Richmond River Rats, Run Clubs & Red Flags (James River, Carytown Run Club, Eric Lannon, etc) — Unscripted #050

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In this episode of Vera House Unscripted, we discuss a range of Richmond topics including free GRTC bus rides, Dock Street Park, public spaces, social isolation, Carytown Run Club, James River summer culture, Eric Lannon, and some of the stranger stories coming out of Virginia lately.

We start with Richmond extending free GRTC rides and how public transportation, parks, trails, and gathering spaces all play a role in helping people feel more connected to the city and to each other. We also discuss Dock Street Park, Rockets Landing, Oregon Hill, neighborhood culture, and why Richmond still feels like a small town despite how much it continues to grow.

Later in the episode, we get into modern social behavior, phones, headphones, and the strange reality that people barely acknowledge each other anymore in public spaces. We also talk about Carytown Run Club, summer in Richmond, boating culture, the Lily Pad, and ways people are trying to rebuild real-world community and connection.

The second half of the episode shifts into Richmond internet lore and Virginia chaos, including the ongoing legend of Eric Lannon, scams, social manipulation, and one of the wildest stories currently coming out of Chesapeake.

Topics include Richmond public transportation, GRTC, Dock Street Park, Carytown Run Club, Oregon Hill, James River culture, social isolation, Eric Lannon, Richmond lore, boating, Lily Pad, public spaces, and Richmond summer culture.

Quick interjection to invite you to Vera House Studios. If you are a local Richmond business, entrepreneur, brand owner, or service provider—and you know you need to create better content to get your products and services in front of the right people—we can help.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome back to the Vare House podcast. Today we get into some shit but more about that later. We talked about a bunch of fun stuff today. We talked about how Richmond is extending free GRTC bus rides for another year. So if you're in need of transit this summer, you can hop on the bus for free, which is pretty cool. There's a project down on Dock Street Park in Shaco Bottom, Rockets Landing Area, to extend and revitalize this essentially unused patch of land and turn it into a public park. And I think that's great. We could always use more public spaces. And to that end, we talk about connection. And what sparked that thought was why don't we say hi to each other in the street in passing? Most people just kind of walk by you and look at the ground. And I think it's kind of weird. So let's start talking to each other. But in the meantime, what else we get into?

SPEAKER_02 0:57

Yeah. And it's sad that that is the case, right? Um, so during the episode, we do invite you to join us at the upcoming Carrytown Run Club. It's brand new, it's low pressure. Come join us May 30th at 9 a.m. You'll get all the details to that in the description. During this episode, we talk about what to do because the blazing hot summer is coming up. So we talk about ways to stay cool for Richmonders. There's a lot of different options that you probably didn't know about that we didn't know about. We also talk about a pretty wild, what I'm calling a holy shit moment. This happened in Chesapeake in Virginia. And uh you just gotta see it to see what we're talking about. It's just insane. And then we talked about Richmond's most infamous grifting scam artist frat boy. And uh a bit of a he's a bit of a pink unicorn, he's a legend, he's maybe he's Florida man. Uh we don't know. And you may have heard about him if you've lived in Richmond for some time. It may be a name that's familiar. Tune in, enjoy the episode. Odie McBig Dog, got your license.

SPEAKER_00 2:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:03

I got my uh You're like, I'm the captain now.

SPEAKER_00 2:06

I'm your captain now. Certified boat operator or whatever the title is. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:12

It's captain, I think. I think it is captain, or just a licensed boater. They use they use weird terminology in that booklet. But I went ahead, I got my boating license because we talked about wanting to go out to the lily pad, get a little boat, get a crew together, go on a little cruise. And I haven't done it in a few years. And the last time I did, somebody else was driving, and I want to drive.

SPEAKER_02 2:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:37

So I got my license.

SPEAKER_02 2:38

Well, and especially with uh with your luck on the streets, it's like just take it on the water where there's no red light cameras.

SPEAKER_00 2:44

Seriously, there's no cops, there's no speed bumps, there's no red lights to roll through. There's no jaywalkers, there's no jaywalkers, yeah. Free and clear. There's even like a little cove out there that you can pull into and like park and it's super shallow, so you can have like a boat party out there. Yeah, it's nice.

SPEAKER_02 3:01

I've been out there before, like in the little, what do they call it, like the gravel pits or something? Yeah, I've been out there. It is a good time. It's cool. It's been a little while, but yeah, that'd be awesome. And I think so. What's the deal? Can you can you pilot any size boat? Like, can you can you now captain a yacht?

SPEAKER_00 3:17

I don't think it's yachting. Okay. Quite certified, at least to my knowledge. I think it's for small to medium-sized boats, motorized or powered boats, inboard, outboard, and maybe some sailing ships that have motors. I didn't read the fine print, to be honest.

SPEAKER_02 3:38

I'm sure there's some limitation at some point, right?

SPEAKER_00 3:41

There there definitely is. But for something like the Lillipad or, you know, Lake Anna, where you can just drive out there and like reserve a boat for the whole day. You can have it for like eight hours. Yeah. You just need a boating license for that. And it's, you know, it's an online course. It's 50 bucks. Takes a few hours. Wasn't that hard.

SPEAKER_02 4:00

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:01

And we're good to go.

SPEAKER_02 4:02

Boats, man. Boats are cool. My dad, you know, growing up, like we went fishing and deep sea fishing all the time, and he's pretty much just always had a boat of some sort, even if it was just like a little bass fishing boat. Um, and then at one point he had a bay liner. And so, yeah, going on a boat is like always a good time, man. We you mentioned Lake Anna. I've also been out to Lake Anna. My family went there not super frequently, but we had a string of summers where we'd go out to Lake Anna, but the water there is really hot. Yeah. It's like the outlet for the uh nuclear power plant.

SPEAKER_00 4:31

It is. I don't mind that because call it cold natured or what have you. I like it a little on the warm side. Yeah. Now, when it's like super, super hot, that's super it's the most annoying thing to get out of a hot car, walk in the hot sun, and then get into like the hot lake or the hot river or whatever. That sucks. Yeah. You know, it's just like getting into a bathtub. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:54

It's not fun. And there's also like a big misconception about Lake Anna with like the nuclear thing, too. People just, you know, we have such a negative association with nuclear because of what we learn in school about Chernobyl and like, you know, nukes and the atomic bomb and all that stuff. But nuclear power is entirely different. Um, and it's not like there's nuclear waste going into the water. That's not how it works.

SPEAKER_00 5:16

They wouldn't let people swim now. I say that. I mean, you never know. You never know. Um confidently, I'm confident that they wouldn't just let people swim in the lake if it was like super there wouldn't be like fish or like turtles or birds or anything like that that are out there if it was riddled with nuclear waste. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:34

So I And I'm not a nuclear engineer, but essentially, like the way it works, and I know this because my ex was a nuclear engineer, but you know, water is the cooling method for like the rods that create nuclear fission. And so, like, of course, those get like insanely hot, and then the way they cool them down are basically like stop the nuclear processes, they just put them underwater and it just stops the process. But then, of course, the water gets really hot and then they release that water. So it's literally just hot water. Yep. You know, that's but um yeah, not always the most fun to swim in.

SPEAKER_00 6:03

No, not uh so I don't plan on swimming too much when I'm on this boat journey of ours. Yeah. I'll get in, you know, do a little drop anchor, do a little swim in, get a little dip in. That's kind of what I like to do. Just a little dip, just cool off, especially on a hot day, right?

SPEAKER_01 6:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:18

It's probably gonna be Virginia hot, so call it 90 or 85 with a heat index of 102, right? Whatever the heat index means. It'll be like 85% humidity with no clouds in the skies, so no no shade or cover from the sun. So we're gonna need a dip. Take a little dip, then I'm gonna sit on the boat and just chill.

SPEAKER_01 6:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:42

Yeah. They call that cooked. Yes. I'm okay with being a little cooked. Yeah. You know, I got I got the natural sun block, so so I'm okay most of the time. You got that extra melanin. I do. Yep. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:54

Um it's uh, I mean, it's it's what did we call it last year? Hot boy summer. Hot boy summer. I don't know why we said that, but uh I guess it's back. It's made a return.

SPEAKER_00 7:06

I don't even know what we can call it that now, man. It's not even it's not like that. It was fun. Hot boy summer was fun. Yeah. I had a mullet. Yeah, that's wild. I looked at some of the previous episodes and it wasn't even just a mullet. It was like you had long hair that you like sometimes cut on the side.

SPEAKER_02 7:23

Yeah, yeah, pretty much, dude. Well, like the tricky thing is my hair is actually straight, like straight. And I feel like a mullet is cool when it's like wavy and wild, you know. Yeah. And um, it takes growing a mullet to learn that you ain't got that mullet in you, you know.

SPEAKER_00 7:42

I mean, I can't say that that's how I learned that I don't have that mullet in me, but I can understand that.

SPEAKER_02 7:49

Yeah, I think like I've got the right attitude for a mullet, but I don't have like the right endurance for a mullet.

SPEAKER_00 7:59

Endurance. I'm thinking about how people would say you don't have the frame. Like you don't have the frame for a mullet, like you don't got the shoulders or foot or whatever. Not saying that that's you, but it's just like that's a funny thing that people would say for sure. It's like certain hairstyles, like you don't got the frame for that.

SPEAKER_02 8:13

Bro, I just don't have the hair jeans for it, you know? Cause like if you and I feel like the point of a mullet is like it takes no maintenance because it's a mullet, right? But like because my hair is like pinned straight in order to make my mullet look cool, I had to like put all this texturizer stuff in it. And then I'm like, dude, what's going on? I'm like, I'm shaving this thing off.

SPEAKER_00 8:36

This is crazy. It's more maintenance than it's worth.

SPEAKER_02 8:38

Yeah. I'm like, I can't be maintaining a mullet. Like, what?

SPEAKER_00 8:42

It's like, yeah, you you are that guy now.

SPEAKER_02 8:45

Right. And then yeah, you can't help but feel like, dang, I'm a poser.

SPEAKER_00 8:50

I mean, or unbeknownst to everyone else in the modern world, you are a mullet guy because that's what it takes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:58

You know, but then I gotta like uphold my image as a mullet guy, you know. And I wasn't I wasn't willing to commit.

SPEAKER_00 9:03

You're at Ulta every other week picking up the hair supplies. You know the lady behind the counter, she's like, Oh, that's what Mike, I got the I got the new goods for you right over here. Three thousand dollars in hair stuff.

SPEAKER_02 9:13

Yeah, yeah. So naturally, after just under a year, I called it quits. Yeah. And we're back to old faithful.

SPEAKER_00 9:21

Well, the timing couldn't be better. High and tight's, you know, it's that time of year. Because let's see, it's middle end of this week. Today was and call it 95, 90-ish. Yesterday was 100. My dash always says like 112. The day before that was 91, 92. I think the day before that it was like in the mid-80s.

SPEAKER_02 9:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:47

It's it's hot. It's Richmond summer is here. It is. I know we've been bitching about the weather for a while because it was cold, then it was frozen, and then it was nice, like real nice. Now it's hot.

SPEAKER_02 9:58

Yeah. And you survived the yellow dust storm.

SPEAKER_00 10:01

The yellow dust storm, the uh the pollen storm, the pollening. Yes, the pollening, yes. Yeah, I survived the pollening barely. Like it took me out for like two days.

SPEAKER_02 10:09

Yeah, dude. It was crazy. Well, I survived last summer uh with no air conditioning.

SPEAKER_00 10:15

Blows my mind. Can I like I remember when you told me it was near the end of summer, yeah, when I found out. Yeah. And I'm, you know, you didn't complain, you didn't bitch about it. You were just like, oh yeah, my AC's been broke since like a year ago. And I just I just tough it out. You know, I'm rocking out 100 and some degree to my in my house, like I'm living in the Congo.

SPEAKER_02 10:34

Yep. Yep. Like, all right, man. Yeah, literally it got to like 102 inside my house. And um luckily we'll have a fun announcement about that later. So everybody'll have to like keep an ear out to hear what we're gonna do because we're gonna actually do something funny, like or interesting regarding my AC. Yeah. But that was tough. Like it, it was like you said, tough it out was exactly what I did. Like, luckily, I don't have you know pets and kids and stuff. So I was like, it's just me. Like it's just me, and I gotta deal with this work. Yeah. I was like, whatever, dude. I'll just tough it out. And that was my attitude in the beginning of summer. And then sure enough, I hit July, August, and I was like, I think I made a mistake.

SPEAKER_01 11:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:13

Bro, you're a better man than me in that regard. I'm a little called you know, call me whatever you want. I I can't. I can't handle it. I'm I like being very comfortable and I very much dislike being uncomfortable.

SPEAKER_01 11:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:25

And temperature is one of those things I just can't tolerate when it's off. It's like it's if it's too cold, just I can't function. I can't do anything. If it's too hot, it's nothing, I can't think about anything else. Yeah. Kind of I I have to manage the atmosphere for me to like exist. So for you to live in a house with 100 degree temperatures inside for more than like a few days, like bravo. You know?

SPEAKER_02 11:50

Yeah, man. I mean, I survived it. And just within these past few days, it's already hit almost 100 in my house again. Yeah. But luckily, I have a plan. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:01

I what's your what's your temporary fix for for keeping cool?

SPEAKER_02 12:05

I mean, in the meantime, dude, like now that it's gonna rain this evening, like I've got the windows open and the doors open and it'll cool off. Um, it's the sleeping part that's hard when it's so hot, you know? So I've got like a little uh floor unit that I roll into my bedroom at the end of the night. And then in the meantime, like, dude, I just put the fans, the ceiling fans on high, and I have that one little floor unit that it's kicking. I mean, it's still hot in my house, but what I do is I just deal with it, you know.

SPEAKER_00 12:31

Man, I again you're a better man than me. I would have been like staying at a hotel, going to a friend's house, something.

SPEAKER_02 12:39

Well, and so in that exact vein, now we have this studio, so it's like, okay, I could have walked here, you know, which I don't think I did last year, but I should have because the AC here works great. Yeah. Um, and I'll take a break and walk to the coffee shop and stuff. Did you know that Richmond has dedicated cooling centers for that exact reason? I had no clue. So a lot of them are like the public libraries and stuff, but there's these like uh cooling options during the hot weather weather in Richmond. So this goes through Labor Day. The city of Richmond offers walk-up cooling centers in neighborhoods all across the city. And a lot of them include the Richmond Public Library locations and also like the parks and recreation, outdoor pools, and like Southside Plaza. So the three, I mean, there's a bunch of them, but like the three big ones are Southside Plaza, the Community Resource and Training Center on Chamberlain Parkway, and Richmond Public Libraries. So the locations that are doing this for libraries, basically these are like air-conditioned spaces that you're welcome to just visit and spend time in if you need somewhere cool to go. So the main library on Franklin, the Belmont Library, the Broadrock Library on Warwick, East End Library, Ginter Park Library, Hull Street Library, North Avenue Library, West End Library, and West Over Hills Library. Um, pretty cool. And then, yeah, there are obviously still some um public pools throughout the city as well. So like Parks and Rec will do it. And there's um Battery Park, Blackwell, Randolph, and Fairmont pools. So all those places are open and free to go for people who aren't as crazy as me or like have dogs, have pets, have kids, you know, and they're like, all right, we can't be in the house when it's this hot. You know, so that gives them like a place to go. But I wish I would have known that last year.

SPEAKER_00 14:29

I mean, now you know, like you've got refuge if you need it.

SPEAKER_01 14:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:33

You know, I think shit, I might have to uh I might have to pop over and hit the library, rent out, rent some VHS tapes, rent some videos, rent some some books. Yeah, seriously. So just sit there and post up and do some work. Yep. Um fortunately, the AC in my place is working well. I actually we just got a notice in the mail or an email that said in an emergency, if we're out of the office or if it's the weekend and your AC goes out, call this number. I was like, in an emergency, whoa, is there gonna be an emergency? Right. Or is there somebody else already dealing with this? Because that's more than likely the case. Which is just um it's always I'm from here, you've been here a long time. It's always still kind of like a shock. Not a shock, but an adjustment. Adjustment to the norm when things are because there's really no transition period, at least there hasn't been this season that's notable enough where it's like, oh, it's been nice for about a week and then gradually it gets a little warmer. It's like 80 degrees outside because it's gonna rain. It'll be in the 60s next week, and then the week after that it'll be back to 100.

SPEAKER_01 15:42

Right.

SPEAKER_00 15:42

And there is no in-between. Yeah. It's like one day it's 60 with clouds, the next day it is 98 degrees and like 90% humidity. So there's there is no getting used to it.

SPEAKER_01 15:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:52

Which is kind of a it's kind of a the that's kind of how the you know Richmond's weather just kind of operates. But yeah, man, I as someone who's been here a long time, I'm still not used to it.

SPEAKER_02 16:04

Yeah. It's I mean, it's the Virginia thing, right? Speaking of emergencies, I did see where in consecutive days, if it's over 92 degrees Fahrenheit or above, um, for two consecutive hours. Sorry. So if it's if the temperature is expected to reach 92 degrees Fahrenheit or above for two or more consecutive hours during the day, the Salvation Army extreme heat and weather shelter will open. And this is on Chamberlain. So it's open from 11 to 5. They have water and snacks and all that stuff. So that's like a real dedicated emergency heat center. You know, so like obviously the pools are great, the library is great, but those, you know, they're not really outfitted to be like emergency centers. Yeah. But if there is really a situation, and like I said, if I had kids or something, you know, like, yeah, that would be a pretty dire situation where it's like, okay, during the day, go here, right? Yeah. So that's also good to know about as well. Um now I will say that it does say that pets, except for service animals, are not permitted at those locations. So it's like, if you do have a dog, I don't know, man.

SPEAKER_00 17:08

Take him to the pool. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:09

You know something. Take him to the river.

SPEAKER_00 17:11

Yeah. Yeah, that's a good idea too. Yeah, too. I know people are kind of 50-50, maybe even, you know, a different split nowadays, but the river is always a free available option. There's numerous ways to get there. There's dozens of places to sit, places to sit, and kind of just kind of hang out at refuge from the heat summertime. It's like exactly what people in Richmond do. So go to the river.

SPEAKER_02 17:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:35

You know?

SPEAKER_02 17:36

Can you bring your dog on the GRTC bus? I don't know if you can.

SPEAKER_00 17:41

I want to say I think you can take service animals on the GRTC, but GRTC buses are free and they're going to be extending the free bus fare for another two years. Oh, wow. Yeah. So the bus is just free in general? Yeah. I that started a couple years ago, if I'm not mistaken. Wow.

SPEAKER_02 18:03

It shows that I don't utilize the bus. I think many Richmonders probably say the same, right? It's like we have the GRTC bus, I never even take advantage of it.

SPEAKER_00 18:10

Yeah, we I don't I don't think I've taken the bus. I don't think I've I don't want to say I've not ever taken the bus because that's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 18:18

I used to take it all the time when I was like in my early 20s.

SPEAKER_00 18:21

Yeah, I don't even remember doing it in my twenties. I definitely took it when I was a kid, though. But the free bus service in and around Richmond will continue for at least one more year after the Greater Richmond Transit Community or Company Board of Directors approved a $1.1 million operating and capital budget for fiscal year 2027. The Greater Richmond Transit Company, known as the GRTC, surpassed 12 million passengers, passenger trips in the fiscal year of 2026. Fiscal year 2026. So that's just up until this point. Fair-free transit continues to make a real difference for families and riders across the region. GRTC CEO Cheryl Adams said as our communities continue to grow, we must continue to prioritize accessibility, reliability, and connectivity through public transportation. So yeah, man, if if you're in need and let's say, you know, the worst case scenario is you you drive kind of an older car or what have you, and you know, your AC gives out or your car breaks down because it's too freaking hot outside, or you ride a bike and you're it's too hot to ride your bike. You can ride your bike to a bus stop, put your bike on the bus, take the GRTC to wherever you need to go or to the nearest stop to wherever you need to go for free. Which is great, man. Like I know we kind of talked about the the bus scenario or the bus situation, and we talked about the pulse lanes kind of being like maybe not the best execution execution of that thought. But we do have public transits, we do have a relatively efficient for what it is public transportation system. And now it's free. Yeah, which is pretty cool. That is super cool.

SPEAKER_02 20:02

Yeah. Yeah. I don't think you could take your dog on the GR2C bus. I don't think you can. Yeah, I don't think so either. I was just trying to think, like, yeah, how do people take their dogs and head on down to the river or something, you know? I mean, can you take a dog and an Uber? I guess it depends on the Uber. I feel like it's the same thing. Like, probably not, right?

SPEAKER_00 20:21

Is there an Uber pup?

SPEAKER_02 20:24

That's a good question. That's a good idea. I mean, it's gotta be like in the app, I would imagine. Yeah. Like I bet if you were to book an Uber, like there must be or like where you could somehow request like a pet friendly. But who knows? Maybe it's like a liability, you know.

SPEAKER_00 20:40

Yeah, there's always some sort of red tape bumming out people and keeping them from having fun.

SPEAKER_02 20:46

Yeah, somebody's chihuahua bites off an Uber driver's ear.

SPEAKER_00 20:50

Yeah, exactly. Like with the term we can't have nice things is that's the exact reason for that. It's like, yeah, man, we were trying to do something cool for you, but you proved to us that you couldn't handle it. Yeah, yeah. Or your dogs couldn't handle it.

SPEAKER_02 21:03

Um, what were you you were talking about, like upgrades at the river? Like something something's going on at the river lately.

SPEAKER_00 21:08

Yeah, something is going on at the river. We are getting some upgrades to the Dock Street area. Are you familiar with like Dock Street and that whole that whole area? I sure am. You know, and I'll do I'll tell you a story in a minute. Yeah, I'm I'm anxious to hear this story. But uh, I came across an article that there are going to be some upgrades to Dock Street. So I'm thinking when I think about Dock Street, it's the area just past like that roundabout at the end of the hill right by um Penny Lane Pub. Oh, yeah, yeah. Right? So there's a the little roundabout that takes you to Boathouse and whatever the restaurant that's called, that's right there.

SPEAKER_02 21:52

Um Island Shrimco.

SPEAKER_00 21:53

Island Shrimpco. And there's like a volleyball court, and there's like a sandy little area, and places where people like Doc. And like some people have like cookouts down there. So it looks like they're gonna revitalize that area.

SPEAKER_02 22:05

Yeah, I see where this was posted seven days ago. River access hammocks and a lot more plants. Richmond unveils first long-term plan for Dock Street Park. The plan would also regrade a steep slope leading to the river. So Dock Street Park is like it's nice.

SPEAKER_00 22:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:18

Um, now it doesn't have like hammocks and stuff like that in it because I've ridden my bike through there a million times.

SPEAKER_00 22:24

Okay. So I actually I found the article that we should be looking at, which was posted a couple of days ago.

SPEAKER_02 22:30

Nice. Um but they started on it back in like 2023, 2023.

SPEAKER_00 22:34

They started on it in 2024. It opened, like what we know of Dock Street Park Park opened in 2024. Right. And it looks like just from this picture, that this is the landscaped area. So right here is this facility. Yeah. Like that kind of newer.

SPEAKER_02 22:51

It's like a nature outlook.

SPEAKER_00 22:53

Yeah. And it looks like they're they've landscaped that area going towards the boathouse, towards the tennis courts. And that's going to be like the new Dock Street Park with hammocks and a lot more plants.

SPEAKER_02 23:04

I think that'll be awesome because even when they first opened it and riding my bike through there, I had this exact feeling. I'm like, damn, this looks good. Like it looks really nice, and it's a way better use of the space. And dude, that that nature overlook is really nice. Like that whole building right there, it's really nice. It's really cool. But I had this thought of like, man, this it feels a bit like desolate. It's like not super inviting. It's like not a lot going on. Yeah, you like it. Let's say that you were like, oh, I'm gonna take my family here for the day and go to the park. Like you'd show up and you'd be like, oh, this is just like an empty field. There's like nothing here. It's so funny that you use the word desolate. The park is like in such a cool place, like right there on the riverfront. And it does, it has like the potential to just be like this beautiful park. But all they did was put some gravel down and plant some trees. And you can even tell from this picture, it's just like an empty park.

SPEAKER_00 23:55

Yeah, there's there's even like a further detailed schematic overhead look of the plans of the park.

SPEAKER_01 24:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:02

And there's another quote from him that said the goal is not to completely renovate what's already been built, but it's kind of to re-enhance it. Basically, like the Belle Isle or the Browns Island Park, they're not going to completely flatten it and redevelop it. They're just going to enhance what's already there and make it more of a community space. You know, in the last episode or a couple episodes back, we were talking about community spaces and kind of the lack of those opportunities for people to meet, people to connect, people to just kind of hang out that aren't somewhere where you have to pay to be. It's not the public library, it's not a shopping center, it's not a coffee shop, it's not a bar. So I'm all on board for these types of spaces.

SPEAKER_02 24:49

100%. Yeah. Yeah, it makes me think of almost like not a comparison to like Central Park in New York, but it just makes you think of those types of spaces where it's like it's a green space in a very busy area, which that space is a very busy area there. Super high traffic. And like, dude, imagine if they had a little spot where like, you know, food trucks or coffee trucks could pull up. Like that would be awesome. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:08

I mean, exactly. Like just I mean, further down, so if we're looking at the the original photo from the nature center going toward like this abandoned building where they have raves. Right. By the way, if you if you're into techno, yeah. There's raves that that go on down there. Yeah. There's like a tunnel under the street and they have the raves inside the tunnel. Oh, yeah. It's awesome. Um, there's this place where you can rent bikes. Yep. Yeah. So you can I don't remember what it's called.

SPEAKER_02 25:33

I think it's called Kona. I think I think that's who does it is Kona Cycles, I believe.

SPEAKER_00 25:37

So you can rent cycles there or bikes there. But yeah, imagine if there were like a rotation of food trucks just kind of lined up in one of these or like not entire trucks, just like carts where you could get you get hot food, you can get cold drinks for cold snacks. It's it's all about this series of projects that we're seeing is all about try I feel like the intention is is trying to bring the community together in a more realistic way instead of trying to connect everybody on digital platforms, it's trying to encourage people to be more active outside and to be social. Because it's one thing to build a trail. And it's one thing to invite people who like to run to a run club, for instance. It's another thing to say, here's a space where you can do whatever you want. So if you don't run and if you don't want to go on a hike, you can just kind of hang out here. Right. And we've cleaned it up, we've made it nice and inviting, we've made it really functional and easy to navigate. Maybe there's some signage with a placard of what it used to be or historical facts about the area. It's on the way to somewhere else. So if you were going to the boathouse, you could park at the boathouse and walk down to that park. If you're going to the nature center, you could park at the nature center and just kind of do the tour there and then sit in the park and have lunch or have a meeting or have a you know a group of friends kind of hanging out. And I'm all for this kind of stuff. Like maybe this is like the softer side of me, but I genuinely enjoy like real authentic connection with people.

SPEAKER_01 27:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:15

And when we were talking to that guy at the innovation summit, the the Big Dipper summit, and he said that that comment about Richmond being cliquish, we were both like, yeah, it is. Yeah. And that's kind of a problem. But I think for me, for sp for me specifically, and probably for you, it's not a it's not an issue because we've been here long enough. We have an established group of friends, and you know, the three degrees of separation is very active, so we meet and know lots of people. Yeah. But it's not easy for everybody. Yeah. And I would like it to be easier for people. And it actually kind of brings up another it's another thing that I was thinking about just this morning. I actually saw someone wrote about it in on Reddit, which is kind of funny timing. I was on a walk this morning and I I live down the street from Stella's, so I usually walk down Lafayette to Monument, cross monument, and then I walk by Stella's and Stella's Market, and like the shed is there. And it's a nice little hub of retail businesses in that neighborhood. And Malvern Gardens is beautiful. It's a lovely neighborhood. There's you know beautiful homes. There's always people out kind of walking around and doing things, and it's very neighborhoodly.

SPEAKER_01 28:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:30

So you're more likely to see people and talk to people and just kind of you know say hello as you're kind of walking by them. But I walked by, and I was thinking about this as I was on this walk. I walked by this younger guy. I think he'd be either my age or younger than me. And every time I'm walking by someone, I'm having to ask myself, should I say hello? And I'm usually like, I'll do what I normally do, which is like a nod, maybe a wave, but usually just like something like you know, a head nod. Because I got my headphones on, we're not stopping to have a conversation.

SPEAKER_01 29:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:05

But I want to acknowledge that person. And it just kind of struck me that well, he first off, he didn't say or do anything. He didn't even look at my in my direction. We passed by each other. I looked at him and he looked at the ground. And it just kind of struck me then because previously, you know, in you know, past weeks or days, you know, I'm on the same walk and I'm waving and saying hi to people of an older age, people my parents' age, that they are even overly nice when it comes to saying hi and hello and greeting strangers on a walk specifically. It just kind of dawned on me, it's like this is kind of a thing. People my age and people younger don't do this. And if they do, it's like a rare occurrence for two people of the same age group and our age group are younger to like do that and like have that be a part of how they operate. But if you're older than me, so you know, 40 plus, that's common practice. It's what you were doing when you were a younger person and you've been doing it your whole life. And it's nice, especially when you know, when you're a younger person, you walk by like an old guy on a walk, it's like, hey dare, how you doing? The whole thing. Yeah. Some sometimes he might even stalk and ask you, stop and ask you about what you're doing, you know, chit-chat for a little bit. Same thing with you know, if it's it's a woman on a run and you guys are running and she stops, like, hey, uh, how you doing? or whatever. But not for people who are of a younger age group, and it's kind of a bummer.

SPEAKER_02 30:30

It is, dude. I mean, people are more disconnected than ever. Like ourselves and the generations below us are more connected digitally than in human history, right? But in person, no one speaks to one another. They don't say hello, and they do. They have that effect where when you make eye contact, instead they feel awkward or weird and they look away and look down. And nobody is open and willing to meet new people or get out of their comfort zone or try new hobbies, new passions, new groups, new community things. And it is, it's frustrating, it's annoying. And then we are becoming like the old man that yells at the clouds complaining about this type of stuff. But it's true that people have just like given up on real life because living real life on the internet is easier, right? It's like, oh, well, I can pretend to be happy on the internet and everybody can look at my life from the outside and be like, wow, what a great life. But to do it in real life and create meaningful friendships, meaningful relationships, have a good reputation, make a good first impression is hard. But that's why it's worth doing. And I think, yeah, uh a huge part of the younger generations have just given up on that idea, or they were just never aware of that idea to begin with. You know? And yeah, could be a good time to tell people that we're doing this Carrytown Run Club thing. And just like a quick, you know, literally just a quick invite is we've teamed up with the guys over at Blackbird Goods, which are here in Carrytown. And it was, you know, they get credit for this. It was really their idea. We've done some fun running events in the past already with sports backers, and like I'm a runner, and you know, it's like we're lightly interested in the topic. I'm getting there. Perry's getting there. I'm getting there. Yep. Perry's a jogger. Yeah. I'm a I'm a madman, you know, like I'll do whatever. It's like, yeah, I'll run till my feet are non-functional, you know. But um, yeah, we would love for everybody to come and join us. So the very first run club that we're gonna do is going to be on May 30th at 9 a.m. And so it's very casual. You don't need to be at any in particular experience level. It's all people of all shapes, sizes, colors, experience levels. Please come and hang out with us. It's just a fun social thing. You know, we're not running insanely fast. It's like we're getting together. Um, we will post all the details on the Carrytown Run Club Instagram. So you can find that at Carrytown Run Club. So yeah, check it out. We'd love to invite you. So if you're somebody who resonates with anything that we've just been saying and you want to push yourself to just come hang out and be social in a very low pressure environment, like, yeah, please come and join us.

SPEAKER_00 33:08

Yeah, man. I um yeah, I just think people could do with a bit more connection. Yeah and uh it's not as hard as you think. Right. And it honestly might make your day. What I and you know, we can harp on this as long as I think is necessary, but you know, they the the guy that posted this on Reddit, he said, I I walk around a lot and I usually say hello when pat when I pass someone not wearing earbuds. No agenda other than being friendly and building community. As a man, I try not to bother women by themselves because I don't want to scare them or give them the impression I'm interested. Not everyone responds, which I which is fine. They don't owe me any response. Sure, they have reasons. Since COVID, the number of responses has plunged, maybe only 10% responding with anything, even a smile or a nod. This troubles me a bit. Have we forgotten how to interact with strangers in person? And there's comments below that kind of go in lots of different directions. Some of them are in agreement with this person saying that, yeah, have we lost our ability to connect? Was it COVID that did it? Because it's very likely that I mean it's not even a question. That definitely had a massive effect on individuals, their ability to connect, their willingness to try and connect, and like society as a whole. But then there's comments about his mention of not talking to women on runs or walks. And I know that that's a thing, and I know that that's you know, a multifaceted conversation, but again, I think we could do well with taking the steps to like bridge those gaps. Because it's gonna be a two-way street, no matter what. Right? If if the women that are saying that they don't want to even look at guys in the eyes, like some people are saying, you know, I absolutely do this, I you know, I look at I don't look at guys in the eye because I don't want them to give the impression that I am interested in them. And every time that I do that, it gives them a the incentive or the courage to come over and talk to me and have a weird or awkward conversation or interaction. It's like totally valid. That happens. Dude's stop doing that. Do your best not to. If you can't help it, walk the other way. Yeah. You know what I mean? But at the same time, it shouldn't be a no-no, it shouldn't be a faux pas or like a public taboo to just go and talk to a woman. You talk to women all the time. They're everywhere. You kind of have to, and it should be okay to do that on both sides. So it would be okay, it would be nice if there wasn't that fear from women that if they just looked at a guy on a walk that he might come over and try to be weird with them.

SPEAKER_01 36:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:03

It would be nice if the guys didn't feel like they have to walk on pins and needles whenever a woman is even near them for fear of being judged or shunned because they don't want any attention from you. It's like what that was never my goal to this guy's point. It's like I have no intention of letting you know or you know, signaling that I'm interested in that I want to talk to you, so I'm gonna avert my eyes. It's a bummer, dude. What are we doing here?

SPEAKER_01 36:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:29

We're liking people on dating apps, we're liking people on Instagram, we're sending each other DMs, but we can't even look at each other on the street because, well, he might try and be awkward with me and she might think I'm a rapist. Like, what are we doing?

SPEAKER_02 36:40

Yeah, I mean, people are terrified of it because it's free form. You know, it's like, oh, I can't like use Chat GPT to figure out what I was gonna say, or I can't like ask my buddy, like, hey, how should what should I say to this, or you know, whatever. And like, dude, it's because people are chronically on the internet. And these very small subsets of experiences that people have become blown way out of proportion to where now everybody is like concerned about it, you know? And it's it's all this stuff on the internet. It's even things like racism and sexism and all this stuff. Are they problems? Yes. Do they exist? Yes. But they're blown way out of proportion to where it's like, oh, this is this massive problem that we have to solve. And yes, there should be efforts to fix all problems in society, but most of them don't have a permanent conclusion. Most of them can't be solved overnight. And yeah, and instead, society just ends up thinking that this is just part of how we live. And they do everything they can to avoid tackling the difficulties of life head on, whether it's asking a girl out or going on a walk and saying hi to a stranger or whatever. And the truth is, people should never forget what was done to them during COVID, you know, because it's like it is because of that. The fact that people are not social anymore, addicted to their phones, everything revolves around capitalism. The biggest transfer of wealth in human history happened during COVID. They took all of the money from the people and the small businesses and gave it to huge corporate interests and people who were already billionaires, right? Dr. Fauci is literally in the middle of being deposed for lying throughout all of COVID. And he was the expert that everybody was like, he's the expert. Trust the experts. Wow, what a surprise. He was lying the whole time. And then everything that everyone was saying during COVID that everybody was shamed for, oh, surprise, it's true. And then the guy who said that it wasn't true is now being proven to have lied the whole time. And most people are like, duh, you know, or I'm like, duh. You know, and it's like, dude, it's just ridiculous. And people should never forget that that was done to them in the interests of pharmaceutical companies and the healthcare system and these huge global conglomerates that sell you consumer goods, right? Who made all the money? Amazon, Target, Walmart, like Pfizer. It's like, dude, it's garbage at the expense of our humanness. Yeah. And now we don't even know how to make friends or do anything anymore. And we've become idiots that are just plugged into the matrix, literally.

SPEAKER_00 39:12

This is your PSA. Thank you for listening or thank you for watching. Please continue to do so. But when you're done, put your phone down, go on a walk, and say hi to a stranger. It will not kill you. It might even make you're weak. 100%.

SPEAKER_02 39:28

I always talk about like the elevator test. Like a lot of the times I think we get stuck in our houses and we feel super isolated and alone. And then that like perpetuates itself. It like compounds on itself. And the longer you like stay in that mode, the harder it is to break out of it. And sometimes it is as simple as just starting with a hello. And it's like, yeah, you might not feel like it. You may not be feeling social. But a lot of the times, like the way to kind of gain your confidence back is by just like saying hello to some old lady in an elevator. You know what I mean? Without your voice. Yeah, without worrying that she's gonna think you're gonna rob her. You know, it's like just take a breath and like say hello to Gertrude and be like, hey, miss, how's your day going? You know, and just give it a shot.

SPEAKER_00 40:08

Something crazy happens when you start talking to strangers. Yeah. You know, and I've I've had some experience with talking to strangers and you know, a lot more of it more recently, and like I'm paying attention to it at the same time. You know, I've I'm out in in the coffee shops more often, and I'm talking to folks kind of either because of work or through work, and you know, because of the nature of my work, I'm talking to lots of different people on a fairly regular basis. So getting comfortable with talking to strangers is kind of you kind of have to do as par for the course at this point. But what something happens when you do it for just longer than is comfortable, it doesn't not be it doesn't become not uncomfortable on it doesn't just magically become something that you're amazing at. There's still going to be a level of, you know, maybe some discomfort or uncertainty. But you definitely get a little bit more confident. You're more confident in your ability to just navigate the world. Yeah. It's like I used to be, you know, think about people that are, you know, chronically paralyzed by the thought of having to have a conversation with someone that they don't know. They have one conversation, they take a risk, they have a conversation with a stranger at the coffee shop, for instance, and the conversation goes well. Confidence point boost, two points. They go to the the post office, they chop it up, they just instead of handing the envelope to the clerk, they say, Hey, how's your day going? Oh, that's a cool ring on your on your hand there. Where'd you get it? End of conversation. It wasn't awkward, she doesn't think you're a creep. You handed her your note, two more confidence points. And that accumulative accumulative effect can take hold in like your entire life. Like it can really do drastic positive change in that regard. You know, I go to Stella's Market all the time. And one of my favorite parts of going to Stella's Market now is the lady that works at the counter. She's an older lady. I think she's in her 70s, so she's around my mom. It's from mom's age. And I think I was wearing a Vera House t-shirt, but I went in there, I was getting some dinner, and she made a comment about the the dinner I got and the dessert that I got. And I wasn't going to like have a conversation. It's like nine o'clock at night. I'm not really interested in talking to a stranger going home to have a late dinner. She's like, Oh, some terramisu, and you got the pasta. This is, you know, looks like a good dinner. I was like, Yeah. It's delicious. I love terramisu. I'm gonna go home and have dinner. She's like, Oh yeah, what do you do? And then we're off to the races. Like we just kind of had a genuine conversation. She's getting to know me. I'm getting to know her. And now every time I go there and I see her, it's like, hey, how are you doing? Good to see you. How'd your day going?

SPEAKER_01 42:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:44

Right. And you you'd be surprised the wonder that though those simple things can do for you.

SPEAKER_02 42:48

Yeah. I have a similar interaction at Chewy's Bagels. Yeah. Because I order there, not every week, but like pretty much every other week, pretty reliably. And a lot of times that's like my little treat that I go and get after I get my hair cut or whatever. And um, and I wish I knew the girl's name. I don't. And I don't think she knows my name either. And I don't think she'll ever hear this, but I see her all the time. And it's like the same thing. And I walk in and she like already knows because I order the same thing. Yeah. Because of course I have ADHD and I just like order the same thing every single time. Yeah. And uh yeah, I agree. It's like sometimes you're not in the mood to be social. But then when you see someone that you always see, immediately that part of your brain turns off and you're like, well, I have to be social. I I, in theory, I know this person. It's like, oh, hey, how's your day going? You know, this and that. And you could be having a terrible day, you know, and you never know what people are going through. You know, it's you'd be driving on the highway and somebody flicks you off, and you know, they don't know what you're going through or what could have happened to you that day or where you're going or where you're headed. And I don't think that people think about any of this. It doesn't cross their mind because we are very self centered. And especially in Western culture, like our whole life revolves around. The self, like my career, my first impression, my style of my sense of style and my fashion. What am I wearing? It's like all about me, you know? Yeah. Um, and I say me in regards to like everybody, like uh most people feel like that. You know you're talking about yourself. You know it, you know it, dude. Um, you know, and talking about the internet, it's hard not to be addicted to the internet sometimes. It's so hard to put the memes down, you know. It's so internet's pretty cool, man. It is. I mean, it's great.

SPEAKER_00 44:28

We love the internet on this show, but there has to be a level of restraint to a degree.

SPEAKER_02 44:36

Maybe not even using that word, because maybe that sounds like a little bit of a own guidelines, your own boundaries, boundaries. Boundaries. Yeah. Boundaries, for sure. After you watch our show, of course. Exactly. Or this crazy video that I saw. Um, I don't know if you saw this, dude. It was pretty nuts. Let me show it to you. And we were talking about rockets landing and the park and everything. And one of the things I love about the park down there is the train track, how the trains go over top. And it's like, I just always love living in the city because of the trains. Yeah. But I saw this video, and I think this is in like Chesapeake. Um, yeah, so this is in Chesapeake, all right. Watch this.

unknown 45:27

Holy sh.

SPEAKER_00 45:31

Oh my god. What the foly bro, dude, you nailed it. He nailed it. He said everything that I was thinking exactly when I was thinking it.

SPEAKER_02 45:44

Dude. That's crazy. This is insane. So I wait, go back to the beginning. Dude, okay. So this is a sewage truck. Oh, okay. Deciding to, and this is in Chesapeake in the middle of nowhere. So you don't have like the Yeah, but that's what I was gonna say.

SPEAKER_00 46:00

That's why I wanted to see it.

SPEAKER_02 46:01

It's yeah, what do you mean they don't have the thing, the cross I mean, so when you go way out in the country, because this is true when I drive out to like my parents' place out in crew, like on some of these side roads, there are no like railings, you know, like you're there's a stop sign. You're expected to stop and look yourself to make sure that there's no trains coming. That's crazy. And so I suppose that this truck hit a little rolling stop and didn't realize that there was literally a train.

SPEAKER_00 46:27

Listening to our podcast too loud. Probably, probably, dude.

SPEAKER_01 46:32

And just boom, and just sewage just explodes everywhere.

SPEAKER_02 46:40

And you know, the truth is I have no context around this story. Like, I don't know what happened to the driver. I don't know anything, but I just thought this video was like insane. That's incredible. I just happened to be scrolling through this. So, yeah, this happened in Chesapeake, Virginia. Dang.

SPEAKER_00 46:54

And um, yeah, we're gonna put this up on the screen. So definitely take a look if you're not watching, definitely take a look at this part. And this is your reminder to look both ways.

SPEAKER_01 47:08

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 47:09

Mine the gap, yield at the stop sign. I mean, especially when you're driving a 30,000 pound truck, you know. What are you thinking?

SPEAKER_00 47:16

Probably not much, if we're if we're being honest.

SPEAKER_02 47:20

Yeah. Uh his day did not go as planned.

SPEAKER_00 47:25

There's so many puns.

SPEAKER_02 47:27

Yeah. I mean, literally, he's yelling, holy at a truck full of yeah, exploding from being hit by a train. Now the train did hit the back of the truck, which was terrible for all the uh waste spewing everywhere. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 47:41

Luckily it didn't hit like the front of the truck where the driver's okay, because like it hit the driver's side of the truck, but just the back half.

SPEAKER_02 47:48

The back, yeah, yeah. So, you know, I don't know, but I thought that was insane. I was just and I saw it on threads, which is like not really a platform where you would see that type of thing. So I'm just scrolling, like reading stuff, and then I was like, whoa, what is this? And uh, yeah, not good. Not good, dude. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 48:05

Mind the gap. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 48:07

Question for you Have you ever been Lananed? You know, I don't think I've personally been Lananed. But I remember a guy and I remember some stories about said said guy named Lannon.

SPEAKER_02 48:25

I mean, you gotta be a particular type of guy to have a verb, like to have your last name turned into a verb. He's a he's he's a legend and not in the good way. Yeah. So, you know, New York has subway rats, Florida has meth alligators, Richmond has Eric Lannon. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:45

I haven't heard about this guy in a long time.

SPEAKER_02 48:48

Well, let me let me tell you about him, okay? Because uh basically it was this guy who ran like an endless cycle of grifting off of specifically like fraternities in the late 90s and two and early 2000s. So this is a guy who could walk into any situation with zero plan, zero money, zero shame, but maximum confidence. Yep. And he was a Richmonder, typical kind of flip-flop vest hat type of guy. You know, he could easily form. Yeah, he could easily be mistaken for a Brad or a Tad or a Chad. And um, yeah, somehow he would go into every day with no plan and no money, and somehow leave with a couch to sleep on, a beer in his hand, a free ride across town, emotional support from whoever was helping him out, three new friends, maybe a girlfriend, maybe a hot girl saying, honestly, he seemed really nice at first, you know, and this is Eric Lannon, dude. Like people reported this guy uh basically just being like a grifting nuisance, you know, through the lens of like fake emergencies. You know, it's always like, and you know, there's plenty of homeless people all over Richmond, but this guy's not homeless, you know? And it's like it's one thing if you're like a homeless person on drugs, just making up stories to get your next dollar or whatever. It's like you could maybe be forgiven. It's like this is just a totally like normal dude, you know, yeah. Hopping from bar to bar, getting free drinks, just like grifting off everybody, just being just being a lame, yeah, right. And um this guy, like, he's like the type of guy who's like, oh dude, my friend just got arrested, man. I just like I need some help. I need a hand, or like, you know, I'll dude, I'll pay you back later, I'll Venmo you, you know. Um, so while surviving entirely off of social generosity of drunk Richmond college students, Richmond was so weird and socially trusting in the 2010s that this single guy allegedly lived off vibes, just vibes alone, just living off vibes. Yeah, you know, it's like good for him, I guess. But you know, it's like you start there and it just goes downhill and gets worse and worse and worse. Like, imagine becoming such a notorious local manipulator that your last name becomes a verb.

SPEAKER_00 51:06

Yeah, but yeah, I got Lannand. I never got Lannand. I worked in the bars in the 2010s, and I would hear about this guy, but nothing specific. And I would see him, and he's you know, kind of a taller guy. I think he's a little taller than me. Floppy hair. Yeah, floppy hair, pink or blue pastel shirt, you know, long jeans draping on the floor and flip-flops. Nailed it. The uniform. Yes, for the uniform for someone who graduated university at Richmond. Yes. Um, no shade, just that's just what people wear. Yeah, we don't make the rules, that's just how it goes. It's just what you you you go to U of R, they ship it in the mail. That's it, you know? That's that's how it goes. Um and yeah, he would just be at all the bars all the time. And he always looked like he was having a great time. Oh, I'm sure he was smiling big and talking to people and having a beer or whatever. Free bar tab. Right. And I think I think I might have met him or talked to him once or twice. I have a vague memory of it. But uh I have a tendency to see straight through people like that. Yeah. Because I already don't trust the like the way that he moves or operates. And when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object, there's just no impasse. Yeah. And it's like he I would talk to him or had talked to him, or he'd say something to me, or was talking to a friend of mine, and I would look at him and he'd talk to me, and I'd be like, What's happening here?

SPEAKER_01 52:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 52:27

And he's just like, oh shit, it's not working. Right. And then that's it. We part ways, never spoke, that was it. But after some time, the stories started to emerge, and then I would hear about him like having like gotten over on somebody for a lot of money, and then like skipped town and was never seen again, and then he would be seen years later. It was crazy.

SPEAKER_02 52:48

Yeah. Yeah. And that's it it was like the same set of stories every time, too. Like people report that it was always the same thing. His friend was arrested, his wallet got stolen. He would tell people, Oh, my dad, like, my dad has a ton of money. I'll get it back to you, I'll pay you back. He's he'd always say he'd pay everybody back, or he'd just be like, Oh, I just need a ride. I just need a quick ride. He just needed somewhere to stay. Oh, I just need to borrow your phone real quick. I just need help. It's just for tonight. Like, I'll have all my stuff back tomorrow. All my stuff's in my car. I'll be back in my car tomorrow. I'll get you back. Like every story sounds like a guy entirely improvising his own life in real time after having like three vodka Red Bulls.

SPEAKER_00 53:31

Yeah, man. This is Richmond in the 2010s. This is like his was like an extreme story, extreme case because he did it to lots of people. Yeah. But that that kind of happened all the time. Yeah. Like it's just kind of what you did. Yeah. If you're like out in the bar scene and you either worked in an in a restaurant or you were just a frequenter of the restaurants, it was commonplace to do that with or for people.

SPEAKER_02 53:54

I like how they aren't even like sophisticated stories. It's basically just like frat boy improv theater.

SPEAKER_00 54:01

Yeah, I'm just I'm just trying to imagine like, who are these people he's getting over on? Like these, I mean, I'm sure there was bartenders that were giving him free drinks and people at the bar that he would meet there, like charm. Totally. You know, tall brown-haired dude, pastel pink shirt, you know, big goofy smile. And he's like, Oh, yeah, this is my boy Tony. Tony's a bartender here, I've known him for years. Let me get you guys a round of drinks. Oh, wait, I don't have any money. Do you mind getting this round? Let's go to this other spot. I know some people over there too. We'll have a blast. Your round's on me. We go there. Oh shit, I forgot my wallet. Do you mind if you just like pick up this round? And then, you know, it's like almost last call. Shit, my car's at the other side of town. You know, I don't want to take a cab because they're sketchy. Do you mind if you drop me off at the, you know, it'd be really easy if you just let me stay here because, you know, I could just walk from my place. I'll grab, you know, breakfast in the morning and blah blah blah. Then he's gone in the morning.

SPEAKER_02 54:52

Dude, nailed it. Yeah. It's like a Nepo baby without the money, without the credit card. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 54:57

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Which kind of blows my mind.

SPEAKER_02 55:01

Yeah, dude, the quotes from people that like remembered stories about him on Reddit were crazy. I'm gonna read some of them. Lannon is the legendary RVA pink unicorn of douchebaggery. Another person said, I heard there were at one point Eric Lannon themed scavenger hunts and safaris. Is this true? Yes, that tracks. Somebody said, I feel like I'm reading World War Z when researching this guy, but instead of a zombie plague, it's just one sociopathic prep douche. Also, Lannon is probably the funniest term I've heard all week. What a gold mine. Oh God. Somebody said, What a douche. Sleeps with your girl, eats your food, and overstays his welcome. Yeah, that's it. That's the he's that's the guy. Dude, probably my favorite was he'll puke on you, he'll f your mom, and he'll smoke while huffing gas. Jesus. I don't even know if that's true or not, but like I don't know either.

SPEAKER_00 55:59

You mean it's a legend at this point.

SPEAKER_02 56:01

Yeah. I find everything about him to be magical. If people are dumb enough to fall for his scams, then maybe they needed a good old-fashioned lesson in street smarts.

SPEAKER_00 56:11

Yeah, that's that's that's a that's a tough one. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 56:14

Yeah. Last person said, that's Eric. Go on vacation, leave on probation, come back on violation. That's good. Yeah, well, apparently Richmond wasn't the end of it because now he doesn't even live here. According to public records and countless online stories, he never disappeared. He just kept moving to different cities, different states, different groups of people, new stories, and continued getting arrested. So just this year, so far, I think he's in jail literally right now. He's been arrested three times in Florida, in Jacksonville Beach, Tampa, and Destin, where he passed out on top of a counter at a gas station. Even the police couldn't wake him up. They arrested him and then took his dog to animal control. And I think that's the last reported setting.

SPEAKER_00 56:59

Bro, I don't know. Now that's Florida, so not super far-fetched, but also how? Yeah. I have so many questions.

SPEAKER_02 57:07

Maybe he realized that he is Florida man and he was just in the wrong place. That's it. That's it. That's it. That's that is the mystery solved. Right. It's gotta be, dude. He's Florida man. So crazy, dude. But I thought that was just a ridiculous story. Yeah. And there's a handful of these like sketchy Richmond characters that we'll have to continue covering. Like, I think at one point we talked about that guy kick out. You remember that?

SPEAKER_00 57:32

Oh man. We'll have to save that for another episode. We'll save that for another episode. Yeah. Oh man, there was something magical looking, obviously looking back, but there was something magical about and you can relate to this, I know, because we both lived in the restaurant bar scene, kind of in in limbo. Like I had an apartment, but like kinda, and we were just out in the streets. Like you were in the streets all the time. Yeah. And there's this layer of the streets that's just kind of mysterious, but like supports itself. It's just below anyone who pays their rent on time.

SPEAKER_02 58:12

Yeah. Dude, that's so accurate. That's a great way to describe it, too. Yeah, there was. It's like this weird underground ether vibe going on, you know. Yeah. And it's like the places that that happened in are just, they're just gone. You know, it makes me think of Europa and Starlight and like just some of these vibes, dude. And it's like you just have these characters that kind of just flow into these places and flow out. And it's like, who are they? What do they do? It's like nobody knows.

SPEAKER_00 58:42

Nobody knows, but they're there every Thursday for, you know, emo night or whatever. Yep. And they always say, What's up to you? Because you're there every Thursday for emo night. And they always buy you a PBR because that's the cheapest beer on the menu, and that's what they can afford. Yeah. And maybe they get a hookup from the bartender because they've been there, you know, been coming there for a couple years. And then you guys meander down the block to bamboo, and you sit at bamboo for a while. And then like nine of your friends, I'm using air quotes because they're like people you know and you're familiar with because you see them all the time, but they're not really friends of yours.

SPEAKER_01 59:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 59:20

You meet up with those people, you hang out for a few hours, and then you meander down the block again. You go to Helen's call at last call, and then you're like, there's a house party. Somebody's playing a show uh in Jackson Ward. Look, let's hop into this is back before Uber. So let's let's hop in a in a cab, go over to Jackson Ward, you're at a house party until 3 a.m. hanging out with your quote unquote friends, and then you have to figure out how to get home after that because no one actually cares about you. Wait, by the way, it's also Sunday night, you have work in the morning.

SPEAKER_02 59:49

Yeah. Yeah. So is this a reference to a real life story where you were hitting up emo night every Thursday?

SPEAKER_00 59:57

No, I was not hitting up Emo Night every Thursday, but I was at Sticky Race for karaoke every Wednesday.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:04

That's a great example of like one of these underground, like legendary moments in time that has disappeared. Yeah. You know?

SPEAKER_00 1:00:12

It still happens, but obviously I don't go there. But like if you didn't go, was it Wednesday or Tuesday? I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:18

And I should know because I have a sticky rice tattoo on my finger. You should know. And I used to live upstairs.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:22

Yeah. I think it's Tuesday. Maybe, yeah, whatever. But that's one of those things where no, it was it was Wednesday night because Starlight was Tuesday.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:31

Oh, yeah, yeah. Well, I remember Starlight Tuesdays, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:34

$2 Tuesdays at Starlight, and then karaoke at Sticky Race on Wednesday. Yeah. It's legendary. Yeah. There's always a line. If you got in, it was wall-to-wall people, people standing on the tables and booths, and then you're singing your heart out to a Cher song or a Creed song or you know an old 50-set song. Songs that you don't even like. Yeah. But like the energy is just so palpable, and like all your friends are jazzed on it. Your buddy that can't really sing gets up and sings four songs because he just loves karaoke. And then you're you've got a sticky race tattoo. So you're getting PBRs for everybody. You're getting a giant bucket of fried tater tots. And then you're waking up the next morning feeling pretty shitty, but like you had a great time.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:13

Yeah. And that right there is what the pandemic stole from the people, dude. Yes, it is. Never forget. Never forget. Because it's like, dude, it'll be a long time before we get that back. If we ever get that back, you know.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:25

If we ever get it back.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:26

And I think we mentioned it in a totally different episode where maybe that's not like a period in time necessarily. It's just like a feeling. And it's like that feeling has escaped, you know. Yeah. And like, sure, maybe there's some young kids at VCU who are also having their own version of that feeling. You know. And it's like, dude, we're just we're the old men yelling at the clouds now. Seriously. And we might just have to accept that. They should never have given us microphones. I know, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:51

It's too late. This podcast was recorded at Vera House Studios in Richmond, Virginia, and produced by Perry Young and Mike Metzger.