Hola, Sneakers! Welcome to Episode 485 of the Real Podcasts of Beverley Hills!
This week: let’s do a podcast; bugged by musicals; lovely Rita; dignified bird; your town is a slag heap; the grouch vote; let the doggies bark; Irene Cara facts; all that jabs; the many flavours of Tab; all that juice; keep it short; joke writer; non-competitive acting; poor losers and bad winners; disappointing yourself; the perfect trap; failure moves you forward; you think you’re so smart; be a parent; bland food; the magical fruit; boastful hypocrite; lil’ servers; more Bugsy; unseen characters; dangling from your ankles; Dork Shadows – Bad Dreams; Question of the Week – Sneakers respond; fucking liar; child lottery ticket; and, finally, monkey in a teacup.
Thanks for listening.
Question of the week: What used to be your comfort food and, if it has changed, what is it now?
Sub-question (from Brent): If you were allowed only five smells in your life, what five smells would you choose?
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Hi David, Ian, and the worldwide Sneaky fellowship,
I hope everyone’s well. It looks like we’re heading out of the darkness of the last 12 months and there’s a wee bit of light on the horizon. I had my vaccine on Saturday and I imagine more and more of you are getting yours too. Not long now till everyone can go out for a mask-free mingle.
You asked what our favourite comfort food was and is. Well, mine was always a roll and pie*. You take a lovely, soft, morning roll, and butter it with actual butter. Put a fresh from the oven Scotch pie in it, and smother it in HP sauce. Delicious! I don’t eat them any more for a few reasons. They don’t sell them anywhere in my part of London, you can almost hear your arteries clogging up with every mouthful, and I’m now a vegetarian. So now my comfort food has to be macaroni cheese. Mac and cheese as it’s called on your side of the Atlantic. No frills. No fancy cheese. No bacon. Just plain old macaroni cheese. It’s quick to make. It fills you up. It makes you feel warm and satisfied. Exactly what comfort food is supposed to do.
As for Brent’s question about smells, off the top of my head I’d choose fish and chip shops on Blackpool prom. There’s something about the delicious salt and vinegar smell wafting out from the shop blending with the salty sea air that just works. I’d also have freshly cut grass. I know that’s a common favourite but it really does smell lovely. While we’re outside, my third smell would be that weird smell you get when it rains for the first time after a long dry spell. I don’t know what it is. I guess it must be the rain splashing against some kind of mixture of dust, dirt and dried insect poo. Next up I’d go for Tiger Balm. I had a pain in my elbow and it was recommended I try using it. It took a while for my elbow to recover, and to be honest I don’t know if the Tiger Balm had any effect or not, but my God it smells amazing! I found myself putting it on long after my elbow was fine just so I could have a good sniff. For my last smell I’d choose Poison perfume. I don’t know why but that smell really does something to me. I mean it really does something. Maybe it contains the exact blend of pheromones that lights my fuse, or it could be the memory of some past dalliance with a girl who wore it, but I love it. It’s not very popular any more but occasionally I’ll get a whiff of it as I pass a woman in the street and mmmmmm, I’m gone. I bought a bottle for my wife years ago. She doesn’t like it and only wears it on special occasions. I don’t mean parties or celebrations; I mean special occasions when we’re home alone. My birthday. Maybe Christmas. Our anniversary if it’s a special one…… come to think of it, the bottle’s still pretty full.
Stay safe, stay healthy, and stay sneaky,
All the best,
Scott
*A delicious roll and Scotch pie https://images.app.goo.gl/R82tzt6oX39o4Lvr6
FYI, there is a term in musical theatre for songs that are “performed” by characters who know they are singing: “diegetic.” Those numbers where they spontaneously burst into song are “non-diegetic.” And confusingly for Ian, The Sound of Music has both. “The Lonely Goatherd” is diegetic since it’s a puppet show Maria and the children are rehearsing. “How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?” is non-diegetic as the nuns are just have a discussion amongst themselves (as is their habit.) As Dave mentioned, you see diegetic songs most often in backstage musicals like 42nd Street or Phantom of the Opera or in any of the biographical jukebox musicals based on a singer or songwriter.
Comfort food then and now: pancakes with bacon or sausage.
Five Smells: freshly-cut limes, honey, maple, vanilla and baking bread, with an honourable mention to Christmas trees (specifically noble firs). Alarmingly, I was driving home from a store a few weeks ago and I wondered to myself, what’s that nice comforting smell I’m smelling? Then I realized it was the smell of the hand-sanitizer I’d just used.
You guys were discussing what actors were paid to be on Sesame Street or The Electric Company. I remember that it was public television and every now and then the local affiliates would hold pledge drives to raise money since it wasn’t sponsored broadcasting. I can remember being in fear of NEVER SEEING SESAME STREET AGAIN during these pledge drives! I begged my parents to send something in, anything to help keep Sesame Street on the air. I guess that pledge drive scared the shit out of seven year-olds who thought their beloved Muppets would go away forever. Being public broadcasting leads me to believe that the actors who made appearances probably weren’t paid much, these shows depended on their viewers to support them as well as donated grants. How many times do you remember hearing at the end of a PBS show, “This broadcast was made possible by a grant from The Chubb Group.”
I had a copywriting teacher in college who gave us the inside scoop on working for PBS, he actually had written some of the newspaper advertising for The Children’s Television Workshop when Sesame Street premiered in 1969. He showed us a full page ad that was very indicative of the advertising in the late 60’s and early 70’s, the kind of raw, shock ads that got your attention. The headline read, “NOBODY GETS KILLED ON SESAME STREET” in big bold caps. Once that got your attention the rest of the ad explained how different the show was from the harsh world at the time and its educational value to young viewers. What a great time in advertising….
My Mom makes a chicken pot pie that out of this world, it was my comfort food meal growing up. If I had to guess what it was that made the pot pie exceptional, it’s probably a toss up between the large amount of chicken she used or the crust…my Mom makes the best crust ever when she bakes. There were pearl onions in the pies too, something else I really enjoyed. I haven’t had one in quite some time but they were perfect to eat during the Fall and Winter months. If I had to pick an updated comfort food, my new favorite are my wife’s thick center cut Panko breaded pork chops with Japanese Katsu sauce. Susan will also make chopped oven roasted yellow potatoes with garlic and olive oil to go with that. Everyone loves it, there’s never any left. Now if you’re ever in Texas and you want a local comfort food, then that would be buttermilk biscuits and white sausage gravy made in an iron skillet. Made from sausage grease with sausage crumbled into the flour along with pepper makes a thick white gravy poured over hot biscuits…very comforting.
I’ve actually given some thought to what my olfactory senses enjoy most and I’ve posited this question towards others, so my answers take no further thought at all.
5. Old comic books
4. Newly opened electronics, like a tuner or a disc player
3. Play-doh
2. New 1970’s plastic Star Wars figures right out of the package
1. My kid’s little baby heads when they were infants
At work when we open something shipped to us from our factory in China, someone will always smell what’s inside once it’s unpackaged, make a face and say, “ewww, China.”
Not a good smell.
I love the Dark Shadows highlights and anticipating the summary is a highlight of my week. I started binge watching Dark Shadows a couple of years ago (starting from the beginning) and stop watching when other shows captured my attention. Anyway, the weekly reviews have made me start trying to play catch up (much to the frustration of my husband). I don’t know how many episodes you watch a week, but I just can’t seem to catch up.
The best part of the beginning of the series was that it was heavily focused on Victoria Winters and the mystery surrounding her. This mystery (up to the the last episode I have watched) is never fully explained. At one point, we discover that Elizabeth Collins Stoddard had a daughter who was given away, and Vickie happens to fit all of the criteria of being that child, but there is no definite answer. I was so taken with Victoria Winters character that I dressed up as her three or four years ago for a library program about the 1960s, but absolutely no one (especially children) had a clue who I was. I had a similar experience when I dressed as Lily Munster for Halloween. Everyone who came into the library asked if I were Mortician Addams. They don’t even dress alike, but I digress.
Did you know that Lara Parker (Angelique) has written a series of Dark Shadows books that continue the story? I bought them for the library. Very few people borrow them with the knowledge that they were based on a TV show.
Question of the week: What used to be your comfort food and, if it has changed, what is it now?
Cheese is always good. I don’t remember having any particular comfort food as a child. Whatever was in the fridge was good, but I do like cheese. Extra sharp cheddar, preferably.
Sub-question (from Brent): If you were allowed only five smells in your life, what five smells would you choose?
Lavender, chocolate, Cedar Christmas trees, apples, and freshly-cut lawn. I used to like the smell of the ink on cassette tape inserts, but if I can only pick five smells, I wouldn’t want to waste a smell on an antiquated technology (even if Paul McCartney did release Egypt Station on cassette).
Comfort foods… oh so many! As a keen cook, I’d say my entire repertoire is built around comfort foods, whether it’s pasta, risotto, pizza, bread, or the mighty tattie.
Lately, I’ve been getting into Indian cookery and a new family favourite is a street food called vada pav. To make this, you take some leftover mashed potato, warm it up with a little oil, garlic and spices (I go for cumin, mustard seeds and chilli flakes), let it cool and shape it into balls or rounds. You then dip each piece in a batter of gram flour, salt, turmeric and water and deep fry for a few minutes. Pat dry with kitchen paper and serve on a nice bread roll with a little salad, chutney or sauce of your choice. Feeling hungry yet?
I’d have to agree with most of the choices for great smells – though I’m with Dave when it comes to rain on a hot pavement. Never cared for that one.
Here are a few late entries to throw in to the mix: bicycle tyres, even better if it’s a whole shop full of ’em. Newsprint – I delivered papers as a young teen and always loved opening up a big stack of that day’s Greenock Telegraph. And I admit to enjoying the smell of weed – as long as someone else is smoking it.
Comfort food question: I’d say it used to be tomato soup, but that has changed. Second place would have gone to Lipton’s chicken noodle soup with crackers. I’d say now my comfort food would be macaroni (homemade). Re: five smells, I’d have to say the smell of my husband’s skin, horses, a bakery, lemon and mint.