Month: December 2018

Episode 28 – Resolutions

Posted on by Michael Flores

Love everything but the thirty-first of April :(

The Crock of resolutions is SO relevant today – New Year’s Eve, 2018. Katherine and Michael discuss advice for sticking to your goals, David Goggins, and fun facts to make the point that resolutions are a crock.

Advice for New Year’s Resolutions

Michael starts with an article about keeping to your resolutions from Psychology Today. Although the “Streep” Michael references isn’t Meryl but rather the author of the article, Peg Streep, Katherine thinks maybe the actress would have had better advice. Also, she’s really talented and isn’t this a lovely picture of her?

Picture by Brigitte Lacombe c/o Time.com

Ms. Streep, the author, clearly has her heart in the right place and she provides Michael with a fun setup for meaty discussions about what works and doesn’t with setting goals. You can check out her book about Quitting if her ideas intrigue you.

David Goggins… Man Among Mice

"The core is stable."

“The core is stable.” -David Goggins, Toughest Man Alive

Katherine shares the story of David Goggins, one of her favorite people on earth.  He recently released a book about his incredible life and powerful philosophy. It’s an amazing read and even better if you listen to the audiobook. That’s because Goggins had a buddy read from the book and then joins him in conversation as well. So, the audio book serves as a sort of podcast that takes you even deeper into the wonders of Goggins.

Speaking of Goggins wonders, he helps Katherine make her point about the many ways resolutions are  a crock. A man of true purpose, he doesn’t need the excuse of January 1st to motivate him. His purpose in life keeps Goggins achieving his goals as a matter of fact no matter what day it is on the calendar.  Listen to the New Years Crockcast to hear more about it.

Michael’s Resolution Somehow Isn’t One

Michael discusses how his resolution to run 1K miles in 2018 was not a resolution. Is he convincing on this count? Not so much. On the other hand, Michael accomplished this goal and THAT is what truly matters. It was a mighty feat and we’re all proud of him, especially Katherine, who got to hear how hard it was along the way. Congrats, Michael. Here’s to your new non-resolutions in 2019!

Facts Beat Resolutions, Hands Down

This Dolphin is swimming …and maybe sleeping

Katherine caps off the Crockcast with a fun fact romp from a NY Times collection of their favorite 2018 facts. She curates them to present a select few and aligns each with a typical New Year resolution.

Topics include smoking, sleeping, drinking more water, less phone time, and other fun goals we’ve all considered in our efforts to better our lives and selves.

Thanks so much for listening to our Crockcast! We appreciate you and wish you a glorious and lucky New Year. Make all your dreams comes true – day by day.

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Episode 27 – Trolls

Posted on by Katherine Flores

Ring in the holiday season with this thoughtful rumination on Trolls by Such a Crock‘s Katherine & Michael Flores. Trolls are a crock!

These are the Trolls of Our Lives

The Christmas Eve Crockcast kicks off with an informative bang as Michael explains Troll definitions. He also touches on the topic of patent trolls. Turns out trolls come in all sizes, shapes, and costs! Katherine then shares a bit about Instagram trolling and they ruminate on the many types of trolls we all encounter in daily life.

Reasons Trolls be Trollin’

Tony Robbins explains it all

Michael draws from the Tony Robbins playbook to examine why people choose to spend their precious time trolling. There are so many other fun and thrilling ways to roll through life! Why waste a moment on spewing negative nastiness? Well, people are complex and have lots of needs. Troll activities satisfy some of these emotional necessities for those of us without enough resources.

He breaks this down for us using Mr. Robbins’ Ted Talk monologue as a model of explaining. It’s not really so hard to understand. Nor is it as simple as Katherine’s dismissive suggestion, “They just want attention” or the popular notion that trolls are just plain ol’ crankpots. Thus, Michael helps us understand the emptiness trolls experience.

Real Life Troll Kills Hollywood Dreams

Check it out on Netflix!

Katherine accesses her deep reservoir of documentary-watching to unearth this tale of real life trolling in the film industry. Shirkers is a blast to watch. It’s the story of Sandi Tan, teen, dreamer, and brilliant film creator.

Ms. Tan’s documentary tells the story of how a mentor trolled her more than twenty years ago. First he pumped her up, calling her a genius and encouraging her daily – only to then steal her dreams. It’s a riveting tale of Shirkers: a brilliant movie that never was. Katherine recommends you check it out on Netflix if you’re interested in cool ass stories of real life trollin’.

Tips for Dealing with Trolls

Don’t fight back with facts

Michael then shares ten tips for handling trolls. Some are better than others. Either way will Katherine take these bits of advice about how to manage trolls online? It turned out only a few of the ten tips were actually useful. She’ll use what works for her and leave the rest on the podcast for posterity.

Truth is, some of these tips were downright wretched advice. That’s because sometimes ideas seem just dandy in theory but when put into practice play out in a less-than-helpful manner. An example of a terrible tip from the list is “fight back with facts”. Both Michael and Katherine agree that this is the most horrendous type of advice – the kind that makes things worse rather than better.

Alice Walker: Activist, Writer, and Certified Troll

Lizard people conspiracies are as popular as they are ridiculous

They say never to meet your heroes and, in fact, they’re 100% correct. That’s because you’ll most certainly end up disappointed… Just like how Katherine felt when she read the NY Times column By the Book on December 13th.

The column blasts her admiration for Alice Walker into smithereens. This writer, activist, and former hero uses the platform to shine a spotlight on an anti-semite conspiracy theorist. The British pariah Walker promotes spouts propaganda including lizard people and other Alex Jones craziness. It’s a mad mad world after all.

New Addition – Good News!

Then Katherine lifts us back up from these conspiracy doldrums with a bit of good news about bees. Checkout this NY Times article on the latest innovation scientists have concocted for saving the bees. It’s a vaccine! They just inject the Queen and she breeds in her special way to vaccinate the entire bee brood. Isn’t good news a refreshing breeze? Indeed, a welcome mist of positivity, even when it’s full of bees

Merci Beaucoup to you and you and you

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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Episode 26 – Potatoes

Posted on by Katherine Flores

Katherine and Michael disagree mightily on the topic of Potatoes but do agree on poignant potato crocks; from the famine in 1845 to wacky diets of today.

Potatoes Make Tasty Diet Hacks

Michael kicks of the Crockcast this week with one of his wacky diet ideas. Like most Americans, Michael loves to try trendy diets. Knowing how much Katherine loves potatoes, he thought maybe if he pitched a spud-based diet she’d be like “cool”. But once Michael laid out the actual rules of The Potato Hack, it was evident this is just another nutty restrictive and unsustainable diet… no matter how yummy potatoes may be. Luckily, Michael decided to keep up the good work of his current eating habits and working out rather than flushing it all down the toilet with a diet composed entirely of potatoes.

The Great Hunger… for Potatoes

One of many exceptional books on this topic

When Katherine did her DNA spit test for ancestry.com she found out she’s mostly Irish. This, of course, led to many hours reading books on Ireland and binge-watching Irish documentaries for days. She even listens to an Irish History podcast.

Thanks to all that info-gathering, Katherine takes the Crockcast on an immersive journey into the Irish potato famine. She shares fascinating facts, laughs inappropriately, and holds back tears – as usual. Her story starts with how many potatoes people ate back then and ventures to the real CROCK of the matter – the English government’s horrendous handling of the famine.

Interested? There’s an incredible podcast called The Irish History Podcast by Fin Dwyer, that delves the famine with hundreds of hours of audio on the topic in gorgeous Irish brogue. Or you can check out these books for more amazing facts on the matter:

The Graves Are Walking: The Great Famine and the Saga of the Irish People

The Famine Plot: England’s Role in Ireland’s Greatest Tragedy

Potatoes Make 100 lbs Disappear! Presto!

Penn Jilette Before & After Potatoes

Michael returns to his potato diet plea with another side of the story. This one’s an origin story – how he got the idea in the first place. Unsurprisingly, he heard about it from a silly man – Penn Jilette. Turns out, the comedic magician just penned a book about how he used the potato diet to jumpstart his shift into a plant-based diet. Thanks to these lifestyle changes, Penn lost one hundred pounds. Anyone can understand why this would be inspiring!

Kids These Days… Callin’ Y’all Potatoes

Last on the Crockcast Katherine tacks on a silly bit about how their 14 year old daughter who uses “potato” as an insult. It bugs Katherine because she loves potatoes. …Also it appears to make no sense. But a quick check on urbandictionary holds all the answers for old farts like KFlo. Turns out this kid’s on the cutting edge of lingo. Listen and learn why on your apple podcast app.

Documentary style portrait of Flores family life

We love bringing you Such a Crock every Monday of the month! If you love listening, please show your support and share the love, Subscribe at Such a Crock – Apple Podcasts then follow us on Instagram  and our fledgling Twitter can really use a boost! Thank you for all the Crocktastic support. We are so grateful for you!

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Episode 25 – Survival

Posted on by Katherine Flores

Survival? We’ve all got better things to do! That’s the crock of it, according to Michael and Katherine. In this CrockCast they crack the code on survival from homeless tips, Nigerian cloning, and Phineas Gage to evolution.

Katherine kicks off the podcast with hot tips on getting more out of life than survival even in the direst of times. She does it with….

5 Tips to Live the Best Life Homeless

Homelessness is hard but not permanent.

Katherine gives five thoughtful tips for how to make your life better during a phase of homelessness. This may seem like absurd advice on its face… but it’s a requisite fear that lives in the back of all our brains. So, these hints might be helpful to file away and remind us that we can always be OK. Life is an up and down experience – not a straight shot. Katherine wants everybody to have some tools to help stay better off than just “survival” no matter the situation. Listen to the CrockCast for her advice.

Clone Wars, Nigerian Style

It ain’t easy out there for a Prez

It’s tough when you take a tiny vacation from leading your country and the people start wishing death upon you. Michael shares this crocktacular story of a leader’s survival after his Nigerian holiday break. Apparently, the President went away for a brief stint only to return to accusations that he was his own clone. It doesn’t get much more a crock!

Survival of a Brain Science Bad Boy

Do books tell the whole story?

Katherine shares the notorious story of Phineas Gage, a railroad foreman who suffered a dreadful blow. He was in a perilous work accident and ended up with an enormous metal rod through his left frontal lobe. It’s a shocker that he even survived. Of course, this incident had a tremendous impact on his life, especially his temperament. In fact, it continues to spur debate about brain science even today. Listen and learn more on this week’s CrockCast.

Blame Your Sweet Tooth on Evolution

Primates are our real sugar daddies

Michael ties the whole Survival CrockCast together in the end with a rousing discussion of sugary treats, deep-seated fears, and blaming our love of candy on primate ancestors. Sound unlikely? Check out the podcast to see just how true it all is. You can also read all about it either in the book What Every Body is Saying or the Business Insider article on why we love sugar.  However you get the info, keep in mind that no matter our ancestors did… what we eat is entirely up to us!

We love bringing you Such a Crock each week. If you’re having fun too please subscribe at Such a Crock – Apple Podcasts and follow us on Instagram. Thank you for supporting the CrockCast!

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Episode 24 – Royals

Posted on by Katherine Flores

Royals are Such a Crock! Michael and Katherine prove it with Canada, Camilla Parker Bowles, The Divine Right of Kings, and Versailles. As different as these topics may seem, it all comes together this week in a delightful CrockCast royal casserole.

Canada’s Leader – Not Who You Think

Michael blows the lid off Canada’s royally big secret… namely that the country’s leader isn’t who you might think. You’re thinking of that hotpants McGee, Justin Trudeau. Right? Well, think again. In fact, think royals. We’ll even give you another big hint right here and now. Take a look at the uniform their national police wear. Remind you of anything?

Canadian Mounties

For more surprising Canadian info and all the dirty royal details, listen to Episode 24-Royals. The link’s right at the bottom of this post for your convenience, baby.

Love and Lies – Royal Style

Katherine brings love into the Crockcast discussion of royals. But the story of Camilla Parker Bowles is even more the story of a woman redeemed in public reputation than it is of love. Still, there’s a lot of love between her and Prince Charles… and it’s been there since the day they met in the early 1970s. Too bad they both married the wrong people instead of each other just to earn royal favor. It ends happily, thank goodness. Except for the tragic Princess Diana part, of course.

Camilla and Charles at a polo match in 1975 – Photo care of Harper’s Bazaar

The Divine Right of BS

Michael delves into the Divine Right of Kings which is the old idea that royals are literally divined by God. So, in other words, back in the day Kings believed their power came directly from God and ruled their kingdoms as if this were the case. These royals saw themselves at the ultimate authority and, in many cases, as a sort of God themselves.

Hear all about this and much more including Kanye talk and other major breakdowns in logic and reason. Power dynamics are certainly crazy enough without bringing divinity into it. This Crockcast section also tells us about the only country that’s still ruled by an Emperor. Got a guess? Listen in to find out if you’re right.

Versailles – Not Just a Fancy Castle

Versailles – Check it out on Netflix or Amazon

Katherine cracks out the royal crock of The Man in the Iron Mask as well as the story of Louis XIV. She’s a major fan of the TV show Versailles and the new season (airing now on Amazon if you want to pay a bit) explores this age old mystery. Season one and two are also available free on Netflix if you love historical fiction.

Versailles brings up the royal crock of the Divine Right of Kings once again because Louis XIV believed he was bestowed upon royalty by God. Talk about thinking you’re God’s gift to the world! Some people really know how to rock an entitled persona.

Hear more about all this as well as the Tweet of the week in our latest Crockcast. As always, we’d love you to subscribe at Such a Crock – Apple Podcasts or followed us on Instagram. Thanks for listening!

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