Under the Big Top

The Gang celebrated Mother's Day together by eating circus food and discussing 1952 Best Picture winner the Greatest Show on Earth.  While Dan loved the movie the rest of the table had some choice words about this three ring circus! So grab some popcorn, sit back and listen to your friends enjoy each other's company talk about clowns, elephants and if there is anything redeemable about Charlton Heston!

#DinnerwithDan

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:18

Are you new?

SPEAKER_03 0:21

You think this is your first podcast, not your first one? This is my first one. Did you check everybody's mic to make sure?

SPEAKER_00 0:28

I sure did. Everybody's mic's working. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 0:30

Oh, it's great, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 0:31

Meat or vegetables.

SPEAKER_00 0:33

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 0:34

You got both options.

SPEAKER_00 0:36

This is episode 34. I'd like to welcome everyone. Uh episode 34 of Dinner with Dan. I can't believe it's 34 already. Uh I am Dan Garrett, your podcast host tonight, and we are recording on Sunday, May 10th, 2026, which this year is Mother's Day. So all the mothers that are out there listening to us, happy Mother's Day. So far, uh, I just did that. Okay. As usual, we are at my house on Row Avenue in Dayton's historic Five Oaks neighborhood. Uh temperature was a little bit below normal, but it was nice and sunny today with no rain.

SPEAKER_01 1:15

Perfect day.

SPEAKER_00 1:16

Uh to spoil outside mom activities. At the table tonight, we have table regulars, Dan Whaley, Sam Braun, Dea, Paul Duncan Robinson, Kate Evans. And my son Eddie will not be joining us tonight. Uh tonight.

SPEAKER_02 1:32

Is Eddie feeling better?

SPEAKER_00 1:34

Yeah. Uh tonight, after our weekly uh activity report, we will review our 25th number 25 best uh Oscar Pictures.

SPEAKER_01 1:46

This is number 25?

SPEAKER_00 1:47

This is number 25. Can you believe that?

SPEAKER_01 1:49

That's impressive.

SPEAKER_00 1:50

We have now watched 25 best pictures on our epic slog. Um and that is going to be the greatest show on earth. So, as we get around to that, what's for dinner?

SPEAKER_02 2:04

Well, this this this dinner is barely counts as a dinner, as it is some of the worst our most ridiculous, ridiculous food on earth. Um let's see, the most ridiculous food on earth. So hot dogs.

SPEAKER_00 2:17

Give me a corn dog.

SPEAKER_02 2:18

Hebrew national um hot dogs, corn dogs both meat and of the plant-based, although it looks like a hot dog on it, doesn't it, Dea? Is that okay? Yeah, um, uh plant-based corn dogs, um some popcorn, some lemonade, some beer. Uh, some animal crackers, some donuts, and later funnel cakes.

SPEAKER_00 2:46

Vanilla icebread.

SPEAKER_02 2:47

I have vanilla iceberg.

SPEAKER_00 2:48

You can have vanilla icebread.

SPEAKER_02 2:49

I mean, my god, this is barely food that's like processed.

SPEAKER_03 2:54

I know, I'm embarrassed to like say it.

SPEAKER_02 2:57

I know, and then you oh, but now Kate, you didn't bring something green, thank god.

SPEAKER_03 3:02

Thank god uh slaw with some cranberries. It's one of those mixes. I didn't go to great trouble. Great. Uh, but we needed some rough edge here.

SPEAKER_00 3:12

I think this is in the top three meals that we've had. This rivals that uh American and Paris meal.

SPEAKER_02 3:20

Oh uh. Well then if that's all we need to do. Exactly. The bar is so low then, okay.

SPEAKER_00 3:25

Well, you know that line from uh uh uh Jerry McGuire.

SPEAKER_02 3:32

You had me at Hello.

SPEAKER_00 3:34

You had me at corndog.

SPEAKER_02 3:41

I'm so glad.

SPEAKER_00 3:42

Okay, so that's what we're having for dinner because this is uh circus food. Uh so Nan, who just shoved a uh all-beef uh Nathan's uh uh hot dog in her mouth. Hebrew National. What have you done this week?

SPEAKER_02 3:58

Um I've worked a lot this week. Um I went to up to or down to Cincinnati today for um Mother's Day with um my mom and dad and David and Emily and Teddy and Abby, so we had a nice time there. And I had three wonderful gin and tonics. So nice.

SPEAKER_00 4:18

What other food did you have?

SPEAKER_02 4:20

Um, some lamb.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

Oh, lamb?

SPEAKER_02 4:22

Mm-hmm. They have like this big buffet at their club for both Mother's Day and Easter. So basically, we go like Sam and I are guests at their club April, May, and June. And then we don't ever go back again until April, May, and June.

SPEAKER_00 4:36

June for Father's Day?

SPEAKER_02 4:37

Father's Day or David's birthday, and that's about it. Sometimes the 4th of July we'll go, but then that's about it. But they have this great for Easter and Mother's Day, they have this great buffet, and it has uh salmon and shrimp and lamb and tenderloin and you know, really good cookies and grater's ice cream. I mean, it's just like really good, you know, um, eggs benedict and you know, salmon, you know, it's just like all the things, so it's really nice.

SPEAKER_00 5:06

Um I want the I want the podcaster to reflect that this club is not a sponsor of dinner with Daniel.

SPEAKER_02 5:13

No, it's not. Okay. Um so we did that yet today, and then yesterday I had to work. We had this really nice garden party in Cincinnati for Planned Parenthood, and it's in this beautiful, like beautiful home in Indian Hill. And um, it was beautiful out last night, yesterday. And so that was a delight. Um, and then Tuesday was election day, and um we had endorsed a uh key race in in Hamilton County for the county commission. We'd engaged in a primary and we won. And so we had a you know discussion with that candidate on Saturday, which was great. Um yeah, so like it's been a pretty good week. Um, I did a lot of that like election night stuff on Tuesday and Wednesday to see like how and you won your election. Yes, I won my elected um election. I would like to let you all know that I won by a bigger margin than Matt Heck won. You did. So just want to let you all know.

SPEAKER_03 6:08

Yeah, I noticed that.

SPEAKER_02 6:10

Yeah, did you pick up on that? I spent $0.00 on my race. So I feel really good about that. Um I went back to my office and Addie to the staff and said, oh yeah, okay, so I won my election. And they said, we had no idea you were even on the ballot. Like we were too.

SPEAKER_03 6:28

They're like, uh what?

SPEAKER_04 6:33

I know.

SPEAKER_02 6:33

We were like, oh, I didn't they didn't have my C4 endorsement. The plane parent didn't even endorse me. I could have done a little better in that primary. Uh so that's been my week, I think. Is there anything else? Sam will, if I miss something, Sam will tell me. But I want to say, next week, this Wednesday, oh, last night I watched SUFs on PBS. Oh. Uh Dia and I watched it.

SPEAKER_00 6:55

Uh was it on here?

SPEAKER_02 6:56

Yes, it was on here.

SPEAKER_00 6:57

Ava Kay texted me and said it was on, and I turned it on. It was on.

SPEAKER_02 7:01

I watched it.

SPEAKER_03 7:02

It was on Think TV at 9 o'clock.

SPEAKER_04 7:05

PBS.

SPEAKER_03 7:06

Think TV 16.

SPEAKER_00 7:09

I think I it must have been on earlier in Fort Wayne or something. Yeah, it was on at 9 o'clock. She gets it out of Fort Wayne.

SPEAKER_02 7:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:17

And um and she texts me and I turned it on to it. I'm like, it ain't on.

SPEAKER_02 7:21

It was great. It was the cast we saw when we it was the whole cast we saw when we were in New York.

SPEAKER_00 7:26

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 7:27

Um, I'm sure they'll play it again because it's one of the great performances on PBS.

SPEAKER_03 7:31

Um and I think it's on PBS Passport soon.

SPEAKER_02 7:34

Oh, good, yeah. So uh Dee and I watched it. I just want to let you know I still cried. Um keep marching. Tennessee. When the mother sings about Tennessee. Um, but on Wednesday, Sufs is in Cincinnati, and I will be taking Abigail, and we're having dinner, and we're going to SUFS.

SPEAKER_00 7:53

And you will see the same touring group that did it in Dayton.

SPEAKER_02 7:56

I'm pretty sure it's the same group. So um, so this will be my fourth time seeing it live, my fifth time seeing the show. I'm really into this show.

SPEAKER_03 8:04

Twice in one week.

SPEAKER_02 8:05

And twice in a week, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:06

Fourth time seeing it live?

SPEAKER_02 8:07

Yeah, I saw it twice on Broadway.

SPEAKER_00 8:09

Oh, you I forgot you saw it twice.

SPEAKER_02 8:11

I saw it with Sam and then I saw it with the ladies.

SPEAKER_00 8:13

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 8:14

Uh and then I saw it in Dayton. Ladies! Must be the ladies. That's so wild. Anyway, so I'm very excited about my Wednesday. I got a reservation at an Italian restaurant to take Abby.

SPEAKER_03 8:30

Fun.

SPEAKER_02 8:30

And I haven't done any Abby Nan time in a very long time, so I'm very excited about that. Because you know, she's 13 now. Yeah. It's crazy. I don't know how these people get older when I stay the same age. Okay, I'm gonna turn it on over to Sam.

SPEAKER_04 8:44

Yeah. I think she covered most of it. Um really enjoyed being outside a lot. Played tennis a couple times this week. Porch drinking yesterday was nice. Walking the dog.

SPEAKER_01 8:59

Cigar with Marty.

SPEAKER_04 9:00

Cigar last night. Yeah. Been a good week. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 9:07

Um, I just had school mostly. I don't think that was anything out of the ordinary apart from what Matt mentioned. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 9:20

Um, well, I went to Bill in person on Tuesday. I only mentioned that because that can turn into a social activity for me because a friend of mine works at polls, and sometimes I see people I know, but this time, uh Steve Makavic and I just caught up. Uh I see them, you know, twice a year now when we're in uh May. So anyway, that was fun. And then uh Thursday I had lunch at Old Scratch Pizza with Laura Pippinger. Um, Pip. Yeah, so that was fun. And then um Is she still sick?

SPEAKER_07 9:48

Is she okay?

SPEAKER_05 9:50

No, she was big.

SPEAKER_02 9:51

I saw her Friday and she had she was done with her laryngitis.

SPEAKER_05 9:54

Yeah, she was she was fine on the pick.

SPEAKER_03 9:57

What did she do?

SPEAKER_02 9:59

She kept on trying to talk. Yeah, I'm sure she continued to speed. Okay, cool.

SPEAKER_05 10:06

And then uh last night Cheryl and I went out to uh El Misan for dinner.

SPEAKER_02 10:11

Did you sit in the nice place where they like have where'd you sit?

SPEAKER_05 10:14

Um kind of well, I was gonna say outside. Oh yeah, that's the that's the best, that's the best place to sit. I love sitting there. Very nice. Um had a couple mojitos there and then the paya super tasty. And then uh Mother's Day has been deferred because um our daughter Mia is in the Dominican Republic with an Ohio State affiliated service trip. Oh nice.

SPEAKER_02 10:43

While being on the beach, yeah, right.

SPEAKER_05 10:45

Yeah, it wasn't sold to the parents of being on the beach, but uh there's probably beach time in some there.

SPEAKER_03 10:51

There better be. I hope so. That's what kept us all going when I went to Costa Rica.

SPEAKER_00 10:56

We were not on the beach in uh January term at Manchester College. We went four months, one month, four months. When I had uh uh it was billed as German lifestyles.

SPEAKER_05 11:09

What does that mean?

SPEAKER_03 11:10

German lifestyles. So it's what, like culture and drinking?

SPEAKER_01 11:17

That's the German lifestyle.

SPEAKER_00 11:19

What's this culture you're speaking of?

SPEAKER_03 11:21

The drinking card in the card.

SPEAKER_00 11:22

Yeah, it was a lot of drinking. But anyhow, okay. So anything else, Paul? That's it. Hey, this is the first time since since Duncan's been back from the trail. There's been no curling. There's been no curling.

SPEAKER_05 11:32

Exactly. Curling season is over. It's okay. That's okay. Are you sad? No, no, it was a very busy year.

SPEAKER_00 11:38

See, that's how popular corn dogs are. They're all gone.

SPEAKER_01 11:42

They're not allowed. There's one left and three vegetarian ones.

SPEAKER_00 11:45

There's a regular one left. Yeah, you want to have okay. Let me have it.

SPEAKER_01 11:48

Can I have a mustard, please?

SPEAKER_05 11:49

I still have curling club corn dogs. I'm the finance director. We have an annual general meeting May 30th, so that might hit one of these updates, but it's not like true curling, but yeah. Curling, curling as a general subject, not over for me, but the actual doing is over or teaching.

SPEAKER_03 12:07

The season.

SPEAKER_05 12:08

The season is over.

SPEAKER_03 12:11

I know I can't get that out of my head now. Um, I honestly worked a lot and I didn't do anything really else to note that I didn't know.

SPEAKER_02 12:23

Is that still staying at the house?

SPEAKER_03 12:25

No, she uh went home on Wednesday.

SPEAKER_02 12:30

After the after the election. After the election. Well, we liked having Beth on the blog.

SPEAKER_03 12:35

That was really nice.

SPEAKER_02 12:36

Didn't we, Dia?

SPEAKER_03 12:37

That was really nice. Her dog winning. Um, I think is getting used to the place, so that's good. RJ was sad when she left. I didn't think he really liked her all that much, but then like the day they left, I found him laying like curled up next to her little crate. Um, and then my sister brought her on Friday to stay at my house during the day, and his tail was like wagging babe when she showed up, and I was like, okay, I guess you left her. He mostly just seemed annoyed by her mother.

SPEAKER_01 13:10

Maybe he likes being annoyed. Guess not. Like it might be the entertainment of being annoyed.

SPEAKER_03 13:15

That might be like hard to get.

SPEAKER_01 13:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 13:19

So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:20

What did you do, Danny? Well, I started the week on Tuesday for Cinco de Mayo with my uh Friday group.

SPEAKER_01 13:30

What about May the 4th? Did you do anything on Thursday?

SPEAKER_00 13:39

Is the Pope from Chicago?

SPEAKER_02 13:41

Yes. So what'd you do on May the 4th?

SPEAKER_00 13:46

You know, that's true, May 4th or something.

SPEAKER_02 13:48

Oh my lord.

SPEAKER_00 13:48

We do May 4th or 40. Yeah. We don't really talk in public about because that's some secret Jedi stuff only at the temple.

SPEAKER_01 13:57

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 13:58

Sounds more like the dark side. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:01

How dare you, Paul. After I supported you on your epic on your epic hike.

unknown 14:07

Oh my lord.

SPEAKER_00 14:08

Well, uh, I did watch a lot of Star Wars on May 4th. Uh the best one was Collector's Call, where the guy's Star Wars collection was valued at $11 million.

SPEAKER_03 14:22

Oh my god. Holy shit. Did he have did you recognize anything out of the collection of stuff that you have?

SPEAKER_00 14:29

Uh no.

SPEAKER_05 14:30

Was anything autographed or is it just a no?

SPEAKER_00 14:33

This is one of a kind prototype stuff. Oh, yeah. Okay. It was you know, it's a great show. If you guys get me TV, uh it's called Collector's Call. And she was on Save by the Bell. What was that show? Weshel? She's an actress.

SPEAKER_01 14:56

You have a glass behind you. I don't know.

SPEAKER_05 14:58

I know Save by the Bell.

SPEAKER_00 14:59

Okay. She was one of the high school girls on Save by the Bell. And she goes around the country to these Uber collectors. She actually did one like two years ago up in Tipp City. A guy that has this magnificent uh Lost in Space. Danger Will Robinson. Danger Will Robinson.

SPEAKER_01 15:21

I'm familiar with that.

SPEAKER_00 15:22

I'm familiar with that. Uh and she goes around and with these great collections, whether it's Pez or Yo-Yos or Star Wars or movie actors or whatever. And uh, and of course she did the one on Star Wars uh on the day before, so that was one I hadn't seen before. And uh and then the the thing is she has an expert that's appraiser or that has a a card store or a memorabilia store or is an auctioneer that brings something they know the collector doesn't have but's always wanted, and that's why it's called uh collector's choice. Um because it's uh are you gonna do the swap or not? And you know, sometimes they swap, and other times the guy's like, I can't give it up. You know, I've had this for too long or it means too much for me. So I really like it.

SPEAKER_03 16:15

Oh, it's like right up your alley. You would never be able to swap, would you?

SPEAKER_00 16:19

Yeah, I would.

SPEAKER_05 16:21

If you only had a single item of something like really you think it depends on what it is, Paul.

SPEAKER_00 16:27

Yeah. Uh I think didn't I talk about this uh last episode about my other new favorite show is Filthy Fortunes?

SPEAKER_02 16:35

I don't think so.

SPEAKER_00 16:36

Oh, it's great. Filthy Fortunes? Yeah, it's on Discover. No, and this never heard of that. This guy goes around. It's on Discover right between the new naked and afraid.

SPEAKER_05 16:44

Oh god. You have mentioned that before.

SPEAKER_00 16:48

Catherine Ann. I know.

SPEAKER_03 16:50

We haven't watched together in a while.

SPEAKER_00 16:51

You used to be my naked and afraid go-to girl.

SPEAKER_03 16:54

You know, I I would watch it again.

SPEAKER_00 16:57

I've got but I've heard it's gotten a little bit I've got 27 recorded, not right now.

SPEAKER_03 17:02

Nobody can have it.

SPEAKER_00 17:04

They're gonna the new one that's gonna start May 18th is uh America versus the world in naked and afraid. So anyhow, it's called Filthy Fortunes, and it's it's hoarders. It's these guys who have either died and their children are like, we gotta get rid of this. Uh and so it's this team they go around and they come in and the place is covered with rat droppings and plaque mold and ceilings of and it's like, okay, it's gonna cost us $20,000. What was that? It's gonna cost us $20,000 to get enough dumpsters and extra workers to clear out all the junk. What do you think's in there? And so that you know, well, my dad had or my uncle had gold, he had Rolex watches, he had baseball cards, he had this or that. So they're all the time looking for the treasure. It's really cool. I would anybody, so I've been thinking this week, rather than clearing my stuff out, these just keep ordering it, keep piling it up. Oh my god, and then the whatever well and then when I'm gone, we needed to I'm gonna have Ann Charles Watts read my will that says, call the dude on filthy fortunes and see if see if he'll clean my place out for you kids. It's a great show, it is really good. So, you know, it's uh it's hoarders with good stuff, but man, there's old food, there's uh black mold. Sometimes they're going in with ventilators on. Um man, it's a it's an awesome show.

SPEAKER_02 18:46

But you guys, do you guys like my t-shirt? I do.

SPEAKER_00 18:48

Local celebrity.

SPEAKER_02 18:50

David got it for me for Christmas.

SPEAKER_00 18:52

So then, anyhow, uh Cinco de Mayo, we went up to uh a uh Las Paramedas in uh Hubert Heights.

SPEAKER_01 18:59

Yeah, that's where they have shit on fire, right?

SPEAKER_00 19:01

Yeah, yeah, the drinks were on fire. Uh the uh three of us had the Cadillac uh margarita, which is all high-end, you know, the most expensive, but Toronto is very good. Had a good cinco de mayo, and then that night, Eddie and I tried to Door Dash from uh Mesteca, and they took our order, then an hour later, they canceled. So they are no longer an official sponsor of uh internet. But Eddie decided we definitely had to get um uh Mexican, and so he ordered from uh Victor's Taco over on Kiawe and went over and picked it up. And I've got to say, I'm thinking about making Victor's Taco an official sponsor of dinner with Dan. It was really good. I it's hot. Uh their chimichonga was right, was I think might even have been better than Mazteca.

SPEAKER_06 20:01

Really?

SPEAKER_00 20:01

Yeah, so it was really good, anyhow. So that's what we did, and then I had two uh good uh oh, and for the first time in three weeks, uh Nicole the cleaning lady came back. So we got some cleaning done in the house, which was a good thing.

SPEAKER_06 20:16

Nice.

SPEAKER_00 20:17

Uh and then I had two good uh lunches at Legacy, which is an official sponsor. Of course. And Paul, when you were at El Mason, you were just down the road from Legacy, because they are both located in West Carrollton on Dixie. Uh and then uh today we door dash from Holy Grounds, where we door dash every Sunday. Isn't it called Holy Grounds?

SPEAKER_02 20:40

It is.

SPEAKER_00 20:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:41

I don't know why you're door-dashing all the time. Why can't Eddie just go get this?

SPEAKER_00 20:50

Are you against the gig economy?

SPEAKER_02 20:53

Yeah, I really am actually.

SPEAKER_00 20:55

Well, you know, I'm a big tipper, so I think the people that gig it over to here would uh would not consider you a local celebrity.

SPEAKER_02 21:03

Local celebrity gig it over.

SPEAKER_00 21:05

They would consider you a local grump.

SPEAKER_02 21:07

I go and pick it up.

SPEAKER_00 21:09

Okay, well, I'll start calling you on Sunday and you could go pick it up. And I and I'll even tip you what I tip the gig economy people that are just and uh and you know since gas prices are up, I'm tipping them more now.

SPEAKER_06 21:23

Nice, yeah. That's kind.

SPEAKER_00 21:25

So, anyhow, uh, and so then after uh we had our breakfast, uh Eddie and I went out to St. Kateri and uh we ran into Marty and Julie and Isabel and Vera, they had been out there, and Eddie and I left some flowers on my dear wife's uh resting place, and uh I also left a sleeve of uh uh Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies, which was her favorite. And the button that I left there a month ago from uh the SUFs thing that we had made up, it's still perfect. It's still laying there on the on the on the The boulder. Good. So yeah, very happy about that. So that's what I did.

SPEAKER_02 22:05

That's good stuff.

SPEAKER_00 22:07

That's good stuff. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 22:08

The elevator's still doing well.

SPEAKER_00 22:09

Yep. Been riding the elevator. Reven Virginia's revenge up and down every morning and every night.

SPEAKER_02 22:16

Making your life good.

SPEAKER_00 22:18

Knock on wood. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 22:23

Louis like Louis.

SPEAKER_00 22:25

Louis, stop. Louis. Louis. That's okay, Louie. I was just knocking on wood. I'm superstitious. Louis. So, anyhow. Okay. Louis. I got the dog all excited because I knocked on wood. It's okay.

SPEAKER_02 22:40

It's okay. He's fine now.

SPEAKER_00 22:43

Okay, so tonight.

SPEAKER_02 22:44

That was crazy.

SPEAKER_00 22:46

We've all told everybody what we've been doing. And uh we're going to do the 1952 Oscar Best Picture. It won two Oscars for Best Picture, and it was up against High Noon, Ivan Ho, Malloon Rouge, and The Quiet Man. Say what?

SPEAKER_02 23:10

We'll talk about it in a minute. Keep on going, Danny.

SPEAKER_00 23:13

Okay. And then it also got best writing for motion picture story.

SPEAKER_03 23:17

Best writing for story. Story?

SPEAKER_04 23:20

For story? It had no story.

SPEAKER_03 23:23

We'll get there.

SPEAKER_04 23:25

Yeah, we'll get there.

SPEAKER_03 23:28

What's the story? Circus.

SPEAKER_05 23:33

I think that award is more for concept of a story.

SPEAKER_00 23:37

Right. But they got they that they got best picture, best writing motion picture story.

SPEAKER_05 23:44

Okay. Yeah. I think the writing, I mean, I think that I think that excludes like the actual dialogue. I think it's more like the concept. Because so many of these movies have been based on prior works of art.

SPEAKER_00 23:56

So local celebrity.

SPEAKER_05 23:58

They wrote a well triangle plot.

SPEAKER_04 24:01

So local celebrity.

SPEAKER_00 24:05

When the Academy Award uh gives you an Oscar, you can weigh in on that.

SPEAKER_03 24:11

Sure, you don't need to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_00 24:14

And then also at that ceremony, they gave the Ur Erwin G. Thalberg Award to Irving. Yeah. To uh Cecil B. DeMille for consistent high quality of production. Okay.

SPEAKER_05 24:29

They gave him that. Oh, okay. Yeah. In addition to the okay.

SPEAKER_00 24:34

And and by reading the book, I know that The Greatest Show on Earth was considered a true dark horse win. God. I can tell I'm one against five.

SPEAKER_04 24:56

You got it, buddy. You go first.

SPEAKER_00 24:58

I feel like the 300 Spartans against the Persians. I'm going to hold you off there, man.

SPEAKER_03 25:03

Maybe you go first.

SPEAKER_00 25:06

So, anyhow, uh, and also uh one of my loyal listeners, or one of our loyal listeners, Ava Kay, reports uh after she told me how to make squirrel stew today. It sounds really good.

SPEAKER_03 25:20

I don't imagine it's a lot like others. Quite like Birgoo, I would expect.

SPEAKER_00 25:24

Man, it's really it's it was like six minutes making this stew.

SPEAKER_05 25:28

It's not circus food.

SPEAKER_00 25:29

Yeah, it's not circus food. But anyhow, uh she reports, and I think I've heard this before, that one of the greatest American directors we have today, Steven Spielberg, that that was the first movie he remembers seeing. I think that's right.

SPEAKER_02 25:44

I think that's in the movie. The Fablemans. It's in the Fablements, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:48

It's in the Fablemans. Okay. So uh as we know because The Crash, yeah, because of the crash.

SPEAKER_02 25:54

That's right. I remember that in the Fablemans.

SPEAKER_00 25:56

Okay. Uh as we know, this is about the circus. So I've I've done some research, and I'm gonna go on for about five minutes about the circus, and then we'll do the movie. Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 26:08

I'm so glad we can talk about something other than this movie, so go to it.

SPEAKER_03 26:19

Remember.

SPEAKER_00 26:20

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 26:20

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 26:21

Come on, then the movie centers on uh the Barnum Bailey R uh Wrangling Brothers Circus. Yeah. Yeah. It actually closed operations in May of 2017 in Providence, Rhode Island to a sold-out house of 14,000 people watching it. Okay. When it closed, it had a 54 railway car train that was still operating, which in 2017, as I was sitting having my morning coffee in Ostiago Bagel in the Oregon district, sitting at my chair at uh sidebar or whatever it's called in Pochias. I looked out where that train uh overhead comes through, and there went the circus train. No yes way. It was awesome. I bet. And you know what I wanted to do?

SPEAKER_06 27:16

Go run.

SPEAKER_00 27:17

I wanted to go run and jump on it and just put Dayton Municipal Court and everything else behind me.

SPEAKER_03 27:23

Just round the rails.

SPEAKER_05 27:24

But I didn't. You would have been good ringmastered there, Dan.

SPEAKER_00 27:27

Yeah. So, anyhow, it had a 146-year run. Uh the uh okay, and the last uh ringmaster was Kristen Michelle Wilson, who was Wrangling's first female uh ringmaster and its last ringmaster. Okay. Uh and it also at that time had uh 300 cast members and crew. Now the first uh what we consider an American circus debuted in Philadelphia on April 3rd, 1793, uh, but really made uh the circuses that we think of that and that was in this movie, really came about, coincided with the Gilded Age. Okay. Uh now P.T. Barnum uh merged his grand traveling museum menagerie, caravan, and hippodrome with his competitor, uh J. A. Bailey, in 1881, and they crowned their union the greatest show on earth. Uh Barnum and Bailey went on a six-year European tour, which I did not know, and they came back uh to find out that the five Ringling Brothers had started their circus in 1880, and they were big competitors, and then they finally merged uh Ringling Brothers and Pete and Barnum and Bailey in 1918.

SPEAKER_02 28:54

I'm surprised this is before they had laws around Monopoly thing. No, they had it by then. Did they have it? Oh, yeah, they had it by then by then. But nobody stopped the circus monopoly from happening.

SPEAKER_00 29:06

There were circuses all over. They were just the biggest. So, anyhow, uh and that's what they didn't know about this. That's that's what they called. Are you on PETA's uh payroll? That's what they so they called their No They called their show the big one. From the greatest show on earth, they call it the big one.

SPEAKER_02 29:31

Sidebar on this. Now, I know a lot about P. T. Barnum because that a really good circus movie is the greatest showman with Hugh Jackman. I've watched that a couple of times. Highly enjoying. Please continue.

SPEAKER_00 29:49

In the 1920s, they had uh uh 1,600 performers traveling in four 100 car trains across the country. The depression really hurt them, but what really, really hurt them was the beginning of the talkies in the movies. Silent movies didn't hurt them, but the talkies hurt them. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh they tried everything. Actually, in 1942, they had a ballet of elephants that was choreographed by the great George uh Balashine with an original score by uh Igor Stravinsky. So that was something. Uh and then starting in the 70s, they started coming up with more artistic type circuses. And as we all know, circus sole. Circus ole. Circusoley. Uh, you know, that grew into a billion-dollar business while Ringling uh drendled uh under the pressure amid animal rights activists and shrinking ticket sales.

SPEAKER_02 30:57

I mean, they did treat these animals terrible. So just for the record.

SPEAKER_00 31:01

This uh one of the quotes I read was it was a business model they just couldn't continue, says Linda Simon, author of The Greatest Show on Earth, A History of the Circus. They kept their ticket prices down, but uh to mount the kind of extravagant, extravagant they had, uh, going to support their railroad cars and their thousands of employees, and there you have it. That was it. Uh so anyhow, I'm almost done.

SPEAKER_02 31:31

Then you guys are obviously here to take aim, give give our honest opinion about every movie.

SPEAKER_00 31:39

So uh there's some words and sayings and that we use almost every day. Yes, uh, that have come from the circus. Jumbo uh, you know, means plus size, and that was the elephant that P. T. Barnum purchased in 1882. There you go. Jumbo, yeah. So that's how that got into it.

SPEAKER_06 31:57

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 31:57

Geek. Geek is actually an old circus show uh uh uh term for a sideshow freak was a geek.

SPEAKER_06 32:06

Okay, interesting. Good.

SPEAKER_00 32:08

Then we also use the word let's get this show on the road. Yeah. That's from the circus.

SPEAKER_03 32:13

Yeah, yeah, I like that one.

SPEAKER_00 32:15

Jumped on the bandwagon in politics, that's from the circus. And ditched. Ditched came from when the circus formally didn't fire you. They just left you by the crowd. I just left you after the train uh mysteriously left early. And uh Lotard uh is named after a 19th-century French aerialist, uh Jules Lyotard, who invented the skin tight onesie so he could fly through the air with the greatest of ease. Okay. Now, and also in regards to clowns, the fear of clowns is called uh coral phobia. C-O-U-L-R-O-P-H-O-B-I-A. That's the fear of clowns. And it's more prevalent in America than anywhere else, basically because of John Wayne Gacy.

SPEAKER_03 33:11

Who's that? That the evil clown who's John Wayne Gacy?

SPEAKER_00 33:14

He's the guy that did the serial killer. He was a mass murderer of children that uh dressed up as clowns.

SPEAKER_05 33:19

Yeah, but not while he did the murder. Right.

SPEAKER_00 33:21

Not while he did the murder, but he he would go.

SPEAKER_01 33:23

Oh, did he really? Yeah. What decade was this?

SPEAKER_00 33:27

Yeah, they found a whole bunch of dead bodies, young kids and stuff. Oh yeah. He was oh yeah. And Stephen King's it.

SPEAKER_04 33:37

I thought it was that that documentary, Killer Clowns from Outer Space. I think that's what scared my generation.

SPEAKER_00 33:46

So there you have it. Uh I am going to finally read the last thing.

SPEAKER_02 33:53

I mean, also there's the thing like that says like it's a circus, just in general, when something's insane. A three-ring circle. Which is like how much we talk about.

SPEAKER_04 34:02

It's a circus in there.

SPEAKER_02 34:03

Yeah, circus. Like the word circus has all these connotations all the time.

SPEAKER_00 34:08

So until I speak again, this will probably be the last good thing that's said about this movie. Probably. I can tell you. I never picked you to be on my jury. Okay, so this is on the back. This is on the back of uh the DVD from uh my collection. Step right up for Cecil B. DeMille's Spectacular Academy Award-winning Best Picture, the greatest show on earth. The Master Showman brings thrills, chills, and exhoration of the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus to the screen via an Oscar-winning story and an all-star cast that includes Betty Hutton, Cornell Wilde, Charlton Heston, Dorothy Lemoore, Gloria Graham, James Stewart, and Lyle Bedger, plus a few surprises.

SPEAKER_02 35:02

Bob Hope and Pink Cross family.

SPEAKER_00 35:04

It's action, romance, laughs, and treachery, all under the big top, culminating in an incredible train disaster that threatens the very lives and livelihood of the traveling troop. Grab a bag of popcorn, take a ringside seat, and get ready to experience the excitement and drama of the greatest show on earth. Now, you guys go ahead and take your best shot.

SPEAKER_02 35:30

I mean, there's so many bad shots together.

SPEAKER_00 35:33

Get the microphone so people can hear you.

SPEAKER_02 35:35

Hear how terrible this movie was. I mean, I guess, I mean, it wasn't as bad as Hamlet, because it was at least in color, but uh this show was so fucking awful. I mean, it was That's fine.

SPEAKER_00 35:51

Bring it up.

SPEAKER_02 35:52

It was like um there was like I I thought that maybe this was a movie, this was a movie that somebody like an infomercial that they they put on the TV at noon because Ring Ele Brothers, you know, like you know, Channel 22 comes on and like the spots of channel 22 doesn't necessarily agree with this. Yeah, I mean my god, like you just like half an hour they just like set the camera up and watched a circus go on TV. Like it was miserable. And I mean, if you like circuses, like I guess, oh, this is interesting how they did circuses in 1950. I mean, that's great. And then Charlton Huston was supremely bad when they did decide to act and the Trapeze Lady. Terrible acting, just terrible acting. Like you had like really good actors, and it was like there was awful acting in it. But that was crazy. It went on two hours and 32 minutes of this infomercial. Um, the the train scene was impressive.

SPEAKER_03 37:02

It was like the train scene of interesting movies.

SPEAKER_02 37:06

Yes, the train scene where they did the crash.

SPEAKER_04 37:10

That's when the movie started, but we were two hours in it. Two hours in.

SPEAKER_02 37:15

The train scene was so I understand why Spielberg, like that, like it was impressive. Um they put Jimmy Stewart in clown face the whole time. That was painful. You don't really know why Jimmy Stewart killed his wife. Uh buttons, you know, like there's like it's two hours and 32 minutes. You could have like put a little bit there. Um, no plot, no plot. Um, just it was so bad. Yeah, not as bad as Hamlet. I think this is the second worst movie that we've watched. Um, but you know, that's part of this experiment on 25. You go from American in Paris to greatest show on earth. And then also that Cecil D. Mill.

SPEAKER_04 38:03

We'll be good.

SPEAKER_02 38:03

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we have From Here to Eternity on the Waterfront, which will be back up, so it's great. But this show, you because Kate has been, every time we've gotten ready to go see this, she's she's been dreading it. And I was like, well, now I understand why. My God.

SPEAKER_03 38:16

I literally told Dio yesterday this is I'm glad this is the last time I ever have to watch this movie.

SPEAKER_02 38:22

Oh my god, it's so bad. It is so damn bad. Um but I got through it, damn it. So um that's what I have to say about this awful movie. And I mean, Charlotte has been like so serious, you know, as like the carney, and it's like, oh my god. And like, then like in one of the like subplots, which is barely a plot, like he kicks the guy off that's like, you know, taking everybody's money as gambling. And I was like, well, you know, that's funny because I'm sure Ringling Brothers and Barnum Bailey paid somebody off to have this movie made, and paid somebody off to win the best picture, because that is the only way that this picture could have been won, is that someone was raking in the dollars to like count the votes because this is terrible. That's what I have to say. Sam.

SPEAKER_04 39:16

Yeah, I agree with most of that. I think it's definitely a bottom three movie. Um, it was a half hour of plot and two hours of Wrangling Brothers propaganda. I mean, if you like that, you know, maybe that's why you would you would like the movie. Uh, I thought the la the last half hour was a little bit better. Um I still I love Jimmy Stewart, whatever he's in. I I still think even in clown face. Well, the the script left something to be desired, but I yeah, I still think he's a treasure. Um I liked the uh the line when the guy is giving the blood and he's talking about how much better he'll be at making love, but it won't be him, it'll be me. That was fun. Um, but yeah, the the the movie my issue is it committed the cardinal sin, which is it just bored me. Yeah. Yeah, I just didn't didn't find that that much was going on through through most of it.

SPEAKER_07 40:23

Well, I'll talk about the parts that I did like. I feel like I could really see the amount of effort that was put into it, and it was such a big production and um just so many people involved and so much of like costume design and music and just everything that went behind it. Um that was cool.

SPEAKER_04 40:45

I enjoyed the enjoy it won because so many people worked on it.

SPEAKER_07 40:50

Also, I think it helped the It was a circus, and at that point of time, circuses were common, and that was like, as you said, a really good form of entertainment. So people probably enjoyed that. That was the right audience for that movie at that time. I enjoyed the scene um where the clown um between the clown and the mom, where he gives them that flower. That's probably my favorite scene, or the scene that I like liked in general, everything else was pretty much terrible except for the last 20 minutes. That was pretty cool. But it's just we we treat each other pretty terribly, and that's I think that's enough. Like, why are we disrespecting other forms of life? And it's just just making that into a movie and people coming and watching that and enjoying that, that itself I think it's an issue. So it's just I couldn't see the animals, it's just it was so sad the way they were treated. And I just and it was also like it made me anxious because they were like all doing all those tricks all the time.

SPEAKER_03 41:54

So the wreck, too. Yeah, even though it was like seeing them like this and then they're trying to catch something. Right. It was kind of hard to do.

SPEAKER_07 42:03

Right. Yeah, and there was no there was no such like plot that I found in it, or anything that was like new. So yeah, that's what I thought about it.

SPEAKER_05 42:12

I think you did a great job trying to find something good about the um well, if it was a straight-up documentary and you got rid of uh Sam said the three minute fourth of plot, I actually would have liked it. I mean, it really did have those documentary overtones. Um, you know, like the speaker. Yeah, there was like a narrator. Like, I mean, it literally was a documentary. Yeah. And it did, as Diaz said, it did capture, you know, a specific point in time. Um, but the documentary is ruined by trying to make this actually a movie. I mean, uh a movie with uh alleged plot, so that was I didn't like.

SPEAKER_04 42:47

I don't think they made me care about the characters and their love story. I just was like, yeah, whatever.

SPEAKER_05 42:53

The the the the B and C plot was so weak. I mean, there's there's really no point in caring about it, like Sam said. Uh but interestingly enough, like the movie was uh was pretty um on the money. I mean, we see the opening scene where the rumor goes around that uh the circus won't be able to go to all the um all the uh all the stops.

SPEAKER_03 43:15

What happened? Louis dealt one over there over here.

SPEAKER_01 43:19

Louis Farto, sorry.

SPEAKER_05 43:20

And so we'd like Louis, we get an overview of the scene of the crime. We get an overview of the difficulty in in the circus um making money in the small towns and and being traditional, and what I read later. So the movie's in 1952. In 1956, uh Ringling Brothers uh stopped doing uh circuses under the big town. They all went inside.

SPEAKER_01 43:46

Oh, it's the last four years, really?

SPEAKER_05 43:48

Yeah, so the the movie kind of foretold that uh because it would have been uh uh an issue that they were struggling with, so it was topical and interesting. Yeah. So I mean, I actually yeah, I enjoyed the stream. Circus aspects of the movie just because of the you know the window in the time that we don't see anymore. The plot's terrible I mean so I had to put the movie in the bottom three also. But uh I was telling my mom about the movie um today, and uh you know, she reminded me that like you know she had taken me to the circus. Um I mean, this is probably what it's about 75 or so maybe, but again, it was indoors, right you know, to the point the San Diego Civic Center or whatever it was.

SPEAKER_02 44:27

I went to the circus a few years ago. I got I got a whistle from the circus when I was mayor. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 44:32

Well, we took me to the Raven Brothers Circus in Columbus, which is the Schottenstein in 2014. And by I mean, it was like a way different experience. I mean, there's a handful of animals, but they were doing a lot of the more modern things, right? You know, I had like the steel cage and they had like motorcycles racing around inside, and you know, definitely, as I mean, as Dan mentioned, it was just read your shy and close it up. So they're definitely trying to like make things work.

SPEAKER_03 44:58

Um yeah.

SPEAKER_05 45:00

But uh, yeah, I don't really have anything else to say.

SPEAKER_03 45:04

Well, um you've been dreading this for weeks. I guess it's my turn, and now I am heartened to see that um you all now know why I was dreading this movie so much, because it I agree with everything you all have said. There's very little plot, but what little there is up into the wreck is like absurd. The constantly changing love triangles, the overly serious, like Charlton Heston, which is a recurring theme in his career. He is one of my least favorite actors. What else is he in? He's in. So we're gonna see him again before the 50s are done, and Ben Hur.

SPEAKER_04 45:52

Planet of the Age.

SPEAKER_03 45:54

Oh, yeah, Planet of the Apes, um, Swilent Green. Like, yeah. Just always seems to take himself so seriously on screen, and just to the detriment of the acting, I think.

SPEAKER_02 46:07

Um I wonder why people liked him so much. I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 46:14

Yeah, I don't know what the appeal is. I mean, he just his style is is not my cup of tea at all. But yeah, just in general, it's such it is a it is a long movie with a lot going on for having no plot. You know, it's like it's that constant plot of the circus.

SPEAKER_05 46:34

It's just weird because like the other movies that we haven't liked, and it wasn't necessarily because the plot was thin, it's just we just in like aspects of it, it could have been included a plot, but I mean this is just the thinnest plot I think we've seen. Like even Broadway melodies have a plot. Hamlet has a plot. I mean Hamlet does have a plot.

SPEAKER_02 46:50

Hamlet has a lot of plot.

SPEAKER_05 46:52

But this is just on it's just I don't know. That's more like not seeing other movies around the time, right? We're focused on the Oscars. Like, there's no way to put this in the context.

SPEAKER_03 47:01

Well, so I was gonna talk about that. So the the other five or the other four nominees, like, I've seen two of the other four. High Noon, which is Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly, it is a like classic Western, one of the best of the genre, probably. Like major plot. Um black and white. Black and white. Like, I think a very well-regarded movie, probably then too. I mean, it was nominated for an Oscar, but like really revered, I think, today. Um, and then The Quiet Man, which was made by John Ford in Ireland with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, and it's a lovely movie, and it's like a lot of the John Ford players from How Green Was My Valley show up in it. It's I mean, it's got it's got a plot and it's entertaining, it's not boring, you know, and it's like I know those two movies, I don't know the other two, but like so it wasn't like there was nothing else. Yeah, this exactly, it's like it makes it even more odd that this was the big winner over those. And, you know, I mean, they don't tell you how close these Oscar contests are, but you wonder um how this movie prevailed.

SPEAKER_05 48:18

I mean, apparently there was speculation that people thought, or maybe the voters thought that it was you know, Cecil B. DeMille's last chance, but I didn't know about the um Irving Dahlberg award. But that's similar to like Hamlet, right? Because um Olivia got a special Oscar because the people who weren't a special Oscar didn't think necessarily that he was gonna get anything straight up.

SPEAKER_02 48:40

So what else did DeMille do?

SPEAKER_03 48:44

Oh gosh.

SPEAKER_02 48:45

Um because I mean I know that's a really I mean it's like in um Sunset Boulevard, right?

SPEAKER_04 48:51

The name of DeMille, I'm ready for my closer.

SPEAKER_03 48:54

So he was uh Yeah, big deal. Yeah um let me go back to my I'm just curious.

SPEAKER_07 49:00

Well, people are looking it up. The guy from the other movie was in the audience for this movie.

SPEAKER_03 49:05

Oh yeah. So are you talking about Bing Crosby? So that is. Yeah, that was the Bob Hub and Brain Crossing. That little cameo is might be my favorite little nugget. Yeah, I love that. I love that because they they show them on the screen while Dorothy Lemour is singing, and there is a series of movies that those three actors made together. Um they refer to them as the road pictures, so it it was like road to Morocco and Road to Saint And they were these like huge like broad, slapsticky kind of comedy. With with singing, with singing. And there was like always those two, like chasing her or whatever, and they were really, really funny and would have been popular probably, you know, a little bit earlier.

SPEAKER_02 49:49

Yeah, and they wouldn't like it's like it'd be like the equivalent of like how rom-coms are, they don't make any wards, but they're very popular make a lot of money and entertaining.

SPEAKER_05 49:58

Yeah, I I mean I did like the cuts to the audience, even though it's kind of jarring when you're seeing the whole pageantry, but it did kind of it did you know like there was a guy who was like eating his popcorn in my mind, he was like kind of reliving his childhood. Yeah, yeah, you got that. Yeah, yeah. There's like that little kid who asked his grandparent, like, what's going on? And like, I don't know, which I mean how you did that's what's going on, and like, I don't know, like it's not true.

SPEAKER_04 50:22

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So he made 70 films, 52 of which were silent. Oh, Daniel did? So, let's see. The Ten Commandments, that's one that you've people have probably seen with Heston in it.

SPEAKER_01 50:36

Oh, so you like Charles and Matthew.

SPEAKER_04 50:38

Samson and Delilah, Unconquered, Reap the Wild Wind, Union Pacific, The Crusades, Cleopatra. Anyway, those are some of prolific. Yeah, he's prolific. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 50:53

Norman Desmond. I'm ready for my close-ups. Exactly, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 50:58

Well, um, okay, I did, I did like, I did my favorite part of the movie was when they had the 10 seconds with Bob Morgan being cast weak in the crowd.

SPEAKER_03 51:09

I know it's saying a lot. But yeah, I mean overall, I I just it I actually said to my sister this week when she was at my house, like, I'm really, I'm not looking forward to watching this movie very much. But I also am kind of like hopeful that maybe I'll have to eat my words, that I'm just not remembering that this movie was actually a lot better than I remembered. And I don't have to do that, so here we go. I it was not redeemed upon another watch, uh, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_02 51:44

So uh panned by the table, except for you who loves all movies.

SPEAKER_05 51:48

Tell us why we're wrong, man.

SPEAKER_02 51:49

Yeah, tell us. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 51:58

I think my stunned silence says it all.

SPEAKER_02 52:01

Oh, stunned.

SPEAKER_00 52:02

Okay. Um of the great lines I thought were a massive machine always comes up smiling. Emmett Kelly, who is the most famous clown in America, he was in it quite a bit. Yeah. Uh another great line was Death is constantly watching. And don't forget what a circus means to a small town. Coming from a small town that the circus came to every other year with a big top and the elephants meant something to me as a kid. And it will always mean something to me as a kid, because it brought so much stuff that you never saw any other time. You didn't see it at the county fair. County fair was every year, they had rides, but they didn't have elephants, they didn't have camels, they didn't have lions, they didn't have clowns, uh, they didn't have the flying trapeze, they didn't have the cannon shooting people. So being a small town guy and coming every other year, that really meant something to me. When uh when it starts, when they're arguing about whether or not they're gonna do small towns or not, I looked at the map. I saw it. I paused it, and where they were going was Pittsburgh, Cleveland, then to Toledo.

SPEAKER_02 53:30

I saw that, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 53:31

I thought that was pretty interesting. And, you know, we're gonna play the the whole season. Uh the fight over the center ring, which I thought was pretty neat. You guys think it wasn't a plot. I thought it was pretty neat. Uh I love the priest blessing the circus with holy water as it rolled out. I thought that was pretty cool. Uh, you know, uh the bears, the sea lions, the riding canines, the elephants, uh, you know, the flying trapeze, the whole business. Uh and then how they set it all up, how they get there and they laid it out, and they had all these guys doing this, doing that. I thought that was great. I really loved the album parade where they went through albums, things, the Christmas, the Disney characters. I thought it was pretty neat, which goes with what Dio was saying about all the different costumes. Uh the cameos were cool. Hop along Cassidy, and you already mentioned Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. And I think there was another uh pretty famous actor and actress, and I can't think of who they are, but I think uh there was I'm gonna have to have somebody that's more versed in the movie than me tell me that. Uh so I guess this is going to be misogyny, but I thought one of the funniest lines in the whole thing was when the guy was talking about uh women being of different uh liqueurs, and I liked the witty back and forth because the women always then they'd refer to each other as a big thing. Yeah, well the women always want yeah, well, the w woman always won that argument.

SPEAKER_03 55:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 55:16

Yeah, well, the champagne went flat, you know. I thought that was uh to me that was like 30s banter, you know, from all the movies we watched in the 30s. I thought that was pretty neat.

SPEAKER_05 55:26

Yeah, uh the basion character made things a little bit more fun.

SPEAKER_00 55:29

Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, oh yeah. Uh and the crooked midway operator, that was always a problem with uh circuses. Uh and then another one of the things that Charlton Heston said that I thought was was pretty cool. Flyers have fallen before and they will fall again when you know when he when the uh great Sebastian fell. Uh then uh Charlton Heston says women are poison. And then uh I can't remember if it's Holly or the other one says, but it's a wonderful death.

SPEAKER_02 56:03

Angel.

SPEAKER_00 56:04

Angel. I thought that was a great line. You guys are missing all these great lines. That was a great line.

SPEAKER_02 56:09

None of these lines have held on to time by all the lines in Casablanca or the line in All About Eve. I mean, none of these lines are lines that like, oh, that's where that came from.

SPEAKER_00 56:23

So I guess in conclusion, I can say that none of you have sawdust in your veins.

SPEAKER_02 56:30

Hell no, that's true. That's the truth. That's a fact.

SPEAKER_00 56:35

Okay. So I will go.

SPEAKER_02 56:38

I mean, I can appreciate that for you, Danny, like as someone that like had the circus come every other year and it takes you back down memory lane. And like, yeah, you know, Paul made the point about it being like a documentary of that sort, but it wasn't like a movie. That's the thing. It just was poorly done in that way.

SPEAKER_00 56:56

Well, I understand what you're saying, but to me it was a movie. Oh, yes, I know. And I will say that the last circus I went to uh was here in Dayton. It was out at uh uh UD Arena? No. Nope, that was inside. Nope. The last real circus I went to. I don't consider circuses inside real.

SPEAKER_01 57:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 57:21

Circus to me to be real, you had to be in a big town. Okay. Big top. Okay. And when Eddie was little, probably when he was maybe four or five years old, a circus, a small circus, uh, that did have a three-ring circus, uh came and played uh Wright State's parking lot. They had elephants that set the tents up, the big top up.

unknown 57:51

I saw a circus like that too, Dan.

SPEAKER_00 57:54

That uh set the tents up just like they're using on the greatest show on earth. It was a three-ring circus. They had flying trapees, they had lions and tigers and bears, they had clowns, they had clown car, they had the cannon that shot the person from one side of the from one ring across the center ring to the to the other ring. And turn me into PETA, if you will. I paid for the young Edmund to ride an elephant, and I've got pictures of Eddie setting up on the elephant because we waited in line strategically so he could get to be the first on. So he was right on the elephant's head, and there were like three kids behind him, so he rode an elephant, and I got pictures of it, and I so much wanted to go back to that. And if you remember Nan Whaley, I may be 73, but I can remember stuff.

SPEAKER_02 59:02

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 59:03

After that circus, I ran into you and Helen Yane in the Oregon district.

SPEAKER_02 59:12

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 59:13

And said that we had just been to the circus. And you said, wow, that's really cool.

SPEAKER_02 59:19

I'm not against circuses. I'm against this movie.

SPEAKER_00 59:24

I'm just telling you. Yeah, but our take's not on any. You know, I remember I remember things, and that's why this movie, I think, meant a lot to me. Yeah. Because it is and I understand why circuses closed. I mean, the the animal treatment was horrible. Back then it was looked at differently, you know, that all evolved. Uh circuses now, they use the big puppets like they did in Warhorse, which was a great play, and I I loved it. Uh the circuses now, their elephants are puppets, their gorillas are puppets. That's okay. I don't have a problem with that. Uh I'm glad the animals are getting treated better than that.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:04

I gotcha.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:05

Yeah. Well, it was, you know, it was bringing uh the world to small town of America.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:11

Right, right. I gotcha.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:12

I feel the on that. I get and like, look, I get that. I just there there was no story that really lined up to this work, and so that was the sh the shame about this.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:22

You didn't like the story fighting over the center ring?

SPEAKER_02 1:00:25

No, not really. No. It was like the the you know, I think it was like it was like too much back and forth. Like you'd have this narrator talking about all of all of the great things of the circus, and then you'd go to this movie part, and then you'd go back to the narrative. It was like not well done in that way. And so, like, you know, are you a documentary about a circus, or are you a drama? A drama movie about the people in the circus. They were trying to do both.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:52

Or are you a comedy? It might have been better words more for me if they just made it leaned into the comedy. That's what I think.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:58

And I like fun.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:00

There's some funny parts.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:01

And also, Charlton Heston just blows. He's just terrible. From my cold, dead hand. Yeah, he's just a terrible actor. Like it was he he made the per the part too serious. The carney got a big thing.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:12

I can't wait till we get the Ben Hur then.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:15

Yeah, he's just that's why his best role was Moses. Yeah, because you could be really serious. A Carney. Being dead spirits for three and a half hours, that's where it works.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:25

But he's got to manage it all. Oh, on the road.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:28

I get it, but he was ridiculous.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:31

He's responsible for everything.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:33

I know he's still.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:34

So, anyhow, and I know you guys have dismissed this, but I thought it was clever with uh Jimmy Stewart being in the clown face the whole time as hiding out in the circus. Yeah. I thought that was pretty neat. I like that little thing.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:49

I am not a fan of clowns, however.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:51

It would have been interesting to what his thought process was, because you know most actors are gonna want to be seen, but I mean his voice is so distinctive that's such a big star. Yeah, he was at the height of his type.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:02

Yeah, he's amazing. Yeah. I thought he had one of the we knew it was him. He had the he had the line. The line was like, Why are you somebody said like, why are you always in clown face? And he was like, Why are you always blah blah? Like, and I was like, that was funny. I thought that was funny.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:18

So there you have it, dear listeners. According to five people, this was a massive train wreck.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:26

The train wreck was the best part of the show.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:29

According to one person, this was the greatest show on earth.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:36

There you go. What do we see next week?

SPEAKER_00 1:02:38

No. Any final thoughts about this movie?

SPEAKER_02 1:02:41

Oh boy.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:42

No, about life in general. I think we're done with the movie. I mean, you guys have pretty much it too brutated, so I know it hurts your feelings, you know. No, it wouldn't hurt my feelings.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:52

Kind of got an edge about everything.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:54

You got a little bit except for Hamlet. When we don't like a movie, you you take it personally, like you made the movie. But you didn't get as hard on Hamlet because you didn't like Hamlet either.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:03

I'm not taking this personal. Hey, I spent 36 years of not taking things personally. You guys never compare to the people I dealt with on 36 years on the dating workbench.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:16

Um no, I don't have anything for this week. Um, like I said, I'm excited to go see Seth's this week. Excited. Um, the weather is much better. Like, I'm happy about that. Our yard looks great. We had dinner for the first time this week on the front porch, which will be a lot more front porch dinners. So our awnings are up. Oh, your awnings look beautiful, Dan. They look great. Spring. Sam Bron? Summer or here?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:41

Anything but tennis?

SPEAKER_04 1:03:44

Uh no, because great fucking weather. That's another one.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:48

At least I'm getting at least uh the Virginia Mod Platte Empowerment Funds are getting some money today.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:54

So when we get to $100, I'll write you a check.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:58

Uh Dia, anything else?

SPEAKER_07 1:04:01

No.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:01

Okay. Paul?

SPEAKER_05 1:04:03

I am strongly considering attending trail days on this weekend in uh Damascus, Virginia. So it's a big jamboree uh sponsored by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and some gear manufacturers.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:15

Are you looking at Southbound? Yeah, are you good one?

SPEAKER_05 1:04:19

That's pretty scouting.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:20

Are you taking the train down?

SPEAKER_05 1:04:21

No, no, driving. Yeah, that's the only fear in uh bringing this up. But that's uh a week looking ahead.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:30

So that would be next weekend? Yeah, yeah. Okay. Catherine Ann?

SPEAKER_03 1:04:34

Um no, I don't think I have anything to add. I'm just I'm waiting on the oven to preheat uh for our final course of the ridiculous dinner.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:45

Funnel cake.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:46

Okay. So for the final, we're going to have ice cream. We've got ice cream that we're gonna put animal crackers on. And I also ordered from uh the people that I got the crumb brulee from last week uh funnel cakes. So the funnel cakes are in the uh uh uh oven getting uh round up and we'll dump powdered sugar on them. Uh and then for the listeners, here's the deal for next week. Nan's out, Sam's out, Dia's out, and Paul's probably out. So, yeah, you're going to do the Appalachian Trail thing.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:23

If we are having podcasts, I'd be here on Sunday because it's only a seven-hour drive.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:27

So, anyhow, that would just leave the two of us, Catherine, Ann, and I. So I'm still not doing it next week. So I think what we'd be side. So I we're not putting it on you.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:38

So it'd be the three of you. It's still no good. Still no good.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:42

So we're out.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:43

We're taking a hiatus. No, it would be good. But you know, we're gonna take uh a break. That's fine. Yeah, because it's better when uh I feel more ganged up on.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:56

It's so rare.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:58

I mean, you know.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:00

Up on the movie.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:01

Two on one, you know, I could handle that. You know, I can handle this five-on-one business too. But anyhow, uh, so we won't be uh we won't be dropping one next week, right? But then the following week, Memorial Day weekend, Memorial Day weekend, we will do From Here to Eternity. Very exciting. And then drum roll on May 31st. It has been confirmed by a telephone uh texting back and forth with one of my all-time favorite ladies, uh Kate Archdeacon, that her and Tom Archdeacon.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:38

Also a prolific cursor. Very exciting.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:41

All right, we'll raise some money.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:43

One of America's great sports and humanitarian writers, uh, Tom Archdeacon, who is in, I believe, the Boxing Hall of Fame for his articles he's written about boxing, will be here to do on the waterfront.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:57

Yeah, that's gonna be exciting.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:58

So that's going to be a heck of a uh a podcast. So we're off next week. Don't be listening for us next week, but we'll be back. We'll have a new one for you on Memorial Day. So when you get up Memorial Day morning and you don't have to go to work, you can just flip on dinner with Dan and find out how many knives I got put in my back that night.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:21

Oh, whatever.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:23

So, anyhow, as we I don't want the ice cream to melt like it did in the movie when it was melting on the kids. So, with that, I'm going to say Godspeed and fair wind until we meet again.