A Banquet of Predictions, Reviews, and Letters from Students

This Dinner Party was to have been aired March 4th but the producer (Troy) was out of town for the week so enjoy the banquet of Academy Award predictions from Scott just in time for the show this weekend, letters from students, more on recovery, and a review of the Netflix drama short series: Adolescence. 

Bon Appetit!

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:02

It's time for dinner. Ding ding ding ding ding ding. From the creative mind of Scott Bertelson, after four decades of teaching our impressionable youth, the dinner belt, you are invited to enjoy conversational morsels for the mind at Mr. B's dinner party.

SPEAKER_00 0:20

Yeah, dinner. Well, there's the dinner bell again.

SPEAKER_05 0:29

And who's your favorite host? Mr. B's got a table so wide. Pull up a chair, let your worry slide. School days, tales, and a movie or two. He's serving up wisdom with a side of stew. Belly up to the table, my friend. The feast of thought will never end. From travels far to a spiritual climb. Morsels of music served in rhyme.

SPEAKER_00 1:13

And Mr. B has graciously opened the door to welcome you to his dinner party. I hope and pray that you will belly up to the table. And I hope that when we're done, you will be very satisfied, happy, and ready to take on the world. Welcome to Mr. B's Dinner Parter.

SPEAKER_04 1:46

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SPEAKER_00 3:42

My spiritual friends, uh, I shared with you in the last episode that I'm going to start sharing some extensive readings about the 12 steps that I live my life by every day that keep me clean, that keep me sane, that keep me happy. And without further ado, I seem to be in the mood for that, I am going to be uh doing some more reading from the 12 and 12, the big book. And um maybe making some comments. Okay, here we go. Part two. Clearly. If we are to live free of the bondage of compulsive eating, we must abstain from all foods and eating behaviors that cause us problems. Part two of step one, admitting that our lives had become unmanageable, has also become very difficult for many of us. We felt that we had managed very well in life despite our problems with food and weight. Many of us held down responsible jobs and ran our household with reasonable success. We had friends who liked us and many of us had fairly good marriages. That those didn't make us happy were surely due to the fact that they were fat or felt we were. Or if we could just get to the perfect weight, life would be perfect. Surely it would be exaggerating to say we were incapable of managing our lives. We certainly could use some help with the compulsive eating, but with the rest of life we were doing fine. Again, an honest look at our lives helped us to take step one. Were we really excelling at our jobs or just getting by? Were our homes pleasant places to be, or had we been living in an atmosphere of depression and anger? Had our chronic unhappiness over our eating problems affected our friendship and marriages? Were we truly in touch with our feelings, or had we buried our anger and fear in false cheerfulness? We sometimes recognized we had living problems but felt that life would be manageable if only we could stop the compulsive eating. Whenever we did stop, however, we found life without excess food unbearable. Even getting to our desired weight didn't cure our unhappiness. Many of us believed that our lives would be manageable if only others around us would do as we wanted. We thought everything would be fine if only our bosses would recognize our worth, if only our spouses would give us the attention we needed, if only our children were well behaved, if only our parents would leave us alone. Our lives became unmanageable when the car wouldn't start, the computer broke down, or our checking account wouldn't balance. We suffered from other people's unmanageable lives or from bad luck. What alternative did we have? We ate to save the fears, the anxieties, the angers, the disappointments. We ate to escape the pressures of our problems or the boredom of everyday life. We procrastinated, we hid, and we ate. Before we came to our understanding of our disease and began discussing our experience honestly with other compulsive overeaters, we didn't realize how much we had damaged ourselves and others by attempting to manage every single detail of life. It was only after we began to recover that we saw the childish self-centeredness of our willful actions. By trying to control others through manipulation and direct force, we had hurt our loved ones. When we tried to control ourselves, we wound up demoralized. Even when we succeeded, it wasn't enough to make us happy. We hid from our pain by eating, so we didn't learn from our mistakes. We never grew up. Some of us resisted excuse me, some of us resisted step one because it seemed like negative thinking. If we tell ourselves we're powerless over food, we reasoned that we program ourselves to go right on eating compulsively. Later, we discovered that far from being a negative factor, the admission of our powerlessness over food opened the door to amazing newfound power. For the first time in our lives, we recognized, acknowledged, and accepted the truth about ourselves. We are compulsive overeaters. We do have an incurable disease. Diabetics who need to be on insulin risk blindness and possible death unless they recognize the truth of their diabetic condition, accept it and take the prescribed medication. So it is with compulsive overeating. As long as we refuse to recognize that we have this debilitating and ultimately fatal disease, we are not motivated to get the daily treatment for which it brings about our recovery. Denial of the truth leads to destruction. Only an honest admission to ourselves of the reality of our condition can save us from our destructive eating. The same principle applies to our unmanageable lives. As long as we believe that we already know what is best for us, we cling to our habitual ways of thinking and acting. Yet these ways of thinking and acting got us into this unhealthy, unhappy condition we were in when we came to realize our disease. In step one, we acknowledge this truth about ourselves. Our current methods of managing have not been successful, and we need to find a new approach to life. Have they acknowledged this truth? We are free to change and to learn. Once we have become teachable, we can give up old thought and behavior patterns which have failed us in the past, beginning with our attempts to control our eating and our weight. Honest appraisal excuse me, honest appraisal of our experience has convinced us that we can't handle life through self-will alone. First, we grasp this knowledge intellectually, and then finally we come to believe it in our hearts. When this happens, we have taken the first steps and are ready to move ahead in our program of recovery. Now that's the official reading from the 12 and 12. And just to back that up, I think it stated it very well. I know I've shared with you many, many times, my happy friends, that I have an incurable disease. And because it's a disease, I know that I will always have it. It's within me. I carry it with me every day 24-7. And so the best way to arrest that is to give it to my higher power and say to my higher power every day, please relieve me of this uh desire to overeat, to ruin my life, to bring me into a dismal way of thinking. And you know what, my happy friends? It works. It works. My higher power takes away my desire to overeat, and that I will forever be grateful for. So, step one is something I have to tell myself every day I need to practice. That I have to realize that I am powerless, and that is on which I base the rest of the 12-step sign, which we will be looking at extensively from the reading this year. So, let's enjoy the journey of being clean, of staying sane, and enjoying life.

SPEAKER_04 12:19

Hello, friends and neighbors. Welcome to the Sunny Side of Life Bible in a year experience. Join me each day as I read the Bible from start to finish. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. These are the instructions for the guilt offering. If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the world. Do you really think these men are coming here to honor your father? No. Fire flashed down from heaven and burned up the burnt offerings and sacrifices. You who have understanding, everyone knows that God doesn't sin. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. He tore his clothes and put on burlap and went to the temple of the Lord. This is what the sovereign Lord says to Israel. How long, O Lord, must I call for help? The word was with God, and the word was God. But by Jesus Christ Himself and by God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead, he who is the faithful witness to all these things says, Yes, I am coming soon. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's holy people. Its own podcast, January 1st through December 31st, every year. The Sunny Side of Life, Bible in a Year Experience. For free from Sunnyside Farm Studios. I pray this daily reading will bless you as much as it does me. So let's get started. For the next course, come one, come all. Nothing spoiled here. From Comfort Classics to what's hot now. Film reviews from Mr. B's Rewatchables.

SPEAKER_00 14:02

Well, hello, film lovers. Do you know what time of year it is? Yes, it's the award season. Oh, we've had the at the time of this um taping, we've had the Critics Choice Awards, and we've had the Golden Globes, and just recently we had the Academy Award nominees uh announced. So I'm just going to highlight some of the categories and maybe just maybe give you an idea of what my predictions are. What is this based on? I have no idea. It's just based on feeling, I guess, or what the critics have said, or what my favorite movie review podcasters have said. I don't know, maybe it's a combination of all. But after the Academy Awards are uh presented in mid-March, then I will come back on and tell you if I was wrong, and I probably will be. But hey, whatever. We'll just roll along anyway. So here are the nominees for Best Picture for the Academy Awards, which will be presented, as I said, in March. Uh there is a film from Brazil called The Secret Agent, which I have not seen, which has received accolades of praise. Uh also Begonia, that is the Emma Stone film. Marty Supreme has also been nominated. I just recently saw uh Marty Supreme in Des Moines, and I have to say I really, really enjoyed it. I was hesitant uh to see it because it's about ping pong. Uh well, it's way more than ping pong. Uh, but um it's largely based on a true story. There's some fictional elements brought into it, but the message was wonderful, and I thought uh Tim Timothy Chalamet uh was really brilliant in the role, and uh I was very, very happy and surprised about that. Uh the next one would be Train Dreams. I have not seen that. I know it's on Netflix right now. Uh also the film uh F1, which is uh about racing, I believe, uh with Brad Pitt. Uh then also Sentimental Value, which I believe is a foreign film. Uh Hamnet, which has been nominated for quite a few Academy Awards, uh dealing with the life uh William Shakespeare and the death of his child. Also the Netflix uh series, or I should say movie, Frankenstein, uh has been nominated for Best Picture. And the two that I think are going to be head-to-head here would be Sinners, the Ryan Kugler film that's been nominated for a way amount, large amount of Academy Awards, all very worthy. Uh, just recently it's all the film again for the third time. And every time I watch it, I find something brilliant about it. Uh and another great contender for Best Picture, I think, would be uh One Battle After Another. Uh Paul Thomas Anderson's um uh great adventure story, which is also on uh HBO Max, I believe, at this time. Synerg is also. So those people are those pitchers, I should say, are all contending for best pictures. So we'll have to see what kind of campaigns uh the studios come out with uh prior to the actual airing of the Academy Awards to promote these. Okay, well, there you go for Best Picture. Let's go with Best Actor. I'm just going to mention these in no particular order. Uh Michael B. Jordan, who plays a dual role in the movie Sinners, uh, also was in Creed, uh, was in um uh Fruitvale Station, lots of great uh movies. Also a good director, too. Michael B. Jordan, who plays twins in um Sinners. Uh, of course, then who was also nominated last year for the Bob Dylan film is Timothy Chalamet. Uh also one of my standards and favorites, Leonardo DiCaprio for Best Actor. Uh also Wagner Mora for Best Actor, and I don't know what that's for. Sorry, folks, I don't know. And then Ethan Hawke for I believe um Moonlight, I think is the name of the film. Uh okay, so one of my predictions there. Oh my goodness. Leonardo DiCaprio has already won the Academy Award for the Revenant, if you've ever seen that a few years back. Uh, but that doesn't mean that that would undermine him winning for this movie uh in um one battle after another. I'm putting my money probably on Timothy Chalamet, who did not win last year for Best Actor. Uh he's brilliant. He he truly is. Uh incredibly young, very talented. What a career in front of him. I think he's going to get the Academy Award. All right, let's move on to Best Actress. Once again, we have the talented, talented, talented Emma Stone for Begonia, which I have not seen. Uh Rose Byrne, uh I have not seen that movie. Jesse Buckley, I believe, is in Hamnet. Renee Rensiv and Kate Hudson for Songsung Blue. Uh what would you say, Scott, would be your choice here? Oh my goodness. I'm going to probably say, just based on what the critics have been saying, uh, Jesse Buckley for Hamnet, which uh evidently is a very, very moving film. All right. Let it never be said that we cannot move on to the next category, which will be directors. We have Paul Thomas Anderson for One Battle After Another. Uh he's made a lot of movies that I've really enjoyed over the years. Uh Licorice Pizza, uh Booking Nights, uh There Will Be Blood. Um just many, many, many great films. I would like him to win, but I just don't know. The other person I'm going to mention is coming up that I think could win. Uh Josh Safke for best director for some film. Mm-hmm. Uh my website is not telling me which film that is. Uh Joaquin Terrera, best director. Uh Cleo Zayo, best director. I think that's for The Secret Agent. And my guess if it's not Paul Thomas Anderson, that it will be Ryan Kugler for sinners. Uh, because of his vast brilliant Directing style that he uses in this film. So just a thought. We'll see where it goes. Okay, now let's move on to uh best supporting actress. We have Tiana Taylor in one battle after another. I think she's a shoe-in for this. I this is just based on how she's done at the previous award shows and what the critics are saying. Or it could be the next person, Amy Madigan, who plays the witch in weapons, the great uh horror film that came out this summer. Uh, she did win the uh Critics' Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress, and her uh portrayal of this evil woman uh in this film is absolutely amazing. So if it's not Tiana, I think Amy Madigan should get it. And that's I'm not going to mention the other ones because I don't want them to win. I just want Tiana Taylor or Amy Madigan to win. Okay, so there you go. Uh, what do we have for best animated feature? Well, have I seen any of these? Probably not. Uh Zootopia 2, which has been a huge box office uh hit. Uh Elio or Elio, or however you want to pronounce it. I think they came out this summer. Uh K Pop Demon Hunters, which has been just a raving uh hit on Netflix, and I think they even put it in the theaters. And um Acro, which I don't know what that's anything anything about that. So I just am taking a stab in the dark here, and I'm probably going to say, oh my goodness, K-pop demon hunters. Do I care? No, not really. But anyway, we'll just go with that. Okay, let's uh mention best supporting actor. Okay. We have Stellian Skisgard for Sentimental Value. I think that's a foreign film. We have one of my favorite actors uh who doesn't know how to comb his hair. Uh, if you saw the Golden Globes, oh my goodness. That would be Sean Penn for Best Supporting Actor in um One Battle After Another. So we'll have to see how Sean does there. Uh he's a wonderful actor. He's been a great actor for many, many, many years. Uh, also surprisingly, Jacob Alordi was nominee for best supporting actor for Frankenstein. And uh I've seen Frankenstein, uh highly enjoyable film uh by Gillian De Toro, the great brilliant act uh director. And uh he he plays the character, the monster, uh differently than I've ever seen portrayed before. So he might be a shoe-in. I believe he did win for the Critic's Choice Award. And Benedicto Del Toro, best supporting actor, also for, and I probably massacred his first name. I apologize. Uh you're rolling your eyes. What's wrong with him? Anyway, for one uh battle after another. So I just don't really have a preference here, my folks. But if I was going with sentimental um affiliation and respect, I would go with Sean Penn. Sean Penn! But I just have some reason, I just don't think he's going to win. But we'll see. Uh, what about a best original screenplay? What about uh Blue Moon? About Rogers and Hammerstein, that's the one that Ethan Hawk is nominated for. What about Marty Supreme? What about Sinners? What about sentimental value? I guess I'm just going to go with Sinners. Uh again, the story is so multifaceted and so has so many different layers of uh brilliant, uh thought-provoking information. And not only is it about the deep south during the 30s and racism, prejudice, but it's also about vampires. Yes. So it it's it's amazing how they all come together so well. So, how about best adapted screenplay from a book or a novel? Uh, let's go with uh looking at train dreams, which I've not seen, but it is on my short list. Or Frankenstein, which has been adapted many, many, many, many, many times for the screen. How about Hamnet, which is based on the great book? Or how about one battle after another? I I don't know, my folks. Do you have a guess here? I'm probably going to go with one battle after another. I think that's going to be a big winner at the Academy Awards, along with uh Sinners. So I think we should also look at just maybe one more category here. I'm not going to cover all of them because I'm no authority on those. You might say, well, you're not an authority on these either. And you got me there. Uh would be uh F1, which is best visual effects for the racing. I've not seen it. Uh Avatar, Fire and Ash, the third in the uh Avatar uh series. Um and The Lost Bus. Don't know that story. But I do think best visual effects should go to, if it doesn't go to Avatar, from what I have read, uh, would go to, you heard it before, Sinners. Uh it is just unbelievably filmed, and the visual effects are unbelievably uh amazing. And I think the last one I'm going to const I comment on would be costume design. Uh we have Sinners, we have Frankenstein, we have Avatar, Fire and Ash, and we have Hamnet. Uh I'll just stick my hand in the hat and pull out a name. Oh, here we go. I'm going to go with you know it. Sinners. Just because I'm a huge, huge fan of the film. I think it's been nominated for the most Academy Awards. 16, I think. Sixteen Academy Awards. Wow.

unknown 29:25

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 29:25

How many will they take away? Only time will tell. So, my happy ones, that's just a rundown of about half the categories for the Academy Awards coming up in March. And um, I'll have out my list of categories and uh people and uh films that I've recognized, and then as the evening goes on, I'll realize oh, that was you didn't make a very good choice on that one, Scott. Oh, I didn't see that coming. Oh, you're wrong again, Scott. So anyway, I do hope that out of all of this, that you will take the time to see uh one battle after another and sinners and maybe Hamnet. Not that you shouldn't not see all the others. Marty Supreme is very good too, uh, based on the ones that I have um want to see within the next few weeks or I have seen. So happy viewing, and let's see how wrong Scott will be after you watch the Academy Awards, which by the way will be hosted again by Conan O'Brien, who is amazing as the host. He is absolutely amazing. Okay, happy film viewing. Now, happy film viewers. You know how I get so caught up in the in the great number of uh award shows that are on uh starting in January and uh ending largely with the Academy Awards, the great um greatest award show probably of all time because of the fashion and the stars and and the great categories and all the hoopla affiliated with it. But anyway, uh the Critics Choice Awards were on very, very early January. And I'm not going to cover all the categories, but uh I just wanted to give you an idea of some of the winners. And some people say these winners are a precursor to what uh movies and stars are going to win at the Academy Awards. Is that always true? No, not at all. Uh, but hey, you can decide for yourself. Okay, so what was nominated for best picture for the critic's choice? We had Wicked for Good, Train Dream, Sinners, Sentimental Value, Marty Supreme, Jay Kelly, Hamnet, Frankenstein, and Begonia. And the winner is Envelope Please, one battle after another. Yay! Uh, best director, we had Ryan Kugler for Sinners. Uh Guilma, once again, I said the name wrong tutorial. Frankenstein, Josh Safty for Marty Supreme, and Cleo Zaro. I probably said it wrong again for Hamnet. And the winner went to Paul Thomas Anderson for one battle after another. So well deserved there. Best actor we had. Who was nominated? Well, let me tell you Leonardo DiCaprio, Joel Edgerton for Train Dreams, Ethan Hawk for Blue Moon, uh, Michael Jordan, and Wagner Mora for Secret Agent. And the winner went to drum roll, Timothy Chalamet for Marty Supreme, who plays a real-life character, Marty Mauser. And this story, Marty Supreme, will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the whole movie. It is an amazing story of calamities that can happen to a person and how that person handles them and gets on with his or her life. It's amazing. Ah, here's a title. If I had legs, I'd kick you. Haven't seen it. Uh Amanda Siegfried for The Testament of Ann Lee, which is about the Shakers movement. Emma Stone for Begonia. Uh, by the way, Emma has won the Academy Award twice already. And um the winner went to Jesse Buckley for playing Agnes Shakespeare in Hamnet. Uh Best Supporting Actor. We had Bencio Del Toro, Paul Mescal in Hamnet, uhToro was in one battle after another, Sean Penn for one battle after another, Adam Sandler for the Netflix movie J. Kelly, and Stellan Skarsgard in Sentimental Value. And the winner went to, many people were surprised by this, Jacob Alordi for playing the creature in Frankenstein, the Netflix movie. Best supporting actress, I was incredibly happy about this. Uh, the um nominees were Ellie Fanning for Sentimental Value, Ariana Grande for Wicked for Good, um Tiana Taylor for one battle after another, but the winner went to Amy Madigan for playing Aunt Gladys, the wicked Aunt Gladys in the horror film Weapons. And uh then they also have a category at the Critics Choice Awards called Best Young Actor or Actress. And I don't know any of these people, so I'm not going to mention them. But I will tell you the one who won was Miles Catton, and he played Samuel Sammy Moore in Sinners, and he was really, really good. Really, really good. Uh, best original screenplay. I'm not going to mention all the nominees, but it went to uh Ryan Kugler for Sinners. Best adapted from another source screenplay went to Paul Thomas Anderson. Do you see a pattern here, folks? Of one battle after another. Best costume design went to Frankenstein. And if you see this, it is just a wonderfully uh costumed film. Best production design went to Frankenstein. Best score went to Sinners. They play such wonderful blues music in Sinners. It's just wonderful. And Best Song went to Golden from K-pop Demon Hunters. Okay. I guess I shouldn't criticize if I haven't seen K-pop Demon Hunters. Uh Best Hair and Makeup, Frankenstein, probably rightly so. And that's about all I'm going to mention from the Critics Choice Awards. I'm not going to cover every awards program. You can always check that out for yourself online if you want to. But I wanted to mention that two movies, Sinners and One Battle After Another, were big winners at the Critics' Choice Awards. And also after that, then we had the Golden Globe Awards. And also those two films were big winners there, too. So there might be a greatity stunt and push for these two films to do really well at the Academy Awards. So don't let me influence your film viewing. You watch whatever you want to. But it is that time of year to make your predictions. Okay. TV viewers. I've surely talked about a lot of different TV shows, maybe TV series. This one is, and actually many of those that I've talked about are from the 60s, the 70s, the 80s, maybe the 90s, maybe present day, not too many. But here's one that I really think you should see. This is on Netflix, and this is called Adolescent.

SPEAKER_03 38:33

We need to listen carefully. I'm gonna start off with asking you.

SPEAKER_05 38:40

Do you know a girl called Katie Lennet? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:50

How would you ask that? I do think it would be okay if we speak about it.

SPEAKER_03 39:22

It's about a manager. 80% of women are attracted to 20% of men. You must trip them because you'll never get them in a normal way. We've done nothing wrong with we. It's crazy what your brain tells you to do when you're a kid.

SPEAKER_00 39:44

And it's a short, limited series. It's a psychological crime drama that centers on a 13-year-old schoolboy, Jamie Miller, who's played by Owen Cooper. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, who's arrested after the murder of a girl in his school. And what makes this so amazing for a show, and you can find it on Netflix, so you better go watch it, is each of the episodes is shot in one continuous take. It premiered in March of 2025 to great acclaim for its directing, its writing, cinematography, and how it created atmosphere and uh amazing performances. Jamie Miller has won uh some awards for his portrayal. I believe his uh parents, the people who play his parents, have also won awards for their performance. Let me tell you a little bit about the story. In a town in England, armed police raid a family home and arrest 13-year-old Jamie Miller on suspicion of the murder of his classmate, Katie Leonard, who is later revealed to have rejected his romantic advances and then, unfortunately, cyberbullied him. He's held at a police station for questioning and then remanded in custody at a secure training center. Investigations at Jamie's school and interviews by a forensic psychologist uncover his views on women and the mockery that he has unfortunately received on social media. At home, his family deals with community backlash as they work together to cope with the arrest. I think there's only three episodes. They do actually have footage of the young man stabbing this young girl to death. And they visit the school, the detectives, to speak to Jamie and the classmates, hoping to learn of the young man's motive and the location of the murder weapon. And they find out that the young boy is initially cooperative, but then turns evasive, leaving the room when they talk about the murder weapon. Um and you find out that this cyber bullying has had a major impact on this young boy. And we find out that they then meet the boy, the detectives, at a secure training center to prepare a pretrial report on his mental capacity. And he, the young boy, um they they questioned him about his masculinity, about how he feels about women, about himself, and the young boy talked about how he had been bullied at school, and how he had received many, many threats through uh social media, and how this young girl played games with him, first wanting to uh give the impression that she liked. Him and then the next rebuking him and back and forth and back and forth. And the impact that it has on this young boy. So then a year after the the murders, the family have made attempts to return to a life of normality as he awaits trial. And um we find out that teenagers in the school uh are vandalizing the parents' homes uh because they're so upset about this uh murder that has taken place. And then he's also the father finds out that the people around him don't really uh accept him anymore and they treat him and his wife differently because of what has happened with their son. And anyway, it is just the performance by the young man is so noteworthy, and it's a series that takes such a hard look at the impact of um cyberbullying on young people and what impact it has on young people and how parents may have no idea whatsoever what is going on because behind closed doors young people are engaging in social media and not only for positive reasons. And I am not here to endorse or say that I understand why the young boy uh ultimately uh murders a girl, but you do have uh a great um interrogation of the teenage mind and what it's like to be a teenager with so many conflicting messages out there about sexuality and being normal and uh relationships and dealing with the opposite sex. You've got to see it. Adolescence. It is just so moving. And if for no other reason, the performance of the young thirteen-year-old boy absolutely enthralling of all the different uh expressions of moods that he goes through throughout this miniseries. Adolescence. I can't say any more than what I just did, that it's brilliant, and it surely received accolades of praise and so warranted to receive that. So look for it on Netflix, and I can promise you you will never look at what puberty can be like ever the same way again.

SPEAKER_04 47:30

Let's lend our ears to the wacky observations of the world, according to Scott. Mr. B's wacky, wacky, wacky, wacky world.

SPEAKER_00 47:40

Well, I've been focusing a lot on um uh mini-series about murdering teenagers and about the awards programs. Let's lighten it a little bit for Mr. B's wacky, wacky, wacky, wacky, wacky, wacky world. And I decided today, I don't know what my motivation is, but to talk about some interesting, strange, weird facts about animals. Many of us have pets. We live for our pets, we adore our pets, they bring us such comfort. But I'm going to share some things with you that maybe you didn't know. Okay, well, here we go. Do you know, number one, that a dog, man's best friend, sense of smell is between 10,000 and 100 times better than a human? Yes, that's why they use them for uh sniffing out drugs and finding dead bodies and lots of other things too. Have you ever seen anybody walking their dog? The dog's nose is always sniffing, sniffing, sniffing. Yes, they have a keen sense of smell. Number two, did you know that tigers, which you probably don't own, can eat 40 pounds in a single meal and then go a whole week without eating? Wow. Sometimes I wish I could do that, but I know that one more. Uh number three, did you know that horses use their ears and their eyes to communicate with each other? Mm-hmm. Do you feel that you communicate with your horse? Do you remember Mr. Ed? Way before your time. Am I going to review that show? No. Number four, do you know that honeybees can flap their wings 200 times every second? Wow, I can't do that. Oh, whoops, I guess I don't have wings. Honeybees. 200 times per second. That's amazing. Wow. Uh, and number five, not necessarily in any kind of order for fun facts about animals. Certain types of male penguins propose to their females by giving them a pebble. I found this so much fun. Which, of course, brings a whole new meaning to the phrase nice rock. Oh my gosh. Think of the money I could have saved. Anyway, that's another time, another program. Uh look for that rock. Okay. Uh number six, do you know that squirrels cannot vomit or burp. Yeah, why is that? I don't know. That must be the way the higher power made them. Anyway, keep that in mind the next time you see a squirrel. Uh, number seven, have you ever wondered why flamingos stand on one leg? Well, come on. You should know. Anybody? anybody? Bueller, bueller? Well, they do it to stay warm. Keeping one leg close to the body conserves heat. Yes. So remember that. Next time you go out to the zoo and you see a flamingo. Oh, here's one of the ugliest creatures that a higher power ever made. Not at the my uh uh opinion matters, but that would be number eight. The information about an anteater. Do you know that an eaters consume 35,000 ants and termites in a single day? Wow. Wow, that's why they had that long, long nose and get into those uh ant hills and into those dead trees to look for ants and termites. Not my idea of fun. Okay. Let's go to number nine. Do you know that birds have a great sense of sight, but a really bad sense of smell? Uh, a mother bird likely won't smell that a human has even touched her bird if you pick up a bird in a nest. Really bad smell. Didn't know that. Guess they were made that way. And the last one I'm going to share today because I'm just going with the top ten. Maybe there'll be more coming up. You can let me know if you find these interesting. If not, we'll just move on. Uh, meows are not an innate cat language. Cats develop them to communicate with us. Did you know that cats, and you can find this out from all the thousands of cat videos you can find on YouTube and on TikTok, uh, can make more than 100 different sounds. Now, dogs can make about 10 different sounds, and you can do many of these in um videos that you watch. Some are very, very entertaining. But cats definitely have the advantage. They can do over 100 different sounds. Wow. So, anyway, just a little variation on Mr. B's wacky wacky whirl of some of the top crazy things that you maybe never thought about when it comes to pets. So keep enjoying those happy pets and never let them under don't ever underestimate the power of your pet.

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And now, school days with Mr. B.

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Remembering my fond, fond memories of teaching in the classroom and still enjoying that at in a subbing position, my school days would be a plethora. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Thank you, Pee-wee's Playhouse, of messages uh that have been gathered for teachers. And I can tell you as a teacher, I've probably said this before, that if I get a message on Facebook or an email from a student saying, Thank you for being a great teacher, or even a handwritten note, those are things that are so near and dear to my heart. And I always found that in times of adversity, whatever that would be, self-inflicted, usually most of the time, that these notes would bring me out of my funk and make me happy, happy, happy and so excited to do what I was doing. So I'm just going to share some of the things that uh have been said to teachers. And I would highly encourage you always, no matter if you've been out of school for years or you uh just happen absolutely think about a favorite teacher of yours. I have many favorite teachers that I have expressed my gratitude to over the years. Uh, is to let them know. Find out if you can where they're at and what they're doing, uh how wonderful they were. Here's one. This student writes, your classroom was a sanctuary for me. That's what I personally this is just a personal aside, always hoped that my classroom would be a sanctuary. Thank you for your kindness and understanding. Here's another one. Your unique and fun approach to teaching made school something I actually look forward to. Thank you for everything that you do. Wow, wow, wow. It goes way beyond just a study of the fundamentals. It's the atmosphere that you create in the classroom. Here's one. You helped me discover how much I truly enjoy learning. Thanks for being an amazing teacher and role model. And if you didn't want to send a note, you could always pick up the phone if you can get their number. Here's another quote, to be or not to be, unquote. I'm so grateful you chose, quote, to be, unquote, a teacher. Because you're truly one of the best. Oh my goodness. This is bringing me such happiness to share these with you. Next one, because of you, I'm chasing my dreams with confidence. Thank you for helping me uncover my strengths and always pushing me to do my best. I'm hoping that's something that I did every day as a teacher. Only my students can attest to whether that's true or not. Another one. Your support and encouragement have given me the confidence to overcome every challenge. Thank you for always believing in me. Oh my gosh. Wow. Wow. Wow. This would be enough to keep me going for years. Another one. Thanks to your patience. Learning has been a truly joyful experience. I'm grateful for the nurturing space you create. Oh, I love that expression. Nurturing space. Uh let me share about three more. These are all actual statements that have been gleaned from letters. We meet many teachers throughout our school years, but only a few leave a lasting impression. Thank you for being one of those unforgettable ones. Next one, you pushed me because you knew what I was capable of, even when I didn't. And that's I think the true mark of a great teacher. Thank you for your unwavering faith in me. And the last one I'll share, surely there's many, many more that you could uh offer as praise to teachers. This is a year I truly began to care about learning, and you, my teacher, played the biggest role in changing my attitude. I'll never forget you. Thank you. So as a teacher, don't ever, ever, ever underestimate the power that you have in a positive way over the minds of young people. You can help them, along with parents, uh set guidelines for successful living in terms of responsibility, work ethic, uh acceptance of others, and of course, learning the subject matter that you are teaching. But when you think about uh teaching, it is way, way, way, way more than simply presenting a lesson. It is about appreciating the young individual sitting in that seat. And there's no greater gift than giving up yourself to young people. And that's where I live through all of the students that I've had. A small part of me is in each one of those students who sat in my classroom, and they will carry me with them everywhere they go and what they do, and that to me is true happiness. Don't you forget this, folks? There you have it in the handbag. I hope that your journeys wherever they take you are great and blessed, and may you stay on the spiritual road, because that's the only way to go. And I wish you joy and happiness and contentment. So until we meet again and belly up to the table at Mr. B's dinner party. Take care.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:42

Television dramas and comedic reviews, pet peeves buzzing like honeydew blues, poetry sprinkled like salt on a dish, every word served with a twist and a switch, belly up to the table, my friend. The feast of thought will never end. From travel fire to a spiritual climb.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:12

Mr. B's dinner party is hosted by Scott Bertelson. Edited and produced by Troy Thompson. Recorded and distributed at Sky Sky Farm Studios and platform by Buddhists.

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World journeys mapped with tables dives. He's hosting a dinner for your home. A banquet of life. Where you can unwind the lead to the table, my friend. The feast of never end. From travel spot to a spiritual cloud. Morsels of music.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:02

Subscribe so you never miss an episode and share with your friends. Listen and enjoy every other Wednesday. Conversational Morsels for the Mind. On Mr. B's dinner party.