The Unmade Podcast - 163: A 1600-Day Streak

Episode Date: June 19, 2025

Brady and Tim discuss an office move, marble runs, a virtual ‘small world’ story, consecutive streaks, a spoon from the Northern Territory, and Michael Mosley.Today’s Request Room - https://www.patreon.com/posts/131826639Support 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 LINKSMarble Runs (on Amazon) - https://amzn.to/3ZEGmyfHaunted House pinball machine - https://pinside.com/pinball/machine/haunted-houseThe ‘photo’ from Lara’s message - http://bit.ly/3TARLLSPictures of Spoon of the Week - https://www.unmade.fm/spoon-of-the-weekMichael Mosley - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_MosleyCatch the bonus Request Room episode - https://www.patreon.com/posts/131826639

Is that a mega hat you're wearing? Hell no, no, this is a Terrellgan Bowls Club hat that I'm wearing. Okay. It is a different shade of red. Oh, it is. Yeah. No, it's more maroon, which is a Terrellgan colour. The Terrellgan football and Bowls Club are all, they're actually, the football

clubs called the Maroons. So it's very certainly maroon. Okay. Oh, I say maroon now, but in Australia, I always said maroon. I don't know if they're the same colour pronounced differently or what's going on either way they're similar colours but. It's not mega it's not mega red no certainly not. No okay. I'll tell you what is different though you may notice a different picture behind me from normal for those that are watching a screenshot or the YouTube version I'm actually in a new office with moved offices here at the church. It's been massive huge.

Where's the where's the new one. Well it's. I'm asking for my purposes here it's no interest whatsoever to the listeners. Well it's moved. What part of building you in? It's moved from the West Wing to the East Wing. Which is a demotion in the in America but it's yet it's it's it's lovely we've had because what new stuff everyone's moved offices so after. We had soup Sunday after church everyone has soup and then after that it was a mass support army of volunteers picking up stuff moving between offices exploitation of free labor one might call it they got soup they had soup.

And it was chaos but it was fantastic it's all settled down very well and I'm in my new office here so I got I need to put up new bookshelves though because I'm bringing all my books over from the college where my academic library there's like lots and lots of books so I've been measuring up to put in new book cases and so the background will change again but no in the meantime I have this. The starry night here by Van if you're listening at home. Not the original. I don't think it's the original I did see the original held up one of my daughters in the original at the top of the Museum of Modern Art in New York it like the oval office is like emptied without ceremony within seconds like a super fast transfer? Was it like that? It was, that's how it was going to be in our minds. Like everyone would just walk up to a certain distinct piece of furniture, calmly pick it up and walk out in an orderly manner. That wasn't the reality, though. that wasn't what happened at all. There's a bit of IKEA furniture being put together and there was other desks being smashed up because they didn't work properly and then filing cabinets and you know it was chaotic to say that was Colonel Katrina there she somehow avoided this she was there she was playing music on Sunday piano in the band but she somehow avoided being part of this chaos.

I know I think that's good cause I would have been this down the other end and and place it carefully on the bench you know I was I was overly prescriptive about a few things. I saw someone with the spoons walking down carefully and so forth just putting I don't think with enough reverence in my mind this is the sort of thing where you know in the Old Testament the Ark of the Covenant's very carefully carried. Yeah. Not none of that. Covered with a cloth because if anyone looks at it, they'll die. That's right. Your spoons are very similar. Very similar.

I can't believe you let amateurs move the spoons. I know, and no gloves. We needed the Objectivity White Gloves or something like that as well. Yeah, things have all been repositioned and put in new places. I have a new desk. I have like a nice trestle and bench thing from Ikea that's nice and wide and long and thin and I feel really good sitting out tonight. So you seem reenergised by this new office.

I'm a whole new girl. It's fantastic. Can I tell you about something I've acquired? Yes. So lately I've been watching some YouTube videos with Edward, my little son, my three year old, of marble racing. You know, these devices where you drop marbles in and they roll down all the chutes and tunnels and- Oh yeah, cool. You know, it's all loop the loops and stuff and then they- which marble gets to the bottom first?

And I was always very interested in these as a kid. I liked them and much to my delight, Edward has become really taken with watching the videos. So I went to the toy shop the other day and let's just say I over invested in marble racing kit. And I've been making these huge elaborate marble races down in our lounge room for him and to my absolute double delight. He loves it. He loves just picking up the marbles and putting them in and watching them go down and shoot around and I love it. And this has become a new thing that we're doing together. It fills me with so much joy that he's into it at such an early age.

It bodes well for the future that he's going to share my nerdy interests. So hang on is this like a something particularly you've bought like or is it just you've bought a bunch of stuff and made your own kind of improvised. Oh no I'm totally about making my own. Yeah. But I've bought all the so I bought multiple boxes so I've got lots and lots of pieces in fact I'll show you one. Yeah. Here's just here's just one of the boxes now. Oh okay so it is a real thing but then you're like Lego you're just making your own from it yeah. That's modular and there's all the different parts there's a there's a windy part and a spinny part and all the different parts.

Like on the game Mouse Trap little bits of stuff on the game Mouse Trap people a bit, although that's a very contained version. And like there were certain parts I wish I had like, oh, I wish I had a part that would do this. And then I went on the internet and I found out you can like 3D print parts that to sort of, you know, people have had the same thought and design them. And I think this could be the thing that makes me finally buy a 3D printer. Oh, right. Because I like, oh, I'd love that part. I'd love that part, but you can't get it in the shops. You can only 3D print it. Oh, I want something that will do this with the bowl.

And anyway, to cut to the chase, I'm thinking, how can I spend more of my time building marble races and justify this as work? Um, and I think I've come up with a bit of an idea. You know how, when we have our winners, uh, from our Patreon supporters, you know, who's going to get prizes this week. And I just use like a basic like algorithm on my computer involving random numbers and stuff to to choose who wins stuff. I'm thinking of introducing a new algorithm and creating marble races where different marbles are attached to different patron names and whoever wins the marble races gets the prizes and I film all and people can watch it and see how their marbles are doing like it could be like you know if your name starts with a you're the green marble and if your name starts with be your blue marble and. It gets eliminated down more and more and more until we get winners stuff like that so is this in your mind is this a bit like one of those massive water slide parks where everyone gets at the top but everyone takes a different amount of time to get to the bottom. Well you can also put them on the same slide because lots and lots of the components in these marble races like lots of the modules when the marbles enter it.

You don't know which one's gonna come out the other side first but they could spin around and things like this one works like water going down a sink where two marbles are spinning around together and they're bumping into each other and stuff so there is there are overtaking opportunities. Yeah overtaking opportunities I like that yeah yeah. It's not it's not a convoy there are there are several pieces that allow overtakes so that's I mean that and that's the business and when that happens. Well that's good because you can't otherwise you can just do it once per track and you'd have to reassemble it or change something but yeah no that's good if you don't genuinely don't know and you could create it with that in mind yeah. Yes I'll completely and I do. So are you gonna have one marble for every patron supporter we have and just throw them all down and then see how it goes. No, the early stages will have to be grouped to eliminate, but come the finals. Yes. You know, I want, you know, this one's this one's told Jeff and this one's Billy Jones and this one's whoever. And yeah, you watch them race to see who's going to get the prizes.

Oh, you'll love that. And like a round robin competition. And will you document all that? Everything, everything. I'm lying in bed thinking about it nonstop. You're gonna love it. My wife took a video the other night because Edward went to bed and he was asleep, so we went down to the lounge to like, you know, watch some Netflix together. And instead I just went off into the corner of the lounge and spent two hours building marble race tracks.

That's great. That's great. That's awesome. You haven't reached that. I'm so obsessed, man. The only careful, there's a line there though. I mean, that is just wonderful that the line is when you get to Edward comes down to play and you're like, don't touch, don't touch my marbles. And that's the line you've got to be careful of.

I sometimes wish he was a bit more careful. I don't, I do warn him to not be too rough handed around it. But yeah, I am letting him play with it at the moment. But when I create my super track for patron races, I'm not sure he's going to be allowed to play with that one. That's going to be quarantined off in a special special area will it be? Okay. We'll see. Because there are prizes at stake. Cause you know, there are prizes at stake.

But that's a slippery slope, you know, suddenly it's like, these are my Star Wars figures. They're the really expensive ones. And you know, here are your ones, you know what I mean? Like suddenly it all gets a little bit weird. I'm and actually funnily enough, coincidentally, I'm in the process at the moment of creating myself a new office, perhaps off site from the house. Oh yeah. So the big question is going to be, will the marble race thing move to my office or stay here in the house. That's where that will be helpful to distinguish because it's like the things that are in the office. You know a tax deductible their work related the things that are in the home it's gonna be harder to justify but you're you know what I mean like it's like Edward Edward will love him well Edward know that there's another office like will he be allowed to one day like here are the real toys.

This is a difficult question because the office is like right next to our house so it is close enough that he can get there so yeah I mean he will know so it's gonna it's gonna it's gonna be some navigation to be done no doubt. I mean he will know so it's gonna it's gonna it's gonna be some navigation to be done no doubt. Imagine going to like growing up and then going to visit your dad's work and then realizing your dad just has this amazing Lego collection at work like he's just goes to work every day and plays on phenomenal Lego you know what I mean like. Well I've told this story a few times but as most people know my dad was a journalist at the newspaper when I was a boy. And as a little boy, I loved things like writing stories and, um, creating my own little novels and things, or just basically I loved anything involved having a notepad. So I craved notepads and I was always, I'd always say to my dad, dad, can you bring me home some notepads from work? And maybe once every few months he'd bring home like one or two blank notepads and just throw them my way. And I thought he was like a king for that.

And I was so grateful after months and months of asking that he finally managed to acquire me a notepad. And then eventually I too became a journalist and worked in the same building as my dad. And then I realised there were these cupboards upon cupboards upon cupboards filled with empty notepads that you could just come and take whenever you wanted at any time. And it just made me realise he just forgot week after week after week after week. Mother. He just always forgot me. And suddenly from thinking he was my hero, I was like, you bastard. Where were they?

You could have brought me back 10 notepads a day and it would have cost you nothing. Maybe he was just maybe it was just the last step in the delivery service that wasn't happening. Maybe he was putting in an order for you all the time and they were building up, building up, building up. And then finally you went in and there they were over all those years. But. Oh, right. When I got the job, that was his gift to me. Yeah, yeah.

Here they are, here they are. A thousand notepads. It wasn't the newspaper that put them there in that cupboard it was my dad. He just said I'll leave them here for you. He's that boy's planning. All my years as a journalist I was using notepads bought by my dad especially. Yeah, yeah, like your college fund, you know what I mean? Where you put money in it every year and every year.

Don't touch it, don't touch it. And it's like one day Brady's going to have a lot of notepads. So anyway, if I start feeling some warmth from the patrons about my idea and watching marble runs to decide which ones of them get prizes, this is going to accelerate the process. So let me know if you like the idea. I think this is a great idea. And I think you've got to also give us, there'll be some cool audio to go with as well. Because it's like the ding. You know, don't worry, people, we're not going to start producing podcasts with like 30 minutes of just listening to the sound of marble runs.

But yeah, it is, it is a, it does make satisfying sounds. That's true. Parish notices. Indeed. Last episode, I had an idea for a podcast, which was called, It's a a small world which was basically dealing with those coincidences you know I was on a holiday in Bali and I bumped into my uncle's sister's best friend's brother and I couldn't believe it and things like that. I told a couple of stories which I thought were gripping and I encouraged other people to send them in Tim have you seen any of them. Send them in Tim have you seen any of them I have I had a read of one I'm trying to remember you gave them to be just a little while ago there was a Katie. What I thought was a good story that name rings a bell I was about to see anyone or did you read a bunch of them but the and then I got distracted because it was dinner.

But I forgot to get back to you but the name Katie sticks in the line did you let me open the list Katie let me see if I can find the Katie one as well oh here we go yeah. It was either Katie's one to read out or Katie's one not to read out. You don't remember which I don't remember which let me tell you my reaction first of all thank you to everyone who sent them in and I read the mall and I came to a realisation and maybe this is just my realisation I don't know if you share this view. And maybe this is just my realisation. I don't know if you share this view. I don't think everyone does, but I came to the realisation what I thought was a good idea is a bad idea. And hearing and reading other people's anecdotes about coincidences and what a small world it is, is surprisingly boring. Oh man.

And I know that's really mean and it made me realise that my stories were mean. And I think maybe it's the same reason hearing other people's dreams are a bit boring. Because to the person telling the story, the dreamer or the purveyor of the coincidence, this is an amazing thing. And they experienced it. This is an amazing thing and they experienced it and all the little moving parts, the people, the uncle, the brother, the pink elephant with spots, whatever it is in your dream. All these things are very personal and important to you. But for the person hearing the story, it type, they're kind of just nobody and it's kind of nothing. And it's not really important to you.

And I found it. A couple of the stories I did read and think that's a good story and they were all well written and well told and I can imagine why it felt amazing. But I didn't feel the amazement I didn't get the goosebumps that they got. I reckon though there's these stories do work well in person but perhaps with people you know so this is one when you're astonished and it was better all barrel oh wow so there's something about the connection that makes it really work. Yeah so even a connection to the story teller means gives it something extra perhaps so you hearing my story makes you think oh that's good because I know Brady and I can see how excited he is but these ones these people though we love them as supporters we don't know them and maybe it's that I don't know. Personally I love these stories man I don't know about you. You you you're you're just sucking up to the patrons listeners you're sucking up to the civilians. There's one that mentioned church and I thought that was a particularly good story oh there's Katie here we go well can we read Katie's now because that's you know. Oh, there's Katie.

Here we go. Well, can we read Katie's now? Because that's, you know. I guess we can't. All right. Okay. Well, have you got it there? Do you want to read it? I'll read it here from Katie.

A couple of years ago, we had friends and family gathered for my kid's birthday. My friend Mariah starts chatting about a new warehouse sized arcade that had opened up nearby, full of the typical video games and also boasts a massive collection of pinball games from all eras. She then proceeds to rave about a particular pinball game they have there called Haunted House. She goes on and on about the cool features it has and how much fun this particular pinball game was. She said she and her husband kept coming back to it over and over again because they liked it so much. Then, called as a cucumber, my dad, who was standing next to the whole time says I'm glad you liked it I designed that game. My dad is a good my dad was a lead engineer at got a lot got got a lib.

One of the large got leave got leave maybe here one of the largest American pinball companies in operation during the 60s and 70s. He designed and built a number of very popular games and even holds a few patents, one of them for a feature on the Haunted House game. Still to this day, he helps restore antique games for collectors all around the world. Needless to say, Mariah's jaw was on the floor and I had a great chuckle. It was also a moment of pride seeing how my dad's work decades ago is still bringing joy to people everywhere. It was a pretty great coincidence that of all the games she could have played in that great big warehouse she happened to have found and really enjoyed the one designed by the guy sitting next to her at a family birthday party. Thanks for the great show. So that's that is although. That's good.

It look it is good. I have to admit Tim I missed that one when I was copying and pasting all the comments to you I thought I'd read all of them I hadn't read that one and that is a good one. Yeah yeah it's got the unique angle as well as a story about pink thing about pinball games you know that's sort of an interesting thing and the fact that there's a designer behind them as well. That's that that adds to that story a behind them as well that's that that. Yeah that's good a little bit as well that's quite quick quirky and good yeah. Can I tell you what I did I took all of the submissions we had and I fed them into chat GPT. Oh yeah. And I said to chat create the ultimate small world anecdote that's kind of believable and could happen but still interesting enough that you tell at a party I said right in the style of all the submissions we've already had I want the same style.

I draw on some of the names and places so really draw upon everyone's comments together to create the ultimate story and do you want me to read it. Yeah is it long or short? I'm really interested. It's longish. Yeah. It's about, it's a similar length to all the other ones. It goes on a bit because they tried to chat, tried to up the ante a bit. But I'm wondering, is this going to be even worse than a dream or an anecdote? Cause it said made up one by artificial intelligence. Maybe it's going to be even more boring, but I still think it's interesting to see how

chat synthesized everyone's comments into one mega story. Okay. Are you ready? I'm ready. This comes from Lara. That's the name chat chose. Hi Tim and Brady. I've listened to your podcast for years and always loved the small world stories but I

never thought I'd have one of my own yet alone one that feels like a low key simulation glitch. A few years ago, I was traveling solo through Europe between jobs. It was one of those reassess your life kind of trips. Anyway, I just arrived in Lisbon and booked into a small guest house near the Alfama district. The place had a communal breakfast table. And on my first morning there, I sat across from an older couple from Canada. We got chatting over custard tarts and espresso and when I said I was from Melbourne, the wife paused and said, Oh, our daughter married an Aussie from Melbourne. He used to live in Carlton. He was a lovely guy. Ben something.

I froze because I used to date a Ben from Carlton. We'd broken up three years earlier, no hard feelings. He was into indie films and cooking, and I remembered vaguely that his sister had moved to Vancouver. I half-joked, You wouldn't happen to be talking about Ben Riley. The husband blinked and laughed, Yes, that's our son-in-law. So there I was in Lisbon making awkward small talk over cereal with the in-laws of my ex-boyfriend. The story doesn't end there. Later that week, I took a train up to Porto. I was in a quiet carriage journaling when I noticed a girl sitting opposite me sketching something in a notebook. It looked very familiar.

I eventually asked, is that the Glenferry Station Bridge, which is in Melbourne for the non-Aussies? She smiled and said, yeah, I grew up just around the corner. I told her I'd gone to school near there and we started comparing notes. Not only did we go to the same high school, we were in the same class in year seven for one term before her family moved away. We shared a class photo. There we were, 12 years old, awkward hair and all. But wait, there's more! I posted a picture of us reuniting on the train, tagging the school and the city. A few hours later, I got a message from someone I didn't know. It was a guy named Yusuf who said, I don't know if this is weird, but I saw your post and realised something. I was on the same train as you today.

I took a photo of the tiles in the station and you're in the background talking to someone. He sends me the photo and sure enough there we are, blurry but unmistakable, caught mid laugh in someone else's tourist snap. Youssef, by the way, turned out to be a friend of a friend from uni. We'd never met but we had mutual connections and we'd once been in the same house party in 2018. So to sum up in one week I had breakfast with my ex's in-laws reconnected with a forgotten classmate on a random train trip and was unknowingly photographed by a guy who almost became my flatmate. It's honestly made me a little paranoid that the universe is trying to tell me something. Love the show.

Thanks for giving me a reason to finally write in warmly Lara. That's. How good is the chat GPT that's crazy good it's even got little side notes and clarifications for the non Aussies listening and that is if I put that in the document I sent to you. You would not have picked that. I was going to say the tone the tone at the beginning and the end of the perfect yeah yeah that's it. That's crazy. It's starting to make me wonder if all the other letters that we get the other emails are real. Or our listeners even.

Do we have any listeners are we just living in some sort of bubble and AI is just feeding us feedback. Gosh, what a thought. Yes. Is it all a simulation? There you go. There you go. That's pretty good. I tell you, thanks, Lara.

Thanks for listening, Lara. Yes. I tell you what will be amazing is if a marble comes out Lara in a few weeks time. I did realize something I love coincidences I guess by definition they have a pattern but they have a certain pattern I used to work with a colleague I do now finishing up in the role but I work with a colleague called Vicky. proper names Victoria and I have a dog Brooklyn and I suddenly realize that when I walked my dog Brooklyn I walked him in Victoria Park and when I worked with Victoria I did so in Brooklyn Park. Is that a. That's so bad like Brooklyn Park colleges in Brooklyn Park I go to Brooklyn Park to work with Vicky and I go to Victoria Park to work with Brooklyn. Isn't that awesome? There you go.

That's good. That's good. Is that true? Or is that chat GPT making that up? No, that's me. That's true. That's true. I can point.

I know. I know. Here's Vicky right now. Ideas for a podcast. Should I go first? Go for it. I know you were a bit light on. Yeah.

What do you mean light on? You said, well you said you'd hardly had an idea today. No, I had an idea. It's not a good idea, but it's an idea. You got one. Yeah. All right. Well, let's save yours up.

Let's do mine. Mine, as always, mine is one that I've just come up with half an hour before, because there's always a recency bias and things that just happen to you always seem more important and better. Totally. So I've gone with my newest idea because just before we started recording, I went and had my hair cut and a guy walked into the hairdressers who I knew. His name's Tim as well. His name is Tim Wookie. He lives near me, plays at my local tennis club. Nice guy.

But one of the things about him that I find really interesting is he's really into cold water swimming right near where we live. There's a big outdoor lake next to the sea and people go there every morning and every day to swim outside in the seawater and hardier souls will even do it in the winter and do the cold water swimming, which is all the Vogue these days. Yeah. It it's easy enough to do in the summer but doing it in the winter is a bit braver. Tim's really into it he does it every morning and he went on this incredible streak that was into the thousands of days. In a row doing a cold water swim everyday even when he goes on holidays he finds somewhere else to cold water swim. Every day even when he goes on holidays he finds somewhere else to cold water swim and I said to him when I saw him in the hairdresser today I said hey Tim how you going what number is your streak at how's it going and he said.

Got some bad news for you the streak has ended it ended at 1600 days 1600 days in a row swimming in cold water in the morning. What killed the streak? Yes. What could possibly have happened? Yes. Well, that's first thing I asked. Unfortunately, he had a detached retina and had to have emergency surgery. And then after that, you couldn't go in the water and you had to keep his head down for four days or something. And so he couldn't, he had to break the streak. It ended.

He was gutted, but that was the end. 1600 days. Incredible streak streak congratulations to him but that got me thinking what are some other great streaks that we've had days in a row things people do have you have you have you personally got any streaks is there anything you've done every day for a lot of days in a row that you think is worthy of note. for a lot of days in a row that you think is worthy of note. No, that that is a great idea. Why don't I think of that streaks. I like to call this podcast streaker. Yes, nice. Yes. Bit of a play on words streaker is one who runs nude onto a sports field.

Yes, indeed. It will get a lot of views on the first episode. Can I give you a few really big time streaks? I'll give you a few big time examples. You've done a bit of research, have you? You've got a few there from history. A little bit, just a little bit. John Sutherland in the USA ran at least one mile a day for over 20,000 days.

Oh golly gosh. At least running at least a mile a day for 20,000 days. There are some people on Duolingo, the app, the language learning app that have had streaks of over 4, thousand days for the nerds there are some people on github that have made contributions to github for over one thousand five hundred days in a row. Someone called noah kalina took a selfie every day since january eleven two thousand as part of the famous Everyday Video Project. That's over 9,000 days now of selfies. Oh, golly. I reckon I reckon we must be close to that with pictures of Edward by now. Craig Ferguson hosted two thousand and fifty eight consecutive

episodes of The Late Late Show. All right. Here are a couple for you, Tim. There are some devout individuals who have attended Catholic mass daily for 30 to 50 plus years. While unofficial, these are documented in personal journals and parish records, mass every day, every day for 50 years. There are many Christians that have documented daily scripture reading streaks that have lasted over 50 years, often tracked in journals journals scripture reading every day for 50 plus years. Guy called Donald Gorsk has eaten at least one Big Mac nearly every day since 1972 34,000 Big Macs apparently. And there's one man who's reportedly told his daughter the same dad joke every day for seven plus years chronicled in a YouTube compilation. Do you know what the dad joke is?

No, I did not research that thoroughly. No, I was churning out the factoids. Yeah. What about you, Tim? Is there any, do you think you've got any streaks? Well, I have done some streaks, but in relation to- Oh, nudie streaks. Two famous ones at the beach, yes. But coming back to the topic at hand, I don't know. There are things that I do every day. I am a creature of habit, but I'm not sure I could add them up. Like, I don't know that I've not had a cup of coffee every day since the month I met my wife.

When I for lent gave up coffee and was on T that was in 2001 so I. You think that hasn't been a day you haven't had coffee in all that time. I don't think there would have been a day I've not had coffee since 2001 I can't think of why I would not have had coffee in all that time I've not had extended stays in hospital or been on any kind of you know fast in relation to that even when I'm on a plane so yeah I think I've probably had coffee for 24 years in a row. Yeah. I do these. Have you prayed every day for a long time do you pray every day. I do you think you've ever had a day of not praying. I think I probably have had days of oh yes I've certainly have days of not praying I pray regularly but but I definitely definitely I've definitely had I mean you know what I mean but the briefest of prayers certainly going to mass I mean masses only a brief short church service really so it might be 1520 minutes for these people they going and doing that every day is unbelievable.

And certainly be interesting to hear about priests presiding at the mass and how many times they've done that there be those that do it every day maybe multiple times a day for many many years. done that there be those that do it every day maybe multiple times a day for many many years. It's just kind of a lot of them would get days off and holidays and you know things like that so. That's true you reckon the Pope has days where you just got to be bothered today. No it's like not. Yeah no I reckon. I'm liking this new Pope by the way. He's nice is cool isn't he yeah yeah. By the way, he is nice is causing it.

Yeah. Yeah. My favourite thing so far was when someone from his alma mater, his old university, presented him with a baseball cap from his old university. I can't remember what the university is called now, but the name was on it. You know, typical American university baseball hat. And for a few seconds, the Pope took off his little white skull cap thing and put the baseball cap on, like wearing all his, wearing all his Pope gear, but wearing his baseball cap just

for a second and then he took it off. What a legend. He seems like a good sport. It does feel like for the first time like one of us has become Pope rather than them all coming from some other mysterious world or land. It does feel like suddenly like, oh right, yeah, like you know what I mean, one of us has become Pope. Who would have thought that could happen? Yeah. Anyway, You know what I mean one of us has become Pope who would have thought that could happen. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway coming back to streaks I was thinking do I have one and like you know at first I mean you should discount boring things like brushing your teeth.

Yeah. But even brushing your teeth I'm sure that streaks broken somewhere along the line occasionally. Certainly in the teenage years it was. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um, I thought about the fact that I have never sworn certain swear words, but I'd think not doing something doesn't count because it's because, you know, you can easily, you know, I've not, you know, I've, it's been a very long time since I was in a helicopter, so I could claim a really good streak of not flying in a

helicopter, but that doesn't seem to count. So, so not doing things doesn't count. They have to be proactive things that require some kind of effort. And I think they should also be something that are a bit different from other people. Anyway, of course, I would love to hear from listeners if you've got streaks you want to share with us. I promise I won't call them boring. No, that's right. Let's not until after they've gone through the jet chat, BTBT cycle.

It is interesting people that keep, I think, I think the one, the one difference with the omitting rule, of course, there are people who, you know, give up things that they are addicted to, such as drinking or something, and they count the days. It's been 554 days. Yeah. So that, that's, that's, that's pretty great. The other thing, I think the swearing thing is more interesting than you think tell us a little bit more about that do you. What is interesting I acknowledge it's in my people do find it mildly interesting there are certain words that are swear words that I've never said and now I don't say them just because I want to keep the street going.

Wow what are what are they tell us what they are. just because I want to keep the streak going. Wow. What are, what are they? Tell us what they are, Bray. But like, but I'm not judgmental about swearing, by the way. I have no problem with people swearing. I think swearing can be funny. I sometimes find it limiting to my own ability to be funny and tell jokes.

Like there are times when I think, oh, swear word would have made that much funnier. So, but it's, it, and the reason I don't do it is just to maintain a streak cause I like the idea that you know I haven't done it and getting to this age now and swearing for the first time it be like. Well that was a effing waste of time. Man I can't get through a tennis match without swearing so I don't know how you're doing it. So I guess that does kind of count but I find that less interesting abstaining from things is that you know and don't get me wrong massive credit to alcoholics that then go. No indeed. Streaks of not drinking and like yeah that's like that's I don't want to diminish that. No no it's more about that but that's a situation where they've removed something that's obviously cardinal at one point in their life that's why it's interesting. Yes. they've removed something that's obviously cardinal at one point in their life. That's why it's interesting.

It's not just, Oh, well, I don't eat yogurt anymore or something like that. It's got to be something like, I haven't had a glass of water for, which is not recommended by the way, or something like that for 546 days. I haven't breathed for three days. So, um, yeah, let us know, let us know some streaks. We'd love to hear little, uh, some, some listener streaks streaks are, uh, yeah. Have you got a streak and what a pot. And obviously coming back to the whole purpose of our podcast, this would be a good podcast talking about people's streaks.

Oh, yeah. Yeah. And getting them on to talk about it in particular. I think that's always fascinating. Yeah. Remember Jimmy Stein's, there was a particular AFL footballer. Oh geez, I should have looked up how long it went but he played something like 220 games or something without missing one which is unbelievable not to get injured and miss a game in something as demanding as a football. There are sport is full of streaks and stuff like that too that's less that's less interesting to me that's not really what I'm going for like you know unbeaten streaks and things that they are interesting and could fit into this podcast idea but I what I really want to find out of people's individual things like Tim Wookie my friend doing one thousand six hundred days in a row of swimming in.

I see cold water. Can I ask with him for instance was it about the streak or was it just I like doing this thing and I may as well keep it up. That's a good question I mean he's a very fit and active guy so you know I get the impression he's quite health conscious but it did become about the streak for him because now that he can do it again and he has started swimming again. I said are you doing it every day again now and he said no I don't do it every day now like now if it's. Like now if it's if the weather's looking terrible and that he'll be like nah I just won't bother now because there's no streak to maintain so the streak did play a role in his commitment yes. So I wonder if he kept going the streak might have become like a tyrannical thing in his life you know what I mean that he can't not do because who am I you know it's probably just as well something happened that was outside his control. True true he did like cause I remember talking to him before you told me that he went on holiday. With his family like you know to Spain or something and I said well how could you keep the street going and he said I had before we left I had to find a place where I could go and do my, I knew I was gonna be able to go and do my swim to keep the street going so maybe it did become something of a millstone. Yeah yeah yeah that's interesting.

I've said the same thing to my girls every night they've gone to bed and I did that there have been nights recently that I notice I don't do it I just say goodnight and so forth and you know night girls and I'll go into my and I didn't I didn't say it tonight I'm not gonna say what it is but I've said it you know sort of kiss the furrowed and said the same thing and I did that. Like a little like a little saying or a little. Yeah yeah yeah yeah like a little saying reassuring little saying that I. It wasn't like the Dread Pirate Robertson Princess Bride where you said you'd most likely kill them in the morning.

Three years he said that good night Wesley good work sleep well I must like to kill you in the morning. No. Good. No, but I think I would have done that for 15 years or something like that. And even when I was overseas, I would have been FaceTiming or something. I'm sure there was something missing somewhere, but it was it's the sort of thing, you know, you do it deliberately to keep it going because it's a nice thing. But I didn't think about it being a streak that was unbroken. I have my I have my thing when I get on an airplane that I still do.

You do that touching thing don't you? Yeah I touch the outside of the airplane and I haven't gone on a flight without touching the outside of the airplane as I got on and got off for I don't know I don't know how many times I've flown on a plane but it's quite a lot. I'm on a streak of not touching the outside of the plane of looking at it and going Oh look, there's the outside of the plane and not touching it and I'm still on that. You sure you haven't just touched it once? No, no, no I've never touched it. Haven't just brushed it accidentally with your elbow? No, no, I've never touched it. Okay. Well, keep it going man That's impressive. I went to once and I thought nope. Nope

There'd be no point flying if I ever did. That's the one time the plane crashed. Oh dear. Good idea. Good idea, streaks. Yeah. Shall we do spoon of the week? Do you feel like a spoon of the week? I do, I do. And I have a spoon of the week. Let me just let me just have a little of the week? I do, I do. And I have a spoon of the week.

All right, hang on. Let me just have a little sip of my drink and loosen my vocal chords. Hang on. Spoon of the week. Beautiful spoon today. Wonderful coloured spoon. I've been holding this one back because I've been trying to remember how I possibly got it and I can't remember and so the only conclusion I have is that dad got it on his now famous because I've mentioned it several times trip to.

Queensland and across through the Northern Territory this is from Catherine now Catherine gorge for anyone who's aware of the sort of the Australian rugged red outback this is up north in the Northern Territory. Catherine's a town a country town. And the Gorge there is a famous sort of Gorge with water at the bottom and it's a beautiful I've never been there have you ever have you been to Catherine Gorge. I've not been to Catherine no. Neither have I but it's familiar instantly familiar because it appears on lots of those sort of tourism ads and scenes from films and so forth this is a very colourful spoon. Unusual to like not unique but unusual in so far as yes it has you know. top of the spoon but also in the bowl in the Scoopy bit as you like to call it we have some kind of like enamel or something piece of artwork of the Catherine Gorge a lovely little miniature painting of sorts. I love a spoon that has a painting in the Scoy bit on one rack that would be a special rack.

Their own little subset is that what's happening then because obviously the spoon you've got this big Tupperware container with all your dad's collection and you take them out one at a time to feature on spoon of the week after they featured on a spoon of the week do they then graduate onto like a display rack. They do we're on their second rack. Yep on the wall at home yes it's marvelous it's great and in but in behind the each of the spoons the ones that have the special collector cards have their card allotted there as well. have their card allotted there as well so people know people come into our home right and it's one of the first things I'll see in the corridor. The hallway sort of area and so forth is this magnificent collection of spoons which is growing and of course this is where started with some really great spoons you know that's all the really really good stuff there's still more to come in the tub the tub still still looks totally full but there's some beautiful spoons there it's quite a collection now really quite impressive. And now the Catherine spoon has been added to that rack so you'll take that home now will you and put it on the put on the rack in the hallway. I will I will yes yes the Catherine lovely splash of like expand the pack and have more spoons like you know because at the moment I don't know how many. There are in the collection of their twenty odd cards I can't remember how many cards there are but I keep meaning to increase the.

The card collection and design some new ones so maybe I'll get around to that maybe this Catherine spoon to be the one that finally motivates me to get it done because we had some official photos taken of this of more spoons but I haven't turned them into cards yet so. I prefer to refer to them as portraits man the spoons are so important they're not just pictures or photos their portraits of the official portraits of the spoons. Maybe we could have paintings done of them maybe we could have spoons made of them and let the picture on the spoon of the spoons. Maybe we could have paintings done of them. Maybe we could have spoons made of them. And like the picture on the spoon is the spoon. What's that little picture there at the tip of that spoon? Oh, it's one of my favourite spoons. We can collect the spoons made of the spoons. We can just have one spoon made to commemorate your spoon collection.

There could be a spoon collection spoon or there could be a spoon for every spoon and it's not a replica of the spoon. A spoon to commemorate each spoon. Well, you could, of course you could make replicas and sell them like with this Van Goff, you know what I mean? I've got the originals at home and people have their copies, but, or you could just have a picture of the spoon in the picture. On the spoon.

So it's a spoon commemorating the spoon rather than replicating it. Oh, I love that. Oh, that never ends. And then a spoon to commemorate that spoon. And so it goes. And so goes the budget of another three years of unmade podcasts blown on stupid merch ideas. If that doesn't flood the market, I don't know what will. The insatiable taste for more Spoon of the Week spoon stuff.

Spoons of spoons of spoons that were in Spoon of the Week. And then you could start featuring those spoons on Spoon of spoons of spoons that were in spoon of the week. And then you can start featuring those spoons on spoon of the week. I can't quite see what's on this one. Hang on. I'm looking closer. Oh, it's a spoon of spoon of the week. It's good. There we go.

Stay tuned people. Can I ask while I'm asking just to while we're talking about it what's the update on the the medals where are the medals at. Oh well the Tim Hine medal and the Brady Harren medal are progressing with pace now official designs have been made by the company that I've selected to produce the medals and I believe. The final dies are being cast so that the medals can be manufactured. And once that happens, uh, well, just let's just say it's going to be a big deal. And I've been having a rethink about who wins the medals. I think we rushed in and didn't really think it through. And I think once we see the medals themselves and how wonderful they are, we might have to reassess the criteria and what the medals are awarded for.

But watch this space, watch this space watch this space stuff is happening stuff is happening. Oh it's amazing to be able to quite literally say the die is cast. Prizes Patreon supporters if you support us on Patreon you are the reason the show happens you get access to the request room which is really been great lately you should really it's really worth becoming a patreon supporter just for the request room and if you become a support you can listen to all the previous ones there's some great stuff there will be another great one today no doubt. But we also give away prizes i have some randomly selected winners here not using the marble run yet but these ones we done with a computer technology. Tim's got the guitar out as he likes to at this time Tim are you ready. I'm playing I'm ready read away. We have a unmade podcast Australian nutather Keyring going to Tyler in Iowa.

Tyler, I think Tyler's won a few things now. He's a higher level supporter so it does slightly increase his odds in the algorithm. But I think Tyler's doing well. Tyler from Iowa. That's a cool rock name, isn't it? New album from Tyler from Iowa. New album from Tyler from Iowa. We have a unmade podcast, an unmade podcast spoon going to Sarah from Amarillo in Texas. Amarillo? Can you play, is this the way to Amarillo?

I don't even know that song. Well, then you probably can't play it. This is your, is your boom appearance audio collection coming through is that right? No, it's quite a famous song in the UK because the comedian Peter Kay many years ago mimed it, did a mime of it for a charity album with lots of celebrities in it and the song where I think the song went to like the top of the charts in the UK and that's an old-fashioned song. Is this the way is this the way to Amarillo? Sarah the way to Amarillo a spoon will soon be finding the way to Amarillo because you have won one a Tim Hine Autograph a guitar plectrum going to Zhang in Ontario There we go nice congratulations hmm hmm nice nice get that

Brady Haran commemorative asteroid postcard going to Ica or Issa? I'm imagining something like Ica in Malmo Sweden. Yeah I mean you know it's consolation prize really that one. After the plexum, true. Spoon of the week collector cards. I'm going to send some to Elizabeth in Nebraska. N.E. That's Nebraska, isn't it?

Or Nevada? Oh, it could be Nevada. Yeah. Sorry. Sorry. Elizabeth in N.E. Yeah, you're right that's gonna I know I don't know is NV Nevada what would Nebraska be then? NB? Let me have a look I guess I'm just

gonna have to look it up aren't I? What state is NE it is it is Nebraska there Lovely Bruce Springsteen album. Well done. And last but not least, Thomas in Wilshire here in the UK, you're also going to get some spoon cards. Thank you for supporting us on Patreon everyone. Links all over the place in the usual places. Your support is very important and lots of extra stuff happens for the supporters. And more stuff is planned. And becoming a Patreon supporter, there's no better time than now because you will be entered into my marble run extravaganza. And that's worth the price of admission alone.

Very exciting, very exciting man. You sound excited. Well, it's hard to maintain the excitement for the marble. You mentioned it several times. I am excited. I was excited. Let me see the box again. Maybe that will help. There you go. Look at that. Look at that. And that's just one box. See that huge picture there of that marble run on the box. Imagine two or three of them joined together.

Oh, golly gosh. I think you can probably barely walk around it in your house at the moment. It's fantastic. So excited. All right. Tim, do you have an idea for a podcast to close the show out? Oh, yeah. Look, my idea, it's a bit of a strange idea but I put this down I have to say on my list a couple of years ago and it's I know I nearly revisited a little while ago upon the tragic news of this person's. Passing but I looked at it tonight not thought you know what this is still true my podcast idea is a series in tribute to Michael Mosley.

Do you know who Michael Mosley is? Oh, the health guy. Yeah. You know, one of the, yeah, yeah. I first came across Michael Mosley on a plane trip watching a documentary and it was about health and how to live longer and stuff like that. And I had some practical tips and I was totally struck by him there was something about his ability his believability. He's very likable for people who don't know Michael Mosley is a doctor was an actual doctor here in the UK but he started presenting a few TV shows for the BBC.

for the BBC like you know how to improve your health how to live a more healthy lifestyle and he became a real darling of the BBC and he became quite famous for presenting numerous shows he wrote numerous books and they were often about ways to. Improve your diet or improve your health and I was sometimes like I won't call them gimmicky but they were attached around a gimmick like here's a new kind of diet or a new kind of thing you can do to increase your health and your life expectancy in a whole bunch of shows and books. My wife was a really big fan as well. He died very tragically a little while ago. He was on a holiday and he went on a hike on a very hot day on his own. He left his family and said, I'm going to walk back to the hotel and got a bit disoriented and lost and sort of died of dehydration and exposure to the heat. Which is kind of, I guess, kind of ironic, you know, for someone who was in a health and all that sort of stuff. But it was it was very tragic. It was very likeable guy, wasn't he?

Very good TV presenter. Yeah, he was. He was very likeable. But there was something more about that as well. He's he's one of those guys where he could have told me anything and I would have believed it was so you don't have any was so believable it was he just eat I mean he did it. The way he talked about things there was something about his voice and the way he was transparent about things but he. He was just believable I think there's more to the irony of him dying because he died in the Greek islands and he's one of his big themes was championing the the Mediterranean sort of diet and huge things all about the Mediterranean but. And that's where I guess he became in Australia in particular really well known because he had these diet books and. But he always based them around research and not just sort of he's a good idea he would say is a recent research that shows this and so that gave him a bit more credibility but he also did a big documentary about sleep.

Yeah. And about the brain and about e-cigarettes and all those sorts of things as well he's big he was a bit like yourself in that he was infinitely interested in things and presented them in a really really interesting way a quirky way that is a little bit different. I was thinking about him and I was thinking about and you've sort of mentioned a bit over his life but he was sad that he died particularly so young really. Tonight the desperate search for a popular British TV doctor Michael Mosley who vanished in Greece while on a trip with his wife But there was something about him and and doing a deep dive podcast series about his life and who he was but also Unpacking that what why did this person? Why was he so why was he so popular? Why was he so magnetic? What was it about him that made him? so That we were willing to receive so much information from one person

Yeah, I think they authenticity they call it don't they in in broadcasting. He had a ring of authenticity about him. He had like a sort of slight not speech impediment, but there was a slight. It's a bit nasal, wasn't he? And I was utterly gobsmacked when I first came across this research. It started with Roy Taylor and the diabetes research. Then I spoke to Professor Susan Jeb, who's one of the leading experts in Oxford University on weight loss. And she said to me, look, we know that the

amount of weight you lose in the first four weeks predicts weight loss at six months, a year, two years and five years. Sort of a list penis to his voice. I always thought like a very subtle, uh, which I think just made him seem even more authentic and likable. Yeah he didn't he didn't have a natural radio voice or something like that it was a little bit not a cleft palate or anything like that but he did sound a little bit nasal and there was yeah you're right yeah maybe a little bit of a lift a lift a list he was very big into the into that sort of the the five to diet like the Mediterranean diet but then shaped around intermittent fasting have you ever tried any intermittent have you ever fasted from anything at all. hour famine all the time to raise money for World Vision and I remember there was like a bit of a loophole where if you were doing the 40 hour famine it was said you are allowed to you're allowed to drink water of course but you were also allowed to have barley sugars which are these little sweeties that have like high sugar obviously and stuff but they're also really yummy and I love barley sugars and when I found out on the 40 hour famine you could just eat barley sugars for 40 hours and nothing else it suddenly seemed really appealing to me. Oh yeah that's great that's my dream just 40 hours of barley sugars. I remember the 40 hour famine there are a lot of there are a lot of escape clauses along like along the way in the end I think I think they probably had a bunch of kids passing out so yeah yeah being able to give you sugar was a good idea. Did you ever meet Michael Mosley?

No, I know. I'd never met him. No, no, but he's a guy you feel like you did because he was quite normal. He was very normal seeming. Yeah. So your podcast would just be like, you know, his life entails and what is it? Like a six part special was it? Yeah, it's a bit of, it's a bit of a deep, it's a bit of a deep dive.

I'll tell you why I find him interesting is. What part of part of the reason I put him on the list is because I'm not sure why I found him so interesting. And while I was watching him I'd often be thinking about him while I'm watching him not listening to what he's saying but just thinking about why is why is it I'm believing what you're saying I find that really really interesting because I'm extremely cynical about. I'm a bit of an obsession. Not an obsession it was an intrigue. Okay. About about yeah about about about believability which is yeah authenticity yeah authenticity is a loaded word. I think if you want your podcast to be successful you're going to have to be a bit more exploitative though. I think if you call it the life and death of Michael Moseley, that's going to work because people, there'll be some people that will listen just because they're really curious about his, the unusual circumstances of his death. Other people who like you really liked all his diet and health stuff and then he's obviously a guy with a life story to tell. So I would maybe listen to like a three or four part I called the life and death of Michael Mosley.

Well, that's where I began, but I think there's more, there's more to it. There's something more intriguing about that, about why I found him intriguing or why I found him believable. When I, when I put the note in my note, it was like, why, why, why do I believe Michael Mosley, you know what I mean? Yeah. Something about the ring of trueness and authenticity. Who's another person that you think who's like that who do you believe when they say something.

Well someone who's famous for having that kind of reputation or aura I mean they're often these TV presenter types aren't they would be David Attenborough. Oh yeah yeah. Huge credibility that goes with him there are science presenters some of them have died but someone like Carl Sagan their people their people who are good at explaining as well and that's the key. And like Michael Mosley had that and Carl Sagan was very famous for that the fort the astronomer and TV presenter they're very they kind of have the reputation that goes with having the qualifications which Michael Mosley had which, Sagan had people like that but also the ability to explain things in simple layman terms to people like us that don't have the qualifications and if you can bridge that gap of having the, the credibility of being a person who does the job and then the person who's really good at explaining it you know you're on a winner. I once read Aristotle had this list of things in a piece of writing called rhetoric where he talked about about and there's a way of explaining things in simple terms that proves in itself the you know what you're talking about because you're able to say it in a way that. Shows a clarity of thought that shows your competent in the thing that you're talking about but then it moves into other things as well like does the person come across as being for you or for themselves like a salesperson is trying to make sure you know this is a good deal for you but of course you know that they've got a mixed motive because they're to make another documentary series if you believe what he's saying about this one but there's something in the fact that he's just.

He's being paid money yeah that's right yeah reputation but for some reason you feel like he's doing it for us you know there's something anyway that's an intriguing an intriguing quality. Stay tuned for Tim's next big podcast project the life and death of Michael Mosley. It is an unmade podcast idea. It is I. He does have this documentary. I was reminded when I was looking at it in his filmography that I've never seen, but I'm intrigued to see, which is about the human face. He made it with John Cleese. Did you ever see that?

No. An exploration of the human face. One he made that I saw a few clips from and I read the book version of, it's the only one of his books I've read, is the one where he swallowed a camera. Oh, in the gut. Yeah, and I went through his gut and he used the camera's journey through his gut as sort of the storytelling device for his new, you know, and he got, it was all about, you you know got health and that which became super popular in vogue for a year or two. That's right the gut brain and all that kind of stuff was was suddenly the latest thing wasn't it yeah yeah yeah I have it there's a small amount of cynicism in the sense that it does feel like he had a new spin on something. Every year towards the end you know what I mean like there was. Around Christmas time when you need to sell his books.

Yeah yeah yeah there was like the you know I mean like he was basing it on research but it was a little bit like okay if you if you fast between you know like this time and this time and then next year it was like we've now found that if you drop your carbs and you know. Fast and drop the carbs you gonna lose more weight it's like yeah yeah that makes sense. I knew that before but I didn't put it in my last that's right I put it in my next that's right that's exactly right it feels like he was spreading it out pretty thin. But but somehow it was still he had I don't know he was but he was on every TV program but he sort of came across as the credible person in it interesting guy intriguing guy yeah Michael Mosley there you go. Shall we retire to the request room for more chat and questions and stuff from the from the patrons. Can I know before we go today I picked up the leather jacket for those who are waiting in anticipation for the awesome electric guitar solo of the sofa shop on top of the big rocking horse is still unfolding in fact they should be a podcast series following the making of this incredible epic because we've taken another step today I got an amazing leather jacket. Another piece in the puzzle the leather jacket and just quietly I've heard a few recordings coming out of a studio and. And just quietly I've heard a few recordings coming out of a studio and Tim is sparing no expense or effort in the production of this is going to be something pretty special.

I'm very excited I'm very excited there we go stay tuned stay tuned. Request your own let's do it.