So... Alright - 50 Years

Episode Date: June 24, 2025

It's my birthday and I spend the podcast reflecting on that, and my career. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When your kids head out for the night, we know that their safety is important to you. It's important to us too. Toyota, for what matters most. So, it's my birthday. Hey, Joe. Tick-a-tick-a-pocky tick-a-tick-a-tick-a-pocky. Bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-b Hasn't happened yet for me. It's in two days for me, but things have been very crazy in my life for the last few weeks Had a lot of work to get ahead on because of some summer travel and then over the weekend had a long weekend Friday to Monday I went with the regulation crew to Las Vegas to film some content to kind of

Come up with ideas to kind of have some camaraderie But mainly because I got offered, through So Alright, through this very podcast, I got offered the opportunity by a young man named RJ, who is the marketing director of the Las Vegas Aviators, which are named as such because they are owned by the Howard Hughes Corporation, as I understand it. It's the AAA team in Las Vegas that ladders up to the, I guess, the Sacramento A's right now.

They'll be the Las Vegas A's before long when they build the stadium in three years, I believe. RJ reached out to me through the Eric at Jeff's boss email address that I'm always asking you guys to hit me up at and offered me the ability to throw out the first pitch at an aviators game. I absolutely jumped at the chance. What an awesome opportunity. I didn't think I'd be able to ever top getting to run out on the field with the San Antonio Brahmans a couple of years ago. Turns out I could not to diminish that accomplishment at all because it was an amazing moment. But this is but this is a great accompaniment to it. I have been a baseball fan longer than any other sport.

I'm definitely a bigger fan of basketball at this point in my life than baseball, but I have been a fan of baseball as long as I can remember. It's one of the first things I ever got into. The incredible Hulk and baseball are the two things I remember falling in love with as a kid early on and To be able to go out and throw the pitch in front of a crowd of 5,000 people

was a Man to say it was an honor would be an understatement and I did a really fun interview with RJ I think he's a really interesting guy. He I'll tease it a little bit. This this is not that interview I still have to edit it. So it'll be out either next week or the week after. He's a really interesting guy. He has been at that place since he was 13 years old, started as a bat boy and worked his way up

through the organization to be the director of marketing. Like think about that. That's fucking crazy. That's really impressive. And he is an impressive guy and a unique and really interesting person. And so I had the pleasure of sitting down for about an hour and a half and talking to him and thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed the interview. I hope you will, too. I'll have it up as soon as I can. It'll be the third. So I'll write interview. Obviously, I did the first one with Giovanni, the young man who inspired me by walking across America and who is somebody I still think about fairly often. And then

I did an interview with my wife because she inspired me in the way that she launched her creative endeavor. And I was wanted to explore that with her. And now I'm happy to report after a long interview absence, the next one will be with RJ, an individual who worked his way up from Batboy to a pretty impressive position in a pretty impressive organization. Cannot thank him enough, cannot thank the Las Vegas Aviators enough. Hell, thanks to Howard Hughes even,

or at least his organization in that regard. It was in every way a dream come true and it went really well. I'll, you know, we covered in depth on the regulation podcast, if you want to hear it there, but it went well. I threw the pitch, I threw a strike right over the plate. Southpaw over the plate is what Emily's been saying over and over again, because that's what the announcer said when I threw it.

Dead on target. It was a solid pitch. I was very proud of myself, very happy I didn't fall on my face or throw it, you know, into center field somehow, or any of those like incredibly embarrassing celebrity first pitches you see. Not that I'm considering myself to be a celebrity, but I definitely didn't want to throw as badly as most of them do. So I'm happy I didn't embarrass my family. And it was a great way to spend a Sunday. I gotta tell you, everybody who goes to Vegas, leave the strip for a little bit.

Go watch a AAA baseball game. I promise you, you'll have the time of your life. However, because of all of that and preparation for other summer trips, my schedule's been a little wonky and I haven't had time to sit down and really dive into a So Alright topic in the way that I normally do.

But since it's going to be my birthday and I am turning 50 years old, which is, I honestly, I don't know how I feel about it. I mean, I'm happy. It feels like an accomplishment to last this long. And I'm honestly joyous that physically I don't feel any different than I did at 40

or much different than I did at 40 or much different than I did at 30. I know that I have diminished, but it's not something I feel or see every day, if that makes sense. I still feel pretty young. I'm still riding my bike a couple of times a week. I'm still as active as I've ever been, which is not very active, which is maybe that's the key to staying active is to just not get super active at any point.

But 50 years old is a long time. Most people don't live to be a hundred years old. What's the, I shouldn't do this. What is the average life expectancy in the US? Okay, here you go. The average man in the US lives for about 75 years. Women live to be about 80. Or so the average between the two is about 77 years.

So if we're playing averages, I've got another 25 years in me, which is crazy. That would mean I am 66% of the way through with this adventure that has been my life. I do not feel that way. It doesn't feel like I only have 25 years ahead of me. You know, I feel like I could go forever. I always joked that I was gonna live to 150 if I could.

I'm hoping that technology will get me there. AI will hopefully solve a lot of aging related issues for us and everyone can increase their life expectancy. I desperately do not want to die at 75 years old. 25 years from now. 25 years ago, I was 25 years old. That's a long time though, I gotta admit, at 25 years old I hadn't quite started Rooster Teeth yet.

We were doing Drunk Gamers and Ugly Internet and all that stuff, so it was there in the mix. But Rooster Teeth as a company and as a production started when I was 26, I believe. So, in that regard, I guess I could say that I have all of my rooster teeth years ahead of me, all of my regulation years and achievement hunter and let's play years ahead of me still.

And all of my Millie years ahead of me. She wasn't born 25 years ago, she's only 19. That feels comforting because I've packed a lot of life into that 25 years. I think it would be easier just not to die at 75, not planning on that for sure. Most of the men in my family, at least on my mother's side, live to their 90s, you know?

Hardworking farm folk from the South and they all live to be in their mid to their 90s, you know, hardworking farm folk from the south and they all live to be in their mid to late 90s. I don't really know what the life expectancy on my birth father's side is. Probably never find that out. That's okay. I'll just assume that I'll have the the genes of my maternal side doing most of the work in me. It's always kind of felt that way anyway. So all that to say, it's a little weird to turn 50, you know? It's a little weird to turn 50. It's hard to ignore that number. I don't feel 50. And if I look at other 50 year olds, I don't feel 50. And if I look at other 50 year olds, I don't feel like I look or act or feel like them,

which I've always thought was a good thing. But sometimes I wonder if not, you know, sometimes I wonder if this Peter Pan in me is ever gonna go away. And at some point maybe it should I Hope not. I don't know how to live any other way, but I do often wonder if I'm Emotionally or mentally or Maturally Stunted in some way. I really hope that's not the case I feel like my therapist would have mentioned that at some point if that were the case

Regardless 50 years old. It's a long fucking time five decades half a century Five decades half a century 50 years old it 50 is a solid bill to get in US currency, you know slap a 50 down. That's something When Millie was a kid, I would interview her on her birthday just to ask her What she was into what her life was like kind of try to get a sense of who she was at that moment So maybe I should do that with myself lightly. At 50 years old, what is my favorite? What are my favorites? What's my favorite song?

That's easy. My favorite song is a cover actually. It's a cover of a Kath Blume or it's actually a cover mashup of two Kath Blume songs. It's by Bill Callahan and it's called The Breeze My Baby Cries and I listened to it earlier today in honor of turning a million years old and was struck. Man, it's weird. It's weird to have a favorite anything, you know, because you attach so much meaning to that thing that is so personal to you, but it becomes indelibly linked to that thing.

When I listened to the breeze, my baby cries today by Bill Callahan I was going to pick Albert up. I Had violent tears, I don't know how else to describe it. I hadn't heard the song in a few years and I got Caught off guard and overwhelmed by how much I identify with that song and how much of my life I've been able to cram into the lyrics of that song. That song probably means nothing to you if you listen to it,

if you might not even like it. But to me, it is a roadmap of all of the pain that I have ever felt in my life. And it is either a testament to the songwriting ability of Kath Bloom or a testament to the self centeredness of the person listening, but I have managed to weave my entire story into that song. Those two parts of that song somehow.

Anyway, so that's my answer there to me. The Breeze by Baby Cries, the cover by Bill Callahan. I also recommend you listen to the Kath Blume original because it is her song and it takes a different meaning when you listen to her sing it. Both are really beautiful. Her version is really interesting and unique. And she was a musician like no other I've experienced, but something about the haunting nature and the vulnerability in the way Bill Callahan sings that song cuts right through me. It's a really intense experience. For me, for you, it's probably just a song, but that's cool.

You have that in a song that you love. No Frills delivers. Get groceries delivered to your door from No Frills with PC Express. Shop online and get $15 in PC optimum points on your first five orders. Shop now at nofrills.ca. What's my favorite book? Oh gosh. You know, I've always's my favorite book? Oh gosh. You know, I've always said my favorite book is Catch-22.

I've even talked about it on this podcast and how I no longer connect with it, but I connected with it so strongly at a time in my life that it left such an imprint on me that I'll always feel, I'll always give it that title. And I don't think that's changing at any point, but I did, I have read some books in the last couple of years that have meant a tremendous amount to me. The Castle by Franz Kafka is a book

that it took me almost three years to read. Not because it's difficult material to digest at all. It was because it was so engrossing. And I felt in the way that very few writers are able to accomplish, I felt the full weight of every fucking word Kafka wrote in that book. And at some point in reading the book and learning about Kay and his life and his ambitious attempts to infiltrate this castle, I just realized I never, ever wanted that story to

end. And then it did in the most shocking and unceremonious way, the author died before he finished it. That you're left on a narrative cliff in some ways. Not that he died and the book stopped at a pivotal point, but that the book stopped at all and that the ride was over before there was any resolution, which honestly fits into the theme of the book because it's kind of a pointless pursuit, what he's doing. And you don't think he will succeed at any point, but he kind of just continues to

bulldoze his way through this community, trying to figure this out. And it's a fascinating character study on ambition and greed and well it's even more complicated than that and there's a lot of virtue in there as well. I don't know if I would consider it to be my favorite book because like I said I think that the mark that Catch-22 made on me is significant enough that it would be hard for me to overcome that even if I don't currently enjoy reading the book right now. It was a really fucking good book though, The Castle by Franz Kafka and it is definitely the book that has left the biggest imprint on me over the last decade or so of my life.

I did just by was thinking about along those lines, just thinking about books I love, genres I love. I love hard boiled crime. I love 1930s, 1920s, LA noir. I have read every book by Raymond Chandler and Dash Hammett. And at least I think I have. I'm pretty sure I have. I don't think there's anything out there I'm missing. I've even read all Chandler's short stories. You know, I think there might be a book of short stories by Hammett I haven't read yet, but I've read all of his Continental Op and all of his Thin Man, Nick and Nora Charles stuff,

the Sam Spade stuff, you know. And I love those two for many different reasons. They're two different takes on the same genre and they're both brilliant writers. However, the majority of my experience in that genre has been through the lens of those two dudes. I have definitely read other books in the genre that have been wonderful, really, really good stuff. Some really good stuff. However, I don't know a lot about the genre outside of those guys, right? So I went through and I read a bunch of reviews and I bought a bunch of books on Amazon the

other day to jump into because I want to explore the genre more outside of what I know. So I got a Chester Himes book, I got a James Crumley book, and I'm going to try Mickey Spillane again. I tried, he was a part of the big three, right? It was Mickey Spillane and his Mike Hammer books, and then Dash Hammett and the Continental Op, and then, you know, Philip Marlowe, obviously, and Raymond Chandler. But I didn't, I didn't enjoy Splane when I read him, and this would have been around the time I was discovering those other dudes. And I think that he just literally didn't hold up as well at the time. And I've read a lot to that effect, but I also have read that there's a lot of value

in those books still. And I think that they're resurrecting my camera right now to be a TV show or a movie or something. So I might as well jump back in. So I'll try some Mickey's plane as well. And I got some other stuff coming. So I'm going to dive in and be doing a bunch of noir crime, which is jumping the line ahead of Greece and Turkey history. But you just got to roll with what you feel, you know. That's where I am on favorite books, I guess. My favorite movie? What's my favorite movie? I don't think that'll ever

change either. My favorite movie is Harold and Maude. And if you've ever seen the movie, then I think you know why it's my favorite movie. It's maybe the funniest and most touching film ever made. At least the first 30 minutes of that movie are, you know, the movie takes a shift. There's a shift in the movie at some point, but the first 30 minutes or so of that film are genuinely some of the funniest film ever created.

Bud Court does a tremendous job. It is a crime. Bud Court didn't have a larger career outside of Harold and Maude. I know he did some stuff, and obviously he had a bit of a resurrection moment when he was on the Life Aquatic with Steven Zizou, which was really cool to see him.

But he was a comedic genius in that film. And of course, it's also a really touching and beautiful and poignant love story, and it's heartbreaking. And it's there's a lot going on in that film. I recommend any and everyone watch it if you haven't seen it yet. Hopefully it'll resonate with you in some way that it did with me as well. Otherwise, you're just going to watch it and go go what the fuck is he on about which you know? Tweets their own that happens

I keep hearing constantly on the regulation subreddit or in comments on videos on YouTube how dog shit my film taste is because I Didn't like the movie twisters or because I did like some other thing so Who knows maybe it's a bad movie because I have bad taste in film, but I don't think that's the case. I think it's a really fucking good movie and I hope you would like it. But maybe two things can be true at once. I can have bad taste in film and it can still be a good movie. How does it feel to be 50, Jeff? Well, it feels stupid to be doing an interview with myself, so I think I'm going to stop. That feels like the lowest form of entertainment, trying to interview yourself.

So I think I'm going to knock off from continuing that. So it feels it feels a little bit like I'm like I'm a guy with bad ideas at 50, if I'm being honest with you right now in this moment. But it's it's OK. You know, like I said, I'm not I'm not jazzed about the context that it fits into in terms of the national mean of life expectancy. But I'll be honest, I feel a little lost in it.

You know, it probably goes back to losing my father when I was younger and feeling like I don't have a, a patriarchal mentor in that way. But yeah, I just, I kind of feel like, you know, life is going to continue in the way that it always has. I'll just keep putting one foot in front of the other and hoping for the best and following my instincts. But I definitely don't feel like I have some sort of a master plan that I'm working towards that makes me feel safe and comfortable

in my future or anything, you know? I mean, don't get me wrong, I've got a 401k and you know, I've got life plans in that way, I guess. But how do you prepare to get old? All I've ever known how to be is a guy who's about 14 on the inside. I don't know how to be a guy who's 60 or 70. I don't know what to do about that. I guess the reality is, it doesn't matter. It's gonna happen either way.

All I can do is, you know, keep my head up and keep walking forward and just deal with things as they come. That's not terribly comforting. You know what I mean? Maybe you do. Maybe you don't. I don't know.

I feel like instead of sounding like a 50 year old, I sound like a 15 year old, which I guess makes sense because I've been calling myself mentally 14 this entire video But I ramble I I think maybe that's some of it too is just just trying to figure out how to work through the complex and confusing emotions of Understanding your place on your own internal mortal timeline. All right, well, I think I bummed myself out a little bit. Maybe I didn't, I don't know. I enjoyed Las Vegas very much. It was such an honor and a privilege

to get to throw that baseball, and I feel indebted to RJ, and I'm going to continue to thank him for the rest of my life. Look for the interview I did with him either next week or the week after just depending on how much time I have to edit it. It's a little, it's a little bit higher touch of an edit to do an interview than it is to just do me. And so it'll just kind of depend on how quickly I'm able to get it cranked out. But he was wonderful in the interview. Don't give me it's if it takes a while, it won't

be because of him. It'll just be because I'm not a good editor anymore. Thank you for the years and years and years of support. I am 23-ish years into this entertainment career, I guess. I mean, it's really splitting in here as to say when it started. You know, I guess it started well before that, but 23-ish years that it was formalized in such a way

that I'm looking at it as a career, you know, or at least as a job that pays me. And obviously I wouldn't be anywhere close to this microphone right now if it wasn't for you, for every single one of you out there who lent me your time, who supported us with your ears or your eyeballs or your wallets, who mentioned us to a friend, recommended us to somebody at work, made somebody listen to us on a long road trip, bought t-shirts and wore them around your high school or college, put an RVB bumper sticker on your car. are, just know that every effort you took meant the world to me in that regard. Every single moment you chose to support us in whatever way you chose to support us, and

when I say us, I mean whatever entity I was a part of at the time, I cannot express what it's meant to me. It's been everything. It's been absolutely everything to get to wake up and have you as my boss day in, day out to know that at the end of the day, if I made you laugh or if I entertained you for a couple of hours a week, you would take care of me and you have. And I cannot fathom showing a 24 or a 20 or a 19

showing a 24 or a 20 or a 19 or a 17 or a 15 year old me, my life and my body of work and the relationship that I've had with you all to make it happen. I don't think that younger any younger version of me would be able to comprehend the immensity of that honor and the beauty in it and the luck that has been present continually even through the very difficult times. And there have been some unbelievably difficult times this last seven or eight years. It's just been such a joy. So thank you. thank you for listening to this right now. Thank you for, as I said earlier, thank you for every second that you gave your support to me or us in any way whatsoever.

It's meant the world to me. It's been my world. And I'm excited that I get to continue to be in it Hopefully for longer than 25 years for sure, right? that that seems like so low ball I imagine I Envision a world where I'm still podcasting at 75. I don't know Howard Stern still going, you know Maybe I won't want to but I'd like to think that I'll be healthy enough to

And who knows maybe I'll be lucky enough that you'll still be around to listen. Either way, I gave you my song of the episode already. It's the Breeze, My Baby Cries by Bill Callahan. I hope I didn't talk it up too much. It's an immensely personal song to me. And there is not another song on this planet that comes close. Aside from one other song, there's one other song on this planet that I've heard that comes close. But anyway, check it out if you get a chance. And I'll be back next week either with an interview with my man RJ or I don't know some more bullshit.

One thing is interesting. I went to Vegas after talking about Vegas on I feel like two or three different podcasts and I feel like I saw it in a different light and I feel like I understood a little bit more even though I've been to Vegas a ton. Going to Fremont Street and understanding the context of the history and understanding the story behind some of the hotels. And really I felt like it deepened my appreciation of Las Vegas. So maybe if you listen to that episode and you go to Vegas, you'll find your appreciation

a little deepened as well. Once again, thank you everyone. From the bottom of my heart, it's been an honor. It will continue to be so. Let's shoot for 50. Not 25. I love you all dearly. Alright. This is the end of the show.