This is Lightly Used with Adam and Karen. Hello,
I'm Adam. I think I might be Barbara. Oh, hello,
Babs! Alright, my lovely. Episode 40 of Lightly
Used. The big 4 -0. I know, we should be getting
real naughty, right? That's what a 40's are for.
Well, I've got a personal anniversary I'd like
to celebrate. Ooh! It's been about 20 years,
end of March, since my first podcast. No way!
Yeah. Back in the day, I used to be on local
radio a little bit. Very, very local radio. A
very, very little bit. But on my Christmas Eve
show in 2005, it was on Bridge FM. I used to
do the evening show there for a little bit. They
let me bring on my two other radio friends. It
was Paul Saunders and Hannah Lewis. Hannah, who was
the newsreader, and Paul, who I met at The Wave
in Swansea. And when I got sacked from there,
he took over my overnight show. So I was happy.
If anyone has them - mate - At least it's him.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm glad you got the extra
income. Fair play. Paul introduced me to podcasting.
He edited out all the songs that we played in
the radio show and that became our first podcast.
Oh, that's fun. I think he released that in around
about March 2006. Wow. All those many, many,
many, many moons ago. I was a bit of a naysayer.
Explain it to me. It's just a radio program,
but without music. It's talk radio, but not on
the radio. What's the casting bit? It's just
to record it, yes. Right, now I understand. A
lot less complicated than I thought. The earliest
remnants are on the Wayback Machine. Nice. 13th
of June 2006, and that screen grab is episode
11. So I'm guessing around about March 2006.
So happy pod-iversary to me. Happy pod-iversary
to you indeed. I'm not volunteering any of these
shows because... I'm not putting 20 and 25 -year
-old me, or however old I was at the time, out
onto today's internet. Fuck that. No, no. 20
-year -old me is in the vault. Opinions of the
time. Yeah, yeah. He was an absolute dick, okay?
We can both agree on that. You don't need the
proof. 20 -year -old me was a dick too. If you
do find it, keep it to yourself, okay? It was
a bit of virtually everything, or above. Nice,
like an acronym. That was from 2006 to late 2007,
possibly early 2008. Oh, you were on for quite
a while then. 59 episodes. Nice. And two bonus
episodes. Two bonus episodes was after my birthday.
We came back to my flat and we did a drunk recording
in the front room. And we split that into two
episodes. The second one. It wasn't as good.
It was later on in the same recording session.
Yeah, it got to the point where the alcohol had
taken over. Yeah, it was not being funny. And
then it was Interrobang. It was the second podcast
that was maybe early, mid -2008 to sometime in
2009, 69 episodes. It was me and Hannah, then
me and Ed Parnell, who does our introduction,
and he's the voice of our show. Adam and Karen
have been lightly used. That is Mr. Parnell,
and I am happy every time I hear him. I'm eternally
grateful to you, so cheers, Ed. You're a man.
I honestly had no idea how much... you'd done
before. I mean, I knew you'd done podcasting,
but like, you've thrown out a couple of hundred
episodes. Thanks for glossing over the 15 year
gap of no podcasting at all. I didn't think that
that was important. Still, that's 20 years of
podcasting. That doesn't count the fact that
most of it wasn't podcasting. Still. Sorry, I
just hit the mic then. Sorry. You've done a lot
more of this than you let people know in general,
including me. I'm like, hang on a second. I didn't
even know you had a second podcast. I think you
played me some snippets from above back in the
day. Maybe just the smallest bit to hear my radio
voice from back in the day. Posh Adam. Yeah.
Hey, Radio Voice, Adam, I had to do that live
show, the fundraiser. That's very true. Radio
Me came back out. Good to be here. Yeah, yeah.
Radio You came out. No support from me whatsoever.
You did extremely well. Slightly higher pitched
and more enthusiastic version of me. That's Radio
Me. I love it. It's great. Playing the big hits.
I don't think any station that I worked on had
that strapline. I don't know where that came
from. Playing the biggest hits, the most bangingest
tunes. The bacon to your butty. I think one of
the best ones was The Wave. At some point, I'm
sure the strapline was South Wales' biggest hits.
Oh. We said the last bit first. Nice. Made a
point. And then nobody ever enunciated the last
bit particularly well. I don't think that's...
I think it changes South Wales' best music. I
don't think that was a long -lived strapline,
if I recall. Funny that. Funny, funny. I can't
remember whether that was an official one or
just something like, yeah, we're some mostly
male presenters. Hey, good morning. All of you
guys from the 2000s guying yourselves up on the
radio. That's why you're not hearing my podcast.
That's fair. Because that was... We didn't have
to comply with any rules for that. That's true.
It was so early in the day that, you know, having
a few listeners back then was like mega. We were
on iTunes featured podcasts a couple of times
and we made the top 10 overall iTunes charts
in the UK and fairly regularly in the UK top
10 comedy podcasts. There weren't many podcasts
to choose from 20 years ago. I think Johnny Vaughan
and Denise Van Outen on Capital FM were also
next. There's a screen grab of... Our podcast
next to theirs on iTunes front page. That's brilliant.
Rubbing shoulders. That's really cool. I like
that. That's awesome. Good story. Happy podiversary
to you. Thank you very much. What have you been
up to? I have been watching Wakatakakake. Absolutely.
Sumo season's back. Sumo season is back. The
Grand Sumo March Tournament in Osaka. She's probably
finished now. or we'll finish tomorrow from when
we're recording this. Date doesn't really matter.
It's been excellent. I've really enjoyed it.
I think the channel that I watch it on is NHK
Japan on YouTube. They do like a 30 -minute roundup
of the day with all the bouts, all the top -level
bouts. I think it's the Japanese National Broadcasting
Company, I think. Yes, it is indeed. Well done,
good sir. Excellent knowledging there. Godzilla's
taken down their tower hundreds of times. So,
yeah, so quick updates, I guess. Wakatakakage...
was when i wrote my notes he was six and five
over 11 days so he was up one but i think he's
won a few more since then i think he might be
eight and five now oh um who was my guy who won
the emperor's trophy in january has absolutely
had his ass handed to him by just about everybody
he was in line for promotion to No, it's gone.
So yeah. He's at the top of his class. He is
at the top of his division, his class. And if
he had won, I think he needed to win 10 bouts
in March to be promoted to the next superior
level of sumo. So to put it in. Vague. British
sportsman, is he facing relegation? He's not
facing relegation. He was facing promotion, but
he won't be relegated. He's going to be mid -table.
But he's just not getting promoted. Yeah, no
promotion for Anishke, which is a real shame.
That close. Yeah. Ura, so U -R -A is how you
spell his name, really... It's just the happiest
sumo wrestler. His profile photo, when they bring
it up for the matches and they give you their
stats, it's just this, like, lovely smiley face.
He's so happy and beautiful. And he's got this
gorgeous skin. Like, oh, he's so pretty. And
he wears a pink Mawashi. remembered that one
um and then he's got these big like straps that
he has on his legs he's from osaka so the crowd
are like yeah come on come on come on i think
when he retires he will have women down the road
waiting to marry him and have his babies he's
actually a third generation successful grand
sumo wrestler his grandfather did really well
and his father before him as well so ura is third
gen ass kicker so when he retired did he get
put out to stud You're bringing the fourth gent,
come on. Yeah, I'm pretty sure sumo wrestlers,
I might be completely wrong. Please correct me
if I am wrong. In fact, I might go and do some
reading after this and correct myself in the
next episode. But from my very poor knowledge
and guesswork, sumo wrestlers are not allowed
to get married and have children until after
they retire. That's a way of life. They're not
supposed to have anything to do. They live in
stables, you know, whilst they're competing.
Is there a documentary about this we should be
a lot more aware of? I imagine there are plenty.
I might do some Googling and do some actual learning
about sumo because I really love it. But I also
know on the flip side of it being incredible
and these huge strong men of... gargantuan proportions
being able to pull off the most incredible physical
feats whilst trying to stop themselves being
pushed out of a ring one of the younger sumo
wrestlers had to withdraw from the tournament
before it started his name is muduri fuji he's
29 years old and he had a heart attack holy crap
he's been in hospital with fluid on his lungs
um for Three weeks, I think, now. And I did read
a very small story where one of the other sumo
wrestlers has said, yeah, he really should stop
smoking before he goes out and has a bout because
it's not doing him any favours. So I don't think
Midori Fuji potentially... is the fittest example
of a sumo wrestler. From what I gather, smoking
is a big part of Japanese culture. Yes, yeah,
I believe it is. So, I mean, you know, I'm not
judging him, but yeah, 29 years old in pretty
much in intensive care because his heart and
lungs are packing in and that's really sad. So
there is a dark side to sumo, but I genuinely
appreciate it for its beauty and it's just like...
absolute insanity it is a feat of human endurance
to take part in a match i've seen just clips
yeah this is gonna sound crass but you know nature
documentaries the walrus it's that just the amount
of mass of people smashing and but with technical
expertise involved as well so it's oh fuck's
sake yeah and it's a clash i mean and sometimes
it really really is i mean you know they're both
on their their start lines and when they go into
to start The sumo. I can't remember what the
name of that is. There is a specific name. There
are various techniques. You can go for a lunge,
a grab. You can jump to the side. Some guys go
straight in with the head. Straight in with the
head onto the other guy's head. And you can hear
them. bashing themselves together. And I'm like,
how do you not have brain damage? It's like mountain
goats. And then they can spend anywhere between,
like, four seconds, is probably the shortest
much I've ever seen, to a couple of minutes pushing
each other around. They're both, you know, some
of these guys are 120 kilos, some of them are,
like, 150, 180 kilos. Like, that's a lot of person
to push around whilst you're also pushing yourself
around being a lot of person. Do you have to
wear, like, a weighted... What's shogi? What's
it called? Mawashi. Oh, damn it. You were so
close. Do you have to wear a weighted Mawashi?
No. Like jockeys having their weight penalty.
No, no, it's not like jockeying. They just accept
that they're all in the same division and there
are weight and height differences, you know.
Between A to B, in this range. Bitty to see you're
in the next class up and so on. I did see an
interesting match. I can't remember who it was
between. But one of the guys had his hand on
the rear strap of the Mawashi of the other wrestler.
And it had come undone. The knot had come undone.
So the referee went over to them mid -wrestle,
put his hands on their shoulders, and they have
to stand. perfectly still, while the referee
then goes and reties the Mawashi. And then he
will let them carry on again. But the ref has
to put the guy's hands in exactly the same place.
It's so technical. But yeah, absolutely fascinating.
And so the discipline involved with the fighters,
no, you exactly freeze. Yeah, and they are really
disciplined and they tend to come across as very
humble. Don't know if that's how they're... Could
be cultural. I don't know if it's cultural, if
that's what they're told that they have to come
across as, but they're all very gracious. They're
asked questions like, you know, how do you feel
about your win today? Oh, I'm very grateful and
I appreciate the fans and I hope that they enjoyed
it. So there's no macho man Randy Savage. Absolutely
none. The egos are under so much control that
it only comes out in the ring. And that's another
reason that I love it. There's no bad mouth in
each other, no slap in each other. Actually,
there are some slaps, but once they're in the
ring. Technical slaps. Yeah, technical slaps.
But yeah, I just love sumo. probably next episode,
there'll be a roundup of who actually won the
Emperor's Trophy. And no sort of shit -talking
before the match, like boxes and stuff like,
oh, I'm going to come and eat your family and
all that crap. None of that. Right, the match
will speak for itself. Yeah. There's a dignity
in that. The worst thing they do to each other
is... Wedgie. ...is get into a staring lockout
when they're getting ready to go. And, like,
they will... lock in until one of them is forced
to break connection of the of eye line of eyesight
and there was one bout this week where these
two guys were just like i'm just gonna fucking
stare at you mate i'm just gonna stare at you
i'm gonna stare i am staring into the deep dark
depths of your soul that sounds great and it's
like yes that's how you psych people out you
go I know I can beat you and I just have to look
at you for you to know that. Yeah. And it's like,
yeah, I appreciate that. I don't need any of
this, like, bravado and blah, blah, blah, blah,
blah. Oh, that's also going to ask with the ref
adjusting the... Mawashi? Going to combine the
both times. Wamashi? Yeah, pretty much. Mawashi.
Did they bring screens or something? No, no,
no screen. No, because it hadn't fallen off.
It was just the knot at the back that secured
it. It was just the knot at the back that secured
the back strap. So the ref saved everybody's
dignity. I mean, not that there's much being
hidden. It's literally just to gooch the balls.
You've got the freedom to move without... yeah
with broadcasters losing their license let's
leave it at that that's the one but yeah love
it love simo glad it's back uh more updates to
follow and then probably again in may because
it seems to be there's a tournament every other
month and i will try and put a link to highlight
in the vlog yeah i'll send you a i'll send you
a couple of youtube videos of like bouts of the
day and you can put those on because those are
good they're only like two and a half minutes
long so people can watch those uh oh what else
have i been up to um oh i bought myself a mobility
scooter i have bought myself the rattliest old
bird i possibly could have found but i was on
a budget and i cannot afford to pay the Minimum
£1 ,000 to £1 ,500 for a brand new scooter that
comes to pieces and would fit in the boot of
my car. So I did a bit of shopping around and
I found Red Dragon scooters in Gowerton. Not
too far. My old stomping ground. Yeah, not too
far from there. And they had like this. bat cave
almost full of scooters likely used scooters
some of them lightly used some of them extremely
heavily used and some of them unused i think
the one that i have purchased is edging slightly
more towards the heavily than the lightly used
just used but yeah very used but the battery's
got excellent life and i've been around town
twice on it and not had to charge it it's still
half full so that's really good so i've had like
What, three miles out of it? Just dossing about
around town, getting some fresh air and... I'm
not sure what the range is meant to be, if that's
good or bad. I think it's a... Hmm, that's a
good question. I feel like, brand new, it would
probably be about 12 kilometres. So what's that,
eight miles? I've failed maths twice. Meh, anyway.
So, yeah, I bit the bullet because I've been
really struggling and I've been feeling like
my independence has been going a little bit...
So I thought, I'm going to get myself a battered
old scooter to rattle around town on so that
I can get out on the days where my legs don't
work very well or my back is particularly bad
or I'm too exhausted to go for a walk, but I
desperately want some fresh air. And so that's
what I've done. I spent 250 quid on this little
old rascal that I think I'm going to call Bertha
because she's a rattly green machine. Lovely
Bertha. I have genuinely... Driven around town
with a massive smile on my face, regardless of
the fact that it rattles on every little bump
or whatever. It's just brilliant. Does it just
need some screws tightening up? It might do.
I mean, the suspension might need a tweak as
well. But, you know, it's my first step into
using powered mobility aids, as Adam knows. And
as some listeners know, because they know me,
I generally mobilize outside with a walking stick.
I don't very often go out without it. And if
I do, it's probably to put a bin bag out and
I can't carry a stick and a bin bag at the same
time. And it is a very funky, bright green aluminium.
Yes, I do have. I've got two very nice walking
sticks. I've got a bright green one that lives
in the car. And then I've got a sort of silvery
blue marbly coloured one that lives in my flat.
With a squishy handle. With a squishy handle
and a ferrule and they both glow. So I can see
it in the dark, which is really handy. But yeah,
I genuinely enjoyed just pootling around town
and... You found a bit of independence? Yeah.
Or regained? Not being absolutely wiped out and
exhausted just from walking to the market, which
from where I live, it's less than a five minute
walk, which is pretty rubbish. That gives you
an idea of how happy you are with the scooter
there. Yeah, I absolutely love it. And at some
point I will... Trade it in for a newer model
of something. But it has convinced me that having
some sort of wheels with an electric motor is
something that would really improve my quality
of life. Oh, we've got to go down in your basement
car park and film us having a go on this. Oh,
can we? Yeah. That might be the only time you
ever see me on it. Because it's like, I've just
got to get over myself and all of that. Yeah,
watch this space for... crazy, rascal videos
on the YouTube channel. Who knows? Yeah, we'll
be hooning it around one of the stanchions. Yeah,
we will. But yeah, it's great. I love it. I'm
really pleased. Excellent. I'm pleased for you.
Yeah, thank you. I appreciate that. I'm glad
it's made a big difference and only cost, what,
10 % of the other one? Yeah. That's piss -takingly
expensive. And also, yours looks like a scooter
should, as opposed to somebody made it in this
shed. Or it's... something from maybe the 1980s.
Yeah. It did look kind of dated, but the closer
pictures you could see, it's absolutely modern.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It looks like you're in a more
comfortable seat in your actual scooter, not
the tube frame folding. yeah the e -folding is
the one that you're talking about the one that
i sent you a link for it's a little trikes quite
sort of a low profile thing up into a suitcase
sort of yeah it does when you can get them to
work i was talked out of buying one this week
as well i met a lady who bought one for her husband
who he was refusing to use for various reasons
get me her an offer um i've got her phone number
I'm not stupid. I'll see how I get on with this
one, but yeah. Yeah, yeah. Because I was like,
oh, I'm so glad I walked into the shop when you're
here with your e -foldy because I was looking
at getting one of these and the woman was like,
don't. I was like, why? She's like, I've not,
she's like, all I've been able to do with it.
is take it from the car to the front door, from
the front door to the car. She's like, I've not
been able to use it because it won't fold or
unfold. She was having issues with it anyway.
Maybe there's a neck that she just doesn't have
and it could be an absolute bargain for yourself.
Yeah, and I mean, that's a £2 ,600 scooter. To
her it was, not to you. To her it was. I mean,
I might drop her a text in a couple of weeks
and ask her how she's doing. We had a lovely
chat. Try before you buy as well. Yeah, yeah.
I'll be like, oh, can I rent it off you? And
now you've got something to compare it to. Yeah.
And I'll be like, give me your bank details and
I'll send you £100 a month until I've paid it
off. I genuinely would as well, to be quite honest.
But yeah, I've sort of been talked out one of
those. But yeah, the Rascal is fantastic. I'm
really pleased with it. It's not cool. It's not
sexy. It is officially a granny wagon. But I'm
good with it. It's functional. It does what it's
meant to do. It's transportation. Yeah, I am
at peace with knowing that I'm going to have
fun when I sit on that trolley. You just need
to get some lights from Halford for it or something.
Yeah, I might wrap it. I might get myself some
swanky vinyl wrap and wrap it. That's surprisingly
expensive. And, you know, yeah, do some Vespa
lights at the front. Like 7 ,000 headlights at
the front of it. A quadrophenia look. Yeah, yeah,
but powered off a separate battery, obviously,
otherwise I'd never get anywhere. Mod squad chesters.
Yeah, that's me. Obviously. No, I'm that cool.
Are you starting a fight down in Brighton? No,
just down the seafront. Just down the seafront.
The battery will get you to Brighton. Yeah. Sorry,
I mean, that's enough scooper chat, but if you've
been in a similar position to me where you are
wondering whether to get on or not, Get one and
see what happens. Rent one for a day. If you
have a laugh and you have more energy and you
can enjoy your existence more, then maybe think
about investing. Definitely try before you buy
and have a go of all the functions by the sound
of it. Yeah, definitely play with every model
in every shop that you're allowed to sit on because
they're all very different. Don't go for the
first one. Have a compare. Unless you get an
absolute bargain. Yeah, absolutely. In which
case, too good to say no. Yeah, and if it's a
bargain and you hate it in six months, you should
trade it in against something else. Yeah, yeah.
Because it's still a relatively new scooter.
And I guess unless you need one, you're not going
to be going out there looking just for the sake
of it. Yeah. Well, unless we have a go in it
and it turns out to be super fun, then I might
go. I would love to race you around town on a
pair of scooters. We should go to the mobility
shop and get the red burgundy ones that they
have there. You can rent them out for like a
tenner a day. I've been looking into it. How
do you remove the limiter? Speaking of... Is
it like a go -kart? Speaking of, mine is stuck
at eight miles an hour. Oh, it does sound dangerous.
It doesn't do anything slowly at all. Can't modulate
the throttle at all. I have crashed it several
times in the building, not outside. I've not
run anybody over. Oh, it does zero as well as
eight. Yes, it does. It does stopping on a dime.
Does it reverse the same speed as you? Oh, yes,
it reverses at eight miles an hour as well. Oh,
then just pull a Nissan Leaf. Yay! Oh, it's insane.
I love it. But, yeah, everyone, buy yourself
a mobility scooter. They're genuinely fantastic.
Again, try it before you buy it. It's the only
speed top speeder. 80 miles an hour doesn't sound
much. If you're trying to just inch into a lift
around a doorway. I know. Or, say, around a charity
shop, for instance. Oh, like the YMCA where I
knocked all the clothes down the other day. I
wasn't going to go into specifics. I'm dangerous.
What can I say? I'm danger Karen. Watch out.
There's no better way to be. One last thing before
we move on to actual segments because we've been
chatting for half an hour. Did I say 30 minutes?
Holy poo. We're saying 30 minutes. That's what
it shows in the recorder. Dear listener. It might
be seven. It'll be the time it is on your playback
device. Seven minutes of cohesive chat that Adam
has edited perfectly. This isn't likely used
in the use of 30 minutes. I know. I'm sorry.
All right. One last thing. Close your eyes. Very
inefficient of me. Hold your hands out. Hold
both your hands out. Is this early tat in the
box? No. This is edible. Oh. One for your left.
One for your right. Oh, thank you. Merry Podiversary
Easter stuff. I've got a square box in one hand.
Yes. Oh, is this an Easter egg? Congratulations.
And a cup noodle? Yes. Oh, a sweet and sour.
I know. Limited edition. I spotted them in Morrison's
the other day. That's a funky colour purple.
I know. I was like, oh, I've not seen the sweet
and sour ones before. So they're Nishin Sober
Noodles in a cup. We like them, various flavours
of them, and they've brought out a limited edition
sweet and sour, so I bought Adam one and myself
one. And if you are a noodle aficionado... A
noodle -anado. We don't rip off cheap show enough.
These are also vegan. That's all I was going
to say. Oh, really? I did not know they were
vegan. You can enjoy them. If you're that way
inclined or your body is that way inclined, whether
you want to be or not. Yeah, good point. Oh,
and mini eggs. Thank you very, very much. Happy
Easter. Happy Pod-5iversary. Happy Saturday. Thank
you. You're welcome. Got you nothing. That's
fine. You give me cups of tea and rummy baths.
That's always a gift enough. I've got off lightly
there. Lightly used. Forgot to say what we're
doing in the show today. Oh yeah, that would
help. On the way next, the further adventures
of Johnny Turnip in Lightly Used News. We're
going to close our eyes and try and work out
each other's mystery items in Tat in the Box.
No game today. And I have a book. Oh, and we
do have a bibliotheque to end the show. We do.
And it'll be a nice quick one. You'll be so happy.
You and the listeners. That's all on the way
between now and whatever your pod player says
is how long the show lasts. That's the one. Yeah.
Yeah. Precise. Hot off the press from Monday
the 30th of September 2024. Oof, scorching! From
the pages of the Abergavenny Chronicle by Tim
Butters. Abergavenny Man claims Pembrokeshire
is home to a lost civilisation. From the legendary
lost city of Zed to the fabled island of Atlantis.
The rumours of ancient civilisations have tantalised
and tormented truth -seekers, adventurers and
rum -swilling buccaneers for centuries. And now,
an Abergavenny man believes he has discovered
evidence that points to a lost civilisation that
once existed in Pembrokeshire. At first, all
roads pointed towards Saundersfoot, explained
semi -professional paranormal investigator Johnny
Turnip. To my mind, there's always been something
suspect and fishy about that place. But it turns
out the kingdom of mermaids and mermen that we
were seeking lay in what is now 10b. Turnip told
Chronicle, Of course, we're talking thousands
and thousands of years ago. But what most people
don't realise is that the island of ours was
once a different shape, and a large part of South
Pembrokeshire, from freshwater west to 10b, was
once underwater. As far as I can assert him,
the kingdom of mermen stretched from what is
now Manabeer to 10b. Turnip added, That's a crazy
story I know, but I've no reason to doubt the
man in the pub at Wise Man's Bridge. Turnip said,
Just as dawn was breaking and the locking was
coming to an end, the man who went by the name
of Step Aside Sammy Jr. gave me a map that leads
to a special seashell that was once sacred to
the Kingdom of Myrrh. Step Aside Sammy told me
that once I have the shell, I can use it to summon
a mermaid, make her cry, and use her tears to
restore balance to the world. At the start of
the quest, I didn't realise it was going to be
this easy, but thankfully it looks like me and
the boys are on the right track. Turnip revealed
that after travelling from Tenby to Abergavenny
on their mission to find a mermaid for the triple
goddess, they initially hit something of a brick
wall. Tenby's a great drinking town, explained
Turnip, particularly for among the Shemen. Because
it's at sea level, there's a lot more oxygen
down there. They're mountain men like us are
used to. And all the O2 is great for hangovers,
which meant that we could eat crab and drink
red wine to our heart's content. If we felt a
bit shaky in the morning, we could have a dip
in North Bay, followed by a full English and
a couple of shandies to set us up for the day.
The only trouble is, the day usually revolved
around a steady pub crawl. It lasted until the
early hours and usually ended with me, Big Tony
and Puerto Rico Paul running naked through the
surf in South Beach, re -enacting that scene
in Rocky III, with Balboa and Apollo Creed frolicking
in the waves. By week two, we decided to get
our heads glued on and down to business. So instead
of the usual afternoon session at the Hope and
Anchor, we decided to hop on the bus to Saundersfoot
and take the walk from Hobbit Hall to Wise Man's
Bridge. The idea was that the CA would clear
our heads and help us hatch a strategy to catch
a mermaid. Once we had a definite plan, we could
celebrate with a pint or two of something mild
at the Wise Man's pub. Turnip told the Chronicle
that as they walked, Puerto Rico Paul was beginning
to show evident signs of alcohol withdrawal.
It had been a heavy week, explained Turnip. And
Paul's bipolarity was probably a little bruised
from all the binge drinking. He started ranting
about how much he identified with seagulls and
how he should move to the coast because it was
his spiritual home. I saw Big Tony's nostrils
flare when he said that, but I kept my own counsel.
Paul was about to have one of his episodes and
was best left to talk himself out. The thing
is, boys, he said. I once had the chance to move
to Swansea, but that place is far too coarse
and vulgar for my liking. It's all fake tans,
crap tattoos, steroids, Botox, and people who
think they can surf. Barry Island's far too many
James Corden associations, and Porthcawl attracts
too many Ebbw Vale types. Oh, Gmore's okay, but
who wants to live that close to Bridgend? No,
I think when you're used to the civilising influence
of a place like Monmouthshire, only Pembrokeshire
will do for the seaside getaway. It's the kind
of county I think my Simon Le Bon tribute act
will go down well. Turn about it. After delivering
the sermon on seaside towns in Wales, Paul fell
silent and gazed out to sea as we walked. Without
looking at me, he said, What's the point in all
this, JT? The point in what, Paul? I said patiently
as Big Tony shook his head and gritted his teeth
like a dog. All of it! shouted Paul as he flung
his arms wide. Mermaids, fairies, King Arthur's
burial place. What exactly are we chasing here?
Is any of it real? Are we just slaves to substance
abuse and personality disorders? That's enough
of that talk, girl big Tony. Why? shouted Paul.
Look at us. We're men in their late forties with
nothing to show for our lives but a series of
broken relationships, dead -end jobs and unrealised
dreams. That's the bipolar talking, Paul, I said.
I don't call repeatedly saving the world a dead
-end job. Your trouble is, there's always been
a part of you that wants to clip your wings and
get in line. If you want to be a domestic dog,
obediently sitting at your master's table and
waiting for a bone in the pat on the head, you
might guess, but that's not who you really are,
and you need to remember that. Then what the
hell are we, JT? He screamed in my face. We're
the men they couldn't hang, Paul, I said. The
bandits on the borderline, the last of the Apaches.
When we're gone, who will dare dream the dreams
we've dreamt and live the lives we've led? We're
the men who couldn't be bought, because to the
world we're worthless, but what we've got is
priceless, and that's one another's backs until
the end of time. Well, at least until last orders.
So romantic. Appealing to Paul's poetic nature,
manic duality always worked wonders. In an instant,
he went from despondent to delirious and roared.
Hell yes! The things we've seen and done are
far too big for a social media update! They'll
write songs about them! Forgetting completely
about our need to hatch a plan to capture a mermaid,
we walked triumphantly to the pub to celebrate
her brilliance while singing Freebird by Lynyrd
Skynyrd. Yet, as it turns out, visiting the pub
was a fortuitous piece of luck, because it was
at the Wise Man's Bridge we met Step Aside Sammy
Jr., who told us all about the Kingdom of Myrrh.
All of a sudden, catching a real -life mermaid
didn't seem all that impossible. And if we were
lucky, we might just be able to catch a handful
and sell a few on eBay. Nice. Turnip added, as
the unmistakable and iconic opening drum burst
of Tommy Gunn by the Clash came on the jukebox,
Puerto Rico pulled down his pint, grinned demonically
and said, I think we're going to need a bigger
aquarium, boys. To be continued. And all of Turnip's
tales have been compiled into a book by Tim Butters.
The Manifest Trials and Tribulations of Johnny
Turnip. It's available on Amazon and you'll find
the link on the show blog at lightlyused .co
.uk. It is time for... Tat in the box, tat in
the box. Tat in the box, tat in the box. Tat
in the box, tat in the box. Tat in the box. Tat
in the box. There is Tat in our boxes. Oh, I
wanted to press the button. Tat in the box, Tat
in the box. Oh, Valentino. Tat in the box, Tat
in the box. I really appreciate that Valentino
did. Yeah, I really appreciate that he did it.
But, Valentino, I'm so sorry if this gets back
to you, which it probably will. He's always listening.
I actually really like singing the jingle, so
I appreciate the gift, but stop it. Well, I was
struggling to ask for a favour. I know, we all
know. It's okay. Tap in the box! Yay! So my eyes
are closed, my arms are, my hands are out. I'm
standing for a change this episode. You are.
He's almost in a squat. I have to be a bit lower
than the microphone, otherwise I'll be sticking
my face and bumping it around when I'm trying
to guess. Guess what? There's a caveat. Oh. You
will know exactly what kind of item this is as
soon as you touch it. Oh, I forgot to say, I
don't have a donation item. Oh, neither do I.
Oh, no, well, I do, but I've decided not to do
it because you haven't got one. Oh, solidarity.
Thank you. Yeah, so here's my actual tat. It
is on the table in front of you. Oh, there it
is. It's a mug. Congratulations. What is a mug
made of? It's got a very, very thick base. It's
glass. It is indeed glass. It's a tankard. It
is a tankard. And I can't remember which tankards
you've got. You won't know this one because I
bought it this week. I wasn't sure from the podcast
you've been on. Had one of them given you a tankard?
No, unfortunately. Although Matt, Mr. Matt of
A Pint of Cthulhu, I would have really liked
one of those Cthulhu horn mugs. They'll teach
you to send them to a visual podcast. Yeah, send
them to us instead. Don't give them to the hoboes.
They don't appreciate it. I was listening to
Cthulhu and Chill episode two. All right. And
towards the end of the episode, Matt was checking
his texts. Norton said, we haven't forgotten
about you. We're really busy. Oh, that's cool.
It's still in the pipeline. That's excellent.
I was of the impression that it wasn't something
that was going to come to fruition, but I really
hope that it does for them because that would
be so fun. Matt must be so chuffed that he's
got Norton's phone number. He must be absolutely
fucking landed. I can't work out what design
is on it, but there is something screen printed
on there. There is design, but I can't feel what
it is. The relief is too small and I... Wouldn't
be able to guess it. That's quite all right.
You can open your eyes. You said it's a glass
tankard. It is indeed a glass tankard. It's a
camera one. Swansea Bay Beer Festival 2011. The
campaign for real ale with Brains Brewery. That
is the one. And I found two of them. So one is
yours and one is mine. Cheers. So these were
two pounds each. I think they're what? Half a
pint? Yeah. Half pint to line. Oh, yeah. Yeah,
of course. I've got a bit of a sticker stuck
over my... So, yeah, half pint glass tankard
with a nice wide flared base. Oh, thank you.
I'm just going straight on the fetch. The print
is a line drawing, really, of the Brangwyn Hall
with the clock tower. It says Swansea Bay Beer
Festival 2011 around it. There were actually
probably 10 or 15 of these from different years,
but 2011 was the only one where they had matching.
Oh. And I was like... Oh, because we're girlfriend
and boyfriend and we've got to have matching.
So we've got matching mugs because I'm a sad,
sad cow. Do you remember any of the other designs
on them? They were all very similar, but they
were different colours. It wasn't just the Brangwyn
Hall, they were just landmarks around Swansea.
No, so some of them, they were all of the Brangwyn
Hall. Oh, that's kind of boring. Because I think
the Brangwyn Hall came into being with the campaign
for real ale. Swansea Beer Festival around 2010
-2011. And they've been held in Brangwyn since
then. Oh, that makes sense. Prior to that, they
were held in the Patty Pavilion, which is not
very far away from the Brangwyn Hall. And if
you've listened to a recent I'm So Not Over It
podcast with Gareth and Esselstyn... They mentioned
Challenge Annika and I sent in a letter, sent
in a letter, an email. Because it's the 1990s.
I sent a letter into telly. They read my name
out on the radio. I still got oddly excited.
They read my email out about Annika Rice. doing
the roof of the patty filly of one challenge.
Don't know whether it was successful or not.
And some other boring facts and how to tell little
and all the apart, which is something they pondered.
I need to listen to that episode. I'm a little
bit behind. Esilth gives it, I'm not going to
say anymore, exactly the reaction all the information
deserves. Esilth is one of my absolute audio
heroes. The most infectious laugh in podcasting,
I think. Yeah. Closely followed by me. Thanks
for the compliment, love. But no, she is the
most charismatic laugh and way more famous than
me, obviously. Clearly, I'm not famous. Yeah,
she's ace. And I obviously love Gareth, too.
And I send him random messages every now and
then. And he's like, oh, God, Adam's girlfriend's
messaging me again. I'm sure that's what goes
through his head. But he's always very polite
and gets back to me. He's lovely. It is lovely.
I'd like to meet them both at some point if we
could arrange it. It doesn't even have to be
a podcast thing, just a pint. A big pod nod for
I'm so not over it and link will be in the description.
But sorry, Paddy Pavilion was where they used
to hold the festivals prior to Brangwyn Hall.
That's it. And prior to the Paddy Pavilion, they
held it in the Ostream Centre in Mumbles, which
is on the main drag going through Mumbles towards
the... white rose end oh yeah on the right hand
side uh near the posh bakery i think and they
do lots of like craft sales and things in there
now i think it might there might be a small library
in there i'm not sure never actually been in
we need to go back down to mumbles but it's absolutely
the wrong time of year in summer as soon as the
sun comes out as soon as the sun comes out you
do not go to the mumbles and you do not go to
gower it's you get stuck behind a million cars
that are stuck behind Seven caravans. It's easily
going to be two hours in traffic from Gowerton.
Yeah. To the Gower, sorry. Yeah, to the Gar.
The Gar. The Gar. The Gar. UK's first place of
outstanding natural beauty. Yeah. Is it really?
Pop fact, yeah. Oh, I thought that was the Lake
District. No, we beat them. oh nice i might have
dreaded that to say whales only i'll have to
check sorry that's how the sausage gets made
yeah it comes out how it comes out it's fact
until it's not no i'm too lazy staying in as
it is so i'll just give you a little bit of history
about the swansea bay Beer Festival. It's actually
the Swansea Bay Beer and Cider Festival. It's
usually held on August bank holiday and is organised
by the Swansea and Neath branch of CAMRA, which
is... Campaign for Real Ale. Thank you, sir,
says it on the back of the glasses. They have
been celebrating this particular festival for
over 35 years and it offers a wide selection
of real ale, ciders and peris from Wales and
beyond, typically supported by live music and
local breweries. History and background. While
the current camera branch was restarted in 1986,
the festival has evolved over 35 years into one
of the largest in the area, according to Yahoo
News UK. How old is that data? And Travel Gumbo.
Don't even know who they are. Yahoo is still
going. They do just repurpose news from other
sites. Oh, I got the... The order of the building
is the wrong way around. It started in the patty,
then it went to the Ostrom, and then it went
to the Brangwyn Hall. Where it still is today.
Where it still is today, and will be on August
Bank Holiday 2026, which is the next one. Any
friends of Real Alien Wales? Get along. Yeah.
Say we sent you. Actually... They won't know
what you're talking about, but that makes it
even funnier. Dan and Steve, another pod nod
from Boofoon's Misty Investigators. We're awash
with pod nods today. I know. Dan loves himself
a real ale. So, Dan, August Bank holiday, Swansea,
you will have the best time ever. Let us know
if you're here. We'll... show you around some
charity shops or some spooky looking buildings.
Show us some castles we can go around with you.
We'll take you into the Cross Keys, which is
the oldest stand -in building in Swansea. Still
has parts of its medieval walls and things in
place. It was initially, random facts, initially
opened as an almshouse for the poor in Swansea
by... Some vicar. And he's now a pub. Fucking
do -gooder. Yeah, I know. How dare you? Go there.
We want a drink here. What are those blooming
god -botherers? No, don't mean that. Helping
people out. I know. How dare they be kind and
courteous and think of thy neighbour and all
of that stuff. Yeah, we could take anyone who
wants to visit Swansea, who wants to spend time
with me. And Adam probably won't talk as much
as I will. But, you know, give us a shout. If
you're here, we'll find some places to take you
and hopefully not get you lost. Or at the very
least, we'll go for a pint. Yes, we will go for
a pint in the Cross Keys with thee. Because it's
not too far. Yeah, it's walking distance slash
wheeling distance from where I live. Well, say
no more. Don't dox yourself. Invite thyself.
For beers in Swansea. Yeah, not to your place.
No, I'm not giving my address out. Specifically
to the Croskies. Specifically to the Croskies,
yeah. Probably I'm doxing myself a little bit,
but there we are. Now, there's lots of residential
places within wheeling distance there. Yeah.
It's the middle of Swansea. That's true. Right.
I've forgotten what item's in my box, so it's
going to be as much of a mystery as me to you
at the moment. Why don't you close your eyes
while you open your box and see if you can guess
what it is. Oh, okay. I'll do that. Right, let's
see what I've brought. Oh, yes, I remember now.
There is an item. There's an item between your
hands which you're going to work out immediately.
Okay. Can we start counting down from three from
how close your hands are getting to it? Three,
two, one. You're going to work it out. my goodness
me it appears to be a very happy nipple be it
a bell where did you get that idea from i don't
know to be quite honest i was gonna say before
i ding dinged it is it one of those old victorian
style nipple switches oh yeah that you get in
old houses um but on its side it definitely yeah
if you'd given it to me like that i'd have been
like oh is that is that a nipple switch and i
would have been like Twiddling this bit up and
down. Yeah, I would have been... I would have
been... That's exactly the motion you were making.
I would have been pinching the nipple to try
and get it to move up and down. But no, it's
an innie and outie, not an uppie and downie.
Can I open my eyes? Oh, yeah. You exactly worked
out what it was. Oh, my God, it's a brass bell
from the RSPCA to cost £3 .99. And that's the
RSPCA Leesnini in Lettley. You've had that longer
than you've had me. That was behind the counter.
Not quite. You know what I mean. But yeah, that
was behind the counter under the glass. I had
to ask the lady to reach it out for me. Did you
feel obligated to buy it then because you'd asked
her to get it out of the cabinet? Once I saw
the price, I thought, yeah, I'm having that.
If it was over five, I probably would have gone.
Yeah, fair. I would have, I don't have to, but
yeah, that price. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a very
nice miniature small brass tit that makes a lovely
noise. Yeah, £3 .99. That's great. I think that's
worth it. I've since found about two weeks later
I went back to the shop. There's a little box
card game. £1 .99. It's got a newer version of
a bell. It's not as decorative or anything, but
just for the sound you wouldn't know it's ornate
when I'm doing that with. But yeah, I could have
saved some money if I waited two weeks. Oh, well.
It's just the noise I wanted it to make. It's
very nice. And it is a classic bell. Ding! Yeah.
service. Photos of the items are going to be
on our show blog lightlyused .co .uk What should
we do next? Bibliotek. Bibliotek. Oh, we're nearly
at the end of the show already. We are. It's
gone fast even though we talked for half an hour
front -loading like you say. It is question and
answer time with 500 questions and answers by
Grand Dreams or Grand Dreams, depending on how
you read it. It is G -R -A -N -D -R -E -A -M
-S. This is a freebie from the laundry room.
Oh. So where I live, there is a laundry room.
And people who live in the building that use
the laundry room often leave things in there
for other people to take. So it's like a book
exchange. Some people leave clothes. It's been
kettles, toasters. No money, unfortunately. Or
it's been snapped up quickly. Yeah, yeah, that's
true. Wendy's always in there because she does
boot sales on the weekends and that's how she
makes the money. She sells all of the free stuff
that we put in the laundry, which is totally
fine because it's not in my flat anymore. People
are trying to get rid of it. That's why it's
there. Yeah, but this was with a selection of
books in the laundry room and I thought this
would be ideal for Bibliotat, not only because
it's got 500 questions with answers in it, but
because... it would take an awful lot of episodes
to read and answer all 500 of them. We can come
back to it a few times. Much like the unsolved
mysteries and the scary stories to tell in the
dark, you'll probably see this book again. Welcome
to Bibliotap. Should we work our way through
it five questions at a time? We can come back
to it a hundred times. Yeah. Shall we, like,
ask each other questions, see if we can guess
the answers? Or shall I just read you a few randos?
If you ask me them first, when we bring the book
back, I'll ask you five questions. Okay. All
right. No page numbers. Helpful. We're starting
from the start, though, yeah? We are starting
from... Just so we can keep track of when we
come back to it. Yes, I'm literally on page two.
Right, we'll work our way through the book as
written. Who invented the first locks? L -O -C
-K -S, like door locks, not water locks. I was
going to ask. Oh, what? I can't remember the
first name. Yale? No. Wow, I don't think Yale
had been around for 4 ,000 years. Trub? Yeah,
that's the one. It was Trub. I really wanted
to say Trub. Brilliant. So the first locks were
invented... Was it the Greeks? No, it was the
Chinese. The first locks were invented over 4
,000 years ago by the Chinese, but ancient Egyptians
also had quite intricate locks. No, no, we're
looking for a name. You say who, not what race.
Yeah, that's true. Yeah, I wanted a name. Okay.
Book. Book says, who invented the Yale lock?
Americans. No, there's an actual name. You asked
for a name. I'm giving the same answer back.
It's a nationality that I've invented that. Not
bad. uh jeffrey no it was linus yale jr linus
i know he invented a cylinder lock in the 1860s
now known as the yale big advantage of the yale
lock compared to other locks of the day was its
superb engineering and the fact that it was smaller
than any other key as a result yale locks became
popular the world over I'm taking half a point
for saying Yale invented the Yale lock. Okay,
random question. Why did Benjamin Franklin fly
a kite during a thunderstorm in 1752? Oh, damn
it. How much of the dollop have I actually remembered?
Yeah, you should know. This has definitely been
dolloped. I don't know if it's going to be the
obvious answer. It's going to be the, woo, KY
clacks and goes off. Was it to prove electricity,
metal conducted electricity, or lightning conducted?
Lightning. electricity was conducted through
the air by lightning okay you are you are you
are so close the key gave off sparks when lightning
struck thus proving that lightning is an electrical
discharge it's very dangerous experiment and
people have been killed trying to copy it So
you were so close with the electricity and stuff,
so well done. I don't think I can get half a
point for that one. I was a bit cheeky the first
time round. All right, how many questions have
I asked you? Two? Three? That was two. Oh, that
was technically three. There was two about locks,
so that's three. Okay, who was the first Prince
of Wales in 1301? Oh, no, no, no. Llywelyn the
Prophet? Hmm. He's guessing so hard. Owen Glendure?
No. Damn it! Honestly... No, I think it was the
last. Your brain is wonderful. No, I was wrong.
In 1301, King Edward I of England invested his
eldest son, Edward, as the first Prince of Wales.
King Edward's main purpose in creating this title
was probably to becape the Welsh people after
his wars of conquest. No, we don't count him.
He wasn't the Welsh King of Wales. Since then,
the title has been conferred upon the male heir
apparent to the sovereign. That was not read
very well. It's all right. I haven't answered
any of these well, especially that last one.
That's quite embarrassing for my lack of knowledge
of Welsh history. I feel I owe Gareth Gwynn an
apology for that one somehow. You've just de
-Welshified yourself. I need a hand. You know
intricate knowledge that's not necessarily necessary.
I've got to turn in all my Welsh currency. I've
got to change the Bank of England. Oh, God. Don't
make me do that as well. No, I don't have a lot
of special money if I get across the Severn Bridge
back in the day. All the triangle coins when
you come here. Oh, the Severn Bridge. I have
my injections, thankfully, so. The toll at the
Severn Bridge. I missed the toll at the Severn
Bridge. Because of the racing after you paid
to get through the gate. So boring now, just
having three lanes going straight from England
into Wales. So dull. You have to abide by the
rules of the road. I know. It's a bit of a lawless
sort of mile. They didn't even put a service
station on all of that massive amount of space
that they've created because there was like 70
zillion lanes. No, but there was a bit for them
to escort you round to the other side underneath
there if you didn't have money. One of my friends
had that happen to him. Oh, no way. I think it
was before contactless. I think they might have
only taken cash at the time. He didn't do a Gavin
and Stacey and just like get out the car, lift
the barrier and fuck off and then get chased
halfway through Wales by a policeman to then
go and watch a baby being born. This is pre -Gavin
and Stacey. Oh, right. OK, fair enough. He would
have got away with it if it was afterwards. OK,
last question. Yeah, I think so. All right. What
is sauerkraut? Is it the cabbage? Cabbage. Cabbage,
that has been... Boiled? What's the other thing
you do with vegetables? Boil and mash them, stick
them in stew. Oh, I'm thinking of potatoes. Sorry,
not cabbage. No, cabage. We're talking cabage,
not potatoes. Shredded? I mean, it does get shredded.
But, like, for keeping food for a long amount
of time. Pickled. Yay! It's pickled cabbage.
In brine. It's pickled in brine. Originating
from Germany, it's made from packing alternative
layers of cabbage and salt in a large barrel.
When it has then been fermented slightly, it
is bottled or canned. I did very poorly in this
altogether. I imagine I will do equally poorly.
There's no blurb on this book. Literally, the
front cover is exactly the same as the back cover.
But yeah, look out for new and interesting facts
coming up in the future when Karen's been lazy.
Oh, we might do these again if I edit this out.
Sorry there was no book this episode because
I'm too embarrassed about the answers. Oh, it's
a shame we didn't have time. Oh, yeah, no. We
spent too long talking at the start. We couldn't
do the book. Yeah, I'm sorry I didn't bring a
book this time. My bad. Did we tell Rob off?
For what? Not going to the cinema with you. Oh.
No, we haven't told Rob or Tom off for not going
to the cinema with me. And it's fine because
they have busy lives. They didn't let you go
across the country to go and spend two hours
with them. The fucking cheek! I was willing to
drive from Wales to London to go and watch a
two -hour, five -minute runtime movie with them.
You just had to set aside two hours of a... weekend
evening i know but they do have kids and wives
and i don't have any traffic you might encounter
on the way so yeah yeah how selfish of me i have
been texting a little bit today actually because
i obviously we went we went to go and see project
how mary last night no spoilers um well we'll
say what we like by here if there are i'll cut
some out or bleep them so if this conversation
jumps around any that's why The only thing I'd
been aware of of it is you'd told me it's based
on a book and audiobooks. You're a huge fan of
them. I'd seen a poster and a bus stop. And I
saw Ryan Gosling giving an interview with Seth
Meyers a few nights ago. That motherfucker spoiled
the film for me. Don't watch that interview.
Yeah. Do not watch him in any interview, bigging
up the film before you see it, if you have any
intention of seeing it. Yeah. For everybody else
in the cinema, not a dry eye in the house. Yep.
No. He said something in the interview, I was
expecting worse. I'm going into the film. Knowing
not to invest. Expecting something to happen.
That did not happen. I'd been braced. Yeah. So,
yeah, it didn't have the punch it should have
and clearly had for every single... It wasn't
a packed cinema, but everybody in there cried.
There was a lot of sniffling going on throughout
different parts of the movie, actually. There
were maybe three moments that were quite emotional
and there were a few sniffly noses around the
screen. But the biggie. Fuck you, Ryan Gosling.
You spoiled your own film. But it was a very,
very good film. I went in there knowing absolutely
nothing about it. Excellent concept. Visually
stunning. A little bit long. That's modern films
for you. I don't know how much of that was also
down to those cinema seats clearly aren't designed
for long films. That's true. Even the premiere
seats. My bum hurts. My coccyx still hurts today.
It wasn't comfortable sitting there. I was squirming.
Yeah. Leslie Odeon needs some new seating, please.
Thank you. Yeah. I have seats that are comfortable
for a modern film lens. But as a standalone sci
-fi film that you knew nothing about other than,
you know, the preparedness that Ryan had personally
given you, would you recommend it for someone
else to go and watch? Absolutely. Yeah. Rated
12. 12A? 12A, you're right. Yeah. So, yeah, you
have to have an adult with you. And I really
would recommend it being a 12A. Yeah. Some of
the themes and scenes in there. For the emotional
side of it, not necessarily the visual. You know,
there was one part in particular that I found
really difficult to listen to. And that made
me feel really quite upset. Not like, oh, I'm
shedding a tear because it's a sad moment in
a film. but like it added to the distress of
the moment the audio of that section really got
me um to the point where i i felt physically
and emotionally uncomfortable and i did shed
a few tears like i wasn't sniffling away like
everyone else was because I know the story. I
know what should happen, how things should happen,
how it should end, how it should start, and everything
else in between. You know, I've listened to Project
Hail Mary maybe five times since September. So
yeah, it's a book that I love. I feel like the
film made as good a representation of a book
that is... I think it's over 20 hours long audio.
Oh, that's a lot to adapt. To squeeze into a
two -hour movie where they include all of the
important aspects of the book that carry through
the spine of the story. How things are presented
might not necessarily be how I imagined them
to look or how the book describes them, but everything
was... It was visually stunning. It was a beautiful
film. The practical effects, absolutely fantastic.
Props to the props guys. I said it last night.
Absolute props to the props team because the
practical effects were fantastic. I enjoyed it.
Also wardrobe. I liked his stripy top. That needed
to be it. I was waiting for the tracksuit trousers
with the matching stripes. 1970s. olympic team
yeah yeah it was very very olympic that was a
cool outfit yeah um so you didn't need to wear
the cagoule anywhere near as long no that yellow
cagoule featured an awful lot in the film that
felt so sweaty i could feel how clingy that was
and there's that that one scene where he's he's
sat talking and you can you can hear the coat
making noises because he's moving and he's he's
uncomfortable in what he's saying so he's shifting
about and you can hear the noise that the coat's
making sorry i was thinking of his space cagoule
that he came out of oh right the first 20 minutes
yeah sorry but also yeah he does wear a loud
cagoule in an otherwise silent scene and every
All of my mind's, how much does this fully work
or is that recorded on set? Interesting. I have
no idea. I'm such a nerd. But as someone who
loves the book, I enjoyed the film. I found parts
of it distressing. I kind of was expecting to,
but it's... More distressing than you anticipated.
Yeah. With reason, given... Yes. Don't want to
spoil things. It's an excellent film. If you're
into sci -fi, if you like space, you like end
of the world scenarios where, you know, there's
one option, a bit Armageddon -y really, like
there's this one thing we can do. It's an extreme
idea. It's highly unlikely to succeed, but we're
going to try it anyway because we can't think
of anything else. Then go and watch. Project
Hail Mary. Ryan Gosling acts Professor Grace
incredibly well. I think he matches the character
from the book really well. And I also think that
they carried the humour of the book really well
into the movie. I was going to say, you were
talking about the weight of it. It's also very,
very funny. Yes, it is. It's not like Sunshine.
No. As a weighty sort of film. Yeah, it is a
very funny film as well. There's a lot of comic
relief in there and it's all really well placed.
The only thing I'm annoyed about... is that I
had to go for a wee halfway through the film.
And I held it for as long as I could until the
point where I was incredibly uncomfortable. And
I came back and I was like, what have I missed?
But I wasn't gone very long. But from what I
told you, you knew exactly what it was from the
book. So, yeah, I don't think you missed too
much because it's adapted well. It is a really...
I was trying to phrase that. It is adapted really
well. From what you told me. And considering
the mammoth... task that the script writers had
to pull all of that detail out of an incredibly
long and detailed book it's fantastic lord of
the rings in it and we're gonna do three films
out of this yeah it didn't need to be an epic
um i do believe there will be a follow -up book
from the author of project hail mary whose name
i cannot recall but i look forward to that coming
out on audible because i'm sure that will be
an excellent read was the second main character
In the film, how did that character look compared
to how, from the book, your mental image? I thought,
actually, they did really well. I need to listen
to the book again because I need to listen to
the description, like Grace's description of
Rocky. Just from your overall memory of the book,
was it fairly close? Very, very close. Oh, excellent.
Really good. Like I say, the props team and the
practical effects were fantastic. Rocky is presented
brilliantly throughout the film. Oh, I was trying
to avoid the character name. Yeah, it's fine.
Oh, I can bleep that. Yeah, I think you can say
the name because we're not saying any information
about it other than it's just the name. Oh, fair
enough. But I, yeah, I was not disappointed with
the look of the film in any way, shape or form.
I think it's a sign of very, very good writing
when it's adapted. And that's exactly as it appeared
in my mind's eye from the writing. So, oh, kudos
to the author whose name we both forget. I know,
and my phone isn't next to me either, so I can't
check. Sorry, author of Project Hail Mary. It's
an entire... Different level of the house. Ray
Porter narrates it on Audible. So, you know,
he's amazing. I listen to everything that Ray
Porter narrates now. He's my falling asleep to
guy. Doesn't matter what the book is. It's a
gateway drug. I've listened, I have half listened
to so many sci -fi books over the last few months
just because I like falling asleep to Ray Porter's
voice. Pod nod. Yeah. If you get any Audible
credits, one to check out for sure. You got us
some extra badges as well, pin badges. Oh, yeah.
I managed to get us free pin badges, which was
really cool because I booked the tickets online.
And if you booked online, you got a free badge.
Karen did speak to the manager. I didn't speak
to the manager and I didn't ask him to speak
to anybody else for me. You had to speak to him
because he was the one that had taken tickets
on the way in. I asked the guy behind the kiosk
and he said he didn't know and to ask the guy
who was taking the tickets. He just happened
to be the duty manager. Oh, was he? I think he
was. Sorry. I'm sure that's... He pointed out
he was the duty manager. So we asked the guy
who was taking the tickets, Mr. Duty Manager,
and he was like, oh, I don't know. sure i read
an email somewhere saying we should have got
some free pin badges hang on a minute let me
go and have a look so we go into the screen have
a sit down and then this guy walks into the screen
10 minutes later with a carrier bag full of pin
badges made a beeline for you yeah He's looking
specifically for you. He did. He spotted us first,
came straight to us. And then he was leaving.
And then he was like, oh, I better offer him
to everyone else that's already sat here as well.
So whoever was sat down while the guy was going
through the screen got their free pin badge.
But that big group of boys where there was like
10 of them. One had gone to the toilet. Yeah,
a couple had like, one had gone to the toilet,
one had gone to Ben and Jerry's to get a milkshake
or whatever. So they missed out on pin badges,
but their mates all had them. So that was quite
funny. I don't even think they said. Oh, can
we grab one for our mate? I don't think anyone
even asked. We should have asked for Spence.
Well, I did call after, but I was only half joking
when I said, oh, can we have doubles for the
ones you forgot to give out for everybody else,
Susan? Because he did say, we went to a giving
these out from the start. Yeah, so they've got
like a thousand pin badges or whatever, and they
handed out like maybe 25 last night. Not everyone
read the memo fully. We skimmed it. Yeah, but
we got our three pin badges, and I am really
pleased. It'll be added to my collection. An
excellent film. Definitely go and see it. The
one thing I will say from the interview with
Ryan Gosling, he's been on board for six years.
He's been involved. For this movie? Yeah. Wow.
I think as soon as the book was in his hands,
pretty much. Wow. He's been involved in trying
to make it a film. That's really cool. Well done,
Ryan Gosling. Yeah. What a man. Thank you so
much. And he apparently had... some astronauts
watching it and when he's just haphazardly and
randomly flopping into walls and grabbing onto
things just out of control, getting through tubes.
ISS astronauts had seen that. Yeah, yeah, that's
about right. That's what happens. Super organised
in zero G. Because he obviously has to be a little
bit chaotic, but, you know, he's not the slickest
astronaut in his character. Do they do it on
wires? Do they film those scenes on wires? It
must be through rigs, wires, possibly there's
ceilings maybe CGI'd in. Yeah. So we're not seeing
a bunch of strings. Interesting. However, it's
really, really well done. And you do believe
that he's in a space station. Yeah. Apart from
when he wakes up, it looks like he's in some
sort of nice... He does it like he's just woken
up from a really lovely sleep, doesn't he? In
his nice orange sleeping bag, all clutched in
and tucked up. Well, I meant the room that he's
in is like given different lighting and textures
and tones to all the other rooms. It's more relaxing
to think of, well, supposedly more relaxing when
you're just waking up from hypersleep or whatever.
Yeah. No, I can't say any more. It's going to
spoil the people. Yeah, shush. It's a great film.
Go and watch it, please. I hope this episode
has made some kind of sense. I don't know how
much it stayed in. Well, I mean, you know, you
are the king of editing. You made us sound absolutely
amazing. I've made myself a crown and everything.
You'll be fine. Thank you very, very much for
listening. If you do want to get in touch, pod
at lightlyused .co .uk. There's photos of all
our tats on the blog. All our tats. The two things
we brought in. The two tats. I think it's very,
yeah, I'm going to leave that one. that's the
name of the show it seems very thin on the ground
for photos this episode I think the last one
we had there was a thousand too many photos if
anything so I think this is making up for it
this would be a minimal also links to our pod
nods are going to be on the show blog as well
and also a link to Tim Butter's book The Manifest
Trials and Tribulations of Johnny Turnip that's
always on the blog to be fair since Tim let us
know I've got a book out. Yes. So, yeah, at least
we can do it. We're using material from your
book. One person we know of has bought a book
from us featuring it on the show. Have they?
Might have been Matt. Matt, did you buy a book?
Well done if you did. Somebody did get in touch
and say they bought one. That's really cool.
I'm really pleased to hear that. We need to go
back to Abergavenny at some point. We do. There's
more exploring to be done. At the very least,
we need to buy another copy of the book and ask
Tim to sign it so we can give it away somewhere.
Just to kind of boost listeners. That's the one.
That will be happening at some point in the future.
And also Abergavenny was a nice place to visit.
It is beautiful. Back to signing off. We are
part of the Studio Channel 84 network. We are.
Our fellow shows is... Our fellow shows is...
Our fellow shows are... The Variety Show with
TJ and Rob. The Untitled Sci -Fi Show with Rob
and TJ. And Who Takes the Socks Off? And this
spin -off minisode series, Socks. on or off with
Ross and Simon. Find us all. Links to all of
our socials at channel84 .co .uk. I think that's
everything. You've done well. No one knows if
we've forgotten anything until we tell them next
time. I know. I'm listening to it editing. Oh,
that's a good point. You've missed all of this
out. Corrections. Thanks for listening. Cheers,
mate. Thanks, mate. Bye. Adam and Karen have
been lightly used. Visit lightlyused .co .uk
for more. To get in touch, email pod at lightlyused.co.uk
[OUTTAKE] But it turns out the kingdom of mermaids
and mermen that were... Mermaids and mermen?
Mermaids and mermen? Mermaids...Mermaids....Aah...Aah (Flight of the Conchords impression)
[OUTTAKE] Oh. Turnip said, just as dawn is breaking.... Got
the Postman Pat lyrics in my head. It's going
to be stuck in my head all night now. My internal
jukebox is going to be tuned into Postman Pat.
[OUTTAKE] I think I could make that edit happen. What you
should do is do the edit, but then leave this
conversation in so everyone's like, what are
they talking about? This is the show. Just this
out of context. I'm going to, if you send me
this. Is that your side channel? If you send
me the raw audio for this, I'll just clip it
and put it on Instagram. People will be like,
what? What? But it'd be great. Not sausages then.
[OUTTAKE] Stop making me have to work. You can just delete
it all. I'm just saying stuff. Yeah, I've got
to listen to all this. Sorry. Blah, blah, blah,
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Oh, that's just
spiteful now. Yes. {END STING] This was a Studio Channel
84 network show. To find more, head over to channel84
.co .uk now.