Oscar night is around the corner, and Steve leads a film roundtable. It’s time to pit your votes against ours. Janet is really trying to get Steve to start using hearing aids, but her pleas seem to be falling on deaf ears (ha!). Steve finished off a 1/2 pint of cherry vanilla ice cream before bedtime. The nightlights turn on automatically when Steve gets up to use the facilities, creating quite the light show.

We all begin today’s show by acknowledging life’s little joys. Steve welcomes a new hair stylist into his life. Steve has a fresh haircut from a woman named Dixie. Dag is in Woodstock for a tour stopover. He and the LRP band begin a two-night run at the Metro. Will Brendan be making the short walk over to witness the music in person? What secrets does the Whippoorwill hold? We hope this podcast brings you joy, even just a little.

Janet reports on the condo board meeting, in which brick driveways were considered. A morning zoo host gives us a thought shower. Large chunks of hail peppered the western suburbs. Steve visited the fan store and learned why he should stand directly under a ceiling fan as the seasons change. Jim Oberweis cruised by Steve on a red motor scooter. He greeted another guy, but not Steve. Rosie does not want to meet Ira!

Steve took delivery on a box of t-shirts in size (L), and he’s happy to report they fit him well. He’s fearful that a potential new downstairs neighbor could be a fervent cigar smoker. Brendan finds solace in his music chair, where he regularly gives new artists a chance, one complete album at a time. Dag had a sold out show in Pittsburgh, a town he seems to have fallen for. Will Steve’s new elevator door magnets be the correct ones?

Tom Thayer invented a new Italian Beef taco over the weekend. Steve misheard a waitress’s Irish accent. Turn out, she’s just a plain old American. A transmission failure left Dag’s band stranded on the side of the New Jersey Turnpike. Luckily, two generous Carnegie Mellon students shared their fancy homemade sandwiches with Bobcat Goldthwait, his wife and the rest of the band.The sandwiches contained prosciutto, but no melon.

It’s raining in the Sunshine State! Apparently the bugs will move back outdoors. Steve declares that there should not be two separate dinner conversations at the restaurant. Janet and Rosie encountered a Florida rat and an egret with an appetite for lizards. A tourist in Las Vegas took a flamingo from the hotel’s habitat. D.J. Moore has been traded to Buffalo. Steve is devastated, Janet indifferent and Brendan is just mean.

Patrick and Violet are visiting the condo and guesting on the podcast. Violet got to meet Joakim Noah at a video shoot in Miami. Pat was welcomed back to a Northwestern University basketball as an alumni mascot. A fellow alumnus mascot showed decidedly more pep than Pat could muster at halftime. Pat recalls dealing with an urgency in the Kinnick Stadium visitor’s locker room.

Steve walked on the beach while Janet hung out with her sister and brother-in-law. Marie’s birthday was is today, but Steve thought it was Larry’s. Dag had a great show in D.C. and will be heading off to Philadelphia to continue the tour. Steve finds cyclists to be rude in the areas surrounding his Florida home. Joe informs us about Strava, the training app for cyclists. Jeff Daniels puts BBQ sauce and sour cream chips on his peanut butter pita sandwiches.

Steve snacked on dry cornbread between shows, and he noticed the ceramic butter dish is cracked. The humanity! Dag’s shows in Athens were a great success. In front of a packed house, they were joined onstage by Bill Berry, Scott McCoy, and Peter Buck. Steve and Janet went to the beach, and Steve had what he thought was an exceptional beach burger, but aren’t they all. Everything tastes better at the beach.

Happy Pulaski Day! Janet’s family is visiting today, with a vintage Naples trolley ride planned. Dag is in Richmond at the Quirk Hotel. Washington D.C. legend Doug Williams is one of Tom Thayer’s all-time favorite teammates and friends. Tom’s mom made very good pierogi’s. Tom also remembers the stuffed cabbage she cooked for him. Connor Storrie was awesome on Saturday Night Live, and Mumford and Sons brought out Hozier.

Florida Steve finds a publication that both really speaks his language, and lowers his IQ, all at the same time. Every great Florida road trip should include a stop at Shangri-La Springs and a bite of a key lime pancake (or maybe some lamb). Steve and Brendan agree; Aldi self-checkout is error-proof. The pronunciation of “sherbet” eludes Steve. He apparently doesn’t know how to spell it, either.

“Gummy Steve” (legal hemp derived CBD) surprised Janet with an antiquated term in the bedroom, and an over the top narrative about his love for Florida. Steve’s chair at dinner was too short. His face was at plate level. Michael Shannon hosted a band dinner for Dag and the crew. Homemade meatballs were on the menu. Janet makes Brendan’s eBay wish come true with a Joakim Noah gift.

Janet got stuck in the elevator, and Steve’s response was questionable. Steve is on the waiting list at his golf club, but still landed a noon tee time. A Florida bike repair expert provided Steve with a detailed breakdown of his bicycle’s components, including the shaft (cue zipper sound effect) and tires. Joe will recommend a bike rack. Janet showed Steve a video of Punch the baby monkey, but Steve was not interested. Rosie is keen on green-lipped mussels.

Steve is still rocking Eddie Bauer jackets, store closures be darned.  He’s trying to break up with ChatGPT after more issues fixing the shower handle. Dag picked up muffuletta at Central Grocery and a Pimm’s Cup whilst strolling through NOLA yesterday. Steve explains the heretofore unexplained “Florida T-shirt Incident”. Several anchors and reporters lost their jobs in a cost-cutting move by WGN-TV. Maybe they’ll hire Madison Adams.

Steve’s day started out on the sweet side with a scoop of sugar in his Roast2Order coffee. Tom Thayer rose early to watch the Gold Medal hockey game and enjoyed the 3-on-3 overtime victory. Dag got to have dinner with his sister whilst in Texas, before traveling to New Orleans. Dag hit up a dive bar called Coop’s Sunday night. He ordered a Jockamo Juicy IPA and a bowl of rabbit jambalaya. That’s the Spirit!

Steve and Janet have differing memories of a “shut up” request. Steve is nutty about his fingernail grooming. A picture of a sandwich, a pickle, lemonade and macaroni salad (his only mayo exception) swung Steve’s mood from brittle to sentimental. Janet’s sister ran into Janet’s ex-boyfriend at the doctor’s office. Steve is looking better all the time. He’s also taking Janet to the most romantic place in town this Saturday. Not Jersey Mike’s.

A pickle jar became a weapon during a Florida couple’s spat. Turns out, that in FL, it’s considered a deadly weapon. Dag’s hotel room Nespresso refused to hold its water. Phillipe’s in Los Angeles called Dag’s name (with a little urging from Steve), and the experience was divine. Steve was eating vicariously through Dag’s great photo. Check the DahlCast Circle page for it. Brendan got ashes at a very windy Old St. Pat’s.

Friendly Steve had fun on the golf course, where it turned out he had connections to the people he golfed with. Janet made a dozen appetizers for her cousin’s visit. Dag dodged a weather bullet and also got a microwave sent to his hotel room so that he could enjoy his leftovers. Brendan awoke to a car covered in mysterious sky mud. We also toy with the idea of taking the show in a much more specific direction. BTW: Joe hates Canadians!

An early morning dog walk is part of Steve’s routine, and it’s proving to be good for his attitude. Sometimes there’s a nexus between mopey and chirpy. Brendan is armed with San Francisco facts and weather warnings, but Dag is more concerned with the driverless cars. Steve was conversational at a Monday cocktail party. Janet’s cousins are coming over for appetizers tonight. What’s that smell? Will it be gone by cocktail time? Also, it’s a Talk To Me Tuesday.

Steve sliced tomatoes and mozzarella to make a Caprese salad for his Valentine. The Quad God fell, the curling teams argued, and the cross-country skiers reached exhaustion. Steve enjoyed watching it all on NBC. Dag is in San Francisco, three shows into a successful tour. An Alaskan Cod shortage endangers a Thayer family tradition. Brendan, a good Irish Catholic, fears it could lead him directly towards Lenten pepperoni pizzas.

Steve and Janet are committed to hitting all the hot restaurants to make the most of their time in the Sunshine State. They shared a doughnut for dessert, and it was delightful. Steve could eat the lobster ravioli and the dessert doughnut every night for dinner. Electric bike speed limits in Florida are a topic of discussion on the local news, as are iguanas that took over a bank. Utica, Michigan is a good place to find love.

The new screens have been installed at the Florida condo. Steve says it looks sharp. Dag is at the Maven Hotel in Denver, fresh off a show at the Summit. Caleb Williams will participate in the NBA All-Star Game celebrity 3-point contest on Friday. Tom Thayer would’ve appreciated the opportunity to play a game at Wrigley Field. Tom recalls a Chet Coppock story involving the Friendly Confines. A caller received a My Little Pony album by mistake.

Steve lauds the Excalibur of microphones, with the help of a YouTube reviewer. Nerds! It is an amazing microphone, though. Having never thought much about it in the past, Steve saw Johnny Knoxville interviewed by Jimmy Kimmel, and found Johnny to be very likable. Jim Fabbrini is enjoying the snowboarding coverage at the Winter Olympics. Steve’s imaginary luge career, built on a mountain of lies, ended early. Thank you, Buddy!

Steve didn’t feel the love from the fitness Center desk last night. Janet says he should show up to the gym earlier, noot 45 minutes before closing. Samantha Sklar joins the program. Sam is overjoyed to see all the subscribers who have been stopping into Foot First Podiatry. Her car needs a tire-ectomy. Brendan studies the lore of local businesses. Steve is overdue for a golf date with Dr. Keith. A caller invites Steve to visit Nashville, Indiana.