Fresh Catch 2.0

As is more common than not for a free-wheeling Fresh Catch frolic, we bounced around with butterfly nets trying to catch the giggles this morning. Dr Dave's brash on-air snacking  led us to explore eating etiquette. We then meandered down the winding Wabash River, giving David the chance to boldly insert himself as our Huntington tour guide. He dropped pearls of dubious, colorful local knowledge into the mix, hoping to lure vacationers to consider visiting his hometown. Just don't Google-check him; we hubbies prefer to not have our word questioned.

Too many Yelp food reviews don't address our basic eating patterns - not ours. David opened the door for today's Glutton Support Group with his confession about the lingering effects of yesterday's White Castle drive through. And since confession is good for the soul (not "sole"…which is an absolutely delicious fish to feast on), Dr Dave hopped on, fighting the immediate temptation to munch a bunch of chips while turning into a human pod. BONUS: We celebrated how words, like waistlines, can be stretched.

Though 90 minutes apart we shared a moment with each other (and much of the nation) when Mother Earth's one true moon moved to block Father Sun's warm, full light. Our peace and harmony experience of wonder was short-lived. Our hearts – like the moon – tend to hoard the spotlight. "How dare the moon interfere with the tanning practice I'm entitled to?" And, "How dare Brian Regan claim some of Dr Dave's laughter devotion?" We did our best to keep the jealousy solar flare in David from becoming a total eclipse of the heart.

It became apparent during the course of this unrehearsed episode that David deserved recognition for his unusually advanced empathy. It revealed itself in the time he made available on Easter Sunday evening to his trans neighbor. And though he's not one to toot his own horn (he'll happily toot yours!), the level of care he's offered St Betsy while she recovers from surgery has been so imaginative it's hard to categorize. Nonetheless, Dr Dave sought to commend the unusual gift he is to those around him…no matter how it makes them feel. 

Sorry about the clickbait title. In this episode  Dr Dave's blood pressure rose in recalling how Donald Trump hawked Bibles that he "personally" endorses during Holy Week. It's probably hypocritical for us to decry the cynical mockery of someone who will make $$ from the loyal church region of MAGA Nation and then turn around and name drop to entice new listeners. But we're a conflicted duo – sometimes we embrace grace but most often we keep adding up our quid pro quo scores. Don't blame the funny Dave.

It's tourney time - have you placed your bets? Entered your office pool? Filled out your brackets? As countless men recover from their planned vasectomies so they can watch non-stop NCAA tourney action, David will be entertaining in the Great Northwest. Not sure if his bitterness is in anticipation of this misaligned schedule planning or a result of the tax counsel he receives from Mr Flat Voice. But as we wound down our episode we may have stumbled on a way to properly make our needs more important to others: just ring your bell. Enjoy!!

"X" marks the spot. In today's episode, it led to an ego-bruising delay of our scheduled recording. One feature of FC2.0 is that we Davids process our conflicts in real time, hoping we might bring benefit to listeners regardless of the personal pain. Or the giggles. We're ambidextrous that way…though David fancies himself a joy-eater. Maybe that's why he felt free to drag Dr Dave into yet another defense of his soon-to-be-recycled "Hungry Eyes" birthday picture. 

Many of us live in privacy and no space is more sacred than our bedrooms. It may not surprise loyal FC2.0 pod-heads to learn that David not only saw his neighbor through his 2nd story bedroom window, he responded to a beckoning wave. His cross-the-street encounter offers an apt and weighty metaphor for today's confusing social landscape; the unsettling wave came from a hulking, hairy human wearing a skirt and a smile. The old rules just don't work anymore…

Unfortunately for loyal Florida listener, Paul Coy, we confounded his well-deserved shout out (a 3 hour drive to hear David entertain!) by loving the sound of our own voices. Dr Dave had trouble NOT impersonating Steve from "Love on the Spectrum" and David was trapped in his Fargo dialect. At least we didn't drop the F-bomb. Yet.

We're hoping our loyal FC2.0 listeners appreciate the therapeutic breakthrough that took place on this episode. It's possible that our growth is a less entertaining podcast than we can usually deliver. If so, we apologize and pledge to do better next time. But somewhere in the middle of our haughty critique of elites and their snooty ways we realized that we are they. Our saving grace is that we exist here to simply talk (not live) a good game. Elitism is kind of icky.

On this episode David was kind enough to articulate the difference between apologies that are sincere and those that are perfunctory. (To reassure listeners, that particular word - "perfunctory" - was never uttered during our podcast. But since Dr. Dave confessed his love for wordiness it seems fair to illustrate such verbosity in this description.) And even though our 30 minute chat-fest included referencing God's directive that Jeremiah is to avoid using "worthless words" we're not sure we did so.

If we were submitting an episode of FC2.0 for Grammy consideration (is that possible?), this might be the one. The giggles threaded their way through guffaws and groans as we talked about how surveilling Pappy might lead to disturbing discoveries about his cozy relationship with a wooden spoon. David's Saturday laughter gig in a Catholic church left enough residue to celebrate how ALL THINGS are a gift from God. We're claiming the joy while we search for our own utensils of comfort.

For our many podheads who count on our 30 minute conversations to time your workout or ease you into sleepy-town, we apologize. Today's episode was first delayed (yesterday) and then cut short (today) due to yet another encounter with David's sewage repair team. They're a riot!! Though we resolved to NOT dwell on (or in) the muck we described last week, we stepped in it when we psychoanalyzed those who wear uniforms…but maybe shouldn't. BTW, what happened to the USPS dress code?

Some delays are due to natural causes. Planes don't fly on time when storms and fog are everywhere. In a similar way, your FC2.0 podcast is 24 hours late because David had "one of those days" …the kind we've all experienced. Please feel his pain as you listen in. And please hide your fantasy-inducing garden rakes. Most of all, don't use Dude Wipes.

Some people have a glow about them. After connecting with them, you can FEEL the warmth of life being transferred your way. That's glow. And if you're married long enough, you accumulate stories about conflict. So, the FC2.0 question we explored is: "How can we glow when we argue?" Lots of name dropping as we hunted for answers. Meanwhile, we truly hope our wives don't listen to this episode.

Don't you just love it when you discover how some things, when smushed together, make for a great tasting treat? As we zig-zagged through today's unscripted podcast we told a couple of stories and David tested out an idea for a comedy bit that makes for a sandwich worthy of its own name on the menu. That's how we came up with this title. Your assignment, loyal FC2.0 listeners, is to revisit the title after you hear what we giggle about in this episode and see if you enjoy a lingering laughter aftertaste!

Our first podcast of 2024 had a bit of holiday residue in it. Forgive us for being a bit distracted by news of who's on the Epstein list. And forgive us for disrespecting one of the great physicists of our time. Also, please forgive us for embarrassingly poor imitations of people we truly admire. One more thing: could you forgive us for spending even a smidge of time talking about goals for the new year? Maybe we should have agreed on the worthy goal of needing less forgiveness from our loyal FC2.0 listeners.

If you prefer an orderly conversation that leads to a clearly defined end in mind you are likely frustrated by our affection for improvisation. But we respect the craft enough to delight in bringing our often-wobbly plane to a soft landing after our 30 minute flights. Today's technical interference was challenging. Since we don't understand Internetting, we declare Year End Weirdness Week (far more powerful than a full-moon!) Hopefully our editing coughed up the seasonal gunk – let us know…gently. Happy New Year!

Comedians have keenly trained ears;  it's not fair to ask them to hear what's going on in the world like us common folks do. "Blessing and curse" is how David framed his audible-ity. So when Dr Dave was simply recounting a story by naming a favorite Campus Life kid from 40 years ago, Mr Funny couldn't stop giggling at the sound. It's OK that he acted like a 7th grade boy because soon enough he was reliving a terrifying moment from his high school days. Merry Christmas? Yes. Eventually. Sort of. ENJOY!

Most times we title an episode based on what we actually discussed. But in this case, we have to apologize for not smashing together the two topics we DID talk about: 1) Norman Rockwell art, and 2) the Idaho-cy of spending 8 hours in line for an In-n-Out burger. We often collude together to imagine funnier-than-life situations and it feels like we were just a tad off our game. As you listen, do you agree it's fair to blame Pappy?