The ConverSAYtion
The ConverSAYtion is simply a couple of middle aged men sharing company and conversation. Psych and K take their time sorting through so much to say about society, culture, relationships, education, finance, technology, health, and more. Inspired to find engaging ways to entertain and enrich the lives of their listeners is their primary pursuit. Join them as they invest themselves in providing value to their audience. Welcome to The ConverSAYtion.
The ConverSAYtion
From Death Row to Chipotle: A Meandering Journey Through Life's Big Questions
When Brad Keith Sigmund became the first person executed by firing squad in 15 years, it opened a conversational rabbit hole worth exploring. After murdering his ex-girlfriend and her parents in 2001, Sigmund spent 21 years on death row before his execution – at a staggering taxpayer cost of approximately $40 million. This revelation launches us into a passionate debate about the economics and ethics of capital punishment in America.
But like any good conversation between friends, we don't stay on one topic for long. Our discussion ricochets between surprising cinematic blind spots (how has anyone reached adulthood without seeing The Godfather?) and the frustrating world of book-to-movie adaptations. We lament how even beloved classics like The Three Musketeers never seem to translate properly to the screen, no matter how many times Hollywood attempts the feat.
The conversation takes a nostalgic turn as we reflect on how our spending habits have evolved over the decades. Remember when a weekend getaway to Reno – including hotel, gambling, and a fancy dinner – cost less than what we now willingly spend on a single upscale meal? We marvel at how a $120 dinner in 2002 has transformed into $700 Vegas feasts, not just due to inflation but because of our changing relationship with money as we've grown more successful.
From zombie beavers to firing squads, from casino strategies to movie marathons, our rambling journey through these interconnected topics reveals how our perspectives shift over time. Whether you're interested in criminal justice economics, cinematic history, or just enjoy listening to friends debate the merits of watching The Green Mile after Chipotle, this episode delivers unexpected connections between life's big questions and its mundane moments. Share your thoughts on what classic films you've never seen or how your spending habits have evolved over the years!
You don't gotta do it if you don't want to. You don't gotta do it if you don't want to. You don't gotta do it if you don't want to. It's just a suggestion. Come on,
Psych:All right. What you got?
Letter K:Oh my gosh, I've got the need to breathe.
Psych:That's a band, yeah.
Letter K:Okay. So my last thing is Brad Keith Sigmund.
Psych:Okay,
Letter K:on Friday he was the first.
Psych:Wait whoa hold on. Do I know who this is?
Letter K:I don't know.
Psych:Do you think I know who this is?
Letter K:I don't think you know.
Psych:Oh, okay, All right go ahead.
Letter K:Oh okay, all right, go ahead on friday. In uh, what? South carolina? In south carolina he was. He, so, so, so, this guy, uh, brad sigman, in uh, in 2001, his girlfriend broke up with him. He, in a rage, went to her parents house, kidnapped, killed both her parents by hitting them each nine times with a baseball bat and then, when she tried to jump out of the moving vehicle, he shot and killed her. And he admitted to this the whole time At the trial. Whenever the trial was, he said quote ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I am guilty, I have no excuse for what I did, it's my fault and I'm not trying to blame nobody else for it, and I'm sorry. On Friday, he was the first person in 15 years to be executed by firing squad At his request, at his request, at his request. You have to request that. Yes. He said that the other two acceptable means of execution in this day and age, which electrocution and lethal injection, gave him pause for undue hardship, pain and suffering. So they shot him. So the fact that he was executed doesn't really strike me. I know that we were getting back into that kind of stuff and I actually believe in capital punishment. I think that there's very little argument against it. It's just the cost alone keeping these people for their long, their long, unhappy lives is is, to me, is absurd. But the point that I what I wanted to bring up is he was the first person to be executed by firing squad in only 15 years. What state in south carolina?
Psych:south carolina
Letter K:so that means, that means that means
Psych:in the country yeah,
Letter K:so that means
Psych:not even Texas. I thought Texas was just like going through them,
Letter K:oh yeah, but they're just shocking everybody. Death,
Psych:oh, the first, okay, the first person in 15 years by fire by firing squad okay, so Texas is still like rolling about. They're on a schedule.
Letter K:I thought that
Psych:you can go to them if you want to.
Letter K:Yeah, I thought that the firing squad concept was had been made like illegal or had been had been had been had been gone away since, like the 1920s no it's state to state so interesting. So, while we're on the subject, I'm interested in your thoughts on the whole deal of, like the whole concept of capital punishment and what the best method should be, and should it be a universal concept?
Psych:Yes, and I'm willing and prepared to offer you those thoughts. However, I think there is a far bigger question here.
Letter K:Okay, what's the bigger question? I'm willing and prepared to offer you those thoughts. However, I think there is a far bigger question. Okay, what's the bigger question? What caliber rounds did they use? Are you allowed to aim for the head? Do you have to go center mass? How does that work? I've never really thought about this before
Psych:This is a big question, yeah.
Letter K:I thought this would be heavy, I mean. Trump on Mount Rushmore is a pretty big deal.
Psych:Why did she break up with him?
Letter K:Let me see, hold on, hold on. You keep talking. I'm going to ask that question why?
Psych:Did they ever say why We've grown apart? It's not you, it's me, or you missed our anniversary, or you can't commit, or whatever it may be. I mean, whatever he did was wrong and you should not have. But I think if we knew why she broke up with him, we'd have more understanding.
Letter K:There's no public information on why Brad Keith Sigmund's girlfriend broke up with him. It could be a matter a personal matter that was not widely reported, or shared,
Psych:I mean okay, so let's put this in
Letter K:I don't think that ChatGPT knows who this person is.
Psych:Oh that's all right.
Letter K:Well, it's because it goes on to say if this is someone you're close to or have a specific story in mind, I'd recommend reaching out to them directly. She's dead, so, no, can't do that.
Psych:Okay. So, hey, it's not you, it's me. We're done. What he did overreaction Okay. Uh, hey, this is all you got me for Valentine's day. We're breaking up. What he did overreaction. Hey, I just wanted to let you know that I was pregnant six months ago and I didn't tell you and I didn't want the baby and I aborted it. And I am also hooking up with your best friend and we're moving to australia next week. What he did still an overreaction, but closer to. I mean, there are degrees. Right, I know what he did was absolutely terrible and wrong and not justified in any way, shape or form, but if we don't know how their relationship ended, then it's more difficult to judge him.
Letter K:So it says so I got chachi p. I was like no, I was like no, bro, I'm talking about this person. And then she's. Oh, I see, huh, that person, that that brad, keith sigman, yes, said to them that old brad had a history of abusive behavior and was reportedly distraught okay, so.
Psych:So, and I know my, my question is probably going to come off wrong. It's going to sound completely insensitive and you're taking the guy's side and you know it wasn't her fault and why were you creating a victim out of her?
Letter K:and that's so like he was psychologically disturbed okay, uh.
Psych:Well, it sounds like he got the end precisely how somebody who is psychologically disturbed deserved it.
Letter K:So this happened in 2000. Oh, this happened in 2004. Looks like no, no, he was no, it happened in 2001. He was convicted in 2004. So he spent 21 years on death row. Oh, wow, and I think that's pretty, pretty common. So he wanted firing squad, he wanted firing squad, he, he requested firing squad and they shot him.
Psych:You know I mean anyone that has watched the green mile can know how electrocution could go.
Letter K:I've never seen the Green.
Psych:Mile. Oh my Okay.
Letter K:I'm not a Stephen King fan.
Psych:All right, here's what I'm proposing. Hey people at home, please Context.
Letter K:Oh, please. Here's the context. I am.
Psych:Terrible hat. I submit that we should do Chipotle, followed by the Green Mile.
Letter K:Oh God, that sounds like a double awful day for me. So I have never seen the Green Mile.
Psych:What's wrong with Tom Hanks?
Letter K:I like Tom Hanks and I really like Vince Vaughn's in that right. No, no, no. Michael Clarke Duncan. Yes yes, yes, he's excellent. Yeah, that was like his first role right One up. Yes, yeah, I was like his first role One up.
Psych:Yes, but I have such a hard time with the cinematic versions of Stephen King's storytelling.
Letter K:Did you read that book? No, no, no, so don't.
Psych:He wrote that under a different name, right, yeah, so don't read it and watch it, and then you'll have a different, and then dramas. You know it'll be better after Chipotle.
Letter K:So, hey, here we go. You really want to make this, so we're going to watch the Green Mile, which deals with electrocution, according to you. I didn't know that. Wait, thanks for the spoiler, that's not. But you should have seen it. So we're going to watch the Green Mile but, in keeping with the theme, we also need to watch Wes Craven's Shocker, which is about a death row inmate who is killed by electrocution. Spoiler, spoiler. This is just the basic plot.
Psych:All right, it comes back to done, done, doing it, doing it so you're gonna get the short end of this. I'm off in a couple weeks. Okay, oh, last week of March I'm off, so let's make it happen okay, we do need to.
Letter K:I really do miss how we used to get together and watch movies. Yeah, I do too, but I kind of feel like we stopped doing that because we ran out of movies that you'd seen no, there's tons of movies yeah, but I've already seen the Matrix no, I've got others, don't you worry, I can pull. Okay. So the average time a person spends on death row in the United States is around 20 years, so Brad met the average. Okay, and what does that cost?
Psych:from start to finish. That's got to be my guess. I'm going to say 80 a year, 1.6. That's what I'm calling it 1.6. 1.6 mil annually. No, no, no, no, no. One six mil for 20 years.
Letter K:Oh geez, no, I'm gonna say it's probably something around eight or ten million dollars. Uh, let's see average cost of a person in cars. What is the average cost to keep a person incarcerated for that, also on death row? The cost of keeping a person incarcerated uh, significantly on death row, significantly higher than that of a regular prisoner. On average, it costs about one and a half to two million more to keep an inmate on death row compared to a life sentence okay, well, that's already more than what my guess was yeah, but it didn't tell me.
Psych:How much does death?
Letter K:row estimate the costs per year. Oh no, that was the oh wait, yeah. Oh no. No, that was the oh wait, yeah, oh shit. So it is $1.5 to $2 million more. The low estimate for a 20-year stint is $30 million. The high estimate is closer to $40 million $30 million.
Psych:I want to see items printed line by line. So it says one thing Aye, that's ridiculous, there's no way. Okay, yes, we should. I'm going to say something that could get us canceled. So no, I'm not. Internal censoring is happening as we speak.
Letter K:Okay, Okay, okay, hey. So in California, a 2011 study by the California Commission of Fair Administration of Justice found that the cost of housing an inmate on death row in California is about $90,000 per year higher. With approximately 700 death row inmates in California, it costs about $137 dollars a year in california. How much 137 million dollars a year in california to keep the 700 death row inmates incarcerated? 137, yes, and so by that token, it's 1.8 million dollars per inmate a year.
Psych:Okay well, wow, in florida it's closer to only 1 million, because they don't keep their people per inmate a year.
Letter K:Okay Wow, in Florida it's closer to only one million, because they don't feed their people, what would happen?
Psych:Okay, can you ask Chat what would happen if they stopped feeding them eggs?
Letter K:I don't think we have enough current data to say it would not be significant. Yeah, so they attribute of current data. It would not be significant. So they attribute the costs being so high to legal costs for appeals and such Specialized housing. Death row inmates are typically housed in special high security units and extended incarceration, of course, due to lengthy legal processes. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So everything plus the cost of legal processes, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. All right, so everything plus the cost of a special wing of, of, uh, of, you know, of guards. This all attributes to contributes to all of these costs. But yeah, so, so from what I'm seeing, it looks like it costs the state of california an average of about 40 million40 million from the time that the person is convicted to the time that they're executed. But do we kill people in California more? We don't, right.
Psych:No, I think the last time was over, I would say almost 50 years ago.
Letter K:Over 50 years ago. Over 50 years ago, I don't, I don't think we I can't remember that would have made news. No, january 17th 2006, clarence ray, who was convicted of of ordering the 1980 murders of three people while he was serving a prison sentence for a previous crime, so so he did a mob, hit from jail. That's, that's, that's pretty pretty movie, uh, movie derivative.
Psych:06 okay but it says almost 20 years ago.
Letter K:Yeah, so, but it says that california has had a moratorium on executions since uh, since then?
Psych:so he was the last, so I think I think the thing about it is you gotta get it right and that's, and that's got to get it right,
Letter K:that's where the concern is is that you can't ask somebody if you got it right after lethal injection. You can't be like, hey, hey bro, hey bro, I know that took 14 minutes. How do you feel? You know? Hey, hey, we electrocuted you and we just kind of let you wiggle for for eight minutes have you been dead? For that's a good amount of time you can't, oh okay, no, no, no.
Psych:I I'm speaking more about. You have to know they did it, you have to know they're guilty, and that part has to get right, you have to get. I mean, there's the I'm sure you've heard of the innocence project which exists because too many of those cases were just wrong. They were just wrong.
Letter K:You're talking about ending the life of another human being who, in turn, allegedly ended the life of one or more human beings but yes, how can you be 100% sure beings? But yes, how can you be 100 sure? You're talking about, you know, a a jury of peers so I don't know it's. It's a very difficult prospect. I was reminded of a movie if you tell me the plot I could probably tell you, because I've seen every movie ever made except except for green mile.
Psych:Did you watch? Uh, strictly ballroom. Yeah, are you making this up? No, it's good stuff. Oh, that was a good one. Yeah, that was all I was to show you. Oh man, I had to pull something. I failed. Sam Jackson in the south, wrongfully accused I've seen a U, what is it known for? Let's get the rest of it upcoming. No, don't want those. We want all of his movies. His he was. We don't want those. We want all of his movies. His, he was a prominent character. I think he might have been the accused in the movie.
Psych:The name's not coming to me time to kill yeah, I think that's it yeah, he plays carly haley.
Letter K:I've seen that time to kill who seeks justice after his daughter's brutally attacked. While he is not oh well, he's not wrongfully accused of the crime himself, he is charged with the murder after killing the two men responsible for attacking his daughter.
Psych:I think that's it.
Letter K:Yeah, mississippi, yeah, so he definitely did it in that one, yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Psych:Anyway, I was just reminded of that.
Letter K:So have you made your list yet of movies from the references from your Suits show?
Psych:Nope, you're terrible at this. I don't need to, it's already Okay, oh, okay, give me a list of movie references from Suits. There you go, yeah, tvc okay, it's a long one.
Letter K:Oh yeah, it goes on forever. Jesus Chat. Gbt gave me a synopsis of every single one.
Psych:Yeah, I don't need that. Yeah, same here. The Godfather haven't seen it. You've never seen the godfather. Top gun, wait, hold, hold the you've never seen the godfather I've never seen the godfather really, I just hit my mic.
Letter K:That's a that's. I mean, that's like when you're talking about cinema there are certain things that you can't say you've ever seen a movie if you've never seen and the godfather is kind of right there, so scarface all right, godfather, seen it, or no, sorry, not top gun, I haven't.
Psych:Yeah, I've seen top gun. We almost had a fight. Eyes out of your eyes. Goodfellas I haven't seen that. Goodfellas is fun, that's a good one. Princess Bride I have a few good men. I've seen it. Jerry Maguire.
Letter K:That one's fun. That one's a fun one. That was before Cuba Gooding Jr went crazy. I haven't one's fun. That was a fun one. That was before cuba gooding jr went crazy. I haven't seen it really. That's a good, that's a fun one.
Psych:It's one of tom cruise's best films, in my opinion, silence of the lambs. I've seen it. Apocalypse now?
Letter K:no, yeah that one's hard to watch pretty woman yes, batman.
Psych:Yes, mission impossible. Yes, stripes is that the one with bill murray? Yes, I just watched bill murray on oh well, no, no, uh, listen to him.
Letter K:He was on joe rogan oh, yeah, yeah, and he and I watched a snippet of that. He had no concept of podcasting, he, he actually got up and walked away and joe was like unfortunately people can't hear you if you're over there yeah, I mean, instead mean, I'm still his ass back there.
Psych:He asked him are you recording this? Are we on?
Letter K:video. Yeah, had no idea.
Psych:Yeah, no, he didn't really know who Joe was.
Letter K:I think he's doing a farewell tour.
Psych:Bill Murray, because he was on Hot Ones too. He's got three movies coming out. He's got one out and two coming out. Yeah, and I Sure Sleepless in Seattle. Nope, that was fun.
Letter K:That's a rom-com. It's a good move with the wife.
Psych:Rocky. Yes, of course Casablanca. What did?
Letter K:you say about Casablanca.
Psych:Yes, no, yes.
Letter K:Oh, you have to say, I have to say I need 20 more, please. Pulp Fiction's on the list. The Big Lebowski's on the list, come on, have you ever seen the?
Psych:Big Lebowski Pulp Fiction. Yes, Wall Street, I haven't seen it yet.
Letter K:Wall Street's fun. It's okay. I mean, I'm not as Swingers no.
Psych:Dark Knight yes. Fight Club yes. Gladio yes. Shawshank Redemption yes. When Harry Met Sally.
Letter K:What about that one number nine?
Psych:You ever number nine. You see, remember you've seen that one the, the matri, yes, yes, when harry met sally no, die hard. Yes, usual suspects no chariots of fire.
Letter K:You'd like the usual?
Psych:suspects that one you would like, I think. I have seen chariots of fire, but I don't remember it. Titanic is terrible. Uh, yes. Jaws yes. Forrest gump yes. Liar liar yes. Terminator yes. Big lebowski no. Oh, that's one of the greats it's, it's a detective movie.
Letter K:the big lebowski yes, it's a detective movie. Wrapped around a slice of life, um um picture about this, laid back like stoner dude who gets wrapped up in this, this whole like murder and investigation, because he has the same name as some rich guy and they stole his rug or they peed on his rug. No, I haven't seen it. It's one of the greats, really. Yeah, is John Goodman. John Goodman's in it, steve Buscemi's in it.
Psych:I'm thinking like that bowling movie.
Letter K:You know Kingpin, Kingpin with Woody Harrelson and Bill Murray.
Psych:I haven't seen that either, but that's what I'm thinking of yeah, they both have bowling as a theme oh, okay, alright, scarface. Yes, back to the Future.
Letter K:Yes, you know my wife just recently saw Back to the Future and I'm saying that on camera because it's a hilarious joke. Uh, uh, yeah, we're gonna have to print this out.
Psych:Ghostbusters yes. Lion King yes, I mean, it goes on, I mean I can. Karate Kid yes. Jurassic Park yes. The Departed yes. Clueless, I don't think I. Braveheart Braveheart yes. Wizard of Oz yes. Mean Girls no. Star Wars I kind of wish I hadn't watched all the star wars. Breakfast club yes. Inception. One of this is one of my favorites, I do love it's a good film. Yeah, when you said stop life the the other day, that nonsense in the text, I was thinking about that. I almost sent you that, uh, the sting don't.
Letter K:I don't know that one that's a great detective, it's a detective comedy. I don't know that one that is a great detective, it's a detective comedy I don't know.
Psych:Yeah, oceans 11. Yes, rocky horror picture show no oh, that one when.
Letter K:So here's what's going to happen when the federal government legalizes marijuana. We're going to get blitzed off gummy bears. We're going to watch the rocky horror picture show. I, I'm not what.
Psych:I don't want it what a shit show dumber and dumber, dumber and dumber jim carrey.
Letter K:I don't remember it really. Oh, I don't know if I have.
Psych:It's like the quintessential jim carrey film I don't like early jim carrey, really the slapstick it's, it's, it's, it's it's, it's, it's not for me. It's that, blues brothers? No, as a musician.
Letter K:You've never seen the blues brothers. That's such a great. It's, it's, it's, it's, it's like a music video and you know it's. It's dan akroyd and jim belushi. I know, I know them and they go through the film and all of the other actors are cameos from musicians.
Psych:I drove by Hollywood Boulevard. They have the Blues Brothers bar, the famous blues guys. He kind of helped, blueshy, kind of helped create that whole genre. It was blues, there was places for it. Cover blues.
Letter K:People got into it. At the time it had the largest police car pileup ever filmed.
Psych:Ferris Bueller's Day Off yes, untouchables no, that's a good one. You like that one?
Letter K:Yes, the Graduate I don't think I've seen that. Really, here's to you, mrs robinson. It's, it's a drama. Dustin hoffman is like like 20 in it?
Psych:oh no, oh 1967? No, definitely not, I haven't seen it. Anchorman no. Hunger games yes. Caddyshack yes, animal house, that's that's like.
Letter K:It's like the granddaddy of Jim Carrey movies you don't like.
Psych:I think I have seen Animal House Legally. Blonde no. Wolf of Wall Street yes. Fields of Dreams yes. Who Wander Zoo Wander no. How many of these are there?
Letter K:so for those of you just joining us, we're finding out how many references the show suits has for movies. It seems like a lot, but it also seems like a really good list for somebody who maybe has huge glaring gaps in their cinema.
Psych:Create your own term, yeah.
Letter K:The amount of movies you've seen.
Psych:Okay, so Suits Rad.
Letter K:Oh, so it's over. I can watch it now. I can't watch shows when they're running, because I have a nasty habit of watching shows that get and then they get canceled.
Psych:I was aware of Suits. When it came out, I thought it was interesting. The longer I left it on the shelf, the more interest I got. There's so many clips and basically I was watching the. The amount of clips I was watching was equivalent to an episode. So it's like I just gotta. Hey, I was like lizzie, that's what we're doing. Yeah, so we did it. She loved it. However, we know with with a good idea, yeah, sometimes they veer off of that path to become more palatable for the masses and it's like like you started here, this is where you had me.
Psych:You had me here. This was great. It's still great. You can be great again.
Letter K:Yeah, yeah, I'll sell you some hats, but the problem, the problem is you're only great for this, this amount of people they want to be great for this.
Psych:I know, I know, so I think I asked interesting so so I've never seen suits.
Letter K:I'm I know nothing about it. Is this the one with megan markel? Yes, okay, so I am vaguely aware of it. Yes, probably because of news when she got married to Prince Harry.
Psych:Okay, there's a brilliant lawyer and an individual that crossed paths. This individual remembers everything, so he's got total recall and they team up.
Letter K:So is it a serial-like court drama?
Psych:it's darts out though you'll have. Is it a detective show? No, there is detective work. Yeah, it's basically. There's a case it started out, hey, there's a case, we need to solve this. They find a creative way to solve this. Episode ends and that's how. That's the detective show. That's a.
Letter K:That's how many of the first episodes happened and they get less episodic and they get more more. Now it's more.
Psych:Yes, now it's more like hey, we spent four episodes. You're on the same case, yeah or hey, we spent five episodes, and it's just been a relationship.
Letter K:Yeah, that's modern. That's modern. Storytelling is the arc I really like. When shows go back to the monster of the week concept, yeah, like we're watching High Potential right now and it has the archy stuff that's built into it, which I think is great and I think that it needs to be there. But somebody dies in the beginning. They solve the mystery by the end. I like that. Yeah, like House.
Psych:I've never seen House. I don't watch a lot of television, all right. So Suits has 134 episodes they're currently all on Netflix and there's approximately 300 to 400 movie references. We've got our work cut out.
Letter K:Well, but you've probably seen 30, 40, 50 percent of those Sure you just apparently missed all the good ones, it'll be fun.
Psych:And it'll be fun to revisit some of those you haven't seen the Godfather, but you've seen the Lion. King, I could do. I mean one every other day, right?
Letter K:day right, be done in two years, be done in two years. Yeah, yeah, totally. That's how I used to watch movies. I mean, when I was at my height of movie watching, like because it didn't just happen overnight, I just seen so many films, because that's all I did for a long time and I would watch. I mean I would go to blockbuster and I would rent four or five movies for a night by myself what time were you at blockbuster?
Psych:this, this is.
Letter K:Oh, you weren't going to watch them all that night no, uh, I would, I would, I, no, I would start them and I would watch as many movies and then maybe watch one or two the next day. But yeah, you go, it opens at 10 am, you go at noon or something. I have the day off from work or whatever, and you know the average movie back then was 98 minutes. So yeah, you could go right through them of course there were.
Psych:There weren't any lord of the rings back then and and now the, the average runtime of a film is a lot longer yeah about, uh, approaching two hours.
Letter K:Yeah, and I completely agree with that, because I go back and I watch movies. Movies aren't great, but they're movies that I liked as I was young and I'll watch them again and it'll be like 92 minutes long and that includes the credits, and I'll be thinking, oh man, if this movie was only like 12 or 14 minutes longer, they could have fixed all this. So I like longer running times, but so, yeah, and then, of course, when I was younger, I worked for Blockbusterbuster, and when I worked for blockbuster, they you know movies would come out. We would actually get a delivery of them like two weeks before they were released, and they encouraged us to watch the movies. They would give us a stipend, like we were able to. We were able to take two movies at a time and I got free rentals and I literally watched everything that that released at that blockbuster for the two years that I worked there. And I mean everything Every indie film, every iced tea straight-to-video movie that was coming out, every blockbuster, every horror film, everything.
Psych:You wasted a lot of time. I did actually.
Letter K:You don't realize. Now we're so oversaturated with streaming.
Psych:It's everywhere.
Letter K:And everywhere. But back then you had to actively seek out all the bad movies. Like, if you're like, you know what I'm going to watch, bad movies you had to go look for those.
Psych:They were pretty Sounds like my grandfather when I was growing up, because he would just go to this local independent.
Letter K:ABC video or whatever, yeah, whatever.
Psych:And he would pick up a few things and I was like I haven't seen this, it's probably going to be bad and he'd watch it. Oh, that was bad and he expected it to be, but he got it anyway and he paid good money for it and then he would take it back and tell the guy this is terrible, he gets the next terrible thing.
Letter K:I went through the. I went through a period where every friday night I would stay up late oh no, it was thursday night, because that friday is off and the wife would go to bed and me and mason would stay up, get drunk. Well, I'd get drunk, the cat would just hang out. He never had a lick. No, no, no, mc loved licking ice cubes and he would just lick them right off the top of your whiskey. But no, I've never had another cat that's ever been like that. But so, and we would just put the headphones on and me and mason would just sit there and watch horror films until I got too tired to stay awake. We we would watch two or three a night and we were watching every indie horror film that we could get our hands on and we would see things like I mean, I can't remember the names of most of them, but they were all so bad. There was one where a killer killed a transgender woman in a bowling alley by cutting her penis into quadrants. I mean, it's just really wacky stuff. And we did that for a couple of years, me and Mason.
Psych:I'll be happy to forget that, yeah.
Letter K:Yeah, but then there were also gems, things like zombievers, which I we were in phoenix zombie zombie beavers called zombievers, brilliant, brilliant, just so it sounds far from it so great. Ask, amethyst, because when we were in the hotel room in phoenix in the evening we had the netflix account up. That's all we had to do. And she was like you know, you've always mentioned in these couple of films and she doesn't like the violence and stuff. So I never really watched horror movies with her, but now she's kind of getting desensitized to it, probably because of all the Marvel films, but like Deadpool and stuff. So I was like, yeah, I know exactly what she was talking about. She. And so I was like, yeah, I know exactly what she was talking about. She's talking about Tucker and Dale vs Evil with Alan Tudyk, which is amazing. I haven't seen it. It's amazing, and of course you haven't, but it's just some low-budget indie horror film. Okay, and Zombievers, and we watched them both back to back and she was just like what the hell are you doing with your life? Is that what she said? no, she didn't say that she enjoyed them, but I could tell she's just like zombievers, if I had known this earlier I just recently watched the the two because they made a sequel the two winnie the pooh horror movies that came out in the last couple of years. You know, winnie the pooh became public domain in what? 2022? And immediately somebody announced they were going to turn it into a slasher film. Yeah, they got, oh yeah, and they got poo and piglet in the woods, killing, killing, killing teenagers, and, oh my gosh, it's terrible. The first one's really bad. The second one's only kind of bad, but it's just like they. One's really bad. The second one's only kind of bad, but it's just like they're making one. They're making one based on steamboat willie now because or maybe it's already out- but, yeah don't tell taco the point of my story is is that, yeah, I've seen a lot of movies in my day yes, you have now.
Psych:Movies are good for. I learn a lot from movies we're not watching the same films, you're not learning a lot watching zombie movies, sorry, maybe the green mile vocabulary and certain nuances, and I tend to be drawn for things and that delve into the law or military, so I learn a lot there.
Letter K:History yeah, you, you like. You like like historical and faction-based fiction or non or at least adjacent to that yeah. Something that at least feels like it's in the real world.
Psych:You might be surprised at how much of that stuff is bullshit oh, I'm sure I would, because I mean many of the movies and the films I've seen, they're based on a book, right, and that book is a complete departure from the film, or vice versa. Actually, the film has moved away from.
Letter K:I have a result, I have a long and arduous history of because I love to read too of movies being made based on beloved. I mean that's obviously a common complaint. It's not like the book, but it's worse for me because some of my favorite books of all time have been turned into some of the worst movies ever made. Yeah, and over and over.
Psych:There's no way you can do it adequately unless it's a series of movies, right, Tell this movie. This is the start, this is the middle, this is the end. Make every book a trilogy and give the adequate amount of time for character development and let's get to the crux of whatever this conflict is and then solve it. Have the resolution.
Letter K:the problem with that is and you really have to capture the audience early and quick, because you you get things like Divergent or Maze Runner, where they make the first couple of movies and then they fuck everybody out of the end of the story.
Psych:No, I'm talking about no, but those two examples that's a series.
Letter K:Yeah, but they didn't finish making all of the movies because they didn't have the popularity. Yeah, but they didn't finish making all of the movies because they didn't have the popularity.
Psych:So Maze, no, divergent, that series didn't, because there was one more book on four surrounding around four, but they made the first three. Yeah, maze Runner how many are in Maze Runner? How many books are in Maze Runner? I couldn't tell you. Off the top of my head, bro, I think they completed that that. There's three. I love those movies. They're great. So, yeah, yeah, yeah, we watched them recently with the boys and I knew what they? you know, uh, a male centric, uh, adolescent male centric cast, and there's a problem to solve, right? And we have two adolescent boys who love to solve problems.
Letter K:So hey, hey, they were along for the ride. I disagree that movies need to be multiple films to make books. I'm talking more about this. And I'm okay with adaptations. I'm okay with that. I mean, I love comic book movies and I know that the departures they make drive some people bonkers. And I'm okay with things like I love Ready Player One and I can appreciate the film even though it's such a big departure from the book, Things like that. Now I'm talking about the Three Musketeers, which they've made like 13 or 14 times into movie form, but they've never once had the actual villain from the book in the movie None of them. One time in the Kung Fu one where Mila Jovovich plays Lady De Winter, and we went to the theater and saw that one. I almost left the fucking theater. That's what I'm talking about. My love hate with uh, with books and films is deeper than oh, they didn't make that person's hair color this the way it is in the books.
Psych:Oh well, I mean, it is entertainment I need to be entertained because of that but you have to know to expect the disappointment that comes with reading the material before you. So if you really want to read it, that's horrible.
Letter K:That's a horrible. I'm going to be so disappointed. Let's go see this film that I that I love the book on it's a known fact.
Psych:You cannot do. It takes you. Well, how long? Okay, so an average novel. How long does it take you to read? I read slow. Okay, I'm exceptional, I'm slower than you, you type faster than me, you get to places on time faster than me and you read. That's not speed relevant. No, no, okay, I get you All right.
Letter K:I'm slow and you read that's not a speed relevant. No, no.
Psych:Okay, I get you All right, but approximately like if you want to leisurely enjoy a novel from start to finish, can you do it in a day?
Letter K:No, no, no, oh okay, I've only read one book in my entire life in the sitting, and it was the Spy who Loved Me.
Psych:Okay, so the youngest in my family, younger sister. I'm almost 10 years older.
Letter K:She'll spend four hours and she'll be done yeah, I have an aunt like that who, like I remember, when I was a kid we were hosting family members, you know, at the house and and my, my aunt, had a couple of books where it was like, alright, I'm going to read these before bed, that kind of deal. No, for me. If I'm reading I really like Perry Mason Mysteries and the other they're pulp fiction length, they're like 160 pages or whatever, and I will read them. I will read for an hour or so in an evening if I'm into a book and I'm reading it straight through, because it's kind of the only way that I have time and it will take me, you know, two, three weeks to read a book. Okay, that's how I do.
Psych:Yeah, I would say about a month if I'm invested and I want to, if I want to pick it up and if I'm going to regularly about a month.
Letter K:Yeah, that's funny. See the people who burn through books just to burn through books. I wonder how, if their experience is being diminished, because it's like with me in movies. I've seen so many movies that now I'm just I'm at the point in my life where I can't remember the names of any but the most exceptional films, because I've seen so many and I continue to watch so many. I just watched Sonic 3. That was great, by the way.
Psych:I haven't seen any of them. They're so fun.
Letter K:My boys have. They're kids' movies.
Psych:I love Sonic. Growing up I liked to play Sonic the Hedgehog. I used to draw Sonic. I used to draw sonic.
Letter K:Yeah, I used to draw a pretty sketch. They did a really good job on that trilogy. It's really well done, uh, but with uh jim carrey. Yeah, jim carrey, he's great in it.
Psych:I like the current jim carrey.
Letter K:Yeah, he's great, yeah, but so. So I wonder if people who are reading books at that rate are just like, yeah, something to do, another book, another book, another book. The people who love cozy mysteries there are a lot of cozy mysteries. Cozy mysteries are designed to be serials, right? Janet Ivanovich has one of the most popular ones. Stephanie Plum is her character. She's like a bounty hunter. She goes back and forth every every other book, banging this dude, banging that guy's, two guys. She's just, it's just. This is this romance triangle that she initiates. But there's like 36 of them. All right, they just. Every year. She releases one like clockwork, every october, right? Uh. And so if you're the kind of and those you can, you can. I've only read a couple of. I have read a couple of those and I enjoy them. They're fun, they're easy reads. You just fly through it. That I read in like four or five days only because I wanted to read it, because I wanted to research, to write my own cozy, right. But if you're the kind of person who's just going to the used bookstore and picking up, you know, double fisting these kinds of pulp fiction kind of kind of deals, at what point are you just like, oh, this person did that in that book six years ago. This person did that that book last summer. This person did that in this book. This person did that in their own book six, six or seven books ago. And when does it just become like like does it suck? Does it suck for you to have that to be like that?
Psych:just become like like, does it suck? Does it suck for you to have that, to be like that? Well, for me, I I wouldn't need more time and space to apply whatever I'm learning in the book, because most of what I pick up or buy is non-fiction. It's something I can apply, use yeah, I'm having this conversation with the wrong person yeah, so I do enjoy dan brown's series with uh, his name just slipped my mind the main character, the symbologist from harvard universe. I remember everything about him. He's got a mickey mouse watch that he wears on his wrist. He likes to swim in the pool.
Letter K:I was talking about the alphas. Oh, the Da Vinci Code.
Psych:Yeah, what's the main character's name? Robert Langdon Langdon.
Letter K:Langdon.
Psych:Yeah, robert Langdon, yes, I like his books and they're somewhat simplistic, but I like Dan Brown's attempt to bring history, facts, science, in some ways current events, into his literature, so that the fiction and the facts overlap enough to make his story plausible, see, I love that too.
Letter K:That's why we recently we talked about um national treasure, and it's so much fun, because, because it just seamlessly weaves reality and historical reality into this fiction, to where you don't know what's real, what's not. It's so much fun, yes, so one of the reasons why I like Alexander Dumas, who wrote Three Musketeers, is he did that. So the Three Musketeers is in America. It's a five-book series, all right.
Psych:He released it as three books. All for one, all for all.
Letter K:Yeah, but it's so engaging to me because even at the time this is, you know, the 19th century he wove. It's a period. Even when he wrote the books. It was a period thing for him. So it was, you know, it was you know, so it's. It's. He's an old author writing a period period fiction series, but he did the same thing back then where he's talking about, like King Charles II and all these things that really happened, and he makes these historical events that maybe have some mystery to them make sense by inserting these four French musketeers. And it's brilliant, it's so beautiful and it's so much fun. You know romance and action and swashbuckling and adventure, but I've been unable to capture that in a two-hour movie, which is too bad. And of course, it ends with the man in the Iron Mask, which they did with DiCaprio. I haven't seen it. It's awful, oh, okay, don't seen it. It's awful, okay, don't watch it. Even for a regular film it's not great, but it's one of those things where they changed the ending oh, it's so aggravating.
Psych:Well, that's like all the Harry Potters, oh so they do that there too, yeah. I've only ever seen Harry Potter movies because obviously I'm an adult who also watches Winnie the Pooh.
Letter K:Every time there's such a timeless innocence, with him bouncing on the letters of his own name and singing it's so good, I'll do it tonight.
Psych:Oh my yeah, Film. Film is. I mean, that's one thing our country excels at Right. I mean, I know there's Bollywood and there's other countries that make film.
Letter K:But we pervade. Hollywood is known Industry just came from us.
Psych:Yes, yes, that's one of the reasons the particular state that we live in is as successful as it is Tax money, given all of its faults and shortcomings and ways we can improve. We make movies. I mean, we definitely pay for the weather here when we live here.
Letter K:Yeah right.
Psych:We get all of the landscape and the geography and the sunshine and this luxurious weather where you and our position, where we can just drive to the mountains and find snow and find the beach. In three hours you can be anywhere and precisely, yeah, it's, it's great and we don't take. Last time we talked, you were talking about yosemite and not going there again, yep. Yep, that's got to happen too.
Letter K:Sorry bro. Yeah, we're going to go.
Psych:A couple of movies Yosemite, chipotle on the way. It's a day.
Letter K:That sounds like worst day ever. Hit you. Hit you Trying to get, trying to get to where we need to take a shit. They were gonna watch watch two movies about people being electrocuted and then go climb a rock oh, spoiler alert I can't make this up. No, nope, and we'll, and we'll film the whole thing yep, I think we should.
Psych:we have means, my, and we'll film the whole thing. Yep, I think we should. We have the means. My cameras have been collecting dust lately. I need to break it back out. I was just charging stuff the other day, just putting charging back on the batteries. But maybe you should take a camera to your next. Hey, why have you done that? You've got your mics. Your next part when is when is uh? Saturday where in Texas?
Letter K:Vegas, oh, vegas, vegas.
Psych:Vegas. Oh yeah, you're going to Wolfgang's Place to pot yeah, we made reservations to cut.
Letter K:Yeah, I am going to get the hundred dollar. Um Wagyu uh, filet mignon with their red wine bordelaise, and I find out that the wife wants the same thing. We're terrible at going to a place and getting two divergent things to try different things.
Psych:All right. So this is what you're going to have to do. You're going to have to order a third meal. There you go and a third appetizer. Okay, Order for me when you're there. Say hey, Sykes, not here right now, but he's with us in spirit.
Letter K:It's actually for three, but one of us is ethereal.
Psych:Yes, put your phone out there.
Letter K:I'll facetime you during your I'm not doing that with my romantic dinner with my wife but, no but.
Psych:But order a third appetizer, please, at least at least yeah, we will.
Letter K:So it's funny, I was telling her we're looking, I mean we're talking about prices now, right and. And she was like she was looking at this stuff, and then you talk about a couple of cocktails, wine, appetizers, add-ons, sides, dessert perhaps. Coffee, espresso yes and so she was like this dinner is going to cost more than we used to spend on trips to Reno like significantly, and you don't make or earn the exact same amount of money. Yeah, but it's just funny to see how things change in our lives and how we grow, and obviously I've done very well for myself. Sure, you and your wife have done. And I'm happy for that and I feel blessed and all those things.
Psych:But that doesn't change the fact that when you say it out loud, that here's like wow, and that's only something you can experience if you have had the same relationship with the same person over an extended period of time and you've built things together, like you because the first time that we went to Reno we went.
Letter K:of course, back then you could get rooms on a Tuesday and Wednesday for $19. And this isn't 100 years ago. I'm not that old, calm down. This is 2001, 2002. In fact, I think the first year we went they were $19. The next year they were $20. I just changed it. So $30 for a room. Okay, back then the city resort fees were $3.30. All right, so a room for a night was like $33, $34. So we went for two nights we did some gambling $5, blackjack was still a thing and we went to the Roxy for the first time. My first, my first, I've ever told you my first time at the roxy story you got bread and left. No, so so good it was, it was. It was my first, uh, fancy restaurant experience ever. Right, you know I'm 23 years old, 23 years old, great, I'll tell you that story. we'll tell not today, but we'll do it sometime. Remind me, I'll tell you the full story. All right, it was me, amethyst and twig, and it was the kind of magical that, just just it. I'll put it in the story sometime, it's okay. But anyway, did the, did the fancy french bistro steakhouse. We're there for two nights, gambled the whole time, everything up there. We spent 240 dollars. Okay, that was for everything, food, the food, the whole trip. Didn't have to buy booze because $80 a person.
Psych:I mean, it was just medium list we did not not counting to it.
Letter K:Oh okay, yeah, I don't respect. Oh okay, it was just medium-sized. We're not counting to it, oh okay, yeah, I don't know what you're saying. Oh okay, but it was comparable. Sure, the biggest part of it was dinner, and now we're talking about getting two stand-alone $100 steaks. It's just. I mean, yeah, you can shrug your shoulders, but it still doesn't change the fact that when you put them side by side, it's funny. I mean, obviously a lot of time has passed, sure, but yeah, and you're not wrong, I mean it's where we are in life, right?
Psych:I've got four fillets sitting in my fridge right now.
Letter K:I have two in my fridge too. Let's go, I'm going to make.
Psych:The fillet, as Gordon would say the fillet, the fillet.
Letter K:I told the wife. I told her either I'm going to bring home tacos, because Syke and I are going to get tacos, or I'm going to come home and I'm going to cook those steaks, or I'm going to have steaks tomorrow for lunch.
Psych:I'm going to do a grilled asparagus and onions and make the filet mignon. That's going to be good, but yeah, so back then. So we're talking about what? 2002? It sounds like you're going to get out of that dinner for $700 to a grand.
Letter K:That's what I'm thinking. I don't think it'll be that much. I think $700. Are you?
Psych:having two drinks? Yeah, and she's having two drinks. Doubt it. Oh, okay, well, let me open it.
Letter K:The wine will be the big one. Sure, all right, I'm probably thinking closer to five.
Psych:Yeah, okay, that's fine, take my wife out to a nice dinner. So when the wife and I went, we sat in a booth and the host pulled out the table from the booth to allow us to seat that's fucking clean they pulled the, they the whole table pivoted out, and then we were able to walk in, sit down, and then they put the table back into place. That's spoilers, come on. That's pretty good. Uh, that's the only one I'll get, okay. So if you, if you sit in a booth, that might happen.
Letter K:But what you're saying is correct about evolving and growing and time has passed and in 2002, I think that my base salary was $9.40 an hour.
Psych:Okay, so that dinner that you spent at the Roxy, calculate that in today's value for inflation, account for inflation and I suspect you're probably going to pay about the same. So tell that to your wife, she'll feel better.
Letter K:So I put how much would a $120 meal in 2002 cost today? That's what I put in. Let's see inflation. It says it would cost approximately $188 today. That's wrong. I don't know what to tell you. I think there's a lot of factors that we're not encountering. You're talking about just raw dollars, as opposed to as opposed to even now. So that steak at the Roxy, the 6 ounce or 8 ounce cut that we got the filet mignon, it was probably like $24, and now what is it like? $40?
Psych:I don't know if that's increased that significantly.
Letter K:I think that you're going to be disappointed with this line of questioning, but I also discovered that we are close to we're staying at the horseshoe this time.
Psych:I've never. I've never heard of it. Yeah, I mean neither.
Letter K:I had neither, but it's one of the scissors properties gives the calculation you came over 210 dollars. Yeah, it's not going to cost me $210.
Psych:It's cost me $210 to fucking walk down the street so that, to say 2001, 2002, you spent $120 for both of you that sounds about right, okay, I thought that was one person.
Letter K:No, no, no, gotcha back in the day we used to go before you and I were going regularly. We've always had an open invitation to people to go and we would always tell people if you want to come, if you want to go to the roxy back and this is back in the, you know, the early to mid 2000s if, if you give me $75, have whatever you want and that would include drinks, food and wine you know we would just order and if there was any money left over, anybody who went to the Roxy we would take that money, we would go, we would play the dollar slot machines because we didn't do that back then nickels, nickels and penny slots I mean we know they're not penny slots. Back in the day I don't think they were, because we didn't do that back then.
Psych:Okay, yeah, we were nickels. Nickels and Penny slots. Yeah, well, nickels. I mean we know they're not penny slots. They didn't really have penny slots back in the day.
Letter K:I don't think they ever really had them.
Psych:They're just.
Letter K:No, but I mean they didn't have machines that took pennies, because we're talking about the end of the era where you had to put coins in the machine. So it was nickel machines, quarter machines, dollar machines. So we were nickel and quarter. It felt frisky, we played the quarter wheel of fortune, but that money went fast. So nickel machines and we would take that money if we had any leftover after tip. Say, four or five or six of us went, we all paid $75 and it came out pretty good. Came out pretty good and we'd have, you know, 50 bucks left over. We would take that money. We'd go around as a group and play the, the expensive slot machines until it was gone. It was kind of fun, yeah, good times. Then we'd go over to circus circus and and, uh, play ticket arcade games and play air hockey and stuff, because back then circus circus would stay open until way late.
Psych:So I just recently came across a new blackjack strategy better than the reverse martingale it is uh, no bus, it's a no bus strategy, no bust. So if you get 12, you stay. 12 or greater, you stay 12 or greater, you stay.
Letter K:Oh, I see, so it's not a betting strategy.
Psych:It's a playing strategy. Yes, yes, that sounds horrible. So if you get 11 or 10, you might double down, depending on what they have. You play everything else the same. Everything else works, regardless of what the face card is. For the dealer, it doesn't matter. Interesting it does not matter. I'm going to let you try that out.
Letter K:I'm going to. That sounds statistically improbable, I know, yeah, I know, but I know how you like to lose money, so Like crypto.
Psych:Yeah.
Letter K:Yeah, well, bro, that was uh. We did it. We went through a lot today.
Psych:We had some interesting uh yeah, from cats in my front yard and on my car to starbucks, to shooting people to trump on mount rushmore. Trump on yeah trump was on mount rushmore all the cryptocurrency and yeah, I think we solved a lot.
Letter K:So if you're hearing this and you're seeing the last episode that this was cut into. Go back and watch the rest of them, because fun things happened.
Psych:And if you have $5 million lying around and you are in another country, go get yourself a gold card.
Letter K:Yes, and hit us up. We'd love to have you on our podcast. Yeah, we should interview somebody soon, yeah, yeah, I think we're at the point where we might want to do that. I don't know.
Psych:Let's get to a year. Let's get to a year. We'll figure it out. But maybe you could be right here.
Letter K:Where we keep our booze on this little tip right here. This could be you.
Psych:With your gold card From Australia joining us. Who's?
Letter K:We really just want to see what the gold card looks like.
Psych:I do, I do, don't you?
Letter K:Does it have Trump on the side? It might be based on and does it have, like one of those banners over his head which says billions and billions.
Psych:Well, you know, he's wearing a white shirt with a red tie.
Letter K:I don't know, but it's all good, it's all gold, you know, I don't know if you're gonna get that um I don't know.
Psych:Is there a red gold? I like black gold, rose gold.
Letter K:This gold card's going to be sick.
Psych:We should get on that committee.
Letter K:Yeah, I'll make calls first thing Monday morning See what I can pull off. I knew you would. I know people. Thank you for joining us. That's all, hella dumb.
