Hola, Sneakers! Welcome to Episode 598 of the podcast that seeks your approval!
This week: off by 23; award to the wise; blessed be the Meeker; enjoying Mayhem; gross hands; bits of the Apple; Dave is getting High Desert; he has also gotten into Silo; never ending TV; improving the source; character over plot; life during wartime; Dave experiences The Great Silence; HBO no; cancelled culture; sized out; matter over mind; outer child; mind fields; life for dummies; hindsight over foresight; separation anxiousness; generation gaffe; the future is ours to know; the officiant; below convention; a sad farewell; cat whisperer; cold comfort; enforced sociability; wishy-washy; vanilla tastes; dooniesaurs; Orcadian treats; tatties and skink; murder village; congenial settings; the downside of a long lay off; omitting a crucial scene; enforced affections; dream date; do drop in; and, finally, heavy petting.
Question of the Week: What is a trick you taught your pet? Or the best trick you saw a pet able to perform.
Sub-question of the Week: What is the saddest film you have ever seen?
Thanks for listening.
Yes, it’s true! We’re having a Sneaky Dragon potluck to celebrate 600 episodes and you’re invited. Please RSVP to sneakyd@sneakydragon.com to get the secret password.
Ian really wants someone to make a Floating Island dessert, and you can by following this Julia Child recipe here.
Interested in Dave’s glowing description of The Great Silence? Check out the trailer:
Have you ever wondered what exactly an Orcadian accent sounds like? Watch this short informative video featuring Lezah’s cousin as the female character:
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My condolences to you guys on the loss of your pets. It is such a hard thing to let them go, we had trouble at first and tried to keep them past when they wanted to go. We know the signs now and respect them. It is very much worth the hurt, that will fade eventually, but the love and memories of them never will.
Your example of a bakery being a family business hit a little close to home. My dad was a baker, and he bought his own shop when I was 12, and I would go in with him every Sunday at midnight. I started cutting out cookies in the shape of Pac-Man and the monsters that we actually sold in the store, and by 15 I was making bread, frying donuts, and using large mixers and ovens. The bakery was successful, so he bought another one, and was soon in over his head. I NEEDED to work now, because he had trouble finding help. I soon grew to resent the bakery because I had to sleep on Saturday when all my friends were going out. We indeed had some screaming matches about my employment, no cursing though. When I was 21 both bakeries had been sold, and I was very, very glad. After a year and a half of retail, I found that I missed baking. I went to work for the guy that bought one of the bakeries from my dad, and I’ve been a baker ever since, over 30 years now. I love the work, some of the jobs though left a lot to be desired. I can get my jollies baking at home if I need to. So my family business experience gave me work that I love doing, and indirectly, my wife. Since I couldn’t go out on the weekends, my friends would come to me while I was at work. They met a girl named Sarah at Rocky Horror and befriended her, and one weekend brought her to the bakery. We were engaged the next year and just celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary. No kids, but we’ve had over a hundred rescue cats pass through our life, and one dumb sweet dog. I have been very lucky, I know not all kids who have to work early in life can say the same unfortunately.
I don’t have good answers to your questions and have taken enough of your time, so I’ll just say I love you guys and all the Sneakers, and congratulations on your podcast longevity. If I lived closer I would definitely make you floating islands. I have a hunch that perhaps Louise will make them, she sounds like a very talented baker.
Ferg, I have a couple of ideas for 600th podcast treats, so I’ll leave the Floating Island to someone else! My sister and I are pretty avid home bakers. She’s the one who handles the yeast dough recipes. I knead more practice. When her friends suggest she apply to be on The Great Canadian Baking Show, she gives that idea a hard no. We salute anyone who is a professional baker, consume their products frequently, and roll our eyes when there’s a Hallmark movie where the heroine’s romantic dream job is running a bakery. They never show the part about getting up in the middle of the night or being on your feet all day! But it’s nice to know love walked in the door for you. Especially after a Rocky Horror Show showing.
A happy nerd & geek week to all, this is the week where all the Star Wars and Indiana Jones Lucasfilms celebrate their anniversaries from their May releases long ago. Return of the Jedi takes the spotlight at 40 today and even though Dave feels the wheels fell off the Trilogy back in 1983, I still remember that day fondly as a great experience. I can’t remember an anticipation for any film greater than what I had for Jedi.
My two dogs, Chewie and Max really don’t perform any tricks I’ve taught them but each has a natural ability the other doesn’t have. For a 13 pound nugget with squatty legs, Chewie can catch anything…treats, food, rawhides and of course, a ball. Chewie is a Malshi, half Maltese and half Shitzu, his performance fetching is outstanding for a little dog, he’s as good as any of those pro dogs that catch stuff. He’ll bring it back and bounce the ball right to you, there’s no fetching on my end, Chewie does all the work. He can even bounce the ball high in the air off his nose and catch it on a rebound like a seal. Then we have Max, my other dog, who can’t catch anything, his timing is off and he either leaps for what you’re throwing too late or too early. It’s painful to watch him try, kind of like watching the Cubs outfielders back in the early 90’s. The one thing Max does do well is chase a laser pointer around, he lives for that light zipping all over the room or outside at night, he goes batshit for it and won’t stop until you turn it off. Chewie on the other hand doesn’t even see or recognize the laser light, it’s like it doesn’t exist. So each of them have their own plaything and it’s how I trick them into getting their exercise.
I mentioned the saddest part of a film awhile back, where Spock (Zachary Quinto) in “Star Trek Beyond” finds the photo of the original prime Enterprise crew in (Leonard Nimoy) Spock’s belongings after his death. It was sad because of Nimoy’s passing and my tearful outburst in the theater worried my son. As far as a sad film and one I’ll probably never watch again, I’m going with Robert Zemeckis’ “Cast Away”. The sadness isn’t really because of the film itself but an association I have with seeing it one night. I had to stay up all night with my four year-old 75 pound Springer Spaniel, Humphrey, because he was having seizures and going blind from a brain tumor. I had an appointment first thing in the morning to put Humphrey to sleep and I was doing my best to keep him relaxed during his final hours, unfortunately “Cast Away” was on and it still reminds me of that night. I can’t even listen to the short film score by Alan Silvestri because it also brings back a flood of memories.
Other films include the ending of “About Schmidt” which featured a very different performance by Jack Nicholson. I won’t reveal the ending but it turned me into a blubbering mess. As somber as it was, that last scene made the entire film better. Then there was “E.T. The Extraterrestrial”, our generation’s “Old Yeller.” Who didn’t cry when they saw that? And also just about any Kevin Smith film because I’m so embarrassed for him.
Good luck as you guys coast into the Big 600! I’m unable to bring anything to eat much less even make it to Vancouver but I’ll be listening in spirit!
Be awesome to one another Sneakers!!
Hello, Gentlemen and Sneakers–
I hugged both my cats a few extra times after the podcast. One is getting up in age, but thankfully reasonably healthy. Sorry for your loss–I’ve been through it before, as many have, unfortunately.
On to the question I can answer: As a fan of Asian movies, I recalled some tearjerkers from that area of cinema first. Kurosawa’s “Ikiru,” Ozu’s “Late Spring,” and Zhang Yimou’s “To Live” all had me bawling at the end. But I think the saddest movie I’ve ever seen is the anime “Grave of the Fireflies” from Studio Ghibli.
Thanks for staying super cool and playing Phil Ochs’ “Changes” a while back. I’m fascinated by his life and his music. I wish more folks knew about him.
Have a good week,
Billy