0:03 [Music] special software for that. Good afternoon and welcome to Jigger's place. The for some reason the bumper didn't play right, but you know that's okay. You can always watch it next week to get the bumper. So I'm your host Kevin Bemel. over here every other Thursday afternoon, 5:00 p. p.m. Pacific time. And you can't see him, but off to the side here is my very good friend Steve Fox. He's in town for a couple of
0:39 days. He's my house guest. And so he has courageously volunteered not only to to um you know try out this cocktail that I make uh you know every every time we we get together at Jiggers's place but he's going to join in the conversation and um he's going to be my bellweather as to whether I I actually make a good uh a good case for reading 19th century literature. when I told him the uh the topic earlier today, he's like 19th century what? So, but but we'll see. We'll see.
1:16 You know, it's it's it's all like it's always an adventure, right? I I feel I feel like I'm on the Jay Leno show. Well, well, you know, well, I you know, I wish I wish I were as, you know, good as Jay Leno. How about Subie Sales? Oh, Subie Sale. That's That's more my That's sales. A lot of the people watching probably have no idea who that is. We need We need Fang. Fang. You're talking about Phyis Diller's husband. No, Super Sales had a character called Fang. Oh, called Oh. Oh, okay. There you go. So, so in order in the theme of
1:52 today's uh this this afternoon's show or or this evening show if you're on the if you're on the East Coast. So, 19th century literature. I wanted something that evoked, you know, England. I was thinking, you know, what is that a something with berries and gin, right? So, you know, I got my uh cocktail designer chat GPP chat GPT together and we came up with something called the Blackberry Wessex. Wessex County, of course, being one of the well-known counties in in England. And um and so
2:27 here's here's what we're going to use. We're going to use um Karun uh gin. This was it's been made since 1824, so 19th century. This is a Scottish gin. Now, you may be saying, "What would the Scots didn't drink gin?" Well, it it's it's true. They're famous for their whiskey, but but they also they they have they make this particular gin. It's you can see by the fact that it's about half gone. It's a very good gin. At least it's very popular in my house. And then we're going to use a blackberry lur. This is lavi. This actually comes from Israel. As you know,
3:02 my bar is kosher. So, this is this is a a kosher blackberry liquor. There are others out there. Um, obviously many more that are not. Um, the only other kosher one I think maybe Diper makes one. Um, but uh this this Lavine has very luscious lur. So, so this this should be good. And then some lemon juice. This is my, you know, Italia lemon juice because I never can uh get get it together to have a fresh lemon on hand for fresh squeeze. And then just a couple of shots of Angistera bitters, the classic bitters. And then I have
3:38 some fresh blackberries here for garnish. Okay. So, we have the shaker filled with ice. We're going to start out with with the gin. And so that gin is how old did you say the gin was? Well, it's been made since 1824. So 200 years they've been making was 200 years old. No, not the bottle. The gin the gin distillery. I'm saying if that gin's 200 years old, bring that on over. Yeah, it would I think it would have uh it would have um uh you know evaporated by now, I would think. But uh okay, so we got you
4:14 know in a way this is kind of like a martini, right? That's you know any kind of gin based cocktail. But, you know, a martini in my world is gin and vermouth. So, anything that's doesn't have gin and vermouth is not a martini. It's it's just a gin based cocktail. I know you said 19th century, but I remember I just found cherry wine that George Washington made in the 18th century in in his old home. Oh, in Mount Vernon. In Mount Vernon. Oh, I haven't heard
4:49 about this. They dug it up out of this basement. There was cherries. Wow. In bottles from the 18th century. And I mean, could people drink it? Did they try drinking it? I know. Was it wine or they just he just was preserving the charities? Oh, yeah. That Yeah, that's a great question. I don't know. I mean, I know he was a big whiskey distiller. Oh. Um because so whiskey distilling in the United States um was a big thing because um we had a we had excess grain and you couldn't keep it. So they would turn it
5:25 into whiskey. Oh, that's interesting. Which which allows it, you know, then it doesn't spoil because it's now it's whiskey. Interesting. Okay. So, we put in we put in the gin, put in the uh black blackberry liquor. I just put in the lemon juice. We're gonna put in a uh Oops. couple of dashes of uh Are you making one for me, too? Yeah. Okay. That blueberry sounds delicious. Yeah, absolutely. Get this. Okay. And Okay. So then, as you know, we shake and we don't shake just
6:01 to mix. shape to get all the flavors together. And also, we let some of the ice melt because a little bit of water actually opens up the flavors. So, you know, I'm not sure how this is going to be, but we're going to find out. Correct. That's the idea. Correct. Well, that's So that's how I've been promoting the show is is if you're not into 19th
6:36 century literature already, it's best to start on a topic. Yeah, I'm sure I don't know how you do that. Well, in today's world, it's it's more difficult, which I'm going to talk about. Okay. So, you can see the shaker is nice and frosted here on the outside. So, that's that's good. All right. And so it's got a nice kind of Yeah. Look at that. Sort of blackberry color. Yeah. Why don't you come on over here? I'll share them with you. Whoa. Look at that. Oh my goodness. Right. Beautiful
7:11 stuff. This is like living large. Oh yeah. All right. So we'll put some blackberries, dude. There you go. I just use chat GBT for real estate marketing. Now we're doing Now we're taking it to a whole another level. Whole another level. Here we go. Cheers. Men, what do you think? I think it's good. Yeah, I think it's nice. Yeah. Not I'm not into sweet stuff. So, yeah, I think it's good. All right. Well, go ahead and have a seat. Okay. The only The only
7:47 thing I would say is I like a more fl like maybe more Blackberry. A little more blackberry. Yeah. Yeah. Actually, I think you're right. Well, we'll have to have another one. There you go. Yeah. Bill can wait for dinner. All right. We're going to see you over on the other side.
8:37 comfortable, I think. Okay, let's let's kind of angle it so it doesn't have the window. There we go. Good. Okay, got to get my cocktail. Now, we'll see what kind of I haven't done this before. This is all an experiment. Something certain software. Yeah, it's it's using uh Come on. Oh, I always forget this isn't a touch screen. Huh. You just have to change your angle.
9:14 There you go. There you go. That looks That's pretty cool. Pretty good, right? Yeah. Are we getting any funny sound? Yeah, we're getting I hear a little I hear a little bit of feedback. Yeah. Let's see. Maybe shut one of the mics. Set the mic. Yeah, my mic is shut down. Let's see what's what's happening is it's going it's looping through the system. So, well, you know, it's it's all a work in progress, right? So, here we are with our
9:51 cocktails. This is sort of like spoken word, right? except 19th century literature. Uh I'm not I don't think I'm familiar with spoken word like poetry like you go to a you go to a cafe. Right. Right. I mean today it's literature. I mean last week uh what did I talk I don't remember what I talked about last week but it was something completely Yeah. Yeah. Just so um on at Jigger's place we t I talk about everything not related to business and finance. Okay. All right. So that's fine. could be, you know, it's because because this look, it's Thursday afternoon on on the East Coast. It's
10:27 already 8 o'clock. Thursday, we're heading into the weekend. Time to relax. I'm pretty flexible on what we can talk about. Okay. So, I brought u three of my favorite works of 19th century literature. Um many of you may be familiar with Jane Austin, very well-known authorist. Um she wrote um uh her most famous are um uh um Sense and Sensibility which was made into a very popular movie and I'm trying to remember the names of her
11:02 other books. Oh my gosh. Oh yeah. Um Pride and Prejudice, probably her best known book. Um and and they're both lovely books. My favorite is one of her more obscure uh books, which is North Anger Abbey. And uh um for some reason this is not a popular work of hers. Um so so I I I I put together some little plot summaries just so you can get an idea because I think people have a sense that wait a minute like 19th century this is not relevant to today. Well this is English. That's
11:37 English. This is England to boot right. Yeah it's English. So so here's here's the plot of uh North Anger Abbey. Okay. Young Katherine Morland, a naive and imaginative girl, visits Bath. Bath was a very popular seaside resort in England. And then the grand but not haunted North Anger Abbey. She gets caught up in social intrigue and lets her love of sensational novels distort her view of reality. Nobody today gets a distorted review view of reality, right? Never. I can't even imagine that
12:13 happening right now. No, never. Not. I mean, people online absolutely clear view of reality. Wouldn't you say? I I I'm thinking I'm thinking you're being sarcastic. That's what I'm thinking. You'd be right. Okay. Eventually, she learns to balance imagination with reason and finds love with the kind-hearted Henry Tilme. Right. So, to my mind, this is a timeless plot. There is definitely parallels, right? Okay. So, that's North Anger Abbey again. Fantastic. Jane Austin. So, then
12:50 we've got Thomas Hardy. Okay. This is the This is the only It's two women, one male author in this, although one it's kind of it seems like it's ambiguous because it's a male name, but it's a female author. Okay. So, Thomas Hardy um probably best known for Tess of the Dubervilles about a fallen woman, a woman who gets seduced and all of that. And and it's again great Great book. Jew the Obscure. Also a great book. Um, this happens to be my favorite. I I think partly because the book is so tiny, you can carry it around with you anywhere you go. This is the mayor of Casterbage. Okay. And here's here's the plot of the
13:26 mayor of Casterbridgeidge. Michael Henchard in a drunken rage, okay, sells his wife and child at a fair. Okay. Now, I I would I will admit that's probably not something that happens today. That's a little absurd. That's That's a little absurd, right? By the way, even in its time, it was pretty absurd. It wasn't common to sell your child and wife. No. No. Not not in the 19th century. Okay. Years later, he becomes a respected mayor in Casterbridge, but his path resurfaces. Right. So, how many times do we see situations where people did something in
14:02 their past and now they're, you know, mortified by it. They've rebuilt their life. They're now respectable. And now, right, this, by the way, this is this essentially the same plot as um uh the famous French novel uh with uh uh Joe Bear and uh oh, Le Miserab, right? I've seen the play a couple of times. I saw it in uh Toronto like in 1997. Okay, so 19th century literature, that book, right? Although in French, not English, but it's essentially the same,
14:37 right? the um uh Jean Vanjon is a um a convict who rebuilds his life, but Jo will not allow him to I just learned something because if I remember correctly during that play, he had a mask on. One was black, one side was black and the other side was white. Right. So that's that's symbolism in that. Exactly. Right. See two expressions of his character. Okay. So his life spirals downward as he clashes with the ambitious David Farfrey and faces the consequences of his
15:13 earlier actions. Okay. Again I you know look it's not like human frail stop stopped existing after the 19th century. That's a tough one to recover from selling your wife a child. Yes. Under any circumstance. Yes. I I will say that you don't usually see happy endings in Thomas Hardy's novels. Yeah, there can't be a happy ending to that one. I'm sure there's there's not a whole lot of redemption. Not you cannot completely Right. You Right. But that's like real life. Can we ever completely redeem ourselves?
15:48 Um I I I guess it depends on the kind of life he led before redemption. I suppose. Right. I mean right now I'm not a Christian scholar right but I think according to Christian theology ultimate redemption is not really possible in this world. I don't I'm not I mean certainly that's true from a Jewish perspective right there are certain things that you can do right but the only things the only in in Jewish philosophy right there are certain things that if you do them the only capora the only compensation you can make is to be dead but from what I
16:24 understand like there's always like somebody's on death row right somebody's on death row and they're saying their last they're given their last rights. Mhm. With the goal of redemption, right? Don't I mean even prior to that while they're usually people who are on death row like become religious and become like take Christ into their life, right? Because they're promised redemption before they well are execcuted. Well, they're promised redemption for what can be redeemed in this world. But they're
16:59 but then also so in I know in in Roman Catholicism you have something called a mortal sin. Right? A mortal sin, the only redemption for it is loss of your life. That's why it's called a mortal sin as opposed to a venial sin can give you. So you can be redeemed, but you got to lose your life. Right. So some so you know, you can go through the process, but the ultimate redemption comes after your death. Ah okay. Okay. And and and by the way, that's that's similar in Judaism, right? There if you murder someone you know according to Judaism if
17:36 you murder someone there is no redemption in this world you're the only your redemption comes through the loss of your life okay it can be hastened by the court or you can live out your natural life but you're not ultimately redeemed until you're not you're not forgiven right okay and then th this so the next the third author that I'm talking about is George Elliot. Now, you would think George Elliott is a man because you know George George wasn't a man. George is a woman, but she took a man's name because
18:12 there weren't a lot of successful female novelists around especially writing serious in the 19th century in the 19th century was that she was English also English as well. Right. Right. And so she took a man's name as it's her pen name. Right. Um, but but George Elliott is is is a woman and you're going to ask me what her real name is and I cannot remember her real name because I always refer to her Oh, yeah. Here it is. Maryanne Evans was her real name. Okay. How
18:47 common, right? Um and um I I first so my younger sister first introduced me to George Elliott and she hand she gave me a book called Daniel Deronda and it was I mean I couldn't put the book down and I'm like wow this this guy George Elliott he's fantastic. She starts laughing at me. She says George Elliot is a woman. How interesting. This is like a boy. You had an interesting like family. We we hung out at baseball games while we were growing up. out. So my younger sister has a degree in theater and literature. My goodness. So you know
19:24 it can be. All right. So here's here's the plot of of Okay. No. So so the Mill of the Floss, which is this is this book again. You can see it's small book, but this one's thick. So um and by the way, these Conaman editions are fantastic because they're really wellmade um and they're pretty inexpensive um which is nice. So okay. So, here's the plot. Uh, siblings Tom and Maggie Toiver grow up near the river floss. Hence the mill on the floss. The river fl Maggie, passionate and intelligent, struggles
20:00 with the limited roles available to women. Okay. Okay. Her choices lead to scandal and her bond with Tom is tested. In the end, tragedy reunites them in a powerful conclusion. No, she does something that's not appropriate for the time. Wouldn't really be appropriate even in today. Not not really. So, I mean, not I'm not saying that people don't do it. They did it then, they do it now. But, um, you know, it's, you know, look, 19th century sensibilities
20:36 were more delicate than ours, but but still, you know, it's like really, wow. Okay. Um, the ending is I don't want to too overplay it. Well, I don't want to know what it is. I'm gonna tell you what the ending is. I'm only going to say the ending is shocking. Okay. And and what so one of the things that's so interesting about the mill on the floss is as I'm read as I'm reading the ending, I'm thinking this couldn't be written in the 19th century. They wouldn't do this. Huh. But it it feels like a 21st century ending. It's it's
21:12 it's a real mature ending basically what you're saying. Very mature ending. Yes. Absolutely. So but but but you know again we you know we we this is a story of the relationship between a brother and a sister between fidelity to family versus uh independence. Um all these are still relevant today. Very relevant. Right. So, so this is so, so my my number one argument for reading 19th century literature is it's not dealing with a bunch of stuff that has no relevance to today. It these stories are timeless and
21:48 and but you know look the novel dates from I mean in the west it dates from maybe the 1600s. I think Tom Jones was written late 1600s, early 1700s. That was kind of like Tom Jones is I think considered the first I was in in in January. I went to Kensington Palace in uh in in in London and that was a that was a really fantastic experience because all of the artwork on the walls
22:23 were from from the late 1600s. Bus of Isaac Newton that were commissioned back in the 16 1700s. Just all of the scholars and the paintings on the walls all evoke what you're talking about. Yeah. Yeah. Right. It's amazing. I was like floored away because floored. But was interesting though because I had just I had just spent three weeks in Israel where I went to towns that were built by the Romans in 60 BC by Herod.
23:01 by Herod Cesaria. And so now I'm in London in this era where these books are take place with pictures of Queen Esther that were that was painted. Oh wow. So there was this like connection that was really amazing. Yeah. Yeah, with Ash. How do you Ash I can't whatever you said I can't pronounce it but it was Queen Esther with with King a painting that was commissioned in the late 1600s. Wow. I mean we you know again like I think
23:38 Queen Victoria. Queen Victoria. Queen Victoria. Not in the 16 it would have been Queen Elizabeth. Um Prince Phillip. Well, actually, you know, Queen Elizabeth would have been earlier. Who was the sovereign? You know, I'm reading Dickens, a child's history of of England right now, but I haven't gotten to that point. I'm still about I'm still about 11 or 1200. Yeah. I mean, I think we just blew our we just blew the credibility of our conversation because I can't remember who was in Kensington. I think it was definitely Queen Victoria. Oh, I mean later. Maybe later.
24:15 Yeah. Yeah. because Queen Victoria reigned in the 19th century, right? So, it was probably Yeah. Okay. So, I guess I'm not uh You want to talk about American history? Let's talk about American history. We'll have to do that next show. Next show. Okay. Okay. All right. So, so here are my uh here I'm going to make my case for 19th century literature. So, first one stories are timeless. You know, uh it's like in so many. Okay. So next, all of these authors have very deep insight into human nature, right?
24:50 So for think about it, they're not watching television. They're not listening to the radio. They're barely reading newspapers, right? So they spend a lot of time. Now, by the way, we're not talking about the lower classes who have a living, right? We're talking about the the upper middle classy one step below the aristocracy generally, right? Because the aristocracy there are the the the dukes and you know they're but so but a lot of like what Austin is writing about is is kind of the middle upper middle class. Okay. Um so the bourgeois maybe. Yeah
25:26 the bourgeoisi. Yeah what we would call the bajoisi. I finally get to use that. I learned that I think in high school or before I get to use it. So they spent a lot of the time their amusement is going and visiting their neighbors, right? And having conversation because that's how people did things. There wasn't any other entertainment, right? I mean there might be a dance, they might have a country fair, but I mean they probably drank a lot of your your blue essics. Um they probably Well, so so the women hid it in their tea, but the men they they Yeah, for sure. They were right out of open,
26:02 right? because you don't have to worry about driving. There was no driving. You might fall off your horse. Okay. See? Yeah. Get back on. Right. Okay. So, you know, these people spent a lot of time conversing, interacting with these authors, spent a lot of time interacting with other people. It really gave them an insight into how people think, how they behave. And I I would argue that to in contemporary society in America, the what we call emotional intelligence or soft skills, however, these are crucial to success. But where
26:39 do you learn this? So, a good place to learn it is by reading these books from the 1800s where you're you're reading about how people interact, what they're thinking about this, what they're thinking about this person, that person, how these situations work out. Okay? Yes, they're fictional, but of course, they're based on things that actually happen. So, it gives you it gives us insight into how to deal with people, right? that without having to go through all of the hard, you know, hard lumps that we would take, making ever more mistakes. Maybe that's why in today's day and age, there's such a big emphasis
27:16 on going to see a psychologist and coping because in general, we haven't developed those skills. I I think that's I think that's part of it certainly. Right. So, this is a way to develop the skills or at least develop some knowledge and and maybe a little bit of of of insight where we're not having to pay $150 an hour. We're not knocking heads with other people. We're, you know, we're we're learning about Okay, that that's number one. Okay. Number two, they provide an
27:52 opportunity for intellectual growth, right? So to to read, you know, the mill on the floss or the mayor of Caster Bridge, this is not like reading, you know, a graphic novel. We It takes It takes some concentration. Well, because it's written in old English. Well, I mean, the English pretty contemporary. No, not really. No, I mean, not really. No, I mean the language is beautiful. That's another point here that I have here. The language is very rich. So, you know, these authors had larger vocabularies
28:29 than a lot of people have, but but the language is understandable. I mean, it's not it's not the kind of slang we have today. Um, and we wouldn't pick up every nuance because the authors make references to things that were contemporary to their times based on certain words that we won't pick up on, but it doesn't really, who cares? It doesn't matter. But um it it takes it takes some thinking about what's going on to get an overall sense of the book
29:06 itself. So that complexity requires some intellectual vigor on our part. There's some mental vigor, right? And that's good because we need to think more, right? without being all wrapped up in ourselves. Yeah. Not thinking about what our problems are, right? And spinning around in our heads about our problems. Exactly. So, it's a way to escape into I mean, it's you could say these are the modern or the these are the antecedants to soap operas
29:41 in a way. We're dealing with other people's pro, but it's not like watching a TV show which is very passive. reading is a much more active. So in the book, the characters interact with with each other at a I would think at a fairly deep level. Yes. Absolutely. Yeah. Right. Which we need more of. Exactly. Exactly. People don't feel comfortable today talking at a deep level. Right. And what's interesting is because of the sort of formalized rules of interaction in the 19th century, it
30:16 it seems, you know, people were very careful about how they delved more deeply, but because of that, they were able to get deeper because people didn't feel invaded. Well, here I mean today you have a conversation with somebody, you can feel how uncomfortable people are when you when you start asking questions, personal questions. Mhm. Right. And and part of it is because um there's a sort of superficial depth
30:52 because of the the kind of intimate things that are so commonly portrayed in TV, movies, all that. It seems like oh we can talk about anything because we can go watch a movie where you know people are copulating and wow but but that's that's a very superficial sense of depth. Real depth is is understanding better how people think and that that makes people feel vulnerable. If if if I let you get an insight into how I think now I'm vulnerable because that could potentially open me up to being
31:27 manipulated. Well, I don't know if it's manipulation. I think that what I find really interesting when I talk to people is is like our conversation right now. I find it very satisfying in having that kind of conversation with somebody who's intelligent, who is thinking different like right I didn't expect to have this conversation with you today. I barely know anything about the these stories. But when you bring up the relationship with people and what makes those stories so good is the same kind of conversation
32:02 we're having is it isn't about superficial things. So I find it very satisfying. It's a good connection to have with people and you just don't get that very often. Right. Right. Now part of it is we've been friends a long time. Well we know each know each other. Right. So, so we're we're comfortable talking about stuff, right? Right. So, these books provide a way of understanding how to build that kind of mutual comfort so these kind of conversations can take place in an
32:38 atmosphere where people are not reticent. Takes time to get to know people and and and and usually when you just meet people, you don't have those kinds of conversations, right? Right. Right. So this gives us this gives us a sense of how can we build the kind of closeness that allows us to have those conversations. So that's that's number that's number two. Okay. Number three, social and historical awareness. So I was having this conversation actually earlier today
33:14 um with um my my trainer and his his next client who I I happen to know. Okay. He's a psychiatrist. I I love the guy. He's just a fantastic guy. Okay. Right. And we're talking, we started talking about how, you know, bad things are today. Right. And then it was very interesting to watch. we all kind of took a mental step back and the the psychiatrist said, you know, we really need to be careful because if we really think about it, things were much worse going back in
33:52 time. And we we talked about that for a few minutes and it's really true, right? So, we have this sense that today is the worst of all times because of course we have to live through it. but to have a sense of what was really going on and and not the sort of imagined stuff. Oh, you know, men were clubbing women over the heads or whatever. Not these although these books are fiction, they are set in an historical context that is authentic, that is true, right? So it gives us they give a very deep sense of what really
34:28 was going on in society historically which allows us it gives us a mirror against which to reflect what's going on in society today. So you wonder if you could take those stories and rewrite them in more modern times with what you know replace horses with our challenges today. Yeah. Well, and so so have you if you've ever seen um you ever seen the movie 10 Things I
35:03 Hate About You? No. Okay. So, it's um Oh gosh, I wish I could remember the lead actor and actress. Um, so it's set in a a a very uh expensive prep school and I think like Seattle, Washington or something, right? And it's about this young girl who's very abrasive, hates men, sort of castrating feminist, and her sister, who's a couple years younger than her, they go to the same school. She's very into dressing really
35:39 pretty. She wants to have a really active social life. And the father is who's the father is a wid widowerower. Their mother has died. All he's afraid about is the girls are going to get pregnant, right? He's trying to protect his girls. He wants to protect his girls. He He doesn't want any He doesn't want any boys around these these Correct. his girls. He happens to be a gynecologist. Oh. Oh. So whenever So whenever the younger one talks about going on a date, he makes her put on the pregnant woman belly. So because this is what happens to girls who go on a date, right? They all get pregnant, right? So,
36:14 and no mistake that they chose the doctor to be a gynecologist of of young girls. Exactly. Right. So, the the young girl meets a guy who wants to go out with her. So, and the father says to the to the the younger daughter, you can go out when when the older one goes out. And the older one has no interest in going out, right? So they hire a guy to convince to to kind of play up to the older daughter to get her to go out so the younger one can go out, right? I mean, the movie, first of all, the movie is brilliantly
36:49 done. Keith Ledger is the Is it is it a comedy? I mean, it's a it's a it's a dark comic. Dark comic. Okay. Okay. Here's the rub. It's b it's it's it's essentially a modern retelling of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. Oh, interesting. Interesting. So, the these uh and and if you've ever uh do you know the movie Cruel Intentions uh with um one of my favorite actresses of all times, Reese Witherspoon. Okay. Okay. I'm not familiar. It's a retelling of um um shoot uh dangerous leaison.
37:27 Okay. I remember that. Right. So a without overtly saying so there's all kinds of contemporary movies that are actually retellings of you know stories from you know dramatic literature or novels you know from past centuries that are updated to contemporary times right and and many of them are quite brilliant and I think one of the reasons they're so brilliant is because the basic bones of the stories have human human nature before we had all
38:02 these distractions of social media, television. Just when you think just when you think it's over, there's another one, right, that you have to deal with. And they've stood the test of centuries. Like Shakespeare was written what 1500s, right? So when you're when you're retelling Shakespeare 500 years later, you're telling a timeless story. There's no question about it, right? You're telling a human nature story. So, so to get this sort of historical awareness through reading sto I mean it's I mean I happen to love reading history but one of the really enjoyable
38:37 ways of learning about history is to learn about history through reading a story as opposed to just reading about history reading reading facts versus right because when those books written it was written in the time and the author is drawing on the the colors and the ambiance and the vibes of where that person's experience is from. Exactly. Exactly. Right. Okay. So, I I I already spoke about number four, the rich language. It's it's just so beautiful. I mean, I know we don't talk that way anymore because people talk
39:15 more formally. Um it's I mean, people in the middle and upper middle class talk more formally, but I mean it's it's beautiful. It really, you know, for I mean, not of course, not everybody's interested in building their vocabulary, but the interesting thing is if you if you take a language like Hebrew, Hebrew has 20,000 words in it. That's it. Those 20,000 words have to convey every idea, thought that a human being can have if they're speaking Hebrew, right? English,
39:50 I think, now has like a million and a half or two million words. Interesting. I'm learning, by the way. I'm taking Hebrew lessons right now. Oh, okay. Fantastic. Right. So, Hebrew is all about what are called, you know, shares, right? Roots. So, you take a root, you have a root and then you add a a prefix or a suffix to it and you can turn the root into a different meaning. Right. And then you can also use your tonality in saying the word that turns it into a question. Right. Right. So, you can say fair. That's a book. You can say sappir. That's the seashore, right? But they're spelled the same way if you take the vowels off. It's like, wait, how can the
40:27 same word say book and seashore? Because they're vowelized differently. But the the um philosophical concept is related. The seashore is where the land meets the water, but that boundary is somewhat fluid. A haircut is where the skin meets the hair, but the boundary is some fluid fluid, right? So, but but but it makes the language difficult to comprehend if you're not speak. I mean, it's it's I'm challenged, right? In English, English is a very precise language. Well, but I
41:04 think Hebrew's efficient. If you only have 20,000 words, you have to be efficient in how it works. You do, but it's hard to be precise, right? Efficiency and precision, right? English, we can be we can be specific and precise, right? It's like they say I I I don't remember the exact number but in in um the language that Eskimos speak I I can't think of what but in in in that in their language there's like I don't know a hundred words for snow or something like that because you know I look at snow and I see snow to someone who lives in it there are multiple there's
41:41 different kinds of snow like there's different kind of clouds in the sky right so so their vocabulary developed and it makes perfect sense um you know in in English again we we you know because so much of English is science technology precision is is necessary. So okay so but so to develop a a richer vocabulary gives us the ability to communicate better with other people but and by the way it also gives us the ability to insult other people without them knowing it.
42:18 Now, that could be a benefit for some people. I'm not going to say which friend of ours that relates to. Uh, aren't we having dinner with him later? Nick. No, no, no, no, no, no. Okay. Okay. If you're watching the show, he is. He does watch from time to Oh, he does. Yeah, he does. He does. Look, we'll have to deal with that at dinner. Yeah, we will. We will. Um, look, he can own it. He can he he can own it. So, but he does own it. He does. That's what I'm saying. He owns it. So, um, but but
42:54 anyway, there there there are good there are good rationale for having a richer vocabulary. Okay. Um, number five. So, we talked about timeless themes, right? We go that. Okay. So this this is if if if if you're not you who are watching Steve you know who are with me if you're not convinced by anything else I've said I hope this I hope this will do it for you right so countless times now I'm talking to people and for whatever reason it comes up that I observe a traditional Jewish
43:30 Sabbath which means from sundown down Friday to sundown Saturday. I don't drive. I don't ride in a car. I don't watch TV. I don't listen to the radio. It's it's it's a time disconnected to slow thing life down and just be right. So, one of the things that 19th century literature does is it allows us to disconnect from the frenetic connected pace of contemporary life and just relax. Uh to to understand
44:10 that patience and a little bit of perseverance to get through something pays tremendous dividends. that not everything that can be had right now is is is is value. There are things that we have to wait for that are equally if not more valuable than the things we can have instantaneously. And we live in such an instant gratification society. I think it's a good thing to disconnect from it for periods of
44:45 time and realize that, you know, whether it's like a you can't see my wine over here, but like a bottle of wine, you know, the longer it ages, many times the better if it's red wine anyway, the better it gets, right? And and like, you know, look, you you and I, Steve, we we can we're no longer, you know, young guys, you know, running around 18 years old. You know, we get better with age. I hope. Well, we we get more patient. You know, we we we we don't have as much time left on the planet, but hopefully we have more wisdom at our
45:21 age. I hope. Right. Hopefully, hopefully. Hopefully. Right. That's, you know, it depends on the circumstance. Right. Right. But but we do recognize that what we've attained at our age, we we only have attained it at because we're our age. We weren't going to get this. There was nothing we could do to get what we are now, you know, 30 years ago, right? I mean, I have I I have, you know, young boys in their early 20s, right? Mhm. And
46:00 both of my kids meditate, right? Because they feel the stress of trying to get things done, but they know that they have to take a deep breath. That's good. I mean, that's that's amazing, right? I think it is. I I I will say because my my nephew is is he's actually in his uh late 20s now. Um, he's living a much healthier life, I think, than I lived when I was his age. So, I think there is a recognition among what Gen Z, I guess they are. I don't I I don't know. I feel like it feels like
46:36 my 24 year old is different than my 21 year old in in I don't know. The three-year difference seems like a different different generation. Okay. I don't know what it is, but it seems that But I you know, I'm People rag on young people today. I think that's a mistake. Oh, I think it's totally a mistake. I think the serious ones are doing really well. Yeah. The ones that I I I I I told my 21-year-old, you know, what are you rushing for? You know, like graduate and take a year off and dad, no, I want to I want to get going.
47:12 Like if somebody gave me permission when I was 21 to take a year off Mhm. to travel, right? I would have loved that. Yeah. Same. Same. I didn't have that luxury. I didn't have that luxury. Yeah. I didn't have that luxury either, right? But yeah, I I think look, there's chuckleheads in every generation. Yeah. But I I I I'm I'm I'm skeptical about the idea that somehow, you know, younger younger guys today are somehow, you know, bigger chuckleheads than we were, you know, than our general. I I don't I
47:47 don't think that's the case. No. No. I think we were bigger bigger chuckleheads than the kids these days. Yeah. I think so. I mean, I look at, like I said, I look at my nephew. He's he's a really serious kid. He's a Look, he can have a good time. I was at his wedding. I met a lot of his friends. These are these are really great young men. You know, they had a great time at the wedding, but they weren't getting slobbering drunk or anything like they were just enjoying, right, the celebration of their, you know, brother's wedding. So, so what you're saying is with 19th century literature, you can learn a lot because
48:23 people there weren't there wasn't this this pace that we have today. Mhm. People focused on each other and wanted to create new relationships. Yeah. That was their that was their their social way of connecting and feeling good about themselves and just the process, you know, of reading one of these books because it isn't it isn't like, you know, it isn't just fluff reading. So, we learn to be patient reading the book and then we can translate that into being patient with each other. Good
48:59 message. Now, I finally get what you were trying to get at. Okay. Full disclosure, I did not prompt him to say that. Well, I I mean, I'm just saying is I I would have never I mean, this is s I I I came I didn't know this was going to occur today. Yeah. I didn't know we were going to have this conversation and the fact that you made your point is really an interesting parallel with what we need to do. Yeah. As adults,
49:36 right? Yeah. Thank you. I mean, I I I can't summon it better. So, I'm I'm going to leave it there. Let's leave it there. Okay. Because you're starting to get a big head. No, not you. So, so thank you very much for joining us. I I see we've got a number of people live watching us. That's awesome. We have people watching. Oh, yeah. Yeah, there's people watching live. Really? Yeah. Oh, no. Now I'm getting really nervous. So, so um my buddy Lammon um he lives in in Africa. Um I think it's Namibia. He tunes in almost every show.
50:12 Does he really? Yeah. Yeah. Very sweet guy. Very sweet guy. We're going global. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. For sure. Whoa. Yeah. Um, but but it it's it's it's all it's really Look, you couldn't do this 20, 30 years ago. No. No. I You know, it's so funny in my own entertainment way. This was kind of cool. Yeah. Like I We got to do this again. Yeah, for sure. We will. I mean, I'll be in Arizona, but it won't it won't be much different. No, we can do it again on another topic. Yeah, for sure. Absolutely. Every other week I do this. So, I I'll be glad to join you. Yeah, that would be great. What I'll do
50:47 is I'll do what I'll do is I'll you tell me like if we're going to do a bottle of wine, I'll go get the same bottle of wine, right? Or Well, I'll send you the cocktail recipe and you can make the cocktail. Yeah. I I I don't have as much good stuff together as you, but I'll figure it out. Yeah. I mean, the fact of the matter is like if if I were going to make a gin, well, I'm using Karun, you know, gin. It's 200 years old. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. So, you can use any gin. It doesn't, you know, that's part Like when I had professional bartenders making cocktail, you know, they're very, you know, has to be this. Oh, you you used to have So when the first season of
51:23 the show, you invited a bartender. I had a bartender here. We turned this living room into a TV studio. That's super cool. Yeah. So I mean it was a much bigger thing. Um and and look, these are professionals, so you know, very and and when you're a professional, you're a professional, right? I'm just an amateur. I just want to enjoy it and I want to encourage other people. Just enjoy it. Don't worry about the details. Just, you know, just enjoy it. So, you got a you got a lemon, you got some gin, you got a whatever, you know, a liquor with some vermilla, whatever it is.
51:58 What's the I a few years ago, I went to a restaurant up here on where they they when what is it when they do all these concoctions and they're like jelly shots and Oh, yeah. I don't and there's like they the the drinks have are smoking. Oh yeah. Yeah. I mean Yeah. They got like dry ice in them. Yeah. They got dry ice in them. I mean I don't I don't know how to do any of that stuff to people. This is more of a traditional Yeah. Yeah. This is like sort of throwback. Yeah. Cocktail culture. Yeah.
52:34 Well, the the big thing in in in Arizona now is speak easys. So they have these speak easyies and they make these drinks that depending on which ones you go to, they no they no long they go back into the 20s and 30s, right? And they find recipes and then you can go to these speak easys and order these drinks from the 20s and 30s, right? And it's kind of it's kind of a cool throwback thing. Yeah. So there are places like that like downtown LA. Oh, there is. And I've got two or three cocktail books like that. They're they're old cocktail books. They
53:10 and they're they're they're not the original books, of course. They're like reprints. Right. Right. Right. And they have all these like some I look at this like what the heck is this ingredient? I don't even know. Right. They have all kinds of interesting. I mean, you have a good selection of different ingredients that you that you can create things with. Yeah. I mean, I bet you in chat I mean bring something modern into it. Sure. What you did with your drink today is throw a bunch of those ingredients in chat GPT and let Chat GPT come up with a really interesting flavor profile. Right. So that's what I did for this is I said I said please um create a
53:46 cocktail that a gin cocktail that exudes uh you know um Jane Austin, Thomas Hardy, George Elliot. Wow. and it came up with something and and I wanted to so it was a blueberry thing and so so then I asked it were there blueberries in in England in the 19th century and and so then it says well no not really there were blue really no there weren't blueberries um so I said well what kind of blueberries are typically wild well so are so they had wild blueberries but
54:21 they weren't cultivated so most people didn't have blueberries because you had to go find them in the wild so I said well what kind of berries were cultivated. So then they they gave me like five choices. The one was blackberries. One was blackberries. They said, "So then make a cocktail with blackberries." So then that's that's so that's what it came up with. So here here's here's I I was I was uh I get this really interesting uh blog and uh it has some really eclectic things in it. And so outside of blueberries, and you brought this up, cocoa, they're having a cocoa global
54:58 cocoa shortage, right? Yes. Uhu. And there's a company in California that's been able to make chocolate in the lab using and apparently they're getting investors and it tastes just like chocolate, if not better than chocolate. Mhm. And it's and and they're they're working with a Japanese co company to productize this lab grown chocolate. Wow. Because this is this is a huge problem because chocolate prices are going way up. Well, the reason why all
55:34 the chocolate comes from Africa, the cocoa comes from Africa. There's a big 90% of it does. Yeah. there's a big shortage because of um because of environmental concerns in that in that part of the world and so apparently a lot of chocolate companies are scrambling and that that's hence the reason you see chocolate prices right so the big companies like Hershey um um uh shoot um um there's there's um I can't think of the other big one that's in Europe but um so they they cover their bets where
56:10 they buy cho cocoa co you know cocoa futures that kind of stuff right but for so we used to have a great bean to bar chocolate maker right down here on Robertson called letter press guess who's calling oh there you go so they went out of business and I think it was in part because they couldn't sustain the cost anymore oh interesting so and it's a shame because their chocolate was fantastic interesting so it's you know it's it's a challenging time. All right. Right. Well, we we got to go to dinner. Do we call this a wrap? So So uh thanks again for watching. Uh next week we're
56:47 back with uh the full line of shows. So if you go to go to my YouTube channel, you will you will find the the the times there. Um I'm not going to take the time to do that now because we're actually the show is actually a little bit longer than we usually go, but that's fine. Um so I want to first of all, Steve, thank you for joining us. Pleasure. This was like really super surprise on your side, too. I think it seems like Yeah. Yeah. But it was it this was this was great. Yeah. You didn't think I could put two words together in an intelligent I knew you could put two words together. I was a little three.
57:24 And I'm going to sign off like I always do, which is to remind you, Marie, you're my bell, darling. You know you are. Courage at all times, my friends.