now that everybody's gotten so used to the new rules. I think they will stick with it this year.

[A]

Yeah, I like it better. I think they feel like. I mean. I mean, they're. They're sort of like, you know, they're spraying some. They're spraying some gasoline into the carburetor by putting the ghost runner in in the regular season. Because they're like, we don't want 18 inning games in the regular season. Meanwhile, in the playoffs, an 18 inning game is pretty compelling.

[B]

Yeah, exactly. So anyway, I am very excited. I was so psyched to see that the Sunday game will be like at a time where I can watch it.

[A]

I'm excited for it. And again, I am prophesying over this right now that I think the Mariner, like the movie One Battle after Another will exceed my expectations. Even though I've been hearing really good things, I think it's possible that they could, they could do some really good stuff and I'm excited about it.

[B]

Who do you want to see? This will be the last thing, but this is the conversation in Seattle for the past like four days and then we haven't had it. Do you would, do you want to see us play Detroit or Cleveland?

[A]

I don't know enough about the particular matchup. Like I don't know anything about our statistical strengths and weaknesses against certain kinds of pitching staffs and also certain kinds of lineups of hitters. So I would be, I would be talking out of my back. Who did we do better against this year?

[B]

Well, that's. That, that's for me the difference is like I think on paper and people who know baseball would say we want to face Cleveland because just on paper they're a better matchup for us. But. But the Cleveland sweeping us late in the season on that terrible road trip just lives too. Like I'm more of a vibes guy. And even though Detroit, if we face Detroit, we're going to face Tarik Scubal who just had a lights out game yesterday. But. And not that this would happen three times in a row, we actually had his number twice so far this season. And also I'm just a little bit. This is bananas because I have a lot of. Of friends who are Guardians fans and we have some friends who are Tigers fans as well. But I feel so bad for the Tigers.

[A]

Don't. Andrew.

[B]

I know.

[A]

I feel they won the World Series. Didn't they win the World Series in the last few years?

[B]

I don't know when they. I don't know about that. I have very bad memories.

[A]

Did D2Roight win it?

[B]

Maybe once the Mariners are out of it. I have such a bad memory of what actually happened. I don't even have a great memory when the Mariners are in it. But all that is to say, looking at what happened to Them at the end of the season, I sort of felt like Cleveland got a little bit cocky. Sort of as well.

[A]

They wanted in 1984. Okay. They won it recently enough, Andrew.

[B]

Right, exactly. So anyway, the fact that Detroit, we had such a season, and then it was just swiped at the last minute by Cleveland, and again, credit to Cleveland for doing that. But I sort of feel like, God, they feel like false kings to me. And it would sort of be nice if Cleveland, or, I'm sorry, if Detroit were able to dispatch them.

[A]

Well, yeah, but then by your theory, then it would be nice if they could dispatch the mayor.

[B]

Well, sure. At that point, I stopped rooting for them. Sorry, I'm literally choking on my own words here. No, I mean, but either way, I think they're both going to present challenges to us.

[A]

I agree 100%. I think I would rather get the Guardians because, like you said, they were a less strong team. I think we used up our bad luck against them. Again, this is all science. Okay. We used up our bad luck against them.

[B]

This is my kind of analysis.

[A]

Honestly, I feel like we used up our bad luck when we had had that abysmal road trip against them when they were like, just. The whole story on them were, man, they're in free fall. And then we roll in there and like, suddenly just have, like, lay three eggs against them. That was just rough. And also, I don't. I don't necessarily subscribe to the theory that, like, we managed to beat, like, the best pitcher in the al, Tarek Skubal, a couple of times. So therefore we have his number. I'm worried that he's going to regress to the mean of Tarek Skubel ness. So I'd just rather not go against a staff that has, like, a guy in there that's almost a guaranteed w.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, that's my theory. Just for me, though, it's just like. I don't know, I just have. I feel like I'm carrying or we're carrying the stank of that last road trip. Like, for me, I feel like, I don't know, going in the vibes would be different. We kind of not just scuba, but generally speaking, I think our. Our record against Detroit is. Was pretty good. I think it was pretty lopsided in our favor this season. I'm shooting from the cuff here, but I think that's the case. And even when they were doing really well and we weren't doing so well. So anyway, I don't know. I'm just scared of the. I'm just scared of the stank. Luke.

[A]

I do think that this is an interesting playoff series because now, again, with all with peace and love to the fans of these teams, the following teams that I will name it is very much the case of like, the teams that are interesting, that everybody is, well, that a lot of people are excited to see go somewhere because they haven't been to the World Series in forever. And those teams would include the Detroit Tigers, who haven't been there since 1984. I've now verified. The Seattle Mariners, who have never been there. The Cleveland Guardians, who I do think won it a while ago, but now probably a long time ago. There are these.

[B]

They definitely made it in that famous year that the Cubs won. So that had been 2016. They made it there, but then they lost.

[A]

And then, you know, believe it or not, the Blue Jays and I know you don't like it when the Blue Jays come to Seattle and a bunch of rude fans show up, but the Blue Jays, I don't think, have actually won the World Series in a long time either. There's a like a bunch of, I would say, relatively plucky teams that have been out of the mix for a long time. And then you got your Dodgers and your Yankees and your Red, your Reds, Sox and it's kind of like, you know, I know that the MLB is just like, please God, let it be Yankees, Dodgers again. But I just would love a good Mariners Brewers. I was thinking about that, by the way.

[B]

Andrew, that scares the hell out of me. But it also excites me that I. I'm like Sean Penn over here.

[A]

Precise on your knees. That'll make sense when you see the movie. All right, well, did we do it? Did we get to three hours?

[B]

We did not get to three hours, but we did get over the the two hour mark. Now I'm going to take we get.

[A]

To 20 minutes of usable content.

[B]

I' take out all the stuff about the H Vac company, so I don't know where that'll be. Oh, do you know what happened yesterday? Well, I'll start the music so we can get out of here. But do you know that I accidentally posted a abbreviated version of the show yesterday? In doing my editing, I somehow cut out the last half hour of the episode. It went from me wrapping up my story about my antics at that Greenwood Bar and then, you know, then we paused to thank the donors. But instead of thanking the donors, it just skips right to the end of us wrapping up the show the last 30 seconds. And it was a total just editing error on my part. And so thanks to the one person who wrote in via Instagram to let us know and I re uploaded the show and gave it kind of a special title that says RE Upload. So if you see two of them in your feed from yesterday, listen to the one that is labeled re Upload. All right, well you want to get. If you're going to. Would you.

[A]

If you got the expurgated version but you want the, you want the unexpurgated version, you may have to go redownload it or something.

[B]

Yeah, but nobody would be listening to this who hasn't already experienced that unless they're listening to the podcast backwards.

[A]

It's a non narrative. It's a non linear narrative we're doing here, Andrew.

[B]

If you're the freak just listening backwards.

[A]

Let me just like Paul F. Tompkins.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

All right, thanks everybody. We're going to be back here tomorrow with more Magic Radio. In the meantime, have great a great Wednesday. Take care. Welcome to October and October baseball and we'll see you tomorrow. In the meantime, please remember, no mountain.

[B]

Too tall and good luck to all. Power out.