WEBVTT - Short Stuff: Evil Eye

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, and welcome to the short Stuff. I'm Josh, and

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<v Speaker 1>there's Chuck and Jerry's here too, giving us the evil

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<v Speaker 1>eye for all the trash we've ever talked about her.

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<v Speaker 1>And frankly, it's working because I just blew a tire

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<v Speaker 1>on the way here to work.

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<v Speaker 2>Is that a euphemism?

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<v Speaker 1>No, a blue attire? And I lost my check book.

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<v Speaker 2>M you were at the grocery store, they rang everything up.

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<v Speaker 2>You're standing there looking and they were and they said

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<v Speaker 2>you have to pay now, and you went, oh, and

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<v Speaker 2>you reached in your purse to get your check book out.

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<v Speaker 1>I reached in my front pocket, in my shirt.

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<v Speaker 2>And then you're like, does anyone have a pen? And

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<v Speaker 2>twelve people under the age of seventy five behind you

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<v Speaker 2>rolled their eyes inside.

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<v Speaker 1>And they had a pen, but it leaked all over

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<v Speaker 1>my hand.

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<v Speaker 2>They gave you the evil eye. Big thanks to our

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<v Speaker 2>pal Dave Brus and the old folks at houstuffworks dot

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<v Speaker 2>com for this bit on the evil eye what we

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<v Speaker 2>in our house call the stink eye.

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<v Speaker 1>Yes. Also thanks to Antonio Peglia Rulo, who is the

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<v Speaker 1>author of a book on the evil Eye. The Evil

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<v Speaker 1>Eye colin the History Mystery and Magic of the Quiet Curse.

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<v Speaker 1>Dave talked to a lot about this, because not only

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<v Speaker 1>did Antonio write that book, his grandmother was an evil

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<v Speaker 1>eye do her away with practitioner when he's growing up.

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<v Speaker 2>That's right. If you don't know what we're talking about,

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<v Speaker 2>we're talking about what turns out to be a very

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<v Speaker 2>very old I don't know what you call a tradition.

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<v Speaker 2>What isrus some super tradition. Yeah, all those things where

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<v Speaker 2>someone will give you the evil eye, someone will shoot

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<v Speaker 2>you a glance. We call it the stink eye again,

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<v Speaker 2>and it's it's wordless. You don't have to say a thing,

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<v Speaker 2>You don't have to have a what a the little

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<v Speaker 2>a voodoo doll all I Usually.

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<v Speaker 1>There's a big there's a quick cello sting going on

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<v Speaker 1>in the background while it's happening.

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<v Speaker 2>You got to take that small string section around with you.

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<v Speaker 2>It means basically, well, originally I think it was sort

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<v Speaker 2>of came from jealousy or envy, but can also be

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<v Speaker 2>just someone's angry or they resent you, or maybe they're

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<v Speaker 2>being greedy or something. And it's generally always intentional. But

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<v Speaker 2>I was surprised to learn from our friend here who

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<v Speaker 2>wrote that book that it can be unintentional.

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<v Speaker 1>I didn't realize that, but I mean, I guess, I

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<v Speaker 1>guess if you're coveting something, or you're jealous of somebody

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<v Speaker 1>to the left of the person, you accidentally look at

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<v Speaker 1>and give the evil eye. That's the best I can

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<v Speaker 1>come up with for unintentional evil eye.

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<v Speaker 2>This goes all the way back to the Greeks and

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<v Speaker 2>possibly before right.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh, yeah, long before the Greeks. But Plutarch was maybe

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<v Speaker 1>the first person to actually write about it. He was

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<v Speaker 1>a lost for a historian, as everybody knows, and he

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<v Speaker 1>wrote some essays that were collected into something called Moraleia,

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<v Speaker 1>and he talked about the evil eye in that. His

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<v Speaker 1>whole jam was that your eyes are a source of

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<v Speaker 1>energy that shoot out, that shoot the energy out into

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<v Speaker 1>the world around you. And that reminded me, Chuck of

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<v Speaker 1>our stereoscopic episode where that one of those ancient physicians

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<v Speaker 1>had their Their theory was that we see by shooting

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<v Speaker 1>beams out at stuff, and that's how we see. And

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<v Speaker 1>I guess that's kind of what it was based on.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, totally. Basically, the body fills up with that jealousy

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<v Speaker 2>or rage or whatever, and it clouds the mind and

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<v Speaker 2>then the eyeballs are right there in front of the

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<v Speaker 2>mind to sort of display for the world whatever the

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<v Speaker 2>mind is thinking, and in this case it's evil.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and he goes bby boo when you shoot the

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<v Speaker 1>evil eye out of your eyes. That was Plutarch's take,

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<v Speaker 1>and apparently that was the popular take of it. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>And depending on what culture you are from and your

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<v Speaker 2>your ancestry is sort of about, you might have a long,

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<v Speaker 2>rich tradition of evil eye shooters or blaming everything that

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<v Speaker 2>happens to you that's bad on an evil eye that

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<v Speaker 2>was shot your way.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, Because it's not just stuff that happens to you directly,

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<v Speaker 1>like injury or an illness. It can also be things

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<v Speaker 1>that happen to the things you depend on, like your

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<v Speaker 1>smartphone exploding in your pocket. You remember what that used

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<v Speaker 1>to happen? Yeah, they are blowing attire smartphones?

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<v Speaker 2>Did They didn't catch on fire?

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<v Speaker 1>Right?

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<v Speaker 2>Am I making that up?

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<v Speaker 1>There were like mild explosions with some I want to

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<v Speaker 1>say an android at some point in time, Yeah, blowing

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<v Speaker 1>up in people's pockets.

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<v Speaker 2>And everyone's like, ah, boy, remember when that was the thing. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>And now they're right back in our pockets again.

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<v Speaker 1>Back in the oughts. Yeah, everybody's like, I don't care.

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<v Speaker 1>I love smartphones so much, I'll just take the risk. Right.

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<v Speaker 2>So back to Antonio who wrote the book The Evil Eye.

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<v Speaker 2>He is Catholic and Italian, and he said, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>we don't even have like baby showers over here, like

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<v Speaker 2>that's considered bad luck to have a baby shower, like

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<v Speaker 2>you're tempting fate or something like that. Yes, so it's

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<v Speaker 2>a you know, sort of a superstitious danger and over there.

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<v Speaker 2>And this is kind of true anywhere in any culture

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<v Speaker 2>that has an evil eye history, they will have protections

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<v Speaker 2>against evil eyes, like amulets and things like that, And

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<v Speaker 2>pregnant women would wear amulets in Italy apparently at least

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<v Speaker 2>in his family, and they would say these special prayers

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<v Speaker 2>to ward off the evil eye.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. And the reason why having something like a baby

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<v Speaker 1>shower would tempt fate and maybe attract an evil eye

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<v Speaker 1>is that it could be taken as like a boast

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<v Speaker 1>or something, and boasting can generate envy, your jealousy, and

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<v Speaker 1>be your jealousy can shoot out of your eyes as

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<v Speaker 1>the evil eye, and then your smartphone blows up in

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<v Speaker 1>your hand during the baby shower.

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<v Speaker 2>Look at me.

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<v Speaker 1>I made a human and in particular, babies, children, pregnant women,

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<v Speaker 1>and animals are the most vulnerable to the evil ey,

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<v Speaker 1>although it can happen to anybody. But there's different traditions

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<v Speaker 1>and customs for protecting against the evil eye depending on

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<v Speaker 1>where you are in the world. Like you said, in Turkey,

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<v Speaker 1>when you are a newborn baby, you're going to get

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<v Speaker 1>what's called a nazar, which is a dark blue circle

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<v Speaker 1>with a white circle inside it, and a dark blue

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<v Speaker 1>circle inside the white circle, and it's meant to be

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<v Speaker 1>an eye. And Chuck, I say, we take a break

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<v Speaker 1>and we'll come back and tell everybody whose eye it is.

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<v Speaker 1>After this, ooh, Horace, it's the eye of Horace.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh wow, that was quick. Yeah yeah. And like you said,

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<v Speaker 2>depending on where you are, you might have different traditions

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<v Speaker 2>for warding this thing off. A lot of these countries

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<v Speaker 2>are Middle Eastern or somewhere around the Mediterranean Sea. I

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<v Speaker 2>believe Dave even said in his own family, his grandmother

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<v Speaker 2>and the Jewish tradition would tie ribbons on cribs and

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<v Speaker 2>things like that to ward off the evil eye or

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<v Speaker 2>potential bad luck for newborn babies. Isn't that right?

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, for sure. In India they'll put some coal, a

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<v Speaker 1>black dot on the infant's face, and all of these.

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<v Speaker 1>The point of these, the nizar, the red ribbon, the

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<v Speaker 1>black dot on the face, they're meant to protect. They're

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<v Speaker 1>basically amulets or talisman that can protect against the evil eye.

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<v Speaker 1>And one reason why they based that on the Eye

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<v Speaker 1>of Horace is because Nhi and Egypt, the Eye of

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<v Speaker 1>Horace was painted on homes, painted in tombs, and it

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<v Speaker 1>offered protection from evil or mal intent or all sorts

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<v Speaker 1>of problems even back then, and so it kind of

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<v Speaker 1>got you know how they take like logos, if you

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<v Speaker 1>look at the evolution of a logo over the course

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<v Speaker 1>of a century, it goes from really ornate to like

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<v Speaker 1>really stylized and simple. That's basically what happened to the

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<v Speaker 1>Eye of Horace when it became the nizar.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that's a good.

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<v Speaker 1>Way to say it.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, thank you, and our book author also, like you

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<v Speaker 2>mentioned his grandmother, Paglia. Rulo's grandma would keep a bowl

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<v Speaker 2>of water in her kitchen and pour little drops of

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<v Speaker 2>olive oil in there and look at the shapes and

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<v Speaker 2>the patterns that the oil would take and apparently that

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<v Speaker 2>would inform her on the evil Eye and if there

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<v Speaker 2>was like someone in her family that was potentially in danger,

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<v Speaker 2>or a neighbor or something that possibly will be or

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<v Speaker 2>was stricken with the evil Eye. And I thought that

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<v Speaker 2>was really interesting. I don't know if it literally like, hey,

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<v Speaker 2>that looks like Gary our neighbor, right, or if it's

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<v Speaker 2>just you know, kind of reading the tea leaves.

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<v Speaker 1>Right up at the olive. O is so good too,

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<v Speaker 1>Oh boy, oil. So you said that this all kind

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<v Speaker 1>of came out of the Mediterranean, did you not.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, sir.

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<v Speaker 1>They've traced it back at least five thousand years ago

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<v Speaker 1>to tell Brock, which is a city of Mesopotamia, which

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<v Speaker 1>is Telbrock is a modern day Syria right now, and

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<v Speaker 1>they've found tiny figures that all kind of bear a

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<v Speaker 1>resemblance to one another. They call them ie idols, and

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<v Speaker 1>that they think that these offered protection as well. Did

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<v Speaker 1>you look up the eye idols of Telbrock? Oh?

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<v Speaker 2>I didn't.

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<v Speaker 1>If ET is not based on that, I will eat

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<v Speaker 1>my hat. Okay, it's identical to eat. It's crazy how

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<v Speaker 1>much it looks like ET. Man. There's nobody who's seen

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<v Speaker 1>ET and would see one of those and be like,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know, like it looks exactly like ET.

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<v Speaker 2>All right, I'm looking it up, and that is ET.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, in that nuts, that is ET.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, that is unmistakably an ET head.

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<v Speaker 1>Right. But also even the body resembles ET. The proportions

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<v Speaker 1>and everything.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that's true. I don't see any arms and legs,

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<v Speaker 2>but it does have that big squatty body.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, thank god I don't have to eat my hat

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<v Speaker 1>today because that just pile on everything else bad that's happened.

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<v Speaker 2>Was it like a sweaty old baseball cap salty?

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<v Speaker 1>You know, it's got the white salt streaks that will

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<v Speaker 1>never come out.

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<v Speaker 2>No, thanks, So I guess that's about it.

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<v Speaker 1>Huh for the evil eye, I got nothing else. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>there's all sorts of amulets and talisman you can use

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<v Speaker 1>to protect yourself. If you feel like somebody gave you

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<v Speaker 1>the evil eye. You can also say please don't look

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<v Speaker 1>at me like that anymore. I don't know what's wrong

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<v Speaker 1>with you. That will also dispel the magic too, That's right,

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<v Speaker 1>Chuck said, that's right. Everybody. So, I mean short, stuff

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<v Speaker 1>is out.

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