Who can the British thank for saving William Shakespeare’s home? And what famous website comes up if you type Relentlessly.com in your browser? Hear the Off Ramp Podcast.
Bob and Marcia Smith discuss various topics, including the efforts to save William Shakespeare’s home in Stratford-upon-Avon, the Mandela effect, and the origins and meanings of common surnames. They also explore the evolution of popular drinks and Yosemite National Park, highlighting the significance of John Muir and Ansel Adams’ involvement in its protection. Bob shares his knowledge of Elvis Presley’s connection to Lansky’s Clothing Store in Memphis, including how the store helped Elvis find stylish clothes when he was struggling financially. Marcia adds details about the store’s feature in the Elvis biopic and its symbolism in their friendship. Bob and Marcia’s conversation covers a range of fascinating topics and insights.
Outline
Famous brands and their origins.
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith discuss who can the British thank for saving William Shakespeare’s home, with Bob suggesting American showman PT Barnum and Marcia correcting him with the actual group of people who stepped in to buy the house, including Charles Dickens.
- In 1868, PT Barnum’s museum in New York City burned down, highlighting the importance of preserving Shakespeare’s home in its original location.
- Marcia and Bob discuss famous brands and their original names, including Amazon, Nike, and Vaseline.
- Two scientists threw away a sauce they developed due to its initial bad taste, but it matured and became a popular dish.
Mandela Effect and food-related memes.
- Marcia and Bob discuss the Mandela effect, a phenomenon where collective groups share false memories, using examples like Jiffy peanut butter and “Luke, I am your father.”
- They explain that these memories are not correct and are related to food items like KitKat bars, Froot Loops, and Cup Noodles.
- Bob Smith discusses the origins of the name “Hershey, Pennsylvania,” which was once known as “Dairy Church, Pennsylvania.”
- Marcia Smith adds that in India, the most common surname is “Singh,” which means “goddess.”
Elvis Presley’s success and a trivia question.
- Marcia Smith shares a funny story about her name and Bob Smith, and then they discuss the speed of turkeys and the discovery of 100 million year old dinosaur prints in China.
- Bob Smith jokes that if a turkey saw the dinosaur prints, it would go faster than 80 miles per hour, and Marcia Smith agrees.
- Bob and Marcia Smith discuss Elvis Presley’s success and the role of Bernard Lansky, a Jewish tailor from Memphis, in his career.
- The Lansky shop, which was featured in the biopic Elvis, is still run by Bernard Lansky’s son and granddaughter, keeping the legacy alive.
- Bob Smith tells a story about Elvis Presley’s first national TV appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, where Elvis’s father, Vernon, asked Lansky’s to give Elvis credit for the black and pink outfit he wore.
- Marcia Smith asks about a sign at Elvis’s home, and Bob Smith shares a favorite story about Elvis trading a German car for a two-and-a-half-hour shopping spree in Lansky’s store after he sold a million records.
Etymology and trivia.
- Marcia and Bob discuss the origins of the days of the week, including Thursday, Monday, and Wednesday.
- They also discuss the connection between pink underwear and Winston Churchill, but do not provide any further details.
- Bob Smith shares the origin story of pink lemonade, which began in a circus when a performer’s red tights were soaking in a bucket of water.
- Marcia Smith asks Bob questions about the Wrecking Crew, a popular band, and their recording of their theme song, with Bob providing insightful answers.
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith discuss the history of Yosemite National Park, including how a camping trip with John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt led to federal protections for the park.
- Marcia Smith shares a quote from Henry Kissinger, and Bob Smith shares a quote from John F. Kennedy, both related to the topic of attention and neglect.
Bob Smith 0:00
Who can the British thank for saving William Shakespeare’s home?
Marcia Smith 0:06
And what famous website comes up today? If you type relentless.com into your browser,
Bob Smith 0:13
huh? answers to those and other questions relentlessly coming your way. You’re on the off ramp with Bas
Marcia Smith 0:19
Marsha Smith
Bob Smith 0:36
Welcome to the off ramp a chance to slow down steer clear of crazy. Take a side road to sanity and get some perspective on life with some good trivia. All right, Marcia, who can the British thank for saving William Shakespeare’s home his mother, his mother and his father and no generations afterwards either test saying, Okay, who Bob? It’s a very unlikely person. Yeah.
Marcia Smith 1:02
Is it a celebrity?
Bob Smith 1:04
Somebody else who was a showman in England? Well, he was in England for visit. I don’t know Bob. It was American P T. Barnum. Oh, really. In 1844, the famous American circus showman, toured the rather rundown house and he got an idea he even wrote about it. In his autobiography. While visiting the house in which Shakespeare was born. I consider the idea of purchasing, removing and re erecting that building in New York City. So he was going to take it apart and bring it home. Yeah. And he dispatched an agent to Stratford armed with cash and powers to buy Shakespeare’s home. He was so showy, but before his check arrived, some English gentleman got wind of the transaction and bought the house. So who stepped in and bought it instead helped me Bob, a group of people, including Charles Dickens, oh, really, they’ve been trying to fix that house. But nothing had happened over the years. And when this happened, that horrified the British benefits began in Charles Dickens got into the act, staging and amateur production of Shakespeare’s plays to raise money, and they banded together to buy it and make it a national monument.
Marcia Smith 2:13
Well, you know, it’s so hard sometimes to know the obvious, which is this is going to be a place that people want to see and visit and
Bob Smith 2:22
been like known for 200 years. Why wouldn’t they have preserved I know, it’s hard to believe. All right. Now why was it a good thing the house wasn’t ever shipped to New York. What happened in 1868? It fell apart, no PT Barnum’s museum burned to the ground in New York City. So you can thank PT Barnum and Charles Dickens for saving Shakespeares.
Marcia Smith 2:43
I’ll give them a call later. Okay, Bob. What famous website comes up today if you type relentless.com relentless.com
Bob Smith 2:52
comes up in your browser word relentless. Yeah, let me think. Let me get my phone. No, no, no, I don’t want to cheat. And I’ll come to you and say what’s the
Marcia Smith 3:02
very popular website? Just guess off the top of your pretty little hat relentless?
Bob Smith 3:06
Something that’s moving constantly moving forward? Would it be Google? No, no. Would it be Facebook? I don’t know. What would it be? amazon.com
Marcia Smith 3:17
Oh, no kidding. Jeff Bezos wanted to originally call his bookstore website relentless that cop. Oh, I didn’t know that. They talked him out of it. It was a bookstore online originally. Right? It was a bookstore and he must have bought that website for all of time, because you can still reach Amazon by typing in
Bob Smith 3:36
relentless.com. I did not No, no, no. Well, most
Marcia Smith 3:40
popular brands don’t start out with the same name. They start out with funny little different names. I’m gonna give you an original names and you tell me the brand name. Okay. Blue Ribbon sports.
Bob Smith 3:51
That is the name for Nike. Correct Nike. That was the name of the company that sold the shoes originally. That’s
Marcia Smith 3:59
exactly right. Okay. On adulterated food products.
Bob Smith 4:05
adulterated food product. Yeah. Is this subway now?
Marcia Smith 4:08
Is it Chipotle now? Okay. What is it Snapple? Oh, no
Bob Smith 4:12
kidding. On adulterated food products. Yeah, that’s got quite a ring to it.
Marcia Smith 4:18
Yeah, just rolls off the tongue. Okay, Bob, this is just kind of icky. This original product was called wonder jelly. Wonder
Bob Smith 4:26
jelly. Oh, that was Vaseline. Originally?
Marcia Smith 4:30
You got a couple of them. So yeah, good for you.
Bob Smith 4:33
Okay, I’ve got a question about a famous brand. What famous food sauce was developed by two scientists who threw it away at first because it tasted so bad. But they discovered later it’s tasted matured. It’s
Marcia Smith 4:47
a sauce. It’s a sauce the secret sauce so I don’t know.
Bob Smith 4:51
Worst assure. Oh yeah, you an Englishman. Lord. Sandy’s brought the recipe for that sauce with him after he was in Bengal, India. And he asked Two chemists John Leigh and William parents. You’ve heard those names lay and parents, manufacturers when we have to make that for him. They did but they found it was so distasteful they stored jars of it away and forgot about it for a time and then later they found the sauce in their cellars and tasted it again. It’s tasted matured. Anyway, two chemists put it together. Sure. I got another food question or drink question. Okay. Why did the first sales of tea in Britain outrage British ministers and writers now we’re talking way way back in the 1600s. But the first sales of tea outraged English ministers and writers? Well, is it
Marcia Smith 5:38
because there was a tax on it? No, no, it was it because I have no idea because there
Bob Smith 5:43
was a popular myth at the time that tea was an aphrodisiac that it helped people’s sex law. I never thought of that. Yeah, and the ministers and writers railed against tea as inimical to health, morals and public order. In a couple people not only brewed tea because they thought it helped them with sex. They ate the leaves on bread and butter. Isn’t that funny? Tea was first introduced in Britain around 1652 by the Dutch who had been importing tea from China since 1610. Wow, that would make you eat out every meal. I’ll put some leaves of tea and my food.
Marcia Smith 6:21
Well, here’s how here’s that disparate to some What do Jiffy peanut butter and the phrase Luke I am your father have in common? Was really
Bob Smith 6:32
Jiffy peanut butter and Darth Vader have something in common? That phrase,
Marcia Smith 6:36
Luke, I am your father. What do those two things have in common? I
Bob Smith 6:40
think it’s hard to say that if you have peanut butter on the roof of your mouth just doesn’t work. That’s
Marcia Smith 6:47
an excellent food. Is that it? No, but I love that. Love the answer? I like it better than mine. Okay, these are both examples of what has come to be known as the Mandela effect. In which collective groups share a highly specific Yeah, completely false memory. The phenomenon can pop up in the most unexpected places. So let me just say this there is no Jiffy peanut butter.
Bob Smith 7:18
What do you mean?
Marcia Smith 7:19
That’s right we what kind of peanut butter do we eat?
Bob Smith 7:23
We mean there is no Jiffy peanut butter. There isn’t. See Oh, it’s
Marcia Smith 7:26
Jeff peanut butter. Right there is no jiffy. Oh
Bob Smith 7:29
and Luke, I am your father is not the actual line from the ground. Right? What was the line in the food
Marcia Smith 7:34
is? No, I am your father. Okay.
Bob Smith 7:39
But so it’s essentially false memory. Yeah. And why is it called the Mandela Effect? Yes.
Marcia Smith 7:44
Nelson Mandela. A lot of people thought he died in prison in the 1980s Oh, no, he didn’t. But it was a collective memory that he did. And it
Bob Smith 7:54
became so predominant, it became known as the Mandela effect. So these are all memes. We would call them today. Yeah. Look, I am your father and Jiffy peanut butter. They’re not exactly correct. Yeah,
Marcia Smith 8:05
there is no hyphen in KitKat bars. And there’s no kapow noodles. It’s cup noodles.
Bob Smith 8:12
It’s cup noodles. Yeah. That changes everything does and.
Marcia Smith 8:16
And Froot Loops. Bob. How do you spell fruit?
Bob Smith 8:20
Oh, it’s not f are you it now? It’s F R o o t Correct. Trade knee? Yeah,
Marcia Smith 8:25
those are all Mandela effects. You just assume it’s correct. But
Bob Smith 8:30
you’re wrong.
Marcia Smith 8:31
You’re wrong. You’re
Bob Smith 8:31
wrong. Wrong Wrong. Okay, she
Marcia Smith 8:35
painted I love the look on your face. What do you mean there’s no Jiffy peanut? Really? Yeah. People think it’s because it’s a combination of Jeff and Skippy. So they think of Jiffy well.
Bob Smith 8:47
Marsha, this is related to food. Okay, the community of dairy church Pennsylvania ever heard of that? No. No. That disappeared from the maps in 1906. Sounds mysterious, doesn’t it? It does and what happened to weary church Pennsylvania? What happened to it and what does it have to do with food?
Marcia Smith 9:10
What is that thing? You have what you’re allergic to dairy now?
Bob Smith 9:13
b e r y dairy church, Pennsylvania. Okay. I don’t know. Why did they change their name? Because he but does it have to do with food? Well, I don’t know because they changed their name to Hershey, Pennsylvania. Named after Milton Snavely. Hershey, the founder of the famous chocolate company. He wanted to build a chocolate factory in the countryside and he picked Jerry church because he was born there and
Marcia Smith 9:38
dairy was d e r r e r ry. And
Bob Smith 9:42
the town changed their name in 1906. He created the community where there virtually was none he built a planned community with new homes and you know electric company stores a school of bank theaters. It was a company town with a grand luxury hotel and five golf courses. I’ll be darned so her She Pennsylvania is where dairy church Pennsylvania once was and disappeared from the maps in 1906. nothing mysterious about it after all, you know, we did the most common names in the world a couple shows ago we had Wang and then Smith in the English speaking areas. What’s the most common name in India?
Marcia Smith 10:17
In India?
Bob Smith 10:18
Singh, Devi Kumar or Tiwari,
Marcia Smith 10:22
Kumar, Devi. Okay.
Bob Smith 10:24
Yeah, it’s the sixth the most common name in the world the EBI, and it’s from Sanskrit it means goddess. More than 70 million people share that name now
Marcia Smith 10:33
70 million 70 million Li comolli. Did you know, India is about to surpass China in population? Wow. No, I didn’t know that biggest population in the world.
Bob Smith 10:45
I didn’t know that. Yeah. Okay. Now, De Silva is the most common surname in Brazil. But where is Silva? The most common? Think about Brazil who colonized it?
Marcia Smith 10:56
I don’t know. The Portuguese. Okay.
Bob Smith 11:00
So in Portugal Silva is the big name of Silva DaSilva is the big name in Brazil. Okay. Okay. Marcia Mueller is the most common last name in which European country Austria, Denmark, Germany or Bulgaria, Germany. Now you’re right about that. Yeah. Muller is more common than vapor or Weber Meyer Fischer Schneider or Schmidt. I knew three Mueller’s it. It’s analogous to Miller in English, okay. means the same thing. Somebody who runs a mill. Okay. In which country is Kim the most common last name? Iran, South Korea, Mongolia or Japan,
Marcia Smith 11:34
South Korea.
Bob Smith 11:34
You’re right. You’re right. It’s actually the most common name in the Korean peninsula. Nearly a quarter of the Korean Peninsula population shares that name. It comes from the Chinese character meaning gold or metal. That’s where Kim comes from. Okay. It’s the 25th most common name in the world.
Marcia Smith 11:52
I’m a rock star.
Bob Smith 11:53
You are a rock star. Very good, Marcia. Thank you. You’re so smart. Why married you?
Marcia Smith 11:59
Yeah, yeah. No, that’s exactly why it was. Yeah, I thought it was because that was funny. Okay, Bob, let’s get serious. How fast can a Turkey Run
Bob Smith 12:10
turkey trot? How fast can the turkey cross?
Marcia Smith 12:12
Can they trot?
Bob Smith 12:13
Well, you know, I know that Turkeys can run fast because when I was a kid, I used to ride my bike out into the countryside. And there was this turkey farm really. And these turkeys would get excited and they run right up to the fence and almost smash into the fence. So I bet they can go 30 miles an hour.
Marcia Smith 12:29
Sort of like me when you drive by I get excited. By little wings. Now. It’s not 30 But it’s 80 miles per hour. That’s that’s nice in trot but in flight, they go 50 miles an hour. Wow. So that’s pretty pretty fast. Right? Yeah. Okay, so that was kind of quick. So I have another one for you. This is hot off the pages from the dead tree newspaper. This morning. Okay. 100 million year old dinosaur prints were just found recently. Were in China. You read the story? Yes. I didn’t think you saw my paper. I saw that. Where
Bob Smith 13:08
were they? They were in the backyard or something Oh garden of someplace. They found these. It
Marcia Smith 13:12
was an outdoor Restaurant and Patio. Yes, indeed. footprints of two sorrow pads. The largest of all dinosaurs were found along several stones in the courtyard of the restaurant. And you know, paleontologist showed up and started inspecting it. Apparently it’s been covered by layers and layers of dirt for quite a few years. Yes, several million years. And it goes before it was a restaurant. That whole area was farmland and it was covered anyway. So the solder pad is considered the largest animal to ever walk the Earth. Wow. Isn’t that Sampar sorrel pad? Surah pot? I’m sorry. Surah pot
Bob Smith 13:53
Surah pod. Something you would buy today? Yeah.
Marcia Smith 13:57
I don’t have an iPad. I have a sauropod? Yes. Yeah. Okay. The average size is about three school buses long. So Wow.
Bob Smith 14:05
It’s it’s a it’s a decent sized animal.
Marcia Smith 14:09
Well, this particular one was only 26 feet long.
Bob Smith 14:12
I bet if a turkey saw that it would go faster than 80 miles per hour.
Marcia Smith 14:18
Down the road.
Bob Smith 14:19
Okay, let’s let’s take a break. You’re listening to the off ramp with Bob and Marsha Smith. We’ll be back in just a moment.
We’re back now and you’re listening to the off ramp with Bob and Marcia Smith. A podcast up trivia we do every week for the Cedarburg Public Library Cedarburg, Wisconsin heard all over the world. And amazingly, it is so thanks to our podcast platforms, say speaking of somebody heard all over the world, Elvis Presley, of course, his resurgence and interest in him with the new movie. Elvis, so I have a question for you a trivia question you may never have heard before. Okay. How was it A man named Bernard Lansky, instrumental in Elvis Presley success, Bernard Lansky of Memphis of
Marcia Smith 15:08
Memphis did he play in the band now?
Bob Smith 15:10
Did he run a clothing store? Yes, yes, it is it Yes,
Marcia Smith 15:15
I bet he ran. He ran that store. There was a store in downtown Memphis that was
Bob Smith 15:20
on Beale Street catered primarily to black musicians and
Marcia Smith 15:23
Americans by their snazzy clothes there and sold it out. That’s
Bob Smith 15:27
right. Bernard Lansky was a he was a Jewish tailor. And he ran the shop. He actually started it as a an army surplus store but then decided to go into higher end fashion. And in 1952, when the owner Bernard Lansky saw this young skinny kid there who stood out on the street, he realized that that’s an area where primarily African Americans were so we thought, well, he’s kind of out of place. The guy who runs it now is how Lansky his son, he said, My dad knew that the shy kid was out of place. He just stared stare and stare at the window. So one day he invited him in he said, Come on in young man. Oh, and my father showed him around and Elvis could only afford what how much money did he have that he could spend? Five bucks $3 $3 He said Mr. Lansky. These are beautiful things. I like everything, but I don’t have no money now. But when I get rich, I’ll buy you out. And his dad said don’t buy me out just buy from me. Yeah. And that started a friendship that lasted for 30 years. The Lansky shop is featured in the biopic and Elvis and guess what the director and the star came to the store to research while preparing for the film. It is so cool. The the gentleman who ran the store he passed away in 2012 at age 85 and and his son and granddaughter run it now how Lansky ski and his daughter run the place and they’re keeping it alive. And just a couple of funny stories that came out of your Elvis came back and for his high school prom, he splurged on black pants, a pink coat with a pink and black cumberbund he loved pink he did and they said every time Elvis got paid, he’d come in maybe once a week and buy a pair of pants or a jacket something simple. He just kept coming and coming and coming and then one day he said Mr. Lansky, I’m going to be on a national TV show what should I wear? And his dad said well that’s great Elvis what’s going to be said The Ed Sullivan Show fell over my head said whoa. So Elvis looked at him and said Mr. Lansky I got a problem I don’t have much money still he said tell you what I’m gonna do I’m gonna give you some credit. You better pay me back. And so he watched them on TV tuned in and he couldn’t believe what the kid did with a flashy threads. Yeah. And they said they’d like to take credit for the black and pink look he wore so he kept shopping there. They had to open the store at night so he could shop because he got so famous. Isn’t that some I love that and the guy that runs it now how he says I was a delivery boy I used to go to Graceland and deliver all these things.
Marcia Smith 17:52
Do they have a sign up their home of Elvis Presley have
Bob Smith 17:56
a sign up there that says come on in young man and and they have a list of all the other celebrities that have bought their Oh, that makes me up. The favorite story is father love telling was when Presley first sold a million records. He came in they gave Elvis A Messerschmitt, which is a three wheeled German car and Elvis brought over the car to the show to show my dad and he said Mr. Lansky look at this car. My dad said Elvis when you’re finished with that car. I want it. Well, a couple of months later, Elvis traded in the car for a two and a half hour shopping spree in our store. Oh my god, you’re kidding. He remained loyal to the end. Wow. And then when Elvis died, they got a call from the family and he dressed Elvis for the future white suit and blue tie. So he says I put him in his first suit and I put him in his last suit. So he said as far as hell Lansky is concerned. Elvis has never left the building.
Marcia Smith 18:50
That’s a great story. Bomb. So bomb. How did we get the name for the week? Day? Thursday?
Bob Smith 18:58
Hmm, I know some of the other days.
Marcia Smith 19:00
I know. That’s fine. Pick Thursday, Thursday, Thursday.
Bob Smith 19:03
I never think it’s Wednesday. No, it’s Friday. No, it is Thursday. I don’t know. How did Thursday come about?
Marcia Smith 19:09
Well, it’s named after a famous Norse god who carries a big hammer. We’ve seen him in the movie
Bob Smith 19:15
or what was Thor’s day originally? That’s right. I’ll be darned
Marcia Smith 19:20
popular Norse god now. Every Thursday now I’m going to think of what’s his name with the big hammer and
Bob Smith 19:25
stores day. That’s a nice mispronunciation it is it is yeah, Thor’s day. Okay,
Marcia Smith 19:30
so one more. All right. Where does Monday come from?
Bob Smith 19:34
It comes from Sunday night that’s when it comes from right now. You’ll get this day think about Monday Monday Monday. Is it Monday London. Okay, all right.
Marcia Smith 19:44
Formally spelled mana de nada de How do you spell it? m o n e d A E I O it comes from the Old English words Moondog and it’s old. English spellings, literally mean moons day. So you It’s traditionally considered the second day of the week rather than the first because Sunday is considered the first day. And it links back to our Nordic friends Thor and his buddies. Who reserved the second day of the week for worshiping money ma ni, which meant moon. The name Mona is also part of the tradition. You know, there’s that Disney movie called Mona. Oh, yes. But it’s the old English word for moon and girls born on a Monday in ancient Britain, were sometimes given that name as a result. Oh,
Bob Smith 20:33
no kidding. Yeah. Well, that’s a good one. That’s very interesting. How did it get to the Polynesian? That’s my question. The movie Moana. That’s Polynesian, isn’t it about?
Marcia Smith 20:42
I think so. Bob, I don’t have that answer.
Bob Smith 20:44
Look it up. Go to relentless.com. Okay, okay. How are pink lemonade and underwear related? Marcia? You know, this is a very, very important question. Well,
Marcia Smith 20:56
pink underwear is a thing. Yeah, FDR liked it. No, not FDR. Churchill. Churchill. Sorry, FDR. Yes, it was definitely Winston. pink underwear itself. I don’t know. It’s
Bob Smith 21:11
a strange story through half time. The connection was made back in 1857 when pink Conklin, a lemonade vendor with the maybe circuits found himself pouring his lemonade mixture into a glass because lemons were expensive. He made his lemonade artificially with tartaric acid and sugar. One hot day he didn’t have such a brisk business. He ran out of lemonade. He ran into a nearby tent picked up a bucket of water stirred in some tartaric acid. He poured the first class and it was pink and instead of stopping he started shouting try the new strawberry lemonade. It became a hit why was it pink? A circus performers red tights had been soaking in that bucket of water.
Marcia Smith 21:51
Oh my god, and people bought it and drank it
Bob Smith 21:57
so pink lemonade started in a circus. Because somebody’s tights were soaking. Oh, and later, they used other ingredients. But my pink lemonade began.
Marcia Smith 22:10
Thank you for that, Bob.
Bob Smith 22:11
I like it doesn’t make you want to taste pink lemonade. And I like pink. Not anymore.
Marcia Smith 22:17
That’s gone. That’s over.
Bob Smith 22:19
Sorry to bring that story to your Marsh. Okay,
Marcia Smith 22:21
ready, Bob? Yeah. Only one member of this popular band performed in a recording of its own theme song. Name this band. Oh, is the monkeys oh good for? Well, for God’s sakes. How do you know these? Well, because
Bob Smith 22:34
I knew that they the studio musicians they use which was the Wrecking Crew. That was the producer said these guys are okay. But we’re gonna have real musicians. Yes. So I think only was a Mickey Dolan’s was the only one Dolan’s stolons to La he was actually a professional musician too at the time and drummer, right? Yeah. And
Marcia Smith 22:53
actually they they hadn’t even hired the rest of the band at the point of recording. Hey, you were the monk. Oh, no kidding. Yeah. So they weren’t even around to record it.
Bob Smith 23:03
I have a question for you. Did you know Mickey Dolan’s was in a TV show when we were very small children in the 1950s it was blank boy something boy. Do you know what the show was?
Marcia Smith 23:14
No circus boy Circus
Bob Smith 23:16
circus boy is
Marcia Smith 23:17
he like a little monkey.
Bob Smith 23:18
He was a little guy and he was in a circus. And he was it was on American television when we were kids.
Marcia Smith 23:23
I never heard of it. Did you?
Bob Smith 23:25
Oh yeah. I remember watching it. I heard because I when I saw the monkey said that. He looked like he does look like he did when he was a kid. He has a very distinctive face.
Marcia Smith 23:33
Okay, ready? Yeah. Okay, why can’t you use your thumb Bob to check a heartbeat?
Bob Smith 23:38
Why can’t I use my thumb to check a heartbeat? Yeah. I never thought of that. Yeah, of
Marcia Smith 23:43
course you haven’t.
Bob Smith 23:44
It doesn’t have the same nerve structure as a finger does. No, it
Marcia Smith 23:48
has something that none of the fingers have. It has its own heartbeat. You’re kidding. Oh, yeah. So it did screw everything up. If you use your you can do it. It’s the only digit with a heartbeat.
Bob Smith 24:00
That’s unusual, isn’t it? So it has a pulse? Yeah, but your finger doesn’t have a
Marcia Smith 24:05
bright so when you’re checking someone’s you know pulse be on the wrist or the neck? Use your usually a couple of middle fingers.
Bob Smith 24:12
Okay, that makes sense. Okay, okay. I have a question for you. How did a camping trip lead to Yosemite becoming a national park now you somebody’s been in the news lately, with all the fires out there around the sequoias? How did a camping trip lead to it becoming a national park?
Marcia Smith 24:28
Is this like John Muir? It is John Muir. I know my he’s from Wisconsin and who did he bring there to have a camping trip? Ansel Adams President Theodore Roosevelt that
Bob Smith 24:37
would do it and guess where they camped? They camped beneath the ancient Sequoia known as the grizzly giants. That’s the one that the firefighters have been laboring to save from the major forest fire. Oh
Marcia Smith 24:49
God, I hope they can save those trees.
Bob Smith 24:51
Roosevelt was impressed by the tree more than 2000 years old, more than 200 feet tall. And that Grove there that Mariposa Grove has five 500 mature trees. So shortly after the trip, he described the tree and its surrounding Grove as a temple grander than any human architect could by any possibility build. And he extended federal protections for the park.
Marcia Smith 25:12
He did a great deal for that. And Mr. Muir brought him there on purpose, right? Yes, you can experience the Wonder.
Bob Smith 25:18
And that’s how that became eventually a national park. That’s
Marcia Smith 25:20
how you gotta do it. Can’t just talk about it. You got to show it.
Bob Smith 25:23
What President was the first president to provide some kind of protection for that park before Teddy before it became a park. It was just the Mariposa Grove. There was a president who signed legislation. I don’t know, Abraham Lincoln. Really? Yeah. And then just recently, to protect that grizzly giant, they set up a sprinkler system that pumped between 15 and 20 gallons of water per minute at the base of the tree to increase humidity in that whole area to protect that 2000 year old tree. Okay, you got a quote to wrap things up.
Marcia Smith 25:54
Well, I’ve got two actually. Okay, here’s one from Henry Kissinger remember him? The nice thing about being a celebrity is that if you bore people, they think it’s their fault.
Bob Smith 26:10
You know, that’s funny, because, you know, somebody who bored me when I was in college, I saw him I went to see him so bad. Buckminster Fuller, I was just so bored by this thing. He was doing it for years. I felt bad. Why didn’t I appreciate and you but it was I think he was just born as a speaker.
Marcia Smith 26:27
And here’s a quote from another political Okay. John F. Kennedy. All right. Show me a man who plays a good game of golf. And I’ll show you a man who’s neglecting something.
Bob Smith 26:40
Something else is not getting the attention it deserves.
Marcia Smith 26:43
So be your wife. That’s
Bob Smith 26:45
funny, isn’t it? I
Marcia Smith 26:47
thought you’d like
Bob Smith 26:48
Oh, my goodness. All right. Well, I think that just about wraps it up. We want to invite you to send any questions you’d like us to pose to one another to us by going to our website, the off ramp dot show and going down to contact us. Contact
Marcia Smith 27:02
us. We’re here. That’s what I said Marsh, thank you. Bye bye.
Bob Smith 27:05
Okay, but why can’t we just do it the way I was gonna do it. Okay, go ahead. All right. That’s it for now. Join us again next time. I’m Bob Smith and Marcia, you’ve been listening to the off ramp.
The off ramp is produced in association with CPL radio online and the Cedarburg Public Library Cedarburg, Wisconsin.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai