Going Deep with Chad and JT - Ep 137 - Nick George Joins

Episode Date: June 24, 2020

What Up Stokers! This week we got Nick George, he's an actor, surfer, traveler, and guru to us. We talk about the Alexander Technique, masculinity, and staying stoked.Sponsored by Manscaped: Get 20% Off and Free Shipping with the code GODEEPWW at Manscaped.com. If you wanna trim your pubes during a contagion.

all right oh mama what's up guys this is chad kroger coming in with the going deep with chad jt podcast guys before we begin I'll remind you once again that we are brought to you by Manscaped Manscaped thank you so much for keeping our trims pubed for looking after our hogs for making sure that our dongs are looking fresh and clean because guys when you go to a new neighborhood and you see a freshly cut lawn what do you think that guy Manscaped so use code go deep www at manscape.com for 20 off your order go deep www is the code at manscape.com and i'm here with my compadre jean thomas what up boom clap stokers and we're here with our how do do I describe you? Our Alexander Technique teacher, actor, my spiritual mentor, my sunscreen guru.

Your purveyor of stoke. Yeah, purveyor of stoke, our Venice legend, but mostly just our dog, Nick George. Yeah. Welcome to the podcast. Thanks, guys. Good to be with you. Yeah, thanks for coming on. Yeah, we were just talking about JT's in Montana and you have some roots there, right? Yeah, man. I'm totally green with jealousy right now. I'm so envious. I'd like to be in Montana right now. Where are you? Are you

in Bozeman or Livingston? Yeah'm in bozeman right off main street lucky you man it is beautiful it is like like you're just driving just driving here going through salt lake city and zion and and uh different parts of arizona and stuff you're just like man it's it's so beautiful just the green it goes on forever so nice to just get out there i know there's like such an amazing downshift that happens every time I go to Montana. Sometimes it takes like two or three days, but my mom lives just outside of Missoula and Sealy Lake still. And it's just magical.

We can really get it in a log either. I love it. Yeah, that's what I like about it. Is that even like, I think LA, there's just, it's like nobody's fault. It might just be in the soil. There's like an anxiety. You know what I mean? There's an urgency and it can wear you out,

especially when you don't have the normal distractions that we have, like us doing standup or whatever is like our calling or passion or reason we're there. And then you're just like in the anxiety and you're like, this is a lot. Yeah, totally. I'm totally with you. As great as LA is, it's good to take breaks.

I was watching that like Sonic Highways, Dave Grohl documentary a couple years ago. Did you see that? It's so good. And there was some point in it, like I love Dave Grohl and kind of everything, 90s grunge music and rock and roll. But he was saying something about like the secret sauce for living in Los Angeles is getting out of Los Angeles, you know, like I'm paraphrasing, but like taking breaks is so key.

That's what makes it so great. You know, it's like if you can get out and come back and take little breaks and decompress and then return and repress or whatever, the opposite of decompresses compression. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I dig it. But Montana is a good place for that. You were outside helping your dad. I was joking with you earlier. Were you out there field Montana is a good place for that. You were outside helping your dad. I was joking with you earlier. Were you out there field dressing a moose? Cause that's like, you know what you do in Montana? No, we were, uh, we were repairing a moose to health.

We found a moose that had a thorn in its foot and we were taking it out and rehabilitating it. Yeah. Oh, nice. Yeah. It was cool. But my dad was like, you're not doing it right. And I was like, ask the moose. And the moose was like, and I was like, you're not doing it right. And I was like, ask the moose. And the moose was like, and I was like, that's ambiguous at best, dad. And then he was like, no, that moose said he agrees with me. And I was like, you can't just say that. And so it became an argument. And then we were distracting. We weren't helping the moose enough. You know? Amazing. Moose rehab. I didn't even know that existed. Add that to your resume, bro. That's pretty, that's epic.

Yeah. I've thrown that in there at different job interviews, staples. Look, I can fix a moose if one gets loose in here. Is that a side effect of being in Montana for a while? You start to understand the moose and all types of animals on a deeper level. I would say it's the primary effect, bro. Is this like once you start talking to animals, you get a whole different wavelength because they got their own pandemics going on you think coronavirus is bad we had the boo-boo zoo boo that sounds terrible that's i hope you don't have i'm really glad we're doing this over zoom and

virtually because if we were in the studio together and you had the boo-boo-zoo-boo, I probably would leave right now. Dude, the palm trees have a pandemic. They have the weevil. Oh, yeah. What's that? I haven't even heard of that. There's like a weevil.

That's all I know the name of. But it's basically like a pest that's killing the palm trees. That's our number one tree so i think as soon as we get the corona vaccine gotta take care of that weevil vaccine asap direct threat to the stoke i feel like i feel a city council meeting coming on that sounds like important legislation right there i think so you're kind of reading our minds i'm good i'm good at that yeah i'm good at that um yeah i i found because nick you're a surfer we always talk about surfing and stuff it it's it's been so nice especially during the pandemic it's sort of a place where you can just go even for just like an hour, an hour and a half, just to like get in nature a little bit. And like I told you, I was like

feeling kind of anxious and I just went and there were no waves really, but I just paddled for like an hour and it just like washed it away. There's something about, there's at least that in LA that you can get in that kind of nature for a little bit and just get that boost. Yeah, that's amazing. The ocean is amazing. The healing properties, whatever that combo is of saltwater and vitamin D. And like, one of the things that always trips me out about surfing is I'll get out there sometimes and paddle out and just be sitting there and be like, you know, I'm not on the continent right now. Like I've left the United States, you know, even though I'm only 200 yards off the beach, it's like you really are separate from the chaos. It's an amazing sanctuary. Yeah, it was really nice during the

quarantine. It was tricky though, because the beaches were closed here and there's a lot of challenges about could we go, could we not go, what was the right thing to do and yeah surfers were having to make their own decisions about that yeah yeah it was helpful yeah for sure yeah the salt water is such a good panacea it feels like yeah totally magical it's the best so uh so we met you through uh you teach alexander technique i thought maybe we could just describe for the Stokers basically what that is. And yeah, basically it's one of your expertises. Yeah, for sure. For sure.

Happy to share AT with Stoke Nation. I usually say the Alexander technique is a transformational educational modality that works on the force of habit of the human being. So we look at your posture, your balance, your coordination, and above all, your mental and emotional patterns and how some of those are probably serving you and some of them, probably a lot of them are not. And AT is a way to kind of take a look at how you're doing whatever it is you do and being able to do it with more freedom, more ease and less tension. Yeah. Yeah, because we talk a lot about, once I started learning this from you, I started learning about, you know, understanding my body a lot more and the reactions I have just instinctively to a lot of things like fight or flight.

I have just instinctively to a lot of things like fight or flight. And it's sort of, because you always talk about it, it teaches you to sort of take a step back and understand that. And once you have that understanding, you're able to navigate those feelings a little bit more and also do some sort of physical work to kind of alleviate it. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, it's super powerful. I came to it. I had a little Alexander in acting school when I was in my early 20s. And I took a class and I kind of dug it.

And I was like, this is cool. But I was like a kid from Montana that was living in New York City. And I was like about six inches from a nervous breakdown. Like I was just kind of over, like I was getting cooked by New York. I loved it, but it was just a lot for me. And I was going to acting school and it was kind of intense. And they had Alexander technique on the syllabus. And I was like, oh, I thought I was here to learn the Meisner technique.

You know, what is this? And I went in and the teacher handed me a book and said, go lay down. And I was like, sick. We're going to read Tom Clancy and lay down on the ground. He was like, no, just put it behind your head and go lay down and put your knees up. I was like, okay, you know, like, all right. And I laid down and I got up from that. And I was like, I don't know what that was,

but I liked it and I want more of it. So I kind of cataloged it in my brain as some good stuff. And I came out to LA and was working a little bit as an actor and just coming up against some stuff in my personal and professional life. And I was like only getting cast as fishermen and loggers, you know. Those are good roles. You know, you want to take those if you can get them.

But, you know, I wanted to play the fop in a Moliere play. You know, I wanted to have a little more range. And I thought, well, maybe that Alexander technique stuff can help me. And I took some private lessons like you guys have done many. And it was a game changer for me. And then after doing that for a couple of years, I was like, how do I do this shit every day? Like, I love this is totally transforming my whole connection to life. So I found out there was a really great training school for teachers in Santa

Monica, the Alexander training Institute of Santa Monica. I did the three year 1600 hour training course, send my life away to the, you know away to the Jedi ways of the Alexander. And it was amazing. Totally changed my game. How were you different before Alexander Technique? That's a great question. I mean, I think I was in my body in a different way.

You know, I grew up playing a lot of sports like I was an athlete. And I did arts too, like I did theater and I did a lot of singing. But, you know, I think the way that I expressed my movements, my thoughts, my feelings, there was some constriction there. And I think that's like I was saying, I could only play fishermen and loggers, you know, like my shoulders were really built and my neck was really tight, you know, and I was like, I don't want to just play characters that move like this. And I also was really anxious. So like I go out for auditions and I'd be the guy who'd be up all night, you know, the night before an audition, just panicking and

working too hard and just kind of stressing and going. And sometimes it would work out and sometimes it wouldn't, but my anxiety would really get the better of me. And after, you know, a lot of that, I was able to unpack a lot of that. It's not that I don't get anxious now or I don't get scared, but I understand my responses, my habitual responses to life more now and how they show up in my body, and I've got tools to work with them, to dance with them, to play with them. Yeah. It sort of really shows you the mind-body connection.

I remember when i first started taking her lessons like you know it it's so subtle because i i was in acting school and i i got like one lesson and the late the the teacher didn't really explain what it was because it's kind of abstract you know when they first start teaching you're like she's like just she's like moving my neck around and stuff and i'm like i'm like i don't really get what you're doing right now but then when i started taking with you you really explained what we were doing and then and then it's um it's such a subtle thing but then i started noticing it like like going on stage and stuff and it i was like like after I would get off stage I was like oh like I was I was really kind of present there you know it's like a different kind of

feeling of just being in your body um so yeah I think it's it's it's been hugely beneficial uh for me for sure that's great to hear yeah I think you described it really well like it's one of those things like you asked me to you know tell, tell us what it is. And it's remains Alexander's greatest, like communication challenges to just describe what AT is, you know, to people because it's, it's such a hands on. I mean, for people who haven't heard of it, which is probably most of your listeners, you know, it has two components. One is verbal. You know, we talk about what's going on and see what we notice. And then the other is getting some hands on your body. You know, it's like somebody, an Alexander technique teacher is trained to, you know, work with your head and neck and kind of identify tension patterns and how to release those and how to guide you out of those. You have that experience and it's like, you know, somebody being like, just tell me what chocolate cake tastes like. You know, I want to know. And you're like, you just have to eat some of that.

tell me what chocolate cake tastes like. I want to know. And you're like, you just have to eat some of that. I can't describe it to you. Just have some. When I first encountered it, I was at Leslie Kahn Acting School, which is one of the bigger acting schools in LA. They're tough. They're pretty hard on you there too. I remember when I first got there, I saw

Leslie Kahn break this girl down. She had dyed blonde hair and she looked at her and she was like you look like a cheap marilyn monroe knockoff and everyone in the class was like oh shit and then her assistant was like how long have you been running from yourself and the girl was like totally on skates like just like what is going on here all these people are staring we're all strangers we just surveyed us leslie leaves without saying a word comes back with a red-haired wig and we're all like no she's not going to do this doesn't ask the girl just drops it on her

head and then i swear to god though the whole class after we saw her in the red wave we all went she looked incredible it was totally the right call it was one of the most insane things i've ever seen but it was it made me want to go to school there i was like these people get it uh but i saw i saw at teacher there she took her she was fixing all of our shoulders and heads and she took a girl in our class jamie who was a little who's awesome we work with her she's such a great person she was a little like uh self-conscious and strict with like her body and the teacher tried to move her and she wouldn't let her and so the teacher said i mean i didn't see that but the teacher must have felt it and

the teacher was like let me move you and then you saw uh jamie let go and then the teacher fixed her shoulders into a different position and she looked beautiful we were all like i mean she was beautiful but we were like like a light came out of her. And then she started crying. She started sobbing so hard because she felt so vulnerable. And I remember I was in the class and I was like, I'm next, I want that shit. I know, aren't actors so weird?

Like we always say that, you know, we always say that when we're working with actors, it's like, we can go into an acting class and work with somebody, you know, somebody who's doing their monologue or their scene and it's just not quite hitting, you know? It's like, I go to an acting class and work with somebody who's doing their monologue or their scene, and it's just not quite hitting. You know, it's like I'm just not feeling it or I'm not connected or I'm feeling stuck or scared. And, you know, put some hands on your neck and kind of help you unlock your knees. And suddenly, like, somebody's ugly crying, you know, or, like, laughing hysterically.

And, you know, other actors are like, I want that. Like, I want that. We're, like, the only breed of people who are like, she's ugly crying. Like, I want to ugly cry, too. Yeah, I agree with that. You know? So we always say that. Like, I want that. We're like the only breed of people who are like, she's ugly crying. Like, I want to ugly cry too. So we always say that, you know, and people who are not actors, we call them civilians, you know, and they take our, our AT class, my teaching partner, Jennifer, who by the way, was probably the teacher who was at Leslie Kahn. Cause we work with a lot of Leslie Kahn people. Was it Jennifer Schultz who you worked with? I think it was. Yeah. Burnett lady. Yeah. She's my teaching partner. She's amazing and wonderful, a great teacher. But we

always joke when we're working with civilians and we work with a lot that, you know, people are like, I don't know if I want to ugly cry, but I would like to figure out my back pain, you know? Yeah. We can work with that too. Yeah, right. But I think that's kind of what Alexander is about a little bit is that idea that, you know, we tend to think of ourselves in parts. We've talked about this in lessons a lot, you know, we think, oh, my mind, my body, my hand, my leg, my foot, my back as these individual pieces. And really, like, that's not how we're designed. You know, and part of Alexander's jam was trying to reacquaint us with this idea that we really are a unified whole. We really are an integrated creature that's designed to function as one thing. And when we do that, we're better off.

And that includes our thoughts. Our minds can time travel, but our bodies do not. I think Elon Musk is working on that. At least for now, we can't time travel. But that separation creates a problem. And that's what Leslie Kahn was saying. It sounds like I wasn't there, but in her own way, saying you're disconnected.

You're a little disconnected from who you are are and how do we get you reconnected? And Alexander's one set of tools for that kind of thing. Did that, did it change how you viewed the world too, when you had like a more unified feeling in yourself? Yeah, big time. I mean, like I mentioned, I got into doing it thinking, oh, this will help my acting. I want to have more range. I'd like to be a little more connected to, you know, I also had some voice stuff. Like I didn't feel really connected to my voice. As a young actor, I hadn't quite found it yet as a person and a performer day, it was changing so many things that I didn't expect. You know, like it changed the way I pop up on a surfboard. I totally changed my running gait, what I think about what I'm doing when I'm rock climbing. And probably most importantly, it really changed how I show up in my relationships, which is, you know, that's the really important stuff, you know, really helped me understand my reactions, my triggers as a person and how,

you know, how those things show up and can cause problems in my life gave me some new choices, which was an unintended mega bonus. Yeah. That's huge. So yeah, go ahead. Go ahead. yeah that's huge so yeah go ahead no go ahead so you would be like in your relationship and you would feel like kind of like like an anger spike or something like that and you could kind of

recognize it and then tuck it away or push it in a new direction rather than kind of let it give or what did in a new direction rather than kind of let it give or what did you what do you mean how did it help you in relationships i guess yeah no i think you're hitting on it i think for me what i learned right away when we talked about in your lessons is you know the fight or flight response is a common denominator of all vertebrate animals so if you have a vertebrae you have this fight or flight response it's a good thing you know it's like why we're here like lucky us we're doing this have this fight or flight response. It's a good thing. You know, it's like why we're here. Like lucky us, we're doing this podcast because fight or flight worked and our ancestors survived so we could be here. But it's something that we all experience. And, you know, the fight or flight response without going too deeply into it has this very basic pattern neuromuscularly in

our body, our lano occipital joint, which is the base of your skull, it tightens up and your head pulls back and down on your spine. It's kind of like if you hear a loud noise and your shoulders go up, you know, that feeling of like you're driving and you hear something and you go, oh, and your shoulders come up and your head pulls down. And that's the first part of a two-part response. So what's actually happening in that moment is your spine is coiling in so that then theoretically you can spring into action. So you can fight or flee. So it makes total sense that, you know, in prehistoric times, it's like, oh, we're hanging around the campfire, we're having dinner, and here comes an apex predator. And you go, shoot, and you have that little first part of the fight or flight response,

and you lock up and you assess the situation. And then very rapidly you spring into action, either grab a spear and go fight that bad boy, or you grab the family and run. The problem is in the modern world, like that's how we're wired. Like that's our animal body, but we're not running from apex predators. You know, it's like, we're writing 10,000 fucking emails a day and driving on the 405 or, you know, doing whatever it is that we do. And we have this fight or flight response. So the long answer to your question, JT, but I think what I noticed in my, you know, like my friendships and my marriage, you know, marriage is like, it's a lot of work. It's true what people say. And something could go on and I could notice myself getting pissed off.

And that fight or flight response would be there every single time. And I was like, wow, that's really crazy. You know, it's like something's coming up and I'm getting triggered and which is normal. And I can feel my neck muscles tightening. And then you learn through AT how to kind of let that stuff go. And then the magic carpet of Alexander is, and that really teaches you about the space between stimulus and response, which is a magical zone. Like, you know, our reactions are always, always habitual and our responses are filled with choice. So you can kind of learn to create a little space between stimulus and response, and then you can choose more of what you want and be at the mercy less of, of reaction than habit.

When you observe people, are you just like cataloging? Are you ever just like, that's, they're giving away the stimulus. They're not letting the response get in there. Yeah. I mean, that's kind of like a common question. You know, you ask somebody, it's like going to your dentist, it's like, are you just looking at my mouth and judging me? You know, it's not really a judgmental thing. I mean, I think you do get your spidey senses tuned up to notice that,

like I can stand in a room and be like nine out of 10 of these adults are locking their knees and only breathing three quarters of the way. So it's a little bit of that Jason Bourne element, you know, it's like, I know I can run flat out for however many miles, you know, puking or whatever. But it's just kind of like, these are things that we're all working with, you know, as human beings. And mostly they're little small things. It's like, oh, I stand with one knee locked and collapse in my hip all the time. Or, you know, my head is always tilted to one side when I listen to people, or, you know, whatever, like, there's all kinds of little things. And every person has these little habits, and can be served by finding a little ease and a little release i think yeah i i noticed when

i first started doing it because after my first few uh lessons and i started paying more attention to my body and i was like i was like damn my shoulders are scrunched up 24 7 and it went to you know it's like I'd be sitting down watching like Simpsons on the couch and I'm just like my shoulders I'm like I'm like damn dude it's like and it once you you know I was I think I've corrected it over time you know because I started noticing it and I would like release and it was just like a constant you know releasing them but it is interesting once you start logging in those those habits that you've created over the years yeah yeah for sure like wearing your shoulders as earrings and never knowing that you do that right and then yeah your shape can change you know i don't look

like i can only play loggers and fishermen now because I actually have, you know, like my lats and traps are not holding my skull on top of my spine right now. It's not their job. Yeah. I remember because JT introduced me to you and he told me about when you showed him like sort of the power of Alexander. Maybe JT, you want to explain the power of the walk? Oh, yeah. I mean, I loved all of it so much and i you know i i love it but there was one moment where you showed me how to turn around properly where it was like about uh like rotating your your head around before you turn your body and it was it was like one of those moments that i had in leslie khan where you're just like whoa uh but maybe, I don't know if you could, I hate to put you on the spot,

but. No, not at all. No, not at all. I totally remember that moment because I had a similar epiphany when I was having that lesson. You know, we look in Alexander, we can look at all kinds of, you know, the things that you do that you're really excited about and care about, like you're acting or if you're a musical performer or, you know, whatever, you know, we can work at that. But I also, we really like to work with day-to-day stuff because the other 95% of your life is when you're not performing or, you know, not giving a tech speech or something like that. You know, it's when you're walking around or sitting and standing or, you know, getting up from a chair, you know, that kind of stuff. So walking is one of those that we look at. And it's amazing, like nine out of 10 adults, you know, you see your friend in the grocery store,

whatever, and you bark their name, if they're walking away from you, and they have their back to you, they'll turn their body around without their head turning around. Right? So I mean, like, if you're watching the video, you can kind of see like, you know, if you're listening, it's harder, but you just turn your whole body like in one piece. Right? But if you if you're hanging out with a kid, you know, like a five or six year old, and you're like, my daughter's seven, you know, but she's still pretty, pretty in her body, pretty coordinated. And I'm like, hey, Lolo, you know, what she'll do is she'll hear my voice, and her eyes will begin the movement, they'll go to the right, and then her head will turn, and then her whole body will turn around.

And it doesn't seem special. It just looks normal. But somewhere through the course of life, like we lose that natural innate coordination. And then when we get back to it, like you did, JT, you're like, you have an epiphany. You're like, that's so familiar and so simple and so weird and fun that I've totally lost track of this very basic piece of my coordination, which is like in sports, you know, it's like you watch Brzeznikov do a dance turn. It's like his head turns elegantly to the left. in sports, you know, it's like you watch Brzezinski do a dance turn. It's like his head turns elegantly to the left. You know, you see Kelly Slater do a bottom turn. It's like he goes up the top of that wave and his head turns and leads him

back down the wave. I just watched that 30 for 30 Michael Jordan. It was so good. You know, you watch him dunk from the free throw line and it's like he plants his foot and his head leads in his body. The angle. Yeah. And it's all about coordination. Like it's all about this idea of, you know, human bodies are animal bodies, head leads and body follows.

And most of us are, you know, we just lose track of that. And when you get it back, you can have some pretty cool, pretty fun epiphanies. It's so beautiful too. Because it's like, like you're saying, it's normal. It's like natural. So you feel like you're more in touch with like the vibration of life that we're supposed to be in. And yeah, just. That's well said. That's well said. I think that's really true. Like there's so much subtly

going on with us and in the world and you get a little more tuned into yourself and suddenly you're, I don't know, it sounds a little precious and a little cheesy, but I think it's true. You're just living a little deeper. You're a little more in the moment. I find myself saying all the time in private lessons or working with students in groups that, you know, the Alexander Technique is just a set of tools to really help you exist in the moment, come back to the moment you're in, because that's where the magic happens. And you train a lot of non-actors too, right? I think the dude who used to come in before me was a chef. Yeah, totally.

Yeah. I'm really lucky that somehow I've managed to have a lot. And certainly it's not only actors, but I live in LA and there's 6 million actors living here, you know, myself included. So it's a good, it's a good town to live in. You know, if I was in Montana, my Alexander business would be, you know, pretty slow.

Yeah. I mean, I think some people, you know, in Missoula, people would be hip to it. But I've been really lucky to have a lot of various people. And I think because it's not just for actors. I got a couple therapists I work with, two doctors at UCLA, a chef. You know, it's great for public speaking. You know, public speaking is like the number one human fear.

It's so funny. It's like we fear it more than death, you know, public speaking is like the number one human fear. It's so funny. It's like, we fear it more than death, you know, and it's very helpful with that. And, and some athletes, you know, it's really great to work with your coordination. And I haven't, I'm yet to work with a professional athlete. I'd really like to work with like a baseball pitcher because I think it could be amazing, but I don't think any team's going to let me get in there and mess around with the mechanics of Clayton Kershaw at this point. But Clayton, if you're listening. What do you see in pitching that makes it such a,

like so sports specific that you'd like to do that? Yeah, I mean, pitching is maybe not the perfect example because those guys do spend so much time on their balance and coordination and just really, really honing that. But it's a similar game, you know, like watching pitching is like, how do I get this much torque through my body? How do I get my body to do this? And not just do it once powerfully, but do it over and over thousands and thousands and thousands of time. It has to be about efficiency, you know,

and that's fun. I'm interested in efficiency in human movement and in people, and you can make dramatic changes really rapidly, you know, just through some small, small tweaks. So, because pitching is one primary motion that they, that their sport entails, it kind of gives the most specificity of how you could fix it around and shoot. Yeah. And I mean, I hope it doesn't sound arrogant, but it's like also like you could take a bad free throw shooter. Like that's one, like we were talking about 30 for 30, you know, like Rodman was kind of a notoriously mediocre free throw shooter.

Yeah. An amazing, coordinated, powerful, graceful, awesome, explosive player. But when he got to the free throw line, his coordination really locked up, you know, and that would be one I'd have to stand on a giant stool, you know, to get to Dennis's neck because he's so tall. But, you know, I could get him there and we could really talk through this little idea that, you know, right before he goes to shoot, he really needs to think about allowing his neck to be free so that his head can release up to the top of his spine so that his whole torso can lengthen and widen. And so when he lets that ball go,

it's easier, you know, and that's hard because those guys are so powerful and so strong. It's like, how do you get a little bit more grace going through those fine motor movements? That's so interesting because yeah, when Rodman's in the flow of the game,

when he's in the chaos of the game, he's free and he's just reacting. But then when he gets to the free throw line, the game slows down and it's just him dictating his own motion without any kind of like input output. And then he's just reacting. But then when he gets to the free throw line, the game slows down and it's just him dictating his own motion without any kind of like input output. And then he can't do it as well. Yeah, that's crazy. It's really common.

And I would say a lot of that has to do, I mean, it'd be fun to talk to Dennis about it too because he might be like, screw you, that's not me. He probably has some strong opinions about it too. But I wonder how much of that is that mental game too. You know, when you asked about how Alexander works, I think it has a lot to do with how your thinking affects what you're up to.

You know, like science now, Alexander was hip to all this stuff, you know, like in 1920 and 30. And now there's all this science that backs it up. You know, how you think about how you move affects how you move. Like every single thought that you have is accompanied by a physiological reaction. It could be tiny, but every single one. So if there's some part of your brain that's coming to the free throw line and is occupied with, well, I'm not very good at this. I'm just going to launch it up there and hope for 50-50. That's probably going to be your result. So you kind of got to get in there.

I mean, sports psychologists get paid a lot to do that and i think do that really well um but alexander's i think it's it's got it's got some room to grow in the athletic world yeah yeah you always talk about sort of the idea of taking a pause or like a step back or like your phrase is you have time you know because like if you're like late to a lesson or something and you're just like you can feel your body tensing up and you're like then your thoughts are like you know like i'm gonna be late yeah whatever you know your mind just good and then and i'll like text you i'll be like yeah i'm gonna be like five minutes late and you're like you have time brother and then it's just like you know like i was like it's like uh And then it's just like, you know, like, I was like, it's like, it's such a nice way of looking at things. It's like, you know, I don't need to rush through life so much. I can take a beat and just sort of Alexander tapas for all the stokers listening.

You know, it's like one to take away from your Alexander lesson on the pod today, which you never knew you needed or wanted. That idea of I have time, which is a really common Alexander phrase. But, you know, our minds are always ahead. We're literally ahead of ourselves all the time with our thinking. And if you just think I have time, it's this little mental jujitsu. It actually puts you back in the moment that you're in. And it's super powerful to just pull the reins on yourself like that.

Totally. You're such a lovely person to talk to. And when I would come in, it would be like, we do Alexander, but I would also dump a lot of my emotions out and you would you would help me work through it and kind of like uh you know uh work the lesson plan kind of around where i was at which was really sweet and adaptive and i'm wondering did were you always kind of good at kind of uh you know like guru therapy kind of or just being a good listener at its base was that always something you you were good at and people responded to you that way? Or was that something you grew into? That's a good question. And it's a really nice compliment. First, I'm kind of getting over myself before I try to answer that. I have time.

You know, I think probably a little bit of both. I think part of that is Alexander is like holding space for a student. Like part of the reason why the training is so long is you have to learn how to kind of get yourself organized so you can be present for another person. So that's a big part of it. But I think it's probably, I don't know, how do I say this without tooting my own horn? It's probably just my personality. Like I just hold space for others and I'm sensitive and tuned in and really empathic. You actually asked AT like, how did I change? And I think I'm a super empathic person, you know, meaning like I walk into a room and I can really like feel everybody else's feelings. And that can be really exhausting, you know, really taxing and really exhausting. And I think AT helped me with

some kind of energetic boundaries around noticing that. But when it's one-on-one, when it's in a lesson or a small group class, you know, that whatever that, you know, everybody's got a different kind of, you know, set of intelligences. And I think one of mine is that I can kind of tune into what's going on with you and just hear you. And it's amazing, you know, like I loved all our lessons and those are yours and can remain, you know, private and confidential, but it's like the things that you shared, you know, the things that people share, if we hold space for each other, there's just room for life to come through. And that's, and we need that. Everybody needs somebody to listen to them. It's a lost, lost art. Yeah. It's huge. Yeah. I really appreciate it.

Thanks man. It's great to see you. thanks man it's great to see you yeah it's good to see you too yeah and there is something to every time i go to a lesson because you're such a good combo of like you got like the venice surfer you know with any actor and also intellectual like like every time i you always just spark this this this, a good mood, first of all, but then like a curiosity to just like explore, you know, a lot of like, it'll be like different types of reading or documentaries or just like

expand on my surfing a little bit. Like it's, there's always like a nice combo and I don't know if there's a question in there. That's just like an observation. No, more compliments. Thanks.

Yeah. Yeah. If you're just listening, my face is bright red and I'm weeping. You know, you can't see me, but I'm crying because there's so much stoke. Well, that's the stoke, you know, like that's what you guys talk about. And that's why I love you guys so much. You know, your, your, your mission to raise the stoke, you know, as much fun as you guys have with it, it's a real thing. thing you know it's like yeah you know have being excited

being enthusiastic being enjoyed there's a lot there's a lot of heavy shit going on in the world right now more than ever and there's a lot of beautiful great things to be excited about and we have to find that balance or we'll we'll go bonkers yeah yeah well what are some ways that you boost your stoke? Your favorite methods? Yeah, there's lots. You know, surprisingly, teaching in AT is really fun for me. I really like serving and helping others. But it's really just like a section of my life. You know, like I started off with passions for acting and I still act. You know, I work some in film and TV and that's always really fun when that happens and I'm kind of running around and auditioning and doing that. That always gets

me stoked and helps me walk my walk. I think it's like if you're going to help others perform, you have to remember and viscerally know what it feels like to be going out there to do it well. But I play music and I write songs. I surf a lot. I surf, well, I think of it as a lot. I'm a dad. So, you know, if I get out there, I live in Venice pretty close to the beach. So I hit it like a hundred days a year. You know, sometimes it's like the 30 minute dad power sesh, but something about the ocean really just gets me back where I need to be. So I do those things. I read, I run, I jump rope like, like a crazy man. I've got a weird, like jump rope fetish that I've had since my twenties. I love to love to jump rope. Yeah. Yeah. I did it today. Yeah. Awesome. It's such a good workout. It's, uh, I only did like

10 minutes, 10, one a minute sets with a half pound rope um or i did a couple two or three minute sets but it was i was winded afterwards especially being up at altitude for the first time i was dying yeah you'll come back down here and you'll feel like he-man you know you'll be like yeah yeah and i'll have those super lungs if i get corona won't even know what to do with those strong lungs i got corona's gonna walk right by you it might walk up to you and be like oh not this guy I don't want any of that This guy jumps rope

That guy's a fucking beast Yeah Rona's shaking in her boots right now Oh fuck dude JT Go ahead We had a really interesting conversation about this Thing that you do called man tribe uh actually it's the yeah it's a mankind project actually it's a men's

group men's organization that i've been involved in um for a really long time that's quite quite awesome yeah i did some when i was 19 my godfather who lives up in oregon he got me this weekend training as a high school graduation gift. He'd been doing this men's work for a while. And I was going through kind of a hard time. Like it was the beginning of that hard time I talked about in my early 20s. He was just kind of getting my feet under me. And it was pre that. And he was like, yeah, just come do this weekend thing, you know, show up on a Friday and leave on a Sunday and I'll be there and just come check it out. And I was like, okay, great. You know, when you're 19, you're like, oh, whatever. And I showed up there and it was like a totally transformative life

experience for me at 19. I was pretty young to go on that weekend. I was like the youngest guy on the training, but the Mankind Project is a global nonprofit that does these weekend trainings for men that sort of focus on the gap that we have between, you know, in modern masculinity, which is now even more of like a catchphrase, but it's been around a long time. You know, like this kind of main problem that we as a Western culture don't have, we really don't have a space where we take the boys and say, okay, like, welcome to manhood. You know, now you're a man initiation process, basically. And the Mankind Project does that in a really great way.

There's some Jungian tributaries into it. I think it was started by a Jungian psychologist and a Marine. So anyway, I did that weekend, and it was really powerful. And I've sat in men's circles affiliated with the Mankind Project and with men outside of that organization for years. And it's been really great. Yeah, that's so true. Like you hear about in Spartan culture, like they had to go out and like with like a spear and like kill a wolf or something like that. And I'm sure I have that wrong.

And then, you know, you talk about Vision Quest and Native American culture. And then for us, it's like, what do you have? It's like lose your virginity at prom. It's like the only thing I can think of that's sort of a ritualized entry into masculinity. Yeah. And it's really important. I think that stuff's like baked into our DNA as a creature. Like we're supposed to have that.

And what do we have? You get your driver's license and yeah, you lose your virginity and yeah, you get a job or, you know, you get married and those are all important things. But at what point, you know, do you really take on, yeah, take on that deeper meaning of masculine? And because that's so vague, I think there's a lot of opportunity for men to really struggle and to feel a little lost, you know, emotionally and sometimes your, your inner guidance system and not all men, but I think it can be really powerful for a lot of people to, to get connected and, and in that way. And the mankind project is a good, good place to look for some of that.

I had an acting beef with you too. And I wanted, but I wanted to get beef with you too. But I wanted to get your explanation on it. Okay. Is that we were talking about movies one day and you said that you did think Sean Penn should have won Best Actor for Milk over Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler. Did I say that?

I don't know. Maybe I'm fixing you into that position. Maybe I was like being harder on Sean. I just thought Mickey Rourke's performance in The Wrestler was like head and shoulders But I, but the reason I bring this up is because you gave a great, like substantive and more, uh, it helped my understanding of Sean Penn's performance. I really want to yes. I really want to yes. And your beef, but I don't think I said that. And I want to talk about it cause I love both of those actors, but I don't, the reason

why I don't think I said that like that is because I don't think, I didn't remember that Mickey Rourke and Sean Penn were up for Oscars that same year. Right. They're both amazing. And that wrestler performance is awesome. Yeah, I thought that Sean Penn performance in Milk was amazing. And we talk about it in Alexander a lot because I think, unless I get it confused, it's so long ago now but a year or two before that he was in that

um that other film mystic river right then he's would film and and i might be totally butchering this but if i remember correctly like he's i remember his like physiology so much like i think he's like a guy who's been out of prison and he's reformed but he's super jacked in that performance you know he's really built. And I read an article where he was talking about, you know, if you're playing a guy who's spent a lot of time in prison, a lot of those guys are really beefed up

and they're in that protective mode. You know, we talked about fight or flight and he was like, I wanted to have that kind of presence as this character. And he did it, you know, powerfully and elegantly as Sean Penn can do. And then a couple of years later, it's a total transformation. You know, you know, powerfully and elegantly as Sean Penn can do. And then a couple of years later is a total transformation. You know, you see, like you watch Milk and you're like, where's Sean Penn? Like I heard he was in this movie and he's like

in a completely different body, you know, and it's really, it's really amazing to see. But yeah, I don't know. I mean, Oscars are fun are fun you know it's like fun to kind of like you know play compare but it's it always just seems silly to me it's like yeah like sean penn and mickey it's like i like i like you know steak and i like fish you know it's like just two different animals right yeah yeah when did you first get into acting yeah like like many in high school it's kind of when I got bit by the bug you know I did some plays as a little kid and that didn't really take I was more into playing baseball and sports but I switched high schools in the middle I moved from Oregon to western Montana to Missoula not far from where JT is now and there was just a great public

arts high school there called Hellgate greatest high school name of all time and they had a great drama director and great music department and I went and auditioned for a play I got drugged there by a friend and he said you know come come come try this out you can meet some girls and I said I don't know anybody sounds good and I did a play and then it was just amazing you You know, it was just like, I'd never had that much fun with a group of people before. It was like that real ensemble creativity, just that amazing kind of getting outside of yourself. And if you can experience that when you're 16 or 17, you know, it's so life-changing. And that's a time in your life when you're like, okay, what's next? They really, you know, society's telling you, you need to know what

you're going to do next. And I was like, I was like, there's nothing I like doing more than this. So I'm just going to drive out to LA. I worked construction the summer after my senior year and drove west in my Honda CRX with my 43 belongings and two boxes and showed up to hustle an acting dream. I'm still on it. Yeah. Yeah. And you had kind of a cool story about maybe it

was before you went out west uh where you were pretty much just backpacking is that right in the pacific northwest yeah i had a lot i did a lot of hoboing around as a teen the northwest is pretty pretty friendly for that kind of behavior my My junior year of high school, actually after that year of doing plays, I hitchhiked from Missoula to Seattle and then Seattle down to the Oregon coast where my dad was living. And that was a pretty big adventure. I read some Jack Kerouac, which is either a really good idea or a really bad idea. I still think good, but definitely make you take your life in your hands as a 17-year- But that was an adventure. And I never kind of got that out of my system. I did a lot of hitchhiking and even jump some freight trains and stuff until it became a federal offense after 9-11 to do that.

But I had a little train hopping phase that was pretty great. That's awesome. What were some things that you learned in that sort of adventure you had? I don't know. You know, it's like we were talking a little bit about kind of male initiation. And it's like, I think, you know, my dad's philosophy, he's an amazing guy. You know, he kind of had this long lasting, long lasting philosophy that we coddle boys too long. You know, he's like the time when you really start rebelling in your teens is when you're

trying to get out of the nest. And that's when you, right at the moment, you need to be given a lot more slack and a lot more responsibility that's just like, this is your life to fuck up or make great. I think my dad, now as a parent, I think it's terrifying and it took so much courage, but, you know, he really gave me a lot of rope to kind of go out and be in the world. And so traveling around and hitchhiking, you know, just kind of teaches you this self-reliance and this kind of being in the moment and, you know, meeting new people, assessing danger, you know, being on an adventure. And traveling is great. You know, traveling is like the ultimate expression of being in the moment. You're

outside of what's familiar to you and you got you got to be alive you know when you're when you're traveling around totally did you meet you met your wife traveling right i did yeah good memory jt yeah she was living in new york i was living in la and i was on my way to go take a two-month backpacking solo trip in europe and the the day before I flew to Greece from New York, I flew from LA to New York because it was cheaper to go to Europe from New York. And I was just chilling around trying to meet a couple of buddies from acting school. And Christina was just walking up the street. We met on the street in New York. That's cool. On 17th Street, right above Union Square. I held a door for her at a bookstore cafe. and it was like this total before sunrise romance that ended

up in europe it was it'll definitely be the greatest story of my life for for sure yeah it was cool i i went to greece the next day and that day i was like why don't you just come to europe with me tomorrow you know i'll buy half your ticket i didn't really have enough money to do that she she was like you know you're ted bundy you know i mean're Ted Bundy, you know, I mean, she didn't say that, you know, you could be a murderer, you're up with a stranger tomorrow, but I could tell she was kind of into it, you know, and without being a total creeper, you know, I tried to, you know, convince her. And at the end of that day, you know, we just had like four hours together and kind of a date that night. She was like, you know, I will come with you tomorrow because that's

insane. And I live in New York and have a job, but I'll meet you over there. And I was like, you just named the country and the time, you know, and I'll meet you wherever you want to be. And she was like, okay, how about I come meet you in Spain? You know, after Christmas, I've always wanted to go to Barcelona. So we did, you know, she showed up and I had this crazy, like I got robbed while I was there. And I was like hoboing across Europe, like sleeping under bridges and like stealing food for a couple of weeks, you know, it was just crazy. But it ended up all working out and we ended up in Barcelona at the same time and we've been together ever since. That's awesome.

Amazing. Yeah, you have such a great relationship and family. It seems like you really, it's every time it's always very like inspiring i think uh just sort of that you you really uh i don't know if there's a question in here but i'm just like every time i'm like i'm like oh yeah and nick like nick sort of has like shows what the ideal family man looks like i guess you'd say wow Wow, thanks. That's a huge compliment. Well, it's messy. Family's really messy, but I have two amazing women in my house. I call it a femocracy. I'm the minority party in my house. It's two against one, but they're amazing. They're great. The numbers make a difference. My mom was three boys to one girl. And when she'd

get sad sometimes, she'd go, John Thomas, you don't know what it's like to be the only woman in this house true that true that was i think to me i was like what we watch goodfellas too much like what's the movie who doesn't love it yeah yeah i know we can't see outside the testosterone goggles we're like what you know this this farting and goodfellas you know it's a lot for you to take, this lack of grace. Yeah, I was like, if we were girls, we'd probably be boxing downstairs every day too, mom. Don't put people into roles like that. I love it. Do you want to answer some questions from the Stokers?

Yeah, absolutely. A hundred percent. Sweet. All right. First one. Hey, Chad and JT and Strider and Joe, if they're on. I'm a lady Stoker and this bro I don't know very well messaged me and asked me to start a pod with him. He's tried to hit me up before, just in general,

not about trying to start a pod, and I have rejected. I'm not too stoked about this guy. Is this just another tactic to hit me up, start some form of relation? He has experience with hosting a pod, but I don't even know what our conversation would be about. Maybe Manscaped would sponsor us too. Anyways, thanks for the tips. Stay stoked. Man, you guys are the podcast experts. I'd leave that one in

your court. No, I would say if you don't have much of a relationship with the guy, he's probably not the one to start a pod with. You know what I mean? You want to do it with someone who you have a great amount of rapport with, someone you really respect. And, you know, I think it's cool he wants to start a pod, and it seems like you want to do one, but maybe there's a better fit for you. Yeah. I heard that there's some intuition in there, too. You know, women have really good

intuition. Talk about their survival instinct. If you get a weird vibe, just say no. Baleski, for sure. Yeah. On top of that you know a pod is a sacred thing you know and you don't want to I think if you do

want to start a pod you'll know when you find your compadre and yeah like Nick and JT said you know if you have a weird vibe you know don't go through with it you know you want to make sure that it's special and that you'll have nice rapport so yeah life's too short to be in a band with people you're not stoked on yeah good call did you watch the eagles documentary i haven't seen it yet i'd love to check it out it's about ducks yeah it's like they just hated

each other so much at the end and they And they have great footage of them fighting on stage when the band's breaking apart, where like Glenn Frey's just yelling at him. I forget who the bassist is. He's like, I've been paying your bills for too many years, motherfucker. He's just done. Man, the Eagles. Yeah, I love them.

Take it easy. What up, dudes? I wanted to ask you guys, particularly JT, about some anxiety-related stuff. Since I started listening, I periodically hear JT's experience with anxieties, and it's something I can relate to, which was a part of what got me hooked on the pod. With me, it's usually just that my mind will immediately jump to the worst possible outcome in a number of regards. It's not totally overwhelming, generally speaking, but it comes around every now and then and can be pretty tough. regards. It's not totally overwhelming, generally speaking, but it comes around every now and then can be pretty tough. Outside of seeing a therapist, which is a bit difficult to do right now, I wanted to get your guys' advice on some healthy habits and practices that I can try out to help nip this thing in the bud. I work out on a regular basis, can definitely do it more often. And I've tried out things like the Calm app and breathing exercises, which do help, but for whatever reason, get out of the routine of doing them. What are some things I can do to help get myself into more of a routine and maintain discipline in these healthy habits? Thanks, dude out of the routine of doing them. What are some things I can do to help get myself into more of a routine

and maintain discipline in these healthy habits? Thanks, dude. Love the pod. Keep staying stoked. Yeah, wow. I mean, that sounds like you're doing all the right things. You know, I hear that. It's like we all could use some therapy and a therapist, and sometimes that feels a little out of reach. Although I do think the cost and the price to be able to reach out and work with a counselor, even like virtually now is

getting cheaper and cheaper and cheaper, which is awesome. And it should be that way because mental health is such an important thing. Yeah, but short of doing that, I think that's, you know, meditation, exercise, watching your diet intake, you know, it's kind of crazy to think about, you know, different foods can really exacerbate your anxiety. So it's funny, it's funny to think about nutrition being an important part of your mental balance, but I definitely subscribe to that. Yeah, I keep hunting around to see if you can find some support and get some other people in your corner to help you process through that, through that darkness or how your mind just kind of goes, goes one way. that through that darkness or how your mind just kind of goes goes one way yeah i um

it's it's sort of being uh knowing yourself in a sense to so sort of know what your triggers are and sort of identifying certain things that like like i had a lesson with nick friday morning and i woke up like all this kind of anxiety i didn't sleep enough you know and I was like and a lot of times it's just forcing yourself to get out get in nature start moving and that's you know I just Nick lives by the pier so I just went to the pier and I just paddled for like an hour and you know I was like it just sort of helped ease a lot of the anxiety i had so um and then diet too on top of that it's so basically identifying certain things that you can always reach to and also forcing yourself to get up get into your body and get moving i think is usually a good antidote and also i was uh so a lot of times when i've been doing a lot of work or something, like, the weekend will come around and I'll, like, you know, I want to treat myself. And, like, you know, like a month ago, I was, like, I'm going to get a big bag of Fritos.

And, or other times it'll be partying or whatever. And, you know, because I think, like, the reward receptors or whatever in my brain will be like, you deserve this. This is going to be good. But then like, you know, I got those Fritos and, and it,

it, like you're saying about nutrition, it totally turned on the, the, the, the wheels started turning. And I was like, I was like,

Oh, I feel worse than when I was just staying healthy and just working, you know? So I think it's sort of knowing that about yourself. Like, and I did go back to the grocery store last saturday and i saw a bag of fritos and i was just staring at the fritos for like 30 seconds i was like do i want to treat myself but then i went back and remembered when they fucked up my you know day i was like your digest yeah my digest

and i was like no i'm I'm going to get salmon. So, yeah, I think it's just that sort of mental discipline, knowing yourself, trying to monitor. Sometimes it's uncontrollable, but monitoring your thoughts and forcing yourself to get out there and get moving and sort of try and physically wash away the anxiety. My voice just cracked. It's beautiful. When it cracks. try and physically wash away the anxiety. My voice is cracked. Beautiful. When it cracks.

We love you just the way you are. Yeah. So I, you know, I have a ton of anxiety and I go to therapy and I'm medicated and I meditate and I work out and, and some stuff it works for a bit and then it stops working and you got to try something else

and so there's a saying that a guy and when i haven't been going in a while but a guy at sex addicts used to say try more shit if shit's not working try more shit try different shit so like for me i was doing transcendental meditation that stopped working then i moved to the calm app then that stopped paying dividends and now i'm doing doing Wim Hof breathing and that's been working great. So it's fucking exhausting. And it sucks that we have to try on so many different fixes for this stuff. Like, you know, I went through like five medicines before I found one that worked, you know, it wasn't all bad in between, but it can get dispirited. And it's like same with relationships. Like you're trying to find the right girlfriend. You go through a couple of different girls and you're like, this shit's impossible, but you just got to keep

going and, you know, go easy on yourself because it's a long process and you'll figure it out your heart's in the right place i would definitely say therapy's good and then also uh i don't do this enough but it helped me a lot initially is like reading novels i think especially novels from like really great writers like i I'm reading Haruki Murakami right now. And all those guys, all those writers, they have so much anxiety. They got more anxiety than we'll ever have, I think. And then they filter it through this like gentle absurdity. And it just, it tweaks the way you experience the world in a really, like after I read a chapter, I'll just be like floating through the day. And everything's kind of takes on a

funny quality to me, which is really, uh, just a nicer way to, to see things. So I would, I would try that, man.

I'd read, I'd read some short stories from like, yeah, Haruki Murakami or Michael Chabon or, or, uh, who's, who's like another,

and he's kind of sad, but George Saunders. And I think it'll, it'll, it'll, it'll help. Yeah. And then, yeah, just keep, and keep Saunders. And I think it'll help. Yeah. And then, yeah, just keep writing into us.

That helps too, is just writing it out. Yeah, reading has such a, and I've discovered this in the Q team, it has such a stoke-boosting power. And actually, Nick and I talked about this in the education system. They treat reading as if it's a burden. They're like, oh, you got to read Mark Twain. And it took me a while to really appreciate reading for just how powerful it really is. And just it works your brain in new ways and just especially

yeah like i've been reading some i used to not read fiction at all i started reading fiction in the qt and it's just like like jt was saying it just makes you think a little bit differently and it just uh makes you feel good it's kind of funny how we sort of forget how like art is there for like a bomb for how hard living can be. You know, it's like, oh, like art was created, you know, for the artist to express themselves, but also to help me feel better about being alive. You know, I say like, I love it. It's like, go buy some short stories. Go buy Miles Davis's Sketches of Spain and listen to that thing cover to cover, you like yeah take it take it get some art in your life you know and it can really it can really help my brother and i listened to hamilton through front to back on the drive out here i mean

i'm crying i'm fist pumping i'm like you know this guy lin-manuel miranda he's kind of a dork as an actor but he's a fucking genius. He's a genius. I'm just like, whoa. It's nice to be in someone like that in their hands. You feel safe and shit. He's amazing, man. I think I'm going to do my quote of the week too. You lent me that great short story collection from Sam Shepard.

Oh, yeah. I still have it, so I will bring it back to you promptly yeah you get some library late fees on that bro i'm sorry dog you're you're forgiven i forgot you had it i like giving books away for that reason it's like here's some here's some helpful helpful dope for life take this yeah well what's that phrase oh go ahead no you go you go what's that phrase you always use for um when you read like a really great author, it blows up your brain. Is that what you say? Yeah, maybe that sounds like something I'd say.

This totally blows up your brain. Read some Steinbeck and it'll blow up your brain with their thoughts. Oh, is that what got you? Is Nick who got you into Steinbeck? I always talk to Nick about reading. He got me into Steinbeck. But it's more so just the idea of reading. He sort of reshaped it in my mind. I always liked reading, but I never really, you know,

cultivated the discipline to do it every day until the Q team pretty much. Like I would read, you know, four or five books a year, but it was, you know, or five books a year but it was you know when i was on planes and stuff i never really developed the habit of making it a daily thing yeah it's good for you highly nutritious living right there right yeah it's the best what's up guys i'm interrupting this podcast to let you know once again that we are brought to you by manscape manscape thank you so much for keeping our trims pubed, for looking after our hogs, for making sure that our dongs are looking fresh and clean. Because when you go see a new neighborhood and you see a freshly cut lawn versus a not so freshly cut lawn,

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have nose and ear hair um situations that you're trying to eradicate to be candid i was trimming mine right before we did this because you know you got to trim your nose hairs before a podcast because people can hear that you know right here your nose hairs yeah yeah i'm definitely gonna get one of those weed whackers nice nice we'll get you one for sure yeah dude i i need a better way to do it because like i told you i do it manually via my uh my fingers so it's a pretty painful process but the pain also lets me know I'm alive. But it's, I mean, there's got to be a better way. Yeah. I think the weed whacker, I mean, I tried it, you know,

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back to the show. Nice dude. Um, all right, let's kick it off with some beef babes and legends chat. What's your beef of the week, my friend did. I,

for my beef of the week this week, I just kept it to straight up beef and i'm gonna go with the grass-fed steak i ate on saturday um i got it ralph's there's a ribeye put in the pan seared it i believe that's the right term and you know i made it medium rare i I put some Liam Perrin's Worcestershire sauce on there, and it just boosted my stoke for at least four hours. And I think I felt so good about it that I didn't even have, like, a proper beef to beef with because of it. So that's why for my beef, I just went with straight-up beef, and that's what's up. Nick, what's your beef of the week? Man, you just totally changed my whole mind game around thinking about beef is something positive now. I mean, I was just like... That was one of the first times.

That was a paradigm shift. That was powerful. That was really powerful. Yeah, my beef, I mean, I got to go, it's heavy, but I got to go with systemic racism. I know that sounds a little kind of like on the political nose, but, man, we're living it on the nose right now. Lame. It's 2020. We're still going through this stuff. It's kind of a perma beef, but no bueno.

I want us to be better. I want us to grow, see each other and ourselves, and just move forward forward that's my beef no well said yes yeah thank you my my beef of the week is uh from dan carlin he does a podcast called hardcore history and it's this uh interesting beef in munster germany during like a a time of great like religious revolution i think it was like the original martin luther uh time and uh this cult ended up taking over this city in germany called munster and the leader was this guy jan matthias and he was out there like he was a big fat crazy guy who would have like religious inspiration in the moment like it hit by spirits and then just like

spew gibberish and he got people believing in him and of course he did all the typical cult leader things and he uh you know expelled the old leadership he boned everybody's wives and he uh killed people who dared question him but here this isn't even a beef actually i kind of like this guy despite all that stuff because at a certain point he takes over the whole city and a rival army is out there. I guess this is the beef part, him and the rival army. And they're waiting for him. And he goes out there with 11 other men on horseback wearing ill-fitted armor and a sword. And he charged this army full speed ahead through caution of the wind because he really believed that he was ordained by God to be king of this area. He wasn't one of these fake ass, when the going gets tough, I'm ready to bail.

He charged the enemy army with the power of God inside of him. They ended up killing him and sticking his head on a pipe. But I just, I love the courage, dude. I love the true believer-ness of it. I got to respect it. He's a true believer. He really believed he was, him and God were homies. And, you know, in a world of fakers, it's nice that there's a young Matthias every once he was him and god were homies and you know in a world

of fakers it's nice that there's a young matthias every once in a while who it's the real deal it's so epic get that guy on the pod where is he yeah yeah find that guy find his spirit i want to hear from him i heard he charged into heaven after that on a horse and he tried to fight god got his ass whipped but he just keeps coming yeah he's raging he's the sisyphus that just taken it to the man yeah just that hill on a horse yeah do you have any details on on how soon into his charge he got killed yeah i think they said he went like he's a fat dude too so he's bouncing all over that horse he wasn't even looking elegant like you picture a hero you know this was not this was not the late great heath ledger and the knight's tale just you know beautifully coasting towards rufus sewell like

this was dude this dude was bouncing out of his reins i don't know i wonder what the other guys saw like did he get all the way to the other side the whole army's like what the fuck is this guy doing and then one just barely did just walked in and was like shut up or maybe they were a little scared i'd be scared if a guy charged my whole army with just 11 of his buddies i'd be like every one of these guys is like a navy seal but i think when he got up close they were like no this dude's not a navy seal he had like cheeto dust on his lips and stuff yeah and yeah a little small. He was a small. Yeah, he was a small. Chad, who is your babe of the week?

Oh, dude. So, yeah, mine's kind of food themed for these two. I'll go with the pastrami Reuben I got today. Dude, I got from Cantor's Deli. Always nice to support a small biz. It's called a small biz, right um it's it's an l an la institution uh over on fairfax i got pastrami reuben and it was delicious you know i love sauerkraut i love rye bread i love pastrami i love uh freaking horseradish all that good stuff was there horse radish on there i don't even know

but anyways it was delicious and i just was like i was eating it i was watching the simpsons eating it i was like this is my babe it's my babe for sure today so that's awesome dude canters uh during the protest because they happened right there you know and they were there that the day it got gnarly and it spilled into looting and stuff. Yeah. Everybody else closed down shop and they were handing out waters all night. That's awesome. Yeah.

Or handing out waters all day, rather. Yeah. Yeah. Good spot. Nick, what's your Babe of the Week? Who's your Babe of the Week? Man. I mean, when I think babe, obviously it's probably no fun for your listeners, but I think about my babes at home, you know, my wife, Christina, and my daughter, Lolo.

Those are kind of like the only babes I need. They're epic. But then I was thinking about, you know, when was the last time somebody asked me, you know, like, what's your babe of the week? I was like, this is a real opportunity. So I was thinking about it and digging deep, you know, and I realized, you know, who's an epic babe who's really going through it right now is the Statue of Liberty. You know, she's an epic babe who's really going through it right now is the Statue of Liberty. She's an epic babe. She's a historical epic babe who stands for great things, and she's really taking a hit right now.

So I just want to shed a little light on the Statue of Liberty. She's my babe of the week, and I hope we can turn it around for her and really be what we're supposed to be about. Dude, super underrated bit. Cause not only an absolute smoke show, but just an absolute dime of a personality too. Yeah. Yeah.

I've frequently been on that tugboat or whatever that takes you past the Statue of Liberty. I'm like one day I'm gonna work out the courage to ask you to coffee, baby. And she's got that salty beach babe look too. Who's going to date the Statue of look too yeah who's gonna date this statue of liberty like who's good enough for her yeah totally yeah yeah she's amazing yeah who's good if jesus if the jesus statue in argentina was allowed to date

i was gonna say like chris evans yeah him too he's got a good personality and he's hot yeah my my babe of the week is uh i watched the wrong missy the david spade movie on netflix and lauren lapkus with a comedic tour de four performance for the ages dude she's incredible and you know for years she's been touted as like the best comedian in los angeles you know she was like top dog at ucb and i don't think she ever got like a perfect movie part for herself until this one and she gets to have just wild fun and her line readings are always inspired and she's just wacky goofy brilliant it was it was really really fun to watch her in that yeah and you know it's kind of you know it's a it's a sandler jam so it's like not the you know, it's a, it's a Sandler jam. So it's like not the, you know, you're not watching to use another French phrase, force

majeure, that movie, but I don't know, man, I had a fucking ball. She's whipping, she's whipping heat in that movie. I loved watching her at UCB. Yeah. She's great, right? She's great. Yeah. Yeah.

She's awesome. Chad, who's your legend of the week uh so my legend of the week is this lawyer uh featured in the movie just mercy which i recommend everyone go see um it's on yeah it's it's out on video on demand now uh this lawyer brian stevenson which is the movie is based on it's a guy harvard lawyer uh who went down to alabama to fight for people who were wrongly um put on death row and it's just it's really inspiring it it's that movie i think is a great example of the power of cinema to really give you like jt always use that quote of like um uh from roger ebert that's like film is a vehicle for empathy is that what

it is yep and uh i watched that you know and in the midst of all the things that are going on that it's it's films like that really give you a deeper understanding of what people go through and it just yeah it just wrecked me and those those stories of people who have been who are innocent and have been put on death row i mean it's just heartbreaking so uh i just want to give a shout out to this lawyer who's had some success and let's help people who are innocent um get back out there and get their freedom back so just wanted to give him a shout out he's a legend beautiful yeah that's awesome that's awesome yeah that was a good flick yeah the execution scene too oh and then you find out people have been found innocent after they were executed it's like one

in nine yeah and to me it's like if you're if you're bricking that even once if you break that one out of a thousand times it's enough if you kill one in this in person we got to stop it it's done yeah yeah you just can't have nice things you've proven that you don't you can't handle this yeah yeah um it's really sad yeah nick who is your legend man talk about something that wrecked me i gotta go with with that young man from Florida, Kedron Bryant. He was that young guy who sang that song and blew up everybody's heart and the internet. I think his mom is maybe a choir director and she wrote a song and he sang it about being a young black man. And I saw it and I was just so moved. And then a couple of days later,

And I saw it and I was just like so moved. And then a couple of days later, my wife and daughter were watching the CNN, like Sesame Street town hall thing that they did for kids and parents around, you know, how do we talk about what's going on in the world right now? And I thought it was pretty great. But they played his clip again and had him on and I was in the kitchen making dinner and I heard that song and I saw his face and I was just like crying in the stir fry. It's just so beautiful. His voice and that, that pain and that pathos and that message. I was just, you know, that,

that kid's a legend. He's, he's got, he's got my attention this week. Powerful. Nice. Nice. I have kind of a sad legend, but, but this person needs to be honored. It's Richard Bain. He's my legend of the week. He was a comedian in Los Angeles who tragically passed away, took his own life, which is way too common in this walk of life that we're in.

But he was truly funny. Like a lot of people can work to get funny or they're funny one way or they're, I don't know. It's, it's, it can be, it's rare to find someone like him who's just inspired and funny all the time. Every time he took the stage, it didn't have to be planned. It just came out of him. He just had a funny soul.

And someone else said this, like you just wanted him to like you. And that was really the vibe he gave off. He, he just was so funny. Someone told a story about how he came on stage, ate a banana, dropped it. And then after a 30-minute set, when he walked off, he slipped on the banana. Like, he would, you know, just goofy, but smart and just so funny. And honestly, it just never got the notoriety he truly deserved. Like he should be a household name on level with Chris Farley and John Kenny.

Like, I mean, he was that funny. He was that genius. And it's sad that he's gone. And, you know, it made me sad. It made me think that like maybe going into comedy can create more of those sad outcomes. But then this other comedian who I really admire, Jesse Case, who's a hilarious guy who battled through cancer and got through the other side of it. And as a tough dude, he said, uh,

don't, don't think of it that way. I think that comedy actually saved these people and it kept them around longer than we might've ordinarily had them. And I thought that was a really nice way to, to look at it. So Richard, I'm sorry,

you're gone. You were, um, yeah, just breathtaking to watch. And, and you know, you're gone. You were, um, yeah, just breathtaking to watch. And, and you know, the world's not as great without you,

buddy. Um, all right. It's great legend. Chad, what's your quote of the week? Well, I'm going on the Van Wilder theme here.

Yeah. Uh, Nick, uh, I'm on, I'm on like, this is like my fourth pod doing a van wilder quote sick commitment and it was um is after taj was found to be using a penis enlargement pump

and van looks at me he goes now repeat after me no cock pump i just thought that was a good take on small dong shame you know it's like you don't need a cock pump you know be proud of your dog it's beautiful the way it is you don't need a pump you know to put in there so yeah stokers repeat after me no cock pump I spent months in seventh grade trying to track one of those things down. Just months. Burning life. That's a great quote. Talk about efficiency, man. That's, you know, three words, the power of language right there. Do you have a quote of the week, Nick? do you ready for this i'm just kind of sticking with the heavy dope because this is what's on my mind in my heart this week those who love peace must learn to organize as effectively as those who love war mlk damn awesome i, that's like the mic drop right there for me.

Crazy. My quote of the week is a monologue. I'm sure you know it well. This is like a go-to monologue for people, but it's Vince's from Buried Child by Sam Shepard, who is probably my favorite playwright. And plays are a great thing to read because you can bang them out in like an hour. And it's not as big of a burden as a novel. So I would

strongly recommend those. But this is him towards the end and his family can't remember him. It's kind of surreal. And then he tries to get away from them because they're all incest-y and psychopaths and they're kind of violent. And he says, I was going to run last night. I was going to run and keep right on running, clear to the Iowa border. I drove all night with the windows open, the old man's two bucks flapping right on the seat beside me. It never stopped raining the whole time. Never stopped once. I could see myself in the windshield, my face, my eyes. I studied my face, studied everything about it as though I was

looking at another man, as though I could see his whole race behind him, like a mummy's face. I saw him dead and alive at the same time, in the same breath. In the windshield, I watched him breathe as though he was frozen in time, and every breath marked him, marked him forever without him knowing. And then his face changed. His face became his father's face. Same bones, same eyes, same nose, same breath. And his father's face changed to his grandfather's face. And it went on like that, changing. Clear on back to faces I'd never seen before but still recognize. Still recognize the bones underneath.

Same eyes, same mouth, same breath. I followed my family clear into Iowa, every last one. Straight into the Corn Belt and further. Straight back as far as they'd take me. Then it all dissolved. Everything dissolved, just like that. And that two bucks kept right on flapping on the seat beside me. I don't even know where that comes from. So good. That's Sam Shepard, man. And there's just thousands and thousands of pages of his like that, straight out of his subconscious. Man, he's the greatest. We love Sam Shepard.

Chad, what's your phrase of the week for getting after it? This is what the, the astronauts on the SpaceX Falcon said. And they also, I believe it's one of the first Apollos, Apollo missions. They said this before they launched said let's light this candle that's awesome that's it very cool nick what's your phrase that we forget after it man i don't know i didn't really dig up one of those but as you were talking about that getting after it i was just thinking about

this amazing film i saw a couple days ago called by Hand about these guys, the Higginbotham brothers. Did you hear about them? No. Two California twin bros in their mid-20s decided it would be a good idea to paddleboard, prone paddle, you know, which is like on your belly without the paddle, from Alaska to San Diego. What? Unsupported. And there's an amazing movie about them that just came out. It's called By Hand. And I mean, I was thinking about those guys as legends, but that whole thing is just like them

getting after it. You know, and you hear them talking about it and they're like, yeah, we're just going to do this. Like, sounds hard, but you know, we're just going to paddle from Alaska to San Diego. No problem. That's amazing. Yeah. That's like, that's type type two fun have you guys heard about this differences between fun like type one fun is where you have fun the whole time and type two fun is where you suffer through it but when you remember it it's it's really fun yeah like you do it more for their memory of it yeah yeah that's really interesting laird's a good example of the type two fun master yeah yeah or win how about him or win yeah i'm just gonna swim under this ice for four and a half days and then come out and feel amazing afterwards

yeah yeah yeah that paddling that distance uh paddling from for two lifeguard towers in venice really put that into perspective how difficult that that is. Cause yeah. I mean, how do you even get in shape for that? Yeah. They looked pretty buff. I think they were like lifeguards and like they did some Ironman and stuff, but I think you're smart. I think it's good to like go out and paddle for 25, 30 minutes and then decide if you want to try to do, you know,

3000 miles, like you should do it first. Yeah. These bros are up to it they're amazing yeah that's awesome my uh i have another kind of like uh kind of like existential quote mine is from uh i think maybe at for a time this is my favorite song of all time it's bruce springsteen's atlantic city and uh this album is it's from his album nebraska which you know he does big bombastic rock but then he stripped it way down for nebraska and he just ended up recording it on like an a track or something in his kitchen so it's just him on the guitar and so the whole album costs like a thousand bucks for him to record and and a lot of people think it's his best album it's really dark and sad and

has great storytelling in it and atlantic city's kind of got the best hook of all of them and it's really dark and sad and has great storytelling in it and atlantic city's kind of got the best hook of all of them and it's a really the hook is so good he says well now everything dies baby that's a fact but maybe everything that dies someday comes back put your makeup on fix your hair up pretty and meet me tonight in atlantic city so yeah put your makeup on fix your hair up pretty meet me tonight in atlantic. That's my phrase of the week for getting after it. Bruce. Yeah. He's a legend. All right.

Well, cool. Nick, thanks so much for coming on. Oh, it's been so good to be with you guys. Honored and fun. And this is great.

Thanks. Yeah. This is, we got to have you back on. Yeah. I'm ready. It's so nice to talk to you. That's great.

That's great. You guys will let me know when you need some more Nico Stoke I'll bring it anytime I'll be back soon For some To learn how to properly apply some Yabba Oh yeah you gotta have that Coral Safe stuff man

You gotta have some of that Is that better than sunscreen? It's Coral Safe Nice Next time I have Viking blood You got to have some of that. Is that better than sunscreen? It's coral safe. Nice. Coral safe, yeah, bro. Because Nick said I have Viking blood, so I got to protect it. Yeah, bro.

If that Viking blood burns, it won't bronze. So you got to take care of that. Thank you, yeah. Don't make any rookie mistakes with that epic class five bronze you have. Thank you. I need those reminders. AJT, you say hi to Montana for me too, all right?

I will. I'm going on a nice epic hike and when I get to the top, I'll say Nick says hello. Amazing. Amazing. Yeah, I really will do that. Yeah. It's good to see you.

Yeah, good to see you. Good to see you guys too. Thanks again. Yeah. All right. Thanks, good to see you. Good to see you guys too. Thanks again. Yeah. All right. Be well. Thanks, guys. Bye.

See you later. See you later. If you need advice These guys are really nice You wanna know What to do Where to go. When you need someone to guide you, there's no step out of the road beside you. I'm going deep.

I'm going deep. I'm going deep. I'm going deep. I'm going deep I'm going deep