On this week’s show:
(50:57) Break music: Nahte Renmus - “Exquisite”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MZP5tu4nSI
(1:43:51) Break music: No Fun Haus - “Seriously”
https://nofunhaus.bandcamp.com/album/afters
Thanks for listening!
Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/VermontCatchup
Follow Matt on twitter: @MatthewBorden4
Contact the show: 24theroadshow@gmail.com
IOutro Music by B-Complex
On this week’s show:
(50:57) Break music: Nahte Renmus - “Exquisite”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MZP5tu4nSI
(1:43:51) Break music: No Fun Haus - “Seriously”
https://nofunhaus.bandcamp.com/album/afters
Thanks for listening!
Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/VermontCatchup
Follow Matt on twitter: @MatthewBorden4
Contact the show: 24theroadshow@gmail.com
IOutro Music by B-Complex
Welcome to Vermont Ketchup with Matt. I'm Matt Glow. I'm Glow. And I'm Adam. We're a weekly run-down of everything happening in the Green Mountain State. Happy Guinness World Record Day. They're still doing those. Still doing it. I remember looking at those books. Okay, I was going to ask you that. You had those as a kid? Yeah, they used to have little paper bags. I would find them at the public beach. They had a public beach. Yeah, they had a book thing here, where people could go and buy books for a nickel or something. They used books. Yeah. But I always could find those. They were very interesting. I think there's two kinds of records. There's the feats and the freaks. Right. I was always more interested in the freaks. Like, I don't care how many times you get hit with a ping pong ball. I want to see the tallest man, the fattest man, the one with the longest nails. Yeah, yeah. That was much more interesting. Yeah. Glow, you ever interested in the Guinness World Records? No? No. Not a thing for you? Guinness World Records have been around since the 18, oh, when do you think it was invented? 1910. 1951. Really? Wow. I didn't realize it was that new. I didn't either. I thought it was, yeah. Wonder what the first record was. That's a good question. They must have it here. Let's see. It started when an argument was held between Sir Hugh Beaver and his fellow hunting mates in North Slab in County Wexford Island. What was the argument about? Which bird was the fastest game bird in Europe? And they were arguing over a Guinness. Yeah, and the fastest game bird is the plover, apparently, which is a bird I've never even heard of. No. Plover? No. No, it's probably Irish for Cardinal or something like that. Oh, that's a plova. That's not Irish, whatever. Yeah, so I thought I would be wrong a little bit longer. I also have a list of the 10 stupidest Guinness World Records. Okay. I'm going to go from 10 down. Most toilet seats broken by the head in one minute. Somebody smashing their head on toilet seats? Yes, smashing their head on toilet seats. Okay. That's a great record to have. I mean, I'm pretty sure that dude, I'm sure there's gotta be a dude who's bragging. Most snails on the face for 10 seconds. That's exactly what it sounds like. Like who comes up with that? Let's see if it has, it's a, oh, it was a kid for his 11th birthday. Oh, that's neat. As long as it's a kid. This kid's aiming for the stars. The loudest burp glow. I feel like, I mean. They never recorded her burp. Yeah. This one was 10, I'm sorry, 109.9 decibels. Holy, that's like an airliner. Is it? That's about the noise level, right? Yeah, I think about 50 is comfortable. Yeah. And 60 decibels gets to be a way too... Anyway, that's a high number. Right. Yeah. It says he can produce burps measuring 109.9, so it wasn't like a one-time thing. This guy's just walking around, just waking people up. Typing all numbers from 1 to 1 million in words. Took this person 16 years and 7 months. I mean, you go home from work and you're like, where am I? What number am I on now? Oh, 3,017. Here we go. So, most watermelons chopped on the stomach in one minute. So you have a watermelon on your stomach and someone chops it. Again, these are the stupidest, right? These are not the coolest. Longest distance pulled by a horse. I don't even understand this one. You must lie on your stomach and hold onto a rope tied to a horse. Oh, it's called the full body burn. I've seen it in cowboy movies. Yeah, this is like how they killed people. He traveled over 1,640 feet. Oh my god. He immediately followed that by setting another world record when he was hauled by an ATV for 1,909 feet while on fire. This guy's impressive. A bit of a daredevil. Farthest milk squirted from the eye. Let that one sit. Most rotations hanging from a power drill in one minute. Don't even understand this one. Strange's diet, which you want to know, and I mean, involves like glass and most Guinness World Records. He's got 550 of them. Holy crap. There's too many, right? Like when you get into snails on a face, it's like. It could be a world record for anything, I guess. I think so. But you got to get the Guinness people to be there to like record it. It's like a big thing. You can't just do it and have other, you can't like even like record it on video. It's like got to be official. Alright, moving on. Um, so some Vermont stuff. There's a lot of like Vermont in national news this week, like a lot of like Vermont as like the bad example of something that's happening in the nation. I don't know if like, reporters were just up here for something and they're like, Oh, you know what, let's look around. But we are apparently according to the New York Times, Vermont may be the face of long-term labor shortage. No one wants to work. Plus, we have an old. We're old. We're old. Yeah, we are maybe the, what are we, according to the national average? So if we look at people age 80 to 84, the US is at 2%. Vermont's at 2.2. But every category above, like, 50, Vermont is higher than the national average. and then lower than that we're obviously lower so we're on the wrong side of things except for oddly enough 20 to 24 year olds which I guess is the university yeah so there's that but yeah they're going through like a bunch of businesses and they're like uh Champlain Chocolates is their owners are having to like work in their own warehouse it's like yeah I'm sure they're not struggling they're fine yeah Cabot was a big deal in the story they're having trouble finding people to bring in people from out of state to do the cheese and stuff and it doesn't make any sense right we have all these like immigration laws and like everyone gets pissed off about immigration it's like you know what the answer is immigration gets immigrants it's always been the answer yeah like it was the answer you know whatever like a hundred years ago it's also the answer now right because like no one wants to have a kid it's too fucking expensive right child care for a month in Vermont is probably two grand easy if not more yeah I wonder what the I wonder what the percent of married couples, you know, 20 to 40 don't have kids compared to the rest of the country. That's pretty high. I bet you it is. And it's gonna sound asshole-ish, but I bet it's the wrong people having kids. Of course. And anyone listening, you're just feeling what wrong people means to you. Well, we see the way people take care of their dogs when they don't have kids. I mean, they're really pampered. That's true. You know, they take really good care of them. Yeah, we don't have a lot of kids in Vermont, but we got some really well-fed dogs. Yeah, and they, you know, they take them to the vet. They do, you know, whatever it needs, whatever they need to do to keep them alive for a while. It's just, you know, so you're saying bad for labor, good for dogs, right? All right. I like that spin. It's a nice positive spin. But yeah, it's obviously a nationwide problem. And even in Vermont, they're giving some examples of how like rural hospitals are like, like, hey, you, typing, you want to be a nurse? Like, OK, we could trade you. I mean, I think that's cool, but also maybe like a bit of a slap in the face to someone who has like a four-year nursing degree. I don't know. Well, they're not full-fledged RNs, are they? Are they LPNs, or what are they? I mean, it says nurses. They're phlebotomists, I guess they can do that. No, no, I think that's other stuff they're training to do. I think they have like 21 nurses graduate in like the last two years from this program they created. Alright, that's good. Maybe that's the way to do it. Just find people who are reliable and just be like, you know what? Yeah, you show up for work every day. Maybe you should try something different. We'll pay you more money. Let's hope. I think they are. And that's another issue. There's a lot of examples of high wages. They mentioned the bagel place. Bagel, $25. 25 bucks an hour starting. That's probably more than a lot of kids graduating from UVM are making their first year. You know what I mean? Yeah. Pretty good. Alright, moving on. Another big story, and they focused on UVM as an example, is the gender disparities between men and women. It's never been rougher to be a man. About time. We got it tough. About time someone started sticking up for us, Matt. Alright. Right. So they focus on a couple of different stats. And one is college entrance. And it used to be like 60, 40 men. Now it's the opposite. It's 60, 40 women. And trending quickly, like they say in a couple of years, it's probably going to be like 65, 35. Yeah, 62 in the class of 27. 62% are women. They call Burlington, girlington. You figured that would attract some men, right? Yeah, it's pretty wild how much it's changed. And they say like ever since Title IX in 1972. What's in Title IX? Title IX is when they, it was like a, I don't know the exact phrasing, but it's like essentially anti-gender discrimination laws in universities. A lot of it had to do with money going to sports, Yeah, because so much, you know, 90% of all money probably back then was spent on men's sports and not women's. Now it's, you know, they had to get rid of like baseball and things like that, some of them to make it more even. So that has a lot to do with it. And a lot of women in the story are like, yeah, like, once you even the playing field, we're gonna do better. Yeah, fucking deal with it. But some of the main people in the story are like, well, it's great that women are doing better, but you don't want a bunch of men who feel like they don't have a place in society and don't feel like they have any value. Because that's not good. Incels. Yes, you got a bunch of incels. You have a new crop of mass shooters. You got suiciders on the rise. It's kind of out of whack, you know? Yeah. Because it happened so fast. It wasn't like the slow evolution, it was pretty quick. Once it's like, we're gonna stop discriminating against women so much, it's like, pfft, it just shot up. Which- And continuing to shoot up. Yeah, I mean, well, I mean, it makes sense. Like, if you, like, and also in the story, like, they're saying, like, if you go to, like, a high school, whose two-thirds of the people with the highest grades are women. And they just, better at school, you know what I mean? Like, for lack of a better way to phrase it, are you gonna say something, Glu? No. Okay. Like, yeah, so I mean, it's just, they mature faster, develop faster, smarter. I mean, just, I mean, different abilities, right? And it just makes sense that they would do better in certain fields and generally. That's kind of what you said last week when you were talking about the girls doing those, like, patty cake kind of things. Yeah, yeah. And the boys would just stop eating dirt somewhere. Yeah, it's like, these complicated rhyme schemes and hand gestures. and some kids, and the boys are like, let's kick a ball. As far as we can. But yeah, I think this is interesting. And UVM has hired someone in like, they have a good men and masculinities program. And they just hired someone. And I mean, I think when you first hear that, you're like, you know, come on. But I think it's going to be increasingly more important. Probably. Like UVM wants men, for sure. Yeah, they have to. Like, I'm sure they have like their perfect recipe of like the class they want, like 50% men, 50% women, this percent, you know, minority, this percent. I'm sure they have it all worked out what their ideal is, and it certainly is not 62% women, I would guess. Not 65%, which may be in a few years. Well. Oh, yes. I mean, men are just like, I don't know if you know anyone, because like maybe like the age difference, or maybe you do. Like, I know some men in my life who are just like, they're kind of just like, out. They're kind of just like, They'll go to work, but other than that, they're just kind of like, I'm kind of done with the world. You know what I mean? Do you know anyone like that? Probably. Probably me. No, that's not true. You're out and about. Yeah, yeah. You gotta check it out. No, not yet. Not yet? Do you have a plan? No, not yet. Alright, anyway, it's interesting. If you see a man walking down the street who seems a little down, give him a little pep talk. But do it slowly, because he's probably a stupid ass. Moving on. Oh, Matt, you threw this on here, I believe. A large group of advocates will ask lawmakers in January to increase taxes for Vermont's highest wage earners. Gee, does that, I mean, yeah. What a revolutionary idea. Right, right. Adding a 3% surcharge for people earning $500,000 or more would raise $100 million annually just in Vermont. I wonder how many people that actually is. Right. Okay, so let's say you're making $550,000 a year. Right, because you're probably not making exactly $500,000. Say you're making $550,000. and I hit you with a 3% surcharge. Now you're only making 533,500. So, you know, I think it'll be fine. Yeah, I don't know. Buy a few less lattes. Are you against this? Are you for this? Oh, I'm definitely for it. Oh, yeah? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think this should be the norm. I think it should go back to where it was at one time. Pre-Reagan tax structure. When we paid, we could build schools, we could pay people, you know, we could do all those things. And then when, you know, when they cut the taxes for the rich several times in the last 30 years, we can't do that anymore. Yeah, I always get, like, shocked when you hear, like, people who are, like, in my income bracket or much lower, and they're, like, arguing against this. I was like, what the fuck? You're not going to strike a reach overnight. Like, what are you thinking? Like, you're not on the track to become a CEO, dude. Like, you're here forever. You know, think about where you are. It just blows my mind how some people just say, I don't know, man. I don't get that at all. I don't get it either. But it happens. Like, there's some people that are like, I don't know. It's not right. It's like, ah, yes, it is. There's lots of stuff that isn't right. Not like, you know, England in the 60s, where it was 90% taxes. or whatever it was for the rich. Oh, was it? Yeah, it was really high. Sometimes you throw around British history. I can't follow. George Harrison wrote a song about it. OK, here we go. Taxman. Now I realize you get your history from the Beatles. That's right. It makes sense. You're like, to quote the Walrus. But I think this is a good idea. I think it's going to be tough for any progressive, definitely, to vote against it. It'd be tough for any Democratic to vote against it. But they'll find a way. Does Scott have to approve this? Yes, they have the votes. I think they have the votes in the Senate and the House. I mean, because you look at the, in our next story, you'll see the numbers in Montpelier of senators, Republicans and Democrats, senators in the House. It's overwhelmingly progressives and Democrats. So they can bypass the he can't veto? They have a veto group? I think they have a, it depends. Depends on if you know the Democrats get behind it. Why stop at 3%? Let's go 5. Let's go 7. Let's get real crazy And some real money. Yeah. Yeah, come on. Let's let's fund child care One thing that also should be considered is some sort of a tax on these Airbnbs Like if you go to any other country you have to pay a VAT Just for being in the country It should be the same thing if you come to the state of Vermont you go to Airbnb extra 10 bucks. We'll take it Did I read a story this week that said that short-term rentals are going up again? Yeah, it's insane. There's more and more of them? We talk about it all the time. I saw I didn't put it on here because I'm like, what else do we have to say? Yeah, text those. All right, Matt, we're moving on. Yep. So the GOP is holding a thing this weekend, an event. and one of the speakers was involved with January 6th and nobody seems to want to distance themselves from except Governor Scott who's not going. Really? He says I'm too busy. He says every weekend I'm out doing, you know, looking at flood stuff but he said you know I'm not going. So he, because he's at odds. He could find the time. He's at odds with all these people. He could find the time. If he liked this person, he could find the time, but he's not like... I mean, there's more people like Grover Norquist, who's been around since Reagan. He's a big guy that wants to abolish the IRS. Or, you know, taxes in general. But this guy, Pressler, Scott Pressler. He was involved on January 6th, and he's going to be speaking at this event. Yeah, it's interesting that we say things like, he was involved in January 6th instead of, this guy tried to overthrow their government. It's like, we're so accustomed to it. It's like, yeah, remember that thing that happened? Remember how we were all like watching, like glued to our TVs, like mouth agape on like a Saturday afternoon while thousands of people like violently stormed the Capitol? Yeah, and then we're just kind of, ah. Now we just call it January 6th. It's like, okay. Yeah, Republicans in the State House, 150 seats in the House, only 38 are Republicans. That's interesting. And in the Senate, there's 30 seats and only 7 are Republicans. Yeah, those are both two-thirds majority. So if the Democrats are behind anything, they can get it by Scott. Yeah. So this whole, this thing is for them to pick the new leader? Yeah. Ah, man, you think they're gonna pick someone crazy, right? Yes, of course they are. The crazier, the better. Who's the person? Is it John Clark? That's the only Republican name that I know. John Clark. Is there a crazier person? Who's the guy with the compound in Town Hall? Bonnier? Yeah. Is it gonna be Bonnier? Pick Bonnier. Yeah. All right, finally. The Walk Bike Bridge. This is coming. They start construction at the end of 2024. There's a quote in here where this woman says, what does she say? I need to get this exact phrasing she uses. Construction of the bridge is gonna zip by and the project is on track to open in 2026. What? It's gonna zip by? See you in two years? We have different definitions of zip. Okay, look at this picture. Glow, do you see it too? Okay, why is it so far? Because that road in the distance is Williston, right? Like that road way back. That is. The overpass. So like it's way out there. Like that's not, you're not going to walk that, right? This is dropping you off at the mall, it looks like. And what's the other one that's coming in like this? What is that road? What is that like bike area or whatever? I don't know about that. Well, now there's a new exit too, it looks like. Is there? No, no, that's the same old stuff. Yeah, I don't know what this is. But it's so, I mean, maybe it's just the way that this concept is, but it looks really far. It looks like you're adding like half a mile to your trip. That's not anywhere near the overpass. No. Which I thought it was going to be. If you're on a bike, cool, pretty fast, safer for sure. If I was on a bike, I would definitely do this Because I can't imagine riding a bike down Wilson Road right there where people are doing that zipper merge. Oh, yeah, yeah, what a nightmare. But this just looks, I don't know, why is it so far? I don't understand, I guess they're saving the trees over there on the right side of this photo, which is nice. But I was telling Gloria the other day that I was coming back from the airport and they have it that that lane change that we all hate that that that thing right there yeah well they've got the inside the outside lane is now blocked off the right side yeah yes it's all blocked up but now instead of having two uh lanes that turn on Dorset they only have one and the they're sort of going straight, so that's an improvement. I agree, but it's also like, if you've been driving that road for years, now you're like, what the f**k? It throws you off, right? Oh yeah. Because I was driving, I was like, oh, let's see who's going to mess this up. My wife was like, no, actually, you have a green arrow. I'm like, oh, that's exactly what I was doing. I was getting ready to move over. I went, wait a minute, there's an arrow. Yeah, it's great. I'm sure there's been accidents. That's the crazy thing. I've never seen an accident there. It's almost like it's so dangerous everyone slows down and takes their time because they're like, what is this? It is one of those places where you're looking around. Yeah, it's nuts. But anyway, so this construction is gonna zip by. 14.5 million dollar project. That's it? Well, I'm always saying, you know, 14 million is nothing in construction these days. I'm saying we got to get in the concrete business, because Jesus Christ, like $14.5 million. Yeah, who's doing it? Did they say? Of course, they'll say. And they said this is also struck me design work is about 60% finished. What? Isn't that the part that should actually zip by? Like, you go, I mean, you have that ready? They've been talking about this for two years, right? Like, you don't have a design yet? I mean, maybe this is what they're maybe they look at this one. and they're like, oh, that's pretty far. But they said 60% finished, which is a really odd percentage. Usually people say, oh, it's about halfway finished, or it's almost finished, but 60%? Suspect. Why isn't it 100%? Good question. But yeah, it's gonna take two years. It's gonna zip by before you know it. That thing will be open. So the project's partially funded by 9.8 million Rebuilding American Infrastructure, so that's nice. but dang man that's a lot of money yeah I don't think it's too I don't think it's that much when it comes to construction project couldn't he just put like I guess they couldn't I'm just yeah like a rope bridge Yeah, can we get like an Indiana Jones rope bridge and just like, if you make it, you make it, if you don't, you don't. Somebody cuts the end. How bad do you want to go to the food court? Like you figure it out. Yeah, I don't know. It seems like, there's gotta be a better way. I mean, couldn't we just go over the existing, I don't know. I think what they're doing is getting the people away from that area. Because it's dangerous, you know, there's so much traffic going over that overpass and through the exits, the entrances and all that stuff. I think they're just moving everybody away. I mean, maybe it's not as far as it seems, but the visual seems far. Right. Like, we should open up a beverage stand halfway through. It looks like they're dropping you off right in the back parking lot of the university mall. Yeah, and like that's like and starting you at like the UVM like Gutterson, maybe? I don't know. Yeah, that's a interesting trip. All right. There's a quote here like I biked there once and I said never again. It's incredibly dangerous to bike down Williston Road. Like yeah, it's true. It's dangerous to drive down Williston Road. Yeah. Alright Matt, we've put this off long enough. The Abenaki. Yeah, they're having a tiff. The Abenakis of Quebec don't recognize the Abenakis of Vermont as true Abenakis. They say they might have some relation, but they're not the tribe. And according to this story, it seems like they brought the receipts. Right. Like they're backed up by historic evidence. Yes. And Vermont state leaders are like, um, yeah, we'll get back to you. Well, that's why they don't have any casinos. They've never been recognized by the federal government, let alone the state. Yeah, the Abenaki's in this country. They're recognized in Quebec, but they're not recognized in Vermont. I thought they were just a wholesome folk who didn't want to have casinos. No, they didn't want to have fishing licenses. You know, I heard about all my life, about our family being in Abadon. Well, you know, I mean, yeah, that's the American way. I mean, I know, like in Florida, half the kids I knew, well, I'm one quarter Seminole. It's like, no, you're not, idiot. Like, there's not that many Seminoles. Your family was redneck in Europe, you're redneck now. Yeah, so maybe our first clue was Chief Don Stevens. It used to be Homer St. Francis. We're not getting more indigenous, you know what I mean? Yeah, they just said, you're not who you say you are. Yeah, like big beef. You figure they would like... There's a lot of people who are like put down, like putting down each other. That happens a lot. And this is just kind of makes me think about that. I was also thinking about that with the previous story about the women. There's a lot of women who are anti-women. Maybe less than there used to be, but especially in the South, there's a lot of women who kind of want to be, I don't know what the right word is, subjugated. They want to be like, they want like, ah, just, I don't know. You should say this if Glo was looking at me. You're being a woman. But there's some women who are kind of anti-woman, does that make any sense, Chloe? Yeah, that's me. Oh, okay. You're anti-human. But I mean, anti-woman in a way, like, we should just stay home and take care of our kids. You don't think that. Right. They want to be regressive, kind of, in their viewpoint. Yeah. Like, women should take care of kids, men should work, that's the way it should be, that kind of thing. They want to be the kept woman. Yes, that's the way to put it. Kept, kept. Yeah. Sounds nice, but not so good. In reality, it only just makes them so bitter against other women when they see them in power. And then they, yeah. So it comes out in ugly ways. Yeah, of course, you've probably thought about this more than I have, so you nailed it. You nailed it in about five seconds, where it took about three minutes. Right, I sound like fucking Daffy Duck over here. But yeah, I think it's a similar thing with like these indigenous people. It's like, they see the Abenaki getting like these props or whatever. And they're like, actually, slow your roll. You're not who you say you are. Well, I think that we've always romanticized the natives that were here. That they were always peaceful, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, they were killing each other like crazy. Right. You know? Another tribe, yeah, we'll kill them. Yeah. It's like you're just not as fast as smallpox. That's why we got a bad rap, right? Yeah, this guy's Jacques Watso Kind of a fun name. Yeah, and he's wearing so Matt look at this guy's shirt. This is guy's first You just close it. So sorry. That's right. He's wearing an Odinak flying sturgeons now Do you think that is a Abenaki minor league baseball team? Doesn't sound like yeah or hockey team. Yeah, it's our team. Yeah, I I need an Odinak Flying Sturgeons t-shirt. All right, moving on. Glow, I think this is your friend? I don't know if you wanna- Yeah. Okay. I really don't want- Your acquaintance? I'm gonna take a break now. Yeah, I'm gonna take a break. You guys can- All right. Yeah, I know her and I definitely would back her up as well as I back up Karen, not Karen Paul. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I think I'm in the same boat. Yeah, so this is C.D. Madison. She's entering the mayoral race. I met her once briefly at like this kind of conference, and she seemed like a bright, engaging person. She doesn't give a lot of details of like her platform here, but of course she's not going to, right? It's the announcement, it's not like the nitty-gritty. It just muddles the water. Right. Muddies the water. But I think she's an interesting candidate. She's got the outsider angle. I think that works in some cases, so. She's very smart. Yeah, yeah. And so I'm sure is Karen Paul and Joan Channing. Yeah, I'd go for any of them. Me too. I like Joan Shannon because she got the progressive voice to pretty big campaign against her in her last election. And she won, you know, and she beat him pretty good, too. I mean, I think it's to their advantage that they're running against Moreau, who has run Burlington into the fucking ground. Right. Which is, you know, I mean, that's good. You can always compare yourself to that. But yeah, among those three, I'm kind of like, they're all good. Yeah, I'm fine. I'm fine with all of them. I'm just kind of interested to see like how they distinguish themselves. Once it actually gets into it, you know, once they start talking and policies come out, I am kind of curious, but yeah. So for those who don't know, C.D. Madison is a tech consultant, non-profit director. Again, I only met her briefly, we had a conversation over lunch just randomly, because we were just two people sitting at the same table. And she kind of struck me as a person who does a little bit of everything, which I think is also a good quality. So yeah, we'll see how it shakes out. Well, I like the fact that she worked in some sort of government deal. Where can I find this in the story? Some committee? Yeah, she was on some committee, and She realized very quickly that it was a bunch of bullshit and she quit. Oh, she was named to a commission to review policing policies. Yeah, I can imagine that's a... She says, I came in with a sense of hope and civic pride and it quickly became apparent that there was no real work to be done. So, it's a nice way to say, it's a bunch of bullshit. Yeah, let's form a committee that does nothing. I left that commission within the first few meetings because I would not be party to that. I like that. A lot of people just write it out just to put that line on your CV. So yeah, we'll see how she does. I don't know. I'm a little bit worried that the person who will emerge is going to be the person who's taking the hardest line stance on all the crime and stuff. I think in the moment people are going to like that, but I don't know. It takes a lot of nuance to deal with that. So we'll see who has it. Yeah, I think it's going to take somebody who can see both sides of everything. Not necessarily take one side, but see both sides and go from there. Yeah. More policing, but with a heart and common sense. Good luck! Hard to do. Alright, a couple of lighter stories. Fall foil is season. Stowe, way up. Yeah, that's why you gotta tax them. That's right. Especially in Stowe. That's where all the rich people live. Yeah, their numbers were pretty high. God, man. Stowe is like, it's hard to exist in Stowe. Have you ever been to Stowe during leaf peeping season? Like, accidentally? It's so frustrating, because you go on like a snail's pace, and you're just like, yeah, you come through the notch in the snow at a snail's pace. I went the other way. I was going to visit our buddy, and he invited me. He didn't warn me, because he wasn't thinking about it. I wasn't thinking about it. As soon as I got off the interstate, I'm like, oh, f**k. Here I am, just stuck in traffic. And it's not the worst thing in the world, but it's also like, there's no alternative. Like there's not like a secret side street that you can take that the locals don't know about it's like you take this street and go that way and eventually you can turn left or go straight and they're both packed right what do you say matt about oh i just look at the numbers uh and it's 2018 the occupancy rate was 76 19 was 82 uh 2021 following the hiatus of COVID, it went back up to 85% in 22, and now it's over 90, I believe. God dang, I think 91. And is that just hotels or is that Airbnb as well? No, it's 86, it's 86, I think, yeah, it's hotel occupancy, right? Well, that's probably just hotel. And I was, do you know how much hotels are? I haven't been to a hotel locally ever, really. Like, people tell me the Hilton down the street or whatever is like 300 bucks a night. Oh yeah. That's crazy. We pay at least close to that every time we go to Massachusetts. 200 something. Yeah, all the time. And y'all are staying at probably pretty reasonable places, right? Yeah, we're not at any Ritz, Carlton, whatever. Yeah, you don't have like a chocolate mousse delivered to the room after hours or whatever? It was at one place in Boston we stayed, by the embassy. It was pretty nice. Yeah, that was actually very nice. It's called, I think, the Park Hotel. Yeah, Park Place Hotel. Park Place. It's an old hotel building that they renovated and kept it. I think we got a good deal on that. We didn't pay top dollar. But it was so near the embassy that. The Portuguese embassy. Is that in Newton? No, that's right downtown Boston. No, in Newton, there's like one hotel. The Korean Embassy is in Newton. I didn't know if they were all in the same area. There's one hotel, and I went to Booker Room, because we were down there last month. It was so expensive. It had never been that expensive. It's not that great a hotel, either. It's not a top-notch hotel, but there's only one hotel there. So we had to go a couple exits up, which was fine. So why is it so much more expensive? Just because they realize people will pay it? So you might as well jack it up? I think especially downtown, I think they know what people will pay. That's crazy. There's a lot more than there used to be. Because there used to be only two hotels downtown. So you were paying a really top dollar. But now there's like four or five, five probably. There are? Yeah. Well, downtown. Yeah. It used to be the Hilton. I was talking about downtown here or Boston. Burlington. I'm talking about Burlington. All right. Yeah. We have the one right there on the Hilton Garden, which is on Main Street. Okay. You know better. Yeah. And then you got the one downtown that's changed their name a few times. It used to be the, I think it was a Hilton at one time. I don't even know what it is now. And then they got the one next door that was built right there in a corner on, what do you call it? It was a really expensive one that was built in the parking garage pretty much. Yeah, that's the one. There's two of them right there. And one that's very, very expensive. I can't remember their names anymore. The Hotel Vermont? The Hotel Vermont. I think it is Hotel Vermont. It's very nice. I never stayed there overnight, but I've been to their bar. Bar and restaurant. And the outside seating as well. And they allow dogs up to a certain point, so you can have your beer and have your dog inside. Yeah, I went to a wedding there on the 4th of July. Did you like it? The place itself? Yeah, the place itself was fine. I like the outside area. Like, once the wedding was over, they had the reception kind of spill out into there. And they had Lawson's on tap. And I was like, all right, OK, we're good. I mean, it's got good beer. I can't ever say that word again correctly. Yeah, it's not bad. Just weird how when they built it, I couldn't believe they could build a hotel on there. Remember? Yeah, it was. It was just I didn't realize it was going else. Wait a minute. Yeah, they basically built it into the parking garage, which works. I can never see it Because it used to be just this, okay, barren land back from the 60s when they tore down Little Italy. And they've left it that way all up until then. And it was barren looking, but you know, it's just this little tiny slip. Somehow they built them a hotel. I'd love to just go and see what the rooms look like, because where exactly are they? I don't know. Are they like in the garage itself? I don't get it. I mean, it's so weird. I knew a guy from Florida that stayed there. He said it was really nice. I'm sure it is. It's such a special skill, though, Glo, to like, I don't have it, but to be walking by that burned down little Ili, or whatever it was, and just be like, I see money here. I see potential. I could build it like this and do like, you know, that sort of seeing the world that way. Yeah, some people got it. Yeah, the person who came up with the realization they could build a hotel on that parking garage, right there, it's incredible. I can fit one room in each space, it'll be perfect. So apparently the occupancy of Airbnbs in the same time was just 67%, but I think that number is kind of tricky because... Who's going to report it? Yes, because you're not paying taxes, you're doing this under the table, you're not going to report it. Those numbers are smudged. And also, maybe you don't want people that weekend, maybe you have friends coming, you know what I mean? It's not always on the market, right? So it's hard to measure that. Alright, last story before the break. You can get a permit to go to the Green Mountain National Forest and get yourself a Christmas tree. It costs you $5 in person, $7.50 online, which is weird. That's very odd. It should be the opposite, but okay. Oh, because they probably have to pay a bank transaction fee. That's what the $2.50 is probably tacked on for. You're probably right. That's okay. Sorry. One of us does it every show, and we'll just deal with it. It's usually me. No, sometimes it's me. I think it was me last week. Yeah, so has anyone ever done that? Have you ever walked into the woods and chopped down your own tree? Yeah. Yeah? My backyard. Yeah? Middlesex. The ones that were already dying. Half of them were dead. And I cut it down, drag it in. It looked like a Charlie Brown type Christmas tree and that was fine. Yeah? That was good. That's all. Because eventually I was going to clear them out anyway. You know, because they're not doing well. Just going to fall on the house. How big was this effing tree? I thought you were talking about a little Charlie Brown Christmas tree. Yeah, I thought you were talking about a 5 footer, not a 30 foot house. Like, what did you chop down? Like, well, I just went out and got my chainsaw. Yeah, no, they weren't that big. Yeah, I don't think I'll ever do that. I don't know. Like, just how many whacks does it take, Lou? Oh, it takes a lot of whacks. Yeah. A lot more than you think. Yeah. That's what I think. These are soft wooded trees anyway, so they make it a little easier. Nothing like the ones we have here in the backyard, the hardwoods. These are softwoods, but nonetheless, it's still going to take you. And then I feel like if I'm doing it, probably my wife is watching me, and that's more pressure. I don't know. You've got to put on the macho act or something, like you're going to just take down this tree? I think mostly not hurt myself is the goal. Rip it right out of the ground. Yeah, there you go. Just take a shovel with you. A chainsaw maybe? A chainsaw is permitted out there, do you think? Or do you think they don't want that because of the... That's a good question. Are they allowing you to cut down your own tree? What if you bring like a 50-foot chainsaw with you? Is there such a thing? Probably not 50, but maybe like 10? There are some pretty big chainsaws. And are these like... where are these trees? I mean, did they have just the section they're letting people do it or is it the whole Green Mountain National Forest? Then you've got people cutting down 50 foot trees. Can I walk in, drop 10 G's with a big crew and say, I'm taking them all? Like, you know, you could. Are they going to put ribbons on the ones they shouldn't cut? I don't know. Because maybe what they're trying to do is just, you know, clear it out a little bit to help the other trees grow. I don't know. None of this is in the story. I know, we have a lot of questions, WCAX. This is the shortest, oh my gosh, it's three sentences. Yeah, well, oh, here, there's a map that shows the harvest area. There's a link at the bottom of the, oh, you gotta download it. I'm not doing that. It's not a visual medium, I'm not gonna download some map. I'm just gonna assume it's the entire forest and you can cut down whatever you want. But I do wonder what the, like, I guess there's a road, so there must be someone there who can stop you and make sure you know what you're doing. If you walk out, you just don't have anything. Like, I'm here for a tree. Yeah, where do you park? I don't know. I'm sure they got it all worked out, right? No. I feel like this is like a... I don't know. Now I'm going against what I just said earlier. I feel like as a remonster, you have to go do this at least once in your life. Cut down your own tree. Yeah, it's like deer hunting in some ways. Yeah, it's like, you know, to be a real Ramonter, you gotta not only cut down your own tree, but kill a deer as well. And then leave all the guts on the side of the road. Y'all are talking about a very specific story. Like, did this happen? Oh, yeah. There's people who just, they hunt year-round when they're not supposed to. And yeah, they just leave all the crap right. I mean, I shouldn't say sorry. They leave the hooves and and things that they don't want. And they just leave it there on the side of the road. Why the side of the road? Because it's too heavy to carry, I guess. I don't know. I mean, because and they leave the beer bottles as well. So it's not like they're worried about littering. Or my dog finding it. I forget these people have like a, what do they call them? They call it something house, where like you hang the kill. Is it called a dry house? Not a dry house. I forget what it's called. Something house, right? Am I making that up? Oh, what is that called? Slaughterhouse? No, it's not a slaughter. It's something that sounds like innocuous, but then you're like, oh, that's actually where they, they bleed out what they killed. I'm gonna pick that up real quick. So I actually looked at the southern map of where the trees are. So this is, they're all over. I mean, it's the open to Christmas tree harvest and close to Christmas, there's two different colors. Half of it looks like it's open, the southern half of the Green Mountain National Forest. That's crazy. That's nuts. Are they out of their, I mean, is there gonna be a limit, like, you know, number 200 that's it we're done it should be the first 200 and then after that well don't you think I think so but oh my gosh it's like unleashing a bunch of animals into it is the US Forest Service okay yes but I would hope that the people who are working there have a love like a deep love of like the Right. You know what I mean? I hope that's the case. I think they do. I would think so, because it's probably not a very well-paying job, so you have to be there for another reason. And you have to deal with the fucking government. And people. And the public. You get it from both angles. You're probably just like, I'm just going to walk into the woods and deal with that. Alright, are you all ready for a break? Yep. Alright, we've got some rap music from Natte Renmes. The song is Exquisite. Buzz on telly, static select I am the doctor, I'm the dissected director Ain't nobody steppin' in my sector Murder you and kill the man who sent ya You betcha, I gotcha Rappers like TV, haha Mix ya like green tea matcha Sleep like a deep sea monster Got a bottom feeder Eat ya like a lobster You never even seen me You is an imposter Chicken or the egg Either way, somebody crossed ya You is on the road Figurin' this shit out Ain't nowhere to go Think I'm gonna get out the one-way ticket Spit hot fire on a spigot You don't wanna get a pop tower and a visit, exquisite Tick tick of the drums, I kick it When it's all broken, I'ma break the beat Quit being soft-spoken and say the least I've got myself as a major hit Be the top 5 better in a major week When it's broken, I'ma break the beat Quit being soft-spoken and say the least I've got myself as a major hit Be the top 5 better in a major week Trust my belly and my heart, never mind my brain I'm going to try my hand for the enemy of dark and it didn't see coming never even heard of bark Blowing down bricks, body count for about six, million alive to the fifth Only has survived in a billion abyss, the limit of the city isn't even in the midst Choppy in the pits, pick it up drop it now blitz, took an old problem with fit Poppy in the lip like a popular Hollywooda flip, stupid ass rappers got tripped Hope it don't slip, if it ain't broke go fix it, wires all over in the brits I was in the pits, never say no, don't risk it Tick tick of the drums, I kick it And when it's all broken, I'ma break the beat Quit being soft-smoking and say release I don't cop myself, it's a major heat Be the top 5 veteran that made you weak When it's broken, I'ma break the beat Quit being soft-smoking and say release I don't cop myself, it's a major heat Be the top 5 veteran that made you weak We're back. I think we've been back. All right. So, Glow, you will appreciate this. So Vermont, and I would assume America and the world, has a mental health issue with students, K through 12 students. So Vermont schools are starting to bring students outside more and more. And they think that's what's going to help with the mental health? They think yeah, I mean, I don't think that they're thinking like this will solve the entire problem But I think they're like, you know what kids can't concentrate kids are fucking up in school. Let's take them outside Let's let them use their imagination in a way. That's not possible in these four walls and a roof Yeah, they're doing activities with them. It's not like they're just taking them outside. Let them run around. They have a duck They have certain criteria that they're doing. Oh, they put their minds. They're using their minds while they're outside You know not a sitting in a classroom Sounds good? Sounds normal? Yeah, it is normal. It sounds like an old-fashioned solution to a modern problem. So one thing they're doing in Moortown, they're having kids go out in the woods and they create their own community. And this kid's a banker, this kid's a veterinarian, this kid's a whatever. They kind of interact with each other using those things, and it's a way for them to kind of learn some skills that are beyond like long like dealing with money and things like that crap you know stuff like that and they also have them like build wooden forts from fallen trees and limbs and stuff so I love that yeah it's a great story it seems like a legit use of class time but as I look at the story I scrolled all the way down to this picture I think it's like the last picture and I see a worksheet And I'm like, damn it, you teachers can't let go of your worksheets. You still need to have a worksheet. Like, it's like, so, you know, maybe they're using them in different ways, but it's just like, you know, just let this be an out, let this be like a spoken task. It doesn't all have to be documented. Yeah, it doesn't have to be documented, like, but probably that's what they're forced to do. I'm sure teachers probably are thinking the same thing. Oh, I'm sure the powers to be you're right. You're right. I would hate to have to record every well, I used to have to record every five minutes of my being, but as an inspector. Yeah, but try doing it with 30 little souls. Yeah, right. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah, you're right. That's a good point. They probably do have to check off different standards for their lessons, which. God, what a nightmare. Like, how do you you can't really judge that. We just talked about like, you know, Maybe some autistic people like Doug Knapp or you know people like that they're Allegedly Well he does have some issues Did you say autistic? I don't know he's got something You know autistic people like Doug Knapp like who's clearly autistic Allegedly No so what I'm saying is like yeah they got like they have to check all this stuff off and Yeah to your point it's impossible right like To fit every lesson, everything into these standards, sometimes there's value in just fucking around and figuring things out and exploring. It doesn't fit a standard. Putting tadpoles in jars or something like that. It just doesn't make any sense. The three or four things that you actually remember from that age. That's the stuff that you're going to take forever. I think this is a great way of looking at things differently, which I think schools need to do. I mean, because you have so many autistic children. Are they getting what they need? You know, we had them when we were kids, we just didn't know it, you know? It could have been us, actually. Could have, yeah. For all we know. Wait, all three of us are in the Doug Knapp category? But anyways, I mean, they, you know, how bad have they had it over the years? But this, I don't know, would this be something good for them? I don't know, but I also don't know. I don't, it's just, if they put everything, everybody in the same corner and it doesn't you know no wonder what no wonder our education system is failing compared to European countries and Asian countries. Well those are two very different approaches. Yeah. Like I don't know if I ever said this before on the podcast maybe I have and some is like a broken record but new listeners every week but um I still like have to go like observe teachers and this one guy, I won't say his name though, he gets props in, what's the middle school next to South Burlington High? Is that Tuttle? Is that Brown? I don't know. Tuttle, I think. Anyone who's interested knows. I went to a bunch of schools. And he had this class where if you just walked in, it was absolute chaos. Kids were doing all this stuff. They're talking to each other. They're drawing. They're painting. They're doing whatever. And so I talked to him. I'm like, hey, man. like what's the, because he had a student teacher, that was my role, I'm just like what's, what's the approach here? And you know he explained he's like well I, he's like well just wait you know just chill out just like watch what happens and then like so I was like 20 minutes he called them all back and like ask some questions they're all on top of it like they all knew what was happening they all had like interesting things to say they're all working through like this book that they were reading it's just like you know his approach was I They created a culture that has a few rules, they all buy in, but they have total creativity to do whatever they want. It was so fantastic. Oh my gosh, can we have this guy go around training others, or blood infusions? This guy should seriously be propped up, but I think he wants to fly under the radar, because he probably doesn't want people to know that he's... That's his method. Because it doesn't follow. You can't check that one off. Right. It's too bad. I knew a guy back in the 90s. I think I told you, he almost got fired. He was a teacher in the Northeast Kingdom somewhere. And he almost got fired for teaching the kids meditation. What's that gay Eastern bullshit? But did they still have to say the Pledge of Allegiance every day? That's Republican meditation. Yeah, right? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Is there some god in there that- They were a lot better off meditating than doing that. Yeah. So anyways, that's just- but that was 30 years ago. You know, I don't know. I mean, I hope a lot's changed since 30, 40, even 50 years ago. Let's talk about what's changed since 15 years ago Because things are changing so fast It really is, I mean, I've given up I really have I support that Thanks You're not learning anything new No, I'm not I don't give a shit I've been forced to have this brand new smartphone I don't do anything to it, I don't care I have not set it up The other one lasted me a good 12 years, Matt And it was still whatever 4G, whatever was required 5G. But because of some other bullshit Verizon came up with, I ended up having to buy. Not a sponsor. Never will be. Yeah, right. I bought a new phone and then within just a short time, remember? I got a swap. What's a good word to have? I'm walking into Costco. Swap-in? No, I don't know. Well, okay, you know this. You walk into Costco, and soon on your right is... All those beautiful TVs. No. They do have all those beautiful TVs. Just keep walking a little bit more, and you get either to the Verizon or now the AT&T guy. Okay, yeah. And this very charming man came out, and he... It's like, hey. Yeah, he did. I went into a different aisle, and I talked to Matt over. Yeah, I get this call. We're changing phones. Oh, he risked you up. He did. And I'm not so sure it was. If we're still paying the same, if not more. Maybe he was a vampire. But we're paying for the phones because we didn't actually pay for them, did we? Right. Supposedly. I can't keep track of this because it always like three months later, you'll see this in your account. They're hoping that I've totally forgot, and I did. I totally forgot about this 300, and I still have to keep reminding them about this 300 blah blah, whatever, you know? I don't like it. You can't trust these pig fuckers. So, now I go to Costco, it's like, don't talk to me. I don't want to know. It's like, leave me alone. Yeah, totally. Like, some woman offered me queso on a chip, I'm like, what's the catch here, woman? I don't trust it. I don't trust queso on a chip. Although it was delicious. All right, moving on, Bradford Arm Wrestling. Men bonding with men over their desire to grapple another man's hand and push it down onto a table. I celebrate this. It's interesting, one of the two guys they're talked to. One of them is my cousin's son. Yeah. All right. Andrew LaFerre. Is he a- My son. Is he a nice guy? Oh, what's he doing in Brandon? Well, he tried to get it going in St. John's Parry, but nobody wanted to do it But he found these guys down in Bradford that wanted to do it Like St. James is a bunch of pussies It's Bradford, not Brandon Oh, I'm sorry, it's Bradford Which is where that country store is, that farm way or whatever that we went to I knew the owner of the... Oh, yeah, yeah Yeah, that really cool store Uh-huh Yeah, but yeah, it's my cousin's son You know, we talk about like men not having community this is community and I think this is actually healthy like in this story they talk about like we don't we don't like there's not trash-talking there's no ego no we just do it we talk about like the different defenses and the arm twists and the wrist technique that you can use like you coming up you come up with a plan I know you're gonna do this these guys are nerds like I appreciate like they're just nerds with big muscles which is great yeah he's a pretty big Oh is he? My cousin is 5 foot tall, maybe. He's a really nice young man. I don't want to call him a kid. Was he in his 20's or something? I guess he's upper 20's. That's a full grown man. That's just a dude. I knew him when he was a kid. I haven't seen him, but that's cool. It isn't like you go to a gym where everybody is screaming and making noises. They just have fun. I feel like arm wrestling is like the perfect test of like, it's like the perfect mano a mano thing. You know, it's like, if you square up with someone and start punching, it's like someone could get really hurt. But it's like, you know what, let's settle this with a good old fashioned arm wrestling. It's like, let's just show who's more dominant physically and just do that. If that's what your goal is, right? Obviously, I don't think that's the way you should solve world problems, But if you have a beef with someone just like let's arm-wrestle. Yeah, because when it's done, it's clearly you know who won It's clear. It's not always the strongest guy. Nope well, it should be it should be or the but it could be technique well and When it's done, it's clear. It's like alright like we You've probably never been beaten arm-wrestling. I have many times surprise and we do you're like by his wife. Yeah by his wife Yes, many children have dominated me, but when you're beat, you kind of feel like, okay, that's the end of this, you know, like, moving on, you know? So I think it's a good resolution. I think most things should happen like that. Bernie Sanders had to calm down two dudes in the Senate. An arm-wrestle would have been a fair resolution. Sit down, you're a U.S. Senator. Are you serious, Bernie? This Republican senator tried to start a fight with him. Well, hold on. This Teamster guy. So the president, one of the Teamsters, like UAW, was talking mad ass about this senator on Twitter. Right. And the senator, so they have a hearing with this guy, and the senator has his time to talk. He's like, well, I know you've been telling me this, this, and this, and so you said you're ready to go anytime right now. Well, how about right now? Stand your butt up, and well, let's go. Let's fight in the US Senate. Like the old William Clay days, when they used to cane people. And the teacher's like, let's go, you stand in your room, you stand in your room. And then Bernie's right next to this guy, he's like banging his gavel, he's like, Order! Order! You're a US Senator! Sit down! You're a US Senator! He's reminding this guy like, you're not a fucking plumber anymore, you're a US Senator, chill out. You don't have the Brooklyn accent. I don't, I have a terrible voice. Yeah, it was funny. It was hilarious. Sit down, you're a US Senator! Yeah, that's so funny. That's very funny. Have we gotten so, what is going on with us? We used to have such diplomacy. No, I mean, that stuff used to take place in the Senate back in 1800s. We hit peak diplomacy in like, what? Kennedy with the little pink pillbox. Eisenhower. 55, maybe? 55, middle of Eisenhower. Right after his first term. But we all just didn't talk about it. Like, things were not cool for a lot of people, but we just didn't talk about it. Oh, yeah, yeah. So I brushed under the rug. We have a good friend who is a great arm wrestler. Yes. Down in Florida. He's a very large man. Well, okay. There and down, man. The fact that he's, you know, 200 pounds over me. Is that what you mean? Mike. Mike. Giltner? Yeah. You're kidding. Next time you see him, look at his wrists Well, the man's massive, okay? I mean, the man is like... It doesn't hurt to be massive But his wrists... Yeah He's also a fisherman Yeah, he's a fisherman Yeah, but his wrists are just huge They're like my legs He was born this way He's got... Yeah, I mean, probably I think it's all... This guy really released the devil, if you ever listened to him. Please don't. Moving on. Matt, we're losing our fluorescent light bulbs. That's a word I can't say after a glass and a half of whiskey. We're losing our fluorescent light bulbs in Vermont. What do you mean? We all have to give them in? They're gonna be sold. They will no longer be sold in Vermont. Everybody has to turn in their lightbulbs. The lightbulb bullies. The trucks come around, you throw them in, they give you a tootsie roll, you're on your way. Oh wait, wait. Okay, so the fluorescent, is that the old-fashioned ones that took up a lot of energy? So then the incandescent ones are the ones that came next, and now it's... Not LEDs. What else? There's something else. I feel like based on your questions, you know more than we do I had no idea what they were talking about Is that the T100? I don't know Tell me, you're asking the question, you know Being off the grid where I lived, yeah I know a lot, a lot, a lot a lot She's like I know a lot I know some about light bulbs I know a lot. I was going to say a lot. I settled on some. You know some. Don't say some. So is that what we have downstairs in the basement? Fluorescent? Oh, the old fashioned one. I mean, that one is. I hate to tell you right over there that I'm about to replace because I know it's increasing our electricity. But, um, downstairs, yeah, a lot of our stuff. Oh, not the tubes. That's what I'm thinking. Gosh, I can't think of the word. There's fluorescent, there's incandescent. I'm pretty sure that's like Thomas Edison type stuff. Okay, that's the stuff we had for decades and decades. It's still working, a hundred years. And yeah, I mean, they burn out, but they use up a lot of wattage. Didn't Thomas Edison pull like the fucking wool over our eyes? Like, we should be like a Tesla country. We talked about that last week. Did we? Okay, okay. I was like, when I hear that. Okay, it was last week. Never mind. Moving on. No facts there, so I might as well just... 2022 law banned the sale of four-foot linear fluorescent bulbs. Floor? Four-foot? That's what I'm talking about. That's what we have in the basement. It is what we have. Fluorescent? So what are they supposed to be replaced by? I don't know, a couple of Boy Scouts on a flashlight? It probably would be better than that. LED, LED. That's the word. That's it. L.E.D. L.E.D. L.E.D. L.E.D. You don't like our chant, Matt? You gonna join in? I can't. Um, yeah, so... If you have fluorescent bulb that you're concerned about, like... The government's gonna come kick down your door and demand it. By the way, do you know that you're not supposed to just throw them in the trash when they burn out? Or not burn out? I throw them in the river. Is that not the way it goes with them? Yeah, you're supposed to bring them to a place. I bring them to Lowe's. I bring them to a place. My place is the river. I left one at Lowe's. I don't know why I had it. I took it to Lowe's. I said, you guys take light bulbs? They go, yeah, right over there in the corner. That's the first time I sent them on the errand of a light bulb. Did you feel confident that they were going to dispose of it? Or were you like, over here, like, yeah, yeah, yeah, over there, over there, over there, over there, over there, over there, over there, somewhere, doing it? You know, you got to be really careful with those really long tubes. They explode when they burn. I know. Like, back in my day, not me, but some people I knew, they did backyard wrestling. And there's nothing gets a bigger pop than smacking someone over the back with one of those light bulbs. Because, like, they shatter immediately, but they don't really hurt. I mean, I've never been hit by one, so maybe they hurt a lot, but they were just like, ah, it was like a really good visual Oh, yeah, yeah Yeah I guess you could find a good use for just about everything Yeah, I also had a children's pool full of a thousand thumbtacks What? Yeah Wait, say this again A children's pool, like a baby pool, a kiddie pool Uh-huh Full of a thousand thumbtacks, probably wasn't really a thousand, it was probably like 300 And what purpose? They had a ladder over it and they were fighting on the ladder and whoever fell, fell into the thumbtacks. Where was this? Someone's backyard. You growing up? Yeah, well, I mean, you know, you're not growing up. Probably, I was probably 18. And so this is in Florida? Yeah, of course it is. And this is what people do? I mean, it's not what, it wasn't like a common thing, but there's probably 50 people there. Are you serious? Yeah. I'm on the wrong planet, I'm telling you. If I say outside, there's going to be two guys fighting on a ladder over a baby kiddie pool with a thousand dump tags, you're not going to walk out and check it out? I'm going to tear the stupid pool out from under them, I'm going to stop them from like, I'm going to... Very anti-backyard wrestling. Anti-fun. Okay guys, you're done. I'm taking over now. No, but it's okay. They're not being forced to do it. They want to do it. I know they do. They're from Florida. But it's okay. Okay. I mean, I'm sorry. I just don't get the mentality. I just don't I don't either. But I understand it. I because I grew up with people like that. The butcher versus Dick Danger was a great match. Who? The butcher versus Dick Danger. It was a great match. The Butcher versus Dick Danger? Are these comics? They're the wrestling personas. Really? Yeah. Are these people like famous on TV? No, they're backyard wrestlers. Oh, you're talking about your friends, that's what their names were? Yeah, back then they was. Now one guy's working in IT and I don't know what the Butcher's doing. He's a butcher. He was a butcher at the time. Anyway, moving on, Glo, let's not get caught up in like old shit. But it makes no sense because it continues. So Woodstock is trying to save their... What is this thing called? Their star? The Woodstock beacon. I don't know. It is a star. I've never heard of this thing before. Has anyone heard of this? No. I may have to look, because probably I have. There's a big star that lights up. Apparently people in Woodstock are very fond of it. The Rotary Club is trying to raise 120 grand to replace it. Because it's falling apart. But it lights up. It was for the returning soldiers. World War II soldiers. Yeah. And Korea. One of the people I talked to was in Korea. I think that's a fake memory, by the way. That's my hot take. I don't think he really remembers that. I think that's a story he tells himself. Which I guess is the same as a memory, ultimately. But I think sometimes you create these things in your mind and that's not a real memory. Could be. Hey, it's possible. He was probably hammering down the beers on the train. Well, yeah, I mean, I think it's like, you know, a lot of times you have a memory and you're like, Oh, yeah, but like your memory is like third, like, like, third person looking down. It's not a memory. That's an imagination. Anyway, I'm not trying to get deep into that. So yeah, they're trying to raise 120 grand. They have 78 grand so far. I would say that's enough. Like, they're trying to like, like get some steel, some concrete and some lights. 78 grand. Give me a fucking break. It's concrete, are we, Matt, the concrete business, do you want to go in the concrete business? I don't know what it takes, but I feel like it's not that complicated. You wouldn't think so. Just pour it down. Pour it down? Pay me some money. Yeah. I poured you concrete, now pay me some money. Yeah, it does seem, I thought I was a little high, but in this day and age, you know. I guess they had a gala, now that the gala is over. Yeah, has anyone ever been to a gala? I don't think so. No. Me neither. What the fuck is wrong with us? I don't know. We're non-gala people. Well, maybe the prom is about the closest to that. Oh, no. Or wedding. Uh, no, not the same. Never mind. No, a gala is like... Yeah, yeah, I know. You wear a tiara and, you know, you can go out. What's a gala? You may go out to a gala. Are you a queen? Clearly, you've never been to a gala. You don't wear a tiara to a gala. You're not, like, you're not being coordinated. Yeah, look at us, a bunch of non-Gala folks. So yeah, so they said that now, since the Gala is over, you can sponsor one of the 100 light bulbs. And have your name put on it? It better not be whatever that bulb is, though. These are LED. Oh, okay, yeah. What's your last name? LED. LED. Oh, it's like, yeah, you see that? See bulb 123? That's me. There's my name on it right there. The whole thing's ruined. Actually, that's the way it used to be. Remember with Christmas lights? I hated these fuckers. One goes out, they all go out. They all do. Madness. Madness ensued. What a bad time. Which one was it? You had to unscrew every one of them. Put in another one. That's it. We suffered a lot in our younger years. Things were hard back then. It really was. It was tough. My parents are not... I'm glad they're dead to hear this. They're like, you think that's hard? Would everyone like to go around and say the names of people that they're glad are dead? Oh, did I say that? Oh, I'm sorry. Anybody besides your parents? Matt, who are you gladdest to? My parents are dead. For me it's Hitler. Matt, how about you? Who are you gladdest to? What family member is this? I have... No, I have people that I'm close to that I'm glad are dead. I just won't say their names. Because I'm not the only one. Moving on. Matt, you have a rival. I see this Shelburne father-daughter duo creates crossword puzzles worthy of the New York Times They they the New York Times bought one of their puzzles. What do you mean? Hey, I don't know Hey, let's work on that Matt. You want to do you want to make one? I you know, I used to make these for the middle Middle Sex Occasional! Oh! The Middle Sex Occasional! Gloria's former newspaper Pulitzer Prize winning not She maybe had an Asian slave Google it and you'll find nothing or maybe I've never Googled it But yeah, the Middle Sex Occasional Anyone who's just now tuning in Gloria used to run a newspaper called the Middle Sex Occasional which is a perfect name She did it completely alone, except for a young Asian slave. No, no, no. Asian? In middle six? There was none. Oh, except for the adopted Chinese girl from orphanages. Yeah, there was one. What was your slave's name? I can't remember. But she was like Oriental. But she was like 12 or something? Was it Ting Ting? I don't know. Anyway, Chloe bought it, and she ran it, and she forgot. I forgot. I totally buried it in the back of my mind. If you think about it, it's so... I can't think of the word. Gloria and news. Yeah, it was anathema, did I say it right? I have no idea what that word is. You're close. It's so opposite of what you would expect Gloria to do, because she has no interest in what's happening in the world. Anything past five feet out my driveway. Also no interest in like, telling other people what's happening in the world. Which is really the two basic tenets of being a newspaper. But anyway, so you created your own crossword puzzles. Yeah. Did you get any feedback on them? I don't think so, no, never. Were they just like one? No, no, no, I'm just trying to make it a little. One down, two across. All separate. Like a word jumble or something? You know, think about it. If you have the combination, it's going to be easy to get into a safe, correct? All right. Well, Now we're back to heisting. Yeah, that's right. That's still on my list. But, you know what I mean? So if you know already the answers, believe me, it's a lot easier to do a crossword puzzle. Okay. Okay. Yeah. That's just so brilliant. Okay. That might be the smartest thing you've ever said. I think here's why we should give some props to this father-son duo. I'm sorry, father. Look at me, assuming it's a son. Father-daughter duo. Let me call out their names. It is Grace Warrington and her father, Greg? So I think what's difficult is the New York Times just doesn't take any kind of mishmash of clues like they want a theme. They want the clues to be like worded exactly right so that they're like challenging but understandable for people who are really familiar with crosswords you know. You know how you find out that the English language is got to be the most complicated language in the world. The reason is because from doing these crossword puzzles, I've discovered there are so many meanings to the same thing. Yeah, we go through that. Yeah. Does this mean this? I mean, it's amazing. It's worded. Our language is like, unbelievable. But that's the fun, right? We only do the Sunday. Which is the hardest one. Sunday always has a theme or a quote. But Sunday's the hardest one, right? No, no, no. No, no. That's why I respect these people. Theirs is a Saturday. Saturday is the hardest because there's no real theme. Gotcha. There's no real... It's a bunch of long words. It's tough. It's very hard. Sundays, I mean, we can do them. It takes us a couple hours. But we usually, yeah. We usually finish them. They're not completely right. And we don't look anything up, except maybe once or twice or three times or four. That's between y'all. That ain't public knowledge. Before I met Gloria, I just did them in ink. And then Gloria made some, put some sense in me when we started doing them together. And believe me, she has come so far on this. I can't believe how. When we started, maybe she knew one or two answers. Well, you have to learn the system and the language. You learn the vibe of it, right? The theme, she can come up with it. I give her the theme, because I usually see it first, and then I'll give it to her, and she'll just pick up on it right away. I mean, she couldn't have done that five years ago when we first started. We're all the way back to 1999, Sunday crossword puzzles. So y'all are doing old shit. We're doing old shit. We do this every Sunday, what comes out, and then we just go to the archive, and you've got to remember a lot of the clues. Oh, this is 1999, so what, you know, TV star. I feel like that's like a good way to, I mean, I feel this, I don't know this. I feel like it's a good way to battle dementia, because it's like, it's recollection, it's being nimble with like understanding like the nuances of words, like that kind of stuff, like, I don't know. Yeah, that's always one of the number one things they tell you to do, crossword puzzles. Or puzzles in general, word puzzles and stuff like that. My mother did, every day, she did those. She got the newspaper, she could do the crossword and the jumbo and the whatever. There was all these, she did them every day. And when she passed away, she was only 73, her body had failed immensely, but her mind. It's still sharp, huh? Very sharp, even though she was dying. She's like, Iona! Yeah. We used to do, because she was dying, and I was working a job at a wine store that was very slow. So she and I would do the crossword on the phone together. It was kind of cool. But she was always better at it then than I am. I'm good at those theme ones, but the other ones... So this father-daughter duo, they do them every night? I mean, that's a pretty cool way to bond with your kid, especially if like... I imagine you hit a point where you're like, OK, my kid is not interested in softball or art. You kind of figure out what they want, and maybe it lines up with this, or maybe this guy kind of guided her to it. I don't know. We don't know their inner workings. But it's a cool thing for them to do together, and I'm sure if there is a mother in the situation, She's probably like, whoo! I gotta go over here and do my own thing. And they can just kind of do that. And we can have separate interests with the kid. But Dad teaches at UVM. Yeah, mathematics. And they had 24 rejections from the New York Times before they got their first one submitted. Really? Wow! Yeah, they just gotta keep trying. Yeah, you know, hey! Well, it might be something we ever look into. I think she does the layout of the puzzle, and he does the clues, and I think that was what... And that's another thing the New York Times likes, is they like certain kind of layouts, I guess. I don't think I'll be wasting my time soon. You know what I mean? So I thought one guy did all the puzzles, I didn't realize that they were sent in. I had no idea. One guy looks at them all. We're a little short. Yeah, I think is the name. Yeah, you're right. Yeah, Will Short. He's the editor. He has to look at each one, has to figure out. If they're worthy. Right. Yeah. Who are you, Will Short? Anyway, moving on. Swanton is getting a building for police. Where were they before? Another building for police. A smaller building. There were no police. It's a ragtag bunch of volunteers. So what does this guy say about the police? He said, yeah, so the current building, it's three rooms. This is with the police chief. My office, the storage closet, and the processing room. So it's like... Where do you sit? Well... Nowhere. The police chief says, you can sit right on my lap, baby. I'm just kidding. So, yeah, that's the problem, so if I understand anything about police departments and these small town kind of buildings, they need... Filed cabinets. Filing cabinets. They need a room with bars, a sort of a jail cell. They need a... Like Barney Miller. A drunk who can come and go as he pleases. Exactly. They need a deputy sheriff who's a bit of a wild card and kind of zany, but lovable. and a sheriff who is a little bit boring, but he loves his son. Is that about, does that stick out? No, because, um, is this up in, is this up in Franklin County? Swanton, yeah. Oh, that's where that sheriff is. He's not a bumbling, he's a kick in the groin sheriff who's being investigated by the state. Yeah, the number one requirement for this new building? No cameras. No cameras. As many nut cakes as you want. Well, good for them. Good for you, Swanton. On the come up. I was reading a story today that Williston needs more police. Before we go to Williston, how much do you think this Swanton building is going to cost?$250,000. You're not even getting in the door. Peanuts. You built the steps. All right, 1.5 million. 20 million. Jesus. Okay, what's it going to be, armored? Is it going to be bulletproof? Definitely have the cell. At least one. At least one of those. Holy crap. In Swanton. What's up there? Not much. There's a funeral home, and... Can we combine them all? And a scoop shop. A scoop shop? Ice cream shop. Oh, you call them scoop shops? That's what it called itself. There's a little bit up there, but it's... It's very little. They have some crime going up there, though. Yeah, what's going on? It's near the border. 20 million is like, Jesus Christ. That's a lot. That does seem like a lot. A small town like Swanton. Why do they need 20 million? I mean, that's what I said earlier. You know, 1.4 million for that bridge? That's nothing. That's more than that, wasn't it? Oh, 14.5. But still, that didn't seem like very much to me. I don't know. Oh, Christ. All right, moving on. Matt, the murder trial, and this is finally, like, so, Glow, I'm not even sure if you were on the show when we talked about this. Yeah, we did. You were? Okay. So, this woman, Anna Moe Wilson, was like this kind of up-and-coming cyclist star from Vermont. Oh, yeah. And she was killed in Texas because she was hooking up with some dude, and his ex-lover got jealous. Yep. Okay. And then she escaped to Costa Rica, I think it was. Yeah. Became a masseuse. What? And had her face changed. This is a movie. She had some cosmetic surgery on her face. Oh, the day she killed the girl, the woman, She sold her jeep for like 17 grand and just booked it to Costa Rica using her sister's passport. And they caught her and she tried to escape. She had an escape attempt. I remember about three weeks ago, I think. And I remember correctly she's also a cyclist? Yeah. Yeah. So... She looks crazy. Yeah. Clearly a well-adjusted individual. Did she kill the man? No, no. She killed the woman. I know she like, OJ'd them both. No, no, he was nowhere near it. They had to prove, because the defense tried to say that it maybe was him, but the cops had his phone where he was at the time and all this stuff, so he wasn't even anywhere near it. No, it was clearly she was just going to kill the other woman. Wow. That's that. Way to throw away your life. Yeah, all because like jealousy. It's so dumb. Like, there's a million dudes, there's a million women, there's a million like whatever that you're looking for. Like, it's all out there. Just find it. Like it's a little effort, right? I mean, it's not no jealousy is bad, bad thing. So that kind of jealousy, like a little bit is like a tiny little bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, but that, to that extent, when people start getting murdered. Yeah, like if my wife is like, oh, Henry's going to give me a massage, I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, not like that, you know, but there's like other, like, lesser things where I'm like, yeah, it's fine, like, I don't care, like, just, anyway, moving on. El Gato. It's closing. I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did. Why? Only because of COVID and being that. Oh, yeah, no, no, nothing against the El Gato. Just its location. And you know, it's down at the other end of Church Street, which is like right across from the shithole I described earlier. When I first came to Brunswick, they were like my favorite happy hour. They had pretty good beer and like cheap tacos. I was like, all right, yeah, that's great. Like I used to go there probably once a month. I liked it. I thought it was Pretty good. But that location, that block has changed periodically, like every few years. It seems like new restaurants are in there. Yeah. You know, the old one that was the, what was that Asian restaurant? Yeah, it's one you liked a lot. I forget now. Tiny Tai? Five Spice. And it got burned down. Our first date at Five Spice. Yeah, that was our first date. Our first date was this dim sum on a Sunday. We sat at the bar. I had no idea what he was talking about, but I went along. Dim sum? You want some dim sum? I don't know. I guess. It was good. We enjoyed it. You want some dim sum? I know you do. Anyway, I agree. I hope it's not something negative. He starts reaching for his fly, then I'm out of here. You want dim sum of this? But then it burnt, caught on fire, and somebody else moved in and I hammered it. And then it became a German-type place, remember that? It was a German-type place. And we said, they tried. Those Germans. Yeah, good efforts, yeah. We sat on the rooftop, on top of tarmac that one time, looking out into, like, thinking, yeah, we're on the roof, all right. We just... Yeah, not much of a... Yeah, but then it became a kebab place or something. Oh, oh my gosh, that was like killer prices. That was so expensive. I loved, you know, I liked it, but I only ate there maybe once or twice, right? I think we only ate there once. Yeah, I think so, too. Anyways, that whole block is, but it's just part of Burlington downtown. That's the only reason I threw it on there. Are they, it seems like they're closing, not moving. They are closing. They have another location there, right? Yeah, in Williston, I think everybody's gonna Wilson or Essex. Everybody's gonna Essex. Nobody goes to Essex anymore. There's too many people there to grab Essex experience. Oh, Essex Junction is low. They have a food truck. Well, they lasted 14 years. Yeah. Hey, that's a good long run. Considering they went through COVID, and that shitty house across the street. Back to the house. Have you taken a good look at that place? I'm not taking a good look at anything. I live my life just vibing. You didn't see the eight foot tall sunflower. You're not gonna see that. Yeah, you're right. Alright, so moving on, speaking of vibing, so I can't open the story, Matt, but Bernie Sanders and Noah Kahan? I don't know who that is. You don't know who that is? I don't know who that is. I figured you would know. Well, so I don't know him very, like, okay, back up. So he had a song called, like, Stick Season, I think is what it was called. And it was like, kind of a big, kind of Vermont thing, like, oh, look at this guy, writing songs about Vermont, like a Vermont boy. and then from that he got very popular and people like his music like I listen to like the Ryan Rosillo podcast and so there's like I was this Noah Cahill concert it's like oh shit like this guy's pretty big so yeah I think he's just sort of becoming popular like kind of organically which I think is pretty cool and he's been nominated for Grammys I guess yeah I mean that's huge Wow but the other part of the story Bernie Sanders has been nominated for Grammy. What? For a Grammy? Best audio book narration and storytelling. I wish I had a good Bernie. Do you have a good Bernie? The name of my book is it's okay to be angry about capitalism. You have a Bernie? No. You want to try for the sake of the show? It's okay to be angry. It's okay. Scratch. That's Super Mario. That's the name of the, it's okay to be angry about capital. It's okay to be angry. That's a little better. No, it's not good. I know it's not good. We need a little of that Jewish Brooklyn accent. It's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay. I'm Scarface. I'm not gonna try it anymore. That's pretty cool. Yeah, that's cool. I mean, that'd be great. And the Grammy goes to... Bernie Sanders. Another thing Trump could be mad about. I never won a Grammy. No, no, no. I never won an Emmy. I've won a Grammy. My Grammy I won was better than... It's like, you didn't. Actually, the proof is not true, but it's just like... The Grammy I won for The Apprentice was much better. Anyway, this is cool, so good luck to both of them, and especially Noah, I think we're all saying his name wrong, Kayon, Kane, Khan? I'm not sure, it's one of those things you read and you're like, okay, but you don't ever think you ever say that aloud. Where's he from in Vermont? Stafford or someplace? I'm not sure, I will pause here while you look it up. Stratford. Stratford, which is... Stratford. I have no idea. Stratford, which is... I think it's down there, Route 7. Wow. Before you get to... Can't think of it. That was ritzy. Sounds ritzy? It does sound ritzy. It's near Manchester, Vermont, I think. It's a mountain, maybe. Stratford Mountain. Oh, isn't it like a really small ski resort? I think so. I mean it's like so small and nobody even knows about it. The only people that ski there are... It is east of Worlton. East of Worlton. Oh, so it's on the other side. Oh, what side? It's on the other side. It's on the east side of the state. I was thinking on the west side of the state. But it is a mountain, right? Stratford Mountain, I think. Maybe. Hey, what did you tell me about the Cochrane? Oh, Barbara, she wrote a book about her experiences in 1972 winning the gold medal. So we should look for her book. Barbara Cochran. Why? She was a skier. She has a little ski resort in Richmond. It's really small. Or Jonesville. You can see it on the side of the road. The Skiing Cochrans. Yeah, yeah. Oh, you know that? The Flying Cochrans. I think we talked about it. Yeah, we did. I don't know what I'm talking about. They teach kids how to ski. I don't want to say anything unless we talk about it on the show. You do what? Nothing. Is everyone ready? I'm ready. For a break? Alright, the band is No Fun House and the song is Seriously? Help me see myself Just as you see me I'm going to make a small hole in the middle of the board. I'm going to make a small hole in the middle of the board. I'm going to make a hole in the bottom of the plate. I'm going to make a hole in the bottom of the plate. I'm going to make a hole in the bottom of the plate. I'm going to make a hole in the bottom of the plate. That cringes at me Help me see myself How I could be If I didn't take things seriously I'd take things too seriously I'm going to make a hole in the middle of the body. I'm going to make a hole in the middle of the body. I'm going to make a hole in the middle of the body. And we're back. Who was that? I had no idea. That was like my radio. Okay. Okay. So Matt, you can keep your radio voice. It's time for our scumbag scumbag map. The Company! Bold Narrative Wells this week. Yeah, long list of scumbags. We could have gone further, I think. There was all sorts of stuff going on. I mean, I think the stage has fallen apart. Republican Adam is not pleased with the state of crime in the state of Vermont. So we start in Burlington, where we often start. Gunfire. Crimes in Burlington Sunday night left two people dead and one on the run. They call them gunfire crimes? That seems like odd. Yeah, there was a reported shooting downtown Burlington, around Main Street, about an hour and a half before this. So there was a beef going on, these two guys were beefing with each other. One guy shoots the other guy, somebody else shoots the other guy. The guy who shot the guy. The two beefers are dead. Beefer A shoots Beefer B, and then outsider A shoots Beefer A. A man on the run shoots Beefer B. I hate to laugh about this, but it's just ridiculous. I need a name tag at this point. Who am I shooting? Bill shot Steve and then John shot Bill, right? So I'm just saying glow if these fellas arm wrestled No one's dead They're all walking away Man up, you know arm wrestle don't be a bitch. Don't get out the gun little pussies All right. Yeah, that's how I feel That does seem like a cheap way out. Doesn't it? It's it's it's such I mean I mean, come on, already. If you bring out your pistol in a confrontation, you're a coward. Right. Flat out. No, I mean, until, like, if you're the second one to bring out the pistol, you're probably justified. But if you're the first one, you're a straight up coward. You're scared that the person in front of you is going to hurt you. And then I would say, probably that pistol was giving you some extra confidence to even start that beef. You probably should never... Right. There are certain situations you can't beef with everyone. Don't beef up. If you're unprepared to throw the fists, don't beef. Just keep it moving. Sometimes you get punked out as a human being and that's fine. Guess what? You move on. And you live. Happily ever after. Whatever. Not every grievance is death worthy. Not in our world, but it doesn't seem to matter in that world. I don't know what that world is, but... It's crazy. One of the guys was from Virginia. Anthony Smith. That wild west of a hellhole. The other guy was Caliph Jones from Stowe. Ooh, what a terrible place. Yeah. Hey, dawg, I grew up in the mean streets of Stowe. I represent Pacaso, dawg. I represent the ski lift. Like, what the fuck, man? Not all of Stowe is ritzy. Sure, there has to be people to serve those people, but I mean, most of it is. Yeah, I guess. Not everybody that lives there is from Stowe. That's absolutely true. That's it. So, speaking of like, if you could encapsulate the last few months in a story, the Burlington Police Department got set on fire. That was the same night as the two shootings. Or three shootings. What? You're talking about the one over there that Tony Pomero's name is on? Yeah, over there off of North Avenue. Right at the beginning of North... Avenue. Yeah. Right around the corner from Battery Street. Next to North Avenue. Are you kidding? Somebody set it on fire? Not somebody. Stephen Rompery. Who's that? Some 62-year-old arsonist from Burlington. 62 years old? Is he only starting now? As an arsonist? Or has he been doing this- I think this is new to him. I used to think that arsonist was a young man's game. Based on what I've learned the last three years of this show, it's an old man's game. Are you serious? Arsonist is an old man's crime. There's not a lot of young arsonists. Really? Yeah. What's the re- No reason. It's an easy way to destroy something, you know, or get a point. This guy was trying to get a point across. What was his point? I don't know. He was trying to make a point. I was trying to make a point. Your pudding is highly flammable. That's all it says. So what did you do? I was trying to make a point. OK, but the story doesn't go into it. But the fire itself was put out pretty quickly. What the problem was, the sprinklers went off. and drenched the place. Oh, they went on. Yeah, they went on and off. Oh, so it destroyed a lot. Yeah, the sprinklers, because of the smoke. So the sprinklers were worse than the fire? Yes. Yeah, look at the picture of the fire. That was the damage. Just a little smoke on the wall, pretty much, and on the floor, on the rug. It's irony, though. It's irony. Yeah. It is, isn't it? This is 2am and this dude just walked in and set a fire. Right in the vestibule of the police department. Where were the cops? Not right there. But it looks like the vestibule is where you would pick up a flyer for something. Yeah, I don't think that part is even open at night. I mean, that part might be, but you can't get any further. Maybe. Cool. Moving on. Four arrested in a St. J drug bust. We got pictures for all these fools except Alicia. The elusive Alicia. Alicia Alling. Anybody you know? No, none of my relatives. None of my cousins brother? No, especially those two land guys from Springfield, Massachusetts. Do I have afros from what I can see from here? Those are afros I would say. and the other guy, Steven Turcott, looks very angry. Well, he's looking like... Wait, what? We're going to take your picture now, Steven. Yeah, they were selling all sorts of cocaine, and they got arrested for cocaine possession. They found one of them hiding behind a cooling unit. So? When they busted the people, they found one of the people hiding behind a cooling unit. Oh, that's right, because they went next door and started throwing shit off the roof. When the cops raided the place, they went out the window or a side door or something, and they went over. Police found ripped bags with hardened, powdery clumps. That was a baking project? 10 feet away from the two men and on the sidewalk below, the substance tested positive for cocaine. Ooh, that's a lot of cocaine, man. Maybe we should legalize that, too. Cocaine? Yeah. I mean, no. I mean, I'm still new to the game here, so I'm not sure. Will's only been doing cocaine for a couple of days. I think we should make it legal. I'm just saying, I don't know. Sound like a good idea to me? You guys think, cocaine, good idea? Good idea? I've only been around cocaine a couple of times in my life, and it's always people doing cocaine, and then after a couple of hours of doing cocaine, they start talking about how they want to stop doing cocaine as they're doing cocaine. And that's like the exact experience. I'm like, okay, like that's, I don't know. I don't understand the appeal of doing cocaine in my limited experience. I'm sure some people do it and they walk into like a dance floor and they feel like a superstar. And like they dance all night, meet some lady or man, go home and have a wild night. But in my experience, it's two dudes being miserable. It's a interesting conversation killer, you know, people on cocaine sitting around, there are no interesting conversations. It's the opposite of LSD. Yeah, it's LSD or pot, weed. LSD, weed, cocaine kills it. Because they keep repeating themselves. Yeah, yeah. Oh, really? Oh, it's awful. And imagine at one time, it was in Coca-Cola. Yeah, it used to be a cure for, hey, you got a little stomach ache? Take this cocaine. Yeah, I think these fellows are going to be locked up for a while. And this lady. Hopefully. We don't do that in this state. You're right. Out on bail. Sell more cocaine. Thanks, Sarah George. Moving on. A man was shot in the foot in alleged Burlington drug deal. Burlington police are investigating a shooting incident after a man was shot in the foot following an alleged drug dispute in the Queen City happened 1 15 a.m. Monday on East Avenue got a call from a man claiming he was shot by a person or persons who robbed him of drugs East Avenue that's right runs right by the uh through the ball field i know exactly where East Avenue it starts from Main Street it goes through a couple lights it goes down at one street and this little itty bitty tiny house on the right and on the left is the state department laboratories or something like that and then you come to the light which at one time across right across the street What are we doing? That's an Indian restaurant with no parking Exactly and it's like on this little itty-bitty tiny piece of property that you just wonder anyway and then across the street Stop like we're mapping out the entire block Well East Avenue then comes to an end at Riverside Avenue which across the street is Trinity College I've been trying to say But it's the longest Trinity Charge It went out of business and now it's part of UVM So, okay, great Here's my point You are in a bad way if you call the cops to say your drugs are stolen Or you're just plain stupid Oh, there's that I mean, why would you do that? That's what I'm saying Instead of going and shooting the other guy? That's what most people would do I'm just saying, you call the cops, like, I just been robbed, where they take my drugs Illegal drugs Oh dang, you caught me You know, it's like, just take the L man, just keep moving Do you think the cops just showed up because there was a gunshot? There was a gunshot? Probably, yeah They probably showed up because they got shot in the foot No, police got a call from this guy Saying he was robbed of his drugs And shot in the foot? Yeah, maybe he shot himself in the foot. I think he did when he called the cops. Ring, ring, ring. I don't think so, I think this guy just whacked out over there. And it was right after the other two shootings where the two guys died. The cops were like, Jesus Christ, you don't get paid enough for this. Up there in Swanton, two men face assault charges after a bizarre incident in where a man walking his dog was shot at multiple times. Whoa. What? Are you kidding me? Is there something against dog walking in Swanton? It's a dog walker. Look at that poodle. Look at that man walking that poodle. All started just after 9.30 p.m., early for a gunshot, I would say, in Swanton. Tuesday, when a 55-year-old man wearing a headlamp, nerd, was walking his dog on the rail trail along Robin Hood Drive. Swanton Village police say a black van pulled up, two men got out, and one fired four shots at the man. So, guessing this was planned. Like, they were just like, look at that guy. The victim said he dove into the trees to escape the shots, wise, and he told police one of the men yelled something about him flashing his lights at them. I was, maybe it was not planned. What? Kind of like a road rage kind of thing. What about the dog? Nothing about... What kind of journalism is this? Okay, like, the dog's fine. The dog's fine. All of a sudden, no. No, you won't believe this. Go ahead, break the news. Police say, The dog's fine! The dog's fine! Like, they would mention the dog's fine. Okay, good. Yeah. And the two suspects, The driver of the vehicle, Jared Parizo of Swanton, and a passenger in the front seat, Enrique Hemingway of St. Albans. What? Enrique? We have a reaction. Sometimes you give a reaction. Sometimes we say a name and you give a reaction. You didn't give a reaction this time, so that's okay. We were waiting. I mean, yeah, so it sounds like they got them, right? They got at least the people, right? Yeah, a third. Yeah, it didn't sound like it was a planned thing. A well planned out. Yeah. Crazy. Moving on. Has our IQ decreased? Ours, certainly. I mean, being on this show, I don't know. It's like, but I'm wondering if the human population in general, the IQ, is getting lower. Yeah, we hit our peak long ago. We're on the decline now, I would say. Because really, we sound like a bunch of retards. Uh-oh. Sorry. What is it again? It's not that. Just don't say anything. I don't even know the right way to say it because I don't even think it. I've never, never even, well, yeah. I'm not going to use it. You're such a purist. Such a purist. What are we? Man charged in a Sunoco hold up. So police say they caught up to a man who robs a Sunoco station at knife point. How big is that knife? I thought it'd be a sward to reach across the counter You say sward? You pronounce the W? Sward? Yeah, don't you? No, wait, wait, sward? Oh, no wonder! What are you talking about? It's a sword? Yeah! I'm gonna whip out my sward What is that? Why is there the W? I don't know. Language is weird. So if I'm in the Middle East and I have a sword that's curved, is that a scimitar or is that a scimitar? No, that's a... What's the thing for cutting hay? A sickle? A sickle. Okay. Yeah, that's a sickle. You didn't answer my question though. All right, so Henry J. Saint, is this a name or like? Saint Seer. Henry J. Saint Seer. That's the last name. Pleaded not guilty, money in the court, to a single felony charge of assault and robbery with a weapon. I mean, he did this. So how long was this knife? So apparently not that long, because a woman there said she laughed it off. It was a joke! This guy whips it out and she's like, Ha ha, that's nothing. It'd be so funny if she whipped out yet a bigger one. That's not a knife. She goes, you old crocodile dundee. This is a knife. Another victim describes her as frozen with fear. Both say he attempted to pay with a credit card and walked out with the cigarettes when the card was declined. It's a very confusing story. He's just trying to get cigarettes? Yeah, he's asking for a carton of cigarettes and a can of Copenhagen chewing tobacco. Just give it to him. Right, I mean, if this guy came out to my store with a knife, he's like, I want this, and I'm like, here you go. Have a good night. It could be worse, you know, you're not even asking for beer or anything. There's no gun involved. Right, just give it to him, who cares. I knew a guy that he I told you that story about my friend who he was in Vietnam and he was a little crazy when he got back and he actually got a job working in a convenience store in a really bad part of town because he wanted excitement. I swear to God. I'm on the action man. This guy came in to rob him with a knife. He shot him. It was an overreaction. Was he Charlie? Yeah. I don't know. Just somebody with a knife. He goes, oh, okay. You brought a knife to a gunfight. Not a good move. He knows it was a gunfight, but now it's a gunfight. Did he ever get in jail for that? No. Not in Florida. The guy deserved it. That's Saturday night sport. You can shoot a guy for throwing popcorn at you in a movie theater. Moving on, Bennington, 20-year-old child sexual offender convicted by a Bennington jury last November, was sentenced Monday afternoon to a mandatory 25 years to life behind bars and required lifetime on Vermont's sex registry if he ever gets out. Okay, this guy got the max it seems like, or got a long time. We have another story on here where a lawyer didn't get hardly anything. This guy's African-American. The jury took just two hours to convict this guy. I'm sure he did it. I'm sure they both did it. Yeah, they should both be in prison for the rest of their lives, as far as I'm concerned. But, you know, it doesn't happen that way. Lawyer, Vermont lawyer charged with sexual misconduct resolves case with pre-trial diversion. It's almost like a lawyer knows the lawyer tricks. Yeah. What is a pre-trial diversion? Oh, he can go through these certain steps, and then if he completes these steps, then his charges are expunged. Come on, Judge. He was never charged. You don't want to take this to trial and waste the public's time and money. Let's just work this out. I'll do these things, and we'll all agree to it. We don't even have to go to trial. A jury doesn't need to know about me assaulting this... How old is this victim? It was a woman who he was counseling, I think, as a lawyer. Oh, this 59-year-old woman in her house in July of 2017? No one needs to know about that. We don't need her to take the stand. We don't need to hear about this. Let's just sweep under the rug, Judge. Come on, Judge. I've been in your courtroom how many times? You know I'm a good guy. We've been to cocktail hour. You know I'm a good guy. Let's just work it out. Yeah. and the same country club. Yeah, we golf together. Our kids ski together. Yeah, it's terrible. I mean, what this guy did, I mean, I'm not excusing him. He should be in prison for the rest of his life, but there is a second, you know, kind of a two-way thing going on. Two-tiered system of justice. I've heard that from our boy Trump. All right, I think we're done with rape and murder and gunfights. All right, Matt, we're moving on. Tell something good. There's a Vermont farm, and if you get a chance to watch this video, you should. Okay. That has these golden dogs, they call it the golden dog farm. And the guy is this owner of all these golden retrievers, brings them to the farm and people pay to hang out with the dogs on the farm. Really? Yeah. You could do your pack run and also charge people to come hang out with the dogs. Yeah, but it's an interesting, you know, it's just two people who moved from somewhere in Cincinnati to Vermont during COVID and just started doing all these, you know, they're like making honey or maple syrup, they're doing all these things with the farm, and they sold these things out because they made a video that went viral of all these dogs. Really? Just this little video right here? This is wholesome chaos, Glo. Wholesome chaos. I can't wait to play it. I think people want to watch just like dogs playing. I think if you're like, Glo, you don't do this, but if you scroll through your Reels or TikTok or whatever, it's just like, it's whatever, you get fed whatever you stop on. I think if there's a video of just like dogs just having fun, people will stop and watch that endlessly. I get this guy from Germany on my ex-account who posts pretty much nothing but animals doing great. And it's wonderful. I show it to Gloria all the time, dogs and cats. We spent this morning just looking at two dogs playing with each other. They love each other. That was live. Yeah, I figured. But anyways, it's pretty cool. You know another way to make money keeping you know, they love Vermont. So what do we say? This is Jeffersonville, Vermont Did we say all that like do we shout the name? Yeah on a dog for golden dog farm? Well, we'll link it in the comments And Trevor Goldenberg Gator Berg Eden Berg, well retrievers are generally Not always but generally very sweet Gentle. Very gentle dog. They're very people oriented. Right. What's your favorite dog breed? Well, it used to be Rottweiler. Unexpected. Are you kidding? She had one. That's the one. Had two. Aren't they kind of like wild? Wild? Aren't they like attack dogs? They could be. The second one she had was. Yeah, that's why I had to euthanize them. But yeah, I saved the second one. but the first one was, she's my soulmate. This was the dog I walked all around Montpelier with and everybody knew me with her. And even, I remember nine years later, after her death, people were still asking me, there was still somebody who said, where's your princess? Where's princess? Yeah. They were still, oh, they wouldn't know her name, but they would say, where's your Roddy? Where's your dog? Roddies can be very, very sweet. They can be the greatest. In Florida, they have a very bad reputation. And so do they in Harlem. I mean, I used to walk, for instance, in Harlem. And I got some pretty nasty looks at times, especially when I went into grocery stores. Oh, I'm sure. Yeah, they didn't take kindly to it. I recognize Wai Morana. Oh, no. They had too much energy for me. I walked one once. It almost tore my arm off. Yes, they need a lot of energy, expense. I'm thinking about one specifically that I knew. You need to be 28-year-old super runner kind of guy, dude who just will run the shit out of that dog. All right, I'll take a Basset Hound. I was just going to say, it's a perfect dog for you. You just said it, Basset Hound. OK, you're going to explain why it's going to be offensive. Go ahead. One person we knew, he wanted to get one. Because they don't need to be walked. They don't care. Yeah, every time you see one on a leash, they're miserable. You should get it because it's a dog you can ignore. It's lazier than you. When you try to do something, it's going to look at you like, why don't we just watch TV, man? That's exactly the best. But it howls. It's got its own special howl. I like that. Can I get a basset howl with no vocal cords? You know what? They even have cataract surgery for dogs. I bet they'll remove them for you if you like. I want a basset but not the hound. I want a basset dog. How about you? What's your ideal? You know, pet setting over the years, I think the best dogs are mutts. I think, I mean, because they have... No, because the one dogs, like Abby, Sarge, they're wonderful dogs, and you don't really know what they are. I mean, you can pick out two or three things they are, but they have different aspects. Because, I mean, you get dogs, there are certain dogs, you don't want, I don't want little snappy dogs. Nobody wants those, except for, who knows. Anyways, the miniature schnauzers are nice, but some are great, some are not. You can go either way. But you find a good, and believe me, not all the dogs that we've taken care of that were mutts were good. Some of them had issues, but I don't know. I used to like shepherds because my friend had one when I was a kid who was the smartest dog I ever saw. But they can smell. They stink. Yeah, there's something about German shepherds. Are you talking about German shepherds? Yeah, no, German shepherds. I mean, probably many shepherds, but yeah. Something about their fur. I like a wiener dog, but I think they have a lot of health problems, right? Oh, yeah. You know what they call wiener dogs in Britain? What? Sausage dogs. They gotta be different, right? I feel like it's better, like, bangers. Banger dogs. There's a couple of banger dogs. That's probably not good. Do y'all want to talk about the toy hall of fame? We talk about this every year. We talk about it every year. Alright, I'm going to give you the nominees. We can kick around who should be nominated. Give me three. Three inducted. Ready? Baseball cards. Okay. Matt seems to be on top of that. Why are they not? I would contend, not a toy, first of all. Like, uh... Anything kids can touch. Yeah. Okay. Battleship. Good game. Are you familiar with that game, Battleship? Good game. No. A14. Miss. Really? You guys played it that much? Yes! Yeah, yes! It's strategy, like... It is, because it's... You each have this board, and you can't see the other person's board, and you have these certain ships. You have a battleship, you got a couple of destroyers, an aircraft carrier, whatever, and they all cover different spaces and you have to like put them in different certain arrangements. So you have to guess where the other persons are based on like the, it's hard to explain over a podcast. Is this mostly a boy favorite? I don't gender my games, you're doing that. Maybe it used to be, now probably girls are dominating battleships. Here's one, bingo. What? Bingo. It's not in the Hall of Fame already? It should be. Here's one that I think y'all don't know. Bop It. Never heard of it. This is kind of beyond me. It's like this kind of stick where you squeeze it, flip it, touch it, jump it. I don't know if I'm doing it well. Baseball cards and bingo are mentioned in the same vein as Bop It? I think kids in the 90s were bopping it crazy. Here's one. Cabbage Patch Kids. They probably got voted in, I would think. Oh, they have. They were huge. Yeah. I just heard about them on the radio, believe it or not. You just heard about them? Yeah. You didn't know about them before? Somebody mentioned. I don't know. I must have been on to NPR or something. I'm not sure if this one is beyond your time, either, which I'm sorry to say it like that. I just don't know. Choose your own adventure books. That's a way. You all grew up with those? No. No, let's be honest. We didn't get to choose anything. All right, here's one. Our parents did. We didn't choose any adventures. No adventures. Connect four. I have no idea. That's the one where like, it's like a, there's like a screen between you. There's like these little circles and you drop the discs in to try to connect four in a row. We'll play it one time, Cliff. Okay. The Ken doll. Barbie's already in, but should we, like, can in? No. No. Not before baseball cards. Or bingo. This is one I don't know, maybe y'all know. Little Tykes Cozy Coop. I have no idea. Sounds like a porno. It does, doesn't it? Little Tykes Cozy Coop. It's not the kind of porno you want to watch. No. Nerf. I can see that. Slime. All right, I've been, yeah. You've been slimed? Oh yeah. Don't say it like that. No, I knew this, I knew, I got a story about slime. Okay, let's hear it. I knew this guy, who was deathly afraid of snot. Okay. Snot? Snot. But it came out of his own nose, you know? But if anybody, if he saw somebody else's snot, it just freaked him out. So one day I had, I bought some slime, And he was working the door at this nightclub and I walk in I go. Hey Freddy. How you doing? I went Because it looks like snot yeah the guy ran and puked So does that mean it makes it it doesn't make it in like that's the positive I don't think it's I think it's behind Even nerf. Yeah, and last one was I think it means nothing to y'all Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles You were just watching a documentary on, not that I remember. The mutant turtles and the power rangers. It was a thing on the History Channel. Yeah. You know, I knew there was four turtles and they were named after artists, but I didn't know anything about them. But it's been a, it was a long hard road getting those started, but when they got it, now they've made billions. Isn't it incredible? What a ridiculous idea, and it made millions. Millions, billions. Billions, okay. Both of them did. I have the inductees. I don't know if you all want to guess, or you want me to give them to you? I'm going to go bingo baseball cards and... Are there three? Yeah. Baseball cards and Nerf. You're pretty good. Baseball cards in cabbage patch kits. Oh, yeah. Well, you said they're probably in. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then Nerf. Well, hold on. There's another category which I didn't mention. It's kind of like a fan vote. The Fisher Price corn popper. That's a toy? It's like the thing that kids push around. It's got like a big ball and it pops things up as they push it. It's every little kid's dream, at a certain age, to push something. Yeah, yeah. And it's this thing you push, it looks like a little, almost a baby carriage, but it's a big ball. And things pop up. And the last one, you all right? Nerf. Nerf is pretty unimpeachable. That's a real toy. It's a thing. I mean, baseball cards, no offense, man, that's your childhood, but like, they're not a toy, they're more of a hobby. Yeah. We used to build houses out of them. Really? We used to gamble with them. Closer to the wall, gets to keep the card. Really? You little hustler back in the day. Yeah. No kidding. But that would just ruin the cards. Now you're like, oh, I wish I had my... Yeah, you're no longer in pristine condition. Especially when you drew cigars and, you know, all sorts of stuff. Like Pete Rose. I had a million Pete Rose rookie cards, and every one of them, I think I put a beard on him. Do a big dick on his face. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, I'm sorry, I can't help it. Oh, man. Oh, man. Is everyone ready to end it? Yes. All right, let's get out of here. Peace. Bye. Bye-bye. And then, the end. All life on Earth as we know it will be torn, destroyed, and the Earth itself will be blown out of its orbit. This, of course, is a situation we hope never comes to pass. If this necessarily becomes a reality, however, only the President will have the access to this button. This button is the most dangerous button in the world. You mean this button?