WEBVTT - Listener Mail: Aloysius Devadander Abercrombie 0:00:03.040 --> 0:00:06.080 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:09.560 --> 0:00:12.639 Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. Listener mail. 0:00:13.320 --> 0:00:16.400 My name is Robert Let and I am Joe McCormick. 0:00:16.440 --> 0:00:18.360 And it's Monday, the day of each week that we 0:00:18.400 --> 0:00:21.000 read back messages from the Stuff to Blow your Mind 0:00:21.120 --> 0:00:24.200 email address. If you've never gotten in touch before, why 0:00:24.239 --> 0:00:26.520 not give it a shot. You can always email us 0:00:26.560 --> 0:00:30.160 at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. 0:00:30.840 --> 0:00:32.879 Whatever kind of message you want to send is fine. 0:00:32.920 --> 0:00:35.680 Of course, we appreciate feedback on recent episodes. If you 0:00:36.479 --> 0:00:38.479 want to let us know what you thought about recent episodes, 0:00:38.520 --> 0:00:41.080 if you want to add something interesting to a topic 0:00:41.159 --> 0:00:45.440 that we discussed, if you want to send corrections, questions, 0:00:45.479 --> 0:00:47.880 any of that is fine. Just send it to contact 0:00:48.000 --> 0:00:51.639 at stuff to Blow Yourmind dot com. Also, social messages 0:00:51.840 --> 0:00:53.440 are great if you just want to tell us what 0:00:53.479 --> 0:00:56.080 you like about the show or how you listen. That's 0:00:56.160 --> 0:00:58.240 all welcome to so send it on in. 0:00:58.560 --> 0:01:00.360 Yeah, and if you want to email us and get 0:01:00.360 --> 0:01:03.040 access to the discord, you can do that. There's a 0:01:03.080 --> 0:01:06.040 community of listeners there you can interact with. Also, if 0:01:06.040 --> 0:01:08.319 you're on Facebook, you know, follow us on Facebook. But 0:01:08.319 --> 0:01:10.200 there's also a Facebook group, the Stuff to Blow your 0:01:10.200 --> 0:01:13.080 Mind discussion module, and you'll find a community of fans 0:01:13.120 --> 0:01:14.360 there as well. 0:01:14.440 --> 0:01:16.640 Let's see, Rob, I'm going to start things off by 0:01:17.080 --> 0:01:20.679 reading this message from Lurch in response to our series 0:01:20.720 --> 0:01:23.959 on mud. Specifically, I think the second episode in that 0:01:24.080 --> 0:01:29.040 series where we looked at wallowing behaviors and animals, especially pigs. 0:01:29.640 --> 0:01:37.479 All right, Lurch says, good morning, gentlemen. I just finished 0:01:37.520 --> 0:01:40.280 listening to your episodes on mud. Took me by surprise 0:01:40.440 --> 0:01:44.319 you did. I'd never have thought such a mud day 0:01:44.400 --> 0:01:48.680 in the subject could be so interesting. Lerch, I don't 0:01:48.680 --> 0:01:50.080 know about that one. Did that work? 0:01:50.680 --> 0:01:53.800 I don't know? It generated a chuckle or a smile 0:01:53.840 --> 0:01:56.800 on my hand, so yeah, oh yeah, I'm smiling as well. Okay, well, 0:01:56.840 --> 0:02:00.800 good job, then, Lurch. Bringing pigs into it reminded me 0:02:00.880 --> 0:02:03.760 of the summers I used to spend on my uncle's farm. 0:02:04.240 --> 0:02:07.920 Along with the cattle, chickens, crops, and rabbits, he raised, pigs. 0:02:08.320 --> 0:02:11.160 Tending them was an experience I wish I could forget. 0:02:11.560 --> 0:02:14.160 It's not that some event or practice. This was the 0:02:14.240 --> 0:02:19.000 nineteen sixties. Husbandry has changed traumatized me. No, it was 0:02:19.160 --> 0:02:22.120 the smell. It's been nearly sixty years since then, and 0:02:22.240 --> 0:02:27.320 my nostril hairs still haven't uncurled. Regarding wallowing, I'd always 0:02:27.360 --> 0:02:30.400 been told the reasons for it were twofold cooling and 0:02:30.600 --> 0:02:33.920 protection from pests, both of which you mentioned. Since I 0:02:34.000 --> 0:02:36.120 wasn't there in the winter, it never occurred to me 0:02:36.200 --> 0:02:39.480 that they might wallow in the freezing cold too. I 0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:43.399 think it's possible this might also be related to temperature regulation. 0:02:43.960 --> 0:02:46.120 While in the summer months, as you point out, mud 0:02:46.120 --> 0:02:48.919 can be used as a cooling jacket, in the winter, 0:02:49.080 --> 0:02:54.360 it can actually be used to maintain heat. Interesting Blert 0:02:54.440 --> 0:02:57.600 says this wouldn't work near the freezing point of water, 0:02:57.720 --> 0:02:59.799 but drop a few more degrees in the surface of 0:02:59.840 --> 0:03:03.560 the mud would freeze, forming a thermal barrier, trapping the 0:03:03.600 --> 0:03:07.200 pig's body heat. I have personal experience with the effect 0:03:07.280 --> 0:03:09.600 though a tadbit cleaner. In high school, I was on 0:03:09.639 --> 0:03:13.120 the swim team and would walk home after practice. Being 0:03:13.160 --> 0:03:16.200 the dead of winter and in Illinois, it was usually 0:03:16.240 --> 0:03:19.520 a bit nippy outside. After the first block or so 0:03:19.639 --> 0:03:22.080 of my journey, my wet hair would freeze into a 0:03:22.120 --> 0:03:25.480 pretty solid head cap of ice. But since the ice 0:03:25.600 --> 0:03:28.880 trapped warm air next to my scalp. I was comfortable 0:03:28.960 --> 0:03:31.160 and never had to worry about where the heck had 0:03:31.200 --> 0:03:34.240 put my hat. As always, thanks for keeping me thinking. 0:03:34.560 --> 0:03:39.880 Keep the gravy warm, Lurch. That's interesting. I'd never heard 0:03:39.920 --> 0:03:43.120 of that kind of effect. Interesting that that might be 0:03:43.160 --> 0:03:47.320 worth some follow up. All right, Our next one comes 0:03:47.360 --> 0:03:55.480 to us from Raj Raj Rights and in response to 0:03:56.000 --> 0:04:01.760 mud Volcanoes and Puddles plus more Pokemon dream Lore, Roj says, Hello, gentlemen, 0:04:02.160 --> 0:04:04.560 I may be too late in writing in terms of 0:04:04.600 --> 0:04:08.800 suggesting topics ideas foods for thought for your mud episodes, 0:04:08.840 --> 0:04:11.960 but once Robert mentioned discussing mud volcanoes at the end 0:04:12.000 --> 0:04:14.680 of part three, it stirred a memory in me. I 0:04:14.720 --> 0:04:17.760 remember coming across a couple of videos from a YouTuber 0:04:18.120 --> 0:04:23.400 named physics Girl aka Diana Cowarn. One discusses a mud 0:04:23.520 --> 0:04:27.760 volcano aka mudpot she found in California link for reference, 0:04:27.920 --> 0:04:31.760 and another discusses a moving mud puddle link for reference. 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:35.359 So Raj, I actually watched both of these and they're 0:04:35.560 --> 0:04:38.880 great videos. Again, so for you who can look it 0:04:38.960 --> 0:04:42.080 up right now, the channel is called physics Girl and 0:04:42.120 --> 0:04:45.040 you can probably just use search terms like moving mud puddle, 0:04:45.200 --> 0:04:48.159 especially because that's the one to really see. But to 0:04:48.320 --> 0:04:51.440 summarize the story for you, the one who is listening now, 0:04:51.880 --> 0:04:54.559 I'm going to refer here to a local news article 0:04:54.560 --> 0:04:57.360 I dug up from CBSA San Diego. This is by 0:04:57.680 --> 0:05:02.120 a writer named Shannon Handy from March twe about the story. 0:05:03.120 --> 0:05:06.760 So the news story goes Imperial County, California. It's not 0:05:06.880 --> 0:05:10.280 something you normally see along a freeway, but local Cowtrans 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:13.320 crews have been keeping a close watch on a geyser 0:05:13.360 --> 0:05:17.520 that's impacting both the Union Pacific Railroad and State Route 0:05:17.520 --> 0:05:21.279 one to eleven near Nyland in Imperial County. Some describe 0:05:21.279 --> 0:05:24.240 it as a bubbling pool of mud, often referring to 0:05:24.279 --> 0:05:28.159 it as a mud pot. Sean Rizzuto with Caltrans said 0:05:28.200 --> 0:05:31.719 the geyser is releasing CO two. It's been around since 0:05:31.839 --> 0:05:35.359 nineteen fifty three, but it didn't start moving until twenty 0:05:35.480 --> 0:05:40.200 sixteen following some seismic activity in the area. So it's 0:05:40.200 --> 0:05:44.160 been moving about ten feet per month on average, said Rizzuto. 0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:47.560 He said the challenge is determining where it will go next. 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:50.599 Quote right now, it's been static for the past two 0:05:50.600 --> 0:05:53.359 and a half three months, so it hasn't really moved 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:56.719 very much, but that could change in an instant. Caltrans 0:05:56.800 --> 0:06:00.440 officials considered several options, including a detour, which was an 0:06:00.480 --> 0:06:03.080 ideal because it would have taken drivers eighty miles out 0:06:03.080 --> 0:06:05.440 of the way, and the one to eleven is crucial 0:06:05.520 --> 0:06:08.960 for the agriculture business there. So they describe how this 0:06:09.040 --> 0:06:12.359 may be the only known moving geyser in the world, 0:06:12.839 --> 0:06:16.840 and there were some efforts by the California Transportation authorities 0:06:16.839 --> 0:06:18.440 to try to figure out what to do because it's 0:06:18.480 --> 0:06:22.440 like the giant bubbling mud puddle caused by seismic activity 0:06:22.440 --> 0:06:24.640 from below CO two is being released from it, and 0:06:24.680 --> 0:06:27.719 it's like chasing the roads. It's approaching the road and 0:06:27.760 --> 0:06:30.000 it's going to knock that out, and it's approaching rail 0:06:30.120 --> 0:06:32.600 lines it's going to knock those out. So they're like 0:06:32.640 --> 0:06:34.920 trying to find ways to either stop it from moving 0:06:35.040 --> 0:06:38.839 or building around it, and all these plans just keep failing. 0:06:39.240 --> 0:06:41.800 In fact, this is where it's definitely worth looking up 0:06:41.839 --> 0:06:46.240 the Physics Girl videos, which are very excellent and get 0:06:46.240 --> 0:06:48.560 into a lot more detail, and it's a very scary 0:06:48.600 --> 0:06:52.280 and dramatic story, Like there's one part where they try 0:06:52.279 --> 0:06:56.240 to the authorities try to bury like deep bury a 0:06:57.120 --> 0:07:00.240 metal retaining wall to stop the puddle from spreading. But 0:07:00.240 --> 0:07:02.880 there's one point where it just suddenly spreads beyond the 0:07:02.920 --> 0:07:05.560 metal retaining wall, just like cracks the giant metal wall 0:07:05.600 --> 0:07:08.680 in half, and it's going under it and emerging on 0:07:08.720 --> 0:07:11.760 the other side. And there are these sudden moments of 0:07:11.880 --> 0:07:15.240 dramatic collapses of the walls of the puddle as it spreads, 0:07:15.360 --> 0:07:18.000 like you know, I don't remember exactly how far, maybe 0:07:18.040 --> 0:07:23.520 even somewhere like twenty to sixty feet suddenly. So it's scary. 0:07:23.600 --> 0:07:25.840 And it's not just scary because you'd think about like 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:28.040 I don't want to fall into that puddle and sink 0:07:28.120 --> 0:07:31.360 down into the mud and whatever's going on beneath it. 0:07:31.920 --> 0:07:34.520 But the bubbling, even though I think the puddle is 0:07:34.560 --> 0:07:37.480 not thought to be hot, the bubbling is from the 0:07:37.520 --> 0:07:40.360 release of CO two, And of course we know like 0:07:40.440 --> 0:07:42.760 CO two is heavier than air, it tends to kind 0:07:42.760 --> 0:07:45.320 of pool in low lying areas, so if you were 0:07:45.360 --> 0:07:47.280 to fall into this pit, it is of course a 0:07:47.320 --> 0:07:50.880 suffocation risk as well. So it's this moving, lethal puddle 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:53.560 of bubbling mud that almost seems to be like chasing 0:07:53.600 --> 0:07:55.240 our transportation infrastructure. 0:07:55.960 --> 0:07:58.679 I don't like that at all. I think our bubbling 0:07:58.720 --> 0:08:00.800 death puddles need to stay in one spot where we 0:08:00.840 --> 0:08:02.800 can keep an eye on them, not just move around 0:08:02.800 --> 0:08:03.320 on their own. 0:08:03.720 --> 0:08:05.720 So if you want to look up the video, the 0:08:05.720 --> 0:08:08.600 main one by the Physics Girl channel is called the 0:08:08.600 --> 0:08:12.960 World's Only Moving Mud Puddle, and yeah, it's definitely worth 0:08:12.960 --> 0:08:13.320 a look. 0:08:13.800 --> 0:08:15.200 Yeah, I was glad to send it this as well. 0:08:15.240 --> 0:08:16.760 Yeah the footage is pretty incredible. 0:08:17.680 --> 0:08:20.400 Oh but Raj has more to say, I think, especially 0:08:20.400 --> 0:08:21.120 about Pokemon. 0:08:21.240 --> 0:08:24.600 Right. Yes, Raj continues switching gears. In the most recent 0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:27.400 listener mail episode, Gotta Dream Them All, a couple of 0:08:27.600 --> 0:08:31.760 astute listeners mentioned a few Pokemon related to dreaming. I'd 0:08:31.800 --> 0:08:34.000 like to add a tiny bit more by mentioning a 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:37.720 couple of moves or attacks that relate to dreams. One 0:08:37.760 --> 0:08:42.240 move is called dream eater, for the description from sarahb 0:08:42.440 --> 0:08:46.520 dot Net quote, the user your Pokemon eats the dreams 0:08:46.520 --> 0:08:49.480 of a sleeping target your opponent's Pokemon. The user's HP 0:08:49.640 --> 0:08:51.840 is restored by up to half the damage taken by 0:08:51.880 --> 0:08:55.520 the target. Another move is nightmare quote a sleeping target 0:08:55.559 --> 0:08:59.400 sees a nightmare that inflicts some one fourth damage every turn. 0:08:59.520 --> 0:09:04.719 Again from SARAHB. Dot Net. Related to Pokemon moves are 0:09:04.760 --> 0:09:08.439 something called abilities, which are special powers that Pokemon can have. 0:09:09.080 --> 0:09:12.800 Dark Ray's ability is called bad dreams, which reduces the 0:09:12.960 --> 0:09:16.600 HP of sleeping opposing Pokemon. Finally, I'd like to add 0:09:16.600 --> 0:09:19.560 another Pokemon to the dreaming pool. While not related to 0:09:19.640 --> 0:09:23.520 dreaming directly, there is another Pokemon in addition to Snorlax 0:09:23.679 --> 0:09:27.520 that is known for sleeping. It's called Comala from the 0:09:27.679 --> 0:09:32.320 Aloa region. Here is one descriptor of this Pokemon quote. 0:09:32.320 --> 0:09:35.720 It is born asleep and it dies asleep. All its 0:09:35.840 --> 0:09:38.880 movements are apparently no more than the results of it 0:09:39.000 --> 0:09:43.079 tossing and turning in its dreams. Thanks for the phenomenal 0:09:43.120 --> 0:09:45.880 work you produce, and don't forget to be awesome. Cheers 0:09:46.080 --> 0:09:47.160 raj Ah. 0:09:47.200 --> 0:09:51.920 Well, that is a haunting Pokemon description. It's born asleep 0:09:51.960 --> 0:09:54.440 and dies asleep. All it does is dream, That's its 0:09:54.440 --> 0:09:55.120 whole life. 0:09:55.760 --> 0:09:57.400 I had to look this one up. I don't remember 0:09:57.440 --> 0:09:59.680 seeing this one on a card or anything, but it 0:09:59.720 --> 0:10:03.200 looks like a koala clutching like a It looks like 0:10:03.200 --> 0:10:05.439 it's clutching a log pillow, and as far as I 0:10:05.440 --> 0:10:07.480 can tell, it doesn't have any evolutions, which makes sense. 0:10:07.520 --> 0:10:08.600 Because this is all it does. 0:10:09.000 --> 0:10:12.520 Is it normal for Pokemon to get that strange and 0:10:12.640 --> 0:10:14.080 dark or is this kind of a fluke? 0:10:14.559 --> 0:10:16.520 No, there are a lot of strange and dark Pokemon. 0:10:17.000 --> 0:10:22.240 I've come to learn quite a few that have just 0:10:22.400 --> 0:10:25.439 weird qualities to them, Like some of the episodes of 0:10:25.440 --> 0:10:29.719 Pokemon that I've been exposed to are just weird. So yeah, 0:10:29.760 --> 0:10:31.760 there's a lot of a lot of interesting stuff out there. 0:10:32.000 --> 0:10:36.560 Well, thanks raj Okay. This next message is from Tyler. 0:10:36.720 --> 0:10:39.480 It starts off being about Mud but then ends with 0:10:39.559 --> 0:10:48.360 weird house cinema. Tyler says, Hey, pals, I was listening 0:10:48.360 --> 0:10:51.040 to The Mud Part four episode today and Rob made 0:10:51.080 --> 0:10:55.080 a reference to Solo and mud Troopers. It took me 0:10:55.160 --> 0:10:58.240 way too long to realize you were referencing Solo, a 0:10:58.360 --> 0:11:03.040 Star Wars story, and nineteen ninety six is Solo, starring 0:11:03.120 --> 0:11:06.600 Mario van Peebles as a military android that grows a 0:11:06.640 --> 0:11:09.520 conscience and protects the village he was meant to destroy 0:11:10.280 --> 0:11:13.720 from his creators. Oh man, I remember when this one 0:11:13.760 --> 0:11:16.640 came out. Tyler says. This is a movie that I 0:11:16.679 --> 0:11:19.320 saw when I was probably about eight, and it just 0:11:19.400 --> 0:11:21.600 kind of stuck in my mind for twenty five years. 0:11:21.920 --> 0:11:24.439 I don't think I know anyone else that has seen it. 0:11:24.440 --> 0:11:26.640 It would be a great movie for weird house cinema. 0:11:26.679 --> 0:11:31.160 It checks a lot of boxes, a gumbo of Terminator, Commando, Rambo, 0:11:31.520 --> 0:11:35.400 seven Samurai, pretty much any eighties action movie with glistening, 0:11:35.480 --> 0:11:39.120 rippling pecks or man shaped robots, and it's not too 0:11:39.120 --> 0:11:42.559 hard to find. Thanks for all you do. Really appreciate you, Tyler. 0:11:43.000 --> 0:11:46.400 Ah fascinating. Now. I have not seen the nineteen ninety 0:11:46.400 --> 0:11:48.400 six solo film, but I was looking it up a 0:11:48.440 --> 0:11:50.400 little bit and looking at the cast, and it has 0:11:50.679 --> 0:11:53.400 a pretty great supporting cast that includes the always terrific 0:11:53.440 --> 0:11:56.959 William Sadler. It has Adrian Brody in it, and it's 0:11:57.000 --> 0:11:59.920 based on the nineteen eighty nine sci fi novel Web 0:12:00.400 --> 0:12:03.679 by Robert Mason of Vietnam Veto. I think is I 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:06.320 don't know if he's primarily known for this, but he's 0:12:06.360 --> 0:12:10.480 also known for having penned a memoir or multiple memoirs 0:12:10.480 --> 0:12:14.720 about his service in Vietnam. But Mario van Peebles, you know, 0:12:14.880 --> 0:12:18.000 always fun. He was in what the third Jaws movie, 0:12:18.080 --> 0:12:20.679 he was in the fourth, the fourth, Okay, he was 0:12:20.720 --> 0:12:24.319 in the third Highlander movie. Which is actually a prequel 0:12:24.320 --> 0:12:28.439 to Highlander two. So you know, sort that out in 0:12:28.520 --> 0:12:30.200 your head as you as you wish. 0:12:30.720 --> 0:12:33.840 Was Christolph Lambert still in the third Highlander movie? 0:12:34.559 --> 0:12:38.480 Yes, yeah, So the gimmick in Highlander the Final Dimension 0:12:38.480 --> 0:12:41.240 from nineteen ninety four is it's post Highlander one, pre 0:12:41.360 --> 0:12:44.720 Highlander two. He thinks he's won the prize and defeated 0:12:44.760 --> 0:12:46.600 the last Immortal, but you know, it just something doesn't 0:12:46.640 --> 0:12:50.760 feel right. Turns out there's one more immortal or maybe 0:12:50.800 --> 0:12:53.200 like a handful of immortals that were part of like 0:12:53.240 --> 0:12:57.680 this evil like nomadic band of immortals, and they fell 0:12:57.720 --> 0:13:00.760 into a glacier something that got frozen. They've been out 0:13:00.800 --> 0:13:03.199 of commission, and then they wake up and he's like, oh, 0:13:03.320 --> 0:13:06.040 I've got one last guy to take out, and so 0:13:06.120 --> 0:13:09.000 they have to battle and so forth. Mario van Peeples 0:13:09.040 --> 0:13:11.520 is the villain. All right, I guess I'm gonna have 0:13:11.559 --> 0:13:23.280 to see that sometime, all right. We also heard from 0:13:23.360 --> 0:13:26.720 Ted ted Is responding to our episode of The Machine Speaks. 0:13:27.320 --> 0:13:30.760 Ted says, Hi, Robert and Joe, longtime listener, first time writer, 0:13:31.240 --> 0:13:33.360 just finished listening to your episode The Machine Speaks, and 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:37.640 feel embarrassingly enough compelled to ride in with the title 0:13:37.720 --> 0:13:40.800 and your episode preface of Heads That Talk. I thought 0:13:40.880 --> 0:13:43.160 for sure I knew about one talking head that you 0:13:43.200 --> 0:13:47.359 would reference. Boy was I wrong. However, the examples explained 0:13:47.720 --> 0:13:50.559 were fascinating, and yes, my mind was blown. I suppose 0:13:50.640 --> 0:13:53.120 my mind was drifting towards a mix of weird house 0:13:53.120 --> 0:13:56.680 cinema in a core episode where I thought fictional characters 0:13:56.720 --> 0:13:58.840 would be in play. I was hoping to hear your 0:13:58.880 --> 0:14:01.640 take on Max Headroom. As a child of the eighties, 0:14:01.960 --> 0:14:05.040 he was our futuristic talking head. I don't really remember 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:07.160 much of the original series, but I did love his 0:14:07.240 --> 0:14:10.280 cameo in Back to the Future too, when Martin McFly 0:14:10.320 --> 0:14:13.760 stumbles into the Cafe Eighties to order a pepsi from 0:14:13.800 --> 0:14:17.080 Max the waiter. Love the show, look forward to more 0:14:17.200 --> 0:14:19.040 of your great work. Thanks Ted. 0:14:19.880 --> 0:14:22.600 This is a funny coincidence because I happened to have 0:14:23.040 --> 0:14:26.280 just watched the first episode of Max Headroom just a 0:14:26.280 --> 0:14:29.560 few nights ago. This week, I was hanging out with 0:14:29.560 --> 0:14:32.640 a friend of mine. He had listened to our episode 0:14:32.720 --> 0:14:36.000 on the Super Mario Brothers movie, which of course was 0:14:36.000 --> 0:14:39.000 made by the same pair of directors as the original 0:14:39.000 --> 0:14:41.600 Max Headroom series. I guess Max Headroom probably kind of 0:14:41.600 --> 0:14:45.040 got them the job on Mario and he was like, well, 0:14:45.280 --> 0:14:47.520 you should see the show. So we watched the first 0:14:47.560 --> 0:14:51.640 episode and it was a hoot. So it is, Oh, 0:14:51.720 --> 0:14:54.400 I don't have the right words yet in mind to 0:14:54.520 --> 0:14:56.360 describe the vibe of it. I will say in the 0:14:56.400 --> 0:15:00.240 opening credits, I saw somebody and I was like, is 0:15:00.240 --> 0:15:05.880 that Michael Ironside? But it was Jeffrey tamboor not a 0:15:05.920 --> 0:15:07.320 common mistake people make. 0:15:07.800 --> 0:15:10.080 Yeah, they generally have different energies those two. 0:15:10.480 --> 0:15:13.880 Yeah, but somehow, I you know, it was close enough. 0:15:14.640 --> 0:15:18.560 But so the premise is there's a cyberpunk dystopia TV 0:15:18.840 --> 0:15:21.480 rules over everything, so the world, you know, like the 0:15:21.920 --> 0:15:25.800 real authorities are basically the boards of directors of television 0:15:25.840 --> 0:15:29.480 media corporations. And there is this boardroom full of evil 0:15:29.520 --> 0:15:32.360 corporate directors who are designing a new form of TV 0:15:32.480 --> 0:15:37.640 advertisement called blip verts, which implants subliminal messages and viewers 0:15:37.680 --> 0:15:41.400 forcing them to buy and consume, but also it occasionally 0:15:41.440 --> 0:15:44.960 causes people's heads to explode. And there is a fearless 0:15:45.000 --> 0:15:48.800 journalist named Edison Carter played by Matt Frewer, who's always 0:15:48.840 --> 0:15:51.840 running around in a baggy leather jacket carrying a full 0:15:51.880 --> 0:15:55.520 sized television camera in his own hand. So he's the journalist, 0:15:55.760 --> 0:15:58.840 but he's also the cameraman. Oh and then he's also 0:15:58.880 --> 0:16:02.200 got sort of a control roller who is like his 0:16:03.200 --> 0:16:06.960 live producer, except the role of a producer in this 0:16:07.000 --> 0:16:09.960 world is mostly like hacking security systems to get you 0:16:10.000 --> 0:16:11.200 through doors and stuff. 0:16:11.520 --> 0:16:11.680 You know. 0:16:11.720 --> 0:16:14.120 I'm just looking at the cast list for this episode 0:16:14.160 --> 0:16:16.640 and I noticed that Amanda Pays is in it. She 0:16:16.800 --> 0:16:17.960 of course was the female lead. 0:16:18.000 --> 0:16:22.200 And Leviathan, Oh yes, in fact, she is his hacker producer. 0:16:22.360 --> 0:16:25.120 She's always like, you know, we're in But anyway, he's 0:16:25.200 --> 0:16:28.920 investigating a case where somebody's head blew up, and I 0:16:28.960 --> 0:16:30.480 think he's trying to get to the bottom of it, 0:16:30.720 --> 0:16:34.280 and he's fleeing corporate security agents and then is injured 0:16:34.400 --> 0:16:37.360 in the process in a motorcycle accident crashing against a 0:16:37.480 --> 0:16:40.800 gate arm in a parking garage that says max headroom, 0:16:40.840 --> 0:16:43.960 meaning like max height of the clearance for the gate arm. 0:16:44.800 --> 0:16:47.760 And then the villain from Dumb and Dumber and a 0:16:48.000 --> 0:16:52.200 hacker who is a child, scan his brain and create 0:16:52.240 --> 0:16:55.320 a CGI version of him. It's like a simulation of 0:16:55.360 --> 0:16:59.920 his brain and of his appearance, which is not actually CG. 0:17:00.360 --> 0:17:03.160 Max Headroom is achieved with like prosthetics and makeup and 0:17:03.200 --> 0:17:04.040 camera effects. 0:17:04.480 --> 0:17:07.719 The villain would be that's what Charles Rocket, That's right? 0:17:07.800 --> 0:17:10.399 Yeah now, yeah, yeah, he's the villain from Dumb and 0:17:10.480 --> 0:17:13.760 Dummer and in this he's like a you know, corporate skis. 0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:17.360 But anyway, so they create this version of him. They meanwhile, 0:17:17.359 --> 0:17:19.879 they like send him off to like a morgue, but 0:17:20.000 --> 0:17:23.080 it turns out he survives. I think Amanda Pays revives him, 0:17:23.720 --> 0:17:26.680 uh and so, so like he's still alive, but there's 0:17:26.760 --> 0:17:31.320 this simulated version of his brain that is now a 0:17:31.720 --> 0:17:35.159 TV character, and the you know, the bosses that the 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:38.040 media corporation love him. The villains like him because he's 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:41.000 like really entertaining TV content, So they, you know, they 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:46.119 like him broadcasting because people watch. But Max Headroom is 0:17:46.200 --> 0:17:48.119 very sly, and he seems to make a lot of 0:17:48.760 --> 0:17:53.359 glitchy satirical comments about his owners that fly under the radar. 0:17:54.840 --> 0:17:57.440 I don't know how exactly it develops as the show 0:17:57.480 --> 0:17:59.879 goes on, but yeah, he seems to be both a 0:18:00.480 --> 0:18:05.080 product of an evil media corporation and constantly making little 0:18:05.160 --> 0:18:07.000 jokes at their expense. 0:18:06.840 --> 0:18:08.639 So you're gonna keep going with the series? Did you 0:18:08.640 --> 0:18:10.600 get a taste for it and you need both? What 0:18:10.720 --> 0:18:11.720 two seasons and etc. 0:18:12.200 --> 0:18:15.240 Oh man, I can't stop with the late eighties dystopian 0:18:15.320 --> 0:18:18.480 sci fi. I will say either a good thing about 0:18:18.480 --> 0:18:20.400 it or a bad thing about it, depending on your 0:18:21.080 --> 0:18:25.639 appetite for ironically appealing aesthetics. Is that it's very MTV. 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:30.920 You know that feeling it has MTV cinematography. 0:18:31.880 --> 0:18:35.000 Yeah, yeah, I know exactly exactly what you mean there, 0:18:35.000 --> 0:18:38.920 and you see that you see ripples of that continue 0:18:38.960 --> 0:18:42.800 to move through cinema for gosh decades, I think, And 0:18:42.840 --> 0:18:45.000 which makes sense too, because I mean, just in general, 0:18:45.040 --> 0:18:47.800 without thinking too hard about it, like MTV as a 0:18:47.800 --> 0:18:50.399 whole back in the day in compass not only like 0:18:50.480 --> 0:18:54.960 the sort of like local MTV flare, but also the 0:18:55.040 --> 0:18:57.919 various music videos that were featured, which often featured the 0:18:57.960 --> 0:19:01.840 work of filmmakers who would in many cases go on 0:19:01.920 --> 0:19:05.359 to make feature length films. Not always, but often you 0:19:05.400 --> 0:19:07.439 see that, and so it makes sense that some of 0:19:07.440 --> 0:19:10.960 the same stylistic trends would continue to carry over, but 0:19:11.040 --> 0:19:14.200 not everybody, like, for instance, you know Chris Cunningham, a 0:19:14.640 --> 0:19:18.560 great British video artist and music video director. I think 0:19:18.600 --> 0:19:20.879 for a while he was attached to direct. I think 0:19:20.920 --> 0:19:22.960 everybody at one point has been attached to do a 0:19:23.000 --> 0:19:27.440 film adaptation of Neuromancer William Gibson, and it's never come 0:19:27.480 --> 0:19:30.760 to pass. I think maybe it's just one of those books. 0:19:30.800 --> 0:19:33.520 It's like it's too big, its shadow is too great, 0:19:34.000 --> 0:19:38.399 and also it's been all the ideas of Neuromancer just 0:19:38.440 --> 0:19:40.920 about have been used, so like it seems like a 0:19:41.040 --> 0:19:44.199 very difficult adaptation task to take on. 0:19:44.680 --> 0:19:47.720 Yeah, we already have the matrix that's like fifty percent 0:19:47.760 --> 0:19:49.200 of Neuromancer, isn't it. 0:19:50.000 --> 0:19:54.560 Yeah. But speaking of Neuromancer, we also heard from listener 0:19:54.640 --> 0:19:59.000 Fletch on Discord related to Neuromancer, which comes up briefly 0:19:59.040 --> 0:20:01.359 in The Machine Speak. It's kind of an offense comment 0:20:01.359 --> 0:20:10.159 from me. Fletch says, Rob mentioned Neuromancer briefly in the 0:20:10.200 --> 0:20:14.200 Machine Speaks in relation to making Faustian deals with AI. 0:20:14.680 --> 0:20:17.880 But there's actually a mechanical talking head inspired by Favors 0:20:17.880 --> 0:20:21.560 Euphonia that is featured in the novel too. The head 0:20:21.640 --> 0:20:26.800 is stolen from the reclusive Tessier Ashpool family's orbital habitat 0:20:27.160 --> 0:20:31.399 and they send their cloned ninja to recover it. It's described 0:20:31.800 --> 0:20:35.879 like this quote. Jimmy was a burglar and other things 0:20:35.920 --> 0:20:39.080 as well, and just back from a year in high orbit, 0:20:39.440 --> 0:20:42.800 having carried certain things back down the gravity. Well. The 0:20:42.840 --> 0:20:46.280 most unusual thing Jimmy had managed to score on his 0:20:46.400 --> 0:20:51.400 swing through the archipelago was a head, an intrigantly worked 0:20:51.600 --> 0:20:56.119 bust cloison at over platinum, studded with seed pearls and lapis. 0:20:56.520 --> 0:21:00.640 Smith's sign had put down his pocket microscope and advised 0:21:00.680 --> 0:21:04.000 Jimmy to melt the thing down. It was contemporary, not 0:21:04.040 --> 0:21:07.719 an antique, and had no value to the collector. Jimmy laughed. 0:21:08.040 --> 0:21:11.119 The thing was a computer terminal, he said. It could talk, 0:21:11.600 --> 0:21:14.600 and not a synth voice, but with a beautiful arrangement 0:21:14.640 --> 0:21:17.840 of gears and miniature organ pipes. It was a baroque 0:21:17.880 --> 0:21:21.080 thing for anyone to have constructed, a perverse thing, because 0:21:21.119 --> 0:21:24.800 synth voice chips cost next to nothing. It was a curiosity. 0:21:25.280 --> 0:21:28.520 Smith jacked the head into his computer and listened as 0:21:28.560 --> 0:21:32.919 the melodious inhuman voice piped the figures of last year's 0:21:32.960 --> 0:21:37.840 tax return. Oh that's beautiful. I had forgotten all about this. 0:21:38.280 --> 0:21:41.800 It's been a long time since I read Neuromancer. But yeah, 0:21:41.840 --> 0:21:44.800 William Gibson is exactly the sort of author that would 0:21:45.080 --> 0:21:47.920 that would would fit this historical nugget in there. 0:21:48.560 --> 0:21:51.479 You think this is a direct reference to Joseph Fobber 0:21:51.480 --> 0:21:53.520 and the Euphonia, not just like a coincidence. 0:21:54.119 --> 0:21:57.040 I bet it's a direct reference. Yeah, I mean that, 0:21:57.119 --> 0:22:01.080 you know, having read plenty of other books by Gibson 0:22:01.200 --> 0:22:03.560 like this, this is the exact kind of like tech 0:22:03.640 --> 0:22:07.439 degree and history that he would fold into the making 0:22:07.480 --> 0:22:07.960 of the work. 0:22:08.560 --> 0:22:11.040 M all right, We're gonna wrap things up here with 0:22:11.160 --> 0:22:14.200 one short message about weird House cinema. This is from Paul. 0:22:19.359 --> 0:22:23.640 Paul says, in line with your shake hands with danger 0:22:24.200 --> 0:22:29.359 comment in a recent Listener mail and your affinity for Gore? 0:22:29.720 --> 0:22:31.840