February 22, 2025 • 23 mins
There wee some audio problems with the original release so here is release 2.
Ever wondered why we say "paint the town red"? Step back in time to 1837 and join us as we unravel the thrilling escapade of the Marquis of Waterford, whose mischievous antics gave birth to this colorful expression. From wild night stories to hangover cures, we explore the quirky history of idioms like "hair of the dog," offering a humorous glimpse into how old remedies play into modern-day life. My grandson Blake’s unexpected encounter with an empty cannabis box prompts a personal reflection on the discoveries that shape my podcast's journey and broader life perspectives.
Switching gears to a more serious note, idioms like "read the riot act" and "mad as a hatter" lead us into a vital conversation about gun safety. As a trained firearm safety instructor, I share a real-life account of Blake's commendable actions in a tense situation involving a supposed firearm, underscoring the challenges of teaching and enforcing safety rules. Discover how a child's responsible behavior can spark unexpected responses from others, and join me in appreciating the lighter side of life—as I've found solace in cooking shows amidst the intensity of true crime narratives.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Welcome to Grandpa Is Him, a fun microcast about
everything and nothing inordinary life.
I am your host, lynn Dimmick,and if I'm your host then you're
my guest and I hope that youwill enjoy this time that you
spend with me.
Thank you for joining me onGrandpa Is Him.
As I said in my intro episode afew months ago, this podcast is
(00:32):
supposed to be an insight intomy everyday life, the things I
think, the things I experienceNothing earth-shattering, and
today is not going to be anydifferent.
This podcast, or this microcastas I refer to it, will have a
lot of different thingshappening, a lot of changes, a
lot of experimentation and a lotof learning, so I appreciate
(00:54):
that you're going along for theride with me.
In this episode, I want toshare with you some of the meta
items that go on into a podcast.
I also have some idioms thatI'm going to share with you that
I've recorded over the past fewmonths, and I've got a review
and a discussion about a TV showinvolving Harry Hamlin.
(01:14):
I think you'll find that oneinteresting.
I've got a story about a youngboy finding what he thought were
drugs that I want to share withyou.
And finally, I'm going to sharewith you a story about what
happens when a young boy findssomething wrong.
He says something, and whatsome of those consequences are
and how they're not always whatwe think they should be.
(01:35):
I'm going to start things offby sharing with you the idiom of
painting the town red and howit came to be.
Just remember that for everyone of these stories there's a
hundred different versions, andthis is the best version I could
find.
Sometimes we hear the phrasepaint the town red.
It's a fun phrase that peopleuse when they're going out for a
(01:56):
wild night, like partying orcelebrating.
It basically means to go out,have a blast and maybe get a
little rowdy.
But, funny enough, there'sactually some debate about where
this colorful expressionactually came from.
One popular story says thatback in 1837 in England, when
the Marquis of Waterford, whowas well known for being a
(02:17):
mischievous prankster, went outwith his friends in a small town
called Melton Mowbray.
They were on a wild spree,getting into all sorts of
trouble, and they literallypainted the town red, like they
covered buildings, doors andeven a tollgate in red paint.
The chaos made headlines and itseems like the phrase might
have stuck around as a way ofsaying you're out for a
(02:39):
memorable, over-the-top goodtime.
It could also just come fromthe idea of bright red as an
intense, attention-grabbingcolor, kind of like how we say
seeing red when we're mad orred-letter day for a special
occasion.
Either way, when people saythey're going to paint the town
red, you know they're planningon cutting loose and making it a
night to remember.
(02:59):
One of the consequences ofpainting the town red may be the
next morning when you wake upand you're just not feeling good
.
Some people are said to havethe hair of the dog, or they
need the hair of the dog, so letme share with you what I found
out about that idiom.
The phrase hair of the dogcomes from an old folk remedy
for rabies.
(03:20):
People used to believe that ifyou were bitten by a rabid dog,
you could treat it by puttingsome of that same dog's hair on
the wound.
The idea was that a little bitof what harmed you could also
help you.
Almost like the fight fire withfire concept when it comes to
drinking, hair of the dog nowmeans taking a small drink of
alcohol to ease a hangover.
(03:40):
The logic is similar you gotsick from drinking too much, so
a little bit more might help youfeel better, while there's no
real science behind it and it'sreally not a cure.
It's become a common phrasepeople use jokingly about
hangovers.
Now let's take a break from theidioms and let me share with you
a story about Blake findingsome drugs.
(04:02):
I think that this will remindall of us about some of the
adventures we had when we wereyoung.
Last week on one afternoon Igot a phone call from my
grandson, blake, and, as you mayknow, blake is a real explorer
up there where he lives, and hetold me he says Grandpa, guess
what?
And I said what?
And he says I think I foundsomebody's drug stash.
(04:24):
My first thought was to tellhim don't touch it.
So I said don't touch it andshow me what you got.
So he brought it up on videoand it was a box like a point of
sale box that's had some kindof edible in it.
And I said why do you thinkit's drugs?
He says well, I think I sawthis before.
So he showed me the box and itsaid cannabis on it.
(04:48):
Now my first thought was okay,can this get me into trouble?
And the answer was no.
My second thought was is Blakegoing to get into trouble.
No.
My third thought was can I usethis on the podcast?
And that was a yes.
So I told him to open the box,filming it so that we'd have a
(05:08):
record of it, and it was empty,no-transcript.
One of the unintendedconsequences of starting a
podcast is that you start tolook at other podcasts, tv shows
, movies a little bit different,to try and pick out the things
they're doing and evaluatingthem to see if it makes sense to
(05:30):
try and incorporate some ofthose ideas.
One of my favorite genres ismysteries and true crime, and I
can't always watch those orlisten to those as much as I
would like to and, to be honest,there's only so much true crime
that I can stomach.
So what I have found is analternative to true crime and
(05:51):
violence, and that would becooking shows.
If you think about it, it hasall of the elements of a mystery
.
They don't always know whatthey're going to make, they
don't know how they're going toget there, they're not sure what
the answer is, and it's anentertaining route.
So I enjoy a lot of the cookingcompetitions.
I don't really enjoy the how todo things, but I do like to
(06:13):
watch the shows and try and pickout little tidbits to try and
make things make a little bitmore sense.
For instance, why do you wantuniform cuts on your vegetables
and your meat?
Not because it looks nice,although that is a benefit.
You need to make sure thatthey're the same size, the same
mass, so they cook at the sametime.
You don't want raw vegetables,with overcooked vegetables.
(06:37):
I'm not even sure you reallywant vegetables, but that's
another story.
In the course of watching shows,I came across one that I
thought was kind of interesting.
It was called In the Kitchenwith Harry Hamlin.
Now, for those of you who arewell your age, I guess I first
(06:59):
became aware of Harry Hamlin inLA Law, and so I thought he was
a good actor, so I kind oflooked for him once in a while.
Now, harry Hamlin has neverbeen known as a great cook in
the television world that I'vebeen exposed to, so I was
curious to see what the show wasabout, and it was kind of
interesting because he's notreally teaching you how to cook.
The premise is is that he makespretty good food.
He has a niece who is a trainedchef, so she helps him.
(07:22):
So I thought, well, let's justwatch this and see why they
think this is a special show.
And the first couple of episodesreally I didn't learn anything.
I really did not learn anythingand they weren't anything
special.
He wasn't following traditionalrecipes, he was making things
up as he went.
He didn't try and telleverybody that he knew
everything, but what made theshow interesting was the
(07:44):
interactions that he had withhis dinner guests.
Because he's from Hollywood, heknows a lot of people there and
he makes them dinner and hegives them to sit down and talk
about their life and theircareer.
To me that was a fascinatingpart, not because they're stars,
but because it takes them outof their star world and makes
them a little bit morepersonable.
And I really appreciated that.
(08:04):
And that's kind of thedirection I've tried to go with
this podcast is to take peopleout of their famous setting or
what they're well-known for andtry and make them a little bit
more accessible I don't want tosay common, but easily to
approach, more understandableand more human.
So that's kind of the premisebehind this and I appreciate
that Harry Hamlin did it.
(08:25):
Now let's jump back and I'll goahead and share a couple more
idioms with you.
Bob's, your uncle is a fun,brutish saying that basically
means something super easy orguaranteed to work out.
You'll usually hear it aftersomeone gives instructions like
saying do this, then that andboom, bob's your uncle, meaning
everything will turn out justfine.
(08:46):
The origin isn't totally clear,but a common theory links it to
Robert Cecil, who was a BritishPrime Minister in the late
1800s.
Apparently he gave his nephew,arthur Balfour, a bunch of
important jobs, so the phrasekind of hints that if Bob is
your uncle, you're going tosucceed thanks to his
connections.
(09:06):
People started using it more inthe 20th century and it's got
this easygoing, informal vibe.
So now when people say Bob'syour uncle, they're basically
saying follow these steps andyou're golden.
I've only heard Bob's youruncle used a couple of times, so
it was kind of an interestingone.
This next one you're all goingto be familiar with, and I found
(09:26):
it fascinating because of thestory behind it.
It did not even make sense tome until I heard this, and I
think it's a great one.
The phrase white elephant is allabout something that costs a
ton to keep but doesn't reallygive you much in return, or it
could be a gift that's moretrouble than it's worth.
It actually comes from a legendin Southeast Asia, specifically
(09:48):
Thailand, which used to becalled Siam.
Back then, white elephants weresuper rare and considered
sacred.
They were symbols of power andprestige, so they were often
given to kings or otherimportant people.
But because they were sacred,you couldn't use them for
regular work.
You had to take care of them inthis super luxurious way, which
(10:09):
made them really expensive tomaintain basically a huge
financial drain instead of ahelpful gift.
According to the legend,siamese kings would sometimes
give these white elephants topeople they didn't like.
The person couldn't refuse thegift because it was such a big
honor, but then they'd be stuckwith all the crazy costs of
caring for the elephant, whichwould eventually ruin them
(10:31):
financially.
These days we use whiteelephant to talk about anything
that's super expensive to keepup but not really worth it.
And of course it's also tied tothose white elephant gift
exchanges where people give eachother silly, impractical or
totally useless gifts.
I guess the title of thisepisode is going to have to
reflect Blake's participation init.
(10:53):
Now I got a phone call againanother one from Blake one
afternoon and he says hey,grandpa, I'm down at the ravine,
what is this?
And he sent me a picture of abarrel and I said I don't know
what does it say on it?
And so he got a little bitcloser.
He scanned in and it's a danger, keep away, flammable.
And I said, blake, don't messwith it, go home, tell your dad
(11:17):
about it, tell your mom, tellthem to call the police, because
on it it said flammable, do nottouch.
And all those other scarythings.
Given that this happened rightaround Christmas, it concerned
me because I was thinking thatit might've been some kind of
fuel or something they used forillegal fireworks, because there
are a lot of fireworks that gooff New Year's Eve.
Well, it turns out that Blakedid exactly as I told him.
(11:42):
He went home and told his dad,told his mom, his mother called
the fire department.
Well, she called 911, emergencyservices.
Emergency services showed upwith a police car, three fire
trucks and two ambulancesbecause they didn't know what
they were walking into.
So Dustin went over and talkedto the police and said hey, it's
(12:04):
my kid that called this in, andthe officer was very grateful.
He said it didn't turn out tobe much.
I think it was cleaning fluidor antifreeze or something, but
he said it was something thatwas dangerous enough to where
they needed to deal with it.
So they did have a large hazmatresponse and I am really proud
of Blake for doing what wasright and not just blowing it
(12:27):
off.
And now let's go over a couplemore idioms and then I've got a
serious story that I want toshare with you, and I'd like to
get some feedback on this storyand get your thoughts.
When someone says, read the riotact, they're talking about
giving a serious warning or astrong reprimand.
Usually when someone's behaviorisn't cutting it, it basically
(12:48):
means they're telling someone toknock it off or face the
consequences.
This saying actually comes fromback in the early 1700s in
England.
There was a law called the RiotAct of 1714, which allowed
authorities to declare a groupof 12 or more people as an
unlawful assembly.
If a crowd was causing trouble,officials had to read a part of
(13:08):
the Riot Act out loud to geteveryone to break it up.
That reading was like a formalwarning that if people didn't
listen they could get intoserious trouble such as getting
arrested.
Now the phrase is used morebroadly.
It doesn't have to involve anactual riot, it just means
someone is getting a serioustalking to about their behavior.
For example, you might hear,after all the trouble he caused,
(13:32):
the manager finally read himthe riot act.
Now, this next idiom I alwaysassociated with Alice in
Wonderland and it is associatedwith it, but in a different way.
It's the one that gave rise toa piece of Alice in Wonderland
and not the other way around.
Enjoy this one.
The phrase mad as a hatter meanssomeone is acting totally crazy
(13:54):
or super eccentric.
It's often used to describepeople behaving in a completely
irrational or wild way.
The saying comes from back inthe 18th and 19th centuries,
when hat makers or hatters usedmercury to cure felt for hats.
After being around that stufftoo long, it messed with their
nervous system and made them actwell, a little mad.
(14:16):
So hatters at the time startedgetting a reputation for being
unstable, which is how thephrase caught on.
It really became popular thanksto Lewis Carroll's Alice's
Adventures in Wonderland, withthe Mad Hatter character, who's
all kinds of weird and eccentric.
Nowadays people use the phrasein a more lighthearted way, like
if someone stayed up all nightand acted a little loopy the
(14:38):
next day, you might say he wasas bad as a hatter at work.
This next story I'm going toshare with you also involves
Blake, but this one is not onthe lighter side and is
something that I take veryseriously.
As we prepare to move intoanother adventure of Blake's, I
want to set the scene and giveyou some background information.
(14:58):
Growing up, I've always enjoyedtarget shooting, making holes
in paper, and there's justsomething very therapeutic and
fun and it's just something thatguys like to do.
My kids grew up enjoyingshooting, and so I knew that my
grandchildren would be exposedto the same experiences.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
One of my biggest concerns throughout my entire
life was a lot of big guns, so Iknew that my grandchildren
would be exposed to the sameexperiences and actions, so I
decided that I needed to makesure that everyone was safe.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
As I grew up, I observed that people adults who
have been around firearms theirentire life should be very
trained.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
And so I wanted to make sure that there was a
poignant structure for thesafety that we were using.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
So several years ago I became a trained, certified
firearm safety instructor aswell as a range safety officer.
My purpose here was twofoldNumber one, to educate people,
to make sure they're safe andthey follow the rules, and
number two, to make sure thatwhenever we shot, there was
someone there who knew what therules were and couldn't force
(15:53):
them.
To make sure that everybody hada safe, enjoyable experience,
because this is such a criticallife skill.
I have taught my grandchildrenthe four rules for basic safety.
Number one stop If you see agun, stop.
Number two rule do not touch it.
Number three rule run away.
Number four tell an adult.
(16:15):
I do not want them trying todisarm a firearm, move it or
anything else, because there'sno telling what kind of accident
could happen.
They need to get somebodyinvolved that knows what they're
doing.
Now, recently, blake had anexperience where this came into
question use and uh review.
(16:35):
So bl, where did this all start?
Speaker 2 (16:39):
It started when my friend came over to my house and
said I have a gun.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Okay, he said he has a gun.
So then, where did you go?
What did you do?
Speaker 2 (16:47):
We went to the ravine by my house to like explore and
play.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Okay, and then what happened?
And then he told me, did itlook like a gun?
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Yeah, it looked just like a gun.
There was no like red cap onthe end or anything.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Okay, and he said it was loaded.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
He said it was loaded yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
All right.
So you got done at the ravine,you went home and what did you
do?
Speaker 2 (17:07):
I told my parents.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
You told your parents , so you stopped, you didn't
touch it, you left where the gunwas, and then you went and told
your parents, so you followedthe basic gun rules that you've
been trained with.
Now, what did your parents dowhen they found out about this
or heard about this?
Speaker 2 (17:22):
They called the school and told my principal.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Okay, that's exactly what should happen, because a
child who's in the fourth, fifthor sixth grade should never
have a firearm at a school.
Now, the thing that was sodisturbing here, in fact, before
I even get to that.
So, blake, what did theprincipal do?
Speaker 2 (17:44):
The principal called me into his office and just
asked me like you thought it wasa gun and that I did the right
thing.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
Okay, so the principal told you you did the
right thing.
See something, say something.
Okay, so the principal told youyou did the right thing.
See something, say something.
The principal then called inthat child and the child's
parents.
They reviewed what was going onand, blake, what did this gun
really turn out to be?
Speaker 2 (18:06):
A pocket knife.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
A pocket knife, but he said it was a gun.
So the thing that I found mostdisturbing was the parents'
response to Blake doing what wasright, and that was they told
the child that he was no longerallowed to associate with or be
around Blake because Blake hadtold somebody about this knife
(18:30):
that looked like a gun that thechild had reported as a gun.
I'm very baffled by theresponse of the parents and I'm
trying to understand why theywould do that and how that could
be justified.
What I would like to do is askfor your feedback, share with me
your thoughts and tell me howshould this have been handled?
(18:51):
Was it handled appropriately?
Why the parents would do that,titled appropriately?
Why the parents would do that.
My email address isgrandpaishimcom at gmailcom Kind
of a wonky address, but it'sgrandpaishimcom at gmailcom.
Send me your responses and yourthoughts and I'll share some of
(19:11):
those on the air if you'd like,and I would kind of like to
just understand how thishappened.
Blake, thank you so much andwe'll move on to your next
adventure.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Yay, I will have more adventures.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Yes, Before I close out this abbreviated edition of
this podcast, I want to sharewith you just a couple more
idioms that I thought were kindof fun, and we'll be back
together with you in two weeks.
We'll be picking up some moreissues concerning privacy.
The phrase stealing someone'sthunder has some pretty cool
origins story.
It goes all the way back to theearly 1700s.
(19:43):
It started with a playwrightnamed John Dennis.
He invented a new way to makethunder sounds for his play
Appius in Virginia.
As usually happens, his playwas a failure.
Not long after, dennis went tosee a production of Macbeth and
was shocked to hear that theywere using his thunder sound
effect.
He got super mad and supposedlyyelled Damn them, they won't
(20:07):
let my play run, but they'llsteal my thunder.
And from that moment on, thephrase steal someone's thunder
became a way of describing whensomeone takes credit for your
ideas or achievements or usessomething.
You planned to get all theattention.
And now it's time for our lastidiom, thanks.
Here's one that has a funbackstory.
(20:28):
The phrase red herring refersto a distraction, something that
leads you off the main track todivert you.
Imagine you're trying to solvea mystery and then you get
thrown off by a completelyirrelevant clue.
That's a red herring.
You see, these types of thingspop up in almost every mystery
these days.
Now the term actually comesfrom a trick they used to use
(20:50):
back in the day when peoplewould train hunting dogs.
Smoked herrings which arereally fish that turned a
reddish brownbrown color whenthey were cured were used in
training because they had asuper strong scent.
The trainers would drag thesefish across the trail of an
animal the dogs were tracking totry to confuse them.
The purpose of this was toteach them to stay focused on
(21:10):
the original scent instead ofgetting distracted by the
fishing smell.
So a red herring became a wayto describe something that's
intentionally misleading ordistracting.
Thank you for tuning in to thisepisode of Grandpa Is Him.
(21:33):
We hope you enjoyed ourdiscussion and stories and maybe
even found some inspiration foryour own family adventures.
Now we want to hear from you.
What questions do you have orwhat topics would you like us to
explore in future episodes?
What stories can you share?
Share your ideas?
Simply visit our website atgrandpaishimcom and fill out the
(21:55):
submission form.
You can also reach out to us onemail at grandpaishimcom, at
gmailcom.
We're always looking for yourthoughts and experiences.
So don't be shy, join theconversation and help us create
the content that matters to youand your family.
Until next time, keep laughing,keep sharing and keep those
(22:17):
ideas coming.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
I wish I had never said grandpa's hand, you, you.
Welcome to Grandpa Is Him, a fun microcast about
everything and nothing inordinary life.
I am your host, lynn Dimmick,and if I'm your host then you're
my guest and I hope that youwill enjoy this time that you
spend with me.
Thank you for joining me onGrandpa Is Him.
As I said in my intro episode afew months ago, this podcast is
(00:32):
supposed to be an insight intomy everyday life, the things I
think, the things I experienceNothing earth-shattering, and
today is not going to be anydifferent.
This podcast, or this microcastas I refer to it, will have a
lot of different thingshappening, a lot of changes, a
lot of experimentation and a lotof learning, so I appreciate
(00:54):
that you're going along for theride with me.
In this episode, I want toshare with you some of the meta
items that go on into a podcast.
I also have some idioms thatI'm going to share with you that
I've recorded over the past fewmonths, and I've got a review
and a discussion about a TV showinvolving Harry Hamlin.
(01:14):
I think you'll find that oneinteresting.
I've got a story about a youngboy finding what he thought were
drugs that I want to share withyou.
And finally, I'm going to sharewith you a story about what
happens when a young boy findssomething wrong.
He says something, and whatsome of those consequences are
and how they're not always whatwe think they should be.
(01:35):
I'm going to start things offby sharing with you the idiom of
painting the town red and howit came to be.
Just remember that for everyone of these stories there's a
hundred different versions, andthis is the best version I could
find.
Sometimes we hear the phrasepaint the town red.
It's a fun phrase that peopleuse when they're going out for a
(01:56):
wild night, like partying orcelebrating.
It basically means to go out,have a blast and maybe get a
little rowdy.
But, funny enough, there'sactually some debate about where
this colorful expressionactually came from.
One popular story says thatback in 1837 in England, when
the Marquis of Waterford, whowas well known for being a
(02:17):
mischievous prankster, went outwith his friends in a small town
called Melton Mowbray.
They were on a wild spree,getting into all sorts of
trouble, and they literallypainted the town red, like they
covered buildings, doors andeven a tollgate in red paint.
The chaos made headlines and itseems like the phrase might
have stuck around as a way ofsaying you're out for a
(02:39):
memorable, over-the-top goodtime.
It could also just come fromthe idea of bright red as an
intense, attention-grabbingcolor, kind of like how we say
seeing red when we're mad orred-letter day for a special
occasion.
Either way, when people saythey're going to paint the town
red, you know they're planningon cutting loose and making it a
night to remember.
(02:59):
One of the consequences ofpainting the town red may be the
next morning when you wake upand you're just not feeling good
.
Some people are said to havethe hair of the dog, or they
need the hair of the dog, so letme share with you what I found
out about that idiom.
The phrase hair of the dogcomes from an old folk remedy
for rabies.
(03:20):
People used to believe that ifyou were bitten by a rabid dog,
you could treat it by puttingsome of that same dog's hair on
the wound.
The idea was that a little bitof what harmed you could also
help you.
Almost like the fight fire withfire concept when it comes to
drinking, hair of the dog nowmeans taking a small drink of
alcohol to ease a hangover.
(03:40):
The logic is similar you gotsick from drinking too much, so
a little bit more might help youfeel better, while there's no
real science behind it and it'sreally not a cure.
It's become a common phrasepeople use jokingly about
hangovers.
Now let's take a break from theidioms and let me share with you
a story about Blake findingsome drugs.
(04:02):
I think that this will remindall of us about some of the
adventures we had when we wereyoung.
Last week on one afternoon Igot a phone call from my
grandson, blake, and, as you mayknow, blake is a real explorer
up there where he lives, and hetold me he says Grandpa, guess
what?
And I said what?
And he says I think I foundsomebody's drug stash.
(04:24):
My first thought was to tellhim don't touch it.
So I said don't touch it andshow me what you got.
So he brought it up on videoand it was a box like a point of
sale box that's had some kindof edible in it.
And I said why do you thinkit's drugs?
He says well, I think I sawthis before.
So he showed me the box and itsaid cannabis on it.
(04:48):
Now my first thought was okay,can this get me into trouble?
And the answer was no.
My second thought was is Blakegoing to get into trouble.
No.
My third thought was can I usethis on the podcast?
And that was a yes.
So I told him to open the box,filming it so that we'd have a
(05:08):
record of it, and it was empty,no-transcript.
One of the unintendedconsequences of starting a
podcast is that you start tolook at other podcasts, tv shows
, movies a little bit different,to try and pick out the things
they're doing and evaluatingthem to see if it makes sense to
(05:30):
try and incorporate some ofthose ideas.
One of my favorite genres ismysteries and true crime, and I
can't always watch those orlisten to those as much as I
would like to and, to be honest,there's only so much true crime
that I can stomach.
So what I have found is analternative to true crime and
(05:51):
violence, and that would becooking shows.
If you think about it, it hasall of the elements of a mystery
.
They don't always know whatthey're going to make, they
don't know how they're going toget there, they're not sure what
the answer is, and it's anentertaining route.
So I enjoy a lot of the cookingcompetitions.
I don't really enjoy the how todo things, but I do like to
(06:13):
watch the shows and try and pickout little tidbits to try and
make things make a little bitmore sense.
For instance, why do you wantuniform cuts on your vegetables
and your meat?
Not because it looks nice,although that is a benefit.
You need to make sure thatthey're the same size, the same
mass, so they cook at the sametime.
You don't want raw vegetables,with overcooked vegetables.
(06:37):
I'm not even sure you reallywant vegetables, but that's
another story.
In the course of watching shows,I came across one that I
thought was kind of interesting.
It was called In the Kitchenwith Harry Hamlin.
Now, for those of you who arewell your age, I guess I first
(06:59):
became aware of Harry Hamlin inLA Law, and so I thought he was
a good actor, so I kind oflooked for him once in a while.
Now, harry Hamlin has neverbeen known as a great cook in
the television world that I'vebeen exposed to, so I was
curious to see what the show wasabout, and it was kind of
interesting because he's notreally teaching you how to cook.
The premise is is that he makespretty good food.
He has a niece who is a trainedchef, so she helps him.
(07:22):
So I thought, well, let's justwatch this and see why they
think this is a special show.
And the first couple of episodesreally I didn't learn anything.
I really did not learn anythingand they weren't anything
special.
He wasn't following traditionalrecipes, he was making things
up as he went.
He didn't try and telleverybody that he knew
everything, but what made theshow interesting was the
(07:44):
interactions that he had withhis dinner guests.
Because he's from Hollywood, heknows a lot of people there and
he makes them dinner and hegives them to sit down and talk
about their life and theircareer.
To me that was a fascinatingpart, not because they're stars,
but because it takes them outof their star world and makes
them a little bit morepersonable.
And I really appreciated that.
(08:04):
And that's kind of thedirection I've tried to go with
this podcast is to take peopleout of their famous setting or
what they're well-known for andtry and make them a little bit
more accessible I don't want tosay common, but easily to
approach, more understandableand more human.
So that's kind of the premisebehind this and I appreciate
that Harry Hamlin did it.
(08:25):
Now let's jump back and I'll goahead and share a couple more
idioms with you.
Bob's, your uncle is a fun,brutish saying that basically
means something super easy orguaranteed to work out.
You'll usually hear it aftersomeone gives instructions like
saying do this, then that andboom, bob's your uncle, meaning
everything will turn out justfine.
(08:46):
The origin isn't totally clear,but a common theory links it to
Robert Cecil, who was a BritishPrime Minister in the late
1800s.
Apparently he gave his nephew,arthur Balfour, a bunch of
important jobs, so the phrasekind of hints that if Bob is
your uncle, you're going tosucceed thanks to his
connections.
(09:06):
People started using it more inthe 20th century and it's got
this easygoing, informal vibe.
So now when people say Bob'syour uncle, they're basically
saying follow these steps andyou're golden.
I've only heard Bob's youruncle used a couple of times, so
it was kind of an interestingone.
This next one you're all goingto be familiar with, and I found
(09:26):
it fascinating because of thestory behind it.
It did not even make sense tome until I heard this, and I
think it's a great one.
The phrase white elephant is allabout something that costs a
ton to keep but doesn't reallygive you much in return, or it
could be a gift that's moretrouble than it's worth.
It actually comes from a legendin Southeast Asia, specifically
(09:48):
Thailand, which used to becalled Siam.
Back then, white elephants weresuper rare and considered
sacred.
They were symbols of power andprestige, so they were often
given to kings or otherimportant people.
But because they were sacred,you couldn't use them for
regular work.
You had to take care of them inthis super luxurious way, which
(10:09):
made them really expensive tomaintain basically a huge
financial drain instead of ahelpful gift.
According to the legend,siamese kings would sometimes
give these white elephants topeople they didn't like.
The person couldn't refuse thegift because it was such a big
honor, but then they'd be stuckwith all the crazy costs of
caring for the elephant, whichwould eventually ruin them
(10:31):
financially.
These days we use whiteelephant to talk about anything
that's super expensive to keepup but not really worth it.
And of course it's also tied tothose white elephant gift
exchanges where people give eachother silly, impractical or
totally useless gifts.
I guess the title of thisepisode is going to have to
reflect Blake's participation init.
(10:53):
Now I got a phone call againanother one from Blake one
afternoon and he says hey,grandpa, I'm down at the ravine,
what is this?
And he sent me a picture of abarrel and I said I don't know
what does it say on it?
And so he got a little bitcloser.
He scanned in and it's a danger, keep away, flammable.
And I said, blake, don't messwith it, go home, tell your dad
(11:17):
about it, tell your mom, tellthem to call the police, because
on it it said flammable, do nottouch.
And all those other scarythings.
Given that this happened rightaround Christmas, it concerned
me because I was thinking thatit might've been some kind of
fuel or something they used forillegal fireworks, because there
are a lot of fireworks that gooff New Year's Eve.
Well, it turns out that Blakedid exactly as I told him.
(11:42):
He went home and told his dad,told his mom, his mother called
the fire department.
Well, she called 911, emergencyservices.
Emergency services showed upwith a police car, three fire
trucks and two ambulancesbecause they didn't know what
they were walking into.
So Dustin went over and talkedto the police and said hey, it's
(12:04):
my kid that called this in, andthe officer was very grateful.
He said it didn't turn out tobe much.
I think it was cleaning fluidor antifreeze or something, but
he said it was something thatwas dangerous enough to where
they needed to deal with it.
So they did have a large hazmatresponse and I am really proud
of Blake for doing what wasright and not just blowing it
(12:27):
off.
And now let's go over a couplemore idioms and then I've got a
serious story that I want toshare with you, and I'd like to
get some feedback on this storyand get your thoughts.
When someone says, read the riotact, they're talking about
giving a serious warning or astrong reprimand.
Usually when someone's behaviorisn't cutting it, it basically
(12:48):
means they're telling someone toknock it off or face the
consequences.
This saying actually comes fromback in the early 1700s in
England.
There was a law called the RiotAct of 1714, which allowed
authorities to declare a groupof 12 or more people as an
unlawful assembly.
If a crowd was causing trouble,officials had to read a part of
(13:08):
the Riot Act out loud to geteveryone to break it up.
That reading was like a formalwarning that if people didn't
listen they could get intoserious trouble such as getting
arrested.
Now the phrase is used morebroadly.
It doesn't have to involve anactual riot, it just means
someone is getting a serioustalking to about their behavior.
For example, you might hear,after all the trouble he caused,
(13:32):
the manager finally read himthe riot act.
Now, this next idiom I alwaysassociated with Alice in
Wonderland and it is associatedwith it, but in a different way.
It's the one that gave rise toa piece of Alice in Wonderland
and not the other way around.
Enjoy this one.
The phrase mad as a hatter meanssomeone is acting totally crazy
(13:54):
or super eccentric.
It's often used to describepeople behaving in a completely
irrational or wild way.
The saying comes from back inthe 18th and 19th centuries,
when hat makers or hatters usedmercury to cure felt for hats.
After being around that stufftoo long, it messed with their
nervous system and made them actwell, a little mad.
(14:16):
So hatters at the time startedgetting a reputation for being
unstable, which is how thephrase caught on.
It really became popular thanksto Lewis Carroll's Alice's
Adventures in Wonderland, withthe Mad Hatter character, who's
all kinds of weird and eccentric.
Nowadays people use the phrasein a more lighthearted way, like
if someone stayed up all nightand acted a little loopy the
(14:38):
next day, you might say he wasas bad as a hatter at work.
This next story I'm going toshare with you also involves
Blake, but this one is not onthe lighter side and is
something that I take veryseriously.
As we prepare to move intoanother adventure of Blake's, I
want to set the scene and giveyou some background information.
(14:58):
Growing up, I've always enjoyedtarget shooting, making holes
in paper, and there's justsomething very therapeutic and
fun and it's just something thatguys like to do.
My kids grew up enjoyingshooting, and so I knew that my
grandchildren would be exposedto the same experiences.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
One of my biggest concerns throughout my entire
life was a lot of big guns, so Iknew that my grandchildren
would be exposed to the sameexperiences and actions, so I
decided that I needed to makesure that everyone was safe.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
As I grew up, I observed that people adults who
have been around firearms theirentire life should be very
trained.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
And so I wanted to make sure that there was a
poignant structure for thesafety that we were using.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
So several years ago I became a trained, certified
firearm safety instructor aswell as a range safety officer.
My purpose here was twofoldNumber one, to educate people,
to make sure they're safe andthey follow the rules, and
number two, to make sure thatwhenever we shot, there was
someone there who knew what therules were and couldn't force
(15:53):
them.
To make sure that everybody hada safe, enjoyable experience,
because this is such a criticallife skill.
I have taught my grandchildrenthe four rules for basic safety.
Number one stop If you see agun, stop.
Number two rule do not touch it.
Number three rule run away.
Number four tell an adult.
(16:15):
I do not want them trying todisarm a firearm, move it or
anything else, because there'sno telling what kind of accident
could happen.
They need to get somebodyinvolved that knows what they're
doing.
Now, recently, blake had anexperience where this came into
question use and uh review.
(16:35):
So bl, where did this all start?
Speaker 2 (16:39):
It started when my friend came over to my house and
said I have a gun.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Okay, he said he has a gun.
So then, where did you go?
What did you do?
Speaker 2 (16:47):
We went to the ravine by my house to like explore and
play.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Okay, and then what happened?
And then he told me, did itlook like a gun?
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Yeah, it looked just like a gun.
There was no like red cap onthe end or anything.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Okay, and he said it was loaded.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
He said it was loaded yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
All right.
So you got done at the ravine,you went home and what did you
do?
Speaker 2 (17:07):
I told my parents.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
You told your parents , so you stopped, you didn't
touch it, you left where the gunwas, and then you went and told
your parents, so you followedthe basic gun rules that you've
been trained with.
Now, what did your parents dowhen they found out about this
or heard about this?
Speaker 2 (17:22):
They called the school and told my principal.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Okay, that's exactly what should happen, because a
child who's in the fourth, fifthor sixth grade should never
have a firearm at a school.
Now, the thing that was sodisturbing here, in fact, before
I even get to that.
So, blake, what did theprincipal do?
Speaker 2 (17:44):
The principal called me into his office and just
asked me like you thought it wasa gun and that I did the right
thing.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
Okay, so the principal told you you did the
right thing.
See something, say something.
Okay, so the principal told youyou did the right thing.
See something, say something.
The principal then called inthat child and the child's
parents.
They reviewed what was going onand, blake, what did this gun
really turn out to be?
Speaker 2 (18:06):
A pocket knife.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
A pocket knife, but he said it was a gun.
So the thing that I found mostdisturbing was the parents'
response to Blake doing what wasright, and that was they told
the child that he was no longerallowed to associate with or be
around Blake because Blake hadtold somebody about this knife
(18:30):
that looked like a gun that thechild had reported as a gun.
I'm very baffled by theresponse of the parents and I'm
trying to understand why theywould do that and how that could
be justified.
What I would like to do is askfor your feedback, share with me
your thoughts and tell me howshould this have been handled?
(18:51):
Was it handled appropriately?
Why the parents would do that,titled appropriately?
Why the parents would do that.
My email address isgrandpaishimcom at gmailcom Kind
of a wonky address, but it'sgrandpaishimcom at gmailcom.
Send me your responses and yourthoughts and I'll share some of
(19:11):
those on the air if you'd like,and I would kind of like to
just understand how thishappened.
Blake, thank you so much andwe'll move on to your next
adventure.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Yay, I will have more adventures.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Yes, Before I close out this abbreviated edition of
this podcast, I want to sharewith you just a couple more
idioms that I thought were kindof fun, and we'll be back
together with you in two weeks.
We'll be picking up some moreissues concerning privacy.
The phrase stealing someone'sthunder has some pretty cool
origins story.
It goes all the way back to theearly 1700s.
(19:43):
It started with a playwrightnamed John Dennis.
He invented a new way to makethunder sounds for his play
Appius in Virginia.
As usually happens, his playwas a failure.
Not long after, dennis went tosee a production of Macbeth and
was shocked to hear that theywere using his thunder sound
effect.
He got super mad and supposedlyyelled Damn them, they won't
(20:07):
let my play run, but they'llsteal my thunder.
And from that moment on, thephrase steal someone's thunder
became a way of describing whensomeone takes credit for your
ideas or achievements or usessomething.
You planned to get all theattention.
And now it's time for our lastidiom, thanks.
Here's one that has a funbackstory.
(20:28):
The phrase red herring refersto a distraction, something that
leads you off the main track todivert you.
Imagine you're trying to solvea mystery and then you get
thrown off by a completelyirrelevant clue.
That's a red herring.
You see, these types of thingspop up in almost every mystery
these days.
Now the term actually comesfrom a trick they used to use
(20:50):
back in the day when peoplewould train hunting dogs.
Smoked herrings which arereally fish that turned a
reddish brownbrown color whenthey were cured were used in
training because they had asuper strong scent.
The trainers would drag thesefish across the trail of an
animal the dogs were tracking totry to confuse them.
The purpose of this was toteach them to stay focused on
(21:10):
the original scent instead ofgetting distracted by the
fishing smell.
So a red herring became a wayto describe something that's
intentionally misleading ordistracting.
Thank you for tuning in to thisepisode of Grandpa Is Him.
(21:33):
We hope you enjoyed ourdiscussion and stories and maybe
even found some inspiration foryour own family adventures.
Now we want to hear from you.
What questions do you have orwhat topics would you like us to
explore in future episodes?
What stories can you share?
Share your ideas?
Simply visit our website atgrandpaishimcom and fill out the
(21:55):
submission form.
You can also reach out to us onemail at grandpaishimcom, at
gmailcom.
We're always looking for yourthoughts and experiences.
So don't be shy, join theconversation and help us create
the content that matters to youand your family.
Until next time, keep laughing,keep sharing and keep those
(22:17):
ideas coming.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
I wish I had never said grandpa's hand, you, you.
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