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- [00:01]
Andrew
A message sent November 28th. Daddy, I want to tell you a few things. I just came back from ballet and we're home right now, and Mommy. And when we were in the garage, I asked Reagan, get your poop? And he nodded his head, but he really did not poop. But that's funny, because mommy chat and there was no poop. So why don't you call me back at 7:00'? Clock? Bye. Bye.
- [00:38]
TBTL.
- [00:43]
I don't know a lot about business, but he did an Internet, and now the computer's like him and Wall street is Google.
- [00:49]
Luke Burbank
Please refrain from scolding us for our approach. Our approach is legitimate.
- [00:54]
Andrew
If I was gonna go out and
- [00:55]
Luke Burbank
have a Mexican dinner tonight, an Italian
- [00:57]
Andrew
dinner tonight, it's immaterial. And you can twist it and turn
- [01:03]
Luke Burbank
it whichever way the press decides to do. All right, I'm going to assume that's hypothetical, right?
- [01:08]
Andrew
This is my sandbox. I'm not allowed to go in the deep end. That's where I saw the leprechaun. He told me to burn things.
- [01:18]
Luke Burbank
Well, all right. Hello, good morning and welcome, everyone, to a third Thursday edition of tbtl, the show that just might be too beautiful to live. Oh, and the adventure begins again. My name is Luke Burbank. I am your host. Welcome to the Internet. Speaking of adventures beginning again, I was grabbing something right before it was my turn to talk, and I guess just grabbing this little microphone that I'm gonna throw in a bag and bring with me to Valley City, Ohio, next week because of course, we're gonna be doing the TBTL a thon from there. And I guess. I guess I need to maybe dust around here because when I went to grab this little microphone, I was covered in cobwebs. Some real great gardens energy, some real great expectations happening here in the Madrona Hill studio, perched high above the mighty Columbia.
- [02:08]
Andrew
Oh, Ma. Pa.
- [02:10]
It's just beautiful.
- [02:11]
Luke Burbank
It is a beautiful Thursday here in Southern Washington as we sidle on up to episode 4767 in a collector series,
- [02:20]
Andrew
Let the Fox begin.
- [02:22]
Luke Burbank
From where I'm sitting right now, I can look out the sliding glass doors of the studio and see this new boat that I. That I took delivery of yesterday. Delivery. I cut that drop off a little bit before he says the critical word. The point of playing this drop is so that. What is his name? Mike? No, Sims. Dave Sims. Says, hey, Lloyd, do some delivery. But I decided to, on the fly, try to edit it. So it's just him saying, hey, Lloyd, do some. You can fill in the Rest in your mind. Anyway, I got a additional boat yesterday and I'm actually pretty excited about it. Speaking of deliveries, Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut is suffering in the pizza business because Domino's is absolutely the leader in pizza delivery. At least the most popular pizza delivery option in America. So Pizza Hut is trying something kind of different.
- [03:18]
Andrew
It's cheesy, it's delicious, and kids go nuts for it.
- [03:22]
Luke Burbank
Hey, speaking of kids, it's a Thursday, AKA blursday, so my birthday today. Do some blursday messages and we'll say hello to this guy. Longest running cobra of the show. Maybe best known for his depictions of the tall ships.
- [03:34]
Andrew
Oh, yeah.
- [03:36]
Luke Burbank
I've been having a slightly frantic morning getting this and that together and getting ready. I bet you he has as well. He's Andrew Walsh and he's joining me right now. Good morning, my friend.
- [03:45]
Andrew
Good morning, Luke. Speaking of getting ready for next week, I have to say this at the top of the show because if I don't say this as the very first thing out of my mouth, we will get so distracted. We will tangent upon tangent like we did Monday through Wednesday of this week. And I'll never say this important announcement, which is this. Tomorrow the TBTL newsletter will unveil for the first time.
- [04:11]
Luke Burbank
Wait, do you want.
- [04:11]
Andrew
Hold on.
- [04:12]
Luke Burbank
Do we want like a drum roll or something?
- [04:15]
Andrew
I mean, I feel like it's. We literally did the opposite of a drum roll by interrupting the announcements.
- [04:20]
Luke Burbank
Well, I mean, I'm just saying I think that needed a little bit more energy saying. I'm trying to. No.
- [04:25]
Andrew
All right, sorry.
- [04:25]
Luke Burbank
I apologize. My bad. I'll just. Just. I'll back out of your announcement.
- [04:30]
Andrew
These are interesting to what you were saying. Are those toms? What kind of drum is. Can you play that again? What kind of drum is that? Is that like a. It's not a snare. I don't think it's all about the tweeter. Right.
- [04:41]
Luke Burbank
What does he say? No, it's. We're doing too many different things.
- [04:47]
Andrew
Exactly. I think we're confusing. I think we're gonna say, hey, look, we're tangenting. I told you that was gonna happen. So we have mentioned this before, but I just wanna remind people that if you are interested, and I know you are, in seeing what we are going to be giving away as thank you gifts for this year's TBTL a thon, which is very exciting. We've put a lot of work into this. We've hired professionals, we've hired experts. And in putting together the website, which is last night I was getting excited all over again to show people what we have for them. It's going to be great. But we're unveiling them in tomorrow's TBTL newsletter. So if you are not a TBTL newsletter subscriber, that gives. You found it there. That's what this needed, the newsletter. Just sign up for the damn newsletter. TBTL.net is how you do that. And then you can learn what the gifts are. They're really cool this year.
- [05:43]
Luke Burbank
They are. And you and John in particular have put in so much work on these thank you gifts. One of them in particular I'm thinking of, which, I'll be honest with you, when it was proposed as an idea, it did not occur to me actually, the amount of detail back and forth thinking I'll even say this, I don't think I'm giving too much away. Artistic abilities on your behalf and your
- [06:07]
Andrew
particular behalf, you know, and also the one that we're kind of vaguely referring to here, that we're very, very excited is one of those things that has been an idea that's been kicking around for, I want to say, close to 10 years now. Because I remember wandering around the halls of American Public Media our first year there and talking to one of our colleagues there about an idea that I had for a TBTL giveaway. And not unlike the Sound Machine, it just took a long time to come to fruition. And I think that that time was necessary for it to come to this particular, particular version of itself. And so that's what we'll be unveiling tomorrow. And you can sign up for the TBT newsletter@tbtl.net I think you click on a little, you know what I named the button Newsletter Newsletter.
- [06:53]
Luke Burbank
Oh, that's smart.
- [06:54]
Andrew
Yeah, that's pretty good. Keep them guessing or just scroll to the bottom of the page. You can do it there too.
- [06:58]
Luke Burbank
If you are not currently signed up for the TBTL newsletter, or maybe if you did a long time ago, but now you've changed email addresses or changed your, I don't know, your spam protocols, like, make sure you're signed up for this thing because, hey, it's just a fun read when it comes out and it's got all kinds of great information about the show. And yeah, I was thinking about the thon today when I got up, of course, and I was thinking about something that I'm kind of proud of about this show, and I don't use that term a lot related to me or anything I work on is that this fundraiser week that we're about to go into. I was thinking if I'm a listener, I'm actually really looking forward to this as opposed to, you know, your typical public radio fundraiser, which can be. I know I'll cop to this. When I'm tuning into OPB and it turns out it's a fundraiser week, I'm like, oh, okay. Well, I guess I'll be hearing, you know, a lot of the reasons why I should support opb, which I do, by the way. But with our show, it's like we're going to Valley City, Ohio. There's art that's been built for the website that's gonna like tell people how to stream the shows, but people can call in, people can chat with their friends. Like, this is going to be. Actually, I think, like, if I were a TBTL listener, I would be getting kind of really excited about next week because you and John and I are all going to be in the same room. We're going to be having adventures. We're going to be meeting people, we're going to be. We're going to have a frog cam. It's just like all of this stuff going on. And what I was thinking was the way that I like to get excited about things is I like to get excited about the thing. Even before the thing. When I was in my 20s and we would go to Vegas, me and my friends, my favorite part of the whole trip would be meeting up at my apartment before we got in the taxi cab to go to the airport one because that meant there was the most amount of the trip still in the, in the, in the foreground versus the background.
- [08:52]
Andrew
All potential.
- [08:53]
Luke Burbank
All potential. There was just something about that. And I remember like Camaro, Kev and, and jd, other folks all showing up in my place and, and, and we're maybe, you know, having a, a couple of drinks or something kind of pre funking and just like getting so excited about how excited I was before the thing had happened. And this is what I'm. I'm going somewhere with this. If you are signed up for the newsletter, then tomorrow when the newsletter comes out, you can be getting excited about a thing that's happening in the. You can you. It's pre funking. It's basically pre funking for the thon. You get to see what the thank you gifts are. You get to know what you're all excited about. If you are going to be somebody who donates in the following week about what's out there for you to have. Also, you just admire it as you
- [09:35]
Andrew
know, as a piece of art that just stands on its own. I already have the little photo picked out for the Lucy of the day photo. I took one yesterday that I'm excited to share with everybody. And, you know, you were starting to say something there that. I know that I probably say this every year around this time, and it's very earnest, but it's very true. When I worked in public radio, as you know, Luke, I worked on various talk shows as a producer. But a big part of my job was also producing parts of the fun drives and the membership drives or whatever they called it. And I loved it. I loved that work. And one of the things that I always disliked about that work was when I would hear people not on our airwaves, I'm proud to say, but on other radio stations apologizing for their fundraising. Well, you know what? I'll call out names. Kuow, my beloved KUOW here in Seattle does that all the time. And it really bums me out. They will start running promos before, before they even begin the fund drive or the membership drive, kind of apologizing for it and saying, we're going to try to make it, try to make it as short as possible this year by calling your pledge now to make it short so we don't have to. So we don't have to torture you for as long as we usually torture you. And I've long, long before I was a part of tbtl. I would say if you're apologizing for your programming, this sounds like such cheesy, like, public radio program director stuff, but, like, if you're apologizing for your programming, you gotta change your programming. Like, there's gotta be a way to do it that is good. And, and you know, I know that the news format of a traditional public radio station has a difficult time sort of, you know, blending the news of the day, which sometimes can be grim. I can't think of any examples off the top of my head. But sometimes the news can be a little bit hard to listen to. And then parlaying that into a, you know, a fun pitch drive or pitch campaign or whatever where we're asking people to give money. But, you know, you look at stations like the current there in Twin Cities, speaking of American public media, people love their fun drives because they create this amazing programming around it. And people tune in because they want to hear whatever the countdown is going to be, who's going to crown the countdown of the year or whatever. There are ways to make this stuff fun. And I would Say that out of a lot of. Again, you used the word pride a moment ago. I don't know if we should go that far, but one of the things that I do love the most about this job, aside from it being very unique and fun, and it's mostly you and I laughing with each other five days a week, is we've actually achieved the dream of what you just said. Like, the time that we ask for money is arguably some of the most fun and adventurous times that we have on the show. And have, I would say, the only
- [12:08]
Luke Burbank
fun and adventurous times we have on this show.
- [12:11]
Andrew
Shut up.
- [12:11]
Luke Burbank
Increasingly.
- [12:13]
Andrew
But yeah, no, I mean, honestly, you and I have a good time all the time, but it is nice to like, it is so nice to actually achieve my sort of low key public radio, you know, producer dream of creating fun drives that are like really fun. Well, you know what, Luke, I'm going to say it. We're putting, yeah, we're putting drive in. We're putting them in membership drive. We're putting the burr under the saddle in the membership drive. Anyway, true story though and I really am looking forward to it. This is going to be a really special one and hearing from people back home who are like, oh, I heard you're. Heard you're coming to Valley City to do this show. So word is spreading. I mentioned we have Caprettas listening in now, so it's all happening.
- [12:58]
Luke Burbank
Have you been checking the downloads? Have you seen a pretty big uptick since we were on the Valley City community Facebook page?
- [13:03]
Andrew
No, I don't check the downloads and I certainly don't read the comments except for the nice ones.
- [13:08]
Luke Burbank
Did you see that? Maybe we can talk about this tomorrow when we have John on also. Maybe it doesn't matter, but you know how I was. It was pretty into that AI drawing of us, of us broadcasting because that we looked really nice. But then my friend Spring heard that and threw in, I guess some different parameters and made a different AI rendering of us doing the show where we're a little more age appropriate.
- [13:32]
Andrew
But I, and, but it's still way, I mean, it still is way too flattering to me. Like. Right. It doesn't look.
- [13:37]
Luke Burbank
Even though it's age appropriate, you won't go with age appropriate and flattering.
- [13:41]
Andrew
In other words, the problem with the
- [13:42]
Luke Burbank
first one was not only was it overly flattering, we were children in it. Now we're just like much handsomer versions of ourselves, but more or less in the, in the rain, like you've got a hat on. So we're Not.
- [13:53]
Andrew
Oh, this is. That's right. I look like a ranger. I'm dressed like a ranger, which I actually think is very funny. You've got kind of gray hair in this, which is.
- [14:00]
Luke Burbank
I have. My hair is more the color of my real hair. Yeah, I feel like it's getting closer.
- [14:05]
Andrew
Yes, definitely getting closer.
- [14:07]
Luke Burbank
Will you never be happy until the renderings of us make us look as ugly?
- [14:10]
Andrew
I'm not even talking about you. I actually think this is good of you. Of me? It's just, you know, it's just. You gotta. You gotta add some poundage there. I. Listen, I don't want to see that. But I'm just saying that it's. The image of me is very flattering. I just look like a handsome man with a beard, which is.
- [14:26]
Luke Burbank
I look like. I look like. A little bit like if Ira Glass maybe had grayer hair. Also, I don't usually wear glasses. And I'm wearing glasses.
- [14:35]
Andrew
Oh, that. You know what? That helps. You always say that. That's the thing about these. When either in either a real person or an artificial intelligence creates images of us. You always say that, like, my beard and glasses gives people more to work with. As identical as.
- [14:50]
Luke Burbank
I agree, you can be caricatured, I think, in a more interesting and fun way, because you have some kind of, like, some things that can be keyed into. Whereas I just have kind of a fairly standard, you know, kind of middle aged kind of guy face with no glasses, no beard. Just kind of. I just kind of am what I am. And it doesn't really lend itself, I think, to, like. I look at this picture of you and I think, that's Andrew. Like, you look like Andrew to me in there. And it's very Andrew to me.
- [15:16]
Andrew
Well, I am. Okay, a couple of things I want to say about this. First of all, does Spring listen to TBTL or just get information from you?
- [15:23]
Luke Burbank
Here's what happens. Here's what happens. Spring's husband Scott, who's a truck driver, listens to TBTL and then reports it back to her.
- [15:33]
Andrew
Okay, good. I do think that truck drivers. Yeah, truck drivers are great demos for us. That's why, like that you have that satellite RA radio station called, like, what is it? Like, it's like trucker radio or rural radio or something like that. I think we need to tap into that demo more. Yeah. Spring's husband. If you could tell. If you. If you. I don't know if you guys have.
- [15:52]
Luke Burbank
Scott, next time you're showering at the Loves, will you just kind of Lean under the stall to the guy showering next to you, and yes, ask him if he's heard the good news.
- [16:01]
Andrew
Yes, exactly. Write TBTL and with your finger in the steam of the mirror, if you don't mind.
- [16:06]
Luke Burbank
And then our.
- [16:06]
Andrew
Our phone number, take the soap and write TBTL so that every time that mirror steam up, we'll see TBTL and then our. And then our phone number, of course. And this. So, anyway, so I'm not. I don't want to talk directly to Spring here, but I just want to say I don't want, like. Like in my criticism. Not criticism, but in my, let's say, analysis of my imagery here in this image. I don't want Spring going back and being like, okay, Andrew wants more poundage. Like, don't, don't. That's not a. That's not a call to action is what I'm saying. They're like, this is nice. This is beautiful. Just leave this be. Secondly, I want to point out that
- [16:42]
Luke Burbank
I hope Andrew once more poundage was in the clear.
- [16:46]
Andrew
This is the first thing I thought of when I saw this updated AI image of us podcasting. And this is a direct insult to me, and there's no way you can convince me.
- [16:55]
Luke Burbank
I know what you're going to say.
- [16:57]
Andrew
I find it hard to believe that you know what I'm going to say, but try it.
- [17:00]
Luke Burbank
Okay. Is it that you're working from an Apple computer?
- [17:05]
Andrew
No, I didn't notice that, but it is computer related. I notice your computer is plugged into the audio board and mine is not Spring taking away my ability to play sound on tvtl.
- [17:17]
Luke Burbank
I didn't notice the Apple on his one KPI. And we're taking it away from.
- [17:23]
Andrew
Look at that. Oh, yeah. No, you just give me a toy computer.
- [17:26]
Luke Burbank
Look, Andrew, everyone knows I'm the tech guy. Your computer hasn't been plugged in for years.
- [17:31]
Andrew
It's like giving a kid a toy phone.
- [17:34]
Luke Burbank
That would be the shyamalaning of a lifetime if at the end of this whole movie called tbt, it turned out your computer had never been plugged in at all.
- [17:44]
Andrew
You're just like. You're just keeping me happy, just keeping me entertained.
- [17:48]
Luke Burbank
That would be. That would. That would be a real. A real plot twist at the end. Considering this entire thing, as has been sort of talked about at length and as is in its most stark relief on weeks like this leading up to the thon, if it were up to me to do any of the technical stuff related to the show, it would just. I mean, the show would just not happen. I mean, John could handle some of the posting and a couple of Internet things. But like the audio, the very fact that this thing is people are hearing my voice and your voice and it's coming through their phones. That is 100% because of you and your. And your technical abilities. So thank you for your service.
- [18:26]
Andrew
Salute. Hello and welcome to Top Story.
- [18:36]
Luke Burbank
I know this isn't really Top Story material, but I got a great night's sleep last night and yet I woke up this morning. I did. I went to bed early, slept all the way through the night.
- [18:47]
Andrew
I'm just laughing as we joke about how this show is maybe not for the younger generations. Now, just like Top Story, I got a lot of rest last night. I love it.
- [18:57]
Luke Burbank
Well, if you're not going to let me use the younger AI images of us, then I'm going to fully lean into my age. Fair enough. But despite getting an amazing night's sleep, I must have slept slightly funny because I've got a crook in my neck. And I'm a little worried because I feel like an athlete going into the big game here. Like, I can't have any problems. I can't get sick. I can't have a sore neck. I've got to be operating at absolutely 100% when we hit the ground in Valley City, Ohio. But that's actually not what I was going to talk about. I was going to talk about the. Just kind of to close the loop on our conversation yesterday where I was kind of embarrassed about a couple of things. One, I was embarrassed that I was feeling a sense of embarrassment about my home environment. I had a friend coming over who was gonna be giving me this boat. Cause he's gotten a new boat. And he asked if I wanted his old boat. I kind of couldn't turn it down. It was an offer too good to refuse. But then I became very insecure about like, you know, he lives in a lovely home and has been a very successful person in the world of business and things like that. And for the last couple of years, one of our main topics, because I've been working on the house when we're at his lovely home, has been like, oh, how's it going with the house? And I'm talking about it and Becca's hyping it up to his wife. And I was just feeling kind of. I was feeling a little like maybe it was going to be oversold, it was going to be over hyped or something. And then also I was nervous about the listeners hearing about me getting a second boat.
- [20:23]
Andrew
Oh, yeah.
- [20:24]
Luke Burbank
I've historically not done great with the. With the maritime activities.
- [20:28]
Andrew
Did you get any feedback on that? I mean, I kind of don't think that the listener. The listeners maybe get an eye roll or something, but it's like, is anybody really going to reach out and say Luke?
- [20:36]
Luke Burbank
Nobody. Nobody, Nobody. Maybe because they sensed I was fragile, nobody reached out and said, whatever, dude. And in fact, I don't think I expected anyone to reach out. I just expected them to roll their eyes a little bit. And maybe that did happen. Who knows? But the update on everything is we got the boat here. We met up at the marina. We took the boat out. It was so fun. Andrew. I found my cows. Which people, if they're careful, listeners may remember that for the last couple of summers, when I'm driving on Interstate 5, kind of south of my house, there is this little island. It's called Martin Island. I thought it was called Deer island for some reason, but I looked it up again. It's actually called Martin Island. And in the summertime, there would be cows living on this island. And it's, you know, it's a big grassy thing. It's like they've got lots of grass to graze on. But then they could also, on hot days, just walk down to this sandy beach and just stand in the Columbia River. And it, like, it just made me so happy for these cows. I just thought, like, this is so great for them. They get to cool off, they get to drink river water, they get to eat grass to their heart's delight. No one is hurting them, rounding them up to anything. They just seem like a great life for them. And this year has been the first year that I've been out here that there were no cows on the island. And, like, I was kind of bummed about it while we were out in the boat. My friend and I kind of just, you know, I was learning the ropes of this particular boat. It's a Sea Ray ski boat. It's also 20ft. My little runabout was like 17ft. So it's a little bit bigger. It's a little more powerful. There's some, you know, some. Some stuff about the boat that is new to me, but still small.
- [22:12]
Andrew
Like, it's still a small, manageable little boat. As opposed to the one that caused.
- [22:17]
Luke Burbank
Smaller than the Chris Craft? Yeah, it's smaller than. Yes, it's much more manageable than the Chris Craft. It's a ski boat. So it's, you know, you can picture it, but it's it's a. It's definitely got some get up and go. Like it's the kind of ski boat which I will never utilize this. But this is like if you're like a serious wakeboarder kind of boat. Like it has this whole aftermarket device that is a cruise control. If you're pulling someone on water skis or on a wakeboard and you want to make sure that you're keeping your speed absolutely consistent, you can set it on whatever and then you, the driver of the boat can have full concentration on like. I don't know. I've never pulled anybody on water skis or on an inner tube either. So that's going to be a, that's going to be a learning curve for me and something I'm going to really ease into. That feels like a lot of pressure to me. Dragging someone behind the boat on an inner tube. I don't know why that stresses me out. I've never done that on any of my boats. But I'll work my way up to that.
- [23:11]
Andrew
I like the idea. If I got a, if I learned. This is a lot of ifs. But if I learned how to ski and got myself a mascot uniform, would you take me out? What would be a good mascot? I'm picturing myself as like a, for
- [23:24]
Luke Burbank
some reason, squirrel, because famously.
- [23:26]
Andrew
Yeah, that's a good idea.
- [23:27]
Luke Burbank
Talent had a water skiing squirrel.
- [23:29]
Andrew
That's a good idea.
- [23:30]
Luke Burbank
Just like a human sized squirrel that
- [23:31]
Andrew
could also water man sized squirrel. All right, book it. I'll look into it.
- [23:35]
Luke Burbank
Okay. Well, you've now given me a reason to really kind of sort of bone up on my, and improve my, my skills of pulling people on water skis. But so we're out cruising around, I'm learning kind of how the boat works and we go across the Columbia. We're down kind of by actually the city of Calama and we by the marina. We go across the river and what do I see, Andrew? My cows on a different beach. I think whoever has been taking them out to Martin island didn't want to take them out there or whatever. They're on this different area of land that I can't see from the freeway that's across the Columbia where they are, guess what? Standing in the river, eating their grass, living their life. I was so ecstatic to find my cows or another set of cows that I'm going to pretend are my cows.
- [24:22]
Andrew
It's rural sprawl is what it is, unfortunately. Right. Just kind of. You don't have the density on the One side of the island. Everybody's spreading out. Everybody wants their sort of cow. Suburban lifestyles. Yeah.
- [24:34]
Luke Burbank
You hate to see it, but in this case, I love to see it. I was very. I took pictures. I videotaped them. And it's funny, cause on the video of me trying to film the cows, you can hear Jim going. Jim going, my friend going. Oh, hey. Just so you know, we're getting a little. It's a little shallow, like, because.
- [24:50]
Andrew
Because you're. You're taking photos, but you're also piloting the boat.
- [24:53]
Luke Burbank
I'm driving the boat, but I'm also taking. Trying to take video of my cow, but I'm also forgetting.
- [24:58]
Andrew
Oh, and the adventure begins.
- [25:00]
Luke Burbank
Yeah.
- [25:00]
Andrew
Right.
- [25:02]
Luke Burbank
Because this is the kind of boat. Actually, what's really fun about it is you can beach it. In fact, that's what we did last summer. So if there's a sandy. There's a little sandy area of beach. You can. You can drive the boat up there and you can, you know, get going. Not super fast, but enough that it just kind of settles up on the sand. You tie it off on the shore, you jump out, and you're hanging out on the island, and then you push the boat out when you're ready to go. The thing is, it's got to be a kind of beach where the water is, let's say, four feet deep up until you get to the beach. What we were dealing with. My cows were on a beach that were. We were. We were 300 yards from the beach, and the water was already one foot.
- [25:37]
Andrew
Yeah.
- [25:37]
Luke Burbank
So it was very shallow for a long time. Meaning there was a chance we would just get the boat stuck in the. In the sand, and we'd still be, like 300ft from the beach. We'd just be in one foot of water.
- [25:48]
Andrew
Yeah.
- [25:48]
Luke Burbank
And that wouldn't be the end of the world. You just have to jump out and push the boat. But it would be sort of a hassle.
- [25:52]
Andrew
Yeah. And you got to watch out for rocks, of course.
- [25:54]
Luke Burbank
Yeah, It's. This is not really. It's not really Rocktown out here. What it is is log town. That's the big deadheads, they call them. Like, you get a lot of logs that are just floating down the river, and some of them are kind of under the water and hard to see. That's. That's. I think there's a lot to be concerned about out there. But the thing I was concerned about also was will, my friend think that my home is a lovely, palatial riverside estate, or will he think it's a 1930s shack that I have remodeled with no particular architectural advice. And we get the boat up here, and he's. We're kind of like putting the. Like, backing the boat down the driveway, getting it set up next to the other boat where it now lives for the moment. And he get. Jumps out of the truck. He's like, oh, my gosh, place is great. This is amazing. I said, oh, yeah, do you want to see the studio? So we pop up here to the Madrona Hill studio, which is a converted garage. And I go, so this is the. Kind of my studio. This is the adu. He goes, oh, I thought this was the house. And I was like, that's when I knew it was going to be fine. Yeah, like, you know, the converted garage.
- [26:57]
Andrew
So though, like, what person comes to a house and says anything that wouldn't be like, oh, yeah, this is nice. You know what I mean?
- [27:04]
Luke Burbank
Well, here's what I would say. And this is going to sound defensive, and I don't mean it this way. It's like, what person is reliving a conversation that you had with them 10 years ago and thinking Andrew said a bad thing? It's. I don't think it's rational. You know what I mean? This is an interesting.
- [27:17]
Andrew
Although I will say in my thing, I'm not worried about. Well, maybe to a degree, I'm worried about other people saying things, but it's that I remember. It's. I'm mad at myself. It's not about other people I see remembering. So it's a little bit different.
- [27:29]
Luke Burbank
But I guess I just think that for me, I don't. I never thought this was rational. Like, I don't think there's any chance that anyone's gonna come over to my house and be like, oh, what a. I'm just like, who knows? I was just in an anxiety about it. But that evaporated very quickly because, of course, my friend was like, yeah, this place is great. And really was digging the studio. Just thought it was super cool. And then we went in the house and was asking me lots of questions about my. My design aesthetic, which I was explaining my. My different, you know, inspirations and things like that. We signed the title for the boat over. I paid $1 for it. We took a picture of me handing him the $1.
- [28:03]
Andrew
Oh, nice. Shaking hands.
- [28:05]
Luke Burbank
Shaking hands. And. And yeah, so. So that all that all went as well as it could go. And now I'm very. I'm actually very excited about being out there on the river. It was a beautiful day, just kind of cruising around, seeing my cows. I. The. The excitement, the love of being on the water that had gone dormant for me for actually kind of a long time was re. Was reignited because the first boat that I had was the. Is the little one that I still have. And that was so actually, like, low stress and low pressure. Like, it didn't ever break down because it just had an outboard motor on it that worked really well. It was very easy to steer. It was like one person could handle it quite, quite easily. I never got into any trouble in that boat. And that was. Remember yesterday, I was saying sometimes.
- [28:52]
Andrew
And I could be wrong here, but I think the one trouble you got into the boat with the trailer. Right. Because that's what we took out to watch the eclipse.
- [28:58]
Luke Burbank
We did taco. Yes, we taco to Planter at my old house with the trailer.
- [29:03]
Andrew
And I didn't mean that in a negative way. I've been meaning to sort of remedy about that with you. I wasn't sure if you remember that that's the boat that we. I was pretty sure that that was the boat we took out for the eclipse. You, me, and Rude Dog. Right?
- [29:13]
Luke Burbank
Yes, true. So that was. That was one little hiccup. But compared to the. Because basically what happened. And like I was saying yesterday, sometimes I think I need a swimming pool, and all I need is a stock tank. Like, I had this little wood motorboat that I loved and that I used all the time. And that was just like. It didn't provide any stress in my life. It only provided happiness. And then, because I don't ever just kind of leave well enough alone, at some point I decide, no, no, what I really need is, like, a boat that I can sleep on and that I can have a kitchen. And this is, you know, I'm gonna be a whole new me who's gonna, like, cruise around in the Puget Sound and go to the San Juan Islands in my boat that I could just take off on, you know, at the drop of a hat. I think I was even at that time, like, researching, like, hot spots. Like, could I do TBTL from the boat for weeks on end? You know, just like, weird. I'm sure the fact that my marriage was in whatever state of crumbling that it was probably didn't help these. These thoughts of, like, you know, maybe I'll just live on the high seas in podcast or something. God knows. But, like, so then I get this other big, larger boat, which is sort of fun and everything, but also is way more Expensive and way more work and way easier to crash, and, you know, comes with this whole new set of. Of stress and responsibility. And then after that, I was kind of, like, thinking about being on the water on a boat. Almost was sort of creating a feeling of anxiety for me, because what I was attaching it to was all the things about that bigger boat that were just kind of. I was just in over my head. And then I'm back out on this boat that's just. Again, it's just a ski boat. It's just like, something that's much more manageable. It works really well. My friend's taking really good care of it, and I was just like, oh, yeah, this is awesome. I love this. Like, this is really fun to be out on the water, cruising around, looking at all these big, giant industrial barges and things that are docked in the Port of Calama and that are coming down the river. And I was just like, oh, this is fun. So I'm back to feeling very excited about this whole proposition as opposed to feeling kind of anxiety around it.
- [31:10]
Andrew
You know, you and I both listened back to that really long, epic tale that you told about the trouble you got into with the bigger boat when you had, like, Kamaro Kev and so some family aboard, some of his family aboard and everything. And that was a really long story. And we both listened to it somewhat recently because we kind of had to edit it down and put it on.
- [31:29]
Luke Burbank
You had to listen to it a lot.
- [31:30]
Andrew
Yeah.
- [31:30]
Luke Burbank
Make it coherent and short.
- [31:32]
Andrew
But it's really good. It was a good story. But, you know, I'm thinking about that now, and I'm thinking about what you're saying about, like, how you had this kind of lingering bad feeling and kind of. About that. And I'm realizing. Yeah. You know, you describe that feeling of operating a boat, especially a bigger boat, that you don't know. What was that? That sounded like wind blowing.
- [31:49]
Luke Burbank
Sorry about that. Yeah, that was something popping up on the Internet.
- [31:52]
Andrew
But it's almost like. Do you have any stress dreams about it? Because I feel like it's like the. Just the perfect. The kind of. The perfect allegory for, like, kind of a stress dream. Right. Because you're driving this thing, but you. And you can kind of control it, but you can't really control it. And you're used to driving things on land where you turn the wheel and it responds immediately. And that's not the case with boats. And you're floating out there, and it's like. It's a lack of control at Least with, you know, at your skill level with the boat that you had, do you have stress dreams about being in a boat out of control? And if not.
- [32:25]
Luke Burbank
Well, I haven't yet. Yeah, thanks for that.
- [32:29]
Andrew
Sure. Maybe that'll replace. Maybe we'll replace a worse dream, though. At least you're on the water.
- [32:33]
Luke Burbank
Yeah. You know, it certainly seems. Yeah, you're right. It seems tailor made for that. Because that was something I was remembering yesterday, too, because I was the one driving this boat, and I was pulling it back onto the boat trailer and everything. I also did all of the. It was very. In a way, it was kind of like. It was interesting because, like, Jim and I are pretty much the same age, but I was like, very much almost like a kid being like, okay, well, how do I do this? And I was, like, taking notes of how to start the boat. And also, hey, how do you, like, how do you put the boat in? Like, what's your trick for, like, backing the trailer down into the water and pulling it out? And these are all things I know how to do. These are things I've done many, many times. But I wanted to know how to do it with this boat. And so basically, the thing was, I'm doing all of the stuff with the boat. I'm driving it, I'm backing the trailer, I'm retrailer, I'm doing all, but all under the watchful eye of my friend who's just kind of like, here's what I do with this. Here's where that button is. And so I was pulling it back into the marina, and I forgot that the thing with boats are if you don't have any. If you're not actually throttling forward or reversing, you don't have very much steering. If you're just floating in the water and you're turning the steering wheel, there's just basically, like, you're angling the propeller, but it's not spinning, so it's not doing anything. The way you're steering is by how you're angling the propeller, which is either making you go left or right, depending on the boat. Some boats have a rudder. Some boats have. It's just the direction that the sort of propulsion is going. But when you're. And the whole thing that got me in trouble with the other boat when I crashed it with Camaro, Kev's parents on board was because I got out into this channel in the marina and was getting nervous and therefore didn't want to gun the engine, but then realized I Don't have any steering. Like, there's a point where your boat is floating and you're just moving the steering wheel and nothing's happening. And the only way to get steering is to start actively moving forward, which is very counterintuitive when you're freaking out.
- [34:27]
Andrew
Yeah.
- [34:27]
Luke Burbank
If you're too close to something, you don't want to, like, start going more towards it. But that's the only way that you can actually have control of the boat. So there's stuff like that that I've got to relearn and re. Remember. Yes.
- [34:39]
Andrew
And I was. That's kind of the exact thing I was thinking of from that story of you trying to explain that kind of. And it makes total sense now. This is such a boring place to take this, but. Because actually, I want to talk about one of the top stories. I want to talk about one of the top stories today that. I don't even know if you mentioned it today, but you mentioned it yesterday and in your promo for one of the top stories yesterday. I was shocked by your tone, and I want to revisit that, but I was shocked. We're going to have some hot talk. We're have some debate podcasting here in a minute. But does the style of boat change that, too? Like, as an outboard motor, you're not just moving the rudder, you actually are kind of moving the whole motor and the way it points, right.
- [35:21]
Luke Burbank
Yes, that's one of the ways. So when you have an outboard. Well, I mean, if you have an outboard, like my other boat does, and it's hooked up to your steering wheel, when you turn the steering wheel, it just rotates the motor. It rotates the whole motor so that the propeller is either pointing to the left or to the right. And therefore, you go right or you go left or right.
- [35:41]
Andrew
So that's going to feel a little bit more intuitive than just having the rudder.
- [35:45]
Luke Burbank
But you don't even see the rudder. Well, I mean, there are sailboats that you actually manually hold the rudder. There's different versions of it. But the point is, if you're using a steering wheel pretty much on any kind of boat, whatever the propulsion is, the rule of thumb is, is if you're not putting any water out of the engine. So if you're not pushing water across that rudder, or if you're not pushing water out of that propeller, or, you know, you're not. You don't have any steering. If a boat is floating along and it's not. If it's. If it's A boat that has a. Has a motor on it, whether it's a jet drive, whether it's a propeller, whatever, you have to be kind of pushing some water to have more steering is basically.
- [36:22]
Andrew
Yeah. I mean, the same way that you could sit in a car and turn the steering wheel, but if it's not moving, you're not going away. The only difference is the land is pushing you around the land.
- [36:31]
Luke Burbank
You're not. You're not sitting still in your car, but also somehow drifting towards another car
- [36:35]
Andrew
in the Walmart parking lot without movement. You can't. Those wheels or those rudders don't do.
- [36:40]
Luke Burbank
It's exactly. Now, I know the story that you want to talk about, Andrew. I think I do, because. But I think I was wondering if maybe we would get into that tomorrow because it's a little closer to the date in question. It's about a Saturday thing. But I also. So this is kind of a legitimate question. I'm not even kidding. Do you think one night when we're in Valley City, Ohio. Cause we're actually staying in Cleveland. That's where the. Where our Airbnb is. And then we'll be heading over to Valley City each day to broadcast from the community center there. Do you think that we, one of the nights that we're in Cleveland, could go to Pizza Hut for dinner if
- [37:20]
Andrew
there is one around? I mean, I read this article. I don't know if any of these. So let's set up this, set up this story and then we'll kind of maybe see if we can problem solve that thing. Because the thing about Pizza Hut is for the longest time, since before the pandemic, but certainly after the pandemic especially accelerated it. Pizza Hut was not the Pizza Hut of our youths. The Pizza Hut is like mostly to go places in this day and age until this new kind of effort that they're making. Right?
- [37:47]
Luke Burbank
Yeah, because we, you know, our growing up years, as far as I remember, Pizza Hut had the red roof. I mean, that was literally the logo. Had those kind of, you know, the like stained glass, little. I don't know what you call it. Lamp.
- [38:03]
Andrew
Tiffany lamps. Aren't those Tiffany? Maybe.
- [38:05]
Luke Burbank
Yeah.
- [38:05]
Andrew
Yeah. Or maybe, maybe that's not technically Tiffany, but anyway.
- [38:09]
Luke Burbank
But people will know what you're talking about when you say that. Like, and, you know, with that said Pizza Hut and like the thing I'm so obsessed with, those red tumblers.
- [38:19]
Andrew
Yeah. The plastic cups just.
- [38:20]
Luke Burbank
I bought those, I bought those off of TikTok. I have like, like 10 of those in my House. I've never even used them, but I just like them so much. They're so nostalgic for me. That's the kind of image of, you know, Pizza Hut that I remember from back in the day. Meanwhile, over the. Over the years, like you said, because of the changing nature of, like, I guess, you know, I don't know how people eat or what they want from a pizza place. It seems like the Pizza Huts had sort of evolved into more that kind of modern style of restaurant where it's a lot of pickup orders, it's kind of a lot of glass. It's. I mean, famously, there's the. There were the Pizza Hut, Taco Bells. I'm at the Pizza Hut. I'm at the Taco Bell. I'm at the combination Pizza Hut, Taco Bell. And, like, they really kind of got away from that. And I guess, you know, over the years, Pizza Hut has been having some real trouble competing with, like. So Domino's Pizza has now officially become like, the. The delivery. The pizza delivery, you know, brand. I guess when people think of delivered pizza, they just think of Domino's, and that's actually true. I don't. I would never think to order from Pizza Hut for delivery. It wouldn't even occur to me because, again, I think of Pizza Hut as a place that I go with my family to sit at a booth and eat pizza.
- [39:39]
Andrew
And this has been a complaint of Genevieve and I for a while because we have such nostalgic feelings for Pizza Hut. And I mean, it was. Pizza Hut was like the cream of the crop of pizza pizza places when I was a kid, especially pizza chains. I guess we had some local ones we liked, but that's very much a generational thing. In fact, this article mentioned something about the dream of millennials or something. I'm like, man, I feel like this is such a Gen X thing, but, I mean, I guess we can share. But Veeves and I, every time we would move to a new place, be it in Los Angeles or here in Seattle, we'd be like, oh, maybe we can get Pizza Hut delivered now. And never. We always said that we lived in Pizza Hut deserts. We never were somehow within the scope of a Pizza Hut delivery service.
- [40:22]
Luke Burbank
Yeah.
- [40:23]
Andrew
And then. And we would kind of joke, you know, quasi joke about it for years. But then a couple of times, like, we would get it, like we were traveling. We'd be like, well, let's get one delivered to the hotel. And I remember doing that, and it just was not good. Like the one. The first time we Had a Pizza Hut pizza. It was like the first time in probably 20 years for both of us. And we're like, let's just do it up. We'll get the stuffed crust and everything. And it was just like. So, you know, like the stuffed crust just felt like kind of icky. It wasn't like gooey and melted. You know, it's just like everything was just. And it just was another one of those things where it's like, well, you can't go back home. But it's also not, oh, I've remembered this wrong. It's just that things aren't as good as they used to be when it comes to this mass manufactured stuff.
- [41:05]
Luke Burbank
That's the problem too is, as we often say, the insidification of everything includes the sort of food of our youth because I'm sure the ingredients are cheaper. Well, because basically what's happened is Pizza Hut has been struggling because they, they kind of don't really know what their brand is. They're not the go to for delivery stuff. But you know, the, a modern Pizza Hut that you might see driving down the road is, doesn't seem to be very inviting to me. There was a, and you're right, there was a Pizza Hut in like one neighborhood over from me in Portland. I think Pizza Hut also, as they kind of, as their fortunes fell, they started to, I think, maybe try to become more and more of a, like a discount brand or something. And they were more and more kind of in, you know, like you said, sort of zip codes and area codes that, that maybe were kind of in more economically marginalized areas and stuff. You know, they were just trying to figure out like, how can we sell cheaper pizza? You know, and, and so I remember going and picking because I do have a real soft spot for like, like the Pizza Hut of my youth. Whether it's that stuffed crust stuff or like I said, kind of sitting in a Pizza Hut and after soccer, you know, like a soccer banquet or something, it's at the Pizza Hut or whatever. So I remember going a couple times to get it just because I wanted a nostalgia hit and being like you said, kind of let down, kind of like, ah, this is, they're not making this with the same ingredients they were making it with when I was a kid. Or maybe also my, my palette has changed over the years or something. But it turns out that a lot of these, or at least a good number of these Pizza Hut franchisees, people who own Pizza Hut locations, are returning their Pizza Huts, that they're the owners of back to these kind of classic style Pizza Huts with the red roof and the checkered tablecloths and the whole thing. I was surprised to read they were in this one article, the one I sent you. They were talking to a guy who owns a bunch of these, a bunch of these Pizza Huts. And that he said, like he was converting as many of them as were allowed by the franchising agreement. Like, I guess there's some kind of a, you know, there's some kind of a limit on, even if you, if you're the, if you're the owner on how many of these. You can't just turn all of your Pizza Huts into classic Pizza Huts. But he said he was doing as many of them as he, as he could.
- [43:23]
Andrew
That's strange. That's a strange rule.
- [43:25]
Luke Burbank
Yeah. Did you see that, that mention in the article?
- [43:28]
Andrew
No. Maybe I didn't read this full article, but I know I started reading.
- [43:31]
Luke Burbank
Well, it was in the Washington Post, which we know you hate.
- [43:33]
Andrew
Oh yeah, that's right. I know. I read it because you.
- [43:37]
Luke Burbank
I jailbroke it for you.
- [43:38]
Andrew
Yeah, you jailbroke it for me. Yeah. So that is the one I looked at.
- [43:42]
Luke Burbank
But so, yeah, apparently these retro Pizza Huts, the ones that are sort of back to the old style, are doing pretty well. And because it appears that they're creating, I mean, this is the thing we're always talking about, looking for a third place. Andrew, if I were a parent of young kids, I think it would be a fun night if we're just looking for something to do or on our way back from wherever and we're all hungry to go to a Pizza Hut, like and sit at the pizza, not get the food, not pick the pizza up and then run home. And then everyone get on their screens as we all move to our different corners of the house eating our. Although this is gonna make me so hungry for pizza by the end of this conversation.
- [44:22]
Andrew
Exactly.
- [44:23]
Luke Burbank
I'm definitely stopping at a Pizza Hut somewhere in Woodland, Washington today. But the idea of like getting a pizza and sitting around and yes, it's not going to be the best pizza. There's many more artisanal choices that you could probably go to in your town. Maybe that makes more sense. Maybe that's a better product. But like, I just think the idea of like going and sitting in the pizza parlor with, with your family and eating pizza and having a soda or something, it's like, that just sounds really fun and wholesome to me. And I'm not shocked to hear that people are kind of searching for that or people are interested in that.
- [44:56]
Andrew
A couple of things, actually. I have three things. I'm going to start with a really quickie thing here to say that this nostalgia grab, or whatever you would call it, by Pizza Hut or certain franchisees makes a lot of sense because I felt like Pizza Hut, the brand, started this a while back. In fact, I'm looking this up and I'm seeing one from 2021. Do you remember the Craig Robinson Pizza Hut commercials?
- [45:18]
Luke Burbank
I remember them during football games. And he's like, singing.
- [45:21]
Andrew
Well, he's like. He's dressed in some kind of red and white Pizza Hut swag. Right. But also he's in either. It's his. I think these were. Well, 2021 would have been the pandemic. So maybe he's like, in his own home, but he's got it totally tricked out with all the hallmarks of nostalgia. Like, it's got the Tiffany lamps. It's got the, you know, the kind of exposed brick that a lot of those Pizza Huts. It's like he's playing Ms. Pac man or. Here, let me just actually play the beginning of this one. Come on, man. Me and Pizza Hut go way back. See, we're playing this game since 82. See, like, they're trying. You know, they were already. The national brand was already. And I don't even know if it was the same ownership then was already realizing, oh, wait a second, this is a. This is a huge Pizza Hut's brand. The nostalgia for my generation and maybe folks a little younger than me, it. That is like the biggest selling point of Pizza Hut.
- [46:18]
Luke Burbank
Yeah, the. A company called Yum Brands. Yeah, that's. I think they own Taco Bell. Just as a side note.
- [46:27]
Andrew
And kfc.
- [46:29]
Luke Burbank
I was reading this Wall Street Journal article about the relationship between Coca Cola and McDonald's, which is very fascinating. McDonald's is Coke's number one client. There's an entire enormous division of Coke that is just dedicated to its relationship with McDonald's. And all the stories about, like, the. The ingredients that, you know, McDonald's uses to make their Coke and their Diet Coke, that people think it tastes better. That's actually real. They just mentioned in passing, though, about how, like, people also want to kind of, like, try other stuff. They said that Baja Blast generates a billion dollars of revenue a year for Taco Bell.
- [47:08]
Andrew
Oh, wow.
- [47:09]
Luke Burbank
Baja Blast.
- [47:10]
Andrew
Because that's. What is that one of the ones you can only get at Taco Bell?
- [47:13]
Luke Burbank
It's an exclusive Taco Bell collab.
- [47:16]
Andrew
I've wanted to Try that. I've never had it.
- [47:18]
Luke Burbank
Yum Brands. Well, $1,000,004 of profit for them.
- [47:22]
Andrew
Well, that's the thing. That's the problem. Like, I see commercials for that. I'm like, oh, I would try that soft drink. I like a. I like the occasional, like, kind of wacky soft drink, but like, I never go to Taco Bell.
- [47:32]
Luke Burbank
Yeah, it's, you know, if you don't eat meat, Taco Bell is actually a weirdly, surprisingly good option. Every single thing on the menu can just be made like vegetarian and they just like use refried beans instead of whatever the meat is. Now, I can't speak for, like if there's, if the ingredients have co mingled or something like that, but you can get a bunch of veggie items there. So what I was going to say is Yum Brands sold Pizza Hut to a private equity firm called Long Range Capital. Nothing good has ever happened when a private equity firm called Long Range Capital.
- [48:06]
Andrew
Yeah.
- [48:06]
Luke Burbank
Buys up your. Your chain. This feels, this has heavy Red Lobster implications.
- [48:14]
Andrew
Exactly. Or Joanne Fabrics even worse. You know what I mean? And that's though I was like, oh, geez. That's why I was kind of. It was weird because I'm on Yum Brands and they're still listing Pizza Hut as one of their brands along with.
- [48:25]
Luke Burbank
Because they own Pizza Hut in China.
- [48:27]
Andrew
Oh, interesting.
- [48:28]
Luke Burbank
They didn't sell Pizza Hut China to Yum Brands.
- [48:32]
Andrew
Oh, that crazy. So that was. So that they still sort of keep it in their portfolio.
- [48:38]
Luke Burbank
Well, my guess is because Pizza Hut China is doing great for them. There's this weird life of American food brands. You know, like KFC famously is considered very high eating in China. People will go on like, holiday, like nice family outings to KFC in China. So I, My guess is maybe Pizza Hut is similar. Like it's, it's probably doing well over there, which is why Yum Brands did not want to part with that part of their portfolio.
- [49:01]
Andrew
There's one thing that I've been trying to unlock for the past couple of days. A memory. And I apologize because I don't see any way me not remembering something would make for a good podcasting story. But I have to, I just have to exercise it. I don't know what to tell you. I don't know what to tell you, the listeners. I can't fast forward a little bit and then donate on Monday. But before, I feel like there was as much of a conversation about Pizza Hut nostalgia, which it has been a conversation recently. Like I said, Pizza Hut was trying to kind of draft off it a little bit. And again, these commercials are going back to 2001, so that's five years ago. I feel like just with TikTok and social media or whatever, I see plenty of people of my general age just reminiscing about the book it program.
- [49:45]
Luke Burbank
Right?
- [49:47]
Andrew
We'd even talk about that. The idea of, oh, it's summertime, I read a book and now I get a pizza. Or, you know, I read five books or whatever it was, I get a pizza. But it's like all of that is just tied up. I think for people of our age who had that experience of just like a kind of a wholesomeness, it's something to look forward to. And it's definitely something that has been noted at this point. But I feel like. And this is the memory that I just can't unlock. And I feel like you are somehow connected to this memory because it feels like it would have been a TV tale trip of some sort of it where I was no longer with you. It's almost as if we finished up our TBT l a thon or is there a. I mean, you and I always stay so close. Like, even if we're in a hotel, we're like a room apart or something like that. So I can't figure out how this happened. But, like, I know I was on some weird road trip by myself and just had one night in some sort of like a. Just a random town and not like, you know, not like Chicago or like a random town. And I saw an old school Pizza Hut. And I was like, I'm gonna go there and get a pizza. But I think it was still maybe pandemic y or maybe it just was the state of Pizza Huts at this point. I placed the order, I'm gonna take it back to my hotel room. But it's like I go in and it's at the old school restaurant, except the whole thing was shut down, except for the front where they're making the pizzas and where I can pay for the pizza. And I remember sitting there, I think I even called my dad on the phone. I know it was a thon because I was updating him on the. On the activities of the week. And I'm sitting this old school booth, and it should have been awesome, but it was instead, like, very depressing because it was like I was living the dream that I always wanted to live, which was back in an old Pizza Hut, except it was shut down and just really glum.
- [51:36]
Luke Burbank
Were you driving home from the. When we did the Thon in Denver. Because you had driven out there solo.
- [51:43]
Andrew
I don't think so, because I remember that that had its own complications. And also that one. That one. I was very. Yeah. In Baker City, and I was very sick. I had caught a really bad cold. And it was still. That was like kind of the tail end of the pandemic as we think of it, too. And I remember I took my first COVID test. I was like, oh, no, I'm driving across the country with COVID That's how terrible I felt. But I took a test and it turns out it wasn't Covid. It was just. I think it was just like all the, you know, stress of the week or whatever. And then as soon as our last event was over. So anyway, I know that it wasn't Denver. I'm quite sure. I won't say I. No, but I'm quite sure it wasn't Denver. But I can't. But the Delica trip I wouldn't have ever take. I've never. I never drove the Delica. So it's not like I would have, like, zipped away somewhere in the Delica. I remember where I parked. I parked in the back parking lot of this Pizza Hut just to add to the grimness of this story.
- [52:35]
Luke Burbank
So you think it was the pandemic?
- [52:37]
Andrew
Feel like it was. Yeah. Or like post pandemic. Like, they were open and it wasn't
- [52:41]
Luke Burbank
a thing where, like when you and Veeves went down to, like, the Grand Canyon or something.
- [52:44]
Andrew
We did get a Pizza Hut on that trip, but we had it delivered. That was the stuffed crust one. That was the one where we had it delivered to a hotel where we were appalled because it was still, like, kind of pandemicy. We thought a trip to the Grand Canyon would be kind of a good way to social distance, but also celebrate our 20th anniversary. But then we were staying in some sort of small. In a cheap. Whatever. Hotel chain. Cheap hotel chain in Iowa? No, Idaho, rather. And we were appalled by the fact that some kids, like, some kids sports team, like, it was like we were in a state where they didn't. They hadn't heard of the pandemic at all.
- [53:22]
Luke Burbank
Pretty much the second you left Seattle, you were immediately in the part of the country that doesn't.
- [53:29]
Andrew
That didn't believe.
- [53:29]
Luke Burbank
You're cutting through Idaho. You're going through Kingman, Arizona. You're in, like.
- [53:33]
Andrew
Yeah.
- [53:33]
Luke Burbank
You are in absolute vaccine Denier town.
- [53:36]
Andrew
Oh, my God. Yeah. And some of the things that we saw, like, on the backs of Trucks, like what literally white supremacists sign and stuff. And Arizona was quite shocking as well. That, like upside, like tail hitches or whatever with the upside down. Okay symbol or whatever. Like, just like, just like, oh, great, this is America. By the way. That was days before January 6th or January 5th, as you like to call it.
- [53:58]
Luke Burbank
It was also days before January 5th.
- [54:00]
Andrew
It was actually, you know what? It was literally January 5th, I think, or January 4th that we saw that stuff. But anyway, yeah, like, I can remember all these various details. I remember talking to my dad on the phone in this booth of a sad but otherwise like structurally intact old Pizza Hut. And like I said, did this make for the best story on tbt? No, because nobody can answer this question
- [54:20]
Luke Burbank
except for me and maybe your dad. Maybe next week you can ask Bob because he might. I mean, he'll remember, like you calling him from a Pizza Hut. You probably told him you were in a Pizza Hut. That might be. I was wondering if you were trying to steal one of my memories, which was when I drove across the country because I didn't have any ID and I drove from New York to Seattle that one time and I was sort of doing my half of the show from the road in different places. I stayed in an Airbnb in Indiana. I want to say it was called Kendallville, Indiana, or maybe Libertyville. It was something Ville, Indiana. And I stayed in this little, kind of in the little downtown area of this town, kind of like, you know, the main street where in the olden days there was always maybe like a JC Penney's and kind of like all. It's that part of. That part of small town America that's been in a lot of cases, sort of hollowed out a little bit. I was in that part of this town in this little upstairs apartment that somebody was renting out as an Airbnb. And I remember wandering around the town or driving around the town and noticing that they had an old school Pizza Hut Hut and going to it because of. And I think I had an okay experience.
- [55:33]
Andrew
It was that there are servers and you could actually sit. Like this place that I was in was to go only at this point.
- [55:38]
Luke Burbank
Right. And that's. This is my whole larger. And I'm sorry that I can't help you remember when that was, although I do feel like it should be knowable because you're not on like a ton of solo trips. Was it. Was it like maybe in. In Arizona or something, like visiting my mom?
- [55:55]
Andrew
I've. Luke, I've explored that as well, because I went to a different Pizza Hut takeout place. One visiting my mom in Arizona. But that was a. You know, one of those small, practically. It's like a window. It's just like a takeout.
- [56:06]
Luke Burbank
I was wondering if it was maybe when you and I were at the prpd, but I think you were. You had gotten your own hotel. Remember that hotel that was haunted? Kind of haunted, slash sketchy.
- [56:16]
Andrew
I didn't have my own car there. And I think it was after that anyway.
- [56:19]
Luke Burbank
Okay, well, I was going to say that like, I think I would certainly be more than willing. I've got the list of where they have classic Pizza Huts in Ohio right now. Tell me if any of these are anywhere near where we're going to be.
- [56:31]
Andrew
Be.
- [56:31]
Luke Burbank
Waverly, Ohio? No.
- [56:35]
Andrew
Waverly. Is that near Valley City?
- [56:37]
Luke Burbank
Is that the question I'm asking you?
- [56:39]
Andrew
I don't think so.
- [56:40]
Luke Burbank
I've heard of Highway Millersburg.
- [56:42]
Andrew
I don't know. I don't. That doesn't ring a bell to me.
- [56:45]
Luke Burbank
Zanesville.
- [56:47]
Andrew
I can't do that. I can't do that. Drive a bus. I can't do that.
- [56:53]
Luke Burbank
Pickerington.
- [56:54]
Andrew
None of these are towns. Ring a bell to me.
- [56:56]
Luke Burbank
Carrollton?
- [56:58]
Andrew
No.
- [56:58]
Luke Burbank
Georgetown, Ohio. Ottawa, Ohio. Warren, Ohio.
- [57:02]
Andrew
Warren I know of, but I don't know. Let's see where.
- [57:06]
Luke Burbank
Alliance, Ohio. Mount Gilead.
- [57:08]
Andrew
I feel like alliance and Warren might be getting closer. Look here.
- [57:13]
Luke Burbank
Those are all of the ones in Ohio.
- [57:14]
Andrew
Okay, Warren, Ohio is far east side. Okay, so it's not super close to us, but we could.
- [57:21]
Luke Burbank
Far east side of the state.
- [57:23]
Andrew
No, no, far east side of Cleveland. So, like, you know, we think Cleveland. Well, it's like. Well, it's Warren. But, you know, let me. Let. Like, so you're saying one night we drive probably from the Airbnb in Cleveland to Warren, Ohio. Let's see if.
- [57:38]
Luke Burbank
Or maybe on our way home from the. From the. I mean, guess that'd be kind of early for pizza. Depending on how late we're. How long we're gonna be at our broadcast location.
- [57:47]
Andrew
Let's see here. Oh, let's see here. Oh, no, I'm looking up there. I think it's okay to say. Not to give up our. Our coordinates, but we're staying in an area called Ohio City in Cleveland.
- [57:59]
Luke Burbank
Oh, is that true?
- [57:59]
Andrew
Yeah, I believe that we're technically in Ohio City. Yeah.
- [58:02]
Luke Burbank
Oh, okay. I'll believe you on that. I didn't realize that was even a place. I just thought we were in Cleveland proper. But we're actually technically in Ohio City.
- [58:11]
Andrew
No, I Think technically we are in Cleveland, but I think that's a neighborhood, and that's what I'm running into trouble here with. There's apparently another actual municipality called Ohio City further away. But I think the neighborhood of Cleveland we're staying in is Ohio City. That's where my old high school was, which is why I kind of know that. And that's where, like, a lot of my old haunts were. Although I think a lot of them are gone now. Except for the Wendy's, where you, me and John are gonna get into a fight. Because that is where the boys would get into fights after school.
- [58:36]
Luke Burbank
What did they call that? Battle Dome Wendy's or something?
- [58:39]
Andrew
Dave Thomas Arena.
- [58:40]
Luke Burbank
Dave Thomas Arena. Pretty clever name. We're not in. We're not condoning violence, but it's a pretty clever name.
- [58:46]
Andrew
Yeah, I'm looking. Okay if I look up St Ignatius. Anyway, a lot of things that I can't answer today.
- [58:52]
Luke Burbank
We'll put John on the case. But I'm just saying, if it's convenient, if it's not super out of the way and we're looking for something to do one of these nights, I would totally. I would. I would absolutely go for a Pizza Hut experience. Because what I'm trying to say is I have a feeling that if you're sitting in a classic Pizza Hut and they bring the pizza out and it's piping hot and you put it down on the table and you've got one of those plastic cups with the good ice in it and a root beer year, that's going to be the best you're going to get with Pizza Hut.
- [59:26]
Andrew
Warren is unfortunately an hour outside of Cleveland. So when I said. When I said Far east side, it's just east of Cleveland. It's not the east side. It reminds me of when I was. I referred to. It was in some sort of radio copy for kuow. I referred to like Seattle's east side or something when I was new here. And Ross Reynolds had to be like, that is not Seattle's east side. That is the east side. But it is their own municipality. Like Bellevue is not Seattle's east side.
- [59:56]
Luke Burbank
There are none in Washington, by the way. There's There. The stops. The W stop at. Well, it goes Wisconsin, Wyoming. There's. They don't even list. They even list Washington state. Someone in Washington state needs have the courage to step up and get a class. There's a Pizza Hut not that super far from me. But it's just like a normal. It's. You know what it is, is. I think it's in a gas station that has like a Skippers, which is if you're from. Yeah, Skippers. That's an old school Seattle kind of, I think northwest kind of brand that's now relegated mostly to gas stations. Like someone just bought the like, you know, license to the name.
- [60:36]
Andrew
Do you have a recollection of you and I hunkering down and I think I want to say a long John Silver's. During our hitchhiking trip. Trip, we were in some sort of fast food fish restaurant. I don't think I even got any food. And we were just like looking to charge our phones and get off our feet for a little bit. Do you have any recollection of that?
- [60:55]
Luke Burbank
Do you remember what would that have been in like Missouri or something?
- [60:58]
Andrew
I feel, I don't. I don't have the recall to know to even like, remember like what state we were in for which adventure. But I do feel like this was the point where we were feeling like we were actually running into some trouble. I feel like we were there for a long time. I feel like maybe some weather was coming that we were concerned about. And eventually we got picked up by, I believe, our last driver, which was that chain smoking woman who also ran a cleaning business. And I was in the backseat and
- [61:30]
Luke Burbank
also, by the way, lied to us about her graphic design abilities. Do you remember that part?
- [61:35]
Andrew
How did. We found out later when we were back home that she had used a stock image or something? Yeah.
- [61:40]
Luke Burbank
She had showed us her business card for her cleaning business and it was like. Yeah. I was like, oh my God, this is incredible. I go, this is really a cool little logo. She goes, yeah, I drew it. And we were like. I remember spending the rest of the ride being like, why would you contain so much talent and that? I think we were. I was talking about it on the show or something or somehow either. I don't know if it was you or a listener. Someone just googled what I was describing and it was like the first result of like stock clip art for if you were going to. To want a logo for your cleaning company.
- [62:11]
Andrew
And didn't she complain or something or. No, no. She had her daughter on speakerphone the whole time. And wasn't her daughter having car issues somewhere else or something like that? Or. I just remember like she was kind of like in some cranky conversation with her daughter on speakerphone. And I feel like that conversation also somehow involved cigarettes. But I could be she picked us
- [62:32]
Luke Burbank
up and was like almost seeing. Seemed at the Beginning of the trip, she almost seemed annoyed.
- [62:39]
Andrew
Yeah.
- [62:39]
Luke Burbank
That we were in the car. And what I felt like saying was, a, thank you for the ride, and also B, you know that you picked us up.
- [62:46]
Andrew
Yeah, get in.
- [62:48]
Luke Burbank
Yeah, that was just driving kind of in a huff. And it's just kind of like, okay, you didn't have to pick us up. Like, thank you. But also, you didn't have to.
- [62:56]
Andrew
Yeah.
- [62:57]
Luke Burbank
If you're ever in Shell Knob, Missouri, there's an iconic Pizza Hut perched on the scenic shores of Table Rock Lake Lake in Shell Knob, Missouri.
- [63:05]
Andrew
That sounds nice, dude.
- [63:07]
Luke Burbank
First of all, I've been to Table Rock Lake. It's beautiful. It's absolutely beautiful. And this look. This really does look like the platonic ideal. Whereas some of these classic Pizza Huts kind of look like they were. They were retrofitted. Like they were.
- [63:20]
Andrew
Yeah. I was worried they were kind of
- [63:22]
Luke Burbank
made into new Pizza Huts and now they weren't new enough. So instead of. By the way, one of the things they mentioned in that article, then we got to move on to blurs days was it's a lot cheaper to turn. Let's say you have a Pizza Hut that was remodeled in 1995. You own a Pizza Hut somewhere, and it's no longer, like, kind of the most up to date. It seems out of date. If you're gonna update it to like a new Pizza Hut with all this glass and steel and like, industrial chic whatever, that's like $300,000. But you can make it a retro Pizza hut for, like $90,000. So it's actually cheaper to make it the retro Pizza Hut Hut for obvious reasons. The Pizza Hut in Shell Knob looks like it didn't go through any of the updates. It's a barn find. It's just been there being a classic Pizza Hut for.
- [64:09]
Andrew
Yeah.
- [64:09]
Luke Burbank
Since it was that.
- [64:11]
Andrew
Although the chair. So this is funny. I just wanted to see what Shell Knob looked like. So I was looking at Google Maps at Shell Knob and looking at how the river, like, kind of snakes its way through there. And coincidentally, on the map right by the water, there was. Was a Pizza Hut. So I clicked on and I'm looking at the photos inside. It's not exactly how I remember the seating inside, but I think this might be a special kind of old school Pizza Hut because of its location on the water. They also have like a deck and stuff like that, but like.
- [64:38]
Luke Burbank
Oh, really?
- [64:39]
Andrew
Oh, there are some booths. I don't know if I hit the Z sound too hard on the word booth, but there's A lot. There's fewer booths and more just like these kind of wooden chairs and a big open seating area. And it's got a. What do you call that open ceiling. It's like had a pitched roof, but then it's kind of open and you can see it's like a vaulted ceiling. Yeah, it's a little bit more lodgy than I remember these things, but absolutely beautiful.
- [65:05]
Luke Burbank
It may not work out for this coming tbt, but at some point I'm going to keep my eyes out as I'm traveling the highways and byways of America, maybe for my TV job. I'm going to keep my eyes out for a classic Pizza Hut. And I'm going to go in there and I'm going to do a. I'm going to do a food review on this show and to see if my theory holds that maybe being in the pizza, in the classic Pizza Hut, drinking out of the classic Pizza Hut cup will actually time travel me back to being a kid at a Pizza Hut.
- [65:32]
Andrew
Luke Burbank. Do you know what this shell knob Pizza Hut has? Because it's literally on the water. You can drive your boat up and they have a little dock and on the dock they have a tiny, a little miniature red Pizza Hut roof protecting the boat.
- [65:51]
Luke Burbank
Okay, hold on. I gotta look at this. If I go out to Columbia, I'm
- [65:55]
Andrew
gonna go all the way out to
- [65:57]
Luke Burbank
the Pacific Ocean and then I go around through the Panama Canal. Is there a way, can I get to Table Rock Lake in the Ozarks somehow from here in Southern Washington? Is there? Maybe I go up through the Great Lakes. Oh, you know what I mean. I could take the Columbia the other direction and cut into the interior of America. Maybe at some point jump on the Colorado. Anyway, I'll figure it out.
- [66:21]
Andrew
Or I could just send you a picture.
- [66:25]
Luke Burbank
There's a right way to rock and
- [66:28]
Andrew
a wrong way to roll. You can't just listen to your song.
- [66:33]
Luke Burbank
Just remember that life is number one. You can be having so much fun. Just remember the day life is. You can be nothing.
- [66:55]
Andrew
All right, I'm double checking. Oh, what's wrong?
- [66:58]
Luke Burbank
Can I. Nothing's wrong. Nothing's wrong. Would it be okay, this is, you know, your segment. You're in charge of this. So I'm going to ask your permission. Would it be all right if I made the very quickest of announcements of non blurs day related content?
- [67:09]
Andrew
Non blurs. If it was blur, I'd give you. I would let you do it somewhere in the middle of the blurs. Days randomly. But it's a non end of the blur days. Is it? Give me a color coded system, John Ashcroft style.
- [67:23]
Luke Burbank
Okay.
- [67:23]
Andrew
Oh wait, no, it wasn't Ashcroft who came up with a color coded terrorist alert system. Like are we talking, is it red, yellow, green? How would you categorize this announcement as far as importance?
- [67:34]
Luke Burbank
I think it's yellow. I don't think it's. I don't think it's of the highest importance. But, but it's something that I had meant to mention at the, like closer to the top of the show and then I forgot about it.
- [67:44]
Andrew
Well, let me just think about. No, just kidding, go ahead. What is the announcement I'm interested in?
- [67:48]
Luke Burbank
Very quickly, listener Kelly wanted to remind folks that the TBTL Book Club is meeting this Sunday. There's a Zoom link that's gonna be on the TBTL Book Club Facebook group and the Slack channel. This is happening from 12 to 1 Pacific Time, 4pm Eastern. And you don't have to have read the book to be part of the club, but if you have or if you want to, the book is there you go.
- [68:13]
Andrew
See, that's why this is the community calendar. Music.
- [68:16]
Luke Burbank
I know, but I'm asking a lot. I'm asking you to change the Blurs day music to this. The book is Frozen river and you can, like I said, you can find out about it by way of the TBTL Book Club, Facebook, the Slack channel and maybe most importantly for it would appear that my mother is actually gonna be part of this book club because she actually read this book. She told me. I don't wanna steal her thunder. It's one of the best books she's ever read really. And so my mom and dad are stopping off here at my house on Sunday. They're driving from my sister Liz's house up to their place. They're stopping here on their way home so my mom can have a good Internet connection so she can join the TBTL Book Club.
- [68:55]
Andrew
How are we feeling about this is gonna sound very condescending and it's probably because it is. Although I don't mean to be be, you know, rude about it, but how do we feel about your mom's ability to connect with the rest of the group?
- [69:09]
Luke Burbank
I've been thinking about this all morning. I think because my mom is still my parent and you know, from being a kid, particularly being a teenager, sometimes anything your parents do feels a little cringe. It feels like. But then I think about my mom in Philly and the. At the after party after the Philly show and the line of people waiting to talk to her her and how much everyone was like, oh, my God, I loved meeting your mom. I think I have to think about my mom as an independent person in the world, not as my mom. Therefore, I think that she's going to be a big hit.
- [69:40]
Andrew
I think you've wildly misunderstood my question. I meant literally, what are her chances of successfully technically connecting with the group?
- [69:50]
Luke Burbank
I'd say zero.
- [69:50]
Andrew
I didn't mean your mom can connect with people. That is not the issue. Your mom is great at connecting with,
- [69:55]
Luke Burbank
keeping me up at night.
- [69:56]
Andrew
I mean, how will she operate the Zoom? Will she be able to like, kind of of negotiate the linkage and the logins and everything that goes along with
- [70:06]
Luke Burbank
a Zoom connection that's between her and her God, who she's in constant contact with, by the way. I'm just more like, my mom is a free spirit. She's of an older generation than mine. She's of a generation where she will sometimes say things that, like, you and I would definitely not say, but she goes, what? It's a compliment. You know, it's that kind of energy. Yeah, that's. So to turn that loose in the book club, I don't. I'm not sure how that all is going to go, but I'm going to let go and let God because I'm going to be on an airplane. I'm going to be on an airplane heading out to Valley City when this is all happening. Thank you for indulging me.
- [70:42]
Andrew
You're going to let go and let frog.
- [70:44]
Luke Burbank
Yep, that's right.
- [70:47]
Andrew
All right, let's switch gears here and go back to the Blurs days. If you would like to celebrate somebody's birthday or your own birthday, you're a somebody. You can email me andrewbtl.net is the email address. And please put blursday or birthday in the subject line so I know to grab them here during the segment. And we have a message here from Caitlin in Eagle, Idaho that says happy Blurs day to Nicole in Worcester, Ohio.
- [71:12]
Luke Burbank
Oh, do they have a Pizza Hut?
- [71:14]
Andrew
I want. I don't think so. You didn't mention Worcester. I would have noticed that.
- [71:18]
Luke Burbank
I didn't see Worcester, so I saw War Warren.
- [71:20]
Andrew
Warren, my neighbor, was just celebrating, I think her 50th high school reunion or something in Worcester, Ohio, last weekend. But that's not relevant to Caitlin's message. Caitlin wants to wish a happy birthday to Nicole and Worcester. She got a warm and levitated. So she got warm and levitated when she found out y' all would be in Ohio for a late birthday gift. Here's hoping it's a great weekend of her Worcestershire. Miss you. Oh, I see.
- [71:46]
Luke Burbank
See?
- [71:46]
Andrew
Here's hoping it's a great weekend for her in Worcestershire. Miss you. But it's. It's actually. It's spelled the proper way. Two O's. Yeah. Wooster.
- [71:56]
Luke Burbank
It's Worcester, but it's kind of Worcestershire. How do we.
- [71:58]
Andrew
Do I say.
- [71:59]
Luke Burbank
Do we say Worcestershire or Worcestershire?
- [72:01]
Andrew
Worcester. The one in New. The joke is the one in New England is also pronounced Worcester, but it's spelled W, R, W O, R, C, E, S, T, R or something like that.
- [72:12]
Luke Burbank
That's also pronounced Worcester.
- [72:13]
Andrew
That. Yeah. That's where the whole joke comes from. But in Ohio, they keep things simple and they spell their Worcesters like it looks so. Happy birthday, Nicole. I hope your birthday didn't get lost in that mess of an examination of Worcesters. That's on me. Should I read one from Erica, Luke?
- [72:32]
Luke Burbank
Absolutely.
- [72:32]
Andrew
Did you sign off on this?
- [72:34]
Luke Burbank
Not only do I co sign, I'm gonna tell you my feelings about it. It actually makes me emotional thinking about you reading being a blurs day. Message from Erica.
- [72:41]
Andrew
Erica says, I would like to wish my five harmony a wonderful 11th birthday. That is great. And I love the name Harmony. Mom is so proud of the person you are becoming. I love you, kiddo.
- [72:52]
Luke Burbank
Kids and fantasy, indeed.
- [72:55]
Andrew
That's the working title right now of the meetup we're doing next Wednesday, the Zoom Meetup. John put together the invite, and it says kids and Fantasies. See at the top. We'll have more details on that tomorrow when John joins us on the show. Happy birthday, John. I'd like to send a birthday shout out to Dr. Crispwell of Crispwell Industries, aka the Mushroom Doctor. She's been fighting the good fight for 41 years, and I wish her all the luck in the world to finally grow her own morels. Although her kids are like mushroom.
- [73:29]
Luke Burbank
Sound effect.
- [73:29]
Andrew
Yeah. What? It's just here. It's the sound. This is like the sound of rain
- [73:34]
Luke Burbank
falling on a mushroom. You know, they're very like. They thrive in kind of dark, moist conditions, damp conditions, and then here's the
- [73:42]
Andrew
sound of them growing.
- [73:43]
Luke Burbank
Okay. It's actually very relaxing.
- [73:46]
Andrew
It is. This is good.
- [73:47]
Luke Burbank
Fall asleep from this.
- [73:48]
Andrew
God, I needed this. Okay. Anyway, I wish her all the luck in the world to finally grow her own morels. Genevieve found a morel one time, I believe, in our own backyard. Although her kids are likely her proudest achievement, I'm sure the Morels would be a very close second. Happy birthday. Crisp from an 11. Dear Meghan, well, it's been another year and I'm so glad to wish you a great one. Coming up. You're the best daughter anyone could ask for. Think of dinners at the Widgewood. Think of dinners at the Wedgwood Broiler. Trudging home in snow while watching police argue over how to get their car out of the ditch. Fearless High dives at Meadow Brothers. It's all good. Be your marvelous self. Much love, Mom. A ten.
- [74:35]
Luke Burbank
Okay. That's adorable. And also great. We love the Maple Leaf. Location check between Meadowbrook Pool, where I went many times as a kid, because they had a high dive. They didn't have a high dive at Evans Pool, which is the one at Green Lake. So on special, if I could talk my mom into it, we'd go to Meadowbrook so I could jump, jump off the high dive.
- [74:55]
Andrew
There is a restaurant called the Maple right there on Roosevelt and Maple Leaf. Almost directly across the street from that. Ace Hardware. My friends run that place. And I'm not just saying this because they're my friends. Literally the best fried eggs I may have ever had. They make them perfectly there. I think I got like a. I've only had breakfast there once because they're my friends. I don't want to support them too much. It looks, you know, it looks all thirsty. Yeah, but we went there for breakfast and it was. I think I got steak and eggs and it was so incredibly good. So if you're in that area, check out the Maple.
- [75:26]
Luke Burbank
You know what's funny is I think that it used to be. Is it in that little converted house?
- [75:31]
Andrew
It's a little converted house and they have a banana. They literally have a banana stand. A little banana frozen banana window on the side of it.
- [75:37]
Luke Burbank
I think that, that. I think that used to be back in the day, a restaurant called Raza Malaysia that my dad did signs for.
- [75:46]
Andrew
Oh, really?
- [75:46]
Luke Burbank
Like I'm talking in the 80s. And they would just pay my dad in free Raza Malaysia food. And I remember on my parents hot date nights, they would go to Raza Malaysia.
- [75:56]
Andrew
What kind of food is that? I'm looking at it.
- [75:58]
Luke Burbank
I think Malaysian.
- [75:59]
Andrew
Yeah, no, I know. I mean, like, I'm just trying to picture the cuisine.
- [76:02]
Luke Burbank
I remember being like noodles and stuff, but I just remember that always being like, oh, we're gonna go to Raza. They just called it Raza. It was either in that exact building or one very close to it. Cause it was in a House on Roosevelt right there, kind of by that Ace hardware.
- [76:15]
Andrew
Ooh. Aside from going to the Maple, I want to check out a Malaysian restaurant. I'm looking at, like, little pictures and videos. That stuff looks great. All of that is to say happy birthday, Megan, Lloyd and Katie. Say happy actual Blurs day to Isaac. No joke. So Isaac is a newborn. Congratulations, guys.
- [76:36]
Luke Burbank
Oh, come on.
- [76:36]
Andrew
Says that. No joke. Isaac is here because of the TBTL community. Two years ago, another 10 shared their little ones day of blurs and expressed how difficult the journey was. Dealing with repeated loss, yet never giving up. And I can confirm what was said during that Blurs day message. Holding you in my arms for the first time. Oh, I told myself I wasn't gonna get choked up. I read this this morning. I'm like, you can do this. You can do this.
- [77:03]
Luke Burbank
How could you not, man?
- [77:04]
Andrew
Holding you in my arms for the first time made every hard day worth it.
- [77:09]
Luke Burbank
Oh, my goodness gracious. That is. I'm. I'm tearing up hearing you tearing up, man. That's.
- [77:17]
Andrew
Well, that's the way it works. It's contagious. I'll try not to hiccup too, because that's also contagious. It says thank you to whoever shared their story. It found us at a very difficult moment and gave us what we needed to try one last time.
- [77:28]
Luke Burbank
Oh, my goodness. That is. That is incredibly heartwarming. And I'm so happy for. For you and. And Isaac. Welcome to welcome to the rest of your life.
- [77:39]
Andrew
I mean, say welcome to this.
- [77:41]
Luke Burbank
I know there's going to be a lot of this. It's going to be two guys, so
- [77:46]
Andrew
getting increasingly old and increasingly emotional at stories like this.
- [77:50]
Luke Burbank
I'm thinking about this and that and Pizza Hut. So this is going to be the sonic backdrop of a lot of your life.
- [77:56]
Andrew
Okay, listen, get used to it, kids. Isaac, maybe you can help me with this. I know I was on a road trip. I feel like it was part of a tbtl, a thon. But I was by myself for some reason. I can picture the booth I was sitting in. Isaac, can you help me here?
- [78:10]
Luke Burbank
When you were in the Bardot, when you were in the liminal spirit world, between being not fully alive and now being alive, when you were flying around in that spirit realm, did you ever observe Andrew at a Pizza Hut calling his name?
- [78:26]
Andrew
And if you were above me, how big was my body Bald spot at that point? That's really sweet. Congratulations, guys. And again, happy Blurs day and welcome to the world, Isaac. Also, happy Blurs day to Megan And Edmonds, from Annie in Seattle. I hope your day is filled with fun, excitement and more commentary from Andrew about Dirty Dancing. Oh, I don't know if I got it in me today. Red Robin and the Husky helmet Car forever. Amen. Helmet. Yeah.
- [78:54]
Luke Burbank
Dude, that thing.
- [78:55]
Andrew
I love.
- [78:56]
Luke Burbank
I love that thing so much.
- [78:57]
Andrew
But the by far my favorite thing about going to Husky games, I usually go to about one a year with Genevieve, and I'm always one more a
- [79:04]
Luke Burbank
year than I go to having graduated from that school and having been at sometimes obsessed with the football team.
- [79:09]
Andrew
Yeah, well, they're having me. They're having me do the Husky corner for U Dub today. Now I understand now the gen. Oh, you're the Husky corner, right? Yeah, exactly.
- [79:20]
Luke Burbank
Love it. When's your latest column on Joe Jerzynka coming out?
- [79:25]
Andrew
Googling that.
- [79:26]
Luke Burbank
That sounds like a guy you would have grown up with.
- [79:28]
Andrew
Actually, it does. The name sounds very. Very Ohio Polish.
- [79:32]
Luke Burbank
Yeah, very Ohio Polish.
- [79:33]
Andrew
That's a. That's a classic name. From the. From the.
- [79:35]
Luke Burbank
That was just a guy. That was just. That's for. For our Husky football fans out there. That was just a. That was just a fun poll for them. We had a guy named Joe Jenka who was like a. He was a kick returner. He was a kind of diminutive but very fast guy. And if I remember right, he had like a mullet or some kind of a rat tail that might stick out from under his helmet. And he was just fun to watch.
- [79:56]
Andrew
Nice.
- [79:57]
Luke Burbank
But yeah, so that was just for the Huskies out there. You can use that in your. In your Husky corner.
- [80:01]
Andrew
Thank you. Appreciate it. I came up with that name myself while criticizing other, more pedestrian names. All right, last one here. This is from our pal Maggie and Swarthmore, who keeps me in fig Newtons and goldfish crackers. Happy 58th Blursday. To me, 58 is a weird number, I think. Too old to be young. Too young to retire. My goal for this year is to live human scale, connecting with people, being friendly to strangers, hosting more dinner parties and outdoor movie nights on our porch. Oh, sounds great. Thank you, TBTL Friendos, for being leaders in this continuing quest to cure global war loneliness. Love ya. We love you back, Maggie. Thank you. And thank you for being such a kind friend all these years. Maggie is the person who also sent me a basketball a few years ago. You'll be shocked to hear that my basketball career has not taken off the way I expected it to. But there's still time.
- [80:52]
Luke Burbank
Isn't Maggie the person who sent you the fig Newtons.
- [80:54]
Andrew
Yes, I said she keeps me in fig Newtons and goldfish.
- [80:57]
Luke Burbank
Okay, sorry I missed that part.
- [80:59]
Andrew
But yeah, also I think that's a
- [81:00]
Luke Burbank
really good way to think about being 58 or being any age.
- [81:04]
Andrew
Age.
- [81:04]
Luke Burbank
Here's the thing, after a certain point, maybe I don't know what it is different for everybody. Look, cult 30. For some people, after a certain, like when you're young, you're not thinking about your age or that you're getting older particularly, or that, you know, I know you're not thinking about life the same way. And then there's some point where you just sort of start going, oh wow, I'm older than I expected to be. Well, I didn't expect to be this old. Oh, I never thought I was gonna. That's kind of like becomes the thing every birthday. It's like, man, I didn't think I was gonna be 50. Man, I didn't think I was going to be 60. But what, what Maggie said about, you know, thinking about her 58th year and the things that she wants to do and kind of living at human scale, I think that's really lovely and something nice to think about as again as we all age and, and once we get into that era where we're like kind of have mixed feelings about it. Like you don't have mixed feelings about turning 18, you're psyched. It's like very cool to get and 21 and there's these milestones where it's just like, it's, it's just, you're just so excited about it and then you get to this other phase where you're just like, wow, I did not expect myself to be a 50 year old.
- [82:03]
Andrew
Well, it's funny because you spend a big chunk of your life just wanting to get older so much. You want to leave so much behind. Now I don't know if this is maybe as specific to me to a degree or generational or maybe it is universal, it's part of youth. I'm not exactly sure. I can't speak for everybody, but I just feel like when you're in grade school, you just cannot wait to get to high school. Just get me out of this place. Being in high school, cannot wait to get out of your house and go to college or whatever your post high school plans are. For me it was college then. I literally remember being my fourth year of college, sitting on the stoop of the student center with my friend Greg singing We gotta get out of this place if it's the last thing we ever do just like we were done with it. We just wanted, can we just move on to the fun adult parts of life? And then you get to a part of life. You're just saying, where did my youth go? Honestly. But that sounds depressing. But I've said it before on the show. I love my life go back in time if I were to be given, given the opportunity. And you know, I'm lucky in a lot of ways. And also as I do get older, I look at, I look at you and I look, you're an older man and you're still getting around really well, Luke. And you still seem to be living a pretty enjoyable life. So like on the outside that's sort of an observer. That's sort of, you know, that's sort of what keeps me going.
- [83:21]
Luke Burbank
Yeah, I'm proof that, that, you know, you can live a full and rich life at 50.
- [83:27]
Andrew
Exactly. That's what.
- [83:29]
Luke Burbank
All right, happy blurs day to everybody this week.
- [83:32]
Andrew
Week.
- [83:33]
Luke Burbank
I guess we should probably wrap it on up here today, Andrew. But guess what? This is five days a week, this program. So that means we're bringing another show at you tomorrow. We'll have John Sklaroff on. It'll be our final episode before we are checking in from Valley City, Ohio. So I'm sure we'll have much to. I have slightly, I already have the show sheet written out for tomorrow's show and kind of cheekily, kind of jokingly, I have the question big weekend plans. But I kind of feel like we already know what the big weekend plans.
- [84:00]
Andrew
Yeah, well, I do. Aside from some frog name updates from Sklaroff and some other thon related things. I have a little thon twist. I'm gonna let everybody in on a little, little, little tension for the weekend potentially. I'll give you, I'll give you an update regarding our plans.
- [84:17]
Luke Burbank
Okay, well that's a good reason to tune in tomorrow to the show. By the way, if you, if you're just tuning in, don't forget to sign up for the TBTL newsletter. Go to TBTL Click on the button that says newsletter so that on Friday you will be among the first to see the TBTL a thon thank you gifts that we're going to be sending out to folks. So make sure you do that and we will see you tomorrow for more imaginary radio. In the meantime, have a good Thursday. Take care of yourselves and please remember,
- [84:42]
Andrew
no mountain too tall and good luck to all. Power out.