Stuff Island - Stuff Island #17 - come home we love you w/ Mike Vecchione

Episode Date: March 2, 2022

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Well, it's more like the lessons behind, like, I just thought I was never going to be a pro or whatever, but the lessons behind it are important. Yeah, they're valuable. They're valuable for today, for today's. Of course. Yeah, that was the number one thing that I got from playing sports as a kid that I think trains. That's what it's supposed to be. Like, no one's going pro, like the top 1% of the 1% go pro. But for everybody else, it's like,

yeah, this is just life. Well, true. What, what you were saying too, about like going to tournaments, like that to me was like a mentality that I took to stand up very early. Cause like when I started in Philly and I, I was like, I need to go other places and do stand up like now, even though I'm not like, so I just started doing open. I like flew to Chicago and just started doing open mics in Chicago and tried to like get in, in Chicago. And like, eventually I would like, I,

I did pretty well. So they like put me on like book shows there. And then like, I was using Facebook to like help people from Chicago find me shows in like Atlanta or fucking Denver or whatever. And I would just, every couple of months I would just go somewhere and do stand up in a new place. And that very much was born out months, I would just go somewhere and do stand up in a new place. And that very much was born out of like being a kid and playing in your like local scene and then going to a tournament and really finding out

whether you're like any good or not. Right. You know what I mean? How is everyone else stacking up? What, you spill? Yeah, fucking. That's why I should be wearing a polyester fucking pullover.

I'm going to the Sixers game tomorrow. Are you really? Yeah. That's great. Yeah, it'll polyester fucking pullover. I'm going to the Sixers game tomorrow. Are you really? Yeah. That's great. Yeah, it'll be sick. Who are they playing? Knicks. Knicks, yeah.

It's Harden's home debut. That's awesome. It's going to be a banger. Very exciting. Yeah, yeah. And I dropped a fucking dime on the Nets. Is it in Philly? Yeah.

Or is it here? It's in Philly. Yeah. I dropped like $1,200 on two tickets to see ben simmons first game wow and i don't think he's gonna play everybody's like there's no shot he hurt his back so he's out he didn't hurt his back i know i don't believe it i don't i think i don't follow it that much but basketball like going to a game is awesome it's amazing yeah it's really something and hockey lies is fucking great, dude.

You forget how good athletes those guys are. Oh, my God. Dude. It's insane. There's nothing better in the world, I don't think, than playoff hockey. I got into watching a little bit of hockey just from living in Philly, and those fucking fans are just like flyers crazy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I started watching a little bit, and then I went to a couple flyers games.

I'm like, this is pretty fun. Oh, dude, it's so much fun. That in person will change your perspective on the entire sport whereas like if you know basketball just fucking around

on the court seeing those guys three four steps taking the whole goddamn court length it's crazy how fast they are and how talented they are

just giant human beings just like football once in a while you'll watch especially the playoffs were so good this year. Football. You're watching it.

This is unbelievable. These guys are unbelievable. And the whole, fuck this guy. You didn't make that fucking play. Whatever. It's like, these guys are unbelievable, dude. Unbelievable. I mean, every single one of them is insane.

Seeing a quarterback throw a football in person is the craziest thing. Throw a deep ball over somebody and then in between person is like the craziest thing like throw like a deep ball like over somebody and then like in between two corners is like the craziest thing you've ever seen it's like how did you fucking do that my instagram reels are dogs cooking and high school quarterbacks fucking throwing seeds from the perspective just behind their head. Oh, yeah. Like college prospects or high school quarterbacks and just seeing these dudes rip fucking heaters

down the... It's like, I can watch that all day long. Just those videos. The speed with which these dudes are like on the running. Yeah.

It's just like Michael Vick type fucking clothesline. Unbelievable. It's unbelievable. And the receivers like one-handed catch or two,

like the body control of like getting their feet and like... While running 24 miles an hour. It's just. And the receivers, like, one-handed catch or two, like the body control of, like, getting their feet. While running 24 miles an hour. It's just insane. Yeah. And, you know, I think the second most difficult position on the field besides quarterback is corner. Definitely.

I mean, these guys having to come up for run support, you have to be tough and hard-nosed enough to come up for run support, take on a guard who's pulling, and it's going to crush you. And you have to take him on and make the tackle. And also the dexterity of covering the best athlete on their team. It's just insane. So some of these calls, now it's becoming a very offensive-orientated game. And some of these calls, no matter who I'm rooting for, just makes me furious that some of the calls against the these corners it's like

okay he touched him what do you want him to do yeah yeah like oh he touched him it's like come on dude it's incidental like let him play and the same thing with like hitting the quarterback it's like you can't hit him high no that's helmet to helmet. You hit him low, you're going for his knees. It's like, these guys are super athletic a lot of them now. It's like, how do you get him

to the ground? Even if it's not my team, it's like, that's a 15 yard penalty. I don't even know what the call is. What are you calling? Yeah, yeah.

The first 20 years you're trained to fucking, to destroy. Yeah. Then all of a sudden they're like, well, you gotta stop

that instinctive fucking motion and just pull back at the very last second while getting to him. Yeah. Yeah. You can't forward progression alone. You can't fucking help it. He's bang bang plays too.

It's like a guy comes over the middle. It's like you're taught to separate him from the ball. Yeah. Like you're taught to separate. You're going to lose. Like he's getting the ball. So now your only remedy is let me hit him and separate him from the ball. Dude, just seeing fucking.

Remember Fegels on the Eagles? Yeah. Jeff Fegels or whatever? The punter get knocked out by Ray Lewis? Yeah, yeah. You don't see any great knockouts that like, I lose my breath when I see someone get knocked out. Like immediately, I laugh so hard that I can't fucking breathe. Yeah, Tommy watches a lot of damage.

And I don't care if it's coming from football or anything. If someone's just, it's coming from football or anything. It's the funniest thing in the world to me. Because you're just making a man a marionette. It's such a wonderful progression. Digression, I guess. From being in total control to just your child's toys breaking up on the floor. I do get scared a little bit. Just when that happens.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're like, oh, fuck. Well, that's probably natural. You're like, oh, my God. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's a healthy. But Tom Brady had an interesting thing about the changing of the game. He's like, it's a much different game now.

He's like, I had a receiver, and if I saw Ray Lue, I wouldn't throw to that receiver. Yeah. Because I knew that receiver would die. He was going to get knocked out of the Yeah. Because I knew that receiver would die. He was going to get knocked out of the game. He was going to get tackled. He was going to get knocked out of the game. Forget his wife's name for a long time.

He's like, I didn't throw it to him. He's like, that's on the quarterback not to throw him the ball. That's on the defender not to hit him. Just like it's on the offensive line to protect the quarterback. It's not on the defensive line to look out for the quarterback that he's trying to tackle. I know, especially when it's like a D end and he's falling down and there's

a 400 pound guy falling on top of him and he hits the guy's Achilles heel. He nicks it. Quarterbacks, and they're like, throw a flag. They're like, come on. It's not a hit below the knee. That's why you throw in some NFLfl films take your fucking pants off 1990s nfl films days dude just smack no but i understand the protect what they're trying to do but i'm just like these some of these defenders

it's like how are you it's like what are you doing like how do you how are you supposed to play you can't you can't play cautious like that like No, no. You can't play cautious. No. There's going to be no more Lawrence Taylors. It's just impossible. Right. There are people that are more gifted than Lawrence Taylor right now in the league as the defenders.

Yeah. That's not true. But close. In terms of natural abilities, strength, speed, lateral ability, running down a fucking halfback from the midfield like they didn't do that but also they'll never be a fucking punch in the mouth player like like that anymore it's gone yeah it's gone right every other sport has progressed in terms of like home run hitting uh three pointers all the excitement touchdown balls for football there's no more smack in the mouth, fucking traditional,

fundamental, aggressive play. Well, yeah, you just, you can't, you can't lower the boom as much for sure. I like that. Lower the boom.

Lower the boom. Yeah, you can't, you can't do that. Yeah, I like that. You can't do that as much, but they're all better athletes. I mean, they all have like scientists working on them,

making them like the best athletes. Higher skilled, yeah. Yeah. I was just talking to this dude at the gym about steroids yeah you said high-profile athletes and I just remember this but there was this kid that I went to high school with there was like a three or four dudes from Delco that like continued steroid use and it wasn't for sport they just fucking continued their usage and he's like look I've worked with guys that would, I'd cater to like their, their

body type and I'd feed them like Anibal or whatever. We already had this conversation with Feidelberg, but yeah. And he was like, I did it. I would recommend it to anyone that is at like a D1 level in any sport where you work with a guy, a doctor, that will take all of your things, you know, and give you a healthy dose of fucking horse cum or whatever the fuck it is. Yeah.

And you just blow up and you could stay under the radar. We can have like a... He's like, there would be guys where there'd be growth cycles that would go unnoticed. So you'd go from, I don't know, 10 pounds of muscle to 15 pounds of muscle in like a month and

a half yeah but your stats would go through the roof so it's not like what we knew of steroid use and his point was that's what's happening well the professional levels at this point do you ever see that it's not that hard especially football no it's not that hard on you your joints your ligaments and stuff and then it's not long term. Right. But they're still testing. Are they still? They do, but it's not like. These guys like know what the fuck is up. Like, do you ever see that documentary Icarus?

Yeah. Yeah. Doping and cycling. It's like this guy, this guy was like a lifelong cyclist and he wanted to make a documentary that was like, look, I want to see like how good I can get at cycling and like competition. If I dope, like if I just find the best doping guys out there and I give myself the juice, how good can I get?

And so he starts this process of like, you know, taking this stuff and like meeting people. He met the Russian. Yeah. And then he eventually meets this guy who's like, oh yeah, dude,

I can like totally hook it up. They'll never like, they'll never discover what you got. And, uh, it turns out that guy is like the dude who does all the doping for all of the Russian athletes. Yeah. And then they, it turns into this thing where they like need to get him out of Russia because Russia is going to like kill him basically him basically yeah it's a wild fucking documentary it's fucking awesome but it's like yeah they're so good at it now like the guys that are actually like studying this stuff they can hide it like no problem yeah they're all fucking doing it they're all doing it I'm always in the minor saying everybody in the clubhouse was doing yeah yeah now now I'm a huge boxing guy and I know that that that's a whole big, that's a dirty secret in boxing.

But it's like, yeah, there's all these guys doing a variation of some kind of a performance enhancing something. Because it's like your endurance, I don't know if it's actual steroids, but it's like something related to that where it opens like that. There's a horse tranquilizer that just opens up your lungs and makes your cardio just, you can just, you can just go. Those guys that wrestled and guys who, like, they just never get tired. They just keep throwing. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you can see, like, if you spent your whole life working on that thing, it's just

like, well, if I'm not going to make it, I might as well try to get away with taking steroids. Well, that's what the fucking cyclist, what's his name? Armstrong. Armstrong, yeah. Armstrong and that Russian long distance runner, she was one in that.

Oh, really? Yeah, it's like the machine never stops and that's not normal. Right. So you have to raise a flag going, how did you just do all that and break the fucking, right? You have to have help. Yeah, yeah. yeah it's physically regardless of all the fucking mental toughness and training right there's

still a limit beyond that yeah right so you there is a record and then if you break the record beyond human capacity yeah it's like yeah there's gotta be something up yeah yeah yeah well i have to figure out a way to test for all of it because if there's no testing for all of it, it's like, okay, what are the consequences here? Yeah. I could be the best ever with no consequences. You know what I mean?

Right, right, right, right. There's no chance of getting caught. Yeah. What would you be if you could take it all back? Besides on this couch. What do you mean? You could do it all over again. Any facet of life. Is there a sport that you would play or a thing that you would do? Oh, if it was just sports? besides on this couch what do you mean like any you do it all over again

any facet of life is there a sport that you would play or a thing that you do oh if it was just sports yeah a sport thing we're very sport heavy

in this episode no we've never had this before what do you guys usually talk about fucking whatever anything farts I don't know how

it happens so hard I would you be an artist would you paint would you draw it's open to anything it's anything it's anything well I'm working on

this stand up comedy thing yeah like that's a workout but do you feel like you've already dominated but do you feel like you would have wanted to have started earlier

nah I don't think that would have done it I mean I started late I started at 28 but I don't think earlier would have done it I actually think it's better

like more life experience and once you're in it I'm in it like 22 years now. Once you're in it that long, it's like, yeah, you know. There's levels to it. But once you're in it that long, it's like you're just in it and you've been in it. But I find the thing that is, I don't even know if it's important to us because we're comics and we care. But I don't know if it's important to the general with all the TikToks and all this marketing out there, if it's it's important to us because we're comics and we care but i don't know if it's important to the general with all the tiktoks and all this yeah yeah if it's generally important but the important thing is like to keep coming and to keep uh getting better yeah and to keep

and and to not give up because the tendency is oh this isn't working uh whatever um it's it's all messed up now. It's like it doesn't matter how good you are anymore. Like there's these negative voices that creep in. And if you go, I just stayed a course, know what I'm doing, keep working, keep getting better, keep taking the opportunities and keep – it sounds corny, whatever. It sounds like – No, no, no. But that's really what it is.

It's like keep going, keep keep getting better keep increasing your skill set and then podcasting is another thing comes in where it's like oh this is new thing and at first when i saw a podcast i'm like oh this is the laziest yeah thing i've ever seen in my life it's like all the la guys liked it and all the new york guys were like forget this is the laziest thing ever i was one of those guys and it's like oh you don't have to you can make it whatever you if you look at it like it's you don't have to you can make it whatever you if you look at it like it's the laziest thing but you can really do whatever you want with it you can have a we're doing our own shows now yes so if you want to make your show lazy and corny then

I guess you could do that but if you want to like turn it into so you can make it whatever you want to make it yeah yeah you can make it fun yeah yeah there's and I think that is a nice thing it's like so much of that stuff has been like democratized in a way. I think there's like, you know, it's like you can fucking, you can literally make anything. It's like fair, for the most part, it's like fairly cheap. Yeah, you can cook fucking pasta for strangers. Yeah, exactly. And you can make that a show.

You can make it a show. Yeah. And it's great. Huh? Look at that. I think that is a thing, though. You still get, I still get the, like. You still get the Jones off of, like, communicating an idea that no one else has communicated before. You feel like it's, like, a thing that you were scared to say.

All that stuff, like, keeps me going. That's interesting that you would say that. Because what keeps me going is, like, something like figuring out something where it's, like, I know there's something here. There's a chunk here. And it's, like, turning. And then it's,, I know there's something here. There's a chunk here. And it's like chipping away at it. It's like molding it into what you want. And then once you have it, it's like you go up and do it and you're just murdering with it. And it's like you're coming from all.

It's like the way Pacquiao used to fight. He would hit you with three shots, turn you, hit you with three more with three shots turn you hit you with three more shots turn you and hit you with like two more shots and it's like before you even had a chance to like respond to it yeah it's like taking a bit and podcasting is a good starting point for that where it's like you're talking and you're riffing and it's like oh I can take this and now I can take this chunk and I start refining it. And then through different spots that you have working it out on stage. And then when you have it, there's such a satisfaction. Totally.

In the fact that it's like, oh, I took something and I chiseled it and chiseled it and chiseled it until it became this thing. Yeah, yeah. I personally like that a lot. Yeah, yeah. Like the refining of it. Yes. The refining of it. Yes. The refining of it. And it's like, you're, you know, however you do it. Like if you build a joke here and you just keep building jokes,

build, build, build, or, you know, I like the challenge of like taking something and be like, there's a lot here. Yeah.

I just don't know what it is yet. I got to figure out what it is and figuring it out and then figuring it out on stage. And then I finished product. Do you do a lot of that? Like writing stuff? Do you like write a lot of stuff out or is it more like on stage you're fucking? I'm constantly trying different.

I was, I got into a thing where it's like, this sounds too joke heavy. All my shit sounds too joke heavy. It's like, and I got jealous of guys like Jay and like guys like Nate who were like storytellers and guys who just were so organic. It's like, I would like to be more organic. It's like, well, start journaling.

Start journaling. Just like every morning, get up and start writing your thoughts. Dude, I want to do that so bad. I can't. That's harder than working out. Just like set a number of pages. Do you free write? Or set a time.

Do you free write? You just fucking whatever pours out of your head? There's a thousand funny things that happen to you every day yeah and it's like and it's like if we don't think about them though like or potential funny right we don't think about i mean i know i personally don't right so it's like if but if you're forced to sit down and go what happened today yeah i got up like you know whatever it's like there's potentially funny yeah yeah shane talks about this with like when he went through his first early years of podcasting it's like i get all my material from talking shit with my friends because you're mining you're mining a well that you didn't know right was there right so like even in this

if we listen back to like our fucking previous 11 or whatever episodes yeah yeah there are moments in there that i wouldn't have said if it wasn't for Chris and this other person that was on the fucking couch. And journaling is also different because it's more emotionally intimate to you. This dude, Lucas Melendez, I did Montreal with. This is how I learned of this

where he's like, dude, I'll just, like you said journal, I'll just write anything. Anything that's on my mind. Any feeling or emotion and then just continue to write continue to write most of it garbage obviously right yeah you're trying to mine for that fucking there's also just a general thing that it does feel like it anchors memories in a way like this is something that i i kind of regret that i didn't listen to enough like pop music on a regular basis because,

because, because like, I felt like too busy blowing dudes at Equinox. No, no, because I feel like if you were regularly listening to pop music, you like the moments in your life would be anchored to the times when those songs came out.

Well, that's the same thing for any, and you'd be like, and you'd be like, and you'd like, so you'd have memories that more like were concretely attached to that music. Yes, dude.

Versus like I listened to like a lot of just like, you know, like the songs that I listened to like Led Zeppelin and Nirvana or whatever. And I just listened to that for like a while. You know what I mean? So I don't know. I don't know when the fuck anything happened.

Every time I hear that. You know what I'm saying? But you had a radio. Didn't you just naturally listen to the radio? I did when I was a kid. But then once CDs and stuff came out, it was just like you're just listening to music on demand. You just listen to whatever you're listening to.

And yeah, I was not a big radio listener after that. They say most of your memory is lodged with i'm not gonna this is like a like a violent act will trigger a vivid memory yeah like if you are honestly if you're injured if there's this violence is a big thing with tommy's that's tommy's favorite subject i knew you were going to interrupt this i I let you do your dog shit because you don't remember the fucking girl you fingered listening to Boys to Men. Yeah. You fucking asshole.

What I'm saying is, they say the connective, I don't know what it is. I'm not going to say this correctly, obviously, but if you include violence to a song or it'll trigger a memory a lot easier in the bank. Really? For you to go, I remember this smell.

I remember this, a trauma, a traumatic event. Yeah. Right. Easier pull from like the library of memory. Yeah. And without that, you lose all these great times and great thoughts. And to your point, what you're saying is pop music might easier trigger that, but there's typically some emotional...

I don't want to say it's just violent, but it has to be so profound. Traumatic, yeah. Regardless, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like a timestamp. Yeah, it's timestamping and it's connecting that exact moment. Your eye almost takes a picture or like a visual. That's been proven, I think.

It's been proven like emotion like really is how you learn. Which is, to your point, the pop music thing, like all of like the old school, like late 80s, early 90s, late 90s, all of those big songs that were fucking hits.

Yeah, yeah yeah they always came along with a girl i was in love with exactly my first fight right yeah yeah dance that we fought at like something it's not all violence i'm just making that example of like something has to profoundly hit you whether it's emotionally or physically where you're shocked into that moment going i'm never gonna forget this song right i'm never forget it for gonna forget the inside of the the smell of the inside of this fucking while my buddy was in an altercation with whatever the fuck it is it requires some punch in the in the in the heart yeah yeah you know i mean well that's another problem that i have is like uh meeting women no no with trauma i'll dump

it like i don't do the thing where it's like remember this learn from it grow from it never forget what happened to you i i'm just like nope just just i'm just saying that i'm the same can that let's move on let's pretend like don't let that affect you at all let's not learn from any of this just move past that you don't have to let this define you well all. Let's not learn from any of this. Just move past that. You don't have to let this define you. Well, isn't that the point of a therapist? I think that's like what they try and do is well all that traumatic experiences out of you. Well, yeah, no.

I mean, the therapist is kind of like the third eye. Because you don't even realize. You'll just stumble into things and they'll go, cause you'll just think it's normal because we all come from our own singular perspective. And the therapist will be like, oh yeah, that's not, that's not normal. It's like, what? That's not a thing. That's not a thing. And you're like, you have to backtrack over it and then go, oh, maybe, oh, maybe that's the reason I've made X, Y in this decision. Like it put me down this path of making these kinds of decisions. And he goes, yeah, that's why you're, that's the reason i've made x y in this decision like it put me down this path of making

these kinds of decisions and he goes yeah that's why you're that's why you're making these decisions and that's what's leading you in this direction you go oh it's not a thing because i just told a room full of people so maybe your life's fake yeah i've convinced you don't know what's real like getting pantsed at church by your brothers. Normal behavior. Yeah, I tell this all the time and everyone gets it. So maybe you don't know. Maybe it's your problem, Mr. Goldberg.

You come in here, you're in this room, you talk to one person. You think you fucking know anything about life? What are you doing? You turn the tables. I told you a fake story. You bought it it you don't know anything you beat the fuck out of i switched the roles and you gave me advice dude like fucking idiot three weeks later how much you ask a question he can't listen

because you beat the fuck out of him on his own couch. You do do therapy. Yeah, I do. But I find that that's what, it gives you just another perspective. And I look at it like somebody who's like, yeah, like a coach kind of like that can see things from the outside that you can't see. You're just like running.

It's like, why am I running into this issue? Why am I running into this issue? And it's like, you talk it out with them. It's like, oh, it's because of this, this, and that. It's like, oh, fuck, I it's like oh it's because of this this and that it's like oh fuck i didn't even see it yeah you have those moments where it's like i didn't see it it's like and then you set the you like you have to do work on your own too where it's like oh they help you acknowledge they help you realize what what the issue is because we're so locked into our own day-to-day work like we don't step back and and can't really see it so once they make you aware

of it then it's like i need to i need to work on it like i i shut down like an argument like like i'll just shut down after it's like oh that's from the way you were raised and like it's because my father was like you know all over the place? So it's like, that's a defense mechanism. It's like, shut down. It's like, I didn't realize it was coming from that. It's like that, but that's something to work on now. Yeah, yeah. Start working on it.

Start working on like, being able to consciously like stay open and verbalize what's going on instead of like just seething and then shutting down. Yeah, take a knee. Take a knee, ride it out. Stay present when you're feeling this anger and stay open, stay open.

And then if you're having an argument, let it go. Concentrate on not shutting down. Make that the first thing. You might not make the right moves in the argument. You might not say the right things, but it's's a start it's a start not to close i know but that's tough too because it's like that's my whole that's my that's a thing that i got recently happened and that's like i gotta you gotta work on it's like i'm gonna be a better person i'm gonna be the person i want to be more of the person i want to be if I work on if I address it a thousand percent

but the communication thing can be tough because you're like I want to talk it out but I'm worried I'm going to be inarticulate about the way that I'm feeling right and do more damn or say something that I don't mean and then I'll have to like figure out a way to explain that you know what I mean then I'm in this like this loop where I'm writing essays trying to fuck you up. I've got to write op-ed after op-ed. What you're saying is all projected fears. It's like you've got to let it rip because the thing with my childhood was like, I didn't want to say anything because my father was very loving, but volatile? Yeah.

Volatile. So I was afraid to go and just mix it up because i didn't know what that guy was gonna like i don't know where i was gonna go and it's like yeah it's like a safety thing you know right so it's like you didn't know where it was gonna go right so um so you just build like a like so you i would shut this like yeah yeah just let it you know you don't be like just keep going like stay open keep. Keep going. Mix it up. It's tough. It's tough.

Cause I do the shutdown thing too, where I'm just like, let me just, I'll just put this in a, you know, nuclear containment system. Yeah. And then I will throw it in the ocean.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like a ship underwater and a shit in a concrete. Yeah. It doesn't help. Cause you're seething. Then it's like,

it feels terrible. You just take that out on everybody else. I'm so guilty of that. Or I'm a big guy too. It's like hours later, I wish I would have said this. I could have done that. I wish I would have said...

It's like, okay, all right. How do you not shut down in those moments? But for some reason to me, that feels better than being like, I don't know why I said that. That's not even what I was thinking. You know what I mean? But for somebody who shuts down the,

why did I say that? It's like, that's going to be part of, at least you're not, just work on that one thing. Work on not shutting down. Yes, the person can at least be happy that you fucking tried. Do you think this is like a generational?

You put your hand in the wound yeah you think this is like going to be a generational shift where like we had those because it wasn't okay like i've heard this before yeah i'd say it wasn't okay to have a therapist if you were just like a lower middle class or middle class person like it was kind of weird it was looked down upon the way like divorce was looked down upon the fifties. You just ate it for fucking another 40 years and lived miserably. Like now it's like, now it's accepted. Now it's like,

you should be talking to somebody. She'd be talking to somebody and she'd be doing like, whether you did meditation or whatever, you need to do some kind of like mental health regimen. But it's like somebody, Sam Harris, I think said this, it's like a real great point,

which is like back in the 50s there was no gym regiment like the gym was like a guy in a singlet with barbell mustache going but now that's like

laughed at stop right now take a picture with old Danny Bar yeah that that's what it was why would Budwa

AC baby but now if you don't have 30 minutes to redo the blood we blew out another one gary but now if you don't have some kind of a workout regimen people look at you like you're weird yeah it's like you should be you gotta be you gotta be doing something yeah but that back in the 50s that was looked at as you know i mean so it's it's you know it's changing it's evolving yeah yeah i guess there was also probably too because they were like building the Empire State Building.

Like, you're going to exercise after? It's like, no, dude. There was only like 18 Irish guys doing that. I know. We were every Irish guy. Yeah, dude. They were all sitting on that thing. Yeah, they went home and beat the fuck out of the kids.

I spent all day tossing fish to my friend. I'm not going to fucking go to the gym. What are you kidding? There was other people besides you. That's actually true too. All the markets. But it's true. Like I got into meditation from that,

like some of his stuff. Yeah. He sold me on it and it does help. It does help. It's never not helped it's always do you do it every day? I do a breathing

I do that Wim Hof I do the breathing practice and the cold shower so the breathing practice is a meditation because the breathing like meditation is like your mind

you're trying to constantly bring it back is that the 6-7-8 thing? what's the breathing one? it's 30 30 breaths and then a breath hold and then

that's one round and i do five rounds of it 30 breaths as far as you can go in the top out the mouth is one breath yeah 30 of those and then hold for and then you hold for as long as you can and then you hit the i bought the app you hit the app and then you uh let the breath out and then you start the 30 again and you do five of that and in that it's like you're doing something Physiological also so yeah, yeah Yeah I guess on the transcendent like the transcendental those guys have a mantra or something that they it just focuses them

It doesn't actually matter what the interest yeah But it focuses them the breathing is like if I and I find that like the breathing practice like helps me in my workouts It's like when I'm really when I'm doing cardio and whatever and I start losing control of my breath, it's like, no, no, no, you've been here before. Just like breathing. If I would have had that while I was competing, I mean, some of this stuff now, this mental stuff,

it's like unbelievable. It would have helped me so tremendously when I was competing, I would have access to this. This goes beyond competition because when I would have access to this. This goes beyond the competition. Because when I would write next to McKeever, he would notify me. Like, dude, you know you haven't had a breath in like 30 seconds. Oh, dude. Yes.

And then when I go to work out with my trainer, my trainer's like, the reason you're sweating and out of breath right now is because you're not in a flow of breathing techniques with the workouts you're doing. So then your body is just overworked at a pace. I remember running through, in Seattle, I ran through the woods with this fucking comic. And this dude was not in shape, but he was just controlling his breathing. Heart rate wouldn't be elevated.

Goes into everything you do, whether it's working out, your mind control, your sleep patterns. What I found now is some dude recommended a sleep mask. Yeah. And it's controlled my anxiety to the point where it blacks out everything. Really? Because typically, when my anxiety's high, my breathing's not right. Right.

I'll just stare at something, even if I'm tired, because I'm letting my mind dump, and I'll keep my eyes open. This sleep mask has allowed me to stop all that and then focus on my breathing. So it shuts my mind down first. And then I do that six, seven, eight thing. And this, listen to me, I'm sounding like I changed my life. It has, but it's only been like four weeks where I can shut it down way faster. Really focus on my breathing. There's a six, seven, eight technique where you breathe in deep in your nose

for six seconds, hold it for seven seconds, and exhale for eight. And you do that between five and 10 times. And that takes all of your mind and your stress and your mental focus off of your bullshit. Because now you're reverting that to your breathing all of your mind and your stress and your mental focus off of your bullshit. Yeah. Cause now you're reverting that to your breathing and that'll settle your

eyes. And then all of a sudden you're fucking out and you won't remember it. Yeah. See, for me, I listened to people yell at each other. No, I listen,

I'll turn on like two people debating, like getting really mad about something and yelling at each other. Yeah. Try not to do that. And I just, I just get over right out. That's why you're never focused on me. So you do that in addition to the sleep mask also? Yeah.

Yeah. I just got it. And that was also recommended by a bartender. Cause I, they're my best friends. Bartenders and baristas. I tell them everything. More than a doctor.

I've only been a doctor once in 20 years. The sleep mask thing does sound legit. And the breathing thing does help. I mean, that was like, for me, the meditation thing when it helps is to like, when I do focus on my breathing or if I like get, it's mostly like I can step back and witness my brain lobbing ideas at me. Like you realize that like your brain is just constantly like fucking feel this shit,

fucking feel this shit, fucking think this shit, fucking do that, fucking that, fucking that, fucking that, you want to do this, you want to do that.

And if you can just take a step back and just be like witnessing it, almost outside of it screaming at itself and be like, yeah, dude, do that. I'm going to sleep. It's like it's a nice

and it really does help. I've like done it before shows that I was super anxious about. I don't do it. Like, I don't know. I don't do it regularly enough. Like I don't do it every day, which makes me sad.

I feel like it should be like a gym thing where it's like, you'd kind of like, just, just do it a little bit. You'll be fine. But I do start to get to that place where I'm like, I, if I do it every once in a while, it's almost like, to me, it a little bit, you'll be fine. But I do start to get to that place where I'm like, if I do it every once in a while, to me it's almost like smoking weed or something,

or like drinking. If I do it once every almost never, I'm like, oh, this is amazing. But if I do it every day, I start being like, well, I'm not getting the same hit that I got. Right, right. That one time when I was like completely about do it every day i start being like well i'm not getting the same hit that i got right that one time when i was like completely about to have a panic attack and it saved my life yeah i'm not

getting the same hit and i like then i start to like lose momentum with it but i think that the good thing about this thing that i'm doing is like the breath holds you can do them as long as it's kind of like you could do them as long as you can hold your breath yeah like that that if I forget if I actually push myself and hold my breath as long as I can do it and then I exhale and then take it another day it get you high yeah yeah yeah yeah it's like a runner so it's gotta be a version of a runner's fucking warps your head it kills fucking brain cells you know what i mean yeah but you so wait when you yeah dude i know we're talking about wim hof we're talking about meditation that'll help everybody shut up so when you hold your breath how like if you can estimate

first off do you think anyone died trying to be better themselves meditating. I think I could go in the three to four minute mark. Get out of here. There's no way. Underwater you can hold your breath for three hours. I can hold my breath for a while. Is this from boating? What? In the water? This is an important part of the boat. Get your boating license.

It's one of the tests. You gotta hold your breath for four minutes. You gotta parallel park a boat and then hold your breath on their dock for five minutes what a dyke how long do you hold your breath for? I usually start around two minutes

two minutes? around two you start what? as you hold it, the first round is maybe, depending on what's going on in your life or whatever. But like a minute and a half and then the next round, minute 45. Then the next round, probably two. And then around two, between two and 2.15. Yeah.

But that's on a good, but there's always a progression because you're opening your lungs up when you do it. Right, um, that's on a good, like, but there's always a progression, a progression. Cause you're opening, you're opening your lungs up when you do it. Right, right, right. Yeah.

And then the first breath hold is like, okay, you're just waking up by three. You're getting, I'm getting to like two minutes, but if I've been on a flight or something and I didn't sleep the night before and I'm really tired and I get off the flight, I'm like, I'm going to do this.

Then I might not get the two through the whole thing. So it just depends. But usually the first three rounds like opens you up and then the last two it's like you can really feel it and you have stronger breath holds all right one more time so it's it's 30 second holds it's i'm sorry 30 breaths but there's a there's an app i just sent you the app yeah it's 30 it's 30 uh breaths and then and then a hold for as long as you can. And then release. And then 30 more. 30 breaths.

It's just breath holds. It's like 30 breaths, a breath hold, a release, and then breathing again. You're kind of like hyperventilating. Do you do this at a certain time of the day or when you feel like you need it? I try to do it the first when I wake up in the morning. Yeah. First thing before coffee. Delay coffee.

Wake up. Are you a go out and get coffee guy or are you a coffee at home guy? I mostly make it at home, but I do like doing that. How'd you like that pour over? It's great. Really great. It's really great, right? Absolutely.

Another life changer. I just started two weeks ago. Yeah. It's pretty sweet. Try it, man. I'll send you a kit. A kit? I'll gift it to ago. Yeah. It's pretty sweet. Try it, man. I'll send you a kit. A kit? I'll gift it to you.

Yeah. It's the best. Yeah, it's a Japanese company. Well, we're trying to do the, we have to do the, you have to, what's the thing called where you put the pack in and just. Keurig? Keurig, yeah. Get the fuck out.

I know, but the good thing about it is it doesn't... We have to worry about getting over-caffeinated. So it's just like one cup and then there's no... Controlling your caffeine. Yeah, controlling it. It's like one cup. It's like, okay, I'm at one cup. I don't want to go overboard.

Here's the thing. It's like, for me, I need to control my liquor intake. It's not not gonna matter if it comes in little cups or not the quality of this you're gonna get you just need to hunker down and put some of that into like a to-go cup put it to the side on your counter I can reheat that you don't want to be running hot water through plastic oh it's also not it's not good it's dehydrated by the time I don't know if it's wasteful yeah you

want to you know you put a big fucking thumbprint on the um i said that to my dad on the earth just you being around my plan it's changed honestly this thing didn't used to fucking do this it's true this was way that one was fucking that was to the roof this is a beautiful place doing well no but I did I did say that to my dad once I was like Cause I started doing pour over Like I was home for the pandemic

For a little bit And I was doing pour over And he was like What the fuck is that Who said that your brother My dad Oh your dad And I was like

It's good It's good for you And then he fucking Rattled out a Folgers can He wanted to get He wanted to get the Keurig thing going And I was like

You can't You can't be running Hot water through plastic It'll kill you It's bad for you I read it And I was like, you can't. You can't be running hot water through plastic. It'll kill you. It's bad for you. I read it. And he was like, who wrote that? Big Paper? God. How could you be with your parents?

How could you live with your parents at your age through the pandemic? I'd be like, I'd rather die during the pandemic. I don't know. I can't imagine living with my mom and dad. What is this? Dude, I hadn't spent more than three days with my parents in 20 years. I know.

That's my point. No, but then it was like, for a while, it was kind of nice. I was like, oh, my God. I forgot what it was like growing up here. You know what I mean? It seems like there's two types of parents out there. oh my god i forgot you know what it was like growing up here you know what i mean like it seems like there's seems like there's two types of parents out there and um the first type is like you um they can't get their kids to leave yeah and if they can't get their kids to leave it's

like oh things are too you're making things too nice for them like yes i was out like i went to college at 18 and it's like okay this i can't go back. Never go back. It's too, my dad would be like, trying to take a piece of me after a week. And it's like, all right, dude, this isn't happening. There's no room to get comfortable there. There's no place where it's like, oh, everybody does my laundry. My mother does my laundry.

Everybody cooks for me. Everybody caters to me. Those are the people who want to live at home forever. The people who are uncomfortable go, I got to get out of here. And I can't come back here for too long. Oh, yeah. There is a psychological terrorism that parents have that when you leave them,

it's like weaning off of heroin. They no longer have someone to bully the fuck out of psychologically. So when I stay with my parents for one to two days if i walk out of the the bedroom still sleeping on like a fucking that deconstructed bunk yes bed terrible springs um groggy as shit i can get i can walk out of there at nine i'll be like just like stirring his coffee i'll go Oh Must have needed it Oh dude About sleep And like that

To him is like Blossoming Oh yes Hearts are flying Out of his eyeballs Going fuck this kid Fuck this kid Fuck this kid

Yeah yeah yeah He's missed this for so long Yeah yeah yeah It's just like It's a pool of cum That he hasn't He hasn't gotten out In a long time

And he's like No why don't you stick around? Why don't you stick around for a little while? I'm like, Dad, I just, I got to go home. I got stuff to do. I don't know what that is. That's really something. Because my father used to be like, come home. We miss you.

We love you. And then as soon as I get there, it's like a little bit of a honeymoon period. And then it's like. Yeah. Right back to the same thing. Right. You're five years old again. Yeah.

Right away. Yeah. It's like, how am I going yeah right away yeah it's like how am i gonna stay here how am i psychologically gonna stay here i'm just gonna like it's either you gotta go at them or they just bully you to the point where it's like uh i don't know what you you're just gonna mow over me i just gotta like whatever i gotta bend the knee it's like i'm your father you respect yeah what do you think i'm the guy down the street i'm your father it's like who you are what are you doing yeah yeah dude literally you're like dad look at this gray hair

you talk to me like that again i'll fuck you up because he still talks to me like he can be i'm like dude i'll you'll be a dust ball if i hit you once in the chest dust ball yeah yeah but so so with my parents it wasn't like i really got done i saw this guy ramped up dude yeah with my parents, it wasn't like... That really got done. I saw him. This got ramped up. Yeah. With my parents, my dad never directs volatility at me, but the environment is so volatile. There's so much unnecessary anger about the tiniest thing. Well...

Like... I'd like to sign with your father. I've never met him. It so so it's just like the most the little thing you know like the clicker's not working and it's just it's all of a sudden it's everyone's spiraling that's one thing and then and then my mom will do this thing where it's like you can't do anything you can't do anything like if you're like i'm gonna walk into town just like uh grab a coffee she's like we got coffee in the house yeah why are you gonna walk you're like i'm gonna walk into town just like uh grab a coffee she's like wait we got coffee in the house yeah why are you gonna walk you're gonna walk all the way there mom it's like two blocks away a line yeah it's gonna be somebody they always they always she she always

does this thing where she like she'll give you a litany of problems that you might run into like you'd be like i'm just gonna go drive go to the movies it's raining yeah yeah I'm gonna drive to the movie you're gonna get a spot yeah you're gonna pay for it we got movies on the television you can watch see I was just like Jesus Christ I just want to fucking do a thing I just want to do a thing Irish women women trap a husband. They make him have multiple children that he can't afford. When the children fuck off, she then wants to get them back. So it's all, it's re-netting for more minnows. She's trying to get more fish and not let you out again.

She's always been this way. And I have a hard time getting getting like getting like I getting the engine to turn over and do something a lot of times and I swear to god it's from this because it would just be like you'd want to go get like because I'll just come back into town I want to get like a sandwich at a place I haven't been to in fucking forever you know what I mean just want to get a sandwich a bagel shop yeah yeah you're gonna get a bagel I got toast I got toast in the freezer yeah just it right up like I'll make you some eggs

well moms have that provided and it's just like my aunt no but it's more about stopping you from doing anything right like it's like

it's this thing where it's like if you leave and do something you're gonna be at risk for some type of damage and it's just like Jesus Christ my aunt got

people do things my aunt people do things people do things they go out they do things I moved to I was gonna move to New York and I go

I'm I just moved so I talked to her and I go I moved to New York you know I'm making move for my career

and she goes yeah but how's the parking is it like you got back home? And then she was like, what's the stand-up scene? Do you have to put your name on a list? I go, no, it's not like that. It's like you got to go hang out. You got to create these relationships.

And then through networking, you get on stage. And she goes, so you don't put your name on a list? I think it's putting your name on a list, right? You have to put your name on a list. Finally, I was like, yeah, it's putting your name on a list. Just the end of the conversation. I think it's putting your name on a list, right? You have to put your name on a list. Finally, I was like, yeah, it's putting your name on a list. I know. Just exactly what it is. Just the end of the conversation.

I put a name on a list and then I'm famous. Yeah. I just put my name on a list for 22 years. There's no work that actually needs to go in there. Yeah, you go down there. You got your promotion and your job. You just put a name on it. Yeah, it's like getting a job at the docks.

You go down there. They pick you. Yeah, you're good. Yeah. Just put a name on it Yeah It's like getting a job At the docks You go down there They pick you Yeah You're good Yeah But tomorrow I'm having Or Thursday

I'm having lunch with my father I haven't seen my dad In like a few months Yeah But it'll be the same thing He's wild He's a wild boy in public too He don't give a fuck anymore

What? Like he does that whole Hey Hey Honey Like a waitress Will walk by I'm like dad You can't just be yelling at

a waitress he's like yeah what does he say i've seen you in a while this need a water can you get me water that'd be great thank you he's very polite but like his social demeanor is like it's so old school because he only speaks to my mom in two rooms. Oh, yeah. They clearly don't speak to each other in the bedroom. I know this for fucking a fact. And they speak to each other in the kitchen. Vowel environment.

Yeah. Hey, James, where'd you put the... Son of a bitch. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know.

I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know.

I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know.

I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know.

It's like that kind of shit. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know.

I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know.

I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know.

I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know.

I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. non-stop fucking tension my dad will be like she'll leave the room ago your mother i should never agree to get this rancher you know dude she don't want to walk up and down the steps for a while but now i got nowhere to escape i got a tv in the basement it's my only escape tom you want

to go golfing next week i'm like dad this is way too much dude i like the stress i have in my life right now alone i come home thinking i'm just gonna get a nice oh i'll get some fucking scrapple and pork wall some some philly meats i haven't had in a while and i'll get some a nice rest on the bunk bed that's gonna break my fucking and then i'll go home refreshed it's the opposite oh it's like going on a fucking it's like going to vegas for like a week you're like i'm going on a fucking vacation. It's the opposite. It's like going to Vegas for like a week. You're like, I'm going on vacation.

No, you're not. You're going to get fucking blitz for five days, come home and need another week off. Yes, because it's also, it's also, you see so much of yourself in them.

Yeah. Like you see, like, you know, I, like one of the things that I, like my biggest problem is that if I misplace something, that the,

the, the psycho-paranoid conspiracy theory ideas that start swirling around in my head, like this fucking moot. Remember what happened the other night at the bar? What? You couldn't find your wallet? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Dude, he can't find his wallet at the bar

after like a couple drinks. And he goes, wallet. Dude, this is is hold on yeah i can't find my wallet and i'm going calm down hey you'll find your wallet look at all your pockets i'm helping them look in pockets and then i go in my jacket i'm like i can't find my wallet and then i come up with this idea like the dude was behind it there was a guy behind yes we get our bartender involved we're like dude somebody stole our wallets i convinced the bartenders, we're like, dude, somebody stole our wallets. I convinced the bartenders that we're close with. Somebody

took both of our wallets out of our jacket because there was a guy floating around like a weirdo. We had this falsehood. The bar's in our uproar. We got barbacks running around going, who's got a wall? You seen a wall? We got a fucking flashlight at the

feet of the school. We both convince ourselves in the same crazy manner. We get home, my wallet's in the tray that I always keep. Always keeping it. And Chris goes, oh yeah,

it was in my jacket. He's got his wallet. Hold on. I get to the bar like two days later or whatever and the first thing he asked me was like, where's your wallet? And I was like, he's like, you find your wallet? And I was like, what?

What do you mean? What wallet? And he's going to hit me. And I was like, oh, yeah, we got. We made such a stink. Yeah. That we threw it into the mind of somebody else for 48 hours. Yes.

We're worried. The next time I see Tommy or Chris, did you get your wallet? And that's what we do. We just smoke bees into each other's mouth back and forth about being fucking nuts. And it's pretty amazing

that you both lost them at the same time. You lost, you misplaced yours and then you never brought yours. I didn't even misplace it.

It was in my old pants pocket. It was like I never took it out. And I was like, no, I'm certain. And it's in my old pants pocket I never took it out and I was like no I'm certain yeah it's literally the thing is that I see that my dad is it like and I I have it too a little bit but it's because I know he's got it so bad I do try to curb it but he's got it like with technology it's even worse you know cuz it's in a screen he was losing things it's really hard for him you know, because it's in a screen, he was losing things. So it's like, it's really hard for him.

You know what I mean? It's not like misplacing your keys in it. It's not, it's not terrestrial. I can relate to that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's great. I'm losing something into a screen. Yes.

So if he goes in to open up the HBO app or something and the login's not ready or like he's got to re-login, he's like, oh, are in it's like oh are you fucking with this yeah he wants him smashing fucking buttons yeah yeah just whacked out of his skull he doesn't know how things interact with one another so that's like that's he's actually as somebody who's a bad with technology i have to defend that because it's like i get it too sometimes i'll do that and i'll be like what's your login you don't know that because it's like i get it too sometimes i'll do that and i'll be like what's your login you don't know your login it's like well let us send you a password and it's

like what are these nuclear subcodes this is to get into hbo dude it's like come on like there can't be a simpler way to do this no we need to send you a code you need to put in a code to your phone and then you can re-log in then you have to change your password it's like what are the stakes dude here what are we doing you should have seen me last night you should have seen me last night we were trying to play vr golf oh dude i've said this so many fucking i'm sorry chris i said this so many times about him he will sleep on a ball of of old crumpets and fucking dirty laundry. But his bed is made. But.

A made bed. Out of respect for his made bed, he sleeps on the floor. But the simplest technological difficulties will throw him into a tailspin. Visually and physically, in his own existence, he can, it's like he's been training for Vietnam, like to sleep in trenches when it's raining. The dude would just be a mummy.

Yeah. Like he would eat it. He would eat it all. Yeah, that I can deal with. But if you roll a cord up in front of him, like a fucking, like a landscaper, you know,

that's how I do it. And he goes, don't roll the cord like that. You can't be rolling a cord like that. And if you're going to twist up the fibers. So, yeah, you tell me you're fucking. No, honestly, because it was it was so hard. We're playing VR golf.

Clearly can't see shit. I basically have my fucking sleep mask on. I'm playing with two strangers waiting for Crystal log on. And he's bopping from this corner. This is technological fucking, this is his homestand and then he's going to the laptop in the kitchen where he plays

and we're syncing up with the public and we have a live stream going on and this is the only space here where the cameras are where I have to physically swing. So every 30 seconds, I just hear Chris going, what the fuck?

And I'm talking to these guys via the stream. I'm going, oh yeah, Chris is just having a little difficulty. It reminded me of like what my mom would say talking to like

one of my aunts on the phone where my dad's going, son of a bitch, Gene. What are we doing? Dude, for 30 minutes straight. He's bopping back and forth and he would touch my lower back going, excuse me, sorry, fuck. Well, dude, have a bitch gene. What are we doing? Dude. For 30 minutes straight. Yes.

Bopping back and forth. And he would touch my lower back on, excuse me. Sorry. Fuck. Well, dude, because it's just like,

you know, it's like once I get something set up, like I've, I've, I got this system down. I thought, you know what I mean? It's like we boot up our fucking VR headsets. We cast into the computer.

We live stream it. They like, it's just like, I got it down pat so then the moment something gets fucked up and this was like a login thing with Facebook and it's like I buy my still my Facebook email is fucking my college email which is dead for 20 years so it's like I can't they're like we'll send you an email with the you know you got to respond to the email to make sure it's like, dude, that email's dead. And obviously Facebook has no like

customer service. It's not like you can call someone and be like, Hey man, that's not. So that became like a whole thing. So then it was like, or we could text you. Thank God I put my phone number in there. But then they, they texted me a number. Then I put that code in. That doesn't work. So now I'm like, I'm blowing my stack. Yeah. And that was 45 minutes of hell. Well, I have poor problem solving also. Because there's all these, they have these steps that you have to take. Michael, you are one of the most wonderful people I've ever met in my life.

And everything you said tonight is like, well, I suck at this too. You've just been lighting yourself up all night. If you do this to your therapist, that's how he's getting money. He's trying to train you to say you suck so you come back. Well, I mean, the stuff that you sail through that you're good at, you don't even reckon that you're like, oh, it's good. Yeah, yeah. Everybody does that.

It's like, yeah. But the stuff like the problem solving stuff, it's like I hit one or two barriers. It's like, what is going on? Like, what the hell, man? But the technology thing is like, it's always that. It's like three steps in. I got hacked. My Instagram got hacked on Christmas Eve.

What? Yeah. I gave, and it was a phishing scam. Like, I was dumb enough to give my information. Yeah. Yeah, so I got it taken over. It's like a phishing scam. I was dumb enough to give my information. Yeah, so I got it taken over. Is this like physical phishing? It's like somebody phishes for your information and they're like, you have to give us this.

We're Instagram. And I go, oh, okay, you're Instagram, so let me give it to you. We're not Instagram. And then the guy threatened me on WhatsApp and he was like, I hacked your account. Give me money and I'll give it to you back so i didn't respond to that because i'm not even and then he at two in the morning he was like uh

can i get some cooperation here hey man hey man hey man i'm a huge fan dude i'm sorry that's a good move so i just didn't you know obviously respond to it but um it was like i was in a circle of uh put your put your put this code in and then we're gonna send you an email it's like he took over my email and then changed it oh yeah yeah so it's like okay so now um we're gonna email to your we're gonna send this to your phone number's like, he got my phone number and changed it. Yes. So he's in the account. So there's no way to,

so they keep sending you this thing that's taking you in circles. And, um, and there's no, is this how you get those like fucking rogue messages, private messages about like, so they're breaking into the account. Yeah.

And then mass messages. Right. Yes. Yeah. Yes. Right. Dude, you know what? The crazy, I have it back now. Yeah. But what, breaking into the account yeah and then mass messages right yes yes yeah yes right dude you know what the crazy i have it back now yeah but what do you take how do you how'd you get it back i had to go through somebody at instagram yeah who has a connect like there's no there's verify your original yeah but no but there's no there's no doing it through this process. Right. As far deep in, maybe there is for somebody who's,

for somebody who gave their information the way that I did, they just changed everything. So they locked the account down. No, I think that's the easiest process to buttfuck in the world. But there is, to your point, there's no customer service. Yes. There's no calling them or emailing them. Yes.

They don't care. They're not invested in it. Yes. They don't care. They're not invested in it. Yes. They don't care. No. Yeah. And you know what the worst version of that is?

And I can't believe it's not illegal. But there are like, if you ever go to like, if you ever go to get like TSA pre-check, or if you ever go to like, like a Department of Transportation

website, like if you ever Google search it, there are are the first like five or six results are ads like google promoted ads for fake sites that are like like if you go to get like a w not like they're fake sites that they just they're like no we'll help you send it to the end like like, you can enter your information. You can enter your fucking social security number in and they'll just steal it. That's nuts.

It's insane. And it's totally like, I don't, above board's not the right word, but it's like, they know what's happening. Yeah. And it's not like, it's not. It's amazing that they're not worried about that at all, but they're worried about if you say something that violates their free speech they go ballistic and they cut you off yes they flag your thing and it's like what are your priorities do you have any oh so when there's when when the spotlight's on you yes and then you're gonna act like you're immoral but like when you can really help somebody who's suffering like you won't do it you're like nah, nah, it's too much. I swear to God, Google search NYDOT right now.

The first five results, three or four results will be ads, like ads that just look like regular search results that are fake DOT sites. Yeah. Where they have a form. They're just like, fill this out. And I can't tweet, come suck my bird at Equinox. Lower East Side.

There's a problem with that? It's nuts. It's absolutely nuts. Equinox is wonderful. I'm very jealous, man. I don't even know what an Equinox looks like. I don't know either. They try to sell me on all the other ones.

It's expensive. You can get all the ones in the city. It's like $200 a month. I don't know. $300 you can get this whole it's expensive you can get the whole all the ones in the city it's like it's like 200 bucks a month i don't know 300 bucks a month yeah it's uh 245 yeah but it's like that just just for that one gym they're like we can give you all my the whole the whole reason i'm doing this yes because three blocks from it yes yes i will never use it it serves its purpose so like i wonder if this is gonna be worth it it's like what is it a couple grand i i'm willing to like you know and it going to be worth it. It's like, what is it, a couple grand? I'm willing to like, you know. And it is worth it.

It's worth it for me when the year is up off the side, whether it's worth it or not. Well, you also want to build a regiment. I want to build a regiment. And there's a Planet Fitness like 15 minutes away. But it's like, oh, I could do that, that's like real cheap or I can go to this one. It's like, I'm not 15 minutes away

when it's cold, when it's freezing out. It's like, I'm just going to throw something on and it's like, I want to be able to use the locker room. I want to be able to get a shower. Yes.

Like at Planet Fitness, I'm not going to be able to do that. Yeah, no. I'd spend 400 hours on that personal trainer because he sends me an app and that's the accountability. I'm spending money for accountability so that I fucking get it done yeah and then i spend money

for the new york sports club which is only i got it down it's kind of cheap yeah i'm at 10 you're probably 30 bucks a month i'm 30 yeah i've been there for five six years holy shit well like told him i was leaving once i signed up with this dude and they were like well and i knew someone someone it was like a bartender's cousin. It's always a bartender. It's always a bartender. It's always, and that's not a joke.

Johnny from Judy, shout out Johnny. His cousin's like, she's a manager and she can get you down to $10, $9.99 because they were matching prices for a plane of fitness

at one point. So now I'm locked in. Grandfathered in. That's great. Oh my God. It's a deal, man. The grace, baby. Yeah.

We have a lot of people there that work out for 10 hours a day. They're not people. They're powerlifters. Oh, I got a new fucking list. Powerlifters. Yes. Powerlifters are the worst people on earth. Crew.

Lacrosse. Powerlifters. Powerlifters are dog shit. What about bodybuilders? Well, that's powerlifters. But after I was done wrestling, I was like, because there were some guys at the gym who were getting into bodybuilding and shows, and they were like, do you want to do it?

I'm like, nah, that's not who I am. Oh, you mean like stage cats? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm like, that's not. You could build your body up and train. I like the training aspect of it and maybe the camaraderie, but that's just not. It doesn't seem like much.

This is an important part of playing peewee football and being an athlete is that you don't get sucked into this bullshit. It's like, no, no, no, I'm building a body to do things. This is why bullying. I'm not doing it to look good. Bullying is important. Yeah. And we're losing sense of bullying.

Yeah. It's great that women can openly say, I don't want to live with you the rest of my life, let's get a divorce. Hold on. And society will say, it's great that women can openly say, I don't want to live with you the rest of my life, and let's get a divorce. Hold on. And society will say, it's great, Joanne. I didn't like Bob for you anyway.

But now we have a problem with the opposite side. Just like with the quarterback thing we were talking about, it's like you can't touch a quarterback nowadays, and you can't see Lawrence Taylor fucking open someone's jawline. Now with society, you can't raise a child in an aggressive manner.

And that child can't be raised in an aggressive manner amongst his peers without someone raising a fucking flag. And you become some little Froot Loop that becomes like a, not a Froot Loop in that term. I mean like, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Flallygagger. Yeah, yeah. Social pressure is good.

It's great. Sometimes. It's necessary. Right now, it's all out of whack. It's all out of whack, and I don't think we'll come back to this. Pressure's being applied to the wrong points. Yeah.

Yeah, but I mean, the good news is, and I look at it this way in my own personal, if you have a moniker of mental toughness, your head entails above everybody else. Yeah. Because everybody else is yeah because everybody else is technology and very good i'm not you never i'm never gonna win that way yeah yeah i mean but if you have fucking army rangers of life you have a little bit of mental toughness yeah yes and you're

you're focused in the right direction you're not constantly on your phone yeah you know i mean like your your mind is clear a little bit and you're able to like be on your phone to do the things that you want to do to promote whatever you're doing but then afterwards you have the discipline to get off of it yeah i'm not gonna look at that again until tomorrow at 11 a.m yeah and it's like your heads and tails above everybody who are walking around with it attached to their a thousand percent i've been trying to like i've been trying to watch like more like uh getting into art i want to get into something i want to get into like art documentaries learn about like learning about something is a way to avoid the scan through the phone now that's that's next month i'm talking about just diving into

something that feels like it's like nutrient rich sort of like intellectual stuff yeah you know what i mean where you're like you're you feel like you're learning something about something it like it occupies your mind and focus in a way that's not just that that weird scan through what other people are doing it's like someone's struggling with you know painting or fucking making a movie or like their how they figured out their way through a story. It's like that stuff to me is like, yeah, is is valuable, good stuff. Yeah. Or like listening to those discussions, just something about like what, you know, how they're building a rocket or like anything like that to me is like, that's a good use of my time.

Yeah. There's like value. There's a balance between watching other people be obsessed with their use of time for your own entertainment and actually doing something with your use of time. Yes. Yes. So it's very easy to sit down and go,

Oh yeah, I've always been interested in this. Let's learn for the betterment of me. Yes. And then you go season six and you're like, that was cool. What else? And then you've done nothing. Yes. So then you go season six and you're like, that was cool. What else? And then you've done nothing.

Yes. So the challenge is... But as a thing of relax, instead of like scrolling, like something for pure relaxation, but something nutrient. PBS. Yeah.

Yeah, something like that maybe. Science Channel. Natural History. That type of shit. I used to bust my father's balls about this so much. Yeah. He was obsessed with

anything about planetary so much. Yeah. He was obsessed with anything about the planetary. Yes. National Geographic. So I watched, you know, giant... I watched a lot of space and naked women in villages growing up. All I wanted to do was watch cartoons and sports. And what I found is later years it would be like this is soothing to me planet earth right science stocks all these things like that

will i'll never touch my phone i get enamored that's great that's why i love the food the food that's great food docs all that type of the 30 days to air the 30 days to air the south park thing where they're like walking if you're like walking through how they write an episode. Because that's relaxing and it's also like part of building something meaningful. Yes. You know what else is good? And I've been doing this recently too. Is old movies.

Yes. He does that a lot. Black and white movies all day long. It's pretty amazing. Dude, it's amazing. It's also nice to watch something where they weren't like, we got to keep their attention. You know what I mean?

They're like, they came to the theater. They paid, you know, 30 cents, which was probably 55 bucks, to watch the movie. They're here for the afternoon. Just watching the beginning credits and how slow it is. It's like for five minutes, me and Katie were watching a movie last night. We were watching,

she's like, no one has an attention span. Who would sit through it? We're watching the opening credits for five minutes. Yeah, I know. It's literally the opposite of this podcast. We're fucking yapping over each other

the whole time. But that's why it's so nice to get in there. Take a break from me. It'll just be a guy. That's why I watch a break from me. It'll just be a guy. That's why I watch Black and White movies. It'll just be a guy like sawing. They'll watch him saw through like a whole log of wood. And he'll like stop in the middle and wipe his brow.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Stare at the sun, then whistle for a lassie. And instead of being like, we got to move it. They're like, no, you're learning something about this guy. Yeah, yeah. Through the whole log of wood. You know what I mean? you're learning something about this guy yeah through the whole log of wood you know what i mean you're learning something because not every section of the log is the same yeah like he was a wrestler that was beat by his coach