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

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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 comedy4castStudios, we always take this month to provide you

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with some interesting, yet totally useless, odd news.

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And this year, to celebrate 20 years of comedy4cast,

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an event we're calling the Platinum Anniversary of comedy4cast,

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or PAC for short, we'll end each Dog Day episode with part of a classic comedy4cast episode.

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

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Recently, an archaeology technician from Potlotec First Nation,

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a community of Mi'kmaq Native Americans, came across a glass bottle on a beach.

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The glass was hazy, the result of its outer surface constantly rubbing against sand and rock.

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Inside was a message from what appeared to be days of yore. Pretty intriguing.

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The discovery was announced by the Sable Island National Park Reserve.

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Sable Island is a small island off the waters of Nova Scotia.

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Officials said the message was very faded. Uh-oh.

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Had time taken its toll on this missive from the past, leaving us to forever

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wonder what the author was trying to communicate? Aww.

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Fortunately, no. Hooray! The researchers were eventually able to make out,

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among other things, the date on the note. They were also able to identify the

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ancient currency also included in the bottle.

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Here are the shocking details of this ancient mystery.

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The bottle was good old Gordon's London Dry Gin.

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Not only was the red lettering on the yellow cap still quite visible,

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so were the raised letters on the bottle itself.

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As further evidence, when the bottle was opened, And Parks Canada representative

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Jennifer Nicholson said, you could still smell the gin.

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Gordon's advertising? Get on this for your next promotional display.

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Now, about the currency. It was unfamiliar to some of the researchers, but not all. Why?

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Because it was a Canadian $2 bill from 1974.

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The Bank of Canada replaced the $2 bill with the $2 coin, or toonie, in 1996.

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The young researchers had simply never seen a two-dollar bill because it had

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been discontinued the same year people were dancing to the Macarena.

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Are you feeling old now?

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The message had been dropped into the ocean on January 14th, 1983.

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Or, to put it another way, at the same time Maneater by Hall and Oates was topping the charts.

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And the faded nature of the note, that was mostly due to the ink being affected

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by gin still remaining in the bottle.

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The dated note also included the names of some of the crew members of the ship

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the bottle had been tossed from, and after some research, the ship itself was

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identified as the Wimpey Sea Hunter.

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That's not a commentary on the quality of the boat or its crew.

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That was literally the name of the ship, Wimpey Sea Hunter.

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It was a British resupply ship built in 1982, and it didn't suffer any disastrous

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fate during its time in service.

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This was no note from castaways or sailors adrift in a lifeboat.

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It appears to have simply been a note scribbled after the bottle was mostly

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empty and tossed off the Wimpey Sea Hunter.

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Officials haven't been able to track down any of the crew members listed on

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the note, who may now be in their 60s and 70s, but say they'd love to hear from them.

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Are you sure about that? Because I think those sailors might say, Right.

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You got our note. You knew the name of our ship. You were supposed to use the

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money to buy us another bottle of gin.

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And now, let's celebrate 20 years of comedy forecast with this classic clip.

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This clip is from the episode released on October 17th, 2005.

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Here, I'm trying to emulate the style of a 1950s newsreel narrator,

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describing a look at the world of tomorrow, the way the 1950s sensibilities would have imagined it.

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As we join the episode, we've already seen how Mother spends her day interacting

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with time-saving devices.

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Yeah, pretty much all centered around housework.

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Maybe Father and the kids will fare better. Let's find out. Talk about convenience.

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Meanwhile, in another part of the secret laboratory at 436 River Road,

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scientists are researching ways to make Father's workday easier,

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starting from the moment he steps into the family car in the morning.

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His flying car, that is. When this humble reporter asked our slide-rule-wielding

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friends how it works, they mumbled something about the drag coefficient and lift.

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But when I asked them to simplify the technical mumbo-jumbo,

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they said it worked via the miracle of flight-o-matic atomic dust.

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Now that's a name with Zing!

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Look how Father's car can glide through the air with the greatest of ease thanks

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to the miracle of fllight-o-matic atomic dust and land on a dime right outside the

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office. Nice job, Father!

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Oh, and look! Here comes Father's office buddy, Ted.

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Ted chose to get to work on board the new flying Bus-O-Rama. That's all the rage.

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In the future... No time to chat, you two. It's off to work.

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Yes, even in the future, people need to be productive members of society. But,

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thanks to advances in vacuum tube design, the workday will soon be a mere four hours long.

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That means less time to talk about the big game around the water cooler,

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but father is thrilled because it means more time for golf, tinkering with the

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family flying car, and meeting the boys for a few drinks down at the new revolving Bowl-a-drome.

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Even little Sally and young Bobby will benefit from the top secret work being

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conducted by the scientists pictured here.

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Gone will be the hours of tedious reading and memorizing we've all come to endure.

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Using sophisticated x-ray machines like this one, which is no bigger than the

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average living room, teachers will be able to take entire books,

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multiplication tables, and even world maps, and permanently emboss them directly

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on the brains of our young geniuses.

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Now little Sally and young Bobby will always know that there are 48 states,

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and they can instantly recite to you the amazing uses of asbestos.

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Talk about a smart idea! But all this talk of work and school might have you

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wondering if there's any time for fun in the future. You bet there is. And how?

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Here we see Mother, Father, Little Sally, and Young Bobby entering the new Cinema-a-Rama Dome.

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Yes, even your local motion picture theater will be better than ever in the future.

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That's because each seat will be fitted with one of these, its own hot butter dispenser. Oops.

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Looks like Little Bobby needs a few extra napkins. Now, sit back and enjoy the

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double feature. Oh, wait. This is the future.

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Enjoy your triple feature, Mr. and Mrs. Moviegoing Public.

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As we can see, thanks to the hard work of Dr. Alan Malansky, Dr.

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Wayne Dansk, and all the other scientists at this secret laboratory,

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which can be reached by calling Klondike 5-3127, the future looks bright indeed.

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This is Lloyd Williams reporting.

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

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But first, a shout-out to the comedy4cast Patreon patrons,

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including our producer-level patron, Paul Barrie, from the A Window to the Magic

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podcast at windowtothemagic.com.

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You too can support comedy4castand

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get episodes before everyone else for as little as $2 a month.

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Just search for comedy4castd, all one word with the number 4, on patreon.com.

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Story, voices, and original music by me, Clinton Alvord. Copyright 2025.

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All rights reserved.

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

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done, done, done, done. Bye-bye.