The Grey NATO - Ep 102 - Desert Island Picks (And The Meetup Has Been Postponed. Sorry)
Published on Thu, 12 Mar 2020 06:00:00 -0400
Synopsis
This episode discusses items James and Jason would take with them if stranded alone or in self-quarantine, such as music albums, books, watches, luxury items, essential tools, food, clothing, and tech items. Their choices reflect a love of adventure literature, jazz, and practical yet cherished objects that could provide utility, comfort, and memories in isolation. The conversational tone conveys their shared interests and friendship.
Links
Transcript
| Speaker | |
|---|---|
| James Stacey | Hey everyone, James actually just cutting in here with an editor's note as we've had some kind of late term news that came in after we recorded episode 102. The hangout on March 18th has been postponed. We will not be doing the hangout. We will not be posting an RSVP. We are not comfortable with the general conditions around coronavirus and we're certainly not comfortable with putting any of you at risk or any of your families at risk. just to come and attend kind of a hangout with a couple of podcast hosts. So like everyone else is saying, due to an abundance of caution, which I think is what this is, we're not going to be doing an event on the 18th. We will be postponing it to a later date when the public health climate is in a more stable condition. And yeah, sorry that it worked out this way, but we really don't want anyone to get sick. So we'll see you as soon as we can, but it won't be on March 18th. Let's get back to the show. Hello and welcome to another episode of the GrayNado, a Hodinkee podcast. It's a loose discussion of travel, diving, driving, gear, and most certainly watches. This is episode 102, and we thank you for listening. Jason, how are you doing? |
| Jason Heaton from Toronto | Pretty good. Yeah, if I'm a little nasally, I apologize. It's that time of year as we've discussed, and I've got a bit of congestion, but I'll soldier through. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, I've been on both sides of that battle this year already. I had a pretty bad go. Uh, you know, about 10 days ago. Um, and I still have a little bit of the congestion and that sort of stuff. So apologies from both Toronto and Minneapolis, uh, as, as we take care of this, but, uh, it's that time of year. So yeah, you gotta, you gotta take what you can get. And I think you sound pretty good from this side anyways. |
| Jason Heaton from Toronto | These are weird days, very strange days. I mean, the Bond film got postponed and Baselworld got canceled and just strange stuff. |
| James Stacey | Literally as we're recording this, I, uh, would have been in Tokyo. Oh, right. So this would have been I was going to Japan to to photograph all of the new launches from Grand Seiko, many of which are already on the Houdinki website. And you can take a look. There's some really cool stuff from them. But they were doing their own sort of Japanese local version of Baselworld because they weren't going to Baselworld before Baselworld 2020 wasn't going to happen anyways. And and then just kind of as these things started to ramp up with coronavirus and the rest of this, they pulled the plug on the trip and the entire event. And it'll be redone at a later date, probably in New York. But those of you who have been listening to the show for a long time know that Japan's absolutely number one on my list. And these days when I have actual quote unquote vacation time, I spend it with my family and I'm probably not going to take two kids under six to Tokyo with me the first time. So this was going to be my chance to get to Tokyo, and I had extended the stay by about a week. So it would have been three or four days of work and about six days of touring around. I had hopes of seeing Osaka and Kyoto and eating all the ramen that the world has to offer. But these things didn't work out that way. I made it up to myself this past week with a little trip to a cabin. We were just kind of hung out and put logs in a wood-burning stove and ate candy. It was pretty good. I think I needed it. I guess it's pretty common, but you get that kind of burnout feeling. I think, Jason, you're a lot better at this than I am, just knowing that there's a phase. There's times when you phase 100% into work and there's times where you back off and you go skiing or to a cabin. just read a book for a couple of days or something like that. And it's something I'm kind of learning is that I have to, I have to move, I have to vacillate between the two. Otherwise one really eats the other. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, which is, uh, which is something to kind of figuring out, but it was, it was nice to have some time to just kind of do nothing, you know, wasn't too concerned with email. I only did, you know, maybe one Instagram post and, uh, and just kind of took it easy and, and, and, you know, really took a break from most of the inputs in my life. |
| Jason Heaton from Toronto | Yeah. Yeah. It sounds great. I mean, uh, you know, I think we exchanged a handful of Slack messages to kind of arrange a time to record this week. But, uh, other than that, yeah, it's, it's good. It's good to unplug. I think it's just so healthy. We're, we're heading up North, uh, actually. Um, well, I guess by the time this episode airs, we'll be back, but we're leaving in a couple of days to go way up North where there's still some winter to do a little last ski outing. Um, which. I don't know, it feels a little smug. It's going to push 60 degrees Fahrenheit here this weekend, which is really incredibly warm for this time of year. And so all the snow is pretty well gone already. So I'm kind of looking forward to a last gasp of winter and then embrace the warm weather fully, which I'm quite ready for. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, I'm over winter pretty strongly. I do like it from inside looking out. I'm a little over the snow shoveling and the way that people drive when there's a little bit of snow happening. And we had a couple of really lovely days here, and then all of a sudden, as we're recording this, it's snowing quite hard in Toronto. Wow. So, you know, well into full spring. |
| Jason Heaton from Toronto | Yeah. Speaking of, our Q&A episode that we did for Episode 101 was a huge success. We got great feedback, both from email and in the comments on Hodinkee and, you know, DMs on Instagram. So, you know, thanks for everybody that, that sent those voice memos in and definitely keep those coming. We've got another crop that's growing in our inbox and we'll certainly do another Q and A episode, you know, not probably not episode 103, but you know, who knows. And then once we have a good load of them, we'll, we'll do that all over again. It was great. |
| James Stacey | Yep. By all means, keep, please keep the messages coming 30 to 60 seconds, your name, where you're from. And your question, we look forward to doing another episode. And we thank everyone for giving these episodes a try, because, you know, it is kind of a new thing. And as it turns out, it's probably one of our most popular episodes of the recent, you know, crop. And I'm just happy to see that, you know, people kind of attached to it and enjoyed it. I like having more voices on the show. And I think this is a fun way to keep the talk, you know, kind of within our community. And I think we're already going to see things where we'll get questions that you and I answer one way, and then we get an email with a whole different answer, which is fun and all that kind of stuff. |
| Jason Heaton from Toronto | Well, I say we jump into the main topic. We kind of were batting around ideas for today's topic and thought with the current state of affairs in the world with people quarantining, either self-quarantining or being stuck on a cruise ship or something, we thought we would, I don't want to say have a little fun with it, but it made for a good topic to talk about. what we're terming sort of a desert island EDC or desert island TGN or whatever you want to call it, where if either of us or both of us are stranded on a desert island or somewhere remote, like a cabin, um, what would we take along with us? And we established a few categories to, uh, kind of launch the discussion and discuss. So why don't, why don't we kick it off with, uh, with music? Um, you know, there's that show on the BBC that I think I've mentioned in the past called Desert Island Discs, which was kind of the inspiration for this, where they interview famous people and they've done this since like the 1950s. Um, and they asked them to pick, I think, five records or compact discs or whatever they're up to now, songs that they would take along if they were stranded somewhere. And so kind of in honor of that, we thought we'd kick it off with a piece of music. Um, this would be like an, I guess an album. Right? I mean, you don't want to just have one song. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. I think it's going to be an album. It's, and it's hard to pick one. Um, but I do think, I think, I think like the idea of an album, it's similar to a book. It's theoretically, it's a singular story or an arc of some sort of a tone. And, uh, and yeah, so, uh, what did you, if you're, so let's say we're not saying you're stranded, we're saying like, maybe you're, we're, let's say you're in a position where you would like to be alone or mostly alone for a week or whatever. What are you taking with you? So maybe this is a self quarantine or really just what I would call a reclusive spell. Yeah. I often do these, you know, two or three days a month in my home and I usually just don't leave my bed is the easiest way. So it's whatever I could possibly put on the bed next to me or on a table or something like that. So in that scenario, what kind of music are you reaching for, Jason? |
| Jason Heaton from Toronto | Yeah. So, you know, I've been a jazz fan since high school and kind of, I think the greatest jazz album of all time is Kind of Blue by Miles Davis. And it's a bit of a cliche. You hear the songs from this album in cafes and movie soundtracks and that sort of thing. But it's an album that I just never tire of. It has a subtlety to it and just a very calming effect that I've loved for the better part of my life at this point. very seminal piece of work by Miles Davis. He kind of launched the whole cool jazz movement with this album back in 1959. And to me, it just, it has such a weight to it. It has such a depth to it that conjures up so many kind of memories and feelings from, from all the years that I've been listening to this. And I, I also chose it because, you know, certainly I've got favorite artists that are singers and songwriters. You know, Sting, The Police, Gordon Lightfoot, you know, a number of these. But for some reason I wanted to choose something that didn't have lyrics. Something I wouldn't be singing along to because I guess being stuck in sort of a reclusive setting I might be doing other things. Repetitive lyrics for an extended period of time might get a little bit maddening, I guess, for me. So I chose something that is just purely instrumental. |
| James Stacey | And if you wanted to, because I think this now classifies as commentary, suggest a track that I could drop in under your talk. |
| Jason Heaton from Toronto | What's one to warm people up to it? Well, I think the album, I don't have it in front of me, but I think the album opens with All Blue, I think is the opening track. Okay. Which is kind of well known to most people. It's kind of the iconic one that you hear when the album starts. |
| [Music: Miles Davis - 'So What' from 'Kind of Blue'] | ♪ |
| Jason Heaton from Toronto | The artists on this album were all legends in their own right. You had Cannonball Adderley on alto sax, John Coltrane on tenor sax, Bill Evans was on piano, and it escapes me who was on bass for that album. But it's just an incredible gathering of amazing artists at an incredible time of history. And I love, when I listen to this album, to kind of picture them all in the studio. And there are ample photos that you can kind search on Google and whatever of the recording sessions for this album and it just has that classic sort of 50s cool studio recording vibe to it that I love. |
| James Stacey | Super fun. I don't know anything about jazz. I don't know that I could easily name a Miles Davis song, so I should give this one a listen. I'll add it to my titles playlist. Yeah, definitely. How about you? For me, as far as an album goes, it's going to be Helplessness Blues by the Fleet Foxes. This is an album... I like something that I could kind of sing along to and also this would be a helpful point where if I get a song stuck in my head in said reclusive scenario, this might be a bit of a palate cleanser so that I'm not just singing the payolas for a week as I wander around some island or something. But yeah, in this case, I think this is... It's probably one of my most favorite albums of all time and This is one of these questions. There's a couple other on this list where you could kind of switch between one or another option kind of at random pretty easily. And in this case, I think this one would just kind of suit, you know, being alone or taking some time off the grid or something like that. And it's a it's an absolutely gorgeous album, you know, from an incredible band. One of my favorite bands, certainly. And it's an album that, you know, I talked about this a little bit on my interview for Hodinkee Radio. It's just an album that kind of ties me back to my time in Vancouver, and certainly my earliest days exploring the city and exploring the mountains and exploring the waters around that city, this place that I love. And it'll always be this sort of emotional soundtrack for that scenario, which is something that I cathartically will just go back to. So while there are some albums that I like just as much this one has kind of some special sentimental value as well So I absolutely love this one. And if we're gonna play a song what you'll be hearing right now is Let's go with grown ocean, which I think is a pretty good track. Oh cool |
| Jason Heaton from Toronto | Funny that we both chose albums that have blue in the title. I don't know if there's a certain melancholy streak to being on your own, but I think there's a certain sort of introspection that happens when you're on your own, and I think these types of things lend themselves to it. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, I would agree. Next up is a book. Where did you land on a book? We actually just got a message asking if we could do kind of a book club, kind of like we do with our TGN film club. Oh, yeah. So let's start off a hypothetical book club. I think actually both the books that we have on our list here we've talked about before. Yeah. But so if you a book I think is kind of like this is pretty crucial. Right. Reclusive behavior. It's it's it's a 100 percent internal event unless you're maybe reading to a co recluse. But but other than that, this is probably something where like, you know, you're sitting in front of the fire or maybe you're on a nice chair next to the water or something like that and you crack a book. What are you reading? Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton from Toronto | So continuing the blue, the blue theme, Blue Meridian, which is a book that I think was probably on both of our lists. And we had to flip a coin who gets it. It's one of my all time favorites. Peter Matheson, National Book Award winner for his book, The Snow Leopard, which is another great book, which I recommend. But Blue Meridian just resonates in so many ways. We've We've both read it. It's tied to one of our favorite movies, Blue Water, White Death. So Matheson was a journalist and writer living in Long Island back in the 60s and 70s. He himself, if you're interested, look him up. He has a very interesting past. He was, I think he was in the CIA and he was kind of a commercial fisherman and had a bunch of other interesting jobs, but incredible writer. And he was invited along by the wealthy, scion of the Gimbel's department store fortune, Peter Gimbel, who embarked on this worldwide expedition. A TGN deity. Oh, totally. Yeah. To be the first to film the great white shark in its natural habitat. And so he chartered or bought an old whaler, whaling ship and set off with this group of crack divers and filmmakers and photographers and even a folk singer. And he decided that he needed someone to document it in a book. And he invited Matheson, who I think was a friend or an acquaintance from the New York area. And they set off. And so the movie's great, but to read Blue Meridian is just, it lends such a different perspective than the movie, which, you know, a two hour movie versus a nice long book. The book is, it's just so rich in description and human, there's a very human element. He really goes into the different characters in the book, the different characters that are on this expedition. The photos in it are great. I have an old edition. I don't even know if it's still in print. I doubt it. But there's just something about this adventure that these guys went on that really speaks to me. It's the kind of adventure that just doesn't happen very much anymore, where you sort of get a ragtag group of people with a really big idea and a lot of risk and just set off to do something grand. And then to have you know, a very good writer along to document it, um, just feels right. It just feels great. I'd love to be that writer. I'd like to be Peter Matheson on a trip like this. I think it's kind of my dream gig would be to, you know, come along on this grand expedition and tag along and observe and take notes and create a book out of this. I think, um, it speaks on so many levels to me as a writer that, uh, um, I just love it. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, the thing that stands out for me with Meridian, which you touched on, is it's the quality of the writing. |
| Affirmative response | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | And it's the fact that he's able to take it. It's almost a Hunter S. Thompson, like he's observing what's happening on the boat, but there's no gonzo to it. It's this beautifully crafted, every sentence is a little story. The quality of the writing is something that kind of floored me the first probably two times I read this book. |
| Affirmative response | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | And you already know the story, and if you know Blue Water, White Death, you even know the people. Many of the names are obviously identical to that in the movie, so you already know faces, which is kind of fun. Yeah. And it's easier if you're a visual thinker like myself to kind of see these people saying what they're saying and doing what they're doing and trying to live in these scenarios. But there's something that I just love about the And I think it applies a little bit less to Blue Meridian, but I think it is special. It's the idea of that interloper in another scenario. Yeah. So like he wasn't a oceanographic explorer, you know, hunting big game, like these weren't his backgrounds. Yeah. He came to this as a qualified observer, as a reliable narrator. Right. And the work is simply incredible. Yeah. Yeah. I can't speak highly enough about this book. The first time I read it was while it was, uh, under motor to Clipperton, which is a, a good setting for, uh, for such a story. And it's just, um, it's a, it's a really, uh, it's a TGN topic that's told at a, at a much elevated level. Uh, adventure writing isn't always great writing just like, um, like really exciting books aren't always written by the finest authors. Yeah. This marries the two for sure. this, this is that, that very rare overlap where you get a writer who could have been successful writing about anything because they're so talented writing about something that you and I really love. |
| Jason Heaton from Toronto | Yeah. And, and, you know, in this setting is sort of our, you know, self quarantine scenario or, or reclusive scenario. It's, it's the kind of book just like the album I chose, the music I chose that I can read over and over and I can read, I can pick up and read a chapter from the very middle of the book and put it down and read the end of the book or read the beginning chapter and kind of pick it up anywhere in the book, because I've read the whole thing several times. And that's kind of my criteria. I don't necessarily want something that has to be a linear story that, you know, you have to read from start to finish every single time. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, I agree. Fantastic choice. I'm going to back that one up with another story of a pseudo ragtag band of guys off to do something probably ill-advised, and this is called Endurance. And it's by Alfred Lansing. And it's the story of Shackleton's voyage in 1914, uh, to, uh, to the, to reach the South pole, to be the first person to reach the South pole. And I think this is like required reading. Um, despite the fact that we're talking about the early 1900s, it is, uh, weirdly modern and, uh, it, it just has aged really well. And it is probably one of the most remarkable stories of its, of its ilk. of its kind. And I absolutely love it. I mean, if you don't know some of the story, there's a lot to go on. And I think Lansing's is roughly the best coverage if you want to just kind of sit down and digest the overall scope. And then this harrowing rescue and the types of people that were on the boat were really special. The way they kind of put the group together was really special. And then Shackleton, I mean, he was something else. |
| Jason Heaton from Toronto | Yeah. And, you know, it really speaks to the quality of this book that it's held up as well as it has. I don't know when it was written, but it's an old book and there've been so many books. Everybody knows about Shackleton and you know, there've been a management, you know, PowerPoints done about Shackleton. Absolutely. And many other books. And, and this one still stands up as one of the best, uh, if not the best. And I was introduced to this book. I was in high school. I think I was a sophomore in high school in English class and we had to write a book report. And this was the book I, chose I don't know I think my parents had it because I remember the cover of it it was already very dog-eared and a bit faded the the book sleeve and uh and I remember reading it then and was just captivated this was in high school this might have kick-started my whole interest in this type of stuff for all I know but it was it's very vivid and some good photos in it and yeah great great choice yeah polar exploration is just insane to begin with yeah and when you're talking about doing it in 1914 uh really no chance of coming back |
| James Stacey | Yeah. You know, it really are really just a fantastic story about like a very human, but also kind of fringe endeavor. So that's Endurance by Alfred Lansing and Eden picked Blue Meridian by Peter Matheson. Yeah. Let's go on to, how about a watch? A watch. |
| Jason Heaton from Toronto | Got to do a watch. Everybody's waiting for this one. Mine's an obvious choice. It was the predictable one. It's a Rolex Submariner for both sentimental reasons. Um, but also, you know, I figured whether this is self quarantine or some desert island thing where there's little hope of coming back or, or no, you know, no certainty of being rescued. Um, I thought I would go with one that is a known entity with, you know, 60 plus years of evolutionary, um, sort of improvement, uh, by a brand and something that's very simple and reliable and. Also one that I won't get bored with and that I don't also have to think about all the time. So, no date, Rolex Sub, you know, just bomb-proof, no need for a battery, self-winding, steel bracelet that's not going to rot away like a strap might. So, yeah, not much more to say about it. That's the watch I would choose. I have one. It's the one that I would take would be the one I got for my 40th birthday that I've discussed ad nauseum at this point. It's been through everything with me and it might as well go to, uh, to the desert Island with me as well. |
| James Stacey | I like it. Good pick. Yeah. Uh, I don't think in this scenario I would care about running a second time zone. So my Rolex could stay, stay home. I think I just wear a Doxa. Yeah. Uh, you know, something kind of adventure-ish and fun and, uh, and, and very much just something for the smile it gives you when you look at it. So I'd probably go with the 50th anniversary Sea Rambler, but I wouldn't, you know, uh, wouldn't kick, uh, Wouldn't kick a professional off wrist, so. |
| Jason Heaton from Toronto | Yeah. Yeah, good one. I toyed with the idea of picking something a little more dynamic and fun. Doxa is like one of those things you wouldn't get bored with looking at day after day. So that's a good choice. |
| James Stacey | I also kind of like the idea, for whatever reason, and it works for your Rolex, just for any watch, it works for any watch, but I like the idea that if this were like a stranded on a desert island scenario, you'd get a couple scratches or some sand under the bezel or something from that experience. uh, that could kind of, you know, increase the watches, uh, personal appeal, if you will. But, uh, there's, you know, the watch thing, you know, I could go 10 different ways. I could, it could be a Hallios, it could be a Seiko, it could be my Explorer too. But I think like, I'm definitely on a real doxa kick these days. And, uh, and I think whether it's a cabin in the woods or, uh, you know, this desert Island where you've maybe have to be doing some hand fishing or something, um, I think a Doxa or a Rolex Sub is just about perfect. Yeah. Cool. And you'd be photo ready for whenever the boat found you, you know, you'd have, you'd have that like the super tan look, but you'd be kind of grimy and then you've got like a real dope watch. Yep. |
| Jason Heaton from Toronto | I know it exactly. Perfect. Or if they find your, you know, your skeleton in 50 years, there'll be a cool watch on your wrist. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. It's still, the watch would still be there for sure. Yeah. Right. Right. |
| Jason Heaton from Toronto | All right. Luxury item. Um, you know, this is, uh, this is something that is not a necessity to your survival, but it brings you some pleasure. I suppose music and book and watch also do that. But, uh, how about you? What, what's your luxury item? |
| James Stacey | I mean, we, we picked largely similar things, so I could, I could pivot and say sunglasses. Nah, we can both pick the same. Um, but maybe, maybe in this scenario, I can't imagine I went anywhere without sunglasses. So maybe that would just be part of whatever was already in my backpack or something. But, uh, What I wrote down was a bottle of Will It Bourbon. Oh, yeah. So just something to really savor and celebrate maybe that first fish that you catch or hopefully you don't have that moose scenario from... Into the wild. Oh, yeah, there's all sorts of different ways that goes. That's why I think fish is pretty safe Or maybe you make that first fire finally after struggling with wet wood or something like that. Yeah, you just yeah kind of celebrate a little win with a sip of Some of the finest stuff out there for sure. |
| Jason Heaton from Toronto | Yeah. Yeah. Well, I would choose a bottle of scotch You know, I've been I've been on the wagon since last August, but I will admit that I had a little Little dram of some good whiskey last week, just first time in a long time, and it was nice. I'm back on the wagon again. But for this sort of scenario, I would definitely not be abstaining. I would bring a bottle of scotch, and I would use it very judiciously. |
| James Stacey | What scotch are you bringing? |
| Jason Heaton from Toronto | So if I could find it, my favorite single malt that I don't know if it's produced anymore was a 15-year-old Tobermory. And I've had two of those bottles in the past and they're both gone. And I would love to find one for this particular adventure if one exists. And there's something about having your luxury item be something consumable that you have to savor and sort of lengthen, you know, like you don't know how long you're going to be there. So you don't drink it every day. And when you do drink it, you just have the tiniest little bit on your tongue. Uh, there's something appealing about that. Um, and hopefully you don't get down to the end of the bottle and then have to have that horrible moment when you're, you're, you know, shaking it above your head, trying to get the very last drop out, uh, you know, whatever. |
| James Stacey | Well, that's when you hear the horn from the boat or the plane overhead. |
| Jason Heaton from Toronto | Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Cool. |
| Affirmative response | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | And so then from there, we'll go on to, let's call this an essential item. So we had a luxury item, something you definitely don't need, could live without, but let's say you need it, something you figure you would actually need just to kind of carry on if there was less of a vacation and more of, let's say, a forced desert island scenario. |
| Jason Heaton from Toronto | Yeah. Well, I think a blade, I think a blade is the most useful thing of some sort, a folding knife or really any sort of knife. You know, I wouldn't be picky as long as it's got some sharpness to it. I suppose you could find a rock to sharpen it on if you needed to. But, you know, you, I mean, cutting coconuts down to stripping wood to, you know, making some sort of a bit of rope out of a vine or something. I think just a knife or, you know, cutting open a piece of fruit or something. I mean, it's, it's gotta be a blade. I just can't think of anything else that would be remotely as necessary as something to cut with. I think you'd go mad if you didn't have something to cut with, you'd always be needing it. So yeah, a knife for me. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. I think a knife is a great choice. I saw that. So you'd picked a knife, you know, there's part of me that depends on where you're going to be a fire starter of some sort could be very helpful. Yeah. But there's ways obviously around that many ways to, to deal with that. So I would say that for me, it would be a small single sided ax, like a hatchet. Yeah. Uh, that way you also kind of cheat your way into a hammer. Yeah. And in many ways, assuming let's make the assumption that you can said blade can be kept extremely sharp, then something like a small hatchet, uh, obviously not only can help with a larger bits of work, uh, building a shelter, that sort of thing, but could also be used in many ways for cutting. And even, you know, presumably you could, you could maybe make a, uh, You could maybe have a chance at, say, filleting a fish or something like that. Yeah, that's a good point. If it was sharp enough. Yeah, it's a good idea. So I think, yeah, a big knife or a small hatchet, something like that. Something, you know, move a little bit of weight if you wanted to try and, yeah, build a shelter or prepare firewood or something like that. |
| Jason Heaton from Toronto | Yeah, good one. All right, how about food? I mean, food is something you'd have to forage for, find, hunt, et cetera. But if you were able to bring a food item, Uh, what, what would yours be like, like a kind of almost like a luxury food, like a comfort food, I guess. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. I think for me in this case, just knowing the way that I eat, um, it would, it would need to be something calorie dense. That was, uh, uh, a beverage, simply because I think if it was any sort of just normal food, I would eventually get so tired of it. I wouldn't want to eat it. So like the idea of saying like, oh, I would have a lot of cured meats, which is something I eat a lot of in my normal, in my normal diet, or, or, you know, could I have an endless supply of arugula? Yeah, or something like that is one thing. But I think, you know, especially just where my brain went immediately is chocolate milk. Just give me a kind of an endless supply of chocolate milk. So I could make a meal out of that. Yeah. It's, you know, it's a good source of energy to keep your bones, you know, nice and strong. Yeah. Tastes great. Yeah, it's probably my favorite beverage. And then yeah, I think aside from that, it would be, it would be, you know, more complicated fare, like things that you would have to catch and prepare and eat and that sort of thing. Chocolate milk. Give me a big, big glass of chocolate milk. |
| Jason Heaton from Toronto | Yeah. Well, for me, it's a, it's a creative life cereal. There you go. You know, unfortunately with life cereal, you can eat it dry, which I have, and I would be happy to, uh, in this scenario. But, uh, if, if I could also sneak a little bit of powdered milk in there, uh, sure. You can have some of my chocolate milk. There we go. Yeah. Well, from, from our, Respective our neighboring islands. We'll just float them across to each other. There's a buffer for sure. Yeah No creative life cereal. I've enjoyed it since I was a tiny kid Still aren't tired of it. |
| James Stacey | So something incredible about cereal for sure. |
| Jason Heaton from Toronto | Yeah, I mean life is a great choice If it's something I could eat every single day now, like I know I could For the rest of my my days. So yeah, that's that's it for me |
| James Stacey | All right. So next up, we're moving on to a specific article of clothing. I'm assuming that we're both clothed in whatever these scenarios are, but maybe something you would actually like intentionally bring. Yeah. Knowing it would have some sort of a direct benefit. Yeah. Yeah. So where'd you land on that? |
| Jason Heaton from Toronto | Well, you picked my choice. The easy one. I went with... I bet people can guess too. I would go with my second choice is also a good one. It's a wide brimmed hat. You know, it doesn't matter what kind. It could be one of those Filson hats or a boonie hat or whatever. Just a wide-brimmed hat. You know, I don't have much hair, although it would probably grow out enough to give me some sun protection, but I'm pretty fair and I think a wide-brimmed hat would just be a nice thing to shield my eyes, keep the sun off my face. You could, I suppose, use it to catch some rainwater if you needed to or carry things in. Yeah, just a wide-brimmed hat. |
| James Stacey | I like it. It also matches up with the, like, I need to be rescued look. Yes. Rolex. Yes. Big wide brim hat. |
| Jason Heaton from Toronto | Perfect. Wide brim hat and Rolex. Yeah, for sure. Carrying a Peter Matheson book. |
| James Stacey | Oh, you guys are here. I guess I can come with you. Perfect. Perfect. I don't know. I don't need to be saved. I'm having a fine time. With my Life Cereal and my scotch. Yeah, they find you in a lean-to just elbow deep in Life Cereal. |
| Jason Heaton from Toronto | That's all right. |
| James Stacey | All right. Your turn to state the obvious. Yeah. For me. I mean, it's a nano puff for sure. Yeah. That's the easy one. You get a pillow out of it. Uh, you get a blanket out of it. You obviously get a jacket, you get a little bit of water resistance and rain, uh, wind resistance. And it is just like, it's just a de facto choice. It's, it's the arguably the TGN piece of, uh, piece of, uh, clothing. Yeah. I mean, I wore mine yesterday. I'm heading out to a meeting in this weird snowy weather after this recording and I'll throw it on again and it's easy they always work so yeah good choice. |
| Jason Heaton from Toronto | Last bit we've got a piece of tech something that you know something man-made some bit of Technology doesn't have to be high-tech. Certainly, I'm guessing not a phone, but who knows. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, I figured maybe not something you could communicate with directly, but if you really wanted to be able to watch a movie occasionally or something, I don't know. I just threw it in there like a random, would you like a lighter? Would you like this or that? And for mine, I picked binoculars. Oh, good one. You get a chance to glass the slopes, a little bit of prenechy in there, which is always good, but some form of a binocular. Yeah. or a monocular sort of setup. And if it was one of these ones where you can remove one of the lens elements and use it to start a fire, all the better. But I wouldn't be that picky. I just kind of like the idea where I think you'd eventually... If this is less of a vacation and more of, again, like a forced... You're on your own for a while, I think you'd get to a point where you just wanted to roam. |
| Jason Heaton from Toronto | Right. |
| James Stacey | You kind of have your little space and your... your footlocker of cereal and whiskey. And, uh, and then you'd maybe, you'd maybe want to go see what was around or maybe learn a little bit about the local fauna and, and, and what was, uh, you know, around to be hunted. And I think something like a, like a decent set of binoculars could be super helpful. And also just entertainment. Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton from Toronto | It's kind of both. Yeah. That's a good one. Yeah. So I chose a weird one. I, I was thinking a camera, but I wouldn't want to take a digital camera. Um, for one thing, there's the whole problem of charging it. keeping the battery up. So I chose a Nikonos film camera. So the Nikonos was Nikon's underwater camera. Pretty bomb-proof thing. You can go full manual mode so you don't need a battery. And a couple rolls of film. I think it would be interesting, it's sort of almost a philosophical thing because obviously I wouldn't be able to see what I'm shooting. would be left for posterity. So whether I'm rescued and I can develop the film later, or if heaven forbid I die there and someone finds my film, they could develop it and see everything that I have witnessed and documented my time there. Both, you know, as I'm free diving just offshore for entertainment or to hunt food, I can snap underwater photos. It's impervious to rain and grit and sand and that sort of thing. So, you know, I just thought, and you know, in a, in an emergency, uh, these cameras are very heavy and thick and you could use it to pound things or to fend off some sort of creature that has come to, to attack me as well. So, um, yeah, that's my piece of low tech. |
| James Stacey | Well, there you go. I like it very much. And, uh, and so that's our list. We didn't come up with any other kind of requisite, uh, scenarios or, or categories, but for Jason, he picked, uh, Kind of Blue by Miles Davis, and his book is Blue Meridian by Peter Matheson. His watch is a Rolex Submariner. His luxury item is a bottle of scotch. His essential item, a knife. Food is a crate of life cereal, preferably with some powdered milk. Article of clothing, a wide-brim hat, and a piece of tech would be a nice, simple camera for either posterity or longevity of your scenario, and that's a Nakano's camera and some film. |
| Jason Heaton from Toronto | And James chose Helplessness Blues by the Fleet Foxes for his music. The book is Endurance by Alfred Lansing. Watch is a Doxus Sub 300 50th anniversary Sea Rambler. His luxury item is a bottle of Will It Bourbon. Essential item would be a small axe of some sort. And his food is chocolate milk. Article of clothing is, you guessed it, a nano puff. And the piece of tech is some binoculars. |
| James Stacey | So let us know what you think about that one. Obviously you can write in with your questions to thegreatnadoatgmail.com or our new preference, take out your phone, open up your voice memo app, record your question, and then email it to thegreatnadoatgmail.com. Looking forward to hear what other people might've picked, or if you think we maybe even missed like a scenario or a category, something we could add to a future one. Might be fun to kind of launch a few of these at future interview guests, things like that. If we had, kind of these TGN requisite items. But until then, I think it's time for some final notes. |
| Jason Heaton from Toronto | Yeah, let's jump into it. I've got one that I posted about on Instagram last week. It's on a blog called Perez Scope. And the guy who runs it, name is Jose. And he did a very deep dive into a bit of history revolving around the development of the helium release valve. As some people might know, the helium release valve came about due to the crystals of watches popping off during decompression during the U.S. Navy Sea Lab program in the 1960s. And one of the divers on this project, Bob Barth, approached Rolex about it to develop a one-way valve that would release that helium that was trapped inside of the watch. But it's kind of come to light, you know, nowadays with all the research you can do on the internet with old videos and photos and that sort of thing popping up, that Doxa was also used, also worn by divers during Sea Lab. And there have been some photos and video evidence that the HRV-equipped Doxa Conquistador, the Sub 300 with the helium valve, was also worn during Sea Lab. So it was actually concurrently in development and being used as the Sea Dweller from Rolex. This article really goes in depth of this notion that Doxa co-developed it with Rolex, which he largely debunks, but brings up as a possibility and kind of raises some questions about what happened and why did the Conquistador stop being sold right around the time the Sea-Dweller came out. So just an interesting story. There's a lot in there about not only dive watch development and Doxas and Rolexes, but also just a fascinating era in diving history, that, that birth of, of saturation diving, which, uh, which I just love. So, um, yeah, Perescope, uh, the story is simply titled the Doxa HRV. |
| James Stacey | Fantastic. Yeah. That's a good read for sure. Yeah. Um, mine is actually, you know, in response to the gentleman who wrote in asking about, um, a possibility of like a TGN book club. I thought I'd throw out, um, a recent post from outside online. which is a six classic adventure books we'd read again and again. And it's, it's a, just a really simple kind of list roundup of some really great books. Uh, there's a couple in here I haven't read, which I need to sort out. Um, but it's, uh, it's six of the kind of outside teams, favorite, uh, adventure novels and adventure stories. Uh, so that's everything from, uh, instant karma, which I read, uh, some time ago, uh, fantastic book, uh, the heart and soul of a ski bum. to Call of the Wild, which of course is going to be a little bit more repopular again as there's a new movie with Harrison Ford based on the famous Jack London novel, to Higher Love, Skiing the Seven Summits, which is a fantastic read, of course. There's a bunch in here. So those of you who write in asking us for book recommendations, here's six for you. These are like some as little as six bucks. All of them appear to be under 20 bucks. Yeah. So, uh, easy choices there. Pick one you haven't read or, or, or sounds interesting, or maybe one you read in high school and you haven't thought about since or, or whatever. And, uh, and check it out. I think it's a, uh, a nice way to, um, you know, grab one of these and put it in your bag. And then instead of in my case, going to YouTube or something like that, and, um, And just crack it open and read a few pages. |
| Jason Heaton from Toronto | Oh, very cool. Yeah, nice. And we'll definitely do a book club, TGN book club coming up here. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, we should do one at some point for sure. I should start reading more books. Like I just mentioned, I'd probably be closer to offering a TGN YouTube club. Well, that might be worthwhile too. And as always, thank you so much for listening. You can hit the show notes via Hodinkee.com or the feed for more details. You can, of course, follow us on Instagram at Jason Heaton, at J.E. Stacey, and the show is at The Graynado. Should you have any questions for us, please write TheGraynado at gmail.com or record it as a voice memo and then email that file to TheGraynado at gmail.com. Please subscribe and review wherever you find your podcasts. Music throughout is Siesta by Jazzar via the free music archive. |
| Jason Heaton from Toronto | And we leave you with this quote from Audrey Hepburn. who said, I don't want to be alone. I want to be left alone. |