The Harland Highway - 1000 - The UNOFFICIAL one thousandth episode. SAUDI ARABIA, Crazy FART story, A secret about Toy Story 4.

Episode Date: July 15, 2019

The UNOFFICIAL one thousandth episode. SAUDI ARABIA, Crazy FART story, A secret about Toy Story 4. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello, baby. Hey, everybody, Harlem William here. And you're listening to the Harland Highway podcast. I made it back. Yeah, I made it back, safe and sound from Saudi Arabia. Remember last week I told you there'd be no podcast because I was traveling and I went, I saw, I did it. And the first part of the show, I'm going to tell you all about the trip

and the things I saw and my perceptions of the place. And oh my gosh, what an awakening, what an incredible visit. What a great experience for me. And I hope I can share, communicate some of that to you and let you know how it went. So we got that. We're also going to be doing a crazy news story that involves the senses. Yeah, the senses, mostly smell. Yeah, this is a crazy new story.

You're not going to believe it. It's so stupid and funny that I think you're going to get a chuckle out of it. Also, we're going to take some calls from a pavement ponder. A couple of pavement pounders phoning in to say their goodbyes, sort of sad. But we're going to talk about that. And then also at the end of the show, I got a little surprise. We're going to talk about Toy Story. And my connection to the new Toy Story 4 movie, I think it'll be fascinated to you.

hear what my little secret is about Toy Story 4. So hang on, this is the Harlan Highway. Do you know my name? It's on the marriage certificate. I've never seen you before in all my life. Hold on to your airbag. You're heartless, heartless monsters. All of you through and through.

You're riding down the Harland Highway. Oh, yeah! have fallen stock. That means a witch has just died. You clumsy idiot? The Harland Highway. All I want is to hear people say something again or to see people moving again.

I'm Floyd Bernie. A rockabilly boy. Don't you understand? You're listening to Harlan Williams. I can't be your daughter. I'm a machine. Man, you've been dead a thousand years. My George, I think he's got it. You're riding down the Harland Highway with Harlan Williams.

What's up, Doc? Mr. If you're going to lose, you're going to lose right now. Don't leave me here! Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Holland Highway podcast. How's your summer going, man? Are you having a good summer? What's it look like?

What are you doing? Where are you going? How are you behaving? I got to tell you, so last week I had to take the podcast off, because part of my summer, Mr. Exotic here, took a little trippy poe to a distant land. I've talked to you guys before about on my podcast about every year. I try to go somewhere new in the world that I haven't been. And so this opportunity came up where I was offered a gig in Saudi Arabia.

of all places. Okay, a city called Jeddah. Jeddah, come here, Luke Skywalker. No, that's Jabba. Sorry. So I was offered a gig to do stand-up comedy over in Saudi Arabia, and I thought, you know, I haven't really booked my new destination of the year, 2019. So why not?

And the good thing about when you get hired to go do a gig is they, they pay for everything and you get paid so so here I go I take the gig last week uh I fly to Saudi Arabia business class seat nice direct flight from Los Angeles straight to straight to jetta so and if that sounds easy okay it was nice it was comfy but guess how long that flight is gang 16 freaking hours yeah I don't don't know how far, how long you've flown like in one shot, but 16 hours, man. Yikes. It's a little brutal. It's a little punishing. But, you know, it still amazes me that you can be on one side of the world at one point in the day and in less than 24 hours be on the other side of the

planet. I mean, it's pretty astonishing. It always cracks me up when I use the flight tracker thing, So they have this flight tracker where you can press a button on your monitor and you can watch via satellite where your flight is on the globe. And it always fascinates me to look and see that, oh, I'm flying over Greenland. Haven't been over Greenland for a while. Like it's just odd, right? So anyways, I get to Jeddah and it's this whole different world, this whole different culture. and that was part of the reason I wanted to go.

I wanted to experience it. I wanted to get absorbed into it. I wanted to try the foods, see the culture, see the people, see the history, see the geography, all of it, you know? And it was really cool. So they put me up at this really nice hotel, like a five-star motel hotel, right on the shores of the Red Sea. Okay? It's always fun to be on a sea, right? We're always at the ocean.

Everyone goes to the ocean, but how often are you on a sea? Yes, I'm having tea by the sea. Would you please tell everyone to wait for me at the guest house? Well, I take a stroll by the sea. Thank you very much. So it's just, I don't know, is there something neat about a sea? I don't know why. It just is.

And so right along this beautiful boardwalk and, you know, Saudi Arabia has a lot of money. So I was on like this six-mile stretch where they put in an elaborate sea wall and like stone and marble walkways and cafes and restaurants and playgrounds and mosques and all this, all this fancy stuff. And it was really cool. I could literally walk out of my hotel cross the street and go. for these long walks in either direction along this fancy walkway. And what was really interesting is the climate there is blistering hot. I mean, it's desert country, right? So during the day, I'm not kidding.

They must have spent like $4 billion on this elaborate walkway, okay? And during the day, the Saudis just don't go out. They don't go out into that. They don't tolerate that heat. So I would cross the street, you know, between like 10 in the morning and like four in the afternoon. And I'm telling you, I thought I was in like one of those movies where a nuclear bomb goes off, right? And the streets are completely empty. They're completely vacant.

There's nobody. There's nothing. Like, it was incredible. I was walking down this elaborately built up environment that they created, like very lavish. It wasn't cheap. And I'm telling you, I could look in either direction. I was taking pictures. I was shooting video.

There was nobody. Like, not, when I say nobody, I mean nobody, not one soul. Like every 20 minutes, maybe one guy would walk by, or there'd be a security guard sitting under a palm tree. I don't know what he was securing because there was no one there, but it was the eeriest thing, man. So I was around all this kind of neat stuff. and it was just like a ghost town and so I took all these videos and pictures and it's just empty

and I was walking around feeling like should I be looking for mushroom clouds on the horizon? This is eerie, but I kind of liked it, you know? I've always envisioned that apocalyptic environment where you're the only guy left on the planet and here's me on the shores of the Red Sea with all the playgrounds I can must and, you know, empty coffee stands and benches.

All the benches a post-apocalyptic, weary traveler could want. So that was cool. But then outside of that, the people who hosted me, the people that invited me over to do the stand-up comedy, they were very gracious and very hospitable. And they took me around to the ancient parts of the city and to the original city before it was all built out before there was millions of people.

I think there's 5 million people there now in Jeddah. And when it started, there was like, you know, like 60,000 or something. You know, so they took me to the original core of the city where all the old buildings are. And here's how you put it in perspective. You know, the United States is, I think it's like 200 and something years old. if that, like just over the 200 mark, sort of, you know? And I'm sorry I don't know the exact date.

But you go to a place like Saudi Arabia and they, you know, the guy says, oh yes, and this building is 800 years old. And you're like, okay, here's a building, here's like a house that a bunch of people lived in that's four times older than the whole country of the United States. And it's just, and then you have a whole city of that. And it's just really, you can feel the history, you can smell it, you can sense it. And of course, everybody's wearing the traditional, the men are in the white gowns, like the white robes that go from their neck all the way down to their feet and the sandals and then the headpieces.

And the women, most of them, pretty much, you know, 80, 90 percent. of them that I saw were wearing you have to wear a robe when you go out in public. You have to be covered. You can't show cleavage. You can't show midriff. You can't show open chest. And then a huge majority of the women have

to have their whole faces covered. And they got the burkas or they got the veils where all you can see are their eyes. And at first it's a little unnerving but then you kind of settle into it. You get used to it. But it's You know, I don't know who made the choices there.

Okay, the weather there is blistering hot. Okay, it's a desert. We're talking like 100 degrees, 110 degrees, and someone said, you know, it's going to be hot. We live in the desert. So, in order to keep everyone cool, we will put all the men in white robes from top to bottom, and to make sure that the women never get too comfortable,

put them in black. complete black so so the poor women had to wear these black robes in this stifling heat and uh you know they they were very confined inside those robes i mean the the culture says they're not allowed to show their face their skin now the the that rule is sort of starting to loosen up to a degree Saudi Arabia is starting to have to change their ways So now, you know, there were some women who were showing their face or only had a robe from the neck down, but the majority still dressing completely covered, just their eyes showing. So for you ladies that are listening, and even you men, you really get a sense of appreciation for the freedom of a democratic country, the United States and Canada, Australia, the UK, France, Germany, places like this. you really kind of take it for granted.

I mean, these women, it's not a choice. They have to dress like this, right? And there's a bit of a differing point of view that I have on it because now that aspect of the culture is starting to change. So a year ago, women were forbidden to drive. Women were not allowed to drive. When I got to my hotel, the clerk told me, he goes, oh, yes, welcome to the hotel.

you have a mini-bar, you have a restaurant, and then there's the pool and the spa downstairs for men only, and then the women have a little area on the upper deck, and it's like, wait, what? So there's a real, like, kind of division of the genders there, man, and there's a lot of strict rules, and there's a lot of, you know, domination by the men. And when you see it as a westerner, you're kind of appalled,

and you're taking a back and you're confused and you're like, oh, my God, these poor women. But then as you kind of get immersed into the culture, you start to have this perspective. You're like, oh, the women, okay, they're kind of going along with it. They're kind of, they're not revolting. You know, I guess this has been going on for 800, 900 years. And so even though as a Westerner, I don't think it's right,

I also have to acknowledge and I think to myself I go well this is this is their culture this is how they've done things these are the rules they made and for whatever reason good or bad

this is how they've lived this is how they've raised families this is how they've built cities this is how they've made a society and as foreign and may be repulsive in some ways as it is to a westerner you also go

well what if you were someone from Saudi Arabian, you came to the Western civilization, and you're like, wait, as soon as you're born, you're not allowed to drive till you're 16? They tell you you can't drink till you're 18 years old? What do you mean? You know what I mean? So every culture has their things that may be perceived as backwards or forced upon us. And of course, in the West, we don't want women to be suppressed or men or children or anybody. But what happened I was told by the Saudis is that, you know, the Saudis used to own it all because they had all the oil.

And most of the world went to Saudi Arabia to get their oil and their petroleum products, right? Because they have an abundance of it and they were drilling for it and extracting it and blah, blah, blah. But then all of a sudden other parts of the world, including the United States, States started tapping into their own natural resources, their oil, their natural gas, their fracking, their tar sands, all this stuff. Hey, everybody, who wants to have better sex? No, yes, yes. The answer is yes.

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And so Saudi Arabia and a lot of the Arab countries that used to dominate that area and had just mega amounts of money coming in, well, that well, that well has gotten smaller and so these countries that were used to all this income and all this wealth have now realized they've got to start getting creative and think of other ways to create commerce for themselves, okay? And what happened, I was told by some of the Saudis, is Westerners are saying no.

So the Saudis are reaching out and say, look, we don't have the gas and oil market anymore, but why don't you come and open a company over here? Why don't you come and open a talent agency over here? Why don't you do this? And a lot of American and other countries and cultures that don't necessarily like or agree with the Saudi culture, they're like, are you kidding? We can't set up shop in a country where women aren't allowed to expose themselves,

where women aren't allowed to drive, where you're forbidden to talk about the government or religion or sex or this or that. And so what's happened is the Saudis, I don't know if it's reluctantly or just they're, becoming more cosmopolitan or more liberal or whatever or more open, their culture is now starting to shift. And they're starting to have to adopt Western culture more and shed some of their culture or at least modify their culture. And so going back to my point, as much as I don't like to see anyone suppressed or held down

or you know have things put against them the way the women do in a way you also go but do we really want cultures that existed to dissolve because of what America wants

or what Canada wants or Australia wants do we want these cultures even though we don't agree with them do we want them gone because because that's what we want And that's what we have.

You know what I mean? And it seems weird to say it because you're like, well, what are you talking about, Harlem? You can't have women where they're completely dressed and it's covered up and can't drive. And I'm saying, yeah, of course we can. But to them, they can. For some reason, it works.

For some reason, their civilization is old and it's worked. And it may seem weird and ass backwards, but it's a cultural way. It's the way the North American Indians had tipies and do chance and dances and smoke a piece pipe. And it's the way Jewish people go to the wailing wall and wail. It's the way that African Bushmen jump around and do chants and do tribal songs. It's the way Irish people step dance.

And you know what I mean? And I guess in a way, regardless of how much we agree or disagree with everyone's cultures and the extremities of their cultures, at what point do we dissolve them all and the whole world just becomes the cheesecake factory? So it's a little bit weird, it's a little bit torn, you know? And when I say this about the women, I'm saying, look, the women aren't being hung up and shot and raped,

and although I know that, you know, there are some aggressive stances that some cultures have against women, like where you can burn a woman or whatever a woman, you know, there's a lot of things that are totally unacceptable. But my bigger point is, at what point do we start to shift all these civilizations and these cultures to suit our own, you know, political and social viewpoint? You know, it makes me wonder if China or Russia ever became a global superpower, and I mean the dominant superpower, and they had all the power in the world,

and all of a sudden they went, you know what, United States, no more rock and roll music, no more midrifts, no more long hair on the men, no more beards, no more fast food, no more fast cars, you know what I mean? It's like if you start implementing your culture

onto someone else's culture, at what point do you just start to lose all the cultures? So my point is, as kind of shocking and wild as it was, it was, it raises these questions. Now, as far as it affecting me personally, it was quite weird because I had to do stand-up comedy there. And they came to me before, before I even flew over, they sent me a letter of agreement where you can't talk about religion, you can't talk about sex, you can't swear, you can't talk about, you can't make fun. of the holiness and the religion of the Saudis. You can't, I mean, it was really weird. So I had to go up and do these stand-up shows,

which I thoroughly enjoyed, and it was challenging. But I had to, like, keep it fairly generic. And I even had to reach into the archives and pull out some old material that was, you know, kind of watered down and still funny, but still, like, kind of safe, you know, TV safe. And it was very interesting to maneuver through that playground of, you know, doing stand-up for the Saudis.

And what I did, I recorded it, and maybe what I'll do is maybe next podcast, I'll play you some of it. And you can kind of feel what I did for the Saudi audiences and see what you think. It was pretty interesting. So all in all, a great trip to Saudi Arabia. Great people, wonderful people. I got to say they were super friendly and nice and hospitable. You know, Saudis, you know, just, I don't know what it is, but they have a more solemn look.

They have a more stoic look when you just see them. You know, they just have kind of that kind of like regal stare. And so at times it was kind of intimidating. And so when I was walking around, I said, you know what? I'm going to make a point of being friendly to everybody and see what happens. And so even though some of these people just kind of look at you and you're not sure what the reaction's going to be, I made a point of going, hey, how are you? Good morning. And I'd say 99.9% of the people just lit up.

Like when I broke that fourth wall and reached out to them, they were just like, oh, hello, good morning. How are you, sir? Yes, good to see you. I'm not doing the accent any justice, but no bitterness, no anger. You know, they probably could read that I was a North American, obviously, a westerner, and no animus. It was just a really friendly, genuine outpouring of hospitality and kindness. And, you know, it's just another reminder of, and that's one of the benefits of traveling the world. You get to see that people generally are pretty much the same. We all want the same things, you know?

and there's always the core group there's the bad apples there's evil people in every society and culture but it was really eye-opening really informative really educational really surprisingly good

and I really enjoyed it and was there a little bit of fear and trepidation going over there yes because you know there's so much stuff we've seen in the media and we've heard about it we've endured with with things and there are some things that all the guys that flew into the towers on 9-11 were Saudis

and you know that there's definitely an edge there but but there's such benefit to getting out into the world and and mingling and and connecting and corresponding with with people that maybe you're you're unfamiliar with or you're trepidious about or you're a stranger to um So would I recommend a trip to Jeddah and Saudi Arabia based on what I saw and experienced? Absolutely. The food was delicious, incredible food, great hospitality, lots of history, just a great different geographical climate. The Red Sea was beautiful, just teeming with fish and clear blue waters and turquoise and, ah, just really nice. So there's my summed up version of my trip to Saudi Arabia.

That's why we didn't do a podcast last week. But I wanted to share with you in a nutshell how it went. And like I said, maybe next podcast I'll play you a little bit of that stand-up that I did in front of the Saudis. So there you go. Roger, that was a pretty serious segment. Why don't we switch gears? Rod, let's go to the next level and let's switch gears and let's do a crazy news story. Roll it, Raj.

The Harland Highway. Crazy news story. That's weird. Wow. That's strange stuff. I think you're crazy. All right. I think you're crazy.

You're definitely crazy. This story, you're going to laugh as soon as you hear it. Crazy news story. It's a crime story. It's a silly crime story, but it's real nonetheless. Here's the headline, gang. Loud flatulence. He gives away suspect's hiding spot, Missouri, please say.

Okay, so basically, you got it. Some idiot committed a crime was hiding. Well, the cops were looking for him, and I guess he must have been a Taco Bell or something. And he gave himself up. Let's read the story. Here we go. Missouri law enforcement was able to, quote,

sniff out the location of a person, wanted for a controlled substance over the weekend after the suspect passed gas so loudly that it gave up his or her hiding spot official said. But why are they saying his or her? Do they not know what it was? You can't tell someone's gender by their fart, can you? Oh, wait, women don't fart.

So it had to be a guy. Right, ladies? Wink, wink, wink. Yeah, women don't fart, right? At least that's what they tell you. the sheriff's department posted on Facebook to share how flatulants played a role in the arrest outside of the city of Liberty, Missouri. Oh, my God, what kind of, you know, you just never know where it's going to go. So let's see how this went down here.

the police say If you've got a felony warrant for your arrest The cops are looking for you And you pass gas so loud It gives up your hiding spot You're definitely having a shit emoji day This is what the sheriff's office posted On their Facebook page

The department posted a photo Of officers using police dogs In a wooded area as part of their search Now, wait a minute, is that just cruel cruelty to animals? I mean, these dogs are drug dogs. They're trained to sniff out bombs and contraband, narcotics. I think that's kind of cruel, sending a German shepherd into a, you know, chick-fil-a-fart cloud. Right?

Can you see the... Can you see the dog like not to, okay, go get him, boy. Go find him, go find him. He just sits down, uh-uh, uh-uh, fuck you. Like, go find the fart scoop. Fuck you. Uh-huh. You know what I mean?

Like, I ain't doing that if I'm a police dog. It's like, dude, I'm a police dog. I'm not a ass dog. I'm not a ass dog. So, uh, so this guy, someone was hired. and it says the officials have not released a name for the suspect or provided more information about the case. Well, geez, what's the big deal?

I mean, they release information on murderers and pedophiles and bank robbers and hijackers and rapists, but you can't release a picture of a guy who blew a Mary Collander's chicken pot pie fart in the bushes? Geez. So what else do they got here? It says about the dogs. It says, we've got to give props to Liberty PD for using their senses to sniff them out.

Well, that's not the dogs. That's the sheriffs. So the sheriffs were sniffing this guy out too. The police department was surprised to see the incident slip out, which stinks for the arrestee. The City of Liberty said on Twitter, Can we stop with the innuendo jokes? Don't you hate it when like serious places like the news

and the mayor's office and government play? They always try to do the hilarious comedic, you know, wordplay. You know, well, it looks like there's going to be a tornado coming to town. It's going to be a twisty night for those citizens. They always try to, like, throw in a word gag. It's like, leave the comedy to the comedians, okay? Your little word gags are the most annoying things ever. The city also gave props to officers for, here we go,

airing out a wanted person's dirty laundry and fanning the flames. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Oh, my God. I mean, please. So there you go, man. You know, that's just, I guess, a crime tip. Don't, don't be eating at, you know, don't be stuffing your face full of McDonald's or Taco Bell.

And then going and committing a crime. It's like, well, I think I'll rob that bank, but I don't want to do it on an empty stomach. Let me hit the drive-through first. and then little do you know, you know, there's two ways they catch you. One is the sound, and two is the smell. So, you know, hey, if you're going to, if you're going to gas yourself out in a crime scenario, that's on you. My suggestion is if you're going to, you know, eat fast food or something, you know, cabbage rolls or potato salad,

before you do a crime, buy yourself a cork or a butt plug, and then go do your deed, okay? So there you go. Crazy news story. Hello? Hello? Hey, Arlen. Rob from Wisconsin.

Hey, I was talking to my 15-year-old son the other day, and we were kind of going over the new names for the generations that are coming out, you know, the four-year-old, five-year-olds that are leading our country into greatness. And I saw that their name was Generation Alpha, which kind of threw me back a little bit and suggested they also have Generation Glass as a name maybe. And I was just kind of thinking, I don't know, those names seem kind of a little presumptuous, Alpha. I mean, that name connotes, you know, leadership and things like that. And I don't believe that whether by fault of our own previous generations or whatnot,

but I don't feel like this is an alpha generation that should be called as such. So I just wanted to kind of ask you what your thoughts were because I know you're pretty creative and imaginative and insightful. And I guess I was hoping you could kind of give your perspective on it. So if you got time, give it a whirl, chicken chal mane, baby. Wow. I'm almost afraid to touch this one because I got kind of two points of views, but how about generation pussy whipped?

How about that? You know, part of this generation to me just seems like terrified and scared and people are afraid to say and do anything and they're, you know, everyone walks around like so sensitive and, you know, people are afraid to do anything. That was like kind of my initial reaction. But then I started thinking about, you know, how Americans keep inventing things and keep doing things.

And if you watch like a, you know, for half an hour on freaking Instagram, you'll see like all kinds of wild inventions. And you'll see, you'll see like impossible human feats where people are like scaling walls. and jumping off roofs, and somehow they can ride a bicycle upside down on an elephant while they're surfing, and, I mean, people skiing off the roof of a helicopter with a banana balanced on their nose. Like, it's just like, so I'm kind of mixed.

There's this, there's this element of, of this generation that's really trepidacious and scared and dainty. And I feel like a lot of the kind of the, I don't know, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the good old American, uh, you know, is, is being kind of Starbucksed out of people and grief counseling and, and, uh, you know, sensitivity seminars and all this stuff. And then you got the other side where, where people are bold and, and have a loud voice and are trying to change the world and so it's hard. It's really hard to nail it down, you know.

I don't know if alpha is the right word either. It does sound a bit presumptuous because I don't know. It feels like a lot of people these days are afraid to stand up for themselves or afraid to state their point of view or they're very easily, like, corralled into group thinking. And when you have stuff like that, that's not representative of leadership. That's not being an alpha, whether you're male or. female you don't have to be you don't have to be a male to be an alpha there can be an alpha female

but um i don't know when you watch the media and you look at social media and you look at all this stuff going on you you feel like people are getting more beaten down and and and and and uh attacked for for you know making their point of view known you know what i mean and so i'm i'm wondering if if less and less people are doing it. It's a very scary time. It's interesting. But then, like I said, on the other hand, there's a lot of stuff that take so much courage and balls.

But then I start thinking, well, you know, a lot of the stuff that's really edgy and like in your face, and it's like, wow, how can they do that? It's more like people that are doing stuff on their own, like, you know, hang gliding or surfing upside down or jumping off a cliff with a bungee rope or, you know, that kind of stuff. It's stuff where they don't necessarily aren't going to hurt anyone else. They'll just hurt themselves.

But when it comes to being outspoken about politics or religion or social causes, I feel like, I don't know, I feel like there's some people that are courageous, but a lot more people that are just, like, worried and frightened. And, you know, we've kind of created this society where everyone's, like, kind of attacking each other and people are on Twitter calling you out if you make one little like mistake or you say something or you know it's just so I don't know if it's a weird time and I'm hoping that it's a time that we're learning from a time where where you know I think Americans and society is smart enough to to see what's happening and step back and go wow

you know this this isn't this isn't serving us this isn't moving the needle this isn't progressing our cause. We're becoming like tattletails and online bullies and we're looking to crucify people and lynch people and call them out and misinterpret and twist their words and punish them and destroy them. And that doesn't take courage. That's not leadership. That's not being an alpha. That's being kind of like underhanded and kind of low life and kind of sneaky and deceitful and not good. So I think you're right. I agree with you, my friend,

that we're in kind of this transitional time where I think we're trying to figure ourselves out. You know, the whole social media experiment is still fairly new. And I think it's got to go through this ugly process where it becomes, you know, at first it's a really good tool where people are engaging and sharing information and connecting, and then it transitioned into this ugly thing where it's suddenly it's calling people out and book burning and trying to control people.

And then, you know, I'm hoping we go through the good, the bad, and the ugly. And on the other side of it, maybe everything evens out. And at that point, we discover what the next generation is. But maybe that's my answer. Maybe we're the confused generation. Maybe we're the, you know, ambiguous generation right now because people are, there's so much stuff coming at us. There's so much technology and new kinds of politics,

whether it's the, you know, the brashness and the boldness of Trump or it's the hungry new like, you know, the Ocasio-Cartez or whatever her name is. you know, the far left, like, kind of liberals who are trying to change things radically, the Bernie Saunders, like, I don't know, is that the new way? Is Trump the new way? Is it somewhere in between? There's a lot of, like, stuff going on.

But I definitely agree with you. I don't think it's alpha right now. I think it's, I think it's like just confused right now. But the good thing about confused is, I'm not being pessimistic, I'm being optimistic. You know, whenever you're confused or you're in a fog or you're mixed up, it just takes moving. You just got to keep moving and going down the road until the fog clears,

until things become clear. And one thing you can say about Americans, they're always moving. And so even though right now is a confusing transitional time, and I can't really put a label on the generation that we have, except confused generation. I am optimistic and hopeful that they will make it through. And maybe a year from now or two years from now, I can tell you what generation it is.

But I think I'm having the same reaction you are where you're kind of like, wait a minute. No, I don't think they're alpha. I don't, you know, it's just, we'll have to wait and see. It's the wait and see generation. So excellent question. And if any of you other listeners, any of you pavement founders, think you have the answer. I'd love to hear it.

And by no means, is my answer right or wrong? I'm just kind of, that was my knee-jerk reaction to it. So let me know what you think. I mean, we're running out a podcast. So if you're going to do it, do it quick. And on that note, thank you for your call, by the way. Great question. On that note, this is unofficially the thousandth podcast.

Okay, we reached a thousand, but technically, technically, as I was informed by one of the pavement pounders, there was somewhere in the whole collection of recordings where I'm misnumbered or wrongly numbered some of the episodes, and as a result, we were shortchanged technically three episodes. So, technically, I've got to go to 1003 to actually meet my quota of 1,000. At least that's what I was told by this very perceptive pavement pounder who sent me an email on it. Mr. Dan Gose. I don't know if I'm pronouncing that right, but so even though this is labeled as the 1,000 episode, we still have three more to go. can you believe it we're down to the final three it's like a countdown three two one wow wow it's

kind of hard to hear it out loud but that's where we're at gang so um so we'll leave it there and uh should we do one more call i think we got time for one more call let's do one more call we'll leave it on an upbeat note and uh and let's let's hear one more phone call and then we'll wrap it up Go ahead, Raj. Hello? Hello. Hey, Harlan. This is E.J. from Indianapolis, Indiana.

I wanted to give you a call before you officially sign off of the Harland Highway. I haven't called or talked or I sent any messages for a while, but I want you to know that I've been listening since episode three. and it's just been you know when I think back all the things that have happened in the world and we go through various parts of our life you know and

it's like I relate those things thinking about the Harlan Highway now when I think back about things and think you know you would talk about current events and things like that anyway and I just appreciate the comedy. What an archive of comedy you have.

So I want to say thank you. And I wish you the best and hope that your next project is just as good or better. I've seen you live a couple times, and I hope to see you again if you come around. And it's summertime where I'm at, so I'm going to go have me a big bowl of chicken chamee.

Goodbye. Oh, man, E.J., what a wonderful, thoughtful, beautiful, beautiful phone what? Oh hold on yeah

he called back okay play it yeah I guess EJ called back okay yeah play it hey Harlan

it's EJ against the Indianapolis I just left you a message but I forgot to say I'm going to miss the Harlan Highway so much man I can't believe I forgot to say that

that's why I don't like voice messages I'm better at writing voice messages I think later I forgot to say this or that or I said this wrong or that wrong anyway I'm going to miss the Harlem Highway it's been great I appreciate it I love your comedy keep it up I'm going to get oh I want thing out there else I was going to tell you that short story that you did it was so great it was so riveting to wait for the next one what was going to happen next what was going to happen next I loved that it's all good stuff

I'm going to get back to my bowl of chicken town main now so have a good one Harlem goodbye oh EJ thank you really kindly thank you so much and to know that you were there since episode three you stuck

with it since the beginning oh my god that just my gratitude and is unending and the fact that you found something in my crazy podcast that kept you interested and stimulated and kept you coming back. That's just beautiful. That's why I did it, man, you know, hoping that something in what I was saying would connect

with people and make them want to tune in. And, you know, you did. And I'm really glad you got something out of it. And your words are very meaningful to me. Thank you so much. And as far as the short story goes, I think you're talking about the garden hose time machine short story that I wrote and I read during the podcast. Well, just so you know, I've written a whole bunch of other short stories that are equally, I think, as compelling. And I've been sitting on them for a while for a number of years. I'm just, you know, the writing world isn't my, and when I say writing world, I mean like stories and novels, and that's not my kind of world. I'm a script writer. I write scripts. I write cartoons. I write. So I've, over the years, I've written all

these other, like, kind of interesting short stories, I think, and I'm going to figure out a way to get them out there so that you guys can hear them. And if you like to the garden hose story, maybe you'll like the other one. So I'll keep you posted on that. And as far as my other project is going. I am working away on that one diligently. And I don't know how that one will be accepted or how people will like it or not like it. But the fun thing about what I'm doing is that I think it's kind of new and fresh. And when you don't have a point of reference, it's kind of like, okay, let's just jump in and we'll see what people think. So I'm working away. And as I said, that'll probably be something I release in the new year

because this year I'm spending building it and making it and creating it. So I don't want to rush it out of the gate. I want to give it a proper launch into the world. And so we'll see what happens. And then lastly, I was going to, Roger, I was going to end there, but I want to just mention one more quick thing before we go. Have you ever been kind of the subject of an inside joke?

or detail. So I want to tell you, earlier tonight, I went to see Toy Story 4, the big Pixar movie. And the reason I went is because, as you may or may not know, in college, I went to animation college. That's what I studied. And my two roommates that I went to college with were very, very successful in the animation world. One of my roommates, Steve Williams, who I call my fake brother, because we have the same

last name. Steve is the guy that invented the water tentacle in the abyss. He created the Liquid Terminator guy in Terminator 2. He created the T-Rex in the first Jurassic Park. I mean, honestly, my buddy Steve, my roommate, he changed the world. He changed the motion picture industry with what he created. He wasn't just a guy that took the technology and used it. Steve was a pioneer. Steve was one of the creators of this technology, the CGI technology. I could give you a whole long story about it, but unbelievable. So Steve was one of my roommates who went on to do so much.

And then my other roommate was a gentleman by the name of Regine Bordage. And Regine and Bordage is French-Canadian. Those are, as you know, I'm Canadian. And so Regine, or Reg, as we called them, was my other roommate. And Regine, or Regal, as we call them. And he's still, both these guys are two of my best friends to this day. Like we talk all the time, we hang out, we've stayed in touch for 30 years after college. It's been amazing.

And to watch these guys do what they've done with their careers, it's mind-blowing. But Regine is a guy who started out working on Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake and then went to Disney and worked on the Lion King and Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast and I mean, you name it, Reg has done it. And then he went to DreamWorks and he worked on Shrek and he worked on, you know, all the giant DreamWorks movies and then he went to Pixar and now he works on all the big Pixar movies. And he worked on Toy Story 4. And so here's the deal in Toy Story 4 about halfway through the movie.

You meet a character called Charlie Kaboom or something like that. I forget his first name, Johnny Kaboom. His last name's Kaboom. And he's voiced by Canal Reeves, the big movie star, Canal Reeves, or wherever you say his name. and in Toy Story, Johnny Kaboom is a doll that's one of those pump-up motorcycles and he's like a motorcycle jumping champion from Canada and he's got a Canadian flag on his chest

and it's great, he's a Canadian, he's representing Canada where we grew up. And so Johnny Kaboom starts telling his backstory about he used to be owned his owner when he was a toy before he got shipped away or lost or whatever, was a guy named Regine. And so talking to Regge, I know that they named the character in the movie Regine after Regge,

my roommate. And Regge, by the way, is just one of the funniest guys I've ever met. He always makes me laugh. He's hilarious. He's such a character. Like, I just love the guy. I'm godfather to his son, his first son. I mean, we're close buddies.

And so I went to see Toy Story's Story 4, and Reg kind of tipped me off to watch for this. And sure enough, all of a sudden, there's Canal Reeves, and they do some flashbacks of, you know, he's talking about, why did you let me go, Regine? And how could you throw me away, Regine? And this is for you, Regine. They just kept saying Regine throughout the movie.

And it's, first of all, it's an odd name. Even for a French-Canadian name, it's an odd name. And so this came on in the movie. I was in a crowded movie theater. people started laughing, and I was sitting there, and inside I'm just like, I had, here's my reactions, I'm laughing my head off because I know Reg, I've known him most of his life, I know what he's like, I know his sense of humor, we've been through so much together, you know, and then just to hear his name, and know that that was, that was him, that he was the point of reference

in this huge movie, and all the people sitting around me had no idea. They just thought, oh, there's a peculiar name, Regine, you know, but they don't realize that it's a real guy, and he has a life and a family, and he's one of my best friends. And so it was one thing to just hear his name, but then the second thing is it's an unusual name, and it's a bit of a weird name, and we rarely call him Regine.

We always called him Reg. Excuse me. And so to hear Canao Reeves and a character in Toy Story, he keeps saying Regine, Regine over and over again. I was just laughing inside on all these different levels. It warmed my heart. It made me howl. I was so moved and touched.

And on top of it, I was just so very proud of my roommate, my buddy Reg, and all the accomplishments. I mean, if you could look at the resume of the movies this guy has worked on, like, you know, he's worked on like 20 blockbuster number. one movies. I mean, how many people can say that? He's animated on them. He's been a story artist. He's been a board artist. He's probably contributed writing. He's definitely comedy punch up. And I mean, and what he told me, and I wish he was still there, he said they originally recorded his voice for one of the characters to do with the Canal Reeves character. And they ended up cutting it out of the movie. And I was like, oh my God, it would have been even a bigger

thing if they had left Reg and his voice in the movie, but just the fact that they referenced my buddy who I love so much and I'm so very proud of. It was just, I was just like a father beaming at his kid, you know, and just laughing. And so if you go to see Toy Story 4, if you've seen it, and you remember the Canadian motorcycle stunt driver, the evil caneval guy, and you hear that name Regine over and over, just know that there's a connection to me and my childhood college friend

and just know that Regine is a very, very talented, incredible animator who has really contributed and been a part of many of the movies. All of you have grown up and lived through and shared and

laughed and also as I said, my other college roommate Steve Williams who, wow, I mean, look at this stuff that guy did. So it's interesting when we look back, you know, me and Steve and Regine, we were kind of the rebels of our college animation school and me especially. I was, I was really, you know, I was really nailed by the professors and the teachers. And I think they kind of even worked to try and get me out of the course. And, you know, they just didn't get

me. I used to say to them, I used to say, guys, you know, it's not all about just animation and drawing, the world of animation is about ideas and concepts and, and, you know, stories. And it's so funny, you know, you cut to now that here's me. I've got, I've got the number one animated series on Disney Jr. With my show Puppy Dog Pals all these years later. And I'm writing animated movies and I'm developing animated stuff and blah, blah, blah. So we've all had an impact in the world of animation and left our mark. And it's just so funny.

If I could go back and have a time machine and a garden hose time machine and know that, you know, me and my two roommates were going to do so much in the animation world, it's quite amazing, especially for them, more so for them than me. But, you know, I was a guy that kind of fought the animation. I didn't want to go into it. I went into comedy and movies, and I just kind of got pulled back into the animation world by people in Hollywood who knew that I had that in my wheelhouse, and we're like, come on, come, come on, give us some ideas for shows, come to meetings with us. And so I kind of reluctantly went into the animation thing and just stuff started happening. But these other buddies of mine, just powerhouses in the industry, I mean, just huge, mega.

And so congratulations to Regine. And if you go see Toy Story 4, you're watching it. Think of me and my crazy roommates getting crazy and drunk and laughing and causing trouble. And just know that Regine isn't just a name in Toy Story 4. It's an actual real amazing human being, my buddy, Reg Bordage. And if you sit through the credits, you'll see Regine's name. come through as you're watching so there you go we'll end it on that again thank you for your phone calls and thank you for being here we got three more to go and I'm going to try and make them

special and fun and it's been a ride gang it's been a ride down a really fun highway so we'll leave it there have a great summer enjoy yourselves be safe and until next time chicken Shout main, baby. I just left you a message, but I forgot to say, I'm going to miss the Harlan Highway so much.