1025 – Somewhere Else | Good Place to Sleep Season 2 Finale
Tonight's lullaby will come by way of hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dog but meanders its way to a Soul Squad reunion.
-
Episode 1025 – Somewhere Else | Good Place to Sleep Season 2 Finale
[START OF RECORDING]
SCOOTER: Lay…oh, hey patrons, friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and my patron peeps, it’s Scoots coming to you to take your mind off of stuff and keep you company, to do what’s important; to be here for you. You enable me to do that for you and everybody else. Thanks so much. What do you say we play a little theme music and we slow it down and get on with the show?
INTRO: [INTRO MUSIC] Hey, are you up all night tossing, turning, mind racing? Trouble getting to sleep? Trouble staying asleep? Well, welcome. This is Sleep With Me, the podcast that puts you to sleep. We do it with a bedtime story. Alls you need to do is get in bed, turn out the lights, and press play. I’m gonna do the rest. What I’m going to attempt to do is create a safe place where you could set aside whatever’s keeping you awake. It could be thoughts, things on your mind that you’re thinking about, the…from the past, the present, or the future. So, it could be feelings, anything emotionally coming up for you. So thoughts, feelings, physical sensations. So, it could be any of those things. It could be changes in time or temperature or routine.
It could be something out of the ordinary, and I don’t mean to try to…I don’t think is the right uses…usage of titillate you, but I do have a little personal thing that might do a little laugh. If you want to have some…what is that called? Schadenfreude? Oh yeah, no, no, no, not…whatever it’s called, I’m gonna give you a chance right here…or to relate. I say no, no, no, for me it’s not Schad…whatever it is, because yeah, I’m not…I’m the stumbler. So, you could laugh along with me or you could laugh…it’s not at my expense ‘cause I’m the one choosing to share this with you. But first, we’re gonna talk a little bit more about the podcast and get to know each other better, just in case you’re new.
What I propose to do here, in order to take your mind off of stuff and keep you company while you fall asleep, is I’m gonna try to create a safe place. I’m gonna smooth it, I’m gonna pat it, and I’m gonna…and I’m just thinking about the irony of what I’m gonna tell you. So, if you’re a regular listener, you will have to just…you know, you could fall asleep and listen to this tomorrow if you need to. Don’t worry about it. You’re not gonna miss anything. But I just want to create a safe place where you could listen to me or not listen to me. But what I’m gonna do first is I’m gonna send my voice across the deep, dark night. I’m gonna use lulling, soothing, creaky, dulcet tones, and pointless meanders, which means my voice is not perfect. It’s a bit froggy and croak-like.
Creaky, dulcet tones and pointless meanders, and superfluous tangents kinda mean I never to the point or I always get distracted and go off-topic before getting to the point. Then when I get there, then you say it’s not…it’s more of a nub. It’s not really a point. I don’t have anything pointed to say ‘cause I’m just here to keep you company and take your mind off of stuff because of the most important thing around the show. It’s twofold; the most important thing is you. You deserve a good night’s sleep. You deserve a place you could rest, where you could get comfortable, where you could drift off. I’m here for you because you deserve that, and if I could…I can’t provide it for everybody. This show just doesn’t work for everybody, but if I can provide it for you, that really is important to me.
It really gives my life deep meaning because if you get the rest you need, tomorrow, your life’s gonna be a little bit better. If I can contribute to that, that really is important to me. Not only because I’m a person too, but it’s like, I’ve been…I’m a person who’ve…who’s been there. Tossing, turning, mind racing, trouble getting to sleep, trouble staying asleep, trouble regulating temperature; that was last night. Whatever it is, I know how it feels in the deep, dark night. That’s why I call it the deep, dark night. So, the reason I make the show is because you deserve a good night’s sleep, you deserve a place you can rest or a bedtime you can look forward to or feel neutral about instead of dreading, and because I’ve been there and I know how it feels. So, that’s the most important thing.
There’s a lot of other things or a few other things I gotta tell you because if you’re new, like I said, this show just does not work for everybody, but even for the people that enjoy the podcast, for the most part, it takes two or three tries. Or for some listeners, two or three years. It’s a common thing to listen to the show, strongly dislike it, come back years later, and then start listening ‘cause maybe you had a life change and you say well, I’m gonna give that show another try. You say oh, he never makes any sense. His voice is never…it’s kind of soothing. It’s not totally soothing. You say, I get it. It’s like, it doesn’t…I get that there’s nothing that is sensible about the show. So, give it a few tries. Not for me, but for you.
I don’t benefit if the podcast doesn’t really help you, and there is a website; sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou, so if you find you already strongly think this show’s not gonna work for you or something, check that website out. There’s lots of other sleep podcasts and sleepy stuff on there. But I hope you can be like the hundreds of thousands of people that regularly listen to the show and say hey, I gave it a few tries and it does work. I realized I don’t barely pay attention to that guy. This one isn’t the personal thing I was gonna reveal, but this is kind of…I’ve been spending time with one of my nephews, Ted, and Ted doesn’t call me Uncle Drew or Uncle Scooter or Unky or Unc. He calls me That Guy. He’s not the first kid in my life, the first niece or nephew. For some reason, they call me That Guy in a positive way.
They say, where’s That Guy going? I think I’d like to go for a walk with That Guy. Just the other night, I was babysitting. Last night I was babysitting Ted and his sister, and he was saying what’s That Guy talking about? He said to my daughter. I said, the people have been asking themselves that for my entire life and in even a more concentrated way around the sleep podcast. So, yeah. I mean, I got that going for me, so you might say…ideally you become a regular listener and you…then you wake up at breakfast tomorrow and you say, I don’t even know what that guy was talking about last night. Something about…I don’t know. You say, but I slept so good. Oh, but let me tell you if you’re new; so, the show is an acquired taste and it does take a few tries to get used to. The other things to know is…let’s see, what else?
Oh, this podcast doesn’t really put you to sleep. I’m really here to keep you company while you fall asleep, which is a little bit different. I’m here to be your bore-friend, your bore-bae, your bore-cuz, That Guy, That Boring Guy, that goofy guy who’s here to just…I’m your roommate or your friend across the room or on the phone just talking so you don’t have to listen to me, so you know there’s someone else around. They’re kinda taking your mind off of stuff, ideally soothing you or distracting you. So yeah, this is a podcast that doesn’t really put you to sleep. It’s also a podcast you don’t really listen to. You kind of just barely listen.
You may have already figured that out, just like this Ted; he’s related to me, I’ve babysat for him before, we’ve played different games, he buried me in a mound of pillows today, but still we have this type of…we have such a great relationship, he doesn’t even know my name. How close could you…? I say man, we’re close. He doesn’t really even know…he just refers to me in a generalized way. He’s so comfortable around me, he considers me a non-specific entity. I say whoa boy, how do you know you’ve made it when…? I say…and this would be a introvert’s dream; oh, when someone says yeah, That Guy’s got the podcast. What does that have to do…? Oh, so yeah, that’s really what my job is, not to be flashy but to be here and keep you company while you fall asleep, not so much for you to listen to me.
‘Cause again, and this will go into the structure; some people are always waiting for the show to get started, new listeners, or for the story part, or they say, what is going on with this intro? It’s more…yeah, the show’s always going and never gets started. So, that goes into the structure of the show. The structure is very deliberate, of the podcast, and it’s deliberate in a way that you can slowly adjust it if you become a regular listener. But at first it’s designed…it starts with a greeting; friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, so hopefully you feel seen and welcomed in. Then there’s some support for listeners and resources for listeners in the community around the show, then there’s support for the podcast itself so it can be free and come out twice a week, because a lot of work goes into keeping the podcast going and just it being free and easy.
But the goal is the show’s free, not behind a paywall, so that’s the Patreon support and the sponsors. Then there’s a intro which goes, I don’t know, around minute six or minute eight to minute twenty or so where I ramble like I’m doing now, talk about being That Guy, and just go on and on and on. Sometimes people that feel strongly non-positive about the show, they say oh, is this just self-indulgent or housekeeping or twenty minutes of self-congratulations? I say, no. It may feel like that to a new listener. I understand that, but it’s really something familiar every time where I unsuccessfully try to describe the podcast in five minutes, but it ends up taking me twenty minutes. But it’s different every time so that whatever part of you is keeping you awake can’t quite adjust.
They say well, I didn’t realize Scoots was babysitting now. I mean, wow. Maybe I will become a patron. I say well, it was free, or I was paid in pizza. But you say oh, well, I learned…and then you say well, but that’s not really that interesting. Of course sometimes siblings babysit for other sibling’s kids. Sounds like Scoots’ daughter was doing most of the babysitting and Scoots was just…and I say, correct. You’re definitely correct. So…oh, so that’s the intro. It just goes on and on and on. There is a small percentage of listeners, 2% or 3% that skip the intro, and they just start the show at twenty minutes. Then there’s a few thousand people on Patreon that listen to story-only episodes. But you could kinda see how it goes at first. But the intro is supposed to ease you into bedtime.
It’s something you could listen to while you’re getting ready for bed or while you’re in bed getting comfortable or you’re doing some sort of other relaxing thing. Then there’s sponsor stuff between the intro and the next part of the show, the main part of the podcast, but like I said, the podcast never gets started and is always going. Then after the sponsors, we’ll talk about The Good Place. It’ll be very meandering and indirect. I’ll talk about pocket squares or what look was on Jason’s face, or who was sitting where. So, nothing too interesting. Then there’s thank-yous at the end of the show. So, that’s the structure of the show. I really think that’s it. I mean, this is…I guess in a weird way, this is a podcast you gotta kinda try out a few times and see how it goes.
Kinda like my nephew; he said well, you know, if I get…we don’t live near one another, so he says I mean, what do you want me to do, Uncle? I just…you’re That Guy because I’m just trying you out to see…and I say yeah, I gotta earn your rapport and your trust, Ted. I say actually, I think it’s kinda cool. I’d rather be That Guy ‘cause you say…like, you’d say what was that…who was that guy, dad, that’s related to you in some sort of way? Maybe a year or two now. When’s that…what was that guy? Oh, you mean…they’d say no, not that…say oh, there is That Guy. He’s back again. It’s the holiday season or whatever it is. So, this is the kinda podcast you only have to make the…I mean, that’s someone I’m related to, of how much of a commit…they’re…Ted’s easing into his commitment to me being a family member, just like that with the podcast.
You say well, I’m gonna kinda try it, but you don’t really gotta listen to me. Just play it a few times. See if you fall asleep. See if you could barely listen to me like clouds passing or just mildly…not even enjoy the podcast; say well, I kind of…yeah, you really are That Guy. If anything, I could say you’ve used That Guy way too many times, Scoots. I’d say you’re right, that’s…when it comes to being a non-specific entity, I really am…I can be indulgent. But so, I’m glad you’re here. I work really hard and I…on the show, and I really hope it can help you fall asleep. Thank you again for coming by, and I yearn and I strive to help you fall asleep. Here’s a couple of ways I’m able to do it for you for free twice a week.
Alright everybody, it’s Scoots here. We’re talking about the season finale of Season 2…the Season 2 finale, the season finale of Season 2. I think I…you say Scoots, you’ve said season finale one too many times. The final episode of Season 2, the last episode of Season 2, in order; both the twelfth and the last episode of Season 2. It’s called Somewhere Else and it starts…I’ll start with my notes, then I’ll run through the episode, and then we’ll have some extra time tonight to look into some facts from this episode and maybe some earlier episodes of the season. But Somewhere Else starts right at…left off. New angle. Actually, I don’t know…and I’ll have to pay attention for it, that there was a break for Chapter…whatever chapter this was. I’m not even sure what chapter it is, though I should know that.
Major drama…I said, nice to meet you, Major Drama. Oh, Michael’s talking his new angle. Spill the tea, sweetheart, the judge says. Michael posits this whole thing. He’s been saying they got better, which is not supposed to be possible, so that’s a pretty big deal. They say Jason, what did you used to do for fun? He said well, I used to play with paint and flamingos and did that since I was a kid. But the judge says, does it prove something? A great frame of Soul Squad? Oh, there’s a great frame of Soul Squad as the judge…kinda…we’re over the…we’re not over the judge’s shoulder; the judge is in front of us. We kinda got the judge’s POV, but the judge is still in the frame, or the screen. That’s the frame, or the 16 x 9…the old 16 x 9, as no one says ever. But we have Chidi on the left.
Eleanor’s next to Chidi, then Michael’s a little bit forward in the center to the right. Back of Michael is Tahani, then Jason, then Janet, and then the judge is in a…I say, if we were…we’re like…we’re not the judge, but you know what I’m saying. The idea that good or bad is fundamentally flawed comes up. Eternity of something. Tinctures…goosebumps, the judge says. Tahani talking test. Oh, so then they cut that scene. I don’t know if it went to commercial or not, but then we have Tahani and Eleanor talking about the test and Tahani’s talking about her test. Deep breath…ate a Cheeto. Walk away…with away…with away? Walk away. But maybe that she talked about walking away from her parents. At first, I kinda liked it. It was kind of very sitcomy, like two characters sitting on a comfortable sofa, chatting.
But then the camera pulls back a little and you see those portals behind them. You say well, that’s no sitcom. Then the camera switches perspective…or whatever, the editor, or whatever. It switches perspective. We see across the room, Jason is talking with someone. Maybe at the first…we notice it’s Chidi, but eventually I noticed it was Chidi. He’s like, this is one of the craziest days ever, one of the wildest days ever. They say, one of? Then Janet shows up. She says hey, by the way, I love you. Complicated feelings? Maybe not so complicated. I love you. Chidi goes into total shock and at first, even though part of me knew how this turned out…it had been a long time since I had seen this episode…and so, I said wait a second, how does this turn out? ‘Cause Chidi has a shocked look on his face.
He looks to Eleanor and she’s kinda playing with her fingers or her nails and looking nonplussed like she doesn’t care. Then Chidi’s kind of like, my…I’m like the fork in the blender. It really is great progressive…progression in this just two-minute sequence, because then…great boundary example from Janet; she says you know what, Chidi? This isn’t about you, so please don’t comment on this. Then Chidi makes a determined walk…well, where’s Jason’s…? At some point Jason says girl, I love you back. She says, not a girl anymore. I’m a Janet. I’m not a Janet anymore, either. Not just a Janet anymore. Oh, that happens after Jason says I think I love you too, girl. She said not a girl, but I’m not a Janet anymore, either. Yeah, then we get a Chidi determined walk-up to Eleanor. He kisses her. His chin goes up after, like yep.
I love you and I was…no words. She goes, hot diggity dog. Then there’s some great commentary on that. The judge comes in; she says, who wants some chips and guac? We came up with a plan, Michael and I. You’re all going to your own Medium Places while Michael works on something. Then Jason says, are we gonna be together? No, you’re not. How much time are we gonna be gone? Well, anywhere between a month and a year we’ll be gone. Can’t really tell you for sure, but it could be a little bit of time. This is actually more…no normal time…both options suck. So, this was a subtle way of…Eleanor put her foot down that you didn’t really realize it at first, but she says both options suck. So, I really would choose neither one of those. Then…oh, Michael needs more time to figure it out. Then Michael says hot diggity dog.
Him and the judge have a lot of non-verbal communication, but they know what one another’s thinking. How is that justice? Slow roll. Did it…but they did it for a reward. The judge is like no, we can’t give them a second chance because their good behavior…they did it for what’s called moral dessert. Great, great writing. You know, you do something moral because you’re getting the reward of dessert. But they just needed a push in the right direction. That’s when Michael gets the new idea. Oh no, no, no; that’s Looney Tunes. He said, it’s only four people. Wink won’t work, the judge says. But Michael says come on, come on. Then she goes, my Rudolph goes through these faces while she’s thinking, which are really good. Strict rules…what…Michael grins. What the fork? Eleanor says, and then snaps.
Then it goes to this…it fades to white and Eleanor’s back in the parking lot. The person with the petition is there. Says, you don’t know me. Eleanor gets rescued. I said, is that…was that Trent from Season 4? I can never remember. Then we see her place and her roommates. Twerp, Frozen, close call. Is the margarita mix really gone? Then the other roommate takes over her story. There’s a mention of Syracuse, New York. Eleanor leaves and goes to her room. We’ll pause that and look at her room a little bit. She goes on…I thought it was Instagram but I think it was Face…some Insta-Facebook-type thing now that they’re the same anyway. Wakes up, she goes to work. I’m trying to be a better person. You want to go to the baby shower? Sure. Then she goes to the environmental petition person and apologizes.
That’s not an…you didn’t really apologize. You just said you were sorry. She goes okay, I’m sorry I was…of all the times I was mean to you. I don’t have an excuse for it. Apology accepted. She goes, how’d you get H-O-R-N-E-Y for the environment anyway? Clean Energy Crusaders…then we see Michael and Janet working the ticker tape machines, one for each of the Soul Squad or the human side of the Soul Squad. Match…something. High-fives. Eleanor out at back of arm? Oh, Eleanor out of bed in the morning. There’s a musical montage. Lunch with friends, or not. Eleanor, it’s…I’m really sorry. Oh, so Eleanor starts admitting new places, so she tells the…she starts working at this place, making new connections. Then she tells her friend about how she made t-shirts of her and she’s really sorry.
She has to get a new place, the going gets tough. Gets tough where we see pizza in a toaster. I’m trying to be good. Her roommate…her still best-friend…her other still best-friend laughs; ha, ha, ha. There’s a zero…she gets a zero-day on the ticker tape, so Michael’s concerned. Then she’s reading Celebrity Baby, and the environmental guy shows up. Sorry; he goes, this is a job. Then her friend comes in. She says, I got tickets to a Taylor Swift reggae cover band; Taylor Spliffs. Eleanor says, being good is for suckers. I quit. Something…something…something, something…but then she goes back to work. She’s sick of doing the right thing. Michael’s frustrated. No way to help them, Janet says. Then they zoom on Michael. Then we see Eleanor out for her birthday, and Michael’s the bartender. What do you talk about? What do you…?
Let’s talk about it. There’s a…we pause, then she…then we cut back and she’s describing the plot of Kangaroo Jack. No one cares. Six mets? Moral dessert. Well, I want a tiara for…oh, that’s when he talks about moral dessert. I want a tiara or one of those diagonal award belts. You mean a sash? Says, a good person when she tried. Right direction. Then Michael says, what do we owe each other? Good luck. Eleanor wakes up in her bed. She’s a little bit hungover. Michael…we see Michael. He says, did anybody notice I was gone? No. Then we see one year ago. Eleanor’s looking at her social media; they say one year ago, you posted this apology to Ryan Lochte. She Googles What Do We Owe Each Other and Chidi’s video comes up. This is kinda where Season 3 starts, right? It’s Part 1 of a three-hour presentation.
Something…reasonable…you know, about being a good person; why do it? But he has her…as she watches the video, we see it. We are not in this alone, Chidi says. That’s such a good reminder, right? We’re not in this alone. Then her roommate comes; she says, don’t you get my text? We’re going somewhere. She goes, I’m going somewhere else. We see Sydney Airport; she arrives. Michael’s at the ticker tape, Eleanor’s in the halls of St John’s Sydney University or something. She knocks on Chidi Anagonye’s door. Is this is where I find…Chidi…something. Long…oh, that long, nerdy video. He says, my presentation. So, we’ll check out his office. She goes, can we talk? Then we zoom on Michael and he says okay, here we go, and the episode comes to a close. Alright, so let’s run through it.
We got the judge…sits down. Michael, spill the tea. He’s really working his presentation. He’s got a nice suit…I want to say a sport coat and pants on, kind of a maroon tie. Judge has a serious…she actually uses her eyes really well. He does have a pocket square but he’s got the long tie, no bow-tie. So, that almost means something that I never was able to grasp in 8,000 hours of watching. Jason’s in his…one of his warm-up suits with a white tee. He looks super cool. Michael’s like, he’s so much better. Janet’s making faces. Let the immortal beings talk, darling, Tahani says. This doesn’t prove anything, according to the judge. But it does, Michael says. Come on now, judge. It does prove something. He said, this is flawed and unreasonable. Millions of people have been to the…going to the Bad Place.
That’s when she says, you gave me goosebumps there. That doesn’t happen very often. Oh, The Good Place, Chapter 26. I missed that. Then it goes to them talking, kind of like on the set of a sitcom, except there’s two portals to the netherworld behind them. I mean, it could be like the set of Frasier. So, Tahani and Eleanor are talking and she’s saying how proud she is of her, how proud Eleanor is. Tahani says well, I’m so glad we became mates; British for friends. Then Jason’s talking about what a wild day it is, and then it just gets wilder. Chidi’s arms are crossed. He’s got a striped shirt on, khakis. Eleanor is in her purple dress with a blouse that’s white with turquoise diamond kinda things. Jason also has a pretty thick gold chain. Chidi’s brain is grinding like a fork in a garbage disposal, but stay out of it.
That’s when Janet says not a girl; not a Janet anymore. Then Chidi goes…let’s count this; hey man, what’s up? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight…eight seconds without Mississippi, so at least a four-second kiss with one mouth move. He laughs when she says hot diggity dog. It’s honest. Judge and Michael come in. No guac. Here’s all the Medium Places. I wonder if this is a set or it actually…they filmed…I don’t think they filmed this in a bank or a elevator or hallway. Gotta tailor this. This ain’t the Medium Place. How much time will we be alone? Eleanor’s smitten. Then she says well, jeez, Chidi just laid one on me. That’s when Michael says hot diggity dog, back at you. Oh, ‘cause she says…and both these options suck. A little dizzy from that kiss. We’ve all gotten better. Why do we have to live in a boring void?
Oh, so she does…she says, how is this justice? She says, slow your roll, Erin Brockovich, the judge. That’s when the judge says…I mean, this is the whole moral dessert thing. You thought there was a reward; that’s why you were good, and that’s not how it works. You’re supposed to be good for goodness sake. Michael says what if you got a push in the right direction here? She goes no, no, no. They go back and forth. No one knows what they’re talking about. He’s like, there’s only four people. No one will know. Come on. Jason’s like come on, I want to get in on this. Michael says don’t worry about it, judge. If it doesn’t work out, it’s not gonna work out anyway. Then she makes all the faces. He says yay. Strict rules…I could change my mind at any point. Michael’s giggling. He’s not just smiling.
That’s when we snap. Eleanor’s eyes open. She’s in the middle of talking, turns her thing around, loses her margarita mix. Someone catches her. For some reason, I do think it’s Brent or Trent or whatever that…but they go off. Everybody’s amazed. Holy mackerel. That was close. Then we got a Real Housewives-type show. Eleanor still has two bags of groceries. They say jeez…they talk about the guy who collects the signatures, Eleanor talks about her close call, and then her roommates or friends are ready to move on. Let’s see, the apartment has an orange wall. It’s got some paintings up. Couches are gray. They don’t look super-comfortable, though. J-I-L is the painter of one of the paintings. Eleanor goes in her room which is a mess. She starts cleaning her room up. Wait a second, she even has a bedspread, like a quilt.
She labels her garbage bags. She’s like, I…she’s doing this admission to…I couldn’t see the labels, but…I’m selfish…did Ryan Lochte…disrespected him. But she starts doing nice things; letting her roommate borrow her credit card, getting up out of a made bed, quitting her job for the stuff, and listening to her boss go on and on and on, saying she’s gonna go a…what do you call that thing? Baby shower. Then she apologizes. I came here to apologize. I apologized. No, you didn’t. She goes yeah, okay, I didn’t apologize. I’m sorry for being mean to you like, a thousand times. No excuse. Apology accepted. Can you teach me of why you’re into the environment so much? Then she gets introduced to the Clean Energy Crusaders. Everybody’s happy. The musical montage starts.
We see the ticker tapes; Eleanor, Tahani, Jason, and Chidi. High-five. Eleanor wakes up. There’s a sung among…son among the remnants. All are words left unsaid. When the truth lies in our direction, do we work it or lose our heads? Or maybe, maybe we’re strong. Maybe, maybe we’re wrong. Eleanor’s cleaning up after people. Then they go out to dinner. She’s a vegetarian now. She admits how she hurt her other friend’s feelings, and then her other friend’s mad. She also…they say get out. You gotta find a new place to live. She wakes up again in her new place with boxes. She’s having a tougher time of getting people to take her pamphlets. Michael’s looking at her. Tougher time waking up every day. Bored at work. Let’s see if I can freeze on this whiteboard at work here. National Org.
Last ten months…failure to move the needle, fewer direct approach appeals, more on-campus time, merging of forces, super pack, area groups, National Org, next meeting we need ideas. That’s what’s on the board at Eleanor’s meeting. Everybody…then maybe, maybe we’re strong, the song goes. Then Eleanor has a little dingy-poo with her car. Turns out that that’s…being honest doesn’t work out for her there, either. So, that’s frustrating. Then she’s more frustrated. I’m trying to be good. Her roommate laughs; how’s that working out? Michael sees a zero on the ticker tape. Celebrity Baby magazine. Eleanor quits her job. She could go to Taylor Spliff’s reggae cover band. She’s got a big bird painting in her living room that’s pretty cool. She says, this is a crummy apartment. Being good is for suckers.
He says well, I get fulfillment from it. She says, I don’t like that. I’m gonna hit the road, Bender…Benjamin…Benedict Cumberbatch. Then she goes back to her job. They got a new thing going, but Eleanor doesn’t care. She says just show me where my desk is. Michael’s frustrated. There’s no one to help. Then we got the party. Red…and her friend’s like, I gotta go. I gotta meet up with somebody. So, Eleanor’s solo. She’s a little bit tipsy. She says usually I lie about my birthday, but it’s actually my birthday today. Last year on my birthday I thought I was gonna turn over a good leaf or whatever, but then I stopped and now I’m here. There’s Michael in a plaid dress shirt. Desert Rose…Sting’s Desert Rose. Michael’s listening to her and he’s like…kinda like the movie Cocktail a little bit. Oh, he’s not flipping drinks or anything.
Problem with being a do-gooder is no one cares. Michael says, some people care. But Eleanor says they don’t really matter. I was a good person for six months. That felt…didn’t feel great. What did I get for it? That’s when Michael talks moral dessert, a concept that you…when you act with virtue, you deserve a reward. Well, if I’m not gonna get rewarded, what is it worth? Why should I do good things? Then Michael talks about this voice in your head which Chidi refers to again later. She doesn’t realize Michael’s talking about her. She was a little rough around the edges, but I think that voice was her conscience trying to point her in the right direction. I gotta go home. What do I owe you? What do we owe each other? He says, drinks are on me. Then Eleanor wakes up. She’s slower getting out of bed…ow.
Michael sits down. Anybody notice I was gone? No. So, then she drinks some coffee, opens up her thing, sees her post from a year ago, thinks. What do we owe each other? I thought there was something about this…you know, that song that was popular that I can’t pronounce. Yeah, there was a lot more jokes snuck in there. Then Chidi’s speaking…four-part utilitarianism in five minutes though, in the Beginner’s Guide to Kant. But Chidi’s got a four-part video. Couple thousand views; about 2,500 views. The difference between being reasonable…what does it mean to be a reasonable person? We all have different definitions. Why choose to be good when there’s no guaranteed reward? Well, our bonds with other people and our innate desire to treat them with dignity. Simply put, we’re not in this alone.
That’s when our things clarify for Eleanor and she says, I’m going somewhere else. Qantas Air, Sydney International Airport, St. John’s University. Michael sees it on the ticker tape. 1826 when the university was established. Oh, Chidi Anagonye’s office…was it 210? So he’s on the second floor? Yeah, 210; that’s the house…it’s a special number to me, 210. He says yeah, we see his office which we’ve seen before. Virtue, ethics on the board. Tuesday is when office hours are. He goes yeah, the practical applications of ethical theory. Hi, my name’s Eleanor Shellstrop. Can we talk? Zoom on Michael. Here we go. Then, yeah, I’ll be back to talk about some…what do you call them? Facts and stuff I looked up about the episode. Thanks, everybody.
Alright everybody, so let’s talk about some of the facts that came up in the last few episodes of this season. One was Kangaroo Jack. I think Eleanor was recounting the plot of it. I said wait a second, that sounds familiar but it also sounds unbelievable and I’m not even sure. I was like okay, I don’t know. So, I’m gonna read through the Wikipedia article about Kangaroo Jack. It’s a 2003 movie, comedy, with a little action-thriller type thing from Castle Rock Entertainment and Bruckheimer Films. Distributed by Warner Pictures, directed by David McNally. Screenplay by Steve Bing and Scott Rosenberg. Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and stars…so, it was correct; Jerry O’Connell, Anthony Anderson, Estella Warren, Michael Shannon, and Christopher Walken…and Adam Garcia as the voice of Kangaroo Jack, uncredited.
It was universally panned by critics who criticized almost everything about it, including the…that it was supposed to be a family film, though the visuals and soundtrack were praised. Despite the mostly-negative perception, it was a box office success. So, they showed them. 81…$88.1 million box office gross on a $60 million budget. It was…it did have a animated sequel titled Kangaroo Jack: G’Day U.S.A.! That was produced and released in 2003. But yeah, I will go through the plot here because I don’t know the movie and I was listening to Eleanor a little bit. So, 1982, a boy named Charlie Carbone is about to join a family like…so, this is a little bit of The Sopranos. They try to double-cross him, so he’s about to become the stepson of the boss. He’s saved by a boy named Louis Booker and they become friends.
Twenty years later, Charlie now runs his own beauty salon. But the family business takes the majority of the salon’s profits. They were supposed to hide some TVs that were taken without permission. Sal gives Charlie and Louie or Louis…I don’t know. Louis or Louie. I’d say Louis, maybe. Oh, Louie’s with an E. So yeah, it’s Louis. Under the instructions of Frankie, they’re supposed to deliver a package to a man named Mr. Smith in Australia. They say don’t end up doing…so then, they get the package, they open it up, they head out, they meet a kangaroo, a red kangaroo. Louis puts his…so, this gets a little bit like another movie. The kangaroo hops away with the package or what was in the package, which was money. The kangaroo gets away, then they try to explain their situation to their boss. Then hijinks ensue.
Charlie and Louie try to go after the…put the…they try to do a sleep podcast and put the kangaroo to sleep. Then they…they’re supposed to take off, but they actually sing so lulling that the pilot falls asleep and never takes off. Then they meet someone from the Outback Wildlife Foundation. Following day, they meet the kangaroo near a river. They try to catch it but it does…of course, it doesn’t work out. More antics ensue. Love starts to blossom, then they get busted by this Mr. Smith character. The kangaroo returns to rescue them, it sounds like. Final chase…kangaroo pursued by Frankie. Louie manages to get the money. Charlie saves Louie…Louis, excuse me. I’m sorry, Louis. Then, let’s see, do they…?
Oh, one year later…spoiler; one year later, Charlie and Jesse are married and they’ve used sales money to start a line of new hair care products. Marrying a…oh, this is what she’s saying…with a kangaroo logo. Huh. So, I guess that’s taken from…a little bit from there. That’s interesting. So, that’s just a little bit about Kangaroo Jack. Now I’m trying to get the next thing loaded, but having a bit of a…I’ve got a technological hurdle. I’ve gotta…I’m not…I’m in a car, so…for some reason my normal…so, I’m trying to copy and paste from my phone into an iPad because for some reason the iPad just does not want to…and then I just put that in reading mode. I guess I could just read it right off my phone, couldn’t I? I don’t know, Scoots. Could you? I don’t know. Let’s try.
So, the next one was…they said hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dog. That made me think of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme song which I just was listening to somebody else say, like, how many generations have been impacted by this song? Also, I did not know that it was They Might Be Giants that came up with it, or at least…so, I said…my brother told me that the other day. I said, the birdhouse of my soul built by that news. So, this is from disneyfandom.com, the Disney Wiki, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme. Composer, lyrics, and performers; They Might Be Giants. It’s the opening theme song for the TV series Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. It’s performed by They Might Be Giants. It goes, Mickey says hey everybody, it’s me, Mickey Mouse. You want to come in my…I gotta…better paraphrase; in my club.
Alright, I almost forgot to say, to make the clubhouse appear, we gotta sing the magic words which are like, Meeska, Mouska, Mickey Mouseka or something. Then they sing the…spell his name. Wait a second, this isn’t the Hot Dog Song. Wait a second. Present…everybody here? Yeah. Mickey Mouse…Mickey Mouse Clubhouse…Meeska, Mouska, Mickey Mouseka. M-l-C-K-E-Y. It’s Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Present…Daisy’s there. Donald’s there. Roll call. Daisy, Goofy…Goofy’s there. Pluto barking; yes. Minnie, giggling, here. Mickey’s there. Huh, so that doesn’t have…that’s not the Hot Dog Song at all. What the…? What is going on here? I guess I’m gonna have to do a little Googling live. I know what I Googled was Mickey Mouse Hot Dog Song, and that’s what came up.
Oh, I also have no…that’s right; I have no…this is not…okay, Mickey Mouse hot dog. Hot Dog Dance. Why does Mickey Mouse say hot dog? This is all in Google. I’d like to see how he was moving hot dogs. Get your hot dogs. Mickey Mouse Club Hot Dog Dance, but this is a YouTube video. I’m looking for actual, factual…here’s a…oh, The Hot Dog Song. It’s also performed by They Might Be Giants. See, we’re here live, learning while you rest and take it easy over on disneyfandom…disney.fandom.com. The Hot Dog Song is performed by They Might Be Giants at the end of the episode. So, that was the beginning; this is the end. Then they perform the Hot Dog Dance. Each character has a different move. The name…the song’s name echoes Disney’s first spoken words from The Karnival Kid, 1929.
Extended versions of the song have been released on two different albums; Playhouse Disney, Music Date, and Disney Junior DJ Shuffle. It got a reintroduction with the third season of Mickey and the Roast…Roadster Racers. It goes hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dog. Now we got ears, it’s time for cheers. Hot dog, hot dog, the problem’s solved. Hot diggity dog. What a hot dog day. It’s a brand-new day. What are you waiting for? Get up, stretch out, stomp on the floor. So, that’s just…there you go; that’s the Mickey Mouse Hot Dog Song in case you were wondering about that. Okay, next up…this is maybe something we’ve covered, maybe not. I actually do need to open this in the iPad, though.
This is where I’m talking to producer Scoots and I’m trying to do this at the same time, which is really hard on my eyes to try to read this. So, I’m just telling my boss, old Scoots Magoots; I say Scoots, can you…? I say no problem, Scoots. I’m working on it. It’s good. Oh, that didn’t work out, though. Okay, well, is there another way we could do this? What I’m trying to do is go from Notion into…on my phone, ‘cause I can’t…I don’t know my Notion password, so I couldn’t open it up on…oh, here we go. Can we copy that? Copy that, buddy, and paste it here on the iPad. One of my favorite things about Apple products is being able to copy and paste on different devices. So, if you learned something about me today…so, Goosebumps, R.L. Stine, is a children’s fiction by author R.L. Stine, Scholastic Publishing.
Child characters who find themselves in situations where normally your vigilance would be heightened to hyper. It could involve supernatural elements. Books from 1992 to 1997, sixty-two books published under the Goosebumps umbrella. There was spin-offs written by Stine; Series 2000, Tales, Give Yourself, Triple Header, Most Wanted, and even more. There was even a series never released; Goosebumps Gold. Spawned a television series, feature films, and since the release of the first novel, Welcome to the Big Farm House, 1992, 400 million books worldwide have been sold, thirty-two languages. Structure and genre; it’s a bit of a thriller. There’s humor…I don’t know if I’ve ever…I’ll be honest with you; I don’t think I’ve read a Goosebumps book. If I have…maybe I read one of the Slappy ones, actually.
That’s the name of the character that’s…they say, who’s…they say…they would say…that character would make jokes about me. They tend to be people that are a little bit lonely and away from home, move to a new place, or staying with relatives. They all feature similar plot structures. At the peak, Stine was known to be able to complete a book in only six days sometimes. They’re mostly first-person narrative, twist endings, some can be surreal, strange, and supernatural. There’s a lot of plot devices used throughout the books. Very rarely does anyone go to the big farm, and never situations that are too serious. They tend to be a little bit vanilla. They’re written…also written at the…between the third and the seventh-grade reading level.
According to one documentary, Stine had read a lot of the comic books that were popular when they were younger. Even something like Pinocchio was a influence. A lot of themes of children triumphing and facing situations and using their wit and imagination. There’s recurring characters. Oh, there is a picture of R.L. Stine. I didn’t…I was like oh, I thought R.L. Stine may have been an imaginary author. I’m not…this is all new to me, really. Achievements, reception…the book was challenged and banned a lot between 2000 and 2009, according to ALA; 94th on the list of…and 15th on the list of most-frequently challenged books from 1990 to 1999. So, that’s interesting. There was television and film adaptations, video games, comic books, other media.
Yeah, so that’s a little bit about Goosebumps, since Eleanor brought up Goosebumps on some level. So yeah, now we’ll be here…this is real sleep-podcasting stuff. You say okay, now I’m gonna go…and I’m going into Notion. I’m clicking on the next hyperlink which I think is…where’s the expression ‘spill the tea’ from…from Stack Exchange. Then I’m clicking on it, then I’m clicking on Share. Then I’m copying the hyperlink. Now’s the most delicate part, because I have to make sure to paste the link in a…or delete the first link, then paste. Oh, so I don’t think there was anything difficult about it. Last time I just forgot to exit out of the other hyperlink. So, now we’re at englishstackexchange.com. It’s a closed thing on English language and usage from three years ago.
Where does the explession…expression ‘spill the tea’ come from? It’s idiomatic, informal, disclosed information, kind of like gossip. Let’s see, Quincy…tea…can anyone tell me is it British or American? So, this question…so, is this actually a question? Because it just seems like the title asks a question. In the UK, there’s a older expression; spill the beans. It wasn’t a…it was the judge that said spill the tea, not spill the beans. Spilled milk…this answer that got seven ups is…it comes from drag culture and has a double-edged meaning. It could also refer to someone else’s hidden truth that is gossip. So, the phrase spill the tea was used as an encouragement to gossip, but has been used in everything from Harlequin romance novels, RuPaul’s Drag Race, Larry Wilmore talked about it on Larry Wilmore show using weak tea when people weren’t telling the absolute truth.
Merriam Webster says the expression is American slang. This one uses Rob Kardashian’s Instagram as an example. So, yeah. That’s…I think that’s interesting. So, spilling the tea means kind of to encourage someone to gossip, which was how it was used in this one. But yeah, I was just like huh, I’ve heard of spill the beans myself. Okay, so then toodle-doo…toodle-loo, which I’m saying toodle…toodles, another thing I have trouble saying. Toodle-loo. This is English. It was Word of the Day on the Wiktionary in September, 2010. It means farewell, see you soon; toodle-loo. Not much else about it. So, yeah, that was a quick one. Also, this one comes up, is on your own. They were on my own, and I thought about the song On My Own, and then I thought about the song On Your Own which is a Blur song.
For some reason, that popped in my head, though now that I’m talking about it, it’s not popping in my head. It’s a song by Blur. It was released as a single in June of 1997 on their fifth album, Blur. It charted Number 5 in the UK Singles Chart. It wasn’t released…although it wasn’t released…although it was not released exclusively under the name, it was also one of the first ever Gorillaz tunes. It’s a B-side with Song 2 or Popscene. It’s 4:26 long. Let’s see what else was said. There was a…this was back when they had music videos. B-sides were recorded at John Peel's home studio…track listings…thought there would be something more, but…in popular culture…it was used in the film The Beach in 2000 as a soundtrack.
So yeah, kind of another piece of research that I would say to Past Scoots; that’s a bit of a dud, Past Scoots. I’d say no problem, current Scoots. Let’s just keep rolling. What about Silly Billy? This is regencyhistory.net. Article from Saturday, the 21st of January, 2012. Who is Silly Billy? It’s a common nickname for someone who behaves foolishly. Sounds familiar, even though I’m not behaving particularly foolishly now. It’s particularly appropriate if someone happens to be named William. Whoa, boy. The nickname appears to originate in the 18th century, but this person, the…I don’t see their name. Rachel is the first name. I’ll see if it’s at the end of the article…found three different royal Williams who earned it; Prince William, Frederick, Deuce…Duke of Gloucester, King William the…IV, so that’s fourth, and Prince William of Orange.
But who won…who was the original Silly Billy? The Duke of Gloucester was a cousin of George IV, pompous, who demanded great respect but was not known for his intelligence. Wallace, confirming the duke, knew that he was widely known as Silly Billy. The antidote…that could have been his cousin was a greater fool than him. There was a contemporary cartoon that seems to support this. It shows William IV sitting on a carved chair, willing…wearing a fool’s cap. Many sources suggest that the phrase Silly Billy is originally coined for William IV. There was different books that say he earned this nickname ‘cause as a young man, he was very excitable and tactless. That also sounds familiar.
Evidence seems to suggest his behavior was wild and ridiculous at times and that he was afflicted with some…he was just a bit…and then the…one of the silliest old gentlemen. So, there’s more about that, and then Prince William of Orange, but I want to get to the summary. All three Williams were known for their lack of wisdom, but I do believe that the Duke of Gloucester was the original Silly Billy, both in reminiscence from [inaudible] and the satirical cartoon. The duke is acknowledged as Silly Billy, though Grenville’s Memoirs suggest that the fourth…William IV deserved the nickname. It is unsurprising that the nickname has become associated with William IV, given his importance of his standing compared to his relatively unknown cousin. Let me just see if I can find who we’re crediting here on this blog.
About Rachel; let’s see. So, this is regencyhistorynet…dot net. It has been said…this is quoting…Rachel Knowles that every writer must first be a reader, and I’ve always loved reading. As a child, I was fascinated by tales of fantasy, including Blyton’s Enchanted Wood. Wrote my own magical adventures. When I was thirteen, I read Pride and Prejudice for the first time and I fell in love. Not just with Mr. Darcy; with the whole regency age. So, I’ll definitely link to that…this article. Then, of course, we gotta talk about…well, I’ll do a quick one. Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, Start, sometimes. There’s other codes, but this one is either known as the Contra Code or the Konami Code or the 30 Lives Code. It’s a cheat code. It appears in many Konami video games and some non-Konami ones.
In the original version of the code, the player can do up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, Start. I just tried this recently with my daughter on a…and it worked…with a…one of those Nintendos that’s not an original Nintendo, I think so. It’s also found a place in popular culture as a reference to the third generation of video consoles and is a Easter egg on a number of websites. It was first used in the 1986 release of Gradius, a scrolling shooter for the NES. Then it was in the North American players version of Contra, which was dubbed the Contra Code or the 30 Lives Code. So, you got thirty lives where you usually just had two or three. It was developed…yeah, in the…as a home port of the 1985 Gradius. It was too difficult to test.
Created a cheat code to give a full set of power-ups normally that you would attain gradually. The code was meant to be removed prior to publishing, but it was overlooked. The developers decided to leave it there, meaning…’cause they don’t want to create new bugs by taking it out. It was also on the Super NES version, Gradius III, but it was used in the…it was a different type of controller. Then on the Wii remote, Gradius ReBirth. There’s other variations depending on you…if you were using the NES or the PlayStation or a numerical pad. Then 573 is also used extensively in Dance, Dance, Revolution. So, Jason would probably know about that. That’s a…I think that’s another one; that’s called System 573. So, a list of them; Gradius, Life Force, Nemesis…oh, these are all Gradius.
Gradius Deluxe, Contra, Super C, Operation C, NEO, IV…oh, even in Castlevania, some of them. Cool. I’m gonna have to try it out. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles uses it, and Dance, Dance, Resolution. Oh, Metal Gear, even. Never played that, but I know some people that really love that game. So, I’ll link to that, too. I hope you sleep well. As we say goodbye to the Soul Squad, you know, we’ll see them again…you could re-listen to all four seasons of our coverage and watch all four seasons of the show again, and then move on to all the amazing projects that everybody that worked on that show is working on now, and probably developing and pitching right now. We hope all of them, everybody that’s been involved and…but particularly The Good Place ends up in a good place where we can keep enjoying the content, whether they’re performing or writing, producing, directing, doing something else behind the scenes that’s so important. Thank you so much.
[END OF RECORDING]
(www.leahtranscribes.com)
-
Notable Language:
- Schadenfreude
- Hot Diggety Dog
- Moral Dessert
Notable Culture:
- Erin Brokovich
- RuPaul’s Drag Race
- The Konami Code
Notable Talking Points:
- I didn’t realize Scoots was babysitting now
- 210 is a special number to Scooter
- Wait a second, this isn’t the hot dog song
Listen on your favorite app
