Two for the Culture
Two for the Culture is brought to you be Steven Rey and Justin Devonte. This is the podcast for the ages! Both Steve and Justin has been friends for over a decade plus and will give you a genuine approach on news and culture with humor and love. I promise this will be one of your favorite podcasts that you will not get enough of!
Two for the Culture
Laughs and Lessons: Navigating the World of Film
This episode dives into the realities of balancing a corporate job with creative pursuits. Justin and Steven share personal insights and experiences that highlight the challenges and humor of navigating the film industry while maintaining personal relationships.
• Discussing the adjustment from intense hustling to a more stable work structure
• Insights into the creative process on film sets and editing processes
• The necessity of collaboration in film projects and personal content creation
• Highlighting personal relationships and navigating those in a creative space
• Examining what motivates them to keep pursuing their craft amid challenges
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Alright, we're back with another episode of Two for the Culture. I'm Justin Devante, I'm Steven Wright. Yeah, this is another episode, man, how you feeling?
Speaker 2:I feel good. I feel good. How was your week?
Speaker 1:Man, my week was good. Every week is starting to be. Now that I got like a quote-unquote real job that's corporate, every week starts to feel like the same. Yeah. But no, it's cool because I'm still in training and you know, I got my first actual paycheck.
Speaker 2:I had a half a paycheck last week oh, you, just, oh, you just got it uh, friday, so oh, that was quick, but yeah, I mean time's flying by, because what is this?
Speaker 1:our fourth, fifth episode. Fifth episode yeah right. Yeah, yeah. So we've been in it over a month now and it don't really even feel like that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think this is number five, damn.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it still feels extremely new.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's halfway to ten.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're still getting our bearings, but my week's been good Starting to not having to kind of overwork so I can kind of expand and do a little bit more and just get a little bit more my life organized Like OK, all right Now. So now that I have a daily schedule, let's after work what does that look like? And just have just kind of a routine.
Speaker 2:Have you been like chilling, like taking time for yourself?
Speaker 1:Um, yeah, I think so. Yeah, because I don't feel the need to work as hard as I've been in the past and it's just scrambling because my income it was as hard as I worked, type of thing. Yeah. Yeah, so you know, and of course it lived and died by me. So you know, it was never just hey. If the time was where I had to go and make money, that could have been like any time. You know what I?
Speaker 1:mean yeah, instead of. And then, not only that, when I was working with my mentor, it was that, you know, I gave him. I was like just hit me up at 11 pm, yeah, yeah, yeah and that. So I wouldn't know what I was getting you know with, not even with the, not even within 12 hours, you know. So yeah it's, it's never um.
Speaker 1:My next day was never guaranteed a set thing I can hope for it, yeah, yeah, and try to plan around it, but it was never that, but uh. But how about you? How's your?
Speaker 2:week. Uh, my week was good, um yeah, a lot of learning, a lot of, uh, new hats. I'm just trying to not trying, but I'm, I'm developing a pathway for me to have a place in nashville. A place is in, like my place in nashville. So you know, in la, I was a, an editor for a company and you know I I had the social media thing going on and I was going to events and stuff like that.
Speaker 2:So I'm just trying to figure out my place here. So every day I feel like I have to wake up and be somebody new for another interview, but it's been going well. I'm tired. Yeah, I've been editing, me and Rob. We basically finished the movie last night. So that was dope. I've been editing Me and Rob. We basically finished the movie last night. That was dope. Knowing Rob, he'll be premiering it in Atlanta, probably in a month or next week. Knowing him, it's been a pretty busy week for sure.
Speaker 1:When does the trailer come out? You got to clip that up and do all that too, right.
Speaker 2:Basically we edited the whole movie together now and then after that that's when the audio comes in. So they clean up the audio and then make the the sound, you know, just sound good. And then after that that's when the color grading comes, so that's when the it. Uh, somebody puts like basically to make the colors of the film pop and all that and then after that. That's when we'll go to that phase.
Speaker 2:Okay, okay, but the movie itself is like clipped up. I gotta watch it again tonight. Maybe something will change, but like most of it is now done now.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, it's the reason, um why I asked that? Because you said it's going to be a month from now, so I was like, what you just said sounds like it requires a lot of work well, a month is in, you have to book the place.
Speaker 2:You know I'm saying you have to. You have to book the place in advance, the screen in advance, and then you know you got to build the hype for it and then, uh, then everybody comes out. So and you know he does it to where it's like a red carpet, a step and repeat and like it's sponsored and all that type of stuff. So it's a usually like a big thing, okay so how?
Speaker 1:because I know he did a couple movies before right and how did I mean for him to keep on doing it? I guess the turnout and everything everything.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a really good turnout. He just last year for himself he just wanted to film a whole bunch of movies and kind of put his place, put his name stamped, like in the Tubi world. So he's just like dropping movies back to back to back to back. So this movie is a part of that bulk. So that's just mainly what he's just trying to, just trying to build his name up in that world just as a director. And, um, yeah, so I'm just like his. He always come to me for like visual effects. I he'll just, he'll just be asking me for random stuff. This is why I'm glad I don't do visual effects for people for real, because I'll do it for him, like my homies and all this stuff. But being hired somewhere and somebody says, hey, can you make this alien twerk on the moon, then blow it up, and then do this, this and this and this, I don't know how the hell I'm doing it, but for some reason I'm doing very well at everything he asks me to do.
Speaker 1:So it's fun. It's fun. It's fun, yeah, that's. That's interesting. As you say, like back in the college days you you'll watch a like sports center or something and you'll be like I know how they did that effect.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I would yeah, yeah, yeah. It'll be like packaged to where, you know, if you're trying to get into visual effects there, there's always like a certain amount of people online with like the same type of tutorials and then, if I see it, I'm like bro, I know where they got that from so I got you yeah yeah, so you know this is, it's a cool thing okay, yeah, so is he.
Speaker 1:So is he trying to? I mean, I guess it sounds like a stupid question. I'm gonna ask anyway is he trying to make money from the film?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so Tubi is kind of like YouTube in a way. Tubi is kind of like YouTube in a way of ads, like ad revenue. So you know how Netflix is now. No, I don't know how Netflix is oh, okay, Well, yeah, so Netflix now if you never updated your account, if you go to Netflix now and watch the movie?
Speaker 1:it's got ads on it Right.
Speaker 2:So that's the same thing with Tubi. So that's how a lot of people make money on YouTube is from ad revenue. All the ad breaks. So that's the same thing with Tubi. Oh, okay, I got you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you can make money revenue streams off of that. So that's another reason why he's trying to build it up, just kind of like if you make a YouTube page and then you keep dropping every single week and every week, like after a year, you're going to have some type of momentum. Same thing on Tubi, so money will come.
Speaker 1:So there's like a Tubi page. You know, I don't have Tubi, or I've never watched it Tubi.
Speaker 2:I mean, it's kind of just set up kind of like.
Speaker 1:Netflix Okay, but you can search his name, type of thing. Oh, okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you search his name and then it'll come up. I haven't really seen, I haven't really logged into Tubi actually, but yeah, from what I know of it, it's very much like a Netflix or a Hulu or whatever. It's got all of the top, whatever you know, lined up and then you just type in. I guess like his name Robbie World or Robert or some shit.
Speaker 1:And how does he find the actors? Is it like he touches social media or it's a mix.
Speaker 2:Um, you know some sometimes it's friends. Most times for the startup phase of everything it's friends. Now it's starting to kind of expand out of that to paid actors. Um, yeah, so that's, that's mainly what it is so, just like starting off, just kind of like anything else, um, it's just with your homies at first, and then the second movie is like with your homies, but then this paid actor, then the third movie is half and half, and then so that's. That's really just like the route he's trying to go no, he's definitely a hustler.
Speaker 1:I I respect it a lot because he's came a long way yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, um, because it reminds me of keep in mind I don't know anything but country wayne when he did that shannon sharp interview and gave everybody the formula how to do it yeah yeah, so it's so. Hearing how much he makes on it, it was like oh, you know what I? Mean yeah, yeah, and how robbie's building up. It seems like a similar type of formula, like a similar no, I'm sure it's completely different, because country rain doesn't do actual movies.
Speaker 2:I don't think right, uh, now he's starting to oh, okay uh-huh, but no, he definitely shit.
Speaker 2:Country rain helped me out a lot off of that one interview, literally. Um, last year kat williams dropped. Last year Cat Williams dropped, the Cat Williams interview dropped. And then right after that Was Country Wayne and he gave the formula and I swear to God I was like Alright, and then I did the same thing he did, or what he said. He said drop three times a day, drop every day, a couple months, something going to happen. And I swear it took maybe like four weeks or maybe a month. And then I don't know if you ever saw, but I had a video of me and Ice Spice, yeah, and that shit went crazy. And then I had gained like 100, 200,000. I think last year alone I started off with maybe 200,000 followers or something like that, on Instagram, zero on Facebook, and now on Facebook I have 200-something thousand and then on Instagram it's almost 600,000.
Speaker 1:So that formula definitely helped me out a lot, but it seems like it's still a difficult one to do, right. You know everybody would be doing it right oh no, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're talking about like three videos a day and mine are kind of quick, so mine are like 15 seconds. Uh, his was three minutes, so that's where you can get the ad breaks and so that's how you get most of the money. And he literally just films it on the camera like it's nothing too fancy. He just films it on the camera and then we're gonna act like we're gonna do this skit for like three minutes and he films a whole bunch of them in a day. I think he said like 14 hour shoot days or something like that, and then, uh, it's really, he's not really editing that much. I would assume it's not a lot of edit, it's not like it cuts, so it's just like that three minutes we did All right, cool, we just schedule it and we upload it.
Speaker 2:So his Formula it works best for him and a lot of other people Mine. It just needs like a little bit more tweaks to it. I really should just like like a little bit more tweaks to it. Well, I really should just like uh, somehow expand out of that I just haven't figured that out yet like what I would do to expand, I think, like my um, uh, uh, it's kind of like a gift and a curse of wanting to be different, because, you know, it's harder, like it's like it's cool when I'm walking around somebody's like, oh bro, I really respect your art and all this, but it's like it's actually harder, like to do that and try to keep up with it. So, um, but either way, he definitely he spilled the formula and I definitely have much respect for him for that, because if he helped me out, I'm pretty sure he helped out plenty of people yeah, from that interview, because I mean you, you was in the world of skits for a very long time.
Speaker 2:That's how you started off yeah, I started off like yeah, because you you really just transitioned to quick bite stuff during instagram phase. Yeah, yeah, yeah, after I became racial silly, yeah that's when I yeah really switched.
Speaker 1:All of that true so it's not like you know, it's not, it's that's just how you started, so it's not really new to you. It's just getting you back into that mind mode. But because you've been doing, you know the quick bites for so long no, I actually should.
Speaker 2:I actually do need to do that. Actually collaborating with people does usually help. Um, it's just so easy to not to so it ain't nobody saying hey brother, what if I say this or what is?
Speaker 1:I'm like no brother, let's like do what I said, yeah yeah, or you can do it all and see how it clips up and comes together and make a decision yeah, usually majority rules, yeah, yeah yeah, no, I mean anytime I really collaborated with anyone, it it wasn't a bad thing.
Speaker 2:It never was a bad thing. I guess it's just way more of a hassle like way more of a house.
Speaker 2:It's just literally like doing work by yourself versus working a group and like this is especially it's your subject, that that you know so well yeah so it's not just like if we were all doing a skit, then cool, but like if you hopping in the green screen world, that's my world, yeah. So like, not not that I'm like all hell me, but like bruh, like you putting more work on me, you think this is too funny, but the joke, you ain't editing it, so you don't know that like, the timing of this isn't like a skit, it's like a movie, it's not the same thing. So sometimes it's hard to um, you know, like kind of break the ice with that, and then it just gets awkward a little bit sometimes yeah, I think everybody I mean including yourself has an ego attached to it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah everybody wants to do it their way. Of course that's just naturally. But I mean, that's what a team is you gotta be.
Speaker 2:You gotta be like-minded in the goal itself that's why I only collaborate with people I know for real like can't. Yeah, rob, that's probably just, that's the cap yeah.
Speaker 1:So I think it should be something like or was the? Cap, like what I see and what you're probably familiar with is they come into your world, you come into theirs and like, hey, this is how I want to do it in my world. Then I could come over to your world and you show me how you want me to do. Yeah, and it could be that. On that, yeah, and I'll put input as I see fit, just to see how it works. You can take it or you can't.
Speaker 2:I see that, yeah, yeah but.
Speaker 1:I think it's just as you know. Of course, I don't know these guys and I met so few of them, but just communicating.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. No, I believe in it. I think I do have I gotta get rid of the? I don't know. I feel like I have a brand too, so sometimes the brands don't just like match up. Like, have you ever worked with people where, like them working with you could like kind of help you out, but you helping them out is kind of like the, the? There's a difference in brands. So it's like I'm not really trying to go into your world for real.
Speaker 2:I mean I, I, I feel you a hundred percent, but it's not like they like your audience to go like I ain't messing with steve no, I'm not saying I'm just literally, like naturally high, for example there were times where somebody would come up to me, where I used to stay in atlanta and shout out to atlanta, shout out to the whole culture of atlanta but this is the culture of atlanta. So like they'll come up to me and be like bro, like I don't know how you be doing that stuff, and I'll collaborate with them and put them in my video. And then now that's exactly what you're saying. Now it's their turn and now I gotta like sit in this room with a whole bunch of girls shaking their ass. I got a girlfriend at the time. Now my life is harder. It's just like bro. I'd rather just hop in a scene with Beyonce and just call it a day.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean you're talking about comfort zone. It's like hey. But I'm just saying yeah yeah, I wouldn't expect you to go to the gay club and get twerked on by men. Yeah, that's there's an uncomfortable zone to where, yeah, like there's a level to it. Yeah for sure, yeah, you can. You can say no, you don't have to do it just because they did your video it's awkward, it's like, oh this, like that's what I'm saying, it's just it.
Speaker 2:Just. I'll open it back up to that, but that that's a point they had got to where I was like, bro, I'm better off just doing this, and I just made it a habit of doing so. To where I just made it a habit of not collaborating with anybody I feel, like it. I feel like it hurt me in a way. I feel like it hurt me in a way of growth for sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah, I, I just I how I visualize it and I'm I'm naive because it's not my world. But, um, it's like you have a personal trainer and it's it's just a collaboration of having somebody else do what you do, and it's iron sharpens iron and it motivates you to get going, because motivating yourself, uh, when you ain't in do or die mode, is extremely tough for anybody. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And that's why typically the children of CEOs don't really do that well in life. They just live off of their parents or the legacy's name. And that's just how it goes, because they don't have any motivation to succeed. Some some do, some, you know, get the pressure lit under them by their parents like bro, you gotta do better, you know, and but others, most of them, just kind of eat out their name and don't know how to truly hustle for real yeah so I could see that I would rather.
Speaker 2:I think that's the thing I think I was. I was um some people I could have collaborated with. That would elevate me mentally that I I should have been looking more for versus just like proximity and I can't even speak for myself when I first I start.
Speaker 1:I first started my own business through kovic and I was hustling and I was hungry for it and the money showed. Now it's like, yeah, I'll put in bids that I know, I like, you know, like, like, I like this one and I'm gonna over bid on it and so I can make more.
Speaker 1:But now there's more competition on the table and I need to expand and then I'm like bruh, now I gotta submit, I gotta do a bunch of research for this, how this works, and then just start. You know I'm amping up my supply and sending out more information. That takes a lot more time, yeah, but I used to do it back then and you know, make 75 a bit. Then it graduated to making more and I'm like damn, my hustle has completely diminished, yeah. So I mean, I say that and I'm speaking even to myself in that- yeah, that does happen.
Speaker 2:I have noticed that about myself as well. Like, yeah, I'll definitely have a little spurts, not even just spurts, but just uh, comparing times of me being in la versus when I was trying to get out of memphis, it was a little different, like I was up day and night coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee, green screen, green screen, green screen, like all day, and that's that's. I wasn't doing 15 seconds, I was doing like over a minute videos, multiple different camera clips and all this type of shit, just to to make something to get out, or that. That that fire, that like hunger, like it wasn't, that I wanted it to happen, like it needed to happen, like so, uh, yeah, there is definitely a difference. Um, and I do try to remind myself, even after this conversation, I'm definitely going to remind myself of, like, what that was, what that felt like, because that that is the difference between good and great for real no, but I find that world interesting.
Speaker 1:I don't, you know, I don't know if I could ever be in that for real. Yeah, not in that aspect. Yeah, yeah, just yeah. So it's just always kind of fascinating how people move and how money comes from it, and it's like a household name on social media. Yeah, but it's not the same as celebrity, because you don't have those same celebrity dollars. So you live a much normal life.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah unless you're like the country rains are the one percenters of it yeah, it can literally be like I said, like I've seen is highs and lows of it, so like it could literally be not a cent or a dollar for months or even longer than that, and then it can be one check that's for the entire year. Just hit your account. So like that, you know it's, it's, it's up and down, so it can literally be any way, which is why it's kind of it's kind of like a drug. It's like you, you taste the blood, like like how the sharks are like on finding nemo. Really, after you taste the blood, like like how the sharks are like on finding nemo really, after you taste the blood, bro, it's like I can't get out of this.
Speaker 2:Oh for real, yeah, like what, the man after man, after the biggest check, I got what? And I and you, I was in la, so like I'm around all these people who really getting money and it shows, and it's like it's a different world, bro, and it could easily be a video away, one video. Oh okay, you know the hot tool girl.
Speaker 1:Pretty sure her whole life changed yeah, but that was, she could have never calculated that well, I know, but I'm just saying that that was a random thing, but all right, um country way, it's anybody, my anybody, uh.
Speaker 2:Uh, what's his name? Um dc young fly. You remember when he first started?
Speaker 1:when he was standing on walmart.
Speaker 2:Standing on walmart yeah, it was just like a couple videos and it just made so much motion that, like all the other stuff just made sense. And then that's when you capitalize. Uh, you know, one of the main people that I've seen capitalize the most is druski. Um, this is it's like a plus, like in terms of capitalization off of the whole and dc on fly uh, I'm sure there's a lot of them that capitalize like even the just hilarious of the world yeah, no, I mean, I've seen it.
Speaker 2:I'm just saying like, like the strategic move, like the perfect next move, every single time to elevate and all that, that's super important. I've seen a lot of people, including myself, that'll be in certain certain um certain moments or aspects, and then the next move is just so crucial. I've seen people like on wild and out, then get kicked off, then you don't hear from them anymore.
Speaker 2:I've seen people on bt seeing people that rose to being in movies and all of a sudden you don't see them anymore. They probably can't even call anybody to be in the movie right now. But yeah, it's all important, very, very important. Every move has to be your best move.
Speaker 1:It's like gambling. There's failure along the way, though. That's it. There's failure along the way. Yeah, like I disagree with. Every move has to be your best move. Your next move has to be I just like you're going to misstep, you're going to make bad decisions well, of course, well, yeah, yeah, yeah, of course, yeah so I mean it's, I think it's just the, the hustle and the want and the love and the drive of it all that's very, very true.
Speaker 2:That is. That is very, very true. I mean, I feel like we're sort of saying the same thing, because I feel like what I'm saying is a result of what you just said. Yeah, right, yeah so it could be. It could be a bad move, but your hustle so good that, like something else probably outweighed that shit, just because of the opportunity from the work that you just put in.
Speaker 1:Right, and I'll be surprised if Robbie didn't love this shit.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean, oh.
Speaker 1:Like he got to love it. You know what I mean Drewski has to love it. Mr Beast, he's one of those ones Like, if you saw his Joe Rogan interview and how much he loved YouTube, mm-hmm, like, it's a sensation you can't even describe how insane you have to be, yeah of uh one.
Speaker 1:He's just talking about how they did their thumbnails and how he he did it his and he looked in the frames per second. You know it's like I don't know what you're discussing, but I can tell that you have have an insane level of passion for what you do. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I have a competitive nature and I want to be the best, but I don't think there's insane love or passion in anything. You know what I mean. I do For my career. I want to make you know be proud of my peers. I want you know my what is the word? I'm looking for the people above me. I want to do a good job for everybody you know, around the circle. Of course, provide for myself, but it's never a passion, you know what I mean. Like I got to do this, you know it's been every waking moment thinking about this.
Speaker 1:When I go to sleep it's like, yeah, I'll think about it and I and I'll think about the things I do wrong and I'll try to, you know, do better each and every time. But it's not an insatiable passion to do anything. But if you, yeah, I, I'll be surprised if drew, ski and all of them didn't have an insatiable passion.
Speaker 2:Oh no, absolutely Absolutely. It's definitely a thing I don't even it's something with. I feel like with creatives, like creative people Maybe. Well, just specifically that I can completely relate to.
Speaker 2:If I don't touch anything, if I don't come out with something or even draw on a piece of paper, like if nothing creative comes out of me, I feel like I'm dying, like I I've felt that so many times, so I there has to be other people that feel like that to where I can't get. I can't get, I can't get away from social media. Like if if social media or movies and all this just goes away, like I don't know what I would do with myself. Like having a job and all this, this is cool, but it's cool because I can buy certain things and put myself in certain positions and like provide for family, but it's not. Like it doesn't fulfill my soul at all. Like literally dropping a video and I think that shit funny and I laugh. That does so much for me.
Speaker 2:Like yeah, so that I can definitely resonate with people, which is probably why I'm still in this shit, like there's definitely been a while. I could have quit a billion times by now. So, yeah, that I I don't know. I feel like everybody has a passion of something. Maybe yours is not necessarily like the job, maybe it's like being a good human, or like yeah, yeah, no, yeah, there's things that I love and care about, but I'm saying insatiable passion.
Speaker 1:You know, I love the sense of community and building around it and I just want, just want, to really see everybody do well. That's why I extend over and beyond for others, yeah, yeah, and I I do a lot better of putting me first in a lot of aspects, but I think that's, you know, it just really starts religion, and you know I'm a servant to god so yeah, yeah, so and then I have to give back to what people give back to me.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, so I have to. You know, I feel and a duty to make sure my grandmother is taken care of. Yeah, because she sacrificed so much. You know, coming from a family of sharecroppers, do you know the sharecroppers?
Speaker 2:yeah like.
Speaker 1:So they rented. They rented land from the owner and but nonetheless picture extremely high interest rate to where you can just pay enough to feed your family and you give your crops away to the land owner oh yeah yeah, so that's times where she went hungry, yeah, yeah. And then I remember you're still working hard as hell I mean well, you're talking about as a kid, so it's a little bit different I'm just talking about the aspect of her childhood oh, yeah, yeah not having shoes you know, living in mississippi, you know, born in 1948, so not having shoes being hungry.
Speaker 1:I remember one time, you know, because I I'm disgusted by beans.
Speaker 3:So yeah, look, I was telling my granny I was like I'd rather die than eat time you know, because I I'm disgusted by beans.
Speaker 1:So I was like look, I was telling my granny I was like I'd rather die than eat beans. You know you're like no, she like you eat beans if you hungry enough. And then I was like nah, granny, they just too disgusted. She's like honey, you will eat beans.
Speaker 1:Like the way she was saying it I knew she was coming from like remembering how hungry she used to be, and then she was like you know, I used to, you know, beg for food and she was like the kids were the nicest you know in terms of like throwing her bread. When they saw that she was hungry and begged for food. Yeah, yeah, so I was like dang I can't you know?
Speaker 1:I mean regardless of how time stuff he's like I gotta make sure that you're taken care of because she, she does a lot still for people and if I told you all the stories it'll be insane. And I was like granny, you still can't be stressing out over you know, your grandchildren actions, your children's actions you know what I mean.
Speaker 1:You gotta rest at some point, yeah, yeah so that's how I am about her in general, because I already told you, like I don't you know about the things how I feel, but nonetheless, uh, so that, so that's kind of really what I do, do it for yeah. It's like I'll wake up Just figure out how I'm gonna make my granny's the best day ever.
Speaker 2:You know she can chill today, she can wait, she'll be alright. Football's on, yeah yeah yeah.
Speaker 1:That's too funny. I'll check on her later. That's too funny.
Speaker 2:It still sounds like Sort of a passion. A little bit of passion. What do we have today actually?
Speaker 1:no idea like. That's why I was like we're just chilling and talking clearly, we're just chilling and talking uh, we're doing good, uh. The one thing I do remember off the top of my head was the vladimir putin or vladimir zelensky oh, his name's vladimir too. Yeah, is it a whole different country uh what ukraine and russia you uh, ukraine was a part of Russia. It was the Soviet Union.
Speaker 2:Oh, okay, okay, okay, so it was under that umbrella. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. I just felt like if I went to Mexico and it was a dude named Brandon, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's like where you from.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but I mean it came from somewhere, but a lot of names, like even from America or whatever. It was like oh, that's actually prevalent. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Exactly yeah yeah, like Michelangelo, I'm trying to think of an Italian name that's actually a black name, like Carlos is a Spanish name, but you know a?
Speaker 2:lot of Carlos's. I know a Carlos from high school. Yeah, I do, yeah, exactly yeah yeah, yeah, I didn't even put that. It sounds so mexican. How'd you say that?
Speaker 1:yeah so uh, but yeah so uh. Vladimir zielinski and met with Trump and JD Vance. Did you see that video?
Speaker 2:I saw the video. Why do they keep getting on him for his attire? Because he came here before and I saw a photo of him and I think Biden or Barack one of them and he's had the same stuff on, so it seems like that's what they wear.
Speaker 1:It was saying you have no respect. That's just like saying that you come into um I. The only reference I can really give is you come into a job interview like with sweatpants and dragon dragon pants on. It's like, bro, you came here to ask for money and you can't, you know, show up here properly. That's kind of what they were on. And so the reason why they killing, like they're treating him as if he's the bad guy, the reason why is because they a lot of people feel like he's, he's just leeching off the government so I'm gonna speak to how I feel.
Speaker 1:how about that? So, um, I feel, publicly, do you want to show them who's the boss number one? That's one thing, and I think it was an element of that. Show them who's in power and who's making decisions and who actually controls what happens. I was like, okay, I can understand that, but the other part is that a lot of these guys, a lot of this money that we're sending not all of it and I don't want to say like it's most of it, but a lot of it goes into, um, ukrainian, uh oligarchs pockets like zielinski is making a lot of millions off of just aid in general.
Speaker 1:So some, a lot of it does fund the soldiers, but a lot of them are keeping percentages on top of that to fund their own lifestyle oh yeah yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So yeah, to think that zielinski is just making the bare minimum is not the case. Yeah, they're. Um, ukraine was a corrupt country before the war started. Yeah, so a lot of these people. So they had to do a lot of things to try to do their best to make it uncorrupt, but it's still people in power that are corrupt from the beginning. Yeah, so a lot of them have incentive for this war to go on because they're very rich.
Speaker 2:Okay, okay, wait a minute. So, oh, so they can keep getting aid and keep their lifestyle billions.
Speaker 1:And then they will picture getting 30 billion and you keep in 100 million you know, of that 30, like, yeah, yeah, that 100.
Speaker 1:The troops would need 100 million, but they, they ain going to truly miss it because they're going to get the bare minimum of what they need for real. Yeah, so that's how I look at it. Now the conspiracy theorists will look at it as Zelensky is a paid actor. Ukraine was, uh, had their own democratic elected official official and, um, it was what do you call? It was like a cool attempt and knocked him out of power and sent him to russia. If he was asking the american official, it would say that the elected to get him office he was actually, it was corrupt and he didn't get the necessary votes. But then came Zelensky. If I'm making sense, please ask questions but Zelensky came in his place, came in his place and people think that was a back US attempt coup to knock the guy out of power who was pro-Russia and put in somebody who was pro-American and pro-NATO, and that was then Zelensky, who actually is legitimately was a known paid actor.
Speaker 2:Like in movies, in movies.
Speaker 1:No like so the conspiracy. They have a point. So he actually acted as a sitting president in a TV show.
Speaker 2:What, yes, was he sitting the same, like in the video?
Speaker 1:I don't know, I don't know all that. And then he was like an actor slash comedian type of thing to where he did like a re-edition of single ladies video. Yes, what? Yeah, exactly for sure yeah, so he had an actor career, so some people could say like similar to arnold schwarzenegger yeah, that's the first person I was thinking about.
Speaker 1:Ronald reagan was an actor but yeah so there's a lot of actors that have been in high, uh, appointed official positions, but, um, then he's one of them. But if you, if, when it all comes together, you seen him have this army fatigue that he wears. It's like, bruh, you ain't fighting in the military, why are you wearing army fatigue?
Speaker 1:yeah master truly wear a suit, so he'll. He'll come on that vibe and that's just a similar vibe he was on, was just wearing, you know, trying to. I don't know, I can't speak for him, but that's just kind of what he's on. He wears a lot of Army fatigue.
Speaker 2:That was Army fatigue.
Speaker 1:No, no, I'm just saying in general, but they have like like sweats and things like that. So that's just the image he tries to give off. Oh, okay, yeah.
Speaker 1:So do I think that situation reminded me of. I can't remember. I don't want to say the name because I'm going to know I'm wrong, but I'm saying I'm wrong, but this did happen. I just can't remember the countries. I know Saudi Arabia, and I think it was the acting president, or whatever you call the, the head official in Jordan, that man to show the people in power.
Speaker 2:Slap that man on live TV yes, yes, I saw somebody slap somebody on yeah.
Speaker 1:So when that's just kind of showing hey, I actually run this and that's kind of what Trump and JD did they just came in. Like you know he's like you don't know our country. You'll feel it one day. You will feel it like hell dog, what you trying to say about America and then. So it was hilarious. I didn't feel bad for him. Oh, uh-huh.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because I think they are corrupt and they are siphoning a lot of money. But at the same time, there's a way that you conduct things. And also, if you want to get back your money and we're talking about getting back the money that we spent from where earth minerals you do have to work with him yeah yeah, yeah. So it's best to try to have a reasonable relation and not relationship, and not embarrass the guy because you do have to work with him in in order to get the money back.
Speaker 2:Otherwise you're saying we're gonna take it and then that's a whole nother war and that's that's unnecessary you think that that's what he was saying, that zelinski was saying like we're gonna take it if you don't give it to me no, zelinski was saying um you, I think it was just a thing of saying, hey, you're capable of being here one day too.
Speaker 1:You know, you may potentially be in my shoes one day, like you know. I mean, he I think he was just kind of using that kind of like that's a way to speak.
Speaker 2:But he doesn't speak proper english and it's all.
Speaker 1:Yeah, or he english is not his first language, right? So he like you'll be, you know. And then like what, what do you? If you took him for what he literally meant, then it'll sound off, but it just sounded like hey you can be in my shoes easily too yeah, okay, and what do you expect me to do?
Speaker 1:I'm trying to save my country, but Trump and them feel like if you were saving your country, you would have came to peace negotiations way before here and we would have tried to make peace. But under the Biden administration you wasn't doing that. So are you trying to save your country? You don't. If it wasn't for us, you don't have any money, you don't have any weapons.
Speaker 2:we're completely I have all the cards exactly yeah pretty much exactly okay yeah, yeah, yeah, so, yeah.
Speaker 1:So you, you need us. Yeah, so we're trying to actually create peace. And which credit to trump that they you know it's been closer to a peace deal than it ever has. It was never. That was never what biden and the kamala harris um administration was on, because they was trying to do the same thing they did to break down, uh, so bring down the soviet union was help find the proxy war, and to where they'll bank up bankrupt russia oh, yeah, yeah, okay, so um, if you ask me and so okay, so you don't really feel bad because it's just like it's not like it was kind of like corrupt anyway, yeah, it's like you just
Speaker 1:tell me how it is to somebody that don't mean that much so I don't feel that bad for him. Yeah, yeah, but of course it was a show yeah they came in knowing that there's gonna go in on clearly that man got jumped it was like it looked like a lot of people surrounding them and I haven't really seen something like that in a while, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it looked like he his back was against the wall like there was nothing he could have done, and then, after it, all he was doing was apologizing.
Speaker 1:So, uh, it just felt like no, he was trying to defend himself. He's trying to defend, defend himself. But he didn't really do a good job. Yeah, because I think he came up. He came up here with the same type of agenda that he was getting from biden and um, but the biden administration it was like, hey, I'm you, put me in this position and shoot, I would just, I would just be chilling and eating. Yeah, yeah, because this is what y'all want and I'm going to give y'all what y'all want. So y'all need me to help destroy Russia. So he was coming in with that mindset like, hey, I'm going to just get more money to fund this war, so I'm going to just pull up on America. And they're like bro, you better bow when you come here, Because you're asking for money from us.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So it is what it is, bro.
Speaker 2:What you think about the whole Canada situation and him doing 25% tariff for Canada and Mexico.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's an unnecessary word, if you ask me.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, canada's talking like we about to go down.
Speaker 1:Yeah, justin Trudeau will be out in a couple months. He ain't going to be here, oh for real.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, okay, okay, okay.
Speaker 1:But I've been hearing that a lot. Yeah, every time.
Speaker 2:Not necessarily him, but I've been hearing that a lot about the increase in prices of like damn near everything that's about to happen just because he did it yeah, I think that was one of the the ones I didn't want to see, cuz I mean they're neighboring countries and they're like little brother, you know.
Speaker 1:I mean like, yeah, that, what do you want them to see? They want to be equal partners to us it's like not really. Yeah, I, I would have liked to to rather them try to be a part of america than we actually have a trade war, because it's, it's a it's all about, like a fentanyl issue, a drug issue, drugs coming into america from canada it seems like a small issue, considering that a lot of it comes from mexico.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and we're now. We're now it's gonna be a trade war 25 on goods and they give a lot of energy. All it seems like over the top, but yeah there's good and bads to every presidency. It's just a part of it. I'm just seeing how it'll play out and what that looks like. That's not how I would have tried to deal with it, but then again I have a limited view of what's going on. I don't have the whole picture and all the information.
Speaker 2:That's just something I've just been hearing. Just like cars, vegetables, uh, oil, like everything is gonna go up and we're possibly it's just gonna mess some stuff up yeah, I just think that it's now to a point to where we should be more self.
Speaker 1:It just self-reliant you know, like I want to get solar on on my roof. I know I've I've been to a solar training class. I don't know if you know, and I know how to install solar. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but paying for it's another thing. I want to do that. I want to um, you know, we talked about chickens and all that stuff vegetables like, yeah, that's just. It just pushes me more to that mindset and I need to be more urgent about it yeah, yeah, the solar thing that's um.
Speaker 2:I see it a lot well being in la. You know it's sunny all the time out here it's not really like sunny all the time.
Speaker 1:I could see people selling it elsewhere more than here yeah, la is different because their um the cost of electricity is much higher in la, like because we I've mentioned, maybe last podcast that we uh through tba. We get electricity through tba and they have the lowest cost in the in the country to produce electricity.
Speaker 1:So not only that it's hard to come, solar is harder, it's a harder sell. Okay, yeah, so there's so many solar companies there here to make it make sense, because also I think that if you put money back into the grid um, and solar, then they give you to the grid is give pretty much saying that you give the utility company electricity then they'll give you money back here.
Speaker 1:They took that incident away several years ago so you need a battery to make it make sense, because otherwise you you'll only be producing um solar to your home during the day when the sun is out.
Speaker 2:It really don't. From what I see, it's not all the time.
Speaker 1:We can produce a lot. Of course it won't be to LA or Arizona or all that stuff, but we'll produce a lot. But nonetheless you need a battery, Because when it's the night you need. Energy needs to be produced and you'll use that battery to uh feed your energy usage. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Otherwise then you'll just be paying for electricity during the night and you'll just be using solar during the day, and people are home more at night than they are during the day because they're working in along those right.
Speaker 3:Yes, yeah so it really would make that much sense. So you have to have a battery.
Speaker 1:People are home more at night than they are during the day because they're working and all that. It really wouldn't make that much sense. You have to have a battery which is like $8,000 on top of the whole installation. It's a hard sell because the return on investment takes so much longer.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that makes sense. I see that. Let's see what else we got we're doing pretty solid.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, there's one video that you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the Halle Berry joint.
Speaker 1:I mean. What. So I mean just them reacting and enacting that kiss on the gremlins.
Speaker 2:I mean the thing for me more so is isn't like that's his wife? Yeah. Like how would you feel, Like what, if you were the wife?
Speaker 1:And then If I'm the wife. Yeah, because he did that if I was hallie berry's husband, let's say that yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, if you were hallie berry's husband, like what?
Speaker 2:what would you be thinking?
Speaker 1:or is it clearly they have like this relationship that's this flies, like it's cool well, I would hope that you would let me know ahead of time that that was what y'all planned on it don't look like it.
Speaker 2:It looked like she just just saw him and was like you know what?
Speaker 1:let me just do this yeah, and then I yeah that now I'm gonna be upset because, I'm not claiming that that 2003 thing ain't gonna be even triggering in my head. Yeah, I have to remember because I didn't think that was that iconic to remember oh god, yeah, I just, I just realized that from seeing this, this, this video yeah, exactly I didn't even know it was something.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah.
Speaker 1:So I'm gonna be mad that you just did that, because I don't think you kissing a random man, or uh, or he looks famous, I've seen him before, so yeah, yeah, but I don't be in tune like that. So if I'm the husband, I wouldn't. I thought you just kissed an actor that you I haven't seen y'all in movies with for real.
Speaker 2:I mean, I don't care if you just got off set Me.
Speaker 1:Oh, so you couldn't even handle if they was kissing on set during an acting scene.
Speaker 2:No, I'm saying that if they just got off of set and then now you're at the award show, whatever, and then you still go up to this man and kiss him, I'm definitely gonna feel the way yeah, yeah yeah, I'm just like what is all this? But I understand, you know, it's just they have their own thing.
Speaker 1:I was just asking yeah, but that reminds me, so could you handle, since you in the world, about how seeing your, your girl, acting on screen and kissing and all that stuff during a scene I, I wouldn't want to.
Speaker 2:Uh, I've been, you know, with an actor before and it's, it's. This is me being like super transparent. I just don't want to see her. I don't know other man you know, just like, just straight up, like I just I don't want to see that, but um, do I respect it? Of course, like, do I watch movies? And you know, there there are movies that um are touching like close your eyes, uh, no storm out and fume?
Speaker 1:no um, you gotta keep it. You gotta keep it cool.
Speaker 2:No, yeah I'm definitely gonna keep it cool, like if it's playing, and you, you know you did that. I respect the art of it. So, you know, in the back of my head it's like it's a twitch back there, but like I'm not going to show that. But if somebody asked me though, you know, like if I'm on stage or on a panel, it's like how do you feel about this? I don't want to see that.
Speaker 1:I don't want to see that.
Speaker 2:But you know I do respect the art. Like I said, there's plenty of movies that I love and you know they're they're couples. In the movie there's a wife and a husband. That shit really looks real and like it makes you feel away what about?
Speaker 1:her titties are out and getting their back below I'm uh, the twitch might show the twitch might it might show.
Speaker 2:I ain't trying to see that.
Speaker 1:I did see that too before which is oh wow, yep, yep, you started to do the disney washington crime yeah, no, I definitely saw that shit before.
Speaker 2:So like yeah, I just don't, I don't want to see that shit, I don't. But I mean, I respect the art, but yeah, if somebody asked me, I don't care if it's the dude or the producer or whoever?
Speaker 2:how you feel about like I don't want to see that, but you know it's a part of that world, which is why I kind of feel weird about that world a little bit. I feel like I feel like being, you know, I plan to be, you know, just acting in my own films and all that type of stuff which will come with like an on-screen relationship and all that Like I don't even know what that would be like for my woman to see. But everybody's different, though. Everybody's different. Everybody can handle certain things, but I just know for a fact that it is their job to connect with the other person. This ain't like you go to the office and like, oh, what files do you have? Oh, okay, the.
Speaker 1:You have to connect with that person and there has it has to be such of a connection that it has to show on screen and the camera don't lie yeah, so like it's a little, a little bit of it just makes me feel weird yeah, my, my girlfriend ain't having none of that, but I told her about a time to where, like me and I call him my cousin, but, um, he's we're not related though but my mom's best friend that was pregnant at the same time, and they and his mom breastfed me and my girlfriend got mad at that yeah it's like I don't like her. Like what?
Speaker 2:because she breastfed me as a baby oh my god, yeah, exactly, oh yeah, she ain't having none of that, then yeah exactly yeah, job or not? Yeah, no.
Speaker 1:They got AI.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I don't even think that's enough. Yeah, yeah, Like no, that's still. Oh right, it's still your face.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah it. No, that's too funny. Yeah, shout out to the people that can digest that, cause I definitely, me and Hallie Would have to have A conversation Like Ain't your contract up For the movie?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was 2003. Yeah, yeah, so that's 22 years ago.
Speaker 2:Like what and yeah, so what's his name? The fight. There was a fight this weekend. Oh, yeah, yeah right, yeah, and Javante. So yeah, it was a draw. And Javante said that you know he had took the knee or whatever because there was grease in his eye. Do you believe that?
Speaker 1:No, like I mean one. There could be just sweat in your eyes and it's gonna burn, so you don't even need that it does burn, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So maybe it's sweating your eye, but at the same time, he's been doing this for so long though and you're a fighter. Nobody wants to hear that. That that's an excuse. That's what you're saying. It was like nobody wants to hear that type of excuse. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like I had to shit like brad. Like nobody wants to hear no excuse. Like it's one thing to say I broke my arm in a fight and I couldn't swing with my right yeah but you're saying brad, I got grease in my eye so I had to take a knee.
Speaker 1:Like brad, you're a warrior fam. That's not what we, what we are, you can.
Speaker 2:You gotta go through with that if, even if that's the case, yeah and so so he would have won then if he didn't do that um I don't really know, because it didn't count oh, so it didn't knock down didn't count.
Speaker 1:But so how it's supposed to go? If you, if you get to the ground, if you self fall-fall, that's a knockdown. Yeah, but it didn't count, so it was act like it was never happened. That wasn't a part of a judgment, so he would have dropped.
Speaker 2:It really don't matter that he did that.
Speaker 1:No, what people are saying. For him it didn't matter because it didn't count, saying and for him it didn't matter if he did like, because it didn't count. But for the leech, uh the, the opposing fighter, it was a knockdown and it should have counted and he should have won because it would have been a draw you see, it wouldn't have been a draw it would have. It would have been a draw.
Speaker 2:He would have won if they counted that as a knockdown oh right, right but but yeah, it was a, it was a draw because it was a close fight okay, so yeah, that's what I'm saying, so that that even the need didn't have anything to do with the results exactly he was just like saying something yeah, yeah, it was it because it should have.
Speaker 1:It should have drove a different result uh-huh yeah, but it didn't. But he's he's giving an excuse on why it happened okay, I'm still the best, I'm still act. You know, I'm still great.
Speaker 1:This happened because of that and, like bruh, nobody wants to hear that type of excuse your warrior yeah, yeah yeah, that was like when Deontay Wilder was like bruh, my, my uniform was too heavy when I walked in the ring, that's why I was tired. It's like nobody really. You practice and fight forever. This is the excuse you're making like yeah, yeah, you got your. And even the hairdresser stylist whoever did his hair is like I don't even use no grease I don't know. She said that did she say that, something like that she's not.
Speaker 2:She said I did your hair on Wednesday it was Saturday and you you wait in, you you worked out. Basically you exercised, warmed up and all that stuff yeah, yeah, so it was.
Speaker 1:It was a lame excuse. You're a warrior, that's not what you stand on. Regardless if that happened or not, just say, hey, I should, this is what happened. I'm just giving you an explanation. But hey, you know what I mean and just leave it at that, but just say, like, take this, it's just an excuse yeah, well, I guess it still didn't even really matter though it should have mattered, though, and that would have like really fucked him up.
Speaker 1:Because I mean, for how I look at things in boxing is that the opposer has to definitively show that he won in order to get somebody else's title, and a knockdown would have did that. Yeah. Otherwise then, yeah, you could have did everything great, but if it was somewhat toe-to-toe and you kind of overwhelmed, you kind of beat him a little bit, you got to show me proof to actually get a dub instead of a draw. Yeah, yeah that's how I look at things.
Speaker 2:Okay. I don't really have anything else.
Speaker 1:I think we're doing great on time. I don't really have anything else. I think we're doing great on time. Alright, we'll close up. Well, this is another episode of Tube for the Culture. We'll be back next week.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Yes, sir, I hope you have a good one. Love y'all.