Dan, James, Andrew and Rachel Parris discuss parachutes, puppets and precise presidents.
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This is an unofficial transcript meant for reference. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
Hi everybody Andy here. Just a couple of very quick announcements before this week show starts. The first is to say: who are special guest is if you.
listening to fish for a little while, you may have heard her before, because she is none other than the brilliant rachel paris. Rachel has
so many things, she's, a member of ostentatious a great improvised comedy, show she's hosted the mash report.
she's a musical communities toward the country with a brilliant chose, she's written a book called advice from strangers. There's nothing
he can't do and as your about here, she was great on the show to actually always, as the other thing to say, is that we have just done a life show at the london podcast festival. Now the shows in the past there's no way
getting there by conventional means. But if you go to no such thing as official com, slash life, you will be able
get a streaming ticket. I watched the show in all its glory, and there is one x
really good reason to do that, which is that our special guess for the show is none other than an attitude and he's back she's come back for this show, as you will hear, she was great and you can
by the street me take it and see and its glorious fish return for the next week. Tickets are available to buy until the twenty first of september, so treaties after that enjoy no such thing as additional com. Slashed live, that's
for me over the shop
when it comes to another episode of no such thing as a fish, a weekly podcast. This we coming to you live from the south
they're. My name is damn shriver. I am sitting here with james arc and andrew hunter, Murray and rachel paris, and once again we have gathered round the microphones with our four favorite facts from the last seven days and in no particular order. Here we go starting with fact number one, and that is rachel. My factories, viking men, died. There had blonde war maker
and had grooming kids get you don't imagine them jumping off the longboat with
dreaming kits nine. Also with the I thought they were probably already know.
Some of them were blonde, but there was, I think now we know there was a much greater prevalence of dark hair than was previously they weren't universally blonde. So what they did was they use lie to bleach their hair blonde. What we
heart now is their intentions. It also was useful for cleaning and stopping lice
say what we don't know is: was it only for cleaning or was it partly for vanity as well? But we did. The idea of it being for vanity seems believable, because we do night they were quite vain in other areas. The english certainly thought that they were very vain. The vikings there was a monk called john of Wallingford who said
the danes cheated by washing. They made themselves to acceptable to english women by the elegant manners and the care of the person
That is cheating matches feeds. And how can we possibly could pay with paypal and wash? It seems to be because there was a guy called Acme ebon fat learn who was right
by the vikings he was strong like that, but he's probably in somalia, constantinople or whatever, and he wrote that every day they wash with the dirtiest and filthiest water, there
be they blow. That knows they sped. They do. Every filthy thing imaginable in that water and then they wash with it so seem like they were in this
in between of the people in the middle east thought they were discussed in, but the people in britain thought they were obsolete, but that our bit writer was that one of the sources that he noted that they bleached their bids to assess
from yellow sir, are you hiding out his eye on them? Didn't keen eye on them, but are you a little, maybe tables what exactly?
Also such a catch? Now all they. I think that men with tables are cheating. They must have had tables what what what did they play? Snooker on well, yeah? There's a guy called neo price who wrote a book called children of ash,
with elm all about the viking. Mind and he's also been a historical consultant on a few viking movies. He was asked we need to have a banquet, and he said I don't know if there were tables, because there's no record that note the new title,
left over, so they just shot at cleverly to completely ignore the question of whether tables existed in the viking. Well, tough. We don't know the floor. That is evident. Viking scholar, neil price. You know
when a desire in others, all trains are having had a cushion underneath
excuses- are on the news. I don't know what those are. What are those it's kind of like if you're watching tv and you bring your dinner in it's a sort of light, little cushion and it's got a table on top of it, which sends the Andy doesn't even know what we're talking about that. Try try as I know, to laugh. As I just say, I gotta watch ninety five.
Is all day. What is this that was biking cold lot, the unwashed and that's more evidence that perhaps they were very clean, because why would they call him unwashed if it wasn't for the fact that everyone else washed? Okay?
he was described as a wise man and much given to man slaughters
wow. This is also a theory that they loved orange cats, alright yeah, so they loved cats anyway, which is quite an amazing thing, every every sort of expedition they go on expeditions, any every pillage that they went on and they would bring cats with them and they broke cats.
a number of reasons: aid they loved them, be for any version that was on the boats. They could get rid of the mice and stop spreading disease, but the cats would escape once they get these lands that they were going. So there's been studies where they ve looked at the dna of a bunch of cats from that periods that they found the bones of and so on, and they discover those basically just the viking.
just dropping cats off in all these places, where they orange cats know how they died, the cat sweet lily brushed on the terms of to clean or how dirty they were yeah. We thought we knew for ages how clean they were, because there are churches in england which have viking skin nailed to the dol's, what ou macabre and at least four of them they called danes skins, and I think the idea is that the church has made themselves look really hot by saying the vikings came here, and this is what they left behind this is you know we thought we'd sold them all from the weave.
Anyway. They tested them and almost all cow or donkey there does I swear that because the thing we're talking before
about how they had brown hair a lot of them. We know that through dna tests and they've also checked it with modern day people, and they found that in the uk, each of us in the uk on average, has got about six percent viking dna, but also that when they've looked at people who are buried in scotland, they found a lot of people who were buried.
If the vikings but didn't have any biking dna in them, so they just kind of like self identified as vikings legacy.
I did well, even though I don't have any biking heritage, I'm just gonna be a viking now and they went with all of the culture and all of the everything
Well now, let us go and they cause like gospel
cosplay hurry very early cosplay, whether people still
I'm going to say one controversially, that self identify is not the same as cosplay but yeah. I see that in the uk. Well with no use of the leg yeah. Can I tell you more about the grooming
the face showed
meaning. So they had quite a lot of different beauty tools, and this was this was men and women alike, including raises and tweezers, and, as we have mentioned, combs that they also had
spoons, which I'd say name new kind of before he did. That is not a good idea to shop, something in your hearing. Compactor said they had little tiny
escapes coal to escape the walk through? They have that in mongolia, as well, today, yeah so a buddy of ours, craig glenday guinness world records editor in chief, he went to mongolia to meet the tallest man in the world. He was there to verify him as the tallest man
when you go to a house. He said when he went to the house, and he said before you come in his, u spoonful is, and you ve gotta clean you are wearing into the house. Yes, I take issue of cleaner. Is I felt by a few aspects? Did ya
go on the lights up, this kind of cool? How are you, what are you?
How do you sit? How do you know that
So there was a thing in japan quite a few years ago, which was this kind of trend of like young people would spoon each other's is
I've said it before and I'll say again what a generations add up to. This is people than Iraq that many years ago, and there was like this trend of selling ear spoons in japan, and I bought some because we're going to talk about
q. I thought it would be kind of a
think? What are they use of all its? Let's, just right, you you'll get in bits of wax out of your is right. This is someone else. If you could do it yourself, but isn't it nice, if you just have someone lay there had on your lap, a nurse had a spoon out the air while I feel like I've lost.
I dunno, I think, think we're all fascinated I want to like if you're scared of light, because a lot of people have a phobia about that, is you get to do that fun, helicopter thing with the airplanes, but for the cheech Dana I take my vehicles back to the future hiccups, the helicopter yeah. You will know where the last viking attack on uk soil was well obviously tenth century. Twenty one,
Finally, twenty one. I this happened and it's got his town coca could bright and it was when a replica longboat for display knocked out the power supplies when it got tangled in an over had power line,
the local energy networks at only one customer have been affected and the reenactment groups, maritime officer apologize for the inconvenience and that we are incredibly sorry for the disruption. I think that is the last time I think I found some more legit modern, vikings, then cosplay ones, which is iceland, has an elite police force and they are known as the viking squad
Well, that's the sort of unofficial name that that technically the special unit of the national police, commissioner, there's only about forty six of them in total, and but the problem was not a problem, rather there's no sort of official standard military in iceland, so it defaults to them. So if ever iceland gets involved,
in a war cool the vikings are coming likings going over. Forty six will be sent in what would you say to me and the? If I said de jure rocker, though I don't know what I'd say, I merely saying what I would say, which is directly bafflement
A mile up, that's enough: what is it like? Viking question? It's more like a viking insult. Actually, classic jobs are not try to do the research of this getting adults
it's called someone a coward in various different ways, for the interesting thing is these: where was was so derogatory that if someone called them to you calling
icelandic, the at least you're, allowed to kill them without paying any company.
Station. Just from any of these insulting words, those was three you re out early augur blogger. Does it you just competitive at twice now I've got a quick questions. You guys I am I get so there was once a
I can called sigurd the mighty and he was killed,
by something that was attached to the sight of him as he was riding on a horse. Ok,
So he has sought there and the the horse lips him up and they sought stabs him in the leg and set us an artery I'll go with them nor sword
A cheese knife was a posh viking yeah. He was on his way to a tasting are excited about it. I feel, like he's not going to be sold. Eight seems to
so go bits boots.
So the answer is: it was the decapitated head of male breaker,
who was a sworn enemy of cigarette, had killed taken his head of his body. Strapped to this
All of it is of his horse and ass. He was writing the tooth of his enemy, scratched his leg and it got infected and killed him
this is a rumor. Has it the amateur with twelve hundred is or whether, as a rumour anymore as in a river, is gonna one level up from Gaza? And I would say yes, it is it's gotta you hear what have disfigure the mighty gone. I thought I was gonna start down just how disliked him his neighbor had from the front. I think we just start presenting all of our facts as rumours and hot gas stepped upon
does support gassed, haivy everyone
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It is time for
fact number two, and that is James. Ok, my fight this week is that the fourth president of the united states once sent the third president of the united states a letter
giving the precise measurement between a weasels anus and its vulva? That actually is
also that exciting sexy guy starts heat magazine circle of shame. They called it the weasels vulva the circle of shame, there's a better name for it. So what was what was going was just
I said: that's what happened in, but this
Basically, what talking thomas Jefferson, your third president, and he was in an argument with a french noblemen cold.
Count. George Louie Leclerc perform before had never been so america by he had a fairy that amount
just come out of the ocean and they haven't tried out yet, and so it happened
all the animals and plants are really struggling to live there and they were all like really small and we d. Now he told that two jefferson,
AL some was not very happy about it, and so he decided that he was gonna. Prove him wrong, and so he sent his friends, one of whom was James madison, whose a fourth president
a measure as many animals as they could and so what they did is they went out, find them
american animals, including a weasel set back all the precise.
Governments have all these animals and one of them was the dissidents which I explained earlier.
And he was he was so pissed off that this guy has said this completely.
The insinuation was if any european animals, when over there, they would sort of regret once they
with there and just sort of shriveled and gets more with the generations. The location was also the american people would be like that as well. The american people will be much more small and insipid separate than europeans. Why? Because it was damp,
it was because it was done because it was going to say as well as someone from the north just because it's done before who was a brilliant guy?
How about I and a bit, but he was. He was an amazing guy, but he claimed that anywhere north america. If you dont down by two feet, the ground will be frozen. He was incorrect about this
you write about it, but it bases its theory which they refer to the new world. Degeneracy kind of the idea was lots of old european countries. There more aristocratic iran. America was it like to think of itself as being founded on more egalitarian lines, old or more democratic
not meeting and nobility class, and so they wanted to find scientific underpinning. For that that that that america was a lot of did they want to kind of an cast aspersions on et cetera, people went attracted to getting conduct
It's just a bit of a curious cookie right, he's sort of had lots of theories, but lots there is about the age of the earth. He just was building up these theories, and it's just so great. A jefferson was so pissed off and those lot going on at this time- and he was like
in measurements of animals, and all these guys are about to change america suddenly out there. Measuring weasels anus is devolved is that they, the report, came back and he he presented the
it said before, and he said looking at our bears have a four hundred and ten pounds. Yours or one hundred and fifty three here in europe, we've got twelve pound otters. Your auto is a terrible compared to all this sort of stuff and he's like and don't get me started on. The moose or mousse are massive and he's like Buffon was like. You can't have massive moose over there. Surely not he's like mate, it's huge on mousses, so big
Yo randy has walk under them, that's how big they are, and he didn't believe him. So Jefferson writes back to the guys again. It says suddenly a fucking posts, they have to go out and find a movie and send it and they do they did yeah and it was rubbish when it turned up because it had been taken months to find a dry, skin and debone it. Whatever you do with the moves you had to, I have a lot of questions about how they measured the animals. Did they any ties them and if so, did they did they
and setting the freight they might have not always been alive the animals they were, especially when, as you know, how did they hold them nicely and why they measured from that aim, is to have a weasel as well, which will be quite fidgety that I have to say you ve just brought up a great time travel destination points. Imagine going back in history, landing and watch madison measuring the aim is to overcome. The other thing is
Madison was famously
A slight wasn't, he is really really smallest. President was he was about to speculate on the distance but from the state. Is that why you
I wasn't gonna go by MR you could overpower weasel bang, we could more candidate a moose, but it would have been funny to see him wrestling with a weasel ten abe lincoln, for instance, who is a big man? I'm sorry
It changed when his son was five foot four and he weighed just under a hundred pounds is about the same as mila kunis when she was in black swan. If that helps it's also,
all in all small pussy. Maybe the show is shortly messages by quite a balanced by a few inches. Other he's like a great guy to hire, I mean
these peoples only really interesting guys, you may I tell you something about more about jefferson's letters. Will ya failure.
So in seventy. Ninety seven, the same thomas jefferson wrote a letter to Peter Carr his nephew, but he said, if you don't get married, do have affairs with women. Oh no! Oh my god. Sorry, I'm getting my facts. Mixed up hang on! No cannot erase that on the tape.
at the time that gossip is about to turn to Islam, to the right. Benjamin franklin, not jefferson. Benjamin Franklin advised a young man to have sex with older women, not young women, okay, and he really set out all of the reasons why I'm better conversation
and more I was gonna. We ve all debates more, even temper,
rather dark, like no risk of children
incidentally, more sexually experienced an you'll love this
any older women in the ground. I am living this one. He said you might as well, because, if covering all above with a basket and regarding only what is below
girdle, it's impossible of two women to know an old one from a young one, covering all above with a basket ban. These final reason was the eighth lay, and, lastly, there so grateful
spend. Frankly that way, you can see. Why married my nineteen year old? Why wasn't just with a pillow table? Well, that's got something franklin yeah! Well, both get that be.
like a laundry by having to learn more about it
yea area. I could probably get myself when ties over muddled, your basket. Sorry, but
I'd have to tuck births.
myself up. So I we're all here at the insane. Are we to believe?
The killer talk about them
before this summer. Ok, let's talk about just a couple: more ngo, medicine
he was even if it was a very significant president who gets kind of a bit overlooked because he was
the fourth in the running order. So you know everyone knows about george Washington and John as blah blah blah and madison was president during the war of eighteen twelve, which is when the british invaded
and towards the white house yeah, and he had to flee at the time he was actually in residence at the time he was the last person alive who signed the constitution
which is quite something for some years and he died in eighteen, thirty, six. He was eighty five years old at the time and it was late june right, late june, he's dying is eighty five and its doctors. As you know, we could do we give you some crazy drugs that will keep you alive until the fourth of July, which is independence day. I because at that point three previous president's at all died.
The fourth of July and the doctor basically said what am I going for. We can not think why, don't you just keep giving me those crazy drugs for longer than that? Yes, that is a really good point. I think they will cut the very last finale. They were stimulus things and he to his great credit said you know what I'm ok. When I die, I die and he died on the twenty eighth of june.
yeah he's doktor was the same. Honest took care of jefferson who did die on the fourth of July, sent
Maybe they didn't? They might have to tell you a thing, because I think this relates to two that about jefferson I accidently started earlier or- and this is about tommy-
it is now in seventeen. Eighty seven he was right duties have you and I just want
We do not signing the constitution and war americans think of themselves, and and that jefferson was actually pretty much a sceptic, really interrogated the bible and believed in constantly questioning
the what said in the bible, you that you do and he said, shake off all the fears and survival prejudices under which weak mines are surviving crouched in
was saying that is nephew. Shouldn't should be afraid to question the text of the bible and even question the existence of god saying question with boldness: even the existence of a god, because if there be one he must approve of the homage of reason rather than blindfolded fear. So that's quite com,
get yourself a really big basket. They found it that's. Why didn't he was, but he was there all enlightenment
people when they and they were questioning what was in the bible and stuff like that. Bufo bufo was kind of the aristotle of his day that he hoovered up a huge amount of information and turned it into like. It was forty four volumes. The work he produced was absolutely mega hit another experiment. He did he he wanted to see how old the earth was at the time quite controversial, to say it would be more than several thousand years old, so he heated up balls of iron until they were white hot right and then he saw how long they took to cool down and then
just scaled up to the size of the earth and simple. That must be how long the earth took to cool down arrive too. It was the borders that idea it's a good idea. He assessed seventy five thousand years, obviously wrong, but but privately privately thought. It was more like three million, which is also still several over them.
dude rock, but it's getting there. It's getting closer, but yeah the partly went with the lebanon because he thought it'd be more acceptable to the church and he had to preface it with an introduction saying. Obviously this is just a crazy thought. Experiment. I've done, but he was still doing the work and
the internet. The important thing is that he was question in these things that have been passed down. Knowledge because glennie by saying I resolved, but his gaze got its
wikipedia is the one I meant. Sorry plenty is the one I have plenty is the one, the event yeah yeah yeah, just sort of like that's what I reckon if I'd lived in that time, even with the kind of modern day intelligence that I have
thus there that sets its identity would have liked them like he's right,
yeah like sorry just using if you, if you would tell a border back now.
His podcast, the nine years we've talked about plenty and how wrong he was about everything like how like, like women, have full teeth and all these mad claims he made you'd be like cool
south of jet yeah. Ok, I think you could be penny. I would describe Lenny if I were you. If you end up in this crazy situation, he also
like. It's really with his. He was very obsessed with how american animals were very snot superior just wanted.
the point that they were. They would not weak and many others
jefferson sorry back to jefferson that there were bigger and there were bigger animals. The altar was bigger and so on, but he did also love european animals and he brought dogs back to virginia shepherd dog and, interestingly, it's a kind of dog that historians can't quite agree on of what it was
he was in paris. He went out me miles into a storm one night to try and find one because it heard rumors of where one was and he eventually found a pregnant one and he brought it back to virginia and he was so excited and he was breeding these dogs. Then something and again it slightly murky. What happened just went wrong and he got rid of the dogs and he had all his dogs exe,
included, and he just turned into someone who hates adults for the rest of that gap. Executed executed a strong words words, the the paper the vet discovered. It sounds good. I have to execute sorry: we've assigned the firing squad outside a flop
I don't fear that what happened is have them move to a farm where they have wonderful lives. Of course, will blindfold your goldfish, mrs prescott? The
ok. It is time for fact, number three, and that is my fact. My fact this week is that during the second world war, steinway parachuted pianos into battlefields
So this was a morale thing where they thoughts. We need to make this a bit more cheery, this whole world war, two thing and why not get a bunch of keys music is such a great things, arrays, spirits and so on, and that this point steinway was put under restrictions by the government because they couldn't use lots of
dolls, and so during the war effort they were making coffins. Unfortunately, but they were also making
and in bits and pieces, and then they hit upon the idea of making a portable piano as tall standing piano, that they could just parachute out of planes into battlefields and three thousand were dropped off over the course of the
war landed safely and there's so many stories of these pianos being played by the troops, as they were gathering around me, so afraid, lovely idea. But I know that some assholes bringing out one double three yeah, that guy yeah, so they were known as a victory verticals and they weren't just used for parachuting into the battlefield.
we put into submarines as well, which is a real
interesting thing, because in order to get them into a submarine, you need the submarine not to be shot forest, as in entirely in the case of oil.
yeah like during the building rice as you have, and so,
therein they stuck in their and going forward just a bit. There is a ship which called the uss thomas edison, which is the only submarine rather which has an actual steinway like a proper grand piano style steinway and they can't take it out. Spin is in there for twenty two years as much
submarine with a guy who's brought his like grade. One book he's not going to be learning actually for the next nine months and these victory verticals they just sound, so cool or that's so interesting. They were painted.
o d e g, I olive drab government issued they were painted the green and they could dead no legs, because that may not survive the parachute job and the history steinway during the war
so mad because time it was a german american company founders with german still had a factory in germany had a factory in new york as well, and both sides demanded different things of steinway,
So in germany there was a spectacle of being a jewish company and they had to deny there, and you knows of proof that they word and in america there was suspected of ignacio because they were good steinway. So they had a terrible time. They had hang american flags over their buildings, kind of show that we are in our petrie artic, and this is the way things both separate has of the company made
since wooden planes for the war effort for the side, they were in a whole. Not germans. Time is making decoy planes to be bombed. The american steinway we're making gliders, which were real plans, but they were worked. There were very
white and feels like both sides could have gotten together and just said. You know what, let's just cross this line out of the complete disregard this yeah, and so they made these incredibly powerful. Gliders gliders were an incredibly amazing tool for getting past enemy, defenses and landing soldiers right, so the first one they built they tested. They loaded it with a ton of stuff, and then it got towed behind another plane, because that's how you get a glider somewhere, it got towed three and a half thousand miles from montreal to britain in one day, and this was just the test flight to see if the gliders worked and it contained vaccines to russia milton
equipment for the free french parts for some bomber planes and a bunch of bananas for the pilot's family in london, suede yeah, and they made they made over one thousand during the war. These gliders, the american steinway's yeah. That's amazing, very weird, these pianos Elvis
because it's a wall, you don't have all of the stuff that economically may pianos how affright. So they use a lot less.
That's that you got a normal piano instead of the copper strings, they use soft iron strings instead of ivory case. It they couldn't get there, you cellulite
and the thing is were cellulite as if he banged get it explodes
which must have been you know if you're really doing enough of soft slam on your kids takes a whole new meaning to a banger on the piano. Do you know the white house as a steinway the day yep? And it is tiny it's about
like this big? What it's about James madison used to play its really tiny steinway, it's it's over the people. How do you think you're doing like six at high yeah?
do you know? I am one of those like the massive idiot? You know when you have a scale, and I just got member has pronounced the scale, but it's one parents go. It no doubt be added scale the size scale. So it's one one two to seven. Yes, it
the second says the seventh decide exactly that's a good way saying it. So it's a seventh of the size of a proper steinway ends
They look like an area that I believe has bigger than that then, because this time ways massive decide to block a couple of dvd toy yeah, maybe
again was during the hand size knowing that the audience at home can see what else to say it was a full what it's for the white
and it's erupt replica of a of a steinway that they did actually have and which has now been moved into a museum. So this guy, who is an artist who created it, spent sixteen years basically conceiving creating building it and making sure that it functions exactly like a steinway of regular size and even to the point. This is how sort of obsessed he was about doing it that when he was making the actual pieces themselves, because there are so many pieces as something like twelve thousand pieces- that
went to a steinway, he has even made tiny versions of the machines that make the bigger pieces to ban. May not a tiny cases. Rome in order to produce
Finally, you looking very sceptical here at some point. You have to ask why what why not just make
steinway easier to play. Deplore you'd have to play this. What with chopsticks
as yet. I really like so suddenly greater when you play the chopsticks.
That's so that exists outside europe. Think you know that thing of getting a peddler dropped on your head in cartoon sink. Our two there there is a place of over that happens for real every year
so mit, the american university, their tradition every year, the piano drop where they drove a piano off the roof, but not someone's had yes or the summons head is what comes,
in the class each year that you'd, say, executed,
I guess by that day that really really careful about. Obviously, but since nineteen seventy two they had this broken piano, they wanted to get rid of it. Somehow it's just a bunch of students at this point or they wanted to push it out of their window. Cause that'd, be crazy and fun with the students and then they'd read the rules and they found out. You can count the throw things out of your window, but then cause the students. They read the rules really closely. They found out, there's no rule against pushing it off the roof. Just out of your window, that's not allowed, but off the roof holding the rules, so they
that and half a century on now, they are still doing it and they're very tight on security and they, you know, everyone closes their windows and they in fact, do even more than that in terms of security yeah. Sometimes they fill it with sweets or confetti yeah
I joined kobe, didn't they and then they started again. Luscious was full of covert
they filled her sweet like assaultive pin
yeah need our annie and our own eyes, why we should say is always a broken. Piano is never them just trashing. A functioning piazza was broken vienna that can't be mended area. This is kind of a common thing in amerika, isn't it a relatively calm? And now it's coming as mcdonalds,
in vienna. Is a three year dropping pianos, you kind of once. You start Google and you like, while this happens
more often than I thought so, the first one I think I found then you I was in nineteen, sixty eight
I was to musicians and they were driving van and there was a piano in the back of it and the piano acts accidentally fell out and they thought
how to make quite a nice sound and they thought well what if we did that, but we dropped from a helicopter they'll, make it even better sound
as a benefit for radio station that they decided to drop this piano from a helicopter. And yet they did it and they got three thousand people that they all pay to watch at one stage
dog, robin directly, underneath
unsolved yapped around I'm. The guy on the microphones said: ask everyone to whistle everyone in the area
sold another dog sort dogs of when oh, what's that and run off again that our
But that's what happens and they dropped the piano and it made a big old, no
but not nearly as nice, a nice as they once it turned out that didn't sound. I got, but I met.
money anyway. I something men, woody
that is what I wanted to I stereotyped, but is also like, so they do they like job too
tiny amount and it made a magical, sound and then, instead of going that was nice, less
do that again or do something really creative, they were like, let's drop it from a fucking helicopter
I know it is a massive smash and if that doesn't make as good a sound like cause, I thinking I wonder if we could do
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We do need to move on to our final facts. It is time for our final facts of the show, and that is Andy Murray fact is that when filming iti Steven Spielberg kept eighties puppeteers on the clock at lunchtime so that six year old drew barrymore could eat with him. So
she kept believing he was real. She shares for a scarf for him, yeah
been more because he's got this reason. Neck has an eighty and and actually they did adjusted for they just adjusted the whole filming for the children. They shot the film in chronological order, in order that the script which never happens because you know you're saving money here and you shoot these diseases, but it meant the children really believed it more.
Go back into the same world day after day yo. It is kind of magical what they. What I watched a bunch of interviews this morning morning to barrymore has our in chechnya, and there was the fortieth anniversary of eighty not too long ago, and so of all the cast members came back onto chat about it, and so she kept saying you know I knew is definitely a fake
thing and they are all going you absolute, never say what the thing was is that she was during the brakes during lunch. That's gotta go west.
And drew it just be sitting there just going so what you think about and choose just chatting to this static model that was sitting there and so
a mother who believe her real name's dd. She went over to Steven Spielberg and said. I think she really believes that he's real. We should possibly do something about that, so Stephen then hired to people who were part of the animatronic side.
That was their job to basically sit there and just have the eyes role whenever she said that, like that and she keeps denying it, but every single CAS member says no, you lot leaved the eighty was real. When you were five six. However, she loves me
it was amazing. I've got to say my sons and I have just started watching it again, because I've just discovered it and you can buy these toys at the moment, which is just a reminder of what looks like for everyone,
here it is
who are you insane easy? Have you seen the moving? Maybe well,
What happens now deliberately
I think people are deliberately winding down that. I have cdt. I watched it when it first came out when I was about three or four years old, I think nice ross, I don't remember any fit about it. I believe that was all real yeah. He looked so real
and that's the thing. The animatronic side of things were extraordinary you. So if e t
was static, just standing and doing the scene. There was like a hundred and twenty different things that could happen to eighty. In that point, if he was using his hands, there was a woman who was a mine who would be laying underneath e t who had eaten
glove hands on and she would be doing all the movements while someone else is doing the voices and so on. Then you had three actors: one was a a child who didn't have any legs and he was, and he was part of the main cast. He became their best friends and when he sees walking through the kitchen
he was the one who balking on his hands and inside the issue was yes slamming into the fridge and falling over and stuff yes
There were so many different elements that went into this one character: data that the company the book made easy with colombia right. They said no to it. I got
like idiots the most, because it was the biggest film of all time alibi? Did they say? No, sorry, sorry, they ran surveys on it and the marketing department said that it's got limited commercial appeal. I know I didn't so it went to universal right and then columbia had originally worked on it. So they got. I think, five percent of the net profits, one executive from columbia said that year the year it came out, they made more money on e t where they got five percent of the net profits
if any of their own actual wow. So it was so huge, it really was. It was absolutely. It was a bit monstrous. You know which is bad because Spielberg's massive at this point he's just made
these these very close encounters my legs close encounters of a third a spade. Yeah jaws, like the guy yeah jaws, like the guy, meant the guy. This was meant to be his small film and between pixels, yes and then biggest film pieces of a harrison ford was in eighty. Was he yeah? He you got cut, but they filled. The air was a was elliot's principle. School principle ended up on.
the cutting room floor that supposedly directing as well as whitesville of extraneous thank you. Harrison gets doesn't already. Why did you call him? I guess he was to fame time space and when you think about the story like it must have been a bit of an off shoot of the story. Would it be mega distracting to see Indiana jones in the middle of the
to fill the waste. Indiana Jones right, say: yeah, it was it was. The next will be what we are here. We re really where it is Henry torments who's the kid who plays elliot's, which, if it just for anyone here and anyone listening if you haven't seen it, there is a clip on line of him or dishing for the raw meliot eyes are living things ever went out and even when the it's, when the military are coming to try and take eighty away from him seated.
got a shot of him crying going, but I don't wanna give him up he's. My is really touching, really really touching it's the best. But at the end, where you just hear spielberg offscreen go, you got the job. Kid is this. It is wonderful that moment, that's the thing that got it, but he arrived for his audition with
all whip because he loved indiana Jones. I must say he came as indiana jones. I didn't know he didn't ever try to talk to you,
yeah it does? I saw I was reading a biography of spielberg and like a dozen interpretation of iti, which I might just share with you all. If that's all right does a scientist who becomes friends with iti, if you remember that and Buford sorta in front of areas and helps iti to get home and all the way through the film, he has a bunch of keys hanging from his belt right. That's a key detail of him and also Elias parents are divorced and it's a film about loneliness and being a child and being alone and finding a friend and it's pretty, it's really touching, and it's spielberg himself was from his. His parents got divorced, so it was kind of by himself as a child very moving stuff. This is the interpretation from a critic called andrew sarris and about the scientist who befriends elliott spielberg in the final sequence. Subtly implies a romantic pairing of keys, thus the scientist with elliott's mother and he puts them in shots together, but he doesn't spell it out. He doesn't have any dialogue, it just shows them together and lets you draw your own applications. Sarah stem writes only children and freudian
can make the crucial connections between the tell tale, keys, fondled near the crux of the potential father vigour and the displaced phallus represented by e t himself. Actually looking at a muddle of eighty here, I can say that I think
the giants to see a doctor.
Most insane thing you ever heard. I need to think about this. They suggesting the keys, like unlocking something
I think that might be the is that once again the to bow to visa
this year, but also easier to pay the same. That's what I mean if the keys copy the penis can there be to ease the pain is well, I think
forty one day I summoned to see what I mean if us
in time of immediately brought into this. Your crowded, the igor age, agrees as sorry was the eighty there.
barrymore. I'm a massive fan of drew barrymore is, and she comes from a dynasty of actors and producers, and so on. Steven Spielberg is her godfather. It's that kind of thing right and there's a story about her grandfather who was called John barrymore and when he died he used to play poker with a lot of other actors. Errol flynn, who was the ozzy, turned american actor swashbuckling guy wc fields seemed to be one of the greatest silent comedians of all time, and there was another person who was seen as an anarchist, and that was their group. The four of them Earl flynn went to the morgue.
stole. John barrymore brought him to the house and they all had one last game of poker together. David Nevin writes about this in his book and drew barrymore was asked about in. She confirm that within the family that this absolutely is true, so they brought him there
sat at the table, a dead, John barrymore, they play the game of poker, and then they returned to the morgue when they were done and
drew says, she's even heard rumors that the movie weekend at Bernie's is based on the kidnapping of the dead body of John barrymore yeah, pretty cool. A good fact
just can I say, if I die, I would love to be on one
the final episode. No such thing as a fan, she'll be a little you'll, be the ongoing we'll. Just have you permanently just say that the listeners won't notice the difference, yeah the voice of iti interest in this as a woman called pat welsh she'd, been on a safari and have photos that gotten mixed up with someone
Eventually, twenty years later she got the film back and she went scattered developed and when she was getting it develops, she started
speaking for the guy and one of the people who was there was banned. But who was the sound engineer and he heard her voice somewhat. You be perfect for my alien and shit,
in a little bit of stuff before she'd been like a soap opera actress on the radio and stuff, but she hadn't really done very much, but she just had the perfect sheet.
Malta smoked exactly, but here
that by he also added an extra load of stuff, so he took her voice but added some raccoons, some see otters some horses and a bird
Ms old cinema, professor from u s c o and his wife breathing when she had a cold
so. He took all these things and mix them together with her boys to make that either so cool. He does a great story that I heard recently has really lucky. I met hero recently dan accurate, and he was telling me that when he was doing temple of do
because Dan Ackroyd is in temple of doom. What yeah in Indiana jones he plays the ball. Doesn't he take both raiders? But, of course, if you say it's a it's an uncredited role in the movie, but you'll all remember the scene, possibly at the very beginning, the temple of doom there's the big fight with loud cheat.
Sighed the chinese restaurant as I can't be in order to get away, they go into a small plain and he closes doin here.
Nice try LAO Tse and he closes the door and it says loudly his name on it, so you know he's in trouble. Someone is talking to him to get him into the plane as they're walking down the runway, that is dan Ackroyd. So when you watch that again is Dan Ackroyd, so he was on set with them and he needed to get back to the set of ghostbusters, which they were filming at the time. So he said,
Even under the head off, he needed to get their quick. He saw a bicycle just hanging around gets the bicycle. It's gotta basket in the front is going to say tat. He flew in this nobody,
later transpired that the bike that he'd taken was elliot spike alone again all fried in- and I don't really know much about this movie, but is he gets into a big wickedness
Does he isn't always know what drills? As long as the basque is bigger than you can't tell the difference
What is it that is all of our facts? Thank you so much for listening. If you would like to get in contact with any of us about the things that we ve said over the course of this podcast, we can be found on our twitter accounts, I'm on tribal and james at James Harkin, andy at under two hundred and rage at rachel
paris, yep, and I know it's not called twitter, but I'm not going to say the new fucking stupid name and the or you can get us on our group account, which is no such thing or you can go to our website. No such thing as a fish dot com. All of our previous episodes are up there. So do please check them out otherwise come back next week, we'll be back with another
at the side. Thank you so much so no theatre stayin this late with us. We really appreciate it was the again get by.
Transcript generated on 2023-09-16.