Jennie Bovard: Pretty Blind & Pretty Genuine

The funniest stories aren’t the ones built on clichés—they’re the ordinary slip-ups we all share. Think: hopping into the wrong car, or reaching for the bus pole and accidentally grabbing someone’s hand. That’s exactly the kind of humour Jenny Bovard has built into her work. As lead and associate producer of Pretty Blind—a sharp, scripted Canadian comedy about life with low vision and albinism—Jenny is flipping stereotypes on their head and proving that relatability beats “inspiration arcs” every time.

In this conversation, Jenny shares how her hit podcast Low Vision Moments became the seed for Pretty Blind, the magic of writing alongside Jonathan Torrens and Mark Forward, and the behind-the-scenes details of building an accessible set—from tactile floor markers to softer lighting strategies. We dive into the show’s all-out goalball episode (rivalries, ridiculousness, and Paralympic-level laughs), as well as the tech that actually helps in daily life, from iPhone OCR to the promise of smart glasses.

Jenny also opens up about mentoring blind and low-vision youth, the identity shifts of growing up with albinism, and whether she’d restore her vision if given the chance. The throughline? Cast disabled actors as people, design access into the process, and let comedy do what it does best—make us care because we recognize ourselves.

Don’t miss Pretty Blind—stream it now on AMI’s on-demand platform (amiiplus.ca) 

Share this episode with a friend, leave us a review, and tell us your favourite “low vision moment.” Your support helps more listeners find these stories.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome & Blind Cheers
• 1:03 Introducing Pretty Blind
• 2:28 Responsibility, Representation, Albinism
• 4:09 Low Vision Moments Podcast Origins
• 5:41 D&D Doc, Flow Video, AMI Pitch
• 8:03 Dating, Vulnerability & Everyday Mishaps
• 9:54 Turning Stories Into a Scripted Comedy
• 11:14 Bringing Audiences Along With Comedy
• 12:49 Writers’ Room & Relatable Workplace Moments
• 14:00 Accessible Production: Lights, Marks, Movement
• 16:30 Tactile Marks, Goalball Crossover
• 17:59 Reception, Renewal & Streaming Access
• 21:08 Canadian Content & Platforms Debate
• 23:08 Rejecting Inspiration Tropes
• 25:23 Goalball Episode, Rivalries & Sport 101
• 27:22 Goalball History, Growth & Spectacle
• 30:28 Covering Tournaments & Game Etiquette
• 31:49 Jenny’s Day Job: Mentoring Youth
• 34:23 Resilience, Identity & Fitting In
• 35:53 Tech That Empowers: iPhone to Glasses
• 38:21 Accessibility By Design & Medical Advances
• 40:24 Philosophical: Would You Restore Vision?
• 42:43 Evolving Identity & Change
• 44:03 Rapid-Fire: Comforts, Comedy, Mishaps
• 48:18 One Change for Media: Cast Us As People
• 50:13 Last Call: Be Yourself, Self-Advocate
• 52:03 Closing Thanks & Where to Watch

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:15

And welcome to the afternoon pint. I'm Mike Dobin. I am Matt Conrad. And who do we have with us today? I'm Jenny Bovard. Jenny, welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_05: 0:22

Thank you so much for having me. We almost I I forgot to warn you about the blind cheers, but we think we did okay.

SPEAKER_02: 0:27

I think that was actually pretty solid, actually.

SPEAKER_01: 0:30

We nailed that.

SPEAKER_02: 0:31

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05: 0:31

Did I clang you both?

SPEAKER_01: 0:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05: 0:33

I think so.

SPEAKER_01: 0:34

Well, I mean, we'll play back the tape later. I don't really know.

SPEAKER_02: 0:37

I got a double. I got a double clang for sure.

SPEAKER_01: 0:39

Okay, cool, cool. Yeah. Well, thanks for coming by. And um, I mean, uh, go back just a few episodes, Jonathan Torrance. We were talking about all the projects he was working on. One of them was this super interesting show called The Pretty Blind. And uh it was with AMI. Um, and you were the star of that show. Star, yeah.

SPEAKER_05: 1:01

I'm still not comfortable with that word, but I'll allow it. Cool. All right.

SPEAKER_01: 1:06

So I guess I want to kind of jump right into that first. Like, tell us about this show and about how Jenny's life created Pretty Blind.

SPEAKER_05: 1:15

Pretty Blind is a scripted comedy TV series. And as far as we know, as far as the team knows, it's the first time that an actor who is blind and an actor who has albinism, even calling myself an actor, is strange. But uh, it's the first time that such a person has been uh a lead character in such a show, in Canada at least.

SPEAKER_03: 1:39

Wow.

SPEAKER_05: 1:39

And the really cool thing for me is it's it's weird to say that I felt a huge sense of responsibility in in my role in Pretty Blind as the lead actor and also as an associate producer. And as you said, the show is loosely based on some of my lived experiences as a person who's blind uh and living with albinism. But I have felt a huge sense of responsibility because this is really the first time that a person with albinism and albinistic qualities, my physical appearance and someone who is is living with low vision, we're not typically portrayed as like a human being. We're typically villains or some kind of fantastical creature. So that was really cool for me. And then the whole representation piece is really amazing. But to try and make a really long story short, I had this podcast for about four years. It was called Low Vision Moments. I had way too much freaking fun. Wow, four years.

SPEAKER_02: 2:36

That's awesome. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_05: 2:37

Thank you. I think it's a good run for a podcast. How many episodes is that? That's a good question. Uh, approximately one per month. We'll we'll put that out there. Great. Yeah, so that was an incredible opportunity. And and so through that, I got to talk with some really amazing, influential, and and really just interesting people in the blind community. And I already sort of had my my uh fingers in different places in the blind community and sports and and some broadcasting and that kind of thing. And so I had some community to to draw on and say, hey, come and be on my podcast. But then I got to talk to a lot of people who I just always wanted to speak to, sort of maybe at that celebrity level, uh, stand-up comedians who I admire. And so I collected all these stories with this Low Vision Moments podcast, and I think that was really the catalyst for Pretty Blind. Also through AMI, I got to work with a couple of guys at Flow Video, Mike and Brad. And they came to me one day and said, Hey Jenny, we really enjoyed working with you on this Dungeons and Dragons documentary. We want to do something with more with you in your podcast. And I was just like, hell yeah, okay. Like I have a hard time saying no to things.

SPEAKER_01: 3:51

Can you follow us for a second on the Dungeons and Dragons documentary? Okay, okay, guys.

SPEAKER_05: 3:57

I'm not, I don't love my performance in this, in this documentary. I'm a participant in this really cool doc called uh Dark Vision, and it's really centered around um a group of us who are blind and low vision playing Dungeons and Dragons and learning how to make it accessible uh with different levels of vision.

SPEAKER_03: 4:17

Okay, cool.

SPEAKER_05: 4:18

And, you know, I may or may not have tried on some really bad accent, uh, but it was a lot of fun. And so these two guys came to me and said, hey, we want to work with you some more. And and, you know, I don't know, we mulled over a bunch of different little ideas that we could do with the stories from the podcast because they're they're they're so funny. Like they're I would be getting messages from people who say, I'm walking down the street listening to your podcast, or I'm in a public place and I'm just losing it laughing and it's embarrassing. And I'm like, Yes, that's exactly what I wanted. And then I would get messages from parents of kids who are blind and they're like, I'm listening to your podcast and it's making so much sense. And I'm little Timmy's listening to it with me. And I'm like, ooh, you better be careful what episodes you listen to. Uh, because we certainly waded into territory that a lot of, I don't know, things that we don't necessarily talk about in the open in the blind community, like, you know, how your white king can maybe make you feel like a vulnerability, it can make you feel more vulnerable. And and you know, like how do you how do you meet up with a date if you're blind? Like, how do you go find them at the restaurant? How do you disclose that? And what crazy shit do you get into like? That's an interesting concept.

SPEAKER_02: 5:33

That's a thing I never really thought about. Yeah, like do we talk about blind dates, but like literally, like literally blind date, right? Literally, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 5:41

Like we we were great to bump up bump right into you literally right in front of the garrison brewery here today. Yeah, so that made it like super easy for us to find each other.

SPEAKER_05: 5:48

Yeah, turned the corner, was like, hey, I was like, hey, couple, a couple of friendly guys, or are these the guys that I'm supposed to be meeting? My my plan was actually, and this is like blind logistics. I was planning to get here early, post up in here so y'all could come and find me.

SPEAKER_03: 6:03

Right.

SPEAKER_05: 6:03

I didn't have to go looking for you. Um, but I mean, so this this podcast, we collected all these incredible stories, and they're the things that just happen when you're trying to go about your day. You know, they they're embarrassing, they're frustrating. Speaking of like just a night out, I was out out on for a birthday dinner with a couple of my girlfriends, and we had a couple of drinks, of course, and one of their partners was coming to pick us up. And I'm the one with the most sight. So I'm like, oh, that looks like so-and-so's car. That's definitely your man's car. Let's all pile in the back seat because I'm the one with like the most vision. I really only have between five and ten percent vision compared to what you all see with perfect eyesight. So just to give it a bit of context, but I ushered us all into the car, come to find out it was the wrong car. We're all in the backseat, but everyone had a great laugh. And and and again, it's like you're embarrassed in the moment, but you have to have a laugh about it afterward because like that person driving that car, they now have a fantastic story to go and tell people for years to come.

SPEAKER_02: 7:06

Yes, you actually probably made that person's night slash like maybe week or month, because that story coming from some my father is you know, he has wears glasses, but he's not visually impaired, and he's gotten into a few vehicles that he thought people were picking him up and things, and these stories are still told years later. So you probably actually really made someone's day and has you know made several people's day.

SPEAKER_01: 7:30

I've gotten the wrong vehicle just not paying attention.

SPEAKER_02: 7:32

That does not surprise me.

SPEAKER_05: 7:33

I say this often about low vision moments and blind moments, like they can happen to all of us, of course, yeah. We're just this is more likely to happen to us. So getting back to how Pretty Blind came about, I don't know how all the magic happened behind the scenes, but Brad and Mike and I, we you know, we came up with a a concept script and and we brought it uh to AMI, the broadcaster, and we said we, you know, we really like to do this thing, and it was still still fictionalized, but I'm the main character, and there happens to be another character whose name is Eve, and my husband is also named Eve, but they're not together yet. And so there's a you know, there's an air of romance in there too. Will they, won't they? And so AMI loved the idea, and they were kind of like, why haven't we thought of this? And they were able to connect us with uh Jonathan Torrens and the dream team that I ended up getting to work with. I I still ask myself, what business do I have working with these professionals? But um they, you know, they they made those connections, and AMI, luckily at the time, was uh really looking to shift to get into scripted stuff. They had really never done that before. And so this is really new for the broadcaster, too. It's all new for all of us. And and Jonathan went and listened to the podcast, and he told me he found it funny, and I got to meet him, and it was all just very say yes to everything, Jenny, because this is uh unbelievable what's happening. And and then it all came out of that. Oh my god, that was a long answer. That was a great answer.

SPEAKER_01: 9:08

That's that's perfect podcast answer. 100%. Like, so like I mean, what what I I feel I like about this show is I kind of go back to what you said. You just said it for a moment, but you know about vinyl low vision folks. I mean, talk about uh a one-dimensional character if they ever do get showed on television, right? So, what's really cool about this show, in my opinion, is that you get to kind of show the complexities of everyday life. And all the things you're describing to me, it comes to mind is like Seinfeld almost, sort of like a classic contemporary uh kind of style sitcom where you're just living your life, right? And that's what you were aiming for, right? Like you wanted to have a show where you're just living your life.

SPEAKER_05: 9:45

That's exactly it. And and it's and it's bringing people along who maybe don't have that personal connection to disability or blindness or low vision or albinism. There's a little bit of everything in there because we were really lucky to have representation from other people living with blindness, which was really cool. In one episode, we have six actors who are blind, and I don't think that's ever happened in one space. May maybe, maybe I'm wrong there, but it feels like that's pretty monumental. Um, and and so yeah, we're we're bringing people along for that experience, you know, and and it's not to make people who don't get it feel bad about not getting it, but with the magic ingredient of comedy in there, I think that's what kind of removes the shame of like not knowing and just like have a laugh with us about this.

SPEAKER_03: 10:39

Right.

SPEAKER_05: 10:40

We're all ignorant about something. I don't know everything about everyone else's experience. And if you can learn a little something by witnessing, there's one scene where I'm having a really awkward interaction with a man at a bus stop, and he's asking some really intimate questions that you would you and I, I would imagine that the three of us would not even fathom asking such questions of a of a complete stranger at a bus stop. So I those things really happen. And peop people behave strangely toward blind people, and it and it challenges us on the daily.

SPEAKER_02: 11:17

I think that's the but that's the good thing about having a comedy, is it's you we can all laugh together. And uh I think you know, people can become uncomfortable because they're not a hundred percent sure what they should do. And they they so the intention is good. It's like, hey, I don't want to offend you and do something that would be offensive, so now I just like you you almost kind of like recoil back or like you're just kind of like what do I do here? Right? And it becomes an awkward situation, which I know not from a person with like any type of sight issues would be, but I I know from talking with other people that you know if you if you pick up an accent and you don't understand that and you're like I'm sorry, what did you say? You didn't do anything wrong, you're not you're you're not um you're not being mean, you're actually trying to make sure you heard what they said properly, but but that reminds them that also I didn't say that right. I'm different than you, and things like that. Like that's something that can also happen.

SPEAKER_05: 12:15

It it we're all human, yeah. Right? We're we're all human beings, and I think that's one of the things I I'm trying to drive we're trying to drive home with the exceptional writing that I had so much help with in telling these stories. Mark Forward and again Jonathan Torrens, and and we had another uh comedian, Dan Baraberger, who also lives with with um partial sight. He he was in the writer's room too. So we had all these people building this world, and you know, the thing is, is is it's everyday life and it's relatable stuff. We've we all have a boss that we've been like, okay, that boss means well, but like they really shouldn't have said that in that way. Um like a Michael Scott kind of moment, like a Michael Scott, you got it exactly. It's definitely that kind of feeling. Um but yeah, it's just it's we are just everyday people going about our lives, and these embarrassing things happen, and the world around us doesn't necessarily get it.

SPEAKER_01: 13:15

Yeah, yeah. But it's good to laugh about it. Yeah, absolutely. So, like I have to ask, now a low vision person working with other low vision people, my gosh, I've directed plays and theater plays. Now, I've never directed a bunch of folks with low vision. I imagine that would be a whole new challenge in terms of framing and setting a scene and having people looking and being in it, blocking stuff like that. How did you guys address those challenges?

SPEAKER_05: 13:40

The exercise of of of okay, let me start again. Sure. So pretty blind in this this employment experience for me, I have never felt more seen, heard, understood in my life. And I never thought I'd say that about the TV industry. I have a diploma in film and TV production. I went to college wanting to be behind the camera, wanting to be behind the scenes. And all of a sudden, I'm in front of the camera. Um, when I tried out, when I tried getting into that industry way back when, I learned very quickly it, I didn't know what my needs were. And I don't think people would have heard and understood my needs at those time at that time. And this this team that has been carved out for pretty blind is still a very special and unique thing because we had to make a lot of we had to address a lot of really real barriers, okay. All the way so it it started from pre-pre-production. I had to explain from the get-go, you know, things like light sensitivity. If you imagine a TV set, there are bright lights.

SPEAKER_01: 14:55

Very bright lights, yeah.

SPEAKER_05: 14:56

So we took all of my needs and my access needs and the other needs of the other actors who are blind and have different needs. The production team took them and like they relished in the challenge. Like they were so our director of photography, Tim Montbourquette, he really uh problem solved so well with the lighting. And what he did is he found uh cameras that didn't require as much light.

SPEAKER_01: 15:26

Okay, okay, all right, right, used a high exposure kind of to get more light in with uh that that makes a lot of sense.

SPEAKER_03: 15:33

The phone looks great, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 15:35

I've seen trailers, clips, it looks very uh, you know, very modern, modernist picture, professionally done.

SPEAKER_05: 15:42

Yeah, and and and again, just talking about being on set and light sensitivity, even getting my makeup done. Oh yeah. Um, you know, the the artists were were the makeup artists, hair hairstylists, they were like, Yeah, we we can do it in a darker space. It's fine. Like typically we'd have big bright lights on you, but we we can work with this. Uh crew would be blocking out all the windows on set, so there were there was no like inconvenient lights coming in. Uh the set environment itself, uh, there were always clear paths of travel. So that is something that maybe would help everyday sets in increasing access, right? Um, and you know, Jonathan has some experience working with an actor who's a wheelchair user on other projects. And so I think he's already um had some experience thinking outside the box to use the cliche, right? Um if there's a need, if there's a barrier, there's a way to address it. And they really um, you know, they really they they really took up the challenge. Like the whole crew really understood the assignment. And I credit that mainly to Jonathan. He's not only an amazing writer, director, actor, he's so incredibly talented, um, but he's a really good leader and a mentor as well uh on set and getting everyone to sort of buy in and understand what the assignment is. And so we always had clear paths of travel with myself and with the other actors. Um, we would have time anytime there was a set change, you know, like every ever within a scene, things are being moved around constantly. And when you're blind, you tend to need to come in and orient yourself to the space, especially if you're gonna be moving around that space and trying to look natural like an actor or something. Um, and so um, you know, we were allowed uh time every every time the lights and the cameras moved and shifted, every time we changed locations, we were given time ahead of time to come in and and get familiar with the space. And we use tactile markers on the floor instead of like a visual mark.

SPEAKER_01: 17:44

Okay, I was yeah, on the mark, hit your mark. That was like the number one thing in my mind when I asked that question.

SPEAKER_05: 17:49

Yeah, and there's there's there are other ways of doing that too, right? Like you we we put like a little tactile rope underneath the the markers on set, and that's something that I took from a sport goalball that I play, where we use tactile indicators on the floor to me on the cord.

SPEAKER_02: 18:03

So gold ball, I was gonna ask about this.

SPEAKER_05: 18:05

Oh, that's a whole other conversation.

SPEAKER_02: 18:08

There's someone we work with that her uh their daughter, I think, plays goal ball. Oh, I probably know them. Yeah, so it's a it's a it's a whole thing. It's it's a pr I've seen videos. Goldball is a sport, man. It's a serious sport. Yeah, and it's fun to watch. We have some good teams here in Nova Scotia. I know that they've gone to like nationals and stuff like that too.

SPEAKER_05: 18:25

I mean international. So just recently, the Canadian men's team represented, obviously represented Canada at Worlds in Brazil. Half of that team is from Nova Scotia. Wow, three of the six players were from Nova Scotia.

SPEAKER_01: 18:39

Why do you think it's making such great athletes from Nova Scotia in this sport?

SPEAKER_05: 18:42

I I honestly I think it's the dedication of a handful of individuals. Our organization is a hundred percent volunteer run. Our coaches are volunteers, and the participation and the dedication doesn't compare to anywhere else across the country. I said it.

SPEAKER_01: 19:39

There you go. No, that's shots fired. Oh god, I'd like to come back to Goldball, but just just to back on the show, I I just really wanted to know about like critical reception. Like, you know, how has this show been received? Or have you got how have you got feedback? People have been positive or negative, like what's the general feedback you've received so far?

SPEAKER_05: 19:57

I am pleased to say I've not had any negative feedback, which is really, really nice. It's been the most rewarding responses I've received have been from people in my community, particularly the people in the uh my albino mafia family. Albinomafia. Okay. Okay. Albino Mafia is a family of the overarching blind mafia organization. Another another discussion for another day.

SPEAKER_01: 20:26

I want to stay here for a minute. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So so you have uh a group of friends uh uh that that all have uh uh uh low vision and and are albino, or is that anyone with albinism is in the albino mafia, whether whether they know it or not.

SPEAKER_05: 20:40

Okay, uh it's it's just I call it the albino mafia because it's a very exclusive club. We're like one in 20,000 in North America. Yeah, it's quite it's quite rare albinism, and uh and and so getting responses from people who are like, oh my god, I've been there. This is so funny. I've experienced this in the grocery store, and they're just like like laughing and relating. And that's that's why I made the podcast, and that's what I love about Pretty Blind is it's like it's so relatable for us, and there's nothing out there like that for us where we're like, haha, that boss, like that boss is clueless. What do they mean? Put the computer back to normal. Don't they know what zoom text is? But it's it's just like it's it's our thing, and again, Cosa Nostra, our thing. Uh, I don't I don't know if you can keep that in. But that's fine. That's fine. Um but it's it's a it's a very like it's so relatable, and and that's the feedback that I've really enjoyed. But you know, we've already been renewed for a season two.

SPEAKER_01: 21:43

Amazing.

SPEAKER_05: 21:44

So if that says anything, that I'm super proud to say that.

SPEAKER_01: 21:48

I'd love to see something like this on Netflix or something, though, right? I mean it's it's cool that it's on AMI in and but I really think that it has the type of potential where I think everybody should be able to find the show easily. Like AMI, can you can you just stream that channel individually? Is it free?

SPEAKER_05: 22:02

Yeah, right on. So what's really great about AMI is it it is a cable TV channel. Full disclosure, guys. I don't have cable anymore.

SPEAKER_00: 22:10

No, no, just no, no, not many people. What? What? This show's over.

SPEAKER_05: 22:16

All the best, all the best stuff on AMI. You can stream it on demand at amiiplus.ca. Oh, don't don't fool with the app. Don't fool around with the app.

SPEAKER_01: 22:25

It's not good good to just stream on the uh on the laptop or phone or whatever. Yeah, cool.

SPEAKER_02: 22:30

But it's true to see it. I mean, I think I personally think, and I'm sure everyone around this table does, that we need to see more Canadian content on like Netflix and things like that, right? Um it's becoming a big theme of this year. It's becoming a big theme. I I honestly I don't know how Disney to take shots, I guess, from Disney Plus. I don't know how Disney Plus gets away with it. I think it's just they the anything that Ryan Reynolds is in.

SPEAKER_01: 22:51

They were told that they had to do it, and then most of the streaming services said no. Yeah. That that was the end of it. Netflix is the only one that actually seems like they're trying. Netflix was doing a lot early on, and Netflix was also getting bullied the hardest by the CRTC in the beginning, right? Like, and and then, you know, eventually they're just big enough that uh they're like, what are you gonna do? Take it away, or what are you mad at you, Canada? They can't do that. They pretty much do that, I think.

SPEAKER_02: 23:15

But I do feel like Netflix tries at least. They do have like a Canadian spot, and like some things have come and gone on there. Like, but I mean I've I've like I mean Crave does a pretty good job.

SPEAKER_01: 23:25

Crave does do a good job. But I think they get money too. Like, I think they get like CRCTC dollars, and then also to be a cable provider, you've got to spend so much of your keep back on Canadian content. So they have a relationship where even though they're a streaming service, because they're also like Super Bell, yeah, right, they have to but they do have to give some of that money back. Even Eastling has to like put so much money, like they're like a private, smaller company, and they have to put so much money into their community TV because of the regulations with CRTC and stuff. So it's it's challenging when it gets outside of that, when it gets outside of cable and streaming, it I think it's I think it's really really tough for them to get Canadian content on.

SPEAKER_02: 24:07

I I but the thing is like listening to your show, and it sounds like uh because I now I'm I very much actually want to go back and like watch this thing. Um it sounds like they've done a really great job at not like kind of making it like the token thing, and they they've done it well where everyone can't.

SPEAKER_05: 24:28

Yeah, and I'm not inspirational. Yeah, I'm not here to inspire anybody, yeah. I'm not particularly motivational, I'm I'm not exceptional, and I think that that's part of the trope that we've been fed over, I don't know, forever. That and and as a blind person, even growing up as a blind person, that's kind of what I experienced is like you're either like some super talented musician, or you're super academic, or you're like gonna climb Everest. And it's just like, yo, I just want to go to work and like maybe find a man and like have a beer and go for a bike ride. You know, I just want to enjoy myself, like, sure, I have goals. Um, but you know, I'm not the the show is not meant to be inspirational or motivational, and I think I actually say that we took some verbiage from my existing podcasts uh because in the show I'm a bit of an aspiring podcaster. You guys might really like it, it might be a little bit more.

SPEAKER_02: 25:31

This is like I I'm definitely gonna go and check it out. I try to support uh a lot of Canadian content, and I honestly I feel that Canada puts out some I don't know, I I don't know how to kind of like really but they they've nailed certain things that are a little bit different, better than some shows that I feel that like the United States does, right? Like they've had Little Mosque on the Prairie, they've had Kim Kim's Convenience and things like that, like where you can cover off people who are in like minority type situations and do it where you're just showing their life and it's not a novelty.

SPEAKER_05: 26:10

I couldn't agree more. I think if we keep making it, the the attention and the streaming services hopefully will come. Maybe if I get the blind mafia to start writing some letters.

SPEAKER_03: 26:23

There you go.

SPEAKER_05: 26:24

But I think that I think the key is to keep making the stuff and keep doing whatever we can do to expose people to it. Yeah. You know, I think of man, there's so much good Canadian content out there. I just re- I just re-watched uh Ponty Pool. It's a Bruce McDonald movie. Oh, okay. Okay. It's like uh it's like a zombie movie, but not a zombie movie. It's so uniquely Canadian. I'm not gonna give it away. If I tell you more about it, it'll just be a big thing. Ponty pool. How do you spell Ponty? P-O-N-T-Y. Okay. P-O-O-L. Cool. And then I just watched Foobar again on the book. Yeah, Foobar is great.

SPEAKER_01: 27:02

They got a Foobar 2 coming out now.

SPEAKER_05: 27:04

Foobar 2. Just around the corner. Yeah. It's endless.

SPEAKER_01: 27:08

Yeah. Awesome. So do you think you can make us a uh gold ball movie next? Is that going to be in the works? I mean, it needs to happen.

SPEAKER_05: 27:15

We can compromise. There's a gold ball episode. There's a whole gold ball episode. Oh, really? Oh, yeah. And I've got and I there's a rival team.

SPEAKER_01: 27:23

That's exactly what I want to see. I think that would be funny.

SPEAKER_05: 27:26

Ridiculous. It's a ridiculous episode. But it does a good job at again, sort of introducing the sport of gold ball in a not boring way, in an accessible way, in a funny way, too.

SPEAKER_02: 27:37

It's like dodgeball, but yeah.

SPEAKER_05: 27:38

It's like the opposite of dodgeball. We are literally throwing ourselves in front of the ball to keep it from going into our next one.

SPEAKER_02: 27:45

I meant the episode and the movie dodgeball kind of thing where they focus on the rivalry and stuff. Did you ever see the movie dodgeball? Yeah, I saw the movie dodge ball. Dodge a wrench, you can dodgeball. That's the best part of the whole movie. Now in Goldball, they're throwing wrenches at each other. Just to build up the endurance.

SPEAKER_03: 28:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 28:02

That'd be awesome. Yeah. Cool. Starting scene. Yeah, you ready for additions for the team.

SPEAKER_02: 28:09

People just standing there flexing and throwing wrenches at them.

SPEAKER_05: 28:14

You gotta make the wrench audible though.

SPEAKER_02: 28:16

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05: 28:16

You gotta put like a beeper or some shit on it to give the blind people a chance.

SPEAKER_01: 28:21

Oh, that's true. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05: 28:22

We're all blindfolded out there.

SPEAKER_01: 28:24

Amazing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 28:26

It's pretty cool. So yeah, I mean, like it's it's it's cool that they um I mean, I don't know where goldball came from or where it was invented or anything like that, but it's I can tell you. Oh, please. So it was a history.

SPEAKER_05: 28:39

Goldball was invented post-World War II in an effort to help rehabilitate veterans who had been blinded or had lost some of their vision. Yeah, and and it has since grown exponentially since then. Wow. In the 70s, it became a Paralympic sport, and uh now it's it's growing just again exponentially internationally and in Canada. In Canada, we're actually just having our um first dedicated goal ball court built in in Ontario, so that's coming. So the national team will have somewhere to compete. But uh yeah, so it it we you they used to play on a on a on car a carpeted surface as painful as that's oh cool. So it has evolved a lot, and even since I've been playing, the rules have evolved a bit to make it a more uh to make it a faster, uh, more competitive sport.

SPEAKER_02: 29:31

Do you know whereabouts like it was where it was created? That's a good question.

SPEAKER_05: 29:34

I th I think it's American.

SPEAKER_02: 29:36

Yeah, American yeah. I think so.

SPEAKER_01: 29:37

Yeah, that's cool though. Like it's great. His name, Goldball. Yeah, it's just so straightforward. I just found out about it's like three years ago. I like I like it. It's just to the point. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02: 29:48

Just figured out like I just heard about it three years ago. I had no idea it was a thing, and then uh yeah, someone I work with mentioned it and uh said that they're you know they and they do a lot of work within that community, uh like the gold ball community. Um and uh yeah, so they we we were getting updates on all the things. So I feel like I'm up to date on it. I just I gotta go and actually watch a game, I think.

SPEAKER_05: 30:10

There they're we're seeing a lot more international coverage, which is which is really nice too, to have like live commentary and play by play, and uh the world's competition that was all streamed online, but even during the Paralympics, there's a little bit of coverage on the CBC, which is incredible.

SPEAKER_01: 30:27

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_05: 30:28

I don't know. I I I don't know why more people aren't watching Goldball who are not blind. It's extremely entertaining. When you think about it, it's six blind people throwing a ball as hard as they can at one another, and they're throwing, they're diving at all costs, throwing themselves in front of this ball.

SPEAKER_02: 30:47

Sounds awesome to me. Honestly, it sounds like when when someone explains it like that, it almost sounds like this is mean and cruel to people, but it's brutal.

SPEAKER_05: 30:56

The guy is. Throw the ball like 65 kilometers an hour at another human being.

SPEAKER_02: 31:02

Yeah. That's legit. I've seen some videos. Like I've watched some videos, but I haven't actually watched them watching full game, but I've watched some videos. I watch clubs of stuff. Yeah. Yeah. It's it uh yeah, it it it definitely seems like it would be a highlight blooper reel, that's for sure. No.

SPEAKER_05: 31:17

We host a uh tournament here in October. So I'll send you guys the details.

SPEAKER_01: 31:21

Maybe AP should go to the tournament, dude. Are we gonna be uh because we cut we cover events now? We're we're big media Mongols. We just did the Moguls?

SPEAKER_04: 31:34

You gotta edit that out. No, we'll keep what's it you can't say that.

SPEAKER_01: 31:38

Oh, okay. We're big media moguls. Yeah, moguls. That's awesome. I said the wrong word, I'm sorry. I think I should leave it in just just just uh for educational purposes. For educational purposes, yeah. Um completely off track in here now. Okay, um, but uh where was I completely off track? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 31:59

So we're gonna because we're huge moguls in media now, we're gonna go cover an event. We're gonna go watch this goal ball uh uh tournament. Gold ball, yeah. You'd be welcome to media moguls, yes, Atlanta Canadian. Yes, exactly.

SPEAKER_05: 32:14

But you have to be quiet while the ball is in play.

SPEAKER_02: 32:16

Yeah, yeah, you can't talk during the yeah, because they get to hear the ball move. Right. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 32:21

Oh, so okay, yeah, we'll we'll figure this out.

SPEAKER_02: 32:24

Yeah, there's no uh music during or all that stuff, and like whatever, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 32:27

So this could be really cool. Uh listen, you anyone who watches golf, what what date is it? What's uh in October, do you know? I don't know off the top of my head. No, that's okay. We'll figure it out.

SPEAKER_05: 32:36

I'm not a good board member.

SPEAKER_01: 32:37

No, that's all right. Um, I just want to ask a little bit about your career now. Like, so what um you know, what do you do when you're nine to five? You had a pretty interesting job.

SPEAKER_05: 32:47

By day, people trust me to be a mentor for children and youth who are blind and have low vision. And so I work I work with school-aged kids and sometimes uh kids younger than that and their families, and and and it's an organization that I was served by when I was school-aged, and and they equipped me with things like uh, you know, like learning how to get around independently and safely, and learning magnification and and how to do all those really practical things and how to be successful in school and learning all the right technologies uh and access technology and that kind of thing. And so I don't really do those things. I get to do the more, I get to do everything else. I get to do all the fun stuff. So, you know, how do you find fun and recreation and what you're interested in when, you know, mm maybe uh the typical things at school aren't built for you, aren't accessible for you. You know, um, how can we make phys ed class? Do what do they call it now? Do they do they call it phys ed?

SPEAKER_04: 33:52

I call I still call it gym.

SPEAKER_00: 33:54

I don't know what they call it now.

SPEAKER_01: 33:55

Let's just call it. I know the kid goes to it, I just don't forget what she calls it. She she does not like going to it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05: 34:01

Most of us didn't.

SPEAKER_01: 34:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05: 34:02

Uh for different reasons. But and so I get to I get to do all the fun stuff and and and and sometimes the more difficult conversations like dealing with um your blind identity, I guess I I would call it. So, you know, typically at 16 you're looking at getting your driver's license. So guess what? They don't let us drive. And that is a big uh that's a big deal, right? Um, and so I get to do uh that kind of stuff and and support families and and learners and help them enjoy life and and make the most of it. So that's really rewarding. Um and and then I'm really hoping to get back into the podcasting thing though, because this is just like a little fix and I really like it.

SPEAKER_01: 34:42

Oh, I love it. Yeah, but like I mean that's that's so cool. You provide like mentorship. You you really show people like you're someone who kind of made it in a sense, and kind of, you know, really um, you know, you can live a life and you have a you can have a future because when you're a teenager growing up, I'm sure there's probably days where you just feel pretty hopeless as you see your friends succeed at things and go through life. It'd be pretty tough.

SPEAKER_05: 35:04

It's it's a lot of work living with a disability, right? Like it's not like it can't be done. It's not like you can't have a a a good successful life. It's just let's face it, it's a it's more work. There, there's there are more hours and planning and and devices and technologies to learn. Um, and and then once you embrace those things, it gets a lot smoother. But when you are at school aged, you just want to blend in and fit in with everyone. So whipping out your white cane at recess or you know, asking a friend to help you find the other group of friends because you don't know where they went on the school playground, like these are real things that these kids have to deal with. And so to build up the resilience and the confidence to do that, um, you know, talking with people like me, but also spending time with peers to really normalize things, that's huge, right? Finding people who get it and who you can have those conversations with, um, that's that's really huge.

SPEAKER_01: 36:07

Are you are you hopeful for like any of the technologies that are becoming available to help with vision? Like, because I mean it seems like there's been some major advancements in this in the last few years. It's hard to know what's real and what's not. Because if you see it on Instagram one day, they're like, you can cure blindness with a pill. And but then like an you know what I mean? So you really don't know what what's what anymore. But when you look at the the scientific journals and stuff, it seems like they're making a ton of advancements in this field.

SPEAKER_05: 36:32

It is, it is mind-blowing. It is a totally different world than when I was in school. I, you know, used to carry around a handheld analog magnifier, like a magnifying glass. And I used to have to print off MapQuest maps and memorize them. Y'all remember Map? Are you guys old enough for MapQuest? Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 36:50

I think we're already at the same age, but MapQuest, yeah.

SPEAKER_05: 36:54

Uh and and so I used to it, I used to have to uh uh, you know, have all these different devices, and then when I would use a computer, I would need additional softwares and all these extra things. And and now my iPhone does all that shit. It's a one-stop shop. It's like a one, it's one thing. It's my magnifier, it's my maps. I can take a photo of a menu and have it read me audibly what's on the menu because of octop optical character. I almost said optic octopus, optical character recognition, which is like not even a new technology. It's just new in our phones. And the big thing now is meta glasses.

SPEAKER_03: 37:36

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_05: 37:36

I'm just waiting for all the glitches for a few versions to come out before I invest in them. But that's a game changer to be able to walk down the street and like for example, just outside of this tap room, I had no idea what that sign said out there. I almost walked into the wrong door. If I had the meta glasses, I could have just looked up at the sign, asked it to read it to me, right? And I would have known I was in the wrong or right place.

SPEAKER_02: 38:02

To be fair, you met up with us and Mike almost. Mike almost took you into the wrong place.

SPEAKER_01: 38:08

So my vision supposedly is okay. Mental parts, there's other things going on up here that he might need to.

SPEAKER_05: 38:16

But think about reading a food menu.

SPEAKER_01: 38:17

100%.

SPEAKER_05: 38:18

When we picked out our beers, I took out my phone and I used my magnifier. Right. If I had the metaglosses, it would have been that much more seamless. It would have just been boop boop right in my ear.

SPEAKER_01: 38:28

And like the new, I mean, this I mean, for folks with hearing loss, the new uh Apple AirPods can can help with hearing loss and they can help with translation. Yeah, that's crazy. Live translation. Yeah, we can now hear other languages and hear it in our ears in English.

SPEAKER_05: 38:43

That's a scary thought for for people who were talking about people in a different language. Oh, that'll be so cool.

SPEAKER_02: 38:49

You have to, yeah, but you know what though? Yeah, yeah. I just thought about it. The way the world is today, I think you always have to be a little worried about that. Like you never know who speaks a language, and I think you should like you. I don't think my wife has learned this where she has said stuff in French and the person she was talking about spoke French and made a comment back, and they were like, oh shite, right? Yeah, meld. Yeah, uh yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_05: 39:17

I think the cool thing about technology is that out of the box, so to speak, this stuff has all these access features. It's not even necessarily designed with disability in mind. It's a lot of these things are designed with convenience and efficiency in mind or fun. And but at the end of the day, it's like, ooh, this is really helpful. Uh, but I think two attitudes are changing, right? Like accessibility and access used to be an afterthought, and we're really seeing a little bit more it being at the forefront of design and decision making. Let's not even talk about the medical advancements.

SPEAKER_01: 39:57

Yeah, well, yeah. So let's get into that.

SPEAKER_05: 39:59

Well, they're not curing what I have anytime soon. Right. But uh, but there there are. Have you guys seen the tooth and eye surgery? No. It's for I don't know exactly which eye conditions it is, but there are certain eye conditions where they can they take one of your teeth and they put it in your eye socket. What? And it helps regenerate your eyeball sensor. No way, and it restores some vision. Yeah, they're just starting to do it in Canada. What?

SPEAKER_01: 40:30

Yeah, tooth and eye?

SPEAKER_05: 40:32

Tooth and eye surgery.

SPEAKER_01: 40:33

I'm looking this up, man. Yeah, I'm not sure. You've been warned.

SPEAKER_05: 40:35

It's a little um be warned. It's a little graphic, I imagine. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 40:39

Well, that doesn't bother me. That's all right. Sounds pretty fascinating.

SPEAKER_02: 40:42

Can I ask you a uh deep philosophical question? Yes. Okay, so given that at this point in your life, and we were talking about medical advancements, and you were saying that you know they're not curing what you're having, but if they could, how much like if you could if you know you could wake up tomorrow and see how much do you think that that would affect who you are as a person? Like because you your whole identity has been shaped as a personality based on your lack of vision. And if that could change tomorrow, like how much do you think that would impact who you are?

SPEAKER_05: 41:15

I would have so much bloody fun. No, oh my god, I'd be driving the fastest cars. Oh yeah. Oh my, I'd be doing all the things. Yeah, I mean I'd quit my job while I have to, because I couldn't be a mentor anymore. Uh because I wouldn't be blind anymore. But I would I I see this question asked of people in the blind community. Would you take it if you could have your vision restored? And to the people who say no, I say they're lying. Okay. No, I I can't be insensitive like that, but I I would take it a thousand percent. And I would I would take the pigment in my skin so that I don't sunburn in two seconds. I'm like literally allergic to the sun.

SPEAKER_02: 41:57

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05: 41:58

Albinism is uh it it uh it's a lot of work, like I said. Yeah, it's a lot of extra work.

SPEAKER_02: 42:05

That's yeah. I mean, I you know, I I tend to not go out into the sun too much. And I mean, I'm you know, I have Irish skin, but it's not quite uh not quite that not quite to that degree kind of thing. But yeah, I mean I can only imagine, yeah, you'd have to lather up quite often.

SPEAKER_05: 42:23

I'd I'd like, oh I would do so many things if I had my vision restored, and that's not to say I don't embrace and appreciate the experiences and the opportunities that this part of my identity has you know clearly afforded me over the years, but I was a hot flipping mess for a long time. It's hard, it's hard in the in the 90s, looking like a mythical creature in a schoolyard to that's how people interpret it. It's it's it was challenging, it was difficult. There was a lot of bullying, a lot of um, it was hard.

SPEAKER_02: 43:01

Yeah, yeah. And that's the thing that you've gained a certain perspective of your personality because of this. And yeah, it just uh I I always wonder like if you change something that's so much about you, can you stay the same person? I don't know.

SPEAKER_01: 43:16

I don't think you're it's a it's a it's a I well when when I hear that I'm I'm never about like I mean I was reading a lot about like um stuff and the way we identify, like to remove the that removing your identity and changing your identity really you know doesn't matter. You can you can always be a different person in a certain sense. I know, I know, yeah. In a certain sense, and and and from different ailments or whatever, better or worse, or even just different perspectives. You can totally change your person. Your person really isn't that much of a thing at the end of the day, right? It's just the construct you've created in your mind, so you could recreate that stuff anytime.

SPEAKER_02: 43:51

We've learned here that Jenny's gonna be like driving a race car on the beach on the convertible, convertible race car on the beach.

SPEAKER_01: 43:57

So as soon as as soon as Zuckerberg gets a good upgrade on those glasses, you know, we got a we got a whole new problem. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 44:05

Watch out from people down in Crescent Beach where you can drive your car. Yeah, there you go.

SPEAKER_05: 44:10

Yeah, absolutely. And I think though, just going back to what you were saying, it our identities kind of evolve. Yes, yeah. We're changing all the time anyway. I'm not the same person I was 10 years ago.

SPEAKER_01: 44:23

It's not great if you're not changing. I think change is such a great thing. And I I think the more you can just be comfortable with that, I think a lot of people times that they might get stuck in opinions and idealisms and things where uh problems don't get solved. We'll just say, in a general, not talking about anybody here, just generally speaking, you know, that's because you're not taking your mind, you're not willing to just take in some new information, right? You just want to listen to what you believe. Yeah, yeah, and that's a really tough thing. But, anyways, on to happier stuff. Let's go to 10 questions. Sure. So we ask 10 stupid questions every show. I don't know how stupid these are, Matt. So some of them are too serious, and you want to make them dumber and funner because you're usually supposed to be dumb and fun or just introspective.

SPEAKER_02: 45:12

Call me the dumb and fun guy.

SPEAKER_01: 45:14

No, no. I'm just saying if you want to take any of these questions and rewrite them. I I put this together uh pretty quickly today. We were we had a pretty busy day. So I yeah, so I mean, uh it just I'm just saying kind of free free fall with the questions. So you can do number one.

SPEAKER_02: 45:28

No, you can because it looks like it's written half.

unknown: 45:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_02: 45:32

It's it stops, so I don't know what it's only half sentence. Very bottom?

SPEAKER_01: 45:36

Yeah, the number one, very it says rapid fire fun round or something. Oh, sorry. Yeah, there's questions and then there's more questions. Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_02: 45:44

All right, I'll take number one.

SPEAKER_05: 45:44

Are you sure you're not blind? No.

SPEAKER_02: 45:47

Oh sorry. That was good. That was a good shot. No, that's a good shot. I I accept that.

SPEAKER_05: 45:51

I can show you some of the access features.

SPEAKER_02: 45:55

I want them just to wake me up. I I am not blind. I have something that is called husband eyes. Oh, there you go. That is when, you know, something's right in front of me and yet I can't see it.

SPEAKER_05: 46:05

My husband's gonna hate that.

SPEAKER_02: 46:07

Yeah, yeah. Well, my wife will be like, question number one. Here we are, ten questions. So, uh, what is your go-to comfort food when nothing else matters?

SPEAKER_05: 46:19

Cookies.

SPEAKER_02: 46:20

Just cookies, straight away.

SPEAKER_05: 46:23

Chocolate chip. Nice, yeah. With a little bit of bend. Oh, it has to look crunchy on the outside, but a little bit of bend. All right.

SPEAKER_01: 46:31

Before the second question, we didn't really touch on it. I you did you do stand-up comedy as well for a moment? No. No? Okay.

SPEAKER_05: 46:37

I was thank you for thinking that I'm capable of such a cookie. I think you actually could.

SPEAKER_01: 46:41

I think you totally could. So uh but from this conversation? No, no, no. I I from from moments in in like, you know, you could use some of this as material, I think, would be probably really fun. Yeah. From writing for pretty blind and everything else. Yeah. So we're gonna just pretend you said yes to your comedian. So no uh question number two over to you. If if you could have dinner with a one comedian, dead or alive, who would it be?

SPEAKER_05: 47:09

I love stand-up comedy. This is really hard. Probably George Carland.

SPEAKER_02: 47:17

Oh brilliant. I love that. That's an easy pick, too. That's a that's a solid good pick. Yeah. Alright, question number three. So, what is one thing you always carry that helps you in low vision situations? My iPhone. iPhone sponsorship.

SPEAKER_05: 47:37

It it is it is my absolute life.

SPEAKER_02: 47:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05: 47:41

I'm absolutely lost without it. Well, I'm not. I just rely on other people a lot more.

SPEAKER_02: 47:46

The B to that question, like, do you find iPhones better than any other phone, or have you used anything else?

SPEAKER_05: 47:52

I have not really tried to use anything else. And uh because Apple has done me uh has treated me so well over the years, like it's so accessible out of the box.

SPEAKER_01: 48:04

That's fair. Okay. Question number four. Four? Yeah. Okay. Um, if uh okay, you like running a lot. You ran a marathon or something, didn't you? Half marathon. Was that recently or something?

SPEAKER_05: 48:17

I do one every year. One every year. Training for one right now.

SPEAKER_01: 48:19

Okay, cool. All right. If you could have only one of the two things, beer or running in your life, which one would you choose? I'd have to choose running. Oh my gosh, over beer? Oh, dude.

SPEAKER_05: 48:29

Wow. I love beer, but running is if I didn't run, I would have to spend a lot more money on therapy, and I can't afford that shit. Races are a lot cheaper.

SPEAKER_02: 48:40

I mean, alcohol helps with that too. But yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_05: 48:43

But that's I have a sensitive tum tum, so we gotta limit it.

SPEAKER_02: 48:49

Fair enough. That's fair enough. Question number five. So are you a morning person or a night owl?

SPEAKER_05: 48:56

God, I hate this question. Why does everyone ask this question? I hate it because I have to I have to admit that I want to be a morning person so bad. Um, but I'm an I'm in I'm more useful at night. Cool? Yeah, my brain's more active. That's when the brain wakes up. Yeah, I hate it.

SPEAKER_01: 49:14

I'm I'm in the morning. I wish I was at night. I'm in Lala Land at nighttime. Yeah. Morning, I'm I'm ready to go. Yeah. Okay. Next question. Six. I'm not keeping track either, don't worry. No, uh my eyes aren't the greenest. What's a silly misunderstanding you remember? Oh my gosh. What's a silly misunderstanding you remember recently because of a low vision incident? Like what's something that happened recently?

SPEAKER_05: 49:46

Okay. Okay. This one's good. So it's kind of a two for. You get a two-for-one. Love it. Okay. I went to gold ball practice. I had a great practice. We went out for a birthday dinner with the with the crew after. It was a gold ball birthday dinner. Then I'm walking through the commons. I'm wearing a hat. The hat goes flying. And when you're blind, it's kind of one of those oh fuck moments. Where the my where did my hat go? Um, and luckily I had my cane out, so everyone knew I was blind. So a man helped me find it really quickly. So that was really nice. That's not the misunderstanding. But it was like one low vision moment after another. I then got onto a bus successfully, get onto the correct bus, but the bus was really, really busy. And um I had shifted in further deeper into the bus as they tell you to do, as it gets crowded. It was really, really crowded. So I'm standing there and they want us to keep moving back because more people are getting on, and I'm like, I can't move anymore. Like, I can't decode my surroundings. It's too visually busy. So I had to not only announce, hey, I'm blind, I can't move anymore. You're gonna have to move around me. But then immediately after that, I reached to like try and shift, right? To try and make more room. I reached for the pole to hold on to the different pole and held onto someone's hand. Nice, full on held a stranger's hand. Um, and so luckily I had just announced that I was blind, so they all understood it, but it was still embarrassing nonetheless.

SPEAKER_02: 51:23

Right on. I think I if I was if I was on the bus and someone did that, I probably would have just reacted in a hilarious way and just like held her held the hand back. It's okay. I got you.

SPEAKER_05: 51:34

I had a laugh. I was like, I'm so I'm so sorry. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 51:39

I think that's pretty harmless.

SPEAKER_05: 51:40

I also put my arm around the wrong man's waist at a concert once. Oh thinking it was my husband. Okay, but he understood, he knows.

SPEAKER_02: 51:47

Yeah, yeah, I wouldn't hope so.

SPEAKER_05: 51:49

The man didn't really react.

SPEAKER_02: 51:52

Listen, maybe he was maybe he was interested, right? Pleasantly surprised, maybe. Yeah, exactly. Or stoned. Or stoned. One of the two. One of the two. Just not have known what's happening. So, question number seven. So, which fictional character do you think would get pretty blinded? So uh, yeah, I don't know. You wrote that, I don't know what you were thinking about that one, but which fictional character? Where were you where was your head on that one? Mr. Magoo? Oh, well, I mean, there you go. There maybe, yeah.

SPEAKER_05: 52:21

He's like the worst blind representation. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01: 52:25

I don't I haven't even thought about Mr. Magoo until this moment in a long time, man. Yeah, that was a pretty, pretty rough representation of being blind. Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_05: 52:34

It's satire though.

SPEAKER_01: 52:36

Yeah, it was a great character, right? It's ridiculous.

SPEAKER_04: 52:38

Let's hope no one thinks that that's real.

SPEAKER_01: 52:40

Yeah, I don't think they do. Thirst and uh Howell the third is the guy that does the voice. They made that a live action movie at one point. Yeah, I think they did that. I'm pretty sure they did. I'm pretty sure you're and I think it was uh Naked Gun guy, yeah, Leslie Nielsen that played him. Was it Leslie Nielsen that did it?

SPEAKER_02: 52:53

Yeah, I'm gonna have to make that up. Yeah, yeah, but they made it. I know the guy, Thurston Howell, like on Gilligan's Islands guys did the voice. Oh, okay. On the cartoon. Gee.

SPEAKER_01: 53:02

Wow. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 53:02

All right. Well, I'll accept that as an answer because I don't know what you're thinking on that question. So go number eight there.

SPEAKER_01: 53:07

I think I I know what I was asking, but we're just gonna let it go. I'm just at pace with the question. All right, I like it. Cool. Next question. It's a number eight for you. Oh, okay. What's one of your favorite shows or movies in recent memory? Something you really enjoyed.

SPEAKER_05: 53:22

Can it be something I'm enjoying right now? Yes, absolutely. The new alien reboot. New alien Alien Earth. I have to say, oh boy, I am into it.

SPEAKER_01: 53:30

I'm about four or five episodes in.

SPEAKER_05: 53:32

I'm all up to date.

SPEAKER_01: 53:33

Oh, yeah? It's wonderful. It's crazy. I'm loving it. It's nice to see some context in the alien world. I was just telling you about that the other week. I always enjoyed it. Yeah. Yeah. I haven't watched it. It's a lot of talking.

SPEAKER_05: 53:45

I agree.

SPEAKER_01: 53:46

It is a lot of it's very daunting.

SPEAKER_05: 53:48

But I feel that it's worth it. I guess so, yeah. I think it's a bit of a slow burn. Super slow burn. Right? But then, but then but then when shit happens, it's kind of worth it.

SPEAKER_01: 53:59

You're never disappointed when you know the action happens because like they do a really good alien scene. Some of the best alien scenes I've seen in years are in those movies. Like I've watched everything Alien since Alien. So I love the I love the alien movies. I even like the alien vs. Predator movie.

SPEAKER_05: 54:16

I like the new creatures.

SPEAKER_01: 54:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05: 54:18

Right? It has me asking questions like ooh.

SPEAKER_01: 54:22

That eyeball one was gross though.

SPEAKER_05: 54:23

And the cat's probably my favorite.

SPEAKER_01: 54:25

Oh, that was nasty. Yeah. Yeah. But anyways, it was I thought it was so fair so good. Haven't finished it, but I'm on I'm bored. I'm sorry it's not CanCon. Yeah. I should have said something Canadian.

SPEAKER_02: 54:35

No, that's okay. Makes sense. It's all good. So question number nine over here. So uh a sound you love that most people might overlook. So what's a sound that just resonates with you? That's a great question.

SPEAKER_05: 54:53

I really like the sound of um like coasting on a bike.

SPEAKER_02: 55:01

Oh, okay. Just that feeling of like attempted. Yeah, when you like take your feet off and you just coast down a hill. And you can just hear hard, hard sound to attempt.

SPEAKER_01: 55:11

I know the sound though.

SPEAKER_05: 55:12

I don't know how to articulate it, but it's the the sound of a bike coasting.

SPEAKER_01: 55:16

Kind of like a whooshy kind of chill, yeah, gliding kind of sound.

SPEAKER_05: 55:21

And like you can kind of hear the the chain kind of, you know what I mean? Yeah. Okay. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_02: 55:26

No, that's a no, that's a that's a great, like I think that is a sound that most people wouldn't really pick up on, right? I mean, everyone's gonna be like, oh, the sound of the ocean, the waves, and stuff like that, which I do love. But sound of a fart.

SPEAKER_05: 55:41

Let's be honest, farts are inherently funny. There you go.

SPEAKER_01: 55:43

Pretty funny.

SPEAKER_02: 55:44

So question number 10 over here.

SPEAKER_01: 55:46

Okay. What is one small change in society or media that you wish everyone could adopt? One small change in society or media that you wish everyone could adopt. I can only pick one. Yeah, just just start with one. You can do top one. You can do top three if you want. Or anything that comes to mind. If you have another one, just say it.

SPEAKER_04: 56:15

In media. This is a challenging question.

SPEAKER_05: 56:27

Can we start casting more people with disabilities as people?

SPEAKER_03: 56:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05: 56:34

Does that make sense? 100%.

SPEAKER_03: 56:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 56:36

Can they not always be a hero or an inspiration or uh um joke or you know, they have to with a little bit more context and dimension.

SPEAKER_05: 56:49

Uh not even a main character.

SPEAKER_02: 56:51

Um but I mean like just uh character, like a supporting character or whatever. There's no novelty to it.

SPEAKER_05: 56:56

I'll give I'll give an example. And and uh a friend of mine, she's an African-American woman with albinism, she lives in New York. I don't know if she still lives in New York. She was at the time. Anyway, she was an extra on Law and Order, and she has a unique appearance as an African woman with albinism, and she was just like in the gallery in the background. That's meaningful enough. Right. Just to have that exposure.

SPEAKER_03: 57:21

Right.

SPEAKER_05: 57:21

Like these people are out here, we're out here.

SPEAKER_02: 57:24

Right.

SPEAKER_05: 57:24

We're amongst you.

SPEAKER_02: 57:27

I don't know. Yeah, no, no, that's it's yeah. If we had uh, you know, an array of different people just in background without having to highlight what it is that makes them different. Um yeah, I get that.

SPEAKER_05: 57:38

Yeah, yeah, like that character happens to be blind. They're not necessarily the lead, necessarily the lead or part of the story, they're just you know like a store that a show that I really liked was Superstore. And another friend of mine, Dennis Hurley, a man with albinism. Unfortunately, he was cast as a creepy guy dumping some shit into a dumpster. And I was like, Dennis, Dennis, I know you go to work, but man. So anyway, I'm sorry, I'm getting off topic.

SPEAKER_01: 58:10

No, no, no, that was fine.

SPEAKER_05: 58:11

More real representation.

SPEAKER_01: 58:14

Like it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 58:14

I think that's our last call, Matt, going to you. Yeah, that's it. Yeah, so last call is a question that we ask everyone uh at the end of the every ever episode. And that is what is one piece of advice that you were given that was meaningful to you that you want to share with us?

SPEAKER_05: 58:37

I'm sorry for the long pause. You guys ask really good questions. I don't want to be a cliche, uh, but my late grandmother always told me to just be myself. Like just don't compromise for other people, be yourself, and uh and and self-advocate. I think um not only my grandmother, but uh some people in my life throughout school, um self-advocacy is really important, and it can be as simple as helping someone understand how to pronounce your name because that's part of your identity, and I think that like people overlook those things. Um so learn how to be a self-advocate, and self-advocating includes asking other people for help, yeah. That's and all the while be yourself, and that's cliche as hell, but that's it.

SPEAKER_01: 59:46

I think that's pretty awesome advice. No, I think it's I think it's pretty good advice, but I like and I particularly like the self-advocacy because yeah it's never been said on this show. 125 episodes deep, I think. So you're the first one to say it. So cheers to you, my friend. Thank you. Thank you so much for hanging out with us. Pretty blind. Check it out on AMI. No, I will. Check out Jenny's new podcast that's coming. She just hasn't announced it yet. Maybe just follow her on Instagram or something until until that thing happens. And uh, is there anything else you wanted to tell our listeners today?

SPEAKER_05: 1:00:15

No, I am so flattered that y'all wanted to talk to me, and it's been a great conversation. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_01: 1:00:20

Thank you. Oh, you're welcome to come back again next year and have a second round. Let's do it. Cheers. All right, see ya.