The Unmade Podcast - 45: Dead Genius

Episode Date: May 23, 2020

Tim and Brady discuss Patreon impeachment, music renditions, dead geniuses, passions, horses, and a lot about Idaho thanks to 'Tall Jeff'. Support us on Patreon - maybe you'll impeach us! - https://www.patreon.com/unmadeFM Join the discussion of this episode on our subreddit - https://redd.it/gp58y6 USEFUL LINKS Zach plays The Sofa Shop on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aS3mRFSNxag Money for Nothing by Dire Straits - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTP2RUD_cL0 The Tim's Waveform T-Shirt on Teespring - https://teespring.com/dire-strums-unmade-podcast C.S. Lewis - Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._S._Lewis C.S. Lewis books on Amazon - https://amzn.to/3gcncHD Tim at C.S. Lewis's grave - https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5990824849fc2b4c4fe4211b/1590170839145-X9532OFPRCBG73Y3VLZ4/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kOocpZx0xlvWaMfujuqmZxF7gQa3H78H3Y0txjaiv_0fDoOvxcdMmMKkDsyUqMSsMWxHk725yiiHCCLfrh8O1z5QHyNOqBUUEtDDsRWrJLTmujyyI7Frso6MRdplGTbhDuXZECgQPB9cqfz5W6M2bbtdO48clcURN-OsvwxYNGXR/IMGP0612.jpeg?format=2500w Brady visits Charles Messier's grave - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3-hwKQqy0I And his videos on Messier Objects - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9FC5F6773B383D5 Père Lachaise Cemetery - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Père_Lachaise_Cemetery Brady's Objectivity videos about Isaac Newton - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLd5y2WfrtsPrH7Al55_dTYcOQ556LzeYR Pic of Tim's Dog Spindles - which we discussed in episode 18 also - https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5990824849fc2b4c4fe4211b/t/5bbe7293f4e1fc93bd98126e/1539207838368/spindles.jpg Wallace, Idaho - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace,_Idaho Idaho State Seal - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idaho#/media/File:Seal_of_Idaho.svg Idaho State Seal coloured in by Tim's family - Patreon bonus content - https://www.patreon.com/posts/37438187

Yeti stereo microphone. Well done. There we go. And the waveform looks good. Looks great. Looks great. It's my voice. It's great.

We've literally marketed it and sold this waveform. I'm wearing that T-shirt right now of your waveform. I'll come to that in a minute, though, because I want to talk about that. My first idea for a podcast, though, is called Lawnmowers Near Brady's House Right Because I feel like every time we start recording Every lawnmower within a one mile radius of my house seems to start Oh yeah

So we could just record them and play them And people can like just have their favourite Oh yeah That's Bill at number eight He's got a great lawnmower That's right I have a little bit of housekeeping as usual. First of all, can I welcome into the warm bosom of our Patreon supporters,

all the new people who've signed on lately. Yes, yes. We've had a real bump of people because obviously Tim's shortly going to be doing a reading of our Patreon supporters and we've got all sorts of things planned. We're really trying to make that how the podcast works and to do that we've got some really cool plans so thank you everyone who's been going to patreon.com slash unmade fm and chipping in even the smallest amount because that's gonna you know help us keep making the show welcome to the journey welcome to the to the journey the journey the journey it is a journey it's more of a i consider it more of a hard slog but yeah journey is another way to

put it man it's the greatest show in town does it come with voting rights like if if the patrons got together and voted like for like new hosts would we have to abandon well let's not i don't think that i don't think they can, like, impeach us, but occasionally there will be votes. Like, I have done it before. Like, if I'm not sure what title to give an episode and I decide to do, like, a little poll, Patreon is where I'll do that. So it's the Patreon supporters that decide things like that

as well as other little bonuses. And, you know, they can make suggestions. But impeachment is not something that is on the table at this stage for fear that could happen very quickly. Oh, lucky. Yes. Another thing I just wanted to point out. I mean, anyone who's listened to episodes of this show in the past will know that we're a little bit partial to a jingle called The Sofa Shop. For those of you who have never heard it before, it goes a little something like this.

The Sofa Shop is your only stop for the sofa you need. of you who have never heard it before, it goes a little something like this. Use your fabric, match your curtains too. The sofa shop ain't gonna cost what you think it will. Don't you do a thing until you see the sofa shop. And just recently, we had a civilian named Zach perform his own rendition of The Sofa Shop on the piano. Incredible. Zach is quite the pianist. So we thought we'd share that with you. Here it is. Not bad, hey, Tim?

Incredible. Beautiful. I mean, it brings back memories of Tim's rendition of Money for Nothing. Any excuse. Any excuse. But I'll tell you what, Tim, something interesting. Obviously, the real Money for Nothing solo doesn't go like this. It actually goes like this.

Okay. Yeah. I bet that wasn't his first take. So anyway, funnily enough, I got in touch with Zach of SofaShop Piano Fame and I said to him, Zach, why don't you have a go at Money for Nothing on the piano? The famous solo. Would you like to hear an exclusive? This is an Unmade Podcast exclusive.

Would you like to hear Zach, his version of the Money for Nothing solo? Yes. Yes, I would. Yes, I would. Here it comes, Tim. All right. For you, I'm going to play it off my phone, but the civilians will hear it at better quality. But here it goes. So So So

So So So So So So So So

So So So Well, I mean, that was a very faithful rendition, wasn't it? He didn't take some of the experimental side avenues that I like to think I brought to my performance. Tim's trademark false start. That's a classic. I've never even, look, I've never even heard Mark Knopfler do a false start like I did.

More avant-garde. I like that we've just played this fantastic piece of piano playing by Zach and you're still just praising your work. I think it's more defence than praise. But that is impressive. That was beautiful. That was truly something. On you, Zach.

Much appreciated. I have to say, though, he doesn't have a lot. I mean, there's a lot to... In terms of his original performance, The Sofa Shop is one of the great melody lines of all time. I didn't think you could improve on the sofa shop theme and I still don't think you can, but if anyone came close, it's Zach.

He did. He did. That's it for housekeeping and I'll let Tim play us out. I literally went, what? I don't have my guitar. Oh, he's doing that again. What? I don't have my guitar.

Oh, he's doing that again. You can get Tim's solo, the waveform of that solo by Tim, as a T-shirt, which I am wearing at the moment. And I have to say, when you don't know what it is, that you don't know it's like, you know, my mate playing a crappy bit of guitar, it just looks like a cool T-shirt. It looks like it's like, you know, my mate playing a crappy bit of guitar. It just looks like a cool t-shirt. It looks like it's like, you know, is that like a Radiohead t-shirt or it looks like a cool band t-shirt when you don't know what it is.

So, yeah, have a look at it, people. That's what people often say about my guitar playing. Going, look, it doesn't sound that great, but it would look great on a t-shirt. Going, look, it doesn't sound that great, but it would look great on a T-shirt. Tim's guitar playing is best appreciated as a T-shirt. Well, I think the false starts, you know, space out the little waveforms nicely into a nice pattern. In fact, when you were playing it, you didn't even care what it sounded like. You were thinking, how's this going to look on a T-shirt? That's right.

That's right. That's right. That's right. I see music. It's a synesthesia. I see t-shirts. I go- I go- I go to a concert and all I see are t-shirts floating in front of my face. That's right. That's how I- that's how I absorb music.

Like, people who, like, you know, smell sounds and like taste things when they see things. Tim just sees t-shirt designs when he plays the guitar. That's right. That's right. That's right. We've all got something to contribute. So, Unmade Podcast, the thing we normally do here when we're not playing t-shirts is have ideas for podcasts. Who's going first with an idea?

Well, look, I'll go. I'll go. I've been thinking recently about something that a friend of mine said years ago, and that is that everyone needs a dead genius. Like, they need a reference point in their mind that they look to, that they seek the wisdom of, kind of like a North Star person. Like, you know, you seek to learn from a bunch of people. You might read a biography here or a biography there.

You might learn a little bit. But you kind of need someone that you go to that you know a lot about. You know, you've read more than the first line of their Wikipedia page about. But they're dead. Yeah, yeah. Like a historical figure. So you can't go to them and actually ask them for advice. When you say get advice or inspiration from, you mean just from their works or their writings or their

performances and things. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's right. I mean, if they're alive too. So I thought about this podcast could either be called My Dead Genius or the other way, the other name that's a bit cuter, you could call it is, you may not be able to use this, is my Yoda. That is, you know, the kind of Yoda in your life, the person who's your reference point for. I like just dead genius, Tim. Not my dead genius, just dead genius. It's a cool name.

Cool. There we go. Put it on a T-shirt, man. That's right. Yeah. And I think it should be a qualification that they have to be dead. There's something like, I quite like that. Like, it can't be like, you can't, you know,

your inspiration can't be like a current musician or someone, a contemporary. It has to be someone who has died, who is someone who is not alive, but who inspires you. That's right. I think that's really, I think that's clever. And I think I like the idea because people often talk about, oh, I wanted to travel to this place because I wanted to go where so-and-so was born or where they spent their time or you know what i mean we we were we talked about isaac newton when we when i was in the uk

and um how he's writing the principia and different ones are stored at the the royal society and so that's like ground zero if isaac newton was your dead genius let's say who's your dead genius tim i hang on i know who your dead genius is well you're you're my live genius so yes yeah so one day until i die until i die i know who your dead genius is is it c.s lewis yes yes it is yeah so people most people would know C.S. Lewis If they know him as the author of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe The Narnia movies Before you continue Tim

Just this is too big a coincidence for me not to mention it It's not that, now I think about it, it's not that impressive But it's too late for me to abort The last two minutes while we've been talking about dead geniuses I've been staring at the spine of a book on my shelf, which is Stephen King's 11-22-63. And on the spine of the book is a picture of JFK in the car just before he gets shot on the 22nd of November 1963. Yeah. And that's the day C.S. Lewis died as well.

That's right. Yeah. That is a tenuous coincidence. But well- I was looking at the date of his death printed on a spine of a book while talking about C.S. Lewis's death. There we go. That is a coincidence. It's not an amazing coincidence, but it is a coincidence.

It's a lovely link. It's all right. It's all right. It's amazing lovely link. It's all right. It's all right. It's amazing to me. It's not as amazing as if you were looking at C.S. Lewis himself, like he'd popped around for dinner and happened to be sitting opposite you, or one of his- I don't think I'd recognise him. I have seen pictures of him, but I think if, like,

his ghost knocked on the door and I opened the door and the ghost of C.S. Lewis was there and said, do you know who I am? I would go, no, just like an old bloke. You wouldn't go, oh, my God, it's a ghost. Like, it's, oh, my goodness, it's a ghost. No, but, like, if the ghost of Elvis knocked on the door or JFK, I think I'd recognise them, you know, like I'd be like, oh, yeah,

I know what you look like. Sure. But C.S. Lewis is not, like, burned, probably not burned into my head enough as a recognisable figure. Several biographers have actually mentioned that, that he kind of doesn't look like a great academic. And he was. He was at Oxford and then he was a professor at Cambridge.

But he kind of, he's often talked about as looking like a butcher, like he's kind of round with an egg head. So, he kind of looks like the kind of guy who would be your butcher, a lovely, friendly butcher with a big apron on and, you know, tummy and, yeah. So. I think he does look like an academic. I think he looks quite- like, he looks- he's quite nondescript, I guess, but I wouldn't have thought to describe him as friendly looking, but not unfriendly either.

Well, you know, it's sort of jolly, if you like. Yeah. He's a very- he's very nondescript. Anyway, sorry, I shouldn't talk about your dead genius like this. Well, we don't- we don't choose our dead geniuses based on their looks. Oh, speak for yourself, man. So, yeah, look, he's more, yeah, I love him. I mean, you know this.

And mainly it's actually, well, I go too deep into this, I guess, but mainly it's his nonfiction writings, particularly about Christianity that appeal to me. Yes, of course. But I loved going to where he was born. Oh, sorry, not rather. Rather, he was born in Ireland, he's Irish, but where he spent the vast majority of his life in Oxford

and going to his home and getting a tour around the place and read everything. And I've got heaps of his first editions and all sorts of stuff like that. Did you go to his grave, Tim, speaking of his death, you know? I did. I did, yeah. It's in the- What was that like?

The yard of his church. It was really moving. It was really moving. I have a photo that I asked someone else just standing there to take of me near the grave. That's how moved I was the first time. Maybe that was his ghost. It was a lady, so perhaps it was. Excuse me, old butcher man in a tweed suit.

Could you take a picture of me next to this grave? Yes, I will. It's like in those films when a kid encounters Santa Claus and they think it's just a nice old man in the street, but really it's a wink. And hang on, it's him. No. Did it feel weird having your picture taken next to a grave? I guess it's famous enough that doesn't really matter, does it? Like once someone's famous enough, taking pictures of their grave doesn't matter anymore.

Yeah. They do become a bit more of a shrine really, don't they? Yeah. I felt, I was quite emotional. Like I said a prayer and I was just very thankful for his life because I actually felt that's what I felt I felt thankful um wow thanks so much for what you gave me in the stuff that I read about you and stuff so I get that it was moving I get that yeah I one of the video series I do which you probably don't even know exists is called deep sky videos yeah and I'm doing these I'm doing these 110 videos

about these objects in space that were catalogued by a long dead French astronomer called Charles Messier. He created this list of objects and they've since become like a famous canonical list of, you know, galaxies and nebulas and stuff like that. So, we're just doing videos about them. And a while back, I went to his grave in Paris, in the famous Parisian cemetery. And I felt really moved to be there as well. I don't know much about Messier as a man, the way you probably do about C.S. Lewis. But just because this person's work has affected my life so much because, you know, I'm doing this epic quest because of him, it felt like a real pilgrimage just to stand at his grave and think, there he is, there's the guy who has put me on this journey.

I made a video about going there as well. I went a step further than having a photo taken. I made a whole video about the grave. I'll have to have a look at that. It was pretty hard to find the grave too. What year is he? What century? What era?

Oh, Charles Messier. He must be 1800s hang on let me look at i should know shouldn't i but while you're looking that up is there something named after him messier sounds familiar is there a like a well messier objects and the messier lists like you know that only that he died in 1817 so his work was more in the 1700s probably did you bump into anyone else in the french cemetery oh it was it was bump into anyone else in the French cemetery? Oh, it was the same one Jim Morrison's in and all that sort of stuff. Oh, yeah.

That was the one I was thinking of. Yeah. There's loads of people. I can never pronounce its name correctly, which is the reason I'm not saying the name of the cemetery, but it's like Pierre Lachaise or something like that is how you say the name of it. It's a very, very famous cemetery. It's one of the best places to go in Paris.

Like if someone goes to Paris, I would recommend it as a destination as much as Eiffel Tower or anything. You could spend hours in there. It's amazing. So you asked if I felt strange about taking a photo, but you made a video. Did that – you were about you being there? Obviously, you put a link to it in the show notes. Yeah, yeah.

No, it was just like a bit of a pilgrimage. I showed where his old observatory was and then said, okay, now I'm going to go and find his grave. And it was just a, oh, I'll share that. I'll share it. I didn't feel strange about it. It was fine. And you shouldn't feel strange about taking a picture of C.S. Lewis's grave either.

It's just a, I'm just imagining asking a stranger to take the picture might sort of increase the awkwardness a bit. Can you please take a picture of me standing next to this place where a dead person is? Yeah, and I remember it was a lady, but I don't remember if I had to over-explain. Because lots of people don't know who C.S. Lewis is. And I imagine this lady was – well, I knew she wasn't in the grave. She wasn't in the – but, you know, it's the grave, the cemetery area of the little church, as it was back in them. For him, she was just there for some other reason.

So I can't remember how much I explained, but I remember just sort of quickly, you know, asking for a photo. I think that's a really good idea, Tim. I really like the idea of a dead genius, someone who inspired you who's died, preferably like a famous person, not like, you know, your grandpa or something, because that's a bit of a cliche to say I was inspired by my grandpa or something. It's also true, but- At least your grandpa was Albert Einstein, but- Well, yeah, that's true.

That's true. C.S. Lewis, Charles Messier. It is cool. And I think people often have a favourite philosopher they go to or a great, you know, writer or politician in particular. You know, they particularly have a picture of a particular politician or Martin Luther King or someone like that. Well, I can pick Neil Armstrong now because he died a few years ago. So I can have him as my dead genius because he's one I like a lot.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I associate him with you in terms of this kind of thing. Was he a genius? I mean, obviously he was- Was he the kind of person that had done a PhD? Was he a scientist? Not a genius, but- Yeah, he was very smart, yeah.

But he wasn't like, you know, the leader of any field or anything. He was just, you know, he was a test pilot. He was smart, good at mathematics and had a good temperament, was good under pressure. I have a lot of admiration for how he handled his fame afterwards, though. Like, you know, he was lucky that he got to be the first man on the moon. He was picked for qualities he had. So, you know, but there was also a degree of luck involved. But he handled it afterwards with a lot of dignity.

And I just like what he represents. He's just like a, he's an emblem for a time and a period that fascinates me. So, he's more symbolic of a lot of stuff. But he was a good man, you know. I like what he did. I've got a lot of other astronauts I like as well that we know more about. But, yeah, good idea. And if people want to go into our subreddit, which I'll link to as well,

tell us who your dead geniuses are. Isaac Newton would also be on my list. I don't think he was a particularly nice man and he was a very flawed man, but he just intrigues me. And I've done so many videos and things about him that I feel an attachment now. nice man and he was a very flawed man, but he just intrigues me. And I've done so many videos and things about him that I feel an attachment now. And I feel a physical attachment to him because I've handled all those papers and objects and stuff at the Royal Society. So, I'll put Newton as well.

It is a balance, isn't it, between the person and the character of the person, the more you get to know them and the greatness of their achievement. Has there ever been any dirt on C.S. Lewis, Tim? Like has anyone written biographies and stuff saying, you know, he was a bit this and a bit that and, you know, or is he always just kind of, you know, is he his personality? What do we know of his personality? You don't know much.

Well, people know of him and his personality, nothing that stands out as being skeletons in the closet or anything like that. There was a relationship with a lady that was boarding at the house for a while and lots of people say that they had an intimate relationship, even though he later on married someone else. You know, he was a single man and she was an older woman and so forth. So there's speculation about that.

else. You know, he was a single man and she was an older woman and so forth. So, there's speculation about that. But there was nothing, you know, particularly insidious about that. I guess it was for the time. But he, you know, became a person of faith. He then married someone out of a sense of charity so they could stay, remain in England away from a difficult situation, Joy Davidman. Oh, that sounds a bit legally dodgy, marrying someone for immigration reasons. There was something. I can't quite remember the details of it, but there was, I think he loved her or certainly he grew to love her because he grieved her passing so much that he wrote a book about grief.

But I think there was some, I think he cared for her and then maybe not have married her, but then did marry her because it would help her out of a situation with, and she was separated from her partner back in America. That's, oh, that's terrible. I'm sketchy on those things. It's been a long time since I've read about that. It's all right, man. We'll link to his Wikipedia page, which I'm looking at now, which has a picture of his grave.

And it says here that his brother Warren, who died 10 years later, is buried in the same grave. That's right, yeah. His brother Warren's nickname was Warnie, which is for those who love cricket and Australian cricket, that's Shane Warren's nickname, Warnie. So all the way through the writings and letters and stuff that I've got, all these collected letters he's writing to.

Dear Warnie, you know, that's pretty funny. Nice. All right. Well, before we get lost in the rabbit hole of Tim telling us anecdotes about C.S. Lewis. Can I just play a guitar solo tribute to the great man that I've written? Can I just play you a t-shirt I've written in his honour? I will congratulate you, Tim, on an excellent podcast idea. And let's move on to another one. Are we doing an ad?

No. No. This episode is brought to you by patron support. Oh, thank you, patrons. You're awesome, patrons. Yes. You're awesome, patrons. Yes.

So, my idea is called passion versus passion. What? And where this came from is I've noticed with people I follow on social media and friends and that, people who are into horses are really into horses. are into horses are really into horses. Like, they're really passionate about horses and they post loads of pictures of them and like almost maybe to annoying levels. And it makes me think, are people who are passionate about horses more passionate than people who are passionate about other things? Is Tim more passionate about C.S. Lewis than I am about space? You know, is your friend more passionate about football than your other friend is passionate about painting? And I like the idea of putting people's passions head to head

and people almost make the argument for how their love and passion for something is greater than someone else's. No, this is intriguing. Yes. You have to demonstrate that passion. And I'll give you two examples and anecdotes. The first one actually involves Tim and I, just a funny exchange we once had. Right.

Where we were talking about a series of children's books called the Spindles books. And I really liked them when I was a kid. And I really liked them when I was a kid. And Tim really liked them when he was a kid. This was before we'd known each other. And when we were more grown up, we were talking about how we liked these books as kids. And I said, Tim, I really liked them. And Tim was like, no, you have no idea. I really liked them.

And I'm like, no, no, no, no. You've got no idea. I really liked them. And Tim won the argument in one fell swoop when he turned to me and said, man, I named my dog Spindles. And his dog that was in the room at the time we were talking was called Spindles. And I looked at the dog that he named after this book. And I sort of said, all right, you win. You have greater passion for Spindles.

You named your pet after this character in this book. So, this is the kind of thing I would like to hear. I'd like people to come onto the show and talk about things like naming pets and things like that. Like, making the case that your love for this is greater than other people's love. This is a great idea because there's kind of a subtext in lots of conversations where this is going on all the time. Yeah, it's human nature, isn't it? That's right. Like there's this one-upmanship.

Yeah. Yeah. Oh, you should talk. I'm a really big fan of that show. You know, you should talk to someone. They're really passionate. Yeah. Yeah.

And sometimes you've just got something over the other person where it's like, you know, I've done you. You can't top that. Let me come back to horses because my auntie, my auntie Deb, was really into horses when she was a little girl. She loved horses. She's the auntie. She's my mum's sister, right? Now, my mum was her older sister. My mum was always the good student, top of the class, very good academically.

Auntie Deb, who loved horses, was not very good academically. Easily distracted, always bottom of the class, bit of a, you know, you know the type. Not the one who would come home with the good report cards. Right. But she loved horses. She would skip all around the schoolyard pretending to be a horse, much to my mum's embarrassment at school. Oh, there's little Deb who pretends to be a horse.

Sometimes my grandpa, their father, would drape a rug over the front fence of their home and my auntie would sit on the rug pretending she was riding a horse with her whip, like, you know, patting the rug pretending she was riding a horse and like with her whip like you know uh patting the patting the fence pretending it was a horse she loved horses so much but she was terrible at school she always asked my grandpa can i have a horse can i have a horse no you can't have a horse and eventually to shut her up and incentivize her a bit my grandpa said i'll tell you what, if you come

top of the class at school this year, it was called ducks. I think that's a Latin word for top of the class. My mum used to always win ducks. My auntie was always bottom of the class. Never a chance of winning ducks. If you win ducks, I'll buy you a horse. That year, all my auntie did was schoolwork. 100%, 100%, 100% focused on her marks. Wow. Came top of the class by a mile. Won the ducks. Unbelievable report cards.

Teachers couldn't believe this transformation from bottom to top. My grandpa was flabbergasted. Had to buy her a horse. So my auntie got a horse. Next year, bottom of the class again. her a horse. So my auntie got a horse. Next year, bottom of the class again. Just looking at the data, there may have been a causal effect in relation to her marks. Her passion for horses

was so great. It had this huge effect on her life for one year until she got her horse. There you go. Does she still have this passion? No, she's not into horses. She did for a while. When I was young, she lived on a farm with my famous Uncle Don, and they did have horses on the land and stuff like that. But they're not- so, they were farmers for a while. But no.

I don't know. I'm sure she still likes horses, but she hasn't got them, and they're not part of her life anymore. There are people who- She does sometimes still go out on the front fence, though, and pretend to ride it. She'll love you saying that. She's often seen skipping around the southern suburbs of Adelaide,

pretending to be a horse, or whinnying. Rune woman. Oh, dear. There is passion and then there is obsession, isn't there? Yes. Obsession is sometimes a bit scary when you see it. Like the collecting that some people do of particular objects or associated with a particular superhero or Star Wars or something like that.

It can, yeah, it can be all encompassing of a person's attention. Have you ever met someone like this where it comes to mind? Apart from yourself. I am remembering a funny story. I'm just trying to think of a way I can tell it that is suitable for people of all ages. Oh, right. There was a guy I used to work with who was really into collecting figurines of superheroes. Right.

And he used to line them up on his desk at work. And me and another mate who used to work late shifts when there was not many people in the newsroom at the newspaper, like, you know, would look at all these figurines on his desk. So, sometimes my friend for a joke would choose two of the figurines and arrange them in a compromising and romantic position so that when this guy would come to work the next day, you know, Batman and Spider-Man would be like having a little kiss or something like that or something else. Spider-Man would be like having a little kiss or something like that or something else.

And this used to drive him crazy. Like, because these were so important to him and they were so sacred to see them like, you know, being posed in these positions was like, he couldn't handle it. So, what he did was he started storing at night, he would pack them up in his office drawer and lock the drawer. But what he didn't know was my mate had like a skeleton key that he could use to open all the drawers in the newsroom. And the absolute class move that he did was he opened the drawer late at night and would get Spider-Man and Batman and like again, arrange them in a romantic position. But then he would close the drawer and re-lock it. So, when this guy came to work the next day, the door, the drawer was still locked.

But the figurines were in this position again. He was a bit obsessed, that guy, with his figurines. That is, yeah. But you've got to be careful in bringing your passions to work. Like, unless passion, your work is your passion. But, you know, bringing the passion with the posters and the bits and pieces. Yeah. Remember there's that scene in The West Wing where there's a girl on the team of-

Yes. Character Josh, and she's wearing her Star Trek- what are they called? Top uniform. You have used this anecdote before on the Unmade podcast. No, have I? You have, yeah. We're at that point. We're at that point.

I'm just obsessed with the West Wing. We're telling the same stories. I've probably told that figurine story before on a podcast too, to be fair. Do you have an obsession? Do you have a passion that you think goes too far not an obsession for a long time buying cds and tracking down particular records and music and rare things for certain people was very strong but i don't know they're all that you know they're all in in the shed and then i just went through them a few weeks ago when we moved and got rid of lots of them. Yeah.

So, you know, like, yeah, streaming took care of that. I also think having children must temper that quite a lot because your ability to focus and obsess on your own interests must become diluted. Yeah. Yeah, it doesn't matter as much as well. But, yeah, you just focused on other stuff. Yeah.

Yeah. I don't think I have any passions. The word passion, the root word of passion, I think, is suffering, which is interesting. Oh, right. The passion is the suffering. So passion is an interesting word that you chose rather than interest, but it's, you know, something.

Well, yeah, interest versus interest is not quite as cool a name for a podcast, is it? No, no, it's not. You want to be emotive. Passion is a more emotive word than, you know, interest, hobby. You want something. There's passion for sport, and then there's obsession for a particular team or a sport. You see a lot of that in Australian society.

What do you think my passion is? Your passion. You have real interests that have ebbed and flowed. So, obviously, you've had a great passion for the moon and an interest in space. workload so i would say obviously you've had a great passion for the moon and an interest in space you've also had a great passion for for cricket and you went for a through a phase in the 90s where you were almost obsessive about football for some reason you were just like you'd come over to see me and you'd be like i can't talk yet i need to listen to the last 20 minutes of this game on the radio oh as in aussie rules football. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right. So, you were- like, you just knew heaps of detail about it.

And- Got very into the stats and stuff, didn't I? So, that was a good part of it. Yeah, that's right, yeah. But I think your passion now is around your work. You know, you work pretty prodigiously and you find great joy in it. Have I missed something? No, I don't think so.

Audrey, yeah. Cute little chihuahua. Audrey is pretty cute. Oh, man't think so. Audrey. Yeah. Cute little chihuahua. Audrey is pretty cute. Oh, man. She's so cute. Yeah. She's, yes, heartbreakingly cute. Let's move on.

Idea from a Patreon supporter. I'm looking forward to this because you sort of laid some breadcrumbs last time about a Jeff. Is that right? Well, I said what his name was. Yeah. Jeff. Yeah. Yeah.

Okay. Here. Jeff. Yeah. Okay. Here we go. Patreon supporter who wants to give us an idea today is Jeff from the USA. And he says, more specifically, he is from the literal center of the universe, which is Wallace, Idaho. He now lives in Philadelphia, which is merely the center of the sandwich universe. But he's originally from Wallace, Idaho. And the reason I have learned that it is called the centre of the universe is as obviously as a bit of a publicity stunt.

The mayor of Wallace, Idaho at one stage declared a certain part of the town to be the centre of the universe arbitrarily. And there was like a manhole cover, like a drain cover there that they like said, this is the centre of the universe and had it like made as like an official plaque and stuff. So, it's a town that has claimed to be the centre of the universe. Gosh. Wallace, Idaho. Right.

We shall return to Idaho shortly. Some mayors just don't have enough to do, do they? Like- No. Where are we, Geoff? For a job, he teaches robots to talk. And he says no more about that. So we'll have to just figure that out for ourselves.

I say, anything else interesting about you? Jeff says, I am so tall. He's six foot nine, which is 205 centimeters, that most people call him tall Jeff. He says, even when there isn't another Jeff around to disambiguate me from. Out of principle, I've never played basketball. I make objectively the best cake, a claim often challenged, but so far upheld by all challengers. I can say with certainty that the best pie crust is made from bear lard. Whoa.

Okay. I didn't know bear lard was a thing. No. But apparently it is. Yeah. If I was eating a lovely piece of pie and then the person said, do you know why that crust is so nice? Because it's full of bear lard.

I would carefully put the pie down and move on to some of Jeff's cake. So, idea for a podcast. Here we go. It's quite long, this. I might have to trim some of it later on, but here we go. Since I'm from Idaho, I would do a podcast delving into the real history of Idaho's remarkable place names. Not many people know this, but the name Idaho itself has a mysterious etymology and was possibly made up of nonsense syllables. For that reason, it would be part visitor's guide and part nonsense, which is fitting as Idaho has never

quite been a real place. Some possible excerpts from such a podcast would be, The Big Lost River is of course named for its curious quality of disappearing partway along its flow. The river sinks into the ground. However, not many people know the nearby Little Lost River is actually named for the last recorded words in the journal of an unknown explorer whose remains can still be visited along the shores of the river and they're aptly named Littlemore Lost Caves. There's also Craters of the Moon is one of Idaho's most unusual attractions.

Not many people know that Craters of the Moon National Monument was actually created in the 1970s when the Glory of the Moon missions inspired the federal government to convert some of its massive unused land holdings in Idaho into a lunar colony theme park. He goes on and on. Episodes could cover one or more places in Idaho. There's a lot to cover. There's the Sawtooth Mountains, the River of No Return,

the Atomic City Ghost Town, Big Dick Creek, the towns of Slick Poo, Riddle and Ozone, or just whatever the Idaho government keeps tucked away in a little village called Cabinet. He says we could even do a Tommyball crossover, as who can forget that classic of the sports movie genre, My Own Private Tommyball, about how the first local Tommyball team to place in. Oh, he goes on. He goes on.

This is the KFC letter of patron ideas. Anyway, so there we go. Jeff with a very parochial specialised idea. I mean, I think a podcast about places with unusual place names is a good idea. Whether it should necessarily be restricted to Idaho, well, I'm less sure. Have you ever been to Idaho? I have not. Have you?

No. I'm looking where it is. No. I assume it's in sort of the Midwest, which I guess this is next to Oregon, above Nevada. Okay, yeah, it's right over there on the West. Yeah. See, there's a lot of states in America, isn't there? Like this-

Oh, it's 50. 50, man. There is about 50. I reckon 50 is a good call. But I press Idaho and images and some beautiful stuff comes up, including what feels like pretty, you know, the road, the sort of road you feel Forrest Gump was running down, you know, just moves off into the distance, that straight road you see on the cover of Eagles.

On Wikipedia, I'm looking at a picture of the Great Seal of the state of Idaho, which is very busy, very colourful. It is. And there's a woman wearing white. She's holding scales, obviously, like for justice. And then she's holding like a stick. And on the top of the stick, there's like a white object that looks like like a hat like an elf's hat or something or a sock maybe it's sock sock the great sock of idaho i don't know i don't

know what that's all about if anyone knows what that thing is on the end of the stick it probably is something really like famous and important and but to me it just it looks like she was wearing like an elf's hat like a santa hat but. And then she took it off with the stick. That can happen accidentally if you're lifting up a stick carelessly. And maybe the guy doing the symbol didn't know that the model had accidentally taken her hat off. No, no. What's going on there? I want to know more.

There's a deer. There is a stag. There's a river. There's a miner who looks like the pickaxe is going into the side of his head. Anyway. There's lots of colours and then there's another emblem with lots of colours inside it. And, yes, it's interesting. It's an emblem within an emblem.

It's a little bit like, yeah. And the sky of this great seal is like blue and then the sky in the emblem is also blue. Yes, it's the same blue. It creates this weird effect of, yeah, I don't know why there's a shield inside the seal. It does look a bit like they had two winners in the competition. Yeah. It's like, let's put one on top of the other one.

The one with the horse is nice and let's put it with the other one that has, like, the wheat. And the hat stick. Maybe that's just like a hat holder. Also, if you zoom in on that shield within the seal, there's another logo within that. It seals all the way down. Maybe that's what Idaho means. Logo within a logo. Maybe that stick is used to take hats off really tall people,

like tall Jeff from Idaho. Maybe. We're saying logo, but actually it's a seal. Seal within a seal. That's right. Maybe there's lots of tall people. He's an interesting guy, Jeff, isn't he? He's decided not to play basketball on principle because he's so tall.

Yeah. But he takes great pride in his cakes. I feel like this would be an interesting- There should be a podcast just about Jeff. Why Jeff? What's going on? Do you think there would be a height advantage in baking cakes? Like you can reach ingredients that other bakers can't reach?

Or would it be a disadvantage because you've got to bend down to the oven and you're so tall? Yeah. And you can't see the mixture as much and you might have missed something in there that, you know Yeah Here we go, Napoleon Dynamite takes place in Idaho So that gives it a little bit of, remember the quirkiness of Napoleon Dynamite

I can do better than that, Tim The film Dante's Peak, about the exploding volcano Yeah Was filmed and set in Wallace, Idaho Oh, right The very town we're talking about Oh, that had Pierce Brosnan in it. Is that right?

That rings a bell. Yes. There you go. A rare departure in his James Bond era or soon after his James Bond era. I don't know if anyone is listening to the podcast at this point except Jeff, but I can bet Jeff is loving it. He's laughing. This is officially the episode where we've talked more about Idaho than any other episode.

I am absolutely certain. If Jeff wasn't already supporting us on Patreon, I would right now be making a big move for his patronage. Considering he's getting his own private podcast. My own private podcast. No pun intended. We're, of course, referring to my own private podcast. My own private podcast. That's what I... No pun intended. We're, of course, referring to My Own Private Idaho. Many people may not know that. Yes.

River Phoenix film. For those who find jokes funnier when they're explained directly to you. Yes, indeed. Well, people wouldn't have known it was a joke otherwise, but that's right. Yes. It's a joke within a joke. A bit like the seal within a seal. It is.

Everything is something within something else in Idaho. That's right. Idaho is actually a da within an IO. That's funny that he said it's a bit of rant. It's potentially the name came from arbitrary putting together of letters. I'd like to know the story behind that. Well, you should hang out with Jeff. I'll pass on his email and you guys can sort that out. From the length of

Jeff's email, I think he will have no reluctance whatsoever to tell you all about it. Oh, right. So, they can, well, if he could find that out and send it to me, that'd be great. I'd be interested. Oh, here we go. Etymology, the name's origin remains a mystery. But then Wikipedia, of course, having said that, goes on and gives a whole bunch of information, which, yeah. Thanks. Thanks, Tall Jeff. Thanks, Tall Jeff.

There we go. It was good. It was good hearing from you. We are taking his word for it that he is tall, you know. How could he prove it beyond doubt to you? I don't know. He could take a photo next to a regular Idahoan. Or someone who we know, so we know their heart.

Well, Pierce Brosnan and River Phoenix are the only other people we know associated with Idaho. Yeah, well, Jeff, if you could send us a picture of yourself standing next to Pierce Brosnan, we'd really appreciate it. It would be, although I've never met Pierce Brosnan in real life, so I don't know how tall he is. Maybe he could be a secret Tom Cruise, you know? Maybe if you could take a picture of yourself standing next to a Rubik's Cube, because I know how big a Rubik's Cube is. That's true. Do you have to see?

There's a picture of yourself standing next to a Rubik's Cube. It'd be a really weird thing to do, though, to email podcasters just bragging about how tall you are, when in fact you're quite short. Well, it could be like a thing for him you know like i'm gonna get these guys believing i'm really tall yeah and bake cakes when really he can't cook and he's really short who knows yeah we're just a couple of suckers he's just laughing his head off right now that's right i'll tell you one thing this seal if like every primary school child in Idaho at one stage has had a colouring in competition on the seal.

It's a born colouring in competition. Yeah. It's very detailed, though. It's got very finicky. Like colouring in those little bits of corn on the cob there would be really hard to get your yellow pen in. Like it's quite detailed for colouring in. Well, kids are very clever.

I have more faith in the children of Idaho than you do, obviously. Would your girls enjoy colouring in? They love colouring in. Yeah, yeah, yeah. For quite a few years, I would just, the printer at home was just forever printing off black and white images to colour in. You just, it's just the ink, the amount of ink that just went on, you know, black ink. And then you had the girls and that had to stop.

I was just colouring in all the time. Textors. It is funny. Colouring in for adults came in for a while there, wasn't it? It seems to have faded a bit now, but- Yeah, it was a trendy thing for about a year. Yeah. To have adult colouring in books.

Was that a passion of yours, man? It wasn't, but I make videos with a guy who made a lot of them, mathematical ones, so I've got three or four of them here on my shelf. I've never actually coloured one in. Oh, right. Well, why don't you go and do that now? All right, well, yep, we'll wrap this up. I'm going to colour in these books.

Tim's going to colour in the Great Seal of the State of Idaho, and we will return at some point in the future, in a week or so, probably. Sounds good, man. I should say Idaho is a northwestern state. It's not midwestern, once you see that it goes up near the border.