#4768 Beta Mail

Summary

TBTL #4768: "Beta Mail"

Date: July 10, 2026
Hosts: Luke Burbank, Andrew Walsh
Special Guest: John Sklaroff

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Episode Overview

This Friday edition of Too Beautiful To Live finds hosts Luke, Andrew, and TBTL’s first employee John Sklaroff in bright spirits and preparing for the annual “TBTL-a-thon” fundraiser. With plans to convene in Valley City, Ohio for a frog-jumping contest and Zoom nostalgia party, the trio covers event logistics, the unpredictability of shipping equipment, their complicated relationship with the USPS, and the all-important question of what to name their soon-to-be-caught frog. The episode is a classic TBTL mix of humorous digressions, gentle ribbing, logistical fretting, and strong community vibes.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Woodchucks & The Framing of Talent (00:00–01:06)

• Andrew opens with a faux-philosophical take on the "woodchuck" tongue twister—he laments people focusing on what things/people can’t do instead of what they can.
  • “They can do so many other things, but y'all want to focus on what they can't do. I don't like that.” (00:53, Andrew)
• Sets the tone for the episode’s playful, meandering style.

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2. Pre-Thon Vibes & Travel Nerves (02:01–04:09)

• Luke and Andrew banter about their travel plans for the TBTL-a-thon in Valley City, Ohio.
  • Andrew is "kind of shy, but mostly excited" for the trip (02:28).
• Andrew, ever the worrier, details his anxiety about shipping critical podcast equipment ahead of time—his USPS shipment is overdue.
• John joins to report that most TBTL-thon gifts are shipped USPS, affirming his “religious” use of the post office.

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3. The USPS: Love, Frustrations, and Price Hikes (06:40–14:46)

• Extended, spirited discussion about their reliance on USPS versus private carriers:
  • Luke is a champion of the USPS for its public service—"I like supporting it as an organization... I'm a big fan and defender of the idea of the usps." (10:24, Luke).
  • John blames spiraling PO Box costs on a bipartisan law from the Bush era that uniquely burdens USPS with 99 years of up-front pension funding. John’s “getting way too technical” (13:43), but the group agrees: the system is intentionally stacked against USPS.
  • "It's capitalism and privatization until we need socialism." (11:00, John)
  • They joke about whether TBTL is the USPS’s number one client.

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4. Postal Worker Shoutouts & Listener Connections (14:10–16:24)

• The hosts reminisce about post office employees—Angie is "the best civil servant I’ve ever come across in my life" (14:22, John).
• One listener who works at the post office even slips the crew secret notes in their PO box.

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5. Where’s the Package? The Agony of Tracking (16:31–26:16)

• Andrew reads out his package’s detailed but uninformative tracking log, which keeps promising on-time delivery—even after the deadline passes.
  • Tension ratchets up: “It says alert: impacts from the world soccer tournament… may delay final delivery.” (18:53, John)
  • The group ridicules this as an all-purpose excuse: “That is, to me, a total CYA move.” (19:30, Luke)
  • Silliness escalates as they imagine famous soccer players (e.g., Erling Haaland) delivering packages and joke about the Kafkaesque language of tracking updates.
  • Andrew develops new acronyms: “IOL – inconvenienced out of luck” (26:13)

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6. Upcoming TBTL-a-Thon Events: Newsletter & Zoom Party (27:50–33:11)

• Newsletter teasing:
  • The only way to know the “thank you gifts” before Monday is to subscribe to the newsletter at tbtl.net—“all will be revealed shortly” (28:04, Andrew).
• Zoom nostalgia party is announced for Wednesday, July 15th, 8 PM Eastern.
  • Theme: bring an object with personal meaning—childhood or otherwise.
  • “There are just those objects in our lives that, that just kind of stick around for some reason.” (30:44, Luke)
  • “You don’t have to share, don’t have to be on screen. It’s a reason to hang out.” (31:18, John)

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7. The Frog Jump: Footwear, Mosquitoes, and Naming Debates (33:47–46:55)

• Sunday, July 19: hosts will participate in Valley City’s 65th frog-jumping contest.
• Logistics:
  • They’ll catch a frog Tuesday night with local “Daves”—debate best footwear, raising concerns about mud, marsh, mosquitoes, and ticks.
  • “I am placing my trust entirely in the Daves’ hands.” (39:34, John)
• Naming the frog:
  • Listener submissions include “Jackie Froginson,” “Dua Leaper,” “Erling Hopland,” “Pre Frogtane,” and more.
  • “As the legend of Erling Haaland grows at the World Cup, Erling Hopland becomes more relevant.” (41:59, Luke)
  • Extended banter about song titles, puns, and Ohio’s presidents. Particular joy over “Pre Frogtane,” referencing running legend Steve Prefontaine.

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8. Quick Detours and Finishing Touches (46:55–52:10)

• Voicemail correction: “Long Legged Larry” by Aesop Rock is a frog, not a lawn chair reference; confusion between Aesop Rock and A$AP Rocky leads to playful old-guy confusion.
• Final moments include more technical hiccups (Andrew removing a slinky from his dog’s mouth), reminders to sign up for the newsletter and Zoom, and light-hearted travel panic as Luke faces a brutal itinerary for Ohio.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “They can do so many other things, but y’all want to focus on what they can’t do. I don’t like that.”
  — Andrew (00:53), riffing on “woodchuck” as a metaphor for human potential.
• “It’s capitalism and privatization until we need socialism. That’s what a successful corporation works.”
  — John (11:00), on USPS’s unique burdens.
• “What are the real chances that… the mail carrier is going to be attempting to deliver [a package] and a sea of Scottish soccer fans comes flooding down the street?”
  — Luke (19:30), lampooning the USPS’s “World Soccer Tournament” excuse for late packages.
• “We will be IOL — inconvenienced out of luck.”
  — Andrew (26:13), on the missing podcast equipment.
• “Of all the stuff that I’ve sort of divested of… I don’t know why this particular item has just been following me around.”
  — Luke (30:17), previewing the nostalgia Zoom.
• “As the legend of Erling Haaland grows at the World Cup, Erling Hopland kind of becomes… more relevant.”
  — Luke (41:59), appreciating a listener’s frog name suggestion.
• “There are just those objects in our lives that… stick around for some reason.”
  — Luke (30:44), on objects with nostalgia value.
• “I am placing my trust entirely in the Daves’ hands.”
  — John (39:34), counting on local expertise for frog catching.

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00–01:06 – Woodchuck tongue-twister riff
• 02:01–04:09 – TBTL-a-thon travel planning, pre-trip excitement
• 06:40–14:46 – USPS vs. private carriers; PO box, shipping headaches
• 16:31–26:16 – Tracking the missing equipment and “World Soccer Tournament” delays
• 27:50–33:11 – Newsletter/Zoom updates and encouragement to sign up
• 33:47–39:44 – Frog catching prep: footwear, mosquitoes, and ticks
• 39:44–46:55 – Listener-submitted frog names and their connections
• 46:55–52:10 – Voicemail, Aesop Rock confusion, closing logistics, signoff

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Episode Tone & Style

• Playful, self-deprecating, and collaborative banter
• Frequent digressions and callbacks to running TBTL inside jokes
• Community-oriented—listener contributions and direct addresses
• Informal, conversational, occasionally lightly absurd

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For New (or Returning) Listeners

This episode is a concentrated dose of TBTL’s unique chemistry—equal parts logistical hand-wringing, in-joke-laden riffing, and genuine affection both for their listeners and for the everyday weirdness of life. Whether you’re curious about podcast fundraising, small-town traditions, or the peculiar travails of adult friendship, you’ll find it exemplified here.

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Calls to Action

• Sign up for the TBTL Newsletter at tbtl.net for early access to TBTL-a-thon gift news.
• Join the Zoom Nostalgia Party: Wednesday, July 15th, 8 PM Eastern/5 PM Pacific; bring a cherished object and/or just hang out.
• Be ready for next week’s frog-centric livestream (Monday at 1 PM Eastern), where the TBTL crew will be gathering in Ohio—assuming the equipment arrives!

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Closing words:
"No mountain too tall." — Luke
"And good luck to all. Power out." — Andrew (52:10)

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Transcript

[Andrew Walsh]

My whole issue is, why would y' all name them Woodchucks if you know they can't chuck wood? Like, what's the purpose of that? And then to add insult to injury, you make a whole tongue twister or nursery rhyme talking about the very thing that you know they can't do. Talking about if they could chuck wood, you know they can't. You know they can't, so why are you talking about it? And then you got everybody else talking about it, making them the butt of the joke. The craziest part about all this is that wood chest can do a whole bunch of other things with wood. And yet the one thing that everybody is focused on is the fact that they can't chuck it, even though that's what their name is. They never said they could, so why would y' all call them that? Like, no, they never said they could. Y' all said that they were woodchuckers, so now they gotta get made fun of, because what y' all called them. They can do so many other things, but y' all want to focus on what they can't do. I don't like that. I don't understand that, to be honest. That feels like a whole motif for how people go about looking at your skills and the things that you're good at. The. That's like being like, oh, okay, well, you know, you can't dunk, but, you know, if you were taller, like, how high would your vertical be? You know I can't dunk, so why are you even asking me that? I don't have the statistics or the data to answer that question. Why can't we focus on what it is that I can do?

T T B T L

[John Sklaroff]

Guess what day it is Guess what day it is.

[Luke Burbank]

It's Friday.

[John Sklaroff]

Friday Gonna get down on Friday Everybody's

[Andrew Walsh]

looking forward to the weekend. Well, what are you? I'm a chicken lady. Can I get you a beer? Would you like to drink out of the toilet? A beer?

[Luke Burbank]

Okay.

[John Sklaroff]

Show yourself.

[Luke Burbank]

No.

[Andrew Walsh]

Definitely.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

Literally.

No. Yeah, yeah.

[John Sklaroff]

No, for sure.

[Andrew Walsh]

No. Yeah.

Do you have monkeys running around the house?

[John Sklaroff]

No, they have their own house.

[Luke Burbank]

I don't even know what that means.

[John Sklaroff]

No one knows what it means, but it's provocative.

[Andrew Walsh]

In 1971, Bill. Bill Grates invented MichaelSoft. Wouldn't it be cool if I could

[Luke Burbank]

remember my dingus password for my email?

[Andrew Walsh]

All right.

[Luke Burbank]

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

[Andrew Walsh]

Gotta have that root beer.

[Luke Burbank]

My name is Luke Burbank. I am your host.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm so excited about this show coming

[Luke Burbank]

to you from the Madrona Hill studio. Whoa, hold on. Wait a minute. All right, calm down. Erin Covey coming to you from the Madrona Hills studio, perched high above the mighty Columbia. Now it's time for that oh ma pa. It's just beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous. Friday here, the 10th of July, as we are getting ready to head out to Valley City, Ohio for the TBTLathon. I'm like, seriously excited. I'm kind of shy, but mostly excited. We are mostly excited. Of course, we still have to bring you episode 4768 in a collector series. That's today's program.

[John Sklaroff]

Let the fun begin.

[Luke Burbank]

With all kinds of stuff to talk about. Thon related other things. Let's just get the. Let's get the cast of characters here on the line right away. This guy's the longest running cobra of the show, maybe best known for his depictions of the tall ships. This shiny guy always worries. He's got a lot on his plate. He's Andrew Walsh and he's joining me right now. Good morning, my friend.

[Andrew Walsh]

Good morning, Luke. How you feeling?

[Luke Burbank]

I'm feeling okay, but I'll be honest, it's because I've got another link in my travel chain before I get to Valley City. And so I've kind of got a few things. Oh, by the way, let's also welcome TBTL employee numero uno John Sklarov. I would say his skills are sort of almost unlimited. Unlimited as are his responsibilities around the tbtl. A thon this is really his time to shine. John, welcome to the program.

[John Sklaroff]

Hey, guys, how's it going?

[Andrew Walsh]

Good.

[Luke Burbank]

Good to see you.

[Andrew Walsh]

Pretty good.

[Luke Burbank]

I'm actually right when we're done recording today, I'm running to the airport to fly down to Sonoma for a couple of days to do this kind of birthday celebration for a friend with Becca. And then I'm heading to Valley City on Sunday. But you're heading. Andrew, are you heading out Saturday morning? When are you leaving?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I'm heading out early tomorrow morning. I mean, the flight isn't especially early. The flight's like nine may maybe, but you know, that mean I like to get there two hours early, especially for a work trip where there's so much riding on this and knowing there's only one direct flight to Cleveland from Seattle a day like, you know, I'm going to get there nice and early. I'll have some radio equipment in my bag, which could also complicate things. I Have a little news update for John that I feel like he'd be interested in. If you want to see this Signy guy get nervous. The. The box of equipment that I shipped to my folks that was supposed to be there on Wednesday has still not arrived yet. And when I use the tracking number, USPS just keeps saying, oh, it's gonna get there on time. And I keep telling my phone, but on time was two days ago. And when I say. I tell my phone that I'm just yelling at my phone, so it's not accomplishing anything. So there. Did you pack any, like, cans with string attached to them or anything that we can use if in. Just as a backup plan?

[John Sklaroff]

Yeah. That's the most technologically advanced way to do a podcast these days, isn't it?

[Andrew Walsh]

It's not ideal. It's not ideal, but we gotta be thinking, oh, what happened there? What's happening to Luke?

[Luke Burbank]

Keep talking. I'm just. I'm just working on some stuff. I'm trying to figure out ways to make this podcast more visually successful, and I thought maybe if I integrated these

[Andrew Walsh]

googly eyeglasses that closed. Oh, interesting. These are special novelty glasses.

[John Sklaroff]

These are technology issues.

[Luke Burbank]

It doesn't help at all. But I just was getting bored with this conversation.

[Andrew Walsh]

It introduces a new technological.

[Luke Burbank]

Should I bring these to Ohio?

[John Sklaroff]

You look like Christopher Lloyd at the end of who Framed Roger Rabbit?

[Luke Burbank]

When he's even in that movie.

[Andrew Walsh]

Good call, judge.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, I think the way they're supposed to work is. See, the problem is I have these headphones on, but they have a. They have a little string that's attached to the eyelids on this thing, and there's a clip. You're supposed to kind of, like, cinch this to the back of your head so that if you move your head a little bit, it causes the eyes to close, the eyelids to close, come down. So you could just be, like, talking to someone, and then you just say, I'm pulling the string. You just suddenly move your head and. And you. You close the eyelids on it. Sorry, I didn't mean for that to become part of the conversation.

[John Sklaroff]

I was legitimately just asking more questions now. Like, one, why and where? Like, do you have those?

[Luke Burbank]

Like, I saw them on TikTok and I thought they looked cool. They were $8. And I literally thought, maybe I'll use these on TBTL. No, it'll be funny.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's pretty good.

[Luke Burbank]

Now, this is gonna sound in some way like, victim blaming Andrew, and I really don't mean it to, because, as I say, a Lot around the program. You and John are doing so much work to make this thon happen. You do so much work to make TBTL happen. And of course, there's no reason I would have done the exact same thing. There's no reason why you wouldn't have done this. But for some reason, I was always picturing this as a FedEx delivery gone awry. This is a USPS delivery gone awry. Is there any difference? Is one of them more or less reliable? Is there? I don't know. I guess for some reason I was imagining this gear is being sent FedEx, but you sent it USPS. And do they just use FedEx if you. You pay USPS, but then they just kind of like, you know, subcontract out the gig?

[Andrew Walsh]

No, I don't think so. I think they deliver it themselves. I don't know if they're. I use USPS just because I was there already picking up stuff. It's where our post office boxes. I was picking up a bunch of stuff. I was shipping stuff out. It just sort of made sense. Sense to me. Does USPS have a bad. I've never had an issue with it before. I mean, and I, you know, I spent the extra money to make because, like, there's no guarantees unless you pay, like, out the nose. You have to buy them a special airplane or something like that. But, like, there are various tiers. And I bought, you know, one of the more expensive tiers so that it would get there earlier than we needed. Like, Wednesday, I thought will give us tons of time. Now here we're talking on Friday morning, and so we'll see what happens. I mean, it doesn't take down the whole operation. Like, some of the actual key critical things we're doing. I'm really sorry about this. My dog is in here, and she's chewing on that she shouldn't be chewing on. I'm trying to chew on.

[Luke Burbank]

I would have mentioned that before the show. We were kind of dialing this up, and John was like, okay, I'll be there in 10 minutes. I'm walking the dogs. And then Andrew's like, just give me five minutes. I'm gonna take this dog outside. And I felt very left out. I'm the only member of the staff that doesn't have a dog right now. And I think that's unfair.

[Andrew Walsh]

Have you checked the roof? Are you sure you don't have a dog right now?

[Luke Burbank]

You can never be too sure around here anyway.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, she's being a good girl. She found something to chew on. The bottom of my chair and I was distracted there for a minute. But anyway, yeah, I don't know. I mean maybe USPS has a lesser reputation.

[Luke Burbank]

No, no, no. That sounded like I had a experience and I was like Andrew, how could you use usps? That isn't even, that isn't even really what I thought. I guess I just. Because I don't go to the post office very much because I'm always returning stuff that I bought online at the UPS store in my neighborhood. So if I've sent things it's through UPS or maybe FedEx or whatever. But I mean I have faith, I have faith in the United States Postal Service that they are going to get this stuff to where it needs to be in time for us to take use of it. Make use of it.

[John Sklaroff]

I will say as the person that does the most shipping on the behalf of two beautiful to biz. Oh yeah, I use the post office almost religiously. Like anyone that ever gets a thon gift that's all coming from the post office. I, I, I know the folks that are over there kind of some are a hassle to work with. Some are really great. And for whatever reason this specific instance for the. Because I had to ship some technology to Mr. Robert Walsh's house as well.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, we're shipping things to my parents house. I don't know if I made that clear. And honestly you ship stuff that is much more critical now that I'm sort of inventorying it like and that has

[John Sklaroff]

arrived and that I did use FedEx for whatever reason. I just, I think it's because I didn't have the right box. And like going to the post office and like getting the box like that just felt like more of a hassle. So I just went to FedEx and I said here's my object. These. I already measured the dimensions. Do you have a box for this? And they actually packaged it and like bubble wrapped it and sent it out.

[Luke Burbank]

I like us using USPS because I like supporting it as an organization. I feel like it's. And also the fact that these other companies oftentimes use the USPS because that's the last mile. Like that's, you know, there are these other companies, whether it's Amazon or Even you know, FedEx and UPS, I think that there are some places that they don't really service. So they lean on the United States Postal Service which is supported by all of us, the taxpayers to get stuff into areas where it doesn't make financial sense for them to drive their trucks and stuff. Like that. So I'm a big fan and defender of the idea of the usps.

[John Sklaroff]

It's capitalism and privatization until we need socialism. That's what a successful corporation works.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, you know, we're going to be asking the listeners next week, that's why we're all gathered here today to, you know, kind of talk about the TBT L A thon that's happening next week to help us pay the bills that we do have to pay to keep this operation running.

[Luke Burbank]

Socialism.

[Andrew Walsh]

And the truth of the matter is this is a. I mean, John, let's talk about the conversation that you and I were having via email a couple of days ago when we got a notice that our PO Box is up for renewal again. And I remember when I first ordered that P.O. box or purchased it or whatever, rented it, filled out the paperwork, I was surprised at how expensive it was. Now back then, that was. We were with American Public Media, so it was sort of like I didn't feel the impact quite as much, but I remember being like, wow, P.O. boxes can be expensive. And John, you pointed out that we have for the past two years quite a bit, Luke. And for the last two years there's been a 10% increase year over year for two years. Now you pointed that out, which is quite a bit. So, yeah, I don't know if that speaks to the state of the post office right now, if it's related to this administration, but I do think that our listeners should know that even just having this P.O. box is not exactly a cheap affair.

[John Sklaroff]

I know you guys know I don't have strong political opinions or thoughts, but there was this act, like kind of

[Andrew Walsh]

a who would you like to have a beer with? Kind of voter, right?

[John Sklaroff]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Or a few on the back deck of a Wisconsin Airbnb. I don't, I'm blanking on the name of it now. I'm trying to figure out, but it's basically called, it was like, called like the USPS Responsibility act or something like that. Fiscal responsibility, something like that. This was a law that was passed under George W. Bush and it's the reason the post office is so screwed. And this is a bipartisan act. So this is not saying Bush and Republicans, but like, if you look into this history of this, it was the act that very famously at the time mandated that, that the USPS have in funding reserves, the pension payout for 99 years of budgeted and put aside and ready to go, basically saying like all your employees, like for the next 99 years, you have to have like billions of dollars that you can't touch because that's the fund, the pension, and that's in reserve. So that's like one example of one of the things that they put into this act. Just like very ludicrous handcuffs on how the post office can spend its money and how it uses its money in benefit, in the ultimate service of like corporations like FedEx and UPS and all these other kind of companies because of the donors of Congress. So it's just like, is very intentional by Congress. I'm getting way too technical.

[Luke Burbank]

Is it possible that the TBTL through.

[John Sklaroff]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Through the thank you gifts that we mail out using usps through the, the PO Box that we've retained. Is it possible that we are the number one, the largest supporter of the United States Postal Service in America, that this humble podcast that TBTB is keeping the USPS afloat essentially, to the degree that it is afloat.

[John Sklaroff]

That's. That's my. That's my dream and my goal and aspiration, like in life.

[Luke Burbank]

Luke, now you've said some of the people, John, are helpful and some of them are less helpful. Would you like to name any of the less helpful people here? We like to put any of the people at the local St. Paul post office on blast.

[John Sklaroff]

Two people specific I will not name as unhelpful, but I will say Angie is super helpful. You were into angie at the West 7th USPS. She is. Is the best civil servant I've ever

[Andrew Walsh]

come across in my life. And don't forget, one of our listeners actually works at the post office that we use, and it will sometimes slip us notes into the P.O. box.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, we can't get a discount.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, I don't know. We'll see.

[Luke Burbank]

Could we set up something that's a little, like, I don't know, it's a little side hustle. Like, maybe it's not officially a PO Box, but it's where that listener just kind of puts our stuff when it comes in, kind of gives it to us when we come on in a little.

[Andrew Walsh]

Or maybe I put. Maybe I put little treats in the PO Box that he can access from the po. I'd never had a PO Box before, and I was pretty fascinated by it. You know, how. Maybe you don't know how, but for my life, when I would go to the grocery store and I'd grab some milk out of the cooler, I didn't really think about what was behind the milk. Right. But then you get to a certain age, you're like, oh, there's a whole world back there. There are people walking around in this cooler restocking these things from the back.

[Luke Burbank]

It's where nine year old Luke is walking through to use the bathroom.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, exact. You go through those plastic slats that hang from the ceiling like a car wash and you're just like, why some Narnia shit? Well then you start thinking, now when I grab milk, I'm always trying to get a little peek back there. Well, the P.O. boxes are kind of similar. You just open it up and you get your mail and you don't think too much about it. But then you're like, wait a second. If I open this up and I just kind of crouch a little bit, I can see back into the inner workings of this post office a little bit. And so what I'm saying is not unlike that movie the Lake House, which I have a vague grasp on what it's about. Yeah, I can put little notes and I'm blanking. I want to say Evan. Or I think it's Eric who works there. Let's go with Eric. Eric. If that's not your proper name, maybe we can change that. Yeah, exactly. You and I can pass notes and little treats through the P.O. box and then you can do a little math on the back end that maybe knocks some zeros off of this

[Luke Burbank]

price saying, help your favorite podcast out now, because I'm assuming there's is there tracking on this box?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I keep clicking on it and it just keeps.

[Luke Burbank]

Where is it telling you the boxes?

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, that's what I'm. This is why it's incredibly unhelpful right now. So here are the entire transaction history is the day I dropped it off. It says USPS in possession of item. That was on January 2nd at 4:59pm and then it departed the post office almost exactly 90 minutes later at 6:25. And then it arrived at a USPS facility but in Seattle the next day on July 3rd. Then on July 6th, it went to

[Luke Burbank]

the big processing facility.

[Andrew Walsh]

And then on July 5, which was what? That was Sunday on July 5, it says in transit and arriving on time. And I'd like to remind you that on time would have been Wednesday of this week on Wednesday night. We kept on opening this thing and tracking it on Wednesday night and it was already almost 10 o' clock Eastern Time, I want to say, which is Ohio's Eastern time. It was getting pretty late and there was a notice that said your item has been delayed and it's going to get there a little later than expected. But will still be there on Wednesday. And I'm looking at this and again, it's like 7 o' clock or something, our time. I'm like, that's already 10 o'.

[John Sklaroff]

Clock.

[Andrew Walsh]

Are you telling me that somebody's gonna roll up to the Walsh residence in Westlake, Ohio and drop this off in the wee hours of 10pm or 11pm? That doesn't sound right to me. The next day I log back in to say, hey, did they ever drop that thing off? That message that said it's going to arrive only a little bit later than usual is totally gone. And it just says, oh, don't worry about it. It doesn't say don't worry about it. It sort of says don't worry about it. It says your package is moving within the USPS network and is on track to be delivered on the expected delivery date. And that's it. Like the last update we have is from July 5.

[Luke Burbank]

It's already missed.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's now missed by two days. The expected date was Wednesday and that's what I paid for.

[John Sklaroff]

Andrew, I just noticed because we have the same. You sent me the tracking information as you mentioned. We were talking about this. I just opened it up and I don't know if you noticed this, but I've am now for the first time seeing across the top of the tracking page. Yeah, in there's a red banner. It says alert impacts from the world soccer tournament.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, come on.

[John Sklaroff]

Which they don't say World cup or FIFA, which I think is funny. Alerts impacts from the world soccer tournament held in major cities throughout the U.S. from June 11 through July 19, 2026. May delay final delivery of your mail packages.

[Andrew Walsh]

Read more yeah, no, I'd say that. Course they've been saying that. That's been on their website for a while. But like yes, Seattle is one. But this says it was in transit, arriving on time, which makes me think it's well out of. And I don't think Cleveland package I

[Luke Burbank]

ordered to Lumen Field at 5pm on Monday is going to be. That's. That's also, I mean, give me a baroque usps. We need some congressional oversight on this agency as far as I'm concerned, because

[John Sklaroff]

we need repeal on congressional.

[Luke Burbank]

Because like that excuse bothers me so much. What are the real chances that somebody has ordered something or is having something delivered through the USPS and the mail carrier or the delivery person is going to be attempting to deliver it and a sea of Scottish soccer fans comes flooding down the street and they're on the Wrong side of the ocean of Scottish soccer fans and they can't deliver the thing to them. I just feel like that's a total cya move.

[John Sklaroff]

I think we're missing. I think we're looking at the song way. Luke. What if Mr. Bob Walsh hears a doorbell ring and goes to answer the door and Erling Holland is handing in his box.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, my goodness.

[Luke Burbank]

Terrifying experience. Andrew. If you find your dad in the basement cowering.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. And you get to town, it's because

[Luke Burbank]

he had an early. He had an Erling Holland run in.

[Andrew Walsh]

Are you in real life, John? I don't know if you're still on the page or not, but there's also, and it's kind of in less severe font, it does mention that in an effort to save water, we will not be giving you fresh towels every day unless requested.

[Luke Burbank]

Why is there a picture of a koala bear? It's not even the same. That's not even related to the ocean.

[John Sklaroff]

Data centers need that water.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm just trying to think of all of the things that irritate you, Luke.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, only when I just think that the chances of the World cup interrupting mail delivery, other than an extremely specific set of circumstances where you're trying to mail something to a physical location that happens to be literally next to where, like a stadium is having one of the matches. That is the only scenario in which I can imagine the World cup interrupting USPS activities. And for them to be putting that up on the website, to me just feels like a catch all. Like anything that goes sideways, they can be like, well, it's Erling Holland's fault.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Because what would be the logistical issues there? I'm sure we're missing some of them. I'm not quite as quick to dismiss these things as you are, but I guess it would be just like logistics around road closures and excessive traffic and just general congestion in some parts. But like you say, that would be relegated to the actual hotspots of the actual events themselves. Not even here in North Seattle. Right. Is there anything else that we're missing that could actually be.

[Luke Burbank]

Are they even matches done in Seattle?

[Andrew Walsh]

They are now.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah. So I would think that, you know, the circus has sort of moved on. John. Quick, quick pivot. Is Norway now your team? Who are you rooting? Or maybe you were never rooting for the us who are you rooting for these days to win the whole thing?

[John Sklaroff]

Yeah, I'm mostly different, but you've. You've got me on the Holland train. I think he seems again, just from What I've learned about him as a human, he seems really cool, great. And so like, yeah, I'm, I'm. I'd be happy if they win. I, you know, mostly indifferent to the whole thing, but sure, I, the team

[Luke Burbank]

that I need to see lose is Argentina because they got the biggest scam call. Yeah, I heard about the tournament against Egypt and Argentina is a perennial powerhouse. They all, they've won it many times. They've got Messi, who again, doesn't seem like a bad dude. Egypt had the most incredible goal that. Where it was basically the length of the field. The two defenders for Egypt kind of pulled the ball away from an Argentinian player down by their own goal, and then just ran as fast as you've ever seen anyone run with the ball down the field, pass it to another guy who shot an incredible goal. The whole thing was called back because allegedly there was a foul committed way back near the Egypt goal, which allowed them to get this little ball and then run all the way down the field with it. And it's this whole VAR thing that's, you know, they've got this video assist recording for soccer that actually overrules the guys on the field. The officials on the field are not allowed like they are. They do not have the final call. There's a video recording. You know, they're basically their instant replay has the final call. And this is one of those things where it activated the video recorder because if there is a foul that allows for a goal to be scored, it is technically a violation. But no one thought, what if the foul was a minute before the goal and about 100 yards away from the event?

[John Sklaroff]

It's like when there's a big kick return the football and the guy is on the 10 yard line and then down at the 50, there's some erroneous holding or something like that, which is,

[Luke Burbank]

which is completely on the opposite side of the field. Had nothing to do with the play. You just get so annoyed with that kind of stuff. So anyway, I've now, I've now decided that I'm definitely rooting against Argentina because they've already gotten lucky and they've won too much. I'm rooting against England, sorry, Paul, and other English listeners, because they've won it too many times. And that pretty much leaves, for me, Norway.

[Andrew Walsh]

You know, I think I did see some. Is it pretty unusual for a coach and a player to actually call out the refs in a World cup event like this? Because I saw some headlines about, like, it seems sort of shocking that they were blatantly saying that they were screwed over in this exact. It is.

[Luke Burbank]

And you're talking about the team from Egypt.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I think so.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah. I think they were pretty, rightfully, pretty ticked about this whole thing. Well, back to what we're rightfully ticked about. I don't know, Andrew. I was going to say, I feel confident that this item will make it. This box will make it to its destination, but I'm also nervous that it's entering into Brazil territory. You know what I mean?

[John Sklaroff]

Sort of like Brazil got knocked out of the tournament, I think.

[Luke Burbank]

Is it Ronaldo who's going to. Who's delivering the box?

[Andrew Walsh]

Terry Gilliam.

[Luke Burbank]

It's Right. Well, that's the. That I knew he had a second career after movie making. I didn't realize he was working with the usps. It's just this idea that we're getting into this kind of, like, nonsense text, like, good news, your package will be delivered at the time that the USPS has said it will deliver it.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. That bothers me.

[Luke Burbank]

Your package is within the USPS realm of influence.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

What does that mean, good news? Your package will be delivered along the timeline that the USPS has deemed necessary and prudent. Okay, but where is, like, it's starting to get into, like, weird nonsense talk, which could mean, like, someone opened the box and took out the cables and went on a crazy cable spree.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, I just started to wonder about that because this was a.

[Luke Burbank]

That'd be one of the worst crimes in America.

[Andrew Walsh]

Eric, Eric, if you start a podcast tomorrow, I know exactly what happened. I. It was a very heavy box, by the way. Like, it was a lot of equipment in there. And so now here's the deal. The truth of the matter is, I guess I don't want to exaggerate for drama, although I probably should. A lot of the critical things that I am bringing to actually keep the podcast on there, the audio board we know is there. That's what John.

[Luke Burbank]

That's taped to your body when you fly, right?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. And it doesn't cause any alarms. No, John shipped that. We have an audio board that John shipped, and that is in Ohio, so that's huge. Luke and John, you guys are both bringing your own mics? I had shipped my mic, but if I don't get any confirmation that this has shown up in Ohio, I'll just bring another mic. There are several kind of pieces of equipment here that I was always needing to bring anyway, the things that connect our computers to the audio board. So I don't think that we are sol if this box doesn't arrive. But we will be iol which is inconvenienced, out of luck. Like, it's gonna make life harder. But I still think we can. We can do the show. And it's gonna make my travels harder because I'm have to carry more backup equipment that I had shipped off. Like, I had bought a little piece of equipment so that I could have one here in my studio these days and then ship one to Ohio so I don't have to travel with it, if that makes sense. But now I'm gonna have to, like, you know, kind of be loaded down with more equipment if this thing.

[Luke Burbank]

So if by Saturday morning you haven't gotten confirmation that it's made it, Andrew, then you're gon to take evasive action and then like, schlep more stuff.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, more like Friday. Because I gotta pack all this stuff up on Friday. Like I say, I'm probably leaving here around.

[Luke Burbank]

You mean today?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, that's what I mean by this afternoon as we record this on a sunny Friday afternoon. By the way, can you hold up today's newspaper? Luke? Yes. Hello and welcome to Top Story.

[Luke Burbank]

All right, as folks are hearing this, depending on when they've downloaded the show, what part of the day the newsletter for this week may have not gone out yet. Andrew, when's the newsletter going out on today?

[Andrew Walsh]

The newsletter will go out when we're done recording here. I'll post the show and maybe then wait about an hour or two for folks who are hearing our voice right now. And you're really excited to find out what we're going to be giving away during the TBTL a thon this year, you'll have to wait till Monday unless you sign up for the TBTL newsletter where all will be revealed shortly. So sign up. It's not too late yet.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, if you sign up. Yeah. Go to tbtl.net, click on the newsletter button and you will get signed up for the newsletter. And then we're going to reveal what the thank you gifts are. It's not going to be like the usps. We're not going to say the TBTL a thon thank you gifts are both incredible and accessible. And then you go, what are they? And they go. They are currently being held in the TBTLathon gift repository.

[Andrew Walsh]

They've already arrived.

[Luke Burbank]

Exactly where they're supposed to be. They've already arrived. No, we will just tell you and have some, I think, visual evidence of what the thank you gifts are. And then you can find out sooner than anyone who waits till Monday for the big announcement. So sign up for the newsletter. Also sign up for the Zoom for next week. What can you tell us about that, John?

[John Sklaroff]

Yeah, the Zoom, which is happening Wednesday evening, which is the 15th. You can sign up for free. At the top of tbtl.net there's a little button that says tbtl thon zoom party. Sign up. And so we talked about this a little bit more last week. It is a nostalgia hit. You get to sign up and then come hang out with us and your fellow tens and show off something that you've held on to throughout the years, maybe from move to move. Maybe it's something you found at your parents house, wherever it is, but something that represents like your youth, your childhood, or kind of a yesteryear sort of deal.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah. And can we. Cause I actually went down into my basement and got the thing that I'm gonna bring and it's not from my youth. It's just something that I have carried through like four moves for reasons that I don't fully understand of all the stuff that I've sort of divested of and given away or sold or what have you. I don't know why this particular item has just been following me around for as long as it has. So I think that's also a category.

[Andrew Walsh]

Is it something that Bobo also has on the Howard Stern show?

[Luke Burbank]

It sure is.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm just curious. I've mentioned that before.

[Luke Burbank]

I can't decide if I hope people got that joke or I hope they didn't get that joke. That's something you carry around inside your body, Andrew.

[Andrew Walsh]

I believe I only know that from you using this podcast to communicate with our friend Phyllis about that subplot.

[Luke Burbank]

But all that is to say, like, I'm so it could be something from your childhood. I think we're kind of the working title for this Zoom is Kids in Fantasy. But it could be something that you have from your childhood or just something, just some object that you've been kind of carrying around for a while that is kind of interesting. Or even if you're like, well, why have I been saving this particular spatula or salt shaker or God knows what. They're just those objects in our. In our lives that, that just kind of stick around for some reason. And we think that's a good jumping off point conversationally.

[John Sklaroff]

Yeah. And to that point, Luke, like, it's one of those things where, as always, you don't have to share something. You don't even have to be on screen. Just like if you just want to come hang out, be in the chat. You know, use the chat function to talk to your friends, to communicate with us. That's all welcome and we're excited for that too. It's just. It's just like. It's a reason to hang out.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's just a fun hang. It's always. We've been doing this for what, like five years now? More than that. Now we try to do at least one of these during thon, and it's always just a fun hang. I feel like we've gotten into a good groove with them as well. You know, at first we were sort of trying to figure out what we were doing. I mean, the one that we did in your parents basement was fun in its own way with our friend May.

[Luke Burbank]

Right, Our friend May helping his correspondent duties.

[Andrew Walsh]

And that was that. Was that what. We had a technical issue that I had to solve on the fly, remember? I freaked out, realized we had sort of a.

[Luke Burbank]

That was like something out of. Of the movie Die Hard or one of those movies where like there's a bomb and it's like, cut the blue wire, the red wire. It's counting down. We were counting down to the live broadcast. We started the live broadcast. There was some thing that was bedeviling us technically. And Andrew, your brain solved the problem. I want to say. What, like was it 10 seconds into the. You switched something.

[Andrew Walsh]

We realized something. It was like I was. I was feeding audio one way but not the other way. So listeners, I don't know, they couldn't hear us or we couldn't hear them maybe, and we were trying to communicate with them. But the whole thing, aside from that audio fluke, it also was a little bit like we were kind of presenting it like you and May were like presenting like standing up and doing like an Antiques Roadshow thing, which was. Which was fun and interesting, but also maybe a little bit more ambitious. I will say that I like where we are with these now, where we're all Ambition.

[John Sklaroff]

Yes.

[Andrew Walsh]

We're all just hanging. You know what I mean? And we're just kind of telling stories and people are popping in if they want to pop in and. And you can kind of come and go say hello. So that's what we'll do.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, we found the sweet spot. I think we figured out that it's not the production value from our end as far as like, you know, doing standups or having kind of, you know, panning shots with the camera or whatever. It's the tens of listeners getting to chat with each other in the. In the comment section and with us and just kind of like being together virtually for people that are spread out all over the country and the world. And that, that's just. That's the fun of it. And we don't have to do anything particularly more sort of involved than that. Just getting together on a Wednesday night to just hang out and kind of, you know, appreciate each other.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's right.

[Luke Burbank]

Now, that's not the only big event next week. We are also going to be on Sunday. So a week from this Sunday, we will be part of the Valley City frog jump competition. This has been going on for 60. This is the 65th year of this. And we're going to be. We're gonna be getting a frog. We're going to be humanely caring for that frog, which is to say putting it in some kind of large tank or terrarium and giving it some water and some food and then putting a camera on it for a frog cam.

[Andrew Walsh]

We're doing that. By the way, I wanted to ask you about this schedule. It kind of ties into the Zoom event too. The Zoom. I don't think we gave the time. Maybe you did, John, but it's going to be at 8pm Eastern Time. That's our time zone. And then 5pm West coast, which is. We're starting this party at 8pm and then that's Wednesday night. On Tuesday night, the Daves are taking us out to the marshes of Valley City to find our frog. We're not even meeting up with the Daves until 9:30 on Tuesday night. How are you guys feeling? How are you guys feeling about this party schedule that we've got lined up here?

[John Sklaroff]

Frog catching and zooms.

[Luke Burbank]

Frog catching on Tuesday. Zoom. And on Wednesday. I feel good about it. I'm a little bit it. I'm wondering if it's too late for me. I have all of. Like, the second that we're done, here I am. My suitcases are literally outside the Madrona Hill studio. They're not even in the house. I didn't even have to go to the house, but I wonder if I should run down there and get another pair. And if I have the room for some frog catching shoes, is it going to be marshy?

[John Sklaroff]

That's the point.

[Andrew Walsh]

I have.

[Luke Burbank]

I have two pairs of sneaks and I have my running shoes. And I was going to use my running shoes, but if they get all the soaked and jacked up, then I can't Eagle soar the next morning.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

What do you. What are y' all doing for frog catching footwear? It's.

[John Sklaroff]

It's on a golf course, right? Like number one.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, I'm trying. I mean, they said golf course, but listen. And this is just a lesson of broadcasting here. Okay? You guys keep correcting me and saying it's not a golf course.

[John Sklaroff]

No, I'm asking.

[Andrew Walsh]

And I keep saying it's on a marsh because I think a marsh is a better story. And so the listener should just know that when I say Marshall, it's probably actually a golf course, but I'm going to keep saying marsh because of the imagineering of the golf course.

[Luke Burbank]

It is in a marsh course. They're not. Listen, you don't go out to the 18th green, and there's 30 frogs sitting on the green. Where do you get them? You go down to the water where there is the kind of that marshy area where occasionally you'll see, like, a golfer hits the ball into the water, but they still want to play it. This is like the PGA Tour. They got their pants rolled up, and they're trying to hit out of some weird water hazard. That's where we're gonna be.

[John Sklaroff]

Well, yeah. So here's my thought, Luke, if you want to grab extra shoes, that'd be great. Because my thinking is, I think, you know, especially during the thon, I do a lot of, like, social media updates for TBTL so people can follow us on our journeys. So I imagine I'll be 5 to 10 yards behind you guys with a camera pointed on you guys.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, I see. You'll be documenting this.

[John Sklaroff]

Yeah, like, so we can post some updates and show people, like, nobody cares about John Sklaroff.

[Luke Burbank]

That's not true.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's not true. In fact, this goes against my. This go against my plan because I thought that you and Luke might take care of more of the frog handling things. Given my squeamishness about handling frogs, do you trust me to take the video? And I think, you guys, what I'm

[Luke Burbank]

hearing is John is also trying to get out of handling the frog. What do you frame himself as the camera person?

[Andrew Walsh]

And Luke's gonna be in a Pizza Hut that night.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes.

[John Sklaroff]

I don't mind handling frogs, but, like, you guys are tbtl. I'm just, like, third wheel in here.

[Luke Burbank]

And that's not true. But I do think Andrew. I think Andrew would like to not be the primary frog handler. Here's the thing. I don't even know how much frog handling needs to happen. I'm guessing there's a net involved. I'm happy to hold net. I'm happy to. This is all, you know this is all will be revealed to us from the Daves when we go out to do this. But again I'm mostly just thinking because I'm kind of the sort of fashion icon of the program. I'm trying to figure out the shoes.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well there's something that I was thinking about the, a little bit about this yesterday because I was. I have these like, like slip on shoes that I wear and I just got a like a couple new pairs of them but I'm still like kind of rocking this really old nasty pair that I sort of do like yard work and stuff in. But these are shoes that. Yeah, get ready to cringe here. These are like. These are sockless slip in shoes that I wear with shorts if you can picture that. That's, that's my look. But it also isn't exactly like the, the best thing to be wearing these types of shoes this often without size. You know what I mean? It kind of. Yeah, yeah. So I was so I was. Yeah. So I was like putting these shoes on yesterday thinking like am I going to take these like this? This is probably. Maybe I take these really, really old slip on Sperry Topsiders and these are my frog catching shoes. But then I remembered something that I actually wanted to tell you guys about which is we should also be thinking about mosquitoes. I don't think I'm going to be wanting to wear shorts and slip on shoes when I'm out in these marshes. I think it's going to be pretty mosquito y at 9:30 ticks. Mosquitoes.

[Luke Burbank]

How about that? I mean that's what I would be concerned about.

[John Sklaroff]

Let's assume we would do a tick check on each other when we get back.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, exactly. Full body tic check. I'm looking forward to that. That's how you play the game.

[Luke Burbank]

You were doing that when I was asleep the other on the last trip. John. It was a weird way for me to wake up.

[Andrew Walsh]

Hey, did you. But did you have any ticks? No.

[Luke Burbank]

No.

[John Sklaroff]

You're welcome.

[Luke Burbank]

It was effective. I hadn't thought about that but yeah, actually like roaming around in the marshes of Valley City in short pants does seem like kind of a bad idea.

[Andrew Walsh]

Just you never know when you're gonna merge with. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

[John Sklaroff]

Well I assume we can just pick up up or the Daves will have some kind of deet or other kind of like I, I am placing my trust entirely in the Dave's hands.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah.

[John Sklaroff]

And expect that they will guide us and like, not least astray. And make sure that we're not gonna, like, you know, wade into a bog or something and get eaten by an alligator. Remember when we're okay.

[Luke Burbank]

Remember when we got to the Airbnb in Friendship, Wisconsin last year and it was on a lake? It was very beautiful. But what I noticed was outside on the. On the kind of picnic table, I feel like there was four cans of bug spray and deets. I was like, huh, they're really into bug spray around here. And then we took one step outside and I was like, oh, that's why this is a. We're inside a cloud of mosquitoes at

[Andrew Walsh]

all times of what I did. Remember, I left the door cracked for a little bit. Cause I was just used to Seattle live in. And you guys were like, andrew, you left a swarm of mosquitoes in the house.

[Luke Burbank]

Hopefully. Hopefully.

[John Sklaroff]

Which explains the full body checks.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, exactly.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes. Hopefully it will be a little less bad when we're out frog catching, but okay, so here's where I was going with all that. We are going to get a. We're going to get a frog, and then we're going to need to name the frog. And throughout the. For the last few weeks, we've been. John's been kind of regaling us with some of the suggestions for frog names from the listeners. We've said that we're not going to decide on the name until we've got eyes on our frog because that's a, you know, it's a personal decision that exists within a family. And so. But we. But we're open to ideas. Are there any last stragglers, any last suggestions for the name for our frog that is going to be ultimately participating in the competition? John?

[John Sklaroff]

Yeah, we did get a few more, just not. Not a ton. But I'll run through them quick. So a listener, Luke, not Luke Burbank.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, gave us. Challenge accepted.

[John Sklaroff]

Gave us Jackie Froginson, which I thought that was nice.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, number 42.

[John Sklaroff]

I don't think of Jackie Robinson is like a Cleveland person or anything, but

[Luke Burbank]

now we do already have a Jackie.

[John Sklaroff]

Jackie Jorp jump.

[Luke Burbank]

This would be the second.

[Andrew Walsh]

Gotta be my second jacket. I think so far, I will say, and I'm not trying to pat myself on the back, but I heard from a listener who also was giving some kudos to something that I said on the fly last week, which was do a leaper. I don't know if that actually made our list, but I hope it's on. Okay.

[John Sklaroff]

I Have down the favorites. You want me read off the favorites real quick. Just Jackie, Drop, Jump, Mr. Frog, Daboulina, Rosie the Ribder, Mr. Ribbitz, Sparkplug, Leap Day, William, Erling Hopland. I love that one. And Dua Leaper. Those are the ones.

[Luke Burbank]

That's a pretty solid list. It's funny, like, as the legend of Erling Holland grows at the World Cup, Erling Hopland kind of becomes a little. Comes sort of more and more relevant

[John Sklaroff]

just because think of the SEO when people are like, so meshed in the World cup and then they find tbtl. Like, we're gonna have a bunch of new listeners in Norway Potential. Potentially.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Actually might be a good idea.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's that Valley City Norway pipeline.

[John Sklaroff]

Very famous. All right, so. So we got Jackie Froginson from Luke. We got from Louis Listener. Louie gave us Jeremiah, which.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, brilliant.

[Luke Burbank]

The bullfrog.

[John Sklaroff]

Yeah, Jeremiah was the bullfrog.

[Andrew Walsh]

But that's. That song sort of gives you the bad feeling though, right, Luke?

[Luke Burbank]

No, that one doesn't.

[Andrew Walsh]

Isn't that the one that has two different parts? He's got Jeremiah was a Bullfrog and then Joy to the World. You're okay with that one? Oh, okay.

[Luke Burbank]

I think I am. If I remember, I. I don't think I have joy. I don't.

[John Sklaroff]

Yes.

[Andrew Walsh]

I guess I'm confusing it with maybe another song of that era that has, like, two very distinct parts of the song that are sonically different that you don't like. Maybe. I'm thinking of it.

[Luke Burbank]

I believe. I believe that you're onto something, but I also believe that I don't remember the song that sounds like something I

[Andrew Walsh]

believe I don't remember too.

[John Sklaroff]

What's the wing song where it's like two very different.

[Luke Burbank]

Band on the Run.

[John Sklaroff]

Band on the Run. Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Right where I like that one.

[John Sklaroff]

It starts off one way and then becomes a. I think you're thinking of

[Andrew Walsh]

a different song that is on Band on the Run, the one the Admiral Hulsey notified me he had to have a bath or a cup of tea or something like that. Is that.

[Luke Burbank]

That's a wing song.

[Andrew Walsh]

That is from Band on the Run, and it's like two or three songs in one.

[John Sklaroff]

But Band on the.

[Andrew Walsh]

Right.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, Band on the Run, though, does have different time signatures.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, yeah. Okay. Sorry.

[John Sklaroff]

Sorry. Not to distract too much. Okay, Back to.

[Andrew Walsh]

To.

[John Sklaroff]

Back to names here. Okay. So Jeremiah, Jackie Froginson. Okay. Matt Listener. Matt sent us three, and I want to kind of give some. So we got Hoppy Gilmore, which. Solid, Fine, Good but then he. Matt also gave us Croaker Cleveland and. And Which I did some digging on my own. So CRO. So Grover Cleveland is from New Jersey, but is a dis. Was a distant cousin of the general who the city of Cleveland was named after. So there is some proximity to that as well. And then the other one that Matt gave us was William Howard Taft pole. And Howard Taft is from Cincinnati.

[Andrew Walsh]

Sure. Yeah.

[John Sklaroff]

Ohio, I think also like Ohio connections.

[Andrew Walsh]

And I think Ohio has the biggest. The largest number of presidents of people are from Ohio or it's up there or something. Yeah, yeah.

[John Sklaroff]

You always hear the. Every. Every cycle. Okay, so then we have two more listener Corey gave us. Hey, I'm jumping here. Which I enjoyed.

[Andrew Walsh]

But that's like, it's not really a

[Luke Burbank]

name, but it's definitely a name.

[John Sklaroff]

Yeah, it's like if we could. If we were allowed to name the flights or something like that, I think

[Andrew Walsh]

it'd be a good one.

[John Sklaroff]

And then this one, I sent this to Luke because this was from a listener named Becca. And I like, I emailed Luke. I'm like, is this your Becca? Because Andrew is. Is pre. Frogtane.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, pre Frogtain. Oh, okay.

[Luke Burbank]

And I did check the name. It's not my Becca. But it's funny that this other Becca because my Becca comes from a family of people who are very into running and they all went to the University of Oregon. And like Steve Prefontaine is like a. There's five kids in their family. He's like the sixth child in the family. In fact, when I was just last weekend, when we were staying down in Salem on Saturday night on the 4th of July, I actually stayed in Becca's brother Scott's childhood bedroom. And the number of Steve Prefontaine posters in that room are shocking. So the fact that there's another Becca out there saying pre Frogtain is pre Frogtain is great.

[John Sklaroff]

It's really good. That was really good. So those are the ones that we got in this week. I also will real quick make a correction. Somebody notified me last week, Patrick sent in a name and I. I had trouble pronouncing it. I think I said frog. Doubt about it. But he was saying, forget about it.

[Luke Burbank]

Stop remembering that. Get about it.

[Andrew Walsh]

I am hopping here.

[John Sklaroff]

My bad, actually, by Quinton's Corey, who sent it Ham jumping here also sent in that same exact name.

[Andrew Walsh]

Interesting. Also, we got a voicemail that I'm going to try to play here from the actual voicemail box. Let me see if I can play this. Guys, guys, guys.

[Luke Burbank]

Guys, guys. Long Legged Larry is a song by Aesop Rock. First name, A, E, S, O, P, last name Rock.

[Andrew Walsh]

And I'm pretty sure it's a frog in the video, so it doesn't actually have to do with lawn chair Larry.

[Luke Burbank]

So that is a nice synchronicity.

[Andrew Walsh]

Wanted to give you that.

[Luke Burbank]

Heads up. Check out the song by Aesop Rock.

[Andrew Walsh]

And also check out Kirby by Aesop Rock.

[Luke Burbank]

I think it's Rocky, right?

[Andrew Walsh]

Is it Aesop Rocky or is that different?

[Luke Burbank]

Is there an Aesop Rock and an Aesop Rocky? Dude, it must suck because Aesop Rock

[Andrew Walsh]

is the older one, though. I thought Aesop Rock was around first. Oh, I believe I might be wrong, man.

[Luke Burbank]

Wouldn't it be a bummer to be ASAP Rock? And you're like, no one will ever have almost the exact same name plus one letter and be married to Rihanna and be way more famous than me. Is that Aesop Rocky's dad or just like some other guy in the. In the movement, in the Aesop?

[Andrew Walsh]

Because that'd be funny.

[Luke Burbank]

You had a number of dudes that were Aesop. They're ASAP this, ASAP that. Right.

[John Sklaroff]

So. So I'm looking this up to confirm. And yeah. So Aesop Rock, who is 50 years old. So the elder Rock old is very old. Pronounced Aesop. Like, I believe, like, this is the Aesop fables. A, E, S, O, P Rock, and ASAP Rocky, the younger person who's more probably well known today. I think it's. It's A as the S is a dollar sign.

[Andrew Walsh]

Sure.

[John Sklaroff]

Ap. So I think that's like asap ASAP as opposed to asap.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay. No, that is a big difference. That is a distinction or not a big difference. I'm sorry, I take the word big out of that statement, but it is a difference.

[John Sklaroff]

Right.

[Luke Burbank]

All right. Well, thanks. There's nothing better than a clarification coming in from a listener and me trying to clarify their clarification and being wrong. This is the circle of life, though. This is how we generate content. Is. Now that listener will have to call back it and clarify my.

[John Sklaroff]

I was probably wrong.

[Luke Burbank]

My incorrect clarification.

[Andrew Walsh]

You guys keep talking. I need to remove a slinky from my dog's mouth on the other side of this table.

[John Sklaroff]

Andrew over there on the riverside. Little tail or little toy go by or something?

[Andrew Walsh]

It's adorable. Well, it's sort of adorable, but this is the nightmare scenario that I was worried about. Like, Lucy is usually good, I think, for the morning session of a tbtl, but as we Record this at a slightly different time on Friday.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes, Friday.

[Andrew Walsh]

She is in a different part of her day, and she is. I think she has too much energy to be in this room with me. And so literally everything is a toy. Except everything isn't a toy. Everything. Well, I know Slinkies are technically toys, but they're not dog toys. And I need to get this out of our mind. So you guys go ahead.

[Luke Burbank]

My question then. Well, I guess maybe, John, we can just take a vote. Is there anything. I was going to say maybe we just sort of wrap things up here since. Since Andrew's dealing with a. With a feisty dog and I'm dealing with rushing to the airport.

[Andrew Walsh]

Rocky. Sorry. Go ahead.

[John Sklaroff]

Sorry.

[Andrew Walsh]

I heard it through the headphones. I had to join. Join in.

[Luke Burbank]

I'm wondering, should we. Should we. Should we go ahead and just kind of, like, wind things down here on this Friday show? What a powerful way to go into the weekend. And then the TV telephone.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, I mean, I landed that joke pretty well, right?

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

I said wrap things up like Aesop, Rocky. Oh, I think rap.

[Luke Burbank]

I think you're thinking of Aesop Rock.

[Andrew Walsh]

Wait, what's the difference? All right.

[Luke Burbank]

Unclear at this point.

[Andrew Walsh]

All right.

Yeah, let's get out of here. I know you have a flight to catch to get out to your wine country. You know, there's no whining in football.

[Luke Burbank]

But every. But every June. Which July now. But every July, Luke goes to wine country.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's right.

[Luke Burbank]

I'm. I'm afraid at how much I like wine.

[Andrew Walsh]

God, that line just goes through my head sometimes.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, listen, we shall see. On Sunday, you talk about getting out. And there being one flight. I am trying to fly from Sonoma to Cleveland on Sunday.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, my goodness.

[Luke Burbank]

And it is, I would say, theoretically possible. I have the tickets purchased for it, but it is going to take crackerjack timing. I'm leaving San Francisco at 6am which means the Lyft is picking me up in Sonoma at 3:15am Landing in Seattle, changing flights, and heading to Cleveland.

[John Sklaroff]

So you're flying up to Seattle?

[Luke Burbank]

There are no direct flights from the Bay Area to Cleveland on a Sunday. Turns out that's not a big route.

[Andrew Walsh]

Can I ask you a question? Why did we not do the Sonoma frog jump? That would have made more sense for everybody.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, because we were worried you were gonna get too nostalgic.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes.

[Luke Burbank]

Too many memories for you in Sonoma, Andrew. So we got. We gotta stick to somewhere like Valley City where you have almost. Where there's almost no nostalgia for you. So anyway, I will hopefully see you guys both on Sunday in Ohio.

[John Sklaroff]

Quick reminder before we sign off, sign up for the newsletter and sign up for the zoom. Both free. Both are high quality.

[Andrew Walsh]

You can do [e-mail] Absolutely.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, listen, safe travels, my guys. Again, we'll see. I hope to see you both on Sunday out there in Ohio and then we will see all of you listening listeners Monday morning. And when I say see you, actually legitimately see you because we're going to be live streaming the program. What time on Monday are we going to be?

[Andrew Walsh]

It'll be in the air 1:00pm Eastern Time where we are, that's 10:00am Pacific Time. And if you want to watch us and join the fun, there will be a YouTube video [e-mail] you can just click on that and it'll take you right through to YouTube. Or you can just watch it right on the [e-mail] or if you go

[Luke Burbank]

to that link and it's not working, it means the box didn't arrive. I needed to find your local tin can that you can pick up and listen to the show through.

[Andrew Walsh]

Exactly. Just put a cup to your ear.

[Luke Burbank]

Yep. We'll find out on Monday morning together. All right, we'll see y' all then. In the meantime, have a great weekend, everybody. Thank you so much for listening. And please remember, no mountain Too Tall.

[Andrew Walsh]

And good luck to all. Power out.