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The Grey NATO – 369 – Slack Crew & A [Part 9]

Published on Thu, 19 Mar 2026 06:00:00 -0400

Synopsis

In episode 369 of The Grey NATO podcast, hosts James Stacy and Jason Heaton continue their extended Slack Crew Q&A series, answering listener questions on a variety of topics. The episode opens with updates on Jason's newly named cat, Smitty, and James's upcoming travels to Geneva and New York, including details about the inaugural Hodinkee Happy Hour event.

The hosts tackle diverse questions ranging from building a five-watch collection for a young professional balancing office and outdoor life, to time-machine scenarios involving 1960s car and watch choices. They discuss their Formula One viewing preferences, creative processes for the podcast, memorable "reverse flex" watches, dream concert lineups spanning Pink Floyd to Queen to The War on Drugs, and Jason's backstory with his dog Ruby. Throughout, their conversational chemistry shines as they compare picks—hilariously both selecting the Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider for the vintage car question—and reflect on a decade of podcast evolution without formal meetings or rigid planning structures. The episode wraps with final notes featuring videos about an elusive ultramarathon runner living off-grid and Harry Metcalf's test drive of the Gordon Murray T.50 supercar.

Transcript

Speaker
James Stacy Hello and welcome to another episode of the Grey NATO. It's a loose discussion of travel, adventure, diving, driving gear, and most certainly watches. And this is episode 369. It's proudly brought to you by the always growing TGN Supporter Crew. We thank you all so much for your continued support. And if you'd like to support the show, please visit thegreator.com for more details. My name is James Stacy, and I'm joined as ever by my friend and co-host Jason Heaton. Jason, how are we doing today? I'm a little tired of winter, uh if I
Jason Heaton 'm honest. We just got slammed uh yesterday and and today it was bitterly cold on the dog walk. It doesn't feel like March sixteenth. But the promise is that it's going to uh it's gonna be back in the fifties and sixties later this week, so you know, it's all gonna be gone shortly and very muddy and wet. But uh yeah, for now it's it's it's pretty, but I
James Stacy 'm just kinda tired of it. Yeah, we we got a dumping of snow on Friday, so it's it's all over the map for the next little while. And you're headed to uh Switzerland here today, right? Yeah, heading into Geneva for uh quick photo shoot, so there for a day total, but you end up with two nights because of uh when you can and kind of can't travel back uh to uh the west. Uh so yeah, that's uh that should be a good one. It's it's for um a great watch, possibly more than one, uh, but not something I can talk about just yet. You'd have to give me another month or so. Um so this gives us a a little bit of a head start on uh on a cool story which I'm excited for. Um but yeah beyond that just a a busy weekend here. Obviously wanna uh reiterate our reminder for the Vancouver and Montreal Timepeace Show tickets. You can get them at timepeacehow.com. Uh I'm going to be at the Vancouver Show. We're sorting out details for a Saturday night event with Marathon and Rolldorf. Uh so stay tuned for that. But uh the Vancouver show is at the end of April, the Montreal show is at the end of May. Uh both should be excellent uh occasions and I'm certainly pumped for uh for Vancouver. So be sure to uh check out those tickets if you're keen and in the area or want to make a trip in. Uh I think it'll be a lot of fun
Jason Heaton . Yeah, it's show season, isn't it? It's uh that they just had the Dallas wind up show. I saw a bunch on Instagram from there. And then yeah, and then you've got watchmakers day. British Watchmakers Day. Yeah, it's it's kicking off for sure
James Stacy . Yeah, it sure is. But look, man, inquiring minds want slash need to know. What's our cat update?
Jason Heaton More of the same. Yeah, she does have a name. In fact, it it got so official that we we put her name on on a little tag um for a collar because you know we in case she gets out we want her to have a name and a phone number on a tag and of course um we bought one of these collars that has like a I don't know, it's I I suppose it's made in case the cat gets hung up on something, it tears free, you know, like comes off. But she just she just flicks it off herself. So we're we're always finding it on the floor. So I think we need a different solution for the collar. But the the name, um, now that it's engraved, it's become official is uh Smitty. Smitty. There you go. Yeah, there's a bit of an inside joke to that name. Um for those who in Minneapolis who um are familiar with a a certain type of shop uh that's known as a smitten kitten. Um you can use your imagination what kind of shop that might be, or you can Google it. Um it's actually close by. We drive by it all the time. And uh we just drove by and saw the name and we looked at each other and thought Smitty might be might be a good name. And it happens to also be kind of a derivation of some um grandparents and grand greatparents of ours that uh that had the name Smith that that went by Smitty. So kind of a a fun serendipity there. So yeah, it's uh it's fun and you know, I mean with with animals' names oftentimes you end up with a lot of uh nicknames and things, so we just kinda shout whatever and the cat meows and comes. So the
James Stacy name is less important, but yeah. Uh it's funny because you mentioned that on the previous episode that like, you know, cat names aren't as crucial as dog names. Yeah. Like a cat may or may not know its name, and even if it does, it may or may not care that you've said anything. Which is part of the delight of a cat. And then I've now seen that meme several times on Instagram of people like, these are my dog's nam'es, and it's these like kind of official names, the kind of things you would do you say to a dog. Yeah. And then the cat names are all these like rant just random messes of words. So I think you did well picking Smitty uh beyond some some other options. So that's uh Well
Jason Heaton there were a a lot lot of of suggestions on Slack and I appreciate those. Some were like the Bond movie related, you know, we had Vesper and well you suggested Vesper and um uh a few people went with uh kind of watch related things, you know, we had Pogue, which I thought Pogue would would be be actually a really fun one for a for a cat. Great name. Um but uh yeah, thanks for all the suggestions. But uh Smitty it is, at least for the time being. Um
James Stacy fabulous. I love that. Yeah. Beyond uh beyond my trip to uh Geneva this week. Uh next week, I'll be in uh New York. So that's the week of the 26th. And as I mentioned on the previous episode, we are starting a new series of uh sort of in-person, super casual bring watches hangout sort of vibe. Uh we're calling them hoodinky happy hours. And the first one is on the 26th. It's 430 to 630 at the Watches of Switzerland store in Soho. Um we're sorting out an awesome uh beer selection from uh uh grata uh in Soho. And we also have a solid pizza order coming in from a local shop that I'm pretty excited about. So if you happen to be in the area or can make it into New York, uh it'll be the last Thursday of every month. And this time it is the 26th. I'll be there. A couple of the others from the team will be there. Some folks from Analog Shift are going to pop down. Hopefully to see Thomas Skalar. I got a text from him. Shout out to Thomas if you're listening. Uh I'm looking forward to it, uh very much so uh and just to be back in the city for a little while. Uh so that should be good. But that that pretty much that's my next two weeks. I'm in G I'm in Geneva for a few days and then I'm home for a weekend. And then I'm off to New York for uh for some some fun stuff including that hangout. Seems like that's been your cycle. You were in Geneva a while back and you were also in New York a while back, so you're Yeah, it's definitely my my my Air Canada app is suggesting I'm on track to more status than I've ever had before. And I I I both feel and look more tired than I think I've ever looked before. So that there's that. But yeah, it's uh it's been it's been a busy season. And I feel like I'm I mean it's you could probably go back and catch like uh the last several years of talking about February, March, April, uh as me calling it a busy season. You can't really complain. This is barely a real job uh to begin with, uh, but it's certainly busy. And uh as much as I'm looking forward to all the new watches and everything else that comes out in April, I'm also kind of equally looking forward to the sort of theoretically slower phases of uh of May and June and and that sort of thing. You know, we're we're big summer heads uh on on DGN, especially after kind of a long wet, cold winter.
Jason Heaton So Yeah, definitely. Your mention of pizza is just like it's only 930 on a Monday morning and like just just your mention of pizza um made me salvate. Um it's been a while. I'm kinda craving it. I'm not doing cheese these days, but there's there's some great places nearby here that do kind of uh vegan pizzas and uh or or just cheese free or whatever we often uh make our own here and it's uh gosh, I just I think I might have to dial something like that up later this week
James Stacy . Yeah, I mean hey, it's hard it's hard to go wrong with pizza. You know, I I can't as as I'm sure many of you who have come to any event we've ever kind of thrown for TGN. I can't do the like white wine and crude de tes. I can't do the the bottles of champagne. Um yeah I it just it has to be easier than that. And like I get it. Maybe pizza we might have some greasy hands touching watches um but I think that's the worst of it. Yeah um and it turns out that uh uh in our circle of of sort of watch nerds between Hodin King and Watch of Switzerland, we have an owner of a fantastic pizza spot. But it should be a really great hangout. And it the the only goal is for it to be as casual as possible. So we show up, have a slice, have a beer, leave. It's early in the day. Yeah. Before dinner is the idea, like a true happy hour
Jason Heaton .. All right Well, we've uh we've got another fun episode dialed up here. We're churning through our the remnants of our 2025 Slack crew and A. Um we've got we've got a few to get to. I think we're gonna we're down to probably the last two episodes if we if we do this right. It'll be ten parts. Yeah, exactly. Right. So if we chapter nine of ten. If we stay disciplined here and plow forward, we might uh we might get through half of the questions that are left and then uh and then pick up uh with another one in a in a few weeks to close it out. But uh let's do a wrist check before we dive into the questions. Yeah. What have you got on this week? I just put on this morning actually my Elliot Brown Holton GMT. I wore it um a while back when we had Guy Allen on from Elliot Brown, uh, which was a fun episode. And um I don't know. That's just a it's a watch for I it's it's a watch I find myself reaching for more and more these days. I've got it on the this kind of light brown leather strap that it came on that sort of matches the the kind of cafe a lay um tinted loom on this watch and it's it's just such a it's a big heavy watch, but it's it's just so handsome. I just I just love wearing this thing. So that's what's on my That's a goodie for sure. Yeah. And
James Stacy how about you? You've got a classic, it looks like. Yeah, I'm I'm wearing my Explorer two this week. Uh I've had it on I I wore it on Friday and then I kind of kept it on for part of the weekend, and then I went and saw Crime 101, um, a a movie, uh kind of an LA crime noir, very much in my zone, didn't really do it for me sort of movie. So I I'm not gonna recommend it. I don't think it's one that's gonna hit hit uh film club anytime soon, but I wore the aerospace to go see that because it's it's about sketchy thieves in LA and you know all that sort of thing and I thought it kind of fit and then the movie was just packed full of Rolex. Oh uh so it's just been kind of on my mind and then, you know, doing a little bit of time zone hopping uh starting this evening uh with the trip out to Geneva, I thought this one kind of suits. And I I don't know, it's one of those ones where it's like it's easy to leave this in the watchbox for even like months at a time. Mm-hmm. And then I put it on and it kind of makes everything else I have irrelevant. But yeah, I I absolutely love this watch. I've I've got it on the Oyster bracelet and it's you know, it's all set up and ready to jump time zones in uh in a few hours. But yeah, hard hard to beat it as far as uh a you know sort of travel watch goes that kind of links up with my style. And certainly it's a watch I've only been talking about for uh a decade. I got it for I got it for my thirtieth. So yeah. Yeah. Wow. Yeah, cool. Yeah. Good choice. All right. Should be a good one. A couple of GMTs to to kick off a week with uh with some travel. Yeah. But look, let's jump into uh some crew and a if this happens to be man, I get this bad this is bad every time I try and summarize what a crew and A is. But if this happens to be your first one, normally what we do for QA's, which is a monthly episode. So if you're a supporter of the show, you can send in a recording from your voice memo app. We play it as a question, kind of feels like a call-in show. We do that once a month. Once a year we open up a thread on the Slack and kind of flip it over. So it's just text questions. And you know, I I guess we must have gotten 70 or 80 if we're into nine episodes of this. I don't really mind. It's a really fun way to kind of like actually answer questions people have rather than just dreaming up episodes. But that's that's basically the explanation of what a crew at A is. It's questions from the Slack, which is part of the supporter crew, um, but it's offered as a external episode. So if you like these questions and that sort of thing, and you're not part of the crew, you want to check it out. It's five bucks a month. And uh if you go up to a hundred bucks a year, you can get a NATO and that sort of thing. So that's the pitch. And the first question comes from Sam Cordle.
Jason Heaton Sam says, I'm suggesting a collecting advice watch draft challenge based on a personal collecting tension I've found as a professional with an office job, but who's also a big fan of the types of tool watches TGN tends to highlight. So Sam's challenge to us is a five watch collection for a young professional who loves outdoor adventure as the next TGNer, but finds that he has more occasion to wear dress or dressier sporty watches during the week. For the dressier watches, there's some interest in brand, cachet, but that's not the only consideration. The vision is versatility to maximize scenarios for each watch. Ideally, the collection would include at least one fancier watch, at least one every day, dressy, dressy sports watch, and at least one watch you can that can handle being beat up around the house or on adventures outside the office. Total collection composition is up to us. The budget is technically unlimited, but the guideline is that no single watch should be more than twelve thousand dollars and most watches should be under six thousand and substantially less if possible. Um and then he says once one of us picks a watch, the other cannot pick the same watch. So um bit of a complicated challenge. I hope you stayed with us on that. You might have to rewind if you know the your ten seconds at a time or whatever in your podcast app to to listen to that over again to uh catch what the format is here. But uh James, you you clear on this? You ready to go?
James Stacy Yeah, I think it's uh you know we're we're picking five watches that we think blend a dressier version of a TGN sort of like core watch. Yeah. Yeah. With a fairly large budget
Jason Heaton . All right. So I I've got five. Let's see here. I've got five, four one, two, three I've got five picks. Um and uh I think I meet the criteria, but uh I'm curious to see how you broke this down. What what's your kind of f
James Stacy ancier choice? Uh so the fancier choice, I went with the longines Heritage Tuxedo Chronograph. Mmm. Okay. Great looking watch, the right size, um, enough presence that it doesn't feel old or um dainty. Yeah. Uh but at the same time you're not even coming close to the to the upper edge of the budget. And I think it's just simply more interesting than a date jest or something like that. And and there's nothing wrong with the day chest, of course I own one. Um, but it's a little bit this is more sporty, interesting than super normal, something conventional you see every time. Uh so yeah, the the heritage succedo chronograph, it's thirty nine hundred dollars, and uh and I think that's where it I think you know dressy chronograph is kind of tough, but I think this treads the line of being enough vintage inspired, but still a uh a pretty tractable size and it you know good on a lot of different straps. So that that's kind of my first choice. Yeah. All right. Good good pick. What
Jason Heaton are you thinking? Yeah, for this one I I went with um I feel like this one's kind of squarely in the the the criteria for a TGN Dressier watch, um the onordain model to porcelain. Um good call. Yeah yeah. Um they've got a a medium size and a large size so you can take your pick. Um looks like the medium is uh 36 millimeters. Well I that's probably the one I'd pick. I think that's a great size. Such a handsome watch, but you know, the model two is kind of their take on a bit of a field watch. It's got um you know five bar of of waterproof you know pressure resistance and whatever. Um but you know that I think the key here is it's it's a bit dressier. I mean it's got kind of a sports watch case, but it's the um it's the beautiful uh porcelain dial that that non ordained does so well so um and that one comes in at uh a little over twenty five hundred dollars so um well within the budget yeah all right next category is um i don't know where, do you want to go? I mean I I've got I guess I've got another fancy one too. If I I'll just dip in here with this one as well. And that it's um I think it's kind of along the same lines. And it's the it's the Fears Brunswick thirty eight copper salmon. Okay. Yeah, for sure. Um the Brunswick is kind of that cushions style case, you know, bit bit uh radiomere panorai style, kind of from the thirties. Um it's got a kind of a rounded onion crown and then this gorgeous brushed salmon dial. Um I just I love what Fears does and and I think this kind of would fit. So there there are kind of two choices for you for a a fancy watch. And that one is uh $3,500. So a thousand dollars more than the than the uh unordained, but still well within the budget
James Stacy . I think that's another great pick. I think in the same vein of like it's fancy but conventional and you could kind of do anything with it. Yeah. Basically uh you know, I I'm not a huge fan of the what a b the go anywhere do anything moniker. Mm-hmm. Um it it seems to be thrown around a lot. But you want a sporty watch that's also kind of dressy, I my mind immediately goes to Grand Seiko. And the SBGW297 is $5,900. It's a smaller watch. It's absolutely dressy. Um, especially if you matched it up on, you know, a leather strap or that sort of thing, something with a bit of shine to it. But at the same time, we're talking about a steel watch, right? Like a a fairly straightforward, well-made, you know, accurate, nicely designed sort of steel watch. So the the yeah, SPGW it it's's my favorite Grand Seiko. Yeah. Um and I like that it it it kind of combines, you know. I would say it's a step, maybe two steps dressier than any Rolex option, short of a date chest. And but at the same time it',s more interesting. I love the dial design on it and uh and that sort of thing. Yeah. Yeah, I like that. I think you've talked about that one before. It's got that wild uh dial on it. It's very beautiful. Um and I think it's it's a little more subtle than some of the ones with all the color and the texture. Yeah. And then in terms of the size range, you're looking at like thirty six and a half millimeters for the case. There's a darker dial in blue if you want. I of course prefer the lighter white dial, blued second seconds hand, just a a good lookinging th. I would put it on a strap most of the time, I think, to try and give it different flavors in terms of maybe what I was wearing to the office and that sort of thing. But yeah. Yeah. And I like yours too. Like the Anardane and the Fierce kind of work together. Mm-hmm. They're very different. And I think the the longines and the Grand Seco could be worn in the same scenario, but are two entirely different options. Yeah
Jason Heaton . Yeah. Yeah. All right. Good calls. I think we're we're squarely in the in the wheelhouse here. Um how about um moving up to I guess it's a bit of a dresswater. Well, I mean, I don't know. You know, honestly, I I feel like all my choices are kind of run in the same area except for the beater. Um, but but another one that I've got here that I guess fits a number of these categories is the uh the recently released Zenith Defy Revival A3643. I I I saw this one, I think that you know there' as story on Hodinki about this and it's a $7800 watch so we're ticking up a few thousands here from the previous choices but um yeah it's a thirty seven millimeter uh octagonal case watch uh with uh the kind of funky bezel. Um, it's you know, it's just uh zenith is doing some kind of cool stuff with the Defy family, you know. I think well, whether it's the divers or the watch like this, and and it comes in a few interesting um dial colors. Um, um I just like the the straight up silver. I think this just looks so kind of late sixties, early seventies. Um it's got this ladder bracelet, which I'm not super keen on. I think you know arm hair is a concern there. But it's a kind of a neat nod to the the history. And uh yeah, I think this is also one that kind of fits the fits the theme here. For sure
James Stacy . Yeah. I think that's uh that's a fun one uh for for my next next pick. And again, like I guess we're trying to thread um one fancier option, one everyday dress sports, and then one beater, and then I guess two wild cards. Yeah. I guess
Jason Heaton so. I just I think you understood it more than me. I was just I'm I feel like mine are all kind of similar style, but uh anyway,
James Stacy that's where I'm that's where I'm going. Sure. I mean with a budget of say six to s six to um twelve thousand dollars, with some being under so far, both of mine being under the six thousand dollar line. I I do think it's worth in this world where you know, dressy is one thing, but you can also just get a very subtle sport watch where it just calls no attention to itself. And I I think everybody's thinking the same thing at this point. It's a thirty six millimeter explorer. You could buy a fourteen two seventy, you could buy a modern one. They're all gonna cost you in the in you know in that six to twelve thousand dollar range probably, depending on what you pick. Uh if, you're able to walk into a store and get one, you're looking at 7900 bucks, I believe, right now. And I just I think it's essentially unbeatable. Yeah. It's a watch that there's nothing more than you need there. There's nothing less. You could buy that once and wear it for fifty, sixty years at an in an office scenario, and it's never really out of place. If if you're if you're dressing in a manner where an explorer is out of like totally out of place, you could probably just not wear a watch. Yeah. And it would be acceptable. Right. So yeah, that would that be would be the next pick. And I guess that leaves me with uh maybe one wild card and
Jason Heaton and the beater. pick the same watch and so um you came pretty close because my my next pick is the the thirty six millimeter Tudor Ranger. I think, you know another great choice. Everything you said about the explorer, I think you could be say about the Ranger. Um it's thirty seven seventy five on the bracelet um with the black dial is is where I'm headed with that one, even though I love the the new kind of desert themed one. I think the the black dial is just gonna be more versatile for the scenario that uh that uh Sam is uh outlining here. And uh yeah. So, you know, enough enough said, I don't think we need to get too crazy with the with explaining the Tudor Ranger. I think it's a it's a favorite of ours, and I think it would f
James Stacy it really well in this category. Yeah, and I I think there's also a world in which in this in this zone of things being under six thousand but up to twelve, that could count as your beater. Yeah. Like if you if you wanted something 'cause it really isn't a very dressy watch, but it is that subtle. Mm-hmm. You could just wear it. Yeah. Just a uh, you know, watch you could put on and enjoy. But yeah, I agree. Tutor Ranger and 36mm is great. Call. Um, for my wild card, I'm gonna go with something that is quite dressy, and that's uh a watch I really like. Finally got to see them in person a little while ago, and the uh denison a l d mm so that's the the two time zone denison. Yeah, good call. So now if you're traveling for work or if you're wanting to track another time zone for a colleague in a different time zone, pretty common thing to do. You have this cool watch. It's it's a it's a real departure from the longines, the Grand Seiko, the Explorer. Um, you can get them in kind of less or more subtle versions of what you know stone is used for the dial and that sort of thing, but they're kind of exciting. They're kind of fun. Maybe this is your Friday afternoon. You know, you're going out for work drinks afterwards. It's a little bit more fun. It's a little bit more there's a way to wear this more casually uh versus more dressy, but then if you also had to dress up for a work function or something more formal, a wedding, these watches still apply. And if you don't want the dual time version, they make one with that's not right. They do both. Yeah, that's a good call. And that's like in the range of $900 to $1400. So just well, well under the bud
Jason Heaton get. Yeah, it's such a specific look too. And it it'll definitely turn some heads and it's it's fun and uh yeah, and it doesn't uh doesn't set your back too much. That's a good call
James Stacy . Yeah, the the explorer says that you like a nice watch. Yeah. It doesn't necessarily say that you like watches. Mm-hmm. Yeah. You know what I mean? And uh the whereas the Grand Seiko, the longines, a little bit more nerdy, a little bit more specific, and then this is a whole jump where it's like, oh, you're in pretty deep. Yeah. This is a shaped case. This is seventy appreciation of like a late 70s aesthetic. You could get one in you know tiger eye or adventuring or you know, black onyx and like all these other and yeah, I think I this is a space where you could have a little bit of fun and where you could be nerdy, but not in a way that's like and I say this of course as the biggest nerd for Aqualands, not an Aqualand at the office, you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So yeah, yeahah. Ye. All right. What have you got for your fifth and final? What do we uh is your beater the one that's left then?
Jason Heaton Yeah. Yeah. I and my beater is, you know, in the old days, you know, early days, ten years ago in TGN, it would have been it would have been probably a you know an SRP, you know, Seiko Turtle or something like that. But I feel like uh there's a brand that well, it's the brand that I'm wearing today, um, Elliot Brown. I feel like they've kind of slotted into that territory. And it's I think the there's straight up Holton, not necessarily the GMT that I'm wearing, but the their first Holton professional um for five hundred and eighty seven dollars. Um quartz watch, um, you know, developed for for the SBS,. Um it's just tough as nails. It's got a great bezel, great loom. Um I I I just I I can't say enough good things about these watches. I just think that um they kind of occupy that space of um you can you can be a true watch nerd, but kind of someone asks you about it, you've got a good story to tell, or it doesn't matter. It's just a watch that works and uh and uh just have such a fondness for these. They're just such tough watches that I think it would make a great beater and still allow you to kind of enjoy wearing a watch rather than just kind of putting something kind of an afterthought on. I think it's a
James Stacy great for sure. Yeah, good call, good call there. Uh my beater, I kind of I'm I'm really stuck on two different options. The first one is something like a Halios Universa. Yeah. That's a th that's going to put you about a thousand dollars, but it still has a little bit of that dressy vibe. You're not, you're not necessarily not buying a dive watch, for example. But to be clear, if you have the SBGW two nine seven and the explorer two, do you need the Universa? Yeah. Right. In this world, and it's a bit of a weird decision, but it's you know, it's what I might do in this scenario, my quote unquote beater, I think it's a tutor black bay fifty eight nine two five. Oh wow oh my goodness so still still can do the office but then if you want to treat it like a dive watch it's a real dive watch. Um put it on a taupe strap and it's very subtle and it looks great. Um and and uh you know, I at the same time throw it on a NATO and wear it on vacation. Yeah. Right. That's great. So that I think that kind of splits the difference of like it's still in the dressy realm. You could obviously just go uh Black Bay 54, yeah, where the sizing brings you down into something that feels less sporty and more in the realm of uh dressier piece, but I wouldn't call the fifty four especially dressy or the standard uh the fifty-eight more so I think. Um up for debate if you disagree, of course. A good good combo for the slack. But the fifty eight nine two five, like just with it being silver, with it being that distinctive colorway that, kind of very subtle, not that aggressive sort of colorway of the the kind of taupey yeah uh tone uh I I think does a nice job. Ye
Jason Heaton ah. All right. Good. Great uh fun challenge. Good question. I guess that probably could have been a a full episode. You know, we've considered pulling some of these questions out for full episodes and uh we sunk our teeth
James Stacy into that one. So that was fun. Thanks for that one, Sam. All right. Next up we've got a question from J.R. Who presents sort of a time machine question. He says, Jason, it's nineteen sixty. You just graduated from the University of Minnesota and you were commissioned as an ensign in the Navy. You have two weeks to get your duty assignment on Coronado Island. Uh you your father offers to buy you a watch and your rich uncle offers to buy you a car. What is the watch? What is the car? What is your route to Coronado? And then for me, he says, James, it's still nineteen sixty, you are an RCAF captain and aviator going on a liaison assignment to the USN in Pensacola. You have two weeks to get to Pensacola. You need a new watch and a new car. Same question, what car, what watch and what route? So uh an exceptionally complicated uh question there from JR. Uh Jason, do you want to dig into your pick of watch car route? Sure, yeah. Um
Jason Heaton it's a it's a it's a good year to for for watches and for cars and uh and also for route, at least the direction I'm going. Um so the the the Tudor 7928 submariner was introduced in 1959 and became a pick for the U.S. Navy as, I learned when I was writing that story about the uh splashdown um frogman uh story for Hudinky a while back. Um and seeing as it's 1960, I mean, and I'm I'm in the Navy, I think that's that's the pick. I think it's a 79, 28 submariner, Tutor. Um, and then as far as a car goes, uh 1960 going to California, it's gotta be something fun, it's gotta be something sporty. Um, and I'm going with a 1960, uh Alfa Romeo Giulietta. So um it's kind of the you know the precursor to the the kind of classic uh spider that we saw on the graduate, you know, kind of the the long live sure um alpha spider it's the it's the Julieta so it's it's such a pretty beautiful kind of late 50s kind of mid-century design car um and that's my pick and then and then for the drive uh I'm taking Route sixty six. So it's um there you go. It's you know it goes through Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, ends up in California, um just you know, north of Coronado, but I'll have to just jog down the coast a bit to get to my final destination. But um in those days, you know, this was, you know, the interstates were still being developed um and Route 66 was was the route to take and uh a lot of history there. So that that's that's my route. I got my my sub on the wrist. I' dmriving the alpha. Hopefully it holds up for the long drive. And uh I'm taking Route 66 down there
James Stacy . That's great. Yeah, good answers all around. Uh I I mean to be clear for mine, I picked the same car. Wow. Julietta Spider Veloce. Oh my gosh. Uh I've dri I've driven um I've driven a fifty-nine spider uh with uh not a speci it wasn't factory veloce, but it had like veloce bits. Uh I've driven it around LA, an absolute delight. Um and you get to feel a little bit like Freddie Miles uh from the talented Mr. Ripley. I kind of thought you might go first gen Corvette. You know, uh assuming late 50s for the purchase of said vehicle. Uh you know, it you can get really picky on what what month a certain car came out in 1960 and that sort of thing. But yeah, I I I don't know. I've got a my my favorite vintage cars right now are are alphas. Yeah. Um and the while I prefer the generation after uh the Julieta um when you get into um uh you know 1750 GTVs and and that sort of thing, those are later on than than 1959, 1960. So uh yeah, I figured I would go with the with the alpha as well. So what what color are you thinking for yours? Oh it's gotta be red. I mean Yeah. Yeah. How about you? The one the one that I drove around LA briefly was uh dark gray over red leather. I think that's the move for me. Yeah. Yeah. Um and then look for the for the watch, I figured I would let the story inform my decision. If I'm an RCAF captain, there's a chance that I would have the Rodania uh RCF mono pusher chronograph. Oh nice. Yeah. I mean a fairly rare watch. I'm I might be, you know, putting myself into a certain scenario uh for the Rodania. Uh but these are like exceptionally beautiful watches. I'll I'll include a a look at one from uh analog shift. Um but these were uh were definitely very cool and um and I I think would make sense for this the storyline. I've there's a chance that I'm a little off in terms of timing. But it's my understanding that these were uh these were around in this era. So maybe there's a chance that's what I would have on my wrists. And I just think that's exceptionally cool. Yeah. You know, it's a it's a I believe the this timeline would be a little bit early for like one of the Brightling mono pushers, and these ones kind of came before. But yeah, the Rodania uh Royal Canadian Navy mono pusher chronic chronograph. Fantastic. And uh I'll I'll I'll show an example of it, but a very cool watch. And then as far as the drive, I mean like Jason's got 66. I'm going north-south, but it I'm really not not in a bad way. Uh I think I would do um I think I would do sort of a a three to five day sort of I'd I would do Appalachia and then through bourbon country and then into the deep south and then end in in um in Pensacola. So that'd be you know, like Toronto to Pittsburgh, maybe do New River Gorge, um, from there uh down to Asheville and the Blue Ridge Mountains, um, then on to Chattanooga, which I I've been to before and really thought was cool, and I have to imagine it was quite an interesting place in uh in the early, very early sixties. And then from there, Chattanooga we'd go down into Pensacola. And yeah, I think I think that would give me a nice sort of run and a few options of of kind of different scenery and I I love everything I've ever seen of sort of Appalachia and uh in that area. So yeah. Good route. Yeah
Jason Heaton . Fun question. Yeah. Can't believe we both chose alphas. Not not just alphas, but the same car. That's that's pretty wild. The same one. Yeah. Right. Ye
James Stacy ah. That's I I didn't write down any alternatives. Yeah. Um I thought just based on sort of the astronaut connection you might go early Corvette. Yeah. But uh I've never I haven't driven uh earliest Corvette I ever drove is a C three uh mid seventies uh uh Stingray. But um yeah, cool cars for sure. But yeah, the alphas just have a certain spice to them, I prefer. And and I think for for a car that is gonna be derived from the fifties, yeah, versus a car that was made in dire like a nineteen six a car that sold in nineteen sixty is a fifties car. Um I think that they they made a very cool thing in that era. Yeah. Ye
Jason Heaton ah, funny, my my my dad actually owned a first generation Corvette. I should have thought of that when I came up with this. If if it had been dad getting me the car and uncle giving me the watch, may
James Stacy be I would have picked a Corvette. All right, thanks so much for that question, J.R. A really good uh a goodie and I would love to know uh Jerry, your answer to a version of this question, so let us know in the Slack if it uh if you've got uh an answer for car watch and route uh for either of these scenarios, I suppose
Jason Heaton . All right. Next up we've got a question from Jason Surma who says who are your favorite F one teams and drivers and what are your predictions for the well this was last year's question for the twenty twenty five season, but uh let's move it forward to the twenty twenty six season. James, I gotta defer to you on this one. You you can take this one uh wholeheartedly because I'm I'm I just don't follow. I watched Drive to Survive, I liked Nico Holkenberg. But uh yeah, I just don't follow the sport, so I'll let you uh go go wild on this one
James Stacy . I don't know. I I don't care about teams. Uh I don't really watch the sport and like we Sarah and I watch every race, but I don't watch the sport as a fan of a team or necessarily a driver. Uh it's just kind of like what's the best possible race. I just want to see a good race. Um and so right now, I mean, with what's happening in 2026, we have new regulations. We have cars that are largely about energy managed, elect electronic energy management. Um, and it's leading to some really exciting opening laps in these races, uh, where there's a lot of kind of slicing and dicing and getting in there and, you know, wheel-to-wheel sort of action, which is scary in Formula One because it's very unforgiving. You're not really bumping into each other like you might be in other sports. It's just the cars kind of disintegrate uh when when they touch each other. Um but yeah I would say you know from favorite teams since I got back into watching it really, you know, concertedly in say 2021 uh, McLaren has been really fun to watch. And then watching them kind of turn a season around. Um, the longer I watch the sport, the more I really appreciate Verstappen for his just the the raw quality. Um I think he's largely been painted in some ways as like a bit of a villain or or like not the guy you're supposed to like because he's too good and like I don't neither of those feel necessarily true. Uh but just an incredible talent. He's very exciting to watch. And when you get for Stappen and a Russell and a Leclerc running up at the top, arguably wheel-to-wheel, that's just going to be exciting. So those are those are some of my favorite guys. I was really pumped to see Piastri's run last season, talking of 2025, but of course that didn't really last. Uh, and it was a huge year in the end for Lando, which was very exciting. Yeah, I just I'm into just watch whatever makes the sport best. I mean, you look up this past weekend as as we're recording this, we have the youngest ever, uh second youngest ever winner of an F one in Kimmy Antonelli uh in a race. He's nineteen years old. Wow and he just did an absolutely stunning job uh in the Mercedes. And look, when you have a regulation change, it kind of resets the field to a certain extent. We're still it's still a sport where the the four or five main teams are always at the top, um, or at least always in contention uh for the top. Um in this in this year right now it looks like Mercedes has substantially better understanding of the regulations and the cars and and that sort of thing. And to see them, you know, run one two, but to have Antonelli at the top and also to be the youngest pole sitter in in history. Uh just a it's it's an exciting era. It's a it's a wild time for the sport and I think tough time to be Cadillac, tough time to be Audi coming back in. They're they have the best looking car to be fair. Great colorway. Yeah. But yeah, and anything that makes the sport exciting, I'm down for. I don't really have any allegiance. I'm not buying any of the polo shirts or the hats. Uh but Sarah and I watch every race. We watch all the qualifyings. We really enjoy it that the my kids are into it um and all that but yeah it's uh it's it's more for me about uh just watching great racing
Jason Heaton . That's a great way to watch any sport to be honest. I think when you get really attached to a team or a player or a person or competitor, it's you're setting yourself up for so much heartbreak and disappointment that that it's kind of just nice to sit back and watch neutrally and just enjoy the action. So co
James Stacy ol. If you're wanting to understand more about the sport, acquired just dropped like a four and a half hour episode on Formula One. Jeez. Wow. It's mostly about the the absolute maverick uh knucklehead that that is uh Bernie Eccleston uh so far. I'm maybe two hours into it, uh, but it's definitely exciting and worth listening if if you want to understand more of the the business side of the sport and how it comes together and why it's worth so much money and that sort of thing. Any
Jason Heaton ways, long answer. All right. Let's uh jump ahead. We've got a question from Dan H, which is related to Formula One, um, that we maybe we can pull up Oh sure. Put a bookend on this Formula One
James Stacy stuff. So yeah, Dan says if you had your pick of all the current F1 teams, which one would you choose to drive for and what would your company car be from that team? So Jason, as you can imagine, if you're a Ferrari driver, you pretty much have access to any of the Ferraris and you're probably being paid so much that you could buy any of them. I don't really know like you know like m Charles Leclerc is seen in all of these, including up to like I'm not a huge modern Ferrari fan because there's no manual transmissions at all. But I mean like a manza sp
Jason Heaton 2 is pretty great, right? I I love seeing these guys, these Formula One drivers show up in you know Monaco or something in in a in just this incredibly rare vintage whatever Mercedes
James Stacy or you know Ferrari or something. It's just crazy. Yeah, I mean Toto showing up in a 300 SL. Yeah. That's pretty great. Uh I I think uh Leclerc got married in a vintage Ferrari. Oh, I saw that. Uh that sort of thing. So yeah, there's there's there's definitely some good ones. I I'm gonna have the craziest answer. Okay. I don't think I would want to be in this sport and have the expectation of being a Ferrari driver or Mercedes driver or McLaren driver or Red Bull driver. I'd rather be in in a bottom ranked team earning eight million dollars a year or whatever after endorsements. Yeah. And just have a light a a lighter understanding of like uh it didn't work out for us this year. It's a building year. Right? Yeah. And so in that scenario, and because of the car I could pick as my company car, I'm gonna pick Cadillac. Oh, okay. Wow. So today if I won a lottery, my first call would be to a Cadillac dealership to buy a C T five V Blackwing. Uh it's a four door sedan that has a six speed transmission and a huge V eight. But yeah, I just I love the C T five Blackwing. I like everything about it. It's a ridiculous idea that will eventually go away and has largely gone away from most other brands. And yeah, I would if I could be a Cadillac driver, have a relatively lower, you know, maybe I get a maybe I get a nice bonus if I get some points at some point during the year, but there's no expectation of me winning a championship. We're trying to build the team. We're trying to understand the regs. We're trying launch something that's going to last a long time, but we're not expected to be on the podium. Um, and I could have uh uh Blackwing in the garage. Let's let's just do that. That sounds great. All right.
Jason Heaton Well based purely on the company car thing, um, I'm gonna go with Alpine. Yeah, yeah. Where where would you go? Alpine. I want an A110. I just I I think they're just such I mean I it's a it's um definitely a humble car compared to you know the the the ones that the Ferrari guys and the Mercedes and your Cadillac uh have but uh I don't know if there's just something about that blue the styling um it's a great car it's a great car um I I just I kind of love the history of Alpine and and you know if there was ever an opportunity to you know to get into one of the the vintage ones for for some sort of events or just kind of keep in the garage, I think uh road rally. Yeah, exactly
James Stacy . Right. So yeah, cool. Good pick. I like I like I think Alpine's awesome in being a Formula One driver of uh of a you know not always the most successful team, but I think there's potential on Alpine. I th they could probably figure out how to get one for you in the States on some special registration or that sort of thing. Right. But yeah, cool cars for sure. Yeah. All right. Next up we've got a question from Austin R about our creative process. He says, what is your creative process like? Over the last few years, you instituted changes and new ideas like the subscriptions, the Slack, crew and A's, gift guides, one watch tournaments. How do you brainstorm new ideas and where do you draw inspiration from? Do you two get on a dedicated meeting once or month and discuss the podcast? Secondly, do you two think of yourselves as small business owners? And if so, did you ever expect to be? Jason, you want to tackle any any side of that? Uh there's I mean, it's such a quick answer for the first half. Yeah, I had to uh I
Jason Heaton had to chuckle with the dedicated meeting once a month to discuss the podcast. We Jason and I aren't really meeting types. Um one less meeting. I mean it's uh no meetings. I I think it's like an hour before we go on to recording. What should we talk about today
James Stacy ? Yeah, and if if we're if we come up with an idea, I like I've been open about this. I I typically kind of steal ideas or or I gain inspiration if that's better from other podcasts from you know um from other genres. So when we started to run a lot of drafts or draft ideas, same same when we started doing it with Hodinki on Hodinky Radio, that was because I was listening to a ton of all fantasy everything. And now I I watch the way that like the ringer with the big picture does drafts, and I think that's an even more clever way where every pit kind of has to fall into a category rather than just a broad you know genre, if you will. Um and that could be a lot of fun. Um you know we, have a running chat for each other um where we trade ideas and where we come across possible like hey, do you want to have this person on? Do you want to have that person on? So we have a little list of guests. Um we have a running chat. Uh we don't do meetings. It there's nothing really official about what's going on. I mean, like I do believe that a podcast kind of has to be timely and and that part of what makes our podcast feel like a conversation is that it's not that scripted or planned. Um, you know, sometimes we'll pick a topic an hour before we record. Sometimes it's just I told Jason I had to go a day early and he said, All right, we'll do Slack crew and A. And you go, perfect. And you just move on from there. And other times you have to do uh yeah, a one-watch tournament and it's gonna require tech and planning and structure and assets and all that kind of stuff. So it's it's a mix. Um but I haven't ever seen such a high reward um in terms of listenership or changes or growth or whatever that sort of thing might be, uh, by heavily planning or or you know, putting rails in. It just seems like if we're talking about what we're interested in, that's kind of the point. Um, so we we really don't stress it much more than that. Uh outside of a few options. We always have our end of the year shows. We have our mega sode after watches and wonders and that sort of thing. But uh for the most part it's it's pretty pretty just kind of what what we're into. What what do we want to
Jason Heaton talk about? Yeah, I think, you know, ten years on, I think it it can be it could be tough to be original and fresh, but I think it's been it's been a huge help to have the Slack community as well to inspire us and and offer topic ideas, things come up that that we think, oh, you know, so-and-so talked about this on Slack and maybe we should turn that into an episode. And then also I think that the topics that we discuss, you know, the the adventure, travel, diving, driving, etc., um it it's it's in a world that's always evolving, so there's always new things to talk about, especially in the watch world, even if it's in our kind of our older formats or kind of the series we've run over the years. And then I think in the past few years, I think we've gotten a little more I don't know if it's confidence is the right word, but you know, we we've just been trying to have more guests on regularly and I think that really helps with variety. I think um after ten years of just kind of you and I talking to each other, it's kind of nice to have a a third party or a different voice in the mix and and we've had some pretty stellar guests on even even just so far this year, you know, with Cole and Lydia. And um it's just been it's been it's been great and Guy. Yeah for sure. Guy Allen. Yeah. And then in terms of small business owners, um, what uh I mean, I I don't know. I I can't say I set out to be a small business owner, but I I established my S LLC in 2014 when I went freelance and and I haven't really looked back. I can't say I planned to own a business and it's not a business in the strictest sense, but looking at it now, you know, you and I, we have vendors and we have you know customers and payers and payees and you know bookkeeping and that sort of thing. So it's it's kind of evolved and we've just sort of learned how to do it as we as we've gone
James Stacy along. Yeah. I would say like um I guess I always kind of thought I would work for myself, uh whether or not that's necessarily within the confines of a small business. I suppose so, but this definitely is um a part of uh of the the the broader business, which used to be a lot more freelance and that sort of thing, and now blends in with a full-time role with Hodinky. Um but yeah, I I think I've always kind of figured I'd work for myself. I've never been that great of an employee. I've never been that great at working with a large team of people. You know, Jason and I work really well because we don't overextend what we're capable of doing. Um, and and we kind of tie into that understanding. Um, but as yeah, as far as the grand creative process, it's kind of like, would we want this if we're gonna try and add something to TGN? And when it comes to an episode, whether it's a guest or a topic or whatever, it's like, would we listen to this? And if it doesn't pass those kind of very low bars, then yeah, we probably wouldn't bother or or or we don't uh bother with it. Yeah. Thanks so much for that uh question, Austin. Uh next up we've got one from Drew G who says what's a memorable reverse flex watch that you've seen someone wear at a high end event? Something that made you think, ah, that's cool because it went against what might be expected. Um then more to us, what is the favorite reverse flex watch in our collection? Jason, anything stand out where someone d you know was wearing a watch that I I guess in my mind that maybe the reverse flex is like you have nothing to prove. You just you pick something and you wore it.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Yeah. You know, I I can't think of anything at like a high-end event or a specific memory, but I I have found it kind of cool when I've been on a a few brand sponsored kind of dive trips over the years, or even just, you know, mountain getaways or ski trips or whatever. And you you see like all the the journalists and the brand people are wearing these high-end, you know, whatever it might be, blanc pan, paneraye, whatever. And then the the professional guides, you know, the dive guides, the boat captains, etcetera, are out there wearing their Casios and Ironmans and things like this to they're wearing 'em diving or, you know, maybe it's a maybe it's a a Seiko at best, you know, to kind of um in terms of watch nerd credibility. But uh yeah, I I always kinda liked that. I kind of enjoy kind of sidling up to those guys and see what they think of of all of this high end watch stuff and kind of uh get their take on a different type of watch enthusiasm or or if it's not enthusiasm at, least it's um you know it's what their go-to is. Um I guess in terms of my own collection, I uh I think, you know, I could say the Aqualand, I think that's a good kind of reverse flex in most scenarios. But um also I've got this 1995 CWC Royal Navy diver that has the big word quartz right in the middle of the dial. I think that's a fun watch to wear. I think you know to wear that to you know, like if I ever get invited to like an Omega event again or something like that, it's kind of fun to wear something that's adjacent and has an interesting backstory and a little more humble, but but also has some good credibility behind it. So how about you? Anything stand out
James Stacy ? Nothing stands out as far as a time where somebody wore something that felt like a reversal. I mean like a you know there's there's times you spend time with people who you know have million dollar collections and they're wearing something you know more entry level. Um but even that, like, I'm not sure that's a flex. Maybe that's just what they wore. Maybe their Jorn or whatever was in the shop. Or uh or they didn't want to go to their safe deposit box or whatever. And then as far as the ones from from my own collection, I think, you know, the I always think of like the Timex, you know, 8 Lab. Yeah, uh the Iron Man, uh Aqualand for sure. Just just watches that really don't have anything to prove and also kind of exist only partially in the enthusiast space. Like even if watch enthusiasm surrounding the Aqualand, the Aqualand would still exist. And then like, you know, it's it's a tough look these days given, you know, things we've learned about his past in the last little while. But, you know, Clinton wore a a Timex. That's I guess that's a reverse flex if you're the president. Right. Um but uh but yeah, not not not necessarily the the the face you want for that watch these days. So that is what it is. But yeah, that's uh that's about how it works for me. Thanks so much for that question, Drew G. And uh next up, we've got one from James Vincent. He says, You're at your favorite bar, restaurant, or pub in the world, and you stay till closing to enjoy a well-earned evening off of watches, gear, and TGN QA episodes. At the end of a better than normal evening unwinding, the owner pours you a shot of that special bottle for special occasions, and he or she says they're retiring. Did you want to take this place on? What is the place and would you take it on? Jason, do you have a kind of a favorite spot that, you know, if it was offered to you uh to to, you know, start a new chapter of your life as a barkeep or a restaurateur. Uh would would you want to step into that world
Jason Heaton ? Well it's a place I haven't visited yet, but it's on my list and um I think I I know for a fact I would like it and it's one I've read about and people have adv uh kind of recommended, and it's called the Old Forge, um, which has the nickname the most remote pub in the world. It's on the Noidart Peninsula in Scotland and it requires either a a ferry ride or to get there overland you have to do a twenty-eight mile hike to get there. So, you know, three day hike. And and you know, I I I just love the idea that, you know, uh to take the the hard way to to to do a three day hike and sleep in a bothy along the way or camp or whatever. And then you get to the end and you get like this really satisfying pint of beer. Um I think is just such a great idea. And uh so yeah, I think I think that would be that would be my pick. I I think the only place that comes close to that sort of vibe that I've actually visited was also in Scotland, and it was a place called the Apple Cross Inn that required this amazing drive up and over um this this kind of mountain pass and down this extremely windy hairpin road that I did in a in a defender, actually in Lewis Heath's Defender, um years a few years back and uh um kind of similarly remote um but accessible by a vehicle. But uh something like that, I think, would be my pick
James Stacy . Okay. Yeah, that's a good one. How about you? Um for me, I I don't I don't think there is one that I would really want to take over. You know, some of my there are uh there's a few there's a few spots that I like, but I feel like owning it and trying to run it myself would ruin that my my enjoyment of it. And you know, some of my favorite bars that I've been to, or or you know, places for a great drink, that sort of thing would be pretty far far flung. You know, there's a couple pretty killer spots I've been to, uh very quiet, low key sort of uh third story bars in Tokyo where you go like this is if I made a bar, this is kind of like this is the zone, I think where where where it would kind of land. And yeah, certainly been to a lot in the in the UK that I thought were quite fantastic. But then the you know the business side of it and and the I think it's quite a difficult way to to sort of succeed. I'm not sure that I would want to be more than a patron. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I get that. But there's it's definitely like a there's a romance to the idea of like oh I could I could take this over from gym or whatever and and but then what what are you gonna do then right I'm not gonna make the podcast anymore uh no I've I mean I've definitely definitely dreamed of the idea and like you know Sarah and I have talked about the idea of like doing something more like a brewery or a um what what's known in some places as a slashy or a bottle shop um where you could also record the show and do live events and stuff like that, but that's a out of the scope. That's a different perhaps an answer for a different question. Thanks for that one, James Vincent. That's a fun one. Got to think of a couple of good glasses I've had around the world. All right. Next up
Jason Heaton we have a question from Carl. He says, uh if you could see any four bands, singers, or musicians alive or dead in concert, who would you choose? I feel like we've had this one before or something similar. Um we definitely had
James Stacy one where you could go back in time to a specific moment, like to experience like unknown unknown live performance. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Wan you want to go back and forth? I've I've got my I've got my four. I mean, this is one I could you could come up with twenty, but yeah. I'm not sure it's more interesting than four. Yeah. Yeah. What's your what's kind of the first one that jumped to mind for you
Jason Heaton ? Yeah, the first one was an easy one for me. It was you know, I grew up in the eighties listening to um Sting and the Police, and I the police had broken up in eighty-four and I just missed, you know, being able to see them in concert. So I'd love to I'd love to have gone back or seen the police. Um, you know, I'm not sure that if they regrouped now if that would be as interesting as kind of in their prime. But uh that's my first pick.
James Stacy That's a good one. Yeah. Mine uh mine's Pink Floyd. Probably 1979, 1980. Yeah. Yeah. We should put it just after the wall. Uh that said, I have a family member who got to see them at a now kind of infamous concert in 1975 for Wish You Were Here in Hamilton, Ontario, one that, you know, at least anecdotally, or or the urban myth, urban legend is that it changed all of like the noise rules and laws for uh for Hamilton. Yeah, I mean j pink pink Floyd anytime after seventy-three. So we we you could get some dark side of the moon in there. But Wish You Were Here's probably the one the ep the the the uh album I listen most commonly to by them. I I I I've liked it since I was sixteen and I heard it the first time. Um and I I still like it the same way now. And then I think I would it'd be remiss if I was, you know, spending one of my four wishes in Carl's hypothetical if I didn't put myself in a position where I could have seen comfortably numb live. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I think that'd be pretty good. So yeah, let's let's call it a little later on post seventy se Yeah. Um and that that'd be my first one be yeah, Pink
Jason Heaton Floyd. Sure. So I'll skip ahead my number three and that would be Led Zeppelin. I think uh to see them in concert would just be incredible, you know, kind of maybe early mid seventies, you know, maybe seventy five, seventy six, somewhere in there, kind of just, you know, kind of when they were at their prime. Um I just I I think they're just the the most amazing collection of musicians um possibly ever put together. Just such an incredible band. Um Robert Plant's voice is an instrument in itself and um Jim
James Stacy my Page, et cetera. Man, by seventy by seventy five, you've got three, four, houses of holy, and physical graffiti on the possible set list. Yeah. That's really good. Yeah. And that means I that that actually allows me to free up one because I would have also said Zephone's gonna be something else to see live. Yeah. I'm gonna go with the answer I gave in a previous version of this sort of question, and that would be Queen in the early 80s. I think would have been something else. You know, they they have a very famous Montreal tape have. They uh Wembley as well. Uh either of those would be fine. Um I there's something about you know, I I don't sit and listen to Queen that often and I probably don't know the majority of their songs, but there's something about their hits in a huge theater. Uh, you know, Save Me and Bohemian Rhapsody and We Are the Champions. Like I just that live would be nuts, dude. We'd be nuts. Yeah. And the talent. Like, like, like with Zeppelin, like with uh like with um Pink Floyd. I just think the talent's off the charts, especially when it comes to Mercury's vocals. Ye
Jason Heaton ah. Yeah. All right. Well I have one
James Stacy more. Yeah, my fourth um is
Jason Heaton a band I could potentially still see. Um they're still still making music. Um and it's one that I discovered relatively recently and I kind of wished I'd learned about them earlier, kind of like twenty fourteen era. And that is the War on Drugs. Um it's a band that w just I did I kind of was off music for several years and then recently, like within the past two years, I started going into their back catalog, and th they're they're just incredible. I mean that the the the the music um I don't know I listen to you know under the pressure like on repeat when I'm running or you know just like some of their stuff is just uh it's just phenomenal. Um there's some great live videos on YouTube that I've watched um of them in concert and they just look like an amazing live band. Of course they have live albums, um, which is a a a good sign that that that they're popular and do well in in the live format, which can't be said for all bands. So um yeah, the war on drugs would be my fourth p
James Stacy ick. That's great, great pick. Uh definitely if you know if we extended the list, they would be on mine for sure. Yeah. Um, yeah, a good a good one. Um yeah, mine speaking of bands that might not be that great live, you know, give me the vines in about 2007. Hopefully, Craig's not in a bad mood. Um I just, you know, one of my all-time favorite bands. I think if you if you take I don't know, a dash of the Beatles, a dash of Nirvana, and then something that's for me more interesting than both of them. Um, and put it together, you get the vines. Uh that said, it's a band that's known for only one kind of personality within their music, like Ride with Me in the Apple track, like in the iPod ad, and and um they have this other side, this more like sonic, kind of psychedelic feel that I've been going back to for 20 years, 25 years at this point. And I just, you know, there's three or four albums by them that will always be around for me that I just absolutely adore. Have aged really nicely. I haven't aged out of them like I did a lot of a lot of music I was liking at the time. I just don't catch that often now. Um or I only do it more for nostalgia. These ones have never really left um in terms of like winning days and highly evolved and and that sort of thing. So yeah, it'd be the Vines in about two thousand seven. And then uh finally, and this is one you definitely can't see, uh, it'd be Stan Rogers. Uh there's a a performance uh with Stan in nineteen eighty three on YouTube. I'll put it in the show notes. Uh I wish I was sitting in that bar watching him kind of deliver a handful of songs and some funny banter in between. Uh but yeah, Stan Rogers and about nineteen eighty three. Very specific, but I'll I'll include the video in there. It's great. Nice. Yeah. Good pick. Fun question
Jason Heaton . Thanks, Carl, for that. Yeah, fun question, Carl. Good one. All right. Let's uh let's wrap up with uh kind of an easy one from from the Lugi guy or the Lugi guy. We're not sure how to pronounce that. Um specifically for me. What is the backstory to Ruby and what does the dog owner life look like? Um presumably this question was from last year before the cat came along um when I was just a one pet owner. It's evolved. It's evolved. Jeez, crazy. Um yeah, that's the the dog and cat owner life is looking very different these days. Um yeah, so I got I got Ruby in the fall of uh twenty twenty four. Um this was you know after the summer after my divorce and I was kind of just al alone and kind of at loose ends and um just you know, I had grown up with dogs, but I had never uh owned one as an adult and it was always a little bit intimidating and I I think even you know, being single, I guess, at the time it was, it was something that I was a little concerned about because I thought, you know, dogs require a lot of attention and I uh traveled a fair bit at that time and I wasn't quite sure how I was gonna handle that plus, you know, twice daily walks and you know, picking up poop and the different vet concerns that you have with with dogs versus cats, which which I've had many cats over the years. Um and so I just started looking in kind of the rescue online rescue websites for for dogs locally. And she was actually the first dog I saw. So I saw her picture on I think it was called the the rescue pack. Um it's kind of a local uh dog rescue service. Um and I don't know she just had a really sweet face. I took a friend along and went and and met her and was smitten. She just had such a friendly demeanor. And uh yeah, then I i this is actually it's funny because I I I took her for a walk, I met her, it was the the weekend before I came to Toronto for the that first year that we did the time piece show together. Um and I don't remember if I told you about it at the time, but I committed to adopting her, but I said I can't pick her up until I get back from this trip to Toronto. Um and it was, you know, the first weekend in October, or actually I think it was the Thursday before um the first weekend in October. And I went and picked her up and the rest is history. So it's um the dog owner life, it's it's I I've slipped right into it. I'm I'm I'm a full on dog owner. I've got you know, I've got all the gear. I I'm walking her twice a day with listening to podcasts. Um and it's just been it's been a blast. I I can't imagine life without her. So it's great. And she's getting along well with Smitty the cat. So um that's a good way to kind of book end this episode because I gave the cat update at the beginning and and finished with a a bit of a dog update. So yeah, for sure.re. That's the scen Looking for
James Stacy ward to looking forward to meeting Ruby and Smitty. Uh maybe maybe even this summer. We'll have to see how the how the travel pans out, but it might be kind of fun. Yeah. Maybe we'll have a goldfish or something by that time. Yeah. The rabbit. Right. Yeah, exactly. You can borrow Cornelia for a while. Yeah, right. That's great. Yeah. Thanks so much for that question and for all the questions. So a big thank you to uh the Loogie guy, Carl, James Vincent, Drew G, Dan H, Jason Serma, JR, and Sam Cordle for the questions this week. We do have a stack left over for one final and then we'll open up the thread and start this all over again. Uh, but we are approaching uh, you know, the the the big the big cycle of new watches uh for April. So it should be uh lots of fun episodes in the next little while. Uh Jason, with that in mind, you want to put a bow on it with uh some final notes?
Jason Heaton Yeah, sure. I came across this video somehow, I don't remember how, but um, it was from the Atlantic magazine and their YouTube channel, and it's actually an eight-year-old video that I just was not aware of. And it's called The Most Elusive Man in North America. And it's about this guy, Doug Ibe, who was a kind of a legendary free skier back in the 1960s and 70s, living in Whistler, actually, who then kind of went off in in his older years, became a bit of a a recluse, uh a bit of a I call him a hermit. These things always sound so pejorative, but um kind of moved into a bus in the woods in British Columbia, lives completely off the grid, he doesn't have a phone. He doesn't have internet. Um, a bit pranicy like, but but even more minimalist. Um and he's also an ultramarathoner. So he he spends his days building trails and running through the woods, and he's he's in his seventies, um, quite eccentric and apparently he's very difficult to track down and and interview and only one person has done that over the years. So um these reporters from from the Atlantic decide that they want to kind of go track him down and and interview him and and it's really quite good. It's it's a short video, it's about fourteen minutes long. And I guess, you know, if I have one criticism with this video, but with any of this style video is they're never long enough. You know, I always feel like they're just getting into the story and then they're over. And I'm like, this thing could have gone on for 45 more minutes. And I realized the constraints of budget and time and all that kind of stuff. But uh it's a it's a it's a very intriguing story. I just love I love stories like this about people that kind of hung it up and and turned their backs on kind of conventional society
James Stacy . I think it's a it's a neat thing. That's great. Yeah, good pick for sure. I've not seen this, so uh a good one for uh for the lounge this evening before I jump on my flight. Yeah.. All right How about you? You got a YouTube as well. Yeah, I have a YouTube link. Uh that I I we've talked about Harry's Garage before Harry Metcalf, uh, you know, the the guy behind Evo magazine back in the day. He now has this fantastic YouTube channel where he just talks about his cars or cars that he's borrowed, drives them around, you know, his farm or the roads around the farm. More recently and more to the the point of today's uh final notes, uh he got uh a few days to drive around uh the Gordon Murray Automotive T-50. Uh so I've shared some videos with the T50. Um this is the spiritual successor, we'll say, to the McLaren F-1, made by the same guy, Gordon Murray, now under his own company. You're talking about a three-seater with a central driving position, six-speed manual, a Cosworth 3.9 liter V12 that revs to 12,100 RPM. Uh I I mean this this car weighs something like twenty-two, twenty-three hundred pounds. Um it's it's quite pretty and you know I'm I I the divisiveness of the fan in the back is up to you. I think it's not something I need aesthetically. Uh the car could be prettier, but just from the specialness standpoint of again the same layout as a McLaren F1, and then this insane motor and the six speed and you know all the switch gears custom. All the everything everything about it is custom. These are a few million dollars and then they're double that now. But this video is great because it's it's Harry and his very normal down to earth. He has a a wonderful car collection, but I think if you've watched any of his videos, he he comes at it like a like a uh museum curator. He wants to know all the details, he wants the book about the car, he loves to be able to drive them and explain the process. He takes them on long road trips. You know, he took his testosterone down to Africa. Uh, he does some really cool stuff. I've I've met Harry once or twice at car events, and he's just an absolute gem. And I loved this video because it's it's a car where you know the the Ollie marriage top gear video was amazing, but it's a road test where they're you know going through tunnels and and that sort of thing. And this is more like one old guy sitting in this totally raucous vehicle, just kind of giving you some context for it. And you know, he has experience with enough other cars of this ilk to bring some context to the table. And then I will I'm not going to spoil it, but he goes and finds a friend, a very famous friend who lives in the similar area to him, and they they go for a ride in the car, and it's great. It's a great piece of YouTube car video. And as a as a guy whose first or second car magazine was, you know, the the McLaren F1 cover on Road and Track, which I still have. Uh I just that these cars will always fascinate me and I think the T33 looks incredible whenever that uh it kind of becomes more common to uh YouTube videos and that sort of thing. But special thing to see in a video and Harry does a great job with it. Yeah, I do like his stuff. That's good
Jason Heaton . All right, cool. Fun uh fun episode, as always. Um, thanks for watching questions. Yeah, right. Guys who live in buses. Yeah, I love it. All right. Well, as always, thanks so much for listening. If you want to subscribe to the show notes, get into the comments for each episode or consider supporting the show directly, and maybe even grab a new TGN signed NATO, please visit thegraynado.com. Music throughout a siesta by Jazzar via the Free Music Arch
James Stacy ive. And we leave you with this quote from Samuel Johnson in The Rambler: Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect.