Faculty Off The Clock - Featuring Todd McNerney

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We welcome you to this episode of Faculty Off the Clock, a podcast series hosted by the College of Charleston's Office of the Provost that highlights the personal and lighter sides of our campus as professors.
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I'm Mark Del Mastro, and I'm Chris Cowery, Associate Provost, and your host of Faculty Off the Clock.
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For this episode, we welcome Professor Todd McNurney of the Department of Food and Dance.
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We're excited to have you here.
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Anyway, I met my how did you get with a Swiss mime?
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We'll come back to that maybe.
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Since she asked the first question.
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I'm very curious.
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Yeah.
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So I met the woman who I am now married to.
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And uh she's a native South Carolinian.
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Uh she went to the college back in the eighties.
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Anyway, uh shortly after I met her, she decided she needed to move back here to be close to her mother.
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I was coming off of that contract.
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I was like, oh I could move to South Carolina.
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So I came here without any position at all.
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Um and uh was here for a uh two years, I guess, and then uh I got hired on as an adjunct in the Department of Theater and Dance, and I did that for um three three years?
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Four four years.
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Uh and a position in my third year a position came up and I applied for it and they hired me.
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Wow.
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So here I am three years later.
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Wow, that's incredible.
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So uh so how did I get with the Swiss mind group?
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Yeah.
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Uh so um as an undergraduate, uh one of the jobs I had, one of my work study positions was working in um the equivalent our our that the institution's equivalent of the Satili Theater.
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Um our our department of theater uh shared a space that was also a roadhouse.
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So um I worked all kinds of different national touring companies and national um artists and uh this uh group, their name is Momenshance.
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Um they still exist.
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They do.
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Um in a crazy way.
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Uh because the original founders only one of the originals still tours with them and she's uh in her late 70s.
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Oh wow.
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Um anyway, uh they came to my home institution to do a two-week residency as they were preparing a second show that they were gonna take to Broadway.
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Um myself and other people on the crew just got friendly with them.
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And then a couple years later, when I was living in San Francisco, uh they were doing a show in in the North Bay in in Marin County somewhere.
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And uh my roommate and I tried to get free tickets and we ended up getting jobs.
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So that's a great story.
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Yeah.
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So well we're gonna we want to continue a little bit with uh the your history and um and and of course before we get into which everyone's interested in your off-campus interests and hobbies.
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Um where are you from originally?
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Where were you born and raised?
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So um I'm from a very small town in southern Minnesota.
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Uh I wasn't born in that town.
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I was born in a neighboring town, but I I claim this town is my hometown.
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It's it's a place called Blue Earth.
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Blue Earth.
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I've never heard of Blue Earth.
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Dr.
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Corey, have you?
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No, no.
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I'm not terribly surprised.
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Uh but the the best way to do to define what its location, if you know your U.S.
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geography, the Minnesota and Iowa border is uh a straight line.
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Yeah.
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If you put your finger on any map on the midpoint of that line, you will very likely touch where Blue Earth is.
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It's about nine miles north of the Iowa border, so it's in farm country, Minnesota.
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Population?
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Uh well when as a kid, because there was a sign when you entered town, it was 3600.
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Uh I think I think it's now 3200 or something.
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Oh yeah.
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Decrease.
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Far farming communities are are shrinking all over our country.
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Yeah.
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Um but yeah, so uh I grew up in a a very rural place.
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Um very flat.
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It's called Blue Earth because um the French voyageurs were the some of the first Europeans to um explore that part of North America.
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They came down from Canada, and there's a very famous one, maybe famous, I don't know.
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A gentleman named Lesour, and uh he discovered this river where the earth, the mud was blue, and and he thought he was gonna make a bunch of money because he thought it was something valuable.
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Turns out it's just very rich in iron and very good farmland.
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Okay.
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Um so the river got named that and then the town got named later.
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Very interesting.
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So growing up in in rural America, did you have particular things you did outside as a little kid?
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Oh, sure.
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Um I mean uh I uh played all kinds of sports.
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Um You're a baseball enthusiast, aren't you?
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I am.
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I am very much into baseball.
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Um that go back to your childhood?
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Of course, yeah.
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Um and then I in high s because I went to a small rural school, I was able to play all those sports.
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So I played football and baseball.
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Uh my best sport actually was wrestling.
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Okay.
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So um what weight uh so I earned my first varsity letter at um a hundred and twelve pounds.
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Okay, yeah, you're a little guy.
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Um and uh by the time I was a senior, I was wrestling at 138.
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Okay.
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So so you wrestled all four years in high school?
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Uh I earned three letters.
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Okay.
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Um I I did wrestle the whole time I was in high school, but I earned three varsity letters.
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Gotcha.
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Great.
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Did you manage to um vacation growing up?
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Oh yeah.
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Um was your favorite vacation?
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Uh so uh m uh uh Minnesota uh official state nickname is the land of ten thousand lakes.
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Um so we uh went to a couple of different lakes over the years.
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Uh southern Minnesota is very flat, um kind of boring uh visually in a way.
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Uh uh anyway, middle part of the state and further north are where the really big lakes are.
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So we used to go to a place called Lake Whitefish uh and it's a part of a big chain.
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Um we knew other people and um you could water ski and fish and did you ever canoe and then like bring the bring the boat between that's a way to do that.
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Yeah, so yeah, we you should talk to my sister.
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Um my sister does that right uh if you go to the very northern part of Minnesota, there's a great um national park, national refuge, I think, um called the boundary waters.
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Yeah.
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Um and it is there are parts of the boundary waters that you can only get to via canoe.
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You're not allowed to use a motorized boat.
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So she uh uh she and her family regularly do that.
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Portage across Portage a canoe from one lake to another.
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Yeah.
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Interesting.
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So so growing up, um we played sports.
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Did you have a memorable summer job?
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Uh uh I actually had a lot of jobs.
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Um maybe it was the ruralness or maybe it was my age.
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Uh uh so I was growing up in the late 60s and early 70s.
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Um so I had my first, I guess I think of it as memorable because to me it was kind of an adventure.
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I was a paperboy, had multiple paper routes.
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Another paperboy.
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Um and my my paperboy experiences were uh even more unique, perhaps, because um I started with an afternoon weekly.
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So I probably had that in maybe fourth grade, fifth grade, um, because it was just once a week, get on my bike, throw around the local paper.
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And then I graduated up to um a neighboring town, the one where I was born, actually had a daily paper, and that was also afternoon delivery, and I moved up to that.
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And then um Minneapolis has a big newspaper, uh, the Minneapolis Star and Tribune.
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Eventually I got one of those.
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Wow.
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Oh yeah, big time.
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Um so you were really invested in this.
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Well, it was paperboy.
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It was a way to make my own money.
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And I liked I liked having my own money.
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Yeah.
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Uh but also because I grew up rural, uh, and nobody will know what this even means, um, because I don't even know that people still do it.
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Uh by the time I was probably twelve, thirteen, uh I started working in the fields.
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Um in southern Minnesota the primary crops are uh soybeans um or corn.
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And in in cornfields you do something called detasseling, um which is related to the genetics of energy and cross-pollinization and so forth.
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Um every other row you pull the tassels out so that they can't pollinate.
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Um but with soybeans you do essentially like working in a garden.
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It's called walking beans.
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You basically walk up and down every field row and hoe out every weed because the weeds used to reduce the price per bushel that somebody would earn for their soybeans.
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So I star that was like a big money job.
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I was making better than minimum wage for the seven.
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What kind of hours were you putting in a week for that job?
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Well, you usually only worked until noon because it could get really hot.
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Okay.
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So it was one of these things get up at six o'clock and be in the field by six thirty or seven and work for five hours and still have half your day.
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Exactly.
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Yeah.
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And earn pretty big.
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Yeah, yeah.
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Well, and it was like, you know, I made a lot more money than delivering my pets.
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Yeah, sure.
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Absolutely.
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Um Did you have pets growing up?
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We did.
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Uh we uh we had a couple different dogs.
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Um uh my first dog was uh a little dog named Boots.
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Um that's probably the one I remember the most because I was a little really little kid.
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Was it a mutt or a Yeah, Boots was a mutt of some sort.
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I don't um I think my father was really good at finding strays.
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I see.
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And things just sometimes found their way to our house, and Boots was like that.
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Do you have a dog now?
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We do.
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We have two dogs.
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Okay.
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Uh we have an English Springer Spaniel.
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Oh yeah, great dog.
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Oh yeah, she's a sweetheart.
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Yeah.
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Um and then uh we have a uh basically a mutt a rescue.
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She's some kind of shepherd.
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Um my uh one of my sons and his college roommates, uh, when they got their first apartment, decided they wanted to save a dog, so they went to get a rescue pup.
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And this one, her name is Millie.
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Um, Millie had a broken leg.
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And the they believed they they told these young men, well, you know, we need you to watch her for a little bit.
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She probably will have to have that leg um taken off.
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Uh uh and it doesn't look like it'll repair heal itself, repair.
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But they did something right because she didn't lose her leg.
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Wow.
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And uh she runs very well.
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She's very fast.
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Yeah, I know.
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She's a great dog.
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Oh, wow.
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Yeah, look, Mark and I was curious about what kind of games people grew up playing, cards, board games back in the day.
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Oh yeah.
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Uh so um boy, uh you like games, Todd?
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I mean, okay, that's important because we would be setting you up for memories.
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No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
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Uh I grew up with three three siblings.
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Okay.
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Uh and in rural Minnesota, not a lot to do again.
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You'll go outside, ride your bike, whatever.
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But in the winter, when it's cold, you're gonna play games and of course get competitive about it.
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So uh you know, I um I don't know if you could name a board game I didn't have or play, uh, but probably my favorite was Clue um or the game of life.
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Okay.
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We played a lot of that.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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Interesting.
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Well, we're gonna uh I'm not a as no as I'm not gonna do it.
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I got a little PTSD from the Colonel Mustard, board games from childhood.
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So yeah, I don't play them.
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That's a running joke in my family now that if anyone they like my family likes to play games, but uh they know that uh I'm always out if they engage.
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So anyway, we're gonna we're gonna talk about your uh school years and and start out with uh uh your grammar school years and hope you might have a fun fact you could tell us about yourself from that period of time that you think might amuse our listeners.
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Well boy, I wish I knew what would amuse people, but um You'd be surprised.
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So um This will probably come about a little bit later, too, but uh I didn't necessarily know I wanted to get into theater, but I do recall the very first uh play I was in, which was in third grade.
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Wow.
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Um I got to play the lead in our little classroom play that was entitled Finnegan the Pig.
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So I played Finnegan.
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The pig?
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Um yes.
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Um Finnegan the Pig was a little fable uh about uh a little boy and a girl whose father gave them a pig named Finnegan uh to raise that then they were gonna have to slaughter.
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But the kids, of course, learned that what, we're gonna have to lose Finnegan, so how do we save Finnegan?
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Um and they taught Finnegan how to whistle when Irish eyes are smiling.
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And because he could whistle, dad decided he could make money and he wouldn't have to slaughter him.
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Anyway, I'm certain I got the part because I was the only kid who could whistle in that class.
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But um Interesting.
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Somehow I I got the lead and uh I still cherished that moment.
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Trevor Burrus, Jr.
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So clearly it was a positive experience to set the path for you as a teacher.
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Trevor Burrus, Jr.
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In some way, yeah.
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Yeah.
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So we're gonna same fun fact question, but applied to high school.
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Uh so high school.
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Not a theater kid.
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Uh why?
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No, I didn't I didn't do anything.
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Did you take a break or no?
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I think it was because of those sports.
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Uh and um and I became a student government person.
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So uh I ended up being both well, I think uh in those days uh high school um started at 10th grade.
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So you had junior high school, seventh to nine.
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And I think in tenth grade I was elected to student council as a representative.
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As a junior, I became vice president, and as senior, I became the president of the student council.
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So I became all about you know student government and setting an interview.
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You up for your future role as speaker of the faculty here at the college?
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I guess when you were president, what did you run on?
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Like new vending machines and actually it was on a salad bar in our cafeteria.
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And we got it.
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Really?
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Wow.
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Professor McIntyre delivers.
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I did, yeah.
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I earned that vote.
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So I when you went off to college, where'd you go?
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The lighter side of your college years and how you got into theater, I assume, in the in your college.
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Yeah, it's exactly uh what happened.
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So um I ended up uh I'm a first-gen college student.
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Um neither my father had a little bit of college, um, but he failed out.
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Got a little distracted.
00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:16.960
Um in any case, uh it it always seemed like a thing I would do because of student government and and how involved I was in school, in high school.
00:18:17.119 --> 00:18:19.759
And uh but I didn't really know where I was gonna go.
00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:28.880
And I had a very good high school guidance counselor who suggested that I uh look at this private Catholic university.
00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:33.359
Um I was like, wow, my family can't afford that, that's not gonna happen.
00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:34.880
But anyway, that's where I went.
00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:42.000
I went to uh I I did apply, they accepted me, the financial aid they provided me made it possible.
00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:45.119
All those paper routes help pay for it.
00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:48.000
Um anyway, so I went to a place called St.
00:18:48.240 --> 00:18:49.519
John's University.
00:18:49.759 --> 00:18:59.279
Uh it's a um all-mail school in the center part of Minnesota that's also a Benedictine monastery.
00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:04.880
So did you hang w are there uh did you hang out with the monks?
00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:06.400
We did hang out with monks.
00:19:06.559 --> 00:19:10.480
So uh you had um were they fun?
00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:11.680
Some of them, yeah.
00:19:12.400 --> 00:19:13.680
Some of them are very fun.
00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:24.319
Uh so uh yeah, you when you lived on campus in a dorm, you always had a fac they called it a faculty resident uh who was also in.
00:19:24.640 --> 00:19:33.200
You had student RA residents, but you also had a faculty member who lived somewhere in your dorm building um or on your floor.
00:19:33.440 --> 00:19:46.160
And uh my freshman um faculty resident uh was a gentleman named Father Renee, and his uh uh dorm room apartment was directly across the hall from mine.
00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:48.720
So I had to behave pretty pretty weak.
00:19:49.359 --> 00:19:52.720
When I was in Notre Dame, yeah, the rectors were all priests.
00:19:52.880 --> 00:19:56.480
Uh you'd come back and there were like several of them on each floor.
00:19:56.720 --> 00:19:59.519
Yeah, walking with the sh from the shower with just a towel on.
00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:00.079
Hey Father.
00:20:00.400 --> 00:20:01.200
Yep, hi Father.
00:20:01.519 --> 00:20:05.119
Uh yeah, and I I often joke with students that St.
00:20:05.279 --> 00:20:08.480
John's is also very rural.
00:20:08.720 --> 00:20:17.599
The monastery was built sort of in between four lakes, two of them that are pretty significant sized.
00:20:17.839 --> 00:20:31.119
Um anyway, uh you go down to the big lake, it's called Sagatagon, and um uh certain times of the year in the morning, the steam and the fog is rolling off of the water.
00:20:31.359 --> 00:20:37.839
Well, there's nothing like going down to walk by that lake and seeing two or three dudes in black robes walking out of the fog.
00:20:39.599 --> 00:20:41.839
Sort of like, is this a horror movie?
00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:43.920
What am I what am I in right now?
00:20:44.240 --> 00:20:45.759
Um But yeah, St.
00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:49.279
John's was an excellent um liberal arts school.
00:20:49.440 --> 00:20:55.119
And because of that, uh I did not go there to major in theater.
00:20:55.279 --> 00:20:58.319
Uh I meant there to major in international business.
00:20:58.799 --> 00:21:06.559
Um but there was a sign for an audition uh in my freshman dorm, and I was like, oh, that might be fun.
00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:07.920
So I did.
00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:09.440
That's crazy.
00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:11.440
Like the just the little paths that we take.
00:21:11.839 --> 00:21:12.799
Yeah, no, it's insane.
00:21:13.119 --> 00:21:19.920
So when when you left and you got into more theater training after that, and and what was that like?
00:21:20.559 --> 00:21:29.680
So uh with a broad-based liberal art education um in theater, uh I wasn't I I knew I liked acting.
00:21:29.839 --> 00:21:35.200
I'd been cast in numerous numerous things, but I'd also discovered I loved pretty much everything about it.
00:21:35.599 --> 00:21:44.720
Uh and uh so I started as a senior applying to some graduate schools, but I wasn't even certain about which avenue.
00:21:44.960 --> 00:21:47.759
So I did both a a performance.
00:21:47.920 --> 00:21:52.880
For for graduate school and performance, uh you have to do an audition.
00:21:53.519 --> 00:21:58.240
So I did an audition um a a couple of different ways.
00:21:58.480 --> 00:22:06.720
And then uh I also did uh technical theater portfolio reviews because I was really interested in that.
00:22:07.359 --> 00:22:15.119
Um and ultimately I got uh I graduated and I didn't know that I was going on to graduate school.
00:22:15.680 --> 00:22:22.079
Um so I had found a summer job working for the Des Moines Metro Opera as a technician.
00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:30.319
And while I was there, I followed up on one final lead for graduate school, which was at the University of Iowa.
00:22:30.960 --> 00:22:35.920
And suddenly at the last minute, they were like, We have a space, you want to come?
00:22:36.079 --> 00:22:36.240
Oh.
00:22:36.640 --> 00:22:38.319
And I ended up there.
00:22:38.640 --> 00:22:39.680
Oh fantastic.
00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:40.640
Hawkeyes.
00:22:40.960 --> 00:22:41.359
Yeah, yeah.
00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:42.079
I'm a hawke.
00:22:42.240 --> 00:22:46.400
Well, it's hard to be a hawkeye when you grow up in Minnesota and you're also a gopher.
00:22:46.880 --> 00:22:47.519
That's right.
00:22:47.839 --> 00:22:52.160
So so I I kind of have a mixed thing going on.
00:22:53.440 --> 00:22:55.200
Yes, big ten all the way.
00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:29.599
So full disclosure to your audience, uh they share the questions with us in advance, or at least some of them.
00:23:29.839 --> 00:23:31.039
So I don't know what's going to happen later.
00:23:31.200 --> 00:23:38.240
So I've been thinking about this a little bit, and mostly because I wasn't sure if I wanted to share it, because for the longest time I didn't share it.
00:23:38.880 --> 00:23:42.240
Uh about four years ago, I took up boxing.
00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:43.839
Oh, wow.
00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:51.920
You are the second faculty member that we have interviewed on this podcast to date who uh has a boxing pastime.
00:23:52.079 --> 00:23:53.839
We won't uh disclose the surprise.
00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:55.119
You have to listen to that episode.
00:23:55.279 --> 00:23:56.400
But uh you're not alone.
00:23:56.799 --> 00:23:58.319
Okay, well that's that's cool to hear.
00:23:58.559 --> 00:24:01.599
Uh so what prompted boxing?
00:24:02.480 --> 00:24:13.599
My two sons, um under I believe the suggestion of my wife and their mother, um gave me a gift certificate.
00:24:13.839 --> 00:24:18.960
So it that I started in the spring of twenty-one, so during COVID.
00:24:19.200 --> 00:24:23.119
Uh I don't really know.
00:24:23.359 --> 00:24:26.319
She's she thought I was a pretty decent wrestler.
00:24:26.799 --> 00:24:27.039
Sure.
00:24:27.119 --> 00:24:28.880
I was gonna say there had to be some connection there.
00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:32.400
And she she was like, uh well, you know, he might like that.
00:24:32.640 --> 00:24:38.720
So they gave me this gift certificate for like a week's worth of classes or something.
00:24:38.960 --> 00:24:43.279
Um and I went and it was awesome.
00:24:43.680 --> 00:24:44.319
Wow.
00:24:44.559 --> 00:24:47.839
So now do you actually compete in matches?
00:24:48.240 --> 00:24:48.400
No.
00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:48.960
Okay.
00:24:49.279 --> 00:24:51.519
I'm I I don't I don't know that that would be a good idea.
00:24:51.920 --> 00:25:00.319
So uh uh Yeah, technically I just do something called basics and uh Any sparring involved?
00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:04.960
There's a a little bit of sort of not true sparring.
00:25:05.200 --> 00:25:06.880
Uh you work with a partner sometimes.
00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:07.200
Okay.
00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:11.839
Um you're learning how to defend, how to block a punch, how to throw a punch.
00:25:12.160 --> 00:25:12.319
Okay.
00:25:12.480 --> 00:25:14.079
Um it's not full-on contact.
00:25:14.319 --> 00:25:15.039
It's not full on contact.
00:25:15.279 --> 00:25:15.440
Okay.
00:25:15.839 --> 00:25:25.279
I don't think uh just based on how slow I've gotten in my elder years, uh I don't think that would be very good.
00:25:25.759 --> 00:25:27.440
So where do you where do you train in time?
00:25:27.839 --> 00:25:31.519
Yeah, it's a um a place on James Island called Hurricane Boxing.
00:25:31.839 --> 00:25:32.160
Oh boy.
00:25:32.319 --> 00:25:32.480
All right.
00:25:32.640 --> 00:25:33.200
Yeah, a lot of people have to do that.
00:25:33.440 --> 00:25:34.480
A lot in common with our past.
00:25:35.200 --> 00:25:37.599
Like a little nucleus of people that train there.
00:25:38.000 --> 00:25:38.240
Interesting.
00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:40.400
So then you have a favorite boxing movie?
00:25:40.640 --> 00:25:41.119
Oh, yeah.
00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:42.000
Favorite boxing movie.
00:25:42.960 --> 00:25:44.319
That is a great question.
00:25:44.720 --> 00:25:50.799
Uh well, I guess it sort of depends on Yeah.
00:25:50.880 --> 00:25:53.359
The answer to that is sort of yes or is yes.
00:25:53.680 --> 00:25:59.359
So uh I love two movies for two different reasons.
00:25:59.680 --> 00:26:03.680
I love the original Rocky just because it's quintessential.
00:26:04.079 --> 00:26:09.279
It's Sylvester Stallone and it's 1970s is just like my childhood.
00:26:09.839 --> 00:26:12.079
My my childhood and everything.
00:26:12.400 --> 00:26:14.319
And it's just kind of great pop.
00:26:14.799 --> 00:26:15.759
Getting strong now.
00:26:15.839 --> 00:26:16.799
I mean, that's timeless.
00:26:17.279 --> 00:26:17.680
Actually, it's time.
00:26:17.920 --> 00:26:20.720
Yeah, Meg Son and I watched it and it it holds up.
00:26:21.039 --> 00:26:21.200
Yeah.
00:26:21.839 --> 00:26:32.880
So uh I I do like that, but I think from like a theater guy with supposed to supposedly some sophistication to his tastes, uh I like Raging Bull.
00:26:33.279 --> 00:26:35.599
Oh, I was thinking you might say that.
00:26:35.759 --> 00:26:36.480
It's a classic.
00:26:36.720 --> 00:26:36.880
Yeah.
00:26:37.039 --> 00:26:37.200
Yeah.
00:26:37.759 --> 00:26:39.119
There's something about a boxing movie.
00:26:39.279 --> 00:26:39.519
Oh yeah.
00:26:39.759 --> 00:26:47.119
Like it like the sport, like the the way that you can tell a story through that sport, uh, they always tend to be good.
00:26:47.519 --> 00:26:53.200
Yeah, even the even the Rocky remakes, the Creed, the two Creed movies are pretty okay.
00:26:53.680 --> 00:26:54.720
I haven't seen those shows.
00:26:54.960 --> 00:26:55.440
Those are pretty good.
00:26:55.519 --> 00:26:55.599
Yeah.
00:26:56.240 --> 00:26:57.200
Million Dollar Baby was good.
00:26:57.440 --> 00:26:58.799
Oh, Million Dollar Baby is a great movie.
00:26:59.039 --> 00:26:59.519
Yeah, I would agree.
00:26:59.599 --> 00:27:00.000
I've seen that.
00:27:00.160 --> 00:27:00.880
It was real good.
00:27:01.200 --> 00:27:09.119
Um is there an off-the-clock activity that you haven't tackled yet that you would like to in the future?
00:27:11.359 --> 00:27:15.279
Um maybe real sparring?
00:27:15.359 --> 00:27:16.880
No, I'm I don't want to really spar.
00:27:17.200 --> 00:27:32.960
Um I you know, I don't know that I uh there's a lot of different little things that I often dabble in, so I guess in some respects it would be to get better at some of those things.
00:27:33.440 --> 00:27:42.319
Like uh I juggle, so but I'd only do that to a sort of novice level.
00:27:42.640 --> 00:27:44.640
It might be fun to explore getting better at it.
00:27:45.039 --> 00:27:54.480
Is that a is that a skill that you have to keep up with, or that you can put down, say, for twelve months and then pick up a couple balls and be right back juggling again?
00:27:54.880 --> 00:28:04.960
No, it's uh so so uh on campus I sometimes use juggling as a way to um teach a lesson about something.
00:28:06.240 --> 00:28:10.079
The great thing about and it's actually why I like boxing too, to be honest.
00:28:10.319 --> 00:28:14.480
So boxing has actually no relationship to wrestling at all.
00:28:15.440 --> 00:28:22.960
In fact, at first I couldn't make my hands and feet do what they were supposed to do because my brain was sort of wired for wrestling.
00:28:23.119 --> 00:28:23.359
Yeah.
00:28:23.839 --> 00:28:31.519
Um learning any new physical activity builds new neuropathways in your brain.
00:28:32.079 --> 00:28:35.519
And it doesn't matter what that activity is.
00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:38.960
And once the pathway is built, you keep the pathway.
00:28:39.119 --> 00:28:44.960
So the old colloquialism about um never forgetting how to ride a bike is true.
00:28:45.119 --> 00:28:47.440
You build a new pathway and you keep it.
00:28:47.680 --> 00:28:49.359
Uh the same is true with juggling.
00:28:49.599 --> 00:28:57.920
Once you've learned the pattern, yeah, I can I can pick up almost anything and start to juggle.
00:28:58.160 --> 00:29:01.839
Now that that doesn't mean I won't drop things, because that happens.
00:29:02.160 --> 00:29:06.400
Now do you do do you juggle with different types of objects or do you stick with it?
00:29:06.720 --> 00:29:06.880
Yeah.
00:29:06.960 --> 00:29:08.079
So uh chainsaws.
00:29:09.279 --> 00:29:20.400
Well, so you you know, you we didn't get into all of the other jobs I had had, but I used to I paid my way through college and grad school by um a variety of different trades.
00:29:20.640 --> 00:29:29.519
So I um I I was a painter uh and not just Todd, the heist the college student has his own painting company.
00:29:29.680 --> 00:29:32.160
I I worked for a paint a paint company.
00:29:32.400 --> 00:29:39.519
And I also then also worked for a general contractor, so I did a lot of roofing and interior framing.
00:29:40.160 --> 00:29:41.680
Your future foreman job at the same time.
00:29:42.079 --> 00:29:42.559
Exactly.
00:29:43.599 --> 00:29:56.000
That's actually why they I irritated them so much because I would ask a lot of questions about things because I kind of knew so but all that circles back to the funniest things I used to juggle were claw hammers.
00:29:56.160 --> 00:30:07.119
So when I'd get bored, I'd stand up on the roof, you know, in the Iowa sun or the Minnesota sun, and it's everybody else is taking a break, I'd just stand there and juggle hammers.
00:30:08.960 --> 00:30:09.359
Blue sky.
00:30:09.759 --> 00:30:11.039
Never hit yourself in the head?
00:30:11.519 --> 00:30:12.640
No, no, no, no, no, no.
00:30:13.039 --> 00:30:13.279
All right.
00:30:13.359 --> 00:30:13.759
Wow, awesome.
00:30:14.160 --> 00:30:15.039
I used to be younger and quicker.
00:30:15.119 --> 00:30:15.359
I moved.
00:30:15.680 --> 00:30:16.160
Yeah, well, sure.
00:30:16.640 --> 00:30:18.559
I'd let the hammer drop before I'd let it hit me.
00:30:21.440 --> 00:30:21.839
Yeah.
00:30:22.720 --> 00:30:23.839
It's an idea.
00:30:24.160 --> 00:30:31.839
So um, you know, our our last question before the lightning round is uh if you weren't a faculty member here, um, what would you be doing?
00:30:33.680 --> 00:30:36.079
Uh that's a terrific question.
00:30:36.319 --> 00:30:48.880
Um and you know, I don't I don't know if there's a singular uh answer that I could wrap my head around.
00:30:49.279 --> 00:30:59.039
So um maybe because I had all those jobs as a kid, uh I pretty much have I've had any number of jobs.
00:30:59.200 --> 00:31:07.119
I've been a bartender, I've been a waiter, I've uh managed a grocery store, uh I I mean all kinds of things.
00:31:07.359 --> 00:31:14.640
So uh I think what I know would be true is that I would still be doing theater.
00:31:15.519 --> 00:31:26.400
Uh would that mean I had a position that was paying me enough that that was my sole source of employment?
00:31:26.640 --> 00:31:27.279
I don't know.
00:31:27.519 --> 00:31:28.160
Maybe.
00:31:28.480 --> 00:31:30.559
But I would have I would be finding something.
00:31:30.720 --> 00:31:30.880
Yeah.
00:31:31.119 --> 00:31:32.880
I'm not afraid to do almost anything.
00:31:33.279 --> 00:31:34.079
Clearly, yeah.
00:31:34.240 --> 00:31:36.960
By your history, that's that's that's for sure.
00:31:40.559 --> 00:31:57.440
Todd, we're gonna enter now the last segment of this interview, which is our lightning round, which we conclude all of our faculty off the clock installments with, where we ask each guest some important standard questions, again, about your life off the clock.
00:31:57.599 --> 00:32:03.440
And you know, as you mentioned before, this is the portion where we did not provide the questions to you beforehand.
00:32:03.680 --> 00:32:07.519
So we will probably continue with some surprises.
00:32:07.759 --> 00:32:12.559
But we also want to clarify that we do know the difference between thunder and lightning.
00:32:12.799 --> 00:32:18.799
But since this is an audio podcast, we had to settle on the thunder sound effect to cue this portion of the interview.
00:32:19.039 --> 00:32:19.200
Okay.
00:32:19.519 --> 00:32:22.559
So to start, we'd like to ask you what's your favorite carb?
00:32:23.039 --> 00:32:24.400
My favorite carb.
00:32:24.480 --> 00:32:24.880
Mm-hmm.
00:32:25.279 --> 00:32:26.000
Bread.
00:32:26.480 --> 00:32:27.279
Any bread.
00:32:27.519 --> 00:32:28.079
Any bread.
00:32:28.400 --> 00:32:29.119
Any bread.
00:32:29.359 --> 00:32:29.680
Yeah.
00:32:29.759 --> 00:32:36.480
Uh in high school I went to Germany for the first time and I fell in love with Bruch, and it's a hard roll.
00:32:36.720 --> 00:32:36.880
Yeah.
00:32:37.119 --> 00:32:39.200
Um, but honestly, it doesn't matter.
00:32:39.279 --> 00:32:40.319
I'll eat any bread.
00:32:40.640 --> 00:32:40.960
Okay.
00:32:41.200 --> 00:32:44.480
So with your carb, what are you putting on your bread, a favorite protein?
00:32:45.200 --> 00:32:47.839
Uh well, love peanut butter.
00:32:48.160 --> 00:32:50.480
Not probably not the best protein choice there.
00:32:50.559 --> 00:32:58.000
But if I were gonna if I were gonna make a um a sandwich, it would probably be turkey.
00:32:59.200 --> 00:32:59.359
Okay.
00:32:59.839 --> 00:33:01.440
Like a processed turkey turkey?
00:33:01.519 --> 00:33:01.839
Does it matter?
00:33:03.279 --> 00:33:05.119
I I don't want to go too processed, no.
00:33:05.359 --> 00:33:05.519
Okay.
00:33:05.920 --> 00:33:08.880
Um boar's head.
00:33:09.200 --> 00:33:09.359
Okay.
00:33:09.599 --> 00:33:10.799
Yeah, boar's head is good.
00:33:11.039 --> 00:33:12.240
Pizza or tacos?
00:33:13.279 --> 00:33:13.759
Pizza.
00:33:13.920 --> 00:33:14.240
100%.
00:33:14.880 --> 00:33:15.440
Or carb.
00:33:15.680 --> 00:33:15.920
It's good.
00:33:16.079 --> 00:33:18.319
It's a it's it's tomato sauce on bread.
00:33:19.039 --> 00:33:19.359
That's true.
00:33:19.519 --> 00:33:19.759
That's true.
00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:21.920
Yeah, but there's a continuation of the first question.
00:33:23.119 --> 00:33:23.519
Exactly.
00:33:23.920 --> 00:33:26.319
Do you have a favorite pizza spot in Charleston?
00:33:26.799 --> 00:33:27.200
Oi.
00:33:27.920 --> 00:33:29.680
Uh so many.
00:33:29.839 --> 00:33:34.079
Uh actually, my favorite pizza right now is n is a frozen variety.
00:33:34.240 --> 00:33:36.079
It's uh Home Run In.
00:33:36.559 --> 00:33:38.640
It's a Chicago-based company.
00:33:38.960 --> 00:33:39.599
Where do you get this?
00:33:39.680 --> 00:33:40.480
At the grocery store?
00:33:40.720 --> 00:33:42.960
You can get it at grocery stores or Walmart.
00:33:43.279 --> 00:33:44.079
And it's your favorite.
00:33:44.400 --> 00:33:44.960
Oh my gosh.
00:33:45.039 --> 00:33:46.640
Yeah, I can put it on the list called.
00:33:47.359 --> 00:33:49.119
It's an amazing frozen pizza.
00:33:49.200 --> 00:33:50.880
Um that's quite an endorsement.
00:33:51.200 --> 00:33:57.839
Uh but if I were gonna go out for pizza on James Island, there's a terrific place called Crust.
00:33:58.000 --> 00:33:59.200
We go to Crust pretty regularly.
00:33:59.440 --> 00:34:00.400
You're familiar with Crust, Dr.
00:34:00.480 --> 00:34:00.799
Gorgon.
00:34:00.880 --> 00:34:01.039
Okay.
00:34:01.200 --> 00:34:01.519
I'm not.
00:34:01.680 --> 00:34:02.640
I have to give that a try.
00:34:02.880 --> 00:34:03.119
Yep.
00:34:03.519 --> 00:34:06.720
Uh moving to dessert if you like frozen yogurt or ice cream.
00:34:07.039 --> 00:34:07.599
Ice cream.
00:34:07.759 --> 00:34:07.839
Yeah.
00:34:08.400 --> 00:34:08.719
Totally.
00:34:08.960 --> 00:34:12.000
Yeah, I guess you had a favorite uh flavor.
00:34:12.480 --> 00:34:17.519
So so this is pr this is probably a leftover from being a wrestler.
00:34:17.599 --> 00:34:21.519
Uh there's not a sweet that I don't like.
00:34:21.840 --> 00:34:26.000
Uh and when it comes to ice cream, yeah.
00:34:26.159 --> 00:34:31.440
Uh I love that James Island has a DQ now because I because I grew up with a Dairy Queen.
00:34:32.000 --> 00:34:33.519
We would always go get a like a blizzard.
00:34:33.840 --> 00:34:36.239
Oh, yeah, a blizzard or a peanut butter parfum.
00:34:36.719 --> 00:34:37.360
They still have those, right?
00:34:37.599 --> 00:34:37.840
Yeah, yeah.
00:34:38.079 --> 00:34:38.960
I haven't had one of those in years.
00:34:39.519 --> 00:34:43.039
I'd always like the uh Butterfinger Blizzard or a Heath Bar.
00:34:44.079 --> 00:34:52.239
But uh if I'm getting ice cream at home, it tends to be either Talenti, is that how you say it?
00:34:52.480 --> 00:35:03.360
Uh it's a kind of gelato version of store store ice cream or uh moose tracks, anybody who makes moose tracks.
00:35:07.039 --> 00:35:08.880
Mustard or ketchup on a hot dog.
00:35:12.960 --> 00:35:13.840
Challenging question.
00:35:14.079 --> 00:35:14.239
Wow.
00:35:15.440 --> 00:35:17.119
You know, we we're all about the challenging question, too.
00:35:17.840 --> 00:35:26.880
I think this leads to this is this with some of my friends from the University of Iowa, Iowa who were from Chicago, it could create a real problem.
00:35:27.360 --> 00:35:28.239
My wife is from Chicago.
00:35:28.320 --> 00:35:29.440
I know exactly where you're going.
00:35:29.920 --> 00:35:32.480
But uh I I actually like both.
00:35:32.639 --> 00:35:33.840
Um at the same time.
00:35:34.079 --> 00:35:34.719
Oh yeah.
00:35:34.960 --> 00:35:44.320
So God, you're getting me to share stuff I should So that high school wrestler guy was you asked about 112 uh my weight.
00:35:45.440 --> 00:35:50.559
In order to make that weight, I had to lose about twenty-eight pounds.
00:35:51.039 --> 00:35:53.440
Oh so you were you were a big cutter in high school.
00:35:53.760 --> 00:35:55.280
Oh, I lost a lot of weight in high school.
00:35:55.519 --> 00:35:55.760
Wow.
00:35:56.079 --> 00:36:08.800
So uh there were times when I would mix peanut butter and ketchup and just eat that because of the the f the flavor, the the spiciness of it.
00:36:08.960 --> 00:36:16.559
And I knew that all I was getting was a minimal amount of calorie and not much uh like substance, weight.
00:36:16.719 --> 00:36:16.960
Yeah.
00:36:17.199 --> 00:36:21.280
Anyway, so yeah, I love both of those flavors together in a very strange way.
00:36:21.760 --> 00:36:22.079
Interesting.
00:36:22.320 --> 00:36:22.960
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:36:23.119 --> 00:36:24.880
My my wife would say it's it's mustard.
00:36:25.119 --> 00:36:26.000
Oh yeah, it's 100% mustard.
00:36:27.039 --> 00:36:30.320
If you even discuss putting ketchup on a hot dog, you just leave the room.
00:36:30.719 --> 00:36:31.039
Oh yeah.
00:36:31.119 --> 00:36:38.719
No, I and I I had friends at Iowa who were from Chicago, and I'd they'd see me grab the ketchup and they'd look at me like, what are you doing?
00:36:38.880 --> 00:36:39.760
You're destroying that.
00:36:40.159 --> 00:36:41.119
That's hilarious.
00:36:41.440 --> 00:36:42.880
Um, you got your hot dog?
00:36:43.039 --> 00:36:44.559
You like hush puppies, french fries?
00:36:44.800 --> 00:36:46.320
With we're going fried food.
00:36:46.639 --> 00:36:48.320
I do like fried food too.
00:36:48.559 --> 00:36:59.119
Um more often than not, I love hush puppies, but more often than not, I'd probably, if I had to choose between them, pick the french fries.
00:37:00.159 --> 00:37:02.000
Favorite soft drink.
00:37:04.239 --> 00:37:07.679
Uh I don't really drink much of it anymore.
00:37:08.000 --> 00:37:15.920
Um, but um I would probably say Mountain Dew because it brings back a sort of childhood memory.
00:37:16.400 --> 00:37:16.880
Understood.
00:37:17.119 --> 00:37:17.440
Yeah.
00:37:17.599 --> 00:37:18.320
Totally.
00:37:18.800 --> 00:37:21.119
Um right now, you know, you talked about boxing.
00:37:21.199 --> 00:37:25.760
Do you have another favorite off-the-clock thing you like this weekend you might head off and do?
00:37:27.039 --> 00:37:31.039
Uh well, spend a lot of time working in our yard.
00:37:31.280 --> 00:37:38.159
Um it's not exactly something I think most people would think of as fun, but I actually like mowing.
00:37:38.480 --> 00:37:39.679
Oh, I love mowing.
00:37:39.920 --> 00:37:42.639
Uh and my wife wants to always hire somebody else to do it.
00:37:42.719 --> 00:37:44.719
And I'm like, no, you know, it's she's like, it's too hot.
00:37:44.800 --> 00:37:45.360
You shouldn't be out there.
00:37:45.440 --> 00:37:46.400
I'm like, no, you don't understand.
00:37:46.880 --> 00:37:47.519
Totally understand.
00:37:47.760 --> 00:37:50.400
I I get in a place and I just push this thing.
00:37:51.199 --> 00:37:54.559
Now do you like to just line back and forth or circles around?
00:37:55.039 --> 00:37:55.840
Oh, very simple.
00:37:56.320 --> 00:37:59.840
I have lines, it's just lines, but it's nothing nothing complicated.
00:38:00.159 --> 00:38:04.000
See, that's a really good question, Chris, because it depends on my mood.
00:38:04.159 --> 00:38:06.559
Because I will tackle the lawn in different ways.
00:38:06.719 --> 00:38:16.559
Sometimes I'll segment it out and do kind of a circular fashion, or depending upon my mood, I'll just do you know a whole outline of the entire it just depends.
00:38:16.639 --> 00:38:19.280
There's no like outline and then just work yourself smaller.
00:38:19.599 --> 00:38:19.679
Yeah.
00:38:20.400 --> 00:38:22.079
I guess you're that is sort of true.
00:38:22.239 --> 00:38:24.559
I will work different sections in different ways.
00:38:24.800 --> 00:38:30.000
So there's sometimes I'll work a section in a diagonal pattern just because you can.
00:38:30.239 --> 00:38:30.400
Yeah.
00:38:30.719 --> 00:38:30.960
Yeah.
00:38:31.280 --> 00:38:38.480
So may maybe, and I don't know, that answers the next question we had is an off-the-clock activity that you prefer to do alone.
00:38:38.639 --> 00:38:48.239
Would that be it, or do you have another one that' Uh Well, I love games, but I don't necessarily play a lot of board games anymore.
00:38:48.320 --> 00:38:49.760
So I love video games.
00:38:51.280 --> 00:38:52.559
You have a favorite video game?
00:38:52.960 --> 00:38:53.679
Anything Lego.
00:38:54.320 --> 00:38:55.039
Anything Lego?
00:38:55.519 --> 00:38:57.039
Like Lego Star Wars?
00:38:57.360 --> 00:38:57.760
Yeah, yeah.
00:38:57.840 --> 00:39:03.280
Like I did the entire Lego Star Wars, I've done the entire Lego Indiana Jones, I've done the entire Lego.
00:39:03.920 --> 00:39:04.400
Harry Potter.
00:39:04.559 --> 00:39:05.039
Harry Potter.
00:39:05.360 --> 00:39:05.760
Marvel.
00:39:06.320 --> 00:39:10.159
I'm on the what I think is the last one of the Marvels.
00:39:10.320 --> 00:39:13.679
I I've I'm playing a Marvel II game that came out in like 2018.
00:39:14.239 --> 00:39:17.280
And are you playing on uh like PlayStation, Xbox?
00:39:17.599 --> 00:39:18.880
Uh totally PlayStation.
00:39:19.280 --> 00:39:21.280
So you're PlayStation game, like is there Xbox?
00:39:21.599 --> 00:39:22.800
You could have an argument about it.
00:39:22.880 --> 00:39:24.000
Oh yeah, we could definitely.
00:39:24.400 --> 00:39:25.519
All of this is so foreign to me.
00:39:25.840 --> 00:39:26.320
Oh yeah.
00:39:27.519 --> 00:39:29.039
I'm intrigued by those games.
00:39:29.119 --> 00:39:29.840
Yeah, I used to play those games.
00:39:33.039 --> 00:39:38.239
Oh so uh growing up, uh 60s and 70s, favorite music band from your youth?
00:39:39.760 --> 00:39:57.679
Uh so I It's a challenge too, because there's e every every song or band puts a different uh memory, I guess, in a way.
00:39:57.920 --> 00:39:58.400
Yeah, of course.
00:39:58.719 --> 00:40:01.119
And um so I'm gonna go with this one though.
00:40:01.199 --> 00:40:06.880
I'm not I mentioned a little bit ago my f uh I went to Germany when I was in high school.
00:40:07.760 --> 00:40:15.840
So uh and most of anybody who might listen to this might not remember this music playing device, but there used to be something called cassette tapes.
00:40:16.639 --> 00:40:18.079
Oh no cassette tapes.
00:40:18.400 --> 00:40:20.639
So so so uh one of my classmates.
00:40:21.119 --> 00:40:22.000
Did you have one in your car?
00:40:22.480 --> 00:40:23.599
I did, eventually.
00:40:23.760 --> 00:40:38.880
Um but in when I did this trip, one of my classmates, we were sophomores in high school, one of my classmates was like, Hey everybody, I'll bring a tape player, you bring tapes, and we'll you know, because we're gonna be busting around Germany and so forth.
00:40:39.599 --> 00:40:42.000
I was the only person to bring any tapes.
00:40:42.400 --> 00:40:44.159
I brought three tapes.
00:40:46.239 --> 00:40:48.000
Steve Miller band's greatest hits.
00:40:48.320 --> 00:40:49.039
Yeah, good one.
00:40:49.760 --> 00:40:55.199
Which is the band I'm gonna say sticks in my head the most because we listen to that all the time.
00:40:55.440 --> 00:40:56.960
And the Eagles the Long Run.
00:40:57.280 --> 00:40:58.159
Okay, another good one.
00:40:58.880 --> 00:41:04.079
And this is how much nobody wanted to listen to the third one.
00:41:04.239 --> 00:41:06.719
I don't even know if I can remember what the third one was.
00:41:07.039 --> 00:41:14.079
But we played those two for like twenty straight days on all these hours on these buses.
00:41:14.320 --> 00:41:17.440
Because even the guy who brought the tape layer didn't bring any tapes.
00:41:17.920 --> 00:41:18.800
That's funny.
00:41:19.519 --> 00:41:21.679
Preference cold or hot weather.
00:41:25.360 --> 00:41:26.000
Cold.
00:41:27.039 --> 00:41:28.079
Going back to Minnesota.
00:41:28.480 --> 00:41:32.880
Yeah, now uh if my wife were here, she'd tell you all I'm lying.
00:41:33.119 --> 00:41:36.719
But um But it it is true.
00:41:36.800 --> 00:41:45.119
I don't know that I want to ever go back and live in that kind of cold, but um I do I the heat just wears me out.
00:41:45.440 --> 00:41:46.159
Yeah, sure.
00:41:46.480 --> 00:41:47.440
Especially this time of year.
00:41:47.679 --> 00:41:47.840
Yeah.
00:41:48.079 --> 00:41:50.960
When I go back to that kind of cold, it's usually just the first snowfall.
00:41:51.119 --> 00:41:56.239
Like that the the dampening of the sound and being out there and then after a day, I'm like, that's good.
00:41:56.480 --> 00:41:58.000
Yeah, it's sort of the same for me.
00:41:58.079 --> 00:42:04.320
I I mean I like the weirdly, I guess I like the desolation feel of snow, sort of.
00:42:04.719 --> 00:42:06.320
And where I grew up in southern Minnesota.
00:42:06.800 --> 00:42:10.800
It's it can feel like a sort of wasteland almost.
00:42:11.119 --> 00:42:11.519
Sure.
00:42:11.840 --> 00:42:20.800
But um it's really kind of pleasant too because it's quiet and when the snow first comes down, it's very white and very shiny.
00:42:21.440 --> 00:42:22.239
But then it's cold.
00:42:22.559 --> 00:42:23.199
But then it's cold.
00:42:23.440 --> 00:42:24.639
Then it's cold, and then it's different.
00:42:24.960 --> 00:42:25.280
It's not good.
00:42:25.599 --> 00:42:27.519
But you can always put on more clothes.
00:42:27.920 --> 00:42:29.920
Yeah, I don't miss it at all.
00:42:30.320 --> 00:42:30.960
I don't either.
00:42:31.679 --> 00:42:32.079
Anyway.
00:42:32.400 --> 00:42:35.679
Um Southern Barbecue, do you have a favorite sauce?
00:42:36.000 --> 00:42:37.199
We're very food-centric here.
00:42:37.840 --> 00:42:39.360
I like these food questions.
00:42:39.519 --> 00:42:45.280
Uh so uh uh I I do I have a few.
00:42:45.440 --> 00:42:47.280
I am sort of more of a mustard base.
00:42:48.079 --> 00:42:53.519
Uh I I I don't think I would have answered that question that way if I hadn't moved to South Carolina.
00:42:54.079 --> 00:42:54.320
Yes.
00:42:54.480 --> 00:42:55.119
Yeah, that's right.
00:42:55.440 --> 00:43:00.480
To to be honest, uh I I would have only thought of barbecue as a tomato-based thing.
00:43:00.960 --> 00:43:03.920
But the first time I had a mustard-based one, I was like, ooh, I like that.
00:43:04.239 --> 00:43:05.039
Yeah, it's good.
00:43:05.199 --> 00:43:06.639
A good mustard is hard to beat.
00:43:06.880 --> 00:43:08.800
Plane, train, or automobile?
00:43:12.880 --> 00:43:14.880
There's nothing like taking the train.
00:43:15.119 --> 00:43:16.639
Um where?
00:43:17.519 --> 00:43:21.519
Well, when you're thinking train, are you thinking more Europe or have you taken the train in the US?
00:43:21.760 --> 00:43:23.360
I've taken the train in the US too.
00:43:23.760 --> 00:43:32.159
Um there's just something about I don't know, the the mindlessness of it.
00:43:35.679 --> 00:43:37.199
Sure for a long period of time.
00:43:37.519 --> 00:43:39.840
Airports sort of uh I don't know.
00:43:39.920 --> 00:43:48.000
I don't get stressed, but feels like I'm standing, I'm waiting, I'm I'm waiting again, and I'm put me on a train, I don't have to think for a few hours.
00:43:48.239 --> 00:43:48.400
Yeah.
00:43:48.639 --> 00:43:48.800
Yeah.
00:43:49.039 --> 00:43:49.840
Train's nice.
00:43:49.920 --> 00:43:50.639
I agree.
00:43:51.039 --> 00:43:51.360
All right.
00:43:51.440 --> 00:43:53.199
This is probably the most important question.
00:43:54.239 --> 00:43:57.840
Um depends on this.
00:43:58.079 --> 00:43:58.159
Okay.
00:44:03.039 --> 00:44:03.599
How do I?
00:44:03.920 --> 00:44:04.159
Yeah.
00:44:04.480 --> 00:44:05.360
What's your method?
00:44:05.760 --> 00:44:08.000
Dispensing toothpaste from the tube.
00:44:08.320 --> 00:44:12.960
Uh so serious, no laughing.
00:44:13.360 --> 00:44:19.199
So no, I laugh because like everything I've said so far, I guess it depends.
00:44:19.360 --> 00:44:21.039
Is it a brand new tube?
00:44:21.679 --> 00:44:22.559
Yeah, you go new.
00:44:23.440 --> 00:44:25.119
Like I just pulled it out of the box.
00:44:25.440 --> 00:44:25.599
Yeah.
00:44:26.079 --> 00:44:28.639
Then I'm then I'll then I'll probably squeeze it in the middle.
00:44:28.960 --> 00:44:29.199
Okay.
00:44:29.679 --> 00:44:40.960
But if it's been out of the if it's if it's been out of the box for a little bit where I could still squeeze it from the middle and get something, but it's probably better to start rolling it up from the bottom.
00:44:41.119 --> 00:44:41.920
I'm gonna start rolling it.
00:44:42.159 --> 00:44:42.880
So you're flexible.
00:44:42.960 --> 00:44:47.360
You'll you'll adjust your approach depending upon the contents of that tube.
00:44:47.599 --> 00:44:49.360
I'm I'm squeeze middle all the time.
00:44:51.440 --> 00:44:51.760
I don't know.
00:44:51.920 --> 00:44:58.400
See, I you know it's funny you should ask this question because again, being older than maybe many.
00:44:58.719 --> 00:45:05.199
I remember metal toothpaste tubes and that little device you could buy that it went on the bottom of it.
00:45:05.280 --> 00:45:05.360
Sure.
00:45:07.360 --> 00:45:12.079
And my mother made us get the last bit of toothpaste out of a tube.
00:45:12.239 --> 00:45:17.920
So maybe that's do you ever cut the top off like Del Master over here and try to get the most as you can out?
00:45:19.119 --> 00:45:32.639
I don't cut the top, but there's a brand there's a brand that has a uh a screw on top that that you close by flipping it down, but you can at a certain point because it's really hard, you can't squeeze anything else out of it.
00:45:32.800 --> 00:45:36.480
But if you untwist it and it no longer has that on it, you can get the last one.
00:45:36.639 --> 00:45:38.000
You can get the last board it up.
00:45:38.400 --> 00:45:38.880
That's important.
00:45:38.960 --> 00:45:41.119
We appreciate that uh resourcefulness.
00:45:41.360 --> 00:45:42.480
Popcorn, yes or no?
00:45:42.880 --> 00:45:44.000
Popcorn, totally, yes.
00:45:44.159 --> 00:45:44.800
100% yes.
00:45:45.119 --> 00:45:45.840
Favorite way to prepare?
00:45:45.920 --> 00:45:46.559
Do you prepare at the home?
00:45:46.800 --> 00:45:47.360
Every way, yes.
00:45:47.679 --> 00:45:50.480
Now when you say every way, what what are the ways that you prepare it at home?
00:45:51.199 --> 00:45:57.280
Well, so and this is probably a uh a thing my father instilled in me.
00:45:57.360 --> 00:45:59.760
My father ate popcorn practically every night.
00:46:00.000 --> 00:46:14.320
Um so I have I have had an air popper, I have I don't we uh I have microwave popcorn, but I don't really like it, so I don't microwave popcorn very much um anymore.
00:46:14.719 --> 00:46:19.760
I've had an air popper, I've had a stovetop hand crank, uh the whirly pop.
00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:20.719
Yeah, the whirly pop.
00:46:21.119 --> 00:46:22.159
You have a whirly pop.
00:46:22.559 --> 00:46:23.920
I have had, I don't have one now.
00:46:24.239 --> 00:46:36.239
Now you you you s speak of the whirly pop as if it was just another mechanism in the long history of different apparatus that you ideal form.
00:46:37.440 --> 00:46:39.519
I think of it as ideal.
00:46:39.840 --> 00:46:41.360
I have an electric version of it now.
00:46:41.679 --> 00:46:42.960
Oh there's an electric version?
00:46:43.360 --> 00:46:44.320
Like a countertop.
00:46:44.880 --> 00:46:46.639
So I don't have to put it on my stove.
00:46:46.960 --> 00:46:54.079
Uh it's like the base heats up and then it's got a little spinning blade inside it.
00:46:54.320 --> 00:46:56.880
And so a little olive oil.
00:46:57.039 --> 00:46:59.519
I use olive oil, not uh vegetable oil.
00:46:59.920 --> 00:47:03.119
A little olive oil, white popcorn, not yellow popcorn.
00:47:03.679 --> 00:47:06.559
Uh and then I just season it with pepper.
00:47:07.119 --> 00:47:07.440
Wow.
00:47:07.760 --> 00:47:08.239
No butter.
00:47:08.480 --> 00:47:10.480
No well depends.
00:47:10.639 --> 00:47:14.880
If I feel like I went to the gym enough this week, I might then I might add a little butter.
00:47:14.960 --> 00:47:18.400
But otherwise it's just just olive oil and black pepper.
00:47:18.800 --> 00:47:23.760
Uh so our our our last question, and and we can make this now now that we know about your boxing.
00:47:23.920 --> 00:47:28.480
Um entering the ring, you got a song that you'd you'd come into?
00:47:29.360 --> 00:47:30.639
Yeah, what's your entrance song?
00:47:30.719 --> 00:47:31.840
I mean, you know, you're pumped up.
00:47:31.920 --> 00:47:36.239
This is your first your first boxing match in this new phase of your life.
00:47:36.800 --> 00:47:38.800
And you're gonna take it to them.
00:47:39.119 --> 00:47:40.239
Oh gosh.
00:47:40.559 --> 00:47:45.039
Um These entrance songs are very telling.
00:47:45.519 --> 00:47:46.480
Oh, I know, yeah, they are.
00:47:47.039 --> 00:47:49.199
So you you you brought up that baseball thing.
00:47:49.360 --> 00:47:56.880
So one of my sons was a baseball player, so their walk-up song was a constant huge debate about what it had to change all the time.
00:47:57.119 --> 00:48:01.039
Um probably be something by you too.
00:48:02.559 --> 00:48:08.000
Uh they're probably my favorite band from my college years.
00:48:08.559 --> 00:48:10.960
So a particular song or two?
00:48:11.440 --> 00:48:14.320
I mean maybe Sunday Bloody Sunday.
00:48:14.559 --> 00:48:15.440
Oh, that would be a good one.
00:48:15.679 --> 00:48:16.320
Oh, yeah.
00:48:16.480 --> 00:48:16.719
Okay.
00:48:17.039 --> 00:48:18.559
You know, intimidating.
00:48:18.880 --> 00:48:19.280
Yeah, you know.
00:48:22.480 --> 00:48:26.320
I picked it up as a hobby, but he's gonna make it a bloody match.
00:48:26.639 --> 00:48:29.679
Yeah, well, you know, if we're gonna do it, we're gonna go all the way.
00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:30.639
Yeah, of course.
00:48:30.719 --> 00:48:31.760
No, we love it.
00:48:32.079 --> 00:48:39.360
Well, Professor McNurney, thanks so much for sharing today about your time off the clock and giving listeners an alternative glimpse into your life outside the classroom.
00:48:39.440 --> 00:48:40.320
We really appreciate it.
00:48:40.400 --> 00:48:50.880
And as a personalized marketing tool, we ask you to display in your office to bring attention to our podcast your own bobblehead to represent the lighter side as you've revealed to us today.
00:48:51.039 --> 00:48:51.840
Thank you.
00:49:01.440 --> 00:49:07.360
Stay tuned for next month's installment when we learn about the life off the clock of another College of Charleston professor.
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Thank you for joining us.
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Thank you both for having me.
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Uh, and really thank you for the bobblehead.
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Um I'm pretty excited uh because I know if you if you neither of you have actually ever visited my office, but if you did, you'd see I uh some would say collect clutter.
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I actually think of every little that anybody ever gives me or that I find is just part of the journey.
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And I like to keep them around.
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So this will be prominent Prominently this.