Hola, Sneakers! Welcome to the podcast that always repeats itself!
This week: stare case; mash up crash up; business class; monster mass; car nation; going ape; incredible heroes; stream of shit; mortality tales; ad target; Madison avenue; multi-family dwellings; dead-tired dads; Haitian devours; limited edition; animal farm; fucking pandas; the name game; pussy power; the eternal meow; pushing our buttons; fair competition; accent grave; fringe benefits; cash problems; no paint, no gain; hair die; the blue baboon; the primate directive; psycho-animalysis; real genius; history mystery; the Nightmare Café nightmare; typecast; great work if you can get it; have you met my friend Harvey; living in nostalgia; this sporting life; the Village; reunited; high urners; fun bores; the eye-full towel; baby boom; dancing fuel; happy anniversary, baby; all ages entertainment; proud papa; vessel mania; moose slime; traitor tots; shape shifting; puzzling; range wars; Question of the Week – Sneakers respond; caulk master; Georgia pitch; rental agreement; let them in; gremlin warning; take a joke; and, finally, it’s…
Question of the Week: What is something you discovered through your own detective work?
Sub-question of the Week: What was the last reunion you attended? Or does your school year no longer have the desire to have a reunion.
Thanks for listening.
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Guys, I live in south Florida, and although my town is too developed to welcome many flamingos, I have on occasion seen one fly overhead. They look weird, and too big, and awkward as hell.
On this thing about flamingos not flying away – this shows up as a thematic plot point in the recent Wonka movie: The birds know how to fly, and can fly away at any time – they just need a little nudge, just like the characters in the film. Aww.
The only time I detect something is wrong is when food is involved, it’s amazing what a strong motivator hunger can be.
Seriously…
Most everything I’ve discovered through any kind of detection has already been solved by somebody else with a YouTube video to prove it. I can’t think of anything outside of some Adobe Photoshop hacks and maybe where not to build shelves.
Hey speaking of shelves! I did buy a series of corner shelves at Lowe’s a few years ago, all the same color but different diameters. When stacked in a variety of ways, they kind of create a single, multi level riser for my action figures! My brother, who used to work in the event and A/V industry says they’re called “Proscenium Shelves”, so that almost makes it sound official. Either way, it’s a great way to customize the way I display my figures in a limited depth of space. Photos available upon request.
My 40 Year High School reunion is less than one month away, I’ve already paid my admission. This time around, we’re combining my 1984 class with the ’83 and ’85 classes, so I’ll be flanked by alumni who were both older and younger than me. That was the ringer for me, I knew even more classmates on either sides of my own class, so it should be quite a gathering. It’s also very close to my home, Southfork Ranch as a matter of fact, where the television show “Dallas” was shot. Southfork is still a working ranch too and it spans acres of land about 10 miles from me. They also have a huge visitor’s center and areas for large gatherings like my reunion. You can also sit in J.R. Ewing’s big ass Cadillac.
David, I’m also perplexed and anxious over those dopey families dropping balloons filled with paint on one another. How long does that take to work properly? And the cleanup?!! If there’s anything to learn here it’s that the internet is full of phony bullshit and even more people eating it up with zero question. There’s also a series of phony bounty hunter videos from this guy named Patty Mayo who stages arrests and apprehension of his bounty. They all follow the same formula but there’s so many idiots that will still swear that he’s for real…He’s a real dick too.
I’m off to buy me some dancin’ shoes for my reunion!!
Stayin’ Alive from Dallas! All my Sneakers Stay Alive!!
Hey there Sneaklets –
Thanks to last week’s amnesty on late responses, I’m hoping to squeak under the imposing oak door to the Sneaky Dragon’s Lair and answer old questions alongside new.
So!
Something I fixed that I was proud of: My partner bought our kid a ‘tiger’ hat with dangly ‘legs’. When you squeeze its paw, the ears flap up and down – until an adult steps on it and crushes the valve, that is. I undertook a ridiculously long winded rebuild of the pneumatics, broken down into three stages: Connecting the broken ends in the right orientation; Making it airtight again with filler and glue; and lastly, making it robust by adding protective sleeves and collars. It’s only a matter of time before it breaks again, but it was just so satisfying!
Satanic tunes: There are a ton of tunes that mention the Devil, but mostly as someone to be avoided (or fiddled with):
1. The most gleeful example of a devilish tune might be Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ “Little Demon” – which paints a jolly picture of the titular demon jibbering, jabbering and snorting in rage.
2. ‘Satan’ by Orbital, which is both ominous and danceable. The live version contains a cracking sample of Christopher Lee from The Devil Rides Out, so bonus points to them there.
3. When I first saw Amon Tobin, he ended his set with a drum & bass remix of Slayer’s ‘Reign in Blood’ and wow, was that intense!
Reunions:
I’ve never felt the urge to attend a school reunion. I guess they happen – maybe they’re a bigger deal in North America? I’m already in touch with everyone I want to stay friends with … and I don’t harbour any particular affection for my old school. For me school was mostly something to be endured, with values that didn’t align with mine. I strongly related to David’s story about being pushed out of sports he enjoyed because he wasn’t Team material – for example, I especially loved the sense of speed in what you Canadians would call ‘field’ hockey… but then the teams were picked and the speccy nerds had to go and do something else. Eventually I failed to be in enough teams that I was relegated to a small group of people doing a succession of niche sports – which worked out to be a treat, now I think about it. Table tennis, weights, running, rowing, and even fencing! Rowing was the most amazing experience of all… zipping along the river Avon… ahh memories. I should go to a reunion!
Looking forward to hearing the show,
Peter.
On the subject of award-winning (2, count ’em, 2 Geminis for This Hour Has 22 Minutes) writer Paul Bellini: The towel he wore in his Kids in the Hall appearances was, of course, an inside joke for the gays. If you’re in a gay bathhouse, it’s routine to pay the entry fee and be issued a towel and the key or code for a locker to put your clothes in. Guys are wearing just the towel around the place unless otherwise engaged in, um, activities. I only recently found out it was Mark McKinney’s idea for Paul to do it for the Touch Bellini contest, and they just kept it as a running gag.
From their Brooklyn Magazine interview (May 2022):
*Paul, may I touch you?*
PAUL BELLINI: You’re always allowed to touch me. Fans have that license. It’s kind of understood that if you know who I am, then yeah, you’re allowed to touch.
[SCOTT] THOMPSON: Paul has less physical boundaries than a porn star.
Paul and (particularly) Scott being out and proud from the beginning was brave, and made my coming out to my family possible at the time. I have mountains of respect for both.