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Roderick on the Line

Ep. 09: "He Was Apparently a Talented Baker"

Roderick on the Line

Merlin Mann

Johnroderick, Society & Culture, Philosophy, Thelongwinters, Merlinmann

4.81.1K Ratings

🗓️ 17 November 2011

⏱️ 75 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Ep. 09: “He Was Apparently a Talented Baker” - Roderick on the Line - Merlin Mann on Huffduffer

The Problems: the dolory of John’s wet and unrakeable leaves; some nuanced aspects around fulfilling The Belgian Promise; Kim Gordon’s sassy and industry-ruining boas; solving an Argentinian heiress’s mystery on the pampas; new ways to make iced tea while your kids are in rehab; the passing of Maurice; the challenge of becoming a truly memorable serial killer when saddled with just two names; one stinky Nigerian Prince and the weltanschauung he brings to organizing a Goodwill; mothballs, mildew, and dreams deferred; the timeless advice Merlin shared with his infant daughter; how Merlin helps by taxonomizing his toddler daughter’s toys; how John will eventually help by explaining this process to Merlin’s teenage daughter; why St. Paul was definitely a Taurus and probably a komodo dragon; scouring every molecule of the Duritz from Jennifer Aniston’s bath tub; choosing John Roderick to block; marching orders for The Salivation Army; Merlin discusses something pelvically; the bespoke wardrobe of Philadelphia’s most pretty-wristed dandy; The Story of O’s self-enlightened snacks; exploring the artisanal baked goods of Alaska’s busy bush pilots; Merlin’s numerous confusions about Zooey Deschanel (SAY: “/ˈzoʊ.iː deɪʃəˈnɛl/ zoh-ee day-shə-nel”); thoughts from John’s Mom on the controversial versatility of Meg Ryan; tips for insulating potted plants for winter; swerving around John on the road to Damascus; balloons v. bottles in the service of optimistic correspondence; why Lenin secretly never peed on fruit juice; John’s plaintive voi ch’entrate regarding opening any ladies’ magazines; a renewed interest in shiny ladies in big shoes standing on ladders (a/k/a “Ladder Girls”); and the pressing need to attach a proper Boswell to John’s Johnson.


The correct way to send your kid to a foreign country with $100 cash in her pocket.

The correct way to send your kid to a foreign country with $100 cash in her pocket. by tedSeverson


Roderick on the Line Ep. 09 Show Notes

(Curated each week by Merlin)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hello. Hi John, how are you? Hi John, how are you? Hi, Merlin. I'm

0:09.1

I'm fine. Yeah. Yeah.

0:12.3

Yeah. Sound. Yeah.

0:14.0

Sound Dolorous.

0:17.0

You know, uh, I, uh, this is the time of year for delir.

0:22.0

But I'm, uh, yeah, two days ago I raked all the leaves in my yard and I literally. I literally

0:30.9

raked all the leaves in my yard, all the leaves that were there then, and I put them in piles, and I said to myself, as one does, I said, you had better pick these leaves up now before it rains.

0:44.5

And then I got distracted by a butterfly or something.

0:48.2

Something distracted me.

0:50.6

And now I woke up this morning and it's raining. It's raining on all of my leaf piles.

0:55.0

Which means that...

0:58.0

Well, what is that, I mean, is that like when you wash your car and it rains? I mean just disperse the leaves. They're no fun to jump in.

1:04.0

What's the... Well, there's no fun to jump in for sure, but no, no I have to... I can't rake them anymore.

1:09.2

I have to pick them up with a shovel. A giant, a giant piles of soggy wet decaying leaves. It's a whole different game now.

1:18.0

I would have to guess knowing you, I feel I feel I know you somewhat well I could see

1:24.7

you just on a philosophical level raking leaves as part of a larger process.

1:29.3

That's absolutely true. Okay is that the only part is this partly as a homeowner?

1:33.4

Is it a fire hazard?

1:35.4

You want to keep the the leaf people out of your yard picking around?

1:39.4

Well, there's a couple of reasons that I don't subcontract this leaf raking business. One of them is that I... of at alpa tree are great for producing loamy compost in the spring.

1:58.2

And also I use the leaves to insulate potted plants that I leave outside over the winter.

2:06.0

Wow.

...

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