1 00:00:02,960 --> 00:00:05,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, production of My 2 00:00:05,480 --> 00:00:11,000 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind 3 00:00:11,240 --> 00:00:14,840 Speaker 1: listener mail. My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick, 4 00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:16,960 Speaker 1: and it's Monday, the day of the week that we 5 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:19,840 Speaker 1: read back some messages you've sent into the show account, 6 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:23,400 Speaker 1: which is, by the way, contact at stuff to Blow 7 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:25,239 Speaker 1: your Mind dot com. If you ever want to get 8 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:28,360 Speaker 1: in touch to share something interesting, if you have feedback 9 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:30,560 Speaker 1: on a recent episode, or if you just want to 10 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:33,080 Speaker 1: say hi, tell us your thoughts about the show or 11 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:36,520 Speaker 1: anything else, get in touch contact at stuff to Blow 12 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:40,320 Speaker 1: your Mind dot com. We have a bunch of messages 13 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:43,279 Speaker 1: in response to our series about whistling, and I think 14 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:46,320 Speaker 1: we should kick right off with this message from Joe. 15 00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:48,720 Speaker 1: Rob Do you mind if I read this one? Go 16 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 1: for it? Okay, this is Joe, just Jo, not like me. 17 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:00,560 Speaker 1: I've got any on there. So Joe says hello and 18 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:04,559 Speaker 1: good day. I was whistling while listening to Whistling Part 19 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:07,280 Speaker 1: one until you mentioned that you'd cover some of the 20 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:11,160 Speaker 1: superstitions about whistling. It just so happens that a lot 21 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:15,600 Speaker 1: of Southeast Asians believe that whistling attracts unwanted attention from 22 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:20,520 Speaker 1: supernatural beings, especially since it's currently the seventh Lunar Month 23 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:25,200 Speaker 1: a k a. Ghost Month. Although you've done many spooky episodes, 24 00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:27,959 Speaker 1: I don't think I've ever heard the Hungry Ghost month 25 00:01:28,040 --> 00:01:31,039 Speaker 1: mentioned on the podcast. In case you haven't heard about it, 26 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:34,279 Speaker 1: let me give you a short introduction. The seventh Lunar 27 00:01:34,319 --> 00:01:37,120 Speaker 1: month is when the gates of hell are opened and 28 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:40,360 Speaker 1: ghosts are allowed to roam the earth for thirty days. 29 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:44,440 Speaker 1: Spirits wander the mortal realm in search of entertainment and sustenance. 30 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:47,960 Speaker 1: This month is considered pretty inauspicious, and people in places 31 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:52,120 Speaker 1: like Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan will often avoid being outside 32 00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:55,680 Speaker 1: at night for fear of running a foul of mischievous spirits. 33 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:58,480 Speaker 1: Throughout the month, it's not uncommon to see offerings of 34 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:01,040 Speaker 1: food placed by the side of the road for hungry 35 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:04,920 Speaker 1: ghost ease. It's only polite that pedestrians avoid stepping over 36 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:07,520 Speaker 1: these offerings or getting too close to them, as this 37 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 1: might disrupt any feasting spirits. Malaysia and Singapore also have 38 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:15,400 Speaker 1: a tradition of setting up stages where performers are hired 39 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:19,400 Speaker 1: to sing and act for their invisible floaties. For this reason, 40 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:21,680 Speaker 1: the first few rows of chairs in the audience of 41 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:24,200 Speaker 1: any such stage are to be left empty in case 42 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:27,320 Speaker 1: these supernatural friend does want to take a seat and 43 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:31,079 Speaker 1: enjoy their foray back into the mortal world. Some places 44 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:34,480 Speaker 1: only celebrate the Hungry Ghost Festival, which is the fifteen 45 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:39,519 Speaker 1: of the seventh month. It's the twelfth of August. It's 46 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:43,480 Speaker 1: a day when food, jawsticks, paper money, prayers, and rituals 47 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:46,959 Speaker 1: are offered up to appease the restless roaming spirits. It's 48 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:49,720 Speaker 1: also common to see lights and candles placed on the 49 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:51,959 Speaker 1: side of the roads, as it is believed to help 50 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:55,880 Speaker 1: guide the spirits back into Hell. There are a slew 51 00:02:55,919 --> 00:02:59,960 Speaker 1: of superstitions related to Ghost Month. Loud sounds like whistle 52 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:03,560 Speaker 1: ling are believed to attract spirits. It has always been 53 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:06,720 Speaker 1: discouraged in Southeast Asia, but even more so during this 54 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:11,000 Speaker 1: spooky month. Other superstitions include not looking back over your 55 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:14,040 Speaker 1: shoulder to see if someone is yelling your name. This 56 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:17,200 Speaker 1: is because daois slash Buddhists believe that there's a tiny 57 00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:21,000 Speaker 1: invisible flame on each shoulder and on your head, creating 58 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:25,120 Speaker 1: a triangle of fire. This protects you from spooky encounters. 59 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:27,239 Speaker 1: But if you turn your head and look back over 60 00:03:27,280 --> 00:03:30,360 Speaker 1: your shoulder, you will extinguish one of the flames and 61 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:34,079 Speaker 1: this will open you up to hauntings slash ghostly things. 62 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:38,480 Speaker 1: Despite the spookiness of the whole month, Valentine's Day is 63 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:41,880 Speaker 1: celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh month. This day, 64 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:44,520 Speaker 1: known as cheese c, is about the tail of the 65 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:47,960 Speaker 1: cow herd and the weaver girl. They had a forbidden 66 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:51,160 Speaker 1: romance and were cast opposite sides of the Heavenly River. 67 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:55,680 Speaker 1: But every year on Cheese c a bridge of magpies 68 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:59,160 Speaker 1: forms over the river and allows the lovers to reunite 69 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:02,520 Speaker 1: for a brief moment. Mont Anyway, Ghost Month in two 70 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:07,400 Speaker 1: lasts until August. Until then, whistling, especially at night, is 71 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:10,960 Speaker 1: not encouraged. Less to lost ghost follow you home and 72 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:14,680 Speaker 1: take up residence in your abode. Stay spooky and stay safe, 73 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:19,400 Speaker 1: live along and prosper. Joe. Uh wow, what a wonderful email. 74 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:22,599 Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Joe, that that was fantastic. Yeah, 75 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:26,200 Speaker 1: those are some close encounters of the spooky kind for sure. Yeah, 76 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:28,760 Speaker 1: we've I guess we we've spoken a little bit about 77 00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:31,840 Speaker 1: hungry ghosts in the past, but yeah, we've never talking 78 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:35,080 Speaker 1: We've never spoken about about this month. So yeah, this 79 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:37,360 Speaker 1: is a wonderful email. This is exactly the kind of 80 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:40,360 Speaker 1: of stuff I love to hear from the listeners. Now, 81 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:42,440 Speaker 1: I guess this episode won't come out until after the 82 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:44,680 Speaker 1: Hungry Ghost Festival, which Joe says is going to be 83 00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:47,279 Speaker 1: on the twelfth of August, But you still got the 84 00:04:47,279 --> 00:04:49,440 Speaker 1: rest of the month to to to play around on 85 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:52,440 Speaker 1: the spooky side. True, and hey, on August twelve, the 86 00:04:52,480 --> 00:04:55,280 Speaker 1: Weird House Cinema is just, by happenstance, going to be 87 00:04:55,320 --> 00:05:06,360 Speaker 1: a really cool Taiwanese magical fantasy adventure film. Yeah, all right, 88 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:08,680 Speaker 1: here's another one. This one comes to us from Phil 89 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:11,760 Speaker 1: Phil right soon and says Hi, Robert and Joe. From 90 00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:14,080 Speaker 1: the moment I saw the topic of this week's episodes, 91 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:16,320 Speaker 1: I knew that I would want to write in. Whistling 92 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:18,240 Speaker 1: is something that has been very near and dear to 93 00:05:18,279 --> 00:05:20,920 Speaker 1: me for a long time. I first learned to make 94 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:23,279 Speaker 1: a single monotone sound when I was seven. I thought 95 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:25,520 Speaker 1: I was doing it wrong for a little while, and 96 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:29,160 Speaker 1: that's why I was monotone because my grandfather always used 97 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:32,360 Speaker 1: to whistle by pulling his lower jaw in and rounding 98 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:35,039 Speaker 1: his lips almost like he was about to play a flute. 99 00:05:35,279 --> 00:05:37,680 Speaker 1: I believe he would also suck air in to make 100 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:40,359 Speaker 1: in the noise rather than expel it, but don't quote 101 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:43,839 Speaker 1: me on that. I was always fascinated by this method 102 00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:46,880 Speaker 1: and never managed to replicate it myself. Apart from wishing 103 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:50,520 Speaker 1: to chime in with this bit about my grandfather's irregular technique, 104 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:53,359 Speaker 1: I also wanted to bring up something with regards to 105 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:56,400 Speaker 1: my own whistling. I am physically tongue tied. I have 106 00:05:56,520 --> 00:05:59,160 Speaker 1: encountered one other person in my life that is tongue tied, 107 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:01,559 Speaker 1: and they claimed to not be able to whistle because 108 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:03,359 Speaker 1: of it. I, on the other hand, love to whistle. 109 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:06,680 Speaker 1: I do it constantly and can even employ a bit 110 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:10,919 Speaker 1: of vibrato and possibly something that resembles double tonguing for 111 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:13,880 Speaker 1: really fast sections. It is a great way for me 112 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:17,000 Speaker 1: to quote unquote sing songs with female vocals or no 113 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:20,240 Speaker 1: vocals at all. Whistling is something I think I am 114 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:23,159 Speaker 1: quite good at. However, based on this one other person, 115 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:25,480 Speaker 1: I am curious why I can whistle with my tongue 116 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:27,880 Speaker 1: tied down to the bottom of my mouth but she couldn't. 117 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:31,159 Speaker 1: I'm also afraid that should I ever get my tongue 118 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:34,320 Speaker 1: tie cut so that I can actually do things normal 119 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:37,120 Speaker 1: people can the like lick an ice cream cone or 120 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:40,080 Speaker 1: blow bubbles with bubble gum, it will have an adverse 121 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:43,440 Speaker 1: effect on this thing that I love. However, maybe it won't. 122 00:06:43,839 --> 00:06:46,719 Speaker 1: Don't know and too afraid to try. Thank you for 123 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:49,200 Speaker 1: all of the episodes. You guys were the first podcast 124 00:06:49,279 --> 00:06:52,040 Speaker 1: show that I ever listened to. I obviously haven't stopped 125 00:06:52,279 --> 00:06:55,360 Speaker 1: and have no intention to do so anytime soon. All 126 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:59,320 Speaker 1: the best, phil ps. Some of my favorite songs to 127 00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:02,640 Speaker 1: whistle Think of Me from Phantom of the Opera sung 128 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:06,599 Speaker 1: by Sarah Brightman, Ship to Wreck by Florence and the Machine. 129 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:08,880 Speaker 1: I love that song. That's that goes on a lot 130 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:10,720 Speaker 1: on my playlists. Oh, I don't know that one, and 131 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:13,920 Speaker 1: I know think of Me. I know Phantom Breathe by 132 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:18,560 Speaker 1: Michelle Branch and Been Not Break by Vitamin String Quartet, 133 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:24,320 Speaker 1: a string quartet cover of a dashboard confessional song. I 134 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:27,920 Speaker 1: am also trying to teach myself the Whistling Caruso by 135 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:31,560 Speaker 1: Andrew Bird from the end of the movie The Muppets. 136 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:35,560 Speaker 1: This is proving to be challenging. Andrew Bird is a 137 00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:39,200 Speaker 1: is a mighty whistling musician. Some another listener got in 138 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:41,960 Speaker 1: touch about Andrew Bird songs that have whistling, A number 139 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:44,880 Speaker 1: of them, a lot of them do oh yeah. By 140 00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:47,520 Speaker 1: the way, I just in case anybody out there was 141 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:49,960 Speaker 1: as confused as me at first, I I was not 142 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:53,480 Speaker 1: familiar with the idea of uh with the idea of 143 00:07:53,640 --> 00:07:57,640 Speaker 1: tongue tie as an actual physical condition in the mouth. 144 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:01,440 Speaker 1: It's I'd always heard tongue tied as like a metaphorical expression, 145 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:04,480 Speaker 1: meaning like not knowing what to say. But tongue tie 146 00:08:04,520 --> 00:08:07,880 Speaker 1: is a real physical condition, also known as ankleo glossia 147 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:11,440 Speaker 1: and it. According to the Mayo Clinics page on it, 148 00:08:11,440 --> 00:08:14,720 Speaker 1: it's basically a condition that restricts the tongue's range of motion. 149 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:18,840 Speaker 1: Quote with tongue tie and unusually short, thick, or tight 150 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:22,600 Speaker 1: band of tissue, the lingual frenulum tethers the bottom of 151 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:24,960 Speaker 1: the tongue's tip to the floor of the mouth, so 152 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:28,080 Speaker 1: it may interfere with breastfeeding. Someone who has tongue tie 153 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:31,239 Speaker 1: might have difficulty sticking out his or her tongue. Tongue 154 00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:33,920 Speaker 1: tie can also affect the way a child eats, speaks, 155 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:38,120 Speaker 1: or swallows and it also says that sometimes this condition 156 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:41,560 Speaker 1: might require surgical procedures for correction, but other times it 157 00:08:41,640 --> 00:08:44,760 Speaker 1: doesn't cause enough problems, so it's just left how it is. 158 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:52,520 Speaker 1: All right, Well, thanks for writing in Phil. Okay, here's 159 00:08:52,559 --> 00:08:57,320 Speaker 1: a message from Randy reporting from Mexico saying that that 160 00:08:57,400 --> 00:09:01,120 Speaker 1: they just finished our part three of our whistling series 161 00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:04,200 Speaker 1: and says, quote, you were mentioning the idea of whistling 162 00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:06,680 Speaker 1: is a form of contempt and that it might have 163 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:09,040 Speaker 1: been a practice in olden days. I think we were 164 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:12,120 Speaker 1: talking about those papers saying that like in the English theater, 165 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:15,680 Speaker 1: for example, you would whistle to show like I don't 166 00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:18,160 Speaker 1: like what is being said. Oh. In fact, that also 167 00:09:18,200 --> 00:09:20,560 Speaker 1: goes back to Roman times, the idea that there would 168 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:22,760 Speaker 1: be shepherd whistles in the audience if they didn't like 169 00:09:22,760 --> 00:09:25,240 Speaker 1: what a speaker was saying. And I guess we were 170 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:28,400 Speaker 1: saying that it didn't We hadn't encountered that in American culture. 171 00:09:28,960 --> 00:09:31,040 Speaker 1: You know, if an audience whistles, that usually seems to 172 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:33,800 Speaker 1: be a sign of approval rather than disapproval. It's like, yeah, 173 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:39,160 Speaker 1: keep going, but a very thunderous supplies exactly. But Randy says, well, 174 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:42,120 Speaker 1: let me take you once again to Mexico, where you 175 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:46,880 Speaker 1: can still hear disapproving whistles among crowds alongside booing. It 176 00:09:47,040 --> 00:09:50,160 Speaker 1: usually mimics the way you would cuss at someone. Picture 177 00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:53,840 Speaker 1: the equivalent of an fu in Spanish, and then that 178 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:58,160 Speaker 1: is transposed to whistling. And then Randy shares video of 179 00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:02,040 Speaker 1: a cockatoo demon straighting what this sounds like? So it 180 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:05,400 Speaker 1: is the yeah, So it is the straight up Spanish 181 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:08,680 Speaker 1: phrase that is the equivalent of the English FU. But 182 00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:12,079 Speaker 1: it's like whistled in the same way that I demonstrated 183 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:14,280 Speaker 1: in one of our whistling episodes that I could sort 184 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:17,839 Speaker 1: of whistle the phrase, um, hello, nice to meet you, 185 00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:20,160 Speaker 1: and people would basically be able to know what I 186 00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:21,680 Speaker 1: was saying, or at least a lot of a lot 187 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:23,800 Speaker 1: of people might be able to figure it out just 188 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:27,040 Speaker 1: by the intonation of the whistling Uh. You can do 189 00:10:27,080 --> 00:10:29,960 Speaker 1: the same thing with vulgar phrases. So, according to Randy, 190 00:10:30,040 --> 00:10:39,960 Speaker 1: this happens in in unhappy Mexican audiences. Alright, This next 191 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:42,880 Speaker 1: one comes to us from Jamie Oh an important bit 192 00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:45,360 Speaker 1: of context. The subject line of this one is the 193 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:50,559 Speaker 1: strange death of whistling Scotland all right, well, Jamie writes, 194 00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:52,880 Speaker 1: Dear Robert and Joe, thank you as always for the 195 00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:55,920 Speaker 1: stimulating podcast. I've been greatly enjoying your series on whistling, 196 00:10:56,280 --> 00:10:58,960 Speaker 1: and while hearing about the decline of whistled languages around 197 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:00,760 Speaker 1: the world, I thought, when was the last time I 198 00:11:00,840 --> 00:11:03,840 Speaker 1: heard someone whistle a jaunty tune? When I was young, 199 00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:06,640 Speaker 1: whistling was, if not ubiquitous, at least common enough to 200 00:11:06,679 --> 00:11:10,679 Speaker 1: hear on a daily basis, especially amongst jobs whose practitioners 201 00:11:11,160 --> 00:11:13,720 Speaker 1: move around a lot during the day, with periods of 202 00:11:13,760 --> 00:11:18,240 Speaker 1: intermittent in forced slackness. Builders, plasterers, joiners, that kind of thing. 203 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:21,480 Speaker 1: Maybe that time is now occupied by playing with one's 204 00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:24,839 Speaker 1: phone and whistling is yet another casualty of the smartphone revolution. 205 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:27,000 Speaker 1: Or I may be wrong and there is a whole 206 00:11:27,080 --> 00:11:32,079 Speaker 1: genre of whistling TikTok in an aside by this episode, 207 00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:34,400 Speaker 1: have you ever thought of doing an episode on the 208 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:37,959 Speaker 1: world's most difficult language? Of course, language difficulty is a 209 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:41,560 Speaker 1: subjective concept and depends upon the native language of the learner. 210 00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:45,040 Speaker 1: That said, is someone who has learned French, Japanese and 211 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:48,240 Speaker 1: Arabic and had to go at Russian and Scottish Gaelic. 212 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:51,360 Speaker 1: I would say that the latter was actually the hardest. 213 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:55,280 Speaker 1: I wonder what would be the optimum combination of difficult 214 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:59,360 Speaker 1: features from various languages. The system of tents in aspects 215 00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:03,920 Speaker 1: of English, the Hansi ideograms of Chinese, the extensive tones 216 00:12:03,960 --> 00:12:08,320 Speaker 1: of Vietnamese, the challenging voiced glottal stop of Arabic or Hebrew, 217 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:11,560 Speaker 1: or the clicks of various Southern African languages might be 218 00:12:11,679 --> 00:12:15,440 Speaker 1: fun to play around. Keep up the good work, Jamie, Yeah, 219 00:12:15,480 --> 00:12:17,680 Speaker 1: that's a really interesting idea. I mean, I know different 220 00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:22,199 Speaker 1: languages have different things that present problems that I don't 221 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:23,960 Speaker 1: know if this is true, but I mean I've heard 222 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:26,480 Speaker 1: it characterized that one of the most difficult things about 223 00:12:26,559 --> 00:12:31,560 Speaker 1: learning English, uh is the lack of regularity in in 224 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:35,520 Speaker 1: the way like uh, grammar and word forms, work and stuff. 225 00:12:35,559 --> 00:12:39,960 Speaker 1: English is sort of a highly chaotic and irregular language, 226 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:42,040 Speaker 1: whereas I think with other things it would be Yeah, 227 00:12:42,040 --> 00:12:45,160 Speaker 1: you'd have to learn, like if you're not already familiar 228 00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:48,720 Speaker 1: with tonal languages. I'm sure learning a tonal language from 229 00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:51,679 Speaker 1: only a non tonal background has got to be incredibly hard. 230 00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:54,800 Speaker 1: But yeah, this is a great idea. Certainly we'd love 231 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:56,800 Speaker 1: to We're all would love to come back and do 232 00:12:56,960 --> 00:13:00,440 Speaker 1: a linguistic episodes, so it might be an area to 233 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:08,400 Speaker 1: consider for the future. Okay, we got one message that 234 00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:12,040 Speaker 1: was about story machines from Trey and this one, this 235 00:13:12,080 --> 00:13:16,319 Speaker 1: one legitimately made me laugh out loud. So remember how 236 00:13:16,360 --> 00:13:19,160 Speaker 1: in the previous that we were talking about when you 237 00:13:19,200 --> 00:13:21,400 Speaker 1: feed stuff into the story machine that makes it put 238 00:13:21,400 --> 00:13:24,560 Speaker 1: out not really something that's not really a story, like 239 00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:28,720 Speaker 1: the ones that instead turned into ads for books or something, 240 00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:32,679 Speaker 1: And this was one of those. So Trey says, Hi, Rob, Seth, 241 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:35,360 Speaker 1: and Joe I work at a staffing company and I'm 242 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:37,200 Speaker 1: also a big fan of stuff to blow your mind. 243 00:13:37,559 --> 00:13:40,120 Speaker 1: I used the story machine dot net generator to make 244 00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:43,560 Speaker 1: a mock ad. The title was part time Jobs, eight 245 00:13:43,559 --> 00:13:46,880 Speaker 1: hour shifts. The prompt was we have good paying part 246 00:13:46,920 --> 00:13:50,240 Speaker 1: time jobs. Below is what the robot wrote, we have 247 00:13:50,360 --> 00:13:53,280 Speaker 1: good paying part time jobs. I get paid thirteen dollars 248 00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:55,760 Speaker 1: an hour. My husband gets paid twelve dollars an hour, 249 00:13:56,120 --> 00:13:58,600 Speaker 1: but our hours are cut back to eight hours a day. 250 00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:01,400 Speaker 1: We are only paid for eight hours. We are only 251 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:04,120 Speaker 1: paid for the hours we work. We are not paid 252 00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:06,600 Speaker 1: for the hours we are off. We are only paid 253 00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:09,000 Speaker 1: for the hours we are working. We are only paid 254 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:11,400 Speaker 1: for the hours we are at our job. We're only 255 00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:14,079 Speaker 1: paid for the hours we are working. We're only paid 256 00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:16,199 Speaker 1: for the hours we were at our job. We are 257 00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:18,240 Speaker 1: only paid for the hours we were at our job. 258 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:20,920 Speaker 1: We're only paid for the hours we are at our job. 259 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:23,120 Speaker 1: We are only paid for the hours we were at 260 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:25,560 Speaker 1: our job. We are only paid for the hours we 261 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:27,840 Speaker 1: are at our job. We are only paid for the 262 00:14:27,880 --> 00:14:31,000 Speaker 1: hours we are at our job. Wow, it kind of 263 00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:36,000 Speaker 1: got stuck there, didn't got broken yet you destroyed its mind, 264 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:38,960 Speaker 1: Trey says, I think you could read the last half 265 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:42,560 Speaker 1: where it begins repeating six times the same sentence six 266 00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:45,640 Speaker 1: times as a droning chant. This sounds like a creepy 267 00:14:45,680 --> 00:14:48,520 Speaker 1: short story about part time workers who hate their jobs 268 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:54,480 Speaker 1: or our zombies. Thanks Trey, that was pretty great. Um. Yeah, 269 00:14:54,520 --> 00:14:56,360 Speaker 1: there's so many there's so many fun things to do 270 00:14:56,480 --> 00:15:00,200 Speaker 1: with this um, with this interface. Um, and I not 271 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:04,560 Speaker 1: thought about a mock at but that's that's brilliant. Oh. 272 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:06,840 Speaker 1: This may also have been springboarding off the one in 273 00:15:06,920 --> 00:15:09,560 Speaker 1: the previous listener mail that was a story about the 274 00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:22,040 Speaker 1: bank that sends its customers to hell. All right, we 275 00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:25,520 Speaker 1: have a little bit of weird house cinema mail here 276 00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:28,080 Speaker 1: to to look at this first first one here It 277 00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:32,040 Speaker 1: comes to us from Dan the subject Plan nine, weird House. 278 00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:36,520 Speaker 1: Dear Robin, Joe. I love this episode. Plan nine from 279 00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:39,200 Speaker 1: Outer Space, along with Halloween three Season of The Witch 280 00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:41,680 Speaker 1: are two movies that I think we're custom made for 281 00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:44,800 Speaker 1: weird house cinema. I loved hearing Joe's personal story about 282 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:47,320 Speaker 1: he and his wife fell in love after watching Plan 283 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:50,320 Speaker 1: nine on a bootleg VHS tape in high school. I 284 00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:52,760 Speaker 1: first saw Plan nine from Outer Space in college on 285 00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:55,960 Speaker 1: Turner Classic Movies late at night. This was after I 286 00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:58,640 Speaker 1: had seen Tim Burton's ed Wood, which is one of 287 00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:01,520 Speaker 1: my favorite movies, and I, of course had heard about 288 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:05,280 Speaker 1: how it was consistently ranked as the worst movie ever made, 289 00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:07,120 Speaker 1: so I was curious to see what it was like. 290 00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:10,440 Speaker 1: Is it really that bad? I remember thinking that while yes, 291 00:16:10,520 --> 00:16:12,960 Speaker 1: the acting is terrible, the dialogue doesn't make any sense, 292 00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:15,960 Speaker 1: and it's and is overwritten and clumsy. Something over there, 293 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:19,040 Speaker 1: but I'll be over here. Nothing matches. The effects and 294 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:22,800 Speaker 1: set design are so cheap, the airplane cockpit, but I 295 00:16:22,880 --> 00:16:25,880 Speaker 1: was still charmed and somewhat entertained by it certainly not 296 00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:28,440 Speaker 1: the worst movie I had ever seen, which begs the 297 00:16:28,520 --> 00:16:31,840 Speaker 1: question something I thought you might go into a more discussion. 298 00:16:32,560 --> 00:16:34,680 Speaker 1: If Plan nine from Outer Space is really the worst 299 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:36,960 Speaker 1: movie ever made? Why do so many people still find 300 00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:41,320 Speaker 1: it fascinating, entertaining, fun to talk about, and his referenced 301 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:43,720 Speaker 1: in other forms of media. Shouldn't the worst movie ever? 302 00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:47,720 Speaker 1: Maybe something no one ever remembers is boring, is grossly 303 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:52,360 Speaker 1: cynical and a commercial sense fun fact, Plan nine has 304 00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:56,840 Speaker 1: never been on IMDBs bottom one d. I also wondered 305 00:16:56,840 --> 00:17:00,120 Speaker 1: if maybe the Criswell predicts scene at the beginning and 306 00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:03,360 Speaker 1: whenever he went on the Tonight Show was what Conan 307 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:07,199 Speaker 1: O'Brien was parading on his original late night show with 308 00:17:07,280 --> 00:17:10,000 Speaker 1: the recurring segment in the year two thousand where he 309 00:17:10,080 --> 00:17:13,760 Speaker 1: and a guest made ridiculous predictions about the future. Finally, 310 00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:16,800 Speaker 1: are you familiar with the song Plan nine Channel seven 311 00:17:16,840 --> 00:17:20,280 Speaker 1: by the British punk proto goth band The Damned, which, 312 00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:24,679 Speaker 1: according to lead singer Dave Vanian, was was written about 313 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:29,679 Speaker 1: Vampira link here and they include the link and then 314 00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:32,119 Speaker 1: Dan finishes everything up by saying thank you for the 315 00:17:32,119 --> 00:17:35,719 Speaker 1: countless hours of podcasting about the strange and the unusual. Future. 316 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:38,200 Speaker 1: Podcasts such as these will affect you in the future, 317 00:17:38,320 --> 00:17:40,840 Speaker 1: my friends, because that is where we will be spending 318 00:17:41,119 --> 00:17:45,760 Speaker 1: the rest of our lives. Uh. That song by the 319 00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:48,840 Speaker 1: Damned is great Channel nine with shades of Grade too 320 00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:52,040 Speaker 1: Close but two worlds Away, Plan nine her Domain, too 321 00:17:52,080 --> 00:17:54,560 Speaker 1: close but two worlds away. Yeah. I don't think I 322 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:56,600 Speaker 1: was familiar with this track, but I just I just 323 00:17:56,640 --> 00:17:59,639 Speaker 1: gave it a quick listen, and uh, yeah, like the 324 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:03,480 Speaker 1: vibe here. But regarding the whole like worst movie ever made? Thing, 325 00:18:03,560 --> 00:18:06,920 Speaker 1: I have heard people say that about Plan nine. I 326 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:09,400 Speaker 1: I don't know. Well, I hesitate to say this because 327 00:18:09,600 --> 00:18:11,920 Speaker 1: it is a podcast and somebody might surface a clip 328 00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:13,760 Speaker 1: of me saying the opposite. But I think I think 329 00:18:13,840 --> 00:18:17,240 Speaker 1: I usually shy away from things like the worst movie 330 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:20,040 Speaker 1: ever made, unless I'm just trying to be funny, because 331 00:18:20,080 --> 00:18:23,560 Speaker 1: I mean, obviously, not only are things like that subjective, 332 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:25,760 Speaker 1: I mean, of course, but that seems like a weird 333 00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:28,400 Speaker 1: thing to even try to say from your own personal 334 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:32,000 Speaker 1: point of view, because, uh, the badness of a movie 335 00:18:32,160 --> 00:18:36,840 Speaker 1: encompasses so many different ways of thinking about a movie. Yeah, so, like, 336 00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:39,200 Speaker 1: what would you really be looking for? Does it mean 337 00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:43,000 Speaker 1: like the movie that made you the most unhappy by watching, 338 00:18:43,119 --> 00:18:45,560 Speaker 1: or you know, it's it's hard to figure out what 339 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:49,679 Speaker 1: that even really means. Yeah, the worst can cover a 340 00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:52,920 Speaker 1: lot of ground. And I can think of various examples 341 00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:55,560 Speaker 1: of films that I'm I might think of as the 342 00:18:55,600 --> 00:18:58,399 Speaker 1: worst in the sense that I do not like them. Yeah, 343 00:18:59,040 --> 00:19:01,240 Speaker 1: and and then they're ms that I can't even tell 344 00:19:01,280 --> 00:19:03,600 Speaker 1: you that I don't like them because I don't remember them. 345 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:06,399 Speaker 1: And perhaps those are the worst because yeah, as as 346 00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:10,000 Speaker 1: Dan alluded to, like the unmemorable films, films they don't 347 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:13,080 Speaker 1: move you one way or another, like, those are probably 348 00:19:13,119 --> 00:19:16,000 Speaker 1: the worst. Those are ones where you just have lost 349 00:19:16,119 --> 00:19:19,040 Speaker 1: hours of time in your life that you'll never get back, 350 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:22,400 Speaker 1: whereas something like Plan nine from Outer Space. I mean, 351 00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:25,240 Speaker 1: it's it's it's a riot, it's it's fun to watch. 352 00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:28,119 Speaker 1: It's I find movies like this thought provoking in ways 353 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:33,120 Speaker 1: that that that quote unquote intelligent films sometimes are not. 354 00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:36,600 Speaker 1: You know, uh, there's uh. That's one of the things 355 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:40,000 Speaker 1: that keeps coming, it keeps pulling me back to them, 356 00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:43,879 Speaker 1: is that almost it's almost like the gaps, the flaws 357 00:19:43,880 --> 00:19:47,760 Speaker 1: and these pictures, they they give you room to to 358 00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:50,919 Speaker 1: to think creatively about them, to try and stitch together 359 00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:54,080 Speaker 1: that which is not well connected and so forth. Yeah, 360 00:19:54,160 --> 00:19:57,560 Speaker 1: totally agree with all of that. I would say that 361 00:19:57,920 --> 00:20:00,320 Speaker 1: I think Plan not people might be tempted to say 362 00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:03,560 Speaker 1: Plan nine is the worst movie ever made in a 363 00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:05,520 Speaker 1: way that I think what they mean is like it's 364 00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:10,919 Speaker 1: the worst, It's like the most remarkably interestingly bad movie 365 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:14,440 Speaker 1: ever made. They're saying it's like notable for its badness 366 00:20:14,440 --> 00:20:18,080 Speaker 1: in the sense, not like execrable because of its badness. Yeah, 367 00:20:18,119 --> 00:20:20,880 Speaker 1: I mean, ultimately it's it's lovingly bad, like you can 368 00:20:20,920 --> 00:20:24,800 Speaker 1: embrace the quote unquote badness of Plan nine from outer space. 369 00:20:25,520 --> 00:20:28,560 Speaker 1: Uh it's uh yeah, there are there are plenty of 370 00:20:28,600 --> 00:20:30,159 Speaker 1: films that if you actually had to come up with 371 00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:32,040 Speaker 1: a list of like what are the worst? Like what 372 00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:34,920 Speaker 1: are I mean? That would just be an unpleasant experience 373 00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:37,520 Speaker 1: to even try and put together that list of films, 374 00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:41,600 Speaker 1: because there's some real dogs out there. Yeah, I do remember. 375 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:44,199 Speaker 1: So I have long been a person who, you know, 376 00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:46,720 Speaker 1: my friends knew I loved bad movies, and they would 377 00:20:46,720 --> 00:20:49,720 Speaker 1: sometimes ask me like, well, what's the worst worst, not 378 00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:52,480 Speaker 1: the best, worst, but worst worst you've ever seen? I 379 00:20:52,520 --> 00:20:54,560 Speaker 1: probably wouldn't still stick by this, but for a long 380 00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:58,720 Speaker 1: time I said my answer was a movie called Beaks, 381 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:04,000 Speaker 1: which is a Spanish horror movie by Renee Cardona Jr. 382 00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:07,639 Speaker 1: That's a rip off of Hitchcock's The Birds, but I 383 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:11,440 Speaker 1: remember that in a really like unique and profound way 384 00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:17,119 Speaker 1: causing intense physical and psychic pain. Uh. I think because 385 00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:20,400 Speaker 1: of a soundtrack issues like the I record It's been 386 00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:23,280 Speaker 1: forever since I've seen it, but the remember the soundtrack 387 00:21:23,359 --> 00:21:29,240 Speaker 1: was like one excruciating, droning high synthesizer note held down 388 00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:35,080 Speaker 1: for for minutes at a time. Yeah. Yeah, I haven't 389 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:38,920 Speaker 1: seen the film in question, but I can imagine where 390 00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:42,320 Speaker 1: there's a negative sonic experience that tied up with it 391 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:45,600 Speaker 1: that you could certainly a case could be made. I 392 00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:48,119 Speaker 1: was watching it with some friends and I remember at 393 00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:52,320 Speaker 1: one point I was like, in such misery I literally 394 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:55,639 Speaker 1: like rolled out of my chair onto the floor. But 395 00:21:57,000 --> 00:22:01,480 Speaker 1: to consider the IMDb bottom one ranking, like, if you 396 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:04,240 Speaker 1: go to that page and I'm looking at it right now, 397 00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:07,840 Speaker 1: there's some tremendously fun stuff on here. There's there's stuff 398 00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:11,760 Speaker 1: like Santa Claus versus the Martians. Uh oh what else 399 00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:15,720 Speaker 1: we have? Troll too is on here, hob Goblins, um, 400 00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:20,160 Speaker 1: lots of stuff. A battle Battlefield Earth Is is pretty 401 00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:22,960 Speaker 1: high or low ranking on the list. Yeah, the movies 402 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:26,680 Speaker 1: that get featured on these things. Again, there there's obviously 403 00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:30,640 Speaker 1: no like unified objective criteria on which to judge these things. 404 00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:33,720 Speaker 1: But the movies that get identified as the worst of 405 00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:36,960 Speaker 1: all time tend to be maybe not because they're actually 406 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:39,520 Speaker 1: the worst, but because they're the worst in the most 407 00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:46,200 Speaker 1: notable ways, meaning they're especially entertainingly bad, or they were like, uh, 408 00:22:46,359 --> 00:22:50,239 Speaker 1: notorious in some way like very high profile, uh like 409 00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:54,000 Speaker 1: big budget flops or something. Yeah, yeah, I mean, and 410 00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:56,040 Speaker 1: to be clear, there are definitely some films on here 411 00:22:56,080 --> 00:23:00,360 Speaker 1: that I absolutely will not say and you're not having nuts. 412 00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:02,679 Speaker 1: You're not gonna get me to sit down for super 413 00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:07,040 Speaker 1: Babies baby Geniuses too. Yeah, but you know, there's there's 414 00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:08,880 Speaker 1: plenty of There's there's some other stuff I on here. 415 00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:11,080 Speaker 1: I could be talked into, Like, you know, I don't 416 00:23:11,119 --> 00:23:16,480 Speaker 1: know that I necessarily need to see in the name 417 00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:25,040 Speaker 1: of the King of Dungeon Siege Tail Theater. Goodness, it's 418 00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:28,080 Speaker 1: got Burt Reynolds in it. Oh, that's right. It had 419 00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:31,840 Speaker 1: an impressive castor But anyway, yes. To come back to 420 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:34,320 Speaker 1: Plan nine, I would say Plan nine from Outer Space 421 00:23:34,359 --> 00:23:38,280 Speaker 1: definitely not the worst movie ever made. Uh and and 422 00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:41,439 Speaker 1: and really ultimately a very fun film and not a 423 00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:43,399 Speaker 1: boring film at all, and not a dull moment in 424 00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:51,320 Speaker 1: that film. Okay, one last message from Lawrence. This one 425 00:23:51,359 --> 00:23:53,800 Speaker 1: also has to do with Plan nine from Outer Space. 426 00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:57,520 Speaker 1: I asked people with the experience in the film industry. 427 00:23:57,320 --> 00:24:00,480 Speaker 1: I had this this idea that it seems like even 428 00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:04,719 Speaker 1: bad movies these days generally don't have the level of 429 00:24:04,840 --> 00:24:07,880 Speaker 1: technical incompetence that you see in a lot of bad 430 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:11,080 Speaker 1: movies of you know, the fifties or sixties. Uh, the 431 00:24:11,119 --> 00:24:13,880 Speaker 1: way that, for example, in in Plan nine from Matter Space, 432 00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:17,560 Speaker 1: they're just like mismatched day night shots. It cuts randomly 433 00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:20,040 Speaker 1: back and forth between them, or that uh you know 434 00:24:20,119 --> 00:24:22,800 Speaker 1: bell Bella Legos, he walks out of frame and then 435 00:24:22,800 --> 00:24:25,000 Speaker 1: he supposedly gets hit by a car, but he's just 436 00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:27,720 Speaker 1: standing there and you see his shadow falling into frame, 437 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:32,240 Speaker 1: not moving. So my idea was, like, movie, there's still 438 00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:34,520 Speaker 1: tons of bad movies these days, but there's like a 439 00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:38,919 Speaker 1: baseline level of professionalism in the film industry that usually 440 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:41,919 Speaker 1: seems to prevent stuff like that. From happening anymore, and 441 00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:45,040 Speaker 1: that bad movies these days tend to be more failures 442 00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:49,000 Speaker 1: of creative imagination. Um, but I was wondering. Okay, people 443 00:24:49,040 --> 00:24:52,040 Speaker 1: with experience, what do you think about this? Lawrence says, 444 00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:54,679 Speaker 1: your recent episode on Plan nine from Outer Space was 445 00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:57,600 Speaker 1: a treat on the topic of modern bad movies not 446 00:24:57,680 --> 00:25:00,720 Speaker 1: having technical mistakes. I will chime in with and agree 447 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:04,600 Speaker 1: and disagree. I don't know how mainstream Plan nine would 448 00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:06,639 Speaker 1: have been at the time, but I can think of 449 00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:10,760 Speaker 1: some recent micro budget direct to streaming movies available alongside 450 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:16,399 Speaker 1: actual studio fare, which contained glaring technical problems. It feels rarer, though, 451 00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:20,160 Speaker 1: and with anyone able to create basic effects from their computer, 452 00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:25,359 Speaker 1: the line between poorly executed and error seems blurry. Case 453 00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:29,240 Speaker 1: in point, any Neil Breen movie, that's that's a great example, Rob. 454 00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:30,840 Speaker 1: I don't know if you're familiar with Neil, but I 455 00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:33,520 Speaker 1: was not familiar with him until looking at this email. 456 00:25:33,560 --> 00:25:37,200 Speaker 1: I pulled up his IMDb page, and that's a that's 457 00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:40,119 Speaker 1: a rabbit hole. Maybe for us one day, maybe not 458 00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:44,560 Speaker 1: for the show. They're they're they're sort of recent, but yeah, 459 00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:49,440 Speaker 1: he has a movie called I Am Here Now, in 460 00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:53,600 Speaker 1: which Neil Breen is sort of a an all around filmmaker, 461 00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:56,120 Speaker 1: kind of an ed Edward D. Wood Jr. Sort of guy, 462 00:25:56,200 --> 00:26:00,280 Speaker 1: and that he writes, directs and produces his own stuff. Uh, 463 00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:04,000 Speaker 1: and it's for example, he really likes, I think, to 464 00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:07,119 Speaker 1: make movies where he plays like a hacker, you know. 465 00:26:07,240 --> 00:26:10,719 Speaker 1: So he does a movie called Double Down where he's like, 466 00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:14,160 Speaker 1: I can hack into any computer in the world anytime 467 00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:18,160 Speaker 1: with only a cell phone. But he just like sits 468 00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:22,200 Speaker 1: around in the desert eating tunic cans mostly, and it's 469 00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:28,560 Speaker 1: they're they're very bad. Yeah, the modern bad filmmaker is 470 00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:31,639 Speaker 1: is kind of hard to define. I mean, you have 471 00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:35,080 Speaker 1: you have some some standouts. You have stuff like like 472 00:26:35,119 --> 00:26:38,560 Speaker 1: Bird Dimic, you have The Room. Those are great examples 473 00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:41,640 Speaker 1: of more recent bad films. But yeah, the times it's 474 00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:45,159 Speaker 1: a lot more difficult. Like, um, I saw the first 475 00:26:45,359 --> 00:26:50,320 Speaker 1: film that Glenn Danzig directed, Veratica, came out in twenty nineteen, 476 00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:54,239 Speaker 1: and I wanted it to be worse than it was 477 00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:57,720 Speaker 1: in a way that was entertaining, and um it was. 478 00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:00,520 Speaker 1: It was just very lukewarm for me, Like it wasn't 479 00:27:01,320 --> 00:27:05,560 Speaker 1: what wasn't enough in in any direction. So I don't know, 480 00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:11,000 Speaker 1: maybe he will get better or worse because you are 481 00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:13,439 Speaker 1: neither hot nor cold, I will spew you out of 482 00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:15,840 Speaker 1: my mouth. Yeah, Like I've got to end up having 483 00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:21,800 Speaker 1: some sort of reaction other than boredom with these things. Uh. Yeah, 484 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:24,400 Speaker 1: it comes comes back to something we often talk about, like, well, 485 00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:26,399 Speaker 1: like why why do we select the films we select 486 00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:30,960 Speaker 1: for weird al cinema? There's they very greatly in in 487 00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:35,200 Speaker 1: genre and scope and budget and time period. But there's 488 00:27:35,240 --> 00:27:38,000 Speaker 1: there's something there's at least that one thing about the 489 00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:40,399 Speaker 1: film that's interesting. So you've got to have like that 490 00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:43,720 Speaker 1: one performance or that one plot element, right, There's got 491 00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:47,200 Speaker 1: to be something there that is that is sparking curiosity 492 00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:50,760 Speaker 1: and desire. But anyway, Lawrence, I do agree with you that, Yeah, 493 00:27:50,840 --> 00:27:53,040 Speaker 1: it becomes more difficult to sort out this thing I 494 00:27:53,119 --> 00:27:55,760 Speaker 1: was talking about when you take into account just truly 495 00:27:55,840 --> 00:27:58,680 Speaker 1: amateur movies like Neil Breen movies you know that are 496 00:27:58,920 --> 00:28:02,640 Speaker 1: not really being made by professionals. Oh and then finally, 497 00:28:02,840 --> 00:28:06,080 Speaker 1: Lawrence says. Lawrence says he was doing some he was 498 00:28:06,119 --> 00:28:10,000 Speaker 1: messing around some with the story machines thing, and he 499 00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:12,639 Speaker 1: wanted to share a couple one This one I thought 500 00:28:12,720 --> 00:28:16,560 Speaker 1: was actually extremely haunting. So the title he gave it 501 00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:19,199 Speaker 1: here is flat Land, which is also the name of 502 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:22,359 Speaker 1: a novel. Did you ever read flat Land? Rob? Oh? 503 00:28:22,480 --> 00:28:24,240 Speaker 1: You know, I don't think I ever did. I'm familiar 504 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:26,720 Speaker 1: with it by reputation, but that's about it. It's a 505 00:28:26,920 --> 00:28:31,000 Speaker 1: It's a geometrical satirical novel that was by a guy 506 00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:34,080 Speaker 1: named Edwin Abbott that I read when I was in 507 00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:37,360 Speaker 1: high school and I thought it was very interesting. Uh 508 00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:41,040 Speaker 1: So I haven't revisited it since then, but high school 509 00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:45,000 Speaker 1: me was impressed. So this story goes title flat Land. 510 00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:48,840 Speaker 1: A door is graffitied on a wall. It's just a drawing, 511 00:28:49,440 --> 00:28:52,400 Speaker 1: but when you press on the drawing, it opens. The 512 00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:54,920 Speaker 1: door is a jar and you can see the inside. 513 00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:58,600 Speaker 1: It's a dark and dusty room. There's a single bed 514 00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:01,840 Speaker 1: in the corner. There's a chair and a desk. There's 515 00:29:01,880 --> 00:29:04,680 Speaker 1: a broken window, and there's a man in the bed. 516 00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:08,640 Speaker 1: He's sick, he's dying. The man in the bed A 517 00:29:08,680 --> 00:29:15,640 Speaker 1: is you bum bum bom? Yeah, we're straight up two 518 00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:18,840 Speaker 1: thousand and one. I love it. Oh, I thought you 519 00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:22,840 Speaker 1: no offense. I thought for a second you were doing 520 00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:27,480 Speaker 1: the theme from Independence Day. How does that relate? I 521 00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:30,360 Speaker 1: don't know, but it's good. I should have gone bum 522 00:29:30,400 --> 00:29:37,960 Speaker 1: bum bum bom. Oh dude, Well that's a pretty good one, Lawrence. 523 00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:42,720 Speaker 1: That's pretty good. Yes, all right, Well, I think we're 524 00:29:42,760 --> 00:29:44,680 Speaker 1: going to close up the mail bag for today. But 525 00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:46,920 Speaker 1: this has been fun and we'll be back next week 526 00:29:47,080 --> 00:29:49,760 Speaker 1: to discuss some more listener mails, so keep it coming. Well, 527 00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:52,840 Speaker 1: we'll continue to have some stuff coming about whistling. Uh 528 00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:56,480 Speaker 1: we're not cinema episodes, some upcoming episodes of note uh 529 00:29:56,560 --> 00:29:59,680 Speaker 1: so yeah, right in, right in about old episodes anything, 530 00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:03,360 Speaker 1: it's Eric game. In the meantime, Yes, Listener mail publishes 531 00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:06,080 Speaker 1: on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. We have our core episodes 532 00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:07,800 Speaker 1: of Stuff to Blow Your Mind. On Wednesdays we do 533 00:30:07,880 --> 00:30:10,680 Speaker 1: Artifact or Monster Factor. On Friday. Well, that's when we 534 00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:13,080 Speaker 1: set aside most serious concerns and just talk about a 535 00:30:13,080 --> 00:30:16,440 Speaker 1: weird film. Huge thanks as always to our excellent audio 536 00:30:16,520 --> 00:30:19,600 Speaker 1: producer Seth Nicholas Johnson. If you would like to get 537 00:30:19,640 --> 00:30:22,120 Speaker 1: in touch with us with feedback on this episode or 538 00:30:22,120 --> 00:30:24,760 Speaker 1: any other, to suggest topic for the future, or just 539 00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:28,040 Speaker 1: to say hello, you can email us at contact at 540 00:30:28,080 --> 00:30:38,160 Speaker 1: stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow 541 00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:40,520 Speaker 1: Your Mind is a production of i heart Radio. 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