#4779 Lounging Towards Gomorrah

Summary

TBTL Podcast #4779: Lounging Towards Gomorrah

Date: July 27, 2026
Hosts: Luke Burbank & Andrew Walsh

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Episode Overview

On this Monday edition of TBTL, Luke and Andrew return from their respective weekends with a lighthearted but multi-layered show. Episode #4779 marks the possible debut of TBTL TV; the pair set out to record and share a video version of the episode, embracing both the technical kinks and their own ambivalence toward being seen and not just heard. The main themes include Andrew’s surprisingly divisive take on modern movie theater seating, an in-depth discussion and review of the new epic film "The Odyssey," Luke’s gentle ribbing at the hands of John Oliver, and other lively explorations into pop culture, Greek mythology confusion, car washes, and odd snack commercials.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. TBTL TV Soft Launch & Technical Fumbles

• [03:01] The hosts experiment with recording TBTL in video form for select listeners; some self-deprecating humor about the low stakes of adding a visual element to their traditionally audio show.
• "Now, you don't just have to get bored by hearing us, you can be bored by seeing us as well." – Luke ([03:13])

2. Andrew’s Movie Theater Lounger Controversy

The Take:

• Andrew reveals his controversial dislike for modern “lounger” acid-reclining seats at movie theaters, a position he recognizes is out of step with most Americans.
  • “I don't like the modern seating in theaters... it just seems so unseemly to me. Like... Lounging towards Gomorrah.” – Andrew ([07:54])
• Luke probes whether the discomfort comes from physical awkwardness, lack of formality, or proximity to other people’s feet.
  • The discussion delves into aesthetics vs. comfort and how modern movie theater depictions in ads & films still show classic seating, not “wall-E” style recliners — suggesting shared cultural unease.

Notable Moments:

• “There are the contexts in which we expect people to be recumbent and the contexts in which we don't.” – Luke ([13:15])
• Comparison to recumbent bicycles and pop culture references like Wall-E and DTF St. Louis.
• The duo riff on how “lounging” doesn’t photograph well and society’s shifting public standards for comfort in shared spaces.

3. Movie Trailers, Commercials, & Theater Culture

• Andrew laments the commercial-ization of the moviegoing experience, observing trailers increasingly interrupted by ads.
• Quick aside about Coke commercials, cinema tropes, and how movie theaters are never depicted as they really are now.
• "We know, even if you love kicking your tootsies up, that there’s something unseemly about that." – Andrew ([11:38])

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4. Review & Dissection: Christopher Nolan’s "The Odyssey"

The Review:

• Andrew saw "The Odyssey" and enthusiastically recommends catching it in theaters for the immersive spectacle. He highlights its strong and effective adaptation, impressive sound design, and ability to make ancient Greek storytelling accessible to a modern audience.
  • "It’s just a good movie... incredible that the oldest stories still hold up with the right storytelling." – Andrew ([23:33])
• Andrew admits not usually loving epics, nor being a Christopher Nolan fanboy, but found himself absorbed.
• They discuss the so-called “woke backlash” online and why neither felt it was present in their viewing experience.
  • "I don’t think any reasonable person would even notice the casting other than that it was just because… it’s all these stories from this time.” – Andrew ([19:10])

The Backlash:

• Contextualizes social media complaints around the cast’s diversity, referencing Elon Musk and others, but quickly dismisses this angle as unimportant and artificially inflated controversy.

Thematic & Technical Notes:

• Luke and Andrew riff on parallelisms between Nolan’s films (Oppenheimer, The Odyssey) in terms of sound design and epicness.
• "He’s not a big humor guy, and not a big editing guy." – Luke ([23:29])
• They discuss forgiving plot holes as part of the comic-book or epic tradition — “it’s the Odyssey!” — and the ways centuries-old stories get a modern storytelling relief valve.

Film Literacy Struggles:

• Multiple comical moments of confusion between Greek epics, including Homer, Oedipus, Achilles, and the Trojan War.
  • "Achilles was killed… when the Trojan prince Paris shot him in his vulnerable heel with an arrow guided by the god Apollo. So, there you go." – Luke ([33:02])
• "There is a heel thing, but it’s not Achilles’ heel." – Andrew ([34:01])

Related Cultural Tangents:

• The problematic etymology of "Trojan" condoms ([28:02])
• Simpsons and stand-up jokes about Greek mythology

Market & Demographic Discussion:

• Why IMAX theaters are more suburban than urban, as the hosts share their own moviegoing histories and mushroom-fueled IMAX experiences in Seattle ([35:50], [36:53]).
• Local theater differences and the growing communal appeal of “going to see a movie” even in a distracted, streaming-heavy world.

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5. Luke’s “Roast” on John Oliver

• [47:09] Luke details being featured (“roasted”) on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver for his enthusiastic on-camera reaction during a Buc-ee’s world-record car wash story he reported for CBS Sunday Morning.
  • "It’s harder than people think to have an interesting reaction to being in a car wash... but also, it’s funny when John Oliver makes some dumb throwaway punchline and people are laughing about it." – Luke ([51:15])
• Andrew asks about the car wash’s utility: “Does it get your car more clean? I find that hard to believe.” ([52:37])
• Gentle self-mockery about being an occasional punchline in network TV “content,” and some envy from Genevieve about fictional encounters with Bob Odenkirk ([53:56]).

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6. Car Cleaning, Vacuums, and Dog Ownership

• Stories about cleaning the car, standout vacuum technology at car washes, and how adding a dog to the household brings unique auto maintenance challenges.
• "Cleaning the inside of a car is such bullshit for a whole bunch of reasons…" – Andrew ([61:16])
• Advice for keeping car interiors clean, buying fitted dog back-seat covers, and favorite car cleaning tricks.

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7. Listener Emails: Communication Etiquette & Satisfying Chores

• Andrew apologizes for appearing snotty in a recent listener text regarding channeling show corrections, reiterating the best way to contact is through official show emails ([66:10]).
• Hilarious segment on a listener reporting the joy of being first to throw trash in an empty dump container.
  • "The experience of hearing all those things just hit the bottom… was very satisfying." – Listener Michael ([69:38])
• Ongoing corrections about celebrity names—Zendaya, not Zendaya—spar light irritation and a meta riff on audience engagement ([68:17]).

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8. Commercial Break: Cheese & Nostalgia

• Andrew shares a found-video commercial, “Take American cheese, make it wrapped…” ([73:26]).
• The pair critique the jingle’s rhyme and scansion, and reminisce about the joys and incoherencies of '90s kids’ snack advertising.
• "There’s a million things wrong with it. First, the rhymes don’t work…and then the scansion goes so off the rails." – Luke ([76:53])
• Promises for a potential new segment sharing obscure VHS artifact commercials on TBTL TV.

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Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On reclining seats:
  "Lounging towards Gamorrah.” – Andrew ([07:54])
• On cultural depictions:
  "We know, deep down, even if you love kicking your tootsies up, there is something unseemly about that.” – Andrew ([11:38])
• On being 'roasted' on John Oliver:
  “It’s kind of funny when John Oliver is making just some dumb throwaway thing. You said a punchline, and then people are laughing about it.” – Luke ([51:15])
• On epic movies:
  "It’s just a good movie… it’s hard not to think, wow, this is literally one of the oldest stories ever told and it can still hold up with the right storytelling.” – Andrew ([23:33])
• On the power of movie theater commercials:
  "Movie theaters still want to show us in the old seats because the new seats just look a little too… Wallied.” – Luke ([13:35])
• On mythology confusion:
  "There is a heel thing, but it’s not Achilles’ heel.” – Andrew ([34:01])
• On car washes and technology:
  “Those vacuum cleaners are so—I mean, they shouldn’t even be legal.” – Luke ([61:16])

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Segment Timestamps

• 00:00 – Cold open and technical hiccups
• 03:01 – TBTL TV begins; intro to the visual experiment
• 06:05 – Andrew’s anti-lounger seating rant
• 11:00 – Pop culture: representations of moviegoing past and present
• 17:19 – In-depth review: The Odyssey (film)
• 28:02 – Ventures into Greek myth & condom branding
• 35:18 – Movie theater culture, IMAX, and psychedelics
• 47:09 – Luke’s Buc-ee’s car wash segment “roast” on John Oliver
• 55:00 – Deep-dive on car cleaning, dog ownership, and vacuums
• 66:02 – Listener emails: etiquette and dump-satisfaction
• 73:26 – Dairy Farmers commercial jingle critique & nostalgia
• 78:56 – TBTL TV wrap-up & logistical announcements

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The Show’s Mood & Tone

As always, TBTL rides the line between sincere and silly. The hosts are vulnerable about their idiosyncrasies, revel in in-jokes and low-stakes drama, and foster a community that delights in details—from movie couches to cheese commercials. Geeky, affectionate, and constantly in conversation with their listeners, Luke and Andrew are the gold standard for comfort-radio, ensuring even epic tangents feel right at home.

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TL;DR

• Andrew hates lounger movie seats; Luke isn’t convinced, sparking debate about public comfort vs. etiquette.
• Thorough, spoilery but spoiler-conscious review of "The Odyssey" (2026); mythological confusion abounds.
• Luke gets gently mocked on John Oliver, examines how network TV uses “personalities” for punchlines.
• Nostalgia, music, and classic commercials cap off a classic rambling TBTL — possible new features to come via TBTL TV.
• Listener feedback, etiquette, and little victories are celebrated; no detail is too obscure, or too ridiculous, for TBTL.

Power Out.

Transcript

[Andrew Walsh]

If you're not a cop, just skip this video. Hey, what's up, police? I'm glad we've made it this far. If I'm driving my motorcycle, I'm not stopping for police lights. I'm driving and y' all cannot stop me. The legality of it is that you cannot pull over a motorcycle driver that is going over 22 miles an hour above the speed limit. See, y' all didn't think I knew my rights, but yeah, I do. Y' all cannot stop a motorcycle driver, so I'm gonna keep on driving into the truckin sunset. By the way, I did not cuss. I said mother trucking. Try stopping me, twin. I do not give a crap. I'd like to see you try. TBTL.

[Luke Burbank]

Are you on the computer? Yes, I am, but I'm having trouble with my computer.

[Andrew Walsh]

I had a computer for 10 years

[Luke Burbank]

and enjoyed it, but it died.

[Andrew Walsh]

Hi, guys.

[Luke Burbank]

Do you think you anything that you really regret?

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, I did, so please ignore everything

[Luke Burbank]

that just happened with that last voicemail.

[Andrew Walsh]

And I'm sorry about everything. And I regret all things.

[Luke Burbank]

Okay, thanks.

[Andrew Walsh]

Bye.

[Luke Burbank]

I was just trying to find E.T.

[Andrew Walsh]

hey, E.T.

[Luke Burbank]

classic Spielberg.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, weaver of dreams.

[Luke Burbank]

I love when his finger lights up. That's how you can tell he's an alien.

[Andrew Walsh]

And his face. And his face. One thing I can promise you is

[Luke Burbank]

that the sun will come up tomorrow, and we'll be attacking it with an

[Andrew Walsh]

enthusiasm unknown to mankind.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, all right. Hello, good morning, and welcome, everyone, to a Monday edition of tbtl, the show that just might be too beautiful to live. Here we go again. My name is Luke Burbank. I am your host. What a fun, sexy time for you. Coming to you from the Madrona Hill studio, perched high above the mighty Columbia. Bring it back home, baby. Bring it back home. Nice to be back from Las Vegas for an absolutely gorgeous Monday, July 27th. Oh, ma pa. It's just beautiful. Blue skies, white fluffy clouds. It's not crazy hot, but it's also. It's a comfortable temperature here. It's in fact, the perfect temperature to bring you episode 4779 in a collector series. Let the fun begin. Glad the weather is so perfect today because I am dealing with the fallout from making my brief debut on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. Last night, where I was, honestly, it was kind of roasted. Roasted. And I'm dealing with it fine. I'm not feeling defensive. I'm not feeling I need to send a strongly worded email explaining what I was doing during the clip in which I'M being roasted.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm starting to feel like a corndog at a hot dog party. And it ain't flattering, I'll tell you that.

[Luke Burbank]

Hey, speaking of television, television is no friend of mine. If today goes as planned, this might also be the debut of TBTL tv.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, let the great experiment begin.

[Luke Burbank]

We are going to be recording this, recording the visual elements of this program today. And many of you will be seeing it, if you care to, on YouTube and places like that. You and you. Now, you don't just have to get bored by hearing us, you can be bored by seeing us as well, which is a cool little perk that we have added this year to some folks who helped us out through the TBT elephant. So welcome to all of you. If that is in fact what's happening right now, we could have a meltdown, which means we're not putting the video of this out. In which case, bullet dodged for all of you. This guy is the longest running cobra of the show. Maybe best known for his depictions of the tall ships. In preparation for this possibly being the first TBTL TV broadcast. He has been getting in incredible shape. He's been chest maxing and glute maxing. Really. I'm trying to build my beef castle. He is Andrew Walsh and he's joining me right now. Good morning, my friend.

[Andrew Walsh]

Good morning, Luke. I was popcorn maxing at the movies on Saturday.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, you saw the Odyssey?

[Andrew Walsh]

I did and I enjoyed it. And we can talk about that. I assume that you'll see it maybe in theaters. I would recommend seeing it in theaters. You're not like this as much as I am. But like, that's the type of movie where if I don't catch it in theaters, I'm never catching it. Like I'm not sitting down for a three hour epic film at home. You know, like it's thing you got to get me there.

[Luke Burbank]

My version of it is I am sitting down for it at home and then about 20 minutes in, I'm going to screen experience.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, sure.

[Luke Burbank]

Then eventually, possibly three screens, you're googling.

[Andrew Walsh]

And then eventually the laptop open with

[Luke Burbank]

the Mariners and then I've got the phone going with TikTok.

[Andrew Walsh]

So using Calshi to bet on whether or not Odysseus makes it home.

[Luke Burbank]

I was taping that. Andrew, how dare you.

[Andrew Walsh]

I said if he makes it home. So here's the deal. I've been struggling with this in my head and almost rehearsing it a little bit more than I usually would because I have an opinion on something that has been discussed on this show before regarding going to the movies. And I truly believe. Well, first of all, my opinion on this is out of step with most moviegoing Americans. I've heard this from our listening audience and I am fine with that. It is just an opinion. And one of my least favorite things in the world right now is when people have an opinion on something, especially an opinion on something that doesn't matter, like, you know, how you like your food prepared or something like that. And then people are like arguing about it as if there's a yes or no answer or a right or wrong correct, like you're eating your hot dog wrong or like whatever. Like I just, you know, some people like certain things and others don't. Like. I have a song about that. Right. Who is the person who called in with different things? Do I have this as a.

[Luke Burbank]

We like different things and that's okay.

[Andrew Walsh]

I live by this because we dislike different things. Yeah. So that's, that's how I feel about my opinions. Especially on the opinion that I'm about to reshare.

[Luke Burbank]

That's why you don't let us do that segment I love called Is a Hot Dog a Movie Theater Seat.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's exactly that.

[Luke Burbank]

You keep killing that during our editorial meetings.

[Andrew Walsh]

You know. You know what I'm building up to? The opinion that I'm out of step with most Americans on is that I don't like the modern seating in theaters. Right. That you sit in a lounger and it pushes you back and your legs go up. And in fact, when I sit in those seats, I don't do any of that. I might be the only fella in the theater who is just sort of still sitting straight up and down while everybody around me has their feet up and everything, including the woman with the Tevas to my left yesterday or Saturday, that before the lights went down, I found to be very unpleasantly distracting having her little foot dangling right in my line of sight during the trailers. Having said all of that, it is my opinion and it's just an opinion. The theaters were better before we had this sort of at home style lounging experience. I don't like crawling, getting up and like walking past everybody's feet while I'm going to like use the restroom or get a refill of my beverage or whatever.

[Luke Burbank]

A quick question because I honestly don't know if I've actually been as much in the movie theaters as you over the last couple of years. So I don't have a real picture of this. When you say you don't like walking past people's feet. Is it the case that when people do this recline and their feet are out, does it also create really like less room to get through? Or is it more just being near their feet that's uncomfortable? Are their feet kind of block in the aisle too?

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, if I'm being completely honest about this, even though you do have to squeeze by, it is probably easier physically to walk by people who are sitting down in this position than it would be in an old school theater where the knees people would have to like, oh, you have to move your knees or whatever. I actually think they do have more built in room. It is more of a. And it's not even like a feet are icky thing for me. It's just like sort of a. It just seems so unseemly to me. Like there are certain things.

[Luke Burbank]

Lounging towards Gamora.

[Andrew Walsh]

Lounging towards Gamora.

[Luke Burbank]

I believe it's an early show title.

[Andrew Walsh]

And so so. But again, I understand that almost everybody I've heard from on the show, I think like early as far as people who listen to the show, I think maybe one person. There was one lone voice in the wild that agreed with me. But everybody else.

[Luke Burbank]

I heard somebody else mentioned this the other day in the wild and I thought of you. I can't remember the person or the context, but I heard somebody else say something like, well, those, you know, everyone's kind of like, you know, just all reclined at the movie theater. And I thought of you and I thought, okay, that. Because I do agree this is an outsider opinion you have, but there is somebody else in the world. I can't give you their name or information, but I did hear someone kind of agreeing with you recently.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, a while ago on the show we did play somebody's subway take, which was in agreement with me that these seats aren't better than the old seats. But they had a specific take which was that it's bad for dates because it's harder to kind of have the kind of casual makeout or sort of brush hands or whatever. Cause you're ensconced in these, you know, wall E style floaters.

[Luke Burbank]

There is no way I would have been able to make out with Alison Greenleaf.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

The summer between 10th and 11th grade at the uptown movie theater. Seeing death becomes her.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, that's a good movie.

[Luke Burbank]

I still don't really know what happens in that movie. Oh, look at you dogs. Yeah. But if we were your. That the listener is absolutely right. Were we in these big recliners it would have been far too. There would have been too much distance between us.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, that was a subway take that somebody shared on that podcast. So anyway, I do know that there's one person who agrees with me, but that's because of more of their, their, their sexy predilections than mine. I'm. I'm more in a relationship with popcorn and oversized soda in these situations. Having said that. So my whole point of this is it's okay to like different things that like, I realize I like it the old way. I don't have a great rationale for this. It's just like this weird thing that like I just wish people. I wish we just presented a certain way in public. And that is different than how we present when we're sitting in our little more formality. Just a tiny bit of. Just kind of like I'm sitting in this movie theater. But again, I'm happy to say that I am an outsider on that opinion. Fine, whatever. But then I can't help myself. I can't help myself. I had a thought while I was watching the trailers and the previews and all the commercials. I think this is interesting. They're now putting commercials in between the trailers. Now remember when there were no commercials in the lead up to movies? And then you know, and I'm not gonna get. I mean who cares? Like whatever. But then people used to complain like, oh, they're putting commercials in the. Before the trailers now. Just like Coke commercials and car commercials. Now they're integrating them. Hot break. Feels good in a place like this, which is kind of interesting. You can watch like Brad Pitt running around with his dog and some God awful looking movie. And then all of a sudden like you're being sold Alexis and then you're back to a trailer. It's kind of interesting. But that's not my hot take. My hot take is this. In these setup videos that you watch, one of them is like this Coke commercial that's been playing at AMC for a long time where like this kind of youngish couple in their 20s or 30s, they kind of start meeting in various like movie style tropes and they're having dance us off on the street. You've probably seen it before, whatever, they

[Luke Burbank]

la la land it a little bit.

[Andrew Walsh]

They kind of la la land and they're. They kind of fast and furious it. At one point they're en racing cars or whatever. And then at the end they find themselves in their seat in the front row of a movie theater. And there was something else that portrayed A movie theater. And you know what I noticed in all of these portrayals of movie theaters as being depicted on the screen in a movie theater is none of them are in these wall E seats. They're all still classic movie theater seats. Because we know. We know deep down, even if you love kicking your tootsies up, we know that there is something unseemly about that. Right. And how long will it be before we are actual depictions of what it's like inside of an actual movie theater these days? I think much like using the answering machine as a way of, like, long after answering machines, like, went out of style, they were still used for exposition in films. I think we're gonna continue to see movie theaters portrayed in the classic movie theater setup of we're sitting down, feeder on the floor, and we have a bucket of popcorn in our lap.

[Luke Burbank]

Think Michael Jackson thriller video.

[Andrew Walsh]

Exactly.

[Luke Burbank]

We're leaning forward. We're eating popcorn. We have good posture. Well, here's part of it, Andre. And this is as the probably the inaugural voyage of TBTL tv. This is perfect, because is there anything I'm gonna show you me. Okay. Here I am. I'm in the studio. This is me in a normal movie theater seat. Imagine my iced coffee as my bucket of popcorn. Okay. And now.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

And now imagine I'm this way.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Good luck. Right?

[Luke Burbank]

In the words of Zach Galifianakis, it ain't too flattering.

[Andrew Walsh]

What is that?

[Luke Burbank]

Everybody just. No, you know what I was doing? I was misremembering this drop that I just played, which is.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm starting to feel like a corn dog at a hot dog party. And it ain't flattered. I'll tell you.

[Luke Burbank]

I kind of had it. I had most of it.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

But you know what I mean? Like, being in. Like, being fully recumbent.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

I mean, it's probably been one of the number one issues with the recumbent bicycle is to take it back to one of our favorite recent television projects, DTF St. Louis.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's.

[Luke Burbank]

There's.

[Andrew Walsh]

We.

[Luke Burbank]

There is. I think you really hit on something here, my friend, which is, like, there are the contexts in which we expect people to be recumbent in the context in which we don't. And like, you know, the movie theater, while it feels good, it doesn't look great. And also, bicycles, we don't expect you to be fully laid out while you're riding your bike.

[Andrew Walsh]

One of my favorite lines from DTF St. Louis is when the kid. The, like, teenager, preteen, is kind of emulating his dad and getting into recumbent biking, and he's so, so excited about it. But his mom, Linda Cardellini, is, like, pretty. Like, wow, these things look dorky. But she doesn't want to say that to her son who's finally kind of experiencing joy.

[Luke Burbank]

Engaged in life.

[Andrew Walsh]

Exactly. And I just. He's writing it around her in the street, and he says, this just looks so cool. And he says, does it?

[Luke Burbank]

That line.

[Andrew Walsh]

She reminds me of somebody that we know. And I can't quite put my finger on it, but just like, she's like. Does it. Like, she wants to be supportive of her kid who's finally happy, but she just can't get on board with a recumbent bike.

[Luke Burbank]

This the person who's wandering the neighborhood in a comically oversized umpire's uniform.

[Andrew Walsh]

Or the umpire's uniform. Yeah. Oh, sorry. And then she's got her.

[Luke Burbank]

Although that's, I guess, kind of for her job, as it was. As opposed to the recumbent bike.

[Andrew Walsh]

But.

[Luke Burbank]

So. Okay. I think that's an interesting observation, and I do think it says a lot. There's the comfort factor, and then there's the, I guess we could say, aesthetics of it. And the aesthetics of it do not lend themselves to. They're not. It's not great. And so when they're showing us in the movie theater, they're not showing us as we are anymore. They're showing us as we used to be. And as we look, let's just say a little more put together, a little more locked in, a little less, like you put it. Wallied. Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

Which I haven't seen. I haven't seen that in a long time. But I believe it doesn't start with showing. Just like a human race that has gotten so lazy that they're just floating around on their backs and pods or something.

[Luke Burbank]

I do believe that that is. Yeah. That I haven't actually seen Wall E. And not because of any sort of intentional, like, avoiding of it. Part of it is because, again, I just didn't see it in the theater. And then what I heard was, it's kind of heartbreaking. Like, it's a. It's a. It's a movie about loneliness. Just because it's Pixar. Which, by the way, I was corrected on blue sky by our friend the marsupial gurgle. What would you call it? Proprietor? The person running marsupial gurgle. They clarified that the lamp doesn't stamp down the P in Pixar. It stomps down the.

[Andrew Walsh]

I. I saw That I didn't even remember you specifying that it was the

[Luke Burbank]

P. I did, and I was wrong. And I was actually about to go. I wanted to say to this person online, the P makes more sense because it looks like a P. But then I realized, no, you know what? It makes the light, the dot above the I. So that actually does make sense.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, that conversation led to me telling you about this classic IKEA commercial that involves a lamp of kind of a similar design. And it ended up being. It is a famous commercial because it has its own Wikipedia page. You and I talked about it, but one thing I failed to mention, I think a listener pointed this out to me via social media. First of all, that was directed by Spike Jonze. That's critical information. And also they said, don't forget, there was a follow up to that about 20 or 30 years later that Spike Jonze also directed. That was like a sequel to that. And then they said, do you know where I learned this information? A podcast called after these Messages. I had no idea.

[Luke Burbank]

Thank God it was on that and not tbtl, because.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, well, yeah, but still, I was kind of like, oh, yeah, I guess I kind of should have known that. But you know what, though? That person, by the way, was just. It was a gentle ribbing. But that still felt like a victory to me, the fact that I was describing that commercial to you from the cobwebs of my brain. And then you immediately looked it up and I got several.

[Luke Burbank]

You got a lot of it right.

[Andrew Walsh]

I got several things right about it felt good.

[Luke Burbank]

What did you think of the Odyssey without. I don't know, creating the danger here is not that you will spoil it for me, but that you will. If you give it too high of praise, then I'll get disappointed. Or if you. I guess. I guess the only really good sort of approach here is for you to tell me it stinks. And then I'm. Then I'm excited when I see it.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Were you. I assume you were sort of gritting your teeth through all the woke stuff.

[Andrew Walsh]

It was a little woke for me. I still like. Yeah, it's so funny. It was almost an argument for getting off of social media because it was a little bit in my head because every now and then I'd be like,

[Luke Burbank]

on social media or getting off of social media.

[Andrew Walsh]

Getting what? Did I say getting off? Did I say getting off?

[Luke Burbank]

No, but I've just been asked not to do one of those things anymore.

[Andrew Walsh]

Maybe all of those things.

[Luke Burbank]

Okay, fair.

[Andrew Walsh]

I wouldn't even know. I can't tell. Since we brought up the Woke Joke, which is a nickname for me amongst some of my peers on the right.

[Luke Burbank]

I believe the guy that lives across the street from me called you the Woke Joke.

[Andrew Walsh]

The Woke Joke, exactly. Every now and then I was like, wait a second, why are people mad at this? And you explained it to me on the show that it had to do with casting more of a diverse cast than some people think it should have been or something.

[Luke Burbank]

But again, yeah, well, Elliot Page being cast as one of the soldiers of Trans man, and then also Lupita Nyong' o and also Zendaya playing pivotal characters. And they are.

[Andrew Walsh]

I think Helen and Colman Domingo might

[Luke Burbank]

be in it as well. Basically, like, you know, black actors, non white actors in the traditional white role made up 6,000 years ago, which I think there's even some evidence that, like, the idea of a Homer is like, not even a single person. But it was sort of just like the collection of a bunch of kind of folk tales and things. I mean, you couldn't be dealing with a less like, sort of like white thing back in the day. And the idea that it would be anyway.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I mean, it involves a cyclops. I mean, that's just sort of like the fact that there's a cyclops. One cyclops. And I'm just saying that, like. But you're worried about the fact that it's not realistic enough was what actually it was. Yes. And didn't seem to have any junk, which I thought was interesting. But anyway, I did like the movie. I was starting to say that it was kind of like. It kind of bummed me out that that was in my head a little bit because I was like, I don't even know if that's a real thing. I know like, Elon Musk or something was taking a couple of shots at it. It's like, should I even know that? You know what I mean? But it didn't live in my head too much during the movie. Just kind of bummed me out that I knew it at all. I'm just like, is there really a backlash to this movie or is it just a couple of people who are, like, repeating the wrong people on social media or what have you? But, yeah, I don't think any reasonable person would even really notice the casting other than that it was just because. Yeah, because it's just like all these stories from this. From this time. I'll tell you one thing, and this is what I believe I wrote on Letterboxd. Man, that guy just keeps on getting into one adventure after another. And that's basically what it is about. And I think it's generally pretty good

[Luke Burbank]

about Matt Damon's performance. I've heard from some people, they think it might be his best performance. And that includes the Duncan commercials.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's not better than the dunkings.

[Luke Burbank]

You seen the Dunk Kings or is that just Affleck?

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, that. No. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get all those guys confused.

[Luke Burbank]

So I'm like Matt Damon and Ben Affleck?

[Andrew Walsh]

No, just that whole generation. Well, you know, I mean, I don't want to start this whole thing again, but, like, I get. I was doing some math after the movie, trying to remember, like, I have to remember which one is Matt Damon and which one is the other guy from one battle after another.

[Luke Burbank]

Leonardo DiCaprio.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I get those guys confused. It's just. No, it doesn't make any sense. It doesn't make any sense. Don't try to figure it out.

[Luke Burbank]

They kind of have similar looking faces. I'm not kidding. The reason. The fact that for periods of time, Leonardo DiCaprio has been one of the more famous people on earth is the only reason you saw me making that face. And the people watching TBTL TV saw that. But that's not because those guys look dissimilar, actually. They actually look closer than like Matt Damon and Ben Affleck do.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes.

[Luke Burbank]

That's not insane that you would mix them up. It's only the sheer famousness of Leo DiCaprio that caused me to have that reaction.

[Andrew Walsh]

But also Matt Damon. I know you think that. Okay. And so this has come up on the show before. I think this show and listeners have sort of had my back on that. So I appreciate that. And I'm sorry I called you Wally, But I do think that maybe things have been written about that because when I tell people that, they're very surprised by it. But I think there's a segment of the population that is maybe face blind like me, that people were sharing text conversations with friends that are kind of like, oh, I'm halfway through this text conversation. I'm just realiz that Matt Damon and Leo are different people. Or the reason the Departed was so confusing to me, Facial structure, because those. And just like, same level of fame, same generation of actors. You know what I mean? Like, just kind of a lot of similar qualities. Even though if I saw them next to each other, I could say which one is which? And you've noticed a couple of times you've bailed me out, as sometimes Leo's name slips out of my head when I'm saying Matt Damon's name. It's like, there's only so much room in this damn head of mine, and it ain't a lot of room. But I did think his performance. Here's the thing, okay? So generally speaking, I'm not in the bag for epic movies or storytelling. I believe. I read the Iliad when I was in college and the only thing I remember about it was like, generally thinking, I don't like it. I don't like epics. I remember thinking that, like, even Beowulf and all that stuff. Like, I just don't like epic tales. And I'm not necessarily in the bag for Christopher Nolan either. Like, I'm not against him, but he's made. Like, what's his. The Inception movie is not exactly one of my favorite movies. I thought it was. I was ready for that to be over by the time I did that.

[Luke Burbank]

I love Inception's existence just because it gave us the quick reference of, oh, you're incepting me right now.

[Andrew Walsh]

Sure, yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

When you're putting an idea inside of an idea inside of an idea, Matryoshka style. Now we can just say it's like an Inception thing and we all know what we're talking about.

[Andrew Walsh]

Thank you for that, Christopher Nolan. Thank you for that. And again, I don't even think that's a bad movie. I just don't remember that well. And I just remember feeling like, okay, it's just. It felt like. It felt very. What's the word? Like, his movies tend to be very, very long self serious and also just sort of self serving and not self serving, but just like, like, could you tighten it up a little bit?

[Luke Burbank]

Not a big humor guy and not a big editing guy.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, exactly.

[Luke Burbank]

I mean, there's a lot of editing going on in the film. But he's not a guy who's ever, at least at this point in his career, been told, lop, 20 minutes off the end and you have to do it.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's right. And his Batman movies I liked, but like the one that, like, the second act of one takes place on the ferry system, I was like, this would have been great as two movies. I just felt like they were way too sort of long. But anyway. But I'm not here to trash him either because I really, I liked Oppenheimer and there's some stuff I like and some stuff that I can leave. So the point of all that is I'm not in the bag for either the style of storytelling or necessarily the director. But it really did live up to the hype in that it's just a good movie. It's hard not to sort of think like, wow, this is literally one of the oldest stories ever told. And it can still hold up with the right storytelling, you know what I mean? And that it's adaptable to a modern audience, I think is really incredible. There's something about that. Having said that, I also wondered if it had what I call for myself a little bit of the comic book effect, which is I tend to forgive, let's say, a plot hole or some extra drama or something in a movie that is based on a comic book. Because I can easily say, well, it's kind of comic booky. That's the source, you know, when we don't take comic books that seriously. And so in a certain way, I can sort of apply the same thing. Like moments of this are just a little bit, maybe big or corny or whatever. But it's also. I was just saying. Yeah, but it was also. It's the Odyssey, you know what I mean? It's really, really old. And so it kind of had this little built in relief valve of some things that maybe if it was a brand new script, which is kind of hilarious to say, but if it was a brand new story that somebody came up with, I might be more critical of it.

[Luke Burbank]

That actually could be really useful for me too, because you know how I get. I'm kind of literal with my movie watching and I have a hard time with people and characters doing stuff that I feel like isn't particularly justified or motivated. And I'm sure in this, you know, in this homeric epic, there's gonna be some stuff that's like not 100% justified, but just to know that, okay, that's what we're dealing with. I also, I think I heard or read somewhere that. I don't know if they took a. I don't. I don't know. I think that they also sort of like they took a little bit of creative license if I. And the last time that I read the Iliad or the Odyssey, I believe it was a cartoon version. Speaking of comic books.

[Andrew Walsh]

But it was something that you read, like a graphic novel or something.

[Luke Burbank]

It was like a graphic novel of it, but maybe. I think it was still a cause so long. I think it was still a fairly sizable book, but it was mostly pictures. And I remember being quite riveted. But that's because it was pictures and I was writing and you were a

[Andrew Walsh]

kid, you were A young kid. Right.

[Luke Burbank]

I might have been older than I'd like to admit, but let's just say I was still like, you know, I was probably a teenager or something. But I think that with this one, I think I heard again or read somewhere that, like, this is Christopher Nolan. And the writers of this movie sat down and said, okay, let's pull out. Let's tease out the most entertaining parts and let's piece this together and let's leave some of this behind because it doesn't go anywhere and let's maybe amp up some other parts of it. So I think this is sort of the Odyssey, but also the Odyssey as adapted for a 2026 movie audience too.

[Andrew Walsh]

It did seem like a ripoff of O Brother, where I How Art thou? That would have been a great joke if I hadn't stumbled on it. Not even that great of a joke.

[Luke Burbank]

Do you know how long it took me to figure that out, by the way? And by figure it out, I mean was told by somebody.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, I think I knew, but I don't really know.

[Luke Burbank]

I was like John Goodman going, why is he being so mean?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Does he represent. Actually he represents a cyclops. Yeah. So. Oh, brother.

[Luke Burbank]

I think he literally has an eye patch, right?

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, yeah, right.

[Luke Burbank]

He literally has one eye. And I'm like, I don't get any of the symbolism of this movie.

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't know that I would have. I think I knew going in. But I also was pretty unfamiliar with the Odyssey. I'm really bad at, at this era. I like, Genevieve just knows more about like the, you know, the, the Roman and Greek gods and goddesses and all that stuff. It's like it all. I just never had an interest in it. Yeah. I'm just. It just kind of washes over me. So then I always have to like, kind of remember. Oh, yeah. Why is. What is the deal with Helen and everything and Troy or Troy. Yeah, but. But it's.

[Luke Burbank]

That's more Greek than so good.

[Andrew Walsh]

I mean. But honestly, the way they portray the, the Trojan horse, the realism of really is like, it is incredible. I couldn't help but to think of Homer as they're messing around with the Trojan horse, though, saying, nobody in history has ever been this clever. I don't know if you remember that episode of the Simpsons.

[Luke Burbank]

No, but I was remembering a joke that I heard a stand up comic tell the other day, which is that the Trojan Condom company clearly did not really understand how Trojan horses work when they named their company after it.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. In that. Well, there's Stuff inside that.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, stuff inside which is gonna sneak out in the middle of the night and destroy you. Yeah, that's like, kind of the opposite of what we're trying to do here with this prophylactic, but, you know.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay, so here's one thing that I guess is sort of. So, first of all, quick thing on Nolan, it reminded me I don't have

[Luke Burbank]

much of an appetite for condom talk today.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, I just have thoughts that are building up, and if they build up, you know, that's unhealthy. So they tell me, just go outside and play basketball. But it doesn't help, but okay. So Christopher Nolan, believe it or not, even though the time periods couldn't be more different, I'm starting to see more, like, parallels in his work. Like, as far as sound design, the sound design of Oppenheimer and this were very similar in just the fact that it's kind of overwhelming and overwhelming in this way that he really knows how to use not just the sensory overload of sound, but also the opposite of sound and when to pull all the sound away. Like, he just does such. Such a good job with that. And also, for. It was very notable that he really. Remember this came up on the show the other day. Remember the boot stomping during Oppenheimer sort of leads up to it. There's something very similar where everybody's kind of pounding their staffs or whatever, and I like kind of noticing little parallels like that in his work. And then the other thing I wanted

[Luke Burbank]

to say was Damon says, I have become Death.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, it worked. That's what I just want to say is it worked. The other thing is, as you sort of talk about the story, this ancient story, and I don't know how much of this is. I mean, I do believe that the original text does contain this. I don't know how much it was amped up in this modern retelling, but it feels so biblical. Long, long, long before the Bible as far as the lessons of the gods. But still, what is Zeus's law? It's that you never say no to a neighbor in need. They're welcome into the house. The way you.

[Luke Burbank]

It's the golden rules.

[Andrew Walsh]

The golden rule's literally brought out. They don't call it the golden rule, but, like, do unto me, I think, or something along the lines of that the way you treat beggars. And also, generally the idea of original sin ends up being sort of like, where did humanity lose its way? And what is original sin? I'm just kind of like, oh, yeah, that's really interesting that this is pre Christianity.

[Luke Burbank]

Is it the Iliad or the Odyssey, where the. Wait, I might be thinking of yet another. Like, is that Oedipus Rex?

[Andrew Walsh]

It might be inherent vice, I don't know.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, yes. Is it Gravity's Rainbow?

[Andrew Walsh]

It's Gravity's Rainbow.

[Luke Burbank]

Is it the crying of Lot 49 or whatever?

[Andrew Walsh]

Did I tell you I read that? Don't ask me what it's about.

[Luke Burbank]

I'm reading David Sedaris right now, his latest book of essays. And one of the things he talks about is how he is not very smart and that.

[Andrew Walsh]

How he.

[Luke Burbank]

He says, you will never catch me reading. You'll never catch me cracking open a Thomas Pynchon novel. Even the audio version. I thought, well, Andrew's smarter than David Sedaris. That's pretty cool. That's pretty cool. But no. Which one? Okay, so that's not. Is where Oedipus. Oedipus is not involved in any of this, right? That's Oedipus Rex. That's where he's, you know, basically left out to die on a hill with his Achilles tendon pierced and then so that he won't fulfill the prophecy of his dad.

[Andrew Walsh]

Wait, no. Achilles? You're confusing Achilles and Oedipus. Those are different guys. Guys.

[Luke Burbank]

I know, but doesn't he have his.

[Andrew Walsh]

His Oedipus here? I didn't think. He's blinded. He has to plunge his own eyes out with, like, eventually.

[Luke Burbank]

But I think he starts out on a hillside with some problems with his Achilles heel.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, I didn't know that. Okay.

[Luke Burbank]

Because if I. This. Oh, boy. This is. This is.

[Andrew Walsh]

I mean, dare I Google it? Or do we just want to let it go? Like, let's.

[Luke Burbank]

You darest, sir. Darest. I have a foggy, distant memory. You know what? In college, I had to write this adaptation. I think of Oedipus Rex, and I thought. I remembered that it starts out he's on a hill somewhere. Or maybe it ends, he's on a hill, he's got some problems with his feet, and he sort of limps his way back into town. And the whole idea is that he was. Somebody was trying to stop this prophecy from being fulfilled, which is of him basically killing his dad and marrying his mother, because that's kind of what was set in motion.

[Andrew Walsh]

And I'm not. So here's the deal. I am deeply, deeply uncertain around these topics because I don't know it that well, but I'm not seeing any indicator. You have the. You have the Achilles heel story, which is different than I think.

[Luke Burbank]

So that's. Does that happen in the Odyssey?

[Andrew Walsh]

No, no, but that would be a Greek God things, right? Achille was a God. Oedipus was just a man. Right. But yeah, I mean, Achille and his heel, that's my memory of that is happened to him. He's like. Isn't he dipped in a river to protect him, but his mom has to hold him by his heels as a baby, so that's the one place that the water didn't touch. And that's why his heels are his one weakness.

[Luke Burbank]

Achilles was killed during the Trojan War when the Trojan prince Paris shot him in his vulnerable heel with an arrow guided by the God Apollo. So there you go. The river sticks is what he was dipped in the river Styx.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, okay.

[Luke Burbank]

Like the band.

[Andrew Walsh]

Exactly.

[Luke Burbank]

Come sail away, Come sail away Come sail away with me.

[Andrew Walsh]

I just joined for the high parts. That made a lot of sense. Sense there. But, yeah. So anyway, I think those are different. Different stories. Although you're right, the. But the Achilles thing, it's all the story of the gods. Right. So, I mean, whatever. Like, I'm. I'm really in that point where so many members of our audience right now know more about this than I do. So I just want to maybe slowly back away and just let them know what they know and keep them from smashing their phones.

[Luke Burbank]

King Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes had infant Oedipus ankles pierced and pinned together to prevent a prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother. They abandoned him on a mountain to die, but his shepherd saved him. The name Oedipus means swollen foot because of the injury.

[Andrew Walsh]

So there is a heel thing, but it's not Achilles heel.

[Luke Burbank]

Achilles. But at least, you know.

[Andrew Walsh]

All right. At least. Yeah. You don't feel like you're totally gaslit.

[Luke Burbank]

No, I was gaslit by you intentionally withholding that information.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes. You know, I will be honest. I didn't just type in heal. I typed an Achilles heel. Yes.

[Luke Burbank]

No, but. Well, I'm excited. I am excited about the Odyssey, but you're right. I've got to get. Get. I've got to get me to a theater soon because it's one of those things where also, and we've discussed this, it's the kind of movie that I also need to be not just for the two to three screen experience, but just for the, like, I don't know, the whole getting through of it. I need to be locked in a theater with my Popcorn. It's. I can't, I can't be at my house with other options and things to distract me. I need to just like get there. This is a. We were talking the other day about like the businesses, the types of business, or even the specific brands of businesses that indicate if you're in a particular kind of income bracket of a city. Like maybe it's like you have a Pizza Hut near you or you don't or whatever. Well, there is no IMAX theater anywhere near me. I mean, I've got to go all the way down to the big city of Portland, which just tells you I'm in red America. I don't think you could probably take a note, Nate Silver, you could probably learn a lot about voting patterns by how close does somebody live to an IMAX theater?

[Andrew Walsh]

Wait a second though. I'm not saying you're wrong, but that wouldn't be my knee jerk reaction. I would think that like people who live in, I mean, I know you're rural, but I don't think of IMAX theater as being like an urban thing. I think of it as being a deeply suburban thing.

[Luke Burbank]

No, I, you know, I have. Here's my. This is my way into the IMAX movies phenomenon. And I'm sure this is, is just really hyper specific to me. When I was growing up, the only IMAX movie theater in Seattle was at the Science Center.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh yeah, that's literally.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, that's where you went.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, not, not for this. And in fact, I think they've just recently closed that down or are getting ready to close that down, which is, I kind of, I think a big blow to IMAX movie lovers. But I had never seen Jurassic park like at all until about, I don't know, Maybe it was 15 years ago that they brought the original, original one back to IMAX theaters as a way of introducing the reboot, the first reboot of that series or whatever. And Genevieve and I went to see Jurassic park at the IMAX at the Science center. And on her advisement, we ate psychedelic mushrooms ahead of time, which is something that she likes to do and I have a harder time with. And I remember just being. They make me so, so paranoid and I wish I hadn't eaten them. And then I remember we were waiting in line. We got to the image IMAX so early, but it's in the Science center, which was mostly you're peaking in line sort of, but they had like a hurricane machine there. Like a few of the little things were open in the Science center, even though it was like after hours. So Vivs and I went in this tiny little phone booth thing and turned on the wind so it felt like you were in the middle of a hurricane. I remember that was kind of cool. But then, yeah, I was so nervous about peeking in line and I was like, I'm gonna run into somebody I know. They're gonna know. They're gonna know. And then we ran into somebody we knew and it really bummed me out. But aside from that, they know.

[Luke Burbank]

Have you followed up?

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't. I haven't. I literally, I think it was the last time I ever saw that person. And I don't know if that's related or not, to be honest. I think.

[Luke Burbank]

I think you are actually right about the IMAX thing, Andrew, which is because I'm googling around. The closest IMAX to me is in Vancouver, Washington. Now, here's the thing. Vancouver is still like when there are. When there's a vote in this part of the. The state, Southern Washington, that's the blue area that's bringing in all the blue votes like Marie Gluzenkamp Perez, as got elected on the strength of Vancouver and not like out where I am, but it is a much more suburban thing phenomenon now than it used to be. When I was growing up, I think there was fewer of them, like IMAX screens. And so again, the one that I knew of anyway was literally at the Science center, which is very kind of, I would say, Democrat coded, but I think you're right. They've added them to more like Regals and. And these big multiplex theaters will have an imax. And so those could be all over the country and could be in any kind of a area. In terms of voting, I still would say, nah, that's not even true because do they put out those, like, Fast and Furious movies in IMAX now too, and stuff like that? They all come out in imax, right?

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't know. I really don't know, Luke. I honestly don't know if the movie theater I was in was technically an IMAX theater because it was at the. It was at the Oak Tree Theater here, right around the corner of my. Right around the corner.

[Luke Burbank]

Don't get me started on that theater. Most of the movies that I saw in my youth were at Oak Tree Cinema.

[Andrew Walsh]

And so when I think of the imax, I think of what you're talking about, like when you go down to the Science center or the Seattle center or whatever, and you're sitting in this very specific building that was made for Back in the day, and it's just really huge. That's how we saw Oppenheimer, but now they make smaller versions of IMAX theaters. And Genevieve. I will say this, we went at one o' clock on a Saturday and it was packed. And I said there was no extra seats. And I said to these. I'm like, man, I'm surprised how busy it is this time of day. She's like, yeah, the reason we're not at the 2pm is because that was already sold out and she bought the tickets days in advance in the middle of a summer afternoon, by the way. We don't have to go into details now. Maybe it'll come up later in the week, but this was kind of one of the longest times we've left Lucy alone at home. And we. It was about three and a half hours, if you consider the whole thing. And so we keep her in the kitchen for that, just so that she can kind of stay out of trouble. But Genevieve had the idea of, let's make sure that she has a really busy morning so that she's chilled out in the kitchen by herself for three and a half hours. So we took her to the dog park at Magnuson, which you recommended, I think, even before we knew we were bringing Lucy home. It's just a good place to like let the dog run around and splash. That is an incredible dog park. I've never seen anything like it before. What a morning we had watching her. Like, you have to walk pretty far. I mean, I guess you know all of this, like you park and then

[Luke Burbank]

it's been a while. Like I used to live over in that neighborhood. I lived in Bryant kind of close by. So that was 30, 30, probably like 25 years ago.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's a huge off leash area. And then you walk and then all. And I just didn't. I still don't. Maybe I've. Maybe it's the soft bigotry of lowered expectations about dogs or my own dog. But like I didn't know what to expect. Like all this off leash area. But she just somehow knows to like stay with me in Genevieve, but like can hang back and play with some dogs or run ahead and play with some dog and then. And then match our pace again. And then we got to the water and she just made a best friend there, some sort of a German shepherd. And then they just became best friends and we're just running around in the water together while a third dog tried to play with them. It was just like, so, God, these dog parks are just Giving me just life.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, my gosh, I'm so glad that you're getting integrated into that life, because there's. I mean, I don't know. I've had human. I've had a human child. And I swear to God, it's more fun to watch the dog run around with other dogs and the human child at the McDonald's Playland. It's so great, so satisfying when they're having a fun time and you're thinking, like, they're gonna sleep so good later.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, exactly. And so. And she was totally. It worked out because we probably spent two hours there. She's splashing around. She's just, like, getting so much stimulation. Then we bring her home. And then every now and then, I did have to pee twice during the movie because I was drinking those giant cigarettes.

[Luke Burbank]

Didn't you bring your stadium pal?

[Andrew Walsh]

No, I didn't. Speaking of Sedaris. But when I would go sneak off and use the restroom, I would look at Jennifer, I would look at Lucy on the little Lucy cam we have set up in the kitchen, and she was just sweet, sweetly sleeping the whole time. So great afternoon.

[Luke Burbank]

Just for the record, Oak Tree Cinema does not have an imax.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay? So that was not an IMAX screen that I watched. And I thought Genevieve was trying to choose between IMAX screens, but she might have been looking at other theaters.

[Luke Burbank]

I'm just. I'm, like, so heartened by what you're talking about, the turnout for this movie, because I just. And it also. We need to do some top stories and talk about my defenestration at the hands of John Oliver this week. But. But, like, I have no idea what is going to work and not work as a film project with the masses, because. And granted, you're in liberal, godless Seattle, but, like, just the. I mean, this is an ambitious movie to make. Right? And it's. Everybody knows it's long, and it's a topic that, you know, it is not a Fast and Furious. It is, I guess you could say, Andrew, it's the ultimate existing ip.

[Andrew Walsh]

It is. Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

But not.

[Andrew Walsh]

And action. You know, it's very filled with action. But not that.

[Luke Burbank]

I would. I just. In a country that elected Donald Trump, I would say. I would not assume that 90% of us are still steeped in the work of Homer as it relates to the Odyssey. And so to hear that people. And again, it'd be interesting to see how this is playing out across America, but just to hear that this is selling out, that just is. I don't know. That again. And maybe it's Seattle. So that, that doesn't mean much except there's a lot of brainy cinephiles in Seattle that are really interested in this movie. But again, the part of the Internet that I look at, I see a lot of these shows selling out and people going at like 3 in the morning to see the 70 millimeter print. And just seems like I just would have thought like, oh, you tell me. It's like two plus hours and it's about an old Greek epic. I just think that that's just not gonna fly with people. It just doesn't have. There's not nearly enough emojis in it. No one at any time yells, chicken jockey.

[Andrew Walsh]

That is not entirely true. I don't want to spoil it for you, but that is not entirely true. There's a huge chicken jockey scene.

[Luke Burbank]

Like, I would have thought, like, this is one of those vanity projects that they're letting Christopher Nolan make because he's Christopher Nolan. And that it's going to be a sort of a bloated movie that is kind of just a slog. And then what's going to happen is like 10 years from now there's going to be a reexamination of it and it's going to be in the Criterion Collection function. And it's going to be like, that's. And that's not because I dislike Christopher Nolan, but I just, I'm so happy to hear that people are going to this. I'm happy. I was happy to see the reviews that it actually kind of works. I'm happy to hear your review of it. Like, I'm always just looking for anything that indicates that maybe we have not completely and totally like gone over the Niagara Falls of just full mouth breathing as a country.

[Andrew Walsh]

But I mean, the thing is, and this is maybe, this is maybe my naivete going into this, but like, for me, it doesn't even seem like, like I think that like the Inception movie is way more intellectually challenging. You really got to figure out like, oh, are we on the inside of people's brains or sleep structures? Once you're in there, in the movie theater.

[Luke Burbank]

Once you're in the movie theater. I'm not even saying I haven't seen this movie, but I mean, people just going to the movie theater to me

[Andrew Walsh]

feels like a w. Yeah, I mean, I guess, but. And again, this is where I just sort of think, but it's like one of the most basic stories. It's like not a thinker. And like, for me, I Remember hearing Christopher Nolan is making this movie and not really paying much attention to it because, I don't know, like. Like I said before, like, I'm fine with Christopher Nolan, but I don't go seeking. Not a Nolan Seeker. And so I was like, I just didn't pay any attention to it. I'd heard people talking about it. I'm like, yeah, sounds like a huge epic, didn't he? He's also. He did that one during the pandemic, right. That, like, also I think about that. I'm like, oh, my God, I'll never see that. I have no desire to see that.

[Luke Burbank]

You know, like 10.

[Andrew Walsh]

10.

[Luke Burbank]

It started with Tenant.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

And so, like, I have no desire to see.

[Luke Burbank]

It was, like, backwards or something. Like, it was an. It sounded like it made Inception look like an episode of Alvin and the Chipmunks.

[Andrew Walsh]

And I'm now wondering, is it. Because it's. What is it an anagram with some. Not an anagram when something is spelled the same backwards and forwards, Like Taco

[Luke Burbank]

Cat, that is called Tenet. My sister Hannah's name is also one of these things that I can't believe that we're not remembering. And it is called a stolen from

[Andrew Walsh]

something is called Palindrome. Palindrome.

[Luke Burbank]

Palindrome.

[Andrew Walsh]

Sorry, everybody. I brought it up and I didn't know. So anyway, the only thing about. I was at home and I was like, maybe during a baseball game or something. Some, you know, commercial for a movie started playing several months ago. I was like, oh, that actually looks kind of good. And again, I'm not an action guy. And then it's. And then it said the Odyssey at the end. I'm like, oh. Like, it turns out this is just kind of a good action movie. And in a certain way, I mean, that is the story. It's just this guy I. You know.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

Going around the world, finding himself in various action scenes. So, like, in a certain way, it is not. There isn't a huge intellectual barrier there.

[Luke Burbank]

I get. I mean, I hear what you're saying, and it's obviously proven to be the case that it. There is a. There is an awareness of the story. And it is, in a way, not asking too much of the viewers. But I'm just. To me, it's like Robin Hood. It's like, if he made a Robin Hood and people went and saw it, it'd be like. I would be unsurprised because it's like, it's. It's. To me, it's just like, how Far back. Yeah, the IP goes to the Odyssey, you know, but. And it's in black and white also, right? No, no, it's not. No, no, no, that wasn't a joke. Somehow I got it in my mind. It's in black and white.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, I don't know if there's a black and white cut or something like that, but no, this was not.

[Luke Burbank]

Okay. Well, anyway, I'm excited to go see it very soon, but not before I tell you about my latest embarrassment in the public guy.

[Andrew Walsh]

Hello and welcome to Top Story.

[Luke Burbank]

I woke up this morning to a text message from my friend Paul saying, great seeing you last night on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. I was like, oh. And I just knew right away, that's not good.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's not. You only got one one time. I would assume this.

[Luke Burbank]

I think there have more. That was the first.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

But I, And I think I got a couple of emails too, about it. But I just like, it's funny that, like, my first thought was like, that's not good.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Because I know how that show works and what they're doing is they're on some kind of a. And by the way, I love the show. I think the show's really well done. But they're, there's no way that I'm going to be in there because I did something cool and they, they, they want to highlight me. I'm in there because probably, and this proved to be the case. Case. I was just generating some sort of content for CBS Sunday Morning that just helped them with a visual explanation of something, if that makes sense.

[Andrew Walsh]

Am I right in the fact that you were briefly shown doing goat yoga on Last week tonight at one point?

[Luke Burbank]

I forget. Yeah. So I guess I didn't make my debut. I guess this is maybe my sophomore effort. But yeah, same kind of deal, like I have now at this point generated enough content for CBS Television that every once in a while a producer for Last Week Tonight is trying to find some sort of a news story about some kind of a silly topic. And maybe I was the person who did that news story. And so it's. I'm never on there. Or like both times I've been on there, it's never because again, I'm looking cool. It's because I'm kind of looking probably a little unself aware, like a network news TV person. You know, it ain't the coolest that I get, let's just put it that way. And so I was like, oh, God, let me go see. So I checked it out this morning, and I'll just play it for you here. Andrew. I think we actually have the ability. He's. It's actually the episode. This is the most recent episode. And the. The overall episode was about, like, Trump and. And Crypto, but they do a little line yop at the end. And it was about the tourism. I think they were off. They were on their summer break or something. They were off for a few weeks. So they weren't. They weren't putting their show up during the. The main World cup stuff. And so they. The story was kind of about, like, World cup tourism, people coming over from other places in the world to experience America, and that a lot of them were getting kind of obsessed with Buc EE's, the chain of enormous gas stations. And of course, as they're talking about BUC EE's and they start to describe it, they cut to a little bit of my TV story that I did about Buc ee's some years ago. So here, take a little view of

[Andrew Walsh]

this chain originating in Texas, where you can not only waterboard your bladder with Dr. Pepper, but where they famously do everything to excess.

[Luke Burbank]

These days, Buc EE's has 41 travel centers throughout the south and boasts two world records for the world's largest gas station and the world's longest car wash. Now, let me just point out, there's footage of me you're about to see, and I'm inside the car in the world's largest car wash. And my heart really sank when I saw that that's what this was going to be, because I have a vague memory of them rigging the car up with a bunch of GoPros and just, like, putting me in the car and saying, just, like, explore the space. Just give your reaction to what's going on in the car wash. And it's like, what do you say about being in a really long car wash? You know, you just kind of. I guess if you're me, you say the following Wash. Whoa, Technical. Haven't seen that before.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay, all right. Calm down a bit. Car wash jizz Pepto Bismol over your windows all the time.

[Luke Burbank]

How dare you laugh at John Oliver telling me to calm down. He's like, calm down. Car wash is Jizz Pepto Bismol colored soap all over your car all the time. But this is the thing, and this is where I'm going to sound defensive. First of all, it's harder than people think to have an interesting reaction to being in a car wash. And also what they're not showing in the piece is that. That's not what I was reacting to. I know that they. They put pink soap on your car when you go through the car wash. They do this other thing where it's like 50 different colors of soap, which you don't see in the video. So that's a little bit on the CBS Sunday Morning editor. They're also broadcasting pictures of the Buc EE's logo mascot onto your windshield. There's, like, this crazy thing going on where they're, like, putting on a whole kind of light show and graphics show in the soap on your windshield. And now that's a little bit on us for, I guess, not showing that correctly. Enough, enough. But I did look like I was extremely impressed with the fact that there was pink suds on there. But also, you know, it's like, it's kind of a weird experience, and nobody who's not me would ever in a billion years even be tracking this as closely as it is. But it's kind of funny when John Oliver is making just some dumb throwaway thing. You said a punchline, and then people are laughing about it. I'll play it one more time. Haven't seen that before.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay. All right, Calm down a bit. Car washes jizz Pepto Bismol over your windows all the time is what they do.

[Luke Burbank]

But second, it's like, it's funny to be the person who is being very gently, by the way, by the standards of this show, thank God. Gently kind of being made to be sort of the idiot, you know, like, calm down. That's what car washes do, you know?

[Andrew Walsh]

Like, I actually think the shot of from below showing the green and yellow or the blue and yellow combining does look.

[Luke Burbank]

It helps a little bit.

[Andrew Walsh]

It does not look like a normal car wash. I have a question for you about this car wash. This being my first exposure to the story. Is, is there a reason why you need it to be so long, or is that just simply just a gimmick to get people to say, I went through the world's long. Like, does it get your car more clean? I find that hard to believe.

[Luke Burbank]

That's. Andrew, such a good question, and one that I should have asked when I was at the BUC EE's.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm sure the answer is no. It's just a novelty, and that's fine. I was just kind of curious.

[Luke Burbank]

That's. No. But that's a really, really good question, and I really should have asked it when I was doing this story because, yeah, it's this you know, the. The. The so muchness of BUC EE's is. Is their whole kind of appeal to people that everything's going to be bigger and everything's going to be. And yeah. Is just more time in the car wash, just more water used by the car wash machine, or do you get a better result in coming out? Because honestly, honestly, it's sort of a. If all it is is just longer for the. So they can say it's the world's longest car wash. It's kind of bad design because it just means you have more of your life taken up going through it as the person having their car wash. More time for you to say something dumb and have John Oliver roast you. Calm down. Calm down. Like, being told to calm down by John Oliver again, however gently and however glancingly, is, you know, is never a

[Andrew Walsh]

great thing to kill for that Genevieve wants nothing but, like, literally. I think the thing that Genevieve wants. Wants the most in this world, maybe number two, is for me to be more attentive to her needs. But the first thing that she wants is for Bob Odenkirk to yell at her out of anger. Like, you know how he's got a notorious temper and he yells all the time, but also he's a really, really sweet guy, but, like, when he yells God damn it in a sketch, you really feel like there's some real. There's some real Bob in there as well. And what Genevieve wants more than anything is not just meet Bob Odenkirk, but to be yelled at by him.

[Luke Burbank]

Does she want him to be actually mad at her?

[Andrew Walsh]

I think so. She.

[Luke Burbank]

That's gonna be the toughest. She thinks.

[Andrew Walsh]

She thinks that anyway.

[Luke Burbank]

So not his.

[Andrew Walsh]

Maybe we should ask these. But I think she wants to really be yelled at as if. Like, she was supposed to. Like, as if she's a gaffer on set, but then, like, misgaffs something. They call that a gaff. Gaff, by the way.

[Luke Burbank]

But, like, I think she's stealing my spots on the Sunday morning commentaries. Ch. Jim. Jim. Gaff. Gaff again.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, I am familiar. I thought I had another. Oh, oh, can I. Not to turn this into a story about me, but regarding car washes, I told you the other day I had an incredibly. You ever go to bed one night thinking, I'm gonna get all this stuff done tomorrow. But then also, in the back of your head, you're like, I'm not doing, like, half of the stuff on my list. I just know I went to bed

[Luke Burbank]

last night thinking, I'm gonna get so much done today. So I guess we'll find out together what happens.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I won't stop talking. You need to, like, come on.

[Luke Burbank]

No, I just mean, like, on. My plan is to be very, very productive today. But we'll find out.

[Andrew Walsh]

But anyway, so I was really pleased with myself last Thursday because not only did I get everything done on my list, on my mental list, but I went above and beyond. I was getting things done that wasn't even on my list. I just got into productive mode. And one of the things I did was I cleaned out our car, which was. I cleaned it out a couple of months ago. And we keep our car relatively tidy, but the introduction of a dog in our life has just introduced a lot of new chaos. And, like, the. The. You know, the windows in the back of the car had her nose prints all over it. We have this.

[Luke Burbank]

Is she gonna be a dog that sheds?

[Andrew Walsh]

She is shedding at first. Apparently, the DNA thing that Genevieve filled out said that she has some gene that will make her not shed too much. And as a puppy, she didn't shed all that much. But in the past couple of weeks now, the temperatures have been extreme, so I don't know if that leads to it or not, but she's been shedding a lot. And so we have this big. It's built for dogs, for the backseat of cars. It basically covers the entire back seat. This big, big kind of quilty thing with some pockets and various stuff that you put in your back.

[Luke Burbank]

Where did you get that from?

[Andrew Walsh]

She. Did she buy it new? I'll bet you she didn't. Let's just say Renton. Let's just say Renton.

[Luke Burbank]

Okay.

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't know. I think it was a good deal, but it was. It's. It. If it. If she didn't buy it new, it was like, new. You know what I mean? It's not filled with another dog slobber or anything like that. Neither one of us would go for that. But, like, I got. When Genevieve picked me up from the airport, I, like, look in the backseat. That. That thing is just covered in dog hair. There's nose prints all over the windows in the back. And then just the usual kind of, like, you know, buildup of. Anyway, point is, Andrew, just tell I. So I had time on Thursday, and I went out and I really cleaned and what do they call it? Detailed the inside of the car. I went out with very. I think I was out there at one point with three different kinds of vacuum cleaners and sprays and, you know, I Take out all the mats, I hose them down, I scrub them off, I clean them. Did I scrub out one of my garbage bins while I was at it? Absolutely. I had all the supplies out there. Why wouldn't you? So I'm feeling good as I'm putting everything back in the car. And I'm remembering that we have a free car wash coupon from, like, I don't know, something that we had repaired recently. They give you free coupons for everything. So I'm like, you know what? I'm just gonna take this baby. The inside is very clean right now. The seats are still a little bit damp from me trying to get some stains out and stuff, but I'm gonna just drive this thing right to a Brown Bear car wash. Yeah. And you have to be careful. You have to look for the full service ones. I'd already done a lot of work this day. I didn't to want. Want to be doing the hand scrubbing or anything. So I found one I believe in Lake City, and I rolled through. But the thing is, this is what broke my heart. By all reasonable measures, I should have taken my dog with me on this adventure. Like, we don't have to leave the car at all. Anytime I'm going somewhere where I don't have to leave the car, like, I want to be, I like Lucy to be with me.

[Luke Burbank]

What freaks her out?

[Andrew Walsh]

What does that mean?

[Luke Burbank]

I mean, like, what if she's not sure how to interpret.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, what if the car wash freaks her out? I thought you said, what if freaks are. I thought, oh, is that like.

[Luke Burbank]

Does that come out at night? If you see a Brown Bear at the Brown Bear car wash, you need to make yourself big and loud and do not turn your back on it.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's like the Purge. All the freaks are out. By the way, there's a new movie out that is basically like the Purge for Sex. I saw the trailer for it before.

[Luke Burbank]

I'm listening the plot. You can kill anyone with sex for one day.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, but I like that you went there. You can have sex. The world can only have sex on one day. And so everybody goes. Or maybe single people can only. It was a little unclear as to what the setup was, but it clearly focuses on, like, one single man and one single woman. And while everybody is, like, making whoopee around them and kind of public spaces or whatever, like, making out, like, they. They are navigating their own worlds without a partner, but then they have some sort of meet cute, and then the whole movie is about will they won't they? My guess is they will. But Genevieve was like, this is so. It's just like the purge for sex. There's like, one day the world can have sex. It did not seem like a movie for me. I would rather watch the Odyssey again. But anyway, I did feel like Lucy would have loved the car wash, but I just played it too safe. I was like, these seats are clean and a little bit damp right now, and I don't want to put her dog bed back in the back again or whatever and then cover them up while I'm trying to get them to dry. But I really wanted. Sorry, I really. You're on national. You're on a national cable program. And I'm just telling you that I'm disappointed I didn't take my dog through a car wash for the first time. But I do feel a little bit regretful of that. And one of these days, she is gonna go through a car wash, and I think she's gonna flip and love it. And it should be the world's longest one.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, this is. I mean, get thee to Texas, where there are many, many BUC EE's locations. This is the thing. Now, it sounds like you've got your system, and it sounds like you're also integrating a certain amount of, like, shampooing and sort of upholstery cleaning when you do your car. But, man, I'm telling ya, those vacuum cleaners that. That they've got built in at the car wash place, the place where you go through. So the one down in my town that I go to now called Washman, it's. I'll tell you what it is. First of all, it's free. The vacuums are now free. That's where the car wash industry seems to be going is if you pay for the going through the. If you pay for going through the, like, you know, whatever you call it the tunnel of car wash, then when you come out, there's just at least at the two ones that are down in the town where I live nearby, they both just have, you know, you're not supposed to just pull your car in and vacuum out. You're supposed to have gone through the drive through. I don't think they really even monitor that. But then you just pull over and they've got, like, clips. I take out the floor mats, clip them up on the thing. Those vacuum cleaners are so. I mean, they shouldn't even be legal.

[Andrew Walsh]

And they're shaped like cleaning the inside of a car is such bullshit for a whole bunch of reasons. But one of the things is like, the angles and the shape of the floors and the windshield and everything. And those vacuums are made for that.

[Luke Burbank]

They're so powerful too. And then like, they're on this long hose and they've got them on both sides of the car. So you can just grab and you can get into wherever you need. Like, I just think that's kind of the way to go if you don't want to do the whole process. I'm curious why it is that you're still doing this in the. Maybe it's because, again, they don't provide like a shampooing of your seats, if that's what you.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, we have. Like, the reason ours were wet was because. Because, like, I don't know how this keeps happening. I do think that we have some leakage issues with like, the seal of our car. But also, I don't know if it's from Genevieve going swimming. I don't know if it's video games or what. But, like, we always end up with like, water stains. We have very light upholstery, like, light colored upholstery. And so I feel like. And that it just looks so bad to me. It's like. So there's only so much a vacuum can do before you're like, I'm taking my Folex out there. Like, I just have a whole bunch of different needs and ulcer. Like, like I say, our floor mats tend to be the all weather rubber ones. So they don't need vacuuming so much as they need like sort of scrubbing. Well, I take them out, I shake them out, but they're rubber. So then I get a bucket with like, I have this big scrub brush on us pole. And so I get my fabuloso. I put that in a car washing bucket. And then I'm like scrubbing those things. So like, I do.

[Luke Burbank]

Has Kevin seen. Has Camaro. Kev seen this project? Because he would love.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, I. He maintained for. I don't know why he hates it when we talk about clean his car is. But he does maintain a very clean car. But the thing about him is it seems like he just maintains it. And that's what I don't get because I'm not like, he's an Armor all guy. He is using a lot of armor,

[Luke Burbank]

like the D man and his. And his father before him. I think, like, I think his thing is, is he's just. He's Armor all ing that thing like, to within an inch of its life at all times. So Anytime you get in, all of the surface areas are just like pristine and, and, and glowing and really. And then of course he's just keeping it vacuumed out and really nice and stuff.

[Andrew Walsh]

So yeah, and he stays on top of it. That's what I appreciate. Like for me it's really, really clean right now. And then it's going to get to a point where I have to look at the car and say, do I just put rocks in my pockets and walk out to the ocean or finally tackle this mess? You know what I mean? Like there's no in between for me. I don't just like maintain. I don't just go out and like, oh, I'm going to go just clean the windows today. I just wait for it to get so nasty that I have to clean the whole damn thing, which is I'm.

[Luke Burbank]

Today I'm going to. One of the things on my list actually is to, to go get the car washed because I haven't done it once this summer because I have a whole thing which is I don't want to wash the car and then leave town for six days and then come back and it's like a layer of dust has settled on or it's rained or whatever. I want to get some use out of my nice, clean, pleasant vehicle. And so this is the first time where I actually have a couple of weeks in front of me where I don't have any travel planned. And so I'm very excited to go down there today and get a. It all, get it all washed up and vacuumed out and you know, get it all in kind of ship shape and then just get to. Every time I get into the car, the only problem that I have, and you want to talk about boring, is about a year or two ago I was making a dump run and I had, for some reason I was wearing like kind of work pants that have like a bunch of different pockets and even that like painter's loop you can put a paintbrush in or whatever. And I had some like utility scissors in the back pocket and I sat on my leather seat and punched like a quarter size hole. It's still attached. So the leather, I didn't like fully cut it, but there's like a leather flap now. So I bought on the Internet some kind of a tape, a special black leather tape that's supposed to go over it and cover it. And it worked great until it got warm and now it wants to peel up at the corners. So now there's. So then I peel it off. Now there's glue on the seat. Just going from bad to worse. I should go to a real upholstery place and get it fixed.

[Andrew Walsh]

But maybe. Yeah, put somebody in also. You know what I was thinking too? You talk about like getting your car clean than having it sit outside. What you could do. This would be a lot of work. It'd be a long time project. But what if you turned your studio into a garage?

[Luke Burbank]

Oh yeah, because I don't have a garage now.

[Andrew Walsh]

You could pull your car right up in there.

[Luke Burbank]

That's a really good place.

[Andrew Walsh]

Get rid of all of that. Get rid of all the kitchen stuff, the bathroom. Put a garage door in.

[Luke Burbank]

It's the perfect size for putting a car in.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's almost like it was built for that.

[Luke Burbank]

That all I would need to do is just cut a big hole in that wall and put a garage door in.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, just knock out some of the more.

[Luke Burbank]

Maybe redo the floors.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, a little bit. Yeah. Anyway, I'm an idea.

[Luke Burbank]

You know what I'm going to think on that one.

[Andrew Walsh]

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

[Luke Burbank]

All right, Andrew, do we have any emails or vmails that you favor us with today?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, I did receive one.

[Luke Burbank]

Okay.

[Andrew Walsh]

And this is from listener Michael and I want to mention something. This is. I wasn't going to mention this, but I will mention it now. I don't think this is, this is not the person who I'm speaking about here before I play this voicemail but I think I heard a listener's feelings via text message this weekend and I didn't mean to and I was trying to be light hearted about it and then I think I came off as maybe a little bit snotty or something but somebody had texted me several things in a row that said tell Luke this, tell Luke that, tell Luke this. And one of them was kind of also about like hey, be careful about certain language that you use around Italian topics or whatever. And I was like. And so I wrote back, I'm like, hey, the best way to get this information to Luke is to email lukebtl.net and I did write something like I'm not his message sender offer or something like that. Which I think may I meant to be but maybe came off as a little bit more snotty. And the person clearly was not happy with that response. And so just so you know, for folks who like, I'm not trying to be like a jerk about it, but just generally speaking, if you have something that you need to tell Luke, the text message, the email is good for that text is if you just want to send something fun on the fly or something like that. But I'm seeing text messages at our phone number, 206-414-8285, just as I'm out and about, you know what I mean? I was literally walking to see the Odyssey when I was getting a text message about that. When I said, hey, just reach out to Luke directly about that. So my apologies if my tone was off in that text, but I do want to let listeners know as far as like, especially if it's something where you kind of want to gently correct Luke or something like that, do that directly with Luke via Luke.

[Luke Burbank]

Was it the person who wanted to correct my pronunciation of the name Zendaya?

[Andrew Walsh]

No, but I saw that too. Oh, that came on. Listen. That's somebody who's listening right now. That was unhinged. Can I just say that about our listeners behavior? We got like four emails in a row that it seemed like something was malfunctioning. And it just kept saying the subject line was Zendaya, not Zendaya or vice versa. And I was like, oh, somebody's email is malfunctioning. And then we got a follow up email that said, yes, you got that four times because I feel strongly about it or something like that. Did you notice all of that?

[Luke Burbank]

I'm seeing this now. I'm getting into this. Yes, I'll leave the listener's name out so they don't come in for any kind of grief. But her name is not Zendaya, it's Zendaya. And there's about three emails there. And then there's another one I see that says, says I meant to send this info multiple times so it rises above the noise in your inbox. Thanks. Okay, Zendaya, duly noted, buddy. I'll try to remember to say Zendaya. And also I'll come over to your house and listen to eight hours of you talking every week and figure out the times when you're not saying something perfectly.

[Andrew Walsh]

I think that's the important thing is that we really appreciate all the donations that you guys have sent into the show, especially coming off of the TBT now. So apologies for the listener if I sounded snotty. But also in reality, that is the best way to get ahold of us. You can email me andrewbtl.net lukebtl.net, johnbtl.net

[Luke Burbank]

Even John's can get TBL.

[Andrew Walsh]

Even John's can get it. And then we do it.

[Luke Burbank]

Honestly, I'm not encouraging anyone to send emails to John to get to me, but I will say John is probably the best email responder in the group.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, but don't. Yeah, but don't send stuff to other members of the team, hoping that the other members of the team will then take your message.

[Luke Burbank]

Stop sending me stuff hoping I'll send it to Andrew.

[Andrew Walsh]

Exactly. Because that happens a lot. So here is a voicemail.

[Luke Burbank]

This is.

[Andrew Walsh]

This is. I'm not even gonna. You know what? I'm not even gonna set this one up. I just love it.

[Luke Burbank]

Hi, guys. It's Michael in Olympia. I know there's been quite a bit of talk about being the first person to use a public restroom. Well, I just went to the transfer station to get rid of a bunch of garbage, and I had a wonderful experience. I was the first person to throw all of my garbage into a completely empty, giant container. And I tell you, the experience of hearing all of those things just hit the bottom of that container and make a resounding noise. Very satisfying.

[Andrew Walsh]

Love the show. Good luck with the thon. Is that what we. Thank you. Is that what we call squad goals? Because that sounds very satisfying to me.

[Luke Burbank]

See, I can't quite relate to that because I just. The place that I go, we. We throw it all on a conveyor belt, and it just kind of goes down. And so I really like it when the conveyor belt has just. Which is a version of what this listener is talking about. I really like it when the conveyor belt has just. Well, actually, it's kind of fun when the conveyor belt starts going when I'm throwing stuff on it, because then it just feels like I'm in, like, a video game or something. Something. But, yeah, it's been a long time since I've gone to a dump where it's going into one of those big, like, you know, shipping containers is about to get hauled off. What. What's at the dump that you're technically not supposed to go to that you go to? What is their system?

[Andrew Walsh]

It's like a huge pit. And so you pull your truck up to it or car up to it, and you just throw stuff over the rail. And then they have these big, like, earth movers and stuff that kind of push it into piles, and then they take it off. And then there's a different section for yard waste where I. I was, like, just throwing these bags of yard waste as hard as I could because they were kind of light at this point. Over the weekend, actually, on Thursday, before I cleaned the inside of the car, I hauled a whole bunch of yard waste. Now I'm looking. Is this Zendaya that I'm looking at here on the screen?

[Luke Burbank]

It's Zendaya.

[Andrew Walsh]

I honestly can't remember what's right and what's wrong anymore.

[Luke Burbank]

You said it right.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay, Zendaya. Okay. Yeah. And she plays Athena. I believe, in the Odyssey.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes. And is a talented, talented actor and is great.

[Andrew Walsh]

You wanted to put that up there just because we have the ability to.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, I'm just testing out. This is TBTL tv, my friend.

[Andrew Walsh]

While we do that, can I experience

[Luke Burbank]

putting up all kinds of images here?

[Andrew Walsh]

Look at that. Can we play the. It's only 15 seconds. This video that I was using to test. Now, this is a true story. I just came across this commercial on some VHS tape that I was digitizing. And last night I uploaded this to YouTube. I even uploaded. Uploaded this video to TikTok. I don't know if you know that, Luke, but I'm on TikTok.

[Luke Burbank]

And sometimes I didn't know you were on TikTok.

[Andrew Walsh]

I am. And I don't know what my name is there, but I do know that my avatar is a picture of Toomgis saying, God damn it. And I don't know when.

[Luke Burbank]

Definitely would tip me off that it's probably you.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, exactly. But this is the. It's only 15 seconds. This is a commercial from 1993. It aired on AE during a broadcast of Rebel Without a Cause in the Chino Hills area of California. I love when I find a VHS tape. Trying to nail down exactly when these things aired. And this aired in March of 1993. I could tell from some of the promos for like A and E premieres happening. And now I think we might have to stop the TV image that you had up there. I'm going to play this 15 second video from the Dairy Farmers of America, which I am in love with. Take American cheese, make it wrapped. You got a new idea for a tasty kids snack. Wrap an apple with American cheese and your kids will cheer. Because any snack with American cheese gets you a big pat on the back. American cheese, the snack kids love to eat. So, okay, there's a lot to talk

[Luke Burbank]

about there much to unpack from that.

[Andrew Walsh]

The rhyme joke at the very end. Are we supposed to believe that the kid was gonna pat her on the rear?

[Luke Burbank]

Is that what that. Because the rhyme, the scansion of it is way off.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, clearly the joke Is you think we're gonna say rear, but then we're gon back. But you're talking about a mom and her little boy, and they're showing, like, otherwise edible food being wrapped up in these orange slices, which also looks gross to me.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, I love that kind of cheese. I've got a block. I've got not a block, but I've got a bunch of American cheese singles in my refrigerator right now.

[Andrew Walsh]

They make it rain.

[Luke Burbank]

I will put those on almost anything except an apple. One of the things that they're showing us is an apple. Apple slice. American cheese on an apple slice does not sound good to me. Do you notice the first thing that's being wrapped, though, Andrew?

[Andrew Walsh]

A pretzel. A pretzel rod.

[Luke Burbank]

Pretzel rod.

[Andrew Walsh]

Pretzel rod.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

Wrapped up. An American cheese.

[Luke Burbank]

It looks your favorite food group, which you kind of got me into during the fawn week in Ohio. I found myself really going ham on those rods.

[Andrew Walsh]

I gotta get you more into hummus, because I feel like a hummus is a great thing to dip a rod into. What do you. What would you. What would be your ideal thing to dip a rod into?

[Luke Burbank]

Maybe something. I know this is gonna sound like I'm just trying to be funny or something, but maybe something a little cheesy, but like a goat cheese dip or a chevre or something. I like that kind of combo. Not probably. I would listen. American cheese slice rolled up on a pretzel. I wouldn't be mad at that. I would probably eat it. Can you play the commercial one more time?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, I can.

[Luke Burbank]

Just so I can hear the audio again. Because, like, I don't think I was tracking it other than then I. I noticed that she rhymes the wrong thing. But now you're saying that's part of, like, setting up.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oops, sorry about that. I was trying to pause it before you did that, but yeah, so take a listen to this again and again. It's just a little short, little 15 seconder. Take American cheese, make it wrapped. You got a new idea for a tasty kid snack. Wrap an apple with American cheese and your kids will cheer because any snack with American cheese gets you a big pat of on the back. American cheese. The snack is love to eat.

[Luke Burbank]

A million things wrong with it. First of all, the first two rhymes don't even work, and it's not setting anything up.

[Andrew Walsh]

First two.

[Luke Burbank]

The first two things she says, can we. Can we play one more time and pause it? I mean, I actually could. I guess I could pause it too, if I Feel so strongly about it. The first two things that she rhymes.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Okay. American cheese, make it wrapped. You got a new idea for a tasty kid snack. Okay.

[Luke Burbank]

Take American cheese, make it wrap. You get a tasty idea for a new kid snack. Wrapped snack don't even rhyme.

[Andrew Walsh]

I mean, I'll give them that. It's a. It's a slant rhyme, but I'm with you. It's lazy.

[Luke Burbank]

And then this, the scansion goes so off the rails here.

[Andrew Walsh]

Like, snack, wrap an apple with American cheese. And your kids will cheer. Because any snack with American cheese gets

[Luke Burbank]

you a good chance. And your kids will cheer. We're battling. We're battling. Sorry. It's like when she says your kids will cheer. It's supposed to go, and your kids will cheer. Something rhymes with cheers, but she goes, and your kids will cheer. Wrap anything in an American cheese. It's like all of a sudden, there's like five extra syllables in that part of it. I mean, this is. It's. Yeah, it's just. It's obviously really bothering me because I feel like they could have done something with this. And I don't even think it's just that they're setting up a rhyme or a joke that we're not expecting, which I'm sure you're right about in the end. But the beginning part is bad for different reasons.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's bad all around, Luke. It's bad all around. Well, this could be a new feature. I can show you the commercials that I find on VHS tapes. I've been digging deep again, now that I'm kind of.

[Luke Burbank]

I love. I mean, there's nothing that I enjoy more than you and I. And, you know, it's a motivation for people to sign up and do whatever they need to do to get TBTL tv. Andrew. Because this is actually going to be really fun. I'm excited about this new feature that we have to grab visuals and play them for each other and show them to each other.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. So it's a little bit of a work in progress. You set it up at the beginning of the show, but you and I didn't really chat much about it. And so folks who were donating during the tbtl a thon if you donated at literally any level, you will get an email with a link to a video version of one of the episodes of the week. And we're trying this on Monday's show. I think, assuming that the tape worked out okay and Luke's playing with his little novelty glasses over there now, we'll try to Send this one out. But. Oh, it occurred to me it's gotta. I think this has to go out today, though, right? Like, nobody wants to watch this a few days later. So do I have to figure this out today?

[Luke Burbank]

I don't think it has to go out today. I think it's.

[Andrew Walsh]

You don't think so?

[Luke Burbank]

This is as pointless on Friday as it was on Monday.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay, we'll figure it out. I think eventually I'd like to get to the point where. Where you can choose to listen or watch. Because I feel like.

[Luke Burbank]

Because here's the deal already, listen to this.

[Andrew Walsh]

If people listen to this on Monday, and then I'm sending them video link on Wednesday. But maybe if listeners don't mind giving us a little bit of grace, this is what we're calling, sort of. We're not calling. Nobody knows this yet, but I'm calling this a soft launch. Like, we got to just kind of figure this out. I don't want to be too precious about it and wait until we have everything locked down and feeling super professional, because, let's face it, that may never happen. And so I do want to sort of like, just see how much work goes into getting these things produced, how quickly we can turn them around and maybe add more doodads as time goes on. But I'm going to see Gee gaws, maybe get some gee gaws in there. So I'll see if I can get this out later today, maybe with John's help, or certainly maybe by tomorrow at the latest. We'll see then we'll iron it out as things move forward. But, yeah, if you're seeing this, it means you donated. So thank you so much.

[Luke Burbank]

Thank you very much. And if you're hearing this, it means you're part of the TBTL listening audience, and we thank you. Well, as. As well, thanks so much for spending this hour and 19 minutes with us today. We're going to be back here tomorrow with more imaginary radio for all of you. In the meantime, have an absolutely great Monday. Take care of yourselves, and please remember, no mountain too tall.

[Andrew Walsh]

And good luck to all. Um, Power out.