Shed Dogs

Episode 94 celebrates Shed Dog KJ McNulty winning a Jessie Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Lead Role (Small Theatre) for his performance in The Father! Almost as exciting, we confirm his house has no water pressure reducing valve! Our little doggie heads almost explode over both of these facts, a month and a half later. We then note the Catholics love their C-words, what with communion, confirmation, confession, and many many more, so we try to keep our wafers off the floor while discussing that one. Also in this episode we spend very enjoyable time going through listener mail, and hearing RJ’s Hierarchy of Turn Signal Motivations, which will no doubt also win an award at some point. Did we mention KJ won an award? It’s all very heady stuff, so get set up and get listening!

Links: Starlit Stairway (Boyle coal/oil ad); Remembering Spokane (video with the jingle); First Communion; Confirmation; you too can own a Medical Alert System!; speed cameras at intersections; a good article on when to signal.

The celebrated Shed Dogs wax by turns rhapsodic and caustic as we explore a 1972 time capsule home (great bones!) being prepared for sale, and debate whether or not KJ knows what plumbing he has installed, himself, in his own house. We get to go through a lot of fun Listener Mail, and take a quick look at our COVID vigilance—are we being true to Dr. Henry? Is she being true to us? On top of all that poetry, PJ offers another half-baked money making scheme for some not very serious consideration. And finally, just what is a Karen, anyway?

Links: Shed Dogs; Karens, defined; Cops and cameras: what are your rights?; Twitter detox; the 1972 Vancouver Special (in case you want to buy it); pressure regulation in the City of Vancouver; BC CDC’s page that is strangely laid back about asymptomatic masking; Muhammad Ali; how to set up your Zoom wedding.

As a younger man, famous actor and Shed Dog KJ McNulty took steps to acquire the professional skills required to become an actor, as we all do when deciding to embark on other, less adrenalin-charged careers: he went to school. In this episode we hear a bit about what that entailed and how it came about. And so we have exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, but not the denouement yet, ladies and gentlemen, not (dramatic pause) yet. Bonus: where to hear Bob Ezrin expound on Alice Cooper and Lou Reed Berlin.

Links: Shed Dogs; Bob Ezrin Interview by Bob Lefsetz; circle light on amazon—wow your friends!; WSU Pullman; Studio 58.

We have offered any number of inane money-making ideas in the past but in this one episode RJ offers real advice on funeral and probate costs that could save you thousands of dollars. Seriously. We also seek suggestions for a new name for our province and we discover that maybe producing a podcast doesn’t have to be this complicated. There is some reflection on evolution, the news we see, and politics, as well as some more politics. All in all, a meaty and informative episode that’s filling yet tasty. Bonus: it’s your turn to go inside the log!

Links: Our web site; Episode 10; the megacorp that owns Dignity Memorial, which in turn owns most of the funeral service companies in Metro Vancouver.

In our 90th episode, we shine our strange light on quadrophonic, direct-to-disk, AND 8-track sound systems. There’s a Twitter recommendation, and unlike the squirrels themselves, we fall all over ourselves raving about their navigation of a supreme obstacle course. The episode is rounded out by an homage to salad spinners and a salute to Mongolia’s fine COVID-19 work. This episode will have you emptying out your storage looking for lost treasures for sure. And RJ, careful with that spatula!

Links: This article points out why you shouldn’t take an Uber during the pandemic and presumably the same holds for courtesy cars; quadraphonic sound; direct-to-disk recording; 8-track stereo; @TheNotoriousRBF on Twitter; that fabulous squirrel obstacle course video; Mongolia leads the world in COVID-19 rates; Japan did everything wrong except masks, with very good results; salad spinners.

Finding themselves once again in the Shed, the Dogs soon find themselves concerned with how not to walk the dog. We then soothe, nay, assuage ourselves by reading Listener Mail, a sure-fire picker-upper in these gloomy days, and the magic of rambling works again as we end up reflecting on bad 70’s cartoons we have seen. If you’d like to animate a pleasant distraction, this is a great place to start!

Links: Shed Dogs; Amy Cooper Calls the Cops; The Mighty Hercules; Rocket Robin Hood; Bob Marley poster (Sold!).

We cover how negative oil prices can even exist, consider whether to go back to work as high priced COBOL consultants, and speculate about what’s happening with all the traffic. I mean that's our regular fare, right? Then, in a burst of inspiration, RJ asks KJ about his experiences as a young Catholic in a small town. We learn a lot, have some fun, and understand more about where we’re from. I mean where else will you hear about throwing devil's horns during a funeral service?

Links: Shed Dogs; this episode on YouTube; the Planet Money episode on negative oil prices; Cushing, OK (the Pipeline Crossroads of the World); the Catholic Church; the Vatican II (a.k.a. the Second Vatican Council); Ol’ Man River from Show Boat; The Liar Tweets Tonight (video).

Shed hunting dogs are those that hunt for shed antlers with AR-15s. Just wanted to clear up the title and artwork. Also, please help us get “I Think We’re Alone Now” out of our head, it’s a real earworm, which is, as you know, a loan translation from the German Ohrwurm. We do discuss how we’re feeling about the world’s new lifestyle, but also hear stories of COVID-19 entrepreneurs big and small, KJ’s bread making, RJ’s drinking bird, and PJ’s road trip. We manage to find disagreement within a topic we all agree on in the banning of assault weapons, but then get to revel in a lot of Listener Mail. You don’t need a better weapon to kill an hour than this episode!

Due to unforeseen circumstances, this week’s post is link-free. Please let us know if you ever use the links, and we’re not talking about the reopened golf courses here.

Oh wait, one link: Guy Garvey and Elbow do pandemic songs.

This power packed episode sees your favourite Shed Dogs lurching grimly from politics to the pandemic until suddenly RJ lights up the day with...collector cards?! Not only do you get away from humdrum topics of the day but you can get involved and even (hold onto yourself here) win a prize! A real prize with actual monetary value, brought forward intact from the late ‘80s! If that’s not a pleasant distraction we don’t know what is, and you can thank us later. Enjoy your gum! Bonus: KJ’s opportunity to become a town crier! (True story).

Links: Shed Dogs; this episode on YouTube; Why baseball trading cards lost much of their value; Dinosaurs Attack!; six uses for old trading card gum; buy ‘em on eBay; Psychology Today on why people support Trump despite his relentless narcissism; your billionaire dollars at work; KJ was offered a town crier job.

Like the rest of the world, we’re preoccupied with the pandemic, though mostly its lesser aspects, like driving behaviours, checkout rules, and where all the flour and yeast went. But we also care about which is our favourite Beatles album, RJ’s adventures in home handiness, and KJ’s cookie making prowess. We inexplicably both lament and are amused by the loss of the Land O'Lakes mascot and we look at the BC College of Physician's take on the old “one issue per visit” problem at doctors’ offices. The whole episode is a pestled prescription for wellness, so get yourself some!

Links: Shed Dogs; this episode on YouTube; electric ballasts; Hey Bulldog by the Beatles; Land O’Lakes butter packaging; what caused negative oil prices; VE VILL HAFF ONE ISSUE PER VISIT!!; shortages of baking ingredients; mortar and pestle.