00:01:52 ◼ ► Well, no. On the outside of the house, there are a bunch of different things that cycle through.
00:01:57 ◼ ► There's a little flickering green and red. There's one with green and red and white that
00:02:31 ◼ ► I've got a Hanukkah pattern for when Hanukkah happens that will be mixed in with the Christmas
00:02:49 ◼ ► Just go to upgradefeedback.com and you could help us start a future episode of the show.
00:02:54 ◼ ► Jason, would you like to introduce our next segment, which we're calling Tech Gifts We'd Like?
00:03:20 ◼ ► The only reason we're doing this is because of that version of this, the classic money, money,
00:03:33 ◼ ► It's all about presents, and Santa has them. This is the conceit of this topic, which is
00:03:46 ◼ ► That's where I am. I was like, "Well, let me think." Say, "Oh, I would like this or that,
00:03:53 ◼ ► maybe like a book's palm or whatever." That's fun, I suppose, but that's something I could
00:03:57 ◼ ► have for myself, but not necessarily everything. Jason, would you like to begin? What is a
00:04:13 ◼ ► there's a lot of technology stuff that I end up getting for my work. It's a really nice thing
00:04:19 ◼ ► about this. My first one is going to be... I was thinking about this a lot. The one thing that I've
00:04:28 ◼ ► thought about and I've had open in web browsers, I'm never going to get it. I'm just never going
00:04:32 ◼ ► to get it because it's impractical, but if there were no budget and no object, I just could do it.
00:04:36 ◼ ► A retro arcade cabinet. There are a bunch of companies that make these. I think what I would
00:04:44 ◼ ► ideally like is something that looks like an arcade cabinet but is actually a fully built
00:04:49 ◼ ► emulator, but it's got all of the neat input devices on it, all the buttons and sticks and
00:04:55 ◼ ► trackballs and all that stuff so that I can play classic arcade games. There are places that'll
00:05:05 ◼ ► make little packs of them or it's a replica of one. I'd really rather not. I'd really rather
00:05:12 ◼ ► have it be all the games of all time. Although if you got me a joust cabinet, I would be fine
00:05:19 ◼ ► because that's my all-time favorite arcade game. But I like the idea. I've thought about it,
00:05:24 ◼ ► about getting a full-on retro arcade cabinet. I do have one of those X Arcade tank sticks that's
00:05:29 ◼ ► got the input device for it. It's this enormous, enormous input device. But all I have to do is
00:05:36 ◼ ► pull it out and hook it up to my Mac and set it up and it's just not the same as standing at a
00:05:41 ◼ ► cabinet. So retro arcade cabinets, they're not cheap. They're kind of impractical. They take up
00:05:46 ◼ ► space that my house does not have, but yeah, I would put that on my wish list. Do you remember
00:05:52 ◼ ► at the Podcastathon, there was an arcade cabinet on the set and I think you were the same, just
00:06:03 ◼ ► constantly draw to it. Every time we were in rehearsals, I was just playing. It was Miss
00:06:08 ◼ ► Pac-Man and I was having a great time. Arcade cabinets are just, they draw you in, right?
00:06:13 ◼ ► And that's a very good pick. And yes, these days, I actually think they're all emulators of some
00:06:17 ◼ ► kind, like because it's just so much easier and more efficient. You just put a raspberry pie in
00:06:22 ◼ ► it or whatever. And that's just how the thing runs because why would you do anything more than that?
00:06:27 ◼ ► Just why not? Let's go emulate all the way. I'm actually going to meet you in this space.
00:06:38 ◼ ► Remember at your bachelor party, we went to that arcade and they had the sit down race car
00:06:55 ◼ ► they're on like hydraulics or whatever, and they move and rumble and I want the whole thing. And
00:07:00 ◼ ► with monitors all around me, covering my front and peripheral vision, full on. And these things,
00:07:07 ◼ ► you can get started in a sim for like a couple of hundred dollars, but you can go to like
00:08:00 ◼ ► And that's why I'm putting on my list the Sony XR77A95L, Bravia XR A95L, 77 inch QD OLED 4K,
00:08:22 ◼ ► because one of the reasons I don't have an OLED is because my, one wall of my living room is entirely
00:08:30 ◼ ► window. And therefore, OLED is not great with that like kind of bright lighting condition. So I'll
00:08:39 ◼ ► probably need a smart curtain for when I'm watching things when it's bright outside. But yeah,
00:08:44 ◼ ► basically I'm up for a beautiful TV and as big as possible. I like my TV. My TV is great,
00:08:51 ◼ ► but it's, you know, it's, I know that I know what I'm missing by not having an OLED. I know that the
00:08:57 ◼ ► dark grays that I see should actually be black, but they're not. And so yeah, sure, if money is
00:09:09 ◼ ► I'm reminded of when John Sarac- I think we, did we have, or did I, I think I did a standalone
00:09:18 ◼ ► mic at the movies for Kill Bill with John. I don't think it was on this show. I think it was like a
00:09:23 ◼ ► standalone that I did because it was what he wanted me to watch. And I remember his instructions
00:09:28 ◼ ► telling me that I had to close the curtains or close the blinds. I had to watch this movie in
00:09:34 ◼ ► the dark. And that's just like a funny thing for that. So yeah. That reminds me very much.
00:09:41 ◼ ► I'm going to continue. No, I'm going to go in a completely different direction actually now.
00:09:46 ◼ ► I'm going to describe to you, Jason, what would be my ideal computer set up for this desk. It is
00:09:51 ◼ ► an M4 Pro Mac Mini with 64 gigabytes of RAM, two terabyte SSD, 10 gigabit ethernet adapter,
00:09:58 ◼ ► and two studio displays. That was what I would like. Okay. Are you going to get that? Probably
00:10:04 ◼ ► not that exact configuration. Like the two studio displays? No. Like that's why this is a like,
00:10:12 ◼ ► no budget thing. I'm not going to do that. At some point in the future, I hope that Apple release
00:10:17 ◼ ► a higher quality display and then I will move that to where I have my studio display on my other desk
00:10:22 ◼ ► and then move that studio display to this recording desk. But right now the two, like the one LG and
00:10:28 ◼ ► one Dell display that I've had for years, just doing the job. But why not go to studio displays
00:10:35 ◼ ► if there's no object, you know? I like having two displays for when I'm recording. Like it's
00:10:40 ◼ ► really good. I was thinking about how I wish Apple made a state of the art super high end display,
00:10:47 ◼ ► because I would put that on my list, but I have a studio display and it's fine. And I don't want
00:10:54 ◼ ► their Pro Display XDR that's been out there for years now unchanged. No. But I do want a Pro
00:11:00 ◼ ► Motion, you know, like the whole nine yards. I want a 27 inch monitor that is built with the
00:11:07 ◼ ► same technology of what you find in the MacBook Pro. Right. But that's not what I'm asking for,
00:11:13 ◼ ► because I don't make that. But I would like that like decked out M4 Pro Mac Mini and have a good
00:11:17 ◼ ► time. And that Mac Mini is in my future. I just don't know when. But if hey, if Santa's got all
00:11:24 ◼ ► the presents, then he could just give me that. Sure. Santa does have all the presents, Mike.
00:11:29 ◼ ► Santa does. That's what the song said. So I'm expecting he would give it to me. What's next
00:11:33 ◼ ► up on your list? I have two cats. And I have another one. I also, boy, no. I also have toyed
00:11:45 ◼ ► around. A lot of this is stuff that I thought about, like, should I? And I just haven't done it.
00:11:49 ◼ ► I'd probably get or ask for a litter robot, you know, basically a first off robot in the name is
00:11:57 ◼ ► great. But like an automatic cat box cleaning thing. I've heard mixed results about whether
00:12:04 ◼ ► some people love them. Some people say they're not worth it. But if it's a gift list item with
00:12:09 ◼ ► no budget coming from Santa, I would give one of those a spin. That would be great. I would love to
00:12:14 ◼ ► try to reduce the cat box maintenance in the house with technology. That would be great.
00:12:27 ◼ ► I don't know. Don't ask me. No, I mean, it doesn't go anywhere. It doesn't go anywhere. So I think no
00:12:38 ◼ ► Siracusa gives, right? If it has to move, I don't think that that... Shots fired. But yeah, I mean,
00:12:49 ◼ ► does the robot, does it move as the rubric for a robot or not? It doesn't make any sense to me.
00:12:55 ◼ ► Okay. I mean, it moves internally, I guess. It spins. It's a little bin and all of that,
00:13:07 ◼ ► I know he doesn't like that. My next up is the PlayStation 5 Pro 30th anniversary edition,
00:13:15 ◼ ► something that is very not available anymore because they sold out very quickly. This is
00:13:22 ◼ ► the PlayStation 5 Pro, which is not really something that I want, but if I was going to get
00:13:26 ◼ ► it, I would want it to look like this. So Sony basically recolored the PlayStation and all of
00:13:32 ◼ ► the accessories in the original PlayStation gray colors with the colored logo. And I want everything
00:13:38 ◼ ► that it comes with, with the two controllers that are colored this way, the stand. It comes with a
00:13:43 ◼ ► cable that you can plug into your controller that looks like it's plugging in the original PlayStation
00:13:49 ◼ ► controller. Overall, the package is fantastic, but I had no need for it and would not spend the money
00:13:56 ◼ ► for this because I don't feel like I've gotten the most out of my actual PlayStation 5, let alone
00:14:01 ◼ ► thinking about a PlayStation 5 Pro. But again, if Santa has all the presents and he's going to give
00:14:05 ◼ ► one to me, I'll take this. All right. Makes sense. I like it. I am going to next ask for a proper set
00:14:15 ◼ ► of reliable video cameras for the outside of my house. Santa, I hope Santa's got a startup.
00:14:23 ◼ ► Some PC funding. Santa Cam. Look, he's got to do something for the other 11 months of the year.
00:14:30 ◼ ► I mean, he sees you when you're sleeping. He knows when you're awake. He knows if you've been bad or
00:14:34 ◼ ► good. How? So therefore he is really part of the surveillance state already. Cut me in Santa.
00:14:41 ◼ ► Yeah, I've explored a bunch of different video cameras inside and outside the house. None of
00:14:46 ◼ ► them are reliable. They're very frustrating. I'm not really willing to spend the money on something.
00:14:53 ◼ ► I just want a couple of cameras out there. First off, some of it's just for my own entertainment,
00:15:00 ◼ ► but also just to be able to peer out there. I could keep it on during recording to see if
00:15:05 ◼ ► somebody's there. At one point, something happened to somebody's car on my street and they're like,
00:15:11 ◼ ► "Oh, you've got a camera. Did you see it?" And I was like, "Let me check. Oh, the camera completely
00:15:16 ◼ ► failed." And I thought, "Why am I even doing this?" But if I'm going to do it, I want it to
00:15:21 ◼ ► actually work. And the stuff that I've got is just terrible. So I'm just going to say, I don't need
00:15:27 ◼ ► your recommendations. Tell Santa what product I should get. Because I think the truth is the
00:15:32 ◼ ► amount of time, effort, money I would have to put in to get this is more than I'm actually willing
00:15:38 ◼ ► to spend. But I'll put it just out there. That would be one of those things where it's like,
00:15:43 ◼ ► I don't even want to do the shopping and ask for the particular product. I want a team of elves to
00:15:48 ◼ ► come in and install an entire infrastructure and cameras and wiring and everything. And I want to
00:15:55 ◼ ► give zero input about the entire thing because I'm kind of fed up with it. - My last two I'm
00:16:02 ◼ ► actually going to do together because they are two sides of the same coin. It is the remarkable
00:16:08 ◼ ► paper pro and the Google pixel nine pro fold. These are devices that I find so interesting,
00:16:16 ◼ ► but I know I would not use. I would like them for like a day, right? Or like for the occasional
00:16:27 ◼ ► thing, but they are way too expensive for the amount of use I would personally get from them.
00:16:32 ◼ ► So the remarkable paper pro is the color version of the remarkable, right? So it's like the thing
00:16:37 ◼ ► where you can draw on it and you can read on it. - It's an e-ink tablet with a stylus. - Exactly.
00:16:43 ◼ ► And then the Google pixel nine pro fold is the folding pixel, right? And I think both of these
00:16:48 ◼ ► things technologically are fantastic. And they look like great versions of what they are, like
00:16:54 ◼ ► maybe even the best versions of what they are, but they're just not products that I would use enough,
00:17:01 ◼ ► partly because of the ecosystems that I'm in, right? So like the Google pixel nine pro fold,
00:17:07 ◼ ► if Apple made this, this would be my phone, right? Because it's got all my stuff. And if I,
00:17:13 ◼ ► I don't know, annotated documents more, the remarkable would be great. It's like both of
00:17:32 ◼ ► I was going to say the ecosystem that you're in for the remarkable is that paper and nice pens,
00:17:43 ◼ ► in the end you actually appreciate paper and pens and having to use a stylus and a paper substitute
00:17:51 ◼ ► tablet would, I think you would hate it. Yes, because look, they cannot make this feel like
00:17:59 ◼ ► pen and paper. They can't, they can't, especially to me, someone who really knows what that feels
00:18:04 ◼ ► like. Somebody who knows, yeah, exactly. I'm sure it feels great to write on, but different to pen
00:18:11 ◼ ► and paper. All right, I'll give you a last one, which is again vague because I don't know if
00:18:18 ◼ ► there's one out there that really fits the bill right now, but I have a lot of hardware floors,
00:18:23 ◼ ► especially in our living room and kitchen. And although I have a Roomba that we use and is very
00:18:30 ◼ ► loud and robot vacuums are best used when there's nobody in the house and I'm always in the house.
00:18:36 ◼ ► So it's not ideal, but I do like it. It does, we don't sweep every day, right? And so the robot
00:18:43 ◼ ► going through and vacuuming our floors every day is great. But what I've thought a lot about is
00:18:49 ◼ ► probably could have a robot mop because we also don't mop on a regular basis, maybe once a week.
00:18:54 ◼ ► And what I've read is, first of all, they make combination mop and vacuums that are apparently
00:19:01 ◼ ► not very good. I'm going to say I have the Roomba combo and I have been very happy. All right, well,
00:19:09 ◼ ► see, there you go. Anyways, and I've got a Roomba, so I could get a combo or I could just get a robot
00:19:14 ◼ ► mop and they could fight it out, right? The Roomba and the robot mop could fight it out. But that's
00:19:19 ◼ ► on my list. Again, it's not a thing I've bought. It may not be a thing that I ever buy, but I have
00:19:25 ◼ ► had that thought because I do like my gadgets and I do have that expanse of wood floor that could
00:19:30 ◼ ► probably use a proper mopping more often than it gets done. So I'll put it on my Santa list. Again,
00:19:36 ◼ ► this is the whole idea here. Is it stuff that I, at least I approached it a lot as stuff that I've
00:19:42 ◼ ► thought about buying and then thought, no, like some part of me overrides it, like it's not
00:19:46 ◼ ► practical or it's too expensive or I might not use it or I don't know how well it works. But for a
00:19:53 ◼ ► gift list, works for me. This episode is brought to you by Squarespace, the all-in-one website
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00:21:56 ◼ ► of Relay. There's so much I eat for Christmas. There's so much I eat for Christmas. There's so
00:22:04 ◼ ► much I eat for Christmas. Could you grab me a beer? Good advice. We're gonna tier list. We're gonna
00:22:11 ◼ ► tier list. Let's go. Tier list time. Christmas food. All right. So we have established a list
00:22:19 ◼ ► in our document here of different things that I'm assuming the two of us like or don't like to eat
00:22:25 ◼ ► for Christmas. I don't know. We're going to collaborate on a tier list S-A-B-C-D-F is the
00:22:32 ◼ ► tiers in case you've never done this before. I'll put a link in the show notes. If you feel like,
00:22:36 ◼ ► what's a tier list? I'll put a link in the show notes to what I think is a classic episode of
00:22:40 ◼ ► Upgrade. I will put the video version in the show notes in fact. So you can see us tier list the
00:22:46 ◼ ► app icons from the Summer of Fun this year which is a great time. Ah yes, that was a good one.
00:22:49 ◼ ► But we're gonna do a tier list of food and I think the only place for me at least that you can start
00:22:57 ◼ ► with Christmas is Turkey because here in the UK we don't have Thanksgiving so the Turkey dinner
00:23:05 ◼ ► is at Christmas. Ah. Turkey is... I think you could make a case for Turkey to occupy essentially every
00:23:16 ◼ ► spot on the tier list. I think different people could make that argument. I personally would say
00:23:30 ◼ ► Uh I'm pro Turkey. Okay. You're in the pro Turkey lobby. I agree with you that Turkey can be
00:23:41 ◼ ► bad. It's often overdone so it's dry and awful. But you know what my favorite sandwich maybe is
00:23:51 ◼ ► a turkey sandwich. Like especially like sliced turkey breast and like oh you put some other
00:23:59 ◼ ► things that we're going to mention later. Ah probably on that sandwich. Boy that's good. I love it.
00:24:03 ◼ ► Leftover turkey after Thanksgiving it's great. But it can be made badly. It can be made very badly.
00:24:09 ◼ ► And I've spent a long time as I've detailed on this podcast trying to make good Turkey.
00:24:15 ◼ ► So I you know I think I kind of came in expecting we would just acclaim this as a great Christmas
00:24:26 ◼ ► food but I will go with you. If you're willing to go to B tier I'm willing to park it there
00:24:36 ◼ ► because it is so variable. I think there are so many bad Turkey experiences you can have. And
00:24:41 ◼ ► also there are just in my opinion so many things better than the turkey on my plate. Like even if
00:24:47 ◼ ► the turkey is good I just feel like I can't have it occupy a higher spot based on everything that
00:24:54 ◼ ► surrounds the turkey. So now there's foment and discord in the discord right now. Of course.
00:25:02 ◼ ► Suggesting that I might be in the pocket of big turkey. And I know that was meant as a joke to
00:25:07 ◼ ► TJ but it's almost true because the perhaps the best purveyor of turkeys in America especially
00:25:16 ◼ ► like high quality farm raised turkeys is Deestle which is based in my hometown. And I actually went
00:25:24 ◼ ► to school with a Deestle. So the heir to the turkey fortune. I am kind of in the pocket of big
00:25:32 ◼ ► turkey. I mean I'm not. I have no gain but I was very close at one point I was very close to the
00:25:40 ◼ ► pocket of big turkey. Big turkey bias on this show is what we're saying. Big turkey bias.
00:25:47 ◼ ► How do you spell that? D-I-E-S-T-E-L. Look at this. As they say meal time snack time anytime.
00:25:58 ◼ ► That is not. Nobody thinks of turkey this way. People think of turkey as one time. That's what
00:26:05 ◼ ► I like about this right? Meal time snack time anytime. No turkey is one time. You could try
00:26:12 ◼ ► Deestle as hard as you like. I'm just gonna say as a representative of big turkey not a week goes by
00:26:19 ◼ ► that I do not have turkey. I'm sure you do because you're in the pocket. Everyone else is like hey
00:26:25 ◼ ► turkey I know when I'm having that you know. Hey beat it turkey. It's one time. Beat it turkey.
00:26:30 ◼ ► In America two times maybe. I'm gonna ask you to bring the next two actually because I can't
00:26:35 ◼ ► believe that these would even be up for consideration. Okay well beef like roast a roast
00:26:42 ◼ ► or a steak and a ham like how we had the honey baked ham at Stephen's house. Yeah yeah. These
00:26:50 ◼ ► are alternate alternate proteins for the for the holiday table for the Christmas table. Ham I can
00:26:56 ◼ ► understand more because I've had it as part of Thanksgiving and enjoyed that right so like I
00:27:01 ◼ ► can understand if you've had turkey at Thanksgiving that you would have ham so you're not having two
00:27:07 ◼ ► turkey dinners a month apart even though as we've already established actually that's fine because
00:27:12 ◼ ► you can have turkey for meal time snack time anytime so. Any time. Two turkeys a month apart
00:27:18 ◼ ► no problem because it's meal time. Ham I get more. I can't personally imagine a steak with
00:27:26 ◼ ► don't you have like a Christmas roast though isn't that a thing and. Roast beef no I mean roast beef
00:27:32 ◼ ► is part of a roast dinner which it could be any time of the year any Sunday I get. Yes. Steak I
00:27:37 ◼ ► can't imagine so much um roast beef maybe ham I would say I'm not so much of a roast beef fan
00:27:46 ◼ ► anyway. Oh interesting. I would say. The king is disappointed in you. Maybe I mean for me I would
00:27:53 ◼ ► put if I was putting these just where I would where I put them I would put beef as a C and ham
00:27:58 ◼ ► as an A I think ham is a better meal than turkey a better meat than turkey for this but I would like
00:28:04 ◼ ► to know what you think. Uh I well we don't have ham in our house because Lauren doesn't eat it.
00:28:28 ◼ ► that I insisted we do something else for Christmas and we got a ham instead. Um it's fine.
00:28:34 ◼ ► Um I I think you have correctly identified my issue here which is if you have a big turkey
00:28:41 ◼ ► for Thanksgiving having another turkey which we're gonna do this year it can be very samey
00:28:49 ◼ ► and so I have definitely had that where it's like that's too much effort we just had one
00:28:53 ◼ ► I'm just gonna make a roast or a steak or something like that or or I suppose a ham but not in my
00:28:59 ◼ ► house so I don't know um let's put we don't need to talk about steak we'll just put we'll put beef
00:29:07 ◼ ► roast beef on the list I would say at uh C tier. Okay. And ham I think I think uh is is too high
00:29:19 ◼ ► I would put that at like B or C tier. What do you think? I would let's put ham at C tier too.
00:29:25 ◼ ► Okay. I want to uphold the tradition of turkey. Of the turkey. All right the turkey turkey wins
00:29:31 ◼ ► that one I think that's I think you're right I think that's how it should be alternates below.
00:29:36 ◼ ► I have what I think is an easy S tier. Okay. Roast potatoes. Roast potatoes. Now how big are these
00:29:45 ◼ ► how be are these are these individual little potatoes are these sliced potatoes that are
00:29:49 ◼ ► then roasted like uh in chunks what what form do roast potatoes take it's like where we would like
00:29:54 ◼ ► to like chop them up so so that a big potato became a bunch of little tiny pieces of potatoes.
00:29:59 ◼ ► Tiny. That are then roasted. I wouldn't say tiny. Let's let's imagine a decent a regular potato
00:30:05 ◼ ► you'll cut that up into quarters or sixths. Sixths. And that will be roasted and so you end up with
00:30:11 ◼ ► this perfect thing that's for me what worst potatoes are some people like to roast them whole
00:30:15 ◼ ► I don't understand why you do that like to me. That's a big potato that's a big no you can take
00:30:21 ◼ ► smaller potatoes and you can dress them oh yes them yes you can roast small potatoes yes I think
00:30:26 ◼ ► this is basically the same parboiling put them in with oil roast them this is my favorite thing
00:30:34 ◼ ► on the Christmas meal like interesting without a shadow of a doubt I come from a strong
00:30:45 ◼ ► and I've carried on the tradition in my family of good roast potatoes so that that's I actually
00:30:51 ◼ ► just right now Jason I made a note in our document I keep a so I keep a list of all the edit points
00:31:01 ◼ ► right yeah for the show and I just made one for a crosstalk and instead of writing crosstalk I
00:31:14 ◼ ► I got them on the mind so I'm all roast all the time including at 44 minutes and 13 seconds in
00:31:21 ◼ ► our show recording. Good note good note I appreciate it holiday special note so are you saying S tier
00:31:28 ◼ ► I mean I'd put them at A tier easy they're great if if you can't imagine a world for S tier but I
00:31:34 ◼ ► think roast potatoes are an S tier material okay let's put them up there they're great they're
00:31:39 ◼ ► great but now we have controversy because you know what I like I like mashed potatoes you know like
00:31:46 ◼ ► the mashed potatoes you gotta liquify everything you know just think it all in one go I like mashed
00:31:54 ◼ ► potatoes I do I do not as much as I like roast potatoes I haven't written mashed potatoes down
00:32:03 ◼ ► in our edit note document if that's what you're asking. Yeah that's right well that's that's
00:32:08 ◼ ► really the tell I don't even know what we're doing here why don't we just post why don't you just
00:32:12 ◼ ► read out your document and that'll tell everything about how you feel about all these things I'd be I
00:32:17 ◼ ► feel like mashed potatoes are very very good I love them they don't they don't have to be S tier
00:32:21 ◼ ► but I would put them at A or B. I think that mashed potatoes they're a good A I just think
00:32:28 ◼ ► potatoes are great right in all forms oh yes I agree and so but I don't I don't think they're
00:32:34 ◼ ► as good as roast but I I would put them up there well we'll put them in A tier which brings us to
00:32:42 ◼ ► the the other potato related thing that we've got on this list a thing my mother always made
00:32:50 ◼ ► the candied yams these are sweet potatoes is this aka sweet potato casserole no this is uh
00:32:58 ◼ ► you have you have baked or roasted sweet potato that is then covered in a melted marshmallow
00:33:05 ◼ ► right I mean I do love that by the way sweet potatoes and marshmallow I love that now not
00:33:12 ◼ ► at Christmas though I mean you've gone a step too far that is a Thanksgiving food in my mind I would
00:33:24 ◼ ► foods that I have I have excommunicated from my life from my holiday plate I'm fine with that
00:33:31 ◼ ► like I've only ever had them as an adult and I've had them like three times I could imagine every
00:33:36 ◼ ► year if I'm eating this every year I don't think I could do it so I put it down as a is it an F
00:33:50 ◼ ► you're gonna want candy jams in there I do too let's put it a D yeah I'm gonna now pick I'm gonna
00:33:57 ◼ ► talk about my favorite vegetable side from my Christmas dinner maple glaze root vegetables I
00:34:04 ◼ ► would choose parsnips and carrots for this as a little extra now this is the stuff right so
00:34:10 ◼ ► they're roasted first they're roasted in oil and maple syrup and it's so good so good so even even
00:34:19 ◼ ► ten years ago I would I would be decrying this but I I've discovered over the last ten years that if
00:34:25 ◼ ► you roast terrible vegetables they're edible yes that's the best way to do it yeah I've just got
00:34:32 ◼ ► to just got a point out in the discord this is incredible to me Zach says Mike's picks are very
00:34:37 ◼ ► British what else would they be you know I'm not I'm not eating an American Christmas dinner you
00:34:42 ◼ ► know like come on I'm eating I'm eating a good British Christmas dinner so you know the King
00:34:48 ◼ ► came over and he was like I spoke to Tim now I'm here to tell you how to do yeah I love these again
00:34:56 ◼ ► s-tier no they are not made a tier I would say yes because look I like carrots and I like parsnips
00:35:04 ◼ ► I like them they're fine they're great roasted but you know how they're even made better they put
00:35:07 ◼ ► maple yeah yeah I know I get behind that like I've eaten these things roasted and they're and
00:35:14 ◼ ► they're edible and I believe it or not like the fact that I can eat a carrot at all I'm never
00:35:17 ◼ ► gonna like carrots yeah I find it ironic that I actually prefer broccoli to carrots when they're
00:35:25 ◼ ► roasted which broccoli was literally like my least favorite broccoli and cauliflower and now I
00:35:31 ◼ ► actually like them quite a bit when they're roasted olive oil little salt carrots I would
00:35:37 ◼ ► never say I love them but they're edible and parsnips same they're a little more potato like
00:35:47 ◼ ► I guess so that's good you know Mike I'm never gonna really get behind this I don't but I don't
00:35:55 ◼ ► hate them so what do I do I mean I don't you know you would eat them I would eat okay here's what
00:36:03 ◼ ► here's where we are with this as the plate plates are getting passed around yeah and there's a plate
00:36:08 ◼ ► with maple glazed parsnips and carrots on it mm-hmm and it comes to me now classic Jason move and a
00:36:16 ◼ ► lot of these events is just keep on passing that plate yeah yeah would I take a little bit of parsnip
00:36:23 ◼ ► and carrot and put it on my plate I would would I eat it I would when that plate comes back to me
00:36:29 ◼ ► again or somebody holds it up and says anybody want more parsnips and carrots would I ask for
00:36:34 ◼ ► more no here's what I'll say is going on what you're saying that plate is given to you right
00:36:43 ◼ ► and they're on there like you've been given the plate no already on there you've got to have some
00:36:47 ◼ ► vegetables right because otherwise someone's gonna say I guess I have no vegetables sure these are
00:36:52 ◼ ► the vegetables you're gonna want no the number one vegetable is yet to be picked here but but
00:36:57 ◼ ► nobody depends I think I know where you're going and that one depends okay maple glazed parsnips
00:37:03 ◼ ► and carrots you're always gonna enjoy it because it's at least no I'm not you're always gonna
00:37:09 ◼ ► enjoy it I'm not okay see I mean if you're offering see I'll take see you seem so upset
00:37:17 ◼ ► about the vegetables that I feel like I can't get you to go to be no I'll tell you because you love
00:37:23 ◼ ► them all right let's go would be because you love them even though I do like I said I would eat them
00:37:27 ◼ ► okay and you love them and I would eat them and I figure that will average that out to a B all right
00:37:39 ◼ ► casserole loved by Midwesterners everywhere okay Mike I'm gonna make my pitch for it are you ready
00:37:46 ◼ ► I'm ready green beans are the worst and I put this on the list so I could say green beans stink
00:37:55 ◼ ► green bean casserole you're like we put a bunch of stuff on the green beans you know what you did
00:37:58 ◼ ► you put stuff on bad stuff like it doesn't matter it doesn't matter what you put on them green beans
00:38:04 ◼ ► are awful down with green beans thumbs down what a terrible terrible vegetable the worst
00:38:10 ◼ ► have Merry Christmas everybody we I like green beans I gotta tell you I like green beans
00:38:21 ◼ ► I've never had a green green green bean casserole in the way in which you describe it to my knowledge
00:38:29 ◼ ► so really I cannot speak to green bean casserole well let's let's let's take a tour through the
00:38:37 ◼ ► green bean casserole recipe okay born in the Campbell's soup test kitchen in 1955 it has
00:38:43 ◼ ► stood the test of time boy has it just five staple ingredients and 10 minutes of prep no wonder it's
00:38:47 ◼ ► a beloved family favorite one can of cream of mushroom soup no thank you half a cup of milk a
00:38:55 ◼ ► teaspoon of soy sauce four cups of cooked cut green beans and then over the top you sprinkle
00:39:02 ◼ ► french fried onions and bake it in a casserole dish I don't like the soup here why we I don't
00:39:10 ◼ ► why is this well in the 50s Mike in America all food got covered in mushroom cream of mushroom
00:39:16 ◼ ► soup that was I like the idea of green beans and I like the idea of fried onions I don't like the
00:39:24 ◼ ► sound of mushroom soup yeah yeah mmm Midwesterners I love you I have friends who are Midwesterners
00:39:31 ◼ ► mm-hmm this ain't it I'm sorry it's okay then we had it we had a dish that we had frequently when
00:39:39 ◼ ► I was a kid that was chicken and little little soft onions and cheese and green bean casserole
00:39:48 ◼ ► or not green bean casserole and cream of mushroom soup cream mushroom soup and it was it was pretty
00:39:55 ◼ ► good but like again I'm reminded of the fact that my mother is from Western Pennsylvania which is
00:40:01 ◼ ► technically I would say again point of contention the Midwest very Midwestern if it's not the
00:40:06 ◼ ► Midwest Western Pennsylvania and that was a very Midwestern kind of dish put cream of mushroom soup
00:40:12 ◼ ► in it where are we putting this Mike please make it go down low as low as possible I've never had
00:40:20 ◼ ► this I don't like the sound of it so I'm happy to put it in F which is a holiday I've never had it
00:40:29 ◼ ► all right so I'm going on how that sounds and just trust me option trust me okay trust me I will
00:40:36 ◼ ► I trust that bring that brings us to Brussels sprouts yeah okay okay first off Brussels sprouts
00:40:44 ◼ ► have a terrible reputation but so bad little little known that over the last 30 years 20 years
00:40:50 ◼ ► they have bred Brussels sprouts to be less bitter they've literally changed what the vegetable is
00:40:57 ◼ ► because people refused it and modern Brussels sprouts are actually pretty good they're not as
00:41:03 ◼ ► bitter and you roast them and they're tasty and you can they are great roasted they are great
00:41:08 ◼ ► roasted with a little balsamic vinegar there's a dish that we often make for the holidays where
00:41:13 ◼ ► you actually use some garlic and some sriracha and you make kind of Asian influence it's from
00:41:21 ◼ ► a it's from a restaurant in in Austin Texas actually is where it came from and Moises told
00:41:26 ◼ ► me about it but like they're like soy garlic sriracha Brussels sprouts Chris kind of crispy
00:41:33 ◼ ► because they're roasted they're so good Brussels sprouts I if I'll tell you this is how much I've
00:41:38 ◼ ► changed as an eater is if they're Brussels sprouts as an appetizer on a menu at a restaurant I go to
00:41:44 ◼ ► we absolutely order them like every time because Brussels sprouts roasted with some stuff on them
00:41:52 ◼ ► some cheese or whatever the dishes they're great I I'm completely bought in on Brussels sprouts now
00:41:59 ◼ ► I don't like Brussels sprouts on their own really I kind of do I don't like love them but I really
00:42:07 ◼ ► like them with bacon like that that for me Brussels sprouts and bacon is what opened my mind to see I
00:42:14 ◼ ► can't I can't do that in my in my household I can see why that would be good but there are so many
00:42:24 ◼ ► Brussels sprouts would suggest to me that they should go pretty high now I can't imagine breaking
00:42:33 ◼ ► the B ranking to be honest oh I think Brussels sprouts are a tier I really alright go for it
00:42:39 ◼ ► put them in okay I'm gonna put them in stuffing now well if you're if you're gonna have a bird
00:42:45 ◼ ► you're gonna have to have stuffing right that's theory the theory anyway yeah I don't cook
00:42:51 ◼ ► stuffing in the turkey now British stuffing tends to have sausage meat in it hmm interesting and
00:43:00 ◼ ► it's real good basically deconstruct a sausage and add some bread to it or like a stuffing mix
00:43:09 ◼ ► maybe some onion I love stuffing I think it's fantastic it tastes super good I think it is a
00:43:17 ◼ ► honestly stuffing it's my favorite meat as well interesting Christmas dinner yeah it's real good
00:43:25 ◼ ► real real good so first off a health note you shouldn't actually make the stuffing in the
00:43:31 ◼ ► bird because there's cross-contamination that's potential and you could get sick so you should
00:43:35 ◼ ► just make it and yeah I like stuffing I don't love it but although you just described a stuffing that
00:43:44 ◼ ► sounds a lot of fun too I think it's good I think I think it's a I think it is maybe the best bread
00:43:51 ◼ ► related option as well in some ways to have a you want a little a little starchy kind of thing there
00:44:00 ◼ ► I mean you got your potatoes but like you can get like rolls or bread or something but stuffing is
00:44:04 ◼ ► good so where should we put stuffing I would say it's an a-tier I'll go with that I'll let you do
00:44:09 ◼ ► that I'm not I have no objections to that but I would like to add another a-tier sausage friend
00:44:16 ◼ ► to my to my plate here now this is what we call pigs in blankets which is Americans think of pigs
00:44:25 ◼ ► in blankets are what we would call a sausage roll pigs in blankets to us are little sausages wrapped
00:44:31 ◼ ► in bacon right where pig in blankets for us are little hot dogs in a pastry or a even that's not
00:44:39 ◼ ► what I would consider a sausage roll but yes I've seen this before but let's say little sausages
00:44:45 ◼ ► cocktail sausages as they're sometimes known yeah wrapped in pieces of bacon excellent just excellent
00:44:51 ◼ ► just a great time give me some pigs in blankets and you have that holidays you have that holidays
00:44:57 ◼ ► yes part of Christmas yeah sausage pigs pigs wrapped in pigs the blanket is is more pig is
00:45:03 ◼ ► what you're saying I will say in in England it seems like while you know we Turkey is the
00:45:10 ◼ ► duckies you know it's like oh it's the turkey dinner there's really a lot of pig on the plate
00:45:15 ◼ ► to be honest I say it's a lot now I know this is gonna be complicated for you what kind of bacon
00:45:20 ◼ ► is this I have to ask that question because bacon can be different things tends to be streaky bacon
00:45:24 ◼ ► because it's got to be thin right right so it's more like American bacon yeah it's more like this
00:45:28 ◼ ► we're good at wrapping things in bacon too yeah because the streaky bacon is is more wrappable
00:45:32 ◼ ► mm-hmm well okay um I'm willing to put this I'm willing to put the concept of pigs and blankets
00:45:40 ◼ ► up high if if you will acknowledge that it could be either kind because I actually do kind of like
00:45:45 ◼ ► an American pig in a blanket sure I mean a hot dog sounds fantastic like that that sounds fantastic
00:45:54 ◼ ► yeah a a tear oh let's just do it I mean I feel like we're building a great dinner sure all right
00:46:02 ◼ ► well I'm gonna ruin it let's ruin it what's our next item I demand this is this is created last
00:46:08 ◼ ► year when you told me that story so let's put it in there aspect whoa here I have had as part of
00:46:17 ◼ ► remaining meat inside gelatin so it's meat and vegetables suspended inside a pork gelatin one
00:46:25 ◼ ► of one of the traumas of my life I apologize to everybody in Eastern Europe but just the worst
00:46:31 ◼ ► I'm sorry that you have to go through this terrible well there's there's no tear below F so F tier it
00:46:38 ◼ ► is F I love I love that aspect and green bean casserole are sharing a cell that's how I hope
00:46:44 ◼ ► this would go I don't understand this next item so why don't you tell me about it so chocolate is a
00:46:51 ◼ ► big thing at Christmas little you know you got a little treats around the house right you just like
00:46:57 ◼ ► you're eating them every now and then a little chopper yeah a little chocolate was Cadbury they
00:47:01 ◼ ► are the purveyor of good chocolate and they produce lots of there are a lot of companies
00:47:07 ◼ ► do this but I like the every ones and there's a couple of different things where they're
00:47:10 ◼ ► essentially assortment boxes of individually wrapped chocolates and my favorite and it is
00:47:17 ◼ ► like a classic for me is from when I was a kid they make something called Cadbury roses you only
00:47:22 ◼ ► buy these at Christmas and they're a little various chocolate you might get just a derrimac one maybe
00:47:27 ◼ ► one with nuts in it one with a like a strawberry sausage a strawberry filling maybe an orange cream
00:47:39 ◼ ► filling it is just a good time this is to me an S tier part of Christmas just the in general idea
00:47:46 ◼ ► of boxes of chocolate that are just open that you can freely eat at any point in the day just a
00:47:54 ◼ ► great time I'm gonna suggest that we've just put chocolate in the S tier that is absolutely cuz we
00:48:00 ◼ ► have we have similar things here for different holidays but also at Christmas they're like
00:48:05 ◼ ► Hershey's kisses no don't write me about Hershey's but like again just like the idea that there are
00:48:09 ◼ ► various kinds of chocolate that are just around is great whatever chocolate you want to me novelties
00:48:15 ◼ ► Hershey's tastes like chalk so I cannot well you can't spell chocolate without chalk chocolate
00:48:22 ◼ ► done I don't like chocolate but I don't choose it I choose good chocolate but I also don't mind it
00:48:29 ◼ ► it's like fast-food chocolate it's fine whatever okay really quickly we're gonna get through the
00:48:33 ◼ ► desserts here pumpkin and or sweet potato pie I love it I think it's necessary I put it up at
00:48:40 ◼ ► very high having one of those Maggie kind of pies I love it what do you think hey Tia I like to do
00:48:47 ◼ ► it can pile up it's good sweet potato pie is just like pumpkin pie except I think better ginger
00:48:53 ◼ ► snaps or gingerbread S tier I agree ginger is the best gingerbread is the best and again this is the
00:49:00 ◼ ► time of year where where there's just like ginger stuff laying around for you to I build a red house
00:49:05 ◼ ► every year it's my favorite things you know you know the story right about how I terrorize my
00:49:10 ◼ ► children now I told you that sorry but tell me again yeah yeah cuz they wanted to eat the
00:49:15 ◼ ► gingerbread house so I got a hammer and I smashed it and my children like a legend for all time and
00:49:22 ◼ ► finally eggnog I really like eggnog but it's complicated you know I don't I actually you know
00:49:32 ◼ ► what Mike I've never had eggnog because it sounds so disgusting that's the thing so eggnog sounds
00:49:38 ◼ ► disgusting tastes great in my opinion with alcohol why don't we see tear it because it is complicated
00:49:47 ◼ ► even though I was complicated okay so we conclude the the Christmas food tier list S tier roast
00:49:54 ◼ ► potatoes chocolate and ginger snaps or gingerbread we could stop there quite frankly odd plate though
00:50:02 ◼ ► you can't stop there right you're not allowed to stop there but then let's mix in the a-tier
00:50:08 ◼ ► mashed potatoes Brussels sprouts stuffing pigs and blankets and pumpkin pie or sweet potato
00:50:14 ◼ ► pie B tier turkey maple glazed parsnips and carrots for Mike C tier the other the alternates
00:50:22 ◼ ► roast beef ham as well as eggnog D tier candied yams and F tier Sharon a space in the dungeon green
00:50:31 ◼ ► bean casserole and aspect the worst plate boo put the yams and the casserole in the aspect together
00:50:38 ◼ ► and hand that to a person you don't like your mean old uncle but the but the yams in the casserole
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00:51:56 ◼ ► oh at Christmas time you'll see me watching Christmas movies and TV and your dear friends
00:52:05 ◼ ► at upgrade know the best shows the best shows the best shows and movies now now what would
00:52:14 ◼ ► that what would a special episode be without a draft Christmas content draft favorite TV
00:52:21 ◼ ► shows favorite movies of the Christmas season that we like do they have to be Christmas
00:52:26 ◼ ► movies I don't know we'll find out I suppose Jason what's your first pick a Charlie Brown
00:52:33 ◼ ► Christmas very good it is the soundtrack alone I've already listened to multiple times and
00:52:46 ◼ ► very Charlie Brown it's the most Charlie Brown peanuts thing that there could possibly be
00:52:57 ◼ ► for me to get to so Charlie Brown we had the family over at the weekend we were doing like
00:53:01 ◼ ► a little Christmas thing so we're gonna be together at Christmas so we just came together
00:53:04 ◼ ► and someone asked everyone to go around pick their favorite Christmas movie to which started
00:53:15 ◼ ► it's not the debate you think okay thank goodness yeah home alone versus home alone too and
00:53:20 ◼ ► I after having the spirited conversation came down on home alone too as being the more Christmassy
00:53:29 ◼ ► of the home alone movies okay okay I mean any home alone too as well is the reason that
00:53:36 ◼ ► everybody outside of America wants to go to New York at Christmas oh this is interesting
00:53:42 ◼ ► yeah growing up everyone wanted to do Christmas in New York and I believe it's because of
00:53:47 ◼ ► home alone too you know one year at Macworld Expo in New York we stayed at a hotel where
00:53:57 ◼ ► Christmas it was so strange that was made in Manhattan starring Jennifer Lopez I believe
00:54:03 ◼ ► oh wow wow made MA ID in Manhattan but it was like of course back when they made a hallmark
00:54:10 ◼ ► Christmas movies as regular movies yeah basically before they just became cable TV what many
00:54:24 ◼ ► be something that my wife introduced me to that I had never seen before and I think legitimately
00:54:29 ◼ ► is my favorite Christmas movie now and it's a classic and I highly recommend it to people
00:54:35 ◼ ► it moves along fast it's an old movie but it's super enjoyable I just I think you would
00:54:41 ◼ ► like it I think it I think it plays well to a modern audience there's there's good jokes
00:54:45 ◼ ► there's a good message it's miracle on 34th Street that was a huge surprise for me when
00:54:51 ◼ ► we did it as Mike at the movies yeah I did not think that I was going to enjoy that movie
00:54:58 ◼ ► because it's an old black and white Christmas movie but it has some twists and turns it
00:55:03 ◼ ► it really does and it's and jokes I mean there's there's there's also jokes it's not the movie
00:55:09 ◼ ► you think it's gonna be when it starts to where it's really not it's not sappy or anything
00:55:20 ◼ ► I'll put it this way to the guy who plays Santa Ana nominated for an Academy Award okay
00:55:25 ◼ ► it's a good movie yeah it's a very very good movie it's a very very good movie has a lot
00:55:32 ◼ ► to say about customer service by the way which I think is interesting for upgrade listeners
00:56:05 ◼ ► from a building you know like is there anything more in the spirit of Christmas I don't think
00:56:10 ◼ ► so anything so yeah anything could be a Christmas movie if you watch it at Christmas I know
00:56:14 ◼ ► that this is some people deeply disagree with this but I just don't I don't agree I think
00:56:19 ◼ ► Die Hard has because if Die Hard was not a Christmas movie it has become one exactly agreed
00:56:26 ◼ ► yeah 100% that's a great pick another I would say latter-day classic and I know that people
00:56:35 ◼ ► don't particularly like well that's not true a lot of people like this actor some people
00:56:40 ◼ ► can't stand this actor and other stuff he's been in but I would say this is the perfect
00:56:46 ◼ ► perfect Will Ferrell performance yes I agree 100% elf this is like there aren't many modern
00:57:00 ◼ ► this is it elf is one of them elf is a great movie a great Christmas movie the story gets
00:57:14 ◼ ► I think you're probably referring to the moment where it sort of becomes a Lord of the Rings
00:57:18 ◼ ► parody which is very strange like why is the is the the the NYPD suddenly like a monster
00:57:32 ◼ ► that is riding evil horses and like it's it gets it gets real weird but that's okay because
00:57:37 ◼ ► then the spirit of Christmas comes upon us all and it's great so yes it's a great movie
00:57:45 ◼ ► I'm now gonna do the thing about movie that is now a Christmas movie for me but it's not
00:57:52 ◼ ► a Christmas movie at all I watched for the first time at Christmas last year frozen and
00:58:04 ◼ ► I loved it at Christmas I think frozen fits very well for Christmas because it's there's
00:58:10 ◼ ► ice and snow everywhere and it's just great I would probably say frozen one and two I'm
00:58:15 ◼ ► probably gonna watch both for them but yeah that I think the frozen movies are good movies
00:58:20 ◼ ► to watch at Christmas but I understand many parents have watched these movies many times
00:58:25 ◼ ► all year but the first time I'd seen them was last Christmas and I think I want to make
00:58:36 ◼ ► board now still a little bit unexpected mm-hmm but a it's actually a New Year's Eve tradition
00:58:45 ◼ ► for us okay but it's a silly silly movie that you can watch anytime and I'm gonna go back
00:58:51 ◼ ► further back into the past even then miracle on 34th Street whoa this is a movie that makes
00:58:58 ◼ ► my son crack up and he is a child born in 2004 and yet a movie from 1933 totally worked
00:59:27 ◼ ► it came out in 1933 it's about the rise of fascism but it's also just wall-to-wall bits
00:59:34 ◼ ► just comedy jokes comedy bits that just repeat and are and they kill so duck soup is a New
00:59:40 ◼ ► Year's Eve tradition for us but I'm gonna I'm gonna call that part of the holiday season
00:59:52 ◼ ► like 70 minutes long I mean it's like really short but it's packed with jokes it ends in
00:59:57 ◼ ► an absurd way that is I think intentional in terms of their message about war and against
01:00:11 ◼ ► traditional Christmas fair and pick a movie that I don't necessarily expect all the people
01:00:32 ◼ ► Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a dad who is essentially not very good because he I don't think he's
01:00:44 ◼ ► very if I remember is a very attentive dad and he's tasked with buying an action figure
01:00:50 ◼ ► called turbo man for his son and he goes too late and he doesn't get turbo man he misses
01:01:10 ◼ ► caught up in a parade and becomes turbo man it's incredible and ridiculous and very that
01:01:19 ◼ ► yes full spoilers for the movie jingle all the way yeah if you've been waiting to watch
01:01:31 ◼ ► I don't know as in the 90s I guess when just Arnold Schwarzenegger made these kinds of movies
01:01:36 ◼ ► and this is just one of those it's basically the type of movie that the rock used to make
01:01:42 ◼ ► as well you know like that kind of like we're gonna put a big muscly guy in a peculiar role
01:01:58 ◼ ► made that movie but he didn't make a Mandela effect right yeah Sinbad was actually in this
01:02:03 ◼ ► movie also starring Phil Hartman Rita Wilson Jim Belushi is it Sinbad or is it Shaquille
01:02:10 ◼ ► O'Neal that they thought was Sinbad or Sinbad I think it's something like that Sinbad is
01:02:29 ◼ ► but people remember it as being called something else and with Sinbad and it's just something
01:02:34 ◼ ► like that brain thing all right for my next pick I could I could be pretty generic here
01:02:42 ◼ ► but I'll be a little bit less generic so since 2005 there has been a Christmas or New Year's
01:02:47 ◼ ► special for Doctor Who almost every single year because it's a British thing right British
01:02:51 ◼ ► TV American TV has basically fled or put football on now for Christmas but British TV I came
01:03:00 ◼ ► to realize it is a thing right like everybody puts the special everythings on at Christmas
01:03:07 ◼ ► and so they do Doctor Who Christmas specials which are great but I have two that I want
01:03:11 ◼ ► to recommend more broadly that are my favorites I used to have one and now I have two there's
01:03:16 ◼ ► a Christmas Carol which is got Michael Gambon is the star of it it's with Matt Smith as
01:03:24 ◼ ► the 11th doctor the it's the ghosts of Christmas past present and future are appeared to Michael
01:03:31 ◼ ► Gambon via time travel because it's they got a time machine it's so such a good riff on
01:03:39 ◼ ► a Christmas Carol it's fun it is exactly what a Christmas special should be yeah excellently
01:03:45 ◼ ► done and then the one that I've added to the list is with Peter Capaldi also written by
01:04:12 ◼ ► just a great episode so I actually have a Plex playlist of Doctor Who Christmas specials
01:04:25 ◼ ► participates in this tradition it's a good vibe that some of them are better than others
01:04:29 ◼ ► but that those are a good vibe and I'm looking forward to this year's Moffat is coming back
01:04:34 ◼ ► to write another Christmas special because apparently Russell Davis is like I can't write
01:04:38 ◼ ► Christmas specials don't make me and so they bring they brought Moffat back to do another
01:04:47 ◼ ► I'm gonna pick an episode of television that is Christmas themed that you probably shouldn't
01:04:51 ◼ ► watch at Christmas but it is oh best episodes of television I've ever seen so I feel like
01:04:56 ◼ ► it needs to be included and that is the bear fishes oh yeah yeah this is the the holiday
01:05:07 ◼ ► feast with the the seven fishes of the nine fishes or whatever yeah that where that you
01:05:12 ◼ ► know ends with a car smashing into the house spoilers sorry spoilers for the bear spoilers
01:05:20 ◼ ► for the bear they're all they're all incredibly emotionally damaged I don't think that's much
01:05:23 ◼ ► of a spoiler for the bear yeah if you want to feel very very incredibly tense over Christmas
01:05:30 ◼ ► watch this episode of television it's maybe a perfect piece of television I don't think
01:05:40 ◼ ► of Christmas content about including it it's great I'm gonna go with the Muppets Christmas
01:05:55 ◼ ► the Muppets doing a thing because everything's better with Muppets in it I don't understand
01:06:12 ◼ ► that I don't I don't understand why they just don't do every year there's a thing where
01:06:25 ◼ ► a franchise that's really been mismanaged by Disney I did an incomparable episode where
01:06:29 ◼ ► I pitched a movie that was Disney's Marvel's Muppets the Avengers or something like that
01:06:44 ◼ ► they make live-action versions the quote-unquote live-action versions of all these classic
01:06:48 ◼ ► animated Disney movies I do not know why they do not also make Muppet versions of classic
01:06:53 ◼ ► Disney movies and Marvel and Star Wars like it would be so fun and I think people would
01:07:04 ◼ ► my rant about the Muppets I'll just say Muppets Christmas Carol it's a Christmas Carol but
01:07:08 ◼ ► with the Muppets and it's good it's really good so sure Muppets put it on Muppets Christmas
01:07:14 ◼ ► Carol for my last pick love actually oh okay all right you know I know at this point that
01:07:26 ◼ ► movie is so played out right like I get it it's like memed into oblivion but it's there
01:07:32 ◼ ► was a time in British cinema when movies were like this it's like yes like this is like
01:07:42 ◼ ► a British romantic comedy it is and also it's worth remembering because love actually was
01:08:02 ◼ ► popularized that format yeah although Richard Curtis had been doing it already yeah right
01:08:12 ◼ ► the one that was the huge one yes like the Richard Curtis like movies are all great but
01:08:18 ◼ ► they were still like interesting people together but what love actually did that I think was
01:08:26 ◼ ► where it's kind of like an anthology in one movie where like say something like Four Weddings
01:08:31 ◼ ► and Notting Hill there they have a more of a of a typical structure of a movie like you're
01:09:02 ◼ ► her career then like and it's also very funny and very well written and and like the movie
01:09:08 ◼ ► yes it is played out but if you have not watched love actually in a long time I recommend going
01:09:13 ◼ ► back to that movie because I think it will surprise you how good it is considering these
01:09:24 ◼ ► it where I'm like I don't know about that but the the it's got a good vibe and the cast
01:09:30 ◼ ► is bananas everywhere you look there's somebody that you will recognize even people who were
01:09:42 ◼ ► or that's the that's Thomas Sangster who's been in a million things but he was just the
01:09:46 ◼ ► kid back then but he's been he was in Game of Thrones right like it everywhere you turn
01:09:51 ◼ ► why is Billy Bob Thornton in this movie well I guess he's the president the United States
01:09:55 ◼ ► it just keeps going it's it's a yeah that's a wild movie good pick and and it really was
01:10:01 ◼ ► like its thing was hey look at all these people like that was the poster the poster was just
01:10:06 ◼ ► look at all these people and then there ended up being even more of them it's a great movie
01:10:27 ◼ ► Games as a thank you to Lex and so who doesn't love word games monsters that's who and this
01:10:38 ◼ ► so give yourself the gift of joy with Lex.Games Lex.Games is an iOS app and website with nine
01:10:45 ◼ ► daily word games if you like games that are like word or connection of crossword puzzles
01:10:50 ◼ ► you will like Lex.Games probably but for everyone games include collections lexicogs bio vowel
01:11:08 ◼ ► over there but for everyone else Lex.Games is a fun collection of mostly free and fully
01:11:14 ◼ ► ad free word games pony up a cheap subscription for a couple of specific games or just play
01:11:24 ◼ ► guy who's written all these incredible jingles for us and there are no fewer than three songs
01:11:58 ◼ ► is Lex.Games/relay or in song form Lex.Games/relay of course that copy was written by Lex of
01:12:08 ◼ ► course because it's excellent thank you Lex.Of course it was well you know what it's time
01:12:40 ◼ ► Thank you Lex.Jingles all the way.First question comes from Elizabeth when is it okay to put
01:12:49 ◼ ► Christmas decorations out and when should they have to come down?Well in the US I would
01:12:57 ◼ ► say Thanksgiving is a good barrier to Christmas decorations in the US I would not put them
01:13:02 ◼ ► out before the day after Thanksgiving Black Friday I guess and they like I think I think
01:13:08 ◼ ► they should probably come down after New Year's Day there's a little bit of a like New Year's
01:13:38 ◼ ► the day after Halloween it's too much it makes it less special if a whole one sixth of the
01:13:43 ◼ ► year has Christmas in it.I agree.Yeah so somewhere between Black Friday and the first of December
01:13:54 ◼ ► leave it till the next weekend I'm not gonna judge.We put up our tree way too early this
01:13:58 ◼ ► year because we were going away at the end of November and at the first week of December
01:14:02 ◼ ► so I didn't want to come home to there being no Christmas tree so we put it up a bit early
01:14:06 ◼ ► but that's the reason why but I would usually go into December 1st and I agree the weekend
01:14:29 ◼ ► my answer.Okay give your answer.You can think of one.Sure.So I mentioned it earlier but
01:14:37 ◼ ► buy like a kit and I'll make the gingerbread like actually bake the gingerbread.It's easy
01:14:57 ◼ ► up not getting all of the liquids in at the same time so I couldn't bring the gingerbread
01:15:26 ◼ ► of the traditions in our house is that I build a gingerbread house and I very much look forward
01:15:34 ◼ ► Don't smash it with a hammer. Unless you want to traumatize them I guess. I mean I thought
01:15:39 ◼ ► it was funny and it's like remember when daddy smashed that thing with the hammer it's like
01:15:43 ◼ ► oh boy okay sorry I just thought it was funny. It is funny. Maybe if I used like a comedy
01:15:49 ◼ ► mallet like a rubber mallet or something it would have been fun. Maybe if you would have
01:15:52 ◼ ► like put tinsel around the hammer it might have made it more Christmas-y. But I brandished a hammer and smashed it.
01:16:07 ◼ ► good. I have made some they're almost gone I'm probably gonna make more if there's enough
01:16:13 ◼ ► ginger for it because they have lots of ginger in it but they're great and I'll do some other
01:16:24 ◼ ► do a round of like sugar cookies because you can cut those out into fun little shapes and
01:16:28 ◼ ► then put like sprinkles or icing on them and decorate them and you know they're fine and
01:16:36 ◼ ► kids are home or whatever. Cooking at Christmas is just a fun thing to do. So that's my answer.
01:16:48 ◼ ► housework and asked Father Christmas for it for Christmas. I got a PlayStation and said
01:17:03 ◼ ► I absolutely would want it to be a non-human looking house cleaning robot. Like if I could
01:17:26 ◼ ► It's picking things up and cleaning underneath like it's doing the whole nine yards you know.
01:17:40 ◼ ► a robot apocalypse which I highly recommend it's called Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky
01:17:45 ◼ ► it might be appearing in the Upgrady's but a robot butler that does not look like a human
01:17:57 ◼ ► straightening it's picking up dishes and rinsing them off and putting them in the dishwasher
01:18:24 ◼ ► how they have different they go through different cycles of the fashion of a robot and it's
01:18:29 ◼ ► like oh and then we look very human and then people found that disturbing and I think he's
01:18:32 ◼ ► like almost like a clown mask where it's like a face but it's just got like like dots like
01:18:45 ◼ ► No thank you. Maybe you already answered this but aaaah asks what are the ideal kinds of
01:18:56 ◼ ► Oh wow I would probably okay it depends on who the audience is here if you want to make
01:19:04 ◼ ► Santa happy you leave Santa some of those really nice ginger molasses cookies and probably
01:19:11 ◼ ► like a drink like bourbon or something that's what Phil Michaels always left out a bourbon
01:19:18 ◼ ► for Santa when his daughter was younger. If you want to make the kids happy you put out
01:19:23 ◼ ► milk and sugar cookies that are probably shaped like I don't know reindeer Santa snowmen whatever
01:19:44 ◼ ► I encourage parents to put out your favorite cookie and your favorite beverage for Santa
01:20:10 ◼ ► I have no preference here because I have mostly lived in a place that doesn't have snow growing
01:20:15 ◼ ► up we did have snow occasionally my 1988 Christmas which was my freshman year in college it snowed
01:20:55 ◼ ► probably prefer snow because it was beautiful I always wanted there to be snow on Christmas
01:20:59 ◼ ► Day as a kid and it never happened I thought it never would and then my freshman year in
01:21:06 ◼ ► I think that the Christmas season is made that little bit nicer when there is some snow
01:21:24 ◼ ► Christmas I have had there has been snow at Christmas but like proper like snow at Christmas
01:21:49 ◼ ► He might have an iPad in the sleigh or you know and back at home they might have a whole
01:21:59 ◼ ► I think that list is an app now and he's got it down the chimney there so he's got it's
01:22:22 ◼ ► Benjamin Babish there is a I'll put a link to the video that they did for holiday cocktails
01:22:45 ◼ ► And I will recommend an episode of the incomparable game show episode 245 where we play a game
01:22:54 ◼ ► of mind meld and one of the questions is about what goes in eggnog and and you'll find out
01:23:02 ◼ ► interesting thoughts about what people who don't understand eggnog put in eggnog I don't
01:23:06 ◼ ► drink eggnog so I have no opinion here but I think I put I think rum is what I answered
01:25:12 ◼ ► Aaron final question real tree or artificial tree and why which do you have now and have
01:25:27 ◼ ► it's got the tree smell your house smells like there's a tree in it which there is which
01:25:32 ◼ ► If I could get a tree that was like in a pot that I could put inside and then put outside
01:25:50 ◼ ► My mom has an artificial tree now but we always had real tree when I was growing up and I
01:26:19 ◼ ► I think that would be really good and I would I know I would appreciate it and there are
01:26:34 ◼ ► So it's funny because when you said that you put up your tree early before you before Thanksgiving
01:27:12 ◼ ► But we have not bought a new tree so like we found like a really small tree it's called
01:27:19 ◼ ► So right we have this very small Christmas tree in the downstairs now which is just like
01:27:33 ◼ ► But the tree is trying its best out here right it's decorating nice so I think we get away
01:27:57 ◼ ► I wouldn't want that you can do it I would not want a full size tree like that but people
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