#4627 The TBTL Holiday Hang!

Summary

TBTL Episode #4627 – The TBTL Holiday Hang!

Date: December 25, 2025
Hosts: Luke Burbank & Andrew Walsh
Special Guests: Genevieve, John Sklaroff, TBTL listeners and family

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Episode Overview

This special Christmas episode of TBTL features Luke, Andrew, and a cast of beloved regulars and listeners for the annual TBTL Holiday Hang—a festive, freewheeling community Zoom gathering. The hosts and guests swap stories about holiday traditions, share laughs, and create a warm, communal atmosphere. From tales of last-minute tree hunting to Hanukkah-latke lore, and delightfully odd family rituals to community “white elephant” gift exchanges, the episode celebrates the unique ways the TBTL extended family makes the winter holidays their own.

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Key Discussion Points & Highlights

1. Holiday Traditions—Old, New, and Slightly Weird

• Hosts' Traditions
  • Luke: Recalls his non-traditional Christmases growing up, gradually incorporating stockings and presents (“My mom was able to get the camel’s nose under the tent, and we had like, there was Christmas.” [11:05]). He describes his ritual of wrapping gifts while listening to a radio version of A Christmas Carol.
  • Genevieve: Remembers her family’s “secular Christmas to the max” in Atlanta, including the high-stakes quest for the perfect Fraser fir and the ritual of ensuring the Christmas angel’s horn just brushes the ceiling (15:00).
  • Andrew: Shares his quest for holiday garland (tinsel? Garland?) and contributes in-jokes about the language and region-specific traditions (07:29).
  • John: Delivers detailed protocols for listener Zoom participation as well as his tradition of draining latkes on brown paper bags from A&P grocery stores for Hanukkah (17:36).

2. Listener Holiday Memories & Community Check-ins

Visiting "Real Santa" at Nordstrom's (Lee Lambert)

• Lee recounts the family tradition of lining up early to see the top-tier Seattle Santa at Nordstrom. The tradition started due to "sparse" Christmases growing up, and has continued even as the kids grow older.
  • Quote: “You start traditions, you have to figure out how to get out of traditions.” (28:23)
  • Timestamp: 27:10–30:49

Musical Traditions: RENT as Christmas Soundtrack (Laura, St. Pete)

• Laura listens to the RENT soundtrack annually as a grounding tradition, finding comfort in revisiting the musical’s tracks every December.
  • Quote: “That’s my Christmas tradition—525,600 minutes, all of it.” (32:32)
  • Timestamp: 31:07–33:54

The Cookbook of Christmas Past (Sally & Grace)

• Sally, recently bereaved, shares her mother’s compiled cookbook of holiday recipes, keeping cherished family foods (e.g., "peanut butter balls") alive.
  • Grace: Shares their quirky tradition of watching the “Ron Swanson Yule log” video (hours of Nick Offerman silently sipping whisky by a fireplace) and receiving gifts labeled as from random celebrities instead of Santa.
  • Quote: “Everything’s a spinner. Is that kind of how your family does?” – Luke, joking about “ball-forward” snacks (40:20)
  • Timestamp: 35:49–41:06

The Angel and the Bobblehead (Michelle)

• Michelle tells of a feathered tree angel, originally chosen by her young son, that is now a weeping angel (Doctor Who style) who cradles a Dr. Fauci bobblehead during the holidays.
  • Quote: “At Christmas, the angel holds Dr. Fauci. So grateful that we all didn’t die.” (45:07)
  • Timestamp: 42:42–46:18

Christmas Movies—Team Margot and Todd (Jesse, Emeryville)

• Jesse shares a tradition of wrapping presents while watching National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, empathizing most with neighbors Margot and Todd. Debate ensues about the best lines and moments from the movie.
  • Quote: “Every year I have to explain to my family how the one character I relate to the most is Julia Louis-Dreyfus and her husband.” (48:51)
  • Timestamp: 46:20–52:46

Wise Men on the Move (Amalia, NY)

• Amalia describes a childhood tradition of rotating wise men figures from their nativity scene around the house, culminating with their “arrival” at the manger on Christmas.
  • Quote: “It’s kind of like a ‘90s version of Elf on the Shelf.” (53:38)
  • Timestamp: 52:52–56:59

The Talmudic Hanukkah Candle-Off (Max, Brooklyn)

• Max brings Hanukkah flavor, revealing his teenage rebellion by lighting all eight candles on the first night and counting down, following the minority rabbinic opinion (the “Hillel method”).
  • Quote: “I, as the obstinate oppositional teenager that I was at 12, I decided, no, I’m doing it the Hillel way.” (62:24)
  • Timestamp: 58:28–65:33

3. Family Drop-ins and Standout Moments

Susie & Walt Burbank: Christmas on Ripley Street

• Luke’s parents pop in for a sentimental segment, reliving the frugal but love-filled Christmases of Susie’s Philly childhood (“they would knock them down to two bucks a tree” [67:47]), holiday stress, and the tradition of getting the Christmas tree at the last minute.
  • Quotes:
    • “You give him a comb for Christmas and he’d say, How did you know this is exactly what I wanted?” – Susie (72:50)
    • “That’s probably where you get your appreciation from, Mom.” – Luke (72:59)
  • Timestamp: 65:47–76:53

Listener Nancy: The White Elephant & Adorable Santa

• Nancy details her friend-group's white elephant re-gift party, where unwise presents get swapped. She also shares an adorable photo of her son as baby Santa on a snowy Halloween.
  • Quote: “One was what we called jaundice Jesus. It was this beautiful ceramic thing, but his face was very, very orange.” (80:16)
  • Timestamp: 77:38–86:18

Science, Eggnog, and Canadian Winter (Kristen, Thunder Bay)

• Kristen describes learning the magic of lakes freezing solid in Ontario, eggnog concocting (with whiskey & brandy), and living with “superfund” Hanford heritage.
  • Quote: “So I make [eggnog], I give it out to people. Cause I don’t drink that much.” (91:52)
  • Timestamp: 87:17–95:20

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Notable Quotes & Fun Moments

On the uniqueness of traditions:

“You start traditions, you have to figure out how to get out of traditions.” — Lee Lambert (28:23)

On quirky wrapping rituals:

“For the past... six years I’ve gotten a present from Nick Jonas. Last year she remembered Kevin last year and also Nick, but she forgot Joe, which I thought was really funny.” — Grace (37:49)

On edible spheres:

“Is everything a ball? Is that kind of how your family does Christmas?” — Luke (40:20)
“It’s ball forward.” — Grace (40:22)

On the holiday movie experience:

“Every year I have to explain… the one character I relate to the most is Julia Louis-Dreyfus and her husband.” — Jesse (48:51)
“I would love a standalone movie about Margot and Todd post-Griswolds.” — Genevieve (49:37)

On multi-faith celebrations:

“I’m going to go super Jewish on this and give you a very brief Talmudic lesson, but it speaks to the human condition.” — Max (60:45)

On family legacy/generosity:

“You give him a comb for Christmas and he’d say, ‘How did you know this is exactly what I wanted?’” — Susie/Granddad Jack (72:50)

On thriftiness:

“You have to go in [Grocery Outlet] with an open heart… You can’t go in with a specific purpose.” — Luke (74:04)

On Zoom democracy:

“I knew there was going to be a coup during this broadcast… my own mother, Susie Burbank, who is now aligning the listeners against us to take over the show.” — Luke (57:30)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Holiday intro and premise: 01:25–04:30
• Andrew’s apology (joke): 04:30–05:30
• Audience participation rules (John): 21:18–23:45
• Lee Lambert on the Nordstrom Santa: 26:31–30:49
• Sally and Grace on cookbook and fake Santas: 35:49–41:06
• Michelle’s Angel/Fauci tale: 42:42–46:18
• Jesse on Christmas Vacation: 46:20–52:46
• Amalia's wise man migration: 52:52–56:59
• Max's Hanukkah history lesson: 58:28–65:33
• Susie & Walt Burbank reminisce: 65:47–76:53
• Nancy’s white elephant/jaundice Jesus: 77:38–86:18
• Kristen on Canadian winter and eggnog: 87:17–95:20

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Tone & Style

This episode is classic TBTL—a tapestry of laughter, warmth, in-jokes, self-deprecation, and sincere affection among friends and a devoted community. The casual irreverence and familial ribbing keeps things light, even as listeners share poignant memories or bittersweet stories. Even the tech hiccups and Zoom chaos are celebrated.

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Final Notes

This TBTL Holiday Hang is a celebration of chosen family and tradition—the odd and the ordinary alike. Here, everyone’s small rituals and funny stories are honored. Whether listeners are in cold Minnesota, sunny Florida, or “crushing” it in Half Moon, NY, the main message is one of shared joy and belonging.

As Luke puts it:

“We appreciate you. We would not be here without you.” (99:51)

End-of-episode signoff (in song):

“Have yourself a merry little Christmas, let your heart be light...” (100:02–end)

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HIGHLIGHTS:

• Deep dives into personal and collective holiday rituals
• Plenty of laughter, especially about “ball-forward Christmas” and infamous holiday décor
• Heartfelt stories from TBTL’s multigenerational community
• A strong sense of warmth and gratitude—TBTL at its holiday best

Transcript

[A]

Wow.

[B]

What's this?

[A]

This is the North Pole.

[C]

No, it's not. Yes, it is. No, it's not.

[A]

Yes, it is.

[C]

No, it isn't.

[A]

Yes, it is. No, it isn't. Yes, it is.

[C]

No, it's not. Where's the snow? Why are you smiling like that? I just like to smile. Smiling's my favorite. Make work your favorite. That's your favorite.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

Okay. Work is your new favorite. Fine. For announcement. Okay. Okay, people. Tomorrow morning, 10am Santa's coming to town. Santa.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[C]

Santa here. I know him. I know him. Tbtm. I don't know what it is, but as soon as you bring some carbs or some bread into the room, especially if they like hot out the oven and buttery, I just turn into a monster. You have never seen somebody up a.

[A]

Piece of garlic bread until you've seen me up a piece of garlic bread.

[C]

You will lose any bit of respect you ever have for me. Hey.

[B]

You either get it or you don't. I don't. But I am so excited to be a part of it. I feel a real need to express something, but I don't know what it.

[A]

Is I want to express or how to express it.

[B]

Poop.

[A]

Booty. Scoop, scoop. Poop.

[C]

Poop.

[A]

Well, hello, good morning and welcome, everyone, to a special Thursday Christmas edition of tbtl, the show that just might be too beautiful to live. My name is Luke Burbank. I am your host, and right over there, my number One elf, it's Mr. Andrew Walsh. Good morning and merry Christmas.

[C]

Thank you, sir. I just realized I'm pausing an email. I was writing to do this show with you, Luke, and it just occurred to me.

[A]

Yeah. I would heaven forbid this get in the way of your busy emailing schedule.

[C]

How on brand, this email that I was about to write to somebody, it's about chimney repair, and I didn't even realize that here it is, Santa's big day. I would argue today is. It's gotta be one of the biggest days for Santa on the calendar year. This is Santa's big day.

[A]

This is right there in the song.

[C]

Yeah. I mean, honestly, though, would Silly sidewalks.

[A]

City sidewalks.

[C]

Yeah. Would Will really Christmas Eve be his big day?

[A]

Yeah. You know what? Well, yeah, he's putting in the work on Christmas Eve, and then today, I guess it's just sit back and let the plaudits roll in.

[C]

Yeah, I guess. Yeah.

[A]

And this depends on, you know, if you're more into the distribution of the presents or the getting the credit and just sitting back and I assume drinking a Pepsi Cola. Are they the ones or is it who?

[C]

It's Coke. Really tells you how great that worked.

[A]

Remember the old. I've told you this joke a million times that I think Rich hall, the comedian, used to do this joke that was like, last year, Coke and Pepsi spent a billion dollars on advertising. A billion dollars so that this could happen. You go to a restaurant, can I have a Coke? A Pepsi? All right, sure.

[C]

Yep. Yep. Except, are you okay with that? Like, Genevieve will say, no. Genevieve will say, no, I will not. She only drinks.

[A]

She's from Georgia.

[C]

Yeah, that's a good point. That must be part of that.

[A]

Coca Cola runs in that woman's veins.

[C]

Yeah, it really does. In fact, it's become a problem. Her blood tastes like Root be to Dr. Spaceman, but, yeah, I do. What do you think? What does the Bible say? On the 365th day Santa rested? Is that what they say? Okay.

[A]

Yes. Santa moved over the darkness and the.

[C]

Waters of the earth and.

[A]

And said, let there be presence. Here's what we're going to do today. This is kind of fun. We are going to actually play for you all in case you missed it or in case you were there and you really want to hear what it sounds like on the imaginary radio. Our TBTL holiday. Hang the zoom that as it happens, Andrew, we're recording this before the event.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

So if you're hearing this, it means that the event went well and that we want to play it for you. But as a point of fact, you and I don't exactly know in this moment what has unfolded, what kind of holiday merriment has unfolded. We know that the plan is to talk to people about their holiday traditions, either ones that they're still doing or maybe ones from when they were kids or whatever. And we thought, well, that would be actually kind of a fun thing to present as a special Christmas edition of the program. So that's what we're doing right here.

[C]

Yeah, I'm looking forward to this. I'm looking forward to the party because, as you said, as we record this, the party hasn't quite happened yet. But because of that, I do feel like I should do one thing here, and I'll cut this out if we don't need it, but I'm going to do this here in the clear. I would like to sincerely apologize for my behavior at the TBTL holiday party. That was not behavior becoming of a podcast host. And it's not who I am as a person. And I'm going to be taking some time to spend with my family just taking a step back for the next few hours to spend more time with my family and sort of decide what comes next.

[A]

All right, well, I guess I got to do one now, too. So we'll get this in 3, 2, 1. I apologize for nothing. I absolutely stand by everything I said and did during the TBTL holiday hang. And if you have a problem with that, take it up with the courts because it's now in their hands.

[C]

Are you still wearing the Merry Christmas? Are you still wearing the pasties? By the way, that's my. That's my follow up question.

[A]

Under the sweater.

[C]

Underneath the sweater, Yes. I thought you were gonna say, I apologize for Andrew's behavior. Anyway, I am excited. I'm excited for the party and I'm excited to be able to share this with everybody. So this is it. This is.

[A]

All right, take a listen to this. It's a little holiday hang with the tens of listeners and us recorded on December 19th. So enjoy and Merry Christmas.

[C]

All right.

[A]

Hello, everyone. Welcome to the TBTL holiday hanging. Thank you so much for coming out on this Friday night. My name is Luke Burbank. Very proud of my Melakaliki Maca pennant that's behind me. This entire setup that you're seeing. I dragged all the equipment in here to the house rather than moving the Melakaliki Maca pennant that I bought off of Instagram. Right over there, looking incredibly festive in their hats would be Andrew Walsh and Genevieve. Hey, you two.

[B]

Hi.

[C]

Hey, everybody.

[B]

Happy holidays.

[A]

Sounding and looking great. So, Andrew, I understand that you made an emergency trip to. Was it Fred Meyer? To get some festive wear. What was your afternoon like?

[C]

I did this a couple of days ago. In fact, I'm a little bit disappointed because I know that I went to fred Meyer about 10 days. So it was the 15th whenever that was 10 days before official Christmas time. And I thought, you know what? I gotta spiff this place up a little bit, get some holiday decorations. And I thought, all I want is garland. You know, I pictured, like, me, maybe gold or silver garland like you put on a tree. They were already totally out. Ten days before Christmas. Luke, I thought I was doing. I thought I was like being a good boy for the first time in Christmas history, but I was not. So we got this instead.

[A]

So you mean when you say garland, are you thinking tinsel? Kind of the.

[C]

Yeah, not the tinsel drapes, but the, you know, the stuff that.

[A]

Not like this.

[C]

No, that's it. Yeah, that's garland, right?

[A]

Oh, yeah, I think. Listen, this has been my week of losses, Andrew. I don't want to carry it over into the holiday party so I could be wrong. I've always thought of this as tinsel, but maybe. No, you know what? Maybe tinsel is loose.

[C]

Yeah, tinsel is loose. It hangs off the tree like icicles almost.

[B]

We called that tinsel when I was growing up as well. But I think it's kind of like what do you call a sandwich? What do you call a soda? You know, it's very regional.

[C]

I mean, the real question is, is garland a sandwich? That is what everybody's been asking.

[A]

What's your favorite Christmas garland movie? Mine is Die Hard, obviously.

[C]

Right, Obviously.

[A]

Have you a couple quick questions before we get this thing rolling, Veeves, have you secured the tree? Have you fully Christmased out the house yet?

[B]

Fine. Andrew's always worried that it's going to fall over. It is tilty. It's a tilty guy.

[C]

You are so defensive. He just means, did we get a tree? Have we secured a tree? Sorry, you said there's been no conversation on.

[B]

I thought there had been jobs.

[A]

This has not been a topic yet for the rest.

[B]

Yes, I secured it in the sense of purchasing it and. And I feel that it is secure in the sense of being upright also.

[C]

But the thing that you need to know about us as a couple is we're having a good God damn Christmas.

[A]

Wait till the eggnog kicks in.

[B]

It's a tilty guy. Sometimes they're tilty guys.

[C]

It is a tilty guy. It's sort of using.

[B]

You know how it's not leaning on the wall.

[C]

And this is. It's funny that you said secure there, Luke. Cause you opened up a conversation that you didn't even know that Genevieve and I had been having. But you know how. And this is very relatable to everybody and where everybody wants us to start this party is. You know how sometimes when a football player catches a pass, but maybe they use the ground to secure it? And sometimes it's a question about whether or not it's actually a catch. That's what's going on with the Christmas tree right now. Is the wall securing it? Maybe a little bit. It's definitely not making any football moves.

[A]

That's what I say. Did it make a Christmas move?

[C]

It did. We made a Christmas move. It looks good, though. Genevieve decorated it all up. We have a lot of ornaments on there from the listeners that they've sent us.

[B]

We have so many great ornaments from listeners with like bingo and Theo. Sorry, no, Bingo and Bananas. I think we have. We've got Tim Robinson doing the spit, doing the zip line.

[A]

I think you're only here for the zip line.

[B]

Yeah. We've got so many great listener ornaments. Thank you.

[C]

How about you? How are you feeling? Are you ready, Luke, for the holidays?

[A]

I'm pretty ready. I went and I got some wrapping paper today at Target. So that was kind of the. Which actually brings me to the sort of theme of tonight, which is holiday traditions. Because what we're going to be doing is talking to folks about their favorite holiday traditions. And mine definitely involves wrapping all of my presents on Christmas Eve. And when I was a little kid, as I've talked about on the show many times, we didn't really. We didn't do like a kind of a typical Christmas thing when I was very young. But then over time, we integrated more Christmas stuff in. My mom was able to get the camel's nose under the tent, and we had, like, there was Christmas. There was like wreaths and things. We didn't have a tree. But then also there were stockings. And we were, like, allowed to do gifts, but they would go in the stockings for some reason. And when we finally started to have a little bit of a Christmas tradition going in our family, I remember, and I've told the story a number of times, but like going to Craigen's Pharmacy and just getting a really unbelievable sort of assortment of gifts for everyone in my family. I believe I got one of my sisters a giant purple feather that was also a pen. Oh, I got my dad a laminated sign that said to Error is human. To really screw things up, you need a computer, which featured a guy that had a dot matrix printer that was printing off far too much paper. And I remember sitting in my little bedroom on 77th street down in the basement, sitting on the floor, wrapping these presents and listening to the radio version of A Christmas Carol, which I believe actually had Lionel Barrymore maybe playing Scrooge. And it was the first time that I really got to do kind of Christmasy things. And I just loved it so much. And for many years after that, I found that radio. That radio production or that, you know, radio Christmas carol thing. And I would listen to it and I would sit physically in the same uncomfortable position, like into my 30s, sit on the floor in an uncomfortable position, wrapping presents and listening to that because it was such a strong initial kind of Christmas memory for me. So that's. I don't know if I'm going to do that this year because, let's be honest, I Don't bounce back from that kind of stuff anymore. Like me on the floor for an hour and you might not get me off of that floor.

[C]

You can get to the floor. Congratulations. I dropped a dart. I dropped a dart the other day. I just bought a new set of darts. Honestly. You know, there is a good observation that just flew by in the comment section of this. Zoom, zoom. Somebody said it's a bold move to get a sign maker a sign for Christmas.

[A]

Oh, I mean, yes. There were so many things about these presents that were not particularly thought through. I think my main sort of, you know, my metric or whatever you want to call it for this was, is it under a dollar? And that was like, I think I probably had about $8 total for the whole thing. And so, yeah, it was. I'm sure all of these different gifts were kind of silly in one way or the other. How about you, Vivs and Andrew? Do you all have any holiday traditions? Christmas traditions?

[B]

Well, Christmas is really a big deal in my house. Growing up, we weren't religious at all, but it was almost like the less really, I feel like, because, like, you come from a really. Or, you know, you grew up in a really Christian household and it was like, not. It sounds like Christmas sort of had to be integrated. Like secular Christmas kind of had to be integrated. For us. It was like secular Christmas, like, all the way, like to the max. But the biggest. And there's a lot of traditions associated with that. But the one that really stands out to me was picking out the tree, which is why I still kind of make a deal of it with Andrew where we have to. I only want. I love your tinsel tree. And I think if I could have like a beautiful, like mid century sort of artifact like that, I would love it. But since I don't, I really like to have a real Christmas tree. And I like the experience of going to the tree lot and looking at every conceivable tree and thinking about it and like testing the needles to make sure it's fresh. I think that really comes from, I would say from as early as I can remember. So, like, from. From being like a tiny toddler or younger maybe until I think I went away to college. Every year, all five members of my immediate family and I would go to. Usually would go to the farmer's market in Atlanta. And it was a very big night. It was like a big ordeal. Not ordeal, but it was like a really big, like, sort of like serum, like sort of a ritual. And my mom was really the lead because she had it has very clear ideas about what she wants for a Christmas tree.

[A]

Sure. Was your mom ever a two Christmas tree kind of gal?

[B]

Because. Yeah, not in the house I grew up in, but I think the house she lives in now or she has space for that. She is. And I think my sister, who may or may not be hearing this, I think also is a two Christmas tree. Er, which is really astounding because I know how small her house is, but.

[C]

Because we used to live in it.

[B]

Because we used to live in it.

[C]

Yes, precisely.

[B]

But my. The tree we would have to get for the. For our family house had to be. It was a Frasier fir that was very, very important. Only want a Frasier firm.

[A]

It had to smell. Right?

[B]

The smell is the best. Yeah. And it's very. And they also has like a sort of a. A stiffness to it. And it. It's like got a. In my mind has to be a very specific shape, like very particular amount of density versus height. And this was key. And when we. When we got it wrong, when we guessed wrong, it was always a little bit of a sadder Christmas. The. You have to. You have to get a tree that when it is installed in the living room, the angel which sits on the top. And it was always an angel. Its horn. Because it's blowing a horn. The horn has to brush the top of the ceiling. So you gotta do a lot of like, sort of backwards math from like, how tall is the tree, how much you're gonna cut off to give it a fresh cut. Then like, from the top of that, how much do you need? How much clearance do you need for the angel's horn to get to the top of the ceiling? So it's always like, you know, we would hold our breath. Is the angel's horn gonna kiss?

[A]

Is this gonna be a good Christmas or not in the has household?

[B]

Yeah. It's kind of like, is the groundhog gonna see its shadow? No.

[A]

No. There's a real science to it because I didn't grow up really in a Christmas tree culture when then I had Adelaide and I wanted to sort of, you know, create this tradition for us of getting a Christmas tree. We would go to this place on Capitol Hill called the Chicken Soup Brigade, which was a tree lot. And I think it benefited people that were. That were dealing with AIDS and hiv. And I remember I had seen in When Harry Met Sally, which was my main Christmas modeling in adulthood, that they got a Christmas tree from a lot and carried it to, like, Sally's apartment. And so I thought well, we'll get. Well, that's what we'll do. But I also wanted a really big, awesome tree. So first of all, the tree was so heavy for a four year old to carry with me. So we would, like, go like three steps, and then we would have to sit down and, like, wait and get our strength back and then keep going. It took us, like, hours to get it four blocks home. I also didn't understand that the base of the tree was far too robust to fit into the Christmas tree stand. So it involved me. She had a tool set. There was like a little kid's, like, a Fisher Price tool set. It was me trying to cut the base of the tree with a Fisher Price.

[C]

Oh, my gosh.

[A]

Saw, like, in this apartment on Capitol Hill, just sweating. She's hiding now behind the couch. And that was our last Christmas together, and I understand why. Anyway, you know who else is here with us is our friend John Sklaroff, a TBTL employee. Numero uno. John, what are the holiday traditions that you grew up with or that you practice now with your wife and dog?

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

Hey, everyone.

[C]

First I'd like to say happy sixth night of Hanukkah. Sorry, it's not festive here. It's green, so maybe Grinch the walls. I don't know. No. As far as traditions go, I also did not grow up with a tree. We do have a little tree downstairs now that we use because I did marry a Lutheran woman. Okay, so we do. We do have a little tree that we set up and some decorations. But for me, the. The. The best holiday family tradition is making latkes and not just making them. Right. Like, obviously, I think a lot of Jewish families do that. Obviously for Hanukkah, it's the. The. The thing that's very specific. I think a lot of families probably also do this too. But when you drain the oil from the lockers, it has to be on a brown paper bag that you would get from, like, the grocery store. So, like, not like paper towels or like a. Like a rack or something. There's something about the paper bag and maybe some ink coming up onto the locker, you know, that just really makes it like a perfect bite. And then, of course, what was the.

[A]

Grocery store that you grew up?

[C]

A and P. A and P. A and P. In Yorkshire?

[A]

In Scarsdale, New York.

[C]

No, not from Scott. Listen, Scarsdale is way too bougie for where I grew up, John.

[B]

We had amps where I was, too.

[C]

Oh, yeah, Down. Down south there. Cool. Yeah. So amp was Our local one. And. Yeah, so it had to be on that. On those brown paper bags. And then obviously your choice of applesauce or sour cream to top. You could use some with, like, you know, you could kind of go one or the other, I guess, for different ones. But that's. That's. That's the thing I remember most.

[A]

Do you make latkes to this day? Like, are you a pretty proficient latke maker?

[C]

I can make them, but it's one of those things where we don't have, like, the biggest house here in St. Paul. So if, like, I deep fry anything, like, our house smells like three days. And so I really. When I go back to New York, where my family's now in Utica, I buy all the products and bring them to my sister's house and encourage her to make them in her house so that can get smelly. And she. She actually. It used to be my uncles that would do it when we were little and we're doing big family Hanukkah parties. And now my sister has really. She's. She makes. She does great. She gets them just. Just the right amount of crispiness to them. Yeah.

[A]

Nice. Did you get a lot of the. The. The real sales pitch for Hanukkah when I was a kid was that it's like eight days of presents versus one day of presents. Was that your experience as a kid?

[C]

Yeah, but, like, in my experience at least, and compared to my friends who celebrate Christmas, it was like a pair of socks might be one day. And not to, like, oh, that was.

[A]

Christmas in the Burbank household. Mute my mother.

[C]

Keep her muted.

[A]

Lock it down.

[C]

I'm so sorry. You get one sock? Yeah, he gets, like, eighth of a sock each night, I think, like, where my. My friend next door, Steve, would get, like, a new Nintendo and I would get, like, a sock. And on the. On the eighth day, what my parents would do, which is always really cool because I have two older sisters, is they would do one present for the three of us that was like a bigger present. So one year, if you guys remember these, it was like a three in one table tennis, billiards, and air hockey table. They were.

[A]

Oh, nice.

[C]

They're quite small. Like, they're four kids. So we got that one year. Another year when my sister came home from her first year of college, and she had a T1 Internet connection at college, so she had, like a thousand songs on her computer. We got, like, a CD burner and some blank CDs and stuff. Like.

[A]

Nice. Yeah, nice. Yeah, that's wonderful. Okay, before we get to the holiday traditions, John, what is the. What's the plan for folks that are here hanging out on the Zoom that want to talk to us? What should they be doing?

[C]

So the order of operations are real simple. If you have some tradition you like to share and talk with everyone, raise your hand. Don't do it in your screen. Don't do it in the chat. There is a button. I see a few folks already doing it, so thank you. But for folks who don't are not as pro Zoom proficient. If you click the React button at the bottom of your screen, there's a button that literally says raise hand with a little hand going like this. Click that and then I'll know you want to be on screen. When I select you, I'll spotlight you like this so you'll be one of the videos on feed and then you can unmute yourself. At that point, we're just as far as meeting goes. It can get a little unyieldy sometimes, so I just ask. Nobody unmute themselves until you are spotlit. And then I. Because I'm drunk with power tonight and a little bourbon will mute you when I take your spotlight away. So just so you know, that's kind.

[A]

Of how John's got you handled.

[C]

John's got you handled. But no, that's a weird thing to say, especially today with the news that's been breaking today, this holiday season. John's got you handled, John.

[B]

Should we be looking for your name in those files anyway?

[C]

I was going to ask you guys that before we started the Zoom officially. We don't want any breaking news during the Zoom.

[A]

I was. I've completely. I mean, I know what you're talking about, but I haven't been able to see any of that because we've started this, this holiday hangout at exactly my Chris Hayes watching time, usually 5pm West Coast. I'm fully locked in, but I'm gonna have to wait till after this to watch that.

[C]

I got like two text threads blowing up on my phone on the side here. One is a group of friends joking, making jokes about that, and the other is the Knicks update or the Knicks updates, which the last I saw, they're beating the Sixers. So. Okay, equally as important, Andrew and Genevieve.

[A]

What are you working on? John, if you want to go ahead and maybe sort of figure out our kind of queue of folks here, Andrew and Genevieve, I saw you toasting. What are you working on in the snacks and drinks department there?

[C]

I'm going to answer that question. In one minute. But I'm going to say one more little piece of business here that I don't think we've let everybody know before they start opening their mics or raising their hands, as we are hoping to use tonight's audio as an episode of TBTL next week, hopefully maybe even on Christmas Day. So assuming that all the technology works and we think it sounds okay, this could end up being a podcast. So I can't imagine anybody coming onto this Zoom call and saying something that they wouldn't be comfortable then having on a podcast. But I just wanted to let everybody know in advance that you might end up being even more famous now.

[B]

So try not to do your thing in mime, I guess.

[C]

Yeah, also. Yeah, exactly. Don't nod. Just actually.

[A]

Also, Andrew, I just, when you said that, remembered. I'm supposed to be recording this here, I think. Don't worry, we started now recording, but I think. I don't think any of this will be in the show anyway.

[C]

So we got. I got a couple of. I got a backup recording rolling here. I got a main recording here. And I am as. As. As John is getting drunk on power. I'm getting drunk on bourbon and eggnog. I just ran to Sprouts for some fresh eggnog and excellent salad and some bourbon. And so that's what we got going on over here. I was hoping you could hear the can you hear the clinking.

[A]

I've got a whole situation going on here. I am working on. I've got my Hollerhorn distilling little glasses that I got when I was back in the Finger Lakes region of New York. And what I've got in there is Canada Dry Fruit Splash, which is. I mean, the technology behind what they can put in Canada Dry now is really something. They're still doing that special at the grocery store, which is buy two, like 12 packs of soda and get three of them free.

[C]

They're paying you to take it at this point. It is bananas.

[A]

I can't afford not to get that. And then I've got some of this. I've got a little eggnog going as well, which. And another Hollerhorn glass, which, you know, I forgot how good eggnog is. Like, I don't consume a lot of it in my life, but I've been drinking it directly out of the carton.

[C]

Today because it's that tasty Genevieve.

[A]

Oh, and then, Andrew, another thing I saw when I went to the grocery stor today, these are the iced. Oh, party animals that I was mentioning on the show. So I've got, like, a nice little bowl of those. So I'm like, totally set here. I'm very excited.

[C]

I will say, speaking of glasses, Genevieve said to me the other day, what did you say about we're using these little glasses that Genevieve got? I think they're little retro glasses.

[A]

Adorbs.

[C]

And you said that you're gonna let me use them or you said you might let me use them today?

[B]

I say we. I had to replace a couple that your big ban. Hands broke.

[C]

I get angry when I'm drinking eggnog.

[B]

I understand. I don't. I don't wash as many dishes, so I'm unlikely to break as many dishes. But after we broke two of these little cute, like, silver rimmed little roundies, I said, sorry, you are on. You're on. No touching the round glasses.

[C]

Yeah. She takes my id. I'm like, can I. Can I have one of those glasses? She says, yes, but you need to leave an ID that I'll give you back at the end of the night. The.

[A]

I feel like the only sort of benjaminfranklinquotes.com thing that I've ever said, that I've ever invented, and I'm still very proud of it, is never wash the wine glass you've been drinking from, because I have shattered hundreds in my life. So. All right, let's talk to somebody who's hanging out here at the holiday hang about a tradition. John, who do you got for us?

[C]

Yeah, first up is, I think, a longtime listener show. I've seen his name a bunch. We got Lee Lambert. I'm gonna spotlight you, Lee and Lee. Go ahead.

[A]

And he won the only Lee Lambert. Cascadia. Cascadia Bike Club.

[C]

Close.

[A]

Cascade. Okay, fine. We'll take it. But consider expanding to all of Cascadia.

[C]

We're trying. As soon as the. As soon as we take, like, you know, western Oregon and B.C.

[A]

And make it one state, we'll call that Cascadia. Okay, Excellent. They're there for the taking, and I don't think they'd be mad about it.

[C]

Yes, well, we can. Yeah.

[A]

So I have a kid, focused tradition.

[C]

And Luke, one of the reasons I resonate with you is I grew up with a similar kind of socioeconomic status, sparse Christmases and kind of things put together. And so I never got to go see real Santa. And so we did end up at some random Santa.

[A]

And so when our kids were born, it's important for us to go see real Santa, which is at the Nordstrom's. In downtown Seattle. Oh, that's elite level Santa in Seattle. That's. It doesn't get better than that.

[C]

I can't even afford to see that Santa.

[B]

That's an A plus Santa.

[A]

Don't even think of them, Andrew. You don't even have the money to think about that Santa.

[C]

It's the real quick commitment is waiting in the line.

[A]

And so when our kids were little, before cell phone waiting lines, we'd have to.

[C]

I'd go down at like 6 in the morning.

[A]

You get your spot in line, and then the family. Your family wouldn't even be there yet. You would just be holding the line, as it were, or your spot in the line. Correct.

[C]

And we take great joy in it. And I'd show you the pictures, but.

[A]

We'Re kind of late on getting set up, so trust me, we have a lot of pictures from all the kids and we're seeing real Santa.

[C]

And my son is sophomore in college now, and he asked, do we have to go see Santa this year?

[A]

And what is the answer? The answer is yes.

[C]

And I think, good. You start traditions, you have to figure out how to get out of traditions.

[A]

And so what I told him is.

[C]

When he's no longer on our health.

[A]

Insurance, well, we'll see what happens. With the ACA subsidies, he may be off quicker than he even could know. See, Lee, I love hearing this because with my daughter, I also have all of these holiday rituals that are so important to me because I didn't necessarily grow up with them. Like, we would take her to the. This was her mother's idea initially, but we stayed with the tradition, the Bellevue Square Santa, which is a far cry from downtown Nordstrom. But we did have the good fortune of having the same Santa for like five or six years. And then they changed Santas. And it was a. It was a whole situation because we had all of these photos of her growing up sitting on the same dude's lap. And all of it was like, slightly different Santa.

[C]

I mean, no disrespect, but that's because that's the fake Santa. Everyone knows the real Santa is downtown Seattle.

[A]

You get what you pay for. You get what you pay for. But then the other thing was, I remember because we also go to the Nutcracker every year. Another, like, enforced ritual of mine with her. And there was a period in her teenage years where she was like, are we going to the Nutcracker again? And then in her 20s, she was like, we're going to the Nutcracker again. Right. So I'm sure that your kids are appreciating these rituals maybe more than they're letting on. Yeah, I hope so.

[C]

Just one little point of longtime listener privilege.

[A]

You might remember our daughter singing the Let It Go song at Chef St Michel a number of years ago. Well, this year, her high school musical coming up in the spring is going to be frozen, because that's how the world works. And she is eyeing for a big part.

[C]

I look forward to sending a video to the group of her actually re.

[A]

Singing one of these wonderful songs that.

[C]

We had to hear thousands of times.

[A]

Incredible. That's such a full circle moment. Don't have her reenact the time that she just absolutely roasted me. Remember when we did a picnic far, far away from where we normally did it? And I forget what the topic was. I believe she was instructing me on something that I wasn't allowed to bring up on the show anymore.

[C]

Yeah. Were we swearing too much? I remember her giving us a hard time about something. I might even have tape of it here. Andrew, I think you had identified that there was too much scatological talk you guys talked about. Yes, yes. Poop too much.

[A]

Well, even kids can be wrong about stuff, and that's okay. Well, yeah, send us that tape, Lee. And happy holidays to you and your family. And thanks for chiming in to tonight.

[C]

All right, thank you. Good to see you.

[A]

All right, John, who do we got next?

[C]

Yeah, so it's currently the temperature in St. Paul, Minnesota, is real fuel minus 4 right now. I'm gonna go. It's been a brutal few days, so I'm gonna go someplace a little warmer and go to our friend Laura, who's Laura, who's down in St. Pete, Florida.

[A]

Oh, my goodness. Hey, Laura. How are. Look at your professional setup. What's going on here? Hi.

[B]

Yes, I. Oh, wait, am I unmuted? Okay, good. I just had a little box. Sorry. Okay. Yeah, so, yeah, I am. As you can see, I'm. I do. I have a podcast. I talk about little political stuff here in St. Pete and then. What's your podcast called, For St. Pete's Sake?

[A]

That's a really good name.

[C]

Really good.

[B]

Thank you. Yeah. So as you can see, I'm. I have three cats. Hence why my tree is only half lit right now, because my girl cat has.

[A]

Yeah, it does look like it's. It's suffered through some sort of an incident. I mean, it looks great. The part of it that's illuminated. Illuminated looks beautiful.

[B]

Yeah. So my little tradition for the holidays is. I don't. I'm Not a huge holiday lover. December is always a little bit hard for me. It's, you know, just a kind of a hard time of year, so. And it always has been. So I got into, as most. Most people in our generation did get into Rent, the musical Rent when I was younger. And so, like, I listen to the soundtrack of Rent every year. That's my Christmas music. Like the. The Cafe Bohem song, like, obviously. 525,600 minutes, all of it. That's my Christmas traditions.

[C]

Nice.

[A]

Now, do you have the rule with that, like, I do with all my Vince Guaraldi stuff where, like, I've got to wait till Thanksgiving before I can go into my listening of my Christmas music? Or do you have those kind of rules around your Rent listening?

[B]

Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, well, you can technically get into it around Halloween because there is a Halloween song in there in the second act, so. Yeah. But I generally wait until after Thanksgiving.

[A]

Have you seen the musical Rent staged somewhere?

[B]

I have. My brother was a director for theater and drama in Bethesda, Maryland, over by D.C. d.C. So he had. He just had so many wonderful, talented kiddos that he taught throughout his years. And his high schoolers put on a production of Rent for one of their summer productions, and I got to go see it, and they did really, really well. It was so well done.

[C]

Were you singing along the whole time? Did you have to contain yourself in the audience? Yes.

[B]

My mom. My mom took. Was with us, and she was like, laura, it's not your show.

[A]

I know what that's like. Well, Laura, thank you so much, and. And happy holidays down there. Merry Christmas in St. Pete. And I'm gonna tune in to. For St. Pete's sake. That's. That's such a great name for the. For the show, and I want to know what's going on down there.

[B]

Awesome. Well, thank you so much. Y' all have happy holidays, too. And I love seeing Bingo for a moment.

[C]

Yeah, he's. He's about. Yeah.

[A]

What's going on with Bingo?

[C]

About to cause some trouble right here, I'm afraid.

[A]

Are there any lit candles?

[C]

What do you want to say? What do you want to say? This is a good guy. He's a good guy. He. He's a little bit jealous. This is sort of his space. He. It is. Now, as we have this party, it's what, 5, 30 our time? This is the time that Bingo usually gets this chair. What's that word? I think maybe I've said this to you on the show before, Luke. Oh, hot Bunking? Yeah. Are you familiar with the term hot bunking? And it's not as sexy as sounds. Yes. Also, this is going to be a very PG13 rated holiday.

[A]

Or is this the like on a fishing boat thing?

[C]

Well, maybe on a fishing boat. I know that mom was a flight attendant, and so sometimes I know flight attendants would hot bunk. In other words, they would share an apartment, but they'd be on opposite shifts. One would be day shift, one would be night shift. So you actually share a bed, but at different times of the day. And that's the situation with me in this chair and Bingo. He gets ready for me to do my work and then the chair is his for the evening. And we're kind of. That's why we gotta kind of keep this moving because this is sort of his time.

[B]

I do think like submarines and boats and stuff. You see, you hear it there too.

[A]

It seems like there are a lot of parts of the day where Bingo feels a tremendous amount of ownership over the room. Because sometimes if you and I are recording late and it's bird time, when Bingo comes in and watches YouTube birds on your computer. He's also quite upset that we're still trying to do the podcast.

[C]

Was it off air or on air where I asked you to flap your arms?

[A]

Who can remember?

[C]

I said just flap your arms so that you look like a bird and it'll just solve all my problems. Yeah, no, I'm getting squeezed out of this place. It's more and more his office, honestly.

[A]

Yeah, we understand, John. Who's next?

[C]

Yeah, let's go to Looks like Sally and Piper. Am I. It looks like. Here we go. Go. Pull you up here and you can unmute yourselves.

[A]

Hey, Sally.

[C]

Hi.

[B]

I got on thinking I could talk.

[C]

About some things, but I lost my.

[B]

Mom a few weeks ago. I want to share the Christmas cookbook they made for us in 2006. And it has all her special holiday recipes. Recipes in it. But Grace was going to share something. This is my daughter.

[A]

Hi, Grace. That's a. That's a really. That's an amazing name for a kid. It's my daughter's middle name. So I have your name tattooed on my arm, but I want to clarify it's unrelated.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

There you go.

[B]

Well, I guess I'd say this one's really quick, but at my dad's house every year we watch the Ron Swanson Yule log on the tv.

[A]

Wait, I don't know what this is. I mean, I know what Ron Swanson is and what a Yule log Is. But what, how does this play out?

[B]

Okay, so it's Nick Offerman obviously. And he just like has like, he's just sitting in front of a fireplace and it's like a 10 hour video and we watch it to see when it like loops. We can never figure it out.

[A]

Oh, I love that.

[B]

But the other one is my mom.

[A]

So is he talking?

[B]

No, he just like sits there and.

[A]

Oh, I see. So wow, that's fascinating. And so you can't figure out exactly when this thing loops because he doesn't like, he doesn't shift in a way that's perceptible.

[B]

No, it's like at least an hour until it like loops. And the other one is my mom. Every year she will wrap my present. She doesn't do this for my sister or my brother, but sure. But she'll instead of like Santa, she'll put random celebrities on there. And so the first year it happened, she just like put a bunch of 2010 like Disney actors. So for the past like I don't know, six years I've gotten a present from Nick Jonas. Last year she Elite Jonas.

[A]

He's the Nordstrom Santa of Jonas's.

[B]

Yeah, no, she remembered Kevin last year and also Nick, but she forgot Joe, which I thought was really funny.

[A]

This Joe Racer will not stand. Now can I ask Grace, did you grow up in a household or at least when you were doing Christmas with your mom where there was a big kind of Santa and you know, want to be careful. I don't know who all is watching this, what ages folks are, but there's. Let's just say there are some households where the Santa lore is really strong and then there are households where the presents are from Nick Jonas. What was like as a kid? Because for instance, I was with my daughter, it was important to me that some guy at the North Pole wasn't getting all the credit because I was working hard to buy these presents. So what was the scene like when you were a little kid?

[B]

So here it wasn't like as big of a deal here as it was at my dad's house. I'd say so at my dad's house from as long as I can remember. So we do Christmas Eve there and he just. Christmas Eve. So we'll get the. We got taught that he like Santa would fast track to all the divorced parents, kids and deliver theirs first and then go back to wherever they were. So like the Santa tracker was always wrong.

[A]

Sure. Obviously, yeah. NORAD doesn't know what they're talking about, but there's There's a lot of children of divorce that Santa needs to cater to.

[B]

So we, My sister and I would get forced upstairs, and my dad would start like. Or Santa would start banging pots and pans for a good, like, five minutes, and then all the cookies would be gone. We were told that my. My stepmom and my dad would be hiding in the pantry, and my sister and I were upstairs, and my sister finally got to be downstairs with everyone when she was, like, I don't know, when she was 10. I didn't get to be downstairs with everybody until I was 14.

[A]

Wow. Now, Sally, can I just ask. And again, if it's tough for you or emotional, you can certainly pass on this, but is there a recipe that's in that book or is there one that you particularly love from, like, your mom's repertoire?

[B]

So peanut butter balls are the. Are the big favorite for everybody. So if I don't make at least.

[C]

A hundred of those, things go awry.

[B]

But I made also spinach ball appetizers already, and we're working on a few other things.

[A]

Is everything a ball?

[C]

Everything's a spinner.

[A]

Is that kind of how your family does?

[B]

It's ball forward.

[C]

Just. Again, Sally, it is a family party. I just wanted to remind you of that.

[A]

Yeah, Andrew's the one that brought up hot bedding, and now it's a ball forward Christmas.

[B]

I will post some of the recipes to the Facebook page.

[C]

Oh, that'd be great. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah, that would be awesome. I'm always, as a. As an aspiring home cook, I'm always looking for more recipes as. And also now a person who has an iPad, a dedicated iPad for the kitchen. Now I need to stock that thing full of recipes, so I'm getting my $300 worth, so. Well, Sally and Grace, thank you so much. Sally, I'm so sorry about. About your mom and Grace, about your grandma, and we appreciate you tonight.

[B]

Thanks for all of this.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Happy holidays, guys. I just want to mention that most of my presence as a kid came from Dennis Kucinich. That's what was growing up in Cleveland. That's what was signed most of my guests.

[A]

I met Dennis Kucinich once.

[C]

Me, too. I think I embarrassed myself. How did you fare?

[A]

Oh, not much better. I mean, listen, I don't want to get into talking about bodies, but I think he was more of an elf on the shelf. I feel like you could fit a Dennis Kusich just in the corner of the room, and he could make sure that none of the kids were sneaking looks at their presents. Is that the premise of Elf on the Shelf?

[C]

I don't know.

[B]

I was actually just talking to a mom friend of mine, and I asked if she does Elf on the Shelf, and she kind of rolled her eyes and said, like, yes. I didn't want to get into it, but my daughter absolutely loves it. And the premise is the elf moves around on its own, you know, when unobserved. And then the kid is not allowed to touch the elf. And so my friend had a little holiday party, and her daughter was so concerned that one of the guests might touch the elf and break the rules that she had made a very elaborate sign that was, like, in front of the elf, like, this is my elf on the shelf. Do not touch her. She is not allowed to be touched. My friend said she also catches her daughter singing to the elves sometimes. This is my friend Monica.

[C]

Oh, yeah, that's.

[A]

That's an incredible. Whoever thought that up? That is really, really clever to get the kids to try to, you know, sort of behave and follow the rules. And also that now they're developing a whole relationship with the elf. John, who else would like to share some holiday traditions with us tonight?

[C]

Yeah, I'm going to call up here our friend Michelle. You can. Hey. Hey, buddy.

[B]

Hi there.

[A]

Hello.

[B]

Well, I was going to regale the time when my dad took us to see the Kansas City Chiefs play in the 1971 game in Chillicothe, Missouri.

[A]

But was that a Christmas? Was that, like, around Christmas time?

[B]

It was on Christmas. It was awful. It was snowy. All the Kansas City tens, you know, know. And Chillicothe was not much in 1971. But instead, I want to show you my beautiful, beautiful angel.

[A]

This goes on top of your tree?

[B]

No, it goes on the mantle. When my son was about 7 years old, we broke the tree topper. For the audio only, people, I just want you to know I'm holding up the most awful feathered white angel.

[A]

You know who it looks like? That the guy who's like a psychic on Telemundo, who was very, very popular. I don't know, like, constantly. I've never seen a photo of him without just like the gauziest Liz, kind of Liz Taylor white diamonds kind of camera frame. That's who this angel looks like.

[B]

Plastic head. Here's the little star. There's fur, there's sequins. And when he got to be about 10 years old, he realized he'd made a horrible mistake. And so for many years, when I took it out for the Doctor who people, I made it into a weeping angel where I put the hands up. And this is something from Doctor who.

[A]

Those people will know you're getting love in the com. The emojis are flying fast and furiously here on the zoom with other people who know exactly what you're talking about.

[B]

But in 2020, my friend gave me a Dr. Anthony Fauci bobblehead.

[C]

Oh, that's who that is.

[A]

I didn't know if that was Carl Castle or Bernie Sanders.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

And. And so now at Christmas, the angel holds Dr. Fauci so grateful that we all didn't die. And my son is still terribly embarrassed by his angel. But we love it.

[A]

So that sits on the mantel is the Telemundo angel holding. Cradling Dr. Anthony Fauci.

[B]

It. He is. And we have an absolute gay pride tree topper. It's. It's, you know, a full pride thing up there. And he really likes that one.

[A]

That's nice.

[B]

He's also 29 years old now, but. But we love to tease him about that he had to have this angel.

[A]

Does it need to brush the ceiling like the angel's horn in Genevieve's home growing up? You guys don't have that same.

[B]

No, no. But when I grew up, we had a cat that would always climb the tree. Beware of bingo climbing that tree. He's really enjoying sitting underneath it. But he's been really good boy so far. He's just a few times kind of touched a few ornaments tentatively. But he has been really good about just loafing it up on the tree skirt underneath it. Well, hopefully he won't learn to do this.

[C]

So anyway, just make sure.

[A]

All right, Michelle, Happy Christmas. You as well. So nice to see you. Thank you so much. All right, next up, John. Who are we talking to?

[C]

Yeah. Going from the Twin Cities again to presumably somewhere warm. This is Jesse, who's.

[A]

I think everywhere is warmer than the Twin Cities.

[C]

We have Kristen from Thunder Bay, who I'm not gonna go to the moment.

[A]

Okay, that's fair.

[C]

That might be Jesse in California. I hope it's warmer out there in Emeryville.

[A]

Hi, Jesse.

[C]

It's not at all.

[A]

What's going on? What's happening in Emeryville right now?

[C]

Nothing. It's. It's. It's. You guys are happening. It's. It's cold. It's weirdly cold here in California. But we're. I'm right by the water. It's.

[A]

Is that Bay Area? Is that Emeryville?

[C]

Yeah, it's. It's the East Bay. We're like a Weird little town that lives between Oakland and Berkeley.

[A]

Okay, gotcha.

[C]

Nice. Yeah, it's great. It's wonderful.

[A]

I like your setup there. You've got some Christmas lights and balls and things. You're embracing a balls forward Christmas.

[C]

Oh, sorry. It's a tree.

[A]

With all of us. Oh, it's a tree. Okay.

[C]

It's a tree.

[A]

Did you orient, you orient your zoom framing to integrate the tree in the background for visual purposes?

[C]

I appreciate you calling me out for that, Luke. Yes, I did.

[A]

Good looking out. I did the same thing. Game recognized. Game.

[C]

Yeah, exactly. I was sitting, listening to a record before this and I was like, you know what, the tree should be behind me. It shouldn't just be my weird, like, you know, kitchen or whatever behind me. So.

[A]

Yeah, totally agree.

[C]

What were you listening to? I was listening to, I don't want to curse a band called Effed Up. Oh, never heard of him.

[A]

A Christmas album, presumably.

[C]

What's that?

[A]

A Christmas album, presumably.

[C]

Exactly. Yeah, yeah. It was very holiday adjacent. There's like a weird little like punk rock hardcore band. But I. I had my record. Record player, you know, what's up, Andrew? Yeah, sure. It means festive up is what I got.

[A]

By the way, I bought the Charlie Brown Christmas album. I have it on vinyl and I've been playing it here and it is such a hassle because it goes by so quickly and then I have to go across the room and turn it over. I also have that album on like Spotify and Sonos. I can play it everywhere in the house with the greatest of ease. But I have to do this ritualistic thing of putting it on vinyl for some reason.

[C]

Nice. I listen to a lot of records and, like, it's a pain in the ass. Like, it absolutely is a hassle to have to like get up and change it and everything, but I love it.

[A]

You do end up listening to tracks you wouldn't listen to if it were easier to skip.

[C]

And the whole record. Yeah.

[A]

Yes, precisely. What's your holiday tradition you want to talk about, Jesse?

[C]

Mine's pretty simple. Every year we wrap presents and we watch the National Lampoon's Holiday Vacation, which I think the best movie that ever other than I agree that like top shelf movie is Princess Bride, R.I.P. you know, Rob Reiner. But I agree with that sentiment this week. But it's definitely the holiday Vacation movie. And it's weird. I'm child free by nature and just by choice. And it's the weirdest thing in the world is every year I have to explain to my family how that one character in that movie I relate to the most is Julie Louis Dreyfus and her husband. That's a pain in the butt, man. Like, they ruin their stereo and their good time. Like they're just trying to play the holidays, too.

[B]

Jesse, I've been thinking so much recently about how I would love a standalone movie about Margot and Todd origin story subsequent to the Living next to the Griswolds, whatever. But I am absolutely team Margot and Todd. Can you imagine how much you would hate Clark Griswold if you live next door to him?

[C]

What is it? What is their favorite line I love?

[B]

Why is the carpet all wet? I don't know. Margot, could you imagine coming home and.

[A]

The guy is in his hockey mask.

[C]

With a chainsaw threatening you, presumably.

[B]

And Randy Quaid is rolling up on the regular shitters full.

[A]

You've got some banging Olafson stereo.

[B]

And I just mean real Randy Quaid in real life. I don't mean the character.

[C]

Oh, yeah, no, absolutely. The character and the human being in real life is horrible, and they have to deal with that. And they just wanted to move to the suburbs and have a quiet holiday together. There's nothing wrong with that. And I relate to that a lot, and that's what I bring to the holidays.

[A]

I think that's a. That's a solid choice, Jesse. Yeah. I did not get into again because of the home I grew up in. You saw a National Lampoon on the video cover that was not coming into the Burbank household. That whole scene where he's looking out.

[C]

Chevy Chase on the COVID That wasn't. That wasn't coming.

[A]

Well, it's more like when he's, you know, actually speaking of Melakaliki Maka, when he's looking out the window at the swimming pool that he's fantasizing about. I believe there's a little. There's a little nudity, maybe brief nudity.

[C]

Oh, that's not like. That's not Christmas vacation, though, right? He's. They're on a.

[A]

It is.

[C]

It is.

[A]

Christmas bonus is what he's gonna buy a swimming pool with Jelly of the Month club. I. Dude, I was just another W for Luke.

[C]

I was talking about this with my partner this week when we were watching it, rapping gifts, and I was like, that moment was the moment that, like, you know, as a growing up, I looked at my mom was like, I shouldn't be watching this with you. Like, this is weird, you know?

[A]

You know, but I got to that movie so late. But I would put that in my top five Christmas movies, I think it's just incredible. And, like, when he's trapped in the attic and they're playing that, I think it might be also a Ray Charles song. Like, there's a Ray Charles version of Winter Wonderland they play in When Harry Met Sally. That I think is one of the elite Christmas moments in a movie. And then when he's up there trapped in the attic, watching these old movies, you know, and stuff, and trying on weird outfits. Like, I get legitimately emotional watching that scene.

[C]

Every single year, dude, I watch that scene and go, man, it's so sad. And my wife will, like, sit next to me and be like, why is he wearing a weird, like, shower cap and something? Don't take me out of this moment. This is how I.

[A]

Cause Chevy Chase wanted to do that in the scene, and the director didn't know how to talk him out of it. So he's like, would it be funny if I put this on? Okay, sure, do it. Do whatever.

[C]

But, yeah, it's a great moment, but there's lots of great moments in that movie, and I think it should be part of everyone's holiday tradition. It's great.

[A]

Absolutely. Even when it's a little nippily out in Emeryville, California.

[C]

Emeryville, California. Where it shouldn't be. It's California. It should be nice and warm, and I should be surfing somewhere, not talking to you guys.

[A]

Well, come on now. There's time for all kinds of different things in life, including surfing and being part of the TBTL holiday hang. That's right. Thanks, Jeff. Jesse. Happy holidays. Merry Christmas.

[B]

Happy holidays, guys.

[A]

All right, John, do we have a another contributor here?

[C]

I'm going to show my personal bias because I'm in part because I'm curious as to where I'm going to call him the Malia in upstate New York. Amalia. Where?

[A]

Excellent.

[C]

In upstate New York.

[B]

I am in God. Sit up. And Half Moon.

[C]

I'm not familiar. Where is that?

[B]

It's about halfway between Albany and Saratoga.

[A]

Did you say Half Moon, Capital Region? Yes, Half Moon.

[B]

I commented on that when I was. Came up on supporters.

[C]

Oh, well, thank you for.

[A]

Oh, yeah, we were reading your name as a donor. Well, Amalia, thank you for supporting the show. And thanks for zooming in from Half Moon, New York. What is a holiday tradition that you. That you want to talk about?

[B]

I mean, besides the basic watching Muppets Christmas Carol every single Christmas?

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Mine was actually one. I remembered when I heard about this get together, and I completely forgot about it. And it Just popped in my head. When I was a kid, me and my siblings, we had a nativity scene in our house. One of the little tabletop ones. And we had all little. The wise men, all three of them. And we put them around the house. So it's kind of like a 90s version of elf on the shelf. And they moved around the house, moved around the living room every day and had an order of where to go. And we had a chart of where they went in the air. And I love that my sister was really pissed because she was the youngest and so she'd get the one that was kneeling down.

[A]

That was considered the. That was the low status wise man.

[B]

Yeah, I always got the first choice because I was the oldest.

[A]

Nice.

[B]

But yeah, we had a whole.

[A]

Were you going with frankincense gold or myrrh?

[B]

Frankincense.

[A]

Oh, yeah. Okay.

[B]

I don't know. But yeah, that was the one I remembered. And I don't know where that nativity scene is now. Probably gone because it was at my parents house. But it was just. We. I found the chart when my parents were moving.

[A]

Now what did the chart keep track.

[B]

Of, except of locations? They were on a circulation every year. Yeah, they had a circuit. Like it would be on the shelf and then it would be on like in front of the fireplace and then it would be on the kitchen table. The wise men were on progress. Yeah. And then at the end of it on Christmas, they made it to the nativity scene.

[A]

I see. Okay. They were on their journey. Right. To. To. To the. To the manger.

[B]

That is the most. That's the most original and also the most lovely Christmas tradition I've ever heard of. I love it so much. I wish I could go back into. Because we were knee deep in. In crushes in my house.

[C]

Really. For a family that didn't lean into the. Into the Christian.

[B]

We even have one of them upstairs.

[A]

Really? Yeah.

[C]

We have a crush.

[B]

We have a crush. Believe it or not. We just have a little tiny one, but yeah.

[C]

Crushing it.

[B]

We were crushing it.

[A]

How could you know? Because I never told. You found out. I've got a crush on you.

[B]

We were crushed. There was.

[C]

We were. I'm not religious. I just crush a lot.

[A]

There you go. Show title.

[B]

You got it. Yeah. And yeah, I wish that my sibling. Because I'm the oldest of three too, and I wish that we had had that tradition with one of our. One of our manger scenes, because that would have been so fun.

[C]

That's pretty awesome.

[A]

I also have just learned this Term Kressh, which comes up constantly on Shetland when I'm watching it with my parents. Illegally pirated Scottish mystery show. And they're always talking about the creche and I don't think I ever knew what they were talking about. And now I know.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah, I love Shetland.

[A]

Are you up on the new season? Have you.

[C]

Have you?

[B]

I've not watched the new season.

[A]

Well, reach out to my dad. He'll send you a thumb drive.

[B]

With my dad. Oh, I love that scenery.

[A]

Porn. Oh, that's what I was telling Andrew on the show. I don't know, Amalia, if you heard that episode, but it means just the shots of the.

[B]

It's beautiful.

[A]

It's incredible. Yeah, absolutely. Well, Amalia, Merry Christmas, happy holidays and thanks again for. Thanks for being here tonight.

[C]

Yeah, happy holidays. Now, I don't want to. I don't want to put my finger in the scale here, but I do need to say that I'm seeing. Are you. Are you. Are you keeping an eye at all on this chat that's going on in the Zoom, Luke? Because there is an uprising going on, John. Am I right?

[A]

In fact, I have 99 plus new chat.

[C]

Yeah, I just cleared mine, too. It looks like people are getting restless in the chat, John, about what I. There is. I think I'm being cyber bullied within an inch of my life because they're demanding. Susie Burbank, Can I be.

[A]

Before I knew, I knew that there was going to be a coup during this broadcast and I knew exactly who was going to run this junta and it was going to be my own mother, Susie Burbank, who is the only person unmuted when we were about to start the broadcast and is now aligning the listeners against us to take over the show. What is going on with this?

[C]

Yeah, she's, you know, that's what the people want. Can I, Can I. Can I use again, drunk on power here and maybe a little bit of bourbon before we get to Susie. Can we squeeze in one other person just because.

[A]

Please.

[C]

I love the traditions. We've been hearing a lot of great Christmas traditions. I need another member of the tribe here to share some traditions just for, you know, diversity's sake. And so I'm making an assumption here.

[A]

This is the last safe place for DEI is tbtl.

[C]

Yes, we're about to show Gen X.

[A]

Dudes, but we will allow Jews to talk about Hanukkah.

[C]

Now I feel weird about it. Called Max from Brooklyn. Hey, Max.

[A]

Max, I've been. I've been thinking about you so much lately, Max, Because I've been getting a lot of Richard Dreyfus in my life because I just watched Stand By Me, which is a lot of. I didn't remember how much Richard Dreyfuss was in that. And he's been, you know, featured in a lot of, like, kind of memorials and things, remembering Rob Reiner. So now, just so you know, anything Richard Dreyfus related makes me think of our friend Max.

[C]

Well, I'll tell you right now, I'm very flattered. As I continue to drink this one whiskey. I'll tell you what, I'm going to be doing my own imitation as I slide further down into my chair.

[A]

That makes Genevieve Bill Maher.

[C]

For those just listening. Andrew was sinking down in his chair. Exactly.

[A]

Max is building a giant tower of mashed potatoes to fully commit to the Dreyfus.

[C]

All right, so in terms of holiday tradition and. Thank you, John.

[A]

Wait, can I give a quick point of clarification? The reason I said that is because Max was in a production of the Shark is Broken, which is this incredible play about the stars of the movie Jaws, who spend a lot of time waiting for the, like, I don't know if you could say animatronic, but the shark device to operate. And so Max played Richard Dreyfus and has helped us out immensely with various Richard Dreyfus related audio imaging for the show. So anyway, that's the backstory on that.

[B]

That.

[C]

Yeah, it was a blast. And I'm currently in Frigid, Frigid Wisconsin, rehearsing a production of the Lehman Trilogy, which is a whole other thing.

[A]

Wow. Can people come see this when it goes up? Where in Wisconsin?

[C]

Anyone in Wisconsin? I'm doing a production at Milwaukee Rep, so anyone near Milwaukee, please come out. I would love to see you.

[A]

And we got to get you on Wisconsin 106.

[C]

Yes, there we go.

[A]

Get that lock in that friendship Wisconsin contingent. We do know a guy. What's a holiday tradition, Max, that you love or that you remember lovingly?

[C]

All right, so I'm gonna go super Jewish on this and give you. I'll tell you, I'm gonna give you a very brief Talmudic lesson, but it speaks to the human condition. This is like your sports talk, but.

[A]

I'm gonna answer your question with a question.

[C]

So growing up, traditionally, we all see the menorah lit one candle at a time. The candles grow through the eight nights. But I learned from my rabbi, there is another tradition. There were these dueling rabbis, these conflicting rabbis, Hillel and Shammai and Shammai is the one who ultimately won. We all see it go from one candle to eight.

[B]

But Hillel said.

[A]

Is Hillel. Is he like, Hillel how.

[C]

Yeah, absolutely.

[A]

Yes, that's the guy. That's the Hillel from Hillel House.

[C]

Yes, that's the Hillel from Hillel House. So he was a sage, a scholar, a rabbi, and he said that the miracle of Hanukkah was that the oil lasted for eight nights, which means the oil lasted longer than we thought, but it must have dwindled. So we should start with all eight candles lit, and every night we reduce by one candle. And this is the human spirit part of it. I, as the obstinate oppositional teenager that I was at 12, I decided, no, I'm doing it the Hillel way. And I started with everyone else in my family. We all had our own menorahs. Everyone else started with one candle. Not me. I started with eight.

[A]

So you were counting down. You were going like, night one. Is all eight candles lit, and then it's going down to one candle on the final night?

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Did your parents allow this?

[C]

Oh, yeah. They were very encouraging. This is one of. I mean, my parents have been very supportive throughout my life, but also.

[A]

Do they know about tbtl?

[C]

They do. My dad attempted it.

[A]

I didn't even mean. I'm not trying to recruit them as listener. I'm just wondering if they know how kind of what a factor in your life. This odd thing that happens out in the Seattle area is.

[C]

Oh. Oh, yes, they know. I have shared the Alvin and the Chipmunks art with them.

[A]

Another thing people may not always know is that along with all of his incredible acting ability, Max is an artist. And that Alvin and the Chipmunks that's on all of your tambourines was a Max Walkowicz creation.

[C]

I love how much this is, like, Tesla versus Edison, by the way. Are you familiar with that kind of rivalry? Like, I really feel like this is a Tesla Edison situation. We could go down a whole other rabbit hole on that. I did a play where I basically played a version of Tesla. I had a feeling you were gonna know more about that than me. Like, I've already exhausted my knowledge on the top.

[A]

Max, is this how, like, the way. The only way that I sort of intake information anymore is I get assigned a CBS story on it, and then I know way more about it. An esoteric topic than anyone really cares about. Is that what happens with you with acting roles? Basically, Absolutely.

[C]

That's one of the reasons I love doing the job. I do is I get the opportunity to learn about so many different things, go down all kinds of rabbit holes, talk to lots of different kinds of people to learn about subjects on the show I'm doing right now, which is about the downfall of the Lehman Brothers. It's about the history of the Lehman Brothers bank. And we had a financial expert come in and got to ask him questions. I get to learn every day of my job. It's one of the great benefits of being an actor.

[A]

That's great. What's the name of the show that you're in at the Milwaukee Rep?

[C]

It's called the Lehman Trilogy. It's three actors talking and don't be intimidated, but it's three actors talking for three hours. But it's a riveting story and we all play at least 15 characters a piece.

[A]

Holy smokes. And you don't like the memorization? That does not daunt you at this point?

[C]

Oh, it daunts me, but I've been working on it.

[A]

It doth daunt.

[C]

But I mean, can you just say like, oh, how do you get a reservation in this place? You always know somebody. Can you just owe you.

[B]

You could just make it up.

[C]

You could just really make it up, right? Yeah, absolutely.

[A]

Well, Max, happy holidays, happy Hanukkah, and thanks again for all that you do for the show. We really appreciate you having you as part of the family. Thank you.

[C]

And thanks, John.

[A]

Everybody go see Max in Milwaukee at the Milwaukee. Right? Man, that's like a legit theater. I always forget how friggin legit Max is as an actor.

[C]

I know.

[A]

All right. Well, is this happening, John? Are we allowing the bloodless coup?

[C]

I don't know. I've endured some blood here.

[A]

Right?

[C]

Yeah. So we're gonna bring in not just Susie Burbank, but we'll see another person who frame with her.

[A]

Oh, there's Walt.

[C]

Susie, please unmute yourself. A family affair.

[A]

Mom, I was a little worried. Hey, Mama, can you hear us?

[C]

She has to unmute herself.

[A]

Okay, mom, you've got to unmute yourself.

[C]

Are you able to do that from your end, John? I can ask her to mute. Let's see, let's see.

[A]

Mom, if you go up, just remember, just imagine you're at Bible study fellowship during the pandemic. There you go, mom, we can hear you now. I was going to say I wasn't sure, mom, if you knew how to do Zoom, but I remember you were doing all your Bible study fellowship stuff on Zoom during the pandemic. So you kind of know how this goes.

[B]

Yeah, got it. Yeah.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

I was gonna say that I had to chat with someone about, like, what. What's on the bar that's gonna cause us to raise our hand?

[A]

Oh, you were trying to find out how to raise your hand digitally in zoom. Yeah.

[B]

Then I kept hitting raised, but then I said, then it would say lower hand and I would hit that too.

[A]

Well, John was texting John. John was texting me and Andrew and he was saying, your mom has had her hand raised for a long time. Are you okay with bringing her on? Oh, wait, she just took her hand down. But now I've learned that that was an accident. You wanted your hand up the entire.

[B]

Time was when it says lower hand. You hit that afterwards.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

I thought it was telling you what to do, not inviting you to do it. I understand.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Mom, can I. Before we get to what it is that you wanted to talk about, can I ask you a question that I don't think I've ever actually asked you, which was what was like growing up on Ripley street in Philadelphia. And I see we have Nancy, who's in Delco, so this will be particularly relevant to all of our kind of Philadelphia, Delaware county area folks. Like, growing up in Philly as a kid, what was the Christmas thing like in your household? Growing up with Grandpa Jack and the whole thing? Did you guys decorate the house? I know he used to only get the tree on Christmas Eve day or something.

[B]

Yeah, Christmas Eve, like it's six o' clock at night. And the reason we got it that late was because they all the lot, the Boy Scout lot, they would knock them down to two bucks a tree.

[A]

Ah, so would you then. So he'd bring it in Christmas Eve at 6pm and then it'd be like a rush job to decorate it.

[B]

And your Uncle Chuck and your Uncle Larry would have to help and they'd walk it two blocks home.

[A]

Oh, wow.

[B]

Put it on top of a car.

[A]

And wouldn't you also get like. Didn't you used to also get socks and underwear or something?

[B]

Yeah, not very much. I used to feel like. And maybe that's why I didn't do Christmas all that big, you know, when you were growing up. Because I. I remember getting calls from my girlfriends and they would like be telling me all they got. What'd you get? And I'd always be like, super embarrassed because we hardly got anything for Christmas.

[A]

Yeah, I remember Peter, Okay? I remember Peter Williams calling me and saying he got a car.

[C]

What?

[A]

Yeah, well, he was 16. You know, his parents just didn't want to drive him around anymore. But he. And he was like, I got. I got a car. He was like, what did you get? And I was like, a matchbox. Yeah.

[B]

Well, I'm sure that the tens know the whole story.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

Really celebrate Christmas for years, but, you know, Christmas, as much as I kind of love it, it's extremely stressful. And that's. And it was always stressful, even as a kid. And you were saying how you would go to Craig and get, you know, you'd have like, you know, three or four bucks or whatever.

[A]

Dad, do you have any memory of that sign I got you that said, to errors human. To really mess things up, you need a computer.

[C]

No, not really. Wow.

[B]

So you're right. You're right.

[C]

You did, because that hurts.

[A]

It was sitting. Dad, we had that. Remember that?

[C]

A little fuzzy.

[A]

Well, remember you had that computer. You had an Apple to E clone. That was the first computer we had in the house. My dad built his own locking cabinet so that if someone broke into our house, they couldn't steal our Apple computer clone, Meaning it was like a knockoff of an Apple computer in, like, what.

[C]

Was the most valuable thing we had.

[A]

It really was. And that was. I got. Well, I don't know. I was more important than some of the little kids. I mean, those can be easily replaced.

[C]

Hey, while we're here, though, while we're talking about computers and potentially computer hygiene and I don't know if this is the appropriate place for me to have the talk with you, Walt, but you're protecting yourself, right? You're using a vpn. What are you using? Are you using Mullvad when you're downloading from the bittorrents? Are you protecting yourself? Yeah, I use Surfshark, but I think surfshark is Chinese, so I'm going to go to an American. Mulvad has done me. You know what I mean? Tiny.

[A]

Wow, mom, here on Christmas Eve Eve of all things. Mulvad. Is that the. The I've seen. I didn't know what Mulvad was. It's a mole with like a heart, like a hard hat on, right?

[C]

Oh, yeah, that is the logo.

[A]

I've seen that logo in places like on the sides of buildings, and I never knew what it was referring to. So that's a vpn.

[C]

It's a vpn. It protects your ip. If you're out there doing legal things that could be misinterpreted as exactly.

[B]

Can you can.

[C]

You can log into. What is it? Iplayer or I. Something. Another from the uk and you sign up for an account, and then you can watch all the British movies you want on your.

[A]

We all knew this is where the holiday party would end up. My dad sharing content theft tips with Andrew.

[C]

Sorry, Susie. Sorry. No, me and Walter here.

[A]

So. Hey. So, Mama, as the. You know, I think in our own family, the way that I've always told the story was that you, even though you're saying Christmas was stressful, I think you also kind of liked us having a Christmas event in our family. And because of some of the teachings of gospel outreach and stuff, it was kind of not a thing for a while. But then I felt like you were always the one advocating for it. Do you remember when we finally got that Christmas tree from Chubby and Tubby? Like, were you pretty excited?

[B]

Yeah, I was glad. I was glad because I didn't have bad memories of Christmas. I was going to say, like, I don't know if anybody has seen or read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. It was that kind of thing that, you know, was like, Christmas Eve was a really big event because we'd get the tree, you know, and then we put a lot of tinsel on it. We were talking about tinsel earlier. Or you were Genevieve, but. Or Andrew, I guess. But anyway, we'd decorate the tree and then we would have little gifts, you know, so it was like. And I guess I kind of, like, took that into my adulthood when we did start celebrating, like, you've always kind.

[A]

Of thought of Grant.

[B]

Big gifts, you know.

[A]

Sure. You've always thought of. Granted, Granddad Jack is a real sort of Johnny Nolan type, right? Like Franny Nolan's dad from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Kind of a charming guy with a drinking problem, wearing his little paper dickies and things like that.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. And also, like, you know, you give him a comb for Christmas and he'd say, how did you know this is exactly what I wanted? It was sweet.

[A]

Yeah. That's really sweet. Well, that's probably where you get your appreciation from, mom, because you're very, very appreciative when you get gifts and stuff. So I mean that, like. I mean, you probably got that from Granddad Jack.

[B]

Probably. I got a lot of things from him. I got the alcoholism from him, too, which I rather trade, but.

[A]

Oh, well, I'll point out 20. 20 years sober now, Mom. 21. How many years sober?

[B]

19 plus. Yeah, 19.

[A]

19 plus. Incredible. That's so impressive, Mom. I'm so proud of you for that.

[B]

When we were talking about what everybody was drinking.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

What are you having?

[B]

It's awesome.

[A]

Oh, yeah, That's a ginger beer that you guys love. Where do you get your ginger beers from these days?

[C]

Guess.

[B]

Luke.

[A]

Grocery Outlet.

[C]

You love Grocery Outlet, Genevieve. Genevieve's a big gross out fan, right?

[B]

Grocery Outlet, Bargain market. That's the jingle. That's what the Brian's called. Gross out. But I think that's kind of rude.

[C]

Well, a little bit. But Genevieve says it with love. Like you.

[A]

All it takes is an open heart.

[B]

Gross out island. I love gross.

[A]

You have to go in with an open heart. You have to be ready to experience whatever it is that they're selling at a deep discount that day. You can't go in with a. Like, it would never work for Andrew because you go in with a specific purpose of what you're gonna get.

[C]

Yeah, I don't go into a grocery store. Just seeing what the universe is presenting to me. That's not my move. But I will say, even as a nickname, gross out, which I've heard from Genevieve only. And again, as a fan, I don't take it that insulting. But like, like the official name of the discount grocery store I go to is called sars. It's a disease. And that's what they named it. It's not even a nickname exactly. I feel like, you know, everything's on the table.

[A]

I have a whole thing. I have a thing with Grocery Outlet that. The one that's down in Longview that I've been to before. And maybe this is at all Grocery Outlets, but they have all these signs outside that's like, more salad for less lettuce or more something for less bread. I'm constantly trying to think of ads for them that use this kind of format. You know what I mean? Like, I'll just find myself walking around the house trying to think like, more chips for less, more cheese, less cheddar. Right. That's. I feel like that one's just sitting right out there in the open. They haven't used it yet. But I really, I want to try to help Grocery Outlet to up their game with their little kind of get.

[B]

Bread if you're low on bread.

[A]

There you go, mama.

[B]

Yeah. I was going to say that they used to be like way cheaper and they've kind of gotten, you know, up a little bit in their price. A little uppity.

[A]

You know, everything is more expensive. Yeah.

[C]

Used to have a senior discount morning once a week on Wednesday mornings or something like that.

[B]

Knocked it. They decided it and it wasn't that much. It was 10%.

[C]

Hello. Okay.

[A]

I don't want to. I don't want to.

[B]

Christmas, right?

[A]

Absolutely. Hey, Mom. I was going to say, I just recently found out as of today that you and dad are going to be here on Christmas Eve or at my house. Christmas Eve. I'll be in LA with Addie. If you want to stay here. I mean, the tree will be up if you want to. If you want to hang out, you're invited.

[B]

That's really sweet.

[C]

We got get back home.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

Yeah. Okay.

[A]

Well, love you. And.

[B]

But whether you like it or not, I'm gonna. I'm gonna drop a little gift off under your tree.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

I know you said no gifts, but.

[A]

I did say no gifts.

[B]

We had that discussion.

[C]

Yeah, you said no gifts, so.

[A]

We did. I did and I meant it.

[C]

But.

[A]

Okay, Mom.

[B]

Well, this came from Leavenworth, so it didn't come from the Goodwill in Silverdale.

[C]

Good thing you're supporting Leavenworth, though, because. Sorry, I talked over your joke, but.

[A]

It comes from in Leavenworth, Mom.

[B]

What's that?

[A]

Where did it come from in Leavenworth?

[B]

Oh, it did come from a thrift.

[C]

Store, but it wasn't cheap.

[A]

I believe it.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

I'm looking forward to it, mother. Okay, I love you both.

[B]

Love you guys.

[C]

See you guys later.

[A]

Thank you.

[C]

Bye.

[A]

Merry Christmas.

[C]

Merry. Sorry to talk over you, but did you hear that Leavenworth, which is, you know, like kind of, you know, Christmas village here in the Pacific Northwest, or at least in Washington state, is having a, you know, having. Having tough times this year because all the flooding.

[B]

I've heard that the. I've heard this. The town itself is more or less back to normal, but it's the Highway 2, you know, it's totally washed out. So it's like getting there is a chore.

[C]

So good to support the thrift stores there.

[A]

Anything? We. Yes, support the thrift stores of America. And nobody's doing it more than my mom.

[C]

I love it.

[A]

Hey, John, do we have maybe one or two folks that have been waiting around that we can hear from before we kind of climb into our sleigh and.

[C]

Yeah, sure.

[A]

Let's try to trot out every tired holiday and Christmas related kind of reference.

[C]

Sure, sure. Since you specifically called her out as being in the Delco. If I did that right, we're. Let's go to Nancy.

[A]

I think you did. Hey, Nancy, where in Delaware, where in Delco are you?

[B]

I'm in Media. Media.

[C]

Media.

[A]

Pennsylvania.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

I think we've. We've read your name as a donor. Right, Right.

[B]

Not yet.

[A]

Okay. Okay. No pressure.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

That's a flex. That's what I got to start doing with every person is like, oh, I remember you from. Well, no, because whenever we.

[B]

We didn't get to the dazzling donors yet. So when you get there.

[A]

Oh, I see. I see what you mean. So you have donated. I see. Because I feel like your. Your name often causes me to go into this sort of little discursion about the names of places in Pennsylvania, including Media and Intercourse, and how there's a lot of. You got a lot of names of places where things are doing.

[B]

There's all kinds of funky, all in that. That Amishi area in the middle of the state. It's all. Yeah, yeah.

[A]

Well, what's behind you, by the way? I'm looking behind you.

[B]

Squishies. So this is this little Buddha. Squishy.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

My son always called it grandma because it looks like a grandma to him.

[C]

Does a little bit. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. But then I found this one the next year, and It's a little Mrs. Claus. Mrs. Claus. Smooshy with apparently the same. You know, we love to see the other one. Yeah, super cute.

[A]

What. What holiday tradition did you want to talk about? From Media or from. From Media, Pennsylvania.

[B]

So, okay, you get to choose. Do you want adorable or do you want slightly disturbing?

[C]

Disturbing.

[B]

Disturbing.

[A]

How about both? How about both?

[B]

Okay, let's do disturbing first. So every year my mom, friends and I get together and we do the white elbows elephants. But we do it in like January because the theme of our white elephant is all the gifts that maybe we won't use, maybe, maybe they're inappropriate for us or just ridiculous or whatever those things are. Right.

[A]

Is it re. Gifting? Is it things that you've received?

[B]

Absolutely. It's things like the mother in law buying lingerie for the daughter in law, where it's like, it was beautiful lingerie, but I'm not. Not wearing that in front of her.

[A]

So that's a thing that as is that. Are you just kind of making up an example or is that a good example?

[B]

That's one example. One was a big, huge tub of beer cheese. One was what we called jaundice. Jesus. It was this beautiful ceramic thing, but his face was very, very orange.

[A]

Just, you know, late stage liver failure. Jesus.

[B]

So. So that's the theme there. We're all regifting things that probably should have never been given out to us in the first place. But one of us has this family which apparently has taste and knows her well and buys her only great gifts. So she Participates by looking on, like, the free sites and just getting ridiculous things, like just. Just whatever.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

So I would like to share with you my. I picked her last year.

[A]

Now, Nancy, what are the rules on this? Is this, like, two steals and it's frozen? What are we dealing with here?

[B]

Two steals and it's frozen?

[A]

Okay, okay.

[B]

Not a single person chose this one.

[A]

Nobody was trying to steal it from you.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

No, no, no, no, no.

[B]

Okay, so let me see if I could. How to do this. Excuse my messy house.

[C]

It's like this.

[B]

Oh, wait, I gotta pull it back more. Hold on.

[C]

What are we seeing here?

[A]

This looks to me like a burled piece of wood that's got a tremendous amount of resin on it. And it has, like, a airbrushed painting of. It looks like, I don't know, like maybe Nancy Sinatra with a cat brush under a tremendous amount of resin.

[C]

Cooper with a cat.

[A]

With a cat over her face. Or a husky. Or is that a.

[B]

Is that a. Oh, yeah, the cat's on the bottom. And a blue jay.

[A]

Oh, there's a blue jay in her hair.

[B]

What, that bird? That is.

[A]

But okay.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

So that's. I have had that in my house for a year.

[A]

I mean, I assume you have that hanging up in the living room somewhere.

[B]

It's between my washer and dryer, just waiting for this year to rewrap it.

[A]

Do we know the story of the. Of the. Of the woman who's being portrayed?

[C]

No.

[B]

This was it. This is what we got. Nancy, I gotta warn you. If you're gonna do. If you're gonna bring that. As much information as I do at this point, if. Nancy, if you're bringing that to this year's white elephant, you gotta disguise it in the wrapping because it's gonna be too obvious what it is. You gotta have it somehow not obvious. Okay.

[C]

Yeah, good. What do you do?

[A]

What are you doing? You just have, like, a large box you're gonna put it in.

[B]

So I host, and I actually have a couple little pieces from throughout the years. Like our very first one I ended up with. Do you know those water globe things for the plants?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Huh? Yes. They put them in upside down and they slowly water them. Yeah.

[B]

And they're terrible. And they don't work, and they're a pain in the ass. Right.

[A]

But that's what I got my mom this year.

[C]

It's used.

[B]

I bought a case of them the first year. Oh, God. So I still have one left over. So I'm planning this year on doing the little like the. The kitschy. Like, you know, you find one gift and it sends you to a different place for another gift sent to Jesus. I'm gonna do. Yeah, yeah. So this. Then that way it could just be behind my couch or something and it won't have to worry about it. Brilliant. Just sending them on a scavenger hunt throughout my home.

[A]

Okay, now here's my question, Nancy. Was that airbrushed portrait of possibly Nancy Sinatra? Was that the upsetting one or the heartwarming one?

[B]

Well, here, let me show you the.

[C]

Other one and then you'll know.

[B]

So my. My adorable son. When he was. When he was little, he was. I don't know, maybe three for Halloween. We always did Halloween stuff together. Right? We. He would pick what he wanted to be and then we would coordinate. So when you're. He wanted to be Santa Claus for Halloween.

[A]

Solid choice, right?

[B]

I know. And that year just so happened to be the year where we got snow on Halloween. And so came these awesome pictures.

[A]

Aw.

[C]

We're seeing photos.

[A]

We're seeing an adorable photo. A tiny little Santa Claus with a lot of beard. There's. What they don't. They don't make the Santa beard for a baby. So when you put a regular sized Santa beard on a young child, I.

[B]

Probably made it too big for. But that's also his T shirt. He was wearing suspenders and a. And a white one.

[A]

And he's how old? Ish. In this?

[B]

Three, maybe four. Awkward. That cute crooked face. Oh, my God, it's so cute.

[C]

So cute.

[A]

And he's how old now, this. This child?

[B]

17.

[C]

Oh, wow.

[A]

17. My goodness. So graduating. Is he a senior or decorate. Junior. Okay, okay. And. And how does he feel about the photo?

[B]

He's. This is the year where he came back around.

[A]

Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

So a little embarrassed of it in his.

[B]

To her. And. Yeah, he's. He's just making the. The round.

[A]

And it will eventually be his Tinder profile.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

He will realize the essential adorableness of it.

[B]

He was asking if I had the. The digital copy scan of.

[A]

Yeah, it's already happening.

[B]

Yep. That's too cute. That's amazing. An amazing thing. And that it snowed on Halloween. That's really magical. It was crazy. Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

Well, Nancy, thank you so much for all of your support of TBTL and for being here. And good luck unloading that painting, if we can call it that.

[B]

Man, I hope you're.

[A]

Let us know. Let us know how your system goes.

[C]

I think you should reconsider that. That belongs in the boudoir. But that's your, your boudoir.

[A]

Your choices, I guess nothing says balls forward Christmas.

[B]

How big is that P.O. box?

[C]

You know, we just shut it down. We just shut it down.

[A]

That's the move. That is the move. Make that Andrew's problem.

[B]

That is a threat.

[C]

Thank you.

[A]

All right, thanks. Happy holidays.

[B]

Thanks so much, guys.

[A]

All right, John, maybe one or two more before we ski daddle.

[C]

Yeah, for sure. I just also like to put a plug in if there's a miss. So tens in here. Don't ever ask a miss. So in about the Halloween Blizzard of 91 because they make it their whole personality and I see that somebody who moved to the state and love people from the state get over it. It's a Halloween blizzard.

[A]

Although you got there about. You got there in the 2000s. So 19.

[C]

Yeah. Okay.

[A]

Yeah, so it was a long, long time ago, but it sounds like it was very, very. It made a big impression on the folks.

[C]

Every elder millennial, Gen X Minnesotan has a story about the Hollow.

[A]

Did the person who was coming and taking that snowblower from you, Tony. Did he talk about.

[C]

Didn't come up. Although I'm sure if I mentioned it, it would have. But Tony, who works at Grumpy's in northeast Minneapolis, he's a 10. If you're in. In the area, go go by and ask for Tony. Really, really swell guy. As far as listeners to share a tradition, let's go to Kristen, who I believe is up in Canada.

[A]

Oh, is this Thunder Bay?

[C]

Yes.

[A]

Hey, Kristen, good to see you.

[B]

Yes, yes. I'm a transplant here, so I've only been here for four years, but, but we've. Well, last night we got about 3 inches of snow which if you convert is 25 millimeters per inch.

[C]

So.

[B]

So yeah, you gotta. Gotta. Gotta go from the. The to the metric system.

[A]

Are you.

[C]

Are. Is. Is.

[A]

Is Thunder Bay, Ontario, the kind of place that's pretty much snowed in all winter or not snowed in, but is there once it snows, is there gonna be snow all year?

[B]

There's pretty. Well, yeah, has been.

[A]

We.

[B]

We've been getting snow for the last few weeks, but. But yeah, so the, the. The definitely going to be iced in.

[A]

So.

[B]

So I grew up in Richland, Washington.

[A]

Go Bombers.

[B]

And yeah, and I, I was, I was a Falcon. So you know, Hanford. But so the, the most astounding thing I learned moving here was that like lakes freeze and you can walk on them and you can go ice fishing, which is really magical. Water doesn't freeze in the Pacific Northwest. So that was a whole learning.

[A]

It's the whole premise of the show Ice Road Truckers.

[C]

Right.

[A]

Which is, is this road frozen enough for these truckers to drive upon?

[C]

One of my most cherished memories of me and Genevieve in our very, very earliest days of dating was the first time Genevieve walked out on the ice on Lake Winnipesaukee. Right.

[B]

I didn't know ice could freeze. I mean, I knew it, but, like, I didn't know. Did it do that woo woo woob sound when it like sort of cracks in? Like, I don't remember the wub. Woo woob. This ice was like feet thick. I mean, it was like walking on concrete. But I just couldn't get over the idea that I was standing over open water. It bust your mind open. It bust my mind. Exactly. Unicorn explosion.

[C]

I grew up walking on frozen ice in the Midwest, so. But this was the biggest lake I think I'd ever walked on. But the thing is, we were there during an ice fishing festival, which means trucks were on the ice, Hundreds of people were on the ice, Snowmobiles were on the ice. And Genevieve is walking out on the ice like, she's like, she's a person from Atlanta on a tightrope. And I said, what are you worried about? I mean, there's a truck right over there. It's holding up the truck. You're fine. And Genevieve said, I'm very dense.

[A]

Body dysmorphia is real.

[C]

The truck is spread out, and I'm very dense, and I'm gonna shoot right through. And I said, punch through.

[B]

When you're up in like the CN Tower in Toronto or somewhere else where they have the glass bottom and you can look down, you're like, I know.

[A]

Yeah. We've decided that that is not for Andrew. The Space Needle has that now.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Well, we can't put you out on a second story.

[A]

Kristen, can I ask a quick question about you being from Richland Hanford area? Were one of your parents involved in.

[B]

Yes, my dad worked at the end reactor. He was not part of. He was not part of Oppenheimer and all that.

[A]

We. We moved.

[B]

My. My parents moved to the. The Tri cities in the 70s, so it was post World War II.

[C]

But.

[A]

But it was related to the project.

[B]

Definitely. Definitely. Well, mostly the. The cleanup of the super fun site after that, but. But it's fine. Everything's great here. I don't glow in the dark anymore because I haven't lived.

[A]

Be careful on that ice. You might be the first one to melt through, like.

[B]

Like, it's like straight through, like uranium.

[A]

Some kind of superheated human.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, exactly. So some of the traditions I wanted to share that I've been doing is last few years, I've really gotten in. I love science. So I've really been getting into making eggnog, like boozy eggnog. So the magic of alcohol and inoculation against eggs is that when you take raw eggs and you put them in alcohol and you stick them in your fridge for a couple weeks with some sugar and some cream, you get magic eggnog. So that's something I've been making the last few years. And I.

[A]

Wait, so you're like. Are you fermenting something?

[B]

Well, it's not fermenting because it's basically the alcohol is killing the.

[A]

And what's the alcohol that you're using?

[B]

Whiskey and brandy and rum.

[A]

You know what's interesting is I'm working on it. This is a virgin eggnog. Because I had the thought, like, I don't. It seems weird to me to put whiskey in it. But also I used to drink a lot of White Russians, which are not dissimilar.

[B]

Right, right, exactly. And as you're trying to have more of a damp January, you're trying to like, slow down a little bit.

[A]

Sure. But so what do you end up with. With this whole process that you're doing in the refrigerator you make?

[B]

Well, I got with the recipe, I end up with about two gallons of eggnog. And so I make it. I give it out to people. Cause I don't drink that much.

[A]

It doesn't separate, though. Like, that's what I was thinking about is like, it seems like it's so dairy based then mixed with a whiskey thing.

[B]

So it's just yolks.

[C]

Yolks.

[B]

But it's. But if you separate the egg whites out and use them for something else, and it tends to be okay. The first year I made it, I couldn't quite get the ratios right. But then I found another recipe that I really liked. So, yeah, it stays. It all combines together in a nice miasma of boozy cream and sugar.

[C]

What do you do with the egg whites.

[B]

I ended up making. I make with them. I made some egg. Egg white omelettes, but. But you could also make like into like dog treats or other things. If I was really bold, I'd probably make some sort of like, meringue.

[C]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[A]

Peaks. It's all about the peaks.

[B]

Gotta get the stiff. Peaks. Yeah.

[C]

Nice, wonderful I've. I've solved the problem, Luke, of mixing eggnog with whiskey. I've just gone on full whiskey at this point in the party, by the way.

[A]

Honestly, I'd be more inclined towards that than eggnog and whiskey because it really seems to me like, well, I wouldn't put whiskey in milk.

[C]

You know what I mean?

[B]

Like, I would drink whiskey. I love a little whiskey. Yeah.

[A]

Maybe I'll try it.

[B]

Oh, the other thing is, like, you know, bourbon is officially just like the. Like, champagne is from the sparkling region of France. You can only get bourbon in the United States.

[C]

States.

[A]

Right. It's a regionally protected.

[B]

Exactly, yes. So then that's why. That's why you can only have. That's why I have whiskey instead of bourbon in it. Some of my family members swear by fireball and eggnog.

[C]

Oh, I could see that, too, with a little bit of cinnamon.

[B]

That'd be really delicious.

[C]

Yeah. It just occurs to me, Luke, I think your whiskey of choice would usually not be a bourbon. Right. You were an Irish whiskey.

[A]

I was a Jameson guy.

[C]

Well.

[A]

For a bit was called Toki by Suntory. So it's a Japanese whiskey, and it's very light. And this tells you that you should probably take a moment to think about your relationship with booze, which was I liked it because I could drink more of it and be less hungover. So I was like, you know what this whiskey has going for it is I can have a lot of it, and it hurts me less the next day.

[B]

What I like is the downstream effects aren't as bad.

[C]

I don't drink anymore. I just drink Suntory. That's like my uncle Steve who decided to grow a ponytail late in life. We can talk more about that later. But I remember he had a drinking problem, but it was all okay. He still stop drinking. He only drank beer at a certain point. But the amount of beer this fella drinks was astounding.

[B]

Whenever you're starting to make a system for the. The alcohol you consume, you might have a different relationship than you should with the alcohol.

[C]

Yeah, sure.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Well, now I'm just fully addicted to animal cookies.

[C]

That's.

[A]

That's.

[C]

That's better.

[A]

That's my new addiction.

[C]

Everybody, I know we're a little bit tight on time here, but, Kristen, as we say goodbye, I just wanted to say that I did get your latest email. Last year, you sent in a little bit list of vocabulary words that you learned during. Or at least I stood out to you during tbtl. So this year, we did get your list again. You collected a bunch of vocab words that you heard during tbtl and we're.

[B]

Gonna get into my Google keep list.

[C]

And the plan is to try to get that into the show in the next couple of weeks. So stay tuned. Thanks for sending it in. Yay.

[B]

Thanks for sending in my friendos in my earbuds and being so awesome. I really appreciate it.

[A]

Absolutely. Thanks, Kristen. Stay warm up there in Thunder Bay. All right. I think that is going to probably bring us to the end of this session again. I got to get through this bowl of iced animal cookies and I know you guys have a lot of just now straight whiskey to drink and bingo and trying out your new dart set. Andrew.

[C]

Right, Exactly. I actually discovered, Luke, you played Nintendo with the original NES with your friend Peter. Right. Growing up, you didn't have your own, I don't think. But you play with Peter.

[A]

We didn't but one time he went to India with his family. They were not people who were from the south continent originally. They're white folks. But his dad was into this guru called Meher Baba. So they went on like a family pilgrimage of discovery. And where they messed up was they left us the Nintendo. I love this took like a month. And his scooter, which I crashed.

[C]

Oh yeah, I knew that story.

[A]

And then we had to rebuild me. My dad had to rebuild a different version of the scooter and hope he wouldn't notice. And we had the Nintendo in our house for like a solid month. And my sister Sarah became one of the world's greatest Tetris players of all time. She had like. She was like, I've never seen anyone play Tetris the way that this, that this kid did. So that was the time that we had a Nintendo in the house.

[C]

Told. The reason I bring it up is because the other day, I don't know if it's the holidays, I'm feeling especially nostalgic or what it is, but I remembered playing a video game. Maybe it was my first like non super Mario video game for the NES. It was called 1943 the Battle of Midway. I believe 1942 came out like five years earlier. They came up with the 1943 that plane game where. Yes.

[A]

Dropping bombs. Right.

[C]

Well, I think you're. Shoot. Do you. I don't know if they have like.

[A]

Belly gunning or something. Yes.

[C]

And the other day I found that they have an emulator for that online. And I looked in my collection of technological bric a brac and I found this usb. People told you that there's no reason.

[A]

To save these things. There is.

[C]

I plugged this into my computer and I learned yesterday that I can play 1943 with this almost original looking NES controller on my computer. And I. I have been looking forward to my Friday night. I've been looking forward to this party. But then post party, I am going to be battling midway, my friend.

[A]

Up down, up down.

[C]

ABB A B B.

[A]

Let's do it. Hold down like if you want to like super speed on Mario Brothers. Andrew. That I might actually get myself that same emulator and then can we. Because we need to spend more time talking to each other. I could see us on a Friday night just playing that 1941 game on our respective televisions. Talking about it.

[C]

So great. It really did. There was so much I had forgotten about it yet. It also just. Just came flooding back. That muscle memory from 40 years ago, Luke. Like 40, like what? Like 38 years ago. It just came flooding back. So that is. That is the rest of my evening. In fact, I might not even be around for TBT on Monday depending on how well it goes.

[A]

It's a Christmas miracle. Ve, thank you so much for hanging out with us.

[B]

Thanks for having me.

[A]

I love having you on the show. You're the best.

[B]

So good to see all the tens really Happy holidays to everybody.

[A]

Between Genevieve and my mom being on the show, that's honestly the two biggest stars in the TBTL constellation. They'll take me and Andrew if that's all there is. But they'd really like to see. They'd like to see Genevieve, my mom, and to a degree, TBTL employee numero uno, John Sklaroff. John, thank you so much for running everything tonight and being so awesome. Always.

[C]

Yeah, thanks. Yeah. Glad to be here. And I'd just like to formally apologize to Andrew. All that booze talk. I put a little more bourbon in my cocktail than I expected. So if I was blowing out my microphone earlier, I apologize. No, you sound great. And also, in all seriousness, it's far.

[A]

Too early for hangxiety. Leave that for tomorrow. Sklarok, you got all tomorrow morning to beat yourself up. Enjoy tonight.

[C]

And very quick, shout out for real, because no joke, like I said to Luke, off air today, I'm like, I guess we're just rolling into this. We're just rolling this into this because you have taken care of all of the technical details of this tonight. And that goes. John has a little bit unnoticed. And so I just want everybody to know that this is a John Sklarov production and I really, really appreciate you making so easy on us. For real? Yeah. I'll put that on the cv. No, happy to do it. Love seeing the chat. Like, people were just having a great time. It's been really. This is what it's all about. The show, the holidays, the community. So it's been really great.

[A]

Well, thanks again, everyone. Happy holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah. And we. I say this all the time, but I really mean it. We appreciate you. We would not be here without you. So thanks again.

[C]

Bye, everybody. Have yourself a merry little Christmas Let your heart be light.

[B]

Next year.