Naked Cowboy Economics

Election Day crackles through the studio as we kick off with a Springsteen surprise and a reminder to vote, then veer into the strange economics of spectacle: The Naked Cowboy, busking myths, and why consistency can out-earn talent in the right crossroads. From there our patience runs out on Halloween creep—medical shows in silly glasses, twenty-five-foot skeletons, and the rising pressure to celebrate everything—and we make a bold proposal: move Christmas to February. Spread out travel, light up the darkest weeks, and let December hold the cozy romance that’s already in the air.

Film fans, we go deep. Punch-Drunk Love isn’t a quirky rom-com; it’s a Paul Thomas Anderson gem with a meticulous score, magical realism, and an astonishing Adam Sandler performance. Then we jump to Caught Stealing, Darren Aronofsky’s dark, funny, off-kilter New York set piece from 1998, with Austin Butler leading a stacked cast. It’s a love letter to pre-9/11 city grit, where violence colors tone rather than hijacking the story. We unpack what makes these films linger: rhythm, restraint, and the courage to stay weird.

Back at home, birds take over the narrative. A man accidentally wears a pigeon for a week. A crow forms a committee and turns a scarecrow into a hangout. We admire animal intelligence, plan a neighborhood lawn mower parade, and share a smart fridge horror story involving a faulty door sensor, a curious cat, and way too much soda. We also spotlight AI’s new tug-of-war in schools, a Florida “olive oil” fiasco that wasn’t, a heartfelt recommendation for Percival Everett’s James, and a candid take on SNL’s forced sketch endings. We close by honoring composer Adrian Sutton, whose work illuminated theater and memory.

If you smiled, argued with us, or added a movie to your queue, tap follow, share this episode with a friend, and leave a quick review—what holiday would you move, and which film did we sleep on?

Find our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/447251562357065/

Transcript

Election Day Banter & Jeremy Allen White

SPEAKER_00 0:21

Hey everybody. Welcome to the Anne Levine Show. Oh. It's Tuesday, November 4th, 2025. I'm joined by Michael over there.

SPEAKER_02 0:41

Hello.

SPEAKER_00 0:44

That's his election day voice. Oh yeah. That's right, it is. Everyone go vote. If we have anything to vote on in Massachusetts, I'm not sure. Well, you know, if you're not in Massachusetts, we do have people around the country who listen. That's true. Um and around the world. That's true. Yeah. And we are coming to you from W O M R 92.1 FM in Provincetown.

SPEAKER_02 1:15

And WFMR 91.3 FM Orleans. And we're streaming worldwide at W OMR.org. And this, yeah. Go ahead. You're gonna talk about the song?

SPEAKER_00 1:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:30

Sounds familiar.

SPEAKER_00 1:32

It does, doesn't it? What do you think it is?

SPEAKER_02 1:36

Well, I know what it is.

SPEAKER_00 1:38

Well, I thought it was Bruce Springsteen, I'm on fire.

SPEAKER_02 1:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:43

And it's Jeremy Allen White.

SPEAKER_02 1:46

That's right. Lip.

SPEAKER_00 1:48

I'm on fire.

SPEAKER_02 1:49

From Shameless.

SPEAKER_00 1:50

Well, and Carmi from The Bear.

SPEAKER_02 1:53

From the Bear, yep.

SPEAKER_00 1:54

And now he's Bruce from Springsteen Deliver Mearning. Springsteen Deliver Me from nowhere. Yeah. The film. I can't believe he's too I know. Amazing.

SPEAKER_02 2:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:11

Um good for him. Who knew the guy could sing a little bit? Who knew?

SPEAKER_02 2:16

Yeah, I well, I didn't know.

SPEAKER_00 2:17

I didn't know.

SPEAKER_02 2:18

Yeah. What do I know though?

SPEAKER_00 2:20

I don't know what you know, but I love I love Jeremy Allen White.

SPEAKER_02 2:25

Yeah, he's a he's a great actor, actually.

SPEAKER_00 2:27

And I'm anxious to see In my opinion.

SPEAKER_02 2:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:31

Well, I agree. Um, I mean, I've seen him do enough things. We've all seen him in his underwear in Times Square.

SPEAKER_01 2:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:42

Um yeah, so good actor, I would say. Anyway, I'm anxious to see that film.

SPEAKER_02 2:49

I mean, any actor in his underwear in Times Square is a great actor. Uh Michael Keaton.

SPEAKER_00 2:55

That's true.

SPEAKER_02 2:56

Remember him?

SPEAKER_00 2:56

Yes, I vaguely remember him. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:59

In his underwear. Right. Although, was it Times Square? It's Broadway, but uh Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:07

But um the same thing. Yeah, kind of. Just a couple blocks over.

SPEAKER_02 3:11

Yeah. Um In the Big Apple. Where everything's happening and guys are in their underwear. Oh, like the uh the naked cowboy guy. Oh he's always there.

SPEAKER_00 3:24

Is he I wonder if he's still around.

SPEAKER_02 3:26

You know what? I don't know. I'm gonna look it up.

SPEAKER_00 3:28

And I want to know what that guy used to pull in. And if you don't know what we're talking about, there was this guy, and maybe there still is, but I kind of doubt it. Anyway, who used to get into his outfit, which was cowboy boots, underpants, tidy whiteys. That's right, cowboy hat and guitar.

SPEAKER_02 3:54

Yep. No shirt. Yeah. Yeah. Just he started doing this in 1970? Wait, no. That's when he was born. He started doing it in 1998. He's still doing it.

SPEAKER_00 4:09

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 4:10

He is still doing it.

SPEAKER_00 4:12

So he's 55 and still hanging out naked. Now I want to know what do we know his name or Robert John Burke.

SPEAKER_01 4:23

Robert John Burke. B-U-R-B-R-J-C-K. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:29

RBJ. RJB.

SPEAKER_01 4:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:33

And um, do we know what he would take in in a day? You know, from you know what?

SPEAKER_02 4:39

That's a good question. There might be a week. Busking somewhere around him. Let's see.

SPEAKER_00 4:43

I'm sure that the guy is making quite a living.

SPEAKER_02 4:49

Oh, by the way, when he's not in Times Square, like you know, in the winter, he's in New Orleans. Oh, no kidding. Yeah, he's always in the French quarter during Mardi Gras.

Times Square Icons & Busking Economics

SPEAKER_00 5:02

So Oh, this guy has got to be raking it in, I would think. I mean, I would say in a day in New York, like in Times Square, gotta be looking at 300 bucks, 400 bucks. You would think, yeah. Yeah. A day. And you know, around Christmas time, it's well, no, he's in New Orleans. But yes, certain times it's gonna be more I I would think it's quite a lot.

SPEAKER_02 5:38

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 5:38

Quite a lot of cash.

SPEAKER_02 5:40

I'm not seeing anything listed here in the Wikipedia, though. So let me see if I can find out somewhere else.

SPEAKER_00 5:47

Well, yeah, maybe there's a way to kind of you know, I wonder what the average busker um in New York makes versus like the famous busker. I mean, this guy is people go to the city just to see him.

SPEAKER_02 6:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:10

Anyway.

SPEAKER_02 6:11

Okay, so according to Celebrity Networth, he makes anywhere between$150 and to$200,000 a year. He's worth about$4 million.

SPEAKER_00 6:22

Oh my God.

SPEAKER_02 6:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:26

Michael, put on your underpants and go to Times quick.

SPEAKER_02 6:31

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:32

Go to the village green.

SPEAKER_02 6:34

Right.

SPEAKER_00 6:35

We've got hats. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:37

Oh, true.

SPEAKER_00 6:38

Yeah, we got hats. He's got a net worth of four million.

SPEAKER_02 6:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:42

Oh my God. Okay, people. Well, here's your new life hack. Put on your underpants and get a guitar and go stand. I mean, someone should be in Pro this guy should be in Provincetown. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:58

And be entertaining for decades.

unknown 7:01

You know.

SPEAKER_02 7:02

That's how you get there.

SPEAKER_00 7:03

Well, you know, that we know someone who busks up there and does really well. I'm not saying well, his last name is Harrington. I can't think of his first name. I know his parents, but he's got like a Piano Harrington. Right.

SPEAKER_02 7:22

That's what I'm calling. That's what I call it.

SPEAKER_00 7:24

Piano Harrington in P Town in the summers. And he does quite well. It's a lot of fun to listen to. That's why, you know. He's good. He's a good musician. So you've got to be naked. I mean, I guess in P Town there's a lot of competition in the costume area.

SPEAKER_02 7:45

Exactly. So you know what? The small, I mean, the the less of a costume, the more you might stand out in P Town during certain times of year.

SPEAKER_00 7:54

Oh, so you mean like the naked cowboy?

SPEAKER_02 7:56

Right. See?

SPEAKER_00 7:57

Well, honey, um, it's time for us to get in shape. We have from now till Memorial Day. Yeah. And um we could do it. Right. We could do it. What could we call ourselves? Uh the naked The Naked old. The naked and the clueless. Oh, okay. Yeah. Which one are you? Uh either one. I'm clueless. Okay. Um, you'll be naked, I'll be clueless. Okay, because nobody wants to see really see anything. Anyway. The naked cowboy. Yeah. Boy, I miss I miss home. I miss my hometown sometimes when I talk about stuff like this. Wow. The I want to address something for a second. Halloween, which took place on Friday. And now is in my rear view mirror. Yeah. Except everything went Halloween. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 9:07

Very, very weird.

SPEAKER_00 9:09

And I'm just, it's, it's nothing new. It's just exhausting. And I couldn't every show that aired last week show had a Halloween episode. Right. And I couldn't watch, you know, my sort of basic shows that I casually watch. You know, I watch all the like Brilliant Minds is one of my favorite shows. They had a freaking Halloween episode. And so all the medical shows, Chicago Med, um probably Gray's Anatomy. And it you've got like people walking in because, you know, they had an accident while they were carving their jack-o'-lantern. Right, yeah. Or people coming in in costumes, you know, saying, oh no, it hurts here, it hurts here.

SPEAKER_02 10:10

And the doctor's got a uh funny glasses and mustache on. Yeah, and bunny ears.

SPEAKER_00 10:18

There was one oh god.

SPEAKER_02 10:19

Yeah, it's all of the you know, I've noticed that uh Halloween is becoming more Christmas like every year, and the more it does, the less I like it.

SPEAKER_00 10:30

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 10:31

It's every oh my dear the amount of decorating. We went to a doctor's office.

SPEAKER_00 10:38

Oh no, this was crazy.

SPEAKER_02 10:40

We went to a doctor's office.

SPEAKER_00 10:41

Well, you can tell where we on Halloween. I had laser surgery on my eye.

SPEAKER_02 10:47

Yeah. So we're at this office and we're waiting for her to go in.

SPEAKER_00 10:52

Right.

SPEAKER_02 10:53

And we're listening to the two receptionists that are around just around the corner.

SPEAKER_00 10:58

Checking people in.

SPEAKER_02 10:59

Checking people in. And to everybody, it's happy Halloween. Happy Halloween. And it's it's going both ways though. The customers are coming up saying happy Halloween. And we were like, what I'm like, when did that happen?

SPEAKER_00 11:16

I mean, if it's a child, maybe and then they have plates of Halloween candy. They were like two different plates, right? Yep. That they were putting some Halloween candy on. It was pretty much gone. And I grabbed a couple things that I know are Michael's favorites.

SPEAKER_02 11:36

Yeah, that was pretty cool of you.

SPEAKER_00 11:38

Then there's this couple like pushing in on me to get to the plate. I mean, these are like, you know, people in their 50s.

SPEAKER_02 11:48

Right. I I I don't get it.

SPEAKER_00 11:51

And it's like, ooh, I want that, you know, Hershey's kiss. I want those little sweet tarts or Right. Whatever whatever the heck it is, yeah. What the hell?

SPEAKER_02 12:02

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 12:02

What the hell?

SPEAKER_02 12:03

I don't get it. And what is the what is the thing anyway?

SPEAKER_00 12:07

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 12:08

I guess it's because people maybe at this time of year they're like, I need I need a I need a break from the summer, from my summer break.

SPEAKER_00 12:18

There's a guy in um, I'm saying a guy, I mean it's a business uh uh lawyer um in town that has a massive skeleton on the front lawn.

SPEAKER_02 12:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:33

That thing is how tall is it?

SPEAKER_02 12:35

25 feet high, 25, 30 feet. Yeah.

Halloween Fatigue & Over-The-Top Decor

SPEAKER_00 12:38

And I can't believe that the town, because it's on 6A and on the historical society route, how they're allowing some of this stuff.

SPEAKER_02 12:52

I'll tell you what, the lawyers must have found some way. Oh gosh, that's so funny.

SPEAKER_00 12:56

Right. But then there are these other people who just have ungapatched up. Well, there's the people with the dinosaurs. Yes, every year.

SPEAKER_02 13:05

Yeah, in uh Yarmouthport. Hideous. Very strange.

SPEAKER_00 13:09

Hideous. Yeah, it's like, oh, let's throw it some.

SPEAKER_02 13:13

You know what? I think they're not there this year. I think they've put something else there.

SPEAKER_00 13:17

Well, they throw those up at Christmas time also. Oh, yeah, and they put hats on them and it's so ridiculous. Anyway, um, well, we had the delightful event, one of the most miserable times of the year, um, when we reverted to Eastern Standard Time.

SPEAKER_02 13:39

Oh, yeah. Everybody loves it.

SPEAKER_00 13:42

I I am so sick of it, and I don't care if it's Eastern Standard Time or Daylight Savings Time. I don't care. Just leave it alone.

SPEAKER_02 13:52

Yeah, exactly. Pick one, I don't care which. We'll make the switch or not, depending on which one you pick, and that's just freaking leave it. Yeah. It is so screwed up, it messes people up to uh sometimes to a large degree, but it messes our animals up to a huge degree.

SPEAKER_00 14:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:12

Because they're like, wait a minute, it's it's dinner time.

SPEAKER_00 14:15

Right.

SPEAKER_02 14:16

And uh and I gotta tell them, no, it's not it's not dinner time, that's an hour from an hour, and they're like, you know what, you're lying. You're absolutely lying.

SPEAKER_00 14:25

We know exactly where the sun is in the sky. Right. When it's time for us to eat.

SPEAKER_02 14:30

I mean, they know. And uh it's really it and they're climbing all over you. They're like, come on, man, why are you deliberately not feeding us? Yeah. It's well past you know, the Rosie's looking at her watch saying it's well past dinner time.

SPEAKER_00 14:46

I know. And she's right.

SPEAKER_02 14:48

Except it isn't. So Lord really, it's a mess.

SPEAKER_00 14:54

Well, I have a plan.

SPEAKER_02 14:55

And it's dark so early.

SPEAKER_00 14:57

It's I know. And then we have the delightful thing of it's getting darker, it's getting darker, it's getting darker, but darker, but December 21st.

SPEAKER_02 15:10

Yeah, is the day.

SPEAKER_00 15:12

The day before Hanukkah. Hanukkah starts on the 22nd. Oh, right on. Okay. That's when we start getting lighter. That'll be a little bit lighter. So, you know, it's it's okay. It works out okay. Just let's just these jarring times um when it goes back and forth are just the worst. Anyway, um I have a I have a plan for the nation.

SPEAKER_02 15:40

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 15:41

Okay, so we have what happens now. We have Thanksgiving that's coming up in a few weeks. Yep. Three weeks. Then we have um Christmas.

SPEAKER_02 15:59

Right, yeah, 25th.

SPEAKER_00 16:01

Then we have New Year's. Then we get to Valentine's Day. Right. Yes. Been there. All right, now, and we've got Martin Luther King's birthday. Yeah. A bunch of different stuff. President's Day. All right, here's what we do.

SPEAKER_02 16:19

Uh all of the uh the uh sheets and stuff go on sale too around that time. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 16:26

Well, here's what we do.

SPEAKER_02 16:28

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 16:29

We switch Valentine's Day with Christmas. Here's here's why.

SPEAKER_02 16:37

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 16:38

So December 21st is when winter actually begins.

SPEAKER_02 16:43

Yes, right.

SPEAKER_00 16:44

And then we're then we're into December, January, February, March. You know, and in February, we're in deepest darkest winter. Now, that is true. When Christmas comes, we've already seen the whole family. We've had this huge Right for Thanksgiving meeting.

SPEAKER_02 17:07

Right.

SPEAKER_00 17:07

This huge food holiday.

SPEAKER_02 17:10

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 17:10

Um, and everyone is still full and talking about they have to get sweatpants. Well, you know, that whole thing.

SPEAKER_02 17:17

Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:18

And leftovers.

SPEAKER_02 17:19

Or just stretch, you know, yeah, elastic waist trousers.

SPEAKER_00 17:23

Right. And then the the the whole Christmas thing gets absolutely jammed into us at that moment.

SPEAKER_02 17:31

That is true.

SPEAKER_00 17:32

And it's like shopping, schmopping, preparing parties, this, that, the other.

SPEAKER_02 17:37

Buy this, that, and the other thing, yes.

SPEAKER_00 17:39

Right. And we've just, you know, spent money on traveling. Biggest travel day in the year is the Wednesday of Thanksgiving week. Anyway, so I think we should push that out to February when we need You know, I'm I'm with you.

SPEAKER_02 18:01

Something. We need lights. I r I am totally with you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:05

We need so from from New Year's on, then we have six weeks to like mull the cider, bring in a tree, put on lights, do the thing, go be festive, have some parties.

SPEAKER_02 18:22

Well, you know what else I like? I like the idea of going from Thanksgiving to Valentine's Day because it's like dessert. See? Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:34

Exactly. And you've got New Year's right smack in the middle there.

SPEAKER_02 18:38

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 18:39

It's plenty. There's too much.

SPEAKER_02 18:42

A lot of stuff. And then, but no, I think moving it to February is great. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:48

And you don't have to switch it out if you want to have whatever they're going to call it, Christmas time.

SPEAKER_02 18:55

It's probably a lot closer to when he was actually born anyway, if if he was.

SPEAKER_00 18:59

Who?

SPEAKER_02 19:00

Uh, the guy they celebrate Christmas for. Oh, Jesus. Yeah. Yes. Jesus. He's probably born in the summer. Who knows? Who knows? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:12

Um I think it was a Leo. I was just gonna say he doesn't fit the uh what is what is the I don't know. I don't care. I can't I'm gonna get so tied up in that. I don't think he's a Sagittarius. I don't know what he is. He's the Lord, you know.

SPEAKER_02 19:34

Well, yeah, true, yeah. He's the Lord.

Daylight Saving Time Rant & A Holiday Swap

SPEAKER_00 19:37

Um anyway, uh people think about it, you know.

SPEAKER_02 19:42

And that was a Capricorn, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:46

If you're lucky enough not to be enthralled to critic. I mean, in other words, if you don't have either it's not in your DNA, right? Um how do I put this?

SPEAKER_02 20:09

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 20:10

All right. All I'm saying is In English, if you care, thank you. I was getting ready to speak Aramaic. Oh or cuneiform. I don't have a good cuneiform accent.

SPEAKER_02 20:22

No, no, no, it needs work. Yeah, well, you know what? Very few people do. There's only like two people that are really good at that.

SPEAKER_00 20:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:31

Um, I don't know who one of them is that uh Egyptian Salawi guy, or you know, the guy from the museum. He's good at it.

SPEAKER_00 20:40

The guy from the museum.

SPEAKER_02 20:42

Yeah, the uh head Egyptologist in Egypt.

SPEAKER_00 20:45

Oh, that guy. Yeah. He speaks Cunia form.

SPEAKER_02 20:49

I think so, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:50

Oh, I thought that was like in Mesopotamia. But anyway.

SPEAKER_02 20:54

Oh no, hieroglyphics are also a f you know, a form of it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:58

Right. Okay. So anyway. Um, what am I talking about? You can't just derail me like that and Capricorns and Jesus. Oh, yeah. So we do the birthday in February. Yeah. When we need something festive.

SPEAKER_02 21:18

I I agree, yeah. Okay. So just And something, I agree with you, something with lights and and all that kind of thing. Not not the not the Valentine's thing. Do that, yeah, do that in December. Or when it's time to snuggle anyway. Right? It's cold. It's stupid.

SPEAKER_00 21:41

Valentine's Day is stupid. Yeah. It's one of the most upsetting days of the year.

SPEAKER_02 21:46

It is, of course, uh my uh probab very likely my uh conception day.

SPEAKER_00 21:52

It is.

SPEAKER_02 21:53

And I think it should be called most of the people in my family.

SPEAKER_00 21:56

Should be called Conception Day. I think you're right. Because you and your parents and some other parents that I know have sex basically in February.

SPEAKER_02 22:07

Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:08

And because their children are all born in November. And I think it's Valentine's Day. Yeah, personally.

SPEAKER_02 22:15

I do too. I don't I don't know. I'm I never considered it until Funny Man Paul Lander told me about it.

SPEAKER_00 22:23

Funny man?

SPEAKER_02 22:23

Yeah, he's oh, he's a funny guy.

SPEAKER_00 22:25

No, I know.

SPEAKER_02 22:26

But uh he's also uh November 12th baby.

SPEAKER_00 22:32

Oh, oh, one of your birthday twins, one of your many. Well, this year for your birthday, I have a very special plan, but we can talk about that next week.

SPEAKER_02 22:45

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 22:45

Um so I saw something that blew my mind. I watched Punch Drunk Love.

SPEAKER_02 22:55

Oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:56

Now, what are you what's in your mind about what that movie is? Um it's Adam Sandler.

SPEAKER_02 23:07

Yeah. Um well. I don't know, it's it's a relationship movie, right? I always thought right, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:25

I always thought it was gonna be kind of a goofy rom com. Yeah. Well, it's not. It's Paul Thomas Anderson, which I didn't realize, and it's Adam Sandler, Emily Watson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Luis Guzman, oh, your guy, Marilyn, yes, Marilyn Rascub, Robert Smeigel. Oh, wow, yes. Yeah, Jason Andrews, and David Shrimp.

unknown 23:58

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 24:00

Incredible casting and it's an incredible movie. Adam Sandler, it is not funny, it is not funny rom-com.

SPEAKER_02 24:10

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 24:11

It is very serious, and it's fascinating the way the film is put together, um, the way that the score, the music is incredible, it's original music. Um, I can't recommend it highly enough. It is, I hate this term, I don't know better terms. It's an art film.

SPEAKER_01 24:40

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02 24:41

And do you can do you put it in the same room with uncut gems?

SPEAKER_00 24:51

No, um, different.

unknown 24:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 24:54

I mean, uncut gems is a seriously setting. It's a very serious film, yeah. Amazing. I mean, uh other than the same room as Adam Sandler is an amazing actor.

SPEAKER_02 25:06

All right. I just was wondering if you would, yeah, if you would put them all together in the same place.

SPEAKER_00 25:12

No. Um, only in that they star the same person who's fabulous. Yeah. But this is got uh a there's some magical realism in it. This has got like um Amelie a little bit vibe in there. Um it's off Kelter.

SPEAKER_02 25:36

He did uh Mr. Deeds right after that one.

SPEAKER_00 25:38

Who did?

SPEAKER_02 25:39

Adam Sandler. Oh. His ver have you seen his version of Mr. Deeds? No. Yeah. Is it good? You know, yeah, just a lot of Sandler-esque kind of moments in it, which make it kind of fun. Uh yeah. And I think uh was uh I don't think Tim Curry was in it, was he? I don't know. I can't remember, but uh yeah, um a lot of great oh Steve Busemi was in it and John Taturo. Well, I love those guys. Yeah, all great. Oh my god, John McEnroe was in it. Oh my god. I've forgotten that part. Yikes. Yeah, you're a your former uh schoolmate.

SPEAKER_00 26:18

Tell me which um which film did Paul Thomas Anderson do after Punch Junk Love? I can't remember. People watch that film. If you've never seen it, or if like myself you were thinking, uh, this is gonna be this is like the Caddyshack guy. This is like the or no, not the Caddyshack guy. This is Billy Madison. This is There Will Be Blood. Yeah, okay. There will be blood. Yeah. Is um that's the guy who and the one before it? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:52

Magnolia. Okay. Which was amazing. Highly bizarre, but yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:58

Right. So that's who made punched train blood.

SPEAKER_02 27:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:03

So see it. It is quite extraordinary. Uh I'm still blown away by it. I I want to watch it again. I also saw something that's brand new that I I loved. It's Caught Stealing. Oh, yeah. And that is Austin Butler.

Valentine’s, Conception Day Jokes & Birthdays

SPEAKER_02 27:29

Elvis is in it, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:31

Regina King, Zoe Kravitz, Matt Smith, Lee Schreiber, Vincent D'Nafrio, Griffin Dunn, Bad Bunny, Carol Kane, and Carol Kane.

SPEAKER_02 27:46

Yeah. Now it That's a cast. Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_00 27:50

Unbelievable. And it's um Darren Aronovsky, the director, and it is so good.

SPEAKER_01 28:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:01

It's so, so good. Um, it's essentially another film not unlike Punch Trunk Love.

SPEAKER_02 28:11

Off kilter. You're right. Everything about it is a little off.

SPEAKER_00 28:14

And it's actually funny. Yeah. There it's actually a super dark comedy. A comedy? It's a super dark comic.

SPEAKER_02 28:29

Yeah, a like a yeah, I don't know. I don't know. It's hard to call it like a black comedy, but yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:35

I mean it's it kind of is. You know, it there is some there are some upsetting scenes in it. I what was I talking about? Oh, cocaine bear. Where, you know, it's like it's not like that. Like the violence in this is somewhere between um Cocaine Bear and say uh Quentin Tarantino. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 29:02

Like it's it's you know what, e uh even yeah, maybe because it also does have some weird ass Tarantino kind of vibes to it.

SPEAKER_00 29:16

Yeah. But it's not at all. I mean, no i it but anyway, caught stealing Austin Butler, amazing.

SPEAKER_02 29:25

Yeah, he was great.

SPEAKER_00 29:26

Wow, that guy um has convinced me thoroughly that he's a great actor. What a job he did in this film. Yeah. And it's all shot in New York City and in Brooklyn. And it's all about New York City and Brooklyn. Yeah. And it's nineteen ninety eight. It's right before nine eleven. The World Trade S Towers are still up there.

SPEAKER_02 29:58

I I w I Like gasps at the very beginning of the movie because I'm like, oh my God.

SPEAKER_00 30:04

There they are.

SPEAKER_02 30:05

Yeah, the Twin Towers. And it's how it opens.

SPEAKER_00 30:07

It's just it's it's so, but it's so great. It sets sets us in a time and a place, which is one of the greatest times and places. Yeah. And um it's a little bit of a love letter to and there's crazy, hilarious stuff in there. I mean, the whole scene with um the Jewish guys. Yeah. Yeah. You know, the mobsters stopping in for Shabbos dinner. Right. Well, they didn't want to get in trouble. With Bobby, yeah. With Bubby, played by Carol King as their mother. And so, and there's Elvis, Austin Butler, um, you know, having to eat. She put a she put a yarmulke on his head.

SPEAKER_01 30:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:58

I there's some really funny stuff in this movie. Um that's just like a bit of color that comes um towards the end. Yeah. That is by no means um it's by no means slapstick.

Punch-Drunk Love Reappraised

SPEAKER_02 31:16

No, no, no, no, no. No, but there's no, but it's it's very real, but it's also very funny.

SPEAKER_00 31:23

Right.

SPEAKER_02 31:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:24

Um anyway, uh it's a really interesting, interesting movie. And I I love it. I think it's gonna be a cult, a kind of a cult hit. Okay. Um it should be. Alrighty. You know, you told me this crazy story about a man. Here's what you said to me. Yeah. There's a man who had a pigeon on his head for a week. Yeah. Okay, I still am not. I don't feel good with that story. Can you tell that story?

SPEAKER_02 32:06

Well, I mean, um I uh hold on, yeah. I'm gonna look it up.

SPEAKER_00 32:18

Because I have a story that goes with it.

SPEAKER_02 32:21

His name was uh Glen Wood. Uh-huh. And uh in 1969, he was on the uh he was on BBC News and um ex uh explaining how this pigeon got on his head. And he was walking in a park and uh one day he and this pigeon came down and landed on his head. He tried to shoe it away several times. It wouldn't stay away. It just kept coming back to him and landing on his head. And uh I did mention he was British, right? Yes, so you know, stiff upper lip and all that. He's like, okay, I guess this is my life now. And for uh almost a week, I think it was, uh, he had a pigeon on his head, a week and a half, maybe. And uh he wouldn't he w had to leave the house. His wife would help him sneak the bird off his head, he'd run out of the ha out of the house, and they'd leave the bird in the garage for ten minutes until he had been gone for ten minutes, and then the bird would just uh go back in the house and sit at the door and wait for him to come home so he could jump and sit on his head. I can't with this. And so So it turns out it was someone's pet pigeon who used to sit on their heads all the time and he got loose.

SPEAKER_00 33:53

Well, who's whose pet pigeon? And who look, I here's my thing with this whole thing, right? If I go and I picturing myself in Central Park, because that's my experience with pigeons, yeah, and a pigeon lands on my head, here's what I'm not doing. I'm not going home with it.

SPEAKER_02 34:18

Yeah, well, he he went home with it. I mean, it's his wife is like, okay, I guess we got a pigeon on your head.

SPEAKER_00 34:25

That's gotta be crazy. Just, you know, just hear this. Now hear this.

SPEAKER_02 34:32

I'll put the link to the video on uh um on the Facebook page.

SPEAKER_00 34:36

Okay, because if you come home with a pigeon on your head, yeah, and you think I'm gonna work with that, no. Uh-uh. Well, how come? Because no. I'm not doing, all right, we gotta put the pigeon in the garage and hide for 10 minutes. No. Oh, all right. Well I'm calling wild animal rescue and saying, come get my husband.

SPEAKER_02 35:05

Oh, okay. Yeah, I guess it's with his pigeon.

SPEAKER_00 35:08

Oh, God. Um, well, here's one that I heard that made more sense to me.

SPEAKER_02 35:15

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 35:16

So this is a guy in Oregon.

SPEAKER_02 35:19

Oh, it makes more sense already.

SPEAKER_00 35:21

Well, he exactly. He spent weeks trying to shoe away a crow that kept dropping pebbles on his deck. Oh my goodness. Now, see, we know about we know something about crows. Yeah. And we like crows. I love them, yes. And you feed the crows a lot, yeah. Etc. So I get this. And it wasn't like, hi, I'm I'm moving in, and you have to put me in the garage while you go to work. No. It was just dropping these pebbles, which is something crows do. Yes. And so the guy's like, How do I keep this bird from dropping pebbles on my deck? It's really annoying, it's loud, it's bothersome. And he can't figure out what to do. So he says, I know I'll get a scarecrow. Uh-huh. Right? I mean, you'd think that's what they're for. Do you remember the scarecrow? Well, whatever. So he puts up this scarecrow.

SPEAKER_02 36:33

Not from the wizard, you weren't gonna say from the wizard of, were you?

Caught Stealing: Cast, Tone & NYC 1998

SPEAKER_00 36:36

No, I was gonna say from the backyard. But anyway, that's another horrible story. Um, anyway, what happened? What do you think happened?

SPEAKER_01 36:46

What um I I don't know what happened.

SPEAKER_00 36:49

The crow returned with a murder.

SPEAKER_02 36:54

The crow returned with like you guys gotta see this. Come check this out. I'm bringing this guy gifts every day, and he's like, and look what he brought me.

SPEAKER_00 37:03

Look what he brought me now. Let's go have some crow. Let's go eat some crow. So now he has a scarecrow with like 12 crows on it. Just sitting there like, you know, hanging out. They don't have to drop pebbles anymore.

SPEAKER_02 37:22

Awesome.

SPEAKER_00 37:23

They got there, you know, and this guy posted about this on TikTok, on it's on everywhere with the subtitle They Have Formed a Committee. I am outnumbered. So yeah, I like that. I like that a lot.

SPEAKER_02 37:48

Oh yeah. Um That's pretty funny.

SPEAKER_00 37:53

We are very fortunate to have met some people through another friend of ours, met some people who are helping us around the house. We got some help.

SPEAKER_05 38:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:12

They helped us like take up a huge rug and then replace it with a smaller one and move it here and move stuff, you know, like big heavy stuff.

SPEAKER_01 38:24

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 38:24

Well, they it turns out they mow lawns.

SPEAKER_01 38:28

Yeah. So it Which is very cool.

SPEAKER_00 38:33

Which is very cool. And we need we need help mowing our lawn. Look, Michael and I are the first to admit it. We are old and we can't do stuff anymore. No. We can't move dining room tables.

SPEAKER_02 38:51

My bones are brittle.

SPEAKER_00 38:54

Mine are too. I mean, it's awful, but we can't do what we used to do without even thinking about it. So now, unfortunately, we have to get people to help us out. But we yeah, we have found a couple. We have found some people, and um, and they're also gonna be able to do mowing the lawn. So um there's a story that I heard about that is just amazing, and I want us to get involved with this. I want all of Cape Cod to get involved with this. Okay, so I'm not sure where this was, but in a competitive neighborhood lawn mower parade, okay. We have what people who walk around here and we call them parades. Like if there's a family with a kid, um, or sometimes there's a woman around here that has is gets pushed in her wheelchair and she has a pinwheel on the back of her of her wheelchair, that's a parade, okay? That's a cape cod parade. Um so I think we should have one with a lawnmower, right? And we can deck out the lawnmower because there is a competition who could mow their lawn into the weirdest shape. And the winner was a one and a half acre yard which was trimmed into the shape of the neighborhood dog walker's root map. So now there's like um so it just got this wandering line.

SPEAKER_02 41:08

Wherever the dog walker goes on his walk, they're like, all right, let's put some heads there. And that is That is hilarious. That's funny.

SPEAKER_00 41:15

That is the the person who won the lawnmower parade competition.

SPEAKER_02 41:21

Right, got that piece of land.

SPEAKER_00 41:23

Yeah, and I'm thinking maybe we should see if our lawnmower can do something, I don't know, do like a profile of each of our dogs on the lawn. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 41:40

Oh yeah, not a bad idea.

SPEAKER_00 41:42

Something. Something, a little nod to something. I should wait until I test out their artistic prowess, because knowing these people, they'll do it.

SPEAKER_02 41:53

Yeah, if you ask, they're gonna make the attempt. Yeah, I think, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 41:58

So it could be disastrous if they're not really very good at it.

SPEAKER_00 42:02

But I have I know, I love this. Yeah. And I've got here something that I relate to so much, which is the smart fridge. Stuff that's been going on with smart fridges.

SPEAKER_02 42:19

Like a refrigerator? Yes. Uh what makes it smart? It knows what's in it or something?

SPEAKER_00 42:25

It knows what's in it and it knows what's not in it. Okay. So kind of like um A-L-E-X-A, you know.

SPEAKER_02 42:36

Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:37

Um, you can you can say uh hey Siri. Um well, you don't even say it. Uh-huh. It's it's like hooked up to whatever it's hooked up to.

SPEAKER_02 42:51

Right.

SPEAKER_00 42:52

One of those things.

SPEAKER_02 42:53

So you can say, uh, fridge, uh, do a thing.

SPEAKER_00 42:57

And keep a running list. Right. And so you set it up however you want.

SPEAKER_02 43:01

Yeah, probably with an app or something, yeah. Yeah.

Bird Tales: The Pigeon Hat And The Crow Committee

SPEAKER_00 43:06

Well, this guy who's all like Mr. Tack and everything in his home is tricked out and quote, smart. Okay. All right, well, this refrigerator is so smart that it started ordering twenty-four packs of soda because the door sensor malfunctioned.

unknown 43:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 43:36

And every time the cat jumped in as the door opened, it thought it needed restocking.

SPEAKER_02 43:47

Oh, that's okay. Yeah, see. So the yeah. There's your AI for you, people.

SPEAKER_00 43:53

Yeah, it's so helpful.

SPEAKER_02 43:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:55

So this guy is getting deliveries, you know, like from Instacart. Yeah, frequent, frequent deliveries.

SPEAKER_02 44:04

Oh, that is so funny.

SPEAKER_00 44:06

24 packs of soda. And he could not figure out what the hell was going on. That's really of course.

SPEAKER_02 44:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:13

Um, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:15

He didn't talk to the fridge about it, did he?

SPEAKER_00 44:17

You know, I have a friend who lived in New York her whole life. She doesn't now, um, who had she was a chef and a caterer. And she had a glass front refrigerator, which makes sense if you're a chef. And if you are opening and closing that refrigerator, you know, a hundred literally times a day, it's nice to be able to look and see what's in there and what's not.

SPEAKER_02 44:50

Right. And exactly where it is. When you open it, it's gonna be your quick.

SPEAKER_00 44:55

You're just gonna grab for it. It's not gonna be one of the okay. So um I love that idea. I do too. And here's the other thing about that it forces you to keep your refrigerator really clean. That is true, yeah. You gotta keep it tidy. Yeah. Otherwise, it's all you know, it's all right there. Yeah, it's like, oh my God. And people, people walking in saying, you know, what year are those leftovers from?

SPEAKER_02 45:25

Right, yeah. Uh so thanks, but no thanks for on the dinner invitation.

SPEAKER_00 45:33

I I know it's it's um I I don't know. I this the quote, smarter things get, the less smart they are. Did I mention to you about all these kids using AI to um write papers?

SPEAKER_02 45:54

I know that there's uh I mean there are things to do it. I also know that teachers are using AI to detect AI written papers. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 46:03

There's there's a program that um all teachers are using now and they run the students have to upload their work to a particular website that first crawls the papers, and you know, if it had if there are any red flags, you know, the the teacher is informed immediately.

SPEAKER_02 46:33

That makes perfect sense.

SPEAKER_00 46:35

Well yeah, so we created the problem and the solution. Um unfortunately, you know, when you're doing things like sending in resumes, no one's checking those. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 46:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:52

Um I I have one Florida story. Uh a Florida story, okay. It's a quickie. Alrighty. Gourmet Sandwich Shop. Now that settings up all kinds of red flags when I hear Florida. Okay. In Florida, offered a limited edition, that's in quotes, olive oil flavor called Olive You. Okay. Wow, how incredible.

SPEAKER_02 47:21

Were they sued?

SPEAKER_00 47:23

Well, only to discover that it was actually leftover oil from their in-house fryer. Oh no. How disgusting is that?

SPEAKER_02 47:38

I know wow.

SPEAKER_00 47:40

I know. I can imagine what that tasted like. How did it get there?

SPEAKER_02 47:48

Who knows? Oh man, that's I mean, wow.

SPEAKER_00 47:52

And then so people are coming in and ordering their sandwich, and yeah, I'll try the new olive oil.

SPEAKER_02 47:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 47:59

And then, of course, one bite, and they've got to go to the emergency room with food poisoning. That's awful. It didn't last a long time. Okay, well, to me, that's like Florida cuisine. Yeah. You know, there's something about that that can I can just Ugh.

SPEAKER_02 48:17

And get a good one.

SPEAKER_00 48:18

I can just imagine it, a good Cuban sandwich. Uh-huh. Yeah, go to Miami for a Cuban sandwich with all of you. Ugh. Um The Pulitzer Prize for Literature was announced, and the novel is James by an author named Percival Everett. Okay, good old Percy. Now, this will probably interest you, Michael. James is Huckleberry Finn written from the point of view of Jim. Oh.

SPEAKER_02 49:02

And that is that would be interesting.

Help At Home, Lawn Mower Parades & Yard Art

SPEAKER_00 49:05

It's fascinating because Jim Um has quite a backstory. There's a lot about slavery um and where Jim came from, but also, of course, he's an intelligent man with an inner life and his own thoughts and feelings about what's going on.

SPEAKER_02 49:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:36

Anyway, I recommend this novel. I started it. Um and it's really quite something.

SPEAKER_02 49:46

Cool. Very, very cool. Uh I mean, those are Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Fenner books that I've written written, read a dozen times.

SPEAKER_00 49:55

And written.

SPEAKER_02 49:56

Yeah. Read. I have. I've read them so many times. I just uh I've read so much Mark Twain. I just think he's uh he he writes the way I want to read. Do you know what I mean? I guess so. Yeah, there's something about there's something about uh Mark Twain's writing that I really that really kind of connects. Well, you are not a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Fantastic great greatest things ever.

SPEAKER_00 50:32

Yeah. It really is. Well, I recommend, like I said, James by Percival Everett. Okay, yeah. It's really good. I watched SNL, which is something that Saturnite Live? Saturn Saturnight Live. Uh yeah. I watched a couple episodes of this season. I had not watched it yet, but I figured, uh, all right, let's see what's happening here. And I have to say, personally, I'm not thrilled with him. Um the episode I watched was Miles Teller, whom I I I love him. He's a tremendous actor. Um and he did a great job. But the first of all, the cast is really out of control. There are so many cast members, so many writers.

SPEAKER_02 51:37

I uh you know, I thought and I thought the number was going to be supposed to be coming down, but it seems to be going the opposite direction. It's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 51:45

Yeah. I mean, I there are so many people I did not recognize, or I maybe recognized from one season from last. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 51:56

Like well, like uh one of them, Amy Poeh, was hosting, so you know, hey, recognize her. Well, right, but she was hosting. I know, I know. It's just well, Miles Telling at least a familiar face.

SPEAKER_00 52:09

And Brandi Carlyle was the musical guest, and she just put out a new album called Human, and Michael didn't recognize her.

SPEAKER_02 52:22

No, I did not. I don't know why. I don't know what it is. I thought her hair was lighter than I normally remembered it. So I'm like, okay. Did she do something with her hair? I I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 52:35

Well, I think it's interesting that she also was rocking kind of hard. Not in the song Human, but in the first song she did. Uh-huh. And so she had on like a kind of punk outfit.

SPEAKER_02 52:49

Yeah. She yes.

SPEAKER_00 52:50

And an electric guitar, and she was, you know, rocking.

SPEAKER_02 52:54

Beautiful uh arch top, last Paul. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 52:58

So uh it was an a really good performance, which is a rare thing for a musical guest on Saturday Night Live. Um it the sound is never that great.

SPEAKER_02 53:12

Yeah, that is, yeah. It often is really pretty awful.

SPEAKER_00 53:16

But they're doing something now with the skits that is weird, and it was clear as a bell that it's some sort of thing that the writer's room has come up with. And all of the skits have what I call a button on them or a bow on them, they have like a final punchline.

SPEAKER_05 53:45

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 53:46

And it doesn't work. So you get to a place in improv anyway, where you have a natural end. It's not necessarily, you know, and then it went wee wee wee wee all the way home.

SPEAKER_02 54:08

Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 54:09

I don't even know what I'm talking about.

SPEAKER_02 54:10

But I mean actually that sounds like a natural end, but you know.

SPEAKER_00 54:14

No, no. What I'm saying is um it had it should have a natural end.

SPEAKER_02 54:22

Yes. No, I absolut I absolutely agree with you. Yeah. And they're doing that.

SPEAKER_00 54:26

These are manufactured And then they're adding something to it. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 54:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 54:32

Right. And the moral of the story is, you know, don't get in a van down by the river. Yep. Um, or the moral of the story is don't uh don't cross the church leaf.

Smart Fridge Fails And Kitchen Tech

SPEAKER_02 54:47

That's very weird. It sounds like a I mean, who would Lauren would have to make that kind of directive? I think so. We're going to tag every one of these skits just to make sure the stupid people know what we're talking about. I I guess.

SPEAKER_00 55:04

It's just the worst. Yeah. The worst. Now, um the writing is okay. Some of the skits were okay, um, except for this bizarre ending. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 55:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 55:23

So I I did enjoy the Miles Teller one. Amy Poehler then hosted, and her musical guest was something individual, like modern individu. Okay. I can't remember.

SPEAKER_02 55:39

We haven't seen the the Sabrina Carpenter did one right just recently.

SPEAKER_00 55:43

Yeah, I haven't even tried looking at that yet.

SPEAKER_02 55:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 55:47

But um Amy Poeh was a little off in her monologue. She looked amazing. And I want what she was wearing. Oh, and here's Brandy Carlyle's human. Well, let me briefly say that this is for Adrian Sutton, the renowned composer. Right there, I hear Katie Lying. Uh passed away at age 58 after struggling with cancer. And he wrote the score for Warhorse, for the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime, and for Angels in America. An incredible guy who contributed so much to theater and music and film. So for Adrian, please put a light on.

SPEAKER_03 57:09

I just want to feel my face in the sun. I never really wanna do anyone. We don't need to know right now.