WEBVTT - 2026 Update: Tony 0:00:15.210 --> 0:00:15.690 Pushkin. 0:00:20.530 --> 0:00:28.490 Hello, Hello, who is this? This is Khalila Holt, your producer. 0:00:28.930 --> 0:00:33.169 Well, hello, hello, nice to have you back in the studio. 0:00:33.250 --> 0:00:38.849 Welcome, Nice to be reunited in this auditory space. 0:00:39.570 --> 0:00:42.010 Yes, indeed it is. Have a seat please. 0:00:42.050 --> 0:00:46.210 I'm already sitting, but thank you. Yes, we are going 0:00:46.290 --> 0:00:50.010 to revisit some favorite episodes this spring. 0:00:50.370 --> 0:00:52.329 Yes, I couldn't be more excited. 0:00:53.450 --> 0:00:56.970 Do I sound not excited at all? But yeah? 0:00:57.010 --> 0:01:00.050 You know, sometimes my enthusiasm doesn't come across, and I'm 0:01:00.090 --> 0:01:03.770 always surprised. Like same, Like in photos, I think that 0:01:03.810 --> 0:01:06.610 I'm smiling, but then when I see the photos, not 0:01:06.650 --> 0:01:08.890 only am I not smiling at all, it looks like 0:01:08.890 --> 0:01:09.610 I'm scowling. 0:01:09.850 --> 0:01:12.449 I have a really hard time showing enthusiasm too. I've 0:01:13.010 --> 0:01:15.330 noticed that often when I try to like really lean 0:01:15.370 --> 0:01:18.850 into enthusiasm in my voice, it sounds like I'm being sarcastic. 0:01:19.490 --> 0:01:22.530 Yeah, but I am excited, and I'm going to approve 0:01:22.570 --> 0:01:24.690 me too. I'm going to prove to you my excitement 0:01:24.730 --> 0:01:27.650 and my enthusiasms as this conversation goes on. 0:01:27.970 --> 0:01:31.770 Okay, I look forward to that. Yes, and we're gonna 0:01:31.890 --> 0:01:35.850 also check in with our former guests, because you know, 0:01:35.890 --> 0:01:38.050 a lot of them have had some changes in the 0:01:38.130 --> 0:01:38.810 years since. 0:01:39.210 --> 0:01:42.050 Whereas stories end, lives continue, and. 0:01:41.970 --> 0:01:43.770 So I do end eventually. 0:01:44.330 --> 0:01:46.570 Oh God, thanks for bringing the whole thing down. 0:01:47.090 --> 0:01:47.650 I'm just saying. 0:01:47.690 --> 0:01:51.290 I mean, it's everyone's thinking it all right. 0:01:51.410 --> 0:01:53.930 Anyway, who are we talking about today? 0:01:54.410 --> 0:01:59.010 So today we're gonna revisit the episode Jonathan about your 0:01:59.090 --> 0:02:01.290 friend Tony from our very first season. 0:02:01.570 --> 0:02:03.330 I love it. It's been a long time. 0:02:03.770 --> 0:02:07.850 Yeah, that was my favorite episode that season. Something about 0:02:07.850 --> 0:02:08.890 it just really moved me. 0:02:09.410 --> 0:02:09.730 Huh. 0:02:09.770 --> 0:02:12.650 Again, it sounds like I'm being sarcastic, but I'm serious. 0:02:12.690 --> 0:02:13.370 I really liked it. 0:02:13.530 --> 0:02:15.730 No, no, I believe you. It's a It's a personal 0:02:15.770 --> 0:02:18.690 favorite of mine because Tony is one of my best friends, 0:02:19.410 --> 0:02:23.890 and he's an interesting man and his life beyond the 0:02:23.970 --> 0:02:27.570 story continued to be interesting and flow in all kinds 0:02:27.610 --> 0:02:33.450 of unexpected and original directions, so I was really excited 0:02:33.490 --> 0:02:36.489 to check in with him after we kind of what's 0:02:36.530 --> 0:02:39.570 the thing that they do in movies? Like after the 0:02:39.650 --> 0:02:44.690 rap party of this episode, and actually, speaking of rap parties, 0:02:44.810 --> 0:02:46.850 Yes you want me to do some rapping? 0:02:47.370 --> 0:02:51.730 No? No, thank you? Okay, I have a fun, little 0:02:51.770 --> 0:02:53.489 fun story from. 0:02:53.370 --> 0:02:55.090 Production, Oh please. 0:02:54.850 --> 0:02:58.730 Which is that there's a part in this where one 0:02:58.770 --> 0:03:03.810 of Tony's godson says it's over for you, you old sausage. 0:03:04.250 --> 0:03:04.889 Yeah. 0:03:05.010 --> 0:03:09.610 When we celebrated the first season, I, at the suggestion 0:03:09.730 --> 0:03:13.049 of Chris Neery, one of the producers on the first season, right, 0:03:13.250 --> 0:03:15.930 went and got a cake and I asked them to 0:03:15.970 --> 0:03:19.090 put on It's over you old sausage. 0:03:19.410 --> 0:03:21.850 I do remember this, and I thank you. I thank 0:03:21.890 --> 0:03:24.130 you again for that. But if you had to do 0:03:24.170 --> 0:03:26.650 it all over again, if you were to make edits, 0:03:26.970 --> 0:03:31.330 might you say it's not over you a young sausage. 0:03:31.770 --> 0:03:34.410 It's still going you young sausage. 0:03:36.410 --> 0:03:40.810 So enjoy, Yeah, enjoy. We'll check in with Tony at 0:03:40.850 --> 0:03:44.210 the end of the episode, and not to overpromise, but 0:03:44.650 --> 0:03:46.890 there's just a lot that's gone on in his life 0:03:46.930 --> 0:03:50.170 and a lot that continues to go on. Yes, but 0:03:50.250 --> 0:04:00.530 first things first, a word from our sponsors. 0:04:01.090 --> 0:04:04.090 Did hi? 0:04:04.490 --> 0:04:07.850 This is Khalila from Gimlet Media. Please hold for Jonathan Goldstein. 0:04:09.090 --> 0:04:09.850 I'm sorry, who is this. 0:04:10.130 --> 0:04:13.370 Khalila from Gimblet Media. Please hold for Jonathan Goldstein? 0:04:14.050 --> 0:04:35.849 Please hold? Yeah, Wow, Hello, Hello. How nice of you 0:04:35.890 --> 0:04:40.330 to take the call from yourself. Oh hey, Jackie, you 0:04:40.409 --> 0:04:44.010 seem surprised that you called me so to hear from you. 0:04:43.810 --> 0:04:43.850 You. 0:04:44.089 --> 0:04:46.050 I didn't realize that I had you on my calendar. 0:04:46.210 --> 0:04:48.890 But this is great. How are you doing? It's been 0:04:48.929 --> 0:04:52.289 so busy. It's nice to decompress and have a normal conversation. 0:04:53.049 --> 0:05:01.849 How's it going from Gimblet Media. I'm Jonathan Goldstein and 0:05:01.929 --> 0:05:04.810 this is Heavyweight Today's episode. 0:05:05.609 --> 0:05:19.770 Tony, Paul, how are you very good? 0:05:19.810 --> 0:05:20.650 Thanks? 0:05:21.890 --> 0:05:24.330 I was wondering if you would be up for meeting 0:05:24.330 --> 0:05:24.969 me for an hour? 0:05:26.010 --> 0:05:28.210 Okay, what about I was. 0:05:28.210 --> 0:05:32.130 Absent for most of your life, and you know, I've 0:05:32.130 --> 0:05:33.210 always felt sad about it. 0:05:34.289 --> 0:05:37.890 Here's something you don't hear every day. A godfather awkwardly 0:05:37.929 --> 0:05:41.089 asking out his thirty one year old godson on a 0:05:41.130 --> 0:05:41.689 god date. 0:05:42.409 --> 0:05:45.849 I know you're I know your busy as life, mouthed father. 0:05:46.010 --> 0:05:48.529 Who and but I think you'd spare an hour like 0:05:48.609 --> 0:05:51.249 Monday or Tuesday night, you know. 0:05:51.849 --> 0:05:54.849 Unfortunately, a week in advance not to I don't know what. 0:05:54.849 --> 0:05:57.970 The hell was not the godfather being blown off as 0:05:58.049 --> 0:06:01.129 my friend Tony, the realization that he needed to be 0:06:01.130 --> 0:06:04.330 a better godfather came suddenly. It was like if Vido 0:06:04.409 --> 0:06:08.250 Corleone woke up one morning and thought, you know, godfathering 0:06:08.250 --> 0:06:11.810 should be more than just decapitating horses, and then picked 0:06:11.849 --> 0:06:14.570 up a rotary phone and asked Johnny Fontaine out on 0:06:14.609 --> 0:06:17.930 an ice cream date. But to explain how Tony got 0:06:17.969 --> 0:06:21.289 to this point, let's go back to the beginning. It 0:06:21.369 --> 0:06:25.929 all started when Tony and I were catching up and 0:06:26.289 --> 0:06:28.969 regarding work. How is that going good? 0:06:29.169 --> 0:06:33.449 It's really great. I've like, I'm actually enjoying the process 0:06:33.450 --> 0:06:35.969 I'm making this film, which is I think the really 0:06:36.369 --> 0:06:38.729 amazing thing about the past year. 0:06:40.049 --> 0:06:42.410 This past year has been a hard one for Tony. 0:06:42.450 --> 0:06:46.930 He's recently divorced and still adjusting the house that has 0:06:46.969 --> 0:06:47.570 been settled. 0:06:48.210 --> 0:06:55.130 Yeah, everything is settled. Everything is settled. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 0:06:55.289 --> 0:06:57.409 I first met Tony in college when he was a 0:06:57.450 --> 0:07:01.650 young film student with manic energy, Jean Shallatt, curly black hair, 0:07:01.890 --> 0:07:06.169 and gray clothes that always smelt of Greek food. After college, 0:07:06.210 --> 0:07:09.850 we became roommates and on the weekend his would visit. 0:07:10.290 --> 0:07:14.290 She referred to me as gatzo'meli's mano everyaki, which I 0:07:14.330 --> 0:07:17.770 think translates loosely as the alley cat haired little jew. 0:07:18.650 --> 0:07:21.369 But I didn't mind because whenever she showed up, she 0:07:21.450 --> 0:07:26.210 brought Homemateespencopita and Terra mussolada. Tony would wash down these 0:07:26.250 --> 0:07:30.490 Grecian delights with copious amounts of booze. Pretty soon he 0:07:30.570 --> 0:07:38.890 started washing everything down with booze. There's an image from 0:07:38.929 --> 0:07:41.650 that time that stuck with me. Tony had decided to 0:07:41.730 --> 0:07:44.010 join me at the gym after downing a half bottle 0:07:44.050 --> 0:07:47.090 of vodka. I remember him wailing on the heavy bag 0:07:47.130 --> 0:07:50.050 in his undershirt and gray jeans, looking a little like 0:07:50.090 --> 0:07:54.530 a kid, pounding on the floor, fed up with everything. Eventually, 0:07:54.610 --> 0:07:58.489 Tony turned to harder drugs like heroin, and soon after 0:07:58.530 --> 0:08:05.610 that we stopped being roommates. Tony went to rehab and 0:08:05.690 --> 0:08:08.050 after he got out, spent some years putting his life 0:08:08.050 --> 0:08:11.690 back together. He had a few relationships, and then he 0:08:11.730 --> 0:08:15.530 met Natalie. Natalie was smart and loved to write, and 0:08:15.570 --> 0:08:19.369 when Tony hugged her, she disappeared into his body. Tony's 0:08:19.369 --> 0:08:21.650 a big guy with a thick black beard covering his 0:08:21.690 --> 0:08:25.929 boyish face, and Natalie was apple cheeked and glamorous. I 0:08:26.050 --> 0:08:29.249 like being around them. One time, while walking by a 0:08:29.290 --> 0:08:33.210 curiosity shop, I saw a comically small ping pong table 0:08:33.210 --> 0:08:36.770 in the window. Immediately I thought of Tony and Natalie. 0:08:37.210 --> 0:08:39.490 I imagined the two of them in their kitchen, smacking 0:08:39.530 --> 0:08:43.450 the little ball back and forth together and laughing. During 0:08:43.490 --> 0:08:46.650 their wedding vows, Natalie said, I vowed to grow old 0:08:46.690 --> 0:08:49.330 with you, but most of all, to grow young with you, 0:08:49.970 --> 0:08:53.290 and Tony interrupted her right in the middle, eyes welling 0:08:53.370 --> 0:08:57.090 up to say me too. It was like he'd blown 0:08:57.090 --> 0:09:01.010 his youth but was getting another chance. But then, at 0:09:01.010 --> 0:09:03.970 some point, around three years in, things started to get tougher. 0:09:04.690 --> 0:09:07.010 Tony spent a lot of time locked in his studio, 0:09:07.330 --> 0:09:10.650 working obsessively on his movies, and Natalie started to feel 0:09:10.690 --> 0:09:15.850 hamstrung by montreal It's smallness, the lack of opportunities. They 0:09:15.930 --> 0:09:18.450 wanted a baby, but were having a hard time with it. 0:09:19.090 --> 0:09:22.890 And then Tony's dad died, making him the sole caretaker 0:09:22.930 --> 0:09:25.490 of his mother, a woman who didn't shy away from 0:09:25.650 --> 0:09:29.610 espousing strong opinions about her son's personal life. All of 0:09:29.610 --> 0:09:32.210 this was hard on him and Natalie. 0:09:32.450 --> 0:09:34.490 She was not happy. She was not happy, She was 0:09:34.530 --> 0:09:37.010 not happy. She just didn't want to be here. 0:09:37.970 --> 0:09:40.330 Natalie wanted to start a new life in a new place, 0:09:40.610 --> 0:09:43.210 but Tony felt happily stuck in the old one and 0:09:43.250 --> 0:09:46.050 he couldn't leave his mother all alone. So when Natalie 0:09:46.090 --> 0:09:48.970 decided to leave town, he knew he couldn't go with her. 0:09:49.530 --> 0:09:51.930 Was there ever a conversation in which you were both 0:09:51.930 --> 0:09:53.970 trying to envision a way in which you could leave 0:09:53.970 --> 0:09:54.450 the city. 0:09:54.850 --> 0:09:56.810 No, because there was no way. 0:09:57.370 --> 0:09:59.130 Like even with your mother to go with you. 0:10:03.690 --> 0:10:04.330 Why is that no? 0:10:06.970 --> 0:10:09.690 Tony's mother is an eighty four year old Greek woman 0:10:09.730 --> 0:10:13.130 with little English whose only hobbies are meticulously cleaning her 0:10:13.130 --> 0:10:17.210 toaster of and wringing her hands while frowning and so 0:10:17.330 --> 0:10:20.530 in here lies the heart of Tony's current problem. Before 0:10:20.530 --> 0:10:23.330 they separated, Tony and Natalie were trying to have a baby, 0:10:23.810 --> 0:10:27.370 and now he finds himself alone, middle aged, and worried 0:10:27.410 --> 0:10:29.370 he's missed his last chance to have a kid. 0:10:30.570 --> 0:10:34.010 I don't think there's a point to anything if you 0:10:34.010 --> 0:10:36.050 don't have a relationship with a young person. How do 0:10:36.090 --> 0:10:38.370 you mean if I sit here in the dark thinking 0:10:38.370 --> 0:10:40.490 about it and realizing, you know, I'm forty six years 0:10:40.490 --> 0:10:43.850 old and I live alone, and I'm not probably not 0:10:43.850 --> 0:10:45.490 going to have kids, and who the fuck gives a 0:10:45.530 --> 0:10:49.730 shit if I live or die aside from my mother 0:10:50.130 --> 0:10:53.490 and a few friends, But really, who gives a shit. 0:10:54.130 --> 0:10:58.650 You know, who's going to feel a loss. I'm not 0:10:58.690 --> 0:11:01.010 saying that in an egotistical way, But who do I 0:11:01.090 --> 0:11:04.130 mean something to? Whose life have I enriched? Like? I 0:11:04.170 --> 0:11:08.210 don't think I don't understand what there is to do 0:11:08.250 --> 0:11:11.929 here if you're not somehow helping or being connected to 0:11:11.970 --> 0:11:12.690 a younger person. 0:11:20.730 --> 0:11:23.530 Lately, Tony's been thinking about three young people he had 0:11:23.570 --> 0:11:28.210 been connected to, his estranged god children. Tony admits to 0:11:28.250 --> 0:11:31.770 screwing up those three relationships during three difficult chapters in 0:11:31.810 --> 0:11:37.290 his life drug addiction, rehab, and divorce. What if you 0:11:37.370 --> 0:11:40.050 were to try to get them back in your life? 0:11:40.810 --> 0:11:45.290 I'm not sure what difference I can make and somebody's 0:11:45.730 --> 0:11:47.650 it's kind of like, hey, yeah, here I am now, 0:11:47.690 --> 0:11:49.490 I'm ready for you, Like I haven't been here all 0:11:49.530 --> 0:11:51.370 these years, but hey here I am now. You know. 0:11:51.770 --> 0:11:54.210 Not hearing my friend give up on himself so easily, 0:11:54.650 --> 0:11:58.130 I decided to suggest something bold. Why not try reaching 0:11:58.130 --> 0:11:59.570 out to the god kids he lost? 0:11:59.930 --> 0:12:05.650 Now? I mean, I actually do want to have a relationship. 0:12:06.250 --> 0:12:07.450 I do. 0:12:07.450 --> 0:12:09.250 You don't know until you at least try. 0:12:09.330 --> 0:12:13.530 Right, I'm I'm I'm open to anything. 0:12:14.010 --> 0:12:19.450 And do you have their phone numbers? I get him 0:12:19.450 --> 0:12:22.890 to tell me about them, Beginning with the first Paul. 0:12:23.370 --> 0:12:27.210 I was sixteen years old. It was very formal. I 0:12:27.250 --> 0:12:30.970 held this kid in a Greek Orthodox baptism ceremony for 0:12:31.050 --> 0:12:33.770 an hour. My arm almost fell off. Babies are really heavy, 0:12:33.850 --> 0:12:35.610 especially when you have one arm to hold onto them 0:12:35.650 --> 0:12:37.689 and have a candle in the other. Yeah, but it 0:12:37.810 --> 0:12:41.370 was cute. You know. I was really young, and I 0:12:41.410 --> 0:12:46.170 was close to their family, but I was sixteen. Within 0:12:46.250 --> 0:12:49.410 like two years, I was a raving, lunatic, alcoholic drug addict. 0:12:53.650 --> 0:12:55.850 I didn't see much of him or anybody at all 0:12:56.010 --> 0:13:00.330 from the family for quite a few years. And I 0:13:00.370 --> 0:13:03.130 didn't think about it much, that's for sure. 0:13:03.890 --> 0:13:06.730 And this god kid, what's his name. His name is Paul, 0:13:07.090 --> 0:13:08.850 and Paul would be about thirty years old. 0:13:08.850 --> 0:13:14.090 Now, uh, yeah, he's thirty one. And here's the thing. 0:13:14.370 --> 0:13:16.450 I've never actually talked to him about about how he 0:13:16.450 --> 0:13:19.810 felt having an absence he godfather. But he beat me 0:13:19.810 --> 0:13:21.610 at an arm wrestle, and he I think he really 0:13:21.690 --> 0:13:22.210 enjoyed that. 0:13:23.010 --> 0:13:25.050 And when you say he enjoyed that, he enjoyed hanging 0:13:25.090 --> 0:13:27.170 out and spending time with you, or he enjoyed beating you, 0:13:27.410 --> 0:13:31.970 enjoyed beating me for being such a crappy godfather. 0:13:31.850 --> 0:13:32.530 That's what I'm saying. 0:13:32.610 --> 0:13:36.210 Yeah, is there a particular question that you would want 0:13:36.290 --> 0:13:40.010 to pose to him or to all of them? 0:13:42.330 --> 0:13:46.930 Do you hate me? Like? Does it mean anything that 0:13:47.010 --> 0:13:50.010 I'm somebody's godfather because I said so or somebody said so, 0:13:50.130 --> 0:13:54.210 or we did something long time ago. It can mean 0:13:54.250 --> 0:13:57.530 nothing or it can mean something. You know, Godfather's a 0:13:57.530 --> 0:14:00.290 big fucking deal if you think about it. It has 0:14:00.330 --> 0:14:04.890 this spiritual implication God right, it's not toilet father. 0:14:11.890 --> 0:14:14.650 And so, with my encouragement, Tony picked up the phone 0:14:14.770 --> 0:14:17.450 and reached out to Paul, which brings us back to 0:14:17.490 --> 0:14:18.570 the phone call you heard. 0:14:18.370 --> 0:14:20.450 Earlier on Saturday. 0:14:20.970 --> 0:14:22.530 Yeah, I think that's that'll be easiest. 0:14:23.170 --> 0:14:25.730 Okay are you? Are you up to this? You don't 0:14:25.770 --> 0:14:27.490 feel like I don't want to impose on you like. 0:14:28.250 --> 0:14:30.370 And you said you know you feel bad. I don't 0:14:30.370 --> 0:14:36.290 think you should. There's nothing to feel bad about. Yeah, yeah, 0:14:36.330 --> 0:14:38.090 but yeah, give me a call the weekend and we'll 0:14:38.370 --> 0:14:39.410 try to figure something out. 0:14:40.130 --> 0:14:45.370 Okay, great, I'll call you perfect right, sounds good. YouTube. 0:14:49.010 --> 0:14:52.770 On Saturday, Tony called with no response, He reached out 0:14:52.770 --> 0:14:58.370 again and again. Eventually he gave up. Tony and Paul 0:14:58.690 --> 0:15:09.890 never got together. Tony and I reconvene, and I tried 0:15:09.930 --> 0:15:13.530 to bolster his spirits. Maybe things would go better with godchild. 0:15:13.570 --> 0:15:15.050 The second Zoe. 0:15:15.810 --> 0:15:19.490 She is the daughter of a rehab buddy who was 0:15:19.530 --> 0:15:21.730 actually also a drug dealer here in Montreal when I 0:15:21.770 --> 0:15:26.450 was dealing in Montreal and we met in rehab in Ottawa, 0:15:27.130 --> 0:15:30.770 and he asked me, do you want to be her godfather? 0:15:30.810 --> 0:15:33.250 I said sure, I said you guys in baptizer. I said, no, 0:15:33.370 --> 0:15:37.210 be her godfather? Okay, great, And so it was just 0:15:37.410 --> 0:15:41.930 like that. So that was easy, yeah, but it was meaningful. 0:15:42.890 --> 0:15:44.850 I was happy to do whatever was going to be 0:15:44.890 --> 0:15:48.170 required with me. And I did see the kid, you know, 0:15:48.210 --> 0:15:52.970 when she was young, and then I moved to Montreal 0:15:53.650 --> 0:15:55.730 and so she basically grew up without me. 0:15:56.610 --> 0:15:59.410 In the intervening years, Tony's only seen Zoe a couple 0:15:59.450 --> 0:16:02.530 times when she comes to town. She doesn't bother looking 0:16:02.610 --> 0:16:03.050 him up. 0:16:03.410 --> 0:16:05.530 Because I remember how I used to see people that 0:16:05.570 --> 0:16:09.610 were like, never mind forties. Yeah, like people in their 0:16:09.650 --> 0:16:15.010 thirties were crusty, you know, a yellow tonyailed you know, 0:16:16.130 --> 0:16:18.970 old people, and occasionally, you know, I get like she 0:16:19.210 --> 0:16:25.730 likes something on my Facebook page and I'll be like ooh. 0:16:23.490 --> 0:16:26.250 But Tony wants more than that. Since Zoe still lives 0:16:26.250 --> 0:16:29.170 in Ottawa, just a two hour drive away, I suggest 0:16:29.210 --> 0:16:32.210 to go visit her. Maybe it isn't too late. But 0:16:32.290 --> 0:16:35.250 after his failed attempt with Paul, he isn't sure she'll 0:16:35.290 --> 0:16:37.650 even want to see him, so I offered a road 0:16:37.650 --> 0:16:43.490 trip down with him for emotional support. You know, the 0:16:43.530 --> 0:16:45.450 whole purpose of this thing is for you not to 0:16:45.450 --> 0:16:46.050 be a dead meat. 0:16:46.090 --> 0:16:48.890 God Dad, I know. I feel really bad. It's my fault. 0:16:49.370 --> 0:16:52.010 It's Zowa's last week of high school and Tony's arranged 0:16:52.010 --> 0:16:54.170 to pick her up after her day of finals. 0:16:54.690 --> 0:16:57.170 You don't mind driving a little fast to you. Don't 0:16:57.250 --> 0:16:58.850 go like snail past grandma style. 0:16:59.250 --> 0:17:00.730 That's my style, No grandma style. 0:17:00.770 --> 0:17:01.290 Don't do that. 0:17:02.170 --> 0:17:04.530 When we get to the school, Zoe's waiting outside. 0:17:05.090 --> 0:17:07.810 All right, here we go. You're feeling good. I'm feeling good. 0:17:09.210 --> 0:17:11.850 There we get, here we go, Here we're weird. 0:17:13.050 --> 0:17:14.769 Hello, Hello, how are you? 0:17:15.330 --> 0:17:18.369 Zoe is eighteen. She's wearing a Yin and Yang choker 0:17:18.449 --> 0:17:20.969 around her neck and a pink scrunchy in her hair. 0:17:21.689 --> 0:17:22.409 So how's everything? 0:17:22.449 --> 0:17:27.129 How are you really good, almost done high school, the 0:17:27.169 --> 0:17:28.010 final Frontier. 0:17:29.050 --> 0:17:34.570 So let's go to the park. 0:17:34.730 --> 0:17:35.770 Would you like some candy? 0:17:36.169 --> 0:17:36.770 Tom Zilli? 0:17:38.689 --> 0:17:41.570 As Tony's emotional support system, I thought it might be 0:17:41.609 --> 0:17:45.649 helpful to bring refreshments. We drive along, chewing in silence, 0:17:51.649 --> 0:17:54.050 and then Tony decides to break the ice. 0:17:54.530 --> 0:17:56.369 I have a really disgusting story to tell you. 0:17:58.850 --> 0:18:00.570 Well, can you contextualize what discussing? 0:18:00.649 --> 0:18:02.810 Oh my god, I'm only thinking about it because it 0:18:02.850 --> 0:18:03.770 happened right around here. 0:18:03.889 --> 0:18:05.530 Oh no, I don't like where this is going. 0:18:07.169 --> 0:18:10.169 A friend of mine has been color electing his vomit 0:18:10.409 --> 0:18:13.570 for the past twenty years in a gigantic tin like 0:18:13.649 --> 0:18:15.730 a gigantic metal drama in the basement. 0:18:16.570 --> 0:18:19.850 Oh my god, what heck? 0:18:21.129 --> 0:18:22.090 I wasn't expecting. 0:18:22.169 --> 0:18:25.769 That's so terrible. 0:18:25.810 --> 0:18:26.330 Why would you? 0:18:26.409 --> 0:18:30.170 Why would you bring something like that up right now? 0:18:30.850 --> 0:18:32.730 So like, how did you find out about that? 0:18:33.889 --> 0:18:38.529 So many questions and fun fact, the vomit house is 0:18:38.570 --> 0:18:42.409 on Ralph Street. Google map it. It's right there next 0:18:42.449 --> 0:18:45.090 to Brown's inlet the park we're on our way to. 0:18:54.850 --> 0:18:57.730 I've only been to this park once before, and. 0:18:57.649 --> 0:18:58.570 That was a weird day. 0:18:59.850 --> 0:19:00.250 Explain. 0:19:00.649 --> 0:19:03.570 I started dating this guy and like the first time 0:19:03.609 --> 0:19:05.770 we ever hung out outside of school was in this park. 0:19:06.409 --> 0:19:09.330 We were on those swings and I just remember being like, Wow, 0:19:09.369 --> 0:19:11.649 this is really weird, like this is a date. 0:19:12.330 --> 0:19:13.770 So I guess that was like my first date. 0:19:15.010 --> 0:19:17.649 We find a picnic table beside the playground where young 0:19:17.689 --> 0:19:20.530 mothers are playing with their babies. Tony and Zoe sit 0:19:20.570 --> 0:19:23.570 side by side. She fiddling with a strand of hair 0:19:23.889 --> 0:19:26.929 and he's staring at the table, sweeping pebbles of sand. 0:19:27.010 --> 0:19:29.969 Back and forth. The two of them catch up. It 0:19:30.050 --> 0:19:33.569 turns out Zoe's taking improv classes and Tony's taken improv 0:19:33.570 --> 0:19:34.250 classes too. 0:19:34.770 --> 0:19:36.689 Back and forth. Ah, I'd love to see that. I'd 0:19:36.689 --> 0:19:37.369 love to see that. 0:19:37.490 --> 0:19:38.690 You'd like my troop. 0:19:38.770 --> 0:19:40.490 I think you'd like those guys a lot. 0:19:40.689 --> 0:19:43.330 Being both a friend who wants to encourage bonding as 0:19:43.369 --> 0:19:46.009 well as a lover of show business, I ask if 0:19:46.010 --> 0:19:47.609 they might improvise a scene or two. 0:19:49.369 --> 0:19:50.529 This is my favorite bench. 0:19:51.409 --> 0:19:53.649 It's funny because it's also my favorite bench, and I've 0:19:53.649 --> 0:19:55.129 actually never seen you sitting here. 0:19:55.209 --> 0:19:57.770 But instead of the comedic romp I'd hoped for, I 0:19:57.850 --> 0:20:01.330 get a sluggish five minute piece of Samuel Bihetti in theater. 0:20:01.689 --> 0:20:04.129 So I guess what I'm saying is you'll either have 0:20:04.209 --> 0:20:07.050 to move to the bench that's beside mine or beside his. 0:20:07.850 --> 0:20:11.369 And scene I thought, like, I'm probaly supposed to be 0:20:11.409 --> 0:20:12.570 like Funny well because he. 0:20:12.570 --> 0:20:14.689 Usually his energy. And you're on stage and you're like, 0:20:14.810 --> 0:20:17.210 you're doing stupid shit and people are laughing, You're not. 0:20:17.209 --> 0:20:21.090 Laughing, and in my heart it feels like Christmas morning 0:20:21.169 --> 0:20:24.770 on Ralph Street. As Tony and Zoe begin to bond. 0:20:24.970 --> 0:20:29.409 Yeah, yeah, so I'm playing look at it. 0:20:36.169 --> 0:20:40.889 They're having fun, but Tony's still thinking about godfatherhood. Tentatively, 0:20:41.369 --> 0:20:42.170 he brings it up. 0:20:42.770 --> 0:20:48.730 I the godfather Traditionally, Well, godfather's supposed to to write 0:20:48.770 --> 0:20:55.250 spiritual instruction. And I wasn't there when you were really young, 0:20:55.770 --> 0:20:58.330 when you were told when you were young, this is Tony, 0:20:58.369 --> 0:21:00.449 he's your godfather. Do you remember that? 0:21:03.010 --> 0:21:04.209 I always knew that you would. 0:21:04.330 --> 0:21:06.730 You had this connection to my parents that was really valuable, 0:21:07.010 --> 0:21:09.570 So by extensionally you'd be valuable to me, even though 0:21:09.570 --> 0:21:10.369 I didn't know you. 0:21:10.290 --> 0:21:13.930 That Well, Yeah, what what can I offer you at 0:21:13.929 --> 0:21:17.250 this point? From this point onward in a formal fashion, 0:21:18.290 --> 0:21:21.609 I don't know what you hope for me to provide 0:21:21.609 --> 0:21:22.889 for you? Is like to provide for me. 0:21:23.050 --> 0:21:23.530 Yeah. 0:21:23.889 --> 0:21:25.209 Oh, I mean it's a two way street. 0:21:25.250 --> 0:21:27.169 I mean I can't just like take so much and 0:21:27.169 --> 0:21:28.009 not give anything to you. 0:21:28.090 --> 0:21:32.889 So that's the point, the point, you know, that's the point, 0:21:32.889 --> 0:21:33.689 is that I'm here for you. 0:21:37.810 --> 0:21:41.050 That is the point with a God child, not so 0:21:41.169 --> 0:21:44.209 much with a God adult. The children's book is called 0:21:44.330 --> 0:21:48.489 The Giving Tree, not the Giving and Taking Tree. Children 0:21:48.490 --> 0:21:51.290 aren't self conscious. They don't find it weird to take 0:21:51.330 --> 0:21:55.529 without giving anything in return, but adults do. I mean, 0:21:55.570 --> 0:21:57.969 getting to feel like pushing Tony to reconnect with his 0:21:58.050 --> 0:22:02.049 God children might have been foolhardy. Tony can't just insert 0:22:02.090 --> 0:22:04.850 himself into a past he missed out on. And as 0:22:04.889 --> 0:22:08.169 for the future, Zoe's getting ready to go off to college. 0:22:08.649 --> 0:22:11.250 She's at a point in life when actual parents see 0:22:11.330 --> 0:22:14.649 less and less of their kids, never mind godparents. 0:22:15.570 --> 0:22:16.850 She was a little bit country and he was a 0:22:16.850 --> 0:22:18.570 little bit rock and roll. That was a song, I'm 0:22:18.570 --> 0:22:22.410 a little bit countrys I'm a little bit. 0:22:23.730 --> 0:22:26.690 As Tony sings both parts of Adannie and Marie duet, 0:22:27.090 --> 0:22:29.609 Zoe watches him with a big smile on her face. 0:22:30.129 --> 0:22:32.969 It's clear they really enjoy each other. And the afternoon 0:22:33.010 --> 0:22:36.170 goes well, But as far as the god parental relationship 0:22:36.209 --> 0:22:39.010 Tony wants, it feels like it just might be too late. 0:22:41.090 --> 0:22:45.010 I'm really impressed. I think I've got a pretty fucking 0:22:45.369 --> 0:22:46.930 firm alled on things well. 0:22:46.929 --> 0:22:50.129 I mean, if you're ever in dire need for like 0:22:50.209 --> 0:22:53.129 a caregiver when you're old and can't go to the 0:22:53.129 --> 0:22:55.330 bathroom or something like, I could help you. 0:23:00.209 --> 0:23:03.449 Only one godchild to go, Will Tony be a godfather 0:23:03.810 --> 0:23:06.570 or a toilet father? Is the cat still in the cradle? 0:23:06.810 --> 0:23:09.490 And if so, will he scratch Tony's eyes out when 0:23:09.570 --> 0:23:13.970