Month: October 2018

Episode 19 – Thrills

Posted on by Katherine Flores

This week’s Crockcast on Thrills starts a little differently because Michael tries something new, stabby, icy, and allegedly beautifying. It’s a peel-off face mask. So, the duo put it on at the very beginning and peel it off at the end. Talk about thrilling! Am-I-right?

Thrilling Memories

Michael and Katherine share memories about specific thrills from their past including a terrifying roller coaster at the magnificent Cedar Point – Our Roller Coaster World Capital.

That’s because sometimes thrill-seeking gets so intense you want to throw yourself off a platform where you’ve been waiting in line to ride-the-ride. Other times it leads to waking up beside a bedtime buddy who likes to light up a cig first thing in the morning. Either way, it’s a CROCK!

Photo care of Cedar Point for Cleveland.com

Cheap Thrills – Bring the Sexy Back

The Crockcast truly kicks off when Michael lists some alleged Cheap Thrills from an article he found on the Redbook Magazine website. But it’s not as sexy as you might like because he “curated” all the hot parts out. This forces Katherine to pull out the NC-17 guns and bring the sexy back to this lame list. Otherwise it just may have been a major yawn – listen and decide for yourself.

Bring the sprinkler in via the doggy door for thrill-seeking canine style

Fetishes & Mice in Mazes

Katherine takes the Crockcast in a different direction next with an exploration into what’s known as the Arousal Theory of Motivation. She grew interested in this when forced to dump an ex (ages ago) because of his odd baby fetish  …with help from a psychiatrist friend.

This theory evolved out of the psychological work of Robert Yerkes and John Dillingham Dodson. They studied mice in mazes to explore stress and arousal levels impact on performance. What they found can help us understand the impact of thrills on behavior and performance in particular. These days the theory continues to intrigue Katherine because of its applications to understanding (seemingly) bizarre human behavior.

Some fetishes just plain aren’t sexy

Chasing the High, ie. Dopamine

Michael brings the Crockcast back down to earth a bit with a discussion of risk-taking and dopamine-seeking. According to neurological research, those who take more risks get a dopamine hit when they go for thrills and it can lead to even more risk-taking behavior. Some experts thus believe addictive behavior is related to either fewer dopamine receptors in the subject’s brain or maybe a lack of ability to process the dopamine properly. So, if you’re into thrill-seeking behavior it may just be your brain’s fault, bro.

Find Thrills in the Everyday

Katherine polishes off the thrills with a story about tiny everyday excitements that melt your icy spots inside. The Goods Mart was created by Rachel Krupa, who saw social opportunity in mundane shopping. “More than anything else right now, we want to know who our neighbors are, we want to talk to people, we want to have this connection,” Ms. Krupa says.

Rachel does this when she brings a feeling of small community to LA and NYC with crunchy granola versions of 7-Eleven. That way big city kombucha-seekers can drop into her neighborhood deli-type establishments and pick up the goods along with a hearty hello and some everyday thrills. Checkout the podcast to hear more about it.

Thrill US – Give Back to the Crock

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Episode 18 – Inspiration

Posted on by Katherine Flores

Hold on now, – INSPIRATION?! Are Michael and Katherine seriously gonna slam the very juice that fuels their business? Hell yeah they are! That’s because inspiration’s often just an excuse creative types use for why they’re not working. Many say they need inspiration to strike like a lightning bolt from the sky. Meanwhile Katherine and Michael wish something would strike these lazy asses. Do the work! You’re living in a dream, bro!

How to Motivate Yourself

Though they’ve got crocks to talk about, this duo are also here to help. For instance, Michael focuses on the creative process. He cites the classic book A Technique For Producing Ideas by ad man James Webb Young. It gives five phases for developing an idea and getting yourself to full execution. Michael breaks out specific tips for how to actually take these actions. This can get you creating rather than just sitting on the couch waiting for lightning to strike. You’re welcome!

Stop waitin’ for it! Get to work!

Make Dreams REAL – Tangible Inspiration

Katherine gives examples of inspiration that arise from: an object, an experience, and a person. She believes inspiration comes from emotion. That’s because it takes a real thing, whether an item, incident, or personal connection that gives people the impetus to create. In other words, seek out emotional ties if you want a productive creative life.

An Object as Creative Incentive

Photo Credit: Nicholas Calcott for the New York Times

A glorious handmade dresser serves as inspiration for an innovative Brooklyn artist. Built from a single piece of wood and a hand-picked tree, this piece makes its mark not only on a spacious studio but also the artist Wangechi Mutu’s gorgeous work. Click the link to see her art for yourself!

Anxiety Inspired Halloween

Elizabeth Krebs of Kansas

Who knew that the Halloween traditions we know and love – like costumes, parades, and candy – are all thanks to a cranky old lady in Kansas? In fact, she started all these incredibly fun festivities simply to entertain and exhaust her local teenagers. It all happened back in 1912 because teens were ripping up her flowerbeds on mischief night. Learn why Michael and Katherine change their opinions on teen trick-or-treaters in this section of the podcast.

Tween’s Tragedy Inspires Literary Icon

Photo credit: Philadelphia Bulletin, via A/P

The real-life Lolita, Sally Horner, was an 11 year old girl kidnapped by a 50 year old man right around the time that Nabokov wrote the literary novel Lolita. In fact, the novelist even referred to her case as one of the inspirations for his most famous book. But Sally’s point of view was never considered in Nabokov’s story. Not to downgrade its value as a work of art, but the story certainly doesn’t serve its tween tragedy of origin. Thankfully, the voices in our literary world are evolving. That’s why a new book tells Sally’s story. Interested? Check out THE REAL LOLITA The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel That Scandalized the World by Sarah Weinman.

These examples are just springboards for more thoughts and feelings in this week’s Crockcast. Tune in for more delights and listen today!

Love the Crock? We Love you Back!

Thanks for listening to Such a Crock podcasts!  Click this link to Subscribe at Such a Crock – Apple Podcasts. It helps us out a lot. Then if you’re really into it, follow us on Instagram. But no matter what, we appreciate that you listen. Thank you for the encouragement, feedback, and kind words. We’re grateful for you!

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Episode 17 – Holiday Decorations

Posted on by Katherine Flores

After a spooky intro, Katherine and Michael dive right into a crocktacular Holiday Decoration discussion. They kick off with a fun back and forth about how much our silly country spends on these decorations in a single year. The numbers might surprise you, but Michael guessed them with terrific accuracy.

Guess what’s spent on Halloween Decorations

When to take Holiday Decorations Down

Michael chuckles at a story he read on hellogiggles.com that talks about when to pack in the Christmas decorations. He then asks when people should do this as a policy. This reminds Katherine about her minimalist Christmas of yore when she just didn’t feel like decorating. Thing is, when you barely put any decorations up it’s pretty darn easy to put stuff away right after the gifts are unwrapped.

K’s Minimalist Christmas – including a tiny Lego snowman and lego “snow”

EXTREME Outdoor Christmas Decorations

But let’s just admit it, most people who celebrate Christmas don’t show Katherine’s level of restraint. In fact, Plantation, Florida filed a lawsuit against a family in their community for EXTREME holiday decorations. Can decorations really cause enough harm to warrant a lawsuit?

Introducing, The Hyatts. This family doesn’t just love Christmas, they gotta blow out the power grid. In fact, only lighting the sky for miles can satisfy their intense lust for Holiday Decorations. Listen to the podcast to find out what happened with the Hyatts. Did they win the lawsuit? Do they wear matching holiday sweaters? (Yes) Are they still married? (No) Did they start a GoFundMe? Listen and learn it all, bro.

Sample of the Hyatt brand holiday madness

 Speaking of Bad Neighbors…

Then Katherine and Michael wax nostalgic for their horrendous neighbors of yore who partied every night at 3AM to the Macarena. It’s relevant because of Michael’s take on a bad boy named Barry who lost his mind on a bulldozer. Let’s just say Barry might have some anger issues and  impulse control presents a bit of a challenge to him. At least that’s what his neighbors think… as well as the cops who took him away for several assault counts and massive malicious mischief. Here’s a tip if Barry moves in next door to you: Don’t build a fence. It’s triggering AF.

Next Steps if You LOVE the CROCK

We’re so grateful you join us for Such a Crock podcasts on Mondays! Please help us keep it up! Click this link to Subscribe at Such a Crock – Apple Podcasts. Then if you’re really feeling the love, follow us on Instagram. Also, our Twitter longs for even just a morsel of your attention. But no matter what you may do or not do, we appreciate you for listening. Thank you for all your Crocktastic encouragement. We love you!

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Episode 16 – Normal

Posted on by Katherine Flores

 

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Weirdos Rule! Normal drools.

Katherine and Michael fill their Such a Crock podcast with frivolity and rebel against normal this week. That’s because they agree that normal is a total crock. Weirdos rule!

The podcast goes a bit off the rails this week as Michael and Katherine flit around “normal” topics. They engage a lively debate around Blockbuster Video, technology, and progress. In fact, there’s even talk about the very last Blockbuster in existence. Then Katherine and Michael shift into a meditation on the gold rush and prostitution. This, of course, ends with a lesson for Michael on raw dogging and love between strangers.

Meaty Fruit Stench and “Normal”

 

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1) Ginkgo fruit & leaf 2) ginkgo fruit smashed by NYC runners 3) book on history of the ancient ginkgo tree

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Katherine shares her noxious personal experience of 200+ million year old fossil, the gingko tree. She dodged the stinky fruit of this ancient tree on a daily basis for twenty five years before learning the truth of the ginkgo. Turns out, in other cultures such as Korean, Japanese, and Chinese, the precious gingko plays an iconic role. In fact, according to the gingko expert, Peter Crane, these trees are revered for many reasons.  Check out his book, Gingko, The Tree Time Forgot for all the glorious details.

Meanwhile, New Yorkers are pounding these stinky fruits into the pavement and crinkling their noses in utter ignorance of why other cultures feel quite the opposite. Not only do they adore the gingko fruits, but these other cultures collect the fruit right there off the pavement to concoct delightful treats. In other words, there is no “normal” when it come to the gingko experience. It makes one person gag and another turns it into dessert. This serves as a prime example of how normal isn’t real or even a particularly useful concept. It can even keep people from understanding and appreciating other cultures in some cases.

Nothing is Normal

The SAC duo wax philosophic on many more examples of how normal is a crock. “There is no normal!” Michael declares. “We’re all prostitutes!” Katherine claims. So, let’s just embrace our weirdness and love each other, dammit. The alternative, turning our noses up at the “abnormal”, doesn’t seem like much fun, after all.

Speaking of fun, Michael brings up the prescient hilarity of The Onion and how they seem to foretell our cultural future on the reg. He gives the uber-relevant example of a video they ran long ago about how Blockbuster Video became of museum… a current reality according to the article we cited for you above in our very last Blockbuster in existence link. Check it out!

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Episode 15 – Stuff

Posted on by Katherine Flores

This week’s Such a Crock podcast revolves around the crockery of STUFF. In many cases stuff is more trouble than its worth. Katherine opens with a prime example of precisely this sort of stuff quandary.

Honest Abe’s Topper – It’s just Stuff

She harkens back to the days of yore when the dapper Prez, Abraham Lincoln, sported an iconic beaver skin stovepipe hat. Today this hat serves as the foundation of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum where people gaze upon it with ardor and amazement. Trouble is… it may not be Lincoln’s hat after all. Currently, an FBI investigation in progress holds the fate of this museum in its grasp. In fact, they may go bankrupt and close. Concerned? You can donate to their gofundme if you’re feeling generous.

Stuff #1 The hat in question, made of beaver skin and arousing doubt on its provenance.

 

 Hoarder or Collector of Stuff?

Next the duo discuss some funny personal touchstones about their opposite perspectives on stuff. In order to call it a crock, Michael had to dig DEEP into the recesses of our culture’s worst case scenarios. In other words, hoarders. He horrifies Katherine with tales of hoarding insanity including a woman who not only filled her house with fifty live cats but also 75-100 dead ones, many which she liquified. He also provides an instance of a woman collecting garbage out of dumpsters and then destroying the family fridge with her “collection”.

Comic Books – Controversial Stuff

Katherine and Michael talk a bit about his collections of magic cards and comic books which makes for a fantastic segue-way into the next topic. Comic aficionado, Michael tells the story of Nicholas Cage’s copy of Action Comics #1. It’s a fascinating tale of a rare comic that portrays the introduction of the world’s first superhero for the very first time – Superman. Cage had the comic framed and up on his wall when it was stolen along with some other framed rare comics. Years later the comic appeared in a storage locker and was then sold at auction in 2011 for more than $2million.

Stuff #2 Nicholas Cage cries himself to sleep missing this comic

Michael sees this as evidence that comics can be worthwhile investments. He sees it a validation of “collectors”. Katherine sees it as yet another example of how ownership is a transitory relationship; things don’t last no matter how tightly we cling to them. They get stolen, they deteriorate, and we get bored of them, etc.

Minimalism – You Don’t Need Stuff!

Katherine then lists her incredibly non-judgmental reasons why living a minimalist lifestyle can help make your life better. She’s a big believer in this way of life and highly recommends it. In fact, if you’d like to check it out for yourself, try the movie Minimalism: A Documentary on Netflix or Amazon.com. These guys are drinking the same Kool Aid Katherine purveys and are just as happy and preachy about it as she is.

Stuff #3 See the movie! It’s fab and free!

Thanks for letting us bring you Such a Crock every Monday of the month! Please help us out by showing your support and sharing the love. Just Subscribe at Such a Crock – Apple Podcasts then follow us on Instagram. Also, our fledgling Twitter can really use a your attention and love. Send us tweets and we’ll tweet back atcha loud and proud! Thank you for all your Crocktastic support. We appreciate and love you mucho!

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