Back from Hiatus: Life, LEGO, and What's Next for the Podcast

[00:00:00] This is the Battlegorilla LEGO Podcast, Episode 40, Back from Hiatus, Life, LEGO, and Whats Next for the Podcast.

[00:00:11] The secret title of today's episode is What I Did on My Podcast Vacation.

[00:00:19] Actually, this episode's secret title might be a bit of a misnomer, as it wasn't so much a vacation as it was more along the lines of medical leave.

[00:00:32] But I'm trying to riff on the whole, what I did on my summer vacation trope, and what I did on my medical leave, just really doesn't hit the same way.

[00:00:44] But because the podcast went silent for a while, I thought I'd talk about what-

[00:00:51] Oh yes, there is once again an elephant in the room.

[00:01:04] Oh, sorry, elephants, plural. There's two of them this time.

[00:01:10] I don't know what the exact maximum occupancy of this room is, but I suspect that a single elephant probably comes close to its upper limit.

[00:01:20] But two elephants in the room? I'm really hoping that the fire marshal doesn't decide to pay me a visit before I can get them back out of the room again.

[00:01:32] Alright, yes? We hear you. Okay, okay, just...

[00:01:44] Will you two both just shut up?

[00:01:48] Okay.

[00:01:51] Elephant number one.

[00:01:54] Elephant number one.

[00:01:54] Yes, that's you.

[00:01:56] Elephant number one is the question of why the podcast was on hiatus for six months.

[00:02:02] Elephant number two.

[00:02:05] Sure.

[00:02:07] The second elephant concerns my current voice quality.

[00:02:11] I'm hoping that by the end of this episode, I'll have sufficiently addressed both of those concerns.

[00:02:18] Now, let's get this thing started, shall we?

[00:02:20] The disclaimer.

[00:02:26] Lego is a trademark of the Lego Group of Companies, which does not sponsor, authorize, or endorse this podcast.

[00:02:35] Are you ready to listen to the world's number one Lego podcast recorded in my apartment?

[00:02:51] Podcasting is awesome.

[00:02:54] It's about the Lego fancy.

[00:02:57] Podcasting is awesome.

[00:03:01] Hey, check out this audio stream.

[00:03:09] Welcome to the Battle Gorilla Lego podcast.

[00:03:11] My name is Mike Sneela and I'm your host.

[00:03:14] Let's get right into it.

[00:03:16] What I have for you this week is a sad tale of depression and chronic illness flare ups,

[00:03:23] interspersed with incidents of invasive dental work,

[00:03:26] plus brief mentions of six months worth of Lego news items.

[00:03:32] It's been kind of a weird six months.

[00:03:36] Actually, it's been a weird nine months or so if I go back to the beginning of the depressive episode.

[00:03:44] I've had issues with depression since way back in the mid nineties,

[00:03:48] but the depressive episode that currently plagues me began at the end of what I'll be referring to as the Lynn situation.

[00:03:59] In late December of last year, I met a woman online.

[00:04:03] Her name wasn't Lynn, but that's what I'll be calling her here as I've decided to not use her real name for the purposes of anonymity.

[00:04:12] She got in touch with me through social media to let me know that she discovered the podcast was enjoying it and wanted to let me know that I had the sexiest voice in the world.

[00:04:25] Okay, I thought I'll take that.

[00:04:29] That's good for the ego.

[00:04:32] Then we chatted online for about 10 minutes and I just assumed that I'd never hear from her again.

[00:04:40] That assumption was quickly proven incorrect.

[00:04:45] We ended up spending hours every day chatting online.

[00:04:49] I very quickly fell for her and I fell hard.

[00:04:54] Because she was so perfectly suited to me, she had become my best friend very quickly as well.

[00:05:01] And when I told her these things, she informed me it was all reciprocal.

[00:05:08] This is the first time in my life I've had that emotional reciprocation thing happen.

[00:05:16] Lynn was into most of the nerd geek things that I was.

[00:05:20] She was into Lego.

[00:05:23] Plus, she only lived about 50 miles away from me.

[00:05:27] So some kind of eventual in real life scenario was theoretically possible.

[00:05:36] Intellectually, I knew that the whole thing was doomed from the start for reasons I'm not going to get into here in the podcast.

[00:05:45] Emotionally, I sadly hadn't realized that yet.

[00:05:50] But after a solid two months of communicating every day, Lynn went completely radio silent for a week.

[00:05:59] I continued attempting to talk to her, but only received silence back.

[00:06:04] Eventually, she sent me a very short email informing me that she would no longer be communicating with me.

[00:06:12] The doomed part of our doomed relationship had manifested itself, and she removed herself from my life.

[00:06:19] I have not heard from her since.

[00:06:23] As a result of all this, March saw me sinking into a fairly deep depression.

[00:06:31] After Lynn exited my life, I continued to podcast for a couple of months, although I missed a week here and there due to some nasty chronic fatigue syndrome flare-ups.

[00:06:41] Then I threw my back out while frantically trying to finish building mocks for Bricks Cascade, and that really didn't help my state of mind.

[00:06:49] Or my mocks, for that matter.

[00:06:51] To be perfectly honest, I still haven't recovered from the Lynn situation, either mentally or emotionally.

[00:06:59] But what am I going to do?

[00:07:01] Sit here in my apartment and pine all day?

[00:07:04] I don't think so.

[00:07:05] I've got Lego stuff to get done.

[00:07:08] Meanwhile, the chronic fatigue syndrome flare-ups kept getting worse.

[00:07:13] Then, in April, I had a flare-up that stubbornly refused to flare back down again for the longest time.

[00:07:21] I told myself that I could still podcast, even through the pain, brain fog, and total lack of energy.

[00:07:28] So, basically, I told myself lies.

[00:07:33] The last episode before I finally surrendered was about plans for the upcoming episodes of the podcast.

[00:07:40] But that was six months ago, and with the hiatus and recent preparations for the podcast's return,

[00:07:47] all of those old plans have been overwritten with new plans.

[00:07:52] I'll probably still do everything I said I'd do in that episode, but it's no longer on the immediate schedule.

[00:08:00] Then my body said,

[00:08:02] Nope, I quit.

[00:08:04] And the podcast was going to be on hiatus whether I liked it or not,

[00:08:08] because I simply couldn't do it anymore.

[00:08:11] I announced that the Battle Gorilla Lego podcast would be going on indefinite hiatus.

[00:08:17] It was recently pointed out to me that,

[00:08:20] while I announced the hiatus on the podcast's social media channels,

[00:08:24] I never actually let anyone know through the podcast medium itself,

[00:08:30] which was a major oversight.

[00:08:33] I should have recorded one very short episode announcing the hiatus,

[00:08:37] so that listeners who don't do the whole social media thing

[00:08:40] would understand that I was gone on purpose, but did plan to return.

[00:08:47] I've probably got former listeners out there who just assume I was killed by a Sasquatch,

[00:08:53] or stepped on by a pesky elephant.

[00:08:58] All right, elephant.

[00:08:59] I've explained the hiatus.

[00:09:01] You can go now.

[00:09:06] No.

[00:09:15] You want to listen to me record the rest of this episode.

[00:09:21] Mr. Elephant, you are so weird.

[00:09:26] The podcast wasn't the only Lego thing that I stopped doing at that time.

[00:09:31] There was a monthly social event that I'd started venturing out into the world to attend.

[00:09:36] I'm talking, of course, about

[00:09:38] the Bricks and Booze event at the Southside Speakeasy here in Salem, Oregon,

[00:09:43] second Wednesday of the month from 7 to 9.30 p.m.,

[00:09:47] with additional special Saturday events four times a year.

[00:09:50] Drink.

[00:09:51] Socialize.

[00:09:52] Build Lego.

[00:09:53] Build yourself a good time.

[00:09:56] The last B&B night I'd been to before the hiatus was back in March.

[00:10:01] Too sick to go in April.

[00:10:03] Too sick to go in May.

[00:10:05] During the summer months, I missed every Bricks and Booze night,

[00:10:09] along with a couple of cookouts thrown by sections of the local Lego community that I'd been invited to.

[00:10:19] Oh, it's your turn, is it?

[00:10:23] Time to address the other elephant in the room.

[00:10:27] Okay, let's talk about teeth.

[00:10:30] I have, for several decades now, had a mouthful of broken teeth and no dental insurance.

[00:10:39] Then, one day, I got a letter in the mail informing me that I now had dental insurance,

[00:10:45] along with the name and number of the dentist that said insurance would allow me to see.

[00:10:52] So, I made an appointment.

[00:10:55] I went in.

[00:10:56] I went in.

[00:10:56] They tortured me for an hour, at the end of which time they suddenly had a full set of dental x-rays.

[00:11:03] After examining those x-rays, the dentist told me that pretty much the only thing they could do for me

[00:11:08] would be to remove all of my top teeth and about half of my bottom teeth,

[00:11:13] and then make me an upper denture plate.

[00:11:16] And, if the insurance was okay with it, no idea what the odds on that would be,

[00:11:21] possibly make me a lower partial denture as well.

[00:11:25] The next step would have been a consultation with an oral surgeon.

[00:11:30] But before I could see the oral surgeon,

[00:11:33] the planet I live on underwent a global pandemic,

[00:11:36] and everything shut down.

[00:11:41] Things like dental work became classified as emergency only for about three years.

[00:11:50] Time passed, and then last October, I made another appointment with the dentist.

[00:11:55] Their earliest open appointment was, of course, three months out.

[00:12:00] And then we started all over.

[00:12:02] Another hour of torture, another set of x-rays,

[00:12:06] and the exact same plan that a different dentist working in that office

[00:12:10] had given me shortly before COVID happened.

[00:12:13] Then a referral to an oral surgeon.

[00:12:16] This time, I made it all the way in to see the oral surgeon.

[00:12:21] He talked with me, examined my x-rays,

[00:12:24] took a peek in my mouth, and laid out a surgical plan.

[00:12:28] He was even going to have an anesthesiologist put me out for the operation.

[00:12:34] He said he'd send a report to my doctor,

[00:12:36] and once my doctor signed off on the plan, we'd schedule the surgery.

[00:12:41] When I asked him how many months I'd have to wait for an appointment,

[00:12:45] he told me that it would be a week, two at the most.

[00:12:50] So, send the report to the doctor,

[00:12:52] get the consent from my doctor,

[00:12:54] and a week later, boom, no teeth.

[00:12:59] The oral surgeon's report landed on my doctor's desk

[00:13:02] at the beginning of what turned out to be his week-long vacation.

[00:13:05] So, I had to wait.

[00:13:08] Once my doctor was back in the office again,

[00:13:10] he contacted me to inform me that,

[00:13:13] because of my myriad health issues,

[00:13:15] he wouldn't sign off on a plan that include anesthesia

[00:13:18] until he'd gotten an okay from my cardiologist.

[00:13:22] So, I scheduled an appointment with the cardiologist,

[00:13:25] who was currently scheduling a little over a month out.

[00:13:30] When I eventually saw the cardiologist,

[00:13:32] he examined me, said I was probably okay to go,

[00:13:37] but he wanted an EKG to make sure.

[00:13:41] And their first available opening for that appointment

[00:13:43] was about two months out.

[00:13:47] I eventually had the EKG.

[00:13:50] The cardiologist signed off on the procedure

[00:13:53] and informed my doctor.

[00:13:54] My doctor signed off on the procedure

[00:13:56] and informed the oral surgeon.

[00:13:58] And my oral surgeon scheduled me for surgery on July 9th.

[00:14:04] In June, I discovered that people were ignoring the fact

[00:14:08] that the podcast was on hiatus

[00:14:10] and continuing to generate Lego-based news,

[00:14:13] which I thought was kind of rude.

[00:14:16] With the podcast paused,

[00:14:18] shouldn't the Lego community have also paused?

[00:14:20] It's almost like I wasn't at the center of their universe or something.

[00:14:24] So weird.

[00:14:28] Anyway, in June,

[00:14:30] news broke that the LAPD had seized more than 2,800 stolen Lego sets

[00:14:35] and arrested 71-year-old Richard Siegel

[00:14:38] and 39-year-old Blanca Gudino.

[00:14:41] Apparently, she would rob retail stores

[00:14:44] and drop the stolen Lego off at his house

[00:14:46] where he could sell them online.

[00:14:49] The United Nations declared June 11th

[00:14:52] to be the first ever International Day of Play,

[00:14:55] an observance that's right in Lego's wheelhouse.

[00:14:59] The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

[00:15:02] has focused on play as a fundamental right of every child

[00:15:06] under Article 31, which states,

[00:15:09] Every child has the right to rest, relax, play,

[00:15:14] and to take part in cultural and creative activities.

[00:15:20] And the European Space Agency made news in June

[00:15:23] when they revealed that they've been conducting tests

[00:15:26] to see if Lego-like building materials

[00:15:29] could be 3D printed to create shelters on the moon

[00:15:33] out of moon dust.

[00:15:35] For these experiments,

[00:15:37] researchers ground up a 4.5 billion-year-old meteor

[00:15:40] that had been found in Northwest Africa in the year 2000.

[00:15:45] The resulting dust was then run through a 3D printer

[00:15:48] to produce small-scale bricks

[00:15:50] to test their viability as lunar construction materials.

[00:15:55] A selection of these bricks were on display

[00:15:58] at the Lego house and select Lego stores

[00:16:00] from June 24th through September 20th.

[00:16:05] Each one of these news items made me think,

[00:16:08] kind of wish I was currently podcasting.

[00:16:11] None of them would have justified an entire episode on their own,

[00:16:15] but I could probably have gathered related stuff

[00:16:18] and built some decent episodes around them,

[00:16:21] or simply included them as interesting bits

[00:16:24] at the end of episodes

[00:16:25] that were threatening to not fill out

[00:16:26] the time allotted on their own.

[00:16:30] But the CFS was still rearing its ugly head,

[00:16:33] and the oral surgery was fast approaching,

[00:16:36] and I suspected that my voice

[00:16:38] wouldn't be up to podcasting for a little while

[00:16:40] once that happened.

[00:16:43] As surgery day approached,

[00:16:45] we entered into a massive heat wave.

[00:16:48] The forecast for July 9th was 106 degrees,

[00:16:53] a level of heat that I'd be attempting to fight

[00:16:56] with a single box fan

[00:16:58] while trying to recover from surgery.

[00:17:02] Fortunately for me,

[00:17:04] my Aunt Mary didn't like the thought

[00:17:06] of her favorite nephew melting

[00:17:07] or bursting into flames

[00:17:09] or whatever it is that level of heat

[00:17:11] would have done to me.

[00:17:13] So prior to surgery day,

[00:17:15] she bought me a portable air conditioner.

[00:17:20] When my brother drove me home

[00:17:22] from the surgeon's office,

[00:17:23] I stepped from the high 90s,

[00:17:25] low 100s outside

[00:17:27] into the mid to low 70s

[00:17:30] inside my apartment,

[00:17:31] and then began

[00:17:35] the soft foods period of my life.

[00:17:39] I was eating yogurt.

[00:17:41] I was eating jello.

[00:17:43] I was eating pudding.

[00:17:45] Maybe some ice cream

[00:17:47] here and there.

[00:17:49] The bottle of pain pills

[00:17:50] that they had prescribed me

[00:17:51] did not last nearly long enough.

[00:17:54] I eventually called

[00:17:56] the oral surgeon's office

[00:17:57] and asked,

[00:17:58] it's been over a week

[00:17:59] since my oral surgery.

[00:18:01] Am I still supposed to be

[00:18:03] in this much pain?

[00:18:06] I was told that this long

[00:18:08] after the surgery,

[00:18:09] I shouldn't be in any pain at all,

[00:18:10] and to come into the office

[00:18:12] that afternoon,

[00:18:13] they said they'd squeeze me in.

[00:18:16] The oral surgeon took a look

[00:18:18] inside my mouth,

[00:18:19] carefully poked around a little,

[00:18:21] and then told me that

[00:18:22] I was indeed healing,

[00:18:24] just not as quickly

[00:18:26] as he'd expected.

[00:18:28] Another grand achievement

[00:18:29] for my chronic illness.

[00:18:32] He wrote me prescriptions

[00:18:33] for more pain pills

[00:18:34] and a numbing gel

[00:18:35] to apply to my gums.

[00:18:38] Eventually,

[00:18:39] the initial pain

[00:18:40] from the surgery

[00:18:41] did go away.

[00:18:42] Brand new pain

[00:18:44] would happen

[00:18:44] soon thereafter.

[00:18:47] August brought us

[00:18:48] more LEGO news

[00:18:49] that I couldn't podcast about.

[00:18:51] LEGO announced

[00:18:52] multi-year partnerships

[00:18:54] with both Asmodee Games

[00:18:55] and Nike.

[00:18:57] LEGO and Asmodee

[00:18:58] will be collaborating

[00:18:59] on LEGO board games,

[00:19:02] LEGO and Nike

[00:19:03] will be collaborating

[00:19:04] on...

[00:19:05] something.

[00:19:08] There's an FAQ

[00:19:09] on LEGO.com

[00:19:10] that says,

[00:19:11] the partnership

[00:19:11] could see a series

[00:19:12] of co-branded products,

[00:19:14] content,

[00:19:15] and experiences

[00:19:16] that combine

[00:19:17] the imaginative

[00:19:18] power of LEGO bricks

[00:19:19] with the just-do-it

[00:19:20] spirit of Nike

[00:19:21] to invite all kids

[00:19:23] into play and sport.

[00:19:25] Which didn't really

[00:19:26] answer the question

[00:19:27] I had,

[00:19:28] but I guess

[00:19:30] we'll wait and see.

[00:19:32] The majority

[00:19:33] of the 2024

[00:19:35] Summer Olympics

[00:19:35] took place

[00:19:36] during the first half

[00:19:37] of August as well.

[00:19:38] I'm not a big

[00:19:39] Olympics watcher.

[00:19:41] Most of what I know

[00:19:42] about this year's Olympics,

[00:19:43] I read on LEGO news sites,

[00:19:45] which was mostly

[00:19:46] about a rugby player

[00:19:48] named Sammy Sullivan,

[00:19:49] who was apparently

[00:19:50] very vocal

[00:19:51] about her love

[00:19:52] of LEGO.

[00:19:54] LEGO noticed this

[00:19:55] and sent her

[00:19:56] a surprise gift,

[00:19:57] the $10,001 piece,

[00:20:00] $630

[00:20:01] LEGO Eiffel Tower set,

[00:20:04] which she built

[00:20:05] on her Twitch livestream.

[00:20:09] In late August,

[00:20:10] my mouth started

[00:20:11] having problems again.

[00:20:13] It had been

[00:20:14] pushing bone fragments

[00:20:15] from the surgery

[00:20:16] out through my gums

[00:20:17] periodically,

[00:20:18] which wasn't

[00:20:19] a fun sensation.

[00:20:20] but now,

[00:20:22] it started pushing

[00:20:23] bone fragments

[00:20:24] that pierced my gums

[00:20:26] from the inside

[00:20:27] and then just

[00:20:28] stayed there,

[00:20:31] one of which

[00:20:32] was in the perfect

[00:20:32] position to slice

[00:20:34] into my tongue

[00:20:34] every time

[00:20:36] I moved it.

[00:20:38] I would have been

[00:20:39] surprised to learn

[00:20:40] that I was the next

[00:20:40] stage of human evolution,

[00:20:42] so I was pretty sure

[00:20:44] that the other thing

[00:20:45] wasn't what it felt like.

[00:20:48] But what it felt like

[00:20:50] was new teeth coming in.

[00:20:52] I could feel

[00:20:53] four or five

[00:20:55] tooth-sized protrusions

[00:20:57] along my gum line,

[00:20:58] not actually piercing

[00:20:59] the gums,

[00:21:00] but definitely

[00:21:01] threatening to.

[00:21:04] I would be attending

[00:21:05] BrickCon

[00:21:06] in Bellevue,

[00:21:07] Washington

[00:21:07] the first weekend

[00:21:08] in September,

[00:21:09] and then two days

[00:21:10] after that

[00:21:11] was my appointment

[00:21:12] with the dentist

[00:21:13] to begin taking molds

[00:21:14] and start work

[00:21:15] on building me

[00:21:16] some dentures.

[00:21:17] I figured I'd just

[00:21:19] put up with the mouth pain

[00:21:20] until that time

[00:21:21] and then let them

[00:21:22] deal with my new problems.

[00:21:25] I'll be talking

[00:21:25] about BrickCon

[00:21:26] in next week's episode.

[00:21:28] I will say

[00:21:29] that since the

[00:21:30] denture process

[00:21:30] was expected to begin

[00:21:31] when I got back

[00:21:32] from that event,

[00:21:34] I was planning

[00:21:35] to restart the podcast

[00:21:36] in late October

[00:21:37] early November

[00:21:38] when the dentist's

[00:21:39] timeline suggested

[00:21:40] that I'd have

[00:21:41] at least a temporary

[00:21:42] set of upper teeth.

[00:21:45] I didn't want

[00:21:46] to start the podcast

[00:21:47] earlier than that

[00:21:48] because not having

[00:21:50] those upper front teeth

[00:21:51] was hampering

[00:21:52] my ability to speak.

[00:21:54] There were certain

[00:21:55] sounds a person

[00:21:56] makes when talking

[00:21:57] that I currently

[00:21:58] couldn't make,

[00:21:59] specifically

[00:22:00] the TH combination.

[00:22:03] But with the return

[00:22:05] of the podcast

[00:22:06] seemingly in sight,

[00:22:07] I attended BrickCon

[00:22:09] with a sign

[00:22:09] on the back

[00:22:10] of my wheelchair,

[00:22:11] the podcast's logo,

[00:22:13] and the words

[00:22:14] new episodes start

[00:22:15] in late October

[00:22:16] or early November.

[00:22:19] So we went to the con,

[00:22:21] came home from the con,

[00:22:22] and then a couple

[00:22:23] of days later,

[00:22:24] I went to the dentist

[00:22:26] with the intention

[00:22:27] of getting my denture started.

[00:22:30] But instead,

[00:22:33] instead,

[00:22:34] the dentist told me

[00:22:35] that I was going

[00:22:35] to need

[00:22:36] another oral surgery first.

[00:22:40] Apparently,

[00:22:41] the removal of my teeth

[00:22:42] caused the landscape

[00:22:43] of my upper jaw

[00:22:44] to shift,

[00:22:45] causing protrusions

[00:22:47] that needed to be

[00:22:47] done away with

[00:22:48] before they could start

[00:22:49] in on the denture

[00:22:50] making process.

[00:22:51] These were my phantom

[00:22:53] new teeth

[00:22:54] that I knew

[00:22:54] weren't coming in.

[00:22:56] The dentist used

[00:22:57] the terms

[00:22:58] shave down

[00:22:59] and grind down

[00:23:00] when referring

[00:23:01] to the elimination

[00:23:02] of these protrusions,

[00:23:04] neither of which

[00:23:05] filled me

[00:23:05] with joyful expectation.

[00:23:08] They sent another

[00:23:09] referral to the oral surgeon

[00:23:11] and then sent me

[00:23:12] on my way.

[00:23:14] I spent the ride home

[00:23:16] pondering the fate

[00:23:17] of the podcast's comeback.

[00:23:19] I had,

[00:23:20] based on the available

[00:23:21] information

[00:23:22] about my dental shenanigans,

[00:23:23] announced that the podcast

[00:23:25] would be returning

[00:23:26] in October or November.

[00:23:28] And now I was faced

[00:23:29] with another oral surgery

[00:23:31] and another long stretch

[00:23:33] of healing

[00:23:33] before they could begin

[00:23:35] the denture making process.

[00:23:37] Meaning,

[00:23:38] that what I saw

[00:23:39] as my not yet ready

[00:23:40] for podcasting voice

[00:23:42] wouldn't get fixed

[00:23:43] until at least

[00:23:44] early 2025.

[00:23:47] I spent a couple of weeks

[00:23:49] ruminating on what to do.

[00:23:51] I saw three options.

[00:23:53] One,

[00:23:54] I could announce

[00:23:56] the indefinite postponement

[00:23:57] of the podcast's relaunch.

[00:24:00] Two,

[00:24:01] I could go ahead

[00:24:02] and start producing

[00:24:03] new podcast episodes,

[00:24:05] even though listening

[00:24:06] to my self-talk

[00:24:07] made me cringe.

[00:24:09] Or three,

[00:24:10] I could peacefully

[00:24:12] die in my sleep

[00:24:13] of natural causes

[00:24:14] one night.

[00:24:15] I didn't actually

[00:24:16] have any control

[00:24:17] over whether option

[00:24:18] number three

[00:24:19] was a possibility,

[00:24:20] so I focused

[00:24:21] on the other two,

[00:24:23] neither of which

[00:24:24] I liked.

[00:24:26] I had people

[00:24:27] tell me things like,

[00:24:28] oh,

[00:24:28] the change in your voice

[00:24:29] is barely even noticeable.

[00:24:31] Or,

[00:24:32] your voice is fine,

[00:24:33] go podcast.

[00:24:36] Maybe it was okay,

[00:24:38] from outside my head.

[00:24:40] But I was listening

[00:24:41] to it from inside my head

[00:24:43] and it was driving me crazy.

[00:24:47] Eventually,

[00:24:47] I ended up deciding

[00:24:49] to just bite

[00:24:50] the proverbial bullet,

[00:24:52] obviously a very soft

[00:24:53] or possibly liquid bullet,

[00:24:54] and go to work

[00:24:56] on new podcast episodes

[00:24:57] so that I could

[00:24:58] meet my targeted return.

[00:25:00] If you can hear

[00:25:02] a difference in my voice

[00:25:03] or pronunciation skills,

[00:25:04] now you know

[00:25:05] why I went ahead

[00:25:06] with podcasting

[00:25:07] instead of waiting

[00:25:08] for the problem

[00:25:08] to be solved.

[00:25:10] Elephant number two,

[00:25:12] addressed.

[00:25:14] You may go now.

[00:25:18] The next oral surgery

[00:25:19] was scheduled

[00:25:20] for October 7th.

[00:25:23] More Lego stuff

[00:25:24] happened in late September,

[00:25:25] most notably a survey

[00:25:27] on lego.com

[00:25:28] asking for our thoughts

[00:25:30] on Lego eliminating

[00:25:31] the traditional paper

[00:25:32] instructions that come

[00:25:33] with Lego sets,

[00:25:34] replacing them with

[00:25:35] online-only instructions.

[00:25:39] This nearly broke

[00:25:40] the Lego hobbyists

[00:25:41] section of the internet.

[00:25:44] Upon hearing the outcry

[00:25:46] from its fans

[00:25:46] and consumers,

[00:25:48] Lego very quickly

[00:25:49] took the survey down

[00:25:50] and then issued

[00:25:51] a statement

[00:25:52] basically saying,

[00:25:53] No!

[00:25:54] You're not thinking

[00:25:55] about stopping

[00:25:56] paper instructions.

[00:25:58] We were just curious

[00:25:59] what you thought

[00:26:01] about the idea.

[00:26:02] Obviously,

[00:26:03] this isn't something

[00:26:04] we're planning on doing.

[00:26:06] Hmm.

[00:26:08] Uh-huh.

[00:26:11] Lego also announced

[00:26:12] a trial run

[00:26:13] of something called

[00:26:14] the Lego Brick

[00:26:15] Takeback Program.

[00:26:17] During this program,

[00:26:19] which ends

[00:26:19] on December 8th,

[00:26:20] so you don't have

[00:26:21] much time left

[00:26:22] if you want to get in

[00:26:23] on it,

[00:26:24] you can box up

[00:26:25] your old Lego bricks

[00:26:26] and send them to Lego,

[00:26:27] who will verify

[00:26:29] that everything you sent

[00:26:30] qualifies,

[00:26:31] and then send you

[00:26:32] a Lego e-gift card

[00:26:33] for anywhere

[00:26:35] from $3.60

[00:26:37] to $6

[00:26:38] per pound

[00:26:39] of accepted brick.

[00:26:42] On October 1st,

[00:26:44] Twitch announced

[00:26:45] that they were adding

[00:26:46] a Lego and brick building

[00:26:47] category

[00:26:48] to its platform.

[00:26:49] There have been

[00:26:50] Lego streamers

[00:26:51] on Twitch since

[00:26:52] forever,

[00:26:54] but now they have

[00:26:55] their own category,

[00:26:56] making them easier

[00:26:57] to search out,

[00:26:58] and maybe making them

[00:27:00] feel more welcome, too.

[00:27:01] Who knows?

[00:27:04] Also on the 1st of October,

[00:27:06] after gathering up

[00:27:08] parts for a couple

[00:27:08] of weeks,

[00:27:09] I designed and built

[00:27:11] my first Brickheads mock.

[00:27:13] Hopefully,

[00:27:14] the podcast's

[00:27:15] Brickheads episode

[00:27:16] will happen before

[00:27:17] the end of the year.

[00:27:20] On October 2nd,

[00:27:22] I was part of a small group

[00:27:23] that attended an advanced

[00:27:24] screening of the

[00:27:25] Pharrell Williams biopic

[00:27:26] Piece by Piece,

[00:27:28] which was completely

[00:27:29] rendered in Lego animation style

[00:27:31] for some reason.

[00:27:34] I enjoyed the film.

[00:27:36] I'm glad I saw it.

[00:27:38] It's not something

[00:27:39] that I would have

[00:27:40] sought out on my own

[00:27:41] had it not been

[00:27:42] for it being done

[00:27:44] Lego animation style.

[00:27:46] And even after seeing it,

[00:27:49] I'm not entirely sure

[00:27:51] why it was done

[00:27:52] in that style.

[00:27:53] I'm not sure

[00:27:54] anybody really knows.

[00:27:57] Kind of weird.

[00:28:01] Speaking of weird,

[00:28:02] on October 4th,

[00:28:04] Lego.com was hacked,

[00:28:06] and a banner

[00:28:07] appeared on the site

[00:28:08] advertising a new

[00:28:09] cryptocurrency,

[00:28:11] the Lego coin.

[00:28:13] Clicking that banner

[00:28:14] took you to a site

[00:28:15] where you were able

[00:28:16] to purchase

[00:28:16] the scam Lego token

[00:28:17] for a few hundred

[00:28:18] dollars worth

[00:28:19] of Ethereum.

[00:28:22] The banner was up

[00:28:23] for about 75 minutes,

[00:28:24] being removed

[00:28:25] after Lego regained

[00:28:26] full control

[00:28:27] of their site,

[00:28:28] and we've been assured

[00:28:29] that no user accounts

[00:28:30] were compromised,

[00:28:31] and that steps

[00:28:32] were being taken

[00:28:33] to prevent this sort

[00:28:34] of thing

[00:28:34] from happening again.

[00:28:37] On October 7th,

[00:28:39] my oral surgeon

[00:28:40] removed yet another

[00:28:41] tooth,

[00:28:42] because hey,

[00:28:43] why not?

[00:28:43] He was in there anyway,

[00:28:45] and dealt with the results

[00:28:47] of the seismic activity

[00:28:48] in my jaw.

[00:28:49] So,

[00:28:50] after having upgraded

[00:28:51] my diet to include

[00:28:52] things like scrambled eggs

[00:28:54] and macaroni and cheese,

[00:28:55] I was now back

[00:28:56] on yogurt and jello.

[00:28:59] Piece by piece

[00:29:01] opened in theaters

[00:29:01] on October 11th,

[00:29:03] to decent reviews,

[00:29:05] but abysmal

[00:29:06] box office returns.

[00:29:09] A couple of weeks later,

[00:29:11] on October 31st,

[00:29:12] Deadline reported

[00:29:14] that Lego and Universal

[00:29:15] had hired three directors,

[00:29:18] Patty Jenkins,

[00:29:19] Jake Kasdan,

[00:29:20] and Joe Cornish,

[00:29:21] to each helm

[00:29:22] a live-action Lego movie.

[00:29:26] And the next day,

[00:29:28] they announced

[00:29:28] a fourth film,

[00:29:29] this one being

[00:29:30] a live-action

[00:29:31] Ninjago project

[00:29:32] that's being written

[00:29:33] by Kevin and Dan Hageman,

[00:29:35] the original scriptwriters

[00:29:37] for seasons

[00:29:37] one through six

[00:29:38] and eight and nine

[00:29:40] of Ninjago.

[00:29:42] This is why

[00:29:43] I have an episode

[00:29:44] tentatively penciled

[00:29:45] onto my schedule

[00:29:46] for January

[00:29:46] with the working title

[00:29:48] Lego Goes Back

[00:29:49] to the Movies.

[00:29:51] I have lots of things

[00:29:53] to say about this.

[00:29:55] On November 13th,

[00:29:57] I made my triumphant

[00:29:58] return to Bricks and Booze,

[00:30:00] where I will hopefully

[00:30:01] once again

[00:30:02] be a regular attendee.

[00:30:05] And,

[00:30:06] I spent much of November

[00:30:08] relearning the fact

[00:30:09] that I am apparently

[00:30:11] incapable of doing

[00:30:12] anything

[00:30:13] without a looming

[00:30:15] deadline.

[00:30:17] I started writing

[00:30:18] the script for

[00:30:19] this episode

[00:30:20] in late October,

[00:30:21] and it remained

[00:30:23] under 500 words

[00:30:24] until about two days

[00:30:26] before this episode

[00:30:27] was scheduled to drop.

[00:30:30] Since late October,

[00:30:32] I had been assuring people

[00:30:33] that the podcast

[00:30:34] would start new episodes

[00:30:35] in November,

[00:30:37] and I almost

[00:30:39] didn't make it.

[00:30:42] But,

[00:30:43] I did indeed

[00:30:44] get the episode

[00:30:45] written,

[00:30:46] recorded,

[00:30:47] edited,

[00:30:48] and uploaded.

[00:30:50] Just in time

[00:30:51] for it to drop

[00:30:51] at the last possible

[00:30:53] moment,

[00:30:53] the morning

[00:30:54] of November 33rd.

[00:30:56] Go me!

[00:31:00] Make sure to catch

[00:31:01] next week's episode,

[00:31:02] where I will be talking

[00:31:03] about the 2024

[00:31:04] BrickCon.

[00:31:06] links to the podcast's

[00:31:08] social media

[00:31:08] and wish lists

[00:31:09] can be found

[00:31:10] at battlegorilla.com

[00:31:12] slash links.

[00:31:13] If you like this

[00:31:15] podcast,

[00:31:16] please,

[00:31:16] tell all your friends

[00:31:17] about it.

[00:31:18] I've been gone

[00:31:19] for a while,

[00:31:19] so if you've already

[00:31:21] told your friends,

[00:31:22] you might take a moment

[00:31:23] to remind them.

[00:31:24] Let them know

[00:31:25] that the podcast

[00:31:25] is back.

[00:31:27] And,

[00:31:28] as always,

[00:31:29] if you don't

[00:31:30] like the podcast,

[00:31:31] go ahead

[00:31:32] and tell your enemies.

[00:31:35] And,

[00:31:36] at the risk

[00:31:37] of offending

[00:31:37] certain elephants

[00:31:38] who may or may not

[00:31:39] have been in the room,

[00:31:40] I am obligated

[00:31:41] to inform you

[00:31:42] that elephant noises

[00:31:44] are available

[00:31:46] from the royalty-free

[00:31:47] sound libraries

[00:31:48] belonging to

[00:31:50] Pixabay,

[00:31:52] SoundSnap,

[00:31:53] Zapsplat,

[00:31:55] Upbeat,

[00:31:56] and QuickSounds.

[00:31:58] And,

[00:31:59] if I remember right,

[00:32:00] all of those

[00:32:00] are .com.

[00:32:03] The podcast's

[00:32:05] intro and outro

[00:32:06] themes,

[00:32:07] Podcasting is Awesome,

[00:32:08] inspired by

[00:32:08] Tegan and Sarah's

[00:32:09] Everything is Awesome,

[00:32:10] and Ode to Gibberish,

[00:32:12] were created

[00:32:13] by Michael Reitsch.

[00:32:18] I think I just

[00:32:19] closed Pandora's box

[00:32:21] and I want to know

[00:32:22] if you can

[00:32:23] punch a sucker

[00:32:24] how else

[00:32:25] would you know

[00:32:26] that I've done

[00:32:27] everything

[00:32:27] except

[00:32:28] any of it.

[00:32:30] You can have

[00:32:31] your bald eagle

[00:32:32] afraid of fire

[00:32:33] and you can

[00:32:34] eat it too

[00:32:35] and there

[00:32:36] could be

[00:32:36] so much

[00:32:37] joy

[00:32:37] and I want

[00:32:38] my libido

[00:32:39] well

[00:32:39] how else

[00:32:40] I mean

[00:32:41] wish me luck

[00:32:42] on the

[00:32:43] prayers

[00:32:44] for junk food.