Thirsty Topics
A weekly podcast dedicated to trending topics on social media, pop culture and entertainment.
Thirsty Topics
Authenticity Over Filters: From Hollywood Drama to Political Antics and TikTok Trends
Is authenticity more valuable than a filter? Our latest episode of Thirsty Topics kicks off with an exploration of Nikki Bella's journey as she navigates her divorce from Artem Chigvintsev, reflecting on whether old flames with John Cena might reignite once she finds healing. We also dive into the ethical quagmire surrounding Diddy's legal struggles and how celebrity families bear the brunt of public scrutiny. Switching lanes, we ponder the wild world of politics, chuckling at the antics of former President Trump and his colorful interactions with media figures like Whoopi Goldberg. Kamala Harris’s bold appearance on Fox News further spices up our conversation about political courage and entertainment value in cross-party dialogues.
From the demolition of the Tropicana Hotel to the latest TikTok craze, the topics we cover are as varied as they are intriguing. We wander into the realm of policing and mental health, considering how officers handle high-stress situations and the potential for improved training. Then, on a lighter note, we share our delight in the "hear me out" TikTok trend, where quirky crushes on unexpected objects and characters bring a smile. It's an episode that promises both hearty laughs and thoughtful insights as we dissect the current cultural landscape.
We round things off with a discussion on porch pirates, iPhone heists, and the humor found in fictional crushes. From animated characters like Lois and Peter Griffin to imagining our favorite TV characters as friends, the conversation is as playful as it is engaging. We then shift our focus to the battle between authenticity and social media filters, advocating for real-world connections over curated online personas. This episode is a rollercoaster of emotions and ideas, promising a little something for everyone, from gossip enthusiasts to those seeking deeper societal reflections.
Hello everyone, welcome to this week's episode of Thirsty Topics. I'm Lauren Selrod.
Speaker 2:And I'm Meryl Clemo.
Speaker 1:We have a very, very good show for you today, playing a little bit of catch-up because we had some technical problems last week.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love how there's like two or three technical things that we use and it's always like, yeah, I like it. I wouldn't put me in charge of like an electrical circuit, that's for sure.
Speaker 1:Well, meryl, I'm going to go.
Speaker 2:Go ahead, let you start okay, cool, we're gonna start on an uplifting one. Well, kind of uplifting, because I feel like there's some heavy topics today, but, um, the the sad topic, or the sad part of this, is that Nikki Bella, who you know now, going by her real name, nikki Garcia that people may realize from wrestling you, you know total divas, her and her sister Brie Anyway, I love her, I think she's so cool and pretty. She officially filed for divorce from her former husband, professional dancer Artem Chingvitev, in September after three years of marriage. They met during Dancing with the Stars and recently their relationship had gotten really rocky to the point where there may have been some I think they got like called on some abuse or, you know domestic situation charges on each other, so it sounded like a very toxic situation.
Speaker 2:So they are getting divorced and I I brought this up because I know it's not nice to like meddle into people's personal businesses but they're her and her former boyfriend, john Cena, are like one of the only couples that I still still have like a litter, like a flame, a flittering ember, if you will, for them in my heart. And you know they had broken up a while back because she wanted marriage and kids, he didn't want it and then, kind of at the last minute, he was like I think I could give you marriage and then she had already, was like it's too little, too late. It's just one of those like missed, you know, missed times type of situation. Of course, we don't know what went on behind the scenes. Maybe there was like way more reasons that they broke up and maybe they're totally not right for each other, but this is one of the rare, rare rare Hollywood instances where I'm like, I kind of feel like they should give it another go around after she does her healing and take some time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I hear you. I mean I took a look at the article myself and you know. You know I don't wish bad on no one's marriage, but you know, when people start putting their hands on each other consistently, yeah, it's probably time to move on. Yeah, and so definitely they're only two years into it from what I saw. So, um, you know I I wish him the best and you know who knows j-lo went back to uh ben, so you never know I know I never care about hollywood couples and I never but this one.
Speaker 2:I just feel like there's still maybe some like destiny that hasn't been unfinished yet. Or I don't even know, honestly, if John Cena has a wife and kids or has like moved on with the family, but I still have some hope. But I feel like Nikki's probably going to have to take some time after this before, because I think that's the mistake that we always talk about. That J-Lo makes is that immediately, within like 24 hours, she is always in a new relationship.
Speaker 1:That's true. Well, like I said, uh, the way hollywood works.
Speaker 2:I'm quite sure this is not the last time we hear about a personal life I hope so I like I never care, I really, but this is one that I'm like, please, please, I think, I really think, because she's done the marriage thing, he's probably bachelor life like they're.
Speaker 1:They're ready now, so there you go well back in the news again. Um, diddy, um, obviously you know there's more people that have come out saying that, um, you know they're suing him for things that he's done in the past. Um, the other thing is, recently Diddy said that through his attorney that he wants the names of his accusers unsealed, oh man, which I know they have to do that prior to going to court at some point, but I do understand the caution to do that because of the allegations as far as them being, you know, attacked, them being harassed, so I don't know. I mean, we'll see how that plays out. But I wanted to get your opinion about something. Diddy's mom, obviously, no matter how bad a child is or what they do, your mom's going to always love you and care for you and be there for you.
Speaker 1:That's just what a mom does going to always love you and care for you and be there for you. That's just what a mom does. But recently, in the last court hearing where Diddy tried to get bail and he was denied. Now, during that hearing, right before it, his mom was walking in and then his kids was walking hand in hand and his mom was being heckled by the crowd. I know I get why you're angry at diddy. You know everybody's entitled to their own opinion, but do you think it's fair to attack the family because of what someone does?
Speaker 2:no, I think I can see where that's coming from if you're just so mad at the whole situation and there's probably an element of them thinking like you created, you helped, you had a hand in creating this monster, um, but as far as I know, like they're not liable, they haven't come out in documents of having done anything to anyone and maybe she didn't know. You know we talked before about diddy's sad relationship, or like lack of, with his dad, I think, or you know, his like kind of lack of father figure. So no, I don't think so. But honestly, if I was in like the other flip side, if it was one of my family members that was hurt by Diddy or like that, was it at one of those parties, unwillingly and unwittingly and like the mom walked in, I probably would like have some hate for the mom too. So you know, I understand it's like a normal human emotion. It's not great, but it's definitely somewhat understandable, I think, when your loved one is like directly impacted.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know that. You know there's been things that happen where, unfortunately, there's been shootings, and these are kids, or whatever, or very young, and you know they go after their parents because the parents should have known. You know, diddy's a grown man, diddy's my age, he's a grown man, it's a difference, you know. I think that's stretching it too far because, again, is this family going to be proud about the things he's being accused of? Of course not.
Speaker 2:but I don't think it's right to attack the family personally because you know you're basically saying you're, they're guilty by association, is what you're saying right, which is obviously not the case at all, and I mean, and even in saying I was like you raised this, this kid, I feel like she did up to a point, but then, like hollywood and greed and probably drugs and whatever his own personal situation is was, you know, it probably was up to a certain point and then after that he developed his weird um personality then. And then I was going to also ask too it's weird when you said all the party goers, their names will be released. It's almost like that seems like it should be illegal too, without a lawyer, like being able to just unleash all these names, and I know you said that they're hesitant to do that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, unfortunately, you know, the way our court system works is the accuser has to the right of knowing who his accuser is. The accuser has the right of knowing who his accuser is. Okay, now, in certain cases, they may want to delay that until the very last second, for, you know, privacy, it could be for safety or a combination of things. But as far as them unsealing, because from what I heard I want to say I think it's March. Is it March or May? Is when he goes to court.
Speaker 2:I don't know about that.
Speaker 1:I want to say it's March, but I could be wrong. It may be May. The thing is to have it come out because, again, we don't know how true these accusations are. But one of the reasons why he's being denied bail is the fear that he's going to intimidate potential witnesses.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So there is a real fear there, a real fear about things going left. So I mean, like I said, everyone deserves to have their day in court, but the accusers have to be protected too.
Speaker 2:I know and we're coming into such interesting news media cycles in the next coming months because you know there'll be like election stuff and then around Christmas it like somewhat gets a little bit slower than the new year. Be I don't know if it's going to work in people's favor or if they're like. I mean, I bet there's some type of strategy happening as well, um to like just the way that the news is being slowly dripped out about this type of stuff yeah, I agree, and you know, with everything happening, people are getting a lot more aggressive these days too.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, I totally understand the abundance of caution I know, but I also feel like, the more that time goes by, people are more and more speculating about people who are at the party. And, you know, I think at some point people are going to need answers soon as well, because I feel like there's probably innocent people that are being named and guilty people that are being left out. So because I've heard a lot of these things are like it's these big athletes and these big movie stars, and then people will go and like guess the 10 people? And so it's like if you're a married guy with a wife who has been innocent, you're gonna want the names to come out soon, just so you're like exonerated of all of it.
Speaker 1:You know yeah, yeah, like I said, um, you know again, I, I get it why people hate diddy right now and all the heckling for him. I, I get it, but I don't know. I'd just say leave the mom alone.
Speaker 2:I would say leave the mom alone too. It's okay to. I feel like there's other ways. She probably feels bad as it is enough. I'm sure she's getting shunned in her own community. Her life is probably falling apart. The karma is coming for her. I don't know, I don't know. I feel like I hate to say I might boo as well. I don't know, I don't know I might be a booer. I'm sorry, I don't want to disappoint you, but for you I won't. I won't boo anyone's mom, but like maybe I don't know if it was Michael Vick's mom, I would boo her just for no reason, even if she didn't do anything.
Speaker 2:Okay, well, someone that I'm actually not going to boo but the internet is booing him, is Logan Paul, who is no stranger to controversy, but his latest move he was so, so clear out of the woods, like he's having a baby or he had a baby with wife Nina Agdal, and just you know people has really noticed that he's kind of changed his image around and is now more of a family guy and a little bit more settled down.
Speaker 2:But in very Logan-esque type situations he partnered with sandwich delivery company Lunchly and promoted the birth of his baby. Partnered with sandwich delivery company lunchly and promoted the birth of his baby, which struck a nerve because in a series of photos and videos right in the delivery room with Nina, he's like promoting it, you know, in a lighthearted way. But in some of the pictures she, nina, just looks so tired. It's like you know she has just given birth and she just looks like she's over it and not thinking about lunchables in those moments. And so a lot of the people say, well, this is logan prop paul. You know he this is on brand. For him he'll use any situation, like an engagement or a birth of a baby, to promote his brand in some way. And then other people are just like are you that thirsty that just everything has to be monetized?
Speaker 1:yeah, that's true. I get a different spin on it. Believe it or not, he may be controlling the narrative because when you make a star. A picture of you with your newborn baby is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So by him getting the narrative out there, he controls that narrative. So by him putting that picture on here, that picture is not worth any money because he's already put it out there. Because I remember back when Whitney Houston passed away and someone took a picture of her in the casket at the funeral, oh my gosh and I want to say they got $200,000 to $300,000 for that Gross and it was very disrespectful and tasteless by them doing that. So by no means do I condone people doing that, but I do understand when celebrities start to take control of their media presence out there. Yeah, and they do it themselves. Maybe they even make money off of it, which you know what. If somebody's going to make money, I would probably rather the people being taken a picture of it let them make the money.
Speaker 2:That's true. How baller would it be if, like someone like Logan, who clearly has enough money coming in and already has enough Money in the bank and his wife is wealthy too it would be so cool if, like, they use that opportunity To basically champion A non-profit or like a different Cause, or to say, I'm Selling these photos and like 100% of the Proceeds are going to go to our charity, or Like in the name of his new baby or something. I think that that's like it actually seems like something Logan would do, like because he, he the flip side of him is that he actually does seem like kind and generous in some ways. But but yeah, that would be so much better than just like using it to promote. I mean, who knows what they do with the money. I'm sure he does donate to some charitable stuff, so it could be like a third party way of giving money. But I've come to expect nothing and everything from the Paul brothers.
Speaker 1:Now, the only thing I would say I hope he had permission from the mother to do that.
Speaker 2:I know she's probably I mean she's marrying him, so she's probably just like I don't even know what's happening at this point Marrying him. So she's probably just like I don't even know what's happening at this point. But like I think he's had a great glow-up slash, like brand change a little bit, because when he got into WWE and like he had some really cool photos and videos on his page, like he almost became like a travel slash influencer, entrepreneur. Like you know, he's not my favorite, but I feel like over the past couple years he's quasi redeemed himself from some of the drama and I think, I don't know, I don't, like I said, I'm not, I'm kind of a paul brother apologist, even though I know they're kind of douchey. I hear you, I hear you.
Speaker 1:Well, we'll see what, uh, what else he comes out with yeah, his.
Speaker 2:I don't know if you ever like listen to his, though, but it's definitely like maybe he needs to do some other brand deals, because his podcast seems like it's just not happening as much. The charts are probably still good, but it's kind of boring.
Speaker 1:Yeah, maybe this will give him some inspiration.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it will.
Speaker 1:Yeah, talk about inspiration. Did you hear about Trump, I guess, lashing out at the women on the View?
Speaker 2:Yes, one of the five people left that he still has to go after.
Speaker 1:I really don't understand this logic, because you know, when you lash out at you know comedians, talk show hosts, stuff like that it never turns out well.
Speaker 2:No, no, no and all of their. And then they have the ability to like come come back at you tenfold and, you know, drag it out, rather than just having him have some sound bite.
Speaker 1:That happens for like one day yeah, I think the funniest part when they were lashing back at him was when he made the comment about you know how Whoopi Goldberg's mouth is so foul, or whatever? I didn't know she was going to be foul and Whoopi goes. You hired me eight times, so obviously you know what my material is. What's wrong with you. It was hilarious, I mean.
Speaker 2:I almost feel like they should like you know whatever go after him, because it seems like anyone that likes him he'll immediately be like Whoopi's the smartest woman in the whole world. I love Whoopi Like I wish she almost did the opposite and said this is really hurtful, because I think Donald is so smart and I love his opinion and I'm just so hurt. And then the next day I feel like he'd be like Actually, I thought about it and Whoopi is so intelligent and so classy. Someone needs to do that.
Speaker 1:I think if Whoopi was dead drunk she probably still wouldn't say those words.
Speaker 2:I know, but almost just to show people how easily Trump can be. His opinion can change if someone likes him or doesn't like him. It's like a school bully.
Speaker 1:Definitely the thing is anyone who's ever watched the View knows these women cannot be bullied None of them. They're very, very strong, intelligent women.
Speaker 2:They hold strong, even against each other. But I feel like in times like this they come together and obviously they're like, okay, we could have our differences, but then when someone comes after us as a collective, they come out swinging.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like I said, it's interesting and you know, one of the cool things I saw this week is Kamala Harris's head was interviewed on Fox News, which is a big deal because, you know, democratic candidates don't go on Fox Not necessarily the most friendly broadcast to Democratic candidates, but she went on there and she held her own really good. And what I appreciate and what I respect is she's talking to all the people. You may not be able to convince everyone that watches Fox, but I think she gets a lot of kudos because she's not scared to get in front of people who may not agree with what she says.
Speaker 1:Right May not agree with her policies, and I think that's something we've been missing from a country for a long time.
Speaker 2:I definitely do too, and I think that was some of the complaints of the right too. It's just that, like the left is so insular and like not you know, not willing to have nuanced takes, and I think this is an example of that where she was respectful, she wasn't, like you know, arrogant in any way. I thought she was able to do a great job. I saw that and I'm like God she is not afraid. That's totally what we need.
Speaker 1:And you know, the real cool thing, meryl, that I saw was, even when you know she was getting a lot of pushback, she held her ground and she didn't lose her cool.
Speaker 2:Exactly. No, I think that's great. I love the thought of Trump being like that Fox's fake news and just like her view, which, like I said honestly, that's one of the points that I feel like. To me, he has had that correctly back in the, because I feel like CNN and Fox, like all the media, they have elements of being sensational and fake and kind of drummed up controversy. That is correct, but it's not just Fox, it's like a lot of the other media in general.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, just like Kamala went on Fox, I would like to see Trump go on. Well, cnn is a little bit more mainstream down the middle. You know what? Go straight to the right. I'm sorry, to the left and go on MSNBC or go on the View.
Speaker 2:Oh my God, I honestly feel like he would do great on the View If he wasn't being mean to them.
Speaker 1:I feel like he could be one of the little ladies you know the only problem is he probably will start off Okay, and then he'll get a question or a comment that he doesn't like and immediately goes off the rails.
Speaker 2:I know, I know, but I feel like if he, instead of being president, he could have just been one of like the sassy New York lady man, one of like the sassy New York lady men. You know, lady, and men that just like have their opinions and America would have loved him times a million Like if he was on a show like that and he was one of the male. Just opinions and counterparts. People would be like, obsessed Even. You know both sides.
Speaker 1:It will definitely be a watch event. Let me tell you.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I think their viewership for that episode will probably skyrocket.
Speaker 2:A hundred percent Cause he already has a lot of like the sassy boomer slash, older than boomer New York vibe of like I didn't tell her this, you know. Like he's perfect for like daytime women sitting around a circular table. Like that's, honestly, I think his his calling. I wanted him invited to to have a show together, a reality kind of Paris Hilton, nicole Richie type show. I thought that would have been really cute.
Speaker 1:That would be interesting.
Speaker 2:I know, okay. Well, oh my gosh, this one I was not ready for. After 67 years of being iconic, the Tropicana Hotel in Vegas was demolished. It was imploded and you know, some people came to, or some people went to Vegas to watch it happen, which I don't know why that would you would ever do that because I'd be so sad. It was making way for a new stadium and casino complex opening in 1957.
Speaker 2:It was known as one of the most luxurious resorts on the strip and since then it had a little fall from grace, of kind of being lumped in the category with like circus circus and the flamingo and you know. But but you could always get a good deal there, no matter what. You know, if you were looking for a room for like 27 or so, the tropicana was good, um, and the developers announced plans in 2024, earlier this year to demolish the hotel. The new site will feature a state-of-the-art stadium catering major events and concerts. I don't know, I feel sad about this. I feel like I like the Tropicana and I wish that it was still good, but I understand we have to move into the future, but already I'm not the whole sphere. I feel like Vegas is going to look like Dubai pretty soon.
Speaker 1:Yeah, unfortunately, a lot of the iconic hotels and casinos and stuff like that are starting to disappear over time.
Speaker 2:I know.
Speaker 1:A lot of them haven't been really well maintained over the years too, you know yeah.
Speaker 2:It's like the same carpet from 1957. The flamingo has the very old pink colors and it just seems like it hasn't been. But I will not be okay if Circus Circus goes away, because that's where I had my first kiss with the boy I was in love with forever and ever.
Speaker 1:Oh, nice, nice. And when I say first kiss.
Speaker 2:everyone can know what I'm saying. I know this is a family show, so we'll say the first kiss. The circus circus, the carpets and the circus circus hold a lot of dear memories to me. Not the Tropicana, luckily, I don't know. It could be worse, but I also feel like Vegas needs a new stadium. In my mind they have 10 stadiums and a million ways to have events, but who knows?
Speaker 1:Lately everyone wants a big new stadium.
Speaker 2:I know.
Speaker 1:We have that happening here too, where the Bears are trying to build a stadium. Oh my gosh, they want to build a downtown, even though they bought property in Arlington Heights. Kind of nice people. You know businesses can throw away money like that, but you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I also hope that all the workers of the Tropicana are able to find work like hopefully on this trip somewhere, or I don't know if they'll be working for the new. It doesn't seem like they're not going to have the time to wait until this new thing pops up. Yeah, I hope they're able to find some place to go.
Speaker 1:Yeah, me too. Hopefully, you know, as long as tourism stays up, I think they'll be able to find something else.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I do too. Hopefully the wind will take them all on, Maybe Trump Towers. Come on, Trump.
Speaker 1:This is actually kind of a sad story. Georgetown basketball former Georgetown basketball star her name is Sydney Wilson was shot after attacking a police officer. For everyone watching that's not aware, a police officer was called out to her apartment. Someone called for a well-being check, so the officer knocked on the door. She first opened the door and then she slammed the door on him and then he knocked again, saying you know, excuse me, ma'am, I'm just trying to check on you, make sure you're okay. And she opened the door a second time and slashed his face with a butcher knife. So you know she came out, you know, kind of like trying to charge at him, and you know he's backing up, he's got his weapon pulled out. She's like you know, stop, stop, stop, stop moving. And then she lunged at him with the butcher knife. He shot her a couple times, then, I guess, three more times and she was killed.
Speaker 1:There were so many emotions when I saw that Because they showed the body cam Of what happened. Obviously they didn't show the point of when she got hit With the bullets, but they let you hear it. And you know, I do commend the officer for trying to show restraint. Yes, unfortunately, even in 2024, a lot of times people that look like me don't get the benefit of the doubt. Right, you know we get shot and killed just if they think we have something. So even after her, his face was sl. He probably would have been justified in opening fire, but he still tried to hold back and say stop, stop. And you know, once she lunged, obviously he has to protect himself. Some people may question why the extra three bullets? But again, we don't the three shots. But we don't know Because with that adrenaline pumping, maybe she didn't go down right away with two shots and she's still on.
Speaker 1:We don't know that because, again, they're not going to show the graphic part of that exactly so I don't know, it's just weird and you know some people say, well, why did he have a taser? You know there's all kinds of whys and everything. It's just a sad, sad indication and clearly there was some kind of mental episode that was going on that probably needed to be addressed. So I don't know, it's a strange situation in both ways. What do you think about this, meryl?
Speaker 2:I think I missed the very, very, very first part. Did you say the come, he came, the reason that he originally came to her door?
Speaker 1:her well-being check yeah oh, okay okay yeah, so that.
Speaker 2:So that already makes me feel like you're totally right there. It was some like mental thing going on, in which case I feel like it is surprising. I mean, we don't know exactly what happened because we don't have the footage yet, as you said, but like I wish he was able to shoot her hand or shoot, you know, like shoot that we said like her leg or something that wouldn't take her out obviously in whole, but like would stop her mid-moment. But when someone is lunging at you, all the training in the world can go away if, like, you just have a tiny, tiny split second to react.
Speaker 2:And I agree with people of like how come not a taser? How come not pepper spray? How come this or that? But like I don't think we know yet. Um, but that is very sad on on all accounts, because I'm sure, like I don't know if he's the police officer's gonna lose his job and that everyone lost someone that they love and that's just like all. I can see how she probably overreacted and felt like she was in harm's way, but, um, I don't know.
Speaker 1:I hope I hope they're examining the footage very carefully, like more than one department, and just making sure that everything was above board yeah, I mean, you know again, he's literally standing there with his gun and he's got blood coming down from his face from being slashed. Like I said, for him to still hold restraint until the very last second. Yeah, I do give him credit for that. I really do. I sympathize with him for that. It's just a shame that it kind of went down the way it did, though.
Speaker 2:I know, and then was anyone with him?
Speaker 1:Well, he was by himself, but then he called it in and then another officer came to the scene and then his camera caught the officer with the slash and the blood coming down his face.
Speaker 2:I feel like from the beginning, if there's a welfare check or something, it should always be two people together.
Speaker 1:You know what? That's actually not a bad idea, because when you're dealing with a well-being check, you don't know what to expect.
Speaker 2:Right For everyone's safety. I feel like it's better to have two people like for them and the people they're checking on.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm. Yeah, it's better to have two people like for for them and the people they're checking on. Yeah, it's a shame though, because, um, you know, it would have been nice if she had the help that she needed. Um, but again, how do you prepare for someone opening the door and you know, I keep playing it back and forth and I don't know how you prepare yourself for that. I don't know if you can.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you have to. If it wasn't the police officer, what if someone innocent was just walking by getting into their house? You don't know if she would have attacked them too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think mental health is something that we definitely need to pay attention to oh, yeah, I mean, yeah, I live in the land of people like pulling down their pants in the middle of the street and just like you know stuff where, like I hate to say it, but I wish I don't wish anyone to be dead, but I wish they would put they. The police like put like no effort into it. So somewhere between two things is a good thing to have, but yeah, and like just having ways of stopping these things before, whether that's like some type of taser thing that you go to, or knowing, okay, she has a butcher knife, I'm going to like I don't know. It feels like there could have been a few steps in between what happened, but we don't know. It feels like there could have been a few steps in between what happened but we don't know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I would say for everyone watching you know, if you have a family member that's struggling, you know, get help. You know or get someone to help you talk to that person Because you know. The sad part is that, because of the fear of something going wrong, some people are kind of hesitant to call for help because they're thinking well, I don't want my loved one killed, I just want them to get help, right, right. So that's not a good thing either.
Speaker 2:No, and that's where I think we need an overhaul of like police training and how and what we understand police people are going through. You know, we always talk about this a lot of just understanding that people are getting into the police force for the right reasons, that they're getting the right training, and so that way we can all be a little bit calmer and even if someone's having a mental health crisis like they can have some level of trust in most police officers. That is true, that is definitely true. Aye, aye, aye, okay. I'm taking it happy for a minute where we're going to talk about a trend on TikTok that I think is so silly. Now, I know you're a happily married man, but we'll have to you'll have to extend reality at some point for some dream people.
Speaker 2:So the latest viral craze on TikTok is the hear me out trend, where people confess unconventional crushes or like attraction to surprising objects or people. It could be like a couch, it could be a pencil or you know, it could be like a or like Keanu Reeves or something, but the trend usually involves users filming a short video starting with the phrase hear me out, followed by an explanation of why they find something or someone attractive. A lot of examples are like the Lion King I saw people that were doing it over like a lot of Disney characters, like Ariel the Mermaid, which I feel like should not be that surprising. But, um, I saw some like gopher, like puxatani, phil the gopher. So I wanted to do our own and each pick a hear me out. And this is just. It doesn't have to be who we want to do things with, it just could be like who we, who we find attractive okay so take your time and think about it.
Speaker 2:Huh, let's see someone random, or something, or someone random something or something random.
Speaker 1:I would probably say and this is probably going to be weird to a lot of people but I would say Lois from Family Guy.
Speaker 2:Oh no, that's not bad at all. She's hot, she's so hot. Her and Marge are both like hotties.
Speaker 1:Well, you know, the thing is. You know she's a full-figured woman. Yeah, you know what I mean. To me, she looks like a real woman.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah yeah, and everyone has figured woman. To me she looks like a real woman.
Speaker 1:Everyone has their preference or whatever. I think she would be kind of cool.
Speaker 2:She seems like a very good one. Just a disclaimer in fantasy world, just saying I don't know your wife, but hopefully she's not going to get mad about Lois from Family Guy. Yeah, I mean, lois can't come to wife, but hopefully she's not going to get mad about Lois from Family Guy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, lois can't come to life, so she doesn't have anything to worry about.
Speaker 2:Exactly, she's no threat. You know, that's so funny because I feel like, honestly, one of mine would be Peter Griffin too, because I'm like Peter Griffin's kind of my type, but like I'm going to pick like a real-world Peter Griffin which is an out-of-shape Drew Carey. I like when Drew Carey at his heaviest, drew Carey is exactly my type.
Speaker 1:Now you know a person, a fictitious character that would probably be a great best friend to me would be Kevin James.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, he plays Doug Heffernan. Yeah, yeah, that's, that's a good character.
Speaker 1:He seems like a guy that you, that you would love to hang out with beer, watch, game, whatever like that. You know tries to get me stevia's thing that's why we all try to do it caught anyway. But you know, tries to get mischievous things past twice. That we all try to do get caught anyway, but you know I think so.
Speaker 2:I think that's great. I know I saw a lot of things where people were picking like the dog from the rat, from teenage mutant ninja turtles. You know, I just I like not so much. I would say for me like, yeah, drew carrie is my choice. Or or peter griffin oh, there you go those are some good ones. So yeah, we could do it. If anyone has a Hear Me Out of their own, I'd love to hear it.
Speaker 1:Yes, definitely. If anyone has that, we would love to see it in the comments or even on our social media. Let us know. That would be kind of fun to see no judgment.
Speaker 2:It could be Snoopy, it could be anyone.
Speaker 1:There you go, or anything you never know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yep, it could be a random water bottle.
Speaker 1:Someone probably does like water bottles like that.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Oh yeah, I mean there's people that marry their cars and stuff, so there's something for everyone.
Speaker 1:That is true. This one is a very interesting topic. Now, you know, the new iPhone out is the iPhone 16. So now and I think it's an inside job personally, but there's this thing going around where, when you order your phone, you know the phone is delivered to your house in most cases. Well, what's been happening is, after a phone is delivered, literally minutes later, a car pulls up and takes the phone off your porch.
Speaker 1:Oh my God, there's been instances where there have been other boxes there, you know from other deliveries or whatever, and they don't even look at those boxes, they go straight to the phone and it seems to be only AT&T. Oh really, so I don't know. I mean I'm no detective, but I'm willing to say there's an inside job.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely it feels like they're. I mean, that seems like also something pretty easy to trace at a certain point.
Speaker 1:Mm, hmm. Well, the interesting thing is that they're not even smart enough to wait. I mean literally minutes after they drop it off and drive away, someone pulls up to pick it up. You know whether it's a. You know UPS or FedEx drops it off, it doesn't matter. Minutes later, someone pulls up and gets the phone and drives away like OK, that's that. That can't be a coincidence.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh. Oh, I'm seeing too. It says yeah. It says like AT&T typically doesn't require signatures on delivery, verizon and T-Mobile require a signature, so I wonder if AT&T will start that.
Speaker 1:I'm really shocked that they don't, because you know, these phones are like over $1,000 dollars each. They're not cheap.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh. The person walking up I'm watching a video now, wearing an amazon delivery vest and plucking the package yes and they said there's some videos where the the heist was so quick that in some videos the fed ex-driver and the thief cross paths. What if they're walking by high-fiving each other? I think porch pirates are such a. I think it should be a really big penalty and punishment for that.
Speaker 1:I agree, I agree.
Speaker 2:I think you need to set the precedent of I think people need to be overly sentenced Not death or anything like that, obviously. I think people need to be like overly, you know sentenced, and not death or anything like that obviously, but like, like I think you should. They need to set a precedent to show that that's like you get a big penalty.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think what they need to do is take a strong look at it, because when you see that many people doing this, that's not just random, that's an organized section doing that. So I think that definitely needs to be taken a look at. And the thing is, a lot of people go well, it's a victimless crime. No, it's not the way it's not. A victimless crime is the company that has their items stolen that they have to replace to the customer that purchased them costs money. They're not going to eat that money, they're going to spread out to the rest of the customers so it's
Speaker 2:not right and and any, I would argue that, like a crime is not always victimless because you're also I mean, this is like a bigger philosophical thing but like if someone's committing a crime in in other ways, like they're all you and that person is like the victim also because they're acting in ways that are like not good for society and like anytime you commit a crime, it's it's like not good for you. You know, you know what I mean. Like oh yeah, you know what I mean. There's bigger repercussions, whether it's like people believe in karma or not, but it's like then you're in other ways, you're probably not greatly contributing to society. So I would argue that, like any crime has victims. Ultimately the victim is that person, but that's a bigger topic.
Speaker 1:A couple of times they showed on a video where there was someone. When they went up to get the phone they had a gun in their hand.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:So can you imagine if the homeowner Came out at the same time? That could go bad, really, really, really fast.
Speaker 2:I know.
Speaker 1:So, like I said, I don't think it's a victimless crime, but I do agree with you there needs to be something done with this, because this is kind of getting out of hand now. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I just had a friend, I just had this conversation yesterday. One of my best girlfriends here in LA got her. She was at the gym in North Hollywood and she had her purse in her car but like not out on the seat, it was kind of tucked under, not out on the seat, it was kind of tucked under. But then she some, when she came back it was parked in a parking garage and then when she came back to her car the car window was completely broken into and they had stolen her purse and everything.
Speaker 2:And she was so like apologetic, or you know she she kept on blaming herself, saying I shouldn't have done that, I should know better, I did. And I was like, yes, but to a certain point, like we shouldn't have to live in a society where you can't just leave your purse like peeking out and that people are going to take it and smash your windows, or you know what I mean. Like that's, we shouldn't have to be like that. And I can see if you leave your purse somewhere out on the bench, like maybe someone will go through it, but like the thought of someone breaking someone else's car window, that's not your freaking property, go away from that. She felt so bad, but I'm like no, we should be able to have a society where it's your car, it's enclosed in your stuff, everyone else got out, so yeah.
Speaker 1:That's so true.
Speaker 2:If you break into someone else's car, the penalties are really, really bad. I just don't, I don't, I just don't feel bad for feeling that way Like, and I'm sorry if people are like hard up and everything, but there's, there's different. Committing a crime should not be one of the solutions.
Speaker 1:I agree, I agree, and you know, the sad part is, most of the time the people you're robbing Are people that are barely making it themselves.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, 100% yes and like.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, don't get me wrong, I don't condone robbery or anything else, at no point. But what really kind of stings more is, especially when you hear about people Getting stuck up in poor neighborhoods. It's like dude, they're just as poor for it in you, I know, I know. I mean again, I don't condone anything, but it'd be different if you, you, you, you know, in a rich neighborhood, trying to wrap it, you're robbing your own people that you don't have anything. Yeah, I never understood that.
Speaker 2:To save my life I know, I know, and you don't know too. It's like, even robbing a rich neighborhood. You may be robbing someone that like worked their way out of some type of system and like sent themselves to college and said you know. Like you may be robbing someone that like gave a bet, their life savings on themselves and it ended up working out and then it's just like, yeah, you don't, you don't know. So I think it's crazy, but I think it has to be like. Especially if you're robbing from an individual, the punishment has to be like extra high. So we'll see. I agree, okay. Well, I already don't like porch pirates.
Speaker 2:But another very unlikable group, according to a study, is people on dating apps who highly, highly edit their photos. They edit and filter their faces to the gods and then it doesn't look real anymore. So a new study on SciPost revealed how the use of photo filters on dating apps affected users' likability and success rates. The study found that lightly edited photos with minor enhancements, like adjusting the brightness or removing blemishes, were well received and leading to higher match rates. However, when the filters were used excessively, altering facial features or skin tones, users reported lower levels of trust and likability towards these profiles. So I mean, I think this. We knew this a few years ago when the Snapchat filter of like everyone looking like a dog was really popular. I think that had its heyday and now we kind of want a little bit more real looking type filters. I can't imagine dating and trying to like find a partner and having people it's like you need to show people what you look like.
Speaker 1:You know, I agree, you know. Sadly enough, I'm not surprised about this. Yeah, yeah, but you know the thing is and some people don't understand is um, yeah, I get it. You want to look your past, you know. You want to use the filters to make you know take this away, that away, lighten or darken your skin.
Speaker 2:Here's the problem At some point you're probably going to meet each other. Yeah, yeah, yep.
Speaker 1:And, and you know, some people may kind of take a double take like, wow, who are you? You know what I mean exactly.
Speaker 2:Or if, like you, make your arms like so, so skinny, or add biceps that aren't there, and then, yeah, it's like you, I'd rather people be uplifted, like excited when they see me, rather than disappointed. You know, like I always try to be like okay, like I'm gonna look very normal, to not good on social media and then in real life maybe I'll look better. But yeah, I think it's. It's kind of, you know, you don't want people to be like feel like they're getting catfish.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, you know what? I remember we were talking about this on one episode and I think the cool thing is, if you're single, to meet someone in an everyday place like a grocery store or something, because think about a grocery store. Most people do not look their best when they go into a grocery store.
Speaker 1:So you kind of see who they are for what they are. So I think that's pretty cool because to me, when you're superficial I shouldn't say superficial that's wrong. When you're doing all the extra filters, you're changing this and changing that and stuff like that. You know some people may look at it as well. Are you a genuine person? Right, and you could be a genuine person. But again, the first thing that a person, the first thing they look at, is you as a person, and then from there they build on that with conversation and stuff. So if you're overly using these filters, I would not be surprised and I'd be interested to find out. But I would not be surprised if most people, when they saw you in real life, your relationships don't really manifest like they should. And I could. They should and I could be wrong. I could, no, I think you're right.
Speaker 2:I think you're totally right and like, a lot of times when I'm out and about working, I'll just be people watching as well, whether it's like in the, in whole foods, that when I'm sitting and writing, or at coffee shops and like, if you're a woman, like I notice men noticing women that are beautiful but they're just wearing like everyday clothes or like especially workout clothes or like, so I feel like if you're single, how you said, it's the best strategy to like look somewhat nice and somewhat presentable but then like take yourself to a grocery store or a coffee shop and just kind of like be out and about and be approachable, rather than like filtering yourself and staying home.
Speaker 1:I agree. I agree the biggest thing is be approachable, because you know there's a lot of women that say, oh, there's no good man, no one approaches me and you have to kind of step back. Are you approachable?
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Because you know, if you have this unfriendly demeanor, a lot of guys won't approach you, even the nice, especially the nice guys. They won't approach you, even the night, especially the nice guys. They won't approach you. Because you know, guys, eagles can be very fragile, so if we kind of think you shoot us down, no, we're not gonna walk up to you and talk to you, especially if someone's dressed like in like prom gear, evening wear, and it's just you know you're going shopping for like celery or something that is true.
Speaker 1:That is true, that is true. So hopefully people start to lighten up about these filters, but I think the filters are here to stay, unfortunately.
Speaker 2:I know, I know, but yeah, especially, I mean it sucks that it has to be a certain way, but I feel like the idea of like men filtering their photos so much is just like ew, why are you doing that? Like men should only use filters for editing photos of mountains and trees and stuff, not their triceps.
Speaker 1:That's true, leave it to the girls and the gays. Disclosure for me I have never used a filter.
Speaker 2:You haven't.
Speaker 1:Nope, never used it.
Speaker 2:You mean right now, you don't even have the beauty retouch on. This is just how naturally beautiful you are.
Speaker 1:Oh, thank you, Meryl. I can't believe that I'll send you that extra money later, don't?
Speaker 2:worry, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1:Well, I think we're going to end this out on a very, very, very funny note. Now, obviously, people tell you do not feed wild animals. It's not a good idea for various reasons. Well, this one woman's home was invaded by over 100 raccoons.
Speaker 2:Oh, my gosh, Kind of my dream, but I mean.
Speaker 1:And it started off where I guess there was a family, a small family of raccoons, and you know she gave them food and what ended up happening was, you know, a couple times I guess they came back and would be friends. The next thing you know the whole pack came, so now her whole backyard was just overtaken by 100 raccoons.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:That would scare the daylights out of me, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, especially if you don't know if some of them might have diseases or like, because in theory, if they were all cuddly, cute raccoons I mean this is like a dream I'd want them to climb on me and just kiss me and everything. But yeah, if they might have diseases or things that they're passing fleas like, ugh, yeah, not good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, or things that they're passing fleas like ugh, yeah, not good, yeah. And then also too, you know, especially like when you're in the wild, like in a forest or something, and people feel you know, oh, the bear is cute, let me feed the bear. Okay, yeah, that didn't go too well for a lot of people.
Speaker 2:Yeah, not at all. And then even if it goes well, like in that moment, then it makes them dependent on humans and then it kind of messes up their life and you know, like in a lot of babies, like their moms won't touch them after they have, you know, contact with humans.
Speaker 1:That's so true and the thing is too like. Let's say, for example, you see a little cub and you're like, oh, the cub is real cute. Well, here's the thing. You don't know how close that mama bear is right. So you pick up that bear, that cub. You don't realize the mama bear is watching and things are gonna go left very, very fast I know I hear you, but I also just want.
Speaker 2:I want a house full of skunks so badly, wow. And I want to look. I want like a million skunks and then when my boyfriend comes home from work, I want them to spray him just like all in one act. To me that would be so funny. I don't know why I need to go to therapy of like, why this is my fantasy.
Speaker 1:I hope he's not watching this episode.
Speaker 2:No, no, no. The good part is he watches nothing. I do but like I just want him to come home and and have one complaint about his day and then all of a sudden, my symphony of skunks just smash him. It's the little things.
Speaker 1:I hope you're going to have a whole barrel full of tomato juice.
Speaker 2:I hope so. No, we just live in that. This is our new life. I just want to live in this mouth.
Speaker 1:Wow, this was a great episode. A lot of interesting stuff, a lot of fun stuff. Good balance of topics this week.
Speaker 2:I know, and I know we didn't mention this, but obviously the sad thing that happened yesterday with Liam Payne, the One Direction have you heard about that? Yeah, so I knew this wasn't really part of it, because right now there's not a ton to say other than just it's sad. He seemed like he was dealing with obviously some bigger issues before, but, yeah, very tragic.
Speaker 1:Did they come up? It's probably too early, but do they kind of know what happened, what led to it, or is it still too early?
Speaker 2:Who knows, it could change. But like Minutes before we started recording I did hear that the hotel said that it looked like he did Jump, but like we don't know, you know, that was just. That was one source that I heard reporting on another source, so that Was what I heard, but allegedly yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that is pretty sad. I mean, you never know what a person's going through. You know, be kind to everyone because you know someone could be walking through the depths of hell.
Speaker 2:You would never know it right and I think, like a few years ago, I kind of used to think like, oh, that person's a druggie or that person's like an alcoholic. But as we learn more and more, especially about, like, music industry, we don't know what happened to him at age 14 or, you know, when he joined one direction and, like, as his journey in the industry went on, we don't know, like, the kind of things that happened to him.
Speaker 2:So it's like true a lot of the time it's like very sensitive people are the ones that end up being addicts or you know kind of getting into that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1:Sure Well, definitely. Condolences to his family, his friends and family.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 1:Well, Meryl, what do you have coming up on the calendar?
Speaker 2:Oh, my goodness, this is so funny. I look and I'm on tomorrow. I'm going to a Halloween clown house which sounds like one of my shows, but it's not. But I honestly think the next, oh yeah, okay, if anyone is in the Hollywood area on Tuesday October 9th, or sorry, tuesday October 29th, I'm doing a show at a place called the State Social House. That will be very fun, so I'm one of many great comedians that night, and then I'll just be getting ready for Halloween.
Speaker 1:Nice, nice, nice. Halloween is right around the corner.
Speaker 2:I know. Now I want to be one of the raccoons that came to someone's house.
Speaker 1:You know what? I would not be surprised If people wore some raccoon costumes.
Speaker 2:Aww, that's so sweet.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I could dress up like a raccoon, but I think for my size I'd probably scare the daylight out of me.
Speaker 2:No, I want you to be a bear, a Chicago bear like your wife, there you go. I'm putting my vote in for that too.
Speaker 1:Well, everyone, we had a great time. Thank you so much for watching us, and if you want to watch this episode again or other shows and episodes, go to ElrodTVNetworkcom. And don't forget to support us and tell everybody about who we are and what we do. I'm Lawrence L Rod and I'm Meryl Clemo. Have a great, great day everyone.
Speaker 2:Bye.
