Hola, Sneakers! Welcome back to Sneaky Dragon, the podcast that knows its place!
This week: still doing that thing; can’t take a compliment; full-time wolf; lake of skeletons; as Juan does; drowning bonus; robot bear; dangerous massage; calling frontsies; Shakespearean tunnels; monitored scams; assigning authorship; filthy mascot; grade six scientist; Eugene O’Neill-off; the wolfman’s bear massage; the least effective monster; vicinity of evil; chatty creature; non-loosey-goosey; organized randomness; the wrong Marsalis; the unpopular second one; Jeopardy in jeopardy; nerds united; Dave’s Apology Corner; overheard shenanigans; undercover Huck; recommended; The Card Counter; wounded ducks; forced shot; bedroom farce; Dork Shadows – Our House; Tile Tales update; Question of the Week – Sneakers respond; unnecessary mattress jokes; big death; library playlists; cute tractor; unused jingles; killer nun; and, finally, we’re needy.
Question of the Week: What is something you’d recommend, but can’t explain for fear of spoiling it?
Sub-question of the Week: Tell us about a family meal that didn’t go so well.
Thanks for listening.
Crystal was kind enough to send in a sweet pic of her son sitting in his Halloween tractor!
Louise provided photographic proof of her excellent Halloween yard display: Man loses head drowning in leaves!
Great work, both of you!!!
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Regarding One Cut of the Dead: you’re welcome! Hopefully this makes up for me making you do a Fansplainers on the Emoji Movie.
Dave, I’m sure you know this but just forgot in the moment: Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho is not an original concept. It’s an adaptation of Robert Bloch’s novel of the same name. I’m not defending Gus Van Sant, though. The source material didn’t come into his remake at all. Unless there was a cow in the novel. Hmmmm…
I have seen the 1932 version of The Mummy, but it was decades ago and I’ve forgotten most of it. The thing that stuck with me (because it disturbed the heck out of me) was Boris Karloff in ancient Egypt having his tongue cut out and then being buried alive. Anyway, I don’t think he was in the classic mummy bandages for most of the movie. In the movies I do remember where mummies kill people, the victims often see the slow-moving mummy coming from several yards away and have plenty of time to run, but they’re frozen in fear. I think the mummy strangles them, but don’t hold me to that.
Is that how mummies kill people? No one remembers how they kill people so they can kill people that way?
I own a copy of the Mummy on DVD. Boris Karloff (the Mummy) takes on the identity of Aretha Bay-a modern Egyptian. He has a magic pool that he can look into and use his thoughts to control or kill people— they can either just die or he causes accidents to befall them and bring about death. And yes, he also uses his strength to strangle people. The only way he can be defeated in the 1932 version is when Isis intercedes and burns a scroll that gives the Mummy life and magical powers. The mummy crumbles to dust.
I’ve always been amused that in the Mummy’s Hand (1940) tanna leaves can be used to revive or kill the Mummy. The “tanna” leaves look like dried whole tea leaves, and I suppose this makes sense as tea is full of tannins. But it has always struck me as funny that they have to brew the Mummy some tea to “jump start” him, but would the Mummy have been more fierce if they gave him a cup of coffee instead?
I hate autocorrect…. Ardeth not Aretha. The mummy doesn’t wake up singing about respect….
Maybe not, Crystal, but it is a very funny image in my mind…! So thanks for that!
Question of the Week: What is something you’d recommend, but can’t explain for fear of spoiling it?
Why SNEAKY DRAGON itself! When podcast-hesitant friends ask my for recommendations, I always proffer up your merry show.
I am then called upon to explain the show’s remit, but am usually at a loss getting across how awesome SD is. I normally get tongue-tied and blurt out something like: “its like other funny and personable podcasts with great hosts but somehow … better!”
I’ve reached for your own tag “pop-culture improv” sometimes, but its much more than that, innit? I once said it’s a “a show about nothing” but then, realizing the Seinfeld allusion, said “except they’re funny and not sociopaths.”
I work with a Manitoban of some description and only last week his response was “so it’s just Canadians being Canadians?” He was called off to see a client and I haven’t seen him since to elucidate.
(so pleasurable to say Manitoban, innit? (I Love To Say Dada))
Keep Sneakin’!
Jon, never again winner etc.
A family meal that didn’t go well for us – well, I’m hoping nothing will ever top Christmas of 2018.
After we got married, our duelling moms had compromised on a schedule where we would alternate between families for Christmas.
Dave’s mom has always been a prickly character but in the past, she would typically put that aside for Christmas. However, I’m thinking it was the death of her own mother that kind of threw that out of whack, because by 2016 she was no longer talking to her sister, and was trying to have a prolonged ‘mad-on’ toward Dave.
However, Dave being Dave, he just blithely carried on with the program regardless. When we showed up for Christmas dinner 2016, we were admittedly a little later than we had planned to be, but as we walked through the door were met with an absolute barrage from Dave’s mom – ‘You’re late. Why so late? We were just about to eat without you…’ and so on. I felt bad, but then looking at my watch, realized it was only just after 4, dinner was not, in fact, ready, and we actually were the first guests to arrive. I thought it was kind of weird at the time, but didn’t give it a lot of thought until two years later.
Christmas 2018: In talking to his mom a couple of times before Christmas, Dave had mentioned us coming over for Christmas dinner, and Dave’s mom’s response was: Oh, you’re coming for dinner, are you? (said sarcastically). I was not part of the conversation but I know she was trying to deliberately be off-putting, but that is not unusual for her.
On Christmas, again, we walked in a little later than planned, this time just after 4:30 but dinner typically is at 6. We find the family already in the dining room, just having started eating. There are no places set for us.
What can you say to something like that?
Obviously in 2016 we were hearing the script she had convinced herself was going to play out, but the timing didn’t play out for her in such a way for the plan to come to fruition. By 2018 she got her timing right, so we would indeed, be late.
One thing I will say to that is, no more Christmas for us over there.
Save your psycho-dramas for someone more deserving, is my recommendation.
We’ll happily stay at home henceforth.
I remember one family meal where an in-law aired a decade-old grievance at the dinner table to try to shame my relative in front of the extended family. After that, I absolved myself of having to get along with them. There are some people you’d never be friends with if you met them under other circumstances. It’s unfortunate if they are, or become, part of your family. That’s something Jane Austen writes about in her novels which is another reason her writing still resonates with readers today.
I enjoyed Mayim Bialik’s run this fall as a temp Jeopardy host. She is so NOT a typical game show host. Ken Jennings has tagged back in. He’s improved since the last time he hosted, but my favourite of the fill-ins was Buzzy Cohen who hosted a tournament of champions last spring. He’s probably too smart to want to take on the job permanently. But what a motley crew of guest hosts they’ve had at the podium including alleged snake oil peddler Dr. Oz, a non-vaccinated Aaron Rodgers, and that smug executive producer who had the host job, then lost it for making the rookie error of recording himself being a jerk on a podcast.
Speaking of podcasts, thanks for mentioning Kumail Nanjiani’s X-Files podcast that Dean Haglund guested on. I gave it a listen and it took me right back to those days when the The X-Files was filming in Vancouver and it was so cool to see your friends, colleagues and my cousin showing up on it! As Dean mentioned on the episode, that was happening about the same time that improv was really taking off in the city. The two worlds collided one holiday season with that jolly improvised parody, The X-mas Files.
What is something you’d recommend, but can’t explain for fear of spoiling it?
Movies with a twist ending. I usually tell anyone who I recommend it to, “Just see it and we’ll talk afterwards.” I’m still trying to get my wife to watch “Inglourious Basterds” to the very end with me along with other twisty films like “The Village” or “Fight Club.”
Tell us about a family meal that didn’t go so well.
We’re poised and ready to host Thanksgiving at my house this year with a total of 13 mouths to feed so this question might be a bit premature…stay tuned. The first Thanksgiving after my Father-In-Law’s passing in 2015 was painful. We were at a restaurant and didn’t have it in us to fix a big Thanksgiving meal without him gone. My Mom, who suffers greatly from “Foot in Mouth Disease”, wouldn’t stop talking about how many friends of hers had died that year…right in front of my Mother-In-Law. I honestly don’t know if my Mom realizes she’s doing this but I’m bracing myself for whatever spills out of her this year, it could be anything.
All this Mummy talk reminds me of a scene from the 1994 film, “Jimmy Hollywood.” Christian Slater plays kind of a dimwit and expresses his fear of The Mummy to Joe Pesci. I wish I could find the clip but it’s basically Pesci explaining in great detail to Slater how difficult it would be for a Mummy to buy an airline ticket in Egypt and fly all the way to Hollywood, find Slater just to scare him. How would a Mummy drive a car from LAX? How would he pay for a Taxi? Does the Mummy carry American money? He would have to exchange an Egyptian currency for American cash once he arrived in Hollywood. It’s all this kind of stuff that eventually eases Slater’s character from fearing the Mummy. I guess the same could go for any famous monster but in this film, it’s the Mummy.
Crystal, your son is outstanding in his John Deere Halloween tractor complete with his John Deere cap! I saw another kiddo who had an X-Wing built around his wheelchair in much the same way. He completed it with an X-Wing flight helmet and orange flight suit.
Have a grand week everyone!!
Thanks, Ed! My husband says that I have to try to outdo the tractor next year. He has suggested I make a tank next year so our boy can be a soldier like him. Another friend suggested that I turn his chair into half a Dalek. I’ve had a few ideas myself, too. At least I have a year instead of a week to try to come up with something fun. I’ve been told that Target sells costumes for children in wheelchairs, but they are kinda expensive and the closest Target is an hour and a half drive away. If I don’t count my time invested, the Tractor cost less than $10 in materials.
I Care A Lot starring Rosamund Pike and Peter Dinklage is a movie that is difficult to explain without ruining the plot and a huge twist at the end. It’s part dark comedy, part thriller, and it keeps you on the edge of your seat. It is steaming on Netflix if someone hasn’t watched it already.
I have a handy holiday cooking tip for everyone: never use a slightly damp wooden cutting board as a trivet. I have witnessed a Thanksgiving dinner accident of epic proportions and learned this valuable lesson once when I was helping my mother prepare dinner. One year, she pulled the cornbread dressing from the oven and sat it down on her cutting board. She had done this many, many times… only this year, the board was slightly damp from having been washed, but not wet enough for either of us to have thought about putting a pot holder on the board. As soon as the hot, glass baking dish met the tiniest drop of moisture on the board, we heard a loud POP and the dish exploded in a hundred little shards. Projectile dressing and glass went everywhere— the floor, under the fridge, what a mess! Cleanup was panicked, but luckily for us, my mother had a some extra uncooked dressing in the fridge. Dinner ran late due to having to cook more dressing, but we have never made this mistake again.
Ian, I did mean to say Trick or Trunk, some people also call them Trunk or Treats. I’ll explain just in case some listeners are unfamiliar with them. Out here in the country, where people live too far apart for kids to go trick or treating house to house, a lot of churches, schools, or other groups host Trick or Trunks. This is where people back vehicles into a parking lot; they open their trunks, decorate them with Halloween decorations, and fill them with buckets of candy; they also usually dress in a costume. The kids get to go from car to car, saying ‘trick or treat’ and collecting candy. It is just a nice way for kids who do not live in city neighborhoods to experience collecting candy.
Have a great week!
Hello!
To answer the question “What is something you’d recommend, but can’t explain for fear of spoiling it?”, my first impulse is that you should be able to enjoy something even if you already know the spoilers. For example, I was spoiled for the big twist at the end of season one of The Good Place, but it was still an experience getting there. Actually, knowing that all wasn’t as it seemed helped me get through some of the cringier bits early on, because I knew that wasn’t all the show was going to do.
Then it hit me: Frog Fractions. It was a browser game from ye olden times. You play as a frog. If I remember correctly, you eat flies to get fractions. Eventually you realize you can [spoilers] and then it becomes [spoilers] and now [a whole paragraph of spoilers]. It only takes a few hours to finish, although I had to consult a walkthrough. You can still find it online, but it’s easier to grab it on Steam (for free!).
Cheers!