SK and Pete have been doing this for a while now. And by "this" we mean goofing off, yelling over each other, and wandering through irrelevant tangents. But this week that all changed. This week we concentrated on just annoying our guest.

She is a comedian, an actress, a writer as well as published author (Because anybody can write, but only an author can wear patches on their blazer elbows), and as if all that weren't enough [of a cry for approval], she also appeased her parents by mastering the tech industry as some sort of transponster or something with Yahoo and Google.

Here in the Bomb Shelter, we recognized her many talents by: 1) Editing her 3 hour interview down to about 45 minutes. 2) Luring her into betraying her true feelings about fish dismemberment. 3) Inciting her to abandon her husband's name. 4) Urging her to appropriate her own Jamaican culture. 5) Highlighting her gifts of song and harmony. 6) Uncovering the truth - that she 'don't know nuthin' about birthin' no babies. 7) Outing her as the mastermind behind Flash Ads and her 4th grade teacher for worse than flashing. 8) Arguing about Georgia Tech's mascot. 9) Interrogating her about how often she wears pajamas in public. 10) Deciding that she's most funny when all parties are tipsy.

Ladies and gentlemen...please welcome a very funny lady...Sarah Cooper!

You can tell a show is on its way out when the focus and enthusiasm of its participants begins to wane...and they add a new kid to the cast... or Ted McGinley. We couldn't afford McGinley so ladies and gentlemen: Mr. Conway Twitty.

To be fair, SK and Pete can hardly be blamed for their low energy performance. Pete is becoming increasingly more busy with his musical career (Including his new album) and SK doesn't know any more things. This is evidenced by the updates this week which focused more on SK's jacket, his eating off of the desk, and his inability to keep up with his editing duties than it did the problems with the SF Municipal  Transportation Agency. But hey, this one got posted...four months late and on a Wednesday.

Ultimately the two did get around to the night's theme of Land's End. They discussed Ocean Beach, the Outside Lands and Carville, the Cliff House and the baths of both Sutro as well as Lurline. SK gave his interpretation of facts when it came to Playland-at-the-Beach, It's Its, the Norwegian Gjoa, the SkyTram, Murre eggs at the Farallones Islands, Naiad Cove, Mile Rock, Seal Rock, Flag Rock, Kevin Hart and The Rock, O'neill wetsuits and [appropriately] jumping sharks.

To top it all off and sum it up: We talked about the Lyman Stewart, Frank Buck, Ohioan, SS Coos Bay, Rio De Jinero, Parallel and Yosemite stories....it was a ship wreck.

Gather 'round kids and I'll tell you a story about how, in the olden days, people worked their whole life at one place and still found fulfillment ...even without collaboration, or diverse strategies, or company furnished lattes.

It all happened way back in 1976 when a young Tom Sweeney, fresh out of Riordan High School leveraged his mother's affiliation with the movers and shakers of the time to secure for himself, not one but, two coveted and lucrative positions.

The first was a vending job at both Candlestick Park and the Oakland Colosseum. Here he learned a strong work ethic, flirted with players' wives, and cleaned up selling souvenirs during the '89 World Series and Earthquake.

But the real fun came when he became a doorman at the Drake Hotel in Union Square. He started his career by nabbing two would-be robbers, receiving the City's first, "Nick of Time' award, palling around with Joe Montana and Dwight Clark, and capping it off by saving a drowning woman while on holiday in Acapulco. Along the way he had encounters with Tom Hanks, Sam Elliott, and Tony Blair, while appearing on the Young & the Restless, serving as inspiration for the Drake's Sweeney-tini, and having May 2nd declared Tom Sweeney Day.

Of course it's all to be expected from a 3rd generation San Franciscan who enjoys the occasional SF themed podcast that covers topics from the shuttering of SFist to the increase of mountain lion sightings in the city to the retirement of Michael Tilson Thomas.

And of course, that podcast is none other than, Peanut Butter Oreo, with Pete & Babette.

It's bigger. It's badder. And this time it may be inoperable. If you enjoyed, or even heard of, the first episode of StealthCat, get ready to be underwhelmed. This week, he's back with new enemies and new [let's call them] allies.

When we last left our hero, Henry Stealthcat was back in town to take on his nemesis, the Loan Shark. This time we are introduced to some new heroes such as Superintendent, The Parker, and The Black Guy. They'll team up to, not only take on the Loan Shark and his crew but, a new player is set to take on the forces of good enough, The Pill.

Along the way we, alternately, learn about/are bored to death by stories of, the upgrading of Van Ness avenue for public transportation, the House of Prime Rib's secret menu, and the coin cleaning process at the St. Francis Hotel in Union Square.

Every legend has a beginning, every hero has a birth, and every episode of StealthCat has an incoherent plot, undeveloped characters, and desperate attempts to be funny...with great fanfare, comes great lousy.

We don't have to tell you the podcast is bad. Everybody knows the podcast is bad. It's depressing. Everybody's either sick of the act or scared that they might like it.

The dollar buys a membership on Patreon, transit companies like Chariot and BART are getting busted, Itditarod dogs are juicing, coyotes are running wild in the street and we sit and listen to our Itunes while some local podcaster tells us that there's only one California quail left in the City, as if that's the way it's supposed to be, and there's nobody anywhere who knows what to do and there's no end to it.

We know this show is bad - worse than bad. It's gimmicky. We almost ruined a dream of an opportunity when, Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame inductee, Peter Finch joined us. He told us of his history in radio both in SF and in Colorado, interviewing the likes of Micky Dolenz, Charo, Weird Al, Andy Dick, Tammy Fay Baker, Grace Slick, Yoko Ono, and President Obama, and we just sat there as our own Lousy San Francisco podcast and , what passed for, our talent got smaller compared to his Finch Files, and all we said was, "Please. Leave us alone in our Bomb Shelter. Let us have our pop tarts and our Arizona grape and our steel belted radials and we won't say any more. Just leave us alone."

Well we're not going to leave you alone. We don't want you to protest. We don't want you to riot or write your congressman because Finch also has things to say about the Thunderbird Theater Company with his two playwright credits - Aaah Rosebud & Aaron Trotter and the Incident at Bikini Beach - and, most importantly, the Square Peg Foundation and the Square Peg Ranch Horse Reserve Adaptive Riding Center. All we know is that first you've got to get lousy. You've got to say, "I'm a Throng member, my life has value!"

So we want you to get up now, out of your chairs, go to the window, open it, stick your head out and yell: "I'm lousy as hell, and I'm not gonna take this anymore!"  

10/21/17

"My eyes are up here Pete."

1:11:10                                                      Writer/Editor:  SK Morton                                    CoHost:  Peter Feliciano                                Producer/Sound Engineer:  Squidge McSqueezy Guest: Tony Quarrington (Accompanied by his wife, Janet)

As I look out my window on a beautiful spring morning (I can tell it's spring because the birds and bees are acting like they're not interested when I know they're totally into me) I am reminded of that April I spent watching Rick Steves tell me about England.

Wonder no more, says I, as SK is inspired to talk like an aged Liverpool urchin. This week, in the Bomb Shelter, we are graced with none other than the real Tony Quarrington. Author, SF historian, tour guide, Dead head, bon vivant, and retired public employee (That's how he can afford to be a bon vivant), Tony fills us in on his special San Francisco hide outs and his Fabulous Folkestone Walking Tour.

Along the way we discuss tea rationing (a cause to celebrate), Illuminate the Arts (again), Friedel Klussmann (yes, that Friedel Klussmann), Martha's Coffee (to say nothing of her borscht), Mel Gibson's anti-angloism (Mel Gibson is: Shaka Zulu!), his book, A Half Forgotten Triumph (that's the title not a commentary) and of course Tony relates stories about his beloved adopted hometowns of San Francisco and Folkestone.

So have an earwig and get chuffed.

Visit Beautiful Folkestone with Tony's Fabulous Folkestone Walking Tours.

Here's the video we talked about for Obscura Digital working with Illuminate the Arts...

...and Obscura Digital's work in the lobby of the Sales Force Tower.

Salesforce Video Wall from Obscura Digital on Vimeo.

10/20/17

"I changed their password"

1:16:34                                                      Writer/Editor:  SK Morton                                    CoHost:  Peter Feliciano                                Producer/Sound Engineer:  Squidge McSqueezy Guests: Paul & Melissa Holman-Kursky

It was cold. It was dark. It was just another night in the City. I was straightening things up in the Bomb Shelter when they walked in. Just my luck. This dame and her man had been escorted into the building by Pete personally.

Introductions were in order. They were Paul & Melissa Holman-Kursky. The hyphen, I figured, was on loan from their place of employment: The Un-scripted theater company. She had the manner of a Dickensian urchin and he was a dead ringer for Ben Savage.

We could have jumped right in to get to know each other but I had bigger problems. Not only were the reviews for my Lousy Walking Tour less than helpful, but animals were dying. Siku the walrus drank herself to death and leopard sharks were loosing their minds..Poor saps. If it weren't for the good news that we could now stream movies from the SF library I might have hit the bricks right there and then. Or maybe I'd take a Chariot. I'd heard good things.

The conversation had been moving at a decent clip but I could tell my guests were getting worn down. There weren't enough cups of mud in the city to keep up this pace and we hadn't even gotten to the latest round of "Stump SK".

We ended with a hasty discussion of their favorite hash houses and gin joints in their hood. I chose to believe them.

10/19/17

Sock it to me

57:57                                                      Writer/Editor:  SK Morton                                    CoHost:  Babette                                Producer/Sound Engineer:  Squidge McSqueezy Guests: Samantha Gilweit

It's been said that tragedy+time=comedy. But, after further review, it's been discovered that tragedy divided by the square root of callous indifference, multiplied by commiseration, plus time is the true formula. (Also something about A²+B² or something or other)

Our guest this week was local comedian, musician, tour guide, pig farmer, history buff, and mother, Samantha Gilweit. Hopefully that's all you need to know because SK never actually got around to asking her about these things. That's not to say that we can glean nothing else about her from this episode. We know she'd be willing to curate at the Paul Newman spit museum. We know she loves Bulls and Moose as long as they party with Teddy Roosevelt. We know she prefers to picnic with Honda. And we know she's not a fan of apple sauce.

But most importantly, we know her ties to, and love of, Sonoma County compelled her to do something when the fires hit the wine country this last November. We talked about her spear-heading of relief efforts among the comedy community as well as possible causes of the fires and even some happy stories about animal survival. Of course Babette, as fill-in cohost, made clear her position on Yurts, while SK seemed to be most interested in presidential knife fights.

So adding it all up, Samantha made this week's episode greater than the sum of its parts.

10/13/17

Old man Periwinkle said, "This week's episode is really something. It's a case study in BLANK."

1:01:11                                                      Writer/Editor:  SK Morton (w/ Pete on Intro)    CoHost:  Pete Feliciano                                          Producer/Sound Engineer:  Squidge McSqueezy

      CLICK HERE         to take sides with           SK or Pete

SK often laments the appropriateness of that titular description of his little hobby that emanates from the Bomb Shelter. Despite Pete's protests, he's sure the podcast's end is imminent. In fact he predicts that there are no more than 14 shows left.

This week, the very foundation of the Lousy Podcast is examined & most likely undermined. We re-examine the prudence of racist jokes, droning diatribes, conflict for entertainment, and the value of "uh's".

As if a slap dashed version of Hannity & Colmes weren't off putting enough, we then go on a 15 minute (That's right - a quarter of an hour) description and editorial about the Northern California wild fires. Complete with insensitivity from SK and nonsensitivity from Pete. We itemize the destruction and wrap it up with a pointed anecdote about Babette's Victorianism.

And for the final blow, we talk about local development and the kind of political chicanery that leads to ill advised insults of public figures. And as a special treat, SK's delay in editing over the last month or so results in an unfortunately timed joke about a public servant who is no longer with us.

On the bright side there's a survey!

9/29/17

Achieving enlightenment through tired rantings and nonsense.

1:00:31                                                      Writer/Editor:  SK Morton                                    CoHost:  Pete Feliciano                                Producer/Sound Engineer:  Squidge McSqueezy

Pursuant to the provisions of the Lousy Podcast outline, of which, this week, there was none, the Throng is hereby given notice to adjust their expectations of enjoyment or face severe disappointment.

With no preparation this week, SK doesn't even greet the adoring Throng until 7 minutes into the show as it takes a back seat to Pete's story of his back seat "sound healer". Then, after a discussion of the dreaminess of Chris Pratt, Pete announces his intentions to host his own podcast complete with tired rantings, nonsense, and infrastructures of humanity (Also without preparation).

Liberated from direction and logic, SK and Pete discuss the return of Jeffrey's Toys, Aardvarks Books, and the development of Treasure Island. Needless to say this, somehow, lead to a thorough consideration of SK's planned Museum of San Francisco, the Hyde st. reservoir, and the city's original geography.

And as all great social movements have originated, a knee-jerk reaction to the current state of the Tenderloin and the continued decline of the Palace Hotel results in SK's itemizing the planks in his political platform.

This certifies that on 9/29/17 the Throng had been warned.