Andrew (2:10)

Hold my calls.

Luke Burbank (2:11)

Coming to you once again from Hollywood, California. It's like I'm walking on sunshine. Another Beautiful day here. April 8th. And we are ready, friends, to dive into episode 4701 in a collector series, Let the fun begin. I was literally in Highland Park, California last night watching a jazz show and eating tacos at home State. Tacos, as referenced in our Opening tape today. There's nothing classier than boring jazz music. I am here to tell you, the jazz music was actually great. I gotta tell you, it was a really fun night. We'll get into that. Also, when I got back to the hotel, I was. I was once again at this hotel, banned from certain parts of the hotel, I was told, because of the Kardashians. You gotta be kidding me. Apparently, there were some very famous people that needed to use the hotel amenities more than I did. Even though I'm paying to be here. Well, CBS is paying for me to be here, but let's not get bogged down in the details. Let's say hello to this guy. He's the longest running cobra of the show, May be best known for his depictions of the tall ships. He's got a lot going on today. He's gonna be going out and meeting his dog Ophelia, and I was wondering if he was really ready to do the show today.

Andrew (3:27)

I asked him, not Ophelia, if he was ready and at the time, if you got the diapers.

Luke Burbank (3:32)

That's what he said to me. Wow. The rare. The rare interjection.

Andrew (3:37)

That is not her name. That will be the last time you hear that name on the show.

Luke Burbank (3:41)

Why can't I say, why can't I call her that name? Because she's not gonna hear it.

Andrew (3:44)

The listeners will think that that is her name and that is not our new puppy's name we're bringing.

Luke Burbank (3:50)

I quietly whisper that. I'm gonna quietly whisper that to myself off air because you can't stop me. When do we get to know what the dog's real name is?

Andrew (3:57)

Well, I am sorry. I do apologize for that. That is not my rule. If it were up to me. In fact, it's a little bit. You know, it's not my favorite thing that I'm withholding the name here. But I figure Genevieve, this is her rule. She puts up a lot from me, so I will go along with this. But you know the thing, I'm in a little bit of an irritated, irritable mood on this lovely, lovely day. It's a beautiful day. We're going to pick up our puppy. I'm doing a little bit of last minute, you know, just trying to prep, you know, figure out what to bring. I'm looking forward to taking her for walks when we can do that. And I'm like, oh, you know what? I can see myself getting into a nice little Friday tradition, especially during the spring and summer months of going a little after work walk with her. So I look it up. Do you know that? And this is AI overview. So I could be wrong about. They say you're not supposed to give your dog any twisted tea at all. Like, not even like a half a can when you're taking her for a Friday hallucination. That's got to be. I'm looking for. I'm looking for sources on that now, because that cannot be right. I wouldn't have gotten into this if that's the truth of the matter.

Luke Burbank (5:03)

Why does nature's pet sell a special twisted tea for dogs then if you're

Andrew (5:09)

not supposed to give them? That's what I want to know. Anyway, I'm going to do some more research on that, but certainly I am looking forward to our Friday walks together. Although, yeah, honestly, I don't think I can. Well, I just need to make sure that she doesn't really interact with other dogs until she gets all of her shots, I guess. So I think we're keeping her pretty close to close to home.

Luke Burbank (5:27)

When is that going to happen?

Andrew (5:28)

You know, I'm not sure. I think I'll find that out today. I mean, the funny thing is, like, we're picking up our little girl today, and it's supposed to be a two week trial. You know, I was so careful when I was talking about this, like, well, it's only a two week trial. Well, maybe we'll foster various dogs. And now I'm already just like, well, no, I can see myself growing old with this dog. And we will. I can already see her white muzzle in the future. So, like, I'm so locked in on this dog that I'm assuming, why don't you enjoy the.

Luke Burbank (5:58)

Why don't you enjoy the intervening 14 years? But anyway, you're already skipping to her elderly years.

Andrew (6:04)

My point there was that the idea of this being a two week trial has already whiffed out of my brain because I'm already like, oh, this is our dog. So I'm assuming that those shots will happen after the two week window, but I also assume that we will be the ones who are still her family at that point. So I'm very excited.

Luke Burbank (6:24)

Yeah. And I'm assuming Genevieve is similarly inclined, that she's also kind of. It's the two week thing is sort of a formality at this point probably.

Andrew (6:33)

I mean, I think so. I mean, the big thing is still, like, we're assuming that Bingo is going to be cool with all of this. I had a conversation with him earlier today. He seems all right. He's actually in my closet right now instead of on my windowsill. So I don't know if that's a bad sign or not, but I think he's just preserving his energy. But, yeah, unless something goes really sideways, specifically in that arena, I think that we're going to be pretty locked in here. And I think, like, right now, like, last night, I was kind of like, this is my. Kind of my, My last dog free night. And I don't even know what that means, but I just think that there's going to be a big energy change in this house going forward.

Luke Burbank (7:08)

Now, here's the thing, though, and I don't want to nitpick, because, again, I'm guessing that this is all going to work out and you're going to have this dog, but are you going to. Is this dog going to have a different name for two weeks?

Andrew (7:18)

Oh, no, no, no, no, no. We, we have a tag. I think Genevieve is just. Wait.

Luke Burbank (7:22)

What I'm saying, if there's. Well, what I mean is technically, by the letter of the law, you are technically fostering the dog for two weeks, and I don't think this is going to happen. But heaven forbid, this dog didn't bond with Bingo in a certain way or whatever. And again, I don't think that's going to happen. But in other words, theoretically, you're fostering the dog for two weeks, but you also are. You don't want to call the dog by the name you don't like for those two weeks. In other words, that. So, so there is a universe in which. And again, I'm not, I'm not manifesting this for you, that the dog could live. If we live with you for two weeks, it would turn out to not be a fit, but you would have used a totally different name for the dog and gotten it a tag for those two weeks.

Andrew (7:59)

I mean, I guess. I mean, I guess if it doesn't work after two weeks, there are bigger issues, and it's yes, then they're not mine.

Luke Burbank (8:07)

Yeah, well, I think it's going to go well, and I'm excited that you guys are excited, and it'll be a fun plot line for the show, too. I know the listeners are very invested. I'm a little jealous, like I said, but, but, but mostly happy for you guys. I, I, I went out to Highland. I basically reenacted that intro tape last that we had last night. Although I didn't go work out at the Orange Theory, but I went to Highland park last night to see a jazz show with Addie it was a sold out standing room only jazz show, which I didn't know they made those anymore. And it was this guy, I think his name is like. Or Lansky or something. You should. I should have in front of me or. I tried to Google this early and I just thought I was looking for Jazz in Orlando because it didn't recognize this. But let's see. Yeah, I don't have the name right in front of me, but he was this jazz trio and they were really, really good. I do think that they should have chairs if there's. If it's jazz. I don't think that standing room only jazz should be a thing. You know what I mean? Like, it just seems like the kind of music that I very much enjoyed it, but I would have enjoyed it even more if I had a comfortable seat.

Andrew (9:13)

Were you like shoved in my back?

Luke Burbank (9:15)

Well, we were pretty far in the back. And then of course Addie is, you know, Addie is an experienced concert goer and an experienced kind of working her way to the front of the area person. In fact, if I hadn't been there, she would probably would have ended up at the very front of the show as it was, because we came in right as the headliner was starting. We were in the way back and then we moved in a little bit to where we had a pretty good view. But. But yeah, I mean, I was, I was, I was pleasantly surprised. I might like jazz now for.

Andrew (9:48)

You like jazz for a while.

Luke Burbank (9:50)

Yeah, but I mean, I've liked it in theory, but I haven't been like listening to it. I haven't been like. I haven't been really actually engaged with it other than saying, I think I like jazz now. But last night I was heavily engaged with it and I, and I enjoyed it. And as soon as I learned the name of this guy, I'm going to tell you what it is. Actually, I was thinking last night you would like this guy as well. I think so, yeah. I'll send you the deets and you and your dog can listen to it together.

Andrew (10:13)

I want to grab this record, you know, at least how you can't judge a book by its cover. I guess the same thing goes for albums. And I think a lot of albums are procured in this exact way, which is you're just out, you know, wiling away. Some hours you're gonna go in the record shop, you're gonna flip through and then you find some jazz record that just has a cool cover and you're like, yeah, I'll buy. I mean, Literally, how bad could this be? I was with a friend one time and he was flipping through records. He's like, I could take home any one of these records, and I'll bet you I'd like them all. And I said, I don't think that's true because I've purchased too many records in my time that have, like, a really cool cover. And then you put it on. And the last one, I did it. I'm gonna see if I can find this. I'll make it the show pick, but I can't leave the microphone to grab it right now and show you. But it was like this really cool looking, very simple. I think it was like maybe a photograph of a woman on the COVID with maybe a green border, if I'm remembering it correctly. I don't know what made it stand out, but I was like, oh, this looks cool. And then I put it on and it was the loudest, clinkiest Dixieland. Dixieland Jazz Band. And like, that is just like, that's the thing. Like, I. Maybe I was also thinking, you said, like, should you be standing for jazz? I'm like, well, I guess it depends on, you know, what kind of jazz it is. Certainly, like, if it is something like that, if it's like some New Orleans jazz, then absolutely you should be standing. Maybe some other stuff is better enjoyed sitting down. But it was just so funny because that is not what I'm looking for when I'm just going to put on a record, relax a little bit, light some incense, throw some darts, and like, this Dixie, you don't want. No offense to Dixie Land jazz.

Luke Burbank (11:43)

Love when the Saints Go Marching in, right?

Andrew (11:46)

Exactly.

Luke Burbank (11:47)

Are you gatekeeping that?

Andrew (11:48)

It was. I remember just dropping the needle and just being like, oh, my. Like, literally in the first, like, 10 seconds, being like, what have I wrought?

Luke Burbank (11:58)

It's Okonsky. That's the name of the. Of the trio. And I believe that's the last name of the guy who's on piano. And it was. I'm seriously gonna send you this record, Andrew, because it was really a vibe and it was really good. But then this shows you how, like, the weird elements of TBTL live in my head. Because we got there and I hadn't eaten any dinner. I was coming pretty much directly from some filming stuff, and I was really hungry and I wanted to get something to eat. And the show was at a place called the Lodge Room. And next to it is Homestate Tacos, which are referenced in that video by Carmen Christopher. The joke of that as the listeners have already picked up is that, you know, Highland park, which is a kind of a. It's its own city, I believe, but it's kind of East Los Angeles, actually. It might be technically in Los Angeles. Maybe it's a neighborhood of Los Angeles, but it was kind of an edgier neighborhood at times. And like, as typically happens, you know, people moved out there because it's beautiful. And also, the housing was at one time more affordable. And then it's become a real hip enclave, and it's got things like Orange Theory and Mendocino Farms and Home State Tacos. And so the Carmen Christopher joke is just that he's, you know, this guy who's out there and is afraid of any real vestiges of Highland park from the before times. He just wants to go to the sort of chain restaurants, et cetera. And there was a very old school, kind of funky Mexican restaurant across the street from the Lodge Room. And then next to the Lodge Room was Homestate Tacos. And I told Addie, we gotta go to the place across the street. And she was like, why? I was like, I just wanna go there. And then, because I didn't wanna go to a place that was in the video roasting people who go to Homestate Tacos and think that I got the Oaxacan shinerbach beer. And so we go to the place across the street, and it's closed, so we ended up having to go to Homestead.

Andrew (13:45)

I kind of. I misunderstood for a second. I thought you were telling Eddie we got to go to the place that is mentioned, even though it would be against your sensibilities, like, oh, we have to just go for the bit. You were like, no. All the more. I wanted to set foot in that.

Luke Burbank (13:58)

I wanted to avoid everything associated with the. With the bit with the tape, because I didn't want to admit that I am also a very predictable kind of dude of a certain age who has, you know. And by the way, it was delicious. Homestate was really. Nothing says tacos like brisket.

Andrew (14:14)

Brisket.

Luke Burbank (14:15)

Yeah, but it was. No, it was good. But it was. It was just funny that I was. I was having this whole conversation in my mind about what I was allowed to do and not allowed to do in Highland Park, California, because of a comedy bit that we play on this show.

Andrew (14:30)

This is not important, but I could have sworn there used to be. And maybe I'm confusing Highland park with another one of those east side neighborhoods. But I thought Highland park had a pool hall. I think I had a friend. I feel like I had a friend who lived in Highland park, and I'd go to visit him, and there was a pool hall right on Main street there. Like a billiards hall, but I'm not seeing very well.

Luke Burbank (14:49)

Could be.

Andrew (14:50)

Okay. Yeah. You're not? Well, I'm not well, no, because I don't remember the area well enough to, like, do a virtual walk. I'm just sort of, like, doing it at 50,000ft here on Google Maps. But that doesn't ring a bell to you either? Because I always thought of.

Luke Burbank (15:02)

But I'm also not a. I'm not a pool guy. I'm not a billiards guy.

Andrew (15:06)

Oh, yeah, No, I never went there. It just. It stood out to me because it, like, it was just old school. Right. And to me, it reminded me of, like. Because I'm trying to think of those other. What were the three? I can't literally think of any of them, but what were the three? Silver Lake is one of them. There were three main neighborhoods that were kind of on the east side that became very hipster. Hipster fied. Hipster fied. I felt like, well, you.

Luke Burbank (15:30)

Silver Lake, Echo Park. Are you thinking of Mount Washington?

Andrew (15:34)

No. Los Feliz is the thing. And I sort of feel like as those sort. And I could be wrong about this, but it was my understanding that as those got saturated more and more with the hipster Dom, then things continued to move out to Highland park. And I felt like I was visiting Highland park right at the transitional time, where it was, like, it seemed really cool to me, but I still saw a lot of the old school stuff, and that's where I thought I saw this pool hall. But now I'm a little bit in my head about whether or not I'm confusing Highland park with something else.

Luke Burbank (16:03)

But maybe Eagle Rock.

Andrew (16:05)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what? I'll bet you it might be Eagle Rock that I'm thinking of. Would you agree with, though? And because I might be wrong about my sort of depiction of how that sort of. That. That hipster kind of vibe continued to sort of migrate further and further out, or is that right?

Luke Burbank (16:22)

Yeah, I mean. No, no, I think you're right. I mean, my sense of it is that, like, you know, like, Los Feliz, I think, has. Was pretty. Pretty gentrified and pretty developed for, like, long before I got to la. And at that point, I think Echo park was just kind of coming online for. For prime hipsterdom, which is how me and my ex were able to buy a house in echo park for $420,000, which was an unfathomable sum of money to me at the time. I was just like, it kind of still is, honestly, depending on the context. But I remember just being like, I don't know how in the world we're going to do this, but we have this opportunity to get this house. It is $420,000. We will have to get third and fourth. But it's worth it to get a toehold in the LA housing market. But yeah, so, so yeah, Echo park at Silver Lake again is very, very hipster. I think it was hipstery when I got, when I got to la. But yeah, like Highland park and Eagle Rock were definitely sort of where people were starting to go. And Mount Washington. Highland park apparently has very good school districts too, or very good school district. And so a lot of people that were having kids were, that was the big, the converse. In fact, this is how, you know, you're at a jazz show. Many of the people in line in front of me for the jazz show were talking about what school districts they were trying to get their kids into.

Andrew (17:42)

Yeah.

Luke Burbank (17:42)

So it was a young hip crowd of guys who looked like me and we're talking about like, you know, school district stuff. But, but yeah, I, it's, I mean it's really lovely out there, honestly. And I didn't go out there a ton when I was living here. But. But yeah, you know, again, the mendo to home state to Jane's pipeline is real twin.

Andrew (18:05)

They should turn that into some sort of tourist route where you just go, well, literally that pipeline as it's been set up. Did you mention. Because I only know that comedian from that bit that you sent me via TikTok months ago and I guess. Did you say his name already? Is it Carmen Christopher? Is that what I have written down here? Okay. But that's.

Luke Burbank (18:26)

His name's Carmen Christopher. Well, you've also seen him on the Joe Pera show because he is in that campfire scene where he's talking about his mom, I believe.

Andrew (18:35)

Yeah.

Luke Burbank (18:35)

Remember like he's like getting a beer

Andrew (18:38)

on his liver or something like that.

Luke Burbank (18:41)

I think she's. I think she's sick or something or I forget what the. I don't know if we. Do we. Is that intro tape, do we play that?

Andrew (18:46)

Yeah. Would you like me to find it? Let me see.

Luke Burbank (18:48)

Yeah, why not? If you don't. If you don't mind. If we're going on a Carmen Christopher jag, he's also a stand up comic. He has a stand up special out that's really good too. I mean, he's definitely a sort of outsider comic and comedic presence. But. But he is like, he is to me one of the funniest, one of the funniest guys out there. One of the funniest guys going before I play this.

Andrew (19:09)

Is that what I've heard that, that tick tock tape though? Like, is that a character he slips into a lot? Is that his overarching kind of energy or is that. No, not what he's like.

Luke Burbank (19:18)

I think he just does that when he's bored. No, I think he, I mean, literally, I think that's just from his TikTok page and I think he just like. I don't get the sense he's a TikTok comedian who has now gotten into other things through his. I think he's, you know, a sort of a stand up and a comedic actor who was just bored in Highland park one day and just decided to make this. Or maybe he's lived out there for a while and has noticed the change or something. But it's, he's not like that. Some guy, Mark guy that we talk about who's kind of like a very online comedian. I don't get the sense that that's this Carmen Christopher guy's deal. Exactly.

Andrew (19:52)

Here's this 30 second piece of tape from Joe Pera.

Luke Burbank (19:55)

Has anybody got a pill speaker?

Carmen Christopher (19:57)

We need to get some boom boom pow in here. Joe, aren't you a music guy?

Luke Burbank (20:04)

I actually teach middle school choir.

Carmen Christopher (20:06)

I wish I was pulling down six figures like you though. Stacking dough, you know what I mean? I'm actually saving up right now so

Andrew (20:12)

I could buy this plane. Check it out.

Luke Burbank (20:13)

Believe it or not, I've never been on an airplane before. Before.

Carmen Christopher (20:16)

Yo, I can't even process that. Jimmy. I need a brusi like my mama needs a kidney.

Andrew (20:22)

How's she doing, by the way?

Luke Burbank (20:24)

She's hanging in there. Yeah.

Andrew (20:25)

All you can do, man. So that's it, That's.

Luke Burbank (20:29)

That's that guy? Yeah. Then I get back to the hotel and I, I, you know, this hotel that I'm staying at, I really like it. It's not as fancy as this story is going to make it sound, but because the last time that I was here, I wanted to go. I had a couple of hours before my flight and I was done filming and I wanted to go sit by the swimming pool and I couldn't because Michael Jordan, not really Jordan, but the Jordan brand, had bought out the entire hotel. Meaning we, the patrons, couldn't go to the pool anymore, even though I tried to sneak. Sneak up there and then was denied and then had to take the elevator back down with the security guard who had initially told me that I wasn't allowed to go up there. And then this time I get back and there is just. There are stanchions, there are guards. The entire hotel is on lockdown. And allegedly the. The Kardashians were on the roof of the hotel or I don't somebody associated with them for some private event. Which again, I wasn't going to go to the hotel at 10pm anyway but. Or rather the pool. But I still don't like the idea that I can't use parts of this hotel because people who are fancier than me have rented it out. Across the street from the hotel is this event center and I guess it had some huge fashion awards last night. It's very weird also just to be in the room that I'm in. It looks out on this, I guess you would call it the parking lot in front of this thing. It's called the NY A Naya West. NYA west is what it is. And it's a venue that they have all these fancy get togethers and they're usually in the process of either building or taking down like a step and repeat. And all of this kind of Holly, you know, a red, literal red carpet and all this like Hollywood stuff. And mostly what I'm watching is in the daytime, all the people that work on creating this kind of illusion or whatever you want to call it, this experience. And they spent days setting all this up and building these little walkways and putting up again the step and repeat, which is something that you stand in front of, they take pictures of you. And then last night as I was actually heading out to Highland park, it was like all of the beautiful people were getting out of their stretch SUVs and walking the red carpet and now and looking fabulous and living their best life or whatever. And now this morning, just the guys out there taking it all apart, putting it away till it's time to build up a new one for the next thing. There's something that feels very, I don't know, kind of the artifice of Los Angeles. And by the way, I love this town and I love being down here. But there's something about watching them build up and then take down this, this sort of red carpet situation that just feels very much about the artificialness of Hollywood.

Andrew (23:14)

I told you when I was in Los Angeles, we had a decent view from our hotel room. I can't remember what floor we were on, but we were up high and we could see the sphere, and we could see almost. We could see a lot of things. I don't know Los Angeles. I meant Las Vegas. My apologies. And I don't know Las Vegas well enough to know, like, what direction I was facing or to give you more detail than that. But I saw, like.

Luke Burbank (23:35)

I've been to Las Vegas 100 times and I have no idea what to.

Andrew (23:38)

Actually, that's. Actually, that's helpful. Don't feel bad. But anyway. But the thing of all. There was all these really cool things to look at out the window. But the thing that really attracted my attention, I think I mentioned this to you off air, was if I looked straight down, like, walk up to the window, look straight down, I could see this area that was like the quote unquote, what I'll call, like, behind the scenes of Las Vegas. Because you just saw all the. Oh, we were there in January. And so it was all these really huge, various Christmas and holiday decorations, like giant horses and stuff, but, like, they were on their sides or in various degrees of. Not disrepair, but, like, you know, being unassembled or whatever. Down in this area, it wasn't a garbage area. It was like an area where they were getting ready to store these things again or whatever. And, of course, that's what drew my eye the most. Like, getting a little sense of kind of like the. You see everything, but it's all a facade. And what is really interesting is I think of a phrase you used to use quite a bit. I think kind of like the feet of the duck under the water. It looks like the duck is calm on top of the water, but those feet underneath are just working. I'm very interested in seeing the accidental behind the scenes of places that are supposed to be real life.

Luke Burbank (24:59)

Yeah. Vegas is really good for that because you have all of this artifice and all of this glitz and glamour and the Bellagio fountains and all the. But if you walk one block off the Strip, you get into real life real quick.

Andrew (25:14)

Yeah.

Luke Burbank (25:15)

You know, like, it is such. It is such an illusion and such a facade and. And, yeah, and Ali's like that a little bit, too. I've been out. I had. By the way, I had a conversation with a guy who was so deeply German this morning in the hotel lobby. He said the most German thing to me. So I got done with my little jog on Sunset and I came back into the hotel. I was getting some water, and this guy was wearing a bird. He had Been running, too. I could tell. And he's wearing a Berlin Marathon shirt, by the way, this is how. How impressive the Germans are. I knew this guy was German, and I also knew. I also knew he was going to speak flawless English. Like, he looked German to me, whatever that means. He was wearing a Berlin Marathon, like, running shirt that indicated he had run the Berlin Marathon.

Andrew (25:56)

Drinking shiner Bach.

Luke Burbank (25:59)

He was. He had just run the Janes to Homestead to Mendo Pipeline. And I was like. I looked at this guy, and I was like, this guy is definitely German, but I know he's going to speak English because that's how together Germans are. Like, I don't speak any German. But I knew. I knew this was going to work out. And I asked him. I was like, oh, were you running on Sunset? And he went, no, I went up the hill. And now. So you can do Sunset from here, which is pretty flat. And that's what I like to do, because I don't like running up hills. Or you can go towards, like, the Hollywood Hills and go to, like, Runyon Canyon, and it's, like, incredibly steep. And I went, wow, that's really steep. He goes, yes, but if you. The thing about the hills, if you go up, you'll get to come down. Wow, that's profound. You're right. If you go up, you do get to come down.

Andrew (26:45)

Did you tell them about home espresso repair at the top of 65th there? I did. Okay. I said.

Luke Burbank (26:51)

I said, I know exactly what that felt like, because years ago, I used to push my 10 speed up 65th, and I used to get to Finney Ridge. And then. So, yeah, we've done the same workout.

Andrew (27:01)

Let me stop you right there. I mean, I think we're speaking the same universal language here.

Luke Burbank (27:06)

Yes. Gerhart, just pump the brakes a little bit. I know what it's like to go up a steeple, and I had football cleats on. Okay, so get back to me when you've done that. I do love. There's something about being in Los Angeles and the. What I. What I love about this town. Back to the kind of the sort of dream factory aspect of it, but then also how it's so kind of grimy, I think. You know, like, Sunset Boulevard is such a weird street because it's just like. It's so iconic, and you've got all these, you know, billboards up for movies, and it feels. And there's these palm trees, and just. Hollywood High is, like, the coolest high school in history. It's like Right there at, like, Sunset. And I don't know what the cross street is, but it's like, I feel like you would have to be cool if you were a kid that went to Hollywood High. It would be impossible to not be cool. And yet it's also so trashy. There are just like. There's so much garbage. There's so much. There's human waste. There's just a lot going on on Sunset. And it's such a microcosm of LA to me, because, again, you've got the sort of the dream factory, and then you've also got the reality of the whole thing. And I, for some reason, kind of love that duality a little bit. There's all these just weird stores that somebody opened that clearly went out of business and now nothing has replaced it. And then people have graffitied up the windows and, like, it's just. It's. But I. What happens when I'm out here? There's also, like, tons of those little, like, I don't even know what you call them. They're like. They look like a cooler on wheels.

Andrew (28:33)

Oh, the. The. The automated robots, like, and I don't know who's.

Luke Burbank (28:37)

Yeah, the little robots. I don't know who's ordering from these things. Like, I've never. For. I used a Waymo yesterday. I love Waymo. I use doordash far too much. I've never heard of any. I've never been with anyone in LA who's like, hey, I'm. I'm ordering food from one of those coolers. Like, I don't. I'm really still kind of confused as to how the whole thing works. Like, does it go to a grocery store for you? And does someone put stuff in it? Like, I don't. I don't know how. That's also faster than just a person on a E bike bringing it to you or whatever. Like, I don't really understand what the business model is, but they're everywhere on Sunset, and they have these big, hugely expressive digital eyes. They're very, like, Disney fied. And they blink at you. Like, if they're coming down the sidewalk and you're jogging, as I've been, they stop and they look at you and their eyes just blink at you as you're running by. It's like, very kind of anthropomorphized, I guess.

Andrew (29:30)

If you're sitting at a sidewalk cafe, do they come up to you and just, like, stand there and look at you with their big eyes until you get a treat? Little.

Luke Burbank (29:38)

Yeah. Exactly. They're like those. Yeah. Nothing says tacos like brisket. But there's something for me about being a lot. I think it's. I think what it is is it reminds me of my 30s when I lived here. And when my. When I lived Here in my 30s, my life felt like it was totally potential. Like I had moved down here from Seattle, I was working at npr. I was working with all these people who I really looked up to. I was getting to know this town that I really, really connected with and really loved. And just like every day was an adventure, it felt like. And it just felt like my life was just getting better and better and better and. And, you know, that's a very powerful sort of feeling or a very intense feeling. And when I'm back here, I don't know, I was telling Becca, I was like, I feel like I might still be able to do something with my life. Like, there's something about being in la. I'm like hatching these plans and should I try to write a screenplay or something? Like, there's something about this city that activates something in me that feels like. Because my general feeling most of the time is like, I've had a good run. I love doing this show with you. I love my other jobs. I feel very lucky to have them as jobs. But this is pretty much it for me. This is. I'm at Finney Ridge, I went up 65th, and pretty much from here I'm going down the other side of 65th into, you know, Ballard or whatever. Like, I just feel like the plane has. The plane is leveled out in any moment. We're beginning the initial descent of my kind of productivity, of me having interesting things happen to me in life. And when I'm down here, somehow it feels like, I don't know, maybe. Maybe the plane could stay at least stay level for a little bit longer. Maybe you can even go up a little bit.

Andrew (31:13)

Well, if you're interested in making pictures, I have a seed of an idea for you here. Now, this is existing ip, so you'd have to get the rights. But I think that they are gettable because when you're talking about Hollywood High, I was like, that has got to be a 1990s TV show, right? Like, they must have made a TV show called Hollywood High, like after 9210 or something. I don't see any evidence of that. It looks like there were some pilots made at various times. But there was a movie called Hollywood High, I found it on Apple tv and I read the description of it. And I was like, oh, that doesn't sound super good, and it sounds a little bit racy. And then I went to the Wikipedia page. This is a 1977 film, and I am dying to read this for you. And this is my suggestion for you is maybe buying the IP here and maybe recreating this in a way that pleases critics more, because it says here, Hollywood High is a 1977American sex comedy film. So that's good right there. You got your sex, you got your comedy. Two of your favorite things says the film is generally, I might have rented

Luke Burbank (32:15)

this from the midnight movies section of Blockbuster Video in Greenwood.

Andrew (32:19)

The film is, this is going to start bad, and then it's going to get worse, and then it's going to get worse. The film is generally regarded as being a very low quality. First of all, you never want that sentence to be the second sentence of your Wikipedia page, no matter what it is. Whether it's your film, your podcast, or just your life. The film is generally regarded as being a very low quality, with one retrospective review calling it a shockingly inept piece of teen sexploitation.

Luke Burbank (32:47)

Oof.

Andrew (32:48)

Another review says, even for a dubious genre like this, this movie reaches a level of badness that would make even the most jaded exploitation filmmakers pause and subsequently resolve never to reach such a low point.

Luke Burbank (33:02)

Practically every Corman was like, all right, that's about enough.

Andrew (33:07)

Roger Corman was the adult in the room. Practically every department in this movie, acting, writing, directing, etcetera, Is at the very bottom of the barrel. So that's the end of that quote. Despite its poor reception, the movie had an unofficial sequel called Hollywood High Part 2, released in 1981, which likewise was panned. I. That is the first. That is the opening graph of your Wikipedia page. Man, that is. That's rough stuff. Yeah.

Luke Burbank (33:35)

Well, the good news is. Yeah, I mean, there's only. There's only one direction to go, and that is up from the previous existing Hollywood High ip. I mean, you're right.

Andrew (33:43)

Turn it into, like, you turn it into a premier television thing. You pitch it for, like, Apple TV or something.

Luke Burbank (33:49)

ABS Starring Carmen Christopher.

Andrew (33:50)

Yo.

Luke Burbank (33:51)

The principal of Hollywood High. That does seem like the ideal backdrop for some kind of a, you know, a teen drama type of thing. You know, with all the. Again, all the glamour of Hollywood. The other thing that's weird about being in this town is you hear so much about the demise of the Hollywood industry right now. You know, there's, like, not very much work. They say it's lots of it has gone to Canada because of tax breaks and, and other states. Georgia has a lot of filming that goes on now. And, and yet being out on Sunset, it's like there's just like, you know, film trucks everywhere and the streets are shut down and people are shooting things and there are these big billboards with pictures of like Charlize Theron on them and stuff. And it sort of feels like, you know, I don't know, it doesn't feel like the, the Hollywood dream is dead down here right now, it seems like. And then it's just like these houses, like, I don't know. Yesterday I was in the Waymo going to where we were filming in this, a pretty nice neighborhood of la. And you're just going by house after house after house. I mean multi million dollar homes. I mean every home in LA is a million dollar home at this point. But like, you're just like, where does all this money come from? How each one of these houses would represent, like someone being the richest person I know and, and there's hundreds and thousands of them. It's like, how, how did they make the money to have these houses? And what did they do? And how are they better at this than I am? What did, how did I. How am I living in Kelso, Washington? And these, these people who I don't think are smarter than me somehow figured out they cracked the code to have the house that they have. Like, the whole thing is just kind of mind blowing.

Andrew (35:25)

Again, I point you to Hollywood High and I think that is how you end up achieving what you want to achieve there.

Luke Burbank (35:32)

Yeah, right. It's like, oh, I see. I thought you meant that the producers of Hollywood High.

Andrew (35:36)

No, I know. I'm saying that's your key. That is your. I know. You bring you a.

Luke Burbank (35:40)

Are you getting like, are you getting points on the back end for this? Are you getting associate producer credit? I mean, this was, this was really your idea. I don't want you to sue me later when I make all the big Hollywood High bucks.

Andrew (35:51)

I will admit that I said that to you with an assumption that I would be able to play one of the high school students. Sorry. Why do people keep reacting to my ideas by laughing at me? I don't. Well, this is the kind of comedy I will bring as a high school student.

Luke Burbank (36:09)

You can be the mysterious new kid who's come from a different high school and looks 50. Hey, what's with that Andy guy? I don't know. He's mysterious. Also, he seems considerably older than the rest of us.

Andrew (36:24)

Why is he always carrying a skateboard over his shoulder?

Luke Burbank (36:29)

Wait, that's gonna be my move.

Andrew (36:30)

I called dibs on that.

Luke Burbank (36:31)

I'm also casting myself in this.

Andrew (36:33)

Just for the record.

Luke Burbank (36:34)

We was hoping for some razzle dazzle. Razzle dazzle. That's right, man. Razzle dazzle.

Andrew (36:39)

On your mark. On your mark. Get set. Get set now. Ready? Ready.

Luke Burbank (36:48)

Hey, let's thank some dazzling donors. Until we get that Hollywood high money flowing. This is really how we're supporting ourselves is donations. Voluntary donations from fine folks like our friend and I think, the master of transport, Mark Bourne, who says no relation to Jason.

Andrew (37:09)

That was my first question.

Luke Burbank (37:10)

You were thinking. Yeah, and he's. He's. He's just. He's dispelling that rumor right here at the top of the dazzling donor message. No relation to Jason Bourne, who is, of course, a fictional character.

Andrew (37:23)

Have you seen the Jason Bourne?

Luke Burbank (37:24)

It would be weird if he was related to him. I haven't. But here's the thing. I bet you I would like them. It's not. I'm not avoiding them intentionally. I just. I just haven't watched them. Have you?

Andrew (37:36)

No, I haven't. But I was. I was hoping you had seen it, because I was gonna try to make a joke. Isn't. This is awful? This is awful. Isn't the whole thing about Jason Bourne is that he doesn't know who he is? And so I was wondering, maybe, how does Mark Bourne know that he's not related to Jason Bourne if we don't really know who Jason Bourne is? But I might be messing up the premise.

Luke Burbank (37:58)

Maybe that's a family trait. Mark Bourne woke up one day flying an airplane, and he was like, how did I get here?

Andrew (38:05)

I'm also pretty much the reason I

Luke Burbank (38:06)

call Mark the Master of Transportation. What's that?

Andrew (38:09)

Sorry about that. You know what, Luke, let's. I'm just going to be forward about this. Let's turn off our video. I think we're dealing with some lag on the line here. So I'm killing my camera. That might help a little bit. Sorry for talking over. Well, I do, but it's. I think we have a lag on the line, and killing vid might help with that. But apologies for interrupting, but I was just gonna say I think there's a chance that I'm also confusing the Bourne Identity with memento. So I don't even know if any.

Luke Burbank (38:33)

Well, the thing is, our friend Mark Bourne, our first dazzling donor, also covered in tattoos.

Andrew (38:39)

Oh, right.

Luke Burbank (38:40)

Reminding him of, like, you know, his Life story. So there are some similarities there. Mark is in. The reason that I call Mark the Master of Transportation is because I believe that when we met Mark first he was driving a truck across the country and would give us reports of. Of different parts of the country and the industry of trucking. And then he became interested in air travel and then he went to pilot school and is now an airline pilot.

Andrew (39:05)

Nice.

Luke Burbank (39:06)

And I feel like I might even be forgetting one other. I feel like it's a. It's maybe he was a train conductor at one point. Like I feel like there was one other mode of transportation. Uh huh. Yep. Definitely. He's in Hawkison, Delaware. Oh, I guess it's Hokessin, Delaware. Thank you for the pronouncer.

Andrew (39:25)

Right.

Luke Burbank (39:26)

Hokusen.

Andrew (39:27)

I think according to the pronouncer. Yeah.

Luke Burbank (39:30)

You don't think that's. Yeah, it's not. That's not ho. Kesson.

Andrew (39:34)

Well, the ho is capitalized, making me think that the emphasis is on the hoe. But I don't know, I don't know this town. But the pronouncers pronounce call the Tim Hortons ho. Kissing. Oh, kissing. 24.

Luke Burbank (39:47)

Wow.

Andrew (39:47)

24, huh?

Luke Burbank (39:49)

Omaha. Omaha. Mark says. Hola friendos. So happy to be able to once again support this program. Crazy to think I've been listening for almost 18 years. I don't have much to say this year. So instead how's about some trivia about the state that I recently moved to Delaware, AKA the first state, AKA Small Wonder, AKA the Blue Hen State.

Andrew (40:14)

I like.

Luke Burbank (40:15)

I think Small Wonder is a great. It's a great nickname for your state.

Andrew (40:18)

It really is. Honestly. The Blue Hen State is pretty good too. And then you're coming out with a Small wonder.

Luke Burbank (40:25)

Yeah. Here's some Delaware trivia for you, Andrew. Delaware is the second smallest state, but it has the fewest number of counties. It only has three counties.

Andrew (40:34)

Wow. What do you think they're called? I'm this up.

Luke Burbank (40:37)

Delaware County, Small Wonder and First State.

Andrew (40:41)

Those are the three. How did you know? Yeah. List of counties in Delaware. This should be a very short Wikipedia article. It is. Newcastle, Kent. I'm sorry, hold on. This is where we need a bell. Newcastle, Kent and Sussex. All of those sound like the three counties. Yep. Very English. Right? Very. Living up to that New England name.

Luke Burbank (41:04)

My memory of being a kid and going through Delaware was that we literally, I think there might be a tunnel that goes somehow under Delaware. Like I remember as a kid we went on a road trip, we from Philadelphia and I forget where we were going. Exactly. Family road trip. But I remember we went through Delaware. But I. I literally think it was just like we were in a tunnel and then at the end my dad said, well, that was Delaware. Like we must have gone through a corner of it or something, you know, because I think it touches Pennsylvania somewhere. But anyway, number two, Delaware is also the only place where two counties with the same name border each other. Kent County, Delaware borders Kent County, Maryland. So that I guess could. That just keeps it. Keeps it simple.

Andrew (41:51)

You can say Kent.

Luke Burbank (41:53)

Yeah, I wonder if it was. I wonder if it was all called Kent County. And then they. When they drew the state lines, maybe they split it up or just somebody was just biting someone else's rhyme. I don't know. Number three. Delaware is flat. It has the lowest average elevation of any US State. Number four. Number four. A dazzling detail about Delaware. I know that's a lot of Ds. Dude, put on your Dai Do. Delaware's border with Pennsylvania consists of an arc of 12 mile of a 12 mile radius centered on the courthouse in Newcastle, the only such state border in the US. Delaware's border with Pennsylvania consists of an arc of 12 mile radius. I don't really understand that. I'm not good with geometry and geography.

Andrew (42:38)

Yeah, it's a couple of geos. Cutting it up. Yeah, I kind of got lost there too. I also got lost because thank goodness for your copy over there because at one point I went to hit play on a piece of tape, but I had the wrong tab open and instead I deleted like a big chunk of Mark's list. And I was like, where is Luke getting this information from? And now I just realized that. Oh yeah, I just needed. I know. I'm impressed.

Luke Burbank (43:04)

Mark's list only had two Delaware facts. Andrew. I'm doing the rest of these just from my general knowledge, my general base of knowledge. Number five, over half of all publicly traded US companies are incorporated in Delaware. I did know this part, Andrew. For real. Due to favorable corporate law and a court system skilled in litigating corporate issues. Great for corporations, less so for people. Freakonomics did an interesting episode on it, but by all means, thank you, Mark. Listen to your TBTL first. That's what we always say when there's a recommendation about some other podcast audio product out there. First you have to finish your TBTL before you can get on to the fun stuff. Okay?

Andrew (43:42)

That's right.

Luke Burbank (43:43)

I've known that for years.

Andrew (43:44)

Freakonomics.

Luke Burbank (43:46)

That's right. To the Stephen. The fun stuff of Stephen J. Dubner. Yeah, I'VE noticed that, like, if you look at the back of any of your credit cards, debit cards, things like that, they almost always mention Delaware because that's where all of the, all of the banking and stuff is going on. Mark says, hope this trivia provided even a fraction of the 1% of 1% of the enjoyment I get from TBTL every weekday. Keep doing what you're doing. It's working. Power out. Signed, Mark. Well, Mark, thank you for all of your contributions over the years, both in just telling us interesting stuff from the wide world and also financially for supporting the show. We really do appreciate it.

Andrew (44:27)

Speaking of financial institutions, Luke, before we maestro this up, do you know what I was doing? Right. And this, by the way, is not affiliated with Delaware, but more of Phoenix. But the other day I was uploading a bunch of my tax documents into a portal. I think I might have mentioned that to you.

Luke Burbank (44:44)

I heard you love that portal.

Andrew (44:45)

God, I love any portal. And so when I, when you start getting all of these things in the mail from, you know, employers, former employers, former lovers, banking institutions starting at the beginning of the year, you know that

Luke Burbank (45:00)

they're all, many of my former lovers have asked me to use a portal to contact them.

Andrew (45:04)

Most of them are in Delaware, where you can't reach them.

Luke Burbank (45:07)

Yes, that's right.

Andrew (45:09)

When they come in the mail, I don't even open them. Right. They're W2s, 1099s, whatever. You just put them in a pile and you deal with them later. If you're like me, you deal with them like three days a year before tax day. And anyway, so I was going through that pile. I grabbed it the other day and I was opening it and I realized this, this envelope I had gotten, not even an envelope, but one of those things that is like sealed and you have to rip the edges off it to open it. I thought it was going to be a 1099 or not a 1099, but like a tax document about, I don't know, maybe interest or something. Because I saw it was from bank of America and I opened it and it was not a tax document. It was a check. I have been sitting on a check since February 17th that was sent to me by bank of America, Luke. And I was depositing that as you introed the show today. I am now.

Luke Burbank (45:53)

What why did they have, Was there some clerical error, I'm assuming?

Andrew (45:57)

I think it came with a letter that did say because of some error or error, or maybe it just said we owe you this, or whatever it is.

Luke Burbank (46:04)

$1.00 was it substantial?

Andrew (46:06)

$0.29? $1.29. So if I sounded a little bit richer today than I did yesterday, that

Luke Burbank (46:13)

would be why that in your voice.

Andrew (46:14)

Yeah. Yeah. So let's hope it through.

Luke Burbank (46:16)

I got a check the other day from the state of Washington for unclaimed stuff.

Andrew (46:24)

Oh.

Luke Burbank (46:24)

Like, I went to that website. This is called.

Andrew (46:26)

You filled out the forms. Oh, I thought it was just random. Okay.

Luke Burbank (46:29)

Yeah. No, no, no. I'd filled out these forms online. This has come up years ago on the show. I think our friend P. Fletch was big on this as well. She's a very thoughtful person between the colonoscopy talk and the unclaimed assets thing. But for some reason, I don't know if I was bored one day or what, or. But I went onto the website and put my info in, and there was a variety of little things in there. And, you know, you've got to do a certain amount of confirming you are who you say you are. There's. It is a portal, Andrew, by the way. You've got to upload, you know, some docs to prove that, you know, I don't know where you live and also that you are the Luke Burbank in question or whatever. I got, like, $2,400.

Andrew (47:07)

Whoa.

Luke Burbank (47:08)

Of unclaimed. Just, like, weird escrow stuff from different houses, you know, that I've been involved with owning and, like, some kind of a. Just a refund from this, this organization or that or whatever. I think. I literally think there might have been money from the Marketplace radio show from, like, many, many years ago. Like. Like, they couldn't find me. So they just. I don't know, they somehow reported to the state of Washington that they owed me the money because that's where I lived. Like, there was just a bunch of weird little things, and it added up to, like, $2,400. And I put this all in, and I put the stuff in the portal, and I thought, well, this is never going to work. And then I got an email from them that just said, okay, we've approved all of this, and you're going to get a check in, like, two weeks. And the check showed up and I cashed it, and it apparently was legit.

Andrew (47:53)

So I have a little bit of regret in my life regarding this because I've only gone through that process once, and it wasn't $2,400. This makes me want to try it again. In fact, just keep on rolling.

Luke Burbank (48:03)

Definitely run your name, bro.

Andrew (48:06)

But I did it. And this is going back a Long time now. Maybe around that time, Phyllis was, like, really pushing us to try this. Maybe she was even on the show talking about it. But I think it only uncovered a hundred dollars for me. But, like, that's $100, right? And I think it was from New Hampshire. And I was like, oh, sweet sweetness. So then I go to get my money, but it's like, okay, well, you have to get this form notarized. And then I just got stuck in the mud on it. I was like, I'd. This is before you could get things notarized online, which I think you can do now. And I started like, I got to find a notary now, but I don't know if you can still do it. But I know during the pandemic, was it when we were. I can't remember what kind of business and I were up to and best not to share it, but we had to get things notarized. I don't know how to do with the house sale or what it was, but it was interesting. I got down to the end of a form, said, are you ready to notarize now? And I clicked yes. And the next thing you know, I'm on a live video call with a man in a different part of the country, and he's, like, confirming that it's me, and he's notarized, notarizing something for me digitally. But anyway. But long before that experience I had, I got this letter that said, yeah, you can get 100 bucks, but you got to get this notarized. And I just never followed through. And I think part of me was like, I don't know. And this is very Lucille Bluth of me, but I was like, I don't know. How much does it cost to get something notarized? Like $30 or something. Now I'm already down to $70 of this. And I think maybe I just decided. I don't think I decided it wasn't worth it, but I just never followed through. And now that money is still out there, and potentially, I don't know how far back it goes before it goes back to the state or it gets back absorbed by whatever entity.

Luke Burbank (49:43)

Well, here's the thing. If you're going to get something notarized, please do not do it at the mailboxes, et cetera, or whatever the store is in Longview that I like to go return my Amazon purchases at, because, as I've mentioned before, really gums up the works. Because it's also a notary.

Andrew (49:59)

Yeah, that's ironically, I was thinking like, if I were to do this now, I would go around the block to the UPS store and get it notarized, which is the most convenient thing for me. But I know that you are not a fan of that.

Luke Burbank (50:10)

Well, no, no. If you're getting the, your unclaimed property notarized, I think that's all well and good. It's like sometimes people will be like getting their mortgage or, you know, their mortgage papers notarized, which is again, it's, I'm, I'm mostly joking. They're well within their rights to do this. But you know, some of those things, there's like so many different signatures that they have to put on. Like when you guys bought your house, it's like, like you lose your mind at some point, signing like your name a hundred times. Like you start to. It's like saying a word over and over again.

Andrew (50:38)

Elephant, you know, camera. Funny. Yeah. Do you think some of those people getting things notarized are just thrill seekers, though? Do you think some of them are just like, they don't even really need to get things notarized, but they just, they want to feel something.

Luke Burbank (50:52)

So they're just going adrenaline, the adrenaline hit of going to a UPS store and completely back in the lineup as they get, as they notarize stuff. Yeah, they're like Helena Bonham Carter in Fight Club. They're just going to whatever group meetings because they want to feel something. Mark, thank you for the support. We do appreciate it. Maestro, on your mark.

Andrew (51:14)

On your mark. Get set, get set now. Ready? Ready, Go.

Luke Burbank (51:19)

Everybody rattle. Settle. Look who it is. It's our pal Andrew John in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Andrew, Point, point something out that I don't, I don't know if this came up last time. We've thanked Andrew John many times because Andrew has been a wonderful supporter of the show. He says the first name of the longest running cobra of the show paired with the first name of employee numero uno. Man, he's, he's got the names of everybody on the show except me.

Andrew (51:46)

Unless, of course, I mean, I think he would bring it up. I mean, if there's a chance that

Luke Burbank (51:50)

Andrew's middle of his middle name was

Andrew (51:51)

Luke or even Christian, I would take a Christian since that's your.

Luke Burbank (51:55)

Would you, Andrew, consider. And you're going to need a notary for this. Legally change your name to Andrew Luke John.

Andrew (52:02)

Think of throw a Luke in there. Wow. That is, that's three of the. How many apostles were there? Twelve. That's like a quarter of the apostles, right?

Luke Burbank (52:11)

Wait Was Andrew an apostle?

Andrew (52:12)

Was Andrew not an apostle?

Luke Burbank (52:14)

Is Andrew in the Bible? Is that a biblical name?

Andrew (52:16)

I think so, but maybe I'm genuinely asking. Well, I get my apostles and saints, and did Jesus have other homies too, or were they all apostles?

Luke Burbank (52:25)

Yes, well, the disciples.

Andrew (52:28)

Yeah, yeah, I get those two.

Luke Burbank (52:30)

Yeah, he had his disciples, and then when he died, and then I guess went up to heaven, as we just learned last weekend. Then I think that his disciples, some of them became apostles, and they were like Paul the Apostle and like, they were the ones that were like, building the Christian church. The idea of the Christian church or the Christian faith. Faith after Jesus was no longer on, on planet Earth.

Andrew (52:53)

Listen to how og he is. Andrew the Apostle and the first. Oh, no, it was as brother of St. Peter and the first disciple called by Jesus.

Luke Burbank (53:04)

Whoa.

Andrew (53:04)

So he was.

Luke Burbank (53:05)

So that is the name in the Bible.

Andrew (53:07)

Yeah, because I, I. But the thing is, I'm still not entirely. And you don't have to explain it to me again. I will look it up on my own time, not the dazzling donors time, but I'm still not totally clear on the difference between an apostle and a disciple. And it's kind of weird growing up in the Catholic Church and just realizing this now at the age of 49, that I don't know the difference between those two.

Luke Burbank (53:27)

I think the apostles were essentially, they came around after Jesus was no longer on the planet, and they were like, you know, sort of exhorting the Christians. They were writing letters, you know, the letters to the Ephesians and things like that. That was like apostle work. But disciple work was like, you're following Jesus around. You're at the Last Supper. You're like, you know, you're part of Jesus's crew while he's here on this planet. That's my understanding. But I didn't even know Andrew was in the Bible.

Andrew (53:56)

It says every apostle was a disciple, but not every disciple was an apostle.

Luke Burbank (54:01)

Right?

Andrew (54:02)

Yeah.

Luke Burbank (54:02)

So every person doubting Thomas was a disciple, but then he didn't go on to get apostle status.

Andrew (54:10)

Interesting.

Luke Burbank (54:11)

For instance, okay, back to Andrew Luke John of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Andrew says, every year the statement of how essential this podcast is gets repeated, and every year it is truer. I'm composing this message from Minneapolis in early February. The necessity of TBTL for all Minnesotans could not be more pronounced and added immeasurably to our ability to get through these most awful days. It's also worth noting that what Twin Cities residents demonstrated in their opposition to ice, and more importantly, in their Support for those in our community most brutalized and intimidated by ice was the very ethos of the TBTL community that is unwavering care for those around us, an allegiance to truth and goodness, and a renewed certainty that love is stronger than cruelty. Twin Cities residents proved there is indeed no mountain too tall. In a request that is a gilding of the Twin Cities lily. Would you both please share a favorite memory of a visit to this area? Thank you in advance for your responses and for everything you. Do you want me to start?

Andrew (55:19)

Well, I. Well, let me just say that I think that's interesting. I did not read this in advance, so I wasn't like brainstorming this, but quite sincerely. And you want to talk about gilding the Lily quite sincerely, when I see Andrew John's name, I immediately think of meeting Andrew in the bowling alley. Right? Like we met Andrew Ranham at the Ranham. Right. And Andrew a professor. Right. And so, like, it's amazing that, like, I wasn't thinking, what are some Twin City memories? But I will tell you, as you were reading this, Luke, I was having memories of what a wonderful time we had at the Ram Ham, meeting John, meeting some other people. That was a really cool night. We've had a lot of. We've had so many good times, actually, in St. Paul, in Minneapolis. Honestly, I. I really miss going back there. The other thing that I think of, and I'm going to need your help with this because it's right on the tip of my tongue. And if we don't get this together, we're gonna make a lot of Twin Cities baseball lovers mad. But is it Joe Maurer? Who is it that hit the baseball on top of a roof near the Ram Ham? And how wrong do I have that story?

Luke Burbank (56:26)

A fair amount. Yeah, it's the facade. So the restaurant that's above Ranham is called the Nook. And they're famous, as are a lot of places in the Twin Cities. They're famous for their Juicy Lucy. In fact, our old boss El Ro himself, Steve Nelson, when I was on a weird. Remember that cross country road trip I took because I lost my passport in Chautauqua, New York? Well, I stopped in Minnesota, and I believe it was. And our boss, Steve Nelson, let me stay at his house, which was very sweet. And I said, is there anywhere good to eat around here? He said, go down to the Nook. They've got this amazing Juicy Lucy. Now the Nook is across the street from the high school where Joe Maurer did go. And the facade of the Building has a dent on it from a home run that was hit all the way out of the ballpark across the street and into the building that is the Nook and the Ranham Bowling Alley. Now.

Andrew (57:25)

Okay, so I didn't get it totally. I said the roof and I said a building nearby. I'm just super proud that I got Joe Maurer. Right. To be honest with you, I was stalling. Oh, you don't think it was Mauer?

Luke Burbank (57:36)

That's what I was about to say. I think that because I bring this up anytime the nook comes up, and I think someone clarified that it was actually not Joe Maurer who hit the ball. It might have even been our friend, the musical Stu Bot of Midwest Excellence. By the way, our friend Stu is putting out a substack or a newsletter, Midwest Excellence, which is incredible and would highly recommend you check that out. I just got my T shirt today for being a West Excellence.

Andrew (58:04)

I gotta check subscriber.

Luke Burbank (58:05)

I know because check the mailbox. FedEx told me I received or Mandy Newman decided to send me some random thing. I'm guessing it's my T shirt, but.

Andrew (58:12)

Oh, nice.

Luke Burbank (58:12)

Definitely go check out Midwest Excellence. But all that is to say you were right about Joe Maurer, that he went to that high school. But I think it's been clarified that maybe he wasn't the one who actually hit the ball off of the Ran him or off of the Nook.

Andrew (58:26)

Well, I'm giving.

Luke Burbank (58:28)

I'm giving you eight out of ten.

Andrew (58:29)

Yeah. I'm actually proud that I at least got the details right as they were told to me, if that makes sense. Like, I. I was. I broke out into a really cold sweat as I started that sentence because I was not sure I'd be able to remember the name and I didn't look it up. And so again, I'm just over here celebrating a. Again, it's not pride. It's just less shame that I was actually able to complete the sentence without being totally, totally off.

Luke Burbank (58:57)

No, you were. You got the Joe Maurer part of that. That's the person that is commonly bandied about related to that home run. You got that absolutely right. So I salute you on that. I would. I would agree that probably some of my favorite times in the Twin Cities have been at that bowling alley because it's just so danged adorable. And by the way, I didn't even know it was there for when the first time I went to the Nook, I just went and I probably had a juicy Lucy and then left and unbeknownst to me, there was this cool bowling alley down beneath or below. But of course, we've had so many great times with the tens out there, and I don't want anyone to feel jealous. But I have to say, Andrew, I think Mancini's char house might have to take the cake for me as far as Twin Cities experiences. That was such a fun, weird night.

Andrew (59:45)

That was amazing.

Luke Burbank (59:46)

So much fun at that place. Meeting the guy who was the institutional memory of the basically upper Midwest wrestling circuit. Getting a ride home from the Mancini's son, like, that was just. That was a. That was a really, really fun night. So that might. That might top my list. But. But again, let me put this way of. Of events that didn't involve us actually chatting with tens and spending time with them. That might have to be my. My top moment.

Andrew (60:14)

Yeah, no, that. That was. That was amazing. And again, like, I'm not joking, like, I have so many fond memories. When I went. When we were back in the Twin Cities briefly after the last tbtl a thon. I just spent one night in the Twin Cities before hopping on a plane and coming back to Seattle. And I sort of, like, took a sentimental journey. Oh, I'm gonna write a song about it, actually. I took a sentimental journey, kind of walking some of the skyways and byways that I used to walk when we were working for American Public Media. And I sound ridiculous saying that, because when we worked for apm, it's not like we had desks there or spent tons of time. We would just spend a week there every now and then over the course of the however many years we work there. But you know me, I'm a very sentimental guy. Speaking of. And I'm going to try the audio here, but if it's just music overlay.

Luke Burbank (61:03)

Quietly crying at the caribou coffee down here.

Andrew (61:06)

It was. Well, they changed underground mall. They actually did change a lot. And I had to explain to the nighttime security guards why I was like, sort of like, just poking my head around. Everything was dark in there, but it's still open, right? Because it was like they got to keep those spaces open. So I'm kind of in that mall area where that sandwich shop was, where those security guards are. I might have eaten a gummy. No, I didn't even eat a gummy. I drank one of those, like, one of those THC sodas that they were selling at the Twin Cities at the time, which I believe they don't do anymore. And so I was a little bit buzzed anyway, as I'm wandering around these like a little mouse in one of those little terrarium mazes. And I'm just trying to make my way through and then I have to. To explain myself to these very nice security guards. But I'm looking at a Instagram from the Nook here. It says, did you know that the Nook has a bowling alley in the basement where you can order beverages and delicious Nook food and. Yes, of course we knew that. And this is a little video on Instagram and it's a little. It's a digital tour. And it starts with somebody walking through the door of the nook and then going down the bowling alley. And I'm seeing right now exactly where we met. Andrew. I want to see if there's any audio here. If it's just.

Luke Burbank (62:14)

Just going to know.

Andrew (62:17)

Okay, we're getting close.

Luke Burbank (62:18)

They're going to know.

Andrew (62:21)

Do you know what that nobody's going to know drop is from. Is that a ticky talkie?

Luke Burbank (62:26)

I don't. It's a ticky talkie. I don't know the origin of it, but I've heard that a thousand times in my life.

Andrew (62:32)

Okay. Unfortunately, there's not actual audio of the bowling alley here, but this is pretty sweet. It's a great tour. It's taking me back. And we, I know we always say this, but we have to find an excuse to make it back back.

Luke Burbank (62:44)

Yeah. We don't even need an excuse. No, we are our own bosses, Andrew. We do. We, you know, we get to decide these things now. We don't have to get permission from the, from the folks at apm. We can just show up there. In fact, maybe we can just. If they're still running TBTL related, like vid, like, you know, visual content in the lobby, I think we're allowed to actually use the facilities still.

Andrew (63:06)

Do you know that I stood outside that window again, Keep in mind, it's probably like, like 10 o' clock at night. I've already gone. I've already been the gerbil through the terrarium. And then I'm standing outside the APM building at night watching the. The TV that scrolls through all of the APM properties and their logos and everything. Because we were up there for a long, long time. And once again, I had to wave to a security guard inside the APM lobby to let them know that I wasn't like going to go crazy and start pounding on the window. But I stood there for a long time. I think they have finally removed us, Luke. I don't know if that's good or bad?

Luke Burbank (63:41)

Aww, that's sad. That's like I wanted, you know, I liked it that we were still living rent free on their digital video screens. Yeah, I took that as a sign that they. That they missed us and that they realized that they really messed up when they let us walk away.

Andrew (63:56)

Andrew. Yeah, exactly. Well, I do field a lot of calls from them. At least two a week of them begging us to come back. So there is that.

Luke Burbank (64:03)

Usually late at night. They had a couple of glasses of wine.

Andrew (64:07)

Is this Lily? Alex, you don't even work there anymore.

Luke Burbank (64:11)

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Andrew, thank you for all the support. We really do appreciate you. Man.

Andrew (64:17)

Here I go once again with the email. Every week I hope that it's from a female. Oh, man. It's not from a female.

Luke Burbank (64:26)

All right, do we have an email or V mail you'd like to present before we skedaddle?

Andrew (64:31)

Absolutely. As it's going through some voicemails today, as a matter of fact. Got a bit of a backlog, but this one we grabbed a while back. This is from listener Adrian, and it's a question about running protocol. I think Adrian saw something and wanted to know if this is normal behavior for a runner. If I remember it correctly.

Adrienne (64:52)

Hey, guys, this is Adrienne in New York. I have a question for Luke regarding runner's protocol. I just got back from the track and I saw something that I'd never seen before. And I don't know, I might just be blowing this up, but it's something that I observed that really rubbed me the wrong way. I'm curious if this is like a normal thing that runners do or not. So I saw this guy who appeared to be like a pro ish runner. Like, he had the spandex on and, you know, the whole get up. And he was doing these hand signals before he was changing lanes, similar to what we were taught to do when we were kids when we were riding our bikes. You know, you would extend your arms to indicate to the cars behind you that you were, you know, taking a right or left turn on the road. So he was doing that on the track. And I should say that the track wasn't that crowded. It was like five or six people on there. So. And normally, like, I. I always check over my shoulder, you know, before I change lanes. So I think that is, you know, to be commended. I, you know, I. I always check just to make sure I don't run into anybody or people running into me. Because it happens. You know, people have their ear pods in, but yeah, I don't know. Something about the hand signals really didn't sit well with me. I don't know if I'm, like, overreacting, but. Yeah, just felt a bit performative.

Andrew (66:23)

I don't know.

Adrienne (66:24)

I'm curious to hear what your thoughts are on this, Luke. If this is, like, a normal thing, if this is something that maybe marathoners do, just, you know, as a common courtesy. But.

Luke Burbank (66:35)

Yeah.

Adrienne (66:35)

Is it just me? Am I weird? What are your thoughts? All right, power out, you guys.

Andrew (66:41)

All right. What do you think, Luke?

Luke Burbank (66:43)

I don't know if I've ever seen that before. Also, I don't run on tracks very often. Usually I'm just, you know, out on a trail or the street or something. But I actually. I can. First of all, if this person was super serious and, like, a really fast runner and they're kind of like, you know, putting their left hand up or putting their right hand up, I can kind of understand how it might seem like a little. A little much. A little, you know, like, all right, calm down, everybody. But on the other hand, I do like the indication that this runner is aware of where they are in space and is trying to give more information to everybody else about where they're going to be in space. Because my number one frustration when I'm out on a jog is people that are just. And, you know, this is really more about me than the people that are trying to live their lives. But it's amazing how little thought. And again, I'm not even saying that these people should be giving a ton of thought to it, but, like, it's amazing how little thought people, when they're just out kind of walking and chatting or something, or they have their dog, are giving to, like, how much of the sidewalk they're taking up or, like, just where they are in space. I never notice it until I'm jogging and I'm trying to get around them. Or more to the point, I'm probably tired, and I want this to be over with. And so anything that's kind of obstructing me or delaying me, it just feels like. It feels like way more serious than it probably is. So I like the idea. And I'm also, by the way, a major checking over my shoulder guy before I change lanes. I mean, on the sidewalk, when I'm running, like, if I'm. If I'm gonna move at all, like, you know, east, west, I look over my shoulder like I'm driving a car. I don't know if it's just a habit from from my days of driving a car, I'm still like. I still check my blind spot. I don't trust. You know, I have those little radar thing. It's supposed to tell me if I'm about to hit someone when I. When I change lanes, but I still have to look over my shoulder. It's just a force of habit. It. So I. I agree with you that it's kind of corny what this guy was doing, but I also think that I would like it because it would just cut down on the chances of him being in my way or me being in his way. I mean, it also raises the question, who is the signaling for? Presumably, this person was pretty fast. If Adrian said that he is a pro runner. So he's running. He's going faster than everybody else, presumably. And then he's changing lanes, and he is. He's signaling in case secretly, Usain Bolt has showed up and is now running behind him, but so fast that he's about to pass him. I wonder. You know what I mean? Like, if you're running faster than everyone else, but you're also signaling you're about to change lanes, the only person that. That would be relevant to would be someone running behind you who's running so fast that they're overtaking you, and they're like, to your left, and you're now about to go into the left lane and you're signaling, so they know you're about to do that. That seems like a very niche event, if that makes any sense.

Andrew (69:35)

Yeah, And I hate to. I would always prefer to take the side of a listener. And also, keep in mind, I have zero Dougs on this flight because I'm not a runner, but I am somebody who, you know, so I definitely wouldn't be out on this track. But as somebody who is, you know, overly concerned with people kind of, you know, knowing where they are in space and time and not like, you know, like. I tell you, I saw somebody literally walk backwards into somebody at Costco the other day just because she decided to. She wanted something else. So she stopped and started walking backwards and ran into people. I'm just like, you can't do that without looking over your shoulder. This might. I could understand the seeming maybe extra on an uncrowded track, but maybe this person is just used to running in more busy areas and so takes the extra. I don't have an answer to your. Like, New York. Yes.

Luke Burbank (70:25)

Is, you know, and I don't know if it's New York State, but it's, you know, it's a pretty hectic place. I could see this person developing this behavior because of running along the, like the west side highway or something where there's lots of people.

Andrew (70:37)

Yes, exactly. That's why I was thinking. Or even bicycles or something. And so if you're in a crowd like that, then you're in the habit of doing it. You're just in the habit of doing it all the time. So it looks kind of weird in the scenario. And I think, I'm saying. I think I said Adrian. Is it Adrian? I think, I think so.

Luke Burbank (70:54)

I think that's how she said it.

Andrew (70:55)

So maybe Adrian. Yeah, my apologies for that. But yeah, so, like, it might have looked odd in that particular moment, but like any kind of good habit, you just sort of start doing it and you kind of stay in the habit of doing it. So, you know, I'm all for that. The weird thing is that I do it when I'm on the elliptical at the. And that I will admit is a little extra.

Luke Burbank (71:16)

No, I know they've asked you to stop doing that because it's kind of weirding everybody. Yeah, you've been, you've been, you've been hitting the gym of late. It sounds like you're getting back. Back on your fitness and stuff. How's that going? Good.

Andrew (71:26)

You know, the reason I started doing it, and this is, this is true. And I know I self diagnosed this on the show with you, but I was having a lot of foot and ankle pain a while back, and at first I thought, oh, maybe it has to do with my rheumatoid arthritis. But it's really. I kind of mentioned it when I was having less severe stuff to my doctor, and he's like, no, that's not rheumatoid. Like, it's just, that's, that's, it's a different thing. You're not flaring up elsewhere, your wrists aren't flaring up again. So it's probably not that. But he didn't really say what it was, other than like, you know, I'm a man of a certain age, of a certain weight, and, you know, doesn't get a lot of exercise. And as I was complaining to you that I thought I might have had plantar fasciitis, and maybe that was also now affecting my ankles because of the way I was walking and I was doing various treatments at home. But what occurred to me during that time was I had not been getting any exercise at all maybe since the very early fall when I was going on some beautiful long Walks around my neighborhood. And I was like, maybe I just. Just, you know what? The best thing for my painful feet might be to, like, go on an elliptical. And that's literally why I went. And also, like, not to get super serious about it, but I think it was also around a time that I. I was looking at that, and I was thinking, you know what? I had dealt with some pretty heavy things in my life over the course of the past six months or something that I don't really think about or talk about all that much. And I was like, you know what? I think I might have been depressed for a while there. And so I. And it was funny. And I started going to the gym, and. And by working out a little bit, my ankles started feeling a lot better, and I started feeling a lot better. And it was one of those things, I don't know that I have ever had a period like this in my life before where. And again, I'm not linking this to just going to the gym, but it was one of those moments I had a couple of months ago where I was feeling good. I was going to the gym every day. I was doing this, and I was like, I don't think I realized how down I was, but I feel more up now. You know what I mean? And that's the only time that's ever really happened to me in my life. I was like, I don't think I was fully being either honest or acknowledging maybe some things I was going through. And I just have felt better. And it's like, wow, I can talk about looking over your shoulder. It's almost like kind of looking over your shoulder and being like, oh, look at those clouds. I didn't kind of realize I was in there. So, anyway, I'm feeling better. I'm looking forward. Like, we were joking earlier about, I know you can't give dogs twisted tea, but God damn it, you can give it to humans. And I'm looking forward to walking around the neighborhood.

Luke Burbank (73:51)

There's nothing against the person walking them

Andrew (73:52)

being on Twisted Tea. No, And I'm. I really am looking forward to, like, going on daily walks and stuff with. I almost said it with our little girl, but I am also. I'm a little bit nervous about kind of losing my gym time, because I feel like any little extra time, I'll have to. At least at first, you know, I'm. But, like, it was Monday when I was doing my taxes. I was like, okay, fine, I won't go to the gym this afternoon. I got to do these taxes. And Fine, I just won't go. And then I did my taxes, and they were so much. Did my taxes. I beat, submitted my forms or whatever, and it was so much easier than I thought it was going to be. Then it was like 3 o' clock and I was out of my mindset of going to the gym.

Luke Burbank (74:33)

And I was like, you had already given yourself permission to not go to the gym that day.

Andrew (74:37)

Exactly. But you know what? I went. I, like, pushed through and I was very proud of myself. I was like, come on, man, just go. And I felt better about going. And I'm a little bit like, I know that I think maybe having these doggo times might take.

Luke Burbank (74:51)

Take.

Andrew (74:51)

Get me out of my routine a little bit, but I'm really hoping to not be fully out of it because it's. Once you're in it, you want to go, you know.

Luke Burbank (74:57)

Yeah. No, you feel. It's like, obviously there's all of the research around the way that it, you know, is good for our mental, you know, sort of state as much as our physical state. I am so excited for you. And dog walks, man. I have a feeling you and that dog are going to go on some epic jaunts. Like, that's the number one thing I miss about Rudy is just we would just go on these long, long, long, long, long walks. Because generally speaking, I mean, most dogs that I'm it, they're pretty much down for as far as you want to go. They're pretty into it, and it's just fun. It's just fun being out there with them. It's really healthy. Like, I feel like some of the healthier times in my life have been when I had a dog that needed to be walked because, you know, again, it forced me to do it and. But also, it's just nice to be out there to touch some grass, as they say. So I think you're gonna. I think you're gonna have some really fun times getting out there and exploring the neighborhood.

Andrew (75:46)

I don't know why I'm giving you this ammunition, but I did have a thought yesterday because again, I sort of thinking yesterday, like, oh, yeah, like tonight's my kind of my last night without of responsibility. And again, not that I'm not looking forward to it, but just kind of adjusting my mindset of how my free time will be spent going forward. And I was walking towards Aurora yesterday and I thought, oh, I wonder what our first experience on the E Line will be like. Because I assume that event, like, again, this. I've never had a dog Before, I've never had this experience. But one thing that I've always appreciated about friends, dogs or dogs that seem like them most kind of well balanced in my outside perspective is the dogs that are just with their owners at a lot of the time. You know what I mean? Not everybody can do that. So I'm not trying to sound judgmental for people who can't, but I'm always just really, really, really impressed when you walk into a place and, yeah, there's a dog sitting there. Whether it's. I know some people feel weird about restaurants or whatever, but bus dogs is definitely a thing I love seeing.

Luke Burbank (76:45)

I didn't know what the rules were. You can bring a dog on the bus.

Andrew (76:47)

Yeah, I mean, I love. I mean, I mean, I see dogs on the bus a lot. They're usually very well behaved. It's so hard not to pet them. Like, I'll just make it. I'll just make eyes with a dog on the bus for the entire ride. The dog looks like it wants petted so bad, but I know that I can't just like walk up half a bun a bus length just to pet some stranger's dog. They might not like that. But like, I love seeing. I know they say well behaved bus dogs never make history, but I don't know. I see well behaved bus dogs all the time. Time.

Luke Burbank (77:16)

Yeah. Well, exciting times, I guess. We'll have a big update tomorrow on how your night went.

Andrew (77:21)

Yeah. Yes, indeed. And I.

Luke Burbank (77:23)

Do we get the dog's name tomorrow? Yes.

Andrew (77:24)

Yes. I promise you I'll stop withholding. I apologize for that. I just, I. Listen, I don't like this.

Luke Burbank (77:29)

I'm more mad about this than you are.

Andrew (77:30)

It's just. I wish I could say the name, but Genevieve is keeping it very close to the vest. I think she wants to make an announcement to our friend group and. And that. And that's again, totally fair. She does a lot for me, so

Luke Burbank (77:39)

I will keep her for her. But I. I think it's totally fine, so. All right, man. Well, good luck with all that today. We will be back here tomorrow with more imaginary radio. I will be back home ever so briefly before returning to Portland to do Livewire tomorrow night. If anybody's in the neighborhood, come on by. Cheryl Strayed, Kyle Canane. It's going to be a fun night.

Andrew (77:58)

Oh, Kyle Canane.

Luke Burbank (78:00)

Yeah.

Andrew (78:01)

I haven't heard that name in a long time. I used to use some intro tape of him. That's interesting. That's great.

Luke Burbank (78:06)

Yeah, it's funny, I. I do just was seeing him on TikTok a lot. He just started popping up and he's a funny guy and he lives in Portland. So I just DM'd him from my TikTok account and said hey, you know, I do this radio show in in Portland if you're ever around and maybe we could have you on. And the thing is I forgot that I have the crazy burner account. So he just got and Kyle Kanan is like a pretty famous comedian at this point. Just gets like an email, a mess, a DM from like user 5732974 or

Andrew (78:35)

6 don't dox yourself.

Luke Burbank (78:36)

Do you want to come on? You want to come on my radio show? And he responded which was kind of amazing. So anyway, point being we'll be back here doing TBTL tomorrow, so please do join us for that. In the meantime, everybody have a great Wednesday. Take care of yourselves and please remember, no mountain too tall and good luck to all.

Adrienne (78:58)

Power out.