WEBVTT - The Fifth Hour: Benny's Travel Log 0:00:00.680 --> 0:00:01.440 Cutbooms. 0:00:02.279 --> 0:00:05.360 If you thought four hours a day, twelve hundred minutes 0:00:05.400 --> 0:00:09.200 a week was enough, think again. He's the last remnants 0:00:09.200 --> 0:00:12.480 of the Old Republic, a soul fashion of fairness. He 0:00:12.560 --> 0:00:15.480 treats crackheads in the ghetto gutter the same as the 0:00:15.600 --> 0:00:19.599 rich pill poppers in the penthouse. Wow to Clearinghouse of 0:00:19.640 --> 0:00:23.480 hot takes, break free for something special. The Fifth Hour 0:00:23.600 --> 0:00:30.760 with Ben Maller starts right now. 0:00:28.960 --> 0:00:33.520 In the air everywhere. The Fifth Hour with Me, Ben 0:00:33.600 --> 0:00:38.080 Maler and Danny G Radio. Happy Friday. It is the 0:00:38.159 --> 0:00:42.159 thirteenth day of February. We were recording this early in 0:00:42.200 --> 0:00:46.519 the morning on a Friday, and it is Valentine's Day weekend, 0:00:46.600 --> 0:00:50.320 So hopefully at some point we'll have an emergency Tinderoni 0:00:50.360 --> 0:00:55.080 Tips with Danny G Radio. But today on this edition 0:00:55.360 --> 0:01:00.240 of the podcast, we've got the Mather travel Log a 0:01:00.280 --> 0:01:04.200 little bit different, Malard Travelogus. This is our first Fifth 0:01:04.200 --> 0:01:09.880 Hour podcast since the weekend getaway in Northern California. We're 0:01:09.920 --> 0:01:13.760 gonna call this Barnacles on the Mayflower. We're gonna call 0:01:13.800 --> 0:01:17.160 this one Barnacles on the Mayflower. Now, I did notice 0:01:17.200 --> 0:01:21.160 it was World Radio Day today. I saw this. Now 0:01:21.200 --> 0:01:24.320 I did not know that it is World Radio Day. 0:01:24.360 --> 0:01:27.880 I did not realize this was a thing. However it is. 0:01:28.000 --> 0:01:31.280 It hasn't been a thing for that long. World Radio 0:01:31.360 --> 0:01:36.640 Day was first proposed in Spain in September of twenty ten, 0:01:37.480 --> 0:01:42.959 and then it began shortly after that. In twenty eleven, 0:01:43.920 --> 0:01:48.040 World Radio Day was accepted by all member states of 0:01:48.480 --> 0:01:51.360 the I guess there's a world body that puts these 0:01:51.400 --> 0:01:56.080 things together. And the first official World Radio Day was 0:01:56.160 --> 0:02:01.760 the University of Pisa, the Leaning Tower of Peace in Italy. 0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:05.520 They hosted an event there and we can thank the 0:02:05.600 --> 0:02:11.760 great Marconi who invented radio, and then this guy James 0:02:12.000 --> 0:02:18.399 Clerk Maxwell who proposed radio's possibility. But it was Marconi 0:02:19.120 --> 0:02:24.080 that invented the first practical radio device and providing me 0:02:24.160 --> 0:02:29.240 with a lifetime of employment. And the gadgets have changed 0:02:29.320 --> 0:02:31.160 right to watch you McCall. It's the thinking. My jiggs 0:02:31.160 --> 0:02:34.680 are all different now. But the radio it's as many 0:02:34.840 --> 0:02:38.959 radio days today as one of them. So we honor 0:02:39.600 --> 0:02:45.720 broadcasting and the history of the wacky, wacky business. And 0:02:45.760 --> 0:02:48.920 it was some of the things that took place here 0:02:49.760 --> 0:02:52.560 in radio. I don't know that I want to get 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:55.200 into this right now. Actually, I had to study this. 0:02:55.240 --> 0:02:58.280 When I was in Saddleback College. I learned a little 0:02:58.280 --> 0:03:01.400 bit about radio, and like the first radio station was 0:03:01.480 --> 0:03:09.200 KDKA and Pittsburgh and nineteen nineteen and then radio FM 0:03:09.320 --> 0:03:12.360 radio began. There was a bunch of pirate radio stations. 0:03:12.400 --> 0:03:17.919 That's why the government regulated radio to avoid pirate radio. 0:03:18.000 --> 0:03:21.760 Of course, now we have the Internet which has nothing 0:03:21.840 --> 0:03:26.480 but pirated this, that and the other thing. So celebrate appropriately. 0:03:26.600 --> 0:03:31.519 It is again World Radio Day. Meanwhile, the Mallard travelog 0:03:31.639 --> 0:03:37.440 has been activated. The road from Los Angeles to San 0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:40.920 Francisco is not merely a drive. Now, I've done this 0:03:41.000 --> 0:03:44.560 a few times over the years, but this is a pilgrimage. 0:03:44.760 --> 0:03:48.240 And I was reminded, having not done it in a 0:03:48.280 --> 0:03:51.000 little bit of time, that the trip from the South 0:03:51.040 --> 0:03:55.720 to the north, you feel like you're reading about Lewis 0:03:55.760 --> 0:03:58.320 and Clark, but you're living it. But you get better snacks, 0:03:59.160 --> 0:04:03.960 better snacks, conditioning, heating, that kind of stuff. Manifest destiny 0:04:04.080 --> 0:04:11.000 in a malormobile. As we traveled the overnight sports talk 0:04:11.200 --> 0:04:14.800 conn of Hall in the malomobile made the migration right 0:04:14.920 --> 0:04:19.599 up the spine of California, right up the spine. Now 0:04:19.640 --> 0:04:22.599 as you are aware because you are a loyal minion 0:04:22.800 --> 0:04:27.680 of the Fifth Hour podcast. We completed a world wind 0:04:28.000 --> 0:04:32.280 journey at what used to be called Radio Row. That's 0:04:32.320 --> 0:04:37.400 the colloquial term Radio Row and is now more accurately 0:04:38.360 --> 0:04:46.320 Influencer Row. A bizarre of ring lights and really self 0:04:46.400 --> 0:04:48.640 important people. The guy I used to do the podcast 0:04:48.680 --> 0:04:51.719 with West of the four h five. These are his peeps, right, 0:04:51.920 --> 0:04:56.640 real smarmy, arrogant people who think their gods give the world. 0:04:57.000 --> 0:05:00.520 That is what was here. It was a meet way 0:05:00.640 --> 0:05:04.799 of marketing. Look like a lot of interns and dudes 0:05:04.880 --> 0:05:11.200 who use the phrase content vertical and they use it. 0:05:11.200 --> 0:05:14.880 There's no irony there they use it. So Fox Sports Radio, 0:05:15.160 --> 0:05:20.120 as you are aware, they send the daytime Royalty. There's 0:05:20.160 --> 0:05:23.599 two types of radio. There's night radio and there's daytime radio. 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:27.119 So the daytime radio shows get treated a little bit better. 0:05:27.839 --> 0:05:32.960 The overnight peasants, as usual, are left to finance their 0:05:32.960 --> 0:05:39.200 own travel expeditions, while the daytime guys get hotel rooms 0:05:39.240 --> 0:05:42.880 and per diem and things like that. So fortunately, my 0:05:43.160 --> 0:05:47.080 brother in law happens to live about ten miles from 0:05:47.240 --> 0:05:51.080 the heart of San Francisco where this was going on. 0:05:51.200 --> 0:05:56.120 At the convention, center and my wife, bless her. Intrepidzoul 0:05:56.560 --> 0:05:59.960 loves a good road trip the way some people love 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:06.120 of breathing. So the journey north on I five Interstate 0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:12.880 five is a lesson in humility regarding geography, and California 0:06:13.080 --> 0:06:19.599 is a massive monster. It's vast, it's got the agriculture, 0:06:20.160 --> 0:06:24.159 and it's empty because of that in the middle. There's 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:31.839 not a lot going on when you're driving through the middle. Bakersfield, Fresno, Visalia, 0:06:32.320 --> 0:06:36.880 towns like that, I just feel like Commas in a sentence. 0:06:37.040 --> 0:06:41.040 No one ever finishes the cows. They just outnumber people, 0:06:41.120 --> 0:06:44.800 which drives the animal rights wackos crazy. Oh my god, 0:06:44.880 --> 0:06:48.360 they're farting and there's come on, I want my milk, 0:06:48.400 --> 0:06:52.800 I want my meat. Fart away boys, flatulence everywhere, And 0:06:53.160 --> 0:06:55.360 what I enjoyed. One of the things I laughed at 0:06:55.480 --> 0:07:02.719 was the billboards scolding the bozo gas newsome and I 0:07:02.720 --> 0:07:06.720 didn't realize that this was as big a thing still, 0:07:06.160 --> 0:07:10.240 and things maybe moved on, but no, there were a 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:14.080 bunch of billboards with this rural venom, which is a 0:07:14.160 --> 0:07:18.480 different kind of venom. Farmer venom is a different kind 0:07:18.480 --> 0:07:21.320 of venom, the kind of venom that could curdle milk. 0:07:22.040 --> 0:07:24.800 And we're talking about the bread basket of California, which 0:07:24.800 --> 0:07:31.120 stretches out like it's this green ocean. And you realize 0:07:31.160 --> 0:07:34.080 that driving again from LA to San Francisco is the 0:07:34.120 --> 0:07:39.240 West Coast equivalent of driving from Boston to Washington. Of 0:07:39.240 --> 0:07:44.040 course we don't have the charming colonial plaques and historical monuments, 0:07:44.080 --> 0:07:48.960 but you're going through. If you're going from Boston to Washington, 0:07:49.000 --> 0:07:53.840 you're traveling through seven states. Right now, We in California 0:07:53.960 --> 0:07:58.800 have a great deal of garlic. That's our advantage. Now, 0:07:58.800 --> 0:08:02.239 we made the required stop at In and Out Burger. 0:08:02.280 --> 0:08:05.640 We stopped right across the Grapevine, which is when you're 0:08:05.720 --> 0:08:07.760 leaving LA, you gotta go up through the hills and 0:08:07.800 --> 0:08:11.880 go down into the place where they have all the food. 0:08:12.280 --> 0:08:14.160 They make the food, and that's the Grapevine. It's a 0:08:14.200 --> 0:08:16.920 little like truck stop there, and there's hotels if you're 0:08:16.960 --> 0:08:18.680 not familiar with it. And so we stopped at the 0:08:18.680 --> 0:08:21.800 Grapevine at the in and Out Burger, which is less 0:08:21.800 --> 0:08:24.080 a restaurant and more it's like a civic duty to 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:26.160 eat an in that burger. I don't eat there very much, 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:28.320 but when I see one on the road, we always 0:08:28.520 --> 0:08:32.480 try to stop, so we kept going. After that, we 0:08:32.480 --> 0:08:36.760 were fortified again from a Loves truck stop, not the 0:08:36.840 --> 0:08:40.040 Flying j Not the Flying Jack. There was no Flying 0:08:40.120 --> 0:08:43.200 Jay at this off ramp, so we went to Loves 0:08:43.960 --> 0:08:47.680 Now keep Inlind. My wife piloted. It was a two 0:08:47.720 --> 0:08:50.880 person operation. My wife piloted while I attempted to assemble 0:08:50.920 --> 0:08:54.960 an overnight radio program from scratch while sitting in the 0:08:55.040 --> 0:08:59.839 passenger seat. It was truly a dynamic duo maneuver that 0:09:00.240 --> 0:09:03.320 would have impressed the road warriors. They were, oh, man, 0:09:03.400 --> 0:09:05.880 that's the way to go. So the show on the 0:09:05.880 --> 0:09:09.840 West Coast begins at eleven PM, and there is no 0:09:10.080 --> 0:09:14.240 grace period in radio. I have friends that have normal 0:09:14.440 --> 0:09:17.640 nine to five jobs, and if traffic is bad, they 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:22.480 show up at nine thirty or ten o'clock. The microphone 0:09:22.640 --> 0:09:26.840 does not care about your plight, your journey, your traffic, 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:30.400 doesn't care about it, doesn't care about it. So Gilroy 0:09:31.559 --> 0:09:35.280 announced itself before we saw it. The windows immediately came down. 0:09:35.320 --> 0:09:39.520 That's a requirement. The windows came down. We inhaled the 0:09:39.600 --> 0:09:47.880 stinking rows nature's antibiotic gangster name garlic, and that was awesome. 0:09:47.920 --> 0:09:50.120 I just love the smell of the guard. Now, by 0:09:50.160 --> 0:09:54.559 the time we reached San Francisco proper, it was now 0:09:54.640 --> 0:09:59.160 rush hour. My wife was driving, trying to negotiate lanes 0:09:59.240 --> 0:10:02.880 like a diplomat in a dispute at the border, and 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:08.240 no one gave an inch, No mercy was shown, and 0:10:08.640 --> 0:10:11.160 the wife was not enjoying this part of the trip. Now, 0:10:11.160 --> 0:10:16.199 eventually we reached the sanctuarya at my brother in law's home, 0:10:16.360 --> 0:10:23.600 where I converted a room with cathedral ceilings into a 0:10:23.720 --> 0:10:28.240 broadcast bunker, Benny's broadcast bunker. I brought this big, giant 0:10:28.320 --> 0:10:33.680 container with a remote studio setup, including the microphone, the headphones, 0:10:34.000 --> 0:10:37.600 the thing that we need to connect to everything. So 0:10:37.679 --> 0:10:41.959 it was all there, and I was worried. I was like, well, 0:10:42.000 --> 0:10:43.920 this is probably not going to sound that good. But 0:10:43.960 --> 0:10:47.520 we had nowhere else to broadcast from because the cable 0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:50.840 that we had wasn't very long and it had to 0:10:50.880 --> 0:10:54.120 be connected to the do Hickey, and if it was 0:10:54.160 --> 0:10:56.360 not connected to the dow Higgy as Alf the Alien 0:10:56.400 --> 0:10:59.360 Opinter and Fergdog No, that would cause a problem that 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:06.599 would cause So the acoustics were horrific. My voice ricocheted 0:11:07.480 --> 0:11:11.960 like a racquetball. In a gymnasium. Callers wondered if I 0:11:12.080 --> 0:11:16.040 was ill. They were convinced that I had gotten the 0:11:16.080 --> 0:11:20.880 creeping crud. No, no, I I was just echoing off 0:11:21.000 --> 0:11:26.960 drywall to six hundred radio stations. So we improvised, which 0:11:27.040 --> 0:11:30.839 meant going on our phones, well mostly my wife's phone, 0:11:31.000 --> 0:11:37.120 to Amazon. We ordered a longer cable and we wanted 0:11:37.160 --> 0:11:39.800 a lower ceiling. And in order to get a lower ceiling, 0:11:40.360 --> 0:11:44.040 we're not doing the work that just Josh does. We decided, okay, 0:11:44.080 --> 0:11:46.800 we'll get a longer cable, and so we used the 0:11:46.840 --> 0:11:50.880 Malor method. My right hand was getting a workout, not 0:11:51.000 --> 0:11:53.719 the Malor maneuver. That's something different. The Malor maneuver, as 0:11:53.720 --> 0:11:55.079 you know, is on the game shows. But the Malor 0:11:55.200 --> 0:12:03.560 method you adjust, adapt and broadcast, not man deflect and absorb. No, no, no. 0:12:04.320 --> 0:12:07.720 We use the Malord method to just adapt and broadcast. 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:11.000 So the following day there was a package that showed 0:12:11.080 --> 0:12:15.480 up at the door and it had the cable needed, 0:12:15.559 --> 0:12:18.360 so we were able to broadcast where we wanted to. And 0:12:18.400 --> 0:12:21.560 then we also had a luncheon. That's right, a power 0:12:21.640 --> 0:12:24.760 luncheon at the fly Trap in San Francisco. This is 0:12:24.800 --> 0:12:27.960 a relic of the olden days in San Francisco, with 0:12:28.040 --> 0:12:34.280 more than a century of stories. If those plaster walls 0:12:34.280 --> 0:12:39.120 could talk, My god, the things that likely happened at 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:42.160 the fly Trap. How great is that? What a great 0:12:42.240 --> 0:12:48.079 name that is? So this event, there's a patriarchy to this. 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:51.640 So the daytime host who had their trip paid for, 0:12:51.840 --> 0:12:55.400 with their nice jackets and all that, they were there. 0:12:55.480 --> 0:12:57.320 But I had a chance to meet some really cool people, 0:12:57.559 --> 0:13:01.920 the big sales executives for the company who came in 0:13:01.960 --> 0:13:06.600 from New York and Nashville. A bunch of producers there. 0:13:06.679 --> 0:13:10.200 Danny G was a bunch of my old producer, Danny G. 0:13:10.600 --> 0:13:15.280 Wrong Button Bob the talent was also there. The big 0:13:15.360 --> 0:13:21.000 daytime guys, Rob Parker and Jonas Knox and LaVar Arrington 0:13:21.160 --> 0:13:23.840 and Brady Quinns. First time I met Brady quinn he 0:13:23.920 --> 0:13:27.320 was there, the old Notre Dame quarterback Covino and Rich 0:13:27.800 --> 0:13:30.280 and I did not see Stu Gotts. I did not 0:13:30.679 --> 0:13:32.640 come across Stu Gotts. He was not at that event, 0:13:32.640 --> 0:13:36.000 at least not when I was there. And we made 0:13:36.000 --> 0:13:38.959 the rounds and said hello to everyone and all that, 0:13:39.040 --> 0:13:42.200 and did did our thing that got to see the 0:13:42.240 --> 0:13:44.760 president Yellow FaceTime with the president of the Premier Network. 0:13:44.840 --> 0:13:48.480 She lives in Nashville there, Julie Talbot, very nice woman 0:13:48.640 --> 0:13:51.400 who I haven't seen that often, obviously not living in 0:13:51.440 --> 0:13:54.120 California anymore, and it was great to catch up with 0:13:54.160 --> 0:13:57.040 her as a kind of a summit of the big 0:13:57.080 --> 0:13:59.560 people at the company. And like I said, a lot 0:13:59.559 --> 0:14:03.319 of these guys I'd not met, really cool dudes, and 0:14:03.480 --> 0:14:06.439 they're the ones that keep us going because they're the 0:14:06.480 --> 0:14:09.160 ones that sell all the commercials for dude wipes and 0:14:09.200 --> 0:14:10.520 all the other stuff, and then we just have to 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:13.000 read them on the air. I did break my fast 0:14:13.040 --> 0:14:14.560 a little early. I was not happy about it, but 0:14:14.600 --> 0:14:16.559 I did break my fast little early for free food, 0:14:17.160 --> 0:14:23.640 a small betrayal of the regular routine that I justified 0:14:23.640 --> 0:14:27.800 it rare and appropriate. Rare, rare and appropriate. You got 0:14:27.800 --> 0:14:30.080 to live life if you can't just be so locked 0:14:30.120 --> 0:14:33.880 in that you gotta follow this. So I did fast 0:14:33.960 --> 0:14:39.080 the very minimum amount of time. Then came a walk 0:14:39.520 --> 0:14:43.440 to try to get to the credentialing gauntlet courtesy of 0:14:43.440 --> 0:14:46.640 the National Football League see Radio Row. You can't just 0:14:46.720 --> 0:14:50.400 walk into radio Row, No, you have to be approved 0:14:50.480 --> 0:14:53.360 by the NFL and their security, and you have to 0:14:53.400 --> 0:14:56.320 send in this thing and that thing, and I don't 0:14:56.360 --> 0:14:58.520 know what the other thing is and all that stuff. 0:14:59.040 --> 0:15:02.120 So when I say has to approve you, we are 0:15:02.200 --> 0:15:08.720 talking NFL security, which includes a facial scan which leads 0:15:08.760 --> 0:15:14.800 to you getting your badge printed. Pentagon level vigilance for 0:15:14.920 --> 0:15:20.040 a room full of men and women who are arguing 0:15:20.360 --> 0:15:25.360 about the future of the on side kick and you 0:15:25.560 --> 0:15:30.160 have facial recognition, Pentagon level security. Now, my wife received 0:15:30.160 --> 0:15:32.760 the pass as well, and so she was able to 0:15:32.800 --> 0:15:36.320 hang out with me, and together we crossed over, crossing 0:15:36.360 --> 0:15:42.320 the Rubicon into the funhouse. Radio Row. Now, legend has 0:15:42.400 --> 0:15:47.440 it that radio Row began with Mike and the Mad Dog, 0:15:47.480 --> 0:15:50.560 Mike Francesa and Chris Russo, who both did a stint 0:15:50.600 --> 0:15:52.600 at Fox Sports Radio. A lot of people don't know 0:15:52.640 --> 0:15:55.760 that they both did a stint at Fox Sports Radio 0:15:55.800 --> 0:16:00.440 twenty five years ago. Their weekend shows from WFN picked 0:16:00.520 --> 0:16:04.960 up in simulcast on Fox Sports Radio. However, we learned, 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:07.840 and I didn't know this, that even though Russo and 0:16:07.880 --> 0:16:11.600 Francesa both had weekend shows, they almost never actually did them, 0:16:12.160 --> 0:16:16.280 so they were mostly carrying the fill ins for Chris 0:16:16.400 --> 0:16:18.880 Russo and Mike francessa but a couple of New Yorkers 0:16:18.880 --> 0:16:21.360 with microphones and ambitions. They would go to the super 0:16:21.400 --> 0:16:24.360 Bowl site. They'd set up in the lobby of the hotel, 0:16:24.480 --> 0:16:28.400 and then word got out, and since Mike and the 0:16:28.440 --> 0:16:34.120 Mad Dog, it has over the years metastasized into a 0:16:34.320 --> 0:16:37.960 convention now which has been taken over by selfie sticks 0:16:38.760 --> 0:16:46.360 and beautiful women who are really trying to dress down 0:16:46.480 --> 0:16:49.240 unless they're not. Hey, good for them, you got it, 0:16:49.280 --> 0:16:53.640 show it. The NFL, they really do seem more invested 0:16:53.760 --> 0:16:59.960 in TikTok trends than terrestrial radio. I can't believe it. 0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:03.160 I don't know why. Uh, this is the part where 0:17:03.160 --> 0:17:05.400 I would go into a rant. It's the matrix. I've 0:17:05.440 --> 0:17:08.040 already done that, you know how I feel about it. 0:17:08.520 --> 0:17:11.720 At some point there will be the great Awakening. At 0:17:11.720 --> 0:17:15.760 some point a bunch of really powerful people are going 0:17:15.840 --> 0:17:21.440 to realize that they have been taking to the cleaners. 0:17:22.040 --> 0:17:24.480 They're going to realize that. Now it hasn't happened yet, 0:17:24.480 --> 0:17:28.040 but at some point it's going to happen. The fake 0:17:29.040 --> 0:17:32.320 level of activity that goes on on these platforms is 0:17:32.400 --> 0:17:35.600 next level. Like there's obviously a lot of people on them, 0:17:35.960 --> 0:17:38.760 just not as many as the numbers indicate. So the 0:17:38.880 --> 0:17:44.040 vibe has shifted from a barroom debate the old classic 0:17:44.119 --> 0:17:48.000 sports radio Tom Rady is the great lo Joe mont Taylor. 0:17:48.960 --> 0:17:54.200 Now it's this curated spectacle. To describe it, and if 0:17:54.240 --> 0:17:57.800 you haven't been, you probably have it. It's Costco. If 0:17:57.840 --> 0:18:02.680 Costco sold egos in bulk, this would be the loading dock, 0:18:02.840 --> 0:18:06.000 this would be the loading dock. And still there were 0:18:06.080 --> 0:18:10.240 friendly faces, colleagues, a bunch of other people that behind 0:18:10.280 --> 0:18:15.000 the scenes pr veterans who I have crossed path with 0:18:15.359 --> 0:18:18.520 in my time in radio, so it was cool to 0:18:18.520 --> 0:18:21.680 see him. JT the Brick, who had a seventeen year 0:18:21.760 --> 0:18:24.439 run I think at Fox Sports Radio. I got to 0:18:24.480 --> 0:18:28.040 catch up with JT. And of course he does some 0:18:28.080 --> 0:18:30.800 stuff with Tom Looney and I do Benny Versus the 0:18:30.800 --> 0:18:32.720 Penny with Tom Looney, so it was great to see him. 0:18:32.800 --> 0:18:36.159 Some of my old TV people who I knew from 0:18:37.000 --> 0:18:39.480 the Benny Versus the Penny Show on NBC. My buddy 0:18:39.480 --> 0:18:42.480 Bill was there. He was nice enough to come over 0:18:42.520 --> 0:18:44.679 and say hello, so I got to catch up with 0:18:44.760 --> 0:18:50.119 him and I briefly did some stuff at WEEI. I 0:18:50.119 --> 0:18:53.920 can't believe it's been almost ten years twenty seventeen, twenty eighteen, 0:18:54.920 --> 0:18:58.200 and they had a booth and I saw WIGGI, who 0:18:58.320 --> 0:19:00.240 used to play for the Pages Old Tight like a 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:02.280 morning guy, but he was there in the afternoon. I 0:19:02.280 --> 0:19:05.240 didn't ask many questions. Ted Johnson, the Old Patriot was 0:19:05.240 --> 0:19:08.240 there also, So those guys were wandering around. A Rash 0:19:08.520 --> 0:19:11.040 who I've known since he was an intern, and my 0:19:11.080 --> 0:19:13.440 buddy from Canada. I'm always guys. It was cool. I 0:19:13.480 --> 0:19:16.240 was shaking hands. I'm not much of a small talk guy. 0:19:16.280 --> 0:19:20.800 This was mostly small talk. Did my interviews, traded pleasantries 0:19:21.359 --> 0:19:23.639 that may or may not be remembered. I'm gonna go 0:19:23.680 --> 0:19:27.840 with not remembered. And then on a sidewalk not far 0:19:28.119 --> 0:19:31.280 from the madness of the convention center, which was secured 0:19:31.359 --> 0:19:41.119 by a massive police presence, I nearly collided with Dave Chappelle. Yeah, 0:19:41.160 --> 0:19:44.399 my right shoulder on my left, not my left. My 0:19:44.480 --> 0:19:50.680 right shoulder passed within a foot of the Comic Royalty. 0:19:50.720 --> 0:19:55.399 The gesture Dave Chappelle the court jester, and that was 0:19:55.520 --> 0:19:58.520 that was pretty cool. And I didn't notice it that 0:19:58.680 --> 0:20:03.280 there was a gaggle like group of people. These dudes 0:20:03.320 --> 0:20:08.400 were following one of these influencer ladies who was shaking 0:20:08.400 --> 0:20:11.720 her tooks while she walked and it was not ugly, 0:20:12.400 --> 0:20:15.600 and so everything was slowed down. And then ahead of 0:20:15.640 --> 0:20:19.480 her was Dave Chappelle. Was some dude just walking around. 0:20:19.720 --> 0:20:24.119 Oh that's Dave Chappelle, very recognizable from all the Netflix 0:20:24.160 --> 0:20:27.200 comedy stuff and all that. So there he was, and 0:20:27.600 --> 0:20:31.080 we had that brief moment. That that brief moment there 0:20:31.520 --> 0:20:34.800 and this in my private ledger. Not a big board 0:20:36.640 --> 0:20:39.560 unless it is not a list. This is a big board. 0:20:39.600 --> 0:20:44.000 So Terry and England come to so the celebrity siding. 0:20:44.119 --> 0:20:48.439 Now this elevates me to the next level. I'm no 0:20:48.560 --> 0:20:53.680 longer at the kiddy table and Dave Chappelle somewhere between 0:20:54.080 --> 0:20:59.160 David Beckham when he was still playing Footebois and the Hoff, 0:21:00.160 --> 0:21:03.280 the legend David Hasselhoff. Would they wink at a nod 0:21:03.359 --> 0:21:07.680 to Justin Bieber the Beebes who's hoodie touched my arm 0:21:07.720 --> 0:21:11.200 while he was going out to a Lakers game years ago. 0:21:11.760 --> 0:21:13.920 So we are now me and Dave Chappelle the most 0:21:14.800 --> 0:21:19.960 using the most generous interpretation of proximity lifelong acquaintances like 0:21:20.040 --> 0:21:22.680 I'm sure next time, Dave Chappelle does a comedy show 0:21:23.200 --> 0:21:26.480 in LA in Hollywood, I'll be like, hey, uh remember me, Dave. 0:21:26.520 --> 0:21:28.280 Can I get a couple of tickets? Should? No problem, 0:21:28.480 --> 0:21:32.520 No problem. Now, the city itself presented a curious amount 0:21:32.520 --> 0:21:36.600 of theater in San Francisco because near the convention Center 0:21:37.960 --> 0:21:44.040 it was fine. Order was there, laws were being followed. 0:21:44.800 --> 0:21:46.840 I don't want to say the streets were scrubbed, because 0:21:46.880 --> 0:21:49.840 there was still a lot of dirt around. The police 0:21:49.920 --> 0:21:53.720 presence was abundant. Now, one of the offers, one of 0:21:53.720 --> 0:21:57.560 the officers, confided with me and the wife, and you know, 0:21:57.600 --> 0:22:00.760 the wife knows the lingo. She's a nine and one operator, 0:22:00.800 --> 0:22:02.760 so she knows the lingo of the cops. And so 0:22:03.320 --> 0:22:05.720 this guy was really cool and he's like confighted. He 0:22:05.800 --> 0:22:09.200 used to be a radio guy names Marcus. I'm sure 0:22:09.200 --> 0:22:11.240 there's more than one cop named Marcus. And it was 0:22:11.280 --> 0:22:13.720 really cool. He's like, yeah, give me the whole rap. 0:22:13.760 --> 0:22:16.840 And he essentially said, and this blew me away because 0:22:16.880 --> 0:22:19.160 I heard guys like Pat McAfee who were like, oh, 0:22:19.320 --> 0:22:21.840 people said San Francisco was, but it's not about at all. 0:22:22.280 --> 0:22:26.159 And you're right around the convention center it was fine. 0:22:27.040 --> 0:22:31.320 And the cop told me that the politicians in San Francisco, 0:22:32.320 --> 0:22:36.640 they gave the mandate to treat the Super Bowl convention 0:22:36.760 --> 0:22:38.679 area where all the media people were going to be 0:22:38.760 --> 0:22:45.720 and the influencers, as a geopolitical event, like they swept 0:22:45.800 --> 0:22:50.160 up the vagrants. And it was reminiscent the officer said 0:22:50.200 --> 0:22:53.720 of when the President of China came for some meetings. 0:22:53.880 --> 0:22:58.080 Is a similar thing, and so okay. But then you 0:22:58.200 --> 0:23:02.920 leave that bubble you want under a few blocks, and 0:23:03.000 --> 0:23:09.399 the varnishes thinned, the reality reasserts itself and does about 0:23:09.440 --> 0:23:12.719 as subtle as a brass band about us, subtle as 0:23:12.720 --> 0:23:19.920 a brass band. Traffic downtown was medievil, medievil. And I'd 0:23:19.960 --> 0:23:23.200 like to meet the politician that decided we have these 0:23:23.240 --> 0:23:26.960 three lane roads in downtown San Francisco. Why don't we 0:23:27.080 --> 0:23:30.840 convert one of the lanes in all of downtown as 0:23:30.880 --> 0:23:38.359 a busway or ride share corridor. Will paint that lane red, 0:23:39.240 --> 0:23:43.119 and we will provide one of the legendary boondoggles in 0:23:43.280 --> 0:23:46.280 any city I've ever been to. Now, traffic's bad in 0:23:46.440 --> 0:23:48.639 la and it's bad in Boston. It's a lot of 0:23:48.640 --> 0:23:51.320 it's underground, and New York City's terrible. And I've been 0:23:51.960 --> 0:23:54.239 able to travel and drive in all these places, but 0:23:54.359 --> 0:24:00.600 it once took us. This was I think on Thursday, 0:24:00.680 --> 0:24:02.800 might not it was Friday. It took us forty five 0:24:02.920 --> 0:24:05.760 minutes to go a mile and a half. We were 0:24:05.800 --> 0:24:07.880 a mile and a half from where we needed a park. 0:24:07.960 --> 0:24:13.840 Took forty five minutes. I could have crawled in my 0:24:13.960 --> 0:24:16.159 knee pads or whatever. I would have made it in 0:24:16.400 --> 0:24:21.000 less time. Now, after waiting, there was another moment where 0:24:21.000 --> 0:24:23.560 we left Radio Row. We were going to go out 0:24:23.600 --> 0:24:26.439 and get a bite to eat, and we walked a 0:24:26.440 --> 0:24:29.000 few blocks over from the convention center. He's like, all right, 0:24:29.040 --> 0:24:31.639 let's go a few blocks over. There'll be less traffic. Well, A, 0:24:31.760 --> 0:24:35.320 there wasn't less traffic, and B we could not believe 0:24:35.359 --> 0:24:38.480 every corner had a cop on it to avoid the 0:24:38.520 --> 0:24:41.200 people that were down on their luck from hanging out 0:24:41.240 --> 0:24:43.840 with the tourists and all that. So we went to 0:24:44.320 --> 0:24:47.760 is it Union Square? I think something Union. We went 0:24:47.800 --> 0:24:50.080 down there and it's like this really cool park surrounded 0:24:50.119 --> 0:24:53.199 by these old buildings, and you might you could have 0:24:53.200 --> 0:24:55.600 been in any city, could have been in Chicago, New York, LA. 0:24:55.720 --> 0:24:59.719 Whatever the buildings are all. And so we saw we 0:24:59.720 --> 0:25:02.120 were like all right, Let's order an uber all right, 0:25:02.240 --> 0:25:06.520 no problem. The uber says, six minutes, will pick you 0:25:06.600 --> 0:25:09.240 up from this spot. Walk a half a block to 0:25:09.280 --> 0:25:11.600 this spot. Okay, I can walk a half a block. 0:25:12.080 --> 0:25:16.879 So we walked a half a block and the app, 0:25:17.000 --> 0:25:21.520 the uber app, said traffic is building. Car is still 0:25:21.600 --> 0:25:26.760 six minutes away. So we said, okay, understandable. I was 0:25:26.800 --> 0:25:29.520 just going to wait here. And we waited, and we 0:25:29.560 --> 0:25:32.719 waited for about thirty to forty minutes. I forget exactly 0:25:32.800 --> 0:25:35.840 how long it was. It was more than thirty less 0:25:35.880 --> 0:25:40.639 than forty, but I'll say between thirty and forty. And 0:25:40.920 --> 0:25:43.159 I was getting annoyed, and I said, you know what, 0:25:43.880 --> 0:25:45.760 cancel it now. We had no other audit. We could 0:25:45.840 --> 0:25:48.719 not walk the hills of San Francisco. We're not lunatics. 0:25:50.000 --> 0:25:52.480 These hills are insane. I'd like to also go back 0:25:52.480 --> 0:25:54.439 on a hot top time machine find out who decided 0:25:54.480 --> 0:25:57.960 this is a good idea. Let's uh, this is almost 0:25:58.359 --> 0:26:01.600 the hill is almost straight up. Let's build a house here, 0:26:01.920 --> 0:26:04.159 Let's build a skyscraper. That's the way to do it. Anyway, 0:26:05.040 --> 0:26:09.080 So I had this brilliant epiphany. I said, you know what, 0:26:09.920 --> 0:26:14.399 we're in San Francisco. Cancel the uber. We did, and 0:26:14.600 --> 0:26:20.640 I was overwhelmed with the tourism disease, if you will. 0:26:20.640 --> 0:26:25.199 We boarded one of the iconic cable cars, you know, 0:26:25.240 --> 0:26:27.720 the red cable cars, which is really only there for 0:26:27.760 --> 0:26:32.760 the tourists, and it was packed. It was absolutely packed. 0:26:32.800 --> 0:26:34.679 It was so packed. How packed was It was so 0:26:34.800 --> 0:26:37.720