Midlife Marauders

Jay-Z at the Grammys, Super Bowl LVIII Predictions & A Giant Paper Clip

• Will & Max • Season 1 • Episode 4

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  • Max breaks down how midlifers Jay Z and Annie Lennox spoke their truths and marauded the Grammys
  • Is the Super Bowl rigged?
  • You know you're old when...your latest existential moment takes place sober while fixating on a super large paper clip on the barroom floor

Thanks for listening--keep on marauding!

Unknown:

Welcome to Midlife Marauders with Will & Max How are you feeling Max? I'm good she I got my jersey on I actually kind of look like I'm a football player because I got all these layers on for the wind. Take it, you ruin it for the chiefs. I am kind of a bandwagon person, but my husband is from Kansas. So okay, even though the team is in Kansas City, Missouri and that Kansas? That's true for them, right. I don't think most people know that. There's a Kansas City key. Yeah, I didn't know that really before. Yeah. So anyhow, so rooting for them. See what happens. How are you doing with them? And of dry January? What was did you celebrate at the end? No, not really. It was. I didn't really celebrate. I when it was over, you know, February 1, a couple of cocktails for sure. Shock? Yeah, kind of did it kind of did. I kind of overdid it. And I had some of the reactions that probably we don't need to share on the podcast. But you lose weight a lot of people do it for and, you know, I didn't I didn't weigh myself. I kind of didn't I don't feel like I did, actually. I mean, I just didn't feel like I was like significantly lighter or anything like that. I felt better. I felt like, you know, it was a it wasn't a struggle every weekend to you know, go into Sunday and go into Monday because I've been drinking all weekend. Did it change your tastebuds? Or like if you liked the same things afterwards? So no, I really don't think it was that much of a change, to be honest with you. I just felt like I was giving my organs a little bit of a break. Okay, that's good. That's a good thing. Yeah. I mean, it was, it was rewarding to do I didn't think that I was going to be able to make it all the way but I just kept going. I had Yeah, I did it. And I had a lot of friends that you know, did it was at least attempted to do it. They're all of you know, the other middle aged years and most of them failed. Oh, really? Did they fail? We on? Are they all kind of later maybe like a week or two? Before the finish line? You know, there's a couple of people out there. If you're listening I'm a little disappointed that you didn't make it. But yeah, it's I did all the way through and like I may have mentioned this on previous podcast, but I didn't like duck and hide. I didn't like stay at home. Boy Yeah, avoid being social. I was still out hanging out with my friends and you know, family you know, went to Florida with some with some cousins. You know, they went to the we went to shop for liquor down there. We went out you know, appear. I still hung out with my friends still went to the restaurants and you know, where everybody was doing drinks, thrown out shots, blah, blah, blah. Now I will say I didn't receive and kudos to all my friends for this. I didn't receive a lot of peer pressure. okay to drink. Yeah, that's the key as long as they're not sure now, right? Yeah, yeah, that'd be I think that's the beauty of being our age that we have. I guess we have mature friends but yeah, it was cool. It was it was very cool. But I'm glad that it's over and glad to be back living set another goal because you achieve that goal. Now you kind of done for the double goals right now. I just I just want to live. So I think that I watched the Grammys, but you did not. And next year, we have to do like a watch show. Yeah. And do some commentary. Yeah, like a live reaction Exactly. But it connects with our last episode where we talked about middle agers using their platform to kind of speak their mind because I don't know if you read about Jay Z kind of getting up there to accept this award. And he definitely spoke his mind he kind of just it sounded very much off the cuff. You know, he was talking about you know, Beyonce, he didn't really say her name but it was like how can you give somebody all these Best Song of the Year awards but not give her the best album award? So and then they pan to her and she looked a little bit uncomfortable because you really need to fight my battles. But anyhow, he went on and on and he talked about the show and how it's getting better. But you know, they weren't really there's just he was just saying they need to step up their game but I thought it was interesting. One thing he said that a lot of people were saying was a good thing is is like you know key keep showing up until you get these awards. You know, if you keep showing up, and I think the intent was just to keep going out there, but I kind of felt like, well, why do you need this external, you know, confirmation that you're good or whatever. And maybe I was reading too much into it. And he was just speaking kind of ad hoc. So of course, you know, it's not like a, like a prepared speech. But it was interesting, because I thought, it's like, you have all these different types of people kind of thrown into a room, you know, like just saying, whatever, like analytics and Linux get up there. And at the end of her song, she said, so she said, Artists for Peace or something like that. So I don't think that was planned. But she also used her platform for that. Or artists were ceasefire. That's what she said. So she's another one. So I felt like you threw like all these older people, like mid lifers in the room with younger people. And it was kind of an odd mix. And you know, they're gonna go off and do their separate award shows, like, you know, Country Music Awards, and it'd be a totally different vibe. But it was kind of a interesting show, because I hadn't seen Grammys for a long time, because I cut the cord a long time ago, but now we have YouTube TV. So I thought it was interesting, just because, I don't know, you got the people with their canned speeches, but then you've got these mid lifers who are getting getting up there and kind of, you know, getting their whatever they're standing for out there, you know, and not giving a fuck, you know, this is what we were talking about last week, right? So, so that was interesting because of that. And then Taylor Swift was there. I guess she got called out for not mentioning Travis Kelce. At all. Some people were saying, Oh, she snubbed him. Oh, really? Well, Baba. Yeah. Wow. So anyhow, whatever. I think I probably, you know, we can do our little show next year, but it wasn't that entertaining for me really, like just very forced. And they had Tracy Chapman up there singing with Luke combs, you know, singing fast car. And I think that was something that felt a little bit contrived. You know, everybody said, Oh, this is so great that they're singing together. But she looked a little bit like, you know, this is great. He had this kind of fake smile plastered on her face to meet a lot of people said, Oh, she was so awesome. And into it. But it seemed very contrived to me. Wow, that's those are some interesting perspectives. Because, you know, I didn't watch it, obviously. But I did hear some things about it. And some of the things I heard are quite different than than what you've laid out here. You know, a lot of people, you know, sugarcoat it, right, right. No, no, no, I mean, this coming together. There's no no right or wrong opinion. As far as the Jay Z situation, I heard the clip the audio of him. And he sounded very nervous. Did you? Did you feel that when you heard, it sounded so nervous? A little bit? I mean, I have never, I guess I haven't seen him speak at an award show like this. But I found that he was very, trying to be very honest and open, you know. And so I appreciated that. I think that he wasn't planning to say what he said, it just kind of came out of his mind. Right. I keep in holding it in for a while. So I didn't really, he said, maybe he even said he was nervous, because he was holding his daughter's hand and saying they're both kind of nervous up there. But, but I found his speech to be, you know, they say it's not what you say, it's how you say it. I just felt like, wow, this guy is a real guy, you know, he's not trying to, you know, have this really lofty speech where, you know, I don't know, I just thought, oh, it made me respect him. Okay, so I was like, Okay, you're gonna get up there and just like talk like a regular person. And I liked it, actually. So I'm confused. Because let me ask you a question. And we don't spend a lot of time with this. But do you think he would have done that? If it? Because I heard that people were saying, I heard two different opinions. Like, you know, he was speaking out about that, because obviously, his wife is affected by it. You know, obviously, she's wanting the most Grammys, but she's never won Album of the Year. That's right. So but apparently, but then I'm confused, because throughout his tenure, I can't think of a better word. He's always been one of those guys, like fuck the Grammys, right? So I'm a little confused about that. Then I'm hearing well, he wasn't really speaking because he didn't mention her name. He wasn't really talking about his wife. He was talking about artists in general, but I'm a little conflicted by that. He made some funny jokes like Will Smith when boycott boycotted the awards, but then watched it at home or on TV, and then he did the same thing like one year he boycotted though or it's and then sat at home so he was kind of poking fun at himself. But I think one of the things that I noticed is that you've got all these different categories and small categories. It's almost like they're trying to give an award to everyone and kind of spread the wealth. You know, and like, no one person, like, if you get the best song, you you're not necessarily going to get the best album, right. So I think that's kind of the downfall of the Grammys is that maybe it's no longer about all these separate genres. Because, you know, what is rock these days? What is pop these days? So anyway, I don't know, I thought that he was kind of funny. And I think he was poking fun at himself. And he was saying that, you know, Grammys are improving. But I just don't know, if it's, we're, you know, what does the award mean, if everybody gets one for different things? I mean, he has a point, right? Like, if you have the best song, why wouldn't the person with the best album also the best song, I think that was his point? You know, because Taylor Swift, we kind of knew she was gonna get that album of the year, but they didn't pick her for best song. So what's up with that? Right? So, like, what's the validity of these awards? If everybody gets one, you know, it's like, you know, how kids are these days, like, you give everybody a prize, you give everybody a trophy? I think you can have the best song and not the best album. You know, I think, vice versa, you know, I mean, you're talking about a whole body of work as compared to one song. But, you know, I don't, we don't need to get into all that. It's just, I just found it a little bit confusing. And I'm trying, and I didn't watch it. So I apologize to our audience out there. But I'll have to do more research into that. It's just it just seemed like it was a mixed message. But I'm getting I'm hearing that it really isn't. And, you know, I'll form my own opinion about that. As far as the Tracy Chapman thing. You know, you watch it, but I am. I'm ecstatic about it. Because this woman gets to eat, she gets to profit off of that song. You know what I mean? Right. So I think that's the best thing and it puts her back in the kind of the limelight, so to speak. And I think it's nothing but but good things for her. You know, I think she's, she's gaining financially because of that song. And she, she's getting her exposure back. So yeah, as long as she didn't cave into pressure, I felt like she had to do it, you know, because I think there's a reason she hasn't been around is because she wants her. Yeah. And I noticed on one of the, at the end, there was like a point where she was about to sing when she wasn't supposed to sing. And so I was like, definitely just practice this. You know, I wonder. It was fine. She sounded great. And I think, you know, Luke combs made an effort not to outshine her, you know, and so she sounded great. She looked good. Yeah, so I thought that was good. But my whole thing is, like, do we need though the different genres and the different categories? Because, you know, like, Travis Scott did some song and it was like, throwing chairs around and shit like that. And I was like, Okay, this is rap, but who's listening? It's the people who listen to rock. It's people who listen to punk. You know what I mean? So how do you categorize him? Anyhow? So that's my own issue. I need to rework it, you know, I feel like they need to me it made me think, too. It's like, why did you get why didn't you get Jay Z on your advisory board, you know, and kind of figure out how to plan this whole event a little bit better, you know, I think you get him on your side. And then you're not having him like randomly spouting shit on you know, and criticizing the academy or whoever, this Recording Academy. So, yeah, that was what I was thinking too. Anyhow, I put way too much thought into it, because there's a lot of breaks and stuff. Well, I mean, I think the whole thing is, is fixed. I think the whole thing is, uh, I'm not used to conspiracy theorists or anything like that. But I think the whole thing is like, a for profit fix situation that that board or whatever, is trying to cater to the margins. You know, I think, you know, it's, it's fixed about who wins the awards and all the other stuff. Kind of like where I'm leaning a little bit, and I can't believe I'm saying this max. I think this will, I think the fixes in for the Super Bowl to you think so too. I think you got the world's biggest star. You know, she she has an interest who on one particular team and and it's going to also impact our president. Oh yeah, you're 100% right about that. But yeah, you know, the Super Bowl is going to be very interesting if you if you're a betting person. I was chairmanships I think, Well, I think at least the Chiefs at least having Taylor there, Taylor Swift there is going to make it a little bit more interesting, right? Because aren't people bored of having the Chiefs there? Oh, no, I haven't, you know, in my ear to the streets. I haven't heard that. But, but I don't know. I mean, I'm not that type of dude that's gets bored with greatness. I, you know, I want to be a witness. I want to be a witness to greatness. I don't want to be, you know, saying, Oh, I'm sick of this team. They're always blah, blah, blah. You know, like with the Patriots, okay. But you got to do something to stop them. And I think once you finally do that makes for a better story. So yeah, I guess I guess that's the mom and me, and I'm contradicting what I said earlier is that I'm like, Wow, isn't it somebody? Yeah, there you go. Buddy. gets a trophy. Right. Yeah. Super Bowl. Do you have any Super Bowl party plants? Yes. So we have one of my son's coaches is from Kansas. And so they know about our Kansas connection. So we're gonna go to their house. So it's more of a family party. I don't think it's gonna be like a big blowout where everybody's getting drunk. But I just wanted this to be fun. Coach you mentioned before. No, no, no, not this one. This is a soccer coach. Not the basketball. What are you doing? I have one of my good buddies. He's having he's also in a party and then his fiancee awesome party at their house. It's gonna be a lot of people, I think so it'd be quite a few. Some of the some of you know, we're kind of like a crew. And but some of the crew is actually doing some other vacations. Some vacations this weekend, so I hit him up yesterday. Hey, are you still having a party? Because uh, yeah, of course, you know, he's got a ton of friends. Anyway. Both of them have a ton of friends. So. So is this a place you might meet some ladies? No, no, no, no. One day we'll have to talk about meeting how I meet ladies. And how I discerned from not meeting certain ladies. Oh, quick, quick, little quick little thing. So I don't I don't really generally I know people are gonna listen to this podcast by laughing That's okay. I get that all the time. So I have what's called the system. Okay. Okay. So, if these ladies that you're talking about, I probably know them, or probably I will say most of them unless they're new. Somebody I don't know. They probably have dated somebody in the circle. Okay, so are they inside the crew? Are they? Crew technically, but they've just they've dabbled their toes in the in the waters of the crew you know what I'm saying? And I don't I don't I don't and I call them system lady so I don't I don't I don't usually mess with girls that have been in the system. Okay, that makes sense. A floppy not just sloppy seconds. I makes for some awkwardness that I don't you know, I'm not I don't like dealing with awkwardness I don't like dealing with maybe something was happening and there's unrequited feelings about so I don't know. Okay. I guess probably Yeah, I just say hey, you know what, there's just millions of other girls out here what you know, you know, I don't want to sound like a dog but I don't need to talk to somebody that's already talked to one of my friends or data one of my friends slept with one of my friends so I they're on the field unaffiliated women out there somewhere. So I'll find okay, and you don't say Who's Who do you go after them? The ones that nobody knows about. And then you bring them into the circle you kind of you know, deem them worthy sure they can meet friends and all those stuff, but you know, I don't my dating history is someone I haven't had a long term. person I've been dating for quite a while it's more casual. And please don't judge me but it's been more casual situation. So but yeah, yeah, back to the Super Bowl party. Really, I tell you the type of person that doesn't like people talking that much during the Superbowl it My husband used to be like that, I think but now he kind of got used to me talking to him. I do like to watch the game. I do like to you know, and I'll shout out an opinion or a stat or something. I don't mind other people don't but don't don't don't talk my ear off the game. You know, you're nobody's a NFL coach, or anything like that. You know, you know, you know, I think I know about football and I'm sure my friends know about football, but we don't need to debate each other about it. Let's just sit back and enjoy the game. Yeah, you probably wouldn't want to I'm still learning. Oh, okay. The rules. So I asked my husband about why did they do that you can talk to you don't need to talk to me the whole time. Well, yeah, I like to watch the game. Like sit down and watch it. Analyze it, you know, I'll share an opinion or two, but yeah, don't talk. Okay, so what are your predictions? You're saying that the chiefs are like me and I, I don't buy into a lot of conspiracies, but I think this is set up. This is a win win for Taylor Swift a win for the NFL. This is a for profit situation for all parties. I can't see. I can't see the chief was in this game. I really can't see it. Maybe there's momentum. Yeah, momentum is on there. Yeah, that's what I like. I think Travis Kelce said, you know, Taylor brought home the hardware is now I've heard some rumblings about our proposal after the game or certainly thereafter. Oh, maybe only? Maybe. I don't know. That's crazy. That sounds like that sounds like a like a bachelor moment. You know, they're just doing it. Yeah. But it's, it's amazing is yeah, it's gonna it's gonna be fun to watch. I mean, you know, obviously, she's brought a lot of eyes and attention to, to the to the NFL, in particular, this game and then people are just gonna be on a, you know, alert to look for her and, you know, spot her reactions and stuff like that. So I think it's gonna be cool. Are you Oh, you into the commercials, too? Yeah, I like to watch the commercials. I'm probably not as obsessive about it as some people you know. And you know, and the and you only remember, I mean, that's, I guess the sign of a good commercial. If you remember, like a couple. Right, right. I'm usually like the Doritos ones are pretty memorable. You know, snack foods. Yeah, maybe I pay attention to snack food ones. But yeah, it's it's fun. And then like, who is Asher is going to be the halftime show? Yeah, that'd be fun. That'd be fun. Yeah, I enjoy the commercials. I do five. I'm liking the progressive commercials a lot where it's about the young homeowners turning into their parents and having right. And that kind of what do you like about it? I think it's funny. I just think it's funny how, you know they have this this this guy that kind of the counselor or whatever, kind of like a Dr. Phil was like coaching them not to look so crazy. We know what they're doing like ordinary stuff. Like watching the trash can. Yeah, or you know, obsessing over going to like a salad establishment and being overwhelmed with the choices of greenlees toppings and stuff like that. So we can relate to it. For surely see your parents, they want something like for sure, for sure. And I kind of feel like I'm kind of turning into senior here I had a very, I had a very interesting situation that I couldn't even believe that I was experiencing. So I was out at a local restaurant that kind of turns into a little like nightclub or whatever you want to call that with DJ. And this was during dry January. So I'm, I'm pretty sure this contributed to it. Going out to a bar, or a club. And not drinking is a different experience. It really is. You really are like, what am I doing here? It's like, because it's me now that when I go out the club, I'm just there to dance. I can't drink because I get all hot. Okay, I pass out what is this? Like? It's like people are speaking a different language. Okay, you know, there's kind of like a tipsy talk and a drunk talk. Right? And you're gay. You're not Yeah, and this is super annoying if you're not drinking. So I'm at this spot, and you know, I'm at the bar, but you know, I'm drinking like Coke or soda or something like that. And somebody is talking to me, I don't know what they were talking about struct. And I've looked down on the ground. And there was this extra large safety pin down on the ground. Right. And like how large I'm talking about maybe three inches by three and it's pretty big metal metal. See, this is a total total old person's conversation. Hey, we're here metal metal, plastic. So I'm not a safety pin connoisseur I don't have a button draw or a safety pin draw or anything like that. You know how I used to you know, I'm maybe you get to relate that door next to your door. Yeah, you know, the junk drawer or not yet? Maybe those big? I don't know what kind of cookies they were that they came as big 10 big round. See? And then when you don't, because you throw everything in there, right? So I look down at the ground, and I see this three inch safety. They're not, I don't, this is something I don't see in my life. That's pretty big safety. So I look back up and the person was talking to me. And my mind was fixated on the safety. And what I could do with it, you know, the applications of this super large safety. And I mean, how long were you thinking about it? Oh, I probably thought about it for 10 minutes. Send me the safety pin episode. Yeah. So if you were drunk, or if you're drinking, do you think you wouldn't? Okay, it's something about being clear minded, clear minded, senior. No, I didn't, because I didn't want to look like an old person picking up stuff off the ground and putting it in my pockets. But you wanted what I wanted that safety fence. And I don't even know what I could have done with it. I mean, obviously, you use it for painting, or something like that. But it was such an oddity to me and such, like, you could really, like, connect things together. I was with some people and they noticing that you're looking at maybe no one said anything. But you know, for 10 to 15 minutes, my mind was completely fixated on sh well, some an old man, I guess, kind of signs that I'm getting old as I feel like I've gotten getting increasingly clumsy, right, like, shit. And then I was at with my kid, one of my kids at they have this ice skating party, right? And so like, I'm like, Yeah, I used to skate, rolling around, you know, in these, you know, in the rental shoes are like super stiff, like, Oh, my feet are killing me. But you know, I can do this, you know, do the crossover with my legs, you know, go backwards because I was talking to a friend and I was going, going going and then like, my, the front of my skate totally caught the edge of the ice, you know, because the ice had not been smoothed down. And I totally did it. I mean, it was like, not like a fault. Small fault. Like, my arm went out. And I was sore the next day, but I just like, Man, I am not coordinated anymore. I feel like that's a trait of getting older. I don't know why. I don't know if it's because you lose control of your limbs or something. But I mean, that was like, I blame it on the ice and the ice skates but I just noticed like, there's a pattern right as you get older. I mean, have you noticed that at all? No, because I'm pretty smooth. But no, seriously? I know. I haven't really ever noticed. You know. I've always been kind of clumsy. And now I'm the type of person that falls up the stairs, not down the stairs. Okay. So there's no change. No, no, no change. No change. I mean, I'm becoming more forgetful. Like, there's not a day that goes by like, I don't get in some type of panic about where's my phone? And yeah, and I mean, it's usually Yeah, it's usually close. But you know, I think you have, you know, Apple watches and I'm always using find my Apple Watch and write stuff but um, no other than that. No, I'm pretty, pretty suave. Thanks for joining us for this episode of midlife marauders. Follow us on social media and wherever you stream your podcast. We also want to give a big shout out to Frank moinmoin music for providing the beats for our theme music and to our listeners. Keep on writing and see you next time.