WEBVTT - "Uncatchable”: The Greek Robin Hood 0:00:00.520 --> 0:00:03.960 Ridiculous Crime is a production of I Heart Radio. Yeah, 0:00:04.000 --> 0:00:07.240 Elizabeth Dutton Zarin Burnett. I got a question for you, girl, Yeah, 0:00:07.360 --> 0:00:11.640 hit me. You know what's ridiculous? I do? Ready for that? 0:00:11.720 --> 0:00:16.960 I do? Um. We have this uh friend on Instagram, Jennifer. 0:00:17.200 --> 0:00:21.799 She's a baker. She um is one of the many, 0:00:21.840 --> 0:00:27.480 many people who have clued us in on weird product mashups. 0:00:29.800 --> 0:00:34.800 I can't help it is all I do know. So um. 0:00:34.840 --> 0:00:36.720 She's one of a couple of people who have mentioned this, 0:00:36.800 --> 0:00:39.839 but her her story is the best about it. Um 0:00:39.880 --> 0:00:43.440 that KFC makes a fule log like a fire log, 0:00:44.080 --> 0:00:47.479 a Derri flame style log, a Christmas ule log, and 0:00:47.520 --> 0:00:56.440 it's it's KFC. It's KFC. So um the somebody like 0:00:56.480 --> 0:01:00.000 I am in the they describe market. KFC is eleven 0:01:00.000 --> 0:01:04.520 herbs and spices, firelog by and viral loog and um. 0:01:04.640 --> 0:01:07.640 They describe it as the comforting, crispy aroma of a 0:01:07.640 --> 0:01:11.720 fried chicken scented firelog wafting from your fireplace fried chicken 0:01:11.760 --> 0:01:15.320 fire Did you hear those words, people, fired fried chicken firelog? Yeah? 0:01:15.480 --> 0:01:17.720 And so I mean you want your whole house to 0:01:17.760 --> 0:01:21.000 smell like rancid greasy. I don't know so anyway, so 0:01:21.240 --> 0:01:26.720 Jennifer doesn't smells like a KFC in here. Basically, oh god, 0:01:27.120 --> 0:01:30.640 your neighbors are just like so. Um, Jennifer got one 0:01:30.680 --> 0:01:36.720 for her sister for Thanksgiving, and um, she promised us 0:01:36.800 --> 0:01:41.240 that she would give us an update, and um, it 0:01:41.280 --> 0:01:44.600 was a big success. Apparently already the update. Yeah, she 0:01:45.400 --> 0:01:48.280 said that it was a big success. Smells like KFC 0:01:48.960 --> 0:01:51.440 and it's kitty approved. She sent a picture of the 0:01:51.520 --> 0:01:54.920 cat sniffing the box, so we got the cat tax photos. 0:01:54.920 --> 0:01:57.880 So cats believed it smelled like chicken. Cats believed it 0:01:57.920 --> 0:02:00.280 smells like chicken. This is just a really cute cat too, 0:02:00.360 --> 0:02:02.960 by the way. But then she sent us a picture 0:02:03.040 --> 0:02:05.240 of the box and a picture of it on fire 0:02:05.320 --> 0:02:09.440 in the firerood. So we have proof. We have absolute 0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:12.320 proof that it actually exists, because some of these things, 0:02:12.360 --> 0:02:16.600 like these weird crossovers, but they don't exist. These exist. 0:02:17.240 --> 0:02:19.560 You can make your whole house stink like fried chicken. 0:02:20.320 --> 0:02:21.919 You know, I've got some family I can send it to. 0:02:22.320 --> 0:02:26.880 Let's let's go around to like vegans houses like we 0:02:26.919 --> 0:02:28.840 live in the Bay Area, both of us, we have 0:02:28.919 --> 0:02:31.720 the like you can imagine your neighbors smelling that you 0:02:31.960 --> 0:02:34.760 burning fried chicken, and like maybe gets so like you'd 0:02:34.760 --> 0:02:37.640 have on the next door. People will be talking about, 0:02:37.680 --> 0:02:39.160 like I got in a fight with my neighbor because 0:02:39.160 --> 0:02:43.440 they tell me. And it's bad enough, like living in 0:02:43.480 --> 0:02:45.480 the East Bay, like in the hills and you have 0:02:45.639 --> 0:02:49.000 the fire danger. People get upset when when their neighbors 0:02:49.160 --> 0:02:53.519 use a fireplace. And then if you're burned, if you're 0:02:53.560 --> 0:02:58.000 like barbecues caused fight? What if you have fire pit 0:02:58.120 --> 0:03:01.079 in your backyard? And yeah, because I've heard, yeah, I've 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:05.200 heard people who have vegetarian neighbors upset you had that right, 0:03:05.680 --> 0:03:07.560 you had a neighborhood didn't like you a grill and 0:03:07.639 --> 0:03:11.600 chicken super mad about the smell of fried chicken. I'm 0:03:11.600 --> 0:03:15.000 trying barbecue chicken. Who hates the smell barbecue chicken. So 0:03:15.160 --> 0:03:17.040 I think that we should just go around to all 0:03:17.040 --> 0:03:20.400 the fire pits and swap out the logs for KFC logs. 0:03:20.480 --> 0:03:25.160 Let's get this party started so good. So that is 0:03:25.360 --> 0:03:29.680 my contribution this week to what is ridiculous Ho ho 0:03:29.680 --> 0:03:36.000 ho Happy holidays. Well that's make this a December to remember, Elizabeth. 0:03:36.880 --> 0:03:38.720 I just hope that this holiday sales event is one 0:03:38.760 --> 0:03:41.080 that we can all be proud of. Okay, I've got 0:03:41.080 --> 0:03:42.560 a story for you if you got a second I 0:03:42.640 --> 0:03:47.720 do now, my Elizabeth, my partner in crime and storytelling. Today, 0:03:47.760 --> 0:03:49.840 I'd like to tell you the story of the Greek 0:03:49.920 --> 0:04:15.080 robin hood. Yeah, this is ridiculous crime, A podcast about 0:04:15.080 --> 0:04:19.720 absurd and outrageous capers. Heis and cons It's always murder 0:04:19.800 --> 0:04:25.920 free and ridiculous, now, Elizabeth, Yes, I told you, my man, 0:04:26.040 --> 0:04:28.839 the Greek robinode will be the focus of today right now. 0:04:28.880 --> 0:04:34.760 His name is Vasilis Palaeocoustus, right, Vasilus, Paleocoustus, Vassilis, Vasilus. 0:04:34.839 --> 0:04:36.960 I've heard it both ways, and you may hear me 0:04:37.000 --> 0:04:41.120 say it both ways, but be forgiving Pasillis. And he 0:04:41.279 --> 0:04:44.680 arrived on Earth in nineteen sixty six, right like like 0:04:44.720 --> 0:04:48.000 a Beatles record. Now, my man, Vasilus. He grew up 0:04:48.040 --> 0:04:50.280 in the mountains region of central Greece. I'm not sure 0:04:50.279 --> 0:04:52.960 if you know Greece. Well I do not, know, only 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:56.440 the stuff around Athens. And yeah, so this was up 0:04:56.800 --> 0:05:00.920 closer to Macedonia, in the central mountainous region. Very rural. 0:05:01.400 --> 0:05:03.159 Son of a goat hurder, you know. So he's a 0:05:03.200 --> 0:05:07.080 shepherd's boy, raised up in super rural country, living right 0:05:07.360 --> 0:05:11.279 family of Shepherd's childhood home, no electricity, cheaper. His primary 0:05:11.320 --> 0:05:15.200 companions had an older brother, Nicos. Loved Nikos, his brother 0:05:15.240 --> 0:05:16.920 and he would walk to school every day from their 0:05:17.000 --> 0:05:19.400 rural home, and in the winter, because it's in the mountains, 0:05:19.600 --> 0:05:21.880 they would have snow, and when they would walk, Nicos 0:05:22.040 --> 0:05:25.640 about six seven years older, he would put his little brother, Casillas, 0:05:25.800 --> 0:05:27.400 up on his shoulders so that way he didn't have 0:05:27.440 --> 0:05:30.320 to trudge through the snow because it would get like waste. 0:05:30.360 --> 0:05:33.480 It's like chesty. Right. When they would get to their school, 0:05:33.680 --> 0:05:35.880 their school was run by a priest. They get there, 0:05:35.880 --> 0:05:37.680 the priests would take the boys and put them by 0:05:37.720 --> 0:05:40.039 the fire and wouldn't start teaching class until they had 0:05:40.080 --> 0:05:44.920 all thought out like a rural Okay, so that's how 0:05:44.960 --> 0:05:47.960 this is and this Shepherd life, right, it was fine 0:05:47.960 --> 0:05:50.240 for Cecilisy wasn't one of the people who like boxed 0:05:50.320 --> 0:05:52.440 at it. But at the same time, the way it's 0:05:52.480 --> 0:05:55.440 described sounds a little um like I wouldn't want to 0:05:55.440 --> 0:05:59.240 live in. Like there's one quote I found his said, 0:05:59.279 --> 0:06:02.360 and and I there he watched his father yelling at 0:06:02.400 --> 0:06:05.640 goats and grew up idolizing his older brother Nikos. You 0:06:05.839 --> 0:06:11.960 kind of just says it, all right, exactly. So school 0:06:12.000 --> 0:06:15.520 turns out to be a source of inspiration for young Pacillus, 0:06:15.680 --> 0:06:17.560 not in the way that you might expect. It has 0:06:17.560 --> 0:06:19.080 nothing to do with what he learns there. It's not 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:22.240 the academia, but rather a teacher, specifically one teacher who 0:06:22.240 --> 0:06:24.680 gives him a book. And this book that the teacher 0:06:24.720 --> 0:06:29.320 gives them is about this guy named and Antonis catch Atonis. Alright, 0:06:29.360 --> 0:06:32.719 so Antonis catch Atonis. He also was a shepherd, and 0:06:32.760 --> 0:06:35.480 he grew up to become a clept. Now a clept 0:06:35.720 --> 0:06:40.200 is a Greek term for thieves. Yeah, I knew you 0:06:40.279 --> 0:06:43.680 catch on that one. Now that these clips, these bandit thieves. 0:06:43.720 --> 0:06:47.200 They were also Greek resistance against the Ottoman Turks who 0:06:47.320 --> 0:06:51.720 were the occupying force at the time, and they, you know, 0:06:52.320 --> 0:06:54.719 until basically World War one world War two, Greece was 0:06:54.760 --> 0:06:58.920 like an Ottoman territory essentially, right, and then during World 0:06:59.000 --> 0:07:01.720 or two they're under Nazi Germany. Then there there there's 0:07:01.760 --> 0:07:04.960 a fight with Yugoslavia. Tito wants to take over and 0:07:05.000 --> 0:07:07.800 he helps the communists try to run. There's this huge 0:07:07.839 --> 0:07:11.840 civil war. This is all the backdrop of society that 0:07:12.840 --> 0:07:15.640 young Vasilius is born into. Right, and his hero is 0:07:15.680 --> 0:07:20.080 this guy Antonis Catchytonis who starting all of this fighting, 0:07:20.560 --> 0:07:23.720 was a highwayman bandit, a rogue ish anti hero, right, 0:07:23.760 --> 0:07:25.440 so he sees this as a kind of like an 0:07:25.480 --> 0:07:30.720 anarchist struggle. Yeah, ok Right, So, at age thirteen, Vasilius 0:07:30.800 --> 0:07:34.000 moves from the countryside into town with his family. The 0:07:34.040 --> 0:07:37.160 town is called Tricola, doesn't really matter, but it's a 0:07:37.200 --> 0:07:39.600 little city, right, a little town. So the year at 0:07:39.600 --> 0:07:42.880 this point is nineteen seventy nine, Okay, and his older 0:07:42.920 --> 0:07:45.200 brother Nikos has already left home because he's six seven 0:07:45.240 --> 0:07:48.080 years older, and at this point Vasilius he also wants 0:07:48.120 --> 0:07:50.960 to leave home. Yeah, so he's like by the time 0:07:50.960 --> 0:07:53.320 he's about fourteen fifteen, he's like, I'm out of here. 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:56.760 He leaves the family. He gets work at a cheese factory. Right. 0:07:57.640 --> 0:07:59.720 The job is fine, work steady, he doesn't have a 0:07:59.720 --> 0:08:02.880 problem with it. But this job is the awakening of 0:08:02.920 --> 0:08:06.440 his political leanings. Right. He has been a form prior 0:08:06.520 --> 0:08:09.440 by the Antonist, Cachetonist, the highway bandit, and then now 0:08:09.480 --> 0:08:13.360 when he's faced with the economic forces of city life, 0:08:13.680 --> 0:08:17.960 he becomes not militant but a true, true anarchist, not 0:08:18.520 --> 0:08:21.040 only in theory but in practice. So one of his 0:08:21.120 --> 0:08:23.320 friends from his time at the Chief factory put it, 0:08:23.360 --> 0:08:28.360 and I quote, Facilius suffered his bosses capitalist exploitation working 0:08:28.400 --> 0:08:30.600 as a wage slave in a factory, so he turned 0:08:30.640 --> 0:08:34.600 against those bosses. So you get the idea. He's inspired 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:37.680 to become a criminal by capitalism, so he goes hard 0:08:37.760 --> 0:08:40.520 into it. And uh, he also is bothered by the 0:08:40.600 --> 0:08:44.640 hypocritical nature of the crimes of capitalism mass he sees them. 0:08:44.679 --> 0:08:46.640 Because Greece up to this point, you know, there's this 0:08:46.800 --> 0:08:49.400 hard debate. Do we go left and with communism take 0:08:49.440 --> 0:08:52.400 care of the community, do we go with individualism and 0:08:52.440 --> 0:08:55.360 see what you can do in the society on your own, 0:08:55.400 --> 0:08:58.080 which they decide to go with because the UK and 0:08:58.240 --> 0:09:02.240 the Americans helped the the non communist win this fight. 0:09:02.320 --> 0:09:05.679 So the society has gone in the way of individualism. 0:09:05.679 --> 0:09:09.120 But there's still this collectivist impulse in Greece, right. So 0:09:09.280 --> 0:09:12.559 Vacillus aware of an old Greek proverb, and I quote 0:09:12.559 --> 0:09:15.440 the Greek proverb is, if you steal something small, you 0:09:15.480 --> 0:09:18.000 are a petty thief, but if you steal millions, you 0:09:18.040 --> 0:09:21.800 are a gentleman of society. He hates that. He's like 0:09:22.360 --> 0:09:24.360 that ain't right. So he's like, I'm going to become 0:09:24.400 --> 0:09:28.520 a gentleman not of society. And he finds his big brother, Nicos, 0:09:28.559 --> 0:09:29.920 and he's like, you know what, we need to get 0:09:29.960 --> 0:09:33.079 to criming and Nicos is like bet. So the two 0:09:33.160 --> 0:09:34.800 of them they decide, okay, we need to have a 0:09:34.840 --> 0:09:36.880 couple of ground rules that we're going to do the criming. 0:09:37.080 --> 0:09:38.840 They decided they don't want to hurt anyone and they 0:09:38.880 --> 0:09:41.040 want to live for free on someone else's dime. So 0:09:41.160 --> 0:09:45.600 they become bank robbers, right, pretty much straightforward. Now for 0:09:45.600 --> 0:09:49.800 the next seven years from ninety six, there are successful 0:09:49.920 --> 0:09:54.280 robbers who are primarily focused on get this video equipment. Yeah, 0:09:54.320 --> 0:09:57.960 they don't start with banks, they don't. There's going after 0:09:58.040 --> 0:10:03.240 like VCRs saying make cam quarters. It's like yeah, but 0:10:03.280 --> 0:10:06.079 it's not like professional equipment. No, No, they're holding a 0:10:06.160 --> 0:10:09.359 lot of value. These are just newly invented, highly desirous 0:10:09.360 --> 0:10:12.320 pieces of technology. So a VCR increased to go for 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:16.640 a lot of exactly. So they're they're Robin Rago's radio 0:10:16.640 --> 0:10:19.640 shack and going we can make this work. But you know, 0:10:19.760 --> 0:10:23.839 for criminal education, just like my man Red Fall come 0:10:23.880 --> 0:10:27.600 in in many comparisons with this story my dude Vacillas. 0:10:27.640 --> 0:10:31.360 He turns to the cinema for a further criminal education. 0:10:31.640 --> 0:10:33.640 Right yeah, and we've talked about this. It's a great 0:10:33.640 --> 0:10:37.240 way because the filmmakers they thought about it, and they 0:10:37.280 --> 0:10:39.480 thought and they show you what could go wrong, which 0:10:39.520 --> 0:10:45.280 is exactly so still is. He's keen on eighties action 0:10:45.320 --> 0:10:49.720 movies and he keeps his video rental card Hot Things Popping. 0:10:49.760 --> 0:10:52.920 He's in there. He's renting Clint Eastwood movies, on Schwarzenegger's movies, 0:10:52.960 --> 0:10:56.000 Slice to the all the classics of the eighties. At 0:10:56.040 --> 0:10:58.400 this time, it's big Brother gets popped for a robbery. 0:10:58.480 --> 0:11:01.280 So he's like, I'm gonna have to do something about this. 0:11:01.320 --> 0:11:03.720 I can't have Nicos locked up inside. And he turns 0:11:03.760 --> 0:11:06.320 to his cinematic files of research and he's like, I 0:11:06.400 --> 0:11:08.280 got it. I know what to do. You gotta sneak 0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:10.200 something in there. I don't know if he starts like 0:11:10.280 --> 0:11:12.640 with the nineteen thirties movies and he's like, okay, I 0:11:12.720 --> 0:11:14.520 learned from White Heat. I gotta try to sneak in 0:11:14.559 --> 0:11:16.960 a file. But no, this is what he does. First. 0:11:16.960 --> 0:11:18.719 He tries to smuggle in knives, then he gets to 0:11:18.800 --> 0:11:21.640 metal files, then he gets to other tools. They're always 0:11:21.640 --> 0:11:25.240 being confiscated, stolen by other inmates. Right, it's not working. 0:11:25.240 --> 0:11:27.160 He tries to smuggle in a grenade, like maybe just 0:11:27.240 --> 0:11:29.400 hold this in your hand and walk out. That doesn't 0:11:29.200 --> 0:11:32.080 want Nicos if he's like giving him all these tools 0:11:32.080 --> 0:11:35.079 and they get stolen. Everyone else has a file and 0:11:35.120 --> 0:11:37.959 a knife and Nicos I don't know. He just sorr. 0:11:38.320 --> 0:11:41.640 He was bigger than so at the eighties day end 0:11:41.760 --> 0:11:44.840 right to sell us. He's like, this is not working. 0:11:45.360 --> 0:11:48.120 I gotta get my brother out. So he goes all right, 0:11:48.160 --> 0:11:51.000 I'm going full eighties action movie. He gets himself a 0:11:51.080 --> 0:11:55.400 tank and he drinks the tank. This guy is gone 0:11:55.440 --> 0:11:59.439 from like I just checked the VCR. I go I 0:11:59.480 --> 0:12:02.520 stole thank So he steals the tank from like on 0:12:02.520 --> 0:12:05.360 an army where tanks rus Like, yeah, he could pops 0:12:05.360 --> 0:12:06.880 down the tanks r us. He's like, how much for 0:12:06.920 --> 0:12:10.320 the one in the back. I just need to see 0:12:10.320 --> 0:12:13.040 how it handles on the freeway. Peels out. He gets 0:12:13.040 --> 0:12:15.120 down to the prison in Tricola and he tries to 0:12:15.160 --> 0:12:18.160 crash through the prison walls. He just tries to call right, people, 0:12:18.480 --> 0:12:23.520 this is very heavy handed you you'll be surprised to learn, Elizabeth, 0:12:23.840 --> 0:12:29.720 this tank move spectacular failure. Yes, for sure. He gets 0:12:29.720 --> 0:12:34.240 caught and arrested, tank confiscated, loses take. He's like my 0:12:34.320 --> 0:12:37.960 by by by refund. So he's imprisoned, but only in 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:41.560 jail because apparently that's not like a major crime, trying 0:12:41.559 --> 0:12:43.920 to break into that jail. They're like, oh, this is 0:12:43.960 --> 0:12:47.040 cosmetic damage. So he gets out of jail. His brother 0:12:47.120 --> 0:12:49.560 Nikos is still in prison because you've done some Siah. 0:12:49.600 --> 0:12:53.680 He'd been robbing back. So there. For years, the Silus 0:12:53.720 --> 0:12:56.120 and Nikos have worked out an escape plan. The Silus 0:12:56.120 --> 0:12:58.720 has been going on and visiting his brother once and 0:12:58.800 --> 0:13:01.000 he's like, you know what, I went high tech last time. 0:13:01.040 --> 0:13:02.520 That didn't work. I need to go low tech. I 0:13:02.520 --> 0:13:06.640 should keep it simple, stupid, right, So he's like, chosen 0:13:06.720 --> 0:13:10.160 day arrives, he has tells Nicos the plan of what 0:13:10.240 --> 0:13:12.760 to do. Nikos knows and when the Chosen day rise, 0:13:12.760 --> 0:13:15.559 if Asilus goes to their agreed upon spot just outside 0:13:15.559 --> 0:13:17.720 the prison walls and there he is standing in a 0:13:17.800 --> 0:13:20.960 snowy spot because it's the wintertime break out when it's 0:13:21.200 --> 0:13:26.720 more difficult he waits a rope right without like basically ties. 0:13:27.000 --> 0:13:29.040 I don't know if it's like metal into the rope, 0:13:29.160 --> 0:13:31.320 rope around the metal. Either way, it's a weighted knot. 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:35.480 And he throws that up like the prison walls. There 0:13:35.480 --> 0:13:37.960 you go, the ball of SULOCKI inside the rope. He 0:13:38.080 --> 0:13:40.960 like shot, puts it over the wall. His brother is there, 0:13:41.040 --> 0:13:44.080 grabs the rope, bells like I got it. Vassilis ties 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:46.200 the other into the lamp post, and Nikos just climbs 0:13:46.240 --> 0:13:49.880 up and over scamps over. It's up boom free. So 0:13:49.920 --> 0:13:52.840 now and this is a time for them to get 0:13:53.080 --> 0:13:58.960 back into criming rope rope. This is also when they 0:13:59.000 --> 0:14:01.080 have a new role model come into the boy's life 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:03.600 and they're like, you know, we had Antonus catch Tonis 0:14:03.640 --> 0:14:05.800 as our first. Now they have a new one. His 0:14:05.920 --> 0:14:10.679 nickname is the Artist. His government name is Coustus Somatis, 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:15.640 Costas Coustas Somatis. Now these three young ambitious robbers they 0:14:15.640 --> 0:14:17.560 start a crew and they're like, what's we don't need 0:14:17.600 --> 0:14:20.240 a name, let's just be the street name is the Artist, 0:14:20.280 --> 0:14:25.280 the Artist. Yeah, they all have nicknames ahead, so they 0:14:25.280 --> 0:14:27.600 we'll get to their nicknames for now. His nickname is 0:14:27.600 --> 0:14:30.120 the Artist. Right. So in June I d two they 0:14:30.120 --> 0:14:32.640 pull off their first big bank job, and being who 0:14:32.640 --> 0:14:35.640 they are, it's cinematic as possible. The robbery takes place 0:14:35.640 --> 0:14:38.560 in this town called Columbaca, right or Calabaca has you 0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:41.640 can pronounce it either way. Apparently in central Greece, small 0:14:41.680 --> 0:14:44.200 town up in the mountains, surrounded by monastery has long 0:14:44.280 --> 0:14:47.520 been like a hideout for high women and bandits part 0:14:47.520 --> 0:14:51.520 of the resistance against the Ottomans. So they go out there. 0:14:51.600 --> 0:14:53.760 They go to this town and they decide, we need 0:14:53.800 --> 0:14:56.360 to do our research. We're gonna be serious about this, 0:14:57.080 --> 0:15:00.640 and Nicos scours the scene using a pair of innoculars. 0:15:00.680 --> 0:15:02.640 The artist takes out his pen and it goes to 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:06.960 pad sketches the town square on scraps of paper, and 0:15:07.040 --> 0:15:09.680 once they have their town blueprint, it's time to cry. 0:15:10.200 --> 0:15:13.440 So after this short break, Elizabeth, we'll be back and 0:15:13.480 --> 0:15:17.440 I will tell you how the Columbaca cinematic robbery goes down. 0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:41.640 I can't wait. Okay, Elizabeth, where were we We're talking 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:46.720 about columbardist sketching the town. I don't know if I'm 0:15:46.720 --> 0:15:50.440 scouping something out to I put down the sketch pad Man. 0:15:51.360 --> 0:15:53.640 I don't need the artistic impression of it. We don't 0:15:53.680 --> 0:15:55.800 want to have like the cloude monet rendering of the 0:15:55.880 --> 0:15:59.320 church that we're gonna like an abstract artist. I don't 0:15:59.320 --> 0:16:01.440 know what these what is this? This is how the 0:16:01.440 --> 0:16:06.680 city feels. Okay, Elizabeth, I set it up. We're in Calibaka, 0:16:06.840 --> 0:16:11.160 central Grecian town, surrounded bay monastery. But they have beautiful, 0:16:11.160 --> 0:16:14.880 beautiful bank perfect So I would like you close your 0:16:14.880 --> 0:16:20.240 eyes and picture. Okay. You happen to be in the 0:16:20.280 --> 0:16:23.600 small town of Calabaca, Greece, and you're there for one 0:16:24.320 --> 0:16:30.040 very Elizabeth reason. Trains Specifically, Calibaka is the terminal point 0:16:30.040 --> 0:16:32.960 of the old Thessaly railways, and you want to see 0:16:33.040 --> 0:16:34.640 some of the old rail cars that they have in 0:16:34.720 --> 0:16:36.840 the Thessaly railways because it was some of the most 0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:39.160 beautiful rail cars in Europe. And you're like, I gotta 0:16:39.200 --> 0:16:42.120 come see these trains. So you've arrived in Calibaka and 0:16:42.160 --> 0:16:43.800 you want to go to the old rail yards and 0:16:43.840 --> 0:16:46.240 you've arranged to talk trains with some of the locals, 0:16:46.240 --> 0:16:48.440 some of who worked on the trains building them, others 0:16:48.440 --> 0:16:51.440 who appointed them. You just can't wait and there You 0:16:51.480 --> 0:16:55.040 are seated on a park bench waiting to meet somebody 0:16:55.120 --> 0:16:58.040 later that afternoon, when all of a sudden boom, serious 0:16:58.120 --> 0:17:01.320 entertainment arrives in your lap in the form of two 0:17:01.360 --> 0:17:03.880 men driving up in front of the local police station, 0:17:03.920 --> 0:17:06.840 which you can see from your park bench, and they 0:17:06.880 --> 0:17:09.680 place a huge industrial oven in front of the door 0:17:09.720 --> 0:17:13.080 to the cops shop. You're like, that's odd. Things that 0:17:13.200 --> 0:17:15.399 in Greece are different than I know. Then you're like, 0:17:15.400 --> 0:17:17.960 maybe this is like a little yes, it's a peda party. 0:17:18.880 --> 0:17:22.160 Maybe they orders like they're gonna be cooking stuff later. Anyway, 0:17:22.520 --> 0:17:25.919 moments later, you hear gunfire. You're like, well, that's interesting, 0:17:26.280 --> 0:17:28.520 but you don't know it. But little brother Vassilis has 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:30.679 hiked up a hill with a rifle and he has 0:17:30.720 --> 0:17:33.760 been firing his gun at the police station. The cops 0:17:33.840 --> 0:17:36.479 inside are convinced that they're under attack, so they attempt 0:17:36.520 --> 0:17:38.800 to full leave the cop shop, but they can't because 0:17:38.880 --> 0:17:41.399 of the huge industrial oven in front of the cops shop, 0:17:44.560 --> 0:17:47.000 and you're watching. You're watching is the cops fight against 0:17:47.000 --> 0:17:49.040 the door, and You're like, this seems really odd. Why 0:17:49.040 --> 0:17:51.000 are they trying to run out into the gunfire? What 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:54.600 is how danger, am I Now as you sit there 0:17:54.600 --> 0:17:57.560 on your park bench, sipping your Turkish coffee, asking yourself 0:17:57.560 --> 0:17:59.520 these questions. Do you hear the bullets hanging off the 0:17:59.560 --> 0:18:01.400 cops off and you see them trying to fight through 0:18:01.400 --> 0:18:04.200 the door, and you're waiting for your fellow train of 0:18:04.240 --> 0:18:07.800 fish unados and you notice more here and I'm not 0:18:08.000 --> 0:18:13.919 ducking for cover. There's your momentarily very brave, so you're 0:18:13.760 --> 0:18:19.360 you're busybodiness takes over for I don't know what happens, 0:18:19.359 --> 0:18:21.200 and they're not firing at you, so you don't feel 0:18:21.240 --> 0:18:25.359 like immediately dangerous. So you're sitting there and you spot 0:18:25.400 --> 0:18:28.600 this young man Facillus with the rifle. He goes and 0:18:28.640 --> 0:18:30.840 he meets up with his older brother, who don't notice 0:18:30.880 --> 0:18:34.560 his older brother. But this guy Nikos, the artist cost 0:18:34.600 --> 0:18:36.919 is some artists. The three walk into a bank, but 0:18:37.000 --> 0:18:40.359 you notice from afar that they look clean. They're wearing 0:18:40.760 --> 0:18:44.080 business suits. They got on sunglasses, like they mean business. 0:18:44.240 --> 0:18:46.240 That is not how it was in my head before 0:18:46.240 --> 0:18:50.679 you said they were carrying automatic weaponry like they mean business. 0:18:51.600 --> 0:18:53.960 So the front door is opened to the bank. They're 0:18:54.040 --> 0:18:58.560 kicked open. The vacilla's barks, which I will translate for 0:18:58.640 --> 0:19:01.680 you it means this is a stick up in Greek. 0:19:01.920 --> 0:19:03.600 They apparently do only need one word to say this. 0:19:04.359 --> 0:19:06.080 As you sit there on your park bench waiting for 0:19:06.200 --> 0:19:07.800 all this to go down, the three men rob a 0:19:07.920 --> 0:19:11.760 hundred and twenty five million drachmas and they stuffed and 0:19:11.760 --> 0:19:15.720 stolen loot into duffel bags and they cut You're like, whoa, 0:19:15.760 --> 0:19:19.840 how much would that be worth today? Good question? Dollars 0:19:20.800 --> 0:19:22.679 Three push out of the bank, they hop into their 0:19:22.720 --> 0:19:25.560 whip and they escape in the stolen outie. You're like, oh, 0:19:25.600 --> 0:19:27.840 that thing looks super clean, just like their suits. And 0:19:27.840 --> 0:19:30.840 then you hear sirens approaching. You're wondering, how did the 0:19:30.880 --> 0:19:32.720 cops get out of the shop. Turns out they went 0:19:32.720 --> 0:19:34.600 around the back. They got their cars, and now they're 0:19:34.600 --> 0:19:37.280 gonna go chasing after them. So like, only forgot we 0:19:37.320 --> 0:19:40.160 have a back door. We should have thought those earlier. 0:19:40.400 --> 0:19:42.000 So they rushed to their cop cars and they attempt 0:19:42.000 --> 0:19:45.240 to chase the robbers. But the robbers, what's again, cinematic 0:19:45.400 --> 0:19:47.800 ready for them? What have they done? But left spike 0:19:47.840 --> 0:19:50.919 strips across the road. So when the cops roar past you, 0:19:51.320 --> 0:19:53.639 they don't get far because they hit those spike strips 0:19:53.640 --> 0:19:57.560 and tires go flat, and uh, they rolled to an 0:19:57.560 --> 0:20:02.040 embarrassing stop. So you're like wave at them. Now the cops, 0:20:02.240 --> 0:20:05.840 after they've limped to their embarrassing stop, they make their way, 0:20:05.920 --> 0:20:07.600 you know, out of the cop cars and they watches 0:20:07.680 --> 0:20:09.879 the Audie stolen Atie disappears out of town, headed for 0:20:09.920 --> 0:20:12.560 the mountains, and they're like, rank kind of catch them. 0:20:12.680 --> 0:20:15.920 And before they go, you watch a flurry of Drachmas 0:20:16.040 --> 0:20:18.520 rain over the town's people like a weather system of 0:20:18.560 --> 0:20:21.640 good fortune. It is amazing. Vasilus is tossing bills from 0:20:21.640 --> 0:20:24.920 the stolen out until the car disappears in the distance, 0:20:25.160 --> 0:20:28.480 and just like that, Vasillius, Nicos and the Artist they 0:20:28.480 --> 0:20:30.960 all head into the mountains of central Greece, not to 0:20:31.000 --> 0:20:36.480 be seen for much time and witness their first big job. 0:20:36.680 --> 0:20:39.240 And they just sprinkled it on their way out. Yeah, 0:20:39.400 --> 0:20:41.439 they sprinkled a ton of it. You've got one hell 0:20:41.480 --> 0:20:44.480 of a story to tell your train. And yeah, they're 0:20:44.520 --> 0:20:47.320 not showing up to time. Not after that. So after 0:20:47.359 --> 0:20:51.920 the spectacular start as a crew, for whatever reason, Facilius 0:20:51.960 --> 0:20:54.560 and Nikos suicide. You know what, we're gonna quit robbing banks. 0:20:54.960 --> 0:20:57.360 And they stopped pulling stick up moose. They lay low 0:20:57.440 --> 0:21:00.760 for years. Some people they speculate the Pasillus he went 0:21:00.800 --> 0:21:03.640 back to his former career in the cheese industry. Yeah yeah. 0:21:03.640 --> 0:21:06.119 Their story was he escaped to Bulgaria and started running 0:21:06.119 --> 0:21:12.000 a cheese factory there. This sounds like I made it 0:21:12.040 --> 0:21:15.000 all up. The others claimed that he was working a 0:21:15.080 --> 0:21:17.680 cheese shop in the Netherlands. But whatever story you hear, 0:21:20.040 --> 0:21:23.239 the Silus is pushing cheese. I'll tell you one thing 0:21:23.280 --> 0:21:25.399 I know about the Silla. He's a real cheesemonger. So, 0:21:25.480 --> 0:21:30.480 just as mysteriously as they disappeared, the Sillus Paleocoustus returns 0:21:30.560 --> 0:21:33.240 to Criming and I cannot tell you why. He just 0:21:33.359 --> 0:21:38.359 decides he now's the time. So after he left behind 0:21:38.400 --> 0:21:41.640 his Bulgarian cheese factory or his Dutch cheese shop or whatever, 0:21:41.680 --> 0:21:43.720 who's to say, it doesn't matter which it was. What 0:21:43.840 --> 0:21:46.399 we do know is that in December, the Silus and 0:21:46.440 --> 0:21:48.560 his big brother Nikos they get back to work as 0:21:48.600 --> 0:21:50.720 high women bandits. They're like, we need to get back 0:21:50.720 --> 0:21:54.399 to the catchytonis lifestyle. Right. So at this point they've also, 0:21:54.480 --> 0:21:56.880 as I told you, earned nicknames, right. So we had 0:21:56.960 --> 0:22:00.159 the artist, but We also now have a nickname for 0:22:00.320 --> 0:22:04.160 Vascilla's He's called Uncatchable and his brother is called the Phantom. 0:22:04.280 --> 0:22:08.920 So Uncatchable the Phantom of the Artist are once again 0:22:09.040 --> 0:22:13.120 reunited as a crew, and they need a pair of wheels. 0:22:12.680 --> 0:22:18.760 Did the Phantom name himself? No, people call me the Phantom. 0:22:18.800 --> 0:22:20.919 Who calls you the Phantom? Nobody? But guys, I want 0:22:20.960 --> 0:22:23.720 you from now on call me the Phantom. I was 0:22:23.800 --> 0:22:25.560 trying to get myself a nickname like that. I'm like, yeah, 0:22:25.560 --> 0:22:29.040 I got people call me this, and oh, you want 0:22:29.040 --> 0:22:30.919 to know, it's embarrassing. But I was like, you know, 0:22:30.920 --> 0:22:32.760 like I had like a boy's camera and I'm like, yeah, 0:22:33.040 --> 0:22:37.359