872 – Haven from Sports | Get Besos S3 E9

EPISODE 872 – Haven from Sports Get Besos S3 E9

 

[START OF RECORDING]

SCOOTER: Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and friends beyond the binary, and my patron peeps, it’s time for the podcaster who’s here to unpack the lulls and the meanders; get ‘em out, spread ‘em around to take your mind off of stuff.  You support me so I do it because you enable me to.  Thank you, patrons.

 

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.  We’re gonna do the rest.  What we’re going to attempt to do is create a safe place where you could set aside whatever’s keeping you awake; whether it’s thoughts, things on your mind, things you’re thinking about, or that are coming up.  Usually I don’t even think about ‘em.  That’s the worst part about bedtime thoughts.  So, thoughts that are popping up.  Maybe we’ll come…pop-up thoughts.  I don’t know if we’ve ever talked about that.  Hopefully I’ll remember that.  So, thoughts, feelings, could be physical sensations or emotions coming up for you getting in the way of sleep, changes in routine or time or temperature, or other stuff.

 

Whatever it is, I’m here to take your mind off of that.  What I’m gonna do is I’m gonna try to create a safe place where you could set aside that stuff.  I got the safe place here all set up.  I could send it straight to you or you could drift your way over.  Or, it doesn’t have…’cause I don’t like to use…even though W-O-R-M…is that how you spell it?  Like, there’s the W-O-R…the holes.  They talk about those in space.  A Wrinkle in Time; that’s much more bedtime conducive.  I mean holy cow, what a brilliant thing.  ‘Cause you say well…you say what in the name of Madeleine…?  That’s another one that causes me to stutter.  Ling…I can’t even get that one…L’Engle.  What in the name…?  ‘Cause maybe she said wormhole.  No, no, no, A Wrinkle in Time.  Kids don’t need to hear about wormholes.  Maybe that was a meeting she had.  Maybe her editor was like you know, why don’t you just call it a wormhole in a wormhole?  A wormhole-based…you say what?  Give me another editor.

 

The next editor said did you know that you’re being co-opted during…a person going off-topic when he’s supposed to be introducing a sleep podcast?  She said yeah, he probably stumbled onto a wrinkle in his…a meander.  What was my point?  I just fell into A Wrinkle in Time.  What I really meant to say, because I was thinking…I was gonna say almost like a wormhole, I could just send the podcast there to you directly.  Then I said wormhole is not very…it’s not not sleepy.  In some sense, it is kind of sleepy.  But then I said what else would you call it?  Then that popped…I said wait, is that what A Wrinkle in Time kind of is?  Kind of isn’t?  I don’t know.  That’s much more…I mean, that’s a very beautiful set of words; no offense, wormhole.  You have your positive sides.  Brevity is one of them.  I think I was trying to say poetic.  Beautiful; I guess that’s better.  Beautiful and poetic?  Okay, we could agree on that.  I’m gonna send my voice…I’m gonna create a safe place and send it to you and the way I’m gonna do it is not by either one of those, though in some sense, is.

 

I’m gonna send my voice across the deep, dark night here.  I’m gonna use lulling, soothing, creaky, dulcet tones, pointless meanders, superfluous tangents.  Holy cow; I mean, just witnessed a few of them.  Mumbling, stumbling, getting mixed up, extra words, all those things, all to keep you company as you drift off.  If you’re new, before I get to those pop-up thoughts, let’s talk about a couple things ‘cause this podcast is very different.  I’ve been getting a lot of feedback right…recently from listeners that have…let me set this up ‘cause if you’re doubtful or you’re saying I’m not sure about this podcast, I would say, now with the feedback I’ve gotten recently, really give it a few tries.  I say that every time, but really do.  You owe it to yourself.  I mean, you don’t have to.  Some people know they don’t like the show for sure.  But this podcast does not work for everybody, that’s the one thing.  A lot of people will say oh, this works…this puts 90% of people to sleep that listen to it.  Not this show.

 

But hopefully the people it works for, it works for.  That’s one thing you need to know.  But I was gonna say about the feedback; I was gonna try to stay on topic but recently, from over two handfuls…over ten people in the last few weeks, in different ways; roommates, romantic partners, and just individual listeners that said oh, well, someone in my life was listening to a podcast.  I strongly disliked it.  Then I gave it a shot and now I’m a listener.  Yeah, that’s the partners and roommates one.  Then a large group of other people said you know what?  I started to listen to you and it was definitely not for me.  I found every…not only did I dislike the show, I disliked most things about it.  But then some people gave it a try the next night and then said oh wait a second, maybe…’cause you know, when you’re tired, there’s nothing wrong with being cranky.  Sometimes you’re cranky but it’s not just being cranky; some people I just don’t work for.  I also don’t want to put that in your mind.

 

But if you’re feeling…if I make you a little bit cranky the first or second time, that’s a normal…a very common reaction.  A lot of people have been saying that lately.  They said jeez, I listen, I was cranky, or I just didn’t like it.  Then some people came back the next night and it worked for them, or the next night after that, but other people took a break and then came back to the show.  What I’m saying is you never know, but just give it a shot.  I’m really doing a bang-up job of selling the podcast.  It doesn’t work for everybody but I think we could all agree on that.  It takes a few tries for the people it does normally.  That’s one thing to know if you’re skeptical, doubtful, or a little bit…pre-cranky.  You say oh boy, Scoots, I can feel my brow furrowing at your creaky, dulcet tones and your…you can’t even call them non sequiturs.  I say yeah, they’re non-sensitors.  Give it a few tries, that’s one thing.  Structure of the show can also throw people off.  Also, it becomes a lot of people’s favorite thing ‘cause the show starts off with business.

 

That’s how we keep it free.  That’s some people’s favorite thing.  You say jeez, it comes out twice a week for free.  That’s cool.  But it does require help from listeners and sponsors to do that.  Then, there’s an intro which is from about minute four to six or so to about minute twenty.  That is me just going…I try…that’s me trying to introduce the podcast and naturally going off-topic.  Some people, especially newer people, might think that it’s just business or they might not like the fact that it doesn’t go anywhere.  It’s kind of like if a handy person showed up at your house and you say hey, are you gonna fix that stuff?  They say yeah, let me…you say you’re gonna put me to sleep, or are you gonna fix the drain?  They say which one?  I say well, I don’t know, Scoots was trying to make a metaphor and then he mish-mashed his metaphors.  I said yeah, let me look at the tub first.  I said well, I thought you were gonna fix the drain under the sink.

 

He said whoa, boy, what a tub…let me just work on these tub knobs for a little while.  That’s a bit like the intro where I say don’t worry, this is part of my method but really, the intro…the purpose of the intro is for new listeners to get an idea of what they’re getting into.  But for regular listeners, you can be the 2% or 4% of people that skip the intro or part of the 2% of listeners that support the show and get story-only episodes.  Those are ways to avoid the intro.  But most listeners listen to it because it’s part of their wind-down routine.  I would strongly encourage you to think about…I mentioned this a while ago; think about starting the podcast before you get in bed or right before you get in bed, or as you’re getting in bed, or making it part of your bedtime routine ‘cause it’s part…for regular listeners, the intro becomes part of the wind-down.  It gives you a runway to get ready for sleep and to get comfortable whether you’re in bed or you’re getting ready for bed, in addition to other things.

 

You might like brushing your hair [00:10:00] or doodling, like I said, or just staring at the ceiling.  That’s one of my things.  Listening outside…but ideally having something else to distract your thoughts ‘cause those thoughts pop up.  That’s what I was saying earlier.  When they pop up…we’ll try to get back to that idea, but I think it’s pretty simple.  How come at bedtime all these thoughts are popping up that I really don’t feel like I’m in control of?  They’re just there.  I say well, I’m opening up a pop-up shop about your childhood here.  What, bedtime?  Oh boy, yeah, that’s how pop-up shops work.  They just pop up.  We’re gonna have everything about your…well, not the glamorous stuff about your childhood ‘cause there wasn’t any, except for that one dance you went to dressed as a…whatever you called it, Glamorous Glen.  I say remember that?  That was only with my imaginary friend.  It was only a dance me and Bill had, so it wasn’t even actually a thing.  The dance with Glamorous Glen.

 

Maybe that’ll be an episode.  Then…oh boy, where was I?  I really don’t know where I was.  Oh, those thoughts can pop up.  We won’t be talking about that dance, we’ll be talking to you about all that other…so, that’s what can happen to you at bedtime.  The whole idea of the show, I guess, is to take your mind off of stuff, distract you from that.  This isn’t really a podcast so much you listen to, though you can.  You could kind of listen to it out-of-focus or loosely or closely.  It’s not really a podcast to put you to sleep; it’s a podcast to be here as you fall asleep, to keep you company as you drift off, to give you plenty…just to take your mind off of something.  I’m here to walk at your side, chatting it up, talk…chatting it up about nothing.  You say…you put the chit-chat…you put the chitter-chatter in chit-chat for sure.  I’d say thank you; no one’s ever said that to me.  I think that makes sense.  The podcast is here to keep you company but also take your mind off of stuff as you drift off.

 

But if you need to listen, if you can’t sleep, I’m gonna be here ‘til the very end.  I also want you to know that.  I’m here; I’m your bore-bud.  That’s the intro of the show.  Then there’ll be a story.  Tonight, it’ll probably be our ongoing serialized but mostly episodically modular series Get Besos.  Hopefully I’ll remember to make an episode about Glamorous Jack or whatever.  Then there’ll be some thank yous at the end.  There’s some business between the intro and the story.  That’s the structure of the show.  Oh, then I told you the other stuff by accident, out-of-order, but yeah, it’s a podcast you don’t need to listen to and that it’s more here to keep you company as you fall asleep.  Now, the reason I make this show, one, I truly believe you deserve a good night’s sleep and I hope I can help provide that or be a part of that for you, because I believe the world will just be a better place with you rested in your world and our world that we share, and with all the other people we share it with, even if just a tiny bit better.

 

That’s one thing.  I also believe, on top of that, that bedtime…I’ve been there, dreading bedtime, and with all the stuff that goes with it and I don’t want that for you.  I’d like to make it at least a neutral experience where you say well, I gotta…this, but I got those pop-up thoughts coming later but at least I have Scoots to distract me.  Scoots is not bad; he’s known as the Not-Bad Boy.  He was never a bad boy, but he was never a…you know, not that…he’s not bad.  Oh boy, nine out of ten humans agree, Scoots…Sleep With Me…not…well, not nine out of ten with Sleep With Me.  But I think it is four and a half stars, so what’s that?  Ninety…nine out of ten.  That is nine out of ten.  ‘Cause 4.5 plus 4.5 is nine.  Nine out of ten people do say well, it’s just not bad.  You deserve a good night’s sleep.  That’s why I make this show.  Also, because I’ve been there, not just dreading bedtime but stuck with those pop-up thoughts or pop-up feelings.

 

You say I thought the purpose of a pop-up shop was to be cool…those were cool things, that…at least to me, anybody…if you ever want some cachet with me, say oh boy, we’re running a pop-up shop.  I’ll be like, that’s great.  Are you gonna come to the opening?  No, probably…that’d probably be…I’m probably not the kind of person that goes to a pop-up shop opening.  I’d be there looking in the window, like after you’ve been…like, after the cool part wears down where it’s…right before you d-pop it or box it back up is when I’ll show up, because I’m just not at that level.  I don’t even have…I don’t have the clothes for a pop-up shop opening, or any of that other stuff.  I wouldn’t even know how to behave, to be honest.  Oh, just be myself?  Okay, well, good thing this is an imaginary pop-up shop opening.  Oh, just so…you say what’s a pop-up shop?  Because these episodes get listened to all over the place and all of the time…my understanding of it is it’s something very, very cool or hip people do.

 

I think it’s like when a store just doesn’t have a business in it, they say…I’ve never heard of anybody doing water…they say well, I do oil-based painting on sneakers, customized sneakers with oil-based paints or acrylics, or whatever you would put…you know?  I put works of art on sneakers and I’ve been building up a collection, so that’s what I’m gonna sell in my pop-up shop, along with my friend that makes sustainable dumplings.  Each dumpling has a story.  Yeah, it’s called…we don’t know exactly what we’re going to call it but one of our other friends is gonna come up with a name with it.  I don’t know, usually they’ll have just one focus but I can’t focus on one thing.  That would be my…and then you say yeah, just opened from, whatever, October 15th to November 18th.  We’ll be there; come on by.  Usually there’s the kind of music you wonder where you even find that…discover that music.  You say, this music’s awesome.  You say where are all these people when I'm living my life, other than at pop-up shops and in movies, and stock photos?

 

I say where do these people exist?  You say wow, at least that’s the pop-up…those are imaginary pop-up shops I’ve been to.  You say no, they’re more…I say well, that’s cool, but for me, it’s pop-up thoughts.  I say well, I’m gonna open up a pop-up shop about those…we’re just gonna do one about the ways you’re not measuring up.  I say that doesn’t sound…is there gonna be a DJ there?  Oh yeah, there’ll be…well, a DJ repetitively repeating your deficiencies.  I say, like to a beat?  Like, how many beats per minute is that gonna be?  I don’t know, we’ll think about that.  We’ll have to study what’ll be the most effective at getting you…getting going.  I say okay, so I don’t know if anybody has pop-up thoughts or pop-up emotions, or pop-up physical sensations at bedtime, or outside…whatever it is, I’m here to help.  Give this show a few tries.  I really want to help you but I also realize this podcast is very different and very strange.  Let’s not beat around the bush.  I’m here to help; give it a few tries, see how it goes.  I really work hard, I yearn and I strive.  I appreciate you checking this podcast out and I’d like to help you fall asleep.  Thanks again for coming by.  Oh, then I say and I’d like to help you fall asleep.  Here’s a couple ways we’re able to keep this podcast free for everybody.

 

Hey everybody, welcome.  I was gonna say…I accidentally…I’ll do it anyway just ‘cause I cut out the part where I messed up, but I said I was gonna do…I forgot what I was about to record, so I was gonna do this; ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and friends beyond the binary, it’s time for our ongoing…it brings me so much joy trying to send the safe place across to all of you and let you feel seen here in the deep, dark night.  But with that said, it’s time to see some things in the Theatre of the Mind.  It’s time for our ongoing episodically modular…I just wonder why I call it ongoing.  I mean, it is ongoing but why have I chose that word whenever I chose it…?  But it’s episodically modular series with a touch of seriality, but you’ll know everything you need to know about the seriality in the next few minutes.  The series is called Get Besos.  It’s a tale of Richard Warren Sears and James Cash Penney, once titans of retail industry.  Yeah, I guess you say that.

 

Then, [00:20:00] as post-Earth beings, they were in a place I call purgatory or what’s the other word for it?  I already forgot.  Oh, I forgot what it’s called, but a neutral but highly…very bland place for post-Earth living where they were existing.  Then they said what’s going on on Earth?  They found out about this…this is all fictional, by the way.  One day, in another existence, you’ll get the…you’ll say well, Scoots, this isn’t the non-fiction narrative version but that’ll be coming to you probably via brainwaves or something, or telepathy.  But for now, alls I can do is tell you this bedtime story.  In this bedtime story, so, they were in purgatory and they’re best friends.  Oh, at some point, they became best friends.  But they were bored.  Richard Warren Sears was reading the old newspapers and he found out about this guy, a fictional person Jiff Besos, founder of Imzon.com.  He realized that this Jiff kind of invalidated, in Richard Warren Sears’s mind, their retail empires.

 

Then, they escaped purgatory, returned to Earth in an attempt to get Jiff, get Besos, and teach him…say hey, why do you have to…I strongly feel…they’re just gonna use I-messages.  That’s all…I feel sad that you…my retail…that your retail practices…so, you know, I can’t speak for the characters in that…that didn’t end up happening, though.  They headed to Earth with pure intentions to purely give a I-statement to Jiff.  Then, they had a series of adventures, over two seasons of podcasting where they discovered friendships, and…about friendship, love, empathy, and compassion.  While discovering the importance of those things, they de-existed the lower place, the Not Good Place.  Just in this fictional belief system, they de-existed the Good Place.  Also, most of what we would call Earth and then over time, and time is different in this…then Earth reformed.  There was a utopian community called Besos, founded by one of Jiff’s offspring.

 

Then they…while they were de-existing everything, they kind of…well, they were there; they were at the utopia.  Next thing they knew, because there’s higher powers at work, they found themselves back in purgatory with Jiff.  Then they realized oh, Earth has…here’s the good news; Earth’s got a backup, a redundant Earth.  Nowadays, this is common stuff in movies and television, the old redundant Earth.  It’s almost its own redundancy.  You say I’ve heard this story a thousand times.  This one was called Hearth but hereto forward, we’ll call it Earth for simplicity’s sake ‘cause it’s very similar.  James Cash Penney was resting but Jiff and RW discovered that there was someone on Hearth named Z-Biff who founded a nearly-monopolistic social media and shopping platform.  Imagine that, if you combined all that into one thing, you say well, where’d he get that?  Z-Biff.  Where do you talk to Nana?  Z-Biff.  Where do you post your favorite cat gifs?  Z-Biff.

 

Where do you talk about when someone leaves crumbs on the…oh, Z-Biff, the dominant social media and shopping platform.  Then you say…I told you I’d catch you up on everything here.  Jiff started keeping track of all the communities on Hearth or Earth that were impacted in a non-positive way by the Z-Biff social media and shopping platform.  Jiff snuck out of purgatory to go give a strong I-statement…well first, I think Jiff had a list.  He said well, I’m gonna help these communities come to grips with the influence of the social media and shopping platform.  But maybe with the end goal of giving a strong I-statement to Z-Biff, the ubiquitous founder of Z-Biff.  Then RW found out about it, said it to James; hey, we gotta go get Besos because he’s gonna go try to get Z-Biff and our job, as the friends of Jiff Besos, is to go get him.  ‘Cause as we learned through two seasons, going to just simply do an I-statement to a titan of industry just doesn’t…it’s not so simple.  It’s not as simple as it seems.

 

Even in our time, you say well, I’d like to go give that titan of industry just a simple I-statement.  Believe me, I’ve called, they say…first of all, you say which one…’cause you say…why are you calling?  Well, agent, I need to talk to an…well, what would you like to say to the agent?  They say agent.  Then they say press zero.  Oh, that is not an option.  What would you like to talk to the agent about?  Have you checked our website?  You say no; I’d like to give a strong-worded I-statement to your founder.  Never straightforward, whether it’s fiction or non…that part, fiction or non-fiction.  I-statements and titans, it’s been going on since the titans.  I believe that’s how the initial clash started, was somebody said well, which of these titans thinks they’re the biggest and the toughest?  Is it Zeus or was this before Zeus?  Because I’d like to give them a strongly-worded I-statement.  You say well, Scoots, actually, I-statements are not…okay, an assertively…passive-aggressively influenced I-statement.

 

You say well, there’s where your trouble lies.  I say well, what can I do?  I put the I-statement in H-U-M-N, human.  Oh, there’s an empty pause there, even from my brain.  But talk about putting the who or the oof, in human is our Hollywood announcer Mr. Antonio Banderas.  Yes, the ladies, the gentlemen, the boys, the girls, friends beyond the binary.  It’s time for another episode of Get Besos.  Yeah.  Oof, oh boy, did that put…you put the hi-ya in human.  That’s Mr. Antonio Banderas who’s gonna lie silently on my stage bed which is also my spare bed, and listen to me record the podcast.  This is another episode of Get Besos.

 

Okay Richie, so why don’t we just do the story thing again, ‘cause I know you found out about everything, ‘cause I have some…you have a update on what we’re supposed to be doing, but I have a update on the world at large.  Oh boy.  Okay, why don’t you go first then, James?  Because mine is pretty simple.  Actually, I’ll go ‘cause I’m already talking, buddy.  Here’s the thing; I’d watched the episode of Star Trek, The Next Generation, James, called Haven, at some point.  There was a planet called Haven and what we’re dealing with today is a haven, or a place that wants to be a haven.  Then I thought to myself, but I didn’t do it.  I said what, haven and heaven, what are the similarities of the two?  Then I thought well, haven still is…you could still have a haven.  Yeah, I guess you don’t find that funny, James.  Sports haven is what we’re doing right now, or a haven from sports.  Oh, once upon a time, James, there was a community…there was someone named Y-Yiff, and Y-Yiff did many, many things.  Oh boy, did they.

 

But one of the things they did, was they created a community where…okay, back up.  There’s something called demographics, James, that are always changing generation to generation, day-to-day.  But one of those demographics, James, is age ranges in retirements and communities where retirees live.  Because [00:30:00] those are changing on little bit larger sales and because there’s a big investment, sometimes those communities say well, we have all of this space.  We don’t have the equivalent in this next thirty or forty-year demographic equivalent populations to live in this community designated for a certain demographic.  Okay Richie, I think I’m with you.  Okay James, don’t interrupt me please.  But so…because now I forgot what I was going to say.  We have the demographics, we have the communities.  Oh, also James, I’m sure you remember this because they were maybe our competitors but there was also, back in our day, some insurance companies and things had their own communities.

 

You remember.  I do, Richie.  Like Parchester.  Great example, James.  Yes, that’s a good example.  James, for different reasons, we don’t have time to discuss…oh, this is just a story, though.  In this world here where we are, Z…Y-Yiffy decided to take that model for these retirement communities designated for retiree people that no longer had the…they said well, these were planned communities.  There was investment but some individually-owned, some rented.  The land underneath it was not…interestingly enough James, interesting ownership.  They didn’t own the land; they owned the buildings on the land.  Z-Biff slowly started to acquire a few of these communities with the vision of making them into modular communities, James.  Now to us, I would say oh, our mobile communities, but this was not what Z-Biff had envisioned.  Z-Biff envisioned communities and homes that could be modular, that the residents could add onto or make smaller, because there was a brief time, James, when I was watching Earth while you were sleeping, or Hearth, where there was like…tiny houses were a thing.

 

This is actually not that bad an idea.  In Y-Yiff’s community, people could say oh, I want to live in a tiny house now, or oh, we’re…our family’s growing.  Oh, our family…our children are moving away.  Or what if you said hey, I got a guest coming over.  I just need a guest room for the time being.  What if you said well, I have a home here, an extra half-bath.  Z-Biff’s modular homes made all that possible.  Also, a lot of it, James, is, as much as I like to criticize, all…a lot of it recycled.  Really visionary, that part of it.  Affordable, also thinking…now, this is data that…now, this was data Z-Biff had gleaned, that people…they say well, I’d like to change things up a little bit here.  Actual modular homes that are mobile, but they also are connected to a foundation.  You say okay, that part…then this started to re-invigorate these communities.  Now, these are only tests that Z-Biff…but to us, you’d say oh, ten people…no, these were pretty grand-scale tests Z-Biff has been conducting.

 

The homes, James, are the plus.  Again, looking at it saying well, what could everybody…it’s very affordable, is the other thing, which you wouldn’t expect with someone like Z-Biff but they had the visionary to say okay, well, you’re gonna trade off not owning the land which was already the case for most of the people of the other generations that lived in these communities, or this particular one that we’re outside of now.  Also, you would kind of…they…Z-Biff had gotten enough…made enough…you know, said well, we could do it here or in this state or this state, or this community or this community.  Who’s gonna give me the concessions I want?  Z-Biff was also able to form some interest…when you entered into it, you say oh, this was a very affordable price.  Wow, I get to…oh, this would be the cost; you could own, you could rent.  Then you could change your home and you could build that into the pricing.  Again, with the social media shopping platform, James, you say you know what you’re buying everything through.

 

I guess from Z-Biff’s side, a very…maybe even more predictable source of income or revenue for them.  But the rules are not like normal community rules.  Now, they’re not super…it’s not a democracy even though it’s within a democracy or whatever representational…whatever the thingamajig is, James.  These communities now have had people in them for a little while and they’ve started to see how the rules work.  In this particular community, James, what happened was the majority or plurality of the people…because you can also move…you say well, I’d prefer to live…I became best friends with this person.  Don’t want to live too close to them anymore.  Or our community…this community decided…a portion of this community, a very large portion of it, as a matter of fact, James, and within the…I don’t exactly know how this voting works ‘cause it’s like, with an algorithm, so it’s not a…not one person, one vote.  But it’s not also like oh, I have a million dollars, I get a million votes.

 

Very opaque in some sense.  But some people within this figured out some of the opaque…or how to influence that.  What they decided was, they wanted a community…a haven from sports.  They said well, we don’t like…we don’t want any…but very simple; no sports.  Kind of straightforward.  They said well, we would prefer if our community’s a haven from sports fans, sports playing, and sports discussions.  I mean, maybe in the privacy of your own home, but even then, you’d have to keep it to a bare minimum.  I guess that was kind of the ruling, where it’s basically a haven from sports.  Okay Richie, the community’s here.  The community that we’re going to visit with, they’ve decided no sports, no public display of sports, fandom of sports playing.  No jerseys.  Correct, James.  That would be…yeah, you’d have to…yeah, your home would be relocated based on some very similar to this other stuff.  You’d get a warning but yeah, they moved all the sports fans to the…they said well, if you want to be a sports fan, you could go live with other sports fans or sports players.

 

They kind of pitched it in a way that said well, this should have some appeal to you but at the same time…or you could live somewhere…but they said basically, they also had the votes, in an opaque way, ‘cause it’s not votes.  It’s, again, bits or something, James.  Okay, but for the most part, if I’m with you, this is not a consensus, clearly, but either a majority or plurality of people are actually fans of this, ‘cause otherwise there would be…correct, James.  There are some people that are very not happy about it.  Also, people that…sports fans, and then other people saying well, oh boy, this is not something to be trifled with.  I can see it on your face, James.  I agree; this is…we have a history of not behaving well in this manner.  Yeah, that’s what I was thinking, too.  We’re here to help them.  We’re here to help try to figure this out, I guess.  Correct.  That was not a very good story, I guess, James.  But so, yeah, that’s my story.  I guess I just kind of relayed the facts.

 

I attempted to change some names.  Anyway, what were you gonna tell me?  You could just tell me or tell me in a story.  Yeah, so, huh…basically, there’s like, J-Jiffy or Jiff’s…somehow, J…a lot of the stuff we tried to help Jiff with and that Jiff may have been working on, because of the way that the algorithms on the Z-Biff platform work and probably because of Z-Biff, I don’t want to point fingers but all…anybody that’s unhappy which is…everybody and Z-Biff obviously is human, so they have something they’re not pleased about.  Somehow, and I do…I guess I do have to believe that it’s…I guess it’s a combination of human [00:40:00] nature and Z-Biff or somebody else exploiting these algorithms.  J-Jiffy’s kind of become the nemesis of everybody, or the blame…anything anybody’s happy about it getting led…or people are finding…oh boy, so people will learn the truth about Jiff, I guess, basically.  No, I mean, Jiff’s getting the B-L-A-M-E for that.

 

We thought we fixed the straw solution and maybe some people were pleased with that straw solution, but they might have found well, there’s one flaw.  Anything that’s not perfect is now Jiff’s fault.  Well, there’s a lot of things that…now, these are not…are these the things we worked on and Jiff worked on, or most of the things Jiff worked on?  I think it’s pretty much…in the last…since we last had our last meeting, Jiff…the world is looking…the whole world’s looking for…is searching for J-Jiffy.  James, so this is like…sounds like it’s more important than my sports haven thing.  It is, but it is…also, when I was looking over the list, I said well, I guess I came back to like, what would we do?  To me, I was gonna tell you…even if I told you this first, I’d say well, let’s go with the two most likely places Jiff might be.  It was this community and the thank-you note thing, ‘cause that was what I wanted to do next.  You wanted to do this next.

 

I don’t know, I guess I’m still trying to figure out how we could help Jiff anyway if…we still have to find Jiff.  Now, the whole world and Z-Biff are probably looking for J-Jiffy.  Well, yeah, another…it’s another fine pickle Jiff’s gotten Jiff’s self into, James.  We should find Jiff and then maybe have to…James, I don’t know about that thank-you note thing, though.  Yeah, but so what’s going on?  Did you set up a meeting with the leaders of this community?  James, I set up a very…I’m just leaning in, so I just need to count on you.  I have everything set up.  I said we’re from a giant production company for the sports-free zones, and all those things.  But yeah, all the sports fans…I mean, this sounded like a great place to live except if this is the start…James, I know maybe you don’t realize it, but we do have to stop this where it is.  I don’t know what to do.  I have everything set up, but I guess I’m saying I need your help, or I need to help you by letting you help.  Okay.

 

Wow, this is…oh, so they have…what is that over there?  Oh, so James, that’s a big board.  I had some tech people that I was in touch with, so that was how they were planning the entire community.  Also, they were letting the sports people use it ‘cause they said…so, you could see on the right side there, those are the sports…I say well, here, you can’t live in our community but you could live in one…oh, do you like this sport or that sport, or those things?  Wow, so you’re already a few steps ahead of things.  Yeah, but I didn’t…I guess I need to know what our angle is going in.  They’re expecting us.  They know we’re a big deal.  They’re about to make…they’ve been doing these tests, James.  They’ve been trying to move to this sports haven model and they’ve been doing the tests within the community because again, this is very…there is some automation that makes these homes move…that make it easy for the homes…the homes don’t just get up and walk.  But it’s not also that hard to…for the homes to move, either.  Okay, well, that would be interesting, if it was walk…that would be wild.

 

I think that was…was that a Miyazaki movie?  James, I don’t know what you’re talking about.  I guess you missed out on that, then.  This is a very dynamic and…I know how I would deal with it, James, but in the spirit of collaboration, what do you think we should do first?  Okay, well Richie, I think we should…maybe we do it as…I mean, I think we gotta stay with what’s working; the Kondo-Milan method.  Let’s call this show Let’s Lean In.  Okay, so a reality show called Let’s Lean In.  Instead of just saying yes to the sports haven and the sports fans, what if we…as a test, we’ll tell them oh, this is just a grand experiment that you…that they and their brilliance…especially the people in control, how smart and brilliant they are.  I think, Richie, this is probably your thing; if we can get them to give us some of their power to run this test based on their brilliance, we could diffuse the stress.  It’ll almost be like, we could pitch it as a smokescreen, I guess.

 

Just say oh, once this test is over, then you have your sports haven and your non-sport…sports-free sports haven.  I don’t know, would the sports haven…a haven from sports and a sports haven; I guess those would be the communities.  Then they could do that and they could still stay a dynamic community.  Okay James, I actually put your mic on already, after that one part.  Oh yeah, hi everybody.  Yeah, I guess…I didn’t realize you had a PA system here but yeah, I’m James.  How about that J-Jiffy?  Anybody not a fan of J-Jiffy?  Not me, James.  I mean, I’m not a fan of J-Jiffy, too.  That’s what I meant, everybody.  Yeah, we’re here from the famous future television program you’re all gonna hear about.  We heard; we sent our producers ahead of time and we learned about the brilliant work you’re all doing here.  What a dynamic and modular community you have.  What a…I mean, this seems like a dream, to live in a place where you could change your home, you could add-on, you could reduce, but it remains…your house is a home and your home’s a house.

 

Really, the leadership here…wowee.  Part of our show is taking what already worked and saying yes.  Just Lean In is the name of the program, and I’m glad…all of you are the leaders of this haven movement, eh?  Wow.  You’ve really understood how to influence…you have influence.  You’re influence, you’re thinking…leaders of thinking, I guess.  Wow, really; brain-leaders, that’s amazing.  You’ve influenced this community to try this out, so now we’re here for Let’s Lean In to really lean in.  Now, just as a test, if you turn the PA off, I’ll just speak to all…yeah, hi, I’m James.  I’m the producer of the show and Richie’s gonna just work the audience here while I talk to you.  What we’re thinking is, we really want your haven idea to succeed.  We think this’ll make a great TV show though, too.  If we lean in, we’re gonna take what you did and expand it to everything, basically, but just as a test.  We would…today, we’ll just set up the test, we’ll get the initial reactions, and then what we do is shoot a couple weeks of film and interviews with these new communities.

 

Yeah, just like Barber Swap.  Exactly like Barber Swap, or Hair…whatever, Barber Salon Swap, yeah, when the people go to the salon and the people to go the barber, exact same show.  Wow, you really know your reality TV.  Yeah, I’ve been watch…I was a big fan of Barber Swap.  I like how they call it Barber Swap and the Salon is silent, because Barber Swap sounds better than Barber Salon Swap.  Oh yeah, you’re right, I forgot they changed it to Barber Swap Salon.  That was really fun, but what a great show.  When that kid that had the podcast with the very…he had that very [00:50:00] fine, straight, thin hair and he got that perm, yeah, that was…I’ve never seen any…so, anyway, I want to just compliment you on your vision.  That’s really why we’re here, but I did want to admit that you’re probably naturally feeling what’s in it for all of you, right?  Other than fame, other than being remembered, like someone that was on Barber Swap Salon, is the idea that this will create…this will be a spectacle and the nice thing about spectacles is it kind of…people see something bright, then their eyes have to adjust, and then they have to adjust again.

 

Then everything kind of looks normal.  Do you know what I mean?  No, no.  Okay, so right now their eyes are adjusting to this sports haven idea which you kind of all thought out and figured out.  Everyone’s vision is still out-of-focus, right?  Before it focuses in on the details, this spectacle will cause their eyes to un-focus once again.  Then, they’ll try to focus on the show and all the leaning in we’re doing.  Then, when their eyes finally return to focus, they’ll say oh, this was a normal thing, this sports haven.  That’s what in it for you, is that everybody will be adjusted and they’ll say oh yeah, we loved that sports haven idea.  Also, the benefit of J-Jiffy.  We can also use that.  Again, it’s like one more underlying thing.  Right, you’re all nodding your heads; you say well, J-Jiffy is the one that wants…yeah, we’re in great, great shape.  I’m gonna turn my mic…okay, hey everybody.  The whole town’s here; okay.  I can see you kind of…there’s some of you that like one thing and like one other thing.

 

We have the big board here, and I kind of noticed that yeah, we’re using these Venn diagrams to design things, and you were looking for a Venn diagram with no sports circles on this side.  Then all of you with the sports circles…we’re gonna blank the big board here and we’re gonna bring it up here…yeah, we’re bringing up the map, here.  It looks like it’s gonna get really blurry.  Even though this has billions of colors, you could kind of see…wow, RW, you’re telling them how to run that big board.  Yeah, James.  Yeah, oh, thanks for throwing it to me, James.  Yeah, I’m Richard Warren Sears.  RW, you could call me here, for Let’s Lean In.  It’s very exciting down here because this map seems very busy to all of you.  But this is all of your interests, right?  It’s kind of like…I can see…look at…there’s…I could filter it for people who just like yarn.  Now, we’re popping up.  You’re looking around; who loves yarn here?  Now watch this; I’m gonna add a couple…now, there’s people that like yarn because their cats play with yarn.  There’s people who like yarn because they use it.

 

There’s people that like yarn there because they think…it reminds them of something nice.  These are all…are you getting the idea?  Wouldn’t it be nice if you were all in an area together, like a little yarn subsection?  But then we readjust again.  Well boy, well, let’s see these yarn cat fans.  Oh boy, so then we start to look at…well, turn off the filters for people that like the feel of yarn, or the memories of yarn or using yarn.  Then, we go into this…this is a cat filter.  I would have a cat gif or gif if I was…you know, I’m just trying to…yeah, we could kind of see…oh boy, here’s…yeah, there’s the tabby fans, all spread out.  Oh, there’s a couple of…oh, and here’s the interesting one; there’s a couple pockets of feelings about Siamese cats.  Let’s just have the tabby fans move to one side here, as an experiment.  Oh yeah, I see some of you didn’t even know you were…shared a love of tabbies.  Now, I’ll switch on for the tabby fans; Siamese fans and not fans, we’ll get back to you.

 

But yeah, and then we see oh, look at…there’s some of you that are vegan eaters there, and fans of vegan cooking.  Then there’s some of you that are vegan eaters and not fans of cooking.  Look at these possible overlays we could do.  This is really exciting stuff.  Again, if I zoom out, it just looks like a lot of circles, and the circles are changing.  But we could really start to lean into this here and really start to establish a truly dynamic community based on all of your interests and preferences.  This community, once upon a time, or this area, in these subdivisions, as they used to call them, though now we’re really coming up with…because of the vision of Z-Biff, I guess.  But you look at the traditional demographics and they have different words for these kinds of interests and graphics, but the demographics, they don’t really line up.  Look; we’ll go back to the…let’s go back to the Siamese cat fans of just simply observing Siamese cats, but don’t own them.

 

Richie, how do you know how to do all this?  James, I’m just going by my gut, here.  But if you look at this, look at the age ranges, the cultural influences, the windows of experience…even primary languages spoken, it’s a very, very…these…look at how much you both share and have in common.  But enhancing differences, these kind of diversities within an interest area, also are other areas of interest with other shared groups.  But it’s exciting, especially when you’re thinking about having a dynamic community.  Wouldn’t you want someone in their twenties that speaks Spanish primarily but also speaks Russian; when you…if you say well, I need someone to help with my nana who speaks English and Russian but needs a little hand, also has a Siamese cat that this person could help them and then observe their cat.  Isn’t that a wonderful opportunity?

 

Yeah, yeah, I wanted to give you…we’re gonna turn off our mics here for a second, ‘cause James is coming over, but that’s what we’re gonna be doing over the next few weeks here in your community, is…as everybody…you kind of already have opted in for this, as a part of the sports haven and haven, so you really are pioneers, thoughtineers.  James and I have learned over the years that those kind of people are not to be trifled with.  We’ll be doing interviews…I don’t know how many people are a fan of Barber Swap Salon, or other shows like that from…that you may have never heard of.  But we’re going to be doing those kind of things and you’ll all get interviewed.  You’ll all be very…oh-so famous, positively famous.  Yeah, you’ll see people helping nanas; carrying groceries, watching cats, petting dogs, holding yarn.  We’re just scratching the…think about and look at all these tabby fans interacting so nicely.  Yes, there’s…don’t worry sir, ma’am; there’s places for tabby fans that furrow their brows or frown and cross their arms.

 

We’ll be making allotments for all of that.  This, again, will just be a test.  Now, if for some reason you want to opt in to a…beyond the test, that’ll be a thing, but no one has…it’s just an experiment that you’ve already entered into agreement on.  The benefit of this experiment is that you’ll be getting…you’ll be on TV.  But, you know, optional appearance, of course, of course.  Shy tabby fans, don’t worry.  Yeah, just…why don’t you applaud your leaders, talk about looking at this big board.  All of you kind of seem very [01:00:00] displeased with J-Jiffy.  Why don’t you all talk about that?  You all seem to share that.  That’s what this one giant circle is there.  Yeah.  Okay James, mics are off.  Wow, that was really good, Richie.  You really took over that.  Was that big circle, that’s all the people…is that everybody in this community, that one?  This is beautiful.  It’s almost like the zen of a Venn diagram.  James, you’ve got to stay focused here but yeah, that is the majority if not everybody in the community is displeased with J-Jiffy.

 

But the circle seems to be almost breathing.  Right James; that’s the intensity of people’s thoughts about J-Jiffy.  But I noticed when it’s breathing in, there’s another…what’s that?  Can you click on that other circle?  Oh yeah, this is like underlying uncertainty about the Z-Biff social media and shopping platform.  But why does it say pea green?  Oh, because someone…because you couldn’t say that on a Z-Biff…this is all Z-Biff equipment and Z-Biff enabled data.  It’s just called feelings about pea green.  But it really means underlying distrust of Z-Biff’s social media shopping platform.  It’s like, residual feelings about that.  Yeah, that one’s kind of breathing, too.  Yeah James; people’s awareness of things go up and down.  Wait a second; are you saying this whole thing is dynamic?  This is like, they’re actually tracking how people…how is that possible?  Oh James, come on; this is how people are feeling about things, peoples aligned with people’s interest about things.  Yeah, but how are they able to do that?

 

Well, it’s not they, it’s Z-Biff, James.  James, the device is…everything’s…it’s a data device, James.  It’s just a simple…again, the algorithms; once they have enough data, they could hear the tone in your voice, how you’re feeling.  Can’t read your thoughts, James, they can just make conclusions about how you’re thinking or feeling based on billions and billions and billions of trillions of…whatever, James.  Pretty accurate.  Okay, well, wait a second; could you narrow it down?  Can you get rid of anything or…you could filter for anything?  Okay James, I could filter for anything.  Okay, see if you could filter for anybody not having negative feelings about J-Jiffy.  Okay, that’s the only filter.  Yeah.  Okay James, it’s just two.  Oh, let me look; so, it’s just me and you?  Impossibly, except that that other dot’s not…that’s not anywhere near me.  Are you sure it’s not you that’s having feelings about J-Jiffy?  Could you run…I was gonna say run feelings about…look at…Richie, I’m not kidding.

 

I’m here, then there’s another circle within this community that doesn’t have negative thoughts about J-Jiffy.  Well James, you know, there’s…you can’t acquire for anyone’s taste.  No, but I gotta think that that person is Jiff.  Oh boy, James.  You’re saying that…oh wait, James, I just put that on the big board and I typed in Jiff.  Okay, so everybody’s looking and pointing.  Whoa, why were we doing it on the big board?  That’s the monitor I was using, James.  You should have told me if you were gonna do something.  Okay, go back to the feelings about J-Jiff.  James, they’re feeling very strongly about J-Jiff.  Okay, well, keep those filters up so nobody knows where J-Jiffy is.  What do we…so, Jiff’s somewhere in this community but now…is there a way to look at it without using the big board?  James, what do I look like?  I just figured out how to use this which is very intuitive, but I wouldn’t know how to shut off one screen and only use the other one.  Oh yeah, I guess that makes sense, too.

 

What are we gonna do?  ‘Cause everybody’s gonna start looking for…they figured out that that’s J-Jiff ‘cause you put J-Jiffy and an arrow towards that one.  People are starting to leave.  Okay James, I sent…okay.  What do you mean?  What did you just do?  Well, maybe you should have a seat, James.  Richie, just tell me.  Well, you know, the reason I kind of got to know this was one time while you were sleeping, I did get in contact with…I didn’t get into contact with Z-Biff but Z-Biff’s team, they said hey, we’re the head of Z-Biff’s team; we’d love…they reached out to us.  I didn’t tell you this ‘cause I thought I’d be better if I dealt with them.  Okay.  Then when I decided to come here, I said fill me in on this community.  They said sure, and they actually told me about…they said we’re really looking for J-Jiff, J-Jiffy.  We know that you…we’ve heard you two talking.  They were aware we were looking for J-Jiffy.  What were they looking for J-Jiffy for?  Well James, to talk…to strongly talk to J-Jiffy because they have their own…especially here, you know, they have their Community Trust Team.

 

Community Trust Team?  Yeah, CTT, they call it.  They said oh, that’s our CTT team; they’ll…they make sure that everybody in the…okay Richie, what are you saying?  Well, I told the Community Trust Team where J-Jiffy was right before…right as I put it up on the big board, I right clicked.  Do you know how to right click, James?  Where did you learn how to right click?  James, do you know how long we were in…Jiff actually taught me.  Boy, the irony, James.  Jiff’s the one who taught me how to right click, when you were in purgatory and you were sleeping.  Basically, you turned Jiff over to Z-Biff’s…to Z-Biff.  Yes, James.  But better off than the haven or sports haven people.  Everyone’s gone, by the way, if you’d look around.  They went in search of Jiff; now Jiff is with the Community Trust Team.  Couldn’t be a better spot to…we’ll get…they’re gonna reach out.  I don’t have a way to get them, but they’ll get…Z-Biff’s team will get ahold of me, James.  Okay, see, you turned…I guess this is…okay, I’m trying not to actually…I guess you did the best choice you could have possibly done.

 

I guess I could have sent a message to Jiff, because I did figure out how to get ahold of the device Jiff had.  That’s how I was tracking Jiff.  Once we had him on the circle, you could ping down to the device.  I could have let Jiff know, but better off with Z-Biff.  Then we meet Z-Biff and Jiff all together, James.  You mean Z-Biff’s Trust Team or whatever?  No, no, James, there’s the Community Trust Team, and then there’s Z-Biff’s team.  But yeah, let’s just take a nap.  I mean, let’s go and…look at this, there’s a tiny home, James.  We’ll get some rest and then we’ll deal with this ‘cause we gotta wait for them to get ahold of me anyway.  Yeah, they’re all gonna be running around and then they’re gonna wonder when they’re…but there’s guest housing right over here, James, so let’s lie down and go over there and get some sleep, okay?  Richie, you’re right though; we’re better off…yeah, we’ll be much better dealing with this after we get some rest.  You’re right.  Okay.  Let’s get some sleep.  Okay, buddy.  Goodnight.

 

[END OF RECORDING]

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