Hola, Sneakers! Welcome to a more modest, less stellar guest jam-packed show – Episode 401: A celebration of that big highway in Toronto.
This week on the show: dreamy reminiscences; big thanks; acceptable levels; false memory; bad interviewer; hippy seagull; approaching death; the guest defense is a good offense; Nick Park props; kid flicks; homegrown explosions; the father of invention; Disneyland nostalgia; Believe it or not, a good prank; whither Song of the South; late joke awakening; disappointing underground cities; down on gondolas; funicular fun; weak youth; the questionable effectiveness of cement overshoes; the career of Greg Evigan; the opposite of 24; confused reader; David and David on stage; Question of the Week – Sneakers respond; hard to say condiments; savoury internal organs; unsung pun; dizziness; Sneaky Dragon Health Watch; the three month magic time; getting better; cramped up; and, finally, let’s end on fish.
Thanks for listening.
Question of the week: What’s your least favourite amusement park ride?
Sub-question: What’s something you’ve done in your life that’s made it better?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
I come in and blow? Well! I never.
My least favourite Disneyland ride was the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. It uses the old Submarine Voyage venue. You ride around in a cramped submarine listening to a soundtrack and looking out small portals at animated sequences projected behind artificial underwater scenery. Little kids might like it but for adults it’s pretty dull. I preferred Ariel’s Undersea Adventure, which is not really undersea but you get to ride in a giant clamshell.
The scariest ride I went on was the Skydiver at Playland. It was like a Ferris wheel, only you sat in these caged-in pods mounted around the wheel’s perimeter. As the big wheel turned, the pods spun laterally like you’re in a tailspin. The loading and unloading was the worst cuz you’d be stopped at the top of the ride lying backwards and upside down, or hanging face-down across the lap bar. I only went on the ride to look like cool aunt to my teenage niece. Tip: it’s hard to look cool when you’re screaming.
Something that made my life better: I stopped taking dance classes after I went to university, but I started them up again about 10 years later. It’s a fun way to stay in shape, and learning new choreography to different styles of music is a good work-out for the brain.
Most recent food someone has introduced me to? My sister talked me into trying oysters at a restaurant. After two oysters au naturel, I don’t know that I’ll bother again. Tasted like a mouthful of seawater. I seem to be missing something.
Weird food: boiled potatoes with butter and jam. My mother claims this is a special treat meal in her home country (Switzerland). Slice the potatoes in half or quarters, and then spread butter and jam, marmalade, maple syrup (from the famous Swiss maple trees, presumably…), or pretty much any bread topping you want to add. My wife refuses to even try this.
Congrats to both of you on weight loss. That’s hard work, and you’re both looking great!
Most recent food someone has introduced me to? Calamari. I’ve (obviously) known about it for years (decades) but have always avoided it for whatever reason. I know squid and octopus are different, but I’m a big fan of octopus and … I don’t know. I just never wanted to eat any. But on my recent trip to Hong Kong we were offered calamari numerous times and it became more awkward to avoid it than eat it, so there I was. The taste was good, but in the future, I will resume my avoidance. Weird food: potato sandwich. I had a client whose mother was Scandanavian, and boiled potato and mayonnaise with salt and pepper, in a white bread sandwich was pretty regular fare for them.
Hello from Bristol! I’m currently traveling around the UK and Ireland, and taking the train is a great opportunity to catch up on some podcasts. Episode 400, now that I’ve listened to it, was pretty great. Once again, congratulations!
> Question of the week: What’s your least favourite amusement park ride?
Unquestionably the Super Loops. When I was a kid, I lived in a small town up north, and every so often a traveling fair would come through with some rides, like the classic Gravitron. One year they had this ride that looked like a rollercoaster, except reduced to its simplest, most portable form: a short train on a single loop. So I rode it, because it was my first “rollercoaster”. The train went forward a bit, then backwards — much like the Pirate Ship ride at Playland. After going through this a couple times to build enough momentum, it flung us around the loop — and kept going. Eventually it stopped — at the top of the loop, so we could dangle for a moment. Then it started going around again, but backwards. I got off the ride, stumbled away, and was sick at the side of the road.
Ever since then I’ve been leery about riding rollercoasters… even though this wasn’t really a rollercoaster.
> Sub-question: What’s something you’ve done in your life that’s made it better?
Walking to work. I’ve fallen off since my workplace moved to a new location, so I’m trying to bike regularly instead. Just getting that fresh air and exercise and quiet time at the start of the day makes everything better.
Cheers!