#4741 Flyer Like An Eagle

Summary

TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live

Episode #4741: "Flyer Like An Eagle" (June 3, 2026)

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Luke Burbank and Andrew Walsh dive deep into the world of fraternal organizations—specifically the Eagles Club. Morning banter about membership renewal leads into a winding, hilarious, and surprisingly poignant discussion about club rules, community, generational divides, and their own often-complicated relationships with the Eagles. Along the way, the conversation naturally detours through pop culture references, stories of being (or feeling) excluded, and the challenges of keeping traditions alive in a changing world. The episode wraps with dazzling donor tributes, a memorable lost cat email, reflections on podcast music copyright headaches, and a custom ambient piece by listener JoJo Moran Douglas.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Treats, Cats, and Good Old TBTL Chaos ([00:01])

• Andrew launches with a spoof on market economics and “cats vs. dogs” media tropes—a classic TBTL style cold-open, full of playful non sequiturs.

2. The Great Eagles Membership Dilemma ([03:06]-[21:54])

• Andrew receives a flyer about his Eagles dues; this opens a Pandora’s box of Eagles-related stories for both hosts.
• Luke describes his own saga:
  • He joined the Seattle Eagles during/after the pandemic, but was sworn in remotely via Zoom (recalling Arrested Development references: “[I] did sometimes yell to Genevieve, shoot me, but she refused to throw the laptop because it would have broken it.” [05:03])
  • Despite intentions, he never paid his employment dues on time and “never possessed the card.” As he jokes:
    • “My theory of the case was we’re all Eagles. I am a member of the mother area, okay? ... Is it a bad thing for the Rainier Eagles to have me in their facility paying good money for food and alcohol, tipping well, investing in the future of the Eagles by way of those machines, turning in a couple decent karaoke performances here and there? I just don’t think—the place benefits from me being there, but not this guy…” ([09:47])
  • Eventually, the Rainier, Oregon Eagles barred him from entry: “So the latest status is the last time I tried to go, I was turned away from the Eagles in Rainier, Oregon. So I guess what I would say to you is, get that bill paid... and don’t try any fudding business at the Eagles in Rainier, Oregon, because ... this one guy is not having it.” ([11:04])
• Andrew reflects on Eagles logistics in Seattle:
  • He isn’t a regular—logistically inconvenient location and new dog make it hard—but values the social aspect:
    • “I love the community… but for some reason… it’s going east-west in a kind of weird corridor that is not super convenient.” ([12:20])
• Deeper dive on club membership and the generational challenge:
  • Luke questions the logic of strict enforcement: “If you have three younger people... showing up to an Eagles A, they’re to presumably drink alcohol, which is good for the local economy of that Eagles... it seems like a more better thing for the Eagles overall.” ([20:50])
  • Andrew counters with the legal/reputational reasoning (“Otherwise you’ve just turned the entire Eagles organization into a chain set of bars. Right.” [12:40]), but agrees with the general need for new blood.
  • Anecdotes exchanged about older club members fearful of change as younger people join: “Well, you know how it is when you get the younger people in here. They want to do things their way…” ([24:16])

3. Tales from the Eagles Clubs—Surrogate Swear-ins, Bylaws, and Local Color

• Arrested Development references abound—Genevieve “carried” Luke on a laptop for his swearing-in ([04:42], [04:58]).
• Discussion of an infamous incident at the Ballard Salmon Bay Eagles where a neighboring health club tried to infiltrate the Eagles' board to secure a parking lot, described as ripe for an “Alexander Payne movie” ([25:14]-[27:08]).
  • Memorable Moment: Andrew cites a 2016 headline: “Seattle gym hatches scheme to buy Ballard lot. We say scheme, scheme…” ([26:44])
• Genevieve’s experience being ejected from a rural Eagles despite a “grace period” on card expiration ([15:51]-[19:44]).

4. Dazzling Donors and Listener Tributes ([27:43])

• Donor: Julie Kumasaka (Marysville, WA)
  • Notable quote: “Not having TBTL in your life is like being attacked by a shark. The same level of danger. Thank you all for being such a positive part of my existence. You matter, every last one of you. I want to hug this show and never let it go.” ([29:26])
• Donor: Jojo Moran Douglas (Nakano, Tokyo)
  • Has been performing ambient music in Tokyo/Taipei—TBTL stickers on his synth
  • Created a 10-minute ambient piece from TBTL thank-you gifts (melodica, tambourine, etc.), titled “all of that is to say” ([33:27]-[34:22]).
  • Will be played at episode’s end, as a way to “mix it up” musically.

5. Copyright Headaches & TBTL Theme Music Uncertainty ([39:01]-[45:06])

• Spotify has started yanking TBTL episodes because of music rights issues with “Catch My Disease” by Ben Lee and “Words” by Doves.
  • Luke: “It’s really hard to think about how the top of the show would work without ‘Catch My Disease’ by Ben Lee. It’s been the theme song since day one.” ([40:13])
  • Andrew reports hundreds of copyright flags and suggests rotating free/rights-cleared music; shares a few sample tracks (“Dixieland Strut by Albert Behar”, “Surf Ninja 3 by House of Mango” [41:43], [44:32])

6. Listener Emails: Lost Cats and TBTL License Plates ([45:31])

• Listener Adrian’s epic lost cat story:
  • Lost his cat Marley (yes, named after that Marley) while moving; found cat living inside apartment walls two days later.
  • Notable quote: “Eventually, he emerged. When I started playing Bob Marley’s greatest hits. He finally came out, and he had one of those colorful hats.” ([49:58])
• License Plate Watch: TBTL fans report sightings of TBTL vanity plates from Washington, Oregon—hosts muse about the loyalty and odd fame this suggests ([53:23]-[54:36])

7. Show Wrap & Preview ([54:45])

• JoJo’s ambient piece played out; Luke and Andrew promise to finally get to the “top stories” in subsequent episodes.
• Memorable closing banter:
  • Luke: “You know, this feels like, first of all, this is exactly the kind of thing I listen to constantly, if I’m being honest. And it also feels hopeful. Like, I like that. It’s atmospheric. It kind of feels like better things are ahead, better shows are ahead. Shows where I get to the top story are just around the corner.” ([55:05])

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Notable Quotes & Moments with Timestamps

• Luke, on his approach to Eagles membership:
  “My theory of the case was we’re all Eagles. I am a member of the mother area, okay? ... Is it a bad thing for the Rainier Eagles to have me in their facility…?” ([09:47])
• Andrew, on club logistics:
  “You think they’re like, well, I pay tip. I pay for my food and I tip. Why should I have to pay dues? But then it’d be like, well, then do you think nobody should pay dues or that should just be you?” ([12:26])
• Luke, on club recruitment challenges:
  “Having more younger people in the Eagles seems like a more better thing for the Eagles overall… Why would you ever kick people out of here unless you really, really had to?” ([20:50])
• Andrew, on fraternal order generational divides:
  “…when you get the younger people in here…They want to do things their way. Or something along the lines of that. … You just said you’re 79 years old and you’ve been doing this forever and it’s time to hand the baton. But you can’t hand the baton because, oh, younger people are going to want to run things slightly differently. That is the way the world works.” ([24:16])
• Julie Kumasaka (dazzling donor):
  “Not having TBTL in your life is like being attacked by a shark.” ([29:26])
• On copyright issues and changing the show’s music:
  “It’s really hard to think about how the top of the show would work without Catch My Disease by Ben Lee. It’s been the theme song since day one.” (Luke, [40:13])
• Listener Adrian’s cat saga:
  “Eventually, he emerged. When I started playing Bob Marley’s greatest hits. He finally came out, and he had one of those colorful hats.” ([49:58])
• Luke, reflecting on JoJo’s ambient piece:
  “It’s atmospheric. It kind of feels like better things are ahead, better shows are ahead. Shows where I get to the top story are just around the corner.” ([55:05])

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Important Timestamps

• 03:06 – Andrew’s Eagles renewal kicks off the main topic
• 04:04 – Luke’s pandemic-era Eagles membership story
• 09:47 – “We’re all Eagles” theory and “being turned away” in Oregon
• 15:51 – Genevieve’s experience being kicked out for an “expired” Eagles card
• 24:16 – Generational tension at clubs and the “baton” problem
• 25:14–27:08 – The “Olympic Health Club” and Eagles parking lot drama
• 27:43–34:22 – Dazzling donors: Julie and JoJo
• 39:01–45:06 – Spotify/copyright trouble and search for new outro music
• 45:31–54:45 – Emails: lost cat story; TBTL license plate sightings
• 54:45–end – JoJo’s ambient piece plays; optimistic episode close

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Tone, Style, & Energy

The episode radiates classic TBTL: rambling but endlessly entertaining, self-effacing, brimming with nostalgia for shared spaces, full of inside jokes, deep listener connection, and honest musing about the strange rules of clubs and the weird world of midlife friendship. The tone is wry, affectionate, and earnest, with just enough curmudgeonliness (and Arrested Development references) to keep things grounded.

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For New or Occasional Listeners

This episode is an excellent snapshot of TBTL’s strengths: meandering conversational chemistry, intertwining personal stories with “big” cultural reflections, earnest gratitude for listeners, and a refusal to ever stick to a script. If you want to know what it feels like to spend a morning catching up with two longtime friends—equal parts lighthearted, absurd, and almost accidentally poignant—this episode is for you.

Transcript

[A]

The thing about this economy right now, treats might not be market drivers as much as we thought. Also, a little bit later on, cats, Love em or hate em. Yep, that old chestnut from American Canine Media. This is Marketplace from Dogs Angelus. I'm kyruffstall. It's Blursday the 33rd of November. Good as always to have y' all on TBTL. Okay, no sounds. No sounds. Just words. No, I need words. Not silence. Just give me words. I need words. That's how I communicate.

[B]

I know everything there is to know about computers. Okay.

[A]

All the Twitters.

[B]

I know. Well, there's that fine line between, you know, showing emotion and being a hot dog.

[A]

Hey, I want to dance with somebody. Oh, boy. Who keeps putting Twizzlers in the fridge? I told. Is it Sarah?

[B]

Crystal.

[A]

Crystal does.

[B]

She likes them.

[A]

Okay, well, Crystal, you and I are going to have another Twizzler.

[B]

WW this and WW that. Let's www.explain it. Well, all right. Hello, good morning and welcome everyone to a Wednesday edition of tbtl, the show that just might be too beautiful to live.

[A]

It does take time and it is a pain in the ass.

[B]

My name's Luke Burbank. I am your host. Here comes me, this millennial podcaster coming to you once again from the medical district of Houston, Texas.

[A]

Houston, we have a boater where it.

[B]

Let's see, it's. Well, it's hard to tell down here in this part of the Gulf coast what the temperature is by looking outside because it's cloudy, which in a lot of places would mean, oh, it's not that warm out. It could be 140 degrees right now in Houston. And cloudy, that is a real possibility, my friends. Thankfully here at the Westin they've got AC going and we are in great shape to bring you episode 4741 in a collector series. Let the fun begin. I am here in Houston learning all there is to know about the Vietnamese American diaspora and the food stylings of what's called fusion food. Viet Cajun food.

[A]

Welcome to Food News Today.

[B]

A lot to report. Actually, kind of an interesting story. Speaking of food news, why is a guy named Roy Donk selling loose baklava? He was king of the Tuk Tuk sound around Prospect park in Brooklyn and getting written about in the New York Times. We'll dig into that as well and we'll chop it up with this guy. Longest running cobra of the show. Maybe best known for his depictions of the tall ships and also his brutal, radical, sometimes off putting levels of Honesty.

[A]

You are, to me, when you're working, an innocent champion of honesty.

[B]

He's Andrew Walsh, and he's joining me right now. Good morning, my friend.

[A]

Good morning, Luke. Just got a flyer here from my local Eagles chapter saying that I need to renew my membership. Should I renew, I assume that you are in major arrears.

[B]

How can I be in arrears to something I don't use? Like, I am majorly sideways with the Eagles, but not in a. Do you really want me to explain it or just go back to the flyer?

[A]

Oh, I don't really have anything in the flyer, to be honest with you. I just happened to notice here my internal dialogue doesn't matter. I had no point. I just. It's been sitting on my desk as a reminder to renew myself. And then I was gonna throw in the garbage, and I thought, I'm not gonna forget to renew, right? Like, I leave things in my life. I leave things in my inbox that annoy me, and I leave things on countertops and desks that annoy me. I like clean surfaces, as you know, but sometimes you have to leave things there so that they get under your skin, and then you take care of them. But this time, inertia wins out. I'm just throwing the damn thing away. And I trust that I will pay my dues the next time I'm there, as far as you're concerned. I mean, I was teasing because I would assume that you're not really a member of the Eagles anymore. Or are you? I don't know.

[B]

Well, here's the story. I, during the pandemic, decided to join the Eagles of Seattle because, you know, lots of my friends, you and Camaro and the crew all go there. Our friend Katie was the, like, president of the thing. But because it was the pandemic, or at least maybe it wasn't the pandemic, but it was. It was not too far after, I guess, that time. Somehow I managed to weasel it into a situation where I paid the money, but I didn't actually physically show up at the swearing in ceremony. Yeah, the very secretive and you might say fraternal kind of situation.

[A]

Genevieve had you on Zoom, and she carried you around at chest level on her laptop, I believe.

[B]

I can't ever not think of the Arrested Development situation where Martin Short is being carried around.

[A]

Oh, no. I think the better example from Arrested Development would be when George Michael Sr. Is on house arrest and he has. What's his name? Super Dave. Goes around being his surrogate, right? And he's got A camera.

[B]

Well, the thing is, the last time this came up, I made the Martin short reference, and you made that reference, and you are correct. That is more apt. I did sometimes yell to Genevieve, shoot me, but she refused to throw the laptop because it would have broken it. So everybody was very nice and allowed me to be sworn in as a member in good standing of the Eagles, even though I was doing it by remote. And then a year went by, and then I fully. I didn't have it on autopay or something. I just somehow managed to forget to repay my. And what is it? A hundred bucks a year or something?

[A]

Maybe that used to be less than that. It might be a little bit more than that now. I don't remember. But it's not gonna. It's not gonna break the bank.

[B]

It's definitely something that I had, you know, I budgeted for. I'd been saving, and I just forgot. You know, it's. It's like I go to that Eagles, unless there's a TBTL beating event or maybe a Seahawks game, I might go once a year. And so it's not that I don't want to pay the $100 to support the cause. It's that it's not top of mind for me because it's not a place that I go a lot. And so I keep. I mean, literally now, for going on a year or more, I've been meaning to mail the check, and I just keep forgetting. And then I called, and there was no one answering. And one time I was asking Katie about it, but she wasn't physically there. She was like, I have to be physically there to process it. It was some kind of complication. And. But this is where it gets interesting, because there's an Eagles in Rainier, Oregon, just across the river from where I live. And it is an awesome spot in my opinionation. It. It's on the Columbia river, the mighty Columbia. It's got a great kind of deck area that sits out kind of almost over the river. They've got karaoke. They've got little slot machines, little games of chance. It's a lot of things that I tend to enjoy in the world. And I was going there for a while when I was a member in good standing with the Seattle Eagles. And then at some point, I got a call from the Rainier Eagles saying, do you want to join here? You. You can't just keep coming here just as a Seattle member. Or somehow they wanted me to join the Rainier Eagles, which makes sense, right? Yeah. My sense is I had to. I was going to have to. What's the word I'm looking for? I was going to have to like, resign from my membership of the Seattle Order of the Eagles, which is the one I'm emotionally connected to, because it's where my friends are. And so anyway, I. I didn't. I didn't. I didn't give up my. I didn't give up my claim to Seattle Eagledom, but I also never embraced Rainier Eagledom fully, but there was this kind of liminal period where I would just go to the Rainier Eagles when I wanted to, and. And. And nobody really seemed to say anything.

[A]

And.

[B]

And it's a very secure situation. You have to buzz in, you know, like, and. And they let you in and you sign the little guest book. And by the way, again, I'm a. I'm a. I'm a paying customer. I'm a tipping customer. I certainly donate to the little silly machines they've got there. Like, you know, all around good guy and one bartender, this tall, younger gentleman, I would say too young, not too young to work as a bartender, but oddly young to work as a bartender at the Eagles. That makes any sense. You know, I mean, Mike may buck the trend at your Eagles in Seattle, but it tends to be a job that falls to people of a. Of a certain age demo.

[A]

Right? Yeah, the Ballard one. I don't know, like a few months back or something just happened to be walking by and I was like, I'll go in and just see what the scene is in here. And the bartender was a guy who had been around and like, literally was telling me about all the Eagles that he had visited, you know, around the country, how he had gone to various eagle paloozas or whatever they call the grand, you know, gatherings of Eagle units or what. As you can see, I'm not super into the. Into the culture myself. So I, you know. He would be your probably platonic ideal of an Eagles bartender, right?

[B]

Well, this guy did. Younger guy. And I thought, you know, kind of a pal of mine originally, but he seemed to be the first one to figure out, like, this guy is not a member of the Rainier Eagles. And he's also now kind of. I don't even know if they know what my status in Seattle is per se, but what they know is that I have not somehow pledged my allegiance to them properly.

[A]

Well, now it's make you show your card and you aren't in good standing here, then there would be an expiration date on that. I guess.

[B]

I yeah. And I don't think I've ever even had the card. Like, you know, I've never possessed the card.

[A]

This is the thing.

[B]

My theory of the case was we're all Eagles. I am a member of the mother area, okay? And, like, I'm talking the place that started it all in Seattle, the numero uno, the big kahuna. And yes, am I a couple of months behind on my dues, maybe one year behind on my dues? Sure. But, like, is it a bad thing for the Rainier Eagles to have me in their facility paying good money for food and alcohol, tipping well, investing in the future of the Eagles by way of those machines, turning in a couple of decent karaoke performances here and there? I just don't think. I think the place benefits from me being there, but not this guy. And so it went from him saying, hey, you really gotta, like, get your paperwork in order to eventually being like, you can't come in if you don't have your paperwork. And I was like, wow, I'm really being banned. Really being turned away. I was like, okay. And so the latest status is the last time I tried to go, I was turned away from the Eagles in Rainier, Oregon. So I guess what I would say to you is, get that bill paid, make sure your card is valid, and don't try any fudding business at the Eagles in Rainier, Oregon, because they're. At least this one guy is not having it.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, that makes sense. Well, first of all, I don't think I've been to the Eagles literally since the Super Bowl. Could you believe that? I mean, I guess. Wouldn't you?

[B]

But I. I do believe it because I think that. I think with the dog.

[A]

Yeah, the dog has been, like, two months now. And so I definitely have not been to the Eagles since then. And I don't know, like, it just. I. You know, I love my friends there. Oh, maybe I stopped in for, like, a quick say hello to people playing bingo or something, but. And again, I love the community. I'm not. I'm not bashing it here or anything, but for some reason, and, you know, it's not a super easy. It's not a place I can just. What does Kamaru. Kev say? Swangle on bar. You know what I mean? Like, it's a bus. It's like two buses or a car. And again, the car ride is not super expensive if I take a lift or something like that, but it's not like a bar that's right around the corner from Me, that is just like an easy transportation issue. It's going east, west in a kind of weird corridor that is not super convenient. And so, like, you know, I'm not there all that often, but I still, you know, I'm. I'll happily pay my dues or what have you. I don't think I knew about all this. Issues you were having in. In your Rainier one. Although, I mean, but mean, it does make sense. I mean, of course, this is the. This is the epitome of the difference between you and me. You think they're like, well, I pay tip. I pay for my food and I tip. Why should I have to pay dues? But then it'd be like, well, then do you think nobody should pay dues or that should just be you?

[B]

I think nobody should pay dues. I think everyone should tip as much as I do and lose as much as I do in machines, and this thing would be golden.

[A]

I just think that then there's a. There are literal laws around what you can and cannot do if you're a private club the way the Eagles are.

[B]

I see. Okay.

[A]

You know, like, it's a very specific thing. Otherwise you've just turned the entire Eagles organization into a chain set of bars. Right.

[B]

And it's not that.

[A]

I mean, you know, and again, I'm not somebody who's here. I wouldn't be part of a fraternal order if my friends weren't already in it or something. I'm not like somebody who, like, you know, maybe buys into. I mean, listen, it's an organization that had an auxiliary for women up until like very recently, like very recently 2000.

[B]

That's why I'm not paying the dues.

[A]

And so that's why. So it's not like I am like, you know, I'm not like fully into it, but I just do feel like, well, if you are going to run a private club organization that has to follow different rules and, you know, it has all kinds of regulations, not just from the parent organization, but legally as well. As far as, like, you know, how you run your organization, it's not just a set of McApplebee's or whatever. You know what I mean? So people have to pay their dues.

[B]

Otherwise now you're on to something when you're.

[A]

When you're here. McDonald's family, Applebee. Wait, no, that's. That's also the wrong one.

[B]

That's Olive Garden, as I often say, Andrew, I wouldn't be a member of any club that would have me yeah,

[A]

so anyway, I'm kind of with you. Like I'm not. And I don't think you would probably be going to the Eagles either if it weren't for our group of friends. So I didn't. When I brought this up, Luke, I literally just had nothing to say. So I was like, huh, I wonder if I should read you my Eagles. And now here's how the show works. But I heard the. But from the very get go, I could hear the like kind of hiccup of irritation in your voice knowing that there's some underlying thing which I literally had no idea about. If we have talked about this, I do not recall it.

[B]

I think for me it is. I, I don't. Yes, I like the idea of the Eagles and you know, have been going to it with Kamaru, Kev's like parents or because of Khmerrakev since, you know, for 20 years we were going even, you know, I think maybe before it was even in its current spot. But. So I like the idea of it. I don't know enough people out where I live and I don't go to the one in Rainier enough to like become. It would be weird because it would be basically me just, you know, kind of. There's something about joining the one near where I live and making that my full time kind of place that seems a little something or other to me. Whereas being a member of the Seattle one kind of makes sense I guess because everybody who I know in Seattle, a lot of people I know go there. So I don't know, I'm kind of betwixt and between. But you're right, it's like I just generally figure out because also for many years I wasn't a member and I would just always be with somebody who was a member, whether it was Camaro or Katie or maybe you and Veeves. It was just like the Seattle one when I lived closer to, I guess maybe even when I lived in Seattle. It just was sort of like very under enforced, like whether or not I was allowed to be there. I was always with a bunch of people that were members or something and I was always again pulling a lot of tabs and you know, drinking a lot of drinks and over tipping a lot. And I just kind of, you know, felt like, I guess that was the, that was the energy that I got used to and then it, you know, and then I ran into the, the cold hard rule of law that is that one tall guy at the Eagles in Rainier, Oregon. So that's. That was the energy you heard me bringing to that conversation.

[A]

Do you know Genevieve's experience with that? She was on a camping trip or maybe. I don't know if it was a camping or a hiking trip or something out in some part of more r. Rural Washington. I want to say somewhere, you know, further east than here, which is pretty easy to do because almost everything is further east than here. But, you know, kind of.

[B]

We've ruled out Bremerton.

[A]

No, actually, you know what? It was Bremerton.

[B]

Okay. So it's west.

[A]

So it's west. I don't know exactly where it was, but it probably sound. You know, I don't think it was the Rainier one, but it sounds like it was very much those vibes, and I do think that that is the sort of strict vibe at those places. But listen to this bullshit, okay?

[B]

I'm here for this.

[A]

Goes in with now when you are. So here are the quick rules on kind of like, once you have your Eagles card, like, Genevieve belongs to the one here in Seattle, area number one, and you can use that card to visit other Eagles around the state and around the country. I don't know what would happen if you became a regular at one of those other Eagles clubs. I guess that's sort of what you were dancing with. But there were complications because also, you weren't a standing member here or something like that. So. But generally speaking, I think it's kind of like, hey, you can use your card to get into other Eagles organizations and. And, you know, don't abuse it, I guess, is probably the thing. Right. And also, if you are a member of an Eagles, you're allowed to bring some friends into the Eagles as well, even if they're not members. But they have to sign in. Right? And, you know, they have to keep track of that. And again, that's something that's actually, I think, legal. That isn't just like, hey, we want to know who's in our club. I think that is because of liquor laws and because the laws are different for club organizations or whatever. I think you have to have that guest book or whatever, but you're allowed to. So Genevieve goes into this Rural Eagles with a few friends. Let's say it was her and three other women who were not Eagles. But she has her card from the Seattle one, and she shows it to the bartender, and they're like, already sort of like, sitting down, making themselves comfortable. And the bartender says, no, this is expired. Get out of here. And it literally, her card had expired the day before, and she was probably in Good standing. Just didn't have the new card yet, you know, like it takes a minutes for it to get mailed to you or whatever. And Genevieve was just so fun because I guess the woman was super rude. She's like, nope, you are expired and these people aren't members. You get out of here. And you know, I wasn't there. But it sounds like. It sounds like it was infuriating. It was probably a little.

[B]

I wonder if it was a regional thing as well.

[A]

Yeah, probably just their vibe.

[B]

Genevieve's group's vibe versus the. Because, I mean, it gets real red real fast at an Eagles in say, Ellensburg, Washington, or even more so, you know, like even more rural than that.

[A]

And even. Even putting like politics aside, even just vibe or that sort of protectivism of a small community or something and feeling like outsiders are there and so. But, you know, I'm assuming that Genevieve, you know, I know that she was pissed, but I'll bet you she was a little embarrassed too. Like, nobody likes being rejected like that with your friends or whatever. And then. So that's basically the story just they

[B]

had to go to the McApplebees.

[A]

Basic irritation. But then Genevieve finds out later that like they're supposed, like in the BO bylaws or whatever, there's like a five day grace period or a seven day grace period. I don't know what it is that, like, that card is actually good a little bit past its expiration date, probably because of this actual issue of I have renewed, but I'm just waiting for my new card to show up. So she was ejected. I mean, what was she going to do? Like, you're a. You're a crook, Captain Hook. What was the Arrested Development song when Michael is a child pretending to be a singing lawyer. Anyway, Like, I don't think that Genevieve was going to make a case out of it there, but she really was in good standing and got ejected with her friends out of this rural eagle. So, yeah, I mean, I think.

[B]

And that's also. And it sounds like I'm trying to piggyback on. And we all know, Andrew, that the piggyback system can be controversial. Although now I love it and it's great, but. And nothing should ever change about any Mariner baseball decision.

[A]

You know, they're under the six man rotation though, right? Oh, are they going back to that six man. Yeah, so I guess they're gonna. So that. That's what they were trying to avoid, going to a six man by piggyback. But I think the next time they're just going six, man.

[B]

I mean, again, it's as long as they keep winning. I. It's amazing how much of my, how much of my criticism gets fixed by winning. As Al Davis said, just win, baby. But I'm not trying to piggyback on Genevieve's story because that's a legitimate story of like Genevieve being in the right and this person being in the wrong. But this is my larger thing. As we know things like the Eagles and the Elk and the, you know, probably American Legion, that one's a little more associated with obviously military service, but these fraternal organizations, my sense is, and I could be wrong, but my sense is that the struggle for them oftentimes is to get younger people involved.

[A]

Now.

[B]

So if you have three younger people or four Genevieve and her friends showing up to an Eagles A, they're to presumably drink alcohol, which is good for the local economy of that Eagles because they'll be tipping and whatever for that bartender. And also just to expose more people who are again, young, younger in this case, is anybody under 70 more younger people? Being in the Eagles seems like a more better thing for the Eagles overall. And that's the part of it too that like, I just feel like they should really be trying to take loss leaders wherever they can of like letting again, you know, not belligerent or overly drunk or annoying people in these places or allowing people to take wild advantage of it. But it seems to me that when it's kind of on the line, they should default towards trying to be inviting to people because that just helps more people get an experience with it. And then more people become members of the Eagles and then the thing gets to go on for years and years. That's my general thought around the thing is like, why would you ever kick people out of here unless you really, really had to because of some behavioral thing, Right?

[A]

Yeah, that was one thing that the old man at Ballard and the Ballard Eagles is really cool. It seems more like sort of the platonic ideal when I talk about the physical structure of the place, the type of building it is. The wood paneling inside, it just feels like the Eagles that we belong to in Lake City. It's a weirder space frame.

[B]

It's in a former quilting store, I believe.

[A]

I'm not trying to bash it, but it doesn't have that really old school fraternal order feel inside.

[B]

Cigarettes smoke bacon into the wood paneling.

[A]

But the one in, what is it called? Salmon Bay in Ballard, like that one just feels really old school and is really Old school. And so I was making a conversation with the bartender there, and like, I said, he was like this older gentleman. Again, sort of the platonic ideal of a Eagles bartender. And kind of almost saying, like, yeah, I was the president, like, seven different times I told him, I'm not doing it again. Like, one of those guys who, like, kind of kept becoming president because nobody else was doing it. And then he. I don't know, like. And I don't know the ins and outs of Eagles stuff. Like, listener. I mean, our friend Katie, who's also listening to this right now, is probably, like, pounding her steering wheel because she knows all the ins and outs because she was the president of our chapter for so long. But, like, I don't know, the advantages of, like, you know, I guess.

[B]

Where were you when I needed you?

[A]

I'm sure she's.

[B]

I was getting kicked out.

[A]

She's done a lot.

[B]

I should have sent a bat signal up that Katie.

[A]

Yeah, it's just like Katie's profile up in the sky. But all of that is to say I'm making small talk with this guy and, like, he's sort of talking to me like, I know the ins and outs of, like, what's good as far as membership, what's bad? And I'm kind of like, just faking it the best I can. But you mentioned something about the younger people. Like, yeah, we need, you know, younger people or whatever. But then he says something without going into detail that was so curious that lives in my head. He's like, yeah, but, you know, then you get the younger people. And again, when he says younger, I think he means probably 45 and below. You know what I mean? Like, I'm almost 50, and my guess is he considered me one of the younger. But he said, well, you know how it is when you get the younger people in here. They want to kind of. They want to do things their way. Or something along the lines of that. I'm just like, like, yeah, bro, you just said you're 79 years old and you've been doing this forever and it's time to hand the baton. But you can't hand the baton because, oh, younger people are going to want to run things slightly differently. That is the way the world works. But it's also. Is there a story older than that of just, like, the.

[B]

Turns out Congress isn't the only gerontocracy that we need to deal with.

[A]

Right, Right. Actually, the lifetime appointment of the Eagle presidents is really dangerous, problematic. So, anyway, I've told you about My

[B]

Alexander Payne style film that I think should be written maybe by me about that particular Eagles and the Bougie Athletic Club nearby.

[A]

Oh, oh, that's right. Because that was a whole thing. Yeah, they were.

[B]

Yeah, that was crazy.

[A]

Oh, actually, damn it, now that you bring that up. No, that's not what he was referring to. Cause I even think I said, are you talking about the parking lot issue? And he said, no, not those people. But I'll let you explain what we're talking about here. That's an interesting story.

[B]

It feels like. It does feel like it could be an Alexander Payne movie, don't you think? Along the lines of election or one of these things where you've basically got this very fancy health club in Ballard called I believe the Olympic Health Club maybe or something. Yeah, you're right.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And. And they've always had issues with enough parking for their members of the. Of the club and this Eagles. Because the Salmon Bay Eagles, you know, they got this property back probably in the 1950s or something when Ballard was just a working little fishing area where, you know, you could pick up property for probably next to nothing. And so they also. That Eagles, they, they own or they at the time owned this 10 years ago or something, owned this parking area that they were leasing to, I think an auto repair company. And the fancy Athletic Club kept trying to buy the property from the Eagles. And I think the Eagles were. Were kind of hesitant. They were offered them two and a half million or something for it. And. And so eventually what was. I don't even know if this. I think this did happen a little bit. At some point the Athletic Club started to try to get its members or people that worked there to become members of that Ballard Eagles so they could get on the board of the Eagles. So they could eventually or just vote. Yeah, vote to I guess sell the parking lot. Like they were trying to astroturf the Salmon Bay Eagles so that they could get them to. To. To part with this parking area or something, which is just. It just feels like. It feels like either the. A great sort of interesting book or movie of. Just think about the characters between the crusty old Eagles and the go Go yuppie health club people. And you know, there you go.

[A]

Look at this. Okay, this is interesting. This is a headline from 2016. 16. Ten years ago, Luke from Kow, Seattle Jim hatches scheme to buy Ballard lot. We say scheme, scheme. Seattle Jim Hatches scheme to buy Ballard lot. Who has the byline? Bill Radke and Andy Hurst, two friends.

[B]

Oh my goodness. This was end of an era.

[A]

This must have been beginning of an era. It must have been a segment on the. The KOW talk show that Bill was hosting at the time.

[B]

Yeah. So. Well, yeah, I guess that's. Well, what is that, Andrew? That's about 30 minutes or so based off of you noticing a flyer on your desk.

[A]

I literally was like, I got nothing to say. I got a flyer here.

[B]

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

[A]

On your mark.

[B]

On your mark.

[A]

Get set, get set now. Ready, ready, go.

[B]

Everybody. Razzle dazzle. All right, let's thank some dazzling donors. TBTL doesn't have. We don't have generational parking lot money, Andrew, like the eagles in Ballard. Unfortunately, we did not buy low in Ballard. And so what we're doing here, our financial model is voluntary donations from the listeners. And it's working, at least thus far, thanks to folks like Julie Kumasaka, who's in Marysville, Washington. Julie says you always get the name pronunciation right, but just for fun, it rhymes with puma. Socka.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Why would anyone sock a puma, Andrew? Actually, you know what that would be probably. It's probably what you're supposed to do. If a puma is coming at you, you want to get large, you want to make noise. You don't want to run from it. You want to keep. You want to keep. Keep facing it. And if it gets close to you, you want to socka it.

[A]

I don't think that's true. I think you want to run. I think you want to outrun it.

[B]

Oh, right. If you can outrun a puma, then yes, definitely outrun it.

[A]

I think that's what you're supposed to do, try to outrun the puma. Just see how fast you are.

[B]

Yes, let's test that. I mean, it is counterintuitive. Like, same thing with sharks. I don't plan to ever be in the water with a shark. But the word on the street is if you're in the water, I guess if you're scuba diving or something and a shark approaches you, do not, well, do not try to swim away from it. And also they're like, look it in the eye. And I was like, look it in the eye.

[A]

Look it in the eye. How would you look at it?

[B]

Look at it. And it's a dead prehistoric side of its face.

[A]

Yeah. Which eye? Yeah.

[B]

One million year old eyes.

[A]

What? No, I don't like that. Sit down with it. Invite. Invite a mediator along.

[B]

Exactly. How do we get to. Yes, Mr. Great White. Julie says. Longtime donor, first time dazzler here. Ah, Julie, thank you so much. I was inspired to level up when I thought about how different my life would be without tbtl. Luke, Andrew and John and all of the tens. It's truly a little terrifying, like a shark that you can't find its eyeballs. Thank you all for being such a positive part of my. Yes, that's. Those are. I want people to understand. Not having TBTL in your life is like being attacked by a shark. The same level of danger. Thank you all for being such a positive part of my existence. You matter, every last one of you. I want to hug this show and never let it go. Oh, that's a good reminder. I got to bring that drop back.

[A]

Yeah, that is one that. My memory is that I grabbed that off of a television. Like a network television promo, I believe.

[B]

It definitely seems like a. It feels like almost an infomercial or something. I've actually got it right here, I believe. Here we go.

[A]

I just want to hug this show and never let it go. I think it was a promo for, like, some sort of, like. Like, if not a sitcom, some sort of a comedy drama network TV show. And I think I saw that promo. It was like one of those Sunday Night Football promos or something. You know what I mean? You're watching and it's somebody.

[B]

Is this a person who likes the show saying they want to hug it?

[A]

I feel like they might have been reading quotes or reviews. Okay, that's my guess.

[B]

Now here's the thing. I must have retitled it, because this is called lowercase hug show. And so definitely I titled this in my computer. But that doesn't.

[A]

I don't know. You know, this is so old. Not. I mean, my God, man. You thought. Thought it was crazy how long we went off with the.

[B]

Thank you for the donation, Julie.

[A]

I just want to hug this show and never let it go. I think I have. I used to. I used to label things like that. It's hug. Oh, no, it's not hug dash show. I do have it here on my end, too, though. Hug show. So, yeah, I think play hug show

[B]

on your side here.

[A]

What if it's. What if it's exactly the same, only it's my voice. Let's see here. I just want to hug this show and never let it go.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I don't know. I just have a vague memory of grabbing.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Anyway, it's not a contest, Andrew. Calm Down.

[B]

Julie, we just want to hug you consensually and never let you go from the being a tens of listener and a dazzling donor. We really do appreciate you. Thank you so, so much for helping us keep TBTL going. Maestro, on your mark. On your mark.

[A]

Get set, get set now. Ready, ready, go. How loud was my sneeze? There I was.

[B]

Hear it at all.

[A]

Oh, good. You were talking and I was trying to mute myself. But I was also getting ready to go with the maestro music and I sneezed and I was pretty close to the microphone. I wasn't sure how much much that came through.

[B]

I did not pick that up at all, for what that's worth. But I do want to take a moment to thank our second dazzling donor and that is the one, the only Jojo Moran Douglas who's out there in Nakano, Tokyo, Japan. Segoi to Jojo. Jojo says a thank you to the TBTL team and the tens for another year of the best company one could ask for. Last year I think I shared something about making ambient music on modular synth. And since then I've been lucky enough to perform ambient music in Tokyo and Taipei a number of times with TBTL supporting every trip including a friendship Billboard sticker on the side of my synth. One highlight of the year was an animation shared by the amazing Melisande of her and others performing dance to my music. I'm grateful to TBTL for this connection. I love this. This is amazing. I also put together. That's me saying I love this. I also put together a quick ambient piece using the TBTL donor gifts. Andrew.

[A]

Oh, the dream is coming.

[B]

This is the dream. When we were doing the THON last year and we were banding together as a group, of course some of the thank you gifts were musically associated. We had the melodica, we had the tambourine. What am I forgetting? Anything else in there that made noise?

[A]

Harmonica, tambourine, melodica? Yeah.

[B]

Yes. And I said, wouldn't it be amazing if we could get the teach the world to sing and we could make music with these? And then turned out that was actually harder than I thought. But Andrew, do you happen to have this in front of you? Would you be able to?

[A]

I do. I also was wondering, do we want to go out with this today? So it's this 10 minute long? 10 minutes?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Let's go out ambient, but probably not the whole thing. But he said maybe we can needle drop it kind of about halfway through or something like that. I was thinking maybe we go out with it. I'M not trying to. I'm not trying to withhold here, but I sort of thought that would be kind of a nice way that we can really let it.

[B]

Why don't you also. Do you want to. Do we want to. Do we want to let the listeners further behind you?

[A]

Honestly, I thought you were just going to be like, andrew's clever. Andrew's clever. He is.

[B]

No, I see what you're doing there.

[A]

He's. He's solving.

[B]

You are. You're solving two problems and I'm solving a third problem, which is. We had nothing to talk about for the rest of the show. But, yeah, now we've got it.

[A]

In the 10 minutes that we have left, you and I are going to have issues filling out the show. We literally have not gotten to anything on the show sheet for the past two days. But no, go ahead. I'm fine with it. It's easier for me to just, like, air these things out than not.

[B]

And also, I think it's a public service announcement to the listeners a little bit. Let me finish with JoJo's message here. And then just so it doesn't get too far afield of our chatting. And then. And then let's go out with JoJo's ambient piece made by using the TBTL thank you gifts. It's by the way, the piece is titled all of that is to say. All of that is to say, you

[A]

know, that people have really identified that as a. Something that. I don't know if it's just you or us, if it's something that we say a lot or if it's just something that you say a lot. It's not something that I've noticed, but lately I've seen more and more references to. All of that is just to say as a sort of TBTL ism.

[B]

I think it's a verbal tick for me. I think, by the way, is a

[A]

big verbal tick for me.

[B]

I think maybe my most. My most repeated, you know, it's a little transition for me or a way for me to kind of, I guess, essentially say, this is an aside. Oh, by the way, Andrew. Oh, by the way. It's because we're on one conversational path and then I'm. I'm sort of moving to a different one. And I'm saying, oh, but by the way. And because we do that so often on the show, but I think I also say all of that is to say a lot to try to sum up. So then when we're. I found that we've gone down that path. And now that path is just dead ending and there's just like a puma standing at the end of it.

[A]

Right.

[B]

We got to go back to the original path. That's when I deploy all of that is to say, sure. JoJo says if anyone is interested, you can find it and the links to SoundCloud, etc on my Instagram, which is at J underscore J Moran, which is M O R a N. So at j_jmoran on Instagram you can get all of JoJo's stuff. Let's see. Here's to another great year of TBTL, some Mariners wins and frequent use of the slab jacking drop.

[A]

No.

[B]

So JoJo was the person who did butterfly?

[A]

Yeah, JoJo has a. Yeah, I guess so. Yeah.

[B]

I played butterfly on my 50th birthday. Andrew, for Becca's family.

[A]

Did you karaoke yet?

[B]

No, I just.

[A]

We.

[B]

They're big, big Simpsons folks and like particularly her brother Jeff. Becca and Jeff probably have more Simpsons references committed to memory than anybody I've ever met. And I said, well, what about the Bart man? And they said, of course. And I said, what about the Barter fly? And they said, huh? And I found this and played it for him and they were fully impressed.

[A]

I thought you were talking right up to it, but I didn't realize that they was gonna lose.

[B]

I don't know when the. When the post is, but I think. Let's see if it's here.

[A]

Hey, what's happening, dude? I'm a guy with a rep for being rude, terrorizing people wherever I go. It's not intentional. Just keeping the flow fix and test

[B]

scores to get the best.

[A]

It almost feels. Well, I don't know how to. I don't know how to say this. This is so good that in while I love having little pleasures like this that we share with our relatively small audience, I feel like this deserves a bigger stage.

[B]

Well, I tried to played at the Airbnb on my 50th. That was a big enough stage for it.

[A]

No, that's. It's a step in the right direction for sure.

[B]

Jojo, thank you so, so much. And yes, just again, a reminder, we're going to go out with this piece from JoJo at the end of the show. And the reason, Andrew, I think that was such a deft decision by you or suggestion to say, why don't we go out with it? Is because we've recently been running into a little bit of trouble with Spotify, with Butterfly, pulling down certain random episodes because strictly Speaking we may not officially have the rights as far. We have Ben Lee's. We have Ben Lee's permission to play Catch My Disease at the top of the show. But as you pointed out in an email to me and John yesterday, Andrew Benley is not Universal Music Group, who owns the rights to Catch. And also, that's our.

[A]

In all seriousness, do you think. Think that if you. If one were to approach Ben Lee on the street right now and say, hey, TBTL is allowed to use your intro music, right, he would have any idea what they're talking about? Like, he said that.

[B]

Not off the top of his head, but if I sat down with him and said, I don't know if you remember this, but there's a podcast in Seattle. It uses Catch My Disease. You've been a guest on it. We asked if it was okay. You said yes, I bet you that would jog.

[A]

You think you'd remember. Okay, yeah, I wasn't there during that era, so I don't know.

[B]

I think he would remember having had the conversation if I kind of like, like jogged his memory a little bit. But, but, but again, the point stands. That's very different than the, the, the. The publishing company or the company that owns the, the publishing and licensing rights or however that works. And, and so they may not have such a generous view of things. And also, the song Words seems to have been. That's by the band Doves. We did not get permission from the band Doves that we know of to play that song at the end of the show. And Andrew, you said that we've been. Occasionally people are emailing you saying, oh, I can't find the show on Spotify, or I can't find an episode on Spotify, and it's because we're getting dinged for using Catch My Disease and Words. And so what we were talking about yesterday over email was it's really hard to think about how this, the top of the show, would work without Catch My Disease by Ben Lee. It's been the theme song since day one. This has been thousands and thousands and thousands of episodes of the show. Words by Doves is a little bit more fluid in that we didn't use it for a long time. We went back to using it. I like it. But if we were going to try to reduce our exposure by 50%, I definitely would throw Words out of the boat before I would throw Catch My Disease out of the boat. And so we were sort of just having a very, very initial conversation about maybe going with something else. But Andrew here's the thing. I was thinking. Yeah, but anything else we end the show with is going to be, you know, some. The, you know, unless it's, I don't know, like, Camptown Races or something.

[A]

Well, there are. There are a bunch of songs. There's like a YouTube library that has a bunch of songs that we use. In fact, I have a whole folder full of that music that we use during, like, TB telethons. We need some sort of audio spackle before we start our live feed or something like that. So there are options out there that are either free or affordable that are music. I don't want to. And we won't turn to AI for this, certainly. But there are things.

[B]

Speak for yourself.

[A]

You can like, for example, you know, everybody's favorite TBTL community calendar music. I mean, we go out with this every. I mean, what would be the problem with going out with this every day?

[B]

But is this the Antiques Roadshow music?

[A]

No, this is Dixieland Strut by Albert Behar, and I got that from the YouTube library.

[B]

What could be wrong with that?

[A]

We're allowed to use that.

[B]

Turkey and the Straw taken.

[A]

We're allowed to play this. I think I use this as a little jazz music at the end of the old hey Dummies videos or whatever.

[B]

I like this.

[A]

Yeah. So there is stuff that is listenable that we could kind of choose to go out with. I don't know.

[B]

We could have JoJo write it.

[A]

Yes, exactly. I don't know.

[B]

Or we could go out with Barterfly every day.

[A]

I don't know if I want to lock into any one thing, but I did think when I was picking this dazzling donor message yesterday, I thought, oh, well, we can go out with JoJo's song. And. And then maybe that could also transition us into mixing it up a little bit at the end of the show. I don't think this is going to really solve our problems because we're getting dinged from both. But what is happening? And I. I responded to some listeners this past week saying, hey, what is happening to the shows on Spotify? They're appearing and then they're disappearing. After two days, I was like, I don't know, that sounds like a Spotify issue. But then I dug, because it's fine everywhere else. But then I dug a little bit deeper, and I kind of of clawed into our Spotify account as podcast creators. And it says, oh, yeah, yeah, you've. We've been flagged literally 4,100 times or something like that. They're just going through our back catalog, finding all kinds of music that you guys used to play on the radio and, like. And, you know, because Spotify is a music service, maybe they are more specifically focused on this, but unfortunately, this seems to be the way the world is going. And so I don't know if removing words by doves really keeps our show up there, but what Spotify has been doing is it's been saying, hey, hey, you know, you got some music in here? And then I've been ignoring it, and then they take it down after two days. So that's actually.

[B]

So if you can't, if you're a Spotify, if Spotify is how you get our show and you can't find an episode, you might have to look, you know, over at, like, some other, you know, place where you get pods or you can always go to tbtl.net, that's the thing, too. Every single episode I think we've ever done, right? Pretty much.

[A]

Oh, no. Literally, yeah. The entire archives are there. But although I will say, as a podcast user, it's not gonna be if you're on your phone and you're going for a jog or something. I understand why listening via a website is not going to, you know, serve your needs, maybe as technically as a podcast app, but I use. I use Pocket Casts if anybody is looking for a new one. Like Pocket Cast is a free one that I've been using for years and years and years now that I love. I know that, you know, most people who I think have iPhones, I almost called them Apple phones. Most people who have iPhones probably use the native browser as well or the native podcast app.

[B]

Right. So I go back and forth on this, Andrew, between thinking this is an existential threat to the show or it'll be okay.

[A]

What about this song that I pulled? This? I have a whole folder of rights free music we're allowed to use. This is House of Mango doing Surf Ninja 3. And the fact that this is in my folder means that this has already been approved by me at some point. Surf Ninja 3, this is Luke. This isn't what I thought it was going to sound like, honestly.

[B]

I actually like this.

[A]

Yeah, me too. So there's stuff, you know, there's stuff out there. I might just mix it up the next few days, but we'll start with JoJo today.

[B]

JoJo, thank you so much for not only your musical support, but your financial support and Tens, thank you for supporting JoJo and his music and making this whole little world of love go round that is tbtl.

[A]

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.

[B]

All right, Andrew, the thinkable happened. We had enough to talk about. In fact, we had too much to talk about. And so once again, we didn't get to the top stories. But the good news is we've still got two more episodes this week to not get to the top stories. So in the meantime, as I am scooting out of the hotel here and running over to do another TV interview before running to the airport before flying home, let's do an email or V mail.

[A]

I got a great email here from listener Adrian in Portland, Oregon. Regarding and I read this when it came in a couple of weeks ago and I'm sorry I never responded, Adrian, but we will read it here and now and I will do my best. It's a bit of a stem winder here, so I will try not to stumble too much. But it's a fascinating story. I think we must have been talking. I don't know exactly why or how, but we were talking about maybe lost pets or something along the lines of that and Adrian says, I was listening to episode number 4727 Hacky sack. Is backy Sack a show title ripped directly from your show notes? It's one of my favorite show titles this year. Year. And your discussion about losing a pet during a move. Oh, that's right, somebody was moving into our neighborhood and they lost their cat Donatello, who is named after the Teenage Mutant Mutant Ninja Turtle.

[B]

And as clarified in the email, I believe.

[A]

Yes. And I see flyers outside of our house now, by the way.

[B]

So no update on that. No positive update on that, unfortunately, which

[A]

really, really bummer me out every time I see that flyer. Anyway, anyway, Adrian says, well, I have a story for you. In 2008, I had just graduated from Western Washington University and was preparing to move to Texas for medical school. I lived in this amazing old three story house in Bellingham that had been divided into apartments. I lived on the top floor, basically a converted attic. Despite its quirks, it had an incredible view of Bellingham Bay that made it worth it. One of the apartment's oddities was a large pantry slash storage area with low ceilings, poor lighting, unfinished walls and floors, and a very attic like vibe. I love that, by the way. I was packing and moving boxes and I kept putting my cat Marley, named for a relatively unknown independent musician from Jamaica, either in my bedroom or in the pantry area. So he Wouldn't dart out the front door. I put him in the pantry, then came back later to let him out, and he was gone. I tore apart the pantry, the whole apartment. Nothing. I had two days left before I had to move out. And was supposed to start driving to Houston immediately after. I panicked. I spent hours searching the apartment, the house, the neighborhood. Come midnight, there was still no Marley. Scrooge can suck a lemon. I barely slept that night. And the next morning, I made about 50 homemade.

[B]

Is that about Marley song?

[A]

It is. Scrooge can suck a lemon.

[B]

Scrooge can suck a lemon. Can I hear that in a rasta accent?

[A]

Yeah. Can I do that for you? My. One of my favorite jokes from college is when my friend told me reggae. I love that song. The next morning, I made about 50 homemade lost cat flyers at Kinko's. And stapled them to every telephone pole in the neighborhood. I went door to door, asking strangers if they'd seen my cat. Still nothing. The following day was Move out. Date Luke. I am getting the bad feeling just reading. The following day was move out day, and I still hadn't found him. I started to accept the possibility that I might have to leave Bellingham without Marley. And if he came back, I'd already be in Texas. During my final walk through of the empty apartment, I heard it meow. Very faint. Then another meow.

[B]

That is an amazing Bob Marley impression.

[A]

Thank you. Could you hear the patois?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

I followed the sound across the apartment, which was nowhere near the pantry. I came face to face with the meowing wall. I eventually discovered a tiny hole hidden in the pantry. That apparently connected to the interior of the walls. Marley must have crawled in there. And spent two days living inside the wall system of my attic apartment. I lured him out by shaking dry cat food and making ridiculous cat coaxing noises. While guiding him through the walls. Eventually, he emerged. When I started playing Bob Marley's greatest hits. He finally came out, and he had one of those colorful hats.

[B]

Exodus. Movement of the kitty cat.

[A]

Later that day, I drove around trying to remove all the lost cat flyers. By the way, this is awesome. You're moving out. You could have left those flyers up, but you know that people like me, by the way, are seeing those lost cat flyers and taking them very seriously. So thank you, Adrian, for taking those down. Later that day, I drove around to remove all the lost cat flyers I had stapled up. Unfortunately, I must have missed a few, and I had handed them out door to door. That evening, I got my first phone call. I think I saw your cat run by our house. I explained that Marley had actually been found inside my apartment wall. Then came a worse one. I found your cat, Marley. He's in a crate at my house. Except it wasn't Marley. Turns out Marley looked exactly like every other great tabby tomcat in Bellingham. For the next several weeks, I kept getting calls from well meaning, bellying hamster who were convinced they had found my cat. Apparently, there were dozens of identical Marleys roaming the Bay City. Anyway, Marley survived and we made it to Texas and had many more wonderful years together. Oh, I love to hear that. I love to hear that.

[B]

Absolutely. All's well that ends well. And by the way, that's a really good point.

[A]

I'm sorry, I just want to shout. This is the P.S. adrian says, P.S. sorry I haven't written my dazzling donor homework. Can this count? Well, absolutely. Well, thank you. This is an extensive mention of the dazzling donor segment. Thank you so much.

[B]

We'll allow it.

[A]

Big story. Yeah. And thank you for your generosity.

[B]

We'll allow you to give us money to make this our job and also write us stories. Yeah, a fascinating story about. About your cat that thankfully was found. But I was going to say that's a really good point about taking down the flyers, too, if there's a happy ending. Because, yeah, it's emotional for people to see those. And then people are going to be calling. I'm having a much lower stakes version of that with my lawnmower. Remember the one that I listed on Craigslist for sale?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I forgot. You know, I sold it to, like, the first guy who came out and I forgot to take down the post. And I'll just occasionally get. I got a guy the other day. He was like, literally, he said this. It's like Val Kilmer in Tombstone. He said, I'll be your huckleberry. I've got a couple of sons that I'm trying to teach about mechanics. Like, I think it was a real thing, too. I think it was some guy was saying, like, I'll come by the lawnmower because my. My kids like to work on lawnmowers or something. But he said, I'll be your huckleberry or you won't. I'm not giving you my home address. Anybody who starts a Craigslist response with I'll be your huckleberry.

[A]

But you did. You did end up moving the lawnmower, right? The guy came and picked.

[B]

Yeah, the first guy. I'm saying I didn't take the ad down. So people are still seeing the ad on Craigslist.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Sorry about that. I saw another email I wanted to share with you briefly here, and I got distracted. The beginning. Oh, yeah, yeah. So have you taken it down now, though? Is it gone?

[B]

No. Now I'm compiling content for the show.

[A]

Now you're just adding. And if anybody can afford my Eagles fees, I would like some help with that as well.

[B]

Yes, yes, yes.

[A]

By the way, sorry I got distracted. The one thing I did want to share was I got a note from a listener named Sally recently. And I want to be careful here. Not to dox anybody, but Sally basically is in my old neighborhood of Roosevelt and said, hey, I just saw a car with. With a Washington state license plate that just says TBTL on it. All I'll say is, it's a Chevy. That's me talking there. And she thought that maybe Sally thought that maybe it was me, that I had a TBTL license plate.

[B]

Can you imagine?

[A]

To quote the Simpsons Disco Stew, don't advertise. I do not personally have a TBTL license plate, but one of our listeners does. And so Sally took a photo of this and sent it to me because I think she's continuing to see this car in my old neighborhood. But if you are a listener, I assume if you have a TBTL license plate, you are listening to every episode of tbtl. And you will likely hear this if you want to write into me and remind me who you are, because I've

[B]

got a listener who has a TBTL 10 license plate. I want to say it's listener treasure. And I followed them down. Well, they were in Belling. Speaking of Bellingham, I once followed a car with TBT L10 as the license plate, I believe, down to the public beach in Bellingham to accost them and say, hey, that's related to my show. And it was.

[A]

That's interesting. And don't we also have a listener in Corvallis that I'm being careful? I don't to dox anybody, but I thought listener Cheryl, if I whispered, it's okay, I thought, listener Cheryl has a Oregon plate that says tbtl. Right. Corvallis is.

[B]

I think so. There's a few of them out there, but I'm unfamiliar, at least as far as I remember, with a TBTL Chevy. So, yeah, that's cool. If you are that person, let us know.

[A]

We'd appreciate it.

[B]

All right, Andrew, here's the big moment.

[A]

Music.

[B]

Let's hear a little ambient music. All of that is to say by Jojo Moran. Douglas.

[A]

Oh, I thought you were actually just saying all of that is to say. So I'm sort of dropping this around four minutes in. Like I said, it's a ten minute number. I don't know if people refer to things as numbers. And. And we'll just let it play for quite some time after we sign off.

[B]

Let me hear a little bit in the clear. I'm just curious.

[A]

Ooh.

[B]

You know, this feels like, first of all, this is exactly the kind of thing I listen to constantly, if I'm being honest. And it also feels hopeful. Like, I like that. It's. Yeah, it's atmospheric. It kind of feels like better things are ahead, Better shows are ahead. Shows where I get to the top Story. Story are just around the corner.

[A]

Andrew, I'm adding something to tomorrow's show sheet right now because this reminds me of something that I've been hearing in a radio commercial that I actually need you to litigate about.

[B]

About nothing I love more than litigating things as a non practicing or licensed lawyer.

[A]

Yeah. So I need your opinion on something that I've been hearing on the radio. It's driving me crazy. It didn't occur to me until right now that you're the perfect person to address it on this very podcast.

[B]

Nice. All right, we'll talk about that tomorrow when I'm back at the Madrona Hill studio. My last day in Houston today, so we'll see you all from there tomorrow. In the meantime, everybody have a great Wednesday. Y' all take care of yourselves. And please remember, no mountain too tall.

[A]

And good luck to all. Sam sa. Power out.