The Grey NATO - Ep 110 - The Isolation Tapes // Film Club Vol 4
Published on Thu, 07 May 2020 06:00:24 -0400
Synopsis
This episode of The Gray Nado podcast features James Stacey and Jason Heaton discussing their recent activities, including James' attempt to service the parking brake on his Jeep. They then present their picks for "Film Club Volume 4," each recommending five movies they love, such as Lawrence of Arabia, Casino Royale, No Country for Old Men, and Arrival. They provide brief synopses and thoughts on each film. Towards the end, they highlight a few small businesses and products, and assign some homework tasks related to birdwatching and learning a musical instrument.
Links
Transcript
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| Jason Heaton | Hello and welcome to another episode of The Gray Nado, a Hodinkee podcast. It's a loose discussion of travel, diving, driving, gear, and most certainly watches. This is episode 110 and it's kindly brought to you by our friends and colleagues at The Hodinkee Shop, and we'll have a little ad break a little bit later on. |
| James Stacey | James, what's new up your way? Oh man, nothing is new. |
| James Stacey | No, nothing's going on. I'm, uh, I'm really running low on like we, we, uh, someday we'll publish one of our show notes. So people kind of understand the format that we use, but we have like a little segment that just says chit chat at the top. Right. Yeah. And, uh, my, my list just gets small. Like this week, it's just one new watch. That's what I've got to talk about since last week. Um, yeah, I'm not really up to that much, you know, just, uh, kind of staying, you know, seeing in the same rhythm. Uh, you know, it's a little bit nicer here, not to spend too much time talking about the weather, but a little bit more time on the porch or, or messing around with the Jeep or something like that. But even then, you know, depending on, on what the work is, uh, I, you can't, uh, you can't get it done. Cause you can't, it's not that easy to get the pieces or right. Or order it in Amazon still in delivery windows really changed. Um, Oh, the, the one thing actually that I can say is a couple of days ago on the weekend, it was beautiful sunny day. And I thought I would, um, service the parking brake on the Jeep. Yeah. And so to do that, basically the parking brake is functional, but it's a multi kind of connective system. And so while the brake appears to hold fine, if you take the handle, depress the button and pull it way past its normal travel, it'll hold on an incline. But if you leave it anywhere where there's a click in the handle, a lock point, a detente, I guess, it doesn't hold. So somebody at some point reef way too hard on it. And now this little, um, basically it's a cam with a spring, uh, like a, a coiled spring. And there's a position where the spring is forward, or if you pull too hard on the spring, the whole spring while staying tense rotates backwards. It's just a weird design that I had to learn about on YouTube. Um, and basically if you take the center console apart, you can readjust to bring that spring to rotate it forward, to maintain the proper tension. on what's essentially like a very, very bike-like twin cable system. Oh, yeah, yeah. But right now, unless you bring the handle way past where the mechanism wants it to be, it doesn't apply any pull on the tensioner. So I had to redo that. And mechanically, I can see my head around this, and there's even a few modifications that people make to prevent it from happening again. But the big prevention is just don't reef on the handle. You can set it correctly and it's two or three clicks and it'll hold. Yeah. So to get at it, you have to take the center console apart. And to do that, you have to do something that JK owners know can be a real difficult task, which is removing the two knobs for the transfer case and the manual transmission on a normal vehicle, on any other vehicle where I've, I've kind of removed a shift knob or something. It's either held by a little set screw, not unlike, um, the knob for a faucet, or it could just screw on, it's threaded, and you turn it really hard counterclockwise and it comes off. It's not like that on these Jeeps. They use a captive metal clip system, and the only way to get it off is to pull like a madman. Oh. So some of them... And then, of course, you have... It's metal, so there's tolerances. |
| Speaker response/affirmation | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | And you see people on YouTube saying, well, mine's not that hard. I grab it really hard. I turn it ever so slightly. There's maybe half a millimeter of play. Yeah. Either in either rotational directions. Um, and then it just pops off and you see it pop off in their hand. And I would say, like, I put most of my physical effort into removing the transfer case knob and it came off eventually. but I had to take the roof off the Jeep, straddle the transmission tunnel. Oh my God. And essentially do a full squat pull to get it to come off in my hand. I'm not saying I'm a strong guy or any of that kind of stuff, but it was... I have a fair amount of weight, I'm mostly leg and I eventually got that off. I then spent the next hour just hurting myself trying to get the transmission, the manual transmission knob off and I gave up. Oh, man. So I've seen all sorts of methodologies for doing this. Even some people will put a 2x4 over the top of the Jeep's frame rails and then use a ratchet strap. Yeah, yeah. That's a lot of force on the transmission, which of course is a moving element. It's braced, but of course it moves with the engine mounts. Right. So I'm not really sure. Basically, I don't have a functional parking brake at the moment and I cannot, for the life of me, get a solid enough grip on this knob. to remove it from its place. And the funny thing is, if you're really bored, if somebody's listening, or the funny thing for any Jeep guys in the audience who've attempted this, putting it back on requires almost nothing. Like, sometimes it'll go back into place under its own weight. Like, as long as it's aligned, it's basically, you know, a faced metal hook, almost. And once it clips into place, it's there, and getting it off is something else. Wow. So that was my failed attempt at automotive servicing this past weekend. Oh, man. I may get to it again in the next few days, but I need to come at it with a different plan. Yeah. I think then, because I'm just not strong enough, I would need somebody, I think I need stronger hands. Yeah. Because I pull hard enough that I can't maintain a grip on said knob, so. Geez. |
| James Stacey | Well, maybe. |
| Jason Heaton | Lots of fun innuendo for the start of the show. Maybe we can crowdsource a solution here if anybody out there listening has experience with this. I mean, I know you checked YouTube, which is a great font of information, but who knows? Maybe we have a list. |
| James Stacey | I mean, a lot of it on the forums and on YouTube is just kind of like, hey, could you just man up and pull really hard on this thing? So we'll see. But that's basically what I got up to. And I know that the rover for you is in the shop, yeah? |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, I dropped it off on Sunday evening for the overdrive install. So it's having a little surgery. I haven't heard back. I'm assuming no good news or no news is good news. I also asked them to kind of do a bumper to bumper sort of just look over to make sure now that I can actually go faster than 45 miles an hour, nothing critical is going to fall off. So it's a good idea to kind of check the check the steering components and the swivels and, um, hub seals and that kind of stuff that I don't really want to do myself. So, uh, hoping to get that back, you know, later this week and then, then I'll be more mobile than usual. And even though I'm not going anywhere these days, at least the potential is there, at least it's sitting out there with the ability to go faster. So, um, yeah, I'm pretty excited about that. And then last weekend, Gashani and I went, uh, we try to do like a weekly three hour hike somewhere that's sort of limited by our, uh, our bladders because facilities aren't open in any of these places. And so it's always like, okay, we can hike for, you know, half a day until we have to use the restroom and then head back home. But we were out hiking a beautiful day on Saturday and did about a four mile hike and in a park. And we, it was just, it's ramp season ramps or these, uh, wild greens that grow in kind of shady spots in the forest. And they have this root that it's a member of the, like the wild onion family, kind Kind of a mix between garlic and onion. And we just started foraging, collecting them. And we had a good handful of them, brought them home and washed them. And then Gushani made scrambled eggs with wild ramps for breakfast on Sunday. So it was satisfying. You know, it's one of these little things that... It sounds great. Yeah, it's these small things these days, I guess. We're enjoying watching the trees bud out and wildlife come around and the birds are nesting and that sort of stuff that we don't normally do because we would be You and I would be at this moment, probably getting ready to head home from Basel. Of course, everything's topsy-turvy these days, so we're not overseas, but, uh, you know, there are some upsides, I guess you're able to do a few things around locally that, that maybe you miss out on when you're usually traveling, which is typical in April for us. |
| James Stacey | That's awesome. Yeah. I think that's great. And, uh, I certainly saw the photo of your, of your ramps. Uh, the other guy that was collecting ramps was Matt Hranek. Oh, cool. He's got someone on their upstate property or wherever the WM Brown project farm is. And yeah, really, really cool stuff. And I love that. And hey, scrambled eggs. Yeah. A staple of any solid diet for sure. Yeah. Um, and then, yeah, I mean the only other, the only other new thing that kind of pops up for me is, uh, you and I were on a podcast that will be coming out shortly. Uh, do you want to tell people about that? And then we can talk a little bit about this new Zen Diver. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, we, we just, uh, we just talked, so we recorded about a week ago for, for TGN's last week episode. And then Thursday we, we got on a call after some, uh, circuitous scheduling to try to coordinate with our two buddies down in Australia, Felix Schultz and Andy Green. who started up a podcast not long ago called the OT podcast and they asked if we'd like to be on and So we recorded last Thursday and it's going to air This Friday. So the I guess the day after TGN goes live Australia time so that actually might be Thursday. I think it's like Thursday evening here in the North America at least And that was fun. It was a really fun conversation. We covered a lot of topics. We talked a little bit about watches to a certain degree, watches and kind of watch shows. But then we really kind of shifted to our backgrounds and, um, some car talk with you and some kind of diving and adventure-y stuff and what gear we like to use. And, uh, it's just a kind of a wide range of conversation. I really enjoyed it. There was a, there, there are a couple of fun guys that I've missed seeing at the shows. Um, you know, we would have seen them this week again over in Basel had we been there. Um, so this was a, this was a fun way to catch up with them. And I'm, I'm excited for that to go live and for folks to be able to check that out. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, those guys are great. And it was a treat to be on the show and we'll put whatever we can in the show notes, even if I have to maybe update them afterwards, but when it comes up, just follow up on Instagram. Uh, cause we'll, we'll do some, you know, swipe up to hit the link sort of scenario. So. A big thanks to Andy and Felix for that. It was a, it was a treat to chat to those guys and nice to kind of connect with people that, you know, you're really not going to connect with for a while. Yeah. Right. Right. |
| Jason Heaton | And by the way, they're there just to clarify, if you're going to look for otpodcast.com, make sure you put the.au at the end, or you're going to get an occupational therapy podcast. I can speak from experience, so we'll, we'll make sure to put the correct address in the, in the show notes and you can check that out. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, for sure. And they're definitely worth a subscribe. If you're listening on your phone, click the link in your podcast feed and then just resubscribe or give them a search. A good plan there and lots of solid perspective on the watch industry from those guys. |
| James Stacey | And then the new Sin, that was also last week. The new Sin. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. So we recorded last week's episode on a Tuesday. This came out Wednesday morning. I talked about it a bit on the Houdinki podcast. Really what I wanted to do was just make sure that everyone was aware of it. So I don't think we have to talk like at length about This new watch, because we've talked about it, I wrote it up for Hodinkee, so you can find that story in the show notes, but it's basically, they've made what they're calling a mid-size U1, which is called the U50. It's 41 millimeters wide. It's a little over 11 millimeters thick. So essentially perfect for a sports watch. One that you might plan to wear every day or kind of use as your key tool watch. You know, you still get huge water resistance. It's still a tegamented steel, hardened steel. for the bezel, and then there's an option along the watches to get them fully hardened, whether that's in a black case or in the kind of microblasted steel case. I think they hit it right out of the park with this. Starts a hair under $2,200 from Watch Buys, which is the only way to buy Zen in the U.S. or Canada, and I think it's absolutely killer. seriously considering checking one of these out. Certainly want to get one in for review but I'm more in the plan of adding one to the collection as I haven't had a Zinn in a few years and I've loved the U1 since I got into watches. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah I had a U1 for a few years I and I remember it being big and heavy and but solid I mean just a great watch great rubber strap great bracelet everything I actually think the U50 you know size is fantastic for for more people etc but I actually think visually it looks better. Slightly shrunken from the big, what was it, 44mm U1. I think for some reason that bigger dial on the U1 with those very stark hands and markers was almost too expansive when it's kind of crunched up a little bit. I think it just looks a little more dynamic and fun and just kind of sporty. Yeah, I'd love to get my hands on one and that's a killer price. You know, talk about just a great modern dive watch. I mean, when people talk about dive watches, you think Black Bay, you think Seamasters, et cetera. And so many of these days are so retro looking. And this is such a original looking watch kind of along the lines of a Pelagos or something like that. So. |
| James Stacey | Absolutely. Cool. Yeah. Killer piece. Congrats on that Zinn. You know, let's see if we can see him in person so we can chat about them kind of at a higher level, maybe even get them underwater sometime in the future. That'd be fun too. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, right. |
| James Stacey | So I think that's it for Chit Chat. And before we jump into the kind of whole purpose of the show, which is one of my favorite formats, it's our film club episodes. And before we get to that, I thought it would be fun just to kind of get a risk check in, and then we can also kind of take a look at one of our small companies, our favorite small companies. So Jason, what do you got on risk? |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. So past couple of days I've been wearing my CWC 1970s RAF chronograph. This is a nice piece that yeah it's it's a fun watch you know for those who might be familiar with the vintage what they call the Fab Four. It was Newmark Hamilton CWC and I think Persista I believe did the fourth one chronographs for the Royal Air Force back in the 70s and CWC did a reissue back in the early 2000s. I think they started making these in 2003. And they're kind of a cult favorite. I managed to buy one a few years ago, and I don't wear it a whole lot, but boy, when I put it on, it's just this, it's like 38 millimeters, all dial, hand-wound, two register, so. Yeah, I've been wearing that. It's been fun. |
| James Stacey | What's the price point on something like that? |
| Jason Heaton | I think I paid, boy, about a thousand, maybe, used. I don't remember what they were for new, but yeah, really, really killer deal. |
| James Stacey | What do you have on? For me, I'm wearing the AORUS Diver 65 Limited Edition for Hodinkee. It's my solo AORUS option. I did this kind of daily home essentials kind of post for acquiremag.com. Oh, yeah. And one of the things that I listed was, you know, you still got to be on time for Zoom calls or whatever. And I'd been wearing this for a little while. It's just nice and thin. Aesthetically, it's great. The loom is really nice in the middle of the night and I've been wearing it on as is my method these days on that same Erica's original MN strap. Oh, nice. And it's just, you know, it's a great watch and then you put it on this and it's like sweatpants. You barely notice it on wrist. Yeah. It's so comfortable. And then the other fun thing is, you know, I got two little kids and sometimes they want to try the watch on. There isn't a better strap for sharing a watch with another person who has a different size wrist than you. Yeah. Cause you just take it off, kind of move the case of the watch around and then adjust this little mount. Right. Um, this little clip point. And then you've, you've, you, I was able to put it on my three-year-old. I mean, I wouldn't, it's not hugging her wrist, but it was small enough that she could wear it around and it wouldn't fall off. Yeah. Um, and yeah, I, uh, I love this watch. I love this strap. And, uh, it's also just kind of nice to, uh, to, you know, kind of rock something from the house of Hodinkee when it's been so long since, uh, you know, we've been down to New York and seen the team and that kind of stuff. So yeah. That's what I'm wearing. It's a bit. It's essentially a perfect little dive watch nice. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah good pick Yeah, well before we jump into the main topic. We always like to do our little small company spotlight and this week we are Selecting retro watch guy so our friend Jordan. Oh, yeah, Denver you and I have both bought watches from him in the past Kind of a great great sort of pandemic isolating uh scenario uh company to know about because his watches are mostly sub-thousand dollar many sub-five hundred dollar vintage watches that are just fun you know they're splash of color kind of cool shapes very 70s kind of funky vibe going on there and um his his instagram is always entertaining to follow and he's a nice guy and um so yeah i mean if you're in the mood to You're getting the itch to get a watch these days. Jordan's your man. I think, you know, we've both had good luck with him. |
| James Stacey | I've had a great, great, great experiences with him. That's where my Buran, which I recently wrote up for Hodinkee, that's where I got it. And in that process, I actually learned, you know, cause I asked Jordan a few questions and I actually learned that he's a frontline health worker as well. So if you want to support not only a small business, but a small business who, you know, this is a side hustle in many ways for Jordan, a passion project. a business that he's made and which is something I respect at such a huge level. But on the other side, he also, you know, is in people's homes helping with long term care and that sort of stuff. And it's he's a remarkable dude, a family guy and and has incredible taste and really funky watches. So definitely check out RetroWatchGuy.com. We couldn't couldn't kind of support that at a higher level. I think what he's doing is great and and he's doing it really well. Great. Cool. All right, Film Club Volume 4. For those of you who might be newer to the show or don't remember, it's been nearly six months since we did a Film Club. The format is simple. We are now into, this will be the, you know, picks 30 through 40 of our Film Club. So each of our Film Club volumes, Jason gets to pick five movies that he loves, I get to pick five movies that I love, and we try and kind of Rip through all 10 in one episode and it should give you, you know, I would say you'd probably have about six months, maybe a little bit less, but let's say a few months anyways, to, uh, go ahead and give these a viewing. If you haven't seen them, I'm sure for a lot of you, you've seen some of these. It's a really good list this time. Uh, but yeah, so that, that's the basic format. Uh, neither Jason or I are professional movie reviewers. These are just movies that we love to watch and, uh, things that we'd like to talk about, uh, include movies. So, uh, Jason, why don't you kick it off with your first pick? |
| Jason Heaton | Sure, yeah. My first one is from way back. It's a 1962 film that really is timeless. It's such a fantastic film and I've watched it many, many times. Lawrence of Arabia. Peter O'Toole plays T.E. Lawrence, the British officer who kind of learns the ways of the Arabs and befriends them and actually helps them defeat the Turks. And the movie was made by David Lean, one of the greatest film directors of all time. who also made Bridge on the River Kwai and Dr. Zhivago, among others. Just a fantastic movie. It's three and a half hours long, so this one's a real time commitment. And it's the kind of movie if you've got a couple of days, and I think there's even an intermission in the middle of it, so you could even pause and pick it up the next day if you wanted to, or go out and do something and come back to it a little later. But just epic cinematography. Just some incredible scenery. Shot in the desert, much of it. And it's also a great history lesson, I think. T.E. Lawrence obviously was a real person, and that part of history, kind of right around the early 1900s, 1920s, wasn't very familiar to me until I had watched this. The movie really stands up well. Visually, it's very warm. It takes its time with shots. The music is epic. I think it was Maurice Jarre, who was a very famous film scorer. He did the music for the movie. You get Sir Alec Guinness in this and Omar Sharif. So, you know, some big names in there. It's such a great movie. I've watched it probably ten times in my life. I pick it up every couple of years. Like I said, it is a commitment, so it's not like a weekly thing. But now it's to the point where I can just watch certain scenes just if I want to pick up. find a scene on IMDB or YouTube or something and just kind of catch one of my favorite parts of it. But yeah, it's a great one. |
| James Stacey | That is absolutely a fantastic movie. And, you know, I'd be remiss if I didn't admit that it's one that I haven't seen probably since university. Oh, yeah. So it's one I should probably get back into, especially now that I've got the big projector. It's very cinematic. You know, it's these huge open desert scenes and certainly a favorite of my father's as well. Yeah. Fantastic pick and a great way to kick off. You know, the isolation tapes version of this movie is, you know, maybe I should have even picked some that had some kind of bigger scope. I got at least one or two in there that kind of worked that way. But my first one is a movie from 1998 that I absolutely adore. It's actually one where I vacillate pretty hard on whether or not it's this director's kind of most interesting movie, and that's Rushmore. So that's Wes Anderson's Rushmore. I think it's a critical kind of essential viewing if you like his vibe, because it's where the style started, but the aesthetic maybe wasn't fully formed. I think he has an earlier movie called Bottle Rocket, and I think that's where you can really see the foundation of his work coming from. But there's something so much sweeter, and it's probably because it's based in the life of a child, a young man. that makes this movie so appealing to me. But it also has some absolutely incredible performances from Bill Murray and Brian Cox. And it's just an absolutely excellent movie. It's super fun. It's beautifully paced. And it really, you know, Jason Schwartzman, this is where he would have established just like, you go back and watch this and you go like, all right, he was on the same wavelength in 98. as a much, much younger guy than he is every time you see him in anything. He was just exceedingly talented. It's a super fun movie. And I think whereas a lot of people have seen, you know, Life Aquatic was a previous, uh, film club pick and, uh, Grand Budapest Hotel is, is at times one of my most favorite movies. I absolutely adore that, but there's something, there's something so much more down to earth about Rushmore. despite the fact that it really isn't that down to earth of a concept. You can see that you can see some of the footnotes of the tenenbaums in it, uh, some of the kind of the starting points, but, uh, you know, it, he's a director where you kind of have to see all of it. Um, I think, I think that there's not one that, that should be skipped or needs to be skipped, but there's something really special about Rushmore. |
| Jason Heaton | I've never seen that movie. Oh, it's so good. I mean, that's, uh, that's, what's great about film club. I think, you know, a lot of people either haven't seen, these movies in a long time or maybe never seen them. And I'm familiar with the title. I didn't even know it was a Wes Anderson movie, so I'll definitely be checking that out. |
| James Stacey | I highly recommend, uh, you know, Bill Murray smoking a cigarette, throwing golf balls in the pool. It's pretty good. It's pretty good. Fun movies. Cool. |
| Jason Heaton | So give me your second pick. My second pick is, uh, Casino Royale. So this is the 2006 Bond film that was directed by Martin Campbell. Of course, Daniel Craig's debut as James Bond and I, I hesitated to include this because I think I particularly, I talk about James Bond movies a lot and I thought, you know, maybe this isn't a film club pick, but I think it stands up because, um, though I think, you know, Skyfall was arguably a more beautiful movie cinematographically, uh, Casino Royale was just such a strong story. And it's, it's the one Daniel Craig movie that, uh, Daniel Craig Bond movie that I've watched, um, several times and continue to go back to and almost put in my top two or three Bond movies of all time. I checked our list and I had added Thunderball to a previous film club, but I think this stands even above that in the Bond canon. And, um, I think it's no coincidence that it's because it, uh, it's actually tied to a Fleming novel. In fact, the very first one that he wrote and, um, the story was great. The, the, the filming was great. Just kind of the way they did it as a reboot of the character in a more, in a more gritty fashion. The opening scene shot in black and white was really great to kind of set the mood. And then the movie just kind of goes from there with the great parkour chase scene and some time in the Bahamas. And then of course the great casino scenes in Montenegro were just wonderful. So, you know, everyone's seen this. I'm not going to belabor this one. But yeah, this is another Bond film for Film Club. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, a great choice. I think a fantastic Bond film. I think a really good action thriller all on its own. I think if you only wanted to see one Bond movie and you wanted that movie to be a modern thing that didn't need a bunch of backstory or explanation from your friend or whomever was introducing you to Bond, I think that this might be the starting point. Yeah, I agree. Unless you have a specific taste for older films or love Sean Connery or something like that. But if you've never seen a Bond movie, This is the appetizer. This is where you start, because it introduces the character with none of the baggage of the previous 18, 19 Bond films, whatever it was before that. I think it's fantastic. I would agree that Skyfall is my Bond film, and it's just because it's just incredibly beautiful. But Casino Royale's much tighter storyline, in many ways a more engaging character set. The character of Skyfall is Bond. And the bad guy, and that's one I don't even want to give away if you haven't seen Skyfall, who it is and his performance is incredible. But in this one, there's a much more varied character set. You get Vesper, you get Le Chiffre, you get Mr. Green. I mean, it really is a fantastic, more widely scoped, and at times it almost feels like an Oceans movie. Yeah, yeah. Because of some of the settings and they spend some time in like Como. And, uh, it, it, it's a, it's a, it's a fun thing. It's a movie that really also rewards being watched more than once. Yeah. So if you've only seen it once or maybe saw it in the theaters and you remember it being good, give it another run. Yeah, I agree. There's more to it the second time around the third time around, there's a little bit more nuance in the relationship that they build. There's a little bit more, um, detail in some of the surroundings and their, their ability to, move the timeline forward without getting confusing. Cause it's a movie where if I told you now how many days there were between like how much time the movie was supposed to cover, I genuinely couldn't tell you. Yeah. Yeah. I have no, I have almost no idea. Yeah. Um, it's a, but it is a great film and a solid choice for a, for a film club. So well done with that one. Yeah. What do you got for number two? My second pick is a movie that I've seen twice now, and I wanted a pick that I knew was a good movie, but it was also something that people maybe hadn't seen, which can be kind of tough for these lists, and that's a movie called Wind River. Oh, yeah. So Wind River is written by the same guy that did Sicario, a previous... It's Taylor Sheridan, and this one is also directed by Taylor Sheridan, so Sicario was a previous film club pick as well, one of my most favorite movies of the last decade. And Wind River is a similar play intention, but in an entirely different setting. So it's about a murder in a Wyoming Native American reservation and an FBI agent, not hugely dissimilar to the Clarice Starling sort of fish out of water, but well-trained and capable sort of scenario, only instead of you know, a Hannibal Lecter type, you have a group of people that all seem to be ready to defend what they think is theirs. Yeah. So it's a little bit of a Western. It's a little bit of a thriller. Jeremy Renner's arguably the lead character. I know, obviously, he's a divisive dude in the world, but I'm a huge fan of his acting. I think he's been in a handful. I think The Town was a previous pick as well, which, of course, he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. Uh, he really is great in this, uh, the movie's incredible. It's super tense. There's a great John Barenthal performance. If you know, John Barenthal, he of course was in Sicario as well, and is really an excellent, uh, excellent actor. And when given the certain sort of space does a great job and he does in this. Uh, so yeah, it's a 2017 wind river and mostly picked on the hopes that I could throw it something that people hadn't seen, uh, before, or maybe missed, you know, it was a can pick, uh, very well reviewed. and currently holding 7.7 out of 10 on IMDB, which isn't an easy score for a not super well-known one. And then, of course, the other... What was that bank robbery? Hell or High Water? Oh, yeah. This is from the same sort of... the same writer as Hell or High Water, who's again... So if you enjoyed those ones, I thought a lot of people saw Hell or High Water. It was up for a lot of awards. So I went with Wind River, which I really enjoyed, and I'll probably rewatch in the next week or so. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, that's a good one. I forgot about that one. In fact, the title didn't even ring a bell. It's a bit of an anonymous sounding movie. |
| James Stacey | So bland. Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | I was like, well, okay, which one is that? And then when, as soon as I clicked the link, I was like, yes, I remember. And Elizabeth Olsen does a really good job as the FBI agent. |
| James Stacey | She's incredible. |
| James Stacey | Really good. Yeah. Yeah. Especially because that's a little bit of a trope because of Silence of the Lambs, right? Silence of the Lambs, really. But I think she does a great job. She's more, there's an aggression. that she locks into, which I find really, really well suited to the film. But it's these, it's this huge snowy expanse that they're trying to deal with. And you've got this, Jeremy Renner's essentially a hunter of some sort. And, and then he's, you know, there's, it's even in the trailer. So I'm like, you know, he's, what do you do for a living? He goes, I hunt big predators. And she goes, well, how about you hunt a few for me? Yeah. And, and it kind of goes from there. The trailer, I think is probably enough to sell the film, but yeah, if you're looking for, for kind of a super tense kind of at times incredibly violent thriller. I think Wind River is a solid option. Good watch. |
| Jason Heaton | All right. Give us number three. Number three. I hesitated to include this because I kind of always feel like Film Club needs to be a movie that you've marinated on for several years, but this is, I'm going to go for it with this one. It's a 1917. So just a movie from last year, a Sam Mendes film about World War I. I think I'm in kind of a war mode lately. I've been reading a lot of books about World War I, World War II, and then Lawrence of Arabia and this, but anyway, yeah. Sam Mendes and Roger Deakins, I think won the Oscar for cinematography for this. |
| James Stacey | Same guys that did Skyfall. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Um, so beautifully shot. I mean, just, uh, the movie, you know, it's, it's garnered so much praise and discussion around this concept of a, a one shot film, which it isn't, but the, the way that they, they filmed it, it just has this very linear flow to it that when you hear it, you think, yeah, that would be really difficult to watch. I'm not sure that that would work, but you watch it and it's just, it moves you forward. And I think that was kind of the intent. The movie is just about these, these two guys that are, it's a very simple concept. They're just intent on getting a message to a forward operating party that, that is basically going to walk into a massacre against the Germans. And, um, it's, so it's just this, the sense of following these guys across the battlefield and in and out of towns and, um, you know, through the ruins of a farm. And, uh, you know, just it, it's the, the two main actors are, I wouldn't say they're unknown, but they're, they're lesser known actors. And I think it lends this sort of every man quality to them, which is in line with their characters that they play these two average, um, foot soldiers. Um, but there are some cameos from some big actors in here, Benedict Cumberbatch and Andrew Scott and Mark Strong, uh, you know, just, just, uh, they've kind of pop in these, these roles as it's going along and, Um, you know, great soundtrack, great cinematography. I fortunately, unfortunately, you know, as much as I'd love to tell people to go see this in the cinema, that's not going to happen anytime soon, but, uh, um, watch it on a big screen if you can, or a projector like, like James, you have or whatever. And, um, yeah, so great movie just from last year, but I think it's definitely worthy of a, of a, of a film club. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. That's one I haven't seen yet. Um, you know, I've heard, I've heard great things. I have, um, a strong dislike of movie theaters. Yeah. You know, I think it's an incredible experience for the movie part, but a social part. Yeah, I really Really just just genuinely despise. Yeah, I hate listening to everybody drink their drink and Laugh at parts of the movie that I didn't find funny or or get scared at stuff or you know touch their phone or yeah Constantly be whispering to the person next to them or the chair squeaks or it's always something like it's just so like I'd rather watch almost Anything on like my laptop with a decent pair of headphones, right? The last thing I saw in the theaters was like a John Wick Maybe John Wick 3. Oh, yeah. And that was only because I felt like I kind of had to, otherwise they'll stop making those movies. Oh, yeah. Incredible movies, by the way. But I've digressed. I don't care for movie theaters, but I should watch 1917. So that should be on my list for the next little while as well. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. You've got the projector. I think, I think you should watch that pronto. That is, uh, I thought for some reason I thought you'd seen that. Yeah. You have to see that. |
| James Stacey | It looks like such an intense thing. Sometimes I have to be in that, in that frame of mind for a war movie. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Uh, talking about, uh, tension and intensity. Uh, let's, let's get to my third, which is probably my number one or number two, maybe number three, depends on my position at the, my, my feel, my feelings of that day. But this is definitely a top five movie of all time for me. I think it's one of the most impressive movies made in a modern era. And that would be No Country for Old Men. So this, in my opinion, everybody has their opinion here, but we're talking about mine. So this is the Coen brothers' finest work, written by both the Coen brothers as well. And then you get just a literally unbelievable cast. So Tommy Lee Jones playing my favorite role that he's ever played. Javier Bardem playing an amazing role as a bad guy. You know, Josh Brolin playing one of my favorite characters in film ever. And then you get some great kind of smaller parts. His wife is played by Kelly McDonald. She's incredible. Woody Harrelson pops up. This movie is absolutely next level. It's so careful and patient. There's no music. It's about the scope of a changing world. uh, told from a few different perspectives of, of, uh, uh, uh, you know, an aging law man who doesn't understand how crazy and violent things have gotten around him. And then on, on kind of the other side, the relative fluidity of a man who's given an opportunity that he didn't expect and how hard he's willing to, um, just kind of protect his livelihood, his, his existence, uh, within a scenario that he essentially stumbled into. I understand that's super vague. This is a very long movie. It's, um, it's absolutely just one of the best things out there. Uh, it's, it's a great kind of Western told in a somewhat more modern scope. It's early eighties in Texas, and it has some incredible dialogue as you'd expect of a, of a Cohen movie. It's a beautifully shot and the performances are excellent. I highly recommend it. This is also a great movie to watch in a few sittings, especially if you're not huge on really tense movies. maybe just watch it in two or three, an hour at a time, something like that. But it's, yeah, man, I love this movie. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. I think I've seen this twice and it's been several years, but yeah, I remember being particularly affected by it. I mean, it's really struck me and, you know, Javier Bardem was of course in Skyfall as well. And he's just been such an incredible actor and he's so menacing in that role and I'm struck by the Coen brothers, their, their body of work. You know, you talked about Wes Anderson, you talk about a Tarantino, like these are seriously talented filmmakers and these guys write this stuff and they direct it. And it's like that level of talent is just, uh, it's awe inspiring. And, and you're right, this, this is probably, I mean, it's a tough call, but this is probably their best, I think. Yeah. That's, uh, |
| James Stacey | To the extent that I'm not even sure it matters because they have so many... Fargo is so good. And then the television show, if you haven't gotten into Fargo, the TV series, the second season of which is largely based on a similar plot line as No Country for Old Men with Billy Bob Thornton turning in an incredible performance. But yeah, the Fargo TV show is way up there. They've got three incredible seasons, lots of amazing actors. But for me, as great as Fargo is, This is the one, and I've seen this movie several times. It's based on a Cormac McCarthy novel. Yeah, this one, it's a must watch in my book. Yeah. If you find it too violent or too kind of generally upsetting or foreboding or all of those things, just watch it in chunks is my recommendation. In three hours, it really feels like A slog at times like in the best way possible. Yeah, I love I love long movies. This heat was a previous one North by Northwest was a previous pick as well. I love a good long thriller But this one this one like a Cormac McCarthy story often will if you've ever seen the road I could do about an hour of the road at a time There's just a weight to them, which is a really gorgeous thing. But there's they're very serious. They're very Um, not necessarily a ton of dialogue, but everything's very, uh, specific. Yeah. So you're kind of paying attention for the whole time, which, uh, isn't kind of the normal mode of a, I don't know, a modern comedy or a Marvel film or something. You can kind of fade in and out. Right. Right. So that was, uh, that's my third pick and it's, it's probably the heavyweight. I've got two kind of different ones for the, for the other one, but I'm excited for your, your fourth, which is a killer film. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. So This is a bit out of left field. Uh, I originally had a different movie in here. Um, and I thought, you know, if I look back at my life and the movies I've consistently watched many, many times, uh, this is definitely a slam dunk pick and it's the good, the bad and the ugly from 1966, uh, spaghetti Western directed by Sergio Leone, part of a trilogy of movies he did with Clint Eastwood, um, fistful of dollars for a few dollars more and then the good, the bad and the ugly. And, Just a tremendous movie. I think it's almost such a cliched movie that I think a lot of people might think they've seen it, even though they haven't. I mean, the soundtrack, the main theme is that, you know, that classic sort of refrain that gets used in everything from TV ads to everything else. |
| James Stacey | It's a Boricone score, right? |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, Ennio Morricone did the score and... Yeah, that's that wah, wah, wah. |
| James Stacey | Exactly, yes, yes. Yeah, that's great. I'm glad you did that because I wasn't going to do it. Yeah, I can't do the first part. |
| James Stacey | There's two parts to that. The other one feels a little bit like an eagle scream at times. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, I think I'd blow the microphone out if I tried to do that. But it's basically three protagonists. You know, the early part of the movie, there's some... It's these three guys, kind of Wild West, post-Civil War. These guys are kind of wandering, and it's these three protagonists played by, of course, Clint Eastwood, who plays Blondie, and then Lee Van Cleef plays Angel Eyes, and then Tuco, the third character, is played by Eli Wallach, and they're all very different characters, but they're all after one thing, and they're all sort of seeking this buried gold, and each one of them has a piece of information that the other doesn't have, so they kind of begrudgingly have to work together, and being Being a Western, there's ample horse riding and gunfights and that sort of thing. And Eastwood's character, I think, probably has about 10 lines of dialogue. But it's a really minimalist performance. And of course, he has the great glare, which he became so famous for. And I don't know. I loved this movie. I had a good friend. I was actually a roommate in college. And when we were in high school, we used to just watch all the Eastwood movies. And I think we used to know every line in all of them and this is one that we just love to watch over and over again and it just brings back such memories and you know cinematographically and storyline wise it's certainly not up with No Country for Old Men or A Lawrence of Arabia but just for sheer entertainment and kind of the impact that it's had on films since then. I think Tarantino and maybe even the Coen brothers would probably look back at a movie like this and and proclaim some sort of homage or respect for it. Um, absolutely. And I've drawn some influence from this kind of movie. So, um, yeah, yeah. Check that one out. |
| James Stacey | Josh Brolin does a lot of, uh, just kind of general grimacing off camera in, uh, in no country. So yeah, it comes from that. And then certainly I've heard, um, Tarantino make direct reference to Morricone and, uh, and to a lot of the spaghetti Westerns. And of course we saw some of the Italian side of that in, um, What was the Hollywood movie called? His most recent. Oh, Once Upon a Time. Yeah. And Once Upon a Time. Thank you. Yeah. So there's kind of a direct tie in there, a deep love for that kind of stuff. And I think, yeah, the good, the bad and the ugly. I mean, there's a lot of this stuff that if you're not a Western fan, it doesn't communicate that well. If you do, it's endless. Yeah. They made so many movies so quickly. Yeah. But good to bad, the ugly is right up there with Tombstone. Like these are ones you have to see. Yeah. They're just incredible. Great performances. And they stand up better than you'd think. in my opinion, certainly. My fourth is that you couldn't go in a bigger direction from a 60s Western. This is a modern 2016 sci-fi story called Arrival. And this is one that I'm sure a lot of you have seen. You got to see it again. So now we're back to my core, which is Denis Villeneuve, my favorite director. Uh, just one of the most, uh, prolific guys making movies. Uh, today I think we've got at least two others on the, uh, the film club list, uh, in Sicario, which I've mentioned. And then of course, uh, Blade Runner 2049 was also Villeneuve after Arrival. But Arrival is a very rare science fiction telling that isn't about who had the biggest gun or had the special bomb or could blow up the moon or knew that the alien couldn't go near water or some garbage like that. This is more like a tale of linguistics and science. And it's so delicate. And when you get to the third act and you learn the conceit of the way that the film is established, the way the story is told in terms of time, It's next level. It's also a very rare science fiction story that is led by a female role in Amy Adams. We also have Jeremy Renner in this as well, Forest Whitaker. The scope of the movie is huge and then it collapses in on one person's perspective. So it's about a worldwide event and you think that's the framework that you're operating through and There's aliens, and they're not like any aliens you've seen in movies before. It's such a special movie, I think. I don't love science fiction. I don't like laser beams and spaceships so much. I can get in with some of it, but for the most part, I find it pretty tiresome, and it lacks substance, and this movie is all substance. But I also think, and this is the main reason I picked it, is I assume most people saw it when it first came out. but it's a movie that just reveals so much more the second or third time you get to it. There's a delicacy to the overall story. There's, um, yeah, it's, it's just all substance. It's such a good movie. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. Yeah. I'm glad you reminded me of this one too. Um, I, again, I arrival again, another sort of vague, fairly anonymous name that I had to click on and look, but what a great movie and what great acting. And I love the linguistic element of it. I also think that, um, you know, given what's going on in the world now, I think the kind of the way that the, the humans react to all of this kind of the different nations and kind of the, the, the, the teetering between, you know, sort of all out panic and how to react to a situation like this is sort of a little bit relevant to what we're going through now. And, um, for sure. Yeah. I mean, I'm not a big sci-fi fan either. And I think a movie like this or like Blade Runner, um, just a handful of sci-fis might My next pick is actually another sort of off out of left field for both of us. |
| James Stacey | I think people, people are not ready for your next pick. |
| James Stacey | That's a crazy movie, man. But, uh, I think, um, yeah, I think, I think Arrival's great. |
| Jason Heaton | I'm definitely gonna have to watch that again. I only saw it the first time it came out, but, uh, yeah, I've seen it maybe three or four times. |
| James Stacey | It's another nice long movie, which is, you know, I've talked at length about that. Uh, but yeah. a fantastic performance by Amy Adams, a fantastic score, and yet another home run by Denis Villeneuve. And I hope this is a movie that ends up getting more credit the longer it's around. Yeah. Because to work in the sci-fi space and to come out with something so different, I mean, Alex Garland's done this a few times in kind of taking a different slant to something like sci-fi. We saw Ex Machina, of course, a pretty incredible set of performances and style. and look at the idea of AI, and then I can't even begin to start talking about his movie from 2018 called Annihilation. It'd be a tough pick for this simply because it's a lot to digest, but another really, really interesting way of approaching some tropes from sci-fi and then go in completely different directions with a lot of the moves and the casting and the characters and that sort of thing. Yeah, for sure. It's a rival. And, uh, and yeah, now I'm excited. We get to your fifth pick, which is, I wouldn't have guessed. Uh, if you, if you, if I listed a hundred movies that I thought you were into, I don't, not only do I not, I didn't think I would get to something that's loosely horror, uh, but also from this genre of horror. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. So, you know, uh, horror, I mean, I can count on one hand, probably the horror movies I've liked, uh, the shining, uh, you know, is one that pops to mind, but, Uh, this is the thing. This is let the right one in. Um, so it's a Swedish film from 2008, um, directed by Thomas Alfredson, who happened to have directed a Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which popped up on an earlier film club. Um, very versatile director, but this is, um, a movie that he did in his home country of Sweden. And, It was based on a book and I think there was even an English version of this movie called something else if I'm not mistaken. But you've got to see this Swedish film. It's to this day I still get goosebumps. It gave me such chills and I think it all comes down to the way in which it was filmed. So this is a vampire movie and I'm not going to really give much away but it's a vampire movie with a sweet love story between two kids kind of at the center of it. And You know, it kind of overlaps with my love of Nordic noir films, sort of set in cold, dark places. And it's beautifully shot in the north of Sweden, set in the 1980s. So there's all these elements that kind of come together to subtly give a certain vibe to this movie. And I don't know, there's enough sort of ambiguity woven into the story. And the lack of kind of outright cliche or gore There certainly is some blood spilt in this movie and some violence, but it's not in the way that you picture a typical horror movie. And I'd almost even be hesitant to call this a true horror movie. It's more of just a suspense love story that happens to have a vampire in it. But it's so good. |
| James Stacey | It's just so good. The American version was called Let Me In. oh okay um i believe and uh and then the other thing to keep in mind and i'm not a horror guy almost at all i mean like there's movies that dip into it like i mentioned the thing or um alien i think depending on depending on your ability to understand and and see the timeline jaws i think probably at the time yeah was borderline horror but there is some there are some of it that's just it's so incredible and this is This is quite a movie. It is one of those things that comes from a few different directions, but if you wanted some high praise, Robert Ebert said that this was the best modern vampire movie ever made. I agree. So if you've done The Twilights and I have a big love of Jim Jarmusch and he did a movie called Only Lovers Left Alive, which is about a couple of vampires that have lived six, 700 years and are bored. So yeah, that has a Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton, uh, you know, two perfect vampires basically. And, uh, and it's about them kind of coming to terms with the fact that like the world doesn't have that much left to offer them. Um, but it, it's barely a vampire movie except in the conceit that they live forever or something like forever. And, and whereas let, let the right one in, which I haven't seen probably since 2009, 2010, something like that. I found it quite scary. yeah and uh and really entertaining beautifully shot and and an interesting kind of like human story within a horror story that also is a vampire story that you might not expect so killer choice yeah uh just a real left field one yeah good all right you got the the last pick here i got my last one so my last one is from 2011 it's uh i would say nicholas whining redfin's most accessible film it's called drive My guess is everyone... This is another one that most people saw when it came out. It was critically acclaimed. It's got a high seven on IMDb, which I think is actually pretty low for this movie. One of Ryan Gosling's most nuanced performances, I think. He doesn't have more than 10 lines in this movie, maybe he has two. It's also got Carey Mulligan and Bryan Cranston. The lineup is great, but it's the way that they go about the pace of the film. is this really kind of at times unsettling look at the difference between the audience who is generally uncomfortable with a lot of what's happening, and then you're able to contrast that with the level of comfort of what you're seeing. And this is a good example because it stretches through the whole film, but you'll remember when we talked about Sicario in a past film club, I ranted about the bridge scene. Yeah, yeah. where they're moving a convoy of vehicles across a bridge from Juarez into El Paso, Texas. Yeah. And they make a microcosm of the same concept where they move into essentially like advanced military techniques. They start rolling the windows down, they start planning for what's going to happen. And everyone in the vehicle, except for Kate, played by Emily Blunt, she's very uncomfortable with kind of the level of comfort that everyone around her has to this increasingly tense, possibly terrifying scenario. Yeah. And there's something about drive that just confronts the different levels to which a person might be comfortable with extreme violence, general discomfort, outright speed, like all sorts of like peak kind of happenings. It is... If you know anything else from this director, it's not an easy movie. I would say it's much more linear and less art film than some of his other stuff. And certainly if you've watched your way through something like Neon Demon, this movie won't feel so Um, kind of abrasive or shocking, uh, but yeah, drive for sure. Um, not something to watch with the kids, uh, that sort of thing, but, uh, a really, really fantastic movie with an incredible score. Um, you know, it's about driving, it's about cars, Brian Cranston, John, uh, you know, gosling. It's, uh, I like it a lot. It's a great movie. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, this was a, this was a good one. Um, and I think vastly underrated and I think, uh, maybe not to those who kind of dig into films like, like you and I do, but, um, you know, I'm even looking at the IMDb page and the movie poster for it kind of belies the film itself. You know, it's, it's, it's gozzling with the driving gloves sitting in the windshield and then the script used for the title of the movie is sort of in pink and it's, it's just, you don't know what to make of this movie. And it's, you're right. It's so nuanced compared to kind of what the premise of it is, you know, getaway driver, stuntman, whatever. Um, it's about so much more than that. So it's, you expect sort of just car chases and screeching tires and stuff, but there's this really quiet side of the movie that I, that I just loved. |
| James Stacey | And the other thing that I would note, and we'll have to go back eventually, maybe not now, now that we're, it's like 40 picks, but when we're at like a hundred, I'll go back and do some analytics on these. I wonder how many movies, like what actors come up the most across it. Cause Oscar Isaac is in this as well. Now the guy's been in a lot, but my guess is that Oscar Isaac has like a high rate of success among any sort of modern sort of look at this. But yeah, I really like this movie. Like I said, it's at times pretty challenging in terms of just how violent it is and the way that the violence is portrayed, which is one of the director's kind of like most impressive talents is he can take things that you might've seen on a TV show or another movie, and suddenly you're wincing, even if you've never winced before at something, it's all very visceral. The movie's very visceral, and I think, like you said, very nuanced. It has a fantastic pace, and yeah, I can't recommend it enough, and that's... That's my fifth pick. I think a pretty varied list today. I think we said that every time, but I think we hit some Swedish horror, some kind of classic Americana, one of the best Bond films, some good sci-fi, a lot of Western influences in this one, like Western films, not Western necessarily. Uh, yeah. And then, and then drive to top it off. I don't, I don't know that I would want, Hmm. If you excuse Rushmore from my five, I don't think I would back to back any of these movies. Yeah. Pretty heavy stuff, isn't it? Pretty heavy attention demanding detailed, you know, like fun, but also you got to be in the right frame of mind for any of these. Imagine it, you know, like it'd be like, you know, would you do Lawrence of Arabia in the 1917? Oh, no way. Probably not, but I mean like rush more and then let the right one in or maybe the other way around. Yeah. Do let the right one in and then rush more. I think that'd be pretty fun. Kind of double, double stack for a weekend. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. This would consume a lot of time too. I mean, a lot of these movies are, some of these are really long. |
| James Stacey | I mean, geez. Yeah. Well, yeah. So that's a, that's another 10 for the, Isolation Tapes Film Club, now in volume four. If you have any questions, concerns, comments, whatever, you can leave them on the Hodinkee post that you'll see for this episode, episode 110, or you can email us at thegraynadoatgmail.com. And of course, if you have a direct question, which you would like to hear in audio, you can record that question into a voice memo on your phone and then email it to thegraynadoatgmail.com and it will be included in a future Q and a episode, which should be in about three, uh, three more episodes. And, you know, three weeks after you're hearing this, we'll be recording the next Q and a episode. So get your questions in for that. And before we get on with the final notes and your usual homework, I think it's worth a quick shout out to the Hodinkee shop as they've made this episode possible. If you're a fan of anything that Hodinkee is working on, be it, uh, the site, Hodinkee radio. Greynado, whatever, consider supporting the overall efforts of a very large and talented team by picking up something from the shop. It could be a book, it could be a strap, it could be a watch tool, or it could even be a watch, depending on your scenario. Be sure to check out the book options as now's a great time to get some reading in and learn a little bit more about watches or maybe a brand that you've always loved but didn't dig that deep into. And yeah, swing by shop.hodinkee.com and we'd appreciate any support that you've got for Jason and myself or the team at large. Jason, why don't you jump right into some homework? I really like your pick. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. So, um, last week, uh, it was go buy some stock and I got some interesting feedback from, from people on that. Uh, this week it's a very different from that. It's actually to go birdwatching and yeah, a lot of people out there might already do this casually. Um, I have not, I, I've always enjoyed hiking and camping and getting outdoors, but I've largely been looking at the ground in front of me when I'm hiking or kind of you know, opting for trying to cite bigger things, bears and deer and other wildlife. And, um, I guess in this more quiet time around home the past couple of months, I've, I've really started to notice the birds more and kind of made me think that, that, you know, going on a hike or even sitting in the backyard just to have a set of binoculars nearby and, and some sort of a guide would be kind of a nice thing to do. And, um, So I've kind of made a vow to myself to kind of notice birds more and make note of what I see. And, um, you know, it's, it's a good time of year to do it. Actually, at least here in the Northern hemisphere, we're, we're coming into a nice time of spring and the birds are nesting and, and mating and all that sort of stuff. And, and so, uh, I'm putting up a link to, um, Autobahn's website. They have a kind of a how to, uh, section on how to start birding if you're new to it. And they have a really kind of an excellent online guide, uh, including bird calls and, colorations and some nice images of birds. And I guess for me, you know, I always think a lot of it, what I do relates back to diving. And when you think about going on a dive and a lot of people feel compelled to kind of get in the water and swim and just kind of keep swimming in one direction and get as far as they can then turn around and come back. And over the past few years I've enjoyed, at least in the tropics, going to a patch of reef and sort of just hovering, you know, limiting myself to a certain quadrant of, of reef and just sort of quietly sitting and watching and creatures start to come out and you start to see the interactions and the behaviors. And I think terrestrially birdwatching can be similar. You know, if you sort of park yourself in an area, maybe it's at a park or in your yard or on a hike rather than just forging ahead, just sort of sit or stand in one place and see what comes to you. I think when you're still and quiet, Animals start to come back, they start to feel a little more bold and they come out and I think the same goes for birds. Birds are certainly remarkable creatures and I think even some of the drabbest ones have some beautiful calls and some interesting behaviors and who knows, you might get lucky and see something like a big pileated woodpecker with the red head or we're getting, gosh we even get the rare vulture and we get bald eagles around here and red-tailed hawks and things like that. So it can be a lot of fun and just if you're not into it, give it a try. |
| James Stacey | Hey, that's a great choice. |
| James Stacey | I like it a lot. It gets an excuse to get outside and certainly you don't have to be close to anything typically to find a bird. Yeah. A little bit of green space and a pair of binoculars and you're ready to run. Yeah. Mine is a little bit more niche in its offering because it assumes that you have the ability to do this. But for the, for those of you who have a piano at home or maybe a keyboard sitting in a closet somewhere, or better yet a guitar, uh, sitting around my, my, I would encourage people to just try and pick up an instrument, brush up on the skills a little bit, learn some scales or, or your favorite song or, or something like that. Uh, you know, try not, try not to get too far under your family skin. Maybe, maybe don't break out the drum set. Uh, if, if, uh, if you, if you're two months into a quarantine with, uh, family in a small place, but something like a digital piano, I mean, you could still pick them up on Amazon for not a ton of money, and you can go right on YouTube and learn just about anything, whether you want to learn a more varied basic music theory or cording or some simple stuff, or if there's a song that you always wanted to learn. that you find yourself singing in the car too or something like that and you'd like to be able to play another part of it. Yeah, I think if you've got that guitar in the closet, maybe support a local business and order up some new strings. You know, music stores are probably having a pretty tough time these days as well. And if you've got everything ready to go, then pick a new song and make it your goal. Learn ten seconds of it at a time or five seconds of it at a time. And I think it's an absolutely great way to engage a different part of your brain uh, than a zoom call or, um, or another spreadsheet or something like that will. And, uh, I think it keeps you sharp, even if it's, even if you don't have any intention of ever performing said music, it's a great skill to, uh, to kind of have and a great way to balance, uh, you know, different mental energies. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, that's a good, good choice. I think music, especially for those who maybe don't do it regularly, it's such a different use of the brain and the body than almost anything else you do. I mean, it's not anything like writing or reading or watching a movie or reading anything. And, um, uh, I think we have a guitar kicking around here. Ghoshani, uh, took some lessons a few years ago and I tried to, um, and I would love to, to learn the guitar properly. And I realized that all those years I was playing on a standard guitar when I'm in fact left-handed and I've, you know, when I air guitar, I do it left-handed. Um, but when I actually tried to learn the guitar, I was using kind of a standard right-handed person's guitar. And so I always think, you know, if I could get a left-handed guitar, I bet I could, I bet it would be a lot easier for me to learn. So I might, I might try that. |
| James Stacey | If you've got a guitar there, you can, in a pinch, you can always string it backwards. |
| Jason Heaton | Oh, I suppose. Yeah. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. And, uh, it's not exactly the same pick guard won't be in the same place, depending on the cut of, of said guitar. It may not be as comfortable to hold. Um, but you can, you can play them, you know, um, upside down, right. Put it the other way and put the, put the big E at the top and go from there. Yeah. I don't know if they've continued this because we're now in May, but in April Fender was offering free access to their entire learning platform. It's an app-based interactive guitar learning platform. Uh, so if that, if that's still available and free for anyone to use, it certainly was back when I was producing those daily uplift posts. I'll dig up that link and, and, and if it is still available, I'll put it in the show notes. If not my apologies, maybe still worth the whatever few dollars a month they were asking. Um, as it seems like a very popular way to, uh, to learn your way through certainly the basics. Nice. All right. Well, we're getting close here. Oh yeah, for sure. So, uh, we're now down to final notes. I've got two, so I guess I'll go first and we can kind of sure. sandwich yours. My first is a follow-up to the chat that we did with Josh, or that I did with Josh Perez of Pedro and Taylor and Set Studio. So Pedro and Taylor is a apparel brand that he's recently launched and, you know, Jason, you and I collaborated with them on this photo contest. You can go back and listen to the episode if you want the full backup. But one of their initial product launches are these hats, these corded velveteen hats. which come in navy, desert, and olive, like a dark green. And normally I would never talk about a hat because I have a very weird head and most hats don't have any business sitting atop. You know, I'm more of a, in Canada, we'd call it a toque, but you guys would call it maybe a watchman's cap or a cap, a winter cap. That's usually more my mode. But I will say that it's worth mentioning that if you have maybe a larger head or a weirdly shaped head, or you just like hats in general, Josh was kind enough to send me one of these corded velveteen hats in a desert, in the two-tone kind of sand on brown, two-tone brown sort of colorway. They're $38 and I absolutely love it. I actually wore it through this, my hair is quite long because no haircuts are happening and I wore it through this entire recording. It's super comfortable. I would say it's a better fit for me than, you know, I've had hats like ball cap style hats from Best Made and from Sitka. And they typically are quite shallow. So they just kind of sit on the very top of my, I know that a hat supposed to sit on the top of your head, but they don't come down far enough to even engage with the sides of my head. Yeah. If that makes any sense. Uh, just a big kind of weirdly shaped head for me. And, um, yeah, this, this hat works. Uh, I liked the way it looks and it was really kind of Josh to send it. So if you're in the game for a new hat or you want to support Pedro and Taylor and what Josh is up to, uh, I think you could do it all in one for 38 bucks. |
| Jason Heaton | Hmm. Nice. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. Tough time to launch a business. So it's, uh, it's nice to give them a little shout out here. |
| Speaker response/affirmation | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | And Josh is incredible that I thought that episode turned out really well. We got some really solid feedback on it. So if you, if you skipped it because you didn't know his name, uh, go back and dig in. I think not only are we talking to a future star, uh, but a guy who's already really well engaged on multiple platforms and interesting guy and, uh, and a real sweetheart. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. Cool. Well, uh, my, uh, final note for this week comes from a local friend here, listener, Clint Carter. who thought this was prime TGN material, and I think it is. I haven't gotten through it all, but it's very promising. It's a project that this guy has kicked off. His name is Paul Gushlebauer. I think he's German. And it's a project that he's calling Fly Overland. And what he's doing is he's taking a Piper Super Cub airplane, and he's flying from Alaska down to the tip of Patagonia. So these planes are not, you know, this is a small, sort of typically used by bush pilots. So a small plane that isn't made to be flying at high altitudes or really long distances. So you can see how this would be a bit of an arduous journey and more of a, I guess it's appropriate to call it Overland because it's akin to almost a road trip in a way because he's flying certain legs of the trip and then stopping and kind of exploring the areas that he stops. And he's built a really neat website called Project Overland. We'll put put this in the show notes. And then he's got a dedicated YouTube channel where he's he's putting up videos from each leg of the trip. And, uh, you know, he's, he's going mountain biking and he's going hang gliding and he's paddling and, um, hiking and doing all sorts of stuff along the way with a real keen enthusiasm that, that is pretty infectious. And of course he's had to, to pause, uh, along the way, um, given the current crisis. But if you're really looking for some, Great to armchair travel and kind of a virtual getaway. This is a this is really something to follow and really an ambitious trip. So give it a go. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, well, you were what you're chatting there. I, I went and clicked on the trailer and wow, what an adventure, what a cool plane. These things are like super flexible, but it is kind of like trying to get Yeah, across several countries in a fairly old car. Right. Or, you know, this is the Willie's Jeep of the sky or something like that. So, yeah, really cool. Great pick, definitely. And mine's actually in a fairly similar vein, roughly, outdoor adventure-ish. But it's a film that's been published at Patagonia's YouTube channel called Fish People, and it's produced under Patagonia's Films wing. And it's called, yeah, fish people lives transformed by the sea. And it's essentially these profiles, but it's kind of shot like one big adventure film, but there's no overarching narrative. It's not, I wouldn't call it a documentary either. It's these sort of vignettes of various people and, and where they interact with the ocean. So it could be in this case, a really incredible spear Fisher, um, you know, some top tier surfing. surf photography, all these things, people that interact with the ocean to live or to do their work. And it's not presented like a Tales by Light, you know, that Canon-supported Netflix series. It's a little bit more like these adventure reels, those five-minute films that you'll watch about an amazing ski trip or something like that. The photography is absolutely gorgeous. The stories are really cool. They're about real people. Um, and they're not people that maybe you would have seen on your normal viewing or reading of outside online or adventure journal or that sort of thing. These are big names in their space. Uh, but these aren't like huge, you know, corporately supported, uh, athletes or that sort of thing. It's, um, it's great. I'm, uh, I'm, I'm through at one point, maybe eight times. I watched 38 of the 50 minutes, uh, just before we, we made this call. Cause I was sitting down at a proper big monitor and it's, uh, Absolutely worth your time. And another great production from Patagonia, you know, following up on Mountain of Storms. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, it's a good one. I saw that a while back and, you know, I got to hand it to Patagonia. I mean, their little film series has quietly become quite the canon of work. They had this. You really got to subscribe. 180 Degrees South. I mean, that's another one I think we've talked about many, many episodes ago, but kind of in the same vein, just kind of, you know, non-celebrity athletes doing really cool stuff outdoors. And it's very inspiring. Really neat. |
| James Stacey | For sure. Yeah. Great. So yeah, there you go. Solid final notes, a little bit of homework, a ton of movies. If you want to really dig in, good luck. I don't know if you plan to watch all 10, but you know, Godspeed, if that's the case, try not to burn out your eyeballs. And as always, thank you so much for listening. You can hit the show notes via Hodinkee.com or the feed for more details. And you can follow us on Instagram. That's at Jason Heaton at J E Stacey, and you can follow the show at The Graynado. If you have any questions for us, please write TheGreyNado at gmail.com or send us a voice memo to the same email address. Please subscribe and review wherever you find your podcasts and music throughout is Siesta by Jazzer via the free music archive. |
| Jason Heaton | And we leave you with this quote from George Bernard Shaw, who said, a life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing. |