John Siracusa and Merlin Mann try to figure out exactly how they got this way.

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#138: Their Terrible Butts

September 3rd, 2020 · 87 minutes

Welcome to the highly specialized and deeply opinionated world of cast iron skillets.

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Download: MP3 (80.47 MB)

Links and Show Notes

John has Follow-Up on the name of an Australian rock, and Merlin learned New Zealand's true name from an old Split Enz song. Doesn't seem all that difficult to call things by the old name, but what do we know?

Merlin did not watch any educational YouTube videos, but John is just asking the question. A glimpse into Merlin's perilous journey into John's pasta sauce recipe is teased. John job-shames Merlin for some reason. Then, Merlin digs up a very old email exchange with John that, in retrospect, set the tone for their entire relationship.

John has some questions about what Merlin was planning to do before he forgot about the recording.

This leads to a riveting tour of Merlin's history with the notoriously finicky kitchen implements, including leaning how to use, maintain, season, and re-season them. It's ultimately less of a tool than a project. Which can be fun if you like that sort of thing.

This, in turn, leads to some strongly held opinions about the broader topics of sound kitchen praxis and, as ever, the Sisyphean role one inhabits as the only person in the house who understands how to do things properly.

John speaks passionately about furniture and floors and the various scratches he apparently just has to live with now. What do you expect when you're a Zentradi?

Finally, Merlin went and got a banker's box, and brother, you really do not want him to go and get a banker's box.

(Recorded on Tuesday, August 25, 2020)

Credits

Ayers Rock or Uluru? | Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park

That means you can use either Uluru or Ayers Rock to refer to the rock. However, in the national park we always use the original name: Uluru.

Split Enz - "Six Months In A Leaky Boat" - YouTube

Aotearoa, rugged individual. Glisten like a pearl, at the bottom of the world.

Ted Leo - "Six Months in a Leaky Boat" - YouTube
The Original Stainless Steel Cast Iron Cleaner
Geographical renaming - Wikipedia

Geographical renaming is the changing of the name of a geographical feature or area.

Zentradi
Relativity Playlist - You Tube
Calculus Playlist - YouTube
Better Pasta
Stripping a Cast Iron Skillet with Easy-Off Oven Cleaner | Plus Seasoning & Maintenance - YouTube
Aotearoa - Wikipedia
Mr. Show - Dr. X Doomsday Telethon