Episode 19 - I Love L.A.

This episode explores the rising costs of healthcare, the impact of inflation on everyday expenses, and the differences in healthcare systems between the US and Canada. The hosts share personal experiences and insights into how economic trends affect consumers and professionals alike. The hosts explore the impact of living in LA versus Maryland for artists, and share personal stories about family, music, and nostalgia. They delve into the nuances of medical access, the creative scene, and the magic of rediscovering old favorites.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Okay, let's do it.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

All right.

SPEAKER_03 0:22

All right, all right, all right. We're in like Flynn. In it. We're up and Adam, ready to go on the air. Everybody keep quiet, you know, on the air.

SPEAKER_01 0:33

That's right. Yeah. And you know, and speaking of keeping quiet, Kern and I thought it would be really entertaining if for this episode we mix things up a little and get a little crazy. And neither of us are gonna say a word for one hour and you can listen to that.

SPEAKER_03 0:49

Absolute silence. You know, how often do you get that in the world these days? How often? Pretty original. Yeah, I think so. I mean, have you ever turned tune into a podcast just to hear silence? That's right. How much do you value originality? Pretty gutsy. I like it. You know, let's let's do it. I think the bigger question is how long can we last with the silence?

SPEAKER_01 1:13

Well, you know, speaking for myself, yeah, probably not too long.

SPEAKER_03 1:17

Yeah. It's hard to stay silent. It's it's not as easy as it seems. Yeah, it sounds so easy.

SPEAKER_00 1:28

It's not so easy.

SPEAKER_03 1:29

No, not at all. Not at all. But hey, you know what? We're all about pushing horizons here. But you know, the people here tuned in to hear a show, so you know, we we'll spare them the silence.

SPEAKER_01 1:41

Um we'll spare them the silence. If they wanted silence, they would sit in their car with no podcast. So they'd probably want to hear us talk.

SPEAKER_03 1:49

Exactly. Yeah, that's what I'm gonna go with. So, what do we have for them today? What do you want to start today?

SPEAKER_01 1:54

We have fresh off the take. Well, fresh on the deck. We caught off the presses. A couple of tuna, a couple of mackerel. Uh, we got let's start with updates. Okay, that's good. And uh, do you want to go first? No, no, no. All you okay. Maybe it can be like at a restaurant when you don't know what you want to order and and then do you know what you want? Yeah. All right, why don't you go first? And I'm I'm like, I am not prepared. I have no clue what I want. But by the time you three are finished ordering, I will know.

SPEAKER_03 2:27

Waiters questioning every decision he made in his life while waiting for you to choose the chicken quesadilla.

SPEAKER_01 2:34

Yeah, yeah, I know. Yeah, what are waiters thinking about while they're listening to these fat fatsos sitting there, like you know, uh uh naming each ingredient that they want in their tuna salad? Yeah, is the waiter kind of sitting there kind of thinking, okay, lettuce? Oh, I can get behind that. I love that he loves lettuce. I doubt it. I bet they're thinking like just order the soup already. They're probably thinking about somebody they swiped left on Tinder for lettuce.

SPEAKER_03 3:07

Will they call me? Will they I mean will they swipe back?

SPEAKER_01 3:09

You know, yeah, is she out of my league? I don't know. So let me take a shot. Swing for the fences. That's what Uncle Ralph said. Oh my goodness. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:22

Well, yeah, everybody does. Is your update about Uncle Ralph? Because thank you. I love Uncle Ralph updates. Yeah. I'm trying my best here. I told you. I know. Sensei's back, he's right behind me. This time he's got a bamboo stick, those hard.

SPEAKER_01 3:37

Sensei. I need a good whack. Uh um I'll box your ears. Um, so uh, like Mr. like uh Nagraj, your gym teacher. Oh my goodness. Yeah, he may we may need him here. Oh my goodness, no. You probably don't want to like, yeah. Sounds awful.

SPEAKER_03 3:57

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:58

Trauma. Um so basically an up okay, update, yeah. So I had a doctor, I I I had to go to um I was trying to set up a doctor's appointment this past week. Okay, and um they told me that the consultation fee, because my insurance was not gonna cover this doctor. Oh god, and they told me the consultation fee, which I knew going in, but they told me the fee would be five hundred dollars for one hour of consultation. They're not even doing anything, they're just talking to you.

SPEAKER_03 4:35

Five hundred dollars? Yes. What kind of is this like some kind of special doctor? Like what kind of doctor is I mean, you don't have to share if you don't want to, but that's pretty outrageous. Oh no, I've always still said that you needed one of those.

SPEAKER_01 4:49

You were right.

SPEAKER_03 4:51

I guess you were bitten by the California bug after all. You know, eventually eventually Los Angeles claims us all.

SPEAKER_01 4:59

What my dad used to say when I moved out here. He was worried about me.

SPEAKER_03 5:05

One day you're trying to make it as a musician, the next day you're getting your breasts stopped.

SPEAKER_01 5:12

That's what LA will do to you, people. The liberal media is right. You get out here to the West Coast, guess what? Kiss your old identity, goodbye. Your family will never recognize you again.

SPEAKER_03 5:26

Today you're a you're a person, human being. Tomorrow you're you're identifying as a surfboard.

SPEAKER_01 5:34

Today you're a man, tomorrow you're a phantom. What's a phantom? It's whatever you think it is. Oh, that's not good. I love Ellie. I had to drop that.

SPEAKER_03 5:49

You had to drop, you had to drop it.

SPEAKER_01 5:51

Randy Newman. Randy Newman. My God. Speaking of someone trying to be a musician, Randy Newman, like Oh my goodness. I I mean, I enjoy him, but like, how did he discover that voice that he does? And then I don't know. I don't know. Good question. How early in his career did it catch on? It's like, wow, what are you doing?

SPEAKER_03 6:15

That's a that's a weird question. I might save that as one of my questions in the question section of the show. You could totally do that. I'm gonna save I'm I'm calling that as one of my questions at one point.

SPEAKER_01 6:27

You can call it, and it's yours.

SPEAKER_03 6:29

Okay, yes, it's mine. Thank you. It's a good one. Let's let's keep going with your update because you were yeah, that's outrageous. I was on a roll, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:37

Rolling on the river. Uh good. Good song. Um uh so yeah, I I was trying to set this doctor's appointment this past week, and the uh the the aloof receptionist with whom I spoke on the phone, some girl who was like 20. Uh and she's on the phone, like booking appointments for this like 63-year-old doctor, you know. It's just weird, but whatever. Because she doesn't know what she's talking about. And every time I would ask a question, she with she wouldn't even politely say, Oh, give me just one second, I'm gonna look into that. No, no, she didn't even bother. She just would disappear. Okay, it would cue the whole music. Okay, okay. And I'd be sitting there waiting, and then she'd come back, and I'd be and she'd give me the answer because she went to ask someone, you know? Because she must be new.

SPEAKER_00 7:34

Right.

SPEAKER_01 7:35

But it's like, why didn't they teach her to say, oh, hold on just one second, I'll be right back. What happened to manners? Whatever. You do you, boo-boo. Um so I heard that hold music like 20 times. Anyway, so I ask her, you know, what's the consultation fee? And you know, it's not like they can say, like, I know it's a bit steep. Right, right. They just have to deliver it like a cold brick of reality in your salad. Just of course, yeah,$500 for one hour, sir. And then you're like, and you just have to be like all right. Okay. Okay. Because you part of you wants to sound like you have money, so you don't want to be like, oh jeez.

SPEAKER_00 8:21

What?

SPEAKER_01 8:22

Like you don't want to do that, because you want to maintain a little dignity. Even even though who cares what this woman thinks. And then you and but you also and you also want to be respectful because you know she's telling like a hundred people a day this number. Right. It's not like she's allowed to just change it to please them. Right. She has to deliver reality to them. So anyway, so my god. So she's like, yeah, five hundred dollars for the consultation.

SPEAKER_03 8:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 8:56

And my update is this what I realized was that you know, because I remember going to see a similar kind of specialist back about 15 years ago. Whenever it was like in 2011 or 2012 or something, I went to a similar kind of specialist. I remember doing a consultation with a doctor of a similar variety in 2012. Okay. And I remember, first of all, I don't rem I don't really remember what the consultation fee was. But what that tells me is it must have been way, way, way, way, way lower. Right. Because I would have remembered it if it was$500. Yeah. And I think it was somewhere in the neighborhood of probably$100 or$100, you know, maybe at the most, it might have been$150. But I bet you it was less. I bet it was like$80, honestly. Oh my goodness. Now I could be wrong because my memory's not great on this, but I'm just, it was so much lower in 2012. That's not that's not long enough ago to go from$80 or$100 for a consultation, right? Or even$150 to$500. I know, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:16

Cash. This is like a generational shift in pricing over here. This is like, this is like, you know, use telling your your kid like, oh, back in my day, we only paid$80 for it. I can't believe you're paying$500 for it.

SPEAKER_01 10:30

Yeah, back in my day, 10 years ago. Back in my back in my back in my day, like 10 years ago, like it's not even it's not even back in another day. It's yeah, no, it's like a few years ago. Yeah, it's like a few years ago. And and then that made me realize that, you know, today in the current like global economy we're in, I feel like what$80 felt like in 2010 or 2012 is about the same as what$450 or$500 sounds like now.

SPEAKER_03 11:14

Right. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 11:15

And that's fucking insane.

SPEAKER_03 11:17

It is insane. It is insane.

SPEAKER_01 11:18

Like that's so twisted. I but that's what I realized from this because I'm like, I'm actually thinking about paying it. I mean, it's painful, it stings, but I'm not even honestly, I wasn't that surprised. I wasn't that surprised. And the fact that yeah, so just like the the fact that a hundred dollars in 2010 or 80 seems comparable, it's insane. Like, yeah, today 20 bucks is like a dollar, dude.

SPEAKER_03 11:50

I know, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:51

It's like a fucking dollar.

SPEAKER_03 11:53

It's insane.

SPEAKER_01 11:54

But uh, but good luck buying a sandwich.

SPEAKER_03 11:57

Yeah, I mean, you know, funny you should say that. Like the dollar menu is like non-existent. Like, there, you could get you could get stuff for a dollar today. Warm, that's gonna cost you, buddy.

SPEAKER_01 12:09

Yeah, that'll be 1550. But it's a short hug.

SPEAKER_03 12:15

Longer hug, it's 30. If you want to smell my hair, it's gonna be another$10. That'll lead me into the story I'm gonna tell. Ah, but take a step back right now. But but but this, so this this is this, but just to clarify, this is not like some special doctor, like top is top of his field kind of guy, like none of that stuff.

SPEAKER_01 12:39

This is what I it's a good question, Karen. What I will clarify is, I mean, kind like I think kind of yes, but also when I give the example of paying about$80 to$100 for a similar one, I'm talking about a doctor of a comparable level of prestige in the same field 10 years ago or 12 years ago, 15 years ago, whatever it was, 2012, whatever, as uh today. So they're comparable. They are comparable. And so in 2012, same type of doctor, same level of prestige,$80 to$100 for a consultation. Today,$500.

SPEAKER_03 13:19

Jeez. Yeah. I mean, you know, you're it's you're definitely right. I mean, ca I would say, I mean, I think most people would agree that cost of living is pretty much the number one um pain point of pretty much yeah, complaint that everybody has these days, unless you're really, really, really rich or you know, very or unless you're Kamala Harris and the entire speech you give to try to get me to vote for you is about like achieving racial justice.

SPEAKER_01 13:49

Yes, and I'm like, listen, bitch, that's really lovely. And we all want that. And guess what? It's 19, it's not 1943, so I think we have made a little progress towards that goal. I know it's not perfect, but could you actually at some point address the fact that I live in a box?

SPEAKER_03 14:08

Yeah, absolutely. By the river. I you know, I don't want to get too political here. I've you know, we we're we're not political people, but like we think occasionally, but not usually.

SPEAKER_01 14:18

I mean, I think everybody, uh I mean if it hits us, if it hits us on a personal level, we we have no choice but to be someone. Absolutely, you know what I mean? Like if it's affecting your wallet, if it's affecting your your quality of living, you know, it makes me feel like these companies and corporations, and I heard someone else say this, but I'm starting to feel like I'm really seeing what's happening is and I know that there are some pressing global events that are affecting obviously like the cost of fuel and stuff, but I mean the economy was sh was shitty before this war. Uh yeah, like a month ago. Um, I mean, yeah, gas is extra expensive is insanely expensive right now. On the cheapest end, it's like six dollars a gallon in Los Angeles right now. Yeah, but uh, but which is ins insane, but but um aside from those global events, uh there's it feels like there's some kind of trend where companies are trying to see how far can we push people. Like, how much can we cut our costs and maximize our profits? How much can we cut our costs and raise our prices? How much can we get these suckers to pay? We've we've seen that they will pay twelve dollars for a hamburger at McDonald's. Right, right. That's a great little experiment in evil. We've learned that works. Let's see if we could go a little further. Let's try$14. And how about this? While we're at it, let's raise the cost of a Coke to$5. Let's see what happens. See if they pay, see if those idiots pay it. Yeah. I feel like that's what companies are doing.

SPEAKER_03 16:02

It's a vicious cycle for sure. It's people are getting hit from all angles. Um, you know, it's like like you said, it's not only just like cost of living, gas prices, but also like, yeah, I mean, gas prices directly feed into companies, and companies can, whether it's validated or not, they can use that to say, oh, well, we need to cut charge more because we need to make up our the difference, right? Like between so and or just and the people who suffer the most are the people who yeah, are already suffering, you know, which is unfortunate.

SPEAKER_01 16:38

I mean, companies are just incredibly greedy, and it feels like, especially the big corporations, there's just no there's no integrity. Like it feels like they're not interested in the value of the experience they're providing. Like if you go back, let's just take a guitar amp, for example. Yeah. You go back, you look at the, you know, like the company Marshall, and the way guitar amps were all like handmade in London in like uh the you know whatever decade, 1960s, 70s, eight, maybe I don't know when they stopped handmaking them, but probably in the definitely, I think definitely in the 60s they did, 70s, probably 80s too. But um anyway, now uh it's like how can we outsource this to Vietnam or Korea? How can we make or China? How can we get these parts made as cheaply as possible? We don't care if it's shittier than it used to be. We're not interested in the value the customer is actually getting from the thing we're giving them, whether it's uh a phone, a computer. It if if it go becomes obsolete or breaks in a year, that's fine. They'll just buy another one that's good.

SPEAKER_03 17:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:52

Um, and we don't care if it's worse than it used to be because guess what? They don't have a time machine, they can't go back to a time when this product was better and buy it. Yeah, they have no choice. We have a stranglehold on the economy. Like they could they just have to take whatever shit we want to feed them, like it feels that way.

SPEAKER_03 18:10

I had to buy a refrigerator recently because the one that we had for close to like um that was here since this house was built in 2008 kind of broke down. So it's so it served solid, like what, like 15 years, um, maybe more than that, 17 years actually. And I went to Best Buy to buy a new refrigerator, and the salesman, the salesperson pretty much told me, he's like, Yeah, this refrigerator is you probably got about three or four years on it. And I was like, Three or four years. My my old one was long. Yeah, he was like, No, the new ones try they they don't last as long. They have they have all these fancy chips and stuff inside them that break very easily. So um, I don't know how true it is, it's just an opinion of one person. But if if I was what I was most shocked about that he was just like, he didn't even care about telling me that. He was just like, Yeah, this is how it is, bro. Like you're expect this fridge not to last as long as your old fridge because they will break much sooner. I mean, and I mean you don't have to look any further than your own phone. Think about how many phones you go you've gone through in the last few years compared to maybe in like the mid 2000 late 2000s, you know, when iPhones had just come out. People were you know using their phones for a lot longer then, but now it's like you they switch out a lot lot quicker. So crazy.

SPEAKER_01 19:30

I mean, I can't believe he said had to say that to you with a straight face. It's like that receptionist telling me it's five hundred dollars for one hour of consultation.

SPEAKER_03 19:37

It's like this is the this is your reality, deal with it. Yeah. Uh how are you gonna or how are you gonna deal with it?

SPEAKER_01 19:42

Like yeah, it's a they're like, listen, I get yelled at all day long. Why do you think I'm so rude and have no manners? I'm miserable. Yeah, because maybe that's why customer service sucks today. I don't know. Maybe I mean it doesn't always suck. I mean, it it depends on the company and it depends on the way they treat their employees, but yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:01

Yeah, yeah, it's a constant thing. But you know, for sure, like I was gonna say maybe you didn't ask her, you weren't outraged at the$500 price tag, but maybe some people were because that's it's quite a lot.

SPEAKER_01 20:13

Like$500, that's like No, I mean I was definitely I was outraged. It's just I've learned to swallow all of my rage because there's nowhere for it to go. Right. There's nothing I can do. I'm powerless like the rest of us. I just have to either, you know, either accept the price they give me or don't and go somewhere else. And where the fuck else am I gonna go do some medical procedure with some back alley witch, some hack who has no, you know, I have no choice. I want to use a doctor who is well accredited. Right, of course. So he's gonna then use that to his advantage to be like, I'm gonna charge these bitches as much as I possibly can. Don't care.

SPEAKER_03 20:58

I remember a few years ago there was a guy who posed this became really famous. Um, this was a jab at the US uh healthcare system where he said, like, for the cost of a hip replacement in the US, I could fly to Spain, get my hip replaced, run with the bulls, break my hip, replace it again, come back from Spain, and I'll still pay a lot less than I would if I was in the United States.

SPEAKER_01 21:25

That's hilarious.

SPEAKER_03 21:26

Yeah, and it's like it's funny what he says, but you know, the fact is it's it's true. Like, yeah, there's there's such a thing called medical tourism that happens in Thailand, India, because you know, these countries, yeah, they're cheaper, um, but it's not like they don't have competent doctors. We have, I mean, I'm sure if you've lived in America, at some point you've seen an Indian doctor because we like it's pretty much one of the number one professions that parents push their kids to in India. So like you're trained, and because we have such a crazy population, you s Doctors in India are exposed to so many different varieties of cases that they become pretty competent for the most part. I'm not going to say everybody is, but for the most part, they get they're pretty competent. So medical tourism is actually very big in like Thailand and India, where like people from the West go here and they get treated by specialists out there and then they come back and they they don't end up going bankrupt because you know they have some kind of condition they need to s treat, but you know, the cost of doing that in the U US is insane. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:35

Well, you know, it's uh yeah, we've got a we've got a bit of a winner take all um mentality here in the US and it's like Well, uh I can afford this. Fuck you if you can't.

SPEAKER_03 22:48

You know, yeah, it's capitalism at its finest. I mean it's definitely there are I do see like there are like people trying to challenge it. Like I I know that like Mark Cuban, for example, has been talking a lot about like how um how like uh pharmaceuticals, for example, are so overpriced in the in the United States, and he has his website cost cost plus or cost free drugs, where like he is very like uh transparent about the cost of the drugs that they sell. And yeah, it's cool. But it's a it's not it's obviously not gonna help you, but it's I at least it's something. Like I feel like it's it's someone is some at least some billionaire out there is doing something positive. I feel like all of them are super villains at this point because I'm just like all this all the billionaires I hear about are just doing such dystopian shit that I'm like, oh my god, I know can one person please just do one thing for humanity?

SPEAKER_01 23:47

I wonder what I wonder what Elon Musk is up to. I haven't heard he's doing something.

SPEAKER_03 23:52

I just you know, I'll real quick though, I Googled him yet.

SPEAKER_01 23:56

I actually Googled him yesterday. I can't remember why, but he's worth I think 830 billion. Yeah, yeah, it's some. He's the richest man in the world currently.

SPEAKER_03 24:06

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. It's and and like uh every time like Tesla or any of any of his stocks go higher, like rise, he he gets richer and richer. I mean, because a lot of these guys have their value tied to the stock market.

SPEAKER_00 24:20

So it's not all liquid.

SPEAKER_01 24:22

No, no, it's he doesn't have like$830 billion in a pig in a piggy bank at home.

SPEAKER_03 24:26

Yeah, he it's like Scrooge McDuck, where he has it all in like a vault and he goes swims in it every day.

SPEAKER_01 24:33

Although he has enough that he could do that and still leave a lot in the stock market.

SPEAKER_03 24:37

Yeah, yeah, he definitely definitely could. He definitely could. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:41

Give me a swimming pool full of one dollar bills. Do a high dive into that. That's funny. I would actually, yeah, that's really funny.

SPEAKER_03 24:53

I can probably do that right now with like Zimbabwe dollars or something.

SPEAKER_01 24:58

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:01

Or what's the uh or Venezuela uh pesos or I forget the currency.

SPEAKER_01 25:06

Dude, I bought I bought a machete in Peru one time for like it was like two pesos or something.

SPEAKER_03 25:13

Nice.

SPEAKER_01 25:14

Whatever it was, it was like the equivalent of like two dollars. That's insane. And it was it's the best machete I've ever bought in my life. I've owned maybe about three or four. And it was just it's still, it's still, it's never broken. I used to play with that thing when I was a kid. I used to cut down trees for fun. Uh young boys are very destructive. Yeah. It's probably for the best you have a a girl. Otherwise, I don't know if you'd still have a house. But yeah, young boys have a lot of um and it's not wrong either. It's just they're built. Yeah, they've got this whatever it is, I don't know, testosterone or whatever, but it's like they're they're just built to to just like go out in the world and break stuff and see what happens if I break this or that. And listen to anybody saying, like, girls and boys are no different, they're the same. No, they are different, okay? Because I had a sister. I remember she was playing with little pink dollies all day long, and she never broke anything. I broke everything I used to set things on fire in the yard. Yeah, why did I do that? Why? For what purpose? You know, because I was a boy, I was a little boy. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:35

I mean, I mean, to clarify, like, no one's telling you that girls have to be a certain way, boys have to be a certain way. But there is some inherent differences because of if a girl wants to go burn down a barn, I say do it.

SPEAKER_01 26:46

That's fantastic. That's awesome. That's uh let me get her number. Feed that pyromaniac inside. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:57

Let's go to a Ramstein concert.

SPEAKER_01 27:00

I want to, yes, I want to see a girl headbanging at a Rammstein Rammstein concert. That's freaking awesome.

SPEAKER_03 27:07

It gets a thumbs up in my book if I, you know, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:10

And it's not weird at all. It's not it's it's awesome. It's awesome to be authentically true to yourself.

SPEAKER_03 27:16

Um that's that's that's where there's that's where you should strive to be, you know. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 27:21

And at the same time, it's also simultaneously okay and true to say girls and boys are a little bit different in some ways. Yeah, it's okay.

SPEAKER_03 27:30

Yeah. Yeah. I think we can all agree that there's no one answer to everything, so it's good if there's multiple answers to everything. No.

SPEAKER_01 27:38

In that way, no one is right and you know as nice and convenient as it would be if life were only black or white. It's not. Sorry. It's very gray, lots of gray.

SPEAKER_03 27:51

So guess what? This isn't gravity, there isn't one answer, it isn't the law of nature. So just in, you know, it's okay to have multiple answers to one. Totally.

SPEAKER_01 28:00

Makes the world interesting.

SPEAKER_03 28:01

Yeah. But I mean, were you done with your update? But I keep trying to do it. I don't even know where it began or where it ended.

SPEAKER_01 28:10

I am done, by the way. I'm done.

SPEAKER_03 28:12

I'm on the train tracks. I don't see the tracks anymore, so I just I just don't need to know. Was there a train? Was there a train to begin with?

SPEAKER_01 28:23

This train track has a lot of uh detours. But but I am done. Yes, I'm done.

SPEAKER_03 28:29

That was great because that it actually like it raised a very interesting point, and not interesting, but a very valid point, which is the cost of living of things is just terrible.

SPEAKER_01 28:39

But yeah, I would How is Medicare in how is medical stuff in Canada? Oh because you're Canadian. I want to hear your perspective on that, actually.

SPEAKER_03 28:47

Yeah, yeah, sure. Okay, just to like so like to wrap this topic up. In Canada, we um we don't like we pay taxes. Like we like I my paycheck is so is so whittled down by taxes, it's insane. Uh and but but guess what? If I ever do need to see a doctor, uh if I ever go to the emergency room, uh, God forbid, or my family does, we don't pay a dime. However, it's not all, it's all it's not every everything's not sunshine and rainbows. When you go to the emergency room, there is a wait. Like you there we have sometimes um wait for up to like four to five hours, and these days that is supposedly fast, for four to five hours. I hear stories of people waiting like eight hours, nine hours. Um, there was there there's there's all kinds of horror stories uh about that. So you know it's not a perfect system, but um we you will not go bankrupt from a medical condition in Canada. That's that's for that's that's for sure. Uh our taxes do pay for your Medicare. Um now suppose you need to see a specialist, like you how you need to see right now. What's great about the US is you can just pick up the phone and call the specialist office and say, hey, I need to see a specialist. Um I need like you know, um, if if you feel like there's something wrong with you and you want to see a specialist, you can get that care immediately for a cost, obviously. In Canada, you can't. You have to go through your family doctor. You have to call your family doctor and say, get a referral. And the family doctor will only give you a referral if they feel it's warranted. And after you get the referral, you call the specialist office to make an appointment. And it's not like you can see them next week or two weeks from now. I have heard people have like being told, okay, we have an opening in like four months, five months. Which, if you have a non-serious condition, that's fine. But you know, suppose you have, God forbid, something life-threatening that could get progressively worse in four or five months, you're in a bad, bad position. Um, of course, they do their best to evaluate you, and like your fa if your family doctor is saying, yeah, this person might have something life-threatening, they will push you up to the top. So that way the system is in place. But you know, obviously there are there have been times when things have fallen through the cracks, people have like suffered for longer than they've had needed to because of the delay. So it's not a perfect system, but you know, it's uh I will say one thing, most Canadians would prefer this than what the US has for sure. Because, you know, um they you know you don't you uh you don't have to like lose your house or your life savings because you have a yeah threatening condition, and which is to fifty thousand dollars of debt that you never pay off. Yeah, exactly. So that's that we do have that part going for us, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:46

Well, it sounds like a system that doesn't cater to literally every single niche need uh uh that anybody could ever have uh in the most convenient way for the richest person you can think of. But it does cater to a much larger number and variety of people who need health care. And it's like, let's face it, you know, needing healthcare, it's not the same thing as being hungry and being like, I'm in the mood for a hamburger. Or it's it's I mean, it is the same as being hungry and then it's a that's a bad example. So it's not the same as being like, I want to I, you know, I want a car or a bike or I want whatever product you can think of, anything, uh uh, you know, a new blender. It's a necessity. You have no choice. You you know, your ear is in you have an ear infection, you have a throat infection, whatever it is. Um one, depending on what it is, you could potentially die from it if it's untreated. And you know, it's just like you don't really have a choice about treating it, but it takes this incredibly high level of expertise and experience to treat it and fix it. And so it's complicated because like doctors, you know, my dad's a doctor, and it's like, you know, doctors they go to school a long time, they work hard, they they do work hard. I mean, ultimately everything they know is coming out of a book that uh someone else invented, so they're not necessarily the most uh they're not necessarily the most innovative or creative people in the world, but they are very bright, right? And they're able to memorize facts and data and understand what it means and um, you know, um consolidate all that information and use it to good purpose. So it's we really there it takes a lot of work and focus and time to reach a point where you are truly qualified to safely perform medical procedures or surgeries upon human beings. Right, yes, and so for good reason, thank you. And for very good reason, and uh thank God they do. Uh so it does call to question well, you know, how much do we pay them? Because that's a lot. It took a lot to get it's not like they did all that for free to be like, I just like to help people. I mean, they should do, I think doctors should go into it because they genuinely want to help people. Not all of them uh do, yeah, but many of them probably do, but definitely not all. Um I don't even know if it's most, at least in the US. I'm not sure. I think a lot of them do it for the money and the prestige, and and you know, whatever. They're they're smart, they don't have another dream, and they're like, yeah, maybe they like biology, who knows? And they're like, look, this is a safe path. I'm guaranteed work. Uh I'm not guaranteed, I'm not guaranteed to be a gazillionaire or be famous, but I'm guaranteed work. It's every it's a need. There's non-negotiable need. If you're an ET doctor or whatever doctor, guess what? You are we need you. Yeah, society needs you, no matter what. We don't even have a choice. We don't want to need you, but we do need you. So yeah, um, you know, it's it's so they go, you know, so uh people have different reasons for becoming a doctor, but whatever those reasons are, it takes a lot of years, a lot of work, a lot of practice and experience, and a lot of knowledge. And they have to be reasonably bright. So um Yeah, it's like how do you compensate that? How do you how do you incentivize that, you know? And in America, our answer is uh basically capitalism for everything. Yeah, uh but in other countries like Denmark or Canada or whatever, uh it's not necessarily the case. So it's just interesting, Karen, to hear your but it's also encouraging to uh because I definitely believe healthcare should be more accessible to more people. So it's encouraging to hear you. It sounds like basically up there in Canada where you are, uh, that uh you haven't had a struggle of any major kind uh to get the medical care that you and your family have needed. Is that accurate? Yeah, yeah, that's that's accurate. That's accurate.

SPEAKER_03 36:10

Um it's we do have like I said, there are inconveniences to it, but it's it's not like I've ever felt felt neglected. I've never it's not like I've ever gone to somebody and spoken to somebody and felt like they just didn't care. Uh everybody, all the healthcare people I've met have always done their best. But like I said, there are inconveniences to it, but I do feel um, yeah, I do feel more secure about it.

SPEAKER_01 36:36

Um part of it might just be doctors having to be like, okay, listen, I'll make 200k a year instead of 800k. Yeah. You know, which you know, or I'll make 300 or 400k a year instead of a million a year. Yeah. You know, it might it might be that. I mean it could be.

SPEAKER_03 36:54

I don't know. There's um, like for example, there there is a subtle push for like private uh facilities to come in, uh, but they they always get a pushback because like um the fear is that if there are private facilities, then obviously doctors will want to work there because they will get compensated better. Um so and people don't want that polluting the uh they don't see that as a solution to the um to the kind of like the clogged uh current the current clogged nature of the uh socialist system that Canada has of medicine. So yeah, but like I said, it's uh it's it's not an easy answer. There is no one answer to it. It's something that's constantly being worked on. But in the meantime, at least tomorrow, if I do need medical care, uh I I I have confidence that I will be seen and you know, at least given a consultation Especially for you know 95% of like life-threatening type uh situations.

SPEAKER_01 37:53

Yeah, yes, or 100% of life-threatening situations and 95% of specialized situations, probably. Right, yes. Yeah. Um well what about but I'm I mean, I'm guessing that plastic surgery is not covered there, right?

SPEAKER_03 38:08

No, it's but we have plastic surgery surgeons um and stuff up here. They're they're private, they're allowed to be private. You can call them, book a consultation, pay out of pocket. That's not covered by the government or or or anything like that. Um I think some things sometimes there's legislation to push for certain procedures to be covered. Like I I think uh in the past, I can't think of an example right now, but for the generally, no. Uh you anything cosmetic, it's out of your own pocket. That's the way it's done.

SPEAKER_01 38:40

Makes sense.

SPEAKER_03 38:41

Makes sense, yeah. Because it's like why why should the taxpayer pay for you know for your nose job?

SPEAKER_01 38:48

Although if it's bad enough, they might be willing to get that eyesore out of here.

SPEAKER_03 38:55

That's that's what our uh our last prime minister ran on. That was his platform.

SPEAKER_01 39:00

Airlines make you buy an extra seat for that thing.

SPEAKER_03 39:04

We're gonna make Canadians beautiful again. Just kidding. There's plenty of beautiful Canadians.

SPEAKER_01 39:12

I'm sure they're beautiful, yeah, yeah. Uh Canadians, yeah, yeah. Chopping wood and whatnot.

SPEAKER_03 39:17

Yeah, I mean, there's definitely that, right? Like there's definitely like a frontier side to Canada, which is pretty cool. Like, I mean, you know, most of us live along the US border, but as you start driving north, you definitely feel like the wilderness around you. Because we don't have as much of a population. Um compar we have like the population equivalent of ca of California spread across this c continent that's I mean, spread across this country that's almost as wide wide as the US, and pretty big if you go once you start going up north. So yeah, if you ever want wilderness, this is a good place to be. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:54

A lot of beautiful wilderness up there. Yep. Here's a quick um, I just Googled celebrities from Canada.

SPEAKER_03 40:01

Oh, yeah, we have a ton.

SPEAKER_01 40:02

Yeah, so you have actually quite a few. Yeah, and um, some of them are beautiful people, so you're doing something without those. I don't know if the plastic surgeons helped them, but probably not. Or maybe. Let's see. Uh top Canadian stars include Justin Beaver. Oh boy, had to put him first. Yeah. Uh Drake. Oh, this okay. Yeah, I don't know what can we send any of them back?

SPEAKER_03 40:27

It's too late though. Yeah. Hey, Jim Carrey was Canadian. He might not be good looking, but he's insane. Oh, he's fantastic. Yeah, he's amazing. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you for that. Uh thank you for Jim.

unknown 40:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 40:39

Um we have Ryan Gosling, uh, Ryan Reynolds, both the Ryan's, I think, are cool.

SPEAKER_01 40:44

Oh, yeah, Ryan Reynolds and Ryan Gosling. Yep, that's on the list.

SPEAKER_03 40:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:48

Oh, Keanu Reeves. He's a Reeves is a mensch. He's a good one. Nice. We all love him.

SPEAKER_03 40:54

Everyone loves Keanu Reeves.

SPEAKER_01 40:55

Yeah, Rachel McAdams, she's a lovely girl. I didn't know that. She's beautiful. Yeah. I didn't know she still looks beautiful. Um, not that, you know.

SPEAKER_03 41:04

I haven't seen her in anything recently. But I I'm not a good person to ask. I have not seen any movie for a long time. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 41:13

I really uh You haven't seen any movie for no, I haven't seen the movie, man.

SPEAKER_03 41:17

I haven't seen the movie in so long. And you know, I used to love watching movies. I still love watching movies, but yeah, yeah, it just I'm so like mentally exhausted after the day and everything that I just like I really yeah, like I don't have the capacity to like watch anything. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:33

Was it all I mean, is it a mental exhaustion thing or is it a time thing, or is it both?

SPEAKER_03 41:38

Uh both. I'd say both. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:40

Was your job always mentally exhausting, or has it just been recently kicking up?

SPEAKER_03 41:45

No, it's just it's just um it's everything. Like I uh I like um having yeah, having a kid is like because it's like you work and then your second job is you know being a dad, and then after your kid goes to sleep, you have like about a half an hour to 40 minutes to just like you know, meet time. So like it's not a ton of time to watch anything.

SPEAKER_01 42:08

But do you and Megs watch movies?

SPEAKER_03 42:11

We haven't seen a movie together in so long. I know, but but you know, it's it's changing because the you know Zoe's growing up, she's once she's old enough, uh get you know uh she's already getting old enough where she is doing starts doing things on her own. Um old is she? She's three now.

SPEAKER_01 42:28

Three.

SPEAKER_03 42:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:30

Three. Yeah. My wedding was three years ago.

SPEAKER_03 42:33

Uh four years ago, right?

SPEAKER_01 42:35

Four years ago. Yeah, 22, 32 years old. 22, 22. Four years, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:42

Yes, yes, indeed. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so like time, man, time flies. But yeah, it's it's like it's at the same time. Um, everybody who I speak to who's who's has older kids always says, enjoy the time when they're young. I know it's taxing, but it's like a it's a beautiful time because they're all about you, like you are their whole world to them. Um but you know, at some point, and this is what like you know makes me sad because it's true, even for you and me, eventually, you know, your kids move out, they go get they move on with their lives and they go other places and they do their own things as they should. Um, so like whenever I hear that from like a person with older kids, I do feel like a sadness, but also a happiness at the same time that I even got to experience it.

SPEAKER_01 43:26

So you should talk to my mom. She's still trying to get me to move home. You should yeah, you should be. I'm grateful she loves me that much, but also it's also kind of like mom, I'm trying to be I'm trying to be a man, trying to be an adult, trying to make my way in this insane capitalistic world.

SPEAKER_03 43:58

Yeah. Way I don't we like maybe it's because where I'm from, but we don't see that as I don't see living with your parents as weird as at all. In fact, in in India, it's it's customary that kids like you know live with their parents and take care of them when they're older. Like that's part of like growing up, you know, that's part of like your culture. Um, so yeah, it's but in that case, mom, book me on the next flight.

SPEAKER_01 44:30

Get her on the next flight. Ticket for two, me and Zashi. She'll be so happy. Yeah. Me and Zashi are gonna be making a long, long stay. Yeah, longer than you bargained for.

SPEAKER_03 44:42

I don't know if you can would you be able to live in Maryland now after living in California?

SPEAKER_01 44:47

It's a good question. If I were like if I were like 60 years old, but I'm not, I don't I just I think Maryland is beautiful and there are some really fun things to do there, but it's there's so many more kinds of viable opportunities and and jobs and the the ceiling of how high you can go with a given pursuit. Although I will say this though, to be honest, Karen, you know, especially if it's like you're being a mu you're a musician or whatever, I feel like today more than ever. I don't know if it matters where you are that much.

SPEAKER_03 45:24

No, no, it doesn't.

SPEAKER_01 45:25

Maybe a little bit, because especially as I start to play out in venues more, I think there's a lot more value in the connections you might possibly meet or the people you might meet here in Los Angeles. I mean, I could literally playing out at a venue, you know, it's not gonna grow my fan base to a million um just because I played at some club. But you in a place like LA, you might meet some famous person who who's comes up to you after and says, Oh, I really loved those great. Or some famous guy might be in the audience of your little show and they might post about you the next day on their Instagram and suddenly overnight you're friggin' famous. I mean, that happens like so that's not gonna happen in Baltimore or Owings Mills. It's very unlikely. Okay, you know, where I'm from, you know, Maryland. It's much more likely in a place like LA. Not saying it's guaranteed in a place like LA, but you have a chance that some and you know, it's like I kind of self-produced or self-I mean, I had some help from Steven, but I kind of self-engineered, self-recorded my like EP. So at the point I'm at, I've already put in that like 10 years of figuring out how to get the fucking thing recorded. And so at this point, I don't know if I need some producer to come up to me at a club and offer to record me. And and by the way, again, especially today, they're not gonna do that for free. Because, you know, I mean, unless I I can't imagine why they would if I were them, I don't think I would. Even if I loved the band, I think I would be like, what's in it for me, you know? And yeah, you know, this band might have a hit and I might love their stuff, but even then, like, even if they cut me in, it's like people don't buy CDs anymore as much, there's not as much money in the music industry. So I just am curious what would be in it for them. Yeah. Um, other than just passion or enjoyment, which when you have to pay your bills, how far is that taking you? It's hard to validate for sure. A little bit, yeah. I don't'm saying it never happens, but yeah. But but but that being said, again, um you I could uh I I could still meet, you know, valuable connections just at clubs and things in LA, which I don't think I could in Maryland. But but again, uh by the same token, uh to answer your question, I do think you can be a musician from literally anywhere today because of the internet. So conceivably, yeah, I could live in Maryland, probably have a way cheaper studio space too. Yeah, right, right. Pay a lot less for for it, which would be really, really nice. Um, but uh you know, there's a way less vibrant artistic scene or uh um in Owings Mills or Baltimore. I mean, there's a lot less serious artists. I mean, there are some for sure, um, but there's just so many here.

SPEAKER_03 48:28

You don't get the scene. You get you get like the benefit of the of the cost of living factor, but you don't you don't get the scene. Yeah. I remember um one of the writers I really respect, uh Nick Pizzolato, who um wrote True Detective, which is season one, is one of my all-time favorite, one of my, I think, pretty much as close to perfection of uh show just for me. For me, because I love um not only the subject matter, but like also how it was approached and the philosophy and how it was shot, everything about it. But yeah, he said something which doesn't apply to musicians, but he said as a writer, he said the best thing you can do is go somewhere where you have minimal expenses, minimal overhead, and then just write, write, write as until you're like you know, really, really, really good and really like seeing that your writing is going somewhere because yeah, otherwise you're distracted by trying to make a living, trying to like, you know, all the things that you need to do as unless you're an adult, yeah. But uh, you know, totally as a no, I mean I definitely I agree.

SPEAKER_01 49:34

I mean, I think the best thing that's come out of me being in LA so far has just been meeting my wife. Right. Um, who she's an LA native. I wouldn't have met her if I hadn't come here. So that's you know, um she she's an amazing catch. So that's been the best thing about I mean, honestly, that's the luckiest stroke I've had in LA. That being said, I've been so kind of nose in the grind, uh trying to finish my album and record this EP and doing it basically like, you know, independently, that it's like um I mean, I've met some really cool other musicians here um uh and been able to collaborate with them in person a few times, which is cool because if you're not in the same state, you have to do it via Zoom or remotely, which you can still do, but there is something magic about being in the same room as someone when they're trying to come up with a guitar part or something. Right. Um, so I've enjoyed that, but it's not that many times that I've done that, and I haven't played out that many times uh yet, at least. So it's like to be honest, the only true the only true benefits I've had of living in LA with this really high cost of living has been one, I do love LA. I'm gonna say that. I I I I I do I love LA. I'm like Randy Newman.

SPEAKER_03 50:57

I do I do I love LA too. Like I I know exactly what you mean.

SPEAKER_01 51:00

I yeah, there's a magic. There's a magic here for sure. It's undeniable. I mean, yeah, a lot of people want to shit on LA and California for political reasons. But listen, um, yeah, we have a high cost of living, but honestly, it's sunny every single day of the year except for like five days. Yep. Um it's uh warm. I mean, the sky is blue, like cornflower blue, all year. Um, again, a few cloudy days. Who cares? Those are fun too. Yeah. Um, I mean, the weather's amazing. I can throw on a t-shirt and go outside. I don't have to plan what I'm gonna wear and put on mittens and scarves. I love that. Um, and there's it's also a lot of outdoorsy stuff right here in the city that you can access. Like there's a lot of hikes. Um, and you know, when Karen, when you and I lived in Boston, it was like if we wanted to go on a hike, where the fuck are you gonna do that? I know, yeah. Where are you gonna go? I mean, there's Walden Pond. You know, we went there a couple times with Mac. Yeah. Um that's the name we've adopted for him on this show.

SPEAKER_03 52:08

Yeah, right. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 52:09

You know, his incognito name. Yeah. Um, but the but the so Walden Pond was fun, but it's like Yeah. First of all, nice beaches, but like well, yeah, they were I mean question question until you've gone to Malibu.

SPEAKER_03 52:24

Yeah, right, right, yeah. Compared to LA, maybe not, but at the time when they were.

SPEAKER_01 52:31

For what they were, those Boston beaches were cool. It's just a different thing. You're not gonna break out a boogie board and go bask in the sun. It's no you're gonna kick a few pebbles out of the sand, you're gonna, you know, uh m walk over a few rocks here and there. And but it's beautiful, it's beautiful. I mean, it's it's still beautiful in its way. But yes, right, Karen. And so, yeah, I mean, uh has yeah, uh has LA been essential to my success as an in the entertainment business? Not necessarily uh so far. Not yet. Not yet, not so far, but I've still enjoyed I've enjoyed it a lot though. Yeah, like I uh again, I I love LA.

SPEAKER_02 53:19

We love it.

SPEAKER_01 53:20

Um we love it. Look at that bumble there. He's down on his look. Does anyone know what Randy is saying?

SPEAKER_03 53:33

No, just go with it. Him and his haircut in that convertible. Just let him croon.

SPEAKER_01 53:44

In my mind, Randy Newman has been 65 years old since the very beginning.

SPEAKER_03 53:49

He was like born that way. Like he wasn't he was born sounding, talking with that haircut everything.

SPEAKER_01 53:54

He was born with thinning hair. No, I don't know if his hair's thinning or not. I know. We've been old forever.

SPEAKER_03 54:00

I love LA. Go watch it. It's yeah, it's ridiculous. It's an absolutely ridiculous video.

SPEAKER_01 54:06

Oh, hey, hey, that could be your song of the day if you want. Did you have a different one? Or was we talking about it?

SPEAKER_02 54:17

It's all we talked about.

SPEAKER_03 54:24

It's such a it's such an absurd song. Like it's it's so it's it's it's from a different time, you can tell that immediately. Um and it's just Randy Newman just crooning on about how LA about LA, that's it.

SPEAKER_01 54:39

How much he loves it. All the things, all the things one might see going on a drive in LA. Yeah, yeah. There's a lot. LA is a lot, there's a lot of everything. There's a lot of everything.

SPEAKER_03 54:53

Yeah, I think Randy Newman thought that would be his walking in Memphis, but it just it is quite different.

SPEAKER_01 55:00

It just went in a slightly different direction there. Yeah. Slightly different tone.

SPEAKER_02 55:07

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_01 55:09

Like the Randy Newman song I Love LA, that's like what you listen to if you want to drive down Sunset Boulevard high on cocaine. Yeah.

unknown 55:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 55:17

This is um, you know, it's yeah, it's perfect if you like if you were living in the uh in LA in like the uh late 70s and 80s, and you just sign the next hot rock group, and you know, you just had a cocaine signing party with them, and now you're just going down.

SPEAKER_01 55:36

Yeah, it's like that scene in Walk Hard when the like the like when the like uh uh uh uh what's the word? Um exaggeratedly Jewish uh record executives are kicking their boots in the air dancing because there's yeah lachayam and saying stuff like that because they're so excited at the hit song that's being recorded in the next room under under their record label, and they're just dancing. And then the guy, and then the guy who's like, I forget that actor's name, but he's so fucking funny. He's in some Christopher Guest stuff.

SPEAKER_03 56:13

Oh, that oh he's so funny. Yeah, he is so funny. He is John C. Riley, right? No, no, no, not well. Obviously, John C.

SPEAKER_01 56:22

Riley is uh is a magical being as well, but this other guy, uh, he's like is he the record producer who's kicking his feet in the air? Yeah, he's the record producer, but he's kind of Christopher Guest stuff, but he's so funny. He plays almost kind of a Ned Flanders kind of looking guy, but he's just yeah. I mean, but anyway, so yeah, that's that's when you listen to the Randy Newman I Love LA song, is when you're in that kind of mood.

SPEAKER_03 56:50

You absolutely ignore all problems we talked about LA with cost of living, um all those things, just throw them out the window, pretend they don't exist, and then that song will make sense to you. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 57:03

That's right. The negative sides of LA are not even entering your mind.

SPEAKER_03 57:07

No, no, Randy Newman doesn't discuss them at all.

SPEAKER_01 57:10

He doesn't even well he mentions a couple of them, but he mentions them in a celebratory tone. Yeah, like like talking about it. And you just have to go with it. You don't have a choice.

SPEAKER_03 57:21

Right, right, yeah. He's he's he's got you along for the ride. So if you commit to that song, listen to that song. Uh yeah, he he he points out homeless people, but he's he thought he points it out in like a he points it out like it's just part of the part of the joyous tapestry of life. Of America, it's like a Bugs Bunny cartoon to him. He's just like going on.

SPEAKER_01 57:44

Yeah. Yeah, he points out some homeless guy and he's like, yeah, you know, it's that's that's LA, baby. It's life. And then the next thing he's talking about palm trees and you know, leggy blondes, and and then homeless people, and yeah, LA baby.

SPEAKER_02 58:06

So funny. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 58:07

Um, that's a great song of the day. That's a great song of the day. Kind of evolved out of our conversation.

SPEAKER_03 58:12

I know, but it's yeah, it's it's apt because you know, LA has been quite a quite a uh quite a prominent part about this uh episode in terms of you know all the things we talked about.

SPEAKER_01 58:24

Well, as usual, there were there were some other things I thought we might transition into and cover, but yeah, we covered a lot of good ground, so maybe save them for next time, I guess. But um I I did want to throw in um if that if that's gonna be your song of the day, which it sounds like it is, I I also have a song of the day that I want to mention. Uh which is oh, by the way, before I dive into that, I'm sorry, Karen. Um I mean, my guy, I mean, this train has missed so many stops, so it doesn't matter. But uh Karen, did you have any um did you give an an update of your own?

SPEAKER_03 59:04

Uh you know, no, I don't really have much to be frank with you. So, like, yeah, let's go with the song of the day. I think that's way more fun than the.

SPEAKER_01 59:11

Did you have any stories? Because we have a section called stories. Did you have a story you wanna um that you wanted to tell? Or I mean anything you wanted to say, whatever it is.

SPEAKER_03 59:20

Not at the top of my mind, to be frank. That's fine.

SPEAKER_01 59:23

It's okay. Yeah, as long yeah. Um that's it for next time.

SPEAKER_03 59:27

But I'm kind of I'm now I'm like invested in the song of the day. I kind of want to know what song you're gonna pick. This is exciting.

SPEAKER_01 59:33

I love it. Um, so Song of the Day, I'm gonna mention um is by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

SPEAKER_03 59:40

Oh, awesome. I'll be good.

SPEAKER_01 59:42

Yeah. Um, this song is called White Braids and Pillow Chair. What? It's a really weird name. So I'm gonna say it one more time.

SPEAKER_03 59:50

I don't think I've heard that song. Is it a new song?

SPEAKER_01 59:52

Is it from the Um It's from 2022. It's from 2022.

SPEAKER_03 59:56

Okay, okay, okay. I forgive myself because I haven't.

SPEAKER_01 59:58

Yeah, absolutely. I had never heard of it. I heard, funny enough, I heard Edward Norton mention it on some interview. What? Yeah, because he's yeah, friends with John Frushanti and knows them and stuff, I guess. Oh, okay. Not that he would need to know them to be a fan of because I don't know them and I'm a big I love a lot of um I love some of their songs. I for me the Chili Peppers, uh the stuff I love is their the John Frushanti influence stuff. Yeah, yeah. I'm yeah, I'm not a I'm not a grassroots chili peppers fan in the sense of that I love the super, super funky, not as commercially streamlined stuff they did before John Frushanti entered the band. But the stuff they did with him, I mean, I think John Frushanti is one of the best rock guitarists of of all time, I would say. Yes. I mean, for me, he's certainly he's probably on my top five list. Yeah. Um I think he's brilliant. Um, I think the way he would just play these kind of very kind of delicate, notey, clean guitar parts that were catchy enough and melodic enough to be given their own part of the song and stick with you. I haven't heard another band do that in that same way. So yeah, I think he's innovative. I think he's yeah, love John Frisch, I'm a big fan of him.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:26

You know, he he brought this melodic. First of all, Chili Pepper is also pretty big LA band, just since it's part of our part of our theme.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:34

So they sing about California and every other song.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:37

It's pretty much, yeah. It's like uh it's a staple part, it's a staple part of their lyric. But yeah, for sure. Like um Chili Pepper is a great LA band, so it fits our theme. So good song, good, good pick. Um, I especially a good pick because I haven't heard that song, so I'm gonna go listen to it when I can. Please do.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:53

It's called White. I I'll say the name one more time just because it's a very odd name. Um almost sounds like the name of one of our episodes of our show. It's kind of random sounding, but it's called White Braids and Pillowchair.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:08

Okay. White braids and pillow chair. Cool.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:11

White braids and pillow chair. It's got a great guitar part.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:14

It's with John Frashanti, I'm thinking. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:17

Yes, I believe it is. I believe it is. Um and uh it's so it came out in 2022. It's their twelve it's from their 12th studio album called Unlimited Love. Okay, which came out in 2022, as I said. And they've put out they the Chili Peppers have put out three albums since 2016.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:40

Think about that, dude.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:41

Wow. At their age, Anthony Keatis today, currently 2026, is 63 years old.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:48

Whoa, wow.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:49

And they are still putting out, they've still continued putting out like like not bad albums. I mean, maybe not as like uh icon uh great as some of their our favorites, but like just they've maintained a pretty high level, uh, a very high level of quality for a long, long time. It's pretty inspiring, it's pretty admirable.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:14

Yeah, yeah. It's I mean, you know, they're one of those guys who I couldn't picture them doing anything besides what they do. Um because they just they just seem like they're they just seem like they were born to be in that band. Because they they they really they seem to like really gel really well.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:32

To be fair, they also seem like they can't do anything else. Um but they're brilliant musicians, and yeah, they who cares? I I'm so glad they found their calling. Um you're so right, Karen. It's like, you know, I feel that way about certain rock musicians, and then other ones you could picture them doing so many other things. Like I think Brian May, the guitarist from Queen, I think he has like a degree in like I don't know if it's chemistry or astrophysics or engineering, some really smart thing. Yeah. Uh and then uh, you know, Freddie Mercury was like had a degree, I think, in graphic design, or he studied graphic design. Nick Jagger went to school for economics at some good business school.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:20

Yeah, like the uh lead singer of Iron Maiden, he he's a pilot. Like he's yeah, they there's like you know, a lot of people Maynard from Tool, he has a binary like before that. He's a jack of all trades, yeah. Yeah, yeah. And the band also, I think they were, if I'm not mistaken, they were in like special uh practical effects or something before they did it.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:40

Adam, isn't Adam Jones? Is that the name of the guitarist from Tool?

SPEAKER_03 1:04:43

Yeah, yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:44

That's right. Yeah, he's actually a pretty, pretty special guitarist, too. Tool's an awesome band. Like Tool is an awesome band. They're they're they're they're not in my personal top five or or anything like that, but I I have a lot of respect for for their their talent and their their vision. They're pretty amazing at at whatever that is that they're doing. Like they're they're pretty special. Um, again, I don't listen to them all the time, but when whenever I do, it's like I'm glad this is in the world. Like there's something you know special about this. This is really cool.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:18

Um, but yeah, Adam Jones, the guitarist from Tool, he worked, yeah, like you said, current, he worked in special effects. He I think he worked on the first Jurassic Park, like helping design stuff with um the dinosaur models or whatever. I didn't know that. Apparently, when he quit to go start a band, his friends were all like, Are you out of your goddamn mind? You're gonna stop your career in graphic design graphic effects for for these huge movies to be in a rock band?

SPEAKER_03 1:05:51

Yeah, little didn't know. Yeah, for sure. Really I mean little I mean, I'm glad he did because like um I mean We've there's uh you know, two has such unique songs. Um, and we can talk about two another time, but let's come back to the to the chili pepper.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:07

No, but you're so right. The chili peppers, the members of that band, they seem you can't picture them doing anything else. Yeah, it's like each one of them was just born to be in this amazing band, and it is it is it's an amazing band. But um uh yeah, I'm so glad that John Frushanti joined their band. I think it was a big, it was a boon, it was a big up for their band, in my uh opinion. And um, so yeah, uh anyway, yeah, chat check out, but check out this song from their album Unlimited Love from 2022. Okay, and pillowchair. I was honestly uh, because I'm a little I'm always skeptical about what kind of music a a sort of like older or legacy band, I don't know if you would consider Red Hot Chili Peppers to be that or not, but they maybe they are. But they've been around a long time, and it's like when a band that's been around that long that has a few a few songs that I really love from a certain period, when they put out new albums, personally I'm always just a little skeptical to to believe that it's worth my time or to to give it a chance. But after discovering this song, thanks to Edward Norton, um, the uh I like I was impressed. Like I was impressed at how good it was at the stage in their career that they that they were at, you know, when they made it in 2022. I was like, this is a really cool, like this has an inventive guitar part that is beautiful and like catchy, typical of John Fruscianti's uh abilities there. And I I don't know, it's just like kind of a lovely song, and I was like pleasantly surprised and impressed with it.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:55

Yeah, yeah. That's I mean, that's awesome. I always I always love when you can discover like a song, um, you know, even from a band that's been around for so long, and they come out and they're like you're like, Yeah, that's still awesome. They still have like that magic that goes for them. You know, yeah. Um, so yeah, I'm I'm like I there's definitely like newer songs from the Chili Peppers, um, which I think are old by now, but like I I used to hear listen to it in like 2020, actually 2019, so that's really old at this point because it was pre-passed. I think I'm gonna know what you're talking about. Yeah, yeah. They were like, I think it was Dark Necessities the album or something. So they had a few songs from there. And I oh I'm I'm not sure if it's that's the album name, but like yeah, I was I was uh I was liking their stuff. So it's this is this is pretty cool. So I'm gonna have to listen to them sometime soon.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:49

Um yeah, nice, nice song. Hold on one second. I want to see when dark necessities came out because I know what you're talking about. Definitely dark necessities are necessary coming out. Let me see. Quick little searchy search. Dark Necessities. Oh, good lord, okay. 2016?

SPEAKER_03 1:09:08

Oh, she's really old.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:10

Okay, time does fly. Good lord.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:14

Um that's like 10 years ago.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:16

All right, let me get my walking cane. Let me get my walker here. I feel old. Okay, nice. 2016.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:25

Time to go to bed.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:27

Just gotta get my colostomy bag or whatever. Grab my wig. Um, okay. Uh yeah, I mean, so uh yeah, um, okay, so uh let's uh you know we've covered some good ground and uh let's give a positive send-off um for the week. Let's let's let's send them off into the week with something positive. Um whatever comes to mind.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:57

Whatever comes to mind, huh? Uh I'll um I've talked about this sometime before a lot of times, um, but I will bring it up again. Do do something that you used to do as a kid and see if it still brings you the same amount of joy. I have obviously the luxury of doing that because I have a daughter and she's sometimes she does things that I'm like, hey, I used to do that. So like when I do that with her, it kind of like I don't know, takes me down a very nice path of nostalgia, but also self-reflection. Um, so even if you have a kid, don't have a kid, I I it's it's totally fine. Think about something that you used to do as a kid and go do it and see how it makes you feel. Yeah, I'll leave it with that.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:42

That's awesome. It's funny you say that because just recently I sort of had a realization about myself that when I watch an old movie that has like a nostalgic value for me, yeah, it kind of reminds me who I am in a way, or kind of grounds me in like where I've come from, the life I've lived, who the tastes I have. Like when I watch an old uh a movie that yeah, so yeah, doing things that you loved or that you've done in in the distant past sometimes can be like oddly like really refreshing. Yeah. And and and kind of yeah, for for me at least, it almost reminds me who I am sometimes.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:27

So that was that's awesome, Karen. Um, yeah, I I think we could go with that. I I really like that. I don't even want to muddy the waters. I just want to cruise on through with that one. So thanks, uh, thanks everybody. Uh guy from Utah and the the uh my my our wives and uh maybe curren's brother, maybe not, depends. And uh um what yeah, and and then like uh yeah, uh somebody in Virginia. But anyway, so thanks, thanks, crowd. Thanks, Crowd. We'll see you all next time. We'll see you all next time. Have a great week.