WEBVTT - Listener Mail: Silver'd in the Moon's Eclipse 0:00:03.040 --> 0:00:06.600 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:10.320 --> 0:00:13.480 Hey you welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. Listener mail. 0:00:14.080 --> 0:00:15.240 My name is Robert. 0:00:15.040 --> 0:00:18.279 Lamb and I am Joe McCormick, and it is Monday, 0:00:18.360 --> 0:00:20.600 the day of each week that we read back messages 0:00:20.640 --> 0:00:23.480 from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind email address. If 0:00:23.480 --> 0:00:26.560 you have never gotten in touch before, why not write us. 0:00:26.640 --> 0:00:29.760 You can reach us at contact at stuff to Blow 0:00:29.840 --> 0:00:32.760 your Mind dot com. Whatever you want to send is fine, 0:00:32.880 --> 0:00:35.680 but we especially like when you have something interesting to 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:38.360 add to a topic we've talked about on the show recently. 0:00:39.520 --> 0:00:41.920 Let's see, Rob, do you mind if I kick things 0:00:42.000 --> 0:00:45.720 off with this message from Joe about necromancy? 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:47.880 Oh? Please do? This is a good one. 0:00:48.159 --> 0:00:56.480 This is from Joe spelled Jo. They're right, dear Joe 0:00:56.480 --> 0:00:59.760 and Robert. I loved the series on necromancy and communing 0:00:59.800 --> 0:01:04.240 with the dead. I'm Southeast Asian and supernatural slash spooky 0:01:04.280 --> 0:01:07.479 stories are the norm here. One of my favorite monsters 0:01:07.560 --> 0:01:11.840 is actually the Jongshi. They've been depicted as bloodthirsty, mayhem 0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:14.800 causing monsters over the years, but the legend behind them 0:01:14.880 --> 0:01:18.240 is quite sad. Imagine leaving your family to work in 0:01:18.280 --> 0:01:21.440 a far off province, only to perish in an unknown land. 0:01:21.880 --> 0:01:24.880 Your last wish is to be buried back home, but 0:01:25.360 --> 0:01:27.679 hiring people to carry your dead body back to your 0:01:27.680 --> 0:01:31.679 loved ones is expensive and difficult. Your only other option 0:01:31.880 --> 0:01:35.000 is to have a Taoist priest briefly resurrect you from 0:01:35.040 --> 0:01:37.440 the dead and guide you as you make your way 0:01:37.440 --> 0:01:41.440 home for the last time. Now an inauspicious creature, your 0:01:41.480 --> 0:01:44.920 limbs frozen in rigor mortis, you hop slowly through the 0:01:44.920 --> 0:01:47.880 wilderness in the dead of night. Your only company is 0:01:47.920 --> 0:01:50.880 the priest who walks before you, ringing his bell to 0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:53.720 warn the living that the dead are near. While your 0:01:53.760 --> 0:01:56.800 series was on how the Living Attempted to Contact the dead, 0:01:57.200 --> 0:02:00.880 Southeast Asia is rife with stories of the dead contacting 0:02:01.000 --> 0:02:04.200 the living. It's common for Chinese people to ask each 0:02:04.200 --> 0:02:07.120 other if they've dreamed of a deceased family member during 0:02:07.200 --> 0:02:10.680 or after the funeral proceedings. A friend once told me 0:02:10.880 --> 0:02:13.920 that the day after her grandfather passed, he appeared to 0:02:13.960 --> 0:02:15.920 her in a dream, and she asked him if he 0:02:15.960 --> 0:02:19.160 was all right. He replied, don't worry, I will soon 0:02:19.200 --> 0:02:22.440 have company. Your uncle is coming, and two days later, 0:02:22.720 --> 0:02:25.880 her uncle passed from a heart attack. A common story 0:02:25.919 --> 0:02:29.400 you'll hear from cab or rideshare drivers. Here is passengers 0:02:29.440 --> 0:02:32.800 asking to be dropped off at quote home, only to 0:02:32.840 --> 0:02:35.960 have the GPS lead them to a cemetery. All this 0:02:36.120 --> 0:02:38.720 makes me think of is that perhaps we're all lonely 0:02:38.760 --> 0:02:41.480 souls reaching through the divide in search of a connection 0:02:41.840 --> 0:02:44.760 we couldn't find in life or in death. On a 0:02:44.880 --> 0:02:47.880 lighter note, and this is connecting to our series on 0:02:48.040 --> 0:02:52.240 Monster Cats, Joe writes in the latest episode, Hello Kitty 0:02:52.360 --> 0:02:55.079 was listed as an example of a cat. You might 0:02:55.160 --> 0:02:59.560 not believe this, but Sonrio insists that Hello Kitty is 0:02:59.680 --> 0:03:03.360 not cat and is in fact a little girl cry 0:03:03.400 --> 0:03:06.440 laughing emoji. I guess Sonrio is the company that owns 0:03:06.480 --> 0:03:07.040 Hello Kitty. 0:03:07.600 --> 0:03:10.680 Yes, yeah, Originally Hello Kitty was like a mascot and 0:03:10.720 --> 0:03:12.799 then of course takes on a life of its own. 0:03:13.320 --> 0:03:15.600 Joe says, yes, I couldn't believe it at first too. 0:03:15.800 --> 0:03:18.440 She is supposedly, or she is supposed to be a 0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:21.960 little girl called Kitty White who was born in London. 0:03:22.360 --> 0:03:25.280 I will leave you with this snippet from an interview quote. 0:03:25.440 --> 0:03:29.560 It is a one hundred percent personified character. A Sonrio 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:33.680 spokesman told AFP in Tokyo, the design takes the motif 0:03:33.880 --> 0:03:36.320 of a cat, but there is no element of a 0:03:36.360 --> 0:03:41.160 cat in Hello Kitty setting. Joe adds in parentheses, I'm 0:03:41.200 --> 0:03:43.839 still mind blown. I love what you do. Looking forward 0:03:43.880 --> 0:03:46.400 to more episodes, Live Long and prosper Joe. 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:49.640 Yeah, well this was a great one, I guess, starting 0:03:49.680 --> 0:03:52.960 with Hello Kitty. Goodness. I can't remember if I'd ever 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:54.840 heard this before. If I had heard it before, I 0:03:54.840 --> 0:03:57.680 had forgotten it, And now I am shocked again or 0:03:57.760 --> 0:04:01.320 for the first time, to hear that Hello Kitty is 0:04:01.320 --> 0:04:04.320 not a cat, because clearly Hello Kitty is a cat, right. 0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:06.760 Hello Kitty is obviously a cat. Hello Kitty has cat 0:04:06.800 --> 0:04:10.320 ears and also whiskers, I think, Am I wrong? 0:04:10.720 --> 0:04:13.360 Yeah? And then there are other animals. Is like a frog, right, 0:04:13.400 --> 0:04:15.960 I mean, as the frog a frog or not a frog. 0:04:17.000 --> 0:04:19.000 Maybe the frog's a frog, but the cat is not 0:04:19.040 --> 0:04:19.440 a cat? 0:04:20.520 --> 0:04:22.680 All right? Well, it's shocking. I can't lose too much 0:04:22.720 --> 0:04:24.760 sleep over this one, but it is shocking. 0:04:25.120 --> 0:04:27.640 This reminds me. I'm sorry to bring this up yet again, 0:04:27.760 --> 0:04:31.359 but of the AI generated story we had, which was 0:04:32.640 --> 0:04:34.599 one of those story generators we were playing with spit 0:04:34.680 --> 0:04:37.680 it out, and it was called Garfield Beyond Thunderdome. It 0:04:37.760 --> 0:04:41.680 had the fighters in the Thunderdome trading insults with each other, 0:04:41.760 --> 0:04:44.600 and whoever Garfield was about to square off against, said, 0:04:44.680 --> 0:04:48.000 so you're the famous cat and Garfield replied, I'm not 0:04:48.120 --> 0:04:48.599 the cat. 0:04:50.320 --> 0:04:53.800 Now. As for these other topics here, greatly appreciate these 0:04:53.880 --> 0:04:59.560 contemporary accounts of the ride share situation with people returning 0:04:59.600 --> 0:05:04.200 home the cemetery. That's that's wonderful. And then also, yeah, 0:05:04.320 --> 0:05:10.600 the jung shi are are such fascinating creatures slash motifs 0:05:10.640 --> 0:05:15.160 in in Chinese folklore and and and legend. We've we've 0:05:15.160 --> 0:05:16.560 talked about on a few times on the show. They 0:05:16.560 --> 0:05:19.080 came up in our Weird House Cinema episode on Mister Vampire, 0:05:19.839 --> 0:05:22.880 and I think there was a Monster Fact episode a 0:05:22.920 --> 0:05:26.440 while back about them. But yeah, they're they're they're horrifying 0:05:26.600 --> 0:05:29.120 and scary. But yeah, there is this sadness to them 0:05:29.160 --> 0:05:34.200 because they are deeply connected to concerns and cultural anxiety 0:05:34.279 --> 0:05:38.760 over improper burial, uh, you know, in improper caring for 0:05:38.800 --> 0:05:40.039 ones deceased loved ones. 0:05:40.440 --> 0:05:42.520 That really seems to be a theme this October that 0:05:42.560 --> 0:05:44.680 came up a lot in the In the Necromancy episode, 0:05:44.880 --> 0:05:50.640 uh anxieties over funeral rites not being properly observed and 0:05:50.720 --> 0:05:52.760 what would be downstream of that failure. 0:05:53.400 --> 0:05:56.799 Yeah, all right, This next one comes to us from Scott. 0:06:02.040 --> 0:06:04.919 Scott writes and says, Hi, Robert and Joe just wanted 0:06:04.960 --> 0:06:08.680 to mention that your recent series on necromancy doubtless reminded 0:06:08.760 --> 0:06:11.039 many of us who grew up in the seventies of 0:06:11.160 --> 0:06:14.880 our introduction to this art, the classic but often campy, 0:06:14.960 --> 0:06:18.160 Saturday morning children's television series The Land of the Lost, 0:06:18.640 --> 0:06:22.120 in which Enoch often used the Library of Skulls to 0:06:22.240 --> 0:06:26.160 access the lost knowledge of his ancestors. My memories of 0:06:26.200 --> 0:06:28.919 this are probably not very reliable, so I leave it 0:06:28.960 --> 0:06:32.000 to you to say more about this pop culture invocation 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:35.919 of necromancy, except to note that, despite the frequent goofiness, 0:06:36.040 --> 0:06:38.240 this show did deal with death and loss a little 0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:41.120 more than some others of his genre did, e g. 0:06:41.720 --> 0:06:44.640 Enoch's loss of his culture and friends after he found 0:06:44.720 --> 0:06:49.800 himself stuck in a later time when his people, the Altrusians, 0:06:50.120 --> 0:06:54.279 had degenerated into the barbaric slee Stack. Okay, I do 0:06:54.360 --> 0:06:55.400 know what the slee Stack are. 0:06:56.520 --> 0:06:59.320 Scott I wish I could comment on this because it 0:06:59.360 --> 0:07:01.960 sounds interesting, but I've never watched Land of the Loss, 0:07:02.000 --> 0:07:02.960 so I'm just baffled. 0:07:03.800 --> 0:07:07.719 I remember, I think I was watching cartoons during a 0:07:07.760 --> 0:07:10.080 time in which this show was still on. But it 0:07:10.160 --> 0:07:13.040 was on like in a weird time, like maybe it 0:07:13.120 --> 0:07:16.160 was on kind of late in the Saturday morning when 0:07:16.160 --> 0:07:19.240 you were there were increasing household forces to get you 0:07:19.280 --> 0:07:22.800 outside or to go and do other activities. I'm not sure, 0:07:22.840 --> 0:07:25.080 but I am vaguely aware of the Slee Stack. 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:27.920 So the premise of the show is like a family 0:07:28.000 --> 0:07:30.960 is on vacation and in their VW bus they get 0:07:31.000 --> 0:07:33.520 transported back to the time of the dinosaurs. But it's 0:07:33.560 --> 0:07:35.960 not just dinosaurs. There are also lizard men. 0:07:37.080 --> 0:07:40.760 I think, so yes, okay, but again I've never watched it. 0:07:40.800 --> 0:07:41.960 I probably should. 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:45.760 Slee Stack sounds like the name of I don't know, 0:07:45.800 --> 0:07:48.560 like the the villain of the Lora Axe or something 0:07:49.480 --> 0:07:53.440 it does. Okay, moving on to some messages more focused 0:07:53.480 --> 0:08:03.080 on monster cats. This one comes from Anna. Anna says, Hi, Robert, Joe, 0:08:03.080 --> 0:08:06.000 and JJ I enjoyed your episodes on the Strange Cats 0:08:06.000 --> 0:08:08.520 of Japan. In part of it, you were talking about 0:08:08.520 --> 0:08:11.520 how there is the idea that cats have some secret, 0:08:11.600 --> 0:08:15.080 mysterious power. I thought you might enjoy the book The 0:08:15.160 --> 0:08:18.720 Silent Meow by Paul Gallico. This is written as an 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:23.240 instruction manual for cats on how to control and dominate humans. 0:08:23.640 --> 0:08:26.280 It's very funny and really taps into stuff that every 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:29.520 cat owner has noticed. I really like this idea for 0:08:29.560 --> 0:08:31.560 a book. So it's kind of like the screwtape letter 0:08:31.640 --> 0:08:33.760 is except from Instead of being from the point of 0:08:33.840 --> 0:08:37.320 view of demons, it's from the point of view of cats. Yeah, 0:08:37.559 --> 0:08:40.200 Anna says. I think part of the mysterious nature of 0:08:40.240 --> 0:08:43.280 cats is that they often seem to change their behavior 0:08:43.679 --> 0:08:46.880 when they realize they're being watched. My mom has a 0:08:46.880 --> 0:08:50.400 cat called Sammy Whiskers. She is now one year old. 0:08:50.559 --> 0:08:53.000 She is the size of an adult cat, but still 0:08:53.040 --> 0:08:56.120 has this frantic, clumsy running style. I like to call 0:08:56.200 --> 0:08:59.240 this galumphing. When mom and dad are away, I stay 0:08:59.280 --> 0:09:01.400 at their house and ta care of the cat. One 0:09:01.400 --> 0:09:03.560 of her funny habits is that she will run at 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:06.520 me from behind and attack my legs or feet. The 0:09:06.559 --> 0:09:09.319 funny part is that her clumsy running style means you 0:09:09.360 --> 0:09:12.200 can very easily hear her coming. The other day I 0:09:12.240 --> 0:09:14.320 heard her running up behind me, so I turned around 0:09:14.600 --> 0:09:17.760 and she immediately stopped running. I just laughed out loud 0:09:17.840 --> 0:09:20.520 at this because it had this nothing to see here 0:09:20.800 --> 0:09:23.960 kind of quality to it. I think I know what 0:09:23.960 --> 0:09:26.360 you're talking about. Anna and Rob. You've sort of talked 0:09:26.360 --> 0:09:28.880 about this with your cat experiences, right. 0:09:29.679 --> 0:09:33.320 Yeah, though, my cat Mochi well, is not shy about 0:09:33.360 --> 0:09:36.160 attacking my feed, so me looking at her doesn't prevent 0:09:36.200 --> 0:09:39.360 it from happening. And if anything, maybe eggs are on. 0:09:41.360 --> 0:09:44.720 That's that defiance. It's just like complete non compliance with 0:09:44.760 --> 0:09:49.320 social expectations. Okay, but and it goes on. I also 0:09:49.480 --> 0:09:52.600 enjoyed your weird house cinema. On Bride of Frankenstein. You 0:09:52.640 --> 0:09:55.360 were talking about a scene where Lord Byron says something 0:09:55.480 --> 0:09:58.560 kind of demeaning to Mary Shelley and she just snarks 0:09:58.640 --> 0:10:00.680 right back. This reminds me you have a scene in 0:10:00.720 --> 0:10:04.760 the book Jane Eyre. Mister Rochester, who eventually becomes Jane's 0:10:04.760 --> 0:10:08.880 love interest, is somewhat based on the characteristics of Byron. Yeah, 0:10:08.960 --> 0:10:11.559 Rochester is often held up as the so called quote 0:10:11.679 --> 0:10:16.680 byronic hero or byronic I don't know what the noun is. 0:10:16.720 --> 0:10:20.720 He's just byronic, you know. That's the adjective there is. 0:10:21.400 --> 0:10:23.800 Anna continues. There is a scene where they're sitting by 0:10:23.800 --> 0:10:27.640 a fire with the housekeeper in the corner. Mister Rochester 0:10:27.760 --> 0:10:30.720 says something like, oh, I think you must come from 0:10:30.720 --> 0:10:34.400 the fairy folk. As you've mentioned in past episodes, fairies 0:10:34.440 --> 0:10:37.120 were not the benevolent creatures we see them as today. 0:10:37.520 --> 0:10:39.840 This is a real vibe of the boss making a 0:10:39.880 --> 0:10:43.160 somewhat demeaning joke about an employee in front of other people, 0:10:43.600 --> 0:10:46.079 the sort of situation that you're supposed to just meekly 0:10:46.120 --> 0:10:49.320 go along with, go along with the joke. But Jane 0:10:49.440 --> 0:10:52.000 is taking none of it. She replies very casually with 0:10:52.080 --> 0:10:54.800 something like, oh no, those folks have not lived around 0:10:54.840 --> 0:10:58.200 here for one hundred years. The housekeeper is so shocked 0:10:58.240 --> 0:11:01.560 by Jane's boldness that she literally drops are knitting. Jane 0:11:01.559 --> 0:11:03.120 Air is one of those books that if you try 0:11:03.160 --> 0:11:05.440 to describe it to someone, it sounds pretty depressing, but 0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:08.240 is also a very witty book. Thanks for all the 0:11:08.280 --> 0:11:11.760 great work, Anna and I agree on that last point. 0:11:11.920 --> 0:11:14.480 It's been years since I read Jane Eyre, but yeah, 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:19.600 my impression is despite its you know, dark and gothic overtones, 0:11:19.640 --> 0:11:22.959 I recall it also having very funny elements as well. 0:11:30.520 --> 0:11:32.480 All Right, this nice one comes to us from Chuck. 0:11:32.760 --> 0:11:35.040 Chuck writes in and says, Dear Robert, Joe and JJ, 0:11:35.679 --> 0:11:39.240 hello and happy early Halloween. Like many of your listeners, 0:11:39.240 --> 0:11:42.360 I truly appreciate your commitment to providing thoughtful intelligence and 0:11:42.760 --> 0:11:47.080 to be honest somewhat creepy discussion topics during October, I 0:11:47.120 --> 0:11:49.960 am writing to add a small but silly bit about 0:11:50.000 --> 0:11:53.959 the Baca Niko. The popular board game Betrayal at House 0:11:54.200 --> 0:11:57.160 on the Hill, made by Avalon Hill and now in 0:11:57.200 --> 0:11:59.920 its third edition, has the beck and Echo is one 0:12:00.120 --> 0:12:03.199 of the supernatural slash horror tropes the players must struggle 0:12:03.280 --> 0:12:06.319 against if you are unaware. Betrayal at House on the 0:12:06.400 --> 0:12:09.600 Hill generally shortened to Betrayal by board gamers, is a 0:12:09.640 --> 0:12:12.480 game that plays like a weird house cinema horrifflick. The 0:12:12.520 --> 0:12:17.120 game has players cooperatively searching a for boding mansion until 0:12:17.120 --> 0:12:20.600 a triggered event happens, where the monster goes to alien 0:12:20.640 --> 0:12:24.400 supernatural entity whatever is revealed and proceeds to attempt to 0:12:24.440 --> 0:12:28.320 destroy the players. The trigger is caused semi randomly, and 0:12:28.320 --> 0:12:30.839 there are fifty different in game events, so players are 0:12:30.880 --> 0:12:33.560 never quite sure what is going to happen. The usual 0:12:33.600 --> 0:12:38.079 horror movie batties are there, poltergeist, were wolves, acts, wielding killers, 0:12:38.160 --> 0:12:40.880 alien abductors, but the game does include more off the 0:12:40.920 --> 0:12:44.040 wall scenarios, like having a mad scientist who shrinks the 0:12:44.040 --> 0:12:47.680 players down and sends his pet cat against them. Ah 0:12:47.760 --> 0:12:52.800 doctor X. Yeah. The next part has mild spoilers for 0:12:52.840 --> 0:12:56.600 those who have not played this scenario. In one particular case, 0:12:56.679 --> 0:12:59.040 a back in eco and his army of undead cats 0:12:59.080 --> 0:13:02.480 are the big bat. The Okai's goal is either kill 0:13:02.559 --> 0:13:05.439 all the players or burn the house down. The players 0:13:05.440 --> 0:13:08.400 have to defeat the Bakuanenko before this happens, but every 0:13:08.559 --> 0:13:11.960 undead cat the bachan Eko summons strengthens it. In our 0:13:12.000 --> 0:13:15.760 gaming group, when we revealed the bacan Eko, after we 0:13:15.840 --> 0:13:18.960 collectively said what is the bacan Eko, we were quickly 0:13:19.040 --> 0:13:22.400 overwhelmed and died terribly in a burning house. That being said, 0:13:22.440 --> 0:13:25.480 it was great fun, especially with the player controlling the 0:13:25.480 --> 0:13:29.280 Bakaneko using an absurd amount of terrible cat puns. Of course, 0:13:29.320 --> 0:13:33.120 the title of the scenario is the Catastrophe. I'm including 0:13:33.160 --> 0:13:35.640 two photos of the rules for the scenario, which does 0:13:35.640 --> 0:13:38.640 have a drawing on one with the game's depiction of 0:13:38.720 --> 0:13:42.600 the Bakaneko in spoilers now with stuff to blow your mind, 0:13:42.640 --> 0:13:45.319 I've learned much more history and lore about the bacan Eko. 0:13:45.720 --> 0:13:48.120 Thanks again for all you do and keeping science and 0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:52.560 strangeness at the forefront. Sincerely and gratefully, Chuck from San Diego. 0:13:53.280 --> 0:13:55.920 I have never played this game. This looks like a 0:13:55.960 --> 0:13:59.360 lot of fun. So the scenario has sort of stats 0:13:59.400 --> 0:14:03.000 on the months, almost like like a D and D monster, 0:14:03.120 --> 0:14:05.600 except it looks not quite as complicated as that. 0:14:06.480 --> 0:14:10.360 Yeah, Betrayal is a wonderful game. I've played it a 0:14:10.360 --> 0:14:13.280 few times. It's not one I own, so I wasn't 0:14:13.320 --> 0:14:18.080 even aware that this was one of the the baddies 0:14:18.120 --> 0:14:20.240 you could trigger, because it's just never come up in 0:14:20.800 --> 0:14:23.680 any play of the game that I've been involved in. 0:14:23.960 --> 0:14:27.520 But yeah, it's a super fun game. The exact form 0:14:27.520 --> 0:14:30.720 of the gameplay is very variable because basically everybody goes 0:14:30.760 --> 0:14:34.680 in as a particular you know, trope character in this 0:14:35.080 --> 0:14:39.720 haunted house, and then something triggers these cards going out 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:43.000 to determine what the battye is, and one of the 0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:46.960 players will end up being instrumental to that battye. So 0:14:47.240 --> 0:14:49.400 I'm just making this up. Is this may or may 0:14:49.400 --> 0:14:51.640 not be what's in the game, but for instance, at 0:14:51.640 --> 0:14:55.280 this phase you might learn, oh, actually you're a familiar 0:14:55.320 --> 0:14:57.920 to a vampire and you're working on behalf of that vampire, 0:14:58.280 --> 0:15:00.440 that sort of thing, and so now it's you against 0:15:00.440 --> 0:15:03.600 the players, and so yeah, it's a load of fun. 0:15:04.880 --> 0:15:07.280 Hopefully it's gotten better. But as I remember from playing 0:15:07.320 --> 0:15:10.760 it several years back, one one thing I was warned 0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:15.040 about is that the instructions, at least at the time, 0:15:15.480 --> 0:15:18.200 were written in a kind of confusing manner, and so 0:15:19.120 --> 0:15:21.320 it was better if someone who had played the game 0:15:21.360 --> 0:15:23.680 before was present to sort of guide you through it, 0:15:23.720 --> 0:15:26.560 because some of the details might not be evident just 0:15:26.560 --> 0:15:29.160 by reading the instruction manuals that are included in the box. 0:15:29.560 --> 0:15:32.600 But that was several years ago. They may have changed 0:15:32.640 --> 0:15:33.920 that with more recent editions. 0:15:34.240 --> 0:15:37.800 Man, I think you have more tabletop and board game 0:15:37.840 --> 0:15:41.400 experience than me, but that's almost always my experience is 0:15:41.440 --> 0:15:44.840 like trying to read the instructions is just overwhelming and confusing. 0:15:45.360 --> 0:15:48.320 The way to learn to play is to have somebody 0:15:48.360 --> 0:15:51.360 there who's already played and explains it as you go along. 0:15:52.040 --> 0:15:55.760 Yeah, yeah, it's definitely preferable, and more and more I'm 0:15:55.800 --> 0:15:59.480 finding it's also great if there's at least a short 0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:01.360 video you can find me. There's so many videos that 0:16:01.480 --> 0:16:03.560 run you through gameplay on some of the more complex 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:08.080 board games. I have found those very helpful from time 0:16:08.120 --> 0:16:10.720 to time. Like let's see, what is the Dune game. 0:16:10.880 --> 0:16:13.400 Dune Imperium, I believe is the one, which is a 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:18.920 fabulous game, very playable, Like its complexity is not too 0:16:19.040 --> 0:16:22.240 high in my experience, Like you can definitely and I 0:16:22.240 --> 0:16:25.760 think the average board gamer can definitely grasp it and 0:16:25.800 --> 0:16:28.040 have a lot of fun with it. But at least 0:16:28.040 --> 0:16:30.480 for me, it's like I could read the rules and 0:16:30.520 --> 0:16:32.640 it got me so far, but then I really needed 0:16:32.640 --> 0:16:35.080 to see someone like point at some stuff and show 0:16:35.120 --> 0:16:37.760 me some stuff to really make all the lines connect. There. 0:16:38.400 --> 0:16:40.400 Short version of all that, it's a great time to 0:16:40.400 --> 0:16:42.400 be into board games because there's just so many of 0:16:42.440 --> 0:16:45.040 them and you have so many additional aids to understanding 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:45.520 the rules. 0:16:45.680 --> 0:16:48.520 Uh huh, okay, you want to keep rolling the dice 0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:49.160 on cats? 0:16:49.920 --> 0:16:50.200 Sure? 0:16:50.880 --> 0:16:53.400 All right? This next message is from Joe, a different 0:16:53.480 --> 0:17:02.280 Joe Joe. This time he says greetings. Although the urge 0:17:02.320 --> 0:17:04.840 is strong, I will resist the impulse to just tell 0:17:04.880 --> 0:17:09.040 you about my cats. Instead, I will share someone else 0:17:09.160 --> 0:17:12.919 telling about their cat three hundred years ago. And so 0:17:13.040 --> 0:17:17.280 here Joe shares part of the poem jubilate agno, which 0:17:17.320 --> 0:17:20.840 means rejoice in the lamb, specifically a famous fragment of 0:17:20.840 --> 0:17:24.639 this poem known as for I will consider my Cat Jeffrey, 0:17:25.000 --> 0:17:28.160 written in the mid eighteenth century by the English poet 0:17:28.240 --> 0:17:31.040 Christopher Smart. I read this back in college, and this 0:17:31.080 --> 0:17:33.359 one really stuck in my mind as well. I'm not 0:17:33.640 --> 0:17:37.160 quite sure why, just I've never forgotten it. I think 0:17:37.200 --> 0:17:40.000 of it often. I think the story goes that it 0:17:40.119 --> 0:17:43.920 was written while Christopher Smart was housed in a mental asylum. 0:17:44.000 --> 0:17:47.640 He had been institutionalized for a time at a London 0:17:47.680 --> 0:17:51.480 facility that was then called Saint Luke's Hospital for Lunatics, 0:17:51.880 --> 0:17:56.440 and the cat Jeffrey was his only company there. Coming 0:17:56.480 --> 0:17:59.080 back to Joe's email, he says, it is a beautiful 0:17:59.119 --> 0:18:02.000 poem which also captures much of the ineffable spirit of 0:18:02.119 --> 0:18:05.920 catness to which cat lovers are drawn. I would leave 0:18:05.960 --> 0:18:07.760 it to you to pick an excerpt if you choose 0:18:07.840 --> 0:18:09.679 to read this on the show, But a few of 0:18:09.680 --> 0:18:13.320 my favorite lines, Joe, I will indeed read your excerpt first. 0:18:14.040 --> 0:18:16.720 So these are lines from Christopher Smarts. For I will 0:18:16.760 --> 0:18:20.119 consider my cat Jeffrey. For when his day's work is done, 0:18:20.240 --> 0:18:24.200 his business more properly begins. For he keeps the lord's 0:18:24.240 --> 0:18:28.120 watch in the night against the adversary. For he counteracts 0:18:28.160 --> 0:18:32.159 the powers of darkness by his electrical skin and glaring eyes. 0:18:32.680 --> 0:18:36.240 For he counteracts the devil who is death, by brisking 0:18:36.320 --> 0:18:39.600 about the life. For he is a mixture of gravity 0:18:39.680 --> 0:18:43.080 and waggery. For he knows that God is his savior. 0:18:43.680 --> 0:18:46.639 For there is nothing sweeter than his peace when at rest. 0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:49.880 For there is nothing brisker than his life when in motion. 0:18:50.720 --> 0:18:53.639 For he can sit up with gravity, which is patience 0:18:53.760 --> 0:18:57.679 upon approbation. For he can fetch and carry, which is 0:18:57.760 --> 0:19:00.960 patience and employment. For he can jump over a stick, 0:19:01.240 --> 0:19:05.040 which is patience upon proof positive. For he can spraggle 0:19:05.119 --> 0:19:08.400 upon waggle at the word of command. For he can 0:19:08.520 --> 0:19:12.159 jump from an imminence into his master's bosom. For he 0:19:12.200 --> 0:19:15.240 can catch the cork and toss it again. For he 0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:18.399 is hated by the hypocrite and the miser, for the 0:19:18.480 --> 0:19:23.040 former is afraid of detection, for the latter refuses the charge. 0:19:23.480 --> 0:19:26.440 And then, to share my own favorite lines from this fragment, 0:19:26.480 --> 0:19:30.159 here Smart writes, for he is of the Lord's poor, 0:19:30.440 --> 0:19:35.080 and so indeed he is called by benevolence perpetually, Poor Jeffrey, 0:19:35.160 --> 0:19:38.600 Poor Jeffrey. The rat has bit thy throat, for I 0:19:38.680 --> 0:19:41.560 bless the name of the Lord Jesus, that Jeffrey is better, 0:19:41.960 --> 0:19:45.600 for the divine spirit comes about his body to sustain it. 0:19:45.800 --> 0:19:49.639 In Complete cat, Complete cat. 0:19:50.480 --> 0:19:53.800 Oh, this is great. Some of the various catneme makers 0:19:54.280 --> 0:19:56.480 should look this poem up and run wild with it. 0:19:56.520 --> 0:19:59.280 I mean, can't you imagine like reading it and then 0:19:59.359 --> 0:20:02.760 setting it to various clips of cats doing their thing? 0:20:03.359 --> 0:20:06.560 Yes, complete cat, absolute cat. 0:20:06.960 --> 0:20:08.600 And now I don't know that my cat knows that 0:20:08.640 --> 0:20:12.000 God is her savior, though I'm not sure what her 0:20:12.240 --> 0:20:13.760 theological bent happens to be. 0:20:14.119 --> 0:20:17.080 Yeah, there is a lot of theology ascribed to the 0:20:17.359 --> 0:20:20.199 mind of the cat in this poem. I don't know. 0:20:20.760 --> 0:20:24.040 I don't know about that. But then again, she does 0:20:24.080 --> 0:20:28.760 spraggle upon waggle, though, for he can jump from an 0:20:28.760 --> 0:20:31.840 eminence into his master's bosom. What is the eminence? I 0:20:31.920 --> 0:20:33.840 don't know. I guess that just means like a high 0:20:33.840 --> 0:20:35.720 place in the room like we were talking about. 0:20:36.080 --> 0:20:39.560 Oh yeah, it could be, could be watch out bosom though. Yeah, 0:20:39.560 --> 0:20:41.840 they will definitely jump into the bosom. 0:20:42.080 --> 0:20:45.880 Yeah, that is complete cat into the bosom. All right, Rob, 0:20:45.920 --> 0:20:48.040 you want to pick one of these Weird House cinema 0:20:48.080 --> 0:20:49.159 messages to respond to? 0:20:49.720 --> 0:20:53.040 Oh man, we got some good ones here Ooh hm hmmm, 0:20:53.840 --> 0:20:57.560 select as you will, all right. Oh well, that one's 0:20:57.560 --> 0:21:00.400 good too. I guess I'll start with this one comes 0:21:00.400 --> 0:21:08.399 to us from Andrew. Hi, guys, I just had to 0:21:08.440 --> 0:21:10.520 send a quick email to say that in your recent 0:21:10.560 --> 0:21:14.040 episode of Weird House covering Terror Vision, you briefly mentioned 0:21:14.080 --> 0:21:16.560 a film that would make for another great Weird House 0:21:16.560 --> 0:21:19.359 episode One day. In the connection section, you noted that 0:21:19.400 --> 0:21:21.800 one of the characters had previously appeared in Rock and 0:21:21.880 --> 0:21:24.679 Roll High School, the nineteen seventy nine musical comedy featuring 0:21:24.680 --> 0:21:28.160 the Ramones. Surely at least Joe has seen this wonderful 0:21:28.160 --> 0:21:30.920 piece of weird terrible gold. I don't know a ton 0:21:30.960 --> 0:21:33.360 about how er why this movie came about, but there 0:21:33.359 --> 0:21:35.760 are some good stories out there, like about d d 0:21:35.960 --> 0:21:38.680 Ramones acting being so bad that they had to cut 0:21:38.760 --> 0:21:42.080 his lines down from five to three, two of which 0:21:42.119 --> 0:21:45.320 are along the lines of, hey, pizza, it's great. I 0:21:45.359 --> 0:21:47.439 think you guys could have a great time with it, 0:21:47.640 --> 0:21:49.320 and I know for a fact that I'd have a 0:21:49.320 --> 0:21:52.400 great time with it. So tass it on the list. PS. 0:21:52.560 --> 0:21:56.240 Still waiting for that Langaliers send up, Love you guys, Andrew. 0:21:56.680 --> 0:21:59.680 I feel like we've talked enough about Langaliers in unrelated 0:21:59.680 --> 0:22:02.040 episod so so that can we even do do an 0:22:02.040 --> 0:22:03.000 episode on it now? 0:22:05.200 --> 0:22:08.240 Probably? Probably it's I think, as I mentioned before, I 0:22:08.280 --> 0:22:10.360