Podcasts about Astute

Astute readers may need to read between the lines to answer an important question about the circumstances God's people faced in the New World.

Dave Charles starts your day with The Morning Show, weekdays from 6-9am on Radio Life & Style - proudly sponsored by Bidvest McCarthy Toyota Ballito. Broadcasting live from the heart of Ballito, The Morning Show serves up a curated mix of contemporary music and classic hits from across the decades, alongside interviews with tastemakers & influencers, plus a healthy dose of local news & views from the booming KZN North Coast. Listen live on lifeandstyle.fm, download our free Radio Life & Style app or find our shows on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and all good platforms. ........................................ *About our Sponsor - Bidvest McCarthy Toyota Ballito: Welcome to McCarthy Toyota Ballito Our qualified and friendly staff are here to help you purchase a new or pre-owned Toyota and assist with all your vehicle requirements. We aim to exceed customer needs and expectations by offering you affordable vehicles and products, and giving you exceptional service at every point of the journey - from sales, through to finance, and much more. We value every customer who walks through our doors and our expert team members are here to ensure you are taken care of. Let us help you lead the way on your next Toyota adventure, visit us today. Radio Life & Style on Facebook · The Morning Show Sponsor: Excellerate Security

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 22, 2025 is: astute • uh-STOOT • adjective Someone or something described as astute has or shows an ability to notice and understand things clearly. In other words, they are mentally sharp or clever. Astute can also describe someone who is crafty or wily. // They made some astute observations about the movie industry. // Astute readers will notice the error. See the entry > Examples: “Geraldine and Claire were out walking their dog, Daisy. They felt as though Daisy was very astute at reacting to their mood, rather than reflecting it.” — Robbie Meredith, BBC, 4 Dec. 2024 Did you know? Road Runner always bests Wile E. Coyote in the famous Looney Tunes cartoon series, but both characters help demonstrate meanings of the word astute. Astute comes from the Latin adjective astutus, meaning “cunning, crafty, or clever,” which in turn comes from the noun astus, meaning “craft.” The English adjective, accordingly, can describe both the crafty and the wily. It's easy to see how this applies to Wile E. Coyote: in each episode, Road Runner races along the highways of the American Southwest while the coyote sets an elaborate trap for the bird, usually with the aid of some goofy product ordered from the fictitious Acme company. But alas, Road Runner is astute, as in “mentally sharp or clever.” In other words, he is not only quick on his feet, but quick on the uptake. He usually catches wind of the schemes, which ultimately backfire due to either the products' chronic unreliability or Coyote's own ineptitude. Road Runner, never captured or damaged, responds with a characteristic “Beep! Beep!” and runs off.

On this week's Defense & Aerospace Report Business Roundtable, sponsored by Bell, Dr. “Rocket” Ron Epstein of Bank of America Securities, Sash Tusa of the independent equity research firm Agency Partners, and Richard Aboulafia of the AeroDynamic advisory consultancy join host Vago Muradian to discuss a brutal week on Wall Street as the market loses $1 trillion as shocked investors react to China's DeepSeek AI and the Federal Reserve for the first time said it won't continue interest rate cuts; implications of the worst US air disaster in 16 years as an US Army UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter collides with an American Airlines jetliner killing 67; President Trump imposes 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and a 10 percent tariff on goods from China; analysis of 2024 earnings reported by Boeing, General Dynamics, L3Harris, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, RTX; Lockheed's aeronautics charge and Northrop's second low-rate production contract for the B-21 Raider bomber; and King Charles changes the name of the Royal Navy's last Astute-class submarine.

When The NY Times named Alderton's GOOD MATERIAL one of the best 10 books of 2024, Kimberly knew it was time to dig in. Listen as she deepens your understanding of the male narrative voice, the excellent figurative language, the supposed "double ending" and Alderton's CRUCIAL SUBVERSION of the marriage plot. Tune in to Kimberly's argument for why this (anti)-rom-com (?!) BELONGS in the company of literary heavyweights like Miranda July's ALL FOURS, Percival Everett's JAMES and Álvaro Enrigue's YOU DREAMED OF EMPIRES. Finally, DO NOT MISS Kimberly's hottest of hot takes!

Okay, Mr Cook, we accept your surrender. That's right, Lil Monsties: after all this time, you can finally (re)listen to our original episode where the original trio (Gary, James, & Mike) talk about the OG Universal Monster: Dracula! It's a Christmas miracle! We hope you are enjoying the holiday season, we hope you enjoyed the episode, and we can't wait for you to hear what we have in store for next year. Note: the audio is rough, the format is still forming, but this is where it all began. You may ask yourself "why does it say remastered?" Astute catch there, Monstie. This is a cleaned up version of the original stream-of-conscious episode to make it a bit more enticing for your aural pleasure... plus we had to get rid of a couple of edits that perhaps maybe had licensed music... As always, follow the Monster Rally Podcast on social media, wherever you get your podcasts, and there's always room for more merch. Part of the Geekscape Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LA indie rockers Peel Dream Magazine — whose name pays tribute to the late BBC DJ John Peel — recently released their fourth full length album Rose Main Reading Room. It’s perfect for soul-stirring listening via headphones: lying on the floor in a dark room, on a train watching the landscape, or waiting for your holiday flight at an airport terminal. Astute at weaving transportive personal stories, Peel Dream Magazine shares “I Wasn’t Made For War.” 

In this episode of The Brand Called You, Jay Jain, Co-Founder, of Astute Group, discusses his 30-year entrepreneurial journey from starting in his family's traditional business at age 14 to pioneering mobile and digital innovation. He shares how he and his brother disrupted the value-added services market. Jay explains his approach to building successful teams in tier-2 cities, emphasizing respect and talent development. He discusses the critical role of mentorship in risk management and scaling decisions, drawing insights from both modern business practices and ancient wisdom. Jay also shares his philosophy of balancing the three Ps - Professional, Personal, and Parivaar (family) life. About Jay Jain Jay Jain is the Co-Founder, of Astute Group. He is also the President of TiE Madhya Pradesh. Jay has founded 14 companies across mobile and IOT in various sectors including IT, Digital Content, Mobile Apps Product Portfolio, and FinTech. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/tbcy/support

Author : A.C. Wise Narrator : Wilson Fowlie Host : Alasdair Stuart Audio Producer : Chelsea Davis “The Slow Music of Drums” was originally published in the 2024 Anthology Northern Nights edited by Michael Kelly TW: features grief, an implied apocalypse, sinister music, a family curse, cosmic horror and bees Astute readers and listeners may […]

2024 was a mixed year, with some stellar announcements like Tata Group's gigafactory investment offset by the cancellation of Phase 2 of HS2 and a budget black hole to pay for, but an Industrial Strategy may give the industry the long-term stability it needs. This article is by Will Stirling The Chancellor Rachel Reeves received a boost a week before her Autumn Budget when the IMF revised its forecast for UK growth this year to 1.1% (up from 0.7% in July) and 1.5% in 2025 – the biggest upward revision for any advanced country. It's a sign of better things to come, and 2024 was not a banner year in manufacturing, more one defined by steady stability, yet it still notched up a few memorable headlines for British industry. Spiralling costs meant the previous Tory government cancelled Phase 2 of HS2 from Birmingham to Manchester, affecting hundreds of supply chain companies, which the new Labour government partly blamed for the cost overruns. The Secretary of State for Transport Louise Haigh launched an independent review to ensure lessons will be learned and the costs for HS2 are controlled. The cost of Phase 1, London to Birmingham, is expected to reach £66bn. Covid and the semiconductor-shortage-affected UK automotive sector got a fillip in February when Agratas, the battery division of Tata Group, confirmed a new £4bn battery gigafactory in Somerset. It was a relief for the car sector to see the UK stall on the global league table for gigafactory capacity, a key metric for car plant investment. While carmaking recovered strongly in 2023 after semiconductor supply returned, it is slowing down. By August, the UK had manufactured 522,833 cars, down 8.5% on production at the same point in 2023 when ythe figure was 571,671. Interestingly, year-to-date vehicles for the domestic UK market had increased by 12%, but exports, representing over 84% of all car production, were down 13.6%. The production of electric cars, including hybrids (EVs), fell by 26%. Automotive business group SMMT said this decline is expected to be reversed in the longer term as new models come on stream. Massive manufacturer discounting saved car sales in Europe in September, pushing BEV sales to 56,387 registrations. Siemens opened its new train factory in Goole, Humberside, in October and announced a further £40m in addition to the £200 investment in the Goole Rail Village, which will now bring up to 1,000 new jobs to the region, as well as around 1,700 supply chain job opportunities. In addition to maintaining the bogies from Siemens' 572 trains running in the UK, it will also include new production lines for assembling bogies for new trains, which will be the first for Siemens in the UK. Aerospace is battling delivery rate challenges: after Covid, orders poured in, and the industry is pulling on all levers to find ways to go above ‘Rate 60' into the consistent 80s or even 90 aircraft per month to reduce long delivery times. Ninety commercial aircraft were delivered in August, the highest in that month of the year since 2018. But that's not the whole story. While the global backlog of aircraft on order is 15,651 planes according to the industry group ADS - an extraordinary number - aircraft orders in the year-to-date are two-thirds behind 2023 levels. Perhaps it was a sign that Brexit was the past. The FA appointed Thomas Tuchel as the senior men's coach, causing gossip as the first German coach of the England football team. A week later, Britain and Germany signed a government-described “landmark' defence agreement to boost security, investment, and jobs. German defence giant Rheinmetall will build a new factory in the UK to make barrels for artillery guns, and German marine surveillance aircraft will supply patrols from RAF Lossiemouth. The factory will need British steel and will create 400 jobs. It's the first defence pact with Germany of this scale, although both countries already collaborate on making armoured vehicles, for example. In October, BAE Systems Maritime launched the sixth Astute class submarine, Agamemnon. Attention will soon switch to the multi-billion AUKUS submarine (SSN-A) programme, where the boats will be built in the UK and Australia. Fhaheen Khan, senior economist at Make UK says “Manufacturers this year experienced the most stable period of business conditions in almost a decade, despite still facing higher costs, tight interest rates and skills shortages.” While it could be seen as a year of two halves – the first six months boasting strong production, order books and investment intentions, and the second looking far more mixed due to an inevitable domestic market slowdown –manufacturers remain buoyant in their expectations.” h Accountants and business advisors are expecting more investment in the economy in 2025, following several years where major events and inflation have made business conditions that could be generally described as ‘sh*t'. Fhaheen Khan thinks the new 10-year industrial strategy is an important milestone in achieving economic growth, although some seasoned business leaders will say they have heard it all before. It's hard to remember, but the UK has had at least four official industrial strategies since the 2008/9 recession: in 2009 (Mandelson), 2012 (Vince Cable), 2017 (Greg Clark) and now in 2024. Khan says “It's highly encouraging that advanced manufacturing will be a key sector driving that growth, and the Industrial Strategy Council will help lay the pipework needed to modernise UK industry through the wide adoption of AI, computing, and techniques like 3D printing.” Of particular relevance to MTD readers, the numbers show that industries specialising in producing capital equipment like machinery, electronics and metal fabricators have experienced a positive year. This is due to strong exports to the US and the EU as many Western countries are investing in the kit to modernise their manufacturing – for example, the US's Inflation Reduction Act and, one could say, on the wave of ‘Make America Great Again'. Khan says “These subsectors have much to look forward to in 2025 as economic conditions stabilise further, inflation cools, and interest rates are loosened." The manufacturing technology expo MACH 2024 organisers said visitors were up 6% on the previous show and reported a good vibe. Greg Capp, sales director at EDM machinery firm Sodi-Tech, said: “Footfall has been the best in a long time. On Day One, we had enough enquiries for the next six months.” Overall, investment in manufacturing in 2023 (last full year) is up by 4% on 2022, from £40.24bn to £41.8m, and economists expect this to rise in 2024. Despite the numbers and late positivity, on the ground, some manufacturing machinery vendors and subcontractors report a frustrating year where the anticipated rush of orders failed to materialise. That flat confidence from 2022-2023 seemed to be overspilled into the year's first half. Andrea Wilson at deep hole drilling and boring engineering company Hone-All Precision says “2024 has been a challenging and varied year for most businesses. “Uncertainty and political instability have created conditions that have not been beneficial to business and have created barriers to growth. “The creation of the 10-year Industrial Strategy will hopefully give business and investors the confidence they have been lacking the last few years.” The new industrial strategy focuses on eight sectors: advanced manufacturing, clean energy industries, creative industries, defence, digital and technologies, financial services, life sciences, and professional and business services. High-tech, hard-tech, high-potential companies can benefit hugely from close government support. The top two sectors in the strategy are advanced manufacturing and clean energy industries. “Tokamak Energy does both!” says David Kingham, the executive vice chairman and a co-founder. He says that the company that designs, manufactures and operates a plant for nuclear fusion to generate power aims to accelerate the development of fusion energy, the most valuable technology of the 21st Century. “We were delighted to see the new consultation on the Industrial Strategy. A company like Tokamak Energy, with over 250 employees and global ambitions, can grow rapidly if we have consistent strong backing from the government.” The company has had spectacular success in recent years with the record-breaking ST40 high field compact spherical tokamak – which reached 100 million degrees Celsius plasma ion temperature, the threshold needed for commercial fusion energy. Its high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnet development has also set records for magnetic field strength at a temperature of 20,000C. David says: “Our industrial strategy is to pursue fusion energy by assembling consortia around our core technologies to provide the complimentary capabilities necessary for the development and deployment of fusion. This will require major investment by governments and consortium partners, but the prize is the elusive goal of commercial fusion energy. The fastest achievable timeline for fusion is 10 years to a 50MW pilot plant, a goal set by the US Department of Energy milestone-driven fusion development program. “So a bold, consistent industrial strategy from the Government could enable the UK to have its fusion “cake” in the long term and “eat” the economic benefits of the magnet spin-off technology in the short to medium term.” In the supply chain, companies like Hone-All Precision want long-term stability, vision, and potential targeted support through programmes unafraid of ‘picking winners' that have previously blighted attempts to assist the industry within state aid rules. Managing Director Andrea Wilson says “The new Labour government must commit to long term strategic thinking and investment decisions, and the newly formed Industrial Council will hopefully achieve this.” “The council's success will be increased dramatically if it's informed by business leaders, owners, and most importantly, if it includes SME representation. The outcome of these two positive moves will hopefully result in us seeing the confidence and stability we all need to thrive.” Machine tool and machinery suppliers need orders, and for that, their customers need confidence to buy. Adrian Haller, managing director of Bruderer UK, a leading manufacturer of precision high-speed presses says “The UK has a fantastic opportunity in advanced engineering, and we have so many brilliant companies – at all levels of the supply chain – that are prospering despite the lack of a coherent Government strategy to support the sector.” “This isn't tubthumping; this is what we see every day when our sales engineers and installers commission precision high-speed Bruderer presses on shop floors across the country. Imagine what we could do if we had a long-term Industrial Strategy that focuses on our strengths and invests in them? And I don't mean the odd grant here and there. It needs to be substantial and flow down to SMEs – that is the critical bit. For industry to become more efficient, an area to improve is the education of manufacturing engineers about new, ‘smart' technology. Mark Weymouth, MD of PLUS Automation and UK representative for Contrinex and Satron, who runs a popular LinkedIn newsletter says “There's a pervading tendency for engineers to buy and commission what they know and not look at new, better plant and equipment that can raise productivity.” While PLUS Automation is in its fourth year of growth, many food and liquid process manufacturers are not explaining this technology to their site engineers. He says “The UK is about seven years behind mainland Europe in adopting many process technologies.” Although the increase in employers' national insurance payments may dampen this optimism, the indicators are that this new strategy for industry will help businesses, especially those in advanced manufacturing areas.

RANDOM WAYPOINTS PODCAST EP0634 | WHY TRAVELERS ARE FAR MORE POLITICALLY ASTUTE0:00 DISCLAIMER0:09 SHOW START0:46 OVERLAND EXPO SoCAL 2025 MARCH 15-16 COSTA MESA CA4:45 SEMA SHOW Las Vegas Recap7:12 Is the OVERLAND INDUSTRY Tone Deaf?13:34 (Election Aftermath)... WHY TRAVELERS ARE FAR MORE POLITICALLY ASTUTE1:02:54 FINAL WORDS=================CO-HOST============================MICHAEL LADDEN:Michael has explored over 70 countries on 5 continents. He founded Drive The Globe Overland Adventures in 1996 and completed a vintage Land Rover expedition across 8,000 miles of the African wilderness in 2001. He has led expeditions from the Arctic Circle to the jungles of the African Congo and Timbuktu. Michael has 25 years of experience outfitting Unimogs, Land Rovers, Military trucks and Jeeps. He currently lives full time on the road in his Stewart & Stevenson overland truck & is in the process of driving around the world. When not traveling, Michael is an avid cyclist and pilot. @Drive The Globe  https://www.drivetheglobe.com/  ——————————— CONNECT ———————————

To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit https://www.fanthespark.com/next-steps/ask-vaisesika-dasa/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Add to your wisdom literature collection: https://www.bbtacademic.com/books/ (USA only) https://thefourquestionsbook.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Join us live on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FanTheSpark/ Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sound-bhakti/id1132423868 For the latest videos, subscribe https://www.youtube.com/@FanTheSpark For the latest in SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/fan-the-spark ------------------------------------------------------------ #vaisesikaprabhu #vaisesikadasa #vaisesikaprabhulectures #spirituality #bhaktiyoga #krishna #spiritualpurposeoflife #krishnaspirituality #spiritualusachannel #whybhaktiisimportant #whyspiritualityisimportant #spiritualconnection #thepowerofspiritualstudy #selfrealization #spirituallectures #spiritualstudy #spiritualexperience #spiritualpurposeoflife #spiritualquestions #spiritualquestionsanswered

This is our first episode or rather a minisode in quite a long time and within this one you will be getting a peek behind the curtain learning about our editor Simon whose responsible for putting these episodes together. Astute observations in terms of sound, being the parent of an Autistic son and also what he's learned over the years from him. Expect another good episode and thank you for still following us through thick and thin.

[SEGMENT 1-1] Debate reprise 1 Kamala Harris had an ear microphone. Did you hear about this. Not that it matters. But she wasn't about to not stack the deck if she could. CSPAN did a survey and 75% of people say Trump won. This coincides with Elon Musk's ad hoc survey, as well as Marc Cuban's The moderators were on her side for sure. Here's Megyn Kelly ranting on this, and she's 100 percent right   [X] SB – Black woman on gaslighting  [SEGMENT 1-2] Debate reprise 2 But none of that matters… The GREAT news about the debate is that America got to see Kamala Harris for what she is. A blatant liar. They documented 21 lies. Many of those blatant lies have been debunked. And people who don't like Trump will learn of these lies. Are you willing to expose the lies?   [X] SB – Megyn Kelly… Defensive angry Mistake to trust ABC [X] SB – MSNBC proud of David Muir's fact-check  [SEGMENT 1-3] Debate reprise 3 - Springfield 9-12 Think people will learn what's happening in Springfield OH   [X] SB – Springfield OH resident reporting Haitians killing geese   [X] SB – Springfield OH residents call city a timebomb  [SEGMENT 1-4] Debate reprise 4   [X] SB – PA voter decides on Trump   ABC has let Harris get away with the Charlottesville hoax, bloodbath hoax, police officers dying on J6 hoax, etc   Think people don't know what impact immigration is having Crime? [X] SB – Reporter in Springfield OH   E Jean CarrollBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-kevin-jackson-show--2896352/support.

[SEGMENT 2-1] Debate reprise 5 Exposing the lies Alvin Bragg case Letitia James case Fani Willis case [X] SB – Unmuted mic for Kamala Harris The most effective thing Trump did in the debate was to highlight what Harris said she would do, and show that SHE'S DONE NOTHING.  [SEGMENT 2-2] Debate reprise 6   [X] SB – JD Vance torches Kaitlin Collins on Springfield False claim First and second-hand accounts Journalists should uncover this for themselves Healthcare costs are up Housing costs are up Kamala Harris' border policies Media didn't care…   [X] SB – Springfield resident calls cops on Haitians  [SEGMENT 2-3] Debate reprise 7   [X] SB – Dr Phil on the border   [X] SB – Tim Murtaugh on weaponization of the DOJ He wants to prosecute people who are acting nefariously in the election Still refusing to accept the results of the last election Why is it controversial? Legal teams, to donors, prosecuting political opponents Joe Biden and Harris are currently prosecuting Donald Trump [X] SB – MSNBC proud of David Muir's fact-check of Trump's statement   CLAIM: Kamala Harris accused Trump of having “sold us out” and “selling American chips to China." FACT CHECK: FALSE. The Trump admin blocked the takeover of a U.S. semiconductor maker by a Chinese investor and restricted exports to China's top chipmaker. Truth Obama and Biden's admin approved AMD's licensing of x64 and x32 IP to China well before Trump, and the trump admin limited the use of those IP along with emerging IP's and products for AI.  [SEGMENT 2-4] Debate reprise 8- Trump's summary   [X] SB – CNN shocked at Harris answers on ACLU questionnaire ICE Snapshot in time of democratic primary. Left of Sanders and Warren Open ended Taxpayer-funded gender identity surgery Slash immigration detention Decrease funding for ICE End ICE detainers Drugs Public health issue, support decriminalization for all drugs Yes. [X] SB – Trump's debate closing statement  Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-kevin-jackson-show--2896352/support.

Astute horror fans know this one, but beyond that I'd say Cherry Falls is a virtually unknown horror film. Suffice to say it might also be the most 2000 movie ever made, just based on the cast alone. But this movie had a wildly difficult journey from script to (TV) screen. It's a very long story, but for this episode we have a fascinating guest indeed. Randy Ostrow (@Mad_Randolph) is a producer in his own right, but back in 2000 he was the VP of production for the now-extinct October Films -- and wow does he have some crazy stories. Thanks for listening to Overhated! There are 100+ more episodes at patreon.com/scottEweinberg. Subscribe to hear them all now! Check out the list of episodes here: bit.ly/3WZiLFk. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc.    Overhated is now proudly sponsored by those Effin' Birds.com, the award-winning comic strip by Aaron Reynolds. 

This week the gang gets together to discuss the rest of Inroduce Yerself.Transcript:Track 1:[0:00] Hey, it's Justin. You know and love us on the Discovering Downey podcast, right? So come hang out with us in person for the finale. Join us for Long Slice Brewing presents a celebration of Gord Downey at The Rec Room in downtown Toronto on Friday, July 19th. Craig is coming from Vancouver, Kirk is coming from LA, I'm driving from Vermont, and JD's like walking down the street or wherever he lives in Toronto. Tickets are available now on our website at discovererndowney.com, and when you get your tickets, that means you can come Come hang out with us and our very special guest, Patrick Downey, and you can bid on some incredibly cool silent auction items, all while jamming along with tragically hip cover band The Almost Hip, and most importantly, helping us raise money for the Gord Downey Fund for Brain Cancer Research. Crack open a long slice, put on some Gord tunes, take a journey with us on discovering Downey, and then crack open another long slice on July 19th and hang out with us in the six. I always wanted to sound cool and say that. For more information, follow us on all the socials and visit DiscoveringDowny.com. Christmas Day for Edgar. My dad always used to say just after the presents, well, it's as far away now as it will ever be. I'm thinking about that as the stewardess cracks the public address system. For those sitting in economy, there's no music for you today.Track 1:[1:21] Welcome, music lovers. Long Slice Brewery presents. Discovering Downey.Track 2:[1:31] Hey, it's JD here and welcome to Discovering Downey, an 11-part project with a focus on the music and poetry of Mr. Gord Downey. The late frontman of the Tragically Hip gave to the world an extensive solo discography on top of the hip's vocal local acrobats that wowed us for years. So far, he's released eight records in total, three of them posthumously. Now listen, you might be the biggest fan of the hip out there, but have you really listened to these solo records? Because I'm an inquisitive podcaster, I enlisted my friends, Craig, Justin, and Kirk, giant fans of the hip in their own right, to discover Downey with me, JD, as their host. Every week, we're going to get together and listen to one of Gord's records, working in chronological order. We discuss and dissect the album, the production, the lyrics, and we break it down song by song. This week we're going to be talking about the back half well plus two songs from the front half of introduce yourself justin my friend how are you doing on this gray fucking oh is it gray there toronto oh oh it's terrible all day maybe because i was wearing sunglasses wait a minute.Track 4:[2:55] It is it was the opposite of that here in in beautiful vermont today it's it was a beautiful day i I think it's going to be great for the rest of the week, though. So whatever you're getting today, we'll get tomorrow.Track 1:[3:05] Oh, that's weather with Justin. We'll be back with Craig and Traffic. Remember, news on the fives.Track 2:[3:12] Where in the world is Kirk from Fuckachino? How's it going, man?Track 5:[3:22] I am in Washington, D.C. Right now for work in a hotel room. so having some technical difficulties so my apologies but things are good and uh excited to continue the conversation greg.Track 2:[3:41] What say you things.Track 3:[3:44] Are going well a little uh a little tired after a night out uh watching the sadies last night so they played a small venue downtown and got to see the boys rock out and um yeah it was it was a pretty awesome show a big banner of Dallas in the background and yeah, some touching moments, but mostly they, they just rocked.Track 2:[4:03] I haven't been to a live show in a little while now.Track 4:[4:06] Super cool.Track 2:[4:12] All right, fellas, before we get into the music, I want to talk to you about an email that I got from an organization called Lake Fever Wilderness Company. Basically, the gist of this email is that the Lake Fever Wilderness Company has submitted all the paperwork required to City Hall to get At Riverdale Park East, here in Toronto, mere footsteps from my home, renamed Gord Downie Park. I saw an article on BlogTO, and then they also gave us a couple other links to stories. But I'm hoping that our little podcast here, that people who listen to it will hear this, and you know we can build some awareness around this somehow anything you want to say about this or comment about this are you jealous and ate in your town yes.Track 4:[5:17] That sounds like a great cause and um for what it's worth i love the song lake fever so.Track 2:[5:25] Right Right?Track 4:[5:26] Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that's a, that's whatever we can do to help, man. That sounds great.Track 5:[5:31] Sounds very cool.Track 3:[5:32] I'm jealous. We, who do we get? Brian Adams Avenue.Track 2:[5:39] Probably already have it. Don't you?Track 3:[5:41] I don't know. I don't know. Maybe in England.Track 2:[5:45] Really? There's not a. Right mind-blowing to me one of the top songs of all time in terms of played, everything i do i do for you right, yeah but this is not a brian adams podcast this is a podcast called discovering downy and let's pick it up where we left off last time that puts us on side two of the first record With the very candid, my first self.Track 5:[6:47] I mean, just explains it like I remember it. And yeah. could feel all of those crazy, stupid emotions and, uh, could just totally wrap my head around and embrace, you know, the message that he was writing, you know, a piano forward tune again. You know, I think we talked about that the last one, uh, I love the vocal and the background that starts coming in uh you know echoing essentially the line um and then the last line is just classic so yeah uh it's a it's a brilliant tune in my assessment.Track 3:[7:28] Yeah, what I liked about it is that it really instantly just takes you to a place in your own life, whether the story is one you connect with or not, it takes you back to, you know, when you were in your teens or whatever. And that's what I appreciated about this song. Another thing before the echoing vocal you're talking about there's i just noticed today for the first time very very faintly in the opposite channel is something that sounds like a, a meowing cat i think it's a person but it's almost this little it's so subtle it's almost like one of those hearing tests you get where there's a little beep and you're like did i hear that but i listened a second time and there's something that comes in about 30 seconds before for the more noticeable vocal on the other side so i.Track 4:[8:19] Did not on that view yeah i listened to it today too actually and.Track 3:[8:24] Um i.Track 4:[8:26] Mean this this girl sounds cool as hell you know like he says in the song six years older so it's definitely you know she's his girlfriend but he may not be her boyfriend from what i'm picking up on you know like and and i certainly related to the you.Track 3:[8:41] Told me off and could she be responsible for uh hooking gourd on reading because he wanted to be like her.Track 4:[8:50] Oh yeah yeah yeah yeah interesting thought yeah yeah yeah i don't know again like i did feel a little awkward listening to this song let's.Track 2:[9:02] Move to the next track on the record you're ashore.Track 3:[9:05] Well this is probably the song i have the least to say about it's maybe the least memorable for me I think probably it's the type of song that if it's about you it's probably a maybe a bit of an inside joke or I'm not really sure what the you know what it's about who it's about, I appreciated the gentleness in his voice. I was glad that it was the length that it was because it was not my favorite. What did you guys think?Track 5:[9:38] I loved it me too i uh i i uh i mean it's the shortest song on the album it's a minute 30 you know the lyrics are simple it's you know essentially you're sure you're sure repeated and a few little straight lines but the brilliant in the very beginning is you know he's strumming and then it's the let flow it down i believe is what he says and uh yeah it's um Um, I think especially amongst this body of work amongst this album, like, you know, there's a lot of, there's a lot of piano, there's a lot of synths, there's even some beats and things of that nature. And it was kind of nice to just get a little short acoustic ditty in my opinion. But, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm a sucker for that. That's, uh, just like, just like back in the eighties, right? Every metal band had its little ballad. so uh i i love the ballads so.Track 4:[10:38] Yeah i don't know who it's about but it's an earworm i find myself humming the tune uh quite often and there's only a few words in the song so it's not like, you know like you said craig the lyrics aren't nothing about it is really memorable but it is it does get into your brain and it's an easy little like you could just walk through the the park and just sing that all day. But yeah, I mean, it's a minute 30 and that's about right.Track 2:[11:07] Yeah, that's about right. It's interesting you say that you couldn't determine who that's about, because I, so far, have really sucked at that game, listening to the first record. So, as we go into the second record, Gord lobs a softball at me, and even I know that this next track, Love Over Money, is about the fucking Tragically Hip.Track 4:[11:37] Damn right it is.Track 2:[11:39] Yeah who wants to go first here kirk.Track 5:[11:42] Yeah i'll go first um yeah i i you know uh i would say jd i've had a similar you know a similar experience in in trying i have little parentheses in my notes of who i think the note might be or the song might be too and i you know i can't even get specifics i just write like brother you know question mark things of that nature so this one was obvious what i loved about it as well and and i think i might have mentioned it on on the last of the first the first album it's such a pop it's like a synth pop tune is what i have and this is gonna sound weird but for whatever reason when i hear the song i think of that snl skit where you've You've got like Jimmy Fallon and they're all playing like they're doing that little, you know, they do the little dance.Track 2:[12:36] Oh, right, right, right.Track 5:[12:37] You know, when I heard this song, I, by the second time, I just, I couldn't get that shit out of my brain. So, but just beautiful lyrics talking about the band. So direct and so loving and so to the point. To me, an absolute, brilliant Gord Downie song. I mean, you know, just wonderful, wonderful song.Track 3:[13:06] The moment he said the line, we played to no one, and then no one plus one, I knew it was about the hip. Because I remember in 1996, a band I played in, we went across Canada two times that year, self-booked tours. And we ended up in Thunder Bay on one of the tours.Track 3:[13:24] And we played in a tiny club called crocs and rolls which is sort of like a legendary club in in thunder bay a guy named frank lefredo was the booker there who was kind of like a legend, in uh in music across canada and anyway frank um the first night we we played and we didn't draw much of a crowd and he said you know don't worry guys the you know first time the tragedy hit played here they played to to no one and then they played a second night and they got a couple more and the next night and you know they played i think three nights in a row on an early tour, and so that made us feel a little better and he and he um he felt bad about the the draw so when we came back um he found us a gig at another venue um for the for the drive back so that's the the memory that that comes up for me um and also the other thing the queen's jubilee uh so the reference to the um to the playing to the the deafening the husband of the queen um that would be that that show which i looked up and uh and yeah they played poets and interesting enough in that version of poets he changes the lyrics he censors himself a little bit i noticed so for the queen he he He changed bare-breasted to bare-chested, and there was one other change I can't recall.Track 4:[14:44] Yeah, it was a great performance. I remember seeing that. I wish that I had looked it up just to bring the memory of it back, but that line stuck out to me. I remember seeing that performance.Track 3:[14:57] And he used the laminar flow line as well in that version of Poets.Track 4:[15:01] Oh, that I didn't remember.Track 2:[15:04] Wow.Track 3:[15:05] Which ended up in Coke Machine Glow on Every Irrelevance.Track 4:[15:11] Yeah. Obviously, the bond between those five guys is unbreakable, and this song is funny, too. I laughed at this song the first time that I heard it and heard the lyrics. We missed death and marriage and a birth. I did notice the words hotel worth, which is kind of a preview to an upcoming thing. There's a song that actually got a lot of airplay here locally a few years ago. But yeah, yep, it did. Yep, it was on the radio two or three times a day for a couple months here.Track 3:[15:47] The love over money line um made me also think about the way that they split their royalties and i'm not sure if if it was like a 20 all the way around that would be my guess but but often the the lyricist will take 50 and then the people who wrote the music take the other 50 so you know maybe it's not that simple but the fact that all five of them were as far as i know listed on all all the all the credits sort of um you know over their career that's something that drives so many bands apart is that fight over you know well i wrote this i wrote this and like even in the band i spoke about a while ago like we had some really crazy discussions around royalties and who should get what and you know in my mind i've always been a equal share guy i don't care if you're the drummer if you're you know you wrote your part that's just you know then again i've not not like i'm making a ton of a ton of money in music or anything but but um it was nice to to see them stick together so long and the same five guys like what other band can you think of that released that many albums with the same lineup it's got to be a very very.Track 2:[17:02] Very short list.Track 3:[17:03] Like there may be some three pieces i mean but a five piece band think of all the potential for conflict and for you know one guy leaving it like no one there's some sleuthing.Track 2:[17:17] Some sonic sleuthing for you listeners out there send us an email at discovering downy at gmail.com with bands that have a lineup up that was consistent with at least 15 records released? Are there any? Is there a database that you could just plug that into and get it from?Track 3:[17:40] No idea. I mean, Aerosmith would be close, but they had that lineup change in the mid-career.Track 2:[17:49] Right.Track 3:[17:51] For one album anyways.Track 2:[17:53] Joe Perry left, right? Joe Perry and Brad Whitford.Track 3:[17:55] Yeah.Track 2:[17:57] Yeah, yeah. Okay, so the next track is You, Me, and the Bees. Do I go two for two here when I say this is an ode to the Boston Bruins? Yeah. And its ability to connect with your family, particularly in this case to Gord's brother, Patrick.Track 3:[21:03] That sounds about right to me.Track 2:[21:04] Take us away.Track 3:[21:06] Took me right to my childhood as well. And a good friend of mine, so my friend Blair and I, we played a game called hall hockey. Hockey's in my parents basement with you know those fisher price um bowling sets we take take one of the pins and a ball and we would just hit the ball back and forth and if you hit the wall you score and we had this ongoing game every time he came over and we would you know do the play by play and we were both oilers fans so you weren't allowed to be the oilers you had to choose another team and i'll never forget the quebec nordique if you were the nordique and you you know you'd be Stastny and then you pass over to to you know Michelle Goulet and as soon as Michelle Goulet, got the puck you know you're getting a shot in the balls every single time I don't know what it was but and um yeah and then Blair became a little bigger than me and started winning every single game and then we yeah we aged out of that game but anyways that's where it took me yeah what What about you guys?Track 4:[22:06] Oh man, this was me and my old man playing pond hockey. Yeah, I loved the song and I loved I could tell right away that the percussion was a hockey stick scraping on the ground. I loved it. And you know, again, I laughed in this song several times and the line about the trading of George Thornton and you know, it's, I don't know, like Like, I'm so excited to get to meet Patrick Downey because it sounds like these guys just had fun the whole time. This song is that relationship. And, you know, and as a Habs fan, I freaking hate the Bruins, but I get it. You know, I totally get it. And, yeah, this is just a really cool song about your brother. You know, it's fun.Track 5:[22:57] Yeah, I loved the song. And I loved, I could tell right away that the percussion was a hockey stick scraping on the ground. I loved it. You know, again, I laughed in this song several times and the line about the trading of George Thornton. And, you know, it's, I don't know, like, I'm so excited to get to meet Patrick Downey because it sounds like these guys just had fun the whole time, you know, and the song is that.Track 4:[23:30] I, um, I really liked how Gord's voice was very staccato and this, um, he was really kind of a minimalist with, you know, he didn't drag any of the, any of the, the lines out the Bruins. You know, like just very on the beat and kind of not screwing around. Or maybe this is screwing around for him, I guess. But, you know, he turned the word Bruins into Bruins, just one syllable. And I don't know, it felt like a different approach lyrically or sonically, I guess.Track 3:[24:02] Yeah, that phrasing really matched the style of the song too. That sort of, like the percussion that Kirk was talking about. It just, yeah, had that staccato feel.Track 5:[24:11] The phrasing, thanks for bringing that up, Craig. I had just recently watched the Juno Award tribute, Dallas Green and Sarah Harmer and Kevin Hearn, I believe it was, and I believe it was the Junos. And gore you guys both talked mentioned like the way he phrases like the way he takes his lyrics and will you know enunciate them to fit into the line it is like no one else right and then when you watch this tribute and you see her singing introduce yourself and trying to you know keep the cadence that that that gourd has i guess that's a good way to describe it there's a uh, a unique cadence to it so i i was blown away by that if you guys haven't seen it you you must watch it and then when they go into bob cajun and the harmonies are just incredible but like goosebumps you know it's so incredible and then especially when she comes in with that harmony But to hear her do the phrasing was wonderful as well, because that has to be difficult.Track 2:[25:25] Yeah, it's what we love about him, right? His ability to twist and turn and put round pegs into square holes or square pegs into round holes probably is more difficult, in fact. Snowflake has a haunting piano line that works well with Gord's almost pastime. What do you think of Snowflakes.Track 5:[25:46] Kirk? Yeah, Melancholy was my note. Again, the piano is used heavily throughout this whole album, but on this song in particular. My guess at who it is to is just a girlfriend is all I wrote. Um but uh the the other note that i wrote was the the woman leaned in to say goodbye but i don't remember his name and uh just the um where is gourd going with that you know i i uh i i wondered i wrote that down as a note so um but just again uh fully emotional song.Track 3:[26:34] Yeah i wondered if that was almost like a reference to maybe his fading memory yeah the oh yeah i was a bit puzzled by that too craig yeah it was a very eerie song and i really loved it i love the um the jangling sounds gave it like a really eerie feeling like you're in a i don't know like a haunted ballroom of some ancient house like i just picture this as a movie when I'm listening to it the the, vocal delivery makes me wonder if it was one of the later tracks that he he did and i really love the chorus and the the reverb they put on like just like in a natural there is a ton of reverb, like way too much reverb but it works really well it's so powerful when they do it on this album not something i would normally like um yeah his voice is is gorgeous in the song um a lot of feeling to the piano playing as well by by kevin um yeah and again i had a note about phrasing when he says my name and when he says goodbye it's kind of rushed and it made me wonder if it was just a lack of time just you know doing it in one take and not worrying too much about yeah about how it came off um but again that's what we love about you too yeah yeah.Track 5:[27:58] You i mean craig you sing when you play takes a lot of energy um so that's that's one thing that i wondered throughout this this album in particular when like if you just say you're looking at it on your phone and you're listening and you bring up the lyrics and you're you're you're questioning some of the enunciations i guess of some of the words but it's that's gourd and that's uh you know Him making it work for that particular song. And sometimes different than what the lyrics are written as. I don't know if that's just typo type stuff or if that's on purpose. this.Track 4:[28:37] So I actually, I don't know, my, my thought on this was that maybe this was, um, something that he was remembering from his childhood and maybe, um, with a, an older sibling or, a relative or somebody, you know, that he knew well. And, um, the thing that stood out to me.Track 4:[29:00] More was the, his recollection of the lake and, um, of the house and describing everything about the scene and that this woman is somebody, an acquaintance of whoever he's walking down the road with, and they're going to see her. Um, cause there's the line, she told me to go explore the quiet rooms. Uh, it like, so this is all right, kid, go check out the house. We got stuff to talk about you know um and i actually um somehow connected this to the you know affluent woman in the video for it's a good life if you don't weaken um my my head kind of went to that music video and i don't don't know why or where that happened but um it just felt to me like it that type of house and that type of, of meeting. And, you know, and then at the end of that video, Gord leans down and whisper something into her ear and, and then, then they walk out. I don't, I don't really know why that's where I went, but, um, it's sort of a mishmash of two different things. Yeah.Track 4:[30:13] So like there's the song that we'll get to called the lake. When I first heard that, I thought that was about the lake, But now I think this song might be about the lake. I don't know.Track 5:[30:23] Just the fact that when he writes his lyrics, like, yeah, he, it's inspired by something, but it may even have a different meaning than what it was inspired by for him. And I don't think he really intends for the listening audience to do anything other than interpret it for their own selves or application. So, um, you know, I, you just, I never got the feeling like he'd be offended by that.Track 2:[30:49] Yeah, I can't agree with you more. Again, that's one of these great things about this performer that we all love. We can get behind that. The next song is called A Better End, and it makes me sad. Lonesome for Gord, I suppose. How does it make you feel, Justin?Track 4:[31:17] Yeah, the same. I mean, it sounds a lot like the Man Machine Poem album. There's some melancholy in a lot of those songs. And this album came together in a different context, but it's musically a lot similar to or very similar to a lot of the songs on there. And there are connections with the lyrics, the line, for treasure or worse. That's in, is that in Man? or machine, one of the others. You know, where God walks with persons, even the may be doomed, that line crushes me every time I hear it.Track 2:[32:00] Repeat it?Track 4:[32:02] Where God walks with persons, even the may be doomed. And, you know, there's an end to that sentence, right? There's a finality in that one. And I don't know. I don't know who it's about. The song is called A Better End, but he says bitter. Um you know and that only at the very end of the song does it say the better end um so maybe there's some letting go you know i i i don't know yeah.Track 5:[32:37] I i uh i have a description written as dark melancholy but then my final note was a plea and that to me as i think you had mentioned, Craig, you know, maybe it was to a family member. And I kind of felt like it was to all family members and all of his like close friends, like, this is the letter, like, this is it. And so I just wrote a plea, question mark. And the beat, I think we talked about this before, you know it's it had the clock feeling to me throughout um and then like you had mentioned justin uh you know you you the title's a better end the the lyric that he uses is stay to the bitter end but it stayed in the bitter end and uh uh just uh, He's put out so much energy at this point, you know, because it is when they've recorded this, you know, it's 20, 2017. They've done the they've done the. The tours, he's done the secret path stuff like he knows what's coming, he knows the bitter end and he gave everything he could. And this is like his like, hey, somebody give me some energy for, you know, here for a better end.Track 3:[34:04] Yeah, I wondered if this was a close family member maybe saying to stay with me until the bitter end. Really, yeah, this was an emotional song, but it's also the type of song that's going to keep bringing me back to this album. I love this song. i found that again another powerful chorus with that big reverb sound and the way he belts out songs like this and snowflake and uh in the choruses is a real strength of this album nancy and yeah just a very powerful um i i had a note i would be interested to hear a heavy version of the song like a full band version um yeah but yeah haunting piano it gave me um secret path vibes it felt very much like musically could have been on secret path he.Track 4:[35:02] He hits a lot of different spots um um in his range too he sings very deeply and then he sings very high um there's There's a lot of, you know, he's probably in three octaves or maybe four during the song. Probably three.Track 2:[35:22] Yeah. So when I hear this song, I think of it, I think of an LP, like an old LP, like a 72, you know, RPM record. And I picture it being played on my grandparents' couch-sized hi-fi. It just sounds, it sounds old. It sounds authentic.Track 5:[35:50] Authentic it sounds like a needle you know the indie rock on the vinyl right it.Track 2:[35:56] Sounds like which sorry.Track 5:[35:57] It sounds like the needle on the vinyl it's just yeah it's you you and then you got that the dining you know the the dining room or whatever recording that's going on in the background and then and then it just sounds like they have the actual, you know the the needle and the vinyl that that that that static sound going it's it's brilliant it's a little soft guitar it's it's a sweet song it really is it's a sweet song yeah.Track 3:[36:28] And the way he sings it too it's almost like a bit of a like a shaky vocal like a bit of a warble to his voice which maybe it was actually maybe they added an effect to make to give it that vinyl quality to it. But I think maybe it's just his, I think it's just his performance. And when I say shaky, I mean, in a deliberate way, I talked last week about how I can't think of any singer who has as many qualities to his voice as Gord and he does it better than anyone. Yeah. Yeah.Track 2:[37:09] But then it did go away. You know, sort of, right? Yeah.Track 3:[37:17] When he wanted it to, yeah. He just gained so much control over his voice. He had power from early on, but then he developed different subtleties. And when he gets into an album like Secret Path, and he's singing sort of in character, he can just go into all these different places depending on the emotion of the song. And another note about Nancy is, first of all, I'm guessing it's about a sister. I didn't actually look up the names of his sisters, but that's just my guess. I liked how it talked about the beginning, the middle, and the end. And Gord forever being the storyteller. He's always thinking in terms of story. Just a little nugget I picked up. And the conversation at the beginning too when they're just starting to hit record he's talking about his cuff link.Track 4:[38:16] It's a good one.Track 2:[38:17] It is. It's really good. And I think on first listen, it would have been bottom third for me. And now it's firmly somewhere in the middle third. Like, it has a crack top third for me. But, you know, it's moved up for sure.Track 4:[38:36] Yeah.Track 3:[38:37] I feel like this album gets better as it goes on. I actually prefer the second half.Track 5:[38:42] That's fair.Track 3:[38:43] Um i think at first i really enjoyed the first half more maybe because i was really preparing for that first half um for our pod but i i love the the second half yeah i.Track 4:[38:57] Actually very much agree with that i think for me it starts to really get good at you're ashore and like i said it's it's a kind of a forgettable song but the the tone sort of changes isn't that wild yeah well.Track 2:[39:11] We are at the last song of the first side the remarkably upbeat think my about us.Track 5:[41:21] This is brilliant. This song is brilliant for me from the first listen to the critical listens in the middle to listening again just recently before this. And just the way it made me feel, the swagger it had, the message it had, um that just incredible descending piano line um it it was uh it it it's up there for me it's really really really up there i love love this tune i.Track 3:[42:03] Agree this is a masterful song really it's just it comes at a place on the album.Track 3:[42:11] Where you really need something that's a little, kind of cute is the word i'll use and you've got that little piano melody that almost just sounds like a finger exercise you would do if you're learning how to play piano and some really cool sounds on the synth or maybe it's a theremin but i'm pretty sure it's a synth, and i also had a note that the the drums enter in an interesting way the bass and drums come in and just maybe a spot you're not quite ready for and yeah just just like a playful song that i really enjoy just super catchy i i wish the world could hear this music like i wish more people, would give this a chance because it should be words were i mean maybe this is my thesis for the end of this whole thing but gourd's work should be appreciated like like josh even said like they're both up they're both equal they're both amazing yeah.Track 4:[43:09] I had the word super catchy exactly the same in my in my notes and i really don't have a lot of other notes about this song but i i can't stop listening to it i know that um it's a yeah it's a it's a and you're right craig it came at the right time um in the sequencing um it was needed in this spot.Track 3:[43:31] It's a little heavy before that.Track 2:[43:32] Right?Track 3:[43:33] Yeah, and it's going to get heavy again. Yep, that's right. Really heavy.Track 2:[43:37] I learned a really valuable... I gained access to some valuable experience today, when I was preparing for this recording, because it's the first time that I've flipped the record over, and had to tackle the final five songs that we ever get to hear from Gord Downie, or so we thought at the time. You know, like, we didn't know there was going to be posthumous releases.Track 5:[44:17] Right.Track 2:[44:19] We knew he wrote this right before he passed, So either way, you know, it's fucking heavy. Craig, when you think of The Road, do you think of that as heavy?Track 5:[44:35] Yes.Track 3:[44:36] Wow, The Road, this song destroys me. Again, there's a bit of a theme on the album in a few songs about The Road, about missing out on life events. Yes. On, you know, the sacrifice. Of you know being a touring musician um you know a dream that i had when i was young and it didn't work out and you know i'm you know thankful for the life i have um and you know i'm sure gourd was as well but man like it had to be there had to be some really tough times being out away from your family all the time and missing things and um anyways this song is so good and the um the thing i want to say about this is when the drums come in there's no hi-hat it's just sort of kick and snare and that space really sets the the mood for this song um you know along with you know the piano of course um and there's one line i want to point out the machines are somewhat suitable now um you know is that is that the hospital machines is it is it a reference to man machine poem um i'm not sure but but this song like.Track 3:[46:06] Depresses me almost as much as the the book the road which destroyed me when i was um a young parent uh you know or not you know i wasn't young but my my son was young and if you you know um cormac mccarthy's the road it is absolutely devastating it is the a book that took me well i've never gotten over it really and the movie as well i watched the movie and it took me about six months to watch the movie i had to watch it like a little bit at a time when i was in the right headspace and it just it is if you haven't read it's maybe don't but it's incredible um but this this yeah if you name something the road it's probably going to destroy me well.Track 4:[46:51] So I had a bit of an awakening about three years ago when in May of 2021, my wife had something that she had to do at work late at night or 8 o'clock, 9 o'clock, whatever. And she couldn't be home to make dinner. And it was like a Tuesday or something. I don't know. And she messaged me during the day and said, you need to be home and make Evelyn dinner tonight. night. Evelyn's our daughter. And at the time she was, uh, almost four and I got home and I realized, holy shit, I've never made dinner for my daughter before. Um, I was working 80 hours a week and I was missing everything. And my wife had an Instagram account for our daughter. And that was the only way that I was keeping up. I lived in the same house, but I wasn't in the same family. You know what I mean? And yeah, the song brings all that back and made a big life change that very night. I sent a long message to my boss and said, we got to talk tomorrow, but I'm going to get it all out right now. Cause if I didn't say it now, I'm not going to say it. And I told him I'm done at the end of the year. I've I'll stick with you for my commitment through this year, but but I'd put 10 years into my job and missed everything in that 10 years. And, um.Track 4:[48:16] Give Gord another three decades on top of that. Um, I don't know who the song's about and I guess it doesn't matter, but, um, but obviously it matters, but, um, yeah, I, I really identified with the missing everything and even going back to the song about, um, uh, what is it? Love over money, um, about the band, you know, we missed funerals and births and all this stuff. And yeah, that's me. I've been there, man. I've, I still, to some degree, I'm there a little bit, but, um, yeah, I missed my daughter's first four years of her life.Track 5:[48:54] Everyone knows in this group here, I'm on the road all the time. I'm talking to you from a hotel room in, in Washington, DC. And, um, and so, I mean, Justin, I think this is actually a letter to the road and a letter to everyone that he's been on the road with, including his wife, his part, you know, his, his kids, his bandmates. It's, it's that, you know, that's that life you choose, you know, whether it's a traveling musician, whether it's a a traveling salesman, whether it's a, you know, a producer. Um, and, and, and it's, uh, it's tough, but when you're not on the road, if you are a road person, it's your, your, you know, jittery, you're nervous, but how do you, how do you give to your family and to yourself and to your job and to your art? And, uh, he wouldn't have been able to do that without the road. So but you know it's a blessing and a curse um i we mentioned this about another song here and this one i wrote was also a song that could have been on secret path was the note for me.Track 4:[50:17] Yeah yeah but musically yeah again.Track 5:[50:19] We there's not enough hours in the day right lads to uh just talk about the amazing insight and that we have it here you know to listen to to watch to read to just just beautiful.Track 4:[50:36] Well there's there's that point where you know you're you're young and and full of energy and you've got these huge goals and then you start to achieve them and then at the same time you have this other life going on behind the scenes that has always played second fiddle to that and then you realize at some point you're too deep into the pursuit to stop now but that this other life that was didn't even exist when you started uh has now taken the spot you know is number one on your on your pecking order and how the hell do you make that change without destroying everything that you've created you know yep.Track 5:[51:14] Oh you are the bird.Track 2:[51:18] Yeah it's uh it's a slow and lovely song right what do you think about it kirk to.Track 5:[51:28] Me this this was uh uh, uh, just a letter. It seemed like a letter to a sibling, right? You, you became the bird you, uh, and then it just, it made sense. And, uh, um, um.Track 5:[51:44] I, it, it starts getting heavy after a while, right? When you, when we break, I mean, we talked about it with the last week when we talked about the first one and how emotional it was and, you know, here we are, you know, however many songs in and you just, you stop. And like you said, you know, JD, it was like, these are the last five tunes and it's, it's, it's almost hard to embrace, um, and think about without just getting, you know, overwhelmed. I, I think it is, I think largely because of the love we have for, uh, you know, what, what, what Gord Downie has done solo and with the hip and, and in jazz as a human. So, um, but, uh, yeah, just, uh, you know, Another note was, again, I think I mentioned it earlier, just lyrics that are written different than what is being sung. And I didn't know if that was on purpose. I think I mentioned that. And I didn't know if it was something Gord was trying to do on purpose. Or it's probably nothing. It's probably just what was written and what was sung.Track 5:[53:04] You know, he probably had it written down as such and just like we do when you have a script in front of you, your brain has already chosen what the next word is going to be. So, anyway.Track 4:[53:15] I noticed that this shared a lot of similarities with Spoon from the first half where he talks about help being the only reason why we're here. You help others and the child in the song Spoon is, I guess, tasked with the same thing. I don't know if task is the right word, but this is a common thread throughout the album. And this lyrically shares a lot with that song.Track 3:[53:48] Yeah. I agree, Justin. That was my real only, my only real note on this song was that, that, you know, it's the only reason we're here. And that seems to be like, yeah, like if I had to break down this album into one message, that would be, I mean, other than like a goodbye and, uh, you know, uh, a lot, you know, a love letter to his close ones. Um, that is like the, yeah, the summation of this album. I also thought probably about A Child, the song, and also there's the line about he was the bird, he passed it down, you want to help people out. So, you know, he's referencing not only the person he's talking to, but someone, maybe another family member, a grandfather or someone who's passed down that quality that, he respects.Track 4:[54:35] There's one of my mentors. I kind of think of him as a father figure. His name is John Adams and he was a very bottom level race car driver around these parts. And, he and my father were about the same age and they were friends. And I started hanging out with John when I was 13 or 14 years old, trying to learn how to work on race cars. And there was one night he went off, he got pushed off the racetrack and he's, you know, this massive six foot six, 300 pound guy. And he comes barreling out of the car and climbs up to the top of the racetrack and gives a, gives the driver that, that wronged him the double bird. So he became the bird man that night. Um, that was his, that was his nickname. And so everybody calls him bird. And, you know, I thought, wouldn't that be silly if he passed his nickname down to me somehow, how you know because he doesn't all of his all of his kids are girls and i'm kind of like his sort of son um i don't think that's going to happen but i i know the song isn't made to laugh, but i laughed thinking about that that's.Track 2:[55:42] A nice memory though yeah.Track 4:[55:44] He's still with us he's still with us flipping people off all the time, yeah i.Track 5:[55:51] Love that the lake.Track 2:[58:56] Yeah, this one's a fucking tearjerker to me. So proceed with caution on this one. Justin?Track 4:[59:04] Yeah. I kind of mentioned it before that I thought that this song was about Lake Ontario, which has been such a constant theme throughout Gord's entire career with the hip and with the solo stuff. And there's so many references to the lake. Um but this song is not about the lake this song is is about his daughter willow i mean that's right at the end of the song uh i realized today you are lake ontario the love of my life you are willow and then he does this fantastic call and answer thing with his own you know backup vocals um saying willow over and over again and it's like wow this one this one is something um it's a it's a beautiful song um it's just gorgeous um and yes he does describe the lake or a lake um but all these same qualities could be about your child and man it's uh it's a crusher very.Track 5:[1:00:09] Astute observation mr justin that's uh i i think spot on um and as you mentioned you know it's obviously and and to compare the two is is that there's no disservice in that he loves them both dearly so um i loved how the keys on this made it feel like you were on the lake like you listen to the.Track 4:[1:00:37] Song and you feel like.Track 5:[1:00:39] You're floating in you know in a boat a canoe whatever on the lake and you hear the lake in that song. Um, absolutely amazing. Absolutely amazing.Track 4:[1:00:55] You know, I, I grew up on the water. Um, Lake Champlain is, they call it the sixth great lake. Um, and that's, I can see it out the window. Um, and my family had a camp on a little lake, uh, Hall's lake. And my wife grew up on a lake in Ohio, Guilford lake. And we go there They're three, four, five times a year. We're headed there next week. And she also came to Vermont working at a summer camp for, I think, seven summers on Lake Fairley, which is a gorgeous resort area. And so on first hearing this song, The Lake, and probably the first 10 times I heard it, I was like, man, I can see it. And then I picked up on the willow thing after, you know, 11th on my 11th listen, I guess. And I was like, Oh no, it's just something completely different. But if it is just about the lake, Oof, that's just as devastating and lovely.Track 3:[1:01:57] Yeah, I also grew up near a lake. Our house in Peachland, which my parents still live in, overlooks Okanagan Lake, which is a very large lake. And yeah, it just brings back memories. And it is maybe my favorite spot on earth. Right across the lake from where we live is a small island. There's no roads. There's no power. There's no development on the other side of the lake. And it's just a place that we would boat to when I was a kid and try to get over there every summer. And it's just, you know, this song takes me there. And also, you know, with the mention of his daughter at the end and, you know, the, you're the love of my life and it, yeah, it's just a beautiful song.Track 2:[1:02:46] It's gorgeous. Kirk?Track 5:[1:02:49] Again, we've said it already. you know these last five songs are they're crushers it's like it it was really hard to listen to them in succession like i really needed to stop you know this these last two far far away and blurred i you know my my my space that i left for what is supposed to be my guess of who it is who the song is to the letters to, is blank. And it is blank because to me it could be anyone. Maybe it was obvious to one of you guys, but I really felt like it was almost like a letter to everyone.Track 5:[1:03:34] We smile. All that we've been through, up and down for sure, onwards and upwards, up close, far away, and blurred. Um, the tempo changes in this song are amazing. It goes into a, a swing almost during the chorus. Um, and, uh, I, I, again, just the instrumentation and the, the combination of what, you know, uh, you know, obviously not just, um, Gordon, Kevin, but, you know, the others that contributed as well. So just add, I think, to each one of these letters, as it were, you know, as they started out. What'd you think about Far Away and Blurred, Craig?Track 3:[1:04:25] I really love this song. Another strong song on the second half of this album. And I almost wondered if maybe it could be another touring song, or maybe he's talking about traveling with his family. Great melody. And I agree with what you said, Kirk, when it changes tempo halfway through the song, and the drums come in with that slow beat, and the echo the the vocals are echoing and i i found that part very powerful and it's like, again i just can't, get over the the brilliance of his work it is like so emotional um and there's this like guitar pattern going on that's really really cool in the background as well and yeah and justin you yeah.Track 4:[1:05:20] I i guess i'm echoing what you guys have said um it's just a if i mean it's a little bit upbeat um for a hot minute there and again comes at a at a place where you need it um Um, yeah, it's, it's lovely. It's how it's a guy who's frigging dying, um, and telling everybody how much he loves them and that he always has, whether, whether you're in view or not. Right. Um, yeah, the.Track 5:[1:05:53] Passion in his voice in the vocal, um, is just so palpable. And so it just, I mean, wrenching, but almost in a, just again, another reminder of just how amazing, how amazing every part and ounce of the art that comes out of this guy is just incredible, incredible.Track 3:[1:06:23] Yeah, JD, did you have anything to add for this one?Track 2:[1:06:26] I don't know if I could get anything out right now if I tried. it's.Track 3:[1:06:30] A tough one I.Track 2:[1:06:32] Think you know his voice in the verses I've got written down that it's playful and painful at the same time, and you know it builds the chorus is obviously as powerful a gourd voice as we've heard in almost any song on this record, We'll get more of that in later records that we'll discuss in future episodes, but yeah, it's a great song, but it's the second-to-last song, and the North is a really powerful way to end. A callback to Secret Path and The Bridge. But overall, it's an interesting tracking decision. It can't be a coincidence. Right, Justin?Track 4:[1:11:07] No, of course it's not. It's a reminder. It's like he spent a good portion of that final show in Kingston reminding everybody to pay attention and to keep paying attention. And that's exactly what this song is. is it's it's uh yeah i did secret path but keep going forward keep talking about it keep moving keep changing um keep trying to figure this out um you know i don't know if we i don't think we've said this on air but when we first started talking about this album there i i mentioned to you guys in our in our group chat that i thought this was some of the songs on this album were like a stream of consciousness and i think i know that there's the video of of them recording this song and i know that it's not a stream of consciousness but i think when he was writing this song, what he wrote down is whatever came to his head first and i'm going to find a song to to put it to and i got to get this message out i don't care if it's rhymes or makes sense musically or what This has to be said again and again and again and again. And good on him, you know. Yeah.Track 3:[1:12:22] Yeah. So he makes the reference to, um, you know, a place West of, of James Bay, which would be Ottawa, Piscat, which of course the hip have, have the song about. And, um, I, I, I'm wondering if this song is either about or to Joseph Boyden, the author who, at the same time secret path was released, released a book called when Jack, um, I didn't mention him on the secret path episode only because there is some controversy you can look it up if you're interested but calling his um his roots into you know question um you know people questioning that he may not be in fact indigenous so you know that's definitely something you can kind of look into yourself but um joseph boyden is famous for a book called three day road and And just an interesting little thing that I came across about a week ago was a story related to this. So this story, Three Day Road, is about from just, I haven't read the book, but I've read a different story about a sniper in World War I named Francis Paganagabo. And he was nicknamed Peggy. And he has more kills than any sniper in North America.Track 3:[1:13:44] And his story is relatively unknown. And it's a really fascinating story. And anyways, I was reading a short story about that last week and then made this discovery about the connection to Joseph Boyden. Anyways, I highly encourage you to check out a story called Peggy. There's actually a podcast too by CBC called This Place. which is 150 years of Canadian history told by indigenous voices. And the episode on Peggy is incredible.Track 5:[1:14:19] The line Canada, we should have never called Canada. Um, I thought was pretty bold as well to put out there as you guys all had been mentioning, you know, obviously when he had addressed the crowd, you know, at several of the shows and, and several of his interviews. So I think that's, uh, bold, but expected. So I, I, uh, I think we all appreciate that. He would, would, go out there to this level.Track 3:[1:14:51] Yeah there's definitely a call back to that that statement in the last show that he made to the prime minister and i always um really admired that and, i always wondered what it would be like if an american artist did the same thing, you know like a high profile of bruce springsteen or someone went out and said something like that just the absolute division that would that would ensue um yeah yeah oh.Track 5:[1:15:18] Yeah I was going to say the dick and chicks are a good example.Track 3:[1:15:22] Of it.Track 4:[1:15:22] Happening.Track 5:[1:15:23] So but yeah.Track 4:[1:15:27] Or the opposite of that lady antebellum who's then sued the person that they stole their name from well fellas.Track 2:[1:15:36] It's time to ask the question will you be keeping this record in your rotation.Track 4:[1:15:44] I'm going to say not all the time And it's got nothing to do with the music. It's the subject. It's the heaviness of it. It's I don't want to, I don't want to be down. Um, there are some songs on this, on this record that are frigging awesome. They're all, they're all very good, but you know, there's some songs that certainly fit into the hip like catalog.Track 2:[1:16:07] Sure. And you can add them to your mixtape, right?Track 4:[1:16:10] Exactly. And that's probably how I'll consume them. Um, but this is going to be something that I listened to once every couple of years, maybe.Track 5:[1:16:19] Yeah, it's a commitment. I was just going to say it's a commitment. So I would answer very similarly to what Justin said. Even for this particular purpose of this podcast, it was heavy listening every time, every time you went through it. And so definitely some tunes I want to keep hearing regularly, but it's not something that I would. All i have on regular rotation like like i would would some of the others that that have definitely been fantastic in my opinion i.Track 3:[1:16:58] Agree with you guys i i definitely will come back to this album, um considering i gave it you know it took me six and a half years just to give it a first listen i'm definitely not going to wait that long um but i think i'll just have to be in the right frame of mind to put it on but i absolutely will i really do love it in fact coming up with an mvp track for this is definitely the hardest decision i've had to make i was hoping we were going to do one last week and one this week but so i'm it's going to be a last uh last second decision i was.Track 4:[1:17:31] Hoping jd would forget the question this time.Track 2:[1:17:33] I've got it written down so i don't forget my My memory is so piss poor.Track 3:[1:17:39] Right in on your hand.Track 2:[1:17:40] I call it a format sheet, but for real, it's cheating. Craig, we're going to stick with you. And we're going to go to MVP track.Track 3:[1:17:48] I want to know what they say first. So to clarify, is this my absolute favorite track or is this the track that I want to put onto a mixtape?Track 2:[1:18:00] It can be, that can be your interpretation. It can, it's the most valuable player. It's the, you know.Track 3:[1:18:07] So I had so many I mean my first instinct was a natural but I think I'm going to have to go with Snowflake it's.Track 2:[1:18:17] So good it.Track 3:[1:18:18] Is such a powerful song to me and I love the chorus I love the way again that big reverb sound and it's just a really gorgeous song and takes me you know visually takes me somewhere.Track 2:[1:18:36] We could definitely overuse the word gorgeous on this record because there's so much gorgeosity on it, you know?Track 4:[1:18:45] Nice.Track 5:[1:18:46] There is that.Track 2:[1:18:48] Right?Track 5:[1:18:49] There is that.Track 2:[1:18:50] Kirk.Track 5:[1:18:51] Yeah. MVP? Thinking about us, man.Track 3:[1:18:54] Good call.Track 5:[1:18:55] That tune, just thinking about us. It's thinking about us. That's all I need to say.Track 2:[1:19:01] You didn't have to hesitate at all. Wow.Track 5:[1:19:04] No.Track 2:[1:19:06] Justin, how are you going to react to the question? Craig was very concerned and didn't want to say anything. Kirk was very resolute and just put a flag in her. And Justin, where are you on this one? I'm giving you some time to think, so it's not really fair.Track 4:[1:19:25] Well, I don't need time to think. I just don't have an answer. I've been thinking about this since the first listen because I knew that this was coming. Um i will i i do have an answer um but i'll tell you the pics that i had wolf's home because it makes me think of my dad bedtime because of just the connection with my daughter and when this song or when this record came out um i love introduce yourself for the reasons that we talked about it's it's a great song about your buddy and and you know get me out of another jam please you know There was some interview that Gord did that he told Billy Ray. He goes, something happened with a guitar. And he goes, I will literally blow you if you fix this. I love Spoon, that song Spoon, because I really like the band. But I also like the story of going to the show with a kid. um but i'm gonna go with love over money because that's why we're all here in the first place yeah right good job justin yeah thank.Track 2:[1:20:37] You what bow you put in it love.Track 4:[1:20:39] It yeah yeah.Track 2:[1:20:42] And that brings us to the end of Introduce Yourself. Just a, you know, what a, I'm going to use the word again, what a gorgeous piece of work. And so memorable and so thoughtful. And, you know, this is the last stuff he recorded. It's really, really quite heavy. And we're sorry if we brought you down a little bit with these last two episodes, um but trust us we're celebrating this music we're not mourning we are celebrating and.Track 3:[1:21:23] Jd i want to thank you one more time for bringing me on board for this project because this is the album that i told you right from the start has been sitting on my shelf and i needed i wanted to listen to it. It's been staring at me for years and I just couldn't do it. And I think maybe just having, you know, you guys along with the ride makes it, you know, easier to do.Track 2:[1:21:50] Thank you very much. Thank you for doing it.Track 4:[1:21:53] Yeah. I a hundred percent. Thank you. I, I didn't know about any other records, um, um that gourd had done um but i knew about this one and i was choosing to not listen to it you know i i wanted nothing to do with it um and i gotta be honest with you i'm glad it's over i'm glad it's behind us um i listened to this this album in its entirety probably 25 to 30 times um it's.Track 2:[1:22:22] A lot yeah.Track 4:[1:22:23] It's a lot and the last week or so um leading up to recording this i stopped listening completely um i had to stop it was just killing me and i started listening to um some of the older hip stuff and i started listening to some sadie stuff and i listened to conquering sun quite a bit um but i had to get away from the heaviness and go back to being a fan, because this was a hard one.Track 2:[1:22:57] Completely agree well on behalf of uh craig and justin and kirk it's me jd and we're saying goodbye for another week we'll be back we've just got a couple episodes left fellas we've got away is mine and we've got luster parfait and then we've got the finale and i'm getting excited about yeah.Track 4:[1:23:21] Hell yeah oh yeah yeah and you know it's gonna.Track 2:[1:23:26] Be a good time.Track 4:[1:23:27] I got it you know we got to give a shout out to our our social media following you guys are really starting to step up and kick ass lately and it's really re-energized all of us a lot um we're our group chat has been on fire the last several days as we record this because we're just like did you see this one did you see the message there did you see the email oh my god you know it's yeah we're obsessing over the rankings and it's it's great it's fun it's a lot of fun well.Track 5:[1:23:52] So it was so crazy too to get some like some you know some of the official accounts of these people that we were talking about are.Track 4:[1:24:01] Right are.Track 5:[1:24:02] Sharing some of the you know the links and stuff to some of these episodes and and uh we're getting just some great amazing comments you know through the right you guys mentioned social media you know instagram facebook and uh just i don't think any of us had that on our bingo cards when we woke up in the morning, you know?Track 2:[1:24:22] I didn't.Track 4:[1:24:27] Right. And the Sadies messaged you back today, Craig. That's cool.Track 2:[1:24:33] Holy shit.Track 4:[1:24:34] And JD's putting in the legwork tenfold over what we're doing.Track 2:[1:24:38] Stop.Track 4:[1:24:39] He's listening. He's throwing everything together and doing interviews and making all this happen. I mean, I don't know if any of us are getting rich off this.Track 2:[1:24:48] Oh, not fucking me.Track 4:[1:24:50] You know, JD is certainly reaping the benefits of, I think a lot of people are appreciating what you're doing and I know we are.Track 5:[1:24:57] Yeah, absolutely.Track 2:[1:24:59] It's a group effort, guys. It's a group effort, man. All right, folks. Pick up your shit.Track 1:[1:25:07] Thanks for listening to Discovering Downey. To find out more about the show and its host, visit DiscoveringDowney.com. You can email us at discoveringdowney at gmail.com. And hey, we're social. 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This week the gang gets together to discuss the rest of Inroduce Yerself.Transcript:Track 1:[0:00] Hey, it's Justin. You know and love us on the Discovering Downey podcast, right? So come hang out with us in person for the finale. Join us for Long Slice Brewing presents a celebration of Gord Downey at The Rec Room in downtown Toronto on Friday, July 19th. Craig is coming from Vancouver, Kirk is coming from LA, I'm driving from Vermont, and JD's like walking down the street or wherever he lives in Toronto. Tickets are available now on our website at discovererndowney.com, and when you get your tickets, that means you can come Come hang out with us and our very special guest, Patrick Downey, and you can bid on some incredibly cool silent auction items, all while jamming along with tragically hip cover band The Almost Hip, and most importantly, helping us raise money for the Gord Downey Fund for Brain Cancer Research. Crack open a long slice, put on some Gord tunes, take a journey with us on discovering Downey, and then crack open another long slice on July 19th and hang out with us in the six. I always wanted to sound cool and say that. For more information, follow us on all the socials and visit DiscoveringDowny.com. Christmas Day for Edgar. My dad always used to say just after the presents, well, it's as far away now as it will ever be. I'm thinking about that as the stewardess cracks the public address system. For those sitting in economy, there's no music for you today.Track 1:[1:21] Welcome, music lovers. Long Slice Brewery presents. Discovering Downey.Track 2:[1:31] Hey, it's JD here and welcome to Discovering Downey, an 11-part project with a focus on the music and poetry of Mr. Gord Downey. The late frontman of the Tragically Hip gave to the world an extensive solo discography on top of the hip's vocal local acrobats that wowed us for years. So far, he's released eight records in total, three of them posthumously. Now listen, you might be the biggest fan of the hip out there, but have you really listened to these solo records? Because I'm an inquisitive podcaster, I enlisted my friends, Craig, Justin, and Kirk, giant fans of the hip in their own right, to discover Downey with me, JD, as their host. Every week, we're going to get together and listen to one of Gord's records, working in chronological order. We discuss and dissect the album, the production, the lyrics, and we break it down song by song. This week we're going to be talking about the back half well plus two songs from the front half of introduce yourself justin my friend how are you doing on this gray fucking oh is it gray there toronto oh oh it's terrible all day maybe because i was wearing sunglasses wait a minute.Track 4:[2:55] It is it was the opposite of that here in in beautiful vermont today it's it was a beautiful day i I think it's going to be great for the rest of the week, though. So whatever you're getting today, we'll get tomorrow.Track 1:[3:05] Oh, that's weather with Justin. We'll be back with Craig and Traffic. Remember, news on the fives.Track 2:[3:12] Where in the world is Kirk from Fuckachino? How's it going, man?Track 5:[3:22] I am in Washington, D.C. Right now for work in a hotel room. so having some technical difficulties so my apologies but things are good and uh excited to continue the conversation greg.Track 2:[3:41] What say you things.Track 3:[3:44] Are going well a little uh a little tired after a night out uh watching the sadies last night so they played a small venue downtown and got to see the boys rock out and um yeah it was it was a pretty awesome show a big banner of Dallas in the background and yeah, some touching moments, but mostly they, they just rocked.Track 2:[4:03] I haven't been to a live show in a little while now.Track 4:[4:06] Super cool.Track 2:[4:12] All right, fellas, before we get into the music, I want to talk to you about an email that I got from an organization called Lake Fever Wilderness Company. Basically, the gist of this email is that the Lake Fever Wilderness Company has submitted all the paperwork required to City Hall to get At Riverdale Park East, here in Toronto, mere footsteps from my home, renamed Gord Downie Park. I saw an article on BlogTO, and then they also gave us a couple other links to stories. But I'm hoping that our little podcast here, that people who listen to it will hear this, and you know we can build some awareness around this somehow anything you want to say about this or comment about this are you jealous and ate in your town yes.Track 4:[5:17] That sounds like a great cause and um for what it's worth i love the song lake fever so.Track 2:[5:25] Right Right?Track 4:[5:26] Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that's a, that's whatever we can do to help, man. That sounds great.Track 5:[5:31] Sounds very cool.Track 3:[5:32] I'm jealous. We, who do we get? Brian Adams Avenue.Track 2:[5:39] Probably already have it. Don't you?Track 3:[5:41] I don't know. I don't know. Maybe in England.Track 2:[5:45] Really? There's not a. Right mind-blowing to me one of the top songs of all time in terms of played, everything i do i do for you right, yeah but this is not a brian adams podcast this is a podcast called discovering downy and let's pick it up where we left off last time that puts us on side two of the first record With the very candid, my first self.Track 5:[6:47] I mean, just explains it like I remember it. And yeah. could feel all of those crazy, stupid emotions and, uh, could just totally wrap my head around and embrace, you know, the message that he was writing, you know, a piano forward tune again. You know, I think we talked about that the last one, uh, I love the vocal and the background that starts coming in uh you know echoing essentially the line um and then the last line is just classic so yeah uh it's a it's a brilliant tune in my assessment.Track 3:[7:28] Yeah, what I liked about it is that it really instantly just takes you to a place in your own life, whether the story is one you connect with or not, it takes you back to, you know, when you were in your teens or whatever. And that's what I appreciated about this song. Another thing before the echoing vocal you're talking about there's i just noticed today for the first time very very faintly in the opposite channel is something that sounds like a, a meowing cat i think it's a person but it's almost this little it's so subtle it's almost like one of those hearing tests you get where there's a little beep and you're like did i hear that but i listened a second time and there's something that comes in about 30 seconds before for the more noticeable vocal on the other side so i.Track 4:[8:19] Did not on that view yeah i listened to it today too actually and.Track 3:[8:24] Um i.Track 4:[8:26] Mean this this girl sounds cool as hell you know like he says in the song six years older so it's definitely you know she's his girlfriend but he may not be her boyfriend from what i'm picking up on you know like and and i certainly related to the you.Track 3:[8:41] Told me off and could she be responsible for uh hooking gourd on reading because he wanted to be like her.Track 4:[8:50] Oh yeah yeah yeah yeah interesting thought yeah yeah yeah i don't know again like i did feel a little awkward listening to this song let's.Track 2:[9:02] Move to the next track on the record you're ashore.Track 3:[9:05] Well this is probably the song i have the least to say about it's maybe the least memorable for me I think probably it's the type of song that if it's about you it's probably a maybe a bit of an inside joke or I'm not really sure what the you know what it's about who it's about, I appreciated the gentleness in his voice. I was glad that it was the length that it was because it was not my favorite. What did you guys think?Track 5:[9:38] I loved it me too i uh i i uh i mean it's the shortest song on the album it's a minute 30 you know the lyrics are simple it's you know essentially you're sure you're sure repeated and a few little straight lines but the brilliant in the very beginning is you know he's strumming and then it's the let flow it down i believe is what he says and uh yeah it's um Um, I think especially amongst this body of work amongst this album, like, you know, there's a lot of, there's a lot of piano, there's a lot of synths, there's even some beats and things of that nature. And it was kind of nice to just get a little short acoustic ditty in my opinion. But, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm a sucker for that. That's, uh, just like, just like back in the eighties, right? Every metal band had its little ballad. so uh i i love the ballads so.Track 4:[10:38] Yeah i don't know who it's about but it's an earworm i find myself humming the tune uh quite often and there's only a few words in the song so it's not like, you know like you said craig the lyrics aren't nothing about it is really memorable but it is it does get into your brain and it's an easy little like you could just walk through the the park and just sing that all day. But yeah, I mean, it's a minute 30 and that's about right.Track 2:[11:07] Yeah, that's about right. It's interesting you say that you couldn't determine who that's about, because I, so far, have really sucked at that game, listening to the first record. So, as we go into the second record, Gord lobs a softball at me, and even I know that this next track, Love Over Money, is about the fucking Tragically Hip.Track 4:[11:37] Damn right it is.Track 2:[11:39] Yeah who wants to go first here kirk.Track 5:[11:42] Yeah i'll go first um yeah i i you know uh i would say jd i've had a similar you know a similar experience in in trying i have little parentheses in my notes of who i think the note might be or the song might be too and i you know i can't even get specifics i just write like brother you know question mark things of that nature so this one was obvious what i loved about it as well and and i think i might have mentioned it on on the last of the first the first album it's such a pop it's like a synth pop tune is what i have and this is gonna sound weird but for whatever reason when i hear the song i think of that snl skit where you've You've got like Jimmy Fallon and they're all playing like they're doing that little, you know, they do the little dance.Track 2:[12:36] Oh, right, right, right.Track 5:[12:37] You know, when I heard this song, I, by the second time, I just, I couldn't get that shit out of my brain. So, but just beautiful lyrics talking about the band. So direct and so loving and so to the point. To me, an absolute, brilliant Gord Downie song. I mean, you know, just wonderful, wonderful song.Track 3:[13:06] The moment he said the line, we played to no one, and then no one plus one, I knew it was about the hip. Because I remember in 1996, a band I played in, we went across Canada two times that year, self-booked tours. And we ended up in Thunder Bay on one of the tours.Track 3:[13:24] And we played in a tiny club called crocs and rolls which is sort of like a legendary club in in thunder bay a guy named frank lefredo was the booker there who was kind of like a legend, in uh in music across canada and anyway frank um the first night we we played and we didn't draw much of a crowd and he said you know don't worry guys the you know first time the tragedy hit played here they played to to no one and then they played a second night and they got a couple more and the next night and you know they played i think three nights in a row on an early tour, and so that made us feel a little better and he and he um he felt bad about the the draw so when we came back um he found us a gig at another venue um for the for the drive back so that's the the memory that that comes up for me um and also the other thing the queen's jubilee uh so the reference to the um to the playing to the the deafening the husband of the queen um that would be that that show which i looked up and uh and yeah they played poets and interesting enough in that version of poets he changes the lyrics he censors himself a little bit i noticed so for the queen he he He changed bare-breasted to bare-chested, and there was one other change I can't recall.Track 4:[14:44] Yeah, it was a great performance. I remember seeing that. I wish that I had looked it up just to bring the memory of it back, but that line stuck out to me. I remember seeing that performance.Track 3:[14:57] And he used the laminar flow line as well in that version of Poets.Track 4:[15:01] Oh, that I didn't remember.Track 2:[15:04] Wow.Track 3:[15:05] Which ended up in Coke Machine Glow on Every Irrelevance.Track 4:[15:11] Yeah. Obviously, the bond between those five guys is unbreakable, and this song is funny, too. I laughed at this song the first time that I heard it and heard the lyrics. We missed death and marriage and a birth. I did notice the words hotel worth, which is kind of a preview to an upcoming thing. There's a song that actually got a lot of airplay here locally a few years ago. But yeah, yep, it did. Yep, it was on the radio two or three times a day for a couple months here.Track 3:[15:47] The love over money line um made me also think about the way that they split their royalties and i'm not sure if if it was like a 20 all the way around that would be my guess but but often the the lyricist will take 50 and then the people who wrote the music take the other 50 so you know maybe it's not that simple but the fact that all five of them were as far as i know listed on all all the all the credits sort of um you know over their career that's something that drives so many bands apart is that fight over you know well i wrote this i wrote this and like even in the band i spoke about a while ago like we had some really crazy discussions around royalties and who should get what and you know in my mind i've always been a equal share guy i don't care if you're the drummer if you're you know you wrote your part that's just you know then again i've not not like i'm making a ton of a ton of money in music or anything but but um it was nice to to see them stick together so long and the same five guys like what other band can you think of that released that many albums with the same lineup it's got to be a very very.Track 2:[17:02] Very short list.Track 3:[17:03] Like there may be some three pieces i mean but a five piece band think of all the potential for conflict and for you know one guy leaving it like no one there's some sleuthing.Track 2:[17:17] Some sonic sleuthing for you listeners out there send us an email at discovering downy at gmail.com with bands that have a lineup up that was consistent with at least 15 records released? Are there any? Is there a database that you could just plug that into and get it from?Track 3:[17:40] No idea. I mean, Aerosmith would be close, but they had that lineup change in the mid-career.Track 2:[17:49] Right.Track 3:[17:51] For one album anyways.Track 2:[17:53] Joe Perry left, right? Joe Perry and Brad Whitford.Track 3:[17:55] Yeah.Track 2:[17:57] Yeah, yeah. Okay, so the next track is You, Me, and the Bees. Do I go two for two here when I say this is an ode to the Boston Bruins? Yeah. And its ability to connect with your family, particularly in this case to Gord's brother, Patrick.Track 3:[21:03] That sounds about right to me.Track 2:[21:04] Take us away.Track 3:[21:06] Took me right to my childhood as well. And a good friend of mine, so my friend Blair and I, we played a game called hall hockey. Hockey's in my parents basement with you know those fisher price um bowling sets we take take one of the pins and a ball and we would just hit the ball back and forth and if you hit the wall you score and we had this ongoing game every time he came over and we would you know do the play by play and we were both oilers fans so you weren't allowed to be the oilers you had to choose another team and i'll never forget the quebec nordique if you were the nordique and you you know you'd be Stastny and then you pass over to to you know Michelle Goulet and as soon as Michelle Goulet, got the puck you know you're getting a shot in the balls every single time I don't know what it was but and um yeah and then Blair became a little bigger than me and started winning every single game and then we yeah we aged out of that game but anyways that's where it took me yeah what What about you guys?Track 4:[22:06] Oh man, this was me and my old man playing pond hockey. Yeah, I loved the song and I loved I could tell right away that the percussion was a hockey stick scraping on the ground. I loved it. And you know, again, I laughed in this song several times and the line about the trading of George Thornton and you know, it's, I don't know, like Like, I'm so excited to get to meet Patrick Downey because it sounds like these guys just had fun the whole time. This song is that relationship. And, you know, and as a Habs fan, I freaking hate the Bruins, but I get it. You know, I totally get it. And, yeah, this is just a really cool song about your brother. You know, it's fun.Track 5:[22:57] Yeah, I loved the song. And I loved, I could tell right away that the percussion was a hockey stick scraping on the ground. I loved it. You know, again, I laughed in this song several times and the line about the trading of George Thornton. And, you know, it's, I don't know, like, I'm so excited to get to meet Patrick Downey because it sounds like these guys just had fun the whole time, you know, and the song is that.Track 4:[23:30] I, um, I really liked how Gord's voice was very staccato and this, um, he was really kind of a minimalist with, you know, he didn't drag any of the, any of the, the lines out the Bruins. You know, like just very on the beat and kind of not screwing around. Or maybe this is screwing around for him, I guess. But, you know, he turned the word Bruins into Bruins, just one syllable. And I don't know, it felt like a different approach lyrically or sonically, I guess.Track 3:[24:02] Yeah, that phrasing really matched the style of the song too. That sort of, like the percussion that Kirk was talking about. It just, yeah, had that staccato feel.Track 5:[24:11] The phrasing, thanks for bringing that up, Craig. I had just recently watched the Juno Award tribute, Dallas Green and Sarah Harmer and Kevin Hearn, I believe it was, and I believe it was the Junos. And gore you guys both talked mentioned like the way he phrases like the way he takes his lyrics and will you know enunciate them to fit into the line it is like no one else right and then when you watch this tribute and you see her singing introduce yourself and trying to you know keep the cadence that that that gourd has i guess that's a good way to describe it there's a uh, a unique cadence to it so i i was blown away by that if you guys haven't seen it you you must watch it and then when they go into bob cajun and the harmonies are just incredible but like goosebumps you know it's so incredible and then especially when she comes in with that harmony But to hear her do the phrasing was wonderful as well, because that has to be difficult.Track 2:[25:25] Yeah, it's what we love about him, right? His ability to twist and turn and put round pegs into square holes or square pegs into round holes probably is more difficult, in fact. Snowflake has a haunting piano line that works well with Gord's almost pastime. What do you think of Snowflakes.Track 5:[25:46] Kirk? Yeah, Melancholy was my note. Again, the piano is used heavily throughout this whole album, but on this song in particular. My guess at who it is to is just a girlfriend is all I wrote. Um but uh the the other note that i wrote was the the woman leaned in to say goodbye but i don't remember his name and uh just the um where is gourd going with that you know i i uh i i wondered i wrote that down as a note so um but just again uh fully emotional song.Track 3:[26:34] Yeah i wondered if that was almost like a reference to maybe his fading memory yeah the oh yeah i was a bit puzzled by that too craig yeah it was a very eerie song and i really loved it i love the um the jangling sounds gave it like a really eerie feeling like you're in a i don't know like a haunted ballroom of some ancient house like i just picture this as a movie when I'm listening to it the the, vocal delivery makes me wonder if it was one of the later tracks that he he did and i really love the chorus and the the reverb they put on like just like in a natural there is a ton of reverb, like way too much reverb but it works really well it's so powerful when they do it on this album not something i would normally like um yeah his voice is is gorgeous in the song um a lot of feeling to the piano playing as well by by kevin um yeah and again i had a note about phrasing when he says my name and when he says goodbye it's kind of rushed and it made me wonder if it was just a lack of time just you know doing it in one take and not worrying too much about yeah about how it came off um but again that's what we love about you too yeah yeah.Track 5:[27:58] You i mean craig you sing when you play takes a lot of energy um so that's that's one thing that i wondered throughout this this album in particular when like if you just say you're looking at it on your phone and you're listening and you bring up the lyrics and you're you're you're questioning some of the enunciations i guess of some of the words but it's that's gourd and that's uh you know Him making it work for that particular song. And sometimes different than what the lyrics are written as. I don't know if that's just typo type stuff or if that's on purpose. this.Track 4:[28:37] So I actually, I don't know, my, my thought on this was that maybe this was, um, something that he was remembering from his childhood and maybe, um, with a, an older sibling or, a relative or somebody, you know, that he knew well. And, um, the thing that stood out to me.Track 4:[29:00] More was the, his recollection of the lake and, um, of the house and describing everything about the scene and that this woman is somebody, an acquaintance of whoever he's walking down the road with, and they're going to see her. Um, cause there's the line, she told me to go explore the quiet rooms. Uh, it like, so this is all right, kid, go check out the house. We got stuff to talk about you know um and i actually um somehow connected this to the you know affluent woman in the video for it's a good life if you don't weaken um my my head kind of went to that music video and i don't don't know why or where that happened but um it just felt to me like it that type of house and that type of, of meeting. And, you know, and then at the end of that video, Gord leans down and whisper something into her ear and, and then, then they walk out. I don't, I don't really know why that's where I went, but, um, it's sort of a mishmash of two different things. Yeah.Track 4:[30:13] So like there's the song that we'll get to called the lake. When I first heard that, I thought that was about the lake, But now I think this song might be about the lake. I don't know.Track 5:[30:23] Just the fact that when he writes his lyrics, like, yeah, he, it's inspired by something, but it may even have a different meaning than what it was inspired by for him. And I don't think he really intends for the listening audience to do anything other than interpret it for their own selves or application. So, um, you know, I, you just, I never got the feeling like he'd be offended by that.Track 2:[30:49] Yeah, I can't agree with you more. Again, that's one of these great things about this performer that we all love. We can get behind that. The next song is called A Better End, and it makes me sad. Lonesome for Gord, I suppose. How does it make you feel, Justin?Track 4:[31:17] Yeah, the same. I mean, it sounds a lot like the Man Machine Poem album. There's some melancholy in a lot of those songs. And this album came together in a different context, but it's musically a lot similar to or very similar to a lot of the songs on there. And there are connections with the lyrics, the line, for treasure or worse. That's in, is that in Man? or machine, one of the others. You know, where God walks with persons, even the may be doomed, that line crushes me every time I hear it.Track 2:[32:00] Repeat it?Track 4:[32:02] Where God walks with persons, even the may be doomed. And, you know, there's an end to that sentence, right? There's a finality in that one. And I don't know. I don't know who it's about. The song is called A Better End, but he says bitter. Um you know and that only at the very end of the song does it say the better end um so maybe there's some letting go you know i i i don't know yeah.Track 5:[32:37] I i uh i have a description written as dark melancholy but then my final note was a plea and that to me as i think you had mentioned, Craig, you know, maybe it was to a family member. And I kind of felt like it was to all family members and all of his like close friends, like, this is the letter, like, this is it. And so I just wrote a plea, question mark. And the beat, I think we talked about this before, you know it's it had the clock feeling to me throughout um and then like you had mentioned justin uh you know you you the title's a better end the the lyric that he uses is stay to the bitter end but it stayed in the bitter end and uh uh just uh, He's put out so much energy at this point, you know, because it is when they've recorded this, you know, it's 20, 2017. They've done the they've done the. The tours, he's done the secret path stuff like he knows what's coming, he knows the bitter end and he gave everything he could. And this is like his like, hey, somebody give me some energy for, you know, here for a better end.Track 3:[34:04] Yeah, I wondered if this was a close family member maybe saying to stay with me until the bitter end. Really, yeah, this was an emotional song, but it's also the type of song that's going to keep bringing me back to this album. I love this song. i found that again another powerful chorus with that big reverb sound and the way he belts out songs like this and snowflake and uh in the choruses is a real strength of this album nancy and yeah just a very powerful um i i had a note i would be interested to hear a heavy version of the song like a full band version um yeah but yeah haunting piano it gave me um secret path vibes it felt very much like musically could have been on secret path he.Track 4:[35:02] He hits a lot of different spots um um in his range too he sings very deeply and then he sings very high um there's There's a lot of, you know, he's probably in three octaves or maybe four during the song. Probably three.Track 2:[35:22] Yeah. So when I hear this song, I think of it, I think of an LP, like an old LP, like a 72, you know, RPM record. And I picture it being played on my grandparents' couch-sized hi-fi. It just sounds, it sounds old. It sounds authentic.Track 5:[35:50] Authentic it sounds like a needle you know the indie rock on the vinyl right it.Track 2:[35:56] Sounds like which sorry.Track 5:[35:57] It sounds like the needle on the vinyl it's just yeah it's you you and then you got that the dining you know the the dining room or whatever recording that's going on in the background and then and then it just sounds like they have the actual, you know the the needle and the vinyl that that that that static sound going it's it's brilliant it's a little soft guitar it's it's a sweet song it really is it's a sweet song yeah.Track 3:[36:28] And the way he sings it too it's almost like a bit of a like a shaky vocal like a bit of a warble to his voice which maybe it was actually maybe they added an effect to make to give it that vinyl quality to it. But I think maybe it's just his, I think it's just his performance. And when I say shaky, I mean, in a deliberate way, I talked last week about how I can't think of any singer who has as many qualities to his voice as Gord and he does it better than anyone. Yeah. Yeah.Track 2:[37:09] But then it did go away. You know, sort of, right? Yeah.Track 3:[37:17] When he wanted it to, yeah. He just gained so much control over his voice. He had power from early on, but then he developed different subtleties. And when he gets into an album like Secret Path, and he's singing sort of in character, he can just go into all these different places depending on the emotion of the song. And another note about Nancy is, first of all, I'm guessing it's about a sister. I didn't actually look up the names of his sisters, but that's just my guess. I liked how it talked about the beginning, the middle, and the end. And Gord forever being the storyteller. He's always thinking in terms of story. Just a little nugget I picked up. And the conversation at the beginning too when they're just starting to hit record he's talking about his cuff link.Track 4:[38:16] It's a good one.Track 2:[38:17] It is. It's really good. And I think on first listen, it would have been bottom third for me. And now it's firmly somewhere in the middle third. Like, it has a crack top third for me. But, you know, it's moved up for sure.Track 4:[38:36] Yeah.Track 3:[38:37] I feel like this album gets better as it goes on. I actually prefer the second half.Track 5:[38:42] That's fair.Track 3:[38:43] Um i think at first i really enjoyed the first half more maybe because i was really preparing for that first half um for our pod but i i love the the second half yeah i.Track 4:[38:57] Actually very much agree with that i think for me it starts to really get good at you're ashore and like i said it's it's a kind of a forgettable song but the the tone sort of changes isn't that wild yeah well.Track 2:[39:11] We are at the last song of the first side the remarkably upbeat think my about us.Track 5:[41:21] This is brilliant. This song is brilliant for me from the first listen to the critical listens in the middle to listening again just recently before this. And just the way it made me feel, the swagger it had, the message it had, um that just incredible descending piano line um it it was uh it it it's up there for me it's really really really up there i love love this tune i.Track 3:[42:03] Agree this is a masterful song really it's just it comes at a place on the album.Track 3:[42:11] Where you really need something that's a little, kind of cute is the word i'll use and you've got that little piano melody that almost just sounds like a finger exercise you would do if you're learning how to play piano and some really cool sounds on the synth or maybe it's a theremin but i'm pretty sure it's a synth, and i also had a note that the the drums enter in an interesting way the bass and drums come in and just maybe a spot you're not quite ready for and yeah just just like a playful song that i really enjoy just super catchy i i wish the world could hear this music like i wish more people, would give this a chance because it should be words were i mean maybe this is my thesis for the end of this whole thing but gourd's work should be appreciated like like josh even said like they're both up they're both equal they're both amazing yeah.Track 4:[43:09] I had the word super catchy exactly the same in my in my notes and i really don't have a lot of other notes about this song but i i can't stop listening to it i know that um it's a yeah it's a it's a and you're right craig it came at the right time um in the sequencing um it was needed in this spot.Track 3:[43:31] It's a little heavy before that.Track 2:[43:32] Right?Track 3:[43:33] Yeah, and it's going to get heavy again. Yep, that's right. Really heavy.Track 2:[43:37] I learned a really valuable... I gained access to some valuable experience today, when I was preparing for this recording, because it's the first time that I've flipped the record over, and had to tackle the final five songs that we ever get to hear from Gord Downie, or so we thought at the time. You know, like, we didn't know there was going to be posthumous releases.Track 5:[44:17] Right.Track 2:[44:19] We knew he wrote this right before he passed, So either way, you know, it's fucking heavy. Craig, when you think of The Road, do you think of that as heavy?Track 5:[44:35] Yes.Track 3:[44:36] Wow, The Road, this song destroys me. Again, there's a bit of a theme on the album in a few songs about The Road, about missing out on life events. Yes. On, you know, the sacrifice. Of you know being a touring musician um you know a dream that i had when i was young and it didn't work out and you know i'm you know thankful for the life i have um and you know i'm sure gourd was as well but man like it had to be there had to be some really tough times being out away from your family all the time and missing things and um anyways this song is so good and the um the thing i want to say about this is when the drums come in there's no hi-hat it's just sort of kick and snare and that space really sets the the mood for this song um you know along with you know the piano of course um and there's one line i want to point out the machines are somewhat suitable now um you know is that is that the hospital machines is it is it a reference to man machine poem um i'm not sure but but this song like.Track 3:[46:06] Depresses me almost as much as the the book the road which destroyed me when i was um a young parent uh you know or not you know i wasn't young but my my son was young and if you you know um cormac mccarthy's the road it is absolutely devastating it is the a book that took me well i've never gotten over it really and the movie as well i watched the movie and it took me about six months to watch the movie i had to watch it like a little bit at a time when i was in the right headspace and it just it is if you haven't read it's maybe don't but it's incredible um but this this yeah if you name something the road it's probably going to destroy me well.Track 4:[46:51] So I had a bit of an awakening about three years ago when in May of 2021, my wife had something that she had to do at work late at night or 8 o'clock, 9 o'clock, whatever. And she couldn't be home to make dinner. And it was like a Tuesday or something. I don't know. And she messaged me during the day and said, you need to be home and make Evelyn dinner tonight. night. Evelyn's our daughter. And at the time she was, uh, almost four and I got home and I realized, holy shit, I've never made dinner for my daughter before. Um, I was working 80 hours a week and I was missing everything. And my wife had an Instagram account for our daughter. And that was the only way that I was keeping up. I lived in the same house, but I wasn't in the same family. You know what I mean? And yeah, the song brings all that back and made a big life change that very night. I sent a long message to my boss and said, we got to talk tomorrow, but I'm going to get it all out right now. Cause if I didn't say it now, I'm not going to say it. And I told him I'm done at the end of the year. I've I'll stick with you for my commitment through this year, but but I'd put 10 years into my job and missed everything in that 10 years. And, um.Track 4:[48:16] Give Gord another three decades on top of that. Um, I don't know who the song's about and I guess it doesn't matter, but, um, but obviously it matters, but, um, yeah, I, I really identified with the missing everything and even going back to the song about, um, uh, what is it? Love over money, um, about the band, you know, we missed funerals and births and all this stuff. And yeah, that's me. I've been there, man. I've, I still, to some degree, I'm there a little bit, but, um, yeah, I missed my daughter's first four years of her life.Track 5:[48:54] Everyone knows in this group here, I'm on the road all the time. I'm talking to you from a hotel room in, in Washington, DC. And, um, and so, I mean, Justin, I think this is actually a letter to the road and a letter to everyone that he's been on the road with, including his wife, his part, you know, his, his kids, his bandmates. It's, it's that, you know, that's that life you choose, you know, whether it's a traveling musician, whether it's a a traveling salesman, whether it's a, you know, a producer. Um, and, and, and it's, uh, it's tough, but when you're not on the road, if you are a road person, it's your, your, you know, jittery, you're nervous, but how do you, how do you give to your family and to yourself and to your job and to your art? And, uh, he wouldn't have been able to do that without the road. So but you know it's a blessing and a curse um i we mentioned this about another song here and this one i wrote was also a song that could have been on secret path was the note for me.Track 4:[50:17] Yeah yeah but musically yeah again.Track 5:[50:19] We there's not enough hours in the day right lads to uh just talk about the amazing insight and that we have it here you know to listen to to watch to read to just just beautiful.Track 4:[50:36] Well there's there's that point where you know you're you're young and and full of energy and you've got these huge goals and then you start to achieve them and then at the same time you have this other life going on behind the scenes that has always played second fiddle to that and then you realize at some point you're too deep into the pursuit to stop now but that this other life that was didn't even exist when you started uh has now taken the spot you know is number one on your on your pecking order and how the hell do you make that change without destroying everything that you've created you know yep.Track 5:[51:14] Oh you are the bird.Track 2:[51:18] Yeah it's uh it's a slow and lovely song right what do you think about it kirk to.Track 5:[51:28] Me this this was uh uh, uh, just a letter. It seemed like a letter to a sibling, right? You, you became the bird you, uh, and then it just, it made sense. And, uh, um, um.Track 5:[51:44] I, it, it starts getting heavy after a while, right? When you, when we break, I mean, we talked about it with the last week when we talked about the first one and how emotional it was and, you know, here we are, you know, however many songs in and you just, you stop. And like you said, you know, JD, it was like, these are the last five tunes and it's, it's, it's almost hard to embrace, um, and think about without just getting, you know, overwhelmed. I, I think it is, I think largely because of the love we have for, uh, you know, what, what, what Gord Downie has done solo and with the hip and, and in jazz as a human. So, um, but, uh, yeah, just, uh, you know, Another note was, again, I think I mentioned it earlier, just lyrics that are written different than what is being sung. And I didn't know if that was on purpose. I think I mentioned that. And I didn't know if it was something Gord was trying to do on purpose. Or it's probably nothing. It's probably just what was written and what was sung.Track 5:[53:04] You know, he probably had it written down as such and just like we do when you have a script in front of you, your brain has already chosen what the next word is going to be. So, anyway.Track 4:[53:15] I noticed that this shared a lot of similarities with Spoon from the first half where he talks about help being the only reason why we're here. You help others and the child in the song Spoon is, I guess, tasked with the same thing. I don't know if task is the right word, but this is a common thread throughout the album. And this lyrically shares a lot with that song.Track 3:[53:48] Yeah. I agree, Justin. That was my real only, my only real note on this song was that, that, you know, it's the only reason we're here. And that seems to be like, yeah, like if I had to break down this album into one message, that would be, I mean, other than like a goodbye and, uh, you know, uh, a lot, you know, a love letter to his close ones. Um, that is like the, yeah, the summation of this album. I also thought probably about A Child, the song, and also there's the line about he was the bird, he passed it down, you want to help people out. So, you know, he's referencing not only the person he's talking to, but someone, maybe another family member, a grandfather or someone who's passed down that quality that, he respects.Track 4:[54:35] There's one of my mentors. I kind of think of him as a father figure. His name is John Adams and he was a very bottom level race car driver around these parts. And, he and my father were about the same age and they were friends. And I started hanging out with John when I was 13 or 14 years old, trying to learn how to work on race cars. And there was one night he went off, he got pushed off the racetrack and he's, you know, this massive six foot six, 300 pound guy. And he comes barreling out of the car and climbs up to the top of the racetrack and gives a, gives the driver that, that wronged him the double bird. So he became the bird man that night. Um, that was his, that was his nickname. And so everybody calls him bird. And, you know, I thought, wouldn't that be silly if he passed his nickname down to me somehow, how you know because he doesn't all of his all of his kids are girls and i'm kind of like his sort of son um i don't think that's going to happen but i i know the song isn't made to laugh, but i laughed thinking about that that's.Track 2:[55:42] A nice memory though yeah.Track 4:[55:44] He's still with us he's still with us flipping people off all the time, yeah i.Track 5:[55:51] Love that the lake.Track 2:[58:56] Yeah, this one's a fucking tearjerker to me. So proceed with caution on this one. Justin?Track 4:[59:04] Yeah. I kind of mentioned it before that I thought that this song was about Lake Ontario, which has been such a constant theme throughout Gord's entire career with the hip and with the solo stuff. And there's so many references to the lake. Um but this song is not about the lake this song is is about his daughter willow i mean that's right at the end of the song uh i realized today you are lake ontario the love of my life you are willow and then he does this fantastic call and answer thing with his own you know backup vocals um saying willow over and over again and it's like wow this one this one is something um it's a it's a beautiful song um it's just gorgeous um and yes he does describe the lake or a lake um but all these same qualities could be about your child and man it's uh it's a crusher very.Track 5:[1:00:09] Astute observation mr justin that's uh i i think spot on um and as you mentioned you know it's obviously and and to compare the two is is that there's no disservice in that he loves them both dearly so um i loved how the keys on this made it feel like you were on the lake like you listen to the.Track 4:[1:00:37] Song and you feel like.Track 5:[1:00:39] You're floating in you know in a boat a canoe whatever on the lake and you hear the lake in that song. Um, absolutely amazing. Absolutely amazing.Track 4:[1:00:55] You know, I, I grew up on the water. Um, Lake Champlain is, they call it the sixth great lake. Um, and that's, I can see it out the window. Um, and my family had a camp on a little lake, uh, Hall's lake. And my wife grew up on a lake in Ohio, Guilford lake. And we go there They're three, four, five times a year. We're headed there next week. And she also came to Vermont working at a summer camp for, I think, seven summers on Lake Fairley, which is a gorgeous resort area. And so on first hearing this song, The Lake, and probably the first 10 times I heard it, I was like, man, I can see it. And then I picked up on the willow thing after, you know, 11th on my 11th listen, I guess. And I was like, Oh no, it's just something completely different. But if it is just about the lake, Oof, that's just as devastating and lovely.Track 3:[1:01:57] Yeah, I also grew up near a lake. Our house in Peachland, which my parents still live in, overlooks Okanagan Lake, which is a very large lake. And yeah, it just brings back memories. And it is maybe my favorite spot on earth. Right across the lake from where we live is a small island. There's no roads. There's no power. There's no development on the other side of the lake. And it's just a place that we would boat to when I was a kid and try to get over there every summer. And it's just, you know, this song takes me there. And also, you know, with the mention of his daughter at the end and, you know, the, you're the love of my life and it, yeah, it's just a beautiful song.Track 2:[1:02:46] It's gorgeous. Kirk?Track 5:[1:02:49] Again, we've said it already. you know these last five songs are they're crushers it's like it it was really hard to listen to them in succession like i really needed to stop you know this these last two far far away and blurred i you know my my my space that i left for what is supposed to be my guess of who it is who the song is to the letters to, is blank. And it is blank because to me it could be anyone. Maybe it was obvious to one of you guys, but I really felt like it was almost like a letter to everyone.Track 5:[1:03:34] We smile. All that we've been through, up and down for sure, onwards and upwards, up close, far away, and blurred. Um, the tempo changes in this song are amazing. It goes into a, a swing almost during the chorus. Um, and, uh, I, I, again, just the instrumentation and the, the combination of what, you know, uh, you know, obviously not just, um, Gordon, Kevin, but, you know, the others that contributed as well. So just add, I think, to each one of these letters, as it were, you know, as they started out. What'd you think about Far Away and Blurred, Craig?Track 3:[1:04:25] I really love this song. Another strong song on the second half of this album. And I almost wondered if maybe it could be another touring song, or maybe he's talking about traveling with his family. Great melody. And I agree with what you said, Kirk, when it changes tempo halfway through the song, and the drums come in with that slow beat, and the echo the the vocals are echoing and i i found that part very powerful and it's like, again i just can't, get over the the brilliance of his work it is like so emotional um and there's this like guitar pattern going on that's really really cool in the background as well and yeah and justin you yeah.Track 4:[1:05:20] I i guess i'm echoing what you guys have said um it's just a if i mean it's a little bit upbeat um for a hot minute there and again comes at a at a place where you need it um Um, yeah, it's, it's lovely. It's how it's a guy who's frigging dying, um, and telling everybody how much he loves them and that he always has, whether, whether you're in view or not. Right. Um, yeah, the.Track 5:[1:05:53] Passion in his voice in the vocal, um, is just so palpable. And so it just, I mean, wrenching, but almost in a, just again, another reminder of just how amazing, how amazing every part and ounce of the art that comes out of this guy is just incredible, incredible.Track 3:[1:06:23] Yeah, JD, did you have anything to add for this one?Track 2:[1:06:26] I don't know if I could get anything out right now if I tried. it's.Track 3:[1:06:30] A tough one I.Track 2:[1:06:32] Think you know his voice in the verses I've got written down that it's playful and painful at the same time, and you know it builds the chorus is obviously as powerful a gourd voice as we've heard in almost any song on this record, We'll get more of that in later records that we'll discuss in future episodes, but yeah, it's a great song, but it's the second-to-last song, and the North is a really powerful way to end. A callback to Secret Path and The Bridge. But overall, it's an interesting tracking decision. It can't be a coincidence. Right, Justin?Track 4:[1:11:07] No, of course it's not. It's a reminder. It's like he spent a good portion of that final show in Kingston reminding everybody to pay attention and to keep paying attention. And that's exactly what this song is. is it's it's uh yeah i did secret path but keep going forward keep talking about it keep moving keep changing um keep trying to figure this out um you know i don't know if we i don't think we've said this on air but when we first started talking about this album there i i mentioned to you guys in our in our group chat that i thought this was some of the songs on this album were like a stream of consciousness and i think i know that there's the video of of them recording this song and i know that it's not a stream of consciousness but i think when he was writing this song, what he wrote down is whatever came to his head first and i'm going to find a song to to put it to and i got to get this message out i don't care if it's rhymes or makes sense musically or what This has to be said again and again and again and again. And good on him, you know. Yeah.Track 3:[1:12:22] Yeah. So he makes the reference to, um, you know, a place West of, of James Bay, which would be Ottawa, Piscat, which of course the hip have, have the song about. And, um, I, I, I'm wondering if this song is either about or to Joseph Boyden, the author who, at the same time secret path was released, released a book called when Jack, um, I didn't mention him on the secret path episode only because there is some controversy you can look it up if you're interested but calling his um his roots into you know question um you know people questioning that he may not be in fact indigenous so you know that's definitely something you can kind of look into yourself but um joseph boyden is famous for a book called three day road and And just an interesting little thing that I came across about a week ago was a story related to this. So this story, Three Day Road, is about from just, I haven't read the book, but I've read a different story about a sniper in World War I named Francis Paganagabo. And he was nicknamed Peggy. And he has more kills than any sniper in North America.Track 3:[1:13:44] And his story is relatively unknown. And it's a really fascinating story. And anyways, I was reading a short story about that last week and then made this discovery about the connection to Joseph Boyden. Anyways, I highly encourage you to check out a story called Peggy. There's actually a podcast too by CBC called This Place. which is 150 years of Canadian history told by indigenous voices. And the episode on Peggy is incredible.Track 5:[1:14:19] The line Canada, we should have never called Canada. Um, I thought was pretty bold as well to put out there as you guys all had been mentioning, you know, obviously when he had addressed the crowd, you know, at several of the shows and, and several of his interviews. So I think that's, uh, bold, but expected. So I, I, uh, I think we all appreciate that. He would, would, go out there to this level.Track 3:[1:14:51] Yeah there's definitely a call back to that that statement in the last show that he made to the prime minister and i always um really admired that and, i always wondered what it would be like if an american artist did the same thing, you know like a high profile of bruce springsteen or someone went out and said something like that just the absolute division that would that would ensue um yeah yeah oh.Track 5:[1:15:18] Yeah I was going to say the dick and chicks are a good example.Track 3:[1:15:22] Of it.Track 4:[1:15:22] Happening.Track 5:[1:15:23] So but yeah.Track 4:[1:15:27] Or the opposite of that lady antebellum who's then sued the person that they stole their name from well fellas.Track 2:[1:15:36] It's time to ask the question will you be keeping this record in your rotation.Track 4:[1:15:44] I'm going to say not all the time And it's got nothing to do with the music. It's the subject. It's the heaviness of it. It's I don't want to, I don't want to be down. Um, there are some songs on this, on this record that are frigging awesome. They're all, they're all very good, but you know, there's some songs that certainly fit into the hip like catalog.Track 2:[1:16:07] Sure. And you can add them to your mixtape, right?Track 4:[1:16:10] Exactly. And that's probably how I'll consume them. Um, but this is going to be something that I listened to once every couple of years, maybe.Track 5:[1:16:19] Yeah, it's a commitment. I was just going to say it's a commitment. So I would answer very similarly to what Justin said. Even for this particular purpose of this podcast, it was heavy listening every time, every time you went through it. And so definitely some tunes I want to keep hearing regularly, but it's not something that I would. All i have on regular rotation like like i would would some of the others that that have definitely been fantastic in my opinion i.Track 3:[1:16:58] Agree with you guys i i definitely will come back to this album, um considering i gave it you know it took me six and a half years just to give it a first listen i'm definitely not going to wait that long um but i think i'll just have to be in the right frame of mind to put it on but i absolutely will i really do love it in fact coming up with an mvp track for this is definitely the hardest decision i've had to make i was hoping we were going to do one last week and one this week but so i'm it's going to be a last uh last second decision i was.Track 4:[1:17:31] Hoping jd would forget the question this time.Track 2:[1:17:33] I've got it written down so i don't forget my My memory is so piss poor.Track 3:[1:17:39] Right in on your hand.Track 2:[1:17:40] I call it a format sheet, but for real, it's cheating. Craig, we're going to stick with you. And we're going to go to MVP track.Track 3:[1:17:48] I want to know what they say first. So to clarify, is this my absolute favorite track or is this the track that I want to put onto a mixtape?Track 2:[1:18:00] It can be, that can be your interpretation. It can, it's the most valuable player. It's the, you know.Track 3:[1:18:07] So I had so many I mean my first instinct was a natural but I think I'm going to have to go with Snowflake it's.Track 2:[1:18:17] So good it.Track 3:[1:18:18] Is such a powerful song to me and I love the chorus I love the way again that big reverb sound and it's just a really gorgeous song and takes me you know visually takes me somewhere.Track 2:[1:18:36] We could definitely overuse the word gorgeous on this record because there's so much gorgeosity on it, you know?Track 4:[1:18:45] Nice.Track 5:[1:18:46] There is that.Track 2:[1:18:48] Right?Track 5:[1:18:49] There is that.Track 2:[1:18:50] Kirk.Track 5:[1:18:51] Yeah. MVP? Thinking about us, man.Track 3:[1:18:54] Good call.Track 5:[1:18:55] That tune, just thinking about us. It's thinking about us. That's all I need to say.Track 2:[1:19:01] You didn't have to hesitate at all. Wow.Track 5:[1:19:04] No.Track 2:[1:19:06] Justin, how are you going to react to the question? Craig was very concerned and didn't want to say anything. Kirk was very resolute and just put a flag in her. And Justin, where are you on this one? I'm giving you some time to think, so it's not really fair.Track 4:[1:19:25] Well, I don't need time to think. I just don't have an answer. I've been thinking about this since the first listen because I knew that this was coming. Um i will i i do have an answer um but i'll tell you the pics that i had wolf's home because it makes me think of my dad bedtime because of just the connection with my daughter and when this song or when this record came out um i love introduce yourself for the reasons that we talked about it's it's a great song about your buddy and and you know get me out of another jam please you know There was some interview that Gord did that he told Billy Ray. He goes, something happened with a guitar. And he goes, I will literally blow you if you fix this. I love Spoon, that song Spoon, because I really like the band. But I also like the story of going to the show with a kid. um but i'm gonna go with love over money because that's why we're all here in the first place yeah right good job justin yeah thank.Track 2:[1:20:37] You what bow you put in it love.Track 4:[1:20:39] It yeah yeah.Track 2:[1:20:42] And that brings us to the end of Introduce Yourself. Just a, you know, what a, I'm going to use the word again, what a gorgeous piece of work. And so memorable and so thoughtful. And, you know, this is the last stuff he recorded. It's really, really quite heavy. And we're sorry if we brought you down a little bit with these last two episodes, um but trust us we're celebrating this music we're not mourning we are celebrating and.Track 3:[1:21:23] Jd i want to thank you one more time for bringing me on board for this project because this is the album that i told you right from the start has been sitting on my shelf and i needed i wanted to listen to it. It's been staring at me for years and I just couldn't do it. And I think maybe just having, you know, you guys along with the ride makes it, you know, easier to do.Track 2:[1:21:50] Thank you very much. Thank you for doing it.Track 4:[1:21:53] Yeah. I a hundred percent. Thank you. I, I didn't know about any other records, um, um that gourd had done um but i knew about this one and i was choosing to not listen to it you know i i wanted nothing to do with it um and i gotta be honest with you i'm glad it's over i'm glad it's behind us um i listened to this this album in its entirety probably 25 to 30 times um it's.Track 2:[1:22:22] A lot yeah.Track 4:[1:22:23] It's a lot and the last week or so um leading up to recording this i stopped listening completely um i had to stop it was just killing me and i started listening to um some of the older hip stuff and i started listening to some sadie stuff and i listened to conquering sun quite a bit um but i had to get away from the heaviness and go back to being a fan, because this was a hard one.Track 2:[1:22:57] Completely agree well on behalf of uh craig and justin and kirk it's me jd and we're saying goodbye for another week we'll be back we've just got a couple episodes left fellas we've got away is mine and we've got luster parfait and then we've got the finale and i'm getting excited about yeah.Track 4:[1:23:21] Hell yeah oh yeah yeah and you know it's gonna.Track 2:[1:23:26] Be a good time.Track 4:[1:23:27] I got it you know we got to give a shout out to our our social media following you guys are really starting to step up and kick ass lately and it's really re-energized all of us a lot um we're our group chat has been on fire the last several days as we record this because we're just like did you see this one did you see the message there did you see the email oh my god you know it's yeah we're obsessing over the rankings and it's it's great it's fun it's a lot of fun well.Track 5:[1:23:52] So it was so crazy too to get some like some you know some of the official accounts of these people that we were talking about are.Track 4:[1:24:01] Right are.Track 5:[1:24:02] Sharing some of the you know the links and stuff to some of these episodes and and uh we're getting just some great amazing comments you know through the right you guys mentioned social media you know instagram facebook and uh just i don't think any of us had that on our bingo cards when we woke up in the morning, you know?Track 2:[1:24:22] I didn't.Track 4:[1:24:27] Right. And the Sadies messaged you back today, Craig. That's cool.Track 2:[1:24:33] Holy shit.Track 4:[1:24:34] And JD's putting in the legwork tenfold over what we're doing.Track 2:[1:24:38] Stop.Track 4:[1:24:39] He's listening. He's throwing everything together and doing interviews and making all this happen. I mean, I don't know if any of us are getting rich off this.Track 2:[1:24:48] Oh, not fucking me.Track 4:[1:24:50] You know, JD is certainly reaping the benefits of, I think a lot of people are appreciating what you're doing and I know we are.Track 5:[1:24:57] Yeah, absolutely.Track 2:[1:24:59] It's a group effort, guys. It's a group effort, man. All right, folks. Pick up your shit.Track 1:[1:25:07] Thanks for listening to Discovering Downey. To find out more about the show and its host, visit DiscoveringDowney.com. You can email us at discoveringdowney at gmail.com. And hey, we're social. 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This week the gang gets together to discuss the rest of Inroduce Yerself. Transcript: Track 1:[0:00] Hey, it's Justin. You know and love us on the Discovering Downey podcast, right? So come hang out with us in person for the finale. Join us for Long Slice Brewing presents a celebration of Gord Downey at The Rec Room in downtown Toronto on Friday, July 19th. Craig is coming from Vancouver, Kirk is coming from LA, I'm driving from Vermont, and JD's like walking down the street or wherever he lives in Toronto. Tickets are available now on our website at discovererndowney.com, and when you get your tickets, that means you can come Come hang out with us and our very special guest, Patrick Downey, and you can bid on some incredibly cool silent auction items, all while jamming along with tragically hip cover band The Almost Hip, and most importantly, helping us raise money for the Gord Downey Fund for Brain Cancer Research. Crack open a long slice, put on some Gord tunes, take a journey with us on discovering Downey, and then crack open another long slice on July 19th and hang out with us in the six. I always wanted to sound cool and say that. For more information, follow us on all the socials and visit DiscoveringDowny.com. Christmas Day for Edgar. My dad always used to say just after the presents, well, it's as far away now as it will ever be. I'm thinking about that as the stewardess cracks the public address system. For those sitting in economy, there's no music for you today.Track 1:[1:21] Welcome, music lovers. Long Slice Brewery presents. Discovering Downey.Track 2:[1:31] Hey, it's JD here and welcome to Discovering Downey, an 11-part project with a focus on the music and poetry of Mr. Gord Downey. The late frontman of the Tragically Hip gave to the world an extensive solo discography on top of the hip's vocal local acrobats that wowed us for years. So far, he's released eight records in total, three of them posthumously. Now listen, you might be the biggest fan of the hip out there, but have you really listened to these solo records? Because I'm an inquisitive podcaster, I enlisted my friends, Craig, Justin, and Kirk, giant fans of the hip in their own right, to discover Downey with me, JD, as their host. Every week, we're going to get together and listen to one of Gord's records, working in chronological order. We discuss and dissect the album, the production, the lyrics, and we break it down song by song. This week we're going to be talking about the back half well plus two songs from the front half of introduce yourself justin my friend how are you doing on this gray fucking oh is it gray there toronto oh oh it's terrible all day maybe because i was wearing sunglasses wait a minute.Track 4:[2:55] It is it was the opposite of that here in in beautiful vermont today it's it was a beautiful day i I think it's going to be great for the rest of the week, though. So whatever you're getting today, we'll get tomorrow.Track 1:[3:05] Oh, that's weather with Justin. We'll be back with Craig and Traffic. Remember, news on the fives.Track 2:[3:12] Where in the world is Kirk from Fuckachino? How's it going, man?Track 5:[3:22] I am in Washington, D.C. Right now for work in a hotel room. so having some technical difficulties so my apologies but things are good and uh excited to continue the conversation greg.Track 2:[3:41] What say you things.Track 3:[3:44] Are going well a little uh a little tired after a night out uh watching the sadies last night so they played a small venue downtown and got to see the boys rock out and um yeah it was it was a pretty awesome show a big banner of Dallas in the background and yeah, some touching moments, but mostly they, they just rocked.Track 2:[4:03] I haven't been to a live show in a little while now.Track 4:[4:06] Super cool.Track 2:[4:12] All right, fellas, before we get into the music, I want to talk to you about an email that I got from an organization called Lake Fever Wilderness Company. Basically, the gist of this email is that the Lake Fever Wilderness Company has submitted all the paperwork required to City Hall to get At Riverdale Park East, here in Toronto, mere footsteps from my home, renamed Gord Downie Park. I saw an article on BlogTO, and then they also gave us a couple other links to stories. But I'm hoping that our little podcast here, that people who listen to it will hear this, and you know we can build some awareness around this somehow anything you want to say about this or comment about this are you jealous and ate in your town yes.Track 4:[5:17] That sounds like a great cause and um for what it's worth i love the song lake fever so.Track 2:[5:25] Right Right?Track 4:[5:26] Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that's a, that's whatever we can do to help, man. That sounds great.Track 5:[5:31] Sounds very cool.Track 3:[5:32] I'm jealous. We, who do we get? Brian Adams Avenue.Track 2:[5:39] Probably already have it. Don't you?Track 3:[5:41] I don't know. I don't know. Maybe in England.Track 2:[5:45] Really? There's not a. Right mind-blowing to me one of the top songs of all time in terms of played, everything i do i do for you right, yeah but this is not a brian adams podcast this is a podcast called discovering downy and let's pick it up where we left off last time that puts us on side two of the first record With the very candid, my first self.Track 5:[6:47] I mean, just explains it like I remember it. And yeah. could feel all of those crazy, stupid emotions and, uh, could just totally wrap my head around and embrace, you know, the message that he was writing, you know, a piano forward tune again. You know, I think we talked about that the last one, uh, I love the vocal and the background that starts coming in uh you know echoing essentially the line um and then the last line is just classic so yeah uh it's a it's a brilliant tune in my assessment.Track 3:[7:28] Yeah, what I liked about it is that it really instantly just takes you to a place in your own life, whether the story is one you connect with or not, it takes you back to, you know, when you were in your teens or whatever. And that's what I appreciated about this song. Another thing before the echoing vocal you're talking about there's i just noticed today for the first time very very faintly in the opposite channel is something that sounds like a, a meowing cat i think it's a person but it's almost this little it's so subtle it's almost like one of those hearing tests you get where there's a little beep and you're like did i hear that but i listened a second time and there's something that comes in about 30 seconds before for the more noticeable vocal on the other side so i.Track 4:[8:19] Did not on that view yeah i listened to it today too actually and.Track 3:[8:24] Um i.Track 4:[8:26] Mean this this girl sounds cool as hell you know like he says in the song six years older so it's definitely you know she's his girlfriend but he may not be her boyfriend from what i'm picking up on you know like and and i certainly related to the you.Track 3:[8:41] Told me off and could she be responsible for uh hooking gourd on reading because he wanted to be like her.Track 4:[8:50] Oh yeah yeah yeah yeah interesting thought yeah yeah yeah i don't know again like i did feel a little awkward listening to this song let's.Track 2:[9:02] Move to the next track on the record you're ashore.Track 3:[9:05] Well this is probably the song i have the least to say about it's maybe the least memorable for me I think probably it's the type of song that if it's about you it's probably a maybe a bit of an inside joke or I'm not really sure what the you know what it's about who it's about, I appreciated the gentleness in his voice. I was glad that it was the length that it was because it was not my favorite. What did you guys think?Track 5:[9:38] I loved it me too i uh i i uh i mean it's the shortest song on the album it's a minute 30 you know the lyrics are simple it's you know essentially you're sure you're sure repeated and a few little straight lines but the brilliant in the very beginning is you know he's strumming and then it's the let flow it down i believe is what he says and uh yeah it's um Um, I think especially amongst this body of work amongst this album, like, you know, there's a lot of, there's a lot of piano, there's a lot of synths, there's even some beats and things of that nature. And it was kind of nice to just get a little short acoustic ditty in my opinion. But, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm a sucker for that. That's, uh, just like, just like back in the eighties, right? Every metal band had its little ballad. so uh i i love the ballads so.Track 4:[10:38] Yeah i don't know who it's about but it's an earworm i find myself humming the tune uh quite often and there's only a few words in the song so it's not like, you know like you said craig the lyrics aren't nothing about it is really memorable but it is it does get into your brain and it's an easy little like you could just walk through the the park and just sing that all day. But yeah, I mean, it's a minute 30 and that's about right.Track 2:[11:07] Yeah, that's about right. It's interesting you say that you couldn't determine who that's about, because I, so far, have really sucked at that game, listening to the first record. So, as we go into the second record, Gord lobs a softball at me, and even I know that this next track, Love Over Money, is about the fucking Tragically Hip.Track 4:[11:37] Damn right it is.Track 2:[11:39] Yeah who wants to go first here kirk.Track 5:[11:42] Yeah i'll go first um yeah i i you know uh i would say jd i've had a similar you know a similar experience in in trying i have little parentheses in my notes of who i think the note might be or the song might be too and i you know i can't even get specifics i just write like brother you know question mark things of that nature so this one was obvious what i loved about it as well and and i think i might have mentioned it on on the last of the first the first album it's such a pop it's like a synth pop tune is what i have and this is gonna sound weird but for whatever reason when i hear the song i think of that snl skit where you've You've got like Jimmy Fallon and they're all playing like they're doing that little, you know, they do the little dance.Track 2:[12:36] Oh, right, right, right.Track 5:[12:37] You know, when I heard this song, I, by the second time, I just, I couldn't get that shit out of my brain. So, but just beautiful lyrics talking about the band. So direct and so loving and so to the point. To me, an absolute, brilliant Gord Downie song. I mean, you know, just wonderful, wonderful song.Track 3:[13:06] The moment he said the line, we played to no one, and then no one plus one, I knew it was about the hip. Because I remember in 1996, a band I played in, we went across Canada two times that year, self-booked tours. And we ended up in Thunder Bay on one of the tours.Track 3:[13:24] And we played in a tiny club called crocs and rolls which is sort of like a legendary club in in thunder bay a guy named frank lefredo was the booker there who was kind of like a legend, in uh in music across canada and anyway frank um the first night we we played and we didn't draw much of a crowd and he said you know don't worry guys the you know first time the tragedy hit played here they played to to no one and then they played a second night and they got a couple more and the next night and you know they played i think three nights in a row on an early tour, and so that made us feel a little better and he and he um he felt bad about the the draw so when we came back um he found us a gig at another venue um for the for the drive back so that's the the memory that that comes up for me um and also the other thing the queen's jubilee uh so the reference to the um to the playing to the the deafening the husband of the queen um that would be that that show which i looked up and uh and yeah they played poets and interesting enough in that version of poets he changes the lyrics he censors himself a little bit i noticed so for the queen he he He changed bare-breasted to bare-chested, and there was one other change I can't recall.Track 4:[14:44] Yeah, it was a great performance. I remember seeing that. I wish that I had looked it up just to bring the memory of it back, but that line stuck out to me. I remember seeing that performance.Track 3:[14:57] And he used the laminar flow line as well in that version of Poets.Track 4:[15:01] Oh, that I didn't remember.Track 2:[15:04] Wow.Track 3:[15:05] Which ended up in Coke Machine Glow on Every Irrelevance.Track 4:[15:11] Yeah. Obviously, the bond between those five guys is unbreakable, and this song is funny, too. I laughed at this song the first time that I heard it and heard the lyrics. We missed death and marriage and a birth. I did notice the words hotel worth, which is kind of a preview to an upcoming thing. There's a song that actually got a lot of airplay here locally a few years ago. But yeah, yep, it did. Yep, it was on the radio two or three times a day for a couple months here.Track 3:[15:47] The love over money line um made me also think about the way that they split their royalties and i'm not sure if if it was like a 20 all the way around that would be my guess but but often the the lyricist will take 50 and then the people who wrote the music take the other 50 so you know maybe it's not that simple but the fact that all five of them were as far as i know listed on all all the all the credits sort of um you know over their career that's something that drives so many bands apart is that fight over you know well i wrote this i wrote this and like even in the band i spoke about a while ago like we had some really crazy discussions around royalties and who should get what and you know in my mind i've always been a equal share guy i don't care if you're the drummer if you're you know you wrote your part that's just you know then again i've not not like i'm making a ton of a ton of money in music or anything but but um it was nice to to see them stick together so long and the same five guys like what other band can you think of that released that many albums with the same lineup it's got to be a very very.Track 2:[17:02] Very short list.Track 3:[17:03] Like there may be some three pieces i mean but a five piece band think of all the potential for conflict and for you know one guy leaving it like no one there's some sleuthing.Track 2:[17:17] Some sonic sleuthing for you listeners out there send us an email at discovering downy at gmail.com with bands that have a lineup up that was consistent with at least 15 records released? Are there any? Is there a database that you could just plug that into and get it from?Track 3:[17:40] No idea. I mean, Aerosmith would be close, but they had that lineup change in the mid-career.Track 2:[17:49] Right.Track 3:[17:51] For one album anyways.Track 2:[17:53] Joe Perry left, right? Joe Perry and Brad Whitford.Track 3:[17:55] Yeah.Track 2:[17:57] Yeah, yeah. Okay, so the next track is You, Me, and the Bees. Do I go two for two here when I say this is an ode to the Boston Bruins? Yeah. And its ability to connect with your family, particularly in this case to Gord's brother, Patrick.Track 3:[21:03] That sounds about right to me.Track 2:[21:04] Take us away.Track 3:[21:06] Took me right to my childhood as well. And a good friend of mine, so my friend Blair and I, we played a game called hall hockey. Hockey's in my parents basement with you know those fisher price um bowling sets we take take one of the pins and a ball and we would just hit the ball back and forth and if you hit the wall you score and we had this ongoing game every time he came over and we would you know do the play by play and we were both oilers fans so you weren't allowed to be the oilers you had to choose another team and i'll never forget the quebec nordique if you were the nordique and you you know you'd be Stastny and then you pass over to to you know Michelle Goulet and as soon as Michelle Goulet, got the puck you know you're getting a shot in the balls every single time I don't know what it was but and um yeah and then Blair became a little bigger than me and started winning every single game and then we yeah we aged out of that game but anyways that's where it took me yeah what What about you guys?Track 4:[22:06] Oh man, this was me and my old man playing pond hockey. Yeah, I loved the song and I loved I could tell right away that the percussion was a hockey stick scraping on the ground. I loved it. And you know, again, I laughed in this song several times and the line about the trading of George Thornton and you know, it's, I don't know, like Like, I'm so excited to get to meet Patrick Downey because it sounds like these guys just had fun the whole time. This song is that relationship. And, you know, and as a Habs fan, I freaking hate the Bruins, but I get it. You know, I totally get it. And, yeah, this is just a really cool song about your brother. You know, it's fun.Track 5:[22:57] Yeah, I loved the song. And I loved, I could tell right away that the percussion was a hockey stick scraping on the ground. I loved it. You know, again, I laughed in this song several times and the line about the trading of George Thornton. And, you know, it's, I don't know, like, I'm so excited to get to meet Patrick Downey because it sounds like these guys just had fun the whole time, you know, and the song is that.Track 4:[23:30] I, um, I really liked how Gord's voice was very staccato and this, um, he was really kind of a minimalist with, you know, he didn't drag any of the, any of the, the lines out the Bruins. You know, like just very on the beat and kind of not screwing around. Or maybe this is screwing around for him, I guess. But, you know, he turned the word Bruins into Bruins, just one syllable. And I don't know, it felt like a different approach lyrically or sonically, I guess.Track 3:[24:02] Yeah, that phrasing really matched the style of the song too. That sort of, like the percussion that Kirk was talking about. It just, yeah, had that staccato feel.Track 5:[24:11] The phrasing, thanks for bringing that up, Craig. I had just recently watched the Juno Award tribute, Dallas Green and Sarah Harmer and Kevin Hearn, I believe it was, and I believe it was the Junos. And gore you guys both talked mentioned like the way he phrases like the way he takes his lyrics and will you know enunciate them to fit into the line it is like no one else right and then when you watch this tribute and you see her singing introduce yourself and trying to you know keep the cadence that that that gourd has i guess that's a good way to describe it there's a uh, a unique cadence to it so i i was blown away by that if you guys haven't seen it you you must watch it and then when they go into bob cajun and the harmonies are just incredible but like goosebumps you know it's so incredible and then especially when she comes in with that harmony But to hear her do the phrasing was wonderful as well, because that has to be difficult.Track 2:[25:25] Yeah, it's what we love about him, right? His ability to twist and turn and put round pegs into square holes or square pegs into round holes probably is more difficult, in fact. Snowflake has a haunting piano line that works well with Gord's almost pastime. What do you think of Snowflakes.Track 5:[25:46] Kirk? Yeah, Melancholy was my note. Again, the piano is used heavily throughout this whole album, but on this song in particular. My guess at who it is to is just a girlfriend is all I wrote. Um but uh the the other note that i wrote was the the woman leaned in to say goodbye but i don't remember his name and uh just the um where is gourd going with that you know i i uh i i wondered i wrote that down as a note so um but just again uh fully emotional song.Track 3:[26:34] Yeah i wondered if that was almost like a reference to maybe his fading memory yeah the oh yeah i was a bit puzzled by that too craig yeah it was a very eerie song and i really loved it i love the um the jangling sounds gave it like a really eerie feeling like you're in a i don't know like a haunted ballroom of some ancient house like i just picture this as a movie when I'm listening to it the the, vocal delivery makes me wonder if it was one of the later tracks that he he did and i really love the chorus and the the reverb they put on like just like in a natural there is a ton of reverb, like way too much reverb but it works really well it's so powerful when they do it on this album not something i would normally like um yeah his voice is is gorgeous in the song um a lot of feeling to the piano playing as well by by kevin um yeah and again i had a note about phrasing when he says my name and when he says goodbye it's kind of rushed and it made me wonder if it was just a lack of time just you know doing it in one take and not worrying too much about yeah about how it came off um but again that's what we love about you too yeah yeah.Track 5:[27:58] You i mean craig you sing when you play takes a lot of energy um so that's that's one thing that i wondered throughout this this album in particular when like if you just say you're looking at it on your phone and you're listening and you bring up the lyrics and you're you're you're questioning some of the enunciations i guess of some of the words but it's that's gourd and that's uh you know Him making it work for that particular song. And sometimes different than what the lyrics are written as. I don't know if that's just typo type stuff or if that's on purpose. this.Track 4:[28:37] So I actually, I don't know, my, my thought on this was that maybe this was, um, something that he was remembering from his childhood and maybe, um, with a, an older sibling or, a relative or somebody, you know, that he knew well. And, um, the thing that stood out to me.Track 4:[29:00] More was the, his recollection of the lake and, um, of the house and describing everything about the scene and that this woman is somebody, an acquaintance of whoever he's walking down the road with, and they're going to see her. Um, cause there's the line, she told me to go explore the quiet rooms. Uh, it like, so this is all right, kid, go check out the house. We got stuff to talk about you know um and i actually um somehow connected this to the you know affluent woman in the video for it's a good life if you don't weaken um my my head kind of went to that music video and i don't don't know why or where that happened but um it just felt to me like it that type of house and that type of, of meeting. And, you know, and then at the end of that video, Gord leans down and whisper something into her ear and, and then, then they walk out. I don't, I don't really know why that's where I went, but, um, it's sort of a mishmash of two different things. Yeah.Track 4:[30:13] So like there's the song that we'll get to called the lake. When I first heard that, I thought that was about the lake, But now I think this song might be about the lake. I don't know.Track 5:[30:23] Just the fact that when he writes his lyrics, like, yeah, he, it's inspired by something, but it may even have a different meaning than what it was inspired by for him. And I don't think he really intends for the listening audience to do anything other than interpret it for their own selves or application. So, um, you know, I, you just, I never got the feeling like he'd be offended by that.Track 2:[30:49] Yeah, I can't agree with you more. Again, that's one of these great things about this performer that we all love. We can get behind that. The next song is called A Better End, and it makes me sad. Lonesome for Gord, I suppose. How does it make you feel, Justin?Track 4:[31:17] Yeah, the same. I mean, it sounds a lot like the Man Machine Poem album. There's some melancholy in a lot of those songs. And this album came together in a different context, but it's musically a lot similar to or very similar to a lot of the songs on there. And there are connections with the lyrics, the line, for treasure or worse. That's in, is that in Man? or machine, one of the others. You know, where God walks with persons, even the may be doomed, that line crushes me every time I hear it.Track 2:[32:00] Repeat it?Track 4:[32:02] Where God walks with persons, even the may be doomed. And, you know, there's an end to that sentence, right? There's a finality in that one. And I don't know. I don't know who it's about. The song is called A Better End, but he says bitter. Um you know and that only at the very end of the song does it say the better end um so maybe there's some letting go you know i i i don't know yeah.Track 5:[32:37] I i uh i have a description written as dark melancholy but then my final note was a plea and that to me as i think you had mentioned, Craig, you know, maybe it was to a family member. And I kind of felt like it was to all family members and all of his like close friends, like, this is the letter, like, this is it. And so I just wrote a plea, question mark. And the beat, I think we talked about this before, you know it's it had the clock feeling to me throughout um and then like you had mentioned justin uh you know you you the title's a better end the the lyric that he uses is stay to the bitter end but it stayed in the bitter end and uh uh just uh, He's put out so much energy at this point, you know, because it is when they've recorded this, you know, it's 20, 2017. They've done the they've done the. The tours, he's done the secret path stuff like he knows what's coming, he knows the bitter end and he gave everything he could. And this is like his like, hey, somebody give me some energy for, you know, here for a better end.Track 3:[34:04] Yeah, I wondered if this was a close family member maybe saying to stay with me until the bitter end. Really, yeah, this was an emotional song, but it's also the type of song that's going to keep bringing me back to this album. I love this song. i found that again another powerful chorus with that big reverb sound and the way he belts out songs like this and snowflake and uh in the choruses is a real strength of this album nancy and yeah just a very powerful um i i had a note i would be interested to hear a heavy version of the song like a full band version um yeah but yeah haunting piano it gave me um secret path vibes it felt very much like musically could have been on secret path he.Track 4:[35:02] He hits a lot of different spots um um in his range too he sings very deeply and then he sings very high um there's There's a lot of, you know, he's probably in three octaves or maybe four during the song. Probably three.Track 2:[35:22] Yeah. So when I hear this song, I think of it, I think of an LP, like an old LP, like a 72, you know, RPM record. And I picture it being played on my grandparents' couch-sized hi-fi. It just sounds, it sounds old. It sounds authentic.Track 5:[35:50] Authentic it sounds like a needle you know the indie rock on the vinyl right it.Track 2:[35:56] Sounds like which sorry.Track 5:[35:57] It sounds like the needle on the vinyl it's just yeah it's you you and then you got that the dining you know the the dining room or whatever recording that's going on in the background and then and then it just sounds like they have the actual, you know the the needle and the vinyl that that that that static sound going it's it's brilliant it's a little soft guitar it's it's a sweet song it really is it's a sweet song yeah.Track 3:[36:28] And the way he sings it too it's almost like a bit of a like a shaky vocal like a bit of a warble to his voice which maybe it was actually maybe they added an effect to make to give it that vinyl quality to it. But I think maybe it's just his, I think it's just his performance. And when I say shaky, I mean, in a deliberate way, I talked last week about how I can't think of any singer who has as many qualities to his voice as Gord and he does it better than anyone. Yeah. Yeah.Track 2:[37:09] But then it did go away. You know, sort of, right? Yeah.Track 3:[37:17] When he wanted it to, yeah. He just gained so much control over his voice. He had power from early on, but then he developed different subtleties. And when he gets into an album like Secret Path, and he's singing sort of in character, he can just go into all these different places depending on the emotion of the song. And another note about Nancy is, first of all, I'm guessing it's about a sister. I didn't actually look up the names of his sisters, but that's just my guess. I liked how it talked about the beginning, the middle, and the end. And Gord forever being the storyteller. He's always thinking in terms of story. Just a little nugget I picked up. And the conversation at the beginning too when they're just starting to hit record he's talking about his cuff link.Track 4:[38:16] It's a good one.Track 2:[38:17] It is. It's really good. And I think on first listen, it would have been bottom third for me. And now it's firmly somewhere in the middle third. Like, it has a crack top third for me. But, you know, it's moved up for sure.Track 4:[38:36] Yeah.Track 3:[38:37] I feel like this album gets better as it goes on. I actually prefer the second half.Track 5:[38:42] That's fair.Track 3:[38:43] Um i think at first i really enjoyed the first half more maybe because i was really preparing for that first half um for our pod but i i love the the second half yeah i.Track 4:[38:57] Actually very much agree with that i think for me it starts to really get good at you're ashore and like i said it's it's a kind of a forgettable song but the the tone sort of changes isn't that wild yeah well.Track 2:[39:11] We are at the last song of the first side the remarkably upbeat think my about us.Track 5:[41:21] This is brilliant. This song is brilliant for me from the first listen to the critical listens in the middle to listening again just recently before this. And just the way it made me feel, the swagger it had, the message it had, um that just incredible descending piano line um it it was uh it it it's up there for me it's really really really up there i love love this tune i.Track 3:[42:03] Agree this is a masterful song really it's just it comes at a place on the album.Track 3:[42:11] Where you really need something that's a little, kind of cute is the word i'll use and you've got that little piano melody that almost just sounds like a finger exercise you would do if you're learning how to play piano and some really cool sounds on the synth or maybe it's a theremin but i'm pretty sure it's a synth, and i also had a note that the the drums enter in an interesting way the bass and drums come in and just maybe a spot you're not quite ready for and yeah just just like a playful song that i really enjoy just super catchy i i wish the world could hear this music like i wish more people, would give this a chance because it should be words were i mean maybe this is my thesis for the end of this whole thing but gourd's work should be appreciated like like josh even said like they're both up they're both equal they're both amazing yeah.Track 4:[43:09] I had the word super catchy exactly the same in my in my notes and i really don't have a lot of other notes about this song but i i can't stop listening to it i know that um it's a yeah it's a it's a and you're right craig it came at the right time um in the sequencing um it was needed in this spot.Track 3:[43:31] It's a little heavy before that.Track 2:[43:32] Right?Track 3:[43:33] Yeah, and it's going to get heavy again. Yep, that's right. Really heavy.Track 2:[43:37] I learned a really valuable... I gained access to some valuable experience today, when I was preparing for this recording, because it's the first time that I've flipped the record over, and had to tackle the final five songs that we ever get to hear from Gord Downie, or so we thought at the time. You know, like, we didn't know there was going to be posthumous releases.Track 5:[44:17] Right.Track 2:[44:19] We knew he wrote this right before he passed, So either way, you know, it's fucking heavy. Craig, when you think of The Road, do you think of that as heavy?Track 5:[44:35] Yes.Track 3:[44:36] Wow, The Road, this song destroys me. Again, there's a bit of a theme on the album in a few songs about The Road, about missing out on life events. Yes. On, you know, the sacrifice. Of you know being a touring musician um you know a dream that i had when i was young and it didn't work out and you know i'm you know thankful for the life i have um and you know i'm sure gourd was as well but man like it had to be there had to be some really tough times being out away from your family all the time and missing things and um anyways this song is so good and the um the thing i want to say about this is when the drums come in there's no hi-hat it's just sort of kick and snare and that space really sets the the mood for this song um you know along with you know the piano of course um and there's one line i want to point out the machines are somewhat suitable now um you know is that is that the hospital machines is it is it a reference to man machine poem um i'm not sure but but this song like.Track 3:[46:06] Depresses me almost as much as the the book the road which destroyed me when i was um a young parent uh you know or not you know i wasn't young but my my son was young and if you you know um cormac mccarthy's the road it is absolutely devastating it is the a book that took me well i've never gotten over it really and the movie as well i watched the movie and it took me about six months to watch the movie i had to watch it like a little bit at a time when i was in the right headspace and it just it is if you haven't read it's maybe don't but it's incredible um but this this yeah if you name something the road it's probably going to destroy me well.Track 4:[46:51] So I had a bit of an awakening about three years ago when in May of 2021, my wife had something that she had to do at work late at night or 8 o'clock, 9 o'clock, whatever. And she couldn't be home to make dinner. And it was like a Tuesday or something. I don't know. And she messaged me during the day and said, you need to be home and make Evelyn dinner tonight. night. Evelyn's our daughter. And at the time she was, uh, almost four and I got home and I realized, holy shit, I've never made dinner for my daughter before. Um, I was working 80 hours a week and I was missing everything. And my wife had an Instagram account for our daughter. And that was the only way that I was keeping up. I lived in the same house, but I wasn't in the same family. You know what I mean? And yeah, the song brings all that back and made a big life change that very night. I sent a long message to my boss and said, we got to talk tomorrow, but I'm going to get it all out right now. Cause if I didn't say it now, I'm not going to say it. And I told him I'm done at the end of the year. I've I'll stick with you for my commitment through this year, but but I'd put 10 years into my job and missed everything in that 10 years. And, um.Track 4:[48:16] Give Gord another three decades on top of that. Um, I don't know who the song's about and I guess it doesn't matter, but, um, but obviously it matters, but, um, yeah, I, I really identified with the missing everything and even going back to the song about, um, uh, what is it? Love over money, um, about the band, you know, we missed funerals and births and all this stuff. And yeah, that's me. I've been there, man. I've, I still, to some degree, I'm there a little bit, but, um, yeah, I missed my daughter's first four years of her life.Track 5:[48:54] Everyone knows in this group here, I'm on the road all the time. I'm talking to you from a hotel room in, in Washington, DC. And, um, and so, I mean, Justin, I think this is actually a letter to the road and a letter to everyone that he's been on the road with, including his wife, his part, you know, his, his kids, his bandmates. It's, it's that, you know, that's that life you choose, you know, whether it's a traveling musician, whether it's a a traveling salesman, whether it's a, you know, a producer. Um, and, and, and it's, uh, it's tough, but when you're not on the road, if you are a road person, it's your, your, you know, jittery, you're nervous, but how do you, how do you give to your family and to yourself and to your job and to your art? And, uh, he wouldn't have been able to do that without the road. So but you know it's a blessing and a curse um i we mentioned this about another song here and this one i wrote was also a song that could have been on secret path was the note for me.Track 4:[50:17] Yeah yeah but musically yeah again.Track 5:[50:19] We there's not enough hours in the day right lads to uh just talk about the amazing insight and that we have it here you know to listen to to watch to read to just just beautiful.Track 4:[50:36] Well there's there's that point where you know you're you're young and and full of energy and you've got these huge goals and then you start to achieve them and then at the same time you have this other life going on behind the scenes that has always played second fiddle to that and then you realize at some point you're too deep into the pursuit to stop now but that this other life that was didn't even exist when you started uh has now taken the spot you know is number one on your on your pecking order and how the hell do you make that change without destroying everything that you've created you know yep.Track 5:[51:14] Oh you are the bird.Track 2:[51:18] Yeah it's uh it's a slow and lovely song right what do you think about it kirk to.Track 5:[51:28] Me this this was uh uh, uh, just a letter. It seemed like a letter to a sibling, right? You, you became the bird you, uh, and then it just, it made sense. And, uh, um, um.Track 5:[51:44] I, it, it starts getting heavy after a while, right? When you, when we break, I mean, we talked about it with the last week when we talked about the first one and how emotional it was and, you know, here we are, you know, however many songs in and you just, you stop. And like you said, you know, JD, it was like, these are the last five tunes and it's, it's, it's almost hard to embrace, um, and think about without just getting, you know, overwhelmed. I, I think it is, I think largely because of the love we have for, uh, you know, what, what, what Gord Downie has done solo and with the hip and, and in jazz as a human. So, um, but, uh, yeah, just, uh, you know, Another note was, again, I think I mentioned it earlier, just lyrics that are written different than what is being sung. And I didn't know if that was on purpose. I think I mentioned that. And I didn't know if it was something Gord was trying to do on purpose. Or it's probably nothing. It's probably just what was written and what was sung.Track 5:[53:04] You know, he probably had it written down as such and just like we do when you have a script in front of you, your brain has already chosen what the next word is going to be. So, anyway.Track 4:[53:15] I noticed that this shared a lot of similarities with Spoon from the first half where he talks about help being the only reason why we're here. You help others and the child in the song Spoon is, I guess, tasked with the same thing. I don't know if task is the right word, but this is a common thread throughout the album. And this lyrically shares a lot with that song.Track 3:[53:48] Yeah. I agree, Justin. That was my real only, my only real note on this song was that, that, you know, it's the only reason we're here. And that seems to be like, yeah, like if I had to break down this album into one message, that would be, I mean, other than like a goodbye and, uh, you know, uh, a lot, you know, a love letter to his close ones. Um, that is like the, yeah, the summation of this album. I also thought probably about A Child, the song, and also there's the line about he was the bird, he passed it down, you want to help people out. So, you know, he's referencing not only the person he's talking to, but someone, maybe another family member, a grandfather or someone who's passed down that quality that, he respects.Track 4:[54:35] There's one of my mentors. I kind of think of him as a father figure. His name is John Adams and he was a very bottom level race car driver around these parts. And, he and my father were about the same age and they were friends. And I started hanging out with John when I was 13 or 14 years old, trying to learn how to work on race cars. And there was one night he went off, he got pushed off the racetrack and he's, you know, this massive six foot six, 300 pound guy. And he comes barreling out of the car and climbs up to the top of the racetrack and gives a, gives the driver that, that wronged him the double bird. So he became the bird man that night. Um, that was his, that was his nickname. And so everybody calls him bird. And, you know, I thought, wouldn't that be silly if he passed his nickname down to me somehow, how you know because he doesn't all of his all of his kids are girls and i'm kind of like his sort of son um i don't think that's going to happen but i i know the song isn't made to laugh, but i laughed thinking about that that's.Track 2:[55:42] A nice memory though yeah.Track 4:[55:44] He's still with us he's still with us flipping people off all the time, yeah i.Track 5:[55:51] Love that the lake.Track 2:[58:56] Yeah, this one's a fucking tearjerker to me. So proceed with caution on this one. Justin?Track 4:[59:04] Yeah. I kind of mentioned it before that I thought that this song was about Lake Ontario, which has been such a constant theme throughout Gord's entire career with the hip and with the solo stuff. And there's so many references to the lake. Um but this song is not about the lake this song is is about his daughter willow i mean that's right at the end of the song uh i realized today you are lake ontario the love of my life you are willow and then he does this fantastic call and answer thing with his own you know backup vocals um saying willow over and over again and it's like wow this one this one is something um it's a it's a beautiful song um it's just gorgeous um and yes he does describe the lake or a lake um but all these same qualities could be about your child and man it's uh it's a crusher very.Track 5:[1:00:09] Astute observation mr justin that's uh i i think spot on um and as you mentioned you know it's obviously and and to compare the two is is that there's no disservice in that he loves them both dearly so um i loved how the keys on this made it feel like you were on the lake like you listen to the.Track 4:[1:00:37] Song and you feel like.Track 5:[1:00:39] You're floating in you know in a boat a canoe whatever on the lake and you hear the lake in that song. Um, absolutely amazing. Absolutely amazing.Track 4:[1:00:55] You know, I, I grew up on the water. Um, Lake Champlain is, they call it the sixth great lake. Um, and that's, I can see it out the window. Um, and my family had a camp on a little lake, uh, Hall's lake. And my wife grew up on a lake in Ohio, Guilford lake. And we go there They're three, four, five times a year. We're headed there next week. And she also came to Vermont working at a summer camp for, I think, seven summers on Lake Fairley, which is a gorgeous resort area. And so on first hearing this song, The Lake, and probably the first 10 times I heard it, I was like, man, I can see it. And then I picked up on the willow thing after, you know, 11th on my 11th listen, I guess. And I was like, Oh no, it's just something completely different. But if it is just about the lake, Oof, that's just as devastating and lovely.Track 3:[1:01:57] Yeah, I also grew up near a lake. Our house in Peachland, which my parents still live in, overlooks Okanagan Lake, which is a very large lake. And yeah, it just brings back memories. And it is maybe my favorite spot on earth. Right across the lake from where we live is a small island. There's no roads. There's no power. There's no development on the other side of the lake. And it's just a place that we would boat to when I was a kid and try to get over there every summer. And it's just, you know, this song takes me there. And also, you know, with the mention of his daughter at the end and, you know, the, you're the love of my life and it, yeah, it's just a beautiful song.Track 2:[1:02:46] It's gorgeous. Kirk?Track 5:[1:02:49] Again, we've said it already. you know these last five songs are they're crushers it's like it it was really hard to listen to them in succession like i really needed to stop you know this these last two far far away and blurred i you know my my my space that i left for what is supposed to be my guess of who it is who the song is to the letters to, is blank. And it is blank because to me it could be anyone. Maybe it was obvious to one of you guys, but I really felt like it was almost like a letter to everyone.Track 5:[1:03:34] We smile. All that we've been through, up and down for sure, onwards and upwards, up close, far away, and blurred. Um, the tempo changes in this song are amazing. It goes into a, a swing almost during the chorus. Um, and, uh, I, I, again, just the instrumentation and the, the combination of what, you know, uh, you know, obviously not just, um, Gordon, Kevin, but, you know, the others that contributed as well. So just add, I think, to each one of these letters, as it were, you know, as they started out. What'd you think about Far Away and Blurred, Craig?Track 3:[1:04:25] I really love this song. Another strong song on the second half of this album. And I almost wondered if maybe it could be another touring song, or maybe he's talking about traveling with his family. Great melody. And I agree with what you said, Kirk, when it changes tempo halfway through the song, and the drums come in with that slow beat, and the echo the the vocals are echoing and i i found that part very powerful and it's like, again i just can't, get over the the brilliance of his work it is like so emotional um and there's this like guitar pattern going on that's really really cool in the background as well and yeah and justin you yeah.Track 4:[1:05:20] I i guess i'm echoing what you guys have said um it's just a if i mean it's a little bit upbeat um for a hot minute there and again comes at a at a place where you need it um Um, yeah, it's, it's lovely. It's how it's a guy who's frigging dying, um, and telling everybody how much he loves them and that he always has, whether, whether you're in view or not. Right. Um, yeah, the.Track 5:[1:05:53] Passion in his voice in the vocal, um, is just so palpable. And so it just, I mean, wrenching, but almost in a, just again, another reminder of just how amazing, how amazing every part and ounce of the art that comes out of this guy is just incredible, incredible.Track 3:[1:06:23] Yeah, JD, did you have anything to add for this one?Track 2:[1:06:26] I don't know if I could get anything out right now if I tried. it's.Track 3:[1:06:30] A tough one I.Track 2:[1:06:32] Think you know his voice in the verses I've got written down that it's playful and painful at the same time, and you know it builds the chorus is obviously as powerful a gourd voice as we've heard in almost any song on this record, We'll get more of that in later records that we'll discuss in future episodes, but yeah, it's a great song, but it's the second-to-last song, and the North is a really powerful way to end. A callback to Secret Path and The Bridge. But overall, it's an interesting tracking decision. It can't be a coincidence. Right, Justin?Track 4:[1:11:07] No, of course it's not. It's a reminder. It's like he spent a good portion of that final show in Kingston reminding everybody to pay attention and to keep paying attention. And that's exactly what this song is. is it's it's uh yeah i did secret path but keep going forward keep talking about it keep moving keep changing um keep trying to figure this out um you know i don't know if we i don't think we've said this on air but when we first started talking about this album there i i mentioned to you guys in our in our group chat that i thought this was some of the songs on this album were like a stream of consciousness and i think i know that there's the video of of them recording this song and i know that it's not a stream of consciousness but i think when he was writing this song, what he wrote down is whatever came to his head first and i'm going to find a song to to put it to and i got to get this message out i don't care if it's rhymes or makes sense musically or what This has to be said again and again and again and again. And good on him, you know. Yeah.Track 3:[1:12:22] Yeah. So he makes the reference to, um, you know, a place West of, of James Bay, which would be Ottawa, Piscat, which of course the hip have, have the song about. And, um, I, I, I'm wondering if this song is either about or to Joseph Boyden, the author who, at the same time secret path was released, released a book called when Jack, um, I didn't mention him on the secret path episode only because there is some controversy you can look it up if you're interested but calling his um his roots into you know question um you know people questioning that he may not be in fact indigenous so you know that's definitely something you can kind of look into yourself but um joseph boyden is famous for a book called three day road and And just an interesting little thing that I came across about a week ago was a story related to this. So this story, Three Day Road, is about from just, I haven't read the book, but I've read a different story about a sniper in World War I named Francis Paganagabo. And he was nicknamed Peggy. And he has more kills than any sniper in North America.Track 3:[1:13:44] And his story is relatively unknown. And it's a really fascinating story. And anyways, I was reading a short story about that last week and then made this discovery about the connection to Joseph Boyden. Anyways, I highly encourage you to check out a story called Peggy. There's actually a podcast too by CBC called This Place. which is 150 years of Canadian history told by indigenous voices. And the episode on Peggy is incredible.Track 5:[1:14:19] The line Canada, we should have never called Canada. Um, I thought was pretty bold as well to put out there as you guys all had been mentioning, you know, obviously when he had addressed the crowd, you know, at several of the shows and, and several of his interviews. So I think that's, uh, bold, but expected. So I, I, uh, I think we all appreciate that. He would, would, go out there to this level.Track 3:[1:14:51] Yeah there's definitely a call back to that that statement in the last show that he made to the prime minister and i always um really admired that and, i always wondered what it would be like if an american artist did the same thing, you know like a high profile of bruce springsteen or someone went out and said something like that just the absolute division that would that would ensue um yeah yeah oh.Track 5:[1:15:18] Yeah I was going to say the dick and chicks are a good example.Track 3:[1:15:22] Of it.Track 4:[1:15:22] Happening.Track 5:[1:15:23] So but yeah.Track 4:[1:15:27] Or the opposite of that lady antebellum who's then sued the person that they stole their name from well fellas.Track 2:[1:15:36] It's time to ask the question will you be keeping this record in your rotation.Track 4:[1:15:44] I'm going to say not all the time And it's got nothing to do with the music. It's the subject. It's the heaviness of it. It's I don't want to, I don't want to be down. Um, there are some songs on this, on this record that are frigging awesome. They're all, they're all very good, but you know, there's some songs that certainly fit into the hip like catalog.Track 2:[1:16:07] Sure. And you can add them to your mixtape, right?Track 4:[1:16:10] Exactly. And that's probably how I'll consume them. Um, but this is going to be something that I listened to once every couple of years, maybe.Track 5:[1:16:19] Yeah, it's a commitment. I was just going to say it's a commitment. So I would answer very similarly to what Justin said. Even for this particular purpose of this podcast, it was heavy listening every time, every time you went through it. And so definitely some tunes I want to keep hearing regularly, but it's not something that I would. All i have on regular rotation like like i would would some of the others that that have definitely been fantastic in my opinion i.Track 3:[1:16:58] Agree with you guys i i definitely will come back to this album, um considering i gave it you know it took me six and a half years just to give it a first listen i'm definitely not going to wait that long um but i think i'll just have to be in the right frame of mind to put it on but i absolutely will i really do love it in fact coming up with an mvp track for this is definitely the hardest decision i've had to make i was hoping we were going to do one last week and one this week but so i'm it's going to be a last uh last second decision i was.Track 4:[1:17:31] Hoping jd would forget the question this time.Track 2:[1:17:33] I've got it written down so i don't forget my My memory is so piss poor.Track 3:[1:17:39] Right in on your hand.Track 2:[1:17:40] I call it a format sheet, but for real, it's cheating. Craig, we're going to stick with you. And we're going to go to MVP track.Track 3:[1:17:48] I want to know what they say first. So to clarify, is this my absolute favorite track or is this the track that I want to put onto a mixtape?Track 2:[1:18:00] It can be, that can be your interpretation. It can, it's the most valuable player. It's the, you know.Track 3:[1:18:07] So I had so many I mean my first instinct was a natural but I think I'm going to have to go with Snowflake it's.Track 2:[1:18:17] So good it.Track 3:[1:18:18] Is such a powerful song to me and I love the chorus I love the way again that big reverb sound and it's just a really gorgeous song and takes me you know visually takes me somewhere.Track 2:[1:18:36] We could definitely overuse the word gorgeous on this record because there's so much gorgeosity on it, you know?Track 4:[1:18:45] Nice.Track 5:[1:18:46] There is that.Track 2:[1:18:48] Right?Track 5:[1:18:49] There is that.Track 2:[1:18:50] Kirk.Track 5:[1:18:51] Yeah. MVP? Thinking about us, man.Track 3:[1:18:54] Good call.Track 5:[1:18:55] That tune, just thinking about us. It's thinking about us. That's all I need to say.Track 2:[1:19:01] You didn't have to hesitate at all. Wow.Track 5:[1:19:04] No.Track 2:[1:19:06] Justin, how are you going to react to the question? Craig was very concerned and didn't want to say anything. Kirk was very resolute and just put a flag in her. And Justin, where are you on this one? I'm giving you some time to think, so it's not really fair.Track 4:[1:19:25] Well, I don't need time to think. I just don't have an answer. I've been thinking about this since the first listen because I knew that this was coming. Um i will i i do have an answer um but i'll tell you the pics that i had wolf's home because it makes me think of my dad bedtime because of just the connection with my daughter and when this song or when this record came out um i love introduce yourself for the reasons that we talked about it's it's a great song about your buddy and and you know get me out of another jam please you know There was some interview that Gord did that he told Billy Ray. He goes, something happened with a guitar. And he goes, I will literally blow you if you fix this. I love Spoon, that song Spoon, because I really like the band. But I also like the story of going to the show with a kid. um but i'm gonna go with love over money because that's why we're all here in the first place yeah right good job justin yeah thank.Track 2:[1:20:37] You what bow you put in it love.Track 4:[1:20:39] It yeah yeah.Track 2:[1:20:42] And that brings us to the end of Introduce Yourself. Just a, you know, what a, I'm going to use the word again, what a gorgeous piece of work. And so memorable and so thoughtful. And, you know, this is the last stuff he recorded. It's really, really quite heavy. And we're sorry if we brought you down a little bit with these last two episodes, um but trust us we're celebrating this music we're not mourning we are celebrating and.Track 3:[1:21:23] Jd i want to thank you one more time for bringing me on board for this project because this is the album that i told you right from the start has been sitting on my shelf and i needed i wanted to listen to it. It's been staring at me for years and I just couldn't do it. And I think maybe just having, you know, you guys along with the ride makes it, you know, easier to do.Track 2:[1:21:50] Thank you very much. Thank you for doing it.Track 4:[1:21:53] Yeah. I a hundred percent. Thank you. I, I didn't know about any other records, um, um that gourd had done um but i knew about this one and i was choosing to not listen to it you know i i wanted nothing to do with it um and i gotta be honest with you i'm glad it's over i'm glad it's behind us um i listened to this this album in its entirety probably 25 to 30 times um it's.Track 2:[1:22:22] A lot yeah.Track 4:[1:22:23] It's a lot and the last week or so um leading up to recording this i stopped listening completely um i had to stop it was just killing me and i started listening to um some of the older hip stuff and i started listening to some sadie stuff and i listened to conquering sun quite a bit um but i had to get away from the heaviness and go back to being a fan, because this was a hard one.Track 2:[1:22:57] Completely agree well on behalf of uh craig and justin and kirk it's me jd and we're saying goodbye for another week we'll be back we've just got a couple episodes left fellas we've got away is mine and we've got luster parfait and then we've got the finale and i'm getting excited about yeah.Track 4:[1:23:21] Hell yeah oh yeah yeah and you know it's gonna.Track 2:[1:23:26] Be a good time.Track 4:[1:23:27] I got it you know we got to give a shout out to our our social media following you guys are really starting to step up and kick ass lately and it's really re-energized all of us a lot um we're our group chat has been on fire the last several days as we record this because we're just like did you see this one did you see the message there did you see the email oh my god you know it's yeah we're obsessing over the rankings and it's it's great it's fun it's a lot of fun well.Track 5:[1:23:52] So it was so crazy too to get some like some you know some of the official accounts of these people that we were talking about are.Track 4:[1:24:01] Right are.Track 5:[1:24:02] Sharing some of the you know the links and stuff to some of these episodes and and uh we're getting just some great amazing comments you know through the right you guys mentioned social media you know instagram facebook and uh just i don't think any of us had that on our bingo cards when we woke up in the morning, you know?Track 2:[1:24:22] I didn't.Track 4:[1:24:27] Right. And the Sadies messaged you back today, Craig. That's cool.Track 2:[1:24:33] Holy shit.Track 4:[1:24:34] And JD's putting in the legwork tenfold over what we're doing.Track 2:[1:24:38] Stop.Track 4:[1:24:39] He's listening. He's throwing everything together and doing interviews and making all this happen. I mean, I don't know if any of us are getting rich off this.Track 2:[1:24:48] Oh, not fucking me.Track 4:[1:24:50] You know, JD is certainly reaping the benefits of, I think a lot of people are appreciating what you're doing and I know we are.Track 5:[1:24:57] Yeah, absolutely.Track 2:[1:24:59] It's a group effort, guys. It's a group effort, man. All right, folks. Pick up your shit.Track 1:[1:25:07] Thanks for listening to Discovering Downey. To find out more about the show and its host, visit DiscoveringDowney.com. You can email us at discoveringdowney at gmail.com. And hey, we're social. Check us out.

This is an encore podcast presentation previously aired on June 9th, 2023.  Astute employers understand the transformative power of fostering a culture of appreciation. Such an environment not only attracts top-tier talent but also cultivates a stronger sense of connection to the organization's mission and values among employees. The research underscores this, revealing that when managers acknowledge their efforts, employees are 69% more inclined to invest further in their work. However, crafting such a culture proves to be a formidable task, particularly in today's dynamic post-pandemic work landscape. Hence, I've invited an expert in employee appreciation and recognition programs to impart her insights with us.

Miah Sommer is the founder and executive director of Astute Coffee, formerly known as the Bike Union. The nonprofit coffee shop employs young adults impacted by the foster care system and creates programming to give them the tools to succeed in the workforce and their personal lives. Sommer was born and raised in Omaha. His mission with Astute Coffee was informed and inspired by his childhood. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/riversidechats/support

In PX116 our guest is Stephen Rowley. Stephen is the author of two books, ‘Movie Towns and Sitcom Suburbs: Building Hollywood's Ideal Communities' and ‘The Victorian Planning System: Practice, Problems and Prospects'.  In February 2022 he was made of a Fellow of the Planning Institute of Australia, the citation included: ‘Over the first 20 years of his career Dr Stephen Rowley has made a very significant contribution to planning as an inspiring and passionate lecturer, through his publications, his engagement in planning debates, and his continued advocacy for planning reform. Stephen is one of the profession's leading voices on the operation of the Victorian planning system. His critical insights into the structure of the VPPs and their intersection with planning practice are highly valued across the sector.' An engaging interview with a planning profession who has given much to the profession and Australian cities. His observations can be applied broadly to planning systems around the globe. In Podcast Extra / Culture Corner Stephen recommends the British comedy (satirical) program ‘The Thick of It' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thick_of_It). Jess recommends Canva a graphic design software program. Pete has two recommendations. the movie ‘Godzilla Minus One' (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23289160/) and the second, a British comedy program from the 1980's ‘The Young Ones' (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083505/) that could never be made these days. Audio produced by Jack Bavage. Podcast released 2 May 2024.

André, The Impulsive Thinker, sits down with Chad Jenkins, maverick entrepreneur and author of "Just Add a Zero," for a game-changing conversation on expanding your entrepreneurial mindset. Drawing from Chad's creative business strategies and André's own experiences as an ADHD entrepreneur, this episode is a deep dive into innovative thinking and exponential growth. Key Points Covered: - The "just add a zero" mindset for pushing the boundaries of traditional growth trajectories. - Harnessing our brains' problem-solving skills with a simple twist – the power of "unless." - The potential for monetization of experience through platforms like the Seed Spark Collective. One Question for Listeners: Reflecting on the episode, André prompts listeners to ponder: How can you apply the "just add a zero" philosophy to rethink the scale of your business and personal goals? The question invites ADHD entrepreneurs to consider a radical perspective shift that might unlock untapped potential within themselves and their enterprises. Summary Points: - Reframing challenges as growth opportunities using "the obstacle is the way" philosophy. - The importance of collaboration and unconventional thinking to overcome business hurdles. - Seed Spark Academy as a resource for entrepreneurs to embrace non-linear growth patterns. Wrap up with André as he reiterates the vitality of thinking differently and embracing market frictions to achieve personal and professional breakthroughs. If you're an ADHD entrepreneur ready to ignite exponential growth and unlock new opportunities, this episode with Chad Jenkins is your pivotal starting point. Guest: Chad Jenkins is a visionary entrepreneur whose unique approach to scaling businesses has set him apart in the world of innovation. From a young age, Chad exhibited a knack for exponential growth, an ability that he attributes to a simple yet profound principle he discovered at the tender age of eight—adding a zero. However, Chad is quick to clarify that the genuine potency of his strategy lies not just in numerical expansion, but in the transformative impact it has on one's mindset and operational tactics. Throughout his illustrious career, Chad has leveraged this foundational concept to drive remarkable success across multiple enterprises. His philosophy, rooted in an unorthodox interpretation of growth, has served as both a personal mantra and a professional toolkit. Friends, colleagues, and competitors alike have often marveled at Chad's ability to see beyond conventional increments of growth, instead creating leaps and bounds that redefine the possible. Chad's story is one of groundbreaking achievements, fueled by an early lesson in thinking big. His tenfold approach isn't simply about ambition; it's about reimagining the scale at which one can operate. Astute, bold, and relentlessly forward-thinking, Chad Jenkins stands as a testament to the idea that sometimes, the smallest of changes in perspective can lead to the grandest of transformations in reality. Chad can be reached through LinkedIn, www.chadtjenkins.com  or his website. Just add zero – press kit. Check out the ADHD Transform Journey Program that is now available. We would like to hear from you!  Please send show ideas, questions, or feedback to podcast@tacticalbts.com and join our mailing list here!  Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Check out our website at Tactical Breakthroughs. André Brisson can also be found on LinkedIn. You can find other Podcast Episodes here!

For more info and to register for Katie's Japan Study - Click here:https://kbjanderson.com/japantrip/What's your reaction when you hear the phrase “corporate politics”? Does it make you cringe and want to run away, or do you get curious about how to leverage them to influence outcomes?In this episode, Betsy Jordyn joins me to discuss the essential skill of how to successfully navigate organizational politics. As a long-time organizational development consultant for companies like Disney, Wyndham, and AAA, Betsy's expertise on the subject is enlightening. Throughout our conversation, you'll learn the difference between good politics and toxic environments and what's at risk if leaders don't prioritize a focus on astutely navigating those dynamics. Betsy also shares valuable details about some of the more complex organizational transformations she has led, and how she successfully maneuvered within those political landscapes. If you're looking to gain influence and effectively leverage corporate politics so that you can lead change and  step into your full leadership potential, then you won't want to miss this episode. YOU'LL LEARN:Steps to help you master the critical skill of being an Astute Political Navigator — one of the eight core Change KATALYST™ competencies to further develop your expertise as an organizational change leader A transformational framework to help executives and change leaders like you articulate your vision, integrate individual leadership voices, and align organizational goals How to effectively leverage political dynamics, avoid the trap of becoming another pair of hands, and increase your influenceThe power in politics — how to balance diverse perspectives within an organization and  differentiate between good politics and a toxic environmentThe essential roles of empathy, respect, deep listening, and function-specific language to effectively lead and manage changeIMPORTANT LINKS:Full episode shownotes: ChainOfLearning.com/14Betsy's website: www.betsyjordan.comBetsy's ‘Enough Already' podcast: https://www.betsyjordyn.com/podcasts/enough-alreadyWork with me: KBJAnderson.comChange KATALYST™  Self-Assessment: KBJAnderson.com/katalystFollow me on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kbjandersonTIMESTAMPS:[00:00] Introduction to the episode [03:43] Navigating good politics as an organizational change leader[06:16] Lessons in navigating both formal and informal political structures [11:26] How to help leaders and consultants articulate goals and bring executives on board [17:48] How to avoid the trap of being a pair of hands: influencing vs. executing [20:34] Differentiating good politics from toxic environments[26:59] The connection between Betsy's current and past roles in leading organizational change and coaching consultants for growth and impact For more info and to register for Katie's Japan Study - Click here:https://kbjanderson.com/japantrip/

Hey BillOReilly.com Premium and Concierge Members, welcome to the No Spin News for Thursday, March 14, 2024. Stand Up for Your Country. Tonight's rundown: Talking Points Memo: Problem solving – and lack thereof. Hunter Biden's gun case trial set to start first week of June – and run into his tax fraud trial. Big month for Hunter! Biden administration is now glamorizing abortion – this is what Democrats think will win them the White House. Communist Bernie Sanders unveils 32-hour workweek bill. New study shows Americans have no retirement – and those that do are borrowing against their 401k at record highs. West Point changes their mission statement. Smart Life: Skin cancer This Day in History: Jack Ruby found guilty of murdering Lee Harvey Oswald Final Thought: conservatives are now banned from network entertainment shows. In Case You Missed It: Read Bill's latest column, “Who's Zoomin' Who?” Order the brand new BillOReilly.com Self Reliance coffee mug for only $24.95! Election season is here! Now's the time to get a Premium or Concierge Membership to BillOReilly.com, the only place for honest news analysis. Preorder Bill's latest book CONFRONTING THE PRESIDENTS, a No Spin assessment of every president from Washington to Biden. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I'm chatting with money coach Alpha about the importance of financial literacy and independence for women in midlife. We discuss how our childhood experiences with money and alcohol have shaped our work empowering women. Alpha shares tips for separating finances in relationships and overcoming limiting beliefs around money. Episode Highlights: Financial agency gives women power and control over their situations Estrogen can keep women in denial aut taking control of finances Separating finances from a partner does not mean the relationship is unhealthy Personal values around money often stem from childhood experiences Questioning beliefs and having honest conversations with partners is important Regular financial habits like saving and budgeting can be learned and repeated Find out more about Alpha at https://www.money-madesimple.com.au/ My Upcoming Live Coached Events & Programs: Virtual Retreat - 5 Days To Freedom - 19th-23rd Feb 2024 https://www.hoperisingcoaching.com/5dayvrfeb2024 FREE Masterclass - '5 Surprising Ways Taking A Break From Alcohol Can Be Effortless & Change your Life' - 28th Feb 2024 - https://www.hoperisingcoaching.com/feb24masterclassreg 30 Day - Great Aussie Alcohol Experiment - LIVE! 4th March - 2nd April 2024 - https://www.hoperisingcoaching.com/the_great_aussie_alcohol_experiment Learn more about Emma Gilmour at: www.hoperisingcoaching.com Follow Emma Gilmour on insta @hoperisingcoaching Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/midlife-af-podcast/id1649673705

Interview with Tim Harrison, Managing Director of Ionic Rare EarthsOur previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/ionic-rare-earths-asxixr-building-europes-rare-earths-supply-chain-4476Recording date: 8th February 2024Rare earth elements (REEs) form the hidden backbone energising the global transition to electric mobility and clean power. Their unique magnetic, catalytic, and photonics properties impart performance and efficiency gains that silicon and copper simply cannot match. Yet, even as rapid electrification escalates demand, these obscure metals face a brewing supply crisis that jeopardizes nations' net zero emissions timetables absent concerted action to develop alternative sources.Australian firm Ionic Rare Earths seeks to break China's stranglehold on rare earths production through an innovative two-pronged strategy focused firstly on recycling magnets from electronic waste to recover vital rare earth oxides and secondly on developing its major Makuutu rare earths deposit in Uganda. Executing this plan can establish Ionic as the leading independent full-cycle rare earths operator as Western countries scramble to shore up their manufacturing and defence supply chains.Importantly, Ionic brings credible technological expertise and industry partnerships that validate its capabilities. The company already operates a demonstration facility showcasing its recycling processes. Moreover, collaborations with Volkswagen-owned Hypromag and specialist manufacturer Less Common Metals position Ionic to rapidly commercialize operations. Attractive government incentives and policies driving rare earths recycling in Europe and abroad create strong tailwinds.Nevertheless, successfully scaling production from primary deposits likely constitutes the bigger long-term economic opportunity. Ionic's Makuutu project in Uganda offers district-scale resource potential plus inexpensive extraction from mineralization occurring near surface in soft clay. Once in full swing, Makuutu can deliver the bulk tonnages of neodymium, praseodymium, and dysprosium essential to energize mass EV adoption and wind power buildouts.Shares of Ionic Rare Earths trade at just a fraction of projected net asset value, embedding intriguing upside as executes its growth roadmap in the years ahead. The window to capitalize on the impending rare earths shortage continues narrowing. Astute investors looking for leverage upon this critical secular trend in clean energy should take note.—View Ionic Rare Earth's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/ionic-rare-earths-ltdSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com

By the 1980s, critics and the public alike considered James Baldwin irrelevant. Yet Baldwin remained an important, prolific writer until his death in 1987. Indeed, his work throughout the decade pushed him into new areas, in particular an expanded interest in the social and psychological consequences of popular culture and mass media. In his new book James Baldwin and the 1980s: Witnessing the Reagan Era (University of Illinois Press, 2018), Joseph Vogel offers the first in-depth look at Baldwin's dynamic final decade of work. Delving into the writer's creative endeavors, crucial essays and articles, and the impassioned polemic The Evidence of Things Not Seen, Vogel finds Baldwin as prescient and fearless as ever. Baldwin's sustained grappling with "the great transforming energy" of mass culture revealed his gifts for media and cultural criticism. It also brought him into the fray on issues ranging from the Reagan-era culture wars to the New South, from the deterioration of inner cities to the disproportionate incarceration of black youth, and from pop culture gender-bending to the evolving women's and gay rights movements. Astute and compelling, revives and redeems the final act of a great American writer. Adam McNeil is a Ph.D. Candidate in History at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

By the 1980s, critics and the public alike considered James Baldwin irrelevant. Yet Baldwin remained an important, prolific writer until his death in 1987. Indeed, his work throughout the decade pushed him into new areas, in particular an expanded interest in the social and psychological consequences of popular culture and mass media. In his new book James Baldwin and the 1980s: Witnessing the Reagan Era (University of Illinois Press, 2018), Joseph Vogel offers the first in-depth look at Baldwin's dynamic final decade of work. Delving into the writer's creative endeavors, crucial essays and articles, and the impassioned polemic The Evidence of Things Not Seen, Vogel finds Baldwin as prescient and fearless as ever. Baldwin's sustained grappling with "the great transforming energy" of mass culture revealed his gifts for media and cultural criticism. It also brought him into the fray on issues ranging from the Reagan-era culture wars to the New South, from the deterioration of inner cities to the disproportionate incarceration of black youth, and from pop culture gender-bending to the evolving women's and gay rights movements. Astute and compelling, revives and redeems the final act of a great American writer. Adam McNeil is a Ph.D. Candidate in History at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

By the 1980s, critics and the public alike considered James Baldwin irrelevant. Yet Baldwin remained an important, prolific writer until his death in 1987. Indeed, his work throughout the decade pushed him into new areas, in particular an expanded interest in the social and psychological consequences of popular culture and mass media. In his new book James Baldwin and the 1980s: Witnessing the Reagan Era (University of Illinois Press, 2018), Joseph Vogel offers the first in-depth look at Baldwin's dynamic final decade of work. Delving into the writer's creative endeavors, crucial essays and articles, and the impassioned polemic The Evidence of Things Not Seen, Vogel finds Baldwin as prescient and fearless as ever. Baldwin's sustained grappling with "the great transforming energy" of mass culture revealed his gifts for media and cultural criticism. It also brought him into the fray on issues ranging from the Reagan-era culture wars to the New South, from the deterioration of inner cities to the disproportionate incarceration of black youth, and from pop culture gender-bending to the evolving women's and gay rights movements. Astute and compelling, revives and redeems the final act of a great American writer. Adam McNeil is a Ph.D. Candidate in History at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies

By the 1980s, critics and the public alike considered James Baldwin irrelevant. Yet Baldwin remained an important, prolific writer until his death in 1987. Indeed, his work throughout the decade pushed him into new areas, in particular an expanded interest in the social and psychological consequences of popular culture and mass media. In his new book James Baldwin and the 1980s: Witnessing the Reagan Era (University of Illinois Press, 2018), Joseph Vogel offers the first in-depth look at Baldwin's dynamic final decade of work. Delving into the writer's creative endeavors, crucial essays and articles, and the impassioned polemic The Evidence of Things Not Seen, Vogel finds Baldwin as prescient and fearless as ever. Baldwin's sustained grappling with "the great transforming energy" of mass culture revealed his gifts for media and cultural criticism. It also brought him into the fray on issues ranging from the Reagan-era culture wars to the New South, from the deterioration of inner cities to the disproportionate incarceration of black youth, and from pop culture gender-bending to the evolving women's and gay rights movements. Astute and compelling, revives and redeems the final act of a great American writer. Adam McNeil is a Ph.D. Candidate in History at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biography

By the 1980s, critics and the public alike considered James Baldwin irrelevant. Yet Baldwin remained an important, prolific writer until his death in 1987. Indeed, his work throughout the decade pushed him into new areas, in particular an expanded interest in the social and psychological consequences of popular culture and mass media. In his new book James Baldwin and the 1980s: Witnessing the Reagan Era (University of Illinois Press, 2018), Joseph Vogel offers the first in-depth look at Baldwin's dynamic final decade of work. Delving into the writer's creative endeavors, crucial essays and articles, and the impassioned polemic The Evidence of Things Not Seen, Vogel finds Baldwin as prescient and fearless as ever. Baldwin's sustained grappling with "the great transforming energy" of mass culture revealed his gifts for media and cultural criticism. It also brought him into the fray on issues ranging from the Reagan-era culture wars to the New South, from the deterioration of inner cities to the disproportionate incarceration of black youth, and from pop culture gender-bending to the evolving women's and gay rights movements. Astute and compelling, revives and redeems the final act of a great American writer. Adam McNeil is a Ph.D. Candidate in History at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

Homeopathy engages and invokes the subconscious mind. A fully taken case of existential torment featuring constant worry, anxiety, depression, loss of motivation, exhaustion, and diminished social interaction includes physical symptoms that when interpreted, are clues to subconscious thinking. By signifying an existential ailment's cause, physical symptoms dictate the course of treatment. Astute psychologists and therapists on occasion also take note of physical symptoms. But other than referring the client to a physician, little use of these is made. For most physicians and therapists acknowledging the subconscious and its pathology is one thing, the purging of inner demons another matter. Yet homeopathic experience with existentially rooted ailments reveals that the subconscious mind and inherited mindsets are amenable to change. --------------------------------------------------- Presenting diagnostic insight, specific homeopathic remedies, and successful case study examples about the profound connections between emotions and their physical manifestations in illness, Jerry M. Kantor correlates the five classical miasms and their core existential quandaries with the Five Elements and Phase Theory of Chinese Medicine. He likens inborn foundational emotions to tools, each one designed to solve an stress-related problem. Self-sabotaging imbalances—energetic and physical—can occur when an emotional tool is excessively used, such as when a once-familiar stress is no longer present, or underused, as when a stressful input is inadequately managed. ------------------ He explains how identifying a default emotional response—such as anxiety or anger—along with its accompanying physical symptoms can determine the core existential stress or heredity pattern underlying a chronic condition. For each of the five classical miasms and their associated physical and emotional conditions, the author presents homeopathic remedies that mollify the impact of specific existential quandaries and explains their indications through detailed examples from his practice.

Homeopathy engages and invokes the subconscious mind. A fully taken case of existential torment featuring constant worry, anxiety, depression, loss of motivation, exhaustion, and diminished social interaction includes physical symptoms that when interpreted, are clues to subconscious thinking. By signifying an existential ailment's cause, physical symptoms dictate the course of treatment. Astute psychologists and therapists on occasion also take note of physical symptoms. But other than referring the client to a physician, little use of these is made. For most physicians and therapists acknowledging the subconscious and its pathology is one thing, the purging of inner demons another matter. Yet homeopathic experience with existentially rooted ailments reveals that the subconscious mind and inherited mindsets are amenable to change. --------------------------------------------------- Presenting diagnostic insight, specific homeopathic remedies, and successful case study examples about the profound connections between emotions and their physical manifestations in illness, Jerry M. Kantor correlates the five classical miasms and their core existential quandaries with the Five Elements and Phase Theory of Chinese Medicine. He likens inborn foundational emotions to tools, each one designed to solve an stress-related problem. Self-sabotaging imbalances—energetic and physical—can occur when an emotional tool is excessively used, such as when a once-familiar stress is no longer present, or underused, as when a stressful input is inadequately managed. ------------------ He explains how identifying a default emotional response—such as anxiety or anger—along with its accompanying physical symptoms can determine the core existential stress or heredity pattern underlying a chronic condition. For each of the five classical miasms and their associated physical and emotional conditions, the author presents homeopathic remedies that mollify the impact of specific existential quandaries and explains their indications through detailed examples from his practice.

Crow engages in a lot of heavy breathing this episode. Is it because he is so dedicated to exercise that he is co-hosting while astride his wife's Peloton? Is he just so damn excited to be back with Rooster after an unexpected hiatus? Or is he just all up in the microphone's business with the gain turned up a tad too high? Astute listeners may be able to tell. For the rest of you, just enjoy!

#Londinium90AD: Gaius and Germanicus observe that the CIA has long been a clubby domain of obtuse James Bonds vs astute Miss Moneypennys. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/18/books/review/the-sisterhood-liza-mundy.html

Many thanks Lisa for your chat about all the work that goes into building a strong business with artists . You can find the Astute artist course on this linkhttps://www.theastuteartist.comLisa's instagram https://www.instagram.com/lisadoust/

Dr. Krahn reached out over social media and sent me a long message about some of the things he has found in his journey to be a better elk hunter and in listening to far too much of this podcast. It is clear that Gabe is a smart cat that has thought through his elk hunting experiences. In fact, he wrote out the following solely as note to himself and I asked him if we could add it to the show notes for you guys. In this podcast we only scratch the surface of a few of these topics but I think the whole thing is worth reading and we will have to get Dr. Krahn on again to talk more. Good morning, I'm just one of the many random DIY'ers who checks out your content from time to time. Over my christmas break i listened to you 6 hour ultimate elk episode. It got me thinking about my own experiences runnin & gunnin after bugles so i started jotting some of my thoughts down. what started as a few point form notes ended up a 4 page single spaced essay. If u have nuthin better 2 do feel free 2 peruse my thoughts. if its not worth your time, no harm no foul With few exceptions, elk are heterogeneous. Whilst many elk trends are widespread, very few patterns or behaviors, no matter how prevalent in one region, are definitively applicable in all scenarios. Even within a small area, or a small herd, or from season to season or year to year, but few axioms hold conclusively true at all times. Consequently, to the detriment of their success, elk hunters inappropriately equate common idioms or past anecdotes with evidence and apply "rules" or "lessons" from isolated events across an inappropriately wide spectrum. The following is a synopsis of the few true universalities of elk hunting. 1) Elk do not process the binary decision of safe vs dangerous. The rationale of an elk is: Safe vs Fails to be Safe. Elk do not have to know danger is present to modify their course of action. All that is needed to induce an elk to rapidly adjust its behavior (most commonly manifested as an abrupt change in position and cessation of vocalization) is a failure to be certain a situation is safe. You hear many a hunter saying "he knew something wasn't right". This is precisely correct. The elk did not know something was wrong. It didn't need to. All it needed was the suspicion something wasn't right. If an elk isn't certain of its safety, it will quickly relocate to a new situation. So not only does a hunter have to not make an error, a hunter also has to do everything right. 2) The elk calling sins of commission and omission have the same outcome. It is possible to make the wrong call. Likewise one can make the "right" call but at the wrong time. Equally as detrimental to a successful harvest is a failure to make the right call - or failure to make it at the right time. 3) Never make an elk call without a specific message to convey at a specific point in time. Elk communication has a structure which imparts meaning and uninformed, or worse random, attempts at mimicry repels elk. As social mammals their behavior includes vocal, visual, tactile, olfactory and gustatory communication. Proficient hunters can productively emulate and/or manipulate the first two forms. Good calling used appropriately can produce majestic results. Seemingly random calling, if not actually random but disseminated for a specific purpose of imparting a specific piece of information, is also very productive. Actual random elk-like sounds disseminated simply to "sound like an elk" are detrimental. As are uninformed elk-like sounds that convey an incorrect or nonessential message (see universal elk truth #2) 4) Never call from a spot from whereby it is visibly apparent no elk made that call. No matter how far away you are from the elk, never call from a spot where you can be seen or, equally as detrimental, where it is apparent that no elk is there to be the source of that call. When an elk can see the location an elk sound is coming from, it must see the elk that made that sound. If it is does not, the first universal elk truth will take effect. 5) You cannot fool an elk's nose. No substance exists, whether harvested, purified, synthesized or purchased, that can functionally conceal or retard your scent to a degree that renders the wind anything other than the most important factor to consider when elk hunting. You have nothing without the wind. 6) There is no substitute for boots-on-the-ground scouting. Fred bear was incorrect. Next year's hunt does not start the day after this year's hunt. Next year's hunt started the moment you first ever set foot in the forest. E-scouting, trail cameras, how-to courses and consultation with local residents all add value but none supersede the importance of physically being in elk country. Every distant bugle, every lone animal sighting, every hoof print, every rub, every wallow, every dropping etc - including those you are noting on your current hunt - are included in the rolodex of knowledge to be applied on future hunts. 7) A single environmental phenomenon fully controls the rut. The declining length of daylight striking a cow elk's retina triggers her estrous cycle. Save for catastrophic drout or famine, in which a cow does not have the sustenance necessary to reproduce, no other environmental phenomenon has any impact on when the rut occurs. Temperature, weather fronts & lunar cycles DO NOT affect the TIMING of the rut. These other conditions can all substantially impact how active elk are and/or where elk may be located but the ONLY ENVIRONMENTAL FACTOR THAT CONTROLS THE TIMING OF THE RUT IS THE LENGTH OF DAYLIGHT STRIKING A COW ELK'S RETINA. Bull elk are willing to breed once they rub their velvet. If a bull elk were to come across a cow elk in estrous in the 3rd week of August during a 120°F heat wave, that bull would attempt to mount and inseminate that cow. If a bull elk came across a cow elk in estrous during a -30°F November blizzard, that bull would attempt to mount and inseminate that cow. The only impact the weather and lunar cycle will have on these two anomalous ovulations is how vigorously these two elk will behave and where one may find them. To further substantiate this widely misinformed fact, recall humans and elk are both mammals. A human female does not cease or change when she ovulates whether she lives north of the arctic circle or on the equator. Neither does a thunderstorm, blizzard, heat wave, alteration on barometric pressure or luminosity of the moon change when a human female ovulates. Same with elk. Bull elk are ready to breed once they shed their velvet and will "get all rutted up" when a cow elk comes to her estrous cycle. This cycle is solely dictated by the length of daylight striking her retina. When a hunter assigns a causal relationship between weather/climate or lunar cycle and the timing of the elk rut, that individual has misinterpreted the correlation and reached an erroneous conclusion. Weather/climate, lunar cycle and nighttime cloud cover impact how active elk are, where they can be found, and which portion of a 24 hour period they may be active, but none of these impact the timing of a cow elk's ovulation and therefore the rut. 8) The overwhelming majority of elk vocalizations induce no immediate action from other elk. Taking time to watch and listen to an elk herd is very informative. A useful exercise is to note the number of vocalizations one hears before one observes an elk to rapidly change its behavior in response. There are, of course, isolated scenarios where a few, or even one, appropriately utilized call(s) can induce a herd bull to fervently charge 500 yards with reckless abandon. But it is valuable to be cognsant of how relatively infrequent it is for an elk to drastically adjust whatever activity it is doing in response to the call of another elk. 9) Your bugle CANNOT sound "too big". Excluding a comparatively uncommon situation in which one may be targeting a small spike bull, an elk is bigger than you and therefore sounds bigger than you. Whilst the odd human may have a vital capacity (lung volume) over 7 liters, the large majority of adult humans have a vital capacity between 5 & 6 liters. Even an average sized cow elk has a vital capacity double or triple this - let alone a herd bull. In addition, the trachea of an adult human measures 9 perhaps 10 inches from the carina to the posterior oropharynx and a human glottis is approximately 1 - 1.5 inches across. In elk these anatomic structures measure in at roughly 24 and 3-4 inches respectively. In short, the phonic generating apparatus of an elk is substantially larger than a human. You're bugle CANNOT sound "too big". One who refutes this may assert the use of a bugle tube negates this size difference. The final nail in the coffin of this fallacy is the fact that when a bull elk bugles it produces two separate tones, one high and one low (thus harmonizing with itself), and the bass note of this ballad informs other elk how big the bull is. A hunter's bugle tube produces only the single, high range note of a bugle. A hunter therefore always sounds like a small elk. Until it was deciphered that a bull elk's bugle produces two harmonizing tones, the elk bugle was a bit of a puzzle to those who study such topics. As ungulates increase in size, their vocalizations deepen in tone. From a reproductive perspective this serves to notify females which bull/buck is the fittest to father their offspring. Elk were not well understood in this regard as bugles are very high pitched - how would a female know which bugling suitor to approach? The bugle was once a scientific conundrum from the perspective of reproductive fitness. Astute investigation has since broadened our understanding of this majestic call. The bugle therefore is not an evolutionary weak spot - it is arguably the most successful of all ungulate breeding calls. The piercing high pitch broadcasts a bull's mating intentions much farther than any other ungulate can and the harmonizing bass informs the other elk who the fittest, most dominant bull is. Since a hunter's bugle emulates only the high pitched tone of a bull elk's vocalization, it only ever indicates you are a small bull. Again, your bugle cannot sound "too big". There are a number of common calling errors frequently misappropriated as sounding "too big". Many of these are merely manifestations of universal elk truths 1, 2 and/or 9. 10) Hardship is the only guarantee with elk hunting. No essay needed. Elk hunting is inevitably a grind. Be prepared for that. ***NOTE: many important features of elk behavior and strategies of elk hunting are not included in this because they are not universally true. Do not disregard them. Do not erroneously presume them applicable at all times in all scenarios. - Dr Gabe Krahn

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."          -Robert Frost​A lot can happen in 1,029 days, and this week we check in with Holly Crowder (E021), which is still, after 134 episodes, the most-listened-to-episode in the entire 17Twenty catalog.  This week we talk about empathy, stories of impact from listeners, and healing from the sharing of her story.  Over the last three years there have been victories and lessons learned through season that followed.  In true 17Twenty-style we talk about all of it.Astute listeners will recall that around the time of the first recording, Holly recently announced that she was leaving her job to take a season which resulted in, among other things, her entrepreneurial journey of Unbounded Path, where Holly offers HR consulting, team building & facilitation, small group coaching, strategic planning, and one-on-one coaching for executives, leaders, and women.You're going to love this one, folks.|| Show Notes ||Strategic Planning Overcoming Exhaustion, by Ruiz Co.bitl.y/17TLIVEUnbounded Path holly@unboundedpath.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/holly-crowder-phr/https://www.unboundedpath.com/ || Fun Fact || According to the International Shark Attack File, there have been 16 attacks on humans since 1900, none of which were fatal.|| Connect with Us || Check out all our episodes on all major streaming platforms, and further engagement with the 17Twenty crew on social media at:https://17twenty.buzzsprout.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/17twentyhttps://www.instagram.com/17twentypodcastGrab your copy of the Mountain Mover Manual: How to Live Intentionally, Lead with Purpose, and Achieve Your Greatest Potential, by Kevin CareyOriginally in print:https://amzn.to/441OPeHAnd now available on Audible:https://adbl.co/45YIKB2

More than 23k youth age out of the foster care system each year. Many of these young people, because of the trauma and  instability, end up at higher risk of addiction, homelessness, financial instability and worse.  One man whose own past parallels those he seeks to serve, has been working to change this seemingly hopeless cycle through founding a coffee business that serves these youth and gives them a better chance for a brighter future.  Miah Sommer is a social entrepreneur and the founder and Executive Director of Astute Coffee (formerly The Bike Union), a non-profit coffee shop that provides workforce development and life skills to youth who have been impacted by the foster care. Sommer is the past recipient of the Donna Tubach Davis Children's Advocate Award from Child Saving institute. He was also a speaker with TEDxOmaha, and has taught a workshop at Homeboy Industries' Global Homeboy Network in Los Angeles, CA. The Bike Union is a winner of the Excellence in Innovation through the Omaha Chamber of Commerce. Sommer Lives in Omaha with his wife Katie and their sons Henry and Charlie. Today we will be getting deep into the story of Astute Coffee, the stories of the people in it, and how it has evolved and made a real difference. An astute observer will see , that hospitality is about empathy, seeing in others a sameness and using this perspective to serve their needs with every cup we make.  I hope this episode inspires you to reach out, pay attention, and soften your heart to all the humans we serve and serve with.  (-This episode has potentially sensitive content -) Links: www.astutecoffee.org IG: @ASTUTE_COFFEE    Related episodes: 180 : A Conversation with Rugid Grind Founders, Brian Washington and Averett Barksdale 192 : Freedom through Coffee w/ Esther Hope-Gibbs of Manumit Coffee 262 : Understanding the Homeless Community w/ Natalie Harris, Executive Director of The Coalition for the Homeless 106 : Changing Lives Through Coffee w/ Pamela Chng of Bettr Barista Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.groundcontrol.coffee www.pacficfoodservice.com    

The Katherine Massey Book Club @ The C.O.W.S. hosts the 4th study session on Lionel Dahmer's A Father's Story. Gus was quite resistant to reading this book. However, this moment provides a singular opportunity for counter-racist literary scholars. We just concluded our read of Sue Klebold's memoir and an in depth examination of the 1999 Columbine tragedy. The two cowardly, Racist perpetrators of that massacre were infatuated with serial killers and Jeffrey Dahmer specifically. They did a school project on the Wisconsin cannibal. Since we just heard Mrs. Klebold deflect blame and lie for she and her murdering son, Gus thought it would be a great brain exercise to see if Jeffrey Dahmer's pops behaves in a similar manner. Astute readers are asked to compare and contrast these two White memoirs with extreme care. Incidentally, the astronomically successful Netflix series debuted on September 21st of 2022. And just weeks ago, Fox Nation debuted the series: My Son Jeffrey. Gus said last year that it's important that this series of bloodletting was/is being released in sync with the autumn equinox and the coming "halloween" holiday. Last week Lionel paused to deliver a measured retort to charges that his serial killing son is a Racist. He acknowledged that the bulk of Dahmer's victims were black males, but says Jeff just wanted male bodies. Racial classification was irrelevant. It just happened to be that lots of black dudes are poor, vulnerable, and willing to accept the meager cash payouts Jeff used to lure victims. Listeners and Gus found it stunning that Lionel casually accepts that his son is a cannibal, child molesting (raping), alcoholic, serial killer. But admitting that Jeff is a Racist is a bridge too far. Lionel continues to emphasizes his own "dark" tendencies and inner thoughts - even admitting that he too pondered killing some folks. #TheCOWS14Years INVEST in The COWS – http://paypal.me/TheCOWS Cash App: https://cash.app/$TheCOWS CALL IN NUMBER: 605.313.5164 CODE: 564943#

Show Notes   Did you know that CBE reviews books before recommending them in the CBE bookstore? Did you know CBE has created its own books and resources that are available? In this final episode with hosts Blake and Erin, CBE's manager of learning resources and international projects comes on the podcast to tell you about her favorite books and what to be on the lookout for that will be new to the bookstore. While Erin and Blake take their final bow, we want listeners to know that the podcast and interviews with authors will be continuing as Mutuality Matters Podcast continues to bring you fresh and valuable content.     Bio   Elizabeth Beyer has worked at CBE since 2008 and currently serves as the manager of learning resources and international projects. She is also a writer and editor, most recently of Created to Thrive: Cultivating Abuse-Free Faith Communities. If you have a question for Liz about the bookstore or book reviews, you can reach her at ebeyer@cbeinternational.org.  Other Reading    Women, Abuse, and the Bible: How Scripture Can Be Used to Hurt or Heal by Catherine Clark Kroeger and James R. Beck  God's Word to Women by Katharine Bushnell  Created to Thrive: Cultivating Abuse-Free Faith Communities  Paul through Mediterranean Eyes: Cultural Studies in 1 Corinthians by Kenneth E. Bailey  Discovering Biblical Equality: Biblical, Theological, Cultural, and Practical Perspectives (3rd Edition)  Paul and Gender: Reclaiming the Apostle's Vision for Men and Women in Christ by Cynthia Long Westfall  Buried Talents: Overcoming Gendered Socialization to Answer God's Call by Susan Harris Howell  Are Women Human? Astute and Witty Essays on the Role of Women in Society by Dorothy L. Sayers  Nobody's Mother: Artemis of the Ephesians in Antiquity and the New Testament by Sandra L. Glahn      Disclaimer   The opinions expressed in CBE's Mutuality Matters' podcast are those of its hosts or guests do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of CBE International or its members or chapters worldwide. The designations employed in this podcast and the presentation of content therein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of CBE concerning the legal status of any country, area or territory or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers.  

The Katherine Massey Book Club @ The C.O.W.S. hosts the third study session on Lionel Dahmer's A Father's Story. Gus was quite resistant to reading this book. However, this moment provides a singular opportunity for counter-racist literary scholars. We just concluded our read of Sue Klebold's memoir and an in depth examination of the 1999 Columbine tragedy. The two cowardly, Racist perpetrators of that massacre were infatuated with serial killers and Jeffrey Dahmer specifically. They did a school project on the Wisconsin cannibal. Since we just heard Mrs. Klebold deflect blame and lie for she and her murdering son, Gus thought it would be a great brain exercise to see if Jeffrey Dahmer's pops behaves in a similar manner. Astute readers are asked to compare and contrast these two White memoirs with extreme care. Incidentally, the astronomically successful Netflix series debuted on September 21st of 2022. And just weeks ago, Fox Nation debuted the series: My Son Jeffrey. Gus said last year that it's important that this series of bloodletting was/is being released in sync with the autumn equinox and the coming "halloween" holiday. Last week we read about Jeff snaring a job at the Ambrosia Chocolate Factory and shacking up with his paternal grandmother even after his arrest for child molestation of a non-white boy, Somsack Sinthasomphone. Ol' Jeff began killing sexually vulnerable non-white males in his grandma's basement. Grandma Dahmer apparently saw a victim stagger away from the property, but Jeff concocted a lie to lower her suspicion. Grandma wised up and raised concerns after she found Jeff's pistol. His dad confronted Jeff and found his peculiar wooden box. Lionel and Jeffrey nearly have a physical confrontation after Jeffrey refuses to reveal the contents. Court proceedings reveal the contents of the box to be a human skull and male genitals. #TheDelectableNegro #TheCOWS14Years INVEST in The COWS – http://paypal.me/TheCOWS Cash App: https://cash.app/$TheCOWS CALL IN NUMBER: 605.313.5164 CODE: 564943#

The Katherine Massey Book Club @ The C.O.W.S. hosts the second study session on Lionel Dahmer's A Father's Story. Gus was quite resistant to reading this book. However, this moment provides a singular opportunity for counter-racist literary scholars. We just concluded our read of Sue Klebold's memoir and an in depth examination of the 1999 Columbine tragedy. The two cowardly, Racist perpetrators of that massacre were infatuated with serial killers and Jeffrey Dahmer specifically. They did a school project on the Wisconsin cannibal. Since we just heard Mrs. Klebold deflect blame and lie for she and her murdering son, Gus thought it would be a great brain exercise to see if Jeffrey Dahmer's pops behaves in a similar manner. Astute readers are asked to compare and contrast these two White memoirs with extreme care. Incidentally, the astronomically successful Netflix series debuted on September 21st of 2022. And just last week, Fox Nation debuted the series: My Son Jeffrey. Gus said last year that it's important that this series of bloodletting was/is being released in sync with the autumn equinox and the coming "halloween" holiday. Last week, Lionel detailed the marriage between he and his wife Joyce. Lionel admits being distant and more comfortable in the White confines of his scientific laboratory away from his family. He details his wife Joyce's prescription drug addiction as well as his own childhood obsessions with bombs and fires. Lionel Dahmer even admits to thinking about killing folks from time to time. Incidentally, the Dahmer clan spends a great deal of time residing in Racially Restricted Regions of Ohio and Wisconsin. #ScientificWhiteFather#TheCOWS14Years INVEST in The COWS – http://paypal.me/TheCOWS Cash App: https://cash.app/$TheCOWS CALL IN NUMBER: 605.313.5164 CODE: 564943#

The Katherine Massey Book Club @ The C.O.W.S. hosts the debut study session on Lionel Dahmer's A Father's Story. Gus was quite resistant to reading this book. However, this moment provides a singular opportunity for counter-racist literary scholars. We just concluded our read of Sue Klebold's memoir and an in depth examination of the 1999 Columbine tragedy. The two cowardly, Racist perpetrators of that massacre were infatuated with serial killers and Jeffrey Dahmer specifically. They did a school project on the Wisconsin cannibal. Since we just heard Mrs. Klebold deflect blame and lie for she and her murdering son, Gus thought it would be a great brain exercise to see if Jeffrey Dahmer's pops behaves in a similar manner. Astute readers are asked to compare and contrast these two White memoirs with extreme care. Incidentally, the astronomically successful Netflix series debuted on September 21st of 2022. And just three days ago Fox Nation debuted the series: My Son Jeffrey. Gus said last year that it's important that this series of bloodletting was/is being released in sync with the autumn equinox and the coming "halloween" holiday. After all these years, they released audio recordings of Dahmer speaking with his White father, Lionel. C.O.W.S. listeners should recall Neely Fuller Jr.'s conclusion that Dahmer represents the essence of White Supremacy: to effeminize, castrate and destroy black males. #ScientificWhiteFather #TheCOWS14Years INVEST in The COWS – http://paypal.me/TheCOWS Cash App: https://cash.app/$TheCOWS CALL IN NUMBER: 605.313.5164 CODE: 564943#

Chris from the Morning Mix chats with Dr. Rebecca Tenzer of Astute Counseling and Wellness Services about the connection between mental and physical health, dad guilt, being a supportive partner, and more.  At Astute Counseling & Wellness Services, they are redefining mental health and wellness care in Chicago. Led by the visionary Owner and Head Clinician, Rebecca E Tenzer, they have pioneered a revolutionary ‘one stop shop' concept that seamlessly integrates clinical and wellness services, providing a comprehensive and holistic approach to well-being. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In This Episode: We talk about a girlfriend moving in a little too soon, some parents who don't respect quiet hours, a listener who is upset about their partner's food preferences, a guy who wants to drive more in the relationship, and Christian goes through some bad conspiracy theories. This Episode is sponsored by: Nutrafol! Go to Nutrafol.com and use code JUDGIES to get FREE shipping and $10 off your first subscription! Better Help! Go to BetterHelp.com/Judgies for 10% off your first month! Get Judgies Merch Here: https://store.streamelements.com/judgiespod Our Patreon is officially open, if you want to see extra content go check it out!  https://www.patreon.com/JudgiesPod  Send us mail! (Addressed However You'd Like)  P.O. Box 58 Ottawa, IL 61350  Leave a Review!  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-judgies/id1519741238  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/judgiespod Follow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/judgiespod  Intro Music by: Iván  https://open.spotify.com/artist/5gB2VvyqfnOlNv37PHKRNJ?si=f6TIYrLITkG2NZXGLm_Y-Q&dl_branch=1  Story Links: Parental Controls Driving Family Time Stamps: 0:00 Intro 2:37 Mail Time 11:25 AITA: Girlfriend Moving In 21:52 AITA: Parental Controls 30:29 CJ: Bad Conspiracy theories 47:22 LS: Controlling Partner's Food 57:20 AITA: Driving 1:04:26 Outro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices