Monday, August 30, 2021

Pheaturing Marc Summers

 

Hey, kids, welcome to the Phile for a Monday. How are you? We're into the single digits, kids. Down to the final nine. A conservative radio host who branded himself “Mr. Anti Vax” died of coronavirus... weeks after comparing the vaccination effort to Nazi Germany in a chilling final tweet. In a haunting final tweet, he said: Should say, ‘Now the US Government is acting like Nazis. Get the shot.' 3 In a haunting final tweet, he said, "Should say, ‘Now the U.S. Government is acting like Nazis. Get the shot.'" He was hospitalized with COVID-19 around three weeks before his death. The radio host made the comparison as he retweeted a promotional video designed to convince Americans to get the jab. Nikki Fried said, “The greatest generation had to defeat the Nazis to preserve our way of life, you’re only being asked to get a shot. So be a patriot. Turn off the TV and go get vaccinated.” The right-wing commentator was the host of "The Marc Bernier Show" on the radio network. The company said in a statement, “It’s with great sadness that WNDB and Southern Stone Communications announce the passing of Marc Bernier, who informed and entertained listeners on WNDB for over 30 years. We kindly ask that privacy is given to Marc’s family during this time of grief.” Speaking about Bernier's death, Volusia county sheriff Mike Chitwood told the Daytona Beach News-Journal, "I'm numb. To me, this is a death in the family." Bernier’s death comes just days after COVID vaccine critic Phil Valentine died of the virus. The 61-year-old, from Tennessee, publicly mocked the country's vaccination efforts and disagreed with mask mandates before contracting the virus in July. His death was confirmed by several of Valentine's co-workers who had spoken to his brother Mark, WKRN reports. Before catching the virus, Valentine regularly commented on the pandemic including performing a song called "Vaxman"... a parody of the Beatle's song "Taxman." Last month, Valentine announced his diagnosis on Facebook stating that it "hurts like crap." After he was transferred to hospital, his family released a statement to social media urging people to get vaccinated. And right-wing host Dick Farrel passed away on August 4th after contracting the virus. He reportedly texted friends urging them to get the jab in his final days. In a July 3rd post he wrote, "Why take a vax promoted by people who lied 2u all along about masks, where the virus came from and the death toll? (sic).” On July 1st he said, “Vaccine Bogus Bull Shid! Two peeps I know, got vaxed, now have Corona, hospitalized critical. Thank you Moderna, FOR NOTHING.” He branded Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a “power tripping lying freak." 

Britain faces increased pressure from the U.S. to hand over Prince Andrew for questioning over sex abuse claims. President Biden’s office made a rare statement amid claims of frustration over the Duke of York’s stonewalling. Andrew, 61, has resisted approaches to cooperate with a criminal investigation into dead billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his alleged co-conspirators. Officials want the U.K. to reaffirm its “close and resilient” evidence-sharing relationship. The Department of Justice sent a mutual legal assistance request to the Home Office last year to try to force Andrew’s cooperation. Following enquiries about the Duke, a U.S. government official said, “The U.S. and the U.K. have a close, productive and resilient law enforcement and mutual legal assistance relationship. We remain in close contact on many active cases on a daily basis and will continue to seek assistance in criminal matters as we provide similar assistance in return.” U.S. prosecutors... who are unravelling Epstein’s sprawling underage sex trafficking operation... accused Andrew of “zero cooperation” last year. News agency Reuters reported earlier this month that Andrew was a “person of interest” in the Epstein probe... led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. He is being considered “at least” a witness. As part of their investigation, Epstein’s alleged madam, Brit socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, 59, has been charged with procuring girls for her former lover. The Duke also faces a civil lawsuit from sex slave Virginia Giuffre in the U.S., over allegations he sexually assaulted her. He has vehemently denied the claims in the past. His representative declined to comment. The Home Office was also contacted for comment. The Duke also faces a civil lawsuit from sex slave Virginia Giuffre in the U.S., over allegations he sexually assaulted her Cressida Dick says "no one is above the law" as she orders Met Police review into sex abuse claims made against Prince Andrew. 

It has been a year since Chadwick Boseman's passing and everyone is paying tribute to the late Black Panther star. Marvel Cinematic Universe stars like Lupita Nyong'o and Mark Ruffalo are honoring Boseman and his short yet meaningful life. On August 28th, 2020, the world stood still when it was confirmed that Boseman had passed away. The Black Panther actor died in his Los Angeles home due to complications related to colon cancer. Only his close family and friends were aware of his condition so everyone was shocked that Boseman had been sick for a long time. It has been a full year since Boseman's passing and people wanted to remember the Captain America: Civil War star in their own ways. For Nyong'o, this meant sharing a sweet photo with Boseman along with a heartfelt caption. "I did not know that I could miss both his laughter and his silence in equal measure. I do. I do... One year after his passing, the memory of @chadwickboseman remains this alive in me," Nyong'o wrote. Ruffalo and the official Marvel Entertainment Twitter account also honored Boseman with heartbreaking tweets. Millions have done the same, causing the late actor to trend on social media. Needless to say, Boseman lived a short life but he affected people around him in the best possible way.

That's a wrap for "Umbrella Academy Season 3" and we got the news from the best possible sources. The cast of the Netflix series has confirmed the production wrap in an awesome new video. The new video was shared by the official "Umbrella Academy" Twitter account and it starts off with Elliot Page confirming that production has wrapped. "I'm stoked 'cause I can't wait for you to see it and sad because I'll miss everybody," Page said. All the cast members have the same thing to announce except David Castañeda, who says there's "a two-for-one special on the hotdogs at the corner stand of Amar and Valinda." He then reveals it's a joke and confirms the "Umbrella Academy Season 3" wrap. It's great to know that the third season of "The Umbrella Academy" has finally finished filming. After all, there were concerns about the next season being delayed if production isn't completed by the end of the year. Luckily, the cast and crew worked hard on the series and I can't wait to see "Season 3." Although production has finally wrapped, it might still be a long wait for "The Umbrella Academy Season 3." It has been confirmed that the next season will not air until next year. Nevertheless, fans strongly believe that it will all be worth the wait. The "Umbrella Academy Season 3" has not yet been given an official release date. However, the series is already expected to return on Netflix in 2022. 

The first trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home has truly been an amazing revelation although it didn't reveal too much about key characters who will appear in the film. However, a new trailer featuring footage from the 90s animated series finally shows us all those awesome heroes and villains who were only teased in the original one. People had been waiting for the Spider-Man 3 trailer for a long time and it didn't disappoint when it was finally released. Although the teaser gave us a glimpse at the Sinister Six and Matt Murdock's return, these characters were not openly shown in any of the footage. We didn't get to see all those characters but they are all in the fan trailer created by YouTuber 100BombsStudios. The new video uses footage from "Spider-Man: The Animated Series" with the audio from the No Way Home trailer. In addition to that, you can find footage from "The Incredible Hulk Animated Series." It's an interesting mash-up that satisfies our need to confirm Matt Murdock's appearance in Spider-Man 3 and debunks the villain that attacks Peter Parker (everyone is convinced it's the Lizard). Hopefully, we'll get more confirmations in the next official trailer for No Way Home in the next few months.

Instead of doing this blog thing I should be listening to this album...

Ummm... maybe not. So, remember that 90s TV show "Dinosaur"? It is more scary than I remember. 

This is how you all look doing the Milk Crate Challenge...

Hahaha. I was watching CNN over the weekend and I saw this... 

Good news! Money can be an uncomfortable topic sometimes, especially when the subject of finances or class is brought up by your partner's parents during the first dinner you've ever had with them... Shaming someone for not making enough money according to an arbitrary standard you've set is never acceptable, but assuming things about people just because of their income or their background can also be shady behavior. Of course it's understandable for parents to have the urge to protect their adult children, but going out of your way to make their new partner uncomfortable the first time you meet them is a risky move. Unless you have a valid reason to shut a relationship down, it's best to keep the first "meeting the parents" session light and breezy and save the brutal grilling for post-Thanksgiving cocktails or the family group chat. So, when a frustrated man decided to consult the the Phile about whether or not he was wrong to wear a fancy watch to meet his girlfriend's parents, I decided help deem a verdict. 

"Am I wrong for wearing a nice watch to meet my girlfriend's parents? We've been together for about 6 months and I have loved every minute of it. This incident happened yesterday. I have a passion for watches and I consider myself a collector. For context, I come from a wealthy background and through that, I was able to create a business with a friend after college. Things have really popped for us over the last 3 years through a combination of hard work (over 100 hours/week for the first 2 years) and luck. As of right now, my partner and I both stand to each make about 8 figures this year. I'm doing well but I also prefer to save rather than spend if I can. I was always taught the age old cliché that "money talks but wealth whispers." I live in a nice, but relatively modest house in a great family neighborhood, it feels like home to me so it's all I really need. The only things that I really put money into are my passions: watches, golf, and music gear. So she and I were getting ready to go meet her parents who are from out of state on their way to their vacation. This was the first time I met them so I was a little nervous. My girlfriend works as a trainer and comes from a solid middle-class family. She said her dad is a very hard worker but he could sometimes be a bit tough with new guys. So we get ready to go meet them at the restaurant, which was a perfectly nice place by the beach, and I threw on a pair of nice shorts and a polo along with my daily watch, which is a Rolex Batman GMT that I've had for 4 years. Putting it on is habitual. I don't really think about it. When we got to the restaurant we exchanged greetings and got to our table. Everything was going good. Halfway through her dad glances down at my wrist and asks to see the watch I had. I took it off and handed it to him and he looked at it for a second and just goes, "Do you expect me to be impressed by this?" I asked him what he meant and he just says, "This stuff may be impressive to 'your people' but my daughter isn't some trophy for you to flaunt! I'm not going to let my daughter get close to you just for you to get tired of her and leave her heart-broken. I know your kind." I had more than enough. I told him he knows nothing about me or my character we left the restaurant. I got pretty worked up on the drive home. She kept telling me that it wasn't my fault and she's never seen him act like that before but then she said, "I guess you can't wear a watch around him." That got me thinking. Was I the asshole here? Should I have not worn the watch since it was a first meeting? Was I wrong for getting up and leaving? I know I wasn't trying to prove anything to the guy, I was just wearing something that I always do. But then I start thinking that I must've not read the room properly. I feel terrible about what happened." Your girlfriend's dad is a tool. If you were waving it around in his face that would be one thing but just wearing it on your wrist is another. People offended by this says more about them than it does about you. It's not your fault that he has an enormous chip on his shoulder. Sorry that her dad is a jerk. Hope things can get smoothed over. But guys like that aren't known for their apologies. I feel bad for your girlfriend, but it would have been nice if she stuck up for you. Her dad was completely out of line and she's not much better for backing him up. What bizarre behavior. You weren't wrong to wear the watch, but perhaps this dad was picking up on something other than the watch to have that kind of reaction. Good luck, everyone! If you have a problem you'd like my advice on then email me at thepeverettphile@gmail.com. 


If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. Now from the home office in Pot Jeff, New York her is... 


Top Phive Things Said By People Who Are Single
5. My ex said he couldn't live without me and I recently found out that he's still alive. Mean are always lying unprovoked. 
4. I'm single because I hate people but I want to find one person who I don't hate who also hates people but doesn't hate me. 
3. I'm so single I don't even charge my phone at night. 
2. You're only like 3 toxic relationships. 2 emotional breakdowns and one rock bottom away from finding your soulmate. 
And the number one thing said by a person who is single is...
1. Called my ex just so I could apologize for things that weren't my fault again. 



On the Chilean flag...


Okay, let's take a live look at Port Jefferson, shall we?


Looks like a pleasant day there. 


Phact 1. Earthworms do NOT surface to avoid drowning when it rains. Instead, they come to the surface to move overland. Since worms breathe through their skin, the skin must stay wet in order for the oxygen to pass through it. Earthworms can actually survive for several weeks under water.

Phact 2. It would cost over $300 million to be a real-life Batman. 

Phact 3. Leonardo DiCaprio blocked a film he was in from being released in the U.S. and Canada. The producer of the film has released it on the Internet and drafted a letter to Leo about it. 

Phact 4. "The Drew Carey Show" used to do April Fools Day episodes filled with intentional mistakes and fans would win prizes for mailing in all the ones they caught. 

Phact 5. In the early drafting of Star Wars, Stormtroopers carried lightsabers, and there were female Stormtroopers.



Today's guest is an American television personality, comedian, game show host, producer, and talk show host. He is best known for hosting "Double Dare" for Nickelodeon, "Unwrapped for Food Network," and recently he was executive producer for both "Dinner: Impossible" and "Restaurant: Impossible" also for Food Network. Please welcome to the Phile... Marc Summers.


Me: Hey, Marc, welcome to the Phile. I am so glad you're here. How are you? 

Marc: Thank you very much, that means so much. More than you know and I'm good. 

Me: "Double Dare" first came out in 1986. That's 35 years ago! That's crazy, right? 

Marc: Thirty-five years ago? That's mind boggling to me. I just started to realize it over the last couple of years it's fascinating to me why so many people are attached and hooked on what happened on a show in 1986. 

Me: The show had come back a few times and left again. Why do you think "Double Dare" was and is so popular? 

Marc: I don't know why that is. 

Me: Did you like working on that show with those kids? 

Marc: The deal was I never wanted to host a kids show. I wanted to host a grown-up game show and so when I went out there to approach that my idea was I'm doing "Jeopardy," I'm doing "Wheel of Fortune" and so I always treated the kids as equals. I never said in a squeaky voice, "Do you have a girlfriend, Bobby?" I treated them like adults and I think they appreciated that because if you might remember from time to time I would make fun of them in the nicest possible way. Usually I'd get notes from Nickelodeon but they were all with me. They did a focus group and they said I was some sort of big brother or crazy uncle. They kind of got it which was fantastic. 

Me: I would have loved to be the host of that show. How old were you when you started to host "Double Dare"? 

Marc: I was 34. I'm 70-years-old now. I had thought it was never going to happen, I had thought my career was over with. I had been trying for 13 years to become a game show host and nothing was clicking and for whatever reason the right time and the right place the whole "Double Dare" thing happened which put me on the map. 

Me: Did you have to audition for the part? 

Marc: No, I'll tell you that happened. I had a friend, Dave Garrison who was a ventriloquist who got the phone call initially. He called me one night and said, "I'm tired of doing this performing thing, I'm going to work behind the scenes and become a producer. I got a call, I don't know what this is, I've never heard of the network, it's called Nickelodeon and it's a game show, I don't even know what it's called. Why don't you go to the audition instead of me?" So I did. Today you couldn't even walk into an audition unless you were called to set it up and all that stuff. I just walked in and said, "I'm here for Dave Garrison, Dave couldn't make it so he asked me to fill in." I was the first guy to audition in L.A. They auditioned 2000 people in New York and didn't like any of them and decided to come to Los Angeles so I was the first one to audition. I got out and called my agent and said, "I just want to let you know that I just auditioned for a show called 'Double Dare' for Nickelodeon and I'm going to get the show." And he goes, "Yeah, I've got ten other clients going today so good luck on that." Then I get a phone call to do a call back in July and then I got another call back in August so I auditioned for them three times. 

Me: So how did you find out you got the part? 

Marc: The producer and casting director, I called them at the end of August and I said, "You guys are supposed to make a decision. What's the deal?" They said, "Well, we're really confused here." When they had done the initial auditions they used grown-ups to play the part of the kids and they said it was me and another guy they really liked but they had never seen us with kids. So I came up with the concept of flying me and whoever this other guy was to New York and put us into a studio with kids. So that's what they did, that Labor Day weekend in 1986 they flew me and this other guy and to this day I don't know who it is, flew us to New York. We both went into the studio and did the shows and the next day they called me and said I got the job. 

Me: So, you always wanted to be a game show host? I think that would be the best. 

Marc: I've been watching game shows since I was a kid and Barker was my idol. 

Me: So, how did you break the news to Dave that you got the part? 

Marc: Dave was very thankful and happy for me and he went on to become a huge producer in Los Angeles. Unfortunately he passed away in 2004 very young, he was about 60-years-old. But Dave was very positive, and we worked together many times. In fact he was the first producer of "What Will You Do?" We ended up working together on Nickelodeon and a whole other form where he was telling me what to do. It worked out great. 

Me: So, what was your favorite obstacle on the show? 

Marc: The gum ball machine was my favorite obstacle, that one was just fun for some reason. 

Me: Did you ever do them yourself? 

Marc: I always tested the obstacles and physical challenges. 

Me: You did? Why? 

Marc: Because I figured if the kids did I should know what it felt like. There was a moment of when I dived into that thing for about two seconds I didn't know what planet I was on and all of a sudden the bottom thing opened and I was out in civilization again. That was kind of fun. 

Me: How did the courses get designed? I bet that was a fun job. 

Marc: The reality of it is we had a budget of two space camps giving away in a five episode shoot and sometimes kids would run the board and win three in a row and then we had to make the obstacle course harder hoping they wouldn't win because they'd throw us over budget. But when we built the hardest obstacle courses they seemed to do them and then sometimes we went 7, 8 or 9 shows with no wins and we built the simplest ones ever and they couldn't do it. We never knew, it was about their athletic prowess. We would walk them around the course prior to them doing it and give them all the hints. 

Me: Okay, so, you and I have something in common, Marc. We both have OCD. Your might be worse than mine, I'm not sure. Was living with OCD a big problem with you doing the show? 

Marc: It was not and I'll tell you why. All I ever wanted to do was to host a game show and so there I was doing it, and I had had this issue. They would tell you that sometimes they'd like to trash me, dump me into the pools, fill me with whip cream and what other substances. Then when we were off the air I wanted to take off that shirt and jump in a shower because I was a mess because I didn't like that feeling. But I was laughing, I was enjoying it, I was loving every moment of it because I got to the goal and the place I wanted to be. 

Me: You wrote a book about it, right? 

Marc: Yeah, I was able to help a lot of people in the process. 

Me: That's cool. You always looked happy on the show. So, where did the name "gak" come from? I think that's how you say it. 

Marc: We were shooting initially in Philadelphia because Nickelodeon didn't want to spend a lot of dough and the prices in Europe were extremely high. There was a PBS station in Philadelphia that wanted to get into the production business so it was sort of we need you, you need us, so we moved out there. The guys that worked on the crew were the nicest, smartest guys I ever met in my life but there was a certain dabbling going on with a certain chemical substance we shall say. Little did we know the street term for heroin was "gak" and so when we were making the slime certain guys on the crew would say, "So, who's making the gak today?" So gak sort of stuck and Nickelodeon thought it was a funny word, little did they know at the time. 

Me: That's funny. So, what's the deal with this documentary about you called On Your Marc

Marc: Actually it's not me, it's a guy named Mat Klickstein who wrote the book called Slimed about the history of Nickelodeon. Mat came to me when he found out I was doing this one-man show and said, "We should do a documentary on you." I said why? Why would anybody want to watch a doc on me?" And he said, "You'd be surprised." So I thought about it and at first I was negative about it and to this day I'd say he talked me into it and I'm glad he did. 

Me: So, what is on the doc? 

Marc: It follows me with the process of rehearsing and doing the one-man show but also other things I do. Charity events, many things that work out extremely well. There's interview with Neil Patrick Harris, Ryan Seacrest, Guy Fieri and Seth Green. 

Me: Cool. I have to check it out. Thanks so much for being on the Phile. I hope this was fun. 

Marc: It was, Jason, thank you.






That about does to for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to Marc for a fun little interview. The Phile will be back on Wednesday with Phile Alum Jon Bon Jovi. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye. Flip the pancake. 





























Give me some rope, tie me to dream, give me the hope to run out of steam, somebody said it could be here. We could be roped up, tied up, dead in a year. I can't count the reasons I should stay. One by one they all just fade away...

Friday, August 27, 2021

Pheaturing Eddie Izzard

 

Hey, kids, welcome to the Phile for a Friday. We are down to the final ten. So weird. So, Spencer Elden, who appears naked as a baby on the cover of Nirvana's 1991 album "Nevermind," is suing the band for alleged child exploitation and pornography. The album cover shows Elden, now 30, as a four-month-old baby boy swimming naked underwater with a U.S. dollar bill hanging in front of him on a fishhook. "Defendants intentionally commercially marketed Spencer's child pornography and leveraged the shocking nature of his image to promote themselves and their music at his expense," he alleged in the lawsuit, which was filed on Tuesday. Elden is asking for $150,000 in damages from each of the defendants, which include former band members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, photographer Kirk Weddle, various record companies, and Courtney Love, executor of lead singer Kurt Cobain's estate. According to the court filing, Robert Y. Lewis, Elden's lawyer, says the inclusion of the dollar bill in the photograph makes the baby resemble "a sex worker." Elden says his parents never signed a release authorizing the use of the image and that he was never compensated for the photo beyond the $200 his parents were paid for it on the day the photo was taken. The lawsuit also alleged that a sticker was initially going to be used to cover Elden's genitals, which appear in the photograph shot by Weddle, who was a friend of Elden's father. Elden also says he has suffered from "extreme and permanent emotional distress" since the photograph was taken. Universal Music Group, Weddle and a publicist for Love did not immediately respond to requests from Reuters for comment. Nirvana's "Nevermind" album has sold around 30 million copies worldwide, and the cover art has been named one of the greatest album covers of all time by Billboard magazine and Rolling Stone magazine. Elden has a tattoo that reads "Nevermind" across his chest, and he has previously recreated the pool photograph numerous times for the album's anniversaries. He had previously discussed the photograph in numerous interviews, including a 2008 interview with NPR where 17-year-old Elden discussed how he struggled to make sense of his public image. In an interview with TIME in 2016, Elden expressed his frustration with the lack of compensation he's received for the photograph. "It's hard not to get upset when you hear how much money was involved," he said to TIME in 2016. "I just woke up already being a part of this huge project. It's pretty difficult... you feel like you're famous for nothing, but you didn't really do anything but their album." What a baby.

Every restaurant owner knows that online review forums are a space where reputations get decimated. While plenty of people log on to give high star ratings and positive affirmations, the customers most drawn to review sites tend to be nit-picky and sometimes downright vindictive. Of course, even the most well-run restaurant can benefit from constructive critique, but that's far different than malicious or dishonest rants. For this reason, Gary Usher, who runs the Sticky Walnut, decided to shut down a two-star review of his high-end restaurant on TripAdvisor. The review, which was penned by someone named Rob V, applauded the restaurant for good food, but claimed the customer service was lacking. In a lengthy response, Gary shared the staff's side of the story, detailing how Rob V tried to "bully" and "intimidate" servers. Gary did not hold back in his response, leading it by giving TripAdvisor the nickname "TwitAdvisor." "For goodness sake Robert, I'm supposed to be in Twitadvisor retirement, so let's not waste any time. After all, you've waited 11 years after joining Twitadvisor to write your first review. Rob you reserved a table on a Friday evening and agreed to a 1 hour 45 minute time slot. A standard practice, particularly on busy periods, that guests and restaurants worldwide agree to." Gary then went on to describe how Rob completely ignored the standard time slot for reservations and became aggressive with the Manager when politely warned about the time frame. "After your dessert course the Manager, who you said "doesn't give a toss," gently reminded you that we would need the table back shortly. You ignored the Manager and proceeded to order another round of drinks. Perhaps if your party had arrived on time for your reservation this could have been avoided. When the Manager came back a final time to politely let you know we needed to clear the table for our next guests you got out of your seat, towering over the Manager, pointing in their face." Gary also dragged Rob for using the classic "I worked in restaurants" line in a manipulative attempt to get free drinks. "The Manager's response was 'sir, can you please stop pointing in my face.' You proceeded to tell the Manager that they didn't deserve to be a Manager and weren't qualified to be in that position. Your mother then joined in by adding to the vitriol being directed to the manager. That's when both you and your mother showed your true colours with the classic 'We both worked in restaurants so we know how it works. We should be getting these drinks for free.'" Gary also called out Rob for threatening the Manager by pretending to be his (Gary's) friend, and later sending restaurant an email complaining about the situation. "You, Rob, then threatened the Manager by telling them that you would be contacting the owner because you know him and that Gary (me) would be appalled to learn to know how you, 'my friend,' had been treated. The Manager politely pleaded with your whole table to just listen whilst they explained. No one did." "In a strange turn of events you emailed me, 'your friend,' at Sticky Walnut's email address. You must have lost my number Rob! Not surprisingly, to either me or the Manager, you and I don't know each other Rob. Every few months in a restaurant a rude guest will use the 'I know the owner' line to try and intimidate team members and bully them into thinking that they will get in trouble because they didn't look after the owner's 'friends' well enough." Gary ended his response by admonishing Rob once more, sharing he'll never be allowed in the restaurant again, and that they are not indeed friends. "I did read your email. I did 'give a toss,' not about you Rob, but about the way you treated the team. So instead of replying to you we decided to block your number, and your Mum's, and put a note on our booking system to not accept any future bookings from you. With regards to the Manager who 'doesn't give a toss,' they have managed Sticky Walnut for the past 8 years. Coincidentally the same length of time that Sticky Walnut has achieved a top 100 position in the National Restaurant Awards in the U.K. I think that makes them both extremely deserving to be the Manager and absolutely qualified to hold that position. Regards, Not Your Mate. Gary Another Owner you don't actually know." 

Don’t tell me Kanye West built a damn house inside a football stadium just to not release his album. Kanye is doing just about everything right now, except dropping his long-awaited album called "Donda," which has been teased by West for years. After missing its scheduled released date, West is testing his fans’ patience by holding massive listening parties to tease the new music. West has held two listening parties thus far, the latest of which took place inside Atlanta’s Mercedes-Bens Stadium. West, in fact, decided to temporarily live inside the building following the show in order to attempt to the album finished, even live-streaming nearly ever minute of his days and nights for fans as he worked in his small cinderblock makeshift apartment. Kanye’s latest stunt is that of a third listening party, this time taking place inside Soldier Field in Chicago, West’s hometown. 

He’s gone as far as to have his team elaborately construct an exact replica of his childhood home which sits just hours away in the middle of the stadium. The build is likely a tribute to his mother, to whom the album is named after. Donda West passed 17 years ago. West bought back the home he grew up in for $225k.

A "Disney Gallery Special" has been released on the streaming platform where it would focus on "Star Wars: The Mandalorian - Making of the Season 2 Finale," and Mark Hamill already has something to say to the fans waiting for their various questions to be answered, he jokes about some information remaining in the shadows despite the revelations in the show. The second season finale of "The Mandalorian" has given a lot of surprises to Star Wars fans especially when everyone saw the return of Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker with Baby Yoda, also known as Grogu, being trained as a Jedi. While the viewers were given as to how the appearance was made possible in a technical perspective, even adding to the narrative, Hamill made sure to confirm the things on Twitter. Hamill said that even with a new special trying to answer almost all of the questions Star Wars fans would have, there would still be things that will remain unanswered. 

The fandom surely has tons of questions and answering all of them could be a long line down memory lane in the galaxy far, far away. Some can’t even be answered at all and if there are things that Hamill has kept a lid on would be for anyone’s guess. The new Star Wars special would be about the season 2 finale of "Star Wars: The Mandalorian" last year’s wherein a young Luke Skywalker made its way to the small screen showing one of the biggest reveals and best-kept secrets that the series managed to give the fans and the viewers. The technology that brought him back to the screen was a cutting-edge once and is one of the main topics to be discussed in the special.

There are still times when I have to pinch myself over the fact that Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen will be making their respective returns to the Star Wars franchise nearly 20 years after Revenge of the Sith was released and the timing couldn't have been any better. The two actors will reunite in the upcoming "Obi-Wan Kenobi" series which will take place a full decade following the jaw-dropping events of Episode III. Aside from the aforementioned setting, very little is known about the series at this point but apparently, leaked concept art from the upcoming series has already been making the rounds online and it pretty much gives us an idea of what will go down in the project. Twitter page Star Wars Stuff shared concept images featuring how Anakin Skywalker would look outside his Darth Vader suit. The design is quite a terrifying sight to behold as it features Anakin's scarred face, body, and two severed limbs. Also included in the leaked artwork is a large bacta tank and a breathing apparatus. Check it out...

As it stands, we're not quite sure if this terrifying new look will be something that we'll see more than once over the course of the show but given the fact that it's actually Hayden who will be under the Vader mask, it's a little safe to assume that we'll see his scarred Anakin face on more than one occasion. Say what you will about the prequel trilogy but I'm seriously stoked about this show.

This just in... Van Halen baby sues Nirvana baby for being a pussy. 



Have you seen the new cover for Nirvana's "Nevermind"? I think it fixes the problem...



Hahahaha. So, today's guest is comedian Eddie Izzard. Not many people know he stole my look when he did stand-up. Check me out...


Hahaha. That's so dumb. If you fear that you are not living up to your intellectual potential, or simply aren't the most knowledgable person around...fear no more. As long as you know what the delta variant is, basic spelling, and that it's physically possible (and indeed quite common!) for a woman to know more about something than a man, you are an absolute genius compared to the person here...


Remember that "Dinosaurs" show from the 90s? It was more "realistic" than you thought...


Now from the home office in Port Jefferson, New York here is...


Top Phive Things Said About The Milk Crate Challenge
5.  Waiting for FDA approval before I take the Milk Crate Challenge.
4. Milk Crate Challenge: get a whole bunch of crates, absolutely fill them with my shot, and help me move this weekend.
3. Who called it the Milk Crate Challenge and not Broke Back Mountain?
2. Wish my grandparents were still alive to watch me die doing the Milk Crate Challenge.\
And the number one thing said about the Milk Crate Challenge is...
1. I know someone is out there trying to do a milk crate gender reveal. 




If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. Okay, let's take a live look at Port Jeff, shall we?


Wow! They changed the website. You can't tell here but they did. 



On homes in the U.K...


People are crazy...


Today's guest is an English stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and activist. Her comedic style takes the form of rambling whimsical monologues and self-referential pantomime. His latest movie Six Minutes to Midnight is available on Vudu, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV. Please welcome to the Phile... Eddie Izzard.


Me: Hey, Eddie, welcome to the Phile. My parents and I were big fans of your stand-up. How are you? 

Eddie: I'm very well, how are you? 

Me: I'm good. Okay, before we get going I have to ask what pronouns would you like to use for our conversation? 

Eddie: Oh, any. Use adverbs and adjectives I think. I came out 36 years ago so that's the important date. So 1985... I'm gender-fluid, I do things in boy mode and go mode so this is all in boy mode so I'll go with male with "me" and "him" and stuff. It does trip people up a bit. It's not designed to, so I don't want it to. Whatever you want. 

Me: Cool. "He" and "him" then. I was told by one of your people you want to use female pronouns. 

Eddie: Okay. 

Me: Okay, so, you have a new movie out called Six Minutes to Midnight, which you co-wrote. Tell the readers what the movie is about. 

Eddie: It's about an English finishing school where Nazi children went to school. 

Me: I'm from England originally and had no idea of this story. How did you find out about this school, Eddie? 

Eddie: Well, no one knows. It's sitting there. There were 26 schools in this town which is bizarro. Who has 26 schools in a town? But this one did. It was due to the fact that they were set up as health spa kind of things. "Come to Bexhill-on-Sea, three new trains of the 1800s are being set up." Royalties would turn upon and stay, so that's why there are 26 schools. One was also a finishing school, where German girls went to learn English and get to know other members of the British aristocracy including Edward the 8th who was in with the Nazis. So all these kind of posh elites who were extreme right-wing were just into making friends and the girls were there to make friends too. They were listening to Hitler's speeches in Bexhill-On-Sea in England on the radiogram, so we know this happened, we know it went on and we know they were there. I found out about it because of the blazer badges, there blazer badges had the British flag and the Nazi flag. If you've seen the film you've seen it right at the beginning being woven. That was the badge that started it all. I was shown a picture of that and I was like "whoa! There's a film in that." 

Me: It would've made a great documentary instead of a film, right? 

Eddie: It still can. 

Me: So, for people that haven't seen the film how would you describe it? 

Eddie: A great popcorny thriller. 

Me: What made you want to go that route? 

Eddie: Well, that's more commercial. I'm the kid that sat there eating popcorn and watching films. I like thrillers, I like action movies, I'm not an intellectual. I'm like emotional movies and so putting a thriller on top of this seemed good. The clock was ticking, it's called Six Minutes to Midnight. You might think World War II is about countries being bad and counties being good but it's about ideas being bad and ideas being good. We know that because 90 years we've spun around extreme right-wing ideas are around again. And behind the surface the extreme people didn't go away, they just went quiet for a bit after the second world war. Then they came back and Trump gave them permission to come out, get the Confederate flag out again and assault the sea of democracy and all this kind of stuff. So using lies as a tool of democracy that is the dangerous thing. It happened in 90 years ago and some people say let's try the 1930s again. So out film is like a little lesson from history. You do not learn from history, you're doomed to repeat it. 

Me: What's the lesson? 

Eddie: Well, the lesson is this is it. These children were being beguiled by a guy who was lying. The Nazis were a criminal organization who were quite happy to put lie upon lie the Jews did this. The Jews didn't do any of this, it was nonsense from the beginning. The whole Aryan idea of inbreeding people lead to congenital defects. It was a bad idea to start off with. It's just lies upon lies upon lies. The big lies are much easier to sell than the little lies. And Trump proved this by saying, "I've won the election that I lost." he kept saying he won it, he won it and people in America, some of them still believe this. That is insane because it's an utter utter lie. Even Republican officials are saying "no, you cannot bully us into doing this, Mr. Trump. We will not turn this election over." So that is the lesson that these ideas didn't go away. The right-wing uses it all over the place. 

Me: You're not mean to the German Nazi girls in the movie, right? You're very generous to them, so to speak. Am I right? 

Eddie: Yeah, I wanted to see them with a more open minded state as opposed to they've all been brainwashed. It also didn't work in our story, but I think they were more overtly pronoun Nazi than we were painting them. We painted some of them that way and some of them were fun loving girls and Carla Juri plays one girl who was against it and she represents this famous photograph of 500 people doing the Nazi salute and one guy who is refusing to do the salute. It's a famous one people can Google it and find it. It takes such strength to push against that. We just got to watch out, I think the 21st century is the coming of age of humanity and this century we will decide it all, whether we are going to become a world where there's a fair chance for everyone or whether we go down this extreme right-wing way everyone hating one country and using lies as a tool of politics. 

Me: So, Dame Judi Dench is in the movie, playing the headmistress. She's such a legendary actress. What was it like working with her? 

Eddie: I was listening to Ray Charles' "That's What I Say" when we were making the previous film we made together, Victoria & Abdul, she played Queen Victoria and I played her son Bertie, who became Edward the 7th. Playing this track, and I was just sort of dancing around to it then she started dancing in front of me. It was 1) kind of an amazing moment and 2) I realised she was dancing like a young teenage girl. She still has that. She can access that part of herself, she's such a fun loving person. That's why she's so vibrant with anything she plays. She can access any age of her life, any part of her life at a moments notice. She has a great sense of humour as well. 

Me: You weren't intimating working with her? 

Eddie: Well, I've tried in my life too push all intimation back. If I'm performing in French, German or Spanish my fear tends to go away. If I come out as trans my fear kind of goes away. if I'm running marathon upon marathon my fear goes back, so that's what I try to do in life. 

Me: So, do you like acting? 

Eddie: When I was 7 I wanted to act and then I wasn't getting any roles at school and I realised there's a separate are for comedy and I love comedy so I thought let's just do that then. Then it took so long for that to take off. Then I added back in drama in my early 30s. I have separate agents and I pushed in there two directions at the same time which is kind of an odd thing to do. With my early work I had comedy muscles developed and I knew I had to switch them off. If I had instincts developed and I switch them off and start doing my early dramatic roles, which become some small scenes. They were rehearsals, I was going in shooting for half a day and maybe that's the end of the my film. All I had was no instincts, and I switched off my comedy instincts and that was a good thing, but it meant I was a little bit awash, a little bit at sea. 

Me: Your first big role was in the American series "The Riches" with Minnie Driver in 2007, right? It ran for one season I think. 

Eddie: Yeah. "The Riches" were probably drama school and film school for me... all in one. I was part of the group that was pitching the idea so I was already in there and I got stronger and stronger through that so it came to a point where I was I now know know what I'm doing. 

Me: So, you co-wrote this new film. Is this your first time you write a movie? 

Eddie: Yeah, similarly to what I was just talking about part of the reason was to make sure, secure a good leading role for myself. So I can call first dibs on it. 

Me: Ha! Are you not seeing enough interesting roles coming your way? 

Eddie: No, I'm getting interesting roles and they're getting better and better but they tend to me more supporting. They wouldn't think that drag person whose slightly older now, let's go give them that lead. There's a certain look that most lead roles get. So for me I thought I should set up my own films to give myself a good lead role. All the A-listers do it anyway, they might not write the script but they will buy, they will option a property like a book and say that's a good role for me, I'd like to buy this. Then they'll develop it and give themselves a big lead role. It's exactly what I'm doing. So if the A-listers have to do it then me, I may be B plus, B minus... I definitely have to do it. I want to make films, I want to direct films. 

Me: I have to ask you about this story I read about or heard about you once, that when you were a kid you broke into a movie studio. Is that true? 

Eddie: I broke into Pinewood Studios, one of the big studios in Britain when I was 15. 

Me: You broke in? Why did you do this and how? 

Eddie: I walked in the front door. I'm very military how I get things done. So I was watching films in the 70s in my teenage years and copy down notes from the titles as they went to the end. There was no Internet, I could't even stop the screen to read what was on there. At the end of Battle of Britain it says "filmed in Spain and England." And Pinewood Studios, in Iver Heath, Bucks. I wrote that down thinking there's a studio, they make these things in studios. Iver Heath, Bucks didn't make sense, I didn't know what it was but it must be a place. I had to go get a map with every town and village and city in the U.K. listed alphabetically, which we used to have in those days. It was a village and there was a studio built right near this village so I had to get a train to London from Bexhill-On-Sea and then an underground tube then a bus to Iver Heath where I said, "Its there a film studio around here?" "Yeah, it's half a mile down the road." I walked up to the main gate and thought how do I get in. "What is it, kid?" "I'm going to be in films so I need to come in really." "Just piss off, kid. You can't come in." So I thought I've come miles, I'm not going to give up now. Then there was another entrance which was just a little further up which is now the main entrance and I watched and I realised if I walked in with confidence I can get in, because they were only checking people who looked like they needed their stuff checked. And I walked in like Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood did in Where Eagles Dare. I marched in a certain speed, not too fast, not too slow, and I moved around Pinewood for two hours at a certain speed, hardly stopping in case someone said, "stop kid." Once I was in no one didn't pay a blind bit of notice. 

Me: Hahaha. What did you want to happen when you were there? 

Eddie: I wanted someone to say, "Hey, kids, walking a certain speed, can you speak English?" "Yes." "All right. You are the lead role." 

Me: Hahahahaha. Okay, so last December you got a lot of attention in the press when you said you wanted to be called "she" and "her." How did all this attention affect you? 

Eddie: I don't know, I was slightly surprised because 1) I came out in 1985. How much notice does anyone need? Thirty-five years? Is that enough? You want another ten years? "She" and her?! When you were wearing the dresses we thought that was a tax thing!" I don't know what people were thinking so I don't know anyone was surprised. It's just a language adjustment. I'm gender-fluid, in film roles I will be playing boy roles... I call it "boy-mode, girl-mode." 

Me: Haha. That's a good way to put it. What does that mean though? 

Eddie: I consider being trans is a super hero thing. Just like the Human Torch can go "flame on, flame off." I could do the same with boy off, girl off. That's it. That's how I live my life. But something that was grabbed hold off, and even a year before I've been given an honourary degree in Swansea, one of the big cities, where I used to live actually, in Wales. The Chancellor of the University started calling me "she" and "her" in her read up when she was mentioning me. I was like thank you very much, I'm thankful for that. The press picked up on that and the Daily Mail which is a very conservative/right-wing paper in England is always looking for gossip. "What's going on?!" So I put a statement out over a year and a half before that, even thought I came out a million years ago. So that was done and dusted then, and no one gave a dickie-bow. Nothing picked up, nothing went viral. Then a year and a bit later it goes COMPLETELY viral around the world. IMDB and Wikipedia my pronouns changed just like that. I thought I was promoted to "she" and it's a great honour, but it shouldn't be the big thing. I'm not all about pronouns. I'm more about adverbs. Vastly. He ran vastly. 

Me: Speaking of running, how many marathons did you run? 

Eddie: In my time now 130 marathons. Back I 2009 I did 43 in 51 days, and then I went to South Africa and did 27 in 27 days in 2016. That was a salute to Nelson Mandela, 27 years in prison. So I thought I'd raise money and salute to it. Then 2020 I ran in 29 marathons, 29 days around Europe. And then I did 32 marathons in 31 days with a double marathon at the end in lockdown on a treadmill, talking to people. And I had George Clooney at the end doing the countdown. And doing a gig at the end of each marathon. 

Me: Holy shit. Where does the persistence in your life come from? 

Eddie: I might have that gene. I might have that genetic. I tracked it back, looking at my school reports and "Edward Izzard is a determined little boy." I used to odd things to get into things. I was not into being in the choir because someone said being in the choir is really girly. I wasn't out at this point. Then later on anyone who was in the choir was in the production of Joseph and his Technicolour Dreamcoat and I thought I want to be in that. It's fun stuff, it's not singing hymns. I was about 11 or 12 so I went and just stood in the room with all of the choir and I'm not supposed to be there so I just stand there. I just became the fetch and carry person, like the stage manager, and no one asked me too, no one checked why I was there. I made myself necessary so I ended up in it and ended up having a solo line in it even. I would push my way into things if I could. 

Me: So, was acting the only thing you wanted to do? 

Eddie: I wanted to be in special forces when I was a kid, and I was quite serious wanting to do that and instead I've done civilian special forces I think. Coming out as trans, running 13 marathons before, performing in French, German and Spanish as well as English. And now making films, which is always what I wanted to do in yore first place. It's great to be here with this film, Six Minutes to Midnight

Me: Eddie, I'm so glad to have you on the Phile. Take care! 

Eddie: It was good talking to you.




Well, that about does to for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to Eddie for a great interview. The Phile will be back on Monday with Marc Summers, who you 90s kids will know who that is I am sure. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.






























Give me some rope, tie me to dream, give me the hope to run out of steam, somebody said it could be here. We could be roped up, tied up, dead in a year. I can't count the reasons I should stay. One by one they all just fade away...

Thursday, August 26, 2021

Pheaturing Stuart Pankin


Hey, kids, welcome to the Phile. How are you? I counted how many people I know personally that had or has COVID… 121. That’s how many people I know. Yes, that’s a big number. It's fucking ridiculous. A Tennessee dad went viral on Twitter for the speech he gave at a school board meeting defending a mask mandate. Justin Kanew is the founder of the Tennessee Holler, a former Congressional candidate, and the father to a 5-year-old daughter who just started kindergarten. Originally, he didn't have a speech planned for the August 15th school board meeting, but when the school's heated debate around mandating masks for kids came up once again, Kanew decided to speak his mind. People who wanted to give a public comment were given the floor for two minutes each, and the clip of Kanew's passionate plea resonated hard, accrewing over a million views online. He began, "I'm a dad of a new kindergartener, and her first day was right after the chaos last week. She went to school and was one of just a few kids in her class wearing a mask, which made her ask me why she had to." "My answer was 'because we want to take care of other people.' She's five-years-old, but she understood that concept and it's disappointing that more adults around here can't seem to grasp it," he continued. He then went on to challenge people who use Christianity as an excuse to curb masking. "I asked a pastor friend of mine and he was very clear there's no actual biblical justification for using the Bible to get out of a mask mandate passed by the majority of the selected board. But thousands are doing it anyway, calling it a religious exemption which is frankly just sad. Avoiding masks is not in the Bible, but taking care of other people is. And now, today we have governor Lee's executive order to allow opt outs, which is government overreach undercutting a local decision. He finished his speech with a bang, calling out the hypocrisy of only supporting democracy when it goes your way. "If you only like democracy when it goes your way, you don't actually like democracy," he finished. The speech received support from other parents who find themselves in similar positions. And people who were generally relieved to hear Kanew speak with calm precision. Some people pointed out that Kanew is far from alone in Tennessee, it's just harder to find voices like his. Hopefully, as more parents like Kanew speak up, measures will be taken to protect children from the virus, particularly since most kids can't get vaccinated yet, and the delta variant is more contagious. 

This week, instead of releasing his highly anticipated new album, Kanye West posted shots at Drake, which included both a Joker meme and Drake's address. On Saturday, Kanye Instagrammed a screenshot of a group chat which including Drake and rapper Pusha T, who also feuds with the Canadian. Late on Sunday night/Monday morning, West announced to his 7.4 million Instagram followers where Drake lives. Drake posted a video of himself laughing, but he doth protest too much, methinks. 

Earlier this week, it was revealed that Dell and Sonia Curry were getting a divorce after 33 years of marriage. On Monday, the divorce proceedings got a little dirty when court filings revealed that Dell Curry is accusing his, now, ex-wife of cheating on him with a former New England Patriots tight end. The court documents were obtained by "TMZ," in which they state that Sonya is, and has been, dating Steven Johnson, a 6th round pick of the New England Patriots in 1988. In the docs, Dell says Sonya “began her extramarital affair with Mr. Johnson during the marriage and prior to the date of separation, and she lied to [Dell] each time she cheated on him.” Dell, in the docs, says Sonya is actually living with Johnson in Tennessee... and  claims she should not be entitled because of it. Sonya Curry responded to Dell’s claims, saying she is not living with Johnson, claiming she’s currently living on her own because Dell will not allow her to live at their home. She did however disclose that she is currently in a dating relationship, but denied cheating on Dell, saying their relationship began “months after” she and Dell agreed to legally separate in March 2020. Sonya also said Dell cheated on her during the marriage, claiming he hooked up with different women, and that family and close friends knew about it. 

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Star Letitia Wright who plays Shuri, the princess of the ancestral land of the Wakandans, was rushed to a hospital in Boston following a minor injury that she suffered during the production of the sequel after a stunt that had gone wrong, and thankfully, she could be back on her feet in no time as it would not halt the schedule of the filming of the movie. Wright sustained unspecified injuries on set while doing a stunt rig for the upcoming sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. She was rushed for first aid and for checking up on the seriousness and extent of what happened. She is expected to be released soon as well. According to a spokesperson of Marvel who broke the news in a statement, "Letitia Wright sustained minor injuries today while filming a stunt for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. She is currently receiving care in a local hospital and is expected to be released soon." In the previous shoot done for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Letitia was spotted with co-star Dominique Thorne, who is expected to be Ironheart in his upcoming own series, while they were shooting some scenes at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever is expected to explore the homeland of the Wakandans and the incomparable world they built throughout the years with the rich and varied characters that were introduced in the first installment. With the demise of the King, Chadwick Boseman, it is expected that Shuri, being the next of kin to the throne, fits the hierarchy of who will be the next ruler of Wakanda to don the Black Panther suit. 

Sony Pictures' marketing team has been extremely busy over the last couple of days trying to take down the leaked Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer which surfaced all over social media ahead of its supposed debut at CinemaCon 2021. Turns out, that's not the only problem the studio had to face because after the leaked trailer circulated online, alleged set images from the highly-anticipated Marvel Cinematic Universe flick would follow suit. A rumored set image of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield quickly spread like wildfire all over social media and it sees them donning their iconic Spidey costumes. From the photos that surfaced, Maguire's face is hard to make out but the one featuring Garfield seems to be the real deal. You can try your luck scouring all social media platforms to see the said images but in case you're unsuccessful, it's because Sony Pictures have also taken them down. Well, according to the latest reports, at least. Discord user JaredEx#2015 claims on the r/MarvelStudiosSpoilers' channel (via The Direct) that the said photo was removed from social media following a copyright notice. The copyright strike was allegedly filed by Elliot Ingram from Entura International, an anti-piracy enforcement agency on behalf of Columbia Pictures, a division of Sony. Sony going out of its way to remove the said images pretty much proves their authenticity but you know, even if they take those down, more and more fans are already starting to get convinced that Maguire and Garfield are actually part of Spider-Man: No Way Home. Obviously, Sony and Marvel are trying to generate as much hype as they could so I guess we'll have to wait a little longer before they make it official.

Did you know that if you just add some dots, Trump's signature looks like a Klan rally. 


Just saying... So, today's guest Stuart Pankin was on the 90s TV show "Dinosaurs," which was an almost realistic looking show. 


Haha. If you fear that you are not living up to your intellectual potential, or simply aren't the most knowledgable person around...fear no more. As long as you know what the delta variant is, basic spelling, and that it's physically possible (and indeed quite common!) for a woman to know more about something than a man, you are an absolute genius compared to this person...



Urinated on the corpse. Now from the home office in Port Jefferson, New York here is...


Top Phive Hotel Workers Horror Stories Of Strange Guests
5. Guest once told me to babysit their 2-year-old. Without even answering they left the baby at the front desk and just left. Came back 4 hours later to pick it up. 
4. Two guests got into the basement and emptied the icemaker on to the floor. Then they had sex on the ice. Then I showed up. I went back upstairs and let them finish. The guests are always right.
3. Broke into the managers apartment through the back door at 11 p.m. to ask for more towels. Probably would have been faster to ring at the front desk.  
2. One of our room service runners was clearing a tray and he went to grab a champagne bottle it slipped out of hit hand and shattered... Because it was covered in lube.
And the number one hotel worker horror story about a strange guest is...
1. The year we had British soldiers was the worst. They wanted to do nothing more than drink, fight with locals, party, destroy stuff and finish off with hookers. Every damn night.




If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. Okay, let's take a live look at Pot Jeff, shall we?


Looks like a nice sunny day. Well, it's Thursday. You know what that means...


Charlie Watts 
June 2nd, 1941 — August 24th, 2021 
After the Stones, his next band was The A,B,C and D of Boogie Woogie. Really sorry I'm going to miss that. 

Don Everly 
February 1st, 1937 — August 21st, 2021 
Bye bye, love.



Today's guest is an American actor, who is known for his role as anchor Bob Charles in "Not Necessarily the News" and as the voice of Earl Sinclair in "Dinosaurs." Please welcome to the Phile... Stuart Pankin.


Me: Hello, Stuart, welcome to the Phile. How are you? 

Stuart: I'm fine, thank you. How are you doing, kid? 

Me: I'm doing good. So, how did you get involved with "Dinosaurs"? 

Stuart: In an audition. But beyond that I was called in by Michael Jacobs. Michael and I met years ago in 1977 when we both auditioned for a show called "The San Pedro Beach Bums" which was Aaron Spelling's first hour long comedy. He didn't get the part, I did, but he remembered me enough to call me and do a show he produced called "No Soap, Radio" which lasted about five shows but he was sweet and called me. I worked with him on that for a while. Then I guess he remembered me again for "Dinosaurs" and called me in and I auditioned. He told me every actor in California auditioned for that part. 

Me: Really? That's surprising to me. Was it surprising to you? 

Stuart: No, it was a great show. And a great job. Of course voice-over jobs are always great for acting. 

Me: Why do you think so? 

Stuart: Because you can show up in your underwear. I did that, auditioned for it and I got the part. 

Me: I read that James Belushi was offered the part, is that true? 

Stuart: That I don't know. 

Me: I read that he wanted to keep doing acting in movies and stuff, so he turned it down. 

Stuart: Well, I'm so glad he wanted to act in movies. I run into Jim occasionally so I'll ask him about that. 

Me: So, how did you come up with Earl's voice? 

Stuart: There's a guy who was a funny character actor who was in It's Always Fair Weather and he had a voice that wasn't quite what Earl ended up to be but I remember him singing the song, "The Time For Parting." He was from New York. When it came to the audition I had him in mind and I tried to approximate that voice. 

Me: What was the recording process like? Were you together or were you by yourself? 

Stuart: That was interesting. We did about three weeks, we showed up at ABC and sat around the table and read the script. That didn't last long. Then we went in and read alone. It was a lovely feeling for me because Earl had the lions share of stuff, it was a lot of five to eight hours. We never did it together, the tracks were all separate, even if we had scenes together which we always did, it was never together. We always had to reload the puppeteers because the guy that did Earl out the voice track in, and he was an English guy. 

Me: So, they did the puppets first and then you guys with the voices next? 

Stuart: That's exactly right. They did it on set. If you knew anything about it it was a great set. They did that, then we came later when it was all edited and put together and replaced the voices. 

Me: Were you able to see the set at all? 

Stuart: Oh, yes. We did it for fun because it was so wonderful and elaborate and realistic. I went to the set many of times, matter of fact when my son was in school and we had fund raisers they were kind enough to let me put a visit to the set as a fund raiser. So at least two times we took families from the school to see the set. 

Me: What was the set like? It was big, right? 

Stuart: It was built on a platform so the puppeteers could go underneath the platform and stick their hands up through the puppets. There was the oversized furniture and the oversized refrigerator, and I loved occasionally going in there and putting my head on to see what it was like. It was a great, great set. 

Me: Was the show cancelled, Stuart? Why did it end? 

Stuart: One of the reasons I was told the show didn't go on any longer, it was a swell show, it was the most expensive half hour show at least at that point maybe in the history of television. It was so expensive to maintain those animatronic costumes and heads and the set. It cost a lot of money. I wish it could've went on longer but it was a fun three or four years. 

Me: So, who wore the Earl suit? 

Stuart: Bill Barretta, who is now a big producer and director and writer at the Henson Company was inside the suit. 

Me: I can't imagine wearing a suit like that, can you? 

Stuart: Bill said he actually lost height. It's like a dancer, dancers constantly work through their pains and go see chiropractors. It took a toll, all those suits were heavy and hot. They used to put on hair dryers and when the take was over they just tried to cool them off because it was so uncomfortable. 

Me: How long did it take to shoot one episode? 

Stuart: It was a long and elaborate shoot, but I don't know how long it took to shoot one episode on camera. But it had to be at least five days of shorting. 

Me: Some of the episodes dealt with some "heavy" stuff if I remember... drug abuse, killing off your mother-in-law. What other kinda episodes did you have? 

Stuart: Yes, drug abuse, I can't think of the other episodes. I still say the last episodes of "Dinosaurs" where they all were going to die, to this day people still talk to me about it, it's one of the most moving things for a half hour of television when the meteorite was coming. They did a terrific job, Michael and Brian and the writers. 

Me: Were you a fan of Jim Henson before this? 

Stuart: Yes, I was. I enjoyed... what the hell did I enjoy? What else have they done? 

Me: "The Muppet Show," Fraggle Rock."... 

Stuart: "Fraggle Rock" I never got into the but "The Muppet Show," yeah. "The Muppet Show" was terrific. They were extremely clever and sophisticated. 

Me: Did you and the cast ever meet at all? 

Stuart: Yes, and we still stayed friends. I play golf with Sam McMurray who played Roy on the show. Jessica Walter before she moved to New York we used to hang out. As far as the show is concerned, the times we went to ABC and read the script, that was as far as the show. Do you know what I'm saying? 

Me: Yeah. So, do you have a favorite moment about being on that show? 

Stuart: The pilot took two eight hour days to do I remember that, but that was not a favorite moment. That was a long, hard day. But when it got to be much less, when we got better at it and it became a four to five or six to seven hour day that was a lot of fun. 

Me: What about your favorite moment of recording? 

Stuart: You're talking about a long time ago. I think if you're talking about shoes, like I said, the last episode was a spectacular and particularly good episode in my memory. It's so long ago the I think about it I don't think about doing it, I think about as I see it. I remember sitting in the booth and doing stuff, particularly moments about that was we all got along and we actually printed up t-shirts for me and Kim and the guys in the booth that says "I Synch There For I Am." We had good time in the booths and we had nice lunch breaks. 

Me: Ha! That's great. Thanks so much for being on the Phile. I hope this was fun. 

Stuart: I will, thanks for having me on, Jason. Good questions.






"Dinosaurs" is available to watch on Disney+. That about does it for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to Stuart for a fun little interview. The Phile will be back tomorrow with the great Eddie Izzard. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.





























Give me some rope, tie me to dream, give me the hope to run out of steam, somebody said it could be here. We could be roped up, tied up, dead in a year. I can't count the reasons I should stay. One by one they all just fade away...

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