WEBVTT - Short Stuff: Haint Blue

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, you welcome to the short stuff. I'm Josh. There's

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<v Speaker 1>Chuck Jerry's kind of hanging around us like an unwanted spirit.

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<v Speaker 1>But we doused here in blue paint as if she

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<v Speaker 1>were wearing for in New York and nineteen five and

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<v Speaker 1>she's taken off. Wow. Mm hmm. That sounded almost scripted.

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<v Speaker 1>It was not, man, it was it. It was right

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<v Speaker 1>off of the the cerebral cortex, the executive function a

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<v Speaker 1>k a. The old cuff. Yes, the problem is I

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<v Speaker 1>just diverted so much brainpower to the cerebral cortex that

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<v Speaker 1>my brain stem made me pee my pants. Have you

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<v Speaker 1>ever heard of this uh haint blue tradition? Sure, Okay,

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<v Speaker 1>I didn't know how much people knew about this. This

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<v Speaker 1>is something I was familiar with because, um, well for

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<v Speaker 1>many reasons. But one of my good friends, Meta has

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<v Speaker 1>is from Charleston and has a haint blue porch ceiling,

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<v Speaker 1>and I sort of like the tradition in now I

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<v Speaker 1>know a little bit more about it. Yeah, I mean

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<v Speaker 1>Atlanta is not exactly like in the low country, like

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<v Speaker 1>along the Georgia coast or South Carolina coast, but it's

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<v Speaker 1>close enough that you could see it kind of trickling in,

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<v Speaker 1>and I think it does, agreed. So what you're talking

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<v Speaker 1>about is a specific kind of paint color that you

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<v Speaker 1>very frequently see in those areas in the southeastern Southeast.

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<v Speaker 1>Doesn't get much more southeast than that, you end up

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<v Speaker 1>in the Atlantic if you keep going um that you

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<v Speaker 1>will see on people's ceilings of their porches like this,

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<v Speaker 1>very pretty like light blue, one of my favorite shades

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<v Speaker 1>of blue. Not necessarily Hain't blue. I'm not like I

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<v Speaker 1>hain't blue is my favorite color, nothing like that, but

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<v Speaker 1>any kind of like light blue, pale blue, Robin's egg blue,

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<v Speaker 1>all those are very very pretty colors. There's a purpose

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<v Speaker 1>to this this though, Like this paint color on the

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<v Speaker 1>ceiling though, right. Yeah, So the word hain't they think

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<v Speaker 1>it may have come from the word haunt. But a

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<v Speaker 1>haint in the this low country culture, which we'll get

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<v Speaker 1>into more in a sec is a is a restless ghost.

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<v Speaker 1>And it's a ghost like I thought all ghosts were

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<v Speaker 1>sort of like this that has not moved on to

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<v Speaker 1>whatever world lies beyond and is still here to haunt

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<v Speaker 1>the living. Yeah, And it's this is haints are specific

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<v Speaker 1>to a culture of um slaves. Imported from western Central Africa,

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<v Speaker 1>whose ancestors has kind of formed this community along those

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<v Speaker 1>the Low Country and who still have this this very

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<v Speaker 1>robust culture that believes in haints. Um. The thing. The

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<v Speaker 1>difference to me is um between like ghosts as we

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<v Speaker 1>understand them and hainte is haint seemed to be much

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<v Speaker 1>more like all up in your business kind of thing,

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<v Speaker 1>and they like to mess with you a lot more

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<v Speaker 1>than like a ghost who's tied to a house and

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<v Speaker 1>is replaying their murder over and over every night at midnight. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>I've spent a little bit of time, uh this one

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<v Speaker 1>weekend with some gechy folks and they are really awesome

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<v Speaker 1>and rich with tradition and have this really really really

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<v Speaker 1>cool accent. Dude, I'll bet their food is amazing too.

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<v Speaker 1>And the food was terrible. I'm kidding. I was genuinely surprised.

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<v Speaker 1>Now it's like some of the best food I've ever

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<v Speaker 1>had in my life, I would guess. So, I mean

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<v Speaker 1>low country boil. You just have me right there. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>So who do There's you know, a specific type of

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<v Speaker 1>voodoo that goes on the Low Country called hoo do

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<v Speaker 1>or root work or conjure, and that's a practice where

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<v Speaker 1>they use a lot of herbs uh in this case

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<v Speaker 1>haint blue to protect people from these evil haints coming

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<v Speaker 1>into h I mean sometimes it's a little lighter, sometimes

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<v Speaker 1>it gets pretty heavy and scary. Yeah. So there's a

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<v Speaker 1>boo Hag, which is one of the best names for

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<v Speaker 1>a haint. Ever, booh haggs are um. They seem to

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<v Speaker 1>be like, uh, what is that that? Um sleep paralysis

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<v Speaker 1>tradition from Ireland or Scotland or somewhere over there. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>I can't remember. There's like a tradition of a old

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<v Speaker 1>witchy woman standing on your chest while you're sleeping and

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<v Speaker 1>we I don't think so, but related maybe the wife

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<v Speaker 1>of the bob a duck. But the we talked about

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<v Speaker 1>in the sleep paralysis episode that that's probably where that

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<v Speaker 1>came from, was that was having sleep paralysis. And this

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<v Speaker 1>sounds very familiar because the boo Hag will stand on

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<v Speaker 1>your chest while you're sleeping too and try to suffocate you. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>and also steal your skin and where your skin during

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<v Speaker 1>the day so they can blend in. And why there

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<v Speaker 1>hasn't been a modern horror movie called the Boo Hag

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<v Speaker 1>yet is beyond me. I don't know either right or

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<v Speaker 1>even just haint. Yeah, so that's one kind of hainte.

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<v Speaker 1>And uh, there's things you can do like using hoo

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<v Speaker 1>do or root work or whatever. People won't wander around

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<v Speaker 1>like carrying little bags of roots and talisman to ward

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<v Speaker 1>off haints. But if you actually have a haint that

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<v Speaker 1>you're having to deal with in your everyday life, that

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<v Speaker 1>you've attracted somehow, um, one of the things you would

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<v Speaker 1>do specifically with the boot hag is they have like

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<v Speaker 1>an obsessive compulsive disorder according to the Goliguchi, and they

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<v Speaker 1>um have to count. So if you do things like

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<v Speaker 1>throw rice on your bedroom floor or whatever, the boot

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<v Speaker 1>Hag might come to set on your chest and suffocate you.

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<v Speaker 1>But instead she's gonna end up sitting there counting rice

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<v Speaker 1>all night and then the sun's gonna come up and

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<v Speaker 1>she's gonna be toast. Where have we talked about this before?

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<v Speaker 1>Because I have a very very distinct memory about something

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<v Speaker 1>being distracted because they had to count whatever you threw.

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<v Speaker 1>It was the Eastern and Central European vampires that had that, say,

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<v Speaker 1>wasn't I believe? So? Yeah, I knew it sounded familiar.

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<v Speaker 1>Should we take a break Yeah, was that sudden? That

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<v Speaker 1>was like a left hook. All right, go gather yourself

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<v Speaker 1>and we'll be right back. Okay, yea, all right, we're back.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's talk about more haints. There's another haint called a

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<v Speaker 1>platt i, which also sounds very scary. They are shape

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<v Speaker 1>shifters and they can be anything, um it says here

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<v Speaker 1>in the House Stuff Works article, anything from a beautiful

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<v Speaker 1>woman to a two headed hog. And the scary thing

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<v Speaker 1>about a plaid i is that there aren't a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of defenses against the platt i save maybe leaving some

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<v Speaker 1>whiskey out and or pouring it on the ground or something,

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<v Speaker 1>and the plat i may stop to lick that upright,

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<v Speaker 1>But otherwise you're out of luck with the platt i. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>They say that once the platt i is attached to itself,

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<v Speaker 1>to your there's not a lot you can do. You

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<v Speaker 1>can maybe search yourself and see what kind of um,

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<v Speaker 1>as this one expert put it, what kind of grave

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<v Speaker 1>spiritual offense you've committed? What have I done? And try

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<v Speaker 1>to make it right? You know? Yeah? Um, But the

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<v Speaker 1>the I also saw that you might end up with

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<v Speaker 1>the plaid i attached to you if you go looking

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<v Speaker 1>for buried Confederate treasure, because they say that plaid eyes

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<v Speaker 1>are frequently ghosts of people who were murdered and improperly

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<v Speaker 1>buried by a Confederate treasure in order to protect it.

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<v Speaker 1>Indefinitely interesting. Yeah, so be careful if you're gonna go

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<v Speaker 1>looking for Confederate treasure buried in the Low Country, take

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<v Speaker 1>a little whiskey with you and pour them out for

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<v Speaker 1>the plaid eyes. That's right. So that sort of brings

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<v Speaker 1>us to this paint blue. Uh. And I'm sure you're

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<v Speaker 1>wondering when you guys going to talk about the title

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<v Speaker 1>of this podcast, and it's now and we we did

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<v Speaker 1>a great show on indigo, uh and so we don't

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<v Speaker 1>need to go over all of that again. But indigo,

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<v Speaker 1>just very briefly, was a plant that thrived in the

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<v Speaker 1>Low Country and slaves were used to to cultivate the

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<v Speaker 1>end Togo and it was a big, big cash crop

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<v Speaker 1>for the South. It's the reason Georgia legalized slavery. Remember, Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>that's right. So this blue was available to the Gulligichi people,

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<v Speaker 1>even though the color and the spiritual power of this

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<v Speaker 1>blue is sort of all over the world, but they

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<v Speaker 1>would have this blue and it sort of became the

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<v Speaker 1>color that they would use because it reminded them of

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<v Speaker 1>the sky and of the ocean, and the idea was

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<v Speaker 1>that you paint this on your porch or on a

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<v Speaker 1>door maybe, and it tricks these spirits into thinking that

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<v Speaker 1>they're in water, or they can't cross, or they're in

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<v Speaker 1>the sky or something like that. Yeah, because there's one

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<v Speaker 1>thing you can say about haints, and that is that

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<v Speaker 1>they're kind of gullible. It sounds like, at the very least,

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<v Speaker 1>they have a lot of um uh faults and flaws

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<v Speaker 1>that can be manipulated by people who know what to

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<v Speaker 1>look for. Yeah, they're dumb. The problem is is if

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<v Speaker 1>you're visiting somebody on their porch and they have a

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<v Speaker 1>haint blue see laying on their porch, there might be

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<v Speaker 1>a haint hanging out in there. So they didn't make

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<v Speaker 1>it into the house, they could still be on the porch.

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<v Speaker 1>So f y, I never visit your neighbor. And uh,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, we should point out that this is has

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<v Speaker 1>got a rich tradition in this low country culture, but

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<v Speaker 1>it has very much become part of the mainstream and

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<v Speaker 1>a very kind of h color for front porch ceilings

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<v Speaker 1>and stuff. Like that, and there's nothing wrong with that,

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<v Speaker 1>but I think you know, educate yourself, know where it

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<v Speaker 1>comes from, know a little bit about the tradition. If

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<v Speaker 1>you're going to do something like that, I think yeah, totally.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, at the very at least be able to

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<v Speaker 1>say what what that is instead of like that pretty

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<v Speaker 1>blue who knows where it comes from? Who cares? I

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<v Speaker 1>had a Volkswagen Beetle that was Robin's egg blue. Such

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<v Speaker 1>a great color, man, it was gorgeous. It's tough to

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<v Speaker 1>beat a good Robin's egg blue. Agreed, So way to go,

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<v Speaker 1>Goligichi people. That's pretty awesome as far as traditions go.

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<v Speaker 1>And keep up the good work. Battling haints you anything else?

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<v Speaker 1>Nothing else? All right? Well, if you want to hear

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<v Speaker 1>more about this, start this episode over because short Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>is out. H Stuff you Should Know is a production

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<v Speaker 1>of I Heeart Radios How Stuff Works. For more podcasts

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<v Speaker 1>for my Heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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<v Speaker 1>or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. H