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December 13, 2023 51 mins

(Content warning in this episode - death) This episode is in memory of Kevin Hall, beloved by many, including Kelsey (his favorite - and only - niece). Kevin exuded warmth, love, curiosity, and a recognition that life is short and it's important to live with that knowledge to get the most out of it. We love you forever, Uncle Kevin. It will never be the same without you. Join us as we take a break from our normal episode style for the holidays! We decided it would be a fun gift to the audience to each find five interesting things that we learned about recently and try to surprise each other with our facts. We learn about all KINDS of things like ants, the shortest war in history, goat accents, and more! Let us know who you think won this round - and reach out to us if you have any good ideas for future episodes, and what kinds of things you've learned recently that made you think, "OK, WTF?!" Also, if you're familiar with any of the stories featured and have any interesting tidbits or information we may have missed please reach out! We love when people share in our little rabbit holes. As Kelsey said, "SUBMIT SUBMIT SUBMIT!"  We love you, we see you listening, we see our stats! Have a listen to one of Uncle Kev's favorite songs: https://bit.ly/unclekevsong Check us out on most major socials @okwtfpodcast or our website to find out more info and to learn more: www.okwtfpodcast.com Get our episodes with captions on our OK, WTF?! YouTube Channel. Thank you to Bilal Sarwar for the incredible cover art! For this episode, cheers to you, Uncle Kevin, for providing our outro song - your cover of "My Sweet Lady", which you sang for my mom and dad in August of this year. Take care during these holidays, friends. Be safe, lead with curiosity and love, don't minimize the need for wonder, and reach out if you need help. ~Kelsey & Mike

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

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(00:04):
[Music]
[Music]
hi I'm Mike hey I'm Kelsey we're into

(00:26):
telling you stories sometimes funny
sometimes awkward
sometimes creepy or sad but who knows
every month it's different but no matter
what you'll be asking
yourself okay
WTF Welcome
Friends hi oh hello hey you how you

(00:46):
doing Kelsey do you want the honest
answer sure I want everything
honest well not doing so great to be
honest I mean okay well before I get
into my not doing so great what I will
say is this is an episode an
interjection episode yeah we should

(01:06):
explain that I guess starting that this
be like your normal episode with two
deeply investigated and professionally
profoundly lifechanging
stories with uh beautiful Source
material and art imagery

(01:28):
imagery this is gonna be a little
different um we're changing it up for
the holiday season a holiday special if
you will yes yeah and so we're going to
be bringing to you something totally
different essentially it's h a spin on I
was today years old when so we're it's a
light-hearted there's going to be no

(01:50):
presentation associated with it just a
good little conversation a nice little
holiday break episode um and then coming
back in January in the new year we'll be
back to the normal episodes but um so
that takes me to I'm not doing great um
and I mean you know in the US the
Thanksgiving holiday just happened and

(02:12):
um that was really nice and and then uh
we had a very unexpected loss in my
family the next day my Uncle Kevin who
was just the force of a human like just
an incredible person so I am so grateful
to you Mike for one letting me talk
about a little bit today and also
dedicating this episode to him and his

(02:34):
just enormity and humanness of course I
I've met him um a few times yeah and
from what I met of him I can tell that
um you carry his spark forward so happy
to be here with you and I was happy to
know him and I'm happy to learn more
about him through you ah I love it and I

(02:57):
I
mean yeah um
I'm so I'm constantly so grateful for
the amount of time I had with him and my
aunt M um and still get to have with my
aunt M um and I'm so
grateful for the number of friends he
was able to meet and impact as well I've

(03:18):
had numerous people reach out to me
about him he was like very musically
inclined a master
Craftsman um just hilarious such a funny
person with the most unique humor so
yeah it's it's an enormous loss uh but I
will also say that I am so grateful that
two years ago I purchased him a story

(03:40):
worth not sponsored
subscription and that he did it um
sometimes reluctantly but he did it and
I will
never not be happy that I did that
because now I have that to cherish and
I'm able to give that to family and
friends um now and just has so much of

(04:00):
who he is in those pages and um his
humor comes through and even one of the
the things he talked about in that book
was his favorite music yeah um and his
favorite music is very eclectic it's all
over the place um music was just such a
big part of him and uh so my partner

(04:23):
Patrick put together from that list in
the book put together a Spotify playlist
called Uncle Kev um maybe we can add it
to the notes I was about to say we
should share it soone can listen yeah I
agree it's a great mix I mean I I'm not
able as of this recording to listen to
it but because I just I need to be in a

(04:44):
different head space too but I will but
just knowing the songs that are on there
oh my gosh so great so I hope people
listen and even if you didn't know him
just you know think about someone you do
know and love share the playlist um
enjoy it EXP band your music taste he
would love that for you because that's
what he did and yeah um should I share

(05:07):
my thing on work yeah I think that would
be or his thing on okay before we kick
this off um I mean I'm constantly
thinking about my relationship with work
and I feel like we all are in this
interesting world we live in where so
much of our life is focused on work and
you know I I

(05:28):
just
I don't want to be a slave to work for
my whole life um and I know that most
people don't not in not in that way um
not I do Chelsea no you don't you liar
oh whoops I got
confused um but one of the many things I
loved about him was how he just lived

(05:50):
his life and how
he
navigated like
essentially a very
corporate
run um capitalistic Society um and he
was able to kind of take control of what
he wanted to do I mean very much
supported by my aunt mem in that regard

(06:11):
um but when I opened the book The Story
worth book I got I opened to the very
end and it made me laugh so hard
because it was the question was what is
your best advice when it comes to work
and his response I will read word for
word but it made me laugh so hard and it
also is just like
such so full of like advice behind the

(06:33):
humor that um you know I hope it helps
someone uh so he said my best advice
about work don't do it if you have to do
it do as little of it as damn possible
if you have to do more than a little do
something you like because it doesn't
get better with age it gets harder don't
just do something for the money because
it will kill you and your spirit dead

(06:55):
there you go short and sweet now go get
a damn job you love and stop
whining oh Uncle
Kevin we'll just kind of leave that
there and for now um thank you for
letting me share and dedicating this to
him um and I hope people listen to the
music but I I think he would like this

(07:16):
episode I I feel like it's full of just
quirky things at this point um you know
I chose five I was today years old one
you chose five I did uh so we're just
going to go back and forth like you know
tennis here just like popping them off
to each other sharing them um so do you
want to start I feel like I always start

(07:37):
sure I'll start this one oh let's see
which one should I start
with oh they're all over the place um
okay I will start with
this I was today years old when I found
out that there are two states in the

(07:59):
United States that have official state
toys what yeah no other
states 48 out of 50 said absolutely not
um and the two that chose to have them
uh Kansas okay has the ETA sketch oh and

(08:20):
Mississippi this is a weird one claimed
the teddy
bear oh and I was kind of thinking
Mississippi like is there any like
Theodore Roosevelt things with because
that's like came from I feel like that's
not I don't know I feel like Washington
State or like California like Vermont or

(08:42):
Vermont the Burlington bear factory or
whatever yeah would be the teddy bear so
then I started thinking like
well what if I had to guess for the
other
states what would they be what would
they be and I thought we could have a
discussion about that oh man okay what

(09:02):
about main mik oh man it's got to be
like a moose of some kind like a stuffed
moose or like a I'm trying to think like
a steak toy um um for
m a
lobster yeah an animal like um or maybe

(09:23):
it would I say
toy
toy H I know like ver maybe would be
like um like a Lego Bridge oh yeah you
know how they have all like the bridges
and stuff I'm focused on New England
because this is where we hail from but
well it's where we're familiar with yeah
like a Lego Covered Bridge yeah or
something like that that would be cool

(09:45):
New Hampshire would maybe be
like the wubbles I guess yeah yeah maybe
just because it's like knitting
crocheting like quilting it's all like
that's very New Hampshire um
wubbles yeah live for your woble
um Massachusetts oh

(10:06):
man what would we be like a I think it
would be like something very it would be
like a marble run or something like very
technical Tech kind of thing with like
CH Globe but I think I kind of feel like

(10:27):
you're right like a marble run would be
really interesting think about like MIT
yeah yeah exactly or the museum of
science is the the big marble run that's
in there yeah
huh it's so
interesting yeah so I that's one of the
things that's one of the things no idea

(10:49):
and I would love to hear from other
audience members like where you're from
where do you think what do you think
your state should be and why yeah you
agree with Kansas having the ETA sketch
weird and Mississippi having the teddy
bear that seems wrong to me I I think
yeah I think Mississippi was like oh
Kansas chose one so I'm gonna pick a

(11:11):
really good one uh was there no details
at all on like what why they chose it
that's so weird huh so many questions so
many questions no answers oh wait a
minute yeah can Massachusetts be a light
break ooh
how come I don't know it's very bright

(11:33):
it's the spirit of Massachusetts it's
the spirit of
America okay that's legit kind of
thing okay I can get down with that like
that and plus that's a cool toy yeah it
is a cool toy I want one oh my gosh so
cool huh now I'm like all thinking about

(11:54):
it but M would be a cabbage kid oh my
gosh I think you're right of course it
would Maine would be that's so funny or
like yeah yeah the only other thing I
think about Maine is LL Bean
so you know oh man wild absolutely Wild

(12:15):
Well I have want to share with you
okay I was today years old when I
realized or learned that a jiffy is an
actual unit of time it's equivalent to
one 100th of a
second that's really quick I know and I
have some details for you tell me so the

(12:36):
term Jiffy um it's kind of got an
interesting I guess interesting history
a little bit but um it was coined for
physics so it denoted initially the time
it it took for light to travel one
centimeter into a vacuum so which um I
have as 33.3

(12:57):
564 P seconds or Pika seconds which is
like really quick um and then of course
it became colloquially used well I guess
the a physicist named Gilbert Newton
Lewis in the early 20th century coined
Jiffy but then now of course we just use
it colloquially as meaning really fast
like we'll be there in a jiffy you know
like a really quick period of time but I

(13:20):
thought it was just
like like something to do with peanut
butter just like or just like I don't
know just a stupid term silly term that
we you know whatever but now because
it's used so casually but I had no idea
that it was actually a scientific thing
yeah no that's pretty like it's reminds
me of um a butt load is actually a unit

(13:42):
of measurement yes yes a butt is isn't
it for wine or something yeah I think it
is like the exact amounts or something
like a
butload yeah a buttload of
wine it's a lot of wine it is a lot of
wine can't get through that in a

(14:03):
jiffy M coming in high a
sentence nice job thank
you oh what you got for me okay this one
is weird uh okay perfect it is it
doesn't have anything to do with the
Roman Empire We're not gonna do this
whole thing okay it does have to do with

(14:24):
like ancient Italian provinces like
Pompei and areas uh it is an ancient
charm and I'm going to try and pronounce
it correctly it's tin
tabulam um ulum tin tabulam and
uh it was it's it is because they're in

(14:46):
museums now um it's usually like made
out of bronze or some kind of metal and
uh it's basically just this little guy
sometimes this little guy but with the
biggest package you've ever seen um and

(15:06):
there's just a CRA anatomical package
oh no
not like not to scale like the package
is bigger than the man oh my God I'm
sorry I thought you were referencing
like his package and like I thought you
were visually trying to say his and so
anyway ignore me I mean his his penis is

(15:29):
phus um you weren't talking about that
yeah okay and it's just covered in bells
and basically people would hang them up
uh in pom other areas around like very
very ancient Italy to ward off evil
spirits uh there are some there are some
that I saw and if you want to Google

(15:50):
this you know uh safe search whatever
you got to do not safe for work kind of
things but there are some that are just
like the penises the peni but like with
wings on either side like
Cupids away and they're just like
there's like chains hanging with just a
crap ton of bells uh you got to look up

(16:11):
a picture it is it's phenomenal like I
know where it comes from like not so
much the fing but like Chimes
historically in yeah yeah yeah ward off
evil from many many different cultures
um and I guess for some reason someone
was like you know what this means more
menly manness so oh man literally uh so

(16:36):
feel free that's my Christmas present or
my holiday present what a present to you
thank you so much I will definitely safe
search that not on my work computer
correct oh fascinating that is I not
sure that I would decorate with that but
I mean you know to each their own it
would be a centerpiece for sure like

(16:57):
there's no way your eye would not catch
her yes absolutely oh my goodness I have
one that has nothing to do with human
anatomy okay but more like Earth
Anatomy uh soy or yeah kinda um I was
today years old or recent years old when

(17:19):
I learned that the world's largest
desert is not the Sahara no it's
Antarctica yes you knew this yes and you
didn't tell me I'm
sorry um obviously it seems
counterintuitive I'm looking I am so
lucky to have a photo shown to me right

(17:41):
now of the imagery that Mike was just
talking about uh that will be now burned
in my
brain it's so
aggressive it's such an aggressive
statue oh the blur is ruin there some
much better uh I apologize no please
don't apologize I'm just like I I won't

(18:04):
unsee it now that's for sure um so be
aware if you do decide to look for that
uh you will you will be um overtaken by
it and this is in memory of your
uncle we love your Uncle Kevin he would
laugh so hard at this so so Antarctica

(18:25):
yes um largest desert counter in
you know you usually think about a
desert as hot arid
Etc but I didn't know this but a desert
is actually based on low precipitation
rather than high temperatures so
obviously um
Antarctica gets I guess it gets less

(18:45):
than 10 inches of rain a year so very
low
precipitation it has a cold climate
which typically we think about the
desert we think heat but it's more about
dryness than temperature so so obviously
very dry and the because of it's so cold
the air holds like really little
moisture so um also there are two types

(19:07):
of deserts there's subtropical and polar
um so we usually think Sandy hot yeah
but of course polar deserts can also
meet that criteria so Antarctica Falls
is the largest polar desert um and it's
just unique I guess that's part of it
too is like it's one of the harshest
climates on the planet and

(19:28):
um because it's so arid and it's got
such an interesting landscape it's also
classified as a desert so I thought that
was fascinating it's so cool I'm upset
you didn't tell me I'm sure many people
knew about this but no you know it's it
was one of those things I think I read
it in a book somewhere where it's like
did you know like you're gonna know my
next one too I'm nervous prob not I'm

(19:51):
nervous I hear I'll do an
apertif with this one uh okay did you
know Kelsey know you worked on a farm at
your
master's degree area yes um did they
have goats no it was an organic um fruit

(20:13):
and vegetable farm okay well if they did
have goats yeah you might have heard
that researchers almost a decade ago
found that uh kids baby goats that were
raised together in the same pen develop
accents similar to their peers so they

(20:33):
start out they start out with their own
like accent and then they hear their
yeah they hear their their peers
bleeding and they Chang their bleet to
match theirs so like this was done in I
think it was in England and they
measured like all across the UK and even

(20:55):
in like America they're like oh that
goat accent is way different than what
that go accent and I just I don't know I
guess I kind of I would have never
thought to think about that but um my
niece actually who's about to be done
with college she just recently did um a

(21:17):
study about how birds have like
vernacular um and so I kind of went down
a rabbit hole of do other animals have
it and I found this goat one I found it
fantastic that's
interesting uh and speaking of birds
there's a really did I tell you about
the substack called Screech of the

(21:38):
week yes oh my gosh it's so fun anyway I
won't derail us with that but yeah
animals are super interesting in that
regard like communication style people
really just don't give them enough
credit exactly really wild well my next
one you're probably gonna know this oh
man the anatomy of the of language

(22:00):
here um do you know what the Little Dot
over the I and J is
called yeah you know I've heard it um
yeah I can't remember it off the tip of
my tongue it's like on the tip of my
tongue well I was today years old Mike
when I discovered the dot over an IJ is

(22:22):
called a tit yes that's it that's it yep
and essentially what it means is a small
distinguishing Mark like and it's
associated with you know writing systems
and
um
it came about uh with Latin

(22:44):
predominantly the Latin alphabet but um
it just means like the the word title
itself like atmology wise comes from Old
English Middle English and it just means
a small stroke or a point in writing and
so it's been used as a diacritical mark
essentially um or small Mark in lots of
languages but um I just think it's it's

(23:08):
funny it is
hysterical uh here's a bonus point off
of off of that point I learned last
weekend um that there are actual names
for so we're doing this on Google meet
next to the hangup button you see the

(23:28):
three dots that are vertical MH oh yeah
the don't tell me the um Kebab Kebab yes
and there's another it's like a burger H
the hamburger so when I worked at
McDonald's how challenging was it to
label the quote unquote hamburger menu
when you were a hamburger company
because it would also confuse someone

(23:49):
who's using a screen reader to think
that that was the actual hamburger so
you had to not name it that oh my God
what did you have to name it it was just
menu um but I honestly don't remember um
but I just things like that that I think
about where I'm like oh my gosh yes they
have names it's amazing I never knew
that I just used to call them ellipses

(24:11):
because that's yeah an upside down
ellips yeah there's another name for it
too the hamburger man need the Kebab um
and then there's another one if it comes
to me I will I will say it but oh my
gosh in the middle of night you'll just
scream it out yeah and pass going to be
like uh oh what now
Kelsey H what a journey what a journey

(24:34):
it's been a week for him I feel so bad
but now I'm GNA be screaming out food in
the middle of the night referencing
technology you know nothing makes sense
nothing's real nothing's real um that
sounds like fun to
me but what do I matter I'll just scream
eggnog in the middle of the night so you
can feel better cheers EG my wine glass

(24:57):
of right here accompanying me on this
episode today my kff of Diet Coke it's
actually just but I want to be fancy you
are fancy okay so that was three each
and a bonus one so back to me volley
it's bad back to me the birdie I hit the
ball right back to all right on yep on

(25:17):
your side here's another animal one oh
no oh my God the last the last three are
animal
ones okay this is about ants
okay so when we think about farming
agriculture animal husbandry we think
you know human um 12,000 is years ago

(25:38):
but did you know Kelsey that ants have
been developing farming and animal
husbandry techniques for around six
million years uh I did not know that so
you have you ever heard of a a leaf
cutter ant have you ever heard of them
no okay so they uh these are primarily

(26:00):
uh dealing with ants that are in South
America so in the rainforest and stuff
like that maybe some in Africa too um
but they they chop up like little pieces
of leaf and a lot of people think that
they just take the leaf back to their
their commune and they home uh so people
just thought that that was like their

(26:21):
food no what they do is they they have
developed and co-evolved with a specific
type of fungus and each ant colony each
ant colony has a different strain of
this fungus where they feed the leaf
bits to the fungus and what the ants
actually

(26:41):
eat is the like the residue from the
Fungus so they but the fungus itself
can't survive without the ants bringing
them because they have been so far
removed from their environment they're
in like a closed almost
like um where this is the only place

(27:03):
this type of fungus can evolve and it's
kind of like you know how um families
will share like sourdough starter um
yeah so when a new Queen is born she
takes a bit of that fungus and goes to
another
colony and like forms her own colony
using a piece of that fungus and

(27:25):
bro um but you don't have to go terrible
you don't to go to South America to see
ants doing stuff like this so animal
husbandry uh you can see it in your own
backyard if you have a problem in your
flowers or plants with aphids um a lot
of times you'll see ants like corralling
them around and basically moving them to
certain areas for better feeding because

(27:47):
they sip on honeydew which is a little
like droplets that come out of the
aphid's basically butt um so amazing and
drink butt juice okay but
apparently so uh but I didn't know it
was 60 million years ago they that they

(28:09):
started co-evolving and developing these
Technologies um so animals are
incredible insects are incredible they
really are that's that's
really weird
and I love that they're just like
shrooming out though yeah pretty much oh
my gosh

(28:29):
wow I'm learning all the today years old
I don't know the ones that you're
telling and so I'm learning something
but I would like to tell you unless you
know this already which you probably
do I was today years old when I found
out that the shortest war in history was
between Britain and Zanzibar did you
know

(28:50):
this Michael is this the one where they
basically stayed like just outside of
their their firing range because
Zanzibar couldn't send their missiles
far enough away from where the British
fleet was or was that a different one
that I'm thinking about it it might be
different because I didn't see that part

(29:13):
of it or maybe that was part of it but
the reason behind it
was something I learned
but it was essentially it happened in
1896 and the war itself lasted 38
minutes okay yes this yeah okay it's

(29:34):
known as the Anglo Zanzibar War um
August 27th
1896 between the UK and the Su sultanate
of Zanzibar it
basically like there is
um how do I explain
this Zanzibar wanted

(29:55):
to well there's a succession dispute I
guess we'll put it that way um and
there's a pro British Sultan initially
as part of Zanzibar who passed away and
then the successor to the one who passed
away refused to
recognize you know any British supported

(30:16):
candidates certain or British in general
and so it led to this
conflict um and there was an ultimatum
for this guy to step down uh the
ultimatum passed they didn't comply the
new Zanzibar person didn't step down and
so the British obviously took action um
so it was like 9:00 am I guess British

(30:36):
warships showed up began bombarding the
Sultan's Palace um and you know we there
to
confront zanzibar's forces uh but the
fighting just was 38 minutes um because
it was so brief um and the British
forces over overwhelmed zanzibar's you

(30:59):
know at the time very poorly equipped
and outnumbered Defender so um the khed
the
successor um took refuge in a
consulate um and ultimately just ended
the war because um Britain still reigned
over Zanzibar which is is what it is um

(31:23):
but it eventually did gain independence
I mean much later so Zan
uh the island itself uh in 1963 got
independence but it was clearly like a a
very strange historical event 38 minutes
uh wild wild I had no idea I I I assume

(31:43):
Wars last a long time yeah for something
this seemed to be declared a war seems
like like months to a year or more yeah
I feel like this would be AP like named
like a conflict I'm not sure yeah yeah
but I'd never heard about it before so I
thought that was really interesting um

(32:05):
yeah so the Anglo Zanzibar war of okay
what was it
1896 very good you're
welcome when I think of Zanzibar I can't
help but think of Tenacious D um
Tenacious D yeah I don't know tell me
Jack Black um the actor he's in a band

(32:26):
with Kyle gos the name is Tenacious D
there's a song uh that we can't play uh
because it's explicit um but one of the
lyrics is I'm not gonna cook it but I'll
order it from
Zanzibar oh that's all I can think
about interesting what was it what were

(32:47):
they trying to
cook is it
that it's okay no it's not bad um it's
just about two people who love each
other very much okay okay say no more
together kind of thing and and the male
partner uh or this partner is just very

(33:09):
excited and is happy to do whatever if
that includes cooking or getting your
favorite meal before anything happens
okay okay he may they may or may not
cook it but they definitely will order
it from sansar thank you for that
explanation M that very
PG explanation yes yes they're just

(33:31):
[Music]
wrestling okay okay so for my last one I
actually have to blame you okay I'm
scared uh because it has to do with one
of our previous episodes or it's like oh
it's related

(33:52):
to
Yes uh so it's kind of like a vend
diagram of a perfect storm for me uh
which is knowledge I just gained and
also culture and folkloric things that
happened together um so have you ever
heard of a Welsh tradition called the

(34:12):
Mari
lyd um and it's a people don't know
where it really got its start it became
super popular in the 18th and 19th
century um and it's really in southern
Wales basically what happens is around
this time of year so like um

(34:34):
traditionally around like Christmas time
New Year's Eve um the colder months uh
for about a two or up to six week period
uh there are a group of
men this sounds terrible uh but it's
actually not that bad okay one dresses

(34:55):
up very fancy like
um one might dress up as a character
named Judy uh might dress up as I forget
what the other name of the character is
but basically they're like we're little
scamps and we're going to cause problems
and then one person is dresssed up uh
like covered in a sheet usually it's
white and they have a they have a pole

(35:18):
and on this pole is mounted a skull of a
horse and it's usually like with a veil
uh and all the flowers flowers and it
has the bells and streamers um y so it's
a a was selling tradition uh so they go
around to people's houses um and it's

(35:41):
like a it's a really interesting call
and response um kind of thing where
um basically they go around and because
of the Bells and the jingling and
usually they're pretty drunk or rockus
yeah um that's kind of the goal uh the
people inside the house can hear them

(36:01):
coming so they start singing a
particular verse being like oh no did
you lock the door the windows because
here they come I I'll share um a link to
uh there's a BBC video of please do
1960s of a traditional one um and it's
pretty tame but uh you apparently they

(36:23):
get like really out of hand uh so it can
go on for like hours of oh my gosh so
the house will sing basically saying
like you're not getting in here and then
the group of men will be like will sing
in response like give us food we want
drink and it's just like back and forth
and back and forth and back and forth

(36:45):
and then once the house has no more
responses to sing then they have to open
the doors and let them in give them food
uh drink drink and when they're inside
they do like this the horse which is the
Mari Lloyd um does this like weird dance
like throughout the house um the Judy

(37:08):
character like uh puts out the fire and
just like cleans the Hearth and it's
some kind of like fertility dances
is of gets into but they're trying to
like they scare the adults and the
children but it's all in good fun kind
of thing
it's kind of like blessing the house um

(37:30):
for the new year um and there is such
there's a debate about like does this
come from ancient like Celtic
um uh Welsh Traditions or does this have
anything to do with like the Virgin Mary
because it's Mary
Lloyd but both of them are kind of like

(37:51):
no it's not no it's not so it's kind of
like a pixture of both that came
together and it's really only in
southern Wales and it
follows um wherever there were mines
like coal mines or or any other type of
wherever those were that's where these
Traditions pop up um but there are other

(38:13):
traditions in throughout the UK uh not
of Mary Lloyd that is a very Welsh
tradition but there's one called um Obby
o which is basically hobby horse but
without the ages um and I it's uh in
southeast England I want to say and they

(38:34):
do basically the same thing but it's um
a goat instead of a horse and they go so
I all I could think about was like these
damn hobby horses yes it's basically
that oh and the followup to that
remember how I was like I know I had a

(38:54):
hobby horse yeah okay
its name was Buster my mom made it I did
in fact have it it was exactly as
described it lived in my house for a
very long time but has no it no longer
lives there which is so sad it is gone
um but they're probably yes gone but not

(39:16):
forgotten I remember it very vividly and
I know my mom is going to look for
pictures anyway we interrupt you when I
thought of it no when we get we need to
update things oh yeah we will
and rest in peace
Buster rest in peace my mom worked
really hard on that love you mom um but

(39:37):
man yeah so that's wild though um does
it still happen today or you saying like
this oh W no it still happens there was
like the biggest ever gathering in the
year 2000 but it still happens to this
day um I want to find I want yeah I want
to find more modern versions because
apparently that's when like people

(39:59):
like
crazy the BBC One is like hello where
Welsh and we're doing this very
traditional thing of course of course oh
uh please send that to me though and
then we have to find out where this is
happening and if it is so we we'll need
to travel to uh South Wales I will I'll

(40:20):
do an Airbnb and hopefully just then
pray that they arrive perfect and I'll
just be shouting things at them because
I don't know what to say they will have
to accept it I don't know Welsh so I
apologize if I mispronounced even Mar
Lloyd but I I I was on like the how do
you pronounce website and I watched like
YouTube videos trying to absorb it um

(40:42):
today this morning since I only found
out about it last night um God I'd seen
the term before but I didn't really know
what it meant yeah and I'd seen like the
face of the horse skull before
yeah oh my gosh so
wild well my last one is not as
interesting and I 100% know you're going

(41:03):
to know this one Pat new this one I'll
pretend um no don't pretend I'll I'll
see right through you um it's just how
much how little knowledge I have
comparatively but here we are I was
today or yesterday years old when I
discovered that there are more possible
iterations of a game of chess than there

(41:23):
are atoms in the observable universe
I did not know that you didn't know this
okay I did not know that it's it's
related to something called the Shannon
number which um someone named Claude
Shannon uh
estimated the complexity of Chess like

(41:44):
essentially made a game tree estimate of
the game of chess um and he himself was
a mathematician and an electrical
engineer um and uh I thought it was
really interesting but he was known as
the father of modern digital
communication and information Theory
which was fascinating but it's so the

(42:04):
Shannon number which is named after him
obviously represents the maximum number
of possible chess games and it's an
estimation based on a calculation of the
average branching factor or essentially
the average number of legal moves per
position on the chess board and an
average of the game length itself so the
exact value of this number is not fixed

(42:25):
and it could be based on like you know
subject to change based on um like new
algorithms like if suddenly the averages
changed or something like suddenly the
game became X number of hours longer or
something but um it's an astronomical
figure so the I do not
know how

(42:46):
to say this number um because it's not
it's so big that it can't be said like a
normal number it's like in like math
yeah visuals so maybe we just post it
but essentially it's uh Slash
parentheses
10 to the fancy parentheses 120th and

(43:10):
fancy parentheses slash and
parentheses uh and that number is pretty
big so it's basically impossible to
compute or analyze every possible move
and position within the game but I guess
all I to say
it's there are infinite vast
possibilities for the game of chess um

(43:34):
and apparently more than the observable
number of or number of atoms in the
observable universe that's insane wild I
know you didn't know this no I didn't
know that now you do yeah yeah it was
really fascinating I just I mean you
gave us two extra ones I only had five

(43:55):
you gave us
they were bonus they were point they
were slash parentheses point to the two
millionth fancy bracket zero yeah what
is the fancy bracket called I be today
years old when I are you talking about
the uh Alfred Hitchcock bracket or the

(44:17):
is that the one I was talking about the
one with like the
little yeah that's I call them Alfred
Hitchcock but they're probably not
correct I mean
why do you call it that uh
so Alfred Hitchcock movies in the
beginning they usually show like a
silhouette of his face he's got a very
like noticeable silhouette and it kind

(44:40):
of follows the curvature
ofets interesting I love that another I
was two years old
when but
yeah it's fine well I mean this was a
fun episode to do nice little holiday
Adventure
here very very fun festive holiday

(45:03):
Adventure festive we need to do
something different maybe we'll do mini
episodes focused on I was today or as
old one because I feel like I'm
constantly learning just bizarre things
um yeah it happens in the course of us
doing our regular shows yeah like I'm G
to keep falling down this rabbit hole
and then yeah and I don't know what to

(45:23):
do with that information I just put it
all to the side like I'll get to there
eventually someday I'll come back to
this or need this and here's here's when
Mike
yeah but I mean if you liked this tell
us tell us where though Mike where can
people find us uh people could find us

(45:43):
if they're going to like social media
they could find us at WTF podcast um at
all of the major social media networks
except for Threads and X Twitter um
because why no Facebook no Facebook for
us so basically Instagram YouTube and

(46:04):
Tik Tok right
yeah so that's what I said that's more
condensed than what I said they could
also go to
www.ok
wtfpod.com and find out some information
there sweet our RSS feed is there if
you're not a podcast on a traditional

(46:27):
platform so you can find that and you
can also just tell us you were today
years old when submit something to us
let us know send us an email at hello
WCF podcast.com
um and we're just so grateful that
you're listening and we hope that you
have happy healthy holiday season or
that if you are having a grief filled
holiday season that you are surrounded

(46:49):
by people and things and whatever that
you love and that you go outside and
stand in the sun hog a human look at a
plant pet a cat whatever feels good
um but I'm just lucky to have amazing
friends like Mike and Amber and all the
people so um thank you Mike for this
joyous moment in time we are happy to be

(47:12):
here and thank you for being in our
lives and thank you Uncle Kevin we love
you yeah until next time we'll see you
around
lady are you
crying the tears belong to

(47:38):
me did you
think our time
together was all
[Music]
gone
[Music]
lady you've been dreaming
I'm as close as I can

(48:02):
be and I swear to you our time has
[Music]
begun close your eyes and rest your
[Music]

(48:24):
weary I promise I will stay right here
beside
[Music]
you today our lives were joined became
[Music]

(48:45):
andwin I wish that you could know how
much I love
you
lady are you
happy do you feel the way I

(49:09):
do are there
meanings that you've never seen
before
lady my sweet lady
I just can't believe that's

(49:31):
true and it's like I've never
ever
before close your eyes and rest your
weary
[Music]

(49:52):
mind I promise I will stay
right here beside
[Music]
you today our lives were
joined came
inwin I wish that you could know how

(50:15):
much I love
[Music]
you
are you
[Music]
crying do the tears belong to
me did you think our time

(50:39):
together was all
[Music]
gone my sweet
lady
I'm as close as I can

(50:59):
be and I swear to you
[Music]
our and I
[Music]
swear
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