S3 E6 Tuesday Trivia To Help You Drift Off To Dreamland

Get cozy, get comfy, and drift off to dreamland with some off the wall trivia and facts.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:19

Good evening and welcome to the Comforting Voice podcast. I'm your host, Shasta Ray, and I am joined in the studio by Murray and Baxter the Crocatiels. Murray is sitting here on my desk. He's looking at something that he wants to tear up for fun, and Baxter is clinging to the pant leg of my pajamas right now. I don't know why. It's always an adventure, it really is. These guys are crazy, and I may have to take them upstairs because I've had Baxter almost a year now, and it took a while for them to turn into buddies. I think it was kind of an adult not wanting to hang out with the little kid kind of a thing. Anyway, Murray is now his best friend, and Baxter is now Murray's best friend, and they're starting to go on adventures together, and that means trouble. So they're both kind of in a mood tonight, and they're starting to get into stuff, and I don't need that. I don't I don't need to clean up any more than they've already caused me to need to clean up, including chewing on my cables. Don't chew on that. Thank you. Alright, good bird. Beyond all of this chaos and mayhem going on in here, the giant dog is sleeping just outside of the studio. He sounds like Darth Vader. He breathes very heavily these days, folks. So, uh yeah, he's out in the hallway. Poor doggy, but he seems to understand and he sleeps a lot, so it doesn't seem to matter if he's on that floor or this floor in here. It's darker out there, it's probably more conducive to sleep. So, speaking of sleep, let's get you started on your sleep prep, and then we will be off to a wonderful, wonderful episode. Make sure that you've got everything you need at your fingertips, and that doesn't matter if you're gonna fall asleep, you're gonna doze off, or if you're just kicking back for a while, maybe you're doing tasks around the house and you just wanted a voice in your ear. Make sure that you've got everything you need at your fingertips to make life delightful for this episode, or until you fall asleep, or in case you wake up, whatever the case. Anyway, bottle of water, teddy bear, sleep mask, volume on your listening device set at that optimum level, whatever it is that you need to do, this is where you shuffle around, you do it, you get comfortable, you get your pillow all squished up into that right shape, get everything done now so you don't have to mess with it later. And then once you figure out, like, how are you going to be comfortable? Are you sleeping on your back tonight? That sort of thing, give yourself a good stretch. Just reach into those muscles, flex all those muscles in a stretchy kind of way, all the way out your fingers and toes, wiggle those fingers and toes a little bit. That's really good for you, and it's really good for starting off sleep and relaxation. Then release that stretch, and that's the good part. That's where you just feel all of that tension kind of vanish and the stress go away, and it just feels amazing. You just kind of relax into it. Next, take a couple good deep breaths of air, get that oxygen going for yourself. It's another way to kick off relaxation and sleep. And even if you're not here to doze off per se, it's still good for you. We don't get enough oxygen. We tend to breathe very shallow these days, it's just what we do. And yeah, oxygen is great for you, no matter what. So take a good deep breath in to about the count of four. Hold it to about the count of four, and then exhale to about the count of six. Do that two or three times. You can even cycle through that stretch and then a couple good cleansing deep breaths. Do that once or twice. You're good to go. And I'll tell you what, that's great for anxiety in the moment, also. It kind of gives your brain a really instant reset and redirects. So it's another tool that you can use in the moment, even when you're not going to sleep. All right, let's see what your tea tag and your fortune cookie slip are for this week. Okay, your tea tag. Love, compassion, and kindness are the anchors of life. Isn't that nice, Myrrh? And your fortune cookie slip. A simple kindness today will soon bring you unexpected rewards. Oh, that's nice too. And your lucky numbers off of the back of the fortune cookie slip. Two, nine, twelve, thirteen, twenty eight, and thirty. Good luck if you play number games. We'll get this into the archive receptacle. And no mini macaw down here tonight to attack everything in the near area. The the cockatiels just don't do that as much. They just they get into stuff or they sit and look cute. It's like one or the other on the extremes. Okay, so let's just take a brief moment for join the fun and we're gonna see where some of our listener base is listening in from. We're gonna go to the next three countries on the list, and we're gonna learn a little bit about those countries. That's how we can all get to know each other from across the miles, around the globe, and just all feel like we're hanging out. And uh yeah, it's a fun thing. So tonight we've got Spain first on the list. Spain is home to 49 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, making it one of the most culturally rich countries in the world. Spain produces nearly half the world's olive oil, making it the global leader in something used in kitchens everywhere. Spain is known for its relaxed social lifestyle, where long meals and time with others are an important part of daily life. So if you're joining the fun from Spain, you represent rich culture, global influence, and a way of life that truly values connection and slowing down. Next on our list, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is home to some of the world's most vast and stunning sand desert landscapes. Hospitality is a deep-rooted cultural value where welcoming guests is considered an important part of daily life. The country is undergoing major growth and modernization while maintaining strong cultural traditions. So if you're joining the fund from Saudi Arabia, you represent deep tradition, meaningful heritage, and a culture built on generosity and hospitality. And last for today, Brazil. Brazil is home to the Amazon Rainforest, which is the largest tropical rainforest in the world and one of the most biodiverse places on earth. It is the only country in South America where Portuguese is the official language. Brazil is known for its music, rhythm, and celebrations that bring people together in joyful ways. So if you're joining the fun from Brazil, you represent incredible natural beauty, vibrant energy, and a culture that celebrates life and connection. And if you've got a minute, I got a minute. Let's cut over to Lon and see what he sent in for this week's Got A Minute.

SPEAKER_00 8:02

One of our human superpowers is the art of listening. Everyone wants to be heard. At least that's what we think they say. Wisdom is our reward for listening during a lifetime of wanting to speak instead. Everyone hears what we say. Friends listen to what we say. Our best friends listen to what we don't say. So listening is a superpower, like I've mentioned. Most of the successful people that we have known are the ones who do more listening than talking. It's the quiet ones in the back that you have to worry about. And that even includes my dog pack. It's not the one in my face that I'm concerned, the one that's barking at me. It's the one way back there that's not saying anything, because they are soaking it all up. And think about what that does for us. Most often it's the friend that just sits with us and listens rather than giving advice that gives us the most solace. Those that actually hear. They listen with intent. Friends are those rare people who ask how we are and then actually wait for the answer. So listening is a human superpower. And if we do that more often than not, we thrive.

SPEAKER_01 9:47

Thank you, Lon, and so true. Oh my gosh, we all have moments that we need to talk, and we need that person there to listen to us, right? And we need to be heard. So it's so important to be able to be someone that can listen and just calm yourself down so that you're not just delivering advice. It's not always what they want. Sometimes listening is all they need. They don't need the advice, they just need to get it out and feel valued enough that you're taking the time to do that. We all need that. And it seems like in today's busy world where we are getting more and more and more and more people on earth, but at the same time, we're more and more isolated from each other with our busy lives and stress and everything we're doing, and sometimes we move far apart so we don't see each other. Oh my gosh, there's just so much going on in modern day life, and it's just so important to have those connections with friends and listen to each other, give each other that little platform to catch up, to vent, to celebrate, and anything in between. And not only does it help you just get that thing off your mind or celebrate in the moment, or just get it in the past so you don't have to fixate on it anymore, but being able to vent with a friend or someone that you trust, and being able to be that trusted person, that is a really wonderful friendship bonding thing. And don't underestimate the value that that will have over a lifetime, even if it's not the same person. Develop that skill and be that person that you can go to a friend and say, hey, I just need to chit-chat for a while. Even if it's nothing important or nothing heavy, sometimes we just need to have connections and listen to the little stuff. So since this is a podcast and I'm the one talking and you're the one listening, I guess it's great practice, right? So to make it interesting while you practice listening, I got onto Chat GPT and I had it generate a long list of I had it generate a long list of off the wall true facts and trivia. So we're just gonna sit and read through this and bore you to sleep, okay? So we're just gonna run through these and trust me, this is really great practice for listening. And you're already showing up because it's a podcast and you came prepared to listen, right? Isn't that great? It's like a system. Alright, so let's see what we have here. We have some really weird stuff. The brain and human oddities. Your brain generates enough electricity to power a small light bulb. You cannot hum while holding your nose. I gotta try this. Oh it it works. Or it doesn't work. You can't That's messed up. Okay. Humans glow in the dark, very faintly, so faint in fact that our eyes cannot detect it. I did not know that. That's weird. Okay. The average person spends about six months of their life waiting at red lights. Your stomach gets a new lining every few days so it does not digest itself. And here's some weird trivia about animals. Octopuses octopi, octopus and octopus octopi. Octopuses have three hearts and blue blood. Cows have best friends and they get stressed out when they're separated. A group of flamingos is called a flamboyance. A sloth can hold its breath longer than a dolphin can. Wow, I didn't know that. Wombats produce cube shaped poop cube shaped poop I didn't need to know that. Okay, here's some trivia about the earth and nature doing its thing. There are more trees on earth than stars in the Milky Way. Bananas are technically berries and strawberries are technically not berries. There is a place where it rains fish. Yes, actual fish. I got it how do they know that? How does how does a fish get up in the air? I need to know about that. I might have to look that one up. Lightning strikes Earth about one hundred times every second. That's crazy. The smell after it rains has a name and I don't know if I'm gonna pronounce it right. Petrachor Petrichor P E T R I C H O R Petrachor. I did not know that either. And here's some interesting facts about time and history that feel fake. Cleopatra lived closer in time to the moon landing than to the building of the pyramids. Ooh, that's crazy. Woolly mammoths were still alive when the pyramids were being built. Oxford University is older than the Aztec Empire. That does seem fake. What that's crazy. The shortest war in history lasted thirty eight to forty five minutes. I wonder what war that was. Does anyone know? If you know the answer to that one, go to comfortingvoice.com and there's a contact form. It's the easiest way to send an email, come straight to me. You can do the send us a text down in the show notes. I would like to know what the shortest war in history was that lasted under forty-five minutes. Humans and the T Rex did not overlap, but sharks existed before either of them. Wow. I knew sharks had been around for a long time. And here's some weirdness about the modern world. There are more possible games of chess than atoms in the observable universe. Your cell phone has more computing power than NASA had during the moon landing. QR codes were invented in 1994 but didn't become popular until decades later. The like button almost wasn't included on Facebook. Autocorrect was originally meant to fix typing errors, not create chaos. And an interesting bit of trivia about QR codes, if you go to comfortingvoice.com and go up to the Thrive Gear Shop, I've got a podcast mug, and on the side of the mug I've got a QR code that will just take you straight to the host site, and you can always listen to the comforting voice in the moment. All you have to do is scan and listen, there you go. Oh wow, that's fun. Okay, here are some facts about food that sound like lies. Honey never spoils. Jars found in ancient tombs are still edible, and that's true. I have a friend that actually has beehives. I buy honey from her every season, and we were just having that very conversation a couple weeks ago. Peanuts are not nuts, they're legumes. White chocolate technically is not chocolate. Apples float because they're twenty-five percent air. I did not know that. Cheese is the most stolen food in the world. Oh I would have thought it was anything from DoorDash. And now here are some totally random why do I need to know this facts? There's a species of jellyfish that is biologically immortal. You are taller in the morning than at night. The inventor of the microwave discovered it when a chocolate bar melted in his pocket. That sounds dangerous. You cannot fold a piece of paper more than seven to eight times. That's true. I tried that when I was in junior high. Go get yourself a sheet of paper and you fold it in half, in half again, and half again, and you can't do it more than like seven times eight max. And our last bit of trivia, the hashtag symbol is technically called, I don't am I gonna pronounce this right, an octothorp. Oh gosh, that's some fun stuff. Are you guys still awake out there? Did you have fun? Alright, I am gonna get this edited and into your eardrums. I'm a little bit late recording tonight, so I've got some editing ahead of me. And before we go, let's just remind everyone, once again, head on over, check out the new website, comfortingvoice.com. There's a link down in the show description, down in the show notes, and I've got some work to go on it yet. I still need to get all of the podcast apps hooked up there, but that's where you can go over and check out the Thrive gear in the Thrive shop. You can check out the Buy Me a Coffee, you can check out the Coloring Book Empire. There is just so much already started over there, and it's just the start. That's the crazy thing. The journey of a thousand miles starts with one step, and this website is our first step to internet greatness, so go check it out. Alright, I think that's all I really got for you tonight. Don't forget to subscribe on whatever app you're listening on, that way you'll get notifications, and you'll always know when I put out an episode. But as a helpful tip, we do our mishmash, our ramble chat here on Tuesdays, and Fridays we've got vintage bedtime stories for everybody, all ages, fun time. We are currently reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and this coming Friday is chapter four. And until then, sleep tight, good night, and bye bye, and the same.