The comedy4cast Network. Let's dog ear that for now.
Well, hi. Clinton here. Welcome to the Dog Days of Pumpkin Spice Season.
Yes, August got away from me because life. So this is my unofficial extension of Dog Days.
For more information on that, go to dogdaysofpodcasting.com.
I always use Dog Days to give you 31 episodes full of some interesting,
yet totally useless, odd news.
And this year, to celebrate the Platinum Anniversary of comedy4cast,
or PAC for short, I'll end each Dog Days episode with part of a classic comedy4cast
episode. So, let's get started with...
Odd News PAC!
You've probably seen a movie or a cartoon where someone is trekking through
the desert. Their canteen empty, often the result of a hole made by a stray bullet.
There are vultures circling overhead. And they hear the sound of rattlesnakes
or maracas every time they look up at the sun.
By the way, why do they always look up at the sun? Are they wondering why it's so hot and bright?
Because those are pretty much the things the sun is known for.
Anyway, hungry, thirsty, and tired, the traveler suddenly stops and rubs their
eyes. Are they seeing what they're seeing?
They are on the horizon, a tropical oasis.
It's an aesthetically pleasing mix of lush vegetation, plus a right-sized pond of water.
The wanderer rushes towards the sanctuary.
It's only after they've tried to drink or dive into the water that they discover it's all just a mirage.
An optical illusion caused by the bending or refracting of light.
Or in this case, special effects and set design.
Now, picture yourself in a similar situation, walking through an African desert.
It's then that you spot a pink refrigerator with a matching metal table and two chairs.
You rub your eyes, assuming the image will disappear. Nope, still there.
Cautiously approaching, you decide to try to grasp the refrigerator door handle. It feels real.
You swing the door open and discover there are refreshing drinks inside. Yes.
Have you gone over the edge? No, no, no. You've just discovered the refrigerator
that was installed by the Namibian government's tourist board.
It's located about a 20-minute drive from the main north-south road that runs
through the Namib desert.
The pink refrigerator is powered by solar energy and was designed to be an actual
oasis in the desert for weary travelers.
The fridge is restocked several times a day with various drinks such as bottled water and iced tea.
And it's all free of charge. At least for now. Because the Barbie pink fridge
has become a popular spot for Instagramming and can often be empty by the end
of the day. So you decide to relax.
Even snap a selfie to share with the world. Then you sit down to take in the view.
When you remember that the sun heats up everything in the desert,
including metal chairs! Woo-hoo-hoo!
And now, let's celebrate 20 years of comedy4cast with this classic clip.
In June of 2006, I gave you, the listener, a glimpse into how I go about visiting a theme park.
My family swears this isn't a sketch, it's a documentary. Here's a clip.
Okay, team, we need to review our performance out there today. Oh, dear.
Let's start off with the rope drop when the park opened. You were a little slow
off the mark there, kiddo.
Sorry, Dad, I think I fell asleep. Well, you should have hit the hay a bit earlier
last night. We discussed getting to the park before the official opening time, now didn't we?
Yeah, but I didn't know you meant four hours ahead of time.
Sometimes Disney changes their mind at the last minute and the park opens early.
Early? The nighttime cleaning crew asked us to move aside so that they could
get into the park. Now, now, no need to dwell on this subject.
Let's move on. Once we got to the hub, there seemed to be some confusion.
Bonnie, you started to head off towards Fantasyland. What was up with that?
I couldn't read some of your handwriting on the touring plan.
All I could make out was mountain.
So I headed off toward the mountain. We were going to Space Mountain.
You were headed toward the Matterhorn. But that looks more like a mountain than
Space Mountain. Space Mountain looks like a spaceship.
Are you questioning the logic of the Imagineers?
No. Good. It still looks like a spaceship.
And what was the holdup in Frontierland? I wanted to take a few pictures.
People with photography skills far greater than ours have spent thousands of
dollars to take millions of pictures of Disneyland.
When we get home, we'll do a Google search and grab some. But we're not in those pictures!
That's what Photoshop is for.
Right now, we need to stick to the touring plan. Uh, Dad, can we eat soon?
All I had to do was a churro. Well, I had lunch on the plan, but someone forgot
to call ahead for the 1118 reservation at the Blue Bayou restaurant.
That was on your to-do list. No, it wasn't. Yes, it was.
You told me the items on the list with a Mickey head beside them were yours.
Right. And the ones with the Minnie head were yours.
And see, there's a Minnie head right beside Blue Bayou. See the red bow? That's not a bow.
It's pasta sauce. You spilled some when you were reworking the plan for the
hundredth time at dinner last night.
I'll eat it. I'm so hungry.
Well, wasn't it worth it? I didn't hear anyone complain when I got those great
spots for the fireworks.
Of course you didn't hear it. You had us hold the spot while you went off to
ride Buzz Lightyear 15 times.
Oh, are we jealous? I finally beat your high score.
Almost. Look, it's been a long day.
I've been spun, splashed, spooked, spieled, and shuttled.
I've had a giant boulder roll at me, the Death Star shoot at me,
300 audio-animatronic children sing at me, and now our son is eating a touring plan.
Can we please go to dinner? All right, all right.
But first, I think we need to review tomorrow's touring plan. Oh, no!
That about wraps it up for today's Odd News Pack.
But first, a shout-out to the comedy4cast Patreon patrons,
including our producer-level patrons, Paul Barry from the A Window to the Magic
podcast and Kirby Bartlett-Sloan from the 20-megabyte Doctor Who podcast.
You, too, can support comedy4cast and get episodes before everyone else
for as little as $2 a month.
Just search for comedy4cast, all one word with the number 4, on Patreon.com.
Lending their voices in this episode were Bonnie Kanderdean and Nathan Alvord.
Additional voices, script, and original music by me, Clinton Alvord. Copyright 2025.
All rights reserved. Talk to you again next time. But for now,
that's it. We're done, done, done, done, done. Bye-bye.