Deep Space and Dragons

Episode 75: Karl-fest 2024: Epic Go-Karts and Quirky Museums

• Richard • Season 2 • Episode 75

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Richard has some thrilling news about a recent publication he’s been working on, though he’s keeping the details under wraps for now. Karl’s riding high with his Mono White Magic: The Gathering deck’s recent success, and we share a hearty laugh over Richard's chaotic victory in our latest go-karting escapade.

Ever wondered what a crustless cheesecake tastes like? Spoiler alert: it’s not as exciting as it sounds. We explore the ups and downs of novelty foods and the often underwhelming offerings of novelty stores, like the Coca-Cola store. Our discussion takes a serious turn as we break down the differences between American fair use and Canadian fair dealing in the realm of copyright law, but we keep it light with tales of wasabi KitKats and bureaucratic absurdities.

From the surreal experience of a wax museum to the eclectic charm of Niagara Falls, our adventure continues with tales of hyper-realistic exhibits and go-kart victories. We reflect on a near-miss encounter at Square One mall before diving into the bizarre yet captivating world of Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum. Plus, the whimsical world of Dino Adventure Golf, a year-long ticket to the Butterfly Conservatory, and the origins of the espresso martini await. Wrap up the episode with a nostalgic look at fashion trends and wild skills we wish we could master – it’s a whimsical journey you won’t want to miss!

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Richard:

Fantastic, amazing evening, or not evening, and welcome to Richard and Karl Presents Deep Space and Dragons, a show that we have people listen to our entire two-hour episode segments where we complain that Dune is a better Star Wars movie. I'm Richard, one of the hosts of Richard and Karl Presents Deep Space and Dragons.

Karl:

And I am Karl and I, you know, hope I'm the other host.

Richard:

I mean, we have a rotation of Karls, but none of them know each other.

Karl:

Oh.

Richard:

Yeah, no this episode we recorded nightly there's seven Karls.

Karl:

One for each day of the week.

Richard:

Yeah, sunday, Karl is weird.

Karl:

So what's new with you there, richard?

Richard:

Well, other than the core topic of the episode, I recently learned yesterday that I got a thing published in a thing and I think that's all I can say about that. But I'm happy wow a thing published in the thing yeah, I don't really want to give more information than that. In case, like them listening or like hey, we didn't say you could tell people you were published in the thing. Who do you think you are gloating early? We're a, take this away from you and hit you with it oh, maybe.

Richard:

I don't know, but with that, what's new in the Karlverse um?

Karl:

oh, I mean not, not a whole lot. I mean, despite spending a couple days there with you, I didn't really talk too much about Magic cards. I'm a little bit excited because my Mono White deck that I have talked about in depth in a previous episode probably more depth than the show needs.

Richard:

I feel like the problem was the episode wasn't on Mono White and we tried to shove an actual topic in there when there was no need for that.

Karl:

The real, takeaway is to let the show write itself. Well, anyways, my Mono White deck managed to net its first win with one of the cards that I thought would actually help it win. It's too expensive to be played normally, because it costs like 10, but it destroys all non-artifact permanents, which includes lands, unless they're artifact lands. So naturally the deck has quite a few artifact lands.

Karl:

And so then, yeah, you destroy all of their lands and then they can't recover because the deck is built around cheap creatures and pumps them out as quickly as possible. So I played it and I won, because they couldn't come back.

Richard:

Nice. I enjoy this revelation of sorts Because it's always good when you manage to make your hobby Actually. I'm just happy for you as a friend. I get joy in the knowledge that I can imagine in my mind's eye the people you beat, and then I laugh a bit because it fills me with joy that they were defeated. And whilst you were playing card games and finishing your vacation, I was playing catch-up in my writing den.

Richard:

So I had to do like a take-home test thing and one of the questions. I just read the question wrong and I wrote a really nice paragraph but it didn't answer the question at all. So at the bottom of the take-home test I put in brackets the following paragraph did not successfully answer the question, but I liked it so it's been included in here.

Karl:

if you wish to read it, just misread the question.

Richard:

Well, it was asking about imprints instead of about presses, which are different things. An imprint's?

Richard:

like a sub-branch of a press. So, like I wrote about this weird press, I found that so the press gives all their books away for free Okay, Pays the authors for their books. It makes all their books away for free. Okay, pays the authors for their books. It makes all their money through Patreon and merch sales. So they pay authors for books to then give away for free, to then hawk merch. Wow, and I'm like that is a fascinating model to be like. All our books are free, enjoy your free books. But you're a book company and my brain was blown away but unfortunately did not actually answer the question on my test.

Karl:

It was just really interesting. Imprints and presses Just ever so slightly different.

Richard:

Well, an imprint is literally like a sub-branch of a press. Like Harlequin romance novels would have an imprint for like pirate-themed, Amish-themed romance or something, and that way they can like specialize their catalog. It's an unrelated TED Talk. I would just not go down that rabbit hole. It's too close to my day job All right?

Richard:

Well, I mean, I guess that we might as well just launch right into our topic, yeah, the most important part of the episode which allow me to explain. So take your mind's eye backwards deep in time to last Tuesday. The sun was shining, the birds were singing.

Richard:

Karl has learned to drive less extreme than the behemoth roller coaster. Perhaps or maybe it was just the time of year and something important and life-saving happened, because, you see, last time we met up in person you thoroughly stomped me at bouncy castle, boxing Destroyed me, but, as I proved to myself and the world, on the Wednesday that followed I was able to defeat you at go-kart, with my complete disregard for the life of children.

Karl:

You did almost run those children off the road.

Richard:

To be fair, they had helmets.

Karl:

I had a hard time passing them because the signs were very clear no bumping.

Richard:

So I didn't bump.

Karl:

There are two things that are very clear about that go-kart track no bumping and remain seated until all karts have come to a stop.

Richard:

Exactly. There was no rule against running children off the road to beat your friend at a petty go-kart race. Nowhere did it say I was responsible for other people's safety. It's like the I'm not touching you because I use my infinite void domain so you exploded on it. It's a complete fair game by the rules. As written. As that go-kart track stated, this was my win. I beat you at a driving game once.

Karl:

That you did. That was pretty fun.

Richard:

Although.

Karl:

I will say that hill where it's like man.

Richard:

I don't know if it's because we're in our 30s or we've developed fear, but we're both like well, we can't just keep the gas at full speed down this hill. But if we stop and really think about it, there is no way they engineered that go-kart track to not expect people to go full speed down that hill.

Karl:

Yeah.

Richard:

Like it was clearly designed to be able to make that turn at full speed Like easily. This is for children. But me and you are like well.

Karl:

I feel fairly certain that you could just have your foot on the accelerator the entire time.

Richard:

Well, yeah, it would have been like designed to do so relatively successfully. And then meanwhile me and you're like, oh, I don't know what if we fall off this bridge and explode and then tumble off the waterfall and then die, which, to be fair, gutting the go-kart from the track over Niagara falls really cool way to die. I think I segued pretty nice into Karl fest. So first I have to ask what were your thoughts on the fluffy cheesecake Cause that made it into the stream?

Karl:

Hmm.

Richard:

Is this the one thing that's ever made you speechless in 34 years?

Karl:

That's not the only thing that's ever made me speechless, but I'm just trying to think. It's not quite as rich as a cheesecake and just by itself, like it needed like icing or a drizzle or it needed something, I don't know Just the cheesecake by itself. It just was like this is. Well, my point was less about how delicious.

Richard:

I find them, even though I do find them delicious, but I also drink coffee without sugar because I'm dead on the inside. But my thing was it was so hard to describe over voice that I needed you to sample it to explain what this was, because it's like a weird new state of matter.

Karl:

It is very it's delicious, but very strange.

Richard:

Apparently it wasn't delicious enough because it needed icing or like a second dessert to cut through the first dessert, or something.

Karl:

Yeah, I don't know it was just it was very monotonous. It's a very consistent, smooth flavor there's. I I like to say that part of the joy of eating uh is like the variety of textures and flavors and little bursts of different ingredients. Um, whereas this, like the cheesecake was, there was, there's no crust. So it's like with a regular cheesecake. You have this incredibly consistent, rich, creamy cream cheese and then you get this crunch and burst of flavor from the crust where the fluffy cheesecake was all fluff and had nothing to break up the flavor.

Richard:

So my immediate response is well, you pair it with coffee or tea, but I never offered you coffee or tea with it. You did not.

Karl:

You just gave us cheesecake, which, to be fair, I don't regret that choice, although I do as a side tangent.

Richard:

It's funny when your phone alarm goes off because it's like man. I feel like your ringtone can get us copyright claimed if it goes on too long.

Karl:

Okay, you're right, I should turn my actual phone. No, no, you're right, I should turn my actual phone off. No, no, you should turn your ringtone to something copyright-free.

Richard:

I think you missed the takeaway here. It's not that you're such a big shot. You're not getting business calls. I'd be like no, stop your volunteer podcast with your friend and ignore your work calls. No, no, no it's copyright music.

Karl:

Well, I'm pretty sure that falls within fair use.

Richard:

Fair use doesn't exist in Canada. We don't have that law.

Richard:

I wrote a full essay on this, so people on the internet seem to, partly because we were enforcing that 30% Canadian media and grants to our media. Then the digital age overwhelmed that, exactly what the scholars feared in the 1970s. The American media has become so infused with the Canadian one we've forgotten what our laws are. We don't have fair use. That law does not exist in this country. Really, we have fair dealing, which is a very different law because it covers things like university book samples and percentage of recordings.

Karl:

But like, no, like, the magical law that protects Americans was based on a filing system well, I mean it doesn't exactly protect Americans because it's a judge, has to rule that your copyright is.

Richard:

Yeah, and they rule it based on precedent, which we don't have because we're Canada. I just Sorry, mini-rant. I'm like, yeah, no, I'm exactly educated enough to know that fair use isn't a thing in this country and I feel like 9 out of 10 people no, I'd go as far as like 99 out of 100 people would assume we did have one, because we have a similarly named law that doesn't do the same things. Oh, canada. So to move back on topic, so I was displeased with the Coca-Cola store. I'm going somewhere with this. I'm going somewhere with this. It ties back to the cheesecake. So I love a good novelty store. You go to the Hershey store and they're like would you like a 10 liter antifreeze bucket of chocolate syrup? That's the kind of novelty I live for. I'm never going to give them my money because I don't have any, because I'm a writer but I love the novelty.

Karl:

the fact that they have a 5-pound chocolate bar is what you?

Richard:

They also had a bunch of stations that were shut down probably due to COVID reasons, that went open and we're like, yeah, we'll weld your name into a chocolate bar or do your artwork out of Hershey's Kisses, and I'm like that's the kind of novelty I live for, right, the Coca-Cola store had less flavors than my gas station. I'm drinking spicy raspberry Coca-Cola right now that I bought out of spite to the Coca-Cola store. Why would you open a Coca-Cola branded store and not? These don't go bad. So you just have a massive fridge of literally every flavor.

Richard:

And you upcharge it a bit Like why could I not see dates and times, like dated fridges with different flavors of Coca-Cola that say warning not for consumption, that everyone would just drink anyway? Like I want like even at my college one time they had like a Coca-Cola pop-up stand that was like cotton candy, cosmos flavored or some nonsense. I love me a good novelty beverage or food. Whether it's tasty is inconsequential to the novelty factor.

Karl:

Yeah, like when I was in Japan they had like Pepsi lemon and I was like, huh, I have to try this. It wasn't very good, but it was novel.

Richard:

Yeah, from that same Japan trick, my brother brought me back wasabi KitKat bars, which were weirdly delicious but not spicy, and I was kind of disappointed.

Karl:

I was also disappointed in the lack of spice.

Richard:

Spicy chocolate is surprisingly legit, just putting that into the cosmos.

Karl:

But speaking of going through airports, yes, oh, you got detained no no, no, did I sound too excited about that?

Richard:

my brain immediately played out the Hathaway's opening scene on an airplane that would have been.

Karl:

That would have been actually exciting.

Richard:

I've got monotonous bureaucracy oh no, to be fair, so bureaucracy should be monotonous. I want to go on the record. Oh no, okay now, to be fair, not in a, so bureaucracy should be monotonous. I want to go on the record. So some things are supposed to be boring, like if you taste the water, the water's doing something wrong. If you notice the gooey elements of your graphics, it's doing something wrong. In class we were looking at a list of things a publisher doesn't accept for fantasy magazines. They're like no using thou or thy, or we throw your manuscript in the garbage. And I'm like fair, if you notice the text, that means you're not imagining the story and that's bad.

Karl:

Right right.

Richard:

So bureaucracy if you notice bureaucracy, that's bad bureaucracy. Exciting bureaucracy is a deeply problematic situation. Like you do not need to open a gift box to see if you make it across the border okay, but so um I.

Karl:

So firstly we flew in to ontario and then from ontario we flew to nova scotia, halifax specifically. Actually that sounds fun. I mean, halifax is a pretty cool place, but First is the place of the fax machine.

Karl:

But on the way back this is the first time I've ever heard this but we check in for our flight and it's like, hey, do you want to book an appointment to go through security of the express line? I'm like, seems sus, well, yeah, oh, it's free. He's like, oh well, I mean, if it's free, whatever, I'll go do it.

Richard:

Uh-oh, so we sign up for the free express line Did they say you get a free express line and they had people volunteer for cavity searches by telling them it was free.

Karl:

No, no, that would be a fun story, that is a great.

Richard:

No, I'm just thinking about human mentality. I'm like okay, you can't get people to file their taxes because it seems tedious, but if you tell them, hey, would you like free tax filing assistance? They'll be like oh boy, would I. And you just give them the same software. They suddenly are happy about it.

Karl:

So I really got to wonder what you can make people do by telling them they win a prize. Well, and so we booked our appointment and you're allowed to arrive five minutes earlier.

Richard:

Free window cleaning lessons, free fence painting that was the joke.

Karl:

I was going for free fence painting lenses because it's so fun but so then we're, we're sitting, uh, in the restaurant right next to the security, we're having having supper before we go through security and we're waiting for our check-in time and it's like, oh, it's like completely like there's no one, no lineup at all for security. Um, but we get there and we're okay. So here's our boarding passes. Also, we have this QR code for an appointment, a check-in security appointment.

Richard:

Do we like?

Karl:

QR codes.

Richard:

Let's pause for a moment. The existence of QR codes are you for or against?

Richard:

I don't really have a stance because at some point we switched to everything just being scanned. Like I remember, when we went through some of those museums, instead of a human being seeing our ticket, they had it go like, walked away from the scanner because they were afraid it would give them leprosy. And then, like we had to scan the phone then pass the phone to the person, even though there was a human clearly there that could see we had tickets and their wax. Museum fraud could not have been that prevalent. So I'm just like I feel like using the technology was actually less effective than a human being just reading it with their eyes and cost less.

Karl:

Well, I mean, I don't, I don't agree. I think it probably costs less to do the QR codes, but I don't know.

Richard:

I don't know, because I could have just jumped in because there was no humans.

Karl:

Well, there is a human. I told the human we had tickets and they're like okay, scan your tickets. I scanned my ticket and they got paid for me doing all the work. That's how the world is now right for me doing all the work.

Richard:

That's how the world is now right. That's bad usually, though, because usually there would have been two people, and now there's only one person, and they're falling into madness and start making out with the mannequins. Anywho boarding pass story Continue.

Karl:

Okay. So the security agent's like, okay, go over to that woman over there with your QR code for security. And we start kind of walking and it was like we don't see anyone over where they're pointing. I'm like, oh, that woman over there Like okay, okay, the woman they were pointing at was like directly behind a large sign and it was like, okay, yeah, that's why we didn't see this lady. But so then we go up there and, uh, I'm like, yeah, I got this appointment to you know, go through the express line of security. Even though there's literally no one in line, she pulls out her phone and she starts trying to scan my qr code and the app's not working. And the app's not working, and the app's not working I'm feeling so vindicated right now.

Karl:

I spent you know a good minute or two waiting for her to scan this qr code and she's like, okay, you have an appointment right. It's like, yeah, so she just let us go through. Um, and I mean, that's before the the bins with the rollies, so I would just be to skip the the lineup to get there, but it was just like it was pretty funny that it was more inconvenient to use the booked QR code than it was. That would have been just to go through security normally.

Richard:

So I think I figured out why I have this weird QR code hang-up even though I put them on things and have business cards with QR codes Because I think it was during COVID where you had to, like, get your vaccine passport and then scan the passport, but people were more obsessed with the bureaucracy of it than the point of it, because if you're like, well, I have this piece of paper with my birth date, name, face, blood type saying I got a vaccine, they wouldn't care.

Richard:

What mattered is the code being scanned. I'm like you guys do realize that the code is less important than the virus, right, and that's kind of what's weird about some of this scan with the app is you're putting all of your faith in this app, but the humans using the smartphone, the phone is siphoning their smarts and we've just kind of given up on human beings being able to make judgment calls. Are we at the point of given up on human beings being able to make judgment calls? Are we at the point soon where you'll sit on the bus and, instead of the bus announcing the stop, you'll have to check your phone for your stop and then you'll have to scan your phone to get off the bus?

Richard:

This is weird, we're really not helping phone dependency. As a culture we're kind of going in the other direction and I don't know if it's helping. It might just be making us all slightly dumber by the day. Remember when we had to know phone numbers? Like I froze trying to remember my phone number yesterday.

Karl:

Oh, I know my iPhone number and I know my parents' home phone number, and I think I almost had my girlfriend's phone number memorized.

Richard:

And now I'm like such a sassy jerk where I'm like just google richard kivas, my name's on the book. I'll be the first five results. Pick one. Message me, show up to my podcast if you really need to get a hold of me okay, so uh, still on the subject of qr codes.

Karl:

Uh, the electronic boarding passes are also QR codes, right yeah? Which, for the record, all a.

Richard:

QR code is is a website URL in the shape of squares.

Karl:

But so the flight from Halifax had a layover in Toronto and then we got on a different flight and flew from Toronto to Saskatoon and I didn't realize it makes sense in retrospect, but I had two separate boarding passes.

Richard:

One for plane A, one for plane B.

Karl:

Yeah, yeah, I mean it makes sense, it makes perfect sense. But so I get to the security and I'm trying to scan my boarding pass. I was like I know it's my name because I also had my girlfriend's boarding pass. It was on my phone. I was like I know it's my name because I also had my girlfriend's boarding passes on my phone.

Richard:

I was like, but I know this is my really funny if we just spent 22 minutes for you to get to the point that you're doing this podcast from prison right now and you need to bail you out. No, no, no, uh. But so you would, by the way, be in jail and use your like one phone call to do our podcast.

Karl:

You're that reliable but so so the the qr code's not working. I'm like, well, it's not working. And then I look it's like, oh, it's the wrong airport, uh. And in my mind I was like I must have scanned the qr code from my last flight. So I find, find the one for the yhz to yx to yyz. And then I scan it. It works fine, okay, cool.

Karl:

Um, so then we get through security and on the other side of the security line you have to scan your boarding pass again. And so then I quickly open my phone and I go and it's like, okay, yhz to YYZ, this is the boarding pass. And I scan it. And I go and I start putting my stuff in the bin, and then my girlfriend is trying to scan her boarding pass, which I sent to her phone, and it's not letting her. And the security officer's like, hey, sir, did you accidentally scan her boarding pass? I was like, oh dang, I did so. Then I had to go back and I had to scan my boarding pass again and the moral of the story is you're single now and she's in another province no, it would have been not good if my phone had been going through the x-ray machine when we realized the mistake.

Richard:

But because that's what I found so funny was the standing in a line and passing your phone back and forth. I'm just like. It was like the arcade technology of the spindle wheel paired with the QR code might have been what broke me.

Karl:

At the museum.

Richard:

Yeah, it's just so funny that that was like the system and we did that like three times, because the system is scan the first phone and then pass the phone along in a human chain to walk through the spinny thing. That was short enough I could step over Because it was designed to keep children out, and even though I have like an eight in dexterity or a seven, I still think I could have parkoured it.

Karl:

That would have been funny to see.

Richard:

What would have been funny to see is when the wax statues came to life and dragged me away. But I digress. Please continue.

Karl:

Well, I mean that was After realizing the whole boarding pass situation. Then I had it all down pat. We got through security with no issues.

Richard:

So how's Richard's adventure went. While you're doing that, I went to class. I slammed up my keyboard like the Kermit typing meme for like three days. I slept and that's it it turns out. It's really hard to get back in the groove of being a student after you have like a day full of adventure and fun. It's like being Luffy for a day.

Richard:

then returning to being me is not like a smooth transition, like I got a bit of emotional whiplash because it's like, oh cool, I'm up at five to be out the door by six to learn about the history of little magazines across Europe, which is interesting, but not at eight in the morning.

Karl:

Well, I mean, it's far less interesting than going to like Peggy's Cove or Crystal Beach, I'd say it's about equally interesting.

Richard:

Like I'd love to combine those activities. Like give me the book on like ebook while I'm on the beach with a mimosa boom. Like there's a version of this because, like I said, I'm in school for the thing that feels the least. Like I have to work for it.

Karl:

So I did not really know anything about Halifax before I went there. I mean, I've been there before but I had no idea any of the history of Halifax.

Richard:

Yeah, I kind of like I think I flew over to get to PEI, which tells you how good my directional sense is, because the only place I've been further east than Ontario is Prince Edward Island.

Karl:

Yeah, you would have flown over Halifax. Well, I don't know if you would have flown directly over Halifax.

Richard:

I honestly don't know.

Karl:

But you would have flown over Nova Scotia to get to Prince Edward Island.

Richard:

I'm mad we don't take more boats places. I know it wouldn't have been practical for your trip, but how sick would it have been to take a boat from Toronto to?

Karl:

Halifax. Around the coast Side, tangent Boats are the trains of the sea. While I was away, my brother went on a kayaking trip. He bought an inflatable kayak, got dropped off downstream or upstream and then just took the kayak back like two days of 20, 25 hours of rowing it was his total before he got picked up and went back home.

Richard:

So most boats in my boating scenarios involve a motor. That's not me.

Karl:

Right. So my brother d does this trip, right. And then and then, uh, he gets back home and a week later suddenly has a brace on his on his arm. I'm like, oh well, what happened? He's like, yeah, turns out, not doing any stretches or or warmups before rowing for 25 hours gives you repetitive motions, injuries.

Richard:

What no way? So I almost blame anime more than I blame your brother on this one, because your brother will often do things that would make perfect sense on Dragon Ball or Dragon Ball Z. And then reality will slap him in the face.

Karl:

It's not his fault.

Richard:

Like he's dreaming, he's daring to dream, but I'm like, I look at Miko, miko looks at me, we both do the same stretch on the couch and it's like, yeah, I should probably go for a walk Because I've moved as much as Meko today, but I digress. So you've never been to Halifax, repelled a stress strain and you went to beaches. I hear complete silence. Did you leave our podcast? Because I don't edit these out, but it's very hard to talk about Richard and Karl's adventures when you disconnect during the Richard and Karl's adventure segment of the Richard and Karl Adventures podcast. So this is deeply unfortunate.

Richard:

I was only able to vamp for three minutes. This is a hard topic to just talk about without Karl. You missed the recap of. It's really hard to talk about Richard and Karl's amazing vacation adventure without Karl.

Karl:

Okay, so. So I mean, I'm telling you stories about my Halifax section, because you know all the stories about Niagara Falls, but they don't. But and, like I was going to say, I had no idea of the history about Halifax before I got interrupted by my own tangent, which then broke the internet good job.

Richard:

The Halifax tourism board disconnected you before it got too spicy.

Karl:

I get it so apparently the harbor in Halifax is like the Halifax, if you will it doesn't freeze over in the winter. Wait, isn't that where?

Richard:

the nuclear-esque explosion happened. Halifax, if you will. It doesn't freeze over in the winter. Wait, isn't that where the nuclear-esque explosion happened and we learned?

Karl:

how bomb implosions worked. Well, I mean, it was the deadliest man-made explosion before the dropping of the atom bombs in Japan.

Richard:

Yes, that is what I was thinking An anchor managed to make it to another city.

Karl:

They didn't tell us that part. They told us the story about how a munitions ship they had a red flag to say that they had live ammo. They lowered it for the night and then they forgot to put it back up in the morning and another ship ran into them. So, the actual moral here is flags matter.

Richard:

People make fun of the flags all the time. The flags matter.

Karl:

Yeah, apparently every window in Halifax blew out from the explosion, so a lot of people ended up going blind, anyways, but no, the history that I was more interested in, and this actually one of the things we need to go back for we was.

Richard:

I see we mean back in hell to Halifax, not back in time, because our time machine only goes forward and it's just a brick and I hit you with it and you end up in the future.

Karl:

Well, you're working on the time machine, but no, we need to go, me and my girlfriend and hopefully some other people. Maybe we need to go back to Halifax because there's a Titanic museum there. When the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank, the harbor in Halifax was the closest harbor that wasn't frozen over, so they actually sent most of the rescue ships came from Halifax to pick up the victims of the Titanic. Which is all of it, so we can laugh at them now.

Karl:

Most of them were dead, but there's like three different cemeteries for victims of the Titanic in Halifax, for the different denominations of Christianity that were on board.

Richard:

You know what's always crazy about that. So Canada has this weirdest pop culture chameleon thing we do. Where we'll take a piece of American history we're somewhat a part of and build a museum for it, and I just always think about the al capone sauce every time. There's like moose jaw famous for al capone, halifax famous for the titanic, and I'm like we did a lot of crazy things in this country. You know like we've done things that don't have major Hollywood pictures based. On that, it's fine.

Karl:

Oh yeah, a major Hollywood picture about the Halifax explosion, that would be interesting.

Richard:

That has to exist.

Karl:

All the French sailors trying to warn everyone, but no one can understand because they speak French.

Richard:

I know that's not supposed to be a comedy, but it is now.

Karl:

Well, yeah, and then so many people were just standing at the harbor watching this explosive ship burn until it exploded.

Richard:

Which is ultimately a tragedy.

Karl:

Oh yes, but it's been more than 20 years so.

Richard:

Like to loop back to our Niagara Falls adventure, though I think the fun fact that broke me was like the 20 people who went over in barrels with various degrees of dead and the one guy who just jumped off the waterfall and lived, and the only thing that stuck with me from that moment would be like oh yeah, this guy, just like you know what, I'm not going to bring a barrel, they'll catch me. I'm not going to build a machine, I'm just going to jump off the waterfall. I'm like is life just not that hard and hard, and we've all been trying too hard. Sometimes you see the explosion. So try, missile launcher, jump. And the explosion will propel you out of the way of the explosion. Like, do we just die? Does humans number one cause of death? Overthinking things?

Karl:

well, yeah, I mean obviously everyone knows that the fridge in indiana jones uh and theull, I'm pretty sure it was Everyone knows that the nuclear explosion would propel the fridge faster than the explosion could propagate and then it would work and he would just be completely fine and have no broken bones or concussion or anything.

Richard:

But what I'm saying is we're all handling nuclear bombs wrong. Most people go down and dodge or go under their desk and they become a shadow baked on the concrete. You're supposed to jump and tuck and the explosion will just launch you out of the way and then you'll bounce off like four roofs and then come to a halt in some branches.

Karl:

If I've learned anything from anime, yeah, that does seem pretty accurate and that does seem how you would accurately go over the Niagara Falls.

Richard:

So you know what's really funny about that wax museum. We went to their most unintentionally funny joke so I'll let you give a quick summary of the experience rolling up to this wax museum so I can say my bit.

Karl:

experience rolling up to this wax museum, so I can say my bit. Well, I mean the. In the main entryway there's a couple of like. Marvel characters, avengers, yeah, and a Back to the Future exhibit with Michael J Fox.

Richard:

So for those that initiate a wax museum is where they make as lifelike as possible wax replicas of things and then we gawk at them. They're a weirdly ethical museum.

Karl:

The life masks they get an imprint of the celebrity or person's face and then from that they try and create uncanny valley wax sculptures of people and then sometimes, sometimes I'm like wait, did they just put a wig on someone else?

Richard:

or like a lot of them are really good and some of them are like eye wiggling a bit, but the funniest jokes they did by accident is we're heading into the quote unquote horror section. We're getting amped up, your girlfriend's getting nervous because she's a connoisseur of horror movies but doesn't want things to. Is we're heading into the quote-unquote horror section? We're getting amped up, your girlfriend's getting nervous because she's a connoisseur of horror movies but doesn't want things to animatronically jump out at her in real life, because that's just scary. And what do I see as soon as I step into the horror section? But a hyper-realistic Saddam Hussein. And I'm just like wait a minute, this is such a. They should have doubled down more, because later they had like an animatronic cannibal lector. I'm like no, you're so close, put Hitler on that. If you just turn around and there's just Hitler standing behind you in this darkened hallway, that is terrifying.

Richard:

Way more afraid of them yeah, it was like Saddam Hussein, vladimir Putin and then Vlad the Impaler and I'm just like someone has a sense of humor, because I thought that was really funny that you hear like the bats, the spooky music and just actual real work-world, horrible monster. I'm like is this in poor taste? This feels in poor taste.

Richard:

And then, like at the very start, there was like the tech billionaires, the Musks and things like oh man, it'd be really funny to have the alien from Alien. A Steam Jet shootout and just Elon Musk's face an inch from yours.

Karl:

Ooh.

Richard:

I would have had so much fun with that, just putting actually terrible-ish people in the horror section, the actual horror monsters in, like President Lane, like just have like all the presidents and Frankenstein just in the same room with the Thebe.

Karl:

Yeah, that would have been pretty funny.

Richard:

Although I did have to go like ugh. Trump is such a fictional character.

Karl:

It's weird to see a wax statue of him with real people. He feels like he's not real right.

Richard:

It's like when they did the hyper-realistic Homer Simpson coming out the wall, the wall where like it's just uncanny valley, like it shouldn't be a real thing.

Karl:

That was my thoughts besides the go-karting, what was your favorite part of going to Niagara Falls?

Richard:

well as much as defeating you at things is always deeply satisfying. So I know this is going to sound old fashioned, but I still am infinitely amused just looking over the majestic waterfall and feeling the mist on a hot sunny day Like that's just peak amusement. Gift shops are funny, so each gift shop we went into decreased in quality at like an exponential curve. So the first one's like a nice upscale mall right on the water, cafe above it, brightly lit, colorful.

Richard:

You could buy zipline tickets. And the last one's like dollar store basement With no windows and I'm like as much as I enjoy a mall walking across the strip. I just found that to be particularly amusing. Like beating you at go-karts is definitely the high point of my day. Probably would have been the high point if I had lost or tied Actually probably would have been more of a high point if it was like a photo finish and we literally had to look at the photos to see who won.

Karl:

That would have been awesome.

Richard:

But, like I said, I was there for the ambience. Like I had a solid 12 hours of making fun of you. So like the activities, as entertaining as they were, like the wax museum was amusing, the hard rock cafe was less about me, like it was amusing but wasn't so much my vibe.

Richard:

I think I had more fun making fun of the pricing yeah, on making fun of the pricing, uh, yeah, I mean like as he tried to sell me for a sweater discount and they're like for our sweaters you don't get the full sweater for a human being. They're like no, no, no, I'll knock like 20% off that for it max.

Karl:

Uh man, that frickin' $200 paint sweater is so cool, but it's $200. Yeah.

Richard:

And like, as you mentioned, like the food was okay but like crust could have been crispier, if I'm being pedantic about it. But the whole point was to go look around in the ambiance, right, like it was a cool place, because when you're going novelty you go all the way. You don't go to Disneyland to eat at an A&W. It wouldn't make sense.

Karl:

So, like, I definitely like the mix of things, for sure funny enough, that day after Niagara Falls, we went to square one for a while because we needed to do, needed to kill some time. What time?

Richard:

did you do that?

Karl:

I was like 10 feet away. There was like a clothing store that was going out of business.

Richard:

Seriously, what time were you at Square One?

Karl:

Well, checkout was. I think we checked out at like 10 o'clock and then got to Square One around quarter to 11.

Richard:

So I just got out of class at 11 o'clock.

Karl:

Oh yeah.

Richard:

So like I could have grabbed lunch, but you're also on a time frame. I just find it funny that there's a version of reality where I get out of class, walk across the street to buy lunch and I just see you there, like that could have happened. It was so close to just a bit like oh, I'm high there Because running to you deliberately is funny. Running to you randomly is hilarious.

Karl:

But there were options in the food court that we didn't have back home Because we didn't go to the food district. We went to the actual food central.

Richard:

I only like the food district wasn't recommended for eating. So much as iconism, iconism.

Karl:

Yes. Anyways, we ultimately decided that we wanted something familiar, so we had KFC.

Richard:

Fair. But back to some of the attractions. I think the attraction that was much higher quality than I expected was the selfie studio. That one caught me off guard because that was amusing. But I don't think it would have been amusing if we didn't have three people to play photographer with right it would have been more difficult, that's for sure. I feel like four people would have been the perfect number for that, and then any more than that, it wouldn't have really worked, and any less than that it would have been forever alone.

Karl:

Well, yeah, because it's like they had varying qualities of selfie stands. It's like why didn't they just all have the same good quality stand? But I don't know if they expect you to like carry it around, but it's, a couple of them didn't even have selfie stands. But, as, as richard had said, um, it was, uh, this. Selfie options themselves were quite intricate.

Richard:

Well, it was amusing too because, like I said, a lot of the activities are like theme park activities where it's hard to be. This was my favorite activity and more walk, talk and mock is just peak TV Like I just got to. People watch and mock you is fantastic. But I will say the Ripley's Believe it or Not and I was gonna, this feels like the worst possible place to ask you this. Did it feel mildly racist to you? Because, like the first room, there wasn't a sign that said Mysterious Elements of the Orient, but that was the vibes.

Richard:

Like it felt like because, let's be realistic, ripley's Believe it or Not is based on freak shows which were, in fact, very, very. Take Woke and Inverted and you get a freak show, literally the opposite of Woke by design. So when they're like, look at the amazing Asian man with a candle in his head, I'm like is this historically accurate offensive? Are you Asian man with a candle in his head? I'm like, is this historically accurate Offensive? It's almost like if the entire thing was more period dated, it's like, yes, warning, you're going in a freak show and this is triggering and it is a replica of what it was like in da-da-da-da. It almost would have been less offensive, like if it had the Water Brothers. This cartoon was written a different time logo on it.

Karl:

Well, no, brothers, this cartoon was written a different time logo on it, uh, well, no, I mean, I don't think it was it was racist, because I think it was just actual, genuine discoveries well, it's interesting too, because it was like you got to group them somehow, right.

Richard:

So it's like I don't know, I don't know what I would have done, but it felt not bad. Bad but off Like I'm like.

Karl:

I might have just spent too much time in the liberal arts. The world's tallest man. That, like sat in the chair and then stood up and you got to shoot right next to him place in the first room, because the first room was largely artifacts or people or stories from the Orient. And then the music was. I swear. I just googled.

Richard:

YouTube copyright. Free Asian music for background for YouTube and content creators.

Karl:

Yeah, I don't know if it was necessarily authentic music, but I mean it gave the vibe. But then there was like a couple things where it's like oh yeah, also there's this like bubblegum sculptures and the shark made out of pop tabs. The bubblegum sculptures were in the first room with like the jade palette.

Richard:

Maybe that's what caused the issue.

Karl:

It might have just been good, old-fashioned dissonance where part of it felt like it was on the theme well, and, like I said, the world's tallest man was not Asian and he was kind of in the Asian section for no particular reason maybe it was just the music.

Richard:

I wonder, if it was just the music then?

Karl:

if they literally just had nothing playing.

Richard:

It might not have triggered it.

Karl:

I don't know. That was the one that was definitely the most noticeable because, like you say, there was the most dissonance between adjacent displays and the shrunken head exhibit felt kind of tasteless, not sure why.

Richard:

It felt like it was one sentence away from being a British man being like. And then I went in and discovered the savages. I'm like no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no Bad. But also that was an interesting walk through that Ripley's like. I'm glad I went through it because it was fascinating. I'm not just here to dunk on it completely.

Karl:

It's very difficult to display history in that way, that kind of history, because of the lens through which it was discovered in the first place.

Richard:

And because they were trying to give it a freak show. Aesthetic did not do them any favors, right? Because it's like when you're like here's a cultural artifact next to the world's tallest man, you're saying that cultural artifact is as weird as being seven feet tall. And then it has a poster weird ooh aw. And you're like you're walking a line Ripley's, I don't think they crossed it, but I felt like they were walking it.

Karl:

Yeah, I mean there's definitely, there were definitely a lot of very interesting things and I I have no idea how to discern what sort of bias might have been there, because it was a broad spectrum of exhibits.

Richard:

Also, it wasn't a new museum either, like they've added things to it.

Karl:

But Hmm, I mean, like you say, there was like the Pop-Tab Shark or there was the Spinny Tunnel that was almost impossible to walk straight through.

Richard:

The Spinny.

Karl:

Tunnel was great.

Richard:

That did psychic damage. I took 3d for psychic damage and fell prone like or there was the.

Karl:

The room where the, the floors and the walls are are not the right perspective. So you, you walk across and looks like you're getting bigger, even though you're staying the same size because you don't match the respective of the floors.

Richard:

Yeah. So like honestly, I was more on board with the weird art, although I will mention. It's like they also just kind of like had coin machines and like guys, just remove the coin. No one has coins anymore. What are you doing? Just let me play the game. Why are you even pretending Like, what are you doing? Just let me play the game. Why are you even pretending like? What are you doing, guys? What are you doing? I stare at them directly. But that whole area, that whole clifton hills outdoor theme park, combined with random shops, was just like such a vibe, like oh, there's just an upside down house here and I'm like who are the architects of this and what was their plan like?

Karl:

I think that's an exhibit you can buy tickets for, but I have no idea. But, like the, I'm like who are the architects?

Richard:

of this and what was their plan? I think that's an exhibit you can buy tickets for, but I have no idea. But the overall theming of the area is just so random. They're like Speedway, okay, dinosaur, golf, movie, land Museum, zombies, and I'm like what is happening. Are you trying to be Paramount Studios, but like royalty free and then, like the zombies was 4D one said 5D then there was one that was 6D.

Richard:

I love to assume they're just directly competing. I love that idea. That's like, well, your ride's only 4D, mine's 5D. Why I have a guy come up and hit you with a wet towel while the VR's going. And then it's like staring at the cruise ship being like, oh, that's so much money to stand on a deck with a poncho.

Karl:

Ah yeah, when I got back home, I was talking about how I went to Niagara Falls and one of my co-workers was like, yeah, you should go on the Maid of the Mist because it's a cool thing, and it's like, yeah, I have always wanted to, but it's just too expensive.

Richard:

But it is also so cool and weather-pending too. I eyed that water park for a while and was like, hmm, should I have made a push for this? But there's water parks everywhere, but it's hot and there's a water park there Stairs. Also, random statues and things Like I love just being like here's a Tesla statue because he helped make the electro dam based on his research. Like you only put Tesla here because I feel like they have Edison on the other side and the statue is put here at a spite. Don't get me wrong. I love the hypothetical that the American side is just a bizarro world version of every attraction.

Karl:

Instead of an upside down house, it's the right side up house.

Richard:

It's the same house. What people believe in or not, is just replaced with Ripley's straight up facts Boring, everyday, mundane facts that sounds like the name of my show, you know unrelated. So I'm on the Clifton Hills website right now just as like a reminder of the things, and they're like Dino. Adventure Golf, one of Canada's largest mini golf courses. I'm like that doesn't feel right a large mini golf course.

Karl:

Well, we saw the Dino Adventure Golf, one of Canada's largest mini golf courses.

Richard:

I'm like that doesn't feel right. A large mini golf course Well, we saw the Dino course. Right, that does not feel like the largest mini golf course in Canada.

Karl:

There's no way. That's true.

Richard:

Like my brain's just kind of glitching. I'm like, no, no, we walked around it. They're using these photos in a wide angle lens, but it was like a three minute walk around it. So for the record, I'm not saying you can't have a giant mini golf course. I actually support this decision. What makes mini golf fun is putters and dumb attractions. If you took a regular scaled golf course but put giant dinosaur heads on it, golf just got better.

Karl:

Yeah, dinosaur Adventure Golf Course is the biggest mini golf attraction in Canada, featuring two 18-hole courses named Raptor and T-Rex. Did I just miss a course it has 36 holes, three ponds and an active volcano that takes the ground when it erupts it just that sounds like it almost would have been worth doing Right right like it didn't.

Richard:

I feel like I got hit by like an optical illusion or something. Well, note to self, I have this one dollar off coupon here for dinosaur adventure golf.

Karl:

I will remember this well, we do have to come back because, uh, we missed our chance to go to the butterfly conservatory, even though we have tickets that are good for a year.

Richard:

There's so many things about that, From it closing like eight hours earlier than everything else, to the fact it never occurred to us that the Butterfly Conservatory would close. To the fact that they're a one-year ticket. What do you mean? It's a one-year. I have never in my life seen a one-year ticket for anything. I'm still absorbing this knowledge.

Karl:

You buy the tickets in advance and you can go anytime within the next year.

Richard:

yeah, yeah, what is that? That is insane to me. I have never seen something that you can go anytime in the next year. Like imagine you bought a ticket to Dune and used it to see Dune 2. Like this is just chaos. What, although, to be fair, the idea of oh no, we can't give them this much power to go to look at butterflies whenever they want. But still it broke me a bit. My brain's like what do you mean? It's good for a year. That's actually insane.

Karl:

Right, it is a little insane.

Richard:

I'm not crazy, I just never actually. Well, I'm a little crazy, but I have never seen a one-year ticket. But yeah, other than the Miss Butterfly opportunities, it was just a fun time. 10 out of 10. Recommend.

Karl:

And not just because I didn't have to pay for anything. You had to pay for one thing, and that was your weird coffee drink at the the timing was off on that one.

Richard:

I was mildly annoyed. Where it's like I'll order this drink at the same time they're ordering a dessert so I can sip it while they're eating the dessert. Finished dessert. Here's your drink. Sorry, it's late. I'll just sip this by myself and look at the guitars. It's fine, it was a delicious drink to be fair. I mean an espresso martini isn't a weird drink. I feel like our audience would know what an espresso martini is.

Richard:

Well, I mean, I'm just not big on coffee, so I actually just don't know our audience that well, let's be real, I don't know if an espresso martini is a thing in Athens. I make a lot of assumptions here. It's kind of like pineapple pizza, hawaiian pizza. Sometimes Canada because we're really self-conscious doesn't write Canada on our things, so it's really hard to tell what's a Canadian thing, like Boston pizza.

Karl:

Yeah, calling you out boston pizza, you're not even an american company well, yeah, that's because the uh person who founded it thought that they would sell more stuff as if it sounded like they were from a big city and the worst part is it worked.

Richard:

So it's like it's hard to tell what kind of things like yeah, espresso, martini, watch that just be a canadian drink and anywhere else on the earth they're like what are you talking about?

Karl:

martinis have all of stupid can you imagine if your martini just had like a coffee bean on a stick?

Richard:

I've seen them garnished like that, but but there's usually also the espresso in it.

Karl:

Mm-mm.

Richard:

Also, one time I did make the birthday mistake of ordering a vodka martini with olives. Oh, that is by far the worst thing I've ever consumed in my life. Did you eat the olives?

Karl:

Yeah, they weren't the worst part. What even is a martini?

Richard:

So A vodka martini. Welcome to Cocktail Hour With Richard and Karl. I'm literally googling this Because it's been a while since I've had my pro serve. Okay.

Karl:

Gin.

Richard:

Vermouth Vodka. You'll notice that none of those ingredients are tasty and can all be used to cure paints. Gin, vermouth vodka Huh, You'll notice that none of those ingredients are tasty and can all be used to cure paints.

Karl:

What is vermouth?

Richard:

So I honestly, how can I describe vermouth?

Karl:

It's made by fortifying wine with alcohol.

Richard:

Vermouth is not a good-tasting alcohol. I'll start with that.

Karl:

Yeah, I mean the martini. It sounds classy but I don't think I would like it.

Richard:

I think you'd like the glass more.

Karl:

Martini glasses are sick.

Richard:

Literally they take wine the worst alcohol and then add more alcohol to it and occasionally add some spices to pretend it's flavored. I was like do people like one of the first Google search? Like do people actually drink vermouth? And they're like you can drink it over ice? You can, but it's usually diluted with tonic or soda. I'm like wow.

Karl:

Usually it's diluted.

Richard:

And it's like yeah, no, when the olive, olive, when you add an olive to something for flavor, you have a problem anytime. All this, like olives for me, are a palate cleansing food. You eat an olive to get whatever other flavor it is out of your mouth right right right.

Richard:

Like you eat an olive, then you eat a bite of feta and a greek salad and you get to like get the full value of the feta, it's the whole thing. If you're putting an olive, then you eat a bite of feta in a greek salad and you get to like, get the full value of the feta, it's the whole thing. You're putting an olive in a drink you've already well either. What's the quote? It was like did you ever see that tiktok video about the block of the obelisk of ham, where someone's like is it organic and they're like ma''am, that is, a fused, emulsified obelisk of meat.

Richard:

It is an unholy creation. That proves that either God is ignorant to the horrors in his kingdom or impotent to change them. That's my thoughts on when you're putting olives in drinks. Okay, Like you're, just like. I would just put an olive in this because I'm like, because why?

Karl:

Because the vermouth tastes terrible probably.

Richard:

Yeah, you eat the olive to get some of the burning out, but you've already soaked it in more alcohol. So you like trounce your alcohol with a shot of alcohol.

Karl:

But so your espresso martini was delicious.

Richard:

Oh yeah, an espresso martini is just, it's only a martini because of the glass.

Karl:

Yeah, okay.

Richard:

Espresso martini and the one I had. There was like I'm trying to remember the full ingredient list, but it's effectively like some vodka and then it's Kahlua, sugar and espresso shaken in a classy cup, usually with a couple coffees being sprinkled on for good measure.

Karl:

Yeah, I mean, if I liked coffee, that would probably be delicious.

Richard:

Yeah, so you would be like can I get espresso marcini sub coffee with hot cocoa?

Karl:

Although, to be fair, it's coffee liqueur.

Richard:

The espresso, not so much, but like if I made you an espresso. Marshini, hold the espresso. So I just put Baileys and alcohol together and put it in a nice glass and put like peanut M&Ms on top or something for you Probably do the trick.

Karl:

Yeah, I mean, I'm not a big fan of Baileys, you're not, not a?

Richard:

fan which has nothing to do with Niagara Falls, but. If it was like a salted caramel or something.

Karl:

Salted caramel Ba Bailey's is delicious.

Richard:

Yeah, this could be done, but with that time for closing remarks about the adventure. So to give a recap, we watched what we Do in the Shadows because, just going to shout in a fun vampire show, we could probably do a full episode talking about. We paid for all day parking, which was hypothetically useful but in practice frustrating. I say we like I paid anything. We enjoyed the scenic view of the falls. We went to all of the tchotchke stands. I was happy with her. She's disappointed with Coca-Cola.

Karl:

We went through some museum tours.

Richard:

We stared enviously at dinosaur golf. We enjoyed a high-speed race. We got jump-scared by Saddam Hussein that's just so funny to me that they actually did that Nearly died to the infinite Tsukiyomi tunnel in the Ripley's Museum.

Karl:

Oh yeah, that's a killer tunnel.

Richard:

And all in all had a lovely adventure.

Karl:

Lovely adventure.

Richard:

So do you have any closing thoughts on KarlFest 2024?

Karl:

As far as Niagara Falls goes, not really, and I think I told you all the most interesting stories about Halifax. Excellent, and I think I told you all the most interesting stories about Halifax, excellent, and yeah, I just got a story.

Richard:

I got a thing published by a thing and caught up on schoolwork. All right, and with that, we get to our random question time. Ba-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. I don't know if I've asked this one, but your answer will have changed anyway If you could bring back any fashion trend.

Karl:

What would it be? Oh, I don't know if you've asked. I don't think you've asked this one. I mean, I don't, I don't. Hmm, I was trying to bring it back in Niagara Falls, but the ponchos, no, no, the sweater tied around your neck, over your shoulders.

Richard:

You had such a look going, so my brain was on a similar leg length and I'm like classy hats. Neckbeards took away fedoras from us and I want them back, Like you can wear a fedora if your shirt has buttons. That's just the rule.

Karl:

So my iconic hat, as you put it, yeah, turned to dust, my classy, classy dollar store hat I took it off to put in the bin at the airport and I don't know if it got lost in the x-ray machine or what happened to the hat, because so by the time it came out of the x-ray machine I had already forgotten about and grabbed my bags and and just was on my way. There was another uh bin that had someone had forgotten a fanny pack and I was like, oh, they forgot their fanny pack.

Karl:

Then I'm sitting on the airplane and I'm like huh, where's my hat?

Richard:

So here's what I think happened. So this dollar store hat was only designed to last one day. It absorbed a lot of photonic radiation from the selfies, mist from the falls and spite from the butterfly conservatory, so it became a cursed relic. When it got hit by those x-rays, it just turned to dust.

Richard:

Maybe, maybe it just didn't have the structural ability to survive being scanned at the airport and just dissolved into the ether from once it came, having fulfilled its purpose. It was a Mr Meese Sink situation it did what it was supposed to do and then it moved on to its afterlife, having achieved its goal.

Karl:

Okay, so you want to bring back fedoras and I want to bring back the sweaters over the shoulder.

Richard:

Yeah, Specifically, though, I want to bring back fedoras paired with button-up shirts, Because if your shirt doesn't have buttons or tassels, or even like ruffles or something, if it's with a t-shirt, that's what ruined it for the rest of us. A nice hat paired with a t-shirt ruins it for everybody. But the sweater shirt saved you All right. And our second and last random question of the day.

Richard:

Yet again not sure, if I asked this one, I really need to like start like check marking these after I use them Right, if you could master any one skill without any work, what would it be?

Karl:

I'm pretty sure you did ask this one, but I don't remember what my answer was. Now I've got to think very carefully.

Richard:

I'm going to give a half-assed lazy answer instead of a cool answer, because, yeah, I want to be like. Oh, yeah, I want the eight. I's in infinity. Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. I'm just going to straight up master website design, html, java style sheets. I just want a complete mastery of website design right now, because that lets me still do my current job but also have a much more employable, useful skill.

Richard:

I could like tell people I have tomorrow uh, well, actually I think because, like I don't want writing because I'm I enjoy working to master that, but I would love to just picture what I want done on my website in my brain and just be able to do it without having to google the steps um, I'm going to go for something a slightly more abstract.

Karl:

Oh, are you gonna be that guy?

Richard:

that shifts your abdomen and muscle like a generator to survive underwater in cold temperatures no, no, I, I, uh.

Karl:

I've watched quite a few um like movie, uh youtube videos about, like what makes a director's style More so. It's like what does a director actually even do? How do, when someone says this Sam Raimi's style, right, I would love to just be a master of? I mean, I guess it would be my own style of movie directing, but the recognition is like this person is a great director and this is their very distinct style. I don't know how you would go about becoming a master of your own style. You want the skill to be an iconic director.

Richard:

Well, my college has a four-year bachelor's in film that would be step one.

Karl:

See, the problem is that hey, the question was without putting in the work, oh yeah. And the other problem I have is that, while I have gained a greater appreciation for what actually a director can do to make to elevate the script into a great movie, uh, I do not currently have any of the hobbies or skills required to become a master of craft I will say there is one other skill I'd really like to have, even though even though it's completely useless.

Richard:

so in my algorithm they like showing me this dnd archer with a stripper pole who does like upside down stripper pole archery shots. And I want that skill the ability to hold himself upside down with his leg muscles, draw back a bolt and fire at a moving target while singing. Like that's just insane, Like if I was just a master archer for no particular reason. That would be really funny.

Karl:

This is probably horribly illegal. I don't know how you go about hunting a bear with a katana, but I would love to be skilled enough as a katana to be able to hunt a bear.

Richard:

Eddie Genie, what skill would you like? Mastery of Hunting bears with katanas. All right done, Karl, just wearing a bear holding a blood-covered sword. What happened to you? I'm cursed. The bears find me. It never stops. Anywho, to those listening to Richard and Karl Presents Deep Space and Dragons, where we talk about nerdy stuff in wax museums, Submit your random question by clicking the submit a random question button in the video description for your chance to win a Deep Space and Dragons coffee mug, like the one possibly on Karl's desk, and get your question read on air fancy smancy.

Karl:

Yeah, I don't have the mug on my desk, but I do have the mug and it is one of my favorites and, just between you and me, one specific listener.

Richard:

If your question is literally hey, Karl, I wanted you to want to ask a random question. Can you call vlad an idiot to his face? Who's vlad? Or hey, Karl, can you tell richard he's stupid that that counts? You could use these random questions just to make us insult each other.

Karl:

Well, I mean, what if I say no? Can you call Richard stupid on air? He'd be like no, Sorry, I can't do it.

Richard:

And I'd be like wow, Karl, you disappointed our fans. I'll call you stupid on air and I think that's it. Thanks for listening this long. For one reason, you lost an hour and seven minutes of your life, congratulations.

Karl:

Well, I mean, they probably lose more of their life to hot dogs.

Richard:

To be fair, they're probably also listening to this on a bus and the alternative is bus aroma and ambient noise. We are better than most mass transit services for entertainment value. Bye Bye, although we're less awesome than that train Hydra in Phantasy Star Online 2, which is the Hydra made of bullet trains that shoots tornadoes. I don't think it'd be fun to be on, but it'd be fun to observe. How did I not make a butterflies in joke?

Karl:

I don't know.