WEBVTT - Short Stuff: La Lechuza - The Witch Owl

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

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<v Speaker 1>there's Chuck, and there's Jerry sitting in for Dave. And

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<v Speaker 1>this is stuff you should know.

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<v Speaker 2>That's right. We're beginning our Spookcius month about two.

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<v Speaker 1>Yes, and I'm psyched.

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<v Speaker 2>I am too. We love our halloweeny content. And we're

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<v Speaker 2>going to talk to you a little bit today about

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<v Speaker 2>a kind of one of those just fun urban legend

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<v Speaker 2>stories that seems to be geographically specific in that it's

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<v Speaker 2>around you know, maybe Texas, New Mexico border towns, mainly

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<v Speaker 2>of the Lalla Choosa, the owl witch.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, but I think that's where its origin was, along

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<v Speaker 1>the border of Texas and Mexico. But I saw also

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<v Speaker 1>it spread chuck to places like Argentina and Cuba. They

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<v Speaker 1>have their own versions. But Lala Choosa is a I

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<v Speaker 1>think somewhere around a set foot owl with the face

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<v Speaker 1>of a woman, fifteen foot wingspan and a bad attitude. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>And this is one of those things where you know,

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<v Speaker 2>because it's lore and legend, it's going to differ from

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<v Speaker 2>place to place depending on who's telling the story. By

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<v Speaker 2>the way, we should think how stuff works and all

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<v Speaker 2>that's interesting. Austin Harvey from there, and I found a

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<v Speaker 2>fun article on Texas Standard from Sarah ash and Raoul

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<v Speaker 2>Alonzo that helped out with this. But yeah, this is

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<v Speaker 2>one of those sort of legends where and there's a

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<v Speaker 2>lot of different versions. We're going to go for a

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<v Speaker 2>few of those. One is that La La Chusa will

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<v Speaker 2>make like sounds like a baby is crying, hoping that

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<v Speaker 2>someone will go, like, try and find this baby and

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<v Speaker 2>all of a sudden be snatchable by the talons and

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<v Speaker 2>they would be snatched up and return to the owl's nest.

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<v Speaker 2>Ostensibly that's so creepy.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Can you imagine seven foot owl woman with a

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<v Speaker 1>fifteen foot wingspan mimicing of baby's cries.

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<v Speaker 2>No, it's pretty terrifying like that.

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<v Speaker 1>Also, some of the other stuff that said about her

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<v Speaker 1>is that if you see her near your house, it

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<v Speaker 1>means she's portending that something bad is about to happen

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<v Speaker 1>to somebody in your house. Maybe a piece of furniture

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<v Speaker 1>in your house. I don't know.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, if I think sometimes if you dream about La

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<v Speaker 2>La choose a family member will die soon. And it

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<v Speaker 2>seems like most of the tellings it is a woman

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<v Speaker 2>who was once a or an ol woman who was

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<v Speaker 2>once a human woman and something bad happened to her,

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<v Speaker 2>some act of cruelty, usually something by a bad man happened,

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<v Speaker 2>or maybe maybe happened to her child and it turned

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<v Speaker 2>her into a vengeful beast. Sometimes La la Choosa is

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<v Speaker 2>more of a witch's familiar, like the like you know,

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<v Speaker 2>Dracula's or a vampire's familiar, and I think in that

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<v Speaker 2>case the as a witch's familiar, they would abduct kids

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<v Speaker 2>for the witch.

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<v Speaker 1>Right. She's also been accused of being an MS area

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<v Speaker 1>of Satan himself Satan, that's right. And one of the

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<v Speaker 1>things you said is that she's often described as being

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<v Speaker 1>vengeful because of something that happened in her past or

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<v Speaker 1>her kid. Usually that's chalked up to either her child

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<v Speaker 1>was killed for a crime they didn't commit and so

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<v Speaker 1>now she's stealing other people's kids in return, or that

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<v Speaker 1>her child was killed by a drunk man. Yeah, and

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<v Speaker 1>that's actually one group that she seems to target. And

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<v Speaker 1>modern tellings are drunk dudes stumbling out of bars and

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<v Speaker 1>walking home alone at night and then wow, fifteen foot

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<v Speaker 1>wingspan comes out of nowhere and the talents just sink

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<v Speaker 1>into their head and carry them off by their scalp,

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<v Speaker 1>and if they're lucky, their scalp will rip off of

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<v Speaker 1>their head and they'll follow the ground and die on impact.

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<v Speaker 1>And if they're unlucky, they'll be carried by their scalp

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<v Speaker 1>all the way back to Lalla Choose's layer, and bad

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<v Speaker 1>things are going to happen to him there.

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<v Speaker 2>That's right. If you want to kill Lalla Choose, a

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<v Speaker 2>good luck, buddy, because apparently you cannot hurt Alala Choosa

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<v Speaker 2>with bullets. I think if you try to kill one

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<v Speaker 2>with a gun or something like that, you're going to

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<v Speaker 2>get killed like pretty soon afterward for sure.

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<v Speaker 1>Right, Yeah, I guess in the La La Choose a

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<v Speaker 1>fact off, there's that whole idea that this is a woman,

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<v Speaker 1>our woman who is actually some sort of spirit or

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<v Speaker 1>familiar or something like that means that there is an

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<v Speaker 1>actual person involved in this elsewhere, often a member of

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<v Speaker 1>the community secretly preying on the rest of the community

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<v Speaker 1>as Lalla Choosa, and that when La La Chusa is

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<v Speaker 1>out doing her thing, that person is unconscious back home

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<v Speaker 1>in some room until she comes back and reinhabits their body.

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<v Speaker 1>So either they're possessed by her or they're using her

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<v Speaker 1>or their special ability to enact vengeance and terrorize a community.

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<v Speaker 1>And there's actually sposedly I looked all over for I

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<v Speaker 1>couldn't find it. But there's supposedly some sort of incantation

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<v Speaker 1>or prayer or something that a community can use that

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<v Speaker 1>will reveal the person who is actually La la choosa

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<v Speaker 1>and then ostensibly they get their scalp taken.

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<v Speaker 2>All right, shall we come back after this, Yes, all right,

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<v Speaker 2>we'll be right back with Mara la la Choosa.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, Chuck. And we've been using the name La la

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<v Speaker 1>choosa without explaining to non Spanish speakers that la choosa

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<v Speaker 1>is actually the word for owl. Yeah, which makes lot

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<v Speaker 1>of sense. Sure, And this was we said that this

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<v Speaker 1>whole thing kind of came from the Texas Mexico border,

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<v Speaker 1>that seems to be the origin of it. And they

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<v Speaker 1>think essentially that this is just like any other bit

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<v Speaker 1>of folklore, that it was used to explain unbearable things

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<v Speaker 1>like the disappearance of children, or probably more likely, it

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<v Speaker 1>was used to keep kids on the straight and narrow,

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<v Speaker 1>like fairy tales were right, you know, Western Europe, same

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<v Speaker 1>thing if you're out messing around and you know, spray painting,

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<v Speaker 1>somebody's brick wall or something like that. Lola Choose is

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<v Speaker 1>going to come out of nowhere and snatch you up,

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<v Speaker 1>so you better be good kind of thing.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah. Absolutely, And you know, as far as where these

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<v Speaker 2>things come from, I remember, God, many many years ago,

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<v Speaker 2>we did one in urban legends, and it's always pretty

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<v Speaker 2>much impossible to trace back like the true origin With

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<v Speaker 2>this one. There are people who think this might have

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<v Speaker 2>come from pre Columbian meso America, when the indigenous peoples

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<v Speaker 2>had very close relationships in bonds with animals. But when

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<v Speaker 2>the Spaniards came along to meso America, they brought, of

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<v Speaker 2>course Christian Catholic Christian beliefs with them and condemned the

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<v Speaker 2>rest as paganism. Of course.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I thought this is really interesting because a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of the gods in meso American cultures were animal human hybrids. Right, Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>so an owl woman may have been some ancient or

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<v Speaker 1>eldritch deity and was in no way, shape or form evil.

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<v Speaker 1>But the Spaniards came along as Christians and went to

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<v Speaker 1>that Christian playbook and basically said, your gods are now

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<v Speaker 1>Christianity's demons, so stop worshiping them. And that is a

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<v Speaker 1>great explanation for where something like La Choosa came from.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, for sure. It's also popped up over the years

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<v Speaker 2>in like various pop culture ways. I'm surprised or has

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<v Speaker 2>it been like a pretty cool La la choose a

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<v Speaker 2>like movie or a character in a movie or TV show?

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<v Speaker 2>You know, they'd be truly frightening.

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<v Speaker 1>Have you seen the movie based on Lajrana? I don't

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<v Speaker 1>think I saw that. That was it was kind of

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<v Speaker 1>scary that it was the Latino urban legend and it

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<v Speaker 1>was okay.

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<v Speaker 2>All right, well maybe I'll check it out. You have

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<v Speaker 2>good horror recommendations.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, I take that back then, because I don't want to.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't want to ruin Streek.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I mentioned pop culture. I think Lalla Chuosa was

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<v Speaker 2>a was an enemy in an issue of a comic

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<v Speaker 2>book called Releempago, and that was created by Margarito Garza.

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<v Speaker 2>So that was one. What else it was music too, righte?

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah? There. Yeah, there's a song called El Parajo Gigante

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<v Speaker 1>de Robe, which is by a group called Los Campion's

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<v Speaker 1>de Raul Ruiz and the de Robe is actually talking

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<v Speaker 1>about a specific town called Robestown or Rob'stown. Texas along

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<v Speaker 1>the borders near Corpus Christy and there was an outbreak

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<v Speaker 1>of sightings of La La Choosa in nineteen seventy five

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<v Speaker 1>and seventy six, and like it was a big deal,

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<v Speaker 1>Like this whole town was like like credible. People are

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<v Speaker 1>like I saw La La Choosa with my own eyes. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>And it turned out that there was a group of

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<v Speaker 1>teens from town who had created a pretty convincing La

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<v Speaker 1>La Choosa like dummy, like a life size one, and

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<v Speaker 1>was just you know, running it around town scaring the

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<v Speaker 1>Bejesus out of people. So that's where that that inspired

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<v Speaker 1>that song. As far as I can tell.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, I wish I knew somebody who was a

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<v Speaker 2>good sort of model maker creature maker, because we've been

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<v Speaker 2>getting more into the Halloween front yard decorations and like

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<v Speaker 2>to be a little outside the box and not just

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<v Speaker 2>whatever you get at party City or no, not party city.

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<v Speaker 1>What is it?

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<v Speaker 2>We did a whole episode on it last year.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh spar Halloween.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean there's there's a is really good. I'm not

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<v Speaker 2>knocking it.

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<v Speaker 1>Have you been at home Depot lately, dude? They've gone

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<v Speaker 1>off the chain?

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<v Speaker 2>Oh really?

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<v Speaker 1>Oh yeah, they have like ten twelve foot tall scary monsters.

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<v Speaker 1>Now it's crazy like their Halloween thing. But it's the

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<v Speaker 1>same issue that you don't want, which is name somebody

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<v Speaker 1>two door sounds gonna have the same thing.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I would love a custom sort of. I think

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<v Speaker 2>Allala choose it would be truly scary and it has

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<v Speaker 2>kind of a fun story behind it all like stuff

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<v Speaker 2>that has like a legend behind it. So hey, if

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<v Speaker 2>anyone out there wants to just you know, make me one,

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<v Speaker 2>I'll just say my address on the show and you

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<v Speaker 2>can just drop it off in the front yard.

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<v Speaker 1>Good plan. Yeah. There was one other thing too, and

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<v Speaker 1>I kind of touched on that Lalla choos has survived

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<v Speaker 1>into modern day and that the most modern interpretations tend

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<v Speaker 1>to kind of drill into the kind of gender norm

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<v Speaker 1>or flip flop gender norms. Yeah, that the fable or

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<v Speaker 1>the urban legend actually kind of gets into, which is

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<v Speaker 1>there's a vengeful woman who is big enough and powerful

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<v Speaker 1>enough and angry enough to punish bad men. Yeah, and

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<v Speaker 1>that not just men who stumble home drunk from the

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<v Speaker 1>bar are targeted, but men who are known to abuse

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<v Speaker 1>their wives their children are her favorite like prey. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>so It's interesting how she kind of evolved into a

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<v Speaker 1>bit of like an avenger for women and children.

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<v Speaker 2>I like that version.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, hats off Leila Choosa.

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<v Speaker 2>That's right. We're good guys. Don't come after us.

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<v Speaker 1>That is true, Chuck, that is true. Anything else?

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<v Speaker 2>I got nothing else?

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, well then short stuff is Oh.

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<v Speaker 2>Stuff you Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For

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