Tag: apple-tv

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!

Thanksgiving Reflections, Anne Wins in Vegas, and Do the Right Thing With Ted Lasso

Welcome to the Torg Stories Podcast. On this episode we’re doing Thanksgiving Reflections, asking Anne about being an Aunt, and Discussing Doing the Right Thing with Ted Lasso on Season 2, Episode 3. Anne, you went to Vegas by yourself for Thanksgiving!

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  • Colts win! (But it was stressful)
  • Anne wins pretty big (for us) in Vegas!
  • Christmas lists

Questions for Anne about Thanksgiving trip to Las Vegas:

  1. Booked when? Why?
  2. How many stops on the drive? What do you get at White Castle?
  3. Stayed where, why? Looked like a great room!
  4. Tell us about where you went. Any more eating?
  5. You won, at least for us, a big bet!
What’s the big deal about White Castle?
Anne’s room at The Venetian in Las Vegas
Donnie Osmond still at it!

Torg Thanksgiving in Boone:

  1. 8:30 Optional Shooting with the Team. 10 players and three dads came!
  2. Brunch: hash brown casserole, french toast casserole, sausage balls
  3. Bet on the Bears with $5 from Draft Kings for my birthday. Bears incredibly mismanage clock to lose 23-20. Coach gets fired a couple of days later.
  4. As my wife Megan would say, “Linner.” Turkey, Sweet Potato Casserole, Green Bean Casserole, Cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes
The Torg Women and the Thanksgiving Food Spread

Summary and Discussion Questions for Season 2, Episode 3 of Ted Lasso titled “Do the Rightest Thing.”

  • Opens with Alanis Morisette’s “Hand in My Pocket” and Sassy’s kid Nora sitting out front of Rebecca’s office. Rebecca’s nickname is Stinky and so in this case, Aunt Stinky. Anne, how is Rebecca doing as Aunt Stinky?
  • Compare and contrast that to Aunt Anne? What are the responsibilities, if any, for an Aunt?
  • Coach Lasso answers questions at a press conference about all of the ties and about the return of Jamie. Cut to the locker room. Jamie is isolated from his teammates. Jamie apologizes. I wonder what the worst thing he did is and then the players run down a list of things he did. Remember any of those Anne Everyone is getting on Keeley’s new dating app, BANTR.
  • At first, Sam is excited for his deal with Dubai Air but his family tells him about the impact of Cerithium Oil and he decides to back out of his deal. Rebecca has to communicate this to the team’s sponsor. Episode inspired by the “Shut up and dribble” comments to LeBron.
  • Roy says kids don’t need a parade everyday, the little idiots. They just want to feel a part of your life. Compare our childhoods to my kids’ childhoods.
  • The team continues to isolate Jamie and Ted tries a plan to become Led Tasso, the evil opposite of Ted and the plan is meant to bring the team together in their anger at Ted.
  • Nora tells Aunt Stinky – Rebecca who owns the team — Sometimes you have to do the right thing even if you lose. What’s the right thing here? With Apple, Amazon, Nike and Wal Mart, we’ve given up, right? Has just about everyone?
  • The way Jamie finally does win over his teammates is that he joins the guys on covering up their jerseys. “We’re a team, ain’t we? Gotta wear the same kit.”
  • Ted turns the press conference over to Sam. He tells him, “Doing the right thing is never the wrong thing.”
  • Episode ends with Nora getting a picture with Sam and the team. There’s a montage of a bunch of pictures that different cast members take with the team. Anne, any pics with famous people?

Anne, what protests can you remember? Some athlete protests:

  1. (1961) Bill Russell and the Celtics boycott a game in Kentucky after being refused service.
  2. (1967) Muhammad Ali refuses the draft. “I ain’t got no quarrel with them Viet Cong.” Convicted but never served jail time.
  3. (1970) Billie Jean King sits out US Open Tennis because men make $12,500 and women $1,500.

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Torg Stories Podcast!

Trophies for Winning Nothing: Ted Lasso Season 2, Episode 2

We’re using the TV show Ted Lasso to spark conversation. This week we discuss if it’s ever time to give up on a player, heavy is the head that wears the visor, our favorite books, and I tell my Pat Conroy story.

Ted Lasso Season 2, Episode 2 summary with observations and discussion questions. The episode was titled “Lavender.”

  • We open with the dating reality show called Lust Conquers All during which former Richmond player and boyfriend to Keeley is kicked off the show. We cut to a talk show in the vein of the Today Show during Jamie is being interviewed. He is called a loser on the show and is also informed that his old team Manchester City doesn’t want him back. Question: Do you watch these dating shows?
  • Cut to the Richmond coaches offices where Beard has spent the night after his girlfriend thew his keys in the river. Ted runs out of the office. Later, we find out that he has gone to ride the lawn mower. Nate goes off on the kit manager, whose name I think is Will Kitman!!!, for adding a lavender smell to the team’s laundry. Question: everyone is picking up on Nate? No one challenging him yet?
Ted rides lawn mower to help with his Sciatica
  • Keeley arrives to the Richmond practice facility with Roy. Is that a G Wagon? I think those start at $148k. Roy barrels out of the parking lot before anyone can speak to him. Question: any trouble adjusting to the time when sports were over for you?
  • Doc-tor Sharon has been hired for the rest of the season to work with the team and sports psychology. There’s a funny bit with Ted and Director of Football Operations Leslie Higgins. Check in with me. You don’t have to check in with me.
  • Cut to Jamie at his agency. Almost no one wants him for anything. He seems to have an offer for a reality television show where he’d take ecstasy everyday. Question: any reality show watching for you? I watched last season of American Idol. Does that count?
  • Ted barges into Doc-tor Sharon’s office with biscuits and is scolded. Ted refers to Santa Monica as a godless place, in part because there are people there who don’t eat sugar. Ted does a bit about video games where he was depriving himself of something that just makes him happy. Question: what makes you happy?
  • Ted goes to see the owner Rebecca and he gives her her biscuits that he actually just tried to give to Sharon. Rebecca notices the bite out of the biscuit but eats it anyway. Rebecca doesn’t sound like she is on board with not eating sugar. They ask each other if they have anything to get off their chest.
  • “Isn’t that why we have friends? To burden them with our insecurities and anxieties?” – Rebecca
  • Jamie follows Keeley for her whole lunch hour because he wants to talk. He’s deleted her number. He tells her he wants to come back to Richmond to play for the team.
  • We’re back with Roy and his girls youth football team. One of the girl’s moms has bought participation trophies. The girls are really excited. Roy says, “It must be nice to just burn through cash,” and “Enjoy your trophies for winning nothing.”
  • Roy returns home from his game to find Keeley laying in bed and watching his retirement speech. Keeley pushes Roy again to become a pundit. She says he’s different now that he’s not around the game. I hear the word “oi” again and take the time to look it up. It’s a harsh exclamation to get someone’s attention.
Jamie and Ted meeting shared on social media
  • Jamie meets Ted in the pub. He has saved the little plastic toy soldier Ted gave him a long time ago. He tells Ted the soldier is named Ted and after pausing adds that he named him after Ted Danson in the TV show Cheers. The pub owner Mae seems to be in favor of Jamie’s return and she tells off the fans who stare from the other end of the bar. “Old people are so wise,” Jamie says, “they’re like tall Yodas.” We get a fair amount of Star Wars references in this show. Ted tells Jamie it’s not a good idea to rejoin the team.
  • Did you know Sudeikis / Ted is the nephew of George Wendt, Norm on Cheers? (son of Wendt’s sister) George 76 and still alive.
  • At practice the next day, Sharon observes. The training is especially chippy. The players have seen a picture of Ted and Jamie at the bar and assume he is returning to the team. Sam goes off on Ted. Ted admits everyone on the team is better than him at everything unless anyone wants to play finish that Jimmy Buffet lyric. Sam retreats to the locker room. They have a long talk about the team which includes Sam having a good dad. Turns out Leslie Higgins has heard the whole thing as he moves his work area all over the clubhouse. Bring Jamie back? What are the challenges?
  • It’s in the show that Ted knows there is a Twitter account for his mustaches. Click here to connect to that.
This Twitter account for Coach’s mustache got a mention in the show
  • Roy tries being a pundit. He needs reassurance from Keeley before he goes on. He walks out to “Anarchy in the U.K.” by the Sex Pistols. He’s blunt and bold on air including saying players showed “abject terror, like children waiting in line for the handsy Father Christmas.” He makes a splash. Anne, how does that life look, somebody like Terry Bradshaw or Stephen A. Smith?
  • Ted calls the staff of men the Diamond Dogs. This is not so unlike my college “Brothers in Pursuit.” They discuss bringing Jamie back. Ted notes we talk in sports a lot about never giving up. He asks shouldn’t this include people too? Beard notes Jamie is like “poop in the punchbowl.”
  • Ted comes across Sharon leaving the practice facility. It is after dark. Here we see both have worked long days. Sharon tells Ted what a good job he is doing but challenges him on all of the matches without a win. She says Ted can call her Doc. She tells him that her favorite book is the Prince of Tides. She also says, “Heavy is the head that wears the visor.”
Jamie Makes Return to Richmond Club to play for Coach Lasso
  • Last scene of the episode: Sharon, Keeley, Rebecca, and Leslie are talking in the owner’s office. Leslie is distracted by something he sees on the field. It is snowing outside. Heavy metal music plays. Cut to Jamie walking down the tunnel and out on to the field in the snow to Queen’s song “Tear it Up.” Jamie has returned to play for Richmond.

What are your favorite books? Ted’s was The Fountainhead. Doc’s was Prince of Tides. A few of mine…

  1. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
  2. Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield
  3. Wonderboys by Michael Chabon
  4. The Death of the Great Santini by Pat Conroy (also A Losing Season)
  5. The Sportswriter by Richard Ford

Finish that Jimmy Buffet lyric:

  1. But at night I’d have these wonderful dreams, some kind of sensuous treat, not zucchini fettucini or bulgar wheat…but a big warm bun and a huge chunk of meat
  2. You got fins to the left, fins to the right and… you’re the only girl (or bait) in town.
  3. Nibblin’ on sponge cake, watchin’ the sun bake…all of you Parrotheads covered with oil.
  4. This morning, I shot six holes in my freezer, I think…I’ve got cabin fever. (Boat Drinks)

Ted Lasso “Goodbye Earl”

It’s basketball season for me, and Anne and I are returning to the Apple Television show Ted Lasso. We think think with a coach as the main character and many allusions to sports and pop culture, there will be plenty for us to talk about. Anne, I’m hoping that one episode a week will be manageable as start a new basketball season at Watauga High School in Boone, North Carolina.

We watched episode 1 of season two called “Goodbye Earl.” Anne, I think this beats the titles we were working with when we were talking about HBO’s The Penguin television show.

Summary and Discussion Questions for “Goodbye Earl,” Episode 1 of Season 2:

  • Before we get in to episode 1 of season 2, season one ended with the Richmond football team being relegated from the Premiere League to The Championship level. Anne, I would love for professional teams to face relegation.
  • Season 2 opens with the sound of Ted Lasso’s Richmond football team in action. First we see black and then we start with a tight shot on Nate’s eyes. Why would we get this?
  • We learn that Richmond has a chance to tie the record with 7 straight ties. At the end of season 1, even though Coach Lasso thought it was bad juju to hope for a tie, he ended up hoping for it but lost. Now all Richmond can do is tie. The match ends with Danny Rojas having a penalty kick. The Richmond mascot Earl the greyhound chases a bird and gets hit with the ball and dies. Twitter goes bonkers over the death.
  • At the postgame press conference, Coach Ted Lasso is asked about the ties. He responds by saying there are two buttons he never presses: the panic button and the snooze. Anne, do you press these buttons?
  • Ted is also asked about the death of Earl. In response, Coach Lasso tells a story about being attacked by a dog when he was a child. He has a line in there that goes something like, “We can cry because something existed. We can cry because it’s gone.” Coach Lasso’s responses to adversity are part of what makes this show great. I tell my players that resilience might be the greatest gift I received from sports.
  • Danny is in the shower trying to wash the death off. I am often in this spot trying to decide if I talk to the athlete or if the athlete needs space. The mental side of sports seems to be around in my life a lot now. Confidence is so crucial.
  • Retired footballer Roy Kent, who is dating Keely who who works for the team now, coaches kids including his niece Phoebe. This is a very funny part of the show. Roy is often cursing at the kids and here he calls them little pricks. Somehow, they all love him. Ms. Bowen, who I think is the kids’ teacher, comes to the game and tells Roy he can’t call the kids that even if they are little pricks.
  • Roy, his girlfriend Keeley, and his niece Phoebe go out for hot chocolate. They sit on a bench by the river. That we see so much of greater London is a pleasure of the show. Phoebe marks down Roy’s swears and he gets charged for them like a swear jar. Keeley tries to get Roy to be a football pundit for Skye Sports. Anne, Roy reminds me of you here. He objects so violently that maybe that means he actually is thinking of doing it.
  • Cut to seems like another game and another Dani Rojas penalty kick. We get a cartoon image of Earl the greyhound. Turns out it is a dream. Dani wakes up in terror and we see that he is sleeping with two women. Dani realizes, Football is Death.
  • Ted delivers his daily biscuits to Rebecca and she is disappointed he isn’t Keeley. She wanted to talk about the man she has started to date. Ted learns about girl talk, about how it really can be “girl listen.” His one question for Rebecca is, “Is he nice to you?”
Coach Lasso is late to practice after helping the owner pick out her nail polish
  • Dani has the yips. As they are discussed in the coaches office, none of the coaches will say the word “yips.” Ted says he is more stumped than Paul Bunyan’s local forest. The humor of the show depends heavily on this sort of saying. Nate has a ruthless side. He’s tough on the kit manager. He suggests just showing Dani his massive paycheck. Anne, when it comes to something like not saying the word “yips,” are you superstitious? Writer’s block…
  • The Dutch are said to be bluntly rude. There is an allusion to the film Magnolia. Ted says to Beard, “What you talking about Willis?” I read a Wikipedia entry that wrongly stats Beard’s first name is Willis. I have asked that same question at least 50 times in my life.
  • Roy, Keeley, Rebecca, and whatever that guys name is go on a double date. He tells a Martin Short story. Roy gives his great speech about not settling and you ought to feel you’ve been struck by lighting in a relationship. Anne, these seem like high relationship expectations?
  • In Mae’s English Pub, Beard and Ted talk about therapy. Ted says he is Midwestern skeptical. They argue about the Gin Blossoms and that reminds me of the Wheezer SNL skits. The show sometimes has an SNL sensibility.
  • Psychologist Sharon Fieldstone arrives and takes Higgins office. She quickly cures Dani of the yips. The entire team starts meeting with her. Why won’t she wave back to Ted? Dani has realized: Football is life. Football is also death. Football is football. But mostly football is life.
  • Rebecca has an epiphany as she daydreams while having coffee with her date. There’s something about letting go of fear and making oneself vulnerable. She breaks up with the guy.
  • Roy spends the evening with the yoga moms watching Lust Conquers All. The show ends with Roy asking for more wine irritated that all the women he is with love Jamie. Anne, of the man Rebecca broke up with, Roy, or Jamie, who is more your type?
Roy Kent watches Lust Conquers All with the yoga moms

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Torg Stories Podcast!