The Harland Highway - 868 - Invasion of the DRONES!! - Listener voice mails.

Episode Date: May 11, 2017

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All right, all right, all right. Here we go, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Harland Highway. Just feeling kind of singing today. I don't know why. It's just good to be alive. Good to have you here. Thank you for joining. We will be taking some of your phone calls today.

We'll be listening into some of your phone messages. I will be responding to some of your phone messages, chit-chatting about what you want to talk about. and then also I'm going to be talking about something really new and weird and technological that happened to me just a few days ago and it was the first time it ever happened to me and I found it a bit fascinating and unsettling at the same time and I don't know if what happened to me has happened to you. So we'll see.

But we're going to talk about that. I said, take your phone calls and just generally be a nuisance. Okay. So I also want to add, if you guys get the chance, spread the word about the Harland Highway, tell your friends, show them how to get here, give them the address, tell them how to get the app for their phone. We want to start getting more people on the Harland Highway, right? Don't be selfish, share. All right, here's why. here we go. This is the Harland Highway.

Sit down, strap in, and tighten your diaper. Come here, baby. You're about to go down the Harland Highway. No! No!

I didn't bargain for this. Oh, yes, you did. Chick-a-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-chall-main, baby. And the creature from all this, baby. Please don't stop. I got to see. An ugly sight

Magnificent performance This is the Harland Highway I hate you Well that's the way it goes What do you say We get down to business Okay Okay so this is

Okay So this is super weird This is super weird and creepy And something new I've never experienced But it's a sign O the Times Oh like an Irish name Oh like O Brady O'Reilly

Sign O'O Sign of the Times it is I was laying on my couch Watching TV the other day Broad daylight I don't know I forget what time it was Probably who cares

It was daylight the sun was up, it was daytime. And I'm on the phone. I'm talking, you know, doing a business call. I'm sitting on my couch. And all of a sudden, you know, I live up in the hills and I have a view and my property like kind of dips off and goes down like the side of a hill. And I'm sitting there and all of a sudden I see something fly by.

And I'm very accustomed to seeing helicopters and air. airplanes and even blimps at the odd time go by. But something about this way, it looked different. It looked weird. It was an interesting shape and it was kind of, kind of got obstructed by the trees a little bit. So I'm moving my head on. It caught my eye. And suddenly it came up from behind the shrubbery.

And it was like square. It was like a square shape. I'm like, what the hell is that? I thought, is that a UFO or something? And then I kind of looked. I watched it for a bit more, and I went, oh, my God. It's a drone. It's a great, big, juicy drone.

I'm not talking about one of these little nerd drones, like the guys put their cell phones on them. This thing was big. This thing had some substance to it. It was like the size of a small cardboard box. Like the dimensions of a pizza box, but it was as tall as like a shoe box. And I'm like, what the hell?

And I said to my business associate, I said, hey, dude, there's, there's something flying right out off the edge of my property. And so I walk outside with the phone and I had them on. I said, oh my God, it's a drone, dude. And he was like, what? And I'm like, yeah, there's a drone. And this thing was just hovering. And you got to figure just about every drone has a camera on it, right? You're not just going to fly a drone because you want to see something up in the air.

So all of a sudden this thing went from flying to stopping and now it's hovering like out in the air at altitude right across from me as I'm standing on my lawn and I'm like um and I realized I was vulnerable I was exposed I couldn't get away from the thing I couldn't duck I couldn't hide and and then it started kind of moving around a bit like not flying far and fast it was just kind of moving around in a hovering state And I was like, wait a minute, this thing, I think it's looking at me, or it's looking at my property. And I looked around, I looked at the neighbor's house, I looked around the hillsides, I looked around this, you know, the surrounding environment. And I didn't see anybody. And then it got even weird or it just made it creepier. I thought, here's this piece of machinery, here's this technology that used, for surveying things, for looking at things, for filming things.

And by the way, it was like really quiet. It didn't make very much noise. And it's just kind of like hovering off the end of my property and moving a little bit to the left, a little bit to the right, a little bit up, a little bit down. And I got to tell you, man, once I figured out what it was, it creeped me out, man. It was unnerving. I felt very exposed and I felt like my privacy no longer existed. And I knew enough about drones that I realized if this thing wanted to come in

and get a close-up of me and be five feet away from me over my head, it could have. If this thing wanted to come in and literally, if I'm being honest, if this thing wanted to, I leave my front door open when I ran out to see it. It could have flown right into my house and started filming in my house. You know what? I got my windows open in my house. I don't have the curtains drawn. It's the middle of the day.

And I got to tell you, man, all these possibilities popped up in my head, you know. I'm like, what if I'm having a shower? What if I'm walking around naked? What if I'm making love to my sweet woman on the couch in the living room? And I'm like, I don't have to worry about that. No one's coming in my yard. I got gates. I got locked doors.

No one's going to walk around and see me doing my thing with my woman. If that's what I was doing. I'm not saying I was or I ever would, but, you know, it might have happened a few times. But who knows? A drone, and this was broad daylight. What if it's night? A drone could have watched the whole thing, filmed the whole thing. I mean, it was really unsettling.

And at the same time, it was exciting because I'm a techie guy. I like modern advancements. I like technological achievement. I like seeing things progress. But this was the very first time a functioning drone came into my life. And I, you know, I guess what was weird about it is that there was no real I couldn't see anyone

I couldn't see anything attached to it I I didn't know where the controller was coming from I didn't know how far away they were I didn't know if the drone belonged to some zit-faced nerd who collects comic books he's like I've got a drone yay I'm gonna go film everything yay or was it the CIA

was it the mafia was it a pervert was it who the hell was it and then I started you know then I started going, okay, what's going on? And then I saw the thing go lower down the side of my hill, and I went, oh, wait a minute. Okay, if I'm being logical, there's this ridiculous law in California where if you have property, if you're a homeowner and you've got any surrounding land because of the fire hazard in the hills in Los Angeles,

If you own any property, you are obligated by law every year to cut down the shrubbery and the wild grasses and any type of foliage that may grow. You literally have to hire a gardening crew, a tree cutting service, to go in and cut everything down right to the ground. And the reason for this is to eliminate, you know, the chance for fire. If a spark goes into the shrubs or whatever, there will be no fuel for said fire to grow on. And what happens is the fire marshal's office every year they check to see if you've had the cutting done by a certain date or they red flag you and give you a warning. And if you don't heed the warning, they fine you like $3,000.

It's a real scam because what's interesting is much of, of the land owned in the hills in Los Angeles, there's no homes on it. A lot of the land is owned by the crown, by the government. And you know what's interesting? The government doesn't cut their grasses. So you could have an empty lot right next to your house that's owned by the crown,

and they don't cut a blade of grass, but somehow you're required to cut yours. It's really annoying. it's a real scam, and so every year religiously I have to get my grass cut on my hill because I was fined one year, much to my chagrin and mystification. And so then I started thinking, okay, maybe this is the fire marshal, you know, sussing out the hill with the drone to make sure everything's cut, which part of me was like, okay, that's the best case scenario,

because then the drone's there on official business. Then the drone's there because it's doing something, you know, purposeful. And it's meaningful. But then at the same time, it made me go, oh, my God, big brother, the government. And then also it made me go, well, is the fire department allowed to be invading my privacy like that? I mean, it's not like a fire department guy. I could just, like, unannounced walk into my yard and go on my property. I believe they'd have to ask permission, I would think, I would hope.

You know, they're not allowed to climb over your gate. Well, I better climb over this person's gate and see if they've cut their grass. Well, that would be trespassing. So how is it that all of a sudden now a drone can supersede all that, you know, those property barriers and that security and just waltz right in. Lottie, I'm going to fly around your yard. Did you cut your grass? Look at your shrubs.

Oh, and your wife happens to be sunbathing by the pool topless? Whoops, a daisy. Oh, well, you know? So, man, it is a new era, man. And you've got to figure, you know, I still don't know what it was for, but whatever it was, it was a bucket in the face. It was my first real exposure.

to this new technology that's becoming more and more common. More and more people are getting their hands on it. And it was just there, right in my face. And I was unable to stop it. And so the question has to be asked in the future, if a landowner felt that he was being spied on, if he felt that his privacy was being invaded, would it be his legal right to be able to shoot the damn thing out of the sky

if he wanted? Could he pull out a shotgun and, hey, I don't need you looking at me. I don't know who you are. You know? Obliterate it. I mean, these are all legal challenges and court cases that are definitely going to emerge. But it was weird, man. It made me uncomfortable.

I was excited to see the drone. I was like, oh, cool, man. It's a drone. It's floating, bro. Oh, my God. Look at it go. How cool I want one. But on the other side, I was like, ooh, hey, whoa.

Hey, I didn't invite you here. Get the hell out. What are you looking at? You know? So very interesting. We're going around another curve. And I think the thing that resonated with me the most is that, you know, we already have given up so much privacy with the introduction of the Internet. and cell phones.

I mean, it's just harder and harder for people to get privacy. And now, with the drones, which are probably connected to the internet and the satellite service and the phones. And I mean, you know, a guy could put his cell phone on a, on a drone, turn on Periscope or Facebook Live, and basically fly to your property and broadcast you standing in your pajamas on your yard watering the grass

with your shirt off to the whole planet. And you won't even know it. So privacy is becoming a very hard commodity, man. It's getting weird, folks. It's getting weird. The pros, the cons. And, you know, we're not even into the robots yet with the artificial intelligence. And, I mean, they exist, but they're not integrating, you know,

every day in most of our lives. But wait a little all that stuff starts to come to fruition. Oh, my goodness. It is going to get interesting, man. We're just at the doorstep of all this stuff. And I don't know if any of you have had a run in with a drone yet, like snooping around your house. But if you have, give me a call.

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Don't throw your back out. Hello? Hello? Oh, God. Hello? This is your aunt Ruthie. No, it's not. It's Charles Nelson Riley.

Nah, ha, ha, ah. All right, now that we got that out of the way, hey, Arlen. Name's Jonathan. I'm a big fan of the podcast, listening for a while. Just got done listening to the return from Amazon trip. And I remember there is a podcast.

a couple months ago where you said you went on a big world trip a while ago and it really changed your life and me and my girlfriend have been well thinking talking wondering hoping that we can do something similar and I think we you well you finally kind of lit the match to get us started we decided we're going to move to New Zealand in the next couple years so we already have a little bit money saved up playing tickets are expensive and such but um i'm a rock climber so is she i'm also a mountaineer out here in colorado and uh that place has a lot of stuff to offer and uh i was wondering if if you've been there um maybe you could tell me a little bit about it how it uh goes down there so thank you we're very excited and um

yeah chicken chaned me baby all right jonathan thank you for the phone call buddy uh i really enjoyed your Aunt Ruthie and Charles Nelson Riley impressions. Excellent job, sir. That's exciting to hear that you guys are thinking of, you know, picking up and moving and going somewhere exotic and different and definitely the other side of the planet. So you can't really get much further away than New Zealand. That's quite the jaunt.

So I'm excited for you guys. It sounds like you live an act of life. You're rock climbers and you like the outdoors. So, yes, I have been to New Zealand. And a beautiful place. One thing I'll say about it, the air is very crisp and clean and clear. Probably a lot like it is in Colorado when you're up in the mountains. A lot of wildlife, a lot of ocean, a lot of mountains, a lot of volcanoes.

And it's an interesting place because, it's seeped in a lot of culture too there's a there's a culture a native culture there called the Maori the Maori culture and it's kind of a South Pacific blend of of that region and those I guess beliefs and and tribes but the Maori people are very proud people they they're very noble people and I have to say one of the things things I observed and studied when I was over there in New Zealand, and it really fascinated me. I'm not really a tattoo guy, but the Maori people, mostly I'm talking about the older ones, the, you know, the very old tribal elders, and before, you know, before white men came along and

really took over New Zealand, I went to a museum there of a museum of history, and they had old paintings and portraits of the Maori chiefs and the Maori, you know, men of stature and status from the tribes. And what they do is they get turquoise lines that kind of follow the contours of the men's face, the wrinkles on their faces, the lines on their faces. And they kind of follow those with turquoise tattoos and fill them in. And they're just stunning. They're very beautiful. That was one of the big things, believe it or not, that I took away from New Zealand when I was there. I found them just to be very beautiful and mesmerizing and artistic.

And I know that they had a lot of deep cultural meaning. They weren't just random lines. I knew that the lines meant something. They told a tribal story and they told of status and all that stuff. So, you know, that's something you can look forward to is kind of bumping into a new culture that you've probably not come up against before. It's a very interesting culture and a tribal warrior culture is what they were, and they still hold on to a lot of the traditions and the values and the memories and all those things, the stories. I found the people to be very friendly. I found it to be clean.

And as I said, it's a very diverse environment. There's cosmopolitan cities like Auckland and Christchurch. And then on the other side, there's these incredible mountain ranges and valleys and fields and gullies and rivers. And then you've got the rawness of the ocean. So there's a lot there You know you've picked a beautiful place It's a peaceful place It's a safe place

And there's tons and tons of sheep That's not even a joke I think they say there's more sheep in New Zealand Than there are people And they eat a lot of those sheep And believe it or not There's a burger joint there A fast food place

I forget the name of it It might be Royal Burger you'll find out when you get there but this is the junk food guy of me coming out all their burgers are made with lamb meat and I don't know if you guys listening like lamb but I got to tell you they they made them good man

I think I got one every day when I was there it was uh it was delicious so get ready to eat a lot of lamb and uh based on what you You told me about your lifestyle. I think you might find a lot to do there. Definitely rock climbing and mountain climbing and all that outdoor stuff. And also, hey, I'm glad that my stories about traveling the world and going on

my adventures inspired you. And as you said, lit a match under you. That's very cool. And let's hope that your adventures, your story maybe inspires the next person, right? So, hey, wishing you the best of luck. be safe. I always get a little worried about rock climbers and mountain climbers. Wear the right safety gear.

Don't be Mr. Macho. Hey, I climb without a rope, dude. Look at me. I climb hands free. You know, I float up the damn rock. That's how good I am. Well, you know, that's how good I am only works until you have that first fall. And then you're dead.

And you're forgotten. and that's how good I am doesn't get you nothing but robbing you of your life. So be smart, be safe, wear the proper safety equipment. You don't have to prove anything to anybody. You don't have to show off. If you know in your head you could do it without ropes, good. Hold on to that, but you don't have to show it to anyone else, man, because one little misstep, one rock crumble, one momentary lack of judgment.

and your life stops, which is what we don't want. You know, we get it that you're a thrill seeker. We already know that you got balls because you are just rock climbing with safety gear is something 99.9% of us don't do or have the courage to do. So you've already won the I'm Ballsier than you award, okay? So I'm just looking out for you.

Keep that in the back of your head. Be safe. and congratulations. I hope it goes well. If you do us a favor if you get over there and you get settled in and you have a chance to phone us and let us know how it's going, we'd love to get an update, all right? So there you go.

Thanks for calling. Hello. Hey, Harland, about your question of the week while you were going down the Amazon River on a tour South America of course after you had faced off with the silverback

and guerrillas and Africa your question about what was it people that have too many adventures and do too many things that require too much energy

a little ironic about that but you know you're hardly the one who's get up and go got up and went because you got up and went hope you had a great vacation i did get up and went and i did have a great vacation thank you and and you know my question of the day was is someone with too much zest too much too much zip and zap are they too overwhelming is it hard to be a partner a boyfriend or a girl friend of that type of person.

And I did not mean to, you know, make it sound like you shouldn't. You know, you shouldn't have, you know, some zip in your step. You know, I definitely, you're right. I do get up and go. I do like to travel. I do like to go and do things. And I think we all do. But I think the point of my question of the day was, what if it's too much?

Okay. If I do a trip once a year to the Amazon or to someplace exotic, okay, that's once a year. I guess I should have clarified what I was talking about is people that are like every single time you're with them. It's like we're rock climbing, we're parasailing, we're log rolling, we're driving a train through a coal mine, where we're digging for oil in the Nevada desert. You know what I mean? In moderation, it's fine. but yes, you should always have a little zest for life or a lot of zest for life.

You should always be asking questions. You should always be wondering and pondering and wanting to get the answers yourself and go and find things and do things. And, yes, be motivated. So just to clear it up, I was not suggesting that, you know, you're just a bump on a log. Okay? There you go. Hello?

Hey, Harlan, I was just calling about your last podcast. You were talking about, like, people that have just too much energy and just kind of overwhelming. And I'm right there with you. I agree. It's hard to be around. But I've got to admit, I've been there. I've been that person myself. you know you get inspired and you get excited about life and you want to just share it with everybody

and it's hard to keep it in sometimes but I find that if you just just kind of want to try to find a balance be inspired sure be inspired but kind of balance it out you know because everybody's not right there where you're at and but you got to be careful about the other side too you don't want to be too uh not energetic and you want to um because that is not um very much fun to be around either so you uh anyway i'm i'll just keep balance that's what i that's what that's what i always i you know keep the balance that's that's it all right thank you huh chicken child so there you go that that that guy was kind of saying what i was saying except i think he was it just me or did you guys detect he was a little more forest gumpy about it than i

was it's hard it's hard to be around but i i've got to admit i've been there i've been that person myself but i've had too much energy but my mama told me i got to slow down so i ran across the whole country just interesting i like your voice dude it's it's a little it's a little you know little that kind of cool for his gum thing happening man you want us um because that is not um just a little little little gump keep it balanced that's what i that's what that's what i always say you know well that's not true you also say you know life is like a box of chocolates you never know what you're going get you know you get inspired and you get excited about life and you want to just share it with everybody and uh no i i get it bro you get excited it's it's probably hard to keep it in sometimes

right so it's hard to keep it in sometimes but hey day day it's okay but buddy it's cool thank you for the call i think you have a very balanced and level approach to it that's kind of where i was trying to land and i think we're on the same page all right roger we get let's do one more call we got yeah rogers is one more phone call here we go hey i was calling i wanted to know when is puppy dog pal is going to have merchandise because i know i'll definitely buy some for my kids and it's a really good show that's going on in disney channel so i'm really happy that they finally got something that's something to do with puppies because what kid doesn't like puppies so my son really likes it so just waiting until you guys have merchandise on puppy dog

pals I could definitely buy them for my son so yeah I would just suggest that thank you bye well great suggestion and thank you so much for watching the show I'm glad your kids love it getting a lot of great feedback on puppy dog pals thank you everyone who's been watching it and telling their friends. And yes, you are right. There will be merchandise. There will be merchandise for puppy dog pals. I believe in June they're going to start releasing some books,

some joke books and coloring books, that type of thing. And then the rumor is July and August is when they're going to start having the toys. This is just what I've heard. I can't 100% verify it. But from what I've been told, that's kind of the winter. window, but that could change. So for your own information, just start looking around on the internet, start calling the Disney stores wherever, because they'll probably, the merchandise will probably show up

in the Disney stores first and then filter out to other stores. But who knows? But, yeah, FYI, probably the summer, this summer, okay? And I hope you enjoy your puppy dog pals merchandise. Can't go wrong with cuddly little, you know, pugs, little puppies. Believe me, I'm going to be getting some of that merchandise. Trust me. I mean, I created the show.

I got to start a collection, right? I'm almost scared because you know how Disney does it. They'll release, you know, they'll release a crap ton of toys. And then if the show's a hit, we still don't know yet because it's early, then they'll have more toys and more toys. And because it's my show, I'm going to want to have every single toy. So you just know I'm going to have to start a wall in my house So that I can go and look at all the cute little toys that came from my show

But that's a cool problem to have So say hi to your kids for me Thank you for supporting the show I'm glad you like it And my goodness we kind of used up the whole show here Taking phone calls and talking about drones I didn't really get a chance to get into much comedy But what the hell every now and then

It's just like, you know, we get a show like this, which is in my mind just as good, but I kind of forgot to do a lot of comedy. There's a few bits in there that maybe made you laugh. But what are you going to do? It got away from me, folks. Send a drone to my house and dive bomb me or whatever. But we got to wrap it up for now. Thank you for listening, everyone.

Make sure you get our free app on your cell phone. go to the app store, type in the Harlan Highway. Boom, you can listen to us anywhere. And if you want to leave a phone message, 323-739-433-30, 3-2-3-7-3-9-4-3-30, that phone number isn't my website, harlough Williams.com, and you can check that out. Next podcast, big announcement for you about my next stand-up comedy special. Oh, you don't want to miss that.

You might even be able to come down and watch it get, taped. We're going to be shooting it in Los Angeles, California. I'll give you all the information on the next podcast. You can write me at Harlow Williams.com. You can also go to our merch store and pick up some fun merchandise at our website. And don't forget, you become a premium member for $20 a year. You get all the episodes of the Harlan Highway plus bonus material and yada, yada. And don't forget check out puppy dog pals on disney channel disney junior they also have an app the disney junior app you can pick up uh puppy dog pals on there also um don't forget to check out my new album uh my music album rattlesnake love with my cousin kevin herne the cousins rattlesnake love on

iTunes and all your digital platforms so there you go uh that's it for today thank you everybody for being here. Keep it real in the deal. And until next time, chicken, chau-me. Oh, wait, I almost forgot. If you're in Vancouver, British Columbia this weekend, I will be doing stand-up comedy at yuck-yucks in Vancouver, British Columbia. That's starting tonight, May 11th through the 13th.

So that's Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Come on out and check me out, players. all right i got that out of the way now we can close it up thanks for listening catch you next time till then chicken chalmy baby it's hard to keep it in