WEBVTT - Listener Mail: Union of the Snake 0:00:03.040 --> 0:00:06.080 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:10.520 --> 0:00:13.080 Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind a listener mail. 0:00:13.320 --> 0:00:14.520 This is Robert Lamb. 0:00:14.600 --> 0:00:17.720 And this is Joe McCormick. And it is Monday, the 0:00:17.800 --> 0:00:19.840 day of each week that we read back messages from 0:00:19.880 --> 0:00:23.040 the Stuff to Blow Your Mind mail bag. If you've 0:00:23.079 --> 0:00:25.200 never gotten in touch with us before, why not give 0:00:25.200 --> 0:00:27.560 it a try, give it a I was going to 0:00:27.600 --> 0:00:29.800 say try and chance, at the same time, I think 0:00:29.800 --> 0:00:32.400 I said give it a chie Uh yeah, well, why 0:00:32.440 --> 0:00:34.159 not give it a try or a chance or a 0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:38.479 chi at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. 0:00:38.720 --> 0:00:40.600 Whatever you want to send us, fair game. We of 0:00:40.600 --> 0:00:43.760 course always appreciate feedback on recent episodes, especially if you 0:00:43.840 --> 0:00:46.559 have something interesting to add to a topic we have 0:00:46.680 --> 0:00:49.840 talked about. I guess this is the first listener mail 0:00:49.920 --> 0:00:52.400 we're doing since the New Year, and we've got it. 0:00:52.440 --> 0:00:54.640 We've got a backlog. A lot of messages came in 0:00:55.120 --> 0:00:57.880 before we were out for the holidays, so so a 0:00:57.880 --> 0:01:00.440 lot of them have tags like happy Holidays and such. 0:01:00.520 --> 0:01:01.280 That is the reason. 0:01:01.680 --> 0:01:04.160 Yeah, Now, before we get into the mailbag proper, I'm 0:01:04.200 --> 0:01:05.640 gonna go ahead and throw a couple of things up 0:01:05.640 --> 0:01:08.880 here at the top of the episode. First of all, 0:01:09.360 --> 0:01:12.319 you know, we haven't really been hammering this in a while, 0:01:12.720 --> 0:01:15.920 but if you like the show, rate and review the 0:01:15.920 --> 0:01:17.800 show wherever you have the power to do so, that 0:01:18.200 --> 0:01:21.200 helps us out a nice gesture that you can do. 0:01:21.720 --> 0:01:23.560 Another thing, if you listen to the show on an 0:01:23.600 --> 0:01:26.560 Apple device through some sort of Apple app or what 0:01:26.680 --> 0:01:29.200 have you, go in there and check out the settings 0:01:29.200 --> 0:01:30.920 and all. Make sure that you are still subscribed to 0:01:30.959 --> 0:01:33.479 the show, make sure you're still getting downloads and so forth. 0:01:34.040 --> 0:01:37.319 Just another thing that our internal departments have told us 0:01:37.360 --> 0:01:39.399 to flag for listeners. 0:01:39.680 --> 0:01:41.920 And to be totally clear if you're wondering why, the 0:01:42.000 --> 0:01:46.560 reason is Apple sometimes stops auto downloads for people who 0:01:46.640 --> 0:01:49.320 are intending to be subscribed to the show, So that 0:01:49.400 --> 0:01:51.720 may have happened to you. Just make sure that you're 0:01:51.760 --> 0:01:53.840 still getting the automatic downloads that you want. 0:01:54.240 --> 0:01:56.440 Yeah, yeah, just make sure, yeah, everything is the way 0:01:56.480 --> 0:01:59.160 you want it to be. That's all we ask. All right, Joe, 0:01:59.200 --> 0:02:01.120 what do we have? What do you want to kick 0:02:01.120 --> 0:02:01.840 things off with? Here? 0:02:02.320 --> 0:02:04.880 Let's see, Well, maybe you should read the first one here, Rob, 0:02:04.960 --> 0:02:06.720 this is about your monster. 0:02:06.800 --> 0:02:07.080 Fact? 0:02:07.160 --> 0:02:10.000 Is this about DC's Dracula or some other kind of 0:02:10.280 --> 0:02:12.200 vampire related Monster fact. 0:02:12.600 --> 0:02:16.360 Oh yes, yes, yes, this one comes to us from Mike. 0:02:17.440 --> 0:02:19.440 It might be I think it might be your response 0:02:19.520 --> 0:02:21.239 to Yeah. I think it's a response to something on 0:02:21.280 --> 0:02:29.240 the Monster Fact so, Mike says, in this week's Monster 0:02:29.280 --> 0:02:33.280 Fact episode, you mentioned the mythos around vampire's obsession with counting. 0:02:33.880 --> 0:02:36.680 This also came up in last week's Doctor Who episode 0:02:36.680 --> 0:02:40.000 Wild Blue Yonder, the Doctor is able to delay two 0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:42.840 evil aliens by convincing them that they had to follow 0:02:42.880 --> 0:02:46.519 the rules of monsters in our universe, which includes vampires 0:02:46.720 --> 0:02:49.799 having to count the grains of salt. The Doctor poors 0:02:49.840 --> 0:02:52.680 on the floor in front of them. I also gained 0:02:52.680 --> 0:02:55.240 a new appreciation for Sesame Street from the episode of 0:02:55.320 --> 0:02:57.440 Monster Fact in last week's Doctor Who. I always thought 0:02:57.480 --> 0:03:01.560 the count you know one two was just a clever 0:03:01.639 --> 0:03:05.160 play on the word count and the name Count Dracula, 0:03:05.240 --> 0:03:07.800 but now I realize this character was actually based on 0:03:08.040 --> 0:03:12.880 real vampire mythos. Thanks for reading, Mike. So yeah, I 0:03:12.919 --> 0:03:15.800 think this was a talking about the magic of knots 0:03:16.120 --> 0:03:19.360 in this episode and about how you know you have 0:03:19.360 --> 0:03:22.120 this one. There are a lot of ideas regarding vampires 0:03:22.120 --> 0:03:26.520 and the sort of folkloric and fictional worlds, but you 0:03:26.560 --> 0:03:28.840 do encounter the idea that if you leave a complex 0:03:28.880 --> 0:03:31.560 not out, they will have to untie it and maybe 0:03:31.560 --> 0:03:33.840 they'll get caught up when the sun rises, and then 0:03:33.919 --> 0:03:38.040 you know, presto, they're burnt to a crisp or leaving 0:03:38.040 --> 0:03:40.840 out grains of something for them to count as another 0:03:40.960 --> 0:03:44.040 variation that they will be compelled to do so and 0:03:44.160 --> 0:03:46.200 it might delay their escape from the sun. 0:03:46.920 --> 0:03:49.800 That in itself is interesting, but I don't know if 0:03:49.840 --> 0:03:53.440 I've ever come across an explanation for like why vampires 0:03:53.560 --> 0:03:57.200 would be thought to display this obsessive, compulsive type behavior, 0:03:57.400 --> 0:03:59.720 the need to count or the need to untie. 0:04:01.240 --> 0:04:03.600 I'm not entirely sure either. But you see, you know 0:04:03.720 --> 0:04:07.520 variations of this and other creatures and other lures, and 0:04:07.560 --> 0:04:10.880 I think, particularly with knots, it comes down to like 0:04:10.960 --> 0:04:15.800 the just the very old magical tradition surrounding knots. We 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:18.000 talked about this in some of our core episodes as 0:04:18.000 --> 0:04:21.240 well recently. The idea that you know, on a very 0:04:21.279 --> 0:04:24.520 basic level in these in magical thinking, you know, to 0:04:24.880 --> 0:04:27.080 tie a knot is to transform something, it is to 0:04:27.160 --> 0:04:30.520 bind something. And when you extrapolate that through the world 0:04:30.560 --> 0:04:32.080 of magic. You know it can. It's something that can 0:04:32.080 --> 0:04:35.760 take place across time, across space. It can bind wills, 0:04:35.839 --> 0:04:39.280 it can bind souls, and it can command monsters. 0:04:40.839 --> 0:04:43.440 All Right, we got a bunch of messages in response 0:04:43.480 --> 0:04:46.440 to our series on Nott series. It was just one 0:04:46.440 --> 0:04:51.279 episode on rattings, the idea of rats that have become 0:04:51.360 --> 0:04:54.119 tangled at the tail or have their their tails tied 0:04:54.160 --> 0:04:56.200 in knots. I guess this actually connects to the same 0:04:56.279 --> 0:05:00.880 thing the episode where you were talking talking about knot 0:05:01.400 --> 0:05:03.200 and vampires having to untie knots. 0:05:03.640 --> 0:05:06.119 Would a vampire have to untie a rat king? Well, 0:05:06.360 --> 0:05:07.400 it remains to be seen. 0:05:07.760 --> 0:05:09.840 Good question. And of course one thing that came up 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:13.920 in the rat kings episode is the question of whether 0:05:14.160 --> 0:05:18.400 rat kings occur naturally or whether they are all of 0:05:18.839 --> 0:05:23.200 a combination of false reports and hoaxes. And I think 0:05:23.240 --> 0:05:26.200 we could not settle that question entirely, though I in 0:05:26.240 --> 0:05:29.400 the end was mostly persuaded by a couple of sources 0:05:29.400 --> 0:05:31.800 we were reading that came down on the side of 0:05:31.880 --> 0:05:35.640 rat kings probably do occur naturally. Probably it occurs when 0:05:36.240 --> 0:05:38.960 rats of a specific species of Rattus ratus, the black 0:05:39.040 --> 0:05:42.159 rat huddle together in a nest, they get their tails 0:05:42.360 --> 0:05:45.880 entangled and stuck together somehow, maybe stuck together with a 0:05:45.920 --> 0:05:50.360 sticky substance or frozen together somehow, and then they by 0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:53.080 their natural movements kind of make the problem worse and 0:05:53.160 --> 0:05:55.400 tie their tails in a knot, ultimately that they are 0:05:55.480 --> 0:05:58.680 unable to escape. But there's still a question as to 0:05:58.920 --> 0:06:01.680 whether this does happen in nature or whether it's people, 0:06:01.720 --> 0:06:04.080 you know, taking rats and doing some kind of weird 0:06:04.120 --> 0:06:08.520 surgery to them to create these Jenny Hannover type sort 0:06:08.560 --> 0:06:13.880 of taxidermy hoax objects. Jim has some commentary on that. 0:06:19.240 --> 0:06:22.559 Jim says, Hi, Robert and Joe, season's greetings to you both, 0:06:22.640 --> 0:06:25.359 your families and your listeners. Love the show. Been a 0:06:25.400 --> 0:06:29.080 long time listener from Canberra down Under. In regards to 0:06:29.120 --> 0:06:31.880 the rat king episode, I can see how very young 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:35.760 rats may get their tails tangled in a nest, especially 0:06:35.920 --> 0:06:38.920 if the nest is small and high populations of rats 0:06:39.120 --> 0:06:42.560 are inside the nest. But as an environmental and domestic 0:06:42.600 --> 0:06:47.040 pest controller, I've destroyed hundreds of nests and never seen 0:06:47.160 --> 0:06:50.160 this in a nest. I've used an arrangement of traps 0:06:50.160 --> 0:06:53.880 in order to control these populations. With this method, we 0:06:53.960 --> 0:06:57.680 will sometimes trap the rats by their tails, and one 0:06:57.760 --> 0:07:01.039 hundred percent of the time the rats will warning here 0:07:01.480 --> 0:07:06.000 gnaw off their tails. Why I'm a bit skeptical is 0:07:06.040 --> 0:07:09.800 that the tales range from juvenile tales to large adult tales. 0:07:10.160 --> 0:07:12.320 Just thought I would add my experience to this one. 0:07:12.560 --> 0:07:16.640 Take care and keep up the great work. Cheers Jim. Well, 0:07:16.640 --> 0:07:20.239 thanks Jim. That is interesting information, and I would wonder 0:07:20.280 --> 0:07:23.160 I guess, first of all, what species of rat your 0:07:23.280 --> 0:07:26.880 experiences are with, because, as I was saying a minute ago, 0:07:27.000 --> 0:07:30.360 basically all of the credible reports of rat kings are 0:07:30.480 --> 0:07:34.240 Rattus ratus, aka the black rat, and not some other species. 0:07:34.720 --> 0:07:38.840 So if it's true that Ratus ratus will somehow gnaw 0:07:38.960 --> 0:07:42.360 off or otherwise detach its tail when trapped by the tail, 0:07:43.400 --> 0:07:45.680 I think that would make me more skeptical of the 0:07:45.760 --> 0:07:49.040 idea that rat kings do occur naturally and that the 0:07:49.120 --> 0:07:53.840 reports of people finding them are naturally occurring objects, because 0:07:53.880 --> 0:07:55.960 why wouldn't they just detach their tails like they do 0:07:56.040 --> 0:08:00.000 in these other situations where they become trapped. But that, yeah, 0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:02.080 that's interesting, Thank you, Jim. 0:08:02.440 --> 0:08:04.720 Yeah, absolutely, it's always great to hear from folks who 0:08:04.760 --> 0:08:07.600 have I mean sometimes grim obviously from folks who have 0:08:07.640 --> 0:08:09.880 expertise in a given area, but it's always always great 0:08:09.880 --> 0:08:12.200 to get that added level. I mean, this is one 0:08:12.240 --> 0:08:14.280 of the big reasons we have a listener mail, so 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:15.880 we can hear from people out in the field or 0:08:15.920 --> 0:08:19.040 even in the fields, if that's applicable to this situation. 0:08:19.400 --> 0:08:22.120 All right, this next one comes to us from ghost Rock. 0:08:27.280 --> 0:08:31.240 Ghost Rock, says Hi Joe and Rob longtime fan ghost Rock. Here, 0:08:31.800 --> 0:08:34.040 I wanted to chime in on the rat King episode. 0:08:34.080 --> 0:08:36.559 My favorite pop culture reference to rat Kings is from 0:08:36.600 --> 0:08:40.640 the Terry Pratchett Discworld novel The Amazing Maurice and his 0:08:40.880 --> 0:08:43.920 Educated Rodents. I have not read this one. The book 0:08:43.960 --> 0:08:46.360 combines stories of the rat King with the legend of 0:08:46.400 --> 0:08:48.640 the Pied Piper of Hamlin. I won't go into too 0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:51.360 much detail, but the book could be almost a standalone 0:08:51.400 --> 0:08:54.360 novel in that it doesn't involve recurring characters like the 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:57.160 night Watch or the Witches or any of the events 0:08:57.160 --> 0:08:59.720 that occur in Discworld, and could be a generic low 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:04.079 man fantasy world. A cat, the titular Maurice and his boy, 0:09:04.200 --> 0:09:07.080 along with some magically enhanced mice, are running a con 0:09:07.160 --> 0:09:10.240 game throughout the country where they scan the local officials 0:09:10.280 --> 0:09:13.120 into believing there is a horrible rat infestation, and then 0:09:13.160 --> 0:09:16.080 the boy will play his flute and magically rid the 0:09:16.120 --> 0:09:19.839 town of the pests. But actually the educated mice and 0:09:19.920 --> 0:09:22.040 the cat are the brains behind the scheme, and the 0:09:22.040 --> 0:09:24.920 boy is more or less along for the ride. Trouble 0:09:24.960 --> 0:09:26.800 comes when they hit on a town that has a 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:32.320 real rat infestation that is being controlled by a rat king. Hilarity, tension, 0:09:32.440 --> 0:09:35.640 and danger ensue. Thanks again for the show and all 0:09:35.679 --> 0:09:39.000 your hard work. I look forward to each episode. Gats Rock. 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:43.280 Oh, I like that premise it I'm picturing it in 0:09:43.320 --> 0:09:46.920 the same visual style. Is that is that illustration from that? 0:09:47.160 --> 0:09:49.720 I think seventeenth century book we looked at, you know, 0:09:49.800 --> 0:09:53.240 with the guys with the batons. One of them seems 0:09:53.240 --> 0:09:54.800 to be about to beat a rat king and the 0:09:54.840 --> 0:09:56.280 other ones like hitting a bush. 0:09:56.800 --> 0:10:00.840 Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know. I've never, like I said, 0:10:00.840 --> 0:10:03.000 I haven't read this particular book, but I have read 0:10:03.040 --> 0:10:06.200 some Terry Pratchett books in the past, and I've really 0:10:06.240 --> 0:10:08.200 enjoyed the books of his that I've read. And I 0:10:08.200 --> 0:10:11.480 also really enjoyed the two thousand and six mini series 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:14.959 or like a two part series TV adaptation of The Hogfather. 0:10:15.559 --> 0:10:19.000 That one is a semi regular holiday viewing in my household. 0:10:19.040 --> 0:10:22.640 It has a great cast. You have Michelle Dockery as 0:10:22.720 --> 0:10:26.199 Death's daughter, susan Ian Richardson is the voice of Death, 0:10:26.559 --> 0:10:29.640 David Jason is Albert, Mark Warren is Mister t Time, 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:33.880 and David Warner is Lord Downey, who's like the Lord 0:10:33.880 --> 0:10:36.560 of the Guild of Assassins. So it's a lot of fun. 0:10:37.760 --> 0:10:40.520 But anyway, ghost Rock, thanks for writing in. And yeah, 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:42.880 I'll have to move some Terry Pratchett up on the 0:10:42.920 --> 0:10:45.120 reading list, all right. This next one comes to us 0:10:45.120 --> 0:10:49.200 from Daniel Daniels. Has a very interesting email here regarding 0:10:49.240 --> 0:10:57.360 the Nutcracker episodes. Says, Hi, I listened to your Nutcracker 0:10:57.400 --> 0:11:00.800 episode and remembered an incident that I remember from my childhood. 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:03.040 We went to visit my grandmother and I noticed she 0:11:03.080 --> 0:11:05.760 had a nutcracker on the table I'd never seen before. 0:11:06.080 --> 0:11:08.319 This would be the late seventies. It was a big 0:11:08.440 --> 0:11:11.200 chunk of clear acrylic the size of an adult fist. 0:11:11.600 --> 0:11:13.839 It was cube shaped with a hole through it big 0:11:13.920 --> 0:11:16.600 enough to fit even a walnut. There was a thread 0:11:16.640 --> 0:11:20.520 tapped into a half inchish hole bored through into the 0:11:20.559 --> 0:11:23.640 center hole from one side of the cube. All right, 0:11:23.679 --> 0:11:25.719 I'm in trouble picturing this at this point, but let's 0:11:25.760 --> 0:11:29.040 keep up. This threaded hole had an acrylic rod with 0:11:29.120 --> 0:11:32.160 a thread and a wing nut style finger grip turner 0:11:32.240 --> 0:11:34.520 on it. I was excited to see it work, so 0:11:34.559 --> 0:11:37.600 we bought some nuts, and with great anticipation, my dad 0:11:37.640 --> 0:11:40.360 began to screw the first nut. There was a sharp 0:11:40.400 --> 0:11:43.719 crack and the cube split into I don't know how 0:11:43.760 --> 0:11:47.080 strong the acrylic was, or if there was some sort 0:11:47.120 --> 0:11:49.439 of an unseen flaw, but it never cracked a single 0:11:49.520 --> 0:11:52.679 nut despite being a big, beefy chunk of plastic. Maybe 0:11:52.679 --> 0:11:54.880 it was one of the decorative, non functional ones you 0:11:54.920 --> 0:11:58.640 talked about. I've never before or since seen acrylic used 0:11:58.640 --> 0:12:02.040 for a device like this. Love the show, Cheers, Daniel. 0:12:02.640 --> 0:12:06.679 I wonder why it would be decorative and non functional 0:12:06.720 --> 0:12:10.640 if it was like a big, clear acrylic cube, wouldn't 0:12:10.640 --> 0:12:12.640 it be? I could see it being decorative and non 0:12:12.679 --> 0:12:15.640 functional if it was like a wooden soldier nutcracker. 0:12:16.200 --> 0:12:18.280 Yeah, I mean maybe it was. I mean maybe it 0:12:18.320 --> 0:12:20.240 was kind of like a prototype and it was never 0:12:20.280 --> 0:12:21.959 meant to be used, and they're like, we should make 0:12:22.000 --> 0:12:26.200 this out of steel, and instead just the acrylic version 0:12:26.200 --> 0:12:29.000 gets passed down. I don't know, you know, speaking of 0:12:29.080 --> 0:12:31.880 the Nutcracker, I have to mention over the holiday break 0:12:32.160 --> 0:12:37.400 post Nutcracker episode, my family, my son and I particularly 0:12:37.440 --> 0:12:40.160 only able to fit in just a couple of Christmas 0:12:40.160 --> 0:12:44.040 stories before the actual Christmas Eve. But we pulled out 0:12:44.800 --> 0:12:50.040 the Christmas edition from the Enchanted World timeline book series, 0:12:50.559 --> 0:12:53.640 which has some various Christmas things and of course lovely illustrations, 0:12:53.800 --> 0:12:57.720 but it tells the classic version of the Nutcracker and 0:12:57.800 --> 0:13:02.440 has some wonderful, just terrifying illustrations of of course the 0:13:02.520 --> 0:13:05.960 rat King or the mouse King rather, and then has 0:13:06.000 --> 0:13:08.040 these added elements that are believer pulled right out of 0:13:08.040 --> 0:13:11.320 the original short story that inspired all of this, in 0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:16.720 which the character of the Uncle takes on this added 0:13:16.920 --> 0:13:20.720 sinister tone because at the end, the little girl and 0:13:20.760 --> 0:13:23.520 her Nutcracker prints, you know, she asked that they be 0:13:23.640 --> 0:13:27.400 together forever and he grants her wish, and she's essentially 0:13:27.440 --> 0:13:32.280 trapped inside this toy castle that the uncle had constructed, 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:35.480 so it's very haunted. We had a nice, nice haunting 0:13:36.240 --> 0:13:39.520 holiday story to share with each other there on Christmas Eve. 0:13:39.880 --> 0:13:42.520 Man, they don't make the mail order mythology books like 0:13:42.520 --> 0:13:46.360 they used to. Those Time Life Enchanted World books are great. 0:13:46.800 --> 0:13:49.400 They are, and I've said it said it before. These 0:13:49.440 --> 0:13:52.600 are worth seeking out. They made millions of them, I think, 0:13:52.920 --> 0:13:54.719 so you can pick them up for pretty cheap off 0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:57.840 the used book market and then these bookstores and so forth. 0:13:58.440 --> 0:14:02.199 Sometimes the writing can make maybe get a little wordy, 0:14:02.840 --> 0:14:07.280 maybe a little long winded, but the illustrations are just 0:14:07.400 --> 0:14:10.280 amazing and there's there's definitely some great content in there. 0:14:18.280 --> 0:14:21.120 Okay, I think we're gonna do some Weird House messages now, 0:14:21.320 --> 0:14:26.240 And this one comes from Luisa. Subject line Santa Versus 0:14:26.280 --> 0:14:30.160 the Devil slash First Memories. Hi, Robert and Joe, Your 0:14:30.200 --> 0:14:33.239 podcast is an endless source of knowledge, wonder and entertainment. 0:14:33.640 --> 0:14:36.680 But the Weird House Cinema episodes are pure delight. I 0:14:36.720 --> 0:14:39.360 have yet to see most of the movies you talk about, 0:14:39.400 --> 0:14:42.040 and if I'm being honest, I probably won't no matter 0:14:42.040 --> 0:14:44.040 how much I love listening do you talk about them. 0:14:44.600 --> 0:14:48.200 Imagine my surprise when you started talking about Santa Versus 0:14:48.240 --> 0:14:51.280 the Devil. I had a vague memory of it and 0:14:51.480 --> 0:14:55.000 wasn't entirely sure if it was the same movie it was. 0:14:55.320 --> 0:14:58.280 I actually went to see this at a movie theater, 0:14:58.520 --> 0:15:02.080 probably in the original sp Vanish. I don't remember much, 0:15:02.240 --> 0:15:05.480 just the cherry red devil getting burned with a door handle. 0:15:06.000 --> 0:15:08.600 For me, this counts as an early memory, and what 0:15:08.680 --> 0:15:11.680 I remember very clearly is how that movie made me 0:15:11.960 --> 0:15:16.480 feel confused, uncomfortable, and a bit scared. I must have 0:15:16.560 --> 0:15:20.280 been about five years old, so not particularly young, but 0:15:20.480 --> 0:15:22.560 it made me go over what I think are my 0:15:22.680 --> 0:15:25.520 earliest memories, and all of them are anchored to a 0:15:25.560 --> 0:15:29.640 strong feeling I don't remember haha. If you came to 0:15:29.680 --> 0:15:33.760 a similar conclusion in your early Memory episodes. Anyway, thank 0:15:33.760 --> 0:15:36.080 you so much for your wonderful work. I always learned 0:15:36.120 --> 0:15:39.800 something from you. Best regards and happy holidays, Luisa. Well, 0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:42.840 thank you so much, Luisa. I love when we hear 0:15:42.880 --> 0:15:45.120 from people who saw these movies when they came out, 0:15:45.200 --> 0:15:47.600 especially if they were little kids, like seeing them in 0:15:47.640 --> 0:15:50.640 the Luisa's so great. It's been a while since we 0:15:50.720 --> 0:15:52.840 did THEE Before You Could Remember series, but it does 0:15:52.880 --> 0:15:56.600 seem right that a lot of early memories now. Apart 0:15:56.640 --> 0:16:00.440 from us commenting on the accuracy of like the narrative 0:16:00.480 --> 0:16:03.240 content of the memories, that a lot of early memories 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:06.600 do have some kind of strong emotional content to them, 0:16:06.720 --> 0:16:10.200 that it might be something that made you feel good 0:16:10.240 --> 0:16:13.560 and cozy, or made you feel afraid or something like that. 0:16:14.080 --> 0:16:16.680 And I have to say confused, uncomfortable, and a bit 0:16:16.720 --> 0:16:21.920 scared is probably the appropriate emotional response to this particular 0:16:21.920 --> 0:16:25.840 Santa Claus movie, especially if you're a child, but even 0:16:25.840 --> 0:16:27.440 if you're an adult, I think it's appropriate. 0:16:27.680 --> 0:16:29.560 Oh my god, those reindeer. 0:16:29.120 --> 0:16:35.640 Ha ha ha. All right, here's another one concerning our 0:16:35.640 --> 0:16:38.160 holiday films, because that wasn't the only holiday film we watched. 0:16:38.160 --> 0:16:41.360 We also watched I Come In Piece aka Dark Angel, 0:16:41.960 --> 0:16:45.040 which is technically a holiday action film, and we heard 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:47.760 from Walter, Hey, guys, I just wanted to shoot you 0:16:47.760 --> 0:16:50.240 a quick message. Maybe I misheard, But did Roberts say 0:16:50.320 --> 0:16:55.000 John Savage's mom in The Princess Bride? And true enough, 0:16:55.280 --> 0:17:00.440 I did misspeak and I said John Savage, which would 0:17:00.440 --> 0:17:03.960 have been totally different, did totally different Princess Bride if 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:07.200 you had had then thirty eight years old John Savage 0:17:07.240 --> 0:17:10.439 in the kid role. John Savage, of course, was in 0:17:10.480 --> 0:17:13.560 The Deer Hunter in the Onion Fields and also in 0:17:13.600 --> 0:17:15.440 a TV series titled Dark. 0:17:15.240 --> 0:17:18.040 Angel, not related to I Come in Peace. 0:17:18.480 --> 0:17:21.320 Yeah, not related to I Come in Peace. And also 0:17:21.640 --> 0:17:24.879 John Savage, not related to Fred Savage, who of course 0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:26.680 was the actor I meant to reference. 0:17:27.640 --> 0:17:30.200 What if you swapped them both is John Savage and 0:17:30.240 --> 0:17:32.480 the Princess Bride and Fred Savage and The Deer Hunter. 0:17:33.000 --> 0:17:36.000 Yeah, I love these games. Swap them out, see how 0:17:36.080 --> 0:17:40.000 it changes the finished product. Another fun one is to 0:17:40.080 --> 0:17:43.320 think about actors Keith David and David Keith. They've never 0:17:43.359 --> 0:17:45.720 appeared in a movie together, but go ahead and swap 0:17:45.840 --> 0:17:48.440 him around and see what it does. You know, sometimes 0:17:48.920 --> 0:17:52.520 may have no effect, Sometimes it may have a huge effect. 0:17:53.920 --> 0:17:56.000 These are the kind of things that I think about 0:17:56.000 --> 0:17:59.640 as I scroll through IMDb from time to time. Anyway, 0:17:59.680 --> 0:18:02.879 Walter continues, it says, but Anyway, the real reason I 0:18:02.880 --> 0:18:05.440 wrote in was because I listened to Crockett's theme after 0:18:05.520 --> 0:18:08.760 you both talked it up. I wanted to share that 0:18:08.800 --> 0:18:10.960 there is a whole genre of new artists putting out 0:18:10.960 --> 0:18:14.800 tracks trying to sound almost exactly like that song synthwave. 0:18:15.280 --> 0:18:18.600 I've included a Spotify link to my favorite synthwave playlist. 0:18:18.760 --> 0:18:20.840 If either of you are interested in taking a listen. 0:18:21.200 --> 0:18:23.800 I love the movie recommendations and I can't wait to 0:18:23.840 --> 0:18:27.800 see what new Christmas themed movies you two will recommend 0:18:27.840 --> 0:18:31.240 in the coming weeks. Walter, So yeah, thanks for sending 0:18:31.280 --> 0:18:33.719 the synth wave playlist as well. I'm a fan of 0:18:33.760 --> 0:18:36.520 several of the artists on this particular playlist, but there 0:18:36.560 --> 0:18:38.280 are a number of them here that I am not 0:18:38.359 --> 0:18:42.520 familiar with, so I'm always excited to check out new music, 0:18:42.520 --> 0:18:46.000 particularly while working and driving, which is exactly what synthwave 0:18:46.040 --> 0:18:47.200 is for in my life. 0:18:47.320 --> 0:18:49.520 I've got a thought on this that I think unfortunately 0:18:49.600 --> 0:18:53.280 still only half formed, but it's basically like I also 0:18:53.359 --> 0:18:55.600 find this type of music very appealing. The kind of 0:18:55.720 --> 0:18:57.520 music that I don't know makes me think of like 0:18:57.560 --> 0:19:01.439 the Terminator soundtrack or something, maybe not exactly that, but 0:19:02.560 --> 0:19:06.879 music that is very synth heavy and conjures feelings that 0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:10.800 I associate with movies from the nineteen eighties, and it 0:19:10.840 --> 0:19:14.479 makes me feel like when I was watching those movies 0:19:14.520 --> 0:19:17.520 from the eighties as a kid. I wonder how much 0:19:17.560 --> 0:19:21.480 of the appeal of this genre, the synthwave type music 0:19:21.880 --> 0:19:25.919 is specifically for people our age or older who remember 0:19:26.119 --> 0:19:29.960 that kind of media landscape and it's a nostalgic appeal 0:19:30.000 --> 0:19:33.080 for that thing, or whether this music might just be 0:19:33.160 --> 0:19:35.280 equally appealing. I don't know if it just sounds good 0:19:35.320 --> 0:19:37.920 and is equally appealing to people who don't have those 0:19:38.000 --> 0:19:39.760 memories to sort of rejog. 0:19:40.400 --> 0:19:42.800 Oh man, that's a tough one to figure out. I mean, 0:19:42.800 --> 0:19:45.880 I would guess it's probably both, right. I don't think 0:19:45.920 --> 0:19:51.959 you have to have a specialized media diet going into 0:19:52.240 --> 0:19:57.439 appreciating something like say Boards of Canada or other maybe 0:19:57.600 --> 0:20:01.480 like more overtly nostalgic acts. Yeah, but I. 0:20:01.440 --> 0:20:03.320 Don't know if i'd group Boards of Canada and with 0:20:03.359 --> 0:20:05.720 the kind of music I'm thinking of the more I 0:20:05.720 --> 0:20:08.640 don't know, Like you know, Crockett's theme evocative stuff. 0:20:08.920 --> 0:20:10.879 Oh really, have you listened to Tomorrow's Harvest? 0:20:11.119 --> 0:20:11.359 Yes? 0:20:11.359 --> 0:20:14.479 I have? Yeah, I mean that directly in some cases 0:20:14.520 --> 0:20:17.160 references a lot of the sort of like VHS era 0:20:17.359 --> 0:20:20.160 kind of music. So I think those those inspirations, those 0:20:20.200 --> 0:20:24.360 notes are there. But Boards of Canada, I guess with 0:20:24.359 --> 0:20:26.240 with Boards of Canada and with a lot of other acts, 0:20:26.280 --> 0:20:29.439 it's like it is part of the tapestry, and the 0:20:29.520 --> 0:20:35.200 tapestry of sound is so intricate that you don't need 0:20:35.240 --> 0:20:37.280 to be able to identify all the colors, you know, 0:20:37.480 --> 0:20:40.800 like there's the experience of identify of there's the experience 0:20:40.840 --> 0:20:45.520 of the colors without knowing exactly what they all are. So, 0:20:46.040 --> 0:20:50.360 you know, I guess the nostalgia can add to the appreciation, 0:20:50.720 --> 0:20:52.840 but of course, the nature of nostalgia is it can 0:20:52.840 --> 0:20:54.959 also make something beautiful a little bit sad. I mean, 0:20:54.960 --> 0:20:57.520 that's the whole power of nostalgia. So I don't know. 0:20:57.520 --> 0:20:59.840 Maybe there are cases where you're better off not having 0:20:59.840 --> 0:21:03.320 them nostalgia because you don't get the you don't get 0:21:03.400 --> 0:21:05.840 as sweet of a taste, but you're also not getting 0:21:05.880 --> 0:21:07.600 that sour or the bittersweet as well. 0:21:09.000 --> 0:21:11.960 I'm gonna keep thinking on this one. But anyway, thank 0:21:11.960 --> 0:21:14.640 you for the message, Walter. Okay, rob do you mind 0:21:14.680 --> 0:21:16.639 if I wrap things up today by going to this 0:21:16.720 --> 0:21:26.399 message from Daniel about RoboCop. Let's have it, Okay, Daniel says, 0:21:26.440 --> 0:21:29.920 greetings Joe and Robert. Longtime listener, but first time writing 0:21:30.000 --> 0:21:33.080 in since I thought I had something insightful to share. 0:21:33.119 --> 0:21:36.920 For once, after listening through the Weird House Cinema episode 0:21:37.000 --> 0:21:41.240 on RoboCop and being a sound designer, myself, I was 0:21:41.320 --> 0:21:44.600 a bit bummed out over the fantastic sound design by 0:21:44.600 --> 0:21:48.840 Stephen Flick and John pospisil never being brought up, which 0:21:48.960 --> 0:21:51.840 deserves mention, as in my mind it sits right behind 0:21:52.000 --> 0:21:58.600