Hola, Sneakers! Welcome to Episode 489 of 5, 745, 633rd most popular podcast on the internet!
This week: 50% vaccinated; not feeling it; active bodies; taking it wrong; flu-like symptoms; public domain humour; better dyed the read; marriage is ageless; which Jimmy; not forgotten; birds-a-verse; catbird seat; animal bands; an audience of one; fan of Nobody; almost blackface; get off the anger ledge; Justice League’s third ending; endless sweaters; zombies aren’t interesting; unexpected casting; Dave recants; walked out on owls; trailer deprived; military popcorn; scuppered by family; boo on the world; gym strip is weird; jarring building; secret society; necrophiliac oral pig sex; get out of jail free cards; deep digs; long memoir-ies; unsympathetic; your problems are still problems; if you like seaweed; Dork Shadows – Sister’s Keeper; hot chicks and diaphanous gowns; Question of the Week – Sneakers respond; back in time; shoulder-to-shoulder harmonizing; shy pushiness; slight disabled; future hopes; glosette vaccination; band together; verified shit job; loosely knit family; sign of being gay; the right fit; and, finally, surprise horse.
Question of the week: What is a group you wanted to be a part of? Were you ever able to be part of it?
Sub-question: What is the oddest side effect you have ever had?
Hey! Check Dave out on the Dirty Harry Minute discussing The Dead Pool like he knows something! Go here to hear!
Do you want to see Canada’s favourite anthropromorphic popcorn?
That bizarre Eaton’s campaign that has scarred Ian:
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Hi Ian and Dave. A couple of things happened this week which made me think of Sneakh Dragon. Firstly I ate some leftover spaghetti, and so was pleased to hear a reference to Dave’s spaghetti sandwiches. I feel it’s about time I came out in support of Dave as I also enjoy a spaghetti sandwich. I like to use leftover cold spaghetti the next day, plenty of butter and ketchup and sometimes I even add cheddar cheese for good measure. On a separate note, I saw a sign this week advertising chickens for sale. It got me thinking about Chick Talk and how we haven’t heard about Dave’s chickens in a while, are they still with us?
I’ve not had a spaghetti sandwich, but I have had a spaghetti pie. It was savory and actually pretty good. Hmmm….. I may have to try a cold spaghetti sandwich or I wonder how a hot spaghetti grilled cheese might taste. I wish it was lunch time already!
Dave has chickens? I’d like to hear about his chickens if he still has them.
If you’re going to hear the famous Groucho Marx line about not wanting to be a part of a club who wouldn’t have me, it would apply to this story. It was 1988, I was in college and was willing to stay on campus for a few Summer classes if I could work at the same time. There was a place on campus called Fineline that employed art students over the Summer and gave college credit for the working there. I was lacking one, maybe two credits needed to even be considered for Fineline, so I didn’t make the cut. Fineline seemed like a fun place to work alongside fellow art students designing and printing things they used on campus for the upcoming Fall semester, not to mention the experience of having your work printed for real applications. This was before the computer boom that wouldn’t hit the campus for another year, it was all hand skilled work and I felt like I was missing out. I had one fellow art student friend of mine who made it into Fineline, so when I caught up with him later in the Fall, he told me what Fineline was actually like. Fineline was a back-stabbing shit show with all night cocaine binging and fighting under the supervision of the biggest coke head of them all, Graphic Arts instructor David Blow (Yes, there were many, many jokes about his name and his habit). Blow was an instructor who was known for his coke habit so it wasn’t long before I found out about that and about how many art students left Fineline that Summer. A few of them were quick to tell me how fortunate I was to have dodged that bullet by not making the cut. Like Groucho, I was glad to not be a part of that club.
Instead, what I did that Summer was simply open the Yellow Pages phonebook and started calling some of the smaller agencies in Dallas to see if I could find Summer work. Surprisingly I got about three interviews and ended up working for a very talented Creative who had his own one-man business downtown. His specialty was signage for new buildings, hotels, hospitals, etc., so we worked with architects and designed all the signage for buildings that were currently under construction. We picked the fonts, colors, sizes and layouts of all the signs so when the building was complete so it would have a constant and cohesive flow to the place. It was great experience working with him, I learned far more than I would have at Fineline…and I don’t even use cocaine.
As far as side effects go, I seem to be devoid of any bad experiences. I tend not to take allergy medication due to the drowsy effects it has on me so I use more natural methods for relief. The non drowsy stuff just makes me jumpy and anxious, so I avoid any of that medication all together. As gross as it sounds, my Dad swears by the Nettie-Pot which is safe but if not used correctly can drown you in saline. I did have a bad reaction to some potassium pills once that didn’t last long. Natural potassium like you get when eating a banana or an avocado will make my inner ear itch like a son of a bitch, I just have to wait a few minutes for it to go away. You can also try to “scratch” it by making loud noises much like Felix Unger did when Jack Lemmon played him in the “Odd Couple”. It helps at the expense of annoying everyone around you.
For reference, I just looked up what Jack Lemmon was actually doing as Felix Unger when he embarrassed himself, making those noises in public. He was relieving his nasal passages and embarrassing Walter Matthau’s Oscar along with it. The clip refers to it as “The Honk” and it was also played up by Tony Randall when he took on the role of Felix on television’s “The Odd Couple”. Like Lemmon and Randall, My Dad would do this to relieve himself, sometimes in public, but it was the inner ear reaction to potassium that he and I both shared. I was more subdued about it, like Oscar mentioned and wait for it to simply go away. https://youtu.be/33PwVLxOiww
A group I wanted to be part of was any Shakespearean theatre company. After graduating from university, I auditioned for Ontario’s Stratford Festival and for the Vancouver Shakespeare Festival, a forerunner to Bard on the Beach, but I didn’t get in. I loved acting but hated auditioning so I got out of the performance side of things and drifted into writing. I still enjoy quoting Shakespeare and I do pretty well when it comes up as a category on Jeopardy.
The weirdest side effect I had was after I got the shingles vaccine. I developed this hard lump in my arm about the size of an egg. The clinic didn’t warn me about that so I googled “hard lump in arm after shingles vaccine” to find out if it was normal or if my body was now incubating an alien entity. Luckily, it was the former. The vaccine only lasts 5 years so I’m due for another round. The newest vaccine is now a two-dose deal but as shingles is nasty, I should probably cowgirl up and get it done, pandemic or no pandemic. Also I’m due for a tetanus shot booster which one should get every 10 years.
Hello again Ian, Dave, and the whole Sneaky listening fandom. The conversation about age differences reminded me that Nancy Barrett, the actress who played Carolyn Stoddard on Dark Shadows, was married to David Ford, who played Sam Evans (Maggie’s father). He was about 18 years her senior. She must have thought him a swell guy for at least a little while, but they sure didn’t match. The marriage didn’t last either. I am always surprised when I hear that Woody Allen and Soon-Yi are still together.
Question of the week: People are hardwired to feel like they need to belong, we’re social animals. Sometimes I wonder if everyone suffers silently with feelings of exclusion; or there is some genetic, mental predisposition, or specific personality types that makes some people either feel left out (when they might not be) or possibly more keenly aware of the fact that they have been excluded? I’ve often felt like I was on the outside looking in at everyone having a great time. And I also question if that is indeed my reality or when I feel like that is it just that my ego is easily bruised? I’ve wanted to be apart of many groups, but even if you join clubs or organizations, you are either part of the inner clique or you are not. I know how bad that feels and I would hate to make someone else feel like that. My staff and I try hard to make everyone feel welcomed and accepted at the library, and we have been told before that our library is warm, friendly, and that we treat people like they are real people not just a number.
Sub-question: I normally don’t have side effects from medicine or vaccinations, but the Moderna COVID vaccine must have triggered early arthritis or something, because my joints are still aching and bothering me.
Thanks for keeping me amused and laughing. I really enjoy listening to your banter. Have a great weekend and upcoming week!