Driven to Drink

Fun facts that you’ll learn today:

Wilton Felder played that iconic bassline on “I Want You Back,” by the Jackson 5.

Wilford Brimley, famous for diabeetus and whatnot, did not.

Jaco Pistorious, influential jazz bassist, was born in Norristown, PA.

Oscar Pistorious, murderous blade-legged Olympic sprinter, was not.

A proper term for a cluster or group of teenagers would be: Snapchat.  (Yo, did you see that snapchat of teens?  Let me apply this annoying filter to the photo I took of them.)

I  know, we had Llewellynsanity, so this is technically Jim’s two-point (2.0/2.1/2.2/etc.) experience in the luxurious Driven2Drink studios and makeshift gastropub (Jen’s the chef, Greg’s the mixologist, and it’s a righteous pairing).  However, when one transcends being a mere guest, which Jim has done and likely had done during his actual one-point series, that guest gets inextricably melded with me and thus the podcast name must reflect the growth.  In this case: LlewDellyn.

See that title?

Yep.

Those are the words that escaped (“exscaped”) my mouth (“mouf”) anytime I attempted to say, “Venn Diagram,” until approximately my fortieth birthday.  Not 14th. 40th. Four…zero…th.  Hell, if I have an intense enough buzz going, it still pops out (“aht”).

Sven diagram.

Think about that, you might have found yourself interacting with a grown-ass, literate, fairly intelligent man who thought it was perhaps a recipe illustration from the Swedish chef.

Mo

The thing on which you’re reading this right now knows you better than you know you. (It’s true, I promise. And deep. Way deep.)

In this podcast, as Jason and I explore the middle of the social and political Venn diagram, this is the precise insight that punches me squarely in gut then hits me with an unexpected uppercut as I double over in emotional pain.

That, and some utterly shallow, really hilarious stuff at the end. (...to me, at least. I hope you too.)

I’m slowly emerging from the recent funk that pervaded my neuro-chemistry, but in this particular recording, the Del Norris Venngina quartet, I was both swimming in pessimism and, given the nature of things, ready for insights that would usher me out of the dark and toward the light.

Jason asked me, “What are the three critical attributes you’re looking for in a President?”

I didn’t know.

And this morning, as I sit here typing these words, I still don’t know how to answer.

This week, and across the upcoming month, Jason and I will dive deep, yet again, and find common ground where just several years ago we would have envisioned none.

Today, we learn about:

1. Innuendo (…it’s not just an Italian suppository)

2. The iCockRing (…interface [in ‘er face!] with all of your Apple products)

3. Samsung anal beads (…careful, sometimes the battery blows up, but you never know which bead it’s in. It’s like Russian roulette for your ass!)

4. And more!

I’ve encountered an unnerving number of people in my life who are, in fact, only one degree of separation from each other (i.e. regardless of me) but who don’t make immediate or obvious sense given my perspective.

Who cares?

Me, I suppose.

And perhaps you, because you are now one degree of separation from me and, to quote myself from above, thus no more than two degrees from each other.

The music I’ve chosen to bookmark today’s podcast will bring a subset of listeners back to a time, and a subset of a subset back to a very specific place.

These are songs made for the dark of night, sitting around a blazing campfire, maybe four fingers of Canadian whiskey, Orion slowly, steadily coursing across a clear night sky, and not a goddam care in the world. Not a one.

That’s the mood here.

I fronted a rock band in high school.

We performed at one talent show.

Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and, if memory serves, Guns ‘n’ Roses’ “Civil War.”

I wore a Public enemy baseball jersey over a Tribe Called Quest shirt with a backwards Yankees cap, baggy jeans, and a full-on Flavor Flav clock hanging around my neck.

Yes.  That bad.

Thank the universe that smart phones, wifi, and unnervingly easy ways to record video and share it with the world were NOT available at

Oh, so hey…Driven2Drink here with you again, this time with an old, old friend. Brian.

We begin the conversation with intros and history building. Very fun. In the room are three adult humans, one adult Springer Spaniel with ADHD and OCD, and two rando puppies. (I feel like I got the levels and audio output, noise, and whatnot under control this week.)