Latest / The Opinionated Ogre Podcast / Live from the GORGEOUS Reflecting Pool!

Transcript

Live from the GORGEOUS Reflecting Pool! · The Opinionated Ogre Podcast

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_01: Dana Dubois here,
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_01: and I am not in Washington,
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_01: D.C., I'm in Washington, D.C., and I found my little green friend, opinionatedogre.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_01: Hi, Ogre, how are you?
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, Dana, how are you?
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_01: I am so happy today.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: Can you see the glow on my face?
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yes.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_01: The sunshine.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: Standing here in the shade.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_01: The beautiful wind.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: It is, I'm not kidding, like a perfect day in Washington, D.C.,
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's freaking gorgeous.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_01: It is.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: I am here visiting on a top secret mission.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: The mission is completed, but I had a spare rest of my Friday.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: And you know who came out to meet me, you guys?
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: That green ogre.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: Roar.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: And we are here.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: Why don't you tell everyone where we are, Ogre?
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: Because this is your town.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, we are at the no longer reflecting pool.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Hold on.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: It's magnificent, you guys.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: We have never seen its equal.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: The Trump administration has beautified every part of this country,
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: including this fair city and its reflecting pool, that we took...
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: A car ride and then a train.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_01: And then we rented e-bikes.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: Do you know how unconfident I am on a bike?
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: And the e-bikes aren't even really very e.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: I think that they're just really spindly bikes, very loose gears.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: And we are recklessly riding around the park so that we could come see
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: the reflecting pool because I wanted to see what color it was.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_01: And the answer is, Ogre, is the pool green like you?
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: No, it is currently basketball court black.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: This is asphalt black.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know what the hell they're doing right now, but it is currently not a pool.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: There is no water.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: Can you guys see?
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: So first of all, there's this gorgeous gate around it.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's exquisite.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: National Fences.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, have you seen it?
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: For all your fencing needs.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: National Rent-A-Fence.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry, I got that name wrong.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: It is stunning.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: And then we have the, like,
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: there are,
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: as Ogre commented earlier, multiple cars, or actually trucks, on the tarp.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: And wasn't that what caused the damage they were alleging in the first place?
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: That there were cars on and right in the pool?
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: But there is no beautiful reflecting pool there.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: I tried to see the White House.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: I was walking at night the first night I got here two nights ago.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, you can't get anywhere near it and it's all blocked off.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, this is a strong, brave administration.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: They don't fear nothing except, you know, the public.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: And algae.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: I can hear, we're pretty close.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: So y'all,
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: oh wait,
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want to turn this around because I can't show,
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: I cannot reveal Ogre's alter ego, his true identity.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: The lens on your camera
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: might shatter.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, and I'm hearing an echo, so I'm going to keep going.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: It would not shatter.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: You're lovely.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: Look at you, you green, beautiful beast, you.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: So we are having such a fun, yes!
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_01: A jogger just went by flipping off the reflecting font.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: I should have got him on camera, but that wouldn't have been very nice.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: He didn't consent to that.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, a secret mission.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was a secret mission.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: Nothing to do with the government, trust me.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, other than the fact that the reflecting pool is neither reflecting nor pool,
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: this is a lovely park.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: And we're making our way,
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: you can't quite see yet, but we are making our way down toward the weekend memorial.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: I have not seen it.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: It's beautiful.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: I saw it during the day.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: I posted a photo of Ogre and I right by it.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: It's lovely here.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_01: I'm truly enjoying D.C.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: I'm feeling a bit let down that there is no pool.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I thought it was worth reporting within the scene or from the scene,
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: like journalistic style.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we do have a little bit of breaking news.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: They are putting down some kind of tarp.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: We have no idea what that's for.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_01: There is a tarp.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: I repeat, there is a tarp.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: Wait, there was a question because I see probably, are all the national parks closed up?
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, are they?
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: Have you heard anything about this?
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: The parks?
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: No, the parks are still open.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: They're still letting people into the parks.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, good.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: Just the reflecting pool, not so reflect-y.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: Sigh, sigh.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: I love how far back the fence is.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's like a good 30 feet away from there
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: because they don't want you getting close enough to take good pictures
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: because they're embarrassed because it's stupid looking.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: But here we are anyways.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: Recording live.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_01: Not too much else to report, though.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: Other than that, DC has been pretty fabulous.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: I had delicious sushi last night with my other Substack friend in DC, Karen Etia.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: I got to meet Karen.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_01: I've gotten to meet Ogre.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: I have no complaints.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: This has been an amazing trip.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, wait.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: You did see your first National Guardsman in the metro station?
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: I did see.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: We took the metro here,
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_01: which is so awesome because Seattle doesn't have very good health and good sport
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: at all.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: And there were a bunch of national Guardsmen guarding the trains, I guess.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_01: They were sort of standing around doing nothing.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: They didn't have their rifles out, so that was good.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: It was good.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: Occupied D.C. We did see a bee walked by a protest on the way here.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, dude just flipped off the reflecting pool as we went by.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: So spirits are high here in D.C. and I'm here for it.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: I'm flying back tomorrow.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: I wish I had more time.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_01: Hopefully I will come back because I,
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: and I did get to go to the National Portrait Gallery,
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: but the night I got here, I got like 20 minutes inside before they closed.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: But I did go see all of the presidential portraits.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: The Candy Wiley one of Obama is so beautiful.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going to post a little album, I think, of DC.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: And the Trump one is this really glowering, hateful photo.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: And so I took a picture flipping it off.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: So that was fun.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: What else?
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: That's about all.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: Ogre and I are going to go find a place to get some dinner to bid
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: if we don't die riding these bikes.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: I am not a confident cyclist.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: You're doing fine.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: You haven't crashed yet.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: I have not crashed yet, but we also have not gotten very much speed.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: How great.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's been, you can't tell, I'm pretty happy.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: It's been a very like lost in translation sort of trip.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: The last day or two,
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_01: but today I'm in great spirits because Ogre was like,
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: oh, if we're going down there, we got to rent bikes.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, I don't know how to take the subway or rent bikes.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not going to bother.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: And he was like, come on, we're going.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm so glad you pushed me to do this.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's been amazing.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: What else?
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I published my first essay, like real I Write Out Loud's memoir essay in over a month.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_01: If you go to my homepage, I Write Out Loud, you will see it there.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: And it is...
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: It's about as personal as an essay.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's like right here.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: And as the essay documents, it is having repercussions left and right in my real life.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: So that's been fun.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: She looks radiant from the flush from riding her bike for the last hour.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: And Sunday salon, the Sunday will be lit because I have so much tea to spill, you guys.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_01: So I haven't scheduled it yet,
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: but I will be,
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_01: I think after this trip,
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: like my life is returning to whatever normal looks like for me.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_01: This month has been crazy.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: Three trips in three weeks.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: Two of them involving East Coast and back.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: So.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: I got that number.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: Are you saying I look radiant or Ogre looks radiant?
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: Because Ogre is so radiant in real life.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: It looks swampy.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_01: It is far more verdant and swampy than the reflecting pool probably was.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: The only algae-looking color we get to see is Ogre's beautiful skull.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: I was kind of hoping the algae was still here.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: It would have been coming home, but I guess not.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: Very sad.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like we should make our way toward the Lincoln Memorial anyhow, though,
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: because I still want to see it,
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: even if there's no reflecting pool between here and D.C.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: I'm feeling a bit cheated, but hopefully I'll come back and we'll have new leadership.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: And the pool will be better and we'll need whatever color it was before.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: It was blue, I think, right?
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: Or no, it was just sort of...
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: It was murky water and then they tried to make it blue and failed.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: That's what it was.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_01: Just go back to being regular water in a pool that reflects and shows the monuments.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_01: I'm ready for it.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: Get rid of this fucking gate.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: Make this small beautiful.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_01: That's all I need.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: Shall we head off to the monument?
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_01: I think we should head off to the monuments.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you all for joining us on this spontaneous show.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_01: Friday afternoon live.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: And more to come.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: More to come when I'm back in Seattle.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_01: Go meet your Substack friends in real life.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: Love you all.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: Mean it.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: Bye.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: Bye.