The Confessionals - 668: Mushroom Man Cabin

Episode Date: July 9, 2024

In episode 668: Mushroom Man Cabin, Tony sits down with Joe Stauffer, a seasoned filmmaker with over 20 years of experience, to discuss their latest project, "The Sasquologist." They share behind-the-scenes stories from their time filming in the Smoky Mountains, revealing the challenges and triumphs of shooting on location. Joe's candid recounting of technical mishaps, such as trying to capture footage with a malfunctioning GoPro, offers a glimpse into the real-life adventures and hurdles of a filmmaker on the go.But the conversation takes a thrilling turn when Joe recounts his stay at the eerie Glen Isle Resort in Bailey, Colorado. From discovering hidden rooms and a chest full of century-old treasures to experiencing ghostly encounters, Joe's tales are sure to send chills down your spine. Tony also shares his own spine-tingling experience with an invisible force in the woods of East Tennessee, drawing eerie parallels to the fictional Predator. This episode is a rollercoaster of emotions, blending humor, intrigue, and the supernatural.Joe Stauffer Personal Instagram: @joestauffercinemaVan-Life Instagram: @capefearcampervanWebsite: joestauffer.comGlen Isle Resort: @glenisleresortMEET TONY AT:7/27/24 - Smokey Mountain Bigfoot Conference: http://smokymountainbigfootconference.com/8/1/24 - Armed Media Conference: Click HereSasquatch and The Missing Man: merkelfilms.comMerkel Media Apparel: merkmerch.comThe Confessionals Members App:Apple Store: https://apple.co/3UxhPrhGoogle Play: https://bit.ly/43mk8kZBecome a member for AD FREE listening and EXTRA shows: theconfessionalspodcast.com/joinAFFILIATESGo Silent with SLNT Faraday Bags: https://alnk.to/clXuRY5EMP Shield: empshield.com Coupon Code: "tony" for $50 off every item you purchase!SPONSORSSIMPLISAFE TODAY: simplisafe.com/confessionalsCONNECT WITH USWebsite: www.theconfessionalspodcast.comEmail: [e-mail] to the Newsletter: https://www.theconfessionalspodcast.com/the-newsletterMAILING ADDRESS:Merkel Media257 N. Calderwood St., #301Alcoa, TN 37701SOCIAL MEDIASubscribe to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/2TlREaIReddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/theconfessionals/Discord: https://discord.gg/KDn4D2uw7hShow Instagram: theconfessionalspodcastTony's Instagram: tonymerkelofficialFacebook: www.facebook.com/TheConfessionalsPodcasTwitter: @TConfessionalsTony's Twitter: @tony_merkelProduced by: @jack_theproducerOUTRO MUSICJoel Thomas - 30 Hours To UtahYouTube | Spotify | Apple Music

Hey, everyone, before we get to this week's show, I want to let you know there are two live events I'll be at coming up very, very soon. July 27th, the Smoky Mountain Bigfoot Conference. I am hosting a roundtable discussion on stage. If you want to see that roundtable discussion discussion and be part of the environment, you want to be at the Smoky Mountain Bigfoot Conference on July 27th. Also, in Charlotte, on August 1st, I'll be on a discussion panel talking about what it takes to create content and media in today's world at the Armed Media Conference in Charlotte. at North Carolina on August 1st. You can get tickets to both those events. Links are in the description of this episode. And lastly, go ahead and check out Free the Rabbit's new podcast on Merkle Media. That's Free the Rabbits hosted by Joel Thomas. Go ahead, hit subscribe on YouTube, your podcast playing apps, and give it a listen. Merkel Media.

This was all circulating around the base that a giant had been killed, but no one was supposed to talk about it. I saw three long, bony fingers Reach up underneath the door, curl up to grab it, and then disappear When he came over to me, dude, he slithered over to me And this giant comes out of the cave and they're all frozen And he starts running and firing up this giant With a giant moves, he's got a spear in one hand And he's running really fast and spears Dan holds him up

like this. Somebody else. Shoot them in the face. Shoot them in the face. They basically decapitate them. I feel something pulling at my leg. And I look over and there are two small gray into teeth. And they're literally, I'm getting pulled off the bed.

I reached my hand into this bush and I touch air. Couldn't breathe and I couldn't move because I know I'm seeing a monster. Welcome to the show, everybody. You're listening to the Confessionals podcast. I'm your host, Tony Merkel. Thanks for being here. If you've a crazy wild experience, you want to share with me on the show, go ahead and shoot me an email. My email address is Contact at theconfessionalspodcast.com.

That's contact at the confessionalspodcast.com. Or go to the website, theconfessionalspodcast.com. Hit the contact section, and you can reach me that way as well. Either way works for me, just get a hold of me. If you want more shows on a weekly basis, just go to the website, the confessionalspodcast.com Or on the YouTube channel, hit the join button and become a member. both platforms are individual membership platforms that offer the same content. It's just for your convenience.

If you're on YouTube and you don't want to be a member anywhere other than YouTube, you can now become a member on YouTube. Same content, just two different locations. Either way, works for us. All right, friends, listen, we have a great show here playing for you today. But before we get to that, I want to remind you, check outmerc.merch.com. I am wearing one of those shirts right now, as always. If you have not gotten your Merk merch yet, go ahead.

What are you waiting for? Merkmerch.com. That's where we have all our Merkel Media apparel, custom apparel right there at Merkmerch.com. Also go ahead and check out Merkelfilms.com. That's where we have all our documentaries, now streaming on demand. And the most recent one, Sasquatch and a Missing Man, is a heavy hitter, now available for your purchase right there at Merkelfilms.com. All right, today we have Joe coming on the show. And Joe is a cinematographer that works with Merkel Media on our documentaries and the movie that we're coming out with called The Sasquologist.

This is a little bit of an offbeat interview, but it is a good one. Joe comes on to talk about Glen Isle Resort and the hauntings happening there, a possible portal on the property. Bigfoot is absolutely huge in Bailey, Colorado. We go all over the place talking about filmmaking, the haunting locations, and everything in between. Let's get to Joe right now. Bro had like 50 ready.

That was awesome. That's wild, man. Like, I can't. So those cameras. You just say the secret word. I'm not going to say it now because I'll mess it up. Blank recording. Wow.

That's wild. Voice activation. I mean, when you're traveling around or like in the car on location, it's, you know, you're saving yourself a couple seconds. Yeah. And you can start all of them at one. If you have three set up, you can start them all at once. You know what I'm saying.

Yeah, yeah. That's wild. I mean, you saw what they did. They look good. They look really good. I mean, the self-stabilization in there I was impressed by. I mean, like, I, I, you know, when I was out in the Smoky Mountains,

I couldn't get the GoPro working. I was like, well, let me, I had a phone mount on the handlebars for the e-bike, and I was like, let me just hook this up and just get some foot. It was awful. And I'm seeing that stabilization. I'm thinking, like, it looks professionally, like, it's like on a gimbal.

Yeah, it looks like a gimbal, even if you're walking, like, with a selfie stick or whatever. I did a bunch of research between that and the gopros, and then there was another brand. I can't remember what it was. And that one had the most bang for the buck. And it's hard to tell with action cameras because everybody's got their gimmick.

And I knew Insta 360 did, you know, the 360 cameras, but I didn't know how to get those words. But I've been happy with them, especially small dash cam, whatever, HDR picture. And I'm picky about my images just because I usually shoot on a bigger thing. Clearly. Yeah.

You know, I've got to be picky. I mean, doing what you do, you kind of have to be. I got to, yeah. I wish I did not have to be tethered to technology. Yeah. It is what it is, though. It is what it is. It's the world we live in.

So I want to introduce you to the people before we get too carried away with conversation here. You are Joe Stouffer and you, let me just tell people how you and I got connected. You emailed me. I did what you told me to do. Like it doesn't matter. Get up with me. Yeah, it just hit me up. And you did.

And I remember you hit me up and you said something about if we ever need help with filming stuff. And I don't know. I don't know what I need help with, what I don't need help with. I was just like, well, I told Lindsay, send him to Joseph. And so that's what she did. She forwarded to Joseph. Joseph, Joseph got up with you. And the rest is history.

Yeah. You were a huge role in the Sasquologists that we are coming out with here soon. and all that. And that's kind of how it all started, right? Like, you went over across the country for that. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I was, it was late 2022. And I remember hearing that episode with Joseph on it,

talking about Hollywood and stuff. And I came up, I've been doing film for 20 years. And I remember that episode and him talking about how twisted it was. and I looked over at my friend and I said, see, somebody else gets it. Because for years, I never felt like I quite fit in with that world. I did not want to be part of that machine. I did not want to feed the beast, so to speak. And at that moment, I was like, okay, I got to reach out to these guys and see what's shaken

because I was at a point to where I was kind of ready to make some moves. and I'm always looking for a project that I can believe in and jump on to, shot you guys an email. When it was weird, I was at a film festival in Myrtle Beach, and I got Joseph's email. I was like, all right, cool. Like, let's do this. What do you got going on?

And they were looking for an editor for the movie. And I said, you know, I've been shooting as long as I've been editing. So what you're shooting it on? You know, obviously, you know, I've produced my own stuff. I'm like asking all the questions, right? And he's like, you know, Ward Hiney's coming out to shoot. And we did Dark Holler and all that. And he sent me a link.

I checked that out. I was like, well, you know, the schedule's tight. You know, I got two matching camera rigs. You know, just get me out to Colorado. You know, I just, I really wanted to kind of hit the road for a little bit too. And, you know, I've got equipment coming out of my ears, you know. And I knew I could. I knew this was a short production schedule.

I knew it was a low budget affair, but I wanted to, just from talking with Joseph and everybody, I was like, dude, this is, this feels like something I want to get on board with fully. So, yeah, y'all covered my expenses. I got out to Colorado and that was, it was awesome, man. The best covering of expenses ever. I told Joseph, I was like, look, man, gas and hot dogs. I guess and hot dogs are good. Oh, man.

I'm telling you, like, at the time of this recording, I have seen the, it's in picture lock. And so minor, minor changes happening, but I've seen the footage. I've seen the film. I've seen the movie. It has the music in it. It has the audio correction, all that color correction. And it is just absolutely stunning. It is way more than I expected Merkel Media.

his first movie to be. And it just, like with everything, things just come together, right? So I've said this a million times, but I mean, everybody that I work with, I feel has been brought to me. And I didn't seek you out. I didn't seek out Joel. I didn't seek out Joseph. I mean, everybody that I work with has brought to me. Even Ward, I remember he reached out and we had like a two-hour conversation with Ward, you know, Ward. Like, I mean, it was a, long conversation and at the end of it, I was like, I just felt like I needed to be in touch to this guy. And shortly after that, I was like, hey, you want to go hunt dog man? Bring your camera. I respect Ward. He gets granular. Like, he is, he's in it, dude. He and he is so well read.

Yeah. You know, I respect the heck out of that. And I agree with you, man. I feel like all of this happened even before the email, you know, so I drive the sprinter van that I built out. You don't live in a van, by the way. don't live in a van. People think you live in a van. I do not live in a van. I'm in the van often. I travel all the time.

I love it. It's my little cocoon, but I don't live in a van down by the river, at least not yet. Only every other day of the week when you're stopping by the river for the night. Only when I'm thirsty, so I visit the river. But I got it in the end of August in 2021. And so it's funny because I was listening to Sasquatch Chronicles, shout out, and you guys, the Confessionals, while I was building out my van. So two years later, I'm on my way to shoot a movie with the guys that do the podcast that I was listening to in the van that I was down by the river.

Yeah, down by the river. I mean, it's just weird how that worked out, man. It's wild. And I'm really glad I sent that email. It was a blast. Production was a blast. It was tough, but it was awesome. The crew was killer. I mean, it just everybody was super cool. Joseph had a solid script out the gate. I read it and I was like, this is good. It's fun. It's light, but it also is heartfelt. And it's a solid story. It's anti-woke. Yeah. And I love that. That was, that's my biggest beef about what's going on with entertainment right now with the film industry. Everybody's just falling in line. you know, with the marching orders and even if it doesn't feel right out of fear. And I'm just, I'm not about that. And so it was great. It was refreshing to read that script. And I feel like we

captured it. I'm excited to see what people think. Oh, they're going to love it. I mean, so there's probably what would you say, probably at least 100 people who've seen it now, that you've, not outside of our circle, you know, like you guys have done, you know, some screeners out in Colorado. We did a pre-screening at Glen Isle Resort. In Bailey, Colorado. Super awesome plays, by the way. They were kind enough to let us do one there. We did a cast and crew screening in Denver.

Big foot outpost, right? No, that one was at a church in Denver. We were going to do the pre-screening at Sasquatch Outpost, but we needed a little bit bigger of a room for it. So we ended up doing that. But the cast and crew hadn't seen anything since we were on set. And they were blown away. Yeah.

No, I mean, I was blown away. I saw at first when you guys did the first cut, no music, no audio fixing, no coloring. And, you know, obviously you're looking at a very rough product. But even watching it like that, I was like, I'm tracking this, you know? And when you bring music into it and the sounds, it like, it brings it all to life. And it's just, it was so good. And so I'm really excited about people seeing it later this year.

We're probably, we're shooting probably, I know definitely the, summer. I'm just not sure exactly when we're shooting for this summer, but we have some really cool plans in place for, you know, production, or not production, promotion with that. And so it's really exciting. You just came back from Colorado buttoning that up. We went out to dinner to, I got to do him a shout out. Legends and Lore Pizzeria. Yeah, so if we're burpin. Yeah. And we're suffering from gluten overload. If we're a little bloated. It's totally the pizza guys That's why I'm bloated

I'm telling you man That pizza is good It's so good Yeah We got the cheese balls And they're giant They're not fried cheese balls They're giant dough

Full of amazing cheese Yeah I want to move here now To eat that pizza I'm saying it man Like That would be bad news Ever since I've moved to Tennessee

I've been trying to recruit people To live here And I'm telling people You gotta move to Imagine what we're we could do if you lived here. And I tell West that. I tell Sam Tripley that. I tell all the guys at Merkel Media that. I'm just trying to basically recruit all my friends to live here. Dude, I mean, I grew up on the coast in Wilmington, North Carolina, and I always come to the mountains

because I just prefer that the older I get. I don't really like the hot climate. And I would totally move out here. It's either the mountains here or in Colorado. I just absolutely love it out there as well. I just spent a month and a half out there. Well, really two months I've been gone. But the first couple weeks, I was in Joseph's Dome. That's a location for the film. And it was getting into single digits and, you know, propane heater and wood stove to keep it up a toasty 50 degrees in there.

And I was doing all the music. I had all my music stuff out there with me. And that was the mission, you know, is to get this music done. Which, by the way, you've done. You did most of music on the film as well. Yeah, it was original stuff I wrote for the film. And then also Joseph, a gentleman, his group is called Streaking in Tungs. And so he had a few tracks selected already.

Like, I think after he wrote it, he like knew the vibe of the scene. So he had some of those tracks already selected for that. So some of those are in there. Fun stuff fits the film perfectly. And so, like, after a couple weeks in the dome, going crazy by myself, freezing a lot, I decided I need to find a warmer place to work. And I found Glen Isle and Bailey, Glen Isle Resort, and it's over 120 years old, this place. Super hard. It's got some stories.

I will tell you that. You've had some experiences there. I have. I have. The owners are incredible. Greg and Mary Ruth, she grew up going there in the 70s. And the old owner passed, I believe, in 2012. And they ended up purchasing it. The place is like a museum. It is absolutely incredible. And they have their own stories. I had some weird things happen. The place is beautiful, though. And they're keeping it. It's like a museum inside. And they were so kind. to bring, let me stay for a month at all my music stuff set up in a cabin. And I just got to have a safe, warm place, warm, you know, most important. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. In February. Yeah. I mean, I'm a flatlander from the coast. So I'm like, we snow. And they're like, they're like,

snow again, you know? Literally two days ago, two days ago, they had 14 inches. And the same day they had 14 inches, it was 80 degrees here. And when Joseph told me, he's like, I got a shovel snow. I'm like, shovel snow. What are you talking about? That's why I split. Because the winter storm was coming. So I was like, dude, I got to, I got to, I hit the road that morning. I didn't want to leave. I ran the storm.

Yeah, for sure. But, so wrapped it up there. I have a couple more little music pieces to do like simple stuff. But the film is 97%. So, but yeah, man, I mean, it's been a great experience. I needed to be in the place. I know that might sound weird, but being in a location inspired. specifically music-wise, you know, just absorbing the atmosphere.

So I just knew I needed to go out west for that. And I'm glad that I did. I'm just so blessed to be able to do that. And I'm just, I'm so happy everybody's enjoying it mainly. Because, you know, when you do something, you're making art. Yeah. You know, and you're a conduit for something bigger than you. But you're not, you know, you don't, I guess it's the artist thing where you're like, well, I hope everybody else likes it. But that's not why you're doing it. You're just doing what comes out. You know, so the fact that everybody's responding to it so well is it makes me happy. Yeah. I mean, it's awesome. I mean, when I first watched the final, I mean, I guess I wasn't as nervous. I was more nervous watching the rough cut because that was my first time seeing where the direction was going. But I knew we were on to something at that point. Just, you know,

So you helped shoot the movie. You're the editor. You did a lot of the soundtracks. You have your fingerprint all over this. So you're very intimate with it. Let the audience know what is the Sasquologist about. It's a narrative comedy. It's the first thing people usually ask or give me a look about,

and Joseph can speak to this too, is they think it's a documentary, you know, because it's the Sasquologist. But it's a narrative comedy. It's a quote-unquote real movie, you know. It follows Martin Bootser. He's the Sasquologist, and, you know, he's an aper, as they would say. And he's looking for evidence and he's looking for him. and his young protege, Marty, is into the woo.

And so they spend some time together. And, dude, I don't want to spoil anything. Yeah, I know. Because there's certain parts of it. It's, it's, you're not going to expect most of what happens. But it's fun. It's so funny. It's so funny.

Joseph crushed it, man. I'll put it this way. In the first five minutes. you're going to be in because Joseph brings the performance. He brings it hard. He hooks you. And it's like, I'm in. I'm in.

When we were shooting that scene out there, we did two cameras as much as possible. And on this one, it's particularly important because there was no getting a second take of that. He just crushed it, man. So I'm really, and every time we've screened it, you just hear everybody. get quiet and they're just letting it breathe and absorbing what he's putting out. It's pretty fun. Yeah, it's it's a very gripping moment and it's right there in the beginning and it grabs people. I'm so excited about it. You know, you like, so Joseph, 30 years experience in Hollywood, you have experience 25 years in the industry. And it's like, I'm sitting there watching the Sasquologist,

is a bigfoot movie. And I'm like, how the heck did I land such talent around me? Like, like, I'm Tony from the block or I'm Tony from the truck. You know, like, you know, it's just like, how the heck did this happen? Like, I got Ward, you, Joseph, Joel, Joel saw the movie today and he texted me. He's texting me in a way I never saw Joel text before. Well, you read it? I mean, like, it's not even like a matter of how.

how he said it, but it was so sporadic in the formatting. Like, listen, Joel will text what he thinks in a text. And this came in batches. Was it multiple sentences? Yeah, like extra spaces, uh, capitalized words that he, like, Joel doesn't text like this. He's like, like it sounds like he has Tourette's if you're reading this. Like this is the message.

Bangor. Wow. Dialogue. So good. And I'm just like, yo, he's like, he's like, I love this, you know. I'm just like, how the heck did this happen? Like we, we started seven years ago with this podcast driving a truck down the highway, trying to think of a name of what we're going to call it and practicing my radio voice.

Like I would literally would drive down the highway. I'm driving down 276 going towards Philly. and I'd be like, welcome to the show, everybody. Nope, I don't like that. Welcome to the show, everybody. Nope, don't like that. Well, welcome to the show, everybody.

Nope, don't like that vibe. And I had a working on, working on it. And so, like, until I... Hey, in the car is the place to do it. Yeah, yeah. And it had to be loud because I'm in a diesel truck. And so, like, I'm just driving down the road and people are thinking I'm yelling and stuff.

You know, I'm like, welcome, dad. I'm trying to... Dude, I practice my vocals in the van. Do you? Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's, nobody can hear me. It's crazy though, man.

Like how, like, we do these things, not knowing where it's going to go, but we do it because there's a passion there. There's a deep-seated desire there. And, you know, 25 years ago, you started doing film. And here you are talking to a former truck driver on his podcast about a movie you just put out or that we're going to be putting out through his media company. Like, what the heck? It's fun.

25 years ago, you were. probably still thinking, I'd love to work with Tom Cruise or something like that. Dude, I mean, I started out, I mean, I dropped out of high school and played in a metal band for a while. And, uh, it's a common story. Music. It's an everyday story. Like, music has always been a big part of my life since I was little. And, uh, I got into filmmaking as a way, doing music videos, as a way to be part of the music community and the scene without doing the band thing, because it just got tiresome. I felt like I was always the person in the band doing everything. Yeah. And I still wanted to be involved. So I started doing music videos. And from there, it kind of grew and changed to more

narrative-based music videos and then into short film. And, you know, just it was a natural development. You know, I always was around, you know, photography and stuff. I get my eyes from my mother, you know, and my problem-solving skills from my father. So it's kind of a perfect combo for filmmaking. Filmmaking is creative problem-solving when you're on set. Anybody that's been on set will tell you that, you know, for better or for worse, you can have, you know, everything planned out. You're going to have to problem-solve no matter what.

You say good producing isn't putting out fires. It's fire prevention. You know what I mean. But you're always going to have crazy stuff happen. as much as you have planned. So having those tools just built into me, thanks mom and dad, it was a natural development and I just fell in love with the medium because it was a way to use visual, but also the sound and music play a huge part in film, right? So I could still exercise musically that part of me, right? Does that make sense? Oh yeah. Hopefully I'm not

sounding rambly. But yeah, man, I mean, I just kind of kept riding the wave and I always stayed independent. I got asked to join the union years ago and it just didn't quite feel right. The Hollywood machine never quite felt right to me. And I would rather do smaller productions and be able to do what I wanted and have that freedom and then be a cog in the Hollywood machine, so to speak. Yeah. It's just always been my bag, you know. Yeah, I mean, which is harder.

Heck, yeah, it's harder. Especially like back when you're making those decisions, it's not like it is today. You know, like today, if you said, I want to be an indie filmmaker, like, okay, go for it. Like Hollywood's dying. The way to do it is independent, you know, but back then, dude, it was a lot different. We were talking about earlier. My first editing machine was a gateway. And there was this new crazy thing called.

firewire that had amazing data rate. And it was like a JVC, you know, mini-div, camcorder dude. Like it was, the game has totally changed. And that's so beautiful about technology because young filmmakers, I can't imagine being a young filmmaker these days.

They have amazing tools just from our cell phones to like a DSLR rig. We've got great sound plug-ins like you were talking about. Oh, my gosh. I mean, it is so much easier now. And that's what's beautiful about technology. It's allowing young artists to express their ideas easier. It's eliminating hurdles.

Yeah. I mean, there's no need for the, like, some of these hurdles that you're, that they're eliminating, some people get all upset about, but it's like that you're getting upset about something that's just always been there. And you, and it's going to free you up. And, you know, I just, I'm a big proponent of, you know, know, taking advantage of what's at our fingertips and utilizing it and trying to get past the hurdle of, like, how many people are out there, especially 20 years ago, that if they just would have had the money to be able to afford to go to a recording studio, to have just one demo track

recorded to show the world what they could really do, but they didn't have that and they just go unnoticed. I can tell you right now, my dad is one of them. Like, my dad is one. of them. Like he, like he, I mean, granted, he did go to Nashville and record and stuff when I was a kid, but like the opportunity was not readily available. He goes to Nashville a couple times, records music, wins a few awards, but because the way the technology was back then in the 90s to now, it's just harder. Dude, you're doing two-inch tape back then. You know, back in the day when I was, it was like $30 for a CDR. geez 30 or 35 bucks just we got done tracking you know in like two inch tape days I mean you're

what are you taking home after the studio like I don't I don't even know before CDs what like a cassette like do you remember I don't remember I remember I remember there was a we were in our trailer in Kutztown Pennsylvania and shout out to Highland States and we got a box that arrived at the house and he opens it up and it was a box of CDs with his music on it. Nice. And it was the coolest thing in the world, man. It was the coolest thing in the world. And, uh, it, but I mean, now it's like, you know, you can, these kids can go in their, their basement or in their bedroom with just equipment that didn't cost an arm and a leg and record and edit and produce music that is, that their kid, their friends will play in cars and it's just,

it's so much easier. And I'm just, I'm really, I'm just really grateful for the opportunity that I have that I don't think would have been available to me should I have lived, at this age 20 years ago, you know, because it's just,

what was this 20, in 2004, what I do right now is called radio and you had to go to school for it. Yeah. You know, and so it's just, I mean, what YouTube had just dropped.

YouTube dropped in 2005 or six, I think. Okay. I think. Yeah, because I don't think it. Or is that when Google bought it? Maybe that's when Google bought it. Maybe that's when Google bought it. To speak to our point, though, not to get too deep about it, but I feel like some of the biggest hurdle we have creatively, a lot of times is ourselves.

Because finding that motivation a lot of times, that's my biggest challenge. I get in my my own way a lot of times and I try to facilitate an environment that inspires myself because I kind of know

how I operate but a lot of times I get in my own way and I'm I put the brakes on myself I don't know if that makes sense any filmmaker or like musician out there you know what I mean

or writer writer too it's like well I just need to sit down I'll do it later You know what? I'll do it later. It's the procrastination thing. And that's something that I tried to, you know, it's a work in progress always, but I try to sit down. I'm just going to sit down and doodle on something, doodle on this riff. And is that the pizza? Oh, yeah. Yeah. It's the cheese balls, man. They're getting me. But yeah, just make myself where. And then it's, then the flow state starts. But you have to initiate the flow state. You got to poke the hole in the dam. and let it start flowing. And that's the hardest part is getting started. And that's why, like, I said this before,

I think recently on the show, but years ago, I was still driving truck and I was still trying to build, like, you hear the progression of the show. If you were to go back and listen to episode one, please don't, by the way, don't do that. Just stick to the newer stuff. But, like, if you were to do that,

and I know people do that, because people will say, I just found your show. I'm going to start from the beginning. I'm like, no. What episode should they start? I would say start in the mid-400s. But I was just figuring it out, guys.

I was figuring out how to host a podcast. But I get emails from people who will say, you know, they'll refer to me. They'll say like, hey, you know, I just found out you're a truck driver too. I'm like, well, you're behind. You know? But the thing is like, back then, I mean, literally, I would say at least the first. 200 shows, I was really trying to find my voice. And you actually literally hear how I fluctuate my vocals on the microphone from then until now. And I'm in the truck and I'm working on all this

stuff during the day while I'm driving because I was like, I was serious about this. Like, before I launched my first episode, I was like, I'm going to treat this like a freaking job. Like, I have to do it. And I just worked on it profusely. And I forget where I was going with that. What were we were just saying? Motivation. That's what it was. So in that process, I, you know, Rogan was often on my radio. And he would say putting yourself in the creative environment is the biggest thing.

So like, you may not know what joke you're going to write. You may not know what podcast you're going to record or what topic you're going to talk about or whatever. But you still need a. put yourself in that environment to create and let it poke that hole and let it flow. And for me as a podcaster in the early days, it was like, I literally didn't know what to do at all. Like, there was no handbook that. I don't think there is a handbook still. There's a master class coming from Merkel Media on how to podcast. Hey, yeah. But like, it's, there was nothing on the internet really even on how to like, how do you build a podcast? Like, I had it like, not like there was not like there

would be now. No, like there was very specific questions that you have that come up through trying things. You're like, oh, how do I do that? And then you go for that specific question. You're searching for it. And all of a sudden, you're in this environment where it's like a learning environment that turns into creativity. That just wouldn't have happened if I didn't put myself down. And a lot of times, I think people, that's what the big fatal flaw is that they're like, well, I don't have anything to record today. So I'm not going to sit down to podcast. And it's like, No, no, no, you're podcasting, whether you're recording or not. You can sit down in front of that computer and start reading things and figuring out little things.

Like, you might be listening to your audio. And every time you speak into that microphone, you hear a little as you're talking. And you're like, how do I get rid of that? And then you spend five hours looking into it for how to figure it out. And you go to bed at night, still not knowing. But you know more because you read five hours of other crap. You know what it's not. More questions.

Yeah, you know what it's not. Yeah. I mean, you know, when I sit down with a guitar in my hand, I'm like, and maybe a song will come out, maybe it won't. Maybe I'll play something I already have written. Maybe I'll doodle around for a second. But you never know when that thing's going to come out. You know what I mean? But putting yourself in the position for it, you know, to channel through you, that's the name of the game.

You know, just like you're talking about practicing in the truck, sitting down. talking, figuring it out. I know what won't make it happen is if you don't do it. So that's guaranteed. Yeah. And I would also say that there's a lot of people that listen to the show that, I know this is a different type of show for people, but I couldn't let you leave town without just sitting down and talking with you

officially. And we'll get in some stories and stuff. Oh, yeah, yeah. But, like, I know there's a lot of people that listen to the show that are of different age ranges. And I'm actually quite surprised about the number of people who are in the, I think it's the 18 to 24 range that listen to show, didn't expect that. But the older people who listen, the people in the 50s and 60s, they hear somebody like me talking. I'm a young kid to them. A whippers, shaper. Yeah, yeah. Listen, I'm almost 40, okay? And people still call me a kid and it bothers me a little bit. But, like, I've been married for 17 years. I've been married longer than most people. like most people don't make it 17 years.

But like those people who are listening that are older and they're like, that's a young kids game, I'm telling you it's not and you can do it too. And my friend, I have a friend up in Pennsylvania, George, he started a YouTube channel around the time that I started a little bit before, maybe a year before I started the podcast. and his YouTube channel evolved over the years. So that's a key thing right there. People think that when you start on something, it has to stay the same.

This show is not the same as it used to be. I know that. I'm fully aware of that. I'm okay with that because it turned into something I like. But his channel started out as a beard care channel. He's done celebrity hair. I need to hit him up because I'm looking rough.

I'm telling you the guy is world class, right? but he taught thousands of guys to how to do beard care and hair care. And when he started, he was like 55. And he had a long white beard. They called him the salt and the silver. When I found him, he had like just under 10,000 subscribers. When I first had him take care of my beer, because I found him on YouTube, I found out where he worked. And I went and I booked an appointment.

He did my beard, and that's how he became friends. Nice. But he had like 20,000 at that. point he has over 200,000 people following him now. He started as a beard care guy. Then he went into life coaching. And now he's doing, I think, more of like men coaching. Like, hey, guys, listen, you know, don't beat yourself up so hard. Okay, the world is here to do that for you. You know, it's okay to be a man. You know, so like he, like he barely talks about, about beard care. It's now this, this life coaching. And he's in his 60s now. And so, like,

And I'll tell you, it's like he started doing it. And he probably still does it with his phone. He used to say, I do this with my damn phone. And it's just like, this thing in your pocket is the access point to all this stuff. And he would take his phone and he would take rubber bands and rubber band it to his mirror in his truck. And he'd hit record and talk while he's driving. And people, I watched it. Yeah.

It was engaging. It was real. It was raw. man, it's growth. Like you're talking about the change, it's like that's growth. And you know what, if you're staying the same, I mean, everybody's got their thing, but have you

ever heard of bands stay exactly the same? Have you ever heard anyone stay, any artist or entertainers stay exactly the same? I mean, that's stagnation, you know, to a certain degree. I'll talk about, I love the band's first album. But if they came out with the exact

same thing, the second album, you wouldn't like it as much. Yeah, I already heard this before. this, yeah, lightning in a bottle, you know? Like, you gotta grow, you know? Yeah. I love that, man. I love that. I think that that's probably a big pressure that people may be putting on themselves about starting a thing,

whether it's a band or a podcast or painting or anything like that. Your style is going to change and develop over the years. And that's okay because you're finding your voice, like you said, you're finding your voice. So don't be afraid of that, embrace that. Whether it's a YouTube channel, you know, I mean, look at famous artists that we've all heard of. Look at the span of work over the years. It's not the same. It's growth.

They're in their blue phase. You know what I mean? Like it's, that's a real thing. Sorry, I keep messing with my headphones, dude. I feel like it's sliding off my head. Like Darius Rucker. Look at Darius Rucker, you know? Yeah.

Literally changing music industry style. Yeah. And being highly successful in both, and I know him as a country singer. That's what I mostly know him from. Yeah, dude. Like, I mean, I love Darius Rucker's music. Yeah. Love it.

And I'll tell you what. I forget what Wagon Wheel is the song. And at one point, he sings about Johnson City, Tennessee. It never hit me, like it hits me now that I live right here. What he sings it, I sing it louder. Sing it louder, you know? But, I mean, we would never have Darius Rucker, the country music singer if he was scared to progress past rock and band.

Yeah, yeah, man. So, anyways, who did he and the blowfish was good to? Yeah. But listen, you, like I said, like we said, you just came back from Colorado. And you spent a month out there. Month and a half technically. Yeah, actually, I was going to say, it was actually a lot longer than that. I didn't want to leave for the record.

You were talking to me about swinging through here before you went out. And that was like early February, I think is when you were planning on stop like the first week of February. Yeah, late January. Was it late January? Yeah. Yeah. Something, man. It's all a blur.

You were out there and you briefly mentioned about the place that you were staying at and the history there. But quite often with history comes weird things. And so you're out there and you're discussed. One, how old this place is, how much of it hasn't touched in decades. Literally. Literally decades. And who knows what you're disturbing when you're moving some of the stuff? We were very respectful. But yeah. I mean, it was, I mean, there's a vibe. I mean, this place has portals, right? That's what you said? Supposedly. There's not a bad vibe. I don't say that as in a negative energy or anything like that. It's a very great place.

Yeah. It's a good, it's a good energy. But it's there's history. there, you can feel it. It's palpable. Well, I mean, dude, talk about the chess, because, like, that sounded like, I always wanted to go into an old building and find something that had been placed there secretively, like, a hundred years ago, and you pull out this piece of history, and it's like this secret knowledge or something, and you found this, like, thing that, I mean, it had the Dead Sea Scrolls in it. I'm just kidding. How cool that I've been, right? The extra pages.

That's what it sounds like to me. It sounds like that's, that's the thing. It was fun, man. It was a, it's Glen Isle Resort in Bailey, Colorado. And so I hit them up and I said, hey, you know, I'm looking for to stay for a month. And so this lodge, I think my cabin was built in 1901. The old owner had it from 1920 through 2012, like I said before. And they're still renovating cabins and they're still discovering things that are laying around in these rooms.

So there's these rooms underneath the main lodge that the help used to live in, like college kids and stuff like that, exchange students, stuff like that, that the old owner, she would house them down there. But the erosion has pushed these doors, like gone up against these doors. So you can't really open them. Excuse me, that's the Legends and Lore pizza right there, guys. Five star. So me and Christy, a woman that works there, you can see through some of these windows and there's just this picture hanging on the wall like out of a haunted house. It's awesome.

I'm like, dude, we got to get in there. And she's like, and there's a chest too. I've really, I've really been wanting to get in here. But there's been nobody to explore with me. I'm like, dude, I'm here for it. Like, let's do it. So I pulled my camera. I've got a lot of this on video too. Like the whole chest thing, I have all shot. Wow. So we crawl through this hole about this big on our bellies on ice, you know, just sliding through like penguins and go through, get the picture off the wall, and there's this chest. We open it up and start looking through it. There's pictures. There's bank receipts from the 20s. There's pictures from the 20s. There's holiday cards where they would make them themselves from like the 20s and 30s saying thank you to the people that used to run the place.

there were memorial cards for like a death but just all this perfectly intact wedding pictures from I mean it looks like out of a horror movie and I don't mean that in a negative way but just like a black and white picture of a single bride I mean it was wild and so we're just unpacking this history man and it was amazing I mean just it just pairs with the way they've kept it Now they have photo books from the 50s in the main lodge. She kept, the new owners, Mary Ruth and Greg, kept everything the same.

It's a museum in there. People from the 50s through like the 90s photo books of the guests. I mean, just big wood. The covers are wood. Really? The photo books. Wow, that's cool. And it's just amazing.

And people will come in there and look for their relatives because they knew they stayed there. Wow. Like, I mean, the place is just a time capsule, and they have honored it by keeping it the way that it's been. Because, like I said, she grew up going there. And so, you know, me and Christy for like a few days just went around and explored these old cabins. And there's a cabin called the Mushroom Man cabin where, you know, in the 70s, this man, he was a professor at a college and got caught selling drugs to some of the students, mushrooms, I believe it was. And so he was going to go on trial.

And he decided to end his life. So he took the Angel of Death mushroom and Bella Donna and a bottle of aspirin. And he was going to go out to his Jeep and drive to a gulch or a plowalch or a I can't remember what the name of it is. But walking out to his Jeep, he fell and rolled down the hill. And they had St. Bernard's, the people that own the lodge, this is above the lodge, like on the hill. You could see it from my cabin. The St. Bernard started barking and everything.

So they scooped him up and he said what he wanted to do. And they were like, no, we're taking you to the hospital. He died at the hospital. But his Jeep and that cabin have not been touched since. So his relatives, they were like called him up. They were like, call his relatives up and were like, hey, he's at the hospital, go into his cabin and see what he took because they didn't know what he ate, right? Excuse me.

I know what I ate. So they go into the cabin. Apparently he had painted his stone, and I saw this. I went in here. I have footage of all of this. The fireplace is blood red, like the stones or blood red. and he had mushrooms hanging, mushroom mobiles hanging from the ceiling,

like from strings. He had set up chairs around the table and draped his children's clothes over them. And there was a book open to the Angel of Death mushroom and they saw the bottle of, you know, Belladonna and all that stuff. So what's all still there right now? Oh, yeah, and there's like a German,

upright, grand piano in this cabin. I mean, it's fully, It's like everything's, the roof is coming in now, but everything is in there like it was. So literally nobody stayed there since then. No, no, they boarded it up. The owners that still own it, the family still owns it. They boarded it up and never went back. But over the years, you know, people have gone in there and like move things and all of that.

But, I mean, there's still, you know, the piano sits there just rotting. I mean, the roof is coming down now. But it was very creepy going in there. very interesting just slice of history and this Jeep is still sitting there it's still sitting there oh yeah the Jeep is like an old army Jeep

I can't remember what they're called but it's like I mean I got all all the footage and when this happened again this is like in the 70s it's still just sitting up there it's just been rotting that's wild

it's wild dude it's wild wow so you all right man I was going to say if he died there maybe he was the one tapping on your window that night. I don't know what was tapping on my window, but it definitely happened. And I don't make this crap up. I was awake. I was not half asleep. This was not a hallucination. I had not been drinking.

There were no drugs involved. I heard on my window. Hopefully that comes through. That clear. It was like on the glass. And that was the second thing that happened. So at that, I wasn't even scared. I just kind of got up and looked out the window. I was like, is somebody, there was nobody else stay in there because it's the off season. There had been a couple guests here and there, but there wasn't, I mean, nobody's going to tap on my window above my bed. The first thing that happened was I woke up to a man's voice inside the cabin saying help. And it was loud.

It was like, help. Like he was exasperated, but it was very low and loud. And it echoed. I remember hearing the echo in the, you know, you hear an echo in a room because everything's wood in there. It's a cabin. Yeah. And I just, I woke up and I, dude, I was like a child. I just kind of looked around and then just pulled the covers up.

It was like my second night there. I was going to say, how long were you staying there before? So a second night there and you stayed there for a whole month. Yeah. Wow. Well, like, after you meet Mary Ruth and Greg and they give you a tour of the whole lodge and everything and tell you about the history and all the Native American artifacts. I mean, they make you feel right at home.

I wasn't scared in a bad way. I mean, that night I was just, I couldn't, I don't know if I was sleeping or not with the help thing, but it didn't feel like that. Yeah. You know, it was, I've never gotten woken up by a voice before. Yeah.

Like, that's not a normal thing. You know, you have your feeling where you fall in your sleep and you wake up, but I've never had a voice. And I've never had any other sort of like strange paranormal, experience, except for in Tennessee, like the footsteps thing. That's the only other, like, super weird thing that's happened to me. What footsteps thing? Oh, at Rock Island State Park. I didn't tell you about that? I don't think so. Oh, yeah, we were staying at Rock Island State Park camping. This was probably 2015. And my girlfriend at the time, Stephanie, she remembers us. I have a witness. So I was driving,

before the sprinter, I had a Honda Odyssey minivan, right? We were on our way to a horror convention to promote my movie. And so we're laying there. And dude, I had my, like a bad horror movie, I had my carabiner, my van keys clipped outside of the tent because I didn't want to lose them in the tent in the sleeping bag and everything. So we're laying there.

And the actress of the movie is in there too. She's asleep. She's snoring. And that's why we were both up. And we hear, like, we feel footfalls. like we felt them and they walked real slow but up to the tent

by the tent didn't see any shadows I looked at her I was like she heard it dude and we were both freaked out and so my first instinct was like all right well if it's a bear

I'll lock my van and like beep it right so then I'm like great my keys are hanging outside the tent so I'm I'm zipping Are you serious? Bro, I'm not...

Yeah, I'm like, I've got to... They're hanging like right there, like four inches. I'm like this. Just let it pass. I'm like this. It was like a bad horror movie. It was ridiculous. And like the next morning, there was, you know, some trash and stuff.

Like, the trash can... There weren't bear cans in that campsite. So if there were bare, you would think they would have bear cans. But there were just the old school, you know... And where was it? Is this again? Rock Island State Park in Tennessee. It's beautiful. Is that west of here? It's underneath Cookville. Yeah, it's west of here. So yeah, there shouldn't be any bear out there. Yeah. So because they had just the old school metal trash cans, you know, screwed to a, you know, a post for the campers, but there weren't bear cans. So I'm like, okay, well, that's an indicator. There's no bear, right? But whatever, it was shaken, dude. I've never felt footsteps like that. So I don't know what it was. but we both heard it.

I mean, we were not asleep. We hadn't been drinking again. Nothing like that. No hallucinations going on. But that was the only other time. And we were scared because we're in a tent. Like you're vulnerable. That was that translucent Bigfoot, man.

Dude, I'm saying. I'm saying. I don't know. I do know. Okay? I do know. I believe you. How do you know?

Because I saw the invisible Bigfoot. No. We were charged by something out in the woods. In fact, when we went back to that spot, it will be in a future documentary. It actually happened on camera. We went out to that spot to actually shoot the reenactment scene for the Sasquatch

and the missing man documentary with West German. Available on Merkelfilms.com. If it's out by the time this gets out, just keep it out for it. April, 2024. Go to Merkel Films. If it's there, it means it's out. If it's not there, it means it's not out yet.

It's not out. Google it. Right. But we go and I'm sitting there, and this is the area that Joel and I had something seemingly invisible run right up on us. That was a few weeks ago, right? Well, it was back in last November. Oh, okay.

And so probably about four months ago now. Okay. Five months ago, whatever it is. And so we go back. to the same location and we're shooting the reenactment scene. And as a good CEO, I'm sitting in the truck staying warm while everybody else is out there having to do their jobs. I had nothing to do. Like, I'm like, why am I going to stand out here and do nothing? They're like, Tony, you're in the way. Get in the truck. Yeah. Yeah. You got to see how the cookies are made. Now get out of the way.

And so I'm sitting there and I literally, I'm bored. And so I don't, listen, I don't, I don't, don't get, I should, I just, I'm really busy, so I don't get a chance to, and I'm going to regret it when I get older. I know this, but I don't talk to my parents a whole lot. I went from seeing my dad every Sunday recording Hammerlay Legends to, we don't talk a whole lot. Because ever since I moved here, the reason why I stopped doing Hammerlains, because I was getting ready to kick up Merkel Media to another level, and I didn't have time to do anything else. And so that said, I know there's regrets there. Right now, I'm going to regret it harder when I get older. But I'm sitting in the truck and I'm like, let me call mom and dad, you know? Like it was literally, we're sitting there in the woods and it was the day. I told you the hunter story on the way to get pizza and stuff. The guy who had basically remote viewed my house, it was the same day that that was said to me. Oh, man. He was sitting in your chair and I'm sitting here and I'm just thinking about it alone in the truck out in the woods.

Yeah. I'm going to call mom. Yeah. So I call my parents to tell them that, right? And so my dad answers, I'm on speaker and I'm telling them stuff.

And I hear something outside the truck. And remember, we're at the same spot that me and Joel were charged at by something invisible. I can't stress that enough because of what I heard.

I'm sitting outside the truck and I'm even regretting saying this guy. I told myself, I would never talk about this on the podcast because of what I didn't do. Yeah.

Yeah. That's why I told myself I'd never talk about it. I'm going to talk about it and people who can hound me about it. I'm sitting in the truck and I'm talking to mom and dad and I hear something and the windows are up and it's faint. I'm like, what the heck is that? That sounds like, no. Because I'm already in my head thinking there's some invisible, invisible monster out there. And I'm like, that sounds like the predator.

That's not good. I'm like, I can see through the trees. The guys with their lights filming this. this this this uh this uh reenactment scene they're over there you know it's not them well yeah and well i'm like i'm thinking is it them is it them are they making noises and so i put down the wind i cracked the window and i and and it i and i hear it and if you guys i mean listen like you're out in the woods and you're talking your mom and dad about uh you know what happened earlier that day And anybody listening right now, if you're a member, you know the story.

It's a member episode. I forget what number it is, but we called it. It was something about Nephlin bloodline. I'm talking to them about that. In the woods that I was charged at. So I'm telling them about that as well. And now I'm hearing the sound outside the truck. And it sounds like the predator.

And then I down my window a little bit and I hear that. Right outside my window. I'm not kidding you. That's what it sounded like. And I'm like, surely this can be the predator from the fictional movie, right? Yeah. But I was just charged by something completely invisible like the predator. Four months ago, like the predator. And so I put the window down and it sounds like it's right there outside the window man. And so my mom. goes, put your window up right now. So she heard it through the phone. Both my parents heard it through the phone. There you go. And there's my witness, right?

So I put the window up and I'm talking with them. And I said to him, I said, well, I'm going to get going. I'm going to walk up to the guys and see how things are going up there. Because I kind of wanted to see if you could hear it up there. Yeah. And so I get out of the truck and I walk up there and they're doing their thing. and I'm not hearing it at the moment. And then as they're shooting the scene,

I'm standing off the side towards the wood line. I hear it again, but it's much quieter like it's further away. Yeah. Like it's down by my truck. Yeah. And. So you were,

it was on top of you. Yeah. But here's the thing. So like I go, I hear it and I said somebody else. I'm like, you hear that and like, oh, not really.

What are you talking about? We all wind, when we're done, we go down to the truck. And we all hear it. it. Jack, they all heard it. They all heard it. Jack heard it. Ward heard it. Joel heard it.

Who else was there? Josh from Black Diamond Guns and Gear and Jason from AFK podcast. AFK discussions podcast, proper shout out. All heard it. They all heard it. And I let Josh, Josh saw the footage of us getting charged. And when he

saw the footage of us getting charged, he's like, that's where we're going tonight? And I was like, yeah. And he's like, I'm not going out there with the gun. I'm not going out there with the gun because we were saying on set, you don't have guns. Like the guys, like nobody can have a gun on set because we were actually playing with guns for the re-enactment. Oh, yeah, yeah. So, but he was freaked out. And so, yeah, I don't know, um, I don't know what it was. I've been talking to, uh, Justin. When y'all were standing there, could you tell where was coming from? Like, like, like,

surround sound. Oh, that's frustrating. Very frustrating. Um, but it was close. Yeah. And I've been talking to Justin from Cryptids of the Corn podcast. And he, uh, he's a retired biologist. And I love those guys, man. Dude. They're hilarious. Great guys. Great guys. Uh, I got to have them down here again. Dude. But, um, so since I told him about this, he's been sending, he's been looking up all the different kind of bird species in East Tennessee, all this stuff. And, um, trying to identify what it could have been. And not one thing that he has sent me, sounds like it could have been what we heard. And the closest thing that I have heard him send to me

doesn't exist in Tennessee. At least that's what's not supposed to. What was it, the shoe bill? The shoe bill. So let me play the sound for you. This is the shoe bill. We're getting there. There it goes.

So that's like the closest thing that I've heard, but it's much lower. But here's the thing with the shoe bill. He said, it's a dinosaur bird from Africa that get five and a half to six feet tall and shouldn't be in East Tennessee. It's a big bird. It's a big bird, man. He's like, that's literally a cryptid for East Tennessee.

For real. For real. It's living by the stream, just snacking on fish. Bro, like, I'm telling you, when I say on the show that East Tennessee is magical, it is magical here. We just ran into a dude at the Legends and Lore Pizza that talked to us for 20 minutes about probably 3% of his experiences. I'm like, dude, I don't want to leave tomorrow. I just want to go fire my cameras up and follow him around. Right? I know. I know. He came out. So we're sitting there in the restaurant and we're waiting for our food to come out and he comes over and introduces

himself to us. And he starts telling us about growing up in this area and all the crazy stuff that he's been told, he's experienced. He even said that, I think he said, is his mom or his grandmother lived in a house where something that had like long tentacles came out of like the closet or something, grabbed them, pulled them off the bed. Like that had reminiscent storyline to me as Melissa from episode 175 where she said, this thing pulled her out of bed and drug her down her hallway. Like, that's crazy. That is crazy. And then it followed up with the, the uncle thing hanging from the tree. Like, didn't he say somebody hung themselves on that property? Yeah. And all of that. I mean, there's more too. I don't want to spoil it in case he comes on the show.

Oh, he's coming on show for sure. That was like, I was watching out for our pizza to come because I didn't want it to come so I could hear the rest of the story. You know what I'm saying? I'm like, I hope it doesn't get interrupted. Yeah, yeah. And then his pizza comes, he's like, no, please don't go. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But yeah, no, I mean, that guy had a lot of stories.

And he said that he was supposed to, I guess, connect with me at some point for the show and just never materialized. And I said, dude, like, I guess I was still driving truck at the time or something because it sounded like it was a while ago, but I said, I'm literally here now. So why don't you just come on up to the studio?

He's like, sure. I was like, sounds good. Book it, man. Bring the stories. I'm down. Like, I was like, holy crap. That's what we were talking about earlier, man. I really want to do some boots on the ground stuff with some of these traveling,

some of these stories like travel to some of the people that have these stories that hit up a location, hit up a couple of listeners that have and that we can be on location and hear about it. I love that stuff. And being in the place, you know, unless you're surrounded by the predator sounds. Yeah, right. There's just something about being on location for some of that, that gives you the full immersive experience. I'm just, I'm just excited.

Just hearing that just excited me, man. I loved that was what I loved about being at Glen Isle too, because she's telling me these stories, but they happened like right there at this cabin I'm looking at or I'm looking at the blood red fireplace. You know what I mean? It's just, you're like, it lines up. You're not, this is not fiction.

Yeah. You know, this happened. You know, there's other stories about that place, too, but, you know, no mean-spirited stuff. But she said even as far back as when the realtor was looking at the place, right, one of the original family members still lives across the highway, and they can see one of the cabins, this cabin from their place across the highway. And they would call the realtor and say, hey, you need to cut the light off.

She's like, I did. And it would all, the light would always cut on. And so Mary Ruth, she said, one evening she was going to do laundry down there in the basement of that place. And so it's a motion-activated light in the basement. And so she's like, well, I'm going to test this out. And Mary Ruth, if I'm getting this story wrong, I'm sorry, because I've only heard you tell it once. So I apologize.

I'm trying to do it justice. She said, you know, I went to the bathroom and I said to myself, all right, well, can you help me out and turn on the light for me? And when she came out of the bathroom, basement light was on. And so she's like, all right, she walks, she's pulling a load out of the washing machine. And there was a load in the dryer that she had pulled out. And it swung closed, but it wasn't clicked, closed, you know. And she said, well, will you help me out and open the dryer?

And she said, the dryer door opened. And she was like, all right, thank you. Like, she was cool with it. You know what I mean? And they weren't mean or anything like that. But it was stuff like that, like people's sunglasses disappearing, you know, like weird stuff. But, you know, nothing mean, but just a little odd. And oh, yeah, one time the realtor apparently walked into, to cut the light off, you know.

And there was a picture from the wall across the room. It was just standing up on its side in the middle of the room. I mean, that would freak me out. Break me out. Because that's just like, all right, that is not doing that by itself. That's not the wind. You know what I mean? That's like those videos you see online, you're like, where's the string?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, totally. Yeah. The first thing I thought in my head was like, if I was shooting that for a movie, like, how would I do? Exactly. How would you do that special effect? Fishing line, okay. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Is it spinning? Yeah. I know. What's the story with the portal there? You said supposedly there's a portal there? Well, so. And again, I, I don't want to get this wrong, but I have an interview with her that I did while I was there.

And I'm probably going back this summer, so I'll get more detail on things. She said, I believe she was in New York. And she went into like a shop that had like some sage and she was getting some sage or something like that. I can't remember exactly. But the woman there started describing her situation with like the cabin. And that there was, she's like, so you own a business and there's something going on with, you know, she's got it out of her, started describing her situation. She said, yeah, she's a, she looks older, but she has a child's mind. And she likes to be, she likes to play pranks on people and take things and stuff like that. But she lets, there is a doorway there. And she does let things through that maybe she shouldn't. like bad spirits. I don't know exactly how she said it,

but like bad things. That weirded me out. I'm like, okay. So if there's that much activity, is it all this spirit that's playful? Or is it, are there other things coming through that are... Or is it a bipolar spirit?

Could be. I mean, I don't know, dude. Like, I'm probably butchering the story, but I was just, my eyes were wide open. I was like, I want to spend a night there. and, you know, bring some Jesus with me.

I mean, yeah. Like, the guy that we saw at the pizza shop today, he, he said something about, do you remember, he said something about a closet door that things were coming in and out of? Yeah, it was like a case opening. He said, like, going out to the hallway. Yeah. Yeah. And my first reaction was doors are portals, man.

Like, that's why, like, Monsters Inc. Where did the monsters come out of? The bedroom, or the best. bedroom closet. Horsesues over the doorways. Do you know what the thing is with that? The horseshoe, when you see a horseshoe, I think this is a Pennsylvania Dutch thing. I saw it a lot in Pennsylvania and I last name Merkel. It's German. So Pennsylvania Dutch, not in my blood because I was adopted, but still, I was raised around it. So, yeah, no, the horseshoe from what I understand is people, it's superstitioned and then put the horseshoe above the doorway so that it's in a U-shape

and it's supposed to hold all the good luck for that household. But if it turns upside down, all that luck spills out, and your household might go into disarray. It's weird. And there's also something with pickles and Christmas tree ornaments with the Pennsylvania Dutch, too. It's like some kind of... Well, I know there's something with pickles on your pizza. Yeah, I know.

Pickle pizza. Hey, listen. It's good. You can't knock it. I'm not knock at it. If anybody listening ever goes to Legends and Lore pizza, order the pickle pizza. Just trust me. Listen, they have so many different cool things like the Sasquatch pizza, the Exorcist, the Mothman pizza. Go in there and order the smaller ones,

the small personal pizzas. If you have a group of four, order like four pizzas of different flavors and one of them, just one of them, get the pickle pizza and give it a shot. I promise you, you're not going to regret it. And most people don't. You know how I know that? Because Eddie today, the owner came out. He's talking with us and he said, last week alone, he went, through 22 gallons of pickles. So that means there's a lot of people ordering pickle pizzas. Masses have spoken. That's awesome.

Yeah, man, it's just this, man. I'm really enjoying the ride we're on. I'm enjoying all the stuff we're doing. I want you to talk about this, though, because it was such a good story the first time around. I got to hear it again. And I think it's the person, your friend, in Savannah that told you that somebody that started working for her, the Illinois farmhouse?

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I'm heading to Savannah tomorrow, so I will interview her and confirm the facts. But apparently, you know, so my friend Amanda, amazingly talented tattoo artist, good fortune tattoos. If you're up in Savannah, hit it up. She was looking for somebody to run the counter. And this lady hit her up.

And so she brought her in for an interview. And somehow they got on the subject of, I think it was because of where I was in Glennau. Because I'd mentioned like weird stuff. So she brought it up. And she's like, yeah, well, we used to live in this farmhouse in Illinois. And they sold it. They ended up getting sick of the activity. But apparently they had two exorcisms there, you know, ring assault around the whole house.

type of thing, hidden passages they found. That's what I love right there. Give me that all day. And those old houses, they had the servant passages, right? So they didn't have to go through the dining room if they're getting stuff. So that makes sense, but still, I mean, uncovering that stuff would be wild. Lost history. But apparently the new owners still call and they still have issues.

They said that it would get better for a while, but then it would come back. even worse. You know, and again, this is, she told Amanda, Amanda told me, so I want to get it straight from her on camera for the record. So I don't want to, you know, misspeak when I say this, but it was extremely intriguing what I heard. I'm going to get to the bottom of it and I'm going to interview her and then if everything works out, I will go to that place because she still has contact with them.

So I'm sure they, it seems like they'd be down to talk, but we'll see. Yeah, that's what I said to you. I was like, you know, these people are calling the former owner to talk about what's going on. Clearly, they have a desire to talk about this. You know, whether it's they enjoy it or they're like, hey. I'll bring Ward to watch my back. I'll pick Ward up in Ohio. Yeah.

Like, bro, you're rolling with me, dude. We need a chaplain too. That's literally what I call Ward. It's like he's the team chaplain. Yeah, dude. It's like if we're in a sticky situation, we look over it. where it's like, is this okay? And he's like, either gives it a thumbs up or thumbs down.

Does he ever do like the... This is Ward saying, I'm going to observe and film, but I ain't doing it. I don't know. This is him saying, not me. I'm not getting out of the car. You can, but not me. Oh, man. Yeah, sorry if I'm not trying to butcher that story.

I, like, just heard it like over the phone a week or so ago. So I'm excited to get to the bottom of that one, you know, and... I'm excited to go back to Glen Island, uncover even more treasures and see it during the summertime. Because that place is absolutely gorgeous in the summer, like, up that area, like, is just perfect that time of year. So it'll be interesting to explore both those things. So hopefully, you know, in the future, we'll have more answers for that one, specifically the Illinois one. That stuff intrigues me. I mean, just the thought of secret passages and stuff.

Yeah, heck yeah. Oh, man. Go find another one that they haven't found yet. How cool would that be? Yeah. Oh, man. Yeah. I'm telling you. Like, so, like, I mean, so you, you came with us on the, uh, the, the last film trip we were on. And, uh, but you weren't there for the charge night because we, we actually had, oh, that's the, oh, that was the pickup.

Oh, yeah. Yes. Yes. Yes. Okay. Yeah. So, so, so we had to go back out. We've, we felt like we left, you know, meet on the bone. Yeah. And we had to, we had to go out one more night. And that's when that happened. It was like, it was like the deep, It was like something stirring in our guts, all of us. We all, yeah. I mean, me and Ward talked about it. We were like, I just feel like there's something. Yeah. And we went out one more night.

We were just like, give us one more night. And we went out there and that's when we got charged. But like, we had already all gone home. And some of us were able to get back together to do one more night. Maybe that's the chapter of the film. Joseph gave me lashings and wouldn't allow me to go. That's true because you had to finish the Sasquologist. I was planning on you being there and he called me and he's like,

Joe's not coming. I'm like, what do you mean? That sounds exactly like how he would say it too. And he's like, he needs to focus on this escuage. It's like, okay.

Yeah, that makes sense. Stay out of your van. But, I mean, so you, but you did come with us, because that,

that film, I mean, it won't be released to probably early 2025, but like we, we start out in West Kentucky to, we were planning on, doing a film that just didn't happen. It fell apart where we were.

And we're like, okay, we invested a lot of money on this right now. Like, we're all here. We need to do something. And so it just, the way it happened, we, I'm literally sitting in an Airbnb with all these guys first night, realizing that the film that we invested money into isn't going to happen. And my wife calls me, and it's a Saturday. And she's like, hey, I'm like, hey, well, What? You're like stressed out.

She already knew I was stressed because of what was going on. Because obviously I told her. And she's like, listen, I know you tell me not to look at emails on weekends. Because like if I don't put hours on it, Lindsay will just look at it all the time. I'm like, you need to get away from it. Yeah. And she's like, but I just felt like I should check the emails. And I did.

And just last night, a guy emailed us from Kentucky saying that he just, Just today, a guy emailed us from Kentucky who said that just last night he shot at a dogman on his property. I say, boys, round it up. We're going to East Kentucky. We're heading east. We drove four hours east to this guy's house and we spent a night there. And then we went to the magical cave mystery with Glenn. And that was a wild experience.

We brought these portal cannons and that was... Dude, that cave was so rad. It was wild. What a way to spend Halloween night. We were there Halloween night. I brought my big Lebowski outfit. I didn't even get to wear it. Sorry, buddy.

I brought my sweater and everything. Oh, man. But it was just, listen, that film when people see it, and we'll advertise it more and talk about more later, but literally when people see it, I'm going to stress to them how, like, one, it's going to be an awesome film. It is going to be freaking awesome.

I can't wait to see what y'all did. And I cannot wait to tell people what you just saw was shot literally on the fly. We had no idea where we were going from day to day. Yeah, it was pretty wild. It was wild. Because we went from West Kentucky to East Kentucky, two different locations in East Kentucky, where, you know, Pan was being summoned by other people. And then we went to East Tennessee to the portal locations. And it's just like, it was just like this journey that we took people on, like literally a journey that we didn't even know where we were going. And it was just, it just happened. But I'm trying to find

Airbnb. So I'm like, well, I got a bed my vein. Yeah. You don't. care. You're like, I got this totally decked-down van that I did. Sucks to be you. I'll end up in the woods. I'll be cozy. I guess I'm good. That was awesome.

I love like just going. I love that. So, I mean, that was the first time you kind of shot with us on something like that. How different is it shooting something like that versus shooting movies? It's night and day, I'm assuming. It's a totally different. I mean, it's in the universe, but it's a totally different ballgame, man. I mean, it's, it's, uh, narrative is about control intention, being intentional with framing, shots, um, feel, lensing, all of it, lighting, everything. It's all about control and planning.

Obviously, you give yourself creative liberties and flexibility. I mean, that's what a project is. It morphs as you go and grows and reveals itself, but it's definitely starts from, more of a blueprint which is the script right well with something like that you know we had the idea we had the the gentleman we were gonna be interacting with and interviewing and stuff originally and then that fell through and so we're kind of flying by the seats of our pants it's very different because you just have to be ready to get what you can get and you set up as much as you can or you know I'm always setting a camera rig up like say we're heading out to the woods I'm thinking, okay, well, what rig do I need to have? What's going to be more efficient for the style of shooting we're doing? Do I want to handle rig? Do I just want to hold it? I kind of love it

because it's just go, go, go, go, go. I'm down with it, but it's totally different. I mean, it's a completely different monster, no pun intended. Hey, look, if I have a camera in my hand, I'm happy, dude. That's my bag. That's what I'm made for. So I'm about all of it. You know, I love narrative though. I love hopping on the dolly, you know, doing, getting my spillberg on. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? But, but yeah, I mean, I'll do whatever.

But it's, they are polar opposites. And like I said before, when you say the Sasquologist, people assume it's a documentary. Mm-hmm. It's not that. Like, no, it's a, it's a narrative comic there. Oh, okay. Yeah, no. You bring Sasquatch into the title.

They're like, oh, it's. So let's just stress as much as possible right now, the Sasquologist is a literal movie. Scripts or script acting, production, the whole nine. Fantastic acting. Yeah. I mean, it's not a documentary whatsoever. No. It is a hilarious comical movie that will make you cry at times. I will say that, you know, from a casual viewer standpoint, it's enjoyable. It's entertaining. But if you're in the Bigfoot community and you know anything about this world, there are so many inside.

goofs and information and and just tidbits in there that you know Bigfoot enthusiasts are really going to appreciate too, right? Like the nuggets. There's plenty of nuggets. I mean, we touch on

Joseph did a great job with the script in that he, it's layered like that. Yeah. Like it's great on face value but it's got layers to it. So that's fun, man. I'm super stoked to see what people think. So we're playing with the idea of how we're going to promote this.

And before it's available for purchase, we're going to do a whole promotional tour. We're working out all the details of when and where and how, but you, more than likely, it's going to be you and Joseph and I might pop in at certain locations. But you guys are going to travel the country popping up at locations to show the film to people. And I thought it was just, it was great. So one of the ideas,

and I think it's going to be a collaboration on the two, but like the original idea that I heard was having like, you know, because I have a pretty good network of people when it comes to the podcast world and reaching out to podcasters and basically having them meet you and Joseph at a location where they're at and tell their audience. tell my audience too, hey, they're going to be here and you'll be able to go see the film,

but you'll do a better job describing how this whole vision comes together. Oh, you're talking about the thing, like with the coordinates? Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, like, just, the way that we're thinking about promoting this is going to be

so cool and unique. Dates and GPS coordinates. Yes. So on that date, at whatever time, at this GPS coordinate, that's where the screening's going to be. Yeah.

And I think, so. Mixure of outdoor and indoor screenings, preferably campsites, you know, things like that. Let me tell you something, man. I almost want to even take it a step further. Just bring it. And not even put the day. Maybe we'll put the coordinates out.

But we won't even say, the day that you'll be there until the day of and then put out today that we're going to be at this location and have the pop up that way where it's like it's like that's a real like that's or the day before I don't know or the day before just like this idea that it's like you know where are they going to be next like I know this will be one of these locations but where are they going to be next you know I don't know but it's just it's going to be really cool we're going to be able to promote we're going to promote it across the country at screeners for people to watch the movie. And then after that promotional tour, we'll probably be looking to

release it to the public. Yeah, there's rumblings of August. Yeah. I don't know for sure. Yeah, rumblings of August, we're not trying to rush it in the sense of, you know, this is something that has to be done right. Yeah, plus you are releasing, you know, the other one in what, April-ish? Yeah, yeah. I would say mid-April. I have we have a date but I just before I say the date I want to make sure that that's actually going to be able to be upheld. But yeah I mean we I'm excited to check that one out. Dude I haven't seen it. That was right before.

Y'all shot it in March of 2023, right? April. Yep, April. So that was like right before y'all, right before I emailed y'all. Yeah. Yeah. That's crazy. Yeah, because it was April, May, and then I think we shot the Sasquologist in June.

June. Yeah. It was right before. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, I remember because Joseph was like, yeah, we just got back from Washington. He was saying that.

That's wild. I'm excited to see that. Anybody who sees the Sasquatch and the missing man and you see the RV that we were driving around in, just know that there was beds for everybody except for me. I slept in a chair the entire week. In a recliner? Yeah. That's what Joseph's sad. And my back was dying when it was all over.

I can't budget filmmaking you know like when you are when everybody's sacrificing and you're the leader of it you take the L's on certain things you at least have like

heat and vibration mode I didn't I didn't no no dude so I like there was like I was like listen I'll take this I'll take the chair

I'll take the chair take one for the team man but but just no in six months from now, we're going to be in the woods doing a reenactment. It's going to be 20 degrees out. I'm sitting in my truck.

Heated seats. That's true. That's true. Fair enough. Yeah, man. Yeah, I'm really excited about the Sasquil. I'm just, I'm really excited about the Sasquatch is Sasquatch and the missing man.

And I'll just tell people, because I don't think I did earlier, but most people probably understand what that's about already. One of my best friends, West Gerva from Sasquatch, Chronicles had a very dramatic Bigfoot encounter, I think in 2012. I think it's been about 12 years. And it launched his life into a direction that he couldn't imagine. Like, I mean, he was stacking lumber when that happened. Isn't that what inspired him to do the podcast? Yeah, because he was like, I can't be the only one. There's got to be other people that have seen this thing. Start taking

interviews or encounters. And so that's what started the monster of a podcast, right? So we go out there and we, West said that he would do a documentary with us showing us where it happened, let it, you know, and we were going to go out there at night and do our own stuff. And it was, it was a look into Wes's life and how this all came together. And it was a very, it was a very, it was a very impactful, meaningful, meaningful thing for me because people who, who, like everybody, you know, not everybody, but I know a lot of

people listen to Sasquatch Chronicles. And you think you know, but you have no idea. Like, like I know Wes. And for him to allow me to bring a whole team of guys into his life to document this dramatic thing, it meant a ton to me because it's a very personal thing for him. I was going to say, man, I mean, that from hearing him, you know, over the years talk about, you know, he mentions it. I mean, it's like super personal. Very. Like, and obviously affected him greatly. Yeah.

So to, yeah. And then like the rehash it like that. The first time I saw him on location, I don't even remember if we went out a second time with him. We may not have. But I remember when I'm out there on the scene where this happened and he's walking me through it, like seeing. his reaction in the environment. I felt bad. I really, really felt bad, man.

Like, I might even said to him sorry. Dude, people gave him crap for that. Yeah, I think they still do. That's crazy, man. Yeah, I just, I don't care. Like, I've talked to him about this. I've talked to him about the crap. But, like, if I didn't, if I didn't say sorry to him, I felt really sorry.

Because I felt seeing how he was physically reacting to the environment, just, Like the way he was not like he was shivering or scared or crying, but like he was looking over his shoulder a lot. He was looking up the hill where they came down. And I could tell like he was not comfortable. Does he go out at all anymore? Like in the woods? I don't think a whole lot. He used to hunt a lot.

Yeah. But I don't think he goes out a whole lot now. Okay. But anyways, so we go out there. And while we're up there, we stumble to. a camp that looked very, very fresh, but there was nobody around. We found the guy's cannabis. His bong was sitting out.

It looked like he hadn't gone far, but he wasn't around. And then we left and thought it was suspicious, came back at night, and nothing had been touched, and the guy was nowhere to be seen. His vehicle was there. His shoes there? His shoes were, we found newer Nike shoes away from the camp. and I think it was just one shoe but like somebody left in a hurry

or it fell off the body it was very concerning so like at that point we reported it and you know the journey the journey happened we found this this missing man situation we didn't know what happened to the guy

had a lot of missing 411 vibes our last our last and listen the location where we found the van with this guy well not with him we found the missing man's van was literally probably I'd say maybe 200, 300 feet away from

ground zero where Wes had his experience Yeah, that's nothing. It's right there. That's nothing. It's that cross the parking lot. It's right there. Yeah. And so we're on edge. We go up there our last night there, the guy's van still there. Nothing's been touched.

We had some wild experiences, the smells, the growls, the tapping on our RV. Yeah, Joseph told me about that. Like whistles Like something came in on us And one or multiple you think? I don't know

Hard to tell. Yeah, it's hard. It's hard to tell. I mean like knowing Wes's story, it's easy to say, oh, I could see it would be more than one. But we didn't see any.

Like to say it was more than one, I don't know. But something came in for sure. And we had that just, it was a wild night. And so the trip ends and we go back home and I sit down like maybe a night or two later

to Wes's podcast and him and I go on there to record for his show and we talk about this whole thing. And one of the listeners knew the guy that went missing. Like we said his name and they're like, we've been looking for him. Dude.

They gave Wes the information. He passed it on to me. I call her. And it's his ex-fiance and she's in Washington. And apparently he had made his way from Baltimore across the country out there in that van. And he had this idea that he was going to live off grid out there. And then, but he's just gone.

And nobody knew where he went. Nobody, nobody, like, I want to stress that it wasn't that he went off grid. and that's why we couldn't find him. He didn't take anything with him. He didn't take his pot. He didn't take his shoes. And it was cold and snowy. It was snowy.

Yeah. Oh, yeah. And so, like, we talked to her, or I talked to her here at Tennessee. And not too long ago, I shot her texting if there's any update on him. and she said that there wasn't an update. They hadn't found him. The police organized a search party for that area. And they found four missing,

or they found four dead bodies out there. And none of them were his. Yeah. Like from the search for him? That location that we were in looking for Bigfoot out there in the woods, there were four dead bodies that we didn't accidentally stumble on. And they went out there and looked because, of the missing guy.

But then they ended up finding four other people. And none of them were him. Dude, get out. Yeah. Yeah. Holy crap. Yeah. So.

Uh. That's all I know. Like, were they missing people? I mean, obviously they're missing. Yeah. I don't know their story. She doesn't know their story. Yeah.

Yeah. What? Yeah. It's a crazy place. And that is, do you know you probably don't know this but what what's the what was the search radius i don't know i don't know she said four bodies dude she said that they searched the area that they found his van the area that they found his van was the immediate area that west had his big foot encounters let's just call it a

mile radius four bodies four bodies and a mile radius is really not that big to have four bodies yeah oh man yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah Dude, I didn't know that. Yeah. Yeah. So Bigfoot isn't anything to mess with, I guess. Is there like... So I'm going back out there.

Is there a pot growing out there? Is there like, is it like Humboldt County where, like, you know how like in California in the Emerald Triangle, there's no cartel stuff and all that and they'll, you know, kill people and that kind of stuff? Yeah. There's like none of that. I mean, I'm sure there's probably some, but I mean, I don't know. I don't know. That just seems I'm still trying to wrap my head around that body count. I know.

And that's unfortunate. Like, God rest all those souls, man. I mean, that's terrible. Yep. But in a way, four families might have closure. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Yeah.

So maybe ultimately it's a good thing. I hope they find dude, though. John. John? Yeah, his name's John. So, yeah, I mean, I don't know what his, what happened to him, but just, and I told her, I said what we were doing out there. And she even said to me, she's like, I don't care if it was people, Bigfoot, or whatever. I just want to know what happened to him.

Yeah, of course. And because I told her, I was like, I know you're going to think this is crazy, but I was out there looking for Bigfoot. You know me? But she's like, she didn't care. And I just, and I told her about Wes's experience at that very location. And I was like, it's just kind of weird. and I think I even said to her on the phone, like that night,

before we went up there after the last night to film, we were at Wes's, and I had asked him, I said, you know, do you think that if you and your brother weren't in a vehicle,

you'd be here? And he's like, no. He said, the vehicle just provide that question mark for these things. Like, if I, protection.

Yeah, just like, like, it's not even like protection. Like, they couldn't have done anything. It's just like, it's that X factor,

that I think it was the, I think that's what it was. And so going up there, seeing the guy's still not back and knowing what happened, you know, let's just say 12 years ago

at that location, like I'm like, man, what if that guy was outside his van and these things came in and got between him and his van? I mean, it looks like,

I mean, who leaves their bong and their weed like a lot of weed? And his bong was sitting straight up out there. Like he wasn't planning on it. You don't sit.

that outside. It's not a grill. Right. You know what I mean? You don't leave that. It was like he was, he's probably using it, and then something happened. I don't know. Like, it just, it was really, really weird, really weird. And clearly it is weird. I mean, he's still missing. So, um, yeah.

Yeah. I mean, I, after having my van, like when I'm in the woods, there is a sense of security. Not that they couldn't just rip the door off or break the window, but there is a sense of security with being in a metal thing. Like being in a tent. Yep. You're so vulnerable.

Like, or a hammock, there's a lot of hammock campers. Especially out there with bear. They have a lot more bear. You know, where I'm from, there's no bear in like you are here, anything like that. And not as many in western North Carolina.

But, I mean, out there, dude, you're totally vulnerable. Yep. And that's, I mean, that's just terrifying on its face just with known wildlife. But then that other thing, I don't know. When we get out there to promote the film, man, I'm not sleeping outside. I'm just going to say, I'm not sleeping up there. Well, I can tell you exactly where the van was parked.

You can park the van because she said that they towed the van to her house. So she has his van. So it was a van. It was like a utility van. Okay. Yeah. It was like a work van, like a sprinter van, I would say. but not as big as yours.

Say, I don't know if I'd even camp there. Is that bad? No. I mean, I'd park my van. I would be scared. I was, dude, I'm telling you right now. Is there a vibe out there? Yeah.

Yeah. Like, listen, I was, like, I was charged by something I couldn't see in the woods. Was it night time out there when you were out there? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, that's what I'm saying. Like, all right, nighttime here. I'm on foot, out in the middle of the woods.

I'm charged by something invisible. It scared me. I was more scared in Washington. I was more scared in Washington. Do you think, that's a subjective, but do you think that it's because of you're unfamiliar with that area and the, the,

I can tell you exactly what it is. The backstory. I can tell you exactly. to what it is. Does that make sense? Yeah, it's a combination. It's unfamiliar. Two things. One, I knew what happened at that location. Yeah. And it was very aggressive and very scary, right? Yes. I've heard Wes's story. Yeah. The other combination of that is I didn't have my 10 millimeter with me. Because you flew out there? Because I flew out there. And you can fly with guns, but I just didn't want to go through the hassle. Yeah. And so that's, that combination, I was very scared. The one. The one,

The one here, oh, I had it on my hip and I pulled it out. Was it west strapped? I don't think so. Oh, man. I don't think so. That's bear country, dude. Yeah. We wrestled a bear.

I mean, you survived Bigfoot. He'll wrestle a bear. Oh, yeah. Man. Yeah, no, I mean, yeah, having a firearm is definitely going to give you at least a little bit more. Right. But almost like in the sense of false sense of the security like the band would be, same thing with the gun. Like, like, listen, I literally pulled my gun out on.

something invisible. What am I going to do? Shoot it? I don't even know. Like, I can't, you know what I mean? But it was that false sense of security, right?

I, I didn't have that in Washington. And I'm telling you that last night there, I was scared. That was the night on the, the camper sounds. Yeah. Yeah.

The last night is like when it all popped off. When he describes the spider crawl, dude. Yeah. Well, we had we had a please cut out the burps there's no chance

Jack is going to be listening four burbs Jack's like do you understand how many podcasts I edit on a weekly basis I'm not listening to two hours

for your burps I can give you the exact time code but no I I forget where I was going I forget about saying but the vibe

and fear out there it was just it was absolutely terrifying and you know the last night there, knowing what could be out there, knowing that what you're experiencing is absolutely signs of that very thing being there. Like, terrified. Like, I was, listen, on camera, you will see that I was nervous. What you see on camera, there was a party on the inside. Like, I was like, it's like 10% on the outside. Like, what you see on camera was me,

holding it together. Like I always, because like I have all these guys out there, you know, like they're on my watch. And I'm trying to get them home as well. And I'm like literally, listen,

dude, like I am out there shooting a documentary. Like, like when you're, when you're, like take the adventure out of it, I'm out there on business. And these guys are on business.

And my job is to get them home to their families. And there might be a monster right outside the door. Yeah. And then there's evidence of it. With the. the missing man and Wes yeah like it means it means 12 years ago this happened and it might have just happened last week and and and depending on whatever the backstory is with the bodies that were found

who knows fill in the blanks right you know what I'm saying that that's bizarre I feel terrible saying this but it's like I'm 50 50 it's like part of me wants to have that sort of not that sort of terrible experience but part of me wants to experience that part of me doesn't you know and that's just I feel selfish for wanting that it makes me feel selfish because I know that that's not cool like for people like Wes who have experienced it I mean I've spent a lot of time in Uari National Forest in North Carolina and that's well known for sighting because there's no bear there the biggest you know animal is a deer or human so it adds legitimacy to that area but I've never stood out in the middle of the woods in pitch black

by myself outside of my van for like an hour just listening and I have felt strange but I've never felt in danger or anything like that I haven't seen anything I haven't heard anything but you know out there it's a totally different story you know in terms of like not just wildlife right because that's its own threat or possibility. But yeah, so I don't know how to feel about it. It's like I feel selfish for wanting that sort of experience, but then the other half kind of wants it.

Well, yeah, I mean, like Wes always tells me, be careful what you ask for. Oh, yeah. I've heard of say that a million times, dude. And he'll tell me, like, when you have it, you're not going to want it again. It's like you can't unsee it. Yeah, it's gone.

Like, like, it's like your virginity. is gone, it's gone. You know, you can't get that back. No. And a bad example, Tony. Like, I don't know where that one came from, but like, but, and I can safely say that I'm a little crazy. Because, because when that charge happened, and maybe it's because I didn't see it. But, I mean, like, it came up on it.

It's hard to describe. You'll see it on, on, on camera. but after that night, we all went back to my place, and I just wanted to go back out there. And then, and then, you know, four months later, I'm out there doing a, like, we're like, where are we going to shoot the reenactment? We're like, let's go back down to where we were charged. And that actually would be a good spot. It might not be a reenactment. It might be a real.

And then the freaking, when the predator comes in on me and I'm like, what the freak is going on here? It's either the predator or a shoe bill. It sounds like that's a good spot to check out again. I'm telling you, man. Oh, yeah, dude, that's my spot, bro. Like, I love it down there. Love it down there. We'll have to check that out next time I'm around.

Heck yeah, dude. Heck yeah. Well, all right, let's wrap this up. Let me tell you or let's have you tell the audience. I want you to tell them, though, before we get out of here, that a little project you and Joseph did, because I think that plays into the guy at dinner tonight and his local stories. And I just think that this project is something that maybe the audience will be interested in.

We haven't committed to doing it, but I think if people are interested in it, they'll let me know. They're not still listening. Hour and 45 minutes in, you're probably right. They're like the first 45 minutes were probably like us talking about like industry talking to like, we didn't tune into this. We didn't tune in for this. They checked out. Skip to chapter two. For the 20 of you that are still listening, we got a nugget for you.

I mean, we, you know, I came with Joseph and I was like, you know, I'm on the road all the time. It would be killer to, you know, if Tony reached out to his audience, and depending on where I was, you know, we could meet up with them and have little interviews if they had any sort of experience or whatever, preferably. on location. You know, also maybe hit up a cool, known location, you know, and just do a little bit there. So me and Joseph hopped in the van and did that sort of thing at Glen Isle. You know, there's supposedly a portal tree out there that the spirit of a big foot is trapped inside of. They did a documentary about it. Love it. So we did a bit about that. And it's like light and fun. Yeah. But also, you know, reaching out to the audience and meeting up with them. So it would be called, where you at, what's your story? And we would travel around and, you know,

pretty much shout out where we're going to be. And they can send in, you know, their experiences to you. And then we can meet up with a couple of them and, you know, hang out for a minute and hear, hear about their experience. And then, you know, kind of go from there. Just a fun little, YouTube bit, you know, light, fun. I mean, depending on the experience, of course, you know, but the energy me and Joseph bring to it is more, you know, we want to hear, you know, open-mindedly

about it. Yeah. But usually with the locations we go to, we're kind of cracking jokes and stuff. You got to entertain. You got to have fun and entertain. Yeah. So, I mean, we're thinking about doing it. And I think if we did it, we would probably make some kind of, I don't know how we'd work it and stuff, but I'd like

to be able to maybe give it to my members or, you know, at least members get to see it first kind of thing. But, yeah, I just think it would be really cool. And I think what we'll do is I'll have Jack right now. And the, and this interview with playing the little pilot episode you guys put together. Yeah, our day trip. Yeah. It was cool, man.

It was cool. So, listen, before we get out here, though, let people know. you know, where they could find you. I know you got some social media and stuff. Like, let them know what Joe Stauffer is all about and where they can find you. I mean, I've got an Instagram account that I try to keep up with when I'm feeling like it. You know, it's at Joe Stauffer Cinema. And my little camper van one is Cape Fear camper van, you know.

And I try to stay somewhat active, but a lot of times sucked up in traveling, it's hard to keep. up with it because I want to also be in the moment instead of, you know, always shooting. What was the YouTube channel that you and I were brainstorming on? What was it called again? Something nomad. Oh, nomadic frame. Nomadic frame. There's a YouTube channel like that already. It don't matter. You'll do it better. You'll do it better.

I mean, I don't know, man. They, I'd check their channel out. They went to like India and stuff. Doesn't matter how many subscribers do they have? I don't remember. I bet we can triple it. very quickly. I don't say that. What if they see those? I don't care. They're not my nomadic frame.

You're my nomadic frame. Oh, yeah. We've got to come up with a cool name. That was a cool name. I mean, it is a cool name. I don't know. Anyways, I think that you should do a YouTube channel because you're on the road a lot. And I think, you know, outside of, you know, things that we're commissioning you to do kind of thing,

I think it would be really cool for you to have a YouTube channel where you document the journey, man. And I know it's hard and I know that you want to be in the moment, but like, dude, I'm telling you, there are so many people that would live vicariously through your life. Like, I'm serious, man. Like, I wish I could do what you do. Well, dude, it comes back to the thing we're talking about

where it's like the hurdle is self, you know? I mean, if I spent a few extra moments to set the camera up and hit record a lot of the times, it would be easier. I think you're right, man. I do need to be better about that. On this trip, like on the Instagram, I did a lot of things. But towards the end, I was tired. I was very tired.

I mean, like, being on the road is hard. A lot of people see the van life thing, and they're like, oh, you know, they glorify it and everything. But, dude, it is exhausting. Yeah. I don't know that people realize that. Like, I drove six hours this morning. Yeah, to be here after driving 10 hours yesterday. And then, yeah, well, not eight yesterday, but 10 the day before.

Jeez. So, yeah, that's what it is. All right, so you just did that trip, right? Think of it this way. It's definitely hard of doing it by yourself. Me, Ward, Joel, and Jack stepped ourselves inside of a Toyota forerunner and drove from here to Skinwalker Ranch. God bless you. Are you serious?

I'm dead serious. In one shot. Like one shot. Dude. Y'all didn't stop? No, that's why, dude, that's why we had the song 30 hours to Utah. Oh, man. We didn't stop, bro.

I think the first, like, 18 hours I drove. I was just like trucker Tony kicking in the gear. Oh, yeah, dude. You are having flashbacks. I was tired. And then once we got there, we had to spend a week's shooting and we slept in the desert on rocks and in a tent like big rocks. Was it hot?

It was like 90 degrees during the day and like 30 at night. 30. Yeah, I was going to say that desert gets cold at night. Yeah. And dude, it was crazy. And I didn't bring a hoodie because it's like it's a desert. And I was freezing and I was fortunate that Jack brought a second hoodie. But yeah, dude, like, but I'll tell you what, after the week of doing all that, you drive all the way out there.

You're like, I did it. You know, man. Then you go through the whole week of doing the filming, which beat you up, driving back. It took a lot longer. I bet so. We were dying. Well, it becomes a safety issue. Let me tell you, we drove from Utah to Knoxville, right?

Jack got in his car and then drove back to Pennsylvania another 10 hours by himself. Get out. I'm telling you. That was before he was down here. That was before he was down here. Yep, he was living in Pennsylvania still. And so he got in his car right away and drove right. I was like, do you want to stay a day and sleep?

Nope. And he got in and just drove. You won't catch me. driving more than 10 hours. 10 hours is a stretch. I can, I mean, I can drive however long, but I prefer not to drive at night. Yeah. You know, just crazy stuff happens.

I've seen the videos. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Jack was 26, young, young whippersnapper. He still is. He's going to be 29 this year, so. Ladies, he's still single. So he's going to cut that out. All right, man.

It's a good talk with you. Yeah, man. I appreciate it. Yeah. All right. All right. Until next time. Until next time.

Well, that's the show, everybody. I really hope you enjoyed it. And if you did enjoy it, please share the show with your friends. I don't care or how you share the show. Just share the show if you enjoyed it. That's the best thing you could do to help the show grow. Share the show. And until next Tuesday, stay safe. Take care and remember the truth was such a free. But first, it'll piss you off. Bye.