In which we become sales reps for Coolaroo, Brandon opines about which is the worst city in the Northeast, and we kickstart our summer reading series of…The Hobbit.

https://www.coolaroousa.com/
They ARE real
Air quality! Time codes
Which cities are better?
DC- should be awful. Boston - should be pretty cool. NY- smells bad. Philadelphia - ROCKY
MORE quinceanera time!!
Summer programs!
Hiring…is fun…
It’s an adventure…
LIKE THE HOBBIT

Check out our other episodes: ohbrotherpodcast.com

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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE

PROVIDED BY OTTER.AI

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

bilbo, tolkien, read, people, story, hobbit, part, weird, work, book, talking, exposition, connect, fine, presented, place, gandalf, silmarillion, chapter, hobbits

SPEAKERS

Collin, Brandon

Collin 00:04

Welcome to Oh, brother, a podcast of three brothers trying to figure it all out with your hosts, Brandon, Colin and Aaron. On this week's show, chillin on the porch. Hello. Hi. Hi. Can you hear me? Okay? Yeah. Okay, cool monitor. Make sure that no if I need to get super close or if I can stay back a little bit.

Brandon 00:31

Yeah, you're fine. Okay, cool.

Collin 00:33

I yeah, I want to make sure you can hear me. So

Brandon 00:37

it is kind of the whole point. Right. So that's good. Well, that's

Collin 00:42

that's what people say. They say the point is to be heard. So I'll just project my voice. I'll talk to the back of

Brandon 00:49

the room. Oh, dear.

Collin 00:57

I was anyway. Okay, yes, I am. I'm recording in the outside location again.

Brandon 01:06

Ah, hopefully it doesn't rain here earlier. So watch out for that. I am except for the birds again.

Collin 01:13

I'm under an umbrella under under cooler ruse. So, rain, if rain does occur, I should be fine. However, I will still run inside. That's true. They're like a little porous. But, man. So listeners

Brandon 01:35

if that's it, this might not mean anything to you. So

Collin 01:38

our dad has,

Brandon 01:40

for years now put up these things on his back porch. Because the back porch is there's no like, it's just like, a porch. Or deck, I guess. I think their word would be deck, right?

Collin 01:51

It's bigger. So I'm gonna call it a deck. But like, he got these things that he's like, put

Brandon 01:58

up and rigged to put up there and he's like, no, no, no, they're amazing. Blah, blah. Right. And they're called, what did they call Colin? Hula ruse. Kula ruse. Okay. So he fed me some line like, bro, they use these in like Australia and stuff. And it's like all the rage and blah blah. I was

Collin 02:15

like that was this the most insane thing I've ever seen in my life.

Brandon 02:20

Fast forward several years. I am standing in Australia. At this like restaurant, and I'm looking up above the patio and what do I see? Hot dang, it is the same thing. My buddy got I took every time I saw them. I took pictures. And I just when I got back I was like,

Collin 02:45

I'm sorry. I doubted you. silly of me. I apologize. So sorry. For doubting as I as I recall. These were first discovered by our dad in the backseat magazine of an airline

Brandon 03:09

backseat magazine. I forget

Collin 03:10

which one of those got them all guy mall was SkyMall i i Will I need to be I will need to fact check this later. But I am almost 95% sure that he first encountered these in a SkyMall magazine. Yeah,

Brandon 03:28

and it's like it's way I don't know. I guess it's like better than a normal awning because you just like he just in the fall of winter. He just takes it down and like, rolls it up. Because it's like a it's like a canvas. tarp. But yeah, not right. It. If you just look at it. It looks not unlike burlap. Right? But it's like synthetic. And it's like a better right. It's not just like a potato sack above his portrait isn't ours but like. So he was like, in the decades like, like big, it's like long away from the house. So like even if you had an awning, it will cover like a foot. And then you'd have to drill into the siding and that would not make him excited. So no, no, don't do that. So he got these things. And he's like, rigged up this whole little deal. They look really cool out there. But like, you know, I was like What in the world I have given I gave him grief for a long time. To me standing in Australia, like oh my gosh, they're

Collin 04:27

looking like I should never have doubted

Brandon 04:30

exist.

Collin 04:34

I mean, I can't believe they do have many pros in that. Yeah, they can be they can just be a fixed and the kind of be there like they don't have to have a whole big structure around them. You just kind of build the support that's necessary for them. So you can build them over just one spot and then suspend them to there. So there can be pretty flexible in where you can place them.

Brandon 04:59

It will say Yeah, just like wherever, like, as long as you have a thing you can just put it there. Anyway, I just sent you a picture of one from us. You can have that reference. We'll do this. I think there was more, but I can't find that picture right now. Oh, you're free. Yeah,

Collin 05:19

you'd be fine. So that was hilarious. Like, what? Oh my gosh, it is real. No way. So I'm glad that you

Brandon 05:32

are safe. From potential rain question mark. I'm not sure.

Collin 05:37

I don't think I don't think we're gonna be having any any rain. It's quite sunny at this moment. Good deal. We should be fine. We should be fine

Brandon 05:44

rain here, but it was just like a bit.

Collin 05:46

It was like, Ah, okay. Yeah, we had a study. It was steady, but it just didn't last long at all. So it was a bit it was a bit of a letdown. but better than nothing. And now it's cooling off. It's underwhelming. underwhelming, but I guess it's fine.

Brandon 06:01

I should have just made it worse. Right? Because it's like, ah, something right. Oh, wait, now it's humid

Collin 06:04

or Yeah, it

Brandon 06:05

could have been Yeah. Dang it. That's not what I wanted.

Collin 06:10

That had such a wonderful potential. No, it's

Brandon 06:14

all been squandered away.

Collin 06:19

Oh, well, in your your other journey. Did you see New York's air quality that was registered today?

Brandon 06:31

Yeah, so that's fun. I saw that the last couple days. Like, Oh, great. That's just

Collin 06:37

yeah, they said 300 is when we recommend people not go outside. And it's very dangerous for people's health. And they registered like 350 or three nights. And I don't know, but but I did hear that the winds are supposed to shift and blood back to over to the Canucks here in the next couple of days. So it should be clearing up. We'll see. Yeah, I

Brandon 07:01

said by Saturday. So being is that I leave on Monday, listeners by the time you hear this. I'll be almost back. So that'll be a little bit wonky for you. But yeah, it's fine. It's fine. It's fine. I'll be coming back like the day after you hear this?

Collin 07:17

How was the air quality? I feel

Brandon 07:18

like it was insert or sound bite here. Fine. I guess I don't know.

Collin 07:25

Fine. But all it was, but also the worst ever dig. Okay.

Brandon 07:28

It was it was fine. It was horrible.

Collin 07:33

Got it. Nailed it. Okay, let me just write down this time because timecode that. Quality Time codes. Okay, there we go. Yes, perfect. Yeah. So, report. Later, report.

Brandon 08:00

They go. We'll have an upcoming report. The all important question.

08:06

Which of the cities are better? Boom, they go. That import report coming in? Who wants to know, the best East Coast city of the couple that I'm going to be visit? Okay. Yeah. What

Brandon 08:18

are our options? Find out here. We're going Boston first. And then we're going to New York. Right? And then we're like, on the way to Washington, DC. I think it's like, oh, look, there's Philadelphia. And then like, caught and then like, just like a stop around? Like, you know, because again, it's like a colonial America. Like theme going on here. Right? So get hit by like, here's Ben Franklin's house. Oh, look, the Liberty Bill complete with crack. We're gonna have it on workmanship. haven't filled it in all these years later.

Collin 08:59

Yeah, no, they go. So I think that's what we're doing. We're doing that little

Brandon 09:06

thing. Just kind of going down. Like starting in Boston and just sort of going into line to the southwest.

Collin 09:15

Do you have pre preconceived notions as to of that list? Which ones will be the best? Or you just wait? Unsure I

Brandon 09:22

don't really. I don't really know. Right. Like, again. Allegedly, I have been to some of these places. Right? But I was like, there is a picture of me in Boston somewhere. But I was like, three. So we're not going to count that right. I don't really, I don't know. Right. I don't really, really know what to think about this because I haven't I haven't been this is far afield for me. I don't go to the East Coast, like ever. So I don't know. I don't know which one to expect. I know that like why should you see there's like nothing there. Right. It's like oh, look there National Mall. And that's it. So like,

Collin 10:02

I mean, that's not really.

Brandon 10:04

I mean, yeah, I know. It's not like, that's like what it's for. It's like the whole point of Yeah, the reason the district exists, like, so I'm not excited. I have low expectations for Washington DC as like a small

Collin 10:19

metropolitan area. Okay. Right. Just because I don't know, I don't really.

Brandon 10:27

I never really thought about it in terms of a city before. It's just like, because I don't know, I would probably be terrible to live there. Right. I have no idea. But

Collin 10:36

there's my preconceived notion that Washington DC terrible, okay, next terrible place to be.

Brandon 10:42

I don't know. I'm expecting Boston to be pretty cool. Right. I think of the places that was the one that I was most excited about going to

Collin 10:53

write. Like, I think it could be cool.

11:02

Everyone tells me New York smells bad. Okay, and then. Cool. I literally don't know anything about Philadelphia except for Rocky goes there. So.

Collin 11:15

Boom, I don't know. Will you be going to that part of Philadelphia? Are you staying?

Brandon 11:21

I don't remember. Exactly. I haven't pulled up my thing. So I'm not sure how close that is to the places that we're gonna go. I should do some Google Maps before we head out to sort of like, get some bearings, at least, about where things are located.

Collin 11:37

Download your offline Google Maps. Don't forget to do that people. less true.

Brandon 11:41

I mean, as I should still have correct cell service in?

Collin 11:46

You don't know, you don't know if

Brandon 11:47

that's true. I don't know. Maybe I should try it just to see how it goes.

Collin 11:53

So yeah, I don't know. Really. I don't really

Brandon 11:59

know, I also like I think I said before, like I think I might be most excited about like the Salem thing that we're gonna go. Oh, yeah, that this is like that's just like, weirdly interesting. And just like so bizarre, and weird. So that could be cool. I'm looking forward to that. And like the north end of Boston think we're gonna hang out there for a while. So that'd be cool. So it's like Boston's North End. And then like, we're going to New York is gonna be basically like, Manhattan, New York. Right. So any of the other ones? So I don't really know. We'll see if it's as advertised on television. Right. watched enough law in order that I know about Manhattan.

Collin 12:38

You could pretty much just walk it you know?

Brandon 12:40

Right. Snow every day.

Collin 12:44

And then, yeah, I'm

Brandon 12:46

not real sure. I think we're only gonna be in Philadelphia for like, just a little bit like because it's on the way like, Oh, stop here for a few hours and then

Collin 12:53

keep going.

Brandon 12:54

And then like DC I think we're paying up pretty close to like, the

Collin 13:01

like, the National Mall area. Okay. III, I think. I don't know exactly. But

Brandon 13:07

that's where all of our most of the stuff we're gonna go. We're gonna do like the Capitol. Turi thing, right? Like, oh, here's all the stuff. Here's where people are not working. Oh, look at that. It's great. Like

Collin 13:22

so, so yeah, we have a much more in depth report coming? Certainly. Right. Okay, but there you go. Yes, just

Brandon 13:33

mostly been like, Alright, where are you finding all my socks? Like, here's some socks. Ah, here's some T shirts that are

13:41

fine. Like

Collin 13:48

go on, like real

Brandon 13:50

minute, like I mentioned before, minimal packing mode.

Collin 13:53

Right. So we have like, just a lot of T shirts that are just like, black and or gray. Or not strange. I think like, just like

Brandon 14:06

yeah, so just wear more than once. Just basic color palettes like nothing crazy like no nothing just like

Collin 14:16

bare bones. stuff. So that's the plan. Again,

Brandon 14:22

I always overthink these things. So to try to talk myself out of like bringing extra stuff like no you don't need

14:29

that well

Collin 14:35

yeah, yeah, that's that's the end and also finding shirts that are I don't know how if you can figure out ones that are of different materials, you know, the ones that can wear multiple times as well.

Brandon 14:48

Yeah, yeah, that's what I got. I'm definitely bringing one I have some like, again, like this weird problem where like, I wear I don't know this just sort of happened this year right? So for this year for work I wear I only wear this year I've only worn like button ups, polos and sweaters, right? So now when it's like, alright, just wear a t shirt. Like, it feels weird. Yeah, it feels like awkward because it's like not

Collin 15:18

like, Oh, no. I do have one

Brandon 15:23

like really, really lightweight. Like, it's almost like a golf material, I think is what it was marketed as, like, Polo. I'm definitely just wearing that because it's like, really light. And you can it's like, a little more synthetic, and you can definitely wear it like, just all the time and it'd be fine. So

15:40

yeah, no, that's

Collin 15:42

yeah, those more those lightweights are much more breathable, because then in a pinch, like if you ever needed to you could you know, like wash them in the sink or something. So yeah, exactly. I'm like, yeah, so that's the plan. We'll see how the plan goes. Okay. But yeah, so that's gonna be this weekend is struggling to pack. Right. But

Brandon 16:12

one more event, just in the way right, so I neglected to mention that last weekend. We went to a birthday party. Right? I went to a birthday party of one of my former students one year old son.

Collin 16:27

Oh, that's the

Brandon 16:31

pool right there and it was like their Guatemalan family right so like the whole church was there it was like they like just set up this big tents in there at their house. And they were just like, grilling and hanging out and they invited us to come over and we ate and toxic or like saw like a billion people from school or were there right so it was cool to talk to the neighbor guy. He was really cool. They just invited him over randomly because he like lives next door and talks to a bunch of like had come over and he's like, okay talk to him. played too much basketball in the street right too old to be playing basketball. Oh no. middle and high school kids

Collin 17:13

that was a that was like

Brandon 17:25

that was fun. So we went there last weekend. Real cool hanging out there for way too long. But like yeah, and then so then Saturday we've been invited to it. No more Keynes in your time. Oh,

Collin 17:39

okay.

Brandon 17:43

So we're gonna go there we're not gonna be able to stay very long this time because we got a lot of stuff before we leave but we're gonna go to the thing we're going to try to go the church service and then go in the early evening like you just kind of eat a little bit hang out see everybody and then

Collin 18:01

Skedaddle before all the dancing begins. So it's the Klan nice to be fun. Okay,

Brandon 18:15

where things I'm not going to pack that's the other little just

Collin 18:19

real pro tip there is you don't have to you don't have to come home and frantically to laundry nice well, docket here okay, well yeah, you've had a lot going on. I think we've got it yeah, yeah, well hopefully you can relax into when you're on the plane you can get into trip mode Yeah, we'll see in there no like hey, we're Oh, it's because what's gonna get in the air and they like hey, winds have shifted back south everybody so welcome. Yeah, hopefully not. Well, we'll see.

Brandon 19:07

Sorry, go ahead. I don't do well on planes. I think I mentioned that to you. Like I don't really do sleep or it's like just like uncomfortable and like the moving is like messes me up. So like, and it's gonna be very long day. Like Kazumi like

Collin 19:24

dying? Oh, no. Yeah, I think it's important just to hit the ground running when you get there, because it will be a long day, it will be really tired. You'll be tired and stuff. So that's true. So that

Brandon 19:36

you will have time to think about it though, because it'd be like, What are you guys up to? Oh, well, we

Collin 19:46

are onboarding. Well, I've been interviewing some people for a new new hire. Man. I was telling Megan the other day like I've been, I've been here since the first of May. Overseas visits and I have hired two staff members. I'm still here. Have I talked about this yet? Because it feels like

Brandon 20:05

you mentioned it a little bit last time. Yeah. Okay. That's, that is crazy, though, that it's been even there a month. And like, it's still just like,

Collin 20:13

I've hired people. It's still at the same time, it's like, but I don't feel like you know, made that much progress. But we've made a lot I'm about to make, we've made one job offer, I don't know if the person is going to accept it. I did another in person interview today. And the person used to work at the prison as a medical staff member. And, and what we're sitting there doing the interview, and they keep referring to their time at the prison. Like, just sounds, you know, like, I'm interviewing like an ex con or like an inmate. When I was on the inside, they're like, Well, my time with the prison, man. I was just really glad when I got out of there. I was like, they all say that, right? What's kind of like, so that dad's doing his physical therapy for his hip, but he calls it his rehab. He's got to go to rehab. And he's in rehab. Context

Brandon 21:10

people like doctors, there's more to the story.

Collin 21:14

But we just signed the kids up for some summer school summer programs at wonders wildlife, so cool. hope they'll be excited about that. There's like Noah's going into a it's called bare necessities, but ba art necessities learning about for it's just for that age group learning about animals needs environments, habitats, that kind of stuff. And then Lillian is taking a wildlife crafting class. So that'll be that'd be pretty fun.

Brandon 21:50

But the sound right up your alley. I mean, yes. You know what? That in tail because when you just say that sentence, it's a little confusing. Right? Same what does that what does that scene are you going to craft? Wildlife? Or are you gonna,

Collin 22:06

like, just do wildlife themed crafts? Feathers?

Brandon 22:14

I don't really know.

Collin 22:16

Yeah. Or is it like, you're gonna craft like a beaver? And we're I don't know, like, I have no, I have no idea. But they're, so they're excited for that. And I was telling, telling dad, I was like, well, so we kind of signed up for these programs. And he was like, Where are you going to stay? What are you gonna? Where you guys gonna be? I was like, well, we'll be here for a week.

Brandon 22:36

Give you a Yeah.

Collin 22:40

Like, if you want I can can rent a fifth wheel and put out by the road and you know, set up shop and have people cocking it out to eat love that.

Brandon 22:52

Get like a cabin facade to put on it. And then like, it'll blend in the background. Or

Collin 22:58

just lay lay boards on it is actually what I would do. I wouldn't even work

Brandon 23:02

for that pocket in the woods, but like a camera on that over? Not suspicious at all.

Collin 23:08

Really? Definitely no suspicious activity take place there. Nope. No, no cops would. No, no now divorced. So yeah, that's about it. So hopefully, we'll have some people coming on board. I'm like, I'm almost tempted just to start offering like everybody that position because I'm ready to like, just just see who sticks. Because a couple of weeks ago, I came down here and was like, great. I've got four people, I'm gonna get them on boarded. And only two made it. And so I'm like, I guess they're just everybody. Just I'll just bring everybody on. And we'll have like a trial by fire thing. Just run through the gauntlet. And if you make it out unscathed, you make it congratulations. I don't know.

Brandon 23:59

I mean, that's what like the bad guy used to work at would do. They would just like bring in like scads people because then like, you know, a bunch of people would quit really quickly. Yeah. And then they would still have some, right like, I, I cannot tell you the number of people that came in, and I was like, responsible for training them and then a couple of them. They went to lunch. And then they never came back. Oh, right. Like, what? Yeah, it didn't even make it through the first day. Wow. Oh, well, it's not uncommon for that to happen.

Collin 24:36

Because you know, the jobs we're doing are not fun. Or, you know, good for your body. Right.

Brandon 24:47

Yeah, so it was like heavy manual labor.

Collin 24:50

So a lot of them would be like, Nope, just kidding.

Brandon 24:57

You later. Like they would just never come back. Oh,

Collin 25:00

wow, wow. Yeah. Ah, yeah, yeah, we're trying to we've had that happen not quite as that bad, but it's been pretty close. And, you know, you read all these hiring things you talk to people who are, are, you know, they, this is what they do, and they talk a lot about like, well, you just kind of get them connected to the vision and the mission and the values of your company and live the vision and mission and, and be make them part of the vision and the mission and like, oh my gosh, like, at some point, like people, like they're either going to want to do the work, or they're not going to want to do the work. And they can say they want to do it all they want to do but like, like you, you can only do so much to try and get people to stay like it's up to them. And yeah, it's, that's just part of it. Like sometimes you can have the all like the best practices, you're implementing them, you are, you're having a thorough process, you are bringing multiple people in and you've reviewed a blah, blah, blah, blah, if the person just doesn't want to work there anymore. Like there's literally nothing you can do. And you just have to roll with it. And it's

Brandon 26:09

like, you know, and there's also an element of you can, like, tell people what it's gonna be like, all day long. Yeah. But once they get into it, and they start doing it, they're just like, you know, they give it a try. And they're like, maybe this is not what I thought it was gonna be. Maybe this schedule isn't quite what I thought maybe this is, but like, there's a, you know, a myriad of reasons why they can decide, like, you know what, I was wrong, this really isn't for me, like, it just is. And that's just going to happen. Yeah, it's just, it's just how it works. So I feel like, no matter how much you connect somebody to the vision,

Collin 26:57

which sounds like

Brandon 26:58

that's what a person at the top of lack of multi level marketing scheme would say, right? That's what pyramid scheme people talk about, like, Oh, you just got to connect to the, like, you're running a pyramid scheme. That's why you're saying these words, you don't really do anything, you just recruit people to then recruit more people. And

Collin 27:23

I'm probably a bad leader. Because every time people talk about that, like, I immediately think of that I'm like, that just sounds really skeezy. And like, what it

Brandon 27:34

sounds like, it's what it that's, it sounds like those weird dudes on like,

Collin 27:39

tick tock, or whatever

Brandon 27:40

they're talking about, like, their online courses like that. It's not. So holds on to that's not real.

Collin 27:51

I was actually I was, this is a hard nut to crack. And you know, you're never going to be able to it will be forever, forever, things will be changing. And so I was listening to somebody today, and they had a slightly different spin on it. And of going like, unless, like you, you have to help the person who you're hiring, discover their personal satisfaction in their work. Like, that's what it boils down to, like, if they don't get personal satisfaction from it. They're not going to stick around. And so you have to help show them of like, the various options, basically, and, and there's that. That story, the guy who asked the bricklayers and did have you heard this before the three bricklayers where the guy goes, there are three bricklayers, and he got him up. And it's not a real story. I don't think people try and tie it into a historical event. And they say he asked the first bricklayer, what are you doing? And he goes, I'm laying bricks. He asked the second one, what are you? What are you doing? He goes, I'm building a wall. And he asked the third one. And he goes, What are you doing? And he goes, I'm building a cathedral for people to worship. And the moral of that story is like, help people like, get people connected to a vision. But what it actually is, is finding each person's individual motivating factor of like, why they're there. And that's what's really like, because we have some people on our team who if you like if I just popped out of a bush while they were out working, I said, What are you doing? They'd be like, I'm walking the dog. Or some people I pop out and I'd say What are you doing? And they go, I'm earning $15 an hour. Well, you know, next person, what are you doing and they go, I'm giving somebody peace of mind. Like no one of those is better or worse, because they each mean something to the person saying it. And you can't discount the person who Who sees themselves as just walking the dog? Because they obviously like that is that is important aspect to them and some in some way. And just because they don't connect to the like the, like, a phrase that I've been throwing around more as we're passionate people helping passionate people like, it's stupid, but

Brandon 30:20

but just like something you were saying, let's be real, it's

Collin 30:25

like, oh, yeah, it's a double. It's a patch, because we're, it's, but yeah, but just just because they don't connect with that doesn't mean they're not a good worker. It's just, it's just hard to know, which one is going to stick with the person that you bring on. At the end of the day. And so, that's, that's where we are with, with this process now. And

30:54

it's not about having all these checkpoints are not about being in front of the staff members. It's not about whatever it's actually just like, walking them through the possible options of what could satisfy them versus from this job. Like, that's what I'm trying to do. Like, and I'm not responsible for people's individual happiness at all, like, period, end of statement. I'm not so like, that's not a pressure, but nope, sorry.

Collin 31:19

I'm not then I then I have to be okay. When they're not satisfied with what the job is providing, and be okay with that. And just okay, well, if this didn't provide you what it thought it would, okay, like, that's fine. Like, we're, we need to, we need to part ways, but at some level, finding some sort of connection is important. Because otherwise, they're not going to stick around. Oh, yeah, for sure. But like,

Brandon 31:47

like, I disagree with what you said. I mean, I hold on. I do agree, that sounded weird. When I said that. I do agree with what you said about like,

Collin 31:57

if somebody's motivation is just like, I just need a job. Like, that's a valid motivation.

Brandon 32:04

That's like, it's, and I think a lot of people discount it. Like you said, they're like, No, you have to be passionate, like, really, like, you can still do a really good job if you'd like. Just want a job. Right? Like, yeah, you don't have to, like, emotionally connect with the windows that you're painting. Right? You know what I mean? Like, it doesn't matter. And like, Yeah, I'm working, like, do I really, you know, care that much about this? Like?

Collin 32:35

No, like,

Brandon 32:37

I just, you know, need to do this. It's fine, like, but that's okay. Like, you know, you know, it's fine. And I think a lot of people do lose sight of that, like, you can just like, you can still show

Collin 32:51

up and do a good job.

Brandon 32:55

If you just like if your only motivation is like, I just need a job to make money. Like, that's fine. That's okay.

Collin 33:01

There's nothing wrong with that.

Brandon 33:03

You don't have to like be a little these people be like, Oh my gosh, they don't like, love it like, it's fine. It's okay. To worry. Why are you worried about it? They're still doing the job. Stop it. Right,

Collin 33:16

right. Because yeah, I was thinking about that today is like, I'm out walking a dog. And in my brain, I'm like, Ah, this is the best job in the world. Why don't more people want to work for me,

33:26

God.

Collin 33:29

You know, it's like, it just doesn't connect for them. And that's fine. And there are people at who work at every job imaginable. There's somebody there who just wants to earn a paycheck. That's the only reason they're there, period, end of story. And they do a good why do they do a good job, because they know if they don't, they'll be fired, and they won't earn a paycheck. So it's like, and they're fine with that. And the work is getting done, and it's okay. It's just like, I don't, I don't need, I don't need just like head over heels. Passionate in love. Can't wait, like bursting through the door people miserable.

Brandon 34:08

I mean, it's nice, you know, whatever. But like, I mean, it's, it's good that you have that because, you know, you're like the boss, right? And that's like your thing, and that's good. And it's good that they see that and it's good that they see that you are that excited about this stuff, and that you do care that much but like, if they don't like that's still okay. Right. They can still be like, really good employees and like, yeah, you know, they just want to like,

Collin 34:32

maybe just like dogs, you know, like, okay, like, school. Or maybe our people connect with us against all sorts of they want to just be more active or they want to be outside more or

Brandon 34:45

Yeah, like, outside. Boom, great.

Collin 34:50

Boy, howdy. Yes. So I yeah, that's, that's what I'm in. I'm trying to remember that when I'm talking to people of like, yeah, I I'm like, they don't need to be, for very many reasons. They don't need to be like me. Like, just for their own personal health and safety, sanity. Like, this is fine, this is fine. And I know many people will be like, Oh, well, you're just settling, right? You're settling because blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But it's like, actually, it's not it's if people he more inclusive is really Yeah.

35:32

It's what it is.

Collin 35:34

And so it's just, that's part of this, this this whole process? It's, it's interesting, you know, and, yeah, if people are interested in some aspect, like, yeah, this can definitely fulfill that. We're going to be honest about the other areas, right, that are a part of the job like that these are real, but then I can't be the one to determine if like, let's say, somebody comes to us, and they're like, I want something more outside. And I'm like, okay, but like, you know, it's not always outside and like, you do have to deal with poop and like, blah, blah, blah, like, I can't be the one to make the judgment call for them that the cons outweigh the pros for them. I can't,

Brandon 36:10

because I'm much more outside than a lot of other jobs anyway. So it is

Collin 36:14

I have a very nice sunburn, literally all like, it's fine. I've been spraying SPF 35 and SPF 50. Like, it's going out of style. I'm sorry. Like, I know, there's like, if, if this were the 90s I'd be apologizing to the ozone hole, like the hole in the ozone, but it's not. So I'm fine. But like, I don't know if it's just magnifying the sun, if I got a weird batch, but it's just like, I am still burning people. Like this is not okay. But anyway, like, I can't be the one to go well, but they said they wanted to be outside. But I don't know if the poop aspect is is too much for them. Like because people again, people may go, oh, man, I don't really like the poop aspect. But man, I really love being outside, even though it's like, it could just be 35% of my day. That's 20% More than I was doing at my other job. This is amazing. Like, I love it. And it's enough for them. So it just encouraging those as much as possible. And then stepping back and letting them work. Like that's going like okay, like I at some point you just have to trust with somebody says yes, I get it. I understand. It's not it's not it's not perfect. But I still want to do this. It's still interesting. Like you still at some point, you have to go okay, I've done what I can. I've explained what I could this person still agrees with then we just need to move forward. And and see what happens. Yeah. Just yeah, just go for it. Yeah. And what kind of did that with it with a recent offer? And we're making, we're really going back and forth and blah, blah, blah. And I was like, what? What's the worst that could do? Quick? Like, that's

Brandon 37:55

me. Yeah. Really? Like, then you'll be back to where you are already. So

Collin 37:59

through that a couple times. So I you know, I will be notable survive. I mean, yeah,

Brandon 38:07

like, okay, like, yeah,

Collin 38:10

exactly, exactly. Like, what's the worst? Oh, sure. Okay, we're gonna be out the cost of insurance. Getting them on our payroll processing, and a background check. Okay, 75 bucks. Sure. I don't like wasting money. But like, if that's all it is, and then they're just gone. And we start over? Like, I can roll with that. So yeah. It's all part of a process and definitely all part of a journey. Is it? It is, as you know, one that people go there and back again at times.

Brandon 38:48

Would you say it's unexpected?

Collin 38:53

Well, this one's kind of expected because we're trying to actively do it, but it has unexpected aspects. So Much, much like the most much beloved. The Hobbit Ah, there we go. Um, that was that for a torture transition.

Brandon 39:07

It was beautiful.

Collin 39:12

That's a lovely segue.

Brandon 39:15

Segue you as they say,

Collin 39:17

thank you. i Okay. Well, this is just a tangent. I was giving a presentation with the Conservation Department and I misspelled segue. And I spelled it like the the

Brandon 39:30

machine other mobility thing. Yeah.

Collin 39:34

So I got ridiculed for it. So each, each time I gave a presentation after that and said the word I just get a picture of the mobility. Yes. Put it in the

Brandon 39:43

text. That's better. Yes, that's definitely sounds like something I would do. That's terrifying. Like.

Collin 39:53

Yeah, they're like, I think you mean Bill law. I was like, Oh, right. And so next time, I didn't even I need to use the word I just, you know, obviously, like, went out of my way to make sure that I use the little symbol. And that was fun. So that was just anyway, it was dealing. What? Where do you? What do you where do you want to start with this? I think you had you had a better plan for this last year than last year. Last time. Last year, two days ago. Oh,

Brandon 40:23

no, sorry, listeners, not behind the curtain. So we both are poking fans,

Collin 40:34

I would say I think our episodes prove that

Brandon 40:39

sort of definitively.

Collin 40:42

Indeed, no. So I mean,

Brandon 40:46

he's kind of talking about like, we can bring that into the beginning here, I guess. But just like kind of like, Whoa, how, like, where you're coming from when you're coming to this book?

Collin 40:58

I guess a little bit, right. Like, like that. And

Brandon 41:01

like, just a little bit about the backstory of the book in general, because it's sort of interesting.

Collin 41:05

Right?

Brandon 41:08

Would you want to touch on that a little bit? I know, like my version has the periphery the preface and like that stuff. And then like a lot of other things that I've read, because I do have not insignificant number of talking books just

Collin 41:21

sitting over here on my table. Well, I figured I would let you just like laying it out here. Like, I figured I would let you kind of walk through a little bit about the background of the book itself. And then we can dive into kind of how we where we're coming from with at this point.

Brandon 41:40

Alright, so just like a backstory history thing here, right? Like this book originally published September 1937. However,

41:55

The Hobbit is sort of just like an accidental side process based on all of the other work that toking was doing.

Brandon 42:07

Right. So as we know, Tolkien is a linguist. Right. And he studies ancient languages, specifically Anglo Saxon, and some others, right. And Anglo Saxon literature. He like translates Anglo Saxon literature, all that kind of stuff. He holds professorships, teaching classes about this kind of thing, right?

Collin 42:30

So like, at some point, he as early as like, I think 1917.

Brandon 42:40

Right, he starts getting these ideas about his own mythology, right? Because originally, what he wants to do is he's looking at like mythological stuff, or like other places, right, very heavily influenced by like Roman and Greek mythology, stuff like that. And so he thinks he's thinking to himself, like, you know, where doesn't have a mythological tradition? England, and you know, who loves England more than JRR? Tolkien literally, nobody, nobody. So, like, he sort of starts going off in this way. Like, he has some very early drafts about some like,

Collin 43:25

stories, right. And he sort of starts

Brandon 43:30

from a linguistic point of view, you know, because that's normal, right? I'm going to create elvish as a language, and then I'm going to create, like, divergent different elvish languages based on the original language, right? And these are that like,

Collin 43:48

these are not like,

Brandon 43:50

you know, like Dothraki, or like, the Star Trek one, like cling on, or whatever. This is, like an actual functioning, fully complete, like, with rules and spellings and bids and like, all kinds of like dialects. That's the crazy part, right?

Collin 44:08

Yeah. So like, tokens, like

Brandon 44:11

the work that would originally become The Silmarillion was never actually finished. Right? You always wanted to, like complete it and tie it up in the bundle, and have it published, but it was like just like, never quite done. Right. And so his son publishes it later. He rewrote all this stuff like a billion times. All right. And

Collin 44:35

so he has all of this in his brain. Right? This like whole

Brandon 44:41

mythological backstory of the entire first age of Middle Earth, right is basically almost kind of done. Not done, but like he has some versions of it some early version, which some of them changed dramatically by the 70s when it's Originally published by Christopher, some of them are pretty much the same, right? But like, he's got all this. And so he's plugging along doing this. He's trying to like create, it's like a history. Right? The Silmarillion people don't like it because like,

Collin 45:18

it's a history book. Kinda, right? That's what it is.

Brandon 45:23

You read it, it's like, oh, this is a history.

Collin 45:27

This is a literal history of this Middle Earth. Place, right. And so originally, he

Brandon 45:34

wanted to connect it with England and all that stuff that kind of gets dropped later on. In the original version. Like, there is a character who sails from England to like this island and hears these stories that are like passed down from generations. And they're, like, connected to modern English. It's all crazy, right? He even had a table of like, how some elvish and Dwarvish words like entered the English, like how they turned into, like, Anglo Saxon terminology. It's like, it's crazy. He was trying to like, make it go together. Right? So in the midst of all of this, like hardcore, academic pursuit of attempting to build an entire history of a place, he

Collin 46:20

tells his kids stories at night.

46:25

Right? And that's where this sort of comes from. Right? Like, that's kind of the genesis of this book. Right? It like, originally, right? In the original version.

Collin 46:45

It's not as connected to anything else, as it would become

Brandon 46:53

later, right? So in the original 1937 published, it's different than the ones that got published later on. And like the, the second renditions, and like the 50s, maybe, because like he rewrote it, after he finished Lord of the Rings, because if there's one thing that Tolkien did was just rewrite everything.

47:11

175

Collin 47:13

just a little bit, just one more time, it's gonna be fine. Yeah.

Brandon 47:16

So he would go back and change it, right. That's why some people are like, Oh, my gosh, it's not like, consistent with the Lord of the Rings. Like, he knew that. Right? He knew that he was working on it, okay. Just a slow and steady guy.

Collin 47:32

So like, this sort of comes out of like,

Brandon 47:36

just like, telling his kid stories, and like, all that stuff, right. And we can get into this little bit later, but when you read it, it reads very differently than a lot of his other work.

Collin 47:48

He was like reading the book. Like, it's, it's written differently. Right?

Brandon 47:55

It's very different. It's like first person, like, he's relating a story to you. Right? So like this, when you read this book, it's basically Tolkien like talking to you. Which is kind of weird, right? All of his other stuff

Collin 48:09

is not like this. Right?

Brandon 48:13

He, his writing is very, like, it's much more casual in this book.

Collin 48:17

It's like, way more chill. Like,

Brandon 48:21

even in the first chapter, you get like, a much more.

Collin 48:26

Like, I don't know, it's toned down. It's not like, I don't know, it's

Brandon 48:32

what's I'm searching for word here. And I can't quite find it. It's like a much more familiar tone.

Collin 48:36

casual, casual. And conversational.

48:40

Definitely a good one. Yeah,

Brandon 48:41

it's a good one. Whereas, like, the Lord of the Rings, and definitely the Silmarillion is a very like formal. It's also a third person, right? It's like matter of factly telling you what's going on. But this is just like, sort of casually hanging out, like telling you a story. Like, oh, yeah, let

Collin 48:58

me tell you about hobbits. Right? Yeah. And it's like, you know, because

Brandon 49:04

even in the first chapter is like, Oh, what is a hobbit you say? Well, let me tell you, like, he just kind of goes in sort of explains to you what this weird thing is, right? But that's kind of the history like it sort of came out on accident. Right? He was just like, oh, yeah, I guess I'll write it. And it's publishers like, Oh, tell me this story. And he's like, Okay, fine. And then he would send them like copies of The Silmarillion. And this and they'd be like, The Hobbit is amazing. You have to finish this and we're going to publish it. He's like

49:35

yes, like

Brandon 49:39

and then at the end, right, they like it sold just like insane. Like it people just ate it up. And then he was like, his publisher was like, You need to tell us more about habits and he was like, what?

49:53

I don't want to see what I don't why

Brandon 49:55

habits do. I don't know if I want to do that. And they're like, come on. He was like, okay, A final thing about it. And then like three months later, he said in the first part of the Lord of the Rings, right, like he was like, I don't know what else hobbits can do. We've explored a lot about hobbits already moving on, and they're like, yeah, no, no, no, do it. And he's like, fine. I'm gonna do this. I'm really gonna tie it into all my other stuff. I'm really going to hammer in anyway, so that you need it.

Collin 50:22

Yeah. Oh, might as might as well, you know. Yeah.

Brandon 50:28

That's kind of the backstory here. Like, that's what this book feels really weird. Like, it's just kind of like, it feels like it comes out of nowhere. Right. In the beginning of this right Christopher's kind of talking about it, like the, the early origins of these things are sort of mysterious now, right? Because it's like, later on Tolkien didn't really remember like, and because he rewrote everything. At times, like, yeah, something began, it's kind of, like,

Collin 50:55

nebulous. Yeah, and I think so. I knew a little bit about that. But I think you definitely get the feeling of oh, gosh, yeah, have a bit of lighthearted and that kind of simple, easy approach while you're while you're reading it. But I think that that really helps it, because it does come across as so familiar. So conversational. It really sucks you right? In just real real easily. And so, just me coming to this book. You know, I, I officially read this book, after I read the the trilogy. So I read the trilogy, and then I came to this book. And so I came to it knowing with a lot of the back knowledge and story at that time, but, and I definitely remember seeing the different tone in it, and how things were presented. And but again, I think that that just helps the story that this this is trying, trying to tell us compared to other ones, so it's uh I wasn't, I wasn't really familiar with the whole breadth of the work of Tolkien. At the time of reading this, it was just, uh, oh, well, this is another one. And this comes before those three, so you gotta read this.

Brandon 52:38

Yeah, even though it's like, it just sort of pops in here. Like, it's just like, oh, here it is. Like, it's not it's really weird. Like, because all of the other stuff. There's like volumes and volumes and volumes of like, first drafts and like the story, where it came from and how it was kept. And this was just like, Yep, here it is. It just like plopped down like kind of done. And you're like, what, what,

Collin 53:00

just, you just appears? Yeah, this is like,

Brandon 53:03

it's like kind of, you didn't even really mean for it to happen. It just sort of like an accident. And then, okay, I guess now we'll go back and tie in into this more, and I'll fix this here. Because, you know, but it does, it's, it's real weird. And the fact that he kind of got this from having, like, telling stories with his kids, like, kind of, kind of get that to be a kind of that piece of information. I

Collin 53:26

think it's important for just kind of how the story

Brandon 53:33

is presented, right? Because I get that much more casual nature is like,

Collin 53:38

well, and a parent. Yeah. And there's aspects of the story where the foreshadowing is kind of blunt, of like, of like, well, you know, you know, the treasures and stuff that they well let me I will get there kind of stuff. Like it jumps to the end in places of like, well, they're going to be okay. But that's but let me tell you about this thing real quick. Like that's definitely something you do with kids of like, before I get to the end of this like, and they all survived but let's let's let me tell you a little bit funny. Wow, they got ya it Yeah, cuz even says in here. Well, how did you? I mean, what was your approach when your history with this book?

Brandon 54:24

I can't be talking very late. Right? Because like, when I was younger, I read a lot of fantasy stuff. But it was like much

Collin 54:32

more like recent, you know, I

Brandon 54:36

mean, and so like, the way that I came to Tolkien was kind of like, backwards, right? Kind of like how you follow the thread backwards and you like, Oh, by, you know, where does this like, genre come from when you kind of like, kind of like how you do to music, right? You like listen to somebody? And you're like, oh, this bands really great. And you're like these people in this band, like this older band. And so you just sort of start Going backwards like that, and you kind of get introduced to new and older things that way. That's sort of how I found talking. Right, like much, much later. And I think actually, I'm one of the people that is, you know, the people that don't exist on the internet, right? Because I read Tolkien after I saw the movies, right, as all the movies first and then I was like, oh, yeah, this is great. I need more of this in my life, right? According to hardcore Tolkien fans, that person is not real. Nobody did that. Right. Like, everybody saw that, read all the books when they were four. And then they saw the movie later.

Collin 55:39

Like I I specifically, remember, I remember sitting. So I remember seeing, Oh, my gosh, I'm gonna start to sit down. Wow, my brain, sitting at theater, watching the trailer for the first film, come on the screen. And may think, because I don't remember what movie I was there to watch with me, because let's just be honest, it was a movie with Namie. And I have no idea, obviously, what we were actually there to see. But I distinctly remember seeing this trailer. And truth be told before then. And since it's the only time where I was so enraptured by what was on the screen before me that we literally went out to Barnes and Noble after that movie, and started searching for the book that we had just that we had just seen on the screen, because it had said something like, based on the books by JRR, Tolkien blah, blah, blah, blah, coming this bowl. And I specifically remember in the trailer was the scene where they pull the ring out of the fire. And like, it's all that, you know, keep it secret, keep it safe. And then it goes on to other stuff. Like, I just enraptured going like, holy, what is this? Yeah, kind of thing and then going to Barnes and Noble trying to find that book.

Brandon 56:57

Yeah, I like it before the movies came out. Like I was aware that the Lord of the Rings existed. Or, like, I didn't really know what it was about. Right. Like, it's something that I knew about, like, I kind of knew,

Collin 57:14

you know, he, like,

Brandon 57:15

had her I've like, heard about it, or whatever. But like, I've never like really invested in it really too much. And then like, after I saw the movie is like, oh, boy, this is fantastic. And I put off reading anything until the

Collin 57:28

third movie came out. Because

Brandon 57:31

because I was like, I'm going to experience this like this first. Yeah, I want I want to go on this journey with the film characters. First, like, I need to do that. And then after that, but later on, I was like, Okay, now I'm going to read it because I just want to be in this more, like, I just learned loved it so much that I wanted more of like that. Yeah. And so that's kind of where that's where I came from. So I came from the movies, like for sure. 100% goes

Collin 58:02

like, oh, man, as we know, greatest film trilogy of all time brands be honest. Absolutely.

Brandon 58:13

That's where I came from. And so like, that's where that's where I that was my jumping off point. Right. And so I came to, eventually to all the other stuff like much, much later, but kind of just like, around in my time, like, oh, Allah, I know.

Collin 58:28

And then like, then

Brandon 58:34

then eventually, I got around to reading like The Silmarillion. Because like, I heard, you know, like, everyone talks about like, Oh, it's so terrible. Like, it's so like, there's this like, mythos that it's like, extremely daunting. And like, horrifying. And you don't want to go anywhere near it, right. Yeah. Yeah. Not gonna lie. Absolutely. It's like, it's so good. That's how amazing, right? Like, it's so fantastic. Like, the not maybe all of it. Right? But like the

59:01

simple rules part. Right? That part is so good. And like, it's just fantastic. And so like, that's, I

Brandon 59:11

was like, oh, man, these people are like, I don't even know what they're talking about. But as a person who does like history and has read and just like reads nonfiction books, a lot for fun, like, the summerly and really does feel like you're reading a nonfiction book because it is presented to you as like, a history of stuff.

Collin 59:31

So it's like, okay, I get it. This is

Brandon 59:34

right up my alley. 100% And it's like, yeah, good. And like all the characters and the stories, all the stuff that he's telling you are like, amazing. Like, it's so amazing that you like you can really see in that that book specifically, is where when you people are like Oh, Tolkien is like the grandfather of fantasy, like yep. 100% Yeah, all the all the stuff here. All these tropes that show up that Here, right like, cursed fates and like terrible tragedies and like overcoming and like acts of gallantry and bravery. It's all right here. It is all in this book. Right? Are there some boring parts? Yeah. But like, do you want to read about turn to red bar? Absolutely you do, right? That's what you were. And so

Collin 1:00:25

like, he really like it when you read that. All of

Brandon 1:00:30

the stuff that people say about him that you're like, oh, you know, he's the father of like, this whole thing. Yeah. Yeah. It just jumps out of you like, Yep, sure is. Right. And he was getting inspiration, like, again, from these Anglo Saxon stories, right? They show up a lot in there. Right. But like, he condensed them and pulled those themes and presented them to you in a way that was like,

Collin 1:00:51

Whoa, this is amazing. Right? Yeah, it was it was a I think that's part of where it just sounds all sounds so believable, right? Whenever it the way, it's all presented in the final product? Oh, yeah, definitely. And I think because he has, like, the, because he's already built this world, in all of his other work. Right? When he gets

Brandon 1:01:23

to the hobbit like, even though he didn't necessarily mean for it to be there, like it just is. Yeah, right. It just sort of like, slots in, because he's so familiar with this thing that he's created already. And I guess we can start talking about the first chapter now, because it's kind of segues there. But like,

Collin 1:01:43

this first chapter is like, what I want from first chapters in books. Right? Like it just sort of begin. Yes. You just want an opening line? What am I? If this is not, I don't know. I come at me with single best opening line of theater of book of television show of poetry of like, like, seriously, this is it is epic. It is. It is it is epic. I can't even Wow, wow, it's just, it's so good. It's because what it I think it a hole on the ground, there lived a hobbit period. That's it in the store, like, just what I love from this is that he takes that and he doesn't describe the hobbit that he that lives there until like, ages, like, ages.

1:02:54

Yeah, like,

Collin 1:02:55

he really goes into just like, he goes into actually describe the whole, like, that's what, what kind of oldest is, like, like, have that like, because that's the, that's the world that you're immediately being thrust into with this of like, of just going there's, there's a lot here, right, and it really just immediately sucks you in from there, like and even then, like, you don't even know the name of this particular Hobbit until a bit down and it just, I love how it's presented.

Brandon 1:03:33

Yeah, like I just, I don't know, like, he just goes and then by the, you know, in my, in my addition here on page five, like the story is just starting, right? A couple paragraphs of like, exposition and backstory a little bit. And but it's sort of presented to you as like, again, it's so casual. Because it's like, written in the first person, which again, is jarring if you read a lot of other Tolkien stuff, because it's like, like, but it's just like, oh, here we go. And then it's, here's just a Bilbo hanging out on the porch. Having a fight. Yeah, that's it. Like, that's just the beginning. Right? Just like chillin, hanging out, doing whatever. You know, it really presents that like, it's a great way to showcase that, like, hobbits are all about like, just like,

Collin 1:04:21

home and like, you know, home and

Brandon 1:04:24

hearth, right, that kind of thing. Right, which I think is very representative token. Right token is very famous. He's very famous quote, that basically says, like, I think he's quoted as a I am a hobbit in all but sighs Right? Like, all of the things that Tolkien all the things that hobbits love, like food and family and friends and like being home and like the comfort like Tolkien love that stuff, and I can relate to that. Like I definitely steal that quote some time, right?

Collin 1:04:52

Yeah, fair. I feel that I feel that big time.

Brandon 1:04:56

And so you just get that whole picture painted just like

Collin 1:04:59

boom. Just a little bit. You know, I

Brandon 1:05:02

mean, even with the introduction of Gandalf, my favorite character ever. Like, you get this, like, you automatically get the Bilbo conflict too, right if like, Oh, that's really cool. You're so adventurous. And also like, my chair, though, like, yes. Conversation is so funny to me.

Collin 1:05:24

Well, I didn't let it I know. It says like, and this would not be the last time he thought about his, you know, his tea or his kettle. Exactly, yeah. Oh, it's good. And I love I mean, it's just little aspects of this, like one of the one of the Oh, yes, this is, again, just the world building here. Like, there is little or no magic about them. Except the ordinary, everyday sort, which helps them disappear quietly and quickly. It's like, wait, what do you what do you mean, normal everyday stuff?

Brandon 1:05:56

Like, okay. Hold on some sort of teasing you that there are more magical things around somewhere. But like, yeah, so you're like, where though? Are you going to see those later? What's happening? Right, like,

Collin 1:06:09

Uh huh. And one of my favorite, I mean, there's just so much in here like, of foreshadowing to this of like, just how the depth like it just keeps on building and building about Hava said now you're learning about the, the touques and the Baggins is and the difference in the the adventures that they went on. And the odd things that were about them. And like of like, okay, like, there's just it's just, it's it's like, it's like, you're just like peeling back, all these different layers are going around more and more corners and discovering more board doorways in here as to the story. And that's weird, too. Because like

Brandon 1:06:55

so the the framing device here is interesting, because like, as the events start unfolding, right, Gandalf comes by leaves a little magic mark on the door, or start showing up at the house. Right? Even though this is like a first person narrative, which is kind of it's weird, like, this is omniscient first person narration right. You still are in the sense of like Bilbo has absolutely no idea what's going on. Yeah. And neither do you. So yeah, automatically are in Bilbo shoes. Right? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Very connected with him. Because the world is just happening to Bilbo, like, all these people are just showing up at his house. And he's concerned about, like, his manners and his tea and like, cakes, right? Like, but as really confused about what's happening. And so are you that reader, right? So you're you're connecting with him like immediately. There's no like, oh, I need to figure out Bilbo thing. I need to learn more about him. No, no, he is confused about all this stuff going on. You are confused. And like also curious. Right? Which is the same options he has. So immediately, you're connected

Collin 1:08:05

to below? Like, right off the bat. Right? Yeah. It really it really is. I love that framing device. Because yeah, it's like curious, comfortable world. Everything's fine. As an allegory to us being new to this world. Like, we're still learning like, anything new beyond what's already been presented to us is going to be weird. And we've been shown like, comfort, home, safety, security, no newness, and then all of a sudden, like when it when it all happens. Like it happens real fast, like real. We'll pass

Brandon 1:08:38

in the fact that everybody else knows what's going on. Right? Yeah. Oh, they're all like, oh, yeah, I'm here. And they know why they're there. They know all the history. They know everything is gone.

Collin 1:08:48

And you're like, and build a dozen. He has no idea. You know,

Brandon 1:08:53

even a little bit later after they all get there. And they're explaining and they've talked there. He's just like, overheard them talking, you know? Yeah. And like they've sang, they've sang there. They've sung in the house after tea time or whatever, their song and stuff. And, you know, they start getting down to business. And Bilbo is like, okay, no, wait, hold on. Tell me exactly what's going on here. Like, have you not been paying attention? He was like, oh, yeah, I mean, totally. But tell me again, but speak plainly. Plainly to me.

Collin 1:09:23

All right. So like

Brandon 1:09:26

that's, that's a good you getting like, because you're like, yeah, yeah, what is going because you're starting to put some pieces together, you know, but like, he's been going like, okay, no, for real. Tell me what's going on. And then they do right. So it's like, it's a really good way to give you exposition, right, because it's it doesn't feel clunky. Right, right. Like and I hate clunky exposition, like, as a reader, it just bores me to death. You I mean, like, there Are other books that I have read? Where, like,

Collin 1:10:05

it takes so long for stuff to happen.

Brandon 1:10:12

mean, you're like, Ah, I know it here. It's just like, bam, by the end of the first chapter like, you know what's up? Huh? You know exactly what's going on. Everything is just gonna happen from there. Right. But when like, you know, I've read other books. You know, I've been reading another book this summer and it's just like it. I read the Priory of the orange tree, right? I talked about this before that book, nothing happens until part two, which is like 150 pages into the book. Oh no, right, the entire first 150 pages is basically like exposition. I'm reading the prequel to that book this summer, right?

Collin 1:10:55

Same thing. Right? This time I was expecting it

Brandon 1:11:00

to it hurts a little bit less.

Collin 1:11:05

But all of part one is just backstory. There's even like, a three part preface.

Brandon 1:11:13

It's like, more backstory about the backstory, like,

Collin 1:11:16

Oh, my God. What on earth? Yeah. And like, it's

Brandon 1:11:20

hard. And it's like, it's difficult. And we talk about this, like high fantasy. So they have like to explain to you but like,

1:11:27

I just really appreciate how the hobbit just begin. It does. And if you don't go ahead, sorry. No, no, you're fine. Like, even if you have never read anything else talk any. Right?

Collin 1:11:43

It's clear that the author knows exactly the world that this is set in. Oh, yeah. And so by being

Brandon 1:11:52

by having your main character be a dude that just like, sits at home all the time, and just like

Collin 1:11:58

not like just as a home, but like he's does all of his stuff

Brandon 1:12:01

in the Shire, in his little hometown here. It's not even called the Shire yet, right? It's just like the hill, the hill, and over hill and across the water. Like that's all we know of our world right now. That's all we know. That's because that's all that's all the place Bilbo goes. Right. He doesn't even go to the whole Shire, as we'll find out later in The Lord of the Rings is a much larger place.

Collin 1:12:20

Right? He just kind of goes around town. That's it.

Brandon 1:12:28

So his worldview is very small. And by you, the reader being introduced through him. Right? Your view, your worldview is also very small. You don't know anything, but you know about his house, because that's all they told you about. And so when you start hearing these things about the outside world, when they're talking about like Dale and the Lonely

Collin 1:12:46

Mountain and the mining, you're like, where's that? Yeah. What?

Brandon 1:12:53

What's tell me more about that? Right?

Collin 1:12:55

And you will, but like, later, later, it'd be a little bit later, right? Well,

Brandon 1:13:01

I didn't think there was a great like protagonist to be put in seeing everything. Right, because it just introduces you so

Collin 1:13:08

well to everything. Yeah, well, like and how, how quickly, flustered he gets by Gandalf and like, like, I was rereading this, I was like, Yes, good morning. So it's like, you could tell like the different intonations that came off with good morning. And then like, good morning. Like, as he was more flustered, and like angry and upset. It just, like, I love that dialogue of just like, clearly this is somebody who was just like, again, thrown off for the absurd things. And that actually reminded me of when I was thinking about just, we're talking about just how we're learning right along the way here. Like there are even aspects of this is some of the elbows knowledge coming in here whenever he's talking about the history of the touques. And he said, it was often said in other families that long ago, one of the two ancestors must have taken a ferry wife, that was, of course, absurd. And you're like, of course, of course. It's absurd, like, obviously. But that's, but that's obviously coming from the Baggins is perspective, and like the other families, how they view them. And just like, now, like, now, there's an opinion here, and there's just this, this guiding of like, I'm going to hold your hand, and I'm going to walk you through and and you can just imagine, like some like Tolkien pointing out and like, of really just sitting as you're watching everything unfold and explaining this to you in first person. Yeah, right. And, again, it's

Brandon 1:14:32

that just like, the way that he talks, the way that the narration is delivered, again, like the really casual, right, like there are the the amount of hyphens using this first chapter is astounding, right? Just

Collin 1:14:46

because in parentheses as well, like,

Brandon 1:14:48

right, or whatever this dash thing is he's using instead of parentheses because it's not a hyphen in my version. It's this big long dash, right, right. Like this is like The mother of our particular Hobbit dash, what is the Hobbit? I suppose hobbits needs some description nowadays, since they have been come rare and shy of the big people, as they call us. And like

Collin 1:15:08

it just sort of, you know what I mean? It's like very casual, very, you know, like,

Brandon 1:15:16

just, you know, it's just like very casual. And so just the, that punctuation, right? It feels like somebody's talking to you. Right? It really hammers that first person narration style, because that's how people talk. Right? That's how it's so conversational. You know, that's basically how this show works, right? I'm pretty sure. Like, just, you know, in the middle of a thought and be like, oh, yeah, you don't know, by the way bla bla, right, like, change direction a little bit like, oh, that doesn't need explaining. Hold

1:15:50

on. Like, it's, it's just, it just feels comfortable. I think that's, I think that's what I'm trying to settle on here. It just feels like an uncomfortable way to be introduced to all this stuff. Right? Yeah. It does.

Collin 1:16:06

It says in you know, that like, yeah, just because how plainly it's put. And even with like the earlier talking about just the exposition, and how lazy exposition is, I'm gonna lay this out in laborious detail, because I gotta get this backstory to you. Just even with the introduction of Gandalf of like, Gandalf. Ah, Gandalf, if you know if I could tell you half of the things I know. And I know, you know, less than half of what he's done. And then, you know, and then it goes into Bilbo and his first encounter. He's, you know, it's at all that the unsuspecting, unsuspecting, Bilbo saw that morning was an old man with a staff, like, like, this is our first introduction to this character. Like, again, from Bill Bo's perspective, as you can imagine him coming and just how it just gets you the sense of, of this, this, this type of writing is is a joy to read. It's also a lot of fun to read aloud, like, so like definitely like to kids like this, it is a blast, because it just, it flows so naturally, in a spoken way that a majority of writing doesn't. Or if if you speak if if it the way it speaks, it's terrible to read, right? Like this one? I don't know. Really? Yeah. Like, and it's because of where he's coming from of his of linguistically. Right and how he's putting

Brandon 1:17:26

together. Yeah, if there's one person that knows how to form sentences, it is JRR Tolkien, right? Like, even in the Silmarillion, right, like,

Collin 1:17:38

the like, it's like,

Brandon 1:17:40

really academic, kinda, you know, that's how people get scared off of it. But like,

1:17:47

the way that the sentence is flow, there's just like, a, almost prose like quality to how he puts things that I just love to read. You know, and like, even though this is different, like, it's still peeking out, you know what I mean? Like, it's still there. And it's just very nice. You know, it's just

Brandon 1:18:18

enjoyable to read the sentences, like, the sentences are just lovely, just put together really

Collin 1:18:26

well. And like, it's just, I just love it. And they're really, and they're believable to the character as well. Like, I'm just thinking of how many times that what's the written dialogue, in a book, how it doesn't translate well to a screen or even like, to a play, but like, reading these, given what we know about the characters like it, you can just you can really picture actual hobbitses saying these things are like an actual, you know, old man with a staff saying these days, because of what they've been because of what the character has been imbued with and how it's structured. Yeah, right. And I,

Brandon 1:19:07

I know that this is going to probably show up like a billion times, right, but I know that you don't love the Hobbit movies, right? We can talk about that. Maybe at the end, right? The very first Hobbit movie, like this scene in that movie.

Collin 1:19:20

Uh, huh. is brilliant.

Brandon 1:19:24

Right? It's like exactly this, right? It's just like, all the things you're picturing in your mind. And

Collin 1:19:29

there it is. Right, like, it gets whatever else those movies do. It gets this part. Really good. I think.

Brandon 1:19:41

I think it does a really good job with this

1:19:43

first chapter, in particular, right, like the rest of it, but like this part, it just nails it. Right? I think it does a really good job. It does. Yeah, and

Brandon 1:19:55

the other thing that I was gonna think about I got I lost my train of thought for a minute but like, like we're talking about through the expedition like this whole, like, the, the way that the expedition is presented to you? i My favorite part about it is that it is

Collin 1:20:09

it does not like, tell you

Brandon 1:20:13

just exactly everything that's happening, right? They'll tell you that it, it just sort of hints at other things that could be. Hmm, is like my favorite part about how Tolkien writes stuff. Right? Because this end of the Lord the rings to read like, because he has all of this background knowledge in his brain already, just like he has, you know, 1000s of years of history for did that happen before this moment? mapped out?

1:20:47

Yeah, he just will drop stuff in there. And like, as the reader, you're just like, what was that mean? But like, the characters know what that means. And like, he knows what that means. And then you get to go on the journey of discovering what it is. Right? So like,

Brandon 1:21:10

just this like really like bread crumb exposition. Yes. Is my I will add, I just love it so much. Right? Because it's, it's just moving the story along. Right? You are engaged because you have questions. And you want to know more about this, right? Like if this were the you're talking about like, oh, yeah, the dragon from the north, you're like, What?

Collin 1:21:29

What? Hold

Brandon 1:21:31

on? What do you mean dragon from the north? We

Collin 1:21:33

talking about? Right? Yeah. Like,

Brandon 1:21:37

you know, and like Gandalf and Thor and know exactly what they're talking about. But you know, Bilbo sitting there going, excuse me, but what? Like, it just is a way to introduce things to Ed, you just don't just doesn't show up in a lot of other places. You know, I mean, like this just really kind of bread crumbing, like not telling you everything, not hammering you over the head with? Oh, yeah, let me tell you every single exhausting detail about the things that happened

1:22:05

before this, like

Brandon 1:22:08

I like again, this just feels so comfortable. Because you can tell that the world is fully fleshed out, just by the way the characters are talking. You don't need anything else, right? Just the way that the characters are interacting and talking to each other tells you there is a bigger world outside of this hobbit hole

Collin 1:22:26

than what below knows about.

Brandon 1:22:30

And the fact that you are going to go with Bilbo to see some of it. And even though you're going to see some of it, you know that there's way more out there, then you're going to be able to see, right, that's just so interesting. It's an interesting way to do it. And I think a lot of other authors do this.

Collin 1:22:49

Right? And it's just it's refreshing,

Brandon 1:22:55

right? Because, again, the hammer and nail the 150 pages of exposition, like

1:23:01

I don't need that.

Brandon 1:23:04

Right? Like, I don't need that. I think that's just like to kind of draw parallel here. This is why like, I think this is why I really also like, the George RR Martin stuff, right? Because that book also just sort of start,

Collin 1:23:20

right? Like the Game of Thrones book, it just begins. Just does. And then like,

Brandon 1:23:27

as you go on through books and books, you just keep getting more and more and more pieces. And all the time, right? They don't He doesn't just sit there and like laborious ly layout everything

Collin 1:23:37

for you beforehand. Right? It just sort of starts that's what I love about

Brandon 1:23:44

I dives like that. That's that's the thing that I like and I have a hard time with. This is why I don't read a lot of like other fantasy books anymore because they do that.

Collin 1:23:54

Yeah, all the time yeah, that's, that's yeah. And I really appreciate

Brandon 1:24:08

just like now that we're kind of at the end of this first chapter, right? We have the I appreciate you can appreciate the symmetry here between this and the Lord of the Rings that we have. The first chapter is in The Hobbit is an unexpected party. And the first chapter in The Lord of the Rings is a long awaited party. Yeah, I like that

Collin 1:24:29

little joke there as we get like he's good he's good guy keep an eye on him. But yes, I Yeah. So to to progress the story along yeah Bilbo we get the sudden arrival of dwarves the telling of the tale and we have learned and discovered that they are in need of a burglar and as it turns out, that that is to be a Mister Mister elbow here. And he's he's very surprised by this. It's interesting too, because he's like,

Brandon 1:25:09

again, you have this confliction this, like, conflicting sides of him, like the back ends and like the tooth, right? Because they're, they're like, you know, oh, if you can't do it, he's like, I didn't say I couldn't do it. Right. I mean, wait, hold on. Wait, what? Like, yeah. Where he like, doesn't want to go. But he's also like, I could totally do that. And I was talking about like, it's

Collin 1:25:32

really funny. He's like, indignant that you're like, me? Like, oh, have you ever done it?

Brandon 1:25:39

No, but doubt me like, I

Collin 1:25:41

didn't. Yeah, that's what makes it really funny of his. Like, yeah, he's, he doesn't, he doesn't want to do it. But the part of proving them wrong is overriding the other aspects of, of him not wanting to do it. That's what makes it really funny of, of how he's struggling within himself about this. But at the same time, like, also not struggling because he, like, he wants to do it. Yes, it's just

Brandon 1:26:08

so that you get a little bit of that conflict here, too. But it's presented in a way that's like much more chill, right? It's not like, yeah, you're serious. It's just, it's

Collin 1:26:15

humorous. Right? Like, about that? Yeah. Another writer would have had him like, go through, like, trials and tribulations of torment, of figuring out who his true self was to go on this thing. And how, you know, he would have had some personal discovery in the night of some long who told thing of like, you know, you're supposed to do this. And he really was just like, no, like, Okay, fine. Like, yeah, I guess I'm going I get Yeah, yeah, sure. I'll do that. And I'll prove them wrong. And like, that's, that's pretty much all it is. Because he's stubborn, right? And he's just like, Okay, fine. And I, I liked that. Because, again, it's just like brisk, like, this first chapter is also extremely brisk of like, goofs, like, you're, you're you're in your dive, you're moving through, and you just you just go like, and nodded. Not to where it's too fast, or you don't understand what's going on. But it moves at a clip to get through this. Through this through this part of the tail. Yeah,

1:27:17

but I think it

Brandon 1:27:19

also kind of highlights that. Like, Bilbo is also feeling like a whirlwind of emotions, like really fast, because this is all like real quick, right? And he's like, Ah, so by the end of the chapter, he's still kind of like,

1:27:32

what's going on? Like, he's

Brandon 1:27:33

still very confused, because all this just like, happens immediately. And doesn't really he hasn't really processed what's going on. Because it's just like, bang, bang, bang, right? There's like a lot of information, but the way it's presented is so like, again, like just the talking between Gandalf and Borden. And, you know, you sort of forget that there's like 12 other people here half the time. It's fine, though. Don't worry about it. Like just kind of going and it's it's very, it's like it feels very natural. Right? Oh, yeah. This going on? But what do you mean? No, no, don't worry about that. We'll talk about it later. Like even though he's like, Oh, yeah. You know,

Collin 1:28:12

the way he's talking about

Brandon 1:28:15

like the Necromancer like, what's that? Or like, we gotta go there. And again, I was like, No, you don't want to do with that. Okay, anyway, back to the mountain. Like, yes. What we feel that, you know, Bilbo, there's like, busting off all these names of places and people stuff like, oh, yeah, we haven't gotten the Mauryan forever. And buildings just sort of sitting there just like watching them

Collin 1:28:41

like, yeah, happening. Yeah. As he's talking about, yeah, the plunders. And the, and then when that all of a sudden, like, now here's a real to true tale of a dragon coming in and destroying everything, right, and how they fleeing, you know, barely survived. And you know, and we are introduced to smug or smug or however you want to pronounce this.

1:29:06

Or whatever. Yeah.

Collin 1:29:08

And then there's this weird interaction between Thorin and Gandalf of like, Gandalf has this map and key suddenly and Lauren's like, Yeah, how'd you get that? It basically gave us kind of like, Never you mind. It was a pain enough to get here. You're welcome. Yeah,

Brandon 1:29:26

and I liked the part too. That's like, he's like, Well, how come you didn't give it to me? And he's like, What do you think I'm doing right now? Like when you have this interaction of him going, you know, if you were easier to find and I didn't even know where you were. So how can you be mad at me for not giving you something that I didn't even know where you're at? Calm down?

1:29:43

So exactly. It's funny, like,

Brandon 1:29:48

he's all indignant. A little bit like, This is mine. He's like, I know, so I'm giving it to you. It took me ages to find you, man.

Collin 1:29:58

Yes. Ah yeah. And then we end with it was Bilbo going to sleep with Thorin singing and part of the song couldn't he was worried about he's gonna have to wake up to make everybody breakfast like, I love again, it's like, just how, I guess not really. I don't want to say naive, but it naive, like he's going to bed after experiencing everything that he just experienced and learn, and he's going to be a burglar. And the thing that kind of kept him up was like, Oh, I'm gonna have to get everybody breakfast when they wake up in the morning. Like, it's, it's so funny how like, that's that's what he's stuck on.

Brandon 1:30:45

I mean, that's what his that's what he knows, though. Yeah. That's like how he was so flustered about like, he was so flustered. He forgot his manners. And that upset him about himself whenever the door started arriving. Yes. That is his, the that's the world that he knows and that he's comfortable in and he's trying to, like, he's still like I said, he hasn't processed all this was going on to he's still thinking about that stuff. Right? Like, I want to know if I have enough eggs. Right? Like it's

Collin 1:31:22

so it'll be Yeah, it's it's good. And it sets us up for a lot of adventures coming. So that's indeed true. Okay. Well, do you have any other any other takeaways from, from from book from this from this chapter so far?

Brandon 1:31:42

No, I think I've pretty much said everything I was thinking about for this chapter. Okay, I think we're pretty good

Collin 1:31:49

on that one. Okay. Well, we will, we will tackle

Brandon 1:31:54

chapter two, you want to chapter two and three before next time? Or when you have time as you probably so right. I think two or three be fine because they're not super long. No. It's like 30 Some pages and you know, chapter three is called a short rest. I feel like that's a good place to feel like that's a good like, stopping bar right there. So, yeah, that'll be fine. Okay.

Collin 1:32:20

Okay. Perfect. Perfect. We'll make that note here. And just as the fly is starting to come out and bother me. No, no, we're out there. Okay, very good. Well, I'm excited about this. Yes. Okay, love you.

Brandon 1:32:42

Love you. Bye.