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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.
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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.
In this calming episode of The Insomnia Project, hosts Marco Timpano and Amanda Barker ease into a relaxed conversation about swimming pools, summer memories, and an unexpected dance story. Titled “Pools & Dancing,” this gentle episode drifts through soothing reflections that are perfect for listeners looking to unwind, relax, and maybe even fall asleep.
Amanda shares her remarkable ability to swim in almost any body of water, no matter how cold. From brisk lakes to warm ocean waters, she describes her fearless approach to swimming and the quiet thrill of slipping into the water. Marco and Amanda then reminisce about the simple pleasures of community pools and private backyard pools—the sound of water, the feeling of cool relief on a hot day, and the nostalgic calm of long summer afternoons. Along the way, Marco shares a lighthearted story about dancing during the filming of a television show. His amusing dance-floor adventure adds a touch of humour while keeping the conversation mellow and easygoing. As always, the hosts keep the tone slow, gentle, and pleasantly mundane, allowing the conversation to wander naturally. Whether you’re listening in bed to help with insomnia, winding down after a long day, or quietly playing the episode at work to relax your mind and reduce anxiety, The Insomnia Project offers peaceful conversation designed to help you rest. It’s become one of the top sleep podcasts and sleepcasts for listeners seeking calm, comforting audio before bed. Let Marco and Amanda’s soothing voices, poolside nostalgia, and soft storytelling guide you toward a restful state of mind.
Pools & Dancing
(Original airdate: July 19, 2023) Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen as we have a calm conversation about the mundane or things that aren't so, you know, fascinating that you can just chill, listen, relax and forget about anything else that has been swirling Inside your mind. I'm your host, Marco Timpano. Amanda: I am nothing but mundane. Marco: I wouldn't say that. Amanda: I don't know the word mundane. I always, uh, I always trip over it. I always clarify it and say, maybe not mundane, maybe it's something different. I don't know. Marco: You know, Amanda, this is episode 24 of season seven. Do you know what that means? Amanda: No. Marco: We have two more episodes before. Episodes? I said that weird episodes before the end of this season. Amanda: Oh, wow. Marco: Which, uh, we're gonna take the month of August off. Ferragosto, which is, uh, the national sort of vacation holiday in Italy, is what Amanda's referring to. Amanda: I think I said that last year. Marco: I know, it's like. And uh, just so everyone knows. So we usually, we try our best to get the episodes out every Wednesday. And I was, I was trying to get last week's episode out, but you were out of town and I was filming. So it was very, it's very difficult and I didn't want to do a rushed or poor quality content wise episode, so we skipped last week's episode. I apologize to all our listeners who are. Who were expecting it. But what we're going to do is we're going to air this one today, which is Wednesday. Amanda: Mhm. Marco: Next Wednesday. Amanda: Mhm. Marco: And then we'll air the last one on the Tuesday, which is the 31st of this month. I know, Like a finale for season seven. And then come September, we'll jump the shark. I think we probably jumped the shark already. But, um, what I'm suggesting is what's funny, Amanda, A lot of people will listen to this. Not, you know, years from now. I'd be like, all those dates he's saying don't really matter. Amanda: Right. Marco: But that said, we're gonna take the month of August off and then we'll come back fresh with season eight in September. Amanda: Okay. Marco: All right, Amanda. Amanda: I think. But in terms of the Patreon content. That'll continue. Marco: That's right, we'll continue with that. Amanda: Because people need it in August. Marco: People need it. So if you, uh, are still jonesing for Insomnia project, uh, content. Amanda: I know I am. Marco: Or hearing our mutual voices, then certainly check out our Patreon page. Find in our show notes, which you can get extra content. Amanda: Uh, I have one word to say to that. Marco: What's that? Amanda: Meow. Marco: That's right. Amanda's acting like a cat right now. And I'll let her explain why. Amanda: I'm not acting like a cat. I'm acting like a one Year old who's acting like a cat. Marco: Amanda's licking her hand right now. Amanda: Yeah. I'm taking a bath. Um, my nephew who turned one. Marco: Our nephew. Amanda: Our nephew. It's true. Um, my apologies, Marco. I'm just so. I'm siloed with my love for him right now because we have been watching a few different videos where he learned to say meow. So it's a big hit in this neck of the woods. Marco: That's right. Uh, we went for a long walk and Amanda went for a swim in a pool. Amanda: I did the community pool. You gotta really love the water to commit to that. Marco: Sure. Amanda: And I did. Marco: You had a good swim. Amanda: The Christie Pitts pool, it's only open. It's open. I think, um, usually it's like July, Canada Day, long weekend. I think this year they opened them early because it was very hot in June. So, um, anyway, July through to Labor Day, and I think that's it. It's crazy because it's this big, huge, beautiful pool, but it's only open for two, maybe three months out of the year. Marco: I know last year on the hot, hot days, they extended well into the evening. Amanda: Yeah, that's right. Marco: We went late when I think they were open till midnight. Amanda: They were. That's right. Remember how fun that was? Marco: It was so much fun to be there with people you don't know, like late into the evening at 11 o', Amanda: clock, hanging out in some water. It's a beautiful pool. It's actually that particular pool is three different pools. Actually four different pools. If you want to count the little wading pool. Marco: Of course I want to count that one. Amanda: Um, me and this other woman who's about the same age, we had the right idea, an unspoken thing where we were doing lanes, but it's open swim, so there's, you know, you're doing lanes. And then there's four, you know, 11 year old boys that just jump in pretty much right next to you. Or a brother and sister team or there were some kids who were throwing a ball between one pool and another, so you might get caught in that crossfire. So, you know, you have to take the good with the, uh, with the floating band aids. Marco: Sure. Amanda: As they say. Marco: Sure. Um, there's an image for you listeners. We, um, also last year we did this. We had an app or something where you could rent time in other people's pools. Oh, yeah, that was, that was. Amanda: Talk about that app. Should I name the app? Marco: You can, while you're looking for it. Amanda: No, I know it. Okay, so the app is called swimply, and I had heard about it, and you can Airbnb a pool. You can rent hours in a pool. Marco: And what's funny is private pool. We went to go do it. It was. You had. You had rented this pool on Swim for my birthday. That's right. And our friends joined us, and it was a little bit weird at first because you're walking into someone's backyard. Amanda: Yeah. Marco: And then once we got in the backyard and into the pool, it was a lot of fun. I was like, I can't believe how much fun I'm having in a stranger's beautiful pool. Amanda: I know. We had a great time. Marco: So much fun. And they were so lovely that the gentleman came out at the end and said, I hope was great. We're like, we had such a great time. Amanda: Thank you. Marco: It was really, really worth it. Amanda: Yeah, M. We should do that again. I mean, there's so many great apps for renting out any aspect of life. Um, I remember. Marco: Is there a Shedley app for anybody? Amanda: I remember Portlandia had one, and it was, like, people renting out, like, part of their fridge and stuff like that, which. I shouldn't even joke. Marco: That's a comedy series, in case anybody's Portlandia comedy series. Well, it's a series that's comedic sketch show. Amanda: I know. It's also 10 years old, so I don't know. Yeah. Marco: Not all our listeners are familiar with it. Amanda: Yeah. They might not be. And I don't know where one can actually watch it these days. Marco: Tell me about some of the nicest rolling your eyes. I have been rolling my eyes quite a bit. Amanda: It's not a fun thing when the person across from you who's making a lot of noise with his feet, I might add, I get in such trouble for any little suck of air, and then all I hear is shuffle, shuffle. I don't know if. Listen. I don't think listeners can hear that, but you can. Marco: It's my own private ams Ace asmr. Amanda: Okay. What were you gonna ask me? That you keep trying to ask me every time I say something and you roll your eyes. Because it's not. It's not the journey you want to go on today. Marco: It's true. Um, I wanted to ask. Tell me about some of the nicest pools you've been in. Amanda: Oh, a journey of pools. Well, let's start with the Kristie Pitts pool. Uh, has a water slide on the deep. I didn't go into that deep one. That's like the diving water sliding pool. Um, I really have to commit myself to, like, water above all else at that one. It can be really. Marco: Your nicest pools are your favorite pools. You're starting with. Amanda: That's the Christie Pitts one I have a great affinity for. Marco: Okay, fair enough. Amanda: Fine. Marco: No, no, no. Please continue. Amanda: So the pool in my hometown. We had a community pool in my hometown in New Brunswick, but I never swam in it. Marco: Okay. Amanda: Um, but there was one, um, because we didn't have a pool until my mom put one in, um, when my brother was in high school. So I was off doing things, and I'd come home sporadically. But when, um, I was living there for a time, I think in my very early twenties, when I was sort of in between things and not sure what to do, I would swim once a week and in this motel's pool. And I actually love that pool. It was called the Panoramic Motel. I think it's still there, but it might be owned by another company now. But, um, it was out on the highway. And as kids, it's where we used to stay. One of the places we used to stay when we would come up to Canada, because for three years my dad worked in Canada and we lived in Massachusetts. We would spend a lot of the summer while he was working up there with him and all of that. So one of the places we'd stay was this place called the Panorama. Panorama Motel. Marco: I see. Amanda: And, um, it was, like, up on a hill and it overlooked the river. It was actually quite pretty. And they had a pool, and they had pinball, um, machines too. So as kids, we love those. And, uh, you know, we try to find Canadian quarters, and we put our American quarters in there and hope that it would work. So I loved it as a kid. And then, because I loved any pool as a kid and. And then as an adult, when I was like, 22, I think, uh, 22, 23, I was living at home for a year while I was trying to figure out, you know, what my next move would be, which was eventually moving to Toronto. Marco: Sure. Amanda: And so I would swim in that pool every week. I would just buy a $15 pass or whatever it was and go and swim in that pool. Marco: What shape pool is that one? Amanda: I think it was just a rectangular pool. Yeah. But I loved. I mean, I just loved to swim. And then my parents finally put in a really fun pool. And it had, um. It was sort of for my brother. Um, we didn't have one for years in New Brunswick, but we had one in Massachusetts. So I was a pool child for a long time. And uh, my mom argued and she was right that New Brunswick was quite cold. To have a pool, you really only get, you know, six weeks or whatever out of it. But. But um, and then if you heat it, it's a whole thing. Which we did. But anyway, um, but that, uh, one that she put in kind of as a late in the game pool had the lights that like turn from like, you know, white to blue, like to purple to green to red kind of thing. Um, so that was like a fun. You could just make them any color. But that was like a fun thing that we would do. Um, I'm trying to think of other pools. Marco: I can tell you one of my favorite pools. Amanda: I will tell you one more that I love. Sure, there's a pool. I stayed, um, at the Animal Kingdom, uh, resort in Disney World as a Christmas present one year. And as a surprise, my m. My mom was like, we're gonna go stay there. And I remember swimming in that pool. And that was a spectacularly huge, beautiful pool. And I had it all to myself. It was made like a beach. It's one of those pools that's like a beach. And it was beaut. Beautiful. And I had it all to myself. Marco: No one was in the water? Amanda: No, just me. >> Speaker A: Wow. Marco: Was it too cold for. Amanda: Probably, yes, it was December, but it's never too cold for me. So that's one that just jumps out of my memory. But I've swum in so many pools. Marco: Amanda will swim. No matter how cold it is. She'll brave the water. That's one thing I have to say about her. I won't. I'm very like. I'm like, no, it's too cold and it could be middle of July. Amanda: Do you have a favorite pool or pools? Marco: A pool that really comes to mind that we haven't been back to in a while. And I don't know, I don't foresee us necessarily going back. There is a pool in Orlando. We used to. Or uh, we. We do work. Yeah, we do work in Orlando once or twice a year or actually used to be quite a bit. Amanda: Mhm. Marco: And they used to put us in this hotel and it's not anything. Listen, it's just a hotel near Disney Springs. I believe it is. Amanda: Yeah. Marco: So that's. That's. Amanda: Do you want the name of the hotel? Marco: It doesn't matter. But yeah, sure. Amanda: The Hilton Buena Vista. Marco: Disney Springs. There's a. Another Hilton Buena Vista. Amanda: There's two. Marco: So. Amanda: But the one at Disney Springs. Marco: So that was the Corporate hotel for the longest time. Amanda: Yeah, I know. We were there a lot. Marco: We were there a lot because we would go down. Amanda: Lucky us. Marco: Yeah. Very fortunate. And we, uh, would go there for three or four days. And they had this beautiful rectangular pool that had a nice deep part to it, but not too deep, but it was nice that you could go in. But they also had a lazy river. Amanda: Yeah. Marco: That went around. And it was big enough that you could sit in it and do one full rotation. Amanda: Uh-huh. Marco: And feel like, okay, I spent some time in the water. I enjoyed it. And you could get out or you could continue. You know, Amanda has this tendency to bring magazines or collect magazines from the plane that we might be on. Right. Wherever. And we would just grab some of those magazines and float around in the floaty river and then hop in that pool. The rectangular pool. Amanda: That's right. Marco: That was always empty. Amanda: I found we had a great time. Uh, you know, now that you say that, I remember reading Mindy Kaling's book on an inner tube in that floating river, like, in various magazines. I remember reading a Money magazine that was about Dave Ramsey. Like, I just remember. I have, like, certain memories of reading different things. Marco: For me, it was country living. I think your mom gave you a bunch of country. Amanda: I brought one home. I just came back from Florida and I brought one home. Marco: So I was reading about country living as I circled the pool in a pool. Ah, tube. And the funny thing about that, um, lazy river is there was two areas, and if you weren't paying attention. So if you were reading and you didn't realize it, they had these, like, little spurdy waterfall things that would spurt on you. So you would. Amanda: And you'd be deep in a book, and then suddenly it would be like a shower. Marco: Yeah. Amanda: On your face. Marco: Yeah. That's something I remember. Amanda: Um, well, my parents. This sounds, um, a bit bratty, for lack of a better word. But, you know, my. My parents have a pool now. They live in Florida, so it's very common to have a pool there. It's necessary with the heat, certainly. Um, if you're going to live there. Marco: And it's a. Not. Not a big pool, per se. Amanda: No. But I can actually do a few laps in it, which is nice, because a lot of smaller pools, you just can't. They're just made to cool off, which is great, too. Um, but, yeah, I was just in that as of yesterday, in fact. And, um, that pool. Uh, yeah, I like it. It's sort of like a kidney shape. And, uh, I actually have some photos of me at that pool two nights ago if you want to share. I'll be happy to share that pool Marco: at night, but go to our Instagram and I will post Amanda in the Amanda: pool if you think it's appropriate. Marco: Well, at this point I have to. So hopefully it is appropriate. Amanda: Trying to wedge my pool photos. Marco: I feel like you're trying to wedge pool photos. Amanda: Pool agenda. Um, but that one is really interesting because in the daytime it looks over a canal. So in the daytime you can look. And you're looking for gators and turtles and things like that and all the wildlife. So many. I mean, we've talked about it a lot, but they live across from a bird sanctuary. Marco: Right. Amanda: And I saw sand cranes and herons and, uh, so many beautiful birds just in the last couple of days being there. Marco: And I should say this, that it sounds wonderful. Wonderful and beautiful to live across from a bird sanctuary. And Amanda's describing these beautiful, majestic birds that you see. However, those birds also like to quack and squat and bark and do. Amanda: Uh. Marco: Yeah, there's a couple of birds that have a lot. Amanda: The alligators bark. They have a proper bark. Marco: Yes. And they'll do it very early in the morning. Amanda: Yes. Marco: And they'll get you up at 5:00am yeah, they will. Amanda: Right on your roof. Marco: Yeah, right on your roof. And there's. There's some peacocks that live in the area that are also kind of there. Amanda: Is there? Marco: There was peacocks. Amanda: There was peacocks at their old house in Florida. I don't know about this one. In this neighborhood, I feel like there Marco: was peacocks living on someone's roof. Peacocks are not. Amanda: Yeah, but not that house. Marco: Okay. Amanda: I think we're. I mean, for now, it's only a matter of time. Marco: Um, peacocks are an invasive species if you're not careful. Yeah. Amanda: Apparently it's a big problem in Texas, too. Sure. There's peacocks everywh. Um, but one of the things I wanted to say was that's how it is in the daytime. But what I really love about that pool, and this is true for any pool, um, especially in Florida or anywhere sort of south, is that pool at night is spectacular. I love a pool at night where you can swim and look up at the stars. Marco: Oh, yes. Amanda: And look up at the, um, palm trees. I don't normally swim in the ocean at night. Um, but who's swimming at the ocean at night? People do. I have. Yeah. Marco: Swimming in the ocean at night. Amanda: I have done. Yeah. But a pool is a different story. And, ah, you know, you don't have the question mark of what fish are out, et cetera. So, um, it's a beautiful thing to be able to swim at night and look up the palm trees, hear the sound of the rustling of the palm trees in the breeze and the wind. I love that sound while I'm swimming. And then looking up and seeing the stars and the constellation is just a beautiful moment in time. And I wish everyone to have that experience, no matter where it is, because there's lots of places on this planet that you can swim in a pool at night. So, um, I know it's not the easiest thing. I know for us in the city, it's hard, um, and we don't have them. But if you can find one, get thee to a night pool because they're beautiful. And it's just one of my favorite things. Marco: I do want to say this. I feel like there is a pool in many rec centers or community centers and, uh, like libraries. I love the ability to access a pool by everyone. Amanda: I agree. Marco: And so if you have a pool in your neighborhood, like the pool that Amanda was mentioning off the top, the Christie Pitts pool, is a pool that's been there for a while. And there's something really lovely about, uh, walking into this community center that has photos of people from the 1920s on the wall that were in the Row Club or whatnot or the swim teams of the city. And there's just something spectacular about that that I really find charming. Amanda: Well, there's something so wonderful about having a pool that you can walk to. Marco: Sure. Amanda: Or take a subway tour, you know, find your way to, um, you recently Marco: went in a dip of a pool with friends of ours that was very empty at a community center. Amanda: Yeah. And so, uh, what I was going to say about this pool I was in this evening. It's a war. Lots of people going through it, but it's huge enough that it doesn't feel, you know, you have to be ready to be in a pool with a lot of people. But m. There's something really lovely because it's such, um, a microcosm of this city, and we're so lucky to live in such a beautifully multicultural city. Marco: Sure. Amanda: And I must have heard 10 different languages, wonderful spoken, just doing laps. And I was kind of smiling to myself thinking, like, all these kids. And it's just kids playing and parents yelling, you know, for their kids to, you know, one kid wants to go into the big pool. And, you know, families are families. That's universal. And so there's Something just really lovely about all of that coming together to just cool off and take a dip and splash around in the water. It makes you a child. Sure. When you can splash around in the water and. Yeah, that pool that we went to, um, over in the East End is an indoor pool that has a Saturday swim. It's part of a school, I think. Marco: Okay. Amanda: So it was like the school's pool, but they open it up to the public on weekends all year long. And uh, yeah, I went with friends of ours, they, they started going on Saturdays and it was so empty. Marco: Do you know, one time I had to, I had to be a teacher for pool. For a uh, pool class. Amanda: Oh really? Marco: In high school. Amanda: Oh. Marco: So I whole class. Amanda: You, you don't swim. This is very interesting to me. Marco: I don't think I've ever told you this story. So listeners, um, years ago I was an emergency supply, ah, teacher or a substitute teacher. Amanda: What's the difference between a substitute teacher and an emergency? Like when all else fails. Marco: Yes. Amanda: So call Mr. Tympano. Marco: That's a really good question. So there's a local school near us, it's a beautiful old school called, um, called. What's it called? The one on Bathurst there? Amanda: Uh, Regal Road. Marco: No, the one about the big one. Amanda: Yeah, you always point to it. Marco: Yeah, it's a beautiful school. I used to teach there. Amanda: I don't know. Collegiate. Bathurst, Collegiate. Marco: It'll come to me. Amanda: Okay. Marco: Anyways. Amanda: Humber. Marco: I don't know. Um, anyway, so what happened was years ago my friend's like, we should get on the emergency supply teaching list. And I was like, what is that? And they were like, okay, so what happens is you get yourself on a list and you don't have a teaching degree, but if they can't get a teacher, you're their last hope. And because you have a degree in, you know, a general bachelor of arts from a university or whatever, whatever it was you needed. Amanda: Mhm. Marco: We had. And so we put our name on the list. And the funny thing was at that time how it worked was they would call one person, one regular teacher to fill in the next one. They'd call a regular teacher and if they couldn't get someone, they would go to the emergency supply phone numbers. And the problem was they hadn't removed a lot of names of teachers that had retired or who are no longer with us. And so they would hit numbers. Amanda: No longer with us. My goodness. Marco: Yeah. So what would happen is it would often deter, it would often just jump to the emergency supply chain. Amanda: 10 down on the list. The backup at the back, I think Marco: it was like three or four down. So I would get calls to go to this really big school, which I can't think of the name of it. I drive by it, um, so many times in the day. And, uh, I want to say York Memorial, and it's so not York Memorial, but. Amanda: But tell me where it is again. It's on Bathurst. Marco: Bathurst and Harbord. And we drive by it. Amanda: Oh, that's cool. Marco: Every day, every. Like, I don't think there's a day that I haven't been driving past it. I taught there, and I can't think of the name of it. So they would call you, and you wouldn't know what class you were going to be teaching until you got there. And because it's a technical school and a large school, they have very interesting classes. So sometimes I'd go in there and I'd teach English. Sometimes I teach algebra. Sometimes I teach Amanda: algebra. Marco: Algebra. Sometimes I teach. Amanda: Did you teach algebra? Marco: Drafting? Sometimes I. Amanda: How? Marco: I teach, um, cosmetology. Sometimes, yes. They had a cosmos. They had a cosmetology course. Wait, it gets better. They had aerodynamics. So they had one class which had a plane in it. There was a plane suspended. And they would teach you, the students, how to do plane mechanics. Amanda: What did you do? Marco: So. Hang on, I'll get there. Amanda: I thought we were talking about pools today. This took a turn. Marco: Auto mechanics class. Right. So I would. I would go to these. I would show up and they'd say, you're. You're in Auto Mechanics 101. And 2 times it happened to me that they were like, you're in the pool? And I'm like, what? So they have a pool, a really beautiful pool in this old school. Amanda: Interesting. Marco: And they had swimming classes or pool classes for their students. And I would have to go there as the teacher, thankfully, because, as Amanda said, I'm not a good swimmer. They have a pool person who stays with the pool, who is the instructor that goes in the water with them. So there was no. No fear. And I just stood there, took attendance, and watched them learn how to swim. Amanda: Right. Okay. Marco: And in the cosmetology class, sometimes I would. I would be given a syllabus of what I had to teach that day or. And sometimes it was just like, work on your own. And then I would take attendance and we would just kind of like, hang out kind of thing. But most of the time. Amanda: What did you teach in cosmetology? I feel like you're Bearing the lead on this. Marco: Well, the interesting thing is my mother is a hairdresser. Was a hairdresser for all my life. So as a child I was always in a salon. So I taught how. French braid. Amanda: Really? Marco: No, I didn't. I didn't teach out of French braid. But I can't remember. It was so many years ago. But it was a pretty simple class. I think what happened was what was left for me was for them to review their notes and then I had questions for them. Amanda: I mean, usually when we got a supply teacher, which is what I remember calling them, um, uh, they would just sit with a folder and say, do this work. That's all I really remember. Marco: Sometimes I'd get really great, great, um, instructions and I love actually teaching. Amanda: Would you leave them notes saying thanks for the great instructions? Marco: No, I never would. Amanda: Would you leave them a tip? Marco: No, I wouldn't. I wouldn't. But I will say this. Amanda: We're talking a lot about tipping the last week. Marco: So this all comes. Speaking of teaching is I am going to be teaching a course at a local college. Amanda: Is that happening? Marco: Yeah. Oh, didn't I tell you? Amanda: No, I didn't know if it was for sure. Marco: Oh, yeah, it's for sure. Amanda: They've a lot of we haven't been together friends. So we've. I got in 2am last night. Marco: If you check my Instagram page, you'll see I put it on there recently and it was also on my LinkedIn. But I'll be teaching a course, uh, at George Brown College on how to podcast a podcasting in September. September 19th. Amanda: Okay. Marco: To the. To November 30th. Amanda: Okay, that's good to know. Marco: And it's virtual so anyone can take the class. But I was really excited about it Amanda: because can we travel while you're teaching? Marco: So, yeah, because it's virtual. The gentleman who's in charge, the dean, asked me if I wanted it to be virtual or for me to show up. And I said I think virtual is going to work best because I know that we're traveling. Amanda: It's also an audio medium. Marco: Right, Right. So I'm excited to be teaching at a college, one, uh, that I went to for continuing education. Both of us went. Amanda: We did. Marco: And it was quite a. Amanda: The student becomes the teacher. Marco: I know that is exciting and I really like that. I really like George Brown because they, they offer great continuing education, uh, classes. Amanda: What night is your class going to be or what day? Marco: Thursdays. Thursdays from 6:15 to 9. Amanda: Okay, good. Good to know. Marco: Yeah. So I'M really happy about that. Amanda: That is exciting. Marco: And I'm filming this really, really lovely series. Amanda: You are. Marco: And I'll tell you all more about it when I can, but it's gonna be four episodes and it's really delightful and I love being on set and can I just tell one story, Amanda, about. Amanda: Yes, please. Marco: We're going a little over, but we're giving a little bonus kind of time. Amanda: We are. Um, which I think we owe the people. Marco: Yes. Amanda: Um, I will say that I like, Marco: you see, the people versus our listeners. Amanda: The people. Not a lot of actors are working right now due to various strikes. Sure. So you're one of the only actors in North America on a set shooting a series right now. It's pretty exciting. Marco: That's when I get. When no one else works. So Amanda knows this about me. And I like to dance. I like dancing. I'm a decent dancer. Would you say it's one of the Amanda: things I love the most about you and pairs dancing? Marco: Yeah. Pairs dancing? Amanda: Yeah, like old timey, like Paris dancing Marco: versus dancing by myself. Amanda: Well, like, grinding on a dance floor is not really what I would consider you doing. Marco: I could grind on a dance floor like the best of them. Amanda: You probably could. Marco: Oh, my goodness. Amanda: Why don't we grind? Marco: Well, let's grind on the dance floor. Amanda: Uh, we have, we've, we've done more anyway. But you're, you're really good at actual, like, couples dancing. Marco: Yes. Yes. Yeah, I enjoy dancing. I'm also a good, you know, I can freestyle. Freestyle dancer. Amanda: Sure. We have, we have freestyled. It's true. But we do more pairs. Marco: It's true. I like that you said yes. We have grinded on the dance floor and then just left it at that Amanda: and didn't explain Miami. I think we did, uh, we did Marco: it in a show too. We grinded on dance floor. Amanda: Yeah. Okay. Okay. Grinded. Ground. Marco: Ground. We ground on the dance floor. Okay. So. But anyways, this, this let me bring it back to where I was going. So in this particular, uh, series, there's, uh, a portion of it where I'm gonna be Bollywood dancing with a bunch of people in a Bollywood dancing class. But my character is not a good dancer. And so I have, I provide some comedic, some comedic beats. So before we get on camera, while we're in the green room, I'm telling the other actors, I'm like, I really, I really enjoy dancing and I'm a pretty decent dancer. And I said to them, I've never done Bollywood dancing, but I'm so Excited to do Bollywood dancing. Because I've always wanted to do Bollywood dancing. So I'm really, I'm really stoked to do this. Amanda: Mhm. Marco: And to learn the Bollywood dancing moves. Amanda: Yeah. Marco: So. But once again, I'm not supposed to be able to do the Bollywood dancing. I'm supposed to make mistakes. And, you know, they all try to help me to learn how to do it. So we go and I'm like, great, I know what I'm gonna do for the funny beats. And we do it and the director yells, cut. And she comes up to me and she goes, you're very funny. But even though you're doing the moves wrong, I can tell that you're a good dancer because you're dancing to the beat and you're, you're really, you're really working it. Like you're really showing that you know how to dance. I need you to be less skilled and less able to do moves. Amanda: Uh-huh. Marco: So I do a lot of dance acting, Amanda, to make myself look like acting. Acting to make myself look like not a great actor. Amanda: Right. Marco: And I'm very excited for you to see it. Amanda: I can't wait to see it. Uh, what a great dancer, you mean? Marco: Yeah, yeah. Just to see me acting. And, uh, I really enjoyed it. I really. I would love to take a Bollywood dancing class and do some Bollywood dancing. Amanda: You and I could. Maybe we do. Marco: We should. I would love to do that. It's just the thing I know about Bollywood dancing is that it requires a lot of stamina. Amanda: Okay. Marco: A lot of energy. Amanda: Okay. Marco: And a lot of, um, fluid, uh, and flexible movements. Amanda: Okay. He's moving, as he says. Marco: Yeah. I'm doing one of the moves that, that I saw them do and people of the world. And it's such a joyous, wonderful thing to watch. And it really is a wonderful form of dancing. So I can't wait to do more of it. Amanda: I will tell everybody more about the series as it. Marco: It in season eight. Season eight? Yeah. Season that comes up. Sorry, I feel like I cut you off. Amanda: Season eight. Oh, I thought you meant of the series. I'm like, no, that'd be great if it got a season. Marco: Oh, I hope so, but. Amanda: Mhm. Marco: This is season seven. And then we're going to go away for August and then in season eight, I'm sure I'll be able to tell the stories. Amanda: Will, will keep you updated as the story develops. Marco: Yes, indeed. Well, Amanda, that's. Listen, that's the end of this episode. If there's anything else you want to say that's pool related. Amanda: Oh, gosh. So many pools, so little time. Marco: It's true. Amanda: I love them all. I've loved them all. I could talk about pools forever, but to all the pools you swim m at night if you can. Friends, that's what I'll leave you with. Marco: Okay, fair enough. And I'll just say, everyone into the pool. And until next time, we hope you were able to listen and sleep. Um.
In Backyard Sounds, Off-Ramp Spots & Razor Clams, Marco welcomes guest Nidhi Khanna for a calm, outdoor conversation recorded in the backyard. Surrounded by the gentle ambience of outdoor sounds, the two drift through an easygoing discussion about razor clams and the famous Pismo clam, sharing small observations and curiosities about coastal life and seaside food traditions.
The conversation meanders in the relaxed style listeners know from The Insomnia Project, wandering through quiet backyard moments and small everyday details. As always, the goal isn’t to keep you wide awake — it’s simply to offer a gentle stream of conversation that might help quiet racing thoughts and guide you toward rest. Hosted by Marco Timpano with guest Nidhi Khanna, this episode continues the show’s tradition of calm, mundane discussions designed to help listeners relax, unwind, and possibly drift off to sleep. If you don’t make it to the end because you’ve fallen asleep, we take that as the highest compliment. The Insomnia Project is produced by Drumcast Productions and features the theme music “Bass Walker” by Kevin MacLeod. For additional conversations and bonus content, visit patreon.com/theinsomniaproject.
Backyard Sounds, Off-Ramp Spots & Razor Clams
(Original airdate: May 31, 2016) Welcome to the Insomnia Project where we discuss the mundane Marco: Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen as we have a conversation about the mundane. One thing we can promise you is that our conversation will be less than fascinating so that you can feel free to just lie back, sit back, lean against a nice wall and drift off and relax and enjoy it. We do want you to listen and sleep as well. Feel free to follow us on Twitter. Listen and sleep. I'm your host, Marco Timpano. Nidhi: And I'm, um, your co host, Nidhi Khanna. Marco: I'd like our listeners to help identify this sound Marco. We received some wonderful feedback from one of our listeners who emailed in to, um, say that they enjoyed the episode. Last episode, where we were recording from outside. Um, because of all the sounds. Yeah. The natural ambiance that they felt we were recording in. Marco: And so we're back outside. Nidhi: We're back outside. And this time we have a little friend. I'm gonna ask that we say silent for a moment. Marco: Um. Nidhi: Um, Marco. Because I'd like our listeners to help identify this sound. This sound. Marco: So it's not a donkey, is what I'll say. The sounds that you may have heard in the last episode are the rustling of the trees from a Norwegian maple I have in my backyard. My neighbor's air conditioner coming on, obviously, uh, planes overhead, a couple of the kids walking by having fun. Cars in the background as well, the odd person on the cell phone. Uh, and birds and birds. Nidhi: And so I'm guessing that this sound is coming from a bird. Marco: Yes. Nidhi: But if any of our listeners have any idea of what bird this may be. Marco: The squawking bird. Nidhi: We have the squawking bird. Yeah. I've never. I don't recall hearing this particular type of bird in the area before, so I'm intrigued. Marco M. says Norwegian maple is an invasive species in Canada Marco M. You have a beautiful. I think, uh, you mentioned it was a Norwegian wood. Marco: Yeah, it's Norwegian maple. And I know that because I called a arborist in to take a look at the tree because I felt like it was in need of some attention. You can see some of the branches don't have leaves on it. Nidhi: Yes. Marco: So this was a couple years back, and I was kind of like, I'm concerned about my maple. I love this maple in the fall. It's beautiful orange and red leaves, and I want to continue to care for it. So I had this arborist come in, and they said, oh, it's a Norwegian maple. And I was like, oh, great, a Norwegian maple. Nidhi: And then he said, very strong in Norwegian maple. Marco: You know, you think. And he's like, oh, it's an invasive, specific species of maple. And then I was like, what? And he's like, yeah, it's one of the maple trees that sort of, um, out. I don't know what the word is, but they sort of, like, grow faster than our sugar maples or other native species here. In Canada. And so they can be problematic because they can, uh, overcrowd areas where our native species of maple. So my love for the trees sort of, you know, waxed off a bit there when the arborist was kind of, like, talking about this particular beautiful tree that I love. It's, what would you say, like, easily, uh, 14ft high. Uh, but then I fell back in love with, uh, the Norwegian maple. Even though it is not a native species, it is quite majestic here with its leaves, and it provides a great deal of COVID uh, for us from the sun and the sound of the wind as it wrestles through, uh, the leaves. I don't think it's called wrestle through the leaves. It's a Russell, Russell, Russell. As, yeah, rustles through the leaves is always a beautiful sound that we have here in our postage stamp of a backyard in the city of Toronto, which we're very happy to have a little bit of space that you can just kind of sit back, relax, and record as we are right now. What's the most exotic bird you've ever seen in the wild Um, Nidhi, what birds are you a fan of? Or what's the most exotic bird you've ever seen in the wild? Nidhi: Oh, that's a good question. Um, I'm not a big connoisseur of birds, to be quite honest. I mean, I've seen the robins and the sparrows. Marco: Sure. Nidhi: Um, I've seen a hawk once. Marco: Okay. Nidhi: Like hawks? Yeah, very. Um, I'd love to see an eagle. Marco: Oh, I've seen eagles. I've seen bald eagles, too. Nidhi: They seem quite majestic. Marco: They're large, they're big. Yeah, they're very sort of like, they take up their space. They don't seem afraid, you know, I mean, they're very like, I'm an eagle Nidhi: and I know it cares. What about. What about parrots? Have you ever seen a parrot? Marco: Not in the wild, no. I wish I have. I've seen, um, I saw a peacock in the wild. Nidhi: Oh, yes. Uh, it's like peacocks in the wild, too. Marco: Kind of neat. There was about, like, nine peacock on the. On the roof of a house in Florida I saw once. They were just wild peacock. They're not native to Florida that I'm aware of, but I think someone had released a couple of peacock and they bred and there was all these peacocks on a roof top, and they're really like, their plumage is very beautiful. Beautiful and big. Right. Nidhi: I want to say that I've seen, um, a peacock in India before. Marco: Okay. But I think it's a. I think it's an Asian. Nidhi: Yeah, I think so. Too. So I think that makes sense. Um, and last time I was in London, I was, um, in Holland, uh, park. And there were peacocks roaming around the park, which makes me think that there's something to do with the royal family. I'm assuming the royal regal peacock. Marco: Well, yes, I would imagine, like, it's. It's such a majestic animal. So the peafowl include two Asiatic bird species. The blue or Indian peafowl, originally of India and Sri Lanka. Huh. Nidhi: There we go. Marco: And the green peafowl of Myanmar, Indochina and Java. And one African species, the Congo peafowl, native only to the Congo basin. Nidhi: Now, Marco, did you know that male peacocks are the ones that have the bright feathers? Marco: Yeah. The plumage that you see whenever you see a peacock. Even like the NBC peacock is a male peacock. Yeah. It's the male species of the animals that are brightly colored and have all the fancy detailing because they've got to attract their mate. Mate. And so, yeah, I did know that. Nidhi: That was the only fun fact I have. Marco: Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to slam that down. But I did. I did know that. That fun peacock fact. Um, I love seeing quail. They're cute little quail. Nidhi: Yeah. Marco: Cute little animals running around. I've never really. I've eaten quail. I have. I always feel a little bit bad. Just like ducks. I love. I love seeing waterfowl and ducks in particular. I love watching them. I think they're such a beautiful bird. Marco's motorcycle license is about to expire, so he needs an expert Nidhi: Now, I did not know that swans were quite an aggressive species and that they, uh. If, uh. So here in Toronto, for example, if you go by the harbour front. Marco: Yes. Nidhi: A friend of mine lives by the harbour front, and he was saying that they will watch, uh, to make. Make sure there's not enough. There's not too many swans in the water because it signifies, um, that there's a big takeover that's about to happen. Marco: You've got to be careful with those swan. Nidhi: You know, they're so aggressive that they will kind of, um, take up all the food, uh, sources for the rest of the waterfowl. Waterfowl. Marco: You know, geese are supposedly one of the best guard animals you could have in your home. Really? Yes. They're very territorial and they're very aggressive, and they're very, um. They. They will not back off. If there's an intruder in your home and you have a goose or geese as your protectors, they will attack, make noise, and they will be aggressive and they will, like, shoo people out. Nidhi: I feel like that's what they do even when they're in the wild. Marco: Well, and imagine if you, if you train one and you have one as a pet and you know, and that guards your home. I would love to have geese as my protectors. Yeah. Really Walk around with a flock of geese that just kind of like protect you as you stroll. Nidhi: It's very badass. Marco: Dangerous parts, uh, of town, you know. Nidhi: Marco, have you ever had a motorcycle? Motorcycle? Marco: No. I have my m. Oh, it's interesting you should say that. I have my motorcycle license, but it's about to expire. I've got a check. When it expires, I need to get an expert. Yeah, I. It's a, uh, graduated, um, license system here in Ontario. So you get. You're right to the written test and then you get your. Then you do a driving test and you're allowed to have it for three to five years and then you have to do the next test. So I don't have a motorcycle license. I mean, I'm sorry. I do have a motorcycle license that I need to ensure doesn't expire. I don't have a motorcycle, but I drive a scooter with that motorcycle license because I need a motorcycle license to drive my scooter. I could drive a motorcycle because I was trained on a motorcycle. Nidhi: Like on a Harley motorcycle. Marco: Like a little Yamaha thing. Like, I don't even think it was Yamaha. It was like one of those makes you've never heard of, like mamaha. You're like, kind of looks like a Yamaha, but it's not. But, uh, yeah, so I. And I've never, um, I've never ridden a motorcycle, like on vacation. Like I've rented scooters and, uh, motorbikes, but never a proper motorcycle. Nidhi: I feel like the motorcycle lifestyle is Marco: almost Nidhi: like this unsaid cult that you become a part of. I don't mean cult in a bad way. I know there's a bad, like, connotation. Marco: More like a culture. Motorcycle culture. Sure. Nidhi was driving home from Montreal on Highway 2 Nidhi: Um, so when I was driving home from Montreal, I took the historical Highway Marco: 2, which for our listeners as what Nidhi: exactly is the highway between Montreal and Toronto? So you could take the normal highway, which is the Highway 401, which is Marco: the expressway and it's a big sort of freeway. Nidhi: Yep. Marco: Multi lane. Nidhi: Multi lane. Marco: It's kind of boring, but it gets you there quick. Nidhi: Gets you there quick. That highway happened to be quite congested that day because I was coming home after holiday weekend. Marco: Okay. Nidhi: And so I took the scenic route, as they say, which is Highway 2. Highway 2. And it's along the water, um, of Lake Ontario. You go into all the little towns and townships. Townships. And it's quite pleasant and beautiful. Marco: Right. Nidhi: And the roads are very windy, so you can only really go 100 maximum, uh, kilometers an hour. And every so often, I would be behind, ah, a person in a motorcycle. On a motorcycle, right. And they would pass another person on a motorcycle and they would do a hand wave. And at first I couldn't figure out what they were doing, if it was like a secret gesture, because every single motorcyclist would signal to the other motorcyclist. However, after a few times of this happening, I realized that they were just waving to one another. Marco: Yeah, It's a sort of special sort of, like, signal that you give. Nidhi: Yeah. Marco: Like, you know. Nidhi: Yeah. Respect. Marco: Yeah. We're in the same, you know, we're in the same sort of, um, culture. We. We get it kind of thing. Right? Nidhi: Exactly. Marco: 100 kilometers is about 62 miles for people who are listening from the U.S. Nidhi: oh, yes, that's right. Marco: So, um, I will say this, Nidhi, have you ever taken a road trip where you're in a different, say, province or state or, you know, part of the world, and you see signs that are things you've heard of, you've always heard of, and you're like, oh, it's here. I remember we were in California driving one time, and I saw a sign that said Pismo Beach. And I was like, I've heard of Pismo Beach. Like, I remember it in a song or something. So I was with a bunch of friends. I'm m. Like, we've got to pull over. Pull over on this, the next, you know, ramp that says to Pismo Beach. And so we went to Pismo beach, and they're like, what is it with you and Pismo Beach? And I think. I think it was a Bugs Bunny episode that takes Bugs to Pismo Beach. I can't recall 100, but we went to Pismo Beach. And, uh, Pismo beach is famous for the Pismo beach clam that I wasn't aware of before. Nidhi: Pismo Beach Clam. Marco: There's a particular, I guess, clam in Pismo Beach, California. And I got a chance to sort of take the off ramp to Bismo Beach. And, uh, you know, there's just so many places, like even, you know, um, when you're in New York and you've heard of all these different buildings and you finally walk by Rockefeller Plaza or, you know, um, just historic buildings, you're like, ah, that's where it is and seeing those things that you've either seen in books or on television, um, many, many times over and that have a sort of significance. And you're like, I'm here now. And it's always neat to sort of pull over. Dear McDonald's, your breakfast menu fire, uh, tens across the board. I could be happy with anything, even though I order the same thing every time. Thanks for not judging me. I'll try something new next time. >> Speaker B: Maybe score a two for five dollar deal on a sausage McMuffin with egg and more. Limited time only. Price and participation may vary. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Single item at regular price. To tip off this NBA season on FanDuel, you can choose your rewards Nidhi: Uh, uh, to tip off this NBA season on FanDuel, you can choose your own rewards, which means you can play your game any way you want. Marco: I get to choose my rewards? Nidhi: Yep. Nidhi: Great. Marco: Now excuse me while I lock in all customers. Nidhi: Choose your own reward right now in the FanDuel app. 21 in present in select states, 18 in Kentucky. Opt in Required rewards are non withdrawable. Restrictions apply including bonus and token expiration, leg requirement and max wager amount. See full [email protected] sportsbook gambling problem. Call 1-800-G GAMBLER Nidhi: I remember that feeling a couple of times. Uh, once when I first moved to London, England. And it was such a special experience and time in my life that every iconic landmark was very special to me. Whether it was Trafalgar Square or seeing Buckingham palace or the Tower of London. Even though they were very typical landmark and attractions, they were really special to me. I also remember standing in the Roman Forum in Rome for the first time ever and being very moved by the energy that I felt in those ruins. Marco: Sure. Nidhi: I don't know why. I don't know. And it was only the first time because the second time I went to Rome and stood again in the Colosseum and then the Roman Forum. Uh, I didn't have the same feeling, but the first time I did. So go figure. Marco: I should mention that the Pismo clam, also known as the Tavella stultorum, is a species of large edible saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the Veneri D or the Venus clams. It's in that family of clams. Do you like clams, Nadine? Nidhi: Ah, I had razor clams recently. Marco: In Montreal? Nidhi: No, here in Toronto. Oh, that's right. In that restaurant that you always want me to go to and that I never go to. Um, what's the name of that restaurant? Marco: Restaurant. It's one of my favorite Restaurants. And it's called Bullion Bilk. Nidhi: That's right. Marco: And I've been imploring you to go for the last three or four years. And m. And the funny thing is, Niddy's always in Montreal. She's always heading to see, you know, her hometown. And I'm always like, you've got to go, please go, please go. And she's like, I'll go, I'll go. And she never goes. Nidhi: Well, it's funny, but, because when Marco, you first started telling me about Bouillon Bilk, it was sort ah, of just this random place that you had stumbled upon when you were in Montreal. And then a few years ago, I was telling my friend in Montreal that, oh, we need to go to Bouillon Bilk. My friend Marco keeps telling me about it and she was like, oh, you need to make reservations a few weeks in advance for that place. So I don't know if it's still the hottest place in town, but you clearly were ahead of the trend. Marco: There you go. See? I had my first razor clams at Bar Isabel in Toronto But before we got onto razor clams, right? Razor clams. Because that's where I had my razor clams. Nidhi: My first razor clams. Marco: And I loved them. Nidhi: They. So I had it at Bar Isabel here in Toronto and it was, they were fantastic. I didn't know what I was going to expect with the razor clams, but, um, it was just so, I mean, the texture, the flavor, everything was phenomenal. Marco: And do you know what a razor clam looks like? It doesn't look like a traditional clam. Do they serve it on the shell? On the half shell or was it Nidhi: just like it was on the half shell? Marco: Yes, they're a long, skinny shell. Um, razor clams look kind of like a, um, straight razor, I guess you would say, like, you know, the old time razors that they sort of like flip open and you can shave with. They're, they're a longer, thinner type of, uh, clam or shell for a clam. Yeah. I don't know how we got into clam. Nidhi: I don't know. It's very important that we talk about New England clam soup or Manhattan clam soup Marco: So let me ask you this. If we're going to talk about clams, sure. It's very important that we talk about New England clam soup or Manhattan clam soup. Sorry. Chowder. Nidhi: Chowder. Marco: You made the big mistake. Nidhi: I called it, called it soup. Marco: I meant to say chowder. Nidhi: I, um, have to say New England. Marco: And why is that? Nidhi: Because it's, you know, the traditional, classic, creamy, um, chowder. It's, you know what, I'm actually thinking about it, but I can't even. I don't think I've even had Manhattan clam chowder before. Marco: Oh, you haven't? No. Nidhi: Well, I think I've only ever had New England clam chowder. What's the difference? Marco: Well, you know, first let me say, um, with regards to, um, clam chowders, I am a huge fan of New England clam chowders because not only do I love them, but my, my extended family, my wife's family is from New England, so they make a wicked awesome chowder, whether it be seafood or clam. But the New England clam chowder is my favorite. And, uh, the more clams and potatoes and creaminess you can have in there, the happier I am. And they put, um, traditionally you get, I think they're called oyster crackers to put on top of the chowder. Nidhi: So I know that in New England clam chowder you can't have tomatoes, but in the New York or the Manhattan clam chowder, you can. Um, yeah, it's because, Because I think the. So the. It's funny because In, I believe, 1939, there was a bill introduced into the Maine legislature that banned tomatoes in their Marco: clam chowder for New England. Nidhi: For, like, for New England. Um, but the, the Manhattan clam chowder had more of an Italian, um, root to it. And of course, um, the tomatoes became Marco: part of the Manhattan. Nidhi: The Manhattan clam chowder. Marco: Uh, they're both great. I have had Manhattan clam chowder. We'll have to. I'll, uh, have to take you out for some Manhattan clam chowder. Nidhi: I would like that. Marco: It's, it's. I find it more stewy, whereas that, uh, makes sense. The New England clam chowder, sometimes called the Boston clam chowder, is hearty and rich and creamy. Nidhi: Yeah, I love having my Boston clam chowder in a bread bowl. Marco: Oh, well, yes. Nidhi: So in San Francisco, if you go by the pier, right there is. I forgot the name of this famous. Marco: It's in a sourdough bowl. Yes, and I know, I know, exactly. And I've. Nidhi: Have you been there? Yes, we've all been there. But I don't remember the name. Marco: Oh, it will come to me. Probably after our episodes when we were just there. Uh, uh, it's got like a one word title. I can't think. Nidhi: But we'll find it. We'll find it. Marco: But you had some chowder there and the sourdough. Nidhi: Yes, and it was phenomenal. Phenomenal. I think clam chowder and chicken pot pie has to be Two of my favorite more North American type dishes. I love hearty chicken pot pie as well. Yeah, I mean, I guess chicken pot pie isn't necessarily North American. Um, but I particularly enjoy it. Marco: Sure. I, um, I do. Like, there's certain. Certain times of the year where I crave that. And, uh, you know, it's nice. It's nice when you have sort of a food dish that you can claim as your own or part of your heritage, and you're like, oh, that's a go to for me. What is your go to dish for your Italian roots? It depends on the season Nidhi: What is your go to dish for your. For. From your Italian roots? Marco: Oh, um, that's a great question. I mean, for me, it depends on the season and what's. What's available during that season. So, for example, when tomatoes are in season, I. I will easily whip up a caprese salad with tomato and mozzarella and basil, especially if the basil is fresh from the garden. Nidhi: Oh, beautiful. Marco: Um, and I also love. I mean, I love so many dishes, but, like, you know, my go to's, I love gnocchi. I love, um, polenta. I love a bunch of different things that I. I would. I would call staples in my household that I make during different times of the year. Like, I like. I like polenta when it's cold outside. That's. That's. I always have, like, a polenta or arizalto when it's cold outside. And those, um, are a couple of my go to's. What about. What are your go to's in Indian cooking? Nidhi: Yes, I love, um, palak paneer, which is spinach and sort of an Indian cottage cheese. That's one of my favorite dishes. I also enjoy, um, a particular dal, like a sambar dal, which is a South Indian lentil, which is nice and spicy and very, um, hearty. And you usually have it with a dosa, which is a South Indian cream of wheat pancake. Really Yum. Um, it's very, very good. So I enjoy both of those. I enjoy a good chicken curry. Nothing beats a good chicken curry. I would have to say, though, if I was just ordering at a restaurant and they only gave me one choice, I would probably go for the palak paneer. Nidhi: My go to would have to be poutine Marco: So, Nidhi, we mentioned both our ethnic background, the food that we go to. Let's talk about the Canadian item or food item that we would go to. Nidhi: Oh, Marco, that's an easy one for me because my go to would have to be poutine. Marco: Okay. Nidhi: Of course, whether it is a, uh, afternoon or evening fare, uh, that I would have as a treat or perhaps something at the end of a night at the bar. It's a good go to for our Marco: listeners who don't know what poutine is. Nidhi: Oh, yes, let me explain what it is. It is French fries with, um, cheese curds and gravy. And it's a specialty of Quebec. Really? Marco: And there you go. Mine, you know, I have a sweet tooth. So for me, it would be the butter tart. Nidhi: Ah, the butter tart. Marco: The butter tart. Flaky, crispy little tart that is, uh, filled with a delicious sweet goo. Sometimes you'll find raisins, sometimes you'll find pecans, and sometimes you won't find either of the two inside. And the restaurant in San Francisco that makes the chowder in the sourdough bowl is Boutin. Nidhi: Yes, it is. There you go. Marco: I knew it would come to me. Nidhi: Well, with that being said, Marco, as always, we want to thank our listeners for joining us. And you can tweet us listenandsleep from Marco: my backyard in Toronto. We wish you a pleasant day, afternoon or evening.
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 plaid, kilts, and sports team traditions in a relaxed, low-stimulation discussion perfect for bedtime listening. From classic patterns and cultural traditions to the colours and identities of sports teams, this episode offers cozy, familiar topics that create a calm and comforting atmosphere. The conversation also includes a warm shout-out to listeners in Hays, adding a personal and friendly touch to this gentle, meandering episode. With soft-spoken storytelling and unhurried pacing, this relaxing podcast episode helps ease racing thoughts, reduce anxiety, and promote restful sleep. 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 22: Plaid, Sports, and Calm Conversations | A Relaxing Chat with Marco Timpano and Nidhi Khanna
Marco Timpano: Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax, listen, and we're going to have a conversation that's going to be, let's say less than exciting. And we hope that this conversation will allow you to sort of just chill, lie back, and drift off. I want to thank you for joining us. We hope that you will listen and sleep. And I am your host, Marco Timpano. Nidhi Khanna: And I am your co host, Nidhi Khanna. Marco. Today you are wearing a lovely green plaid shirt. and plaid seems to be all over the place these days. Marco Timpano: Yeah, in the last few years, plaid has sort of really come into fashion, let's say, or come back into fashion. I have a great plaid story. Have I ever told it to you? Nidhi Khanna: No. Marco Timpano: So I had a gig that I had to get a. Some wardrobe for, and it required me to be a lumber mill manager. Oh. So this particular gig that I had required me to wear plaid because that was. That was the sort of look that they were going for with regards to this lumber. Lumber mill manager. Nidhi Khanna: I don't think there's any other look you could go for when you're dealing Marco Timpano: with a lumber industry at whole. Right. Because plaid is often associated with lumberjacks. Nidhi Khanna: Yes. Marco Timpano: It's also associated with, kilts. Nidhi Khanna: Yes. Marco Timpano: Or tartans. Nidhi Khanna: Yeah. Marco Timpano: I think in North America, you can say plaid or tartan, and it means the same thing, if I'm not mistaken. So anyways, this was. Oh, Nidhi, this was maybe 15 years ago, let's say. Nidhi Khanna: Okay, maybe. Marco Timpano: Maybe between 10 and 15 years ago. And plaid was not in fashion at that time. So I had to get myself three plaid shirts because I was playing three different people who worked in lumber industry, not just a mill manager. There was other. I can't even remember the characters, but they were all involved in the lumber industry, and what they wanted for look was plaid and khaki. Nidhi Khanna: Did. Did you have to get three different types of. Types of plaids and different colors or. Marco Timpano: Or styles or whatnot? They just had to look distinct. Distinct. because they wanted to be. Really differentiate the characters. Nidhi. I went to every single store. No one had plaid, really, at the time. No one had plaid. And of course, I had some colleagues, too, who were also looking for plaid because they were doing different roles that required plaid, and they were having no luck. So then I went to thrift shops thinking, okay, well, certainly we'll find plaid at thrift shops. It was so hard to find plaids. And I was able to find. I went to three different thrift shops, and I found one plaid shirt that fit me in each thrift shop. The last thrift shop, I bought, quite simply the ugliest plaid plaid shirt you could ever, ever find. Nidhi Khanna: Now, how can it be so. So when I think of plaid, I, simply think of sort of the square pattern and the black and the red. So what made this one so ugly in comparison to other plaid shirts? Marco Timpano: Forest green, crimson, red and white. Oh, and they were. There was big swatches of white or big. I don't know how you would call it, like, lines of, white. And when I Wore it. It made me feel very silly. If I looked in the window, in the window, in the mirror, I would be thinking myself, what am I wearing? This looks ridiculous, right? Cut to a few years back when plaid came into style or was back in fashion. Nidhi Khanna: Sure. Marco Timpano: Even today, you can go to almost every store and you'll find plaid. Nidhi Khanna: Oh, plaid's back in a big way this year. Marco Timpano: Nitty. So I dig out these costumes or wardrobe that I had for a particular gig, and I start wearing them, and my ugly plaid shirt becomes this cool, unique plaid that no one has because it was an older plaid shirt that I found, 10 years ago in a thrift store. So it would just indicate to you how old this plaid shirt could possibly be. And I wore it, and I loved it. And I think I still have it. And if I have it, I'll show you next time. I hope I have it. But I. It m. It was a little bit short in the sleeve was the problem. Nidhi Khanna: So you became, like a hipster fashion Marco Timpano: icon, I'm telling you. And then most recently, I had to do a photo shoot for. For headshots, as an actor needs headshots. And I picked this as a casual shirt, and it's plaid. And now you can. And I remember talking to my colleague and saying, do you remember how hard it was to find plaid when we were doing that particular gig? And she was like, it was nearly impossible. And she goes. And I'm like, now you can't shake a stick without seeing a plaid shirt of some sort. Nidhi Khanna: You know what they say, when you're looking for something, you can never find it. I was looking for bedspreads that have a beach feel to them Marco Timpano: Because I was also looking for bed sheets or not bed sheets. What do you call, bed. The top cover. The bed. Nidhi Khanna: Like the duvet cover? Marco Timpano: Yeah, like duvet covers or bedspreads. That's what I'm trying to say. Bedspreads that have a beach feel to them. So I was looking for, you know, ones that might have sand dollars and starfish on them or that might just be colors of the sand in the ocean for my cottage. Did he still. Or, like, anchors and nautical theme. Nautical theme things. I'm doing the hand signal for a steering wheel for a ship or a ship wheel. and nothing. I can't find them. And so I. We bought other bedspreads, but I'm sure in a year, they're going to be all the rage. Nidhi Khanna: Oh, I'm sure. Do you have any plaid that you wear or have worn in the past Marco Timpano: Do you have any plaid that you wear or have worn in the past? Nidhi Khanna: I'm not a big plaid fan. I'm not a Big patterns, on my shirts. Marco Timpano: What about kilts? Because I know that plaid is often associated with the Scottish kilt. Nidhi Khanna: Yeah. I think part of my sort of disengagement from plaid is the fact that I went to a school where I had to wear a kilt. Marco Timpano: Oh, so you had a uniform? Nidhi Khanna: I had a uniform. Marco Timpano: I went to a uniform school. Nidhi Khanna: Did you? Marco Timpano: In our school, the women had to wear a dark blue, like a navy blue and green and a lighter green plaid. What was your plaid? Nidhi Khanna: Pretty much the same. It was like a navy blue and green, plaid. Marco Timpano: And did you, did you not enjoy wearing the kilt? Was it problematic? Nidhi Khanna: No, I mean, it was fine. It's just that once you've worn a particular item of clothing for so long when you're younger, you kind of associate it with that time. Not, not that it was a bad time, but it, it just. I don't need any more plaid in my life. Marco Timpano: What about, you know how Burberry. Is kind of like a plaid? Nidhi Khanna: Yeah, See I find that a little bit like I'm not, I don't want someone to recognize a label when I'm walking down the street or something. Marco Timpano: So you wouldn't want a Burberry scarf or like, you know, I think they're famous for like a, I want to say a rain jacket. The inside has the Burberry kind of like. Yeah. So that's not your, not into Burberry at all? Nidhi Khanna: No, I'm not into like. Yeah, I'm not into like big kind of name brand, like luxury brand items. or, or if I am like I have a couple of things but you wouldn't recognize them with the branding. Marco Timpano: Sure. Nidhi Khanna: so yeah, I don't like. Marco Timpano: Yeah, I won't wear things that have, you know how there's some shirts and, and, or even T shirts let's say that have brand names on it. Whether it be like a running shoe brand or like an Emporio Armani will often brand stuff. I don't, I won't wear. I don't like it. I don't like to wear someone else's name or label. I'm not a billboard is how I feel. But I would buy something of high quality that would be a brand name, but I just prefer not to have it on display. Makes sense. Nidhi Khanna: Yeah, no, totally. Like, I find it odd when I see you know, even like the Burberry rain jackets for like dogs or, or for what? For dogs or, or when I see little babies or kids dressed up in like luxury brand. Named, clothing. Because it just to me doesn't make sense. Marco Timpano: I had Burberry cologne. Nidhi Khanna: Oh, I like Burberry cologne. Marco Timpano: And I like the, I like the scent of that. Nidhi Khanna: Yeah, that stuff's good. Or even like a Burberry wallet would be nice. You know, something like that. A little bit more low key. but did you know that now in this day and age. Yes, Marco, apparently you know when you get like a, A baseball cap. Marco Timpano: Right. Nidhi Khanna: Like with a team, A sports team's name. Marco Timpano: Sure. Nidhi Khanna: Let's say we're in Toronto, so Toronto Raptors cap. There's like a sticker that goes on it. Like a, ah. Like a silver gold sticker that basically says, you know, this is an authentic. Marco Timpano: Right. That it says. That says it's, it's not, it's, it's associated with the NBA. Nidhi Khanna: It's usually at the, like, if you have the top. If you have the. Yeah, the lid but like at the bottom. Marco Timpano: Sure. So the underside. Nidhi Khanna: The underside. But it's still visible if you don't take it off. Right. And so the other day I was talking to this young person that I work with and he had a cap on with that and I was like, oh, you forgot to remove your sticker. And he's like, him and another young person kind of looked at me and they started laughing and they were like, nidhi, that's the whole thing now. And I was like, I didn't know. Marco Timpano: There you go. I didn't know even I knew that. Nidhi Khanna: what did you really. Marco Timpano: I've seen it, I've seen it. No, you know what's funny, Nidhi, is that, our next show is going to be about doing NBA fantasy, pools. I was talking to Trevor and he was like. I was like, can we do an episode on that? He goes, of course. So stay tuned. We're talking about NBA now, but you're going to hear more about it in an upcoming episode. Do you like basketball or hockey more than other sports Nidhi Khanna: Do you like basketball? Marco Timpano: Not really, no. I, I'm, I mean I can appreciate the difficulty and I can certainly appreciate the teams in the NBA. Nidhi Khanna: Sure. Marco Timpano: And the talent that goes into it. I think because I was never great at basketball in grade school and high school that I never really got a love for it. I have friends who are just huge. Nidhi Khanna: Have you seen a game like that? Marco Timpano: I have. I have seen a Raptors game live and I had really good tickets. I won them for winning a contest at work on naming something. And and I went to it and I'll be honest with you, I Was a little bit bored really. But I think it's also because I don't fully understand the sport well enough to really enjoy it. And I mean I certainly root for our home team which is the Raptors as you said. But above and beyond that I do love their gear, their we the north logo or their. Yeah, I think that's pretty brilliant. So I, I love everything about the team except watching the game. Nidhi Khanna: Is there like a particular game that you do enjoy watching or are you not like big watch sports? Marco Timpano: Here's my thing. I get bored very quickly watching. I prefer to play but I do enjoy, and I think we may have mentioned this, I do enjoy watching Olympic sports. Nidhi Khanna: Oh yeah, that's right. Marco Timpano: So. And I particularly enjoy watching the Winter Olympic sports. So that's my thing. I'll tend to watch more national sporting events. Versus team sporting events where the players make millions of dollars. I don't know, I just, I lose interest. Nidhi Khanna: Yeah. Marco Timpano: But I can appreciate people who like, I can certainly appreciate people who enjoy that and watch it and are huge fans like my brother in law Steve and Trevor for example. And I certainly appreciate it but it's not my thing. How about you? Nidhi Khanna: I enjoy watching basketball definitely. I, I would rather watch something live than a recorded show. However not a recorded show, A Marco Timpano: recorded game on television. A broadcast. Nidhi Khanna: Exactly. Marco Timpano: Except once saw a NHL hockey game. Toronto Maple Leafs against random team. It was amazing to be at Maple Leaf Gardens at the time and just watch a hockey game. I, it was so fast paced, so wonderful. Anyways, sorry to cut you off there. You were saying with the exception of I totally threw you off. Nidhi Khanna: oh, the exception. Like I, I, if I'm going to a sports bar and watching a game that's fun, you know what I mean? Like if it's a couple of people and you know you're Sunday afternoon and getting some food and some drink, then it's fun. But I do enjoy the experience of live sports when I go like basketball. I'm not as big into hockey quite honestly. I find basketball more energetic sport and a lot more fast paced. Marco Timpano: And I mean fast in a different way. Nidhi Khanna: In a different way. But also I find the cool crowd a little bit more like when in basketball because basketball is a way more accessible sport I find than hockey. People are more familiar with it and the types of people who go to the games seem to just go to have fun and to like actually root on for, for fun reasons. You're not really gonna have a basketball Brawl. Whereas hockey, I find, like, the fans are a little too rowdy. And like, Marco Timpano: And also like, you know, speaking of hockey in Canada and two teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens, it's a whole other thing. Nidhi Khanna: Oh, it is. Nidhi Khanna: The hustle doesn't have to hurt if performance pressure is making it hard to breathe. Grow Therapy helps you navigate stress, set boundaries, and actually feel like yourself again. Whether it's your first time in therapy or your 50th. Grow makes it easier to find a therapist who fits you, not the other way around. 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Nidhi Khanna: Well, I guess that would be distracting, right? Would it not? Marco Timpano: I don't know. I just think it's not something that. Nidhi Khanna: Maybe in soccer perhaps. I don't know. I don't know. What? Rugby, maybe? Marco Timpano: It's funny you should mention rugby. When I was in Vancouver, I was in the hotel that the All Blacks were staying and. Nidhi Khanna: Oh, amazing. Marco Timpano: Yeah. So I saw all these rugby players that were huge and just. They were just like big guys who like, were rugby players. I would see them in the elevator. 1 and I was on the floor with the All Blacks and it was pretty cool. Nidhi Khanna: Was it rowdy? Marco Timpano: A little bit. A little bit was. But then thankfully I was in a hotel that once you close the door, it was pretty soundproof. It was a really. But it was really interesting to see two be on the floor with the All Blacks because I was constantly going up and down the elevator with All Blacks and I was like, yeah, I guess this is my rugby team. And what a rugby team to have. Nidhi Khanna: I know. I love the dance that they do at the beginning. Or like the ceremonial kind of, Yeah, I guess. Dance. I mean, what else would you call it? I guess. Marco Timpano: No, I think it's a ceremonial sort of, I don't know if you'd call it a dance. Nidhi Khanna: Like, what would it be? Yeah, that's what I'm trying to think. Marco Timpano: It's a Maori. Nidhi Khanna: But is it a ceremonial, ritual? yeah, I know it's pretty. It's pretty intense, but it's really like. It's enjoy. It's pretty cool. Like, they, they have a certain energy as well. and the all backs are pretty awesome. Marco Timpano: Is it called a haka? Is that what it's called? Nidhi Khanna: Yeah, something like that. Right? Marco Timpano: I think it's called a haka. It's ah, a. Like a war cry dance. I don't know. What would you call it? Nidhi Khanna: Yeah, I know, I don't like the word dance. Feels off. But, it's. Marco Timpano: I think it's called a haka. I want to say haka. H, A K. I can't remember, but it's something like that. Anyways, I totally know what you're. What you're saying. Nidhi Khanna: Yeah, it's. Marco Timpano: It's really cool. What did the boys wear? They wore. Gray slacks, white shirt so interesting, like, you know, from plaid to sports. I know we go, so. Yeah. So you wore kilt, I think. Funny. Karim: My. Marco Timpano: My school had a kill, but the, Nidhi Khanna: What did the boys wear? Marco Timpano: They wore. We wore, I like to use the term slacks. Nidhi Khanna: Okay. Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. Marco Timpano: Gray slacks, white shirt. Nidhi Khanna: Yeah. Marco Timpano: Either a burgundy tie if you were senior M, or a blue striped tie that sort of mimicked the kilt of that. The. That the women wore. Nidhi Khanna: We wore ties and a cardigan. Marco Timpano: And you had to wear a cardigan? Nidhi Khanna: Yeah, we wore a kilt with a white shirt and a navy blue sweater. Or blazer. There was a blazer as well. so the blazer was like the formal wear, with a tie and your tie as. So, so, interestingly enough, my school, when I was. I had gone there from grade two to, grade 11, where in Quebec you go to high school until grade 11. Marco Timpano: Okay. Until grade 11. Nidhi Khanna: Yeah. Marco Timpano: Or the 11th grade. Nidhi Khanna: And then you do two years of Seija. Right. Marco Timpano: So what does that even mean, Seijia? Nidhi Khanna: It means big waste of time for two years. Marco Timpano: Okay, fair enough. Nidhi Khanna: but halfway through my time in high school, they actually switched over. They did a refresh on the M uniform. Marco Timpano: Okay. Nidhi Khanna: And so it went from like, an older uniform that had been there probably for like 30, 40 years to. To a more modern version. Marco Timpano: Okay. Nidhi Khanna: and the ties actually were house ties. So you belonged to a house. Marco Timpano: Oh, like, like, like Hogwarts. Oh, cool. I think you mentioned that once before. Yeah. Nidhi Khanna: So your tie had, like, the colors of your house on it. Marco Timpano: And what house did you belong to? Nidhi Khanna: Delta Beta. Marco Timpano: Oh, the Gryffindor of the Gryffindor. The Gryffindor of the Gryffindor. Nidhi Khanna: Totally. He was all like, sports and very Marco Timpano: like, how's your Quidditch game? Nidhi Khanna: My Quidditch game is top notch. Marco Timpano: Oh, that's great. That's great. Hayes: Have you ever been to Kansas? I have not we were looking at some of the places that listen to our podcast, and we wanted to mention one of the cool cities that happen to have some listeners from. Nidhi Khanna: Well, cool city indeed. It's actually Hayes. Ah, Kansas. Marco Timpano: Hayes. H A Y S or H A Z E? Nidhi Khanna: Like no H A Y s. Okay. so shout out to Hays and to our listeners there. Hays has a really interesting history. Marco Timpano: Have you ever been to Kansas? Nidhi Khanna: I have not. Have you? Marco Timpano: No, but it's one of the places I really want to go to. Nidhi Khanna: Really? Marco Timpano: Yeah, because it's like there's Kansas City, Kansas in Kansas City, Missouri. Nidhi Khanna: What's the difference? I mean, other than being in different states. Marco Timpano: I know, but that's what I want to find out. But I've had a friend who stayed, who stayed in Kansas City, Missouri, and then he drove to Kansas City, Kansas. Nidhi Khanna: Do you think a lot of people mistake where they're supposed to be? Marco Timpano: I think most people, when they think of Kansas City, they think of Kansas City, Kansas. Nidhi Khanna: Yeah, they don't think of Kansas, Missouri, Missouri. Marco Timpano: Unless you're from that part of the Midwest. Is it the Midwest? I'm, I'm, Nidhi Khanna: That's a good question. Marco Timpano: I'm always a little bit. I always find the Midwest to be a little bit of an obscure sort of, in my mind, obscure sort of term. What, what is the Midwest? But tell us about Hayes and figure Nidhi Khanna: out what the Midwest is like a huge history is part of like the wild, Wild West. Okay, so it used to be. So, so I think it like it's, it's close to Louisiana if I'm not mistaken. Marco Timpano: Really? Nidhi Khanna: Well, hold on. Maybe I'm mistaken all, ah, mistaking all of this. But, yeah, it was part of like, kind of like all those myths you, you, you think about with the Wild west or the old west happened in haze, you know, like, so there was like, you know, vigilante murders and, and sheriffs coming through town. Marco Timpano: Oh, really? Yeah, this was haze. So this was. Oh, wow. Nidhi Khanna: and so it's a pretty, It's a pretty. It's got some of kind cool, some cool, historical Roots. And it's also like, got a huge population of German descent. Like, 56% of the population is of German descent. Marco Timpano: To the. Nidhi Khanna: To the point where they have their own, like, Oktoberfest, which is pretty cool. but, yeah, it was a frontier town. That's what I meant to say. Yeah, that was the word I was looking for. Marco Timpano: and we did an episode on Tumbleweed, so I bet there would be tumbleweeds in case. Nidhi Khanna: I'm sure. Marco Timpano: Just. There are 12 states that are considered the Midwest. Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska Well, well, sorry to cut you off there for nitty, but I'm just going to say there's 12 states, in the north central United States that encompass the Midwest. Illinois. Nidhi Khanna: Okay. Marco Timpano: Indiana. Nidhi Khanna: Okay. Marco Timpano: Iowa, Good old Kansas that we're talking about. Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio and South Dakota. And. Sorry, Wisconsin. Did I say Wisconsin? Wisconsin as well, makes. Makes up the 12. 12 states that are the. Are considered the Midwest. Nidhi Khanna: So when you think of, the word Midwest, like, what is the imagery that comes to mind? Marco Timpano: It always. It always strikes me because Illinois is in the Midwest. Right. I know that. Illinois. I think of Chicago. Right. Midwest. But then you get. Then there's like these frontier kind of, states that I think of, like Kansas. I'm like, they're Midwestern. And then Minnesota's in there. And I think of Minnesota more as a northern state. So it kind of throws me off a little bit. But, yeah, it's just one of those things that I don't like. New England. When you talk about New England, I get that right concept more than I do when it comes to the Midwest. how many people live in hays? Nidhi Khanna: There's about 21,000, which is interesting. It's like the largest kind of city, I guess in northwestern Kansas. Marco Timpano: Okay. Which, I love finding out about famous people from home, like places like. Like that. Like my hometown. Who's a famous person from there and whatnot. certainly, you know, I would guess there's gonna be like, maybe a football player or maybe, you know, some famous frontiersman or. Nidhi Khanna: Okay. Well, there's a bunch of Old west figures that are famous, including Calamity Jane. Marco Timpano: Oh, she's from Hays. Nidhi Khanna: Buffalo Bill. Or lived in Hayes during a period. Marco Timpano: Okay. Nidhi Khanna: General George Custer. and then other ones, who have been born or lived in Hayes include the business magnate Philip Anschutz. Marco Timpano: No idea who that is. Nidhi Khanna: U.S. senator Jerry Morin and feminist legal pioneer Francis Tilton Weaver. Marco Timpano: Wow. Nidhi Khanna: I want to know who Philip Anschutz. Marco Timpano: He's some sort of wealthy individual. Nidhi Khanna: Oh, he bought out his father's drilling company, Circle A Drilling. And then, he started to invest in, like, entertainment companies, co founding Major League Soccer as well as multiple teams including the Los Angeles Galaxy, Chicago Fire, Houston Dynamo, San Jose Earthquakes, and the New York New Jersey Metro Stars. He also owned State Snakes in the. In the Los Angeles Kings. Marco Timpano: Oh, wow. So this guy had money and he enjoyed his sports. Nidhi Khanna: Yeah. Marco Timpano: So there you go. Well, that sort of sums up Hays, Kansas. Thank you for looking into that nitty. maybe one day we'll record from Hays, Kansas. Good old Hayes. We always say that we're going to record in these places. Have you been. I've asked you if you've been to Kansas. Amanda's been to Kansas. I haven't yet. Nidhi Khanna: Amanda's m been to almost every state. Marco Timpano: She's got seven more to do. Nidhi Khanna: Interestingly enough, the sister cities of Hays, Kansas are Santa Maria, Paraguay. Marco Timpano: Never been. Nidhi Khanna: And Xinjian, China. Marco Timpano: Oh, wow. Nidhi Khanna: I wonder how like sister cities happen. Marco Timpano: Oh, that's a great question. Nidhi Khanna: Maybe one for the next podcast. Marco Timpano: That's great. Sister cities. Yeah, because I know that there's a couple sister cities. Toronto has. I want to say Toronto is like Amsterdam, but we'll get into sister cities in a future podcast. Does Hayes have any sports teams? Uh, it does, I think I want to thank everybody for listening to us talk about plaid and then delve into sports and then shout out to Hayes. Does Hayes have any sports teams? Nidhi Khanna: it does, I think. Well, it's like a college town too. Marco Timpano: Oh, is it? Nidhi Khanna: So, it does. It has, Fort Hayes State University. That's legit. Athletic teams which are known as the Fort Hays Tigers. Marco Timpano: Go Tigers. Nidhi Khanna: they also compete in the NCAA division for a bunch of different supports. and then they have the Hayes Larks, which are the collegiate summer baseball team. Marco Timpano: The Larks, Like a lark bird? Nidhi Khanna: Yeah. Marco Timpano: Oh, cool. a lot of sports teams have birds as their, as their. I don't know if it's mascot or what you would call like the team. The team symbol. Nidhi Khanna: Mm, and then from June to August in, in, Hays you can find the Mid America Rodeo Company which puts on rough stock rodeo performances on weeknights including saddle bronc and bareback riding, bull riding and barrel racing, as well as professional horse racing events. So lots to do in Hayes actually. Marco Timpano: Well, thank you to our listeners from Haze and thank you for listening to our podcast today. Nidhi Khanna: As always, you can feel free to rate us on itunes or write a review if you like. Thank you for listening. As Marco said, and we have been recording from HM.
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 welcomes guest Peter Alexandropoulos for a relaxed discussion about language, coffee, and everyday curiosities, offering low-stimulation, easygoing content perfect for bedtime listening. From exploring the idea of coffee oil to reflecting on words, unusual letter combinations, and the flavour of ginger, this episode creates a calm and curious atmosphere. The conversation gently meanders through sensory details and simple observations, blending topics like coffee and language into a soft, engaging rhythm that helps ease racing thoughts and promote relaxation. With unhurried pacing and gentle storytelling, this relaxing podcast episode creates a peaceful environment 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.
Finding Balance in Everyday Words | A Gentle Conversation with Peter Alexandropoulos (Episode 11)
Marco Timpano: Welcome to the Insomnia project. Sit back, relax and listen as we have a conversation about the mundane. One thing that we promise is that our conversation will be less than fascinating so that you can feel free to just drift off. Thank you for joining us. We hope you will listen and sleep. Follow us at listenandsleep and feel free to rate us on itunes or on soundcloud or send us a little message. Peter Alexandropoulos's last name is 15 letters long I'm your host, Marco Timpano, and joining me on this episode is a good friend, Peter Alexandropoulos. Did I say your last name right? Speaker B: More than. More than right. Marco Timpano: Okay. Speaker B: that's it. Marco Timpano: It's kind of odd when you have a last name that, you know, is a bit different or ethnic and people, you know, don't know how to say it or they, they, they're tentative with it or they mess it up. Do you find that you have, you know, experienced that? Speaker B: It's, it's interesting to get a sense of who somebody is as to how they pronounce my last name. Okay. When they read it or I tell them, you kind of get an idea of, you know, whether or not they've met somebody with A last name like that, whether or not they know somebody who's Greek. Marco Timpano: Sure. Speaker B: Because usually it's, a matter of them having a good friend who is Greek because they're used to having a mouthful of words. Marco Timpano: Sure. Speaker B: Right. And, the Greek language specifically has sort of this weird sound to the end of words where you kind of just feel like you're out of breath, especially after saying last name such as mine. Marco Timpano: Okay. Speaker B: Which is 15 letters out of a lot of last names of that length, it's, I'd say, pretty easy to pronounce. It's Fair enough. It's not necessarily, like, a bunch of different vowels and consonants. Right. But sure. Marco Timpano: Was it difficult when you were a child to learn how to spell your last name because it had so many letters in it? Speaker B: You know, it's funny you say that, actually. It was. I had a really good understanding for, like, the Alphabet and, my last name at a very young age. Marco Timpano: Okay. Speaker B: I was pretty fascinated, actually, with, like, the Alphabet. Marco Timpano: Sure. Speaker B: funny story. When I was in public school, this weird old man would come to the schoolyard and just kind of, like, find me, and he would just basically yell the Alphabet backwards at me. Marco Timpano: Oh, wow. Speaker B: He would just come up to me in the schoolyard, and it was, like, the weirdest thing, because now that I look back at it, it was like, why was this weird old man the schoolyard? Right. But sure, he would say. He would just yell the Alphabet backwards at me. And now I. I can just, like, yell the Alphabet backwards. Marco Timpano: Oh, really? Speaker B: Yeah. And I feel like that. That in itself kind of gave me, a nice understanding for, you know, each individual, letter. Marco Timpano: Sure. Speaker B: Right. And I never really had an issue with letters or spelling because of the sheer fact that my last name is so long. Marco Timpano: Right. Speaker B: But, no, it's good. Marco Timpano: So the question that then I pose is, will you become the old man who yells letters back or the Alphabet backwards to kids in playgrounds and schoolyards? Speaker B: I feel like if I. If I find myself in that position, I definitely won't shy away from it. Right. Marco Timpano: Fair enough. Speaker B: I. I'd love to see my. I'd love to see myself be part of a story in the future. Right. As being that old man that would just. I feel like his intent was to pass on the tradition, in a sense, Marco Timpano: and maybe teach kids the Alphabet in a way that they wouldn't necessarily gain. The Greek language is extremely interesting because, um, it seems foreign Let me ask you this. Can you write, in the Greek Alphabet, how many letters is your last name in the Greek Alphabet? Is it still 15? Speaker B: yeah. It's the exact same amount. The only place where you would trip up is the X sound. It's. It's the exact same in Greek. In Greek, the. The X sound is still one letter. But, in Greek, a lot of, letters that have that sort of noise like SC or ts are usually two different, two different letters or one. Like, they would take the place of both. Marco Timpano: Right. Speaker B: For example, PS in English is, you know, ps. Marco Timpano: Right. Speaker B: But in Greek, that would represent one actual letter size sound. Marco Timpano: So, like psychology or whatnot, which. The etymology of that word is actually Greek. And that's why, in English, when you see a P.S. it's not a natural letter combination in English. This is my linguistic background coming to light. It's more than likely going to be of a Greek origin. So please continue. Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, no, so that's exactly it. That would be the only place. Place where us Greeks who have very long words should try to make up for any extra, you know, consonant or syllable, for that matter. But, the Greek language is extremely interesting because, although I can read it, to glance over, it seems extremely foreign still sort of. Although it possesses a lot of the same, symbols of the English language still have such different, meanings. For example, in the Greek language, what would be a V in the English language represents an N sounding noise. So the English V is actually in Greek. And N, as well. The H. Right. Greek is an N is actually an I sound. So if you saw a letter H in Greek, it would be literally, it would sound like a Y or an I. Marco Timpano: Okay. Speaker B: So it's very interesting to kind of read it and just kind of plays with your brain. Right. Of course, knowing Greek and English, they kind of play off of each other. Marco Timpano: Sure, sure. It's it. That's one of the great things about knowing a foreign language. Right. It sort of puts into perspective different things and like how certain words are modified or certain sounds or letters are modified by the vowel or consonant before it. And things change that are different than the language you speak. In our case, English, which this podcast is being conducted in. but, you know, that's one. One of the interesting things about how different languages work. One of the reasons I love languages and why I studied linguistics was because of that sort of playfulness in the language. Speaker B: And it's. It's really interesting because, I mean, you. You know, Italian, and both Italian and Greek are very playful languages. Marco Timpano: Yes. Speaker B: They play a lot off. Marco Timpano: Ah. Speaker B: Of tone and, you know, sayings for that matter. We can often replace, you know, Just a natural response to something with saying, if we so choose which, really helps in communication reason, instead of needing to, find an answer to something, you can just use a saying instead. Marco Timpano: Sure, sure. My favorite Italian word has every single vowel in it Let me ask you this. what is your favorite Greek word? I'll tell you what my favorite Italian word is. Just, to give you a second to think about it. my favorite Italian word is aiuole, and it means flower beds. So it's a plural for flower beds. And the reason I like the word aiole, which is a weird word to like flower beds, is because that particular word has every vowel in it. It's spelled. It has every single vowel. So it's a I, a I, U, O, L, E. So the only consonant is an L. And that's why I love that word because it happens to have every single vowel in it. I hope I got it right. I'm sure there's going to be some sort of, There's going to be a listener who is Italian say, well, there's actually other words that have it. Or actually, you're incorrect here. But as I know it, flower beds in Italian has every vowel in it, and that's what I love. What is your favorite Greek word? Um. Sure. So what is it? It's probably the word or vre What is your favorite Greek word? Speaker B: It's funny you say that, because I would say that my favorite Greek word is in fact most likely the exact opposite of your favorite Greek word, Italian word. Marco Timpano: Sure. I'm curious to find out, because I love to know that about different languages, like when people speak different languages, what their favorite, word is. So what is it? Speaker B: It's probably the word or vre. So what that word basically symbolizes is sort of adding emphasis to a sentence. You would say, for example, go fetch that for me. M. Vre. you would add that to the end of the word to say, go get that for me. You guy or you. You know, it just basically means. It kind of just gives emphasis to the sentence of its importance, or it's just basically saying you need to do it. It's sort of slang in a sense. Okay. You can say the word by itself. Vre. You know, come here, Vra. how are you? Vra? Right. You just kind of say it like you, guy. You do. And I love it because you can use it in any sort of context you choose. Marco Timpano: So would it be equivalent to what the Canadian A is at the end of the word? It's not actually a word that means anything, but it has a sort of symbolic or a nationalistic meaning to it that a Canadian would know when you're Saying a at the end of, a phrase, it's sort of, you're asking for agreeance or you're concurring with that person, or you're acknowledging what that person is speaking about, or you want acknowledgement. Speaker B: It is extreme. It's exactly. It has the same idea behind it. Right. A in Canada would be kind of like, it would. You would use it in a quizzical sense. Marco Timpano: Sure. Speaker B: Right. Whereas in Greek you would use the word vre and it's sort of like a very, You're trying to put something on somebody or you're trying to, It's sort of like a demanding word. Marco Timpano: Right. Speaker B: Like you're being sort of rude in a sense. Marco Timpano: Okay. Speaker B: But it's a word that you would use in a very jokingly manner. Marco Timpano: Right. Speaker B: To kind of make fun of somebody, but really kind of try to emphasize whatever you were putting in front of the word. Marco Timpano: Sure. Speaker B: Right. Marco Timpano: And it's. I would imagine it's something that you, you would use in an informal way with friends and with family and people that you know well, would that be safe to say? Speaker B: Very, very true. Marco Timpano: Yeah. Speaker B: Like you could. And the cool part about this word is, although you could. You. You do generally use it in a very informal manner, you could still use this word in a more form formal manner. Marco Timpano: Okay, I didn't know that. Speaker B: Yeah, it's, it's interesting because although there's this kind of concept of, you know, being respectful and talking with certain mannerism that meets whatever kind of situation you're in. Marco Timpano: Sure. Speaker B: This word kind of passes those boundaries where there's sort of this understanding amongst Greek people that this word doesn't necessarily have to do with your respect for somebody. Marco Timpano: Okay. Speaker B: You're just kind of implying something by using this word. Marco Timpano: Interesting. Speaker B: You're trying to state something with it. You're trying to say that whatever you're saying isn't just for the matter of saying it, but it actually has some meaning to it. Like you're trying to make sure that whatever you're saying is going to be listened to or heard. Marco Timpano: That's really cool. I'm curious to hear what your favorite English word is So I asked you what your favorite Greek word is. I think it's only fair for me to ask you what your favorite English word is to use. Being mindful that we can't use any expletives on this particular podcast. I'll tell you what my favorite English word is, and then I'm curious to hear what your favorite English word is. My favorite word to say is ginger. And the reason I Discovered why I like this particular word is because it gives your mouth a sort of neat feeling, a happy feeling. Like, to say ginger, your mouth has to be gets put in a position of, I don't know, it bounces on your. On your, teeth and your lips go in an interesting way. So I've always liked the word ginger because I think it is a fun word to say. Do you have a favorite English word Speaker B: before I tell you mine? It's funny that so far you've told me this. This Italian word and, this English word with both are basically your favorite word solely based on the phonetic of the word. Sure. And it's funny you like the word ginger because when you think about the actual meaning of the word, ginger in itself has a very similar feeling to the word, which is also really cool. Which might have to do with why you like the word so much, because you can connect the actual thing to the word itself and it just gives this whole, a very well rounded idea of why this word means so much to you. Marco Timpano: Sure. Speaker B: And I mean. No, go ahead. Do you know the best way to peel ginger Marco Timpano: I was gonna say, speaking of ginger, before we get to your favorite English word, do you know how to. The best way to peel ginger? I learned this just recently. No, tell me, what would you guess it to be? Speaker B: Oh, wow. I have no idea. Anytime I've ever had to use ginger, I just. I cut it right up. I don't have to peel it using Marco Timpano: a spoon to peel ginger. Yeah, I'm gonna grab some ginger and I'm gonna peel it. Tell us what your favorite English word is While I'm grabbing that ginger, I want you to tell us what your favorite English word is. Speaker B: M. Okay. My favorite English word definitely has to be absolutely. I've been using the word a lot lately in, you know, answering to people. Just the sheer concept of the word absolutely, the feeling of absolute, of being absolute sure in itself just gives me this real sensation of wholeheartedness. Marco Timpano: Oh, I like that. Speaker B: When I. When I say the word, I'm not only, you know, answering yes to whatever the question demand request. Exactly. It could even be, whether I agree on something or not. Marco Timpano: Yeah, of course. Speaker B: Question. By saying absolutely, I'm kind of giving. I'm, instilling my trust in the person that this, this is my true opinion. Marco Timpano: Oh, so. Speaker B: So I mean, by using that word, I'm trying to be as honest as possible. I won't use the word when I'm not. And if I do, it'll be with sheer sarcasm. Marco Timpano: I see. Speaker B: I see. So I just. I love the word. And being in the restaurant industry. You tend to say the word a lot. Right, Right. Just trying to appeal to, to customers or trying to do your best job. You'll say this word to give whoever you're, you're speaking with like a sense of reassurance in yourself. So it not only reflects on them, but on yourself of, you know, what you're trying, trying to say. Marco Timpano: Right. Fair. That's a, that's a really neat thing. I think there's something lovely about absolute or absolutely. because you're sort of like you said, you're giving all your attention to whatever the request demand, question is. In other words, yes. But more so than just yes, it sort of heightens the word yes with absolutely. 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Sessions average about $21 with insurance, and some pay as little as $0 depending on their plan. Visit growththerapy.com start now to get started. That's growththerapy.com startnow growtherapy.com start now. Availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan. Marco shows you how to peel ginger using a spoon Marco Timpano: So I grabbed some ginger, and I grabbed a spoon. And I know this is a little bit, you know, not orthodox, but I'm going to show you exactly how. I don't know if you can hear me peeling the ginger with a spoon, but it peels the skin off so nicely. And then, oh, I got some ginger in my eye, but, there you go. Speaker B: No kidding. Yeah. Marco Timpano: And so if you ever want to peel ginger, you peel it with a spoon and you're good to go. Speaker B: Yeah. Marco Timpano: You don't need to press that hard. I would. I would bring the spoon towards you, maybe. I think. I think so. Interesting. Yeah. So you just use the spoon to. To peel. Peel it. Almost. Almost the opposite of peeling a carrot with a. With a carrot peel or whatever you call it. Speaker B: It really is. And you know what, Marco? this adds to the whole idea of the word ginger, in my opinion, because you're doing this very gingerly. You're kind of just gliding along, along the edge of the ginger. Marco Timpano: There you go. Speaker B: You're being very gentle with it. Yet it feels extremely refreshing to do this. Right. And it feels like, in a sense, you're kind of uncovering this very rough exterior of the ginger to reveal something that's almost, you know, exuding this weird freshness. So it kind of reminds me of the word, because although it's just a word on your palate, it kind of just, you know, pops out of your mouth now. Marco Timpano: Now our whole area, our whole microphone smells like ginger. Are you a fan of ginger as I got you to peel it here? You might not even be a fan of it. Speaker B: Oh, big time. I mean, especially now during the cold season. Yes. Working behind a bar, a lot of people ask for ginger in their teas, in their coffees. It's becoming very big, especially working in. Marco Timpano: Oh, ginger in your coffee. Yeah. Speaker B: Especially in an Italian bar. Right. We can do, something like a ginger syrup, which is very nice because it not only adds the element of the sweetness in the ginger. Marco Timpano: Right. Speaker B: But also the soothing qualities of it. Marco Timpano: Oh, what a great coffee to have. in the wintertime, a ginger coffee. Could you. Could one take a, say, a thin sliver of ginger, put it in the coffee and let that sort of immerse itself into a coffee and have it like that? Or what do you think would be too strong? Because you said you make a syrup. Correct? Speaker B: We do, yeah. So what we would do is we would basically emulsify the ginger, mix it with a little bit of sugar. Marco Timpano: Sure. Speaker B: A little bit of water and then turn that into a syrup. I feel like it would just kind of mix with the coffee a little bit. Right, right. Because. Marco Timpano: Sliver of ginger. Yeah, that makes sense. Speaker B: Yeah. I feel like the whole, especially when you're making like an espresso based drink. Right. To kind of put a piece of ginger in there would just create this weird bitterness. Right. This would work in like something like a tea. Right. It's just hot water. Sure. But once you add the element of the espresso, it's just kind of bringing in these different components and creating like this very. Something that needs to be extremely palatable. Because once it's just, hot water, a lot of things can go into it. Such as? Like, like a melting pot. Basically. You can add whatever you'd like in any form. But the second you're working with milk or coffee, you kind of need to make sure that whatever you're adding to that is like very palatable. I don't know. When you order an espresso, what are you looking at before the drink Marco Timpano: Speaking of coffee, clearly you have a great understanding of espressos and whatnot. What makes a good espresso? So when you go to a bar and you order an espresso or an espresso based drink, what are you looking at before that espresso actually touches your, your lips? Speaker B: It's funny you say that when I, when I do order an espresso, it's usually in a situation where I just really need the coffee. Marco Timpano: Sure. Speaker B: So I don't try to pay attention to the service I'm receiving. Marco Timpano: I see. Speaker B: When I actually am providing service or when I'm trying to make an espresso for somebody who needs one. Right. What I'm making sure is that they, they're already feeling like they've received the refreshment. Like they are being refreshed by the coffee before they've even had the coffee. Marco Timpano: Okay. Speaker B: I would do that by, you know, offering them some water. Marco Timpano: Sure. Speaker B: Making sure that everything is set up for them. You know, having a little plate, providing the full Italian service. Like, what are you looking for when you grab a coffee Marco Timpano: But I meant the actual coffee itself. Like, what are you looking for when you grab a coffee? Like what, what, what should one be looking for? Like, I've never had an espresso before. I'm going to have my first espresso and I'm ordering it. How do I tell if I'm getting a good espresso or a not so good espresso? Speaker B: M I see. I think that the first thing that you would look for is the color. Marco Timpano: Okay. Speaker B: Immediately just have a look at it. The smell is always going to be there. The color is going to diminish the longer you let it sit. Marco Timpano: I see. Speaker B: So the first thing you look is a variation in color on the top of the coffee. Okay. If you see something that is very monochromatic, I m mean, sure, it could be a very good coffee. Marco Timpano: Right. Speaker B: But you want. It would be nice to see that there are some extremely dark oils in there. Marco Timpano: Okay. Speaker B: So you'd be looking for sort of like this coffee color that we would consider like a, like a. Nor like a normal coffee color on top of an espresso. Marco Timpano: That's the crema we're talking about. Speaker B: Exactly. So you'd be looking for a nice crema. and then you would be looking for some really dark splotches on top of that. Basically, what those signify is parts of the espresso that is in a sense, been parts of the coffee bean rather that have been really ridden of their oils and have made their way into the actual liquid. Right. So from those, you're getting a lot of sweetness and you're getting a lot of aromatic flavors. and that's where you find the, really the tastiest part of the espresso. Marco Timpano: I see. Speaker B: You're not necessarily just getting, the caffeine. Marco Timpano: Sure. Speaker B: And the base flavors of a coffee, but you're also getting these notes. Right. And you would find them in these individual little pieces of darker, crema. And it's very interesting to see that because when you have a look at your coffee before you even drink it, you can kind of base how much of, sweetness or bitterness you're gonna get from that coffee once you've had enough, when you look at the coffee and just have a look at the, crema itself. In Italian, we would refer to the, the dark oils as, olio scuro. Right. Which basically means dark oils. Right? That's right. So, it's really interesting to see, you know, having a look at so many coffees, to just, you know, really take them for what they are. Marco Timpano: Sure. Speaker B: Not being able to taste all of them, but just to make them and have a look at them. Just to kind of judge them for yourself based on, what they are from what you see. Marco Timpano: Right. Speaker B: What's your, what's your favorite coffee? What, what do you drink when you, when you go out and you have a coffee? Marco Timpano: Oh, so that's a. That's A fantastic question, right? And lately I've been putting on my Instagram when I, Because I love a good cappuccino. And for me, a cappuccino should not be an intense amount of liquid, meaning milk. It should be proportioned really well with the milk, the coffee and the foam. And so oftentimes I'll go to these espresso bars and whatnot or cafes and they'll give me like a vat of coffee to represent, cappuccino. And I'll take a photo of it and I'll, I'll put on my Instagram and write, this is not a cappuccino. And then when I have a good one, I'll write, this is a cappuccino. So I've sort of been doing this as, ah, you know, I've had cappuccino throughout the cities, different, different countries, different places. And so for me, what I look for in a cappuccino is a great balance between espresso, milk and foam. I don't expect the milk to be scorched. That's one of the things that I hate. When they've heated the milk to past its point and they've scorched the milk, it gives it not the sweet milk taste, but rather it gives it a soury kind of spoiled taste. And I can, I notice that right away. I don't need cinnamon, I don't need chocolate on top of my cappuccino. I certainly would welcome it, but that's not important to me. For me, it's the balance and the size. So I think a cappuccino should be a certain amount of, coffee ratio to, milk and froth. And it shouldn't be a huge, it should be in an appropriate sort of cappuccino or demi tass sort of size. Speaker B: You know, it's really funny you say that because anytime I've ever asked somebody what their favorite kind of coffee is, whatever kind of coffee they say volume and proportion of actual espresso to milk, they did, they choose. It's always about the balance for them. Marco Timpano: Sure. Speaker B: And I feel like no matter what the most important part is about having that certain level of balance in your coffee. You can have a coffee that's extremely strong, you can have a coffee that's extremely milky, but when it's unbalanced, you can really, you can really tell. And whether or not you drink coffee, it's almost extremely visible to somebody whether or not a coffee is unbalanced. Marco Timpano: Agreed. Speaker B: Because it's not so Much, you know, the aesthetic of the coffee or the flavor of the coffee, but it's rather kind of like the feel that you get from it. And that's one of the really cool parts about coffee or drink in general. You have this idea for, is it balanced? Marco Timpano: Right. Peter: Balance is important in coffee making cocktails as well as cocktails Speaker B: And these are topics that come up in coffee making cocktails. Marco Timpano: Oh, in particular. And I think Nidhi and I talked about it, when we did the Negroni episode. We did a whole episode on Negronis. And the Negroni, for me, is one of my favorite cocktails. And it's a very simple cocktail in that it's equal portions of three alcohols, but it is the cocktail that so, so many people mess up. And you can, I think you can tell the quality of a bartender based on how they make the Negroni, because I love Negronis when they're done well, but when they're not done well, it's like a slap in the face is how I describe it. Speaker B: I couldn't agree more. And it's because a lot of people, and this, this goes back to coffee as well as cocktails, kind of look past the idea of the ingredients involved Marco Timpano: and balance, like you were saying before. Speaker B: Of course. Marco Timpano: Yeah. Speaker B: And when I say balance, I'm not only referring to the actual liquids. Right. I'm not referring to the coffee and milk. I'm not referring to the, the three ingredients of Negroni. Right. I'm referring to the actual process in which it's made. This could be, you know, for example, the ice in the Negroni. Marco Timpano: Okay. Speaker B: This has, especially with the Negroni, so much do with the cocktail itself. Marco Timpano: Sure. Speaker B: You know, how cold is it? Marco Timpano: Right. Speaker B: How m m long has the ice been sitting in the glass? Right. What kind of ice are you using? This all relates back to the balance. Right. Because you need to really make sure that you're balancing every single part. You can't skip, you can't skip out on one part of making the coffee. Right. Steaming the milk, how you're. How are you putting the milk into the glass. Right. This has a lot to do with the cappuccino. It's not just the espresso and the milk. Marco Timpano: Sure. Speaker B: It's how these, how the milk is going into the espresso to make sure that it's maintaining its robustness even after it's completed. It's almost as if with a cappuccino, I find the espresso still has all of its flavor and character even after you've put milk into it, which with a lot of other coffee is not the case. Marco Timpano: Well, there you go. Well, Peter, I think I've discovered a new favorite word, and that's balance. But I'm going to pronounce it balance. Peter: What's your favorite cocktail before we go? Manhattan Anyways, I want to thank you for being a part of this episode where we talked about ginger and languages and words. Our favorite words. What's your favorite cocktail before we go? Speaker B: Manhattan. Marco Timpano: All the way. Speaker B: Perfect. Marco Timpano: Classic. Speaker B: Perfect. Marco Timpano: Peter, thank you so much for being part of this episode. Speaker B: Thank you, Marco, as always. Marco Timpano: The Insomnia Project is produced by drumcast Productions, and this episode was recorded in Toronto, Canada. Thank you for listening.
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 the element of air, reflecting on breathing, breezes, and the invisible presence that surrounds us every day. As part of their ongoing series on the elements, this episode offers low-stimulation, easygoing content perfect for bedtime listening. The conversation gently drifts through everyday experiences connected to air, from simple observations to calming reflections, all delivered in a soft, meandering style that helps ease racing thoughts and promote relaxation. With unhurried pacing and familiar themes, this relaxing podcast episode creates a peaceful environment 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.
Episode 15: The Air Episode | Gentle Conversations on Breathing Easy
Marco Timpano: 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 drift off. Thank you for joining us. We hope you will listen and sleep. I'm your host, Marco Timpano. Nidhi Khanna: And I'm your co host Nidhi Marco Timpano: Khanna and we invite you to rate us and leave a comment on itunes as we love that and it only helps our podcast. Nidhi Khanna: It does. and you can also tweet at us at listeninsleep. This is the air episode. If you haven't already guessed it, listeners Marco, when you think of the word air, what is the first image that pops into your mind? Marco Timpano: I guess wind. Speaker A: Really? Marco Timpano: Air. Nidhi Khanna: Yeah. I think of oxygen. Yeah. Marco Timpano: Okay, Fair. Nidhi Khanna: Breathing. Marco Timpano: Sure. Nidhi Khanna: This is the air episode. If you haven't already guessed it, listeners, Marco Timpano: we had a water episode, a fire episode, and we thought it only appropriate to have an air episode since those are the three elements. Well, I guess earth. We should have an earth episode too because that's that. That that'll be coming because future episode on earth. What are the elements in air? Do you know Nidhi Khanna: But for now, we're gonna talk about air. Marco Timpano: Sure. Nidhi Khanna: What Are the elements in air? Do you know? Marco Timpano: Oh, I don't. I have no idea. Nidhi Khanna: Like atmospheric. I don't know. Marco Timpano: Oxygen, Nitrogen. I think it's made primarily of nitrogen, isn't it? There's more nitrogen molecules in the air that we breathe, our atmosphere, than, Than on other planets. I don't know. Help me out. Nidhi Khanna: That's. Marco Timpano: You're looking at me in a strange way, so I. Nidhi Khanna: Well, I don't know. I was trying to figure out where you were going with that sentence. Really. Marco Timpano: I know there's a plentitude of nitrogen in our. In the oxygen. In the oxygen that we breathe. Does that make sense? Nidhi Khanna: Yeah, it. Well, I mean, not the oxygen in the air that we breathe. Marco Timpano: The air that we breathe in the air. Nidhi Khanna: yeah. And it makes me think of a song that has that lyric in the air that we breathe, which makes me think of the band Air. Was there not a band in Air? Marco Timpano: I don't know. A band named Air. Nidhi Khanna: Okay. Marco Timpano: I know there was a band named Earth, Wind and Fire. Nidhi Khanna: Well, maybe it's not. Marco Timpano: And I know that, Phil Collins sang a song called Air the Air tonight. Nidhi Khanna: Of course. Marco Timpano: But, this other band. Air. Air Supply? Nidhi Khanna: No, it's a French band, apparently. Marco Timpano: I know Air Supply. Nidhi Khanna: Air Supply. Maybe I was thinking about Air Supply. Marco Timpano: Perhaps. Nidhi Khanna: I was probably thinking about it. Marco Timpano: You weren't thinking of the French band Air? Nidhi Khanna: No, because I just found that when I Googled air. Marco Timpano: But. So what is our atmospheric, air made up of? Okay, Nadia's gonna be looking at that. Other things that I think of when I think of air is I think of, you know, blowing a balloon and, you know, versus, say, using helium to make the balloon float up. I also remember as a kid watching a magician or some sort of, I don't think. I don't know if he was. He was a magician, but he was someone who would use. Who would make giant bubbles, you know, with what you could make those giant bubbles. And what he would do is inside a bubble. Inside a giant bubble, he'd blow another bubble. But when he blew that bubble into the giant bubble, you know, with. With soapy water, whatever they use, he. He was smoking a cigarette, so he would blow smoke into the bubble that was inside the bubble. So what happens is the smoke gets trapped in the bubble and you see this gray. This light gray, swirling smoke and trapped inside a bubble. Now, I remember it as a kid, and I remember it to this day. Nidhi Khanna: Did you ever play air guitar? Marco Timpano: Oh, I'm sure I have. I remember going to see friends in an air guitar competition. Competition or something? Nidhi Khanna: Yeah, that's. That's always. I mean, what did you think about that? When they were like, come to my air guitar competition. Marco Timpano: It was fine for the first two minutes, and then it was people just lip syncing and air guitar into music. And I was like, oh, this isn't for me. Nidhi Khanna: What's, like a good air guitar song, really? I mean, needs to have that solo piece to it, right? Like, Thunder, for example. ACDC is a good air guitar song. Marco Timpano: I feel like crazy. Train by Ozzy Osborne. The beginning. The car is really intense. Nidhi Khanna: Okay. Marco Timpano: Yeah. Have you ever gone to an oxygen bar where they give you pure oxygen Nidhi Khanna: to get back to your atmosphere Marco Timpano: of the earth, the composition of the Nidhi Khanna: earth, the composition of the earth, the earth's atmosphere. You are indeed correct. Nitrogen is about 78% of the Earth's atmosphere. Marco Timpano: There you go. I remember that from when I. 78. Nidhi Khanna: You said 78. And oxygen is like. Is 20%. and then. Hold on, because. Marco Timpano: Have you ever gone to an oxygen bar where they give you pure oxygen to breathe? They were popular at one point. Nidhi Khanna: I haven't. I feel like this is like the floating tanks, you know, the same type of thing, right? It's like, I gotta pay for, oxygen now. Marco Timpano: Yeah, they give you pure oxygen. And supposedly a lot of people feel lighter or they feel more. What's the word? Like rejuvenated. I did it nitty. And they can put flavors in it too, which sounds weird. So you could get like, you pick your, like, green apple scent or. I think I picked lavender. Nidhi Khanna: And how was it? Marco Timpano: Did nothing for me. The plastic tubes that go in your nose kind of irritated me, and that's about it. Oh, like irritated. Like, not irritated me, but you know how it's. Nidhi Khanna: So was it like an oxygen. Did they wheel out an oxygen tank full of, like, lavender flavored oxygen? Marco Timpano: No, as I remember it. And this was years ago, you sat at a little bar and it had all these tubes. I guess the tanks were underneath the bar and they had all these little tubes and they were like, okay, here, like, use this to put in your mo. In your nose. It was like a hygienic one. So they would replace that part of the tube, depending on who was the new client. And, they then asked me what scent or flavor I wanted. I think flavor is the wrong word. I guess scent. And. And I think I said lavender, if that was one of the flavors or scents. And, away we went. And I think it was. I paid for 15 minutes and it did nothing for me. Nidhi Khanna: Do you remember how much it cost for those 15 minutes. Marco Timpano: Oh, this was years ago. I don't remember. I feel like I did it at an airport. Nidhi Khanna: Oh, interesting. Marco Timpano: I feel like it was at an airport. And, you know, you have got that time to kill, and you're like, what are you gonna do? And sure enough, you know what else I've done? Have you ever seen those tanks where people put their feet in and the little fish sort of nibble away at your calluses and stuff? Nidhi Khanna: Oh, yeah, it's like this weird pedicure thing that is. Marco Timpano: Yeah, I've done that. Nidhi Khanna: Really? Marco Timpano: In Thailand. Nidhi Khanna: How was that experience? Marco Timpano: That was, interesting because as soon as I put my feet in and they all sort of like. And the tank that I did had hundreds of fish in it. It wasn't like some of the, you know, tanks that you see at beauty parlors in Beverly Hills that have, like, a handful of fish. No, this had hundreds. And as soon as they attacked my feet, I felt a little nauseous. It was a really odd sensation. It made me feel a little bit. I wouldn't say queasy, but a little bit like, oh, this is not so much fun. But then you get used to it and it's like, fine. But it's a. It's a very interesting, different sort of. Sort of feeling. Hard to describe because people are like, what does it feel like? Little pinches? It's like, no, it just feels like pressure from a million different places on your feet. And not hard pressure, but like a sort of constant sort of rubbing in different areas. Nidhi Khanna: Are you ticklish on your feet? Marco Timpano: No, I don't think I am. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe that's why it was bothersome. But anyways, that's another one of those unusual things, like the oxygen bar that I went to. This was like a plunge your feet in a fish tank. Nidhi Khanna: So I need to ask how your feet felt after the fish tank experience. Marco Timpano: They looked kind of marginally better. I don't think it was enough. Like, I think if you go to an actual pedicurist. Nidhi Khanna: Yeah. Marco Timpano: You get a better job than what the actual fish do. Yeah. Nidhi Khanna: Interesting. Marco Timpano: It's more like, oh, look at all these fish nibbling at me. It was kind of one of those. I think it was a waste of doing it. Once is great, but then it becomes a little bit of a waste of time or a m. Waste of money, Nidhi Khanna: I should say so if you like. If you could have a superpower based on the elements, what would it be So sometimes I think about the elements, and I think about the superpowers that are associated with each element. So, for example, I mean, when we did the fire episode, obviously. You know, you think of maybe Superman's laser vision. Marco Timpano: Sure. Nidhi Khanna: Or other water. Marco Timpano: You would think of Aquaman's ability. Nidhi Khanna: Sure. Earth. I'm not really sure who would have what particularly, but air, of course. You think of flying maybe. Marco Timpano: You know, I think of storm. Nidhi Khanna: Oh, of storm. Okay, that makes sense, because she manipulates, Marco Timpano: weather and, atmosphere change and whatnot. Nidhi Khanna: Right, Good point. Marco Timpano: But flying would be right, too. Nidhi Khanna: Yep. so if you could have a particular superpower that's based on the elements, what would it be? Marco Timpano: Oh, that's great. Well, I don't think it would be flying because I'm scared of heights. I'd like to have Aquaman's water abilities and stuff. Nidhi Khanna: Because you can't swim? Marco Timpano: M and I can't swim, but that's the one I'd want. Nidhi Khanna: You'd really? Oh, really? Why, why would you want that one? Marco Timpano: Well, of all the superheroes as a kid, Aquaman was my favorite. And I think it stems from the fact that I wanted to be a marine biologist. Prior to that, I wanted to be a fisherman. So I always had a fascination for the sea and sea creatures. And, so that's probably why it stems from that. And I don't know where that all came from because there's no fisherman in my family. Nidhi Khanna: And really, like, you know, and fisherman is. Is one of those career choices that, that kind of. You base it on someone else's career path. It's. It's very rare that someone is just randomly, you know, like, I'm gonna be a fisherman. Marco Timpano: I doubt that there's, you know, high school student counselors or guidance counselors who recommend becoming a fisherman as your career. Nidhi Khanna: Fair enough. Fair enough. you know, my superpower. I'm not. I feel like I would want. I'd want. I don't know, actually, I kind of Marco Timpano: make a great storm. If you were. Nidhi Khanna: Yeah, I probably would, but I. I don't know. What if I were to, like, get into a temper situation. Marco Timpano: Right. Nidhi Khanna: I might cause, like a tsunami or something. Marco Timpano: Fair. So when I was working on a cruise ship, they had a. What they would do is for the staff that worked on the cruise ship, they'd have, like, these fun nights where we would all meet at a bar that was closed off to the general, public, and the staff would go and have a fun night. So it might be like a Hawaiian themed night or whatever. Or like Halloween. They'd have, like. Anyways, one night they had superhero night. So we had to dress up like a superhero. And it was on the top deck bar. Nidhi Khanna: Oh, okay. Marco Timpano: So it was outside on the highest level. It wasn't actually even a bar. It was just an area. Area that was on the top part of the ship. Nidhi Khanna: So it was very airy. Marco Timpano: Was extremely airy. So I. What was my superhero? Oh, I. I dressed as Snape from the Harry Potter series. Nidhi Khanna: Of course you did. Marco Timpano: Amanda dressed as Wonder Woman. Nidhi Khanna: Amazing. Marco Timpano: And so, you know, we're. We were with all the performers. Every performer really got into it. Grow Therapy helps you navigate stress, set boundaries, and actually feel like yourself Nidhi Khanna: Before you continue, you're on a cruise ship, right? Where did you find your costumes? Marco Timpano: Oh, that's a great question. That's a really great question. So we would dock every week in New York City. And so we'd have about a day in New York while people, while passengers were getting on or getting off and then getting onto our ship. So we had a day in New York, and we went and scoured different areas of New York to get our costumes. Nidhi Khanna: Oh, so you knew there was going to be a costume? Marco Timpano: We knew it was so, you know, way beforehand, like, you know that. Okay, on the 15th, we're gonna have superhero night, so get ready kind of thing. So I obviously got a black wig that looked like Snape. And I think I got a wand or I made a wand. And there you go. Nidhi Khanna: And was this was at the height of the Harry Potter craze? Marco Timpano: Yes, the last book had just come out. Nidhi Khanna: Okay. Marco Timpano: The point is one of the singers dressed as Storm. So she had, like, white. White cotton hair. I think she just got a lot of cotton batting. So she got cotton hair. It was like this white, white, white hair. And then she had all this, cotton batting all over her. Her bodysuit or whatever to mimic I don't know what. But. But it was like all this cotton. Well, when. When she stepped onto the area where we were, the wind up there was so great because we were on the top. Her hair blew off her head. Nidhi Khanna: Oh, no. Marco Timpano: And then all her costume. And I feel like it was cotton or whatever, but there was, like, all her costume started to blow off her. Nidhi Khanna: Oh, no. Marco Timpano: So at the end of. Within five minutes, her costume was gone, and all she had left was just a bodysuit that was under the costume. And, I was lucky enough to. And what was funny was she came out and it was kind of windy, so she was pretending to be Storm. Like, she was, like, getting into all this position pretending to be Storm until it got so windy that her entire costume blew off. It was fantastic. Nidhi Khanna: Oh, poor girl. Speaker A: The M. Hustle doesn't have to hurt if performance pressure is making it hard to breathe. Grow Therapy helps you navigate stress, set boundaries, and actually feel like yourself again. Whether it's your first time in therapy or your 50th, grow makes it easier to find a therapist who fits you, not the other way around. You can search by what matters like insurance, specialty, identity or availability and get started in as little as two days. There are no subscriptions, no long term commitments. You just pay per session. Grow helps you find therapy on your time. 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See offer page for details. Hey, it's Howie Mandel and I am inviting you to witness history as me and my How We do it gaming team take on Gilly The King Wallow 267's million dollars gaming in the in an epic global gaming league video game showdown. Four rounds, multiple games, one winner, plus a halftime performance by multi platinum artist Travy McCoy. Watch all the action and see who wins and advances to the championship match against Neo right [email protected] that's globalgamingleague.com everybody games. Do you like popcorn? I do, I do. Do you get popcorn when you go to the movies Marco Timpano: You know what else you can make with air is popcorn. Oh yeah, you have warm air that Nidhi Khanna: causes a popcorn cause popcorn to pop. Now we just had some really wild popcorn. Yeah, it was pretty cool before recording this episode which was like caramel cashew popcorn or something like that. Marco Timpano: I prefer sweet popcorn. You know how you can get it with sweet or with savory. And there's the Chicago mix which mixes both the sweet and the savory. I think it's like a cheddar and a caramel popcorn. Nidhi Khanna: Yeah, that Chicago mix is amazing and deadly at the same time. Marco Timpano: I just eat the sweet part. Nidhi Khanna: Oh, really? Marco Timpano: Yeah, I don't like it. Oh, I don't like the combination. Nidhi Khanna: See, I like kettle corn because I like the combination of like sweet and salty. But I will. I just like popcorn. Marco Timpano: Do you like popcorn? Nidhi Khanna: I do, I do. It's not something that I like. It's not a go to that. I'm like, oh, popcorn. But when it's around, I thoroughly enjoy it, I think. Marco Timpano: When I was 15, I worked at a movie theater. It was at the. I don't know if you've ever been to this mall, Nidhi, but it was the Woodbine Center. Are you familiar with that mall? Nidhi Khanna: I am not. I am not. But please do describe it. Marco Timpano: Well, at the time, it was quite the mall. And it had a little, what do you call it, like a theme park within the mall. I guess it had a Ferris wheel. It had a train that took you around. It had. I feel like it had swings that would, you know, those swings that you kind of rise and then it swings you around. There's a bunch of you on. Had all these crazy things. And I was an usher at a theater at the Woodbine Mall. And, I'd come home smelling like popcorn. And there was so much popcorn around that I. I just got sick of popcorn. So I really don't. It's not my go to. And I'll always be like, when we go to the movies, I'll never really buy popcorn, really. Sometimes I'll have some of, whoever's with me. Some. I'll share some of theirs. But really I could do without. I prefer candies and things like that. How about you? Do you. Nidhi Khanna: It pretty. It scarred you that much? Marco Timpano: Hey, I guess do you and I know that's many, many years later. Do you get popcorn when you go to the movies? Nidhi Khanna: I do. I get popcorn. I don't usually get like, the butter on the popcorn. I find it messes with everything. Marco Timpano: Okay. Nidhi Khanna: And then you have greasy hands, etc. So I do like it if I get popcorn and whoever I'm with gets some candy because that's a nice little savory and sweet option. Marco Timpano: Sure. Nidhi Khanna: But I don't really like movie theater popcorn either. No, I find it too. Too salty. But I like, you know, those, what is it called? Colonels. Any of those specialty popcorn, stores where you can get expensive. yeah, but I have expensive taste. Marco Timpano: Oh, there you go. And you can tell by the popcorn she chooses. Nidhi Khanna: Exactly. You can tell a lot about a girl. Buy the popcorn. Marco Timpano: Really? See, I never thought. But that makes a lot of sense. It's like, so, I mean, our podcast is to help people relax. But gentlemen, if you. Or ladies, if you want to know something about the woman you happen to be with, take a look at the popcorn. Marco Timpano: That she chooses M. And then make your. Nidhi Khanna: Make your assessment. Marco Timpano: Let us know. Nidhi Khanna: Life advice. Marco Timpano: Let us know what those Pop the Insomnia Project flavors tell you. Nidhi Khanna: We're the new Tinder, apparently. Marco Timpano: I guess. So what's the bucket list there? Hot air balloon, gentle gliding so have you ever done some of these fun air things? Like, have you ever, parachuted or. Or glided or whatever? Nidhi Khanna: Right. This is great. So, bucket list. I, would like to say that I want to skydive. Marco Timpano: Okay. Nidhi Khanna: In my heart, I want to. Marco Timpano: Sure. Nidhi Khanna: In my head, I know I would never actually jump. Marco Timpano: Okay. Nidhi Khanna: It just wouldn't happen. even though I really, really want to. But I've never been one to be like, let me go bungee jumping. Marco Timpano: Right. Nidhi Khanna: However, I would be intrigued in a hot air balloon. Marco Timpano: Okay. Nidhi Khanna: Possibly. Marco Timpano: Sure, sure. Nidhi Khanna: Possibly. I don't know. I mean, it's a bucket list. Like, if I had the opportunity. Marco Timpano: So what's the bucket list there? Hot air balloon, gentle gliding in the air, or the jumping out of a plane with a parachute? Nidhi Khanna: So they're all. Marco Timpano: Because you're like, bucket list, but you haven't said which one, so. Nidhi Khanna: No, because they're all kind of on the bucket list. Marco Timpano: Okay. Nidhi Khanna: But whether or not I would actually fulfill the bucket list if I was given an opportunity. Marco Timpano: Sure. Nidhi Khanna: I'm not sure. Marco Timpano: No desire to jump out of a plane. I'm scared of heights. No desire to. Now, have you ever seen this? Well, I mean, I shouldn't say no desired in a hot air balloon, because I think I would do that. But have you ever seen these new things where it's like skydiving in an enclosed, like. Like area? Like, it's kind of like, see? Nidhi Khanna: That I would do. Marco Timpano: Because Amanda wants to do that. She's like, I want to do that. We drive by it. I think it's in Mississauga, and it's like this. So here's what I think you do. I'm m just gonna repeat this as many times until. Until it's clear in my head. You put on a puffy suit. They turn on these mega fans underneath you. You jump into the air and you just let it. Let you float. And then you move your hands and feet around till you, till you. I don't know what, but I think Nidhi Khanna: this would be the perfect activity for your birthday. Marco Timpano: No. Nidhi Khanna: Why? Marco Timpano: Amanda wants to do it. So we'll do it for hers. I don't know. I don't know if I want to do that. Nidhi Khanna: Why? What are you like? Because you're not actually in the air. Right. Marco Timpano: But it blows you up high. Nidhi Khanna: Oh, does it? Marco Timpano: I think it does. I don't know how many feet it goes up, but. Nidhi Khanna: But then what happens when the air stops? Do you just fall down? Marco Timpano: No, they slowly lower the air. I don't, I've never done it. I'm just assuming I'm making this or something. It sounds like I know what I'm talking about, but I don't. But it is a air sport. Marco Timpano: Have you ever seen those people who like, they're kind of on a, like surfboard with a parachute attached to them? Like a. What's it called? Windsurfing. Nidhi Khanna: Oh, right. Marco Timpano: Is that what it's called? Nidhi Khanna: I don't know. Marco Timpano: They've got newfangled ones. So there's windsurfing and there's this one where you kind of have like a glider type, like a kite parachute type looking thing. Nidhi Khanna: Oh, I know what you're talking. Marco Timpano: And then you're on a board in the world water and the, the air will kind of lift you and the board up. Nidhi Khanna: yeah. Marco Timpano: And you can do all these like fun tricks and stuff. Nidhi Khanna: Yeah, I don't have any desire to do that. Marco Timpano: No, no. Nidhi Khanna: We're not adventurous when it comes to air. Marco Timpano: Is the element that we like, you know? No, air is not an element. Nidhi Khanna: It's really not. I like air shows because I'm on the ground and not in the air Marco Timpano: I'm trying to think of more air Nidhi Khanna: stuff like, I enjoy, an air show every now and then, you know, I mean, I recently moved into a new place as you know, and there is an air show by the water that happens every summer. And so it was really cool this year to actually see some of them practicing. Sure, it was incredibly noisy. But I like the flyovers. I've been to, I can't remember if it was F1 or Indy or something like that. And they did a flyover as well, which was kind of neat. so I like air shows. Marco Timpano: Sure. Air shows are fun because I'm on Nidhi Khanna: the ground and not in the air. Marco Timpano: Particularly I've been on. I've been in a helicopter. I've ever been in a helicopter. Nidhi Khanna: Oh, what was that like? Marco Timpano: It was cool. Nidhi Khanna: Is it, is it okay? Because we both kind of have a little bit a thing with flying and height. So being in a helicopter is a different from being in a plane in terms of the feelings you get yes. Oh, interesting. Why? Marco Timpano: Well, because first, it's much smaller than most planes that. Commercial planes that people go on. And, you can see everywhere around you because this was a plane, this was a helicopter that flew over like, a park so that you could see the changing colors of the leaves during fall. And, so you see all perspectives and it's noisy and, just cool. Niddy: A lot of people listen to our podcast when they fly I wanted to ask you about kites. Do you enjoy flying kites or what do you remember about flying kites? Nidhi Khanna: I was never a good kite flyer. I don't even recall really ever flying one or getting it off the ground. Like, I think I may have done it part of a school project. You know how you used to have those arts and crafts projects? One of them was like, let's make a kite. Marco Timpano: Right. Nidhi Khanna: I don't think my kite ever went anywhere. how about you? You used to be really good at this. Marco Timpano: No, no, no, I just remember. You know what? I think on the episode that I. That we did with Nug, I talked about kites and the black. There's like a black bat kite. Nidhi Khanna: Yeah. Maybe that was it. Marco Timpano: I don't know. But, certainly, certainly there's an episode where we talk about that. But there. I always wanted to fly a triangle or a diamond shaped kite, like, you know, when kids draw them. And I think I tried to make one once and the thing would not fly. It was like, what is this horrible diamond thing? And then when I was a kid, the kites that you would get in the little kit were kind of triangular, and one was called the black. The black bat. And it was black with two yellow eyes and it looked kind of like a bat. They're fun for the. For me for the first five minutes and then that's it. But what I wanted to say, which was during the helicopter part, was a lot of people listen to our podcast when they fly. Do you know that, Niddy? Nidhi Khanna: I, we've gotten a couple of. A little bit of feedback about that too. Marco Timpano: Yeah, it really. Nidhi Khanna: It really helps them. Marco Timpano: Yeah. So. Nidhi Khanna: Which is good. I listen to our podcast when I was flying and, I. I enjoyed it because, as you know, I can actually sleep, weirdly enough. No. To our podcast. Marco Timpano: Oh. Oh. Nidhi Khanna: I don't know why I can say, like, in terms of hearing my own voice. Marco Timpano: Right? You're able to listen. Nidhi Khanna: Yeah, because I know when you listen to our podcast, you can't. Marco Timpano: No, because I'm judging what I say, but. Nidhi Khanna: Right. I have no judgment here. Marco Timpano: There you go. And you just. And so you listened to it on your flight. Nidhi Khanna: I did, and it was really good. It was. It. You know what? I don't think I fell asleep, but it definitely relaxed me because I'm a nervous flyer. I think a kite at the beach with a kid is the best place I was also thinking when you thought it, when you were talking about flying a kite. I know there was an episode that we did like idioms. Marco Timpano: Okay. Yeah. Nidhi Khanna: and one of. One of the. It made me think of the idiom, go fly a kite. Yeah. So. Yeah. I don't know. Do you? What? Between a balloon and a kite, though, aren't they essentially the same, like, nonsensical children's toy. Marco Timpano: I guess I see what you're saying, but you, know, I remember when I was in Florida, my nephew Danny and us, not just myself, it was my brother in law, my sister in law, my wife, we were all helping him to fly a kite. And I feel like it was a ironman kite. I'm gonna say it was an iron man kite. Yeah, it was really cool, I have to say. So much cooler than the kites I remember. And being on the beach flying a kite with a little kid is pretty awesome. Nidhi Khanna: Is it? Marco Timpano: It's awesome. It's awesome because they're enjoying it. You're on the beach, there's oftentimes a nice wind there and, and especially with your whole family. It was a lot of fun. Just picture like, you know, some. Some of the families lying on, blankets. Some of us are running around with a, with a kite. We're trying. Everyone's giving our nephew directions on what to do and pull hard and whatnot. And then you see the kite kind of nosedive and everybody's oohing and ah, in. And it was a lot of fun. So I think a kite at the beach with a kid is the best place to be kite flying. Nidhi Khanna: Fair enough. Marco Timpano: Have you ever seen those box kites? Nidhi Khanna: No. Marco Timpano: They kind of look boxy on both ends. Nidhi Khanna: Oh, wait, no. I think you have described this. Marco Timpano: Yeah, I think it was on the episode. Nidhi Khanna: We must have done an episode because this is sounding very familiar. We want to thank you for listening to our series on the elements Marco Timpano: Well, then on that case, we should probably end the air episode since we're getting. We're kind of weaving our way back to a, past episode. We want to thank you for listening to our series on the elements, which Nidhi Khanna: kind of just came out of nowhere, but we will be doing an episode on Earth soon enough. So until then, we want, to thank you for listening. Marco Timpano: If you have any suggestions for, shows that you want us to do, please tweet us at listenandsleep with your show idea and we'll be happy to discuss what we know about any random topic you might have. Nidhi Khanna: As always, we're produced by drumcast Productions and we're recording from Toronto, Canada tonight. thank you. And until the next time, we hope you listen and sleep. 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 welcomes back guest Trevor Martin for a relaxed discussion about fantasy NBA pools, exploring how fantasy basketball leagues work and what makes them engaging for fans. This low-stimulation, easygoing episode offers calming, sports-themed content perfect for bedtime listening. From drafting players to organizing leagues and understanding strategy, the conversation gently walks through the fundamentals of fantasy basketball in a soft, meandering style. With unhurried pacing and thoughtful insights, this relaxing podcast episode helps ease racing thoughts, reduce anxiety, and create a peaceful environment for sleep. 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.
Fantasy Basketball Unraveled | A Gentle Dive into the World of Leagues and Drafts (Episode 16)
Marco Timpano: Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen as we have a conversation, a chat if you will, about the mundane. One thing we can promise is that our conversation will be less than fascinating so that you can feel free to just drift off. We invite you to go to itunes and rate Leave a little comment. We love that. I want to thank you for joining us. We hope you will listen and sleep. I'm your host, Marco Tampano and joining me on today's episode is Trevor Martin. Welcome, Trevor. Trevor Martin: Thank you, Marco. Trevor Dantonio is passionate about fantasy basketball Marco Timpano: Trevor, I wanted to talk to you about something that I know you're very passionate about and that is a fantasy NBA pool. Trevor Martin: That's right. Marco Timpano: You gotta walk me through this because I've never been in a fantasy pool before and I don't know how they work. So let me ask you this. What's the first thing you do? Trevor Martin: the first thing you have to do is you join a league. Now in my case, I am in two leagues. One is a normal league. It's a standard season long league where we play essentially with a team that we draft at the beginning of the year until the end. And the end is usually before the playoffs of the actual NBA season. The other league I'm in is a dynasty league. Marco Timpano: Oh, my goodness. Trevor Martin: And a dynasty league is where you keep the same team from year to year. Marco Timpano: Oh, so if I was to join, it would be, this is my team from today to 20 years from today. Trevor Martin: That's right. And the only way you can really change your team is we would. You would draft rookies who join the league, or you would make trades with other managers. Marco Timpano: So essentially you become a manager for this dynasty. That's right. But what happens when one of your players. So let me see if I got this straight. You sort of sit down with your computer and paper and you sort of figure out who you want on your team, and you pick how many players? Trevor Martin: depending on the league, probably up to 13 players. 13? My. My Dynasty League, we. We have 18 players. Marco Timpano: Okay. Trevor Martin: Which is a lot. Marco Timpano: So under 20, right? Trevor Martin: Yeah. Marco Timpano: And you're figuring out who you want on your team so that when they're actually playing in the NBA, the amount of baskets they get. Trevor Martin: Yes. Marco Timpano: Accrue to your point system. Trevor Martin: That's right. Marco Timpano: Versus my point system right now, week to week. Right? Trevor Martin: Week to week, yeah. There are several different types of fantasy league scoring. there is, Marco Timpano: Okay, before we get into. Walk me through your process. So it's. Nidhi Khanna: It's. Marco Timpano: Would you call it draft day or like the start of the season? Trevor Martin: So you have a draft day, you do your research, you decide who is going to be, who's in the best situation now, because it changes from year to year where somebody, will retire and they'll be like, oh, this backup is now going to be the. The, starting point guard or something else is. Someone has changed teams or a new coach has come in and maybe they have a faster, style of playing. That happened right, with the Houston Rockets recently, where Mike d', Antoni, who is a very. Who's known for, he was Steve Nash's coach. And, Marco Timpano: And Steve Nash, for our listeners, was a great Canadian basketball player. Trevor Martin: He won the MVP twice when Mike d' Antonio was coaching him. And it's because he had a, he had a style called seven seconds or less. And it's basically the idea was as soon as they got the ball within seven seconds, they would shoot, they would have a shot. Marco Timpano: This is Dantonio's. Trevor Martin: This is Danton strategy. And so now he's applied this to the Houston Rockets. And now players on the Houston Rockets are very coveted in fantasy because they, their pace is so fast. They're always shooting, and so they get Marco Timpano: more shots on net, right? Trevor Martin: Which means that more people are going to score. There are going to be more statistics that happen. It's all about. My wife says it's numbers. You're just watching numbers. Really. We could be doing this with the weather. We literally just be. What. Look, what's the barometric pressure in Houston today? Marco Timpano: Right? Trevor Martin: It would be the same as James Harden's field goal percentage. but so, so on draft day, usually what happens is there's a snake draft, which means, so a snake Marco Timpano: draft, like a snake. Trevor Martin: The reason it's called a snake draft is because if there are 12 managers, there are randomly. There's a random order that goes out, okay, from 1 to 12. And the reason they call it a snake is because it winds like a snake. So. So if you have the 12th pick, the order goes in reverse order. So as if, like a snake, you have the 12th pick and you have the 13th pick, and then it snakes around to the first. I'm making a hand emotion to show you. But, it's called a snake draft because it's. It just goes into reverse order every time. there's another type of drafting, which is called auction drafting, where you get fake money, basically, and you bid for the players that you want. So you can spend a lot of money on one player and then end up having to budget for the rest. For the rest. that's not a style that I usually play with. I usually play with just a traditional draft. Marco Timpano: So during the snake draft. Back to the snake draft, who is number one or the first manager or the first player to select. Trevor Martin: It's always, randomized by the computer. You don't know until the draft is about to happen, and then you find out like five minutes before the draft starts. And it's. There's a strategy to it because, everyone essentially has the same order where they did. There's. There's some obviously excellent players in the NBA. LeBron James, for example. Trevor, how do you pick your players for fantasy football leagues You sure he's. Although statistically he's not great lately. but there are people who. James Harden was the guy I just mentioned. He's the number one guy because he's Marco Timpano: the number one draft pick. Not only for fantasy football, for fantasy basketball. Trevor Martin: Sorry. Because he's a basketball. Yeah. he's always number one because he plays in that system I was talking to you about. He basically always has the ball and so he's always passing. So he gets assists, he scores, he hits three pointers. So you're trying to maximize the most valuable players are the ones who do. Who contribute the most number of statistics. I see. Marco Timpano: So it's not necessarily how many baskets you make. So for example, it's not like, okay, my players this week made. I don't know if you call it baskets or points or what you would call it. It's points. my players made 29 points and yours made 38. It's also assists and things like that. Trevor Martin: Rebounds, depending on the league that you're in. In the league that I'm in, the Dynasty league, there are 13 different categories and they go everywhere from points to free throws that they've made to their percentage of free throws that they've made. so how, how well good they are shooting to, personal fouls. Marco Timpano: Wow. Trevor Martin: So if somebody is. Has a penchant for getting a lot of personal vowels, that is a negative. Marco Timpano: It subtracts from your tracks. Trevor Martin: Also turnover. Some people like, if they fumble the ball or they get it stolen from them a lot. And again, that's somebody like James Harden, who's very good at everything else because he always has the ball. It's more likely that someone is going to steal it from him or he's going to make a mistake and pass Marco Timpano: it off somewhere and then you're gonna have a subtraction. Trevor Martin: Yeah. And then. So in that category, he is a negative. Marco Timpano: Okay. Trevor Martin: But in. But he's such a positive in all the other ones that it sort of out outweighs that. Marco Timpano: So. Okay, I, I would assume that in the Snake draft you want to be in position one, or is it more strategic to be a little bit later on in picking? Trevor Martin: It's interesting because position one, you get the best player. Right. But then you don't pick again until number 24. Right. So you get the, you get the best guy. But then 24 later, you're getting like someone who is essentially not even in the second round, third round. The way that people usually grade players is by position, by tier. So because there's usually 12 managers in a league, the first tier would be the top 12 players. Marco Timpano: Okay. Trevor Martin: And then second tier would be, you know, the, the next, the 12, 13 to 24. And you usually call them. So you would say that has a first round talent. I see. now. Yeah. So I mean, personally I usually like to get somewhere in the middle. So it's like number four, number five, and then that way it's not that far away from me getting the next Marco Timpano: pick because it goes down the snake and then back up. Is that why? Trevor Martin: Right, so number 12 is also going Marco Timpano: to get number 13 and number, 11 is now going to get the 14th pick. Trevor Martin: Yes. Marco Timpano: Okay, so that's what you mean by snake. Trevor Martin: That's what I mean. Marco Timpano: Okay, so snakes up and down the Trevor Martin: snake's body, let's say. Exactly. Marco Timpano: Wow. Okay, so so far all I understand is the snake position. All right, so. Or the snake picking. Can't even get that straight. So, Trevor, tell me what you do. You sit down and how do you pick your players? Trevor Martin: So what, what happens is we. You. I always, My leagues are always on the Yahoo site there. Marco Timpano: Oh. So that's what keeps track of all the statistics. Trevor Martin: Yahoo. The Yahoo League is usually, is, I think, the most popular. There's espn also has one. Okay. but Yahoo, essentially you join a league, usually there's a commissioner who starts the league. Marco Timpano: And this would be someone you know or can you like the ones that you've joined. They're people run by people for the Trevor Martin: most part now it's people that I know. Okay. Marco Timpano: Yeah. Trevor Martin: and, they're usually the, they're people. And they. My professional community. So I'm an actor and a writer. Sure. These are people who are, are managers now. so they invite you to the league. You make up your name, your silly name, and it's usually anything. It's usually a pun on somebody else's. You know, I have a clip. You start tiering your players before the draft. Um, so, uh, you, you pick your name I have my. My favorite player is a guy named Kristaps Porzingis. And so my team name is Mary Kristaps because it was Christmas. Marco Timpano: Sure. So I would be like the Insomnia Project team, let's say. Sure. Trevor Martin: Right. Yeah, you could totally do that. Marco Timpano: Sleep and play. For sure. Trevor Martin: so, you, you, you pick your name and then you wait for the draft day and then you, then you start tiering your players. So then you go, who, if I got the first pick, who would I pick? And then you work your way down from there. And then the important thing is, especially in the first two rounds, get the best person available. Okay. Doesn't matter what position they play, all that kind of stuff. You just want whoever you think is best overall. and then because the NBA especially is about talent, it's about top end talent. Marco Timpano: Right. Trevor Martin: There's usually one or two really good players on your team and then the rest are sort of like supporting players. Okay. so what we'll do, what I'll do is I'll rank the players that I think are gonna do well. And I usually get that from the help of other websites. Yahoo does it as well as, there are websites, espn, Roto World. There are the things where they do a ranking for you, and from Marco Timpano: your own personal knowledge, from my own Trevor Martin: personal research that I've done and from Marco Timpano: watching games, you'll be like, I'm impressed with this place. Players. Trevor Martin: Yeah, exactly. And there are also players that I have a personal bias towards. Marco Timpano: Sure. Trevor Martin: There are other teams that I don't like. Usually, it's younger players. there's also the worry about injury prone players. Marco Timpano: Right. Trevor Martin: Players who, who like. There are some really good players who just get hurt all the time. Marco Timpano: Yeah. Because I want to know what happens if you. So you pick your, say 12 to 18 people. Trevor Martin: Yeah. Marco Timpano: What if four people get injured in Trevor Martin: your season, you are in trouble, you're just not going like there's nothing really what you can do at that point is, you can try to trade them and say, listen, maybe these guys will be better in a few weeks and try to get some value. Or you can drop them. And then there's something called the waiver wire, which is essentially all the players who have not been selected in the draft are available. And you can essentially get rid of your players and then pick somebody off from the waiver wire. And quite often it'll be really young players who haven't established themselves or people who are in a supporting. but what ends up happening is somebody gets injured and then somebody takes their place and usually that person is not on anybody's team. So if James Harden gets injured then whoever is on the bench, maybe Sam Decker or whoever. Right. You can, you can usually find them on the waiver wire and then get them to replace, them. Marco Timpano: But then you've given up someone that. Trevor Martin: But then you've given up a really valuable talent. And if you're not willing to wait out the injury, then someone else can scoop them up and be patient. And then all of a sudden they're healthy again and now they've got the best player. usually the scoring. What happens is I play in what's called a head to head league, which is every week you are head to head with another manager. Marco Timpano: Oh, I see. Trevor Martin: So I'll be playing, like my friend Chris Bond is in league. So if I play Chris that week, it's just his team versus my team for that week, statistically for those number of games. Marco Timpano: I see. Trevor Martin: And then at the end of the week we are assigned a point for every category that we win. So he might win points, he might win assists, he might win offensive rebounds, I might win the field goal percentage or blocks or whatever. And then you get a score to that. And usually it's, I think it's, we have 14, 14 categories. So it's like, it might end up being like something like eight to six or something. So if I get eight points, that goes into my point allotment and then I go up and down. So, the idea is you want to do as best as well as you can during the regular season. And then at the end of the year, there's a playoffs. Marco Timpano: Right. Trevor Martin: And that, the thing about fantasy basketball is you don't, the fantasy basketball has to end before the real playoffs start because only a certain number of teams make the actual playoffs, right? So you have all these players. Like if only 16, teams make the playoffs, there's 30 teams, 14 teams will, in real NBA, will no longer be playing. Marco Timpano: Right. And you might have players and you Trevor Martin: might have team players. So in order to make it fair, you have to. The end of the, of the fantasy playoffs is the end of the regular season. Okay. If that makes sense. Marco Timpano: So, so at the end of the regular season is everyone dropping players like crazy and picking up teams they think, players from teams that they think are going to go forward. Trevor Martin: It can happen. So what ends up happening is at the end of the fantasy regular, season, you either make the playoffs, usually the top six teams make what is known as the playoffs, and they go into a separate pool. and what ends up happening is they fight it out to a win the championship. Nidhi Khanna: The hustle doesn't have to hurt if performance pressure is making it hard to breathe. Grow therapy helps you navigate stress, set boundaries, and actually feel like yourself again. Whether it's your first time in therapy or your 50th. Grow makes it easier to find a therapist who fits you, not the other way around. You can search by what matters like insurance, specialty, identity or availability and get started in as little as two days. There are no subscriptions, no long term commitments. You just pay per session. Grow helps you find therapy on your time. Whatever challenges you're facing. Grow Therapy is here to help. Grow accepts over 100 insurance plans, including Medicaid in some states. Sessions average about $21 with insurance, and some pay as little as $0 depending on their plan. Visit growththerapy. com startnow to get started. You know what I could really go for right now Visit growththerapy.com startnow to get started. That's growththerapy.com startnow growtherapee.com start now, availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan. Trevor Martin: You know what I could really go for right now? Literally anything that comes in a McDonald's carton wrapper or bag or a McDonald's cup. Yes, any of those items should do it. Nidhi Khanna: We've got your cravings covered. Now stop in for the flaky filet o fish, the crispy snack wrap or large fries for just $2.99 limited time only. Price and participation may var cannot be combined with any other offer. In dynasty leagues, if you drop someone, you lose them forever Trevor Martin: Then the bottom six go into the consolation playoffs. Marco Timpano: Okay? Trevor Martin: Now, usually in fantasy leagues, what happens is if you're in the playoffs and you lose your week and you're no longer in, you stop all activity. Marco Timpano: Oh, okay. Trevor Martin: Because they don't want to make it. So it's like, oh, I'm just, it doesn't matter for me anymore. So I'm just going to drop all my good players, right. And, and then let other people pick them up. That's not, that's not cool. Right? So, what ends up happening is, if you lose, you're done. And you just watch. Okay. in my dynasty league, if you drop. If you're in the playoffs and you drop somebody, you lose them forever, basically. Marco Timpano: Oh, you can't re. Pick them up. Trevor Martin: You can't re pick them up. Yeah, they go basically into, this pool that at the beginning of the next season, oh, these people are available. Marco Timpano: Can you pick them up at the beginning of the next season? Trevor Martin: You can't. Well, if you can, because what happens is we end up having another draft. Marco Timpano: Right. so do your players carry over to the next. The ones you've capped, they carry over Trevor Martin: in the dynasty league, they do carry up. So we have 18 players on a roster. We can keep up to 12 players. So. Okay, so you, you. Yeah, if you say you have 12 players that you're really, you really like, you keep them. But say you have 14 that you Marco Timpano: really like, you got to give up Trevor Martin: 12 and you've got to give up two. And then they go into this draft so that on draft day, it's not just the number one team isn't just hoarding all these great players. Right. It makes them make decisions to have to let go of usually younger players who haven't established themselves. And it's like, oh, I can take that guy, keep him on my team, watch him grow. And then. So it's a long term commitment and it's, it's, it. I mean, it takes a lot of time at the beginning of the season and then as the season goes on, it's just. You're just watching it. Marco Timpano: So I would imagine that being part of a fantasy basketball league or, pool, let's say, whether it's basketball, football, whatever, really leads to more enjoyment of the sport when you're watching. Trevor Martin: Yeah, you end up watching because you end up watching teams that you don't care about. Like, I'm a Toronto Raptors fan, right. But I don't have really any Toronto Raptors on my team. Marco Timpano: Oh, really? Trevor Martin: But, I have guys. I have, like, I have a lot of players from the Denver Nuggets on my team who I could care less about that team. Marco Timpano: Right. Trevor Martin: But. Sorry, Miracle, Sorry, Michelle. Miracle. They're a good team. They're a good young team. And that's why I have a lot of their players, is because they're young and they're up and coming. and, But it also makes it interesting to watch their games because it's like, oh, I know that guy. I care what happens to that guy. But you're watching it from a different perspective. You're not saying, oh, I want them to win. I just want that guy to do really well. Marco Timpano: Oh, isn't it? Trevor Martin: If they lose, who cares? Right? Marco Timpano: Right. Trevor Martin: It's. Yeah, it's. It just changes your perspective on the game. Yeah. Marco Timpano: Okay, so let me ask you this. Has there ever been an incident where you've picked someone up, you didn't think they were going to do well, or you didn't expect them to do as well as they did, and then you're like, this person has been a gold star player for me. Trevor Martin: Oh, yeah, There is a player named Paul Millsap who has. Marco Timpano: Who does he play for? Trevor Martin: He plays now for the Atlanta Hawks. He used to play for the Utah Jets. Marco Timpano: He. Trevor Martin: So he was what you would call in the real world, he was drafted, in the second round, which means every team is. There's 30 first round picks. He was picked after that, so like, like 37th or something. Marco Timpano: Okay. Trevor Martin: Nobody thought he was anything. Marco Timpano: Right. Trevor Martin: and then I picked him because I was like, this guy. I like this guy. Marco Timpano: Like, what was it about him that you like? What did you see? Trevor Martin: See, I like players who are, gritty, who just. Who just, like, they just do the dirty work. Right. I don't like the flashy players. I like the ones that just have a hard hat and then you just go out there and he was the type of player who was behind somebody else. He was, like a, on the bench and. But every time that his the guy in the starters got injured. He would always like, have like five games where it was. He was amazing. But then the guy would get healthy again because they're paying him 50 million, they gotta play him. Marco Timpano: Right? Sure. Jasper Christing turned out not to be as good as Chris Trevor Martin: And so Paul said, we'll go back to the bench. And I was like, this guy's a gold miner. One day they're gonna realize, no, he's the one. And they're gonna. And sure enough, they did. And I just get, I just remembered I'm holding onto this guy for sure. The other guy, I would say is Kristaps Porzingis, the guy who named my team after. Marco Timpano: Right. Trevor Martin: Because I made a trade with, casting director Steve Mann. Marco Timpano: Okay. Trevor Martin: And he said, I want this player that you have and I'll give you my, my rookie draft pick. I was like, okay, fine, I gave him that player. Marco Timpano: And was that player a good player that you sacrificed? Trevor Martin: You know, he turned out to be a good player, but not as good as Chris. Jasper Christing is going to be like a worldwide superstar, okay. Because he's like, he's from, he's from Latvia, okay. And he's like just. He's what they call a unicorn because he's seven feet tall, but he can shoot a three pointer. Okay? So. And it's like that's what in basketball, that's the way the NBA basketball is going now. It's like centers aren't like Shaquille o', Neal, you know, those big guys who just stood around the basket and that. The game has totally changed because now three points used to be a novelty. Three point shooting used to be a novelty, and now it's the norm. Ah. Trevor Martin: And it's like people, most people can shoot three pointers and three is more than two. So if you can shoot, all you have to do is shoot like 30% from three point. If you shoot. If you shoot 10 three pointers and you only hit three, that's nine points, right? To get nine points, you'd have to hit four or five regular shots, right? So it's just the, the averages are better of you scoring more points if you shoot three pointers anyway. That's just the way the league is going. So it's more valuable to have a guy who's super tall who can shoot three pointers, get you points, also get you rebounds, also get you blocked shots. Like, he's like. And that's why they call him a unicorn, because they're so rare. It's so rare to find. So somebody who's that tall and that skilled. Marco Timpano: And you don't know if a European player or a player who's not North American playing in the North American League is going to be able to, you know, really get it and go with it. Trevor Martin: No offense to your countryman, Andrea Barnani, but that is a case of not, a unicorn. Nidhi Khanna: Right. Trevor Martin: Because people had a horse with a horn stapled. Marco Timpano: A lot of high hopes for him, but he didn't really deliver. Trevor Martin: And he had that. He had that, that physicality. He was seven feet tall, and he was supposed to be able to shoot three pointers, and he was supposed to be able to get block shots, and he just couldn't do any of it. He was just not. He just didn't have that certain quality. Marco Timpano: And where is he now? Trevor Martin: He's back in Italy. Marco Timpano: Yeah, I met him once. He was really lovely. Trevor Martin: I'm sure he's great. I'm sure he's a nice guy. Marco Timpano: Not on the court, it seems. Trevor Martin: No, on the court, he was a little too lovely. Okay, sure. Trevor brings some clarity to this whole fantasy pool Marco Timpano: Before we end this episode, which I have to thank you because you've brought some clarity to this whole fantasy pool. Trevor Martin: I swear to you, I could talk for another two hours. Marco Timpano: Maybe we'll have a part two. Trevor Martin: Maybe. Marco Timpano: what I should do is record you on draft day and see what's going on. Trevor Martin: They won't fall asleep. No one will fall asleep. Why are you just like, I'm too excited. I'm too. Marco Timpano: I just get, what's it like on draft day? Like, are you like, leave me alone. I'm in my zone. I need an animal a little bit. Trevor Martin: Leave me alone. And then you end up chatting with the other managers as they go, because Marco Timpano: everyone's doing it same time, right? Trevor Martin: Exact same. Marco Timpano: So you have to block off that time out of your day. Like, you can't work, you can't. Trevor Martin: What you. But what ends up happening is if you can't make it, the computer makes the choices for you based on what Marco Timpano: you plug in, what you plugged in. Trevor Martin: Yeah. but that's not fun, right? so, Yeah, so what will end up happening is, yeah, I'll tell Dale. I gotta have this time. And you end up talking trash with all the other managers. What's interesting is, like, we were talking about draft day. so you try to get the best players in the beginning, and then afterwards, you have. Every day, you have to fill out your roster, and your roster is made at a different position. So you have point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward, center. You have to have all of those types of players in order to fill in those slops. So if you have five point guards, you don't have a position, you don't have a slot in your roster to put all of them in. Marco Timpano: Right? Trevor Martin: So you have to also get centers, you also have to get power forward. So towards the end of the draft, you're looking for positional need, as well. And that's when it becomes a little more complicated because you're like, this guy's way better. But I've already got too many of that type of player. I need to get this guy who's not as good. And so that's where the sort of the art or the skill comes in. Marco Timpano: So, Trevor, if I was to ask you to give a tip or two to the novice person who's entering a fantasy pool, what were your, what would your tips be? Trevor Martin: I think my main tip would be, if you, if you're. When in doubt in the opening rounds, pick talent over positional need. But if always pick a point guard. You need point guards and you need, Trevor Martin: you need, you know what? actually strike that. You need wing players. So shooting guards and small forwards. In the league right now, there are a lot of point guards and there are a lot of centers, but there are not a lot of in betweens. So if you have a choice, pick those guys first. Pick guys who will give you assists. And don't worry so much about points and three pointers. Everybody in the league now is shooting points and everybody's shooting three pointers. You can figure that out later. Right? Get the rarities, which are things like blocks and assists and steals. There are only a few guys in the league who are elite at that kind of thing. And if you can find those guys, then, all of a sudden, like, you've got that stuff covered and you can, you can deal with less pressing things later. Yeah. Which is great. Marco Timpano: There you go. Well, thank you, Trevor, for helping to bring some insight to the fantasy pool. Trevor Martin: Anytime. Marco Timpano: you're listening to the Insomnia Project, and as always, we're, we're produced by drumcast Productions, and we were recording this episode in Toronto, Canada. |
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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