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Episode 107 - Halloween ADHD Special
53 Plays1 month ago
With spooky seasonality the ex co-mayors of ADHDville have managed to get themselves together to do a Halloween special! Paul does not like Halloween, can Martin persuade his co host that it's an awesome holiday? Let's find out !!!
Theme music was written by Freddie Philips and played by Martin West.
All other music by Martin West. Please remember: This is an entertainment podcast about ADHD and does not substitute for individualized advice from qualified health professionals.
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Transcript
00:00:00
Speaker
whoa hey we' um um
Introduction to ADHDville Halloween Special
00:00:04
Speaker
All right. Well, this is a special ADHDville Halloween special. So special. We but named it twice.
00:00:14
Speaker
Yeah. The Halloween Halloween special. So, uh, I'm glad that you, that you can join us, um, with your cup of tea, um, and we can all get into this week's podcast. So without further ado, um let's go to the ah to the place where the distractions, the landmarks, and the detours are on the main roads.
00:00:35
Speaker
Welcome to ADHDville. Special. Special. It's hard to be in traffic.
Halloween Costumes and Decorations
00:00:59
Speaker
And if you're watching on the YouTubes, we have kind of done, well, ah Paul is, is ah he's got his little round glasses on and he's got a bit of eye makeup on like it's 1984 and you're in your sort of Smith's goth era.
00:01:22
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. Thompson. Robert Smith. Right, yeah, and I'm i'm currently ah i'm Batman with me Batman mask on.
00:01:36
Speaker
um And behind me, i've i've've i've got like a I've got some pumpkins here. I've got skull and I've got a gravestone and a bat over there. So, yeah. We've gone to some effort this time. We are all Halloweened up.
00:01:55
Speaker
All right. So do you want to introduce yourself? Yeah, I'm Paul Thompson. I was diagnosed with combined ADH and the D again oh bunch of um ah years ago. And I'm Martin, the the the the slasher West.
00:02:12
Speaker
And I was diagnosed with the combined ADHD poopoo platter in
Engaging with the Podcast Community
00:02:17
Speaker
2013. And we start off in the local pub in ADHDville, the King's Agitated Head, where we, the ex-mayors of ADHDville, take care of business.
00:02:28
Speaker
And speaking of taking care of business, hit that subscribe button, hit that like button, make a comment, get involved. um All right. Well, we're we're going to talk about Halloween, um which I'm excited for. And you're not so.
00:02:43
Speaker
Which is, which is. a that the um Yes. If you listen to the last podcast episode, it's not my, it's not like, it's not normally my cup of tea.
00:02:56
Speaker
hmm. but I've gone to some effort. Yes, I have. i'm I'm interested in ah in ah in ah trying to see if i can if I can make Halloween a little bit more up your ah ok blind alley.
00:03:15
Speaker
um All right, so where shall we go, mr Paul? Well, I was thinking, Martin, I'm not sure if you agree, but was thinking we'd go to the haunted house. Oh, a new location sequence for Halloween.
00:03:27
Speaker
Topical. Right, well, let's jump in the tractor and make your way over to
00:03:42
Speaker
Blimey.
00:03:46
Speaker
creepy vibes. That's creepy.
00:03:56
Speaker
I'm just going take my mask off. that's scary. Blimey. Whoa. please Put that mask back on. You're scaring the children. least could have warned me.
00:04:12
Speaker
I could have prepared myself. yeah Such a good joke.
Trick vs. Treat: A Cultural Comparison
00:04:17
Speaker
All right. So um in the tradition in the traditions of trick or treat, i think we're going to i'm goingnna divide up this ah Halloween into the trick part, into the kind of like,
00:04:30
Speaker
I don't like Halloween part. And then we'll do the treat part, which is the I like Halloween part. So I thought we would start off with the with the trick part, which is like okay all the reasons that you are not into Halloween yeah and you don't like it.
00:04:49
Speaker
Yeah. i would yeah So, um yeah, why don't you kick us off, actually, with the... What's your what's your problem, mate? Okay. Well, going to start off. I've got a list. How many bullet points? I've got six bullet points under um under the trick bit. Mexicans do it so much better.
00:05:10
Speaker
oh yeah. Okay. Yes. Day of the dead. Do it way better. They're going, like, I don't bit more creative, bit more imaginative, bit more fun, bit more of concept. I like their concept of, like, oh, let's celebrate death.
00:05:26
Speaker
You know, it's like, I don't know, it's more like a party kind of thing, you know? Right. um Well, if ah have you have you seen the, is it the the Disney film or is it the Pixar film, ah Day of the Dead?
00:05:42
Speaker
You know, the the one which is which is all in that? the Yeah, the Mexican vibe. I think it was a Tim Burton, wasn't it? Gig. don't know.
00:05:52
Speaker
No, but it's an awesome film. It's good. and And if I'm to believe that, it's about like, if you, rim rim it's it's important to rim remember the your dearly departed, right? Yeah.
00:06:13
Speaker
It keeps them alive and on your side. That's the thing with the Mexican kind of, you know, day of the dead kind of thing is that they kind of celebrate. It doesn't have to be death. doesn't have to be something that you kind of get miserable about.
00:06:26
Speaker
You can actually, you know, ah you have wild, wild crowd-pleasing parties. Oh, right. All right. Well, we have been ourselves to um to a a few wild, crowd-pleasing Halloween parties.
00:06:43
Speaker
ah Okay. I can remember one that we went to. um and And you were so annoyed. You were so annoyed.
00:06:54
Speaker
um Me? um I hadn't, you know, in a typical ADHD fashion, i hadn't got a costume. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:07:05
Speaker
You were... annoyed because i had because i didn't have a costume right yeah and you had spent ages kind of getting some sort of like costumey thing going and i and i rocked up about an hour before the party and i was like Well, I don't have anything. And this this was um around Helen's house.
00:07:28
Speaker
and And we got one of her wigs and we cut it down. And I got this pair of glasses and I went as Andy Warhol. And it took me about, I don't know, 15 minutes to put this Andy Warhol look together.
00:07:44
Speaker
yeah and and you're like oh what the what the fuck martin i've spent ages on my outfit and you rock up in like you know about 15 minutes before the party starts and you just like god get this wig and pull this look to to to yeah yeah yeah i vaguely remember it now but really vaguely though Yeah, I remember vaguely a remember that thing that was like, oh, you put I put in loads of more effort. kind of rocked up, made no effort, and and you and you totally you know pulled it off, as it were.
00:08:28
Speaker
Pulled it off, mate. Pulled it off. Well, pulled it off and put it on. I remember that night because we went –
00:08:37
Speaker
Right. we We went to a party just up the end of the road. um And i i remember it because um because my girlfriend at the time, Helen, was like,
00:08:52
Speaker
oh you should kiss Katie's lips because they're really, really soft. And I'm like, what? She said, yeah, yeah, yeah. Kiss Katie's lips because they're soft. So I kind of, I went, okay, then I kissed her lips. was, oh, yeah, that, your lips are very soft.
00:09:09
Speaker
And i remember that stuck in my memory. right no Anyway, clearly it would. I don't remember dressing up at all.
00:09:24
Speaker
yeah You don't? That's how unmemorable my costume was.
00:09:31
Speaker
To be honest, mate, I don't remember what you... No, mate, okay. I don't remember what you had dressed as either. Blimey. Infamy, infamy. They've all got it in for me.
00:09:44
Speaker
All right, so what else? So Day of the Dead. Day of the Dead. Well, generally, I've never been at the top of my list. I've never been excited by it.
00:09:57
Speaker
All right. I've never found it exciting. Generally. Mm-hmm. Okay. Hang on. and sit to close Is it like a sort of a
00:10:10
Speaker
All right. Well, while he's doing something about a window... Yeah, I've always struggled to get excited about it. It's like, oh, God. You know. Yeah, it's... I don't know.
00:10:21
Speaker
All right. It's difficult to put my finger on really. So it's like, I'm just going to stay inside. Yeah.
Commercialization and Creativity in Halloween
00:10:27
Speaker
I'm just going to hang out. Yeah. All right. So...
00:10:34
Speaker
but The other thing I've got, this is something a bit more you can hang your hat on. is is just It's just, it's become so commercial. It's just a chance to for like companies to sell more useless merch on people.
00:10:48
Speaker
And just like stuff that gets thrown away. like, hey, God. And usually most of the you most of the outfits are really unimaginative. Most of them.
00:11:00
Speaker
ah well I didn't quite catch that. Most of your outfits are what? Unimaginable. not very magic sorry Not very imaginative. imaginative. Right.
00:11:11
Speaker
It's like, you know, I don't know. Yeah. Having said that, well, no, shall leave that for the positives? There are a couple of outfits that that go down really well for me. I like.
00:11:25
Speaker
Yeah. All right. So what else have you got? So it's not as fun as the day of the dead. just can't find anything to kind of excited about. It just leaves me flat. Oh, God. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:11:44
Speaker
Right, right. I mean, I think there is a couple of things that I can think of against Halloween, which is... One is, you know, ah there's a ah ah demand avoidance thing that comes with it.
00:12:04
Speaker
it's ah and And it's in the same, it falls into the same category as like Valentine's Day and stuff where it's like, So that's where it's like, I feel like I'm being forced to do something, right? and and i and i yeah And therefore, I shall not do it. It's in the same way that someone says, oh, you should watch this film. It's really great. And you're like, no, I'm never watching that film ever again ever.
00:12:31
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Where, you know, so you kind of feel like you have to do something and and you just don't. Totally. So that's one, right? so I think that's kind of like, yeah that feels like your vibe with that.
00:12:44
Speaker
I've got something here that puts a little bit more flesh on the bones, as it were. in terms of, well, quite literally, actually, in terms of the the outfits and the the kind of lack of ah imagination thereof.
00:12:57
Speaker
When someone just, like, puts, gets a ah a white sheet, puts two holes in it, put the puts themselves under it, right, and pretend that they're a freaking ghost.
00:13:08
Speaker
But the whole concept of that is like, oh, oh it's it's so funny because it's a ghost under there and you can't see anything. But I can literally see your feet.
00:13:20
Speaker
I can literally see your feet. So I know there's no ghost under there. Oh, well what giveaway. Is it a ghost who just looked down? oh look.
00:13:35
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, it's not a ghost. It's your size eights that are giving you away. blimey. Oh, also, I think one other thing is that, as we touched on earlier, it requires some prep work, right?
00:13:52
Speaker
You have to think about a costume and then you have to, like, you know, get it from the store, which, at least over here, right, Halloween is a big deal.
00:14:04
Speaker
And if you don't get there early enough, all the good costumes have gone. Right. um And you just live with so left with a blank white sheet with two holes in it. it you're Right.
00:14:16
Speaker
And you're going to think, Jesus, people are going to see right through that. well Well, they should see right through it because it's supposed to be ghost. But I can literally see your freaking feet.
00:14:28
Speaker
I'm supposed to look through it. Okay.
00:14:33
Speaker
I love this. Paul ranting about... About, yeah. About the technicalities of being a ghost. Technicalities. Oh, that is so much fun. um i I'm just trying to think of like what I have dressed up as in the past. And I can only think... I did the Andy Warhol thing once. I think I had a weird mask.
00:14:59
Speaker
You know, when I was a kid... I remember it was really just getting a black bin liner And you'd wear that and then you'd put like a mask on.
00:15:13
Speaker
Yeah. And that was the extent of it. That was the problem with the 70s, wasn't it? Really? Even less imagination. Right. Also, I think, and this is where you're going to, I think, going to agree here.
00:15:29
Speaker
It feels like, as you, I think you kind of, kind of alluded to it earlier, is that it feels like it's a it's an, it's an american thing that has kind of like spread out into the uk and into europe yeah they do it in italy but there's even less tradition it has even less connection with the states but they still do it but pretty tamely you know it's not a big thing but
00:16:00
Speaker
There's enough people that do it that, you know, on that particular night, I can't remember, I can't even remember what day it is. That's how much I mean to it. Anyway, yeah, people do trick or treat around here, but they don't trick the only treat.
00:16:15
Speaker
hmm. Oh, well, ah and we'll get into that. into that Right. So there's that there's this feeling, right, that it's kind of like it's an American thing that's just infecting yeah everyone else. Just to sell merch, isn't it?
00:16:30
Speaker
Sell stuff. Oh, I love going to a... I bought all this stuff that's all behind me. I went to ah a Halloween store. um yesterday and what we have here is we have these pop-up stores so you you that there's a there's a company called spirit Halloween and then they basically just rent sort of um uh shops and stores that are empty and they'll just rent it for like a month or month and a half and then i'll just do a a a halloween store just it'll just pop up there you just like go there get your stuff and then at the end of halloween it's all broken down it's just back to an empty store again they've made their money they ship back off they go back to mexico
00:17:23
Speaker
Right. Well, yeah, i think i think I think it's actually a franchise model. So you can actually, you know, do your own spirit Halloween. I know that I worked for a company called Party City um here in the US.
00:17:40
Speaker
And that's where you would go to get all your Halloween stuff. And they made most of their money from that one holiday. It was like most, it was the biggest money earner.
00:17:53
Speaker
Wow. For them. I know. i'm very Very nice. All right. I'm going to switch it over to Halloween try Treat.
00:18:08
Speaker
Yeah. um And I think the the interesting thing for me is... is that Halloween, as we know,
00:18:21
Speaker
comes from the um from the word All Hallows' Eve, which is a Catholic, so we talking about Italy, this is a very strong Catholic tradition ah that's the eve of all Saints Day, which is yeah the next next day.
00:18:43
Speaker
um But before that, and I know that some people are going, no, it's Celtic, because before that it was a Celtic, and this is going going back you know but ah hundreds and hundreds and possibly thousands
Origins of Halloween: A Cultural History
00:18:57
Speaker
years. It's a Celtic Irish thing.
00:19:03
Speaker
So it's it's it's got this kind of like really deep, dark um roots that kind of go back to kind of Ireland. So actually all the things...
00:19:14
Speaker
that you think of our ah Halloween, which is like oh Halloween itself, trick or treat, pumpkins, all of that doesn't come from the States. It's actually a lot closer to home. It's actually Irish.
00:19:29
Speaker
And so that's, so the home of Halloween is, is Ireland. And the, and the fact that, that North America kind of got into it is just because the immigrants, all the Irish immigrants that kind of went over, they exported it.
00:19:47
Speaker
Yeah. And then they blew it up over here and then they've exported it back across the, the Atlantic. So it's not an American thing at all.
00:19:58
Speaker
It's a very firm Irish, um Yeah, but maybe even before the Irish because the Celts were originally Central European.
00:20:10
Speaker
And then the Romans chased them out of Central Europe and they ended up in the further enclaves of Europe, like in Ireland and Scotland. But originally I think they were like Central European, like in Breton region especially.
00:20:30
Speaker
Right.
00:20:33
Speaker
So yeah, bit of history there. Right. So, you know, like the reason why why why it exists is is is because it it marks the the beginning of winter.
00:20:46
Speaker
and that's where yeah you know like uh you would especially know you would done all your full harvests stuff and then that's the kind of live divide um so i would think actually as as soon as we became you know stopped being hunter gatherers and we actually did um um you know we actually were an agricultural Yeah.
00:21:14
Speaker
Well, the original, one of the original figures from from all of that thing is the Grim Reaper. And he, with his scythe. Where has Paul gone?
00:21:26
Speaker
Am I not there? You lost me. Oh, all right. All right. So. um Yeah, I was just saying. Yeah. was just talking about the Grim Reaper. Because Halloween coincides with the end of the harvest.
00:21:38
Speaker
And the Grim Reaper is wielding his scythe. as a symbol of the hive harvest. And the green reaper would be cutting down ripe souls when they when their time had come.
00:21:51
Speaker
So they're basically ready to be dead. It was like is like the green reaper was harvesting people with his scythe. Wow. Your time is up. Your time is up, mate.
00:22:02
Speaker
So there you go. we We have a cool character. Yes. Yes. I would say on the on the plus side of Halloween, it is one of those holidays or those events where you can pick to join in or not.
Halloween's Inclusivity for Neurodivergent Individuals
00:22:30
Speaker
Right. Right. Which is good yeah because it's like from a neurodivergent point of view, you can pick and choose. So, yeah so, so, so Christmas, New Year, your birthday, you can, all these things are like, they're hard to avoid. Right.
00:22:50
Speaker
you You're forced to join in, whereas Halloween is optional. But is it? Yes. If you don't have sweets, if you don't have treats, do you literally, you know, do you get, like, damage done to your property in the States?
00:23:06
Speaker
No. So how it works is internationally, if you – dress up your house in Halloween stuff outside, right? So yeah outside we've got lights, we've got some stuff up, pumpkins.
00:23:21
Speaker
If it says, yeah, we're all about Halloween, you can come and do the trick or treat thing. Whereas if you don't, right they don't come to you to your door.
00:23:33
Speaker
Oh, okay, okay. Okay, all right. it's optional. Because I remember in the 70s in the UK, you would get ah tricked if you didn't if you they came to your door.
00:23:47
Speaker
But in the UK, it was quite ah violent in the 70s. If they came to your door and you didn't have treats for them, they would, I don't know, they would, don't know, dig up your garden or something.
00:24:00
Speaker
Right. Sorry, I'm just shutting the window because... because we now have a people people cutting the glass outside.
00:24:12
Speaker
All right. Yeah, so there used to be a time when, yeah, you you if you trick or treat, yeah, you would get toilet paper thrown around your house.
00:24:23
Speaker
But that's kind that's died. Or your car would get torched. Right. But that kind of goes goes back to a very long medieval true tradition. So what would happen is, but where this comes from is um is a the the poor kids were sent out to the houses to kind of get money or funds or food or something so that so that they could like have a party at the, at the end of the night.
00:24:59
Speaker
so So, all the kids kind of went out to kind of get stuff, um, for it. So, so that's, that's why you have, you have this true tradition of people get going out and then plus it became like ah a, night of mischief.
00:25:18
Speaker
So, um, So it kind of took on this kind of like yeah one one one of those nights where you could blow off steam a bit, you know, if you were young.
00:25:29
Speaker
That's what I've got here is a positive because I ah put bit more effort into the positives because I'm so negative about Halloween. I put more more into the positives. You could be naughty and get paid for it, basically.
00:25:42
Speaker
Right. With sweets or whatever. Yes. Smacks. Yeah. Well, I mean, yeah, you would be, yeah. so and and that's the And that's the other good thing about it. You've you've got like sweeties, candy.
00:25:56
Speaker
I mean, come on. It it is like a, it is like a, for a kid, that's like bonus. Bonus, especially a bonus for the dentist for the next week. Oh, yeah, I know, right?
00:26:07
Speaker
I mean, even even i Right, so I have to buy a Halloween candy for when they come around. And then there's always candy left left over. Or Haribo. I bet Haribo make a lot of money during Halloween.
00:26:24
Speaker
I think all all of them do. Yeah. Yeah. so So that's a plus. I've got another plus. You can stay up late. It was like the only day in the in a year, other than Christmas, where you could stay up late.
00:26:41
Speaker
Yeah. Because normally, when I was a kid in the 70s, we had to be in bed before Starsky and Hutch came on, on the telly. That was like 8pm or something.
00:26:52
Speaker
Yeah, it was early. ah knew i was I knew I was getting older because my parents would let me watch Starsky and Hutch. Like, come on. Come on, let me do these things.
00:27:03
Speaker
ah Yeah. You know what? there's it's It's such a weird night because it's the it's the only night where you could walk down the street and there's some guy dressed up as a werewolf just wandering down the street. And you're like, yeah, that's normal.
00:27:21
Speaker
Yeah, right. It's the only night that you can do weird shit. And I like that about this this this whole yeah about this holiday because the because the states, for all its kind of... it whatever It's quite a conservative country.
00:27:40
Speaker
It's quite Christian. And I like that it's that Halloween is this... It's mental. It has this element which is like... It's just kind of but is older than that, and it's freaky weird.
00:27:56
Speaker
It's a bit and neurodiverse, isn't it, the whole thing? Yeah. I argue it is the most neurodivergently awesome holiday that we have right because you can get involved or not.
00:28:10
Speaker
There's candy. yeah can You can make up outfits if you want. You can get creative. and you can Men could put makeup on. Men can put makeup on. It's upside down. It's weird.
00:28:23
Speaker
Black is white. Men are women. It's great. You can do what... you It's like this kind of fantasy, you know, and it's
Creative Freedom and Fantasy in Halloween
00:28:31
Speaker
acceptable. You can go outside dressed as whatever you like.
00:28:34
Speaker
Nice. On that theme, another positive, everyone looks good in black. Everyone looks good in black. You know, hope that's another positive. Oh, yeah.
00:28:46
Speaker
You know what? One of my... It's slimming. <unk>y It's slimming and fattening at the same time. When I worked in Manhattan,
00:28:57
Speaker
when i worked in manhattan on Halloween night was the best because I'd finish work usually like, you know, seven, eight, nine.
00:29:09
Speaker
And I'd go out and the streets were full, absolutely crammed with people in, in the costumes. Like there was just like Charlie Chaplin over there. There's like, you know, put a lot of effort into it. It's fucking in the States. there's a lot of effort.
00:29:28
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. No, it's it it is like, it is fun. It's fun without all the stupid stuff that goes we with with the Christmas and yeah and and other things. It's like,
00:29:43
Speaker
it's It's like, a yeah, yeah. And also, yes so you yeah, so I would get on the subway to go home and there's just like Anne Boleyn is sitting in there the, you know, and then there's like there's like king King Kong over here and there's like two two or three Spider-Men over on the on the other side.
00:30:05
Speaker
It's just like, is this is the best. this is the best Yeah, yeah. It's the best. Okay. Yeah, I've kind of seen that. I suppose in a lot of times in the UK it's a bit, as was saying before, a bit unimaginative.
00:30:20
Speaker
But there is one suit that particularly like. I had to think about it is one suit and it's pretty, it's quite, um what's the word?
00:30:32
Speaker
It's a common suit. common outfit that's worn during halloween that i like you see it's the skin tight black body suit with the skeleton drawing on it i like that you know you could be skinny you could be less than skinny you could be a bit portly you're gonna look good in that you're gonna you know it's gonna look pretty cool and it's gonna make you laugh yeah it's gonna
00:31:04
Speaker
I love that. Yeah. That would be, that would be, uh, I've written here. I've never worn one and I'm starting to think that one day I have to, it's got, it's on my bucket list now.
00:31:18
Speaker
Damn it.
00:31:23
Speaker
Yeah, I can see it. Yeah. I'm like, yeah, it could be very nice thing. It could be very nice. days Thank you. I'll send photographs, mate. Oh, well, cheers, mate. High res.
00:31:36
Speaker
Right. Yeah. You know what? It's the permission to weird thing. it's the permission to be weird holiday right for me or okay you know but yeah i've got here i've got a bit of history about the grim reaper which a little bit i've already told you about all right okay already shared it was originally invented in 1347 right the grim reaper okay and okay And there's different versions of it. In Greece, there's a similar type of figures called the Thanatos.
00:32:16
Speaker
Okay. in In Mexico, it's Santa Muerte, Saint Death. In Japan, it's called the Shinigami.
00:32:29
Speaker
All right. And in Central Europe, Britain, so it's like Northern France, it's the Anku. They're all kind of skeletal servants of death, basically.
00:32:43
Speaker
Skeletal servants? One theory is that every the Grim Reaper, okay, you think, oh, it's some other person. No, it's everyone that dies. There's a constant cycle of Grim Reapers because every time you die, you become a Grim Reaper for a little bit of time.
00:33:02
Speaker
wow. ah well is Well, I like the sound of that. It's written here. Okay. The Grim Reaper might just be you.
00:33:13
Speaker
In some legends, when a person dies, they become the next Reaper for a little bit of time, collecting souls until another one takes their place. is It's a grim job rotation that in ensures death is always has an agent.
00:33:29
Speaker
Wow. You know what? With so many people on this planet, I reckon you would end up being deaf for like, I don't know, 0.2 seconds.
Grim Reaper Mythology and Cultural Interpretations
00:33:40
Speaker
And you'd be like, oh, I'm deaf. And then, oh, I'm out again. I'm off. Making that specific noise. ah Yeah. In and out. I mean, and out.
00:33:54
Speaker
Okay. and And obviously i I think of Terry Pratchett's books and he has death as a character and he is awesome.
00:34:05
Speaker
He's an awesome character in his books. Anyway, nice. All right. Well, have you if youve got any any other little tasty tidbits?
00:34:16
Speaker
Well, actually tasty would be the right word, Martin. A nice little segue there. Creative pumpkin sculptures.
00:34:25
Speaker
Not your standard, but when you see some people that go to extra effort to sculpt a pumpkin. Oh, I did. Yeah, I did a good one like a couple of years years ago.
00:34:37
Speaker
um But you've got be careful. you could do so You could cut yourself quite seriously because they're quite tricky to cut, aren't they, to sculpt? Yeah. Well, sort of originally, before pumpkins,
00:34:49
Speaker
It was turnips. Was it now? Yeah, so we we go back to the Irish again. We go back to the Celts. And we go back to turnips.
00:35:01
Speaker
The turnip. ah yeah and and And they would hollow out turnips and carve like faces and stuff on that which which is harder ah would you know but it's quite hard to hollow out a turnip the pumpkin come from is it indigenous to Ireland no it's just because ah the the Americas have pump pumpkins and we were like oh hang on second these are easier to carve and they look kind of cool and they're orange and
00:35:37
Speaker
shit and um so ah we ah so I say we so ah us Americans adopted the pumpkins pumpkins were native to the Americas specifically central and parts of North America the oldest known domesticated pumpkin seeds were found in Mexico dating back to 7,000 9,000 years before Christ ah nine thousand years before christ Right.
00:36:09
Speaker
Here we go. Nice. like that. All right. Well, I mean, I could go on talking about Halloween for quite a long time.
00:36:20
Speaker
um But I think we can come to the place where we... decide is it a ah raise is a yeah we have to
00:36:44
Speaker
right is it a dopamine hit can you do it why because I missed it alright here we go we go we go for you is it a dopamine hit or is it a bird or an elephant
00:36:57
Speaker
Is it a dopamine hit or is burnout thing? Right, well, I think I'm going to go first. um i am i am i I think that that that this is like one funner,
00:37:10
Speaker
better and neurodivergently friendly ah seasons um and holidays. So i'm going to give this like ah like and like an eight.
00:37:23
Speaker
There's plenty of escape to get really involved or just a just to kind of watch ah watch a horror film in the evening or whatever. Yeah, eight eight for me. I'm going to two and a half.
00:37:38
Speaker
Two and half. I'm just completely indifferent to it. oh Oh. All right. And then a burnout school. There's lots of things I like about it, but still, you know, all right. It is it is a a it is a a community thing, I feel.
00:37:59
Speaker
Like, if you're just out on your own, it's nothing much. But... It's one of the, you know, the the reason why we kind of go door door to door and and one of the reasons why I like that is because the neighbours come over, the neighbours' kids come over, I'm out there, I say hello, I'm chit-chatting with them.
00:38:20
Speaker
Nightmare. I like all that. I think that's a, I'm, you know, like. so Yeah, I don't want neighbours to come over. yeah what and that see that's the beauty of this holiday is that it's optional it's not like Christmas you can literally just leave it alone and everyone will just are not looking outside of my window looking oh look at all the friends they've got oh look at all the friends they're having fun yeah why can't I be normal there goes Johnny Depp from Pirates of the Caribbean yeah now I'm watching Breaking Bad for the third time or something you know
00:39:00
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Blimey. Yeah. I've never seen it once. That's great. Which is strange because you look like the main protagonist, miss Mr. White. You look like the main protagonist massively.
00:39:15
Speaker
It has been. ah brian Brian Cranston, is that the guy's name? Yeah, something that. Yeah. It has been said maybe by you. um i think it was.
00:39:26
Speaker
Yeah. I think it was by you. um All right. So ah burnout score for me. it's not a huge burnout because I kind of quite get excited by it. I mean, it it it does take, you do have to kind of like do a bit of effort.
00:39:41
Speaker
Like have to go and buy some, some of these things. Um, but the growing of, I, I grew these pumpkins here, so but but that was fun. Um, and it's not too much of a ah drag. It's not like Christmas where you have to buy presents. It's just like, you know, get some candy and shit.
00:39:58
Speaker
So I would actually kind of go, right. It's a burnout score about two, for me so it's so it's quite low yeah quite low so that gives me like a plus six i'm a plus six two and a half oh so you're even i'm even it doesn't burn me out no it doesn't bother me all right so so well if you don't all right so if you don't take part surely it's as it's an absolute zero burnouts phone out for you because you don't You don't have to.
00:40:29
Speaker
That's true. You don't have to do nothing. Yeah, I don't do nothing. Yeah. Right. Except when my mate turns up late and, you know, he's gone to like half the effort.
00:40:42
Speaker
So on that particular night, burnout was quite high. I think I i've basically ruined Halloween for you from that point onwards. You were like, fuck this.
00:40:53
Speaker
I have such a vague memory of that. I just remember something about Andy Warhol and his fucking hair. Mm-hmm. And you're pitching up late because you'd been working late.
00:41:06
Speaker
Uh-huh. Yeah. Uh-huh. All right. All right. Cool. All right. Well, let us know at home ah what you think of Halloween. Is is is it a hit for you or is it burnout thing for you?
Community Interactions and Participation Choice
00:41:20
Speaker
Let us know. All right, well, now we have go zip ourselves over to Alexander's haunted inn. So we just have to kind of just
00:41:32
Speaker
run back in the tractor. Oh, hang on.
00:41:46
Speaker
Oh, there we go. There we go. um ah Changed the music to something a little bit more spookier. um Yeah, she's ah left a note i about last week's episode.
00:42:01
Speaker
Yeah. Right? and Yeah. Do you want to give a... In Greek cuisine, they they stuff vegetables. And says they're our favourite dishes, both Greek, both of them of which are Greek. But I adore nice chicken soup too for any or any kind of soup. We were talking about soups weren we before we came on.
00:42:29
Speaker
Love a soup at this time of year. love a soup. And she said her comfort food is mashed potatoes. I'd love that. Don't like mashed potatoes.
00:42:40
Speaker
what Not a final mashed potato. This is consistency thing. ah Texture. I don't like it. Why mash it? Is it a texture thing? It depends. If it's lightly mashed, like, for example, if you do, there's nothing better. If you get a, a um oh, I haven't done one of these for years.
00:43:00
Speaker
Jacket potato, right? Bake it in the oven. Take it out when it's almost done. um Scoop out the potato, mash it, but not too mashed.
00:43:12
Speaker
Not like it becomes a puree, right? Put it back in, mix it up with some um crispy bacon and cheese. All right. Put it back under the grill and grill the top of it.
00:43:24
Speaker
There you go. That sounds like a very classic American um stuffed potato skins. oh yeah it's stuffed potato skins yeah and uh but then then she said but in general anything she said i don't like it don't i don't like how it looks or how it's cooked i'm the easiest person and the hardest person to satisfy to satisfy when it comes to food at the same time yeah yeah i've always been thought of as as a fussy eater
00:43:58
Speaker
Always. I think a lot of the neurodivergence fall under that under that that thing. ah And as it's Halloween, Mr. Thompson, I have a very, very short Halloween ghost quiz to kind of go with the... Have we got a quiz? Yeah.
00:44:20
Speaker
Yeah. A very short short one't So I thought, all right, so ah here we go. I've got like three three Three questions.
00:44:31
Speaker
Right. Right. There we go. This is question number one. Which famous building is often called the most haunted house in America? Is it the the Winchester Mystery House?
00:44:45
Speaker
Is it the White House? Is it the Amityville House? From the film, I guess. Or the Stanley Hotel? Oh, the Stanley the stanley Hotel, defi of the film that John Cusack made.
00:45:01
Speaker
There's a certain room, isn't there? I don't know, mate. There's a room at that hotel. It's a great film. as it I'm going to say it's the that that last one, the um the hotel. he' The Stanley Hotel.
00:45:13
Speaker
Well, the answer is ah the the most famous building ah is ah the House. the white house because several so several presidents and first ladies, including Winston Churchill, weirdly, have claimed to see Lincoln's ghost there.
00:45:34
Speaker
Wow. Is that why Trump has demolished it? Oh, blimey, probably. how would i would I would prefer that to be the reason why, but yeah because it was haunted.
00:45:48
Speaker
Yeah, but not then because he wants a gold-gilded ballroom. Fucking, yeah. Moving on. Question two. What is the term for a ghost that moves objects or causes physical disturbances?
00:46:05
Speaker
A term? There's a term? Yeah. There is a specific type of ghost, you know, like, you know, the categories of ghosts. Is it a wraith?
00:46:16
Speaker
Is it a poltergeist? Is it a specter? Or is it a shade? Whatever a shade is.
00:46:26
Speaker
Given you said whatever shade is, it's not that. i know, right? It's not the poltergeist. What is the term It's the first one. it um So it moves objects and causes physical disturbances.
00:46:38
Speaker
wraith.
00:46:41
Speaker
No, no, I'm going to change my mind. All right. Poltergeist. Poltergeist, specter or shade? Poltergeist. And you'd be right. Yes. and it's It comes from the German, which means and which means noisy ghost.
00:46:58
Speaker
Famous for like moving things around. and cause i Ghost. That makes sense. Ghost. Causing a ruckus. um Oh, all right so ah yeah what's that expression they use sometimes in in marketing?
00:47:16
Speaker
um Zeitgeist. Yes. So what does Zeit mean? If Geist is ghost, what is Zeit? I don't know. But Zeitgeist means like the yeah the the thing of the day, the what's going on.
00:47:37
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. of Of the moment, I thought it meant, of the moment. I'm going to ask ChatBT, what
00:47:46
Speaker
does Zeitgeist mean? I mean, you know that that you're also using the the internet...
00:47:59
Speaker
What? Zeit means time and Geist means spirit. All right. so Spirit of the times time. Yeah. yeah There we go. All right. All right. So you are you are one one out of these three questions. You've got one wrong and one right.
00:48:17
Speaker
so So this is the one. Oh, the tension. Yeah. ah tension I know. And I think I've asked you this one before, but I kept it in because I wanted to see whether... Just checking out.
00:48:33
Speaker
<unk> a Yeah. Just to to kind of be little bit of a thing. In the movie Ghostbusters, which I remember we talked about yeah maybe a couple of episodes back because you hadn't seen it.
00:48:52
Speaker
Yes. Right. Right. What's the name of the giant marshmallow monster that terrorizes New York City? Right.
00:49:04
Speaker
Honestly, mate, it is like the best film. You've got... I think I've seen... It's got Rick Moranis in it, who's funny.
00:49:20
Speaker
I think seen half of it. um the ah You've got Sigourney Weaver in it. Right.
00:49:32
Speaker
um Bill Murray. and And you've got, ah what's his face in it? Yeah. It is like, come on, Paul. it is like come on po on on on has Halloween night, stick on Ghostbusters and it'll be like, ah like excellent evening.
00:49:49
Speaker
So um what what's the night, well what's the name of the giant marsh marshmallow monster that terrorizes New York? Is it Mr. Goo Goo?
00:50:01
Speaker
Is it this the Stay Puffed Marshmallow Man? Is it Puff Daddy or is it the the Sugar Spectre? It's the second one.
00:50:12
Speaker
the so the Stay Puft Marshmallow Band, and you would be right. You would be right. So there you go. You win the quiz. You win mate. Wow, the first time I think i've ever won the quiz, I think.
00:50:25
Speaker
I think it was it's only been a bit a while. It's been a a while.
00:50:34
Speaker
ah Well, I think i I got hammered the last quiz we had. I had i claim absolutely were blasted. The next episode, I'll prepare a quiz. Okay.
00:50:46
Speaker
All right. All right. um All right. So we also have, um just looking at my notes, we we um also have... ah a lovely little from um ah from Carol, who's who's our a Minister of Snacks,
00:51:05
Speaker
um who who who's who's been saying lots of nice things about our podcast. so Thank you so much for that. um she she she She says that she's slowly returning to being normal, you know, like coming back from like like burnout, you know, from that kind of, that very burnout, burnout place.
00:51:29
Speaker
um And she's returning to normal. And a solid portion of that is because of, of, of us. Oh, that's amazing. Podcast.
00:51:40
Speaker
That's amazing. That makes such a difference. Right. Thank you so much for letting us know as well. Right. that made You've made a difference to us as well, really though. and a like and alex And Alexandra um ah followed on by saying, they're amazing. It feels like having the most stress-free coffee with friends. Nice. And Carol was like, yes, exactly this.
00:52:08
Speaker
So there we go. One time, maybe when we maybe we we hit the 300th episode, we'll have a convention and we'll meet up somewhere were convenient or inconvenient.
00:52:20
Speaker
Who knows? Right. but Exactly. well you know we We are about bringing people together. um So, ah yeah so um ah yeah, get involved. Write in the comments.
00:52:34
Speaker
Yeah, your comments. It makes such a difference. It makes a massive difference for us. Right. And if you if you get involved, then we will give you an official ADHDville these Town Council job title.
00:52:49
Speaker
Yeah. So, you know, we have Minister of Snacks. We've got the um we got Seth as the Minister of Headstaff. and We've got alex all Alexander is the as a ah postmaster general and at least ADHD bill ambassador.
00:53:09
Speaker
So get involved and get a job title. Get involved. Comments. We want your comments. Right. So um next episode.
00:53:21
Speaker
Yeah. It's your choice. Yeah, we're going back to an old, well not an old, but ah we started doing a new thing about, oh, how long ago was it?
00:53:33
Speaker
It's been a few weeks now. It was episode 101 because it was like Room 101-ish kind of thing. We're going to revisit the five things ah we love to, we that five things we hate. Okay.
00:53:49
Speaker
All right. Edition two. Okay. We basically have a bit of a bone about stuff. ADHD, Room 101, two. Yes. Two.
00:54:00
Speaker
Slash. Brilliant. Cool. Cool. All right. Well, that just leaves me to say that ADHDville is delivered fresh every Tuesday to all providers of fine podcasts. Please subscribe to the pod and rate us most pumpkin spice. That's what I said last year, last week. And feel free to correspond at Will in the comments. But wait, there's more. If you wish to see our beautiful, beautiful faces and Sally forth to the YouTubes and the TikToks, you can pick up a quill and email us at ADHDville at gmail.com. But in the meantime,
00:54:34
Speaker
Be fucking kind to yourself. precede you, fellow ADHDers, help me take this makeup off. I've never done it before. I could take the ages. And also, but fare thee well with gladness of heart.
00:54:49
Speaker
Whilst I can make makeup off. Is it easy to get off? I've never done this before.
00:54:59
Speaker
Is that your... Is that your... Did your... Is that your girlfriend's eyeliner? Yeah, it is. She doesn't know it yet.
00:55:10
Speaker
Oh. Well, it's a good job that she doesn't ever, ever... Watch the podcast. Yeah, exactly. She'll never know. She'll never know. Apparently. Oh.
00:55:24
Speaker
There, says the mayor. That's that.