Time To Lean...and Here's A Song!

Episode 86 features a return appearance of Bruce K! John samples some new-to-him Thomson single malt whisky. Bruce feels that Jim Beam tastes like walnuts and doesn’t like Canadian rye. The Dick Van Dyke show episode John mentioned.  John and Phil talk about the Scotch tasting they attended where they met the head distiller of Lochlea.  Phil doesn’t comment much because he left his mic temporarily muted. Sad! Bruce has retired from public school orchestra teaching. Many long-winded stories follow, mostly about international trips and rotting food in instruments. The Song:  “There You Have It, There You Go”

Episode 85 wheezes to life with some talk about the number of high schools in Rapid City and the action at the Minnesota Legislature. We make excuses for not getting more episodes out. Phil is enjoying Evan Williams Bottled-in-Bond and John pontificates about Compass Box Orchard House blended malt. Phil talks about his recent choir concert (The Apollo Club men’s choir) and John recaps his recent Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra concert. We discuss the remake of the “classic” Bob Reel Beer jingle. We’re almost ready to discuss Star Trek Picard. We attempt to launch a new segment:  “John’s Old Tech”.  Part One:  The Betamax! Wikipedia article The first machine we had access to. This guy explains the VCR formats better than John did. Phil’s been watching all the “Friday the 13th” movies. The Song:  “Bob Reel Beer ‘23”

After a rough start, Phil and John get into episode 84 with some free-association.  Beverages: Phil - Pendleton 1910 Whisky 1910, John - The Real Stuff  John is somehow reminded of the 1958 Coasters song, Charlie Brown, which  is NOT about the Peanuts character, so ignore what John says.  Phil talks about some new booze he’s tried and his OTHER podcast, “Sleep Baseball”.  John made another trip to Rapid City. Phil joined a choir in the Twin Cities. Maybe they could do this song. Phil reports about another concert he attended. John talks about a new Rapid City whiskey bar in Rapid City, Windsor Block but lamely didn’t get there when it was open. Sad.  Brief chat about old physical media, old tube TVs, and our time working at Best Buy. Big Joe Phil recommends the Netflix series How to Change Your Mind John talks about the series, The Last of Us and Shrinking.  The Song:  “The Ghost of a Cat”

In our first episode of 2023, we welcome back Special Guest, Lee Howard! Naps and surviving the month of January. We make a lame attempt at summarizing the previous year. Lee’s writing projects and his love of “The Divine Comedy” We remember one of our old comedy sketches.  Our Top 3 lists. Phil does some recruiting for the AARP.   The Song:  “My Top 3”

Episode 82 finds Phil and John on the weekend before Christmas so why not do another TTL Holiday Special! John drinks a cocktail called The Premier made with Norseman Pineapple Chipotle Gin. John mentions that The Talk Show podcast mentioned the Sleep Baseball podcast Phil is part of and the local’s pre-holiday Festivus-like party. Phil joins the AARP. John talks about the TV show, “Abbott Elementary” Phil is watching the show, “Ultimate Survival WW2”, reminisces about Survivorman, and tries a beer from Uganda. The weather. John talks about his wife’s work holiday party that was held at Paisley Park. We reflect on the passing of Sesame Street’s Bob McGrath. Phil has some…different ways of pronouncing things. Happy Holidaze Everyone!   The Song:  “Christmas (In the Star of the West)”

Episode 81 covers John’s recent birthday (don’t get too excited) and post-election talk. Navigating before the age of the smartphone. Phil’s wife is off having an adventure in Uganda. John talks about his recent Canada cruise and has a birthday surprise.  (hint:  It’s not a stripper) Chili.  The Song: “Old Saint John” (with lyrics by Rob K.!)

Episode 80 (!) The Season 8 Finale finds the guys recording in person in John’s backyard where they taste a few whiskies and talk about things like…  We reflect on our older episodes and John reports on his most recent trip to good ‘ol Rapid City.  Another Media Consumption segment:  Phil finally tried “Severance”. John has been neglecting TV and playing “Horizon Forbidden West” on the PS5. John also endorses the movie, “Joe Vs. The Volcano” (written/directed by John Patrick Shanley), Talk Talk’s song: “Talk Talk” circa 1982.  Phil’s grandpa Phil’s nephew Ray Hunter. Inventory management in video games. Phil plays the iPad game, “Shop Hero Legends”. Phil and John break out a box of the NYC’s favorite cookie, Mallomars    Phil’s anime update: Dorohedoro, etc.   The Song:  Time to Lean '22 Reminder:  All the “Time to Lean and Here’s a Song” songs are available on Bandcamp!

Episode 79 features Special Guest, David Daniels!   David and Phil go way back but that’s nothing compared to how far back David’s interesting experiences go! David talks about all of the places he’s lived, the people he’s known, his political activities, and the various artistic projects he’s created and been involved with. See this Facebook page for some of David’s work: https://www.facebook.com/rootswriterdaviddaniels, including Annie Jones w/Charlie Parr backing. “Scenes From a Reggae Western” (youtube link here), feat. friend of the show Shawn C.! Phil is further pressured to watch “Better Call Saul” and asks a very serious question about Carol Burnett.    The Song: “Unusual Life”

Episode 78 begins with the amazing news that Phil has 2 weeks off from work.  Phil doesn’t quite seem able to tell Steely Dan and Supertramp apart this evening.  After the booze introductions, we move onto talking about Star Trek Picard along with other stuff we’ve been watching, including Phil’s new find: Glen and Friends Cooking.   Phil reports on the happenin’ scene on West 7th St. [Tori, Emerald Lounge, etc.] and on his night out at an Adrian Belew concert.  John’s Iowa Travel Tips™ John is having trouble deciding whether or not to buy a PS5.    The Song:  “Creepin’ Down”  

We have another guest for Episode 77:  Kerry Johnson!   Kerry is a musician friend of John’s from somewhat way back and we dragged him on to talk about all sorts of stuff including his wide-ranging background from his childhood in New York to his wild and crazy times in California. We have our beverages and talk somehow comes around to John’s memories going to family picnics. Yeah, this is a good one. We mourn the passing of a Minnesota German restaurant.  More talk about our musical experiences and opinions.  One Hit Wonders, etc. The Menard’s Man and mail-in rebates. We talk about the great Jerry O’Hagan, whom Kerry and I used to play for. Jerry’s 80s guitar company is profiled in this article. Kerry tells a Dad joke and John has forgotten his music theory.  Kerry talks about his interest in Revolutionary War reenactments and his crush on Haley Mills.   The Song:  “God Created Reverb”

Episode 76 is a wee one.    We remember the donut chain, Mister Donut   It’s Phil’s 26th wedding anniversary so he celebrates it by recording a podcast. John reports back from his latest trip to Rapid City, South Dakota  (shout out to the music teachers of Rapid City! Esp. Deb K.!)  We do another round of “what we’re watching”. We talk about cocktail YouTube videos and our preferences for the Manhattan. Like this one     The Song:  “Talking to My Mom”

Episode 75!  Since Phil is cranky and John is tired, they talk about…the weather and Phil’s large cactus. The Narrator gets a better job. We talk (unfortunately) about current events. We talk a bit about a YouTube video where two people try to follow Winston Churchill’s daily booze diet:  We try to match Churchill drink for drink… send help. We remember (re-remember) the glory days of Denver’s Channel 2 KWGN and “Blinky’s Fun Club” with his Cha Cha Happy Birthday song: (by Russell Scott!) - “chil-UH-dren”.  Other TV clowns, real or fictitious, may be discussed. Phil is watching the “Evil Dead” movies and Star Trek Picard. John has been watching the series, “Severance”.     The Song:  “Old Man Legs”

On Episode 74, Phil and John sample 3 old school blended scotches that John’s Dad used to drink:  “Dad’s Dailies” (with a Surprise Guest). John's New Projects: “Infinity Bottles”. Ralfy's Video Writing notes about songs he’s randomly listened to: “Songs I Didn’t Skip” (blog link) Phil talks about “Darkest Hour”, “Becoming Bond” and some follow up from Episode 73. John talks about orchestra “warhorses” and “Edge of Darkness”.  Random entertainment discussion plus Phil talks about the show, “Painting With John”. There might also be a quiz in there somewhere.  The Song:  “Interesting Eyebrows”

We recorded Episode 73 on National Golden Retriever Day so why not talk about…James Bond?!   Special Guest Paul S. joins us for our revels and surprisingly, they have a beverage (each, not one drink with three straws).  John has a vodka martini (shaken, not stirred), Paul S. has a Rabbit Hole Boxergrail Rye, and Phil has a Summit Frostline Rye.  And  Bex P.’s New Zealand soda recommendation L&P is also discussed.   But mostly James Bond movies.     The Song:  “The Henchmen’s Retirement Home”

Episode 72 features your hosts getting caught up, while somehow falling behind. Movies, games, and TV, oh my!  (Including Peter Jackson’s “Get Back”, “Being The Ricardos”, Spider-Man: No Way Home, West Side Story, Townscaper, and Phil’s new tabletop puzzle organizer!).  We hope you can handle it!    Phil has a Samuel Adams Amber Lager and John drinks two different whiskeys:    Phil plugs another podcast he’s worked on: Northwoods Baseball Sleep Radio.  He did some ads for it, including one featuring our very own narrator, Ed Unclehat!   We talk about James Bond movies (more to come on this in a later episode), and brainstorm possible new 007 movie titles.    The series of Bond reviews by “Film Crit Hulk”:  https://birthmoviesdeath.com/2014/07/14/hulk-vs.-james-bond-staring-into-the-id-of-a-boner-incarnate   The Song:  “I’m Just Kidding” (from the archives featuring Shawn!)

Episode 71 continues our dubious tradition of releasing a holiday themed show well after the holiday has passed. For this installment, we invite back John’s “two-headed brother”, Rob K! Rob is late in joining us (shocking, we know) so John and Phil talk about some random things. John finally convinced Phil to watch the classic, “It’s a Wonderful Life” and the three have a deep dive (off a bridge?) discussion of the movie. The IAWL review:  https://trailersfromhell.com/its-a-wonderful-life-75th-anniversary/ John referenced. “Film Blanc” https://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s58filmblanc.html   The Song: “Pottersville Forever”

Episode 70 is upon us.    Phil tries a Doctor Kombucha. John accidentally pairs a single malt scotch with Costco pumpkin pie and tries a new and interesting gin from Minneapolis’ Norseman Distillery. Phil and John talk about Thanksgiving, which they seem to do for some reason. Dot’s North Dakota pretzels, but the honey mustard kind. PSLs John finally got to play a live orchestra concert. Phil is doing some ad reads for something called “sleep baseball”. John went to a charcuterie class at 45th Parallel Distillery. Phil talks about an interesting experience at a bar, or at least he hopes so. John rants about iPhone buttons. What Phil and John have been been watching:  Kath and Kim John talks about seeing a Patton Oswalt standup show.   The Song:  “I’m a Cliché” 

For our 69th episode, we invited former guests for a free-for-all session of randomness featuring Glenda M, Eric S and Charlotte E, Matt and Bex P, David D, Greg K, Heather K, and Bruce K! *We did this over Zoom so please excuse the audio “quality”.*   After the usual “what are you drinking”, somehow we talk about S&H Green Stamps. Charlotte and Eric’s upcoming Podcast, “The Relatives” is log-rolled. Somehow, we talk about sports. The Thunder Round!  (a tad too slow to be lightning). We name our favorite bands and talk about high school proms. Stripper names and stew recipes. The Song:  “It Isn’t My Fault”

We booked another guest for Episode 68. You’ll have to listen to find out who they are or if they show up.  The guest is late arriving, or not, so Phil and John talk about our listener stats and picking up dog poo. We briefly talk about the Korean show, “Squid Game” which we haven’t seen. Useful, no? Phil talks about eating/drinking places he’s been recently, including Keg and Case and the Clutch Brewing Co. within.  Phil drinks Oppidan Smoke + Sea and John has some Smooth Ambler. We talk about who and what we watch on YouTube. Ralfy Reviews Rick Beato Whiskey Vault Living Big in a Tiny House Alex On Autos MKBHD Scotty Kilmer America's Test Kitchen John finally wraps up his survey of Titanic movies. Go read up on Violet Jessop iffen you’re so inclined.  The ocean liner movie John was trying to remember is The Last Voyage.  Are there liner liner notes? William Shatner goes to space.  Shits pants. The Song:  “Poop Patrol”

Episode 67 begins with John introducing his new puppy and all the fascinating detail that brings.   Kirkland blended 12 year old scotch and Millstream Brewing Co.’s Oktoberfest are drink/drank/drunk. We briefly commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.  Phil treated himself to Handsome Hog. We talk more about media we’ve been consuming, including the new show, “Reservation Dogs”, Ted Lasso SE02, White Lotus. We talk about movies we return to; “comfort watches”. John talks about how long TV show title sequences used to be.   The Song:  “A Tense of Paste”