August 4, 2025 • 36 mins
What happens when the Chinese Communist Party tries to regulate comedy? Tony and Fingers discuss the hilarity and horror.
This episode the guys light up a Pinnacle Cigars Sublime and ponder the flavors—is that salty pretzel or woody spice? They wonder at crazy cigar deals online: is the industry about to collapse? In the news, they're astounded by the rising cost of California wildfires and delays in rebuilding. Most absurdly, the Chinese government warns female comedians to stop mocking men. Tony and Fingers consider the impossibility and danger of doing standup under authoritarian rule.
Key Takeaways:
- The Sublime offers interesting salty, sweet, and spicy notes
- Wildfire damage costs are skyrocketing while rebuilding is stalled
- Communist authoritarianism is a threat to free speech and comedy
Hear Tony and Fingers' uncensored takes on tyranny and tobacco—listen now!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
There is a cigar group called Pravada Cigar Club, and
I will admit I've never actually gotten cigars from them,
but I think that I don't think i'd be wrong
in saying that they've got a little bit of fame
to them. They got a little bit of notoriety to
them as a cigar club and finding some interesting stuff,
weird stuff, all sorts of stuff, and you can see
it online and you can find it in your local
(00:23):
to back in the shop. And well, in addition, there's
something called the Limited Cigar Association which is part of them,
and it's cigars they offer in cigar lounges and online,
just rare stuff if you will. It's through this in
one of the lounges I frequent here in Central Indiana
(00:46):
that I found the sublime from Pinnacle. This is a
six by fifty cigar. That means it is six inches long.
Always makes fingers more way laugh. And the ring gauge
it is a fifty basically the diameter of the cigar
or how thick it is around.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Again, Wow, that's a new one. It's a little addition.
You got that.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Well, it's six years into the show. You got to
mix things up a little bit.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Right again with the laughter.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
So a sixty four ring gage is a full one
inch around fifty is where forty eight to fifty two
is really where I like to be.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
So this is a bottom, I think.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
At first glanced though this kind of looks like a connecticut.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
You might think it's a connecticut.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
It is a more standard light brown, maybe a little
more pale than than you're used to. But this is
an oily stick where you see just a ton of
the leaf and there's actually a bit.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Of veining going on through here.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Absolutely, and then on top of it you throw in
this band, which is absolutely beautiful.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Right it's nine feet long. The band is huge right there?
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Do you find that annoying when some cigar companies make
a band that big? Where it's you're in, you're just
getting into the second third and you've got to remove
the band.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
No, And that has never ever bothered me.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
The only thing that bothers me is when you've got
three or four separate bands.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
It's just you make me do too much work.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Or you have decided that the glue should be some
kind of NASA superadhesive and and I can't get it off.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
That is annoying.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
No part of the cigar experience should feel like work.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Gonna put that on a T shirt?
Speaker 3 (02:32):
I already did, did you? You can get it at
our website. I just made that up dot com. Oh,
I love that place. I love that place. It's right.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
You also find that where you go to We'll get
to our website soon enough, dot net.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
It's a grand spot.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Pinnacle, the sublime, the six by fifty. So it's got
a nice bit of oil. I almost wit, and not almost.
It feels a little light. There's a little bit of
whiffle ball bat.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
To the cigar. Agree or disagree, fingers.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
One, I would agree with you on that.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
So with a ball bat, we mean that with a
feel of the cigar, it just feels a little light
in the hand. You would think six by fifty would
have a little bit of stoutness to it. I'm not
saying that it's gonna affect how it smokes. I'm just
saying it feels a little light. You started this up,
you have lit up, you have puffed yes, fingers Horatio Maloy,
what do you think?
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Well, First of all, going back to the whiffleball bat
phenomenon that you brought up, and when it comes to
this cigar, it does feel a little light, but it's
not a real distraction. When it comes to hand feel
on the cigar, it still feels pretty good in the hand.
I just lit this, so I'm in the first third
of the first third, and to me, I'm getting right
(03:43):
off the bat. When I lit it, I got a
nice bit of wood and then followed up with some spice.
That is intensifying. That's all I'm getting right now. How
about you, Tony, You just let yourself that.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Was It was a remarkably sweet salce.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
I have never said this about a cigar before, and
I could be far wrong. Pretzel really a little bretty,
a little sweet, a little salty, and I don't like salty.
That is not a flavor that moves me in a
cigar at all. The avo is it the karribe? I
(04:25):
think it is that cigar. I'm like, that cigar is
salty and I don't.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
I don't like And people loved it. They thought that
cigar was was terrific. I'm like, nope, not my not
my thing at all.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Flavor is is you know about your palate, and your
palate is all about what's happening at the moment.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
So you want to get your notebooks out right.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
You want to talk about what did you eat today,
what did you drink today?
Speaker 2 (04:52):
What is the weather like?
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Stupid humidity in Indianapolis, Indiana where we record stupid, dumb, diculous,
bigoted humidity going on out there, anti American humidity, that
is Tommy humidity.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Should see what it's doing to my shorts.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Wow? Just yes, went to the place.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
I try to paint an audio picture.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
That's what you're painting. Yes, that's what you're painting with
my shorts.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
All these things will affect your palette. All these things
will affect how you you take in flavors. So what
did you eat today, what did you drink today? Those
things matter. You want to write those things down in
your notebook. You want to get a notebook, any spiral
notebook will do. Then take the cigar and in your
mind breaking into thirds, right, the first third, the second third,
and the final third, and write down the flavors. What
is it that you're experiencing right, doesn't matter if it
(05:44):
don't think of right or wrong, they're just How would
you describe what it is that's you're experiencing on the palette.
As you do this more, you may start thinking of
other flavors and be like, no, no, that's a little different
than that one. You might think back to other cigars,
et cetera. Then after you do that, you try the
cigar again a month from now, three months from that,
whatever the case may be. And then when you try
(06:06):
the cigar, you do the same thing. You write the
notes down, and then you compare the notes right and
get your through line, and like, this is the flavors
I got out of the cigar. This is the Sublime
from Pinnacle Cigars.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
I don't know much about Pinnacles cigars.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
This is the first time I've ever seen it burning fine.
That's pretty dang even as far as I'm concerned. And
the draw seems to be right on. Yeah, it is
right on.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
And you went back going back to what you said
earlier about what notes you get out of a cigar.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
You know, two people.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
Can be sitting right next to each other, and that
happens often on this show get completely different impressions of
a cigar. I'm not at this point, very early on,
getting much in the way of sweetness off of this cigar.
It's more of a nice spice hit along with wood.
You're not getting any spice at all.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
I don't know if I would say that.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
I mean, I think as I get into it, I
mean I had just started.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
It was that first pop.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
I'm like, that's that is an interesting, interesting flavor that
that I'm getting. That's that was really and truly a pretzel.
That's what I was getting. That's what it was. I
think there's a little more spice happening right now, and
this Habana Rapper, Habana Rapper, I'm not surprised is going
(07:24):
to bring that spice, but I am not, as of
yet overwhelmed by it.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
No, not at all.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
No, I wouldn't say it's overwhelming. It's just what I
got on on the light. I'll be interested to see
as we move forward how this cigar changes, if it
will get sweet for me, and if I'm interested to
see if I do get that pretzley kind of note
that you're talking about.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Yeah, I don't even know how long that's going to last.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
But it was interesting because it was really specific to
the idea of salty, and that is not where I
live and breathe. In the slightest there's no doubt that,
like I try everything, But the things that that that
move me are those those earth notes, those leather notes. Uh,
that richness if chocolate, whether it's it's like a deep
(08:13):
dark chocolate right with that bitterness, or or even a
milk chocolate which you know can play Morris Coco. Those
things work for me. This is the sublime from Pinnacle
is what we are smoking. You want to grab one
at your local tobacconist. Now is this in our humid
or well? I think we got a whole bunch of
smoking to do, never seen in the brand, never mind
knowing what the cigar is gonna be. As we get
(08:35):
into the second third. The worst part about having the studio.
It's the only downside I have found thus far.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Uh we have a fly in the studio. We do,
there's a fly in the studio.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Why did you invite them?
Speaker 2 (08:52):
See? This is this is the whole point.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
T Drink Smoke. I'm Tony Katz. That is fingers from Boy.
Find everything we do at Eat Drinks smokeshow dot com.
Subscribe and like over there and be sure to check
out the podcast wherever it is you get your podcasts.
And the YouTube channel is YouTube dot com Slash Eating
smoke or something like that.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Yeah, my uncle invented fly paper.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Is that right?
Speaker 1 (09:13):
No? Okay, So because of the studio set up and
we've got the full cigar smoking opportunity in here, I
have this fan system that shoots that will suck out
the smoke and shoots it outside. But that fan system,
the only thing I don't have is a luvered out
(09:35):
so it like right, the fan goes on and it
kind of pushes it open.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
And it's because we do so much audio work in here.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
The sound gets a little cacoffiness and it gets this
echo going. So I just have it screened and it
keeps out the majority of things, just not flies. When
it's nine bajillion degrees out and it's nice and cool
in the studio, and the flies like I ain't no dummy,
and then it flies in and that sucks.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
That's why you need to put panty hose over it.
We'll keep the flies out.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
I swear to you. That's not a bad idea at all.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Yeah, you go to the you go to the kmart
there and you get the pantyhose that come in that egg.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Yes, how do we all know the same things?
Speaker 1 (10:18):
How we are grown men and we both are giggling
about the pantyhose that comes in the egg and maybe
more just giggling about the name pantyhose.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
That's true. Now I got to google the name of
that pantyhose because it's gonna bother me.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Uh, it's it's it's a Legs team. It could be Legs.
It could be Legs l e G G S Is
that it?
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Yeah, l apostrophe e Ggs pantyhose.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
That's it. That's it.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
By the way, the innovative packaging was introduced by Legs
in nineteen sixty nine, showing once again that we have
finger on the pulse of pop culture.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
They were so ahead of their time. You know, this
show is dumb. This this is my takeaway.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
What were we talking about flies in the studio? Yeah,
so Pemmyhurst might work. Wow, that was a whole thing.
So if you see a fly on the video, we're
aware of it.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
They were not like Raiders of the Lost Ark. Neither
one of us is trying to eat one in the
middle of the scene.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
That's just wrong. It's not Jeff Goldbloom either.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
The uh oh, excellent pole not Jeff Goldbloom either.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
Now, we've gotten out of the nineteen sixties.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
We're right, Smack David in nineteen eighty seven.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
Oh good lord that you found the story Fingers molloy
about a person who was planning a trip.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
And I don't know about you. Have you?
Speaker 3 (11:58):
Do you have any plan trips? I mean, if it's
not to bake, do you plan trips at all? Yes,
I'm an overplanner. It's a sickness. If I know, say
I'm going to spend a weekend in the Northeast, Say
I like, I've always wanted to go to Maine.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Who doesn't.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
I've never been to Maine.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
Oh.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
If I have more Yeah, if I have a month
to plan, I will be on the Google machine every
day looking for obscure places to go, things to see,
and I'll have a whole list and I won't go
to any of them. Happens every time. Would you trust
AI to do the planning?
Speaker 2 (12:36):
No?
Speaker 3 (12:38):
Not now, five years from now, I would because there
are some disturbing trends when it comes to AI and
planning a trip, especially if it has full access to
your phone like what happens. It can scan screenshots in
your camera role Google Maps can for example, and maybe
(13:01):
able to eventually plan a trip for you based on
the images in your phone. Not creep it at all?
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Is it? It's all creepy.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
So you're saying that the problem is the AI could
be invasive. Yeah, I can and see. My problem is
that it could be sentient. Are you the creed?
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Are you worried that if you let AI plan your
vacation and they know it's a road trip, that at
some point if you sass AI and you're using the
Google Maps, it'll say keep going straight. No, that's not
a cliff, just keep going.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Oh you think that the aif if you sass it,
it's gonna perfectly purposely make you late.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
No, it'll kill you because eventually it'll kill us.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
All wow, wow, that's that's probably true. No, I don't.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
I don't know, And I think this is the point.
I wouldn't search out AI to plan a trip, But
if I was using tools to plan a trip, how
would I really know that whether or not AI is
being used, whether there is some artificial intelligence engine running
in the background helping provide me what I need to
get from.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Point A to point B.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
I feel like, unfortunately, in this day and age, we
have to assume that there's going to be some sort
of AI being used for almost everything. I'm wondering what
the travel agent the career lifespan is now for anyone
in the travel industry when it comes to travel planning, because.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Oh, we could say that about a whole host of businesses.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Absolutely so, in a discussion with a friend of mine,
business partner I have in a in a different world
guy went to college with one of my oldest dearest
friends in the in the in the in the world,
who is far more technically.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Savvy than I.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
He was discussing a conversation that that that he witnessed
where the whole AI conversation got turned on its head.
And first, there's the people who use AI for work.
Certainly we see, we know that colleges, college students are
cheating left and right with AI. But turns out that
only happens in certain parts of university life. The guys
(15:12):
and men and women, boys and girls who are doing
math and science, the AI really can't help you. As
a matter of fact, there are studies where if you're
utilizing the AI to help with the coding, the coding
project takes fourteen percent longer.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Right, So, It's very interesting stuff there.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
And the AI real cheating is in the more liberal
arts kinds of place as opposed to the hard science
kind of places, and that's interesting as well. But the
real interesting takeaway and this is a mind scramble of
a thought and is going to bother you if you
listening to the radio show all weekend and if you
(15:50):
get the podcast from the moment.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
You hear this, it's going to bother you for days.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
You know, when you put a prompt into AI and
say do this or look up that or create this,
and it will find like part of what you're looking
for and then maybe it'll give you something you weren't expecting.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Right, you've done that before? You have you had that
have movie?
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Well, I know I believe it was you. And this
was like a year and a half ago when AI
first was getting incorporated into X. You said create an image.
I think it was you of what Fingers Maloy looks
like based on his tweets, and it ended up being
a nice young African American gentleman.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
Right, Okay, So people look at that and say, oh
my gosh, I can't believe AI created that the way
you need to look at it and it has changed
my perspective on everything is that when you program something,
when you create a computer program, it's supposed to do
what the what it's programmed to do.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
When it doesn't do that, that's a bug.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Yet when we view AI, we view that as somehow
a feature, somehow it's creative, somehow it's cool.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Well, it's learning. No, the AI is nowhere near where
it needs to be.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
When it it doesn't do the task that it is
asked to do, that's a bug. And we're looking at
AI and its growth maybe in a very wrong context,
improper context, based on what we think is cool versus
what needs to get done. Enjoy that thought for.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
A few days.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Eat, drink, smoking is your cigar bourbon FOODI extravaganza. I'm
Tony Katz, that guy over there that is America's favorite
amateur drinker, Fingers molloy. We are smoking from Pinnacle Cigars.
This is the Sublime. We learned about this at a
local tobacconist here in Central Indiana and how the connection
(17:40):
to provide a cigar club and what they do with
some of these limited type of releases.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Limited Cigar Association.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
This is an Ecuadorian Habano six by fifty Dominican in
the binder, the filler Nico Roguin, Dominican, and I think
there's another tobacco in there that is undisclosed.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Really still in the first third of this smoke, the.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
Rapper here is is a good, actual thickness right there.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
It looks really good burning for the most part.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Even his mind's a little off just because of where
I had it set down.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
And the draw has been just fine.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Even though I think the cigar is a little bit light,
a little bit with a ball bat in its field,
I think the draw has just been terrific.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
It has been terrific. I will say now that I
am getting more into the first third of the cigar,
I'm not getting that pretzel that you're talking about, but
I am starting to get kind of a bready sweetness
that I didn't get at the light. That wood is
still there for me, That spice that was there at
the light is starting to subside again. And then it's
that whole argument, is it really or you're just getting
(18:45):
used to it? I believe though it's actually of subsiding.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
A little bit.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
I do think that I do consider that like a
pretzeley bready sweetness, although the salt is not necessarily there.
The spice has picked up in a bano. I'm not
surprised by that. In the slide, the wood is where
I don't know if I agree, but I agree that
there's a dryness. Now that's a weird thing, spice sweet dry,
(19:11):
So I'm thinking it's a little more grass, it's a
little more hay than wood. But that spice could really
be more of a cedar note, and that's where it's
coming from. Not so much of pepper there is. There
was a spice hit after the what I saw was
the pretzel, but now I think that's coming off the
wood note that you're referring to. So the dry is
(19:34):
kind of how my mouth feels. There's no salivation taking place.
I'm not saying no to the cigar, by the way,
So I don't know where I'm at with Is that
wood like a cedar note that's bringing out some of
that wood flavor and I'm kind of taking it as
a spice or is that an actual white pepper kind
of thing happening right there?
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Well, either way, it's an interesting smoke. It's been very,
very good so far. I'm having a little trouble keeping
my lip, but that could be a humific munification issue.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Who knows, is it in your humid or fingers? Mooy
the Pinnacle Sublime for fourteen dollars. Probably, Yes, it's not bad.
It's not bad. It's not perfectly my flavor profile. But
I could see doing this from time to time. I
would rather it was twelve dollars, but it's under fifteen
(20:30):
and today's America exactly, and that for a six inch cigar,
which will give you I should give you. I'd say
seventy five to ninety minutes on this if it were
if you weren't doing a radio show, that's where I
would be.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
Yeah, But you bring up price, and I know this
is just anecdotal, but you and I were talking off
the air about some of the crazy deals you are
running into with cigars this point.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
I don't know what's going on, and we talk about
places like if there's something comes up, but I'm not
doing ads.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
If you if you want an ad.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
Sponsorship is now available and we have some fantastic, fantastic
things to talk about coming up in the near future.
You guys know that we work with Flederman von Reest
Watches made right here to assembled here in Indiana von
Reest ri E s t E von Reest dot com.
You can use my last name Cats k A t
(21:25):
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you've got automatic so chronograph called the Roudent Record that
I'm actually wearing right now. Beautiful time pieces assembled in Indiana.
Von Reeste, great family, great story. Thrilled to be working
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Speaker 2 (21:43):
R I E.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
S t E von Reest dot com. Use my last
name Cats to get your discount.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
And we've got some other great people coming on board.
It's been it's been wonderful. So I'm not gonna use
the name of the of the online site. I'm not
gonna use it for the sake of the show.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
It was a bundle of all of the millennios, right.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
I love ali A, I love the Ceriv, I love
the Millennial, I love the Millennio Maduro. And it came
out to like five dollars and sixty cents a stick.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
And I saw that, I'm.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Like, how in the world do you not how possibly
do you do you not make that happen? I bought
three bundles. The point that I'm met to you is like,
that's crazy, Like that doesn't make any sense. I don't
know how that happened. And and I I asked myself
at that moment, is something going on? So as we
(22:42):
discussed it was Cigar Fashionado who una was a David
Savona or somebody else that imports were up first quarter?
Everything going on with uncertainty and everything else. The imports
were up first quarter, but that could be people pre
buying the tariffs because tariffs have had app We could
talk about a lot of places where tariffs have not
been pushed onto the consumer. Cigars, ain't it kitting? Every
(23:03):
price is up everywhere.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
So maybe that could be an answer to the question
that is being posed, is because cigar imports were higher
than expected the first quarter, maybe people bought up a
lot of inventory and now they're heavy on inventory and
they want to let loose on some of their sticks.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
This is a level of blowout I'm not prepared for.
I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
The the all of a v millennium at six bucks, Yeah,
less than six bucks, and that like a Buffalo ten price, yes,
and the Buffalo ten's a fine smoke for six bucks,
but six dollars? What's your everyday cigar, the V millennium.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
You're welcome. That is a that is not a bad
place to be.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
Now, if I if I had my brothers, it would
it be the cigar that I smoke every day. I
don't know, but it would be in any top ten
conversation cigars you could have every day. The V just
the V never mind. The millennio is good for any weather, right,
It's good. It's good for all occasions. So I don't
know what's happening. I don't know what's going on, but
(24:13):
that really did strike me as a huh. And so
now I'm like, I'm doing my own investigation as to
what else can be found, what else is happening? But
this right here, this Hamano, ECUADORI and Hamano. It's a
nice nice stick time fingers alway.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
For news of the week, USA Today has the story Tony.
A new report says that each of the two major
wildfires that devastated parts of Los Angeles County in January
costs more than twice as much as they previously thought,
adding up to sixty five billion dollars in losses.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
The fires, yes, sixty five billion with a bee.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
Okay, okay, and most of it has to do with
the fact that, you know, the increase the increased tag
has to do with the location of a lot of
these homes that were destroyed in the fire.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
Every conversation about loss in the fires, you know, that
can lead you down political roads. And we don't really
get political on the show, right, we are political people.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
We don't do it for the show. We'd like to
stay away from that. But allow me this part of it.
Why hasn't the rebuilding begun? It's a good question.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
Why hasn't this happened? Why are they holding this up?
What is this permitting issue? Are they going to allow
people to rebuild their homes?
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Are they going to say no, you can't do that?
Speaker 1 (25:35):
And bless Adam Carolla, who has been the hero of
this conversation. Has he is still in southern California and me,
I was there for six years and I said, okay,
I've had enough here, thank you, Cleveland, good night.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
I'm sorry. I don't care about your politics. This is
the story. It's not the losses.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Because we could talk a lot of things about the
fires and why they weren't put out sooner, and the
issues and the and how they dealt with brush management,
and and and everything else.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Why aren't they rebuilding that?
Speaker 1 (26:07):
And you know, if you want to make that political,
more than happy to do it, because no matter where
your politics are, you should be incensed by it.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
Well, it feels like, if I'm remember remembering this correctly,
local and state officials talked about how we're going to
streamline the process. There's going to be a lot less
red tape. But then you mentioned Adam Carolla who has
been documenting the progress in front of his home. His
home wasn't really damaged all that much on the fire,
but in front of his home, the ocean front property,
a lot of it was destroyed, and he is he's
(26:34):
documented on his YouTube channel. There's been no progress at
all when it comes to here around build.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
And it's and it is obscene. It is it seems
purposeful in its delay. There seems to be a real
want to try and change, uh, the the whole concept
of what the Palisades was and people, you owned the house,
and well you're not going.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
To have that anymore. It's gross. What's happening. The Chinese
want you to know that it's not good to make
fun of the other sex.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
Are we being specific?
Speaker 2 (27:11):
Well, that's just it. I don't know.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
Let me tell the story and then we'll figure it out.
Go on tea, drink smoke im Tony Katz. That right
there is America's favorite amateur drinker. Fingers Maloy the Guardian
with the story. Chinese officials, so we're talking about the
Chinese Communist Party, obviously warn comedians that mocking the other
sex is no laughing matter. The warning comes after a
(27:38):
string of shows by women comedians joking about men went viral,
so provincial officials warning comics again, stirring up discord between
the genders and struggling them to criticize constructively rather than
for the sake of being funny.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Here, here's the problem. Here's the problem.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
When you're going political, tenant is murder. Anyone who disagrees
with you also stand in line for twelve hours for bread.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
These people don't know funny. Commedis do not know funny.
That is that is obvious.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
Well, when you're a Chinese comedian and you say you
murdered when you're on stage, be a whole different conversation altogether.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
When you're a communist, when you remember the Communist Chinese
Party not Chinese.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
I'm talking about Chinese in China, I'm not talking about it.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
You're talking about communists. You gotta say it right because
someone's gonna come at you. You know, it's like the
joke from a Robin Williams has told this joke. Evan say,
it has a takeoff of this joke. Why aren't Germans funny?
Speaker 2 (28:42):
He killed all the Jews?
Speaker 1 (28:43):
I mean that is the wow, that's the joke. I'm
this is the set quite literally. If Robin Williams was
alive today, he'd be like called it. It's the same concept.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
Well, I will say I did see the bit that
the Chinese communist were upset about. This female comedian got
up and she said, you ever notice that men are
from Mars and women are from Venus?
Speaker 2 (29:10):
The bit whole bit.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
Uh. I must admit that the first part of the
story that really grabs me is stand up comics in China.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
What are you saying?
Speaker 1 (29:24):
I'm saying that it seems like an impossible place for
a stand up to be able to do anything because
of all of the government pressures that are on you.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
It seems an impossible thing to do.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
The only way I know sometimes that America is still
free is that you know, comics are out there doing
their shame.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Gillis has a career shame. Gillis gets hired by Saturday
Night Live.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
They find three errant tweets, they fire the dude, and
ten years later he's hosting Saturday Night Live.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
It's the only way I know America is still the greatest. Well,
it's the only way possible. I do know that at
the Beijing Comedy Store, it's been said that when you.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
When you go, that was donna delay on my part.
Speaker 3 (30:14):
Oh my god, when you go to the Beijing Comedy Store,
they do say when you visit.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
The laugh factory, literally, yeah.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
Three hours later you want to return.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
I'm doing a factory joke.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
You're doing a Chinese joke, and the communist or not buddy, see,
you can't do this in communist China.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
So I was really taken by that.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
Instead of mocking blindly confident men, it is better to
explore the social causes for this mentality. Instead of blindly
ridiculing maternalistic women, it is better to reflect on how
consumerism shapes gender roles.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
The government giving you tips on.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
How to be funny, when central planning comes down to
the comedy store, then you know comedy is dead in
your country.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
Comedy, self expression, freedom of thought, all these things.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
I mean, is this the wrong show to admit that
communism sucks?
Speaker 3 (31:22):
Like?
Speaker 2 (31:23):
Is that somehow? Is that a problem for anybody?
Speaker 3 (31:25):
Probably there'll somebody be out there saying, right now, stick
to the cigars.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
Oh oh, you can email me at suck it at
Eat drinksmokeshow dot com.
Speaker 2 (31:35):
But it'll probably come to us we have a catch up.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
But what's amazing about this? For those of us who
are old enough to remember the Soviet Union, it felt
like there was kind of an underground comedy scene, or
at least people in Russia, you know, where they were
not afraid to express their sense of humor privately. But
(32:03):
this is something where they are they're actually coming down
on female comedians. I would be interested. You don't think
of stand up comedy and China, No, no, no, no,
you don't, So it'd be interesting I would. Of course,
Obviously the language barrier would be a problem, but to
(32:26):
see what the stand up comedy scene is like in
China would be fascinating.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
Right well, first of all, the level of bravery that
it must take, because everybody gets it, everybody knows the problem.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
The level of bravery it must take to get on stage.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
And how about the bravery it takes for the audience,
because they hear the joke and they go look around
and see if they can.
Speaker 3 (32:50):
It's almost like being in a comedy club in America.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
Well that was the problem, wasn't it.
Speaker 3 (32:55):
Look am I allowed to laugh at it? Right?
Speaker 2 (32:57):
Can I laugh at this? Can I laugh at that?
You can laugh anything you want. Don't let anybody tell
you you can't.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
Screw those people, dear lord, and and they are the
call them the Karens, or call them the thought police,
call political correctness. Uh, they're They're all the enemy. They're
all the absolute enemy, you know. The I don't think
that saying I'm a comic is a shield against all criticism,
(33:23):
But I think being able to say what you want
is shielded by the First Amendment right, And and even
that has limits. There are whole theories and conversations philosophies
about what are the limits of the First Amendment? Are
there are there reasonable moral limits one should have on
it for oneself? And then are their legal limits? Is
(33:44):
anything truly absolute? And the answer for by the way,
for people who want to say that their first Amendment
absolutist and they can say anything they want it and
and they're protected slander and libel or not right the
spoken word of the written word that these things are not.
You've seen lawsuits regarding defamation. There are some things that
(34:06):
simply are not acceptable that that can get you in
a whole heap of trouble. Now, the fact that you
could still say it is is maybe the freedom part,
but it is not free of some level of response
in certain ways. But this is a far cry conversation
from what we're talking about with communists China, where you
(34:28):
can't speak ill of men because we don't allow that.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
Here.
Speaker 1 (34:35):
There's a lot about men that should be spoken ill of.
H I also have a couple of women that I
could speak ill of for sure.
Speaker 3 (34:43):
Nant to name this, sure, I'm not gonna do that,
Trat not gonna have you know why, because you acknowledge
the fact that men are from Mars and women are
from Venus.
Speaker 2 (34:57):
They're not, they're not. But the you know that right,
well you know that met are not from Mars.
Speaker 3 (35:03):
Well, we've got people at the lab over at the
Fingers Maloya Institute of Institutes for Institutes looking into this,
right now we got a handsome government grant, not from
the Chi coms.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
No Chi comms.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
Listen, just for the sake of clarity, I'll say anything
about the evils of communism anytime I want, including the
communist Chinese.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
I don't care.
Speaker 1 (35:27):
If the podcast is no longer available in China, We're fine,
thank you very much. If any of these Chinese comics
will come to the United States, will put you on stage.
We'll put you on make it happen. I don't know
how you're gonna get out, but we will put you
on stage gladly and joyfully. But they're not ever gonna
hear this offer because the podcast is not available in China,
(35:51):
and I never apologizes.
Speaker 3 (35:52):
Just got an email from the Chinese communists the inform
you that I need to stop using the.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
Three hour joke.
Speaker 3 (36:03):
Good call back, look at you three hour joke.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
I think first that there are stand up comics in China.
Speaker 1 (36:11):
Did not know that that the communist Chinese are trying
to regulate this stuff is exactly what they do with
all with everything else they do with social credit scores
and everything else.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
And most importantly, let this be a reminder of how
fortunate we are to live in and.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
We live in the United States, and to live free
and to live in a place where you can, where
you can be the funny.
Speaker 2 (36:33):
Amen. I just wish more comics were funny. That's just well,
that's a really us Stephen could beat joke.
There is a cigar group called Pravada Cigar Club, and
I will admit I've never actually gotten cigars from them,
but I think that I don't think i'd be wrong
in saying that they've got a little bit of fame
to them. They got a little bit of notoriety to
them as a cigar club and finding some interesting stuff,
weird stuff, all sorts of stuff, and you can see
it online and you can find it in your local
(00:23):
to back in the shop. And well, in addition, there's
something called the Limited Cigar Association which is part of them,
and it's cigars they offer in cigar lounges and online,
just rare stuff if you will. It's through this in
one of the lounges I frequent here in Central Indiana
(00:46):
that I found the sublime from Pinnacle. This is a
six by fifty cigar. That means it is six inches long.
Always makes fingers more way laugh. And the ring gauge
it is a fifty basically the diameter of the cigar
or how thick it is around.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Again, Wow, that's a new one. It's a little addition.
You got that.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Well, it's six years into the show. You got to
mix things up a little bit.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Right again with the laughter.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
So a sixty four ring gage is a full one
inch around fifty is where forty eight to fifty two
is really where I like to be.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
So this is a bottom, I think.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
At first glanced though this kind of looks like a connecticut.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
You might think it's a connecticut.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
It is a more standard light brown, maybe a little
more pale than than you're used to. But this is
an oily stick where you see just a ton of
the leaf and there's actually a bit.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Of veining going on through here.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Absolutely, and then on top of it you throw in
this band, which is absolutely beautiful.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Right it's nine feet long. The band is huge right there?
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Do you find that annoying when some cigar companies make
a band that big? Where it's you're in, you're just
getting into the second third and you've got to remove
the band.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
No, And that has never ever bothered me.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
The only thing that bothers me is when you've got
three or four separate bands.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
It's just you make me do too much work.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Or you have decided that the glue should be some
kind of NASA superadhesive and and I can't get it off.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
That is annoying.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
No part of the cigar experience should feel like work.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Gonna put that on a T shirt?
Speaker 3 (02:32):
I already did, did you? You can get it at
our website. I just made that up dot com. Oh,
I love that place. I love that place. It's right.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
You also find that where you go to We'll get
to our website soon enough, dot net.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
It's a grand spot.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Pinnacle, the sublime, the six by fifty. So it's got
a nice bit of oil. I almost wit, and not almost.
It feels a little light. There's a little bit of
whiffle ball bat.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
To the cigar. Agree or disagree, fingers.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
One, I would agree with you on that.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
So with a ball bat, we mean that with a
feel of the cigar, it just feels a little light
in the hand. You would think six by fifty would
have a little bit of stoutness to it. I'm not
saying that it's gonna affect how it smokes. I'm just
saying it feels a little light. You started this up,
you have lit up, you have puffed yes, fingers Horatio Maloy,
what do you think?
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Well, First of all, going back to the whiffleball bat
phenomenon that you brought up, and when it comes to
this cigar, it does feel a little light, but it's
not a real distraction. When it comes to hand feel
on the cigar, it still feels pretty good in the hand.
I just lit this, so I'm in the first third
of the first third, and to me, I'm getting right
(03:43):
off the bat. When I lit it, I got a
nice bit of wood and then followed up with some spice.
That is intensifying. That's all I'm getting right now. How
about you, Tony, You just let yourself that.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Was It was a remarkably sweet salce.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
I have never said this about a cigar before, and
I could be far wrong. Pretzel really a little bretty,
a little sweet, a little salty, and I don't like salty.
That is not a flavor that moves me in a
cigar at all. The avo is it the karribe? I
(04:25):
think it is that cigar. I'm like, that cigar is
salty and I don't.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
I don't like And people loved it. They thought that
cigar was was terrific. I'm like, nope, not my not
my thing at all.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Flavor is is you know about your palate, and your
palate is all about what's happening at the moment.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
So you want to get your notebooks out right.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
You want to talk about what did you eat today,
what did you drink today?
Speaker 2 (04:52):
What is the weather like?
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Stupid humidity in Indianapolis, Indiana where we record stupid, dumb, diculous,
bigoted humidity going on out there, anti American humidity, that
is Tommy humidity.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Should see what it's doing to my shorts.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Wow? Just yes, went to the place.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
I try to paint an audio picture.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
That's what you're painting. Yes, that's what you're painting with
my shorts.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
All these things will affect your palette. All these things
will affect how you you take in flavors. So what
did you eat today, what did you drink today? Those
things matter. You want to write those things down in
your notebook. You want to get a notebook, any spiral
notebook will do. Then take the cigar and in your
mind breaking into thirds, right, the first third, the second third,
and the final third, and write down the flavors. What
is it that you're experiencing right, doesn't matter if it
(05:44):
don't think of right or wrong, they're just How would
you describe what it is that's you're experiencing on the palette.
As you do this more, you may start thinking of
other flavors and be like, no, no, that's a little different
than that one. You might think back to other cigars,
et cetera. Then after you do that, you try the
cigar again a month from now, three months from that,
whatever the case may be. And then when you try
(06:06):
the cigar, you do the same thing. You write the
notes down, and then you compare the notes right and
get your through line, and like, this is the flavors
I got out of the cigar. This is the Sublime
from Pinnacle Cigars.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
I don't know much about Pinnacles cigars.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
This is the first time I've ever seen it burning fine.
That's pretty dang even as far as I'm concerned. And
the draw seems to be right on. Yeah, it is
right on.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
And you went back going back to what you said
earlier about what notes you get out of a cigar.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
You know, two people.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
Can be sitting right next to each other, and that
happens often on this show get completely different impressions of
a cigar. I'm not at this point, very early on,
getting much in the way of sweetness off of this cigar.
It's more of a nice spice hit along with wood.
You're not getting any spice at all.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
I don't know if I would say that.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
I mean, I think as I get into it, I
mean I had just started.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
It was that first pop.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
I'm like, that's that is an interesting, interesting flavor that
that I'm getting. That's that was really and truly a pretzel.
That's what I was getting. That's what it was. I
think there's a little more spice happening right now, and
this Habana Rapper, Habana Rapper, I'm not surprised is going
(07:24):
to bring that spice, but I am not, as of
yet overwhelmed by it.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
No, not at all.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
No, I wouldn't say it's overwhelming. It's just what I
got on on the light. I'll be interested to see
as we move forward how this cigar changes, if it
will get sweet for me, and if I'm interested to
see if I do get that pretzley kind of note
that you're talking about.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Yeah, I don't even know how long that's going to last.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
But it was interesting because it was really specific to
the idea of salty, and that is not where I
live and breathe. In the slightest there's no doubt that,
like I try everything, But the things that that that
move me are those those earth notes, those leather notes. Uh,
that richness if chocolate, whether it's it's like a deep
(08:13):
dark chocolate right with that bitterness, or or even a
milk chocolate which you know can play Morris Coco. Those
things work for me. This is the sublime from Pinnacle
is what we are smoking. You want to grab one
at your local tobacconist. Now is this in our humid
or well? I think we got a whole bunch of
smoking to do, never seen in the brand, never mind
knowing what the cigar is gonna be. As we get
(08:35):
into the second third. The worst part about having the studio.
It's the only downside I have found thus far.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Uh we have a fly in the studio. We do,
there's a fly in the studio.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Why did you invite them?
Speaker 2 (08:52):
See? This is this is the whole point.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
T Drink Smoke. I'm Tony Katz. That is fingers from Boy.
Find everything we do at Eat Drinks smokeshow dot com.
Subscribe and like over there and be sure to check
out the podcast wherever it is you get your podcasts.
And the YouTube channel is YouTube dot com Slash Eating
smoke or something like that.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Yeah, my uncle invented fly paper.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Is that right?
Speaker 1 (09:13):
No? Okay, So because of the studio set up and
we've got the full cigar smoking opportunity in here, I
have this fan system that shoots that will suck out
the smoke and shoots it outside. But that fan system,
the only thing I don't have is a luvered out
(09:35):
so it like right, the fan goes on and it
kind of pushes it open.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
And it's because we do so much audio work in here.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
The sound gets a little cacoffiness and it gets this
echo going. So I just have it screened and it
keeps out the majority of things, just not flies. When
it's nine bajillion degrees out and it's nice and cool
in the studio, and the flies like I ain't no dummy,
and then it flies in and that sucks.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
That's why you need to put panty hose over it.
We'll keep the flies out.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
I swear to you. That's not a bad idea at all.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Yeah, you go to the you go to the kmart
there and you get the pantyhose that come in that egg.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Yes, how do we all know the same things?
Speaker 1 (10:18):
How we are grown men and we both are giggling
about the pantyhose that comes in the egg and maybe
more just giggling about the name pantyhose.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
That's true. Now I got to google the name of
that pantyhose because it's gonna bother me.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Uh, it's it's it's a Legs team. It could be Legs.
It could be Legs l e G G S Is
that it?
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Yeah, l apostrophe e Ggs pantyhose.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
That's it. That's it.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
By the way, the innovative packaging was introduced by Legs
in nineteen sixty nine, showing once again that we have
finger on the pulse of pop culture.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
They were so ahead of their time. You know, this
show is dumb. This this is my takeaway.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
What were we talking about flies in the studio? Yeah,
so Pemmyhurst might work. Wow, that was a whole thing.
So if you see a fly on the video, we're
aware of it.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
They were not like Raiders of the Lost Ark. Neither
one of us is trying to eat one in the
middle of the scene.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
That's just wrong. It's not Jeff Goldbloom either.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
The uh oh, excellent pole not Jeff Goldbloom either.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
Now, we've gotten out of the nineteen sixties.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
We're right, Smack David in nineteen eighty seven.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
Oh good lord that you found the story Fingers molloy
about a person who was planning a trip.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
And I don't know about you. Have you?
Speaker 3 (11:58):
Do you have any plan trips? I mean, if it's
not to bake, do you plan trips at all? Yes,
I'm an overplanner. It's a sickness. If I know, say
I'm going to spend a weekend in the Northeast, Say
I like, I've always wanted to go to Maine.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Who doesn't.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
I've never been to Maine.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
Oh.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
If I have more Yeah, if I have a month
to plan, I will be on the Google machine every
day looking for obscure places to go, things to see,
and I'll have a whole list and I won't go
to any of them. Happens every time. Would you trust
AI to do the planning?
Speaker 2 (12:36):
No?
Speaker 3 (12:38):
Not now, five years from now, I would because there
are some disturbing trends when it comes to AI and
planning a trip, especially if it has full access to
your phone like what happens. It can scan screenshots in
your camera role Google Maps can for example, and maybe
(13:01):
able to eventually plan a trip for you based on
the images in your phone. Not creep it at all?
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Is it? It's all creepy.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
So you're saying that the problem is the AI could
be invasive. Yeah, I can and see. My problem is
that it could be sentient. Are you the creed?
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Are you worried that if you let AI plan your
vacation and they know it's a road trip, that at
some point if you sass AI and you're using the
Google Maps, it'll say keep going straight. No, that's not
a cliff, just keep going.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Oh you think that the aif if you sass it,
it's gonna perfectly purposely make you late.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
No, it'll kill you because eventually it'll kill us.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
All wow, wow, that's that's probably true. No, I don't.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
I don't know, And I think this is the point.
I wouldn't search out AI to plan a trip, But
if I was using tools to plan a trip, how
would I really know that whether or not AI is
being used, whether there is some artificial intelligence engine running
in the background helping provide me what I need to
get from.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Point A to point B.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
I feel like, unfortunately, in this day and age, we
have to assume that there's going to be some sort
of AI being used for almost everything. I'm wondering what
the travel agent the career lifespan is now for anyone
in the travel industry when it comes to travel planning, because.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Oh, we could say that about a whole host of businesses.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Absolutely so, in a discussion with a friend of mine,
business partner I have in a in a different world
guy went to college with one of my oldest dearest
friends in the in the in the in the world,
who is far more technically.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Savvy than I.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
He was discussing a conversation that that that he witnessed
where the whole AI conversation got turned on its head.
And first, there's the people who use AI for work.
Certainly we see, we know that colleges, college students are
cheating left and right with AI. But turns out that
only happens in certain parts of university life. The guys
(15:12):
and men and women, boys and girls who are doing
math and science, the AI really can't help you. As
a matter of fact, there are studies where if you're
utilizing the AI to help with the coding, the coding
project takes fourteen percent longer.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Right, So, It's very interesting stuff there.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
And the AI real cheating is in the more liberal
arts kinds of place as opposed to the hard science
kind of places, and that's interesting as well. But the
real interesting takeaway and this is a mind scramble of
a thought and is going to bother you if you
listening to the radio show all weekend and if you
(15:50):
get the podcast from the moment.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
You hear this, it's going to bother you for days.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
You know, when you put a prompt into AI and
say do this or look up that or create this,
and it will find like part of what you're looking
for and then maybe it'll give you something you weren't expecting.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Right, you've done that before? You have you had that
have movie?
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Well, I know I believe it was you. And this
was like a year and a half ago when AI
first was getting incorporated into X. You said create an image.
I think it was you of what Fingers Maloy looks
like based on his tweets, and it ended up being
a nice young African American gentleman.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
Right, Okay, So people look at that and say, oh
my gosh, I can't believe AI created that the way
you need to look at it and it has changed
my perspective on everything is that when you program something,
when you create a computer program, it's supposed to do
what the what it's programmed to do.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
When it doesn't do that, that's a bug.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Yet when we view AI, we view that as somehow
a feature, somehow it's creative, somehow it's cool.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Well, it's learning. No, the AI is nowhere near where
it needs to be.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
When it it doesn't do the task that it is
asked to do, that's a bug. And we're looking at
AI and its growth maybe in a very wrong context,
improper context, based on what we think is cool versus
what needs to get done. Enjoy that thought for.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
A few days.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Eat, drink, smoking is your cigar bourbon FOODI extravaganza. I'm
Tony Katz, that guy over there that is America's favorite
amateur drinker, Fingers molloy. We are smoking from Pinnacle Cigars.
This is the Sublime. We learned about this at a
local tobacconist here in Central Indiana and how the connection
(17:40):
to provide a cigar club and what they do with
some of these limited type of releases.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Limited Cigar Association.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
This is an Ecuadorian Habano six by fifty Dominican in
the binder, the filler Nico Roguin, Dominican, and I think
there's another tobacco in there that is undisclosed.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Really still in the first third of this smoke, the.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
Rapper here is is a good, actual thickness right there.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
It looks really good burning for the most part.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Even his mind's a little off just because of where
I had it set down.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
And the draw has been just fine.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Even though I think the cigar is a little bit light,
a little bit with a ball bat in its field,
I think the draw has just been terrific.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
It has been terrific. I will say now that I
am getting more into the first third of the cigar,
I'm not getting that pretzel that you're talking about, but
I am starting to get kind of a bready sweetness
that I didn't get at the light. That wood is
still there for me, That spice that was there at
the light is starting to subside again. And then it's
that whole argument, is it really or you're just getting
(18:45):
used to it? I believe though it's actually of subsiding.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
A little bit.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
I do think that I do consider that like a
pretzeley bready sweetness, although the salt is not necessarily there.
The spice has picked up in a bano. I'm not
surprised by that. In the slide, the wood is where
I don't know if I agree, but I agree that
there's a dryness. Now that's a weird thing, spice sweet dry,
(19:11):
So I'm thinking it's a little more grass, it's a
little more hay than wood. But that spice could really
be more of a cedar note, and that's where it's
coming from. Not so much of pepper there is. There
was a spice hit after the what I saw was
the pretzel, but now I think that's coming off the
wood note that you're referring to. So the dry is
(19:34):
kind of how my mouth feels. There's no salivation taking place.
I'm not saying no to the cigar, by the way,
So I don't know where I'm at with Is that
wood like a cedar note that's bringing out some of
that wood flavor and I'm kind of taking it as
a spice or is that an actual white pepper kind
of thing happening right there?
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Well, either way, it's an interesting smoke. It's been very,
very good so far. I'm having a little trouble keeping
my lip, but that could be a humific munification issue.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Who knows, is it in your humid or fingers? Mooy
the Pinnacle Sublime for fourteen dollars. Probably, Yes, it's not bad.
It's not bad. It's not perfectly my flavor profile. But
I could see doing this from time to time. I
would rather it was twelve dollars, but it's under fifteen
(20:30):
and today's America exactly, and that for a six inch cigar,
which will give you I should give you. I'd say
seventy five to ninety minutes on this if it were
if you weren't doing a radio show, that's where I
would be.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
Yeah, But you bring up price, and I know this
is just anecdotal, but you and I were talking off
the air about some of the crazy deals you are
running into with cigars this point.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
I don't know what's going on, and we talk about
places like if there's something comes up, but I'm not
doing ads.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
If you if you want an ad.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
Sponsorship is now available and we have some fantastic, fantastic
things to talk about coming up in the near future.
You guys know that we work with Flederman von Reest
Watches made right here to assembled here in Indiana von
Reest ri E s t E von Reest dot com.
You can use my last name Cats k A t
(21:25):
Z and get your discount. Incredible time pieces uh, mechanicals. Uh,
you've got automatic so chronograph called the Roudent Record that
I'm actually wearing right now. Beautiful time pieces assembled in Indiana.
Von Reeste, great family, great story. Thrilled to be working
with them.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
R I E.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
S t E von Reest dot com. Use my last
name Cats to get your discount.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
And we've got some other great people coming on board.
It's been it's been wonderful. So I'm not gonna use
the name of the of the online site. I'm not
gonna use it for the sake of the show.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
It was a bundle of all of the millennios, right.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
I love ali A, I love the Ceriv, I love
the Millennial, I love the Millennio Maduro. And it came
out to like five dollars and sixty cents a stick.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
And I saw that, I'm.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Like, how in the world do you not how possibly
do you do you not make that happen? I bought
three bundles. The point that I'm met to you is like,
that's crazy, Like that doesn't make any sense. I don't
know how that happened. And and I I asked myself
at that moment, is something going on? So as we
(22:42):
discussed it was Cigar Fashionado who una was a David
Savona or somebody else that imports were up first quarter?
Everything going on with uncertainty and everything else. The imports
were up first quarter, but that could be people pre
buying the tariffs because tariffs have had app We could
talk about a lot of places where tariffs have not
been pushed onto the consumer. Cigars, ain't it kitting? Every
(23:03):
price is up everywhere.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
So maybe that could be an answer to the question
that is being posed, is because cigar imports were higher
than expected the first quarter, maybe people bought up a
lot of inventory and now they're heavy on inventory and
they want to let loose on some of their sticks.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
This is a level of blowout I'm not prepared for.
I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
The the all of a v millennium at six bucks, Yeah,
less than six bucks, and that like a Buffalo ten price, yes,
and the Buffalo ten's a fine smoke for six bucks,
but six dollars? What's your everyday cigar, the V millennium.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
You're welcome. That is a that is not a bad
place to be.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
Now, if I if I had my brothers, it would
it be the cigar that I smoke every day. I
don't know, but it would be in any top ten
conversation cigars you could have every day. The V just
the V never mind. The millennio is good for any weather, right,
It's good. It's good for all occasions. So I don't
know what's happening. I don't know what's going on, but
(24:13):
that really did strike me as a huh. And so
now I'm like, I'm doing my own investigation as to
what else can be found, what else is happening? But
this right here, this Hamano, ECUADORI and Hamano. It's a
nice nice stick time fingers alway.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
For news of the week, USA Today has the story Tony.
A new report says that each of the two major
wildfires that devastated parts of Los Angeles County in January
costs more than twice as much as they previously thought,
adding up to sixty five billion dollars in losses.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
The fires, yes, sixty five billion with a bee.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
Okay, okay, and most of it has to do with
the fact that, you know, the increase the increased tag
has to do with the location of a lot of
these homes that were destroyed in the fire.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
Every conversation about loss in the fires, you know, that
can lead you down political roads. And we don't really
get political on the show, right, we are political people.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
We don't do it for the show. We'd like to
stay away from that. But allow me this part of it.
Why hasn't the rebuilding begun? It's a good question.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
Why hasn't this happened? Why are they holding this up?
What is this permitting issue? Are they going to allow
people to rebuild their homes?
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Are they going to say no, you can't do that?
Speaker 1 (25:35):
And bless Adam Carolla, who has been the hero of
this conversation. Has he is still in southern California and me,
I was there for six years and I said, okay,
I've had enough here, thank you, Cleveland, good night.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
I'm sorry. I don't care about your politics. This is
the story. It's not the losses.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Because we could talk a lot of things about the
fires and why they weren't put out sooner, and the
issues and the and how they dealt with brush management,
and and and everything else.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Why aren't they rebuilding that?
Speaker 1 (26:07):
And you know, if you want to make that political,
more than happy to do it, because no matter where
your politics are, you should be incensed by it.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
Well, it feels like, if I'm remember remembering this correctly,
local and state officials talked about how we're going to
streamline the process. There's going to be a lot less
red tape. But then you mentioned Adam Carolla who has
been documenting the progress in front of his home. His
home wasn't really damaged all that much on the fire,
but in front of his home, the ocean front property,
a lot of it was destroyed, and he is he's
(26:34):
documented on his YouTube channel. There's been no progress at
all when it comes to here around build.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
And it's and it is obscene. It is it seems
purposeful in its delay. There seems to be a real
want to try and change, uh, the the whole concept
of what the Palisades was and people, you owned the house,
and well you're not going.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
To have that anymore. It's gross. What's happening. The Chinese
want you to know that it's not good to make
fun of the other sex.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
Are we being specific?
Speaker 2 (27:11):
Well, that's just it. I don't know.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
Let me tell the story and then we'll figure it out.
Go on tea, drink smoke im Tony Katz. That right
there is America's favorite amateur drinker. Fingers Maloy the Guardian
with the story. Chinese officials, so we're talking about the
Chinese Communist Party, obviously warn comedians that mocking the other
sex is no laughing matter. The warning comes after a
(27:38):
string of shows by women comedians joking about men went viral,
so provincial officials warning comics again, stirring up discord between
the genders and struggling them to criticize constructively rather than
for the sake of being funny.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Here, here's the problem. Here's the problem.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
When you're going political, tenant is murder. Anyone who disagrees
with you also stand in line for twelve hours for bread.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
These people don't know funny. Commedis do not know funny.
That is that is obvious.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
Well, when you're a Chinese comedian and you say you
murdered when you're on stage, be a whole different conversation altogether.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
When you're a communist, when you remember the Communist Chinese
Party not Chinese.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
I'm talking about Chinese in China, I'm not talking about it.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
You're talking about communists. You gotta say it right because
someone's gonna come at you. You know, it's like the
joke from a Robin Williams has told this joke. Evan say,
it has a takeoff of this joke. Why aren't Germans funny?
Speaker 2 (28:42):
He killed all the Jews?
Speaker 1 (28:43):
I mean that is the wow, that's the joke. I'm
this is the set quite literally. If Robin Williams was
alive today, he'd be like called it. It's the same concept.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
Well, I will say I did see the bit that
the Chinese communist were upset about. This female comedian got
up and she said, you ever notice that men are
from Mars and women are from Venus?
Speaker 2 (29:10):
The bit whole bit.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
Uh. I must admit that the first part of the
story that really grabs me is stand up comics in China.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
What are you saying?
Speaker 1 (29:24):
I'm saying that it seems like an impossible place for
a stand up to be able to do anything because
of all of the government pressures that are on you.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
It seems an impossible thing to do.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
The only way I know sometimes that America is still
free is that you know, comics are out there doing
their shame.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Gillis has a career shame. Gillis gets hired by Saturday
Night Live.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
They find three errant tweets, they fire the dude, and
ten years later he's hosting Saturday Night Live.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
It's the only way I know America is still the greatest. Well,
it's the only way possible. I do know that at
the Beijing Comedy Store, it's been said that when you.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
When you go, that was donna delay on my part.
Speaker 3 (30:14):
Oh my god, when you go to the Beijing Comedy Store,
they do say when you visit.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
The laugh factory, literally, yeah.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
Three hours later you want to return.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
I'm doing a factory joke.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
You're doing a Chinese joke, and the communist or not buddy, see,
you can't do this in communist China.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
So I was really taken by that.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
Instead of mocking blindly confident men, it is better to
explore the social causes for this mentality. Instead of blindly
ridiculing maternalistic women, it is better to reflect on how
consumerism shapes gender roles.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
The government giving you tips on.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
How to be funny, when central planning comes down to
the comedy store, then you know comedy is dead in
your country.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
Comedy, self expression, freedom of thought, all these things.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
I mean, is this the wrong show to admit that
communism sucks?
Speaker 3 (31:22):
Like?
Speaker 2 (31:23):
Is that somehow? Is that a problem for anybody?
Speaker 3 (31:25):
Probably there'll somebody be out there saying, right now, stick
to the cigars.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
Oh oh, you can email me at suck it at
Eat drinksmokeshow dot com.
Speaker 2 (31:35):
But it'll probably come to us we have a catch up.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
But what's amazing about this? For those of us who
are old enough to remember the Soviet Union, it felt
like there was kind of an underground comedy scene, or
at least people in Russia, you know, where they were
not afraid to express their sense of humor privately. But
(32:03):
this is something where they are they're actually coming down
on female comedians. I would be interested. You don't think
of stand up comedy and China, No, no, no, no,
you don't, So it'd be interesting I would. Of course,
Obviously the language barrier would be a problem, but to
(32:26):
see what the stand up comedy scene is like in
China would be fascinating.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
Right well, first of all, the level of bravery that
it must take, because everybody gets it, everybody knows the problem.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
The level of bravery it must take to get on stage.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
And how about the bravery it takes for the audience,
because they hear the joke and they go look around
and see if they can.
Speaker 3 (32:50):
It's almost like being in a comedy club in America.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
Well that was the problem, wasn't it.
Speaker 3 (32:55):
Look am I allowed to laugh at it? Right?
Speaker 2 (32:57):
Can I laugh at this? Can I laugh at that?
You can laugh anything you want. Don't let anybody tell
you you can't.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
Screw those people, dear lord, and and they are the
call them the Karens, or call them the thought police,
call political correctness. Uh, they're They're all the enemy. They're
all the absolute enemy, you know. The I don't think
that saying I'm a comic is a shield against all criticism,
(33:23):
But I think being able to say what you want
is shielded by the First Amendment right, And and even
that has limits. There are whole theories and conversations philosophies
about what are the limits of the First Amendment? Are
there are there reasonable moral limits one should have on
it for oneself? And then are their legal limits? Is
(33:44):
anything truly absolute? And the answer for by the way,
for people who want to say that their first Amendment
absolutist and they can say anything they want it and
and they're protected slander and libel or not right the
spoken word of the written word that these things are not.
You've seen lawsuits regarding defamation. There are some things that
(34:06):
simply are not acceptable that that can get you in
a whole heap of trouble. Now, the fact that you
could still say it is is maybe the freedom part,
but it is not free of some level of response
in certain ways. But this is a far cry conversation
from what we're talking about with communists China, where you
(34:28):
can't speak ill of men because we don't allow that.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
Here.
Speaker 1 (34:35):
There's a lot about men that should be spoken ill of.
H I also have a couple of women that I
could speak ill of for sure.
Speaker 3 (34:43):
Nant to name this, sure, I'm not gonna do that,
Trat not gonna have you know why, because you acknowledge
the fact that men are from Mars and women are
from Venus.
Speaker 2 (34:57):
They're not, they're not. But the you know that right,
well you know that met are not from Mars.
Speaker 3 (35:03):
Well, we've got people at the lab over at the
Fingers Maloya Institute of Institutes for Institutes looking into this,
right now we got a handsome government grant, not from
the Chi coms.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
No Chi comms.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
Listen, just for the sake of clarity, I'll say anything
about the evils of communism anytime I want, including the
communist Chinese.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
I don't care.
Speaker 1 (35:27):
If the podcast is no longer available in China, We're fine,
thank you very much. If any of these Chinese comics
will come to the United States, will put you on stage.
We'll put you on make it happen. I don't know
how you're gonna get out, but we will put you
on stage gladly and joyfully. But they're not ever gonna
hear this offer because the podcast is not available in China,
(35:51):
and I never apologizes.
Speaker 3 (35:52):
Just got an email from the Chinese communists the inform
you that I need to stop using the.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
Three hour joke.
Speaker 3 (36:03):
Good call back, look at you three hour joke.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
I think first that there are stand up comics in China.
Speaker 1 (36:11):
Did not know that that the communist Chinese are trying
to regulate this stuff is exactly what they do with
all with everything else they do with social credit scores
and everything else.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
And most importantly, let this be a reminder of how
fortunate we are to live in and.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
We live in the United States, and to live free
and to live in a place where you can, where
you can be the funny.
Speaker 2 (36:33):
Amen. I just wish more comics were funny. That's just well,
that's a really us Stephen could beat joke.
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