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108: Wallace, Gromit, and Atlas Obscura

59m 34s

108: Wallace, Gromit, and Atlas Obscura

Brittany Broski shares her excitement for an upcoming trip to the UK and Ireland, where she plans to attend the writing and leads festival, join electric picnic (headlined by Sam Fender), and explore unique cultural sites through Atlas Obscura. A central theme is her deep affection for animated films like *Flushed Away* and *Wallace and Grommet*, which she celebrates for their emotional and artistic depth, especially in scenes involving frogs and the "curse of the wear rabbit." She also delves into Irish folklore, focusing on the belief in fairies, mummies in Saint Mekens Church, and the historical significance of ancient monuments. The mummies’ preservation is attributed to dry conditions or methane gas, though a recent arson incident destroyed several. She contrasts Baroque and Rococo art movements, noting Rococo’s decline due to revolutionary backlash against extravagance. Brittany raises concerns about AI’s role in undermining education, while also embracing quirky content and niche fragrances. Her journey is infused with personal nostalgia for childhood media and emotional connections to characters like baby grommet and Timmy from *Sean the Sheep*. The trip includes visits to Dublin’s National Museum of Ireland, where Victorian displays and glass animals reflect on history and preservation. Throughout, she blends humor, cultural discovery, and philosophical reflection, emphasizing the importance of tradition, human emotion, and respectful engagement with the strange and mystical elements of folklore.

Transcription

9290 Words, 50775 Characters

English
Direct from the Broski Nation headquarters in Los Angeles, California. This is the Broski Report with your host, Brittany Broski. Welcome back! Goals, goblins, ladies, and germs or anything in between. What the fuck is going on, you weirdos? Here is the State of the Union. The set decor is not going anywhere any time soon. Unfortunately, I think it's just going to keep getting worse, but you're going to come back in here one day and the whole black drop is going to be black. Sure. Sure, fuck it. Sure, fuck it. Words don't matter, I guess. I had a cortado and I was speaking in tongues on this motherfuckin' mic on this motherfucking sure S7. You're going to walk. You're going to. Hey, guys. Welcome back. Hey, guys. You're listening. You're going to click on a video one day, okay, nervous for me because what the fuck am I ever saying? You're going to click on a video one day. The whole map is going to be lace, black lace, and on it the whole map is going to be made of spiders, live spiders, and I'm going to say, "Spiders, form Ireland!" And then all of the silver is going to come and combine and make just one the continent, the island of Ireland, and then I'll say, "Farm Sri Lanka!" And then they'll all re-arrush into Sri Lanka and then I can point to it. And my pointer is going to be like in Madagascar King Julian, has that skeleton hand? I'm going to have that. And then it'll go like this when he's pointing at shit and it's flopping around. Madagascar, I don't think we gave enough flowers to what a masterpiece of a film. What a masterpiece of a cinematic experience that movie really fucking is, like truly Madagascar. Cars as we know, cars was very, very formative to me. I would say flushed away, because flushed away, I'm glad that flushed away is getting kind of like a renaissance, where rat boy summer or whatever the fuck that was, Roddy from flushed away. I believe his name was Millicent Boston though. Right, if you guys have seen flushed away, you know about that? You know about that. There's a scene with the fucking toes with the frogs, where whenever he's giving like, okay, the really posh like aristocratic frog who's been, who's flushed down the toilet, like set up Dominion and the sewer. He has this whole speech where he goes, "The dog," and his eyes go different ways. And there's like this sad music going on in the background, and then as his eyes go different ways, it focuses on a fly and then it eats the fly. There is such cinematic genius that happens in the DreamWorks animated film flushed away. That is DreamWorks, isn't it? Yeah. And the slugs, dude? Bro. Is that ArtVark? Who makes that? Who's the anime studio? What? The animation studio made flushed away. Ardman. Ardman animation is a collaboration with DreamWorks animation. It was the first Ardman film to use computer-generated imagery because usually it is stop motion because they did wallets and grommets, right? Does Ardman do wallets and grommets, cheese grommets? Yes, Ardman animation produces the wallets and grommet franchise. Wow. Grommet, dude. Grommet, here's the thing about their toxic ass dynamic of wallets and grommet. I need a therapist to study wallets and grommets dynamic because there is no fucking way that at least like grommet wasn't beating up on wallets. You know what I mean, like wallets and grommets had a sort of dominant submissive dynamic. If you want to put, you know, if you want to put a name on it, it was, grommet was the dumb, and wallets was the dumb, or maybe they switched off because grommet really took it on the fucking chin, okay? He scrubbing the floors, he's doing the weeds, he's making him coffee, he's doing all his bullshit. The wallets is big ass, he's coming there, cheese grommets, how about a nice cup of tea, grommet? No, they're getting away, we've got to hide the building, grommets. The wear rabbit, hilarious, the curse of the wear rabbit, y'all, there, I need to personally revisit wallets and grommet because of course I love them. And when I, every time I go to the UK, which speaking of, today I leave for the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, I'm going to London, and then I'm going to Reading and Leeds, and then after that, I'm going to the Motherland. I'm going to the Motherland. So when I'm in London, at all those little junk shops, which I love a fucking junk shop, trust, I love a junk shop. They always sell those grommet mugs, and I always am like, don't buy. Like the thing in Adam's family, the fucking hand, it'll jump through the air and go, my soul, catch it. That's how I feel. I need one so bad, I need, I love wallets and grommet merchandise. And I'm somewhat of a fake fan, because of course I love wallets and grommet, but I haven't seen the shit the way that, like I probably should have. And on top of that, what's the other one, chicken run? I was more of a chicken run child growing up. I loved chicken run. That was my favorite movie. I haven't seen it in probably 20 years, okay? I need to re-watch chicken run, and I need to watch walls and grommet the curse of the wear rabbit. Look at, grommet is so domestic, honestly, grommet is kind of my dream man. He's your permorphic grommet from, and I loved Sean the sheep, I loved Sean the sheep. He was so silly, Sean the sheep, no, the baby, the baby from the, I have very maternal instincts over the baby from Sean the sheep. What was his name? Timmy, grommet, grommet, grommet, grommet, look at him, look at Timmy, he's so, I'm going to freak out. I'm going to freak out, look at him, look him so happy, he's got binky and he's got a teddy, I'm literally going to freak out. I guess I need a Timmy from Sean the sheep tattoo, maybe that's the only logical conclusion to draw here. I love him, and I love baby grommet, baby, grommet, oh my God, look at him, Ted baby grommet, look at him, look at him, look at him, look at him, no, my son, my baby boy, oh wow, something about baby grommet and little Timmy from Sean the sheep make me very maternal, I would lay down my life, they, you know, they always say you won't understand a mother's love until you are a mother, I would do anything for baby grommet and for Timmy from Sean the sheep, will I ever have kids my own now, okay? Moving on, every time I'm in the UK, anyway, my point being, I see Wallace and Grommet merge, and I need to tap the fucking on my flight today, I'm going to watch every single Wallace and Grommet movie in an episode that's ever happened, okay? Does Artman also make creature comforts, it's a movie? No, it's not a movie, creature comforts is, yeah, creature comforts is, I still love creature comforts, it's like animated short where they would interview people in the street, just like British people, and they're just chatting shit, like chatting shit, aren't they? It's saying bullshit, and what reminds me, one of my favorite memes on Instagram is videos or like pictures of people just dicking around at the gym, like doing not real reps, not real exercises, and the captions, it's always like, "Four sets of some bullshit." Look at him, there you go, four sets of bullshit, and it's always somebody like upside down on the fucking, "I'm doing some bullshit, it's so funny," okay, creature comforts. Anyway, like I'm saying, they would animate to the audio of interviewing just random British people out on the street, and it's so funny. The little nuances that you can accomplish in stop motion and claymation of like how they move and how the body moves and how they blink, but it's just so fucking funny. That's why I flushed away. I would go as far as to say flushed away one of my favorite movies ever. Definitely a comfort rewatch. It was me and my siblings favorite movie, there's some great music. Can that movie really, really love Flushed Away? And I'm very happy that it's having a little renaissance. I don't know if people are really watching Flushed Away or if it's just the memes from that movie, but yeah. Well, go give it a watch if you've never watched Flushed Away. And also, don't look at my hair this episode. And if you look at my hair, I'm actually going to be pissed off. I'm going to be pissed off at you. And you're going to be blocked. Because I can tell, I can tell which one of you because I've got AI face detecting technology on the broski report set. And so when we publish these videos, and you watch, and you look at my hair, and you're thinking, "Oh, hair looks bad." Guess what? You're getting blocked. And also I just sold your credit card information online. Because of my AI face detecting technology. OK, what was I going to talk about? I'm leaving for the UK and Ireland. If you're watching this on September 2nd, which I'm sure you are. And if you're not, hi, from the past September 2nd, I will be back in the States by then. But right now, I'm pre-filming. Do you understand? Is everyone on the same day? Everyone-- I'm pre-filming right now. So if you're watching this right now, I will have just gotten back. So probably today, a September 2nd, I am filming my recap of my trip to the UK and Ireland. It's kneecap, kneecap. So we're doing writing and leads. But also-- but also because for all my British girls, all the British fans, I've never done writing and leads. OK? And I'm trying to find something that would be comparable, comparable to a festival in the States that is as intense as writing and leads is. And what I've come up with is maybe like a barnaroo, maybe like a lollapalooza. Anyone who's been to both, let me know. In the comments. Because I know Glastonbury is like the Coachella, right? Glastonbury is like-- it's not Glaston. That's the one. Writing and leads-- I've always heard of writing and leads. But it's been described to me as a lot of drunk teenagers, and it's a very muddy. And you're pissing on the ground. Yay. I have brought some wellies. I bought some fucking wellies, have an eye. I've bought me wellies. And I've got some plastic bag. I'll put my wellies in my fucking luggage down here now. And we're going to see how I behave, writing and leads ultimately, because I'm doing a set-- not singing. I'm doing a set with Max Malengman and Charlie Mala. And they're interviewing me on the respective days. And we're literally just going to have fun on stage. So broski nation, if you came, thank you. And I'm so excited because I don't know what to expect. And of course, best detailers coming. And we're going to see what the fuck's going on at British festivals. I feel like it's a once-in-a-lifetime thing. I just got to do it. And I got to see. And if I like it, I'm going to come back. And if I don't, there you go. And if I don't, OK? So we're going to see writing and leads obviously hoesier and chapel-roaner going. Obviously, even if I wasn't going to perform on a stage, I would be going anyway, OK? After that, we leave the UK. And we go to Dublin. We go to Dublin. And then we drive to Galway, drive back to Dublin. And then we're going to electric picnic. Yeah. And guess who the fuck else is headlining electric picnic? Hoesier. You guys can't get away from me. Andrew, stop following me. Stop. But the real reason I'm going to electric picnic-- Sam Fender. Thank you. You guys know a big Sam Fenderhead. I'm a fucking Fenderhead. I'm a real Fenderhead. And this will be the first time I'm seeing him live. I'm going to freak the fuck out. I'm bringing a diaper. What's wrong? Never seen a grown woman wearing a diaper at a festival? Get used to it. European festivals, again. We'll see how I acted, read a good leads. And I'll kind of get the lay of the land. Because I don't really know about electric picnic. We'll see. OK, so because I'm going to Ireland in about four days, I figured we would look up Atlas Obscura. And if you're not familiar with Atlas Obscura, it is the weirdo shit to do in every city or country that you go to. And I think it's been curated by-- you have to be a member on the website. I'm actually not sure who curates this. But it's really neat. And I use it for every city that I travel to. Because you don't want to just do like the art museum, the famous church, the government building. Like, OK, sure, every fucking city has that shit. What's the weirdo shit that's only specific to that? You know, like the Paris Catacombs, or like-- in London, there's a bunch of abandoned underground, whatever, like that shit. Or, last time I was in London, you can go to a-- there's a Sherlock Holmes museum, which was really fucking cool. I got my life when I went there. And I got me a little mug. I got me a little mug. They met that day at 221 Baker Street, OK? So Alice, subscribe. We're going to do it for Dublin. And then we're going to do it for Galway. OK, in Dublin, where are we rocking with? The Long Room Library of Trinity College. Noted. Next, Saint-- I'm going to butcher this. To all my-- to all the Irish girls, I am sorry up front. And also, Dierwisch. And that wasn't bad. Dierwisch. OK. Saint Mekens mummies. An Irish church where an 800-year-old mummy is reaching out of his coffin, as if to say, can'ts? Yeah, let me go ahead and click on that. Because what do you mean? Reaching out of his coffin. Ow. Ow. Why-- why are they just open? Why are they open? Oh, guys, I don't like that. OK, down a set of dimly lit narrow stone steps and a vault underneath the church lay dozens of coffins and one mummy ready to shake your hand. The mummies in the basement of Saint Mekens Church in Dublin, Ireland are really only available for viewing because of a loophole in the rules of the church. Love a loophole. Saint Mekens Church has an interesting history even without the mummies. The foundation of the church was built in 1095 to serve the ostracized Vikings, who were still in Ireland after the rest had been killed or kicked out by Wolf the Coralsum. So me. So me. Wolf the Coralsum. And other Irish forces in 1014. Now, the last time I was in Dublin, we did-- I remember telling you guys about this-- the Viking boat tour. Hey, that shit was so much fun. Well, we need to do it again. I'm literally going to force my friends to do it again with me. It's an old duck boat from the '40s, like from World War II, that they've repurposed. And a duck boat is one that goes from driving on land to becoming a boat and water, like the wheels come up. And then you can float. And there's like a motor. And we did that. And you can go-- you drive all around like the city, kind of along the River Liffey. And then you get into the River Liffey. And they make you wear a life jacket and then a Viking hat. And then you boo people. You yell at people. Yeah! As you drive to the city and you're in your Viking hat, there's nothing more fun. There's nothing more fun. I love being obnoxious in public. I love being obnoxious in public when I-- [LAUGHS] What just happened? What was that? I'm speaking in tongues this episode. I wish I had a Cortano. Oh, I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go, no, no, no, no, no. Take a plus, bitch. Okay. Wolf the quarrel, so let's get back to him. The church was rebuilt in 1686. I can't even fathom something that fucking old. And a large pipe organ was installed in 1724 on which Handel is said to have first played the Messiah. Gag. Okay, you wanna know something else I learned recently? I know two episodes ago, I talked about Art Deco versus Art Nouveau, here's something else. I learned about Baroque versus Rococo. Rococo. Okay, Baroque. Baroque was, well, we all know what Baroque was, I don't need to explain it. Baroque was essentially the wider time period and it predates Rococo. And both of them are very ornament, ornamental design styles. And Rococo really was for the nobles. It was for like the Richies. Let me Google it. Baroque originating in the 17th century is known for its grand, drama and use of rich colors and light. Rococo emerging in the 18th century as a reaction to the Baroque is characterized by its lightness, elegance and focus on ornamentation and decorative details, often with playful and whimsical themes. Okay, yeah, but what's the difference? Oh, that's right, Baroque was kind of for churches. It was mainly in churches. It was a way to decorate religious spaces and things owned by the church. And then Rococo was a departure from that because it celebrated the nobility and how wonderful it was. to be a nuble. Both were kind of obviously very rich. These were spaces that were owned by the incredibly wealthy, but one was more, there's a word for it, there's a word for it. It escapes me. One is more, one is more, what the fuck is the word? You guys know what I'm trying to say. Okay. Baroque is from 1600 to 1750. It covers a really wide stretch of time, and then Rococo was 1715 to 1789, which that makes sense if you understand that 1789 was, of course, the French Revolution. Rococo was very popular. It got its origins in France, and I would say maybe was kind of contained a French versus Baroque had its origins in Italy. Italy. Can I talk today? What the fuck? Italy. And then Rococo was French. The collapse or I guess falling out of fashion of Rococo makes sense with the French Revolution because people were fed the fuck up. Okay. When you're storming the palace at Versailles, when you're storming the gates, when you're beheading royalty monarchs and nobles, it's like maybe we're kind of done with this. You know, maybe we're kind of done because we're actually starving in this street right now. Then we don't have access to clean drinking water and we're eating three-day-old bread. And you guys are up in your fucking palace with your gold leaf. What's that called? Gilded. Fucking like, oh, it was just so over the top. Rococo is so over the top. Palace of Versailles Hall of Mirrors. Look at this shit. If you've never seen this, google pisses me off. It doesn't work. The AI shit doesn't work. This is Rococo. Rococo. I mean, it's just too a degree that is so fucking ridiculous that of course it ended with the French Revolution. And then after that came, what comes after the art movement followed Rococo? Neoclassicism? Which arose as a reaction to the frivolous and ornate style of Rococo, championing simplicity, rationality, and themes from ancient Greece and Rome. Makes total sense. Also, with the 19th century, we see, yeah, that actually makes total sense because in the 19th century, it's a return to academic painting and still lives and accurately capturing the world. But at the same time, you have like impressionism. A lot of different things going on. And then like we talked about two episodes ago, turn of the century. We have Art Nouveau, surrealism, Ardeco, and then like Cubism, futurism. You start getting into like mid-century modern and like postmodern and all this. I mean, it just like every art movement is a reaction to the previous, which I like. It's a reaction in some way. It's either a response to or a reaction to. So this makes total sense. It was, it was what is at odds with how frivolous and over the top Rococo was neoclassicism. Even though this is one of those historical faux pas, but like misunderstandings of them thinking that a return to Greek and Roman was simple. When in reality, Greco-Roman statues and art was so colorful and it was painted and it was over the top and the tile work and whatever. So I don't know if I would call that a return to like simplicity. I digress. Okay, let's go back. The mummies. Let's go back to my bro, the mummy. Oh, all that to say that the large pipe organ that Handel played on Handel and Bach and Beethoven were all Baroque. And if I'm wrong, correct me the comments. But all along is the church changed. The crypt stayed the same, slowly mummifying all that lay within it. There are a number of theories as to why the corpses in the basement have been preserved over time. One is that the basement contains the limestone, making the basement particularly dry and therefore good for mummification. Another is that the church was built on former swamp land and that methane gas is acting as a kind of preservative of the bodies. They're being preserved in fart gas, bro. Someone farted hot down there and it preserved all the mummies, it mummified all the fucking bodies. Other theories involved the presence of oak wood in the soil or the building materials used in the church or maybe magic. Regardless of the reason, whatever is preserving the mummies is also disintegrating their coffins. Ow! That's nuts! Why aren't the bodies decomposing? The fart gas, the fart bubble. After a certain amount of time, the wood falls away and a well-preserved mummy comes tumbling out. This is where the loophole comes in. For though it would be inappropriate for the church to break open caskets looking for mummies when the mummies reveal themselves, so be it. Who? Oh, I don't like that. I don't think y'all should be bothering those mummies. The mummies have indeed revealed themselves. While there are caskets strewn about and in small nooks in the wall, some coffins are falling apart enough to reveal an arm or leg. The most visible mummies are the big four. Four mummified corpses which have no lids on their coffins and are displayed together. On the right is a woman, simply called the unknown. And well, there isn't much to say about her. The middle one is known as the thief and is missing parts of both feet and a hand. Some say the hand was cut off as punishment. It is believed the thief later converted and became a priest or respected man, which is why he is buried in the church. Is it common practice to bury people in a church? Like isn't that the point of why there are cemeteries engraveyards? Who? Who gets buried in a church? In general, people are not buried in modern churches, but in church or cemetery. However, exceptions exist for saints, bishops, and other high-ranking clergy, who may be buried beneath the church as a sign of honor and spiritual connection. The practice of burying people within church walls originated in ancient Roman catacombs and continued with elite members of society. But by the 10th century, it became more common to bury the faithful in the church yard. So we can assume, maybe, that the people buried in the bottom of this church were probably clergyman, probably were affiliated with the church in some way. But even then, how do they know it's a woman? A woman definitely wouldn't have been allowed to be buried in the church. This is nuts. Next to him on the left lies a small woman thought to have been and known as the nun. Well, even then known, nuns are separate from the organized, fucking patriarchal religion of like an Abrahamic religion. But the true star here is the coffin set apart from the others and belonging to an 800-year-old mummy called the Crusader. Though it may be apocryphal, now what does that mean? A paw of a story or statement of doubtful authenticity. Oh, great word. Although widely circulated as being true. Apocryphal. Apocryphal. Apocryphal are biblical or related writings not forming part of the accepted canon of scripture. What the fuck is this? Some of which might be doubtful of doubtful authorship. Can I, hey guys, let me take a second and put my tongue back in my fucking head because I cannot talk today. My tongue is tucked somewhere back in my tonsil and I can't get my words out. So just bear with me and for what it's worth, I'm sorry. Some of which might be of doubtful authorship or authenticity. Okay, me on AO3. Non-canon. This is a non-canonical fanfiction of the Bible. Please no judgment. In Christianity, the word apocryphal was first applied to writings that were to be read privately rather than in public context of church services. Now, why are you bitches doing private readings? This is not a damn tarot card reading. This is a book of the Bible. If you don't give that to the people, this is and don't get me started. Don't get me started. Fucking gatekeeping ass religion wrote. Okay, though it may be apocryphal, it is believed that the crusader, this 800-year-old mummy, was a soldier who either died in the crusades or returned and died shortly thereafter. This assumes that these were the fourth crusades, the only ones that matched with the date of 800 years old. Curiously, the fourth crusades turned into a kind of piratical free, free-for-all, ending in the sacking of Constantinople without the permission of the church. They had gone rogue, the crusaders went rogue. The crusader was quite tall for the time. Six and a half feet tall, a giant back then, and his legs have been broken and folded up under him to fit him into his small coffin. I'm going to freak out. His hand stretches out of the casket slightly and visitors were once encouraged to give it a shake. Guys, don't shake the mummy hand. The crypt also holds the coffins of the sheer brothers who were executed by the British and as was discovered recently, drawn and quartered as well. For the rising of seven 1998. And as well as mathematician William Rowan Hamilton, the many urls of Kinmer, and supposedly, though others claim him too, the remains of Robert Emmett, the Irish rebel killed by the British in 1803. See, I understand that like those people deserve to be buried under the church, according to, you know, whatever right or. But even then, it's like, who decides that? I'm so interested in like the rules of the church, because they're so random and like arbitrary, and there's no rhyme or reason, there's exceptions made here, there and the other. It's like, okay, okay, fucking sure, I guess, but no women. The cryptid said to have been visited by a young bram stoker, inspiring a certain morbid streak that would lay to serve quite well for the author. Update as of July 2023. The church is no longer open to visitors. Update as of September 2023. The church is reopened for visitors, but is restricted to Tuesdays and Thursdays. Update as of June 2024. What the fuck? Sadly due to an arson attempt in the crypt, five mummies, including the crusader, have been destroyed. Wait, I'm actually devastated. Who the fuck? That is uncertain whether the cryptid will be reopened visitors. St. Mekens hope to have the National Museum of Ireland assess the remains to see if they can be salvaged. What the actual fuck is wrong with people? Like for real, what the fuck is wrong with people? Okay, what's this? The hungry tree. What the fuck? An 80 year old plain tree is devouring an iron bench at Ireland's oldest law school. Most trees feast upon a steady diet of carbon dioxide water and sunshine. Some though like to absorb other things as well. The arboreal bench eater, that name goes crazy. The arboreal bench eater is located within the grounds of the honorable society of King's Ends. Ireland's oldest school of law established in 1541 during the reign of King Henry VIII. The grounds are open and accessible to the public and led on to and lead on to Henrietta Street, which along with King's Ends itself has been used as a location for many films and TV dramas. T. Okay, I want to go back to this other one. What is this? National history building, National Museum of Ireland. Dublin's Dead Zoo serves as a window to Victorian museum design. Now, of course, my ears just perked out. Of course, my ears just went. Since 1857, what is going on? Since 1857, visitors to the natural history building of Dublin's National Museum of Ireland can see not only the animals and minerals of Ireland, but, as some say, a museum of a museum. Containing a collection of over two million specimens, the museum holds minerals and other geological items as well as taxidermy and the skeletons of animals of Ireland and the world, both current and extinct. The real draw, however, is the way the museum lay out and displays have gone seemingly unchanged since Victorian times. Filled with wood-framed glass cases, harboring stuffed African game and situated underneath gigantic whale and shark skeletons suspended from the ceilings, the museum showcases its collection now in the same way it did at the turn of the last century. Many of the stuffed and mounted or pickled animal specimens? Not pickled. Not pickled. Not pickled. Not pickled with dill and garlic. Not. Why would they say that? Like, just say it's embalmed and formaldehyde. Why would you say it pickled? That made me giggle. And shit funny. And shit funny about pickling animals. But you had to go and say pickled. Okay, we'll be on. I'm not going to visit the pickled watermelon fucking cactus Cheetah hyena brown. I'm not visiting the pickled Cheetah. Oh, this is sad. Some of the animals have bullet holes in them. Among the most notable items in the collection are the Blaschka Glass Animals. Made in Dresden, Germany in the 1870s by father and son glass makers Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka, the glass is an excellent way of demonstrating to visitors what hard-to-preserve animals like anemones and jellyfish look like. And one of only a few collections, the largest collection of their glass flowers is found at the Harvard Natural History Museum of their exquisite and astonishingly realistic work found in the world. I would like to see said glass animals. Now, do we think that is the inspiration for the band glass animals? Boshka Glass Animals. Do they say it was at the Harvard Museum Natural History? What did I say? Harvard Natural History Museum. Boom. Whoa, what the fuck? Now, how the hell? What the hell? What the hell? Me at the Harvard Natural History Museum. What the hell? What the hell? They're pickling jellyfish, bro. They're eating them with chopsticks and they're sucking on them and they're dripping on their chin and shit. And they're pickling animals with dill and garlic and paprika, bro. What are you guys doing over here? You guys are nasty. You know what? Can I just try it? No, I don't, no, I just try it. I just have a little bite. I'll put it back. I just want to see what it tastes like. Many years before they were commissioned by Harvard University to make the glass flowers, let's see what the glass flowers are. Now, what the fuck is this? I need to know what exactly they're doing. They produced glass models of over seven hundred and eighty plant species. The glass flowers gallery underwent a historic renovation in 2016. They improved the display cases. What the fuck? I love boring ass YouTube videos like this, dude. I love it. I love it and I love it. I love a boring ass lecture like this. Oh my god, I recently discovered a YouTuber who I really enjoy watching while I eat my lunch, if you will. And his name is Jared Henderson. He makes some really, it's like my brosky core videos. Like I think his main focus is philosophy, but he really offers a wide perspective as to like how AI and access to the internet and like our geopolitical landscape, how all of that affects the human psyche and how we intake information and this episode or this video I was just watching today was him talking about how AI is making it like everyone is cheating, everyone at college, even professors, and how that is so antithetical to the point of going to school and like pursuing a higher education and pursuing education of any type is to retain the information or to better oneself and by cheating or having the instructors, which this is happening, having the instructors and teachers of these classes cheat themselves, whether it be by writing a lesson plan, grading the work, or just like a little sloppily throwing together a presentation, they're using AI. And a lot of the students arguments are what the fuck am I paying for? I could have chat GPT teach me something, you know, and do permanent damage to the environment, but like what is the point of this? And so there's two sides of the argument and go watch his video. Obviously he's going to be much more articulate than I am, especially today. I'm speaking in fucking tongues. He's saying that for a lot of people, college is just a barrier to entry. Like having a degree is a barrier to entry to getting a quote unquote, good job. So people don't go to college because they're interested in pursuing a higher education. They're going to college because they have to because unless you want a trade job, which is nothing wrong with trade jobs, and we need more trade technicians. If you want, you know, a white collar quote unquote, good paying job, you have to have a college degree, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you need to have retained anything from college. This is just a barrier to entry. When it gets into like the more specific things like electric electric engineering or any type of engineering, really any type of physics, any type of something that requires law school, something that requires a very specific recall of specific knowledge that you've learned and have to retain anything outside of those bounds. You don't have to remember, remember shit from college. So his kind of the point of his video is like, AI is to blame for this. College students have always cheated, you know, like that's kind of a thing, but AI is making it almost normal. And what's the point? If you go through four years of college, you don't remember jack shit. And like you're paying for that whole experience just to qualify for a job. It's It's just it's really fuckered and it's really sad and it's really scary. to me. So I like his videos because they're very interesting. Obviously, I love Meena Lee. I talked about her all the time. Um, I've also been watching. Oh, I watch fucking, uh, I love Peyton King. I love Peyton King. I love the measly brothers. Yeah, it's quite paradoxical. Um, I really love them. They make me happy. And when I've had enough fucking, I'm angry at the world and the state of the world. I'll go watch Peyton King because he makes me happy. Okay. So these boring ass YouTube videos, I love them. I love them to death. So that's kind of T Atlas Obscura in Dublin. I'm sure I didn't even scratch the surface of like cool shit to do in Dublin. And we have an itinerary, by the way, we're doing, um, actually in Galway. Bitch, I'm so excited. And Galway, we're doing an Irish whiskey and dance and traditional dance tour. Yeah. Yeah. I'm going to get violently drunk and probably get naked. Yeah. I'm going to get drunk and be like, I can teach a class. Trust me, I watch YouTube videos. I can teach class. And when I go on the Irish whiskey and dance tour and I hit the doggy, but then I'm very excited for the Irish whiskey and dance tour because of course I am. And of course, I'm going to be drunk. Actually, I'm not taking that at all. Actually, I don't know. I'm going to see where the wind takes me. I'm very excited. And I'm going to film it. Or actually, I might live in the moment. Who fucking knows? I'm not going to stay here and claim I'm going to do X, Y and Z because who fucking knows. I could be a different person in a week. I could come back here and just you won't recognize me. Okay. I'm going to wipe all this shit off the table and I'm going to be like new theme. Okay. New alter just dropped. Anyway, I want to talk about fragrance for a second because I think I've mentioned this fragrance before on this podcast. And yeah, I'm sweating like a fucking hog right now. There is a fragrance by DS and Durga called ghetto blackout. This is a controversial fragrance. Not everyone's going to love it. Not everybody's going to like it. It is weird. I'm going to look up the notes. Top notes. Black cherry. This is a cherry fragrance. Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Black cherry. Snowpine. Incense. Heart notes are cocoa. Jasmine. Flowers. Orus. Absolute. The base notes are vanilla. Friends. Musk. And fireplace. I'm telling you there has to be some patullian here somewhere. There has to be patullian here somewhere. This is a limited edition perfume. A fucking course it is. I need another one. I love the stamp fragrance. It is so weird. It's not like any cherry fragrance I've ever smelled. YSL makes a cherry fragrance that's a take on black opium. And it's good. It's good. If you want a cherry fragrance, I recommend that one. This one is weird. It's weird. And I swear to God, there's patullian it. But I don't know. I love this scent. I've been wearing it a lot lately. I've been reaching for it. Who fucking knows? Wow, this website is cool. Okay. Diaz and Durga make some really great fragrances, but some really fucking weird fragrances too. Like rubber and petrocore. And like, I don't know, there's some really weird green fragrances. Like it just smells like for real grass. I don't know who's spritzing grass. Okay. Let's focus on. Oh, I wanted to do an Alice Obscure. Just for Galway really quick. Atlas Obscure, Galway, Ireland. Dublin and the rain is mine. I'm in the city with a house on. Okay. I'm seeing castles. I'm seeing graveyards. I'm seeing gardens. I'm seeing churches for Valley Lee. This 14th century tower house was once the home of Irish poet W.B. Yates. Wow. Landing site of the first transatlantic flight. A strange egg in a mucky bog of Western Ireland marks the spot of an aviation milestone. Now, why would they put this eye store on the dam? Nearly a century ago, two young English aviators named William Alcock and Arthur Brown, the most British names I've ever heard, made the first non-stop transatlantic flight and landed in a bog. They didn't mean to end up there. They thought it looked like a nice flat field. So rather than skittering down a smooth patch of green, their mistake meant the record setting trip from Newfoundland to Western Ireland came to a nose down in a sea of PD muck. Today, the side of this significant event is marked by some concrete ruins, a peculiar egg-shaped can, and a herd of sheep and a wind-swept desolate place that belies B-E-L-I-E-S. Belie. Belie. Belie. Belize. Belize. Of an appearance, fail to give a true notion or impression of, disguise or contradict. Oh, I'll learn a new words if you guys. Belize. Desolate place that belies the importance of this turning point in aviation history. The level of bravery involved in flying a flimsy, open cockpit by plane across the Atlantic is hard to comprehend in this age of Quotidian air travel. Another great word. Come on, Atlas Subscribe with the damn vocab words. And you know how I know Quotidian is because it's French and it's le pang Quotidian every day. The every day bread are daily bread, okay? The achievement of transatlantic telegraphy. Telegraph. Telegraph. Telegraphy. Y'all something is in the air today. I don't know what. I'm filming this on August 19th. Can somebody tell me if there was a blood red, pale red, menstrual moon? I don't know if the moon is menstruating. I think something is going on. Like the synapses are the fried girl. It's fuck, it's fucking fuzzled. Oh, I'm fuzzled. Something's going on. I don't know. Oh, you know what I wanted to look up? Shout out to the first transatlantic flight. Why did you guys land it in the peat in the piti muck? Most famous Irish folk tale. The tale of, you know what I wish I could nail is like in Italian and Spanish, I've kind of, even if I don't speak Italian from my understanding of Spanish being a romance language, I can make logical conclusions as to, and I also understand how the vowels interact with the consonants and what certain words make like whether it's a ch- or cuss sound. I know that from how the vowels and consonants are paired together, and they're different in Spanish versus Italian, obviously versus French versus whatever. Irish is so off the beaten path when it comes to my understanding of language that it poses a new and fun challenge for me to try to memorize and understand certain pairs of, like I'm saying, vowels and consonants where like Sersha, for example, S-A-O-R, that's Sersha, I-R-S-E-S-A-Sersha, I like, I want to be able to memorize how those fit together and how when I read, you know, three vowels in a row or whatever, that conjures up a sound in my mind, because right now it's like I'm reading this with a fucking English, with an English lens and it's not going to be correct, and I want to reject that and I want to embrace actually the correct pronunciation. It's hard and it makes me feel stupid and I want to learn. I'm not even going to try to pronounce it because I'm going to fucking butcher it. It's widely considered one of the most famous Irish folk tales, recounting the story of a human warrior who visits a magical land of eternal youth with a fairy princess. I'm liking this, I'm liking this. Magical land of eternal youth with a fairy princess. Upon returning to his own world, he finds that centuries have passed. He ages and dies when he touches Irish soil, a potent illustration of the transient nature of time and the bittersweet pull of the past. Damn! After what felt like three happy years in this eternal youth with his very princess, he grows homesick and wishes to visit his family in Ireland. Neum gives him a white horse and warns him not to touch Irish soil as she cannot protect him outside of her land. When he arrives, he finds centuries have passed and his family is long gone. Attempting to help a group of men move a heavy rock, he falls off the horse, his feet touch the ground, and he immediately whithers into an old man and dies. The story explores universal themes of love, loss, the passage of time, and the yearning for youth, making it a powerful and enduring narrative. It highlights the Irish concept of the sheed, sheed, sheed, sheed, s-i-d-h-e-sheet. There are a race of supernatural beings often described as gods or fairies. Guys, now we're fucking cooking with peanut oil! Now we're cooking with gas! The sheet, or a race of supernatural beings often described as gods or fairies, who reside in the other world accessible through mounds or hollow hills. These beings possess immense beauty in magical powers, including the ability to shape shift and influence human fate, while not inherently evil They have their own mysterious agendas and have been known to both help and harm humans. Oh my god I have to tell you guys about I read another one of those um Regency fairy tales by I believe her name is Olivia at water These books are so fucking cute. I think I talked about it a few weeks ago It what the first one was called half a soul which I remember recommending if y'all have read that book Please tell you what you thought of it and if you haven't if you think you'd like it It is what it says. It's a Regency fairy tale meaning it's a normal Regency era like English girl Who encounters one of the faithful and ends up falling in love But what I really love about Olivia at water's exploration of The Fay of fairies is there's some kind of stereotypical descriptions or descriptors of the fairies where they have The pointed ears ethereal beauty and oddly colored eyes. They move with grace. They move almost like Not adhering to the laws of gravity They come and go as they please whatever and they have a very polite yet mischievous way of speaking Everything is trying to catch you. You know everything is Pulling you in and luring you in just to catch you in a a deal Because the the fairies in her world and I want to know where she takes the inspiration I wonder if it's from Irish folklore Where They're trying to barter a deal with you wherein they get something or they're trying to learn something about Humans and in exchange for that information or forgetting what you want You know they can grant you a wish whatever they either get your soul or they get something that really you can't live without And so this one I just read the first one was so good the one I just read is called 10 000 stitches I'm still thinking about it. I finished it like two weeks ago. I'm still thinking about it I think there's a third one. I'm more read it because it goes back and explores What I also like is I think there's three books in this they're standalone books But they all relate to each other so like a character From the first book makes a cameo in the second book But it's it's about two different main characters. I just fucking love it What I was going to say is what I like about how she describes fairies and how she uses them in her narrative is They're not inherently like this you know AI overview is saying they're not inherently evil But there is a playful quality that a lot of fairies across a lot of different cultures are described as having That they just want to play like it's a game everything is gamified To them and having someone like that interact with a very serious posh not even posh just like Virtuous polite English person or the fucked up version of what English virtue is or what that could represent or what that could look like and how Hypocritical it is and how counterintuitive it really is because in order to be virtuous you have to step on the shoulders of other people You know to get anywhere fairies are very intrigued by that and the humans are very intrigued by the almost perceived lawlessness Of fairies and the fairy realm they call it fairy That's a place that you go to and it's a different realm and they always joke that well England is just in the backyard of fairy So we come and go as we please, but you guys can't access fairy and I just love it It's so tea because this concept of Fairies being almost a mirror that we're holding up to ourselves and I I like that I mean again, I could write a fucking essay and I probably shouldn't I probably will About how fairies whether they're real or not, you know, it's this other thing of like a what I was talking about with Guillermo The total movies of Whether the monsters are real or not they serve as a Literary function they serve a literary function or they serve as a vessel for trying to communicate a larger message And what I think fairies Communicate to us is we look at fairies sometimes and we're like how cruel Right you're playing games with my mortal soul and my life and my virtue and my happiness But to them it's like look at fucking look how stupid you sound Because if you really valued all these things you wouldn't be so reckless in your life And your society wouldn't be structured the way that it is that's based on prejudice and putting people down and and climbing On top of other people to get to where you want to go like our society is so broken and nasty and wretched And so for a fairy to come in and be intrigued by it and mirror that behavior back to us as humans And for us to be disgusted I think that is so fucking smart. I think it's so smart I love it And so I really enjoy that quality about these books is like You look at these fairies and you're like They're so detached which is the point right because they're not human They don't have a mortal soul. They don't have human emotions yet. They want to because there is something so Magnetic and Learning about humans and how fragile we really are we act so strong, but we are such fragile creatures with fragile spirits and fragile souls But at the same time we're incredibly resilient and incredibly strong and we don't act like we're weak So all these things swirl together and then when you add this element of you know a supernatural being from a different realm Serving as a mirror or serving as a sounding board for some of our own Failures or some of our own weaknesses. I just That shit. I mean, I'm literally I'm geeking. I'm fucking geeking I have to read the third one. I'm gonna buy it on I've got some noble Okay, so shout out to the she uh the Irish fairies because All respect to you guys. I don't know if I want to meet one. Okay, because if we're operating under this understanding that maybe fairies are real And don't laugh Ain't shit funny Fairies are real and you gotta be careful because if you invite a ghost a ghoul a goblin a fairy a whatever into your home They might come and I don't like that. Okay, my house. Please guys Seriously keep that shit outside In my house, you're really not welcome, you know, I might come interact with you guys outside. Please don't follow me in here. Okay guys Okay, the she Irish folklore is rich with stories of fairies elves and other magical beings These tales are often passed down through generations and are believed to contain important lessons for us humans Many believe these legends are rooted in real events and there was and still is a very real belief in these inhabitants of the fairy mounds And the powers they wield the she or fairy people are said to travel the mountains and forest of Ireland Usually invisible to humans and to be found also in the bogs caves lakes and islands of the Irish landscape Especially belonging to them though are the old forts and mounds. The ancient monuments built by our ancestors Which contain entrances to where the she really live the land of fairy or the fairy realm which we call the other world They generally appear as human like though there are exceptions among the different types of Irish fairy And though there are some more traditionally small and stature such as the leprechaun They will most often appear as regular human size too Irish mythology and folklore traditions varies through the age through the ages on whether they are the Sorry the twatha de danan a race of gods and goddesses banished to the hollow hills or fallen angels Not quite bad enough to be cast to hell during the fall stuck in limbo here on earth until the day when they are forgiven and can reclaim their place in heaven In modern terms Irish folk who believe in the she tend to view them as inhabitants of the other world And encompassing a variety of races or tribes or types who have access to this world and can manifest here or affect humans at will Though humans are usually not aware of their presence or interference often until it is too late Okay guys I think that will do it for me this episode um uh Be careful out there guys the she The she could be anywhere. I just you know, please proceed with caution And be respectful to them if you guys want merch go to broskey dot shop If you guys want my Songs of the week. There is an official playlist Created by my squire Elizabeth shout out and there's also an unofficial playlist that some loyal member of broskey Nation has been compiling for the last four to five years. So shout out to her And one of my songs of the week is Sam fenders cover of back to black by Amy Winehouse go give it a listen if you haven't and also while you're on it uh Give his cover of break up with your girlfriend on board by our end of grande A listen as well because that motherfucker can do a cover like no one else I'll see you guys when I'm back from Ireland and wish me luck. Okay. Goodbye (upbeat music)

Podcast Summary

Key Points:

  1. Brittany Broski is traveling to the UK and Ireland, planning to attend writing and leads, electric picnic, and explore unique cultural sites through Atlas Obscura.
  2. She deeply admires animated films like *Flushed Away* and *Wallace and Grommet*, citing their cinematic genius and emotional depth, particularly the scenes involving frogs and the "curse of the wear rabbit."
  3. She highlights the rich Irish folklore, especially stories of fairies, the "sheed," and the belief in supernatural beings in bogs, caves, and ancient mounds, portraying them as mirrors to human flaws and societal structures.
  4. The Saint Mekens Church in Dublin houses preserved 800-year-old mummies, with theories involving dry limestone, methane gas, or magic, and a recent arson incident destroyed several remains.
  5. She explores historical art movements, contrasting Baroque (grand, religious) and Rococo (playful, elite), noting their decline due to the French Revolution’s rejection of extravagance.
  6. Brittany expresses concern over AI's impact on education, arguing it undermines learning and retention, while also embracing quirky YouTube content and niche fragrances like DS & Durga’s "Ghetto Blackout."
  7. She shares personal nostalgia for childhood films and characters, especially the baby grommet and Timmy from *Sean the Sheep*, which evoke strong maternal feelings.
  8. Her trip includes visits to Dublin’s National Museum of Ireland, where Victorian-era displays and glass animals inspire reflections on history, preservation, and the legacy of colonial-era science.

Summary:

Brittany Broski shares her excitement for an upcoming trip to the UK and Ireland, where she plans to attend the writing and leads festival, join electric picnic (headlined by Sam Fender), and explore unique cultural sites through Atlas Obscura. " She also delves into Irish folklore, focusing on the belief in fairies, mummies in Saint Mekens Church, and the historical significance of ancient monuments. The mummies’ preservation is attributed to dry conditions or methane gas, though a recent arson incident destroyed several.

She contrasts Baroque and Rococo art movements, noting Rococo’s decline due to revolutionary backlash against extravagance. Brittany raises concerns about AI’s role in undermining education, while also embracing quirky content and niche fragrances. Her journey is infused with personal nostalgia for childhood media and emotional connections to characters like baby grommet and Timmy from *Sean the Sheep*.

The trip includes visits to Dublin’s National Museum of Ireland, where Victorian displays and glass animals reflect on history and preservation. Throughout, she blends humor, cultural discovery, and philosophical reflection, emphasizing the importance of tradition, human emotion, and respectful engagement with the strange and mystical elements of folklore.

FAQs

The host is traveling to the UK and Ireland to attend writing and leads, a festival she compares to Glastonbury, and to attend Electric Picnic, where Sam Fender is headlining. She plans to explore unique sites like Saint Mekens Church, Dublin's Dead Zoo, and Galway's traditional dance and whiskey tour.

The church houses a basement crypt with preserved mummies, including an 800-year-old Crusader mummy, due to a loophole in church rules that allows viewing without breaking open caskets. The mummies are believed to have been preserved by dry limestone or methane gas.

The Blaschka Glass Animals, created in the 1870s by Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka, are an exquisite collection of glass models of plants that showcase real-life flora. The museum's collection is one of the largest in the world and is a historical highlight of Victorian-era natural history displays.

Baroque, from the 17th century, is grand, dramatic, and used primarily in religious spaces. Rococo, emerging in the 18th century, is lighter, more ornamental, and focused on playful themes, reflecting the nobility’s lifestyle. It was eventually replaced by Neoclassicism after the French Revolution.

It illustrates the passage of time, loss, and the bittersweet pull of the past. The warrior, upon returning to Ireland, ages and dies when touching the soil, highlighting the Irish concept of the 'sheet'—a race of fairies who live in the other world and influence human fate.

Her deep affection for Wallace and Grommet, especially the 'curse of the wear rabbit' and baby Timmy, reveals a sentimental and maternal connection to quirky, nostalgic pop culture, showing a love for whimsical, emotional storytelling in animation.

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