Tag: Australia

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Oh, Owl POOP!

themuglytruth
Today’s episode “Oh, Owl Poop!!” is on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Libsyn, Pocket Cast, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, or anywhere you listen to podcasts.

We bring you some good news from the goodnewsnetwork.org because this entire world needs some lifting up right now. We also talk a little more about some fun days to celebrate this fine, lovely second week of April. And Kym talks about sifting through owl poop and finding rat teeth. Read all those sentences again. Vurrrrry slowly. One is not like the others. It’s what we do.

Yep, Kym is BACK! Still by phone only, which is the new norm of course. We do a little catch-up, talking about the latest state of the union – NAY, the world – because we’re not sure there’s anyone actually on the planet having a conversation that has 100% nothing to do with coronavirus self-sheltering life. Well, come to think of it, we’ve heard of some people… thems that got no t.v.., radio, internet, phone, – living so far removed from technology and “civilization” and literally not even knowing we’re out here flailing around with bandana masks and hair-coloring kit gloves, losing our collective minds. Not gonna lie…we’re a hint of jealous. Anyway, the rest of us, we’re just over here talking about life on lockdown these last hmmmphsssaaahhy days (we don’t know anymore….21? 53? 1,203,290,932?).

So, to set the scene: We’re talking, catching up before getting into the topic – just chatting about working from home (or occasionally having to go into the office), Kym’s ongoing ordeal with tying up the loose ends from her dad’s passing, rainy April weather, the million+ mark in CV19 cases, Chris Cuomo’s tooth-breaking covid chills, nature-watching, recovery meeting hackers, celebrities entertaining us, a**holes billionaires quarantined on their yachts, ginger sun-basking, binge-watching Time Team, teen-agers in quarantine, Dog TV on DirecTV, Micheal Rapaport cussing out the parents of the world, and…Kym’s “collection of owl poop.”

Yes, in episode 90 you will hear Kym launch the most stellar detour in the history of The Mugly Truth Podcast detours. Deeeeeerailed. We said bye to the road. Hurtled down that brushy path. Flew into the woods. Straight over the cliff. She slid that comment in slicker than…owl s**t.

Yeah. We know what you ate last night. Photo by Jean van der Meulen on Pexels.com

And just as easily we got back on track and down to business. Because it’s what we do. It’s why our listeners love us. All five of you. Thank you from the bottom of our owl-crap-sifting hearts.

For links we mention in the episode, check out this list below:

Check out The Mugly Truth Podcast’s episode “Oh, Owl Poop!” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Libsyn, Pocket Cast, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. Then all you need to do is 1) subscribe 2) download and 3) listen! AND!!! 4) If you enjoy what you hear, please leave a rating and a review (pretty please?). The more subscribers and reviews we get, the more opportunities we get to grow this podcast and bring you richer content.

And don’t forget to follow us here at themuglytruth.com (click that blue WordPress Follow button on the right side of your screen) so you get notifications every time we post an episode blog! You can also follow The Mugly Truth on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

© The Mugly Truth 2020 and © The Mugly Truth Podcast 2020. All rights reserved.
Intro and outro music, “Clever as a Fox”  by Espresso Music through premiumbeats.com.
Featured photo of April Bujo by Bich Tran on Pexels.com

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Control Is An Illusion

themuglytruth
Today’s episode “Control Is An Illusion” is on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Libsyn, Pocket Cast, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, or anywhere you listen to podcasts.

Hello 2020! SO much to…uh…unpack in today’s episode! Yes. Yes, we just said “unpack.” But it’s kind of true. We are bringing 2020 in like spiritual giants today! None of this namby pamby “I want to lose 10 pounds” or “I’m going to quit yelling at people in traffic!” resolution nonsense to start off the new year and new decade. (For the record, Kris already tried the second one and it’s just NOT happening folks. As for the first…we’re both working on it.) Nope. We get straight into beastmode as we go over two very deep topics: Letting Go and Signs of Maturity.

Tee hee. Don’t mind us. We’re just over here on top of the mountain, sitting cross-legged and sh*t talking to butterflies with our minds. Just kidding. We’re probably sitting at our desks drinking coffee cussing someone out under our breath and immediately feeling guilty for it. Because not mature, for sure.

Moving on.

Today’s episode is inspired by an amazing 12-step program called Al-Anon. If you aren’t aware of what Al-Anon is, it’s an offshoot from the 12-step program Alcoholics Anonymous. It was co-founded by Lois Wilson, wife of Bill Wilson who co-founded AA. As the wife of an alcoholic, Lois needed her own support group, and thus was formed Al-Anon…a group where family and friends affected by loved one’s drinking (or drugging, or any addictive self-destructive behavior, frankly) can find fellowship, guidance, serenity, and sanity.

Two readings we reference today are “Letting Go” (just google “letting go checklist Al-Anon” and you’ll see images pop up…mostly in Pinterest), and “A Checklist for Evaluating Our Maturity” (same, except, here’s a link to a blog which has it written out). There are some real gems in helping us realize just how much the idea of control is an illusion, actually, and that true serenity comes from “going with the flow.” As for that maturity thing…tsk…sigh…ugh…well, as much as Kris thinks she’s got a long way to go, it’s safe to say we’re both actually doing ok in the adulting department. Some would argue otherwise. Those some can kiss our butts. NYAHpffffffffffffffttt!

They’re GOALS….we never said we accomplished them all. TSK.

Now before we get into the fact checking and the links to topics we mentioned in the episode today, it’s very important for us to take a moment to get a bit serious and encourage anyone who has a friend or family member in the throes of alcoholism and/or addiction of any kind to contact Al-Anon as a starting point to help YOU get YOUR life back into the land of the living. It’s a scary thing, watching friends or family suffer from addiction, but on the sideline you don’t realize you, too, are suffering from the effects of the disease. If you need help to cope, you can start here. Give it a go…there is hope.

Alright. Now let’s get down to correcting ourselves. Six minutes into the episode and there’s already SO MUCH to fix. Sigh.

  • Is it realllllllly a new decade? If you’re like Kris’ dad, Kym’s former co-worker, and this article, you’ll be on the “NOPE WE AIN’T” side. If you’re like us, you DGAF. BUHbye moving on, there’s more important things to worry about, like Australia (pray for more rain. Right now. If you’re reading right now, stop and just read this out loud: “Dear God please rain water down on Australia”. Don’t care if you don’t believe in God. You can be an atheist. Just do it this one time…don’t even need to say the “G” word, just say, “HEY YOU UP THERE RAIN ON AUSTRALIA.” Thanks. And thanks skydaddy!)
  • Ok. Geography lesson. The mountains we refer to as Saddleback Mountains are actually the Santa Ana Mountains; the mountains we refer to as “north of us where Mt. Baldy and Big Bear are”….well, Mt. Baldy (also known as Mt. San Antonio) is in the San Gabriel Mountains which were spectacularly covered (and still are) in snow last week. Big Bear, however, is in the San Bernardino Mountains. We’ve lived here all our lives and yet we still can only dopity-dope over the purty snow on the hills off yonder without knowing what the heck we’re actually looking at. Whatever. Now we ALL know. Class dismissed.
  • Mr. Geography: Excuse me, Kris, please hang back a mo. Kris: But Mr. Geography, the rest of the class is leav… Mr. Geography: Mt. Whitney is in Sequoia National Park which is nowhere near where you live. No. Where. Near. Hundreds of miles away. Still in California, yes. But you can’t see it. Because…Far. Away. Not. Near. You. Kris dismissed.
  • CFL…ohKriskriskriskris. You talk so much. So fast. You make so many mistakes. #eyeroll. It’s CSF. Cerebrospinal Fluid. Sniff.
  • Morf = Mike Morford, whom we interviewed last season, is producer of Scene of the Crime podcast, cohost on Criminology and Three Men and a Mystery podcasts, and host of The Murder in My Family podcast. Thank you Morf for your shoutout on Twitter. We’re still gobsmacked you listen to our show.
  • Naptime Nancy: Another kickass podcaster whose episodes can be and should be listened to immediately. Go here to do so.
  • Morning news items. Time to change the lock screen settings on the ol’ iPad to something more relaxing. Not like this creepy crap: We killed an Iraqi General and have maybe started WWIII; why you shouldn’t ever write “20” for the year 2020 on checks and documents (always write 2020); and those nutty mysterious drones over Colorado.
  • Anjelah Johnson. Kym was mostly right. It’s Anjelah NICOLE Johnson. OHMYGAWD if you don’t know the nail salon sketch, you need to edumacate yourself now.
Photo by Evie Shaffer on Pexels.com

And with that, we’ll say, “welcome 2020, you’re doing your best to test us mere mortals first week in, but guess what. You’re not in control. We choose zen.” And coffee. We always choose coffee. Clink!

Thank you for joining us. Check out The Mugly Truth Podcast’s episode “Control Is An Illusion” on  iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Libsyn, Pocket Cast, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. Then all you need to do is 1) subscribe 2) download and 3) listen! AND!!! 4) If you enjoy what you hear, please leave a rating and a review (pretty please?). The more subscribers and reviews we get, the more opportunities we get to grow this podcast and bring you richer content.

And don’t forget to follow us here at themuglytruth.com (click that blue WordPress Follow button on the right side of your screen) so you get notifications every time we post an episode blog! You can also follow The Mugly Truth on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

© The Mugly Truth 2020 and © The Mugly Truth Podcast 2020. All rights reserved.
Intro and outro music, “Clever as a Fox”  by Espresso Music through premiumbeats.com.
Featured Photo of Illusion Face in Mirror by Ismael Sanchez on Pexels.com

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All Aboard the G-Train!

themuglytruth
Today’s episode “All Aboard the G-Train!” is on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Libsyn, Pocket Cast, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, or anywhere you listen to podcasts.

Greetings! Today we keep the journey of gratitude on track with stories from our favorite inspirational website, goodnewsnetwork.org. So get onboard the G-Train (gratitude and good news people…come on now) to prepare this week of thankfulness in America. If you’re NOT in America, well, there’s no time like the present to stock up on happy stories! So ALLLLL ABOOOOOOOOAARRRDD!!! The G-Train is leaving the station for all points awesome!

For links to the stories and gifts we discuss in the episode, check below:

  • For the amazing story about Ben, the lone employee at a Waffle House in Alabama whose customers jumped into service to help him out, click here.
  • For the man in Cameroon who built rafts from plastic bottles for fishermen in need, click here.
  • To find out more details about the latest trend of “sober bars”, click here.
  • If you want to feel allllll warm and fuzzy and see the pictures of the cutest and most loving kangaroo in Australia, click here.
  • And to stand up cheering, clapping and whistling to celebrate Austria’s decision to turn Hitler’s birth-home into a police station to deter neo-nazi pilgrims (or as we like to call them, mother-trucking, idiot, useless, waste-of-air ASSHATS), click here.
  • To make Kris so very happy this Christmas and for her birthday (July), send Firefighter Coffee delivered by a Firefighter check on the “good gifts” section of goodnewsnetwork.org, click here.

Check out “All Aboard the G-Train“ episode on  iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Libsyn, Pocket Cast, Stitcher or anywhere you listen to podcasts. Then all you need to do is 1) subscribe 2) download and 3) listen! AND!!! 4) If you enjoy what you hear, please leave a rating and a review (pretty please?). The more subscribers and reviews we get, the more opportunities we get to grow this podcast and bring you richer content.

And don’t forget to follow us here at themuglytruth.com (click that blue WordPress Follow button on the right side of your screen) so you get notifications every time we post an episode blog! You can also follow The Mugly Truth on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

© The Mugly Truth 2019 and © The Mugly Truth Podcast 2019. All rights reserved.
Intro and outro music, “Clever as a Fox”  by Espresso Music through premiumbeats.com.
Featured Photo of Train courtesy of Mark Plu00f6tz on Pexels.com

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The Good, the Strange, and the Unusual

themuglytruth
Today’s episode “The Good, the Strange, and the Unusual” is on  iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Libsyn, Pocket Cast, Stitcher or anywhere you listen to podcasts.

You know there are quite a few times where we drop an episode on the heels of “A Week From Hell” and this is one of them. It was just THAT kind of week last week. But THIS episode isn’t a bitchfest, like we’ve done in the past. Nope. We dragged our tired, sorry, barely-functioning selves into this episode with GOOD NEWS and WEIRD STORIES and you know what? By the end of the recording we were laughing, uplifted and felt like a bit of weight had been removed from our shoulders. We hope it does the same for you. So if you’re ready for good, strange, and unusual stories (unusual = a nice way for us to say WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, fyi), go on over to wherever you listen to us jabber, and settle in for some spirit raising. Not the Halloween ghosty kind…but you know that is right around the corner, WAHOOO!

First of all, let’s get one thing clear. Even though Kris swears the WTF week was to be blamed on mercury retrograde, she’d be wrong. It ended on August 1, but it’s possible there’s some residual cosmic two-by-four whacking still hanging in the ether. Also, in regards to Kris working as a candy-striper and Kym having her baby while Kris worked in admitting: Kris was a candy-striper at the hospital in high-school, but a few years later went back to work in the Admitting department which is when Kym rolled in ready to have that kid! Either way, Kris was not and never will be qualified to tell anyone how dilated their cervix is.

Moving on. Coff coff.

For the Good News stories, please feel free to visit our favorite warm-fuzzy website, GoodNewsNetwork.org for photos and details of the articles we talk about, but also for so much more that’s good for your heart and soul:

  • For the Australian study about trees making communities a better place, click here.
  • For the adulting list, click here.
  • For the Hyundai solar Sonata Hybrid article, click here.
  • For the coral reefs revival in Hawaii article, click here. Also, as Kris so, ah, eloquently stated…or tried to…coral reefs are NOT plants, they ARE animals, and this NOAA article says so much better than Kris ever could because they’re scientists and smartypants and stuff.
  • For the heartwarming dog stories, read about Steve Grieg’s senior dog rescue family here, (and his Instagram account with pics with his dogs, pig, rabbit AND chicken…yes he is amazing ladies and gentlemen…is here); for the story about six-legged puppy Roo, click here.
  • To read about the anxious elderly woman and her gallant hero on the plane, click here.
  • For the other stories we discuss, go ahead and check out goodnewsnetwork.org.

BUT! Before we head into our Strange and Unusual Stories, we’d be remiss if we didn’t take a small singing break. Here’s a clip of Billy Crystal in City Slickers and his rendition of Rawhide:

You’re welcome.

And now on to the Strange and the Unusual:

  • For the Colorado stories: the big city cattle herding with the longhorn who took a break from the festivities is here ; the creepy crawly ew ew ew tarantulas on the hunt for mates is here. (SHIVERTWITCHshivershiver. Shiver.)
  • For the real Snow White’s gravestone story, click here.
  • For the Farmer Boys Bacon Intern Job, click here. Hurry! You only have until 20 August 2019 to apply!
  • For the “octopiss” biting woman’s face story, read here. And if you have to read the bat-eating spider story which is in TEXAS of these here United States and NOT Australia which is sooooo very, very much farther away from us than Texas which is now waaaay too close to California, click here but why would you. (Dear future Kris, please do not move to Texas either.)
  • For the 5-year old Florida boy who had to have pizza STAT and the police who brought it to him, read here.
  • For the idiot prince of toxic masculinity who called in a bomb threat on a Lufthansa flight in order to get a date with a flight attendant, forget it. We’re not promoting that jerk. FOR. SHAME. And TSK also.
  • For all other stories, go ahead and Google that stuff, we have things to do, people.

As for that Shoe Tart video Kris posted on Facebook 9 years and a closet full of stilettos ago, here you go (sorry about the audio quality):

Check out our “The Good, the Strange, and the Unusual” episode on  iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Libsyn, Pocket Cast, Stitcher or anywhere you listen to podcasts. Then all you need to do is 1) subscribe 2) download and 3) listen! AND!!! 4) If you enjoy what you hear, please leave a rating and a review (pretty please?). The more subscribers and reviews we get, the more opportunities we get to grow this podcast and bring you richer content.

And don’t forget to follow us here at themuglytruth.com (click that blue WordPress Follow button on the right side of your screen) so you get notifications every time we post an episode blog! You can also follow The Mugly Truth on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

© The Mugly Truth 2019 and © The Mugly Truth Podcast 2019. All rights reserved.
Intro and outro music, “Clever as a Fox”  by Espresso Music through premiumbeats.com.
Feature Newspaper and Coffee photo by Markus Spiske temporausch.com on Pexels.com
City Slickers clip courtesy YouTube, Castle Rock Entertainment, Distributed by Columbia Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures.
Shoe Tart video courtesy of Kristen Core © 2019 All rights reserved.

Episodes

Grande Upside-down Catch-up Frap, No Whip!

themuglytruth

TMT_Ep37_IGPhoto

Greetings and happy Tuesday! Today’s episode is all about catching up over a cuppa of Kris’ Keurig coffee and Kym’s Medicine Ball elixir of life from Starbucks (10/10 recommended!). We talk celebrity podcasts, the most notorious cold case of the 20th century, how successful we were at being randomly kind, Kym tries to sing opera even though she has no voice, and in the end we try to come up with some ways to improve certain areas of our lives. Confused? Especially about Kym singing opera? Don’t be! Today’s episode is brought to you by caffeine-fueled stream of consciousness! LET’S GO!!

Today we fall prey to a wee bit of celebrity podcast listener envy. Yep. We whine just a little about how all these famous people with millions of fans start podcasting and are top of the charts within two days. Waaaah. That’s ok. WE’LL GET THERE!! Just you watch. AND listen. And subscribe, download, rate and review…

We go on to discuss our escapades from Valentine’s day and just how successful we were during Random Acts of Kindness week, even in the face of adversity. As for VD (Valentine’s Day) Kym got some sweet kicks, while Kris just waited the day out. Good news, everyone survived.

But then we get into the real weeds about our latest favorites on tv and in the podcast world…including The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Kris went from “meh” to “BINGED BOTH SEASONS!” in no-time flat), Kym is all about the new Dirty John filmed documentary, and we’re both interested in a new podcast from Australia called “Who the Hell is Hamish” (introduced through the Teacher’s Pet podcast out of Australia). And we mention a few of  those danged, uber-popular (and TBH, really good) celebrity podcasts: Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, The Monday Morning Podcast with Bill Burr, and SuperSoul Conversations with Oprah Winfrey. We REALLY do love them and don’t begrudge them their success. REALLY.

Unlike our coffee, we’re not bitter.

I Am The Night
“I Am the Night”. Photo courtesy of TNT.

But wait! The discussion gets juicier! And by juicy we mean downright gruesome, so honestly if you’re not really into discussing mutilated bodies, skip ahead, because we blithely chatter along, not paying much mind to the details of our subject. Some people might not be so immune to the subject as we seem to be. Of course we are talking about true crime, and our latest obsession being the limited series “I Am The Night” starring Chris Pine.

The show chronicles the life of American author Fauna Hodel, granddaughter of the infamous and disturbed (our words) Los Angeles physician George Hodel – who is suspected by his Los Angeles Police Department homicide detective son (and author) Steve Hodel of being the Black Dahlia murderer!

Elizabeth_Short_photo_from_police_bulletin
Elizabeth short, forever known as the Black Dahlia, brutally murdered in 1947.

Ahem. How horrible do you have to be as a parent (and a person) to have your child grow up and write a book outlining their theory that you’re the perpetrator of the 20th century’s most notorious cold case ever?

The limited series is fantastic. If you didn’t know the truth behind it, you might not believe it was based on real life events because when we say it’s fantastic we mean in the “unfathomable” sense of the word.

Luckily there’s our new favorite podcast called “Root of Evil“, which is hosted by Fauna Hodel’s daughters Yvette and Rasha, with audio recordings of their mom and grandmother Tamar, as well as input by other members of the Hodel family, including their great-uncle Steve.

TheRootOfEvil_TrueStoryOfHodelFamilyAndBlackDahlia
THIS PODCAST! This is the album art for the Root of Evil: The True Story of the Hodel Family and the Black Dahlia. IT IS A MUST-LISTEN! Go! Now! LISTEN!

The family members reflect on growing up behind the closed doors of Hollywood’s Sowden House (a Lloyd Wright architectural icon at the corner of Franklin and Normandie) and in the process they reveal the dark secrets and not-so-secret dastardly exploits of the family patriarch, Dr. H.

We top the episode with some pretty good ideas about things we’d like to be better at. Like being funny. (FunnIER.) And better at art. And emotional maturity. You know, typical goals. And just like that, we call it a day. Done and done. Because honestly, Kym is still REALLY sick in this episode and even though she made a valiant effort, it’s just clear as can be that all she really needed to do better was to go home and take care of her poor self.

OH and before we sign off, it’s imperative to shout out HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SAMANTHA!!!!!!!! TODAY is Sam’s birthday and I (Kris) couldn’t be prouder of her. (I love you to the moon, the deathstar, and to infinity and beyond Sami…so proud to be your momma, and so lucky).

Check out our Grande Upside-down Catch-up Frap, No Whip! episode on  iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Libsyn, Pocket Cast, Stitcher or anywhere you listen to podcasts. Then all you need to do is 1) subscribe 2) download and 3) listen! AND!!! 4) If you enjoy what you hear, please leave a rating and a review (pretty please?). The more subscribers and reviews we get, the more opportunities we get to grow this podcast and bring you richer content.

And don’t forget to follow us here at themuglytruth.com (click that blue WordPress Follow button on the right side of your screen) so you get notifications every time we post an episode blog! You can also follow The Mugly Truth on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

© The Mugly Truth 2019 and © The Mugly Truth Podcast 2019. All rights reserved.
Intro and outro music, “Clever as a Fox”  by Espresso Music through premiumbeats.com
Photos courtesy Wikipedia commons and public domain, Steve Hodel, and Kimberly Sickel @riverdeer.