Kabbooms.
If you thought four hours a day, twelve hundred minutes a week was enough, think again. He's the last remnants of the old Republic, a soul fashion of fairness. He treats crackheads in the ghetto cutter the same as the rich pill poppers in the penthouse.
Wow.
The clearing House of Hot takes break free for something special. The Fifth Hour with Ben Maller starts right now.
In the air everywhere. The Fifth Hour we meet Ben Maller and Danny g. Happy Saturday to you, the last Saturday before the holidays. But you already knew that. That's the twenty first day of December, Danny, and here we are hanging out on big, big holidays today. It's a winter solstice today.
Yeah, I've been the past couple of days. Every single day on the freeway was like a Friday.
Yeah, and it's been nasty, man. It took me forever to get back from Benny versus the Penny. On Thursday, it was as bad as like the day before Thanksgiving break, you know, and everyone's gone. It was unreal.
I feel like half the people are trying to get the f out of Dodge and the other half of the people are trying to get one last work day in.
Yeah, it's it's it's not so, it's not so. So how does one celebrate, by the way, the winter solstice?
Do it?
What are you supposed to do? I have a moment, you know, that's some kind of drink or a doughnutters, I don't know.
It's uh, you think you're supposed to write six six six on your forehead.
There you go, it's a good idea, and.
You run naked through your nearest target.
So this is the shortest period of daylight and the longest night of the year in the northern hemisphere. So this is that's the winter solstice. So there you got your farmer's almanac. And in the beginning, nine point eight billion years ago the universe was created, we think, who the hell knows? And the Sun the earth whole thing. And then sixteen hundred BC that is the latest possible date for the construction of the monument that revolves around
the Sun's or I don't know. There's a lot of mumbo jumbo and they talk about stone hinge and all this stuff, but today is the day for the winter solstice. It is also there's some other fugazy holiday. It's Humbug Day today, Danny. So that's the day I can get into humbug.
Yeah, I know, you could ruin somebody's trip to Disneyland.
Oh.
Yes, National Humbug Day today every December twenty first, and allows you to just say, bo humbug. That's it. It's holiday season, you know, a lot like going on. I presents for people and parties and all that, and so why not just have a day people that created is that you're allowed twelve humbugs today, which is the day of the holiday. It is a day with so many opportunities. Shout out my homeboy Ebenezer Scrooge. Absolutely right, it is a day for him ba humbug at the end of
the day, Danny. We also celebrate It's don't make your bed Day.
Our teenage daughter celebrates that daily.
Celebrates that.
The time.
There was one other one that I caught my attention. I'm trying to find it. There's a bunch of these weird Oh, it's a short girl Appreciation Day today, Danny. That's yeah, goal Appreciation Day, the twenty first of December. Who came up with that? My god, I don't know.
That's how I met my wife inside the grocery store. I reached up to get a jeremanne as far off the shelf, and.
The rest is history. You get away from me. On today's Fifth Hour, we will have not my comrade, the PSA public service announcement, and fire the commons, plus well have the phrase of the week. All that and more. I would like to begin by pointing out that I was very excited on Friday. I had Thursday night into
Friday off from the radio show. We still did the Fifth Hour podcast on Friday, but then the rest of the day I had time to relax and I was looking forward to watching a competitive college football playoff game yesterday between the fighting Irish of Notre.
Dame bringing back the BCS bring back BC.
I was like, I really, in my head, Indiana was going to make this a game. It would be a fourth quarter game. It would be decided in the fourth quarter, and it was like twenty seven to three years something like it was in Indiana scored late a couple of times to make it look a little closer than it was, but it was a total disaster for the Hoosiers. They had an opportunity. I had an opportunity, and they did not play well last night, so we'll see if better
things happen. Here today is the College Football Extended Dance Remix. That's what we say in radio, right, Danny, the extended dance remix of the college football Playoff, which will be going on between now and forever.
I guess yeah, I heard they're going to turn this into a European style tournament next year.
Oh is that right?
But yeah, they're taking a page from the NBA.
Well yeah, yeah, have a cup. Just have a cup. Have a Middle Eastern airline. The other thing too, they can do they should have in college. You should go to a lower level. You know that. You know European soccer. If you soccer, you like the worst team, you gotta go. Relegation they call it. I love relegation. Relative in America we reward in competence. I don't like that in American sports, if you're the worst team, you get the top pick.
But imagine, Danny, you're a Raider fan. Instead of playing for the top pick, imagine the Raiders and Giants were desperately trying to win to avoid being sent to the Canadian Football League. It would be a much different dynamic right.
This whole season would have been completely different. Then, instead of losing on purpose, the front office would have scrambled and signed your quarterback Matthew Stafford back when he was available.
Yeah.
Oh a trane inform. Yeah, exactly, exactly, exactly. Yeah, So I did want to share this story. So earlier this week we had an in studio visit. Now, not a guest, because I don't do guests because I'm on at night. Guests are normally paid and all that stuff you go through the pr people, so I don't do that. On the overnight show, we have people I like, people I know or might know or know from the radio. And so this week our friend Jesse better known on the show as Jay Scoop, he had reached out to me.
He just got back to the States from fifteen months this cat spent in Ukraine. He was helping out the military in Ukraine, and he came back to visit us. And he's won the Malord Palooza talent show four times, He's been a judge in the talent show. Very talented musician, he's got the gift. And so he stopped by and was telling his stories about what life was like living in a war zone and helping out the Ukrainian Jayscoop
was in the US military. He served a number of years back in the day, and so he has military training and he felt that his family is from that part of the world, in the DNA and all that, so he felt the need to help out. So he went there and was helping the troops and not on the front lines, but he was occasionally on the on the front lines against the the Russian troop. So it was a controversial show.
Danye Yea. I was going to say, did you get any complaints from any Russians?
Well not, I don't know if they're Russian or not. But I got a lot of complaints from people that were upset by that. So I also got people that loved Jayscoop and thought, wow, this is great, this is wonderful. But everything's political. That certainly is political, listen, I And it's not an issue whether I agree with all the money that Joe Biden sent over to Ukraine, right because I obviously I think you know where I stand on
that day. I think it's a little obsessive, but I respect a guy that would go out there and if you're living in a war zone. Jay Scoop could have easily died been hit by a missile. There were missiles that hit near where he was staying in Ukraine, so and I wanted to hear his stories. And he he had brought a couple of things that I didn't know about for show and tell. He did give me a
as a gift. There was a medical pack that had been given from the US people that were there, the ex military that were there, that they'd given to the Ukraine people. He'd shown me that and he said that was something I could have. And then he also brought and this is where he got really controversial, the helmet that had been worn in the goggles from a Russian soldier that had been killed out in the battlefield.
And I saw I saw pictures of this.
Yeah yeah, So he didn't. I mean, he handed me this on the air. He checked this out, So I was all right, helmet whatever. So I grabbed it. And then as I'm holding it, he like tells me this somebody died in that. Oh you know, yea, yea, And you know it's a little creepy and a little odd, you know. But I looked at it and it was like this helmet looked like it was very old on the inside and stuff. I don't know if you tell from the photo.
It only got weird when Coop took it and started to grind weed up inside of it.
So that's a Russian bong, dude, Come on anyway. So he showed me that and some other things that he had taken from from Ukraine. He also said that when he left going he left through Poland and there was you know, some issues getting stuff out of there and whatnot. And it was really nice to catch up with him and we had a nice visit. But I did get some emails from people very upset, you know, ranting and raven.
One person sent me about five pages Danny. I didn't respond, and I'm not going to name them because I'm.
Gonna four and a half pages too much.
Yeah, you know, going on this guy in the soapboxes. Oh my, you know, I love you. It's always I love your show. But you know, and did I point out Danny anything before the word but is not true? When you say something and then put the butt in there, then that you're changing the context of everything. So and I get that people have issues with the certain things I understand it. I did not put Jayscoop on to make some kind of political statement. He's just a friend
of mine from the show. He's been great to us. He set up that Seattle meet and greet we did back in twenty nineteen, right before COVID, and that was his production and he made that happen and I had a great time in Seattle hanging with him and Robbie the Mariner fan came up from Oregon and all those guys, and we had we had a wonderful time. JJ and Renton, Nostridinius. I mean, these are legends on the show that we're at the Malor meet and greet, and some other people
I did not name that will be very upset. I did not name them. So we go back to a number of years. He'd been a big part of the show over the years, and so he's back. We were worried about him. He would give me some updates while he was there, and so I'm happy he's back. And I felt like, well, I have him in every once in a while, why not change it up a little bit.
So it was great to have Jay Scoop stuff. I think some of this also, Danny not only is it political right, because it is controversial the amount of US tax dollars that went to Ukraine. I totally get that. It was also a case of people, I think a little jealous of the amount of attention Jayscoop got. You know how the p Ones could be, Danny. They don't like the others getting too much attention. They want their own slice of the pie, and when somebody else gets the whole pie, they don't like that.
So I think we got a new nickname for you to add to the list, that the income poop of NATO, NATO's nincom poopers.
Yeah, exactly. I am not making some kind of geopolitical statement. I am not. I just thought it was an interesting story. It's not every day that you know somebody that spent fifteen months living in a country that is at war and chose to live there, just like you chose to go there and anyway, all right, but I guess that's a public service announcement to the p Ones. Danny was like, just if you're gonna complain, I get it, you're unhappy. You don't need to send five pages. That's way too much,
As Danny said, just say, send one line. You fing f fu and then move on. That's all you need to do. Don't waste your time. I didn't read all five pages, by the way, I only read like one page and that.
Was that blank, my blank and blank.
You have you ever been to the CVS pharmacy right down the street from our studios.
Yes, I have. And not only have I been there, Danny, I have been there in the like three thirty four in the morning, when every crackheads out. He's inside and outside that But are they still open twenty four hours? They used to be open twenty four hours?
We ours, I know they still are.
Okay, I've not been there in a while, but that is one of the few places out in the San Fernando Valley that is open twenty four hours. I've been there not a while, though not in a while while. Always a little shady crowd at that location.
Though everything else in that shopping center has came and gone.
There used to be a Marie Calendar's restaurant.
There, remember that.
Yeah, that's long gone. Now the big party City that's there. They just announced that their remaining locations are all closing.
Party Cities going out of business.
Really, yeah, out of business. And another company killed by Amazon.
You killed it?
Wow, that's wild. I did not know that. I did not know that. Interesting.
So two afternoons in a row on Thursday and Friday, I left my house early. Where our school district is, they did half days for the middle school.
In high school. They tortured the kids, made them stay.
A week longer than a lot of other school districts, but they did half days. I guess just so the schools could still get that money. Okay, so my clock, I usually leave by one pm to get to the studios by one four. In this case, I had to get on the road at twelve thirty because I knew it was like a ticking time bomb with all the parents. Took me fifteen extra minutes just to make it to the freeway early. Getting to Sherman Oaks, I said, okay, well, you know what, I'm gonna do a little bit of
stocking stuffer shopping by going to that CVS. There is a line, and I'm not exaggerating here. It had to have been at least twenty different people one checker. That's it in the whole stinking store.
Nightmare, nightmare. Yeah, that's leave territory. That's I ain't wait.
I figured I had to get at least one nice cool picture that was on a magnet for my Wifey of CoA, of big Baby CoA. Figured that would be a nice memory, great photo of him, and I turned it into three magnets, put the order in on their kiosk, avoided that big, long line. I'm like, great, I have my little receipt. I'll just come back after Covino and Rich and pay for it, and hopefully there won't be as many people in line. So I go back get these magnets. There was about ten people in line when
I was there. It still sucked, but wasn't as bad as when I placed the order. I get out of the store, I open up the little thing they put pictures like photos in, and these magnets suck.
They're too dark. The pictures came out dark. They look cheap.
Yeah, they're off center, but I'm not going back in there. On Friday, I get there early again and I said, well, you know what, might as well talk to a manager. I'll ask if they could redo these. Oh my god, there's so many damn people in this one stupid line, standing there screaming at a manager as this older gentleman. Meanwhile behind me, more people are lining up. More people are lining up because this one guy is putting a stranglehold on things. By the time I got up there,
I felt bad. I lightheartedly said to the guy, I have a return too, but I'm not gonna yell at you.
He looked like he wanted to quit right on the spot.
This guy looked like he wanted to say fuck you to all of us and leave the CVS.
Oh I bet yeah. I mean, what a nightmare, And you don't make a ton of money doing that, and people are just complete assholes.
Yeah, it just got me feeling a little bit.
Man.
This is the time of the year where customers need to take a chill pill, take a deep breath, and have a little bit of patience.
Yeah. Fortunately, my wife buys everything on Amazon, I think, so we really haven't gone to the store other than for groceries we have. Today is a big party day today, Danny. It's the not the ugly sweater party that was a couple weeks back. Today is the day that we all get the family party together that later today, the mallor family party. More on that later.
Peanut butter and banana, Oh.
My God, Brownies, cookies, up the wazoo, Up the wazoo. Crazy. I'm ready to fire the cannons, is what I'm ready to do. So I did want to say that I had a wonderful time last week. I mentioned I was going to the Bucks Chargers game, and Chargers have played again.
I'm back on Thursday against the Broncos. I did not go to that game, as I said on yesterday's podcast, but last Sunday I attended the Charger game mainly I'm not gonna lie, mainly to see my friend TJ Reeves, part of the Fox Alumni Association, used to host a weekend show, and TJ is a buddy of mine radio pal, and I make it a point every time Tampa comes
to town. They don't come to town every offen you very often and maybe once every two or three years, sometimes longer than that, they'll come to LA And so I made sure to pay TJ a visit and hang out, good conversation and he says hello, Danny. He also told me he went to dinner on Saturday before the game with an old friend of ours, the z Dog, who works at our company. Used to be one of the big boss Fox sports.
Radio and Ben I would have gave TJ a full time show, but you know, I don't have all the power at the.
Network pretty much, so everyone's got z dog stories. So he told me about that and it was it was great. We had a good, good visit, tell all the radio stories. And TJ's got a couple of daughters who are now in high school. And I've known, Wow.
I remember when his kids were little.
I know, dude. It's like we used to see photos of his little kids, you know, and they were little girls, like little children and babies. And now they're in high school. It's like, wow, where is It's like we're just zooming by life. Anyway, it was great to catch up and hear about them a little bit and you know what
they're doing and all that. And then TJ brought me over to say hello to my old friend Gene Deckerhoff, the iconic voice of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and for so many years I knew him as the voice of the Florida State Seminals. Back in Florida State was good at college football. I'm old enough to remember when they were good. It's been a long time, and Geen Deckerhoff was the play by play guy for both Florida State in their glory days with Bobby Bowden and has done
Tampa Bay. And his signature call with the Bucks is fire the Conons and so and the story that you know about Dan. We talked about it on this podcast. Last time Tampa Bay was in LA I think they were playing the Rams if I remember, But I was at the game again to see TJ and I was in the elevator at Sofi Stadium. I was going upstairs and I heard this voice of somebody trying to find out where to go. He needed to go to the Tampa Bay radio booth, and I immediately recognized the voice
without ever knowing. I didn't know what this guy looked like. I didn't know much about other than the voice Geen decker Off, and so immediately, oh, wait a minute, I
know where to go. Gene, and I escorted him down the corridor through a security door and to the Tampa Bay Visiting Radio booth at Sofi because I've been there a number of times, and so we were catching up and Gene was very polite, very nice man, and uh it was he told some stories and you know a couple of stories and I wasn't with him for that long. He was getting ready for the game, and and he you know, he's one of these guys. I was very
lucky when I got into radio. I started out at you know, I think you were younger than I was. I was nineteen when I got into radio. You were how old were you? You were even younger than fifteen? Yeah, I was nineteen. Danny was fifteen. So we're lifetime radio dudes. But when I first started, I went from in the crowd like at eighteen and then nineteen, I'm in the press box and I got a chance to meet all these play by play guys. And they're all pretty much dead,
you know. And I but I loved here. I love these old sorts. I read books about these guys, like Harry. Uh, Harry Carey in Chicago. I wrote an elevator with Harry Carey, saw him several times, talk to him several times. I was in the elevator Dodger Stadium when he tried to pick up the elevator girl. Uh, and it was very awkward. Uh. Ernie Harwell, the voice of the Tigers. I met Ernie, a very nice man. All these guys were really cool. They were just happy that some young loser knew who
they were. And then Harry Callous. That wasn't all I used to have Harry. Harry Callous did PSAs he was the voice of NFL film Harry Callous and had the pipes the voice of God. It sounded.
Now on this trip, did you get to meet the Chargers play by play guy Matt money Smith?
No, I know. I know him, but I don't know him as well as Petros. It's weird, you know, it's like the Petrol's money shows. Yeah, you know, it's not like Petros. I I've known Petro since he played football at USC. It's an odd thing. We used to have him on the Ben and Dave show that I did in LA. So I'm known p since he was a college kid like Matt was at k Rock. So it's like a different I know him. He's polite and nice to me, but I don't really know him that well.
You know what I mean, Danny. It's like one of those. But I did see him walking around. I did see him walking around, but I didn't want to bug him, and he obviously didn't want to bug me because he didn't say anything where you know, when you're in the room with petros He you know.
Well, Matt had to save his voice anyways for those touchdown.
Calls, especially in the second half. That was so impressive. Oh my god, twenty seven to nothing in the second half of that.
Oh Manchlger's got their asses whooped by Baker Mayfield.
Wow, was that an ass kicking in the second half. I did not see that one coming. I thought, well, I'll be a close game, fourth quarter game, whatever. And no, that was a punch to the solar plexus? Was that? What that wasn't that game? Oh? By the way, today there's a couple of NFL games today. It's a saddy.
Yeah, yeah, it's that time of the year.
My buddy Ralph, Now, when I was in Kansas City at Arrowhead, I was there with Bob, Bob Fesco. He invited me to a Chiefs game and they tailgated at Arrowhead and the guy that is like the tailgate roast master. I don't know this guy, Ralph. So I get a message from Ralph, he owns this Chiefs bus. He's like, hey, why didn't you fly out? You can tailgate with us
before the game on Saturday. It text me yesterday on Friday, and I was like, yeah, that's an easy trip to make, no problem, you know, fly out to Kansas City for the day. He didn't even say go to the game, just I go go tailgate and then you know, just sleeping the busy.
If Mahomes could make the game banged up, you could make it. Ben.
Oh yeah. I was like, you should have sent me a message on Thursday. I could have driven to Kansas City.
That's it I have. Why not?
It's with rush hour traffic in LA. It's like getting around LA. All right, let's go. I got the phrase of the week. Then are you ready for the phrase of the week?
The phrase?
Here's the phrase of the week?
Now.
I thought it was appropriate. At the end of the year and many corporations decide to whack people. We're included in that, by the way, unfortunately, but a lot of companies get rid of people this time of the year.
Yeah.
I saw buddy of mine who worked at a big station in Houston just got let go yesterday.
It's terrible.
I yeah, Eric, Eric listens to our podcast sometimes too, so sorry to hear about that. He was a great third guy on the morning show at this big Houston station and they cut him bullshit.
Well hang in there, Eric, you're on the beach right now. But you know, hopefully things will get better. A lot of these companies wait until, you know, springtime and then they rehire people. It's like for tax reasons. But it doesn't make you feel any better when you're on the beach and all that stuff. And so anyway, the term getting the pink slip, So what does it mean? You actually get a pink slip? So we look up and whatnot. And according to the Dictionary, the first printed appearance of
pink slip was nineteen oh one. It was used to reference insurance companies who notified customers of rate increases for property coverage, and in June of nineteen oh five, the Spokesman Review in Spokane, Washington reported insurance agents were upset about twenty percent rate hike for fire policies, fearing their customers would objectate. So that that was the first one of the first uses of it, So it was about insurance.
In June of nineteen thirty seven, number of teachers were laid off from jobs and the federal government the WPA Adult Education Project, a corner to the New York Daily News. They said the people were laid off, They were dismissed in a dire scene at which police were present to prevent any civil disobedience. The woman and the women out there that were let go. There was like a line of guards up and tables and clerks and all that stuff. Some were handed pink slips. They were fired. If you
got a pink slip, you were fired. Some were giving yellow buttons they were hired, and obviously they were fine. And so the Daily Mail or Daily News rather reported that one laidoff worker had pinned her pink slip to the lapel there to protest the firing. So how frequently this occurred, they don't really know, but it's evidence that people did actually get pink slips, wow, in nineteen thirty so it's not that old the phrase. It's before we
were around, but it's not that old the phrase. So getting the pink slip actually did happen to some people, but the phrase it was originally for insurance stuff.
So she pinned it on like fuck your pink slip.
Like pretty much was. She was a spicy lady, I guess, and she she's pinned it on there, So there you go. That is it getting the pink slip or pink slip a phrase I've used. We've all used it and watch out for the pink slip, and so it actually was used, but it only goes back to the nineteen thirties. Well that's a while now, it's almost been one hundred years. So that is the phrase all the world, the phrase
we enjoy the NFL, enjoy the college football. We play whack them all with our TV today, trying to watch everything and get the holiday stuff. I got a party going on today, so I get that going on. I'll try to sneak in some TV viewing mix that in as well. Anything going on with you, Danny? You want to share with the class?
Yeah, I mean besides watching NFL and a couple of first round CFB playoff games. Hopefully they're better than the Notre Dame game. Yes, we're going to scramble a little bit today and try to pack some bags. We're going to get out of town. What's the one place that we can still afford to bring the kids and it involves a theme park?
Oh, let me see, Nott's very far a little.
Further south, son diego.
Oh, you're going to Lego Land.
Are you Uh no, no, you know, I've never been to Lego Land. But we're gonna take the kids to SeaWorld.
Oh SeaWorld, I think in business SeaWorld.
Oh yeah, oh yeah, thriving because they now have a bunch of nice roller coasters there that the kids love.
Okay, when when co is a little older, you got to take the Lego Land, but not too old, and you'll probably want to poke your eyeballs out when you go to Lego Land.
Probably we're gonna we're gonna try to hit up the San Diego Zoo too.
The Wild Animal part two. And that's if you get a chance.
Oh yeah, yeah, you get there, you get to ride drafts.
Yeah, why not you go? Well, you just get off the tram and run out and run around.
Uh as much as we pay Disneyland every month with those stupid season passes my wife got. There's all these blackout dates, so half the time, more than half the time, you can't even go, even you're a monthly member.
It sucks. It's so stupid, it's so expensive and you can barely go.
So yeah, we're gonna escape to San Diego for a couple of days and We told the kids that's pretty much your big Christmas gift.
Okay, well why not ye yeah, I'll get out. The trips are expensive, all right. Well anyway, have a great rest of your day to day and we will have another pod tomorrow. Tomorrow is another day. We'll talk to you
Then later Skater by flation