Hola, Sneakers! Welcome to the 530th episode of the highly unsuccessful podcast: Sneaky Dragon!
This week: casserole play; bringing up babies; daddy issues; waxing wrath; basting time; turkey trots; tortuous ear canals; anti-biotics; do you ear what I ear; medical mishaps month; salivation; epilogue rolling; lack patients; Dr. Love; truth in advertising; superfluous; movies by numbers; palatable horribleness; parallel lives; more film fun; wrong-headed; practical final cut; down in the valley; la-la-life; diminishing returns; Spaceballed; ground your comedy; titanic disappointment; inaccurate aging; colours didn’t matter; lesbian battle; Dork Shadows – Flowers In the Attic; Quesions of the Week – Sneakers respond; transparent tree; the fisherfolk of Fife; easy kumquat, easy go; at the zoonotic; premature Top 5; Ringo is his name-o; early daffodils; and, finally, just the P-Tip.
Question of the Week: When you were younger, what is something you saved up all your money to get?
Sub-question of the Week: What is the most surprising or unpleasant ice cream flavour you’ve ever seen?
Sub-sub-question of the Week: The Q-Tip: yes or no?
Thanks for listening.
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Your ER waiting room stories brought to mind a fun episode of the Australian animated preschool series Bluey (available on Disney+ and elsewhere online). It’s “The Doctor” (Season 1, Episode 18) where Bingo is playing at being a doctor and Bluey is working the reception desk. Their friend Honey keeps getting bumped for more serious pretend trauma patients. You wouldn’t think 7 minutes about waiting could be so entertaining, but it is hilarious.
I also recently tried to de-wax my ears, only I went with the internet suggestion to use a few drops of vegetable oil to soften the wax then to use warm water to flush my ears out a day later. I can’t tell if worked or if people around me just started speaking louder. I confess to the improper use of Q-tips.
The most repellant flavor of ice cream I ever saw was black licorice. My brother tried it at the PNE one year when we were kids. It looked like shiny grey axle grease on a cone. Yuck.
‘Bluey’ is marvellous! It’s one of the rare handful of pre-school shows that aim for excellence rather than adequacy. I dismissed it at first simply because I didn’t like the dumpy character design… how wrong I was. The true-to-life situations and voice work combine with a beautiful sense of space and place to make something relatable, funny, and appealing to young and old. Of the current crop of kids shows I’d only rate ‘Hey Duggee’ higher.
Hi ya’ll.
I remember seeing Spaceballs as a child, and remember it being a very strange film. Good to hear that it isn’t worth a re-watch. Goonies is another film that people love because of their childhood memories. I’m from the generation that thinks Goonies is the greatest film ever. I didn’t love it as the “greatest film ever” when it first came out, and soon grew a dislike for it each time it was shown at school. When I rewatched it out of nostalgic curiosity a few years ago, it still didn’t resonate with me. Neverending Story is another film a whole generation loves. I should make a point to rewatch it and see if still holds my fascination.
My parents used to visit antique stores on the weekends. I think the first item I saved up to purchase was a 1950s Mickey Mouse mug at an antique store in Nashville. The mug had Mickey on one side and Minnie on the opposite. It said “Behind every great man… There’s always a woman.” I used it to hold pencils on my desk at home.
The most surprising flavor of ice cream I’ve encountered was peach moonshine ice cream while visiting Mt. Airy, NC (Andy Griffith’s hometown). The fact that it contained hard liquor surprised me since I thought alcohol can hinder the freezing process, but it was quite nice and had large pieces of peach.
Q-tip: We’re not supposed to, but sometimes I do use one.
Question 1: my mom was very good about getting me stuff I needed, and fair about getting me stuff I wanted. However, when it came to music, that was where she drew the line.
The soundtrack for my UK trip when I was 9 was Alice Cooper’s School’s Out, and although it took me a couple of years, I believe it was for my grade 6 birthday that I bought myself that very album (my first album!) for my party.
The following year I bought Sound Explosion, a K-Tel compilation. I can remember it was a joint effort between my brother and our two friends – I believe the retail price was somewhere in the neighbourhood of $6.89, and it seemed to take FOREVER to save up the exact amount. I also recall my mom telling me about sales tax, and pointing out that I would need more money, but I was insistent we had enough, so the next time we were in the vicinity of a store that sold records, in I went to learn first-hand about the sad reality of said sales tax.
Question #2: last time we were in the UK (2012) we visited Covent Gardens and stopped into an ice cream store that was selling what was labelled as Breast Milk flavour. I am not sure if that was a joke or not. We did not chance it.
Question #3: Yes! Q tips, all the way and every day!! A guilty pleasure that I am trying to break myself from. I sadly noted that our older daughter also suffers from the same affliction/addiction. Oddly, when I was in Hong Kong for two weeks a few years ago I felt absolutely no need to use Q tips. I’m guessing it was the humidity? One of life’s mysteries.
QUESTION 1
In 1999, I saved up all my money from working at Hungry Jack’s to buy a Pioneer DVD player worth $950.00 and a ‘DR NO’ dvd at the princely sum of $39.99! I ought to have waited just another 18 months, and the price would have come down substantially! But I had to have it!
The player still works and I keep it up the top of my wardrobe. I kid myself that I keep it after all these years because I appreciate it’s aesthetic golden design, but really I can’t bare to rid myself of it because of pride in my teenager thrift.
QUESTION 2
I once had a bite of my sister’s Whiskey Prune ice cream cone when holidaying in Western Australia. It tastes like it sounds. They are weird out west, those sandgropers!
QUESTION 3
I have never used a Cue Tip, or, indeed, any instrument used in the game of pool or snooker, to clean my ears. Occasionally I’ll use a cotton bud, if that’s what you mean? (boom boom!)
Sometimes I’ll dampen the cotton bud with olive oil, but I always take care to insert slowly. I suppose it’s most about rotating in the ear canal to dislodge the superficial wax, rather than going deep.
Like Crystal, I was a late 80s VHS kid. My sister and I would rent SPACEBALLS repeatedly from the video shop. I don’t think we’d actually seen Star Wars at the time, so we didn’t know it was a parody – we just thought it was wacky – and the kind of broad, wacky that kids love.
I remember recognising John Candy – even under all that makeup as Barf The Dog – as being from that other ‘boring’ movie that used to bring my father to tears of laughter, PLANES TRAINS AUTOMOBILES, and wondered why couldn’t my dad like seriously funny movies like SPACEBALLS. Only years later did I came to appreciate the latter films as the masterpiece it is. I do remember re-watching SPACEBALLS at uni and being non-plussed.
Crystal, did you find your mates were either staunch GOONIES fans, or staunch STAND BY ME fans, and never the twain shall meet? I only saw STAND BY ME in my late 20s and while appreciating its merits, it never really grabbed me.
Hi Jonathon, great question! I didn’t notice my friends and classmates being in a distinctly either/or position when it came to Goonies or Stand By Me. But now that you mention it, I did prefer Stand By Me over the former. Pretty in Pink was a movie that most of my friends were obsessed over, but I’ve never actually seen it. Thanks for mentioning Stand By Me, now I’m going to have to re-watch it. It was a great film!
I was a “Stand by Me” fan over “Goonies”, which I’ve never found appealing. I’m also a fan of Rob Reiner’s films, so “Stand by Me” ranks up there with his others around the same time. As far as “Pretty in Pink” and the other “Shermer, Illinois” collection of John Hughes films go, I was right in the center of all those growing up. Loved them and they shot all of them outside Chicago where I was born.
Fellas,
Just wanted to drop a line to say how much I’m enjoying the show. I used to be a regular listener and even posted here from time to time, but when the world began to collapse and with work obligations and such, I kinda fell off. Happy to be back in the fold and listening regularly now. There is something delightfully comforting about the show, which is something we can use these days. And by “these days” I mean January.
When you were discussing TAPE HEADS but meant AIR HEADS I was literally yelling, “It’s Air Heads!” as TAPE HEADS was a movie I saw and loved years ago as a boy, and actually was part of the reason I got interested in video production, TV, and whatnot.
Space Balls – it’s a terrible movie, and I’m from the generation that grew up with it, and I still agree it’s awful. I thought I was alone in this assessment.
Something I saved up all of my money to get: A Fender guitar amplifier.
Most surprising flavor of ice cream: pistachio. As I thought I’d hate it, but was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it.
Q Tip, yes or no?” Yes. Of course, yes. What should we use instead? Pen caps?
Carry on and keep up the great work.
As much as a Star Wars fan as I am, (Dave, we’ll never see eye to eye on the Sequels damn it!) I have to say I’ve never found “Spaceballs” as highly ranked as Brooks’ earlier films. It has a few moments but compared to “Young Frankenstein” or “Blazing Saddles”, “Spaceballs” just comes off as sophomoric and hammy. If you’re looking for a good Star Wars satire, try “Fanboys” for a change, it’s made for….fanboys. It stars Dan Folger, who is now known for his character in the Fantastic Beasts films. It’s a story about four friends who attempt to break into Skywalker Ranch to see an early preview of “The Phantom Menace.” It has a bunch of cameos from sci-fi stars and totally plays to the sci-fi audience with tons of in-jokes.
I saved for soooo many things as a kid and as an adult. I wanted a cassette tape recorder so bad as a kid that I saved for it for months. We had one already but I wanted one with a built in microphone that I could use to tape shows off the television. It some cases, if my folks saw me taking an initiative towards saving for something, they sometimes met me half way and paid for half of it, except when buying comics. I saved my allowance so I could order the “Fantastic Four Galactus Trilogy” issues #48-#50 from Mile High Comics in Denver. This was around 1979. The total was about $30.00 for all three comics. As I handed my Mom the cash for her to write me a check to send in, she thought I was an idiot to pay that for three comics. I still have them, all in very good condition and signed by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee. As I got older, I took advantage of using lay-a-way for some more costly items, like a Laserdisc Player or a Television. The plan usually worked out with a terrific payoff of finally getting it paid off over time.
I think I saw some flavor of ice cream that was bacon flavored which sounds horrible to me. There’s always been that fad of flavoring stuff with something over the top like that but my tastes are more traditional. There is a variety of ice cream down here in Texas called “Sam’s Choice” named after Sam Walton of Walmart fame. They made a chocolate ice cream that had a very generous amount of peanut butter ribbons swirling through it, it was insanely good for being branded as budget ice cream. I can’t find it now which is good because I shouldn’t be eating it anyway. My favorite ice cream hands down would have to be Bluebell’s Tin Roof. Tin Roof is a vanilla ice cream with a rich chocolate fudge swirl and roasted peanuts dipped in dark chocolate….but it hasn’t been available for years. I’m lucky to be rid of both those flavors since I don’t need the temptation, however there’s a decent variety of low sugar substitute flavors should I ever get the craving.
I’d be lost without my Q-Tips, I can’t stand having any water in my ears after a shower. Luckily, my daughter who has a degree in the field of “Inner Ear and Hearing Wellness” has shown me how to use Q-Tips and keep my ears clean safely. She knows everything there is to know about ears and how to care for them and isn’t shy about sharing what she knows!
I have a theory as to why doctors and midwives are often depicted calling out for hot water and towels when a baby is being delivered. It’s to get the father-to-be the hell out of everyone’s way.
I think the first thing I saved for seriously was a music centre. Now, for all you young uns out there, I should explain that this was a piece of 1970s music playing technology that fits chronologically somewhere between the wax cylinder and whatevery you’re using right now to listen to Sneaky Dragon. It was around the size of a medium suitcase and combined a record deck, cassette player and AM/FM radio in one unit.
Mine was an ultra-cheap Japanese brand called Kyoto. Nope, I never heard of it again either. But even if the quality was distinctly lo-fi, it was my first record player and I loved it. This was a gateway into a journey of discovery of all kinds of music.
Radio meant late night listening to John Peel – on headphones, naturally. Cassettes meant recording from the radio or borrowing records from friends and making your own copy. (The big record companies told us we were killing music, which pissed them off because that was their job.) And a modest but beloved record collection meant my bedroom was filled with the sounds of Mott the Hoople, the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Paul Simon, Rory Gallagher, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Stephen Stills, Neil Young, and loads and loads of shite I’m certainly not admitting to here.
To answer Laurel (who, incidentally, always comes across as just the nicest person on the planet), we found our daffodil breeder through a friend’s recommendation. Our variety was registered through the Royal Horticultural Society. I don’t know if that’s an international organisation, but expect there will be a US equivalent that could help you find someone local to you if you want to take the idea further. Star James Watson is officially registered here – http://apps.rhs.org.uk/horticulturaldatabase/daffodilregister/daffdetails.asp?ID=938927 – no photo, unfortunately, but I’ll try and take one and send it in when the elusive blighter next shows its face.
Cotton buds? Of course!
Haha in response to Chris’ theory about the role of hot water when birthin’ babies. That is, apparently, partly true.
I understand, however, that it has more to do with preventing what was called childbed fever, which was the cause of the high rate of maternal deaths back in the day. Interestingly, when midwives were used, there was a moderate amount of this, but when doctors started taking over, rates skyrocketed. That’s when they made the connection to infection, to put it poetically, since the doc was seeing more patients and bringing infection in.
My mom worked as a midwife in the Fife and Kirkcaldy area of Scotland for a few years, but by that time the rate of sepsis was better controlled due to more modern methods of hygiene and the use of antiseptics, etc.
Chris, thank you for explaining a bit more of your process concerning the daffodil “Star James Watson”. I’m already looking forward to a photo of the beautiful bloom! I did read through the official registration using your above link, and admit having to look up meanings of a few of the descriptive words, such as “mucronate” (ending abruptly in a short sharp point or mucro) and “crenate” ((especially of a leaf or shell) having a round-toothed or scalloped edge). I will use these now when describing my own daffodils to people, instead of my usual “pointy” and “rufflly” and “kind of triangle shaped”, I can’t wait! I think I will enjoy the baffled and confused looks here in Wilkes County, North Carolina, because, contrary to your unbelievably kind compliment, Chris, I’m really quite evil! 🙂
*Lifts hat* Good day, gentlemen!
Following your chat about ‘Sin City’, I couldn’t let your brief mention of ‘Kevin the psychopath’ slip without passing on a nugget I learned about last year. As becomes obvious when you look at the two faces side by side, Frank Miller modelled the character to resemble Geoff Darrow, his erstwhile collaborator on ‘Hard Boiled’ and ‘Big Guy’. There’s a fabulous interview with the sweet natured Geoff over at ‘Cartoonist Kayfabe’ on YouTube. Geof is a legend, and I’m curious to see whether his fabulous concept designs are as evident in the new Matrix movie as they were in the first ones.
(I had to look up ‘erstwhile’ to check I was using it correctly, and apparently it means ‘previous’. I’m not big on flowery words but they do sometimes bestow an appropriate level of respect)
Q(1):
I don’t remember saving up for anything – although I do still have a childhood scrapbook filled with cuttings from toy catalogues of all the batman play-sets, race tracks, ride-on cars and similar expensive toys that I knew would never be mine.
Q(2):
It’s not so unusual these days, but I love me some matcha ice cream. So bitter and rough! So sweet and smooth! Yum. The best flavour I’ve tried recently is Sesame. Sensational!
Q(Q)
The Q-tip: yes for cleaning all the crinkly bits of ear on the outside – no for all the bits on the inside. This reminds me of your previous personal hygiene chat about dental floss and the guilt that comes free with every roll. My partner is a dentist, and I once heard her sheepishly admit to *her* dentist that even she doesn’t floss regularly enough. The dentist absolved her sin, and then confessed in turn that they don’t do the pilates they should – so the guilt goes round!
Thank you David for your continuing song selections – loved the Apple mix, and I’m sure the mix we’ve just heard was equally superb. I’d like to suggest three themes: short songs (under a minute), fast songs (over 200bpm), and odd time signatures.
*Lifts hat* Good day, gentlemen!
PS –
Louise’s comment above reminds me:
On a semi-regular visit to Sweden as a dance teacher I was delighted to discover not just black liquorice ice cream, but black salt liquorice ice cream – on a stick! The ‘salmiakki’ brand bar is diamond-shaped and encased in a black shell. The coolest, scariest, most disgustingly delicious ice cream ever. Yuk-yum!
Hello, ya’ll!
I’ll start with last week’s question about COVID. Until fairly recently most everyone in my life had avoided it… then omicron hit. Fortunately everyone seems to have had a mild case (no hospitalizations), and they’ve all recovered OK. I got my booster shot last week, and that knocked me out for a day.
As for saving money to buy stuff, I was a big fan of JRPGs on the Super Nintendo, and those games were not cheap. I’d pay half, and my parents would cover the rest. I remember a salesman at Sight and Sound in Terrace said they cost so much because they contained so much memory, which is probably true… but in retrospect they probably had a monopoly on videogames for the region. I can’t complain; this is how I got a copy of Chrono Trigger back in the day. 😀
Cheers!