LA Fires with Anne, Our Cell Phones and Us, and Clingy Relationships on Ted Lasso

LA Fires, Our Cell Phones and Us, and Ted Lasso Clingy Relationships on the Torg Stories Podcast.

I read an opinion article in the New York Times titled, “As a Climate Scientist, I knew It was Time to Leave Los Angeles.” Peter Kalmus, a climate scientist now living in Chapel Hill, NC moved out of the Altadena community two years ago. His old home burned in the fire. Here’s a paragraph from that article that has a lot of connections to the Torgersons:

• “No place is truly safe anymore. A few months ago, Hurricane Helene pummeled the western part of my new state and the city of Asheville, which many once considered a climate haven. The Pacific Northwest seemed safe until the 2021 heat dome. Hawaii seemed safe until the deadly fires on Maui in 2023.”

Anne, I was landed in Maui as Lahaina was on fire, I was with mom coming home from our dad’s funeral as hurricane Helena destroyed region where I live in the mountains of North Carolina, and as my wife Megan said, we’re sitting out the LA fires but we’ve got you there representing the Torgerson family. What do you have to say about the fires?

• Where are you in proximity to the fires?
• Is the lack of water and dryness ever too much for you? Are you LA to the end?
• Also from the NYT: The area burned by the various fires has grown to more than 36,000 acres — larger than the footprint of San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Boston or Miami. About 100,000 people are under evacuation orders, and more than 330,000 electricity customers are without power.

Summary and Discussion Questions from Ted Lasso Season 2, Episode 7 titled “Headspace.”

• The episode opens with football star Roy Kent either being really sweet and devoted or very clingy depending on your perspective.
• Assistant Coach Nate the Great goes to visit his parents house and has an exchange with his father about Nate being called the Wonder Kid in the newspapers.
• Quote from Nate’s Dad: Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking about yourself less.
• Last episode Coach Ted Lasso had a panic attack and left the pitch during an important match. Now Ted makes his first attempt at meeting with with Dr. Sharon for a therapy session. Ted does a whole fidgeting around stalling tactic and then leaves when he is asked about what happened the other night.
• As Ted stalls, he uses the word accoutrement meaning items of dress or equipment. Ted means the things that decorate Dr. Sharon’s office. Click here for web pronunciation and definition.
• Anne, I love Dr. Sharon’s office that looks out on the pitch. I am in two of my favorite home and work offices right now. St. John’s was very good. I had a bathroom at North Miami. My old App State and the basement in Stratford, CT were bad. Work spaces matter a lot.
• The next scene is on the practice field. Beard says the only face they should have on is their, “Game face baby!” Reminds me of Knight’s game faces press conference. Our dad loved that. The players tease Coach Nate because he is in the news. Nate takes offense at Colin (who you always have trouble remembering) teasing him. Colin repeats his mantra to himself, “I am a strong and capable man.”
• Sam the football player for Richmond continues to message with Rebekah the owner of the team on a dating app and they don’t know who each other is. Sam’s favorite movie is Ratatouille. I have seen it and ridden the Disney ride at EPCOT! Higgins gives an astute diagnosis of Rebekah’s mental state. There is so much mental health in Ted Lasso at the moment.
• As Higgins and Rebekah talk about relationships in the boss’s office, it comes up naturally that Keeley is feeling that she is with Roy an awful lot. Roy walks in on the conversation and Higgins jazz scats with Rebekah to stop the conversation. Roy doesn’t care that people are talking about him. “Big whoop.” Two things (1) talking about relationships with friends and (2) the fun workplace shown and that I think exists among the cast.
• Here’s another clingy montage. Roy is reading Dan Brown’s The Da Vincci Code.
• Coach Ted and Dr. Sharon give it a 2nd try. What do you make of the drinking bird on Dr. Sharon’s desk? Ted tells Dr. Sharon off about her profession.
• Rebekah and Sam are messaging each other on their phones and bump into each other. There’s a quote about devices separating us. What would you say are the top impacts of you owning a cell phone?

Pro cell phone for me:

1. Connection to family. Where is everyone?
2. Meet ups: mall, amusement park, park, college
3. navigation
4. podcast listening, streaming music

Cell phone negatives for me:

1. Immediately accessible at almost anytime to do stuff for basketball. The common complaint that we’re always available for work.
2. The posting of stats and game day stuff. I think it matters less than it did pre-Elon’s X but it’s still an expectation. (Anne likes the stats; that helps me a little!)
3. I wouldn’t mind putting aside the smaller moments (2-8 minutes) where I pick up my cell phone while I wait.

Summary and Discussion Continued:

• Nate is mean to the equipment manager and to Colin who checks in about what happened on the field previously. Beard hears it. Beard is starting to seem to have an appear / disappear power that is fun for me. Kind of a mystical “Beard is everywhere” feeling.
• What’s your diagnosis of Nate?
• Everyone gathers in the boot room! Rebecca says to Keeley, “Stop auditioning your complaints.”
• Keeley and Roy have a blow up at home. Do they live in Keeley’s house? Does Roy have a house?
• You have been waiting for this. Beard confronts Nate on his behavior. Do better.
• Roy and Keeley are fighting. They arrive separately to work and don’t talk.
• Sharon and Ted give the session the third try of the episode. Ted stills the drinking bird. Sharon says, “I can’t be your mentor without occasionally being your tormenter.”
• Back to practice. Nate apologizes. I think Nate is taking for granted what it is to be on this team. Because he hasn’t been on teams, he doesn’t know how special this one is. Ambition is eating him up. Football becomes a metaphor for life. Jamie says he needed to give his teammate space and Roy realizes he just needs to give Keeley space.
• The team gives Nate a Wonder Kid gift.
• Ted runs into Trent Crimm the reporter at Mae’s pub. Ted lies to Trent about what happened.
• Roy does 1 more pretty clingy needy thing as a kind of giving her space but it works out great.
• The episode ends and Nate berates the kit man for the Wonder Kid jersey.

Thanks for checking out this episode of the Torg Stories Podcast!