Welcome to the ki. Really? You're gonna cough, right? Oh God. Welcome to the Ki Kindness Chronicles, where we hope to inject the Do I. I'm so rusty. Welcome to the Kindness Chronicles, where we hope to inject the world with a dose of the Minnesota nice that it desperately needs. Here we are again. Old pals, Steve Brown and Kevin Gorg. This is John Schwetz, and we're back again Maybe. We're gonna do our best to, uh, to have some rhythm to this Kindness Chronicles thing that we've been trying to do. Well, at least we started on a, on a high note. That's a, that's a really exciting, That was, that was very, a very professional start, so, Right. That, uh, kind of says it all. Um, Good afternoon, gentle people. How are you Doing great. Yeah. Great to be back with you guys. Uh, it's been too long. I know. In the summer everybody kinda gets pulled in. 18 different directions now that we're back into the fall here and kind of into a regimented schedule. I'm sure we'll get together more often and, uh, looking forward to more good chat with you guys and hopefully some cool guests. Yeah, me too. It's been, it's been a little bit of a break, but I'm, it's been a wonderful fall. It's, I've been loving it, so I've been busy. It's been great, but I miss talking to you guys and I hope to jump back in and get this thing going again. This was much easier when you two guys weren't working on a regular basis. Um, you know, I suppose, uh, employment is an important part of our, uh, personal operations, but, uh, so let's just, uh, let's do a little rewind. Um, starting with ekg. You spent some time at the race track. Tell us about that. Yeah. Back, back into my, uh, original role way back, uh, first, uh, 10 years. From 2000 to 2010 where I'm, uh, on the TV side of things on a regular basis and, uh, still get to fill in for Paul Allen when he is gone calling the races, which is something I've done for years. It was great fun, you know, reconnecting with, uh, you know, the trainers and the owners and the jockeys that kind of make the game go. Um, while I was doing my tip sheets, I was kind of more in amongst the fans. Now that I'm back in the paddock, you know, I'm kind of with the people that make the game go. It's a labor of love, as you know. Um, I have always had a, uh, lot of affection for, uh, for Canterbury and, uh, for the people that make it go. So yeah, it was a great summer. I appreciate you bringing that up. Um, it's fun, you know, I've got the horses all summer and the hockey all winter, and those are my two favorite things to watch. That. And your, your two little dogs love watching. Yes. Ben and Brook, by the way. They're upstair. They're in the bathroom listening to, uh, some local sports radio because I don't trust them to behave for, uh, the amount of time we're gonna be on here. Very nice. I love that. It's sports radio. That's, that's really great. Sports. Gotta keep educated. There's a lot of important things going on. The Vikings are four, crying out loud. Have a parade here in town. Yeah. Let's start planning the parade route. Steve, have you ever been to Canterbury? Do you ever go to the race track? I have never seen any races there. I've been out there for a movie shoot one time I was working on a movie, but otherwise I haven't, I haven't spent any real time out there. No. So I just should go. Three of us should go. I gotta tell you, um, my, uh, my whole family and I went out there couple of weeks ago, wasn't a kg a couple weeks ago, and I'd just like to tell you about the kindness of, uh, one jockey and his horse cutting off. Another jockey in his horse in the final race of the day. And, uh, just rewind. So we're there with, uh, uh, my son and his special friend, and my daughter and his special friend, and Ben, who's looking for a special friend. And then, uh, Chrissy and Kevin were there and our friends, Scott and Terry were there, and Becky and I and some other folks, and they had a really good day at the races. They were using. Kevin's, uh, Taking his advice and things were just going great. And the final race of the day, nobody really talked to each other about who they were gonna, who they were going to put some money. And we were all on house money at this point. So it was really fun. And, uh, the way the race went down, kg, maybe you can describe it. Uh, horse number, was it? Number three, apparently cutoff horse number six. And horse, horse. Go ahead. Can you, can you rerun that? So what happened was nobody had talked, but everybody had made these trifecta bets. And you know, in, in horse racing there are three referees. They're called racing stewards. And whenever there's any bumping or. Anything where a horse takes to another horse's lane, uh, we have what's called an inquiry and the coat board lights up. But please hold all tickets. The stewards are tickets. Yeah. And so these three race officials and an odd number for a reason, have to figure out what the decision is, and it's gonna be unanimous decision, or it's gonna be two against one, but the bottom line. Um, there was something illegal going on, and this six horse was a crazy long shot. 22 to one. It was an eight horse field. Yeah. This horse was, was almost 25 to one. And so as it worked out, uh, the group ended up benefiting from this decision that the racing, uh, referees, um, had in their mind. And, uh, people made hundreds, yes. Hundreds of dollars on set events. I thought that was pretty cool. And coincidentally, nobody had mentioned what they had bet. And like Ben, for example, who was already up quite a bit, put 10 bucks on this long shot, 22 to one. And, you know, ended up winning almost$250 on that one thing. So I would like to just tip my cap to the kindness that was shown by those cheating horse and jockey that cut off the number six horse And, uh, we all had a really flush weekend. Financially. It was a great time. But Steve, in all sincerity next spring, we have to go. Canterbury cuz you cannot imagine how much enjoyment and how much, what a thrill you can get from a stupid$5 bat. It's just, it's, I would love it. it's a lot of fun. And, and the cool thing. You know, the, the race track, you know what, which we're talking about out in Shockee and you mentioned you've been there for a concert, Steve, It used to just be like in the mid eighties, it was very cd, it was horse racing and gambling only. It's become far more of a family destination and. You know, throughout the year beyond the concerts, there's, you know, um, you know, every Sunday we've got the, the Pepsi Family Day with the Poy rides and the petting zoo and the face painting, and there's dog races, which they run in between the horse races. There's extreme racing with camels and auspices and zebras and, you know, there's craft, theres there. It just, it's become far more of an entertainment destination and they're in the process of putting, uh, in an 18,000 seat ample theater. So they're kind of reconfiguring where the barns are, where the horses. And so if you looking at the racetrack or developer for a concert and you look beyond the racetrack towards Valley Fair, that far left hand corner, that's where the AM amplifier is gonna be and there's gonna be some big time concerts out there. So to, to just kind of magnify my point, it really is far more than a racetrack. It's an entertainment destination. And, um, I think Steve mentioned that he was there for a movie, but thanks for listening Closely. a movie now. I don't remember. Oh, no, you was filming a movie. Movie, yeah, you're right. Yeah. Okay. Was it the movie with, um, Matt Di? Absolutely. That was the movie I worked on. Two five. I was, I remember that because I was working out there in the TV department and it was a really. Big deal that Matt Dylan was gracing our racetrack and I watched back the movie and it's really cool to see them actually at Canterbury. So, yeah, I should have been listening closer. Thanks for catching that, John. Yep. Uh, for pointing it. I do remember that movie. And, um, Steve, um, maybe at this new amphitheater, is it, how do you say is, is it amphitheater? How do you say that word? Amphitheater. Kevin. Kevin said, Cause I'm, listen, I listen to what Kevin, he said am theater, but I think it's Amit, just amphitheater. So we're just tear you off. Yeah. That's close enough. How was in the ballpark? Yeah, you're in the right neighborhood. But Steve, um, maybe with the, uh, the reunion of the Johnny Clueless Band, you guys could, could book a gig at the, uh, the amphitheater. Yeah. Isn't that nice? That'd be great. Your product baby. Exactly. Amplify that crap. Amplify. So, um, that would be, that'd be good plan. Are you, is the band back together? The band, uh, gentlemen have, has never really broken up or anything, just had to, we just, we just stopped playing because of our, you know, we play like such a small handful of dates a year. Um, a private party here or there, and we play the dugout once or twice a year, which is this little great bar in near Whiter. It's in Willy, right? Right. From, Just to be clear, it's in Willy, across the street from Maita. Sorry. Yeah. Across the street is Monte. Yeah. Well, they call, I think Monita is their address. We don't play that often and we have not played, uh, since March of 2020. We, we've played, uh, like March 10th or something like that, right before the worlds shut down. Oh wow. That was the last, last time we played. So, um, we, we'll be, we'll be getting together in November there. So in the spirit of the, It's be fun spirit of the Kindness Chronicles. Let's go over how this show has gone so far. I rip on somebody for coughing at the very. Yep. Check. I lay into, I lay into Kevin for not paying attention and bringing up that he was here for some, uh, concert and it was a movie check. I lay into Kevin for referring to the amphitheater as an amphitheater, And then, um, I correct you and tell you that, uh, the dugout is in Willy when I really don't know if it is. So I'm an ass. I think you. Yeah, you're just showing, you're showing your, uh, your Cliff Clavin for all things. It is very cliff clavin and, um, I would just like to apologize for, uh, for being the kind of person that I can be at times. I'm just, I want this, this is, uh, let's make this a fact based show, fact based. Does that make sense? Okay. Okay. Um, so I have a, uh, a, a fun story. I had reached out to, uh, a young man in the Maita community to, uh, to join us tonight. there was a story that was on care 11 couple of weeks ago, and essentially the story was about, uh, how the captain of the football team. Had taken this young man, uh, his name is Jameson, under his wing, Jameson as a senior in high school, decided this was the first year that he was going to, uh, to play football. They mentioned on the news piece that, that Jameson had autism. And, uh, I called, it was a nice story, and I called, uh, this J'S mom and said, You think JP would want to. On with us on a, on the podcast Kindness Chronicles. And she said, You know, he is so embarrassed by that story. And I'm like, Why? She's like, How often do they have stories on the news about people just being friends with their friends? He goes, It was really weird and, uh, and he was embarrassed by it, apparently and reluctant to do it in the first place. And I said, You know what? That, that tells you more about the kid than, uh, than anything. So he's not on tonight. And he won't be on any night. But, uh, jp I did think it was a really nice story, but you're right. Can you tell us, Yeah. Tell us what the story is though. Story. We don't really know the story. The story, the story was very simple. This, this, uh, Jameson Melzer is his name. I've known Jameson a long time. He's a nice kid. He's a big guy. He decided with some, I think some prompting from his pals to, uh, to go out for the football team and, you know, the, the, the, the care elevens of the world are looking to inject a dose of, uh, oxytocin into the world. So they Right thought that this was a story that was worthy of, uh, three minute news segment. And, uh, so they, they, they played the story about, you know, how Maita is, you know, they, they, they measure wins and losses. Not as much as they measure, you know, the, the, the way that people treat each other and the type of people that are on the football team, which is kind of BS because we still measure wins and losses and they're, uh, I think four and one. But it, it, it is important. Um, you know, my kids both went through that program and I know that the head coach, Dave Metzel, is one of those guys who really is sincerely. All about the, the culture and you know, just people treating each other well and it's really what the football team is all about. But anyways, JP who is this stud, he's been a starter since he was a freshman. He's this man child who probably could play football or wrestling and he never wrestled before high school, but he was, you know, Made it to the state championship or something. Anyways, a guy's just a freak athlete, but he's just the sweetest kid. And when they went to him and said, jp, we wanna do this story about you and your friendship with, uh, with Jameson, his response was, What's the story? Why, why, you know, he's my friend. Is that a story? And You know, I just think that that says it all. You know, that's, that's the kind of guy you want your people to be and, uh, you know, humble and thoughtful and kind and, you know, he can tear up a quarterback like nobody's business. Um, but anyways, I just, I just thought it was really funny and I said I was gonna tell that story and I said to his mom, Tell him I'm not asking for permission. I'm gonna ask for forgiveness. So there you go. Love it. Oh, that's, that's cool. That's that's what we want. Yeah. That's the kind stuff we wanna highlight is, and that's the kinda reaction you expect from someone who's just like, No, I mean, that sends on a story there. I'm doing my thing and everyone should do the same and be kind to people and you know, and that's why, that's why we wanna celebrate that. It's amazing. That's great. Wonderful. Um, but while I was talking to, uh, To Carrie, his mom. Um, I was reminded that Carrie had, uh, recently had a very significant health scare. And, you know, Carrie's not in my first circle of friends or probably even my second circle of friends, but we're friendly and know each other a little bit and we're friends on Facebook and she, uh, was in liver failure. Now keep in mind, this is probably the most fit person you have ever seen. And she wasn't feeling well. She went into the doctor and the doctor said, Uh, you need to get a new, uh, liver immediately. You are, uh, you have, geez, like a week to live. And she's like, What a week to live. She goes, Look at these abs. She didn't say that. I, I said that She's like, I, Wow. How could a per, I mean, and I'm not kidding you, I think she's a professional trainer. I mean, the, the gal is the picture of health, but apparently, you know, she had this, uh, this situation. And I, Jesus, I, I don't even know if I should be talking about this. That's probably a HIPAA violation. But everybody that was friends with her knew of this story, and she was just talking about how, um, through social media, through, um, you know, CaringBridge and Facebook and those type of things, they were able to, give updates and the words of encouragement that, that people from all over, uh, were providing her in the prayers. She really believes played a significant role in her healing. And the good news is, is she got the transplant and she looks great. She looked great before, but she looks even greater now. Um, so there's a happy ending, but I think we should have her on at some point because, that type of kindness and that type of, the prayerfulness that, uh, that comes when a person is, uh, struggling with the health challenge really can have a significant impact on. On the healing process. And so she would like to come on at some point. And, uh, even though her son, shunned us it sounds like an impressive family. They sound like good people. That's, that's cool. They are very good people. They're very nice. She and her husband look like they came off the top of a wedding cake. He's very handsome. You like toy Oh, for, put a shirt on. Nobody needs to see your Facebook pictures with your AB Anyways. Steve, you've got a new gig in your life. What are you, what are you? Yeah, so I work for a telecommunications company called Betel, and I've been, uh, loving it and it's amazing and it's, there's nothing sexy about it. It's just a cool place to work and doing great work, and it's, it keeps me really busy and I'm helping out a, a, a lifetime friend of mine at his company, his family's company. I've been, uh, jumped in and kind of kicked in with my project management skills. I'm loving it. It's great. Lovely love. Yeah. So, and, and this fall has been so I've, you know, not to mention you once you get at, when you're outta work for quite a while, it's, it's stressful. It's, it's really to, you know, anxiety and all that stuff. It's, it's, I'm productive and then enjoying it, and I'm, I'm know, busy. It's really made things amazingly better in my life. So just to be working and I, I just, the fact that they welcome me in, it's amazing. It's great. And I, we've been living it up this September. Uh, August and September I've been, we've been going to see shows and weddings and just been a busy, busy, uh, fall. It's been amazing. I told you guys about the Red Rock Show. We did that in Colorado. Uh, Nathaniel RA Lift. I keep talking about that. But then we saw, we came back, we saw Michael Bule at the, in St. Paul, the Excel we saw. Jeremy Messersmith, a local singer songwriter, is just amazing. On top of a roof in downtown, we saw big heads to and Monsters. Oh wow. GaN for a big outdoor festival. That was really cool. I've just seen a lot of music. It's been great. Our friend, um, uh, Justin Poof, who was on with us, Who is he touring with? I saw he was touring with some big name. I think he did some openers for Dirk Bentley. Dirk Bentley, That's it. Yeah. Wow. I've seen Dirks in concert. That's a big deal. Yeah. Those guys are, they're really good. They're really, they have a great sound and they're really easy to work with. They're super fun. I think they're, they're gonna. They're, if they get ins like that, they will keep going and, and continue to do really great stuff. They're, it's a great group of people and they sound amazing. It sure feels like concerts are back. You know, we had that two year hiatus with the pandemic and I, I hadn't been to a concert forever and this summer, I think it was early August, we went down to, um, US Bank Stadium and saw Kenny Chass, who's just an unbelievable performer. He is made for a venue like, But I have to tell you, the atmosphere of the crowd, the sheer happiness people had, yeah. Coming in and leaving that facility, I, I think. You know, the old saying is you don't know what you have until it's taken away. Right. And I think people that enjoy that sort of thing really missed it. And I think now getting back to quote unquote normal or getting back to doing things like we used to, I think that's one thing that people are really gonna enjoy is getting back to going. Yeah. You know, along those lines. The, uh, you don't know what you have until it's taken away. I. I was out for dinner the other night. Did in my hair now. No, no, no. That's funny. We were out for dinner the other night. Uh, Becky and I, Have you guys been to Hazelwood or? I think it's called Hazelwood. Oh, love it. Yeah. So I get up. Oh my God, Steve. It's fantastic. Anyways, I, I got this one. We split a meal, which, you know, I love, I love, That's Aing terrible idea. I mean, it's just ridiculous. and um,. Paired off what I was going to be eating. This is mine that is yours. You know what doesn't make sense is I'm twice as big as you, and yet we're splitting this 50 50. I've just very bothered by the whole mathematics behind it Anyways, I had to get up and go use the restroom and she finished my. Oh, you don't know what you have until it's gone. Oh, okay. She didn't do that. So we got that. Uh, the minute chicken, you know the chicken with the Yeah, yeah. With the pasta and the, Anyways, I'm kidding. Ri uh, uh. Becky didn't do that. Riley. Of course she did. My daughter would do that. No, I was, I was just kidding. Um, we, Is that a slippery. There's one in Woodbury. There's one in St. Louis Park. There's one by the Mall of America. I'm not sure if there are others. Oh, I just heard about it. That's crazy. I just heard about it just today. So yeah, you guys are, you're part of the, you know what that's called when, when you hear something for the first time, like twice in in a day. It's called a Baer Mine. Hoff. Did you know that? Ooh. No, I know. There you go. You're welcome. Well, you are flex in here. I know. I am. I'm Claven again. I'm going Cliff Clavin on on us here. A lot of facts. A lot of facts in it. A lot of facts. I've been looking so forward to talking to you guys. I've got so many facts to share. And nobody seems very interested. Here's one fact that I, that is fun. So, um, you guys have been to the Masonic Heritage Center. We've got a beautiful brand new Jewelbox theater, and, uh, Steve has connected me with a friend of his who is a, uh, Would you call him a concert promoter? Is that kind of his or is he a Yeah, he's a talent agent. Agent. Connect with everybody. Yeah. Love everybody. He's a great guy. He and I, uh, are, are working together to, uh, we're gonna put together a concert series that we're going to have out at the, uh, the Masonic Heritage Center. We're going to, Highlight a charitable organization that, Masonic Charities, supports. But it's to give that charity a little more exposure and to, uh, just go out and have a good time. I think, Kevin, to your point, the, uh, it's, it's amazing how much fun people seem to be having with things that we took for granted once upon a time. No question. Yeah, it feels that way. That concert kinda highlighted that for me. And then just seeing the people at Canterbury, going back to the racetrack conversation, just all summer along, our crowds were unbelievable. I mean, you know, after a year where we had limited fans and a year where we had zero fans those two years before to have, you know, kind of the, uh, Open ended, you know, attendance, you know, that facility can hold 25,000 people. So we had our biggest crowds we've had in probably a decade. So everybody wants to get back out and, and be a part of it. And I guess, you know, there's no easy segue, but we talked about this before we started recording, uh, it's political season and I, you know, we all talk about those ads and they're obnoxious and they're over the top. But it is a very. Divisive time, uh, every fall when there's a, a few elections out there. How do you guys handle that table conversation, whether you're out with friends or at a party and I just, I try to avoid it at all costs, but it's not easy to do. Mm-hmm. I tend to lean in with, uh, sar. Sarcasm. And, uh, you know, what's really fun for me is when I'm with like my real conservative friends, I become a lib. And when I'm with my liberal friends, I'm, you know, I'm a Trumper and I love it. No, I'm teasing. I don't, Well, maybe I do once in a while. Well, but actually it's funny that, Go ahead, Steve. I'm sorry. No, I was just gonna say, I, I think. I think what's happened, it used to be used to be the case where with certain people in my family and, and relatives or friends, you can kind of, it's a bit of a sport and you could tease each other a little bit. But I think there's, since lines have been drawn, it got a little more intense and so I'm hesitant to, to tease and play like that cuz people got a lot weirder and, and a lot more serious about it. So I, I pull back and I try to, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm like, I'm not a conflict guy. I don't love conflict, so I keep it all kinda. On a, on the easy side, but I, in the past used to tease and go back and forth a little bit for people, but not anymore. So I have an idea, why don't we, um, uh, table this topic for. Next week. For next week, cuz that'll be really close to the election. And we will, uh, we will break it down. We will provide our insights as, as, uh, conflict averse people, Is that the right word? Conflict averse. Yeah. people. Yeah. I'm in that category. Uh oh, I know. And you and I, Well let's save that. We promise to keep these, uh, these, uh, programs to, uh, 30 minutes or so. So maybe the next time we get together, we can talk about political, uh, matters and, uh, maybe we can find another, uh, another guest that, uh, that doesn't want to talk to us. Until next week, gentlemen, off we go.