Mr. B Goes to Europe! (Then There's Bruce...)

Belly up to the table, friends! Mr. B just returned from Europe and he brought slides! (Well, audio slides anyway....) Plus, more spiritual journey exploits, thoughts for the road and favorite quotes from movies at this feast- with Mr. B!

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:02

It's time for dinner. Ding ding ding ding ding dung. 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_08 0:20

Yeah, dinner. Hello and greeting. This is Mr. B at the dinner table.

SPEAKER_04 0:31

Where else would I be? Mr. B's got a table so wide. Pull up a chair at 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 will never end. From travels far to a spiritual climb. Morsels of music served in rhyme.

SPEAKER_08 1:12

Oh my goodness, I was just recently in Europe, but I'm gonna tell you about that. Oh yes, I am! And yes, I came back. I'm sorry to tell you that I came back to the States. But I'm gonna tell you about that. I'm gonna tell you about some of the movies that I saw on my long, long, long plane ride that my legs did not appreciate. So without further ado, let's barely get to the table for Mr. B's dinner party. And it's sponsored by EF Tours. And I used to take students on EF Tours, and then with the advent of age, I decided I didn't want to do it. And now our glorious leader is a Spanish teacher at the high school, one of the Spanish teachers, Tammy McEnroey. And she is wonderful. She's wonderful. And there is a group of people that I've traveled with for a number of years, since 2014, I believe. And our latest adventure was uh a few days ago, a few days ago, in June, whenever this is going to be aired. It'll be later. And we went to Austria, Germany, and um Switzerland. And I love traveling to Europe. Is it exhausting? Yes. Was it extremely hot? Yes. May I repeat? Yes. I don't know if you remember, but when we went, which was um June 17th through the 28th, uh Europe was suffering from a major heat wave. And uh some of the hotels we stayed at did not have air. Uh, not necessarily always what is practiced in Europe. Their lifestyle is different from ours, which is the way it should be. And we come over there to appreciate their lifestyle. So sometimes you have to suffer a little bit, that is sweat. But we had a wonderful tour guide. We were paired up with two other schools from Texas, students and chaperones, made some fast friends there. And um the first day that we got there, we came into uh Vienna, Austria, which is a beautiful, beautiful city, and we saw um the Parliament building, and we visited a palace. We visited a number of palaces and castles while we were there, and I'm not gonna necessarily go into detail about the names of all of these, but they were wonderful. You just don't see castles in America, we don't have them, so I loved it. Uh, we had a guided tour of um Vienna. Uh in the evening, we had an evening. Uh, this is on the Friday of our journey. Uh, we left on a Wednesday and the Thursday we were traveling to uh listen to classical music. Oh, it was a breathtaking, beautiful, beautiful classical music. Um and then uh the next day we went to Salzburg, and there we had a Sound of Music tour where this woman took us to many of the sites in Salzburg where they actually filmed the Sound of Music, and we got to sing song from the Sound of Music, and she told us details about the Sound of Music, and uh it was really interesting, really, really interesting. So the next time I watch that movie, I will look for these sites that we actually went to. Um and then we had dinner, and on Sunday we had a guided tour of Munich, and we uh briefly went to the um Olympic Stadium that is still in use in Munich, which they're very, very proud of. And then we went to the BMW World, which is a museum where they have a whole collection of BMWs. I can't afford a BMW, but I surely was um salivating over some of those BMWs. Beautiful. Uh then we took the bus to Dachau, which was the concentration camp. And this is only one of the many, many, many, many, many concentration camps in Germany. And we had a tour guide uh who was very, very knowledgeable. Uh we got to see the barracks, a replica of the barracks where they were housed, if I can use that word. Uh, as I said, we saw the crematoriums, we saw uh the gas chambers. Words really can't express how sad, how sad the whole experience was. Am I glad I went? Oh, I am so glad. Because anybody who believes out there that the Holocaust was a hoax, uh just take a step into a concentration camp. And there are many that are still available to go to, but this is the one that we went to. Then we went to the Munich Cathedral, which is beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, and then had some free time in the city. And then, of course, we had supper where we had sausages and sauerkraut and lots of potatoes. Now, normally I don't eat potatoes very much. I'm just, yes, it's a vegetable, but I I have to be careful that I don't ingest too much for potatoes because then I want to keep eating, eating, eating. But I was okay. Uh, then Monday arrived and we went to uh Nursing Castle. Did I say that correctly? N-E-W-S-C-H-W-A-A-N-S-T-E-I-N Castle. Yeah. And then we went to a palace, and then we uh moved into Tuesday. I'm leasing out some details, but she had to be there to really enjoy it. And I enjoyed every moment of it. Now, I'm 67. I was competing with keeping up with 15, 16, 17-year-olds and younger parents. I was the oldest one there. But I kept up and I did okay, except for the heat. Then we drove through the country of Liechtenstein. Lichtenstein, a very, very small country. Uh, then we took the bus to Switzerland. And we took the bus to La Cern, Switzerland, had a walking tour. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful city. Saw Lake Lucerne. Uh we took a cruise on Lake Lucerne, and then we took a ride to the top of a Swiss mountain. Oh, talk about scared of heights. But it was magnificent, the view from the top of this Swiss mountain. Oh my goodness. Oh, it was something. And we spent a number of hours up there. And then we took a gondola or a gondola. Can you talk correctly, Scott?

SPEAKER_06 9:27

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_08 9:28

Down the mountain. And that was the end of that day. Needless to say, I was extremely tired at the end of every day. And I had a great roommate, a guy who was a teacher in a school somewhere in Texas, and he was really nice. And then we on that Thursday, we took a bus to Freeburg, and then we took a bus to Heidelberg, took a walking tour of Heidelberg, and then we went to, and this is in Germany, we went back to Germany. Heidelberg Castle was this huge, huge, ancient, ancient castle, and has this famous wine barrel, this huge monstrosity of a wine barrel that actually is a mine a wine barrel. And uh got to see that. And then we took a bus to the Rhine River and we enjoyed a Rhine River cruise, and we saw all of the vineyards and all the castles along the Rhine. That was a day that it was about 105 degrees. No, I'm not kidding. I'm not looking for sympathy. No, it was that hot. Mm-hmm. Yes. Mm-hmm. The only way to survive was to get on the bus with the air conditioning. Uh, and then we went to a city called Koblenz, and then on that Saturday, our last day, we went to the Hereborn factory store in um a German city, and we went to Cologne, Germany, to see the most to me breathtaking cathedral I have ever seen. Breathtaking. It took over 600 years to build. It was magnificent. And I put pictures of this on my Facebook page if you would like to see them, as a number of my friends have also, who went on this trip. And so then Sunday, all our flights worked. We got home at 8 o'clock Sunday, June 28th. Now that's a brief rundown of my experience in three different countries in Europe. What do I take away from this trip? I take away the diversity of the world in which we live. I was surrounded by people speaking all different kinds of languages I did not understand, who had a right to speak that language as much as I have a right to speak the American English language. It taught me that countries have wonderful different types of food, and I thoroughly enjoyed them, and I even stayed clean. I didn't have to resort to um going back on my food plan. Uh and that was great. I realized the importance of churches and cathedrals in Europe and the architecture of Europe. It's beautiful, gorgeous. Rarely do you see anything replicated like that in America. We're just so much younger. I mean, face it, it's it's 250 years, that's it, as opposed to centuries of civilization in Europe. And I think the greatest takeaway I have was the beauty of Germany, that country. I'm German, I'm also Danish. Do I know the German language? No. But I saw people who are happy, who are content, a busy, beautiful country that just a few years ago, in the early part of the twentieth century, was known as the killer of the people.

SPEAKER_07 13:46

And the days are gone. Thank God. And lessons have been learned. Thank God. And it just makes me feel more fulfilled as a person to know that I've had a chance to see how other people live and appreciate how other people live.

SPEAKER_08 14:07

That doesn't mean I have to like it. Do I wish there had been more air conditioning in the Paris airport? Oh yes.

SPEAKER_07 14:15

Oh yes. But that's the culture.

SPEAKER_08 14:22

And it makes me happy to see how other cultures survive. So, will I go back to Europe? I don't know. We'll see. I've been there a number of times. I've really enjoyed it. If I never went back now, I can feel very satisfied that I've had a great experience. So, folks, if you ever get a chance to go to Germany, Switzerland, or Austria, take the chance.

SPEAKER_02 15:30

With a nod to our higher power and Mr. B's spiritual journey.

SPEAKER_08 15:44

I've shared so many things with you about my spiritual journey, my struggles with food. I recently was in um Europe for a week and a half, which I'm going to be telling you about here. And I would probably say I was 90, 95% abstent, clean. Most of the time I ate gluten-free foods, which the company I went with provided, which I really appreciated. I probably did eat a couple times too much bread, which really is something I really try to stay away from. I've never been diagnosed as having to be gluten-free, but I know that I have an emotional, physical addiction to wheat. And so I do try to stay away from it as much as possible. Fortunately, it didn't trigger me to want to eat uh bags of bread because bread was very, very plentiful in Europe and delicious. But I just simply admired it from afar. But what I'm trying to get to, my friends, is that I have a number of memes that I receive from my friends in um this disease that I communicate with daily and talk with daily. And I just thought, as I've done in the past, before instead of talking about some of the steps, but I'll get back to that next time, I would share some of the memes. And you can decide what you want to do with the meme. Uh sh smear it on your heart. You don't have to be an addict to want to practice what I'm going to share with you. Uh, the first one, in no particular order, is the statement peace starts with surrender. That's what I have to try to do every day when I wake up. I have to surrender, as I've told you before, my uh compulsive overeating to my higher power. And then I put myself in the care of my higher power, and then he takes away that desire to want to um gorge myself with food. The next one is never regret a day in your life. Good days give happiness, bad days give experience, worse days give lessons, and best days give memories. Oh my goodness, in my 67 years of living, I have found all of that to be so true. And you can experience it all in one day. Happiness, experience, lessons, and memories. Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Uh, here's one that I found most interesting that was sent to me from a friend. It's called the Woo-woo Habits That Actually Changed My Life. All right, there's ten of them. See if you want to practice any of these, okay? Number one, talk out loud to your house. Say things like, We're safe here now. I don't think you have a mental illness if you talk to your house. I used to talk to my car. But your home is your sanctuary, so I think it's okay. Uh number two, narrate your life like a docuseries. Here we see them choosing peace. What is your life like? Would your life be put on television like for a docuseries? Uh number three, write doubts on paper and then flush them. Because it's all it is is emotional sewage.

SPEAKER_05 19:44

Wow.

SPEAKER_08 19:47

There's a moment. Write your doubts on paper and flush them. Number four, tell the trees what hurts. Trees talk, listen, and remember. Hey, why not? I had a friend who married a tree. I can't get into that. That's a that's a story that's private. If you want more details, let me know. Do a brain scrub before bed. This is great advice. Wash the thoughts away like dirt. Get rid of the animosity, the antagonism, the jealousy, the resentment. Get rid of it. You don't need to harbor that. You don't need to carry that into your dream world. Start the day fresh with a new slate. Here's one I've never heard before. Sleep with a note N-O-T-E under your pillow. Give your subconscious the intention. My goodness. So if you intend that you really want to do something, put it under your pillow, supposedly. And then maybe if I'm understanding it correctly, that will all come true. Woo! Number seven, ask your future self for advice. Okay. I need to do that. I need to check with myself more for advice. My future self. Where am I going to be tomorrow? Where am I going to be in a week? Really, with this program, I just try to live with where I am today, right now. But sometimes I do think about the future. Number eight, change clothes to shift your mood. Different outfits bring different energy. Oh, we all know that's true. When I was in Europe, definitely had to wear shorts and a t-shirt. It was a hundred degrees.

SPEAKER_05 21:49

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_08 21:50

Yes. Wearing black and um heavy pants and a long sleeve shirt, not really going to work. It would have definitely Shifted my mood. Number nine, say return the sender to yourself. Release any energy that's not yours. You should only be in charge of your own energy. Don't try to run other people's lives and do what tell them what to do and how to run their lives. That's not what this is about. And number ten, open doors after crying. Because love this line, let the feeling leave with the air.

SPEAKER_06 22:34

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_08 22:36

Nothing wrong with crying. I've cried so many times in my life for so many reasons.

SPEAKER_07 22:44

But let the feeling live. Leave, excuse me, with the air.

unknown 22:51

Wow.

SPEAKER_07 22:54

Wow.

SPEAKER_08 22:56

I already said wow, didn't I? Alright, here's my third one. I'm going to share about five or six. My wish for you. When you are lonely, I wish you love. When you are down, I wish you joy. When you are troubled, I wish you peace. When things are complicated, I wish you simple beauty. When things are chaotic, I wish you inner silence. And when things look empty, I wish you hope. A crucial part of my eating program is to always have hope. Never lose sight of hope. Hope that I can survive a day without resorting to my trigger foods, my bad behaviors, my bad thoughts. Remember, my friends, when things look empty, I wish you hope.

SPEAKER_02 24:00

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? 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 underlap 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.

SPEAKER_08 25:30

All right, I'm going to keep moving on with the phrases that impress. Here's one. Every single one of us who is even the least bit conscious right now is on the evolutionary precipice of reclaiming our divine power. So do not let anyone tell you that these are bad times. These times are here to set our souls on fire and burn down everything that isn't the truth. Let me just repeat a couple sentences here. Do not let anyone tell you these are the bad times. We seem to live in a society right now of doom and gloom in so many different ways. Negative, negative, negative. That's my impression anyway. Remember, these times are here to set our souls on fire and burn down everything that isn't the truth. Always seek the truth. The truth, as the old cliche goes, will set you free. And finally, I'm going to end with this one. And it goes like this. If we are to live long and happily in this world, every day is a day we must surrender. I think I mentioned that at the beginning of my sharing of these memes. Full circle. Surrender. I think it's warranted to repeat. If we are to live long and happily in this world, every day is a day we must surrender. Surrender. Surrender.

SPEAKER_02 27:25

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_08 27:36

Folks, for my rewatchables, I've shared with you my cruise classics when I've been on the high seas. But what happens when I'm in the air? And I'm traveling from Dublin to the Minneapolis airport? As I did a few days ago for eight to nine hours. Well, first of all, my legs are not happy. Should have had the compression socks. Gotta tell you. But they're better now. Anyway, but you have a plethora of movies and games and TV shows that you can watch. And so I took the opportunity to watch a couple films that I'm going to tell you about briefly and simply, for whatever it's worth, give you my impression. Maybe you've seen it, maybe you agree, maybe you disagree. That's your business. And it got a 61% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. And it stars Jeremy Allen White, the star from uh Shameless, and um most notably The Bear, uh playing Bruce Springsteen, a young Bruce Springsteen. Uh Jeremy Strong uh plays his manager, and those are the two most noteworthy names. And basically, the story and it's rated PG-13 is on the cusp of global superstardom, New Jersey rocker Bruce Springsteen struggles to reconcile the pressures of success with the ghosts of his past as he records the album Nebraska in the early 1980s. So basically, it is a biopic about a certain part of Bruce Springsteen's life, largely what was going on with the creation of the Nebraska album. Now, I've heard the Nebraska album. I am going to come back to it more, but it was a great departure from what he had done previously and what he's primarily known for. Uh the Nebraska album uh did incredibly well, uh, didn't have any hit singles, uh, didn't have any promotion, but it really did do uh quite well. And so the film uh talks about what was going on personally with Bert Springsteen, with his struggling with his past life, with his father, particularly, uh, and how that was reflected the way I see it anyway, in the lyrics for Nebraska. Uh he also was moved by um the young man. Um the the it was a movie called Badlands about this young guy played by Martin Sheen. He was a real character uh who went on a murder spree and took with him this young girl with him, uh, played in the movie by Sissy Spacich, and uh murders her father and other people along the way, and then why he did that. And that's also reflected in the um lyrics. And the film talks about how his manager really at first didn't want to do this because it was such a departure from what he was doing, it wasn't going to be a moneymaker, and but he uh Bruce Bruce Springsteen felt so strongly, so so motivated, so um triggered that he uh had to do this project. And um that was good, that I enjoyed. But briefly I would tell you, and I remember mo many of the critics have said the same thing, uh who saw this when it came out. It didn't do extremely well at the box office. Uh that I really I really got somewhat bored with it about halfway through. Uh why? Because you you constantly had these flashbacks to uh Bruce with his father, who was, I guessing, was abusive and alcoholic. That's that's my take on it, and didn't seem to have time for his son, but yet what had these great uh moments of um wanting to be with his son. And so Bruce was confused and didn't know whether he was loved or not loved, and and so then that had a bearing on this relationship he's having with this young woman in the film. You know, he can't get really connected with her because nobody's has ever connected with him. He's always been isolated, and so he becomes more so and more so depressed and isolated and withdrawn from people. And ultimately he does decide to go to uh uh therapist, and I guess that's a turning point that they show him going to the therapist, and then next time we have any um insight into his life, is that it's years after and he's back on stage performing. So that's all left out. We don't know you know what he came to terms with, you know. I will say there's a scene at the end where his father, who's quite sick, uh after uh Bruce has performed at a concert, is backstage and he comes and he wants Bruce to sit on his knee, and they have a very, very touching father-son moment. I I did find that moving. Uh but was it enough of the basis for a film? I don't know. Uh if you like Bruce Springsteen, you like his music, I guess I would say to watch it. Uh, did I like Jeremy White? Yes. I really like him as an actor, very, very much so. Uh and I thought he he did his own singing in this. He had the mannerisms of Bruce Springsteen. He definitely looked like him. Uh so that I commend that actor. Um, did I need to see this film? Not really. Um I can probably enjoy the beauty of the Nebraska album without knowing all of this or not knowing what was going on with Bruce because they didn't they never really directly. My major complaint is they never really directly said, what was the issue with you, Bruce? What the blank is going on with you as to why you can't shape this sense of depression. I just felt like we were cheated as an audience a little bit on that. So his recreation of Bruce Springsteen, great, but nope, I wouldn't watch it again. So Bruce Springsteen delivered me from nowhere. Nowhere with me. Now I've alluded to that going to Europe, I went to many, many, many different places, went to uh Germany, Switzerland, and Austria in a very short amount of time. And one of the places that we did go to was Stackau in Germany, which was a concentration camp. And I cannot relate to you how sobering that experience is. To walk in the barracks, to see the crematoriums, to see the gas chambers, to see all the history, to see the images of what happened to these people, millions killed because of their religion and ethnicity. Uh you can't put words on it. You can't describe it. And so when I was coming home on the plane, I noticed there was a film called Nuremberg, which is a 2025 film, and I'd never seen it in the theaters. And it's an American psychological thriller, historical drama, directed by James Vanderbilt. And it's based on a book, and the film follows a U.S. Army psychiatrist played by Rami Malik, who I thought was very, very brilliant in this, who seeks to investigate the personalities and monitor the mental status of Herman Gorg. I'm not sure if I'm saying that right, played by the incomparable Russell Crowe, and other high-ranking Nazis in preparation for the Nuremberg trials. And the plot is that on May 1945, one day before Nazi Germany surrenders, Goring, played by Crowe, who was second in command to Hitler, surrenders with his family to U.S. forces in Austria. And so then they decide that there should be a tribunal established to put these war criminals on trial. And this is all historically true. The U.S. is reluctant to support Jackson's plans in favor of summary executions, but he does win the support of the Pope by implying his knowledge of the latter's controversial relationship with the Nazi regime. So they all decide that they are going to do this trial in Nuremberg. And so they bring in this psychiatrist to evaluate the mental health of the 22 Nazi leaders that they have arrested who have been selected for prosecution. And the bulk of the film deals with the relationship between the psychiatrist and the Russell Crowe character, and how the psychiatrist, in my estimation, and this is a film I really would like to watch again, uh really gets into the mind of what it was like to be a Nazi and the arrogance of the Russell Crowe character and the non-apology of the Russell Crowe character, and how uh the Russell Crowe character thinks he's going to come out a victor in this trial, which unfortunately does not happen, or I should say fortunately. Better better use of words. And um one of them before the trial starts, that's been uh arrested, commits suicide. So the rest of them are put on suicide watch. And when the trial starts, the prosecution shows footage displaying the regime's atrocities inside the concentration camps. And the basic statement of Goring, the Russell Crowe character, is that he had no idea, even though second in command to Hitler, that these atrocities were happening in these camps. He had no idea. Well, folks, that's that's not true. That's a lie. And so they did prove at the end of the trial, and it's a brilliant trial to watch, that he knew what was going on. And so to make a long story short, all of the uh Nazis are found guilty and they're ordered to be hanged, but Gring uh committed suicide right before he was going to be hanged. And the psychiatrist uh who probably uh got too personally involved and be almost befriended um the Nazi portrayed by uh Russell Crowe and his family, his wife and daughter, that he is fired by the um military and writes a book talking about how this could happen anywhere at any time, the rise of Nazism, just because this one was squelched doesn't mean it wouldn't rear its ugly head again. And uh unfortunately his book never was successful and he many years later committed suicide. It was really sad. Uh and so the psychiatrist at the end resorted to alcoholism and spent the rest of his life in vain warning about the possibility of a future regime which would be parallel to the Nazis. But as I said, he committed suicide in 1958. Now, why do I recommend this film? Because of the performances by Malik as uh the psychiatrist, Russell Crowe, amazing as the self-absorbed Nazi, uh brilliant performances, is compelling, it's fast moving, it's engrossing, it's heavy. The film footage that they show at the trial is really difficult to watch. Uh film that the Allies took when they uh came to liberate the concentration camps. It's it's devastating to watch, but important.

SPEAKER_07 42:30

So important.

SPEAKER_08 42:31

And I hope this film, whether you see it on streaming or pay-per-view or whatever, really drives home that we can never allow something like this to happen again. Now, do we know that we have neo-Nazi um groups in America and the world? Sure do. Absolutely. But we cannot let this come to the power that it did with Adolf Hitler in Germany.

SPEAKER_07 43:07

That's that's a message for me.

SPEAKER_08 43:13

And how inhuman can one group of people be against another? The whole goal was to eradicate, get rid of, destroy the Jewish race for a master race.

SPEAKER_07 43:33

What is that? That is not man's decision. That's not a political party's right and decision to follow through with. And thank God the world destroyed at that time the Nazi regime. And recently.

SPEAKER_08 44:00

Being in Germany, we went to the um Germany Museum where this really deals with the rise of the Third Reich and the aftermath and um how the country became divided and then finally uh achieved solidarity.

SPEAKER_07 44:17

And now the Germans don't have to feel ashamed of the past. The nationality of the evil, that's not the issue, it's the evilness.

SPEAKER_08 44:35

The evilness, the evilness comes in all kinds of disguises And Hitler was a solid example of evilness.

SPEAKER_07 44:50

So see the film in November. It will really, really make you think.

SPEAKER_03 45:04

Sit still. I said, I can't. Something's tickling me. She thought I was crazy. She said, Well, open your coat. I unbuttoned my coat and opened it up. There was a mouse.

SPEAKER_02 45:15

Stories. Everybody has them. The stories of our parents, grandparents, and our friends remind us who they are.

SPEAKER_00 45:23

That's kinda what I think it is, too, is memories. I re growing up, my dad did a couple, my dad was an English teacher.

SPEAKER_02 45:30

How they got here and what they've learned on the way. What if you could collect as many of your loved ones' stories in a high-quality audio format to keep forever? What if you could share the sound of your loved one's voice, their laughter, and their thoughtful manner with your children? Or when you are simply driving to work.

SPEAKER_00 45:48

He spent literally three months in North Dakota freezing buckets of ice water to make this awesome ice fort that we never spent time in, but it was amazing. For the moment it was done.

SPEAKER_02 46:01

Well, you can with a Sunny Side of Life biography. Produced here at Sunnyside Farm Studios. I'll sit down with your loved one for one, two, or several sessions to record their stories.

SPEAKER_01 46:13

I think my students are going to have good memories of me.

SPEAKER_02 46:19

You'll receive the full raw recording, an edited selection arranged in audio chapters for easy reference, and produced segments you can use for family gatherings, special moments, or any time you just want to hear your loved one's voice.

SPEAKER_00 46:30

And those are probably my most cherished things.

SPEAKER_02 46:34

Share it with your family and make it a keepsake. Because that's what stories are keepsakes of the time we had together. Never forget that.com. The email is also in this show's notes. Let me record your loved one's story so you can share the sunny side of their life in their own words for years to come. I actually do kind of remember that now.

SPEAKER_08 47:04

Folks, I don't know what I really want to call this, but in the past I've shared with you some quotable quotes from some of my favorite films that I've shared with you over the past coming up on three years, four years, ten years, I don't know, whatever. But um I wanted to share some from my one of my favorite films, the Devil Wars Prado 1. And I almost have the script memorized, I've seen it so many times. But it um I just find them so funny, so hilarious, so uh amazing that I just thought I'd share some of them with you. And you can say them along with me if you can recall any of them. Uh here's one, Nigel, the guy who plays um played by Samuel uh Tucci in the film. And he says to uh uh the young gal uh Ann Hathaway, let me know when your whole life goes up in smoke. Means it's time for a promotion. Here's one, Miranda Priestley. Oh, the majority of the great quotes are by Miranda Priestley, as portrayed by uh Meryl Streep. By all means move at a glacial pace. You know how that thrills me. That was a terrible impression of uh Miranda. Here's uh interchange of dialogue between Emily and Andy, who worked in the office for Miranda. Emily says, Andrea, my God, you look so chic. Andy, oh thanks. You look so thin. They're going into this big um fashion show. Emily says, Really? It's repairs. I'm on this new diet. Well, I don't eat anything, and when I feel like I'm about to faint, I eat a cube of cheese. I'm just one stomach flu away from my cold weight. Oh my goodness. I don't endorse that kind of uh dieting. I have to have more than a cube of cheese, but anyway. Uh and here's a lengthy one, but is so quotable. Um, they're in um Miranda's office trying to find outfits for some kind of layout, and Joeline holds up two belts, a woman who works for Miranda and says, It's a tough call, they're so different. And then Andy, as portrayed by Anne Hathaway's Snickers, and then everybody stares at her. And then Miranda, being Miranda, says, Something funny. Andy sacks, no, no, nothing. You know, it's just both those belts look exactly the same to me. You know, I'm still learning about this stuff. And and then Miranda Priestley goes into this tirade. Oh, this stuff. Oh, okay, I see. You think this has nothing to do with you. You go to your closet, you select, I don't know, that lumpy blue sweater, for instance, because you're trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back. But what you don't know is that the sweater is not just blue, it's turquoise, it's not lapease, it's actually Cerubian. And you're also blithely on the wear the fact that in 2002, Oscar de Laurenta did a collection of Cerubian gowns. And then I think it was uh St. Laurent, wasn't it, who showed Sir Cerulean, can I say it? Cerulean, military jackets. Um then she says, I think you mean the jacket here. And Nigel uh nods, leaves the room. And then Cerulean quickly showed up in the collection of eight different designers, and then it filtered down through the department stores and then trickled on down to some tragic casual corner where you no doubt fish it out of some clearance bin. However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs. And it's sort of comical how you think that you've made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when in fact you're wearing a sweater that was selected to you by the people in this room from a pile of stuff. Can you see the skin melting off Miranda's face? Oh my goodness, I love that. Um here's one. Miranda comes in the office in the morning and they always had to have things a certain way. And um Andy's out getting her coffee and she's not back yet. And she says, Is there some reason that my coffee isn't here? Has she died or something? Oh my goodness. And then um, there's a situation where Miranda's having a meeting, and then all of a sudden she moves it up, and Nigel says to Andy, but we're not expected until Tuesday. Did she say why she moved it up? Andy, yes, she explained every detail of her decision making. And then we brushed each other's hair and gabbed about American Idol. And Nigel said, I see your point. Now these quotes really make much more sense if you've seen the Devil Worth product, which I guess I shouldn't assume all of my happy listening audience has, but if you haven't, you better get that done. That's your homework. All right. And she always had something that she would say, some disjointed statement. And here was one. Find me that piece of paper I had in my hand yesterday morning.

unknown 52:26

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_08 52:27

What? Oh my god. Oh. Oh my god. Here's one. Uh when um Andy tried to come to Miranda's uh defense when she she thinks that Runway, the magazine, is trying to get rid of uh Miranda. And Miranda says, You thought I didn't know? I've known what was happening for quite some time. And it just took me a little while to find a suitable alternative for Jacqueline, the woman who's going to possibly take over Runway. And that James Holt job is just so absurdly overpaid that of course she jumped at it. So I just had to tell Irv that Jacqueline was unavailable. Truth is there's no one that can do what I do, including her. Any of their choices would have found the job impossible, and the magazine would have suffered, especially because of the list. The list of designers, the photographers, the editors, the writers, the models, all of whom were found by me, nurtured by me, and have promised me they will follow me wherever and if I choose to leave Runway. So he can reconsidered it. But I was very, very impressed by how you intently tried to warn me. I never thought I would say this, Andrea, but I I really I see a great deal of myself in you. You can see beyond what people want and what they need, and you can choose for yourself. And Andy says, Well, I don't think I'm like that. I couldn't do what you did to Nigel. Miranda, I couldn't do something like that. And Miranda says, You already did to Emily. Andy, that's not what no, that was different. I I didn't have a choice. Oh no no, Miranda says, You chose. You chose to get ahead. You want this life? Those choices are necessary. Andy, but what if this isn't what I want? I mean, what if I don't want to live the way you live? And then Miranda says the glorious line, oh, don't be ridiculous, Andrea. Everybody wants this. Everybody wants to be us. Oh my goodness. But Andy does decide at the end of the film that she doesn't want to do it and to live that way. Uh when Andy comes to the office for her interview, which is uproariously funny, uh, Miranda says to her, You have no sense of fashion. Andy says, I think that depends on Miranda. No, no, that wasn't a question. Oh my God. Oh. When um Miranda gets upset with Andy because she didn't get her back on a plane to see her twins play in a piano concert. Andy says, she goes to Nigel and she says, She hates me, Nigel. And that's my problem because oh wait, that's not my problem. Andy. I don't know what else I can do because if I do something right, it's unacknowledged. She doesn't even say thank you, but if I do something wrong, she's vicious. Nigel, so quit. What? Quit. Quit. I can get another job to take your job in five minutes. Another girl, one who really wants it. No, I don't want to quit. That's not fair. But I, you know, I'm just saying that I would just like a little credit for the fact that I'm killing myself trying. Andy, be serious. You are not trying. You are whining. What is it that you want me to say to you, huh? Do you want me to say, poor you, Miranda's picking on you? Poor you, poor Andy. Hmm? Wake up. She's just doing her job. Don't you know that you're working at the place that published some of the greatest artists of the century? Halston, Langerfeld, the Lorenta. And what they did and what they created was greater than art because you lived your life in it. Well, not you, obviously, but for some people. You think this is just a magazine? This is not just a magazine. This is a shining beacon of hope for oh, I don't know. Let's say a young boy growing up in Rhode Island with six brothers, pretending to go to soccer practice when he's really going to sewing class and reading runway under the covers at night with a flashlight. You have no idea how many legends have walked these halls. And what's worse, you don't care. Because this place where so many people would die to work, you only disdain to work. And you want to know why she doesn't kiss you on the forehead and give you a gold star on your homework at the end of the day. Wake up, sweetheart. Uh, just a couple more. There's so many. Uh Emily, the gal she works with, uh, Andy does for Miranda. Um, I'm sorry, do you have some prior commitment? Some hideous skirt convention you have to go to. Oh my gosh. Um here's another one. Miranda uh calls Andy. I need 10 to 15 skirts from Calvin Klein. What kind of skirts? Miranda, please don't bore me with your questions. Um here's one where um Andy gets in trouble because he doesn't get uh Miranda back. Hello, Miranda. My flight's been canceled. It's some absurd weather problem. And there's a hurricane going on in the background. I need to get home tonight to New York. The twins have a recital tomorrow morning at school. What? At school. Absolutely, let me see what I can do. Good. Then she hangs up. Then the phone rings later. Miranda, I'm trying to get you a flight, but no one is flying out because of the weather. Oh, please, it's just, I don't know, drizzling. Miranda says, Someone must be getting out. Call Donatella. Get her jet. Call anyone else we know that has a jet. Call every this is your responsibility. This is your job. Get me home. Andy says, Oh my god, she's going to murder me. Her father says, What does she want you to do? Call the National Guard and have her airlifted out of there? Andy, of course not. Andy. Could I do that? And I could go on and on, my loved ones, but we need to keep moving on. But my favorite one is the one that's said many times over by Miranda. That's all. So that's what I'm saying to this segment. That's all. Okay, my friends, that does it for Mr. B and his dinner party. Well, anyway, I'm happy to say that I will come back. I know you're hanging your head and say, why, why? But that just tells you that I have nothing else to do. So anyway, until we meet again, this has been Mr. B's dinner party. I'm glad I was here. And I hope that you have enjoyed your German meal, your Austrian meal, and your Switzerland meal. Because there's nothing like sauerkraut and bratwurst.

SPEAKER_04 59:35

Bye-bye. Television dramas and comedic reviews, pet peeves buzzing like honeydew blues, poetry sprinkled like salt on a dish. Everywhere served with a twist and a switch belly up to the table, my friend. The feast of thought will never end. From travel's fire to a spiritual climb. Voice toast of music starting rides.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:07

Mr. B's dinner party is hosted by Scott Bertelson. Edited and produced by Troy Thompson. Recorded and distributed at Sunnyside Farm Studios and platformed by ButterScript.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:22

World journeys mapped with tales divine. He's hosting a dinner for your hungry mind. A banquet of life where you can unwind belly to the table, my friend. From travel's fire to a spiritual climb. Morsels of music.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:57

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.