1. Hello.
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2. My name is Joe Pera.
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3. And don't worry.
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4. No one turned me
into a cardinal fish.
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5. I just gave myself a bad haircut
and prefer you watch
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6. this aquarium footage
I had saved instead.
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7. Well, not so much saved
as unused —
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8. much of it
because it's too relaxing.
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9. Kind of reflects
how I'm feeling right now,
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10. but it's also pretty calming
to watch.
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11. Right?
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12. I figured that to not share it
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13. in times like these
would be wrong,
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14. and so I assembled
the best of it here for you.
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15. It's a little more casual
than usual,
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16. but if just one nurse
can come home
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17. and watch it to fall asleep,
it'll be worth it.
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18. I mean, I can't think
of a much better use
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19. for my footage of a clay pot...
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20. or this coffee pot...
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21. and these trees.
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22. It's a shame that we couldn't
find a place for them
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23. before now.
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24. But I have learned that people
mostly want to watch shows
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25. about people,
so I tried to respect that.
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26. Someday, though, I'll make
a program with only trees.
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27. Maybe even start
my own network — Tree TV.
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28. No people.
Just trees.
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29. Maybe every now and then we'd
show an NBA game, but that's it.
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30. I can't be the only one who'd
prefer to watch Old Tjikko,
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31. a 9,000-year-old spruce,
after reading the news.
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32. The downside is that my network
won't provide much opportunity
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33. for human actors.
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34. But as we reassess
what is essential,
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35. I wonder if actors are.
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36. Well, there are
definitely two —
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37. Ed Harris and Elizabeth Hurley.
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38. Last week, I watched
"Austin Powers"
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39. for the first time in 10 years,
and it holds up very well —
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40. a complete send-up of spy films
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41. and one of the things
that makes me laugh most.
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42. And Elizabeth Hurley
is the perfect straight man
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43. to Austin Powers.
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44. She's one of the few people
who can rein him in,
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45. and that is no small feat.
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46. Can you imagine
if it were only Austin Powers?
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47. It would be chaos.
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48. A town where all the stoplights
are green —
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49. fun to imagine
but in real life fatal.
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50. Also, she's one of the only
people in the movie
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51. not played by Austin Powers.
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52. It's just too bad
that in the second film
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53. she turned out to be a fembot.
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54. It was distressing to me
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55. and made dating hard
for a long time.
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56. Not the robot part.
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57. Just imagine falling for someone
who then tried to kill you.
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58. But instead of going down
that path,
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59. why don't I give you
some good news?
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60. Tree TV is considered
is considering a merger
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61. with Waterfall TV.
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62. And I'd say it was
pretty likely,
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63. 'cause I am the CEO of both.
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64. Look at this.
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65. Trees on the move.
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66. Just as I could endlessly look
out a car window,
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67. I could endlessly watch
this footage
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68. of looking out of a car window.
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69. It's conducive to thinking.
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70. It helps the mind wander freely.
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71. I recently discovered
a great simple recipe
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72. I'd like to share with you.
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73. It's called maple syrup toast.
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74. Basically you take
a slice of bread, toast it,
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75. and then cover it
in real maple syrup.
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76. If you do it just right,
it's better than a steak for me.
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77. Not only that,
but you can eat it
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78. for up to two meals a day
without getting sick.
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79. The syrup is energy.
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80. Just please don't eat it
while you're driving.
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81. It's so good, you might crash.
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82. Sometimes simple meals
are the best.
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83. Like two apples.
Me and my friends know this.
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84. That's the one.
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85. You're a nice girl.
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86. There's some more footage
of fish I'm excited to show you,
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87. but I wanted to show you this
first —
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88. not because my old idea
to use empty baseball diamonds
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89. for outdoor church
is more relevant than ever.
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90. It's just nice to watch
the grounds keeper lay down
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91. the chalk lines.
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92. He's giving boundary
to the boundaryless,
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93. and it's kind of comforting
to watch in these times.
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94. Steady.
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95. Steady.
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96. Steady.
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97. When we were learning geometry
in third grade,
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98. my teacher explained that unless
it intersects with another line,
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99. a line will continue on
indefinitely,
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100. even if the paper ends.
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101. With graph paper, pencil,
and a little arrow,
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102. I could create something
that continued forever.
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103. What incredible power
for an 8-year-old.
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104. I don't know about you,
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105. but lately I've been doing
a lot of sitting —
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106. so much that my back
has begun to get sore.
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107. It stinks.
I thought I was good at sitting.
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108. Despite all the sitting, I try
my best to stick to a routine.
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109. It's grid paper
on which to sketch my days —
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110. wake up, call all my uncles
by 10:00 a.m.,
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111. at noon, eat lunch to the sound
of my refrigerator humming,
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112. then do one of three things
I meant to do, eat dinner,
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113. then read or watch
a Bulbar movie and go to bed.
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114. The next day, I'll do it again.
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115. Sounds humdrum,
but now more than ever,
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116. my routine is what stands
between me and the abyss.
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117. I learned this lesson
on one evening
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118. I decided to stay up all night
to see what would happen.
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119. Instead of going to bed on time,
I drank a coffee after dinner,
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120. then watched four Bulbar movies.
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121. It was great
until the sun came up
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122. and I saw that there's nothing
separating days but sleep.
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123. I know days have cycles
and seasons have cycles.
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124. Time is not a cycle for us,
just a straight line,
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125. one that doesn't continue
forever.
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126. But that's all right,
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127. 'cause my routine
helps me forget this.
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128. Anyhow, I've been taking
a lot of comfort lately
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129. in the second law
of thermodynamics.
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130. Usually I don't,
but right now it's nice to know
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131. that all natural processes
are irreversible
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132. and things
are always moving forward.
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133. And while I'm not sure it's
possible to affect things much,
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134. I've got hope
that we can bump the path
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135. in a slightly better direction.
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136. There's a quote
about how over time
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137. the direction of the moral
universe curves towards justice.
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138. But that is not science,
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139. and my friend
brought it up recently
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140. to suggest
she didn't believe it.
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141. "If that were true," she said,
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142. "Henry Kissinger
would be in jail."
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143. "He's still alive," I said.
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144. "There's still time."
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145. Positive thinking.
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146. What else are we supposed to do?
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147. What do you want me to tell you?
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148. I reached in,
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149. explored a bit to find something
that might be of use for us,
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150. and came back
with "Austin Powers."
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151. And you know what? D—
Amen.
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152. I mean, I don't know.
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153. Don't you wish
that we could all see the world
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154. through the eyes of a poet?
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155. We had the chance.
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156. It was called Google Glass,
and we took it for granted.
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157. That's a final joke
for the nurses.
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158. Well, t-that was supposed to be
the end.
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159. I told them I've got
more aquarium footage,
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160. so they asked me last minute
to extend this.
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161. So... I-I guess I'll keep going.
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162. Look. That striped guy doesn't
look like a strong swimmer.
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163. Ah.
There he goes.
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164. Don't let your kids see.
There's more than one Dory.
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165. I wonder if these fish feel
a longing to be somewhere else.
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166. It's hard to tell if they're
resigned or unconcerned.
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167. Their faces don't give much
away.
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168. You see, I can't read that.
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169. It reminds me about a story
I read.
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170. It was called "Axolotl,"
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171. and it's about a man
who becomes an axolotl.
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172. Uh, if you don't know what one
looks like, it's like this.
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173. In the story, he goes
and stares at it in the eyes
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174. every day at the zoo,
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175. until one day,
they suddenly change places.
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176. I've only read a little bit
of Kafka,
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177. but I think that would be
considered Kafkaesque,
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178. because that's what they say
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179. when a human
turns into an animal.
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180. It's, uh, based on his story
"The Bug."
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181. "Beauty and the Beast" —
Kafkaesque.
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182. The story contained perhaps
the best description of a lizard
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183. I've ever read —
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184. "I saw the rosy little body,
translucent,
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185. ending in a fish's tail
of extraordinary delicacy.
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186. And then I discovered its eyes,
its face —
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187. inexpressive features with
no other traits, save the eyes,
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188. two orifices, like brooches,
wholly of transparent gold,
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189. lacking any life, but looking,
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190. letting themself be penetrated
by my look."
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191. Julio Cortázar.
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192. I'm not sure if I understood
all of it,
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193. but at the beginning,
the narrator thinks
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194. they are immortal-seeming
and wise in their stillness.
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195. But then he becomes one and
realizes that they don't move
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196. 'cause they're just trapped
in a tank,
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197. also trapped in lizard bodies,
they can think like humans
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198. but can't talk
'cause they are lizards.
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199. Kafkaesque.
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200. Seems like we've now got
an animal theme going.
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201. So I asked my friend Otis if we
could borrow some of his clips.
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202. In 2012, he went to Japan
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203. and fed the monkeys apples
and peanuts.
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204. Otis told me that the fences
here enclose the humans,
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205. not the animals.
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206. It's interesting.
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207. I got to admit —
I'm a little bit jealous.
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208. But as we know, you don't
need to leave the country
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209. to feed apples to an animal.
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210. Plus my horse friend Emma can
eat a hundred times more apples
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211. than those guys.
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212. Proves my theory —
Everyone loves apples.
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213. Horses...
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214. turtles...
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215. chinchillas...
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216. coypu, and on and on.
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217. Apples are the connection
between species.
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218. Before you write this off as
straight pandering or too cute,
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219. know that many of these animals
may be trying to get drunk.
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220. A lot of species seek out apples
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221. that have been on the ground
long enough to ferment.
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222. They'll eat them
and get a little intoxicated.
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223. Imagine driving home
on a Friday night
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224. and getting stuck behind
a herd of sheep
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225. that has eaten
too many fermented apples.
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226. All right.
I have a question for you.
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227. At this moment, if you could be
anywhere in the whole world,
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228. where would you be?
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229. Anywhere.
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230. Are you serious?
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231. Taking a summer boat ride
through downtown Milwaukee?
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232. That's incredible,
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233. 'cause I've got a whole sequence
of just that.
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234. Don't ask me how I knew.
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235. I set it to a song
by my friend Owen.
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236. I hope you brought
your own beer.
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237. ♪ Don't go down Haring Street
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238. This power plant's
actually in Marquette.
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239. Just thought it looked nice.
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240. Alright, Take Care
and Good night.
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