View Episode 206
Originally aired 02.23.10
Originally recorded 12.23.09
4:57 – The first time “Seatbelts” is mentioned on the show by someone other than Jonathan or Seth – said by Marcia Romatelli.
54:59
21:26 – UYD: Whatever works
50:50 – UYD: Have a glass of wine
20:14 – Seth discusses the shake-up over at GMA (Episode 199, 15:15), and he watches it every day because Marcia used to watch it. Seth thinks The Today Show on NBC is wack, and thinks The Early Show on CBS is wacker.
22:53 – Seth wonders what would happen if Marcia drank two Red Bulls and went to school. She said it would be like being on drugs.
2:41 – Miller Coors LLC is testing their new home draft – a 1 ½ gallon $20 box of Miller Lite or Coors Light that fits upright in your fridge and stays fresh for 30 days. It’s the equivalent of 16 12-ounce beers. Seth thought Marcia would like this because of the boxed wine she used to drink. Marcia claims she doesn’t drink those anymore – she went to the real bottles because she’s a big girl now.
6:15 – The Diva Cup – Not a pad, not a tampon – finally a better way. Non-absorbent menstrual cap that simply collects menstrual flow. It’s inserted in the vagina and sits at the lower base of the vaginal canal. It’s worn internally but since it’s so soft and smooth it can’t be felt nor will it leak when inserted properly. Can be worn for up to 12 hours before emptying, washing or re-inserting.
9:49 – 45% of adults occasionally snore and 25% of adults snore nightly. Breathe-Right Pure Sleep Snoreeze.
23:23 – Google has released a new software called Latitude – it will enable cell phone users to automatically share their whereabouts with family and friends by using Google Maps. Marcia thinks that’s crazy – it’s like being a prisoner.
35:56 – Pier One Imports has some wonderful antibacterial hand sanitizers for $2.95. Why reek of alcohol when you can use Island Orchard, Citrus, Cilantro, Oceans, Asian Spice and Aspen Flower?
36:49 – Zeo Personal Sleep Coach – developed by leading sleep scientists, it only costs $350. It includes a headband that uses soft-wave sensor technology to track sleep patterns. It has a bedside display that wirelessly displays an array of personal sleep information. Sleep graph, your ZQ, your total Z, your time to Z, your REM and your morning feel. It also has the My Zeo website, which enables you to transfer your sleep data to a personal website for review and research and a Sleep Fitness Program – a 7-step personalized analysis and program that will allow for deeper sleep.
41:02 – Leapfrog will release a new PDA-like device for kids. It’s being called Baby Blackberry. They can mimic texting and talking. It’s a spelling tool for preschoolers.
42:02 – The RJ Reynolds Co. will unveil a new test product in Portland or Columbus, Ohio and Indianapolis – Camel Orbs, a dissolvable nicotine unit that melts in your mouth.
8:32 – Quote from DJ Pauly D from MTV’s Jersey Shore: “Being Italian, it’s representin’. Family, friends, tanning, gel, everything.”
Games that Jonathan and Seth Play
38:57 – Questions on Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader Quiz: Name one country that borders Iraq? Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Turkey or Iran? All of the countries border Iraq.
43:08 – Seth tells his mom about the psychotic things people do while on Chantix ((Episode 002, 42:09; Episode 084, 20:44; Episode 109, 16:50; Episode 118, 29:18; Episode 154, 11:18; Episode 196, 5:27).
3:43 – Seth reminds his mom about when he talked about her not letting him have cereal unless sugar was after the first three ingredients listed (Episode 135, 38:31).
3:58 – Seth broke his wrist once and Marcia didn’t believe him, and she grabbed him by the wrist and he screamed. Marcia claimed she took him to the doctor right away and they told her it was broken. For days followinig this when he was in a cast on his third birthday, Marcia, kept apologizing to little Seth.
5:27 – Seth asks Marcia if she texted when she was in high school. She said the courting process was love letters when she graduated high school in 1965.
7:08 – Seth wants to know how Marcia and other females took care of menstrual cycles when they were in high school. She won’t get into it. Her parents did not tell her about the birds and the bees when she was in high school. She found it out from her high school girlfriends.
8:49 – Seth wants to know if he ever had an Italian horn as a kid. Marcia said he wanted one and he got it when they came to visit California when he was a high school sophomore. Seth thinks he was sporting it at the TCBY in Hollywood (Episode 039, 33:17 and Episode 056, 14:47). Seth also wanted a Lamborghini and they visited a dealership. They went to Solvang – a shitty Danish community with 12 people – and Seth wanted to be up in the ‘Wood.
9:32 – Seth recalls wanting to get an earring because Peter Martelluci got one but his dad wouldn’t let him (Episode 106, 5:49 and 33:58). Marcia wants to know if he ever asked her.
10:23 – Seth was a wonderful baby. He was so amazing and so quiet. Marcia says that he was so amazing that when they started to do transcendental meditation (TM) when Seth was 2 years old, he would wake up and Marcia would tell him she would be there in a little bit, and he would just play in his crib like a good boy. He would fall asleep in the car the minute he got in there.
11:14 – Marcia smoked a joint and almost burned the house down when Seth was still in the crib. They were in a back room watching a Boston Bruins game smoking pot and someone was leaving to go home, and there was a little fire in the kitchen started from the hot wax from a candle dripping onto a plastic floral arrangement sitting in the china dish and it caught on fire. It melted into the kitchen table. They grabbed a towel from the bathroom and smothered it out. That was the last time Marcia smoked pot.
13:29 – Marcia works with 3- and 4-year-olds and they have a peanut-free classroom because one of the kids in the morning class has an allergy to peanuts.
14:19 – Seth wonders how he got so crazy being a germophobe. Marcia doesn’t know for sure.
15:26 – Seth went through the drive-thru at McDonald’s today to get Marcia a Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad. Seth used to order Egg McMuffins and take the egg out because he didn’t like it. Marcia sent Seth the picture of him with his Happy Meal collection – which got ruined in the cellar when the basement got flooded. He used to only eat Happy Meals, because he couldn’t stand Marcia cooking liver and onions on a Friday night.
17:17 – Marcia just went through a whole nightmare call center debacle with Comcast. She was trying to set up the new deal they’re getting so they can charge her money but by making her think everything’s going to be really cool and simple. They would say, “You’re all set now, I’m reading your signal. Wait about 15 minutes and when you turn the TV back on again, everything’s going to be fine. Is there anything else I can do for you? Thank you, goodbye.” Seth is trying to convince Marcia that she needs some type of DVR because they have 6 TVs in the house. She still uses a VCR and has an answering machine with a tape in it that cuts Seth off every time he calls. And when his rage explodes on her, Marcia tells Seth he’s the only person who leaves messages that get cut off. Marcia hypothesizes that once it gets to Call #4 it will get cut off, but Seth calls every day.
44:49 – Seth used to go to New Hampshire when he got booze for the first time. He didn’t get caught there, but he got caught at Sunny Corner stealing beer because it was a friend of the Romatellis that saw him. They were eating subs at Mediterranean in Haverhill on Winter Street when Brian’s father came and said “the police called the house because someone saw you stealing beer out of the Corner.” Seth’s dad was battling pneumonia in the middle of the summer and Marcia gave Seth a guilt trip for causing this extra strain on the family.
46:14 – Marcia remembers riding through the Ward Hill Industrial Park and sees one of those big signs with Seth’s name written in big bold spray can letters.
47:55 – Seth recalls that when they started the first episode 4 years ago in February 2006, the first episode went up and Seth was explaining to his mom how to listen. Marcia and Jonathan’s mother, Elizabeth, were the only two people listening to the show within hours of when it went up. They’re coming full circle.
1:42 – A judge with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says the rights of Josue Brissot, a Rastafarian baggage screener at Boston’s Logan International Airport, were violated when he was threatened with firing unless he cut his long dreadlocks that he claims he maintains for religious reasons. Marcia says she just left Logan today. She wonders what “rastafani” is – she thought it was something Jah made up when he was in high school.
3:13 – Several major food companies got together to create a new service for American consumers called “Smart Choices.” Food products with the green check gives consumers a fast and easy way to purchase healthy food for their family. But many nutritional advocate groups say this is a scam. The list includes Froot Loops, Lucky Charms and Coco Krispies. Marcia wants to know what happened to good old-fashioned oatmeal?
7:37 – Men’s Health magazine has chosen for the third straight year the country’s worst pizza – it’s the Uno Chicago Grill Classic Deep Dish Individual Pizza. It has 2,300 calories, 165 grams of fat, 5,000 milligrams of sodium and 120 grams of carbs. It’s like 27 tiny bags of Lay’s Potato Chips.
15:10 – Starting in January, McDonald’s plans to offer a $1 breakfast menu across the country. It will include the following items: Sausage McMuffin, Sausage Biscuit, Sausage Burrito, Hash Brown and a 12-oz coffee.
16:09 – McDonald’s will also lift its $2.95 fee for two free hours of Wi-Fi at 11,000 of their stores next month and will offer free Wi-Fi access with no time limit. Marcia wonders if people actually use that, and Seth confirms that pedophiles use that by stealing laptops from tweens and overrunning 11,000 McDonald’s come January.
17:00 – Hotline Homecoming – Responding to complaints from customers, many US customers are putting their call centers back in America for a fee. Marcia says she might pay a fee to speak to someone who speaks English.
19:24 – Pregnant high school athletes – should they be sidelined?
21:30 – The Samer Theory – radiation from microwaves, telecommunications, remote controls, cell phones, etc., are slowly cooking our brains and making us crazy. Marcia agrees that this is correct because everyone is crazy. And she thinks everyone drinks way too much caffeine without even thinking about it and drives 100 miles an hour on the 101 Freeway. Marcia drinks decaf coffee for the taste. Her on caffeine with 3-year-olds would not work.
26:42 – Seth recalls that soldiers and troops have to use crazy shit because they don’t have all the accessories they need – To check for tripwires while out on a mission, families were sending silly string so they could spray it and see where it landed (Episode 041, 31:53 and Episode 087, 19:20). … Also, swallowing chewing tobacco kills worms in your stomach. … Tampons plug up bullet wounds … Wrap people with saran wrap for punctured chests … Vaseline on your mouth so when you take a shower the water won’t get into it … tape on your bed with the sticky side up so that insects will get stuck on it and not be able to make their way up to you. … Putting your socks over your pants and your boots so scorpions can’t get in your business. Seth wonders how long he would last in Fallujah, and Marcia thinks he wouldn’t even make it on the plane ride over there.
28:42 – The Pickle Guys $0.75 Store is the last pickle outlet left on Manhattan’s Lower East Side now that Gus – an institution since 1920, has moved its red barrels of 50-cent pickles to Brooklyn.
31:25 – The Lawry Chain of high-end steakhouses must pay more than $1 million to settle a federal discrimination lawsuit contending that for several decades it hired only women, no men as servers.
34:27 – Ladybugs have been showing up in greater numbers in wine vineyards. Sometimes more often as of late they attach to harvested grapes and are being mixed into fermenting grape juice by accident. As a defense mechanism they release a chemical that is foul-smelling and is detected in even tiny amounts by humans. The green bell pepper smell is increasingly being found in wines. It is being called “Ladybug Taint.” … Marcia at 35:08 – “Yeah well that’s true because if you’ve ever let a ladybug sit on your hand they always leave a brown spot when they walk away. … I don’t know, it must be that taint stuff.”
39:40 – Seth wonders how long Marcia would last in a women’s prison. She doesn’t think very long. These are what hardened convict female criminals are using on lockdown to beautify themselves: Ink from pens for eyeliner, glitter from greeting cards to sprinkle on their faces, Crystal Light for blush, coffee grounds for eye shadow, crushed Skittles for color and shading.
44:01 – Dearborn, Michigan has close to 500,000 Arabs – the largest concentration of people outside of the Middle East. A new Wal-Mart has opened a 200,000-square-foot Super Center with 550 specialty items for them.
48:45 – The number of Americans using Twitter dropped 8% from September to October – it’s the second monthly decline this year. Marcia: “But who cares what Ashton Kutcher’s doing?”
50:23 – More and more service animals are not of the norm. A lot of people are using monkeys, parrots, etc. There’s a woman in Fort Worth, Texas, who has a seeing eye horse. She walks it through the drive-thru at Dairy Queen and gets her ice cream.
1:19 – This episode is being recorded on Wednesday, 7:50 p.m. on Dec. 23, 2009. Jah calls it an “Episode to be Named at a Later Date,” and it’s being hosted by “Marcia and Seth.”
51:29 – Seth and Marcia share a sweet moment where they tell each other that they love one another very much.
55:01 – “Imagine” by John Lennon, which is Seth and Marcia’s song (Episode 192, 19:15), closes out this special episode.
4:33 – Number of text messages sent and received by the average American teen every month according to the Nielsen company – 2,272, or almost 80 texts a day.
12:32 – A new national survey published in the journal Pediatrics says the number of children with food allergies is increasing. It now encompasses 4% of all US kids. Research suggests this isn’t just parents hearing or reading about food allergies on the news or on the internet and thinking their children have them – it’s that they actually have them. Reasons are unclear but a prominent theory is the hygiene hypothesis – based on the notion that today’s children are less exposed to germs and other disease-causing substances than previous generations and it prevents their immune systems from strengthening, which forces it to overreact to harmless substances. Marcia agrees with this – everyone is so germophobic that they don’t have a chance to build up an immunity to anything.
25:00 – Researchers at the University of Kentucky have developed a chewing gum that they hope will help replace toothpaste and a toothbrush by using an antimicrobial named KSL – which is an anti-adhesive and abrasive agent that disrupts and helps dissolve plaque. Known as the Military Gum Project because it was designed to help soldiers in the field battle trenchmouth, they hope it will also help children in poor countries. Marcia said she’d use that herself.
33:29 – Although the US mint spends 1.4 cents to make a penny, 42% of PARADE magazine readers say they’re not giving up their pennies. Among the comments: “I can’t imagine how I could count to 10 without first starting at 1.” … “How could I buy anything for $19.99?” Seth thinks pennies are bad luck, but Marcia thinks they’re good luck if you find one facing head’s-up.
16:34 – Seth predicts that by Valentine’s Day we’ll have an epidemic of arrests of creepy dudes jerking off in the McDonald’s Playground areas.
14:31 – Marcia brings up Intermittent Explosive Disorder, or IED (Episode 018, 13:29) – a behavioral disorder characterized by extreme expressions of anger often to the point of uncontrollable rage that is disproportionate to the situation at hand. Marcia says she’s experienced this from Seth before, but Seth says Jonathan has it – there’s a 92-year-old WWII vet on Sepulveda Pass that can verify he has that (Episode 063, 47:47).
35:31 – Yuppie Mouth – because kids only drink bottled water, they’re having dental issues because of a lack of fluoride. Marcia thinks this is going to happen to Seth because of all the Dasani he drinks.