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Looking for a relaxing sleep podcast to help you unwind, quiet busy thoughts, or gently fall asleep? In this episode of The Insomnia Project, Marco and Amanda ease into a calm and cozy conversation about the surprisingly soothing world of towels, sheets, and everyday routines.
The episode begins with a gentle discussion about towels — how Marco folds them and why simple, repetitive tasks can feel so satisfying. From there, the conversation drifts into the familiar challenge of folding a fitted sheet. If you’ve ever struggled with that elusive skill, you’re not alone — and there’s something comforting in sharing the experience. As the conversation meanders, Marco and Amanda chat about a few courses they’re taking through the city — though not the ones you might expect. It’s a light, curious moment that invites you to wonder what your guess might be. In true Insomnia Project fashion, Amanda also shares her love of showing “how the sausage is made,” offering a relaxed, behind-the-scenes glimpse into the podcast. This low-stakes, soothing conversation is designed to quiet racing thoughts and ease you into rest. Whether you’re lying awake at night, winding down after a long day, or listening at work to stay calm and focused, this gentle sleep podcast creates a peaceful space where nothing is urgent. If you’re looking for a cozy sleep podcast, soft bedtime listening, or a calming audio companion, let this episode keep you company. Listen when:
The Sausage Roll Technique | Gentle Conversations for Restful Sleep
Welcome to the Insomnia Project. I'm Amanda Barker and this is the podcast Marco Timpano: Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen. As always, we're going to have a calm conversation about the mundane to help you drift off to slee. Thank you for joining us. I'm your host, Marco Timpano. Amanda Barker: I'm Amanda Barker. Hi. Hi. Marco Timpano: Hi. How you doing? Amanda Barker: To you. To everybody. Marco Timpano: Sorry, I wasn't sure. It was like. It sounded like you were saying it to our kids. Amanda Barker: Maybe too peppy. It may be too peppy. Is that what you're. Marco Timpano: No, not at all. I don't think. Amanda Barker: What did you just mouth to me? He just mouthed the word to me. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm showing you how the sausage is made, folks. Marco Timpano: Babe, nobody wants to know how the sausage is made. That's why they buy sausage. Amanda Barker: All the people want to know how the sausage is made because that's a very relaxing task for our listeners to hear about. Marco Timpano: Okay, well, listen, the sausage is made in a little studio and Amanda brought me a coffee. We're actually recording in the morning. We usually record at night. And I'm so grateful to have this coffee. Thank you. Amanda Barker: I know you are. He's not. So I'll tell you something while he takes a sip of his coffee. When we first started dating. Marco Timpano: Oh, no. The sausage. This is really how the sausage was made. Amanda Barker: Maybe that's what this episode is. when we first started dating, he. I didn't understand his life. I didn't understand a lot of My fellow actors lives. We all had a night job where we performed, which I loved and changed my life. We've talked about that a lot, at the time at the Second City. But, I had a day job as well in marketing. And none of these other actors, like, some had different gigs that they would do. But I wasn't sure how their lives worked. And I remember asking Marco, you know, what does your day look like? And he said, well, I like to get up by 10 o'. Clock. No, I like to get up by 11 o'. Clock. Marco Timpano: I don't like this story because it makes me look really bad. You like to tell stories that m. Amanda Barker: Make people look bad, make you look bad. It makes you look like somebody who's living a lovely life. I, don't think there's any shame in that. I like to get up by 11 o' clock in order to watch the View. And I, in my very closed mind at that age, my late 20s or, early 30s, I didn't understand that. I just didn't understand that there were people that would sleep, you know, or did not get up at 8am or 7am M. Or whatever. But what I've come to realize, about you is that you are a night person. At the end of the day, you are not a morning person. And then when we started to date, he said, don't talk to me before 10am Him. Marco Timpano: How does this make me look good at all? Amanda Barker: I think it makes you look like somebody who knew his boundaries. Marco Timpano: I also had a night job. I worked until late. Amanda Barker: Oh, that's true. Marco Timpano: Yeah. So. Amanda Barker: But you are ultimately a person of. Of the night. Marco Timpano: Yes. Amanda Barker: You are a lady of the night. Marco Timpano: That you're gonna say a person of means. Amanda Barker: yeah, that too. I mean. And I learned a lot, actually. I actually don't think it makes you look bad at all. Marco Timpano: Well, there you go. Amanda Barker: Versus me, who just thought I needed to work every second of every day. And I'm still learning. We're both still learning. Marco Timpano: It's true. Amanda Barker: How are you doing this morning? Marco Timpano: I had my coffee. I think I'm fighting something. Irene recently used our show to fall asleep But, I wanted to make mention of today's episode. A couple things. so one, we want to say a special hello to Irene, who recently used our show, to fall asleep. Amanda Barker: She did. Marco Timpano: So that was great. Amanda Barker: She did. I mean, but beyond that, Irene, we love you and thank you so much. And I hope you're already asleep. I hope you never hear this because you're just so having the most beautiful sleep. Irene, when you got married, you said you loved doing laundry Marco Timpano: Irene, so Diane asked me to, or not asked me, said that Irene, one episode we could do would be talking about folding things like towels and, Ah, sheets. Amanda Barker: You love to fold. Marco Timpano: I don't love to fold. Amanda Barker: Oh, I thought you loved to fold. Marco Timpano: No, I fold because it has to be done. Amanda Barker: Well, more behind the sausage. Marco Timpano: More behind the sausage. Amanda Barker: So when you got, married, you said you love doing laundry, and I went, that is wonderful. Marco Timpano: I do like doing laundry. I just don't like. I do all the laundry. Amanda Barker: How does that make you look bad? Well, it doesn't. Marco Timpano: It doesn't. Amanda Barker: But anyways, all the laundry. There are two ways to fold a towel, folks. One is lengthwise and another is widthwise Marco Timpano: Okay, so let me talk about how I fold a towel. I actually have a towel in my hand right now. Amanda Barker: He really does. Marco Timpano: So there's two ways that I fold a towel, folks. One, my most recent way, the one that I'm using more, is I fold it in half lengthwise. Is that what you call that? Amanda Barker: I like how you say length lengthwise. Marco Timpano: Lengthwise. And then I fold it in half, not lengthwise. What would you call that? Amanda Barker: Well, width wise. Marco Timpano: And then I fold it in half widthwise to make it a perfect square. Amanda Barker: Lengthwise, width wise, width wise. Marco Timpano: But there's another method to my madness, and that is the sausage roll. And let me just. Amanda Barker: We really are learning how it gets made. Marco Timpano: Yeah, there's a lot of sausage talk today. So fold it in half width wise, lengthwise. Now hang, on a second. I'm sorry. Width wise, width wise. It's because I'm seated. it's harder. Amanda Barker: This is width, width. Marco Timpano: And then those keeping. Roll it with. With, roll with, with roll. And lengthwise, you're rolling it into a sausage like you would see at a spa. You know how they have towels rolled at a spa and stacked? Amanda Barker: yeah. Marco Timpano: Or maybe, maybe if you go to a fancy gym. Amanda Barker: The spas I go to, they fold them. So. Marco Timpano: Okay, if you go to. You know when you see towels in a cubby hole somewhere fancy and they have them rolled up as sausages, going to go with. Amanda Barker: Yes. Marco Timpano: When would you see this kind of a roll? When have you seen stacked rolls like this? Where would be the environment where you've seen it? Amanda Barker: at our house. And when I pack. Because I roll, pack. Marco Timpano: No, but you don't roll towels when you pack. Amanda Barker: Well, if I'm packing a towel, I would. Marco Timpano: When have you packed a towel? When was the last time you packed a towel? Amanda Barker: We pack towels when we go to beach places. Marco Timpano: Not really. Amanda Barker: Okay. Marco Timpano: Okay. So anyways, back to the. The sausage roll towel. So then it's It's. It's kind of looks like a little package. Like a little. You know what it looks like. You know those pillows, that you put behind your neck? Amanda Barker: Yes. Marco Timpano: The little round ones? Amanda Barker: Yes. Marco Timpano: Some people have them on their beds. Amanda Barker: Lumbar pillow. Marco Timpano: Lumbar pillow. It looks like a lumbar pillow, but it's a towel. Amanda Barker: Okay. Lumbar towel. Marco Timpano: Lumber towel. So if you have. If you have a sore neck, you could use this essentially as a lumbar pillow. Amanda Barker: I think people do. Marco Timpano: So that's how I do it now. And I stack them in our linen closet like I would if. If I had a fancy spa. Amanda Barker: Okay. Marco Timpano: And I like it because you can just grab the towel. It's not going to pull other towels with it. Whereas the first fold that I talked about, the square fold, sometimes they get stacked. And if you have a lot of towels and you stack them high and you pull one, it will. It'll bring its friends down with it. That's never fun. Amanda Barker: No, not fun. Never fun. When you go in and you go to grab one thing and everything comes with you. Amanda Pease says she doesn't iron sheets because time is limited Marco Timpano: So then let's talk about how I fold sheets, please. So when it comes to sheets, I wish I had the time or the desire to iron sheets, because I love a good iron sheet, but I don't iron sheets. I shouldn't say that. Amanda Barker: It's like you're saying iron Chic. Marco Timpano: No, iron the wrestler sheets. Iron Chic had a great, wrestling career. Yes. And a great X or Twitter account for the longest time. So. Okay, so if I could iron sheets, I would iron sheets. Amanda Barker: Why can't you? Who's stopping you? Because it ain't me. Marco Timpano: It takes a long time. Amanda Barker: Time, time. Father time is stopping you. Marco Timpano: And I could be podcasting instead of iron, ironing the sheet. And I'm often podcasting when I'm not. Instead of ironing sheets. Amanda Barker: I would say I blame you, fans, but it's fine. no one needs iron sheets in this house. Marco Timpano: It's so wonderful. I will iron sheets when we have guests. So the guest sheets are ironed. Amanda Barker: Thank you. Marco Timpano: But it's a long, laborious task. So basically, I try to fold my sheets when they come out of the dryer while they're still warm. Amanda Barker: That's nice. Marco Timpano: So I'll take the warm sheets. And so there's a fitted sheet and the regular sheet. I don't know what the regular sheet is called. Amanda Barker: One magic set where they're connected. Marco Timpano: We talked about that on the podcast. Amanda Barker: I wish they made them still. Marco Timpano: I wish they made more. I just. I can't. If you ever find. If our listeners know where one can purchase sheets, where the fitted sheet and the top sheet, I think it's called the top sheet, top sheet are connected at the bottom where your feet would be. So that when you fold the fitted sheet into the mattress or tuck, I guess you could say, when you tuck the fitted sheet into the mattress, the top sheet is connected at the bottom. So you never have to tuck the top sheet in. It stays connected to the fitted sheet, which is already tucked. And then you just pull that top sheet up to the top of your bed where your pillows are. Amanda Barker: And I even love it. And I'm a one foot out gal. Like, I often will have one foot Marco Timpano: out of the bed and one foot in the mouth. We magically bought a set of those years ago on the shopping channel because they were getting rid of them, because I guess people didn't understand how they worked or people just thought it was bizarre. And we bought it because they were very inexpensive and we needed sheets. And sometimes when you need sheets, especially when you're starting out, let's say, and you don't have money because sheets can be expensive, Amanda. Good sheets can be expensive. Amanda Barker: Yeah. Marco Timpano: And now with these tall beds, like these tall mattress beds or whatever you would call them, you know, the mattresses that are bigger, you need sheets that are deeper or fitted sheets that are deeper mattresses. And they often don't stay. And it's a frustrating thing, at least for me, because I'm a roll around kind of guy. Amanda Barker: And I am too, by the way. I'm. My m. Sister used to call me kicky feet when we were little. So I. I guess I kick a lot. Marco Timpano: So, you know, you wake up and kick. You know, you don't. Amanda Barker: Okay. Marco Timpano: You know, and, you wake up at the mic the middle of the night, and your sheets are off the bed. And that is something I just can't tolerate. Amanda Barker: Or rope. What I call the rope. Marco Timpano: Yeah, the rope is the top sheet, not the fitted sheet. I'm talking about the fitted sheet being off the bed. Amanda Barker: Okay. Marco Timpano: So I had garters for my sheets. Amanda Barker: Sexy. Marco Timpano: That your mother bought me. And. And they didn't work. I've tried them a million times. They don't work. They don't resist against the force of me in the bed. Amanda Barker: Yeah. Marco Timpano: Tossing and turning. Amanda Barker: They might work an extra night, but then after that, nothing can be matched with the power of our tosses and our turns. Marco Timpano: So that didn't work. I've tried the deep sheets. The deep. The fitted sheets don't work. Amanda Barker: Deep pockets. Marco Timpano: I tried one other method. I can't think it didn't work. So when we purchased our next mattress, we bought a regular sized mattress, which is not easy to do. Amanda Barker: No, it was hard. And it was actually the most expensive mattress. My goodness, though, I love it. Marco Timpano: That's also because you're a little bit the Princess and the Pea. Amanda Barker: Why? Marco Timpano: You tried a lot of mattresses and you always went back to that mattress. Amanda Barker: Yeah, I'm. Marco Timpano: But I'm not complaining because it's a great mattress. Amanda Barker: It's a great mattress. The top sheet is pretty easy to fold, and it's a question Marco Timpano: Okay, so back to how I fold sheets, please. I take the top sheet. The top sheet is pretty easy to fold, and it's a question of how long are your arms? Amanda Barker: How long are your arms? Marco Timpano: well, I'm not an albatross, but they're pretty long. They're longer than yours. So take the sheet lengthwise so the longest it can open, and you fold it in half. Then you fold it in half. Then you fold it in half. And then it becomes a long, thin sheet. Long. You take the length, you fold it in half. You fold it in half. I think I fold it in half one more time. And then it's a nice square. And that's the top sheet. Easy enough. Amanda Barker: I don't think it is. So I'm glad that you do it. Marco Timpano: The fitted sheet. What I do, and I think I saw Martha Stewart do this, but to be honest with you, I learned this from watching my mother over the years when I was a kid. Amanda Barker: It tests the mettle of a person. Marco Timpano: You put your hand and you make your hand like, a. Like an oar. I don't know how to describe this shape. So your fingers together and your thumb tucked behind your fingers like this. Amanda Barker: Okay. Marco Timpano: So you take this hand that I just described that looks kind of like an oar, and you pop it into the. Amanda Barker: He's putting his thumb in front of his palm, his open palm. That's what he means by oar. Marco Timpano: Hand behind my palm. Like into my. Amanda Barker: In front of your palm. Into your palm. Towards your pinky? Yes. Marco Timpano: Yes. Okay, great. That's a great way to describe it. So then I take this and I tuck it into the inner part of the fitted sheet that would go around the corner of your bed so that my or hand is basically tucked to the point of the fitted sheet from the inside. Amanda Barker: I don't. Marco Timpano: Okay, so you know how the fitted sheet goes over the mattress. Amanda Barker: I get what a fitted sheet is. Marco Timpano: So that, that part that goes over the mattress, it kind of has a point to it. Amanda Barker: Okay. Marco Timpano: If you look as if you were to put it over your head like a, like a hoodie and wear it and run around the house and let it blow around you like a cape, Amanda Barker: it's a great idea. Marco Timpano: If you were to do that, the part that would go over your head like a hoodie. You know how a hoodie has kind of the, the topmost point? Amanda Barker: Sure, yeah. Marco Timpano: That's where my hand is. Okay. Amanda Barker: All right. Marco Timpano: So then I do that exact same movement to the other side. So now I'm, I'm like conducting a sheet with two hands. Amanda Barker: It's a, it's a puppet. It's a puppet show. Marco Timpano: Yeah, it's a puppet show. So now I've got that, those two things in my hand. So then I have to scoop the other side so that on one hand I now have one corner and I have the other corner on top of that. Amanda Barker: Martha Stewart taught you this? Marco Timpano: No, my mother taught me this. I saw Martha Stewart do a version of it, but it wasn't as good as my mom's version. Yes. Amanda Barker: Okay. Marco Timpano: Yes. So I did that. And then I, I do that. And then once that happens, I kind of untuck my hands and I fold the now creviced fitted sheet that's in itself down so that I have a direct fold from both corners. Marco Timpano: And I fold down the other side. Amanda Barker: Okay. Marco Timpano: Hard to imagine, but picture an envelope. And now I folded the two, I folded the part that sort of. Once you've tucked in your letter and you fold that part down. Amanda Barker: Oh, yes. Marco Timpano: Okay. So now it looks like a big rectangle. Amanda Barker: Alright. Yes. And which is what you want? Because the problem is it's an uneven shape. Marco Timpano: Right. And so now it looks like a rectangle. I'll fold it lengthwise. And then much like the top sheet, I'll fold it in half. I'll fold it in half and I'll fold it in half. And I'll put the top sheet on top of the fitted sheet. And then I will fold the pillowcases in half. Amanda. Amanda Barker: Okay. It's a good method. I like this. So it's all about trying to get it to a shape that's foldable. Marco Timpano: Yeah. And square like I guess, is how I would, further, further describe it. So I've got two squares, a fitted sheet and a top sheet. You need to replace your sheets after a certain time And then the towels on top. Sometimes if we're traveling with sheets or if we have to bring the sheets somewhere, I will fold them more and then tuck them into the pillowcases, if that's possible, so that they stay in the pillowcases and are easy to transport. Amanda Barker: I see, I see. Amanda Barker: Very interesting. Marco Timpano: And that's my fitted sheet folds. Amanda Barker: Amazing. Marco Timpano: But fitted sheets are not easy to deal with. They're not easy to iron, they're not easy to fold. Amanda Barker: My mother's version, I believe, was sort of just fold them and then shove them in the linen closet. I think that's as far as we would get. I don't know. I think she had a method to it. She's not a messy person at all. But I don't think fitted sheets. My mother also was very much, whatever is the most efficient. My mom was all about efficiency. Marco Timpano: Sure. Amanda Barker: Efficiency over beauty even. So if it was not an efficient way of doing something, if it took too much time, she wasn't signing up for it, generally speaking. Marco Timpano: I see, I see. Yeah. Some people roll them in a ball and put them in their little closet. It just takes up a lot of room when you're doing that. Right. Interesting. Amanda Barker: Yeah. And how many sets of sheets does one have? Marco Timpano: You know, it's a good question. How many sheets should one have? How many sets of sheets does one have? You know, these are all questions. And then, you know, after a certain time your sheets are no longer sheetable. So you need to, you know, replace your sheets. Amanda Barker: It's true. And in. If you do need to replace your sheets, if you are doing spring cleaning and going, you know what, these sheets serve me well through a few winters, but I don't think I want to do another spring or summer with them. Or they're different types of sheets. Maybe they're heavier and you're feeling done with them. I will say this the best way to dispose of them. Well, there's lots of ways, but the best way I know, especially in this city, is to donate them to an animal shelter. Here, in Toronto, we have, the Humane Society. Marco Timpano: Sure. Amanda Barker: And they will always take your towels. Towels and old sheets because the dogs ultimately, and cats need them. And, and they need fabric that is soft but not precious, you know, for, you know, when the dogs come out for their walks and so on. So just something to keep in mind. If you are doing a bit of unloading and you're not sure what to do with them and you're like, well, they're good sheets or they have this stain or this tear. I'm not sure what to do with them. That's the best way that I Know to give them, a second life. Marco Timpano: Sheets in my family were always used as, drop cloths for painting. Amanda Barker: Oh, that's a good idea too. Yeah. That's another great, fabulous way to do it. If you have a painting project on Marco Timpano: the horizon, painting a, ah, wall painting, a door or something that you. That might splash paint onto your tiles or carpet, you don't want that. Amanda Barker: But if you don't have a painting project on the horizon, you just want to unload them. Some of us have small places, then option, option B, I think, or you know, some people. my mom made me a dress that I love and I still have. I don't think it fits me, but I still have it. A cute little dress from a tablecloth once. Marco Timpano: Oh, really? Amanda Barker: Yeah. I don't think I've ever shown you that. Marco Timpano: No. Amanda Barker: My little tablecloth dress, I wore it a lot when I was like 1920. I just loved it. It was like a brown and blue plaid, very simple, little shift dress, but shift dress and. Yeah, like a dress that doesn't really have any shape. Marco Timpano: Oh, okay. Amanda Barker: I was always a big fan of those. Marco Timpano: I see. Okay. Amanda Barker: They weren't, you know, constricting me anywhere. I could just kind of throw it on and put on a pair of shoes and out the door. and, that's what she did with an old tablecloth. So there you go. Marco Timpano: Wow. Amanda Barker: Yeah. Yeah. Marco Timpano: What about. Could you do it with a set of sheets or a towel? Amanda Barker: Well, that's what I was thinking. I don't know about a towel dress. Marco Timpano: Well, you could do a towel, onesie with shorts and then use that at the beach. Amanda Barker: That feels like a lot of work for an old towel. It's one of those towels with bleach stains on it. I don't know that you want to onesie it up. Marco Timpano: I call that style. Amanda Barker: Okay, well, you can make me a towel onesie. I'm not sure I'll wear it. Marco Timpano: Imagine. well, you could make a towel into an absorbent sweater for the beach. Amanda Barker: Again, this is a lot of sewing for an absorbent sweater. What if I make you an absorbent sweater for the beach Who needs an absorbent sweater when you Marco Timpano: get out of the water? Amanda Barker: Terry cloth robe, I suppose, right? Yeah. But then you're hot in your absorbent sweater. I don't know. Marco Timpano: What if I make you a shawl out of an old towel for the beach? Amanda Barker: Sounds beautiful. It would just be called a towel on my shoulders. M. M. is starting swimming lessons in a few weeks Do you know I had another dream about swimming last night? All my dreams. I managed to find pools or bodies of water in my dreams. And I'm like, well, here I go. And then I get in them and go swimming. Marco Timpano: That's. That's nice. Amanda Barker: Yeah, it's like in my DNA to do that, I think. And I, Last night I was in Thunder Bay at a really big pool by the water. Marco Timpano: In your dream? Amanda Barker: Yeah. But I did actually do a, play at Thunder Bay, and I did swim at that pool, so it didn't look like the one in my dream, though. In my dream was huge and sunny. Marco Timpano: Oh, wow. I'm going to be taking swimming lessons. So that's happening soon. Amanda Barker: You're starting in a few weeks. Marco Timpano: That's right. Amanda's a very strong swimmer. Always has been, always will be. And I'm not. So, you know, it's. It's a challenge when you get friends or family to teach you to swim. You don't want to disappoint them. You want to, but you're also. You easily get frustrated with them, and they'll tell you to do things you don't want to do. Amanda Barker: I just need to clarify. I'm not a strong simmer, in a sense that I do a perfect butterfly stroke or anything like that. Strong simmer that, too. strong swimmer. yeah, I just am. M. Have a level of confidence in water because I grew up in it. So I just need to. To sort of say that because I don't want anyone to think I'm, like an Olympic level swimmer. I'm most certainly not. I just grew up in pools and beach, and I just spent a lot of time in water as a kid. And so I have a level of confidence, and maybe even at one point, overconfidence. Marco Timpano: But I've learned hubris, if you will. Amanda Barker: Well, hopefully not. But, anyhow, so when we go, like, if I want to go snorkeling somewhere, if it's a little bit deeper, I know you get. I get scared for you because you're a little nervous. So I do think. I don't maybe always do all the water stuff I want to do because you're a little worried about it. Marco Timpano: So I'm a chain around your neck. Amanda Barker: Would you go scuba diving? Marco Timpano: Maybe. Amanda Barker: Yeah. Marco Timpano: Ah, maybe. Amanda Barker: Well, maybe that's something we can work our way towards. Marco Timpano: We have to get. You. You should go scuba diving with Niddy. Nitty's a huge scuba dive, right? Amanda Barker: No, she's like an amazing scuba diva. That would be super fun to go with Nitty. maybe we should. Maybe we should plan a trip with Nitty. Marco Timpano: Oh, yeah. She'd Love to get your scuba. What's it called? Amanda Barker: My Patty. Marco Timpano: Your Patty. Amanda Barker: Yeah. Marco Timpano: And I'll just learn a simple stroke. Anyways, I'm excited and nervous about my swim class. Amanda Barker: And when he's gonna do swim class, I'm gonna do hip hop dancing. Our city offers these very cheap classes, and we didn't really know about them. We thought they were just for kids. And then our dear friend was taking skiing. Marco Timpano: Dale. Shout out to Dale. Amanda Barker: Yeah, from the city. I don't know if she wants everyone to know her skiing business. Anyway, which is amazing that there's skiing classes right in the city of Toronto, but she skis at a park and she's learned a bunch. And she went on a proper hill, Marco Timpano: like, ski resort with family during the break. Amanda Barker: Yeah, they had a school break last week and she did great. And she was really helpful to the kids that didn't know what they're doing. So she's feeling really confident with those lessons. So she did her skiing and she said. I told her I wanted to do pottery. I've always wanted to do pottery. It's one of those things as a kid I was obsessed with, and I always have just wanted to sit at the wheel and play. Marco Timpano: and I was buying you pottery classes, but we've got a schedule when you can pot. Amanda Barker: Yeah. So she said, you know, the city offers pottery classes. And I was like, they do, but here's the thing. Marco Timpano: Oh, no, here we go. Amanda Barker: The city offers pottery. these classes to seniors. Super cast thanks listeners for supporting our podcast First the 65 and overcrowd. Well, they scoop up all the classes. So then you have to go on waiting list by the time it's your turn, because they get first pick and then they give them a day or two. So all the pottery classes were full by the time I wanted to do it. But you know what? The seniors didn't fill up. Hip hop. Marco Timpano: I see, I see. Amanda Barker: So I was like, you know what? I would love to do a dance class. I've been meaning to get back into dancing. That's another thing I did as a kid. it was my family's birthright, since my mom had a school where she taught dance and other performing arts, but it originated as a dance school. And I just thought, you know what? Hip hop is not something I learned because it was not as prevalent. And my mom in God love her, hip hop was not a big part of her dance training in the 60s of Massachusetts. So, anyhow, so I just want to get moving. I don't care how or in what capacity I would have taken any dance, but that's what was available. So there you go. Marco Timpano: Amanda's going to be a hip hop dancer, and I'm going to be a swimmer. So, we'll see how. City of Toronto, thank you for City of Toronto. Thank you, listeners, for, you know, sending messages to us, rating and reviewing our podcast and just, supporting if you got this far. There's plenty of episodes out there. We have a YouTube channel now as well. You, you can subscribe to us on insomniaproject.super cast.com if you don't want, ads to listen to before our episode starts. But however you listen, wherever you listen, we just want to say thank you so much, and we hope you were able to listen and sleep.
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Looking for a relaxing sleep podcast to help you unwind, quiet busy thoughts, or gently fall asleep? In this episode of The Insomnia Project, Marco and Amanda settle into a calm, meandering conversation about the simple ritual of packing a suitcase.
From Amanda’s beloved neck pillow — and how she always makes room for it — to Marco’s thoughtful packing habits (including what he tucks inside his shoes), the conversation drifts through the small, personal details that can make travel feel comforting. Along the way, Amanda shares a slightly “spilly” day, and Marco reflects on the surprise of discovering a birthday card months after it was meant to be opened. As always, this is a low-stakes, soothing conversation designed to quiet racing thoughts and ease you into rest. Whether you’re lying awake at night, winding down after a long day, or listening at work to stay calm and focused, this gentle sleep podcast offers a peaceful space where nothing is urgent. So if you’re looking for a cozy sleep podcast, soft bedtime listening, or a relaxing audio companion, let this episode guide you toward calm. If you enjoy the show, consider sharing it with someone who could use a little extra quiet. We’d love to hear from you: what’s one essential item you always pack in your suitcase? #sleeppodcast #insomniarelief #fallasleepfast #calmpodcast #sleepcast #relaxingaudio #bedtimeroutine
Packing a Suitcase | Calm Conversations for a Restful Journey
The Insomnia Project podcast is meant to soothe you and relax you Marco Timpano: Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen as we have a calm conversation that's meant to soothe you, relax you, chill you at work, and most of all, help you drift off to sleep. I'm your host, Marco Timpano. Amanda Barker: I'm Amanda Barker. Marco Timpano: Of course, if you want ad free episodes of our podcast, you could go to YouTube and watch, and listen on YouTube or go to the InsideProject Supercast CA and follow us there. And Amanda, you know our backpack episode was very popular. Amanda Barker: It is very popular. And now that we've got the housekeeping set aside, I just want to give everybody the permission. You have our permission and the world's permission to close your eyes, sit back, take a big deep exhale, and just follow the conversation. I wanted to talk about packing a suitcase since the backpack episode was so popular Marco Timpano: I wanted to talk about packing a suitcase since the backpack episode was so popular. Okay, so tell me, Amanda, for me, Amanda Barker: the backpack was popular for the reason that I would. I like containment and I like following, things that are contained. I don't feel the same way about a suitcase as I feel about a backpack. Marco Timpano: How do you pack yours? Amanda Barker: I will say this. What I do like to pack. Is the, the challenge I most love is actually when we don't have a suitcase and we travel with just the backpack and the neck roll. Marco Timpano: Okay, tell us about the neck roll. Amanda Barker: Are you okay with that? Marco Timpano: of course. And then I'll talk about how I pack my suitcase. Amanda Barker: That's fine. Great. Amanda uses a neck roll on a plane to relax on long flights So the neck roll, if you don't know about the magic that is the neck roll, then let me invite you to the community of neck roll. Marco Timpano: And I should just clarify neck necker roll. Amanda Barker: Okay. Marco Timpano: Because it sounds like you're saying. It sounds like you're saying one word. Neckerel. And so people might be thinking it's Amanda Barker: now called a neckerel. Marco Timpano: The neckerel. Amanda Barker: That's what it's called. Like almost rhymes with mackerel. Marco Timpano: Okay. Amanda Barker: this is something that has changed my travel game. It is a pillow that clips. It's a long tube that has a zipper. It is made of like a nice velvety soft material. You open it up and you can gently roll whatever you'd like to fill this pillow. And then it clips on both ends and becomes a neck pillow. Marco Timpano: So it's a zippered item that you fill with certain clothing. Marco Timpano: And it becomes like a sausage. Amanda Barker: That's right. Marco Timpano: You then zip it. Amanda Barker: Yes. Marco Timpano: And then the two clips on either end clip together. Amanda Barker: That's right. Marco Timpano: And it forms a circle or a Amanda Barker: c. Quite a large and substantial neck pillow that has. If you like a neck pillow on a plane, well then get ready because this thing is. One guy came on a plane once, like he was boarding and I was sitting and he went, well, that's a real neck pillow. And I was like, yes, it is, thank you very much. I take my neck pillows very seriously. It's also my luggage. I didn't tell them that part, but I actually like. What I like about it is it does have the clip on the end with like a little circle on the end and then you can clip it on. And then I use that clip. And when we do a really long flight, which we haven't done actually in a while, but when we do one of those long hauls, you know, overseas, you know, one of those long haul kind of flights, I like about halfway through going into the airport bathroom, clipping that little clip, hanging it down, I gently unzip it so that things don't come tumbling out. They're all kind of stuffed and have found their little place in there, so they usually are fine. I'm going to tell you something. I get completely naked in that bathroom in an airport. In an airline bathroom. Marco Timpano: Oh, on the airplane. Amanda Barker: Sometimes in an airport, but more likely on the plane itself. So, okay, so say it's like. Let's say it's a 12 hour flight. Around hour six or seven, time for Amanda and her neck pillow to go to the bathroom. I go into the bathroom, I take all of my clothes off. Marco Timpano: Oh, my goodness. Amanda Barker: I have a little wipe. Marco Timpano: Okay. Amanda Barker: I do a little wipe down. Marco Timpano: Okay. We don't need any more. Amanda Barker: No, I'm not getting specific. I'm just saying I do a little wipe down. Marco Timpano: Okay, fair enough. Amanda Barker: you can imagine what you want. Marco Timpano: Okay. Amanda Barker: He's trying to. Trying to cancel me. Marco Timpano: I'm not trying to cancel you. Amanda Barker: Editing me. We all know what a wipe down is. Marco Timpano: All right. Amanda Barker: It doesn't even matter. But like, even my hands like stuff like that. Marco Timpano: Sure. Amanda Barker: And then I put an entirely new outfit on, courtesy of neck pillow. Neck roller. Marco Timpano: I see. Okay. Amanda Barker: And then I walk back feeling all refreshed, like I've just had a nice little change. And that's how I stay. I don't know, just feeling good on the flight. Like I feel like I've. It almost feels like a new flight. Marco Timpano: That's how you roll, I guess. Right? Amanda Barker: That's how I. Marco Timpano: Pardon the pun. Amanda Barker: Yeah. Halifax listens to this podcast and gives me great feedback So, yeah, I usually like, if we are going to say Halifax, which I want to soon, and we haven't planned Marco Timpano: it, we need to figure that out. Amanda Barker: I know. And Halifax is listening to this. Marco Timpano: Halifax listens and gives me great feedback and I love Halifax for it. Amanda Barker: And apparently Halifax likes it better when I'm not here. Marco Timpano: Well, listen is what I heard. Halifax did not say that. Halifax said that they liked my solo episode. That's all they said, really. Amanda Barker: Halifax is beautiful and supportive and we love Halifax, which is, these are family members. however, my sister in law Marco Timpano: listens to this podcast and I couldn't be happier, I have to say. Amanda Barker: I know. She's so lovely. So, if I were going out there and I have done this, a few trips to Halifax, I usually get a nice cheap flight. And I don't pay the extra for the carry on or for the. I just have the personal item, which is everyone's favorite, my yellow backpack. And now it's accoutrement the neck roll that I sometimes clip to the backpack or clip to my head like around my neck. And so that'll usually have two or three pairs of socks, obviously changes of underwear, a couple of shirts, maybe something like a nicer shirt that doesn't wrinkle something more comfy as well. And I usually wear whatever jeans I'm planning on wearing. If, say it's a three, four day trip, then I'll just wear whatever jeans. But I'll always have another pair of pants. Like a thin black pair of pants that goes in there. Really? You can only fit maybe one, maybe two, but you can usually get three or four shirts in there as well. Now the only thing that doesn't. Marco Timpano: Well, I mean, your shirt, my shirt, you wouldn't be able to get through. You'd be lucky. Amanda Barker: Depends on the shirt. Yeah, you know, something more casual, something less casual that doesn't wrinkle. Marco Timpano: For the record, I could probably not even get one shirt in there. Amanda Barker: That's not true. You use. You use it too. Marco Timpano: I can get it like a little thin, like a. Not a buttoned up shirt, like just a. Amanda Barker: Well, and we wear layers too. Like we'll wear a sweater over a shirt on the plane anyway. But. But, the only thing I can't usually get is pajamas. So I either just ask whoever I'm staying with, hey, do you have an extra set of, you know, sweatpants or T shirt or whatever? Or. I've done this. I've just ordered pajamas. Just the cheapest pair. One time I stayed there in April and I ordered Christmas pajamas because they were like $10, you know, and they were like quite big, but. But $10 Christmas pajamas. And I just wore those for three days and just left them there, after which, you know, isn't the most environmental choice. I get it. Marco Timpano: But sometimes, unless you use them again next time you're there. Amanda Barker: Yeah, but then you don't want your host to have to keep your old pajamas around, even if you've only worn them a few times. But hey, free pajamas for them if they want them. Marco Timpano: Sure. Amanda Barker: I don't know who wanted my Christmas pajamas, but somebody might have. Marco Timpano: Fair enough. Amanda Barker: So that's my neck roll. Amanda's backpack tends to spill out a lot of things these days Marco Timpano: Amanda's backpack, which is bright yellow, tends to spill out a lot of things these days. Amanda Barker: I have to say that's not something that's completely true. And I don't know how that's soothing for our listeners at all when we've established that the backpack is orderly and secure. Yes, we've been traveling a lot, and my life has been a little bit chaotic and messy in these last few weeks. So, yeah, there was a bit of spillage today. In fact, it was recent, so that's why he's saying that. Marco Timpano: And you had a little spill earlier today too, but not with the backpack. No, with the shepherd's pie. Amanda Barker: Oh, I didn't even think of that. Listen, it was a spilly day. I spilled my coffee this morning. I spilt shepherd's. I made a beautiful shepherd's pie with lentils. I don't use ground beef, usually because we're not the Rockefellers, so I make it with lentils. but it's my. Like, it's my stage two with lentils. I make a big pot of lentils, and we have that with some bread, you know, almost like baked beans. And then that becomes the basis of my shepherd's pie, and I mix it up with vegetables. And then I had a lot of potatoes, so I made mashed potatoes today. And I made one shepherd's pie for us, and then three little casseroles that I put in the freezer. So those lentils. I'm getting a lot of mileage. Two cups of lentils, man, dry. Turn into a big old pot of a crock pot full of, lentil goodness. Marco Timpano: Nothing wrong with that. Unless you're trying to put the shepherd's pie into your yellow backpack and then spill it everywhere. Amanda Barker: Why are you making disturbing ideas for our listeners who ask to be soothed? Marco Timpano: You didn't finish how you spilled the shepherd's pie. Amanda Barker: Well, I spilt it. I took it out of the oven, and it slipped in my big, gigantic silicone oven mitts. And splash, splishity splash. All over the oven, all over the wall. later. I found it on my toes. Oh, so it really got everywhere. Marco Timpano: Little bonus. Amanda takes you through how she packs her suitcase All right, so I'm gonna take you through how I pack my suitcase, because that's where we were gonna go with it. Amanda Barker: Should I do disturbing comments that'll unsettle everybody? Marco Timpano: You should never do disturbing comments on this podcast. Amanda Barker: That's what you've been. I've been trying to create soothing ideas, and then you rat me out. Marco Timpano: I don't rat anybody out. Amanda Barker: You're like, amanda tends to do this awful thing. That's your contribution. Marco Timpano: Your backpack spills a bit. Okay? Amanda Barker: You spill a lot of things, too. Marco Timpano: It's true. But my backpack. So my backpack doesn't spill. But it's all black, and the zipper pulls are all black, too. So I can't find the zipper pulls because there's a lot of areas to zipper. Amanda Barker: But you have a good system for that. Marco Timpano: Now I put bright m. Neon, elastic bands around the zippers. So smart. Amanda Barker: So you know which one is which. Marco Timpano: It doesn't look stylish anymore. It looks a little bit. Amanda Barker: I mean, Black backpack is not the epitome of style. You're not on the catwalk. Marco Timpano: This one here. The style is that everything blends together. So you can't tell where a zipper is. The problem is I can't tell where a zipper is, so. Amanda Barker: Right. Marco Timpano: It's problematic. But when it comes to my suitcase, what I usually like to do is, you know, there's always one part of the suitcase that has like these bumps in it. Marco Timpano: That's where. Amanda Barker: Where the pulley thing lives. Marco Timpano: Yeah. So, kind of like where the. Where the. What's that book called? Where the Monsters Live. Amanda Barker: Where the Wild Things Are. Marco Timpano: Well, the wild things are like you're Amanda Barker: where the monsters live. Marco Timpano: I just can only picture the. Amanda Barker: The monsters. Marco Timpano: Yeah. Okay, stop saying that. People are trying to sleep. And so I. Marco sometimes takes his Amanda Barker: suitcase and it spills everywhere. Isn't that a soothing idea for everybody to hear about? Marco Timpano: So that's where I put my smaller things like socks and underwear to make a sort of level playing field there. Amanda Barker: I m. See. Marco Timpano: Then I'll put usually like any sort of big items like pants or whatnot to make a layer of that. It's almost like you're making a lasagna of clothes. Amanda Barker: Clothes. A clothing lasagna. Marco Timpano: A clothing lasagna in your suitcase. Marco Timpano: Right. So a layer of pants or a Amanda Barker: clothing shepherd's piece, I guess. Marco Timpano: but I deal in lasagna. You deal in shepherd's pie. Amanda Barker: I deal in lentils. Marco Timpano: Right. So a layer of pants, another layer of pants then I'll use then usually it's pretty flat. And so I will fold shirts properly. My button up shirts, I'll button them all the way up and then fold the sleeves behind. Make a perfect square lay shirt upon shirt upon shirt. T shirts. Sorry, I had to breathe in there Amanda Barker: for a second there. I'm holding your breath, nervous. Marco Timpano: And then a shirt, shirt, shirt. And then any other sort of flat clothing will go there. Amanda Barker: So you don't roll everything. You're not a roller. Marco Timpano: I'm not a roller. Amanda Barker: I'm a roller. Marco Timpano: you're a roller. Amanda Barker: I believe in the roll, the neck roll, the jelly roll. Marco Timpano: Yeah, you roll. But I think it's because your clothes are smaller than mine, they can roll better. Amanda Barker: Well, I live by an ethos of anything I have to iron, I won't. So I shouldn't own it. And I pretty much live that way. I have a few things that are ironable, including my freshly purchased linen suit that I bought. Marco Timpano: And usually I travel with a suit Jacket too, so that. I can't roll that. Amanda Barker: No, you can't really roll that. That's fair. Marco Timpano: plus, women's shirts tend to be more rollable than men's. Like, you have a lot of, like. Yeah, Rayoni things. Amanda Barker: Oh, yeah, that's what I'm trying to say. I wear all oil and gas products. I wear. Everything I wear is. Is. Is. 85% of your wardrobe is secondhand Does not break down. I shouldn't say that. That's not true. Now I wear a lot more cotton, so, I'm actually trying to wear more natural fibers. So that's something I'm consciously doing. But because I thrift, because I buy almost exclusively secondhand, pretty much, I would say 85% of my wardrobe is secondhand. a lot of that is rayons and nylons and so on. So, And there's a lot to be. I could do a whole episode on the clothing industry. But one thing I will say is that stuff doesn't usually wrinkle. So that, you know, it's better for me that way. Marco Timpano: For travel. Amanda Barker: Yeah. And it's thinner, obviously, but. But I will say in the spirit of trying to buy more natural fibers. When we were in Italy last June, we were very hot. It was the first week of June, but it was a full blast of summer. unseasonably hot even for Rome in the summer. And so after our, however, our week long trip, we went. We were at the airport in Rome and we had gone to Budapest too. And as we talked about, back when we went and that was a little bit less steamy, a little less hot, just a bit. It was still warm, but a bit more temperate. But Rome was definitely humid hot, all the things. So natural fibers. Absolutely. Anything loose. Absolutely. And by the time we were done, because we had worn a lot of cotton, actually I had brought a lot of cotton. But by the time we were done, we went to the airport and there was, a Benetton there, which is an Italian brand, if you remember it, from the 80s, like I do. But even if you don't, it's just an Italian brand. And they had linen shirts and linen Marco Timpano: pants and linen shorts. Amanda Barker: And linen shorts. Marco Timpano: So we bought linen. Amanda Barker: So we just went, you know what? I'm never going to be without linen again. Because this type of heat, you just want to be in full linen. You really, really do. I really understood it more than I ever had. So I bought just an un. Not even an. Like, it's not even colored. It's this. The color of linen, I think, shirt and pants set. So it's like a suit. I guess it's not really a suit because it's a short sleeve shirt. But kind of feels like a suit when I wear it a little bit and then it feels put together and I love traveling with that. But that does require ironing at least. Or you just lean into the wrinkledness of the linen. Depends on how you roll, I guess. Marco Timpano: On the other side of the suitcase, here's what I do. Amanda Barker: Okay. Marco Timpano: So I try to keep all my clothes on that one side. Marco Timpano: And the other side I put my shoes. Amanda Barker: So I'm not sharing. I thought the other side of this case was my side. Marco Timpano: Well, sometimes it is. But if, if I have my druthers and my suitcase and, and I'm just neck rolling it up and you're neck rolling it and I'm like, I'm gonna, I'm gonna live the life of luxury and bring all the clothes I can. I'll usually bring shoes. Marco Timpano: That I tuck my belts into. I'll tuck my, my If I'm wearing a watch, I'll tuck my watch into those shoes and any other things I can fit inside the shoes. M. I bring my slippers, my Birkenstock slippers. Because I. Amanda Barker: They're sandals. But he calls them slippers. Just so you know. Marco Timpano: These aren't sandals. Is that what you'd call a sandal? Amanda Barker: Birkenstock does not. I mean they might make a slipper, but these would never be called slippers. Marco Timpano: Oh, this is. Amanda Barker: You're like an old man that calls lunch dinner. Marco Timpano: No, no, this is, this is a slipper. In Italian this would be a slipper. Amanda Barker: I know that's why you call them slippers. But I'm gonna, I'm gonna break your heart and tell you the rest of the world would call them sandals. Birkenstock sandals. Marco Timpano: That. You know what that is in Italian? It's a ciabatta. And that's not what you put meat into and eat bread. That's a, ah, proper slipper. Amanda Barker: Well, it's a sandal. Marco Timpano: Okay. Sandalo is how we would say it. These are Birkenstock sandals, just for the record Amanda Barker: Sandalo is how we would say it. Marco Timpano: Okay. Amanda Barker: Because that's what it is. Marco Timpano: I disagree. But anyways, it's a Birkenstock. Amanda Barker: And folks, it looks like a, this isn't a special slipper version of a Birkenstock like the Birkenstock clogs. This is straight up the two, the, the two flaps over with the buckle made, out of, Is that silicone plastic? Marco Timpano: That's plastic foam. Amanda Barker: Some sort of foam, you know, good grade, whatever. Birkenstock. I. I'm wearing the exact same ones. Marco Timpano: I have the leather ones too, but those are my. My casual slippers. So anyways, I bring those two that are also sandals. Amanda Barker: These are Birkenstock sandals, just for the record. Marco Timpano: Okay. I bring them, call them what you will, ciabatta. And then I will put my toiletry bag. I think I mentioned that. And any other non. Non cloth item that I have to bring. Toothbrush. Amanda Barker: you put your toothbrush in your shoes? Marco Timpano: No, no, no. My shoes are full with. With socks, belts, watches, cufflinks, whatever I might need. if I'm wearing a suit. Okay, we'll go in there. Amanda Barker: Okay. Marco Timpano: Yeah. And then I have my toiletry bag. And then I'll have any other little accoutrement. Ah. That I need that's not a clothing item. Amanda Barker: Okay. Marco Timpano: Stays on the other side. And then what I like to do, Amanda. And I do this, but Amanda could care less. I travel with a non permeable pillowcase that I can zip up and I can put the pillow that I sleep on in this pillowcase and I zip it up and I've written on non washable marker my name on it so I don't forget it in the hotel. Amanda Barker: But you don't do that a lot. Marco Timpano: I forgot to bring it last time. But I do, I do usually bring that. Amanda Barker: Do you use the mesh thingy in the middle of the suitcase? The divider? Marco Timpano: You know, sometimes I do. And I think I have stuff that I forgot in. In there. I'll usually pack. sometimes I'll pack like powdery things in there, like drink aids or whatever and. Amanda Barker: And not what I thought you'd say. Marco Timpano: What do you pack in that machine? Amanda Barker: Not drink aids. I don't know. I pack. Usually I pack my underwear in there and I pack my travel jewelry case in there. Usually, yeah. Marco Timpano: You haven't used your travel jewelry case for necklaces that I got you? Yes, I have the zippy one. Amanda Barker: Oh, no, I haven't. Where is that even? Marco Timpano: I don't know, because sometimes your necklaces tangle. That's why I got you that one. Amanda Barker: I'm trying to picture what that one looks like. I don't remember what it's like. Marco Timpano: It's like an accordion. And each one has a little zipper for each individual necklace. Amanda Barker: Oh, I gotta find out where it is. I guess I was looking for my shamrock necklace and I couldn't find it. Marco Timpano: Where is it? Amanda Barker: I don't know. Marco Timpano: Hm. Amanda Barker: Not sure. I have a Shamrock. Don't know where it went. Okay, well, better wait till next year. Your mom used to wish you a happy birthday two days in advance Marco Timpano: I found something today that so. Amanda Barker: Oh my goodness. Marco Timpano: I know we're recording this March 17th and my birthday is December 17th. Just for, for perspective. And my in laws gave me a birthday card in November. Amanda Barker: My mom is early with the birthday. Marco Timpano: She's early, but she gave me a birthday. Amanda Barker: She's chilled out. But she used to like to wish you a happy birthday, like a Facebook tribute. And she would do it solidly like two days in advance, so then everyone would start wishing you happy birthday, like two days early. Marco Timpano: So she gave me my birthday card when we were all together on a recent trip to New York City. And so I was planning to open it in front of them even though it would be a bit early for my birthday, but I wanted to open it from that. And so I brought it down to lunch with us and I did not open it because we were just talking with friends and whatnot and so it just didn't happen. And then I had this card all through New York, came home, could not find the card. Amanda Barker: Right. Marco Timpano: Could not find the card. Couldn't find the card. Couldn't find the card. And then we went to Florida for Christmas and I didn't have the card. And so your mom asked, oh, did you open the card? Blah, blah, blah. I said I didn't. And so she felt bad and she, she, you know, gave me another present and whatnot. And I said, I know I'm going to find the card. Well, today, exactly three months later, I found the card. Amanda Barker: And where was it? Marco Timpano: So I keep a copy of our car insurance and our health, insurance in the meshy part of the suitcase. Amanda Barker: That's right. Marco Timpano: And that's where it stays. Amanda Barker: And our passports, Copies of our passports. So if those go missing that we have copies of them. Marco Timpano: Yeah, So I keep them there just in case we need them. So I know where they are. Marco Timpano: Well, I guess I took them out when we got back for whatever reason, and the card was in there. So I took it out with the insurance and I put the insurance paperwork down so I would have it for future travel. And the card was there, buried amongst the insurance paper and the passport paper photocopies. And so today I grabbed a whole bunch of papers and I was going to go through them and lo and behold, out pops the card. I'm like, what card is this? And then as I'm opening, I'm like, oh, is this the. And sure enough, it was the card. Amanda Barker: How was the card? Marco Timpano: It was really Lovely. Amanda Barker: Yeah. You should call my parents. Marco Timpano: I will. I'll call them tomorrow and let them know I found the card. Amanda Barker: Oh, they'll love that. Marco Timpano: And, I'm. I'm usually really on top of things like that. I don't generally lose things like that. And then that happened. I think that's happened twice with your folks. Where I've lost the card. Amanda Barker: They give it to you so early, and then by the time it's your birthday, you're like, what did we do with it? It happens a lot to us. Marco Timpano: We now have a designated space for early cards and things like that in our home. So we don't. We don't misplace them. Amanda Barker: We can use an organizational overhaul. Overhaul. Marco Timpano: True. Amanda Barker: I think we're due for a little bit of an organizational regroup. what do you think? Marco Timpano: I agree. Amanda Barker: Yeah, I think that's. Maybe we'll talk about that on the next one. Like how we're going to reorganize some things in our house. Marco Timpano: I'd like time. Amanda Barker: It's time. Marco Timpano: And spring is here, so it's always Amanda Barker: nice to have spring cleaning. Yeah. Open the windows. Marco Timpano: Although today was very cold. Amanda Barker: It was very snowy, still in the snow. Marco Timpano: And we have to get our Vespa because the place where we store it, they're like, you gotta come before the 31st. Amanda Barker: But it was a snowstorm yesterday. Marco Timpano: Snow. Amanda Barker: They don't care. Marco Timpano: They don't care. I can't wait to see crocuses. I'm sure some people listening have already seen the crocus, have seen the tulips coming up. Amanda Barker: And there's people everywhere. Marco Timpano: So it's true. Amanda Barker: They. They're seeing all sorts of stuff. Or maybe it's fall. We're there. Marco Timpano: Fair. Fair enough. Amanda shares some tips on what you should carry when traveling Well, I wanted to talk about suitcases, so thank you for that. Thank you for telling us about the neck roll, Amanda. Amanda Barker: it'll change your life. Folks. Marco Timpano: another thing that. That I told our friend. Our mutual friend Mark Browning about, and he went on a trip to the Philippines, and he was so grateful, I told him to bring a travel scale, the kind that's like. It's like a hook on a handle. And. And you put the hook on the suitcase, and you. As you lift the handle with the hook on it, it lifts up your suitcase. And that will weigh the weight of your suitcase. Amanda Barker: Yeah, it tells you the weight. Yeah. Marco Timpano: And so he was like, we. He's like, we thought my girlfriend's suitcase was. Was perfectly in weight. Or she. She told him, no, no, it's within weight. And he said, let's just weigh it. And it was £20 over the legal limit. Amanda Barker: Oh, my goodness. Marco Timpano: So he's like, I was so grateful because we were able to distribute. Amanda Barker: So he didn't have, he didn't have one. And you told him, go get one. Marco Timpano: I told him. He's like, you travel a lot. What are some essentials that you would say to travel with? And I said, one of the things that I love. Amanda Barker: Did you tell him about the neck Marco Timpano: pillow, the travel scale, the neck pillow? Amanda Barker: Did he get one? Marco Timpano: No, he did not get a neck pillow. Amanda Barker: When you, when you have, when you've already allotted for the big suitcases, then there's less need. It's more for those, you know, three, four day weekend trips. Marco Timpano: But the other thing I told him to get, and he was grateful for as well, was spray propolis. Amanda Barker: Yes. Marco Timpano: And so we need to tell our Amanda Barker: listeners what that is. Anyone who's still away. Marco Timpano: His girlfriend used it when she was feeling like a bit of a sore throat and it helped. Amanda Barker: Propolis is a magic thing that bees make, and that's what they use to seal their hives. It is antiviral and antibacterial and antifungal. So it keeps any viruses out, any bacteria, foreign matter out of the hive of the hive. And it has properties to repel or kill those things. And so, they make a spray with it. And if you're feeling like you've been around some sick people or you feel that little tickle in your throat, I'm telling you, you spray it in your throat and it feels like magic. It really does. Marco Timpano: However, I will say this with a big caveat. If you're allergic to bee stings or bee pollen or honey, do not use propolis. Amanda Barker: We're also not medical doctors, so for Marco Timpano: the record, don't use everything we say with discretion. And speak to your doctor. Amanda Barker: I'm going to say, is it. If you like honey, like I do, like I'm obsessed with honey, if you like honey and you like the taste of pollen and things like that, then this product is probably for you. And it's a great thing to travel with. Absolutely. Let us know what you like to travel with Marco Timpano: So there you have it, our suitcase. Some of our essentials. Let us know what you like to travel with and what your travel essential is. And for those of you who listen to our podcast, thank you for listening. If you're a new listener, thank you as well. And we hope this episode allowed you to listen and sleep sat.
Looking for a sleep podcast to fall asleep fast, reduce anxiety, and quiet an overactive mind? This calming episode of The Insomnia Project is designed for insomnia relief, stress reduction, and gentle nighttime unwinding through slow, soothing conversation.Marco Timpano and Nidhi Khanna explore Canadian history through a relaxed and lightly humorous discussion comparing two former prime ministers, Alexander Mackenzie and Mackenzie Bowell. This low-stimulation episode offers an easygoing look at lesser-known historical figures, perfect for bedtime listening.
With soft-spoken storytelling and a gentle, meandering pace, the conversation reflects on quiet moments in political history while keeping the tone calm and accessible. The light “Battle of the Mackenzies” adds a playful element without disrupting the soothing rhythm, helping ease racing thoughts and promote relaxation. Whether you’re searching for a sleep podcast for insomnia, calming background noise while you work, or a gentle way to unwind at the end of the day, The Insomnia Project offers a comforting, reliable escape.
Episode 16: Prime Ministerial Showdown | A Sleep-Inducing Debate on Boredom
Marco Timpano: Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen as we have a conversation about the mundane. One thing that we strive for, as we strive that our conversation will be less than fascinating so that you can just feel free to drift off. I want to thank you for joining us. We hope that you will listen and sweep. Not sweep, listen and sleep. But, we hope you sweep as well, wouldn't you say? Nidhi Khanna: I. People can sweep. This is a really good podcast for sweeping in household chores, I think. Marco Timpano: Also tweet us if you're gonna sweep, tweet and sweep and sleep, listen and sleep. Marco Timpano asks listeners to pick the most boring Canadian prime minister I'm your host, Marco Timpano, who seems a little tongue tied today. Nidhi Khanna: And I am your co host, Nidhi Khanna. Marco, I was looking up, a few facts and figures about as, Marco Timpano: you do for our podcast. Nidhi Khanna: I do, I do, about a Canadian prime minister from back in the day, shall we say. And I was adamant that the Canadian prime minister that I picked was one of the most boring or the most boring in Canadian history. To which you retorted, if I may say so, of course, with, a challenge that the Canadian prime minister that you had on your mind was actually more boring than the one that I had. Marco Timpano: And I picked mine randomly. I was just like, you know, we know certain prime ministers, but who was the fifth prime minister? I couldn't list you in order the different prime ministers of Canada, so I looked up the fifth prime minister of Canada and I said, oh, Nidhi, this dude is boring. So we decided to have our very first Canadian prime minister off. Nidhi Khanna: So who was the prime minister you picked up? Marco Timpano: So I'm going to invite our listeners to tweet who they think Was the most boring prime minister from the two that we selected. Or if they have their own boring prime minister. My prime minister, Canadian prime minister, is the honourable sir mackenzie. Bowell. Or Bowell. Nidhi Khanna: And mine is Alexander, Mackenzie. So I guess if we were to do this in true debate fashion, Be it resolved. Marco Timpano: Oh, I like where this is going. Nidhi Khanna: That Alexander Mackenzie was a more boring Canadian prime minister than sir mackenzie. Marco Timpano: How would you say this? Bowl. Nidhi Khanna: Bowel. Marco Timpano: Bowel. Nidhi Khanna: Bowel. Bowel sounds bad. Marco Timpano: Bowl sounds bad. Nidhi Khanna: I'd feel bad for him if it was bad. Marco Timpano: I say bowl. It's B O D W E L L. Bowel. I'm gonna say bowel and give him like the benefit of the doubt. Nidhi Khanna: Sounds good. Marco Timpano: So my prime minister was prime minister from December 21, 1894 to April 27, 1896. And he was the fifth prime minister. Nidhi Khanna: Okay, so if we're gonna go that Marco Timpano: way just to see who goes first is what I was thinking. Nidhi Khanna: Oh, I see. Okay. mine was prime minister from 1874 Marco Timpano: to 1878, so you go first because he was prime minister before my guy was. Nidhi Khanna: Okay, so I'm just gonna go start with a very brief couple of facts. Marco Timpano: And I'm gonna be looking at wikipedia for my facts. Nidhi Khanna: Great. I am gonna be looking at various sources, starting with vice. Marco Timpano: It seems like you've dropped a gauntlet on that. Okay, great. Nidhi Khanna: so Alexander Mackenzie was a stone mason by train. Marco Timpano: Oh, that's so funny. Because sir Mackenzie, Bowell, or bowell was also a mason. But I'll get to my guy. Nidhi Khanna: Okay. And he carried. Marco Timpano: He, was a freemason. Sorry, a freemason. Nidhi Khanna: Okay. Mine was a stone mason and carried all his life the no nonsense, straight shooting attitude of a good working class 19th century Protestant. Oh, he also looks like the man, the old man from home alone. Marco Timpano: Really? Nidhi Khanna: He does. Marco Timpano: My guy, Sir Mackenzie Bowell was an English born Canadian politician and he served as the fifth prime minister of Canada. He was born in Ricking hall, England. Do you know where that is, nitty? Nidhi Khanna: No, I don't. Marco Timpano: Neither do I. And in 1832, his family immigrated to belleville, upper Canada at the time, which is now Belleville, Ontario. What can you tell me about Belleville? Nidhi Khanna: Well, I can tell you that Belleville is on its way to Montreal. Because every time I drive to Montreal, I pass Belleville. Marco Timpano: I can tell you that Belleville is where, the black diamond cheese factory is. And they have a fountain of orange water in front of their building that I want to say is some of the. Let's say the whey products from the cheddar they make. I'm guessing at that. Nidhi Khanna: I'm just gonna say that obviously that was an exciting fact because Xena came running. My dog came running over, as one would. Marco Timpano: Right. Marco Cardona says Alexander McKenzie is a more boring prime minister Nidhi Khanna: Well, with the mention of cheese. Yes. I am going to up your Bellevue reference. Marco Timpano: Sure. Nidhi Khanna: And let you know that Alexander MacKenzie immigrated in 1842 from Scotland. Marco Timpano: Okay. Nidhi Khanna: And he worked, as I said, as a stonemason and established himself as a building contractor in Sarnia, Ontario. Yes. Marco Timpano: Good old Sarnia. Nidhi Khanna: Yes, exactly. So I think Sarnia trumps Belleville because Belleville is still, like, more south, closer to Upper and lower Canada, I would say still on the trade route. Sarnia is a little bit further afield. Marco Timpano: Doesn't Sarnia have, like, natural, resource money or didn't at one time? I know that Belleville is on the Bay of Quinty. And I also want to put this fun fact about Belleville. Lauren Ash, who's a great Canadian actor and a friend of mine, is from Belleville. Nidhi Khanna: Well, see how interesting. Whereas the resolved that Alexander McKenzie is a more boring prime minister. Marco Timpano: No, but this has nothing to do with the prime minister other than his birthplace or his immigra. Nidhi Khanna: Immigra. Marco Timpano: Place of immigration. Nidhi Khanna: Listen, Marco, I'm gonna tell you right now, every fact counts. The facts that you choose to reveal argue for whatever case you're trying to make. So be careful of what facts you decide to run this debate with. Marco Timpano: Don't fault me for knowing that Lauren Nash is from Belleville and she happens to be interesting, because I'm certain that there's interesting people from Sarnia who you just don't happen to know. Nidhi Khanna: I'm not using them in my argument. Marco Timpano: Then you're just giving a base, a basic argument. Nidhi Khanna: And that's not because it's boring. So I'm also gonna say. Well, actually, okay, this is a little bit interesting. Pretty much the most interesting fact you're gonna find with Alexander Mitchell MacKenzie. He was the first, Liberal prime minister. Marco Timpano: Oh, well, there you go. My prime minister was Conservative, and he held his seat for the Conservatives when they lost the election in January 1874 in the wake of the Pacific scandal. And later that year, he was. Nidhi Khanna: That sounds interesting. What is the Persian fix? Marco Timpano: Well, I'll look it up in just a second, but, he was instrumental in having Louis Royal expelled from the House. Nidhi Khanna: These are all interesting facts. You don't understand this debate, do you? Marco Timpano: You. You don't. You need to go on Wikipedia, because this site here is just giving you such a truncated version of your. Your prime minister that it's not fair. Nidhi Khanna: All right, if, that's the way Marco Timpano: you want to play it while you're doing that. The Pacific scandal was a political scandal in Canada involving allegations of bribes being accepted by 150 members the Conservative government, in the attempts of private interest to influence the bidding for a national rail contract. So it had to deal with the rail and bribes. Nitty. Nidhi Khanna: That's actually really interesting. Marco Timpano: Well, you may say so. Nidhi Khanna: bribes are not like scandal. He's scandalous. That's pretty. Marco Timpano: In 1892, he became minister of Militia and Defense. Nidhi Khanna: Oh, see? Minister militia. Marco Timpano: Well, let's not. Let's not. Let's not make this too exciting, okay? Because I'm. I'm just trying to. I don't think he was Prime Minister yet when all this happened. So too, this is. This is his early political life, so you can't judge him on this because. As Prime Minister, Bowell faced the Manitoba School question Let's talk about when he became prime minister. In December of 1894, it was because Prime Minister Sir John Spar. Sorry. Sir John Sparrow. David Thompson, died suddenly. And Bowell, as the most senior cabinet member, was appointed in Thompson's seat by the Governor General. And then Bowell thus became the second of just two Canadian Prime Minister after John Abbott, to hold that office while serving in the Senate rather than the House of Commons. Are, you awake? Did you hear that? Nidhi Khanna: Did he have any military service? Marco Timpano: No. Did yours? Because military service is exciting. Nidhi Khanna: Well, he was only a major. Marco Timpano: You can't only be a major. A major is a pretty awesome, title to have. Nidhi Khanna: Is it really? Marco Timpano: Have you ever seen Major, Dad? I rest my case. As Prime Minister, Bowell faced the Manitoba School question. Nidhi Khanna: Which was what? Tell me more about the Manitoba school question. Marco Timpano: In 1890, Manitoba had abolished public funding for denominational schools, both Catholic and Protestant, which many thought was contrary to the provisions made for denominational schools. It's funny, Nidhi, that this is a debate, even in 1890 continues to be a debate now in Canada. However, in a court challenge, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council held that Manitoba's, abolition of public funding for denominational schools was consistent with the Manitoba act provision. So there you go. There you go. Nidhi Khanna: Okay, so, let's. Alexander Mackenzie was the most boring prime minister in Canada Let's talk a bit about. I don't know if he was even a sir. There's not even an honorable. I'm assuming there's an honorable MacKenzie, but it doesn't say here in this article. but when. Oh, look, okay. When the McDonald government fell due to The Pacific scandal. Marco Timpano: Oh, so you've got a connection to the Pacific scandal. Nidhi Khanna: In 1873, the governor general, Lord Dufferin. Marco Timpano: And it's funny because you live. We're actually recording this just off Dufferin Street. Nidhi Khanna: That's right. called upon Mackenzie, who had been chosen as the leader of the Liberal Party a few months earlier, to form a new government. And Mackenzie formed a government and then asked the Governor General to call an election. So he was so boring that he did not even wait to call an election after being appointed Prime Minister. That's how good he was. And then he won the election and he remained prime minister for the next four years. Marco Timpano: Wow, that's impressive. Bowel and his predecessors struggle to solve the Manitoba question, which at that time divided the country. And even Bowel's own cabinet was divided because of this Nidhi. And then this poor sir Bowel was further hampered by his handling of the issue by his own. Get this indecisiveness. So, you know, that just shows you what kind of gentleman this person was. And his inability as a senator to take part in debates in the House of Commons because Bowell backed legislation already drafted that would have forced Manitoba to restore its Catholic schools, but then postponed it due to opposition within his own cabinet. Nidhi Khanna: See, he was like at the forefront of a lot of controversy. Whereas Alexander Mackenzie, you know, it was unusual for a man of Mackenzie's humble origins to attain a position such as Prime Minister. And usually it was only given. It was something that was usually given to someone who was a little bit more privileged in society. And so Lord Dufferin, who as I said, was the Governor General at the time. Marco Timpano: Right. Nidhi Khanna: He expressed some early misgivings about a stain stonemason taking over the government. Marco Timpano: But why would he have misgivings? Firstone me, because I get. Nidhi Khanna: I'm assuming he's like, ah, he's not of high society. However, okay, this is how boring Alexander Mackenzie is is that upon meeting Mackenzie, Lord Dufferin revised his opinions and said, Marco Timpano: and I quote, oh, here we go. Nidhi Khanna: However narrow and inexperienced Mackenzie might be, I imagine he is thoroughly upright, well principled and well meaning man. Which means he is so even keel and so non scandalous that he was able to be the most boring prime minister in Canada. Marco Timpano: Well, I doubt that, because I will say this, that while the government was in crisis over this Manitoba question, it was resolved in everything returned to normal when six of the ministers were reinstated by the leadership and then effectively held by Charles Tupper, who had joined the cabinet at the same time filling the Seventh place Tupper, who had been the Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, had been recalled by the plotters to replace. Nidhi Khanna: These are all interesting facts. Marco Timpano: Well, I don't know. Like, these are all interesting. I think you're Lord Dufferin. that whole Lord Dufferin stuff is pretty great. What happened later in life with your. Your Prime Minister? Nidhi Khanna: Later in life? Like after. After. Marco Timpano: After he became Prime Minister, did he do anything interesting? What was his legacy? Sure. What was his legacy? Ah. Ah. Nidhi Khanna: A monument is dedicated to his tomb in Lakeview Cemetery, Sarnia. Switch to Boost Mobile's 25 Unlimited Forever plan and unlock up to $600 savings Marco Timpano: Oh, Nidhi Khanna: hey, this is Paige Desorbo from Giggly Squad, and today I want to talk to you about Boost Mobile. Quick question. Why are we letting our ph bully us? Here's a money tip. Stop paying a carrier tax. When you bring your own phone and switch To Boost Mobile's 25 Unlimited Forever plan, you can unlock up to $600 in savings. That's real life money, not money trapped in a pricey phone bill. $600 is a trip, a shopping spree, or paying something off. Your money belongs in your life. You get unlimited data, talk and text for $25 a month with no contracts and no minimum line requirement. Your phone, your rules. Head to boost mobile.com to switch today and unlock the savings you actually deserve. After 30 gigabytes, customers may experience. Customers pay $25 per month while active on Boost Mobile Unlimited Plan savings claim based on a January 2026 Boost Mobile survey comparing average annual payments of major carrier customers to 12 months on the Boost Mobile Unlimited plan. Visit boostmobile.com for details. Nidhi Khanna: When it comes to managing money, forget the hype and look at the results. Bill has a trillion dollars of secure payments powering our, Bill pay tools. Instead of just moving money, Bill is powering the financial operations of nearly half a million customers. So stop the guesswork and start scaling with the proven choice. Ready to talk with an expert? Visit bill.comproven to get started and grab a $250 gift card as a thank you. Terms and conditions apply. See offer page for details. M. Bowell died of pneumonia in 1917 at the age of 93 Nidhi Khanna: Oh, okay, this one's interesting. And I know you'll like this because this is actually. So he was honorable. Like, an honorable. He obviously had a title at the end, but, honorable. Alexander MacKenzie by Lauren Harris. Marco Timpano: Oh. One of my favorite painters now hangs Nidhi Khanna: at the McKenzie Building, the Royal Military College of Canada. Marco Timpano: Well, there you go. So one of my favorite artists painted a picture of him. So I think that's pretty awesome. Nidhi Khanna: That's it? Marco Timpano: Pretty awesome. Nidhi Khanna: That's his legacy. Those two pieces of art? Well, no, one is more like a, monument dedicated to his tomb and a piece of art that was his legacy. Marco Timpano: Well, I don't see anything here that states that. There is a bust of this dude. Prime Minister Bowell. Bowell stayed in the Senate after his prime ministership and served as his party's leader until 1906. And afterwards as a plain senator until his death at 94. What did he die of? Nitty, you might ask. Any guesses? Nidhi Khanna: I am gonna say. What year did he die? Marco Timpano: He died. So he was. He died on December 10, 1917 at the age of 93. I stand corrected. Nidhi Khanna: Okay, 19. Sorry. 1917. Oh, 1917. He died, I bet. Of like I'm gonna say something, you Marco Timpano: know, Nidhi Khanna: interesting about the time. Probably like Spanish flu. Marco Timpano: No, he died of a broken heart. Nidhi Khanna: Well, that's interesting. Marco Timpano: No, he actually didn't. He died of pneumonia in Belleville, 17 days short of his 94th birthday. And guess where he's buried? In Belleville, in the Belleville cemetery. His funeral was attended by a full complement of the Orange Order because he was an Orangeman, but not by any current or formally elected members of the government. That's how boring he was. A former prime minister. None of the current leadership or politicians showed up at his funeral. Nidhi Khanna: That's true of Alexander Mackenzie as well. Marco Timpano: Well, don't try. Nidhi Khanna: The government showed up at his funeral. Marco Timpano: Don't try to steal my guys. Nidhi Khanna: But wait, no one showed up. And even though he died while he was leader of the opposition, so that's how boring he was, he was still a sitting member of parliament. Marco Timpano: I think that shows how unliked he was, not necessarily how boring he was. I will say this, that, Bowels descendants live in Hertfordshire, England. Have you ever been there? Nidhi Khanna: I have not. Marco Timpano: And some of them live in Ontario, Canada. Nidhi Khanna: Well, look at that. Marco Timpano: In, their 1998 study of the Canadian prime ministers up through Jean Chretien, who was prime minister at the time, J.L. granadstein and Norman Hillmer found that a survey of Canadian historians ranked M. Bowell 19th out of the 20 prime ministers up until then. So he was ranked second last. I should find out who was. Hm. Who was marked last. Nidhi Khanna: So. Marco Timpano: So that we can. We can. Nidhi Khanna: That's good. Alexander MacKenzie was ranked 11th. Oh, 11th place. Marco Timpano: Just in that same. In that same study. In that same. Nidhi Khanna: Yes. Marco Timpano: Okay, so you found that out. Okay. Nidhi Khanna: However, I, think he was number 11 because he did nothing. He did nothing bad and he did nothing good. He kind of just was status quo. So that's why he's right in the middle. Marco Timpano: Well, I'll just say this. Let the listeners decide who was more boring. But I want to. Sir John Sparrow was the fourth Prime Minister of Canada I want to look into this Sparrow dude, because isn't that the name of the character that, Is. Yeah. Is that. Is his name Jack Sparrow? Yeah, but isn't John. Nidhi Khanna: but it's Sir John Sparrow. David Thompson. Marco Timpano: Right, but. Nidhi Khanna: So he's got two names. Marco Timpano: I know, but isn't Jack a diminutive of John? Is it. Is it Jack? Nidhi Khanna: Jack, John? No, I think Jack is like Jackson or. Well, I don't. Marco Timpano: Can it. Can a John not be a Jack? Nidhi Khanna: That's pretty. Like, are we that lazy with. Marco Timpano: I don't know. We need Jacks and Johns. I know my friend has a son named Jack, but his name is Jack. It was always Jack. Nidhi Khanna: Right. Okay. Marco Timpano: So, Jack, while you're looking that, up. John Sparrow was a Canadian lawyer, judge, politician, and university professor who served as the fourth Prime Minister of Canada. So he was clearly a prime minister before my dude. And he died in office on, December 12th. And how did he die, you might ask? In office? Heart attack. Age of 49. Nidhi Khanna: It's a hard time. Marco Timpano: Difficult man. It's hard to run a country. Nidhi Khanna: Okay. The origins of ten nicknames. it can be Jack. It could be James as well. Marco Timpano: Oh, yeah, it's James. I think I've always known it as James. I knew there was something about it that was. Didn't strike me. what is. Nidhi Khanna: Oh, no, but Jack is. Why is Jack from John? Marco Timpano: Yeah, why is Jack from John? Nidhi Khanna: Oh, this is actually an interesting fact. Marco Timpano: Okay. Nidhi Khanna: The name Jack dates back to about, 1200, the year 1200, and was originally used as a generic name for peasants. Marco Timpano: Oh. Nidhi Khanna: Over time, Jack worked his way into words such as lumberjack and steeplejack. and John was once used as the generic name for English commoners and peasants like John Doe, which could be why Jack became the nickname for John. But the more likely explanation is that the Normans added, kin. this is very. Marco Timpano: Now, this is getting a little complex. Nidhi Khanna: Yeah. Marco Timpano: Let me tell you this. Nidhi Khanna: Tell me. Marco Timpano: Going back to John Sparrow. Prime Minister John Sparrow. Despite having held, prime ministerial office, Prime Minister John Sparrow had little estate. So Parliament set up, a fund to support his widow and children. His only remaining descendants today is the Canadian politician Margaret Mitchell. Do you know who Margaret Mitchell is? No. she is part of the New Democratic Party, and she is a member of Parliament for Vancouver East. She held office from 79 to 93. Nidhi Khanna: Wow. Look at that. Marco Timpano: So there you go, why? Nidhi Khanna: He has like five names that are all like, name names. Marco Timpano: I think that was the custom of the time talking, of nicknames from actual names. Do you know where the name Peggy comes from? What the actual female name is? Nidhi Khanna: I do. Margaret. Marco Timpano: And we just talked about Margaret Mitchell. That's why came to mind. Nidhi Khanna: Oh, look at that. Marco Timpano: So does that mean Peggy's Cove is actually Margaret's Cove. Nidhi Khanna: Oh, Marco Timpano: But it's in Margaret's Bay, if I'm not mistaken. No. Nidhi Khanna: That's why. Marco Timpano: Interesting. Have you ever been to Peggy's Cove? Nidhi Khanna: I haven't. Marco Timpano: It's fantastic. Nidhi Khanna: Is it really? Marco Timpano: It's spectacular. I think it's the second most photographed site in Canada after. St Margaret's Bay lighthouse gets its name from Niagara Falls Do you want to guess? Nidhi Khanna: Ooh, think of, think of after Niagara Falls. Marco Timpano: You got it. I think that's what they, what they say there. Right. It's like, it's one of the sort of facts of it. But it's absolutely gorgeous. Gorgeous. And it is on St Margaret's Bay. So I think that's where it gets its name, from. And a beautiful lighthouse. You gotta go there is all I can say. How do you feel about lighthouses? Lighthouses in general How do you feel about lighthouses? Nidhi Khanna: Lighthouses in general? Marco Timpano: Lighthouse homes? I don't know what you'd call a. Plural lighthouse light. Nidhi Khanna: Yeah, you're right. I don't, know. Light homes, lighthouses. Odd. I'm neither here nor there with them. I feel like they're very interesting structures and I would love to like go up one. But it's one of those things that's also kind of a relic because it's no longer really necessary, is it? Marco Timpano: Like, I know, unfortunately, we did. We talked about things that were sort of a few episodes back, about things that are becoming obsolete. And I feel like certainly the lighthouse keeper. Speaker C: Yeah. Marco Timpano: There's few and far betweens because the lighthouses that are currently used are automated. Nidhi Khanna: Right, Right. Marco Timpano: Do you know that? So Peggy's Cove in St. Margaret's Bay. St. Margaret's Bay was named after Samuel de Champlain's mother, Marguerite. Did you know that? Nidhi Khanna: I didn't know that. Look at you with all these facts. Marco Timpano: Listen, it's what happens when you have a phone next to you and you're recording a podcast. You can just sort of look things up. Nidhi Khanna: I think all of these interesting facts are actually a distraction, Marco, for the fact that I clearly won this debate. Marco Timpano: I don't think it's something that you can determine. We need our listeners to tell us who in fact was the more boring Prime Minister, Sir Bowell Or, I mean, Nidhi Khanna: look, Sir Bol even has such an interesting name that there's a million pronunciations. Marco Timpano: It's only interesting because I don't know how to pronounce that name. Nidhi Khanna: Whatever. It doesn't matter. Mine is, like, the most boring English. Like Scott, like Alexander Mackenzie. You can't get any more, like, plain Marco Timpano: than that, I suppose. well, we can both say safely that there are no John Sparrow. Nidhi Khanna: He obviously was a lot more interesting. Did you do any reports on prime ministers when you were going to school Marco Timpano: I think it's interesting that we don't know what prime minister is, though. I have to say, like, you know. I know. I know the last. Say five prime ministers. Five to seven prime ministers. Like, I remember the prime minister I remember as a child was Trudeau. So I remember from Pierre Trudeau up. I would guess I'd be able to do it, but before that, I think it was Pearson. I want to say. I, want to guess. And this is from having done a report on Lester B. Pearson back in, I want to say the fifth grade. Did you do any reports on prime ministers when you were going to school? Nidhi Khanna: Oh, probably. I mean, we all had to do, I think, in grade 10 that, like, I think we have to do it in French. I can't even remember the history of kids. Canada. You know, in order to graduate high school, you have to do the history of Canada. Marco Timpano: Sure. Nidhi Khanna: Like the year. I think it's grade 10 or 10th grade that. That you have to do it in. Marco Timpano: So I once had to portray Sir John A. MacDonald. Oh, yeah. It was this weird sort of gig I had where it was like, me and two friends. And one friend was Katherine Partrail, who wrote Roughing it in the Bush, one of Kenna's first novels or books. It wasn't a novel. It was about life living in the Canadian wilderness or first coming to Canada. Nidhi Khanna: Okay. Marco Timpano: And the other friend of mine was Cornelius Kriegoff, who was a Canadian painter, if I'm not mistaken. Oh, I hope he was a painter. I want to say he was a trapper and a painter. Anyways, so I got to play one of the Canada. I got to play Canada's first prime minister. We invite you to tweet us on who you think was the more boring prime minister. Mine, Sir Bowell, or Nimmies. Nidhi Khanna: The honorable Alexander Mackenzie. Please tweet ustenandsleep because this is definitely something that Marco and I want settled by you, the listener. as always, we are recording in Toronto, and we're produced by John Cast Productions. So until the next time, we hope you listen and sleep.
Looking for a sleep podcast to fall asleep fast, reduce anxiety, and quiet an overactive mind? This calming episode of The Insomnia Project is designed for insomnia relief, stress reduction, and gentle nighttime unwinding through slow, soothing conversation.
Marco Timpano and Nidhi Khanna settle in for a relaxed discussion that moves from Listerine and everyday household uses to grocery shopping habits and the small rituals of daily life. With low-stimulation, easygoing topics, this episode creates a cozy, familiar atmosphere perfect for bedtime listening. The conversation also drifts into garage winemaking, exploring the charm of homemade wine and creative hobbies, all delivered in a soft, meandering style that helps ease racing thoughts and promote relaxation. With unhurried pacing and gentle storytelling, this calming podcast episode is ideal for sleep, stress relief, or quiet background listening. Whether you’re searching for a sleep podcast for insomnia, calming background noise while you work, or a gentle way to unwind at the end of the day, The Insomnia Project offers a comforting, reliable escape.
Listerine, Groceries, & Wine Making
(Original airdate: Sept 7, 2016) Welcome to the Insomnia Project. We hope you will listen and sleep as well as rate us on itunes Marco: Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen as we have a conversation about the mundane. One thing that we can promise is that our conversation will be less than fascinating so that you can just feel free to float away and drift off. Thank you for joining us. We hope you will listen and sleep as well as rate us or comment on itunes. We love reading what you have to say about our show. I'm your host, Marco Timpano. Nidhi: And I'm your co host, Nidhi Khanna. Marco. We've been receiving some wonderful, um, Marco: feedback, Nidhi: feedback, comments, uh, communications from some of our listeners. And I wanted to take a moment on this episode to kind of do some shout outs really. Um, particularly to Brent who, who mentioned that listening to our podcast has changed his life. Marco: Oh. So hopefully, hopefully for the better. Nidhi: Hopefully. Um, and hopefully that means he's getting a good night's sleep after listening to us. So thank you, Brent. Marco: You know, Nidhi, um, my life changed when I found something that helped me sleep. And uh, you know, when one can't sleep and you find that sort of key that allows you to at least relax. We're hoping that if our podcast doesn't allow you to find sleep, it'll at least allow you to listen and relax and focus on something else. Nidhi: Agreed. And, uh, it seems that that's sort of what's, what's happening in terms of the feedback we're getting. So, um, Steve also sent in an email and he mentioned that him and his wife are our avid listeners and they even download our episodes because playing them on repeat doesn't seem to be an issue because they seem to be falling asleep, except when the topics are too interesting, which I'm fascinated by because I'd like to know maybe what topics have been interesting. Marco: We try not to be too interesting, but you know, sometimes Nidhi, conversation will bring you to an, uh, avenue that uh, sparks an interest for certain people. And uh, I apologize if at any point this episode or future episodes becomes so interesting that one can't find their way to sleep. But at the very least, I'm hoping that if you do follow this a particular episode to the end that it is at the very least relaxed you Nidhi: so clearly maybe given you a tad bit of information about something mundane. Marco: Sure. Little Goose on Twitter offers to take us around Ann Arbor if we visit Nidhi: Um, uh, and with that, my last shout out goes to um, Little Goose on Twitter, who has been wonderful with uh, the offer to take us around Ann Arbor if we're ever visiting and recording from there. So maybe he can take us to some of the places that we met or she. Marco: Do we know if Little Goose is a. Nidhi: You know what? That's a good point. Not sure if it's he or she or. Marco: Well, thank you Little Goose. Nidhi: They. For now. Marco: Fair enough. You've never been to Ann Arbor though, right? Nidhi: I have never been to Ann Arbor. Marco: I loved Ann Ar. Ann Arbor when I was there. I remember being there and, and thinking, I remember driving through there and saying to Amanda, oh, this is Ann Arbor. And I wanted to explore. So we kind of drove around and I saw the beautiful homes and how green it was and I was like, oh, um, this is a place that, you know when you see a place nitty and you're like, I could live here. And yeah, it was like that for me. It really resonated with me. So thank you, Little Goose. Nidhi: Thank you, Little Goose. Goose. And little, uh, Goose also mentioned a particular staple brand. Marco: Oh, that's right. Because we talked about staples. Nidhi: Exactly. Marco: So I'm going to, I'm, I'm going to find a stapler. Nidhi: That particular brand is the swing line stapler. Marco: So I'm going to find a swing line and I will give some feedback on how it works for me with that. Nidhi: That closes off our shout outs for today. Please do continue to send us all this great, great, ah, feedback. We're thrilled when we receive it. Nidhi: I've always liked Listerine because it's antiseptic Marco: We've also received feedback from certain um, products or companies that we've mentioned, which is kind of neat on our, on our Twitter and I was just talking to you about Listerine. Nidhi: Yes, you were. Marco: So Amanda and I, uh, on the last episode were talking about toothpaste and then I started to, to, to talk about Listerine. I start to read up on it. Listerine. And it's a great antiseptic, right Nidhi? And so when you use, you know, there's different types of mouthwashes but I've always liked Listerine. I don't like things that are too Nidhi: like brand like you like listering the brand. Marco: The brand. I like listering the brand versus its competitors. I won't, I won't mention what they are. But I've always liked Listerine because it's. Has always left my mouth feeling very clean. And what I've noticed is that if I've had a cut in my mouth and I often I'm an inside cheek biter. Nidhi: Oh, I Do that, too. Sometimes it's the worst. Marco: Ah. Yeah. So, um, using Listerine has helped to heal. Nidhi: Yeah. Marco: And clean the inside of my mouth. So I've always been a fan of Listerine, but there's a lot of different uses that one can have for Listerine. Nidhi: You know what, Marco? It's very true. It's actually, uh, quite a versatile product. So, um, some of the more interesting, I guess they call them life hacks for Listerine. Marco: Sure. Nidhi: Uh, if you've run out of deodorant, you can dip a cotton ball into some Listerine and dab it under your arms, which I guess, you know, when you think about it, it's an antiseptic maybe takes sort of gets rid of the sweat bacteria underneath your arm. Marco: Sure. And, you know, it does come in a mint flavor, too. So if you use the minty one, it's going to give you a refreshing sort of smell. Zing. Sure. Nidhi: And to that point, you could also take it, you can use it as sort of an aftershave. Did you know? Marco: Sure. Like, uh. Nidhi: Yeah, it's pretty cool. Marco: The other thing, with Listerine, you could probably dilute it in water and put it in a little spray bottle so that, you know, Nidhi, sometimes you are at a, let's say a cabin, um, or you're at, um, a hotel and the pillows don't smell fresh. Well, dilute a little bit of Listerine in water and spray it on the pillow. It's going to kill any bacteria that's on that and it's going to leave a fresh scent. And that's a great thing. When you're in hotels or motels and you're kind of like, I don't know about these pillows. Pillows, or I don't know what this particular bed or sheets or whatnot. Nidhi: Marco, that's a great idea. Um, I'm actually. That. That's actually a really great idea. I never thought about that before. I can tell you my most unique time that I use Listerine I can tell you my most unique time that I use or my. My most unique use for listening. Marco: Sure. Nidhi: Uh, I've used it as a foot bath before pedicure. Marco: Oh. Nidhi: So particularly, um, if you've walked a lot during the day or you have tired feet, if you put it in a bath of Listerine and water, it actually. Marco: Say if you put it in a bath. Nidhi: If you put it in a bath of Listerine and water, you can actually, uh, make your feel. Your feet feel very, um, refreshed and tingly and clean, obviously, because you've pretty much killed anything that could possibly go in there. So that's the most unique way that I've used Listerine. Listerine is used to kill bacteria and to kill odors Marco: And now I'll tell you the most unique way that I've used it. So. And this actually comes from something that Amanda and Dale, who've both been on our episodes, uh, told me about. So when you're a mascot, so you know those people who are inside the suits of your favorite cartoon character, whether it be Mickey Mouse or Scooby Doo or one of those types, what they do is they spray the, uh, Listerine inside to kill the bacteria from the person who wore it before and to keep it smelling fresh. I took that advice and I use it for my helmet. So, you know, you wear a helmet when you're riding and you get sweaty in it, and over time it's going to start to, I guess, stink. Right? Well, I dilute some Listerine in water in a little spray bottle, and I spray it. And I would recommend this to people who are doing a lot of sports. So, for example, if you have a hockey bag and you've got your hockey equipment in there, just spray Listerine in there. It's gonna kill whatever odor, whatever odors in there. And the bacteria, it's an antiseptic. So it's not gonna be like, um, you know, it's something you can, you can ingest and it's not gonna be harmful. Whereas if you use something that is like a Lysol type product or something like that, you don't. It's not meant to be, you know, put onto your skin. Nidhi: Right. Marco: Or to be ingested. So if you have like, you know, padding and stuff that's close to your face or that stays on your skin, you don't want that. Nidhi: It's funny you say that because one of the uses for Listerine is actually, um, clearly to kill odors. And so if you soak, um, sort of like a paper towel with Listerine and put it, um, in your garbage can underneath the actual garbage, uh, bag, um, it will kill the odors of the garbage. Marco: Oh, that's great. Because, you know, I find the organic. So in Toronto, we have organic waste, and I know a lot more communities are having organic waste that you can have, but oftentimes you have the organic waste and when you remove the bag, there'll be some debris that goes on the bottom and it'll, it'll have a bit of a, you know, an unpleasant odor to it. So I'm gonna do that. I'm gonna actually do that. Nidhi: Uh, please let us know how it goes. Marco: Yeah, I will. Nidhi: Because I wonder if that works as it. In theory, it should work very well. Marco: Well, because what I do is I put a newspaper. So when I use my organic waste. Right. I will take, you know, how you get those flyers delivered to your home. I'll, um, take one of those flyers and I'll put it underneath so that if the bag should rip or if something should fall out of the bag, oftentimes it's organic waste. So it could have some liquid to it. Let's say the rind of a watermelon or whatever, peach pit or something. Right. And the newspaper will kind of soak that up so it doesn't remain wet on the bottom. And so because I already do that, it wouldn't take much for me to get a paper towel and put it on top of that. And I'll let you know how that goes because I think that's a great idea. You can use Listerine to clean television or computer screens Thank you for that little tip. Full Life Hab hack tips. And it's so funny. Who would have thought? Nidhi: Who would have thought? And here's my last tip. Listerine. You can actually. And this is something that, um, I think I'm going to try. You can use it to clean the screens on your television or computer. Marco: Oh, really? Nidhi: So if you put Listerine on a song soft cloth, you'll be able to clean it. And I find that helpful because you can't use the same products on your screens as you do to normally clean. Marco: Right, right. I always buy like, um, at a computer store, one of those things. And they're not cheap. You know, they're not. That'd be interesting to PE for people who use touch pads. You know, when you use touch pads for your line of work, whether it be, let's say you work in a restaurant or somewhere that, um, you share an iPad and people are always touching it. Nidhi: Sure. Marco: Someone's sick, they touch the iPad and then you're touching it and you touch your face. Well, it'd be great to use that between each person using that iPad or that touchscreen to kill any sort of, um. Nidhi: I just think we solved the world's problems when it comes to germs. Marco: Little mouthwash goes a long way. In particular if you have holitosis. That's his primary use. Nidhi: This true. Nidhi: I recently discovered my local grocery store Marco: So, Nidhi, um, you were telling me about something that happened to you just, uh, recently that was very interesting. Nidhi: And, uh, yes, Marco, I, I mean, I recently, um, discovered my local grocery store. Marco: Right. Nidhi: Um, and in the area that I've moved into, there's like a store, grocery. Grocery store that's sort of a, um, like a discount, more sort of. I don't want to say lower end because that's not true. It's still got very quality food. But it's the type of grocery store where you go in, you know, lights are kind of dimmed halfway. Like there's not a lot of extras that you get. Marco: Okay. Nidhi: Um, and I thought it was really interesting because then I also, on the other side, side of the street, um, had a food co op. Marco: Oh. Nidhi: And so it's an interesting. Marco: What exactly is a food co op? We should, we should explain that. Nidhi: Good question. That's a good question. So a food co op is. From what I understand now, I haven't yet become a member of a food co op, uh, or this particular one. Um, but I'm considering it because. So I think you buy a membership to be able to take advantage of discounted goods. I mean anyone could go in there and purchase something. Marco: Sure. Nidhi: But they have special deals. Let's say if you're a member and the idea is to sort of create community around these grocery stores. Um, and it's all local and organic and very healthy foods. And um, the meats and everything, the vegetable are, are locally, ah, sourced and I don't know, properly raised, etc. Um, so it's interesting to kind of have both those options. But here's where I kind of go. You know, when you have both food co op and then you have the more discounted grocery store. Marco: Right. Nidhi: Sometimes I feel guilty because it's like, which one do I choose? Because the part of me that wants to be all holistic and zen and only put clean things, um, and meats and whatever foods in my body is like, go to the food co op because you're also, you know, um, um, helping local farmers and businesses, etc. But then the other part of me that is like, food's so expensive. Marco: Right. Nidhi: It's like I want to go to like the lower end grocery store. Marco: Sure. Nidhi: And it's starting to actually make me feel very guilty. I don't know what to just hide. Marco: Well, here's what we do. We get a, um, organic food box delivered to our home once a week. Nidhi: Right. Marco: So it's really interesting. It was something we wanted to try and we're like, let's just do it and see what it is. And it's actually quite fun because you never know. Or at least we don't know what we're gonna get in our box. It happens to be whatever's in C and sometimes not like, we consistently get organic bananas in our box, which is great because I love bananas, so it's never. But then every once in a while you'll get something like, oh, no, we got these. And it might be something that I'm not a big fan of, but they happen to be in season. Nidhi: We all prefer things a certain way, like groceries. If you want groceries just how you like them, you gotta try Instacart. They have a new preference picker that lets you pick how ripe or unripe you want your bananas. Shoppers can see your preferences upfront, helping guide their choices. Because when it comes to groceries, the details matter. Instacart get groceries just how you like. Knock knock. Marco: Ooh, who's there? A, uh, Boost Mobile expert here to deliver and set up your all new iPhone 17 Pro, designed to be the most powerful iPhone ever. You called that a knock knock joke? This isn't a joke. Boost mobile really sends experts to deliver and set up your phone at home or work. Okay. It's just that when people say knock knock, there's usually a joke to go with it. Nidhi: Like I said, this isn't a joke. Marco: So the knock knock was just you knocking? Yeah, that's how doors work. Get the new iPhone 17 Pro delivered and set up by an expert wherever you are. Delivery available for select devices purchased at boostmobile.com, terms apply. Marco: Over 90 of the top 100 US accounting firms trust Bill to handle bill pay processes. Why? Because our tools are built on over a trillion doll secure payments. We're not just moving money. We're powering financial workflows for half a million customers. That's a level of expertise you just can't fake. Ready to talk with an expert? Visit bill.comproven to get started and grab a $250 gift card as a thank you. Terms and conditions apply. See offer page for details. What has been, um, the oddest thing that you've received Nidhi: What has been, um, the oddest thing or the thing that you've received that you're like, I don't even know what to do with this. Like, how do we make something out of this? Marco: I think it was, um. Oh, I wish I could remember exactly what they called it, but it was like grape. Grape skin flower. Oh, so they made like a. Oh, I don't know if it's called grape skin flower, but it was like a powdery substance made of grape skins and, um. Nidhi: Sounds like grape skin. Um, great. Well, let's just. Now. Grape skin powder. Marco: No, grape skin flower. Does that make sense? Grape skin flower. Grape skin. Oh, um, it's gonna. Nidhi: I didn't know that you could. Marco: Oh, maybe I'm getting this wrong. Anyways, clearly I didn't know what to do with this. It was like this purpley kind of powder, and that was in the box one time. But it was kind of fun. It was kind of like, oh, this is pretty cool. Um, I never like the oranges we got from it. The oranges were always, like, not my favorite, and I love oranges. They just weren't the oranges that I'm used to. So maybe they weren't the sort of varietal of orange that I like. Valencia or. Okay. Nidhi: You know, did it look like this image? Marco: Yeah, it looked like that. Nidhi: Okay, so, um. So it is. Oh, interesting. So in the last few years, grapeseed flower has kind of been on the eyes. Marco: Okay. Oh, so it's grape seed, not scrape skin. Nidhi: Grape seed. Yes, grape seed, flour. And it's, um. Actually, it's produced from the pomace, so the seeds and the skin together. Um. Um. And it's actually the. The waste that's generated during, uh, winemaking. Marco: Okay. Nidhi: And so I guess they found a way to take whatever it is they. After they've extracted the juice from the grape and make it into sort of a flower form. And it has so many great antioxidants, apparently. So it seems to be very good for you. One of those. My family growing up, my grandfather and father would make wine Marco: Have you ever made wine? Nidhi: Made. Marco: Sorry, wine. Have you ever made wine? Nidhi: No, I haven't. Marco: My family growing up, my grandfather and father would make wine. Nidhi: Really? Marco: Yeah. Yeah. And so what we would do is the grapes would come from California in these crates. Nidhi: Okay. Marco: And you would take the crates and you would put them in this giant. Well, as a kid, it seemed giant. It was this kind of like. Oh, my goodness, masher, for lack of a better word. So it looks like two cogs that rotate in unison, and they sort of have grooves that fit in almost like the gears of a clock. But imagine them as if they were thrashers. Or you would put something in, and it would. It would. It would, um, crush the grapes, the seeds, the skin, and parts of the vine that would be. Nidhi: But what would I want to imagine more? That it's you and your family in a barrel, crushing grapes with your feet? Marco: Well, that was never how we made wine. And I don't think people have made wine like that for probably centuries, unless you watch reruns of I Love Lucy. Nidhi: There you go. Marco: Um, Though I will say my buddy Mark DeAngelis has some photos of him and his brothers as kids doing that. Family would do that. Not that that's how they made wine. But that was certainly what they made the kids do for fun and whatnot. And you'd end up with purple feet, I guess. But we would take it. You throw the grapes into this grinder of sorts. Nidhi: Sure. Marco: It always reminded me of. Because it had. It was big and metal and it had like, handles that you could put on your shoulders. So it reminded me of like, you know, when you see images of Cleopatra being carried by her strong, uh, carry guys, slaves or whatever they were. Like, it always reminded me of that. It had that look to it. But then you would throw the grapes into it. Somebody would turn a wheel and it would grind the grapes, which would fall into a giant barrel. And there it would sit, um, the juices, the grapes, the skins, the seeds, the Nidhi: whatever waste is generated. Marco: It would be in this thing. And then you would take it and you would put it into this other contraption. And it looked like. Oh, niddy. Like it's so distinct. But it is. It had two wooden pieces that were slats of wood in a concave. So two half circles that you would put together. And you'd kind of like latch them so they would secure. And you would put the grapes inside this. And through the slats, the juice would sort of drip into a little round. Um, it circled the two. The two pieces of wood that are now, um, together. So it was kind of like a barrel, but a barrel that allowed liquid to drip out of it. So it was kind of like slat, a slatted barrel, let's say. And it would drip into a. Like a cup or holder that would go around the barrel and it would have a spout at the bottom or at one end, which would drip into a holding barrel. Because you would get more juice this way. Right. Wine juice or so grape juice, I should say. Nidhi: How much? Sorry. Marco: Oh, it doesn't. Marco: It doesn't end there? No, no. Then. Because that would just be the juice. But you'd still have skins and flesh of the grape that's been crushed in this sort of slatted barrel. Then you would take wooden blocks and they were sort of half moon wooden blocks or half circles, and you put them on top. Then you take another two and you put them on top of that and they were pretty heavy. Another two. Nidhi: Isn't that how you play Jenga? Ish. Yeah. The grinder was pretty big. I remember it being pretty. How big was this contraption Marco: So you do that for maybe three or four. And then on the top of this barrel would be a, um, like a metal thing. And you'd put a metal rod in and you'd Click it back and forth. And as you clicked it back and forth, it would send, like a vise. It would kind of circle and would push these Jenga blocks or these blocks down and down and down, thus crushing what's inside the slatted barrel. And I'm sure it has a name to it. It would crush it. So that, uh, French press, kind of. Kind of. But, uh, you'd click it back and forth so they would. It would slowly go down and it would crush the grapes and push the grapes and the skins and the seeds until it flattened it and caused almost all of the juice to drip out the sides into this little moat that would cause the juice to go into another barrel. And then you would be able to use this. This grape juice to make wine. Nidhi: So this was in your house? Marco: This was in our garage. In your garage. Nidhi: How big was this. Marco: This contraption? The contraption was the size of a barrel, let's say. Nidhi: Oh, wow. Marco: And it was like, kind of raised on. On metal legs with a little sort of moat around it. And I know they have words for this, but anyways, I digress. But the actual grinder that I mentioned earlier, that was pretty big. I remember it being pretty. Pretty monstrous. How many grapes would you need to make, like, a bottle of wine Nidhi: And how many, like, how, um. How many grapes would you need to make, like, a bottle of wine? Marco: You'd never just make one bottle of wine. So you'd have. You'd have crates and crates and crates. Right. So I'd have to ask my family how many crates they would order. And then we wouldn't bottle our wine. Nidhi: Okay. Marco: So we would put them in what's called a demijohn. Nidhi: Okay. Marco: Do you know what a demijohn is? It's an old term for a cask, a large cask. Okay. M. And we'd allow it to ferment the demijohn. And then you would have wine. Right. So then from this large cask, and you'll often see them. It's kind of the interesting thing about a demijohn is that it is a round circle of glass that sits in a straw basket. Nidhi: I know which ones you're talking about. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Marco: And so what my family would do is the wine that we had in our demijohn, we would then transfer into a gallon. Nidhi: Okay. Marco: Jug. Nidhi: Sure. Marco: And then we would use the gallon jug as our wine. Not that we would put a gallon jug on our table, but we would take the. The gallon jug that we would have and we'd put. Pour them into liter leader glassware, not bottles, but you know, those little flasks type things. They're more like, uh, they're not flasks, but they're the leader. Nidhi: I know what you mean. Marco: Yeah, they kind of have a, a really beautiful shape to them that a leader. Like a liter, bottle, glass, whatever you want to call it, flask of flask that you would put on the table. And that's what we would drink our wine out of. Nidhi: Um, so that. Marco: That's. Nidhi: Wow. And was it good? Marco: It was great. Like we would get different types of varietals of grapes from California. California has fantastic wines, so clearly they have fantastic grapes and we would use those grapes to make our wine. Marco: This show has life hacks from list into winemaking Nidhi: Well, Marco, this has been a show full of information. It certainly has life hacks from list into winemaking. M. Um, so we'd like to once again thank all our listeners out there, uh, particularly, uh, the ones who took the time to write in and rate Marco: us, rate us and write comments. Nidhi: We're always happy to receive, um, feedback. Oh, look at that. Marco: There you go. Nidhi: Um, so thank you to everyone. And tonight's show was actually broadcast from Toronto, as always produced by drumcast Productions, and we hope that you continue to listen and sleep. Mhm, mhm. Sa.
Looking for a sleep podcast to fall asleep fast, reduce anxiety, and quiet an overactive mind? This calming episode of The Insomnia Project is designed for insomnia relief, stress reduction, and gentle nighttime unwinding through slow, soothing conversation.
Marco Timpano and Nidhi Khanna explore Earl Grey tea, its distinctive bergamot flavour, and the comforting rituals of making and enjoying a warm cup. From tea preferences to the calming routine of steeping and sipping, this episode offers low-stimulation, cozy content perfect for bedtime listening. With soft-spoken storytelling and a gentle, meandering pace, the conversation creates a peaceful atmosphere that helps ease racing thoughts and promote relaxation. Focused on simple pleasures and familiar comforts, this relaxing podcast episode is ideal for sleep, stress relief, or quiet background listening during your day. Whether you’re searching for a sleep podcast for insomnia, calming background noise while you work, or a gentle way to unwind at night, The Insomnia Project offers a comforting, reliable escape.
Earl Grey
(Original airdate: Aug 10, 2016) Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, lie back, recline however you'd like, relax and listen. As we have a conversation about the mundane, we try to promise you that, uh, our conversation will be less than fascinating or at the very least, relaxing so that you can just drift off. Thank you for joining us we hope you will listen and sleep. I'm your host, Marco Timpano. nidhi: And I'm your co host, Nidhi Khanna. Marco: Now, Nidhi, we had mentioned a few episodes back that we were going to talk about Earl Grey tea. nidhi: Yes, Marco. So this was stemming from a controversy in terms of how you actually take Earl Grey tea. Because while many people seem to put milk in their Earl Grey tea. Marco: Yes. nidhi: The proper way to have it seems to be with lemon. Marco: Really? Why is that? nidhi: Apparently, Earl Grey tea, uh, because it's infused with bergamot oil. Originally, people say that it was infused in such a way to disguise the taste of lime that was naturally in the water in the 1800s. Marco: Lye. nidhi: Lime. Marco: Lime. nidhi: Lime. Marco: Old lime. nidhi: Um, but not lime as the stuff. Marco: Citrus. But lime as in the calcification. nidhi: I don't know. I think. I don't know. Uh, it says lime as in spelt as the citrus fruit. So I'm not quite sure why it has to be a lemon. Marco: Well, it's interesting that you should say this because bergamot, uh, bergamot oil is from the bergamot fruit, which is a citrus fruit. nidhi: Exactly. So maybe it's a taste thing. Maybe it's a pretty preference thing. However, it's still very controversial. So the research that, um, I've done indicates that it is still a 50, 50 sort of, um, split in terms of how one has Earl Grey tea. Uh, apparently people also assume that to have Earl Grey tea, they assume that it's, um, uh, it's meant for the. The posher part of society because of its origins. And Earl Grey T really originated, uh, with the, um. Well, it was named after Charles Grey, who was the second Earl, uh, Grey. And he was also the British Prime Minister in the 1830s, I think. 1830-18. 1834. Marco: That's right. Um, the first Earl Grey was Charles Gray, who was also Baron Gray. But it's interesting because it's the second Earl Grey that the T was named after, who was also Charles Gray. nidhi: Exactly. And so there's a bit of controversy in terms of how Earl, uh, Grey T came to be. Marco: Now, before we get to this controversy. nidhi: Yes. Marco: I should mention that lime, along with being the fruit, is also a white, caustic, alkaline substance consisting of calcium oxide, and it's obtained by heating limestone. So that's what would have been in the water that you were trying to mask. nidhi: I understand. Marco: That's why I asked you if it was lye or lime, because lye obviously is very, uh, poisonous and can be found in water sources, so you have to be careful. But lime also, um, is obviously some sort of calcium oxide substance that's found in water. So back to the controversy. nidhi: Yes. Marco: Uh, the second Earl Grey is the one the tea was named after, not the Baron. The first Earl Grey. nidhi: Exactly. Now, there's a bit of controversy in terms of the legends of how, um, Earl Grey was, I, uh, guess, discovered, or how it was introduced to the British people. Marco: You tell us that, and then I'll tell you some connections to Canada that Earl Grey has. nidhi: Perfect. So according to one legend, you had a grateful, um, Chinese bureaucrat whose son had been rescued from drowning. From drowning, sorry. From one of Lord Grey's, um, uh, I guess, uh. Uh, what? Soldiers. Marco: Okay. nidhi: Um, and, uh, that happened in, like, 1803, apparently. However, let the record show Marco, that the second Earl Grey never actually set foot in China. So that's a bit of a controversial tale. Right. Um, more likely, he. He was gifted, uh, the Earl Grey tea, which has. Which is a Chinese, um, blend black tea. Um, in a, uh, more from a protocol perspective. He's gifted it. Marco: Fair. nidhi: Um, that being said, Jacksons of Piccadilly, which I guess, is a famous tea, um, manufacturer in Britain and claim m they originated the Earl's Grey. Earl Grey's tea, um, because Lord Grey gave them the recipe. Marco: Oh, he. Which Earl Grey do we know? nidhi: The second Earl Grey stands, um, to reason. That being said, uh, um, according to the Gray family, the tea was specially blended by a Chinese bureaucrat for Lord Grey, uh, to suit the water at Howick hall, which was the family seat. Um, and he used bergamot in particular to offset, as we said, the taste or the smell of, um, um, lime in the local water. And then Lady Gray. Marco: Oh, so before we get to Lady Grey. nidhi: Okay, we should continue talking. Marco: We should mention that Earl, uh, Grey, the word gray is spelled G R E ey in this case as an Earl Grey T. The Gray Cup. And the reason it's significant, and where I were mentioning its connection to Canada, is we're recording the Insomnia Project here in Toronto, and that's where we're based out of the Great cup, which is the, um, biggest prize in Canadian Football League in the cfl, as we call it, was named after the fourth Earl Gray. nidhi: Well, look at that. Marco: And Grey County, Ontario, is named after Earl Grey. And Grey county consists of the township of Chatsworth, township of Georgian Bluffs, the m. Municipality of Grey Highlands, the town of Hanover, the municipality of Meaford, the city of Owen Sound, and the seat of Grey county is Owen Sound, the township of South Southgate, the towns of the Blue Mountains, and the municipality of West Gray. And that's in southern Ontario. Or the Georgian Triangle Triangle, which was created in 1852 after Charles Gray, which is the second Earl Grey, who the tea was named after, uh, was Prime Minister, and he was prime minister of the UK between 1830, 1830, and 1834, as you mentioned. And in 1861-1862, the first gravel roads were constructed in Owen Sound at the cost of 300,000 Canadian dollars. So that's the connection between Earl Grey and at least Ontario. And the Grey Cup. nidhi: That is not only fascinating, but also incredibly convoluted. Marco: There you go. nidhi: Well, Lady Gray used. Used, uh, to serve Earl Grey tea. And, uh, she used to serve it to entertain when she was in London. And, uh, it proved so popular with her guests that she was asked if it could be sold to others or the public at large, which is how Twinings, the British, um, the famous British, uh, tea manufacturer, um, brought it to market. Marco: Do you know that there is a Lady Gray tea, which is a variation of Earl Grey, but it. It is a black tea, like Earl Grey, with the, uh, lower concentrations of bergamot, but it contains lemon peel and orange peel. And it was named after Mary Elizabeth Gray, the wife of, guess who. Charles Gray, the second Earl Grey. So Charles ii, I guess you could say. Um, and it's like you said, a registered trademark, or it is a registered trademark of Twining. nidhi: Did you know there's also, um, Marco, a French Earl Grey? Marco: No, I did not know this. nidhi: So, I mean, there's a lot of variations on Earl Grey tea. So for example, uh, you can have, um, ones that are made more from, like, a jasmine blend. Right? Um, but there's a blend that has an addition of rose petals, which is known as French Earl Grey. Marco: I need to get myself some French Earl Grey. nidhi: Yeah, it sounds really good. There's also a Russian Earl Earl Grey. What do you think is in a Russian Earl Grey? Marco: Well, I don't know what's in it, but I bet it's a very milky tea, because I know the Russian teas are very milky teas. nidhi: So it doesn't. I don't know in my research if it has, uh, a particularly milky taste, but considering a White Russian and what that is, I would assume that it would be very milky. However, Russian Earl Grey, um, usually contains ingredients like, uh, citrus peels and lemongrass in addition to the black tea and the bergamot. So, um, there's a lot of really interesting variations. And of course, I guess a North American drink that has, um, really taken on the Earl Grey essence is the London Fog. Marco: Oh, yes. nidhi: Which is a combination of Earl Grey steamed milk and vanilla syrup, which I don't know if you've ever had one, but I quite enjoy one. A London Fog on like a. On a cold, like November December day. Warms you up. Marco: It's kind of like a tea latte, if you will. nidhi: Sure. Um, but I spoke before about, um, the tea manufacturer. Ah, Twinings. Marco: Yes. nidhi: Um, and they actually reformulated their Earl grey tea in 20, uh, 11. And they claimed, when they, like, reformulated the recipe, I guess, uh, that they added an extra hint of bergamot and citrus. Um, but they had an overwhelming negative response on their website. Really? Yeah. So, I mean, it even drew the attention, um, of like a protest group on Facebook because people were so outraged by the reformulation of such a classic recipe. So it just goes to show that people are very, very, um, particular and protective of their Earl Grey tea. Marco: Well, it is sort of like. I don't want to say the King of teas, but shall I say the Earl of teaspoon? Do you know that you can make sauces with Earl Grey tea? nidhi: Really? Marco: Yeah. You can, um, sort of like add your tea bags to your stock and boil it for a few minutes and it will, uh, and then remove the tea because you don't want it to get too, um, bitter, let's say, or tannic. Right. Remove it and your tea in your. Sorry, your stock or your sauce will have an Earl Grey flavor. You can also flavor your vodka with Earl Grey tea by steeping, uh, tea in your vodka and leaving it for a day or two and then removing it, depending how strong or weak you prefer it. nidhi: So it's interesting you say that, Marco, because I've noticed in a few places, um, in Toronto that you can get cocktails that sort of have that Earl Grey infusion in them. So, um, I can see how that would work well with vodka or even gin. Marco: Oh, you know what? Um, Nidhi, I think gin would probably be more appropriate since gin is a alcohol. Uh, that is a British alcohol. You would think it would go hand in hand with the Earl Grey. So I think you're right there. I would infuse it with gin versus vodka, though. You could infuse it with either. nidhi: Margot, have you ever been to, um, bar in Toronto called Bar Chef? Marco: No. I've heard quite a bit of it, though. Quite. I've heard quite a bit about It. nidhi: I should say so. There's this whole, um. Well, I guess it's not a trend, but a whole school of cocktail making called mixology. And uh, Bar Chef was really one of the first cocktail bars, I guess, that really embraced mixology. So they have these really cool drinks that um, have all these different types of infusions. And when you go in, it's um, it's like. So if you were to pass it on the street, you wouldn't even know it's there because there's these black curtains that are in front of the bar. Marco: Okay. nidhi: And you walk in and it's very dimly lit. However, um, the bar has all these sort of, um. It's almost like they have Bunsen burners and like very chemistry type decor. Um, and uh, they have like a drink there that for example, like, I think it's. I can't remember if it's a whiskey drink or something like that, but there's like dry, uh, ice that's part of the drink and it like creates a smoky effect and it's brought to your. I think it's like $40 for this drink or something like this. But, um, it's kind of a cool way to experience different infusions. Uh, so the whole idea of mixing Earl Grey and Earl Grey infusion in your cocktail I think would be something, um, worthwhile. I don't know if they have it at Bar Chef, but we'd have to. Marco: We will have to go investigate. nidhi: Yes, I think I will. Marco: You know, Nidhi, I mentioned that it was a citrus. Actually, bergamot is an orange. So it's a citrus bergamia, or the bergamot orange. And do you know that it takes, um, it is, uh, produced in Italy, is the biggest producer of bergamot. nidhi: Oh, interesting. I know bergamot oil. Like, I wonder if that's even used. I believe it's used in perfumes as well or something like that. Marco: Oh, it's used for all different sorts of things. And the interesting thing about, um, it's used like in different sort of skin cares and um, all different sort of like, um, medicinal uses. In the past they've used it for, uh, different things. But I had a sort of statistic with regards to how many, um, uh, bergamot, uh, how many oranges you need to produce. I think it's like 100 bergamot oranges for an ounce of bergamot M oil. nidhi: Oh, wow. That's quite a lot of bergamot oranges. Marco: Boost Mobile is now sending experts nationwide to deliver and set up customers new phones. Wait, we're going on tour? nidhi: We're delivering and setting up customers phones. Marco: It's not a tour. Marco: Not with that attitude. Marco: Introducing store to door Switch and get a new device with expert setup and delivery. Delivery available for select devices purchased at boostmobile. Marco: Uh.com over 90 of the top 100 US accounting firms trust Bill to handle bill pay processes. Why? Because our tools are built on over a trillion dollars of secure payments. We're not just moving money. We're powering financial workflows for half a million customers. That's a level of expertise you just can't fake. Ready to talk with an expert? Visit bill.comproven to get started and grab a $250 gift card as a thank you. Terms and conditions apply. See offer page for details. That's the sound of a big deal at Wayfair. That sound happens a lot. Dream sofa for half the price. Marco: Big deal. Marco: New dining table you've been eyeing for months. Marco: Big deal. Marco: Finally picking up those last few pieces and finishing that bedroom. Now that's a really big deal. Whatever your home needs, Wayfair has the selection, the savings and over millions of five star reviews to back it up. Have you ever tried Earl Grey tea with lavender in it Shop Wayfair.com today before someone else snags your big deal. nidhi: Wayfair. Every style. Every home. Marco, I tried. Just go back to Earl Grey tea for a moment. Marco: 100 Bergamot oranges yields about 3 ounces or 85 grams of Bergamot oil. Wow. nidhi: Um, but Earl Grey tea, have you ever tried it with lavender in it? Marco: No, but I love lavender, so I bet it would be fantastic. nidhi: I knew you did. So, yes, it is fantastic. And um, there's a company, uh, in Canada called David's Tea that has a really good version of Earl Grey's tea that has like a lavender flavoring to it. There's like lavender petals in it. Um, but I know you also get, I think, uh, on a seasonal basis, there's a really good Earl Grey tea that you. Marco: Yeah. Uh, it's called, uh, Earl's Valentine. nidhi: That's right. Marco: Thank you for reminding me of that. And it's around Valentine's Day, clearly, and it only lasts for about a month. I think I may have drank it or you may have drank it on one of our episodes. But it is, ah, Earl Grey with, um, little slivers of chocolate and rose petals in it. Um, I don't know if there's other items in it, but those. That's the sort of distinguishing feature. So it's got a kind of sweetness and a floralness to it that makes, um, it special, I guess. It's amazing how much information there is about Earl Grey tea. The Earls of Gray, or the Gray Earls, however you would search, sort of size it up and, uh, its connection with both the tea world and just historic, um, sites. nidhi: It's. It's very true. I mean, um, whether you break it down as Earl Grey or bergamot, as you say, um, you know, everything from. I mean, everything that we've mentioned here, from the perfume, from the tea to London fog, all those London fog, but even Turkish Delight. Marco: Oh, it has Earl Grey in it. nidhi: Yeah. That's what the. I think the kind of flavoring, the distinct flavoring of Turkish Delight, that sort Marco: of citrusy without being overly sweet flavor of that particular, um. Dessert. nidhi: You got it. You got it. Marco: Dessert or candy? I don't even know. nidhi: You know, that's a good question. I think it's a candy. Marco: Okay, I. I agree with you there, because every time I've had it, and it's kind of like in powdered sugar. The real Turkish delight, the actual Turkish delight, is like little cubes that have been powdered in sugar and are different colors. Reddish and greenish are the ones I've nidhi: had, I think, depending on the flavor of it. Do you prefer candy or dessert? I'm not a candy person Do you prefer candy or dessert? Marco: Oh, I'm not a candy person, to be honest with you. No, I like chocolate and I like dessert, without a doubt, pine pies and whatnot. But candy, like, um, you know, like licorice or jelly beans and things like that don't really do it for me. Or like, what are they called? Swedish fish or the Swedish berries? Yeah, they're not, um. That's not for me, I think, because they get so gummy in my teeth that I. I don't. I don't love them. nidhi: I prefer dessert as well. Like, I'd rather have, like, a piece of cake instead of. Marco: Sure. nidhi: Uh, maybe a sugary candy or something that like. Like that. But, um, I've also. Well, I mean, we've talked about this before in terms of dessert and salt or yeast. Savory. Right. Marco: It's funny you should mention this when we were talking about the Earl of Grey and British teas and whatnot, but I had a fantastic shortbread cookie yesterday. It was a maple shortbread cookie. And shortbread is often associated with the uk, I believe, Scott. Scotland, in particular, the Scottish are known for their shortbread. Um, and I had seen there a Earl Gray flavored shortbread cookie. nidhi: No. Marco: So there you go. That was just last night. Yeah. nidhi: Wow. That's something that I think we need to try. I, um. I have to be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of Earl Grey. Marco: Oh, really? See, I love it. nidhi: I would rather have a sweet, strong English breakfast tea or, um. What I loved when I was living in the uk, um, is the Assam tea. Marco: Okay. nidhi: Which. I don't know why you don't find it as easily here in Canada. That particular blend. Marco: What is, uh, like an Assam tea? nidhi: Assam is like a. Is a strong, um, black tea, uh, from a region in India. Like the Assam region. Region. Um, but for some reason in the uk, it's like a specialty blend. Not a specialty blend, but you'll find actual tea that is labeled Assam tea. Um, but in North America or in Canada in particular, you can't find it as a specific blend. I don't know, maybe if it's, uh, part of. I don't know, um, another type of Marco: tea, but it's not like an orange pekoe. Maybe it has a different name here. nidhi: Yeah, maybe, maybe. But my favorite tea. Marco: Okay. nidhi: Um, would have to be the Twinings English breakfast. Marco: Okay. That's your favorite? nidhi: Yeah, that's something that I really, really like. I don't know if it's the strength or whatever they put in it. Um, but it's, ah, it's. It's one, um, of my favorites. Marco: I don't know why I love an Irish breakfast tea as well, but I do. One of my favorite teas, one of my go to teas definitely, is the Earl Grey tea. So you would probably love an Irish breakfast tea because it has. An Irish breakfast tea has a strong Assam component, which gives it a more robust, malty flavor. Uh, and kind of a reddish color. Is Assam tea kind of reddish when you. nidhi: Yeah. So, I mean, it's interesting because the English breakfast tea also has Assam tea in it, but it's got a blend of teas from Kenya, Indonesia, Malawi and China. Whereas the Irish breakfast tea, uh, I think is even stronger than an English breakfast. Marco: Um, I think it has more Assam tea in it. nidhi: Yeah. Because it's got, uh. Right. Because it doesn't have the tea from Malawi, but it's got the Kenya, Indonesia, China, and a bit more Assam. Marco: There you go. nidhi: There you go. Look at that. Marco: What a. What a intense focus on British teas we just had on this particular episode. I love my teas. nidhi: I. You know, tea, when it's done well, is a wonderful, wonderful thing. Marco: The interesting thing about Earl Grey tea for me is I don't like it steeped too long. nidhi: I love my tea steeped. Really? Marco: Even Earl Grey? See, uh, for me, Earl Grey, you cannot steep it too long. nidhi: I find weak tea is just not my thing. Marco: I'm not saying weak, but I don't like it over steeped. nidhi: Well, fair enough, fair enough. Marco: It just depends on the degree of steepness, I guess, between you and I and our Earl Grey. nidhi: Exactly. Exactly. The Insomnia Project thanks Charles ii, Earl Grey for making this episode Marco: Well, that brings the Earl Grey episode to a close. I want to thank our listeners and people who enjoy bergamot, Bergamot oil and Earl Grey tea. I also want to thank Charles ii, Earl Grey. Not the first, the second, because he is the person behind the Earl Grey tea, which we know and love. nidhi: We welcome. Uh, or we encourage you to subscribe to the Insomnia Project on itunes. Feel, uh, free to rate us or leave us a review. And, um, if you'd like to interact with us, we'd always love to hear from you. So please find us on Twitter. Listenandsleep. Marco: That's listen and written out. Sleep. nidhi: The Insomnia Project is produced by Drumcast Productions, and we are recording from Toronto, Canada. Until the next time, we hope that you listen and sleep.
Looking for a sleep podcast to fall asleep fast, reduce anxiety, and quiet an overactive mind? This calming episode of The Insomnia Project is designed for insomnia relief, stress reduction, and gentle nighttime unwinding through slow, soothing conversation.
Marco Timpano takes listeners to Lunenburg for a peaceful discussion centered around chess, quiet strategy, and the relaxing rhythm of thoughtful gameplay. From reflecting on the simple pleasure of sitting with a chessboard to the meditative pace of each move, this episode offers low-stimulation, easygoing content perfect for bedtime listening. The tranquil seaside atmosphere of Lunenburg and the soft presence of cottage sounds create a cozy, calming backdrop, enhancing the gentle, meandering tone that helps ease racing thoughts and promote restful sleep. With unhurried pacing and minimal stimulation, this relaxing podcast episode is ideal for stress relief, background listening, or winding down at the end of the day. Whether you’re searching for a sleep podcast for insomnia, calming background noise while you work, or a peaceful way to unwind at night, The Insomnia Project offers a comforting, reliable escape.
Chess, Lunenburg & Cottage Sounds
(Original airdate: July 4, 2016) Marco: Um, welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen as we have a conversation about the mundane. One thing that we can promise is our conversation will be less than fascinating so you can feel free to drift off. Thank you for joining us. We hope you will listen and sleep as well as follow us on Twitter. Listen and sleep. We're recording this episode from Woodland beach in the township of Tiny. Uh, we've mentioned this area on um, the podcast before. It's where I have my cottage. So we are recording. Outside you might hear the sounds of nature or the odd lawnmower motor or you might hear that motorcycle in the background right now as it sounds zips up the windy roads that make up the township of Tiny. Joining me today, I have the great pleasure of having my brother in law, Jim Cooper joining us. Welcome Jim, to the Insomnia Project. Jim: Thank you, Marco. Marco: It's great to be here. Jim, how did you get into chess? Jim: I've always liked chess Jim, I know that you're uh, a great chess player. I wanted to ask you, how did you get into chess? Jim: Um, I wouldn't say I'm a great chess player, but I'm an enthusiast. Anyways, I like it. Um, I've always liked chess. I think the first time I really started, when I was younger, my sister Cheryl had a chess set and she knew the rules so she was able to show me how to play, doing the basics, you know, so how to move the pieces and um, how to set it up and most of the basic rules. And I would play once in a while with her and with some other people who are interested. Okay. It's difficult to find people who are interested in playing chess, so, you know, because it takes time to play. Um, and um, so, you know, when I was younger I played a little bit, but then, um, later on I met a friend. Um, and he was quite good. He was quite good at playing chess. He still is quite good at playing chess. He saw that I was interested so he showed me a little bit more. You know, he showed me how to approach the game. Not just how to move the pieces, but why you might move the piece to a particular part of the board, how to develop your pieces. Marco: So when you say approach the game, what does that mean? Like, is it sort of a strategy prior to playing? Jim: Exactly, yeah. Uh, you have to think about what kind of game you want to play. Do you want to play off in the center? Do you want to attack? Or do you want to be more passive and let your opponent make mistakes? Wait for your opponent to make a mistake. But he also showed me how to better make use of the pieces. Okay, so, for instance, um, a knight doesn't move very fast. And it doesn't, uh. It doesn't, uh, affect that many squares at once. It only can, uh, affect a limited number of squares. So it likes to be around in the middle of the board. Marco: Oh, I didn't know that. Jim: Because it hits more squares, it's able to control more squares. But a bishop is able to go the whole diagonal, whatever diagonal it's on. If there are no pieces, it can, um, control a whole diagonal. So it's almost like an archer that can, um, that can, uh, sit up in a tree, if you want to think of it in those terms. An archer that sits up in a tree and has a good vantage point. Almost like a sniper. I see. Or something like that. But anyways, maybe, you know, the bishop is able to look along a long line. And, uh, he also showed me how to use the pieces together, how to coordinate the effort and make stronger, uh, use of the pieces by having them working together. Of course, rather than just like, hoping that one piece will wipe out another piece of your opponent, you. You find a way to. Because it's. It's. It's a team or an army or a team. Of course, those pieces have to work together in order for you to capture the king. So, uh, yeah, he showed me. He showed me a number of, uh, basic principles of how to approach the game so that, uh, I could have an interesting game, basically. Marco: Right. Jim: But I'm sort of like. I would say I'm a little bit better than, uh, somewhere between novice and intermediate. Intermediate, uh, uh, talent there. And he's a little bit better than that. Marco: Amazing. You've competed in chess competitions, correct? Yeah, yeah And you've competed in chess competitions, correct? Jim: Yeah, yeah, I've entered tournaments. Just tournaments? Yeah. Marco: Sorry, I should say tournaments. And, uh, what's that? Like, describe sort of the feeling when you get there. Marco: And do you bring your own chess board? Jim: Oh, um, it's. I like it. Okay. I don't know what it is, I think, because I'm kind of a slow person in a lot of ways. And, uh, so the slowness of the game is attractive to me. And the idea of just sitting down and taking time with your pieces is, uh, something I look forward to. Um, and it's nice to see everybody else doing the same sort of thing, you know? Marco: Sure. Jim: It's almost like a room of. It's a kind of meditation, in a way. Marco: Focused meditation. Jim: Yeah, I would say. So. Um, so I don't need to bring my own board, though. Marco: Okay. Usually I was thinking of, like, you know, when you see people play snooker and they bring their own cue and have it in a little case and they'll open it up and they'll prepare it. Jim: Right. Marco: I bet you're a great snooker player, Jim, having never played with you. Jim: But I just. Marco: Based on what you've just said, ah, strategy and finding a sort of Zen experience. Jim: I might be able to do all right with this. Marco: I bet you are. I can see that glimmer in your eye, but you might be hearing someone chopping a tree in the background along with these birds, um, on this podcast. So don't be alarmed if you hear, you know, the axe hitting a tree or someone yelling, timber. Here in the forest. Tiny. But, um. So, okay, so you find it very Zen when you go to the competition and you size up your opponent. Opponents, or do you just kind of calmly sit down and make your strategy and let the pieces fall as they may? Jim: I would. I just show up and, uh, I sit down and I play. You know, I'm. I'm the kind of player that, um, I'm just there for the experience, really. Some players show up and they have reasonable expectation to possibly win. Right. Okay. I, I, um, I win some games and I. And I. And I lose some games and. Because I'm. Because I'm still, uh, kind of a bit of a, uh. You know, I make mistakes. Marco: Sure. So you learn from those mistakes, right? Jim: Try to. Marco: Yeah. Jim: Which is also a wonderful thing about chess, uh, tournament. Often when you finish your match, your opponent will. You can take the board out and you can go over the game with your opponent to see was happening. Marco: Oh, really? Jim: Yeah. Yeah. We will talk about the match afterwards. So that's really. That's a really helpful thing. It's almost like a chess, uh, tutorial, you know, because typically I play stronger players than myself. Marco: Sure. Jim: And so when those guys want to, uh, um, take the time to go over what happened in the match, it's. It's really helpful. Marco: Oh, that's fantastic. It's so cool. It seems so collaborative, so lovely that they would take the time to do that, sort of better their opponents for future games. Jim: Yeah, it can be that way. Marco: Okay. Jim: Some players are very, very generous with, uh, their time and with their skills. So it's nice. Chess players in Canada have a rating that indicates their skill level Marco: And during a tournament there's a sort of scoring system. You were explaining to me before, how exactly does that work and where are you on that scoring table? Jim: So chess players have a rating. Marco: A rating, yeah. Jim: And it is a way of scoring your level of play. And um, it's a formula. Marco: Oh, I see. Jim: And I don't know what the formula is exactly, but um, basically the higher your rating, um, if you have a high rating that indicates your skill level. If you play. If a higher rated rated player plays a much lower rated player, um, if the higher rated player wins, they don't increase their rating points very much. Marco: Okay. Jim: If they're playing a weaker player. So someone that's rated at uh, 1800 beats someone that's rate someone like me that's rated at 1400. That's about where I am in Canada. Canada has its own rating. Marco: Oh it does? Jim: Well, yeah, it's. I don't know if the formula is different or if the. But I guess ratings um, in Canada tend to be a little bit higher than international ratings. I think I might be off on that. But anyways. Yeah, that's. Marco: It's kind of like explaining the CFL in the NFL, right? Jim: Yeah, that's right. That's apt. Marco: I should mention that's the Canadian Football League in the National Football League. Uh, for our listeners from uh, overseas who might not quite grab that. Jim: But so okay, so if a player, but if a player is about even like 15 to 1500 plays a 1450 player, say that still that higher uh, ranked player doesn't uh, increase that that much but still would get more rating points. Marco: I see. Jim: However, if a lower rated player beats a higher rated player, they gain quite a few points. Really? Yeah. Ah, so they might go up If I, at 1400, if I beat a 1600 level player, my, my rating points might go up maybe 20 points. Marco: Okay. Jim: 10 to 20 points. I think it's been a while since I've actually noted that. But. But uh, but yeah it's, it is helpful because with just maybe a couple games it doesn't really mean very much. But over, over a few years of doing this, the rating points really do indicate how consistent a player you are. Marco: And would you be matched up at a tournament with someone at your sort of rating uh, level or would you just be matched up with whomever and you just have to sort of go, go with it? Jim: Um, often at tournaments you'll have two uh, tiers of play. Marco: I see. Jim: So sometimes they'll cut it off at 1700 and under and so you can play in the 1700 and over and under, or you can play in the full on tournament where the highest rating rated players might be. And where I play, there would never be a master there, but there might be an international master or there might be. Um, I played in a tournament where there was an instructor, someone who is strong enough to qualify as a certified chess instructor. Marco: Um, I didn't even know there was such a thing. Jim: Well, I guess you reach a certain level of your uh, rating level, reaches a certain point. Um, and I'm not sure what else is involved but uh, the guy, uh, I knew this fellow when I was working in Lunenburg who worked. That's a Nova Scotia folks. Yes. I'm sorry. Marco: Yeah, I'm just saying it for our international. If you haven't been to Lunenburg, it's such a gorgeous, such a gorgeous seaside town. Jim: It's beautiful there. It's beautiful there. Marco: It's picturesque really. When you're there you're like this place is so gorgeous and beautiful. It's hard to believe. And all the little towns that sort of take you in and around Lindbergh are so gorgeous. Jim: Yeah, that's right, that's right. It's a classic. Like a typical um, east coast Canada, um, fishing village. You know, it's very, it's very calm and they uh, have wonderful. Anyways and. Marco: No. And the people are so lovely. You're saying? And they have what? Jim: Um, and they have uh. Well there's lots of um, uh, sailing there, fishing of course. And they have music festivals and a number of art related festivals there. So it's a wonderful place. Marco: Definitely check out Lunenburg. We'll put a little photo up on our Twitter feed so you can see exactly what we're talking about. Jim: And while I was working there, I used to go to the local chess club. Marco: Oh really? Jim: In Lunenburg, for about five years. Marco: What did you do there? Jim: Oh, there was a yogurt company there called Peninsula Farm and they um, I went there to do some computer work for them and I ended up staying. I started there as on contract, but then I ended up staying longer because I like working there of course. And uh, I ended up uh, doing computer work and also preparing yogurt. So anyways, it was a small company. Marco: Well, we'll have to get some secrets of yogurt on a future uh, podcast with you Jim. Uh, because that'd be fascinating. Stay alive and enjoy Unlimited Wireless for $25 a month with Boost Mobile But sorry, back to. Jim: So while I was uh, working there, I would go to a chess club on Tuesday nights. And this fellow that uh, was working at a local fish, uh, plant was there and this is the uh, the instructor. Marco: Oh, I see. Jim: And uh, and uh, so he also helped me quite a bit when I would show up, you know, at the club. Very nice, very nice man. Steve Saunders is his name. Shout out to Steve. Yeah, he's, he's, he's doing a lot of running now, but anyways, he would, he would also show me some stuff with uh, with uh, you know, what I should, how I can improve my game. He gave me some suggestions, but I would play in some tournaments with him and he helped to organize a number of tournaments around Nova Scotia as well. So. So, yeah, Marco: the longer you stay alive, the longer you can enjoy Boost Mobile's unlimited plan with a price that never goes up. So here are some tips. Do not parallel park on a cliff if you want to enjoy an unlimited plan with a price that never goes up. Do not mistake a wasp nest for a pinata if you want to enjoy an unlimited plan with a price that never goes up. Do not microwave a hard boiled egg if you want to enjoy an unlimited plan with the price that never goes up. Stay alive and enjoy Unlimited Wireless for $25 a month. Forever with Boost Mobile, after 30 gigs, customers may experience lower speeds. Customers will pay $25 a month as long as they remain active on the Boost Mobile unlimited plan. >> Nidhi Khanna: Knock knock. Marco: Ooh, who's there? >> Nidhi Khanna: A Boost Mobile expert here to deliver and set up your all new iPhone 17 Pro, designed to be the most powerful iPhone ever. >> Nidhi Khanna: You call that a knock knock joke? >> Nidhi Khanna: This isn't a joke. Boost Mobile really sends experts to deliver and set up your phone at home or work. >> Nidhi Khanna: Okay. It's just that when people say knock knock, there's usually a joke to go with it. >> Nidhi Khanna: Like I said, this isn't a joke. >> Nidhi Khanna: So the knock knock was just you knocking? >> Nidhi Khanna: Yeah, that's how doors work. >> Nidhi Khanna: Get the new iPhone 17 Pro delivered and set up by an expert wherever you are. Delivery available for select devices purchased at boostmobile.com, terms apply. EQIP is a fully virtual evidence based eating disorder treatment program >> Nidhi Khanna: We live in a culture obsessed with dieting, weight loss and exercise. And that can make eating disorder behaviors easy to miss. But the reality is, eating disorders are serious mental illnesses that take a major toll on your health and your life. But recovery is possible. Eating disorders are more common than you might think. Chances are you know someone who is struggling with one, or maybe you're struggling yourself. If you're concerned about an eating disorder in yourself or a loved one, I want to introduce you to eqip. EQIP is a fully virtual evidence based eating disorder treatment program that helps patients achieve lasting recovery at home. Every EQIP patient is matched with a multidisciplinary care team that includes a therapist, dietitian, medical provider, and mentors. And you get a personalized treatment plan that's tailored to your unique goals and challenges. EQIP treats patients of all ages and all eating disorder diagnoses. It's covered by insurance and there's no wait list. If you think that you or a loved one could be struggling with an eating disorder, don't wait to get help. Visit Equip Health to learn more. That's Equip Health. Jim, tell me what is your secret or your strategy Marco: Now tell me, Jim, what is your secret or your strategy? Are you able to reveal that on, um, this podcast or will it hinder you in future tournaments? Is there some move or, like, what's your favorite move or your favorite piece to use? How about we start there before I get all your secrets out? Jim: Uh, well, the only thing that might be typical of my play is, is, um, I think it's the light squared bishop. I like to move it up in a position and it's called the Italian bishop, actually. Marco: Well, there you go. Jim: Uh, and I didn't know because when you move that bishop out early, it's a good spot for that bishop because it points right at the king. So you start up early and you're showing that you're gonna have an attack. When I'm white, I like to have an Italian bishop so that I can have a sharp attack on the king. Marco: And who begins the game? Is it the white, uh, pieces or the black pieces? Jim: The white. Marco: The white begins the game. So that's why you like to start, if you're playing white, with this sort of attack. Attack. Jim: That's right. I think my, my opening. I forget what my opening is called now. Marco: So various moves are called something as well. Like you've got a sort of a series of moves that have a, have a name. Is that correct? Jim: That's right. You have openings. Marco: Wow. Jim: So you have, um, the RUY Lopez is one opening. And, um, the gambits. The King's Gambit, the Queen's Gambit. Marco: Wow. Jim: Um, the British. Oh, no, no, not the British. The English Open. Um, and when you're playing black, there are different defenses you can try. I see. So, uh, there's like the French defense. Um, some of the names are escaping. Marco: Sure, fair enough. Jim: But yeah, you can have, um, different defenses, different style of play, and certain defenses work better against, um, certain openings. Marco: Are you Familiar with the Timpano defense? Jim: Defense? No, I'm not. Marco: That's where midway through the game, uh, the board gets thrown in the air and the pieces just dance around. It's a signature move that I like to. That's the tin panel, that's the tympano, uh, defense. Just to throw the board in the air. Oh my goodness. Jim: How has chess played into your life So, um, Jim, how has chess played into your life? Has it found roads into your life into sort of dealing with anything, or does it, does it intersect with any sort of daily activity? Um, it might not, I'm sure. Just curious because a lot of these sort of, um, old, I don't want to say hobbies, but these sort of ancient, uh, games and ancient sort of traditions, whatever can really help in daily life or bring something to your sort of perspective. Jim: Sure, sure. If you play a lot of long games, like tournament style games, I think that it can start affecting, you know, how you treat other aspects of your life in terms of how considered the next thing that you do is going to be. Because when you're playing chess, you sit down at the board, you have time to make your moves. Um, and in all that time you just sit there and think, you know, what are the different lines that will work? What do you think is. And different lines of play, different moves that you might make will result in a different board. And you have to decide if you like how that's going to work or if you want to go in another way. Some players might work better one way, other players might work better if it were a different move. And that doesn't mean that one is necessarily. Sometimes there's an obvious mistake because you lose a piece or something, something like that. I'm not talking about that kind of thing. I'm saying there might be two paths that you could go down and both of them might be equally good, but depending on your style of play, one might be better for yourself. Marco: I mentioned that because, for example, when I was doing yoga, you know, the practice of yoga can also be meditative or, um, you know, it just gives, it brings a different perspective to your, to your being and at least while you're in the studio. But it's nice to approach problems from a more inner, peaceful, calm sort of manner because you see different perspectives. So I was wondering if chess brings that out or can bring that out of inner person. Jim: I think it can, I think it can really help you just sort of, instead of losing, especially if it's a difficult situation, it can help you just take a moment and take stock of what's going on around you and see what's a reasonable way of, of dealing with the situation without losing your head. Pawn structure is important when learning how to play chess Marco: You know, how disposable are pawns? Should they be treated as such or should they be treated as, you know, important pieces within the game? Jim: Oh, pawns are very important pieces. You need to use those, the pawns wisely. I see you have to a good deal of the game. I approach, uh, pawn structure. Pawn structure is something that is a uh, good thing to uh, focus on when you're learning how to play the game. Marco: So tell me more about pawn structure. Jim: So uh, the pawn structure is like, it's almost like the framework or the backbone of the game. It's how the piece. For me, I think of it uh, as something that the pieces move around. So it's, it's something that uh, it's possible to have a um, good strong foundation for your game. And pawns, um, I'm trying to think of. Marco: I always see them as just little pieces and once they're gone, that's when the game begins. So clearly I've been playing a chess that would not be appreciated by the masters, to say the least. Jim: As you advance your pawns, you uh, almost lay claim on territory on the board. And so you can advance your pawns and also making use of your pieces to control territory as well. Um, if you're down a pawn, if your opponent has one more pawn than you. And that's the only difference in terms of your opponent, of your um, Marco: status Marco: in the game or the moments in the game. Jim: Yeah, that's the only deficiency. Like you both have the same number of pieces. You're just down one pawn depending on the level of play. That can be almost game over really. In a master level, master's level, losing a pawn being down a pawn, it's almost. Well that's when, when you're down, you start thinking of how you can draw the game rather than win the game. So it's very important. And of course the stronger you are, those smaller differences become exaggerated. Uh, the lower level play, there's lots of fluctuation. So uh, you try to uh. Anyways, you try to uh, keep uh, those pawns. Eventually, if, if everything is equal and you have a pawn, um, and you'll try to advance that pawn to your opponent's back rank, meaning the back line. Marco: Is that what it is? Jim: That's right. That back line where your opponent's king and queen start off. You advance your pawn to uh, that rank and um, you can promote it to Another piece. Piece meaning your pawn becomes a queen. Marco: Oh, I didn't know that. Jim: Right, right. Marco: So you could have two queens on the. On the game if you get your pawn. I had no idea. Uh, clearly I've been playing chess incorrectly. I've already learned so much just talking to you. Jim: If you have eight pawns, you can possibly have nine queens on the board. >> Nidhi Khanna: Really? Jim: Every pawn can be promoted to a queen if you have them all and you do it all. Marco: Speaking of the queen, though, the queen only does a small, uh, little move. Like she. She can only move one. One square, correct? Jim: No, that's the king. Marco: Oh, that's the king. Okay. Jim: One square at a time. Marco: The queen can do anything. Jim: The queen can move. The only move. The queen is only limited by pieces that are blocking her, uh, her movements. Marco: You can see how well I played. Played chess when I say that the queen. Jim: What's. Marco: What's interesting is that, um, Jim was helping me bring something up to the attic of the cottage. And he's like, oh, look, there's a chess. There's a chess board there, completely covered in dust, uh, in the back corner, not near any of the other games we play at the cottage. So Jim, you and I are gonna have to break. Just blow the dust off that. And you're just gonna have to give me a lesson in chess, because clearly, I don't know where I speak from. Jim: We can have some fun. Marco: Amazing. Marco: So, um, can you have more than one king then? >> Nidhi Khanna: Or does. Marco: Or is it just one king per. Like if I bring my pawns to the back line, you said they can be any piece. Jim: That's the only piece it can't be promoted to as a king. You can only have one king, but you can promote that piece to a rook, which is the one that looks like a castle, or a, uh, knight, which is the one that looks like Marco: a horse that moves in kind of an L shape, if I'm not mistaken. Right. Jim: And that's the only move that the queen can't do. Marco: Oh, is the. Marco: Is the horse. Um, sorry, the knight's move. Marco: Right? Jim: That's right. The knight has the ability to jump over pieces. That's the unique ability that it has. All the rest of the pieces can't. If a piece is in the way, you can't jump over it. You have to, uh, find another way. Are draws looked down upon in a tournament or can they help novice player Marco: And you were mentioning draws. So are draws looked down upon in a tournament or can they help the novice player? Jim: Oh, yeah, yeah. Because in a tournament, um, especially if you draw a, ah, stronger player than yourself, that's quite an accomplishment. You know, if I were playing it, someone who is at an 1800 level player, being a 1400 level player myself, M. A draw against that player would be a really solid game for me. Marco: Oh, wow. Jim: Because. And I would give me half a point. Marco: Oh, it gives you a point. Does it demote the stronger player? Jim: Yeah. As far as the rating. So there are two things that play in a tournament. The points to win the tournament, but also your own rating points. So that's like the rating points would be the broader, you know, part of your chess, uh, life. And uh, the points would be specific to the tournament. So. Marco: Wow. Jim: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So points are just wins, losses and draws. So if I had two and half a half points, that probably means I had two wins in one draw. And that's probably not enough to place. You need to have a pretty strong, uh. Most players do quite well. They get five wins or four wins and that gets them first or second place. Marco: And these tournaments last days, correct. Jim: Or is it a weekend or typically? Well, well, typically it's a weekend for me. Um, I would never be able to do any other kind of tournament and I haven't done one for ages because it does take all your time. It's like a complete weekend where you would play possibly Friday night game, three games on Saturday and three games on Sunday. So you could possibly have a seven. I played in tournaments where there were seven games, seven game tournaments. And each game, how long can they last? Marco: Like, is there a time limit or is it like. No, this is a tournament. You go until you go. Jim: No. Time is definitely part of the game. And uh, um, so you have a certain amount of time to uh, make all your moves and you have two and a half hours per side. That's like. There are different time controls in different tournaments, but typically the ones that I played in, uh, each side gets two and a half hours. Hours. So that's possibility of five hours. Um, and the, uh, way it works is, um, you would have one hour to make your first 10 moves and then, uh. And if you can't make your first 10 moves in one hour, you can lose on time there as well. Wow. Marco: Yeah. Jim: So, uh, I've never seen that happen, Marco: but it's possible to possibility. Jim: And then, um, after, after those first 10 moves, you have the rest of the time. So if you, if you make your first ten moves fairly quickly, you can bank that time and use that for the remainder of the game. I see. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Marco: Well, Jim, I want to thank you for all this uh, sort of, you know, discussion on chess. And I invite you, the next time you're in town, that you and I will open up the chess board. Sit, enter, we'll play, and as we play, we'll record a podcast so people can hear you, sort of being my instructor and helping me learn the art of chess. Jim: That's a great idea. Marco: Amazing. Jim: I'd love to do that. Marco: Thank you, Jim, once again, for being part of the Insomnia project. As always, we are produced by Drumcast Productions and this episode was recorded in tiny township on Woodland beach, sa.
Looking for a relaxing sleep podcast to help you unwind, quiet busy thoughts, or gently fall asleep? In this episode of The Insomnia Project, Marco and Nidhi settle in for a calm and cozy conversation about a household staple: the vacuum cleaner.
From the simple satisfaction of cleaning to the quiet details of how vacuums work, this everyday topic becomes the perfect backdrop for a soothing, meandering discussion. Marco and Nidhi explore the small rituals of tidying up, turning an ordinary chore into a calming listening experience designed to ease your mind and reduce stress. As always, the conversation unfolds at a gentle pace, offering low-stakes, comforting dialogue that helps create the ideal environment for sleep, relaxation, or peaceful background listening while you go about your day. Whether you’re winding down before bed, tackling chores, or simply looking for a calming sleep podcast to quiet your thoughts, this episode delivers a soft and tranquil escape. And if you fall asleep before it ends, that’s exactly what we hope for. #sleeppodcast #insomniapodcast #relaxingpodcast #sleepconversation #calmpodcast #bedtimepodcast #fallasleepfast
The Vacuum Episode
(Original airdate: June 13, 2018) Marco: Welcome to to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax, listen. As we're about to have a conversation about the mundane, one thing that we can promise is that our conversation will be less than fascinating so that you can feel free to just drift off. Follow us. Listenandsleep. I'm your host, Marco Timpano. Nidhi: And I'm your co host, Nidhi Khanna. And Marco, are we going to have a conversation? Marco: I hope we have a conversation. Nidhi: Hello. We've been waiting all season for that. Marco: It's true. It's true. You just made a purchase. Nidhi: I did, thank you. I did. It was for a vacuum. Marco: Cool. Nidhi: Because my vacuum of five years or so conked out on me and it was a really oddly difficult purchase. Marco: A vacuum? Nidhi: Yeah. Marco: How so? Nidhi: You know, I had a vacuum before that was ah, not an upright vacuum, but sort of had a um, um, I don't know how you would call it really. Like it had a connection that was um, a three wheeler kind of a tricycle of vacuums. Marco: It kind of looked like an old Robot, like an R2D2 kind of vacuum. Nidhi: And it went everywhere and it got to all those spaces that you know, are difficult to get to. Marco: Sure. Nidhi: And then when it was time to buy the new vacuum, you know, I had all these different options and I ended up going with an upright vacuum. Marco: Oh, like a proper upright. Not, not like a stick, um, vacuum. Do you know what a stick vacuum is versus an upright stick vacuum is like a Dyson. Nidhi: Oh, no. Marco: You know, like, like, like. I mean, a Dyson. That, that. No, because a Dyson also has an upright. Is that it right there? Is that the. Yeah. Okay. So that is a, A proper upright vacuum. Nidhi: Okay. Marco: So where the vacuum is upright and your handle, you can sort of tilt it and then you have to kind of go back and forth with it. Nidhi: Exactly. Marco: Versus a stick vacuum that has like a, A, ah, vessel that collects it and then you attach pieces to it so that it's long and you're just holding the thing like a wand, let's say. Okay. Nidhi: Yeah. No, it's an upright vacuum. Marco: I sound like a vacuum salesman. I don't. Nidhi: I know. That was really good. I was like, wow. Tell me more about these vacuum. Where were you when I was trying to buy a vacuum? I, uh, love how much I find out about your RA Pieces of knowledge on everyday items. Marco: The reason I find this fascinating is I remember when I made the big vacuum purchase and what I went through to purchase vacuums. So I sympathize with your. Nidhi: You know, growing up, we had one of those vacuums that attached to the air vent. Marco: Yeah. They're called central vacs. Nidhi: Oh, yeah. Marco: We had it too. That's why. I know. Yeah. I'm not trying to be condescending here. Clearly a vacuum expert is who you've got on the show today. Nidhi: Well, um, yeah, I'm not liking the upright. Marco: Oh, really? Nidhi: I find it too bulky. I find it doesn't maneuver in hard to reach spaces very quickly. Marco: I'll be honest with you. Your home is not set up for an upright vacuum. Nidhi: I know. I wish. I wish you had come to triage this situation. Marco: I didn't know this because. Okay. And our listeners can correct me if I'm wrong and feel free to tweet us listen and sleep and tell me where I'm wrong here. But an upright vacuum is best served if you have carpets. Nidhi: Ah. Uh, okay. Marco: And as I look around your lovely Nidhi: home, there's no, there's no. There's one carpet. Marco: You have one rug that's actually a rug. And, uh, it's gonna be really clean. It's gonna be super clean. No, actually I'm. There's two. Because My feet are on a. Nidhi: It's true. Marco: Okay. So there's two rugs. Nidhi: And I do like the sound that it makes when it's picking up. Whatever it's picking up. Marco: Sure. Nidhi: Because it makes me feel really, um. Like I get really excited. Like all that dirt's gone. Marco: Okay, fair. >> Karim: Yeah. Marco: There's something really lovely about, um. And something very calming about knowing. Well, one, the sound of a vacuum for me has a very calm effect because my mom had the vacuum going 24 all the time from the. It would be. My wake up call would be a vacuum and it would be true. Nidhi: It's like if you grew up in the 80s and your house had central vacuums, it was always on. Marco: Oh, man. Like, and especially with central vac and that sneaky hose that you would have to bring up and down. Nidhi: It's so cumbersome. Like, it's actually the worst. Yeah. Snaky hose. Marco: For our listeners who don't know what a central vac is and they're like, what are these two talking about? And Nidhi, you correct me, the vacuum expert, if I go astray here. What it is is you've got this really large vacuum system in your. We had it in our garage. Was yours in your garage? Some people have it in their laundry room or something. Nidhi: My fingers in the laundry. Marco: So it stays secured to the wall. And then throughout your home where you would have heating and cooling vents was a little tiny, um, vent for the vacuum. So it would. You would connect to that vent in any room in the house that had that plate that you would lift up and connect. And whatever you vacuumed would go through the house into that central vac unit that was in your garage or your basement or your laundry room. Correct. Nidhi: That. That sounds great. That's a great. And it also seems to be in homes that were built in suburban areas 100% and similar. And I feel like it's gone the way of like the Garberator. You never see garbage in people's homes anymore. Marco: And for our American listeners and people who don't know what a garburator is, because my wife is American and she said we don't call that it that in the US It's a garbage disposal, uh, system that is connected to your sink. Nidhi: Well, then we're going to. Who are you? Marco: I'm the definition king. But the beautiful thing about a central vac is that it had great suction power. Now, the three wheeler or the R2D2 vacuum. Nidhi: Yes, I like that. Let's call it that. Marco: I don't know what that one's called. I'm going to call it a three wheeler. Um, that is always funny because it kind of follows you around and it's always about to topple. And people might know it best. If you think of a shop vac that's kind of in the vein of Nidhi: a shop vac and it's great for smaller kind of spaces. Marco: Uh, I have a shop vac. Nidhi: Oh, do you? Marco: If you ever need a shop vac. Because if you have a flood or if you have like water, a shop vac can pick that up, whereas a vacuum can't. So I have a shop vac and I can bring it over in a jiffy. Nidhi: I know who to call if there's a flood here. Not the plumber. Marco: Not the plumber. The thing you have to be careful about with a shop vac. So a shop vac is the vacuum that's used by, um, professionals like mechanics or people who are, um, industrial. Industrial, um, dirt or stuff that you have to pick up with a vacuum or what one might have in their shop. Um, whether it be a. I don't know, a saw. Yeah, saw. Ah, shop or. I don't know. Anyways, it's called a shop vac. I can't define. Nidhi: Narrative is breaking down very quickly here. Marco: Sorry. Um, it picks up that kind of stuff. You've got to be careful though. If you pick up fine, fine particles like cement, that's, that hasn't been um, like grit or cement because it'll wreck the vacuum. You need a special filter on that shop vac. And I found that out the hard way. Nidhi: Oh no. Marco: Plaster and stuff that's very, very fine. Nidhi: What do you think about these vacuums that are uh, like the round robotic ones where you just turn it on and it does. And it sort of goes around mysteriously Marco: vacuuming the Roomba type vacuum. Those robotic and they're kind of neat because my sister has one and my mom has one. Nidhi: Okay. Marco: But once again, they're not suited for every home. So for example, you have a little bit of a lip there. Nidhi: Mhm. Marco: Well, if that little disc type vacuum flipped off that lip, it wouldn't come back. Right. Nidhi: It would kind of be like on its side. Marco: Well, even if it just hops over, it's gonna stay in that area. It can't climb back up. Nidhi: I see. Marco: Once again, it serves a purpose for the place that it's in. And what's lovely about that type of vacuum is that when you're at home at night in bed, it can do the work. Because it takes quite a bit of time to do your. Now funny story, Okay. I was looking at a Facebook post where someone had a puppy. Right. And so, you know, puppies have accidents. Nidhi: Yeah. Marco: And it had an accident and the vacuum ran over the accident and carried that accident through. So the person walked downstairs and there was. Nidhi: It's like we were talking about dogs and Xena, she came over. Marco: Yeah, she did. You know, she knew. You know how you're supposed to pick up after your dog? Nidhi: Yes. Marco: Well, this vacuum decided to carry it all throughout the house. It was just tracks and tracks. Nidhi: Oh my gosh. Marco: So that's what happened. So I offer that as a caution. Thank you to anyone who has a puppy and a Roomba or one of those disc vacuums I love. So I had an upright. What I hated about the upright was if you have stairs and you have to lug that up the stairs, it's really the worst. And that's one of the benefits of having a central vac is that you're not lugging. All you're lugging is the. The hose. Nidhi: It's true. The word vacuum, the spelling. Marco: Oh, yeah. Double U. Double. Two U's, I should say. Not W. Two U's in the word. Nidhi: Yes. Do you know any other words that actually have two U's? Marco: No, it's. Nidhi: So I wonder why vacuum? Marco: That's a good question. Um, I love. So ideally for your place, you would be suited really well with one of those wand type vacuums, which clearly you don't have yet. Mm. So unfortunately, that's not what you have, Niddy. But that would be perfect for the type of home you have to. Nidhi: Have you ever not had a vacuum? Marco: No, I've always had a vacuum. Because my mom. Like I said, I grew up with the sound of a vacuum. Um, I prefer to vacuum than sweeping. And the sound of a vacuum makes it. Its dull roar, I find relaxing. How about you? Have you ever not had a vacuum? Nidhi: I'm sure I've. Yeah, I'm sure I've been in an apartment where I don't necessarily have a vacuum and more of like a Swiffer or something like that. Uh, but I increasingly realize the dire need for vacuums. Especially when you have a dog that sheds. Marco: Sure. What made you pick this particular vacuum over the rest? Nidhi: It was a good price. Marco: Okay. Nidhi: It seemed to be. It was a good brand. It seemed to do the job. I wish, I wish on, um, the packaging when they were trying to sell it because they had the particular brand that I have had different versions. Like, they had the tricycle, had the upright. They had. So I wish on the packaging they had said something like, good for. Marco: Ideal for homes that have stairs. Ideal for homes that have small apartments with. Nidhi: Yeah, exactly. Marco: Yeah. Nidhi: So that's my vacuum adventure. >> Karim: What about. Marco: Did you or your family ever have a vacuum packer or vacuum sealer since we're on the vacuum train? Nidhi: No. But I feel like I would probably go a little crazy with that because I want to vacuum seal everything. Marco: And that's just what happens when you first get it. My mom vacuum sealed everything. She was vacuum sealing things like crazy. And then, you know, after a while, you get sort of. It's no longer fun. It's no longer the. The new great thing in the house. But she vacuum seals. She'll buy lots of cheese and she'll cut them in quarters and then she'll vacuum seal it. Nidhi: So she's got the cheese. Marco: Yeah. Or other items, too. She'll make things and she'll vacuum seal them. M. Like beans. Like, if she gets beans, she'll get a bushel of beans and, uh, shell them and then put them in the vacuum sealer, seal it so that you have the beans for winter soups. But it has a real spring or summery sort of taste to them because you vacuum sealed them and froze them. Nidhi: Wow. Marco: Yeah. Nidhi: Look at that. Marco: Things like that vacuum. Nidhi: What about, like, being in a vacuum vacuum? Like in a vacuum of like when someone says you're in a vacuum. Oh, what do you think about. Marco: I don't know. I guess I would think that I'm sort of solitaire and I'm like, hyper focused on something that I'm not thinking outside of that particular. I guess sometimes when I edit our episodes, I'm in a bit of a vacuum because I'll put the headphones on, it'll be me watching audio waves go by as I edit the mistakes that I. Or rarely you make. Or like, sometimes, you know, we'll have a train or some sort of weird sound in the background. Nidhi: Um, I always think about space. Marco: Oh, yeah, sure. Nidhi: Because I always wonder if. Okay, this is gonna sound really stupid because I don't know much about the science of space. Marco: Listen, that's what I'm here for. I'm your vacuum expert. Nidhi: Thank you. Please. But like, the sounds of space. Space. Marco: Oh, sure. Nidhi: Or does it sound like you're in a vacuum? You know, like of nothingness? Or would that be like a black hole? Marco: You know, how does the Foley artist or the person who makes the sound for the movies Create the sound of a vacuum? Yeah, it's almost like one of those things, like if a tree falls in the forest and no one's there to hear it doesn't make a sound. Nidhi: Yeah. Marco: How does a Foley expert make the sound of a vacuum? A space or a vacuum of space or a vacuum of. Nidhi: Or a vacuum. Marco: That might be a little bit easier, but. Yeah, that's a great. If you're a Foley artist or know some Foley artists, please have them contact us. Nidhi: Yeah, I'd like to know the process on this in. In much detail. Marco: The other neat thing about vacuum is you mentioned the two U's that are in the word, but even just the vac to use M, like, it's an odd combination of sounds for the sort of English. English language. Nidhi: Yeah. So just going back to the Foley artist, do you want to maybe explain to our listeners what a Foley artist does or is. Marco: Of course, Sorry about that. So a Foley artist is the person who makes the sounds in film and television that are happening within the scene. So oftentimes, when an actor is on set, they're not actually making the sounds that you hear. So if they open a door that's supposed. That's meant to be a little bit creaky, that door might not actually be creaky. So you have a Foley artist, he or she will make or recreate that sound, and then they will put it into. Into the, um, scene. Nidhi: Sound effect. Marco: Yeah, the sound effect. Nidhi: Like a sound effect they do. Marco: And I was in a play recently, actually, and it was a live radio play, so it was an actual play that was taking place in the 1940s in a radio station. And so we had a Foley artist on stage making all the sounds. Uh, and so there's, like, one sound that people may be aware of where it's thunder, and they have a big metal sheet, and they sort of just wrap it or, like, they shake it and it makes the thundering sound. Nidhi: Uh, do you have a favorite, like, sound effect, or. When you were doing that play, was there one sound that you really were excited about making? Marco: That's a great question. So the sound of wind, uh, was always neat when they would. Because the door. Because it was a winter. We were doing the radio play of It's a Wonderful Life with Jimmy Stewart. And so there's a lot of them walking in and out of homes or banks and whatnot. When they'd open the door, it's a cold, wintry, windy night. And so there was always the wind that would happen, and it'd have to, uh, happen as soon as the door opened and have to stop when the door was closed. So there was someone opening a little door on stage, and there was someone with a little piece of a flute. And they'd cover the bottom of it. So it was just the reed kind of thing. And they would have that in their. In their mouth. And they'd be close to a microphone, and they just make the sound as another person's opening the door. And they'd have to cut it as soon as the person closed the door. Nidhi: Oh, cool. Did you have to make any sounds? Marco: I ran up and downstairs, and then I had to, uh. So they had a little, tiny little couple, like three stairs. And I would run up and down it, and then I would have to, um, shuffle. I'd have to shuffle and. Really. No, shuffle. Shuffle my feet angrily as someone else was. I was in the kitchen. The scene was I was in the kitchen. I wasn't in the kitchen. Another actor was in the kitchen. But I was doing the sound effect of them shuffling. And someone else was dealing with cutlery. So I was shuffling, getting. Getting cutlery, but I was shuffling and they were getting cutlery. Making the sound of cutlery. Nidhi: Oh, cool. So how would you shuffle angrily versus shuffle? Like, not angrily. Marco: It was. I was. I would just do shuffle short and very sort of distinct and kind of thumpy. Um, kind of shuffles with my feet. I don't like. I was angry. I put myself in an angry mindset and just tried to recreate that. Nidhi: People who shuffle their feet really annoy me. Marco: Oh, no. Nidhi: I know. Marco: I think I shuffle my feet when Nidhi: it's like everyone does it once in a while, but when it's a constant shuffle scrape on the sidewalk thing, it really bothers me. Marco: Okay. Nidhi: The sound of it. Marco: Fair, Fair enough. Nidhi: Because I find it very jarring. Um, yeah, don't shuffle. Marco: What about shuffleboard? Have you ever played shuffle? No. Nidhi: Tell me about shuffle. Marco: I've never played. Oh, I played it once. I don't get the rules of it so much, but. Nidhi: Really? >> Karim: Yeah. Nidhi: I feel like it's something that I would play later on in my life. Marco: You play it typically you play it on a ship, and that's where I played it, on a ship. And it's kind of like you're trying to get your disc or whatever to another triangle. And I don't know. Nitty. To be honest with you. I don't remember it. But you always see it being played on cruise ships. Shuffleboard. Let's play shuffleboard, huh? Yeah. Nidhi: Was there cruise Ship, like, um, game that you did used to play when Marco: I worked on cruise ships. Nidhi: Um, like the go to. Marco: No, there wasn't any sort of typical. Typical. That's Cena barking in the background, in case you're wondering. Um, there wasn't a typical, um, game that we played. I'm trying to think we would go to. Have you ever played the Relax game? Nidhi: Oh, I want to hear about it, because I feel like I want to play it. Marco: So the Relax game is a game that me and a couple of friends sort of invented. Nidhi: So how can I play that game? Marco: Basically, if you're at a picnic or if you're somewhere where there's, you know, a lot of people that you know, the object of the game is to stay. To stay seated and have everyone else do things for you. And the more you do, there's more points involved, and usually you play with a couple of people. So let's say you and I were at a picnic, okay. And we found a comfortable place to sit. And, you know, you don't want to give up that spot, because then you're gonna lose it and you might not have come back. Right? Nidhi: Yeah. Marco: But you want your beverage, let's say. Nidhi: Sure. Marco: And you see Amanda walking by, you might say, amanda, could you please grab me a glass of white wine? And she would most likely do it. Right. But you can only ask people so much to do things for you if you don't have an injury, or can you. Or can you. And that's the point of the. Of the relaxing. Nidhi: So has anyone gotten really upset with you? Marco: No, because we were very stealthy about it, and you sort of. You sort of challenge the person with points. How many points is it to get somebody to. To get used some chips? Right. It's not as many points as getting someone to get you a hamburger and dress it for you the way you like. That's gonna involve more points. Right. Nidhi: So, uh, what was, like, your highest points or, like, something that you were able to get? Like, it was. Marco: Yeah, it was something really, really great. I think someone went. It wasn't for me. It was for this. This woman named Angela. She got someone to go to her car and get something of her glove box. Nidhi: Oh, that's pretty good. Marco: Yeah. So that she kind of went with that. It's like, wow, that's pretty good. I guess. Nidhi: At what point would. Like, I'm trying to think, at what point would I just say no at a party? Marco: But, you know, you're asking many different people. You're not always asking the Same person, so they don't necessarily know. So you're me and you are sitting back as comfortable as can be. Nidhi: This is a really great game. >> Karim: Yeah. Marco: Uh, and you're just relaxing. The whole thing is the, the less amount of work you have to do, the more relaxed you are. So it's called the relax game. And you're just playing it with someone else and you're like, you're not going to give up your spot. You know, getting someone to massage your feet or your. Your neck would be a lot of points. Right. It's like whatever you can do to make yourself more relaxed is going to earn you more points. That's the relaxed game. Nidhi: Wow, that's a great game. Marco: And you can play it at picnics, on the beach, anywhere. There's many m. People to do your work for you. So I guess that would probably. Probably be one of the things that, That I did well in the ship. Nidhi: That's. That's a good game. It's a good game. How to get other people do things you. You don't want to do. Marco: What about you? What summer games do you like to play? Nidhi: That's a good question. Marco: Have you ever played darts or horseshoes? Nidhi: No. I'm horrible at anything that needs to be thrown. Marco: Really. What about baseball? Nidhi: Oh, Marco, on the level of sports, Marco: because I would think. Think you'd be a great baseball player. Nidhi: I'm really bad at baseball. I'm really good at, like, soccer, stuff like that, but not baseball. Uh, I think is. And golf. Marco: Golf. Nidhi: I am one of those people who will take that, like, club and actually club it because I, um, I don't have, like, good coordination. I always miss the mark. Marco: But you're a good runner. That's your sport. More of your sport. Nidhi: Yeah, I guess so. I mean, fast. Not really. Marco: Okay. Nidhi: Steady. Sure. Marco: Okay. Nidhi: Um, but I'm. Yeah, exactly. Uh, not really into the hand eye coordination thing now. Marco: I would play bocce. Are you familiar with the game bocce? Nidhi: Oh, yeah. Marco: It's an Italian game that, um, other European cultures will play a version of it, I guess, or other cultures will play a version of it. But basically you've got these big, heavy, um, large ball. So like the size of a small cannonball, if you will. Not that a cannonball is a unit of measurement, but in this case it is. And you have one smaller the size of a golf ball. Nidhi: Okay. Marco: The golf ball sized ball. And I'm sure it has a name to it is thrown. And then there's a team that has. Let's Say green. Green. Large heavy balls. And the other team has red ones. And if it is usually teams of two, so it's like two green and two red. The green team will go, they'll throw, and they'll try to get as close as you can to the original little golf ball as you can. Person closest gets the points. So whoever's, um, you know, cannon sized balls are closest to the small ball, you get more points. Nidhi: It's somewhat like curling, maybe in a way. Marco: Not on ice and not using a curling rock. Using. Using actual heavy. Heavy. Sometimes they're metal, actually. >> Karim: Or they're like. Marco: It almost feels like they're made of cement. Nidhi: Oh, wow. Marco: Yeah. And they have a particular look on a particular design. I have them at my cottage. I'll make you play this year. Nidhi: Okay. Marco: We'll play. And you can play it on multi surfaces. Usually it's on gravel or sand, but we often play in the backyard on grass. Nidhi: So, uh, would you consider that a sport or a game? Marco: M. Oh, I'm. I'm in trouble. No matter what I say. I would say it's more of a game. Nidhi: I would do. Marco: Yeah. Nidhi: I would do. Marco: It takes skill. Nidhi: Yeah. Marco: It takes a good eye, good hand coordination. Nidhi: Sure. Marco: All those things. So I could see how someone may. May view it as a sport. The way I play it is definitely a game. So there you go. I'm not a really sporty person. Nidhi: No. Marco: Although I. I love volleyball. I love playing. Nidhi: I'm. Marco: M not good at it. I love it, but because on a hand model, I can't really play it because you can have a lot of hand and finger injuries playing volleyball. Nidhi: It's true. Uh, I know the life and times of a hand model. Marco: That's the new podcast. Nidhi: The new podcast. Marco: What is your favorite sport to play? Nidhi: That's a good question. I would say in a team, probably soccer. Marco: Okay. Nidhi: By myself, I enjoy, like running. Really. Marco: Okay. Nidhi: Or, um, yoga or. That's all very solitary. I don't think they're necessarily sports. Well, I guess running's a sport. Marco: This season we're gonna have a lot of sports on our. On our. Nidhi: We're gonna become a sports podcast. I'm telling you because of how. How much knowledge, in depth knowledge each of us has about sports. Yeah, it's almost up there with the vacuum knowledge. Marco: I can't believe we had like half our show was talking about vacuums. Nidhi: No, it's pretty good. Marco: I'm impressed with myself how much I know about vacuums. Nidhi: M. Who knew? Marco: Now, do you like the vacuum that the Cord. If you pull it, it gets sucked. Nidhi: Oh, it has to get sucked. Marco: Okay. Nidhi: It has to. It has to. One of the things I don't like about this upright is that I have to do the whole. Yeah, no, I don't like that. I don't like that. Marco: It sounds like you got those. Nidhi: Really? It was terrible. I. Terrible choice on many levels. Marco: Can you not take it back? How long ago did you get it? Nidhi: It was a while ago. Marco: How long? Nidhi: Part of it is I'm lazy. Marco: Um, okay, it doesn't matter how long it is. We don't have to tell our listeners. But is it a reputable store that should take it back. Cuz I'll come back with you and be like, the salesperson didn't inform my friend here that this was the wrong vacuum for her. Nidhi: Oh, really? Yeah. Marco: Uh, it would totally. Then we should go back. Do you have the bill? Was it this year? You must have the bill. Nidhi: I have to check. Marco: Always keep your receipts. Nidhi: I know, I know. You tell me this all the time. And with that I will tell you. Please do. Uh, check us out on Patreon. Marco: Thank you. Nidhi: Um, we have a page set up and if you are interested in subscribing, Marco: you'll get some really fun content. We have a couple of great challengy. Um, not contests, but we have uh, some challenging content where we require you to send us questions that you want to hear us answer. So please send those. Nidhi: Yes. And if you just want to follow us on good old social media, you can do that too at Listen and Sleep. As always, we are recording from Toronto, Canada and we're produced by Drumcast Productions.
Looking for a relaxing sleep podcast to help you unwind, quiet busy thoughts, or gently fall asleep? In this episode of The Insomnia Project, Marco welcomes special guest Daniela Vlaskalic for a calm and easygoing conversation about travel and podcasting.
Together, they explore the simple pleasures of travelling — the observations, routines, and small moments that make each journey memorable. Daniela also shares insights from her podcast, Every Place Is The Same, where she reflects on culture, connection, and the surprising similarities found across different destinations. Despite the lively topic, the conversation remains soft, meandering, and low-stakes — designed to soothe your mind, reduce anxiety, and help you drift toward rest. This relaxing sleep podcast is perfect for bedtime listening, calming your thoughts during the day, or creating a peaceful atmosphere while you work or unwind. Let the gentle rhythm of conversation carry you into a more relaxed state — and if you fall asleep before the episode ends, that’s exactly what we’re here for. #sleeppodcast #insomniapodcast #relaxingpodcast #sleepconversation #calmpodcast #bedtimepodcast #fallasleepfast
Travels, Traveling and Podcasting about it.
(Original airdate: June 6, 2018) Speaker: Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen as we have a conversation about the mundane. One thing that we can promise is that our conversation will be less than fascinating so that you can just feel free to relax, chill, drift off, whatever you need. Use this podcast podcasts, but don't operate heavy machinery while listening. I want to thank you for joining us. We hope that you will listen and sleep. I'm your host, Marco Tampano, and joining me once again is Daniela Vlascalic. Did I get your name right this time? Speaker: You did, Marco. You got it perfectly right. Speaker: Welcome back to our show. Speaker: Thank you. It's always a pleasure to be on. Speaker: And the reason I got it right, Daniela, is because we had a conversation and now you're a fellow podcaster. Speaker: Absolutely. Speaker: And I produce and direct your podcast. So this is the first episodes where we're kind of doing a cross cross promotion or a dovetail. I'm making a gesture with my hands that no one can see where I'm crossing my fingers, but we're kind of dovetailing and talking about our latest project on the Insomnia Project which is your podcast. So, Daniela, first tell us the name of your podcast and where people can find it. Speaker: Well, it is called Every Place is the Same. And you can find us on Instagram at Every Place is the Same. You can find us on Facebook also at Every Place is the Same. And on twitter@, uh, epitsnow. Speaker: So epits would stand for Every Place is the Same. Now, so it's the first letter of each of those words that's correct together, Daniela. And I know this is kind of self indulgent, because I know kind of the answer, but how did this first of all, tell me about this podcast? What are you doing on this podcast? Speaker: Well, on this podcast, what I try and do is take on the challenge of comparing two places in the world and revealing to the guest and to our listeners that they are, in fact, the same. Speaker: So it's a comedic travel podcast with a challenge twist in it? Speaker: Absolutely. Speaker: And so you're asking your guest what, like, where they're from or like. Speaker: Yeah, we generally, we would take the guest where they grew up or where they're from or a place that they've lived and are for a long time and are very familiar with. And then we would, uh, cross that with a place that they've traveled to or spend some time. And then we take these two places, and, um, generally they don't think that they're anything alike or. But I'm there to prove that they are, in fact, the same. Speaker: All right, well, we won't go any further with that because if you really want to know more about it, check out Every Place is the Same on itunes. But how did this come to be? Because I often find that the stories behind projects, whether they be podcast, podcast, televisions, or television shows, or just about any interesting project, the story behind it I often find fascinating. Speaker: Well, Marco, uh, you and I were on a car trip. We were heading out to, uh, Collingwood, Speaker: which is kind of like a resort town in Ontario. Would you describe it as. Speaker: I'd never been there before. Speaker: You hadn't? Speaker: But it was your first time. I mean, my first time. But you'd been there many times. Speaker: Yeah, because it's kind of like an area of Ontario where you can go skiing. So it's not far from Toronto. And Collingwood has a great sort of ski and outdoorsy kind of feel to it. They have caves you can explore in the summertime, and they've got beautiful spots. Speaker: Blue Mountains. Speaker: That's right. Correct. Speaker: Is that sort of the famous landmark of that area? Yeah, well, we were traveling there to do Some business, as you and I have traveled all over the world. Speaker: That's right. We do a lot of corporate, um, work. Speaker: That's right. All over the world. So we were talking about. Speaker: See, I don't remember this. I'm trying to think, Danielle. I'm like, how did we. How did the concept form? So I'm glad you're telling me this, because now we have recorded evidence of the birth of this new podcast. Speaker: Exactly. So I think we were talking about traveling. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: Uh, and the fact that we both love to do it, that we've both been to many places in the world, and we love hearing travel stories or people's experiences of the places that they've been or the places that they've lived. Of course, travel podcasts and blogs and TV shows are the rage. I mean, they're everywhere. Speaker: They're everywhere. They're. And they, once again, they dovetail with other subject matters like travel and food or travel and spas you can go to and whatnot. Speaker: Absolutely. And so I think that when we were talking about a travel podcast, it was more about what's not different about the places that we go to, but how are they the same? Speaker: Right. Speaker: And that oftentimes things that you would do in your own city are things that you would seek out and do in a foreign city or somewhere that's foreign to you. So I think this just made us laugh a great deal. Speaker: Well, because we were also, um, saying how sometimes when you go these corporate hotels, they're so similar even in their design, that you might be in Dallas, but you're thinking you're in Atlanta because they look. Or Chicago because you're in these giant corporate hotels where they have meeting rooms and whatnot. And there's usually, like, a FedEx kiosk in there that you can do any of that sort of faxing or mailing or shipping. And so I think we were talking about how a lot of those hotels are exactly the same. Speaker: They absolutely are. I feel like I've woken up in Shanghai and I've woken up in Auckland, New Zealand, and been wondering, where am I? This hotel room is exactly the same as the other. Speaker: It's like those rock stars who, like, you know, they do so many tour dates that all of a sudden, things become a big blur. And one of the things I love about it is that, you know, everyone talks about how wonderfully different every place is and how you should travel because it's different. But this podcast kind of says, yeah, everything's wonderfully different, but everything's wonderfully. The same too. So congratulations on that, Daniella. Uh, thank you. Speaking of traveling, let's talk about traveling. What are your rituals before you travel? When you know you have a trip, you're gonna. Just before you're packing or when you're packing or before you head to the airport, do you have any rituals or any things that you do? Speaker: I clean my apartment. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: I don't know why, but I just feel like it needs to be immaculate before I go. And maybe a lot of people do this, I'm not sure, but the thought of returning from somewhere, no matter how long I've I'm going for, thought of returning to a dirty place or if somebody has to go or a messy place, um, really stresses me out. Speaker: Sure. Speaker: So for me, I kind of have to make sure that I'm leaving my space in perfect order. Speaker: Okay. What about when you pack? Do you have a system of packing? Speaker: I do. Typically, I lay everything out on my bed that I'm going to need. And then I also categorize weather. Speaker: Oh, with. With your items. Speaker: With my items. And I think the main reason is because if I'm going mainly to warm places, I can pack more in a similar sized suitcase. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: Whereas if I'm going somewhere that's cold, it's a lot trickier because then you're looking at coats and boots and you. You can't get away with. With as much stuff. Speaker: Do you have a preferred size of luggage? Speaker: Ideally, I like the. The mid size. Speaker: The mid size. Okay. Speaker: And you know, in. In an ideal word, I just world, I have the mid size and I have a small carry on and that's all. But if I'm traveling for a long period of time, um, I like to have as little carry on as possible, which is of kind, completely antithetical to what everyone is doing in the world. Speaker: Why is that? Speaker: Um, because I hate dragging things around and having a million bags in my hands and having to put things up in the overhead bin. And people aren't very gracious about the overhead bin or under their seats. They've always got way more than they should. And so preferably, I'd like to have everything under the plane and have as little to worry about on the plane or the train as possible. Speaker: So when you're on the plane or the train and you've taken off, what do you want near you so that you can access. Do you bring certain things with you? Speaker: I always have earphones. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: I always have my Kobo or a book. Speaker: And that's. That's an Electronic reader of a book. Right. Speaker: An ereader. Um, I always make sure I have bottled water, which I've bought once I've cleared the customs area. And I typically. Speaker: Oh, I like where this one's going. Speaker: Pack a lunch. Speaker: Oh, you do? Speaker: I do. Speaker: For whatever flight or travel you're doing. Speaker: I do. I like to have, um. And whatever that might be. It's just a depends, you know, whatever I'm feeling. But most, um, people are under the impression that you can't fly. Fly with food, which is completely wrong. Speaker: Right. Speaker: You can. And so, um, you know, I know you can order now and. And there's all kinds of things you can do. And you don't get anything on the plane. Sometimes internationally you do, but even then, I generally like to pack a lunch. Speaker: Cool. Now, Daniela, stop me if this is too personal, but now you've arrived at your destination, you've opened the hotel room door. What, do you have a process or something you do when you get to the hotel room? I'll tell you what I do. I usually travel with. I go to the dollar store, and I'll get a little spray bottle of alcohol, and I'll take that spray bottle and I'll spritz the alcohol on the, what I call converter, but many people know as the remote control. I'll spritz it on the doorknobs. I'll spritz it on the, um, light switches. I'll spritz it on the toilet seat and the toilet flusher and the. The, uh, faucets. I'll spritz that, um, alcohol bottle on all areas where I know people have touched quite a bit. And then I'll take the face cloth from the bathroom, which I never use, and I'll use that to clean all the areas that I've spritzed. Then I will just, you know, put that cloth to be picked up by the maid the next day or whenever they come to clear the room. And sometimes, even if I'm feeling it, I will travel with a Ziploc bag and I'll put the remote control in the Ziploc bag because it was a hack or something that I saw on a program once. So that's the first thing I do. And once I've done that. Oh, and I travel with a, um, pillowcase that's impossible. Permeable. And I've taken a marker like a, um, wash M. What do you call those markers that you use to write on clothes so it doesn't wash? And I wrote my name on it. And I wrote please do not remove from room. And then I zip my pillow in that bag in that pillowcase and I feel much better. Speaker: Wow. Speaker: That's my little process. Speaker: That's quite the process. Speaker: I know. Speaker: I do a similar one with the pillow case. If I know I'm going somewhere that I'm staying for a long time. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: Um, I'll. And I have room. I'll pack a pillowcase, but I think I might steal that one. Actually do that. I turn off the air conditioning. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: I typically find that the rooms are so cold. Speaker: Right. Speaker: And they are so, um, stuffy. So what I'll do is if there's a window or a. I'll just get fresh air. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: Into the room somehow. And I'll turn off the air conditioning. Now if I'm in a tropical place, they can only do that for so long or I'll at least lower it to a reasonable degree. Degree. Speaker: Okay. And let me ask you this. What makes you happy in a hotel? Like, there's certain things that. For example, I like a modern hotel room and I like to have my room far away from the elevator. Those are two things that make me happy. And I don't ever need turn down service. That's not something I enjoy. It's not something that I want. What makes you happy? If you go to a hotel, you're like, uh, ah, I'm happy to be in this hotel. Speaker: I'm happy if there is enough space to get around the bed. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: I'm happy if there's somewhere that I can put my suitcase that is not on the floor. Speaker: Like one of those luggage. I don't even know what you call them. You know those things that you kind of open up, folds out like a. Like a weird ironing board or like a. I guess it's called a luggage rack. I don't know what else to call it. Speaker: I think it is. Okay, but sometimes they're small or they're broken. Speaker: Right. Speaker: Or they don't, you know, they're not there. But I really like it. The m. Really modern hotels will have it built into the wall where you can just open your suitcase. The closet space is there. Speaker: Sure. Speaker: And there's enough hair hangers. Oh. I almost always have to call down and request more. 10 to 15 more hangers. Speaker: It makes sense because if you're traveling for work in particular, you have a lot of suits and things that you need hanged. And uh. Yeah, that makes sense. Um, nicest hotel or nicest surprise hotel that you've been to, you can tell by the destination. Like, I wasn't expecting this, but. But it was great. Speaker: It was a trip that I recently went on to Mexico. Speaker: Ooh, Mexico City to Tulum. Okay. Speaker: And it was a resort. And it was a beautiful room that didn't look out. Looked out over the garden. It had, um, a beautiful Jacuzzi hot tub. It had lots of stuff, closet space and drawer space. And it had an, uh, espresso or a coffee machine in the room. Okay. Which was beautiful. Speaker: It wasn't one of those, like, really sort of inexpensive, plasticky kind of. Speaker: It was the real. Speaker: It was the real deal. Okay. Speaker: So that was absolutely fantastic. And it did have turndown service, which I've never before had nor wanted. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: But it. It happened one night without our knowledge. And when we came back into the Speaker: room, Speaker: they had managed to change the lighting, so there was this beautiful lighting and music playing that they had put on. And. And it was actually. And, uh, some sort of smell, a scent was sprayed, was sprayed, and it actually was beautiful. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: Now, I don't imagine it would be that way somewhere else. Speaker: Sure. Speaker: But, um, it was there and it was. It was really lovely. Speaker: Have you been to a destination that surprised you? That maybe you were going there and you were like, I don't know if this is going to be my scene, or I'm not particularly excited to go there, or I just don't know what to expect. And then it turned out to be a lovely experience. >> Paige Desorbo: Hey, this is Paige Desorbo from Giggly Squad, and today I want to talk to you about Boost Mobile. Quick question. Why are we letting our phone bills bully us? 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Speaker: Because for me, like, you know, there's certain places where if I'm going to go there, I'm like, I'm anticipating it's going to be great. San Francisco, for example, had a trip to San Francisco, had, you know, you know, you see it in movies. There's this expectation and it delivered and I was so excited. I love San Francisco Francisco. Has there ever been a place where you're like, wow, this was such a great place to visit? Speaker: Mumbai. Speaker: Oh, okay. Speaker: It was very surprising. I mean, you hear so many stories about, um, traveling in India. Amazing, moving stories. Uh, people go there to change their lives. You hear about, you know, a lot. And then you, you also watch films like Slumdog Millionaire. Of course, of course there's all the media. So I think you really don't know what to expect. And I think I went there and Beautiful, beautiful hotel. Speaker: It's one of my favorite places too. I have to say. I, I, I count the days when I can go back to India. Uh, souvenirs, I would guess you're not someone who picks up souvenirs readily. Does that say, because people who tend to travel, this is my reasoning, I could be totally wrong. They tend not to be bringing home so much because they've just been everywhere and then they have so much. Are you a souvenir collector? Speaker: I have one that I collect and it's fridge magnets. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: And I decided this quite a long time ago now because I wanted something from the places that I went. And I'm, if you know me or if you come to my home, I don't like clutter. Like, I, I like a clean, empty environment. I just minimalist, Minimalist and, um. And so I thought, I don't really want to collect a bunch of things, but I want there to be a little reminder of all the places I've been. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: So for me, it was the fridge magnet. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: And so I have these. This beautiful, colorful fridge of all of these places. And it's a relatively easy thing to collect. Speaker: It doesn't take up room in the luggage. Speaker: It doesn't. And every time I open my fridge and, you know, catch a glimpse of one of the places I've been, and it's a great conversation starter. I see people who come over and, you know, you end up in the kitchen inevitably. Um, they always ask about one of the places I've been or take a look at the magnets. And so you always. The conversation always comes around to at least one of the places on the. On the fridge. Speaker: Where haven't you been that you'd like to go to? Speaker: Oh, I have the longest list. Speaker: Okay, give me your top five. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: It doesn't have to be ranked in any order. Just give me five. Speaker: Okay. Um, I really want to go to Africa. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: I know that's a very large place, so if I have to narrow it down, it would probably be Kenya or, um, Nigeria or South Africa. Those are the top three places I'd like to go in Africa. Speaker: Sure. Speaker: I would like to go to Iceland. Speaker: Yes. Speaker: Um, that's definitely up on my list. And I really want to go to Buenos Aires. Speaker: Oh, I been there. Speaker: You have? >> Paige Desorbo: I have. Speaker: Years and years ago. It's phenomenal. I found Buenos Aires to be very much like, if you were to take Paris, Rome, and New York and squeeze them together and then just put in the most lovely Spanish, uh, feel in that. Speaker: Wow. Speaker: And it was. It's. It's a wonderful, wonderful place. And you should really. I think you would. You would appreciate it. I would put money on that. Speaker: Well, that is. Those are just a few. I actually. I have a bit of a running joke with my partner. I pretty much bring up a new place every couple of days, and he says, add it to the list. Speaker: Add it to the list. Is there a place your partner wants to go to that you're like, I never thought about that place. Speaker: But, um, I think he's pretty much on board with all the places that I want to go. I haven't asked him specifically. Um, but he loves to travel as well. Speaker: I know. For. For example, my wife was gonna go on a trip with friends to Ireland, and I was like, no, I want to go to Ireland. And I'LL feel horrible if you go without me. So she had to alter her plans because she knows there's a couple of destinations where I'm like, we either go together or we never go. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: And Ireland is one. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: Israel is another one. Speaker: Yes. Speaker: Iceland. So anything that starts with an I Speaker: is on your list. Speaker: Is. She cannot go without me. I cannot go without her. If it has the letter I in it. That's just the way it is. Speaker: Although I'm one of those people that I could go anywhere. Speaker: Right. Speaker: I really. I would. I would happily go anywhere in the world. I don't think there's a place that I would not want to go to. Speaker: Best meal you've had in a destination. Speaker: Oh, it's always going to come down to Italy. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: Um. It's pretty hard to beat. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: Um, it would probably be in, uh. I was in Volterra. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: Which is a medieval town in Tuscany, which is famous. I'm going to say this wrong. Marco. Speaker: Yeah. Speaker: Is that right? Speaker: No, but it's really close. Yeah, but you're very close. Yeah. Speaker: Thank you. So it's. It's famous from that region. Speaker: Yes. Speaker: And I had that there, and it was incredible. Maybe you can describe what it is. Speaker: Yeah. Is wild boar. And Tuscany is. Is famous for its wild boar. And I would imagine if you go to a medieval town in Tuscany that is already famous for its wild boar, that medieval town is going to have recipes that they've been doing for centuries, and they're going to have the most wonderful dish. Was it a pasta dish or was it a. Speaker: It was a pasta dish, and it was a. Speaker: Like a pappardelle, I would guess. Speaker: That's exactly right. That's exactly right. And Volterra is sort of well known because they filmed one of the Twilight episodes or films there because it does look so incredibly medieval. Speaker: Best cocktail you've had? Speaker: Oh, you know, this is going to be kind of funny, but I think it was probably in Chicago. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: Yeah. There's a, um, a great famous, uh, steakhouse in Chicago called Gibson's that is one of my favorites that I love to go to, and they make a very, very good dry martini. Speaker: Okay. And is that the place where Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. And it has a beautiful bar that. Okay. Speaker: Beautiful piano bar at the front and all career waiters, um, white jackets. And it's, uh. It's a beautiful, beautiful restaurant. And, you know, you like to go early instead of the piano bar. And I mean, the only flaw is that all the cocktails are the size of your head. But. Speaker: And probably really pricey too. Right? Speaker: But they're, um, they're very good. Speaker: Best nights scene or night like, um, nightclub scene. Speaker: Well, I think mine is probably Hong Kong. Speaker: Oh, okay. Speaker: And the reason is because Hong Kong is famous for these hidden bars. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: And so the. I've been twice now and both times I've gone on this. Half of the fun is finding. Speaker: Sure. Speaker: The bar. So you end up in a car, going to some neighborhood, looking for landmarks and side streets and asking people. And you find an unmarked door and you knock on it and you give a code and it opens and suddenly you're in the most beautiful James Bond, uh, bar that, um, you've ever seen. Speaker: It sounds like a speakeasy almost. Speaker: It is. It definitely has that feel. Speaker: Well, Daniela, thank you so much for being a part of this podcast. Speaker: Thank you. Speaker: And thank you for coming up with the podcast that we're both working on. Speaker: Yes. Speaker: Check it out on itunes called Every Place is the Same. You were going to say something. Speaker: Sorry, I was just going to say it's just a pleasure working with you. Speaker: There you go. Check out that podcast. It's a 10 minute podcast. Speaker: That's right. Speaker: And what's lovely about that, Daniela, is that if you are like waiting for the bus or in a waiting room and you just need a little distraction, that's what you'll get with that. Speaker: It's perfect for those moments when you're just needed something. 10 minutes to fill your time and Speaker: it'll kind of get you thinking into other destinations. So if you'd like to travel, it's definitely a podcast to check out. As always. The Insomnia Project is produced by drumcast Productions and this episode was recorded in the city we like to call Toronto in Canada. Speaker: Sam.
Looking for a relaxing sleep podcast to help you unwind, quiet busy thoughts, or drift gently toward sleep? In this episode of The Insomnia Project, Marco is especially excited about a new piece of podcast gear — a preamp that has him feeling surprisingly jazzed.
What begins as a conversation about podcast equipment quickly takes an unexpected turn into the world of jazz hands and legendary choreographer Bob Fosse. Marco confidently shares what he remembers about Fosse’s life, only to realize mid-conversation that one key detail might not be quite right… which leads the hosts to rediscover that the answer was, in fact, Anne Reinking. From there the conversation wanders — as it often does on The Insomnia Project. Marco mentions that the entire catalogue of episodes is now available on YouTube, which he believes gives the show a bit of a Miami Vice vibe. Amanda isn’t entirely convinced and asks the very important question: if this podcast were Miami Vice, who would be Crockett and who would be Tubbs? Along the way, the hosts also share their appreciation for two wonderful spots in Ottawa, Ontario — The Scone Witch, known for their legendary scones, and Bar Cosenza, a cozy Italian café that feels like a hidden neighbourhood gem. Even though Amanda was feeling a little under the weather during the recording, the conversation turned into one of those warm and gently meandering episodes that The Insomnia Project does best — a calm chat about everyday things that might just help you relax, unwind, and drift toward sleep. You may find yourself nodding off somewhere between podcast gear talk, Broadway trivia, and a craving for a really good scone. If you enjoy relaxing conversations that wander through curious little topics, press play and spend a quiet moment with us. And if the episode helps you unwind or fall asleep, consider sharing The Insomnia Project with a friend who could use a little calm in their day. • Follow The Scone Witch – https://www.instagram.com/sconewitch/ • Follow Bar Cosenza – https://www.instagram.com/barcosenza Ad-free episodes available on Supercast: https://theinsomniaproject.supercast.com Follow The Insomnia Project YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@theinsomniaproject Website – https://theinsomniaproject.com Leave a review and help other listeners discover the podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com
Who’s Crockett and Who’s Tubbs_ - A Calm Sleep Podcast
(March 11th, 2026) Welcome to the Insomnia Project. I'm Amanda Barker and this is the podcast Marco: Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen as we have a calm conversation that's meant to help you drift on over to sleep. To relaxation or just a chillness. Thank you for joining us. I'm your host, Marco Timpano. Amanda: I'm Amanda Barker. I have a smoky, dulcet voice tonight. Marco: Amanda, you're a little under the weather. Amanda: More than a little, friends. More than a little. Marco: Well then let me do the majority of the talking. Amanda: Happily. Marco: So I'm going to say a few things off the top that I'm really enthusiastic about, but I'm going to say it in very gentle ways. Okay, so as you might know, we've had some ads on the podcast and the ads are forwarding us to get equipment for the podcast. So thank you for bearing with it. For those of you who don't want to listen to ads on the podcast, you can always go to Supercast Insomnia. It would be the Insomnia project.Supercast.com I'll have it in the show notes as well and you can get ad free listens there. And the listeners who do use Supercast seem to be very happy with that. So thank you for your patience with those commercials that you hear off the top of the podcast. I made sure that we don't have any inserted into the middle of the podcast or the end so that if you're drifting off, it's not going to affect your listening. Well, I can gladly say that our, uh, ads have afforded me to get two dynamite preamps for our podcast. So I plug our SHURE microphones into the preamp and it's funny because they look like little dynamite sticks. Amanda: That's what I thought they were. When you showed me, I had no idea what you're showing me. So. Marco: So they're. So they're preamps. Because these mics for some reason record very low. And so some of our episodes may have sounded low in the past, but Amanda: I think for our podcast, that's what we want. Marco: Yeah, but they might be too low. You want podcasts to be a certain loudness level. So some of our episodes might be a little bit low for people. Well, these dynamite sticks, these dynamite preamps that look like little sticks of dynamite, Amanda: it's like an explosion and relaxation and Marco: they go into our interface and basically it amplifies the audio from these microphones. I'm not an audio engineer, but that's how I see it. Amanda: Not yet. I feel like you are. Marco: I kind of am, but with a Amanda: de facto audio engineer. Marco: Exactly. So that's one of the things that I'm really jazzed about. It's the first time we're using these dynamics, these dynamite preamps with these microphones. So I'm kind of thrilled. Amanda: Let us know what you guys, you know, folks think about them. Marco: Yeah. So I'm really happy about that. And I want to thank my sister in law and nephew in Halifax who also gave me a gift certificate that I used to purchase them. So all those things, all of our. Amanda: All of his birthday and Christmas present asks go towards this podcast, basically. Marco: It's true. It's true. Bob Fosse: He directed Cabaret, Right. I think he might have directed it Now the other thing that I'm pretty jazzed about is. Amanda: You're very jazzed. Marco: I'm jazzed. Like I'm even doing jazz hands. Amanda: You're Bob Fosse over there. Marco: I'm Bob Fosse. Um, you know, I wanted to say the Deer Hunter, but it's not the Deer Hunter. Amanda: Deer Hunter? Marco: No. Um, the Cabaret he directed. Amanda: He directed Cabaret, Right. Deer. Where? Deer Hunter. Marco: I don't know. It just came to my head. Amanda: Another movie from the 70s. Marco: Yeah, another. Another movie. Totally different movie. Amanda: All that Jazz. All that Jazz is about him, but, um. And I think directed by him, but, uh. And he's. And starring him. But, um, Cabaret. He. Well, he did the Choreo. I don't know. Marco: I think he directed it. Amanda: I think he might have directed it. Yeah. Marco: And wasn't he married to Marcia, uh, Gay Hardin? Amanda: I don't think so. Marcia Gay Harden. No, she was married to a playwright. Marco: Okay. Amanda: Marcia Gay Harden. Marco: He was married to someone from Belle Antonio. Amanda: Right now sits in a den in Scarborough yelling at his headphones. Marco: Who Was he married to. He was an aunt. She was a nanny. And. Amanda: Yeah, he's married to, um, Marsha K. Harden. No. Uh, no. A. Rein King. Marco: Yeah, there you go. Amanda: Yeah, we got Annie. Yeah, that song. Marco: Okay, so we don't have the copyright. Amanda: Sing any more of it. But that's the lyric from it, so. And the title of it. Busted and Rhine King are now all on YouTube Marco: The other thing I'm jazzed about, like, Bob Safi. Amanda: Bob. Marco: Bob. Bob Fosse. What you call Bob Safi? I think I said that's you. Amanda: You're Bob Safi today. I'm the knockoff Bob Fosse. Fosse. Marco: I'm the. The busted Bob Fosse. Amanda: Yeah. Marco: Bob Sophie. Amanda: We're all a busted version of someone. Marco: And you're. You're busted. And. And what's Anne Ryan King. Amanda: I'll be. I'll happily be busted. Marco: She had a deep voice, right? Amanda: Uh, yeah, maybe. Marco: Okay. Amanda: So Busted and Rhine King. Marco: Okay, there you go. So I just want to say this. So, um, I'm very excited. I'm very jazzed. I'm very. Bob. Bob Fossey. S. Oh, my gosh. I can't say it. Amanda: We get it. Marco: Our episodes, 413 of them. Amanda: Wow. Marco: Are now all on YouTube. Amanda: That's crazy. Marco: So if you have friends who like to listen to podcasts at work that are chill, that'll. That'll allow them to work, but also put them in. Amanda: Or if you'd rather listen to them on YouTube, go M for it, Right. Marco: I'd prefer if they listen to it on an audio. Amanda: Oh, okay. All right. You have access to our entire catalog of insomnia podcast on YouTube Marco: On a, uh, podcast. Amanda: We're just trying to make it more accessible to the world. Marco: Please let your friends and co workers know that they can now have access to our entire catalog of the insomnia project on YouTube. Amanda: And why choose? Marco: And why choose? Really listen to it both ways. And the reason I did that, Amanda, was it's. It's a long and laborious task, as you know. Amanda: You've been working on it hard for Marco: about three weeks now. I've been uploading all our episodes. Amanda: What have I been doing? Marco: Watching and laughing. No, you've been dancing. Amanda: I've been cooking and working. Marco: Yeah. Amanda: Not doing it. Marco: So, anyways, we have them all available now for our listeners, so. Amanda: Great. Marco: I'm very excited about it, Amanda. Uh, um, you'll see that certain seasons have different looks to them when you want. When you watch them. And that's just the way it is. And I have, like, a kind of Miami Vice look, too. So when you watch it on YouTube, it's just a static image. It's not us, actually. Amanda: Live of Miami Vice. Marco: No, no, of. Of, um. Amanda: Because that would be weird. Don Johnson and the other guy. Marco: And the other guy. Um, Crockett and. And Tubs. Amanda: Right, Crockett and Tubs. That's us. Marco: So, um, I'll be Tubs. I'll be Crockett. I don't know who was who because I didn't really watch it. So anyways, um, it's a static image, right? It's not an actual video of us doing the podcast. It's a static image. And I chose. I chose something that looks very, um, that has a Miami from the 80s and 90s feel to it. Amanda: Why? Marco: You. You're limited with the amount the. I just chose it, okay? That's what I chose. It's both. Amanda: Miami in the 80s is the most soothing choice. It should be soothing. Marco: No, it is soothing. Amanda: Okay. Marco: Miami for someone who sat back while I was doing all the uploads. Amanda: I didn't know that you were, you know, showing us off like we're a, a, Ah, Cocaine den. Marco: We're not a cocaine den. All right. SeaWorld, uh, is what I chose, and that's what it is. Amanda: Is it fluorescent? Marco: Uh, not fluorescent. Amanda: Is it side ponytail? Marco: No, it's more in roller skates. It's got the purple look to it. It was just more interesting. I didn't want anything too bright and I didn't want anything too. Too jazzy. I wanted something that was kind of calm and seemed calm to me. Amanda: Miami in the 80s. Marco: Well, this image isn't quite Miami in the 80s. It has a interesting. Amanda: You say Miami in the 80s to me. Marco: What do you think Miami's in the. Amanda: I think Don Johnson. I think speedboats. I think pounds of cocaine. I'm just gonna be honest. Marco: Not that I don't mean to harp on that, but no, it's not pounds of cocaine. Amanda: What's the 80s part? That. It's more, um, I think fluorescent warm up suits? Marco: No, it's pinks and purples and kind of that. That, uh. Amanda: Golden girls? Marco: No. Well, okay, let's say it leans more towards Golden Girls than Miami Vice. Amanda: Okay. Marco: All right. So there you go. So you let us know what you think of it. Um, we offer it to you to check out our YouTube page. Check out the. Amanda: Clearly, I've looked at it because this is the first I'm hearing about this Miami in the 80s theme. Marco: And, uh, I'm really excited that it's up there. I also transcribed all our episodes. Amanda: Amazing. The transcriptions of our podcast can be found on our website Marco: So that's on our. The transcriptions can be found on our webpage, the insomniaproject.com if you should need them. I don't know why you would need a transcription of our podcast, but I'm just trying to get it out there to more people. Right. And of course, we appreciate anything that you do to help elevate our podcast. So thank you so much for listening. That's all to say, I'm very jazzed with everything that I've done for this Amanda: podcast, and I'm jazzed that you did it and that I didn't do it. Marco: Well, listen, it's great, uh, Amanda. Amanda: So listen, uh, I'll make you this promise. If we do another podcast, I will do the heavy lifting on that one. Marco: I like the way that sounds. Okay, great. Amanda: Foreshadowing. Marco: Foreshadowing, indeed. Amanda loves Ottawa, and there are lots of things to do there Now, we came back from Ottawa. We were in Ottawa for a little Amanda: bit, and we're going back. Marco: And we're going back to Ottawa. Amanda: Can't get enough of the Ottawa. Marco: Is there anything you're excited to do in Ottawa this next trip? Amanda: You know, it kills me every time I go. I'm like, I want to skate the ride. Not that I'm a skater, but I want to skate the Rideau. R. Is that you say it? Marco: Yeah. R. Canal. Amanda: Anyway, and then I never do. And then. And then it's Sunday, and we're like, should we do it? And then we're like, it's raining. And then we leave. Marco: Well, this time it was warm, and Amanda: I. Yeah, I don't think it was open anyway. I mean, maybe it was. Marco: But I'll say this. If you're not familiar with Ottawa or the Rideau Canal, take a look online at people who skate the Rideau Canal. It's really quite lovely. It's the longest canal skate. Amanda: Canal skate in the world, or something. Like, longest frozen thing you can skate in the world or something like that. I don't know if that's what the sign says. Marco: I think. I think the sign would be a little bit more sure of itself. Amanda: Longest thingy that's frozen that you can also skate on. Marco: Our niece wanted to skate it this week. She's coming to Ottawa? Amanda: Yeah, she's excited. Um, well, there are lots of things we love to do in Ottawa. Eating scones. Marco: Oh, my goodness. I gotta. I gotta just say. Amanda: Or do you say scones? Marco: I say scones. Amanda: Yeah, we say scones. Marco: We're a Scone family. Amanda: We are. And I know that's probably wrong. Marco: Is it? Amanda: Yeah. If you're in like Edinburgh or Edinburgh as we would stupidly say it. Marco: I wouldn't say it like that. Amanda: You'd say Edinburgh, of course. Okay. If we were in Glasgow. Marco: Sure. Amanda: And they're all saying scone. Scone. Marco: Sconce. Amanda: And we're like, well, not sconce, that's a light fixture. Marco: What if they were talking about a light fixture? Amanda: I don't know. I mean, they have their own dialect. Marco: Okay, fair, but say. Amanda: They say sconce, but scone, isn't it? I don't know. We say scone. I'm sorry, We're Canadian. We do our best. Marco: I'm not sorry. That's the way I say it. And I proudly say scone. Amanda: I'm sorry because I'm Canadian. Not sorry, like American. Marco: Um, what did I say? Amanda: You said sorry. Marco: Sorry. Yeah, because I'm Canadian. I love that our podcast is a Canadian podcast and I use my Canadian accent and I don't try to mask it. Amanda: You don't have too thick a Canadian. Marco: I know, but you know, well, it Amanda: depends on who's saying that. Marco: Um, the truth is when we're doing auditions, I try to mask my Canadian accent so that I sound more American because a lot of the stuff we go out for is American TV and film. Amanda: I know. And you know, and the things that I shoot in Ottawa are American usually. And you know what makes me laug is every time I'm shooting in Ottawa, Ottawa is a beautiful world class city. Marco: It really is. Amanda: It really is. It's an incredible city, Beautiful museums, It's obviously the capital city of Canada. So it brings all of that. I mean, it really is an incredible city. Marco: The arts, the culture, equally French, equally English. Amanda: Yes. Um, and smart, smart, interesting people there. But what makes me laugh is every time I go and film something there, it's subbing in. And I'm talking like downtown Ottawa is subbing in for some tiny, small American town. And it makes me laugh because it's usually the opposite. Right. Usually you want to shoot somewhere small and cheap and then make it like New York or something. But it's always some Ohio small town. But we're like downtown Ottawa. And that was the case this week. Marco: Okay, Amanda, I have two Ottawa things I need to talk about. You needed an espresso while filming a podcast in Ottawa Amanda: Okay. Marco: So the first is, so you were filming and I was at our hotel. I was doing a lot of this podcasting work actually. It allowed it afforded me the time to work on the podcast and getting things up to speed. Now that said, in the afternoon I needed a coffee and we didn't have in our hotel we didn't have a coffee maker. We did, but it's one of those pod machines. Amanda: We don't do that. No. Marco: And I wanted an espresso. I really wanted an espresso. Amanda: Like a proper one. Marco: Like a proper espresso. So I put into the phone where the closest espresso was, was going to be. And it was a 15 minute walk Amanda: that I put into the phone. Marco: I, I looked into the phone, called it. No, I, I looked it, I typed it in and it was a 15 minute walk. Amanda: Mhm. Marco: But it was a three to six minute drive. Amanda: So what did you do? Marco: It was cold. And ordinarily I would want to go for a walk, but I chose to drive. Amanda: Okay. Marco: So it wasn't far from our hotel. I was like, I'm gonna get an espresso. So I looked up, I, I just typed in espresso and I looked at my options and there was one that was called Espresso Cafe that looked like it could do a proper espresso because, you know, I'm very particular and picky when it comes to that. Amanda: You are. Marco: And I, I always get a little bit aggravated when I go to an espresso bar and they only do double shots because in Italy that's not how they would do it and that's not how you should do it. And if you only do double shots, you're not the place for me. So I'm like this espresso, it's called Espresso Bar. It looks good. I'm really excited. I'm gonna go there. So as I'm driving, I realize I'm heading into Little Italy. Our hotel was not far from the Little Italy in Ottawa, which is on Prescott Street. So I was like, okay. So I'm driving and I'm driving and then I see Espresso bar, but they spell it with an X. Expresso. Amanda: Yeah. Marco: And I was like, uh, that could be a signal that they don't know what they're doing. Because if they can't spell espresso. Amanda: Mhm. Marco: There's gonna be a issue for me. Amanda: Right. I wonder why they spelled it like that. Marco: Maybe to be fun. Yeah. But I was like, it's in Little Italy, so it has to be a decent place that makes espresso. Right. So I'm trying to find a place to park. I can't find one. So I drive a bit up the street a couple blocks and then I see Cosenza Bar. Amanda went to Cosenza to try an authentic Italian espresso Amanda: Tell us about Cosenza. Marco: So Cosenza is an area, uh, is A city in Calabria. A principal city in Calabria, which is the southern part of Italy. The toe where my dad was from. And so I was like, oh, how Amanda: far was his town from Cosenza? Marco: Well, he was closer to Catzanzaro than Cosenza. I don't know. Amanda: Okay. Marco: I don't know the distance or the like an hour. Well, I never drove from his, uh. I never drove from my father's hometown to Cosenza. Amanda: Oh, no, no, I thought you did. Marco: No. Amanda: Okay. Marco: I didn't. Amanda: Why wouldn't I think that you've been there? Marco: I've been there. Amanda: Okay. Marco: Now I can't remember if we drove through Cosenzo. Amanda: Okay. But uh, sorry. Marco: Well, the story then, that's just a reference. My dad was from there. So I had high hopes, right? And I was like, okay, this place should be able to do a good Italian espresso. And I'm like, oh, but it's in Little Italy. What if it's a gimmicky place? Amanda: Mhm. Marco: And I was like, uh, and you know, some Little Italy's. No. Only don't have that Italian flavor anymore. Now it's become very gentrified. Amanda: We should do a whole episode on the Little Italy's. All the ones we've been to. Oh, we should. Marco: That'd be a great idea. Amanda: We've been to a bunch. Yeah. Marco: Um, so I'm like, I'm just gonna go in and I'm gonna, I'm gonna shoot the dice. I need an espresso. If they can't make it at Cosenza Bakery, where my dad is from, where can they make it? So I have high hopes. Mhm. I walk in and it was like I walked into a scene in a Martin Scorsese film. There was all these older Italian men and they were all having like, you know, conversations. And there was a, like, uh, an 80 year old man sitting at the bar by himself. And there was some younger, younger guys that were kind of hip at their own little table. And I think there was a table that was celebrating someone's birthday, but it was all men in there. Amanda: Oh, wow. Marco: And it looked very authentic and I could tell. And I walked in there and there was a, um, woman behind the bar was going to make the drink the coffees, right. And was making drinks for the, for the people. And it was, they were very welcoming. But they all looked at me and I thought, oh, is this a private club? As soon as I walked in there, Amanda: right, we don't know this guy. Fresh meat. Marco: And I was just looking And I was like, oh, is this, is this a private club? And like, no, it looks like a proper bar. And it didn't say private club when we walked in. It just had a lot of. It just happened to be really populated with people that afternoon. Amanda: Mhm. Marco: And so I go to the bar and I'm like, can I get an espresso macchiato? And she's like, sure, of course. And I look over and they have amaretti cookies in a jar and it says homemade amaretti cookies. Right? And those are little almond, um, cookies just like the size of a quarter, let's say in size and height a little bit, maybe, maybe an inch and a half. And I said, I'll get one of those. And she makes it for me. And it's Lavazza coffee. So already I'm happy because I do like Lavazza coffee. And she makes the proper, the proper macchiato, the kind you would get if you were in Italy. And I was happy. Amanda: And she espresso macchiato, not latte macchiato. Marco: Right. Amanda: Because a lot of people know latte macchiato because that's what Starbucks normally does. Marco: Right? Amanda: The caramel macchiato. Marco: What I'm getting is espresso with a little bit of milk, uh, a little glug of milk inside. Amanda: Espresso with a tiny little topper of foam. Marco: Thank you. So. And she gives me a little side of water, a tiny, tiny, almost like just bigger than a shot glass of water. And I'm like, oh, they do it right here. And Amanda, uh, that coffee couldn't have tasted any better if I made it myself. Amanda: Amazing. Marco: So I was really happy about that. I have two questions. First question, was there one of those fresh press orange machines Amanda: I have two questions. Marco: Sure. Amanda: First question, was there one of those fresh press orange machines there? Marco: No, there wasn't. Amanda: Because in Italy those are every, Every gas station seems to have like, uh, a machine that has like full oranges in it. And they're like, yeah, fresh juice, no problem. Like crazy. Marco: They did have a granita machine, a coffee granita machine. And it was running because sometimes in the winter you don't see it runny. And it was, and I was impressed with that. Amanda: Second question. Marco: Yes. Amanda: What language were people speaking? Marco: Oh, that's a good question. Because the people closest to me were the younger, the younger crowd. The old gentleman who I sat at the bar with, who was in his 80s. Amanda: Mhm. Marco: Didn't say a word. Just looked like a character type sitting at the bar. Amanda: Okay. Marco: Just watching the world go by. The gentleman in the back, like in the back area. Wasn't. Wasn't Scorsi guys, the Scorsese guys. I'm sure they were speaking English and Italian. Amanda: Oh, but you didn't hear them? Marco: I didn't, I didn't eavesdrop. Amanda: I was just wondering if they're speaking dialect or what. Marco: No, because I didn't get close enough to hear them because I only got up to see the panini that they had, uh, available for purchase. Amanda: Uh, your heart lied elsewhere. Marco: Yes. Yes, it was wonderful. And the lovely thing was I had the espresso. Espresso macchiato. You know, it's, it's two sips and it's gone. Amanda: Yeah. Marco: And I stayed there for a minute. It had really great atmosphere. And then I was like, ah, I can't stay much longer. So I, I said, I'm going to settle up with you and the barista. She goes, oh, going so soon. And I felt very welcomed by that, that I could have just stayed there with the 80 year old gentleman and just sat at the bar for, you know, however long wanted. They wouldn't have minded. Amanda: That's nice. Well, you can go back. You know, we're going back to Ottawa. Marco: I think I will. And I think I might take our friends Melissa and Matt with me. Amanda: Oh, that's a good idea because I Marco: think Melissa would really enjoy it. So. Not that Matt wouldn't, but I think Melissa M. Who's also her, her family is from Kalabda, would have really enjoyed it. The other thing I, I want to say is we never finished the scone conversation The other thing I, I want to say is we talked about scones earlier, but we never finished the scone conversation. Amanda: Well, you have to finish the scone conversation. Marco: So there's a place in Ottawa called the Scone Witch. Like, like a cackling witch. Like a, like a, like a witch with a pointy hat. Amanda: Yeah. Marco: But it's also called Scone Witch because they make sandwiches with their homemade scones, Amanda: which Marco never put that together until this past trip. Marco: I think I may have put it together last time, but it's been so long that I forgot it. Amanda: Maybe we've even talked about this place on the podcast. Marco: Oh, I'm sure we have. Amanda: You know, the first time I went to Ottawa, or one of the first times. Maybe the first time. First time you and I went together. Um, which was maybe the second time I went to Ottawa. Um, that was the recommend. Everyone was like, you got to go to the scone. Which got to go. And there was one and it was like in the business area, but now there's a bunch and we were chained. Marco: We were going on a Sunday to the Scone which. And I said, amanda, I don't even know if the Scone which is open on a Sunday, because the one we had gone to was more of a. Like a business. Amanda: Not only was it open, it owns the Sunday. That one. Marco: And as we're driving to it, I think that's when I said to you, I don't know if it's even open. And you saw a Scone which bus driving towards us. Amanda: Yeah, well, a minivan. A minivan that was dropping off Scone love for all of Ottawa to enjoy. Marco: And so we love this place. Once again, neither of these places are sponsors of the show, but if you're in Ottawa. Amanda: Not yet. Marco: Not yet, but. And they. And, uh, who knows if they'll even know that we're talking about them? I'll try to put it on our social media. But if, you know, if you know people in Ottawa and you know people behind the Scone Witch or Cosenza Bar, let them know, uh, about this podcast and this episode. So we had wonderful scones and you got a cappuccino. And they did a really good job because I wouldn't expect the Scone Witch to do a great job with the cappuccino. And they did a nice job. So I was happy. Amanda: You know what? They're lovely. They're lovely people there, people that are eating the scones are lovely. They're not that expensive. The sandwiches are plentiful and big. They have salads if you want them. Yeah. It's a great place. Marco: Yeah. So I'm, I'm happy. Amanda's happy. And, uh, we're going. We're heading back to Ottawa. It's a four hour and change drive from Toronto. Amanda: Can't wait to do that. That's gonna be super fun, seeing as I'm super sick. Marco: Yeah. And I'm trying my best not to get sick. Amanda: And he. We were like, let's record this podcast. And I was like, oh, being in the booth with me and my germs. But I mean, we live in a house together and yeah, we share a bed. So, um. Marco: And last week I did a solo cast because you weren't feeling well. Amanda: So sorry. Marco: It's okay. So, I mean, it was like, no, I'll. I'll record with you because I thought maybe I'd have to do another solo cast. Amanda: I wasn't feeling well last week. Marco: Last week. There's no. There was a reason why Gone. Maybe you knew you were gone. Where were you? I can't remember. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the Solo cast last week. I hope you're enjoying this episode with our new Dynamite Preamps. Amanda: I hope you're enjoying the Miami vice themed, um, YouTube. Marco: Yeah. Check those out. Amanda: The 80s. The Ottawa Valley has a very distinct Canadian, uh, accent Marco: Another word that I realized is a very Canadian way of saying it. South. When people say south. Amanda: South. Marco: How do you say south? Amanda: South. Marco: And I heard a, uh, newscaster on Chth. South. Amanda: Well, Chth. You want a Canadian accent, you tune into Ch. Hamilton's only. Yeah. They really lean into the oots and the boots. Marco: Yeah. Amanda: Canada is so known for. Yeah. And it's funny because we don't hear it all the time. And then you hear it on that new channel and you're like, whoa. They, uh, they sound like Bob and Doug McKenzie. Marco: They lean into that. Amanda: Yeah, they. Well, I don't know if they know they lean into it, but they certainly have it. Marco: Yeah. They don't lean out of it. Amanda: They don't lean out. Marco: Yeah. So that's true. That's. That's something. I. I noticed that today. Amanda: I mean, it's fun, right? Like, I hope Canada has so many interesting regional accents. That's one of them. That's not the only one. Marco: Sure. Amanda: But, um, I hope we don't ever lose that. Marco: You know, the Ottawa Valley actually has a very distinct Canadian, uh, accent. Amanda: I don't know much about it. What is the Ottawa? Marco: I don't know either. Amanda: Okay. Marco: I know one little phrase they say that is that I cannot say on the air. Oh, yeah. Because it's a little bit, um, inappropriate, but. Amanda: Oh, my. Marco: Yeah. So there you go. Amanda: So Ottawa. Marco: Who knew, right? Amanda: Who knew? Marco: Um, you know, I've never bumped into the prime minister in Ottawa yet. Yet. Amanda: And I'm a little busy. Marco: I'm hoping I will, because they often go to places that we go to that we frequent, like restaurants and stuff. Amanda: Uh, we go to the Scone when she's there. Marco: That'd be amazing. Amanda: He's like, hey, guys, listen to the podcast. Marco: Listen. I'll even take a not retired former prime minister. Bumping into a former prime minister in Ottawa. That'd be fun, too. Amanda: Well, we probably will. Marco: It'd be nice. Amanda: Our former prime minister is living his best life right now. Marco: Well, we've got a few. Amanda: He's on yachts and things. Marco: I mean, not that one, but there's a few that we could bump into. I'd love to bump into Chretien. Amanda: Oh, yeah, he's around. Marco: Yeah. Paul Martin. Amanda: Gretchen's, like, in his 90s. Marco: Yeah. Amanda: That's why he's kicking, man. He's just as feisty as he always was. It only takes one of you to recommend our podcast to others Marco: Kim Campbell. Love to bump into her, too. Amanda: Kim Campbell. Yeah. Marco: So there you go. Amanda: I think she lives in BC, though, still. Marco: What if she's visiting Ottawa and I'd like to bump into her? Amanda: Okay. Marco: So there you go. Amanda: Would you recognize Kim Campbell? Marco: Of course I would. Who do you think I am? Of course I would. Amanda: I don't know if I would. Marco: Well, I keep up to date with those things I liked. Amanda: I was a big Kim Campbell fan back in the day. I was. I was the one. Marco: Listen, it only takes one. Amanda: Yes, it only takes one. And listen, we don't usually get into politics. Marco: No, we don't. Amanda: We would happily bump into any of them. Marco: Yes, exactly. Well, it only takes one of you to recommend our podcast to others. And if you're the one, we appreciate it. Thank you for listening to this jazzy, uh, episode. Amanda: So jazzy. Marco: We dipped into Miami Vice for some reason. Amanda: Well, because the theming. Marco: Yeah. Check out our spaces. Amanda: Speaking of Miami Vice, which we weren't Dakota Johnson's, if you want a fun architectural tour. Dakota Johnson's Architectural Digest tour is one of my favorites. Okay, just throwing that out there. She has a very soothing voice. I love her mid century modern little. Little COD like, it's not a cottage, but it's in, like, a little wooded area. It's just lovely and I think it's very soothing. I've watched it a few times. So if you're still awake and you're looking for something else, maybe try that. Marco: All right. Till next time. We hope you enjoyed this episode, and we hope you were able to listen and sleep. |
AuthorMarco Timpano is an actor, storyteller, and the voice behind The Insomnia Project, a calming sleep podcast that helps listeners quiet their thoughts and drift off through soft, meandering conversations. Archives
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