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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 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.
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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 takes listeners to Lunenburg for a peaceful discussion centered around chess, quiet strategy, and the relaxing rhythm of thoughtful gameplay. From reflecting on the simple pleasure of sitting with a chessboard to the meditative pace of each move, this episode offers low-stimulation, easygoing content perfect for bedtime listening. The tranquil seaside atmosphere of Lunenburg and the soft presence of cottage sounds create a cozy, calming backdrop, enhancing the gentle, meandering tone that helps ease racing thoughts and promote restful sleep. With unhurried pacing and minimal stimulation, this relaxing podcast episode is ideal for stress relief, background listening, or winding down at the end of the day. Whether you’re searching for a sleep podcast for insomnia, calming background noise while you work, or a peaceful way to unwind at night, The Insomnia Project offers a comforting, reliable escape.
Chess, Lunenburg & Cottage Sounds
(Original airdate: July 4, 2016) Marco: Um, welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen as we have a conversation about the mundane. One thing that we can promise is our conversation will be less than fascinating so you can feel free to drift off. Thank you for joining us. We hope you will listen and sleep as well as follow us on Twitter. Listen and sleep. We're recording this episode from Woodland beach in the township of Tiny. Uh, we've mentioned this area on um, the podcast before. It's where I have my cottage. So we are recording. Outside you might hear the sounds of nature or the odd lawnmower motor or you might hear that motorcycle in the background right now as it sounds zips up the windy roads that make up the township of Tiny. Joining me today, I have the great pleasure of having my brother in law, Jim Cooper joining us. Welcome Jim, to the Insomnia Project. Jim: Thank you, Marco. Marco: It's great to be here. Jim, how did you get into chess? Jim: I've always liked chess Jim, I know that you're uh, a great chess player. I wanted to ask you, how did you get into chess? Jim: Um, I wouldn't say I'm a great chess player, but I'm an enthusiast. Anyways, I like it. Um, I've always liked chess. I think the first time I really started, when I was younger, my sister Cheryl had a chess set and she knew the rules so she was able to show me how to play, doing the basics, you know, so how to move the pieces and um, how to set it up and most of the basic rules. And I would play once in a while with her and with some other people who are interested. Okay. It's difficult to find people who are interested in playing chess, so, you know, because it takes time to play. Um, and um, so, you know, when I was younger I played a little bit, but then, um, later on I met a friend. Um, and he was quite good. He was quite good at playing chess. He still is quite good at playing chess. He saw that I was interested so he showed me a little bit more. You know, he showed me how to approach the game. Not just how to move the pieces, but why you might move the piece to a particular part of the board, how to develop your pieces. Marco: So when you say approach the game, what does that mean? Like, is it sort of a strategy prior to playing? Jim: Exactly, yeah. Uh, you have to think about what kind of game you want to play. Do you want to play off in the center? Do you want to attack? Or do you want to be more passive and let your opponent make mistakes? Wait for your opponent to make a mistake. But he also showed me how to better make use of the pieces. Okay, so, for instance, um, a knight doesn't move very fast. And it doesn't, uh. It doesn't, uh, affect that many squares at once. It only can, uh, affect a limited number of squares. So it likes to be around in the middle of the board. Marco: Oh, I didn't know that. Jim: Because it hits more squares, it's able to control more squares. But a bishop is able to go the whole diagonal, whatever diagonal it's on. If there are no pieces, it can, um, control a whole diagonal. So it's almost like an archer that can, um, that can, uh, sit up in a tree, if you want to think of it in those terms. An archer that sits up in a tree and has a good vantage point. Almost like a sniper. I see. Or something like that. But anyways, maybe, you know, the bishop is able to look along a long line. And, uh, he also showed me how to use the pieces together, how to coordinate the effort and make stronger, uh, use of the pieces by having them working together. Of course, rather than just like, hoping that one piece will wipe out another piece of your opponent, you. You find a way to. Because it's. It's. It's a team or an army or a team. Of course, those pieces have to work together in order for you to capture the king. So, uh, yeah, he showed me. He showed me a number of, uh, basic principles of how to approach the game so that, uh, I could have an interesting game, basically. Marco: Right. Jim: But I'm sort of like. I would say I'm a little bit better than, uh, somewhere between novice and intermediate. Intermediate, uh, uh, talent there. And he's a little bit better than that. Marco: Amazing. You've competed in chess competitions, correct? Yeah, yeah And you've competed in chess competitions, correct? Jim: Yeah, yeah, I've entered tournaments. Just tournaments? Yeah. Marco: Sorry, I should say tournaments. And, uh, what's that? Like, describe sort of the feeling when you get there. Marco: And do you bring your own chess board? Jim: Oh, um, it's. I like it. Okay. I don't know what it is, I think, because I'm kind of a slow person in a lot of ways. And, uh, so the slowness of the game is attractive to me. And the idea of just sitting down and taking time with your pieces is, uh, something I look forward to. Um, and it's nice to see everybody else doing the same sort of thing, you know? Marco: Sure. Jim: It's almost like a room of. It's a kind of meditation, in a way. Marco: Focused meditation. Jim: Yeah, I would say. So. Um, so I don't need to bring my own board, though. Marco: Okay. Usually I was thinking of, like, you know, when you see people play snooker and they bring their own cue and have it in a little case and they'll open it up and they'll prepare it. Jim: Right. Marco: I bet you're a great snooker player, Jim, having never played with you. Jim: But I just. Marco: Based on what you've just said, ah, strategy and finding a sort of Zen experience. Jim: I might be able to do all right with this. Marco: I bet you are. I can see that glimmer in your eye, but you might be hearing someone chopping a tree in the background along with these birds, um, on this podcast. So don't be alarmed if you hear, you know, the axe hitting a tree or someone yelling, timber. Here in the forest. Tiny. But, um. So, okay, so you find it very Zen when you go to the competition and you size up your opponent. Opponents, or do you just kind of calmly sit down and make your strategy and let the pieces fall as they may? Jim: I would. I just show up and, uh, I sit down and I play. You know, I'm. I'm the kind of player that, um, I'm just there for the experience, really. Some players show up and they have reasonable expectation to possibly win. Right. Okay. I, I, um, I win some games and I. And I. And I lose some games and. Because I'm. Because I'm still, uh, kind of a bit of a, uh. You know, I make mistakes. Marco: Sure. So you learn from those mistakes, right? Jim: Try to. Marco: Yeah. Jim: Which is also a wonderful thing about chess, uh, tournament. Often when you finish your match, your opponent will. You can take the board out and you can go over the game with your opponent to see was happening. Marco: Oh, really? Jim: Yeah. Yeah. We will talk about the match afterwards. So that's really. That's a really helpful thing. It's almost like a chess, uh, tutorial, you know, because typically I play stronger players than myself. Marco: Sure. Jim: And so when those guys want to, uh, um, take the time to go over what happened in the match, it's. It's really helpful. Marco: Oh, that's fantastic. It's so cool. It seems so collaborative, so lovely that they would take the time to do that, sort of better their opponents for future games. Jim: Yeah, it can be that way. Marco: Okay. Jim: Some players are very, very generous with, uh, their time and with their skills. So it's nice. Chess players in Canada have a rating that indicates their skill level Marco: And during a tournament there's a sort of scoring system. You were explaining to me before, how exactly does that work and where are you on that scoring table? Jim: So chess players have a rating. Marco: A rating, yeah. Jim: And it is a way of scoring your level of play. And um, it's a formula. Marco: Oh, I see. Jim: And I don't know what the formula is exactly, but um, basically the higher your rating, um, if you have a high rating that indicates your skill level. If you play. If a higher rated rated player plays a much lower rated player, um, if the higher rated player wins, they don't increase their rating points very much. Marco: Okay. Jim: If they're playing a weaker player. So someone that's rated at uh, 1800 beats someone that's rate someone like me that's rated at 1400. That's about where I am in Canada. Canada has its own rating. Marco: Oh it does? Jim: Well, yeah, it's. I don't know if the formula is different or if the. But I guess ratings um, in Canada tend to be a little bit higher than international ratings. I think I might be off on that. But anyways. Yeah, that's. Marco: It's kind of like explaining the CFL in the NFL, right? Jim: Yeah, that's right. That's apt. Marco: I should mention that's the Canadian Football League in the National Football League. Uh, for our listeners from uh, overseas who might not quite grab that. Jim: But so okay, so if a player, but if a player is about even like 15 to 1500 plays a 1450 player, say that still that higher uh, ranked player doesn't uh, increase that that much but still would get more rating points. Marco: I see. Jim: However, if a lower rated player beats a higher rated player, they gain quite a few points. Really? Yeah. Ah, so they might go up If I, at 1400, if I beat a 1600 level player, my, my rating points might go up maybe 20 points. Marco: Okay. Jim: 10 to 20 points. I think it's been a while since I've actually noted that. But. But uh, but yeah it's, it is helpful because with just maybe a couple games it doesn't really mean very much. But over, over a few years of doing this, the rating points really do indicate how consistent a player you are. Marco: And would you be matched up at a tournament with someone at your sort of rating uh, level or would you just be matched up with whomever and you just have to sort of go, go with it? Jim: Um, often at tournaments you'll have two uh, tiers of play. Marco: I see. Jim: So sometimes they'll cut it off at 1700 and under and so you can play in the 1700 and over and under, or you can play in the full on tournament where the highest rating rated players might be. And where I play, there would never be a master there, but there might be an international master or there might be. Um, I played in a tournament where there was an instructor, someone who is strong enough to qualify as a certified chess instructor. Marco: Um, I didn't even know there was such a thing. Jim: Well, I guess you reach a certain level of your uh, rating level, reaches a certain point. Um, and I'm not sure what else is involved but uh, the guy, uh, I knew this fellow when I was working in Lunenburg who worked. That's a Nova Scotia folks. Yes. I'm sorry. Marco: Yeah, I'm just saying it for our international. If you haven't been to Lunenburg, it's such a gorgeous, such a gorgeous seaside town. Jim: It's beautiful there. It's beautiful there. Marco: It's picturesque really. When you're there you're like this place is so gorgeous and beautiful. It's hard to believe. And all the little towns that sort of take you in and around Lindbergh are so gorgeous. Jim: Yeah, that's right, that's right. It's a classic. Like a typical um, east coast Canada, um, fishing village. You know, it's very, it's very calm and they uh, have wonderful. Anyways and. Marco: No. And the people are so lovely. You're saying? And they have what? Jim: Um, and they have uh. Well there's lots of um, uh, sailing there, fishing of course. And they have music festivals and a number of art related festivals there. So it's a wonderful place. Marco: Definitely check out Lunenburg. We'll put a little photo up on our Twitter feed so you can see exactly what we're talking about. Jim: And while I was working there, I used to go to the local chess club. Marco: Oh really? Jim: In Lunenburg, for about five years. Marco: What did you do there? Jim: Oh, there was a yogurt company there called Peninsula Farm and they um, I went there to do some computer work for them and I ended up staying. I started there as on contract, but then I ended up staying longer because I like working there of course. And uh, I ended up uh, doing computer work and also preparing yogurt. So anyways, it was a small company. Marco: Well, we'll have to get some secrets of yogurt on a future uh, podcast with you Jim. Uh, because that'd be fascinating. Stay alive and enjoy Unlimited Wireless for $25 a month with Boost Mobile But sorry, back to. Jim: So while I was uh, working there, I would go to a chess club on Tuesday nights. And this fellow that uh, was working at a local fish, uh, plant was there and this is the uh, the instructor. Marco: Oh, I see. Jim: And uh, and uh, so he also helped me quite a bit when I would show up, you know, at the club. Very nice, very nice man. Steve Saunders is his name. Shout out to Steve. Yeah, he's, he's, he's doing a lot of running now, but anyways, he would, he would also show me some stuff with uh, with uh, you know, what I should, how I can improve my game. He gave me some suggestions, but I would play in some tournaments with him and he helped to organize a number of tournaments around Nova Scotia as well. So. So, yeah, Marco: the longer you stay alive, the longer you can enjoy Boost Mobile's unlimited plan with a price that never goes up. So here are some tips. Do not parallel park on a cliff if you want to enjoy an unlimited plan with a price that never goes up. Do not mistake a wasp nest for a pinata if you want to enjoy an unlimited plan with a price that never goes up. Do not microwave a hard boiled egg if you want to enjoy an unlimited plan with the price that never goes up. Stay alive and enjoy Unlimited Wireless for $25 a month. Forever with Boost Mobile, after 30 gigs, customers may experience lower speeds. Customers will pay $25 a month as long as they remain active on the Boost Mobile unlimited plan. >> Nidhi Khanna: Knock knock. Marco: Ooh, who's there? >> Nidhi Khanna: A Boost Mobile expert here to deliver and set up your all new iPhone 17 Pro, designed to be the most powerful iPhone ever. >> Nidhi Khanna: You call that a knock knock joke? >> Nidhi Khanna: This isn't a joke. Boost Mobile really sends experts to deliver and set up your phone at home or work. >> Nidhi Khanna: Okay. It's just that when people say knock knock, there's usually a joke to go with it. >> Nidhi Khanna: Like I said, this isn't a joke. >> Nidhi Khanna: So the knock knock was just you knocking? >> Nidhi Khanna: Yeah, that's how doors work. >> Nidhi Khanna: Get the new iPhone 17 Pro delivered and set up by an expert wherever you are. Delivery available for select devices purchased at boostmobile.com, terms apply. EQIP is a fully virtual evidence based eating disorder treatment program >> Nidhi Khanna: We live in a culture obsessed with dieting, weight loss and exercise. And that can make eating disorder behaviors easy to miss. But the reality is, eating disorders are serious mental illnesses that take a major toll on your health and your life. But recovery is possible. Eating disorders are more common than you might think. Chances are you know someone who is struggling with one, or maybe you're struggling yourself. If you're concerned about an eating disorder in yourself or a loved one, I want to introduce you to eqip. EQIP is a fully virtual evidence based eating disorder treatment program that helps patients achieve lasting recovery at home. Every EQIP patient is matched with a multidisciplinary care team that includes a therapist, dietitian, medical provider, and mentors. And you get a personalized treatment plan that's tailored to your unique goals and challenges. EQIP treats patients of all ages and all eating disorder diagnoses. It's covered by insurance and there's no wait list. If you think that you or a loved one could be struggling with an eating disorder, don't wait to get help. Visit Equip Health to learn more. That's Equip Health. Jim, tell me what is your secret or your strategy Marco: Now tell me, Jim, what is your secret or your strategy? Are you able to reveal that on, um, this podcast or will it hinder you in future tournaments? Is there some move or, like, what's your favorite move or your favorite piece to use? How about we start there before I get all your secrets out? Jim: Uh, well, the only thing that might be typical of my play is, is, um, I think it's the light squared bishop. I like to move it up in a position and it's called the Italian bishop, actually. Marco: Well, there you go. Jim: Uh, and I didn't know because when you move that bishop out early, it's a good spot for that bishop because it points right at the king. So you start up early and you're showing that you're gonna have an attack. When I'm white, I like to have an Italian bishop so that I can have a sharp attack on the king. Marco: And who begins the game? Is it the white, uh, pieces or the black pieces? Jim: The white. Marco: The white begins the game. So that's why you like to start, if you're playing white, with this sort of attack. Attack. Jim: That's right. I think my, my opening. I forget what my opening is called now. Marco: So various moves are called something as well. Like you've got a sort of a series of moves that have a, have a name. Is that correct? Jim: That's right. You have openings. Marco: Wow. Jim: So you have, um, the RUY Lopez is one opening. And, um, the gambits. The King's Gambit, the Queen's Gambit. Marco: Wow. Jim: Um, the British. Oh, no, no, not the British. The English Open. Um, and when you're playing black, there are different defenses you can try. I see. So, uh, there's like the French defense. Um, some of the names are escaping. Marco: Sure, fair enough. Jim: But yeah, you can have, um, different defenses, different style of play, and certain defenses work better against, um, certain openings. Marco: Are you Familiar with the Timpano defense? Jim: Defense? No, I'm not. Marco: That's where midway through the game, uh, the board gets thrown in the air and the pieces just dance around. It's a signature move that I like to. That's the tin panel, that's the tympano, uh, defense. Just to throw the board in the air. Oh my goodness. Jim: How has chess played into your life So, um, Jim, how has chess played into your life? Has it found roads into your life into sort of dealing with anything, or does it, does it intersect with any sort of daily activity? Um, it might not, I'm sure. Just curious because a lot of these sort of, um, old, I don't want to say hobbies, but these sort of ancient, uh, games and ancient sort of traditions, whatever can really help in daily life or bring something to your sort of perspective. Jim: Sure, sure. If you play a lot of long games, like tournament style games, I think that it can start affecting, you know, how you treat other aspects of your life in terms of how considered the next thing that you do is going to be. Because when you're playing chess, you sit down at the board, you have time to make your moves. Um, and in all that time you just sit there and think, you know, what are the different lines that will work? What do you think is. And different lines of play, different moves that you might make will result in a different board. And you have to decide if you like how that's going to work or if you want to go in another way. Some players might work better one way, other players might work better if it were a different move. And that doesn't mean that one is necessarily. Sometimes there's an obvious mistake because you lose a piece or something, something like that. I'm not talking about that kind of thing. I'm saying there might be two paths that you could go down and both of them might be equally good, but depending on your style of play, one might be better for yourself. Marco: I mentioned that because, for example, when I was doing yoga, you know, the practice of yoga can also be meditative or, um, you know, it just gives, it brings a different perspective to your, to your being and at least while you're in the studio. But it's nice to approach problems from a more inner, peaceful, calm sort of manner because you see different perspectives. So I was wondering if chess brings that out or can bring that out of inner person. Jim: I think it can, I think it can really help you just sort of, instead of losing, especially if it's a difficult situation, it can help you just take a moment and take stock of what's going on around you and see what's a reasonable way of, of dealing with the situation without losing your head. Pawn structure is important when learning how to play chess Marco: You know, how disposable are pawns? Should they be treated as such or should they be treated as, you know, important pieces within the game? Jim: Oh, pawns are very important pieces. You need to use those, the pawns wisely. I see you have to a good deal of the game. I approach, uh, pawn structure. Pawn structure is something that is a uh, good thing to uh, focus on when you're learning how to play the game. Marco: So tell me more about pawn structure. Jim: So uh, the pawn structure is like, it's almost like the framework or the backbone of the game. It's how the piece. For me, I think of it uh, as something that the pieces move around. So it's, it's something that uh, it's possible to have a um, good strong foundation for your game. And pawns, um, I'm trying to think of. Marco: I always see them as just little pieces and once they're gone, that's when the game begins. So clearly I've been playing a chess that would not be appreciated by the masters, to say the least. Jim: As you advance your pawns, you uh, almost lay claim on territory on the board. And so you can advance your pawns and also making use of your pieces to control territory as well. Um, if you're down a pawn, if your opponent has one more pawn than you. And that's the only difference in terms of your opponent, of your um, Marco: status Marco: in the game or the moments in the game. Jim: Yeah, that's the only deficiency. Like you both have the same number of pieces. You're just down one pawn depending on the level of play. That can be almost game over really. In a master level, master's level, losing a pawn being down a pawn, it's almost. Well that's when, when you're down, you start thinking of how you can draw the game rather than win the game. So it's very important. And of course the stronger you are, those smaller differences become exaggerated. Uh, the lower level play, there's lots of fluctuation. So uh, you try to uh. Anyways, you try to uh, keep uh, those pawns. Eventually, if, if everything is equal and you have a pawn, um, and you'll try to advance that pawn to your opponent's back rank, meaning the back line. Marco: Is that what it is? Jim: That's right. That back line where your opponent's king and queen start off. You advance your pawn to uh, that rank and um, you can promote it to Another piece. Piece meaning your pawn becomes a queen. Marco: Oh, I didn't know that. Jim: Right, right. Marco: So you could have two queens on the. On the game if you get your pawn. I had no idea. Uh, clearly I've been playing chess incorrectly. I've already learned so much just talking to you. Jim: If you have eight pawns, you can possibly have nine queens on the board. >> Nidhi Khanna: Really? Jim: Every pawn can be promoted to a queen if you have them all and you do it all. Marco: Speaking of the queen, though, the queen only does a small, uh, little move. Like she. She can only move one. One square, correct? Jim: No, that's the king. Marco: Oh, that's the king. Okay. Jim: One square at a time. Marco: The queen can do anything. Jim: The queen can move. The only move. The queen is only limited by pieces that are blocking her, uh, her movements. Marco: You can see how well I played. Played chess when I say that the queen. Jim: What's. Marco: What's interesting is that, um, Jim was helping me bring something up to the attic of the cottage. And he's like, oh, look, there's a chess. There's a chess board there, completely covered in dust, uh, in the back corner, not near any of the other games we play at the cottage. So Jim, you and I are gonna have to break. Just blow the dust off that. And you're just gonna have to give me a lesson in chess, because clearly, I don't know where I speak from. Jim: We can have some fun. Marco: Amazing. Marco: So, um, can you have more than one king then? >> Nidhi Khanna: Or does. Marco: Or is it just one king per. Like if I bring my pawns to the back line, you said they can be any piece. Jim: That's the only piece it can't be promoted to as a king. You can only have one king, but you can promote that piece to a rook, which is the one that looks like a castle, or a, uh, knight, which is the one that looks like Marco: a horse that moves in kind of an L shape, if I'm not mistaken. Right. Jim: And that's the only move that the queen can't do. Marco: Oh, is the. Marco: Is the horse. Um, sorry, the knight's move. Marco: Right? Jim: That's right. The knight has the ability to jump over pieces. That's the unique ability that it has. All the rest of the pieces can't. If a piece is in the way, you can't jump over it. You have to, uh, find another way. Are draws looked down upon in a tournament or can they help novice player Marco: And you were mentioning draws. So are draws looked down upon in a tournament or can they help the novice player? Jim: Oh, yeah, yeah. Because in a tournament, um, especially if you draw a, ah, stronger player than yourself, that's quite an accomplishment. You know, if I were playing it, someone who is at an 1800 level player, being a 1400 level player myself, M. A draw against that player would be a really solid game for me. Marco: Oh, wow. Jim: Because. And I would give me half a point. Marco: Oh, it gives you a point. Does it demote the stronger player? Jim: Yeah. As far as the rating. So there are two things that play in a tournament. The points to win the tournament, but also your own rating points. So that's like the rating points would be the broader, you know, part of your chess, uh, life. And uh, the points would be specific to the tournament. So. Marco: Wow. Jim: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So points are just wins, losses and draws. So if I had two and half a half points, that probably means I had two wins in one draw. And that's probably not enough to place. You need to have a pretty strong, uh. Most players do quite well. They get five wins or four wins and that gets them first or second place. Marco: And these tournaments last days, correct. Jim: Or is it a weekend or typically? Well, well, typically it's a weekend for me. Um, I would never be able to do any other kind of tournament and I haven't done one for ages because it does take all your time. It's like a complete weekend where you would play possibly Friday night game, three games on Saturday and three games on Sunday. So you could possibly have a seven. I played in tournaments where there were seven games, seven game tournaments. And each game, how long can they last? Marco: Like, is there a time limit or is it like. No, this is a tournament. You go until you go. Jim: No. Time is definitely part of the game. And uh, um, so you have a certain amount of time to uh, make all your moves and you have two and a half hours per side. That's like. There are different time controls in different tournaments, but typically the ones that I played in, uh, each side gets two and a half hours. Hours. So that's possibility of five hours. Um, and the, uh, way it works is, um, you would have one hour to make your first 10 moves and then, uh. And if you can't make your first 10 moves in one hour, you can lose on time there as well. Wow. Marco: Yeah. Jim: So, uh, I've never seen that happen, Marco: but it's possible to possibility. Jim: And then, um, after, after those first 10 moves, you have the rest of the time. So if you, if you make your first ten moves fairly quickly, you can bank that time and use that for the remainder of the game. I see. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Marco: Well, Jim, I want to thank you for all this uh, sort of, you know, discussion on chess. And I invite you, the next time you're in town, that you and I will open up the chess board. Sit, enter, we'll play, and as we play, we'll record a podcast so people can hear you, sort of being my instructor and helping me learn the art of chess. Jim: That's a great idea. Marco: Amazing. Jim: I'd love to do that. Marco: Thank you, Jim, once again, for being part of the Insomnia project. As always, we are produced by Drumcast Productions and this episode was recorded in tiny township on Woodland beach, sa.
Looking for a relaxing sleep podcast to help you unwind, quiet busy thoughts, or gently fall asleep? In this episode of The Insomnia Project, Marco and Nidhi settle in for a calm and cozy conversation about a household staple: the vacuum cleaner.
From the simple satisfaction of cleaning to the quiet details of how vacuums work, this everyday topic becomes the perfect backdrop for a soothing, meandering discussion. Marco and Nidhi explore the small rituals of tidying up, turning an ordinary chore into a calming listening experience designed to ease your mind and reduce stress. As always, the conversation unfolds at a gentle pace, offering low-stakes, comforting dialogue that helps create the ideal environment for sleep, relaxation, or peaceful background listening while you go about your day. Whether you’re winding down before bed, tackling chores, or simply looking for a calming sleep podcast to quiet your thoughts, this episode delivers a soft and tranquil escape. And if you fall asleep before it ends, that’s exactly what we hope for. #sleeppodcast #insomniapodcast #relaxingpodcast #sleepconversation #calmpodcast #bedtimepodcast #fallasleepfast
The Vacuum Episode
(Original airdate: June 13, 2018) Marco: Welcome to to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax, listen. As we're about to have a conversation about the mundane, one thing that we can promise is that our conversation will be less than fascinating so that you can feel free to just drift off. Follow us. Listenandsleep. I'm your host, Marco Timpano. Nidhi: And I'm your co host, Nidhi Khanna. And Marco, are we going to have a conversation? Marco: I hope we have a conversation. Nidhi: Hello. We've been waiting all season for that. Marco: It's true. It's true. You just made a purchase. Nidhi: I did, thank you. I did. It was for a vacuum. Marco: Cool. Nidhi: Because my vacuum of five years or so conked out on me and it was a really oddly difficult purchase. Marco: A vacuum? Nidhi: Yeah. Marco: How so? Nidhi: You know, I had a vacuum before that was ah, not an upright vacuum, but sort of had a um, um, I don't know how you would call it really. Like it had a connection that was um, a three wheeler kind of a tricycle of vacuums. Marco: It kind of looked like an old Robot, like an R2D2 kind of vacuum. Nidhi: And it went everywhere and it got to all those spaces that you know, are difficult to get to. Marco: Sure. Nidhi: And then when it was time to buy the new vacuum, you know, I had all these different options and I ended up going with an upright vacuum. Marco: Oh, like a proper upright. Not, not like a stick, um, vacuum. Do you know what a stick vacuum is versus an upright stick vacuum is like a Dyson. Nidhi: Oh, no. Marco: You know, like, like, like. I mean, a Dyson. That, that. No, because a Dyson also has an upright. Is that it right there? Is that the. Yeah. Okay. So that is a, A proper upright vacuum. Nidhi: Okay. Marco: So where the vacuum is upright and your handle, you can sort of tilt it and then you have to kind of go back and forth with it. Nidhi: Exactly. Marco: Versus a stick vacuum that has like a, A, ah, vessel that collects it and then you attach pieces to it so that it's long and you're just holding the thing like a wand, let's say. Okay. Nidhi: Yeah. No, it's an upright vacuum. Marco: I sound like a vacuum salesman. I don't. Nidhi: I know. That was really good. I was like, wow. Tell me more about these vacuum. Where were you when I was trying to buy a vacuum? I, uh, love how much I find out about your RA Pieces of knowledge on everyday items. Marco: The reason I find this fascinating is I remember when I made the big vacuum purchase and what I went through to purchase vacuums. So I sympathize with your. Nidhi: You know, growing up, we had one of those vacuums that attached to the air vent. Marco: Yeah. They're called central vacs. Nidhi: Oh, yeah. Marco: We had it too. That's why. I know. Yeah. I'm not trying to be condescending here. Clearly a vacuum expert is who you've got on the show today. Nidhi: Well, um, yeah, I'm not liking the upright. Marco: Oh, really? Nidhi: I find it too bulky. I find it doesn't maneuver in hard to reach spaces very quickly. Marco: I'll be honest with you. Your home is not set up for an upright vacuum. Nidhi: I know. I wish. I wish you had come to triage this situation. Marco: I didn't know this because. Okay. And our listeners can correct me if I'm wrong and feel free to tweet us listen and sleep and tell me where I'm wrong here. But an upright vacuum is best served if you have carpets. Nidhi: Ah. Uh, okay. Marco: And as I look around your lovely Nidhi: home, there's no, there's no. There's one carpet. Marco: You have one rug that's actually a rug. And, uh, it's gonna be really clean. It's gonna be super clean. No, actually I'm. There's two. Because My feet are on a. Nidhi: It's true. Marco: Okay. So there's two rugs. Nidhi: And I do like the sound that it makes when it's picking up. Whatever it's picking up. Marco: Sure. Nidhi: Because it makes me feel really, um. Like I get really excited. Like all that dirt's gone. Marco: Okay, fair. >> Karim: Yeah. Marco: There's something really lovely about, um. And something very calming about knowing. Well, one, the sound of a vacuum for me has a very calm effect because my mom had the vacuum going 24 all the time from the. It would be. My wake up call would be a vacuum and it would be true. Nidhi: It's like if you grew up in the 80s and your house had central vacuums, it was always on. Marco: Oh, man. Like, and especially with central vac and that sneaky hose that you would have to bring up and down. Nidhi: It's so cumbersome. Like, it's actually the worst. Yeah. Snaky hose. Marco: For our listeners who don't know what a central vac is and they're like, what are these two talking about? And Nidhi, you correct me, the vacuum expert, if I go astray here. What it is is you've got this really large vacuum system in your. We had it in our garage. Was yours in your garage? Some people have it in their laundry room or something. Nidhi: My fingers in the laundry. Marco: So it stays secured to the wall. And then throughout your home where you would have heating and cooling vents was a little tiny, um, vent for the vacuum. So it would. You would connect to that vent in any room in the house that had that plate that you would lift up and connect. And whatever you vacuumed would go through the house into that central vac unit that was in your garage or your basement or your laundry room. Correct. Nidhi: That. That sounds great. That's a great. And it also seems to be in homes that were built in suburban areas 100% and similar. And I feel like it's gone the way of like the Garberator. You never see garbage in people's homes anymore. Marco: And for our American listeners and people who don't know what a garburator is, because my wife is American and she said we don't call that it that in the US It's a garbage disposal, uh, system that is connected to your sink. Nidhi: Well, then we're going to. Who are you? Marco: I'm the definition king. But the beautiful thing about a central vac is that it had great suction power. Now, the three wheeler or the R2D2 vacuum. Nidhi: Yes, I like that. Let's call it that. Marco: I don't know what that one's called. I'm going to call it a three wheeler. Um, that is always funny because it kind of follows you around and it's always about to topple. And people might know it best. If you think of a shop vac that's kind of in the vein of Nidhi: a shop vac and it's great for smaller kind of spaces. Marco: Uh, I have a shop vac. Nidhi: Oh, do you? Marco: If you ever need a shop vac. Because if you have a flood or if you have like water, a shop vac can pick that up, whereas a vacuum can't. So I have a shop vac and I can bring it over in a jiffy. Nidhi: I know who to call if there's a flood here. Not the plumber. Marco: Not the plumber. The thing you have to be careful about with a shop vac. So a shop vac is the vacuum that's used by, um, professionals like mechanics or people who are, um, industrial. Industrial, um, dirt or stuff that you have to pick up with a vacuum or what one might have in their shop. Um, whether it be a. I don't know, a saw. Yeah, saw. Ah, shop or. I don't know. Anyways, it's called a shop vac. I can't define. Nidhi: Narrative is breaking down very quickly here. Marco: Sorry. Um, it picks up that kind of stuff. You've got to be careful though. If you pick up fine, fine particles like cement, that's, that hasn't been um, like grit or cement because it'll wreck the vacuum. You need a special filter on that shop vac. And I found that out the hard way. Nidhi: Oh no. Marco: Plaster and stuff that's very, very fine. Nidhi: What do you think about these vacuums that are uh, like the round robotic ones where you just turn it on and it does. And it sort of goes around mysteriously Marco: vacuuming the Roomba type vacuum. Those robotic and they're kind of neat because my sister has one and my mom has one. Nidhi: Okay. Marco: But once again, they're not suited for every home. So for example, you have a little bit of a lip there. Nidhi: Mhm. Marco: Well, if that little disc type vacuum flipped off that lip, it wouldn't come back. Right. Nidhi: It would kind of be like on its side. Marco: Well, even if it just hops over, it's gonna stay in that area. It can't climb back up. Nidhi: I see. Marco: Once again, it serves a purpose for the place that it's in. And what's lovely about that type of vacuum is that when you're at home at night in bed, it can do the work. Because it takes quite a bit of time to do your. Now funny story, Okay. I was looking at a Facebook post where someone had a puppy. Right. And so, you know, puppies have accidents. Nidhi: Yeah. Marco: And it had an accident and the vacuum ran over the accident and carried that accident through. So the person walked downstairs and there was. Nidhi: It's like we were talking about dogs and Xena, she came over. Marco: Yeah, she did. You know, she knew. You know how you're supposed to pick up after your dog? Nidhi: Yes. Marco: Well, this vacuum decided to carry it all throughout the house. It was just tracks and tracks. Nidhi: Oh my gosh. Marco: So that's what happened. So I offer that as a caution. Thank you to anyone who has a puppy and a Roomba or one of those disc vacuums I love. So I had an upright. What I hated about the upright was if you have stairs and you have to lug that up the stairs, it's really the worst. And that's one of the benefits of having a central vac is that you're not lugging. All you're lugging is the. The hose. Nidhi: It's true. The word vacuum, the spelling. Marco: Oh, yeah. Double U. Double. Two U's, I should say. Not W. Two U's in the word. Nidhi: Yes. Do you know any other words that actually have two U's? Marco: No, it's. Nidhi: So I wonder why vacuum? Marco: That's a good question. Um, I love. So ideally for your place, you would be suited really well with one of those wand type vacuums, which clearly you don't have yet. Mm. So unfortunately, that's not what you have, Niddy. But that would be perfect for the type of home you have to. Nidhi: Have you ever not had a vacuum? Marco: No, I've always had a vacuum. Because my mom. Like I said, I grew up with the sound of a vacuum. Um, I prefer to vacuum than sweeping. And the sound of a vacuum makes it. Its dull roar, I find relaxing. How about you? Have you ever not had a vacuum? Nidhi: I'm sure I've. Yeah, I'm sure I've been in an apartment where I don't necessarily have a vacuum and more of like a Swiffer or something like that. Uh, but I increasingly realize the dire need for vacuums. Especially when you have a dog that sheds. Marco: Sure. What made you pick this particular vacuum over the rest? Nidhi: It was a good price. Marco: Okay. Nidhi: It seemed to be. It was a good brand. It seemed to do the job. I wish, I wish on, um, the packaging when they were trying to sell it because they had the particular brand that I have had different versions. Like, they had the tricycle, had the upright. They had. So I wish on the packaging they had said something like, good for. Marco: Ideal for homes that have stairs. Ideal for homes that have small apartments with. Nidhi: Yeah, exactly. Marco: Yeah. Nidhi: So that's my vacuum adventure. >> Karim: What about. Marco: Did you or your family ever have a vacuum packer or vacuum sealer since we're on the vacuum train? Nidhi: No. But I feel like I would probably go a little crazy with that because I want to vacuum seal everything. Marco: And that's just what happens when you first get it. My mom vacuum sealed everything. She was vacuum sealing things like crazy. And then, you know, after a while, you get sort of. It's no longer fun. It's no longer the. The new great thing in the house. But she vacuum seals. She'll buy lots of cheese and she'll cut them in quarters and then she'll vacuum seal it. Nidhi: So she's got the cheese. Marco: Yeah. Or other items, too. She'll make things and she'll vacuum seal them. M. Like beans. Like, if she gets beans, she'll get a bushel of beans and, uh, shell them and then put them in the vacuum sealer, seal it so that you have the beans for winter soups. But it has a real spring or summery sort of taste to them because you vacuum sealed them and froze them. Nidhi: Wow. Marco: Yeah. Nidhi: Look at that. Marco: Things like that vacuum. Nidhi: What about, like, being in a vacuum vacuum? Like in a vacuum of like when someone says you're in a vacuum. Oh, what do you think about. Marco: I don't know. I guess I would think that I'm sort of solitaire and I'm like, hyper focused on something that I'm not thinking outside of that particular. I guess sometimes when I edit our episodes, I'm in a bit of a vacuum because I'll put the headphones on, it'll be me watching audio waves go by as I edit the mistakes that I. Or rarely you make. Or like, sometimes, you know, we'll have a train or some sort of weird sound in the background. Nidhi: Um, I always think about space. Marco: Oh, yeah, sure. Nidhi: Because I always wonder if. Okay, this is gonna sound really stupid because I don't know much about the science of space. Marco: Listen, that's what I'm here for. I'm your vacuum expert. Nidhi: Thank you. Please. But like, the sounds of space. Space. Marco: Oh, sure. Nidhi: Or does it sound like you're in a vacuum? You know, like of nothingness? Or would that be like a black hole? Marco: You know, how does the Foley artist or the person who makes the sound for the movies Create the sound of a vacuum? Yeah, it's almost like one of those things, like if a tree falls in the forest and no one's there to hear it doesn't make a sound. Nidhi: Yeah. Marco: How does a Foley expert make the sound of a vacuum? A space or a vacuum of space or a vacuum of. Nidhi: Or a vacuum. Marco: That might be a little bit easier, but. Yeah, that's a great. If you're a Foley artist or know some Foley artists, please have them contact us. Nidhi: Yeah, I'd like to know the process on this in. In much detail. Marco: The other neat thing about vacuum is you mentioned the two U's that are in the word, but even just the vac to use M, like, it's an odd combination of sounds for the sort of English. English language. Nidhi: Yeah. So just going back to the Foley artist, do you want to maybe explain to our listeners what a Foley artist does or is. Marco: Of course, Sorry about that. So a Foley artist is the person who makes the sounds in film and television that are happening within the scene. So oftentimes, when an actor is on set, they're not actually making the sounds that you hear. So if they open a door that's supposed. That's meant to be a little bit creaky, that door might not actually be creaky. So you have a Foley artist, he or she will make or recreate that sound, and then they will put it into. Into the, um, scene. Nidhi: Sound effect. Marco: Yeah, the sound effect. Nidhi: Like a sound effect they do. Marco: And I was in a play recently, actually, and it was a live radio play, so it was an actual play that was taking place in the 1940s in a radio station. And so we had a Foley artist on stage making all the sounds. Uh, and so there's, like, one sound that people may be aware of where it's thunder, and they have a big metal sheet, and they sort of just wrap it or, like, they shake it and it makes the thundering sound. Nidhi: Uh, do you have a favorite, like, sound effect, or. When you were doing that play, was there one sound that you really were excited about making? Marco: That's a great question. So the sound of wind, uh, was always neat when they would. Because the door. Because it was a winter. We were doing the radio play of It's a Wonderful Life with Jimmy Stewart. And so there's a lot of them walking in and out of homes or banks and whatnot. When they'd open the door, it's a cold, wintry, windy night. And so there was always the wind that would happen, and it'd have to, uh, happen as soon as the door opened and have to stop when the door was closed. So there was someone opening a little door on stage, and there was someone with a little piece of a flute. And they'd cover the bottom of it. So it was just the reed kind of thing. And they would have that in their. In their mouth. And they'd be close to a microphone, and they just make the sound as another person's opening the door. And they'd have to cut it as soon as the person closed the door. Nidhi: Oh, cool. Did you have to make any sounds? Marco: I ran up and downstairs, and then I had to, uh. So they had a little, tiny little couple, like three stairs. And I would run up and down it, and then I would have to, um, shuffle. I'd have to shuffle and. Really. No, shuffle. Shuffle my feet angrily as someone else was. I was in the kitchen. The scene was I was in the kitchen. I wasn't in the kitchen. Another actor was in the kitchen. But I was doing the sound effect of them shuffling. And someone else was dealing with cutlery. So I was shuffling, getting. Getting cutlery, but I was shuffling and they were getting cutlery. Making the sound of cutlery. Nidhi: Oh, cool. So how would you shuffle angrily versus shuffle? Like, not angrily. Marco: It was. I was. I would just do shuffle short and very sort of distinct and kind of thumpy. Um, kind of shuffles with my feet. I don't like. I was angry. I put myself in an angry mindset and just tried to recreate that. Nidhi: People who shuffle their feet really annoy me. Marco: Oh, no. Nidhi: I know. Marco: I think I shuffle my feet when Nidhi: it's like everyone does it once in a while, but when it's a constant shuffle scrape on the sidewalk thing, it really bothers me. Marco: Okay. Nidhi: The sound of it. Marco: Fair, Fair enough. Nidhi: Because I find it very jarring. Um, yeah, don't shuffle. Marco: What about shuffleboard? Have you ever played shuffle? No. Nidhi: Tell me about shuffle. Marco: I've never played. Oh, I played it once. I don't get the rules of it so much, but. Nidhi: Really? >> Karim: Yeah. Nidhi: I feel like it's something that I would play later on in my life. Marco: You play it typically you play it on a ship, and that's where I played it, on a ship. And it's kind of like you're trying to get your disc or whatever to another triangle. And I don't know. Nitty. To be honest with you. I don't remember it. But you always see it being played on cruise ships. Shuffleboard. Let's play shuffleboard, huh? Yeah. Nidhi: Was there cruise Ship, like, um, game that you did used to play when Marco: I worked on cruise ships. Nidhi: Um, like the go to. Marco: No, there wasn't any sort of typical. Typical. That's Cena barking in the background, in case you're wondering. Um, there wasn't a typical, um, game that we played. I'm trying to think we would go to. Have you ever played the Relax game? Nidhi: Oh, I want to hear about it, because I feel like I want to play it. Marco: So the Relax game is a game that me and a couple of friends sort of invented. Nidhi: So how can I play that game? Marco: Basically, if you're at a picnic or if you're somewhere where there's, you know, a lot of people that you know, the object of the game is to stay. To stay seated and have everyone else do things for you. And the more you do, there's more points involved, and usually you play with a couple of people. So let's say you and I were at a picnic, okay. And we found a comfortable place to sit. And, you know, you don't want to give up that spot, because then you're gonna lose it and you might not have come back. Right? Nidhi: Yeah. Marco: But you want your beverage, let's say. Nidhi: Sure. Marco: And you see Amanda walking by, you might say, amanda, could you please grab me a glass of white wine? And she would most likely do it. Right. But you can only ask people so much to do things for you if you don't have an injury, or can you. Or can you. And that's the point of the. Of the relaxing. Nidhi: So has anyone gotten really upset with you? Marco: No, because we were very stealthy about it, and you sort of. You sort of challenge the person with points. How many points is it to get somebody to. To get used some chips? Right. It's not as many points as getting someone to get you a hamburger and dress it for you the way you like. That's gonna involve more points. Right. Nidhi: So, uh, what was, like, your highest points or, like, something that you were able to get? Like, it was. Marco: Yeah, it was something really, really great. I think someone went. It wasn't for me. It was for this. This woman named Angela. She got someone to go to her car and get something of her glove box. Nidhi: Oh, that's pretty good. Marco: Yeah. So that she kind of went with that. It's like, wow, that's pretty good. I guess. Nidhi: At what point would. Like, I'm trying to think, at what point would I just say no at a party? Marco: But, you know, you're asking many different people. You're not always asking the Same person, so they don't necessarily know. So you're me and you are sitting back as comfortable as can be. Nidhi: This is a really great game. >> Karim: Yeah. Marco: Uh, and you're just relaxing. The whole thing is the, the less amount of work you have to do, the more relaxed you are. So it's called the relax game. And you're just playing it with someone else and you're like, you're not going to give up your spot. You know, getting someone to massage your feet or your. Your neck would be a lot of points. Right. It's like whatever you can do to make yourself more relaxed is going to earn you more points. That's the relaxed game. Nidhi: Wow, that's a great game. Marco: And you can play it at picnics, on the beach, anywhere. There's many m. People to do your work for you. So I guess that would probably. Probably be one of the things that, That I did well in the ship. Nidhi: That's. That's a good game. It's a good game. How to get other people do things you. You don't want to do. Marco: What about you? What summer games do you like to play? Nidhi: That's a good question. Marco: Have you ever played darts or horseshoes? Nidhi: No. I'm horrible at anything that needs to be thrown. Marco: Really. What about baseball? Nidhi: Oh, Marco, on the level of sports, Marco: because I would think. Think you'd be a great baseball player. Nidhi: I'm really bad at baseball. I'm really good at, like, soccer, stuff like that, but not baseball. Uh, I think is. And golf. Marco: Golf. Nidhi: I am one of those people who will take that, like, club and actually club it because I, um, I don't have, like, good coordination. I always miss the mark. Marco: But you're a good runner. That's your sport. More of your sport. Nidhi: Yeah, I guess so. I mean, fast. Not really. Marco: Okay. Nidhi: Steady. Sure. Marco: Okay. Nidhi: Um, but I'm. Yeah, exactly. Uh, not really into the hand eye coordination thing now. Marco: I would play bocce. Are you familiar with the game bocce? Nidhi: Oh, yeah. Marco: It's an Italian game that, um, other European cultures will play a version of it, I guess, or other cultures will play a version of it. But basically you've got these big, heavy, um, large ball. So like the size of a small cannonball, if you will. Not that a cannonball is a unit of measurement, but in this case it is. And you have one smaller the size of a golf ball. Nidhi: Okay. Marco: The golf ball sized ball. And I'm sure it has a name to it is thrown. And then there's a team that has. Let's Say green. Green. Large heavy balls. And the other team has red ones. And if it is usually teams of two, so it's like two green and two red. The green team will go, they'll throw, and they'll try to get as close as you can to the original little golf ball as you can. Person closest gets the points. So whoever's, um, you know, cannon sized balls are closest to the small ball, you get more points. Nidhi: It's somewhat like curling, maybe in a way. Marco: Not on ice and not using a curling rock. Using. Using actual heavy. Heavy. Sometimes they're metal, actually. >> Karim: Or they're like. Marco: It almost feels like they're made of cement. Nidhi: Oh, wow. Marco: Yeah. And they have a particular look on a particular design. I have them at my cottage. I'll make you play this year. Nidhi: Okay. Marco: We'll play. And you can play it on multi surfaces. Usually it's on gravel or sand, but we often play in the backyard on grass. Nidhi: So, uh, would you consider that a sport or a game? Marco: M. Oh, I'm. I'm in trouble. No matter what I say. I would say it's more of a game. Nidhi: I would do. Marco: Yeah. Nidhi: I would do. Marco: It takes skill. Nidhi: Yeah. Marco: It takes a good eye, good hand coordination. Nidhi: Sure. Marco: All those things. So I could see how someone may. May view it as a sport. The way I play it is definitely a game. So there you go. I'm not a really sporty person. Nidhi: No. Marco: Although I. I love volleyball. I love playing. Nidhi: I'm. Marco: M not good at it. I love it, but because on a hand model, I can't really play it because you can have a lot of hand and finger injuries playing volleyball. Nidhi: It's true. Uh, I know the life and times of a hand model. Marco: That's the new podcast. Nidhi: The new podcast. Marco: What is your favorite sport to play? Nidhi: That's a good question. I would say in a team, probably soccer. Marco: Okay. Nidhi: By myself, I enjoy, like running. Really. Marco: Okay. Nidhi: Or, um, yoga or. That's all very solitary. I don't think they're necessarily sports. Well, I guess running's a sport. Marco: This season we're gonna have a lot of sports on our. On our. Nidhi: We're gonna become a sports podcast. I'm telling you because of how. How much knowledge, in depth knowledge each of us has about sports. Yeah, it's almost up there with the vacuum knowledge. Marco: I can't believe we had like half our show was talking about vacuums. Nidhi: No, it's pretty good. Marco: I'm impressed with myself how much I know about vacuums. Nidhi: M. Who knew? Marco: Now, do you like the vacuum that the Cord. If you pull it, it gets sucked. Nidhi: Oh, it has to get sucked. Marco: Okay. Nidhi: It has to. It has to. One of the things I don't like about this upright is that I have to do the whole. Yeah, no, I don't like that. I don't like that. Marco: It sounds like you got those. Nidhi: Really? It was terrible. I. Terrible choice on many levels. Marco: Can you not take it back? How long ago did you get it? Nidhi: It was a while ago. Marco: How long? Nidhi: Part of it is I'm lazy. Marco: Um, okay, it doesn't matter how long it is. We don't have to tell our listeners. But is it a reputable store that should take it back. Cuz I'll come back with you and be like, the salesperson didn't inform my friend here that this was the wrong vacuum for her. Nidhi: Oh, really? Yeah. Marco: Uh, it would totally. Then we should go back. Do you have the bill? Was it this year? You must have the bill. Nidhi: I have to check. Marco: Always keep your receipts. Nidhi: I know, I know. You tell me this all the time. And with that I will tell you. Please do. Uh, check us out on Patreon. Marco: Thank you. Nidhi: Um, we have a page set up and if you are interested in subscribing, Marco: you'll get some really fun content. We have a couple of great challengy. Um, not contests, but we have uh, some challenging content where we require you to send us questions that you want to hear us answer. So please send those. Nidhi: Yes. And if you just want to follow us on good old social media, you can do that too at Listen and Sleep. As always, we are recording from Toronto, Canada and we're produced by Drumcast Productions.
Looking for a relaxing sleep podcast to help you unwind, quiet busy thoughts, or gently fall asleep? In this episode of The Insomnia Project, Marco welcomes special guest Daniela Vlaskalic for a calm and easygoing conversation about travel and podcasting.
Together, they explore the simple pleasures of travelling — the observations, routines, and small moments that make each journey memorable. Daniela also shares insights from her podcast, Every Place Is The Same, where she reflects on culture, connection, and the surprising similarities found across different destinations. Despite the lively topic, the conversation remains soft, meandering, and low-stakes — designed to soothe your mind, reduce anxiety, and help you drift toward rest. This relaxing sleep podcast is perfect for bedtime listening, calming your thoughts during the day, or creating a peaceful atmosphere while you work or unwind. Let the gentle rhythm of conversation carry you into a more relaxed state — and if you fall asleep before the episode ends, that’s exactly what we’re here for. #sleeppodcast #insomniapodcast #relaxingpodcast #sleepconversation #calmpodcast #bedtimepodcast #fallasleepfast
Travels, Traveling and Podcasting about it.
(Original airdate: June 6, 2018) Speaker: Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen as we have a conversation about the mundane. One thing that we can promise is that our conversation will be less than fascinating so that you can just feel free to relax, chill, drift off, whatever you need. Use this podcast podcasts, but don't operate heavy machinery while listening. I want to thank you for joining us. We hope that you will listen and sleep. I'm your host, Marco Tampano, and joining me once again is Daniela Vlascalic. Did I get your name right this time? Speaker: You did, Marco. You got it perfectly right. Speaker: Welcome back to our show. Speaker: Thank you. It's always a pleasure to be on. Speaker: And the reason I got it right, Daniela, is because we had a conversation and now you're a fellow podcaster. Speaker: Absolutely. Speaker: And I produce and direct your podcast. So this is the first episodes where we're kind of doing a cross cross promotion or a dovetail. I'm making a gesture with my hands that no one can see where I'm crossing my fingers, but we're kind of dovetailing and talking about our latest project on the Insomnia Project which is your podcast. So, Daniela, first tell us the name of your podcast and where people can find it. Speaker: Well, it is called Every Place is the Same. And you can find us on Instagram at Every Place is the Same. You can find us on Facebook also at Every Place is the Same. And on twitter@, uh, epitsnow. Speaker: So epits would stand for Every Place is the Same. Now, so it's the first letter of each of those words that's correct together, Daniela. And I know this is kind of self indulgent, because I know kind of the answer, but how did this first of all, tell me about this podcast? What are you doing on this podcast? Speaker: Well, on this podcast, what I try and do is take on the challenge of comparing two places in the world and revealing to the guest and to our listeners that they are, in fact, the same. Speaker: So it's a comedic travel podcast with a challenge twist in it? Speaker: Absolutely. Speaker: And so you're asking your guest what, like, where they're from or like. Speaker: Yeah, we generally, we would take the guest where they grew up or where they're from or a place that they've lived and are for a long time and are very familiar with. And then we would, uh, cross that with a place that they've traveled to or spend some time. And then we take these two places, and, um, generally they don't think that they're anything alike or. But I'm there to prove that they are, in fact, the same. Speaker: All right, well, we won't go any further with that because if you really want to know more about it, check out Every Place is the Same on itunes. But how did this come to be? Because I often find that the stories behind projects, whether they be podcast, podcast, televisions, or television shows, or just about any interesting project, the story behind it I often find fascinating. Speaker: Well, Marco, uh, you and I were on a car trip. We were heading out to, uh, Collingwood, Speaker: which is kind of like a resort town in Ontario. Would you describe it as. Speaker: I'd never been there before. Speaker: You hadn't? Speaker: But it was your first time. I mean, my first time. But you'd been there many times. Speaker: Yeah, because it's kind of like an area of Ontario where you can go skiing. So it's not far from Toronto. And Collingwood has a great sort of ski and outdoorsy kind of feel to it. They have caves you can explore in the summertime, and they've got beautiful spots. Speaker: Blue Mountains. Speaker: That's right. Correct. Speaker: Is that sort of the famous landmark of that area? Yeah, well, we were traveling there to do Some business, as you and I have traveled all over the world. Speaker: That's right. We do a lot of corporate, um, work. Speaker: That's right. All over the world. So we were talking about. Speaker: See, I don't remember this. I'm trying to think, Danielle. I'm like, how did we. How did the concept form? So I'm glad you're telling me this, because now we have recorded evidence of the birth of this new podcast. Speaker: Exactly. So I think we were talking about traveling. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: Uh, and the fact that we both love to do it, that we've both been to many places in the world, and we love hearing travel stories or people's experiences of the places that they've been or the places that they've lived. Of course, travel podcasts and blogs and TV shows are the rage. I mean, they're everywhere. Speaker: They're everywhere. They're. And they, once again, they dovetail with other subject matters like travel and food or travel and spas you can go to and whatnot. Speaker: Absolutely. And so I think that when we were talking about a travel podcast, it was more about what's not different about the places that we go to, but how are they the same? Speaker: Right. Speaker: And that oftentimes things that you would do in your own city are things that you would seek out and do in a foreign city or somewhere that's foreign to you. So I think this just made us laugh a great deal. Speaker: Well, because we were also, um, saying how sometimes when you go these corporate hotels, they're so similar even in their design, that you might be in Dallas, but you're thinking you're in Atlanta because they look. Or Chicago because you're in these giant corporate hotels where they have meeting rooms and whatnot. And there's usually, like, a FedEx kiosk in there that you can do any of that sort of faxing or mailing or shipping. And so I think we were talking about how a lot of those hotels are exactly the same. Speaker: They absolutely are. I feel like I've woken up in Shanghai and I've woken up in Auckland, New Zealand, and been wondering, where am I? This hotel room is exactly the same as the other. Speaker: It's like those rock stars who, like, you know, they do so many tour dates that all of a sudden, things become a big blur. And one of the things I love about it is that, you know, everyone talks about how wonderfully different every place is and how you should travel because it's different. But this podcast kind of says, yeah, everything's wonderfully different, but everything's wonderfully. The same too. So congratulations on that, Daniella. Uh, thank you. Speaking of traveling, let's talk about traveling. What are your rituals before you travel? When you know you have a trip, you're gonna. Just before you're packing or when you're packing or before you head to the airport, do you have any rituals or any things that you do? Speaker: I clean my apartment. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: I don't know why, but I just feel like it needs to be immaculate before I go. And maybe a lot of people do this, I'm not sure, but the thought of returning from somewhere, no matter how long I've I'm going for, thought of returning to a dirty place or if somebody has to go or a messy place, um, really stresses me out. Speaker: Sure. Speaker: So for me, I kind of have to make sure that I'm leaving my space in perfect order. Speaker: Okay. What about when you pack? Do you have a system of packing? Speaker: I do. Typically, I lay everything out on my bed that I'm going to need. And then I also categorize weather. Speaker: Oh, with. With your items. Speaker: With my items. And I think the main reason is because if I'm going mainly to warm places, I can pack more in a similar sized suitcase. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: Whereas if I'm going somewhere that's cold, it's a lot trickier because then you're looking at coats and boots and you. You can't get away with. With as much stuff. Speaker: Do you have a preferred size of luggage? Speaker: Ideally, I like the. The mid size. Speaker: The mid size. Okay. Speaker: And you know, in. In an ideal word, I just world, I have the mid size and I have a small carry on and that's all. But if I'm traveling for a long period of time, um, I like to have as little carry on as possible, which is of kind, completely antithetical to what everyone is doing in the world. Speaker: Why is that? Speaker: Um, because I hate dragging things around and having a million bags in my hands and having to put things up in the overhead bin. And people aren't very gracious about the overhead bin or under their seats. They've always got way more than they should. And so preferably, I'd like to have everything under the plane and have as little to worry about on the plane or the train as possible. Speaker: So when you're on the plane or the train and you've taken off, what do you want near you so that you can access. Do you bring certain things with you? Speaker: I always have earphones. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: I always have my Kobo or a book. Speaker: And that's. That's an Electronic reader of a book. Right. Speaker: An ereader. Um, I always make sure I have bottled water, which I've bought once I've cleared the customs area. And I typically. Speaker: Oh, I like where this one's going. Speaker: Pack a lunch. Speaker: Oh, you do? Speaker: I do. Speaker: For whatever flight or travel you're doing. Speaker: I do. I like to have, um. And whatever that might be. It's just a depends, you know, whatever I'm feeling. But most, um, people are under the impression that you can't fly. Fly with food, which is completely wrong. Speaker: Right. Speaker: You can. And so, um, you know, I know you can order now and. And there's all kinds of things you can do. And you don't get anything on the plane. Sometimes internationally you do, but even then, I generally like to pack a lunch. Speaker: Cool. Now, Daniela, stop me if this is too personal, but now you've arrived at your destination, you've opened the hotel room door. What, do you have a process or something you do when you get to the hotel room? I'll tell you what I do. I usually travel with. I go to the dollar store, and I'll get a little spray bottle of alcohol, and I'll take that spray bottle and I'll spritz the alcohol on the, what I call converter, but many people know as the remote control. I'll spritz it on the doorknobs. I'll spritz it on the, um, light switches. I'll spritz it on the toilet seat and the toilet flusher and the. The, uh, faucets. I'll spritz that, um, alcohol bottle on all areas where I know people have touched quite a bit. And then I'll take the face cloth from the bathroom, which I never use, and I'll use that to clean all the areas that I've spritzed. Then I will just, you know, put that cloth to be picked up by the maid the next day or whenever they come to clear the room. And sometimes, even if I'm feeling it, I will travel with a Ziploc bag and I'll put the remote control in the Ziploc bag because it was a hack or something that I saw on a program once. So that's the first thing I do. And once I've done that. Oh, and I travel with a, um, pillowcase that's impossible. Permeable. And I've taken a marker like a, um, wash M. What do you call those markers that you use to write on clothes so it doesn't wash? And I wrote my name on it. And I wrote please do not remove from room. And then I zip my pillow in that bag in that pillowcase and I feel much better. Speaker: Wow. Speaker: That's my little process. Speaker: That's quite the process. Speaker: I know. Speaker: I do a similar one with the pillow case. If I know I'm going somewhere that I'm staying for a long time. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: Um, I'll. And I have room. I'll pack a pillowcase, but I think I might steal that one. Actually do that. I turn off the air conditioning. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: I typically find that the rooms are so cold. Speaker: Right. Speaker: And they are so, um, stuffy. So what I'll do is if there's a window or a. I'll just get fresh air. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: Into the room somehow. And I'll turn off the air conditioning. Now if I'm in a tropical place, they can only do that for so long or I'll at least lower it to a reasonable degree. Degree. Speaker: Okay. And let me ask you this. What makes you happy in a hotel? Like, there's certain things that. For example, I like a modern hotel room and I like to have my room far away from the elevator. Those are two things that make me happy. And I don't ever need turn down service. That's not something I enjoy. It's not something that I want. What makes you happy? If you go to a hotel, you're like, uh, ah, I'm happy to be in this hotel. Speaker: I'm happy if there is enough space to get around the bed. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: I'm happy if there's somewhere that I can put my suitcase that is not on the floor. Speaker: Like one of those luggage. I don't even know what you call them. You know those things that you kind of open up, folds out like a. Like a weird ironing board or like a. I guess it's called a luggage rack. I don't know what else to call it. Speaker: I think it is. Okay, but sometimes they're small or they're broken. Speaker: Right. Speaker: Or they don't, you know, they're not there. But I really like it. The m. Really modern hotels will have it built into the wall where you can just open your suitcase. The closet space is there. Speaker: Sure. Speaker: And there's enough hair hangers. Oh. I almost always have to call down and request more. 10 to 15 more hangers. Speaker: It makes sense because if you're traveling for work in particular, you have a lot of suits and things that you need hanged. And uh. Yeah, that makes sense. Um, nicest hotel or nicest surprise hotel that you've been to, you can tell by the destination. Like, I wasn't expecting this, but. But it was great. Speaker: It was a trip that I recently went on to Mexico. Speaker: Ooh, Mexico City to Tulum. Okay. Speaker: And it was a resort. And it was a beautiful room that didn't look out. Looked out over the garden. It had, um, a beautiful Jacuzzi hot tub. It had lots of stuff, closet space and drawer space. And it had an, uh, espresso or a coffee machine in the room. Okay. Which was beautiful. Speaker: It wasn't one of those, like, really sort of inexpensive, plasticky kind of. Speaker: It was the real. Speaker: It was the real deal. Okay. Speaker: So that was absolutely fantastic. And it did have turndown service, which I've never before had nor wanted. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: But it. It happened one night without our knowledge. And when we came back into the Speaker: room, Speaker: they had managed to change the lighting, so there was this beautiful lighting and music playing that they had put on. And. And it was actually. And, uh, some sort of smell, a scent was sprayed, was sprayed, and it actually was beautiful. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: Now, I don't imagine it would be that way somewhere else. Speaker: Sure. Speaker: But, um, it was there and it was. It was really lovely. Speaker: Have you been to a destination that surprised you? That maybe you were going there and you were like, I don't know if this is going to be my scene, or I'm not particularly excited to go there, or I just don't know what to expect. And then it turned out to be a lovely experience. >> Paige Desorbo: Hey, this is Paige Desorbo from Giggly Squad, and today I want to talk to you about Boost Mobile. Quick question. Why are we letting our phone bills bully us? 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Speaker: Because for me, like, you know, there's certain places where if I'm going to go there, I'm like, I'm anticipating it's going to be great. San Francisco, for example, had a trip to San Francisco, had, you know, you know, you see it in movies. There's this expectation and it delivered and I was so excited. I love San Francisco Francisco. Has there ever been a place where you're like, wow, this was such a great place to visit? Speaker: Mumbai. Speaker: Oh, okay. Speaker: It was very surprising. I mean, you hear so many stories about, um, traveling in India. Amazing, moving stories. Uh, people go there to change their lives. You hear about, you know, a lot. And then you, you also watch films like Slumdog Millionaire. Of course, of course there's all the media. So I think you really don't know what to expect. And I think I went there and Beautiful, beautiful hotel. Speaker: It's one of my favorite places too. I have to say. I, I, I count the days when I can go back to India. Uh, souvenirs, I would guess you're not someone who picks up souvenirs readily. Does that say, because people who tend to travel, this is my reasoning, I could be totally wrong. They tend not to be bringing home so much because they've just been everywhere and then they have so much. Are you a souvenir collector? Speaker: I have one that I collect and it's fridge magnets. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: And I decided this quite a long time ago now because I wanted something from the places that I went. And I'm, if you know me or if you come to my home, I don't like clutter. Like, I, I like a clean, empty environment. I just minimalist, Minimalist and, um. And so I thought, I don't really want to collect a bunch of things, but I want there to be a little reminder of all the places I've been. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: So for me, it was the fridge magnet. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: And so I have these. This beautiful, colorful fridge of all of these places. And it's a relatively easy thing to collect. Speaker: It doesn't take up room in the luggage. Speaker: It doesn't. And every time I open my fridge and, you know, catch a glimpse of one of the places I've been, and it's a great conversation starter. I see people who come over and, you know, you end up in the kitchen inevitably. Um, they always ask about one of the places I've been or take a look at the magnets. And so you always. The conversation always comes around to at least one of the places on the. On the fridge. Speaker: Where haven't you been that you'd like to go to? Speaker: Oh, I have the longest list. Speaker: Okay, give me your top five. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: It doesn't have to be ranked in any order. Just give me five. Speaker: Okay. Um, I really want to go to Africa. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: I know that's a very large place, so if I have to narrow it down, it would probably be Kenya or, um, Nigeria or South Africa. Those are the top three places I'd like to go in Africa. Speaker: Sure. Speaker: I would like to go to Iceland. Speaker: Yes. Speaker: Um, that's definitely up on my list. And I really want to go to Buenos Aires. Speaker: Oh, I been there. Speaker: You have? >> Paige Desorbo: I have. Speaker: Years and years ago. It's phenomenal. I found Buenos Aires to be very much like, if you were to take Paris, Rome, and New York and squeeze them together and then just put in the most lovely Spanish, uh, feel in that. Speaker: Wow. Speaker: And it was. It's. It's a wonderful, wonderful place. And you should really. I think you would. You would appreciate it. I would put money on that. Speaker: Well, that is. Those are just a few. I actually. I have a bit of a running joke with my partner. I pretty much bring up a new place every couple of days, and he says, add it to the list. Speaker: Add it to the list. Is there a place your partner wants to go to that you're like, I never thought about that place. Speaker: But, um, I think he's pretty much on board with all the places that I want to go. I haven't asked him specifically. Um, but he loves to travel as well. Speaker: I know. For. For example, my wife was gonna go on a trip with friends to Ireland, and I was like, no, I want to go to Ireland. And I'LL feel horrible if you go without me. So she had to alter her plans because she knows there's a couple of destinations where I'm like, we either go together or we never go. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: And Ireland is one. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: Israel is another one. Speaker: Yes. Speaker: Iceland. So anything that starts with an I Speaker: is on your list. Speaker: Is. She cannot go without me. I cannot go without her. If it has the letter I in it. That's just the way it is. Speaker: Although I'm one of those people that I could go anywhere. Speaker: Right. Speaker: I really. I would. I would happily go anywhere in the world. I don't think there's a place that I would not want to go to. Speaker: Best meal you've had in a destination. Speaker: Oh, it's always going to come down to Italy. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: Um. It's pretty hard to beat. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: Um, it would probably be in, uh. I was in Volterra. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: Which is a medieval town in Tuscany, which is famous. I'm going to say this wrong. Marco. Speaker: Yeah. Speaker: Is that right? Speaker: No, but it's really close. Yeah, but you're very close. Yeah. Speaker: Thank you. So it's. It's famous from that region. Speaker: Yes. Speaker: And I had that there, and it was incredible. Maybe you can describe what it is. Speaker: Yeah. Is wild boar. And Tuscany is. Is famous for its wild boar. And I would imagine if you go to a medieval town in Tuscany that is already famous for its wild boar, that medieval town is going to have recipes that they've been doing for centuries, and they're going to have the most wonderful dish. Was it a pasta dish or was it a. Speaker: It was a pasta dish, and it was a. Speaker: Like a pappardelle, I would guess. Speaker: That's exactly right. That's exactly right. And Volterra is sort of well known because they filmed one of the Twilight episodes or films there because it does look so incredibly medieval. Speaker: Best cocktail you've had? Speaker: Oh, you know, this is going to be kind of funny, but I think it was probably in Chicago. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: Yeah. There's a, um, a great famous, uh, steakhouse in Chicago called Gibson's that is one of my favorites that I love to go to, and they make a very, very good dry martini. Speaker: Okay. And is that the place where Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. And it has a beautiful bar that. Okay. Speaker: Beautiful piano bar at the front and all career waiters, um, white jackets. And it's, uh. It's a beautiful, beautiful restaurant. And, you know, you like to go early instead of the piano bar. And I mean, the only flaw is that all the cocktails are the size of your head. But. Speaker: And probably really pricey too. Right? Speaker: But they're, um, they're very good. Speaker: Best nights scene or night like, um, nightclub scene. Speaker: Well, I think mine is probably Hong Kong. Speaker: Oh, okay. Speaker: And the reason is because Hong Kong is famous for these hidden bars. Speaker: Okay. Speaker: And so the. I've been twice now and both times I've gone on this. Half of the fun is finding. Speaker: Sure. Speaker: The bar. So you end up in a car, going to some neighborhood, looking for landmarks and side streets and asking people. And you find an unmarked door and you knock on it and you give a code and it opens and suddenly you're in the most beautiful James Bond, uh, bar that, um, you've ever seen. Speaker: It sounds like a speakeasy almost. Speaker: It is. It definitely has that feel. Speaker: Well, Daniela, thank you so much for being a part of this podcast. Speaker: Thank you. Speaker: And thank you for coming up with the podcast that we're both working on. Speaker: Yes. Speaker: Check it out on itunes called Every Place is the Same. You were going to say something. Speaker: Sorry, I was just going to say it's just a pleasure working with you. Speaker: There you go. Check out that podcast. It's a 10 minute podcast. Speaker: That's right. Speaker: And what's lovely about that, Daniela, is that if you are like waiting for the bus or in a waiting room and you just need a little distraction, that's what you'll get with that. Speaker: It's perfect for those moments when you're just needed something. 10 minutes to fill your time and Speaker: it'll kind of get you thinking into other destinations. So if you'd like to travel, it's definitely a podcast to check out. As always. The Insomnia Project is produced by drumcast Productions and this episode was recorded in the city we like to call Toronto in Canada. Speaker: Sam.
Looking for a relaxing sleep podcast to help you unwind, quiet busy thoughts, or drift gently toward sleep? In this episode of The Insomnia Project, Marco is especially excited about a new piece of podcast gear — a preamp that has him feeling surprisingly jazzed.
What begins as a conversation about podcast equipment quickly takes an unexpected turn into the world of jazz hands and legendary choreographer Bob Fosse. Marco confidently shares what he remembers about Fosse’s life, only to realize mid-conversation that one key detail might not be quite right… which leads the hosts to rediscover that the answer was, in fact, Anne Reinking. From there the conversation wanders — as it often does on The Insomnia Project. Marco mentions that the entire catalogue of episodes is now available on YouTube, which he believes gives the show a bit of a Miami Vice vibe. Amanda isn’t entirely convinced and asks the very important question: if this podcast were Miami Vice, who would be Crockett and who would be Tubbs? Along the way, the hosts also share their appreciation for two wonderful spots in Ottawa, Ontario — The Scone Witch, known for their legendary scones, and Bar Cosenza, a cozy Italian café that feels like a hidden neighbourhood gem. Even though Amanda was feeling a little under the weather during the recording, the conversation turned into one of those warm and gently meandering episodes that The Insomnia Project does best — a calm chat about everyday things that might just help you relax, unwind, and drift toward sleep. You may find yourself nodding off somewhere between podcast gear talk, Broadway trivia, and a craving for a really good scone. If you enjoy relaxing conversations that wander through curious little topics, press play and spend a quiet moment with us. And if the episode helps you unwind or fall asleep, consider sharing The Insomnia Project with a friend who could use a little calm in their day. • Follow The Scone Witch – https://www.instagram.com/sconewitch/ • Follow Bar Cosenza – https://www.instagram.com/barcosenza Ad-free episodes available on Supercast: https://theinsomniaproject.supercast.com Follow The Insomnia Project YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@theinsomniaproject Website – https://theinsomniaproject.com Leave a review and help other listeners discover the podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com
Who’s Crockett and Who’s Tubbs_ - A Calm Sleep Podcast
(March 11th, 2026) Welcome to the Insomnia Project. I'm Amanda Barker and this is the podcast Marco: Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen as we have a calm conversation that's meant to help you drift on over to sleep. To relaxation or just a chillness. Thank you for joining us. I'm your host, Marco Timpano. Amanda: I'm Amanda Barker. I have a smoky, dulcet voice tonight. Marco: Amanda, you're a little under the weather. Amanda: More than a little, friends. More than a little. Marco: Well then let me do the majority of the talking. Amanda: Happily. Marco: So I'm going to say a few things off the top that I'm really enthusiastic about, but I'm going to say it in very gentle ways. Okay, so as you might know, we've had some ads on the podcast and the ads are forwarding us to get equipment for the podcast. So thank you for bearing with it. For those of you who don't want to listen to ads on the podcast, you can always go to Supercast Insomnia. It would be the Insomnia project.Supercast.com I'll have it in the show notes as well and you can get ad free listens there. And the listeners who do use Supercast seem to be very happy with that. So thank you for your patience with those commercials that you hear off the top of the podcast. I made sure that we don't have any inserted into the middle of the podcast or the end so that if you're drifting off, it's not going to affect your listening. Well, I can gladly say that our, uh, ads have afforded me to get two dynamite preamps for our podcast. So I plug our SHURE microphones into the preamp and it's funny because they look like little dynamite sticks. Amanda: That's what I thought they were. When you showed me, I had no idea what you're showing me. So. Marco: So they're. So they're preamps. Because these mics for some reason record very low. And so some of our episodes may have sounded low in the past, but Amanda: I think for our podcast, that's what we want. Marco: Yeah, but they might be too low. You want podcasts to be a certain loudness level. So some of our episodes might be a little bit low for people. Well, these dynamite sticks, these dynamite preamps that look like little sticks of dynamite, Amanda: it's like an explosion and relaxation and Marco: they go into our interface and basically it amplifies the audio from these microphones. I'm not an audio engineer, but that's how I see it. Amanda: Not yet. I feel like you are. Marco: I kind of am, but with a Amanda: de facto audio engineer. Marco: Exactly. So that's one of the things that I'm really jazzed about. It's the first time we're using these dynamics, these dynamite preamps with these microphones. So I'm kind of thrilled. Amanda: Let us know what you guys, you know, folks think about them. Marco: Yeah. So I'm really happy about that. And I want to thank my sister in law and nephew in Halifax who also gave me a gift certificate that I used to purchase them. So all those things, all of our. Amanda: All of his birthday and Christmas present asks go towards this podcast, basically. Marco: It's true. It's true. Bob Fosse: He directed Cabaret, Right. I think he might have directed it Now the other thing that I'm pretty jazzed about is. Amanda: You're very jazzed. Marco: I'm jazzed. Like I'm even doing jazz hands. Amanda: You're Bob Fosse over there. Marco: I'm Bob Fosse. Um, you know, I wanted to say the Deer Hunter, but it's not the Deer Hunter. Amanda: Deer Hunter? Marco: No. Um, the Cabaret he directed. Amanda: He directed Cabaret, Right. Deer. Where? Deer Hunter. Marco: I don't know. It just came to my head. Amanda: Another movie from the 70s. Marco: Yeah, another. Another movie. Totally different movie. Amanda: All that Jazz. All that Jazz is about him, but, um. And I think directed by him, but, uh. And he's. And starring him. But, um, Cabaret. He. Well, he did the Choreo. I don't know. Marco: I think he directed it. Amanda: I think he might have directed it. Yeah. Marco: And wasn't he married to Marcia, uh, Gay Hardin? Amanda: I don't think so. Marcia Gay Harden. No, she was married to a playwright. Marco: Okay. Amanda: Marcia Gay Harden. Marco: He was married to someone from Belle Antonio. Amanda: Right now sits in a den in Scarborough yelling at his headphones. Marco: Who Was he married to. He was an aunt. She was a nanny. And. Amanda: Yeah, he's married to, um, Marsha K. Harden. No. Uh, no. A. Rein King. Marco: Yeah, there you go. Amanda: Yeah, we got Annie. Yeah, that song. Marco: Okay, so we don't have the copyright. Amanda: Sing any more of it. But that's the lyric from it, so. And the title of it. Busted and Rhine King are now all on YouTube Marco: The other thing I'm jazzed about, like, Bob Safi. Amanda: Bob. Marco: Bob. Bob Fosse. What you call Bob Safi? I think I said that's you. Amanda: You're Bob Safi today. I'm the knockoff Bob Fosse. Fosse. Marco: I'm the. The busted Bob Fosse. Amanda: Yeah. Marco: Bob Sophie. Amanda: We're all a busted version of someone. Marco: And you're. You're busted. And. And what's Anne Ryan King. Amanda: I'll be. I'll happily be busted. Marco: She had a deep voice, right? Amanda: Uh, yeah, maybe. Marco: Okay. Amanda: So Busted and Rhine King. Marco: Okay, there you go. So I just want to say this. So, um, I'm very excited. I'm very jazzed. I'm very. Bob. Bob Fossey. S. Oh, my gosh. I can't say it. Amanda: We get it. Marco: Our episodes, 413 of them. Amanda: Wow. Marco: Are now all on YouTube. Amanda: That's crazy. Marco: So if you have friends who like to listen to podcasts at work that are chill, that'll. That'll allow them to work, but also put them in. Amanda: Or if you'd rather listen to them on YouTube, go M for it, Right. Marco: I'd prefer if they listen to it on an audio. Amanda: Oh, okay. All right. You have access to our entire catalog of insomnia podcast on YouTube Marco: On a, uh, podcast. Amanda: We're just trying to make it more accessible to the world. Marco: Please let your friends and co workers know that they can now have access to our entire catalog of the insomnia project on YouTube. Amanda: And why choose? Marco: And why choose? Really listen to it both ways. And the reason I did that, Amanda, was it's. It's a long and laborious task, as you know. Amanda: You've been working on it hard for Marco: about three weeks now. I've been uploading all our episodes. Amanda: What have I been doing? Marco: Watching and laughing. No, you've been dancing. Amanda: I've been cooking and working. Marco: Yeah. Amanda: Not doing it. Marco: So, anyways, we have them all available now for our listeners, so. Amanda: Great. Marco: I'm very excited about it, Amanda. Uh, um, you'll see that certain seasons have different looks to them when you want. When you watch them. And that's just the way it is. And I have, like, a kind of Miami Vice look, too. So when you watch it on YouTube, it's just a static image. It's not us, actually. Amanda: Live of Miami Vice. Marco: No, no, of. Of, um. Amanda: Because that would be weird. Don Johnson and the other guy. Marco: And the other guy. Um, Crockett and. And Tubs. Amanda: Right, Crockett and Tubs. That's us. Marco: So, um, I'll be Tubs. I'll be Crockett. I don't know who was who because I didn't really watch it. So anyways, um, it's a static image, right? It's not an actual video of us doing the podcast. It's a static image. And I chose. I chose something that looks very, um, that has a Miami from the 80s and 90s feel to it. Amanda: Why? Marco: You. You're limited with the amount the. I just chose it, okay? That's what I chose. It's both. Amanda: Miami in the 80s is the most soothing choice. It should be soothing. Marco: No, it is soothing. Amanda: Okay. Marco: Miami for someone who sat back while I was doing all the uploads. Amanda: I didn't know that you were, you know, showing us off like we're a, a, Ah, Cocaine den. Marco: We're not a cocaine den. All right. SeaWorld, uh, is what I chose, and that's what it is. Amanda: Is it fluorescent? Marco: Uh, not fluorescent. Amanda: Is it side ponytail? Marco: No, it's more in roller skates. It's got the purple look to it. It was just more interesting. I didn't want anything too bright and I didn't want anything too. Too jazzy. I wanted something that was kind of calm and seemed calm to me. Amanda: Miami in the 80s. Marco: Well, this image isn't quite Miami in the 80s. It has a interesting. Amanda: You say Miami in the 80s to me. Marco: What do you think Miami's in the. Amanda: I think Don Johnson. I think speedboats. I think pounds of cocaine. I'm just gonna be honest. Marco: Not that I don't mean to harp on that, but no, it's not pounds of cocaine. Amanda: What's the 80s part? That. It's more, um, I think fluorescent warm up suits? Marco: No, it's pinks and purples and kind of that. That, uh. Amanda: Golden girls? Marco: No. Well, okay, let's say it leans more towards Golden Girls than Miami Vice. Amanda: Okay. Marco: All right. So there you go. So you let us know what you think of it. Um, we offer it to you to check out our YouTube page. Check out the. Amanda: Clearly, I've looked at it because this is the first I'm hearing about this Miami in the 80s theme. Marco: And, uh, I'm really excited that it's up there. I also transcribed all our episodes. Amanda: Amazing. The transcriptions of our podcast can be found on our website Marco: So that's on our. The transcriptions can be found on our webpage, the insomniaproject.com if you should need them. I don't know why you would need a transcription of our podcast, but I'm just trying to get it out there to more people. Right. And of course, we appreciate anything that you do to help elevate our podcast. So thank you so much for listening. That's all to say, I'm very jazzed with everything that I've done for this Amanda: podcast, and I'm jazzed that you did it and that I didn't do it. Marco: Well, listen, it's great, uh, Amanda. Amanda: So listen, uh, I'll make you this promise. If we do another podcast, I will do the heavy lifting on that one. Marco: I like the way that sounds. Okay, great. Amanda: Foreshadowing. Marco: Foreshadowing, indeed. Amanda loves Ottawa, and there are lots of things to do there Now, we came back from Ottawa. We were in Ottawa for a little Amanda: bit, and we're going back. Marco: And we're going back to Ottawa. Amanda: Can't get enough of the Ottawa. Marco: Is there anything you're excited to do in Ottawa this next trip? Amanda: You know, it kills me every time I go. I'm like, I want to skate the ride. Not that I'm a skater, but I want to skate the Rideau. R. Is that you say it? Marco: Yeah. R. Canal. Amanda: Anyway, and then I never do. And then. And then it's Sunday, and we're like, should we do it? And then we're like, it's raining. And then we leave. Marco: Well, this time it was warm, and Amanda: I. Yeah, I don't think it was open anyway. I mean, maybe it was. Marco: But I'll say this. If you're not familiar with Ottawa or the Rideau Canal, take a look online at people who skate the Rideau Canal. It's really quite lovely. It's the longest canal skate. Amanda: Canal skate in the world, or something. Like, longest frozen thing you can skate in the world or something like that. I don't know if that's what the sign says. Marco: I think. I think the sign would be a little bit more sure of itself. Amanda: Longest thingy that's frozen that you can also skate on. Marco: Our niece wanted to skate it this week. She's coming to Ottawa? Amanda: Yeah, she's excited. Um, well, there are lots of things we love to do in Ottawa. Eating scones. Marco: Oh, my goodness. I gotta. I gotta just say. Amanda: Or do you say scones? Marco: I say scones. Amanda: Yeah, we say scones. Marco: We're a Scone family. Amanda: We are. And I know that's probably wrong. Marco: Is it? Amanda: Yeah. If you're in like Edinburgh or Edinburgh as we would stupidly say it. Marco: I wouldn't say it like that. Amanda: You'd say Edinburgh, of course. Okay. If we were in Glasgow. Marco: Sure. Amanda: And they're all saying scone. Scone. Marco: Sconce. Amanda: And we're like, well, not sconce, that's a light fixture. Marco: What if they were talking about a light fixture? Amanda: I don't know. I mean, they have their own dialect. Marco: Okay, fair, but say. Amanda: They say sconce, but scone, isn't it? I don't know. We say scone. I'm sorry, We're Canadian. We do our best. Marco: I'm not sorry. That's the way I say it. And I proudly say scone. Amanda: I'm sorry because I'm Canadian. Not sorry, like American. Marco: Um, what did I say? Amanda: You said sorry. Marco: Sorry. Yeah, because I'm Canadian. I love that our podcast is a Canadian podcast and I use my Canadian accent and I don't try to mask it. Amanda: You don't have too thick a Canadian. Marco: I know, but you know, well, it Amanda: depends on who's saying that. Marco: Um, the truth is when we're doing auditions, I try to mask my Canadian accent so that I sound more American because a lot of the stuff we go out for is American TV and film. Amanda: I know. And you know, and the things that I shoot in Ottawa are American usually. And you know what makes me laug is every time I'm shooting in Ottawa, Ottawa is a beautiful world class city. Marco: It really is. Amanda: It really is. It's an incredible city, Beautiful museums, It's obviously the capital city of Canada. So it brings all of that. I mean, it really is an incredible city. Marco: The arts, the culture, equally French, equally English. Amanda: Yes. Um, and smart, smart, interesting people there. But what makes me laugh is every time I go and film something there, it's subbing in. And I'm talking like downtown Ottawa is subbing in for some tiny, small American town. And it makes me laugh because it's usually the opposite. Right. Usually you want to shoot somewhere small and cheap and then make it like New York or something. But it's always some Ohio small town. But we're like downtown Ottawa. And that was the case this week. Marco: Okay, Amanda, I have two Ottawa things I need to talk about. You needed an espresso while filming a podcast in Ottawa Amanda: Okay. Marco: So the first is, so you were filming and I was at our hotel. I was doing a lot of this podcasting work actually. It allowed it afforded me the time to work on the podcast and getting things up to speed. Now that said, in the afternoon I needed a coffee and we didn't have in our hotel we didn't have a coffee maker. We did, but it's one of those pod machines. Amanda: We don't do that. No. Marco: And I wanted an espresso. I really wanted an espresso. Amanda: Like a proper one. Marco: Like a proper espresso. So I put into the phone where the closest espresso was, was going to be. And it was a 15 minute walk Amanda: that I put into the phone. Marco: I, I looked into the phone, called it. No, I, I looked it, I typed it in and it was a 15 minute walk. Amanda: Mhm. Marco: But it was a three to six minute drive. Amanda: So what did you do? Marco: It was cold. And ordinarily I would want to go for a walk, but I chose to drive. Amanda: Okay. Marco: So it wasn't far from our hotel. I was like, I'm gonna get an espresso. So I looked up, I, I just typed in espresso and I looked at my options and there was one that was called Espresso Cafe that looked like it could do a proper espresso because, you know, I'm very particular and picky when it comes to that. Amanda: You are. Marco: And I, I always get a little bit aggravated when I go to an espresso bar and they only do double shots because in Italy that's not how they would do it and that's not how you should do it. And if you only do double shots, you're not the place for me. So I'm like this espresso, it's called Espresso Bar. It looks good. I'm really excited. I'm gonna go there. So as I'm driving, I realize I'm heading into Little Italy. Our hotel was not far from the Little Italy in Ottawa, which is on Prescott Street. So I was like, okay. So I'm driving and I'm driving and then I see Espresso bar, but they spell it with an X. Expresso. Amanda: Yeah. Marco: And I was like, uh, that could be a signal that they don't know what they're doing. Because if they can't spell espresso. Amanda: Mhm. Marco: There's gonna be a issue for me. Amanda: Right. I wonder why they spelled it like that. Marco: Maybe to be fun. Yeah. But I was like, it's in Little Italy, so it has to be a decent place that makes espresso. Right. So I'm trying to find a place to park. I can't find one. So I drive a bit up the street a couple blocks and then I see Cosenza Bar. Amanda went to Cosenza to try an authentic Italian espresso Amanda: Tell us about Cosenza. Marco: So Cosenza is an area, uh, is A city in Calabria. A principal city in Calabria, which is the southern part of Italy. The toe where my dad was from. And so I was like, oh, how Amanda: far was his town from Cosenza? Marco: Well, he was closer to Catzanzaro than Cosenza. I don't know. Amanda: Okay. Marco: I don't know the distance or the like an hour. Well, I never drove from his, uh. I never drove from my father's hometown to Cosenza. Amanda: Oh, no, no, I thought you did. Marco: No. Amanda: Okay. Marco: I didn't. Amanda: Why wouldn't I think that you've been there? Marco: I've been there. Amanda: Okay. Marco: Now I can't remember if we drove through Cosenzo. Amanda: Okay. But uh, sorry. Marco: Well, the story then, that's just a reference. My dad was from there. So I had high hopes, right? And I was like, okay, this place should be able to do a good Italian espresso. And I'm like, oh, but it's in Little Italy. What if it's a gimmicky place? Amanda: Mhm. Marco: And I was like, uh, and you know, some Little Italy's. No. Only don't have that Italian flavor anymore. Now it's become very gentrified. Amanda: We should do a whole episode on the Little Italy's. All the ones we've been to. Oh, we should. Marco: That'd be a great idea. Amanda: We've been to a bunch. Yeah. Marco: Um, so I'm like, I'm just gonna go in and I'm gonna, I'm gonna shoot the dice. I need an espresso. If they can't make it at Cosenza Bakery, where my dad is from, where can they make it? So I have high hopes. Mhm. I walk in and it was like I walked into a scene in a Martin Scorsese film. There was all these older Italian men and they were all having like, you know, conversations. And there was a, like, uh, an 80 year old man sitting at the bar by himself. And there was some younger, younger guys that were kind of hip at their own little table. And I think there was a table that was celebrating someone's birthday, but it was all men in there. Amanda: Oh, wow. Marco: And it looked very authentic and I could tell. And I walked in there and there was a, um, woman behind the bar was going to make the drink the coffees, right. And was making drinks for the, for the people. And it was, they were very welcoming. But they all looked at me and I thought, oh, is this a private club? As soon as I walked in there, Amanda: right, we don't know this guy. Fresh meat. Marco: And I was just looking And I was like, oh, is this, is this a private club? And like, no, it looks like a proper bar. And it didn't say private club when we walked in. It just had a lot of. It just happened to be really populated with people that afternoon. Amanda: Mhm. Marco: And so I go to the bar and I'm like, can I get an espresso macchiato? And she's like, sure, of course. And I look over and they have amaretti cookies in a jar and it says homemade amaretti cookies. Right? And those are little almond, um, cookies just like the size of a quarter, let's say in size and height a little bit, maybe, maybe an inch and a half. And I said, I'll get one of those. And she makes it for me. And it's Lavazza coffee. So already I'm happy because I do like Lavazza coffee. And she makes the proper, the proper macchiato, the kind you would get if you were in Italy. And I was happy. Amanda: And she espresso macchiato, not latte macchiato. Marco: Right. Amanda: Because a lot of people know latte macchiato because that's what Starbucks normally does. Marco: Right? Amanda: The caramel macchiato. Marco: What I'm getting is espresso with a little bit of milk, uh, a little glug of milk inside. Amanda: Espresso with a tiny little topper of foam. Marco: Thank you. So. And she gives me a little side of water, a tiny, tiny, almost like just bigger than a shot glass of water. And I'm like, oh, they do it right here. And Amanda, uh, that coffee couldn't have tasted any better if I made it myself. Amanda: Amazing. Marco: So I was really happy about that. I have two questions. First question, was there one of those fresh press orange machines Amanda: I have two questions. Marco: Sure. Amanda: First question, was there one of those fresh press orange machines there? Marco: No, there wasn't. Amanda: Because in Italy those are every, Every gas station seems to have like, uh, a machine that has like full oranges in it. And they're like, yeah, fresh juice, no problem. Like crazy. Marco: They did have a granita machine, a coffee granita machine. And it was running because sometimes in the winter you don't see it runny. And it was, and I was impressed with that. Amanda: Second question. Marco: Yes. Amanda: What language were people speaking? Marco: Oh, that's a good question. Because the people closest to me were the younger, the younger crowd. The old gentleman who I sat at the bar with, who was in his 80s. Amanda: Mhm. Marco: Didn't say a word. Just looked like a character type sitting at the bar. Amanda: Okay. Marco: Just watching the world go by. The gentleman in the back, like in the back area. Wasn't. Wasn't Scorsi guys, the Scorsese guys. I'm sure they were speaking English and Italian. Amanda: Oh, but you didn't hear them? Marco: I didn't, I didn't eavesdrop. Amanda: I was just wondering if they're speaking dialect or what. Marco: No, because I didn't get close enough to hear them because I only got up to see the panini that they had, uh, available for purchase. Amanda: Uh, your heart lied elsewhere. Marco: Yes. Yes, it was wonderful. And the lovely thing was I had the espresso. Espresso macchiato. You know, it's, it's two sips and it's gone. Amanda: Yeah. Marco: And I stayed there for a minute. It had really great atmosphere. And then I was like, ah, I can't stay much longer. So I, I said, I'm going to settle up with you and the barista. She goes, oh, going so soon. And I felt very welcomed by that, that I could have just stayed there with the 80 year old gentleman and just sat at the bar for, you know, however long wanted. They wouldn't have minded. Amanda: That's nice. Well, you can go back. You know, we're going back to Ottawa. Marco: I think I will. And I think I might take our friends Melissa and Matt with me. Amanda: Oh, that's a good idea because I Marco: think Melissa would really enjoy it. So. Not that Matt wouldn't, but I think Melissa M. Who's also her, her family is from Kalabda, would have really enjoyed it. The other thing I, I want to say is we never finished the scone conversation The other thing I, I want to say is we talked about scones earlier, but we never finished the scone conversation. Amanda: Well, you have to finish the scone conversation. Marco: So there's a place in Ottawa called the Scone Witch. Like, like a cackling witch. Like a, like a, like a witch with a pointy hat. Amanda: Yeah. Marco: But it's also called Scone Witch because they make sandwiches with their homemade scones, Amanda: which Marco never put that together until this past trip. Marco: I think I may have put it together last time, but it's been so long that I forgot it. Amanda: Maybe we've even talked about this place on the podcast. Marco: Oh, I'm sure we have. Amanda: You know, the first time I went to Ottawa, or one of the first times. Maybe the first time. First time you and I went together. Um, which was maybe the second time I went to Ottawa. Um, that was the recommend. Everyone was like, you got to go to the scone. Which got to go. And there was one and it was like in the business area, but now there's a bunch and we were chained. Marco: We were going on a Sunday to the Scone which. And I said, amanda, I don't even know if the Scone which is open on a Sunday, because the one we had gone to was more of a. Like a business. Amanda: Not only was it open, it owns the Sunday. That one. Marco: And as we're driving to it, I think that's when I said to you, I don't know if it's even open. And you saw a Scone which bus driving towards us. Amanda: Yeah, well, a minivan. A minivan that was dropping off Scone love for all of Ottawa to enjoy. Marco: And so we love this place. Once again, neither of these places are sponsors of the show, but if you're in Ottawa. Amanda: Not yet. Marco: Not yet, but. And they. And, uh, who knows if they'll even know that we're talking about them? I'll try to put it on our social media. But if, you know, if you know people in Ottawa and you know people behind the Scone Witch or Cosenza Bar, let them know, uh, about this podcast and this episode. So we had wonderful scones and you got a cappuccino. And they did a really good job because I wouldn't expect the Scone Witch to do a great job with the cappuccino. And they did a nice job. So I was happy. Amanda: You know what? They're lovely. They're lovely people there, people that are eating the scones are lovely. They're not that expensive. The sandwiches are plentiful and big. They have salads if you want them. Yeah. It's a great place. Marco: Yeah. So I'm, I'm happy. Amanda's happy. And, uh, we're going. We're heading back to Ottawa. It's a four hour and change drive from Toronto. Amanda: Can't wait to do that. That's gonna be super fun, seeing as I'm super sick. Marco: Yeah. And I'm trying my best not to get sick. Amanda: And he. We were like, let's record this podcast. And I was like, oh, being in the booth with me and my germs. But I mean, we live in a house together and yeah, we share a bed. So, um. Marco: And last week I did a solo cast because you weren't feeling well. Amanda: So sorry. Marco: It's okay. So, I mean, it was like, no, I'll. I'll record with you because I thought maybe I'd have to do another solo cast. Amanda: I wasn't feeling well last week. Marco: Last week. There's no. There was a reason why Gone. Maybe you knew you were gone. Where were you? I can't remember. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the Solo cast last week. I hope you're enjoying this episode with our new Dynamite Preamps. Amanda: I hope you're enjoying the Miami vice themed, um, YouTube. Marco: Yeah. Check those out. Amanda: The 80s. The Ottawa Valley has a very distinct Canadian, uh, accent Marco: Another word that I realized is a very Canadian way of saying it. South. When people say south. Amanda: South. Marco: How do you say south? Amanda: South. Marco: And I heard a, uh, newscaster on Chth. South. Amanda: Well, Chth. You want a Canadian accent, you tune into Ch. Hamilton's only. Yeah. They really lean into the oots and the boots. Marco: Yeah. Amanda: Canada is so known for. Yeah. And it's funny because we don't hear it all the time. And then you hear it on that new channel and you're like, whoa. They, uh, they sound like Bob and Doug McKenzie. Marco: They lean into that. Amanda: Yeah, they. Well, I don't know if they know they lean into it, but they certainly have it. Marco: Yeah. They don't lean out of it. Amanda: They don't lean out. Marco: Yeah. So that's true. That's. That's something. I. I noticed that today. Amanda: I mean, it's fun, right? Like, I hope Canada has so many interesting regional accents. That's one of them. That's not the only one. Marco: Sure. Amanda: But, um, I hope we don't ever lose that. Marco: You know, the Ottawa Valley actually has a very distinct Canadian, uh, accent. Amanda: I don't know much about it. What is the Ottawa? Marco: I don't know either. Amanda: Okay. Marco: I know one little phrase they say that is that I cannot say on the air. Oh, yeah. Because it's a little bit, um, inappropriate, but. Amanda: Oh, my. Marco: Yeah. So there you go. Amanda: So Ottawa. Marco: Who knew, right? Amanda: Who knew? Marco: Um, you know, I've never bumped into the prime minister in Ottawa yet. Yet. Amanda: And I'm a little busy. Marco: I'm hoping I will, because they often go to places that we go to that we frequent, like restaurants and stuff. Amanda: Uh, we go to the Scone when she's there. Marco: That'd be amazing. Amanda: He's like, hey, guys, listen to the podcast. Marco: Listen. I'll even take a not retired former prime minister. Bumping into a former prime minister in Ottawa. That'd be fun, too. Amanda: Well, we probably will. Marco: It'd be nice. Amanda: Our former prime minister is living his best life right now. Marco: Well, we've got a few. Amanda: He's on yachts and things. Marco: I mean, not that one, but there's a few that we could bump into. I'd love to bump into Chretien. Amanda: Oh, yeah, he's around. Marco: Yeah. Paul Martin. Amanda: Gretchen's, like, in his 90s. Marco: Yeah. Amanda: That's why he's kicking, man. He's just as feisty as he always was. It only takes one of you to recommend our podcast to others Marco: Kim Campbell. Love to bump into her, too. Amanda: Kim Campbell. Yeah. Marco: So there you go. Amanda: I think she lives in BC, though, still. Marco: What if she's visiting Ottawa and I'd like to bump into her? Amanda: Okay. Marco: So there you go. Amanda: Would you recognize Kim Campbell? Marco: Of course I would. Who do you think I am? Of course I would. Amanda: I don't know if I would. Marco: Well, I keep up to date with those things I liked. Amanda: I was a big Kim Campbell fan back in the day. I was. I was the one. Marco: Listen, it only takes one. Amanda: Yes, it only takes one. And listen, we don't usually get into politics. Marco: No, we don't. Amanda: We would happily bump into any of them. Marco: Yes, exactly. Well, it only takes one of you to recommend our podcast to others. And if you're the one, we appreciate it. Thank you for listening to this jazzy, uh, episode. Amanda: So jazzy. Marco: We dipped into Miami Vice for some reason. Amanda: Well, because the theming. Marco: Yeah. Check out our spaces. Amanda: Speaking of Miami Vice, which we weren't Dakota Johnson's, if you want a fun architectural tour. Dakota Johnson's Architectural Digest tour is one of my favorites. Okay, just throwing that out there. She has a very soothing voice. I love her mid century modern little. Little COD like, it's not a cottage, but it's in, like, a little wooded area. It's just lovely and I think it's very soothing. I've watched it a few times. So if you're still awake and you're looking for something else, maybe try that. Marco: All right. Till next time. We hope you enjoyed this episode, and we hope you were able to listen and sleep.
In this episode of The Insomnia Project, hosts Marco Timpano and Amanda Barker ease into a gently wandering conversation before a quick trip to Chicago. As with every episode of this calming podcast, the discussion moves at a relaxed pace, offering soft-spoken companionship that can help quiet racing thoughts and make it easier to unwind at the end of the day. Their relaxing conversation begins with a recent visit to the Art Gallery of Ontario, where they reflect on the Leonard Cohen exhibit and a small gift from the gallery shop. From there, the dialogue drifts naturally through everyday observations — Amanda talks about getting her nails done, Marco shares his attempts to understand new AI tools, and the two pause to appreciate simple neighbourhood moments involving their postman and blooming tulips.
The conversation continues through practical topics like water main servicing and water pressure at home, leading to surprisingly soothing talk about garden hoses and daily routines. Along the way they exchange a little neighbourhood gossip, discuss travel details like flying out of Billy Bishop Airport and choosing an aisle or window seat, and end up talking about food — including Toronto’s beloved Korean restaurant The Owl of Minerva. As always, the calm rhythm of the show makes it perfect for background listening while working, relaxing in the evening, or settling in to fall asleep and ease anxiety after a long day.
Water Pressure & The Owl of Minerva
(Original airdate: April 19, 2023) Marco: easy reference to it. Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen as we have a calm conversation about mundane things. Thank you for joining us. I'm your host, Marco Timpano. Amanda: As always, our Mostlies sometimes. I'm Amanda Barker. Marco: Last episode was Michelle Miracle, a dear friend of ours. We talked about her art and Mishmash Art Stash, which is her company. Amanda: And she's been, uh, she's been doing some fairs and some art shows and lovely places where people can stroll and buy a magnet or two. Marco: We had a few listeners comment on her art on our Instagram page, so that's really nice. By the time our listeners hear this, we will be home from a trip. We're heading to Chicago right now, so we're heading. We're getting Ready all those last minute preps before you hop in a cab to the airport. Amanda: That's actually us right now. So taking a moment, got dressed, and gave ourselves a little bit of extra time this morning to just hop on the mic and check in. Marco: Record this episode. Chicago, one of my favorite cities to go to, so. Looking forward to it, are you? Amanda: Yep. Marco: Yeah. You know, I wasn't earlier this week, but now that it's upon us, I'm raring and ready to go. Amanda: I feel the opposite. Marco: Oh, really? Amanda: I was looking forward and now I'm feeling a little hesitant. Marco: Amanda got her nails done today. I did for Chicago. Amanda: You know, I don't always get my nails done. I've been trying some other approaches with my nails, as in doing them myself, with some varying results. However, I was filming for the last few weeks and I did some stunts, in fact, and. And with that, um, my nails were kind of a wreck. They needed professional help, and I'm very glad that I sought professional help for my nails. Marco: And now we're heading to Chicago for work too. I didn't mention that. So, um, Amanda has a few things she has to print out before we Amanda: leave, and then we're off that little to do list. Right. Make sure we have our passports. Marco: Now, the last episode you and I recorded, we talked about not being able to go to the Ontario Art Gallery to see an exhibit. Amanda: Oh, yeah. Marco: Because we went on a Monday when it was closed, and we got to see that exhibit before it left the art gallery. Amanda: Is it going elsewhere, do you know? Marco: I didn't look to see. I know that it is where the next destination was. Amanda: Well, that said, if you look up Leonard Cohen exhibit, um, do seek it out, if you can, in your city. It's a very comprehensive and somewhat immersive exhibit. Um, it's as you and I discussed, maybe leave some things out of his life, but for the most part, uh, um, it's a beautiful look into his art. Marco: Yeah. And, uh, one of the things that struck me that I was thinking about just the other day is there's a letter that's that. That Leonard received from Joan Baez, which is under glass. And she writes her phone number, call me, whatnot. And I saw her on an interview with. On one of the talk shows, and I was like, I wonder if this Amanda: phone number, should we text her. Marco: Maybe we should. How's it going? Amanda: I think it was back when landlines were a thing. And who knows who whose phone number Marco: that is, who owns that now? But I just. That was one of the Things that really struck me. Amanda: It's interesting now. Pretty much. If we want to get in touch with somebody, we can, right? It's not hard to get in touch with somebody. Marco: There is a way to find them. Anyways. Amanda: Sure. Marco: Most, most definitely. I'm trying to, uh, look into this chatgpt and learn that. Amanda: Oh, really? Marco: I just want to be aware of it. I hear so much about it and uh, so I want to just. I just want to go online and play around and see exactly how it works. So at least I'm aware of that element. Amanda: Up, uh, for a. Why you want to do some. We could do. I wonder if there's a way we could input this podcast and have it do its own version of it. Marco: I should chat. Use some AI to get topics. What are some topics to talk about on the podcast and see what, what comes up. You can ask AI stuff. Whatever you want. Amanda: Yeah. Marco: And uh, I'm hoping the postman will come before we head to the airport. Amanda: We love our postman. His name is Dominic. I think we've talked about him in the past. Lovely, lovely man. When I have time, he and I have some nice conversations. And, uh, he's always nice to see. I hope he never stops being our postman. Marco: Honestly, he's so great. Uh, one of the other things that is interesting, this happens to us often, Amanda, that we are away from our home as tulips are about to bloom. Amanda: It happens often. Marco: It happens so often. Amanda: Lilacs too. It's like all the good flowers bloom when we're away, I think. Marco: And I looked in our garden, we have these beautiful paper white tulips. Amanda: Mhm. Marco: Or creamy tulips. I don't know what you'd call them, but they're really pretty in color. Amanda: I planted them, I think, my first year in this house. Like I planted them before we were even married, I think. And uh, when I planted them, they were pretty short and yellowy color and I really wanted them to be long and white. And what I've learned is that over the years, tulips get longer and wider and whiter. Marco: Well, these ones, These ones got whiter. Amanda: Mhm. Marco: Creamier. They're not quite white. Amanda: They're off white. Yeah, they're beautiful. We may or may not see them. Marco: We also had some beautiful tulips that a friend brought us back from Holland. Amanda: Mhm. Marco: And because our front yard, for lack of a better, better term for it, there is a fire hydrant there. And last year they had to replace the fire hydrant. Or two years ago, I believe. It was. And so they dug up all our front yard and no one told me otherwise I would have taken our flowers out. But those tulips didn't make it. Amanda: Did not make it. Marco: And sure enough, folks, as we speak, they're going to be doing some water main pipe work in front of our home. So this time I blockaded some of our flowers with some, uh, metal gates and I spoke to the people and I kind of indicated how they can not trespass on our front yard or trapeze our flowers. And so I have high hopes, Amanda, that we're going to come back to a. Amanda: What are your hopes for this water main situation? Marco: Well, the interesting thing about the water main situation is they're going to be doing work. So they have laid these pipes. Would you call them, I don't know what you'd call them. Tubes, PVC pipes, Tub pipes that are on the curb right now. Amanda: Yeah, they're fat though. Marco: Yeah, they're fat. Amanda: A pipe to me feels thin. These are big, fat. Marco: Sure, sure. Yeah, you're right. Amanda: Yeah. Along the sidewalk though. Marco: So, um, I'm sure there's a term for it and it's not coming. Amanda: Big pipe. Marco: No, it's not big pipe. Amanda: That pipe. Marco: Um, Amanda: okay, a double wide. Marco: A double wide, sure. So the um, the gentleman came to look at our water meter because they had to put a new on and off valve on it. So they said to me, we're going to have to access your garden hose in the front. And I said, okay. And this is when I realized they might be stepping on our garden. And I said, what do you need to do with that? And they're like, we have to take a, a hose from this new PVC pipe that they're putting. It's not a pipe, it's something else. Water main, water tube, water. Amanda: Mhm. Marco: Channel. And we're going to pipe the water into your home from there while we're doing work. So he said, basically, we're pumping water into your home through your front water hose. And I said, oh, that's interesting. So that'll be a couple of days. And he said, no, that'll be a couple of months. And I said, how is our water supply going to be pumped in from our front garden hose or the tap there? Yeah, well, friends, you'll, you'll. Amanda: I have to wonder, like I said, it's like taking a drink through your bottom. Marco: Yeah. Amanda: I'm just not sure that it's going to work out. Marco: I don't know. Amanda: It may hydrate you though. Marco: Sure, sure. Um, but you know, it's funny, our relationship with a garden hose is quite an interesting thing because here in Canada, if you leave your garden hoses outside during the winter, they can crack and break. Amanda: Yeah, for sure. Marco: And, and hoses are a big menacing thing that can get out of hand if you don't coil them up properly. And I'm always fighting with garden hoses, I find. Yeah, I'm always trying to buy hoses that won't crack or break. And I had to cut one last year because I needed a little strip of garden hose for my air compressor. Uh, um, as weird as that sounds. And I couldn't find the one that we usually have, so I was like, uh, I'm gonna have to cut this garden hose here. And so my relationship with garden hoses is quite interesting. Amanda: Mine is a little more mundane, but I am interested that each of the houses on our street now features a city issued garden hose where they're going to be pumping this water in. And for some reason I keep thinking, what if the Google truck comes by, the Google Earth van comes by and that ends up being the photo of all of our homes for a while. Marco: That's what you've been thinking. Amanda: Yeah. And also there's a house a few doors down from us that's for sale. And, um, this house has been for sale for quite a while and they've. I'm not sure, it seems like they keep getting offers and then they, and then they raise the price. Marco: This sounds like neighborhood gossip. Amanda: You're a bit first. Dominic the mailman. Marco: Grab your tea. Amanda's gonna be spilling some. Amanda: The house down the street. Um, I guess I won't give the address. Marco: No, I don't think you should give the address. Amanda: No, probably not. Unless you want to buy a home and be our neighbor. Marco: Private. Message us DM us on Instagram, we'll Amanda: send it to you. Anyway, um, they started that journey, I think a year ago, something like that, almost a year ago. And it was one price and then they raised the price and then they took it off the market and then they've done the same thing again. One price and then another price raised. So I don't know if they get offers and they think, okay, we can get more. But, uh, in any event, now it's going to be. It hasn't sold and, and now it's going to feature a water hose. And so if you're moving into that home, but maybe that's the best time to do it, doing renovations and stuff. Marco: Amanda has a bigger issue with the fact that they're claiming their backyard is a parking garage. Amanda: So on the listing, dear friends, it has a. It's listed with a garage. None of the houses on the street have a garage, nor are they allowed to have a garage by city bylaw. Also, to be fair, I looked into our back because I was like, what can we do? I wanted to. At one point I had thought maybe I could just not. We could just not have a backyard and have more house. But by city bylaws, you're not allowed to do that. Although in these streets, no one seems to care. Marco: It's true. Amanda: Maybe I shouldn't have paid attention, but Marco: I think if you have a garage, it has to be covered. That's what makes it a garage. Amanda: It is not covered. It is a back deck. Marco: Just can't park on your back deck and call it a garage. Amanda: It's your backyard. Marco: It's your backyard. Amanda: It's basically parking in your backyard with a. And there's a gate that's wide enough to accommodate a car. So they're calling that a garage. They also. If we're just going to get into slagging the house. No, I think. Marco: Don't we. I don't want you to slag. Amanda: Called it a semi, which in Canadian terms. It's a Canadian. British term. More often you hear semi or detached. We say that a lot in these cities. Marco: Um, what do you say? Amanda: In the US you just don't say semi or detached. You'd say duplex. You'd say triplex. You'd say, um, you would say townhouse, I think, or row house is what it is. But in any event, they called it a semi, which means that it's, I don't know, like a duplex, for lack of a better term. But it's connected to, you know, the other 50 houses on the street. It's just at the end. So it does have. But it's not like it has a yard. The. The other side is an alleyway. Marco: Right. Amanda: It's not really the definition of a subby. Neither here nor there, I suppose. Sure, they'll sell it eventually and with a big old hose and people will be getting their water through a hose. Do you think our showers are going to be affected? Marco: Well, that was my concern. Where your concern is a Google truck coming by. I don't know why that's not my Amanda: biggest concern, but it is in my head. Marco: Biggest concern. Mine is the water pressure, because you know me, my thing is all about water pressure. Amanda: Exactly. Marco: And one of the reasons I always Said that I would have difficulty living in Italy is because of their lack of water pressure. M. Beautiful, um, country. Yes, agreed. Great food, lovely people, but no water pressure. And that's where I draw the line, Amanda. Ah. And in North America, we're spoiled because our water pressure, generally speaking, is quite strong. And so for me, strong water pressure is, uh, important. Always has been, probably always will be. Amanda: I don't know what my most important thing is. I like having 24 hour groceries. I think now it's access to Uber Eats. Marco: Oh, really? Amanda: Or like delivery. Marco: Yeah, uh, the convenience of that. Amanda: Kind of just knowing that with a press of a button I can order pretty much whatever I want. I enjoy. I don't need to use it all the time. I just, in fact, I don't use it, uh, too often. But maybe once a week, maybe, maybe depending on the week. But there are, I don't know, there's a lot of places where you just can't have access to. For me, food is the most important thing. Marco: Fair enough. Amanda: Access to variety of food. Marco: I see. Amanda: So in Italy, obviously the food wherever you are is amazing. Um, but you know, the sushi, not so much. Marco: Right. Amanda: The Mexican cuisine, you might have to find. Marco: Sure. Amanda: When I lived in Korea, it was similar. The food was amazing. Uh, and I love Korean food and I really can eat it every day. And I proved that because I did. However, we would go through to great lengths to be able to go get nachos, a burger. Um, at that time you could get burgers, but like a pub with a burger or fish and chips, things like that. Um, we would maybe go on the subway for an hour or two to go to like, um, an American chain restaurant, as silly as that sounds. Marco: We actually live near Koreatown here in Toronto and that's where Amanda had her nails done, Amanda: although they are not Korean at that place. Marco: As we were driving by, there was a restaurant that caught my eye that I want to go to called the Owl of Minerva. Amanda: Very popular restaurant, very popular, Multiple locations. Marco: There's multiple locations. Amanda: It's chained Toronto chain. Marco: I actually think it's based in London. London, Ontario. And they've brought chains here. I don't believe it's Toronto specific or that's where it started in. The most fascinating thing about the Owl of Minerva is the, I guess, owner and chef, which I would say is a middle aged Korean woman, has a graduation cap on her head. Amanda: Yeah. I don't know. Marco: As the emblem to the restaurant. So it's very unique, shall we say. So I'm really wanting to dine there. So. Amanda: Well, the owl of Minerva in Greek mythology traditionally represents or accompanies Athena, the virgin goddess of wisdom, or Minerva, her syncretic incarnation in Roman mythology. So, uh, it represents wisdom. So maybe that's why she's wearing a graduation cap. Marco: Sure. Amanda: I don't know how it relates to, like, Bibimbap and other ddeokboki, Korean delicacies. Marco: Yeah. Amanda: Um, but you're right. There's, um. I'm looking if you go to do a plug. Marco: Of course. Amanda: Owlfamily Ca. That's cute. Owl Family. Marco: That's the website. Yeah. Amanda: Owlfamily Cat. Uh, it looks to be 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Uh, 6, 7. Seven locations. Seven locations serve you in the Owl of Minerva. Marco: So join the owl family. Amanda: I don't know why it's called that. Marco: It's so great. I'll tell you this, you don't forget the name of that restaurant when you drive by it. Amanda: That's true. It's a very memorable name, most definitely. And now associated somehow, inexplicably, with, uh, Sundubu Chige. Marco: We are going to the small airport. Amanda: Yes. Marco: Which is called Billy Bishop, our favorite, which is in the city, versus going to the Toronto International Airport, otherwise known as Lester B. Pearson, which is not in Toronto, it's in Mississauga, so it's in another borough, let's say close to the city. But this particular airport is so great because it's on our side of the city, so it doesn't take us long to get there. Amanda: And. Marco: And they used to have free coffee and free drinks when you got to that airport because it was small and quaint. Amanda: It's true. Marco: And I miss that. Amanda: Even still, they have, you know, one little coffee shop and a little lounge. Dear friends, it is like going to, um, a living room. It's like. It's a beautiful flying experience. Marco: It's like. Remember that television program Wings? Amanda: Yeah. Marco: It's kind of like what they flew out of. I think it's true. Amanda: That was a very small airport in that show. Marco: So that's where we're heading to. Amanda: It's lovely. You know, there's not a lot of locations, but Chicago is one of their places that they fly to daily, I believe. So it works very well for us. But, yeah, it's sort of one. If you can imagine, one big lounge, one big room, you know, with a little coffee shop on one side and lounge on one side, like, um, you know, bar on one side. Marco: Right. Amanda: Nothing big or terribly fancy. And then a big. It's like a big circle, and there's just doors. And then they just do a little, sweet little announcement. Amanda and Marco, you're going to want to go to door four. Marco: That's right. Amanda: Go hop on that sweet little plane to Chicago. Marco: We'll often bump into friends at that airport, too. M which is kind of neat. Amanda: And all the planes are jets that I don't know the name of the jet, but they. They're two seaters. Or, um, not two. They're four seaters, but two on each side of the aisle. So you're always going to get either an aisle or a window seat, which I love. No one gets stuck in the middle. Marco: Which is your preference, Aisle or window? Amanda: What do you think? Marco: The window. Amanda: I love a window, but I don't mind an aisle. Marco: I like an aisle. Amanda: Well, we're both happy. See, this is why it's a great experience. Marco: Although technically, you booked the. Amanda: It's true. I'm the aisle and you're the window. So, um, if you want to switch it up, you better. Marco: I'll just say. I'll call the flight attendant over and say, this woman's in my seat before Amanda: I get nice and comfortable because I have my process that I think I've documented on this show. But I like to take my headphones out and my other headphones out. So I have headphones for my phone and headphones for my tablet. I like my tablet on the back of the seat in front of me. My book, in case I feel ready to read in the. In the back of the seat in front of me this time around, I'll bring my notes for the work we're going to do because I have not even looked at them. Marco: Amanda still has to print them. That's one last thing we have to do before we go. Amanda: So I'll probably be doing work on the plane or at least studying. Marco: I will be editing this episode on the plane. So there we go. Amanda: So actually will be coming to you or the episode will be coming to you all from Chicago. The windy City. Marco: That's right. Amanda: Do you think it'll be windy? Marco: Uh, it's supposed to be nice weather. Amanda: I don't think it's windier than here. Marco: I'm bringing my jacket. My heavier jacket. Amanda: Yeah, me too, I think, because it was snowing last night. Did you know that? Marco: In Chicago here. Oh, no, I didn't know that. Amanda: I was snowing two nights ago here, and then again today a little bit. It was snowing. Marco: No, I didn't know that. Amanda: Yeah. So we still have to dress. It got. It was summer. Marco: Last week, they made us, like, turn on the air conditioner. And I was like, I think it's a bit early. Amanda: Never too early for air conditioning. And then we did open up, for the record, everybody was like, uh, we did open up every window in the house and try to create a cross breeze. And it was still over 80 degrees in the house. So that's when I put my foot down and said, we need help. We need, like, my nails. We needed to call in the professionals and turn the air conditioner on. Marco: And there you. There you go. Well, wherever you are, I hope you are feeling cool and comfortable. Like a cucumber. Um, is that the expression? Amanda: I. Cool like a cucumber? I suppose like a cucumber with a nice comfy duvet. Marco: You know what happened? I was. I was taking out the organic waste before we left, and the bag spills open. Yeah. And so I had to deal with that. Amanda: That's what we're leaving people on. Marco: No, I cleaned it up. Everything's fine. Amanda: And everything's fine and everything's wonderful. Marco: I just thought I'd share that as a last minute. It just took me a moment longer. Well, I'll let you go print your notes, and I will, uh, hail a cab, and hopefully by the time the cab comes, Amanda will be downstairs with their notes and we'll be ready. Amanda: When he says he'll hail a cab, what he means is I'll check both Lyft and Uber and see who has Marco: better rates, which Amanda does. And she's always. But, but, but don't book the one where we have to share it, but the direct one. Amanda: No, I won't. Yeah, I won't. I'm not that I'm cheap, but I'm not that cheap. Marco: Amanda's. Amanda's great for things like that. Like, she knows these apps really well. And one time I had to order free food without Amanda on one of those apps, the Uber app, or whatever it was. And our, uh, friend was over, and she's vegetarian or she doesn't eat meat. And I was ordering pizza, and sure enough, somehow, between selecting the one I wanted and placing the order, a bacon pizza arrived in its place. So. So now I'm always like, I don't know why I can't seem to do that with the apps, but, uh. But it's not my strength, shall we say? It's not my strength. Texting is more my strength, so. Amanda: And, uh, the winner is Uber over Lyft. They're a little cheaper. Marco: All right. So, uh, with. On that note, wherever you are, we hope you have a lovely day, afternoon or evening. And until next time, we hope you were able to listen and sleep.
In this gentle episode of The Insomnia Project, hosts Marco Timpano and Amanda Barker settle into a calm, meandering conversation about routines, habits, and the quiet rhythms of everyday life. If you enjoy slow, relaxing conversations that help quiet racing thoughts, this episode offers the perfect background listening for winding down, easing anxiety, or drifting off to sleep.
The conversation begins with Amanda reclaiming the word “mundane,” celebrating the beauty of ordinary moments and everyday routines. Marco shares his love of making lists while Amanda reflects on how routines help bring calm and structure to daily life. As always, the discussion wanders comfortably into unexpected territory — including Marco recalling the word “mendacity” from A Streetcar Named Desire while hilariously struggling to remember the name of actor Burl Ives. Along the way, they talk about watching a local television channel that isn’t very local at all, figuring out the weather based on forecasts from other cities, and the journey of a fancy espresso machine finding its place in their daily routine. Marco also describes his preferred vessel for heating tea water, while Amanda shares an example of a small routine that works perfectly when you discover it. The episode continues with a surprising detour into macadamia nut trees, a discussion about different types of sugar they’ve tried, and Amanda reluctantly revealing the audiobook she’s a little embarrassed to admit she’s currently listening to. In a final cozy moment, Marco and Amanda discover they are both waiting for the same book from the library. As always, The Insomnia Project offers slow, calming conversation designed to help listeners relax, unwind, and gently fall asleep. If you drift off before the episode ends, that’s the highest compliment you can give us. You can also enjoy ad-free episodes of The Insomnia Project with a free trial at theinsomniaproject.supercast.com. Follow along and stay connected: Instagram: @theinsomniaproject Twitter/X: @listenandsleep Website: theinsomniaproject.com Quotes from the episode: “The key to happiness is not… I don’t remember now.” – Amanda “Moo-cadamia.” – Amanda “You sometimes have a heavy hand with the maple syrup.” – Marco
Routines
(Original airdate: March 29, 2023) Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen as we have a mundane conversation to help you drift off to sleep. We're the only podcast we hope you never get to the end of. And thank you for joining us today. I'm um, your host, Marco Timpano. Amanda: I'm Amanda Barker. I feel like we are reclaiming the word mundane. Marco: Yeah, we are. Amanda: You know, because you say mundane and there's an immediate, um, you know, connotation with that word, that mundane means obviously boring or less than. But I think for us, and I haven't looked up the actual definition in the dictionary. Marco: Sure. Amanda: I think mundane is. There's a level of comfort in the mundane. A level of, um, organization, symmetry, you know, um, that type of normalcy that we sometimes need. Marco: Something that's ordinary. That's why we intentionally picked mundane versus boring, because we're never trying to be boring, because that would feel false. But rather we just want to talk about ordinary things that can help you just sort of not think of anything else. Amanda: I like thinking about, um, especially when I'm trying to sleep, but kind of always when I need some comfort. I like routine. Marco: Okay. Amanda: I'm a creature of routine. I find there's a real comfort in routine, the mundaneness of routine. Do you find that as well? Marco: Yeah, I do. I like. I'm a list maker. So if I can go through my lists and so I have my list that I accomplish every day. For example, my. While I was waiting for you to come into the booth today, I was actually going through all the emails that I have received and knocking them off my list. And I've recently. Or I continue to sort of pare down the emails I receive so that there's less and less coming my way. Amanda: I think lists. List making gets a bad rap sometimes. Marco: Oh, really? I never heard it getting a bad rap. Amanda: I listened to a book very recently. I finished it yesterday. I wasn't in love with the book. Marco: Okay. So you don't have to mention it. Amanda: No, I don't have to plug it or anything. Um, but it really kind of talked about this one woman's journey where she was like, oh, I was just a. I was a slave to my lists. And. Okay, I get it. I mean, I think there's room for spontaneity in this world. Of course I do. But I do think, um, you know, and maybe this comes from the fact that you and I do live Marco: some, Amanda: uh, would argue a more spontaneous or unpredictable life. That we are the people that most want and need and crave lists. Routine. Is mundanity a word? Marco: Sure. Amanda: Mundane ness. Well, it's a word now. Marco: Mendacity. Amanda: Oh, I like that. The audacity to be mundane. Marco: Sure. Mendacity is actually a word. Amanda: Does it mean the audacity to Be audaciously mundane. Marco: I don't know. I know it's from, um. Big Daddy says it in A Streetcar Named Desire. He says, you have the mendacity. I don't think it's a positive thing. I don't know that because I. I've Amanda: seen that play like three times live and I don't think I've ever remembered that particular line. Marco: So, um, the actor who played Big Daddy on the screen. Amanda: Mhm. Marco: Is the singer who sings that. Those Christmas carols. I can't remember his name. Pearl Ives played Big Daddy. Amanda: Okay. Marco: And the way. Amanda: I didn't know that. Marco: Yeah. And so when he does that sort of grand, grandiose speech where he starts sort of putting the male character. I forget who it is. Not Stella, obviously. Amanda: Oh, um, the guy with a broken leg. Marco: The guy with a broken leg played by Marlon Brando. Amanda: It's like cat or kid or Marlon Brando. Marco: So he says mendacity. I remember that speech. And that's the word that I remember the most from that speech. That sort of puts me in that if I was to play Big Daddy or when I think of that Big Daddy role, I m. Think of how he says that. So it has always sort of stuck with me. Amanda: Um, Mitch. Is that his name? Mitch? Stanley Kowalski. Is it Stanley? Marco: Well, I don't know, but mendacity means the quality or state of being mendacious. Amanda: I think it's Stanley. Yeah. Marco: To blow the whistle. Or mendacity and hypocrisy. So not so great. The quality. Yeah. Mendacious. Amanda: I didn't even know that word. Marco: I know now I'd have to look up mendacious. It's, uh, given to. Or the characterization by description, uh, or falsehood of divergence from absolute truth. Amanda: Oh, interesting. Okay. All right. Well, that's a different meaning, I think. Um, but for me, I think, you know, I'm really. I need to connect to routine and mundaneness. Uh, to me it's a comforting life raft as I sail through this life. Marco: Sure. Amanda: Yeah. So one of the things I was thinking about this morning was morning routines. Marco: Okay. Amanda: And the comfort of a morning routine as you wake up from your slumber. Yeah. For us, for you and I, on a day, again we have. Every day is different for us because we, like so many people, we are what you would call, I suppose, freelance. Marco: Sure. Amanda: I've never thought of myself that way, but I guess that's what it is. Freelance workers. So, you know, depending on the day, we have, uh, a different employment, different company. Some days we have Off. Some days we don't. Um, I really just. Marco: Some days we're doing two jobs in a day. Amanda: For me, this week is mostly about filming. I'm filming a project right now, so that's. I'm not doing it today, but I'm sort of preparing for it today. Marco: Sure. Amanda: And, um, as luck would have it, which I'm happy about because we had a pretty robust weekend. Marco: Yes, we did. Amanda: So with that being said, um, ah, a comforting morning for me, which is actually, could be a Monday morning, could be a Sunday morning, could be any morning, um, is to slowly wake up and then you and I, actually, we're TV creatures. We like to put the TV on, but we won't put it on anything too alarming. Marco: No, we generally put it on a local channel. And when I say local, I don't even mean a local to our city. Amanda: Our city is too big for the type of mundane ness that we crave. Marco: So we turn on the channel that is of a city about an hour away from us. Amanda: Huh. Smaller city. Marco: Smaller city. And we listen to them talk about small things going on in that city. Amanda: We do. We watch them navigate recipes. We watch them talk about pop culture. Marco: Going to the furniture store near that just opened, or the local theater and Amanda: what play they're putting on this month. Marco: Right. Amanda: It's that type of thing. Marco: One of my favorite things is when they have the weather person on and we have to sort of figure out what the weather will be in our city based from an hour away. Amanda: They're an hour west of us. It's usually what's coming our way. Marco: We figure out, okay, if the wind is coming from there. That means we'll probably. So not even looking at our own weather channel, but trying to figure out what our weather will be based on what we watch from another city's weather. Amanda: Do you think this is a sign that we should just be moving to that smaller city? No, no. Marco: No, I don't. Amanda: You have no desire to move there? Marco: Not really. I like our city. Amanda: Yeah. And as we've said before, our home, we're very lucky in that we have a fairly quiet neighborhood and quiet home in a relatively big and bustling city, so. Well, not relatively. Toronto's big. Marco: Yeah. And the crocuses are out. Amanda: And the crocuses are out. So part of a morning routine for me at this time of year would be to watch a little bit of that comforting News network. Again, local play. An author, someone from the local hockey team. Again, not local to us, but there's a comfort in the smallness there. And then maybe leaving you in the bed. I might go downstairs, I might put on a coffee. Marco: Most definitely. Amanda: Um, so for us that means putting on a stovetop, um. Machina. Right. Marco: Machinata. Yeah, I guess you could call it machinata. It's an espresso that's a violet sort of. Amanda: So everyone has their own coffee. If you drink coffee, that is, or tea. Um, they have their own routine. Uh, with that. For us, our routine is filling up. A stovetop espresso maker. Yes. We've even been gifted fancy espresso machines in the past. Secondhand. Uh, I should say it's. We've never asked for a fancy espresso machine. It wasn't something we registered for when we get married or anything like that. Marco: Right. We've had two sort of machines that sit on your counter that you have to then use pressurized water and make sort of a barista style coffee. And they never quite come out the same. And so we always go back. Amanda: They're hard to clean. Yeah. Marco: And they take up room. Amanda: Yeah. Which we don't have a ton of. Marco: Truthfully. Yeah. And there's. They just don't work for us. We've tried them and uh, we have lots of friends they work for and more power, in fact. Amanda: No. Some people love their machines and the routine of operating that machine. Marco: Certainly that last machine we received, we were the third person to receive the machine. So the original owner friends of ours, but they were very good friends with our good friends. So it went to our good friends Trevor and Dale, who we often mention on the podcast, who then gifted it Amanda: to us or said, no, no, you've got it wrong. Marco: I don't have it wrong. Amanda: Yeah, you do. So that machine, unless I'm talking about a different machine, maybe we are. Um, was from Daniela and Joel. No, we gave it to them. Right. Oh, I thought it came from them. Marco: No, see, that's where I was bringing it. So it came to us from. Amanda: So I remember the journey backwards, I guess. Marco: Yeah. Ah. Amanda: I really thought it came from them. Marco: No. Amanda: Okay. I reversed it in my brain. I apologize. Marco: It came to us and then. Amanda: Mhm. Marco: Daniela asked me, she just so happened to ask, do you know where I could pick up. Amanda: Mhm. Marco: One of those machines? Because her partner really enjoys that kind of coffee. And I said, we have one. Do you want it? And I said, do with it what you will. And um, they've been using it and she's been enjoying. Went to the right person. Amanda: So it started with Frank and Aaron. Then it went to Dale and Trevor. Then it came to us, Amanda and Marco. Then it went to Daniella and Joel. Oh, that's really funny. I didn't quite realize that. I apologize. Marco: And Joel really enjoys that coffee. Mhm. And Daniela says he knows how to work the machine, so she only lets him sort of deal with the coffee from there. Amanda: Well, that's their morning routine in Calgary. Marco: You know, it's in Toronto. Amanda: Oh, is it? Marco: Yeah. Amanda: Right. Uh, they split their time, um, location. Marco: Where did that machine end up? Amanda: Uh, yeah. Wouldn't it be great if it traveled the country? Um, so for us, um, we've realized, and I think there's some grace in that. Realizing that this for. For you and this may not be a coffee, might be an espresso machine. Marco: Sure. Um, a tea kettle. Amanda: A tea kettle. A home. You know, I think there's some grace in learning that a smaller version, which sometimes we're told, you know, not to aspire, you know, we are supposed to aspire for bigger or, uh, more. Marco: Sure. Amanda: Just isn't the right fit for you. I recently was watching one of my favorite design shows, Hometown. Marco: Can I just say that like the kettle, for example, I prefer to drink my tea from the kettle pot that you put on the stove that boils and whistles versus the one that has the coil. The coil. Amanda: The plug in. Marco: Yeah, the plug in that you have to press the thing down. I think tea tastes better for me with that whistling kettle. Amanda: On a stove. Marco: On a stove. I don't know if it's the whistle that does it for me. Just the sound. M. You know, a auditory sound. There's the watch. You don't burn yourself as you pick it up. So there's that element of danger and how. How bubbly the water is or how heated the water is when you pour it onto your tea. That, that for me, I just want to say is my favorite. Amanda: Well, absolutely. And different people have different things. Some people use a microwave to microwave their water hot and then. And then put a tea bag in it. That's not my journey. Marco: Sure. Amanda: But that's maybe somebody's routine. Marco: Hey, listen, if it works for you and it makes you happy and it sets your day, by all means. Amanda: The plug in kettles are great for work. Or um, you know, a countertop place where you don't have access to a stove or burner or hob, as I found people in the UK call it. Marco: Sure. Amanda: From again, the various design shows that Marco: I watch or if you set up like a coffee tea station in your bedroom so you wouldn't have to go down. That probably would be useful. Amanda: You and I have discussed that possibility. There isn't a ton of room to it in our bedroom, but there's one tiny little corner that could maybe be utilized. But then we would have to put a hob. I'm going to start using that word now. Um, but for our UK listeners, we don't call it that. We usually call it a burner or, um, a stovetop. I don't even know what we call that. A stove top or a hot plate. Marco: Hot plate, I guess. Yeah. Amanda: Hot plate. Yeah. Marco: But you were saying about Hometown or something. Amanda: Well, I was just saying that sometimes the smaller version that we societally often think of as less than is the right one for you. And I think there's a real comfort in knowing that the smaller, cheaper, less version is the one that fits for you in your life. And in Hometown, they were actually talking about homes. And of course, they're renovating homes, and that's the show. And they find a home for someone and they tell them, okay, here's your budget, and here's what we can do with that budget. And of course, it's part of the allure of, uh, that show is that it's set in Mississippi, uh, where homes in that particular town are relative inexpensive compared to, say, Chicago or Los Angeles or London. Yeah, exactly. Um. Um, but one of the things I thought was really interesting is I heard, um, they were doing an interview segment, and the people who are the hosts of the show, the Napiers, is their name? Aaron. And, uh, I was gonna say Mickey, Mick McNapier. Somebody from our world. Marco: Yeah, Aaron. Amanda: An improv person. Marco: Yeah. Amanda: Ben. Marco: Ben. Yeah. Amanda: Anyway, they were. She said, you know, this woman wanted a big home be perfect for entertaining. And then they asked her about her home, and she said, oh, no, I don't want a big home for entertaining. I have a small kitchen that fits six to eight people, and that's how I like it. And I thought that was really lovely because we're just conditioned to say, oh, you want a kitchen that can fit 12 people for Thanksgiving or whatever it is. And, um, you know, our big brunch on, um, the weekend, or host a party. Marco: Sure. Amanda: And there's. That's lovely, too, if that's what you want and that's what you have. But I think there was a real grace to saying, that's not what I want. So that's not what. I could have that, but that's not what I want. Marco: Bucking the trend that says this is what's desirable for what suits your needs. Amanda: And also having. Taking comfort in what you do have. Having what you want, you know, wanting what you have. Uh, or what? There's an expression in that. I forget what. Marco: That wanting what you have, it's. Amanda: You know, the key to happiness is not. I don't remember now, but I guess Marco: you won't find the key to happiness. Amanda: The key to happiness is wanting what you have. Not sure. Marco: Having what you want. Amanda: I'm missing a piece of this. Okay, I'll have to look it up. Anyhow, um, so in our morning routine, we have, uh, an espresso gets made. Marco: Yes. Amanda: Usually in the morning, milk gets frothed for that espresso. Marco: Today was mental. Today was macadamia milk. Mac nut milk, as they say. Who says in Hawaii they were calling Amanda: it Mac nut milk. Oh, interesting. Marco: Macadamia nut milk. Amanda: Yeah, we have some. And I just thought. Marco: What's funny is, when I came home with the macadamia nut milk, Amanda says, you don't like that. I'm like, what? She's like, we had it before. And you said you. Absolutely. Amanda: But you know what? The one we had before, I believe, was a different brand. Marco: Yeah. Because this one's actually quite. Amanda: I like this one. Marco: Yeah, me too. Amanda: I guess it depends on the brand. Marco: With nut milk, I think it's called milk. Milkadamia, I think, is what this brand is called. Amanda: Milkademia. Is that what it's called? I think you're right. Or M. Moocadamia. Marco: Ah, I doubt it's mookadamia. Amanda: I think that's what it is. Marco: Like moo is in a cow. Moot. Moose. Moocadamia. Okay. Amanda: I don't know. Anyway, that's something. It's a play on macadamia and milk. I just don't remember what the play is. Same as I don't remember the key to happiness. Marco: The interesting thing about macadamia trees, macadamia nut trees, is that they were native to Australia, but they weren't commercially, um, grown in Australia to be consumed. And when the tree was brought to Hawaii, that's when it became more of a consumable product. And then what happened was it became popular in China, and so the price of macadamias went up. And what China has done, or so I've been told, is they have planted and are growing macadamia orchards, which should be coming into fruition, I guess, or coming to fruit or bare nuts in the next few years, which could. I was going to call you Daniela. Which could Daniela Lascalik, if you're listening or Amanda, drop the price of macadamia nuts throughout the world. So pay attention to the price of macadamia nuts, which is pretty high now, and what will happen in the next five years. Amanda: Oh, my goodness. Marco: Took a little detour there. You weren't expecting. Amanda: Back to our morning routine. And actually to the quote that's been sort of, um, gnawing at me. There's a few versions of it. Marco: Um, laughs, and the whole world laughs with you. Amanda: Uh, the first version is, I should say, attributed to Rabbi Hyman Schlattel, which is, happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have. Marco: Okay, I like that. Amanda: Uh, but the one I've heard more is, success is getting what you want, but happiness is wanting what you get. Marco: I like that, too. Amanda: Yeah, so I think there's a few things with that. But anyway, that's pretty cool. But we're not really talking about success, too. We're talking about. Well, I mean, success in your own comfort and happiness. Marco: Sure. Amanda: And how you navigate your life through your morning routine. Um, so anyway, a coffee gets made. Marco: Coffee definitely gets made. Coffee gets drunk. Amanda: We have a few different versions of sweetener that we put in the coffee. Sugar. Um, but we have honey sugar as well. Today I actually used brown sugar. Marco: Oh. Amanda: I've been exploring the cabinets and seeing what we need to sort of use up. Marco: We tried to use blackstrap molasses. I liked it because our friend Trevor told us to do that. Amanda: And actually, it's good for me because I need iron. Marco: Okay. I think there's iron, so maybe we'll get more of that. Amanda: You didn't like it, though. Marco: I know, but that's fine. Just. I just maybe have to get used to it. Amanda: M. So, um, we've tried that. Xylitol, of course, when we have it. Marco: Um, honey sometimes. Amanda: Probably my favorite sugar substitute. Uh, honey sometimes. Marco: For me, my favorite is maple, um, Syrup. Amanda: Yeah. Marco: But you sometimes have a heavy hand with the maple syrup. Amanda: Well, I just think maple syrup is delicious and makes things delicious. But, yeah, I'm heavy handed in general. Marco: Sure. Amanda: With all my pores, as you know. Marco: If you ever get Amanda to pour you a cocktail, you'll only ever need that one. Amanda: I do have a heavy hand. Um, anyhow, and today, part of our routine was I brought that coffee back up to you. And actually, during the coffee, waiting for it to percolate on the stove. M. I put on a soothing audiobook that I started yesterday. Marco: Oh, what book is that? Amanda: Um, you know, it's it's, um, almost. I'm almost embarrassed to be listening to it. But it was what was available at my library, which is what I listen to. Marco: Sure. Amanda: Because I listened to them through the Libby app, and the one that I was listening to today was called the Latte Factor. Marco: Oh, I like this. Amanda: So it's basically saying, you know, you're richer than you think. Marco: I know this thing. This is the theory of this gentleman, I believe. Yeah. Amanda: But it's got a lot of, um, backlash, certainly in the last few years. It was only written four years ago, which is interesting to me, because I think the backlash has existed longer than that. But what I came to learn was that he was a speaker on Oprah, and So he probably 20 years ago or so introduced this theory. Basically. Um, I haven't gotten that far into it yet, but basically, if you can afford a latte every day, if you can afford to buy L out every day, then you can afford a house or whatever. But it's gotten a lot of backlash because of. Marco: It's a bit simplistic. Amanda: It's a bit simplistic and maybe doesn't take into account things like, you know, privilege and inflation, et cetera. Marco: Are you enjoying the book, though, so far? Amanda: I actually am. Um, I thought my theory with any book, any TV show, any movie, put it on for 10 minutes, see how you feel after the first 10. If you're still engaged and still, even if you're, like, not sure about it, then no one's making you listen to that book or watch that movie. You can always turn it off. So I figured yesterday I couldn't find anything else available that I wanted. Sure, I put a bunch of things on hold, which is good practice, um, because sometimes I forget to do that, and then I have nothing to listen to. It's a library, so they take a while to become available. But this one was available right away. And so I thought, well, it's only four hours of my life. Let me. It put. Listen for the first 10 minutes, see what it. You know, I have to listen to the reader if I like the voice. Marco: Right. Of course. There's a lot of elements. Are you in the mood in that particular time of your day? Night, week? Amanda: Exactly. Am I going for a walk? Am I making dinner? What type of thing do I want to listen to somebody speak on? So anyway, I actually have to say I'm probably about 30 minutes into it at this point. Marco: Oh, wow. I didn't realize that. Amanda: I listened to it while I was cleaning up after dinner last Night. And I'm kind of enjoying it. Marco: Listen, that's fine. Amanda: I'm comforted in the same way that we're talking about mundane conversation and comfort. There's comfort to me in re examining. I always like to re examine my relationship with money. Marco: Sure. Amanda: Whether it's taxes or for some people, that's not their thing. But I find it very comforting to just relook at things, maybe look at it from a new light. Is there any opportunities for me to adjust my thinking or my spending or any of those things? I enjoy that. Marco: That said, we did go to a Starbucks because you wanted the extra points. So they do hook you with details like that. I'm looking at a book. Yeah. Amanda: But now I have a free Starbucks. Marco: Fair enough. Um, I have a book that I'm interested in examining that a friend of ours, Megan, posted on social media that she was enjoying it. Amanda: Put a hold on. Marco: I put a hold on it. Amanda: That's so funny. Marco: And there's like a. I'm assuming we're Amanda: talking about the same book. Marco: Yeah, it's called how to Keep House while Drowning. And what's funny is there are 26 copies at our library and there are 119 people waiting for. Waiting. So both of us are in that 119 waiting for the. Amanda: Let's see who. It's a race to see who gets that library. Marco: Is it available on, uh, Libby. On Libby, yeah, it is. Okay. Amanda: And it's only three hours, so immediately when I saw that one. Great. I'll put a hold on that. So I did. So that's in my queue. Marco: I haven't done that on Libby yet. I put a hold on the actual book. Amanda: Yeah. You're more into the tactile books. I haven't done that in a while. I find if I want the tactile book, I find more lately that I'll buy the book. But if. If it's an audiobook form, I'm finding that I can't really listen to fictional narrative on audiobook. I don't know why I prefer to read that, but fair for listening. Anything in the biography, self help world, even personal essays, narrative stories, that type of thing. Uh, those are the types of books I like, especially the personal narratives and that type of thing. Marco: Anything nonfiction, I prefer if a audiobook version is available to listen that way. Amanda: So I put that book on waited for the coffee to percolate. That doesn't really percolate. I guess it does. Marco: Brew is, I believe how we say it in the coffee world. Amanda: It is kind of A percolate, though. Yeah, it is, because it pops up a little bit. Marco: But I believe brew is what you use. Amanda: I'm waiting for the coffee to brew, and I, uh, unloaded the dishwasher because last night I thought ahead, and I like to put it on a little timer so it goes, you know, so that I can add after dinner. We might have more dishes to add. For example, I made a little plate of grapes and cheese last night to bring to bed so you and I could have a watching TV in bed Marco: snack, which I know you're not supposed to do. Watch TV in bed, but that's what suits us. Amanda: Well, again, some people would say you're not supposed to live by your lists, but I find that comforting. Or you're not supposed to have your espresso from a stovetop, uh, but rather from a fancy machine. All that matters is that you do what is right for you. Marco: I agree with that. Amanda: So, grapes and cheese in bed for me, not every night, but some nights. And TV in bed is the right choice for us. And for us, the comforting choice, actually. Marco: Indeed. Amanda: So that's what we do, you know, not every night. Um, but, um, anyway, that was my morning routine. And then I unloaded the dishwasher because it was all nice and clean. And just when I put the last fork and mug away, coffee was ready. I heated up that macadamia milk and made you a latte, and up the stairs I went, and you were watching, you know, the local weather of a town an hour away. Marco: There you go. Well, whatever routine you have in the morning, we hope it works well for you. Until next time, we hope you enjoyed this episode of the Insomnia Project. Please rate, review and subscribe. Tell your friends about our podcast and we hope you were able to listen and sleep.
You’ve Got Mail | Calm Mailbox Musings
In this gently meandering episode of The Insomnia Project, hosts Marco Timpano and Amanda Barker turn their attention to the quiet and nostalgic world of mail. From stamps and postcards to address labels and the small rituals of visiting the post office, the conversation explores the simple pleasure of sending and receiving something through the mail. The hosts reflect on the charm of different post offices, the designs of stamps that catch their attention, and the small thrill of opening a letter or package that arrives unexpectedly. Along the way, they ask listeners to consider their own postal habits: What is your favourite post office? What kind of stamps do you find most interesting? And what kind of mail do you most enjoy receiving? As always, the conversation moves slowly through everyday observations, allowing the ordinary details of life to become calming and comforting. The Insomnia Project is designed to provide gentle background listening that helps quiet racing thoughts and guide listeners toward sleep. If you drift off before the episode ends, we consider that the highest compliment. You can now enjoy ad-free listening with a free trial at theinsomniaproject.supercast.com. Follow along for updates and more calm conversation on Instagram @theinsomniaproject, Twitter/X @listenandsleep, and at theinsomniaproject.com.
Back from Oahu
(February 28, 2023) Marco: Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax, lie back, chill if you will, and listen to this podcast and hopefully it'll help you, you know, bring you somewhere soft and cool and easy and hopefully even make you fall asleep. I'm your host, Marco Timpano. Amanda: I'm Amanda Barker. Or it could give you a, uh, soft and warm feeling. Marco: Sure, whichever you're. Amanda: Whatever after. Yeah. Marco: Amanda, we have not posted, uh, an episode for a bit because I felt under the weather and I didn't really have a voice. Amanda: Mhm. That's true. Marco: So we did not post. So you're gonna get two this week to make up for last week not having one. And thank you to our patrons who have been hearing a lot of content Actually, or even watching a lot of content because we've been really upping our Patreon. Patreon game. And, um, we just got back from a wonderful trip that we were on, Amanda: and we got back from podcamp. I didn't know if you want to talk about. Marco: Of course. Yeah. So we. Amanda: Lots to talk about. Marco: So much to talk about. Uh, we participated at podcamp and, and we were able to, uh, bestow some podcasting knowledge to potential podcasters. So thank you for being there and listening to our panel discussion and our session. Amanda: So podcamp is a. For those not in the podcasting, you know, world, um, even though you're listening, that. That might be the. The breadth of what you do with podcasting and. Or you may be a fellow podcaster. Podcamp is sort of a conference, uh, festival, more of a conference that happens usually, uh, this time of year in Toronto, but they haven't had it. So it was nice to, uh, to kind of get back into it. Marco: That's right. We were able to participate in front of a live audience, and we got some great responses. I want to thank everybody at podcamp, uh, for putting that on. Amanda: I did a panel. You did a session? A session, Yeah. Marco: I wasn't feeling well enough to do the panel, so Amanda said, don't worry, I'll hold the fort. And she certainly did. Amanda: I did my best. Marco: You did awesome. Speaking of awesome, we just got back from a wonderful trip. Amanda wanted to take me on a trip for a, you know, um, what do you call it? Like, an important birthday? Amanda: They call it something a milestone. Marco: Milestone birthday. And so Amanda's like, where do you want to go? And I'm like, I'd really like to go back to Hawaii. And so she. Amanda: To which I said, I don't know if that is going to be possible, Marco: because getting there is not. Not cheap, is it? Amanda: Not from Toronto. Marco: No. Amanda: However, nor is it short. But, um, our dear friends at YYZ Deals, uh, which is based out of Toronto. So, um, anyway, it's this guy who has a travel blog. He's had it for many, many years, and I've been a big fan. And we've certainly taken lots of trips that have come up. Sometimes their flight glitches, but more often their, um, you know, really just, oh, look, they're selling these for cheap for the next week or so. And it's. He's not sponsored by anyone. He's not selling anything. It's just a guy who loves to Marco: fly, and he just. He just shares that knowledge. And I should mention Though we follow it on yyzddeals.com because YYZ is our airport code. He also has versions for YUL. Amanda: Y. YVR. Marco: YVR. Um, Calgary's. I can't remember. Amanda: Yeah. So different ones across Canada. Marco: Halifax. So look, type in your airport code if you live in Canada and then deals.com and see what deals you might get. They're not a sponsor. It's not a sponsor of the show. We just happen to have used it a few times. Amanda: We used it last time we went to Hawaii. Very similar flights. Very, very inexpensive flights. And this time as well, um, it's for people who, you know, you may have your eye on a few places in the world, um, but you have some flexibility. It's not for people who need to book a trip a year in advance for their two week holiday in June or whatever. It's not for that. It's more like, wow, there's a deal on. Marco: Can we make it happen? Amanda: Do you think we can go? Marco: Yeah, I think we can make it happen. Amanda: Yeah, Whatever. So we booked these, I think in November. And, uh, we went to Hawaii before with them. We went to Italy long time ago. Marco: That's right. Amanda: On a crazy trip. That was crazy. Marco: Um, because it was supposed to be, you had to leave from New York to Milan and then anywhere else in Europe to anywhere else in the world. And it was like 300 bucks. Amanda: It was, it was great for both of us. Yeah. Marco: And so we had, we had points to get to New York, so everything. Amanda: So we went to New York, we flew to Milan, and then we, uh, didn't end up doing the next leg of the trip, which was to India, because I had a theater contract. But we did the Milan part and it was great. Marco: Yeah. Amanda: Five days in Italy. Can't beat it. Marco: And so we went to the island of Oahu. Amanda: We did. Marco: And then Amanda said we were speaking with friends who. Amanda: This past trip, I should say this past trip. Not while we were in Milan. Marco: No, no. This past trip that we just got back from, we went to the island of Oahu. And for me, Hawaii is a very special place. I just love it. There's something about those particular group of islands that really speak to me. Amanda: They're very magical. Marco: They're very magical. And we have good friends who also love Hawaii and actually introduced us to, to, to their love of Hawaii. Amanda: Yeah. They were going to go on a honeymoon to Thailand. Yeah. To Southeast Asia. Marco: But at that time there was something Amanda: going on with Thailand. I don't remember. So they decided not to, um, a Month or two before and instead rerouted and went to Hawaii and fell in love with it. And they've been back, I think, four or five times. Marco: So they. Marco: They made their love sort of trend. You know, we. We were curious and we wanted. Amanda: We get to hear about it from them. And, uh, so, uh, In, I think 2018, we went to the Big Island. So the four major islands of Hawaii, starting from left to right, are Kauai, Oahu, Maui, and the island of Hawaii known as the Big Island. Marco: Um, and there's Molokai and Lanai in there as well. Amanda: And also Nihue. Marco: Yeah. Amanda: But, um, which are smaller islands and that do have populations on them, but much smaller. Marco: Sure. Amanda: Um, so I know I was loud on that one. Marco: Sorry about that. Amanda: Uh, so in terms of places that we could go, um, those four are the. Were the ones that. They're the ones that have the. The airports and. Or the, you know, domestic. Marco: Lots of flights in and whatnot. Amanda: Lots, but depending on the airport. So, yeah. Um, a few years back, we went to the Big Island. It is the biggest of the four. We, the way we did that island, we had a week on that island. And we would sort of do three days in one location and then drive in a direction for an hour or so and then. Yeah, that kind of thing. Um, so we got these tickets to Oahu. And, uh, for those who don't know Hawaii as well, um, that's where Honolulu is, where the very famous Waikiki beach is. Marco: The North Shore, where the North Shore Amanda: is beautiful as well. Marco: A lot of surfing happens in that area. Amanda: One of, like, the great surf capitals of the world is the North Shore of Oahu, for sure. Um, and, um, just thinking what the other great surfing capitals must be. Cape Town, the Gold coast of Australia. Marco: California. Amanda: Yeah. Marco: California off the shores of Portugal, have really, really large waves. Amanda: Brazil as well. Marco: Brazil for sure. Amanda: Yeah. In any event, um, so, uh, we realized that we had booked just the way the flights worked out. I wanted to go for a decent. I wanted to go for at least a week. Marco: Right. Amanda: And so we booked Oahu, but it is a smaller island. And we kind of thought maybe we don't just stay on Oahu. Marco: Actually, it was Matt, our friend Matt, who said if you drive to the north part of the island, you can see the other island, Kauai. Amanda: You can see Kauai, which is the most. The leftest most island, um, on a map. Marco: Isn't Nihu, I guess. Amanda: Well, Nihu's sort of under it, but. Marco: Okay, okay, sorry. Amanda: But yeah, I guess is even more left. But anyway, um, and I said, well, if you can see Kauai, maybe we could go. And both he and Melissa said, that's a great idea. You have Almost, I think nine days or 10 days. Why don't you sort of split it up? So that's what we did. So we flew into Oahu, had a night in Oahu, and then got on a plane the next day and went to Kauai. It's a 20 minute flight. Marco: Um, it takes you much longer to get to the airport, stay in the airport than the actual flight itself to Amanda: wait for the plane. And actually more than once, the first time we did that flight, we got to the airport early enough that they just put us on an earlier plane. And then the second time we got on the wrong line because we thought, oh, this is our flight boarding and our ticket. They weren't very timely flights. Marco: Our tickets wouldn't scan. And that's how we figured out that we were trying to. Amanda: For the people in the line trying to go on the wrong flight. But, um, yeah, they sort of leave when they leave kind of thing. And, uh, although it was really lovely flying Hawaiian Air. So, yeah, we went to Kauai and we went to the north shore of Kauai, uh, in the town of Princeville and sort of the famous beach there is Hanalei Bay. And there's uh, lots of beaches up there. Gorgeous. Marco: The interesting thing about Kauai, or one of the things that I fell in love with with Kauai, they have a lot of chickens just roaming the island. All these chickens and roosters. Amanda: Yeah. Marco: And so in the morning there's multiple roosters crowing, cock a doodle doing. I don't know what you would call that crowing. Amanda: A rooster crow. Marco: Yeah, yeah. Crowed like from say 7 in the morning till 9:15, constant crowing of these roosters to get you up. Amanda: Yeah. Uh, they have taken over the island for sure. Marco: All because there was a hurricane, I think, in 1992 that disrupted a chicken coop or two. Amanda: Or several. Marco: Or several. And let loose these hens and roosters, Amanda: which is not the story I was told. I was told that explorers. I was actually told, and this is completely wrong, that Portuguese explorers, of which there are a lot, um, that did come through the islands in the 16, 17, 1800s, um, that they had decided they would leave a bunch of hens and roosters on Kauai so that they'd come back and they'd have dinner or whatever. That's not. I don't know who told Me that. That's not the story. Marco: I know that explorers, uh, left pigs in Florida. Amanda: Well, maybe I'm conflating two stories. Marco: I don't know. But I know I've heard them leaving pigs so that when they return, they'd have Spanish maybe. Amanda: I don't know, like Ponce de Leon and Magellan. Marco: This could also all be just, you know, stor stories that get passed down that are not 100 accurate. Amanda: Did you learn about the great explorers supposedly, when you were young? Um, Amerigo Vespucci, which I know. Marco: Amerigo. Amanda: Amerigo Vespucci. No, I didn't. Marco: Maybe I did, but I didn't really. Amanda: We all had to do projects on them in, like, grade four or five. And I did Ponce de Leon, the fountain of youth he was looking for. Marco: Wow. Amanda: Didn't work out. Marco: I'll tell you this. We saw, uh. Speaking of fountains, we saw several wonderful waterfalls. Amanda: Oh, my God. Beautiful. Marco: On our travels, including for anyone who can remember this, if you remember the television show Fantasy island from its first incarnation with, um, Ricardo Monteval. Thank you. And, uh, Hervey Villas and then other people who followed. When the opening sequence happens, you see a plane sort of flying, and you see these two waterfalls that are kind of in tandem. We went to go see those waterfalls. Amanda: We did. Yeah. They're beautiful. Marco: Yeah. We saw some wonderful waterfalls. Of course, the roosters. The water there was certainly a current, uh, when we were there. Amanda: Beautiful snorkeling in Kauai as well. Marco: Amanda's a good snorkeler. I'm not such a good snorkeler. What fish did you see this time? Amanda: I don't know fish names. Marco: Well, describe them to us. Amanda: Um, I think I saw tiger fish. Marco: Okay. Amanda: I saw lots of yellowy fish. Whatever Dory is. On Finding Dory. Finding Nemo. Marco: I saw her, but that's Dory's blue. Amanda: Okay. But I think I saw that. It looked like that with the eyes on the top and the sort of spout on the bottom. Marco: Yeah, I think. I think that fish is called a tang. Like the drink. Amanda: Yeah, like the drink. Um, I saw one fish that was really neat. It was, like, almost like a black and white, um, zebrafish. Oh, well, almost, but it was, like, speckled, like little stones of white. Uh, I also saw a very big, um. Looked almost like what I would think an orange roughy would look like. Like, very kind of gruff and, um. But it was gray. Okay. Marco: A gray roughy. Amanda: Maybe a gray roughy. Marco: It'd be strange if you saw an orange roughy in Hawaiian waters. Because orange ruffy is an Australian fish. Amanda: Is it really? I didn't know that. I thought it was a Chilean fish. Marco: That's Chilean sea bass. Amanda: I get them mixed up because they're both overfished, right? Yeah, yeah. Marco: Otherwise known as a tooth fish. Amanda: Um, I saw one, a lot of ones that had, like, teeth. Things that, like, almost like shrimp. Like little things that, like, clean out the water. Like, clean out, like that scavenger for. For clams or things like that. Marco: Are you talking about, like, whiskers on the bottom of their chin? Amanda: But the whiskers, like, do the work. Do you know what that means? Do you know that? Marco: I. I know what you're describing, but that's not what those whiskers do. Amanda: But. Marco: Oh, well, I don't know what they don't. I don't think they're whiskers. Scavenge for fish, but I could be wrong. Amanda: Lots of great fish. Marco: Yeah. I saw a school of. Of fish. A school of gray fish. Amanda: Yeah. Marco: And I saw some sea urchin, and I saw urchin. Urchins. Urchins, Yes. I saw a couple of sea urchins. Uh, and, uh. Yeah. And then we saw some turtles. Amanda: We saw some turtles. Marco: We saw some beautiful turtles. Amanda: Yeah. And monk seals. Marco: We did see some monk seals on. Amanda: Monk seals on Kauai. Turtles on Oahu. Marco: I thought Amanda had seen the monk seal because we were looking for a spot on the beach. And what they do when these animals come to shore is oftentimes they'll put, like, a barrier, just. Just some. Some rope around them to give the monk seal and the turtles their space. And so no one sort of trips over them or disturbs them while they're basking on the beach and resting. We had put our blankets down and, you know, found our spot. And then a few minutes later, Amanda turns to me and says, oh, my goodness, there's. There's this giant thing on the beach. And I said, yeah, that's the monk seal. We walked by and it had a huge sign that said, don't disturb the monk seal. Amanda: Uh, I didn't see it. Marco: She didn't see it. And when she saw it, she was really surprised. Amanda: It's a really quite taken aback when you're lying on a beach and then a gigantic seal is next to you, it's off putting. Marco: Sure, sure. And we saw three turtles. Do you remember their names? Amanda: Um, I only remember the one name. The other ones were Hawaiian names, so I don't remember them. Marco: Which name stood out for you, Olivia? Amanda: Dawn. Marco: Which is they named these turtles this. Amanda: I can look. I might have photos of this. Marco: Amanda might have photos. But, um, here, I'll look. What they do is they cord off their green turtles. And what they do is they cord them off and then they put little names and how old they are and how often they come to that particular beach, which was known as Turtle Beach. And we really drove quite a bit to go to Turtle beach and it certainly rewarded us with a few turtles that were just hanging out. And, uh, you can adopt another name. Amanda: Was JP. Marco: JP, how old was JP? 23. Right. Amanda: JP was 22 to 27 years old. Marco: And what does it say about JP? Amanda: JP's Hawaiian name is Miya Nui. JP first appeared at Ah, Lanakia in March of 2015. Since then, Mia Nui has become one of our most frequent visitors to the beach. Um, J.P. was the first new turtle to begin regularly basking here at Lanakia. I guess that's where we were after three new turtles joined the ohana, which means family, in 2010. Take note of JP's tail growing longer. It says the only obvious distinction between a male and a female, the turtle's nickname, J.P. was bestowed in honor of Malama and Honu's father, Joanne Pettigrew. Marco: Okay, so it's great. Um, hanu means turtle in Hawaiian as well. And, and so they named them and they allow you to sort of adopt a turtle. So, you know, you sponsor the turtle for conservation and preservations and for these people to be there. There's always someone on the beach ensuring that no one disturbs the turtles and so. Amanda: Have more hot turtle news. Marco: I would love more hot turtle news. Amanda: Okay. We also met Punahele. Um, Hawaiian name Punahele, which means the favorite one. Punahele was a faint quarter size crescent shaped indentation. Has a faint quarter size crescent shaped indentation on the second right lateral scoot. She is another of our Honu turtle that can be found basking here year round. During 2019, she appeared on the beach more than any other turtle. In 2020, Punahele undertook the 1000 mile round trip migration to the French Frigate Shoals to nest. She left Lanakai on April 13, 2020. Took a meandering route. See, they have them all tracked. And um, and then she built a nest, it looks like. And then she came back August 18, 2020. Marco: There you go. Amanda: That's how she spent her summer of 2020. Marco: So before Amanda gets to the third turtle, the one that we remember most, a friend of mine just celebrated his milestone birthday and I wanted to get him something. And so, you know, it's hard because most of us have everything that we could possibly need, um, and want. And so what do you get someone who has that and you want to celebrate. So I'm going to sponsor our next Amanda: turtle whose Hawaiian name is Ipoh, but Marco: her English name is Olivia Dawn. Amanda: Yeah, we'll find out why. Marco: And the reason I want to sponsor Olivia dawn is she's just a little bit younger than my friend. Amanda: She's the eldest and so he's still older than her. So Ipoh, which was her Hawaiian name, means sweetheart. She's 47 years old. She weighs 230 pounds. In 2004, Ipoh made the 1000 mile round trip migration to the French Frigate Shoals to nest. We'll have to look up these shoals. It took her 35 days to get to the shoals. Data gathered from the time depth recorder attached to her shell revealed that Olivia dawn made a noteworthy deep dive of 443ft, which is 135 meters. Marco: That's nothing to snark at. Amanda: No, I mean I wouldn't snark at Olivia Dawn, a 47 year old turtle. It was almost 11 years until she returned to nest again. She was the 101 of over 850 turtles recorded as nesting at the shoals in 2015. Ippo lives in our cove year round. Whether she hauls out in the morning or afternoon, she can still be seen on the beach at sunset 86% of the time. I don't know who did that math. Marco: But so, so Olivia Dawn. Olivia dawn likes that beach, which is nicknamed Turtle Beach. Amanda: Mhm, mhm. Marco: And so if you, I think it's called. Yeah. If you are wanting to sponsor a Hawaiian turtle. Do we have the website? Amanda: Sorry, Lanakia Beach. Marco: Lanakia Beach. Amanda: Yeah. Yeah, I've said it wrong. Um, Yep. Let me just look. Marco: Amanda will look. But so, um, they were giving us a lot of information and they gave us some, uh, some bookmarks and they said if you want to sponsor one of the turtles, you can, um, I'll Amanda: say it, but it's gonna, it's gonna take some doing and I can, I Marco: can put the website. Amanda: So just know that if you're drifting off. Don't worry, we will post this elsewhere. Marco: It'll be in our show notes, but Amanda: it's Malamanahanu.org okay, so M M A L A M M A N A H O N U dot O R G and honu. Marco: Honu is one of the few Hawaiian words that, that we know. I have committed to memory. Amanda: Yeah. Which means turtle. Marco: Which means turtle. Amanda: What other Hawaiian words did you have? Marco: You know, I know man is kane. I don't know if I'm pronouncing it correctly. Amanda: Uh, you know, woman is wakine. And I had a dream that I was singing it over and over. Marco: Oh, that's. That's pretty. Amanda: Two days ago. Yeah, I actually got up. This happened to me again last night, but I didn't record it. But often I get up and I'll just record because there's songs playing in my dream and I'll just sing them into my phone. Marco: That's wonderful. Amanda: I don't do anything with them, but. Well, as long as there's songs I've never heard before and so I sing them into my phone. Marco: I didn't know you were such a mistress. No. Amanda: Yeah, it happens. Lately, M. It's been happening a lot. But, um, yeah, sometimes I woke up Marco: the other night and I had some scenes in a movie in my. So I. I went downstairs and I wrote them. Um, Amanda and I. This is something that Amanda has done that I. I followed suit on. And I really love is when we get letters in the mail, bills, um, or whatnot. We keep the envelopes as scrap paper and they're perfect size to jot things down. And so I wrote the scenes on, um, these empty envelopes. Amanda: That's why my envelopes were downstairs. Now, there's one thing I want to say. If you're drifting off and you have thoughts that come into your head, I don't want people to get caught up thinking they have to go and write them down. There's a great author who's the guy that wrote that book with Dolly Parton Marco: crime author James Jameson. Amanda: James Patterson said, I will not anymore, no matter what the idea is. Get up from my bed and write it down. And often when you do that and you think, okay, I'm gonna, uh, write down this dream or whatever, it's not as great as you think it is in the moment. You read it after I wrote a whole stand up routine once I came downstairs and wrote it all down. I had dreamt it. I never read it again, but I don't think it was particularly funny. Marco: Well, there you go. I also want to mention that we're using new mics today. Amanda: Microphones. Marco: Microphones. Microphones. Yeah. So I used, um, the monies that we've raised from our patrons to purchase these microphones, and hopefully it'll take care some of the sound issues of Popping Peas and Other things that. Amanda: Oh, really? Is that the idea? Marco: Well, yeah. Amanda: You. You move your feet a lot, mister. Marco: Do I. Amanda: Do you realize how much you move your feet when you talk? All I hear is. It's like oceans. All I hear is that sound, and I always think, oh, the mic's going to pick it up. But I guess it doesn't. Marco: I'm, uh, mimicking Hanukkah. Amanda: Yeah, you are, honey. What are other. I wanted to say, speaking of hanu, what are other. So hanu. Wakine. Wakine or wahine? Marco: Wahine, I think, is woman. Amanda: Yeah. Uh, so what else do we know? Marco: Ukulele. Ukulele is ukulele as we know it. Amanda: Melakiliki maka is Merry Christmas. It's not. Marco: It's not. Amanda: It's just them taking the Hawaiian Alphabet and saying Merry Christmas, which I never knew until recently. Marco: And, um, speaking of the Christmas episodes or the holiday episodes, I'm going to take them down so I have them for next year in case our listeners are like. Because sometimes I'll take them. They're like, we don't have the holiday episodes anymore. Well, I saved them for December, so they'll be coming down very soon. Amanda: So, um, what other words do you know in Hawaiian? Marco: Oh, Amanda, you're, like, putting me on the spot. I'm, um, trying to think of other words. So, uh, I know. What was falls. Falls. I think I knew falls in Hawaiian. Amanda: Oh, I don't know. Marco: Take a second. You know the. The pork. The Kahlua pork. Amanda: Okay. It's. Marco: It's the style of, uh. Um. It's not made with Kahlua, the alcohol. Amanda: Right. Marco: It's what they call that particular pork. Amanda: We learned that Waikiki means, uh, bubbling water springs. Marco: Yes. Waile, I think, is falls. Yeah, I'm. And I. And I'm. Amanda: Walea was the name of the fall. The fantasy Island Falls, I think. Marco: Yeah. So these are some words that we have. Amanda: You see that a lot. Or waimea. You see a lot in Hawaii. Marco: I did appreciate that they did have Hawaiian words alongside English words. Um, for you to sort of learn Amanda: a word we heard a lot was ono. Marco: Ono for something that's really tasty or delicious. Amanda: Yeah, very ono. And in fact, watching the news in Hawaii, they do use these words in the news in the morning shows. They'll, you know, they're speaking in English, but then they'll. They'll bring in the Hawaiian words whenever they can. Shaka, which is that hang loose, kind of keep it easy. Marco: Mahalo is the one word that I used every day, which is thank you. Mahalo. Amanda: So there, yeah, you know, a few words. Marco: And I think that brings us to the ultimate Hawaiian word for, uh, our listeners, because we're. We're right to the end, Amanda. And that's aloha. Amanda: And aloha means hello, goodbye, and also love. Marco: And there you go. Amanda: And thank you to our ohana, which can mean family, but also community gathering of friends or anybody that gives you that familial or family feeling. Marco: I want to thank, uh, everyone we encountered in Hawaii. Everyone was so lovely. And to you, our insomnia family, uh, for joining us today. We will have an episode up tomorrow to make up for the episode you didn't get last week. Until then, we hope you were able to listen and sleep. Amanda: Mahalo.
Costco, Hoodies and Styles of Pizza
In this episode of The Insomnia Project, Marco shares a previously released Patreon conversation with special guest Chris Bond from the We Like Theme Parks podcast. Originally recorded as a bonus episode, this relaxed and easygoing chat is now being shared with all listeners. Marco and Chris settle into a calm conversation about some wonderfully everyday topics. The episode begins with a discussion about the unique world of Costco — the oversized aisles, the irresistible snacks, and the curious joy of browsing bulk items. From there, the conversation drifts into the world of hoodies and sports caps, exploring what makes a hoodie truly comfortable and which styles of caps stand out. Naturally, the episode eventually turns to one of life’s most comforting foods: pizza. Marco and Chris compare different pizza styles, including the famous contrast between Detroit-style pizza and Chicago-style pizza, reflecting on what makes each one unique. As always, the conversation unfolds slowly and casually, making it perfect background listening while you wind down for the evening. The Insomnia Project is a podcast designed to help quiet racing thoughts, relax the mind, and gently guide listeners toward sleep. If you don’t make it to the end of the episode because you drift off, we take that as the highest compliment. You can now enjoy ad-free listening with a free trial at theinsomniaproject.supercast.com. Follow along for updates and more calm conversation on Instagram @theinsomniaproject, Twitter/X @listenandsleep, and at theinsomniaproject.com.
Costco, Hoodies and styles of Pizza
(Original aidate: Fev 15, 2023) Welcome to the Insomnia Project. I am, um, your host, Marco Timpano. We hope that you will listen, relax, chill, enjoy, give us feedback, give us your suggestions. And I'm just so happy with Chris Bond, a good friend of mine. Chris Bond, welcome. Chris Bond: Well, thanks for having me. I'm so excited. Marco: So we both have a love. So we talked about root beer, we talked about slushies, we talked about the cottage, and we talked about hot Tubs. But something else that you and I have a love for is Costco. And I got to tell you, I don't know if this is an experience that you have, but whenever I'm in a different place. So, for example, we were in Hawaii and we drove by a Costco, and my wife Amanda immediately knew that we had to go there and we rented a car and she goes, do you want to go to the Costco? And I'm like, no, we're in Hawaii. I didn't want to. But meanwhile, you know. And she's like, I can see it in your face. You want to go to the Costco. And so we went to the Hawaiian Costco. And if there's any Hawaiian listeners out there, anyone who's in Hawaii, uh, I love your Costco. I'm going to say that first on the Big Island. And the reason I love to go to different Costco's is they have different things. So in the Hawaiian Costco, they had surfboards for sale. Chris Bond: Oh, yeah, I believe it. Marco: And they were beautiful. Chris Bond: Yeah. Marco: Now tell me, what do you love about Costco's Costco? Chris Bond: I feel like there's. First of all, there's so much to love about Costco. It's really hard to just pin it back to a handful of things. And I can completely see why you had that experience. Marco, think about when you go to Costco here, you can buy hockey equipment, sticks, bags, hockey tape. I mean, it can be very local. Um, but what's unique about your Costco experience is, first of all, I also like to go there and have the kind of. It's almost a rite of passage. You have the hot dog and soda for A$50. If you want to dabble into the slice of pizza or the chicken wings, you can. It's very extremely reasonably priced. Sometimes I like to do that before I shop. Or sometimes I get a really good kind of, um, I get really hungry and an appetite. Just driving around and seeing all the food and sampling here and there that once I'm done the shopping, I wheel my cart up and then I hit that Costco food really hard. But something. There's. There's an area in Costco and I feel like every Costco has it. Tell me what you think. Marco: Okay. Chris Bond: There's like a middle section that is always a seasonal kind of, um, grab bag, if you will. Marco: Sure. Chris Bond: Of items that show up in the center section. You know, that does the left hand side or. I mean, I'm using my Costco as a template here. But of course, of Course it's your typical areas with your, your spices and your, your hard items, your condiments and soups and. And then you fit to the book Marco: section and the um, underwear and socks section. Chris Bond: There's always the clothes, there's the appliances and the hardware and all those things. And then you get up to the freezers and you get the food and the cheeses and anyway, but there's always a section that's a seasonal section and you never know what's going to be in there. Marco: You're right. Christmas time you get different kinds of wrapping paper. There might be different sort of ornamentational things you can put in front of your house. Uh, you know, summertime, there might be like, um, you never know, you might get that fake grass grass kind of thing with a putter and a couple of blue golf balls. Like there's. It's a grab bag of surprise. Chris Bond: Yeah. And those are the weird things that always get me. And I always make a point to journey through those too. Or three aisles. Sure. I have no idea what's in here. And I usually come out with something. Um, I think most recently I came out with a love seat. Like a camping chair. That was two, was two camping chairs. It's a love seat camping chair. And it was a great value. I think I only paid $50 and it was perfect for camping. And we like to camp and cottage. And I also now I can do it in snuggle with my wife. Um, or I can have both of my kids goof around in it. Marco: Right. Chris Bond: Would you ever think to go to a store and buy a camp like a chair love seat? No. But when it's presented to you at Costco and it's at such a value, you can't help but throw it in your cart. Marco: And the quality is always top notch. So you could buy, you could probably find a double seated, um, camping chair or what do you call them? Um, canvas. Chris Bond: Like a camping chair. No, I think you said, yeah, you Marco: could, you could find that maybe online and through various sort of ordering online websites. And they'd send to you, but the quality wouldn't be what is the standard quality of Costco? Chris Bond: Yeah, and you know you're going to get good quality. And if there is an issue, Costco is great for returns and exchanges. No problems, hardly any questions asked. And I find that the stuff that they do offer, none of it is low quality. Um, no, there's that you will always see something that you never saw. For instance, um, or something unique, uh, like around any, sometimes seasonal Gifts, whether it's a Christmas thing or a Halloween thing, there'll be some Christmas decoration or unique thing or outdoor piece that you would never see anywhere or just think to look for. Marco: Yes. Chris Bond: And there it is. And you look at it and you're like, I want that, but I'm not going to spend a lot of money on it. Oh, it's really reasonably priced. Well, now I can justify buying this unique thing that I was not looking for. So it's always a surprise to go down those seasonal aisles. And I really enjoy it. And a lot of it is. Can be gifts, too. Rando gifts, you know, Chris. Marco: So we're both performers and writers and producers and we both have agents. And so for Christmas or for the holidays, I like to get my agent a thank you gift for all the work that he has gotten me through the year. And I always go to Costco because they'll have. Have unique, high quality items that make a perfect thank you gift or holiday gift. So one year it could be fancy honeys with, um, you know, little dipping sticks and containers and whatnot, or I'm trying to think. But we bought some wonderful items like jams from all over the world and there was like 13 of them, well packaged. And every year it's something different. But I always go to that seasonal section. One time I got, um, actually it was before we went to Hawaii. I got a snorkel mask and fins from the seasonal section. And it was. They were great. And I have them, I put them in my closet so that when we go somewhere tropical, we always pull them out. They have more than you expect. So they have the basic items, but they have a lovely mesh bag that it all fits in. They have, you know, the colors that make them stand out. And there's just something about them, the quality and the way it's made that makes me happy. So I'm a huge Costco fan. Chris Bond: Couldn't agree more. And it might be some kind of outdoor patio furniture. It could be something for camping. It could be. I think one year we bought one of those sun tents, those half shield tents, if you have young children and you're on the beach, so they have some shade, but it's an area they can just, they can sit and play in. Last thing I was thinking of when I went shopping that day, but I saw it and I was like, wow, that isn't expensive at all. Looks handy. I'm gonna grab it. And it feels good and it's. You feel a good value. You didn't have to go Hunting. And it's a surprise. Yeah. So I gotta, I gotta tip my hat to Costco for showing me things I never knew I needed and wanted. Marco: And listen, I just want, I just opened up one of my Costco olive oils, which is my favorite olive oil that I can get. And I get it at Costco. Have you ever purchased a hoodie or a baseball cap from Costco? And if not, I want to talk about that because that's something else that you like. Chris Bond: I do. Um, I can't say I've bought baseball caps, perhaps a hoodie. Um, I've definitely bought like a sports jacket there. And not. When I say sports, Jack, I don't mean like a, like a, like a work jacket, like a fancy jacket. I mean like a sporting, like an Adidas or a Bench or kind of a summer jacket. Um, but I can tell you what I do buy there. I definitely buy my underwear there. Marco: Yes. Chris Bond: I have to, I fully, fully endorse the Calvin Klein, um, elastic waist boxer briefs for comfort and style. They look great, they feel great. They so breathable. I know there's like, there's very fancy underwear that you can get for the value. You can't beat a, uh, three pack for $25 of CK underwear. They're perfect. Marco: There you go. I'm a huge fan of their Kirkland Lake bicycle short underwear. So that's, that's the brand that I gravitate to. Once again, comfortable, stylish and, and well made. But I want to shift back to hoodies and caps. Please let's get away from Costco because I have a list here and We've already spent 10 minutes on Costco and I have a feeling this is going to be a, ah, two parter that we'll record the second part later on. But let's dive into hoodies and baseball caps. Chris Bond: Um, I grew up as a big sports fan. I love baseball. I love sports. I like to support all my teams. But in so much that when I was younger, you know, sports caps kind of became in style as well. Marco: Sure. Chris Bond: So I started to buy caps of different teams just based on I like their logo, I like their colors. So it became more about me not only being a sports fan. It was, did I have a hat that matched the rest of my outfit? Did I have a tracksuit that I wanted to match or a hoodie that I wanted to match my hat to? Nidhi: Right. Chris Bond: And then I started to gravitate towards some of the brand stuff like Kangal or bench, um, or Adidas or just cap sport. Yeah. Just caps. Um, whatever it was. Billabong. Marco: Sure. Chris Bond: Um, just these caps. Because some of the styles were really unique. They weren't just a hard black or green or red. You were getting patterns, and you were getting leather, and you were getting just some unique looks. And, uh, I've just continued to kind of buy them and be interested in them, and, uh, I. Hasn't stopped. I would say I buy maybe two hats a year, maybe. Yeah, maybe three. Marco: How many in your entire collection? Chris Bond: Um, I would say I have. Here's the thing is, I'm married with children, and I live in a very small condo, and so space is at a premium. So I would say that maybe annually or every other year, my wife says, you got to get rid of some of these hats. Nidhi: Okay. Chris Bond: Okay. So the collection is always in flux. Marco: I see. Chris Bond: I would say I got about 30 to 40 hats, okay. That are living in the house, and I think I have 10 that are on, like, a permanent rotation. Marco: Your top four, five hats. What are they? Caps, I should say. Chris Bond: Ooh. I have a. My favorite one I have right now is a. Is a white Toronto Raptors world champion hat. But it's a beautiful, um, Mitchell and, um, that throwback company, Mitchell and Ness. Marco: Okay. Chris Bond: It's all white with, like, white embroidery with the, uh, the Larry o' Brien trophy on the side. There was a lot of championship Raptor gear that came out, and this I thought was just beautiful. You can't even really, at a glance, see that it's a Raptors championship hat. Marco: Okay. Chris Bond: Once you really look at it, you can o. I see world champion Raptors. So it's style more than Raptors. But I obviously, I'm a huge Toronto Raptors fan, so I also have a Toronto Raptors regular championship hat that I enjoy, and I wear. I would say top five. You said. Oh, boy. I have another Toronto Raptors hat that is a trucker hat. Okay. So it has a plaid finish with the old vintage dinosaur logo on it that's really oversized. Marco: Okay. Chris Bond: Um, so I really enjoy wearing that. Most of the caps I wear are flat caps. You know, it's a bit more of a hip, hip hop kind of urban look, um, that I do wear, but sometimes I like the properly baseball ridged cap. Marco: In other words, bend it, bend it. So it has, like, almost like a C shape over your eye eyebrows. Let's. Chris Bond: Yes. Marco: Okay. Chris Bond: Uh, yeah, I. So I like that. Another cap that I wear more of, like, baseball style is. I have a Quebec Nordic hat. Again, this is Mitchell and Ness throwback. They make some of the best hats, uh, Wearer and Mitchell and Ness make some of the best stuff. Marco: And so are they comfortable to wear or they're just stylish in a way that no other cap is stylish? Chris Bond: Well, I mean you can get, listen, baseball hats or caps, they can get very expensive and you can get very specific. Uh, some of the cheaper ones that are, have the kind of the plastic adjustable fit. Marco: Right. Chris Bond: Those are great. But when you start getting into like more. I don't want to call them bespoke fits but specific hat sizes. Like your seven and three quarters. Marco: Right. Chris Bond: Um, those can get very expensive. You know, once you really know your hat size you can get some very specific looks and hats. And I love those hats. They just fit so much better than the adjustable. Marco: Yeah. Chris Bond: And they're so much more comfortable because they're, they're fitted for your head. Um, what's interesting is you get that fitted hat and then you get a haircut and all of a sudden that hat feels a little looser. Marco: Um, what is your hat size? Just for future reference? Chris Bond: I think I'm seven and three quarters. That's. I think I said it. Yeah. Marco: Always like you know, Chris Bond's birthday, Christmas. I need to know these things, you know. Chris Bond: Yeah. If I need another hat, if my wife has thrown out some and I need to replenish. Marco: So Quebec North Dinks hat. What is. I think you got one more or two more hats to put on this list. Chris Bond: Um, uh, the Quebec Nordique I have. Marco: Do you have one that's a non sports cap that you like to wear? Chris Bond: I do. I have a hat that I really love. It's my, it's an Evil Dead the Musical hat that it's, it's a beautifully made uh, it was, I think it was new era but it was a fashioned style of like new era cap with the embroidered logo. I mean obviously that's some merchandise from um, a project I've worked on but uh, I've had it for years. It's a great fit. I try to only wear it on special occasions or when I'm doing. If I'm going to like a, like a fan expo or something kind of nerdy or genre based, I might pop that on. Um, I also have, I still love my, my kangal, my vintage kangal caps. All white or all black with just the kangaroo. Um, I also have a tan colored one that's got some leather on it. Marco: I um, know that one. Yep. Yeah, I've seen that. Yeah. Chris Bond: But I try to rotate them. I also have Some really older caps. I have a Seattle Supersonics. I know I'm saying sports, but this is a team that doesn't exist anymore. Marco: Right. Chris Bond: From when they did exist. Uh, kind of the old school starter, um, caps, when this was in vogue in the late 80s, early 90s. Marco: This is an original, um, sports team cap that doesn't exist versus the Quebec Nordiques, which is no longer a team. Uh, retro made hat. Chris Bond: Correct. Yeah. Mitchell and Ness does a lot of, like, bringing these caps back and bringing these styles back, which is great. Mostly focused on basketball and hockey. Uh, but, uh, I bet if you live in Seattle, there's a ton of the Supersonic stuff, but when you live in Toronto, there isn't. So I have this old. Before I was a Raptor fan, I was a Supersonics fan. Um, so I had Sonic's stuff and I still have them and I wear them from time to time. But yeah, I have a general rotation of hats. And then every now and then I might sub in something special from the vintage collection, uh, if you will. Marco: This is amazing. Okay, so what makes a good hoodie? And tell our listeners what a hoodie is in case they call it something else. Chris Bond: Well, I think it's, um, like a heavy sweater with a hood. You know, maybe it's got drawstring to, you know, firm up the hood. Uh, it could be. There's different kinds of hoodies. There's. Whether it's a, uh, half zipper, a full zipper, or it's just a pullover. I think those all qualify as hoodies. There's even hoodies that are sleeveless that, ah, you might wear a T shirt underneath. Marco: Right. Chris Bond: It's a little more for fashion than it is for comfort or warmth. Marco: In parts of Canada, they'll call, um, the hoodie a snuggle bunny. I think it's those pullover ones that have, you know, the pockets that you can sort of put in the middle of your. Chris Bond: Oh, that's a snuggle bunny. Marco: Yeah, I think that's a snuggle. But I think. I think it's used more in the Prairies of Canada, where they use that term. But it's a Canadian term. Chris Bond: I have those. Yeah, absolutely. Um, they're great. Um, yeah, I think the hoodie is very in vogue, definitely in kind of urban circles. And, you know, you're getting my. I'm wearing the flat hats and the hoodies, but a lot of it is for comfort. It is fashionable and it is comfortable. I like a bigger set. Ah, hoodie. Um, it's something Easy to throw on if it's just chilly outside. Marco: Sure. Chris Bond: I, um, find that what I love about hoodies is actually the hood. If I'm outside and get a little cool, throw up the hoodie. The hoodies also keep my ear set in place when I have my apple ear pods on. Marco: Sure, of course. Chris Bond: Kind of helps with my weird shaped ears. Um, and there's, I mean, there's so many ways you can go. Whether it's. If you're looking for a sports style hoodie or something that has. Is embroidered with something that might be something nerdy. Right. Fun. I mean, I have, I have a We Like Theme Parks podcast hoodie that I was, I got off t public that I had made that I love. I wear it at the theme parks. Comfortable. Marco: Uh, I just want to mention that's your podcast called We Like Theme Parks and if there's people who are fans of that, can they get that hoodie too? Or is it just an exclusive one for you? Chris Bond: Nope. Absolutely. All the we like theme park T shirt stuff is available on Teepublic. If you go to the We like theme parks podcast welikethemeparks.com there's a link to Teepublic. If you go through there, you can find all our stuff. Marco: What is Teepublic and should I have an Insomnia project something on this Teepublic? Chris Bond: Why not? You absolutely could. Um, it's a, it's a reseller of T shirts where you can. The beauty part of it is there's a zillion different designs on the site. So if you're nerding out about anything that you're interested in, let's say, Marco, you like pizza and you type in pizza. There's going to be 200 different designs of pizza that you can order on a shirt and you can customize the size, the style of shirt, whatever you like. Completely customizable. And it isn't just stop at shirts, it's mugs, it's anything you want. Stickers, you name it. Marco: Um, so I'll leave that open to my Patreons or my patrons here on Patreon if they want to Insomnia project merchandise. Um, if not, check out We Like Theme Parks on Teepublic and maybe you'll, you'll gravitate to the hoodie that you speak of. Anyways, continue. I'm sorry, I felt, feel like I cut you off there and you were getting right into. Chris Bond: My point is, is that you could design something yourself for the Insubnia project or Even if you have catchphrases or things like. Or parts of the show that you want to express in a shirt, it doesn't just have to be your logo. It could be anything. Marco: Oh, cool. Chris Bond: So in theme park land, uh, what's very in vogue in theme parks right now is wearing a shirt or a group of you wearing the same shirts or something that expresses your theme park fandom. Whether it's, I'm a Disney princess or, you know, uh, Walt's got all my money, or my other car is a minivan. Uh, Dole whips. Dole whips and dole whips, what have you. Uh, there's a ton of that stuff, and some of it is stuff that we designed ourselves at Wayne, like theme park. We like theme parks that's available on Teepublic. But also other designers have been other stuff too. But, Marco, you could just add your own designs and have a line of, Marco: uh, listen, project where I'll leave it to my patrons. If they think I should do it, I'll do it. Otherwise, I'm just gonna. I'll. I'll let that. For you. For you. Maybe I could have a pajama or a night shirt or, you know, those sleep masks and write listen on one eye and where your nose would be and then sleep on the other eye. We'll see. We'll figure that out. But I never heard of that. So that's why I was. Chris Bond: Yeah. One of these guys. Yeah. I love it. Marco: Yeah. Chris Bond: When I. When you said sleep mask, I immediately thought of something for, um. What do you call it? Like, the oxygen masks? Marco: Oh, the. Like the. Chris Bond: The sleep apnea masks. Marco: Yeah. Chris Bond: Customizable sleep apnea. Marco: I don't know about that. That might be a little bit much, but, um, I want to jump now from hoodies to another thing that you and I share that we enjoy, and that's pizza. Because you're a big connoisseur of pizza. I'm a big connoisseur of pizza. I think our listeners. I'm sorry if this is making you hungry, but what makes a good pizza for you? Chris Bond: Chris, I would say that we. I would wager that you and I have different tastes when it comes to pizza. Okay, Marco, you are authentically Italian, and I'm sure you appreciate a very good pizza. And I think we've had some nice pizza together. Uh, a pizza where you said, chris, you must try this pizza. And I went and I tried it, but I have very simple tastes as well, and I like big lot of. A lot of meat and Sauce and cheese, uh, a lot of spice. I like really, uh, rich. And I will haven't say the way you can say the word dirty. Dirty pizza. Marco: Okay. Chris Bond: There's a pizza right now in the city. Can I talk about something local? Marco: Yes. Chris Bond: That I love trying to think of the name of it. It's Detroit style pizza. Have you had Detroit style pizza? Marco: Uh, yes, I have. And Detroit style pizza for our listeners. Do you know what makes it Detroit style pizza? Chris Bond: I think it's the pan. It's a pan pizza. Marco: It's the pan pizza. But it's also important that the cheese gets distributed towards the edge of the pan so it forms like a cheese crust on the side of the pizza. And it tends to be a thicker pizza, not like a Chicago style pizza, which is very thick, but thicker than let's say a, uh, wood oven pizza. And they tend to be more square in shape. Is that true? Like they're more rectangular square. Okay, so that's. That if I'm not mistaken, is what sort of helps define Detroit style pizza. Sorry. Sorry to interrupt. Chris Bond: No, you're not. No. You've opened up a really interesting topic of debate because a Chicago style deep dish is a lot of bread, it's a lot of dough, and I think the cheese goes underneath the ingredients. You know what I mean? Um, yeah. Marco: It becomes more. Truly is more like a pie. Chris Bond: Yeah. Marco: Than what we know pizza to be, in my opinion. In other words, it's deep dish. You get the cheese, um, underneath and everything else is on top. So it can be very, um, wet. It can be a very wet pizza. Chris Bond: Yeah. Anyway, but as far as being Italian goes, that Detroit style pizza has like a focaccia kind of experience. When you think of when you make a nice focacciata when it's, it's typically can be in a pan, you've got your olive oil and you might slice the cheeses and put them inside. I feel like this is a really nice medium where you get that, that really oiled kind of pan bread with all the nice, uh, spices and you know what makes a really good focaccia, but, but, but just riddled with rich, lot of sauce, a lot of cheese right up to the edges like Marco was suggesting. And I got to tell you, the Detroit style pizza is kind of my favorite right now. But it's not cheap. It's a, it's a premium pizza. When you want to have it, it's. It's pretty fancy. And this isn't anything like any, um. What's the Detroit Style pizza that we have here. Little Caesars. Marco: Right. Chris Bond: I still, I still enjoy Little Caesars. Marco: Um, but if that's not Detroit style, Little Caesars is just your regular sort of. Chris Bond: It's not Detroit style, but it's pizza from Detroit. Like the Little Caesars is from Detroit. Marco: Oh, is it really? I didn't know that. Chris Bond: Mike Ilitch is the Little Caesars King. He owns the Rebels and the Pistons and all of Detroit. He's the guy, um, the Detroit pizza man. But. So they have Detroit pizza, but this is a Detroit style pizza. And I believe the restaurant in Toronto is called Descendants. Marco: I. I thought it was called Detroit style Pizza, but maybe that's just. It's. It's logo or whatever. Chris Bond: Maybe there's more than one. Marco: There's one not too far from your house on Queen Street. I believe that's Descendants. Chris Bond: Yeah, it's okay. Marco: So it's Descendants. Okay. Chris Bond: Yeah, it's, uh, really great. It's probably my favorite pizza. And recently I had a birthday with my dad, and my dad is a huge pizza guy. And so what I did was I got four different pizzas. I got his favorite pizza that I know he like I said, what's your favorite pizza, dad? Marco: And what was it? Chris Bond: It's from Papa DiGiorgio's, which is near our good friend Trevor and Dale's house. Marco: Yes. Chris Bond: It's called the Godfather pizza. It's got like Sicilian sausage on it. Delicious pizza. So I got that and then I went and I got one of these Detroit style pizzas as well. Marco: Which flavors did you get for that? Chris Bond: It was a very Canadian kind of excel, bacon, button mushrooms, uh, pepperoni, onion. Yum, yum. And then I went and got a Little Caesar's pizza because I wanted the pizza with the cheese and the crust. Marco: Okay. Chris Bond: To have that experience. And then I got a pizza Nova Marco: Pizza, also a great pizza. Chris Bond: I love it. Marco: I love a pizza Nova pizza. Chris Bond: Yeah. Good. Marco: I really do. Yeah. Chris Bond: But something simple. I got that one because the kids just like pepperoni and cheese. And I thought my dad might turn his nose up to the other pizzas. But my dad was all over this Descendants Detroit pizza and was like, this is the best pizza I've ever had. Marco: What a lovely idea. If you have a friend or someone who really enjoys pizza and it's a spirit special day for them to go and get their favorite pizza, your favorite pizza in the third or fourth different style pizza for you to have. Truly a pizza party for their birthday or special occasion. Chris Bond: Yeah, that's a legit pizza party. But Marco, let's talk about your pizza, because I know you have, like, I think you have more refined taste. You're a bit more of a gourmand in your sensibilities when it comes to pizza. Marco: Well, here's my thing. You can listen to my podcast, Eat and Drink, where I take deep dives into pizzas I like. I'll just say this when I go to a pizza restaurant, a pizzeria, let's say, not a, uh, not a sort of takeout or order, but when you sit down and you could have pizzas or pastas, let's say I, uh, will always get the simplest pizza, like a margherita, because that's where you can tell if the pizzeria knows what they're doing. Because it's got three ingredients, so you can't mask mistakes and you can't make it taste better by adding a lot of different flavors or putting so much spice in it that you can't taste anything else. The margherita pizza will tell you if the place that you're in truly knows what they're doing. Chris Bond: It's true. Marco: And Chris, I gotta say, we have to talk about night markets, cars, jeeps, freezies, um, apple cider board games. We're going to have to do that. Another episode down the line for our patrons. So I hope you enjoyed this bit of a dive or this continuation with my buddy Chris, as we dived into topics that we both share and enjoy and other ones that you have an expertise in. Thank, uh, you so much for doing this again. Chris Bond: So happy to be here. And, uh, I think it's great that you're shining a light on some of these delicious pizzas for some of your patrons to enjoy. Marco: But I hope, uh, whoever was listening was able to just chill and enjoy this episode because I certainly enjoyed doing it with you. Chris Bond: Chris. Thank you so much. I enjoyed it too, Marco. Thanks. Marco: Check out his podcast if you haven't already. We like theme parks. Wherever you listen to this podcast, you'll find his folks. Until next time, I hope you listen and sleep sa. |
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
May 2026
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