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The comedy4cast network. Let's dog ear that for now.

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This is comedy4cast, episode 806. Lately, not so stately.

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It's time once again for the Dog Days of Podcasting, a call for podcasters to

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try to put out a podcast every day in August.

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For more information and to hear all the shows, go to dogdaysofpodcasting.com.

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Here at the comedy4cast studios, we've been working on a new format for this year's Dog Days.

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Sure, like in years past, there will be an actual odd news story, but that's not all.

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So, let's get started with Odd News Plus.

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Here are our odd news stories for Wednesday, August 14th, 2024.

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First up, it's time for another gardening tip straight out of the middle-aged farmer's almanac.

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Pests feeding on your plantings can ruin your garden. The almanac suggests that

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instead of using expensive and potentially harmful insecticides,

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simply apply a thin coat of car wax to all surfaces of the plant.

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Bugs will slide right off.

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Is this almanac getting its ideas off of TikTok?

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Now let's get to our actual for real odd news story. Forget about saving Gotham

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City from the Joker Batman.

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You need to call a plumber. If you've ever seen the 2005 movie Batman Begins,

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then you may recall having seen Bruce Wayne at his stately Wayne Manor.

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The fictitious house bizarrely built directly over a cave.

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And while the location is real, it's not Wayne Manor.

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It's Mentmore Towers, located in Buckinghamshire, England.

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And before you ask, there is no cave below it.

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Or is that what Batman wants us to believe? Mentmore has been featured in several

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films, including Eyes Wide Shut, The Mummy Returns, Brazil, and more.

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But if you want to get someone's attention, just drop the Bat's name.

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The mansion and surrounding property sits on 494 acres of land.

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It was built between 1852 and 1854 for the Rothschilds family.

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The sprawling home features a revival

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of late 16th and early 17th century Elizabethan and Jacobean styles.

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Mentmore Towers was originally created as a display case for Baron Mayor de

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Rothschild's huge fine arts collection.

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A display case? I don't think Rothschilds knew what those were.

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Because anyone out there with a collection of action figures or bowling trophies

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could have hooked him up with a supplier who would have probably given him a volume discount.

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Mentmore was designed by Sir Joseph Paxton, best known for designing the Crystal

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Palace, and it was one of the earliest homes to have the home comforts of a

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built-in hot water and central heating system.

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Better still, there's a library that has secret rooms behind bookcases.

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Now, if you could open them by using a button hidden inside a statue of Shakespeare,

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that would be perfect.

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Following the baron's death, the house was inherited by his daughter,

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Hannah Primrose, Countess of Roseberry, and so on down the line.

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In 1999, the property was purchased by billionaire property developer Simon Halabi.

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Halabi had intentions to convert the manor house into a 170-suite, five-star hotel.

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With a bat cave. I mean, a pool. I'm sure there would have been a pool. But we'll never know.

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Halabi's property empire took a huge hit during the 2008 housing market collapse,

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and plans for Mentmore vanished like a bat in the night.

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For the past few decades, Mentmore Towers has sat abandoned,

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succumbing to the elements.

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Ceilings are collapsing. Mold and dust are taking their toll,

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and the only visitors these days are urban explorers.

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Alfred has really been lax in his duties.

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Officials have inspected the mansion in hopes of restoring the building to its former glory.

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A spokesperson for Historic England said, We are working closely with the owners

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and Bucks County to ensure a positive future for Mentmore Towers and Parkland.

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Unfortunately, that was in May of 2022.

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So someone fire up the Bat Signal. Or better yet, fire up Alfre's old Rolodex

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and get someone out here to fix the front door.

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And finally, hidden fees. Hotels, airlines, concerts, and online retailers advertise

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one price and then tack on hidden fees that can equal or exceed the price of the goods or services.

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Recently, CEOs of some of the major offenders were testifying on Capitol Hill,

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and Congress has just received a bill for their appearance.

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It includes a charge for responding to specific questions, labeled Personalization Fee,

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a charge for not allowing them to testify over Zoom, labeled Change of Venue

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Fee, And in regards to repeated demands by committee members that the companies

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change their practices,

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a Client Change Request Fee.

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That about wraps it up for today's Odd News Plus.

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A big thanks to the comedy4cast patrons for helping make this show possible.

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Story, voices, and original music by Clinton Alvord. Copyright 2024 All rights

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reserved Talk to you next time But for now, that's it We're done,

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done, done, done, done Bye-bye.

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Music.