Books & Blooms

Warning: if you are highly suggestible about potential illness the way LeeLee and ValVal are, take note! Our dynamic but sometimes fearful duo discuss what fingernail ridges could be a sign of, and also listeria. This episode also includes: Lee’s take on the first ten pages of Wuthering Heights, plus trivia about the word of the year, whale fins, and the arugula plant. You weirdo, Nature!

SHOW NOTES:

Twilight soundtrack

Batman Forever soundtrack

Romeo & Juliet soundtrack

The Great Gatsby soundtrack

Val could find no sign online that arugula grows sharper to deter animals from eating it. Most websites refer to heat as a reason the taste turns sharper—heat also can make arugula “bolt” (i.e. flower). 

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Sound attribution credits: 

Theme song: Snabba Ladda, Snappy beat, Cheerful feeling! by kjartan_abel – https://freesound.org/s/632406/ -- License: Attribution 4.0.

Trivia segment intro: Electric Chimes.wav by zilverton -- https://freesound.org/s/201109/ -- License: Creative Commons 0. 

Haiku segment intro: Strange wind chimes duo! — Debussy Bells, bamboo by Philip_Goddard -- https://freesound.org/s/686153/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0. 

Haiku background: bell-bowl G-ish.wav by Squidocto -- https://freesound.org/s/255762/ -- License: Creative Commons 0. 

Plant story intro: Golvuna by kjartan_abel -- https://freesound.org/s/610679/ -- License: Attribution 4.0. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Just in time for Christmas, we give you Thanksgiving updates! Lee did Bodypump with her dad, Val sat for an anxious dog, and more. ValVal and LeeLee share how they like to leave a gathering, and explore the question: how do you prepare your friends to leave your gathering when you want them to? In our Books segment, we talk cozy reads, and somehow that leads to us deciding to read Wuthering Heights together. Want to read along? We will discuss our hot takes about the first half of the book in two weeks, and we’ll talk about the full book in a month. Wuther some heights with us!

What do you read when you want to feel cozy? Email us at [email protected] to let us know. 

SHOW NOTES: 

You know what Wicked is, but here is a link to the movie Theater Camp. 

Wishbone!

Here’s a quote from Soccer the dog’s trainer from the article “Top Dog: An Oral History of Wishbone”: “Soccer wasn’t the smartest dog I’ve ever trained, but he had that willingness to please. And he had a great heart. I mean, he’d walk on water for me.” 

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Sound attribution credits: 

Theme song: Snabba Ladda, Snappy beat, Cheerful feeling! by kjartan_abel – https://freesound.org/s/632406/ -- License: Attribution 4.0.

Haiku segment intro: Strange wind chimes duo! — Debussy Bells, bamboo by Philip_Goddard -- https://freesound.org/s/686153/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0. 

Haiku background: bell-bowl G-ish.wav by Squidocto -- https://freesound.org/s/255762/ -- License: Creative Commons 0. 

Books segment intro: Summer Surf (loop ver.1) by AudioCoffee -- https://freesound.org/s/711669/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s also a Plants ep! Lee explains deadheading and updates us on her peace lily's progress. Val shares their thoughts on fake plants, and later, tells a plant story about the importance of greenery.

CONTENT WARNING: For some reason, Val and Lee also decide to share gross/medical stories, mostly about poop. But it’s only gross from 36:14 to 42:36 and Val pops in to warn you right before. 

Other than that! Lee waxes poetic about her new watercolor set and the joy of chain restaurants, specifically Chile’s. Val plans to bake a tart. 

SHOW NOTES: 

Heretic is a psychological horror film from A24. Here’s the trailer.

Lee’s folk art flowers

The wedding bouquet from Val’s story

Full Bloom was deleted from HBO Max because of a merger between Discovery and WarnerMedia. You can watch the season trailers on youtube but that’s it. 

The Big Flower Fight is on Netflix!

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Sound attribution credits: 

Theme song: Snabba Ladda, Snappy beat, Cheerful feeling! by kjartan_abel – https://freesound.org/s/632406/ -- License: Attribution 4.0.

Trivia segment intro: Electric Chimes.wav by zilverton -- https://freesound.org/s/201109/ -- License: Creative Commons 0. 

Haiku segment intro: Strange wind chimes duo! — Debussy Bells, bamboo by Philip_Goddard -- https://freesound.org/s/686153/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0. 

Haiku background: bell-bowl G-ish.wav by Squidocto -- https://freesound.org/s/255762/ -- License: Creative Commons 0. 

Plant story intro: Golvuna by kjartan_abel -- https://freesound.org/s/610679/ -- License: Attribution 4.0. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A cold snap started and Val and Lee are not handling it well, judging by their haikus. LeeLee gives us trivia about where the word Triscuit comes from and requests a mapping system for the life cycle of her clothing. Both Val and Lee ponder the pros and cons of having snakes as pets and lose their shit over the very idea of a fresh cookie. Plus, it’s a Books episode! Lee and Val share their thoughts and feelings about The Smell of Other People’s Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock. Listen to the full ep to find out what type of nun LeeLee would be if she was a nun. 

SHOW NOTES:

When Val said “Did you see the-?” and didn’t finish their sentence, they were referring to the SNL sketch with John Mulaney about the Port Authority Duane Reade. 

John Mulaney’s horse in a hospital bit is from Trump’s first administration :(

You too can look at a meme of a sad oompa loompa and learn about the terrible event it references. 

Val and Lee were not that impressed by Otherworld Philadelphia. 

LeeLee is reading Burn by Peter Heller

The name of the nun in Derry Girls is Sister Michael

Immaculate is a horror movie starring Syndey Sweeney as Sister Cecilia. 

Quote from the book: “Because isn't that how forever happens—instantly?”

The Flood of Agnes

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Sound attribution credits: 

Theme song: Snabba Ladda, Snappy beat, Cheerful feeling! by kjartan_abel – https://freesound.org/s/632406/ -- License: Attribution 4.0.

Trivia segment intro: Electric Chimes.wav by zilverton -- https://freesound.org/s/201109/ -- License: Creative Commons 0. 

The Yoke of Capitalism segment intro: Playful Haunt (30s) by UNIVERSFIELD -- https://freesound.org/s/755864/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

Haiku segment intro: Strange wind chimes duo! — Debussy Bells, bamboo by Philip_Goddard -- https://freesound.org/s/686153/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0. 

Haiku background: bell-bowl G-ish.wav by Squidocto -- https://freesound.org/s/255762/ -- License: Creative Commons 0. 

Books segment intro: Summer Surf (loop ver.1) by AudioCoffee -- https://freesound.org/s/711669/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the episode where Lee and Val have just found Donald Trump was elected. But even on the darkest days, The Yoke of Capitalism is unavoidable. LeeLee and ValVal buy treats they don’t need, consider buying even more treats, and talk about Christmas lists / gift giving. Brace yourselves for the car mats story. Val’s plant story is about the tradescantia (which they keep incorrectly pronouncing as “transcendentia” for some reason), also known as the wandering dude.

SHOW NOTES: 

Whole Foods asparagus water

How Fetterman’s “Let them eat crudité” stickers came to be

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Follow LeeLee: https://www.instagram.com/leelee_draws_pictures

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Sound attribution credits: 

Theme song: Snabba Ladda, Snappy beat, Cheerful feeling! by kjartan_abel – https://freesound.org/s/632406/ -- License: Attribution 4.0.

The Yoke of Capitalism segment intro: Playful Haunt (30s) by UNIVERSFIELD -- https://freesound.org/s/755864/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

Haiku segment intro: Strange wind chimes duo! — Debussy Bells, bamboo by Philip_Goddard -- https://freesound.org/s/686153/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0. 

Haiku background: bell-bowl G-ish.wav by Squidocto -- https://freesound.org/s/255762/ -- License: Creative Commons 0. 

Plant story intro: Golvuna by kjartan_abel -- https://freesound.org/s/610679/ -- License: Attribution 4.0. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s the episode directly after Halloween! LeeLee and ValVal recap the highlights of their candy-giving. Also, Lee went to a haunted house and met a clown with an evocative name and lots of layers. In the Books segment, Val and Lee discuss their recent and current reads. Plus, they choose the next podcast book!

SHOW NOTES: 

The porn star who shot his Tesla is named Dante Colle.

You can’t take a train from Philly to Jim Thorpe. Jim Thorpe, back when it was called Mauch Chunk, used to be called “The Switzerland of America” or “the Little Switzerland of America.” Val can’t find a source that explains when/how it got that name.

Books we recommended:

Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

The Three-Body Problem books by Cixin Liu

The Mars House by Natasha Pulley

The Smell of Other People’s Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock - our next pick!! Read along with us!

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Follow LeeLee: https://www.instagram.com/leelee_draws_pictures

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Follow Books & Blooms: https://www.instagram.com/booksandblooms_phl

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Sound attribution credits: 

Theme song: Snabba Ladda, Snappy beat, Cheerful feeling! by kjartan_abel – https://freesound.org/s/632406/ -- License: Attribution 4.0.

Haiku segment intro: Strange wind chimes duo! — Debussy Bells, bamboo by Philip_Goddard -- https://freesound.org/s/686153/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0. 

Haiku background: bell-bowl G-ish.wav by Squidocto -- https://freesound.org/s/255762/ -- License: Creative Commons 0. 

Books segment intro: Summer Surf (loop ver.1) by AudioCoffee -- https://freesound.org/s/711669/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ValVal and LeeLee hate cleaning. LeeLee got a roomba, but the results weren't great. There’s a lot of trivia in this ep! Does the Philly pretzel really belong to Central PA? Do you know the full “no one likes us” Eagles chant? What ingredient was originally in 7Up? What Vice Presidential candidates can you name from 2000 on? Listen to find out! Also, Lee tells Val about the J.D. Vance couch fucking incident, and Val tells Lee a story about tiny succulents. 

SHOW NOTES:

Beloved Philly chants 

Pretzels were brought over by the Pennsylvania Dutch, so it makes sense that the Philly and Central PA versions are similar.

There was up to 200 mg of lithium in the original 7Up! 

Hilary Clinton’s VP pick in 2016 was Tim Kaine. 

“My President Was Black” by Ta-Nehisi Coates, a beautiful piece that ran in The Atlantic, describes the Obamas’ farewell party, which was presented by BET and had an incredible lineup of musical guests. 

We Mostly Come Out at Night: 15 Queer Tales of Monsters, Angels & Other Creatures

is available online and can be ordered through your local bookstore. Val’s story in the collection is called “How to Summon Me.” 

Hyperemesis gravidarum is extreme, persistent nausea during pregnancy. Yikes. 

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Sound attribution credits: 

Theme song: Snabba Ladda, Snappy beat, Cheerful feeling! by kjartan_abel – https://freesound.org/s/632406/ -- License: Attribution 4.0.

Trivia segment intro: Electric Chimes.wav by zilverton -- https://freesound.org/s/201109/ -- License: Creative Commons 0. 

Calming manatee segment intro: Happy Lazy Loop by SergeQuadrado -- https://freesound.org/s/555800/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 3.0. 

Haiku segment intro: Strange wind chimes duo! — Debussy Bells, bamboo by Philip_Goddard -- https://freesound.org/s/686153/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0. 

Haiku background: bell-bowl G-ish.wav by Squidocto -- https://freesound.org/s/255762/ -- License: Creative Commons 0. 

Plant story intro: Golvuna by kjartan_abel -- https://freesound.org/s/610679/ -- License: Attribution 4.0. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As part of our nostalgia books series, Lee and I have an important discussion about The Babysitters Club. But first! We give you a highlights reel of Lee’s Taskmaster-themed 40th birthday. From the babysitters, we learn that Lee does not like script fonts, and socialism pushes its own agenda. 

SHOW NOTES: 

Google Belgian malinois to get a sense of Nico’s energy. 

Revenge bedtime procrastination appears more in people who struggle with self-regulation. (Guilty!)

I couldn’t find one website that shows all the handwriting fonts in the Babysitters Club, but you can find plenty of them by googling “babysitters club handwriting.”

Stacey McGill was the babysitter who dotted her i’s with hearts. 

Val was wrong about when Dawn panics in New York City—it doesn’t happen during a super special. It happens in the main series, in book 18, Stacey’s Mistake. 

“Stacey has a problem and it's not her diabetes - it's her parents” is a wikipedia description of BSC Book 3, The Truth About Stacey. 

BSC Book 7, Claudia and Mean Janine, is the story where Mimi has stroke. 

Stacey’s bad girl arc starts on book 83, Stacey vs. The BSC, and ends on book 87, literally Stacey and the Bad Girls. 

Amber Tamblyn was not in The Babysitters Club movie, but it did feature Rachel Leigh Cook (Mary Anne), Schuyler Fisk (Kristy), and Larisa Oleynik (Dawn), who you might also remember as Alex Mack!

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Sound attribution credits: 

Theme song: Snabba Ladda, Snappy beat, Cheerful feeling! by kjartan_abel – https://freesound.org/s/632406/ -- License: Attribution 4.0.

Haiku segment intro: Strange wind chimes duo! — Debussy Bells, bamboo by Philip_Goddard -- https://freesound.org/s/686153/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0. 

Haiku background: bell-bowl G-ish.wav by Squidocto -- https://freesound.org/s/255762/ -- License: Creative Commons 0. 

Books segment intro: Summer Surf (loop ver.1) by AudioCoffee -- https://freesound.org/s/711669/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special ep, ValVal and LeeLee are together! Talking into one mic! They discuss many topics, including: the pitfalls of naming your daughter Belladonna, health food stores, #BlazerLife, Lee’s fascination with pimple popping and earwax, and whether one dress can be as big news as the swan and meat dresses were. Also, Lee went to a hobbit party. Val’s plant story stars a cashier at a witchy store who was like a riddler: he told Val one true fact about the Brassica oleracea species (which includes a surprising amount of veggies you know) and something very false. With bonus trivia about supertasters, bitter receptors, and competitive cousins AVI and PAV. 

SHOW NOTES: 

This article explains how Hurricane Milton “formed under the perfect conditions for rapid intensification.”

The sound of rhubarb popping as it grows: https://soundcloud.com/rhubarb-rhubarb-rhubarb/a-mass-of-popping-rhubarb

Sounds of a murmuration of starlings: https://www.richardmudhar.com/blog/2019/11/the-sound-of-starlings-massing/

Apparently, you can see the aurora borealis on latitudes between 60 and 75 degrees, which includes Iceland, northern parts of Sweden, Finland, Norway, Russia, Canada and Alaska as well as southern Greenland. But you still have to look things up and plan ahead, because it’s visibility changes. 

Do women have a better sense of smell? According to this article, studies show that on average, they do. 

More on bitter receptors and supertasters

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Sound attribution credits: 

Theme song: Snabba Ladda, Snappy beat, Cheerful feeling! by kjartan_abel – https://freesound.org/s/632406/ -- License: Attribution 4.0.

Haiku segment intro: Strange wind chimes duo! — Debussy Bells, bamboo by Philip_Goddard -- https://freesound.org/s/686153/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0. 

Haiku background: bell-bowl G-ish.wav by Squidocto -- https://freesound.org/s/255762/ -- License: Creative Commons 0. 

Plant story intro: Golvuna by kjartan_abel -- https://freesound.org/s/610679/ -- License: Attribution 4.0. 

The Yoke of Capitalism segment intro: Playful Haunt (30s) by UNIVERSFIELD -- https://freesound.org/s/755864/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to book club with Val and Lee! But first, dog talk! But before that, haikus about the Vice Presidential Debate! We absolutely loved All the Names They Used for God by Anjali Sachdeva and we had fun talking about her stories. If you also read the book and have any takes you want to share, email us at [email protected]. 

SHOW NOTES: 

The Penn State Mascot: The Nittany Lion

Val was wrong about The Great American Baking Show—there is no cash prize. They just compete like there is one. 

From The New York Times: ‘Vance’s Excellent Reviews Will Enrage Trump’: 13 Writers on Who Won the Vice-Presidential Debate. Val’s haiku featured the words of Katherine Mangu-Ward.

Pesto the Penguin

The boat thought experiment is called Theseus’s Paradox

Edgar Allen Poe wrote about how short stories great a “single effect” in an essay called ​​”The Importance of the Single Effect in a Prose Tale.”

The Power is a novel by Naomi Alderman.

What Happened to Monday is a scifi show on Netflix. 

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Follow Books & Blooms: https://www.instagram.com/booksandblooms_phl

Buy from Books & Blooms: https://www.booksandblooms.shop/

Sound attribution credits: 

Theme song: Snabba Ladda, Snappy beat, Cheerful feeling! by kjartan_abel – https://freesound.org/s/632406/ -- License: Attribution 4.0.

Calming manatee segment intro: Happy Lazy Loop by SergeQuadrado -- https://freesound.org/s/555800/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 3.0. 

Haiku segment intro: Strange wind chimes duo! — Debussy Bells, bamboo by Philip_Goddard -- https://freesound.org/s/686153/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0. 

Haiku background: bell-bowl G-ish.wav by Squidocto -- https://freesound.org/s/255762/ -- License: Creative Commons 0. 

Books segment intro: Summer Surf (loop ver.1) by AudioCoffee -- https://freesound.org/s/711669/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.