The Grey NATO - 160 - Travel, Survival, And Making Wild TV With Megan Hine
Published on Thu, 09 Sep 2021 06:00:27 -0400
Synopsis
The hosts discuss new watch releases, interview wilderness survivalist Megan Hine about her work on shows like Man vs. Wild, and share final notes including a photo essay from Afghanistan, a nature identification app called Seek, and a new Lego ocean exploration set.
Links
Transcript
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| James Stacey | Hello and welcome to another episode of the Graynado. It's a loose discussion of travel, diving, driving gear, and most certainly watches. This is episode 160 and we thank you for listening. |
| Jason Heaton | Hey Jason, how you doing? Good, good. Coming into my favorite month of the year. I just love September. |
| James Stacey | It's great. We can do the weather chat at the top because I know all of you want as much weather chat as possible, but it's been wild just to see how quickly the temperature thing changed around here. Yeah, same here. Yeah. And it's even more exaggerated. I was at the cottage this weekend, you know, kind of Labor Day weekend, jumping off docks, doing bonfires, just trying to get the last kind of long weekend before the kids go to school and the whole kind of schedule changes. Yeah. And it is just a reminder of like it is just the best time of year to be at the cottage because it's not too hot. I like the heat a lot. I thought August was lovely. but I also don't mind the opportunity to put a sweater on or really actually enjoy a bonfire rather than just sit near one. Yeah, it's been really, really good. I've been happy to have September here already. It's crazy how quickly the summer went by. I think everyone says that every year forever, but I'll just keep saying it. It just blew by without even that much to do. Normally, you and I would have been traveling all summer and Right. And, you know, had been in three or four countries by now and none of that for me at least. Yeah. Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | It was a hot summer. It was, uh, but yeah, it's short. I mean, it's always short here and I'm sure where you are, but it's, uh, it's been good. You know, we, we enjoyed, uh, the garden kind of kept us sane this year. And speaking of that, you know, now we're, we're kind of coming into heavy duty harvest time. And, and, uh, I just, uh, I just made a batch of gazpacho. I don't know if you like gazpacho, but it's like a cold tomato based soup. Yeah, for sure. I'm down. Um, I, uh, we've just had this bumper crop of tomatoes and then a few cucumbers and then chili peppers and radishes and a few other things that we've been growing. But the tomatoes we've had, you know, it's funny. I remember we put them in back in April or may. And some we planted from seed and some we got like, you know, small plants from garden shops and put them in and, you know, they kind of start out slowly and now like they're all taller than me, you know, they're like seven feet tall and just, just. laden with tomatoes and every day, uh, at least a couple of weeks ago, you know, we'd go outside and every day you'd go out and there'd be new five, six new tomatoes to pick. And it's where, you know, as usual, you know, like you always underestimate what the output and then you're just, I don't want to say burdened, that's a negative word, but you know, you find yourself giving them away and, and just, I, I just like to eat them right off the vine, just sit in the backyard and eat them. But I, I made this, uh, I made this lovely batch of gazpacho using as much from the garden as I could. And it just, it turned out so well. I just snagged a recipe off of, uh, I think it was like a Gordon Ramsay recipe or something. And it was just super easy. Just got my hands in there and just squeezed out all the juice and then blended it and added some apple cider vinegar and some olive oil. And it was just fantastic. |
| James Stacey | So. That sounds great. Yeah. I haven't met many soups that I didn't like, so I, you know, I'd be down. I like a tomato soup, uh, hot or cold, I suppose. |
| Jason Heaton | No. And then, uh, and then, uh, you know, to kind of keep this theme going of, of kind of homemade stuff, you know, Ghoshani's been on the sourdough train for the past two years. And, and, uh, for her birthday back in June, I got her a, uh, a flour mill that you can attach to a KitchenAid mixer. You know, we have the, we have the pasta maker for, for the KitchenAid, but then they make a, uh, a flour mill attachment. So I got her that, and we finally got a chance to try it out, uh, yesterday or the day before. and bought some wheat berries from, you know, local co-op and, and milled some, some flour and she made a loaf of sourdough out of it. And so we had that with the gazpacho. It just, it felt like a proper kind of end of summer celebration of, of kind of our, our hard work in the garden and just kind of, uh, it was, uh, it was a fun meal. So. |
| James Stacey | Speaking of, um, of things that were maybe a little bit harder, more work than I might've expected. I did, um, I did a kind of refresh of the speakers in the Jeep. Um, so it's, it's a little bit of a fool's errand to expect to get like good quality out of a vehicle like the Jeep, like in terms of sound quality. Yeah. Cause it is just a box with it, like a lot of, you know, fiberglass and plastics and, uh, it, you know, never been acoustically treated in any way, but I have the original or I had the original speakers in the Jeep and they were fine for podcasts. And that's typically what I listened to talk radio, that sort of thing. But if you wanted to listen to music, they were like really bad, like remarkably bad. |
| [NoResponse] | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | certain frequencies were fine. And then some just sounded like they were underwater. So I went through the process of, you know, it has four, kind of six and a half or six and three quarter inch speakers. And then two tweeters up on the dash that are I think are supposed to be point seven, five of an inch. So I did a retrofit and brought them back to a less uncommon size and went with six and a halves for the four mid-range woofers. And those of you who listen will remember I removed the subwoofer entirely, so I don't have to worry about that in the Jeep anymore. But I did the four mid-range and then the tweeters, and now I can actually listen to music in the car, which is kind of a big change. Nice. But it was more work than expected because in a car, the speakers are usually in the door. Right. And they're in a sort of mounted frame. So it's not that... Generally speaking, it's not like a ton of work to remove speakers and replace them. Especially if you're handy with some simple wiring and soldering iron and that sort of thing. Yeah. With the Jeep, everything's in its own sort of enclosure that has to be removed. So I had to take most of the dash apart to kind of slide out these boxes that the speakers are mounted into. Yeah. And then for the rear speakers or the speakers that are kind of over the rear seats, they're in this plastic bar that is kind of screwed into the roll cage. Oh, right. Right. I can picture that. So you can take that off. And so some of it wasn't too hard. I had a good time doing it. It's been a while since I had an opportunity to pull the soldering gun out and do some of that kind of stuff. But it is nice. I can now effectively listen to music in the Jeep and I can listen to Under the Influence or whatever at an even higher volume at this point. But that was kind of my most recent project. The rest of it's just been work. It just feels like work has found like an entirely new pace since COVID for me. |
| [NoResponse] | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | And maybe I've been saying that for the better part of what two years now or a year and a half at least. But yeah, it's just a lot of work. And it was nice to take a break on one of those days where it was suddenly a bit cooler, it wasn't 30 or 35. You know, it wasn't in the 90s. Here in Toronto, we got a drop down into the, you know, high 70s, that sort of thing. And this is a nice, a nice day. And so I was able to get that project done, which I think will pay dividends in the winter, where we might end up doing more driving to see family and that sort of thing, depending on how the pandemic continues. The other thing I've been doing is working my way through the... I brought it up on a previous episode that I wanted to try and redo a lot of the Anthony Bourdain stuff because of the documentary, the Roadrunner documentary that came out. Right. So I've made it through a whole season so far of the first season of No Reservations. And I would say most of the episodes are ones I either never saw or didn't remember very well. And it's it's really just fantastic, really super watchable, super. It just works really well for like an end of day sort of pace. |
| [NoResponse] | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | Especially when you haven't been traveling for so long. Yeah. So I've been enjoying that quite a bit. |
| Jason Heaton | I think there's a balance when it comes to shows like that or personalities like that where You know, for instance, uh, I mentioned, uh, Gordon Ramsey's gazpacho recipe, you know, he had a show or still does. I think that repeats a couple of series on a national geographic channel and it's him traveling around the world and visiting places and cooking with locals and then riding motorcycles through the jungle and all this kind of stuff. And I got the sense that, you know, Bourdain's shows have kind of set the template for, for that type of show that people like, but. You know, the Gordon Ramsey shows entertaining, but it's nothing like, like the Anthony Bourdain stuff. And I like Gordon Ramsey, but he's not Anthony Bourdain. He doesn't present in the way that Anthony Bourdain does, because I think it, it then becomes about Gordon Ramsey and kind of his, how he relates to all of this. And I think Bourdain had the sense and kind of the personality to step back and, and almost be your filter. You know, you're viewing it through his eyes, but it's not about him. His wisdom comes through in his commentary, but it's not about him, which I think was something he did really well in all of the shows and things. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, I think he did a good job knowing when the show required personality and when it simply required context, which is special because the show, even when it's silly, is still trying to uncover why, whether it's a place or food or all of it, why it is. He's very, like, he seems genuinely interested and curious about that, that sort of thing. |
| [NoResponse] | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | And, and he also has this, you know, even after one season, this really self deprecating freedom to put himself in scenarios where he wouldn't actively go on his own. Yeah. Right. Which I think is a testament to what travel is a lot and why his show endures and why his personality is, is, is also a kind of an enduring force. Yeah. I've been really enjoying it. You know, it does kind of scratch that itch of like, I'd like to go places, you know, watching some first places that I would very much like to be like at this moment is tough. Yeah, right. And certainly it's not the show to watch if you're hungry or haven't had dinner yet. Right. You'll start making some really strange, you know, Uber Eats orders at that point. Yeah. But I've been loving it. And if you can find it in your locale, if you can dig it up somewhere, I highly recommend it, especially for, you know, winter viewing when you actually start to have even evenings to sit back and watch an hour or two of something rather than being outside and running around and getting errands done, like the summer speed. Yeah. Once that starts to fade a little bit, I think it's a fantastic thing. And I think that's, that's probably why a lot of people love the stuff that he did, his books, his shows, the rest of it. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. I think you're mentioning this actually fits in well with, I think kind of the overall vibe of today's show. I mean, we've got some watch top watch talk up front, but, um, you know, our, our guest for our interview today is very much in that vein of travel and adventure and kind of seeing the world and then so excited. And then, uh, I picked a final note for today that I think kind of, uh, also kind of is along that same theme. So I think, uh, yeah, we've got, we've got something going on here, but you know, maybe we, we kind of move into watches. I've got to, I got to say, um, lately before we jump into kind of our discussion of new stuff, that's come out recently. Um, I did a little bit of work for. A local watch retailer that I've been going to for years for, for watchmaking services. And I've bought a couple of watches there in the past. I wrote a couple of stories for their in-house magazine recently and I was in their shop chatting with the marketing guy the other day last week and boy, what a mistake. You know, I haven't been in a watch retailer in a long time and, and you know, it's fun. I mean, it's like, you know, you were talking last time about missing trade shows and, and for me, I do too, but I, this was like even, even going to a local watch retailer and kind of fondling watches and just looking at stuff. Uh, I, we had to, I brought back some, beautiful vintage pieces to photograph for one of the stories. You know, there's like an old, uh, double-signed paddock, a dress watch. Oh, it's a beautiful watch. 5512 and a, and a beautiful like first-generation Heuer Monaco and some others. But, but even just looking at the pre-owned case, they had an LHD Tudor Pelagos, which people know that I really fawn over. It's a winner. And boy, it, you know, it really started to tug at my heartstrings. I really was almost like, quivering, you know, reaching for my wallet or trying to negotiate some, Hey, you know, we could trade work for a watch or something. And yeah, for sure. I don't know. I'm, I'm, I'm teetering on the edge here. I think you got to talk me down. I don't know. |
| James Stacey | It's a, I don't, I don't even know if I could talk to you guys. We can't, we can literally say zero in terms of specificity about what I'm about to talk about, but I got eyes on a watch that will be coming out later this year. Yeah. And it's just an absolute dream watch. Oh, man. It's not in the normal crop of necessarily the dream watches or the rest. I don't think it's like a dream watch we've covered on the show in the past. Yeah. I'm not going to say the brand. If you DM me, I'll simply delete your DM. I can do nothing to give you more information about this, but there's something coming that I saw that's just deeply out of my price point. Yeah. But is the sort of thing I would buy if I had a lot of money to spend on watches and you and your wisdom basically said like, Hey, sell everything and see what happens. Like, just do your best. And, uh, and, and the funny thing is, is that tip. And I think we should get to our, our, our general watch news, but we can jump into risk check first. Maybe the funny thing is that that tip led me to go back to my watch case and start pulling out stuff I hadn't worn in a few months or maybe even longer. |
| [NoResponse] | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | I was looking at all these watches and thinking like, well, if I sold them all, I would have X number of dollars, which is like maybe not even half of what I would need for this watch that I was, uh, that I'm talking about. But I did end up pulling out the Doxa sub the 50th anniversary Sea Rambler and putting it on NATO. And I've been wearing it for about a week and I love this watch, man. |
| [NoResponse] | I think |
| James Stacey | having two of the basically the same watch does kind of feel too collectory for me. Like it makes me feel like I should either not have two or I should have all three. |
| [NoResponse] | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. Right. And I definitely don't need a third Doxa. I should just wear the one I have now so that it made sense to sell it. Yeah. But I don't know that I could sell this 50th, at least not easily. |
| [NoResponse] | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | I just I just absolutely love it. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. Yeah. I I pulled out for today. I pulled out my my Scurfa, the Diver One MS 21 that I got back a couple of months ago. And, you know, I think, I don't know if it was you or somebody mentioned, you know, that's kind of a, it's kind of like a mini or, you know, a bargain Pelagos because it's, it's the titanium case with the helium release valve. And it's got, you know, that beautiful blue dial blue bezel and, uh, kind of has that chunkiness to it. I mean, it's, it's definitely not a Pelagos. I mean, it's got a quartz movement and it's a little smaller and whatever, but, um, you know, in, in my potentially futile attempt to stave off. you know, spending money on a watch one of these days. Uh, it's, uh, it's been fun to wear and it's, it's, it's just such a cool little watch. So that's, that's what I've been wearing for the past couple of days. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. Well the, the LHC, uh, Pelagos is always calling. I think is what is a tattoo you and I'll end up getting at some point. |
| Jason Heaton | Um, I don't know the other watch that inexplicably has really been pulling on me hard. Um, even maybe even more than the Pelagos is the, is the white dial Seamaster, the professional 300 meter. I mean, you know, it's a watch that I have, I shouldn't like, you know, the, the skeleton hands, the helium valve, the scalloped bezel, et cetera. But I don't know. I it's just bewitching. I see photos of it. And, you know, having worn the black dial version of that watch and really loved it. Um, the white dial is even more fetching. I don't know. |
| James Stacey | It's, and it's tough. Would you go a bracelet or rubber strap or both? |
| Jason Heaton | You know, the, the wisdom everybody says is get it on the bracelet because you can't buy it later. But I don't know that I would ever wear that bracelet. I mean, yeah, I would wear the rubber though. It's so nice. I would wear the rubber is fantastic. And then NATO and every other kind of 20 millimeter, you know, anything, I mean, it's, it's just, uh, it's just a beauty, but, uh, and that's a similar ish price point to a Pelagos. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | And you're in, you're in the same, the same house and boy, if you find them pre-owned, like, you know, the dip below four and they're, you know, I mean, it's, yeah, it's tough, but, uh, we'll see. I'll, I'll try to stay strong. |
| James Stacey | Well, Hey, I can bring us into our main topic. Uh, or we actually kind of have two main topics. So let me give you a quick breakdown, a little bit of a different episode. Cause we don't want to get too far behind on some of the stuff we have in the can. Um, and, and one part of that is an interview, which is going to play later in the show with Megan Hine. Uh, she's awesome. Uh, I think you guys are going to love it. Uh, she's, uh, you know, she's dealt with essentially a lot of the behinds the scenes, uh, sort of, um, safety and, um, and survival considerations for shows like, uh, Man vs. Wild with Bear Grylls and I mean the list of accolades is too long to list here. We'll get to it in a few minutes. But please give that one a chance. It's going to be super fun just a little later in the episode. But the other thing we wanted to get to before it got stale was just some of the new stuff that came out either as part of Geneva Watch Days or is released by other brands kind of during Geneva Watch Days. So we'll call it in the last two weeks. And between Jason and I, we found kind of five watches or lines of watches that we're pretty excited about and are definitely worth a chat. So why don't we take a look at another sort of Pelagos adjacent design, this time from Doxa, which you wouldn't expect. We don't see a lot of titanium from Doxa, but we've got the new Doxa 600T is a limited edition made in partnership with Time and Tide, which is a watch blog and retailer in Australia. And yeah, so they've created this watch. It's based on an Aubrey era, sort of early to mid 80s style Doxa, 40 millimeters, titanium case, ceramic bezel. It's blue and orange and it's 1990, so just under two grand and they're making 200 of them. Jason, where do you land on this? Do you dig it? |
| Jason Heaton | I love it. I like everything about it except the color. palette. The blue, everything combined with the orange feels a little bit too, too colorful, I guess, for my taste. You know, I love blue watches. I mean, I'm wearing one right now. Yeah. But for some reason, that blue with the orange and then the blue strap, it's just a bit over the top for me. And I but I love that case shape and to see that watch in like a Shark Hunter configuration or Sea Rambler, which, you know, I think Doxa made back in the day. So you know, fingers crossed that something else will come out, another line, maybe a non-limited with different colors. I'm sure they will, right? You can't, you wouldn't put that effort into making a specific case and bezel to just make 200 of them. So we'll see. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. And I hope they continue with the titanium as well. Um, you know, they must've made some sort of investment in the tooling and that sort of thing. So hopefully we see some more titanium. I think, uh, I think the same thing, but in a black orange of a shark hunter, |
| [NoResponse] | and |
| James Stacey | The thing that stands out for me is I think the only reason it feels like too much blue is the strap. Yeah, yeah, I agree. Because I really like the blue and the orange when you see the watch kind of on its own. But with the strap, it's a lot. It's the same way I kind of felt about the Diving Star 300 I had last year. Yeah. In for review is like once you popped it off the rubber strap, it just kind of warmed up a little bit in terms of not being too colorful, not feeling like it was only the sort of thing you could wear on a dive boat. right kind of how that that diving star one feels is so much yellow. Yeah, yeah. But as soon as you balance it with a brown strap or a gray NATO or something like that, I think it goes a long way. And I think this is a gorgeous watch. Super cool. No, I love the super no date. I like the dial kind of layout nicely it you know it. It's similar to the 600 T's that we would know. But not to the extent that it feels like they simply went for a one-to-one kind of reissue. It has this a little bit of modernity to it. Yeah. I'm really impressed. You know, it's a bit of a bummer that it's only 200, but I also understand that as a collaboration and also as a model outside of the brand sort of 1967 core. Yeah. It's a bit of a gamble. I hope they sell really quickly. I hope people get a really, uh, they get a bunch of kind of notoriety from making it and they, and they make some in steel. And more in titanium, just in different colors. I think these are super cool. I like this. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, that's a good pick. I've never been one and some people like matching straps to dials and things like that. I've never been for that. So, you know, certainly if you're a huge fan of blue and you're right, I mean, I think on a dive boat or on a tropical trip or something, the blue strap would probably just be a blast to wear. And most of the images we've seen, I don't know. Have you seen any wrist shots or anything anywhere? I mean, I'm not sure. I might look really cool in person. But, you know, sometimes these press images, these renderings look a little bit pop off the page too much. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. I think the, the images that came from Doxa proper that would have been in my original post, those are renders. Yeah. We did have photographers on site and at Geneva watch days and they shot some additional photos, although no wrist shots for whatever reason. And the watch looks pretty accurate to that. I would say the case is a little darker as you'd expect, you know, the titanium only ever looks like titanium. if you color correct properly, and it gets darker when you do that usually. Yeah. I love the size, you know, 40 millimeters is just right. Yeah. And I think it suits the watch nicely. The four o'clock crown means it gives it a little bit of a distinctive feel. But we can, we can jump into another new blue watch. And this one is, is not part of Geneva watch day strictly, or I'm not really sure. I get a little bit confused about some of it. It has a ton of comments everywhere that I've seen this watch come up. So I think it's, it's at least you know, capturing people's attention. Yeah. Um, although it does seem to be a little bit divisive, this is the new IWC it's the pilots watch automatic edition, Lauria sport for good. Yeah. That's a difficult name. I understand wanting to put all those words in or around the watch. I do understand that, but like, give us a name we can attach to. So it's a 41 millimeter, uh, blue ceramic IWC pilots watch. and it has a matching blue dial, it has a black rimmed handset, it has a date at three. I think this watch looks really, really, really good. But I've seen the comments seem to mix between people who are pretty jazzed about seeing more ceramic from IWC, especially at the 41 millimeter sizing instead of the larger Mojave stuff, and with people saying that it looks like a swatch. And I get that because ceramic has a certain matte quality to it, which feels a little bit like plastic in images. If people are saying that in the comments or elsewhere, and that's what they actually mean, like they think you're going to see this watch in person and it's going to feel like a $150 System 51 or whatever, that's kind of insane. Like nothing feels like a ceramic watch at all. And IWC is right on the forefront of making these really interesting matte ceramic watches. Those Mojave pieces are a little bit big for my taste, for my wrist, but they are really cool. And I think this works in a similar space. For me, the thing isn't so much the color or the vibe. I actually really like the double blue with the really bright markers, you know, big white printed markers that look awesome. It's the black handset seems like a weird mix. But then in my mind, I imagine a bright metal handset, and I don't know that it works any better. It's just kind of different. Yeah. What do you think of this? I think it's a nice size. It's got a solid movement. It's a 32, one 11. So five days, four Hertz movement. Like I said, it's 41 millimeters. It's 11.4 thick titanium case back a hundred meters water resistance. And it comes with a really kind of nice looking blue kind of mixed rubber and textile strap. |
| Jason Heaton | I love it. I think it's cool. I I'm a big fan of IWC pilot watches. I think, uh, I wouldn't have a problem with the ceramic. I haven't actually spent much time with ceramic watches. You, you had the, the Doxa, I guess that was carbon. Um, but I guess I had the, uh, I, I got a chance to dive with that ceramic, uh, Royal Oak Offshore a number of years ago and, um, big heavy watch. I mean, I didn't notice that the ceramic made it any flimsier feeling or whatever, but in this case, I can kind of see the, the commentary, uh, to that effect, but it wouldn't bother me at all. I think it's sharp. And I think as opposed to the Doxa we just talked about, this blue is much more subdued and darker. It's a very moody, dark, everything's very matte. Yeah. I mean, my only thing is, I mean, I think the kind of this descendant of Mark 11 style, a pilot's watch, I just wonder if it would hold my interest over the longterm. I feel like, you know, I think I've mentioned before, I like watches that have some sort of widget to it, a bezel or a chronograph function or something like that. But look, I mean, as I've said, Every watch doesn't need to be for my wrist in order to appreciate it. And I think this is a really cool offering. I'm just scrolling down here on the article to see. Okay, $6,200. I mean, $6,250, that's... $6,250 and they limited it to 750 pieces. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. No, that's cool. Yeah. I think it looks good. I also think that this brings us one step closer to seeing some of the work they've done in the Mark series, in the Pilot series. trickle onto the AquaTimer. Oh, yeah. Because a blue ceramic AquaTimer would also be really cool. Yeah. Difficult to do because they currently have one that uses that internal bezel mechanism. Oh, yeah. Right. Which is why I think there'd be some complexity there, but maybe a new design, maybe pull from their history or something like that. But I think this is nice because it captures very modern execution for a very traditional watch that doesn't feel like faux Tina or vintage effect in its execution. Yeah. And I think for that, it's successful. I would love to see it in person. You got to see a ceramic watch in person. It's like a carbon watch. It's easy to, to say like, Oh, it looks like plastic or it looks too smooth or it doesn't look like, like it's going to feel high end. I don't think IWC would bother with this material if they couldn't make something that kind of aligned with what they were up after. And all of their, the past ceramic stuff I've seen from them all the way back to, I think I held, I at least took pictures of it. So I definitely held it the, um, like the first, I wanna say it was maybe a 3705 chronograph. Oh, yeah. In white ceramic with a white dial and gold accents. Wow. That's not so much my look. I'll put that in the show notes. I shot it at SIHH a few years back. But I like this and I like the double blue. I think it would look amazing on a NATO, as you can assume for a pilot's watch. Yeah. And with it being so much blue, you have so much to work with for the strap, whether it's a blue NATO or a gray one or a tan, I think would probably look incredible. Imagine how good a brown leather strap would look on this watch. I like it. My guess is they'll sell like hotcakes. 750 isn't too many or too little. I think that's right in kind of a smart zone for a watch that they would probably like to see in stores rather than just have it immediately sell out and disappear into kind of the collector space. So I would say good on IWC for that one. Definitely one I would like to see in person. Next up, you had mentioned previously going diving with a carbon or a ceramic Royal Oak offshore. Well, you're, you're in luck. If you'd like to take another spin at that dive that they've announced a new set of five skews into the 42 millimeter sizing. And normally we wouldn't talk about a $40,000 sporty chronograph on, on here, but the, the one that caught me, it's another titanium watch. It was weirdly good titanium watches from from, uh, you know, this, this year so far, but this is a 42 millimeter titanium Royal Oak offshore chronograph with the petite tapisserie dial in kind of a dark gray. And I think it's just literally, it's a perfect, like sporty rich guy watch. I love it. You know, they, they previously this year, they announced a new 43 millimeter format with sort of an evolution of the pusher design. That's a little bit more like the concept series in a different case, um, the quick change strap, the rest of it. For me, if it was, I mean, I'm not in this scenario, so we're, we're really just spitballing here, but if it was my scenario to decisionally making that, that the classic look of this 42 millimeter, especially in this gray on titanium, that just kills me. |
| Jason Heaton | I love it. Yeah. I do too. I'm looking at the images and, and, um, the blue dial on the steel one is, is really cool too. I mean, I like those smaller pushers. I, you know, the Royal Oak Offshore is a very polarizing watch. Um, but, I just feel like sometimes you want, uh, something big and bold and sporty. And like this, this watch does not pretend to be a dress watch. It's no, it's like you said, it's a rich guy watch. It's a sporty rich guy watch. I mean, I could totally see just kicking back on a beautiful teak decked, you know, yacht somewhere on a, you know, Lake Como or the Mediterranean or something, just, you know, work in the work in the lines, you know, sort of on a casual kind of sale wearing this thing or, or, uh, I don't know. It's, uh, driving a cool car across, uh, across the Alps or something. I mean, it's just, it's just a beautiful piece of whether you put it on a rubber strap or on that, that gorgeous bracelet, um, a watch, I dare say you and I will likely never own, but you know, never. |
| James Stacey | So no, I've got to work my way up to a few other $40,000 purchases before I get to, uh, to a Royal Oak offshore as, as much as I wish that wasn't necessarily my scenario. Uh, but so they start at, um, 33 grand and kind of go up from there. depending on the dial and the execution. And then there's a whole other range of 43 millimeters. I'll throw these in the show notes. This is more in here because it's something I love. It's not necessarily like in the normal vein of the kind of the Grenado coverage, but I think this is, it's beautiful. I love a technically minded Royal Oak. So you get Arabic numerals on all of the sub dials. So it's meant to be like easy to read and kind of technical and Yeah, I dig this a lot. It takes me back to the Schwarzenegger days and the Schumacher days of the Royal Oak Chronograph when it was kind of the thing to have. Yeah. And they were kind of iterating within the history of AP, but in this kind of new and exciting, super sporty sort of way. Yeah. So I like a return to that for sure. Right. Some really fun stuff. What do we got? Oh, next up, speaking of neat dials and such, we've got the new AORUS Aquus Upcycle. Um, which I think we've talked about, uh, in some, in some metric previously, uh, but they've made a, um, a version of the Aqua's two versions, actually the 36.5 millimeter and the 41.5 millimeter that use, uh, PET recycled plastic for the dial. And it gives it this sort of crazy make almost like opalescence, but also watercolor. It's kind of the both at the same time. So it has this patterning and color and kind of variety and fire. but it's actually made from, yeah, recycled ocean plastics. Where do you land on this? I really thought it was kind of a gimmick when I first saw the press release. And then I saw it in person and it makes so much sense due to the way ORS has operated for the last decade in terms of ocean conservation. Yeah. Now you can like wear a little slight, literally a slice of it on your wrist. Yeah. And I think they're oddly beautiful. Like they're maybe not the most technical execution of a dive watch, or even the most technical execution of an Oris Aquus, but for what they might trade in dive watch chops, they certainly, uh, I think they look great. |
| Jason Heaton | I do too. I think, you know, what watches come down to is, is how you feel or what, what you see when you look at your wrist and whether you really enjoy it. So, you know, the story behind it, you know, who's, who's to argue with that. I mean, they're partnering with, uh, Everwave, which is that, that innovative group that's been, you know, finding ways to harvest all this plastic that's floating around in the ocean. And, um, you know, you can easily get behind that, but you know, the fact is you'd be wearing this watch on your wrist. And so, um, I was prepared to not really like this, but when I look at the photos that you shot for, for the article, for, for both of them, for instance, the 36, the smaller version that you, you shot that dial is less appealing to me. But when I look at the larger, the 41 and a half, it just looks spectacular against that, that very matte gray wide bezel. Um, I think it looks great. I think it looks fairly legible. Um, I do have to wonder if, you know, if you were to buy this, assuming you can, you can buy online, um, you, you really wouldn't get your pick of the actual watch you're getting. And because all of each one of them is unique and different, it's the kind of watch I would want to see in person at a retailer, assuming they're at retailers and, and, you know, make sure that that exact kind of dial configuration is, is what what suits my eye over the longterm. But the one, for instance, the one in the photo you shot, the larger version, that dial is really beautiful. It has almost like a, like you said, a watercolor look. It almost has like a nautical, like it looks like an old nautical painting. You expect to, you know, kind of squint and see like a little ship in the background. This looked like clouds and, um, yeah, I think it's a neat idea. Well executed. I mean, bold to, to, to do this. Um, in the past, if I recall, they've done something on a case back with this type of thing. |
| James Stacey | Right. Yeah. So they had a previous ocean conservation version of the Aquus that had a little medallion of the PET plastic. And now they've gone as far as the whole dial. And the nice thing about it, to the point you made about being able to see them in stores, is they're not limited. So the idea isn't to sell a hundred of these to raise some awareness. They're going to just, this'll be a standard model that exists within the Aquus range to try and support these general kind of ocean conservation projects of which the brand has supported So many over the years, more, more than I realized. I saw, uh, Adam Craniots had posted like an image from JCK in, in, um, in Vegas of like a list, like a billboard with a list of all the spots that Horace has kind of made or worked in the, uh, in the ocean conservation space. And it was, you know, double what I, what I would have been able to riff off of, uh, off of memory. Yeah. Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. Good honor. I think it's, it's really cool. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, I agree. So yeah, not limited. Those are about $2,300 in the two sizes, and they use a Salida based movement. So fairly simple and straightforward kind of execution there, but they don't wear like any other sort of dive watch I've come across. The dial really has a huge impact, especially when matched with that gray ceramic bezel. There's not really any competition between the two. Yeah. Finally, in the list of new stuff is one from Breitling. Jason, what did you see from Breitling that you threw on the list here? |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, it's not exactly my cup of tea, but I just thought it was interesting. And Breitling is definitely in our wheelhouse as a brand that makes some cool sporty watches. And they've released this capsule collection of top time chronographs that are kind of inspired by or dedicated to some iconic vintage American cars. One being the Corvette with the red dial, and then there's a blue one for the Shelby Cobra, and then green for Mustang. car themed watches as we all know and as we've talked about can be tricky business to you know put logos on dials and make uh you know tire tread straps and that sort of thing again i'm not i would never wear one of these i would never buy one um i for one thing i have a real aversion to uh to red dial watches for whatever reason um the blue and the green are a little nicer um they all all of them have like contrasting sub dials um And, you know, I'm happy to see the top time name back with Breitling. Yeah, these are 42 millimeter chronographs. They have the Breitling caliber 25. And then the Shelby Cobra version is a two register version with a 40 millimeter size. Yeah. Yeah. And a smaller size. So, again, very bold look. I think it'd be very specific look. I think as with like the Bremont Jaguar watches, I'm not sure that I could pull off a watch like this unless I owned the car. Yeah, you know, I just I kind of feel that way with with car themed watches, like if you were a real collector diehard fan of that car, it would make sense. And I, I do like to see the kind of the Breitling script logo on the top of the dial. I think that's really cool. |
| James Stacey | So I think they're handsome. I think they're a nice size. I also think that there's a provable market for maybe less for the hardcore watch enthusiast, but for the watch enthusiast, that's also a big Corvette enthusiast, or a Mustang enthusiast, or a Shelby. I think they picked the right three marks. And as cheesy as it sometimes can be to throw another brand on your watch's dial and hope that it makes this bridge between the two worlds, I actually think they did a nice job with it. The red one has a Corvette logo, the green one has a Mustang logo, and the blue one has the Shelby logo, the Cobra logo. I think they did a nice job with it. I think that if you were really deep into the collector space for any of these three brands, that this product would speak to you. Yeah. I think it might speak less to the normal enthusiast, but to be fair, Breitling's kind of gone towards the normal enthusiast really hard for several years and has a really clean, expansive lineup. This kind of speaks more to a sort of another avenue that the brand believes they operate in. |
| Jason Heaton | Right. Yeah. Yeah, they've gone hard over the years into kind of co-branded things. |
| James Stacey | I mean, for a long time when they were at the Bentley and, um, you know, I think these are more successful than the Bentley watches. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely more accessible. Definitely more kind of classically styled, less polarizing. I, yeah, I mean, I think they're fine. I'm not sure they're, uh, well, I know for sure they're not in my, in my wheelhouse, but, uh, you know, definitely worth mentioning. |
| James Stacey | Maybe we'll do a Land Rover one. |
| [NoResponse] | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | You never know, right? |
| [NoResponse] | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | So these are fifty five hundred bucks. They're not limited edition and they're available now. You can hit the show notes if you want to see what they look like. You know, imagine just a handsome sort of vintage inspired Breitling that has a dial that's meant to connect back to a fairly famous automotive mark. |
| Jason Heaton | OK, you'd be pretty close. I got to jump in since you mentioned Land Rover version. And I know I bring this up because it raises a good point. And that is if there was a Land Rover co-branded watch from any brand. And Zenith has done it, right? Zenith did the Defender. Uh, I don't remember if it was an El Primero or something a couple of years ago. Um, sharp watch. I, I'm not sure I would, you know, I've got two Land Rovers. I'm a diehard fan, love the brand, love the trucks. I'm not sure I would still go out and buy a watch, um, that was specifically themed, you know, around Land Rover. I mean, and I do get, um, the occasional DM on Instagram from people that are sending me links to watches that there's one by a brand called REC that has made Land Rover themed watches out of some sort of repurposed or recycled Bermabrite aluminum from like the roof of a safari top from an old Land Rover. It's a little too heavy on the inspired by size like their side because the you know the the bezel is supposed to look like a tire on the on the bonnet and then the shape of the case etc. Not my, not my thing at all, but I do wonder, um, what it would take for me to buy a watch that, that say had the Land Rover logo on, on the dial. It would have to be done very tastefully. I think Bremont could pull it off. I think they've got the, yeah, the whole British thing going and they've done some nice work with the Jaguar pieces, but I just, I mean, would you buy a Jeep, Jeep watch of any sort? I mean, would any brand entice you? No, even if it was a Tudor Jeep watch or something like Pelagos Jeep watch or anything. |
| James Stacey | No, that'd be a bummer. Yeah. No, I don't, I don't, the, I don't need an automotive brand on my watch ever. Yeah. Um, but I also, like, I'm not an automotive, I'm an, I'm a, I would say like a generalist enthusiast. Right. Yeah. I don't, I don't even like, I don't think I need to own a car to really enjoy it. I can read about it. I can look at pictures of it, that sort of thing. So I'm, I'm maybe not necessarily the right the right market, but definitely not a watch that says Jeep on it. That's, that's a zero for me. Right. Right. You know, I could see the Land Rover one making sense if it was part of a big experience. Yeah. Like imagine if you, if you were on a Land Rover team and you did Dakar and they partnered with a brand to make 10 watches for the Dakar team and sell 152, you know, devotees. Yeah. That makes sense to me. Yeah. And in, in, in the same way that, that there's, you know, endless groups dedicated to the collecting of Mustangs and Corvettes and the rest. Like I see this working in sort of a different circle than the normal, even car nerds probably wouldn't get this. You kind of have to be in the right niche. Yeah. But I think that niche is deep enough for the watch to be viable and certainly Breitling would know. Right. |
| Jason Heaton | So, and I think, I think the brand that's partnering with said car company has to make sense for that brand. I, I know that, you know, when I saw the Zenith version of this, uh, Defender, uh, chronograph. It's a, it's a cool watch. I mean, it's a watch I could see wearing, I mean, it's a beautiful kind of matte gray, you know, rubber strap, et cetera. |
| James Stacey | It's a good looking thing for sure. |
| Jason Heaton | And for one, I thought, yeah, why, you know, Zenith with Land Rover, it doesn't really make sense. But if you go back in their history, there was a guy named, uh, Blashford, I think it was John Blashford Snell, who was a former British army colonel. And he, um, he ended up becoming kind of a well-known explorer and he was the first or one of the first to, um, traverse the Darien gap, uh, between central and South America, you know, through the jungles with, uh, Range Rovers, like the first year, like 1970 Range Rovers. And he was, he wore, he was a Zenith guy. He wore, he wore Zenith watch now. Um, they don't lean on that too hard. So, but in that respect, if you look at their history, that's great. But, uh, when I think about like the Bremont that Savannah MB2 or like a Miramar IWC, you know, something with that kind of Sandy khaki. Um, you know, ceramic or titanium or something with kind of a cool canvas or, you know, buy, you know, double material kind of tactical looking strap. I could, you know, I could, I could kind of get on board. I wouldn't want to see the green Land Rover logo on the dial anywhere, but, um, tastefully done, you know, I guess I could be convinced if it was the right brand. Cobalt used to do clocks for Land Rovers and I think they made a Land Rover watch and whatever. So there've been a few over the years, but, uh, I don't know. I'll keep an open mind. |
| James Stacey | We'll see. Yeah. Well, I mean, that's all that you can ask for, right? |
| [NoResponse] | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | Right. Yeah. Uh, yeah, it'll be interesting to see if a Breitling finds a home for those, or if it's the kind of line that kind of disappears after a year or two. Yeah. I guess if it works, they'll probably expand it. There's lots of other collector cars out there. Right. Um, and, and I mean, Chopard has made a similar chronograph for a number of years that has an automotive theme and, and, you know, the meal Amelia and the rest. So there's, I think it could work. Yeah. It'll be interesting to see how, how, how well it speaks to, you know, it's three American marks. Right. So that's, that's again, a niche on its own. Yeah. Um, so we'll have to see, but, uh, that's our list of watches. Um, Jason, what do you say we get into this interview? |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, let's do it. So, um, you know, Megan Hine is, uh, I, I don't remember how I came to, to know about her. I think it was through a podcast she did with, uh, the adventure podcast, which is one that I've mentioned on past episodes. Um, they do a lot of interviews with, with interesting people doing cool stuff in the outdoors and, uh, And Megan has quite a CV. She's been, um, you know, a rigor and safety, uh, kind of consultant for a number of, of well-known TV shows, uh, probably the best known being man versus wild with Bear Grylls. She's worked with, with Bear Grylls for a number of years. And he's even, I think said publicly that, you know, she's the one that has kind of kept him safe over the years. So she's, she does a lot of behind the scenes work on, on well-known kind of adventure themed or survival themed TV shows. She's, She's an author. She wrote a book called mind of a survivor, um, in which he kind of looks at the psychological elements of what it takes to survive in wilderness settings. Um, she's been on a couple of series of Facebook watch, uh, programs, uh, that in which they were looking for a lost city in South America, that that show was called curse of the curse of ACA core. Um, and she's just kind of a well-spoken, really cool, uh, person. She lives in North Wales. She does, if you follow her on Instagram, and we'll put that link in the show notes, she's always out doing cool stuff. She's got a husky that she goes on trail runs with. She does a lot of mountain biking, spearfishing. When she's home, she does some climbing in Snowdonia near where she lives in Wales. But as you'll hear in our interview, she's often out around the world, like 10 months out of the year on the road with You know, every sort of climbing equipment and spear guns and backpacks and, um, you know, jumping out of planes and rappelling down waterfalls and all this sort of stuff. So, um, right up our alley, just a really fun person to talk to. And, and she was just off to, to jet off somewhere, uh, like the day or two after we spoke with her. So, um, we were really pleased that she was able to fit us in and find the time to talk to us after a lot of back and forth, trying to arrange it. So, uh, I guess without further ado, we'll jump right into this interview with Megan Hine. Megan Hine, thanks for joining us on The Grey Nato. You're coming to us from the UK. Can you give us a little bit of background about maybe where you're from and also where you're hailing from today, specifically? |
| Megan Hine | Sure. Yeah. Thanks for having me on, firstly. It's exciting to chat to you. I think we've connected for quite a long time over social media and things, so it's nice to finally get to chat. Yeah, so I'm Megan Hine, wilderness guide, survivalist, psychologist and producer on some of the biggest adventure survival shows on TV. I'm based in Snowdonia in North Wales. I don't know if you can hear the dog in the background. Yeah, I've got a husky and she can be quite vocal. Her name is Tug, right? Yeah, Tug, the husky. |
| James Stacey | We'll make sure Tug gets a credit on the show, no trouble. |
| [NoResponse] | Yeah. |
| Megan Hine | So I'm based in Snowdonia in North Wales, in amongst the mountains here. It's like, I usually spend sort of 10, 11 months of the year away in quite remote wilderness environments, either guiding or working on TV shoots. So it's actually been quite nice over the past year or so, spending so much time in one place, re-exploring, Uh, so I suppose my, uh, childhood home of Snowdonia. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, actually I was, I was going to touch on that a little bit later, but I, um, uh, my wife and I were in, uh, Snowdonia, uh, two summers ago. I think we stayed in Bedgalert, I think is the name of the little town and did some hiking around there. But, um, I, I was curious about your, your travel schedule. It seems quite hectic. I know we had to schedule this this week because you're off, uh, somewhere exciting, I'm sure, uh, in the coming days. And, uh, I guess one question was. You know, given the amount of time you're on the road and I assume living out of a duffel bag or backpack, do you, do you find that you, you miss home? I mean, is home just where you are all the time or, or do you, when you're out for several months, do you, do you wish to kind of for your home rituals and creature comforts of home? |
| Megan Hine | Oh, I love this question. I don't, I actually don't think anybody's ever asked me that. Yeah, it's a funny one actually. Like for me, home is more people. rather than a place. I think I've really been on the road since the age of 17. And yeah, I think I've got, I've got very used to kind of living out of bags, living in the back of vans. Yeah, hammocks, tents. So yeah, for me, it's people. But I think what's important to me is that I have a bit of a ritual wherever I am, and wherever I go to that kind of helps me stay centered. So if I'm staying in a hotel, it's like, I'll go in and I'll like I'll rearrange hotel room. And kind of I suppose it just make it my own. And if I'm staying somewhere for more than a couple of days, I'll then unpack because I think if you're constantly living out of bags, there's always that kind of like, feeling that you're about to move and you can't completely relax. |
| [NoResponse] | Yeah. |
| Megan Hine | So I kind of have always have that thing of like, yeah, from somewhere for more than a couple of days, I was unpacked. And then I've always got my in my hammock or my tent, I've always got my routine and kind of ritual of where everything goes, the routines I kind of get into Is that a yawn that we're hearing? |
| Jason Heaton | That adds some realism to this. |
| Megan Hine | I like it. |
| Jason Heaton | Since Tug is making him or herself known, it kind of relates to the question. I mean, you must miss your dog when you're gone, but although you travel with Tug fairly often, don't you? |
| Megan Hine | Yeah, so she actually comes around with me. So if I'm working in Europe, and particularly in the winter, and it's not such a technical job, so I'm not doing so much rigging. If I'm scouting, like looking for locations for film shoots, then she tends to come with me. So yeah, she's pretty well travelled. But yeah, when I'm further afield, she has to stay behind. And I've got an amazing network of people who will look after her. But definitely home, home is people. I bought my first house just before Christmas. And actually, it's been really, really nice creating a base. Yeah, so while when I have a few jobs that I have done through through since then, it's been actually really, really nice coming home and feeling very centered and actually grounded. And it's, it's incredible, actually having having that, which is something that I haven't had for so many years. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, yeah. I mean, James and I are both longtime freelance writers. And I think, uh, you know, in terms of our own work, we've, as I'm sure with you, you develop a network of, of clients or, or people that you work for and with, and, um, you know, you get to the point where you're not always hustling for the next gig. I imagine that's the same with you. And I think I got a little bit ahead of ourselves here with the talk of home and creature comforts. And I thought maybe we could rewind a little bit and ask you a little bit about how you got into the work you do and specifically what you do. I mean, what I see on social media is, you know, you're often in a climbing harness, uh, you know, rigging ropes, uh, in the jungle wearing a helmet. Um, but what exactly do you do and how did you kind of get into that? |
| Megan Hine | Yeah. So my, my work is, is quite varied. Um, so I started off, uh, when I was 17 kind of without door instructing, taking people out into the mountains and guiding, And then very quickly got into expedition leading and got to work with some absolutely incredible professionals, jungle warfare experts and mountain guides and Arctic survival consultants and experts and just had just all these incredible experiences very early on in my career. And then about 14 years ago, I kind of fell into the TV world. So I just kind of amassed like a random array of skills from bushcraft survival apprenticeship I'd done for three years and this expedition leading and kind of rope rigging skills that I've been doing quite a lot of sort of. sort of rigging industrial rigging and rigging in the mountains and things and all of these skills kind of just came together. When I was invited to work on a show called man versus world, which was bears original shows the kind of shows really that kind of kick started his career. |
| Jason Heaton | And they, just to be clear, this is, this is Bear Grylls, just for, for our listeners that might not know who Bear might be, but yes. |
| Megan Hine | So yeah, Bear Grylls, Man vs. World shows. And, um, I got invited along initially as, um, to, as a stunt rigger, to, to rig the challenges for them. Um, and then they, they realized that I'd got the expedition leading skills and the survival skills, um, and kind of sort of combined all of that together. And then over the years. I've just stepped into more of a producing role on his shows and other shows that I work on. So now I'll be the first person out on the ground, working very closely with local teams to put together the show, to come up with the creative that you see. So I work very closely with the networks, with the presenters that I'm working with and the production companies to then kind of pull these ideas together. And then once we get out there and we start filming, then I take on more of a safety role. So I'm then sort of running the safety teams that are out there. |
| James Stacey | And just to clarify for folks who may not know, rigging is the use of ropes and such to ensure safety for various types of more complicated movements. Is that a relatively fair assessment? |
| Megan Hine | Yes. Yeah. So for a lot of these adventure kind of survival shows, particularly ones that I work on as well, it's like, yeah, we do a lot of work uh, with ropes. Um, so we're always playing with like that perception of risk because it's quite easy to trigger that feeling of anxiety in the, in the people who are being filmed as well as like in the audience as well. When you see people hanging under helicopters and, uh, on ropes and helicopters or rappelling off waterfalls or anything like that, then, you know, those are the safety systems that myself and my team have put together. |
| Jason Heaton | Very cool. Sounds like a very physically demanding job. And you mentioned you're starting to get into producing and you seem like you're probably still young and fit and capable, but do you see, as you look forward, I always think about with people with very physical careers, 10, 20 years, like stunt people. Yeah. Do you see your role evolving more into, um, you know, backing away a little bit from the riskier, more physical aspects of the work eventually? Is that kind of the trajectory you see yourself taking? |
| Megan Hine | Yeah. I think it's something that you've got to be quite like realistic about. Um, Yeah, like I'm 37 now. So it's like, and I've been working in this industry, you know, since since the age of 17. And it is very physically demanding. And the environments that I'm working in a pretty hard, I'm constantly jumping time zones, it's a huge amount of pressure and stress on the body, and the mind as well. So yeah, there is a there's a reality in that. And also, I guess, as you get older, and you kind of you realize more and more that, you know, you're not immortal and that you know accidents can happen and so it's being being aware of those things and um yeah kind of and and having that understanding that you know if something happens it's really good to have a backup so this is definitely something that I've been exploring more the past couple of years uh going down the producing route is definitely something I really enjoy uh and I come on a bit of a mission really to kind of diversify the face of adventure to kind of change our perception of what the adventurer is or what the survivalist is and try to sort of bring a wider audience into that sort of genre. So, yeah, it's quite exciting stuff in the pipeline. So I've just sold a couple of my own show ideas, which is really exciting. So hopefully that those will go into development this year. Yeah, which is really exciting. |
| James Stacey | And in looking at your kind of like list of accolades that we have here, all these various roles and jobs that you've got. What was the kind of core that got you into this? Was it the survival side of it? Was it ropes and climbing? Was it just being outside? Where, where did you kind of start the path that just kind of cascaded into all these other avenues of work? |
| Megan Hine | Uh, so I started, so my first love was, was the mountains and it will always be, be my, yeah, my true love, I suppose, is like the mountains and like, particularly like the sort of Alps and the greater ranges. uh that's where it really started for me um that's how I kind of got into a lot of my family holidays when I was a child were to go off into into the mountains with with my family uh to go climbing and to kind of go exploring um and I always thought that that's where my career would take me and that that's where I'd stay and then I ended up doing a three-year apprenticeship in bushcraft and survival just because it seemed like an interesting thing thing to do um and suddenly I kind of went much more down like the survivalist kind of bushcraft route, but still drawing in on those, the mountain stuff and getting to go to jungles and deserts. And I find like the survival side of things really, really fascinating. And so you've got like kind of the bushcraft, which is very much like the camp craft and the traditional skills. And then you've kind of got like the survival side of it, which for me is much more about like the psychology and like adapting and improvising and kind of overcoming any kind of situation that you might come up against. And I just find that so fascinating. These are topics that, you know, you can never stop learning about. And every time I go out, you know, after however many years I've been doing this, it's like still learning and still finding out new things about environments and people and skills. So yeah, it's quite addictive really. |
| James Stacey | Absolutely. And do you find like over, over COVID when maybe you're not able to travel as much, did you get really deep into some of the survivalist shows that just leave somebody, I think it's called a loan, where they just leave somebody up on the northern end of Vancouver Island and see how long they last. Does that stuff interest you, or does it seem too TV, or do you watch it and think, I would have done it this way or that way because of your background? |
| Megan Hine | Well, I probably shouldn't admit this, but I actually don't watch TV. I make it, but I don't actually watch these shows. I probably should. It'd probably be good research. Uh, it's too much like being at work. And when you, when like sort of usually kind of spending so much of the year embedded in those environments, like really the last thing I want to be doing in my free time is watching other people doing it. So, uh, what is it books? |
| James Stacey | Is it music? What do you do when you do actually have some free time? |
| Megan Hine | Yeah, so I love getting out for myself. So when I'm back, I climb. I do quite a lot of like paramotoring. I do like a lot of spearfishing. So I'm kind of out all the time and pushing myself kind of like this. This time has actually been brilliant, like over the pandemic for me personally, because it's been so long since I kind of stopped and was in one place. And I find it incredibly hard to sit still. So it was actually really nice kind of being forced to and kind of rebalance body and mind and things a lot because I hadn't realized just kind of how depleted like my body systems were and and things and it's just kind of I suppose now it gave me time I suppose to stop and I think it has for a lot of people as well to kind of stop and reflect and kind of think about the next chapter and how we want to be living the next phase of life if you like. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, it reminds me of something I wanted to ask. And that is, um, you know, a few weeks ago we interviewed Sean Lerwill, who's a, who was a Royal Marines, uh, PT instructor. And we were talking about fitness and we were talking about fitness specifically when you're on the road and things you can do with your own body weight and, um, the challenges of, of, you know, staying fit without access to a gym or even, uh, the ability to keep a regular schedule. And I'm wondering your work. I imagine is a lot, a lot of it is a workout itself, but how do you, how do you handle staying fit for the job and just for your own wellbeing, um, physically, um, as well as nutrition wise, when you're on the road all the time, I mean, eating, eating well on the road or eating kind of your, your standard, you know, healthy diet or getting exercise, whether it's a strength training or aerobic training or whatever can be difficult if you're traveling a lot. Do you, how do you manage that? |
| Megan Hine | Yeah. I mean, it's a really good question actually. And it's something that, uh, Yeah, if I if I ever find the answer to the balance, you know, at the moment, so yeah, if I suppose if I kind of break it down, like, in terms of like, sort of fitness, yeah, the job is incredibly physically demanding, but it's also because it's been so non stop for so long, it just becomes this giant, giant endurance event. So it's very, very hard to kind of then train Like, so if I was, for example, like, you know, doing four days work and then training to failure, where you then, I just then don't have the time to recover. Um, so it's like over the years, it's been getting that kind of fine balance with, uh, you know, being out in the field and then I suppose balancing out the body. So that, cause I've, you know, old injuries, like if you're on a, on your feet or on the go all the time, it's like all these like kind of old injuries start to rear their head again. And so it's kind of been trying to be able to stay on top of those. So working opposing muscle groups and things. So I always travel with a TRX, which is really good for kind of working opposing muscle groups. I know that I should get better at doing yoga and stretching and things. But I tend to really kind of only sort of get involved with that once when I'm in pain. Like I'd really love to be able to build that in more. And then yeah, and then I suppose I If I'm staying in hotels, and I tend to get myself into a bit of a gym routine, because I find when I'm on the road for so long, it's like you start getting worn down and tired. It's like a blast in the gym first thing with a cold shower to follow. So it's really good kind of getting started in the morning. And then in terms of like nutrition, yeah, it can be really hard to get the right nutrition when you're on the road. And I've I suppose over the past few years, I've kind of really kind of come to understand that like really fine balance of like how, you know, if you get your micronutrients wrong or your macros wrong, how it can affect you for kind of not just that day, but for days afterwards. So I'm much more aware of what I'm eating or and hydration as well as a really big thing too. I'm making sure that I'm trying to meet my nutritional needs. which can be really hard when you've got other people in charge of what you're eating, or if you're working places where you can't necessarily get hold of the stuff that you normally would be eating. So yeah, it's definitely a fine balance. And then what I try to do is, the days that I am home, or I am back in the UK, is to really kind of in those days, make sure that I'm eating really clean and getting all the nutrients that I need in those days. So I'm ready for the next one. |
| James Stacey | How do you approach the possibility of injury? Like I'm sure there's some repetitive stress injuries or small things that happen, probably so numerous that you don't remember most of them, but with like a big injury, if you're in the middle of a shoot or a TV show that has a production schedule that of course has, you know, minutes of wiggle room, I'm sure. Uh, how, how does that factor in? Do you just, is it a, is it a thing that you plan for in some way or something you simply protect against as much as possible? |
| Megan Hine | Uh, well, it's definitely become more of a thing in my own personal, uh, way that I sort of, I suppose, take part in activities because I mean, years ago, it was just like, you know, climbing and like rock climbing and mountain biking and things. These were, these were sports that I was doing a lot of, uh, and I pushed myself really hard in them. and yeah sometimes get injured and things and what I've noticed more recently is that I don't push myself as hard because I'm constantly aware of the fact that if I injure myself I can't go to work and then that has a financial knock-on effect and that kind of I suppose that really kind of messes with my head a bit when I really want to be out there pushing myself to see what I can achieve within the realms of the things that I really love doing. For sure. Yeah but whereas when when I'm on the job I am, I am aware of it. Um, I have had some accidents. I ended up with, um, I had a camera operator. I was working in China. I had a camera operator, uh, knock me off the edge of a cliff. Um, and I knocked my pelvis out of place, uh, out of alignment. And, you know, in the moment you kind of, you just get on with it, but then it kind of comes back to play. Yeah. To haunt you. And it's just, yeah. I mean, that's that sort of stuff like that is enough to take you off, off a job. Um, yeah. |
| James Stacey | You'd said that you'd been doing this for the better part of 20 years. How do you think your relationship or maybe simply your perception of risk has kind of changed over that time? A lot or not that much? Maybe it's a silly question. I'm not sure. |
| Megan Hine | No, it's not a silly question at all, actually. Um, I think that, yeah, a huge part of what I do is mitigating risk. So I think that there's two, I've got a duality with it. There's two sides of me. When I'm at work, it's all about minimizing the risk. I'm working with some of the most recognizable names in the world and having to build kind of structures to prevent even the smallest injuries happening to them. So it's like I have to go through every single scenario that I can possibly think of to try to minimize the the fact that, you know, you can't control the inherent danger in these environments, but trying to put safety nets into place for any possible eventuality. So I've become very, very aware of that. And I suppose kind of, it's a huge part of that is like learning the psychology of people and what they might do in those environments to put themselves in harm, harm's way. And then I've got like my personal interaction with the outdoors, which is much more about pushing my own limits and exploring my own limits and yeah, I don't think about risk in quite the same way. Uh, if I did, I wouldn't be able to go and do these things. I just wouldn't go. So yeah, but a lot of it comes from, you know, in the, in the professional environment, a lot of that comes from experience and, um, and many, many years of, of working in these exciting environments, which then allows me to, you know, I suppose, have my own building my own safety net below, you know, whatever it is that we're doing for sure. |
| Jason Heaton | I want to talk a little bit about survival. Your book is called Mind of a Survivor and it strikes me, I haven't read it, I would love to sometime, but it strikes me that you really focus a lot on the psychology of survival or the mental aspects of it. Whereas so much of what we see again on TV or read about are, you know, how to make fire with two sticks or, you know, source water out of, you know, tearing a cactus leaf in half or something like this. Can you talk a little bit about the, the mind of a survivor, I guess, maybe give us the back cover blurb or, or kind of a quick overview of what that means. |
| Megan Hine | Yeah. So I said this mind of a survivor was, I wrote quite a few years ago now, and it was, it was kind of an exploration into resilience. Um, I just found it so fascinating when I was taking people out and dropping them into survival scenarios, kind of weeks on end. And just seeing how it broke some people and other people just came out, they didn't just survive, but they thrived. And it just kind of got me thinking, like, what is it about those people that allows them to tap into something inside themselves to kind of to come out the other end, pretty unscathed or stronger for the experience? And were there traits that those people had that kind of made up resilience? And were those traits? Were they things that could be taken from the outdoor environment and put into everyday life, where we don't necessarily know so much where stress and anxiety and things come from? Because I think if you're in the wilderness, it's quite obvious where, you know, fear and anxiety arise from. Whereas in our everyday lives, we're bombarded with like stimuli from all different places, like sound, sense, senses, like sensory kind of overload, if you like. Um, and it's very hard sometimes to pinpoint exactly where that sense of overwhelm might be coming from. Whereas if we can learn how to manage it in an environment where we know where it's coming from, then surely we can apply that to everyday life as well. |
| Jason Heaton | You know, it also makes me think that when we, when we hear about survival or even when you read Books, uh, famous books, you know, or, or things about expeditions. It's always about conquering mountains or man versus wild. It presents nature as this. In a way that sort of this malevolent force, as opposed to, you know, as, as I'm sure, you know, from all of your time outdoors in these situations, you know, nature's kind of an indifferent force, isn't it? I mean, it's, it's not out to get you and it's not out to help you. It's just. It just is. And you're sort of part of it when you're out there. It's, uh, you, you have to learn to work with it, right? It's, it's not a malevolent force to be conquered or survived, right? |
| Megan Hine | No, for sure. I think there, well, there's that, there's the book, isn't it? By, um, Freddie Spencer Chapman, who was like, it's an amazing story. Uh, but his book's called the jungle's neutral. And it was so true. It's like the outdoor, it's neutral. It doesn't, it doesn't discriminate. It doesn't care who we are or what we do. It probably doesn't even think about us at all. Um, it's just, it's our own, it's our own relationship with it. And it's actually more our own relationship with ourselves and our disconnection from the natural environment that leads us to, to fear it rather than kind of working along with it. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, that makes sense. You've worked behind the camera quite a bit, but then recently, I think last year you were on this, uh, this program on Facebook watch this series. I think it's a two part thing. I saw a second part is coming soon, but the curse of ACA core. |
| Megan Hine | Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | Um, where you're in front of, you're in front of the camera. So you're, you're actually one of the subjects of the show. Um, and I found that really interesting. You're kind of working with a team to, to investigate this, uh, I guess it was a lost civilization in the jungles and, um, how difficult was that or how easy was it for you to transition to being in front of the camera? Was it a little bit awkward? Was it hard to get used to? |
| Megan Hine | I occasionally get dragged out from behind the camera, uh, over the years. Yeah. So, um, Yeah, people have been trying to convince me to step out in front of the camera for quite a while. But I suppose being in the limelight has never really interested me. I love what I do behind the scenes. I love the interaction that I have with people. And I love what I do. I've never really felt the need to push myself out there. So when I do step out from behind the camera, it's on jobs that excite me and interest me. And so this one, The Curse of Akakor, when they sent it over to me, I was like, this can't be real. This is amazing. So it was based on a book called The Chronicle of Akakor, which was a native Indian chieftain had come out of the jungle and narrated his story, the story of his people, which went over a thousand years, including alien interventions and meetings with the Nazis and all of these crazy, crazy stories that you're reading and just like, wow, this is just insane. But his apparently his people still live out there in these underground cities. Yeah, so I was asked to go out there to find help find these lost cities, because there's like he gives quite in depth descriptions about where the cities are in Peru and in Brazil, like out remote in the in the Amazon rainforest. So yeah, my role was then to get the team into these places so that we could use LiDAR technology to scan for these lost cities and sort of, yeah, get these geologists and people in. And it ended up turning into a murder investigation. There were these explorers that started going missing. So it suddenly went from this kind of quite exciting, like fun project to suddenly actually with a huge amount of gravity attached to it. When we realized that these people had actually gone missing, people had started losing their lives. and the murderer was still on the loose. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, I watched the first season and I thought it was really fascinating how it kind of transitioned into that. So yeah, that's really cool. I was deliberately trying not to focus on the fact that you're a woman in what I'm guessing is a male-dominated kind of line of work by and large because it feels like a disservice like putting an asterisk by what you do and I didn't want to even focus on that, but I did want to kind of ask whether or not being a woman actually gives you any sorts of advantages in your work or disadvantages, I guess. |
| Megan Hine | Oh, it's a great question. And I think, you know, we need to be having conversations about gender. There needs to be these safe spaces for guys to ask women questions and vice versa. So going, I've got nothing to hide over it. But actually being female is like, I, in a way is actually a superpower. I mean, it's taken me many, many years to get to the point where I can I see it like that, but so often, because I'm now in a position where I'm heading up teams, so often when I go into these environments, the last thing that a lot of people expect is there to be a woman in charge. So it really allows me to go into a job or into an environment and really see what's going on, because I'll go in with my male colleagues and there's an assumption that one of them is in charge. Um, so you see like the, you know, the, the team that maybe we're going into are kind of playing up to, to one of my colleagues. Um, and it really allows me to kind of just step back for a moment and just really kind of see what's going on. Um, I suppose going under the radar a bit and then be like, okay, right. This is what's going to happen now. And yeah, and it's like my, my leadership style is, is different to, to most of the guys that I work with. Um, as well, I tend to work a lot more with, like empathy and trying to relate to relating to people on more of an emotional level, which for me, allows me to get the best out of my team allows me to get the best out of the people I'm guiding on people I'm working with, and build up a rapport. Because I think if I tried to lead in the same way as you know, some of my ex military colleagues do, I would just never be taken seriously. So yeah, it's a lot of trial and error and getting there. a lot of sleepless nights early on in the career, but I enjoy it and I enjoy the challenges and I'm excited to be, you know, at the forefront for both men and women, you know, it's an exciting time as gender roles evolve to see, you know, to see where we go, to create, start paving the way for, you know, the normality that comes behind us. |
| Jason Heaton | And nature and earth are given feminine genders or, you know, Mother Earth, Mother Nature. So there's obviously a definite link there, I think, with the feminine and the outdoors. Just to kind of wrap things up, I mean, can you give us a hint as to where you're off to? Is it top secret or is it someplace fun? I'm sure it will be. |
| Megan Hine | Well, I'm actually off to the Maldives. |
| Jason Heaton | Ah, okay. All right. |
| Megan Hine | That sounds terrible. I'm so sorry. I don't know how I'm going to survive it. No, it's a, it's a strategical decision, this one, uh, just because it's, uh, the, the people that I'm working with, it's, uh, it's one of the only places that we can get them into at the moment. |
| Jason Heaton | Oh, I see. Okay. Yeah. And I guess that makes me wonder, you know, I've seen your, your spearfishing and the mountains and things. Do you have a preference, a mountain ocean, jungle desert? hot, cold? I mean, is there anything you just refuse to do? |
| Megan Hine | No, I think it's like, I love a challenge. I like, as I said, like mountains would always be my first love. Um, I love the jungle. It's like a love, I have a love hate relationship with it. It's so, it's so grim, like so wet and you really have to go over your personal admin. Um, so yeah, I love that. And I love guiding people in these environments because, You know, helping people achieve what they didn't think was possible or that they were capable of is just the most incredible experience to be part of. |
| Jason Heaton | I just wanted to thank you. I know you're really busy and you're off here soon and, uh, we wish you all the best and stay safe and, uh, and healthy. And we appreciate your coming on the Graynado to talk to us. Thank you so much. This was awesome. |
| Megan Hine | No worries. Well, thanks so much for having me. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. Bye Megan. |
| Megan Hine | Bye bye. |
| James Stacey | Okay, so that was Megan Hine on the show. Megan, a huge thank you for coming on. And for anybody who would like to keep in touch, you know, see what she's up to, I would say follow her on Instagram. That's Megan underscore Hine, M-E-G-A-N underscore H-I-N-E. And again, a huge thank you from Jason and I for coming on the show. It was super fun to talk with you. And I'm sure even after editing that, I had about a hundred more questions. So Like we say with most of the guests, maybe we'll do another one someday in the future. Jason, what do you think? Some final notes? Yeah, sure. |
| Jason Heaton | I've got two today, so I'll go first with my first one. This is kind of along the theme of today's program, not the watch part necessarily, but you know, we were talking about Anthony Bourdain earlier and then our interview with Megan. This is from a guy that we've met, I think you're friends with him actually, Robert Spangle, who goes by 1000yardstyle on Instagram. Robert is, A former Marine, US Marine who served in Afghanistan years ago and a very accomplished photojournalist who spends, he's kind of almost a split personality because he does a lot of kind of fashion photography. You know, you'll see him at Pitti Uomo and some of the, you know, big fashion shows in Europe. But then, you know, given his background, he's also done some really interesting kind of hardcore photojournalism. Case in point is this, uh, the story he put together for Esquire magazine called portraits from Kabul before the fall. And, uh, you know, given what's been in the news lately about, uh, you know, the U S withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban taking over and kind of the chaos and kind of the heartbreak that's surrounded that, that country in the past few weeks. Um, this was extremely timely. Uh, Robert was, was in Afghanistan, I believe back in February. And, uh, with the intent of, of just kind of shooting people, kind of Afghan street photography, if you will. Um, he was out, you know, just, just taking pictures of ordinary people and kind of traveling the country and seeing what people wear and see what people are doing and how they live. And it was really an extraordinary piece. Esquire made it a feature story and I'm really glad that they did, you know, Esquire for many years, it's a very old title. Um, you know, many years ago, they used to be kind of the magazine of Capote and Hemingway and many other great writers and photojournalists over the years. And you might think of them now, or at least in the more recent past as more of a men's fashion magazine. And so for me, it was really nice to see them running a story like this, that was a little bit more serious and a little bit more about, you know, people and putting a person on the ground. And hats off to Esquire and certainly hats off to Robert Spangle for putting this together. I think that the photographs really were interesting because they're portraits. These are people doing any number of things, you know, whether it's cooking in the streets or watching this traditional equestrian sport that they participate in in Afghanistan or, you know, the different modes of dress and ages and types of people. And to come at it with Robert's background, both as a uh, us Marine, but also, um, you know, fashion photography and all the other stuff that he does to kind of lent this, this very different sensibility to, to this, uh, this photo series. And then some of the texts that he's written about it as well. And if you follow him on Instagram, he's, he's done a couple of Instagram live things and stories and posted a few photos where he has talked about some of the gear that he's taken, um, and kind of, uh, the prep that he did for that trip and, uh, Yeah, just all around a really interesting, um, and very poignant, uh, story for, for the times we live in and, and hats off to, to Robert and to Esquire for running that. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. I mean, Robert's an insanely talented guy. We've, we've had him do some stuff, uh, for Hodinkee recently. He did the PDO OMO shoot. Um, and, but this is definitely one worth checking out. I think it's a great pick for a final note. Um, it's really, really impressive work that came at a great time and really paints a somewhat opaque world in a brighter light than maybe we're used to, a more human kind of look. Yeah. And I think Robert spent a lot of time over there and I think he did a beautiful job with this. So a solid pick for sure. Yeah. What have you got? Mine is significantly more childish than your first pick. Lego recently announced their Ocean Exploration I love this. Uh, it's this, it's this, you know, and, and we bring this up and this is that time of year where you start talking about a big Lego set. I still of course have not built the Lego set. I got a couple of years ago at this point, uh, for the land Rover defender. It's, I look at the box every now and then, and I have a small panic attack with how much work and time and space it would take up in my home. Uh, but this is not, this is not that it's not a technics. It's more of like a toy, but It is this really cool, uh, kind of fully rigged exploration ship with a submarine and a helicopter, you know, it's a, it's depth charge or the Calypso or, or whatever in, in, uh, in your, in your sort of memory. And I saw this, it's they're selling it for 180 Canadian. So that'd probably make it 130, 150 us somewhere in there. Really, really cool. I mean, as a kid, this would have killed me. I would have needed this more than anything I'd ever experienced in my entire life. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, this is, This is awesome. I mean, if I had more, uh, more horizontal space in the house to put something like this, I would definitely pick this up. I mean, I've, at this point it's the, you know, the Saturn five rocket and the, and the giant defender, uh, kicking around on various surfaces here at home. But, um, yeah, this is just so cool. I mean, the fact that they made this, I mean, there's a little, you know, rigid inflatable boat and ROV. a shark, a stingray, um, the helicopter, the diving bell. There's a diving bell with a shark cage. Yeah. With, uh, with the, uh, with the moon pool in the middle of the ship. I mean, this is, yeah, this is, this is perfect. |
| James Stacey | I love it. Yeah. 745 pieces. Like I said, about 180 bucks Canadian, um, out currently out of stock, but apparently that's not necessarily an issue. You can just get a notification when it's ready. Uh, it's got a little shipwreck. It's got a stingray and a couple divers and of course a great shark with a big grin. Yeah. Uh, it's got a crane. to hold the diving, the shark cage. Uh, it's got a whole bridge, uh, you know, for controlling the boat and driving the boat and that kind of thing. I love this. I think it's great. Like I said, as, as if I was a kid, that there'd be no way I could turn this down. And as an adult, the only reason I wouldn't get it is because I have to do adult things like have space to eat and other, other less fun things than owning my own exploration ship. So, uh, check that out, even if only for a laugh, but if you're, if you're looking to get a really incredible gift for, uh, a would be adventure in your life, this might be a good option. |
| Jason Heaton | All right, I'm going to finish up with one that I just discovered actually last night. So, you know, I was talking earlier about harvesting tomatoes and cucumbers and things from the garden, making the gazpacho, and Ghoshani and I brought this meal over to my parents' house last night and shared it with them. And my parents live near a small lake and there's some woods around their house. And my dad had found these mushrooms growing on the edge of the on the edge of the woods there. And, uh, he said, oh, you know, I'd looked them up. They seem to be, you know, edible types of mushrooms. If you want to harvest them, whatever. And Ghoshani and I had done some mushroom foraging a few years ago. We took a course with a local guy who took us out in the woods and we harvested some mushrooms and cooked and ate them. But mushrooms are tricky business. I mean, if you, if there's any doubt, you probably don't want to attempt to eat them because they can be very toxic and actually kill you. Um, so I kind of put out a, feeler on, on Instagram, on my stories, I took a couple of pictures of, of these mushrooms. And I said, Hey, anybody, any foragers out there know if these are edible or if we should steer clear. And, um, I got a number of very helpful responses. Uh, and, uh, and one of them was from a friend of the show, a devoted listener, Chris soul, S O H L, um, who wrote to me and he said, Hey, you know, I love this app. You should check it out. It helps you identify all number of things, you know, plants, animals, uh, and stuff in the garden, whatever, and it might be helpful. And it's called seek S E E K by iNaturalist. And it's, it's an app for the phone. It's free for the iPhone or Android phones. And I downloaded it immediately and it's incredibly cool. So if you're out hiking or in your garden or whatever, and you see a butterfly or you see an interesting flower that you'd like to know what it is, or a mushroom, you can call up this app, activate the camera. And you just sort of hover around this object, in this case, a mushroom or, or, you know, pointed out a strawberry or a banana or a house plant or whatever. And it will build, um, the, you know, if you remember from biology class, you know, you had kingdom phylum, genus species, family, kingdom, et cetera. Um, it'll walk through all of those. And the more you kind of hover and show different angles of it, of, of the object to this app, it will identify. and kind of narrow down the focus until it actually determines exactly what it is. And then you can then click to take the photo and kind of preserve it and mark it as something you've identified. And it will kind of stay in your little portfolio within the app, as well as add it to its kind of crowdsourced portfolio of things, because you're also tagging a location. And then I suppose help it identify further things in the future for other people. It's just fun. You know, Gashani has a similar app on her phone that we use when we go for walks and we want to kind of identify something you see in someone's garden. Uh, you know, he said, Oh, we should plant this next year, find out what it is. Um, this kind of takes it to another level because it's not just for plants, it's for, uh, insects and other things. And, uh, so thanks Chris for, for sending that over. Um, I have the mushrooms in the fridge here. I have not done anything with them yet. We'll, we'll see. Um, I, My dad is certainly braver than me. He actually took a bite of the mushroom and ate it before we got to their house yesterday. And when we left, he was still doing fine. And to my knowledge, he's still doing fine. So, you know, thanks to dad for taking one for the team and being a guinea pig here. You know, between the app and my dad's own Constitution. Um, I think we might be making a nice risotto out of this, uh, this mushroom or this collection of mushrooms in the coming days. So that's awesome. So check it out. Yeah. Seek by iNaturalist. |
| James Stacey | That's a great hobby too. Yeah. Uh, that's super fun. Yeah. Well, there you go. A couple of good picks. We've got, uh, an awesome photo report from, uh, our buddy Robert and then, uh, uh, the Seek iNaturalist app and a really cool Lego boat set. So that should be enough to keep you busy for another week. Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. Fun episode. Great, uh, diverse episode today. And as always, thanks so much for listening. You can subscribe to The Show Notes via notes.thegrenado.com, or check the feed for more details and links. You can follow us both on Instagram. I'm at Jason Heaton. James is at J.E. Stacey, and be sure to follow the show at The Grenado. If you have any questions for us, please write thegrenado at gmail.com and keep sending in those voice memos. We're starting to build our quiver of audio recordings for our September Q&A episode. So thanks to those who've sent those. And if you're enjoying the show, please subscribe and review wherever you find your podcasts. Music Throughout is Siesta by JazzArr via the Free Music Archive. |
| James Stacey | And we leave you with this quote from the famed Italian climber Walter Bonatti, who said, If in normal conditions it is skill which counts, in such extreme situations it is the spirit which saves. |