WEBVTT - Listener Mail: Waiting for the Eastern Glow 0:00:03.040 --> 0:00:06.080 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:11.000 --> 0:00:14.560 Hello, and welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind Listener Mail. 0:00:14.800 --> 0:00:17.799 My name is Joe McCormick. My regular co host Robert 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:20.520 Lamb is out on the day that I'm recording this, 0:00:20.600 --> 0:00:23.160 so I'm going to be reading and responding to some 0:00:23.200 --> 0:00:26.120 listener messages solo today, but Rob should be back with 0:00:26.160 --> 0:00:30.400 me for tomorrow's episode. We read listener mail every Monday 0:00:30.520 --> 0:00:32.680 on Stuff to Blow Your Mind. And if you would 0:00:32.720 --> 0:00:35.000 like to get in touch but you've never done it before, 0:00:35.240 --> 0:00:37.639 why not give it a try. You can reach us 0:00:37.720 --> 0:00:41.400 at contact at Stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. 0:00:41.440 --> 0:00:45.400 That's contact at Stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. 0:00:45.680 --> 0:00:47.960 Any and all types of messages are welcome. If you 0:00:48.000 --> 0:00:50.519 have feedback on a recent episode, want to provide a 0:00:50.520 --> 0:00:54.240 correction or add your thoughts on something we discussed, if 0:00:54.240 --> 0:00:56.720 you'd like to share something random that you think we 0:00:56.800 --> 0:00:59.120 would find interesting, or if you want to suggest a 0:00:59.160 --> 0:01:01.600 topic for us to go in the future. Even if 0:01:01.640 --> 0:01:03.279 you just want to say hi, tell us about your 0:01:03.280 --> 0:01:06.360 experience listening to the show, Send it on in. It's 0:01:06.440 --> 0:01:10.399 contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. Okay, 0:01:10.400 --> 0:01:12.440 I'm going to kick things off with some responses to 0:01:12.600 --> 0:01:17.480 our episodes on the Moons of Uranus. Let's see so. 0:01:17.720 --> 0:01:20.320 In that series on the Moons of Uranus, we talked 0:01:20.360 --> 0:01:23.800 about how difficult it is to come up with a 0:01:23.959 --> 0:01:29.000 visual representation of the Solar System that faithfully communicates the 0:01:29.040 --> 0:01:32.880 size of objects and the true scale of the distances 0:01:32.920 --> 0:01:37.920 between them while being comprehensible all at once. You can't 0:01:37.959 --> 0:01:40.959 really do it in say, a single page illustration in 0:01:41.000 --> 0:01:44.400 a book, but a number of listeners got in touch 0:01:44.600 --> 0:01:48.120 about various, often very clever ways people have tried to 0:01:48.200 --> 0:01:52.040 demonstrate the scale of the Solar System using videos or 0:01:52.480 --> 0:02:01.840 interactive media. So this message is from Shana. Shana says, Hello, 0:02:02.000 --> 0:02:05.000 Robin Joe. I'm currently listening to the Moons of Earnest 0:02:05.000 --> 0:02:07.080 part one. It felt the need to email this before 0:02:07.120 --> 0:02:10.440 I forgot. While there are no pictures that can show 0:02:10.520 --> 0:02:12.960 the true distance of planets in our Solar system, a 0:02:13.000 --> 0:02:16.880 few years ago some folks created a giant scale model 0:02:17.000 --> 0:02:20.680 in Nevada and created a short film about it. Here's 0:02:20.720 --> 0:02:26.080 the description directly directly from them quote. On a dry 0:02:26.240 --> 0:02:29.320 lake bed in Nevada, a group of friends built the 0:02:29.360 --> 0:02:33.240 first scale model of the Solar system with complete planetary orbits, 0:02:33.320 --> 0:02:36.800 a true illustration of our place in the universe. And 0:02:36.880 --> 0:02:39.200 if folks listening want to look this up. The video 0:02:39.320 --> 0:02:43.240 is called two Scale the Solar System and it's currently 0:02:43.280 --> 0:02:45.720 on YouTube, at least it was when I recorded this. 0:02:46.480 --> 0:02:48.679 Shana says, it's very cool and I think y'all would 0:02:48.720 --> 0:02:52.120 enjoy the video. Well, yes, thank you for sending this, Shana. 0:02:52.520 --> 0:02:56.120 I think this is totally a very excellent mini documentary. 0:02:56.360 --> 0:02:59.440 It's by a couple of filmmakers named Wiley Overstreet and 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:03.839 Alex Garage, and it's definitely worth a look. So they 0:03:03.880 --> 0:03:07.240 stage this in a place called Black Rock Desert. Again, 0:03:07.280 --> 0:03:09.520 this is in sort of the northwest corner of the 0:03:09.639 --> 0:03:12.720 US state of Nevada, and in order to build a 0:03:12.760 --> 0:03:15.440 scale model of the Solar System with the Earth pegged 0:03:15.520 --> 0:03:18.320 to the size of a marble, they figure out that 0:03:18.360 --> 0:03:22.720 they need about seven miles of flat ground to represent 0:03:22.720 --> 0:03:24.959 the orbital plane of the Sun and all of its 0:03:25.040 --> 0:03:28.240 major planets. And they do this, as they say in 0:03:28.280 --> 0:03:31.080 the description, in a dry lake bed, measuring out the 0:03:31.160 --> 0:03:34.960 distances with what looks like surveying equipment and then marking 0:03:35.040 --> 0:03:37.920 the orbital pathways with tire tracks. So they're out there 0:03:38.000 --> 0:03:42.400 like driving a van around in these giant circles, around 0:03:42.400 --> 0:03:45.360 in the sand, and in line with our original point 0:03:45.360 --> 0:03:49.320 in the episode, it is shocking to see suddenly how 0:03:49.440 --> 0:03:52.800 far out they have to drive after Saturn. Of course, 0:03:52.800 --> 0:03:57.800 the distances increase as you go out from Earth in 0:03:57.880 --> 0:04:01.240 Mars to Jupiter and Saturn. After Saturn to mark the 0:04:01.360 --> 0:04:05.000 orbit of Uranus and then of Neptune, the distances are gargantuan, 0:04:05.560 --> 0:04:08.320 and in the end, the radius of the orbit of 0:04:08.400 --> 0:04:12.760 the little ball representing the planet Neptune is five point 0:04:12.800 --> 0:04:16.040 six kilometers or three point five miles, so the full 0:04:16.080 --> 0:04:20.480 diameter of the model is about seven miles and absolutely 0:04:20.520 --> 0:04:22.919 no disrespect at all to what they did here, which 0:04:23.000 --> 0:04:25.600 again is excellent, but I think it still sort of 0:04:25.839 --> 0:04:29.080 fails to capture both the scale of the distance and 0:04:29.160 --> 0:04:32.640 the scale of the objects all at once, because when 0:04:32.960 --> 0:04:36.400 you zoom out enough to see the full orbit of Neptune, 0:04:37.000 --> 0:04:40.200 the differences in size between the objects and the model 0:04:40.640 --> 0:04:44.960 become impossible to detect. In fact, they're impossible to zoomed 0:04:45.080 --> 0:04:47.920 much further in than that. They're all just points of 0:04:48.000 --> 0:04:51.960 light traveling around in ellipses in the distance. So I 0:04:52.000 --> 0:04:54.120 certainly don't think this is a failure on the part 0:04:54.120 --> 0:04:56.919 of the filmmakers. I suspect that there is just like 0:04:57.080 --> 0:05:00.760 literally no way to do this given the resolution human vision. 0:05:01.320 --> 0:05:11.080 Another message on this subject from Brian. Brian says, greetings, 0:05:11.200 --> 0:05:14.440 I recently enjoyed your Moons of Urines podcasts, and my 0:05:14.520 --> 0:05:16.839 memory was pricked by one of the comments you made 0:05:16.880 --> 0:05:20.160 during the first episode. You were talking about how difficult 0:05:20.240 --> 0:05:23.080 it is to accurately represent both size and distance for 0:05:23.279 --> 0:05:26.640 depictions of the Solar System. I've seen several videos of 0:05:26.720 --> 0:05:29.479 various attempts, and then I think he's referring to the 0:05:29.480 --> 0:05:32.479 one I just described with a beach ball sized Sun 0:05:32.960 --> 0:05:36.599 leading to a neptune multiple miles away. But there is 0:05:36.680 --> 0:05:40.400 one easy to access source that blew my mind, and 0:05:40.560 --> 0:05:43.880 for a brief description, Brian provides a link here. This 0:05:43.920 --> 0:05:47.480 is a website by a designer named Josh Wirth, and 0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:51.080 it's called If the Moon Were Only One Pixel, a 0:05:51.279 --> 0:05:55.600 tediously accurate map of the Solar System, and it begins 0:05:55.600 --> 0:05:58.680 with a sort of palm of the hand sized representation 0:05:58.800 --> 0:06:02.760 of the Sun and then to scroll a horizontal scroll 0:06:03.320 --> 0:06:08.720 through space at accurate scale distances until you reach accurate 0:06:08.760 --> 0:06:13.160 scale illustrations of the planets, and as the title indicates, 0:06:13.400 --> 0:06:17.320 Earth's moon is one pixel. If you actually do this, 0:06:17.480 --> 0:06:22.679 the amount of scrolling required is ludicrous. You will go plaid. 0:06:23.120 --> 0:06:26.800 Brian continues, this site does a fantastic job at really 0:06:26.839 --> 0:06:30.800 demonstrating the space between worlds. It's almost impossible to not 0:06:30.960 --> 0:06:34.200 fast click the scroll bar, even though you skip over 0:06:34.279 --> 0:06:37.240 some of the author's commentary, just because there is so 0:06:37.680 --> 0:06:41.880 much empty space. After scrolling and scrolling through endless amounts 0:06:41.920 --> 0:06:44.880 of space, you finally get to Jupiter and then look 0:06:44.920 --> 0:06:47.600 at the scroll bar and realize you've not even gone 0:06:47.760 --> 0:06:51.039 one quarter of the way through. This site goes out 0:06:51.080 --> 0:06:54.120 to Pluto for your reference. There are lots of informative, 0:06:54.160 --> 0:06:57.159 pithy and imaginative comments along the way, but I challenge 0:06:57.200 --> 0:07:00.679 anyone to just scroll using the aero button. You won't 0:07:00.680 --> 0:07:03.920 be able to do it. This site really slams home 0:07:04.080 --> 0:07:08.560 how much of space is well space. Even in our neighborhood, 0:07:08.600 --> 0:07:11.680 things are so far apart as to be unreachable, and 0:07:11.720 --> 0:07:14.320 that's just our solar system. The end of the scroll 0:07:14.400 --> 0:07:17.000 slaps you in the face with the fact that after 0:07:17.040 --> 0:07:19.960 all that, to get to the next checkpoint, meaning the 0:07:20.000 --> 0:07:23.280 next star, the closest star to our solar system, you'd 0:07:23.320 --> 0:07:26.800 need to repeat the entire scroll six seven hundred and 0:07:26.840 --> 0:07:30.240 seventy one more times. I'd highly encourage you to play 0:07:30.280 --> 0:07:33.040 around for a bit on this site. It's very instructive 0:07:33.080 --> 0:07:36.600 and fun. Brian, Thank you Brian once again. Yeah, I 0:07:36.640 --> 0:07:39.360 think this is an excellent model, but of course it 0:07:39.440 --> 0:07:41.520 still does not allow you to take it in all 0:07:41.560 --> 0:07:44.200 at once, which just might not be a thing humans 0:07:44.200 --> 0:07:47.080 can do. All right, Getting a little bit away from 0:07:47.160 --> 0:07:51.440 the scale question. Just to other topics raised in our 0:07:51.480 --> 0:08:00.000 Moons of Urinus series. This is from Jim. Jim says, Hi, guys, 0:08:00.000 --> 0:08:02.640 guy love the new series. Early in the episode, Joe 0:08:02.680 --> 0:08:05.920 was talking about planetary distances. I was curious if you've 0:08:05.960 --> 0:08:10.800 ever discussed the Titious Bode law. That spelled titi Us 0:08:11.360 --> 0:08:14.200 and then Bode is bode. I don't know if that's 0:08:14.240 --> 0:08:18.240 a bode or boda. I'm just gonna say bode, And 0:08:18.360 --> 0:08:21.560 Jim says, which is a mathematical formula that predicts planetary 0:08:21.560 --> 0:08:26.320 distances from the Sun. Jim, yes, we actually have discussed 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:29.640 the Titius Bode law before. I think it came up 0:08:29.720 --> 0:08:34.079 in our series on hypothetical Solar System objects that either 0:08:34.360 --> 0:08:37.880 don't exist because they never existed, or maybe once existed 0:08:37.920 --> 0:08:41.280 but no longer exist. That series was called The Lost 0:08:41.440 --> 0:08:44.320 Daughters of aten at e n. If you want a 0:08:44.320 --> 0:08:46.720 deeper treatment, you can go check out those episodes. But 0:08:46.760 --> 0:08:50.439 the short version is that the titious Bode is a 0:08:50.480 --> 0:08:56.480 peculiar observation that you can predict the approximate mean orbital 0:08:56.520 --> 0:09:00.720 distance of all the planets out to Uranus with a 0:09:00.880 --> 0:09:04.160 simple mathematical formula. It's got a few variables based on 0:09:04.360 --> 0:09:08.679 planet order and the distance of an astronomical unit. And 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:12.199 this was written about in the eighteenth century by two 0:09:12.320 --> 0:09:17.640 German astronomers named Johan Daniel Tischius and Johann elert Bode. 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:22.920 The two Johans and this formula. Yeah, it is a 0:09:22.960 --> 0:09:26.800 really interesting observation. So it gets very close to predicting 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:33.240 the orbital distances of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. 0:09:33.480 --> 0:09:36.360 There are some cases where it's a little bit off, 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:39.400 but it's very close. And at the time of its 0:09:39.440 --> 0:09:43.800 original publication there was an interesting complication, which was that 0:09:44.000 --> 0:09:47.800 the prediction seemed to break down because it predicted a 0:09:47.840 --> 0:09:51.520 planet orbiting at two point eight astronomical unit, so two 0:09:51.520 --> 0:09:55.040 point eight times the distance between the Earth and the Sun, 0:09:55.760 --> 0:09:58.640 and that would be between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, 0:09:59.000 --> 0:10:02.520 where no planet was known at the time. However, this 0:10:02.679 --> 0:10:06.280 failure was reversed with the discovery of the dwarf Planet 0:10:06.440 --> 0:10:09.440 Series in eighteen oh one, which we now know to 0:10:09.480 --> 0:10:13.480 be the largest object in the asteroid belt. So series 0:10:13.559 --> 0:10:17.440 and the asteroid belt roughly correspond to the gap in 0:10:17.480 --> 0:10:22.320 the predicted sequence between Jupiter and Mars. Tisitius Bode then 0:10:22.559 --> 0:10:26.680 also racked up a victory when Uranus was discovered. This 0:10:26.760 --> 0:10:30.040 was actually earlier, this was in the late eighteenth century, 0:10:30.080 --> 0:10:32.920 but Tisiu's boat had a victory with the discovery of 0:10:33.040 --> 0:10:36.400 Uranus because what do you know, it was very close 0:10:36.480 --> 0:10:39.840 again to what the formula predicted for the next planet 0:10:39.920 --> 0:10:44.920 after Saturn. But despite this really impressive record, and despite 0:10:44.960 --> 0:10:48.160 the unfortunate use of the word law sometimes in its 0:10:48.200 --> 0:10:51.320 name people say the Titius Bode law. Other people just say, 0:10:51.360 --> 0:10:54.440 like the Titius Bode rule or Titius Bode or something. 0:10:54.960 --> 0:10:57.720 It is not a law of nature. It totally fails 0:10:57.800 --> 0:11:01.040 to predict the orbit of Neptune. And as best I 0:11:01.080 --> 0:11:04.360 can tell, last time I looked into this. Experts in 0:11:04.559 --> 0:11:08.600 astrophysics are not aware of any reason this formula had 0:11:08.760 --> 0:11:11.960 to be true or had to hold true, meaning it 0:11:12.040 --> 0:11:15.680 is not derived from any fundamental facts about how solar 0:11:15.720 --> 0:11:19.920 systems generally form, or any laws of physics that would 0:11:20.120 --> 0:11:23.199 apply to all planets and stars in the galaxy. It's 0:11:23.200 --> 0:11:26.800 probably just a really strange, fascinating coincidence that you can 0:11:26.840 --> 0:11:30.000 put together a mathematical formula that happens to tell you 0:11:30.440 --> 0:11:33.280 where most, but not all, of the big things in 0:11:33.320 --> 0:11:36.960 our solar system are. So maybe the two Johanns were 0:11:37.160 --> 0:11:39.920 kind of doing the number twenty three, but in space, 0:11:40.720 --> 0:11:43.640 all right. This next message about moons of Uranus is 0:11:43.720 --> 0:11:51.960 from Eric. Eric says, Hi, Robin Joe, thanks for the 0:11:52.000 --> 0:11:55.320 episodes about Uranus and its moons. I've been meaning to 0:11:55.360 --> 0:11:58.800 read A Midsummer Night's Dream but haven't gotten around to 0:11:58.840 --> 0:12:00.599 it yet, So I didn't know any thing about the 0:12:00.720 --> 0:12:03.680 characters for whom many of the moons are named, but 0:12:04.320 --> 0:12:07.160 it shed some light on an urban fantasy book series 0:12:07.200 --> 0:12:11.120 that I love, called The Dresden Files. The author borrows 0:12:11.160 --> 0:12:14.520 mythology from nearly everywhere on the internal principle that all 0:12:14.600 --> 0:12:18.640 mythology is actually true. Some of the Midsommer characters, including 0:12:18.760 --> 0:12:24.360 Mab and Titania, feature prominently. Then Eric says, you mentioned 0:12:24.480 --> 0:12:28.400 Messier and his comet addiction in the first episode, and 0:12:28.840 --> 0:12:31.720 to refresh, Yeah, this is referring to the French astronomer 0:12:31.840 --> 0:12:35.960 Charles Messier, one of the people William Herschel wrote to 0:12:36.120 --> 0:12:40.120 in seventeen eighty one about his discovery of Uranus. At first, 0:12:40.120 --> 0:12:43.440 William Herschel thought that it wasn't a planet but a 0:12:43.480 --> 0:12:47.960 comet or something. And Messier was so famous for finding 0:12:48.000 --> 0:12:51.520 comets that he was nicknamed the Ferret of comets by 0:12:51.920 --> 0:12:55.840 the French King Louis the fifteenth But back to Eric's message, 0:12:56.360 --> 0:12:58.880 Eric writes, comics were kind of a big deal in 0:12:58.920 --> 0:13:02.480 the eighteenth and nineteen century, in that weird period in 0:13:02.480 --> 0:13:06.560 which people understood that heavenly bodies obeyed natural laws, but 0:13:07.000 --> 0:13:11.079 they still kind of liked astrology. After Halley, people realized 0:13:11.120 --> 0:13:14.840 that more of the fuzzy blobs they spotted were comets, 0:13:15.240 --> 0:13:16.960 so there was kind of a rush to be the 0:13:16.960 --> 0:13:20.480 first to spot the next comet. Charles Messier was one 0:13:20.480 --> 0:13:24.120 of those, and he created the Messia catalog, which includes 0:13:24.160 --> 0:13:28.760 Andromeda M thirty one, the crab Nebula M one, and 0:13:28.840 --> 0:13:32.920 over one hundred other objects. Interestingly, he cataloged these objects 0:13:33.000 --> 0:13:37.839 not because he thought them interesting, but because they weren't comets. 0:13:38.200 --> 0:13:41.400 It was basically his oops list, so he wouldn't waste 0:13:41.480 --> 0:13:44.920 time looking at fuzzy blob number thirty one night after 0:13:45.040 --> 0:13:47.120 night in the hope that it would turn out to 0:13:47.120 --> 0:13:50.959 be a comet. It's ironic that today amateur astronomers typically 0:13:50.960 --> 0:13:53.720 spend far more time looking at the things on his 0:13:53.880 --> 0:13:57.640 list than searching for comets. In fact, there are certain 0:13:57.679 --> 0:14:00.640 times of year when some amateur astronomers will try to 0:14:00.679 --> 0:14:04.440 complete a Messia marathon, in which they tried to spot 0:14:04.559 --> 0:14:07.440 each of the one hundred and ten Messia objects in 0:14:07.480 --> 0:14:10.400 a single night. I've never done it because I'm a very, 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:14.040 very lazy amateur astronomer. Thanks for the great episodes. While 0:14:14.040 --> 0:14:15.920 I would be perfectly happy to have you put out 0:14:15.960 --> 0:14:18.720 episodes on space objects every week, I think it's better 0:14:18.800 --> 0:14:22.040 for all of your other listeners to space out pun 0:14:22.080 --> 0:14:25.800 unintended these types of episodes. Hope you were all well, Eric, 0:14:26.240 --> 0:14:37.920 Thank you Eric. Okay, this next message comes from Constantine 0:14:38.080 --> 0:14:41.080 and it concerns our episodes. On the beaver, and also 0:14:41.120 --> 0:14:44.960 a little bit on the moons of Uranus. Constantine says, gents, 0:14:45.480 --> 0:14:47.480 thank you for reading my email last week. I have 0:14:47.560 --> 0:14:51.400 gained tremendous cool points in my household after that. Mind you, 0:14:51.520 --> 0:14:53.920 those points are self assigned, but they are valued just 0:14:53.960 --> 0:14:57.080 the same. Yeah. As a reminder, Constantine wrote us a 0:14:57.120 --> 0:15:01.720 really excellent, highly detailed message about Greek pronunciation in English, 0:15:01.800 --> 0:15:06.040 especially as it applies to the names of planets. Constantine says, 0:15:06.520 --> 0:15:08.680 I didn't think I would be writing in so soon again, 0:15:08.720 --> 0:15:11.480 but I have a small complaint to register with the authorities. 0:15:11.800 --> 0:15:15.040 How can you have not one, but two beaver episodes 0:15:15.160 --> 0:15:18.800 and not mention that this mighty, mighty rodent is the 0:15:18.920 --> 0:15:22.840 national animal of Canada. The beaver even appears on our 0:15:22.920 --> 0:15:27.240 nickel see attached. All right, so I am looking at 0:15:27.240 --> 0:15:31.120 a picture of the beaver side the beaver face I 0:15:31.160 --> 0:15:34.280 guess of the Canadian nickel. This one is minted nineteen 0:15:34.440 --> 0:15:36.880 sixty five, and I'm going to put on my art 0:15:36.920 --> 0:15:40.600 critic hat for the Canadian nickel. I have to say 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:43.880 I sense a lot of pathos in this beaver. This 0:15:43.960 --> 0:15:49.440 beaver looks far less whimsical and substantially more aggressive than most. 0:15:49.560 --> 0:15:54.840 So it is head down, ears, back muscles tensed, four 0:15:54.920 --> 0:15:58.760 paws in advance, with claws digging into the wet log below. 0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:02.440 The beaver, I would say, on the nickel looks not 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:06.720 like a herbivorous rodent, but like a predator preparing to strike. 0:16:07.400 --> 0:16:09.680 But it's a beaver, so what is it going to strike? 0:16:09.800 --> 0:16:12.800 Like a willow stump? And then there's another layer of 0:16:12.840 --> 0:16:18.520 emotion underneath the predatory pose. There is a thwarted, frustrated 0:16:18.600 --> 0:16:21.360 sadness in its posture. It even made me think of 0:16:21.440 --> 0:16:24.600 the Rilka poem The Panther, which is about a panther 0:16:25.120 --> 0:16:28.480 kept in a zoo in Paris, and in the translation 0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:31.760 by Stephen Mitchell, the poem begins his vision from the 0:16:31.840 --> 0:16:35.560 constantly passing bars has grown so weary that it cannot 0:16:35.600 --> 0:16:38.640 hold anything else. It seems to him there are a 0:16:38.760 --> 0:16:43.200 thousand bars, and behind the bars no world. So I 0:16:43.240 --> 0:16:45.560 was thinking about this, and finally it hit me. I 0:16:45.600 --> 0:16:49.440 think the beaver inside the nickel wants to break out 0:16:49.880 --> 0:16:53.280 everywhere it goes. Maybe it hears the sound of water running, 0:16:53.320 --> 0:16:56.600 the trickling sound that that drives the beaver mad, and 0:16:56.640 --> 0:16:59.000 it knows it must find and plug the leak. But 0:16:59.080 --> 0:17:02.080 to do that it has to escape the confines of 0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:05.840 the coin, and maybe one day it will. So back 0:17:05.880 --> 0:17:10.000 to Constantine's message, sure, America has its eagle and the 0:17:10.119 --> 0:17:13.240 UK has its lion, but we knooks wear the best smile, 0:17:13.320 --> 0:17:16.840 with debucktoothed beaver as our national animal of choice, so 0:17:16.920 --> 0:17:20.000 beware lest you upset us, and we wave our sticks 0:17:20.040 --> 0:17:23.960 at you. Ah. Very nice. Despite this regal creature being 0:17:24.040 --> 0:17:26.600 part of everyday Canadian life, I was shocked to learn 0:17:26.680 --> 0:17:31.200 that the beaver has a cloaca. Even my wife, the veterinarian, 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:33.960 was surprised that that detail did not make it into 0:17:34.000 --> 0:17:36.639 her curriculum at VET school. And now I work this 0:17:36.760 --> 0:17:39.520 fact into every conversation I have with folks back in 0:17:39.560 --> 0:17:42.720 our maple leaf land. By the way, I forgot to 0:17:42.760 --> 0:17:46.000 mention in my email on Uranus that in Greek we 0:17:46.040 --> 0:17:48.879 call the eight planets of the Solar system by the 0:17:48.920 --> 0:17:55.200 Greek god names. So it is Hermes that would be Mercury, Aphrodite, 0:17:55.440 --> 0:17:58.760 that would be Venus, Gaya that would be Earth. Though 0:17:59.240 --> 0:18:02.480 Constantine us last time that in Greek Gaya is pronounced 0:18:02.680 --> 0:18:08.600 ye Ares, which is Mars, Zeus, which is Jupiter Chronos 0:18:08.640 --> 0:18:13.400 which is Saturn Uranus and Poseidon, which is Neptune. Take 0:18:13.480 --> 0:18:18.160 that Romans. As for the planet Pluto planet in quotation marks, 0:18:18.200 --> 0:18:20.560 I guess because of Pluto no longer being considered a 0:18:21.160 --> 0:18:24.840 major planet for whatever reason, it went rogue and goes 0:18:24.880 --> 0:18:29.439 by both Hades and Pluto in Greek, and that is 0:18:29.480 --> 0:18:32.680 the real reason that the Greek illuminati had Pluto acted 0:18:32.680 --> 0:18:36.040 from the pantheon of planets. I'm just saying, don't cross us. 0:18:36.119 --> 0:18:42.800 Things happen, stay groovy. Cheers regards Constantine. All right, thank you, Constantine. 0:18:43.040 --> 0:18:45.719 All right, I'm going to do a little bit of 0:18:45.920 --> 0:18:50.439 weird house cinema response. This is about our episode on 0:18:50.680 --> 0:18:53.920 The Super Mario Brothers nineteen ninety three. It is from 0:18:54.040 --> 0:19:02.520 Andrew says, Hi, Robert and Joe love the show. Thank 0:19:02.560 --> 0:19:04.520 you for all your hard work and making it happen. 0:19:05.000 --> 0:19:07.119 But after the most recent weird house I had to 0:19:07.240 --> 0:19:09.560 leap to the defense of a film that, if not 0:19:09.720 --> 0:19:12.919 great or even really good, was one of my favorites 0:19:13.000 --> 0:19:17.160 of all time. I loved the Super Mario Brothers movie 0:19:17.160 --> 0:19:19.639 when I was a kid. It's hard to overstate just 0:19:19.680 --> 0:19:21.920 how cool and grown up it felt to my seven 0:19:22.000 --> 0:19:24.600 year old brain. I saw it in the theater with 0:19:24.640 --> 0:19:26.920 my best friend at the time, and it became regular 0:19:27.040 --> 0:19:30.200 viewing for me after my father rented it on VHS 0:19:30.240 --> 0:19:33.640 and copied it to our Beta Max. A few years ago, 0:19:33.680 --> 0:19:36.119 it was available to stream and I watched it again 0:19:36.160 --> 0:19:40.160 with my kids, and yeah, it's not good. There's still 0:19:40.200 --> 0:19:43.199 a lot to love, the chemistry between John Leguizamo and 0:19:43.280 --> 0:19:46.720 Bob Hoskins, despite both allegedly being drunk for much of 0:19:46.720 --> 0:19:50.359 the production, all the stoogely antics of Iggy and Spike, 0:19:51.160 --> 0:19:54.120 the big dopey grin, all the goombas have, But yeah, 0:19:54.320 --> 0:19:57.320 it's a mess. You talked in the podcast about what 0:19:57.560 --> 0:20:00.200 a challenge it would have been to develop a plot 0:20:00.280 --> 0:20:04.360 around something as narratively thin as a Mario game. However, 0:20:04.560 --> 0:20:07.959 to place the film in context, there were already at 0:20:08.000 --> 0:20:12.439 least three separate Super Mario cartoons available for Saturday morning 0:20:12.520 --> 0:20:16.080 viewing on cable at the time of its release. Those 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:18.400 of us who watched them were already accustomed to these 0:20:18.480 --> 0:20:22.360 characterizations and stories in Mario's world. The film just gave 0:20:22.440 --> 0:20:25.800 us an edgier take on everything, which fit perfectly with 0:20:25.880 --> 0:20:29.200 the zeitgeist of the early nineties. You know, off, Mike 0:20:29.280 --> 0:20:34.119 Rob and I were discussing other adaptations of Super Mario 0:20:34.160 --> 0:20:37.080 Brothers to different media, and he shared with me something 0:20:37.119 --> 0:20:39.359 that I think somebody sent him on the discord. So 0:20:39.400 --> 0:20:42.679 I don't actually remember at this point what the media was, 0:20:42.720 --> 0:20:45.040 but it was a Super Mario Brothers cartoon that may 0:20:45.080 --> 0:20:48.680 have been from Japan that I think predates the live 0:20:48.720 --> 0:20:52.320 action movie, and I just watched a clip from part 0:20:52.359 --> 0:20:55.160 of it. It is the Super Mario Brothers hiking through 0:20:55.160 --> 0:20:58.240 the desert with some kind of blue pet, like a 0:20:58.240 --> 0:21:01.680 blue dog like creature at their side, and there's a 0:21:01.760 --> 0:21:07.480 musical number and the lyrics in translation include lines like 0:21:07.640 --> 0:21:10.400 don't cry any more, baby, I'm right here for you. 0:21:10.840 --> 0:21:13.800 We are super, but I don't know. We're super, but 0:21:14.240 --> 0:21:15.720 what to do with my love? 0:21:16.800 --> 0:21:16.919 Now? 0:21:17.000 --> 0:21:19.560 If only the live action movie had had more of 0:21:19.600 --> 0:21:23.800 that painful, yearning emotional core to it. You know, I 0:21:24.160 --> 0:21:26.919 can almost hear Bob Hoskins saying it, We're super, but 0:21:27.440 --> 0:21:30.440 I don't know what to do with my love Anyway. 0:21:30.600 --> 0:21:34.360 Back to Andrew's message, Andrews says the film also gave 0:21:34.400 --> 0:21:37.600 me one of my first cultural Easter egg hunts. There 0:21:37.600 --> 0:21:40.439 were the big obvious references to the game franchise, like 0:21:40.560 --> 0:21:45.280 pipe travel, the red and green coveralls, the mushrooms, jump boots, etc. 0:21:46.160 --> 0:21:49.520 But there were also a number of more subtle nods 0:21:49.520 --> 0:21:52.679 as well. The cartridges they load into their boots have 0:21:52.800 --> 0:21:58.080 faces painted on them like bullet bills. The brutalist architecture 0:21:58.080 --> 0:22:01.800 inside Koopa's tower invokes blocks that make up the fortress 0:22:01.880 --> 0:22:05.879 levels in Super Mario Brothers three, and the lady in 0:22:06.040 --> 0:22:09.000 red in the movie is called big Bertha, like the 0:22:09.160 --> 0:22:12.600 large angry fish that tries to swallow you whole in 0:22:12.720 --> 0:22:15.720 some of the water levels. Some of these references seem 0:22:15.720 --> 0:22:18.520 a little lazy in retrospect, but I can still remember 0:22:18.520 --> 0:22:21.520 how exciting it seemed for me as a child to 0:22:21.600 --> 0:22:25.439 keep noticing these details. So yeah, it's definitely not a 0:22:25.440 --> 0:22:28.640 great film, But contrary to your assessment, I think there 0:22:28.880 --> 0:22:30.920 was a lot there for children of the decade to 0:22:31.000 --> 0:22:33.960 latch onto, particularly at a time when there was a 0:22:34.040 --> 0:22:37.919 very different standard for what was appropriate for kids to see. 0:22:38.000 --> 0:22:41.480 In spite of all its shortcomings, Super Mario Brothers nineteen 0:22:41.560 --> 0:22:44.280 ninety three is easily one of my favorite films just 0:22:44.320 --> 0:22:46.800 in terms of how much enjoyment I got out of 0:22:46.800 --> 0:22:50.040 it when I was young and remember, this was considered 0:22:50.040 --> 0:22:53.639 to be the first ever game to film adaptation, and 0:22:53.720 --> 0:22:56.679 none of us had any idea what that was supposed 0:22:56.760 --> 0:22:59.560 to look like. There was no formula for a feature 0:22:59.600 --> 0:23:02.520 like this, so the filmmakers chucked us into a bizarre, 0:23:02.960 --> 0:23:07.879 violent world with sticky reptilian sexuality and alternately gross and 0:23:07.960 --> 0:23:11.600 imposing locales. That's a huge swing, and even if it 0:23:11.600 --> 0:23:15.399 didn't totally connect, it's still infinitely more interesting than almost 0:23:15.440 --> 0:23:19.760 any video game movie that came after. Finally, I'm convinced 0:23:19.800 --> 0:23:22.960 there is a deep bonus joke hidden behind the layers 0:23:23.000 --> 0:23:26.800 of membranous fungus and garbage. You remarked on how all 0:23:26.880 --> 0:23:31.280 the cars have mad Max spikes and shoot sparks and 0:23:31.400 --> 0:23:35.320 have old skeletons hanging off of their grills. You probably 0:23:35.400 --> 0:23:38.800 also notice that they all have electrical leads that contact 0:23:38.920 --> 0:23:43.119 metal cages above the streets like bumper cars, and that 0:23:43.280 --> 0:23:47.000 the police car that Mario and Luigi Steele loses power 0:23:47.080 --> 0:23:49.639 once they exit the city. It would seem that the 0:23:49.680 --> 0:23:54.880 people of dino Hattan are pioneering the electric car, presumably 0:23:54.920 --> 0:23:58.440 because the descendants of dinosaurs would be reluctant to develop 0:23:58.560 --> 0:24:02.879 fossil fuel sources parentheses. You and I know that oil 0:24:02.960 --> 0:24:06.280 is the remains of oceanic plants, animals, and bacteria. But 0:24:06.680 --> 0:24:10.000 I'll bet the filmmakers didn't. Thank you again for all 0:24:10.040 --> 0:24:12.320 you do to make my work days more bearable and 0:24:12.440 --> 0:24:16.320 educate me on subjects I had never even heard of. Andrew, Well, 0:24:16.320 --> 0:24:19.439 thank you so much, Andrew, I point taken. You know, 0:24:19.920 --> 0:24:23.080