The Unmade Podcast - 156: Tim attacked by a Jellyfish

Episode Date: January 29, 2025

Tim and Brady discuss plenty of follow-up, a personalised licence plate, Tim’s (second) close encounter with a jellyfish, things we “just realised”, plus the contents of our bags and mobiles phones.A bumper 35 minutes of Request Room this week - https://www.patreon.com/posts/121064233Support us on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/unmadeFMJoin the discussion of this episode on our subreddit - https://www.reddit.com/r/Unmade_Podcast/Catch the podcast on YouTube where we often include accompanying videos and pictures - https://www.youtube.com/@unmadepodcastUSEFUL LINKSTim’s new licence plate as a T-Shirt - https://the-unmade-podcast.creator-spring.com/listing/unmad-3?product=373As a Mug - https://the-unmade-podcast.creator-spring.com/listing/unmad-3?product=1566As a Sticker - https://the-unmade-podcast.creator-spring.com/listing/unmad-3?product=794And as a bumper sticker - https://the-unmade-podcast.creator-spring.com/listing/unmad-3?product=2434The Big Dipper - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_DipperRobert_DiPierdomenico - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_DiPierdomenicoDon’t miss this week’s Request Room - https://www.patreon.com/posts/121064233

So many podcasts I listen to start with like a whole bunch of skipping all the ads at the start. We don't do that to our people. No, I can't stand it. Yeah. It doesn't seem to be very effective either because I instantly go to skip them. It's like, oh, that's helpful. They've put it at the start and now I don't have to worry about them. Skip, skip, skip. Yeah.

Very dodgeable. Oh, that's right. Yeah. Whereas we're doing all subliminal advertising that people can't. So if you'd like to support us on Patreon, go to patreon.com slash Unmade FM. That's why you don't have ads here. So plus you get request room and other goodies. That's right.

Oh, and something else would look, look, this is turning into an ad now. Something else we've started to do because Tim and I like record on zoom. So we do have a video of our recording, but we don't use the video because it's all edited and chopped up. But we are starting to put video clips of like funny bits and bits from our recording onto Patreon for Patreon supporters,

like little highlight clips, like, you know, just a minute or two here and there. So if you're a Patreon supporter, you get to also see Brady in his pajamas today, because I usually record in my pajamas and see Tim in his post tennis gear. That's right. I've come straight from tennis. And see the looks on our faces as we regale each other with anecdotes and humour and mediocre podcast ideas.

The sales power's dipping off at the end, I think. Now, man, I think you better leave it there All right, let's get on with the show Hey look that we had lots of follow-up Comments and suggestions following our last episode more than usual. So we obviously struck some nerves I thought I'd share some of it if I may. What about? What was it? Well first and foremost Tim talked about his frustration at not being able to find a good split screen racing game for the new Xbox that he plays with the girls.

Yes. And we have had lots and lots of people get in touch with suggestions of games Tim could download or put onto his Xbox Xbox do some split screen racing. Hopefully you've seen some of them Tim. No well yeah yeah well I want like not lots and lots I think one soon after the episode came out but no. Oh no there's loads on the reddit and messages I'll put together a bit of a compilation of the suggestions for you okay. Oh brilliant oh that's a fantastic thank you yes. Can you do a little bit of a league table so the game that recommended the most you know second third that kind of thing that'd be cool.

I'm not doing that you can do that yourself. All right well send me the data and consider it done. All right we'll just go onto the subreddit for the episode 155 and it's all there. I forgot to do that. Well most of it's there. There's a few emails and stuff as well but so I'm not going to sit here and list a bunch of video games because I don't know if that's great content. Sure fair enough so that's heaps boring for everyone except me yes yes and even mildly boring for you. But I did hear from a couple of people including Steve who shed some light onto why you don't get many split screen racing games these days I think you thought it was because they want to shift more units

They want more people to buy the actual console so the only way you can race each other is to each own an Xbox That's right rather than kids playing together at one house They want each kids to be sitting looking at a screen on their own in their own house Okay, well here's here's Steve who shared an insight that was shared by one or two other people as well But Steve I think has the most, so we'll go with him. He says, love the podcast and it was interesting to hear you delve into the topic of video games on the latest episode. This lined up with my field since I'm an editor at GameSpot.

I've been writing professionally about games for almost 20 years now. Video games with multiplayer featured across one system are usually referred to as split-screen multiplayer for competitive or more casually couch co-op for games that you play cooperatively together. If you search those terms you may be able to find them more easily. Tim is right they're more rare today than they used to be. Nintendo still usually produces them on its own systems because it has a history of being a family-friendly toy company but other consoles are usually hit or miss. There may be some ulterior motive to sell more consoles

but there are a few other factors at play namely lack of demand for the feature in some genres at play, namely lack of demand for the feature in some genres, and that one console has to do all the processing and rendering for both cameras of the split screen. For higher end graphically intensive games that can be a tricky balance, so it's not always worth it for developers to put in the time. I loved the show, it was nice to hear you guys briefly touch on a topic in my own little corner of the world. Hope Tim's kids are enjoying headshotting their dad. They certainly are. I think that's a bit soft that the tech can't handle it. It could handle it back in the day, like 20 years ago when you and I were playing. Yeah but these days there's more demand for really

graphic intensive realistic games and I read someone else talk about how things like Mario Kart use all these sort of polygons and quite simple things to render whereas these days the graphics are rendered in a different way and it takes more grunt under the hood. I don't know I'm just saying, I'm just saying a couple of people said it. But it's not exactly you know stop motion cameras it's not you know what I mean like I'm sure it's anyway anyway. Get on a people that's what I'm saying Tim's not buying it. No I'm not buying it but they can't do it.

Well they do and I'll send you the list but that's just one of the reasons takes a lot of power I don't know I mean maybe if you sort of came up with some way to hook your coffee machine into the system You could use the power of your enormous coffee machine to juice up the Xbox Perhaps I could I literally have got the most recent Xbox and you know, I can't believe it can't handle a split-screen racing but I get what you're saying that this sort of level because I played the Formula One one the other day and that is But I get what you're saying, the sort of level, because I played the Formula One one the other day, and that is, firstly, I thought that would be really easy like Mario Kart, and it's not, and I'm totally rubbish. I spent half the time crashing into the barriers, which got old pretty quickly, I have to say.

Those Formula One games are too realistic now. They are too realistic. That's right. I literally, because I watch a lot of Formula One, and you generally get into the vibe that if I got into that car, I could pretty much drive around the track at least. You know what I mean? Not fast, but I could just drive around the track. It took about two laps on the Formula One game for me to go. I really shouldn't be driving one of those. I really think that would be a bad idea. So that's that fantasy gone. But anyway, anyway taken obviously there are market forces there must be more people not wanting them as much as me.

Sorry I've said that backwards there must be less people want to get as much as me or they'd be doing it they'd find a way. Fair enough how's the coffee machine going by the way we haven't discussed your coffee machine for a while you know. Oh, it's going really really well We went away on holidays, and I had to use a plunger in a friend's house and well that was like torture But to come home and hear the it is very loud the sound It's a little bit like Formula one where when you get it You know it's like you love the result, but when you're there live you can't believe how loud it is and The coffee machine is a bit similar to that. It's the first thing that's turned on in the morning and it's so loud, the whole house kind of hears it just for a few seconds.

Is that kind of like the rooster of your house, though? It tells everyone, you know, it's morning, it's time to, yeah. That's right, cock a doodle do, here we go. Yes, it's very loud. And then, of course, you've got to grind the beans and that's really loud, too. I could probably do that the night before and then put that in. So that's at least one less noise. I do love my coffee machine.

Yeah, I know. I could look on your face like, yeah, yeah. That's like, yeah, I love the way it looks. I love it. Smooth edges. I like that it's boxy and square like it looks like a 1970s American payphone. It's industrial. Yeah, yeah, it is. Yeah, it's like a factory, ye olde factory.

It is the size of a factory too, so yeah. That's right. It looks like a Call of Duty game could be set in it. You know what I mean? You'd be climbing in around it and all the rest of it playing a video game because it's that kind of industrial environment where there's going to be a nuclear threat and it's supposed to be apocalyptic time or something. Or like Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader

could have a duel on it. Yes, yes. Yes, it's very, the end of empire strikes back. Even though it's, there's something industrial. Cloud city. Yeah, that's right. It's on cloud city, of course, isn't it? Yeah. Although it's a little bit more there's

something about Return of the Jedi that the Death Star's not finished makes that kind of look like it's a bit more industrial. I'd like a little bit more of there to be a little bit more construction equipment around in Return of the Jedi like it should be more like you know in Die Hard when he goes to the floor where they're still building something and there's that plastic and wood yeah there should be all that kind of crap around the place as well in on the Death Star just like crowd you know just signs up saying you know builders here and people with hard hats should be a lot more of that kind of stuff. That would be good yeah more hard hats that's what they need more cones. Or maybe that's what the storm troopers are wearing they're just wearing hard hats because of the construction site normally they'd just be walking around with their with their hats off off duty. Thanks for asking about my coffee machine. Oh always happy to talk about your coffee machine it's one of my favorite favorite topics. Another thing we talked about were things that were

discontinued you know things that you like to buy and that you can't get anymore. Landon got in touch and said, two things come to mind when you brought this up. Ford Fiestas, which were great fuel efficient cars here in America, and cheeseburger flavoured Combos pretzels. My older brother loved these and they've been wiped from existence. Oh gosh Hmm cheese burger. Did he say cheese burger flavored combos pretzels? That sounds a bit toxic. I'm not sure the Ford Fiesta is not really the car for me So, you know, I'm sorry they're gone if you liked them Landon, but I can live in a world without Ford Fiesta's Yeah, Kierg of Fiesta's. Yeah. Kurg of Fekissa?

Sorry excuse my pronunciation but they said, I loved the Subway Meatball Sub but apparently it wasn't popular in Finland so they changed the menu here. I've heard it is available in other countries for example in America still but it is discontinued just where I live. You know that's interesting that the the meatball sub is not popular in Finland because Ikea which I know is Sweden but you know that they're not a million literally not a million miles away from one another. No have a very very very popular meatball dish it's one of the most popular dishes. I'm in meatballs are just a famous thing in Sweden in general. When I was at the Nobel prize, I sat next to a woman and she, she was telling me how she was making Christmas dinner this year. And I said, really, what are you making? And she said meatballs. And I'm like, yeah, I'm living the Swedish cliche.

Wow. I didn't know that was a thing with them. Okay. Hmm. But obviously not in Finland. Maybe that's a point of distinction. Maybe the Finnish people are such connoisseurs of meatballs that the American subway meatballs just don't cut it so they don't buy them.

Well, maybe so. And maybe they could just, you know, head over to Sweden, go to Ikea and get get some there. Certainly here in the UK, the meatball sub is my go-to sub. Really? See, I'm not a fan of putting mince into a ball. Right. I would rather mince be mince. Right. I would rather mince be mince. Yeah. So I know in America when you have spaghetti Bolognese, they have spaghetti and meatballs, the meat goes in as balls. But in Australia, it's just, it's just mushy.

It mixed in with the sauce. Yeah. Yeah. It's just, it's liquidified, not liquefied, but you know what mince means like. Yeah. It's not rolled into a ball. And I am very used to that. And putting it into a ball seems, oh now I've got to do another thing. I've got to break the ball apart and then take a bite. But Ikea meatballs you must even you must concede are like God's gift to taste buds. My eldest daughter would but not me. I've never had them so they don't appeal. It's with that gravy and with that nice berry sauce. Oh yeah.

Yeah. This is Ikea. Are you craving the food from the cafeteria in Ikea? I have gone to Ikea just for the meatballs before and not needed furniture or shops, not even gone into the shop, just gone to like gone for the food. Yeah, yeah. I have friends who have got who have eaten their weekly because on that particular day, if you eat lunch, you get something special like 20% off if you spend there more than 100. And so then they've built up things for their house by eating there because their workplace was near their their natural workplace eating and they strategically plant it out so they could

stock their house at a discount. They're gaming the meatballs. They are yes, torturing themselves, forcing themselves to go back again and again to eat those, as you say, yummy meatballs. I also heard from Luminosity who talked about a selection of gins they really like. Anyway, this was, it was discontinued these gins they liked and they contacted the company and said, no, we don't make them anymore. So what this person did, Luminosity did, was they went onto eBay and bought the four remaining bottles they could find. But Luminosity says, unfortunately, I didn't check the shipping address properly. I guess I'd not bought anything on eBay since COVID. The bottles all got shipped to my old workplace and I had to sheepishly show up there one day to pick them up. Even worse, the whole

company was in an update meeting, which I interrupted the middle of. What a strange day that was. That's good going back to your old workplace to go and pick up a whole bunch of booze you bought off eBay. That's a good look. Our thing's looking sally for you now you've left us. Fine, yeah, could I have those four bottles of gin? Four bottles of gin. Sorry, I'm just here for the alcohol. Just somehow getting my way through the week at the moment since I left. We talked about personalised license plates on your car. Little annotation we actually discussed

this in request room 155 not the main episode. And Bruce got in touch and said regarding personalized license plates or vanity plates as we used to call them I was oh so proud of my first car a 1983 VW Rabbit GTI, and my first job as a programmer, that I got a personalized plate that read PRGRMR, programmer. We could only get six characters back then. Shortly after I got the plate, I went out from work to find that my co-workers had made a new plate in quotation marks out of paper, and it read, I'm a geek. I find it hilarious now, but was really annoyed at the time.

More recently, I had a 2001 Mustang GT. I got a plate that read MMI Pony, a wordplay on the year of the car in Roman numerals and the fact that Mustangs are known as pony cars. Can I just say, I tried to um I looked into whether I could get the number plate unmade here in South Australia and sadly I can't because we um need to include a number and it needs to be at the end and so it didn't work I tried a few different configurations. A three a three would do the look has a sort of enos to it yeah but we tried that didn't we I thought I thought I showed you the options that I

looked up I never saw I don't think I don't know let me try it again here's a challenge though I'll tell you what it's an instant colonel ship to anyone that literally goes out and gets unmade is their number plate on their car and senses oh yeah proof that would be cool Let me look this up here though. I've got a few people I want to propose for Colonel ships by the way. We must do that at some point. I've got a bit of a backlog. Personalised plates. Okay. So here we go. And then I'd go UNMAD3 or I'd go 4D3 just to really lean into using numbers. Oh yes it's available. Unmade 3 is available, the 4 is not available. That's invalid, no. So you've got to have it at the end.

You can't like, you can't jumble the letters and numbers right. Wow hey here we go. Does it look like unmade when the three's there? I bet it kind of does. Yeah, I mean, if three obviously goes the wrong way, it's little pokies spokes, you know, are pointing to the left rather than the right. Yeah. Unmade. But that's very on brand for us

for it to not quite be right. Well, that's true as well. How much does it cost? Is it expensive? I don't think it's too much. Size choices, you can get slim or standard, or slim, and we've got to choose a color too man. I mean you kind of want to go with the unmade coloring don't you? We use white, black and that kind of greeny aqua. Yeah it's not quite there, there's a green, it's blue and white or pink or brown okay so between the D and the 3

there has to be a gap they use a little crest of South Australia there so the 3 is not hard up against the D so it does break up the word a bit yeah I still like how that looks un-mad it looks yeah un-mad a 3 but you got order now I dig it I dig it order plates standard pair white on blue trick and that looks best I mean that does look classy yeah I've got to put my clients number I still don't know the price that's let's revisit that another day well we see we're recording an episode here man I know but you can edit this boring bit out I can't edit it out of my life though. These minutes are ticking by.

What if I bought the plates online right now? Wouldn't that be exciting? I guess, yeah. Is this exciting people? Let me hear it. Yeah, if you're excited out there. How much before you see the price, how much are you willing to pay? Ummm, like $200? Before you see the price, how much are you willing to pay? Um...

Oh, like $200? I reckon you've got no chance. You reckon? Not in this day and age. You couldn't go out and have dinner for 200 bucks these days. I guess so. I guess so. I'm just looking up what my current number plate is

because I've got to put that in. Surely we can just Google how much. $212. Oh, OK. Well, OK, if we can just Google how much two hundred and twelve. Oh, okay. Well, okay. If we can get an extra raise next to $12 on Patreon by getting some new Patreon supporters, yeah, look, that says here new plates, two hundred and twelve change of color or size on existing plate. Seventy nine.

Do you want me to get them? Well, it's up to you. Do you want them? I want them for this conversation in the episode, but you're going to have them on your car. What will, what will like people at like church in the episode. But you can have it on your car. What will what will like people at like church and your college think if you park a car with unmade on the license plates? I don't know. I don't know. It's better than putting like, you know, Tim is cool, you know,

slash midlife crisis. Ass man. Yeah, it's like. That's a Seinfeld joke, people. It is. Tim doesn't call himself the Ass man. Like, yeah, it's like. That's a Seinfeld joke, people. It is. Tim doesn't call himself the Ass Man. No, no. That's Kramer.

Standard player, white on blue. Does that look good? Is that the best looking version, you reckon? I mean, it's not the most unmade podcast looking version, but it's probably the classiest looking. All right, let's do it. Oh, that's awesome. Here it is.

Tim is buying personalised unmade podcast license plates, people. He has not cleared this with his wife. Oh, no, no. This is an unauthorised husband purchase happening here live on a podcast. Woo. I feel alive, man. Don't try and stop me, man. I feel alive man. Don't try and stop me man. I'm not I'm not stopping you. I'm not stopping you at all. This is gonna be one of those things where suddenly it's you

find out it's 210 like every year you know. Gonna have to get that made into like a t-shirt so people can have it as their last so people can like wear your license plate as a t-shirt too that would look cool wouldn't it. I'll get that done people have a look link in the show notes. What do you think the reaction at home is going to be? Oh cool I think they'll think they're cool. Okay. Oh that's the girls my wife clearly clearly it's the end of my marriage but. All right I'm getting them sent to me which means it's now up to 232.

Okay so we probably need about another 10 to 15 Patreon supporters to help us out here. That's right. Patreon.com slash unmade FM. There's a very good request room coming up today people you've sent in some great questions. Worth the price of admission alone now what are you doing you're looking for your credit card yeah the automatic payment thing doesn't come up on the list tim tim has left it he's looking for his card here right here i hear my sorry read out the card number as you put it in for us all right there we go payment is being

processed your payment has been processed there we go you. You've done it. You've done it. Woo. Woo. We're alive, man. You are. You have been vain live on the podcast. Vain? This is not vain. They're called vanity plates.

Oh, no, I think it's more legendary plates. That's what they are. Legendary? I didn't. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All right.

All done. All done. Wow. All right. If you keep All done. Wow. All right If you keep an eye on the streets of Adelaide people Mr. Unmad 3 is on the prowl Done bought purchased wonderful. There we go. What else can we buy? Oh Should've got kit should have bought another car fantastic I don't know how to raise this man I got done we had a beautiful night at the

beach the other night but check that out this is for people who are watching the video I got stung with a jelly by a jellyfish you got stung by a jellyfish yeah yeah oh and I tell you are you deliberately tempting me to tell the stung with a jelly by a jellyfish. You got stung by a jellyfish. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, and I'll tell you, are you deliberately tempting me to tell the other story about when you got stung by a jellyfish? The one with the girl. Yeah. Is that?

No. Have I told that story on the podcast before? I don't know. I don't. It was the same, the same beach bit, a bit along a bit. Yeah. I'm telling the story now. Years and years ago, people, years and years ago, Tim was dating this girl. She was a nice girl. She was lovely. And she took, I think we all went to the beach, you, me and her at night and She said let's all go for a swim and I was like, yeah, that's brilliant. Let's all go for a swim I was totally up for it and and but Tim didn't want to he was like, oh, I don't want to go for a swim

He was being a bit of a stick in the mud for some reason quite unlike you actually and I'm like, yes Tim We've got to go for a swim. We've got to go for a swim and I we kind of bullied you into it I think I was nervous bullied you into it. I think I was nervous because, you know, doing anything out of the ordinary or zany with a girl there that I liked, you know, that kind of, I was just being nervous, I think, and shy. Whereas I was probably, I didn't, I didn't care. I just thought this was a chance to see a pretty girl in a bikini and go swimming in the beach. So I was like, let's do it.

So, like, we eventually bullied you into it and we go swimming in the beach. So I was like, let's do it. So like we eventually bullied you into it and we all went into the beach and within about 30 seconds, Tim got attacked by a jellyfish. You got really badly stung. I did, I did. It was like, I just, I was kind of in the water not liking it. I was like, all right, we're in now. Is this okay? Can we go now? And then I'm like, ow! You got done. You got done. And what happened this time with the jellyfish? And I'm like, ow! And then... Yeah, you got done. You got done. And what happened this time with the jellyfish?

Same deal? You did not want to be in there or? No, no, I was loving it. It was a beautiful summer night the other night. This is at Brighton Beach and we were down there, sun's going down. I went out for a swim and then I came in because it was time to go buy the fish and chips, you know, for dinner for everyone. So they kept swimming and I came in and I was, I was, I didn't even see it because I

was literally swimming, like, you know, you know, arm over arm quick as I could. And then in the midst of the stroke, I just, it's like someone whipping your arm, you know? I was like, ah, damn it. I know what that is. But generally speaking, they fade. So I was like, oh yeah, whatever. And I went and got dinner and then came back And aren't you supposed to we on it if you we on it that makes you that makes a jellyfish sting

I think that's a particular kind of jellyfish, but you could have asked someone to we on you. Yeah. Yeah I mean, that's what I mean. I should point it out to people around the world. There are some jellyfishes fish fish They're fairly there are some jellyfish that I'm trying to think of the plural of fish and it's just fish that are quite dangerous right there like you know I think in particularly in tropical areas but I'm not an expert so check them all out but in Adelaide. Box jellyfish is one isn't it? I think that's right yeah yeah but in Queensland. We know that they're quite common around Adelaide the ones that are kind of very painful but

I think are okay in fact I, I don't even, yeah, anyway, anyway. So I just ignored it. We had dinner, went that night, it was fine. Woke up the next morning, it was kind of, oh yeah, here we go, it's gonna get a bit itchy now. So I put a bit of stuff on it. But last night, so the second night, it was torture. It was so itchy.

It looks nasty. Oh, it was awful. So first thing this morning, I had breakfast, I went straight to the chemist and I sort of walked in, you know, with my arm like it was, like I was Freddy Krueger going, look at this, look at this. And the lovely chemist said,

okay, we gotta put this on it and that on it and this on it and that on it. And you know, so that's helping today. I've got through the day without thinking about it with all this cream on it. And hopefully I have a better sleep tonight, but. I'm telling you man, wee on it. No the weeing thing is a myth, I've been told that. I don't know if that's true with the box

jellyfish, the bad ones, but certainly with these ones it's a myth. Although they say that, and this might be where the wee idea comes from, vinegar immediately can get rid of the stinging pain. And so maybe there's the acid that's in urine that's sort of linked to that idea. So maybe it's not harmful. I tried to, but as someone said the other day, he should have weed on it. And then he's and then someone said, you know, but it swam away. And so it was like, oh, not the jellyfish, the arm. Yes.

Yeah, there we go. Tim stung by a jellyfish again. That's the, that's the kind of cool footage you get when you become a patron. You get to see these lacerations. Yeah. Look at that. Stripes of pain on my arm. Wow. You have an idea for a podcast. So Tim, my idea for a podcast. So Tim, my idea for a podcast is called I only just realized, and I think this is a really common phenomenon and I think it's become more common with the advent of social media and so much information being thrown at us all the time, right? This podcast is about something that may be common knowledge, maybe lots of people know,

but it's something that somehow passed you by. Yes. Somehow you're like, oh, of course. Well, I'm an idiot. Yes. Yes. How did I not realize that? And I'm going to use an example I had a couple of weeks ago. Right. There is a collection of stars in the sky this is called an asterism it's not a constellation cause it's part of a bigger constellation called the. It's a major the bear but within it there's a very famous group of stars that you can't actually see from most parts of the Southern Hemisphere so it's probably not as famous in Australia. So it's probably not as famous in Australia, but for people in the UK, they will know it as the plow. But perhaps more famously, people in North America, USA and Canada will know it as the Big Dipper. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Have you heard of the Big Dipper? Oh, yeah, yeah, sure.

Yeah. If you look in the sky in the Northern Hemisphere, it's very obvious. It's one of the, it's just a collection of stars you can't help look looking at because of the shape of it and they're brighter than other stars so yeah and it makes this shape and it was called the plough in the UK because historically when people used to plough fields with a very old fashioned ploughs that you would kind of push or get pulled by horses and stuff. It's a bit shaped like a plow. But I also know it's called the Big Dipper. And do you know what? I'd never thought about why it's called the Big Dipper. You're looking at a picture of it now, Tim.

Do you know why it's called the Big Dipper? It's named after Robert DiPio Domenico, who played football for Hawthorne in the 80s. No, his nickname is Dipper, but no. I had never thought about it. I think maybe because of like the curve and the nature of it, I thought maybe it's just like the dip of it. Or I said this to my wife, she'd never thought about it either. And she thought, Oh, I don't know, Big Dipper, like, was it named after a roller coaster or something? Yeah, that's what I have in my mind. I have in my mind, as a kid, it's like, oh, this

is like a big ride at an amusement park where it's like a big slide that goes down to that square pool down the bottom. That's right. Yep. So I was lying in bed thinking about this and it suddenly, I suddenly had a hunch. I actually figured it out. I'm like, hang on a second. No, that's, I think I know what it is. And I looked it up and I was kind of right, but I didn't realize it until now in my very late forties. So I'm not, I'm not claiming to be any kind of genius.

It is called the big dipper because in North America, there is a type of ladle that you would ladle out, um, you know, soup and things with, and they call, they call it a dipper. It's a, it's a part of your kitchen. Oh, can you pass me the dipper so I can get things out? So it's called the Big Dipper because it looks like a big ladle, aka a dipper. Oh, right.

OK. And for someone from Australia who lives in the UK, I can tell you, I had never heard of a dipper before in the kitchen. I'd always thought that the asterism did look a bit like a saucepan. Yes, yes. But no, it's called thesterism did look a bit like a saucepan. Yes, yes. But no, it's called the Big Dipper because it looks like a dipper or a kind of ladle. A spoon that you- a large spoon that you dip into the soup or whatever and scoop out. The scoopy bit. Oh, it's a spoon. It's a spoon.

Yes, it's a spoon. It is, it's a spoon of the week! Cue the music! Spoon of the week! Wow! That's cool! Anyway, yes, the Big Dipper is also our spoon of the week. Wow!

This is the kernel of my idea. People kind of conf...I guess it's kind of a confessional, isn't it? Because you kind of... You probably should know that, you know, you know, especially a guy who makes videos about galaxies and stars and astronomy for a living. The fact that I didn't know that the one of the most famous collections of stars known to humans, I didn't know where the name came from. But there we go. This isn't associated with any of the astrology name came from but there we go. This isn't associated with any of the astrology figures is it at all like the Big Dipper is not like you know Pisces or something or whatever. Well no there are there are there are the the night sky is carved up

into constellations traditionally which are like collections of stars and yet they do have names like you know Cygnus the Swan based on what they look like and 12 of those constellations or 13 depending on how things work But anyway, as you and I would know at 12 of their constellations have this special status of being Used in horoscopes and astrology. Yeah, I believe they're based on where the Sun was at the time you were born There's a lot of caveats here. So if the sun happened to be present in the constellation Gemini when you were born, as it was when I was born, you're a Gemini.

Yeah, right. But there are also a bunch of constellations that the sun doesn't pass through, so they're not part of astrology as such. But no, the Big Dipper is a collection of stars that are part of a bigger collection of stars that form the constellation, the bear, and that's not one that's used in common astrology. Bit like the Southern Cross Southern Cross now the constellation. It's exactly like the Southern Cross and in fact one of the most famous uses of the Big Dipper is to help people find the North Star the Polaris so the North Star. star, the Polaris. So the North star is important and famous because it's above the North pole

almost. It doesn't really move through the sky the way the other stars do. So it's quite a useful reference because it's kind of at the rotation point. So a lot of people like to know where the North star is. But finding the North star is not that easy, but you can use the Big Dipper. There's like a technique where if you take these two stars in the Big Dipper and form a line here it points directly at the North Star. So probably the most famous use of the Big Dipper is to help find the North Star. Right, right, okay. And you mentioned the Southern Cross, the Southern Cross famous constellation in the Southern Hemisphere. It appears on the Australian flag. Yes.

The Big Dipper appears on the flag of Alaska. So if you see the state flag of Alaska, it has the Big Dipper on it and it also has the North Star. Oh, right. Okay. I only just realised that because you told me. Yeah. I thought I had this idea on my list actually and I've just perused my list and I don't,

but I've sort of had it as an idea there in my mind because I only just realised something generally whenever you and I have a conversation. So yeah. And that is case in point. I mean obviously we are accidentally rehashing a lot of our ideas at this stage in the podcast and we have talked about things like this before a famous I only just realised that did the rounds a few years ago now was the thing about the arrow on your petrol gauge. Yeah. Pointing to which side of the car your petrol gauges on and that became a popular meme a while ago and everyone had only just realised it. Which is brilliant and which I used even this week in a car that I've already owned for four years. I still had to look and check because I couldn't recall.

There's a lot of I only just realised these days around movies and TV shows. Yeah. Because movies and TV shows of course famously have a lot of meaning and hidden things in them that you don't really see. A lot of Easter eggs Easter eggs yeah and people like pointing them out again you know on. Instagram and social media and stuff so almost every day you'll say did you realize that if you watch closely in the background in the scene you see this this and this when in fact this this and this and so I feel like with the advent of. Social media being so pervasive we are getting more and more of these I only just realised.

But my favourite I only just realised are sometimes the more organic ones. I had one the other day actually. I was watching videos of planes taking off and landing with my son, because he loves watching planes take off and land, just sitting there on YouTube watching it. He finds it captivating and he knows the difference between planes that have engines and. Propellers. Sometimes he calls them umbrellas. He'll see a plane with propellers taking him.

He'll go, look, umbrellas. No, no, they're called propellers. So I was explaining the difference between umbrellas and propellers to him. And then I only just realized, and I have this quite often with words because words kind of take on their own meaning in a way almost and I only just thought of course they're called propellers. Cause they're propelling the plane forward or they're propelling the boat forward and propellers have all my life just been a word for things that spin around on planes and boats. And I'd never thought, of course, they're called propellers because they're doing the propelling of the vehicle. Yeah. Yeah. And it's like, of course, that's obvious.

And anyone listening is probably thinking you're an idiot. And like, of course, it's of course, it's obvious, but I'd never thought about it. It like it was just like propeller had become its own word. So I had an I only just realised about the word propeller. It's doing the propelling. What if it's the other way around? What if they call propelling something that results from a propeller? And they started off by calling it the object, the propeller.

And then the net result of a propeller, they started calling it, oh, well, it's propelled. What do you mean it's propelled? What does that mean? It's a well, it's resulted from a propeller. So calling it oh well it's propelled what do you mean it's propelled what does that mean it's a well it's resulted from a propeller so it's the other way around. I'm sure that's not the case in the case of propellers and propulsion in general but you are right there are occasionally words where it does go the other way around and you get caught out and that's quite a fun subject as well but like obviously life is full of words like this in fact one of my podcast, and I'm blowing my own podcast idea here, but one of my other podcast ideas is dealing with words that are like this.

Like, like breakfast, which becomes such its own word that you no longer think about breaking the fast. Breakfast is its own thing. Another one that I find is windscreen on the front of your car. thing. Another one that I find is windscreen on the front of your car. It's so much its own word that you don't think about screening the wind from hitting your face. It's just a windscreen. And there are lots and lots of words in our language that are like this that have a very obvious and clear meaning, but have so much become their own word that you've that you kind of just forget about it.

Yeah, I love that. I love that. that we call that the etymology of words. And I love tracing it back where they come from and where their roots are from and and how that combined and fascinating wonder. And that's brilliant. But and like sometimes it's very exotic and interesting, but I find it it's almost more amazing when it's sitting right in front of your face like breakfast. Yeah, yeah. Like and you still didn't realise it. Good idea.

Just before we came on air, I asked, I did a really quick tweet. So this is only had a few minutes for people to respond to. Oh, yeah. But I asked people if they had any examples that might fit this. George replied to my tweet and said he only just realised that a litre of water weighs a kilogram. There's a link between the kilogram and a litre of water. So. So all right

Okay, yeah, Alex said that internment and interment that internment and interment are different I'm not sure how commonly known this is but I've been pronouncing the graveside service of a funeral internment the whole time Of course, it's not internment. It's interment when you're getting when you're burying a body. Oh, right. Yes Yes, turn mint is like imprisonment, isn't it? Of course, it's not internment. It's interment when you're getting when you're burying a body. Oh, right. Yes. Yes. Internment is like imprisonment, isn't it? So if you've got if you've had got any good I only just realized, let us know. Good idea, man. Lovely idea. This is the kind of idea where you could get someone on who's a real expert in the area

to any in a particular niche area who then, you know, is able to let loose on the things that are, you know, yeah, just popped into their head one day crazily. The meaning of idioms and sayings is another classic of course and they often aren't what you think they are. I think we've talked about the loose cannon before. I'm sure I've told this story several times before on podcasts but I worked with a friend and we were talking about the term loose cannon or he's a bit of a loose cannon. And my friend was convinced that the term meant a cannon that is like just shooting everywhere. It's shooting its cannon balls in any direction and causing damage because you've got no control

over where it's shooting. And I said to him, no, no, no, that's not where the saying comes from. The saying actually comes from when there was bad weather weather you would tie the cannons down on the ship right and if you didn't when you got into bad waters the cannons could roll around and just the weight of the cannon rolling around the deck would smash into things and cause all this damage and that's why you have the term loose cannon we had a big bet about it and I that was resolved when we called up an expert we actually phoned an expert to resolve our bet this is before the internet. And there are several of those I found one just yesterday I don't know if this is true or not because I just saw it on Instagram but it was interesting.

When the weather is so cold you say it would freeze the balls off a brass monkey. Yes yes brass monkey weather. Yes, and this like obviously I always assumed this was some course joke about the nether regions of primates, but it's not. And in fact, we go back to cannons and apparently, according to this meme I saw, I think it's true, that when they used to stack cannonballs, they would put them on this base made of brass that would, and then you could then stack the cannonballs into like a pyramid. But you needed this brass space to hold the bottom cannonballs in place. Otherwise they'd roll around and you'd have no stability for your pyramid. And this base that was made of brass was called the monkey. Okay. And that's what you then stacked the balls on. And when the weather got very, very cold, it would cause the brass to contract. And when the brass contracted, it was no longer holding those balls at the base of your pyramid very well.

And the balls would lose their stability and the cannonballs would fall down and they would no longer be nice and neatly stacked. So that's what it means when you're freezing the balls off the brass monkey. It means it's so cold that the brass monkeys contract and the balls have come off it. Yeah, right. There you go. That's fantastic. That's fantastic. The only one I can think of and I've just double checked it actually while you've been

talking is a mistake someone tweeted the other day. I think it was a politician in America who talked about declaring martial law. Any used it like you know the word martial which is sort of like a name and it sounds like general martial or it sounds like an army to general martial and the martial plan which is not the martial plan that's right yeah ma sh a double martial law. Well, of course, it's martial law, as in M.A.R.T.I.A.L. Martial martial law, which is a military term. Like a court martial. That's exactly right. Like court martial. Very good. Very good. With the army takes over. But I was just looking up where it came from.

Where does martial come from? And it comes from the fact that the word well ship the combination of the word Mars and law which is when. When and Mars comes from the name of the Roman God of war and so everything related to that pertains from it so Marshall law is essentially the what the rule of war at play in civilian life. There we go. I mean, that is interesting and that would go with this podcast about, you know, etymology and where things come from. It doesn't really fit in with the spirit of I only just realised because I think you wouldn't expect people to know that the word martial has its origin in, you know, the Roman god of War. Not the etymology bit, but I reckon five out of ten people, if they had to write down, you know, or they've declared martial law, would have written down. Does that make sense? And so, oh no, I've only just realised it's not martial. Maybe that would be an I only just realised. But yeah, I do like the idea that I only just realised should be something that when it's explained to you or when you make the when you have the realization you almost feel a bit.

How did I feel almost a bit silly? How did I not realize that? Yeah, I love that feeling. I sometimes have that feeling when I see a word written down that I've that I've only ever heard audibly before. And I remember I did this many times with the word fiance. I heard the word fiance a million times. And then one day I was reading a book and I said, you know, and reading it out loud in class.

And I said, fiance. And I suddenly went, oh, no, no, that's fiance. Oh, right. And suddenly the thing that's outspoken in front of me suddenly became the thing that I'd heard audibly. And there are of course lots of sayings as well that you say wrong most of your life. And then a classic one is for all intents and purposes.

Yes. And lots of people think it's for all intensive purposes, but it's actually for all intents and purposes. That's one that you get wrong most of your life and then you realise eventually. So there are lots of those as well. My wife has this wonderful gift of combining several of those kinds of cliches, mid conversation in a very, and just continuing on. And it's just so enjoyable, you know, not looking, you know, to gift horses, you know, in the hand, rather than the mouth or, you know, something like that. A you know, to gift horses, you know, in the hand.

You know, something like that. A chain is only as strong as two in the bush. It's just marvelous how they flow. You know, there was one the other day where she was, are you sure you want to drop your wife in it after you've just purchased a vanity license plate without her permission? Did I say my wife? I thought I said your wife. I think for time purposes, we should skip spoon of the week and save the spoon you have for next episode.

Cause we've done the big dipper. So I think the big dipper is our spoon of the week. Fair enough. We're also skipping Patreon prizes this week because we haven't run the algorithm to get any winners and let us go straight to Tim's idea for a podcast. My idea is it's a steal and an adaptation, an adaption, not an adaptation. Wow. It's an adaption. It's a steal, basically.

Easy for you to say. Do you want to try that again? Let's put that on a number plate. There is a YouTube show which I like, which is called What's in the Bag and or What's in Your Bag and it's famous musicians who are shopping for records and they go, I love to support these five records and they pull them oh, I've just bought these five records and they pull them out, right? Although obviously it's contrived, they walk around and buy five records

and they say, I love this album, I love these people, this is their new blah, blah, blah, what's in the bag? So I was thinking about, as I was walking in tonight, holding my bag, I was actually thinking about, what if it's what's in the bag? Like, I think there's something, there's a way into a conversation with people by asking what's in their bag, the bag they carry with them every day like their knapsack their thing

they carry around. Yeah. I know that there is with females in particular not only but in particular they do have a handbag which which is I feel like a sub genre of this idea I'm more interested in kind of the work bag you know the one that's got the laptop in it and I'm more interested in kind of the work bag, the one that's got the laptop in it and the pens and all that kind of stuff in it. So my idea is what's in my bag,

where you basically, and there's gotta be a level of randomness to this. You find someone who pull, and basically you find a way into their life as they pull out everything in their bag and talk about why they've got it, what use it has, how long it's been in there and all that kind of stuff. Do you have a bag?

Yeah, well, obviously straight away, that's where my head went. How would how would it work if I was plucked to be the guest? I do have a bag that I sometimes carry like my laptop in and a few cables and my iPad if I'm going out for lunch and I just want to watch a video or some TV while I'm out so I'll chuck a few things in there but I don't really use that for anything other than basically carrying my computer and my laptop and of course when I'm working I sometimes and filming I'll have five or six bags and they'll be full of all sorts of amazing things and interesting technology so if you picked me on that day you would have you know people sometimes ask can you give us like a run through of all your equipment

so that would be you know quite interesting I'd be showing you all sorts of cameras and devices and microphones and things but generally I would say I'm not a person who carries a bag with me. You don't have like your equivalent of a briefcase what about when you get on a plane you do a little bit of traveling don't you have you know. When I go on a plane I'll take a carry-on bag yeah but it's all fresh new things specifically chosen it's not like oh well I'll take my bag and I'll take out a few things I don't need in a way we go no I don't I don't have a bag that I just take out with me well like if I'm going if I need a bag it's very specific or it's like all my camera gear you know slow

motion cameras and thermal cameras and microphones. Yeah I'm not talking about that that's extra bags right I'm talking about your main bag the one you'd keep with you. I don't have a bag if I need to take my iPad and some charging cables and headphones I'll chuck them in I have got a bag that I use for that that I'll just chuck it in that bag and go but no I'm not and I think you'll be I don't think many people do especially with the advent of smartphones you just need less and less stuff with you. So I think the problem with your idea. Is gonna be the lack of people that have these bags.

I don't think that's true I think everyone on the bus has a backpack. I think everyone's walking down the street not everyone not everyone obviously and you're right a lot of that you you don't necessarily have a calendar anymore diary that kind of thing that's exactly right. But people put their lunch in something and I think they tend to have some regular stuff. Backpack knapsack what can I ask how you always been this way what about when you were a journalist did you turn up with like a did you have did you ever buy one of those nice leather. when you were a journalist, did you turn up with like a, did you have, did you ever buy one of those nice leather briefcase over the shoulder kind of things or? No, not that I remember. I've never been, I've never been a big one for carrying bags. I've never done really the man bag thing much.

I think I went through maybe a brief period. I remember a brief period where I bought like a fanny pack that I used to sometimes take to work to put in my keys and my wallet and my luck I had to have this electronic organiser before the time of smart phones. Yeah, I remember that. I used to keep all that contacts and things in but it's never really been a thing for me. Wow.

So you're not one for like, oh, I need a band aid, I've got one or jeez I need a connector or? No, no, a little bit of that has changed as a dad. And if I'm, if obviously if I'm out with Edward, I'll have a bag with, you know, all the things for him. Yeah. All his provisions for him. But no, no, I'm not.

And maybe that's why this idea is not really resonating with me and exciting me the way some other ideas do, just because I don't personally find it very relatable. My wife obviously carries a handbag, she has numerous handbags and there's all sorts of stuff in her so you know she would be a good guest and you know the mystery of the woman's handbag is an ob, is you know obviously has some resonance here but yeah I'm not a bad guy and therefore it's not really getting my juices flowing the way some other ideas do. I'd be more interested to say, show me the screen saver on your phone or show me what

apps are on your home screen and things like that. That would give me more of an insight into someone than what's in their bag. That would be more interesting to me. Yeah, but that's not really, I mean, it's not an object, is it? It's not like, um, there's nothing, object, is it? It's not like there's nothing. Well, I want to say there's nothing sentimental. Of course, there are things photos are very sentimental, but it doesn't have all there's that ticket stub from, you know, the plane I was on the other day inside there.

It's not as visceral, but it is insightful. You know, you know, what apps do you open the most? What apps are open at the moment? Like, oh, I've never even heard of that app what do you use that for. Oh well because I do this I need this app and you do it you know don't get me wrong I don't want to make another tech podcast and there are enough podcasts out there about apps and phones and technology I'm not. I couldn't be less interested in that to be honest. Yeah I'm not I'm not particularly interested in that either but I do think it would be more telling to me. I would find it more interesting seeing what's on your phone.

If I wanted to find out about you, you know, as a person. Do you carry a book? No. Do you carry a water bottle? No. Wow. So you got your keys and your phone pretty much. That's it.

Mm hmm. And sometimes my wallet, but less and less my wallet. Yeah, less and less my wallet too. Yeah, I agree. Yeah, that's funny, isn't it? Now that you can pay for everything on your phone. Yeah, yeah, amazing. Wow, that's fascinating.

Hmm. A pen, do you leave with a pen in your pocket? No. What do I need a pen for? If I write something, I write it on my phone. Oh, I carry a pen. I carry a pen and a notebook and, know that I like that stuff and I guess sunglasses, you know, that's I guess something there, but they sort of hooked

over, you know, the collar. They're not sort of in a bag. Is there anything in your bag that would surprise me? Those are all just like practical stuff like a pen and a notebook and a. I don't know. I don't know in mine. Well, Tim's getting his bag. What's in there?

Go on then. Show me something. Show's getting his bag. What's in there? Go on then? Show me something show me one interesting thing That's it's I mean to walk through is to tell the story and we're not going to do that But there's there's a bunch of folders and papers and stuff that I know I'll need There's no ticket stub. You don't leave like a designer ticket stuff off. There's my older. Oh, what's that? Glastonbury ticket doing in there? That's right. Oh, here's that half-

Oh, it's my Congressional Medal of Honor. Half-completed book of poetry that I'm writing at the moment. That's right. There's a charger, you know what I mean? Oh, there's the receipt from that donation I gave to the orphanage. That's right. He says. That's right. Oh, there's little Jimmy in there.

We'll be home soon, Jimmy. Not Tim. There's a receipt from that vanity plate I just bought. There's an article I want to read. There's a couple of Manila folders with things in them. There's just papers to do with work that it's like, I've written that down on that phone conversation so I'll put that in my bag because I'll need that in the other workplace tomorrow. There's some mints because I deal with people all day long and I don't like, I hate, I hate

the idea that I might have bad breath. So I carry. You mean like, so you're not talking about a big hunk of mince meat then you're talking about some like spearminty sweeties. Some fisherman's friends not mince, some meatballs I just carry meatballs in my bed. Some beef, some ground up beef. In case I want to make a hamburger. And there's a couple of pens and pencils. It's not actually as interesting as I thought as an idea no you're thinking you've just scuppered your own

podcast there if I'd if and there's two laptops if I'd known I would have put something more in but that kind of kills my idea that you you know it's spontaneously now get your phone out all right here's my phone and show me what tell me what apps are open you know how you can like you know how you can like push up and just go left to right through your apps that are open okay my essay gov which is like our motor registration because I looked up before when I was buying you know I need a license number government contacts and in the contacts I've looked up the phone

number for a person I called today which I won't say their name Twitter or X the camera messages you know last text message that came through which is generally just stuff from you what's open is don't edit just tell me oh okay there's Facebook yeah and messenger Facebook messenger which I never use and I despise it's so annoying. I refuse to put Facebook Messenger on my phone because I think it's so naughty they're trying to get you to use it as a separate app but yeah. Yeah I know I know it's not things Outlook so like email music and the album well it's interesting I guess isn't it Stephen Malcolmus and the Jicks

their albums his album Sparkle Hard what's's after that? The Australian app, which is like our national newspaper here in Australia, the advertiser app, which is our South Australian newspaper. Yeah. WhatsApp, YouTube. Yeah. And YouTube is open to a song because my daughter was singing it earlier and I was trying to work out what it was and it's from the Grinch it's called Where Are You Christmas so I was playing that a couple of times before yeah on YouTube and so forth. Let's get down towards the more less used ones as we get further down your app list here. Well we're still at the phone if I go right yeah I'll go right down I'll scroll through. No no don't skip I want to no just say them like don't skip just like go left or right and tell me. OK, podcast.

This one called podcast you're listening to the podcast was a Formula One, the race Formula One podcast. Yeah, I was listening to yesterday. Now they all jump to the front when I click on it. Church meetings. Tell me this, though, Tim. Are you not thinking maybe my idea? This idea has more merit because you have to tell me why you opened each app and what you were doing with it like I was messaging my friend from church I was listening to this album I was watching this video like this is like this to me feels more engaging then oh here's a pen.

I refuse to acknowledge it's a better idea but will continue on. But we'll continue on. Okay. I'll do it. You want me to do it with my phone? Yes. I'll do it with my phone. Obviously it starts more boring always. Okay. First of all, Safari, the internet. I looked up a picture of the Big Dipper, the plow to send to Tim.

Then messages, a message from my wife, she's stranded on a train that's not moving. Then Twitter, then photos. She's been there for several weeks, it's a crisis. No, she's just like... Email and the last email I opened was from someone wanting us to do advertising on the

Unmade Podcast. WhatsApp, I was messaging my friend Mark who just built the Lego Millennium Falcon and he sent me a picture of it instagram i was watching an instagram about how they created special effects in a batman movie. YouTube studio where i can check all my youtube stats my list where i have podcast ideas of course paypal where i was checking that i had sent him his share of. Paypal where I was checking that I had sent him his share of unmade podcast money YouTube where I was watching a video about mathematics podcasts where I was listening to the Ezra Klein show About US politics my calendar

My alarm app because I had to set three alarms last night because I was in charge of running men's night at tennis And each time the time runs out and I say okay last game everyone and then you swap courts I had to do that so I had to have the alarm going off all the time on my wrist because I was also playing tennis. There we go and on and on it goes maps where I was looking up what was I looking up on maps I was looking up a place I was looking up a place I had to go yesterday to look at a table that I wanted to purchase and on it goes on it goes Yeah, this is a better idea all stories to be told mine's an older idea This would have no idea that would have been wonderful back before podcasts existed This is a better idea for the era in which podcasts do exist the smartphone era It's a way into your day nice work nice work now we are going to retire to the request room. Lots of ideas and questions have come in from Patreon supporters that we will discuss.

Patreon.com slash UnmadeFM if you want to hear us talk about what have we got here. Bit of tennis, bit of Formula One maybe, bit of talk about moons and astronomy, A bit of talk about moons and astronomy, geoguessing, slang, bands, music, guitars, soda flavours. These are some of the things we may deal with. Of course I don't know yet because we haven't recorded it, but if you want to come to the request room, more chat to be had. Thanks for listening. See you folks. See you there.