Hola, Sneakers! Welcome to Episode 561 of Sneaky Dragon – still the most disputatious podcast on the internet!
This week: top Brit; Brit pot; musical mirrors; tour of pizza; a digital hole; PNE express; ass to seat ratio; flume shot; they’re already superdogs; via duck; seven Chinese brothers; no emotional in; there is no prize like home; there goes the neighbourhood; pools rule; invisible dogs; their days are numbered too; revelatory; open to misinterpretation; the word of editor; church rules; bags on a bag; traditionally figurative; Adam and Eve-alanche; Dave goes too far; judge a tree by its fruit; the living definition of obtuse; terrible evangelist; crushing problems; the awful truth; the unanswerable question; the kind kind; Top 5 Songs – Bell Bottoms; triple threats; Question of the Week – Sneakers respond; unlucky Luck, steam-driven fun; school failure; miseducation; turn out, tune out, drop out; ghost protocols; impulsive socks; and, finally, a trick shot.
Top 5 Songs – Bell Bottoms
- Derek and the Dominos – “Bell Bottom Blues” – Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, 1971 – 2:05:02
- Sonny Warner – “Bell Bottom Blue Jeans” – Checker Records single b/w “Been So Long”, 1966 – 2:14:24
- The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – “Bellbottoms” – Orange, 1994 – 2:22:15
- Iron Man Sam – “Original Funky Bell Bottom” – Rare Soul – Groove & Grind 1963-1973, 2015 – 2:29:23
- Loudon Wainwright III – “Bell Bottom Pants” – Attempted Mustache, 1973 – 2:35:28
Question of the Week: What is scarier to you: physical danger or psychological danger?
Sub-question of the Week: What are you doing to enjoy the last days of summer?
Thanks for listening.
And thanks to Louise for providing these two pictures of TV Week with two very similar programs on the covers. Pick your poison!
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Questions of the week:
1. My immediate reaction to this question was psychological danger is scarier, since I don’t like things like horror movies, etc., but upon reflection I decided it was actually physical danger that is scarier. I choose not to expose myself to psychological danger as it makes me tense; I have, as a matter of course over my life, enjoyed things that many consider physically dangerous (competing in three day eventing, driving fast cars fast, riding race horses, mogul skiing, riding the roller coaster, breaking horses, travelling to Hong Kong during the 2019 riots, etc.) but then I decided that those are calculated risks, many of which I was well prepared for often through skill, which resulted in the risks being minimized. However, in many other aspects of my life physical things scare me more, especially those to do with water and swimming.
2. For the end of summer I am stocking up and ramping up in every way I can to prepare for the fall, when I will have no extra time or energy as I will be be working two jobs full time, 7 days a week, 12+ hours a day, for three months straight, and having to go to two different barns to look after my horses outside of that long work day, with the added complication of two eye surgeries in that time frame that will limit my ability to do a lot of things I normally have to do in the course of my regular day. Oh, and Dave will be away in Europe for part of it so I’ll be all on my own with no one to step in and help out if I’m needing it. So adding some nervous sweating into that as well.
I missed you guys last week, I was at the doctor or the dentist and scared as hell! I’m like David and have fallen asleep during a root canal…twice. I think that speaks highly of the dentist too. I also agree with Ian whereas I’m less likely to enjoy a doctor’s visit because there’s more things that could go wrong. I’m due to go in on the 14th and I can’t say I’m looking forward to it, I think I may have some prostate problems.
When my kids were younger, the first thing my daughter and I would do when we arrived at the Texas State Fair was get a sausage on a stick…it was kind of like our breakfast. There were a few other foods to check off the list but the sausage on a stick was first up. Afterwards it was all games, funhouses and rides…maybe the car show too or the dogs that catch frisbees. And definitely the petting zoo, I miss doing that with my kids when they were little.
The moment you mentioned you were playing songs about bellbottoms, I thought to myself, “I wonder if Dave is playing that thing from Baby Driver?” So yeah, guilty as charged but loving every minute of it. That damed bass in the song, it’s so squelchingly loud and great.
I have to elaborate on the cautionary effects of physical danger LEADING to psychological danger. I survived a car accident which was very much a physical experience, had I not braked when I did I may have been killed or crippled for life. Since that incident and more importantly directly afterwards, I had serious psychological trauma about car accidents. Waking from a dream of crashing or driving full speed into someone still feeds into my consciousness. So I guess the answer is a double edged sword, would I not have the psychological impact of these dangers had I not been in that accident? Most everyone has been in some fort of auto accident but this was my first and only and it still haunts me to this day. I also used to have a reoccurring nightmare that I was with both my kids when they were young, holding my daughter’s hand and carrying my younger son as an infant. In the nightmare, I’m in a place of extreme danger like a dangerous neighborhood or some gang setting and I have to get them both to safety, in many cases I pick both kids up in my arms and run. It’s horrific and I know why.
On 9/11, which is coming up, I had both kids at home that day and my their Mom was at work. After seeing the events of the NYC twin towers, I decided to get my kids out of the house and away from any images of the attack. We went to a nearby mall that had a huge play area for them and we just hung out there to what felt in my mind…safe. Because on that day, we had no idea what could happen next, right? After about an hour or so, a security guard took me aside and asked me to slowly gather the kids and head out, they were closing the mall early just in case. I could see he was a bit rattled as we all were but he then mentioned that the area had a large population of middle eastern people and the idea of any further danger needed to be avoided. I slowly collected my kids and told them it was time to leave even though they knew it wasn’t. As we left the play area my daughter noticed my son’s shoe had fallen off way back at the play area, so she bolted back to retrieve it. I went cold and my heart raced as she ran away from me…I don’t remember being that scared of something so psychological gripping on that day, she was just running for a shoe. It was like Burt Reynolds walking away to get the game ball at the end of “The Longest Yard” and Eddie Albert was thinking he was trying to escape. Like most of us on that day, it felt like there was no place safe to go, I felt vulnerable and with the responsibility of two young children. It was a psychological fear I’ve never known before even though deep down I knew we were absolutely fine.
I have good news of rain! Many inches of plentiful rain! So this means that along with the heat, which still resides here in Texas but only in the 90’s, outside is like a lushy greenhouse. I’ll be spending the September days of Summer weeding and beautifying the outer perimeter of my home since it’s growing back at an alarming rate. It’s not in the triple digits and there’s cloud cover so I won’t suffer a heatstroke taking care of my lawn, garden and patio. I’ll most likely be listening to Sneaky Dragon as I do this since these are my weekend tasks, so thanks for the company. I could always listen to those assholes endlessly rip Star Wars to shreds, but I have you two instead.
Thanks for the mention Louise along with the two TV Week covers, I see you knew what I meant about the conflicting series. I’ve only started watching the “House of Dragon” on HBO, so I’m not having any issues with conflating the two…yet. I’m telling you, years from now, we’ll speak of these two series being released only a few weeks apart. Only true fantasy geeks will be able to keep them separate in our minds.
Enjoy the further joys of Summer fellow Sneakers! I’ll see you this time next week!
That was quite the show this week, fellas! I don’t think I’ve been so engrossed in a debate since Carvey and Spade almost came to blows over the true meaning of Deuteronomy Chapter 5, Verse 12 – and we all remember how that turned out. 🙂 I also loved the way you resolved things by both stating how much you dislike winning an argument. I mean, could this show BE more Canadian?
Cracking top 5 too! May you keep on sneakin’ forever.
Hey, It ’s been a long time…
But you know with all the money you sent me… I bought me some paradisiac holidays. But I know what’s hard earn money is, yoyrs. So I choose wisely, aiming for maximum luxury but on a budget conscious way.
So there’s a lot of countries where the cost of living is surprising low. And, boy, they love rich people.
The bad side is that you got to love army green color, uniforms, and military matters in general. Edgy people. And, err, other people being shot. But their leisure datchas, villas, pagodas, lagoo mansions are really a-maz-ing! And for what, ok some moral dilemmas and a few bad investments in shady mining company… But otherwise a bargain.
As the saying goes, you can’t really be happy until others are really, really, really unhappy. But I must confess that in the long run it’s a little bit depressing…
I could have chosen more « socio—economico – ethnically » vacations, but you now, nowadays, you can’t be chilling around « acquaintance’s » pools without the FBI randomly raiding in and out… I ask you : how is it possible to have some restorative rest in those conditions ?
Either way, whatever the reason, too much consciousness or too much noise, my vacations were ruined.
So finally, I got back home to build my Frikin’ Lazer cutter enclosure.
Because, the general mood of short holidays, had, kind of, reminded me of the James Bond movies of my youth, particularly Goldfinger.
And cutting things with lasers is tight ! But I personally, just satisfied me with wood. Smelly but a LOT less messy than with people. And sometimes, you’re not going to believe me, they escape and beat the hell out of you…. Which is not cool. Yes, Mister Bond, I’m thinking of you, That’s not very gentlemany, if you ask me.
That’s for late summer, and for armless things that’s scare me most…. Thoughts ! Just thinking of the word scalpel…. …. … Whe, Where am I????. Oh, sorry, how long have I been unconscious ? What was I talking about ? Oh yes scaaaAAAaaAAlllPPppp…..
But really, thinking of some things or situations (imaginary or recollection) can have a physical effect on me like if I was seeing them or going to experience them in reality (you know, the oh! shit! moment when you realise a bad thing had just happened or is happening and there’s no way of escaping it…) It’s very short but quite intense.
Otherwise I like gory movies, but not medical documentaries… And I’m sacred of height, and the idea of it, I enjoy watching parkour videos, but watching Storror movie Roof Culture Asia… is really painful.
And, Dave, speaking of music… I just discovered, I mean, the Youtube algorithm has kindly recommended me the Justin Hawkins Rides Again channel. Didn’t know him, and underneath the showy, in your face, kind of provocative attitude, he seems very genuine and he is quite interesting.
And on the weird side, check the Amazon show, We’ve Got Company (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqatEoSd0Fo), with Marc Rebillet, Tenacious D (Jack Black) and Reggie Watts and some puppets… nonsensical happy chatty musical mess…
And as always, don’t be sticky, snacky nor stacky, but stay, errr, the other one.
Regis, I want some of whatever you’re smokin’.
Not to make Dad and Dad argue again, but I got curious and I looked up the Hebrew word used for “day” in Genesis and it is “yom.” And it talks about each day of creation being made up of a morning and an evening. “A day” would only mean “not really a day but some unspecified period of time” if it is being used as an idiom or metaphor, in which case, it’s up for interpretation. And that’s the thing with the Bible. As soon as you say this passage is a creation legend or that book is an allegory, a fable, it’s up for interpretation…but who gets to do the interpreting? That’s when the fighting and the inquisition-ing and the executing starts. By the way, I think it’s interesting that even Biblical literalists say the Song of Songs is an allegory for God’s love for the Jewish people or Christ’s love for the Church. It sounds a lot like secular love to me.
I believe I’ll be watching a backyard screening of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid during one of the last days of summer. Luckily, according to the weather report for that evening, raindrops won’t keep falling on my head.
Hey there Dragons! Long time listener (to the podcast), longer time listener (to Dave telling me he had a podcast), first time commenter!
Move over, Hitchens and D’Souza, there are new Biblical debaters in town! I found that whole Biblical stories aside to be really engaging to listen to, particularly as somebody who is religiously agnostic and hasn’t studied the Bible in-depth. Contrary to the idea Dave was being obtuse, I actually found him to be the necessary amount of ‘tuse about a famously dense piece of text, and it sounds like he was approaching it less as a series of stories that are meant to be taken literally, and more as a collection of lessons that are supposed to impart lessons in their readers.
I don’t think it’s talking out of both sides of your mouth to make a statement like “this outcome is unavoidable AND Eve made a choice to do it.”: existential philosophers talk at length about how humanity is defined by the choices we make in the face of inevitable outcomes. For example, we all die, but there’s still a lot of leeway in how we choose to live our lives before death, so while death is inevitable it doesn’t mean every death is equal. It sounded like Dave’s interpretation of Genesis was along those lines. At least, that’s how I took it as I was listening along, and it was making sense to me – though I’m skeptical about “unavoidable” and “inevitable” meaning different things.
For the question of what kind of danger is scarier, I would definitely say “psychological.” When I go on a roller coaster I’m not even thinking about the possibility of it throwing me off and killing me, I’m just scared of going down really fast. Likewise, I’ve never had a spider bite that was more painful than a dog bite, but I’m more afraid of spiders than dogs. I’m even more scared of public speaking, even though I’ve NEVER been bitten by an angry audience.
Sneak on!
Darren