Ear Biscuits with Rhett & Link - Link's Two Funeral Experiences | Ear Biscuits Ep. 372

Episode Date: March 6, 2023

Two separate trips back home! In this episode, Rhett and Link talk about their trips back to North Carolina – where Rhett visits their old stomping grounds of the NC State engineering department, an...d Link has two vastly different funeral experiences. Plus, both of them are set to give commencement speeches for the civil and industrial engineering departments for NC State – do they feel qualified? Get the Always Creative notebook now at Mythical.com! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/EAR and get on your way to being your best self. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:00 This, this, this, this is mythical. Shop Best Buy's ultimate smartphone sale today. Get a Best Buy gift card of up to $200 on select phone activations with major carriers. Visit your nearest Best Buy store today. Terms and conditions apply. Welcome to Ear Biscuits, the podcast where two lifelong friends talk about life for a long time. I'm Link. And I'm Rhett. This week at the Roundtable of Dim Lighting, we are talking about our recent trips to North Kakalaki, North Carolina.
Starting point is 00:00:45 Unexpected trip for you. Yeah. Planned trip for me. Mm-hmm. Basically how this ended up working is you originally made plans to go to Mexico. Cabo San Lucas. And this was an exciting thing for you. Me and Chris did. You decided to go with another couple other than me and my wife.
Starting point is 00:01:01 That's right. Which you didn't consult with me. That's right. Keep you on your toes. We've worked through it. And when you made that decision to be gone over a long weekend, Jesse was like, hey, the weekend that Link and Christy are gone,
Starting point is 00:01:15 we should go back to North Carolina because she's got cabin business is what we call it. And that's not a euphemism for anything. That's just we have a place that we are fixing up in North Carolina and we needed to meet the contractor, et cetera. Yeah. So we planned a trip that would coincide with the exact days that you were gone. And then... Little did I know... Things happened.
Starting point is 00:01:36 ...that family members and close family friends on Christy's side are going to be dropping like flies. Okay, yep. on Christy's side or we'll be dropping like flies. Okay, yep. Yeah, I went to two funerals in one day. And I want to tell you all about it. Is that a record, you think?
Starting point is 00:01:51 No, probably not. It's a personal record. It's a personal record. I don't think I've ever been to more than two funerals or memorial services, as some may call them, in one day. Who called them that?
Starting point is 00:02:05 Well, or you can call it a celebration of life. That's made its way into the country. Yeah. You know what? The funeral brochure at the country church that Christy grew up in for the second funeral we went to, it said celebration of life. I was like, I like this. That's pretty nice.
Starting point is 00:02:25 I like this. That's pretty nice. I like this. Did it feel like a celebration of life? I would like to discuss that. Oh, ooh. But first, I would like to acknowledge that we're both flannel boys today. Yeah, we're in sync today. Flannel boys with the black t-shirt with the white ink. What are we doing? I don't know, but... We're in sync, man. This is gonna be a good podcast.
Starting point is 00:02:47 We decided to not talk about it until now, and we also decided not to change, because it's like, it does, you know... It's different, but the same. If you're just watching a clip from Ear Biscuits, this episode, you'd be like, oh, they decided to wear a uniform today. Yep. Plaid and black t-shirt, but no, it just happened that way. We're tapping into the same lifestream of apparel.
Starting point is 00:03:08 This is a synchronicity, Link. This is a synchronicity. I will say briefly. What do we do with it? I will say briefly. I'm not going to talk about this at length right now, but I'm sure we will at some point. But people have pointed out multiple... Whenever we talk about things, like when I did my deconstruction episode and I was talking about some of these things that were happening and, you know, is this challenging my worldview or inventing a new one, whatever. People point out the fact that, which is not unexpected, that all of these things have been talked about ad nauseum by many other people other than me.
Starting point is 00:03:42 It's just I tend to not be very well educated about a lot of this stuff, right? Because, you know, I got a technical education. I've been making internet videos. Meaning what I'm saying is that all the stuff that we've been talking about, there are people who are educated and informed and for, you know, centuries have been talking about some of the things that we talked about, and I'm just sort of riffing and talking about my personal experience. Shame on you.
Starting point is 00:04:08 But no, actually, it's... I think it's good. It's good to hear people talk about that because people point me to people who've talked about it. Okay. And then it's very helpful for me to process. So they're not critiquing you? Well, some people are, but it's not, I'm saying some people are giving helpful suggestions.
Starting point is 00:04:29 Some people are critiquing. I'm taking it all as helpful suggestions. But one of the things, I really had no idea about, I mean, I had a little bit of an idea about CG or Carl Jung, which I always just said Carl Jung. And apparently he is the one CG or Carl Jung, which I was, I just said Carl Jung.
Starting point is 00:04:50 And apparently he is the one that made a lot of some of these concepts about like the collective unconscious and synchronicity and all this stuff because he was very much a guy that was like one part of his brain was super rational, logical, and the other part of his brain was trying to figure out what was going on beyond and trying to develop a way of thinking about those things together. And so I haven't been reading him directly
Starting point is 00:05:15 because he's kind of hard to read directly, but I've been reading modern people's takes on him who can explain it in a way that doesn't make me fall asleep. Why did you say he was CG.G.? I thought it was C.J. No, C.G. What's the G? I don't know. Gustav, I think? Oh. Oh. Oh. But Jung starts with a J.
Starting point is 00:05:36 Oh. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Okay. Yeah. So we're having a Jungian synchronicity right now. Well, we probably just have similar... We have a crossover in our wardrobes, and it's inevitable that we're going to wear similar things on some days. But we can choose to believe that there's something else going on, and it's more fun. I would like to harness it.
Starting point is 00:05:59 Yeah. I'd like to harness it. And see if we can just work something up today. Well, since we're getting stuff off our chest. Yeah. I would say, so thank you for those of you who suggested different books and resources because I do appreciate it because I admit I'm not very well read in a lot of these things. I'm just kind of experiencing life and then just going on a podcast and talking about
Starting point is 00:06:20 it. So I do not take offense at any of those recommendations. I welcome them. Speaking of suggest a book, I'd like to suggest a book. Okay, is this your rec? Um, no. Okay, this is an ad. I would like to suggest a book that has nothing in it.
Starting point is 00:06:32 It's up to you to fill it, and we sell it. Mythical, always creative. You know, it's good to have a creative notebook that says nothing. It's the Doodle Book. This actually features a doodle from Caleb. Yep. Our artist in residence.
Starting point is 00:06:51 Yeah, and so the only thing that's on the book is the mythical M. And then you can put the dragon on there, your doodle, anything you want. You don't have to doodle what Caleb doodled. And then every day or every moment is a blank slate for you to doodle, express yourself, distract yourself. I recommend that.
Starting point is 00:07:11 That's my favorite book right now. The Mythical Doodle Book, available at mythical.com. A book with nothing in it. Your teen requested a ride, but this time, not from you. It's through their Uber Teen account. It's an Uber account that allows your teen to request a ride under your supervision with live trip tracking and highly rated drivers. Add your teen to your Uber account today.
Starting point is 00:07:42 I want to apologize for my tardiness today. Of course, you were also tardy. I think I was tardier than you. I was running late because I had to flick my shower nipples. No comment. And once I got started with that, I couldn't stop until I was done. Please elaborate. I thought I told you about my shower nipples before.
Starting point is 00:08:15 Cause you know I've got the shower head beside me, but then I've got the raindrop shower head overhead, and it's like... It's got a bunch of nipples on it. It's got a bunch of nipples on it, and then all the water squirts out of the nipples. Because of the hardness of the water in our area, they get clogged. Yeah, and the nipples are black rubber, and then I can look and I can see right at the tip of the teat
Starting point is 00:08:43 of each one, there'll be like a little white thing. A frosty nip, they call that. If I reach up there and I just pinch the nipple, the frosty nip will come off. And the water will flow again. And the water will flow or not be like, pew, sideways. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 00:09:05 I notice that sometimes if I go long enough without flicking my shower nipples, the intensity of the remaining free-flowing nipples is such that it feels like I'm being shot with a bunch of lasers. Yeah. And then there's one laser hitting the wall, one laser hitting the shower door. Pew, pew, pew, pew, pew! I feel like I need to be dropped from the ceiling like Tom Cruise.
Starting point is 00:09:33 Well, the intensity of... To dodge it. The intensity of flow is proportional, or inversely proportional, to the number of nipples. Of course I know that. And this is why Chase, who has a third nipple, which he's talked about, has a very low flow in his nipples because he has a relief nipple, is what they call it.
Starting point is 00:09:53 Well, the design is optimized for all of the nipples to be free-flowing. And you tend to forget. All of a sudden it's like, man, this hurts. I don't even want to turn this thing on. But then I went up there and I like systemat- and sometimes I'll just like, I'll just rake my hand over it. I ain't got time for this. Just like get all the nipples at once. It doesn't work that way. You gotta sit there and you gotta systematically
Starting point is 00:10:15 go in a circle. I did it. It took me so long, my arm got tired, I had to switch arms. And you're just standing. You're not like on a stool. I'm not on a stool, no. And then I got so tired I had to switch arms. And you're just standing, you're not like on a stool. I'm not on a stool, no. And then I got so tired I had to switch arms back. From what I remember in filming that video in your shower, which is on the internet, don't get any ideas. I mean, it's this tall.
Starting point is 00:10:37 I had to reach pretty straight to get to it. It's a pretty tall shower. So I just systematically pinched all of the shower nipples And got all of the little granules out This is the only reason that you were late? Well, it took a long time And then I turned that shower head back on And let me tell you
Starting point is 00:10:58 It was like a brand new morning It was like a delicate rain morning. It was like a delicate rain. I was just underneath the delicate rain. I was like, This is what this thing's supposed to do! Yeah. This is what it was made for! Sometimes you just gotta flick your nipples. Sometimes you gotta flick your shower nipples.
Starting point is 00:11:15 First thing in the morning. You know what? Stop what you're doing. Drop what you're doing. You can keep listening to this. Make your way to your shower head at your next available entree, and start flicking those nipples. Now you're assuming that everyone has a rain, I mean this is pretty privileged of you to assume everybody's got a rain shower. Or, whatever your shower head is, you need to dunk that thing in some vinegar water.
Starting point is 00:11:42 We definitely had no nipples in my shower door. You gotta get that shower head clean. The shower head in my bathroom growing up was, I don't know if you remember this, if you ever took a shower at my house growing up. I remember. The shower head started, like left the side of the wall at my goozle height, neck height,
Starting point is 00:12:07 and then released at the top of chest height. And this is the shower that I grew up taking showers in. And probably at age... You were standing in a bathtub. Nine, I outgrew the shower but continued to shower in the shower until 18. So you would bend over to wash your hair. Yeah. Or if you didn't over to wash your hair. Yeah. Or if you didn't want to wash your hair,
Starting point is 00:12:27 you didn't have to wear a shower cap. I didn't wear a shower cap until I got this hair. Growing up, I'm going to say this is just growing up with just a mom. Because the time that I grew up in the... Hold on, you just really, really, really... Messed up the synchronicity? Messed up the synchronicity? Messed up the synchronicity. I got hot. I had to take it off.
Starting point is 00:12:48 Well, feel how thick my thing is. I'm hot, dude. Mine's quilted. Mine's quilted? Oh, okay. Well, I'm just keeping mine on. Mine's just as quilted as yours is. I'm keeping mine on for now.
Starting point is 00:13:00 I'll take mine off in a little bit. I shouldn't put this on my mom, but it was her idea. As a kid, she was like, she would tell me things like, you need to wash your face every night with Noxzema. She didn't have a daughter, you know? Well, no, that was important, though. Forget gender norms. That was important.
Starting point is 00:13:16 I'm open to this. I mean, she taught me skincare at a young age. That's a lot of things a lot of boys growing up around my time didn't get taught. I think you may be. But here's the other thing she taught me. I think you have a misconception about this, just so you understand. Well, how about this? She said, and you know what?
Starting point is 00:13:32 If your hair is good, you can take a shower with a shower cap. And as a kid, there were many times when I would shower with a shower cap. That's a very middle-aged woman thing to do. I think that's a little unusual. But what was the... You ever showered with a shower cap? I said, yeah, now I do. You have a shower cap?
Starting point is 00:13:56 Yeah. Look at my hair, man. Man, how embarrassing. If I'm not going to wash it. How embarrassing. I can't even sit here anymore. I'm glad I took my jacket off. But here's the thing.
Starting point is 00:14:06 What I have found after having a shower cap for like the first two years of this hair is that if I just put my hair up... Same thing. ...and just kind of stand... I don't have... We don't have a rain shower. Let it hit your goozle.
Starting point is 00:14:19 I just let it hit my face and a little bit of hair gets wet. But what were those... Aren't you afraid... It was called Oxy you afraid of walking around with a shower cap? Like, aren't you afraid if you forget to take it off, you might come to work with that thing on? No, because in our bathroom, we have a mirror. Oh.
Starting point is 00:14:35 Yeah, so I usually see myself after I get out of the shower. I had to make a choice, you know, rain, shower head, or a mirror. Oxypads. I'm living with that choice. Is that what they were called? Yeah, Oxypads. So we had the wash that came with that pads. I'm living with that choice. Is that what they were called? Yeah, oxy pads. So we had the wash that came with that. I remember you had all that stuff.
Starting point is 00:14:49 And we had clearasil. Dude, every teenager has a, should have, like a face wash routine because of acne, bro. I use Noxzema. I use Noxzema. So I'm just saying that I think that you thought that you were the only boy that was getting the face treatment.
Starting point is 00:15:04 Primp and proper. But like, we were all burning our faces up that you thought that you were the only boy that was getting the face treatment, but we were all burning our faces up trying to keep the zits at bay. I don't know. They have different treatments now, I've noticed. Tell me about North Carolina, man. It's wonderful. It's a wonderful state. The pine tree. The pine state.
Starting point is 00:15:24 Tell me about your specific experience. The state bird is the cardinal. The state tree is the- The main export- Longleaf pine. Longleaf pine was tobacco for a long time. What is it now? I bet it's potatoes.
Starting point is 00:15:44 No, not potatoes. I've never seen a potato farm. Well, they're underground. We have to grow a lot of cotton now, I think. Anyway, well, the main thing that, when I found out we were going back to North Carolina, I looked at the calendar just to check and see if our school, our, I can't say this word, but I'm going to try it, alma mater. Good.
Starting point is 00:16:08 Is that right? Good. A's, L's, and R's. Not good with me. Was hosting, yes, hosting the University of North Carolina, Tar Heels, in basketball. Boo! This has been a pretty good year, if not a great year, for NC State basketball, and it
Starting point is 00:16:31 is proving to be a pretty bad year for UNC. I love it. And the fact that they have historically, at least since the 80s, have dominated us, let's just be clear about that. the 80s, have dominated us. Let's just be clear about that. In fact, having won 35 of the last 40 games that we've played. Ouch.
Starting point is 00:16:56 We just hate them with a deep, fiery passion. Mm-hmm. And I was like, you know what? I'd like to go to that game because I don't go to NC State sports games anymore because I don't live there. And it's on the weekend. You know what I'll do? I'll reach out to the person that we know at the engineering school, Dr. Jerome Lavelle, who we know from the time we took a tour of NC State's engineering school a few years ago. Yeah. And- When we were on the Bleak Creek tour.
Starting point is 00:17:29 Yeah. And so we reached out and I was like, hey, cause I mean, I looked and all the tickets, the whole thing was sold out already. So, and he was like, yeah, you know what? Actually it works out. The Dean's personal, two of his personal tickets he's not using or whatever.
Starting point is 00:17:44 So I was like, oh great, I'll take my dad to a basketball game. Great father-son bonding. Nice. Get to see the impact play. And he was like, I'd love for you to stop by the engineering school on the Friday before. You're going to be there Friday through Monday. These tickets aren't completely free.
Starting point is 00:18:02 And show you around. Show you around a little bit. Maybe have you meet some students. And I was like, sure, I'd love to do that. That's cool. Because last time that we were there, we did go over to the Centennial Campus where the engineering school is,
Starting point is 00:18:15 but we didn't really go into many things. Either it was just the time of year. I don't remember exactly what was going on, but I got a way better tour than we got, just so you understand. I'm gonna tell you about some things that I saw. Yeah, it was classes weren't in session or something. Okay.
Starting point is 00:18:30 It was a strange time. It was cool to go back, but yeah, we didn't get to see that much. Well, as you know, most of the engineering buildings are on the Centennial Campus, the Newark campus. Yeah. Which you have to kind of, I mean, it's a little bit of a drive to get to. And he was like, I'm going to take you into some of the labs where some students are doing some interesting work. Okay.
Starting point is 00:19:01 And, I mean, I don't think I have to tell you how much NC State has changed since we went there. Yeah, I mean, it's been a short 20 something years since we graduated. Centennial campus was just getting started when we were there. Just getting started. It was like very ambitious, like the buildings were huge,
Starting point is 00:19:19 but there wasn't anybody there. Yeah. It was like hardly anything was happening. We didn't, I took no classes there. Oh yeah. It was right after us that they started populating more stuff over there at that remote campus. And there's been a huge change in just the philosophy of architecture and building spaces for universities and corporations. The very open, airy, natural light, all that stuff is kind of a new thing that's happened over the past 20 years.
Starting point is 00:19:51 And it's just infiltrated corporate America, but also American universities and any new buildings they're building, right? Of course, they still only use brick at State, right? On the outside, yeah. State, right? On the outside, yeah. But we walked past Man Hall, which is the building that I took a lot of my civil engineering classes in. It was the civil engineering building,
Starting point is 00:20:12 and it's currently being completely redone. But I don't remember what building you did most of your classes in, but I'm sure it was a very similar approach. Park shops. Okay. I think is what it was called. similar approach. Park shops. Okay. I think is what it was called. But when you went into the front door of Mann Hall, there was a lobby area that was a lobby the size of a mansion or a foyer in a large home.
Starting point is 00:20:41 You know what I'm saying? It was not a big space and it was one story and there were barely any windows in there and there was like a little seating area. Yeah, like maybe like some stuff on the wall.
Starting point is 00:20:52 In the 50s maybe. But now when you walk into, so there's this, interestingly, the civil engineering and the industrial engineering departments are in the same building.
Starting point is 00:21:03 Synchronicity. So there you go. There's like a, you know, Dr. LaBelle. Between me and you. It's like the Rhett and Link building. Synchronicity. So there you go. There's like a, you know, Dr. Lavelle. Between me and you. It's like the Rhett and Link building. He didn't ask me to make it the Rhett and Link building. But he was planning to see, right?
Starting point is 00:21:12 I mean, I don't know. I mean, they're not going to turn away donations. They didn't come out and ask. How much does it cost to name a building after? Way more than we're willing to pay. Yeah, I didn't even ask that question. I didn't even ask. So, but I was just blown away as we walked into these buildings with just the lobbies.
Starting point is 00:21:30 I mean, I was getting fixated on just the lobbies. I didn't know you were a lobby man. I am now. I didn't know I was a lobby guy, but I'm a lobby guy. When you've got a lobby that's three stories high, and there's all this open seating and all this natural light, and it's just, it gives you a feeling of, I want to learn. Do they have hammocks? No.
Starting point is 00:21:51 Because to me, that's the final frontier. Because every college lobby is just, it's all about where am I going to take a nap next? That's how I felt about it. That was for you, and I don't think that's a widespread practice because most people have shame. There's a concept called shame, and we are well aware of the fact that you don't. I definitely have shame, but it ain't got nothing to do with it.
Starting point is 00:22:13 Shame leaves the building when I'm sleeping. That's the great thing about me and shame. And naps. They need hammocks in more campus places. Well, there's these cool things called dorm rooms, and there's these better things called beds. Don't patronize me! Well, there's these cool things called dorm rooms, and there's these better things called beds that are in those. But then he took me to the actual lab areas where the students are doing these experiments. And I don't know what kind of robots and stuff you had access to at the
Starting point is 00:22:41 industrial engineering school. I don't think any. No, none. It's crazy. What are you talking about? You saw robots? Oh, yeah. I don't mean like, may I help you kind of robots.
Starting point is 00:22:53 I don't mean personal assistance. I mean, there's this giant- May I help you navigate the lobby? There's this giant, I mean, I'm sure they'll have that soon, but there's this giant multi-story open area with all these stations. And of course, you've got your 3D printers. And I don't mean like your little... I mean 3D printers the size of this table around. And then robotic arms doing things. And just all throughout this facility, all this stuff that we just didn't have access to. And maybe if we had of had
Starting point is 00:23:22 access to it, we'd still be engineers. So, I mean, you know, catch 22 there. But he was like, I want to take you to some labs where students are doing some interesting work. And it was pretty cool because, at least for the most part, it seemed like these students, these graduate students, whether they be, you know, just a graduate student or a PhD student, had been prepared. students, whether they be, you know, just a graduate student or a PhD student had been prepared, you know, we're bringing by, uh, an alumnus and, uh, he's an internet comedian. He doesn't do any engineering anymore, but he wanted to go to the state Carolina game. And, um, they had been prepped. They had a little something to say, you know, They had been prepped. They had a little something to say. Oh. Welcome to Moe's!
Starting point is 00:24:07 It was almost like that. But I went into one lab, and there was this long chamber, like a water chamber. They were doing some work on it, but it's basically like to generate a wave to study erosion and that kind of thing. Okay. But then there was all these pipes in there, and there was this woman in there in a white coat and safety goggles. And she explained that what she is working on is she is working with fungi that are designed to break down certain waste products in wastewater systems,
Starting point is 00:24:48 whether that be plastics or whatever. And there's also some that, you know, those fatbergs, you know, the oil deposits, the grease deposits that get into city sewers. Yes. Oh, God, don't show me a picture of that. Great internet videos. Well, they're developing, you know, fungi
Starting point is 00:25:04 that are going to that can attack this stuff and take care of it. And of course the first thing that I'm thinking. The last of us. I'm like, have you watched The Last of Us? That's all I can do. You ask her that. Being out of this field for so long and never really having been in that
Starting point is 00:25:20 particular field of getting that technical. I'm an entertainer. Can we talk about a show? Yeah. And I said, and so that was kind of my particular field of getting that technical i'm an entertainer can we talk about a show yeah and uh i i said and so that was kind of my ended up kind of being my go-to thing as you'll you'll see as i talk about the other place that i went was this idea that this woman is working with mushrooms she's working with a fungus that you know it felt like it could turn on her. And that was, I just said, be careful. That was basically my advice was, I just, listen, I'm only four episodes in,
Starting point is 00:25:53 but I just got to say, be careful. I really believe in what you're doing. Can I ask a potentially dumb question? Yeah. You can, more than one. What? You can ask more than one. Well, I never have. This more than one. What? You can ask more than one. Well, I never have.
Starting point is 00:26:07 This is my one. Maybe this isn't a dumb question, but like, I don't know. I'm seeing it from a different angle. Like you've been talking about fungus and then I'm like, yeah, mushrooms. And then I realized that like when you get a fungal infection, when you get a fungal infection, is that mushrooms? Well, no, mushrooms is a type of fungus. Oh, good.
Starting point is 00:26:27 But yeast is a fungus as well. Oh, that's right. That's right. Yeah, so, no, it doesn't necessarily mean... So she wasn't working with mushrooms, per se. No, but in The Last of Us, it is a mushroom. I know that. Yeah, so...
Starting point is 00:26:44 I mean, maybe if, does yeast eventually become a mushroom if you let it go? I don't think so. It becomes bread, dude. Yeah, it just becomes bread. Is bread a mushroom? Wherever you're going, you better believe American Express will be right there with you.
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Starting point is 00:27:19 Wherever you go, we'll go together. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Visit amex.ca slash yamx. Benefits vary by card. Terms apply. I mean, this is a good point to say they've invited me to give the commencement address at the Industrial Engineering School. And listen to me talk right now. Well, and—
Starting point is 00:27:41 What on earth? And you know that—and has this been confirmed that I am giving the commencement address at the Civil Engineering Department? Yes. Okay, yeah, so. Thanks to me. Well, okay, let's get this straight. I feel like the Industrial Engineering Department
Starting point is 00:27:55 is a fan of mine. In 2019- They gave me an award. Or maybe 2018, or maybe 20, I don't know when it was. We were both asked to give the respective commencement addresses. We turned it down at the time because of schedule. And then when it resurfaced, the conversation was about you giving
Starting point is 00:28:14 the commencement address in industrial engineering. They thought better about you. And then when you decided that you were going to do it, I was like, well, I should probably offer my services to the civil engineering department. And so that is what has happened. No, that was what was going to happen. And then it was COVID and it didn't happen at all. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then there was an invitation again. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it was to me. Well, it was to me the most recent time.
Starting point is 00:28:44 I like, my version of the story is... Your version of the story always puts you in the center. We know, Link. I was asked to give the commencement speech again, and then you were like, I'll offer my services again. Well, because if you're gonna go, if you're gonna take, like your trip, if you're gonna go take a weekend away... Right. I mean, if you're gonna to go back to North Carolina.
Starting point is 00:29:06 And here's the thing. Hi, having taken a tour of the engineering school and interacted with some of the students, which I'm about to tell you about, I feel like I'm probably better prepped than you at this point. Well, that was my point exactly. I'm not prepped in any way. Well, I have no business doing this. I'm honored, but I have very little business. Well, as I will make clear, I don't have any business doing it either, but I don't think that's why they're talking to us.
Starting point is 00:29:30 I, after talking to the fungus lady, went into a materials lab, and there were three guys in there, and they were ready, man. They were ready to talk about it. And he was handing me stuff. Welcome to our lab. You know, it wasn't quite that engaging.
Starting point is 00:29:52 But he did say, we are working on self-healing carbon materials, carbon fiber and some other material. I was like, and that was the moment I said, I feel like every conversation I start in this place feels like the beginning of a dystopian thriller, you know? So I ended up, just so you know... Just go sideways. Ended up telling them to be careful, too.
Starting point is 00:30:16 Oh, yeah? So my message, just letting you know, I'm giving you a little preview of my commencement, is be careful. Be careful, y'all. You don't know the power that you wield. You're going to be the reason that this all... Self-healing.
Starting point is 00:30:31 Self-healing. How does that work? So, essentially, let's say you had a wing that was made out of carbon fiber, which is a great idea, right? We've got a very light, strong material. a very light, strong material. Well, they actually talked about a heat-activated adhesive. And I said, like a chip bag, right?
Starting point is 00:30:56 We've done that on Good Mythical Morning. We resealed a chip bag with a flat iron. That was what I had to offer. Just so you understand. Yeah, you made yourself the center. We're still doing engineering. That's what I had to offer. Just so you understand. Yeah, you made yourself the center. We're still doing engineering. That's what I learned. Right. And so they basically have layers of...
Starting point is 00:31:11 They're like, no, not exactly. They have layers of heat-activated adhesives that are inside the carbon fiber structure, and then they have very small wires that go through that so that they can conduct an electrical current through it that will activate it. And when there's a break or something, it automatically activates the current? Once they... No, I don't know exactly.
Starting point is 00:31:33 I mean, I'm sure that might be what they do at some point, but I think you can hit the self-healing button. Again, we're in the early stages of this, Link. We at the NC State Engineering School. Okay. I'm a part of that. I've been on a tour. Yep. But anyway, it was super cool. Once he started talking about how it works and how it lays
Starting point is 00:31:51 itself back down, that was when I was like, yeah, self-healing. You had me at self-healing. You had me in the lobby, really. And I talked to somebody else who was doing something else. Can they make it cry? It doesn't have a soul yet, okay? Like, I feel like when it gets hurt, it should cry. And that should be the external notification that hey, I'm self-healing right now. You can put that in your commencement speech.
Starting point is 00:32:22 But then... I wanna fly in a plane that cries. Dr. Lavelle was like, I've gathered some students. Engineering scholars, I think he said. Oh. He was like, they're basically like engineering students who are leading in different areas. I've gathered them in a room. Smarty pants.
Starting point is 00:32:37 They're in there with some pizza and some soda. Oh, hell yeah. And I would like you to have a word with them. Oh, yeah. I would like you to have a word with them. Oh, yeah. I would like you to give them some remarks. Here we go. And he was like, do you need any time? Do you need any time?
Starting point is 00:32:52 I was like, no, man. Oh, God. You're standing... I was like, you're about to ask me to do what I do best. Impromptu speaking. Which is just start talking to people in a crowd. Do you need any time? I'd have probably been like, yeah, and then I would have bolted, man.
Starting point is 00:33:08 And I love the fact, though, because we sit down in there and he's like, the way he framed it was, Rhett has some things that he wants to share with you. And I was like, oh, do I? Rhett has some things. do you need some time? Because I'm about to tell them you got some things. Let's see if I do have some things to share. Yeah, what did you do with that?
Starting point is 00:33:34 Well, I kind of went off of the fact that I had just experienced these things, these very cool things, and I used that to talk about, first of all, the fact that I felt like every conversation that I was having was the beginning of a dystopian novel and that they should be careful. So I kind of took my be careful theme and I gave it to them. Can I ask you?
Starting point is 00:33:52 Another question, is this a dumb one? This is a smart one. Okay. How many students were there? 20. 20? So that's a tough size. That's a tough size. That's a tough size. How loud was your speaking voice?
Starting point is 00:34:10 Like what tone did you use? Demonstrate that. Did you talk to them like you're talking to me right now? No, it was more like. Or did you talk to them? It was more like, thanks for having me! Because it was in the lobby and it's a very large. You were on the other side of it. Yeah, it was a large lobby.
Starting point is 00:34:22 But you kind of have to make a point. Did you go into speech mode or were you very much in like... No, I was leaning back. You were leaning back? Yeah. You were seated. Yeah, you know, my voice projects pretty well.
Starting point is 00:34:36 But you were seated? Yeah. Okay, alright. Yeah, I didn't stand up. Okay, good. I don't do that. Yeah, I'm already, you know, I'm already their height when I'm sitting down. You're their standing height when you're seated.
Starting point is 00:34:48 But then I said, and again, this wasn't planned, this just kinda just happened, I thought this was a good one. I thought this was a good way for the thing to develop. I said, I was in town to see us beat Carolina tomorrow. Yeah. And Dr. Lavelle wanted to give me a little tour of things and show me the latest and greatest
Starting point is 00:35:10 in the engineering school. And going around and talking with these individuals, working on these different things, I just want to let you know that you're doing really important work, unlike the students at Carolina. So that was kind of my bit. My bit was the students at Carolina. So that was kind of my bit. My bit was the students at Carolina think
Starting point is 00:35:29 that they're doing important things, you know, in the humanities, you know, yeah, yeah, yeah. But what they're doing doesn't have an impact on the world. But you guys are solving real problems. You are helping the state, the nation, and the world in significant ways. Were they laughing? At least, yeah. Just smiling. No, yeah, state, the nation, and the world in significant ways. Were they laughing? At least, yeah.
Starting point is 00:35:46 Just smiling? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Smirking? I got some laughs. I got, you know, 20, is it 20, you know, you know. 20. Yeah. They're not going to roll on the floor or anything. And, um.
Starting point is 00:35:55 There's not going to be any clapping, I don't think. Yeah, I mean, I did leave out the fact that, like, they're, you know, UNC has a good medical school. I kind of set aside the medical sciences for a second. I was just kind of talking about, like, journalism school. Pay no attention to the medical sciences happening over here. Did you mention, I don't know, me? Probably, you probably came up.
Starting point is 00:36:18 I mean, I don't recall specifically. Okay. No, I'm sure I talked about you. And I said that you were an industrial engineer and that i was a civil engineer okay um i ended up saying that um you know i talked about i told my story of almost changing from communications to from engineering to communications once i decided i probably wasn't going to be an engineer forever um but then my dad was like you can do everything that you everything that you can do dad was like, you can do everything that you,
Starting point is 00:36:45 everything that you can do with a communications degree, you can do with an engineering degree, but not the other way around. And that logic made sense to me, so I stayed, and it ended up working out. And I kind of was just making the point of like, listen, I'm not doing important things. You guys are trying to-
Starting point is 00:37:00 It's probably not true, by the way. You guys are- I just wanna go ahead and say, that's probably not true. I think it probably is guys are... I just want to go ahead and say that's probably not true. I think it probably is for the most part. I think it's generally true. I'm sure there's going to be examples. Hashtag Ear Biscuits.
Starting point is 00:37:17 Things that a communications major can do that an engineering major can't. Yeah. There might be exceptions. But in a general rule, most of the jobs you can get in communications don't require special training. So you told them, you were telling them not to switch? No, well, there was a girl who had changed, they went around and said where they were from and what they were majoring in, and one of them was like, I just switched to marketing, but I'm still in this thing. So you belittled her.
Starting point is 00:37:40 And so I singled her out. I was like, no, listen, I know you just changed to marketing. I know you just made a huge life-aling mistake. Some people got to do that. Some people got to tell the story of what's going on here. There's some awesome stuff happening. I spun it pretty nicely. But what my point was, is that what we do, I said, you guys are doing important work. You're getting the fatbergs out of pipes, you know. I'm determining what's the best flavor of Pop-Tart, which is not even really helpful because
Starting point is 00:38:07 it's just what I think and what you think. Even though I was making light of what we do, I understand why what we do is important, but it's not really important for the utility of what we're doing. It's more important for the vibe that it's creating or whatever, you know.
Starting point is 00:38:24 But it made me think, I was like, they are actually doing really important stuff. Like, I'm not saying that I had never thought about this. But I was like, we have all these problems that we are facing as a society. And a lot of these problems are being made worse by things like climate change, you know, because there's one
Starting point is 00:38:45 they're they're thinking there's there's coastal engineering it's a whole department they're thinking about the coast they're thinking about erosion they're thinking about the forests along the coast and vegetation and all this stuff those environments um they're just doing really really important things that you know have an immediate impact as soon as you graduate and start working in these fields. You're kind of making me nervous about my commencement address now. I mean, it's like it would matter. Was this a dry run for you? You think you're going to go back to the state Carolina bit?
Starting point is 00:39:20 I considered it. I considered I might use a little bit of that. There might be a little riff in there about how what they do matters, unlike Carolina. I'm starting to percolate some ideas for my speech. And I think it's, right now I'm just really,
Starting point is 00:39:38 I think I'm gonna go weird. Well, I fully expected that. Yeah. Yeah. I think I'm gonna teach them a lesson. You're gonna confuse a lot of parents. Yeah, yeah. I'm gonna confuse the parents.'m going to teach them a lesson. You're going to confuse a lot of parents. Yeah, yeah. I'm going to confuse the parents.
Starting point is 00:39:47 Yeah. I'm going to teach them a lesson for asking me to do this. And never, and ruin all our chances of ever giving, like, the school-wide commencement. Right, right. We're just on the college of engineering levels. I kind of see that. We can't get to the big level. I kind of see that as my role in this tandem operation,
Starting point is 00:40:04 is that my role is to secure us a spot at giving the school-wide commencement at some point for NC State. Yep, and to make them have that awkward conversation is like, can you not bring him? Because of what he did. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, maybe with the tall ones there.
Starting point is 00:40:22 I got some more time to figure it out, but honestly, I think about it way too much. Like, there's a little bit of nervousness there, but like, I'm trying to psych myself up to just not even think about it. Like, I might end up going totally, totally, you know, unprepared. Don't give too much away,
Starting point is 00:40:41 because this comes out before you give the commencement speeches. Yeah. I don't have anything to give away. And reconsider. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We don't want them to reconsider. You know what, Link's going to do a great job.
Starting point is 00:40:55 Oh, you don't want them to rescind? You think they're going to rescind? I don't know. Link's going to do a great job. I'm going to make them regret this. A couple things y'all have said are not helping your cases. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Link's going to do a great job.
Starting point is 00:41:05 Hey, I didn't ask. You will not regret it. Rhett's the one who asked for it. I'm the one who was invited to do it. I'll just make sure no one at NC State listens to this podcast episode. Oh, man. I mean, when we did go back, it reminded me of the time that we did go back, and it was fun.
Starting point is 00:41:23 Oh, yeah. It was fun because we went before a crowd of students, and we did like a panel, and I really had a blast just cutting up. You know? Yeah. Everybody goes in that environment, they take themselves a little too seriously. You know? We gotta shape the future generation.
Starting point is 00:41:44 Nah, I'm just gonna give them a little comic relief. I'm gonna give them a little confusion. Take them off their balance. Just so you know, I do think that the expectations are pretty low. Yeah. You know, for the individual, this is not even the engineering school,
Starting point is 00:41:58 this is the individual department graduation. I don't even know how many students are going to be there. You know, what are we talking? 80? 120? I don't know. There's like 10,000 students in undergrad engineering total.
Starting point is 00:42:19 What was the last thing that filled you with wonder? That took you away from your desk or your car in traffic? Well, for us, and I'm going to guess for some of you, that thing is... Anime! Hi, I'm Nick Friedman. I'm Lee Alec Murray.
Starting point is 00:42:33 And I'm Leah President. And welcome to Crunchyroll Presents The Anime Effect. It's a weekly news show. With the best celebrity guests. And hot takes galore. So join us every Friday wherever you get your podcasts and watch full video episodes on Crunchyroll or on the Crunchyroll YouTube channel.
Starting point is 00:42:52 Are you... Let me talk to you about my trip. Do that. Because I went to a couple of funerals. Yeah, yeah. We saved the best for last. I was reminded of something at one of these funerals. The speaker, the preacher, you know, seemed like a great guy.
Starting point is 00:43:17 I'm not critiquing the guy, but he reminded me of a principle. of a principle, and that is at a funeral, when you're talking about this person and you're referencing their faith, there's this thing which he referred to as preaching somebody into heaven. And of course, you're talking about the dead person. Preaching the dead person into heaven. Now, this is not a belief that somebody can get into heaven after.
Starting point is 00:43:51 I think that's a Mormon belief, but it's not a country church Christian belief. No, right. That after somebody dies, well, their fate is sealed. That is the belief. Once you die and you go to the belief. Their fate, once you die, you go to the other side and you're there for eternity, heaven or hell. And so you got to make your decision
Starting point is 00:44:13 on this side of that for yourself. Can't nobody preach you into heaven. But, and the reason why it came up was he was talking about the deceased as someone that he knew his faith, and it's like, I can certify. I don't need to preach him into heaven. I don't preach people into heaven. To clarify, you said what it wasn't, but to say what it is.
Starting point is 00:44:41 To say what it is is when a preacher is preaching a funeral, and they have their doubts about the deceased person's faith and if it has qualified them to be in heaven now. And, of course, you want to provide comfort to the family, and within that belief system, you want to be able to say, well, they checked the boxes of faith in Jesus Christ in this particular way that we all agree is the way that you get into heaven, so if you want to give the people comfort that this person's in heaven, you'll see them again, but if there's doubts about it, you kind of got to spin it in a hopeful, positive way
Starting point is 00:45:27 that this speaker, preacher, described as preaching them into heaven. I knew exactly what he was talking about. He was preaching about them as if they are in heaven now. Yeah. Even though he or she, the preacher, has their doubts. Right. And he said, I don't do that. I don't preach people into heaven. Okay, has their doubts. Right. You know?
Starting point is 00:45:45 And he said, I don't do that. I don't preach people into heaven. Okay, he doesn't do that. He doesn't do that. It's common practice. But he was making the point, in this case, I don't need to do that. Because I know that he's there.
Starting point is 00:45:59 I knew his faith well enough to know that he's there and you got nothing to worry about. You can be comforted. Does that mean that there are times when this preacher thinks somebody might be in hell that he says that? I don't... Yeah. I don't know what he does. He just refused to do the funeral. Maybe he refuses to do the funeral. I don't think so.
Starting point is 00:46:19 He's like, I can't preach him into heaven, so I'm bowing out of this one. So that was one of the points he was making to give comfort to them, but like for me, and then I was kind of, you know, I'm in this interesting place, right? So it's like my vantage point is I was not only thinking about me, but other people in the crowd who were like,
Starting point is 00:46:41 well, I don't Know if I'm If If you So you would You certainly wouldn't certify That I'm I'm going to heaven Oh gosh
Starting point is 00:46:51 I just I just spilled my drink It just made me feel It made me feel a little weird You know it's like I understand That you want to give people comfort that, especially if they believe in heaven,
Starting point is 00:47:13 that people are going there, that their loved one is now there, that they moved on to a better place. But I don't know. And I don't know. It just made me feel funny, man. Well, did he turn it on to the crowd? Because my experience going to evangelical funerals is that... They don't make it about the deceased person. They make it about you making a decision on this side of death. And I will say... to seal your fate?
Starting point is 00:47:46 And I will say that there are many people who die who want their funeral to bring people to a point of decision about Jesus. So I don't think it's necessarily disrespectful to the deceased person, but I have been to funerals in which I knew that the deceased person did not want their funeral to be turned into an invitation for people to make a decision for Jesus and to examine their own lives but that was the preacher's prerogative and so that's what he did yeah that's what that's what
Starting point is 00:48:16 feels a little weird too and it kind of brought that up you know it's like because this the other funeral was the one that said celebration of life. And it was much more just about bringing comfort to the family. There were scripture readings and a little sermon that it was very much just about comfort. It wasn't about, okay, this is where the deceased person is, and that's why you need comfort. It's just, you know comfort it's just you know god's here for you and you know it was it was it was more generally comforting it wasn't about like um asserting someone's eternity um and it was also you know people spoke and it was a it was a celebration of life and you know what? Even with the first one
Starting point is 00:49:06 The one where the preaching Preaching somebody in heaven happened That was talked about The best part was that A handful of people Got up and spoke about The deceased I love that
Starting point is 00:49:22 That is great That's my favorite thing about a funeral Celebrating Like people sharing from their heart About how they've been touched the deceased. I love that. That is great. That's my favorite thing about a funeral. Celebrating, like, people sharing from their heart about how they've been touched. People who don't like to speak publicly and have, like, by their own admission, say, I have no business being up here. I hate this, but I love this person so much
Starting point is 00:49:39 that I want to be up there and saying something. Like, I love that. I'll keep going to funerals because for that to happen, you know, but this, but this whole, like, you know, you got to feel like, all right, this is my, this is my chance. We got, we got everybody here thinking about death. Now's when we're going to get them. Now's when we're going to get them. We're now where we're going to get them into heaven. Now's when we're gonna get him. Now we're gonna get him into heaven. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:50:05 You know? I just felt, yeah, I just don't, I don't love that. I don't love that. I don't want that at my funeral. Oh, well, I'm gonna change a lot of my plans now. Because I was, first of all, I was planning on doing your eulogy and I was planning on making it a really, really intense,
Starting point is 00:50:23 intense moment. Intense moment where everyone was going to have to like, you can go around pointing at everybody and they got to say their eternal functions. Well, I was once at a funeral where someone speaking about the deceased paused for an uncomfortably long time. Okay. Probably a minute.
Starting point is 00:50:50 And just didn't say anything. 60 seconds is a long time to not talk. Well, the reason I say a minute is- Without a heads up. It felt like two, and so I'm gonna say that it was probably one. And it was one of those things where the question in my mind was,
Starting point is 00:51:06 is this person getting choked up? Because it didn't seem like they were about to get choked up, but sometimes you can get choked up. You know, when I get choked up, I have trouble just getting any words out, and so I was like, okay, maybe that's what's happening, but I don't see any evidence of that. And then he said, that was awkward, wasn't it? That was uncomfortable, actually, with the words.
Starting point is 00:51:32 That was uncomfortable, wasn't it? Oh no. Well, one minute of discomfort in this service, compare that to an eternity in hell. Oh my God. This was at a funeral, dude? Yes. And making the point,
Starting point is 00:51:49 and of course the woman was a Christian, the woman was an evangelical Christian, and this is what she would have wanted. I mean, maybe not exactly that. But again, it's just like, I just remember every funeral, I remember the way we would talk about it was. That's a threat. Preacher did a good job.
Starting point is 00:52:09 Preacher did a good job. It's a threat. The gospel went out. And that was the standard. The gold standard for a funeral was if the gospel was presented clearly. There are many positive ways to present the gospel, to present the good news that you can have a relationship with God through Jesus for eternity.
Starting point is 00:52:28 If that's your thing, there's plenty of positive ways to do that. I mean, and a lot of that happened in the service, and it was mostly through the people sharing about this person's life and celebrating it. And the fact that their faith was a part of that was very winsome. You know? It's like, no threats needed. You know? It's like, people get so damn heavy-handed because they feel like they've got to. You know? It's like, well, it's life or death, you know? You gotta act this way. But it's just not effective. And it feels kind of... it feels kind of icky.
Starting point is 00:53:06 Well, I think that's the interesting part of this. I mean, that one, that one especially. The interesting part of this is if I was being, not that I am, and I would not accept this, accept this offer. If I was being, serving as a consultant to an evangelical church who was looking to make an impact on people,
Starting point is 00:53:28 I would be like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. This push energy. I heard somebody recently explain the push versus the pull. And so if you're trying to persuade someone of something, pushing them towards that thing is almost always going to be met with resistance. Right. But if you create a situation in that they will be pulled and attracted towards whatever it is that you're trying to persuade them of,
Starting point is 00:53:54 first of all, it gives them the power of choice and decision and it's much more likely that whatever decision they make will be long-lasting. Exactly. If I push on the shower nipple, what's going to happen? Pew! The water's going to go shoot off to the side as far away from me as quickly as possible. But if I pull on the shower nipple and I release, I don't know how that fits into the analogy.
Starting point is 00:54:18 If I release the little rock. I think we understand where you're going. And boom. I'm getting sprayed all over the face with it. And this can be a very difficult... It's coming to me. This is a difficult principle to follow, I mean, especially for somebody like me.
Starting point is 00:54:31 I tend to get into a place where I just want to just persuade someone of something. Just tell them like it is. And first of all, I am and have been for quite some time letting go of that. First of all, once you become more and more unsure about these things, you become much less interested in persuading people of anything, right? Yeah. In fact, I'm much more persuaded to persuade people to be less sure about the things that they think about. That's kind of where I'm at right now.
Starting point is 00:55:08 But even then, I just don't wanna be forcing an idea on somebody or critiquing. And I'm not saying I do end up doing this. I fall into the trap of critiquing and pushing. But I think if you can just be like, hey, can we create an environment? And I mean, this is free advice for churches everywhere. Create an environment that people are attracted to.
Starting point is 00:55:31 Yeah, and many do that. Yeah. I mean, this is not, the things that we're talking about are not a blanket statement that is just like, I don't know if funerals are fraught with this, but I mean, we've run into it enough over the years to know that it's something that happens, but I'm not giving a church-wide critique or like a denomination-wide critique.
Starting point is 00:55:50 No, no, no. But it is common. I've seen it enough. And it was more common in the past. And you know, I was asking Lando about it afterward. I was like, what did you think about the funeral? And he told me some stuff, and I was like, what did you think about the sermon part? He was like, you mean the part where that guy was yelling at us?
Starting point is 00:56:07 And he actually, you know, I wouldn't have characterized it as yelling, but oh, it's like, oh, through his lens, he was like, yeah, that's exactly how he... this guy was yelling at me. There's an intensity to things that you say from the pulpit that if you don't come from that tradition, you're like, in any other scenario in life, if someone was speaking in this way, they would be upset with me. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:56:38 Yeah. Right? Yeah. But we just kind of like, oh, that's just a preacher yelling. That's a preacher preaching. Yeah. And there's also another thing that happens that preachers do that I've observed quite a bit, which is when they want to get kind of fake emotional about something,
Starting point is 00:56:54 and they're making a point about something, and you're like, dude, you're not actually upset about this. This is the third service of the Sunday. You're doing the same thing. This is a prepared thing that you've come up with. You're trying to make this point, and I just wish, I just wish that you would understand this thing that I'm really passionate about. But you're not passionate about it right now. Well, I mean, that's more of a pull, so not all pulls work. No, well, I feel like...
Starting point is 00:57:21 If pushing is yelling and pulling is crying... I feel like that's still pushing. I feel like that's still pushing. Yeah. I feel like that's manipulative. Yeah. And the funny thing is, okay, Lando, perfect example of this as a young person. He's a young person. Empathetic guy, too. But in general, the younger generation, they see through everything. They see through everything.
Starting point is 00:57:42 They see through everything. They see through everything. They know the moment that you are trying to project something that isn't authentic. And it's just, and again, I'm not, obviously, there's plenty of religious leaders who have figured this out and are now using these principles to manipulate people. The appearance of authenticity and vulnerability.
Starting point is 00:58:06 But so, you know, vulnerability. But I think that this generation, what generation is Lando? What do you call that? I don't know. He's about... Generation Alpha? He's 13.
Starting point is 00:58:20 Alpha? Yeah. They're going to the Greek alphabet now. Starting over. He's Generation Alpha? Generation Alpha more're going to the Greek alphabet now. Starting over. He's Generation Alpha? Generation Alpha more than anybody, man. They see through everything. So born in 2010.
Starting point is 00:58:34 That's still Generation Alpha? He's not Z. No. He's young. I just didn't know if he was beta. It says the first year is 2010, so he's on the cusp. 2010 is the first year of Alpha. There you go. So all our kids are Alpha.
Starting point is 00:58:49 No. Lando's my youngest. Yeah, but at the first year... Oh, okay, it started in 2010. So he's the only one that's Alpha, and all the rest of our kids are Z. Yeah. Huh.
Starting point is 00:59:03 Because 2004, 2008. Well, 2008. Well. Well, 2009. 2010 starts alpha. Anyway, all in all, the funeral experiences were nice, especially because the second one, the deceased loved fish stew, and everybody stayed, was invited to stay. I thought the way you started that sentence was like, especially because the deceased
Starting point is 00:59:30 came back from the dead. I'm sorry, but it just made it seem like the deceased sat up and said something. The deceased loved fish stew. And it's on TikTok now. Fish stew. And everybody got fish stew? Everybody ate fish stew, which is like a Downey's staple that Christy makes. Has she made it for you? I don't know if I've had her fish stew? Everybody ate fish stew, which is like a Downy staple that Christy makes. Has she made it for you?
Starting point is 00:59:48 I don't know if I've had her fish stew. Is it a tomato-based? Tomato-based. So it's kind of like Brunswick stew but with fish? Is that how you would describe it? Yes. Yeah. They're not... That sounds good. It doesn't have to be tomato-based. They had a clear base and a tomato base. And then it's potatoes.
Starting point is 01:00:05 They had two options? Yep. Big pots of this. And they had flounder in it, but you can also put canned salmon in it. Well, that's an example of pull energy is when you serve fish stew at the service. Everybody wants to stay. So there's fish, potatoes, shrimp. and the really good ones, you throw in some shrimp. Onions. That's pretty much it, but it's, it was an acquired taste for me, but now I really love it. And you cut up cheese and you make your bowl and you put cheese in the side,
Starting point is 01:00:38 and then that big hunk of cheese will melt. Of course, Christy taught me this. You make some fish and cheese. Yeah, yeah. You're not supposed to do that, according to Leviticus. And then some white bread. They had... every table had a loaf of white bread on it. Oh, man.
Starting point is 01:00:53 So I can critique, you know, hometown faith, but I can't do it too much, they got They got a lot of stuff right too Every table's got a loaf of white bread on it It's like That's good stuff That erases a world of Preaching people into heaven In my mind
Starting point is 01:01:14 Yeah yeah yeah I keep coming back The food is so good I keep coming back for more baby So That was it I made it through the funerals We supported the families And I'm glad we were there.
Starting point is 01:01:27 It was the right thing to do. I've rescheduled my trip to Cabo. Don't you worry. Okay, so I'm still not invited? Nope. I'll close by telling you a little bit about— You sound like a preacher right now. I'm going to close.
Starting point is 01:01:41 I'm going to close. I'm going to tell you about one of my experiences. The basketball game. So I know you've made it clear that you don't care about sports, but a lot of people do. And I also have cared, you know, I respect sports.
Starting point is 01:02:01 As I have aged, I have been able to detach myself a little bit from, or to recognize how ridiculous, when you really think about it, how ridiculous it is to care about these students who go to this school that you went to 20 years ago
Starting point is 01:02:25 and their ability to get a ball through a basket better than the students from another school that your wife went to. Like, I understand that if you really break this down and look at it, it does not make sense. It's not rational. You should not have emotional attachments
Starting point is 01:02:42 to these outcomes. It's a farce. That being said, I also understand that on a deep psychological level, you should not have emotional attachments to these outcomes. It's a farce. That being said, I also understand that on a deep psychological level that I would probably be able to articulate, well, if I had read more and taken more than Psych 101, it is connecting with something deep within us
Starting point is 01:03:03 that is just a part of our DNA, right? And we don't have those outlets. Like, we live in a modern society. Like, I don't have to defend my village against the other village. Like, I just don't have to do that yet. I mean, maybe that'll happen as the world continues to fall apart. But right now, I just kind of just, I say hey to the garbage man. You know what I'm saying?
Starting point is 01:03:26 I say hey to my neighbor. I don't worry about my life as I'm traversing to work. I'm also not looking at an opportunity to get a deer to bring home to my family. We live in the modern times, right? We do, we do. But because we've got all these systems in us that are geared towards defending the village, we put that into sports.
Starting point is 01:03:49 And even though you can step back and observe it and understand how ridiculous it is, I find myself getting so caught up in it. And, of course, I hate Carolina for reasons that I cannot even articulate, mostly because they have beaten our brains in for years. And I was like, okay, there's an opportunity here. We're good this year, they're not good. For some reason that usually doesn't matter and they always end up playing really well against us and beating us anyway. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:04:21 So I kind of went into this with a game with these low expectations. And then it's like the game starts and we're not playing well, shooting horribly. Our best player is not really scoring. They start kind of building a lead in the second half. And I just had this narrative that I began to play out in my mind, which is I was excited about this. I knew I shouldn't have been excited about it. I knew they were going to beat us again for the 36th time in the past 41 tries or whatever it was. And then we just kind of,
Starting point is 01:04:54 we turned things around and there was an incredible little run and we scored like seven or nine points really, really quickly. Oh wow, they weren't scoring baskets and they started scoring more baskets. Yes. That sounds really quickly. Oh wow, they weren't scoring baskets and they started scoring more baskets. Yes. That sounds really dynamic.
Starting point is 01:05:06 The energy in that place was crazy. Like, and it was, you know, I just haven't been, I've been to like a Clippers game, and you've been to a Clippers game with me, but you know, NBA is different, and sports in Los Angeles are different because everybody, you know, 40% of the audience is rooting for the other team because they're from somewhere else
Starting point is 01:05:27 and they prefer their hometown team more than they do the local team, especially the Clippers. And so I haven't been in this, everyone is really into the outcome of this game and everyone is really committed to it. And to see it turn around, it was, and I've got the video on my phone of like
Starting point is 01:05:46 when we had gone up by 12 with a minute left. And there was moments when, you know, my dad is pretty impartial. He's got one son that went to Carolina, one son that went to State. He's got a nephew, I mean he's got a grandson at Carolina right now that he goes and sees quite a bit. So my dad wore green argyle to the game. Did he get caught up in it though?
Starting point is 01:06:06 Which is, I mean, once we started coming back, he's standing up like, you can't help yourself. He's gotta be with you on this one. I mean, we're standing up and just like giving high fives and just, it was, I mean it was electric. And I was like, oh man, I love this. I love it. Now, if it had gone the other way, it would have like ruined my day. But there's something about giving yourself over to this outcome that you have very little impact on. Awesome or ruined. Hey, that's stakes.
Starting point is 01:06:37 And I'm choosing to, I'm like, I want to have that kind of experience, you know, when I can. I'm not going to like go back and watch a bunch of games. But boy, when we win like that and we beat them, we beat them. Yeah, I know when they're down, they're not great. They've lost like the best four out of five games or something, but I don't care. We beat Carolina.
Starting point is 01:06:58 It feels, it felt so good. I loved it. Highly recommend, highly recommend watching recommend watching your college beat their rival. That's your recommendation? It's my recommendation this week. No, that's just a general recommendation. Well, listen, it's my recommendation, and I got a good one.
Starting point is 01:07:19 If you're not into sports, this is for you. If you are into sports, this is for you. If you're into instrumental music, this is for you. If you are into sports, this is for you. If you're into instrumental music, this is for you. And if you're not, this is still for you, even though it is instrumental. Check out... Oh, my God. I think this is going to stay as one of my favorite albums of all time because it so fits a certain mood. Like, it is a sweet spot, this
Starting point is 01:07:45 niche that this album occupies that I didn't have an album in this place. You know, a completely instrumental, vibey, listen to it, use it for what you want, but I think that it's gonna
Starting point is 01:08:01 fill a little niche. I know it will for me for the rest of my life. Mac DeMarco. Mac, I love you, man. This is an invitation to come on Good Mythical Morning. I'd love to have you come through. I'm very inspired by your album Five Easy Hot Dogs. Five Easy Hot Dogs.
Starting point is 01:08:29 He took a road trip, I believe it was up the Northern California coast. Yeah, he went all the way up from Guadalala, Crescent City, up to Portland. Like, he went all the way up to Vancouver. Edmonton. He went all the way up there. Well, then he went to Chicago. That's not actually... He took a road trip. He took a road trip. Chicago is not in Northern California, and neither is most of the places that I mentioned. But he made this music as he traveled. It's all instrumental. It's very... I played it for you. Isn't it awesome? Hard Vouch for this, yes.
Starting point is 01:09:00 Hard Vouch. Five Easy Hot Dogs. Just give it a listen. It's a vibe. Mac DeMarco, Five Easy Hot Dogs. You're welcome. Thanks for joining us for another Ear Biscuit. Join the conversation on the internet. Hashtag Ear Biscuits. Also, you can call us. We have a number. You can leave a voicemail with thoughts, questions, critiques, book suggestions. 1-888-EAR-POD-1 Love ya Hey just listening to
Starting point is 01:09:31 The Ear Biscuits episode That came out today Something that gives me A tastegasm Is the nerds Rope clusters I'm so addicted to them I go through literally A bag in two days. So I've
Starting point is 01:09:48 had to stop myself from buying them because they're probably so bad for me. If you guys haven't had them yet, you should definitely try them. Thanks. Love the podcast. Bye.

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