And That's Why We Drink - E418 A Labrador Retriever’s Decorating Sensibilities and a Barbed Wire Knitting Circle

Episode Date: February 9, 2025

It’s episode 418 and we’re passing along our decorative sticks! This week Em takes us to a 1920s potato festival with the Guyra Ghost of Australia. Then Christine covers the wild and tragic case of Patsy Wright. Let’s bring back periscopes in 2025! …and that’s why we drink! For a list of resources or ways to help those affected by the fires in Los Angeles visit: https://bit.ly/atwwdfirehelp The Pour Decisions Tour is going back on the road this Spring! Like a Lady in White, we’ll be popping up everywhere - from Seattle to Boston. Tickets are going fast so get yours today at https://www.andthatswhywedrink.com/live For a limited time get 40% off your first box PLUS get a free item in every box for life. Go to Hungryroot.com/drink and use code drink For 30% off your order, head to Orgain.com/DRINK and use code DRINK GOODLES is available nationwide at major grocery stores, Target, and Walmart. We know you’re going to LOVE GOODLES as much as we do! If you want to try Beam’s best-selling Dream Powder, get up to 40% off for a limited time when you go to shopbeam.com/ATWWD and use code ATWWD at checkout. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Also, you look- I thought you were gonna say insane, but in sync also works. No, insane's normal. The in sync part is less often. What is yours? And then that's why we drank it. Yeah, of course.

It's beautiful. It's the one, oh folks, this is an Easter egg, I guess, or like a secret message. If you bought this on tour, this sweatshirt, which is, it's a light blue, gray and white tie-dye with our On The Rocks logo on it. And if you bought this, please know it was actually a manufacturer error

and it's printed inside out. And we didn't intentionally make it a fuzzy sweatshirt. The lining of the sweatshirt just somehow ended up on the outside and we got them kind of for fun because we thought, oh God, well, actually we got them because we wanted to make sure they weren't gonna like fall apart immediately. And we wanted to, for the first time ever, oh God, well actually we got them because we wanted to make sure they weren't going to like fall apart immediately. And we wanted to, for the first time ever,

actually quality control something, not just get it for free like you do. So we like all wore them and put them in the wash and they stood the test of time. And for some reason, even though the fuzzy parts on the outside, it's like the coziest sweatshirt I own. And I don't know how to ask them to fuck up again. Because anytime- I know! That's the big problem. You're so right.

Anytime someone has ever asked, like we have had a few people at book signings like come up to us and say like that's the best sweatshirt in the world. So creative. What is this? It's like, it was a whoopsie daisy. I remember everybody was wearing it and I was like, am I high or well, I mean don't answer that but like was like, am I high or, well, I mean, don't answer that, but like why on earth? I think you were high when you realized it was inside out for the first time. I'm sure I was, that's why my brain was so on point.

And Eva was like, no, I don't think so. And I was like, Eva, like feel your arm, you're made of fuzz. And also feel the inside, the inside feels like the outside of a sweatshirt. Anyway, so if you got your hands on one of these, I've seen a couple in the wild and I always tell them like that's a manufacturer error. It'll probably never happen again It run. Yeah, I know. I don't know if we have any left, but it's my favorite anyway, sorry

But we're wearing matching tie-dye today, which never happens. I rarely You're wearing the tour sweatshirt, but I got this shirt on tour. Okay, what is it? I like it's color combo It makes no sense for me. It looks like somebody's high. I just saw like one eye. Oh, oh! It's literally called High Tide. What does it say underneath High Tide?

Portsmouth, which is where we've had our show. Oh, New Hampshire. It's a boat that's stony baloney, a high tide. He's like tug, tug, tug. Yeah. Yeah, I don't know why I wanted this so bad. He's like tug, tug, tug. Yeah. Yeah, I don't know why I wanted this so badly. Is that like a brewery or something? I have no fucking clue.

I don't know. I don't know why I'm asking so many questions, interrogating you. I was just walking through Portsmouth and I was going into like every tchotchke shop and this t-shirt just spoke to me and it's weirdly comfy. Like it's oversight.

Is it a boat? I forget already. Or is it a train? Cause I kept saying like chug, chug, tug, tug. Is it a tug boat? Tug boat, not a choo choo train. Okay, that's a boat. Yes.

I can't tell. It kind of has wheels on. Oh, I thought those were wheels. Those are just life vests or life check. Yeah, Louie's or something. I don't think any of the words we said were the right one but you guys know what we mean. Life savers. Yes, life sa's or something. I don't think any of the words we said were the right one, but you guys know what we mean, lifesavers. Yes, lifesavers for sure.

I get it, I know what you're saying. But that's what they're called, that's why that candy's called that. Makes sense. When I was a kid, my mom threw me a pool party and she made probably one of the best cakes I've ever seen and it was out of blue Jell-O with graham cracker crusts, like looked like a pool and a sand and everything. Oh, I made one of those for my sister once and put the lifesavers in with

little people yeah I put uh I used teddy teddy grams and I made little like a beach out of graham crackers and little umbrellas seems to be a canard event yeah that was really a good year for it was a great cake bake cake baking, yeah, that was the last time before. And then you submitted yourself to nailed it. So it was. Yeah, I did. And then COVID hit. And I never really found out if just Nicole Byer wants nothing to do with me or if it was just delayed because of COVID.

So you can't always say it weren't really up against her in the Webby's. Like maybe that's why. Maybe you just. Oh, I've got a mark. Yeah, I've got a mark. Yeah I've got a mark. That's dangerous. I'm just saying uh you're on a hit list somewhere I guess. Every trophy we get just adds us to somebody. We're public enemy number one. She's just you know you know you could go on Nailed It and then if you suck there you can go you know what Nicole Byer I beat you at the Webby's. Whoops. So now we're even.

What if I just bring the Webby to the baking competition? What if you made your cake look like a Webby in the spring? I'd be like, this is the Webby I beat you at, actually. This is me rubbing it in your face. That's so mean. I don't know why I'm at getting so defensive. Nicole Byer has no clue who I am. She's lovely. Well, I've never met her.

And I adore her. Yeah. So I'm going to keep my mouth shut now. Maybe I'll sign you up for Wipeout. And then we can both watch each other fail on TV. What's Wipeout? That sounds like something that happens just in my house all the time. Wait, you've never seen Wipeout? Mm-mm. Dude, Google Wipeout TV show right now. This is... Oh, you're about to be in for a treat.

Oh, I have always wanted to do this. That's, that looks very fun. Yeah, but it doesn't when you watch it cause they, people just, oh, it looks painful, painful. For a while I watched the American Ninja Warrior. And yeah, yeah. I worked on that show. Usually you get to say that.

Now I get to say that. For once in my life. How was it? It was so effing hot. We had to sit downtown in LA, like 110 degree heat, and it took like 12 hours. And they just kept restarting. And there was like a live audience,

and you weren't allowed to leave once you got there. Forget it. Like people started fainting. So we had to go, I had to order water, but it was like pre-Doordash. So I was like trying to call places to like deliver bottles of water, because nobody thought that the outside audience

would need water and people were fainting. Anyway, it was... One thing that TV does not translate well for others is like what the temperature is when people are out there doing something. That's on purpose, Em, cause people would be like, oh my God. It didn't even occur to me that on top of trying

to be an American, an athlete in general outdoors. No, you're totally right. Then it's a hundred degrees. I forgot about the people in it. I was just talking about the audience and me. And then I was like, wait a minute, there's people actually doing feats of physical strength. Imagine even like trying to grab like metal bars

and it's hot as shit outside. Well, they got special like covers for the whole thing. Like, don't worry. They were climate controlled. This was television for, they were the stars of the show. They were the, yeah, they were the artists. I see. I was the mere anxious lady on the phone going, please do you have water to bring me?

Well, I feel like at some point we started with, why do I drink? And I don't really- I said, why do you drink? And then I immediately cut myself off and said, we're wearing matching shirts. And then that's where we stopped, sorry. I know, I drink because I feel like I say this

like once every quarter, but I'm having to do my spring cleaning, which is never in spring. It's pretty much every other month I have to do some sort of spring cleaning on my closet because I just cannot stop myself from buying a million shirts and sweatshirts. So now that I'm back home, I feel like I have to weed through things again. So that's, I just don't want to have to do the putting on, taking off thing with all my stuff. But you inspired me because you were the one who said recently that you like cleared all your shit out. And I'm like, ah, I should do that. And it's, it's bad here folks. Really? I thought you sounded

like you were like really like thrilled with how it turned out. No, it was. We got rid of probably like 40 boxes of stuff and I still have... That's five percent? Yeah. Oh, Christine. Oh, I'm not kidding. I... Can I help with the other 95? I would love to help. No, if you show up and help, fine, but I'm on a very, very full speed ahead.

I can't wait any longer for this because I'm like, I need to get shit out of here. I have stuff from when I was in 10th grade and I drew it and I thought it was funny and I took it to every house I've lived at. I don't know why, I just have like had- Oh, that's not weird to me though. But I have everything, everything. Like I have like everything I've ever owned.

Like I can't not. It's like I get attached to things and then I'm like, well, what if I need it? And then I really struggle with recycling stuff versus throwing stuff out. And then I'm like, well, I don't want to put this in a landfill. And then it just is a land. And the biggest help that I heard from a YouTube video was it's already in a landfill. The landfill is just your house.

Like putting it in a landfill and putting it in your house to collect dust You know, it's not helping anyone and it's hurting you and I was like, whoa, so I've been working on it But it's a very it's a big it's an uphill battle. I I Feel like kind of a piece of shit because my I have three big. I always call them Tupperwares, but I always get made fun of for that. I don't know. Yeah, sure. I also just call them Conticos for a while because that was like

one of the brands that we had. I'm drinking this. It's a it's a liquid death sparkling. So I'm going to crack crack into it just before anyone is wondering. It sounded nice. I'm going to crack crack into it just before. Everyone is wondering. That's nice. I'm so jealous of you. I wanted to get I wanted a liquid death today.

And they sent me the sparkling ones. You know, I don't like sparkling water. Well, like mix up the order. But no, I feel so bad because I also collect a lot of stuff, but I've been able to shove all of my like if there were a fire, what am I grabbing and running out with? I have three of those that if I have time to grab all three of them, I have everything like of my childhood memories that if everything else

burns the ground, at least I've got those. Nice. I felt so bad because during these fires and Allison was evacuating. Yeah, I like I was like, can you get my memory boxes? And she just had a lug with her, three big ass fucking boxes. She goes, yeah, I had to evacuate, but I had to stop at the storage unit for all of Em's childhood memories.

And I was like, that's hilarious. It was also like she was such a homie, because I did tell her, I was like, you don't have to, if if you don't if you are not in like eminent danger. Yeah. If you're like if you're like because she was evacuating in advance before there was ever even like a forced evacuation. But but I did feel bad because I was like, yeah, this doesn't feel like something that you can get out with urgently.

But at the same time, like I have amassed quite a collection that has now turned into three big ass contigo's. And I can't believe you fit it on those, though. Like, I mean, I have a house of it, like just everywhere, every corner. Every it's like that. I mean, I don't know. I have one that's all and that's why we drank. And a lot of it, by the way, is like merch,

because usually when we get new merch, I ask for two of them, one to wear and one to save, because one day we won't have it anymore. It's and I would want a new one. Yeah. So I have a whole thing just of and that's why I drink stuff. One whole thing of grandparents stuff I've inherited and then one of all like childhood crap. Yeah. So what about furniture and stuff or like paintings or like anything? Like, do you have stuff that like that or not really?

Furniture wise, well, we we had. I never had furniture until our last apartment. Right. So and then one of them, the main thing was like a couch. I guess I got furniture when I bought a house and I was close enough to my family's house that I could get stuff from their house if I needed like. I will say just as annoyingly as I was with Allison about the three totes that was like unnecessary, I have made my mother save our dining room table from childhood. Oh, yeah, me too.

So that's in the basement. And at some point, sorry, Allison, that's showing up at some point. I don't know where. Not in this house. It's like the size of our house. But but I do have that. So because it has other markings from like doing homework at the same spot. And I'm so mad. She recently got rid of, um, all the furniture that we had in the basement growing up.

And I was like, well, all of our sleepovers were in like most of my memories were on that furniture. And then she just good willed that she didn't even fucking do like it. It was like great furniture. I was like, what's wrong with you? Like I have so many memories on that couch, but then what would I do with it? You know? So, I don't know. I've heard stories. What happened in that basement? A lot happened on those couches.

I don't know if you want, I don't know if Alison wants that. I'm not saying I was the culprit, I'm saying. I know you weren't the culprit. I know you weren't the culprit. The couch had a track record with a lot of people. That's what I'm saying. Maybe give it to one of them, maybe they'll pick it up if they will.

Maybe they'll be like, I smell some pheromones on this couch for some reason, I'm feeling attracted to it. Anyway, that's- My mystical memories. I think my mom knows that had she offered it to me, I would have said keep it. Yeah, oh God. And then she would have been stuck with it. And Allison would have killed her, yeah.

I think she just got rid of it and asked forgiveness instead of permission. Yes, yes, I can understand that. What's like a piece of furniture that like means a lot to you that you, I mean, you're allowed to to let go of whatever you want, but some things you're also allowed to just really hold on to. Is there something that you're definitely holding on to?

Yes, I have quite a lot, actually. Well, I'm trying to get rid of some furniture. I feel like when I moved in, I got way... which I feel like happens overzealous. I wanted every room to have its furniture and its setup. Which you decorated beautifully, by the way. Oh, that's very nice. Thank you. But I felt so-

So not to make it worse to get rid of things. I just felt so overwhelmed. Cause it's like, I just have stuff everywhere and everything doesn't have a place. And so it just kind of piles like, you know, my trash pile. And then I get very just like mood swinging about the mess and it really takes over and then I dissociate. So I've just been like really trying to be very kind

to myself and like, oh, if you want it, fine. If you don't want it, like just remove the value judgment. Like don't harp on it or feel guilty, you know, all that. And I've watched a lot of videos and read some books that really helped, including if anyone is looking for help in this area, how to keep house while drowning is awesome for neurodivergent folks who struggle with like cleaning and keeping things in order and even basic stuff like you.

And I've talked about like executive function stuff, tooth brushing, et cetera, hygiene. And laundry is a big one she talks about. Anyway, so, but the things that I have, my dad bought this when he moved to the US, he bought this like old wooden, what do you call it? It's sort of like a China cabinet, like a hutch, like a big wooden hutch.

That's really cool. And then I have several pieces that I bought from estate sales that are like Victorian furniture and dressers and things to match the, and I just bought a big apothecary, a Victorian apothecary. I know I'm like, I bought all this shit. Like, yeah, my house is a fucking disaster, but I keep, but I bought all that stuff.

And then I was like, you know what, Christine, 2025, stop buying stuff, clear the house out, figure out what you like and don't like, make it livable rather than just like, oh, I like that. I'll put it here. You know, just, I just need to take a breath. So simplify is my word of the year. That's nice. I feel like mine's like, complicate.

Oh, gosh. Maybe we should have referenced with each other before we chose our resolutions and went in opposite directions. Well, because I think I get so in my head about furniture. Maybe it's because like our place is not that big. So when I think about furniture, it's like we really have to measure every single thing.

And then we can only have one of everything. So it's like, okay, well, what's the one thing we're gonna get? And then I have like task paralysis or choice paralysis where I'm like, well, what if something cooler comes along right after we hit purchase? Literally, and that's why my house has like four of things

because I'm like, well, I have room for it in a different room. And it's like, I shouldn't have to just like buy it because I let, you know what I mean? It's like, I wanna be more intentional about that kind of thing. And I felt so much guilt about accumulating so much stuff. And now I'm kind of like, you know what?

I've been using like, you and Eva taught me about buy nothing on Facebook. And I'm just trying to like find homes for things that I maybe bought like sporadically. I'm also like, I told them the other day, untangling a lot of like, oh God, shadow work stuff. I know I'm not gonna harp on it, but basically I've been trying to detach

from a lot of my like compulsive buying and online shopping. And I think a lot of us, maybe some of us, I do that as like a way to distract from the world. And so I'm trying to just untangle some of that stuff. And with that comes emptying out a lot of my house. And some of the stuff, I mean, I'm not kidding. I moved to LA and back with, and I'm now looking at with this feeling of, you know, also the sunk cost fallacy of like, well, I've moved with it everywhere. Why would I get rid of it now? And it's like, well, because you've decided you don't need it after all, you know? And it's just a lot of emotion goes into it. A lot of like exhausting types of emotion.

Yeah, no, I totally at some point, I wonder if I'm only attached to the attachment, you know, that's what it is Yeah. Yeah, that's a good point Because sometimes I like right I know eventually we're gonna get a new couch We are currently using the couch that was in the troll hole which never got any play by the way at my apartment We'd never sat on that thing and now we're using it all the time but it's our that thing, and now we're using it all the time. But it's our temporary couch until the studio gets built, and then it's going to go there and it'll be in the neutral hole.

So then eventually we'll have another blank canvas in the room. So I I constantly am dealing with. Oh, yeah, you have that layered situation. I'm like, how do where do I even start? And you have like a time where you're like, oh, how long is it even going to be in here? Do I want it for like years worth? Do I want it for years worth? Do I want it for six months?

Oh my lord, yeah. What was I gonna say? Speaking of spending more money recently, I think I pulled a Christina and I got a little too impulsive recently with Pokemon cards. See, but now I need someone to live Vicarious Youth. So maybe it's perfect that we flip-flopped

and now I can just ride the waves and watch you do it. I was being really good. I was like, I'm not gonna do any frivolous spending, blah, blah, blah, and I was happy with the Pokemon cards I had. I hadn't really touched my collection in several months actually. Yeah, you had actually said that to me

about you were very content with your collection. Yeah, but then RJ, I don't know why now it could have been useful later or earlier, but RJ decided he also wants to get into Pokemon collecting now. So then he, he's very sweet. I really appreciate how often he tries to keep in touch with me now that we don't live together. And he asked me if I wanted to collect a deck with him. So now we're collecting a deck together. Oh, that's fun. And so it gave me permission to start spending a deck with him. So now we're collecting a deck together, which is very precious. Oh, that's fun. And so it gave me permission to start spending a bunch of money.

I know, but you know, at least it's like not something that'll just be thrown into the black hole void of, you know, of just trying, of fulfillment. Sorry, I've gotten really dramatic lately in my head. But you know, at least it's like a fulfilling thing with a friend, right? Like at least that's why I think when we go places and go shopping and stuff, like on

tour or like gift shops, it's there's there's something very joyful about like buying a sticker here because like we were there together and you know, it was like a memory. I was just looking at stuff that I collected over the tour and every like every so often I'd be like Oh, I got this one with Christine. Oh, I got this one with another troll. It's another troll themed Most of mine were from that troll place and and where was that? Oh I know where that was because I literally just looked up it was in it was in Wisconsin, Wisconsin Yes, but we stumbled upon the troll capital of the world How do you I mean we literally like out of a fairy tale stumbled upon the troll capital of the world. How do you just stumble upon that?

I mean, we literally like out of a fairy tale stumbled upon the troll. Like we've entered a fairy ring by mistake. It was called the Grumpy Troll. Well, that was a bar, yeah. And then we got all our grumpy troll. Man, that was cool. And then I texted Eve, my sister-in-law

and her partner, Phillip is from Wisconsin. I was like, oh my God, I just went to the troll. And they were like, what are you talking about? And I was like, oh my God, I just went to the troll. And they were like, what are you talking about? And I was like, did we find like an app? Hidden gem. No, was it like a literal fairy ring and we like went to a dimension and now we're just changelings

and we're no wonder we're so fucked up. Well, I will say, I was thinking for a second, like maybe I shouldn't say something and give it to you as a gift, but I think you would enjoy the purchasing of it yourself. Is that one of the reasons I started collecting Pokemon cards is because I love Chachkis and collecting things and buying things. But we lived in an apartment together and we only had so much room for all this stuff. So I was like, OK, well, how do I get the the joy of buying things while also like not taking up physical space in our home?

Like a compact. Yeah. Yeah. And so I can buy as many cards as I want. They all go in the same binder. So like no more space gets taken up. So I think you are doing that, getting that same fix with your little tin types and your pictures. Oh my God, you're so right. And you know what's so funny is I bought a bunch of like albums and like stuff. So I was going to say, you should get a really nice album and feel good about like it, because weirdly, OK, I don't have with me. But my Pokemon binders, I almost love them as much as my cards. And so it makes me like it becomes like this little sacred like.

Yes, that's what I want. And I think I overloaded myself with just like, hobbies and stuff and like, trinkets and junk and books. And it just all started piling up and I didn't have a place for it. And I miss having like an intentional hobby and an intentional collection. And I think like, right now the photos are just like, in different boxes all through the house.

And I'm like, I wanna clear out my house so I can have a space to just do my pictures. Might I suggest, cause I literally just bought this. Cause I also, I started, when I would go to all these tchotchke shops full of stickers and stuff, they also had a bunch of like greeting cards that I would like think were so funny that I, I for a while was like, oh well, frame them or something.

But then I ended up getting so many fucking greeting cards. I was like, shit, I have to start sending cards to people. I've started mailing them out. Yeah, I had to as well. I bought a collector, like a, like, shit, I have to start sending cards to people. I've started mailing them out. Yeah, I had to as well. I bought a collector. Oh, I have one of those. Okay, that was one of my last 2024 purchases because I was like, I know if I start 2025

and I buy something like that, I'm gonna start being like, well, now I want color coded everything. So I was like, no, just that for the greeting cards. Isn't that, that thing is gonna be a game changer for you. It has helped me so much. Well, I was gonna say say you should have one of these just for your old time pictures.

Oh, I do, Emma. I have an accessory and a sorting container for everything. It's just, there's so much- You need a container for your containers. But that's, I do. I have them. I have containers for my containers for my containers. It's like bad.

And so I watch all these shows about like, oh, how to organize. And then I buy all the organizing supplies and then they stack up. And it's like, wait a minute, I had this realization, which I realized is very obvious to most people, but I was like, my house just has no order in it. I need it to be ordered first and feel like safe

and comfortable before I start moving and organize. Like I want stuff out that I don't need anymore before I like focus on that. So I had to take a step back from the organizing. If you, I know I keep like offering it to no avail, but if for some reason you want even just like brunt labor help, or if you don't wanna think, I- You can literally come anytime.

It's an open invite. My sister came over the other day and just said, yes or no, yes or no. And I was like, I don't wanna do this. And then she came over and I did it. And I was like, oh, that was really helpful. So anytime, listen, I'm just gonna be doing it. So if you wanna pop on over, I'll be here.

It's embarrassing. No, it's my favorite. I carry quite a bit of shame about some of the stuff, but you know, that's part of the, there's part of the, there's reason. It's all part of the territory, you know? Well, there's no, no, there's no reason to feel shame about it. I think that's stupid. I think you're fucking stupid to feel shame.

No, I mean, like what's there to be ashamed about that you love everything in there? Whoa, no. No, it's not that. I mean, I don't love everything. That's part of the problem is just like, I hold onto stuff. It's like a hoarding, I'm not a hoarder, but I have family who does have hoarding tendencies,

and it's like this like psychological thing, or you're like, I can't let go of something even though I don't like it or want it, and it makes me unhappy, or it's gross, or... You know, I don't know, there's just some things that are hard for me to like, part with. It's like not normal thinking, but anyway, yes. I always welcome the help now that I've learned how to use it.

Yeah, no judgment for me. Truly, there's nothing I love more than cleaning. And not like cleaning other people's stuff, like in like organizing other people's stuff. No, I totally get that. My sister is like in her element. And then I went downstairs and she had like done all the Christmas stuff and I was like, oh my God, oh my God, you just saved my life. I would have done that for another two months.

Yeah. So if you want to come over, obviously there's nothing I can do at your house. I can dust your Pokemon cards. But, you know, other than that, you can. You run a tight ship over there. I know that about you and Allison. You have like a very minimalist intentionally and because of your space. But I think it would certainly not be so minimal if we had room for growth. This is why I bought a big house

because I'm sick in the head and I know I'll fill it. You know what I mean? I mean, I moved somewhere with cheaper real estate so I could buy a bigger house so I could fill it with my junk. No, I think this ends it up as much as I take issue with the size of our house. It really, I think, saves me in the end because I know I would be filling it with stuff. Well, yeah, you're putting a boundary on yourself, which sometimes sucks, but it's like, oh, I'm like setting a parameter for myself.

Yeah. And there are times where I do appreciate the size of it because remember for a long time, I wanted to like move into a tiny house and this is the best of both worlds. This is a tiny real house. I think you've always been like good at maintaining that once you set that rule for yourself. Like you're very good at like, okay, that goes,

that gets donated, that's out, you know. Well, because we just bought a temporary coffee table, because again, we don't know if we'll keep it when we move the couch. You know, it's so it's all these stupid dominoes. But then immediately Alison was like, oh, I can put all my stuff on the table. And I was like, no, you cannot. I was like, what do you mean? Like now that's going to look all cluttered. And like, I just I have a really tough issue when it comes to like

dusting and sweeping if there's like obstacles for me to dust and sweep around there's so less likely of a chance that I'm gonna do it oh well that makes a lot of sense because I always watch those commercials and go I should swiffer and then I look at my floor and I'm like oh every inch is covered with something I can't swiffer exactly So like when we were picking out furniture, I was trying to like in advance think of stuff. Like I did floating nightstands next to our bed. So that way there wouldn't be legs to have to sweep around and stuff. So it's just like built into the wall. Oh my God.

So little things like that. You would hate my house. As soon as she was like, oh, I'm going to put everything on the floor in this table. I was like, wait a minute, hang on. Hang on. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah I do I do get that way if I have a plan for something and then like I walk in and somebody put their stuff on And I'm like what the hell like yeah, I'm like get that off fucking Anyway, no, I think the only reason I'm I'm a little strict about the stuff is because I know the second that there is

a way to talk myself out of keeping it clean, then I just won't keep it clean. Anyway, that was- Well, I don't, and I don't recommend it because it's really bad for my mental health. So by the way- I have other severe other mental health problems. Oh, trust me. Don't worry. It's unfortunately not a competition. We're both very sick in the head

I'm sure all of our listeners are in their own special ways Well, I feel like we definitely went on a tirade here and it kind of morphed into something but I never asked you why you drink Or is this where you drink? Well now yeah now it's probably all this I'm really scared of some of the built-in shelves behind my TV. There's some we moved in and put stuff in there and it haven't touched it since May of 2020. So that's probably like a treasure trove. Yeah. Oh, yeah. But mostly just like random junk.

I guess I have a question for you. Yeah, because I, my mom and I think a lot of us grew up having like built-ins and living rooms. I was like part of the like, you know, some of the fancy look to it, I guess. And I think all of the books that were on, I honestly don't think my mom ever read or touched one of those books. They were purely decorative. How do you fill out a built-in like that? Are they

books that you've read? So mine is filled with a bunch of piles of cords that don't work anymore. I'm not making that up. And also random board games that are missing pieces, puzzles that were too big for Leona or I didn't know what to do with. So it's your doom box. Well, it's my doom wall and it's very large. It's about 12 feet tall. And it's the problem. Okay, so no, but in all seriousness, so I didn't grow up with built ins. Because my house was from 1860 and I lived in a graveyard as you recall.

So my house was not trendy or anything. So we didn't have built ins. So I don't know what a normal person puts in built ins. I bought a big stick and I've never, my step-to-father still talks about it and sometimes he'll bring a stick to my house and be like, here, I bought this for you. And it's like the meanest joke, but it's like, because it's so true.

Cause I literally ordered a decorative stick on the internet one time. Like, I feel like this is full circle of what the fuck is happening here is like I bought this beautiful stick because I thought, oh, that'll like make my house look nice. So then I put it in front of all the piles of like- You a Labrador retriever?

Cables, I mean, literally I'm like a fucking crow. I don't know, man, I'm sick. And so then I like created this disaster. And now there's all these random books that, no, I don't read, but I did color code one day when I was feeling really detached from reality. And so I only got through red and orange, and then the rest is just a mix of browns.

So it's not even rainbow. And then there's a big stick that just has so many spider webs on it. It's actually, that's a great story though. So anyway, it's not a story, it's my life. No kidding. Well, I will say like, so one of the bookstores near us, they literally have a whole wall that are full of books that I guess they know no one will ever fucking read.

And they just color coordinated it, color coordinate them. And it just says like decorative books. So they they know they know, you know, so you can buy them. Well, so when I bought that decorative stick, I almost bought decorative books and Blaze was like, you need to really like, well, actually he didn't say this. I said it to myself. I was like, you need to reach really deep into yourself

and ask yourself if you need to buy decorative colored books. And it's not like- I like you're like, no, but the stick has to come home. But the stick has to come home. There's no choice. It was beautiful and it is beautiful and it remains beautiful. And I keep it in there and I keep it in there as, actually I keep it in there

because I need a ladder to get it down and I don't have one on hand because it's in the garage behind a lot of other stuff. This is why you have a three-year-old, you put her on your shoulders, you have her, and then you both are involved in the stick coots. And then a sharp stick comes raining down on top of us

with a bunch of mystery items and spider webs. No, I actually, you know what? I'm gonna take a photo of that because I feel like I've cleared so much of my house out that even the messy rooms look so much less bad than they did before. So I'm gonna take a picture of that before I even touch it and we'll have Megan post it

and you all can either roast me or relate or just say, oh dear, I thought I could relate until I saw a picture and now it's so much worse than I expected. You know what? I looked up decorative sticks and I see a few that I understand are worth buying. Well, thank you. I think it was for a terrarium and I just bought it for my wall,

for my built-in shelves. This was back in Los Angeles. Oh, and then here's another idiot. Here's the other fucked up, fuck up fuckery I did is that I then paid a mover to bring my decorative stick from Los Angeles to Kentucky. And it's still in my house. Did he pull it out and go, where should I put this in the yard? He probably just threw it away.

And I was like, no, let me get that back. I mean, he just handed it to Gio and it's like, obviously, this was his. This is obviously not a dog toy. It's obviously a decorative piece that goes in the built-in shelves. Hello. Anyway, so sorry. All that to say, who knows how much I spent on a box

because it's a big fucking stick, but it's fine. It's fine, we're getting through it together, everybody. We're holding hands across the world. Yes, one stick at a time. We're just all... Pass the decorative baton, past the decorative stick. Well, with that, I have a story for you. Thank you for letting me vent that out. That was really cathartic.

I loved it. And now I know if I ever come and clean your house to not touch the stick. Thank you. And you know what? You can because I think maybe it was just meant to be told to the story and maybe now I can let it go. You know what I mean? Maybe I needed to get the story out there. You know how they have like symbolic burnings?

Like maybe it would be ironic that you could burn a stick. It's a really good thing to burn. When Alison's on the way to the storage unit, I'll just have her bring a bunch of my stuff. And when she sees the smoke, she can just toss it into the wildfire and it'll be- She can contribute to the mass tragedies. Yeah, exactly.

Well, I will be doing it. She'll just be the middle man, middle person. Yeah, no, hey, if you need, actually, I guess I need to place a store, some of my memories. Maybe I just give you more shit and just give you my memories too. I mean, it's really a safe place.

It's a safe, that's why my mom's house has become the way it is. And she's finally like getting through it all. Cause she's like, this is just when people, I mean, I'm sure a lot of parents can relate. Like when people, when the kids come home from college and they leave like huge boxes of stuff, then they come home from grad school

and then they come home from like a job or a breakup or whatever. And it's like, you just end up with all this shit that like nobody wants. And so I have in my bedroom at my mom's house, the closet, my clothes closet. That is the only place in the house where I like I. Mom, if you're listening, I'm still mad at you. I remember this.

I even I know what's going to happen. Well, I have a closet that it's it's a small closet. It's like I'm taking up a lot of space. It's like a randomly open the doors and there's a closet and I have things in there that I don't want thrown away yet, but it would be like too expensive to ship it here. And no one's using that room. So it's not like it's like in anyone's way.

But all I want is for her to not touch the closet in my room. She can touch whatever she wants in my room. She could put a peloton in there, which she already has. She can put a massage table in there, which she already has. She can do whatever she wants in the actual room. I don't give a shit. Just let me have that one closet to keep some of my stuff in. Every time I come home, it has been absolutely riddled with.

And it's like, what are you doing in there? Like, what is your own closet? One time she like, well, that's where she keeps all of her other clothes because they don't fit in her like 10 foot walk in closet. I'm sure she has some built-ins. Tell her they're full of room. I haven't looked at mine in years.

She has a massive, massive, like a Kris Jenner closet. Oh my God. And her clothes still don't fit in there. So she has to use my room and my stepbrothers room. I'm afraid to ask where does Tom keep his clothes? In a lunch box somewhere. I don't know. At his job, at work. In the car. He just wears them. He just wears his one shirt. He wears his outfit. Yeah.

No, he has, he has like a spot in the closet, but like it, like she has enough room But then she like we can all in that we can all picture this situation by the way full circle of this conversation Because I started with I have too many fucking clothes. Yeah Wonder where I get it from But she like has to always I don't know it sounds like Tom has a problem with Overspending on his clothes. So it sure does. Yeah. No, he literally everything He owns is inherited or a hand me down from his childhood.

They like to just make it even more obvious how much money we're spending. Well, the sensible one. My mom put her clothes in my closet and to a point where the bar in the closet broke. No, that many clothes. And then it toppled on all of my shit and all my shit in there. It's a anyway, it's your mom, that many clothes. And then it toppled on all of my shit and all my shit in there.

It smells like your mom. It smells like mom. Anyway, we've been talking for 40 minutes. Um, should we tell a story? Tell me a tale. We've spin me a web. Tell me a tale. Well, I could, I could borrow a web from your decorative stick. They're all being used right now for something important. So the biggest problem that I had with grocery shopping was that I had three people in my house and it was always a chore to figure out like who needs what and Blaze and I would go separately and forget certain things for Leona.

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Gaira is a town in Australia. Oh, this is the Gaira ghost. Gaira. Gaira is a town in Australia. Oh, OK. So Gaira is a town in Australia and New South Wales. And we have not covered a lot of Australia cases, but this is a good one to start on because apparently the town of Gaira is best known for its annual Lamb and potato festival. Which- I gotta believe every town in Australia has some form of festival.

It just feels right. I love a fest. You know what? I have decided in this exact moment that my new year's resolution at the end of January is that I'm gonna go to more festivals and conventions. To buy more tchotchkes and more stuff. To buy more tchotchkes. But if I'm going to the potato festival, I'm probably only To buy more tchotchkes and more stuff. To buy more tchotchkes.

But if I'm going to the potato festival, I'm probably only gonna buy one tchotchke and I'm gonna eat a lot of tchotchkes. Oh man, what's the way you, where's the, oh, the potato festival. I thought you meant you were actively already planning to go to a potato, and I was like, how the fuck have you just not mentioned this

and then say it so casually? Okay, okay, so if we were, say we were hypothetically to go to a potato fest. Yeah. Oh, I would buy one of everything. T-shirt, bedding. I know. Well, for example, every July out here is the watermelon watermelon festival. Where is that? It's in the valley. I've never been to that.

But here's the thing. It's always so hot and the the fairgrounds are always so dusty. Like, do you really want to eat slices of watermelon in a big dusty field? Not really. I mean, it really does speak to like very Americana roots, you know? Yeah, it does. Just eat a dusty watermelon. Yeah, well, I keep waiting to find a shirt from there that I like, but...

Isn't it too bad when places don't have a good design and you're like, man, I would spend good bucks on that. It's actually sick. You had one drum. It's actually, honestly, rancid. It's rancid business marketing. Shit. You tell her.

And I've always had that. So, Potato Festival, are you listening? Be careful. Be careful. Okay, here we are. All events that I am about to tell you take place in 1921. Starting in April, we don't know when, because every single source had a different fucking day

that it started on. So we're just going to say April. One source said April Fool's Day, which is like a fun added poke to this, I guess. But I don't know if that's true. OK, so this is the Bowen family and the husband is William. The mom is Catherine husband. And why did I say, Mom? Yuck. The husband is William.

The wife is Catherine and they have three kids and the family experienced allegedly a poltergeist. So right before this. Poltergeist activity came about, the town was already on edge. We were all a little freaked out about things because they had recently endured some darkness in the town. First off, there was an older woman in town.

Her name was Mrs. Doran and homegirl just goes missing out of nowhere. The last person who saw her was a farmer, and he literally is quoted in multiple papers saying that he saw her holding two potatoes and just walked off into the distance. To the potato fest. Maybe she was on her way to the potato festival.

I mean, she had her wares. She was ready for the show. She was just a little early. She said, I'm double fisting it at the festival, and I'm bringing these from home so I don't have to get overcharged. Oh yeah, you just gotta hide them in the bra, no one just a little early. She said, I'm double fisting it at the festival and I'm bringing these from home so I don't have to get overcharged. Oh yeah, you just gotta hide them in the bra, no one will know you're bringing your own potatoes.

Bringing your candy to the movie theater. It's like, if I bring my own potatoes, then I'm having just as much fun as everyone else. I tell someone to fry it up for me, perfect. Easy, easy, it's like you already got it fried over there, just dip these in oil. Just dip these in, it's no big deal. So that show, she just vanishes. She just over there. Just dip these in oil. Just dip these in. It's no big deal. So that show she just vanishes.

She's the two potatoes in hand over the sunrise, holding their two potatoes. God, which is exactly how I see myself going. That is how I see you crossing the Rainbow Bridge. Two potatoes in hand. Yeah, exactly. So anyway, she just goes missing. And people are freaked out because they're like, why the like, what happened to her? Is she did she get abducted? Yeah.

And so the town assumes they're like, she must have been kidnapped or something bad must have happened to her for her to not come home. So the rumors spread that now there was someone out there maybe abducting women. So then that put people on edge so much on edge that a bunch of women in town started sleeping with loaded guns just in case someone tried to get them in the middle of the night. So town's freaking out. But now all the women are sleeping with guns under their pillows. Oh, boy. And this led to one woman who had a gun

either under her pillow or on a nightstand. I saw different things things say different things. Her five year old son found the gun. No. And thought it was a toy and shot his six year old sister in the head. Jesus Christ. Oh, my God. The God bad time to thumbs up, Apple. Oh, my God. Apple needs to turn that shit off. I know.

She did survive, but the bullet was like forever lodged, like they couldn't get it out. She survived. Oh, yeah. Thank God. So anyway, there's just like the town is just very in a state. Wild. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And on top of all that, now comes April, maybe April Fool's Day. I'm not sure. And the Bowen family starts experiencing odd noises on the property. They hear strange knockings on the outside of their house,

like someone's just knocking on the walls out there. And they start noticing that they're hearing sounds of rocks hitting their house. And when they kind of waited around, they realized that the sounds were getting louder and louder. And eventually these rocks that were getting through at their house were now pelting the house, including the windows, which are now shattering. Oh, and that has happened in these stories, right?

Where things hit the roof and stuff? Yeah. Like poltergeist stories? Yeah, and these rocks, which is interesting to me because I always think of poltergeist as like a thing that's in the house and stuck in the house, but it seems to be targeting the house and it's stuck to the property or something like that.

Well, I wonder, you know how they say Poltergeist activity is like influenced by teenage hormones and all that? Or fear and anxiety? Keep that in mind. OK, I wonder if that's why, like, when rocks start hitting it, it's almost like it's magnetizing stuff. I don't know.

A vortex, if you will. I know I'm covering a poltergeist case right now, but what you said was very woo-woo. Oh, thank you so much. An energy vortex. No big deal. Deep in a way I wasn't expecting. I've just really lately gone off the deep end in case anyone can't tell. I love it. So they started noticing yeah these small stones were getting pelted at their house

seemingly by nothing. They would look out the window without glass on it now I guess and they'd go where the fuck is what's going on? Which by the way I was gonna say I was like I would not be looking too far out that window. What are you sticking your head out there for? I'd be like hiding behind the window with like a mirror and I go, I don't know. Yeah, right. Like a little periscope. Yeah. By the way, bring back periscopes 2025. No, they exist. Oh, no, they exist. Don't worry. Don't you just need to have a kid.

It's so fun. Today, Leona and I built the most incredible fort. And I was like, oh, man, I can't wait for her to have a periscope. We gotta go build one. Oh man. It's the fun times, man. That's a good one. Teacher to spy.

God, those are my favorite activities. Those spy toys, I still think about them. God. The clear craze. Oh, I was gonna say, well, she definitely has the invisible ink already. So she's the, but the- Does she have the glasses with the mirrors?

Those were my fucking favorite. Now those are gonna be a delight, but I think she might hurt herself. So we're gonna wait a couple of months till she can maybe walk a little straighter. I don't know. Fair enough. I remember they sold them at the Scholastic Book Fair

when I was younger and I was like- Oh, those kids of spy stuff. Oh man, that was my jam. Wow. I bought all the spy stuff off that Scholastic. They had like a journal that you had to like voice activate to open all that. Oh, I remember it.

God, it was magical. And the hearing one with it was like, it was just like, it was just a speaker or something. But I really thought, oh, I could hear voices amplified through the walls, but it was like, it looked like a little sonar. Still convinced it worked. Me too, I feel like it enhanced it by like 1%.

And now you put your thumbs up and then a little graphic of a thumb comes up and we get mad, we're like, stop it technology. Back then we embraced it. Now we're like, stop telling me how I feel technology. Well, I don't, oh, how did we get here? Periscope, oh, the windows. How the fuck do I know?

Oh, right. So the next day, the stones are still being thrown at the house, but now even harder. The windows are being fully smashed in. The family is also experiencing, remember I said knockings, but the knockings have now become what they're calling thunderous thumpings. Ooh. And they are so intense that the whole house is shaking. Oh, God. Within three days, the sounds of these thunderous thumpings and the stone pelting are so wild that neighbors

are hearing it from their house. I have a probably stupid question. This is not the same family where the girl got shot, right? No, okay. That was that's just an example of how things were like going haywire. Yes. Okay. I just want to make sure It wasn't the same family. No, that was just one woman in Amidst the fear of being abducted She got it. She had a gun in her house and so the all the neighbors were just already kind of as an example of how things were on edge. Okay.

So now all of a sudden, this family is dealing with their windows just being smashed in by nothing. Right. Soon enough, because the neighbors were hearing these sounds, I mean, imagine across the street hearing something just like, you're just window smashing nonstop. And this is fresh after thinking that someone's abducting women

and you're hearing windows getting smashed. Oh, good point. Glass shattering is not a sound that someone's abducting women and you're hearing windows getting smashed. Oh, good point. Glass shattering is not a sound that would be comforting in that context. No, or even if it's a lot of knocking, maybe it's like the sound of someone like banging, like trying to get into your house. Yeah, I don't like that.

But so neighbors were checking in on it, eventually just word spread. And now the whole town is involved. They bring the constable in, which I always forget about constables. Not the constable. Alert the constable. At haste. Make haste.

A constable feels like they're never that fast though. Like it feels like they're in a rush, but they're like kind of slow. I feel like the constable thinks he has a lot to say. Totally. And he's in a hurry, but you're like, but for what? I feel like constables are those guys at the bar where they are having their first half deep idea and they're saying it out loud.

Wow, that's so true. I thought about that when I was five. Thank you so much. It's sort of like, thanks for your input. No shit Sherlock. I'm so glad you think you're as deep as you think you are. You know what I would say? No cap constable.

All right. Hold on, let me say a different one. That one didn't land, hold on. I would say, no crap constable. I would say, get the fuck out of my face constable. I would say, why the fuck is there a constable at Skyline Chili? I would say get the fuck out of my face constable Constable I would say a cab constable

Are Banana-grams So anyway what we said all what do we say? All geese are silly. Somebody made us some big gas. Somebody made a little graphic of all geese are silly. And it's really good on Instagram. I was and it's true. And it's true. And it and M has always said that.

So the constable, he is called into investigate. And of course, because he thinks he's. Bigger than his britches or whatever the constable, he is called in to investigate. And of course, because he thinks he's bigger than his britches or whatever the phrase is, he walks right in, britches and all. And the news got even bigger and soon other people were hearing about this. So it wasn't just the constable now. It was the constable and the neighbors have brought themselves in as, I guess, like, you know, usually like a you know, you do like a citizen's arrest, whatever like a citizen's survey list is.

Like neighborhood watch? Like they have, they have decided that they are as important as the constable in this case. I think they knew that all along. I think they always like, like subconsciously felt that way, but they just were like, finally we can prove it. I think the constable said one not deep thing too many. And they went, take a look at this guy. Let's take over. Yeah. We're done with you.

You're just don't worry constable. You sit in the corner. We have your cool hat and your title and you just leave us alone. So the neighbors are like, this guy obviously, uh, needs some help. Or they were just like, honestly, maybe they were scared about what had been going on in the world or they were just fucking nosy because if I were a neighbor And I was given any in 1921. You're not on like tick-tock. There's nothing to do. No, I would have been This my kidding me. I would have made this my sole personality you and I would have been again the people outside who were like So nosy and unashamed about it, you know, totally like And I would be like, you need all the help you can get.

Yeah, we're really good at helping. Well, so the neighbors show up, they are like, Constable, you are not enough to crack this case, we're on it. And I guess the news spread that the constable wasn't enough to crack the case because the story gets so big that the New South Wales state government gets involved

and they sent in a team of officers. Of constables. To imagine they're just running amok. What do you think that in a team of officers of constables. Imagine they're just running amok. What do you think that's a gaggle of constables? It's got to be a conspiracy of constables. I like that one. Let's keep with that. Okay. So they send in a conspiracy of constables to be on watch around the clock at the bones house to figure out who was throwing these stones and which like, by the way, like how, like- How many constables does it take to figure out who's throwing a rock? Yeah, that was my question as well. I was hoping you'd tell me how many. Not one. And also the, the neighborhood watch has, uh, grown to about 50 to 80, depending

on the night. This is hilarious. 50 to 80 neighbors. Yeah. So you've got to. And you know, our listener, we were all there in past lives. All of us were there. Absolutely. Yeah, for sure. We were probably the two idiot constables and they were like, we've got it. We were there from day one.

So, OK, the neighbors get involved. The conspiracy of constables get involved. Eventually, it's like nearing 100 people a night and everyone is doing 24 seven surveillance, which did the Bowens ask for this by the way, or did everyone just get so involved? It feels like they have lost agency in this whole thing. People have just taken over the narrative for them.

Also like having all those people running around looking for who's throwing rocks, you just need one dumb teenager to start throwing rocks. And then it's like, oh my God, where did it come from? I mean, it's a shit show. An excellent point. And to add to that point, another excellent point is, with so many people there,

how are they not getting hit in their fucking face with rocks? There's 80 people? They're in front of the target. Yeah. Running around it. I mean like moving targets. I don't know. Like if the house is being hit at random or like if the target is windows, are

they all actively avoiding windows or are they just not getting hit? I don't know. Are they like hiding in the bushes? You think there'd be a list of like injuries that came from this? Yeah, yeah, yeah. But anyway, all the neighbors are like, we're gonna help the police.

They are all participating in this around the clock, surrounding the property, surveilling the house, watching for activity. And the mystery becomes known as the Guyra Ghost. And papers start writing updates of being like, hey, other town, just so you know, we still haven't figured out who's throwing these fucking rocks. The neighborhood watch is actively adding members.

So if you're interested, come on down 300 more spots available. And people obviously far and wide are reading about this. That includes people in the paranormal world. So they wanted to help. The family is like now being advised, like conduct seances to try to like ask this thing to stop, stop throwing rocks at them, which like they were, it was throwing rocks whether or not you're going to ask.

Like you don't have to conduct a seance. You could have out loud. I hate this. Yeah. Please stop throwing rocks at me. Yeah. It feels like it. They're doing seances. At this point, it was suspected that the activity was a ghost, but it could have also been their 12-year-old daughter, Minnie. Minnie.

Minnie becomes the main character of our story. Minnie, what are you up to? They thought that this, if it was a spirit and it wasn't Minnie herself, they thought the spirit was connected to her because she seemed to get the worst of the stone throwing where most of the stones were getting thrown Near her bedroom window at her bedroom window when the window did eventually smash the rocks were still getting thrown like at her bed through the window poor mini thing but I Will so and then the op, of course, wherever she was

is where the knocking was worse than the house. The newspaper that they, by the way, the newspaper that I'm using most of my sources from is called the Cindy, Sydney Morning Herald. They fucking ate up the story. Well, I still use them for a lot of my stories. So that's very funny. So they really, I think they were like

the lead journalists on the case, because they really, there was like at least eight or nine different articles of theirs I read about this. They were doing constant updates. And this is how they described Minnie. First of all, fuck you, Sydney Morning Herald, because they said, oh, Minnie was tall, thin, there's a quote, tall, thin and dark with peculiar dark introspective eyes that never seemed to miss any movement in a room. When she speaks to you,

she never smiles. She seems to look beyond or through you. She has a rather uncanny aptitude for anticipating questions almost before they are asked and answering them. Yeah, because she's probably smarter than you. And that's honestly one of the nicer descriptions that they wrote because they straight up say, she's not clever, she's kind of an idiot, she's backwards in school, that's what they call there.

Jesus. They were not kind. So I'm reading one of the nicer ones, but they straight up say she is not that girl. Why are they bullying this child? She's a child, right? She's 12, Jesus. Yes. Which, imagine you're already insecure as a 12-year-old.

Imagine the lead newspaper is saying that you fucking suck. And all your friends are reading it? I mean, god. You know someone at school who's like, you're not very clever, are you? Oh, you're backwards again. Yeah. They put her chair backwards.

This sounds like I'm the bully. You put the chair backwards. I'm like, oh, it's your chair. You do have it in you for that to have come so quick. I actually bully. You put the chair backwards and be like, oh, it's your chair. I'm sorry. You do have it in you for that to have come so quick. No, I actually do. And it's because I think maybe because A, it happened to me, but also B, I for sure wasn't always the nicest kid.

Understood. Just saying. Yeah, Minnie, I would have definitely been a mean kid, at least in my own home. I would have laughed about it. I would have probably laughed about it with you. Yeah, I would have been like, did you see what they said about Minnie? Oh my god.

Not as an adult, to be clear, but as a fellow child. As a 12-year-old myself, who, my frontal lobe is not developed, I would have been like, yikes, I'm glad I'm not Minnie. And as an adult, it'd be like, Minnie really powered through. Yeah, get it, girl. So, okay, so people think that she's the culprit, or at least the main target of the ghost.

At the very least, no one thinks she's fucking smart or nice or pretty at this point. So so fucked up. One guy comes on the scene in the paranormal worlds, because I told you people are getting involved there. His name is Ben Davies, and all they call him is a student of spiritualism. They don't that doesn't like imply that he's a priest or anything. It's just like, OK, me too. I fucking like an employee between jobs In 1921, I guess you could just have an interest and now you're the lead expert on it I love that I get you know what in 2025 you can do that too. I've just decided yeah

What is the term? Student of spiritualism I'm gonna put that as my LinkedIn bio instead of podcaster because I'm like no I'd rather be a student of spiritualism. I get it, Ben, I get it. Well, so he met with the family, went inside the house, he's talking to Minnie, he's heard that she's the culprit. Cause how can you miss Minnie at this point

with a roast like that every week in the paper? And he starts talking and he's like, well, what kind of ghosts would even be here? Like, do you have any death in the family? He finds out that there was a literal death in the family months before. Oh, no. Their fourth child. Well, I don't know the age range, but she was old enough to have been married and had a kid.

So she was. Oh, that could be like fucking 13. Oh, well, yeah. OK, fair. But so like as far so an older child than an older child. OK, named May. OK. So as many and there's may may is the one that's out with us. OK. I saw different sources say how she died. It was kind of all over the place. So I don't it doesn't really matter how she died.

But they said, oh, your literal child who she just died. Okay, so that would make sense why there's a haunting all of a sudden. And it would make sense why it's most affecting the prepubescent or adolescent kid in the house. Because- The sibling of that person too. Yeah, and the person who's about to like

go through a lot of changes, like you said earlier. Yeah. So Ben thought maybe May is trying to talk to the family and asks Minnie, hey, since you seem to be the most affected, can you try talking to May and see if anything knocks? She said, I am talking to you. Yeah. Well, so. Is that talking to May?

Well, as he's explaining, if you talk back to her, then maybe we'll hear more knocking. As he's saying that, they get three big knocks. And so he looks at Minnie and he's like, you're on girl, your turn. Like time to do something. So Minnie closes her eyes, sticks her hands up in the air and she says, Ave Marie. I was half expecting Apple to do like a little shooting star. I don't know. I was like, what's going to happen?

A little angel kisses me on the forehead. Aww. She sticks her hands up and she goes, May, is that you? And she starts crying as if she's hearing or witnessing something. And Ben goes, what's going on? Do you feel something around you?

What's happening? And Minnie says, what's going on? Do you feel something around you? What's happening? And Minnie says, yes, May just spoke to me. Okay. And then she says, I can't tell you, the message is for mother. And then she runs over to her mom and her mom is like, bitch, tell us what she said. What's going on?

Yeah, spill it. No time for secrets. What did she fucking say? So then May tells her mom, who is in the room with her and Ben, who also, guess who else is in the room? Apparently like 30 other fucking people. There's like-

What, the night watch? The neighborhood watch? The entire watch. Everyone came in to see if this guy was gonna come up with something. This is outrageous. So in front of all these people She gives this message that's meant for her mother and she says as if she's may

Tell her I am in heaven and quite happy tell her it was her prayers which got me here I will look after her for the rest of my life rest of your life girl. You're already gone. But okay I think she meant your mom's life Anyway, mom's life. You know, I mean like yeah, I do know for the rest of your life, girl, you're already gone. But OK, I think she meant your mom's life. Anyway, my mom's life. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, I do know. For the rest of my life. Can you imagine you have one chance to speak from the afterlife and you like say something grammatically incorrect or you flip the words

and you're like, wait, wait, wait, shit. All of a sudden, all of a sudden, the semantics are the only thing people care about. Oh, so. Basically, she says this. Now, this is a good moment to reiterate that she's in a room full of people who are under pressure staring at her when she's 12. So maybe she felt pressured to say something and just kind of made it up.

Maybe. But some think that this, it could have been Minnie just saying what she thought others wanted to hear. Others think that maybe she really did gain some clairvoyance or clairaudien-aural sound. Yeah, clairaudience. Maybe she heard, maybe that she just gained that from being surrounded by these spirits. Either way, it didn't seem to be May at the end of this all,

because this ghost still kept pelting her family with rocks. So it's like, it doesn't add up. Right, so even if it was the sister, okay, I see. Yeah, and also, like I'm imagining as a child being put on the spot and then someone saying, now put your hands up and talk to your, In front of the police, yeah. In front of the constable and then you say, now put your hands up and talk to your... In front of the police, yeah. In front of the constable, and then you say,

now put your hands up and talk to your dead sister and see what she says. Like, oh my God, first of all, I would start crying. And then when they would be, when everyone said, what did she say, what did she say, what did she say, what did she say, yeah, I would probably be like, um, she's in heaven. I mean, even the early part where he says like,

oh, try talking to Mae, it's like that already puts pressure on her that like, if she doesn't do it, she's failing in some way. Yeah, and it's like now you've put it in her head that she has to hear a message and it's just that's still a lot. I don't know. I feel like that's unfair that they put her on the spot like that. And also knowing myself at 12 for the attention,

I would have done it for sure. Yeah, or just like to appease everyone in the room because they clearly want you to say something. Yeah, so anyway, that's something to consider. But if it is a ghost and it's saying, oh, I may, then explain why you're fucking scaring the entire town and hitting your family with rocks. Thanks for bringing me to heaven.

They have a huge rock collection up here. I'm just gonna keep throwing them at you, mom. Thanks for praying for me. What? Well, eventually, so it keeps happening after this. It's not like she talked to her, and now, like, the stuff goes away. Like, the activity goes away.

It goes away for the rest of that night, but then the next night, it comes back. Okay. Eventually, so many rocks are hitting the house that every single window is smashed. People are hearing the sounds from every single window is smashed. People are hearing the sounds from 100 yards away. And even creepier, a lot of people can't tell if the sounds are coming from inside or outside

of the house. Yeah, we don't like that. Eventually, it was seemingly coming from both. It started outside, then they start hearing sounds on the inside and eventually they just couldn't decipher what was going on. Oh, my Lord. Then their cottage is getting these knockings that are so loud that the foundation is shaking, and people are even trying to shake the house themselves

to see if it's just like a loose house or something. Oh, no. They're like kicking the baseboards like, seems pretty sturdy to me, like, stop trying to knock my fucking house over. Yeah, also, what if you were right and the house just falls now? Yeah, what the fuck are you gonna do now? Yeah. the baseboards seems pretty sturdy to me. Stop trying to knock my fucking house over. Yeah, also what if you were right and the house just falls now? Yeah, what the fuck are you gonna do now?

Insurance would be wild. Oh my, pushed a house over. What? Yeah. Also, push the house over. Also, I love the idea that one newspaper talked about how there was this guy who was like 200 pounds and he kept trying to throw himself into the walls of the house to try to knock it over.

Just to prove that it was shaky on its own. But the thing is, no matter how hard people try- He was trying to break into Wallace. Very literally, very literally. Do you know that I fell asleep doing that last night? Did it work? I think so, because I don't remember falling asleep. So, and you know what?

I had insomnia, my insomnia kicked in yesterday. So I went to bed early, like for me, which was like 10, 08. And I, at like 12, 30 AM, still couldn't sleep. And I was like, oh my God, I have to break through Wallace or break into Wallace. And I don't remember anything else. So it must have fucking worked. See, at the very least it gets you sleepy.

Yeah, I didn't even think about it till just now. And then I was like, wait a minute, I tried that last night and I pretty sure it worked. I think that's why it felt like it was, when you asked me like, oh, so are you falling, are you going straight into actively dreaming? I was like, I don't know. I think I was just trying to fall asleep

and it eventually became more. Yeah, you like became more lucid. That's so interesting. I mean, anyway, that helped me last night. Thank you. Anyway, if anyone else has tried breaking into walla since our last episode, if you don't know what that means. Write in if it's helpful,

because I'd like to know if I cracked the case. And I'd also love to know if any, I mean, not to discourage you and your creativity, but I'm curious if anyone else does something similar, if there are other things, I don't know. But okay, so we had talked about if it's breaking into Wallace or breaking through, and I said breaking through makes more sense,

but then when I was doing it, I said breaking into Wallace, and that's what you said originally the first time, I don't know, so anyway. I take it back. We can all universally come up with a phrase. I don't really know either. I just, in my head, I'm just like, oh, Wallace. When we say it, maybe we just see what works.

Yeah, what feels right. Anyway, sorry, that's what this guy's doing. He's breaking into Wallace. He's literally breaking through the wall. And he's doing it to prove that the house is shaky, but it's not. So that's at least one piece of evidence. So like we're trying with all of our might to knock this thing over.

So where are these knocks coming from? Like, is this thing sitting on a tectonic plate and just rocking rocking around? So the town is still on 24 hour surveillance. They don't have any answers. The local sergeant, the constable, whatever he was so. Like befuddled about everything, I guess is the best word. He was just like so strained that just like out of an SVU episode, like his superiors had to send him home. They were like, go home. You need a break. I told you this guy was, he was not cut out for the job. He was really stressing about

it. I knew it. And also I don't know if it was like he couldn not cut out for the job. He was really stressing about it. I knew it. And also, I don't know if it was like, he couldn't figure it out on like, on his normal nine to five or like, was this the guy who was doing overnights every single night and just being pelted with rocks? Too close to the case. Yeah, yeah, exactly. You're too close to this.

You gotta go home. Or was it like, he was trying to get the night guard or whatever they're called, the neighborhood watch under control and was like, these people are making me lose sleep. Like I can't handle this situation anymore. Like maybe it wasn't about the ghosts at all. Maybe it was all about these damn people.

And I also wonder like what the adrenaline does to your body if you're doing it for days on end, losing hours of sleep because you're around the clock and you're always constantly on another level wondering if you're gonna get hit by a fucking rock. Yeah, you're on hypervigilant mode. Yeah, so I think he just needed a break. So he's losing it, the neighbors are getting frustrated

because they're not coming up with any answers. No. Mr. Bowen, he's also losing it and every time he hears a knock, he's starting to run out with a shotgun and just shooting into the direction of the sounds. Haven't we learned about this, Mr. Bone? I know.

Let's not. And eventually, it was getting even worse because one time they came home to find that their heavy shutters were no longer nailed into the house and were piled on the veranda, like, stacked on top of each other. Oh, no. Like, Poltergeist style. Yeah. At one point, a friend of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who was a big paranormal guy,

his friend Harry Moore came to investigate. This is not Harry Price. Right, okay, okay. I was like, there was another Harry. Okay, Harry Moore. Harry Moore came to investigate. I don't know if it was, like, on behalf of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle or something, but he showed up. He stayed at the house for three days.

He brought several assistants with him. Apparently, they came up with like traps to try to like figure out the rock pelting. They couldn't come up with anything. They never got an answer. All they could determine was that it was not of human agency, therefore it was supernatural agency. And he was convinced forever that it was, in fact, a Poltergeist.

And I really you never see this. This is like straight out of like the end of Hannah Montana, where some of the critics were really hating on Minnie. And they were like, she's obviously doing this, blah, blah, blah. And the whole town came to her defense. And they were like, you don't mess with her, blah, blah, blah. And the whole town came to her defense, and they were like, you don't mess with her, blah, blah, blah. You don't mess with Minnie. They even, I mean, I honestly,

I wonder if the town was defending her or defending themselves because they were like, we've been on fucking watch for several days. We're protecting this family, back off. And also it's like, we've been on patrol, like we've been on the ground, and so many of us have been literally surrounding this house for days that

if it was Minnie, we would have seen that. We've been keeping tabs on the whole family. Right. So it almost questions their intelligence too. Yeah. So I don't know if they were really protecting Minnie or protecting themselves, whatever. They were like, we would have seen something. We've been watching all them through the open windows. It was not her. Eventually during- We were watching them through all their open windows. Sometimes we even took the shutters off if we couldn't see well enough inside. So eventually during an investigation with the constables, maybe the new one who's on the clock, Minnie does eventually confess to

throwing some of the rocks. But that she says that they were separate from a time. Like it was, I think it was just like a bad confession where like it now no one can take it. It changed the whole story, yeah. Yeah, but she said, oh, I have done that in the past to scare my sister-in-law as a joke, but like I've never, but I'm not part of this. But it just, it just made everything kind of muddied. It's harder to believe now because even if it was just that

and you tell yourself that it's still like, okay, but she knew how to scare somebody by doing that. That's already like quite a big step in the direction of, hmm. Yeah, and I wish I knew more about like, okay, so she was getting pelted with rocks. Like, is she just telling her parents that or did anyone see rocks appear?

I don't know where. Or was she doing that kind of like, oh, she just telling her parents that or did anyone see rocks appear out of nowhere hitting her? Or was she doing that kind of like, oh, she's bouncing it off surfaces and being like, ow. Or just like throwing it at herself. Listen, teenagers are so good at bullshit like this. I know. I just never, folks never underestimate the creativity of a teenager who wants attention.

I'm not saying that's what's happening necessarily. I'm just saying in my mind, like I wouldn't put it past someone that age. of a teenager who wants attention. I'm not saying that's what's happening necessarily. I'm just saying in my mind, like, I wouldn't put it past someone that age. At the very least, if you're around the clock for an entire week watching someone else's house outside, wondering if you're gonna get hit with rocks, it has crossed your mind if it was anyone in the house.

It's crossed your mind in all those hours. Well, and it seems like, were the rocks not coming from... Like, if they were all watching, did rocks just not get thrown during that time or were rocks? Yeah, I you would think that would get mentioned by like if it's raining rocks, why is it not? But it must be raining rocks while they're there because they keep hearing the sounds and Inside or something and it's like yeah throwing them out of chimney, you know? Imagine you throw it up the chimney and then it like bounces down the roof.

This is me planning my next hijinks. This would do numbers on Mythbusters for sure. Right, oh, good point. So this led some people to, sorry, her confession that she has thrown rocks in the past to scare her sister-in-law. And we don't know the timeline on that. Like, did it muddy up the context?

That led newspapers to stop reporting on the events altogether, concluding that it was a hoax. But the townspeople persisted in defending her, being like, we have been watching her nonstop. She's not doing this. Then the rumor began among the police, we think, that maybe it wasn't many, but it was the neighbors themselves. Oh, shit.

As you said earlier, you just need one shitty kid in the yard to throw rocks at moments when no one's looking. But they thought that enough neighbors were in cahoots with each other that they would cover for each other and be like, okay, no one's looking through now. Or, oh, so the cops think that a lot of people were in on it together. And for some reason-

It would even just take two or three of stupid teenagers to do something like that. The cops said something like they thought five or six of the neighbors were up to it. They referred to them as people who were sympathetic to the ghosts, like sympathizers. Ghost sympathizers. And they thought that they were doing it to get possession of the house.

Like maybe if they did it long enough, it would scare the family away and they could take the property maybe. It's just like break enough windows and maybe you can have it. Yeah, if you break enough windows, if you break enough of the house, eventually there is no house left to even own. Good point. Yeah, you keep throwing that 200 pound guy into the wall over and over again. Yeah, you get it.

Something else knock loose. Well, so as these rumors spread of like, is it the neighbors? Is it many? Basically, her parents were like, we have to get many out of here because maybe maybe she is responsible. Maybe she's not. And she's really actually being affected by ghosts. We should get her away from the ghost, too.

So her parents send her to live with grandma for a month. Grandma lives 40 miles away in a town called, I hope I'm saying it right. Glen Ennis, Glen Ennis. But she lives nearby, far away enough, but nearby. You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. A drive. A drive. And while Minnie was gone at Grandma's, the Bowen House had no more activity. Hmm.

However, the first night at Grandma's, Grandma's house is getting pelted with stones. Okay. The neighbors at Grandma's have heard about the Gyra Ghost through the newspapers, so as soon as they hear glass and... Oh, no! Like, they run out, and because they've been hearing about these sounds and like houses shaking

and all this stuff, so they run out immediately. The police come out immediately to investigate. Pretty much the same situation happens over here. And one of the neighbors even said that the sounds sounded like they were caused by an ax striking a heavy wall. An ax strike, oh my gosh, that's a lot. That's like wall. An axe strike. Oh, my gosh. That's a lot. That's like a big ass thud.

Yeah, that's intense. OK. And many is at grandma's for a month. And so all these people are not being terrorized for a month. The same the same way that these other neighbors and those other people are like realizing how good it is to just have a moment of peace. Yeah, I know. They're like, let it be someone else's problem. And because it had already been excused by a moment of peace, yeah. I know, they're like, let it be someone else's problem. Wait a minute. And because it had already been excused by a lot of newspapers as like a hoax by a teenager,

nobody was covering this anymore. Oh, right, okay. So the neighbors are getting much less help than the people in Gaira were. Oh no. And it's for a month nonstop of rocks and the windows shattering. A poor grandma, by the way, she's like,

I shouldn't be dealing with this. And the neighbors by the end of this month fucking hate Minnie. They're like, I don't even know if you're responsible. Minnie just can't. Poor baby. It's like, first of all, you're ugly. Second of all, you're a loser. Third of all, your fucking ghosts are annoying.

This is so sad. So the neighbors end up hating her. They literally start protesting by moving out of their own houses and threatening to the police that they're not coming back to the town until Minnie's gone. Oh my gosh. I love that they could just do that. I know.

And so grandma basically is told, your grandkids got to get out of here. So she kicks Minnie out. Minnie goes back home to Gaira and immediately grandma's house is fine again and the activity picks up at her parents' house. That's a toughie, cause it's like, well, maybe the ghost is attached to her.

Yeah, exactly. Or maybe it's attached to the, uh-huh. Or is she responsible? You'll never know. Or it's her. But they do know at least now that Minnie is somehow the focus of the activity. Yes, that does seem to be clear. Eventually, however, so she goes back home

and things start picking up again. Eventually, it does fade away again. And many think like, was that because the attention died out or is that because Minnie grew out of adolescence and so it wasn't as intense? Or did Minnie just get fucking bored? You know? Yeah. One source said that the they had also witnessed

other clairvoyant acts from many at different points Someone it was I got this from one source They said they had seen her like levitate shit and the like so I think that was just maybe spreading rumors Yeah, because another source said The legend is that the activity continued and she saw stones pelting the window. No other source talked about that. Okay. But most, the most common thing that I saw throughout the sources is that many grew up to

have a very normal life. Unfortunately, she ended up dying by getting hit by a car and like decapitated apparently. What? What did Michael Scott say? Her cap was detated from her body or something. Oh my God. Like I only saw one source say that, but I know that she was at least hit by a car and then maybe later died.

Jesus. It isn't being responsible for her death. Yeah. Um, and one source said to Capita, I don't know if that was again, just like a stretch. Levitating. Her head levitating guy. Yeah. So they will I will say current occupants of the house

say that there is no activity, but also that's because many is not there, girl. So that make good doesn't point. If they would. Yeah, there was an activity there when she was gone anyway. Yeah. And the guy or a ghost, as it has been named, is one of Australia's best known cases of a poltergeist. And in the same year, 1921, a silent movie was actually made about the events there called the Gyra Ghost Mystery.

But I will tell you, it is considered lost media. No, not again. And very little is known about it. Although it is rumored. I need the commercials. The commercials is rumored. I need the commercials The commercials in 1921. Here's cocaine in your soda. It'll make you feel better Here toddlers drink this cocaine So before you head to the mines in the morning, I know are you 12 and need a wedding ring?

Okay, so it's there's very little known about it, but it is rumored, which we will never know for sure, that the Bowen family actually made an appearance in the movie. Oh, cool. And the other rumor is that, um, the original location, the Bowen residence was also got like a cameo. A cameo.

I love that we could just create rumors about it because nobody will ever know. In it also, she's supposed to levitate, I think. So. Oh, in it she also. According to me. What was the other thing we said? Oh, I don't want to say the decapitated thing.

In it, that doesn't happen. Oh, that doesn't happen for sure. No. No deaths. Actually, everything's totally fine. Actually, it's just a really fun, like 13 going on 30 style preteen comedy. Yeah. So it's just a really fun like 13 going on 30 style pre-team comedy. Yeah. So, uh, it's assumed at this point that many made up the ghost or it was attached

to her, but we will never know. Um, although I will say the last thing I'll mention is there was one source that had a statement. I didn't see anybody talking about, and I feel like this is important. I'm just going to read this. This is from, uh, is this from, oh, this is from a different website than the Sunday morning Carol. This is from the star. Okay. And another fabulous reputable source.

Yeah. So this is, uh, while the guards were still surrounding the house and there was stones getting thrown everywhere. Okay. These were the only stones thrown or noise heard by the constable during his stay. On the following night, he organized a secret guard. I never saw anywhere else about a fucking secret guard.

Is that what the night guard? I keep calling them that. Maybe, it's really- I think that's what it is. Their neighborhood night guard. Well, on the following night, he organized a secret guard. Is that what the night guard? I keep calling them that. Maybe it's really you. I think that's what it is. Their neighborhood night guard. Well on the following night he organized a secret guard including some of the leading and most trusted residents of Guyra. Oh this is when he's recruiting the neighbors to help watch him. But nothing occurred. The next night in company with the local sergeant the constable took up a position in the bush on the southern side of the house. the constable took up a position in the bush on the southern side of the house.

And then a respectable local farmer, Mr. Star, he watched the northern side and saw a girl throwing several stones at the cottage. He informed the police. So this random farmer who was on watch, he saw this girl throwing stones. He informed the police who questioned the girl. And she at first denied any knowledge of stone throwing on that day but when confronted with Mr. Star in the presence of her parents she admitted to throwing the stones. The girl afterwards admitted that she was responsible for the knocking on the wall which she affected by striking the inner walls at night with a stick when people were keeping watch outside. She remarked, I was always careful that I was not watched or seen by anybody. I use my mother's decorative stick so nobody would see my tool. So apparently in that one article, it seems like they found the person.

But then also, did they really or did she want attention? Because how is that little girl using a decorative stick and hitting a wall so bad it's shaking the foundation? So is she saying she is this a different girl than the one that lives it's not Minnie? Yeah they're saying that they just saw when they were on watch they saw a girl outside throwing rocks into the house. So then when she explained the stick was she saying at her own house or that she was like hitting Minnie's house? I think she said she was hitting Minnie's house with a stick but then also going unnoticed? I don't know. Like inside it or whatever.

For all I know, this is just like someone like trying to like claim credibility. But but it also seems like a kid. It seems like a kid in trouble wouldn't admit to it like on the spot like that. I mean, I don't know. Maybe not. But I feel like a scared little girl. I would be like I didn't do it if I didn't do it. But no, I would be in full denial. But also maybe she was.

I don't know. I have no idea. But it's another theory that I don't see anyone talking about that someone straight up confessed. Yeah. Yeah. Weird. I wonder why that's only there. Was that written back then, too? Like back in the day when this was all getting covered?

Yeah. Weird. Who knows? That is the Gyra ghost. Wow. OK, that was a wild one. I'd never heard of it before. I like it. Also, I will tell you another ghost I'll be covering soon because I discovered it in in my research. Something called the Humpty Doo Poltergeist. So get ready. It's like these never end, you know? Like I know true crime never ends, but your section too just gets- Dumber and dumber.

More interesting by the day, let's put it that way. I definitely, I saw that in one of the newspaper articles, they were like, step aside Humpty Doo Poltergeist. And I went, what? Actually, will you step back? Step back real quick. Step back real quick. Can I get a quick interview before you head out?

Yeah. Just a few questions. That's coming at some point. Well, I'm very excited for that. So folks, I know you are mid-texting, submitting your topic idea to do the Humpty Dumpty. What is it? Humpty Doo.

The Humpty Doo. So sounds like we're on it folks. Okay. Look, if you ever told me when we started this podcast, one day we would be offered to do an ad about mac and cheese. I would cry. I'm gonna cry. I'm so excited we get to talk about Goodells.

It is the, honestly some of the best mac and cheese. Alison and I have been eating through it. So they have like some grownup flavors, right? Like truffle or hatched chili, but then they also just have like cheddar, you know? Like they have- Yeah, just like old school. Yeah, M's more the old school.

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Now I have a story for you as well, M. And this is the story of Patsy Wright. Okay. Patricia Virginia Patsy Wright, to be specific. So Patsy was born February 24th, 1944 in Texas, where she grew up alongside her sister, Sally. Their father, Thomas Bolton, made a significant living in the oil and gas industry in Texas, and he was a passionate history buff that his daughters described as an avid reader.

And Sally, so Patsy's sister, had described him having this huge, I mean, my dream. I think a lot of probably our age, our generation's dream, have this indoor, beautiful floor-to-ceiling library of books, not just decorative sticks, but yeah, the bell with the ladder, the whole nine yards. But anyway, he had this beautiful personal library with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves,

and he'd already read all the books in the shelves. Now, that's interesting. That's... How do you have the time? You are probably a rich man in the oil and gas industry. That makes sense. Well, I also think about how you can... You're barely putting a decorative stick on your built-ins, but he's got every book and he's read them all. That's sense. Well, I also think about how you can, you're barely putting a decorative stick on your built-ins, but he's got every book and he's read them all. That's amazing.

You should feel bad about yourself, actually. I do, I do. I actively do. Thank you, though, for affirming it. Yeah, sorry, my job takes more time than, I guess, making others drill a hole. A dad in the 1940s, yeah. Sorry, I'm a little busy, but I guess not Thomas.

And I'm not bitter about it. It's fine. So anyway, eventually Thomas decided to dedicate a business to his passion and he opened a museum. What kind of museum? A wax museum. Now shut the fuck up. I will not.

Now Christine Schieffer. I tell ya. When I tell ya, there's nothing I love slash hate more than a wax museum. Love slash hate. That is precisely how I feel. Thank you. There is nothing. I mean, my wallet hates to see a wax museum coming because whether or not I'm having fun,

I'm paying for it. That's for sure. You are buying some merch. You are buying a souvenir. That's for sure. You are buying some merch. You are buying a souvenir. That's exactly right. Wow. Well, so he created a wax museum and it featured wax figures which represented Thomas's vision of Texas history, like Davy Crockett, famous Confederate generals.

He was also hugely inspired by Western gunslinger films and the museum reportedly opened with an exhibit dedicated to 300 antique weapons used in the historical southwest United States. Okay so remember when I said oh my wallet hits the CV card I'm not going out of that one. This one we'll do skip on our road trip. I don't know. Another exhibit displayed quote 230 specimens of barbed wire. That's actually pretty interesting. That feels like someone's on the spectrum. That feels like a special interest. Okay, so now here's where I add a researcher's note

that Saoirse added, which says, "'I grew up farming and still had to look into this. It turns out that barbed wire fencing can be twisted in different patterns, which has evolved over time, and people are very into this.' Yes, that sounds- There's even an entire barbed wire museum with over 2,000 barbed wire pieces in La Crosse, Kansas.

Yeah, I could see my... Now, that museum I'm going to. Give me one night when I need a dopamine fix and the hyperfixation. Hyper-targeted niche barbed wire formation, I'm in. I'm in, I'm in, I'm in. I literally wrote in my phone, I have a list of things. Like if I ever have a night off and I need something to hyperfix it on,

here are some new topics. Fantastic. Last night I wrote how to tie knots. And if you think I'm not gonna change that to how to tie barbed wire, are you fucking kidding me? Yeah, wait, wait, wait, yeah, forget knots. You've got knots the rest of your life. Barbed wire, now that's a hot ticket item right there. Now that I could get into. Okay, I'm coming back to this, forget knots. You've got knots the rest of your life. Barbed wire, now that's a hot ticket item right there.

Now that I could get into. Okay, I'm coming back to this museum just for this. Okay, La Crosse, Kansas. Do you guys wanna go to do a live show, wherever that is? Bring your barbed wire and we'll all just do like a little. A little knitting circle. A little knitting circle while I would do our show. Okay, so other figures on display at this museum were popular celebrities

like Debbie Reynolds, along with religious figures, including an entire life size replica of Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper. A wax one, I presume. Right. Yeah, I should hope so. I would hope so at this point. I would be kind of pissed if I paid money to go to a wax museum and then not everything was wax. They just photocopied the last zipper

and you were like, wait, what? It's how I imagine people feel that are clients of the cake boss and then everything is Rice Krispies and PVC pipe. Oh, and it just feels like, oh, that's cheating. I paid for cake, yeah. Exactly. So I would pay for wax, I'd like to see wax.

I get it, I get it. So Sally and Patsy eventually went to work for their dad's museums, which was pretty cool. So Sally ran the office and Patsy was in PR and this was a major success. They were really good at what they did. And so when Thomas passed away, Patsy and Sally inherited their dad's business together.

The sisters were very business-minded. They grew the museum and its popularity through the late 70s and into the 80s. They made it very modern. They made it very hip with figures like Michael Jackson at the time, very trendy new wax figures for people to come look at. And when they unveiled an Elvis Presley exhibit on the, get this, one year anniversary of his death, over 8,000 people lined up to pay tribute to Wax. Hey, okay. Yeah. In January of 1987, Patsy and Sally opened a second location

of the museum called the Plaza of Wax. I feel like we could have done something cooler than that, but okay. But doesn't plaza feel very 80s? I think everyone wanted to go to the plaza. I could have done something cooler than that, but okay. But doesn't Plaza feel very 80s? I think everyone wanted to go to the Plaza. A Plaza, like it just feels very like 80s, new, like new 80s, like there's tile and stuff. Maybe this is older than Plaza, but I feel the same way, or I think my grandparents felt the same way

about the word lounge or club. Club is, yeah, club, Yeah, that's a big one. Oh, let's go to the lounge. That feels very 60s, doesn't it? Does it? And then Plaza's 80s? What would today be? Let's go home.

I don't think we know until like 30 years from now when we go, oh, that's embarrassing. Yeah, okay, go for it. Probably like Netflix and chill, I don't know. Bed-Rot, I don't know. Ooh. There's a lot of options. I don't know. Bed rot, I don't know. There's a lot of options. You don't know why, because bed rot sounds like bedrock from the Flintstones, which was a real place.

That town of bed rot, yeah. Okay, so at the Plaza R, we also, is there food and everything there too? Or is this like a Plaza, like a mall? Because my first thought is we could rename it Wax and Snacks. You know? Like Wetzel's Pretzels. We'll go head to head.

Yeah. They won't see us coming. They don't stand a chance. They won't. We'll kick them right out of this tiled plaza before you know it. So actually, this museum, the Plaza of Wax, opened in San Antonio across the street from the Alamo It's open in San Antonio across the street from the Alamo historical site. And the sisters prided themselves on thriving in an industry that was largely dying off throughout the US with museums. They put together a management advertising, like social team. They put everything together to make this a successful business.

Sally was a socialite. Her friends described her as very charming, very beautiful. And although she grew up privileged and co-owned businesses worth millions of dollars, people always called her very down-to-earth. She got along with everyone she met. And as for her sister Patsy, who's the subject of this story, Patsy herself in 1987 was twice divorced with two children. She had her son William, who was nicknamed Wayne, and Leslie, her daughter, and she had big plans for the future.

She had recently begun the process of purchasing a multi-acre ranch where she planned to live with her prized horses. So she's making moves. And keep in mind, she and her sister have this multi-million dollar thriving business So they are and she's twice divorced. She's like I'm a do me. Okay good for her

Right. So Patsy was pretty new to rodeo competitions. She was training on cutting her horse. Her horse's name was dry Leo and Cutting here refers to a horse used to cut or isolate individual livestock from the herd. And so this is according to Saoirse's notes. So cutting slash sorting competitions involve isolating specific cows or animals from big groups to demonstrate your skill as a herder. So you're using this horse to contain an individual animal, if that makes sense. It's apparently an extremely athletic sport. It requires a lot of training with your horse. And this is something she was just very passionate about. She'd actually won one of these competitions,

which is really hard to do. And was, yeah, was eager to do more. So Patsy's city friends weren't so thrilled that she was living out on a ranch by herself. They were a little worried about that. And according to a 1989 article by Glenna Whitley in D Magazine, which I'm like, I don't know, is that Dallas?

I have no idea what D Magazine is. Oh, yeah. I don't know. Can you look it up? D for that damn magazine. Oh, it is Dallas. Oh, look at you. It still exists. Well, so according to a 1989 article in D Magazine,

which was written by Glenna Whitley, a friend actually called Patsy, like during the time that she moved to this ranch, a friend called Patsy and told her about a dream that two men murdered her. She was like, I had a dream you got murdered, Patsy. I don't want you to move to this ranch. And Patsy laughed and was like, oh, you're just worried.

You know, I'll be fine. Ah, she was, for what it's worth, very tough, very resilient, self-sufficient. She like didn't want people's anxieties to stop her from living her dreams. So, you know, I can respect that. Her daughter, Leslie, even said in an interview, she was so alive, like

she was just one of those people that wanted to be out in the world and out in nature. And in autumn of 1987 she was actually living in a temporary rental while the ranch purchase was pending. And it was late October of 87, Patsy and Sally, the sisters, were preparing for Halloween events at the museums. That's right, even in October of 87. They were on top of the millennial Halloween fall craze. Love that. Love it. They were ahead of their time. They featured figures from horror classics,

live actors in costumes, so like jump scare stuff, and newspapers later reported, cause this was ahead of the times like I feel like 87 was early for like a jump scare attraction that had a lot of like thought and oh yeah I don't I mean I I don't I don't personally remember jump scare attractions being the way that they are today like today they're so involved yeah exactly and so basically they had this huge event planned. Newspapers reported that 40,000 people attended the nine day event.

Holy shit. 40,000. Wow. And so this was a hit, a smash success. They were very, very successful. So on Thursday, October 22nd, she went home after a successful dress rehearsal. They're even rehearsing this Halloween event, which I fucking love.

They take it seriously, their work. They don't fuck around. They don't fuck around. I appreciate that. Hours later, Sally's husband, Steve, so Sally is their, Sally is her sister. I'm sorry. So this is Sally and Steve. They're asleep.

They wake up to a phone call at 3 a.m. Okay, of course, it's a landline so Sally's husband answers the phone hands it to Sally and it's Patsy on the other end of the line and She is completely frantic She tells her sister Sally that she had taken some cold medicine and something was really wrong and she could barely breathe. Oh, fuck. Patsy sounded desperate. She sounded sick. She sounded faint. So Sally hung up, immediately dialed 911, then realized too late she didn't know Sally's new rental address because it was a temporary rental.

Oh my God, my anxiety. Like pre-Find My Friends, I just can't even imagine. Oh my God, my anxiety. Like pre-find my friends, I just can't even imagine. Oh my God. So she and Steve jumped in the car. They like rushed over there because they had to go get the address. Thank God they knew where it was. Sally didn't have a key though. So Steve had to run to the back of the house.

He found one of the windows unlocked and climbed his way in. He then ran to the front door to let his wife Sally in. And Sally found her sister Patsy in her bedroom of this rental apartment. And she was dead. Oh no. So they realized as they got to her that she wasn't breathing. And Sally called 911 again.

They didn't realize, they didn't know whether she had passed away yet or not, but she was not breathing. And so Sally called 911, Steve began CPR, and he's interviewed in an episode of Unsolved Mysteries I watched. And it's, you can tell this was traumatic as it would be. Right, but it's just very chilling to hear him describe it.

He said he alternated between chest compressions and mouth to mouth. And he said, every time he gave Patsy breath, this green fluid would come out of her mouth and into his mouth. And he said he would just keep spinning it out and then keep trying CPR. Like he was just so in the zone and trying to save her. That's a good guy. Cause I, I don't, I feel like I would have panicked and been like, what the fuck's in my mouth? Yeah. And he just

said he kept spinning it out and kept going. When paramedics arrived, they initially thought Patsy was responding to intervention, but then they realized that the readings on the monitor were only from the chest compressions. They weren't sustained by her actual heart. So Sally rode with Patsy to the hospital in the ambulance, but there was nothing anybody could do. She had passed away. It seemed impossible to family and friends, especially having just talked to her, you know, and seeing her the night before. She was only 43 years old at this point,

had everything going for her, had huge dreams. There was nothing wrong with her health-wise that anybody knew about, and so a heart attack or a stroke just seemed unlikely to have killed her so quickly, you know? So a brief death notice was published in the newspaper the following day requesting donations to charity or a stroke just seemed unlikely to have killed her so quickly. So a brief death notice was published in the newspaper the following day requesting donations to charity in Patsy's name instead of flowers.

And a memorial was held at a Baptist church that Sunday. So for eight days, her family just had to kind of wait because they just had questions and no answers. And they had to wait for Patsy's autopsy results to come through. So the exam, which tested for thousands of substances in Patsy's body at the time of her death, revealed lethal levels of strychnine. Strychnine is a chemical naturally occurring in certain plants in South Asia and Australia, and extremely small doses of strychnine were used historically in medicine as a sort of stimulant.

I mean, we just talked about cocaine, so, you know, things change. People in the late 1800s and early 1900s apparently used it for athletic performance or to stay awake for a long time, like a stimulant, and allegedly even for sexually enhancing your experience. Sure. and allegedly even for sexually enhancing your experience. Today it's used as a pesticide commonly used to kill rats. So, you know, I wouldn't try that out at home folks, if you're thinking of maybe a little DIY Viagra.

Don't use your rat poison, please. It's not worth it. So today it's a pesticide and strychnine is actually a very serious poison. And if you it's like when you say rat poison, that's why rat poison is, you know, poisonous, it uses strychnine. So if you do accidentally inhale it, it is a serious poison. And if it if it gets into your body, it can have pretty serious consequences, serious side effects. If people put it intentionally have pretty serious consequences, serious side effects. If people put it intentionally into food and drinks, or if it has been snorted or accidentally injected into the vein when

mixed with another drug like cocaine or heroin, it can kill you. And a little strychnine, according to the CDC, only a little strychnine is needed to cause serious effects. And a person who is experiencing strychnine poisoning usually develops symptoms between 15 minutes and an hour. And the way that it works is that the poison blocks nerve signals to the muscles, and the person experiences severe, painful, and uncontrollable muscle spasms, which are referred to as, quote,

awake seizures in some medical publications. Oh my god. It's an incredibly horrible way to die. Brain function and consciousness are not affected so you're so fully conscious and aware. You're aware the whole time. Yep and eventually your lungs, remember she said she couldn't breathe, your lungs no longer function and death is often a result of respiratory failure. Sometimes kidney or liver failure, but it's a very gruesome way to die and also a very rare way to die. It's not something that happens by accident very often. And so they knew as they did the autopsy that this had been intentional. So investigators needed to determine how the strychnine got into her system.

And thank God she had called her sister and said, I took cold medicine. Remember she took cold medicine. And so they said, Oh my God, it's NyQuil. She had it in her NyQuil. So on a hunch, an officer at the scene had even bagged the NyQuil bottle thinking it might be evidence. And so it was in storage and they were able to test it. And when they tested the NyQuil, it revealed massive amounts of strychnine.

And this is this how we learned that NyQuil needed a recall or something? Like, no, it contained massive amounts of strychnine, as in somebody put strychnine in her medicine. Oh, I see. I was like, oh shit. I was like, is this a big like scandal that I didn't know about? Okay. No, that's why.

Yes. They knew it was intentional because there's no way this would happen by mistake. And so as evidence, they checked the NyQuil and there was a massive amount of strychnine inside it. And being an odorless powder, it would have just mixed in and she would never have known. And no one's ever drinking it and tasting it. You're always chasing it with something anyway. Trying not to like taste it. And it really has such a strong potent like syrup flavor to it that you wouldn't even realize if there's something extra bitter in there, you know?

Yeah. But it's odorless. You wouldn't even notice, which? But it's odorless, you wouldn't even notice, which is why it's so dangerous. And so basically the bitterness, she wouldn't have even noticed it probably because it was already bitter medicine, you know? And so it was briefly considered maybe she had taken this for suicidal purposes, for suicidal purposes, but she didn't leave a note. She seemed to not be sure what was happening when she called her sister Sally and Steve. And so they kind of ruled that out pretty quickly. You know, once the FBI

and Vicks Nyquil knew enemy of M because of that statement earlier. She's an op for sure. I like, I've always not been a fan, but this is just, if I heard this horror story when I was younger, I would have really terrified me. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, I get that. So they of course determined very quickly there were no other consumer strychnine poisoning cases.

This was not product tampering. It wasn't somebody at the store who did it. They believed it was someone who knew Patsy intimately. And Patsy actually often took NyQuil if she couldn't fall asleep. And so this was something her family and friends knew about her. It wasn't necessarily like, oh, there's NyQuil in the cupboard for the next time I have a cold in six months. It was like every now and then she would drink it. Had done that in the past or have done that in the past too.

Not just her. It's like, oh well it's a sleeping agent. I don't recommend it, but it's probably not safe, but I do that sometimes. So I get it. Well, now they make Z-Quill too, which is like for sleeping. Right. Anyway, okay.

So they believe this was a targeted attack and that somebody knew she would eventually take NyQuil pretty soon and that it would kill her. Her friend, Karen, even told D Magazine, I used to tease her about being a NyQuil head, like don't drink NyQuil to go to sleep. Someone who knew Patsy, her habits and her bedtime routine must have poisoned the medicine

and just waited for the next time she drank it. So whoever had done it seemed to be in no rush, right? Cause it could have taken like a week, it could have taken like two weeks. Who knew like when she would eventually drink some NyQuil, but they knew it would happen soon. And the house alarm hadn't been set when Sally and Steve arrived.

There were actually two dinner plates on a table in Patsy's bedroom when Sally and Steve arrived. There were actually two dinner plates on a table in Patsy's bedroom when Steve and Sally arrived. And remember, she was divorced and was living alone. So they did not know who this second dinner plate was for. Yeah, okay. So, so far, it's like, like that guy spiked her. Somebody may have been involved here. So it's possible someone Patsy was close to

could have been there late that night, but it didn't necessarily make them the killer. It just was a curious addition to potentially what could be a motive. So, you know, inheritance and money were the big ones, the big potential motives. And when Thomas Bolton died, Sally and Patsy reportedly had to battle their stepmother

in court for their dad's estate. So there was already some tension in the family about money. Sally and Patsy reportedly had to battle their stepmother in court for their dad's estate. So there was already some tension in the family about money. Patsy said she would never make her own children go through anything like that. And their inheritance was very secure and she didn't want them to have to fight, you know, a parent for access to that money.

But Wayne and Leslie were extremely close with their mother and their friends felt Patsy treated them as her own family when they came over to see Wayne and Leslie. So both were quickly ruled out. Because at this point they were older. According to Patsy's friends, she was not fond of her brother-in-law, Steve, and she had signed legal agreements with Sally, her sister,

dictating the inheritance of life insurance and stocks to make sure Steve would never own majority assets in the museum business. Damn, Steve. And he's the one who did the CPR with the green stuff coming up and all that. That's tough. It's gotta be really... Awkward.

Just a high-tense, high-stakes situation here, drama. So they looked at Steve and thought, well, if he knew about him being cut out of any potential business in the museums, maybe he had something to do with it. But then we think about the CPR, the mouth to mouth. If he had put strychnine in her medicine, he probably wouldn't have put his mouth on hers. And then kept going when a liquid came

into his mouth. 100%. Because at first I was watching, I was like, why are they saying that? That's so gruesome and like, you know, it feels irrelevant. No, it makes total sense. And then later I thought, wait a minute, yeah, that makes total sense. You wouldn't do, you wouldn't risk it. I would argue he's the clearest of them all.

Yes. Yes. It's almost like he probably freaked out afterward, like, uh-oh, that could have gone badly, you know? One source actually says that a paramedic told the detectives that based on fluid in Sally's mouth when they began professional CPR, it actually didn't even seem like anyone had done proper CPR on her prior to their arrival. And the same source also claimed that no one else reported seeing the dinner plates set out and that Steve had actually been the one to report two dinner plates,

but nobody else had noticed that. So some people say, well, he didn't really do real CPR, so he just made that up about the liquid or whatever as like a way to say, well, I wouldn't have done that if I knew she was poisoned, which seems like kind of a weird stretch to me, but what do I know? But the fact that he was the one who reported the two dinner plates, I mean, I don't know. I don't know if that's odd or not. I don't think it's odd. Not yet.

Not yet. So it's odd not yet. Not yet So it's he said she said he said they said whatever it's not a reliable source for murder Accusation and it's also very possible that Steve just did CPR but didn't do it properly because he didn't know how which I imagine Most people even if they try don't know how including myself it's something that I tried it on one of those airport things and I could not save the dummy. I know, yeah. It's really hard for me too.

I'm not good at it, but I wanna practice a little bit more. Let's practice on each other, break each other's ribs. Great, great idea. Yes, CPR, as Saoirse notes here, is a precise skillset that people commonly misperform, which is why certifications only last usually one to three years before you are required to retrain. So if you are considering that and take this as a sign, I know I will.

Steve and Sally sought out a private detective for more answers while detectives looked elsewhere. Now Patsy had been dating a man named Leo Fikes, which I think her horse was also named Leo as I said, so interesting. Yeah, Dry Leo. Dry Leo, yes. And Leo Fikes, but they had different visions of what the future looked like together. According to Leo, they were in love, but Patsy had already gotten married twice.

She didn't want to get remarried. And Leo felt kind of rejected by that. So they had been estranged for months and they had gotten together a couple times. But Leo said in an interview that it was difficult being a suspect because that rejec... He was already in so much pain about the breakup, and now suddenly he's like, the spotlight's on him as a potential suspect.

And so, you know, he cooperated, he did a polygraph, he seemed like an unlikely culprit, and they couldn't tie it to him, so he was let go. Likewise, Patsy's first ex-husband also didn't fit the bill. He had since remarried. He was reportedly on very friendly terms with Patsy. Apparently he was even listed as the executor of her will. Like that's how close they were. So it didn't really make sense that, you know, he would have had some vengeance against her.

Sure. Patsy's second ex-husband, however, was a different story, okay? This guy, his name was Bob or Robert Cox, and he actually once owned his own wax museum. Oh man, competition is... That doesn't sound good. That sounds like they're arch enemies. They're not because his failed miserably.

Ooh, but that also sounds like a good motive. Exactly. He asked Patsy and Sally to purchase it from him, but they offered much less than he had hoped. And instead, he asked Patsy out, and the two ended up married. Oh! Wow. But Bob was a shithead, and he treated Patsy terribly. She financially supported him.

She supported his gambling habit. They ultimately divorced on bad terms and she was granted a restraining order because he harassed her so constantly. Wow. She also believed and had told friends and family that he was driving by her house some nights and even parking nearby to intimidate and stalk her.

Oh my god, okay, hello. Hello, ding ding ding. Bob, whose failing museum had mysteriously caught fire recently... Oh my god, he is looking worse and worse. ...was being tried in civil court for arson related to an insurance fraud scheme, and Patsy was on the hook to testify against him in an upcoming trial. Well we have found our slam dunk yes? I would say so. Okay. He even reportedly called her demanding that she change her story but Patsy told him she was going to tell the truth and wouldn't you know it she was killed just days before the trial. So are we thinking like he was being sweet on her and saying like, oh, let me make you dinner.

Let me come over and we'll talk it out. I wonder, I don't know. I don't know. Hmm, Christine. You're guessing I'm good at mine. That's mine. Bob won the trial. So it couldn't be proven that he set the fire

because no arrest was made. We have to assume that honestly, we don't know if he did it. I'm with you that I find it to be a very compelling slam dunk, but there has not been an arrest. So there must not be enough evidence to indict him with the murder. And as of right now, the case remains unsolved and open. Wow, wild. Yeah. unsolved and open. Wow, wild. Yeah, so September of 1988, 11 months after Patsy died, the Southwest Historical Wax Museum burned to the ground and everything inside it was destroyed. Christine

Schieffer. It took roughly 100 firefighters from multiple cities hours to control the fire. Holy shit. And the El Paso Times ran the news under the headline just a bit too warm, which I would argue too soon, but okay. Too soon, yeah. Especially like a wax museum. You just put a wick in that, you've got a bunch of like six foot candles. Yeah, yeah, it's not gonna end well.

Although wax isn't flammable, is it? Cause it's wax. Wouldn't you think wax would just become like, it would just turn end well. Although wax isn't flammable, is it? Cause it's wax. Wouldn't you think wax would just become like, it would just turn into a really sloppy puddle and then you wouldn't be able to, cause I'm thinking about if I took a candle right now, tried to catch it on fire without the wick. Oh wait, you're totally right.

It would keep the wick suspended somehow, or not the wick, but like any sort of something on fire, I guess if it was in a bunch of melted wax. I guess my thought is if it, well maybe once the wax melts, once the wax melted down, anything sitting in the puddle of wax became the wick of a candle. It's like suspended in the puddle of liquid wax now. It'd be a very interesting sight, regardless of the tragedy. Yeah, it's a tragedy for sure. Um, yeah, yeah, it just seems like too obvious, right, for a wax museum to burn down, but that's...

Well, I would imagine a wax museum's biggest fear is a fire, right? Right, I guess. Exactly. It's like the only, like, uh, what do you, kryptonite of fake Elvis. what do you, kryptonite of fake Elvis. Yeah. Anyway, so basically this took hours and there was that headline. The fire appeared to be electrical in nature and wasn't ruled in arson, although it was just very weird timing and context and circumstances, especially with that other guy, her ex-husband, like being on trial for arson of his own wax museum. Yeah. And now another wax museum goes up in flames. It's just after a murder. It was just so weird.

It's so weird. So again, I want to be clear. He was not arrested. I'm not saying he did it. I don't know what happened. And it's very clear. Nobody seems to have an answer. But either way, it's all very, very tragic. A new wax museum was rebuilt on the same site in Grand Prairie, Texas, along with a Ripley's, believe it or not, inside. And so in an interview, Patsy's daughter Leslie said it was difficult to know.

She probably is close with whoever did this to her mother or knows them. It must just be such an upsetting feeling. She and her brother, Wayne, were saying like, you know, we know everyone she knew. We were all very tight knit. And it's like, who would have done this? I mean, it's also the... It's like a monster among us. It's like, who am I keeping in touch with?

It makes you want to keep in touch with fucking nobody. It's almost scary. Yeah. It's like, how do you keep yourself safe and who can you trust? And how can you trust yourself if you don't even know who it is, you know, that's also scary Yeah, anyway, so someone might one day come forward hopefully with a piece of knowledge that'll You know finally correct the case But for now those who knew Patsy remember her online and memorial pages, forums, that kind of thing. People still share anecdotes about her online and talk about what a loving, generous, adventurous person

she was and seeing her kids being interviewed, they seem like really awesome people too. So, you know, I don't know what anyone's up to nowadays, but it's just a, it's a pretty dark, dark tale. That's the story. to nowadays, but it's just a pretty dark, dark tale. Yeah. That's the story. Wow. The end.

The end. You know, you've covered a lot in your stories. I think Wax Museum, that was the first for you. I think you're right. Have you done a haunted wax museum? No, which is interesting because I personally believe every wax museum is haunted. I mean, I think everyone, I think despite whether we believe in ghosts or not, everyone knows a wax museum is haunted.

It's the uncanny valleyness of it. Whether you believe in ghosts or not, we all know. We all know there's something not right in a wax museum. In Hot Springs, Arkansas, I went with my mom one time. Oh, yes. And I've definitely told you this story before, but we ended up at the world's creepiest wax museum. And wax museums are inherently creepy. This one fucking took the cake.

That's so scary. If you happen to be from Hot Springs, can you please tell me what the hell the name of that place was? And can you tell me what the hell is going on? Well, when you said it, it sounded like that was the name of it. Oh.

The world's creepiest wax museum. Like it sounded like, I went to the world's creepiest wax museum. That it sounded like I went to the world's creepiest wax museum. That makes sense. No, it just felt the creepiest. And also my mom and I, like it felt like it was out of a Goosebumps movie because we opened the door, all the lights were off. I honestly think it was closed and someone forgot to lock the front door because we walked in, didn't see a goddamn person, never paid a ticket. Josephine Tussauds wax museum. Yes, it was like a knockoff Madame Tussauds. And we thought it was, I think it's Madame Tussauds, Wax Museum. Yes, it was like a knockoff Madame Tussauds. And we thought it was, I think it's Madame Tussauds

like sister or something. I think it's a family member because it's the same last name. But we wouldn't, I am 90% sure that it was actually closed and someone forgot to close the door and we just waltzed in because the lights were completely off. Which is like so scary, dude. Never met a person, never bought a ticket.

No, not a single person. Never bought a ticket. We just kept wandering, waiting to find someone, and eventually we were in the exhibits. Can you tell me what year was that? 2015. 2015, yeah. It was the road trip on the way to LA.

Yeah, if people out there know about this place, and if that's something that would happen, let us know. Like if it's... The pictures we took. And I mean, I mean, another reason why it was so fucking creepy is because like, if it if the building was closed and we just waltzed in, there was no music, there was no ambiance. It was just walking amongst the scariest fucking wax figures you've ever seen.

And there was like several religious sets because it was Arkansas. I was like, where the hell are we? And there was like, there was like it was Arkansas. I was just like, where the hell are we? And there was like, kind of like a fairy tale space, but everything looked knockoff. I don't know. It looks kind of like, oh, well, no, there is paid admission, but it says the museum is open daily year round.

So maybe they just let people wander in. I don't know. Is it just a free thing? I don't know what it was. No, it's like 15 bucks. It was creepy as shit. Oh, we did not pay. Yeah, well obviously there's nobody there

to take your payment. Anyway, if you ever get a chance to go to that museum, imagine all the lights off with no music and you're alone in there with your mom. It's really fucking creepy. I love that you're alone in there with your mom. Your mom has to be a part of it if you're imagining this. And halfway through we were like, I think it's closed.

They now do 4D virtual reality. Shut up. And they just said, I don't know if they had this back then, their website says, the gambling museum is our newest edition. Oh my God. So now they have a gambling museum. By the way, I kind of feel like there was a gambling,

I don't really remember, Maybe I'm forcing a memory, but nothing creepier than a wax museum doing a 4D exhibit. Does I mean the wax people now like talk to you? Or something? Like move and breathe? Oh God, this is my nightmare. This is a horror movie. Wait, Em.

What? This is so cool. At the end of the tour, do you remember anything about the end? Well, you didn't do a tour, but do you remember anything about the end of the tour, do you remember anything about the end? Well, you didn't do a tour, but do you remember anything about the end of the tour? No, it was literally 10 years ago. I don't remember anything now.

At the end of the tour, you were able to check out the escape tunnel the gangsters used to get away when the police raided the casino. You can literally fall in Al Capone's footsteps. So they basically take you to a tunnel that Al Capone ran through. Don't remember that at all. Nope. Yeah, this would be the scariest place to be when it's closed. I think I sent you the picture I have of my mom.

Oh, yes. Oh, my God, you did. We should post that because it's the most embarrassing picture of my mother. Good. It's so good. At some point, I... It was... I don't know how to explain it, except that she was just trying to pose by this really creepy wax figure and it, it accidentally turned out with the

positioning of the camera. It looks like a sexual act. Just being fake. And I was just like- But it's so much better because it was accidental, right? Like it wasn't on purpose. Oh, here it is. I'm setting it to your-

You already have it? Oh my God. Uh, and yeah, that was, it's actually on my Instagram I'm starting to see you already have it. Oh, my God. And yeah, that was it's actually on my Instagram all the way down in 2017. We have to add this to the group. My the caption for it was missing my mom, whose greatest talent is posing for pictures at the worst angle. And my mother liked it. So yeah, I think she'd be fine if we posted it. I that's a horrible thing.

That's from that place. Yeah, that's right. And can you confirm it's fucking dark in there? Like scary. And also that thing looks like it's going to attack you any moment. Look at it looks like it's a mad attack. I mean, and also like the bat, your battery is like really threatening to me. Also appear.

It's like it's at like one percent. This is all really, to me also up here. It's like at, it's at like 1%. This is all really, really toxic. Okay. Well, anyway, with that, if you'd like to go see a picture of my mom that's a little X-rated with a dark wax museum figure. I would say it's a little R-rated. I wouldn't say it's X-rated.

I think- It's certainly a- But it's definitely suggestive. She wouldn't post it on her LinkedIn. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, I would say maybe not. I wouldn't recommend she do that either. She looks so happy. She's fine. She's having a great time.

Anyway, if you live in Hot Springs, Arkansas, please let them know they should lock their doors and they close. And that's it. And that's why we drink.