Bonus Mini Episode

Cheryl and Dagny just couldn't wait two weeks to get together again. In this special episode, they provide an update on the missing scientists mentioned during their interview with Richard Stead. They then discuss what they've been reading and their opinions of the latest Star Wars installment. 

Links to programs mentioned this episode: 

The Lancaster Players | Northern Neck Community Theatre | 361 Chesapeake Drive, White Stone, VA, USA

Cat Cove Inc. - Saving cats across the Northern Neck of Virginia

LCL Home

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:06

So we do have an update on our recent podcast about the missing Los Alamos scientists. This was briefly mentioned during our interview with Dr. Richard Stead. And it turns out one of these scientists has been found since we recorded that episode. And we just wanted to update everyone and make it clear that we are keeping um up with the news. So Melissa's Cassius has been found. Her remains were found about a year after she disappeared, alongside a handgun. It isn't clear exactly what happened to her, that it we do at least now have she didn't vanish into fit thin air.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

So we do have that now. Right. And what Cheryl just told me that I somehow missed is that uh she had done a factory reset on her phone before she disappeared. A factory reset, which is sort of suspicious, but at this point, we were saying people believe that it's just a a straight suicide, but who knows?

SPEAKER_01 1:14

Yep, yep. They are going to continue to um investigate now that they have uh more to go on, they might be able to get to the bottom of that one. The other missing scientists um remain a mystery, so yeah. Well, we will of course keep you up to date on that. So, to round out our episode today, we're going to talk about what books Dagny and I are reading. We are writers, but writers also read a lot, and we have some um interesting observations to make about what we're reading right now. Yeah, and I, you know, I don't think you can be a writer without being a reader. How how is that possible? Absolutely. You you should be reading more than you do, you know, any other type of entertainment, frankly. Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:08

I always feel better after I have sat down and read for a while, whether it's on a Kindle or my favorite, an actual physical book. But so what am I reading? Well, I'll tell you what I just read, and then I'll tell you what I'm about halfway through with. So I just read a book called I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy. She was, you know, it sounds like a terrible title, but uh it it it's it certainly grabs your attention. Um, Jeanette McCurdy was an actress on iCarly, a show that was you know popular probably 15 years ago. Oh, sure, I remember it. Yeah, great show. My daughter and I used to watch it all the time. And she, Jeanette McCurdy, who this is her you know, autobiography, she is in ways glad that her mom died, but you can tell that is really a misnomer because she actually loved her mom very much, but they had a terribly, terribly codependent relationship. And I believe what she meant after reading it was she didn't really get to be her own authentic self until her mother wasn't there, and it reminds me of a book, you know. Of course, I love my mom very much. We have a great relationship, but there was a book when I was a kid that came out called My Mother Myself, and there's a whole lot to that. I won't, you know, I'm this is only supposed to be a short segment, so I'm not gonna go on and on and on about it. But anyway, the other thing I'm reading right now is called The Spell Shop by Sarah Beth Durst. It is a fun little fantasy, it's not something I thought that I would even like, but I was desperately looking for something on my Libby app that was actually available because since it's summer, everybody's got everything checked out, and I'm actually really enjoying it. And I believe there are more books by her, which I shall certainly enjoy. It's a light read. A Libby app.

SPEAKER_01 4:06

I have not familiar with this Libby app.

SPEAKER_00 4:08

You're not familiar with Libby? Oh my goodness, let me show you. So here it is on my phone for you listeners. It's got what looks like a little girl with a bow on her hair looking into a book. Okay, I'm sure I can get that on my phone, but what what does that get you? Now, what you do is you you pick your library where you have a library card and you link it to the Libby app. I'm not a hugely technical person, so don't ask me how to do it. But you are, you are much more so this links to the Kilmarnock Library. Well, what actually mine is still linked to my library in Richmond. So I could unlink it or but it it it searches, it's more than just what they have available.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

I guess what perplexes me is if this is digital, why does it matter that somebody else has it checked out?

SPEAKER_00 4:56

That's an interesting question, but it does, and somehow that is why it is connected to Libby now. Um, I mean to the library. I I don't know the ins and outs of it. We could look that up, but uh, I can also everything I do through Libby, I can have it download to my Kindle through Amazon. So they're all connected. But just to answer your question, why when I'll look it up, why when using the Libby app, why would it matter if if a book is checked out, you said?

SPEAKER_01 5:31

Yes, I'm very perplexed about that when it's digital books. Because that's one of the advantages of digital books, right?

SPEAKER_00 5:37

They're infinitely I'm gonna say somewhere along the line, it always comes down to money because it does. Because let's think about this somebody writes a book, it's on the New York Times bestseller list, it's not in the libraries yet. Eventually, it's going to be in the libraries. They want it to be a hot commodity, they don't want two million people to get it all at the same time for free from the library.

SPEAKER_01 6:00

They're gonna want some people to go buy it or to buy it from the bottling the availability of the latest greatest things.

SPEAKER_00 6:09

Well, there's so much more on Libby than the latest greatest things. So much more. Yeah, but for the but for the latest greatest things, I think what I just said is my my opinion. But let's look it up. Where why can't I get a book on Libby if it's digital and checked out? Let's see. Okay, so AI says that it has to do with library policies. Each copy can only be checked out by one person at a time. I'm telling you though, there's more than that. I guarantee you it comes down to uh I guarantee it comes down to money. There's some sort of conspiracy afoot. What I'm feeling like we need to write a mystery novel here. Yeah. It's it's well, let's face it, a lot of things come down to money. And and in fact, one of the things I'm looking up here just from March of this year says that most libraries have limited budgets that cover their physical collection. So again, they're having to buy these books from the New York Times bestseller list. All the hits that everybody wants to read this summer, they can't, they're not allowed, they're not allowed to give out more than one or two copies at a time. Under I mean, I'm I that makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 7:30

I understand completely why they have restrictions. I just find it interesting because it's artist, obviously, an artificial constraint.

SPEAKER_00 7:37

Oh, oh, it's artificial, all right. But I guess so thus is money, right?

SPEAKER_01 7:41

Obviously.

SPEAKER_00 7:42

So what are you reading?

SPEAKER_01 7:43

So I have been working through an old Henry James novel called The American, which I'm sure not very many people are reading for fun. Uh, it was published in 1877, which is a hundred years before Star Wars hit the theater. Interesting. So I thought that was an interesting little piece of trivia. It's about basically the clash of cultures between America and Europe back at that time and how the aristocracy uh viewed Americans as, you know, kind of crass and were uncouth. Basically, Americans just had um no manners, you know, they said and did the wrong things at every turn. So it's kind of amusing to see that play out and 150 years ago. And had you read it before? No, no, never read this. And most things I'm I read, I read only once. I I have it in my head. Oh, I'm saving this book. I enjoyed this so much, I'm gonna want to look at it again. Sure, but there's so much out there that I've never read that it never makes sense to me to pick up an old book instead of reading a new one. Now, sometimes I will think, oh, I remember this particular passage, and I'll try to find it in in a book that I have, but to reread the whole thing, I'm not sure that's ever happened. Obviously, the Bible I've reread many times, but that's a totally different category. Totally different. Yeah. I have for nonfiction, I've been reading some Annie Dillard. I read a Pilgrim on Tinker Creek. I really enjoyed that. Um, she just has an interesting way of turning a phrase that um I can't quite wrap my head around. It's just very fascinating to read her writing.

SPEAKER_00 9:41

And I'm interesting, I just looked it up and it actually takes place where I, you know, near where I grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Interesting, I just looked it up and it actually takes place where I, you know, near where I grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains is all. Okay, well, you should probably read that. I probably should. Yeah. Okay. Well, thanks for sharing.

SPEAKER_01 10:00

Yes, not a problem. So, yeah, tell us about this play um that you have written for Lancaster players. When is that going to be in the theater?

SPEAKER_00 10:11

Right, and we may have mentioned this a little bit before, but this is a fundraiser for the library. And it is a murder mystery themed, like some dinner theater. Yeah. Where the uh the audience is very much involved. So the way it's a fundraiser for the library is people pay for the tickets and then they get to experience uh a very fun evening. I won't give away all the uh I won't give away the theme this year yet because it's only June, mid-June, and we still need to meet. So I'm don't know if I'm I'm allowed to give that information away or if it's supposed to be a surprise, just in case anybody hears. But uh, it's a fun evening of clues, see scenes being acted out, food, drinks if you want them. But you don't have the exact dates yet. It's September, but not the exact dates.

SPEAKER_01 11:09

Okay, got it.

SPEAKER_00 11:10

But I did just get an email from the library director saying, you know, thanks to Linda and I for all of our hard work. Linda's been working on the clues. I did the writing, and it it should be great. So yeah, that sounds fantastic. It should be really fun and and for a good cause. All right.

SPEAKER_01 11:34

And if you are a local author and would like to be interviewed on this podcast, please give us an email. Right? And yeah, again, that's two fans one porch at gmail.com. Right. And um, I was also going to say that I have a gig at the library as well. Oh wow, they have asked Catcove to come and give a presentation to I believe it's gonna be 12 and 13-year-olds on a Unearth Your Hobby. It's a presentation that they give, you know, on a regular basis throughout the summer. And we are going to be taking one of those slots to talk about Cat Cove. Wow, yeah, so nice doesn't really have much to do with writing, but it does have to do with cats, and it's being held at the library, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:24

And it's also at the library, it's a great library, really is yeah, such a nice space. Good, good library that we have here in town.

SPEAKER_01 12:31

Yeah, so yeah, so well. Let's see. Did you make it over to see the Mandalorian movie? No, but I know you did. Yes, I did. What'd you think? And we were not blown away, it dragged in a few places. I think maybe there wasn't enough at stake in this particular movie.

SPEAKER_00 12:52

I did yeah, I've heard I've heard some fairly negative reviews, and I think that's probably the only reason that my husband didn't drag me to the theater and said, We'll wait, we'll wait till he comes out on Netflix or whatever.

SPEAKER_01 13:06

Yeah. I mean, it wasn't a terrible movie. I've definitely sat through worse. It had its moments, but it could have been better.

SPEAKER_00 13:16

Yeah. Unfortunately. I've heard that. What do you think? Do you think they just think they just rushed it, rushed it for another movie? I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 13:25

I mean, it's ever since Disney's been involved. They've been not quite all there. Okay. I guess Rogue One is the only one that really stood out as something that you needed to see that was really well done.

SPEAKER_00 13:40

All the rest of them have been a little hokey. Well, I mean, if you look back at the the original three, they some people think they're a little hokey. Oh, yeah. I don't, but uh, you know, I mean, times were different.

SPEAKER_01 13:54

It was the 70s, early 80s. I mean, Richard liked the first one, um, which I guess would have been episode four, which always was kind of weird. You know, this first movie comes out as episode four, and it's like, why does he call it episode four? Yeah, that was always a little odd. But episodes five and six, he didn't like and now, of course, I was just a kid, so I didn't really have a good understanding of what makes a good movie. I I thought five and six were thoroughly enjoyable at the time.

SPEAKER_00 14:22

Yeah. Now, here's something I'm gonna throw at you for a future episode. Oh, right. And yes, uh so my son and his fiancee, they actually came to visit this past weekend. Okay, and he said, Mom, I'm surprised that you and Cheryl haven't talked about the recurring Jesus theme in movies and books such as Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Harry Potter, all of that. Apparently, there is a theory. Well, certainly Tolkien was very uh Tolkien Christian. Yeah, he was Catholic.

SPEAKER_01 15:10

So there's that whole idea that everything he wrote about somehow was a oh he said it explicitly that it is all an allegory for these the Christian Christianity, basically.

SPEAKER_00 15:27

So apparently there are people that also believe that Harry Potter, Star Wars, other books.

SPEAKER_01 15:35

It's not hard to hard to see that whenever you have the idea that someone is coming to save whatever mankind, yeah, you know, bring us freedom and peace. That is a messiah type message, yes, yeah. And I mean you certainly see it in the movie like Dune. And you definitely saw it in The Matrix. A lot of Christians really like the first Matrix movie. This idea that you're living in this delusion that simulates right, somebody has to pull you out. Say, what do you want? Do you want to live in this fake make-believe world, or do you want to know the truth? Right. And you have to make that decision to know the truth, and that changes everything. I need to watch that movie again. Yeah, that would the original one. That would be a fun watch again, because yeah, I think I only saw it the one time.

SPEAKER_00 16:33

Yeah. So I didn't even see it originally when it first came out, I saw it many years later.

SPEAKER_01 16:39

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 16:40

Yeah, but but still would be interesting to watch it again.

SPEAKER_01 16:45

Yeah, I mean one could argue that the basic human desire for a savior, you know, was put there by God. And that is why that theme appears in popular culture. It's just humans, you know, putting into their creative processes what what we all deep down want is someone to save us. I know I do. Yeah. So all right. Well, I think that wraps up our updates, and we will be seeing you on our next full episode of Two Pins One Porch, where where we are going to be taking a deep dive into our childhood memories. You're not gonna want to miss that. Bye bye, bye bye.