Transcript
Todd: Got your Kansas City postseason shirt, collector's item.
Talkin2Todd: once every 10 years, whether we deserve it or not.
Todd: Buy all of it. Buy all of it. You don't know when this is going to come around again.
Talkin2Todd: Levels, levels.
Todd: Levels, levels.
Todd: hey Hey, good news from the sports world.
Talkin2Todd: Way to pull in that audience. Okay, go ahead.
Todd: So I finally found a place in professional sports where the women are treated exactly like the men.
Talkin2Todd: Is this the WNBA thing?
Todd: No.
Talkin2Todd: it the other WNBA thing?
Todd: Not that one either, no.
Talkin2Todd: What about the other WNBA thing?
Todd: You know, they got a lot on their plate right now. Nope, it's it's it's not that. And we don't need the other theme. Nope, none of those.
Talkin2Todd: Well, we know it's not the NCAA thing.
Todd: Yeah, that's not that's not their brand. Very true.
Talkin2Todd: so okay, so what did you find?
Todd: Okay, so a couple of weeks ago, Lisa and I went to the Real Salt Lake versus Burnley friendly.
Talkin2Todd: I, okay, I remember that or I'll say I remember that. Sure, why not? I'll play along.
Todd: Okay, and then
Talkin2Todd: it by the By the premise, by the bit.
Todd: Sure. Otherwise, this is going to be hard to get out of this cold open. And then last week we went to the Utah Royals match in the same stadium.
Talkin2Todd: that That's the women's team, right, in WSL?
Todd: Yes. Yes, they are.
Talkin2Todd: Okay. So the men and the women play in, oh, well, they play in the stas same stadium. That's that's equality, right? Is that it?
Todd: Well, it is, but nope, nope, not that. So when I was at the RSL match, I took a picture of the beer prices, and we talked about it on the show. So then when I went to the women's match, I was going to take another picture so that we could talk about those concession prices.
Talkin2Todd: Yeah.
Todd: But I didn't need to because the prices for the beer were exactly the same.
Talkin2Todd: Shouldn't the price of the beer at the women's game be 70% of the price of the beer at the men's game?
Todd: you would You would think. but But apparently not. Nope, nope. Exactly equal.
Talkin2Todd: Progress.
Talkin2Todd: i Hi toddlers. Welcome to talking to Todd, a weekly podcast with Dwayne Johnson and Todd Prenz, where failure is always an option. Thanks for joining us. Hey Todd.
Todd: Hey, how's it going?
Talkin2Todd: Pretty good. Pretty good. How are you?
Todd: Not too bad. Not too bad. Time to make the buttons on the soundboard a little bigger. just need need to Need a bigger touch target.
Talkin2Todd: Yeah, I fat faith yeah fat figured the soundboard there is is exactly what I did.
Todd: Yeah.
Talkin2Todd: Yeah. i like But here's the thing.
Todd: Yeah. Yeah.
Talkin2Todd: Soundboard knew that Dwayne guessed wrong and he was never going to get it.
Todd: There you go. Perfect. Yep. Just getting ready for later in the show anyway. So.
Talkin2Todd: Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Yep. So no, we won't. We'll do that later. we'll Do that later.
Todd: Okay.
Talkin2Todd: Feedback, follow up and updates.
Todd: Yes.
Talkin2Todd: greg sent us a Greg sent us a photo from Leeds-Liverpool match. I'm guessing he didn't go, but sent us a photo from it.
Todd: Yes. Yes. showing Showing a lead supporter with a sign in front of him. The top part of the flag, it was a flag, said dirty leads. Know who you are. Just know who you are.
Talkin2Todd: Done Dirt Cheap? is
Todd: It's entirely possible.
Todd: Hey, shit shouldn't you guys be picking on leads like this? Look, man, they know who they are. They're fine.
Talkin2Todd: They would be. who Who are we to quibble?
Todd: Yeah. Yeah. They're just trying to stay on brand.
Talkin2Todd: Nobody beats on my brother but me. Okay.
Todd: Yeah.
Talkin2Todd: Danny wanted to know whether or not you were really clueless on the Stanley Cups or whether or not it was a bit. Can we clarify?
Todd: Sure, we can. i mean, the fact that that he even has to ask is is really great. I mean, I think that's just, I think we've gotten to a great spot in the podcast where where the assumption is, is like, everybody knows about that. There's no way that Todd could know about that. And yet, there's so many things he doesn't know about. Yeah.
Todd: i
Talkin2Todd: He's never seen Bull Durham. And so here we are.
Todd: Yeah. Yeah. So I was I'm aware of the Stanley. Yes, I'm aware that the Stanley Cup thing is everybody wants their Stanley Cups, the mugs, the insulated mugs. It's the thing that brought Stanley back from whatever. Uh, I, what I didn't know, however, was that Dwayne was going to put one of those mugs on the photo, uh, on the, on the show art, uh, until he told me he's like, I Googled it. This is all that came back. Like, oh yeah, that makes sense.
Talkin2Todd: It tracks. Yeah, absolutely. Yes. So, yeah. its hey And i believe what you said was, well, the internet has spoken.
Todd: Yeah, I guess that's what that is now. Okay, we live here now. Okay, cool. That's what that means.
Talkin2Todd: Well, we started out talking about concession stand pricing. Josh, the Dino Toppler, sent to us some pricing.
Talkin2Todd: this was This is kind of a a toddler, talking to Todd Venn diagram kind of thing, because it overlapped both permanent signage and prices.
Todd: Yeah, so so so Josh sent an email, and the the head the the title of this was, you know the rule about signage. If there's a sign for something, you know it happened more than once. So while they were at Disney World, they were in one of the stores, and he they he took a picture of the pricing, the sign for Magic Band Plus. This is the the band...
Todd: that you you can buy nice ones and it has the tracking chip in it. They don't call it the tracking chip. It's the tracking chip that lets you pay for things and,
Talkin2Todd: Oh, God, now we're going to get sued by Disney.
Todd: it's a guest it's a guest experience It's a guest experience monitoring system.
Talkin2Todd: It's okay. They can have all the money we made.
Talkin2Todd: There you are.
Todd: Yeah. Powered by the and NSA. Nope, that's not true. This is better than what the and NSA has.
Talkin2Todd: Nope.
Todd: Anyway, it says MagicBand Plus, and then below it, in smaller letters, it says, not for internal or subdermal use.
Todd: Josh says, i wonder what this I wonder what the story is behind that disclaimer.
Talkin2Todd: Please do not swallow.
Todd: don't Or
Talkin2Todd: Please do not swallow the magic band.
Todd: slide it under your skin. Subdermal.
Talkin2Todd: So then I had to do some internet research.
Todd: Uh-oh.
Talkin2Todd: Someone someone apparently did this. Took the band apart.
Todd: Of course.
Talkin2Todd: inserted and first they tried to clone the RFID chip, but that didn't work. But so they took this thing apart.
Todd: onto an RFID chip that is actually designed for subdermal use, I'm assuming.
Talkin2Todd: Yes.
Todd: Yeah.
Talkin2Todd: Yeah. You know, like a, like a little tracking chip that you put in your, in your pets.
Todd: Yeah.
Talkin2Todd: designed for subdermal use. Those are typically not rewritable though, but these are rewritable.
Todd: Hmm.
Talkin2Todd: So, but the generic ones wouldn't work. So they had to tear apart one of these Disney versions and then inserted it under their skin so that they could just, you know, tap their wrist rather than where the watch-like device
Todd: band on their wrist where they would have to tap.
Talkin2Todd: yes yes just yes correct yes
Todd: Just checking. Okay.
Todd: Sweet. Sweet. Cool.
Talkin2Todd: by by the way uh by the way the cheapest magic band is 35 if you if
Todd: Apparently the sign's necessary.
Todd: but what
Talkin2Todd: if you if
Todd: what i find What I find hilarious about this pricing is Oh, now I understand. i see. OK. Right until this moment, I thought they were charging based off of the color of the band.
Todd: I see the color is there to denote the price range. I thought if you wanted to buy a cyan colored one, you were paying top price. I think what they're doing is they have a cyan sticker. OK.
Todd: That makes more sense. But none of this makes sense, because the cheapest one is $34.99. Duane, do you want to cover the rest of the prices?
Talkin2Todd: They go up from there. 45 bucks, 50 bucks, 55 bucks and $64.99.
Talkin2Todd: All of which do the exact same thing as the free app on your phone. Remember, you're buying this thing to wear on your wrist in addition to the cost of your park admission and your fast passes.
Todd: And in parking.
Talkin2Todd: and concessions
Todd: And food. And the hat with the ears.
Talkin2Todd: and and the hat with the ears and the little light up wand that some members of the senate were seen with at one point in their in their lives no theme
Todd: but
Todd: Pour one out for a real one. Never mind. Yeah.
Todd: Anyway, thank hey, Josh, thank you for that. I love the fact that people are in the wild and they see a sign and their first thought was, i wonder what I wonder why you had to put that on there. Now, Dwayne then goes, I'll tell you exactly why. There's this nerd in Illinois that you've got to be who who also is now on a lot of antibiotics, like so many antibiotics.
Talkin2Todd: this This was a rabbit hole that I absolutely did not need to go down, but thanks, Josh.
Talkin2Todd: Yep, that's how I spent my morning one week. Yeah, I spent a week doing that one morning. That's how it felt. That's how it felt.
Talkin2Todd: Do we have any corrections? Do we get all the feedback?
Todd: i don't I don't think we have any. Nope, I think we've got all the feedback and I don't think we have any corrections.
Talkin2Todd: Okay, follow up.
Todd: Yep. I have some have some Waymo follow-up if of that.
Talkin2Todd: Okay?
Todd: a judge in santa mon A judge in Los Angeles Superior Court has given the city of Santa Monica a temporary restraining order against Waymo from using their side-by-side charging system.
Todd: overnight. Apparently it's their lot, but basically the city of Santa Monica has claimed nuisance. They have chargers that the Waymos can pull up and I guess they automatically charge themselves because otherwise, you know, you'd have to have somebody there. But they happen 24 hours a day. So in the middle of the night, Waymos are pulling up and charging.
Todd: And then as residents point out, when they start backing up, then they do it. Then they start beeping very loudly. and they're also they're also backed up around the corner. So what what is basically a residential, there's a private school on one side and a bunch of apartment complexes, and people were complaining since December of 2025 that there is racket at all hours of the night. City of Santa Monica has sued. Waymo is fighting that. However, the judge has at least issued a TRO while the court while the case continues. Waymo is continue is going to appeal the TRO,
Todd: and is also fighting the fact that they are a nuisance. sit People who live near the area since that came into effect have said, this is so nice, I can finally i can finally sleep. So everything's great. Everything's great. Normally electric cars don't make that much noise, but when...
Todd: But as we found out when they all go into that one lot and just start beeping their horns, this is not the first time Waymo's had a problem with all the cars beeping their horns. So way to go, Santa Monica.
Talkin2Todd: Isn't this just a software push? When you're in this geofenced area, do not hit the beeping back up.
Todd: Apparently, they didn't they didn't suggest that. And so i they didn't say we could fix it. They just said that we're not a nuisance. And so now it does say the city officials and the neighbors have said that the constant stream of vehicles charging creates a light and sound pollution and cause undue traffic congestion on streets and nearby alleys.
Todd: creating a collective bother and a disruption. They're not allowed to use this between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. They can use it the rest of the time. But, you know, during quiet hours, can we just keep it quiet?
Todd: So there you go. Quick, just if you're in Santa Monica and you want to use a Waymo, maybe don't grab one like at 6 a.m. to run to the airport. The car may not be fully charged. So maybe grab it later.
Talkin2Todd: that's
Todd: Just just if you first fly it out, maybe grab a real taxi.
Talkin2Todd: Maybe that's a great suggestion.
Todd: Yeah.
Talkin2Todd: this was This was something I learned this week, but it's we're not to that point in the show.
Todd: Okay.
Talkin2Todd: We we talked about Liverpool and Leeds.
Todd: Yep.
Talkin2Todd: And
Talkin2Todd: again i went down a rabbit hole you'll never walk alone is the liverpool anthem right i mean it's on their crest blah blah blah yes yep do you know who the the most common version of this theme do you know who's saying the most common version that they play and and you know is their adopted theme
Todd: Yes. Yep.
Todd: It's sung before every match. Yeah.
Todd: Uh, I do not know. No.
Talkin2Todd: Okay.
Todd: Okay. Sure.
Talkin2Todd: Jerry and the pacemakers. is jerry Lisa will look at you like you have three heads. It's Jerry and the pacemakers. Anyway, here's the ironic thing that I learned this week.
Todd: Shocking that it's them. Sorry. That's.
Talkin2Todd: know, at least they could keep the beat. the to The ironic thing, although the cop helped make the song famous, Jerry was an Evertonian.
Talkin2Todd: He made his band wear Everton blue jackets when they went to Hamburg, Germany. Yes, it's Liverpool and they're red He was absolutely not. That was the thing that i learned this week. Anyway, I thought that was kind of interesting.
Talkin2Todd: There you go.
Todd: But he cashed the checks.
Talkin2Todd: little piece of follow-up. Yeah, absolutely.
Todd: But he cashed to the checks.
Talkin2Todd: oh You're damn right he did.
Todd: Listen, listen, I'm not red on blue, but you know what else I am? I'll take the green. Just give me the green.
Talkin2Todd: Yeah.
Todd: ill I'm fine with the green.
Talkin2Todd: Let's see. Okay. So little little little piece of follow-up that leads us to a transition. last week
Talkin2Todd: Last week, the Taylor Center and the Legal Eagles outdid themselves, right? Absolutely outdid themselves. Do I need to play the Todd's Tech Corner theme again from last week?
Todd: I mean, do we have do we do we have two minutes to we do? I mean, we do. or We always do. I mean, that's it's up to you. You control the soundboard.
Talkin2Todd: Okay. Well, it if you need to listen to it again, you can always jump back. It starts at about the five minute mark of last week's episode. Or if you skipped last week's episode, you could always go back and start about the five minute mark of last week's episode and listen to the Todd's Tech Corner theme and disclaimer that was provided by the Taylor Center for Technology Policy and the Legal Eagles.
Talkin2Todd: Here's the thing. Last week, it came in, I loaded it on the soundboard and you and I just listened to it live with our immediate reactions
Todd: Yep.
Todd: Yep. We're basically now just a YouTube channel that just listens to music live.
Talkin2Todd: and react.
Todd: First time hearing music expert. First time hearing the Beatles. Now you're not an expert then if you're just a Jesus Christ. Anyway, sorry.
Talkin2Todd: So
Talkin2Todd: This banger has been on heavy rotation ever since.
Todd: hey
Talkin2Todd: Because i am a Gen X rock and roller and they know their audience because, yes. So I've been playing it regularly because it's awesome. it yeah I believe in Jesse's words, it shreds.
Talkin2Todd: However,
Talkin2Todd: I just want to put out there.
Talkin2Todd: And I don't wanna critique the songwriting progress of Suno who helped generate this, but can I get a songwriting credit if we change that? Verse two, 14 new features, he'll break down every everyone Todd knows this stuff better than the guys who wrote the code.
Talkin2Todd: It's supposed to rhyme. Todd knows this stuff better than anyone. That's it. That's the way it needed to go. It needed to, Todd knows this stuff better than anyone. Just saying.
Talkin2Todd: And unless he was going for a, what's the, the, the, the private eyes. Do remember the private eyes movie with Don Knotts and Tim Conway, where the clues were rhyming except for the last line, which was terrible.
Todd: Just they were setting it up and then never delivering.
Talkin2Todd: setting it up and then it went to uh you know made a hard left turn right before it got to the point of the rhyme where it would make sense yes anyway anyway um
Talkin2Todd: yeah i that would that would be my first suggestion for songwriting credit
Talkin2Todd: Jesse also sent us, you commented during our discussion that perhaps it might be a little long to play every week. Jesse actually sent us a shorter version to play as a theme intro.
Todd: Oh, okay.
Talkin2Todd: In the meantime, not realizing he was going to do so, I also edited my own shorter version and loaded it on the soundboard. So when it comes time to get to Todd's Tech Corner,
Talkin2Todd: well we'll have one of those. i did It generally takes us two, three, four weeks to lock into something. And then, you know, anyway, so we'll have that.
Talkin2Todd: The other piece of of feedback on this, I guess this is feedback from us to Jesse now, rather than the opposite direction.
Todd: We're switching the polarity.
Talkin2Todd: The legal eagles that we put on the hood of the car
Todd: Yeah. Yes.
Talkin2Todd: Okay, so...
Todd: AI generated cartoon eagles and Dwayne has some thoughts.
Talkin2Todd: Well, one of them has wings. Both of them have eagle heads. Human bodies, eagle heads. One of them has wings.
Talkin2Todd: The other doesn't.
Talkin2Todd: One of them has claws and talons... while playing a guitar. The other one has regular hands, good job AI, and is wearing shoes.
Talkin2Todd: I don't know whether or not there are talons underneath the leather shoes or not. Just so much inconsistency going on there. I just
Talkin2Todd: don't think too hard, Duane.
Todd: I love Duane is now completed correcting the internet and he's now moving on to correcting the AI. So this is, this is going to be, this is, he's he's, he's, he's, his, his next couple of weeks are going be booked for a while.
Talkin2Todd: Uh-oh.
Talkin2Todd: Oh, my God. Did you have any other thoughts about the Todd's Tech Corner theme?
Todd: I did not. No, no, it was good. But, you know, I think I think I'm good.
Talkin2Todd: OK, should we move into Todd's Tech Corner?
Talkin2Todd: Yes.
Todd: September is going to be heavy. Todd's tech corner. All the Apple events are coming. So, I mean, if you want me to cover text stuff now, I can.
Talkin2Todd: but hold Hold on, hold on.
Todd: But yeah.
Talkin2Todd: do
Talkin2Todd: Okay, yes, now it's time for Todd's Tech Corner. Todd, apparently there's news coming in September.
Todd: Yes, there will be new Apple phones in September.
Talkin2Todd: Okay, cool.
Todd: We'll cover it.
Todd: But not all the phones you expect.
Talkin2Todd: And we will...
Todd: Some, some, but not all.
Talkin2Todd: Oh. Oh, okay.
Todd: Yeah.
Talkin2Todd: and And we'll play the theme on heavy rotation.
Todd: Every single week.
Talkin2Todd: Absolutely, we will. We... We don't even like salad. There were so many title options. So many, so many title options that were considered, including we don't even like salad. Different tailor, different farms.
Talkin2Todd: Finally settled on so you don't have to which we liked also. Okay. Now where are we? Oh, I played the theme before.
Talkin2Todd: We can play the theme again.
Talkin2Todd: That's right. That sound means it's time for America's favorite game. It's time for Dwayne guess a number. Okay, Todd, what do you got this week?
Todd: like Okay, I'm going to preface this with this week it's Dwayne Guess a lot of numbers. It's not Dwayne Guess a number. There's just, there's numbers. There's going to be multiple numbers. So just want to get that clear. this So a couple of weeks ago, you guys were in New York and you went to, how many how many Broadway shows did you go to?
Talkin2Todd: four and the kids and the kids saw a fifth one
Todd: four.
Todd: There you go. Okay, so this weekend, the Wall Street Journal ran an article comparing and contrasting London's West End and Broadway. So, Duane, we're going to do a little compare and contrast between West End and Broadway. Uh,
Todd: Yep. Cover. We usually I usually cover the West End stuff. We let you cover the Broadway stuff. We call it good. So, Dwayne, we're going to start with with ticket sales. How many tickets were sold for West End shows last year?
Talkin2Todd: I believe the current guess is supposed to be 890 million. Isn't that what we've settled on for the first guess?
Todd: It was 890 billion.
Talkin2Todd: Oh.
Todd: It was wild.
Todd: You're a little high on that one.
Talkin2Todd: I'm guessing I was. Yes. Okay. So just checking.
Talkin2Todd: Eight shows a week.
Todd: Oh, he's doing math. Okay.
Talkin2Todd: Oh.
Todd: Yeah. Average theater size, blah, blah, blah. Number of theaters, eight shows a week they're
Talkin2Todd: Heck.
Talkin2Todd: Okay, so i don't I don't do math well, but let's say
Talkin2Todd: 3 million.
Todd: You're low.
Talkin2Todd: Really?
Todd: Oh, yeah.
Talkin2Todd: Okay, so i'm go to show I'm going to show my work. Eight shows a week times 52 weeks times average theater size of 250?
Talkin2Todd: two fifty I don't know. Times 30 shows was was what I was guessing.
Todd: OK. Yep. You're you're low
Talkin2Todd: Theater's theaterats a little small. Theater's are but probably bigger than that. And there are probably more shows.
Todd: so some some of the theaters, some of the theaters are much bigger than that. they're, I don't 30.
Talkin2Todd: Some of them.
Todd: Yeah. Yeah. So
Talkin2Todd: Seven million?
Todd: you're still low last year, the West, the West end, uh, tickets for West end shows came in at 17.64 million tickets sold.
Talkin2Todd: Really?
Talkin2Todd: Wow, good for them. Okay. How does that compare to Broadway?
Todd: Now, Dwayne, how does that compare to Broadway?
Talkin2Todd: Oh God. No, no, I asked you first.
Todd: how many How many tickets did Broadway sell?
Talkin2Todd: twenty five million tickets.
Todd: Broadway sold about 14 million tickets. 3 million less than the West end.
Talkin2Todd: but probably made twice as much because we know Broadway tickets are far more expensive than West End tickets.
Todd: Brought in and made are two different things.
Talkin2Todd: Two totally different things. Absolutely fair.
Todd: revenue Revenue and profit are not the same. Okay.
Talkin2Todd: think I would know that by now. Yes.
Todd: All right. Hey, speaking of speaking of ticket prices, what is the average ticket on Broadway?
Talkin2Todd: Yes.
Talkin2Todd: Even considering today ticks and things like that? Or are we just talking about face value?
Todd: all the Let's just take face value. It says the average ticket on Broadway. So let's take face value.
Talkin2Todd: $125 average.
Todd: Oh, you know what? Give yourself a bell. It was
Talkin2Todd: Well.
Talkin2Todd: Okay. I'll be darned. I'll be lucky. I'll be lucky is what I am.
Todd: I'm going to flip this the other way. The Wall Street Journal, as talking about this, said most West End tickets go for the equivalent of blank or less.
Todd: So it's not the average, but according to the what according to wall Street Journal, Most tickets go for, they said the equivalent. they they did the They did the conversion already. So what number do the most tickets go for or less?
Talkin2Todd: $85 or less?
Todd: You're pretty close. $75 or less.
Talkin2Todd: I was going to say $75 and I'm like, no, that's too low.
Todd: Yeah, more than a quarter sell for less than $47.
Talkin2Todd: Wow.
Todd: And
Talkin2Todd: If you just want to be in the building.
Todd: and less than 4% of all tickets in the West End go for more than $200. OK, OK, yes, so Broadway, more expensive.
Talkin2Todd: Yes.
Todd: Last one, one of the things that drives that is how much you have to, the minimum you have to pay all of the performers. Dwayne, what is the minimum per week that a Broadway actor must be paid per union rules?
Todd: You have to live in New York. You've got to pay New York prices. There you go. How much per week minimum to be on a Broadway show?
Talkin2Todd: discounts like the swings and everything. I mean, right.
Todd: Yeah, i think I think it's my my guess is if you you you may have, yeah, I would assume you have have to be in the minimum.
Talkin2Todd: That's what we're talking about. Yeah.
Todd: It's minimum payment, so it's you have to be in the cast.
Talkin2Todd: Yeah.
Todd: Yes.
Talkin2Todd: $2,200 a Oh, good.
Talkin2Todd: twenty two hundred dollars a week
Todd: Oh, you're low.
Talkin2Todd: good i i Excellent. I'm so glad that I'm guessing.
Todd: you
Talkin2Todd: Are they making $3,500
Todd: Splitting the difference, they're making $2,717 per week is minimum. What is the minimum on West End? And there isn't single number. There's small range in which they are. $2717 Broadway, what's the minimum on the West End?
Todd: and there isn't a single number it's it's a there's there's a small range in which they are so twenty seven seventeen in dollars for the broadway what's the minimum on the west end
Talkin2Todd: I don't know, $1,500?
Todd: The equivalent is the minimum is between $1,000 week and $1,200 a week. more unfortunate for the people that are $1,000 a week and
Talkin2Todd: Oh, and on that one, I was high. Oh, that's unfortunate.
Talkin2Todd: But that also,
Todd: more unfortunate for the people that are making a hundred a thousand dollars a week and have to commute to London every every every day for their show so
Talkin2Todd: Yeah, but that also explains why ticket prices are so much lower.
Todd: It is part of it. Also, apparently the UK government gives a 40% tax credit for productions, not just for movies and television shows, but for theaters. So producers can also make a lot of their money back via tax credits, which which is why since the pandemic, the West End is now 15% above pandemic levels and Broadway is down slightly lower.
Todd: from where they were during the pandemic. So anyway, there you go. There's there's the comparison between the West End and Broadway. You get paid more, but the show might close faster.
Todd: On the other hand, if you want to see shows, it may If you're going to see a lot of shows, it may actually be worth it just to pay for the plane ticket and fly to London and buy the tickets. And you can make it up you can make that up to pay for your for your plane ticket. So there we go.
Todd: Also, West End Reviews coming up in in October. So we we already have tickets. so
Talkin2Todd: Oh, fantastic.
Todd: Yep.
Talkin2Todd: Let's see what's... Oh, it's time for the Scott Frost Memorial Idiot of the Week.
Todd: Yeah, what'd you bring?
Talkin2Todd: So, Tuesday night at League, Golf League, over at Waveland,
Talkin2Todd: there was a There was a sign posted on the door when we got there.
Todd: There's a sign.
Talkin2Todd: There was a sign, yes. I'm sensing a theme for this week.
Talkin2Todd: For the record, It was laminated. It wasn't just a piece of paper and it wasn't handwritten, but it wasn't permanent. So the sign reads, notice to all golfers. it was more of a letter, really. Notice to all golfers posted by management on 8-1-2026 at 2.40 p.m.
Talkin2Todd: On August 1st, the golf course, this would have been
Talkin2Todd: Hold on.
Talkin2Todd: Saturday.
Todd: Dwayne just noticed a rip in the space-time continuum.
Talkin2Todd: On August 1st, which was a Saturday, the golf course received a complaint from a resident who lives near hole 14 regarding individuals allegedly urinating in public on the golf course.
Talkin2Todd: The resident requested that the golf course contact the Des Moines Police Department so that he could pursue criminal charges. So the resident didn't call the police department.
Talkin2Todd: The resident called the golf course, told...
Todd: No. I'd like to speak with your manager to call the police.
Talkin2Todd: Yeah, the number 911. Knock yourself out, buddy. The letter continues. Public urination is prohibited and will not be tolerated.
Talkin2Todd: we ask all golfers to respect the golf course, our neighbors and fellow players for your convenience. Portable restrooms are located at designated locations throughout the golf course. Golfers are also welcome to use the clubhouse restrooms, whichever facility is most convenient during their round. For the record, the Kaibo is between hole six and seven on the front.
Talkin2Todd: And in the, in the middle of the hole on 15 on the back. So pretty much, you know, at a midway point, right.
Talkin2Todd: As you're, and you're, so and and you go to the clubhouse when you make the turn between nine and 10.
Todd: Yeah.
Talkin2Todd: So, right. right Any golfer observed engaging in public urination, it is engaging, got to admit, engaging in public urination may be asked to leave the property without a refund, may have their playing privileges suspended or revoked, and may be subject to law enforcement action.
Talkin2Todd: Thank you for your cooperation helping us maintain a safe, respectful, and enjoyable environment for everyone. This was a Saturday morning.
Talkin2Todd: not during league. Yet it's the league that took the brunt of the hit because all of this. Anyway, we got an email from the league association. We got an email from the golf course management company. We got, I'm like, sweet Lord.
Talkin2Todd: Here's the thing. As we're talking about this, standing on the number 14 tee box, because there is a condominium building that overlooks the 14 tee box. And so, you know, they just walked over to the edge of the 14 tee box and just right there out in front of God and everybody is what they did.
Talkin2Todd: not 50 yards down the fairway is a big, huge grove of trees that they could have very easily stepped into, not in public view and taken care of their business.
Todd: Okay, three things.
Talkin2Todd: Yes, sir.
Todd: One, good to see some of the Leeds fans made it to Des Moines before going to Chicago on Sunday for the match.
Talkin2Todd: Yes.
Talkin2Todd: Spit take. Yes, I should know better than that by now.
Todd: Number two,
Talkin2Todd: Yep.
Todd: Uh, I'm not condoning the behavior, but if I was those golfers, I might file a complete, a police complaint about the dirty old man who's on his balcony, uh, watching me while I'm, while I'm taking a leak.
Todd: Like, like I expect some privacy.
Talkin2Todd: The peeping whoever. Yes.
Todd: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Talkin2Todd: Yes.
Todd: There's some perverts over there. You got to take care of them.
Talkin2Todd: I'm just minding my own business.
Todd: Uh, number three. Yeah. Number three, i'm I'm incredibly disappointed at the golf course at the golf course management that they didn't figure out where that was and maybe put some ropes around it or whatever. Because one, I don't want to step in anything. And and number two, would that be considered casual water?
Todd: I'm just like if the ball lands in it, and you're like, Todd, it's right off the tee box. asking for a friend if you're on the tee box and it goes completely sideways that be considered and here's the thing uh i don't want to drop i'm just going to leave that there and i'm going to drop another ball i'm not touching that ball like that's why i need to know where this happened
Talkin2Todd: A, ground under repair.
Todd: okay sure
Talkin2Todd: Because that water is not casual. There's nothing casual about that water all.
Todd: Okay. Unclear on some of these golf rules.
Talkin2Todd: And two, free drop. Yes, absolutely. We would grant you a free drop if you were playing with our group on Sunday morning. Yep.
Todd: Here's my problem, though. I think free drop is what caused this problem to begin with because somebody just...
Talkin2Todd: hu
Todd: Hey,
Todd: what are you do with your trousers? Just free drop. Okay. Okay.
Talkin2Todd: You know how, so there's a
Talkin2Todd: inappropriate reference if as a man, you don't drive it past the women's tee.
Todd: Yeah. Yeah.
Talkin2Todd: that you have to drop your pants to show that you're a man actually, right? Because you didn't make it past the women's tee box. Totally inappropriate. My guess is their drive didn't make it past the women's. That's how you could tell.
Talkin2Todd: They didn't. Anyway.
Talkin2Todd: Saturday morning at Waveland, never a dull moment. That's my idiot. Come on, guys. Find a bush.
Todd: Quick question.
Talkin2Todd: Yeah.
Todd: Yeah, yeah. is it is Is it the golfers? Is it the guy who's calling the thing? it's or is it is it the golf course management? Or is it just sort of everybody involved?
Talkin2Todd: No, it's not. I have no, combi I mean, the golf course management is just, are we going to call the police?
Todd: Yeah.
Talkin2Todd: No, we're not. But we will post a very stern message.
Talkin2Todd: I'm doing my part. I'm doing my part.
Todd: Oh, sorry. There was a fourth thing in their sternly worded message.
Talkin2Todd: Yeah. Yeah.
Todd: I love the fact that that if you get caught doing this, you may be asked to leave the premise.
Talkin2Todd: Yeah.
Todd: i i i don't I don't know. like Like, they catch you in the act, and then they're like, damn, son. You know what? You can stay. Like, I don't i don't know what they're deciding on. But but but May is a really is really weird thing for them to do.
Todd: Just...
Talkin2Todd: Nope. Yep. I think that that is a fair criticism. Nope. Yep.
Talkin2Todd: If damn son isn't the title of this episode.
Talkin2Todd: what What idiot did you bring this week? Yes.
Todd: so So you may have been aware, based off of advertising and news reports, there's there's there's a big movie out right now. Not not the Odyssey, the the the the new big one, the Spider-Man movie.
Talkin2Todd: Yes.
Todd: Are you? Yeah, yeah. Here's the thing. If you owned... if you owned a BMW that was manufactured after July of 2020 in more than 70 different countries, uh, your car may have a large entertainment screen, that controls like where your radio and maybe you know, how you control all of the the functions of your car and everything else. Well, BMW,
Todd: had a, as they called it, quote, special surprise for drivers to celebrate its brand partnership with the Spider-Man film.
Todd: When you got into your BMW, a ad for Spider-Man took over your entire control screen and started playing in your BMW.
Todd: Now, it wasn't just on your screen. It also came with backing music that played throughout the car. And the cars have an ambient light system.
Todd: It also flashed the ambient light system in coordination with the ad.
Talkin2Todd: Oh, Jesus.
Todd: needless to say, some BMW drivers aren't thrilled that they're fairly expensive car is now being used to advertise to them. uh, according to, It's in 2023, BMW Group Senior Vice President for Connected Company Development, Stephen Durosch, pushed back on the idea that the automaker would ever sell ads to display in its cars. Quote, to say I'm selling the screen to play a commercial, I don't see it. It's a private space.
Todd: Well, it's 2026. There you go. your Your car is now an advertising platform. So way to go, BMW. First it was you have to subscribe if you want heated seats and you have to pay every year. And now it's, oh, that screen? Yeah, that screen's for the ads.
Todd: So that's cool. Everything's going great with BMWs. That's just awesome.
Talkin2Todd: just like the refrigerator that was playing at the BMW people saw that and went, Hey, I got an idea.
Todd: Yeah, ours is like, I don't know, 10 times more than that. We should we should get it we should get some of that.
Talkin2Todd: Uh, so did you watch anything good?
Todd: A couple things. So number one, we did go to the Utah Royals game last week. We saw them play the Washington Spirit. Hey, fun fact, Washington Spirit, actually from Washington, D.C., not Washington State.
Todd: Needed clear that up.
Talkin2Todd: Something you learned last week.
Todd: Yeah. Got to see Trinity Rodman play. She scored the only goal. We also got to witness a one a one hour rain delay or so sorry, severe weather. It never rained. There's severe weather lightning in the area. So nothing like so a one nil game where you've spent more than an hour in the concourse just waiting for the game to play. The other one, however, that we've been watching I got this as a recommendation off of a different podcast.
Todd: The show is called Ludwig. It is on BritBox, which we are now in the middle of our seven-day trial on. here So it's it's a British show produced by the BBC.
Todd: General premise,
Todd: there is a a guy who is a puzzle maker. He's a professional maker of puzzles. His twin brother is a police officer, a DCI, who goes missing unexpectedly.
Todd: And so his brother's wife asks him to step in to pretend to be his brother to solve the mystery of his disappearance, which then leads to him being involved in having to solve the murder of the week.
Todd: Not
Talkin2Todd: Is there, are they identical twins?
Todd: Yes, yes.
Talkin2Todd: Okay.
Todd: So we've watched three episodes. I think it's one we're just one per night. it's It's a British show. I think there's six. And then season two series two has six, I think.
Todd: You know what? it's It is a really good show. it is a British crime show. But it is not a comedy, but it is a British crime show with comedy in it.
Todd: a fairly famous comedian, I believe, is playing the lead. So, you know, you know the the British know how to do a good crime show. Like like they just do. And then you put the comedy on and you're like, actually, this is really a good combination. This is, you know, chocolate peanut butter kind of thing going on. So highly recommend.
Todd: Very entertaining.
Talkin2Todd: have we talked Have we talked about patients?
Todd: I'm...
Talkin2Todd: Are you familiar with this show?
Todd: you
Talkin2Todd: Another British crime autistic lady works in the crime lab and then ends up yeah autistic and works in the crime lab and then gets recruited, I guess, kind of sucked into these mysteries, the crimes that have to get solved by the police department set in York.
Todd: Okay. okay
Talkin2Todd: And it's on PBS, but I believe it was originally a BBC thing. But yeah, so if you you can find it on PBS and we've been watching that again, six episodes of this season, six episodes last season.
Talkin2Todd: Yeah. Also, you yes, agree. Agree that Brits do quirky crime dramas are really well.
Todd: Yes.
Talkin2Todd: Yep.
Todd: So what about you? What have you been watching?
Talkin2Todd: First episode of season four of Ted Lasso dropped, I believe, this morning. So, and it's one a week. And Amy says, we're going to wait till they all drop and then watch them all at once. Like, no, I can't do that.
Talkin2Todd: So we knocked out episode one before we recorded tonight. i
Talkin2Todd: Spoilers? No spoilers?
Todd: let's Let's do no spoilers.
Talkin2Todd: Go watch it.
Todd: Yeah.
Talkin2Todd: Go watch it. Just go watch this. If you liked what you had before, go watch this. If you didn't like Ted Lasso before, you know you're not going to go watch season four.
Todd: This this this isn't going to fix that.
Talkin2Todd: If... this is This is not going to fix that. That's right. Yes. But yeah. Yeah, you should go watch it. Also on Sunday when we got back from the farm, we went and saw Spider-Man in the movie theater.
Talkin2Todd: So
Talkin2Todd: you should go watch it. If you like superhero movies, And I have liked every one of the Spider-Man movies more so than I have liked a many of the Marvel movies. that Some of the Marvel movies are better than others, obviously.
Talkin2Todd: Take them or leave them.
Todd: Looking at you, Doctor Strange.
Talkin2Todd: looking it not not to Not to pick on anything in particular. Dark World Thor. But, you know, yeah, sure, right? Iron Man 2. what What is it about Second...
Talkin2Todd: superhero movies that just, dick day with the exception of the second Spider-Man movie. Iron Man 2, Doctor Strange 2, if they ever did a whole, Thor 2.
Todd: Thor 2.
Talkin2Todd: Yeah. Yeah. Spider-Man. Go see that too.
Todd: we I believe the whole family is going this Sunday. We missed the opening weekend, but we're going this Sunday. so
Talkin2Todd: There's a guy in a suit and he shoots webs, kind of like a spider. You may want to know that.
Todd: Damn it. I was trying to go in.
Talkin2Todd: Sorry.
Todd: I was on full media blackout on this. i had to sell my BMW.
Talkin2Todd: Is that what you learned this week? What did you learn this week?
Todd: no, so, so, uh,
Todd: So we subscribed to YouTube TV. And last year in the fall, YouTube TV stopped carrying all the Disney properties, including ESPN for a while, which was a bit of a problem if you wanted to watch, you know, football. And eventually they came to an agreement and not only they came to an agreement and said, not only is is it back, but YouTube TV subscribers will be getting access to ESPN Unlimited in 2026.
Todd: yeah ESPN Unlimited is the new standalone ESPN thing that you can, subscribe if you don't want to subscribe to cable, but you want ESPN, you can subscribe to ESPN Unlimited. That means you can stream all the yeah ESPN channels plus all of the extra content they have on the for streaming only.
Talkin2Todd: right
Todd: Now, why do you pay for that? Well, if you if you want to watch stuff on Hulu, you pay for Hulu and then Disney's one more dollar. And then why do what does anybody pay for yeah ESPN? Well, that's where the English FA Cup is. So now I got to pay to watch soccer. Okay, fine.
Todd: So as soon as I signed up for ESPN Unlimited, i get an email from Disney Plus saying, you have multiple subscriptions. So I go in and look, i'm yes, because I'm paying for ESPN Select Premium Plus Silver tier. I don't know. I'm paying for something in the bundle, and now I've got yeah ESPN Unlimited.
Todd: So they're letting me know, you don't need to pay for both of these. I'm like, thanks for letting me know. I will fix that. Okay, so now what I need to do is, oh, this is very simple. I'm going to go in and instead of paying for Disney, Hulu, yeah ESPN, I just need to change the bundle to Disney, Hulu, ESPN.
Todd: And Bob's your uncle, save $10 a month. Great. So I go in there, actually try to log in on my phone. My phone then says, yeah, we can't do that. Yeah, unavailable.
Todd: Okay, fine. Go home, get to a computer. Great. Says, you want to change your plan? Absolutely. Click. It says, you can subscribe to Disney Plus or Disney Plus without ads.
Talkin2Todd: Which for the record still has ads.
Todd: Okay.
Todd: Yeah, they all have ads. Just fewer, but not but not surprisingly, not they all have ads. Yes.
Talkin2Todd: But not no, but not no.
Todd: Yeah. Yeah. The no ads plan still has ads. OK. And I think, yeah, yeah, no, no, no, I don't i want Disney Plus and Hulu. So then I go back out and I'm like, OK, go Disney Bundle. Yep. Oh, that's definitely a thing. So i go back into my account.
Todd: OK. Go change. and Nope. Here's your Disney plans. OK. Then I see a button that says more options and I click it and then all of my options go away. I was seeing the more options.
Todd: I just, I just rolled them back up. That was it.
Talkin2Todd: Oh.
Todd: So all I can do now, is so it's telling me you're paying for something that you don't need. Cool. How do I get rid of that? Oh, you just get rid of this. Yeah, but that gets rid of two services. I only want to get rid of one service. I know what to tell you, man.
Todd: So,
Todd: I like to think I know technology. And yet at some point I'm just staring at I have two tabs open. One tab shows me here's the bundle, all the bundles you can choose. And my account says you can't choose any bundles. And I don't know how to square that circle anymore. So anyway, I'm just i'm just staring at the Disney Plus login. Here's the thing. do we need to Do I want Disney? i don't even want Disney Plus. they haven't It's fine. There's
Todd: What I really want is Hulu, which they don't even offer me at this point. So anyway, what I've learned is this sucks. I just want cable back. I just want cable back. Take my $175 a month give me the channels, and then i don't have to screw around with this crap.
Todd: Thank you for listening to Old Man Radio.
Todd: no
Todd: What'd you learn this week?
Talkin2Todd: Did you try logging out and logging back in again? Did you try turning it off and turning it on again?
Todd: Oh, I should. You know what? I haven't turned it off yet. Let me do that right now. No, wait. Nope.
Talkin2Todd: Oh, hold on, hold on.
Todd: It's on. Yeah.
Talkin2Todd: So this week,
Talkin2Todd: it has been... Coming up on 10 years since we took our Poland trip.
Todd: Holy cow.
Talkin2Todd: Right?
Todd: What?
Todd: Okay.
Talkin2Todd: I know. But it is coming up, which means Amy and my passports are going to expire. this february because we got the passports before we then went on that trip right so passports are going to expire in 2027 so okay well need to start early let's make sure that we don't have an expired passport or anything so on monday of last week i jumped through the hoops of renewing our passports online
Talkin2Todd: punched in all of my information, Amy and I took photos, made sure everything was lined up, uploaded the new photos, blah, blah, blah. Enter my information, new photo, square it all up, click pay the $130, hit submit, fooom, off it goes, great. And then I log in to Amy's, upload her photo, pay her $130, fooom, off it goes
Talkin2Todd: That was Monday of last week.
Talkin2Todd: Monday of this week in the mailbox was Amy's renewed passport,
Todd: Sweet.
Talkin2Todd: which was submitted again, second. Mine is still in process.
Todd: I'm sure there's very good reasons why that is. Also, you may want to pack a bag and be ready to go at a moment's notice.
Talkin2Todd: has nothing.
Talkin2Todd: You think someone's listening to our podcast?
Todd: nobody but Nobody listens to our podcast.
Talkin2Todd: no
Talkin2Todd: The theme music is Happy Boy by Kevin MacLeod. Other music provided by Josh the Dino Toddler and the Legal Eagles. So we appreciate all of them. You can subscribe to our award-winning podcast with visiting scholar Todd Prenz wherever you get your pods. Just search talking and the number two. There's no G and there's no space. You can stop by and see us at the Tuba City Home Office. Please don't do that.
Talkin2Todd: Thanks to our listeners, our sponsors, our contributors, our theme music writers, and everybody else. We appreciate you. As always, you can send us your feedback to feedback at TalkingToTodd.com.
Talkin2Todd: Todd?
Todd: So here's the thing.
Talkin2Todd: Yeah.
Todd: You're perfectly fine listening to the Todd's Tech Corner theme song, like in your car driving around. Like you can do that all the time.
Talkin2Todd: Yeah.
Todd: you getting out of a car listening to a song that talks about Todd's tech corner, people be like, whatever, that's fine. If I rolled up to work and I park the car and open the door and somebody hears me blaring Todd's tech corner, he reads the manual. So I can't do that. Okay. Because when you're listening to it, that's a weird song. When I do it, that dude's got some problems.
Todd: fit Feeling pretty good about yourself, huh? Do you have that commissioned?
Todd: What are those? Those eagles?
Talkin2Todd: can you Can you program your horn so that when you hit the horn, it plays the theme? would that be it does your beat Does your BMW have that function? No.
Todd: The problem would be if you did that, up this one's a Volvo, not the BMW. The problem is is if if you blared that, instead of getting out of the way, instead of jumping out of the way of your car, somebody might go, hey, what was that?
Talkin2Todd: Oh, okay.
Todd: And then then we have bigger problems.
Talkin2Todd: No. That's a banger. That thing shreds. Can you honk at me again?
Todd: It does call the ambulance.
Talkin2Todd: Oh my God. We're probably going to have something we need to clean up next week. Until then, we're here. We're talking to Todd.
Talkin2Todd: So just to close the loop there, the thing that I learned was that sometimes passports are fast and sometimes they aren't.
Todd: Yep.
Talkin2Todd: I didn't want to leave anybody hanging out there wondering. He just told this story not and didn't exactly identify what he learned. That's what I learned. They can be. The website says four to six weeks, possibly.
Talkin2Todd: But sometimes it can be much, much, much quicker than that.
Todd: my My guess is the reason why you haven't gotten yours yet is is that you're getting one of them special America 250 ones.
Talkin2Todd: Don't even joke about it.
Todd: Enjoy.
