1 00:00:13,698 --> 00:00:15,775 Welcome everyone to 2 guys to the dark 2 00:00:15,775 --> 00:00:18,177 tower came. A podcast where we discuss the 3 00:00:18,177 --> 00:00:21,060 characters and connections in the ever expanding universe 4 00:00:21,274 --> 00:00:23,656 that revolves around Stephen King's dark tower. 5 00:00:24,450 --> 00:00:25,324 I'm Jay Russo. 6 00:00:26,213 --> 00:00:27,246 And I'm Sean Mc. 7 00:00:27,802 --> 00:00:29,710 You can email us at 2 guys dark 8 00:00:29,710 --> 00:00:32,333 tower at g dot com. To support the 9 00:00:32,333 --> 00:00:35,170 show, visit us at patreon dot com slash 10 00:00:35,289 --> 00:00:36,409 to guys Dark tower. 11 00:00:37,689 --> 00:00:38,969 In this bonus episode, 12 00:00:39,609 --> 00:00:40,890 we'll cover a night surf, 13 00:00:42,089 --> 00:00:43,129 found in night shift. 14 00:00:44,419 --> 00:00:45,374 Let's start the show. 15 00:00:46,965 --> 00:00:49,215 A super flu having wiped out most of 16 00:00:49,431 --> 00:00:51,658 civilization, a group of young adults await the 17 00:00:51,658 --> 00:00:52,949 end of the world on a beach in 18 00:00:53,030 --> 00:00:53,590 New Hampshire. 19 00:00:54,309 --> 00:00:56,949 They passed the time drinking beer, making out, 20 00:00:57,670 --> 00:00:58,789 listening to the radio, 21 00:00:59,269 --> 00:01:00,729 and half joking 22 00:01:01,203 --> 00:01:03,430 sacrificing a man to the dark gods by 23 00:01:03,430 --> 00:01:04,305 burning them on a pie, 24 00:01:04,942 --> 00:01:06,851 but the flu has infected 1 of them 25 00:01:06,851 --> 00:01:07,089 already. 26 00:01:10,293 --> 00:01:10,852 Pretty dark. 27 00:01:11,889 --> 00:01:13,564 Yeah. It's a very dark story, Jay. 28 00:01:16,607 --> 00:01:18,197 It turns out that this isn't the happy 29 00:01:18,197 --> 00:01:19,787 go lucky king that we're so used to. 30 00:01:20,503 --> 00:01:20,741 Yeah. 31 00:01:21,934 --> 00:01:23,627 So Jay, this story 32 00:01:24,081 --> 00:01:24,899 night surf 33 00:01:25,527 --> 00:01:28,388 was first published in the 19 69 issue 34 00:01:28,388 --> 00:01:29,739 of Uber magazine, 35 00:01:30,693 --> 00:01:32,521 you'll recall that that is the magazine that 36 00:01:32,521 --> 00:01:34,291 first published a dark band poem. I think 37 00:01:34,291 --> 00:01:35,828 that we talked about in our last bonus 38 00:01:35,967 --> 00:01:37,004 episode. Yeah. 39 00:01:38,121 --> 00:01:40,890 It was then revised heavily for later versions 40 00:01:41,089 --> 00:01:43,082 The first of which was collected in Cavalier 41 00:01:43,082 --> 00:01:44,517 magazine in 19 74, 42 00:01:44,995 --> 00:01:47,387 that was a men's magazine that published a 43 00:01:47,387 --> 00:01:49,221 lot of king short stories back in the 44 00:01:49,221 --> 00:01:51,566 day. And then collected in his first 45 00:01:52,180 --> 00:01:53,134 collection of short stories, 46 00:01:53,691 --> 00:01:56,475 night shift in 19 78. So that won't 47 00:01:56,475 --> 00:01:58,280 be confusing at all that we have a 48 00:01:58,716 --> 00:02:01,097 Short story called Might surf in a book 49 00:02:01,097 --> 00:02:01,891 called night shift. 50 00:02:03,002 --> 00:02:03,240 Nope. 51 00:02:04,114 --> 00:02:06,812 There have been multiple short films of this 52 00:02:06,812 --> 00:02:09,540 release at least 8 dollar babies that I 53 00:02:09,540 --> 00:02:11,935 was able to see on the dollar baby 54 00:02:11,935 --> 00:02:13,452 tracker. We've talked about that that... 55 00:02:14,250 --> 00:02:16,486 That's the dollar baby program that he's put. 56 00:02:16,645 --> 00:02:18,496 And Somehow there's a few of these on 57 00:02:18,816 --> 00:02:19,055 Youtube, 58 00:02:19,774 --> 00:02:22,249 which is not part of the dollar baby 59 00:02:22,249 --> 00:02:23,526 agreement. So I don't know if those are 60 00:02:23,526 --> 00:02:25,282 official dollar babies or other people have taken, 61 00:02:25,442 --> 00:02:27,688 but you could see a couple different episodes 62 00:02:27,688 --> 00:02:30,234 on Youtube of night shift. 1 thing that 63 00:02:30,313 --> 00:02:32,541 I found interesting that there's 1 director who 64 00:02:32,541 --> 00:02:33,438 has a fairly 65 00:02:33,988 --> 00:02:35,206 highly regarded 66 00:02:35,583 --> 00:02:38,453 version of Night surf, that goes around to 67 00:02:38,453 --> 00:02:39,171 film festivals, 68 00:02:39,569 --> 00:02:41,642 and he since become a fairly well known 69 00:02:41,642 --> 00:02:42,142 director 70 00:02:42,693 --> 00:02:45,642 of hallmark movies and Sci f movies. So 71 00:02:45,642 --> 00:02:47,019 he's had a a fairly 72 00:02:47,874 --> 00:02:50,185 standard career making movies on a regular basis. 73 00:02:50,359 --> 00:02:51,633 So you could look him up Think his 74 00:02:51,633 --> 00:02:52,589 name was Peter Sullivan. 75 00:02:53,624 --> 00:02:54,500 No. Okay. 76 00:02:55,297 --> 00:02:57,925 Hallmark movies in. This story are quite a 77 00:02:57,925 --> 00:02:58,881 ways away from each other. 78 00:02:59,771 --> 00:03:01,520 Well, I I was thinking that this should 79 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:03,269 be on a a greeting card of some 80 00:03:03,269 --> 00:03:03,427 kind. 81 00:03:04,302 --> 00:03:07,028 Sorry you're dead. Happy end of the world 82 00:03:07,259 --> 00:03:08,771 I don't really like you that much, but 83 00:03:08,771 --> 00:03:10,443 we're here together. Mh. 84 00:03:11,159 --> 00:03:12,672 I also found in doing a little bit 85 00:03:12,672 --> 00:03:14,742 of research on this, jade that there is 86 00:03:14,742 --> 00:03:15,242 a 87 00:03:15,794 --> 00:03:18,914 instrumental sound garden song called Night surf, and 88 00:03:18,914 --> 00:03:21,155 there was a short video that was played 89 00:03:21,155 --> 00:03:22,594 before a lot of their concerts in the 90 00:03:22,594 --> 00:03:23,235 early nineties. 91 00:03:23,808 --> 00:03:26,508 I don't think it's related, but maybe if 92 00:03:26,508 --> 00:03:27,938 you're a sound art fan, you can let 93 00:03:27,938 --> 00:03:28,256 us know. 94 00:03:28,970 --> 00:03:30,797 And there is currently a pump group, and 95 00:03:30,797 --> 00:03:32,942 they are definitely named after this story. 96 00:03:34,308 --> 00:03:36,536 They're based out of Brooklyn and, in an 97 00:03:36,536 --> 00:03:38,763 article I read about them, they cited 98 00:03:39,161 --> 00:03:40,036 the story as a... 99 00:03:40,688 --> 00:03:42,923 Influence on their name. I gotta wonder about 100 00:03:42,923 --> 00:03:46,276 that. Like, of all the king stories or 101 00:03:46,276 --> 00:03:48,271 titles to choose from to name your band 102 00:03:48,271 --> 00:03:48,510 after? 103 00:03:49,163 --> 00:03:51,228 Why this 1? Was it something that did 104 00:03:51,228 --> 00:03:53,134 they just really like this story? Does it... 105 00:03:53,293 --> 00:03:54,667 Did it speak to their 106 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:57,677 perspective on the universe? I don't know. A 107 00:03:57,677 --> 00:03:59,978 weird way to go. Like, everyone's dead, let's 108 00:03:59,978 --> 00:04:02,834 go to the beach. Like on another hallmark 109 00:04:02,834 --> 00:04:04,818 card. There you go. There you go. 110 00:04:06,818 --> 00:04:08,646 And and that's really the publication history of 111 00:04:08,646 --> 00:04:09,122 the story, 112 00:04:09,838 --> 00:04:10,076 it's... 113 00:04:10,712 --> 00:04:12,381 As we'll talk about it a little bit 114 00:04:12,381 --> 00:04:15,338 somewhat related to the stand potentially, and which 115 00:04:15,338 --> 00:04:16,534 is 1 of the reasons that we chose 116 00:04:16,534 --> 00:04:18,927 it for this bonus episode, but we'll get 117 00:04:18,927 --> 00:04:20,783 into into that in a little bit. But 118 00:04:20,921 --> 00:04:22,357 there you go. It's only 9 pages. So 119 00:04:22,357 --> 00:04:23,553 it's a quick read if you have not 120 00:04:23,553 --> 00:04:25,482 read it yet, I would suggest pausing this 121 00:04:25,482 --> 00:04:26,995 for 10 minutes. Go read the story and 122 00:04:27,075 --> 00:04:27,473 I come back. 123 00:04:28,190 --> 00:04:30,261 Yeah. It really won't take it that long, 124 00:04:30,819 --> 00:04:32,571 and it'll be worth your time. 1 of 125 00:04:32,571 --> 00:04:34,187 the things I wanted to talk about 126 00:04:34,577 --> 00:04:36,086 It's a section of my notes that I 127 00:04:36,245 --> 00:04:37,755 I titled not if you were the last 128 00:04:37,755 --> 00:04:41,194 person on earth. And this group of teenagers 129 00:04:41,329 --> 00:04:44,131 that were hanging out with there are potentially 130 00:04:44,131 --> 00:04:45,567 the last people on Earth. 1 of them 131 00:04:45,567 --> 00:04:47,960 even asked that question. Like, maybe where the 132 00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:50,527 last one's left. Yep. And I try to 133 00:04:50,527 --> 00:04:52,679 put myself in this situation. We've been reading 134 00:04:52,679 --> 00:04:54,910 the stand and discussing it for a while 135 00:04:54,910 --> 00:04:56,743 now, so this kind of thing has been 136 00:04:56,743 --> 00:04:57,381 on my mind. 137 00:04:58,592 --> 00:05:00,666 How would I react in this situation? I 138 00:05:00,666 --> 00:05:03,138 kept finding that I wouldn't do or at 139 00:05:03,138 --> 00:05:05,371 least I think I wouldn't do the same 140 00:05:05,371 --> 00:05:07,205 things that these characters are doing. 141 00:05:08,015 --> 00:05:09,785 Maybe I'm missing the point. Maybe 142 00:05:10,237 --> 00:05:12,776 this is supposed to be a bleak story 143 00:05:12,776 --> 00:05:14,997 about just counting the days to the end. 144 00:05:15,394 --> 00:05:18,050 So There isn't anything to do. Except 145 00:05:18,818 --> 00:05:21,989 try to enjoy the time that you have, 146 00:05:23,020 --> 00:05:23,520 but 147 00:05:23,909 --> 00:05:25,428 All of the characters we meet are very 148 00:05:25,428 --> 00:05:25,928 un. 149 00:05:26,467 --> 00:05:27,526 They're all jerks 150 00:05:27,985 --> 00:05:29,044 just putting it 151 00:05:29,503 --> 00:05:32,221 plainly. Jerk 1 does something not nice to 152 00:05:32,221 --> 00:05:34,070 jerk number 2 when the jerk number 2 153 00:05:34,070 --> 00:05:36,059 does something not nice back to jerk number 154 00:05:36,059 --> 00:05:37,889 1 and the only reason why these people 155 00:05:37,889 --> 00:05:40,060 are together is because of happens, 156 00:05:40,515 --> 00:05:41,965 jerk They don't like each other. They don't 157 00:05:41,965 --> 00:05:44,436 they barely even tolerate each other. And it 158 00:05:44,436 --> 00:05:45,813 feels like they're sq, 159 00:05:46,907 --> 00:05:48,262 what could be their final days. 160 00:05:49,313 --> 00:05:51,460 By hanging out with people that they despise, 161 00:05:52,017 --> 00:05:52,517 just 162 00:05:53,051 --> 00:05:54,880 because they happen to be alive. 163 00:05:55,516 --> 00:05:58,076 Right. They kept bothering me, Like, I don't 164 00:05:58,076 --> 00:05:59,826 even like spending time with these people for 165 00:05:59,826 --> 00:06:02,394 the 12 pages of this story. I couldn't 166 00:06:02,769 --> 00:06:04,281 imagine living with them. 167 00:06:05,173 --> 00:06:06,690 Everybody's dead. Let's go to the beach. So 168 00:06:06,690 --> 00:06:06,849 like, 169 00:06:07,648 --> 00:06:09,643 you guys go on without me Is my 170 00:06:09,643 --> 00:06:10,761 my response to that. 171 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:13,076 Yeah. It's a very dark and it's not 172 00:06:13,076 --> 00:06:15,167 just that they're jerks to 1 another, you 173 00:06:15,167 --> 00:06:17,322 know, like, you're getting fat, you're mean to 174 00:06:17,322 --> 00:06:19,876 me, you're making me cry, but it's also, 175 00:06:20,036 --> 00:06:21,951 hey, look, there's a dude. Let's kill them. 176 00:06:22,271 --> 00:06:25,082 So Beyond just being jerk also murdered a 177 00:06:25,082 --> 00:06:27,080 guy, I think at 1.1 of the character 178 00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:28,598 said maybe it was best for him because 179 00:06:28,598 --> 00:06:30,676 he had... He was sick and delusional and 180 00:06:30,676 --> 00:06:32,035 had the flu and was gonna die anyways. 181 00:06:32,289 --> 00:06:33,721 So maybe we do what's right. But that 182 00:06:33,721 --> 00:06:34,516 seemed a little bit of, 183 00:06:35,232 --> 00:06:38,016 Monday morning quarterback backing after the after the 184 00:06:38,016 --> 00:06:40,899 fact in that case. So I spent remarkably 185 00:06:40,899 --> 00:06:44,008 little time pondering the... I don't know, implications 186 00:06:44,008 --> 00:06:47,278 of burning a person alive who was dying 187 00:06:47,278 --> 00:06:47,915 of the flu. 188 00:06:48,884 --> 00:06:50,790 I know what this flu does. It's... It... 189 00:06:50,949 --> 00:06:53,252 There is no... It is a certain, you 190 00:06:53,252 --> 00:06:55,872 know, outcome. Right. And it sounded like he 191 00:06:55,872 --> 00:06:57,405 was on the final 192 00:06:57,953 --> 00:07:00,107 breath of his life. So it's kind of 193 00:07:00,107 --> 00:07:02,659 like, if somebody falls off of a tall 194 00:07:02,659 --> 00:07:05,132 building and you shoot them in the head 195 00:07:05,132 --> 00:07:06,966 before they hit the ground. Have you committed 196 00:07:06,966 --> 00:07:07,466 murder 197 00:07:08,018 --> 00:07:10,649 Right? Yeah. It's kind of like that sort 198 00:07:10,649 --> 00:07:11,207 of debate? 199 00:07:12,084 --> 00:07:13,918 Maybe you have because you killed somebody, 200 00:07:14,397 --> 00:07:17,281 but then 3 seconds later they, crash into 201 00:07:17,281 --> 00:07:20,144 the ground. Right. Their fate was sealed no 202 00:07:20,144 --> 00:07:20,940 matter what happens. 203 00:07:21,815 --> 00:07:23,508 I am thinking more about the 204 00:07:23,819 --> 00:07:25,915 the behavior between the the living 205 00:07:26,452 --> 00:07:27,431 mostly healthy 206 00:07:27,889 --> 00:07:30,362 characters in the story. Yeah. And I didn't 207 00:07:30,362 --> 00:07:31,240 like any of them. 208 00:07:31,893 --> 00:07:34,203 I'm not rooting for them. III don't hope 209 00:07:34,203 --> 00:07:36,615 that they somehow get through this and 210 00:07:36,991 --> 00:07:39,938 become the the people who survive this apocalypse. 211 00:07:40,336 --> 00:07:40,495 Right. 212 00:07:41,149 --> 00:07:42,508 And I'm not sure if King wants us 213 00:07:42,508 --> 00:07:45,864 too, like, yeah. They're not particularly likable characters. 214 00:07:46,424 --> 00:07:48,581 They don't have the skills or the know 215 00:07:48,581 --> 00:07:50,360 how to know what to do. So 216 00:07:50,832 --> 00:07:53,696 Yeah. What they do is drink beer, even 217 00:07:53,696 --> 00:07:55,207 warm beer. The 1 guy like, hey, I 218 00:07:55,207 --> 00:07:56,559 don't even mind warm beer, which is like, 219 00:07:58,086 --> 00:08:00,553 whatever. Yeah. But, like, the... This is very 220 00:08:00,553 --> 00:08:01,986 much the world going out with a Whim, 221 00:08:02,225 --> 00:08:05,112 not a bank. Right? Yeah. It's not the 222 00:08:05,581 --> 00:08:07,805 quick deadly flu of of the stand. It's 223 00:08:07,805 --> 00:08:08,543 not a 224 00:08:08,916 --> 00:08:11,401 a nuclear bomb going off. It's not a 225 00:08:11,696 --> 00:08:12,196 biological 226 00:08:12,569 --> 00:08:14,419 disaster. It is literally just 227 00:08:14,889 --> 00:08:16,906 5 or 6 kids sitting on a beach 228 00:08:16,964 --> 00:08:19,120 waiting for the end to happen and whether 229 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:21,595 that's gonna be today tomorrow or 3 or 230 00:08:21,595 --> 00:08:23,271 4 months down the line, none of them 231 00:08:23,271 --> 00:08:25,360 are able to think it's gonna be much 232 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:26,795 beyond that. I don't say this as a 233 00:08:26,795 --> 00:08:29,347 criticism of the story because I actually appreciate 234 00:08:29,347 --> 00:08:31,978 it quite a bit. But, like, these characters 235 00:08:31,978 --> 00:08:32,876 seem to be 236 00:08:33,189 --> 00:08:34,867 they are in the place where they already 237 00:08:34,867 --> 00:08:37,823 were. Yeah. This story doesn't have any sense 238 00:08:37,823 --> 00:08:40,540 of space or scope or travel. 239 00:08:41,115 --> 00:08:42,574 The man that they burn 240 00:08:42,875 --> 00:08:44,875 alive was from another town he was from 241 00:08:44,954 --> 00:08:46,714 New York and they... They're out a beach 242 00:08:46,714 --> 00:08:47,195 in Maine. 243 00:08:47,995 --> 00:08:49,914 So that's the only thing that gives us 244 00:08:49,914 --> 00:08:50,654 a wider 245 00:08:51,049 --> 00:08:53,846 sense of what is happening outside of the 246 00:08:53,846 --> 00:08:54,645 scope of the story. 247 00:08:55,284 --> 00:08:56,962 But these are just people who are from 248 00:08:56,962 --> 00:08:58,900 the town where they happen to be 249 00:08:59,371 --> 00:09:01,120 and they just happened to be alive because 250 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:03,288 they haven't gotten sick yet. And 251 00:09:04,139 --> 00:09:05,966 I feel like the story could have been 252 00:09:05,966 --> 00:09:07,579 a bit more grand if 253 00:09:07,889 --> 00:09:10,850 these were people trying to survive. And they 254 00:09:10,850 --> 00:09:12,529 were on the go trying to get to 255 00:09:12,529 --> 00:09:14,129 a place of safety or try to find 256 00:09:14,129 --> 00:09:16,784 more people or trying to gather supplies, 257 00:09:17,424 --> 00:09:19,904 prepare for the coming winter that is going 258 00:09:19,904 --> 00:09:21,985 to be a deadly 1 in maine if 259 00:09:21,985 --> 00:09:24,478 you're not prepared. Yep. But they're not. They're 260 00:09:24,478 --> 00:09:25,994 not. No. And 1 of the reasons I 261 00:09:25,994 --> 00:09:27,052 think that they 262 00:09:27,828 --> 00:09:31,258 aren't, and we see this in other post 263 00:09:31,258 --> 00:09:33,512 apocalyptic stories is that generally 264 00:09:34,224 --> 00:09:34,724 the 265 00:09:35,341 --> 00:09:37,816 people have some sense of community. And so 266 00:09:37,816 --> 00:09:39,653 that's what we see in the stand. Right? 267 00:09:39,892 --> 00:09:42,207 Where even the bad guys have a sense 268 00:09:42,207 --> 00:09:44,377 of community. They're drawn some place. And they're... 269 00:09:44,776 --> 00:09:47,327 They believe in something even if for the 270 00:09:47,327 --> 00:09:49,639 guys in Las Vegas versus boulder, what they 271 00:09:49,639 --> 00:09:52,682 believe in is is potentially evil and and 272 00:09:52,682 --> 00:09:54,668 mimi me me and and not that larger 273 00:09:54,668 --> 00:09:56,336 sense, But it is a sense of community 274 00:09:56,336 --> 00:09:58,482 and there's something to rally behind. And like 275 00:09:58,482 --> 00:10:00,548 you said, because these characters are just sort 276 00:10:00,548 --> 00:10:02,630 of Hey. We found you on the street 277 00:10:02,630 --> 00:10:03,130 and, 278 00:10:03,585 --> 00:10:05,414 you wanna hang with us. Okay. Like, we 279 00:10:05,414 --> 00:10:07,403 just need somebody else. And it's this... 280 00:10:08,294 --> 00:10:10,691 Tension between the fact that humans are social 281 00:10:10,691 --> 00:10:12,289 animals and they want to be together, 282 00:10:12,928 --> 00:10:14,366 but also, generally, 283 00:10:15,005 --> 00:10:17,096 when we're together in groups. It's because we 284 00:10:17,096 --> 00:10:19,491 have something that binds us. Mh. There are 285 00:10:19,491 --> 00:10:21,807 no binds here. There's nothing. And so that's 286 00:10:21,807 --> 00:10:24,361 why these characters can connect like jerks themselves 287 00:10:24,361 --> 00:10:26,531 to each other because they're not building a 288 00:10:26,531 --> 00:10:29,083 community, and they don't have any ties that, 289 00:10:29,402 --> 00:10:30,301 hey, you're my 290 00:10:30,758 --> 00:10:32,352 cousin or a brother or we went to 291 00:10:32,352 --> 00:10:34,266 school together or we have these same interests. 292 00:10:34,426 --> 00:10:36,193 It's just no we're all just waiting for 293 00:10:36,193 --> 00:10:36,512 the end. 294 00:10:37,308 --> 00:10:39,379 It strikes me as maybe a wrong note, 295 00:10:39,538 --> 00:10:42,405 though. Human behavior that I observed throughout my 296 00:10:42,405 --> 00:10:45,630 life has shown that groups of strangers can 297 00:10:45,848 --> 00:10:49,678 form bonds and even become friends in days. 298 00:10:50,715 --> 00:10:53,787 If they're sharing a bunch of common experiences, 299 00:10:54,486 --> 00:10:56,723 whether it's a few days at a summer 300 00:10:56,723 --> 00:10:57,623 camp or 301 00:10:58,082 --> 00:11:00,334 the same people you see on your for 302 00:11:00,334 --> 00:11:02,971 a weekend vacation or something like that. 303 00:11:04,090 --> 00:11:06,408 I know those aren't the same circumstances where 304 00:11:06,408 --> 00:11:07,847 everybody else in the world has died from 305 00:11:07,847 --> 00:11:10,898 a disease, but... Right. I would think that 306 00:11:10,898 --> 00:11:13,875 if these people are all sharing the same 307 00:11:14,094 --> 00:11:15,292 good things and bad things, 308 00:11:16,011 --> 00:11:16,890 they're all still alive, 309 00:11:17,780 --> 00:11:19,926 and they have each other to count on 310 00:11:19,926 --> 00:11:21,118 that they would be getting to know each 311 00:11:21,118 --> 00:11:23,741 other and they would be becoming more than 312 00:11:23,741 --> 00:11:25,989 the sum of their parts rather than just 313 00:11:26,378 --> 00:11:29,711 a loose ama of idiots and assholes, 314 00:11:30,504 --> 00:11:32,806 you know, that... That's all it is. But 315 00:11:32,806 --> 00:11:34,576 maybe that's also a coping mechanism. 316 00:11:34,964 --> 00:11:36,632 That they realized that if they did get 317 00:11:36,632 --> 00:11:38,142 close to each other, the chances are 1 318 00:11:38,142 --> 00:11:39,255 of them is going to die in the 319 00:11:39,255 --> 00:11:42,195 near future, and that's gonna be worse that 320 00:11:42,195 --> 00:11:44,357 that whereas if you keep somebody at a 321 00:11:44,357 --> 00:11:47,142 distance. Yeah. And then they die, well, no 322 00:11:47,142 --> 00:11:49,264 big deal, and they've seen 323 00:11:49,703 --> 00:11:52,199 hundreds or thousands of people die already. So 324 00:11:52,657 --> 00:11:54,333 I'm not gonna make any sort of connection 325 00:11:54,333 --> 00:11:55,312 that's going to 326 00:11:55,929 --> 00:11:58,577 mentally hurt psychic hurt me. You know, it's 327 00:11:58,577 --> 00:12:00,330 just gonna be o... Yeah. I hung out 328 00:12:00,330 --> 00:12:01,924 with that person and I'm sort of knew 329 00:12:01,924 --> 00:12:03,279 them, but I didn't know him close enough 330 00:12:03,279 --> 00:12:03,996 that it affects me. 331 00:12:04,713 --> 00:12:06,642 That's a fair point. And I think that 332 00:12:06,642 --> 00:12:08,637 the main perspective we have in the story 333 00:12:08,637 --> 00:12:11,909 is is through the narrator eyes, and he 334 00:12:11,909 --> 00:12:14,157 seems to be particularly adept at at. Yeah. 335 00:12:14,474 --> 00:12:16,852 Distance that that mental distance. Like, I am 336 00:12:16,852 --> 00:12:18,833 not going to attach myself to any of 337 00:12:18,833 --> 00:12:21,702 these people or even my own situation. I'm 338 00:12:21,702 --> 00:12:24,008 just going to sort of pretend it's not 339 00:12:24,008 --> 00:12:26,472 really happening. I'll just take a step away 340 00:12:26,472 --> 00:12:28,539 here and say that it's great that king 341 00:12:28,539 --> 00:12:30,765 it has this fertile imagination to imagine what. 342 00:12:30,939 --> 00:12:32,774 Would be like. Mh. The end of the 343 00:12:32,774 --> 00:12:34,768 world, like, this is not a situation that 344 00:12:34,768 --> 00:12:36,124 any of us have ever been in and 345 00:12:36,124 --> 00:12:38,516 yet, I think he's able to nail what 346 00:12:38,516 --> 00:12:40,431 a certain type of character might be like 347 00:12:40,431 --> 00:12:41,403 in that. Situation. 348 00:12:42,201 --> 00:12:45,633 Yeah. Which is pretty unique because they often 349 00:12:45,633 --> 00:12:47,069 say it right about what you know and 350 00:12:47,069 --> 00:12:48,960 nobody knows the end of the world, so 351 00:12:49,158 --> 00:12:50,510 good job by king there. 352 00:12:51,226 --> 00:12:52,975 That's a good segue in our next topic 353 00:12:53,055 --> 00:12:55,600 J, which is that King is somebody who 354 00:12:55,600 --> 00:12:56,872 has written about the end of the world 355 00:12:56,872 --> 00:12:59,827 on, more than 1 occasion. Mh. And that 356 00:12:59,827 --> 00:13:01,973 is... The stand is obviously 1 of his 357 00:13:01,973 --> 00:13:03,721 most beloved and well known works. 358 00:13:04,356 --> 00:13:05,810 And this story 359 00:13:06,279 --> 00:13:07,633 Is it a pre equal to the stand? 360 00:13:07,792 --> 00:13:09,385 Is it related to the stand, but there 361 00:13:09,385 --> 00:13:10,819 are a lot of commonalities and 1 of 362 00:13:10,819 --> 00:13:12,094 the reasons that we're reading it and 1 363 00:13:12,094 --> 00:13:13,528 of the reasons that people point to the 364 00:13:13,528 --> 00:13:15,121 story is because of the... 365 00:13:15,774 --> 00:13:17,528 The same subject matter as the stand, So 366 00:13:17,528 --> 00:13:18,963 let's get into that a little bit. I 367 00:13:18,963 --> 00:13:20,340 kinda wanted to challenge 368 00:13:20,797 --> 00:13:23,428 ourselves with that question of, you know, is 369 00:13:23,428 --> 00:13:24,327 this really 370 00:13:24,719 --> 00:13:27,424 in any way connected to the stand. I 371 00:13:27,424 --> 00:13:29,653 think there are some commonalities as you mentioned, 372 00:13:29,971 --> 00:13:31,722 but there are a lot of differences too 373 00:13:31,722 --> 00:13:34,375 and in the 12 page span of this 374 00:13:34,375 --> 00:13:36,475 story, a story that King wrote 375 00:13:36,774 --> 00:13:38,615 many years before he wrote the stand. 376 00:13:39,335 --> 00:13:42,724 Clearly, the story existed for a long time 377 00:13:43,177 --> 00:13:44,846 for at least a bunch of years before 378 00:13:44,846 --> 00:13:45,482 the standard, 379 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:47,549 so it didn't need the stand to exist. 380 00:13:48,185 --> 00:13:50,902 It could easily be interpreted as a a 381 00:13:50,902 --> 00:13:53,605 first pass at an idea that king had, 382 00:13:54,082 --> 00:13:56,149 so that he expanded on with the standard, 383 00:13:56,626 --> 00:13:58,136 took it in a slightly different direction. 384 00:13:59,026 --> 00:14:00,879 But, like, 1 of the commonalities 385 00:14:01,414 --> 00:14:03,722 between them that's the closest to the surface 386 00:14:03,722 --> 00:14:04,222 is 387 00:14:04,756 --> 00:14:06,905 the nickname for the disease is kept in 388 00:14:06,905 --> 00:14:07,701 trips. Yep. 389 00:14:08,352 --> 00:14:10,659 So in 19 60 9II 390 00:14:10,659 --> 00:14:12,886 assume this was in the first version of 391 00:14:12,886 --> 00:14:13,364 the story, 392 00:14:13,921 --> 00:14:14,159 king. 393 00:14:15,287 --> 00:14:17,847 Has captain trips as the nickname for the 394 00:14:18,298 --> 00:14:19,828 the flu and 395 00:14:20,437 --> 00:14:22,125 characters in the stand call 396 00:14:22,433 --> 00:14:24,345 the disease captain trips too. 397 00:14:25,141 --> 00:14:27,131 So that could be, like, open and shut 398 00:14:27,131 --> 00:14:28,326 case. Right? Right. 399 00:14:29,042 --> 00:14:30,338 The defense arrests 400 00:14:30,888 --> 00:14:32,477 I will point out that I I did 401 00:14:32,477 --> 00:14:34,543 read somewhere that I don't think Captain Trips 402 00:14:34,543 --> 00:14:36,292 was in the very first version of this 403 00:14:36,292 --> 00:14:37,563 book or the story. 404 00:14:39,170 --> 00:14:41,003 The Uber version did not have that. So 405 00:14:41,003 --> 00:14:42,756 that was something he added later. I'd be 406 00:14:42,756 --> 00:14:43,872 interested to know if it was in the 407 00:14:43,872 --> 00:14:44,509 74, 408 00:14:45,067 --> 00:14:45,306 1. 409 00:14:45,959 --> 00:14:46,916 Versus the 78. 410 00:14:47,315 --> 00:14:48,831 78 was also the same year that the 411 00:14:48,831 --> 00:14:50,268 stand came out when this was collected a 412 00:14:50,268 --> 00:14:52,980 night shift. But the fact that King changed 413 00:14:52,980 --> 00:14:55,539 it obviously, made it in his mind that 414 00:14:55,539 --> 00:14:57,207 he wanted to keep that nickname the same. 415 00:14:58,002 --> 00:15:00,941 Yeah. So whether it was there already or 416 00:15:00,941 --> 00:15:03,106 was a re con. King, the author is 417 00:15:03,106 --> 00:15:04,940 bringing the stories in alignment. 418 00:15:05,818 --> 00:15:07,753 At least from a nickname perspective from an 419 00:15:08,131 --> 00:15:10,444 perspective. In both cases, the disease is a 420 00:15:10,444 --> 00:15:11,855 deadly flu of some sort 421 00:15:12,294 --> 00:15:14,291 Mh. We're told in this story that it's 422 00:15:14,291 --> 00:15:17,007 called a 6, which I don't think it's 423 00:15:17,007 --> 00:15:18,386 what it's referenced in 424 00:15:18,765 --> 00:15:20,940 this stand. It's not a 6, but there 425 00:15:20,940 --> 00:15:23,019 is a code number to it that the 426 00:15:23,019 --> 00:15:25,500 military has, like... But it... It's like a 427 00:15:25,500 --> 00:15:28,386 9 or something like that. And something blue 428 00:15:28,386 --> 00:15:29,974 too isn't it? Or is that the the 429 00:15:29,974 --> 00:15:31,799 the secret project? But, yes. But it is 430 00:15:31,799 --> 00:15:34,022 a deadly flu in the same way that 431 00:15:34,022 --> 00:15:35,690 the the the flu in the stand is 432 00:15:35,690 --> 00:15:36,087 as well? 433 00:15:36,660 --> 00:15:37,639 1 of the differences 434 00:15:38,179 --> 00:15:40,519 is that in this story, there are 2 435 00:15:40,740 --> 00:15:44,200 types of flu. There's like a less deadly 436 00:15:44,500 --> 00:15:47,573 version and then, like, this newer, more deadly 437 00:15:47,633 --> 00:15:49,711 version, but the... It seems like they both 438 00:15:49,711 --> 00:15:52,028 kill most people. Yes. So I think the 439 00:15:52,028 --> 00:15:54,186 first one's a 2, and it's also called 440 00:15:54,186 --> 00:15:56,594 the Hong Kong Flu Well, that's a real 441 00:15:56,594 --> 00:15:58,821 thing. Yeah. But they also call it a 442 00:15:58,821 --> 00:16:00,332 2 as well. So I don't know it's 443 00:16:00,332 --> 00:16:01,923 a version of the Hong Kong flu or 444 00:16:01,923 --> 00:16:02,615 what, But 445 00:16:03,132 --> 00:16:04,564 I think Bernie at the end of the 446 00:16:04,564 --> 00:16:07,030 story says that, you know, A 6 came 447 00:16:07,030 --> 00:16:08,860 came out of Southeast Asia, and that's where 448 00:16:08,860 --> 00:16:11,046 it originated. Which is unlike 449 00:16:11,819 --> 00:16:13,808 unlike the stand in that it didn't originate 450 00:16:13,808 --> 00:16:16,695 in Asia originated in base in California, 451 00:16:17,642 --> 00:16:20,187 In a military lab. Yes. And the flu 452 00:16:20,187 --> 00:16:22,494 does not seem quite as deadly as the 453 00:16:22,494 --> 00:16:24,980 1 in the stand. Mh. Well, let me 454 00:16:24,980 --> 00:16:26,500 take that back. It doesn't seem to work 455 00:16:26,500 --> 00:16:27,779 quite as quickly as the 1 in the 456 00:16:27,779 --> 00:16:28,100 stand 457 00:16:28,740 --> 00:16:31,059 Yes. Where it it seems like it spreads 458 00:16:31,059 --> 00:16:33,620 within minutes, and you can have symptoms like... 459 00:16:33,873 --> 00:16:36,180 Seconds after acquiring the the flu. We've we've 460 00:16:36,180 --> 00:16:38,328 seen people sort of sneeze and then a 461 00:16:38,328 --> 00:16:40,317 minute later, somebody else sneeze and coughs. And 462 00:16:40,317 --> 00:16:42,250 so there there seems to be a quicker 463 00:16:42,250 --> 00:16:43,850 spread in the fact that there's 5 or 464 00:16:43,850 --> 00:16:45,769 6 people who seem to be surviving months 465 00:16:45,769 --> 00:16:48,570 after the initial outbreak seems to suggest that 466 00:16:48,570 --> 00:16:49,210 maybe this isn't. 467 00:16:49,863 --> 00:16:52,096 Quite as quick or deadly as the 1 468 00:16:52,096 --> 00:16:54,250 in to stand. Right. And it doesn't seem 469 00:16:54,250 --> 00:16:55,388 to be that they are 470 00:16:55,925 --> 00:16:57,839 immune in any way that just seems that 471 00:16:57,839 --> 00:16:58,955 they just haven't gotten sick. 472 00:16:59,925 --> 00:17:03,185 Yet. Correct. They think that perhaps maybe since 473 00:17:03,185 --> 00:17:04,298 they had a 2, 474 00:17:05,092 --> 00:17:07,000 they can't get a 6. They might be 475 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:09,956 saying that just to humor themselves. Mh. And 476 00:17:09,956 --> 00:17:11,625 that... That's definitely the case you get by 477 00:17:11,625 --> 00:17:13,453 the end of the story. And I think 478 00:17:13,453 --> 00:17:16,805 that 1 important lens to look at... Or 479 00:17:16,805 --> 00:17:19,682 to compare those stand to Night surf is 480 00:17:20,133 --> 00:17:23,485 that Night surf is an apocalyptic story 481 00:17:24,272 --> 00:17:27,220 but the stand is a post apocalyptic story. 482 00:17:27,698 --> 00:17:30,566 Yes, we're there to see the apocalypse happen, 483 00:17:31,299 --> 00:17:31,799 But 484 00:17:32,338 --> 00:17:34,176 the bulk of the story, the the meat 485 00:17:34,176 --> 00:17:36,254 of the story, the characters that we spend 486 00:17:36,254 --> 00:17:39,450 our time with are survivors of the apocalypse 487 00:17:39,450 --> 00:17:40,090 in the stand. 488 00:17:40,983 --> 00:17:43,615 The characters in Night surf are people who 489 00:17:43,615 --> 00:17:46,885 are still alive, but they are still in 490 00:17:46,885 --> 00:17:49,996 a way participating in the ongoing apocalypse. 491 00:17:50,489 --> 00:17:52,882 The apocalypse hasn't finished happening yet in night 492 00:17:52,882 --> 00:17:56,232 serve. And we are given very strong or 493 00:17:56,232 --> 00:17:57,131 clues that 494 00:17:57,508 --> 00:17:59,901 every character in this story is going to 495 00:17:59,901 --> 00:18:01,586 die. From this plague. 496 00:18:02,778 --> 00:18:04,923 Whereas in the stand, we're starting to figure 497 00:18:04,923 --> 00:18:06,218 out that characters like 498 00:18:06,592 --> 00:18:10,581 stu are somehow immune from to the disease. 499 00:18:10,820 --> 00:18:14,399 And so therefore, stew will carry on after 500 00:18:14,399 --> 00:18:15,036 the apocalypse. 501 00:18:15,672 --> 00:18:16,125 And 502 00:18:16,723 --> 00:18:19,755 in genre fiction, post apocalyptic stories, 503 00:18:20,473 --> 00:18:23,265 while typically bleak and dark and gritty, 504 00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:27,200 they're also inherently positive stories because they are 505 00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:29,700 talking about survival. They're talking about 506 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:31,519 overcoming the apocalypse. 507 00:18:32,653 --> 00:18:35,203 So by their very nature, they have a 508 00:18:35,203 --> 00:18:36,239 positive twist. 509 00:18:37,115 --> 00:18:39,903 Whereas an apocalyptic story that night surface, 510 00:18:40,381 --> 00:18:41,917 there's nothing more than 511 00:18:42,545 --> 00:18:45,639 slowly marching to the end. Yeah. And that's 512 00:18:45,639 --> 00:18:47,384 so bleak and and dark. 513 00:18:48,177 --> 00:18:50,423 If these are the same disease. And if 514 00:18:50,423 --> 00:18:52,021 the 1 is an offs shoot of the 515 00:18:52,021 --> 00:18:53,619 other, and they they are linked, 516 00:18:54,898 --> 00:18:55,558 1 is 517 00:18:56,336 --> 00:18:58,506 very dark, and the other 1 is more 518 00:18:58,506 --> 00:19:00,513 positive or at least more 519 00:19:00,886 --> 00:19:03,663 more encouraging to, like some kind of survival 520 00:19:03,663 --> 00:19:05,567 we get to be with these characters in 521 00:19:05,567 --> 00:19:06,122 the stand, 522 00:19:06,775 --> 00:19:07,275 that 523 00:19:07,654 --> 00:19:09,575 survive the apocalypse, So we feel like we 524 00:19:09,575 --> 00:19:11,654 we're survivors too. When we're hanging out with 525 00:19:11,654 --> 00:19:12,775 these characters in night serve. 526 00:19:13,414 --> 00:19:15,988 We're just another loser on the beach waiting 527 00:19:15,988 --> 00:19:17,105 to die. Yep. 528 00:19:17,902 --> 00:19:20,156 This story, and I'm sure it... 529 00:19:20,533 --> 00:19:22,128 This was an influence on King 2. This 530 00:19:22,128 --> 00:19:24,361 story has a lord of the flies feel 531 00:19:24,361 --> 00:19:26,932 to it. Oh, yeah. A bunch of young 532 00:19:26,932 --> 00:19:27,432 people 533 00:19:28,130 --> 00:19:29,248 near a body of water, 534 00:19:29,887 --> 00:19:31,885 and society is broken down around them. 535 00:19:32,615 --> 00:19:34,439 Instead of a pig's head on a pike. 536 00:19:34,597 --> 00:19:36,976 It's a dude from a car that you 537 00:19:36,976 --> 00:19:38,880 get pulled out and burned on a on 538 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:39,752 a pie. Like, 539 00:19:40,799 --> 00:19:42,942 similar type of situation and it just that 540 00:19:42,942 --> 00:19:43,918 very bleak 541 00:19:44,370 --> 00:19:46,195 ness of it. And we know in this 542 00:19:46,195 --> 00:19:47,489 story that there is no 543 00:19:48,432 --> 00:19:50,573 English sailor who's gonna come and rescue them. 544 00:19:51,128 --> 00:19:53,349 They're they're done. They're they're never gonna be 545 00:19:53,349 --> 00:19:55,331 rescued that these people are gonna add. Mh. 546 00:19:55,824 --> 00:19:57,418 What's that great line that you picked out, 547 00:19:57,578 --> 00:20:00,368 Jay? The line is, the vision was clear 548 00:20:00,368 --> 00:20:02,760 enough to make me shutter. Nobody should think 549 00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:04,196 about winter in August. 550 00:20:04,849 --> 00:20:06,849 It's like a goose walking over your grave. 551 00:20:07,730 --> 00:20:08,690 I love that line, 552 00:20:09,250 --> 00:20:11,409 and it could even just stand apart, the 553 00:20:11,409 --> 00:20:13,409 the nobody should think about winter in August. 554 00:20:13,649 --> 00:20:13,809 Mh. 555 00:20:14,462 --> 00:20:16,609 It's just... It's like you're ruining the summer 556 00:20:16,609 --> 00:20:17,961 by thinking about the winter. 557 00:20:18,597 --> 00:20:20,506 There's no hope on the other side. Mh. 558 00:20:20,744 --> 00:20:22,812 Winter is the season of death, and he's 559 00:20:22,812 --> 00:20:25,213 already thinking about that. He's not thinking about 560 00:20:25,213 --> 00:20:27,520 spring. He's not thinking about renewal. He's not 561 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:30,542 being optimistic. He's thinking about the end. Yeah. 562 00:20:31,353 --> 00:20:32,705 Kinda reminds me a little bit of when 563 00:20:32,705 --> 00:20:34,932 we're talking about missus Todd shortcut, 564 00:20:35,489 --> 00:20:37,819 and we were talking about how winter 565 00:20:38,289 --> 00:20:40,049 is a season where everybody has to hun 566 00:20:40,049 --> 00:20:41,329 her down. Mh. 567 00:20:41,730 --> 00:20:43,970 Once you're in a place in winter, you 568 00:20:43,970 --> 00:20:45,650 don't tend to move. It's harder to move. 569 00:20:45,809 --> 00:20:47,269 Right. Because of the weather 570 00:20:47,664 --> 00:20:49,181 So if you're gonna make a move, you 571 00:20:49,181 --> 00:20:50,937 have to do it before winter starts. 572 00:20:51,576 --> 00:20:53,093 That means you gotta plan ahead, you have 573 00:20:53,093 --> 00:20:54,370 to know winter coming and you need to 574 00:20:54,370 --> 00:20:57,106 know what winters are gonna be like and 575 00:20:57,739 --> 00:21:00,316 these kids on the beach are not 576 00:21:00,775 --> 00:21:03,810 planning that far ahead, and our narrator Bernie 577 00:21:03,810 --> 00:21:04,505 is like 578 00:21:05,020 --> 00:21:06,846 Yeah. I don't even wanna think about winter. 579 00:21:07,085 --> 00:21:09,625 It's August, dude. Yep. I might not even 580 00:21:09,625 --> 00:21:11,689 be alive by the time winter rolls around. 581 00:21:11,848 --> 00:21:14,573 So... Why even think about it, or he 582 00:21:14,573 --> 00:21:16,429 could be taking the yellow cadillac 583 00:21:17,045 --> 00:21:17,545 that 584 00:21:17,923 --> 00:21:20,576 the sick guy showed up in and 585 00:21:21,033 --> 00:21:24,177 start driving south Yep. Find a place where 586 00:21:24,393 --> 00:21:25,983 there aren't a lot of other people around 587 00:21:25,983 --> 00:21:27,415 and maybe you can ride out the winner 588 00:21:27,415 --> 00:21:28,768 in a place where you're not gonna freeze 589 00:21:28,768 --> 00:21:30,296 to death. That's just me. 590 00:21:32,208 --> 00:21:34,598 1 more thing that kind of sets these 591 00:21:34,598 --> 00:21:35,098 stories 592 00:21:35,714 --> 00:21:36,591 apart from each other, 593 00:21:37,163 --> 00:21:38,540 is that Night surf 594 00:21:38,997 --> 00:21:40,432 because it pre the stand, 595 00:21:41,069 --> 00:21:43,323 I'd say that it's more fair to call 596 00:21:43,620 --> 00:21:44,816 an early inspiration, 597 00:21:45,708 --> 00:21:47,383 to the stand then a spin off. 598 00:21:48,180 --> 00:21:49,935 In some ways, this could be a more 599 00:21:49,935 --> 00:21:52,408 interesting story if King wrote it after he 600 00:21:52,408 --> 00:21:53,843 wrote the stand and he said, okay. Well, 601 00:21:54,003 --> 00:21:55,174 this is like this sort of 602 00:21:55,692 --> 00:21:58,796 side sideline episode, it doesn't have the main 603 00:21:58,796 --> 00:22:00,945 characters if you will. Right. It's like, if 604 00:22:00,945 --> 00:22:02,935 you wrote an episode of Star trek where 605 00:22:02,935 --> 00:22:05,734 it entirely takes place with, like characters that 606 00:22:05,734 --> 00:22:07,506 aren't in the the main cast 607 00:22:08,118 --> 00:22:10,105 kind of thing. Yeah. That could be really 608 00:22:10,105 --> 00:22:12,171 cool, but it's not what King did. He 609 00:22:12,171 --> 00:22:13,943 wrote it before he wrote to stand. So 610 00:22:14,494 --> 00:22:17,450 Because of that the order of creation, I'd 611 00:22:17,450 --> 00:22:20,086 say that it's... It feels more detached from 612 00:22:20,086 --> 00:22:21,365 the stand less of a piece. 613 00:22:22,019 --> 00:22:23,535 It's funny because we talk a lot about 614 00:22:23,535 --> 00:22:25,849 in the in the normal podcast about how 615 00:22:25,849 --> 00:22:26,349 often 616 00:22:27,206 --> 00:22:28,663 King mentions the Jfk 617 00:22:29,360 --> 00:22:30,513 assassination and how he 618 00:22:30,968 --> 00:22:33,595 drops hints about time travel and stopping it, 619 00:22:33,675 --> 00:22:35,108 and he finally got it out of his 620 00:22:35,108 --> 00:22:38,944 system in 11:22 63, and the difference there 621 00:22:38,944 --> 00:22:40,376 it seemed like it took 20 years. Right? 622 00:22:40,536 --> 00:22:42,207 Like, that he was talking about talking about 623 00:22:42,207 --> 00:22:43,958 talking about. Here is, he wrote a story. 624 00:22:44,594 --> 00:22:47,163 It got published for mainstream readers 625 00:22:47,634 --> 00:22:49,232 in a short story collection. The same year 626 00:22:49,232 --> 00:22:50,750 as the stan came out, so it very 627 00:22:50,750 --> 00:22:52,828 much is... Oh, I had this great idea 628 00:22:52,828 --> 00:22:54,266 and look, here's how it plays out in 629 00:22:54,266 --> 00:22:55,385 an 800 page novel. 630 00:22:55,959 --> 00:22:58,748 Yep. Whereas at 11:22 63, we had a 631 00:22:58,748 --> 00:22:59,784 we had to wait for a while to 632 00:22:59,784 --> 00:23:00,979 get there. Yeah. 633 00:23:02,892 --> 00:23:03,131 Overall, 634 00:23:03,943 --> 00:23:05,779 For me, at least, this doesn't seem like 635 00:23:05,779 --> 00:23:08,254 a a true pre quote to the stand. 636 00:23:08,493 --> 00:23:10,489 This is more of a... There are other 637 00:23:10,489 --> 00:23:12,085 worlds than these type of thing. 638 00:23:13,135 --> 00:23:14,884 Here's what a world would look like with 639 00:23:14,884 --> 00:23:16,633 a super flu in which we focused on 640 00:23:16,633 --> 00:23:18,700 these characters and maybe it's just a little 641 00:23:18,700 --> 00:23:21,005 slightly different, and so let's look at this 642 00:23:21,005 --> 00:23:23,479 story. So I I saw someone mention, like, 643 00:23:23,716 --> 00:23:25,856 this is another level of the tower perhaps, 644 00:23:26,727 --> 00:23:28,708 way of way of looking at it. Yeah. 645 00:23:29,919 --> 00:23:32,159 Yeah. I think view through that lens and 646 00:23:32,159 --> 00:23:34,319 it's a very forgiving lens with the dark 647 00:23:34,319 --> 00:23:36,720 tower and the the parallel worlds and the 648 00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:37,894 multiverse and 649 00:23:38,413 --> 00:23:41,366 all that, it's it's far easier to say, 650 00:23:41,606 --> 00:23:44,239 yes. These stories are certainly connected. 651 00:23:44,718 --> 00:23:46,176 K. They don't necessarily 652 00:23:46,648 --> 00:23:48,478 exist on the same level of the tower 653 00:23:48,478 --> 00:23:51,206 as you put it, but we're talking about 654 00:23:51,661 --> 00:23:55,084 basically the same situation and basically the same 655 00:23:55,084 --> 00:23:55,402 disease. 656 00:23:56,132 --> 00:23:59,328 And we even know that if we count 657 00:23:59,621 --> 00:24:01,524 Night surf and the stand as 2, 658 00:24:02,159 --> 00:24:03,428 there's at least a third, 659 00:24:04,159 --> 00:24:05,377 and probably more 660 00:24:05,835 --> 00:24:06,335 parallel 661 00:24:06,872 --> 00:24:10,943 worlds. Right. Levels of the tower where something 662 00:24:10,943 --> 00:24:14,174 like captain trips has broken out and killed 663 00:24:14,555 --> 00:24:16,715 the vast majority of humanity. 664 00:24:17,275 --> 00:24:19,515 Because in book 4 of the the dark 665 00:24:19,515 --> 00:24:23,780 tower, they find that newspaper. Yeah. And it's 666 00:24:23,839 --> 00:24:26,153 from, yet another world that isn't this 1 667 00:24:26,153 --> 00:24:26,871 isn't the stand. 668 00:24:27,604 --> 00:24:28,963 But there is captain trips. 669 00:24:29,762 --> 00:24:31,440 If Stephen King were George Lucas, 670 00:24:32,399 --> 00:24:34,317 they would hear Larry underwood, can you dig 671 00:24:34,317 --> 00:24:36,155 your man on the radio while they're sitting 672 00:24:36,155 --> 00:24:38,961 on the beach? And at some point, Fran 673 00:24:39,120 --> 00:24:41,271 Gold would be driving through the town and 674 00:24:41,271 --> 00:24:42,806 ask for directions to 675 00:24:43,342 --> 00:24:45,253 Nebraska, and 1 of the characters would give 676 00:24:45,253 --> 00:24:47,423 them to earn. He'd interconnected it that way, 677 00:24:47,583 --> 00:24:49,181 But King is not like that. He's got 678 00:24:49,181 --> 00:24:52,297 multiple multi to work with. Yeah. He doesn't 679 00:24:52,297 --> 00:24:53,736 have to work that hard. Yeah. 680 00:24:55,189 --> 00:24:57,366 I think that's a a pretty good segue 681 00:24:57,425 --> 00:24:58,165 into our 682 00:24:58,544 --> 00:24:59,923 dark tower thin 683 00:25:00,621 --> 00:25:00,781 section. 684 00:25:06,795 --> 00:25:08,394 We've kind of already made this point, but 685 00:25:08,394 --> 00:25:08,894 basically 686 00:25:09,529 --> 00:25:12,746 this story and the stand, share captain trips 687 00:25:12,886 --> 00:25:13,386 and 688 00:25:13,765 --> 00:25:15,843 as we just made the point, Like, if 689 00:25:15,843 --> 00:25:17,281 we wanna link them directly to each other, 690 00:25:17,441 --> 00:25:19,214 we can easily do so through Dark tower. 691 00:25:19,533 --> 00:25:21,371 Right. And so in that sense, this is 692 00:25:21,371 --> 00:25:23,609 a this whole story is a thin. Yeah. 693 00:25:24,248 --> 00:25:26,326 And it's a very different look at what 694 00:25:26,326 --> 00:25:27,045 the stand does. 695 00:25:27,619 --> 00:25:28,518 Just because 696 00:25:28,894 --> 00:25:30,032 there are very few 697 00:25:30,409 --> 00:25:32,402 books or stories that talk about the apocalypse 698 00:25:32,402 --> 00:25:34,395 as it's happening, and then it ends before 699 00:25:34,395 --> 00:25:35,591 we get on the other side of it. 700 00:25:36,962 --> 00:25:38,878 Yeah. That's it's good point. This is 1 701 00:25:38,878 --> 00:25:40,954 of those. King is in and out. I'm 702 00:25:40,954 --> 00:25:42,790 gonna introduce you to these characters. They do 703 00:25:42,790 --> 00:25:44,946 some bad things. They're horrible people, and they're 704 00:25:44,946 --> 00:25:46,713 probably all going to die, and you're not 705 00:25:46,713 --> 00:25:48,622 gonna find out anything more about him, and 706 00:25:48,622 --> 00:25:50,372 it's not hopeful at all, and it was 707 00:25:50,372 --> 00:25:52,281 written in 69 and King was what. 708 00:25:53,012 --> 00:25:56,033 21, probably when he wrote this, like, that 709 00:25:56,033 --> 00:25:58,362 might be the view of a pessimistic 710 00:25:58,975 --> 00:26:00,700 kid who grew up in the sixties, like 711 00:26:01,217 --> 00:26:03,286 maybe he thought that this way. It does 712 00:26:03,286 --> 00:26:04,025 have that 713 00:26:04,559 --> 00:26:06,788 more pessimistic way of looking at things and 714 00:26:07,266 --> 00:26:09,744 apocalyptic view that you don't get in some 715 00:26:09,744 --> 00:26:12,045 of his other work. I'm sure that every 716 00:26:12,045 --> 00:26:13,712 1 of us has had at least a 717 00:26:13,712 --> 00:26:16,331 1 or 2 dark moments in our lives 718 00:26:16,331 --> 00:26:18,415 or we thought you know, it would solve 719 00:26:18,415 --> 00:26:19,612 all the problems in the world. 720 00:26:20,569 --> 00:26:22,823 A whole, like, like some sort of 721 00:26:23,201 --> 00:26:25,513 somebody just wiped out the human race, and 722 00:26:25,513 --> 00:26:26,845 the world could just be 723 00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:29,817 be fine, and King probably had that idea 724 00:26:29,817 --> 00:26:31,324 in. Wrote a story about it. 725 00:26:32,116 --> 00:26:32,909 Well, on that note, 726 00:26:33,623 --> 00:26:34,178 fun stuff. 727 00:26:35,068 --> 00:26:35,467 Yeah. 728 00:26:36,503 --> 00:26:38,976 So I'll kick us off with something that 729 00:26:39,135 --> 00:26:40,672 I I feel very be... 730 00:26:41,368 --> 00:26:43,362 I feel like I've learned much too late 731 00:26:43,362 --> 00:26:44,021 in this 732 00:26:44,810 --> 00:26:46,878 investigation of the stand and and things related 733 00:26:46,878 --> 00:26:49,663 to it. But in researching this story is 734 00:26:49,663 --> 00:26:50,958 when I learned that 735 00:26:51,348 --> 00:26:53,596 captain trips is sort of a 736 00:26:54,368 --> 00:26:55,265 delusion to 737 00:26:55,798 --> 00:26:57,706 Jerry Garcia of the Grateful dead. 738 00:26:58,992 --> 00:27:01,133 Personally, I'm not a fan of the Grateful 739 00:27:01,133 --> 00:27:01,292 dead. 740 00:27:02,005 --> 00:27:03,829 I hope we're not losing too many listeners 741 00:27:03,829 --> 00:27:06,629 by announcing that on the air, but 742 00:27:06,938 --> 00:27:09,587 because I'm just not that familiar with the 743 00:27:09,644 --> 00:27:11,953 the band, I didn't know that that was 744 00:27:11,953 --> 00:27:14,261 like 1 of Jerry Garcia nickname. 745 00:27:15,314 --> 00:27:17,631 The bulk of my knowledge of the Grateful 746 00:27:17,631 --> 00:27:18,611 dead is that 747 00:27:19,469 --> 00:27:21,786 there's an ice cream flavor that sorta named 748 00:27:21,786 --> 00:27:22,825 after Jerry Garcia? 749 00:27:23,398 --> 00:27:24,457 Yep. And 750 00:27:25,073 --> 00:27:28,502 apparently now, there's a disease that's got named 751 00:27:29,139 --> 00:27:32,503 after Jerry Garcia. So that's that's it. Well, 752 00:27:32,583 --> 00:27:33,698 there you go. That's all you need to 753 00:27:33,698 --> 00:27:34,893 know really. Yeah. 754 00:27:35,690 --> 00:27:37,523 So I'm not gonna say that the first 755 00:27:37,523 --> 00:27:39,196 line of night surf is as good as 756 00:27:39,196 --> 00:27:41,108 the first line of the guns sling that 757 00:27:41,108 --> 00:27:43,356 we've talked about. So many times on our 758 00:27:43,356 --> 00:27:46,010 podcast, but it has a very similar cadence 759 00:27:46,068 --> 00:27:47,345 and it's very evo. 760 00:27:48,382 --> 00:27:50,786 I would agree. After the guy was dead, 761 00:27:51,183 --> 00:27:53,013 and the smell of his burning flesh was 762 00:27:53,013 --> 00:27:53,649 off the air. 763 00:27:54,365 --> 00:27:55,956 We all went back down to the beach. 764 00:27:57,082 --> 00:27:58,986 And there you go. Like, there's a dead 765 00:27:58,986 --> 00:28:01,842 guy somewhere, and he burned to death, and 766 00:28:01,842 --> 00:28:03,349 we don't find out about them for a 767 00:28:03,349 --> 00:28:05,352 little bit more, but it really sort of 768 00:28:05,352 --> 00:28:07,287 sets the stage that this is not a 769 00:28:07,346 --> 00:28:10,615 happy story, and these characters are almost oblivious 770 00:28:10,615 --> 00:28:13,008 to that fact that they're just gonna go 771 00:28:13,008 --> 00:28:13,806 and hang out on the beach. 772 00:28:14,775 --> 00:28:16,838 Yeah. I agree. Like, this is not as 773 00:28:16,838 --> 00:28:18,823 strong a line as not as strong an 774 00:28:18,823 --> 00:28:20,966 opening line as the first line of the 775 00:28:20,966 --> 00:28:21,362 dark tower. 776 00:28:22,173 --> 00:28:24,407 But it is a pretty strong opening line. 777 00:28:24,646 --> 00:28:26,662 Yeah. Not only does king 778 00:28:27,439 --> 00:28:30,398 sort of bury it, by just just going 779 00:28:30,398 --> 00:28:33,414 on with the story without, like, wait. You 780 00:28:33,414 --> 00:28:35,954 just talked about burning somebody to death, and 781 00:28:35,954 --> 00:28:39,233 you just... You stay there. Right. But in 782 00:28:39,233 --> 00:28:41,630 that 1 sentence, he tells us that this 783 00:28:41,630 --> 00:28:43,468 is a dark story. He tells us that 784 00:28:43,468 --> 00:28:45,625 the characters in it are gonna be little 785 00:28:45,625 --> 00:28:46,025 off putting. 786 00:28:46,599 --> 00:28:48,991 It sets the scene and set and tells 787 00:28:48,991 --> 00:28:50,289 us so much about 788 00:28:50,666 --> 00:28:53,139 the characters involved in just those few words, 789 00:28:53,378 --> 00:28:55,851 which is what a good opening line should 790 00:28:55,851 --> 00:28:58,985 do. And it's not like, we're 19 year 791 00:28:58,985 --> 00:29:00,025 olds on the beach. 792 00:29:00,904 --> 00:29:02,105 After the guy was dead. 793 00:29:02,904 --> 00:29:03,144 What? 794 00:29:03,945 --> 00:29:05,805 Yeah. Oh, yeah. Good good 795 00:29:06,278 --> 00:29:08,744 Good job. It's very much what you need 796 00:29:08,744 --> 00:29:10,437 to do as a short story writer 797 00:29:11,051 --> 00:29:11,551 is 798 00:29:11,926 --> 00:29:12,642 hook somebody. 799 00:29:13,293 --> 00:29:13,691 Mh. 800 00:29:14,168 --> 00:29:16,157 But also, because you have so little to 801 00:29:16,157 --> 00:29:17,827 work with, you cannot waste lines, 802 00:29:18,543 --> 00:29:19,816 and you need to... 803 00:29:20,625 --> 00:29:22,473 Create a sense of the story 804 00:29:23,005 --> 00:29:24,829 right there at the beginning. And I do 805 00:29:24,829 --> 00:29:26,653 think that that captures sort of the whole 806 00:29:26,653 --> 00:29:28,002 mood of the story. Yeah. 807 00:29:28,575 --> 00:29:30,734 There is death and there is the... 808 00:29:31,375 --> 00:29:34,575 If not fatal of death or even sort 809 00:29:34,575 --> 00:29:36,348 of, I'm gonna ignore death we're just gonna 810 00:29:36,348 --> 00:29:38,025 hang out at the beach and pretend it's 811 00:29:38,025 --> 00:29:40,340 not happening. But that's sort of all captured 812 00:29:40,340 --> 00:29:42,336 sort of the themes of the story right 813 00:29:42,336 --> 00:29:44,491 in that first line? Yeah. It even includes 814 00:29:44,491 --> 00:29:46,363 the fact that that 1 815 00:29:47,139 --> 00:29:49,154 dead or dying man 816 00:29:50,010 --> 00:29:52,563 represents every other person in the world who 817 00:29:52,563 --> 00:29:55,250 has died of this flu, whether they died 818 00:29:55,528 --> 00:29:58,417 an hour before the story began or 819 00:29:59,032 --> 00:30:00,942 I don't know months before the story began. 820 00:30:01,579 --> 00:30:04,065 These characters have been living with that, for, 821 00:30:04,224 --> 00:30:06,784 however, long that is and each time it 822 00:30:06,784 --> 00:30:08,784 happens. It has less and less of an 823 00:30:08,784 --> 00:30:10,544 impact on them. It means less and less 824 00:30:10,544 --> 00:30:12,144 to them, and it's all just conveyed in 825 00:30:12,144 --> 00:30:12,519 that 826 00:30:12,957 --> 00:30:15,582 that sentence. So... Yeah, It's it's really good 827 00:30:15,582 --> 00:30:16,082 person. 828 00:30:16,537 --> 00:30:17,968 We've mentioned before it that King is a 829 00:30:17,968 --> 00:30:19,502 good short story writer, and 830 00:30:19,971 --> 00:30:22,110 I think this proves it once again. 831 00:30:23,299 --> 00:30:24,909 This story had a really nice 832 00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:26,628 o kirk moment for me. 833 00:30:28,232 --> 00:30:30,301 Not too far into the the story, 834 00:30:31,017 --> 00:30:33,880 the line and the surf, the night surf. 835 00:30:34,372 --> 00:30:36,122 Throwing up great bursts of foam, 836 00:30:36,838 --> 00:30:39,066 breaking against the headwind for as far as 837 00:30:39,066 --> 00:30:40,577 we could see an endless attacks, 838 00:30:41,946 --> 00:30:43,460 Of course, when I read that, I'm like, 839 00:30:44,018 --> 00:30:46,590 and that's why they call it nicer. 840 00:30:47,206 --> 00:30:47,604 Right? 841 00:30:51,041 --> 00:30:52,314 Good times indeed. 842 00:30:52,950 --> 00:30:54,484 Yeah. That's just another 843 00:30:55,574 --> 00:30:56,926 point of the isolation, like, 844 00:30:57,579 --> 00:30:59,497 somehow they're on a... I live in Ohio. 845 00:30:59,656 --> 00:31:02,133 So there's not much beach. And what little 846 00:31:02,133 --> 00:31:03,811 beach there is is not Ocean Beach it's 847 00:31:03,811 --> 00:31:05,224 lake Beach, and you can see 848 00:31:05,899 --> 00:31:07,804 you could see the ends very easily, but 849 00:31:07,804 --> 00:31:09,257 they're on a beach where 850 00:31:10,106 --> 00:31:11,932 they say they can see in sort of 851 00:31:11,932 --> 00:31:13,916 endless directions both ways and there's nothing there 852 00:31:13,916 --> 00:31:15,840 and think that adds to the isolation that 853 00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:16,953 these characters are feeling. 854 00:31:17,590 --> 00:31:19,022 They can't see beyond it and to your 855 00:31:19,022 --> 00:31:20,692 point earlier where you said like there's no 856 00:31:20,692 --> 00:31:22,862 sense of think space Mh. In this story. 857 00:31:23,022 --> 00:31:24,460 Like, the characters are sort of stuck in 858 00:31:24,460 --> 00:31:26,457 1 way. And that's because when they look 859 00:31:26,457 --> 00:31:28,055 up and down, all they see is beach, 860 00:31:28,629 --> 00:31:30,146 and the night surf. And so where are 861 00:31:30,146 --> 00:31:31,343 they gonna go, what are they gonna do? 862 00:31:31,822 --> 00:31:33,280 There's always something inherently 863 00:31:33,977 --> 00:31:37,010 romantic about the shore of a vast ocean. 864 00:31:37,503 --> 00:31:39,651 But it's also something that is, like, you're 865 00:31:39,651 --> 00:31:41,401 on the edge of the world. You are 866 00:31:41,401 --> 00:31:43,947 at the limit of how far you can 867 00:31:43,947 --> 00:31:44,106 go. 868 00:31:44,758 --> 00:31:45,953 Yeah. When you're there, 869 00:31:46,670 --> 00:31:48,604 unless you get in a boat or something 870 00:31:49,379 --> 00:31:50,175 or there's a bridge. 871 00:31:51,943 --> 00:31:54,011 But the point is when you get to 872 00:31:54,011 --> 00:31:56,238 the Atlantic coast and you faced East, 873 00:31:57,432 --> 00:31:58,545 there's nowhere left to go. 874 00:31:59,195 --> 00:32:00,148 Except turn around, 875 00:32:00,863 --> 00:32:01,680 same for 876 00:32:02,054 --> 00:32:04,062 any other coast that faces 877 00:32:04,435 --> 00:32:06,182 any of the big oceans in the world. 878 00:32:06,674 --> 00:32:08,674 And I think King setting it there. 879 00:32:09,394 --> 00:32:10,835 He tends to end up in maine a 880 00:32:10,835 --> 00:32:12,294 lot because that's 881 00:32:12,595 --> 00:32:13,554 that's his home turf, 882 00:32:14,288 --> 00:32:16,281 but he could have set this in other 883 00:32:16,281 --> 00:32:18,194 places, but putting it right there, putting them 884 00:32:18,194 --> 00:32:20,585 on the beach. Yep. They're not just in 885 00:32:20,585 --> 00:32:22,993 a beach town. They're not just... Near the 886 00:32:22,993 --> 00:32:26,210 water, they're on the water, and that helps 887 00:32:26,269 --> 00:32:28,106 give us that greater sense of isolation. 888 00:32:28,826 --> 00:32:31,491 It helps us put them at the 889 00:32:32,023 --> 00:32:32,523 extremist 890 00:32:33,533 --> 00:32:34,033 of 891 00:32:34,407 --> 00:32:36,576 the human race and geography 892 00:32:37,268 --> 00:32:38,142 together. Yeah. 893 00:32:38,875 --> 00:32:40,715 And elsewhere he talks about how the surf 894 00:32:40,715 --> 00:32:41,215 has 895 00:32:41,835 --> 00:32:42,634 cleansed the beach. 896 00:32:43,355 --> 00:32:45,769 This is a popular tourist resort area. Like, 897 00:32:45,929 --> 00:32:47,445 1 of the places that they're hanging out 898 00:32:47,445 --> 00:32:48,743 is an old gift shop 899 00:32:49,122 --> 00:32:51,277 with t shirts and and things of that 900 00:32:51,277 --> 00:32:53,911 nature. But all the d that would be 901 00:32:53,911 --> 00:32:54,630 on the, 902 00:32:55,042 --> 00:32:56,946 beach is gone, like it's just what they've 903 00:32:56,946 --> 00:32:58,613 made at this point because the the surface 904 00:32:58,613 --> 00:33:00,462 has coming in and out so often 905 00:33:00,836 --> 00:33:02,996 that the beach has been cleansed, and it's 906 00:33:02,996 --> 00:33:04,930 almost as if the earth is gonna cleanse 907 00:33:06,342 --> 00:33:08,811 itself of humanity. Yep. By the end of 908 00:33:08,811 --> 00:33:10,883 the story and that surface is that they're 909 00:33:10,883 --> 00:33:12,649 doing that. Just in and out in and 910 00:33:12,649 --> 00:33:13,365 out in and out. 911 00:33:14,240 --> 00:33:16,172 That gives me 2 kind of 912 00:33:16,785 --> 00:33:18,637 Mac mccabe thoughts. 1 is 913 00:33:19,190 --> 00:33:21,269 when I read that line about how the 914 00:33:21,269 --> 00:33:21,769 ser 915 00:33:22,710 --> 00:33:24,789 reclaimed the refuse of humanity. 916 00:33:25,750 --> 00:33:28,170 I thought about how, like, today, how 917 00:33:28,643 --> 00:33:31,434 humans have polluted the world to such an 918 00:33:31,434 --> 00:33:32,471 extent with plastic, 919 00:33:33,508 --> 00:33:36,719 that there are now new species of animals 920 00:33:36,777 --> 00:33:40,230 being discovered that have so much plastic in 921 00:33:40,230 --> 00:33:41,929 their internal structures 922 00:33:42,470 --> 00:33:45,029 that I think 1 was recently named for 923 00:33:45,029 --> 00:33:46,045 the plastic in it 924 00:33:46,725 --> 00:33:46,965 wow. 925 00:33:47,684 --> 00:33:50,345 So thinking about this, like, let's carry this 926 00:33:50,404 --> 00:33:52,484 story forward. The all the characters and then 927 00:33:52,484 --> 00:33:54,898 all the all human beings die. And then 928 00:33:54,898 --> 00:33:57,929 all signs of civilizations slowly are or re 929 00:33:57,929 --> 00:34:00,960 absorbed into the into the world. All that 930 00:34:00,960 --> 00:34:03,273 plastic is still gonna be there. Yep. So 931 00:34:03,273 --> 00:34:06,163 as the rest of of nature continues to 932 00:34:06,163 --> 00:34:08,021 evolve in these new circumstances. 933 00:34:09,039 --> 00:34:11,457 That plastic is gonna be part of that 934 00:34:11,676 --> 00:34:13,688 evolution. Like, there are gonna be plants and 935 00:34:13,688 --> 00:34:14,747 animals that 936 00:34:15,205 --> 00:34:18,159 adapt to having this extra plastic around. Right? 937 00:34:18,478 --> 00:34:20,074 So it made me feel kind of it 938 00:34:20,074 --> 00:34:21,591 it was sort of a bummer thought that 939 00:34:21,671 --> 00:34:24,261 I just inserted on top of the story 940 00:34:24,719 --> 00:34:25,219 about 941 00:34:25,836 --> 00:34:28,070 pollution. Like it wouldn't be so easy for 942 00:34:28,070 --> 00:34:30,486 the ocean to just swallow up our mess 943 00:34:30,798 --> 00:34:33,185 Right. It's just not visible on the sand. 944 00:34:33,662 --> 00:34:34,617 Yeah. That's true. 945 00:34:35,730 --> 00:34:37,162 The other thing I thought about was... 946 00:34:37,894 --> 00:34:40,472 Not quite related to that, but it's... When 947 00:34:40,771 --> 00:34:43,648 Bernie talks about how he wants to create 948 00:34:43,648 --> 00:34:44,048 this like, 949 00:34:44,767 --> 00:34:46,925 giant plaque that just says, 950 00:34:47,739 --> 00:34:50,300 it was just the flu. Yeah. Right? The... 951 00:34:50,460 --> 00:34:52,480 As an explanation to some 952 00:34:52,940 --> 00:34:56,059 potential alien visitor that's gonna come Eons from 953 00:34:56,059 --> 00:34:56,300 now. 954 00:34:57,110 --> 00:34:59,413 All traces of humanity are gone except us, 955 00:34:59,969 --> 00:35:00,787 3 mile 956 00:35:01,240 --> 00:35:04,575 long plaque in Salt lake City, to salt 957 00:35:04,575 --> 00:35:07,130 flats that just says, it was just the 958 00:35:07,130 --> 00:35:08,026 flu. And 959 00:35:08,478 --> 00:35:10,144 taking this a little bit into current events, 960 00:35:10,302 --> 00:35:13,079 like, we're all living through a pandemic right 961 00:35:13,079 --> 00:35:13,872 now. Yep. 962 00:35:14,761 --> 00:35:15,261 If 963 00:35:15,635 --> 00:35:16,135 circumstances 964 00:35:16,589 --> 00:35:17,805 were to go terribly 965 00:35:18,418 --> 00:35:18,918 worse 966 00:35:19,292 --> 00:35:20,564 than they currently are. 967 00:35:21,200 --> 00:35:23,426 That's kind of gonna be our gravestone too. 968 00:35:23,759 --> 00:35:24,557 So I was just, like, 969 00:35:25,355 --> 00:35:26,871 it made my skin crawl a little bit. 970 00:35:27,030 --> 00:35:29,025 You know, this was a spooky story that 971 00:35:29,105 --> 00:35:32,231 I finished, but spooky for... Different reasons than 972 00:35:32,231 --> 00:35:33,905 a lot of King stories. Yeah. 973 00:35:34,623 --> 00:35:36,856 I've read through some of his books over 974 00:35:36,856 --> 00:35:38,850 the years and been like, oh, I gotta 975 00:35:38,850 --> 00:35:40,206 put this down for a minute kind of 976 00:35:40,206 --> 00:35:41,337 thing. This, I was like, 977 00:35:42,613 --> 00:35:43,273 this is 978 00:35:43,969 --> 00:35:46,202 a little bit too on the nose for 979 00:35:46,202 --> 00:35:48,036 what I am living through, and so... And 980 00:35:48,036 --> 00:35:49,951 we are all living through today. Right. 981 00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:52,826 Well, that was a bummer ending to fun 982 00:35:52,826 --> 00:35:55,605 stuff, but there we go. So that's gonna 983 00:35:55,605 --> 00:35:57,431 be all for this bonus episode of 2 984 00:35:57,431 --> 00:35:59,416 guys to the Dark tower came. Thanks, Jay. 985 00:36:00,067 --> 00:36:00,545 Thank you. 986 00:36:01,260 --> 00:36:02,772 Links to all of our social media is 987 00:36:02,772 --> 00:36:04,363 available in the show notes. If you like 988 00:36:04,363 --> 00:36:06,135 the show, please rate us on Apple. 989 00:36:07,083 --> 00:36:09,869 Look for more exclusive content at patreon dot 990 00:36:09,869 --> 00:36:11,619 com slash 2 guys dark tower. 991 00:36:12,574 --> 00:36:13,848 For Jay Russo, I'm Sean. 992 00:36:14,896 --> 00:36:15,691 Thanks for listening. 993 00:36:35,486 --> 00:36:37,576 Or you could just say ever expanding universe 994 00:36:38,604 --> 00:36:39,902 Ever expanding universe. 995 00:36:40,840 --> 00:36:44,057 Ever expanding you Ever expanding good.