WEBVTT - Listener Mail: The Hearth's Filthy Lesson 0:00:03.000 --> 0:00:06.040 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:10.119 --> 0:00:13.000 Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind listener mail. 0:00:13.160 --> 0:00:14.560 My name is Robert Lamb. 0:00:14.680 --> 0:00:17.120 And I am Joe McCormick. And hey, we're coming at 0:00:17.120 --> 0:00:20.079 you with new stuff after roughly a week or so off. 0:00:20.120 --> 0:00:21.919 Do we say this was a listener mail episode? I 0:00:21.920 --> 0:00:23.800 think you did. But if we didn't, here, yeah, here 0:00:23.840 --> 0:00:26.799 we are with listener mail for you. Hey, if you 0:00:27.080 --> 0:00:29.320 are a listener of Stuff to Blow your Mind and 0:00:29.360 --> 0:00:31.680 you have never gotten in touch before, this is a 0:00:31.680 --> 0:00:33.839 great time to try it. You can email us at 0:00:33.960 --> 0:00:37.639 contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. Messages 0:00:37.680 --> 0:00:41.479 of all sorts are welcome. We especially appreciate feedback to 0:00:41.680 --> 0:00:44.720 any episodes, recent or older episodes, if you want, if 0:00:44.720 --> 0:00:47.919 you've got thoughts to add, something interesting, to build on 0:00:48.000 --> 0:00:50.440 anything we brought up in the episode, of course, if 0:00:50.440 --> 0:00:53.360 you ever have corrections if necessary, If you have just 0:00:53.400 --> 0:00:55.480 something interesting you want to share with us, we got 0:00:55.520 --> 0:00:58.400 some messages of that sort here today, Or if you 0:00:58.480 --> 0:00:59.800 just want to tell us what you like about the 0:00:59.800 --> 0:01:02.279 show where you listen from that kind of thing. All 0:01:02.440 --> 0:01:05.560 all sorts of messages are welcome. Contact at Stuff to 0:01:05.600 --> 0:01:07.080 Blow your Mind dot com. 0:01:07.319 --> 0:01:10.160 You can also ask to join the Discord server by 0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:11.680 emailing us to that address. 0:01:12.200 --> 0:01:14.640 All right, Rob, if you don't mind, I think we 0:01:14.680 --> 0:01:16.840 should kick things off today with actually a couple of 0:01:16.880 --> 0:01:20.800 messages from our listener Robin, one about ancient art and 0:01:20.880 --> 0:01:24.920 another one about festive holiday cocktails. We're sort of we're 0:01:24.959 --> 0:01:28.280 past the point for one season of holiday cocktails, but 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:31.560 just in time for another. All right, I'll start with 0:01:31.560 --> 0:01:40.000 the one about art. So this is from Robin. Robin says, Hey, Rob, 0:01:40.080 --> 0:01:42.360 Joe and JJ just a quick email with some cool 0:01:42.360 --> 0:01:46.440 stuff I came across, maybe fodder for future topics. Sometimes 0:01:46.480 --> 0:01:50.840 the almighty cursed algorithm actually digs up something worthwhile, and 0:01:50.960 --> 0:01:53.280 I got served up an image of an ancient sculpture 0:01:53.320 --> 0:01:56.760 from early history with a quick line of description. Intrigued, 0:01:56.800 --> 0:02:01.560 I dug a bit more into the Gwynall line. Gwinnall, 0:02:01.560 --> 0:02:06.000 if you're trying to look this up, is spelled gue nnol. 0:02:06.200 --> 0:02:09.960 That's a Welsh word apparently meaning Martin. And just for 0:02:10.000 --> 0:02:13.440 a bit of description, The Gwynall Lioness is a roughly 0:02:13.760 --> 0:02:17.600 five thousand year old limestone statuette. It's a little over 0:02:17.720 --> 0:02:23.200 eight centimeters tall and it shows a lion human hybrid form. 0:02:23.880 --> 0:02:27.200 It's posed in a very interesting way. So we see 0:02:27.240 --> 0:02:30.120 it from the thighs up to the head. The lower 0:02:30.120 --> 0:02:32.240 parts of the legs I don't know if they ever existed. 0:02:32.280 --> 0:02:34.680 If they did, they're no longer attached to the rest 0:02:34.680 --> 0:02:37.600 of the statuette. But we see from the thighs up 0:02:38.080 --> 0:02:41.480 and so it's a lion human form with sort of 0:02:41.480 --> 0:02:44.720 the upright torso of a human body, but with a 0:02:44.800 --> 0:02:50.200 lion's head. No Maine, just a manless lion. And also, 0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:52.280 I don't know, the hands to me look like they're 0:02:52.320 --> 0:02:55.480 supposed to be maybe lion claws, but this could be interpreted. 0:02:55.520 --> 0:02:58.600 I guess it's just fingers. But it's a very unusual 0:02:58.680 --> 0:03:01.880 interesting pose. First of all, the figure is extremely muscular, 0:03:02.320 --> 0:03:05.440 and second of all, it's got its fists or claws 0:03:05.800 --> 0:03:09.919 like pushed together with its elbows bent up. I don't 0:03:09.960 --> 0:03:12.519 know what you would call this arm posture, but it's 0:03:12.520 --> 0:03:15.400 like just raise your arms up and push your fists 0:03:15.440 --> 0:03:17.760 together in front of your chest. And it's also sort 0:03:17.800 --> 0:03:21.520 of rotating at the torso, so it looks like it's 0:03:21.560 --> 0:03:24.000 doing some kind of exercise. I don't know if this 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:25.160 is like a pilates move. 0:03:25.520 --> 0:03:28.840 Yeah, this looks a lot like the bodybuilding pose that 0:03:29.040 --> 0:03:33.399 is called the most muscular, except in the most muscular 0:03:33.560 --> 0:03:38.000 like the fists are not like touching, they're like crisscrossing. 0:03:38.240 --> 0:03:40.880 You've all seen this one if you've seen any amount 0:03:40.920 --> 0:03:45.200 of bodybuilding, just clips you know, you know Arnold Schwarzenegger 0:03:45.200 --> 0:03:46.280 back in the day, that sort of thing. 0:03:47.080 --> 0:03:50.840 So, this statuette was allegedly found near modern day bagh Dad. 0:03:51.200 --> 0:03:53.400 I don't know if it's known exactly when it was found, 0:03:53.400 --> 0:03:57.360 but the trading history of it and collections seems to 0:03:57.400 --> 0:03:59.600 begin in the early nineteen thirties, so it seemed it 0:03:59.600 --> 0:04:02.720 was found somewhere around Baghdad before that time, in the 0:04:02.720 --> 0:04:06.480 early nineteen thirties and held for a while in the 0:04:06.520 --> 0:04:09.400 private collection of a guy who was I guess a 0:04:09.440 --> 0:04:12.840 major tennis player named Alistair Bradley Martin who was also 0:04:12.840 --> 0:04:16.919 an art collector. But it's been on display at some museums, 0:04:17.040 --> 0:04:20.680 I believe the Brooklyn Museum in New York and so forth. 0:04:21.240 --> 0:04:23.400 But anyway, I'm going to continue with Robin's message here 0:04:23.480 --> 0:04:27.880 about this statuette. Robin says, holy mackinaw, what a fascinating 0:04:27.920 --> 0:04:30.800 and gorgeous piece of art, but even better in the 0:04:30.800 --> 0:04:34.320 Wikipedia article on this artwork, the first link in the 0:04:34.360 --> 0:04:37.039 further reading tab is a book called Art of the 0:04:37.120 --> 0:04:40.479 First Cities the third millennium BC, from the Mediterranean to 0:04:40.520 --> 0:04:44.479 the Indus, edited by Joan ruse at All. That book 0:04:44.560 --> 0:04:47.320 is downloadable as a PDF from the link provided there. 0:04:47.400 --> 0:04:50.320 And wow, is that ever a treasure of incredible art 0:04:50.320 --> 0:04:54.440 from the distant past. I love seeing the connections, similarities 0:04:54.440 --> 0:04:57.440 and the different takes on common subjects of art and 0:04:57.480 --> 0:05:01.560 expression by different people in the past. Early artwork gives 0:05:01.600 --> 0:05:04.400 me the shivers in the best way. I find a 0:05:04.440 --> 0:05:07.200 real connection can be forged with the artist, and to 0:05:07.240 --> 0:05:09.760 think about who they were and when they were living, well, 0:05:09.800 --> 0:05:13.040 it really blows my mind. As they say. Anyway, thanks 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:16.279 for the continued excellent content and wishing you all folks 0:05:16.400 --> 0:05:20.599 down there a happy holiday season. Cheers Robin Well. First 0:05:20.640 --> 0:05:22.920 of all, thank you so much, Robin. A great message, 0:05:23.440 --> 0:05:25.359 and I love that you brought this up. So I 0:05:25.520 --> 0:05:28.600 got interested looking at this artwork. And I have two 0:05:28.680 --> 0:05:31.679 takes on this one, I guess, one sort of thoughtful 0:05:31.720 --> 0:05:34.520 and one kind of internet brained. The more thoughtful take 0:05:34.640 --> 0:05:37.800 is yes, I totally know what you mean about the 0:05:37.800 --> 0:05:40.799 way that ancient art can send shivers through your body. 0:05:40.880 --> 0:05:43.599 Rob I assume you have a similar experience as well, 0:05:44.880 --> 0:05:47.040 and I agree with you, Robin, that it is something 0:05:47.080 --> 0:05:52.400 about that sudden connection between minds that are so distant 0:05:52.480 --> 0:05:55.799 in time and space, like your mind and the artist's 0:05:55.880 --> 0:05:59.599 mind across thousands of years. It's easy to feel, by 0:05:59.680 --> 0:06:03.200 virtue of this encounter with someone's art, that you know 0:06:03.760 --> 0:06:06.960 them in some intimate way, maybe better than people who 0:06:06.960 --> 0:06:10.720 have actually met them know them, because art is a window, 0:06:10.760 --> 0:06:13.040 you know, it's a window in kind of deep parts 0:06:13.040 --> 0:06:16.200 of people's mind and character. Often people express things through 0:06:16.320 --> 0:06:20.240 art works that maybe they aren't comfortable sharing in conversation. 0:06:20.760 --> 0:06:23.720 You know, it's commonly thought of that art is in 0:06:23.720 --> 0:06:26.400 some way an expression of the personality of the artists. 0:06:26.480 --> 0:06:28.919 So like by seeing the works that people create, you 0:06:29.000 --> 0:06:33.640 know something very familiar and close and maybe commonly hidden 0:06:33.680 --> 0:06:37.360 about them. And yet because of the distance in time 0:06:37.960 --> 0:06:40.520 and the anonymity of the artist in this case, we 0:06:40.560 --> 0:06:43.360 don't know who made this lion of statue. Not only 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:46.080 can you never meet this artist, there's just so much 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:49.719 about their life and context you cannot know and will 0:06:49.760 --> 0:06:52.720 never know. How different their life was from yours, how 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:55.599 differently they saw the world and everything like that. And 0:06:55.640 --> 0:06:59.480 I think it's that tension between the intimate mental connection 0:07:00.200 --> 0:07:03.400 established by viewing a piece of art and the objective 0:07:03.440 --> 0:07:07.200 ignorance we have the total mystery about the life of 0:07:07.240 --> 0:07:10.320 the artist that makes ancient art so haunting, at least 0:07:10.320 --> 0:07:10.520 to me. 0:07:11.000 --> 0:07:13.840 Absolutely, yeah, I agree with all that. And by the way, 0:07:13.880 --> 0:07:17.640 the book that was referenced, Art of the First Cities, 0:07:18.680 --> 0:07:21.000 this was a two thousand and three publication from the 0:07:21.040 --> 0:07:23.520 Metropolitan Museum of Art. Looks like you can still pick 0:07:23.560 --> 0:07:26.160 up copies of it. Yeah, it looks like a handsome volume. 0:07:26.600 --> 0:07:28.120 Oh nice. Yeah, I'm gonna have to go back and 0:07:28.200 --> 0:07:32.000 check out that link after we record this. But anyway, 0:07:32.720 --> 0:07:34.720 there are just so many questions that spring to mind. 0:07:35.240 --> 0:07:37.240 I don't know, It's like you want to know more 0:07:37.280 --> 0:07:41.200 about the mindset of the artist when you can't. For example, 0:07:41.440 --> 0:07:44.119 so this is a lion human hybrid. But I always 0:07:44.160 --> 0:07:47.680 wonder in these cases were of these ancient artworks, is 0:07:47.720 --> 0:07:51.400 it best thought of as anthropomorphic, meaning a lion taking 0:07:51.440 --> 0:07:54.640 a human form, or theiomorphic? Is it a human taking 0:07:54.680 --> 0:07:58.600 a lion form? And you can't necessarily tell by the picture, 0:07:58.920 --> 0:08:01.320 but you can make guess is like, what does it 0:08:01.400 --> 0:08:04.400 mean when it's a lion's head on a human body 0:08:04.560 --> 0:08:07.240 as opposed to like a human head on a lion's body. 0:08:07.280 --> 0:08:12.440 Does one imply more anthropomorphism versus theeomorphism than the other? 0:08:13.160 --> 0:08:16.120 Yeah? Yeah, I mean you can just look at our 0:08:16.160 --> 0:08:21.800 own modern dreams of half human half animal hybrids and 0:08:21.840 --> 0:08:26.120 they can ultimately convey a whole host of different ideas, 0:08:26.760 --> 0:08:28.880 and certainly that would have been the case in the 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:29.920 ancient past as. 0:08:29.760 --> 0:08:33.720 Well as For my internet brained take on this, I'm sorry, 0:08:33.720 --> 0:08:36.040 but a comparison did come to mind. I was looking 0:08:36.080 --> 0:08:39.600 at this leonine human being that is just so jacked 0:08:39.640 --> 0:08:42.400 with muscles, and it made me think about those comic 0:08:42.400 --> 0:08:45.439 book superhero illustrations that get turned into memes because the 0:08:45.520 --> 0:08:49.560 muscles are comically gigantic. I'm thinking particularly of an image 0:08:49.559 --> 0:08:52.520 I've seen many times on the internet of like Captain America, 0:08:52.559 --> 0:08:54.000 where he looks just like a truck. 0:08:54.520 --> 0:08:57.720 Yeah, you included that one here, this in our outline, 0:08:57.760 --> 0:09:02.600 and this is the infamous big chested Rob Leifeld Captain America. 0:09:04.040 --> 0:09:05.960 And I'm not trying to hate, by the way, I 0:09:05.960 --> 0:09:08.160 don't know anything about this artist. I'm just say it's 0:09:08.160 --> 0:09:08.880 a funny image. 0:09:08.920 --> 0:09:12.360 A lot of people have fun with lifel illustrations. I mean, 0:09:12.640 --> 0:09:16.680 he was and is a very influential figure in comics, 0:09:16.720 --> 0:09:20.920 particularly Marvel, but some of his designs are maimed a 0:09:20.920 --> 0:09:25.280 lot because of their anatomical ridiculousness, even within the world 0:09:25.320 --> 0:09:28.000 of comic book superheroes. Yeah. 0:09:28.080 --> 0:09:30.319 On the other hand, I think there are multiple ways 0:09:30.360 --> 0:09:32.600 you can kind of read the pose of this lion 0:09:32.720 --> 0:09:36.320 human with the hands clasped together like that, Like is 0:09:36.360 --> 0:09:39.360 that a muscle flexing pose or kind of a you know, 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:42.120 we were thinking of it as like an exercise bodybuilding pose, 0:09:42.440 --> 0:09:45.040 but you could also read that as the hands clasp 0:09:45.559 --> 0:09:48.120 of contemplation. You know. I don't know if it had 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:51.160 the same association in the ancient Mesopotamian culture that produced this, 0:09:51.280 --> 0:09:54.360 but we often think of clasped hands as prayer or 0:09:54.440 --> 0:09:58.520 meditation or contemplation, thoughtfulness, wisdom. That could be what's going 0:09:58.520 --> 0:09:58.920 on here. 0:09:59.240 --> 0:10:02.120 Yeah, it's hard to say exactly. It's hard. It's hard 0:10:02.120 --> 0:10:05.360 to read this image. I mean it's easier to read 0:10:05.360 --> 0:10:09.320 the Captain America. I think he's he's being in all tough. Uh, 0:10:09.440 --> 0:10:11.720 that's that's just basically the read I'm getting here tough 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:16.679 and a little little mean. Ye, but yeah, it's hard 0:10:16.760 --> 0:10:17.920 to read the lioness. 0:10:18.480 --> 0:10:21.080 But anyway, thank you again, Robin. Oh should we do 0:10:21.120 --> 0:10:24.160 this other message from Robin about festive holiday cocktails? 0:10:24.440 --> 0:10:28.040 Yeah? Absolutely, Yeah, this one came in separately, and this 0:10:28.080 --> 0:10:31.360 one was was sent to us as well as to 0:10:31.520 --> 0:10:34.200 Tracy and Holly over at stuff you missed in history class, 0:10:35.600 --> 0:10:38.120 and this is how it goes down. Hi, Holly and 0:10:38.200 --> 0:10:40.959 Rob and Tracy and Joe. Please forgive the slightly odd 0:10:41.440 --> 0:10:44.800 co mingling of stuff personnel, But from listening to both 0:10:44.840 --> 0:10:46.920 of your podcasts, stuff you missed a history class and 0:10:46.920 --> 0:10:48.480 stuff to blow your mind, I think the two of 0:10:48.559 --> 0:10:50.920 you are most relevant to the question I have. If 0:10:50.960 --> 0:10:55.040 I may calling out Holly in particular because she has 0:10:55.360 --> 0:10:59.400 a cocktail book out. That book is Killer Cocktails, Dangerous 0:10:59.440 --> 0:11:03.520 Drinks in Spired by History's most Nefarious Criminals. It's out now. 0:11:03.600 --> 0:11:05.400 You can get it in all sorts of formats. 0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:08.840 Oh wonderful. Shout out to our crossover listeners, by the way. 0:11:09.240 --> 0:11:13.480 Yeah, anyway, Robin continues, it seems that both of you 0:11:13.559 --> 0:11:16.120 are fans of a tasty cocktail. I would love to 0:11:16.120 --> 0:11:18.520 make some tasty holiday cocktails for family and friends in 0:11:18.520 --> 0:11:20.240 the next few weeks, and I am looking for fun 0:11:20.240 --> 0:11:23.520 ideas and inspiration. Do the two of you either A 0:11:23.840 --> 0:11:26.920 have an outlet where you if use specifically about tasty 0:11:26.960 --> 0:11:30.160 drinks in your experience. I know about your exciting book, Hollie. 0:11:30.240 --> 0:11:32.760 I am waiting until after Christmas in case someone already 0:11:32.800 --> 0:11:35.240 wrapped it up for me or B have favorite or 0:11:35.240 --> 0:11:38.720 a favorites that you go to websites, blogs, social media, 0:11:38.760 --> 0:11:43.080 et cetera for cocktail inspiration. Thank you ever so much 0:11:43.240 --> 0:11:47.880 for any info in this area. Much appreciated. Happy mixing. Well, Yes, 0:11:47.960 --> 0:11:50.840 Rob and I do enjoy a cocktail, be it one 0:11:50.960 --> 0:11:53.599 that is infused with a spirit or one that is 0:11:54.440 --> 0:11:57.840 alcohol free. I love a great many zero proof cocktails 0:11:57.880 --> 0:12:02.000 these days as well. Big fanatropical drinks, so often turned 0:12:02.000 --> 0:12:05.280 to the pages of Jeff Beach Bumberry as well as 0:12:05.280 --> 0:12:09.520 his Total Tiki app on top of his published books. 0:12:10.160 --> 0:12:12.640 You know, so it's a great These are great places 0:12:12.640 --> 0:12:15.880 to find cool, historic tiki drinks to try out. I 0:12:15.920 --> 0:12:18.360 also love to look through the pages of Imbibe Magazine 0:12:18.480 --> 0:12:23.480 and their website imbibemagazine dot com for ideas. In fact, 0:12:23.920 --> 0:12:27.360 one of the holiday drinks I've been making regularly each 0:12:27.440 --> 0:12:30.920 year for a few years now is one called nutty 0:12:31.040 --> 0:12:35.000 like a fruitcake. That's a lot of fun. So you 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:37.920 can find that at Imbibe magazine. I will, however, stress 0:12:37.960 --> 0:12:40.200 that this is one of those drinks that every year 0:12:40.200 --> 0:12:43.440 I make it, it feels a little stronger and a 0:12:43.480 --> 0:12:46.640 little sweeter. And I know that I'm not changing the 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:49.480 way I make it, but I think the makeup of 0:12:49.559 --> 0:12:53.400 myself is changing each year. It just feels sweeter and 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:56.400 stronger to my sensibilities. So if you do make this 0:12:56.520 --> 0:13:00.200 drink and it's a great Christmas, you know, holiday Day, 0:13:00.320 --> 0:13:04.760 New Year's drink, and so forth, I would say, don't 0:13:04.800 --> 0:13:08.000 be a hero. Consider cutting it with soda water. It's 0:13:08.000 --> 0:13:10.400 still a great drink if you do it that way. Yeah, 0:13:10.440 --> 0:13:14.240 I support that. Certainly, over time the body craves less 0:13:14.280 --> 0:13:18.000 alcohol and sugar, I would say, but yeah, yeah, you know, 0:13:18.400 --> 0:13:21.600 on the subject of cutting drinks or not being a hero, 0:13:21.840 --> 0:13:24.080 I think this came up recently on a Weird House 0:13:24.080 --> 0:13:24.760 Cinema episode. 0:13:24.760 --> 0:13:26.439 I don't remember if we may have cut it. I 0:13:26.440 --> 0:13:28.080 don't know if we left it in or not, But anyway, 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:32.280 I want to stand up for the non dry martini. 0:13:32.480 --> 0:13:35.280 You know, whenever people order a martini in a movie, 0:13:35.320 --> 0:13:37.440 if they specify anything about it, they always say dry 0:13:37.559 --> 0:13:40.160 one very dry martini, meaning you know, higher content of 0:13:40.240 --> 0:13:42.920 your whatever, your your hard spirit is in your gin 0:13:43.080 --> 0:13:46.360 or your vodka. So I recommend if you're making yourself 0:13:46.360 --> 0:13:50.440 a martini for New Year's try try a wetter, gentler martini. 0:13:50.520 --> 0:13:52.800 I think it's a nice experience. I think a gin 0:13:52.880 --> 0:13:56.440 based martini is better. And go less on the gin, 0:13:56.600 --> 0:13:59.480 heavier on the vermouth, and try it with some olive brine. 0:13:59.559 --> 0:14:00.439 It's it's nice. 0:14:00.760 --> 0:14:03.439 Yeah, And I do want to stress too for folks 0:14:03.480 --> 0:14:07.000 out there who don't drink alcohol or considering stopping or 0:14:07.280 --> 0:14:09.720 you know, considering doing a dry january, as a lot 0:14:09.760 --> 0:14:11.959 of folks do these days. I mean, there's never been 0:14:11.960 --> 0:14:15.920 a better time in my opinion, to go that route. 0:14:15.960 --> 0:14:19.640 Like we have so many wonderful zero proof spirits, zero 0:14:19.680 --> 0:14:24.440 proof ingredients, cocktail recipes to go off of. Yeah, you 0:14:24.480 --> 0:14:27.640 can still have a grand time and get you know, 0:14:27.880 --> 0:14:31.120 so much out of the cocktail experience these days. 0:14:31.480 --> 0:14:34.640 Totally agree. There there are even some like canned, pre 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:38.560 made non alcoholic cocktails you can buy now that we've 0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:40.040 tried recently that are really good. 0:14:40.440 --> 0:14:43.200 Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So if any of you out there 0:14:43.240 --> 0:14:46.360 have particular favorites you'd like to share, write in. We'd 0:14:46.360 --> 0:14:47.080 love to hear from you. 0:14:54.920 --> 0:14:58.160 All right. This next message is from Elliott and it 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:03.480 concerns our episodes on Sacred Trees, specifically the second episode 0:15:03.520 --> 0:15:06.280 we did on that where I talked about sacred trees 0:15:06.320 --> 0:15:08.760 struck by lightning and Rob you talked about the meaning 0:15:08.760 --> 0:15:13.200 of the Rowan Tree. Elliott says. Greetings, longtime listener, first 0:15:13.280 --> 0:15:15.920 time writer here. Primarily thank you for your service with 0:15:15.960 --> 0:15:19.120 the podcast. It's an educational joy and a wonderful wellspring 0:15:19.200 --> 0:15:22.760 of inspiration. Thank you so much, Elliott. Elliott says, as 0:15:22.800 --> 0:15:26.000 a small token of appreciation for the Rowan Tree episode, 0:15:26.040 --> 0:15:29.480 I wanted to share some seeds. Specifically, I know the 0:15:29.560 --> 0:15:32.760 Rowan tree is used by Ursula k Legwin in her 0:15:32.880 --> 0:15:37.800 Earthsea series. The first chapter of book three, The Farthest Shore, 0:15:38.040 --> 0:15:41.080 is called the Rowan Tree. The specific Rowan tree in 0:15:41.160 --> 0:15:44.000 question is one which stands adjacent to a fountain in 0:15:44.040 --> 0:15:47.640 the courtyard in the Magical School of Roke, the inspiration 0:15:47.880 --> 0:15:51.040 for Hogwarts. This scene is actually a callback to book 0:15:51.080 --> 0:15:54.320 one titled A Wizard of Earth see when the young 0:15:54.360 --> 0:15:57.360 protagonist first arrives at the school and meets the arch 0:15:57.520 --> 0:16:01.760 Mage an inspiration for Dumbledore. Since Ursula le Gwin's father 0:16:01.920 --> 0:16:05.760 was an anthropologist working with Indigenous Americans, documented by her 0:16:05.800 --> 0:16:09.040 mother in the book Ishi in Two Worlds, Young Ursula 0:16:09.080 --> 0:16:12.720 grew up surrounded by inherently anthropological questions such as what 0:16:12.880 --> 0:16:16.520 does this tree mean to this culture? The magic system 0:16:16.520 --> 0:16:19.200 in the Earth Sea universe is also fascinating to view 0:16:19.200 --> 0:16:22.320 through this lens. An episode on the on magic systems 0:16:22.320 --> 0:16:27.080 in general could be fun. Thanks again for your great work, Elliott, Well, 0:16:27.120 --> 0:16:29.560 thank you Elliott. A couple of thoughts. First of all, yes, 0:16:29.640 --> 0:16:33.480 I love Ursula Legwin. I haven't read the Earthsea series yet. 0:16:33.680 --> 0:16:35.600 This email has made me think maybe that should be 0:16:35.720 --> 0:16:39.600 my next fiction read. Been meaning to for years. I 0:16:39.640 --> 0:16:44.960 think there is a cool sensibility about cultures in her work, 0:16:45.480 --> 0:16:49.800 that the way she depicts invented alien cultures and her 0:16:49.800 --> 0:16:53.120 sci fi novels. I haven't read any of her fantasy work, 0:16:53.160 --> 0:16:57.280 but excited about Earthsea. It feels very sensitive and lived in, 0:16:57.320 --> 0:17:01.880 with a kind of heterogeneity visible within the general trends 0:17:01.920 --> 0:17:06.280 as opposed to the stories that depict alien cultures or 0:17:06.320 --> 0:17:09.880 invented culture is in a very flat or symbolic way 0:17:09.960 --> 0:17:14.159 where it's just like everyone does this, you know. And also, 0:17:14.320 --> 0:17:16.520 if you would like to learn more about the story 0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:18.760 of the man known as Ishi mentioned in this email, 0:17:19.520 --> 0:17:21.919 the person who's in the title of the Theodor Krober 0:17:21.920 --> 0:17:24.680 book Eshi in Two Worlds. We discussed him in our 0:17:24.720 --> 0:17:27.359 series on Brain Theft from twenty twenty one, so you 0:17:27.359 --> 0:17:29.080 can go back and listen to that if you want 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:29.760 to hear about Hi. 0:17:30.359 --> 0:17:32.480 All right, let's see. Oh, we do have a number 0:17:32.520 --> 0:17:37.359 of messages related to the Hearth. I believe that's a 0:17:37.720 --> 0:17:40.800 there's a Hearth related title for today's listener mail episode. 0:17:41.400 --> 0:17:44.320 So let's get into some of these. This first one 0:17:44.359 --> 0:17:47.880 comes to us from Mike, subject line x Men ninety 0:17:47.920 --> 0:17:53.280 seven Fireplace. We were talking about various fireplace for your 0:17:53.280 --> 0:18:03.600 home DVDs, streaming options and so forth. So Mike says, 0:18:03.640 --> 0:18:06.320 to add to the collection, Marvel has posted an X 0:18:06.400 --> 0:18:09.440 Men animated series Fireplace on YouTube. 0:18:10.440 --> 0:18:12.720 You know, Mike included a link and I tried to 0:18:12.760 --> 0:18:15.080 go check this out, but by the time I checked it, 0:18:15.080 --> 0:18:17.960 it was after Christmas and the video was gone, so 0:18:18.040 --> 0:18:20.159 it may have been just a before Christmas thing and 0:18:20.160 --> 0:18:22.160 then taken down. I don't know, or maybe it's still 0:18:22.160 --> 0:18:24.560 out there somewhere. But I did find a screenshot and 0:18:24.560 --> 0:18:26.480 I pulled that in and put it in our outline, 0:18:26.520 --> 0:18:29.040 so here you can see rob what the X Men 0:18:29.080 --> 0:18:32.119 fireplace looked like. I appreciate that this is more like 0:18:32.440 --> 0:18:33.959 a hand drawn animation style. 0:18:34.400 --> 0:18:36.760 Yes, yeah, very much in the style of X Men 0:18:36.880 --> 0:18:40.040 ninety seven, which is an amazing series. By the way, 0:18:40.320 --> 0:18:43.520 it hits really hard. I think it's must viewing for 0:18:43.560 --> 0:18:46.480 anyone who grew up with the nineties X Men cartoon. 0:18:46.920 --> 0:18:49.359 But I think I haven't tested this out yet, but 0:18:49.400 --> 0:18:51.600 I think you could also watch X Men ninety seven 0:18:51.680 --> 0:18:54.720 without having watched the original X Men series. I watched 0:18:54.760 --> 0:18:56.280 it with my kid and it was a lot of fun, 0:18:56.600 --> 0:18:58.720 and we've been talking about, well should we get mom 0:18:58.760 --> 0:19:02.200 in on the action as well? And I think there's 0:19:02.240 --> 0:19:03.800 I think you can get into it. That's my theory. 0:19:03.840 --> 0:19:05.800 I think you can watch X Men ninety seven with 0:19:06.000 --> 0:19:09.920 only just like a casual understanding of Marvel's X Men. 0:19:10.160 --> 0:19:13.200 Trying to see who's got stockings. The stockings have names 0:19:13.200 --> 0:19:17.640 on them here. Oh yeah, we have a stocking for Wolverine, Storm, Rogue, 0:19:18.040 --> 0:19:19.280 Gene Jeene Gray. 0:19:19.400 --> 0:19:22.280 And then who this says morph in Morph? Yeah, morph 0:19:22.440 --> 0:19:26.719 is a shape shifting mutants. Yes, I don't know if 0:19:26.720 --> 0:19:30.359 I knew morph Morph was in the in the original series. Okay, 0:19:30.359 --> 0:19:32.840 and has a I think a more prominent role in 0:19:32.880 --> 0:19:33.840 this one. Cool. 0:19:34.520 --> 0:19:37.920 Well, as I've said before on the show, I'm underfamiliar 0:19:38.000 --> 0:19:40.879 with the X Men cartoons, both old and new. I 0:19:40.880 --> 0:19:43.040 haven't seen this new one, and I didn't ever watch 0:19:43.119 --> 0:19:45.199 much of the old one, so I don't know as 0:19:45.280 --> 0:19:46.679 much as I would like to, But I don't know. 0:19:46.720 --> 0:19:49.800 It looks fun, I like the visual style. I'd like 0:19:49.840 --> 0:19:50.440 to check it out. 0:19:50.800 --> 0:19:53.560 Yeah, yeah, it's solid. Let's see what else? Oh? And 0:19:53.640 --> 0:19:56.640 then this is the This is also from Mike, Right, 0:19:56.720 --> 0:20:00.440 Mike sent something that sent over something that aw wrestler dead. 0:20:00.880 --> 0:20:04.400 It's a video of one hangman Adam Page sipping whiskey 0:20:04.440 --> 0:20:07.000 in front of a burning house that's serving as a 0:20:07.040 --> 0:20:10.600 yule log. I didn't I personally don't follow wrestling as 0:20:10.640 --> 0:20:12.520 much these days, so I don't know what the context 0:20:12.600 --> 0:20:17.720 is for this. But still, anything within in the virtual 0:20:17.800 --> 0:20:22.800 Christmas Hearth domain, I'm all for it. Oh, and this 0:20:23.000 --> 0:20:25.399 just springs to mind as well. I didn't think to 0:20:25.440 --> 0:20:27.240 mention this earlier, but when we were talking about like 0:20:27.280 --> 0:20:32.840 spinoffs of virtual hearts, digital hearths and fireplaces and indeed 0:20:32.920 --> 0:20:37.480 yule Logs Adult Swims yule Log from twenty twenty two, 0:20:37.840 --> 0:20:41.080 it's like a horror movie that begins as a yule 0:20:41.119 --> 0:20:44.399 Log video feed and then it evolves into a horror movie. 0:20:44.640 --> 0:20:48.400 Oh yeah, my pal nick A Katanawat did the original 0:20:48.400 --> 0:20:50.840 score for it. This is the same bunch that also 0:20:51.000 --> 0:20:54.320 did Too Many Cooks a few years I think a 0:20:54.320 --> 0:20:55.360 couple of years before that. 0:20:55.520 --> 0:21:00.280 So similar vein so like fireplace for your home in 0:21:00.320 --> 0:21:03.680 the style of Too Many Cooks. Exactly, Yes, perfect, that's 0:21:03.720 --> 0:21:04.320 what I want. 0:21:05.400 --> 0:21:07.600 In speaking of what we want, I was also thinking. 0:21:07.800 --> 0:21:10.200 We talked a little bit about this when we discussed 0:21:10.280 --> 0:21:12.840 the movie Blue Sunshine and Weird House Cinema, which has 0:21:13.160 --> 0:21:17.320 a very notable horrific hearth sequence in it. These are 0:21:17.520 --> 0:21:20.000 some of my ideas. These are movies that we need 0:21:20.400 --> 0:21:25.240 digital hearth feeds. For Blue Sunshine, of course, The wicker 0:21:25.320 --> 0:21:29.320 Man obviously not quite a hearth, but fire Fellowship of 0:21:29.359 --> 0:21:32.600 the Ring seems just a no brainer. We need one 0:21:32.960 --> 0:21:37.880 of the Roaring Hop a hearth with the one ring 0:21:37.960 --> 0:21:40.800 in there, you know, staying nice and cool and shining, 0:21:40.880 --> 0:21:45.680 and maybe we can glimpse the script in the interior 0:21:45.720 --> 0:21:47.840