Podcasts about Garry

Homer - The Odyssey - Episode 3 - Odysseus And The Cyclops Don't See Eye To Eye!   I'm Christy Shriver, and we're here to discuss books that have changed the world and have changed us.      And I'm Garry Shriver and this is the How to Love Lit Podcast.  This is our third episode covering Homer's Odyssey, and Christy, are we finally getting to Odysseus this week?     Yes- We finally meet our title character- it was an odyssey. Pun pun-     Oh my- here we go….    I know, and we get to see wordplay this week as well- although word play through translation is not exactly the same but the Greeks did a lot of it, and not just in the Odyssey, so it's nice to get just a little taste.    How interesting.    I know, it really is.  Homer, even though writing in verse that has meter, does not rhyme, but he does use word play- which may or may not be called a pun- but it does play around with the meaning and sounds of different words.      In episode 1 we discussed a lot of the historical context both of the period in which the story is set, but also of the mysterious writer, the supposed blind bard, we have always called Homer.   I did notice we do finally get to mee the blind bard of the Odyssey, the one the ancients think might be based on our poet, but I'm not sure I would have even paid much attention to that character if we hadn't talked about Demodocus being the model for Homer, previously.      No, I agree.  I wouldn't have either.  It's kind of an interesting literary concept, at one point there is a bard telling a story about a bard telling a story and then there's the story- so a story within a story within a story- talk about complicated.      Yeah- let's just move on.  In episode 2, we discussed Telemachus and his coming of age story that we call the Telemachy- or books 1-4.  In that portion of the story, we learned that swarms of suitors have overrun the family home back in Ithaca while Odysseus is away.  Telemachus' mother, Odysseus's wife, Penelope is being pressured to pick one of these suitors to be her husband, an act which would give the selected suitor a claim to be king or chieftain of Ithaca, perhaps even a contested heir to her fortune, leaving Telemachus' life in extreme danger.  We saw that Penelope tricked the suitors by claiming she would marry one of them after she weaved a funeral shroud for her father-in-law, Laertes.  During the day she would weave, but at night she would unravel her work.  For three years this worked until one of her ladies' maids gave her up.  It is at this point that we enter the story of Telemachus.  Athena visits him, first in the shape of an old friend of Odyssseus', Mentes,  but then into another man named Mentor.  She encourages Telemachus to take charge of his own future- to go out in the world and try to find out what has happened to his father by visiting his father's old war buddies.  Telemachus listens to Athena and visits two places: Pylos and Sparta.  Here he learns very little, honestly, about what happened to his father, but what we do see is Telemachus coming into his own.  We see his confidence and sense of self develop to the point that he seems quite a different person as he journeys back home ready to confront the very dangerous challenge of taking control over his own home or really retaking a kingdom that has been taken away from him.    Yes- and today we will see where Odysseus has been this whole time.  The goal today is to get through book 9, maybe start book ten, which is kind of a chronological boomerang really.  We start book 5 twenty years after Odysseus has left home.  Calypso is forced to release him which she does.   Poseidon is outraged and reacts.  Garry let's read Poseidon's response.    “I'll give that man his swamping fill of trouble!” With that he rammed the clouds together- both hands clutching his trident- churned the waves into chaos, whipping all the gales from every quarter, shrouding over in thunderheads the earth and sea at once- and night swept down from the sky- East and South Winds clashed and the raging West and North, spring from the heavens, roiled heaving breakers up- and Odysseus' knees quaked, his spirit too; numb with fear he spoke to his own great heart: “Wretched man- what becomes of me now, at last?     And of course the answer is- you're not to die yet.  The gods will see to it.   He is shipwrecked and then found naked on the beach by Nausicaa, the daughter of King Alcinous ruler of the incredibly gracious and skilled Phaeacian's.    And of course, it is through these people, we see an incredible example of what the Greeks call Xenia and basically how Homer defines what it means in this world to be a good person. In the Homeric world, or perhaps the ancient Greek world, if we can generalize, what makes a person good or bad is not the same as we think of today. So, Garry, just to get us started, as a concept, what is Xenia.    Well, it's a concept of hospitality that is an extremely complex and developed social  institution in the ancient Greek world.  If we break the word down- the word xenos- that word means both guest-friend or guest-stranger.  If you think of the word xenophobia- it means you have fear or hatred of strangers.  So xenia is how you receive or treat strangers in your community, your oikos, your household.   Well executed xenia solidified relationships between peoples; it created alliances, and could often be the difference between life and death.  It was also religious- one of Zeus' names is Zeus Xenios because he was the god that embodied a moral obligation to be hospitable to foreigners or strangers.       And it's that moral element that is so central to so much of what we should understand about why things happen the way they do in the Homeric world.  In Homer's world, hospitality drives morality.  It is in the hosting, receiving, gift-giving and relationship building that is pushing forward the movement in the world.  It's what gets you in favor or in trouble with the gods.  If you are a good host and/or good guest, you are a good person.  If you are a bad host/ bad guest, you are a bad person.  To me it really seems to be that simple.  The moral code that determines your place is life is not based on the ten commandments or something like that- it is not based on lying, or stealing or even murdering- things that we use to define morality. If you think about it, all three of those things Odysseus does all the time and is even admired for how well he does them.  The gods are proud that he is cunning.  He brags about sacking villages.  The climax of the book involves broadscale murder (there's a slight spoiler, if you are 3000 years behind the times and don't know the ending).  There is definitely no morality around sex at all.  The definition of who you are as a person is very dependent on something else and that something else is what the ancient's called xenia- this concept of being a good host and being a good guest.  Garry, from our standpoint today, that seems weird.  We don't value hospitality in this way at all, and on the other side, we look poorly on people who are pirates, liars, thieves, or adulterers.     True- and it is a very interesting way of thinking about things- and something we should think about.  Of course, obviously and I know you weren't being exclusionary, but there are other values emphasized in Homer's epics- respect for the gods, being a wise and moderate person, not to mention, you are supposed to avenge the death of family members, that is also part of the moral code, but your point cannot be overstated more- the importance of hospitality is essential to success in life, and there are very good and obviously practical reasons for this.      Just to clarify what we're talking about- even before we get to book five, we've seen examples of this in every chapter of the epic already.  Telemachus was a good host to Mentes. Nestor and Menelaus were amazing hosts to Telemachus ,and now Alcinious is even more gracious then the other two and in fact brings Odysseus home, even though it will cost him dearly, as we'll see at the end.      True, but the concept of Xenia is not just inherent in Greek culture.  It was important in other cultures in other parts of the ancient world as well.  If you want an example that you might be familiar with from this time period and if you familiar with Biblical text we see similar things in the book of Genesis in the Bible. Abraham is very concerned about being a good host as well as a good guest and we see various interactions of him being a guest when he wanders around Canaan.  And just as the gods in the Odyssey punish and murder those who do not respect the rules of hospitality, there is a perspective to suggest that the Hebrew God of the Bible also punishes those who do not respect the rules of hospitality- just look at Sodom and Gomorrah and how the destruction of that town is set up by the abuse of guests in the community.  How you receive strangers very much defines your humanity in many cultures and has for a long time.  This idea of morality being connected to hospitality is very ancient and deeply embedded in various ancient cultures.      Well, in the Odyssey there are at least 12 hospitality scenes of all kinds. We see examples of bad hospitality as well as examples of good hospitality- In book five, we see both juxtaposed against each other almost back to back.  In Polyphemus the Cyclopes- we see almost a perfect example of a bad host.   But he isn't the first character in the book to violate the rules of Xenia- for that we don't need to look further than book one and the suitors.  Those guys are clearly terrible guests, terrible humans and we don't feel a bit sorry for them when they get what's coming in the end.  But before we get t here, let's start with the concept of xenia itself.  What is this idea of being a host which is so central to the story?  How should we understand it in terms of culture so we can then extrapolate cross-culturally?  Why is hospitality important to the degree that it is a motif in almost every book of this epic.  In fact, it's a type scene.     A type-scene.  That's a new term.  Christy, what's a type scene?    A type scene is a scene that you see over and over again.  It's kind of like a pattern.  But you become familiar with it to the point that you can recognize differences in how different people practice the same pattern or the same type, so to speak. For example, in the Iliad, how a person puts on his armour is a type scene- it happens over and over and you can see the pattern with the differences.  Holding sacrifices is another type-scene- it happens all the time.  There are many kinds of type-scenes at the disposal of the bard, he uses them to set up the story. We don't have time to feature all of them, obviously, but I want to talk about hospitality because it's so relevant to what the Odyssey is all about, in my view.   Like I said before, in the Odyssey there are at least 12 hospitality scenes.  So, that's a lot of emphasis- it sets off the plot in chapter 1, it creates complications throughout, and in some ways how we can watch Odysseus evolve as a character.  We watch him develop as we watch him reveal who his is in these various interactions with his different hosts.  So back to this idea of gift-giving and hospitality.  What are your thoughts- just in general?    Well, first of all, let's recognize that we are in an ancient world consisting of mostly isolated islands.  There are no hotels, no restaurants, and not even any money.  The Chinese are given credit in being the first to come up with money, but that wasn't until around 770 BCE.  So, just in that regard, you can see how important relationships would be just on a survival level.  Bartering, obviously did exist. But, in general, if a person is going to travel, he will have to rely on mercy from other people to survive, and of course that's how ancient societies worked.  Again, a parallel example of ancient text would be the stories of the Old Testament in the Bible, if you recall.  People went into the lands of others and threw themselves at the mercies of those rulers.  So in some sense, the idea of emphasizing hospitality on a macro-scale makes sense- I'll host you if you'll host me.  But that doesn't answer the second question, why all these gifts?  You would think that the one giving the gift would be the one being hosted.  He/or she after all is the one being fed, being clothed.  You would also think that if you were a rat of a human, and so many of us are rats, you could just go around and exploit person after person.  And notice, and you can see this through the many scenes of hospitality, you are supposed to feed and bathe a guest BEFORE you even ask their name or their business.  THAT was the ethics of the tradition.  So, the question, is why give gifts?      Well, of course, I don't know, but the obvious first pass guess, again, maybe is the idea of reciprocity.  I am going to host you today knowing that one day that balance of power may shift and I may need your hospitality.  I'll give you a good gift, so that one day you will give me a good gift- that sort of thing.  Except, as I say that out loud, it does fail the say out loud test.  After going through the Christmas season, if you are a person who practices gift-giving, you know there are always those people that shaft you.  How many of us have been in situations where we drew names, and you're supposed to buy a gift for the person that you get their name and spend a certain dollar amount.  Well, we all know that person or persons who will shaft whoever they draw.  They will justify it by saying to themselves, “Well, the original price was the money limit, I just got it on sale and they'll never know.”- which of course is bogus because we always know.   But sometimes people don't bother even doing that.  They may just shaft you because there is nothing anyone is going to do about it at a holiday party.  That sort of thing.  I can't imagine the Greeks not having those schumcks- well, we know they have those schmucks- they've moved into Penelope's house in book one.  So, I guess I'll ask you- why give gifts?  I can see how it would make a society a better and kinder place, but I can't see how and why it works.  It seems to go against human nature.    True- Of course the first reason is it makes you a good person and it pleases the gods- and we want to be good people and we all want to please the gods.  We just do.  Even those of us who unfortunately find ourselves incarcerated for terrible things we've done to other people, will likely NOT EVER want to give up the idea that we are good people.  We want others to see that in us, and we want the gods to see that in us.  And of course, we see that idea here- the gods will reward generosity and hospitality.      Which brings us to Alcinous' daughter- she truly is depicted at being a wonderful human being.  She's brave and she's generous.  Let's read where Odysseus approaches her and begs for mercy.    Page 174    But of course, as we can clearly see here.  Naussicaa, the princess, is an exceptional person.  Not very many of us are as wonderful as this girl, so I don't think reciprocity fully explains the concept of gift giving.  Of course, I don't know for sure, but one perspective  to consider here is in watching the balance of power.  Remember, primitive societies didn't have InterPol, or the United Nations, or anything like that, but that doesn't mean they didn't still have complex systems of interacting. When you show up on someone's shore, the smart thing for the person on the shore to do is to kill you at the get go- and in fact, that's what happened a lot.   Man, after all is a warring being, and societies historically war. And that is where I see the value of gifts.  The currency of today and the currency of the ancient world in one sense is the same- fame, reputation, power, glory, status- isn't that what people buy with their money- a higher place on the hierarchy?   Today, we literally BUY it with money.  We can and do buy VIP seating, VIP lounges, private planes, exclusive clubs, name brands and for what?  These things showcase that we are more important than other people- our social rank- no matter how egalitarian we claim to be.  In the ancient world just as today, greatness is defined by reputation, fame, glory- and how that happens is by giving and getting.  It's builds reputation.  If we look at what actually happens in this particular story what I notice is that for one- These tokens matter economically.  And this particular family, which is described as being a cunning family, are good at amassing wealthy by being recipients of great gifts.  We certainly see it in Odysseus.  But we also see it in Telemachus who actually negotiates his gifts, but and even Penelope is very smart in collecting gifts and building her own wealth.   But let's look at it from the other side of things.  What the giver gets in exchange is also of great value.  The giver of each gift is sending with the recipient a signal to everyone who sees the gift a message of his great reputation.  Everyone is reminded that King Menelaus is great every time he sees an artifact that came from his kingdom.  Everyone is reminded not to mess with a man as grand as can afford to give away something as great as this gifr or that gift.  But the giver is also building personal indebtedness that can extend multi-generationally.  We saw that when Telemachus visited his fathers' friends.  This networking extends reputation and gift exchange is also a tool with  which hierarchy is established.      Well, in the case of King Alcinous, he had a tremendous reputation for greatness and was, and I quote, “obeyed like a god”.   We could talk quite a bit about this banquet  King Alcinous and Queen Arete threw in honor of their guest:  the recognition scene, the games, etc.  but I want to jump ahead to the cyclopes- which is just fun to read.  And of course, it brings up one of the reasons why this book is so popular.  It's readable at every level.  We can read it for some psychological or anthropological understanding of humanity, but it's also just as fun and worthy to read the gory description of a dude poking out another dude's only eye.  So, jumping straight to book 9, the bard, in book eight, has been telling Odysseus' story but now Alcinous is making Odysseus tell his own story and finally Odysseus confesses his identity.      I am Odysseus, son of Laertes, known to the world for every kind of craft- my fame has reached the skies.  Sunny Ithaca is my home.  Atop her stands our seamark, Mount Neriton's leafy ridges shimmering in the wind.      And on he goes describing his homeland.  The first story he tells is about him sacking and plundering Cicones- sacking the city, killing the men.  By our standards, its sheer pirating, but it's not a shameful story in this context.  The shame came at the end when his stupid men got drunk and allowed the Cicones to get them back.  He says “out of each ship, six men-at-arms were killed.”  So, there's the example of how a lot of these interactions between peoples go- people warring against invaders.  But after the Cicones, he gets to the Lotus eaters.    The Lotus eaters' story is famous too, and I love how the Percy Jackson movie portrayed the Lotus eaters as being a casino in Las Vegas, and the men just kind of losing track of time as so many have in those corridors that connect the Pallazzo to the Venetian or Bally's to Paris.      I agree- Las Vegas is perfect.  The passage about the lotus eaters is a short passage especially for how well known it is, let's remember those famous Lotus Eaters.    Page 214    You know, I've heard this passage described as people high on drugs, but we may be too quick to go the route of mental incapacity.  When the men go back to their boat, they are aware that they are being forced to leave, and they even cry about it.  It's not their perceptions that are impaired; it's their will that's impaired.  The bedazzling experience of the present has totally obliterated any sense of time as well as any concern about other experiences in the future.  It's a metaphor for a lot of things beyond drugs that have this effect- although drugs definitely unfortunately do this in the extreme.      Ha!  I would say so- can we say tik tok!!  You know, our good friend, Cristiana, the other day got on tiktok, and let me say she's my age, so we're not talking about a child.  Anyway, her complaint about it was that she spent an hour drifting through video after video.  She was entertained for sure, but after an hour she looked up and realized could not tell you one thing that she had seen.  The videos were too short to even stick in her short term memory.  She was annoyed because she couldn't account for the time- she remarked that she literally had nothing to show for it- it went the way of the lotus eaters.    Ha!  So true- I guess Instagram and Facebook aren't much better,  but let me ask you this- is that an example of good xenia or bad xenia?     HA!  Well, I think of it as just a little sidebar until we get to the big xenia story-  the story of the Cyclopes-     A couple of things to notice as we compare the story of Polyphemus as host to the story about King Alcinous and Queen Arete and their reception of Odysseus.  With the Phaeacians, we see a positive example of what it means to be a good person.  We see a great and confident leader who has built a good community.  Homer is going to juxtapose that with this community that does not work well.  We are going to see what it means to be bad- a bad person, a bad leader and live in a bad society.  Remember when I said that a type-scene is a scene where you recognize a pattern.  Well, the pattern to receive a guest has been established a bunch of times already starting in book one now through book 8.  And Polyphemus does everything absolutely wrong.  He's the very opposite of a good person, and the Cyclopes society is the opposite of a good society.  Besides the hospitality type-scene- we also have an assembly which is another type-scene.  We've had a bunch of assemblies already as well- remember when Telemachus called an assembly, they met and passed around the scepter and all that, well Polyphemus is going to try to call an assembly, but it doesn't go well either because nothing these barbaric people do is worth anything.  They are awful in all ways.    So, in a traditional hospitality scene- you're supposed approach the visitor, welcome the visitor, seat and feed the visitor, offer the visitor a drink, then ask the visitor's name, exchange information, entertain the visitor, allow the visitor to bath, then sleep, try to detain the visitor give the visitor a gift, make a sacrifice  to the gods and finally escort him to the next destination.  That's exactly what we've already seen over and over again up to this point.  With that in mind, let's look at how Polyphemus treats civilized life.  First of all, Polyphemus isn't there at first, but when he gets there, before anything else, he asks them who they are.      Let's read it.     Page 219    Stop after other men then read his response    And of course they answer him, not by stating who they are but by saying who've they've been with and asking for a guest-guest.      Which  didn't go well.    No- let's read how it goes.     P 220      Instead of feeding the guests, he eats them.  It can't get worse than that, but there are more oppositions, instead of the host offering the guests wine, Odysseus offers Polyphemus wine.  And instead of Odysseus revealing his identity, he conceals it- He tells Polyphemus his name is Nobody or No man depending how your book translate it- And of course Polyphemus  likes the wine so much he decides to give Odysseus or Nobody a guest gift, but the gift is terrible.    Page 222    The scholars tell us that this scene actually has four examples of word play in the Greek, but the translation only comes across as one.  It's kind of fun that it works.  But it is this word play that has interested so many and sets the primary complication for the ten years of Odysseus' life.    Odysseus manages to get Polyphemus drunk and he and his crew stab him in the eye, very infeasibly with a piece of wood they made out of embers (don't try to explain that scientifically).  Let's read it.    Page 223    And of course, Odysseus gets away by being smart, patient, more cunning- the things that the gods reward.  Polyphemus is left to cry out to his father Poseidon- which of course in some ways is the correct idea, you are supposed to pray to the gods before your guests leave, but not like this.  And of course, finally Odyssey leaves not being escorted but by fleeing with his life as Polyphemus throws boulders at him.  Ironically, however,  Odysseus would have gotten away, and we wouldn't have had a story except for the lines that Odysseus blurts out once he's safely far enough away where he thinks he's escaped.    Page 227  .  He just can't be a nobody.  He had to tell him who he was.  He wanted him to know.  And isn't that what takes all of us on so many personal Odysseys.  We just can't be a nobody.  We would lose something in our humanity like that.  It's about identity.  That's what we're looking for in some sense.  It's what the whole of life experience is about in many ways.  Who are we?  We are NOT a nobody- at least we hope we're not- we hope to be a somebody to somebody.  How well Homer knows us.     Indeed.  It's an idea that we see Homer taking with us for the rest of the books.  Odysseus will reclaim his name.  He will define it. It's what defines your home- the place where you are somebody.  But another point to make, and I don't want to leave this discussion of uncivilized people without making mention of one other thing.  There is something very interesting to notice in Poseidon's prayer.  You know, if I had been blinded, and I had a magical father with powers, I might pray for my eyesight back.  That would be the most helpful thing moving forward, at least you'd think.  But that's not what Polyphemus does.  Let's read it.    Page 228    He'd rather have revenge than his own eyesight.      Indeed- it's fascinating to me- that when Homer wants to finish his description of what a pitiful example of a living breathing low-life is, what a totally uncivilized society looks like- he starts by saying it's a group of people who do no work, produce nothing, have no assemblies, do not live well in community, but he ends it with a prayer to seek vengeance in a final breath.      Ha!  I guess so. The worst of in us all played out- a bad person would rather hurt another person that move forward.   Well, off Odysseus goes.  He thinks he's caught a break at the beginning of book 10.  He reaches the home of the god Aeolus- a giant floating island.  And this god receives him well- another hospitality scene.  They go through all the things, and he gets a great parting gift.  He gives him a sack of wind.  Aeolus binds the winds from all the corners of the earth except the West Wind that blows Odysseus all the way to Ithaca.  For Nine days he sails non stop.  He can see men tending fires on the beaches of his hometown.  He's made it.  He can rest, but his men are greedy.  Right before they get there, while Odysseus is asleep, the shipmates open the bag wanting to sneak out treasure while Odysseus isn't watching.  When they open the bag all the winds come out at once, and they get blown all the way back to King Aeolus.  Oops.  Odysseus asks him to put the winds back in the bag.  This time, Aeolus says, sorry but no.  Instead this is what he said- let's read King Aeolus lines.    , “Away from my island- fast- most cursed man alive! It's a crime to host a man or speed him on his when the blessed deathless gods despise him so.  Crawling back like this-it proves the immortals hate you! Out- get out!'    And so off he goes- and I guess it's time for us to head out as well.  Next episode we'll pick up with Circe, and go through the rest of Odysseus' wanderings.  I also want to talk a little bit about the role of women in the books, as we'll meet a couple more.      Sounds good.  So, we'll call it a wrap for today.  Thanks for listening.  WE hope you're enjoying our discussions as we work our way through this influential classic.  As always, we hope you will honor us by sharing an episode with a friend either by text email or word of mouth.  Please leave us a five star rating on your podcast app and of course visit us at howtolovelitpodcast.com, where we have plenty of instructional materials if you are a teacher or student.  Also, follow us on any or all of our social media: Instagram, facebook, linked in, and if you'd like to receive our monthly newsletter, please email Christy at christy@howtolovelitpodcast.com.                       

Join Flip and Mozi as they travel to Florida and meet a 3 foot long reptile, Larry, and his bird of a feather friend, Garry. Featuring brand new songs like, "Let's Make a Deal," learn with Flip and Mozi about animal relationships! Want to share your earthling discoveries with Flip and Mozi? Leave a message at 1-833-4FLIPMO for a chance to be featured on the next travelpod episode.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Garry and Leslie react to the death of Chicago sports reporter Les Grobstein at the age of 69. Meanwhile, there's a chance to buy a diamond that most likely came from space. Plus, Tech Reporter Dan Fedor shared some tech news and gadgets for the new year. Garrforce t-shirts and coffee mugs are now available by going to "Can't Live Without" on the website. Your purchase of these items is what keeps the podcast going. Plus, you can always email me garrymeiershow@garrymeier.com or leave a text or voicemail at 773-888-2157 Thank you in advance!

As the Chairman of the Board & CEO of WD-40 Company, it has not been easy for Garry Ridge to lead his team during the challenging pandemic. In such times of uncertainty, his eyes were opened that there is more to businesses than just earning a profit. He joins Adam Markel to discuss how they managed COVID-19 by embracing a resilient mindset and leveraging worries to achieve profound growth. Garry explains why business owners and managers must focus more on creating a culture of belongingness in their workspaces as everything remains stuck in virtual reality.Get the newest Conscious PIVOT Podcast episodes delivered directly to you – subscribe here. And, if you're enjoying the podcast, please give us a 5-star rating on iTunes! For instructions click here.DOING THIS for 10 Seconds Can Change Your Life! Click here to watch Adam's Inspiring TEDx Talk!

This week, we find ourselves knee deep in some seriously serious crime. He was an Australian rugby player, with a need for gambling, and a penchant for high stakes robberies. He, and an unlikely accomplice become 2 of the country's top 10 most wanted men, after a years long campaign of armed robbery. Banks & armored vehicles were their thing, incapacitating guards, and getting away with millions of dollars. But it's not all fun & games, considering he wrapped a man's neck with a chain., soaked him in gasoline, and threatened to set him on fire! Be a national hero, have a need to feed your high stakes gambling, and become a national menace with Garry Sullivan!! Check us out, every Tuesday! !We will continue to bring you the biggest idiots in sports history!!  Hosted by James Pietragallo & Jimmie Whisman  Donate at... patreon.com/crimeinsports or with paypal.com using our email: crimeinsports@gmail.com  Get all the CIS & STM merch at crimeinsports.threadless.com  Go to shutupandgivememurder.com for all things CIS & STM!!  Contact us on... twitter.com/crimeinsports crimeinsports@gmail.com facebook.com/Crimeinsports instagram.com/smalltownmurder

Comedian/actor/musician/farmer James Belushi chats with Garry and shares stories from his long entertainment career, including some of the times they spent together, and talks about his experience as a cannabis farmer and the second season of his Discovery Channel show about it, “Growing Belushi,” debuting on January 19. Garry also welcomes back television producer Harvey Moshman to talk about Season Three of “Wild Travels” which debuts on PBS stations this month.

Subscribe, Rate & Review Up On Game Presents right here A dog on the field, but a gentleman off, Garry Cobb sits down with LaVar Arrington and discusses his days at USC and how he helps out NFL veterans with NFL Legends Community work. When Cobb played for USC, he had to remind hard-hitting safety Ronnie Lott not to hurt him during practices. Garry played with some of the best to ever do it but, he too was a dog on the field looking to break the necks of his opponent. A true gentleman off the field, Cobb would like his legacy to be that he helped others be what they truly meant to be. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Subscribe, Rate & Review Up On Game Presents right here A dog on the field, but a gentleman off, Garry Cobb sits down with LaVar Arrington and discusses his days at USC and how he helps out NFL veterans with NFL Legends Community work. When Cobb played for USC, he had to remind hard-hitting safety Ronnie Lott not to hurt him during practices. Garry played with some of the best to ever do it but, he too was a dog on the field looking to break the necks of his opponent. A true gentleman off the field, Cobb would like his legacy to be that he helped others be what they truly meant to be. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

For a special bonus episode, I'm sitting down to chat with one of our co-founders, Mark Asquith, to chat about our acquisition by Global and the exciting future of Captivate. This is Captivate Insider, a weekly update on what's happening here at Captivate, where we're actively helping the serious independent podcast creator save time, grow their podcast and monetize their content. Join me your host, Garry, the Head of Design here at Captivate where I'll be chatting with our team to get a behind the scenes look at what goes into designing and developing our features, our views on what's happening in and around podcasting PLUS grab some tips on using Captivate along the way. A new show lands every Wednesday in your preferred podcast app and if you're not using Captivate to grow your podcast, head over to http://captivate.fm/ (captivate.fm) to try us out totally free for 7 days. Enjoy, and happy podcasting. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

After going undercover as a murderer, a football hooligan and a crackhead, Gary is ousted from the police by Freemasons. Garry Rogers links: Podcast https://spyscape.com/podcast/the-not-... Book: https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Under...

They've released the cause of death for Betty White, but Garry has an alternative theory. Meanwhile, a Florida woman was upset when she walked up to her local McDonalds drive-thru and they wouldn't take her coupon. Plus, a restaurant in Japan is giving dementia patients jobs. Garrforce t-shirts and coffee mugs are now available by going to "Can't Live Without" on the website. Your purchase of these items is what keeps the podcast going. Plus, you can always email me garrymeiershow@garrymeier.com or leave a text or voicemail at 773-888-2157 Thank you in advance!

In today's episode Garry Ashton from the Aussie Lawn Stars Podcast shares about his lawn care business and the lawn care community in Australia. Garry also shares a few of the biggest mistakes he made while building his lawn business and what he learned from those mis steps.  Check out our resources: GreenIndustryPodcast.com Green Industry Marketing Essentials Recommended Business Management Software: Try Jobber Free Recommended Website + Marketing Services: Pure Marketing Team Purchase Paul's Books: Books Paul's Audiobooks: Cut That Grass and Make That Cash Best Business Practices for Landscapers Follow us on Instagram: @greenindustrypodcast @pauljamison Follow us on YouTube: Paul Jamison Channel Green Industry Podcast

Homer - The Odyssey - Episode 1 - Greek Gods, Greek Heroes And One of The Oldest Epic Poems Of All Time!   Hi, I'm Christy Shriver and we're here to discuss books that have changed the world and have changed us.    And I'm Garry Shriver and this is the How to Love Lit Podcast.  This week we embark on a seafaring adventure across the seas and through time to the ancient world of the Greeks to meet  someone who some have said is the greatest poet to have ever lived- Homer- and his second epic- The Odyssey.      To be honest, I think I agree with that assessment.      That's high praise. How does one get to that level?    I know.  It really is.  I guess, one way of looking at it may be attrition- how many poets do we still read from 3000 years ago.  That's not a large club.   We certainly don't have anyone in the English language canon that is competitive, but it's more than Homer basically invented the coming of age novel with the Telemachaie; he invented the flawed hero, as I choose to understand Odysseus.  In many ways, his epics, although they are poems, are pre-runners to modern day novels.   They are pre-cursors to fantasy.  Heck, even the success of the Marvel movies to me suggest a thinly veiled nod to Homer.  What is Superman or Wonder Woman if not demi-gods?    Well, if I may weigh in, although I don't feel even remotely qualified to suggest someone is the greatest poet to have ever lived, but what impresses me the most is the level of psychological and archetypal insights into the nature of man that crosses through culture.  Of course, I've heard of a lot of the characters and several of the stories, but I was impressed by how relatable Odysseus is.  And although so many of his adventures at sea are fantastical- they feel like hyperbolic expressions of what I go through- For example, what is Scylla and Charybdis if not being caught between a rock and a hard place?  Another thing that fascinates me is the order he wrote them in- at least the order as we think them- the first one, The Iliad, and then some years later, as an older man, The Odyssey.  That's also psychologically interesting- The Iliad has its version of a hero- Achilles is idealistic, proud in large and obvious way, self-righteous, vindictive even.         It's young man's idea of heroism versus The Odyssey and its version of heroism- a much more nuanced.  He also gets revenge, but it's slow and not very reactionary- he plots, he lies, he bides his time- things we learn by life beating the hound out of us.      I think that is well said.  Studying Homer for me is also very intimidating historically.  There is so much history and culture- beyond just the language differences just between my world and Homer's- 2600 years- give or take.  The language is different.  The culture is different. The geography and the religion are literally worlds and worlds away, and I'm not very confident I can understand the context.  And if that weren't scary enough, when you realize that Homer may have been describing events that may have preceded him by perhaps another 400- 1000 years or so, depending on who you believe- I just get lost in the math.  I might as well be saying, “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…”.   It's foreign and mysterious.  Lizzy asked me today as I was sitting on my computer reading some research on the Mycenaens what book I was working on and I said, “Research for ‘Homer's The Odyssey'” – to which she replied, “Sounds boring.”  And Lizzy listens to our podcasts!!  But on the screen of my computer were broken pieces of pottery and archeological data, not super-man and wonderwoman.    Ha!  Well, if you can't guilt-trip your family members into listening to you, even if you are boring, what hope do you have?  But, I totally understand where she's coming from, over the years, I've taught a lot of history from US to Europe to World, and the Ancient World, and I love it.  I will admit, though, even though a lot can be fascinating with the ancients, there's no doubt the farther back in time you go, it can be very difficult to conceptualize.  It is also a lot more guesswork.  Ancient Greece feels far away because it IS far away, and often we don't know what we're looking at when we see it. I hate to keep coming back to the arrogance of the present, but we really have to guard against looking at ancient peoples as primitive thinkers just because their technologies were not advanced.  I mean, honestly, which of us could survive one week on an island?  I think Survivor has proven that that's not happening.    Ha!  Those people always lose so much weight! Survivor also proves that the most cunning and deceptive you are- Odysseus style, the more likely you are to survive, but getting back to the historical side of it.  Did the Trojan war really happen?  And if it did, what was it?      That's a great question.  For years and years, even centuries- the greatest minds said no.  If Troy existed, we would know it.  And just for context, in case you are unfamiliar with the story, the story goes that there was a woman, today we call her Helen of Troy, but she wasn't Trojan, she was Greek, and she ran away with a young lover- named Paris- to a city called Troy across the ocean.  Her sister's husband, King Agamemnon, launched 1000 ships and all the Greek kings and heroes to get her back for her husband Menelaus.   The war to get Helen back took ten years before the Greeks were finally able to penetrate the wall, theoretically using a gigantic horse and a gimmick devised by Odysseus.  The story goes that Odysseus and a few others hid inside this gigantic horse.  Everyone else hid and pretended to return to Greece.  They left the horse there claiming that it was a gift to the god, Poseidon.  The Trojans brought the horse inside the gate, Odesseus came out, unlocked the gate and the Greeks sacked the city.    For forever, no one thought this place even existed with any real certainty.  We couldn't find it.   Until an outrageous and bombastic but exceedingly wealthy amateur self-proclaimed archeologist by the name of Heinrich Schliemann set out to find it in the 1860s and actually did.      Outrageous and bombastic sounds kind of like code for a schmuck?    Well, he did have a few personal issues as well as professional ones.  For one thing, he wasn't trained in archeology, so he just went around blasting everything he saw – to the point that- Historian Kenneth Harl has said that Schliemann's excavations did to Troy what the Greeks couldn't do, destroy and level the city walls to the ground.    Oh no, that's terrible.       Well, it really is and he destroyed a lot of history.  He wanted so badly to get to the jewels belonging to Helen of Troy that he actually blasted through the actual walls of the city.  But, that being said, there is something to the fact, that he actually found the walls of the city and was something no one had done before him.  He found tons of gold and all kinds of very important things- he claimed his loot belonged to people like King Priam and Agamemnon including a very important solid gold.  One of the most famous is still called The Mask of Agamennon.  This, of course, has mostly been debunked by actual archeologists who know how to properly date archeological finds, but that being said, he found stuff that is real and validated many of the events referenced by Homer, albeit in myth form.   And if you ever  have the opportunity to visit Athens, you can see the mask of Agamennon in the National Archeological Museum.  Anyway, The best historical sources we have suggest that the Trojan war actually happened and took place around 1183 BC.  Not everyone is willing to say it lasted ten years or that was fought on the scale the Homer describes with thousands of ships, but we now believe it did happen.    Well, we are less likely to believe it was sparked by petty gods and goddesses and fought by demi-gods fathered by goddesses who dip their children in magical rivers that make them mostly immortal.  But I will say, I wish they would find a mask of Helen.  I would love to see what the uncontested most beautiful woman in human history, daughter of Zeus.      True, Christy, there is so much I don't know about all the myths of the gods and goddesses, and before I started researching for this podcast seris, honestly, I thought the story of the Illiad was the story of the Greeks sacking Troy.  I have to admit I got my information from the movie Brad Pitt made called Troy.  There are so many gods and goddesses and furies and nymphs and creatures and shapeshifters.  It's overwhelming.      True, the Illiad ends with the death and funeral of the Trojan hero, Hector,  and his father very sadly begging for his body and returning it home- not the sack of Troy.  In other words, the Greeks haven't won.  That's a story you get from other places.  The Odyssey references the Trojan horse when Telemachus goes to visit his father's old war buddies, but there is not a Homeric version of the Brad Pitt movie.  I was disappointed to find that out myself.     Speaking of things that have proven disappointing about Homer, One of those things is that we don't know him or even if there IS a him.    I know this is controversial and not universally accepted, but I will say from the get-go, that I am of the persuasion that Homer was an actual person who actually composed both pieces.  Although I'm sure there was a collection of traditional myths, like we saw with the Iroquois confederacy that were passed down orally from generation to generation, I believe that there was a man named Homer who drew from the myths kind of like Shakespeare did in our English tradition from popular stories he knew people recognized, and he composed his own pieces- one being the Iliad- where he doesn't retell the entire story of the war, but focuses on one hero and one aspect of it- and the other being the Odyssey- where he again focuses on one person.  Obviously I'm not an archeologist or a university professor with a degree in classical studies and I'm not prepared or qualified to argue with anyone who is.  But, I've read enough from those who are to convince me of that.    Do we know anything about Homer at all, assuming as you do, that he existed?    Not really- to be honest.  Most traditions claim that he was blind, although I can't find any real compelling reason for that belief except there's a blind poet named Demodacus in the Odyssey that sings at the court of the Phaeacian king- which I wouldn't think means anything at all, except that the ancients themselves took it for something- so if they believed it, maybe it was so.  Oh, This is interesting, there is one tradition that believes Homer was a woman- based in large part to the prominence Homer gives women in the text- that's my favorite theory, but a minority view for sure.  No ancient scholars were making that claim.  Tradition, and by tradition, we're talking about a couple thousand of years- so that's a long time for a tradition to develop- but traditional views consider him to have been  a male bard, or what today we call a professional singer/songwriter.  No one really knows where he's from.  Although, at least seven different places claim him; the most convincing arguments, at least for me, suggest he came from islands that are actually closer to Turkey then mainland Greece- more specifically the island Chios which is in the Aegean sea but close to Smyrna, modern day Izmir.  But maybe he came from Ios or Cyme.        If you are not all that well acquainted with the geography of the Mediterranean Sea or the Aegean ocean, I'll try to create a mini-map in your mind's eye.  Think of the big Mediterranean sea being a like a giant lake, and mainland Greece jets kind of halfway between Turkey and Italy with all of these scattered islands everywhere that go with it.  So, the part of the water that is between Greece and Turkey we call the Aegean Sea.  I don't want to oversimplify to people who know their maps, but, I've learned over the last couple of years, it's harder for those of us who use GPS  all the time to see the world in terms of maps, the way we old-schoolers used to have to do all the time- no disrespect. I definitely love my GPS over a paper map- but there's the trade-off.   I guess a good linked-in question might be, do we need maps anymore?      Anyway, Ancient Troy or modern day Hissarlik is on the north side of this inlet.  If you go down about 120 towards the Mediterranean you run into Chios and Smyrna.  Both of these places are about 158 miles across the ocean from Athens.  So, today, by modern standards they don't take long to get from one to the other, but obviously if you make the gods make, like Odysseus did, it can take up to 10 years.  But, Garry, beyond the geography of Greece being so different from other parts of the world because it's so based around a culture of the sea, I have trouble understanding the different periods- the Bronze Age, the Iron Age, all that stuff.  Can you give us a two minute crash course?    Sure, well we usually call what you're talking about this age of the early Greek glory years where they built the big palaces with the gigantic walls with the gods and heroes that were larger than life- the Mycenaean civilization- and the dates for that, generally speaking, are between 1650-1200 BC.  We really don't think of the Myceans as having a writing system like we think of today-  they likely had some ways of using script perhaps to mark things for business, but the culture and stories were passed down by an oral tradition.  The most important city-states, at least this is what we think today, were some of the ones we see in the Odyssey for example Mycenae was home to the legendary King Agamemnon and Pylos was the home of King Nestor.  All of these city states worshiped the same gods and spoke the same language, but politically, they had different kings.  Kings had to be strong.  Piracy was a way of life and not even considered immoral.  We think today that these people were highly aggressive and warlike amongst themselves as well as against outsiders.  They also made their armor out of Bronze- hence the Bronze Age.  So, back to the Iliad, Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, was the queen of Sparta.  If we referring back to your little mental map- Sparta, Mycenae and Pylos are on the other side of mainland Greece- the side closer to Italy.  The ruins from those cities show big walls and lots of wealth. Sparta is about 300 or so miles across the sea, pass the mainland and into the Aegean Ocean.  This would have been the warpath to Troy but honestly, we really don't know what happened and that is not even just about this particular war.  We don't know for sure what happened to any of these towns.  What we do know is something devastasted all of these beautiful city states.  They were burned to the ground and whatever happened caused this area to fall into a period called the Dark Age- because we know nothing about it.  Almost the only thing we really know is that during the Dark Age, there was a transition from Bronze weapons to the much stronger Iron ones.    The big changes and the big cultural movement that shaped the world- at least the Western world- like we think of today comes out of the next period- the one following the Dark Age. We call this one the Archaic period which we consider to be from 800-500BC.  This era as well as the next are where we get things we're familiar with like the Olympics, the new sophisticated writing system- the Greek alphabet- democracy- like we associate with Athens.  And to make things even more confusing, the big Greek guys that we think of- like Plato and Aristotle and the “Golden Age” do not coincide with Homer- they come much later.  So, it's a lot of history- for us on the American continent who are mostly immigrants from other parts of the world- be it Europe, Africa or Asia, it's more than we can really even conceptualize- our entire nation as we understand it as a nation is less than 250 years old.  If we add what we know of the Indigenous people like the Iroquois confederacy into our timeline -we still fall short by thousands of years- Dekcadeakoah wasn't born til 1200 AD, at least that's our best guess.  So- there's your historical context in the two minute nutshell.  Does that work?    Well of course, so- to summarize even more Homer, a man who comes this Archaic period 8th century BC,  was writing about people who claimed lived during the Mycenaean civilization a full 400 before his life time- so if we want to give Odysseus, the man, an age- he's like 3000 plus years old-  Like I said before- for me it is basically “A long time ago in an galaxy far far away”...and yet…it's not… I want to start out by reading the first page of Fagle's translation- and then let's jump into the story itself- because for me-and I mean to disrespect to history- you know I love history- but I think you will agree with me- that it's not the history of this story that has kept it around for 3000 years.  It's not the religion; it's not the culture.  Homer writes the story of our lives- all of our lives- and we keep coming back to it generation after generation for that reason.      Read page 77    Okay- Christy- I think there's one more thing I think we need to clarify- there are so many translations.  Does it matter?    Well, I think the answer to that is the same if you ask that question about translations of the Bible- whichever you like personally-- which I may add- if you want to compare when Odysseus lived with Biblical characters, Moses arguably lived about 200 years before Odysseus-my best guess from my looking at the most respected timelines for each of these guys – but I stand to be corrected -if you have an article that parallels the two histories, I'd love to see it- email it over.  The more important point- and in some sense this is true for any text- but it is especially true for ancient texts- it's not the nuance of the language that matters really at all.  It's the essence of the ideas of the stories- the universal truths.  Most of the millions who read these stories every year can't read the original Greek. And although those that can really talk about the beauty of  all that- that part is lost on us.   It's not the translation that is going to make or break the story.  The Rouse translation, which, by the way, is the one we used when I taught this text to freshmen in Wynne Arkansas, was the first one I knew and the only one I knew for a really long time.  I really like it because I know it.  But, the knock on it is that it's prose and the Odyssey was not written in prose.  It's by far one of the lesser respected ones today. A lot of people today prefer Robert Fagle's translation because his book is really easy to read but he tries to make it sound like poetry.     Well, for the record, I am using Rouse's translation. I picked up Fagles, but I ended up preferring Rouse's because I wanted to read the story in prose instead of verse, for me that's easier.  But just so I know, Christy, assuming we were Greek and could understand this as it was originally composed what would it be like.    Good question- not that anyone knows for sure- but the general understanding is that it was written in meter- dactylic hexameter to be exact.  DAH -duh-duh- One accented syllable with two unaccented syllables in a row and then each line would have six of these.  Now, this is just me, but I really compare these ancient bards to modern day rap artists.  The Bards that would go around singing these stories- would improvise- but would use the beat to kind of keep them on course- obviously it didn't sound like rap, but it's the same skill that we see rap artists do when they improvise and you wonder- how can they think of all those rhymes?  Well, the trick is to already have little phrases in your mind that you know will make your lines work.  In the case of the Greek bards, they would have these epithets, or phrases they would use to describe the names of different gods- these lines that keep repeating throughout- would help them keep up with the demands of the meter.  So what does that mean- that means when you hear them say, as we will “Bright-eyed Athena”- he's adding syllables to make the meter work.  If that makes sense.      So, the descriptions don't necessarily mean that her eyes are the most important thing about her- it's just to make the music work?     That's it exactly.  The thinking is we aren't supposed to read too much into those kinds of things.  Also, the bards themselves used a very specialized vocabulary which was a mixture of different Greek dialects in order to make it all work.   This is a tangent, but it's kind of interesting, there was a classical linguist named Milman Parry who really wanted to figure out how in the world Homer could memorize so many lines.  You know the Odyssey has over 12,000 lines.  Well, Parry, by studying modern day illiterate singer/songwriters in Bosnia.  He came to believe that Homer didn't memorize anything- he had these patterns, these phrases and names of the gods that he knew rhymed well and fit the pattern and he would just tell the story and improvise the language for every different audience- he'd end the lines with the phrases and patterns that rhymed.  Maybe like professional comedians who do comedy improv in “Who's line is it anyway?”  So, in my mind, a Greek bard is something between a cross between a rap artist and modern day improv comedian.     HA!  Well, there's some creative analogies, but I get it.  Honestly, the idea of improvising makes it cooler than if Homer just wrote a piece of writing and then just read/chanted/sang the same thing over and over again.  As a musician, it reminds me of what Jazz musicians do or even bands in general.  You know, and this is really going to sound nerdy, but every once in a while, I have some buddies that I've known from years ago- we all went to the same church at one time- but many have moved out of Memphis- but we get together about once a year and do something like this. We'll go to a friend's house with our instruments, bring up some good ole' rock and roll music that we like and just improvise.  We all know the songs, but the specific variations, solos- that sort of thing- will be just be stuff that we make up.    Parry thought a Homer show was exactly that- every time he performed The Odyssey it was totally new.  But again, this is all total speculation- no one knows.  It's just too long ago.  So- having said that, back to the question you asked, for most of our purposes none of this stuff really matters- the translation doesn't matter, that Homer may or may not even have been a person, or a male or a person with vision who wrote with letters at all- or that the text itself may not even have been a fixed text or a story with improvised performances- all of those things- all though interesting- are really not the reason we love these stories and teach them in the ninth grade- at least around here.  It's this Homeric universe- this fantastical story- this hyperbolic creation  that has magnified the human experience.  Homer gave us a  new way to conceptualize our world- and a way to feel about the events- both controllable and uncontrollable that plague our lives.  Every once in a while, someone shows up in the world that can produce such a space.  In some ways we could say that Tolkien did this with Middle Earth, that JK Rowling did it, that CS Lewis did it, even George Lucas did it- each of those artists conceptualize entirely new and different universes- and when we spend time in their work- whatever medium we use- can inhabit that universe.  We can understand our world better through their world- it's fantasy.  So, Homer was the first that we know of to do this at the scale in which he did.  This is not to say that there are not legends and stories that predate him- there most certainly are- but they don't exist, that I know of, in this full length single unit form- not like what we have with Homer.  But yet, there is more to it than even that, although that is quite a feat.    Homer defined reality for a large number of people for centuries- maybe even still- and I'm not sure those other writers that I just listed out can say that.  The Greeks for hundreds of years, were able to ground their reality on the backs of the principles, morals, the world view that was laid out in his work- The Illiad and The Odyssey.  It helped people answer basic questions like- how do I conduct myself in the world.        Let's look at those first lines again and go through them-    “Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns driven time and again off course, once he had plundered the hallowed heights of Troy.”    Christy, is Homer telling us his entire story in the first lines.    Yes- of course he is- first of all, I do want to point out that Homer does not take credit for his story.  He is going to say it was given to him from a Muse.  That's interesting and really Jungian- so, I'll let you speak to that since that's your cup of tea-    Ha!  Well, he's basically saying, it's not that he made up the story- but he found the story or the story found him-the Muse is the originator- the idea being that the story existed before him in some larger context- that there is something here greater than he is.    And of course, all religious traditions speak to this reality, but since you referenced Jung, so does psychology.  There is something greater… and that is his starting point.    Exactly, and then he brings up why we love Odysseus- he was a man of twist and turns.  You know James Joyce who wrote that incredibly complicated masterpiece Ulysses was asked why he wrote his masterpiece about Odysseus- Ulysses is the Roman way to say Odysseus- and he famously responded that he was the only complete man in literature.  Odysseus, as we are going to see is a different kind of hero.  In the Iliad which is the book that came first, the Achilles is a demi-god. He's perfect.  He is totally beautiful, totally powerful, totally honest- that is something he took pride in. He never had to lie, he never had to back down- he was bigger and stronger and could overpower anyone.  That's not Odysseus- he was amazing- for sure.  But he wasn't the absolute biggest- he had to rely on lies- he sacked cities but he also got sacked himself- he had twist and turns- and for two reasons- on the one hand, the gods had agendas that had nothing to do with him that affected his world, but also he, himself,  made choices that steered him way off course.      Odysseus is a hero- for sure-   he definitely gets all the women- haha- if you want to look at it that way- but he's the kind of hero- we as mere mortals might aspire to be.  His life didn't turn out the way he wanted it, but he still wins at life- and actually he gets to make choices that allow him to live the kind of life he ultimately figures out he wants for himself.    Exactly- and Homer shows us how to make that happen.  In this Homeric universe that is safely far away- full of monsters and goddesses and magic- we can test drive some of the things we'd like to do if we could.  In this magical place we see consequences for things like running your mouth when maybe you shouldn't. But we can get some good ideas at how to get back when we're being exploited- ways that are smarter than just running our mouth.   Maybe by watching Odysseus we can get ideas about how to correct the course of our personal odyssey, we can figure out success that looks like for ourselves in our mundane realities. At least, that's the idea.    And yet, Christy, it is magical and otherworldly with characters we don't know.  I'll just be honest, as a person who doesn't know a lot about mythology, am I going to get confused the farther into this I read?  So far, so good, but I'll admit I haven't finished the whole thing yet.    Again, back to Homer's brilliance- the answer is NO.  Homer is going to build a pantheon of gods that is manageable and knowable.  And this is brilliant.  Just like other polytheistic faiths there are hundreds of gods in the Greek pantheon- but how do you wrap your brain around 600 or so? Homer is going to reduce it to a few- the Olympians.  He's going to create a hierarchy we can understand and he's going to personalize the gods so that we can know them.  As we read the story, we meet them little by little.  We learn who they are, what they value, how they operate- and of course- how we appease them and stay out of trouble. First and foremost- we meet Zeus- he's the chief, the god of the sky- protector and father of all the other gods and humans.      We're also going to learn an important principle, that will explain a lot about life- both to us and the ancients- there are things that are in the hands of the gods, but there are also things that are in our control.  We can control what we can control but then there are times we can strive hard and still meet disaster.  Sometimes, we have offended the gods; sometimes they just like us- sometimes we are just victims of happenstance.      Yes- exactly- and how do we account for that?  Let's keep reading…    Page 78    So, we met Zeus- he's the god of the sky- now we get to meet Poseidon- he's the god of the sea- he's Zeus' brother, but he is way more unpredictable and volatile- hence the behavior of the sea.  The big three are Zeus, Poseidon and Hades- God of the Sky, God of the Sea and God of the underworld.  We meet all three in the Odyssey- and in some sense, this brings order to a universe.      There are powers out there- things we can't see but that determine our fate- but are also arbiters of justice.  There is also a spiritual battlefield- spirits- invisible forces, however you want to understand the world- energy forces larger than our own humanity can see through our natural senses- there is a story that is larger than our story, but we play a part.   Sometimes we are just a speck in humanity, but other times we are not invisible, even to these larger forces.    Of course, as we think through this, although, not many of us adopt Greek mythology as our spiritual worldview, there is a lot there, that most of the world still accepts as truth- even if you're a monotheist.    Exactly- those are the major big boys- but there are a few others that we're going to meet.  We meet Hermes pretty quickly and we quickly understand his role in the role- he is a messenger.  He's Zeus' son, but not with his wife, Hera.  Zeus is always getting in trouble with his wife because he has fidelity issues.  But Hermes, as we will quickly learn is in charge of messages.        After we meet the men, we will slowly meet some of the important women of Olympus.  The first one here is probably my favorite goddess- Athena, she might be everyone's favorite goddess. She's a virgin, not controlled by a man, ha- but a goddess of both wisdom and war.  She's awesome.    I don't know that she's everybodies- Aphrodite has fans.      Yeah- you're right- but she's a trouble-maker.  Aphrodite makes you like fall madly in love with someone you know is no good for you- or be sexually compelled to do behave improperly.    Some would say that's low impulse control.      Yes- but those would not be the ancient Greeks.  They would say it's Aphrodite's fault- you are listening to her- that was Helen of Troy's problem.  But back to Athena    Athena seems she likes Odysseus.      She DOES!!  And that's how Odysseus wins.  Someone is watching over him and he is sensitive to her leading.  Athena is the goddess of wisdom, and Odysseus is attuned to this sense of wisdom in the universe.  She speaks to him, guides him, and most importantly, Athena enables Odysseus to always keep his cool. Odysseus, we will see, with a few exceptions, is led by wisdom- not by lust,  not by uncontrollable rage- by god-given wisdom.  Seeing people as being visited by outside forces that inspire them one way or the other is not a bad way of understanding why people are the way they are- even if you don't believe in gods and goddesses- which for the record, I don't personally, but this is my understanding of the ancient Greek worldview.  In the Homeric Universe, men and women are led by one god or goddess for the most part- not by a variety of different ones.  We mentioned that Helen of Troy is attune to Aphrodite, the goddess of sexual love- that's who's giving her direction.  But Odysseus is attuned and sensitive to Athena.  Athena takes credit not for Odysseus' strength, although he is strong, not for his ability with a bow and arrow, which we'll see he's pretty good at that too, but she takes credit for his wisdom.  The Odyssey is a story of this collaboration- there are things that we can't control, but there are things we can, and if we control the things we can, the universe, a goddess or someone outside of ourselves can and will intervene on our behalf with grace and kindness.  It's a way to organize our thinking about how the universe works- a very old way of thinking about how the universe works.     Let's quote Zeus here- again from the Fagles translation- as he explains the responsibility of humans- at this point in the story- Poseidon is out of town, so to speak- he's off in Ethiopia receiving offerings by the hundreds.  And with him away, Athena will make her play to save Odysseus' life, but we also see this philosophy of the Greeks explained here in the beginning of how and why things work out the way they do.    Page 78      But now let me read what Athena says back to her father= here she demonstrates the role the gods play in the destinies of man    page 79-       And so we have our narrative hook.  The gods will intervene in the destinies of men.  Calypso has been holding Odysseus hostage.  Hermes is being sent with a message from the gods forcing Calypso to release Odysseus.  At the same time this is happening,  Athena will visit Telemachus' Odysseus' son back in their hometown, Ithaca.  Telemachus was a newborn when Odysseus' left.  He is now 20 years old.  For ten years Odysseus fought in Troy.  Then after angering Poseidon, he spent the next ten years wandering lost at sea.  Telemachus has been left to be raised by his mother and a man named Mentor (guess where got that word).  Anyway, there is trouble in Ithaca which we'll find out about next episode, but more importantly than that, it is time for Telemachus to take his own journey and go out into the world on his own.        The Odyssey can easily be divided into three parts- the first four books are about Telemachus' journey to visit all of his father's war buddies.  The second part is Odysseus wandering around the magical seas, and the third is what he finds when he gets back to Ithaca, how he finds his beautiful and faithful wife and what he sees in his palace estate.  The first part, which we'll tackle. Next episode is about the coming of age from a boy to a man. After that we'll look at what all these seas trials are all about and then finally, we'll discuss some ideas about the famous finale in our finale.    Well, it sounds like we have a plan.  You know, the Iliad is a pretty straight forward narrative- a linear timeline and a kind of tragic ending.  The Odyssey is written in circles.  It's winding with endless setbacks but it has a happy ending.      I think that's exactly the right way to look at it.  They are both charming and enduring books but for different reasons, my book club recently just finished reading the latest take on the Iliad.  Madeline Miller wrote a novel called The Song of Achilles from the perspective of Patroclus that we read and really liked, but it was sad too.   If we ever analyze the Iliad, we'll get into the appeal of that book- it certainly is there- but if we just look at what's appealing the Odyssey – I think the ending is definitely a factor- many of us know what it's like to offend the gods, experience the wrath of Poseidon, maybe even the lures of Aphrodite or Circe – we've also likely been jilted by suitors or friend-enemies- as we call them nowadays- we can live vicariously through this steady under pressure goddess led hero- and maybe be inspired to face down our monsters- maybe we can even do a little listening for Athena and learn to bide our time and wreck havoc on our foes if we need to.  But mostly, we all want that heart-warming reunion after a long absence with our loved-ones and own home- we want to rest in the prophecy that old Greek prophet Tiresias gave Odysseus during his visit to the underworld- that when our time comes death will steal upon us a gentle painless death, far from the seas it comes to take you down, borne down with the years in ripe old age with all your people there in blessed peace around you.”                                      

Garry welcomes money expert Terry Savage back to the show as our featured guest as we wrap-up the first week of 2022. A frequent guest on The Garry Meier Show over many years (and media), Terry is a nationally recognized expert on personal finance, the economy, and the markets. She writes a weekly personal finance column syndicated in major newspapers and is the author of four best-selling books on personal finance, including the newest edition of "The Savage Truth on Money."

Apparently France has a yearly tradition of people going around lighting cars on fire to celebrate New Years. Meanwhile, Garry has some ideas for dealing with inner city crime. Plus, PBR is probably going to want a new social media person. Garrforce t-shirts and coffee mugs are now available by going to "Can't Live Without" on the website. Your purchase of these items is what keeps the podcast going. Plus, you can always email me garrymeiershow@garrymeier.com or leave a text or voicemail at 773-888-2157 Thank you in advance!

Garry Cuddy from Spendthrift Australia joins Michael Felgate after it was announced late last week that Spendthrift will be ceasing their operation in Australia after 6 years.

Welcome to the Big Beatles Sort Out Series 2! Having ranked all the Beatles core catalogue releases in series 1, in this series we will be taking a curated look through the best of the rest - the unreleased, the alternatives, the songs that were given away, and more! If you are enjoying this podcast please let us know at @Big_Sort on Twitter and Instagram, and please leave us a review! Garry is also a musician and his recent songs can be found here on Spotify. Please listen out for Paul's other Podcasts, 'The Head Ballet' - all about novelty music, and 'Hark! 87th Precinct Podcast' - all about Ed McBain's seminal police procedural novel series. You can listen along to the songs featured in this episode on this handy Spotify playlist: Episode Playlist Also, we did a 'show and tell' video bonus about some of our sources for this series, you can see that here on YOUTUBE Keep up with the scoring charts with this handy google sheet: Big Sort Ranking Table Series 2 This Week's Songs: Sour Milk Sea, Goodbye, Penina, Come And Get It

Ilia Topuria, Ian Garry, Muhammad Mokaev sont pour nous le futur du MMA en tout cas, une vision du futur de la discipline.

Garry feels a little uneasy about the timing of the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope. Meanwhile, PornHub reported on what people were searching for over the holiday. Plus, some former SpaceX engineers are going to revolutionize pizza. Garrforce t-shirts and coffee mugs are now available by going to "Can't Live Without" on the website. Your purchase of these items is what keeps the podcast going. Plus, you can always email me [garrymeiershow@garrymeier.com](mailto:garrymeiershow@garrymeier.com) or leave a text or voicemail at 773-888-2157 Thank you in advance!

The Saintly one joined Steven and Lo on The Morning Roast to talk about where the Warriors stand after beating the Suns on Christmas Day. Was that the best win of the year? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Garry may have saved a young listener from falling down the meth hole. Meanwhile, there was a disconnect between holiday TV programming and some of the commercials. Plus, Queen Elizabeth had an unwanted visitor over the Christmas holiday. Garrforce t-shirts and coffee mugs are now available by going to "Can't Live Without" on the website. Your purchase of these items is what keeps the podcast going. Plus, you can always email me [garrymeiershow@garrymeier.com](mailto:garrymeiershow@garrymeier.com) or leave a text or voicemail at 773-888-2157 Thank you in advance!

Welcome to the Big Beatles Sort Out Series 2! Having ranked all the Beatles core catalogue releases in series 1, in this series we will be taking a curated look through the best of the rest - the unreleased, the alternatives, the songs that were given away, and more! If you are enjoying this podcast please let us know at @Big_Sort on Twitter and Instagram, and please leave us a review! Garry is also a musician and his recent songs can be found here on Spotify. Please listen out for Paul's other Podcasts, 'The Head Ballet' - all about novelty music, and 'Hark! 87th Precinct Podcast' - all about Ed McBain's seminal police procedural novel series. You can listen along to the songs featured in this episode on this handy Spotify playlist: Episode Playlist And click here for 'Cat Call' which does not appear on Spotify! We also did a little video bonus you can watch HERE! Keep up with the scoring charts with this handy google sheet: Big Sort Ranking Table Series 2 This Week's Songs: Woman, Love In The Open Air, Cat Call, Step Inside Love, Thingumybob

Gary Coleman talks about his life in Motorsport and how the Motor Racing Ministries has been able to help so many people across the Country.

Gary Coleman talks about his life in Motorsport and how the Motor Racing Ministries has been able to help so many people across the Country.

For Christmas Eve 2021, with newly recorded greetings from Garry and Leslie, we give you an encore presentation of "The Garry Meier Show, Cocktail Hour LIVE! 2020 Pre-Recorded Non-Inflated Christmas Almost Spectacular Spectacular" featuring Magician Bill Cook, Carl from Plover, a song from Jay Goeppner, and appearances by friends of the show including, Svengoolie, Terry Savage, Will Lee, Todd Sucherman, Gregg Potter, Ryan from Wisconsin, Johnny from Michigan, and more.

Re-Release #5 of 10 of The A Game Podcast to end 2021 with the most intriguing account on Instagram, "The Lion Killer" himself, "Your mom's favorite grappler", One Fighting Championship Title contender and Jiu JItsu specialist Garry Tonon! The man is truly an onion, link in bio for full episode you will want to listen to for an excellent conversation on growing into the best possible person you can be and keeping it fun and genuine along the way. I really enjoyed talking with Garry. Definitely check out his account and get some last minute Stocking stuffers with some of his instructionals on BJJ Fanatics! Join Nick Lamagna on The A Game Podcast with guest Garry Tonon, a professional MMA fighter, businessman and one of the most entertaining and polarizing characters in Brazilian Jiu JItsu of all time.  Many lessons learned in this episode as Garry goes deep into so many aspects of his personal life struggles and experiences to help shape who he is today as well as shares excellent advice for anyone looking to build a brand and/or business.   We cover everything from training Jiu Jitsu to mental health, self accountability, social media and branding ideas to make extra income diversifying your current career. Topics In This Episode Include: ✅  Struggles of opening a business  ✅  What does it take to be great at something? ✅  diversifying how to make money doing what you love ✅  Putting ego aside for maximum improvement & mitigating risk in training environments ✅  How to look inward to take leadership lessons away from every situation ➡️ And More! Text Nick at (516)540-5733 to discuss buying, selling or partnering on real estate investments TODAY!  ~ Connect with Garry: www.garrytononjiujitsu.com www.cashchickschampionships.com Garry Tonon On Instagram Garry Tonon On Twitter Book Garry For A Seminar Get Garry Tonon Instructionals https://skilledviolence.com/ --- Connect with Nick Lamagna www.NickNickNick.com Free Checklist On How To Add Value To Your Buyers Click here discounted CBD from Naked Warrior Recovery!!! Subscribe and Share If you like what you hear please leave a review by clicking here   Make sure you're subscribed to the podcast so you get the latest episodes on Platforms by Clicking Here To Subscribe Find all social media connections at Social media Links for Facebook, IG, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.

Merry Christmas! Garry and Tim share their plans for the day, before reliving a handful of highlights from the year, including American sports broadcaster Ernie Johnson, former South African golfer Gary Player, and more.

Garry wonders why anyone would brave the freezing temperatures to spend New Years Eve in Times Square. Meanwhile, a Florida woman tried to poison her boyfriend and had a unique motivation for doing so. Plus, Lorne Michaels might have some free time on his hands in the future. Garrforce t-shirts and coffee mugs are now available by going to "Can't Live Without" on the website. Your purchase of these items is what keeps the podcast going. Plus, you can always email me garrymeiershow@garrymeier.com or leave a text or voicemail at 773-888-2157 Thank you in advance!

Mairead Robinson taks to Garry Hughes, Executive Chef at Dublin's Shelbourne Hotel by Senior Times

This is Captivate Insider, a weekly update on what's happening here at Captivate, where we're actively helping the serious independent podcast creator save time, grow their podcast and monetize their content. Join me your host, Garry, the Head of Design here at Captivate where I'll be chatting with our team to get a behind the scenes look at what goes into designing and developing our features, our views on what's happening in and around podcasting PLUS grab some tips on using Captivate along the way. A new show lands every Wednesday in your preferred podcast app and if you're not using Captivate to grow your podcast, head over to https://captivate.fm (captivate.fm) to try us out totally free for 7 days. Enjoy, and happy podcasting.

This is Captivate Insider, a weekly update on what's happening here at Captivate, where we're actively helping the serious independent podcast creator save time, grow their podcast and monetize their content. Join me your host, Garry, the Head of Design here at Captivate where I'll be chatting with our team to get a behind the scenes look at what goes into designing and developing our features, our views on what's happening in and around podcasting PLUS grab some tips on using Captivate along the way. A new show lands every Wednesday in your preferred podcast app and if you're not using Captivate to grow your podcast, head over to https://captivate.fm (captivate.fm) to try us out totally free for 7 days. Enjoy, and happy podcasting. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

Garry has found he can stay pretty happy by focusing on the Beatles documentary rather than anything else happening in the world. Meanwhile, a family in Michigan is suing a funeral home after the wrong person was put in the casket for their family members funeral. Plus, Taylor Swift might be responsible for a COVID outbreak in Australia. Garrforce t-shirts and coffee mugs are now available by going to "Can't Live Without" on the website. Your purchase of these items is what keeps the podcast going. Plus, you can always email me [garrymeiershow@garrymeier.com](mailto:garrymeiershow@garrymeier.com) or leave a text or voicemail at 773-888-2157 Thank you in advance!

Welcome to the Big Beatles Sort Out Series 2! Having ranked all the Beatles core catalogue releases in series 1, in this series we will be taking a curated look through the best of the rest - the unreleased, the alternatives, the songs that were given away, and more! If you are enjoying this podcast please let us know at @Big_Sort on Twitter and Instagram, and please leave us a review! Garry is also a musician and his recent songs can be found here on Spotify. Please listen out for Paul's other Podcasts, 'The Head Ballet' - all about novelty music, and 'Hark! 87th Precinct Podcast' - all about Ed McBain's seminal police procedural novel series. You can listen along to the songs featured in this episode on this handy Spotify playlist: Episode Playlist And click here for the Demo of 'It's For You' which does not appear on Spotify! Keep up with the scoring charts with this handy google sheet: Big Sort Ranking Table Series 2 This Week's Songs: Like Dreamers Do, From A Window, It's For You, I Don't Want To See You Again, That Means A Lot

Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol - Episode 2 - Ghosts, Innocence, Redemption And The Conclusion!   Hi, I'm Christy Shriver and we're here to discuss books that have changed the world and have changed us.    I'm Garry Shriver and this is the How to Love Lit Podcast.  This is our second episode discussing Charles Dickens and his classic Christmas tale, A Christmas Carol.  Last episode we began our discussion talking a little bit about Dickens' life and the early experiences in Victorian England that shaped his career and his understanding of the world in general- in particular, the year he spent at the age of 12 as an outcast on the streets of London working in a blacking factory.  We talked about the governmental report on the conditions of the over 30,000 urban poor children that inspired the tale.  Finally, we discussed the blended choice of genres in which he chose to communicate his message of social responsibility and personal redemption- a carol, in prose, as he called it, but also a ghost story- an unusual combination.  We ended where we want to start  today, talking about the man who has charmed the world with his miserly ways, Ebenezer Scrooge.      Yes, and even before we get into the fictional character of Scrooge, I'd like to start this episode getting back into the historical context of the book.  Garry, wasn't there a real historical character Dickens' knew that inspired this timeless character?    Well, interestingly enough, there was a member of parliament by the name of John Elwes who actually lived and died before Dicken's day but was famous to almost a silly degree of being a miser.  Elwes inherited a fortune, a multi-millionaire by today's standards, but was absolutely famous for being stingy-beyond anything a reasonable person would do- as was his mother,  who literally starved herself because she was too cheap to eat.  But in Elwe's case, he and his uncle, also a millionaire who would eventually leave his fortune to his nephew, would pride themselves on how little they could live off of.  They'd sit up and rail against how much other people were spending while they were making it on so much less- they would do this while splitting one glass of wine.  Elwes would go to bed when it got dark so he wouldn't have to spend money on candles, he wore clothes so raggedy, people mistook him for a beggar, he would eat putrefied food, one time he famously ate a  hen a rat had pulled out of a river so as not to waste it.  He refused to go to the doctor because he didn't want to pay them, and he would travel longer out of the way on roads that didn't have tolls on a skinny horse back and forth to parliament.  And the worst, even on the coldest nights of the year,he  would sit without a fire saying that eating was exercise enough to keep him warm- sounds a little like Scrooge with his coal in the fire safe box.     Dang, I do see the resemblance.    It was only a partial inspiration though, Ewles, unlike Scrooge, was extremely generous with others.  He was only stingy with himself.  He lost huge sums of money loaning money to people who couldn't pay him back.  He also financed the construction of some of London's famous landmarks including part of Oxford Circus and Piccadilly- so, you can see, as with all fiction, he got inspiration and then went his own way.    Indeed, and Scrooge is way more than a miser.  Stephen Prickett in his book Victorian Fantasy  said that “the strength of A Christmas Carol lies quite simply in its psychological credibility.”  And I think this starts with Scrooge.  In the pages we read last episode, we saw way more than miserliness.  He is apparently a workaholic.  He has shut himself off from his family.  He has no friends and seems to have zero concern for other people.  In one of the famous passages that actually comes back to haunt Scrooge when the ghosts repeat his own words to him later on, he callously rejects helping the poor, not just by refusing to help them, but by almost slandering them.  Let's start by reading these famous words because in some ways they reverberate for the rest of the book.    Page 7- top of 8    I'd like to speak a little bit about the historical references Scrooge makes here.  There are several and they matter.   Workhouses were not something Dickens invented.  They were real things in Victorian England.  Last week we talked about the idea that in this time period if you owed money and couldn't pay it back, your entire family was sent to debtors prison until you did.   Workhouses were notoriously miserable with awful food and harsh conditions- not very different from prison actually.  In theory they sound like a good idea.  They are free places to live and work for people who couldn't find a job or shelter on their own.  But they were terrible and founded on this false premise we see reflected on what Scrooge says here.   The general opinion of the upper and middle classes at the time was that poor people were responsible for their own poverty because they were too lazy, too sinful- like they drank too much or something like that-     Scrooge says he can't afford to make “idle people merry”.      Yes, well no one in a workhouse was in danger of that problem.  Workhouses were designed to be so bad that any normal person would do everything to get out of one, which of course was true, but getting out of poverty, as we all know takes far more than not being lazy or having good morals- although those are definitely helpful and necessary.  Moving out of poverty takes high levels of intelligence, discipline and maybe even some luck or kindness from people with means.  The natural and complex obstacles to upward mobility was not something people without those impediments understood or even saw.  Beyond that and perhaps even worse, there was a very influential man by the name of Thomas Malthus who convincingly propagated the idea that Britain was heading to famine because of overpopulation.  He termed this problem with the expression the “surplus population”. Basically his idea was, although this is a simplification, but basically he believed the more helpless in society were surplus population- and this group needed to die off or starve.  For Malthus, poverty and suffering were God's way of teaching us the value of hard work and virtuous behavior.  If we suffer it's our own fault- pretty much always.  This term, “surplus population” which Scrooge actually uses, was literally Malthus' term and almost all educated people at the time were familiar with it.     The third interesting reference Scrooge mentions are the treadmills in the prisons.  These were famous or rather infamous features of Victorian prisons.   Are you suggesting they were not peloton bikes made to help keep inmates fit and happy?     A penal treadmill was where the inmates would walk constantly, and by walking they would move a huge wheel while also holding bars.  They were basically fueling a system to generate energy to grind corn, if you can imagine how exhausting this would be.  I have read that prisoners were given 12 minutes of break between hours.    Good Lord, and I complain that 30 minutes on a treadmill is mindnumbing, nevermind physically exhausting.    Yes- they definitely were a grind- pun pun    So, being in prison obviously is horrible; living in a workhouse is terrible, and that left the group who were working in factories or lower wage jobs- the ones Scrooge references as only receiving 15 shillings a week.      Ironically, Scrooge was in full power to make this wage whatever he wants, but this is not something he seems to see at this point.  Bob Cratchet's family embodies this hardworking group of people who are neither lazy nor immoral by any definition. Bob Cratchett worked for Scrooge, but he's not the only worker.   His children are obviously working and we can only assume working in factories- we are even told that Martha comes in thirty minutes earlier this year than last year on Christmas. When we visit their Christmas celebration, they have cleaned up, are dressed as best they can, and are all pitching in to create a humane and vibrant environment.  Their poor home was way more warmth then the coldness we saw at Scrooge's.     We've talked about was the working conditions of these factories before, but it's hard to conceptualize today how massive this industry was in England at the time.  Just to put this in perspective, Britain had 1.8% of the world population but it was producing 2/3rd of the worlds output just in coal.  Britain was producing millions of pounds of iron.  They were leading the world in cloth made from cotton, and so many other consumer goods.  It's nice to have stuff made in factories, but what is the human cost, especially at this level?  This is a problem we're still talking about and have not resolved on a global scale.  Every country that emerges into the industrial age does so on on the backs of its working population and most often in factories.  But honestly this idea of building with human capital goes back to the beginning of time.   Every time Archeologists dig up civilizations that date back thousands of years and find fundamentally the same thing, a few rich graves full of treasure surround by a  graveyard full of graves with nothing but bones- the poor.  Every society confronts the issue of how it will evolve and progress.  The British were having this discussion as the first industrialized nation-state- but they are not the last to struggle with industrialization.  Every country in the world who becomes industrialized has already had the conversation as a nation, or is having it right at our current moment.        Manchester, the town Dickens visited, was the “workshop of the world”.  It was fueling so much production but was also notorious for working children like slaves.  Just to show you what I'm talking about six months after The Christmas Carol was published a law was passed that limited children between the ages of 9-13 to working only 9 hours a day and 6 days a week.  Just to know how bad things were, this was regarded as a humane reform.  The middle class was a growing group, but they were also de-sensitized to so much that was going on because they were living good lives and didn't actually see any of this stuff for themselves.  Thomas Carlyle, coined the phrase, “the condition of the England question” describing what was happening all over England.  Society was dividing between the haves and the have nots- as socieities have always done since the beginning of time- and with every other society- Britain would respond- one way or another?    Dickens illustrates not just the obvious problem, but what he views as the coldness of the evolutionary and even instinctual idea me-first first- Scrooge literally vocalizes the sentiment.  But are we only products of biology, of evolution? Dickens wanted to say that our humanity, our consciousness makes us different.  Because we are aware of ourselves, our relationship to others, and many other things, we can act against our own interest and instead act in the interest of others - I can strive to be better and kinder. Dickens believed that any people group could be seen for who they are by how they treat their children.   He also did not believe the solution was institutional- be it church, government, school, etc.  For Dickens the solution was in the character of each individual who lived in any space.  Scrooge as expressed in stave one has lost that which makes him human- that which connects him; Scrooge's problem is apathy.       Apathy is certainly a problem, but is it THE problem? I want to talk about Scrooge's mental state.  Scrooge is neurotic- in other words-  he has anxiety that is causing behaviors that are not rational.  And although apathy is there, I see it as a symptom of a deeper problem.  What is causing his apathy?  Why would you want to keep your home so miserably home?  Why would you make fun of a nephew in love?  Why would you mistreat your employee and be angry at others celebrating anything?  Some of Scrooge's behaviors we have experienced ourselves and perhaps, although I don't venture into literary criticism, may account with why he's hard to hate him and easy to pity him.   Why do we do stuff like this?    Interesting, you know, one of the things people criticize about this story, and I have read this,   in more than one place is that A Christmas Carol just isn't realistic.  It's not realistic to suggest that a mean person can become a nice person in one night.  That a person can just change- that they are capable of seeing the evil in their ways with just a few examples and then be willing to reform.  Many suggest that an apathetic person, who has spent years practicing cruelty, can easily be made sympathetic.    You know, I can see that, and, of course, that's true in real life.  It's not realistic that we change in one night, but for me the suspension of reality is something that I find myself doing easily in this story.  The story literally says, “once upon a time” which makes me think fairy tale, and then not too soon after that, the knocker in the door transforms into Marley's face- not the most realistic thing to believe in.      Indeed, I guess that's a good point.  Ghost stories are also not usually realistic.   And so, we meet dear ole' Marley.  He's definitely a ghost, but not one that's floating around a room covered in a bedsheet and slamming doors.  He's wearing his regular clothes; he's also transparent through to the bowels.  He's weighed down by a chain made by cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel, as it were- all elements of money.  Marley is fettered, and according to him, by the chains he forged in life.  He says, “I made it link by link, yard by yard, I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it.”      Again, he's talking about us doing things that become our chains- the example Dickens chooses is a common one- our finances-why do people hoard money- I'm not saying save money- I'm saying hoard it?  Why do some rich people accumulate way more money than they could ever spend?  Is there a responsibility with wealth to contribute personally to the general welfare of others or is that something you pay the state or another institution to do for you?  Also, Is my wealth a product of my being better than other people- in one way or another- smarter, more talented, more beautiful- all the things Malthus thinks- or is my place in this world a matter of a biological jackpot of sorts like Warren Buffet teaches?   These are tough issues. Dickens is very interested in this story in money and what it actually does and can do.      I want to say, that Dickens, like all of us, struggled with money his whole life.  He never really resolved the problems he raises. Honestly, when I read Dickens biography, there are a few ways, he modeled Scrooge after himself, if I'm just being honest.    I don't think Dickens is criticizing Scrooge for having money.    No, I don't think so either.  In fact, there's no way Fred his nephew is poor.  He's throwing a really nice party with lots of people and seems to have a pretty nice house.      Dickens isn't criticizing money, having money, or telling us how to distribute it.  He's pointing out something different.  For Marley and obviously also for Scrooge-   All that money had produced an undesired effect in Scrooge- in the words of Kierkegaard in his book about anxiety- It created- instead of freedom  which is what people want from money- it created unfreedom.  It became an obsession.    Unfreedom- that's a strange turn of phrase, but I think I understand what he means.  It's not that you're a slave- you're not- you're just un-free- chains of your own making -so says Marley.  Interestingly enough, Scrooge compliments Marley on his sense of business, but he doesn't seem all that sad that he died.  Marley was his best friend, but that doesn't mean much- their relationship to money was closer than their relationship to each other.  That seemed to be their mutual understanding.  When Scrooge basically tries to be kind and pay marley a compliment saying he was good at business,  Marley responds, “Mankind was my business.  The common welfare was my business; charity; mercy, forbearance, benevolence, were all my business.  The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!”  It seems Marley, as well as the many ghosts that Scrooge saw with Marley as Marley floated out the window, were fated with a curse- now they had the empathy they didn't have in life.  These ghosts were floating out in the world, seeing and feeling the pain and suffering of living people, but were unable to help them- they could only feel their pain.  It's a very unusual perspective on the afterlife- not founded in any Sacred Text that I'm aware of- but founded on this idea of metaphysical regret- which we do see in Sacred Texts.         When we get into Stave 2, we start hearing bells- which I just gave up trying to understand.  I could not follow the sense of time in this book.      Well, as I said last week, it's a carol not a linear story- it's a cyclical one, so you are supposed to be utterly confused by the bells and by time in general.  All of the ghosts visit Scrooge at 1 am.  He goes to sleep at 2am, but then wakes up at midnight- so time obviously is resetting itself.   Then at the end, we finally get to Christmas day.     That reminds me of that movie Ground hog Day Bill Murray.     Ha!  You're right.  I guess it does, and Bill Murray is another actor that I think could play a great Scrooge.  I do think those bells create tension, they strike- that would freak me out.   But time is an important idea for Dickens.  This book is obsessed with time- the other great commodity for humans here on earth.  For one thing, we do a lot of time traveling, but notice that Scrooge from the very beginning associates money with time- he's all  bitter because he's losing an entire day of wages by giving Cratchett a single day off all year.  Dickens in some ways, is asking us to think about time- what do we do with this valuable resource? It is the only non-renewable resource we all have in equal measure independent of money…until one day, we don't.    Indeed, and so we meet the ghost of Christmas past and this unusual ghost with white hair and no wrinkles takes Scrooge to where he grew up as a child and what we are immediately struck with is the insecurity of Scrooge's early years.  His father was cruel; there is no mention of a mother which suggests to me tragedy of some sort; they get to the boarding school and everyone has left except one solitary child neglected by his friends.  And strangely enough, when Scrooge sees himself he sobs. The child is reading fantasy stories by what Dickens describes as a “feeble fire”.  He's imagining heroes- Ali Baba, larger than life ones- the kind that find princesses; he's living vicariously a life he knows he can't have because those responsible for loving him have betrayed him.  This insight offers understanding as to why Scrooge is so cold.  It's a matter of self-protection that makes him so mean and dismissive of his nephew for falling in love.  Here's he's crying as he sees the young boy because he's experiencing all that pain all over.  As an adult, he learned to shield himself- to kind of kill that part of himself so that it doesn't hurt anymore.  If you want to use Dickens language, in this way, Scrooge has already made himself “dead as a doornail”.  If you are dead you can't feel, and if you can't feel, you don't experience pain.  He references his sister, little Fan, Fred's mom, talking about how big of a heart she had, how much she loved, but then she died on him.  He was abandoned.  This is the kind of pain that makes people want to withdraw.  All very Freudian.    We see this withdrawal, for me, vividly illustrated with the scene with the fiancé.  The fiancé accuses Scrooge of replacing her for money.      Page 27    She literally says, “You fear the world too much…all your other hopes have merged into the hope of being beyond the chance of its sordid reproach.”  In other words, you think that through money you can insulate yourself from the world.      And of course, don't we all.  Money can sure buy solutions to a lot of problems.      Absolutely it can.  But what we see emerging in Scrooge is the maladaptive and irrational use of money.  It's the end all be all.  It insulates him from everything.  He has purchased a way to push beyond everything- heck not even the extremities of the weather affect Scrooge- he's that cold.  He's that self-reliant but he's also that apathetic- he's cold to everyone- including himself.    Dang- I guess he is.  Which brings us to Stave 3- and the ghost of Christmas present.  So, we see that Scrooge in some sense, got what he wanted or at least what he thought he wanted.  He got what he strove for- independence- something he bought for with money…but he lost something in the process, he lost his innocence, and I don't mean that word like naivete- but innocence in a positive sense.  When we look at the comparisons we're getting to make with Fred's family and the Cratchetts' the word innocence comes to mind- innocence as in the opposite of cynicism.  Innocence in the sense of the ability to wonder at the world, to find delight in life, to find joy.  Scrooge has none of that.    Stave 3 is about seeing.  There is a lot of references to eyes.  Christianity, the faith of Dickens, teaches that we must confess or openly acknowledge what the Bible terms as “sins”- or harmful behaviors- before we can be free from them- this is the Catholic concept we see in the confessionals.  But what is confessing?  It's just this same concept of seeing- really seeing and acknowledging what you're seeing.    Confessing is the same thing as seeing really seeing.  Homer, who we are going to talk about next week as we introduce The Odyssey explores this exactly same idea when he has Odysseus go to Hades.  Many ancients of different cultures emphasized that you have to stare at your own darkness in order to get out of it.  Lots of writers have said it differently and you will notice tons of stories with this idea embedded in it- think Star Wars for an easy example.  In order to see the light, you have to stare into the darkness- the darkness around you and the darkness in you.  You can frame it in religious terms, philosophical terms or psychological terms  Dickens frames it with ghost terms- and this second ghost is Father Christmas.  Father Christmas sits among a world of plenty, he sprinkles incense from his torch on people's food, and it has the magical effect of making people not argue. Father Christmas is an enormous ghost, but he can fit into any home- Christmas can and does fit inside any home of any size or wealth, but what exactly does he want Scrooge to see?      Well, if we're just looking at the Cratchetts, we see a group of people that are obviously poor and he makes a point to emphasize they are an unattractive family.  The older children work, the youngest is going to die because of lack of medical health care, but they have dignity and grace.  The mom and the daughter Belinda wear ribbons to make themselves pretty.  No one wants to complain about the insufficiency of the food.  They have a true sense of respect and generosity.      Let's read how Dickens describes them.     paragraph on page 40 describing them    They are happy because they love each other, they strive to protect their own innocence- but life is a cruel master.  Scrooge's name is brought up, the entire family know he's partly responsible for their situation because he's the father's employer, but Bob Cratchett refuses to allow them to descend into bitterness- he fights against the cynicism.  He makes them bless Scrooge against their will- not for Scrooge's sake but for their own.  The ghost wants Scrooge to see this.  Scrooge made different choices when confronted with his own pain and hardship.   This scene is where Scrooge is clearly moved to pity, but the ghost won't let Scrooge off the hook.  He uses Scrooge's own words against him when Scrooge asks if Tiny Tim will die.  The Ghost says, “If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, the child will die.”  No, no, said Scrooge, “Oh no kind Spirit! Say he will be spared.”  If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, none other of my race, returned the Ghost will find him here.  What then?  If he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.”    He uses Malthus' term that had come out of Scrooge's mouth in Stave one when the charity people asked him for a donation.    Exactly, and he's not done looking.  The ghost takes Scrooge to the moors.  He says, “See!”  He looks at another old man and woman with their children and their children's children all singing.  He goes to sea and sees men on a ship in miserable conditions but humming Christmas tunes and thinking of their family.  They are all fighting cynicism- holding on to their innocence when they could relinquish and make the choice to be like Scrooge.  He then is swept away to his own family- the family he should be a part of- his sister's son's house.  His nephew Fred has a beautiful home and even more beautiful wife, many friends, seemingly a good education- all things Scrooge has dismissed as worthless.  He hears Fred talk about him.  Fred describes how miserable of a person Scrooge is- Fred is also overly generous in his description of Scrooge.  Finally the ghosts introduces him to Ignorance and Want.  This is where Dickens takes his argument to a social dimension.  What happens to a society full of Scrooges?  These are children, but they are hideous.  They are not images that we can feel pity for.  They are foul children- totally depraved, feral, beyond redemption- there is no innocence left only darkness.  And as he looks at these two awful and horrific monsters, he again uses Scrooge's own words against him.    Page 47    And this brings us to the final ghost.  The first ghost kind of showed Scrooge how he got to the place he was at.  The second ghost wanted Scrooge to see who he was at this moment, what the world really was for those who fight cynicism and preserve innocence and those who don't.  But the third ghost is different.  The third ghost shows him the way out.     This third ghost to me seems to be the darkest of the three ghosts, and section is the most psychological.  Neurologists and those psychologists that study the science of stories, tell us that our brains are wired to understand the world through stories.  Our brains, the most powerful thing on planet earth, bar none, differ from computers in how it processes information.  Our brains process information through stories.  Stories help us navigate our future and see the different options we have before us.  They help us answer the question- what should I do?      Well, this story says, you should just die and start over.  Scrooge doesn't want to, he denies who the dead guy is, he refuses to look, but finally, he relinquishes and he goes to the grave- his grave.      Which, of course, is what no one wants to do.  We build our lives making decision, think of it as climbing a hill, we climb, we climb, we climb, the last thing we want to do is tumble to the very bottom, admit we've been climbing the wrong hill and start over- except sometimes that's the best option.  Sometimes it's the only option, but it feels like a waste of…and a here's the word that Dickens plays around with…it feels like a waste of time.      And yet, but it's also the Christmas idea of the nativity, of baby Jesus- being born again- starting over- becoming a baby.  The last ghost basically shows Scrooge everything that will happen after he's gone from this earth. It's all pretty terrible, of course.  It ends with Scrooge's death.    Page 58    And then Stave five, we get the resurrection- or the redemption-     Yes- the idea being, if you are willing to go to Hades, look in the darkness, see who you really are- it will be painful- it will be something you don't want to do, because a lot has to die- ego, negative relationships, who knows what.  You have to be willing to burn yourself to the ground, but if you do it- you get out- out of the chains you built for yourself- out of that anxiety ridden- unfreedom- back to Kierkegaard, and I know I'm quoting a philosopher, but it's what Dickens is talking about.  No matter if you have a lifetime of neglect and mistakes, anyone can, pull themselves out of their linear existence, and jump into another cycle- start over and re-invent yourself which of course is what Scrooge does.    The language of rebirth stands out, “I don't know what day of the month it is. I don't know how long I've been among the Spirits.  I don't know anything.  I'm quite a baby.  Never mind. I don't care.  I'd rather be a baby.”    And there is a sense that when you do that, you get to reclaim some sort of lost innocence.  William Wordsworth another British poet who came a little before Dickens said that “the child is father of the man” – meaning to some degree that your childhood defines your adulthood- your experiences, your habits, etc.  And of course that is true, but Dickens seems to say, yes, but you can reclaim that by dying- and being reborn like a new child.  There's another child inside of you.  The innocence can live again.  And perhaps that is the appeal of Christmas- it reminds us that life is linear, true= but it's also cyclical- we are always in the past, of course that's there more to it, we're not computers and what went in does not have to be what comes out-- we are always in the present and we are always in the future.  And what does that mean, well for Scrooge it means agency.  He clearly has regret with how he's treated the Cratchetts, so the first thing he does is buy a turkey and send it over to them.  But then he lives in the present by walking through the streets and really looking around.  He then goes to Fred's house.    Read 62    Finally, he changes his attitude to the future.  The one thing that happens to you after you die, I would imagine, since I've never died, but I would imagine that once you die, you lose your fear of death and the power death had is finally broken.    Well, and this is where, I do want to suggest, this really is a fairy tale and we must remember it's an allegory not a textbook.  What happens to Scrooge in one night- this journey from bondage to freedom, is a long difficult journey.  I want to say, and I'll speak personally for myself, I've made the journey to Hades, to use the language of the Greeks myself, and my experience was more like Odysseus' in that it took years- nothing overnight like we see here with Scrooge.  But- having said that- the truth still remains that the path out of Hades does exist, even for someone as far gone as Scrooge, but no one gets out alone- we all need Marley's ghost to show us the way.     Well, of course, the final pages kind of allude to the fact that even for Scrooge- we are only seeing day one of a much longer journey.  People talked about him, people laughed at him; others criticized him- but he was free- and he just didn't have to care.  Let's read the last page of this carol in prose.    Read page 64    And there is the song of redemption- any one of us can be made new- anyone can reclaim childlike innocence in the face of guilt or cynicism- maybe we don't need a ghost to show us the way- we have Dickens at our elbow.       Or Tiny Tim with that ALL-inclusive-  God bless us everyone.     So- from Christy and myself, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays of all sorts  to you- wherever you live in the world we share together.  We hope you have a wonderful end of year and  more than that, may you find something that is innocent, exciting and maybe even redemptive in the New Year to come.  As always, please feel free to connect with us via any social media option, visit our website howtolovelitpodcast.com, leave us a review on your podcast app.                                      

In addition to the usual assortment of yappetizers and nonsense, Garry chats with Rob Kessler, inventor of the "Million Dollar Collar," about how you can look sharp all the time without wearing a tie with your shirt.

It's always fun and informative catching up the owner of Guardian Investment Advisors - Garry Thurman. Today we talked about 401k's - a Christmas/holiday budget - the new 'catch up' options for retirement - PLUS - his favorite Christmas movie, song, gift as a kid and more! === THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS: Granite Garage Floors of Chattanooga: https://granitegaragefloors.com/location/chattanooga Vascular Institute of Chattanooga: https://www.vascularinstituteofchattanooga.com/ MedicareMisty: https://medicaremisty.com/ The Barn Nursery: https://www.barnnursery.com/ Guardian Investment Advisors: https://giaplantoday.com/ Please consider supporting the podast by becoming a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/duringthebreakpodcast This podcast is powered by ZenCast.fm

Gutzeit, Angelawww.deutschlandfunk.de, BüchermarktDirekter Link zur Audiodatei

Seit 1991 publiziert der Australier Garry Discher seine rasanten Wyatt-Romane um den gleichnamigen Meisterdieb, der den klassischen, gleichsam gerissenen Anti-Helden in der Maske des hochmoralischen Berufsethikers gibt. Nun hat er mit „Moder“ die neunte Folge vorgelegt.Von Peter Henningwww.deutschlandfunk.de, BüchermarktDirekter Link zur Audiodatei

We seem to have entered an era of sloppiness but Garry's guest for the cocktail show this afternoon is fighting back. Be sure to tune into the GarrForce Live Cocktail Hour this evening at 6pm ET!

On this episode of the podcast, KingsCrowd CEO Chris Lustrino welcomes Garry Johnson of Bison Venture Partners.

Garry learned some amazing details about the history of shipping containers over the weekend. Meanwhile, four US Postal Service mail carriers are accused of stealing credit cards from the mail as part of a $750,000 identity theft ring. Plus, things got rowdy at a mortgage broker convention. Garrforce t-shirts and coffee mugs are now available by going to "Can't Live Without" on the website. Your purchase of these items is what keeps the podcast going. Plus, you can always email me garrymeiershow@garrymeier.com or leave a text or voicemail at 773-888-2157 Thank you in advance!

Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol - Episode 1 - The Architect Of The Victorian Christmas!   /Hi, I'm Christy Shriver and we're here to discuss books that have changed the world and have changed us.    I'm Garry Shriver and this is the How to Love Lit Podcast.  If you are listening to this in real time, we are nearing the end of 2021, a year that has been lackluster by most measurements albeit an improvement to 2020.   Most of us began 2021 tucked away in quarantine.  I was teaching on Zoom; Christy was meeting with only half of her students half the time on a hybrid schedule.  No year, in my lifetime, has began in such a strange way.  In some ways, it felt that the Covid era would never end.    And yet, here we are, celebrating the end of 2021 with family and friends. We started this end of year holiday season cooking turkey and ham for Thanksgiving dinner in our home- American staples.  We have attended friendsgivings, Christmas parties and on December 23rd we will participate in another Memphis tradition that was suspended for the 2020 year, attending with most of our children: Anna, Lizzy, Ben and Rachel- Theater Memphis' annual performance of  Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.  For those who don't know our family dynamic, we are a growing blended family.  Anna and Lizzy have lived in Knoxville, TN for most this year as students at the University of Tennessee in Knoxviille.  Ben and Rachel live her in Memphis, and Emily and Joel live in Atlanta with their three children- Selma, Polly and Ezra.      I love Christmas.  I love the food, decorating our home, visiting with friends, the special services at church- all of it.      Well, I do too, but I will say, since marrying into the Shriver family, I have learned to take it to the next level.  Shriver's are notable for their holiday passion- all holidays really but especially Christmas.  I will also say, that before studying for this podcast, I had no idea so many of the Christmas traditions that we love so much we owe to Victorian England.    Oh for sure, in fact, Christmas was not even a federal holiday in this country until 1870.  And even then it was an unpaid holiday.  It didn't become a paid holiday until 1938.      Well, that is very Scroog-ish.   So, let's talk about which Christmas traditions we inherited from  Victorian England- many of which have found their way all around the globe.  You know, growing up in Brazil, just by nature of the weather we had different holiday traditions- we were in the Southern hemisphere, so instead of wishing for a white Christmas- we were always looking forward to heading to the beach after Christmas, but even in a climate with more palm trees than pine trees although, my friends parents were putting up little Christmas trees and other decorations- I emphasize little not because they were belittling the traditions but there was much more limited economic access ( remember Brazil in those days was a military dictatorship with high government control) but even as such- It's interesting to see some of these same Victorian traditions.      In 2017 a very interesting movie came out, The Man Who Invented Christmas, based on a 2008 book by Les Standiford of the same name, but this book and movie credit Charles Dickens who lived in England during the Victorian era with basically inventing the holiday with this Novella A Christmas Carol.  Of course that clearly is hyperbolic.  Christmas was already celebrated all over the Christian world, and that included Great Britain, but it is not wrong to say that Dickens strongly impacted the way the British and then ultimately the rest of the world would perceive and even celebrate Christmas.  For one thing, although Christmas is a Christian holiday and obviously celebrates the birth of Christ- the emphasis of Dickens is on Christian virtues, many of which are shared by faith traditions besides Christianity.  So in this way he opened up the celebration to something larger than a Christian sacred day.  This book with its emphasis on human kindness, generosity and mercy contributed to universalizing the festivities- extending the sense and holiday sentiments beyond the sacredness of the religious elements of the day- which is why Lizzy and Anna's friends, many of whom are Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu, still feel comfortable celebrating Christmas in their own way without necessarily feeling as if they are violating their own faith tradition.    Even if you just focus on the historical context of Victorian England, I would suggest, instead of seeing Dickens as creating anything, a better way to look at it is that was part of the Zeitgeist of the moment that was already emerging.  Of course, this is debatable and I do not want to take away a single thing from the greatness of this book, but as I see things, this new way of viewing Christmas was an emerging trend, and his book hit at that right moment, extending it further and perhaps cementing some of these ideals into the ethos that would become the holiday spirit we understand Christmas to embody today.   I would also say, just like the Americans, the British had also been a little Scroog-like in doling out holidays to the working man up to that point.  In 1843 when A Christmas Carol came out, it was a bank holiday in Britain but not a holiday for everyone else.  That's why Scrooge could buy a turkey at the end of the story- it was a regular work day for the butcher.  Christmas was definitely a religious moment, and it definitely was a moment to share a meal together,  but nothing like we think of today.  We didn't point this out when we were analyzing Emma (the Jane Austen book from 1815)- but in that book we saw the Woodhouses celebrating Christmas by eating a meal but there wasn't a tree or caroling or anything else you'd expect to see in a British novel featuring Christmas.  Christmas, as we celebrate it today, emerged in Britain in many ways due to the elevation of the working class- and even though there were many struggles with this second industrial revolution- it is partly responsible.  For example, in order to protect workers, in 1833, a new set of laws were introduced that gave the working class a set number of days off- finally!  Also, companies with their mass production of goods began to see the holiday as a commercial opportunity- and although this has been received with mixed reviews over the years- it did incentivize the spreading of Christmas cheer so to speak.     There was also a German tradition that was introduced into the British culture which has trended around the world since then and that is the big emphasis on the Christmas tree.  That tradition can, in large part, be attributed to King Albert, Queen Victoria's husband.  Of course we must remember that King Albert was German, and, of course, the Germans and the Austrians had been celebrating Christmas, from my perspective, much more festively for some time.  In fact, and I know we don't have time to get into this here, but both the Americans and the British had actually banned Christmas a different points in their historys= but not Germany and Austria.   They had Christmas markets, Christmas music including the very popular Silent Night.  They had Santa Claus, the advent calendar and of course-  the Christmas tree.  Tradition has it that Martin Luther set up a tree, complete with lit candles in his living room and there it started.  But almost 250 years later, King Alfred introduced this wonderful tradition to the British public in 1848 with a drawing of the Royal family celebrating Christmas around their tree.  That drawing went viral- and there you have it- the Christmas tree was a thing.      It's so amazing to me, how some things catch on and others don't.  I was also interested to learn this is the era where we got the idea of the Christmas card- a practice I love but hypocritically don't practice.  Every Christmas when I get cards from my friends and family, and tape them to the door and then vow that next year will be the year I send out cards- but then I don't.  I will vow again- 2022 will be the year!!  But back to  1840s, a man by the name of  Henry Cole commissioned an artist to design a card for Christmas.  He sold these for 1 shilling a piece, which is kind of expensive, but the idea took off.  People made their own and mailed them to friends and family.  By 1880, Britain was producing and selling over 11.5 million Christmas cards.      And of course, returning to the successes and excesses both good and bad of that second Industrial Revolution.  Those horrible factories that often employed children and overworked and exploited workers which are things we're going to talk about- the technology within them also made it possible to mass produce toys that were finally affordable for average people.   And although feasting and gifts for the average person couldn't be a part of the year as a whole, these technologies made it possible at least once a year for toys to become things that would eventually end up under that Christmas tree, and cheap mass produced decorations could be brought into ordinary homes in ways that had been reserved for only the wealthy previously.        Which brings us to Christmas Carols – The Victorians re-popularized this tradition as well.  Again, back to industrialization- it was affordable to print and multiply copies of music.  Middle class people were buying pianos and singing around them- but even in working class homes where a piano was out of the question- carols were holiday entertainment and popular- and still are- and for good reason.  Singing together is a communal activity- it's fun and a shared experience that's actually bonding,  It's something friends and  families can do together- no matter age differences.  Paul Dooley, a friend of ours, taught English and then Latin at Bolton High School.  And I will never forget the years he got his Latin classes to sing Christmas Carols to us in the halls of Bolton High School.  He has since told me that his students were very reluctant to get out there in front of their peers, but once they got going they loved it- as did we all- and it's still a Christmas memory for me.        OH for me too- as a musician I love all the Christmas music- it may be one of my favorite parts- and I do nothing but listen to Christmas music in my car from Thanksgiving until Christmas- I will admit I do try to avoid getting whammed though, as much as possible.  Oh yes- I also avoid getting whammed- although that expression may need a little clarifying.  Explain to us what you mean when you say, you don't want to get whammed!  Well Wham is the name of a a British Duo- Wham released in 1984 what is likely the most overplayed Christmas song in America- “Last Christmas”. You cannot go to Target or the Mall without hearing it- in fact, hearing “Last Christmas” is how you know the Black Friday shopping season has begun.  This year, our daughter-in-law Rachel, who works part time at Target, came into Thanksgiving and said, “I've already been whammed”!!  She got whammed BEFORE Thanksgiving.  It has become a joke.  But a fun one- because even getting Whammed is a fun thing- Which brings me to this question- isn't “A Christmas Carol” a strange title for a ghost story?  And taking it a step further, isn't a ghost story an inappropriate genre for Christmas.  When you see a title like “A Christmas Carol” you don't expect the first chapter to be named “Marley's Ghost” and the first three words to be “Marley was dead.”    Exactly- and of course, as all great writers do- Dickens very cleverly and  intentionally  linked this ghost story with the idea of music and Christmas music.    Of course, as we talked about with Shirley Jackson and Hill. House, Gothic literature was very popular during the Victorian era- and a money maker for sure- so ghosts were a go-to idea, but that, for my money, isn't the best reason I see Dickens chosing the genre for his Christmas tale- although it is an ingenuous idea.  As you know, I don't like ghosts or ghost stories, so for me, it was a negative that this story is ghost story.  I remember watching the version that came out in 1984 with George C Scott and being scared out of my mind.     But, the more I understand the purpose- the thematic ideas behind these choices- the less these Christmas ghosts frighten me and the more it makes sense.  It also helped after I looked a little bit at Dickens life and the world he lived in.  For me, it helped highlight the thematic focus I may have missed in 1984- although- as with all great literature- we do want to again make the disclaimer that context is interesting- but not everything to understanding any piece of art.  Art, by definition takes a life of its own.    Of course, that goes without saying, and I'm sure this is my history and psychology background, but for me, I really do enjoy a book more when I know a little about the person who wrote it and the world in which he or she lived.    Well, le me introduce you then to the great- Charles John Huffman Dickens.  He was born on Feb 7 1812, the second son of John Dickens who was a clerk in the Navy Pay Office.  This was a middle class lifestyle and for a while Charles had an upper middle-class upbringing that included a private school education.  However, John Dickens spent more than he made, and at some point- the creditors came for him.  And at that time as you know, if you owed money,  the government threw YOU and your family into prison and you had to stay there until someone paid your bills for you.  This was an extremely traumatic experience, as you might imagine, so much so that it shows up in some form or another in almost all of Dickens works. Little Charles, however, because he was 12 didn't go with his family to prison.  He was old enough to work, so instead of prison he went to work at Warren's blacking Warehouse, and for ten hours a day he would paste labels on to pots of shoe polish.  He made 6 shillings a week and with that he had to pay for his own room and board.  Any money left over went to the pay off his family's debts- although at that rate, he was never going to pay that debt off. It was a brutal and extremely lonely experience.  Fortunately, he only had to do this for a year before a relative died and left money to John.  The family then got out of prison ,and Charles could go back to school- but that year was enough.  For one thing, as a 12 year old, he spent the hours he wasn't working in the streets unattended and most of the time starving.  Charles later said,”I suppose myself to know this large city as well as anybody in it.”  He saw it from the underside through the eyes of a hungry, lonely overworked dirty child.   He never got over that- and he never forgave his parents for it either.  In fact, he was so ashamed of that year and his father's incarceration that he kept the whole thing a secret for years.   He said this years as an adult when he was finally able to talk about the experiences of that year, “It is wonderful to me how I could so easily have been cast away at such an age- no one had compassion enough on me.”  Dickens saw and experienced to the bone,  the horror was is the complacency and cruelty of humans can have towards other humans- this he felt was at the heart of things.  His experiences were shameful to him, and he could hardly talk about it except through his fiction.    Anyway, he did finish school; he got a job working for a lawyer and eventually got into journalism where he the courts of Law and House of Commons.  He also began to write not just news things but stories too.  This was during a period of English history where books were only for rich people, but he didn't publish books.  He published stories in periodicals- and this is how he became popular.  Eventually  he did publish these stories in book form that book he called Sketches by Boz; two months after that was published, he married a woman named Catherine Hogarth.  Soon after that he started writing serials and there he was-well on his way the road that would eventually lead him to celebrity- truly.  Of course, there is a lot about his personal story that I'm not super-cool with, and I'm not sure I would have liked Dickens if I had met him in real life- I always wonder about that- although it makes zero difference one way or the other.  But we won't focus on that for the Christmas Carol, maybe if we do another Dickens novel- but  getting back to our narrative by the beginning of the 1843, he's already a pretty famous public figure. He's even gone on a year long tour of the United States (a place he kind of had negative things to say about- btw- including our poor hygiene apparently)     That's funny- during that time period- he likely was right.  Americans hadn't adopted the daily bath routine yet.      Ha anyway, Dickens read a parliamentary report by a man named Thomas Southwood Smith titled The Second Report of the Children's Employment Commission.      That does not sound like a bit of light reading.      HA! I should think not.  This report delineated many abuses and realities surrounding the untold numbers of child workers.  Reading this really upset him, of course he knew all too well the realities facing these children and many unmarried women, as well.  He took it upon himself to visitwhat he called “ragged schools” – we'd call them urban poor schools- but he called them ragged schools because everyone was dressed in rags.  So many of the children were working as prostitutes and thieves.  In October he went to Manchester and traveled around that industrial city.  He saw whole families in the streets starving.  The complacency and inhumanity of it all was something  he wanted to write about it.  He said this,  “ I have very seldom seen, in all the strange and dreadful things I have seen in London and elsewhere anything so shocking as the dire neglect of soul and body exhibited in these children.  And although I know; and am as sure as it is possible for one to be of anything which has not happened; that in the prodigious misery and ignorance of the swarming masses of mankind in England, the seeds of its certain ruin are sown.”   His first idea was to write a pamphlet entitled ‘An Appeal to the People of England, on Behalf of the Poor Man's Child'. But then he got a better idea, a lecture is not something people want to hear.  Why not deliver his idea as a carol- a Christmas Carol- and why not make it a ghost story- but a short one- a novella designed to be read out loud in under a couple of hours.  And that is what he did.  It took him only six weeks once he got started.  He wanted it out by Christmas.  He wanted it illustrated in beautiful colorful illustrations.  His vision was so pronounced he was uncompromising when it came to making it a reality, so much so that he ended up having to pay for the publication  himself.      And history was made.  It was a smash hit from the first review and I quote, “Mr. Dickens has produced a most appropriate Christmas offering and which, if properly made use of, may yet we hope, lead to some more valuable result then mere amusement.”   It sold out immediately and the publisher went on to produce as many as they could as quickly as they could.  Within weeks it became a play (which to Dickens chagrin and the lack of copyright laws, he never got any royalities from).     No, he didn't cash in on its success sadly, nor has his ancestors cashed in on the 13 full-featured movies, the 17 made for tv movies that I know about, nor even the Mr. Magoo version.  The story took on a life of its own.  It was a blockbuster, and he never was really able to monetize it like he would have wished.  He did monetize it some, though, for the rest of his last he would perform public readings of A Christmas Carol and some of those had over 2000 people in attendance.  Apparently, Dickens was as good of a performer as he was a writer- maybe better- and he could do all the different voices of the different characters.  People loved it- I imagine something- Jim Carey style.     Oh- I bet a Jim Carey reading of A Christmas Carol would be hilarious.      I agree!  Maybe someone will forward this podcast to him and he'll get the idea to do it!  Anyway, back to the book- it is a carol- in more than just the ironic sense of the world.  It was designed to do the exact sort of thing carols are supposed to do- bring a certain idea to Christmas- and that is the idea of redemption.  It's an idea that is lost on adults- for many of us, life, myself included, life takes turns we didn't mean for it to take.  In some cases, it feels like redemption is impossible that it's dead- and that of course is Dickens starting point- but even if redemption is dead- does that mean it's lost- or is it possible- no matter who we are- how far gone we are- redemption is still a ghost- shall we read the introduction?  let's read the words Dickens chose to include as the preface to this book:  I have endeavoured in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it.  Their faithful Friend and Servant,  D. December,1843  I think it's interesting to include the preface for a couple of reasons- First of all,   In the preface he capitalized the word Ghosts.  He also alliterated haunted with houses and it even connects with the h word humor in the sentence above.  There is something that he wants to haunt us with- a dark side of Christmas perhaps- a dark side in ourselves perhaps.      And yet- this book wouldn't be a classic if it were preachy- moralistic tales are annoying and unfun to read- even if I agree with every moral in the story.  I saw somewhere that Virginia Wolf couldn't stand Dickens for several reasons but one of which was that he made her feel like she was supposed to take out a checkbook when she read him.       HA!  Dickens might not have found that insulting- but I get it- and in his other books, I do think maybe that is a fair criticism- but A Christmas Carol, even as a ghost story, when you read it isn't dark like that.  Dickens goes to a lot of trouble to make it funny- something that sometimes is lost when people perform it on stage and it the movies, but is really evident when you read the story out loud.  I really think if I had read it before I had watched the movie as a child, I wouldn't have been frightened by the ghosts.    Let's read the first page of Stave one and you'll see what I mean.      Read page 1  So, we must first talk about the narrative voice- for me, it's what takes the edge off the ghost in the ghost story.  The tone is cheerful and fun.  There is an omniscient narrator and we will see that he very much can see inside Scrooge's thoughts, but he's intrusive.  That means he injects himself personally into the text and in this case, addresses us in the second person as if he were in the room talking to us.  In fact in Stave two the narrator actually tells us that the ghost of Christmas past was as close to Scrooge and I quote, “as close to it as I am now to you, and I am standing in the spirit at your elbow.”  Of course, it's funny and takes the edge of the scariness of it- of course the narrator isn't at our elbow and so of course, we need not be afraid of Scrooge's ghost.    Well, the narrator says several funny things right at the beginning here- this big about door-nails's being the “deadest piece of ironmongery” – it's pointing out the ridiculous in something we are very used to- the same kind of thing Jerry Seinfeld made famous in his comedy.    Exactly, and it has the same effect here- we are left smiling- why do we say, “dead as a doornail” except for the fact that it alliterates, there's no point in it at all.  And so we are detached from all of the death of marley talk.  If the narrator who clearly knows Marley isn't sad that he's dead, then we shouldn't be sad either.  We immediately trust this narrator because he's funny, and our first act after buying into the story is to decide we don't care that Marley's dead.  We also then buy into his description of Scrooge- which is also funny.  “He was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scroogr! A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster- again a funny comparison.  The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gail, made his eyes red, his thin lips blue, and spoke out shrewedly in his grating voice.  A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wire chin.  He carried his own low temperature always about with him, he iced his office in the dog-days, and din't thaw it one degree at Christmas.  Then he goes on to say Scrooge's fire was so small, but he kept his clerk's first even smaller that it only had one piece of coal.  He also says that Scrooge is so stingy that he keeps the coal in a his own room under a lock and a key.  That's crazy.  Scrooge is crazy.  In fact, Scrooge is such an awful person that even the blind men's dogs knew him and when they saw him coming, they tugged their blind owners to go a different direction.    Man- this guy is terrible.      Exactly, he's portrayed as ugly, mean, cold and stingy but he seems to be hurting no one but himself.      Well, and the poor clerk that works for him.  True.  Scrooge is a disaster but doesn't realize it.  But he's also kind of funny himself.  When his nephew comes over to invite him to dinner we have a funny exchange.   Let's read this.  Page 5  Again, Dickens goes to a lot of effort to make all of this kind of funny.  And of course, this is very important.  We can't hate Scrooge, if we hate him, then there would be no pleasure in his redemption.  He's not an evil person.  He's a lost person, and as I said and I want to go back to this idea- redemption is the point- the entire point of Christmas really- and the point of this story.  And Dickens gives it this away in the first line as well.  The way Dickens writes his first sentence is grammatically incorrect.  Marley was dead colon to begin with.  That's not now we use colons.  In some versions, and I think maybe the first version, there was a period after dead- making to begin with a rhetorical fragment.  But either way the punctuation tells a story.  And of course, as every English teacher will tell you- in the English language- punctuation is always rhetorical- it always is there to deliver meaning- to show us where ideas stop and start, which ones are connected more significantly to each other- and what is the emphasis of any set of words.  And what is the punctuation doing here- it is forcing us to stop before and after the words – to begin with-  This is a story of beginnings- it is a story of death- we must clearly understand that- but death is not final- it is a story of beginnings.   Of course, that's another reason to write the story as a carol.    Exactly, expand on that thought.  Garry is a musician, and although Dickens was NOT a musician, he did love music and writing the story in staves is not just a clever take on calling the story a carol, but it adds another layer of meaning.  Garry, explain to us what exactly a stave is.      Well, to be honest, a stave isn't exactly the right word musically for a division.  Divisions in music are called verses- a stave is another word for staff.  And the staff is where the music is written.  It's the five parallel horizontal lines that with the clef indicate the pitch of the musical notes.  Also, another important point musically is that the musical notation allows the music to be played on any instrument.  If I can read the music, I can play a song on a guitar, or on the piano or on the violin.      Yes, and so look at the many layers of the metaphor here.  There are five chapters in this book- each called a stave- each stave in our story also has a very different pitch.  If we understand the story, it can be applied to many generations, to many social classes, to many types of people of many cultures.  But, I think there is another interesting idea, at least for me, although we could mine this metaphor for a lot of different things, is that songs are cyclical as well as universal.  Songs are contain loops- like the famous wham song,  How many times do we have to hear, “Late Christmas, I gave you my heart but the very next day, you gave it away”.  Scrooge will get visited by four ghosts- his life will get repeated by each ghost as he goes back and revisits it.  But more importantly, time is meaningless in this story- just as time is meaningless in a song.  Songs are not chronological even if wham loses his love every single stanza- and in fact every single Christmas season all season long.    Time is so central to understanding this book- as it's about endings and beginnings= as it's about childhood and innocence, as it's about starting over and redemption.    Maybe that's why it's impossible to hate Scrooge- he's gotten lost which isn't the same as evil- he's a man of anxiety which we'll talk about next episode- but we can all get lost- we all can be obsessive and anxious-   Exactly, and in that sense there is a little scrooge in all of us-but on the flip side- no one is as crazy as Scrooge- he's the worst case scenario- and what Dickens story points out that hopefully, there is a little of Scrooge's nephew in us too- we can still smile at the cranks of the world.  We  hopefully we have a bit of Bob Cratchet, that's the poor clerk with the on solitary piece of coal- at least Dickens will encourage us to be like the Cratchetts later in the story.  But more importantly than those two male characters, Dickens is going to emphasize and re-emphasize that Christmas is a time where we have to remember there is a child still in each one of us as well.  Next episode, we will start by meeting the ghost of Christmas past, we'll meet Scrooge as a child and we'll meet the array of children that populate this book.  Again, a strong sense of cyclical timelessness.    Paul Davis, in his book “The Lives and Times of Ebenezer Scrooge” quotes another Victorian writer who was a contemporary of Charles Dickens- Theodore Watts-Dunton.  In his book he quotes a story Dunton would tell- who knows how true it is, but it's a cute story.  According to Dunton he was walking down Drury Lane near Covent Garden Market on June 9th on the year of Dickens death and he overheard a Cockney barrow-girl's reaction to the news of the great novelist's death: ‘Dickens dead? Then will Father Christmas die too?'”     That's such a cute quote- and of course, Dickens would like to say, of course not, “I'm standing in the spirit at your elbow” every time you read A Christmas Carol.        

Garry has a jam-packed show with Bill Leff from "Toon In With Me" on MeTV, and returning guests Gregg Potter and Cathy Rich from The Buddy Rich Band.

Host Aaron Kindle and co-host, Bill Cooksey, spend an hour with Garry Mason, Founder of The Legends of the Outdoors Hall of Fame, professional fishing and wing shooting guide, and collegiate bass coach at Bethel University. We start with his beginnings in the outdoor industry, talk about hunters and angler leaders, the H.O.F. and how awesome it is young people today have the opportunity to get college scholarship by fishing. It's all good until talk turns to invasive carp and cormorants which are both causing problems in and around the waters in Garry's home state of Tennessee.   http://www.legendsoftheoutdoors.com/ https://mshfn.com/mid-south-legend-garry-mason/ https://www.bethelu.edu/news/bethel-university-is-dominating-the-collegiate-sport-of-bass-fishing   Show notes: 1:48 – Who is Gary Mason? 5:50 – What are these guys doing outside these days? 9:44 – What was Gary's path to getting to and staying in the out of doors? 15:20 - How do you stay in touch with what is going on? 18:38 – The growth and background story of the The Legends of the Outdoors Hall of Fame and the Legends of the Outdoors T.V. 23:04 – Bill Cooksey is a legend and an icon

This time, we're looking at el capitan himself.

Hiya Fellas! Garry St Jean stops by the Roast to discuss his Christmas routine with some basketball sprinkled in. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shasky has a revelation that he set up not one, but two Christmas trees in his house. Bonta feels some type of way. Then we have GSW Analyst Garry St. Jean joining the show. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

PR 3.0? Clubhouse and Creator Coins? Today Gary Henderson and Lisa Buyer are discussing Coin Base Ventures, Gary Club, Gary Coins, the Future of Public Relations, NFTS, Blockchains, Discord, and More! In this episode, Gary Henderson talks about Just released! The Clubhouse Creator Book: Growing an audience, building a relationship, and monetizing that audience. How he discovered Clubhouse less than a year ago and its impact Discord Do’s and Don’ts Gary’s Marketing Conference and his Creative Moments in South Beach Social Networks and Communities NFTs: the mainstream world loves the Metaverse and Centralization Gary.Club $Gary Coins Funding Business through Crypto Coins Giraffe Tower for Creators: NFT TIKTOK Lives: creators making money via coins Gary Henderson on Discord and Gamifying Business “So Discord is nothing but a Facebook Group that has a couple of extra bells and whistles, but it's kind of the same. It's a social network. It streamlines a community build, and it gives you some velvet ropes that you can hold things behind. So like in my community, for example, I have coffee every single morning, but you have to have one of my Gary coins, a cryptocurrency in order to get it. So you, you can get in the community, you can hang out there, but you can't get coffee without having a Garry coin.” The Key to Creator Coins like $Gary Coins Have a steady stream of new people interested in you Find people who want to hold that token Make a reason for someone to give the token back to you Tips from Gary’s “The Clubhouse Community” Build a 1:many relationship with your audience. Create your own rooms in Clubhouse: this eliminates the intimidation, you can create your own vibe and voice. Spend 90% of your clubhouse time with the microphone. Social Audio is key. As mentioned in this interview

Police are alerting schools, parents and community members of a potentially-dangerous challenge seen on TikTok which encourages others to kick in the doors of homes. Meanwhile, Garry might want to book a trip to Australia after discovering the Smithsonian Channel. Plus, England might make cat calling a crime. Garrforce t-shirts and coffee mugs are now available by going to "Can't Live Without" on the website. Your purchase of these items is what keeps the podcast going. Plus, you can always email me garrymeiershow@garrymeier.com or leave a text or voicemail at 773-888-2157 Thank you in advance!

You asked for it and we delivered. In this episode, LBGs Garry Adelman and Tim Smith (or is it Tim Smith and Garry Adelman?) join us to talk about the history of Gettysburg National Military Park. This episode tickles the chin of 3 hours long, but we think you'll like it anyway.  In this episode we learn about: - the first properties purchased with preservation in mind - John Bachelder's influence on the park and the narrative of the Battle of Gettysburg - Garry shares celery with Matt while Eric squirms at the chewing sound - Two Patrons ask essentially the same question with causes the sparks to fly - Garry throws celery at Matt - Matt picks it up off the floor and eats it Support the Show by: Booking a tour with an LBG from the show! Becoming a Patron- click here Grabbing some merch- click here Getting a book- click here Donate directly via PayPal- Click here Join our NEW book club. Email addressinggettysburgbookclub@gmail.com Supporting Our Sponsors: Mike Scott Voice GettysBike Tours- Call 717-752-7752 to book your tour and receive 15% off if you mention Addressing Gettysburg Gettysburg: A Nation Divided. Available in your phone's App Store The Heritage Depot For the Historian- Mention us for 20% off retail sales (in store) plus free shipping (online) The Badgemaker Savor Gettysburg Food Tours ($5.00 of your tour if you mention Addressing Gettysburg) Gettysburg Battlefield Tours Civil War Trails Buy Billy Webster's Music- Billy Webster arranged and performed the rendition of "Garryowen" that you hear at the end of the show.