Verge of the Dude

Hey Dude, I talk about why the passing of Dolly Parton was a real gut punch, and the shot of adrenaline I got for putting togther a book for my Uncle Woody. Plus I preview a publication of stories from this very podcast.

QUOTE: "There was one very special reason I always loved Dolly. She reminded me of my mom."

CAMEO: Ming Ming

CAST: Femme Fatale, Dolly Parton, Bob Dylan, X, Uncle Woody, Paul Hutchinson

LOCATIONS: Ming Ming's Barn

PROPS: Porno, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, Amazon

SONG: "A Coat of Many Colors"

BOOK: "From Burbank to the Boardroom: The Woody Anderson Story" by Elmer W. Anderson

SOUNDS: Laguna Sawdust Cowbell Chimes (more cowbell), cat

PHOTO: "Dolly Cafe" shot on my iPhone XS

RECORDED: September 13, 2026 in "Ming Ming's Barn" under the flight path of the Hollywood Burbank Airport in Burbank, California

GEAR: Zoom H1 XLR with Sennheiser MD 46 microphone.

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 13:31

FILE SIZE: ~ 13 MB

GENRES: storytelling, personal storytelling, personal journal, journal, personal narrative, audio, audio blog, confessional

HYPE: "It's a beatnik kinda literary thing in a podcast cloak of darkness." Timothy Kimo Brien (cohost on Podwrecked and host of Create Art Podcast)

DISCLAIMER/WARNING: Proudly presented rough, raw and ragged. Seasoned with salty language and ideas. Not for most people's taste. Please be advised.

Hey Dude, I took my dad back up to Yosemite where we found serenity along the South Fork of the Merced River, the Oakhurst Lodge swimming pool, the garden at the Mariposa Coffee Company and the cool little Wawona Library.

QUOTE: "Is this my Tom Bopp musical? Maybe."

CAST: Tom Bopp, Diane Keaton, Huell Howser, Hell's Angels, Marlon Brando

LOCATIONS: Yosemite, Wawona Hotel, The Redwoods in Yosemite, Oakhurst, Oakhurst Lodge, Los Angeles, Burbank, The Grapevine, Central Valley, Bakersfield, Bass Lake, Yosemite Gateway Art Center, Mariposa Coffee Company, Mariposa, Topanga Canyon, San Luis Obispo, California, Bigfoot Bakery and Grill, Wawona, South Fork of the Merced River, Pioneer Village, Wawona Library, Central California, Northern California, Echo Park, Altadena, England

PROPS: DOGE, American Songbook, The 5, California's Gold, Nikon D3100 DSLR, The Wild Ones, 1967, hybrid bathrooms, Dodgers, A's, Giants, manna from Heaven, Vietnam War, 21 grams, 2005 Ford Rangers 4.0 V6, muscle cars, photo slides, fondue

SOUNDS: wind, Laguna Sawdust Cowbell Chimes (more cowbell), car muffler

PHOTO: "Old Wooden Covered Bridge" shot with a Nikon D3100 DSLR

RECORDED: July 10, 2026 in "The Cafe" under the flight path of the Hollywood Burbank Airport in Burbank, California

GEAR: Zoom H1 XLR with Sennheiser MD 46 microphone.

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 35:37

FILE SIZE: ~ 35 MB

GENRES: storytelling, personal storytelling, personal journal, journal, personal narrative, audio, audio blog, confessional

HYPE: "It's a beatnik kinda literary thing in a podcast cloak of darkness." Timothy Kimo Brien (cohost on Podwrecked and host of Create Art Podcast)

DISCLAIMER/WARNING: Proudly presented rough, raw and ragged. Seasoned with salty language and ideas. Not for most people's taste. Please be advised.

Hey Dude, I celebrate the long and winding journey of my old friend writer/producer Tom Purcell, who booked the ultimate celebrity for the grand finale of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at the Ed Sullivan Theater.

QUOTE: "...he's only my third favorite Beatle."

CAST: Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, The Roots, Jimmy Kimmel, David Letterman, Adam Carolla, Ray Oldhafer, Marc Maron, Ed Sullivan, Tom Purcell, David Cross, Bob Odenkirk, Dan Klass, Stan Hillas, Jamie Kennedy, Leonardo DiCaprio, John Leguizamo, Jim Morrison, The Doors, David Letterman, Paul McCartney, The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Jon Batiste, Elvis Costello, Paul Shaffer, Achilles, Taylor Swift, John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr

LOCATIONS: Hollywood, Hollywood Walk of Fame, North Hollywood, North Hollywood High School, Upfront Comedy Showcase, New York City, Ed Sullivan Theater, Chicago, Second City

PROPS: "Unbuckled", The Late Show, Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Podcast Hall of Fame, Ed Sullivan Show, Mr. Show with Bob and David, Jamie Kennedy Experiment, Scream, Romeo + Juliet, Late Night with David Letterman, Hello Goodbye, Odyssey, Illiad, Star Wars, Rubber Soul, Sgt. Pepper, White Album

SOUNDS: plane, Laguna Sawdust Cowbell Chimes (more cowbell), birds

PHOTO: "Tom Purcell the Coyote" shot with my iPhone XS

RECORDED: May 30, 2026 in "The Cafe" under the flight path of the Hollywood Burbank Airport in Burbank, California

GEAR: Zoom H1 XLR with Sennheiser MD 46 microphone.

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 23:08

FILE SIZE: ~ 23 MB

GENRES: storytelling, personal storytelling, personal journal, journal, personal narrative, audio, audio blog, confessional

HYPE: "It's a beatnik kinda literary thing in a podcast cloak of darkness." Timothy Kimo Brien (cohost on Podwrecked and host of Create Art Podcast)

DISCLAIMER/WARNING: Proudly presented rough, raw and ragged. Seasoned with salty language and ideas. Not for most people's taste. Please be advised.

Hey Dude, I took my dad back up to Yosemite after far too long an absence. It was amazing trip filled with check engine lights and giant sparks of joy.

QUOTE: "I flew up that freakin' thing!"

CAST: Blayney, Jay Leno, Tom Bopp

CAMEO: Ming Ming

LOCATIONS: Yosemite, Oakhurst, Mariposa, Big Bear, Inland Empire, Central Valley, Yosemite Valley, Rusty's Pistons, Raley's, Chocolate Soup, Marisposa Arts, Mariposa Creek, Yosemite National Park, Wawona, Pioneer Village, South Fork of the Merced River, Curry Village, Ahwahnee Hotel, Half Dome, Tunnel View, Lower Yosemite Falls, El Capitan, Bakersfield, Grapevine, Santa Clarita, Los Angeles

PROPS: Ford Ranger, Highway 99, Model T, Napa Auto, gully, NSFW

SOUNDS: wind Laguna Sawdust Cowbell Chimes (more cowbell), birds

PHOTO: "Blayney Half Dome" shot with my iPhone XS

RECORDED: May 12, 2026 in "The Cafe" under the flight path of the Hollywood Burbank Airport in Burbank, California

GEAR: Zoom H1 XLR with Sennheiser MD 46 microphone.

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 23:57

FILE SIZE: ~ 23 MB

GENRES: storytelling, personal storytelling, personal journal, journal, personal narrative, audio, audio blog, confessional

HYPE: "It's a beatnik kinda literary thing in a podcast cloak of darkness." Timothy Kimo Brien (cohost on Podwrecked and host of Create Art Podcast)

DISCLAIMER/WARNING: Proudly presented rough, raw and ragged. Seasoned with salty language and ideas. Not for most people's taste. Please be advised.

Hey Dude, an old flyer for a show I did back in my NoHo Arts District days, leads to a serious questioning about whether GenX is really my generation.

QUOTE: "[To a] person born in 1980. Hey, what did you think of the 70s?"

CAST: Ming Ming, R2-D2, Ken Dougherty, Dan Klass, David Letterman, Spalding Gray, Brother Theodore, Elayne Boosler

LOCATIONS: NoHo Arts District, SoHo, Performance Garage, New York City, Hollywood, North Hollywood, North Hollywood High School,

PROPS: GenX Singles, Late Night with David Letterman, Star Wars, Star Wars Generation, True Detective, Pulp Fiction, Story Salon, Swimming to Cambodia, Karaoke

SOUNDS: crows, footsteps, gravel Laguna Sawdust Cowbell Chimes (more cowbell), birds, planes, wind

PHOTO: "Lance Sex Flyer" shot with my iPhone XS

RECORDED: April 18, 2026 in "The Cafe" under the flight path of the Hollywood Burbank Airport in Burbank, California

GEAR: Zoom H1 XLR with Sennheiser MD 46 microphone.

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 22:31

FILE SIZE: ~ 20 MB

GENRES: storytelling, personal storytelling, personal journal, journal, personal narrative, audio, audio blog, confessional

HYPE: "It's a beatnik kinda literary thing in a podcast cloak of darkness." Timothy Kimo Brien (cohost on Podwrecked and host of Create Art Podcast)

DISCLAIMER/WARNING: Proudly presented rough, raw and ragged. Seasoned with salty language and ideas. Not for most people's taste. Please be advised.

Hey Dude, I both celebrate Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, and defend Rosanna Arquette's legitmate criticism of the groundbreaking film.

QUOTE: "I'm willing to stand next to Jon Hamm and take off my shirt..."

CAST: Don Draper, Mac Sledge, Jon Hamm, Bad Bunny, Harvey Keitel, The Wolf, John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Vinnie Barbarino, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ving Rhames, Rosanna Arquette, Mark Lonow, Patricia Arquette, Nicolas Cage, Nick Nolte

CAMEO: Ming Ming

LOCATIONS: Jack Rabbit Slims, Improv, Santa Monica, Ventura Blvd.

PROPS: Cadbury Bunny, Stanley Steamer, Instagram, Corvette

MOVIES/TV: Mad Men, Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Welcome Back Kotter, Saturday Night Fever, Urban Cowboy, Grease, Die Hard, New York Stories, Life Lessons, Annie Hall, Jackie Brown, Once Up a Time in Hollywood

DIRECTORS: Quentin Taratino, Francis Ford Coppola, Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese

SOUNDS: Ming Ming, Laguna Sawdust Cowbell Chimes (more cowbell), birds, planes

PHOTO: "Rosanna Pulp Googled" via YouTube shot with my iPhone XS

RECORDED: March 12, 2026 in "The Cafe" under the flight path of the Hollywood Burbank Airport in Burbank, California

GEAR: Zoom H1 XLR with Sennheiser MD 46 microphone.

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 19:48

FILE SIZE: ~ 20 MB

GENRES: storytelling, personal storytelling, personal journal, journal, personal narrative, audio, audio blog, confessional

HYPE: "It's a beatnik kinda literary thing in a podcast cloak of darkness." Timothy Kimo Brien (cohost on Podwrecked and host of Create Art Podcast)

DISCLAIMER/WARNING: Proudly presented rough, raw and ragged. Seasoned with salty language and ideas. Not for most people's taste. Please be advised.

Hey Dude, I come to terms with the fact I'll never be Don Draper, but the truth is I'd rather be Mac Sledge.

QUOTE: "Obviously I don't look like Don Draper..."

CAST: Ming Ming (cameo), Don Draper, Jon Hamm, Robert Duvall, Robert De Niro, Mac Sledge, Sanford Meisner, Jeff Goldblum, Lawrence Fishburne

LOCATIONS: Ming Ming's Barn, New York City, Neighborhood Playhouse

PROPS: toupee, Country Western, litmus test, Meisner Technique, Westerns

MOVIES/TV: Mad Men, The Godfather, The Great Santini, Apocalypse Now, True Confessions, Colors, Tender Mercies

SOUNDS: Ming Ming, Laguna Sawdust Cowbell Chimes (more cowbell), birds, planes

PHOTO: "Mac Sledge Googled" via YouTube shot with my iPhone XS

RECORDED: February 27, 2026 in "Ming Ming's Barn" under the flight path of the Hollywood Burbank Airport in Burbank, California

GEAR: Zoom H1 XLR with Sennheiser MD 46 microphone.

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 16:12

FILE SIZE: ~ 16 MB

GENRES: storytelling, personal storytelling, personal journal, journal, personal narrative, audio, audio blog, confessional

HYPE: "It's a beatnik kinda literary thing in a podcast cloak of darkness." Timothy Kimo Brien (cohost on Podwrecked and host of Create Art Podcast)

DISCLAIMER/WARNING: Proudly presented rough, raw and ragged. Seasoned with salty language and ideas. Not for most people's taste. Please be advised.

Hey Dude, I'm coming to terms with the fact that I'm attracted to women with beautiful voices. My maddest crush is on Brandi Carlile who is also my favorite contemporary artist.

QUOTE: "She's GenX adjacent..."

CAST: Brandi Carlile, Howard Stern, Phil and Tim Hanseroth, Hank Williams, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Kermit The Frog

LOCATIONS: The 5 Freeway

PROPS: SNL, GenX, CBS Sunday Morning

MUSIC: "Right on Time", rock and roll, folk, country, gospel, jazz, standards, classical, popular music, Grammys

SOUNDS: gravel, footsteps, Laguna Sawdust Cowbell Chimes (more cowbell), fast car, birds, planes

PHOTO: "Right on Brandi (and The Twins)" via YouTube shot with my iPhone XS

RECORDED: January 24, 2026 in "The Cafe" under the flight path of the Hollywood Burbank Airport in Burbank, California

GEAR: Zoom H1 XLR with Sennheiser MD 46 microphone.

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 12.21

FILE SIZE: ~ 12MB

GENRES: storytelling, personal storytelling, personal journal, journal, personal narrative, audio, audio blog, confessional

HYPE: "It's a beatnik kinda literary thing in a podcast cloak of darkness." Timothy Kimo Brien (cohost on Podwrecked and host of Create Art Podcast)

DISCLAIMER/WARNING: Proudly presented rough, raw and ragged. Seasoned with salty language and ideas. Not for most people's taste. Please be advised.

Hey Dude, while exhibiting my photos at the "Gallery at the End of the World" in the Mariposa Junction, I reconnected with Altadena through art, community and the power of podcasting.

QUOTE: "Frankly, I didn't want to have to go through the whole committee process."

CAST: Dick Van Dyke, Ben Mc Ginty, Dave Lovejoy, Stacey (Sacred Silver), Ming Ming (aka "My Buddy")

LOCATIONS: Unitarian Universalist Church of Studio City, "Moorpark Church", Studio City, Gallery at the End of the World, Altadena, Mariposa Junction, Cafe de Leche, The Last Bookstore, Altadena Hardware, Altadena Library, North Hollywood High School

PROPS: Spring, Autumn, Eaton Fire, History of Podcasting Project, Zoom, show notes, Altadena Junction, LA Podcasters, Podcast Hall of Fame, Christmas

RELIGIONS: Unitarian Universalism, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, atheism

SOUNDS: birds, gravel, footsteps, Laguna Sawdust Cowbell Chimes planes, trains and automobiles

PHOTO: "Photo Sold" shot with my iPhone XS

RECORDED: December 13, 2025 on the "Wawona Lawn" under the flight path of the Hollywood Burbank Airport in Burbank, California

GEAR: Zoom H1 XLR with Sennheiser MD 46 microphone.

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 15:36

FILE SIZE: ~ 16MB

GENRES: storytelling, personal storytelling, personal journal, journal, personal narrative, audio, audio blog, confessional

HYPE: "It's a beatnik kinda literary thing in a podcast cloak of darkness." Timothy Kimo Brien (cohost on Podwrecked and host of Create Art Podcast)

DISCLAIMER/WARNING: Proudly presented rough, raw and ragged. Seasoned with salty language and ideas. Not for most people's taste. Please be advised.

Hey Dude, I try to sort through my messy milestone birthday, perfectly captured in my super funky selfie that inspired the call.

QUOTE: "There's a lot of strands in the old duder's head..."

CAST: Modesto, Dodgers, Shohei Ohtani, The Dude, The Doors, Bill Murray

SPECIAL GUEST CAMEO: Ming Ming

LOCATIONS: Unitarian Universalist Church of Studio City (UUCSC), Paris, France, Smoke House, Ernie's Taco House, Toluca Lake, Casa Vega, Hill Street Cafe, St. Leon Armenian Cathedral, Bob's Big Boy, In-N-Out Burger

PROPS: Facebook, #MoreDoubles, podcasting

FILMS: The Big Lebowski, Caddyshack

SONGS: Dancing in the Dark

LULLABY: The End by The Doors

SOUNDS: gravel, footsteps, Laguna Sawdust Cowbell Chimes helicoper, Ming Ming, jet, wind

PHOTO: "Self-Portrait" shot with my iPhone XS

RECORDED: October 18, 2025 in "The Cafe" under the flight path of the Hollywood Burbank Airport in Burbank, California

GEAR: Zoom H1 XLR with Sennheiser MD 46 microphone.

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 17:14

FILE SIZE: ~ 17MB

GENRES: storytelling, personal storytelling, personal journal, journal, personal narrative, audio, audio blog, confessional

HYPE: "It's a beatnik kinda literary thing in a podcast cloak of darkness." Timothy Kimo Brien (cohost on Podwrecked and host of Create Art Podcast)

DISCLAIMER/WARNING: Proudly presented rough, raw and ragged. Seasoned with salty language and ideas. Not for most people's taste. Please be advised.