We had a topic ready to go after we ran through some quick bullet points, but uh oh! The bullet points took an hour! We discuss the awful manga Kengan Omega, sardines, bike helmets, and the incredible comic Swan Boy. If you like the two of us chattin' and jawin', this one is a classic!
[00:00:26] Welcome to Anime Sickos, the podcast for geniuses and the only podcast where we look at the four pillars of modern misery, anime, gaming, posting, and jobs. I am Tom, an Anime Sicko. I am Joe, an Anime Sicko. Tom? Yes. The thing you got to understand about me is that I am always defeating my enemies with the Devil's Lance technique.
[00:00:52] Hmm. Is this a segue to talk about Kengan Omega, the hilarious martial arts comic book? Oh, I guess it could be. I just often like to think that I'm Beardo defeating my enemies with the power of a poke. And one time he did it with his foot and it was really good. He did it. He beat his opponent, the weird kid, with his foot.
[00:01:17] I am about to say something which I hope you are not going to immediately disprove by telling me the latest dumb shit to occur in Kengen Omega. But I love that this is a series where martial artists have styles that are fully fake, made up, magical. I imagine at this point we all essentially have stands in Kengen Omega. There are stands, basically, yes.
[00:01:46] Okay, put a pin in that. I need to hear you expand. But at the same time, the strongest fighter, stronger than all the people who have magic, is Beardo, whose gimmick is that he spent a long time training how to poke with his hand very hard. Yes. I would argue the best Beardo fight. I don't remember who he's fighting. It doesn't matter who he's fighting because it's a manga, right?
[00:02:12] So they're always like showing insane name of move before like a guy does it. And there's this one fight where it's just like him demolishing him and it's just like the forward punch. Downward kick. Like it's just like you pressed A on the controller and it's just the best. It's just the best. And he also has, of course, we have to every time it comes up, I have to say it because it's like.
[00:02:37] It's almost too funny and self-aware and good for the comic itself, which is when Beardo sees all those guys. He's like, most of these guys, they're just like freaks. No one really just put in the work. A lot of these guys are just like kung fu freaks, but not like actual guys that go to the desert and punch for 23 hours. And he's right. Yeah, yeah. And he's right. So this is a good time as any to update you, Tom, my dearest friend on.
[00:03:04] So this is dog shit, dude. Like Kagan Omega has been aimless and bad forever. I read it every week. I look forward to it every week. I need that dog shit every week. I got to have it. I got to have it. But so. Essentially, you know how the sort of the weakest part of the original Kagan Ashura.
[00:03:28] And he kind of has to do this for plot reasons, but like all the backstage politicking of the bodyguards and all that shit. And it's just like, yes, because there has to be a conflict beyond just like who wins a tournament. And that's that's that part of that. I get that. But if you hated that, it's just like. OK, there's I would say there's two modes, which is just like you are giving me tasty dog shit I'm waiting for. And it's not good, but I'm enjoying it. Or you're like introducing more guys. Mm hmm.
[00:03:56] And the guy introducing has been sort of nuts. The end point of all this is there is a tournament now. Finally, it is unfortunately like not like. Uh, there is a cell games thing and two guys come out and fight. It's like everybody has trackers on their arm and you eliminate people in the woods. Oh, I fucking hate this.
[00:04:21] So like from the jump, what's happening is just like, yes, there was existing Kagan factions because like this is Kagan plus another the worm. Right. This is with the worm. So like there are people who are like in the Kagan Association who like previously have fought. We're like, OK, we're in the same faction. We're going to do that. And then they get in the woods. They're like, actually, I'm going to kick your ass. And it's like, that's fine. I kind of like that. Um. Uh, but the the stand stuff, let me tell you.
[00:04:49] Uh, basically, I think you'll agree with me here that every manga that has fighting. Needs to have some sort of like power time skip hockey has to show up or something. Yes. Uh, or like now it's like, oh, you can have two devil fruits or something. You know what I mean? There's got to be like a it had either. It has to end like Ken Ganeshura did. And it's like the end. No dies. And he's dead in the ground. Or yes. Or it's like, OK, we've done.
[00:05:18] I've done all the things that I thought of with the rules I set out. So I will now change the rules so I can think of new things. Yeah. So that has happened. And, uh, and the thing is like at baseline, the story was like a bunch of fighters who were like, I got to get to the next level already. So that's kind of stupid. So it's so the thing that they, they, they, they have sort of done is that, as I said before, there's like the connector who's the guy that has like 2000 years of Kung Fu memories
[00:05:47] and shit in him. Oh, yeah. Yeah. When he's a little baby, uh, an old, old man tells him a long story and then he becomes the old, old man because he heard such a good story. So I'm glad you brought that up, Tom, because that technique that you described is in the comic. However, that is an inferior technique for passing on, uh, fighting in genetic knowledge. He was actually cloned like with the science guy. Oh, okay. Okay.
[00:06:13] Uh, one of the things they addressed early on is just like the, the talking into a kid forever really sucks. Cause then that kid just gets killed. Uh, fair enough. Uh, but, uh, so the mere presence of this guy or either, excuse me, the presence of the connector either being near him or like not fighting him, but having to like deal with him in some sort of skill based thing is usually enough to just like make the, uh,
[00:06:43] the existing fighters be like, Oh, I'm like not even on like the first rung of the ladder again, which is kind of exciting. However, uh, uh, some of it's good. Some of it's bad. The good stuff is when it's just like an extension of the existing fighters stuff. And it just seems like a natural thing. Like who's that guy saying pay the guy who's always yelling and headbutting. So pain. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, he's from like Thailand. Yes.
[00:07:12] So like he gets way better, but like, he also like is just better. Like he, he gets better, but he's like getting better on those that same vector. And it's very good to watch on his terms. He's better at what he does. He still has his style. Yes. Uh, the issue with like someone like with the, the fang. And now when I say the fang, I mean like the previous thing, cause now there's like a new fang. He's like a child fucking fangs. But anyway, it's, it's, it's motorcycle fang guy.
[00:07:41] And like, uh, his thing is that he has two fighting styles inside him, right? He's got the, what is it? Like the, the formless crazy man mode. And then he has like nothing but perfect MMA skills. And like, part of it is that like when he's in the formless mode, he also like, he's hard to hit. Cause he's like weird. His joints are moving weird. Right. He's like, he's kind of, he's like loose. His face is drawn crazy. Correct.
[00:08:09] Uh, so now it's such that when they depict him doing this, he's like literally goo Tom, like he's getting struck. And then it is being depicted as like his head on a blob of oil, like moving away. And it sucks, dude. It fucking sucks. It sucks shit. It's really bad. Um, the karate boy is in it, uh, from the beginning.
[00:08:37] The beginning of this is like, you have this, this new character that's like, I'm going to get into the world of Kengen. And, and he's, his job is to be shepherded through all these characters and eventually start fighting. And he's kind of doing that, but I don't know. I did not read, uh, or I did not finish. Was it Juju Kaisen? Jujutsu Kaisen, how you say it? Jujutsu. Jujutsu Kaisen. I did not finish, uh, Jujutsu Kaisen.
[00:09:01] Uh, so if this changes, uh, correct me, but like, I got the impression that it's like the main character is just like kind of there when there are forces so much larger and more powerful than he, in a way that like doesn't matter. Yeah. Uh, and that's kind of a similar thing, uh, a bit, which is still, he gets his good moments whenever, but it sucks. It sucks. And I will give you the, like this guy can tell, still tell a story thing and then we
[00:09:30] can end this, but I, he still has the juice in this one way and it involves the beautiful boxer. I love, is he ever fucking get a fucking dub? He always loses on some bullshit technicality. Please allow me to enrapture you. Uh, so you read the beginning of Omega, which is like, oh, there's this weird tournament with this other fighting association. His thing is he fights another boxer and he's honestly kicking his ass and then he loses because he rings out cause the guy trips him.
[00:10:00] So he established it. Oh, it was so bullshit. It's because it's bullshit because in Kenyan there are no ring outs. So obviously he's getting, he, it's a bullshit technicality. It's his first time fighting with ring outs and the other guy fights with ring outs all the time. It doesn't, I hate, I hated that shit. Okay. So the first cool fight is between the demon cure clan guy ran and now the first fight,
[00:10:27] but the first cool fight between, you know, the demon cure clan guy, rain, Mr. Murder and the boxing guy. Yeah. And this is how it goes. Uh, and it is a wonderful thing that both happens and denies him a win in a way that will upset you. Oh, great. Rain starts to fight. It's like, fuck you boxer, but well, you're nothing. And like, uh, they're holding their own. And like rain is like basically been powering up this whole time constantly. So every time he like has been in a fight, it's shown like excessive amounts of just
[00:10:57] like, oh, he's like insanely strong. He was already, already strong to begin with. And he's one of those guys who has magic essentially. Like he has black eyes and like his clan has like magic demon power that they can call specifically the removal technique. It's like, you know how you have that part of your brain that keeps you from being stronger, Tom, you know, you have that part of your brain that says like you will never use 100% of your strength.
[00:11:20] Oh, my anxiety, my, my inability to make a TikTok account, my flaws, my, uh, so they can do that, uh, so he can like do that, activate himself. He gets all veiny and fast and strong. And, uh, it's called the erection direction. Uh, and as we know, like the boxers guys that he's like the fastest puncher in the world. He's just like a boxer. He's just great at it. He's just great at it.
[00:11:45] Um, so one of the things that rain does is like, he's obsessed with always like fighting on the other guy's terms. So he wants to out box the guy. Uh, and so he starts doing this thing where it's like, he can't keep up. So he starts doing the removal for like a split second in between punches to do counters, uh, to make him a little faster. And, uh, like, it's like, all right, this is going to fuck him up. It's he's done with this.
[00:12:11] And, uh, when he does it, uh, boxing boy just puts his arm out counter punches and just punches him faster. And then, uh, he hits the ground and rain is like, oh my God. Oh my God. I love you. Oh my God. I can't believe this. I love you. And then the boxing boy is like, oh, I broke my wristband. My tracking's off. I got to go. And he's like, no, please. You have to come back. I have to fight you. He's like, no, the rules. I got to go. I'm sorry, man.
[00:12:39] And rain's just like, no, no, no. The wristband of they're in the woods and they have to. Oh my God. It's like the survival game game. Yeah. Yeah. Infuriating. Yeah. So they cannot give my man a dove. They're, they're allergic to it. Yeah. It's, it's not worth reading, but the, like, it's not above replacement costs yet for a daily manga.
[00:13:04] I got to say a weekly, the ultimate experience of Kengan Omega is every couple of months. You, you give me the gist. It is an incredible experience. There will be months that are just him introducing guys. I've said this before, but it's just like a guy on stage with action figures and being like, let me tell you about these guys' families and special moves. And then nothing happens.
[00:13:29] You know, I got to wonder which is the influence of like outside forces and editors. Uh, is it the fact that Kengan Ashura was perfectly paced and did not waste a lot of fucking time adding shit that didn't matter. It was again. Hey, do you know there's this crazy world of fighters with the craziest fighters? Here's three normal bouts. Okay.
[00:13:56] Now, what if all those crazy guys were in the craziest tournament? Here's the bracket. We're going to go through all of it. There's not going to be something that happens in the middle that makes us skip part of it. We're going to do the entire bracket. Anyway, the bracket is over. And our main character died because he fought too many times. His heart went out. It just, it was snuffed out like a candle. So, and like that was that, was that what he didn't want to do or did, would, would the
[00:14:25] author have preferred like now finally that I have a success, I can do Omega and introduce a million factions. Like I always wanted, or is it the other way around? I don't know about intent, but I will say like the central issue I think with Omega is that like he has finished Ashura and now he's starting it again and he has like this existing wiki and it's just like, all righty, time to just plug anybody in wherever.
[00:14:54] And like, it's fun if you're a fan or whatever, but you can also like, here's Poochie. Like it happens. Mm-hmm. Fuck. I would defeat Poochie with the Devil Lance though. The Devil Lance. I just, I can't emphasize enough that the Devil Lance, and it sounds really cool. And I've been talking about how like there's techniques that are magic in this series and you're like the Devil Lance, that's just such a badass thing.
[00:15:19] What could, what insane, hyper exaggerated martial arts move could that mean? Literally, I'm not joking. He holds his hand, his flat ass hand, palm straight right in front of him. And then with his four stiff fingies, he shoots his arm forward in a charade line. Oh, let's not forget the, the, Kengen Ashura has so many like, okay, this guy's introduced
[00:15:47] here as two pages about like how he practiced punching crazy and it's wonderful. So, uh, but there is a Beardo backstory where he's like holding these massive urns of like sand and there's a guy in full body armor with like a gun pointed at his face and he's like, all right, shoot me and I'm going to lift these urns up and block the bullet in time. And he does. Of course he does. Otherwise he wouldn't be around.
[00:16:12] Um, I also, he's like the one whose backstory is that like when I was young, I decided I would learn martial arts and now I'm here. It's like, there's no, there's no second part of the story. Yeah. There's no tragic village that got wiped out. Uh, it's, I love Beardo. Uh, enough Kengen Omega. We got to thank our newest patrons who have patronized us through Patreon. These are going to be Jessica Rose.
[00:16:41] Thank you, Jessica for patronizing us. Thank you, Jessica. And, uh, next is going to be a man named Babs. Thank you. A man named Babs. Thank you, Babs. That is your name. I know from, from what, from what I'm looking at on my phone right now. If you want to patronize us, you can go to patreon.com slash anime sickos. You can get such lovely things as the episodes a couple of days early. Nothing matters. We release them for free anyway. Hard sell though. This is really good. Yeah.
[00:17:11] And, uh, you get Tom's record club, which is a good, a good music show that I do with my homies. Uh, you could also rotating cast of existing sicko guests. Exactly. Yes. Uh, and, uh, you can either just, you know, donate to us and then you get them or you could pay $20 in a, in a lump sum and you get all of them, including all future ones. Um, yeah, that's, that's the, uh, that's the sell. Joe, I want to tell you about something now.
[00:17:40] And this is something I told you very briefly. Like I'm going to, this is my bullet point. And you were like, oh, and you had something to say and I was very interested in it. So I'm going to give you the intro. I've always been, and I'm not ashamed to say it, a shameless trend follower when it comes to food fads. When there's a food fad, I go, oh boy, I can't wait. Hot honey. Love it. Um, fucking a second example.
[00:18:10] Love it. Can only think of hot honey, but any of them, any food fad, I'm so there for it. I can know it's a fad. I can know it's going to be brussels sprouts and brussels sprouts were big. I was such a slut for the brussies. Gimme yum, yum, yum. Um, I heard that there's a new fad about sardines and I was reading all of the things about why sardines are the new fad.
[00:18:36] Uh, they, they come in funny little cans that look nice. Uh, they're extremely cheap when it comes to like nutrients. They're unbelievably nutrient dense. By virtue of being smaller, mercury doesn't live in them as much. Yes. They're lower on the food chain. So there's less chance for mercury to get into the zone. And unlike every other fish, they're like very plentiful. And they are like, every other fish is like, if we keep fishing like this, they're going
[00:19:06] to go extinct. And sardines is like, there's just so many fucking sardines. It's easy to catch them. And there's a million left. It's sustainable. We don't have to farm them because we just go out and there's like 10 million and we like capture a half a million and they don't even notice. Um, and so I'm like, okay, food fad, cheap, cheap protein. That's very, uh, dense of like nutrients is good for you.
[00:19:35] It makes your coat lustrous. Yeah. What's the issue? I am like, okay. I go to my wife. I say, Hey dear, I found out about a move fad. I call the sardine. Here's my pitch. I say what I've just said. She says, interesting. Buy some sardines husband. I say, okay, I go and I buy some sardines and show I eat them. And I've had the worst possible reaction.
[00:20:02] Well, the worst possible would be that I'm deathly allergic and I died now ghost now. No, uh, I had the second worst possible reaction to sardines, which is, I think. They're like, okay. So what would have been better is if I had like loved them. If I was like this umami flavor goes with everything.
[00:20:27] I can't wait to introduce it into the dishes I already make and slightly less good would have been. I find these nasty. Yuck. I'm never eating these again because at least then the book is closed, but it's just like every time I've tried to introduce a sardine into one of my staple meals, I'm just like, um, it feels like some fucking thing that does not mesh with this at all got put on top of it.
[00:20:55] And it's not like nasty, but, um, I sure wouldn't do this again. So I'm just kind of wondering what, what do I do with these sardines? Because I went to Costco. I got six cans. What do I fucking do with these fuckers? Are they in olive oil? What are they? What are they? Yeah, they're in olive oil. First of all, I just like them as is that's skill issue. But what's really good is it's not dripping with olive oil. Take them, take one or two out and put it on a slice of buttered toast. It's like really good. The butter makes a huge difference.
[00:21:25] And also it's warm. It's wonderful. Uh, you are saying like, I couldn't incorporate it effectively into like, see, to me, like the sardine is like a, like a roasted chicken on the ground and a beat them up because it's like, it's, it's, it's, it's a consumable. Do not overthink it. Like I, it is in the same way I like uncrustables, which is like, I am like, ah, I'm walking and I need food and I need to eat without stopping my stride.
[00:21:54] Uh, that's what sardines are in many ways. Cause everything you said is true. It's like, it's very filling. Uh, it's also very fatty cause it's sitting in olive oil. Yeah. Um, uh, you feel like a giant because it's like, there's bones and, and like scales on it matter. You don't, it's just like, do I have to take them out? And they're just like, no, no, you won't even notice them. And you don't, uh, have you also, and I'm saying this with the understanding that it's
[00:22:22] going to make it less healthy, but have you like pan fried them ever? Have you tried it? I, I, uh, I did one time I dredged them in a little bit of, of a flour and, and browned them up and that was pretty good. But like, it was again, as like, it was in a staple dinner of mine where normally that place is fulfilled by, uh, impossible brand, uh, veggie chicken nuggets that are shaped like
[00:22:52] the lion King characters. To me, the sardine is like really in its environment at like a 2 PM snack on a accompanied with like a wooden board. I think that the issue I'm having is I'm trying to make it dinner. I'm fee, I'm hearing from you. They're just little fish dude. That it's not because like, okay, well here, I'll tell you how I've tried to incorporate them.
[00:23:16] I have tried to, uh, do as I've said, where I fry them up and have them instead of the dino fucking veggie nuggies, not dino, Lion King. You know what I mean? Um, you have to get the Lion King ones because the normal shaped veggie nuggies, they don't have as crispy an exterior as you would hope.
[00:23:40] But when they are Lion King shaped in order to hold that shape to a level that Disney accepts, they have to crisp it up. So you can't get the known these, I, I got to find the brand, but they're spinach nuggets. And the thing that I cannot stress enough is that the outside is so crispy. Like the inside doesn't matter. It's the outside is what you're describing. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I am interested in these, in these spinach nuggets. Ivan does not like this, but it doesn't matter.
[00:24:08] He's a little fucking kid, dude. He's dumb as hell. And I say this with love. I love Ivan. Every little kid is dumb. He can't drive. Like I picked him up and he said, I want to drive. And I was like, I would get in so much trouble. Like I can't, I would be a bad dad. Dad, what do you do? How dare he? How dare he? Get off my notes, kid. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Sardines. Sardines.
[00:24:35] Another thing I wanted to do is, so we have this classic salad, a big salad in Seinfeldian tradition that we make almost every week. It's a big, big salad. The thing that sort of makes it itself, because it's just all the vegetables that we can fucking get our hands on. But the thing that sort of gives it that identity is that it is a cup of cooked quinoa and a whole can of chickpeas in it. And this gives it a lot of body and a lot of protein.
[00:25:05] So it can be a full meal and it doesn't feel like you ate a bunch of leaves, you know? But at the same time, it was a salad. There was no like chicken no yeast or anything in it that like would or like fried chicken that made it not healthy. It was healthy. But I was thinking... I'm not doing anything wrong. It was healthy. You can't yell at me for real. Like, I'm not joking that that is like one of the main reasons I like this meal so much. You know how they always used to say like guilt-free snacking?
[00:25:34] Like guilt is real. I don't know why. I wish it weren't so. Anyway, I tried putting sardines on this burger and it just tasted like a delicious salad and then some second thing that did not go with it at fucking all. So I think, yeah, we'll just have to have the fucking deans on bread. I will say, though, that, you know, if you listen to during the Anime Sicko's weird era,
[00:26:00] the episode where Dylan and I had 11 insane sandwiches, you will know that having like a little bit of spread on a piece of bread with like two other things can somehow through like integer overflow error in like the code of the matrix, like a spread plus one slice of cucumber. Yeah.
[00:26:24] Like it doesn't make sense how there's so much flavor can be evoked by such meager reagents. And yet it happens. So I have to do that. Hell yeah. Joe, I have another bullet point. We were going to have a main segment after the fuck around segment. I'm looking at the clock. This is a fuck around episode and I'm not even mad. There has been a resurgence of a discourse that has been going on for my entire life on Blue Sky.
[00:26:54] The resurgence is on Blue Sky. It hasn't been going on for my entire life on Blue Sky. You know what I mean? I think the inciting incident was New York Mayor Zoran Mamdani did one of his signature videos where he was extolling the virtues of riding a bike. And he rode a bike in the video, but he did not have a helmet on. And some people were like, hey, Mamdani, you should model good behavior and put a helmet on.
[00:27:22] So he had another video where he said, I'm sorry. And put a helmet on and said, you better do this too. But isn't the argument that if you're wearing a helmet, you are ceding the road to the cars? Yes! I do! Yeah, yeah, yeah. Did you not know this? Did you not? I, yes. I know it, but every time I see it happen again, I'm just like, you're still around? You people still think this? I'm firmly on team bikes, but like, I don't bike, but I have stood on a corner and just
[00:27:52] watched cars go by and everyone is on their phone, which is to say, so I think the protection wins out over like the semiotic battle for meaning on the street. So I got to tell you, I got to tell you a little short story that happened to me in real life last week.
[00:28:15] My wife and I have begun an incredible habit, which I have been pushing for for a long time, where on a loverly afternoon on a weekend day, we take a long, long walk. Now, this sounds very normal. This is what we do all the time. What I've always wanted to do is when we pass by a cafe or bar that looks adorable, I say,
[00:28:42] why don't we go in and have one drink and then spend like 20 minutes there and then continue on our way? And well, especially when you're an unemployed guy, you really can't be like, can we spend money on a treat, please? That is just unacceptable. So I don't do it. But now we do it. And so I've been enjoying that in a big way. We've been having a lot of time outside just watching shit happen.
[00:29:07] We were on Armitage Avenue and there was someone riding an electric scooter, in many ways the cousin of bike, on the bike lane on Armitage Avenue. Now, there was no traffic. There were no cars at this time. Nothing was going on in the street whatsoever. And this part of the street had no construction. It had no debris on it.
[00:29:32] This was not a rented one of those like like lime scooters that any old person can just rent with no experience. This was a scooter that this person had purchased with the intent of using it a lot. He was going down the street. And I cannot emphasize enough how much there was no instigating factor. He fucking fell so hard on the ground. Blam!
[00:30:02] Boom! He had a metal water bottle that spittered away. Oh, those are loud. They're so loud. They're so loud. Everyone here is clink, clink, clink. We look over and go, oh my god, are you okay? And I pick up his water bottle and handing it to him. He's like, yeah. He does not explain anything about what has occurred. And he gets back on his scooter and goes on his way. Now, this is what I'm talking about, Joe.
[00:30:30] He was very lucky that he did not land on his head. But he could have. And then I would have seen a guy die for no reason. And that would have happened. I cannot emphasize enough. That would have happened if no one had ever thought about a car. And he wasn't even doing. He was like moving at a speed that someone who sensibly purchased a scooter for regular use would go.
[00:30:56] Not like one of these teenagers who just rents it and is like, I'm invincible and goes like car speed. What the fuck? Hey, everybody. Tom from the future here with the little addition of something that happened to me yesterday. Which from the timeline of past Tom, three days from now. I was biking home from my annoying job on the 606.
[00:31:25] The Bloomingdale Trail Park. This is an elevated trail in Chicago built on an old disused elevated rail line. And it is gorgeous. It's this big, wide pedestrian path that goes on for 2.7 miles that I love to use. It goes right to the Metra train. It's very convenient. And it's great. It is in many ways the ideal bike infrastructure.
[00:31:54] If we're talking about disincentivizing cars, you can't take a car up there. It's impossible. It's used so much. Talk about if you build it, they will come. It's so popular. People use it all the time for recreation and transportation. Because if you are biking somewhere that is on the 606, you would be insane to bike on the road. It's dangerous down there. But up on the 606, what could possibly go wrong?
[00:32:21] You could argue that there is no place in the United States of America where a helmet is less necessary than the 606. The anti-helmet bike faction would like there to be 606s everywhere. And so would I. However, if that occurred, they would stop wearing helmets. And I would continue to. I wear a helmet when I bike on the 606, even though there's no danger.
[00:32:51] Here's why. I was biking home. And I am biking. And there's a guy in front of me about 20 feet ahead also biking. He does not have a helmet on, obviously. Otherwise, the story wouldn't be relevant. Now, usually it is a big wide trail where, you know, both directions of traffic are just right next to each other.
[00:33:13] And unless there is like a crazy crowd, you're always able as a bike to go into the left lane and pass people walking so that you can continue on your way. It's never a problem.
[00:33:30] However, every once in a while when you are on a bridge over a major street, just by the nature of how the old tracks used to be constructed, the old train tracks, there's a divider in the middle of the 606, which cuts the width of the trail essentially in half. And this is the place where, as a biker, you got to be a little worried because you can't just go into the next lane. So this guy in front of me is biking, as I say, about 20 feet ahead.
[00:34:00] There are two people who are running. They're doing their run on the trail. They are not together. They just happen to be passing. They're running at slightly different speeds. So the gap between them is like varying a little bit. It's in flux. And they are, of course, on this bridge over Milwaukee Avenue so that the width of the 606 is halved.
[00:34:24] So the fact that there are two of them running side by side have basically made a total barrier. Now, what you could do, what I would have done, is one of two things. I would have most likely slowed down, waited until we were off the bridge, and I have the full width of the path again. And then I would have biked to the left of these people with a lot of space.
[00:34:53] Another thing you could do is ring the bell on your bike, or if you don't have one, say, hey, and ask to pass. What this guy on the bike did was he just decided, fuck it, and shot through the gap between these two runners. And he like sped up a lot to like make it.
[00:35:23] And he has hit the gas, so to speak. The guy on the right running, he didn't know that this was happening. And he, through his sort of kinesthetic sense of his body, is being like warned like, hey, some shit's happening really close to you. And he goes, I'm scared. Ah, and he turns around to look what the fuck is going on.
[00:35:46] And in the turning, he like whams the guy on the bike like really hard with like his whole torso. And because the guy on the bike is going so fast, he has hit like the back half of him and the bike. So he has pushed the back half of the bike to the left, which means that now the bike is going very fast to the right.
[00:36:10] Now to the right of the 606 is a big metal fence that prevents you from jumping off of it and dying. The front wheel of this bike, which is going like a million miles per hour, hits this metal fence and goes from very fast to stopped instantly.
[00:36:27] The back of the bike, the back wheel does a beautiful half moon as the entire bike leaves the ground with the rider on it and does is essentially tossed like a fucking wrestling guy completely in an arc and whams down on the concrete as hard as you can imagine.
[00:36:52] I was luckily able to stop safely and not get involved in this. However, I did go, holy shit, are you alive? He was okay. I wouldn't say fine. He was definitely really in a lot of pain, but he was able to get up right away and start talking right away. And I saw that he was able to land mostly on his shoulder and back.
[00:37:22] So the main sort of emotion that I got out of him was that he was very angry at the runner for not, you know, allowing him to do what he wanted to do. The runner was like, man, you have to tell me that's happening. I didn't know you were.
[00:37:39] Anyway, I bring this all up because if he had landed like four inches to the other side of where he landed and were to put all of that kinetic energy onto his fucking head, I would have seen a guy fucking fully die. Wear a helmet.
[00:38:07] But anyway, here's Joe from the future, too. I should have said this on the episode, but I think it was like my sophomore year of college. I was like, should I start biking? Like, should I be a bike guy? You know, and like literally the day I like thought that I was like, maybe I should. I saw a woman get car doored right in front of me on Southport. And I just immediately had never had the urge again because it was like the universe just gave me the answer.
[00:38:38] So, you know who wears helmets, which is when I was driving back from groceries, it was the small, actually large group of moto pre teens in bike helmets doing wheelies around my car, including the kid who did a wheelie in the back of his shirt said law abiding worm. They were all wearing helmets. So they understand that it's not safe. And I know we're talking about maybe slightly different types of transportation.
[00:39:09] But like, OK, if we are making the argument that wearing a bike helmet is both not cool and also you are like bending down and dying for the car overlords. Well, I just want to point out that the kids doing wheelies like the coolest thing that you can do. We're wearing helmets. Yeah, I just think like they win out.
[00:39:34] I just feel like the argument that they put forward, that's just like, oh, oh, God, it's so frustrating that the only thing they that the man agrees to do re bike safety is just to give us the bikers a little chore.
[00:39:55] Don't they understand that actual action towards a safe biking environment would require you to disincentivize cars to have infrastructure that makes biking safer? And is that all these things? It's like, yeah, obviously, I fucking want that. Are you nuts? That would be the greatest thing in my life.
[00:40:15] That takes a while, though, because every time there's a new bike lane, all the Hitlers get out of their coffins and they demand their aldermen stop it. So like I. Until we and again, I am so pro bike infrastructure on the basis of yes, it makes it easier to bike, but I like it because it results in a road diet, which is the amount of road dedicated to just cars gets re ratio.
[00:40:44] Yeah, I think that's important. I think that's very important, even in stuff like the what do you call them, like the bump outs or the crosswalks that are just like, you know, they're just closer because they come out a little bit to give the walkers just more visibility in a shorter distance. Yeah, all that stuff is good. OK, it just. You're going to need a helmet because there's going to be so many Hitler meetings.
[00:41:08] I just also just like in the sense that like I would hate so bad if some shit fucked my head up and like it could just it could just be me that does it. Like, I'm am I am I really that confident in myself? No. Some shit could just hit my head.
[00:41:27] And like if I'm walking around a bunch of whirling gears and my zippers down and my dicks out and I get caught in a machine, I will think, yeah, there was something I could have done to maybe prevent this this fate. It gives me the impression of just like, hey, before you eat finger food like a sandwich and you have like a muddy hand, you should wash your hand. You should wash that hand.
[00:41:56] And someone gets mad. Like, I can't believe they're putting the onus on me to wash my hand. I'm on the toilet right now. Why should I wash my hand? It should be that the FDA strictly inspects food safety and like, yeah, but wash your wash your hands. I just can't. The people who. And here's the thing. I even am so ready to be like, if you just personally don't want to wear a helmet because you think it looks dorky.
[00:42:25] It does. Like, I'm going to go. Yeah. Smoking looks cool. Helmets look lame. I get it. As a father, I'm going to have to lie to my kid. Yes. But so like if you personally are just like, I'm not going to wear a helmet. I don't fucking care. I mean, I do care if you get your head popped by like a wheel in front of you. Yeah. But like at the same time, it's just like, OK, whatever.
[00:42:49] But like the the it's the people who get mad at like at the thought that you should wear a helmet. Like I got I want to wear a helmet when I'm just walking the street normal. Because like what if I fall? But I would look too dorky. Everyone would go ha ha when I'm riding my bike. I mean, one of the few scenarios where I can get to that dorkiness level without anyone going ha ha. So like I'm going to take that opportunity every time.
[00:43:16] You have to wear it just because like all your complaints about society are being driven by people. Right. You understand? Yeah. Yes. I don't buy that. Well, maybe I do buy that it seeds something.
[00:43:37] But the thing is, just like this is the country where if like someone sees a biker do something weird once for the rest of their life, they'll be like, oh, I get to kill them. Because I saw one like not appreciate a stop sign the right way, which I now am going to take the maximal impact to my worldview from this. And just like I have to go scorched earth on this category of person. And whenever they die, I have to be like, well, they probably deserved it. Yes.
[00:44:07] It's insane, Joe, that like a biker running a red light to like 99% of Americans. That is like legitimately worse than the Holocaust. Like, yeah, if you kill, if you, if a driver ran and killed that biker, it would be like they ruined that driver's day.
[00:44:30] But if you see an occurrence that happens daily, which is a car runs a red light, it's like that guy's late. Like I just was late or he just really he wanted it more. Does it say no turn on red? Well, it's still going to happen. Yeah. If you are sitting at the red, no turn on red and you got your blinker on to go right. Right.
[00:44:57] Uh, everyone behind you is going to get out their guns. There is nothing that makes me feel like I'm alone on this planet. I have never made another connection with a human being. I will die alone because it's experienced alone is when I am like just letting a pedestrian cross and someone behind me is like losing their mind because I have not turned them into blood paste.
[00:45:21] Like there, there is just, it's just such a hopelessness better, worse than any climate chart because it's just like, this is by my house. And it's just like, all they have to do is like lift their head a little and they're above me because they're in a huge SUV. Yes. So I'm amazed they can't see it. You know, really, it offers the most indignity to the, to the pathetic pedestrian.
[00:45:44] This experience, which is when you are waiting at a crosswalk and somebody actually stops at the stop sign. Unreal. This is so rare. And they look at you and go, I'm letting you go. And you do what you have to do in this scenario, which is I'm going to check behind you to see if there are any Hitler monsters who are like, what are you doing?
[00:46:11] And June zings around at a hundred miles per hour and turns me to fucking paste. Look, there's a, there's a, like a middle of the street crosswalk by the park near me and everyone generally does stop. But like the difference between a single car is slowing to, Oh, a single car is slowing. And there's a bunch of cars behind it that I don't know. I'm there is different. It's different. They think most cars think like I'm just done. I'm just done driving. I'm parking here.
[00:46:41] They think that anytime someone stops at a stop sign for more than a nanosecond, it is that scenario. And then the thing that, as bad as that is, as bad as it is, as cucked as it is to have to do that, the worst thing is when the car that stopped initially starts being like, what's your fucking problem? Like moving along, asshole. Like you're not running. Yeah.
[00:47:07] I got to say having a stroller makes you like, like it gives you such a moral high ground. So if anyone does anything, you're just like, uh, you're going to hell, dude. Yeah. Yeah. Well, they don't care. They live in hell already. Uh, they're the devils. Wow. I'm going to get you.
[00:47:22] Um, I just, it's just so funny that there are people who very sincerely believe that if I were to say, I love wearing my bike helmet and I think you should wear one too. They're like fucking up the cause. You're actually a bike trader. Yep. Uh, what can I say? Here's something that I can say. This is our fourth bullet point and it's insane how these have all been 15 minutes and we've had four.
[00:47:52] This is such a smart way to do a podcast. Uh, Joe, we recently had the great Branson Reese voice, a, uh, character on our great sketch in our last episode. Swan boy was good when we had him on as a guest years ago. So it is. Okay. So he climbed the wall. He saw the connector and he climbed the wall. It. Yeah.
[00:48:22] He learned about hockey. He got a stand. Um, if you are not reading swan boy now, I really, really must insist that you go back at least to the Italian cinema arc and then read everything up to now because it is a level up of unfathomable proportions. How good this shit is.
[00:48:51] I think the, the accomplishment in my eyes is like, yes, there are tons of dumb characters, but like swan boy feels like the lab for like new ways to be dumb. Um, and I, I, I have, I have consumed many a media with the dumb character, but I, I am reacting every day as if I'm like seeing Homer Simpson for the first time.
[00:49:19] Uh, and I mean that in the highest praise I, I, the, the dumb guy thing that like, uh, I just told Tom about before we started recording that was captured very well. And it's always very funny. And the Coen brothers do this all the time, uh, which is in the, in the, I guess yesterday's swan boy, uh, he's babysitting and it's like not going well. He has it.
[00:49:43] He has the child never speaks, which is the one of the funniest bits. He's a gamer fish child with pajama pants. Swan boy just gets it into his head that the kid definitely thinks that his mom and swan boy's friend, Noel, who are on a date together, that they're, they've been taken hostage. There's no evidence that this is the case, but it's like, we got to go save them from the hostage situation. So that's where that's, that's our lead up to this scene.
[00:50:12] So, uh, they are crawling around in like an unrelated warehouse, right? Like for no reason outside the restaurant that the date is, they did go to the right restaurant. You're right. You're right. Sorry. So they're crawling outside the restaurant, uh, and, uh, a security guard turtle, uh, get swan boy. And it's just like, like, what, what, you're like yelling about drugs. Like what are, what are, what is going on?
[00:50:38] And like, they have like a nice like talk and they're both like, yeah, we're both like hard looking, almost 40 year olds. I love that, that they, that friendly fire. The friendly fire line is very good. Uh, uh, uh, but the, the amazing, the, the idiotic dumb guy thing that I love is that the, the, the fish boy, who has not done anything at this point, uh, takes out the turtle security guard with the steel chair.
[00:51:05] Uh, and swan boy's reaction is, Oh, thank God. It's like, he was right. I was yelling about drugs. Like when the, when the dumb guy just reflects properly on his behavior, it is one of the like, holy shit. He had a good point. A dumb guy is confronted with you really did something wrong. And he's like, no, I definitely didn't.
[00:51:29] And then like later, once that accusers out of the picture, they go, no, they were so right though. Oh, now I can finally admit it. This is crucially. It's like, but you can tell like they're admitting it in an act of self love. Yeah. Like they're growing. I love that Branson went there. We were all, and I say we and hit him and all of his target audience is in their mid thirties.
[00:51:57] But swan boy has this sort of like, I'm the great guy. I'm basically doing jackass in real life with my life. I love my punk music. This is very early twenties behavior. The way that he has like no regard for his physical health and safety. And it's like, I drink and smoke and I don't even know what I'm doing. It's like, this is early twenties. Or he has like a story about how he was kidnapped before. And like, yeah, he's just like, oh yeah, I remember when that happened. Yes.
[00:52:25] That he is like, hey, I'm 36. And when he gets called 40, it's just like, oh, yes. I just eat candy and don't sleep. Right. So I, the Italian cinema arc is so far in the past now, but I really want, I, this was the one, cause I've been checking in on swan boy throughout and it's like, oh, Branson, that's a good joke. Ha ha ha. I think this is where, I don't know if it's where he began, but I think it was a turning
[00:52:53] point in like having long arcs that like go weird places. Like there are so many. Yeah, when he's like, we're doing one piece. It's pretty much. Like there are so many. He almost had him have, uh, the, the Italian, uh, booby director have a devil fruit, but he, uh, he decided not to go that far. Uh, he does, he does say you have never seen a ma fun a form.
[00:53:22] Uh, but, but that, that is like, there are so many arcs where like swan boy and like the main three don't appear. Uh, and this is one of them. They're just like, yes. Yes. And I think that's why it makes hit a swan boy hit like a truck is when he shows up again, it's just like, oh yeah, he's fucking dumb. Anyway, continue. Give, give, give the, the play by play for like, this is why it should get its hooks into you. This is why it's not so cute. So Rona is one of the main three.
[00:53:51] She's a hairless cat. And her thing is that she's really nervous and, uh, catastrophizes, uh, to an insane degree, uh, what her signature line. And I'm going to half remember it when she explains something that she's afraid of that might happen in a scenario. And swan boy is like, that's not, but that doesn't really happen. And she just like, you think that matters? Do you think reality is a salt circle that keeps the devils away? Um, so it's like, hold on.
[00:54:21] It's true. Sure. Um, anyway, she just notices that her dad and her Italian immigrant dad, uh, is in an old giallo Italian booby horror. And she's like, dad, were you in this booby horror? And he's like, ah, finally, it's someone who knows I'm a secret. And then it just goes back into the past where he is like a 20 year old Italiano boy in the countryside who gets discovered by a director who makes 50 movies a year.
[00:54:51] And like, he is the star in the booby horror. And he's like, ah, Senora Tomato. Bruno, the director's called Bruno Tomato. Oh my God. Senora Tomato. You mistreated me, the ladies. And it's like, he reveals that like he grows the ladies in vats and has powers. That's why he says, you don't even know. I'm a fan of form.
[00:55:15] And it's just like, you, at this point, you're like, this used to be a gag a day strip. It's so, the level of improvement is off the chain. Yeah. I just, you know what it makes me think of? It makes me think of the fight between the Hunter X Hunter Association guy, the old man, and the big bad bug at the end. Because you never see this guy fight. And then when you finally do, it's because he like summons this huge angel mecha that slaps.
[00:55:45] And it's just like, every day he's angel mecha slapping now. Yeah. Yes. And like in Wonder X Hunter, you know, he does that. And like he dies afterwards. In this case, he wins. He wins. He absolutely destroys that buggy dude. Branson is on one. I really, how do I put this in a way people aren't going to yell at me about? I can't.
[00:56:09] There was a long arc about Noel, the annoying, pedantic chameleon. He's a Niles kind of. Yeah. But Niles actually was smart and cultured. And Noel is like kind of not. He's a millennial Niles. Uh-huh. And that, it is as disgusting as it sounds. He was on a date with a thick panda babe that was a background character.
[00:56:38] And everyone was just like tagging Branson being like, hello, sir. I just would like you to know that I have fucking busted my biggest nut. I love the thick panda. So this is why I'm glad I can't draw, actually. Because like at a certain point, it becomes like, hello, sir. I, your talent makes me nut. Will you please finish me? And I can't, I can't have the responsibility. I can't. I don't understand how he answers it. Anyway, he's on the date.
[00:57:07] And he's like always on the verge of fumbling. And everyone, every day was like, Noel, I hate you. I want to kill Noel. Stay away from her. Get a job. You know that Demi Lovato screenshot meme. Yeah, is this guy bothering you? Everyone hates him so much. Folks, there's like no character in fiction I relate to more than Noel. I am Noel 100%. I am exactly that fucking chameleon. And if you're like, Tom, no, no, no.
[00:57:34] I may, I refer you to 262 episodes of Anime Sickos podcast where I speak in the exact manner Noel would speak all the time without exception. That's true. Which guy am I? You're kind of like, you're more of a swan boy, but you are a swan boy. Part of his, his way of being is that he is that cartoon character. Like I can't be harmed thing. I can only be humiliated for a brief moment. But he, he, he's touched.
[00:58:03] So he can't, the humiliation even washes off of him. So you can't be that because the physical toll sticks to you way too hard. The other stuff though, unfortunately maps kind of nice. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Maybe a little like there's some Rona with the anxiety. I'm like a mixture. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, I also noted that there is a famous panel he did where they talk about the
[00:58:31] three main characters, Venn diagrams of bands they like. The only band all three of them like is Chavez, which is hilarious. Um, but I, I, I fucking started my side show. Did that dude describe Destroyer? Buddy, can you guess? The Noel podcast? Can you guess whose circle Destroyer was in?
[00:58:58] It was actually in the Noel Rona overlap, but still, but still. The other, there are two other aspects of Swan Boy, like an execution that I really respect. One, whenever there's like exterior environments, I like how it looks where it's like clearly a reference shot that is like real, but then it gets Swan Boy-ified, you know? Yeah. I love that. Like how, uh, like how Ineo Asano used to do before. I think, unfortunately, he's become an AI guy for that.
[00:59:28] So, uh, he gets killed. Don't quote me on that. I might be making that up. Yeah. Uh, I think the most recent example of that is, uh, Swan Boy and the Fish Boy, Sebastian, in the car on the way to the caper. Uh, that's depicted that way. And the other thing that I really like, uh, and the truth is, I don't think I would like tolerate it from other comics necessarily, but it's just like the move to just have a character read a bunch of words on a fucking piece of paper.
[00:59:58] Yes. Uh, it's, it's very like, it's not, it's never a flow breaker because it's always deranged. Like, it's always just, it's, it's a shotgun blast of craziness, but like, like in terms of execution, someone could be like, this is a little clunky. And it's like, shut the fuck up. This is perfect. It's like, no, here's the funnel for jokes.
[01:00:18] There was, so long ago when we did, uh, the episode about Guy Sword, senior operations manager, that was our pitch for a manga. Uh, so what was going to happen originally is that Zach Gorman, he reached out to me and says, I want to try doing this sort of gag thing. This little, this is a lark project. Like, could you like pitch me, like, could you like get me a script for like a manga or something? I'm like, hell yeah, brother.
[01:00:46] Um, turns out, and I don't know why either of us thought it would ever be other than this. When it got time to do it, he was like, oh, wait a minute. I have like a job and like a family. I don't have time to do this. And so it never happened. But I did write a script for, uh, like the first issue, the first chapter of a Guy Sword manga.
[01:01:09] And if you've ever listened to anything I've written, and if you have, if you haven't, you can listen to, uh, The Tragical History of Modesty City and Sicko Shock 2. You know that one of the things I tend to do, and I love to do, is to just go on and on and on. More words, more text. It's always easier to do more. I'm a big believer in the concept of, I'm sorry I wrote you such a long letter. I didn't have time to write a shorter one. Uh, more, more, more, more, more. And when you're writing a comic, you are so fucking constrained.
[01:01:38] Because you can only have like ten words in a panel. There's just no, there's no wiggle room. This is just how words in a fucking comic work. They take up room. It must have felt great the first time he did it. It was like figuring out irrigation. Yes. Just like, oh, uh, problem solved. The amount of times at the end of a arc is, we just cut to the newspaper reporting on what happened. Yes.
[01:02:07] And it's like most people would just have the headline. He writes out like 3,000 words. It's great. Yeah. Yeah. It's got, like I, this sounds stupid, not stupid to say, but like I, it doesn't seem like a distinction, but Swan Boy is some of the best pros in comics. Yes. Uh, God.
[01:02:32] I need to look up the thing that Swan Boy said when he was describing how to drive to the fish gamer boy. He is explaining to the child that he does not know how in his mother's car, the child's mother, not Swan Boy's mother's, in the child's mother's car, how to turn the turn signal on. But he says, it's no big deal. We can probably one lane it most of the way and then swerve a little and we need to change lanes. So the other cars give us some room.
[01:03:02] And here's the, here is the jewel of pros. Remember, if room you be needing swerves, you ain't beaten. Dude, it's, uh, I know he's not real, but I feel like he's real. I mean, he is real because he's inside of all of us. He's inside of all of us. Oh, God. It's so funny.
[01:03:26] I, I, we gotta get Branson to go guesto mode again, just so he can like, we should just watch him draw Swan Boy and we're just like, neat. That's so funny. Is this visual too bad? You know, what is the thing that I can't, I like, I can, I can get myself to construct a logical justification for it, but my brain just rejects it when I try to like install the firmware.
[01:03:56] And I, this came up because did that dude describe Destroyer has the best podcast art ever done by Brandon. Yeah, it's good. It's very good. It's very good. I just look at it and I've seen it so many times. I look at it just like raw and I start laughing out loud. Um, and Brandon, he posted on blue sky at draw, Brandon draw a time lapse of him drawing that art.
[01:04:26] And every time I see a time lapse of people drawing this, what I'm about to say happens. And every time I see it happen, I'm just like, I don't understand. So you see the time lapse of things getting added. There's little edits, there's additions, little tweaks, little additions, erase this, add this. And then like 75% of the way through. They erase all of it. And start over.
[01:04:56] And I'm just like, huh? Huh? What? Are you describing a practice sketch or no? Like this is an honest effort. I don't know. I mean, cause it looked, I'm looking at the fucking, the fucking time lapse of Brandon shit. And it looks like it's so close. It's nearly there. Then he just erases it all and start does it again. I'll kill you. If I see someone sketching in a sketchbook and like, it's not for real, I'm still like, oh my God.
[01:05:24] I, I mean, it's sort of the, the labor of my life to get Tom McHenry to admit that he's a great artist, like a, like a world talent. Uh, he never will. That's part of why he's writing is so good. But yeah, you got, no, you have to make him sadder, dude. But like, he'll be like, look at these shitty drawings I made in my crappy sketchbook. And it's just like, this is the funniest duck I've ever seen in my life.
[01:05:53] All of the duck barbarian stuff. The duck, dude. Yeah. The duck barbarian. The duck barbarian is, is, is a good feeling that I also experienced a little bit with just like when a cartoonist is like just holding your hand and just like, let's go for a little treat. Uh, that's what the duck barbarian is. And it's also how I felt on a smaller scale, uh, for the Swanboy joke. When, uh, Swanboy gets to, uh, the fish kid's house and the fish kid has never said anything,
[01:06:20] but it revealed that he's only been searching YouTube videos for like, I need to kill Yoshi. I hate Yoshi. Yes. The, the, no, the, the search term is meanest videos. Yes. And it's, it's the feeling of like, I kind of know what's going to happen, but someone still pulls me into another unrelated room and I am in love. It's so good. It's so good. Oh my God. Uh, you gotta be reading the Swanboy.
[01:06:50] Uh, I love to gas up this fucking comic because this is that he talked about destroyer in one of the comics. Did I, did I mention that? That dude literally described destroyer in the Venn diagram issue. Uh, did you actually, here's another thing. Did you look up the song that the, that the fish boy wants to listen to in the car? Uh, no, I didn't because it was going to bother me.
[01:07:19] It was going to cause me to engage in intergenerational warfare, which is inherently reactionary, which I reject on premise. Yes. It's, it is, it is fair to think that. And also it is cringe to be, I mean, it's, I'm calling to mind the TikTok. Like the Gen X or who's like, what's that? Gen Z is trying to cancel Eminem. Okay. And then does like a rap. The sexy one? What? No, no, no.
[01:07:48] Fuck off. Not, not, I will not. Yes. And this joke, I'm shutting it down. Anyway. Okay. Okay. So that is why you are right to, uh, resist this. But the scenario is they're in the car. Swanboy puts on green day because of the age he is. And he's like, oh, by the way, you can put on something else if you don't want to listen to green day. I bet kids these days have all types of great pop punk. They like now. He puts on the song. I looked it up.
[01:08:16] It's by a band named AJR called. Edge you Jackson. Rehad. Fuck off. Called the world's smallest violin, which is. Just the worst shit I've ever heard in my life. And, uh, the, if this is really what these Gen Z kids are listening to, this is like learning that they play Roblox instead of Mario and don't know how to jump over a pit.
[01:08:45] And when they fall in the pit, they're just like, I don't get this game. It's impossible. And give up. Uh, that same sort of like, oh, this is like culture is broken in a way that is like really a problem. Turns out culture wasn't just so that we could have funny things to see. It was the way that like worthwhile people were cultivated. Correct. Yes. Exactly. Being cultivated by.
[01:09:13] You will be a worm forever, but not good, not funny version. Like the kid who said law abiding worm. I like that kid. He did a wheelie. He was so cool. Uh, yeah, I, uh, it's funny to do that with pop punk, I guess in general. Uh, one thing I like, one thing I do like though, about that comic strip is that, uh, they have the last panel playing the awful music because the fish kid has changed it over,
[01:09:43] but you never actually see the fish kid move. The fish kid's movement is never depicted. It's so fucking funny. He's always had the same facial expression, has never spoken and has never moved. Uh, just the most upsetting personage that could ever be, uh, really, really high quality stuff. Speaking of really high quality stuff. Is that an episode of anime sicko? Yeah. I got to pick up my kid. Yeah.
[01:10:13] You got to tell him about green day in the car. Does he know? He doesn't know about green day. He stole a dinosaur skeleton, like a little one, not like a full one, uh, from school yesterday. He had that smuggled in his pocket. So, uh, I got to make sure I check his pockets when I pick them up this time to make sure he is not taking more shit. Oh, I was going to say, make sure he's stealing. Consistent. Every day, come back with more stuff and we'll start our own daycare. Son, I don't have a job. You need to do.
[01:10:43] I need little dinosaur skeleton figurines. I'm going to trade these for food. I have been Tom and anime sicko. I've been Joe and anime sicko. See you next time. Bye bye. Next time we're going to do the topic that we were going to get to after the fucking around portion. But whatever. Which is like a complaining about society thing, right? Yeah. I mean, isn't that all of them? Not this one. I think kind of. Society is when the manga is bad. Yeah. Okay. All right. Bye bye.
[01:11:39] Bye bye. Bye bye. Bye bye. Bye bye.