S5E6 Was James Dean’s ‘Little Bastard’ Porsche cursed

[00:00:00] Koji: If you could put a curse on an object, what object would you put a curse on?

[00:00:04] Cat: Hmm.

[00:00:05] Dwayne: It's tough. One. I really like to live my life. Curse. Curse. Free. If I'm being honest. But I think, uh, Houston Astros bats. I think they should. You know how like the White Sox, like, are supposed to be cursed because of the, um, or the Black Sox, whatever that of that, that baseball, um, thing where they threw the World Series, the Astros, they don't seem to have paid enough for, you know, the cheating thing. They were stealing baseball signals, and they beat like the Dodgers. They beat the Yankees doing this.

[00:00:35] Koji: It's okay to steal a signal.

[00:00:36] Dwayne: But they were filming it.

[00:00:37] Koji: They were filming it and then relaying it. That's what was illegal.

[00:00:40] Dwayne: Right, right, right. They went above which you could say they were just doing it at a high level. But so right now I would say Houston Astros bats.

[00:00:49] Koji: So so mine. This is the day we're recording this on the day that Charlie Kirk died. So this kind of fits in with that. I think I wrote this before I found out he died though. There's so much hate going on in the world. And I wish that we could, uh, we could curse people's cell phone cameras. So when they take a picture of themselves, when people who hate take pictures of themselves, we could see how ugly they are on the outside as they are on the inside.

[00:01:11] Dwayne: Ooh, that's a good one.

[00:01:13] Koji: So it shows kind of like so like a lot of those, like, especially those mega blonde women who like.

[00:01:20] Cat: They're like really pretty on the outside.

[00:01:22] Koji: I mean, I wouldn't call them really pretty.

[00:01:23] Dwayne: Yeah,

[00:01:23] Koji: But pretty. 

[00:01:25] Cat: Conventionally. 

[00:01:26] Dwayne: Maga Pretty.

[00:01:27] Cat: Yeah.

[00:01:27] Dwayne: Right, right, right.

[00:01:28] Koji: And and but like, everyone thinks they're so. But really, they're just these terrible human beings inside.

[00:01:32] Vanessa: That's so noble.

[00:01:34] Dwayne: That is really good. That's really good.

[00:01:36] Cat: I was just thinking, like, I don't want to curse anything, like I don't.

[00:01:38] Dwayne: That's the sweetest thing I've heard you say Koji 

[00:01:40] Koji: Oh, nice. Thank you. I appreciate that.

[00:01:42] Vanessa: You're like, oh, curse my ex's dick. Better for the world. What?

[00:01:49] Dwayne: Right. And I'm as soon as he said that, my brain went, oh, we could do that. And, uh, girls, BBLs would show up, you know what I mean? But I like I like what you said better. So you could be like, oh, let's see, without the BBL or you know what I mean?

[00:02:05] Cat: I want to curse podcast equipment for men.

[00:02:09] Dwayne: Oh, that's a good one.

[00:02:11] Cat: Whenever there's like three or more men on a podcast, like, all their voices just cut out, like they can't talk anymore. You have to have other people on your podcast. I'm sorry.

[00:02:23] Dwayne: I like both of these a lot, actually. And I don't mind yours either. Vanessa, to be honest, unless you have another one.

[00:02:30] Vanessa: I don't know what I would curse like I the haters like I would curse my name in a way that if someone said something disparaging it would enact the curse on them.

[00:02:42] Cat: Mhm.

[00:02:43] Dwayne: I like that and it would be something where you would know they were talking about you.

[00:02:47] Vanessa: Nah, it'd just be automatic. I put it in the world. Anybody who talks bad, gets the curse.

[00:02:52] Cat: Gets like six weeks of bad luck.

[00:02:53] Vanessa: Whatever it is. Yeah.

[00:02:55] Dwayne: Oh that's interesting. I used to in my road rage situation, I used to. I never wished death on anyone, but I used to wish. Uh, certain amounts of days of diarrhea on people. So. And someone cut me off. I'd be like, four days of diarrhea. But then I realized that could kill you. So I had to, like, down my, you know, I had to be like, okay, half a day,

[00:03:18] Koji: Or just like a day like that prostate test where you.

[00:03:21] Dwayne: Right, right.

[00:03:21] Cat: Or you have to have a prostate exam.

[00:03:23] Dwayne: He has a big finger, you know. I don't know, is that a punishment? I'm not sure.

[00:03:29] Cat: My punishment is like, oh, I hope your internet is glitchy whenever you really need it. I hope it goes out while you have a job interview.

[00:03:37] Dwayne: Yeah, that that's enough to really?

[00:03:39] Vanessa: Yeah, that's 2025. I hope Instagram goes down. What? You know TikTok, buddy.

[00:03:51] Cat: Welcome to the unofficial official Story podcast. This is episode seven of season five. Join us as we dive into the quirky, mysterious, and bizarre. From unsolved mysteries to peculiar pop culture phenomena, we uncover hidden stories and explore alternative realities. My name is Cat;s addicted to her phone a lot. Um, Alvarado. 

[00:04:16] Dwayne: And I'm Dwayne. Uh Dwayne never been cursed, but had a little, uh, brief bad luck with cars. Within a two month period, I had two accidents. But it was, um, a Saturn and a Honda Civic. So that's that.

[00:04:35] Cat: Perkins.

[00:04:36] Dwayne: Perkins.

[00:04:37] Cat: That's a lon gass name.

[00:04:39] Koji: And I'm. And I'm Koji, the slow lane driver on the way to Corona now, because I'm trying to save gas when I drive all the way out there.

[00:04:49] Dwayne: Do you know a guy named Geechi Thai?

[00:04:51] Koji: Why are you looking at me?

[00:04:52] Dwayne: No. Just. No. I don't even know if he's Asian.

[00:04:54] Koji: Yeah, sounds Asian to me.

[00:04:55] Dwayne: But there's a song called, uh. Thank you. It's like. I'm not sure if it's. The song goes. All I want to do is thank you. I don't even know, I don't know, don't know who you are. You let me change lanes when I was driving in my car. I love that song. All I want to do is to thank you. That's my song. And he says it over and over again.

[00:05:14] Koji: I was watching this YouTube video about, uh, road rage. And so what they did is they made people act out their last road rage, but with people walking on the street.

[00:05:23] Dwayne: Mhm.

[00:05:23] Koji: And it was just when they started doing it, it was just so ridiculous. It just made me think like wow. Because for example, like one guy was, you know, like he was mad that they were like stopping. So he'd like pull up in front and just stop. And the guy would run into him and then they would like and but it looked so ridiculous without the car.

[00:05:41] Dwayne: Right, right.

[00:05:43] Koji: Or they're like, throwing stuff at each other and yelling, you know, like you're just like, wow, this is it is kind of ridiculous when you take it out of the car. And the anger. I mean, I get it because I'm angry, I got it. But once you took it out of that and you just made them walking, it just seems so ridiculous when people are, like, pushing each other and and speeding up and stopping.

[00:06:03] Vanessa: I get equally road rage when people do that.

[00:06:05] Koji: Yeah. Me too.

[00:06:06] Vanessa: Like, I live downtown, so it's a lot of people who will cut you off while they're walking, and then they stop to look at their phone, and then you're about to trip over them, and I want to punch them in the back of their head.

[00:06:16] Dwayne: That'd be a good curse. Your phone doesn't work while you're walking across the street or driving or which is.

[00:06:22] Cat: I like that, I like that. Well, it's September, and that means it's the anniversary of the death of Hollywood superstar James Dean. But there's one important question surrounding his death. Was James Dean's little bastard Porsche cursed. It doesn't sound like that was his nickname, by the way. It sounds like I was just cursing. I'm just being rude about his Porsche. That little bastard Porsche. However, before we get to that, let's introduce our guest, Vanessa Graddic. Vanessa is a fearless stand up comedian and producer known for her sharp wit, emotional depth and fast paced delivery. A former social worker turned comic, she's toured internationally, entertained US troops and appeared on Comedy Central, Bet and The Real Husbands of Hollywood. Behind the scenes she's produced for Funny You Should Ask and The Gossip Queens, blending humor with heart in everything she touches.

[00:07:14] Koji: Welcome, Vanessa.

[00:07:15] Vanessa: Thank you.

[00:07:16] Dwayne: That's a great little bio.

[00:07:17] Vanessa: It's a little bio.

[00:07:18] Dwayne: Yeah, yeah.

[00:07:19] Vanessa: And if anybody remembers the gossip queens.

[00:07:22] Dwayne: And low key, you have to update it.

[00:07:24] Vanessa: I do.

[00:07:25] Dwayne: Yeah,

[00:07:25] Vanessa: I do have to update it.

[00:07:26] Cat: Ooh. What would you add?

[00:07:27] Vanessa: Um. Uh, miss Pat settles it. Uh. Comics unleashed.

[00:07:32] Cat: Ooh exciting.

[00:07:33] Vanessa: Producing. And, uh, like, nine different court shows. It doesn't matter. It's fine. This was. This was lovely. I was listening to it, like. Is that me? YYou did some things.

[00:07:43] Koji: This is your second time on the show?

[00:07:45] Vanessa: Yes.

[00:07:45] Koji: What was the first show you were on?

[00:07:46] Vanessa: The first show was, um, serial killers?

[00:07:50] Cat: Yes, I remember that.

[00:07:51] Vanessa: Some of us serial killers.

[00:07:52] Koji: The smiley face was the smiley face.

[00:07:53] Cat: No, that was Jasmine.

[00:07:54] Koji: Oh, Jasmine. Uh.

[00:07:56] Vanessa: It was, um.

[00:07:57] Cat: It was a different one.

[00:07:57] Vanessa: Who would we serial kill?

[00:07:59] Dwayne: That was probably the question at the end.

[00:08:00] Vanessa: Yeah, that was the question at the end.

[00:08:01] Dwayne: Yeah.

[00:08:02] Koji: I'll figure it out.

[00:08:03] Dwayne: So, how's it going? How's it going? And how are you? And enjoying life and life as a producer?

[00:08:08] Vanessa: Um, I feel like those are the same thing, because when I'm not working, I'm sleeping to get ready for work.

[00:08:14] Dwayne: Right, right.

[00:08:15] Vanessa: I am, I'm not. I'm not complaining at all. We had, what, a year and a half of hiatus where I was just trying to make it make the ends meet. So now we're back to work with Comics Unleashed. And funny you should ask then. You know, just trying to do things. I started teaching improv to people in rehab or recovery.

[00:08:32] Cat: Oh. That's fun.

[00:08:32] Vanessa: Uh, yeah, it is a lot of fun.

[00:08:34] Cat: Do you feel like it helps them?

[00:08:35] Vanessa: Yes and no. Like, so what we do is we just take an hour or so to get them out of the heavier stuff that they do throughout the day. And so I do think that it helps us as, as, like a silly release when you're doing all this other stuff. But it's really weird being in these facilities when you're like, oh, perhaps I should spend the night because when you when you like to partake as well.

[00:08:59] Dwayne: What do you mean you would like to partake? Um.

[00:09:03] Vanessa: I'm talking to drunks while I'm actively drinking.

[00:09:05] Dwayne: Oh, oh oh, I see, I see. I'm sorry. No, because.

[00:09:11] Vanessa: I don't want, you know, I drink.

[00:09:12] Dwayne: No, I was thinking drugs. That's why I didn't.

[00:09:15] Vanessa: Oh, no, I didn't. No, actually, most of the people, it's more alcohol.

[00:09:18] Dwayne: I see, I see, I see, I see.

[00:09:20] Vanessa: There are a lot of drugs too.

[00:09:21] Dwayne: But. Right, right.

[00:09:22] Koji: You were on the Ted Bundy episode? Yes. That's right. Was Ted Bundy encouraged by the devil?

[00:09:26] Vanessa: Yes.

[00:09:27] Dwayne: Right, right. Right, right.

[00:09:28] Cat: Mhm.

[00:09:28] Dwayne: Did you enjoy, uh, teaching?

[00:09:31] Vanessa: Um, yeah. I mean, my, you know, my background is I have a master's in social work. So my background is counseling and doing all that. So it kind of merged entertainment and counseling so that I can convince my mom I did not waste all the money on my masters.

[00:09:43] Dwayne: Right, right, right. You know, I'm just thinking, have you? Maybe you thought of this. I don't want to. I don't want to put it out there because you know how ideas are. But, you know, you could turn this into a an idea, a show idea, which you did. Or maybe that's already something you've considered.

[00:09:58] Vanessa: Uh, write it.

[00:09:59] Dwayne: Yeah. Yeah. You know what I mean? Something it would be on a, like an A&E or something, you know what I mean?

[00:10:05] Cat: That's one thing I've heard with, um, in, in screenwriting classes is that, like, don't be afraid to share your ideas because writing is really hard and no one actually likes your idea enough to write it. So you can just.

[00:10:16] Koji: Well, and plus also what I tell what I tell students is that if I gave the idea to every student, they would all write it completely differently because it's based on their personality, their life history, and the way they write. And nobody would write the same. That's why you can't copyright an idea. You can only copyright the actual script or synopsis or something that's tangible, you know? Um, that's why I'm never afraid of telling ideas. I think it's usually fine, especially because, like 99% of ideas you can never do because, I mean, we can't. Like, I only have a limited amount of time to write something, you know. So you might as well just say it out loud.

[00:10:47] Vanessa: Because I am really good at ideas. Then when it comes to sitting down and having the note cards and doing all the process, I can't do it.

[00:10:54] Dwayne: Right, right. But I would like to because Vanessa and I are really good friends. So just the self speak of things. I would like you to say that you want to get better at your execution, but you're not bad at it because I've seen you. I've seen you take so many things from thought to finished product. So, you know, I wouldn't blanket make that blanket statement about myself if I were you.

[00:11:17] Koji: I mean, that's like when you said I couldn't be or I said I couldn't be a stripper, and you said you could be a stripper. Koji.

[00:11:21] Dwayne: Right.

[00:11:21] Koji: And then. And then I eventually became a stripper. That was like an amazing.

[00:11:25] Dwayne: Right, right, right. And I.

[00:11:26] Vanessa: And do we speak life into you?

[00:11:27] Dwayne: And you stripped you stripped fences. Uh. Desks. Chairs. Yeah. Anything that needed something taken off. You did it. And you did a great job.

[00:11:35] Koji: You did a great job.

[00:11:39] Dwayne: No, but. But I think Vanessa is pretty good at executing. I think the issue becomes and I'm struggling.

[00:11:44] Vanessa: I think for me, I'm great at shorts. It's I'm great at the meat. It's the accoutrement that I get lost in.

[00:11:52] Dwayne: But the thing with that, too, is, is that we have our hands in so many different things. And this is where Koji excels. Koji is amazing. It's it's like there's so many, only so many things you can be really good at. And certain things require like way more attention. And but you're doing these other things and some of these other things are immediate. They're more urgent. They pay you whatever the case. So, um.

[00:12:14] Vanessa: Do Cat next give her a compliment next.

[00:12:17] Cat: Oh, yeah.

[00:12:18] Vanessa: We got our flowers.

[00:12:18] Dwayne: Right, right, right. Well, I was thinking about Cat. Cat, uh, is a super self-aware, um, as a young comic because I was listening to the last episode, and when, um, Augie said when he was younger, he wanted to, like, Rage Against the Machine. And, you know, they don't understand. And then you said, that's me now, you know? And I thought that was like that level of self-awareness is what's going to propel you to the next step, to next level. You know what I mean?

[00:12:46] Koji: That's a nice compliment.

[00:12:47] Cat: I appreciate that.

[00:12:48] Dwayne: Yes, yes. Wow.

[00:12:49] Cat: Okay. A lot of positivity.

[00:12:51] Dwayne: Right. Well, you know, I have great friends, so I feel extremely blessed.

[00:12:56] Koji: And, Koji, you're really hot. Oh, sorry. Sorry. That's super awkward.

[00:13:02] Vanessa: Oh, thank you for trying to be appropriate.

[00:13:05] Cat: I actually, I put that in your mouth, like, psychically. I made you say it. So.

[00:13:10] Dwayne: Yeah, but Koji is a machine multitasker extraordinaire.

[00:13:13] Koji: And I just. By the way, I just made a $6,000 feature.

[00:13:15] Dwayne: Oh, nice. Very nice.

[00:13:17] Koji: It was crazy. It was a lot of work.

[00:13:19] Cat: Okay, well, let's get to the bottom of this once and for all.

[00:13:22] Koji: Let's do it. This is the current official story. James Dean, born February 8th, 1931, was a Hollywood actor who was viewed as a godlike symbol of confused, restless and idealistic youth of the 50s. His most notable role was in Nicholas Ray's 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause. On the day of his death, September 30th, after completing the 1956 film giant, Dean was speeding down a highway to compete in a sports car rally in Salinas, California. In the passenger seat was his mechanic, Rolf Wütherich. Wütherich. 

[00:13:58] Dwayne: Yeah.

[00:13:59] Cat: Rolf Wütherich. 

[00:14:00] Koji: I don't speak that. Whatever that is.

[00:14:03] Vanessa: German maybe. 

[00:14:04] Dwayne: It does right.

[00:14:04] Cat: Definitely not a white guy. I'm kidding. The Porsche was driving was a Porsche 550 Spyder, which is also known as Little Bastard. It was considered the fastest car in the world at the time. Dean had owned that car for nine days. However, those cars were made out of aluminum so they were not able to protect the occupants. Wow.

[00:14:27] Dwayne: Yeah, because you know what else is made out of aluminum? Coca-cola cans? I'm thinking this was a thicker aluminum, but I can crush one with my hand.

[00:14:35] Koji: That's true.

[00:14:36] Dwayne: So it's troublesome. You know what I mean?

[00:14:38] Cat: Yeah. Yeah.

[00:14:39] Dwayne: And if and if you doubt me. Listening. People bring the can. I'll crush it. Go ahead.

[00:14:44] Koji: I had a I had a boss that wanted to buy a Porsche, but she didn't know how to drive stick. And so we went to a Porsche dealership and there were three guys. I remember their sales guys, and they were, like, giving us attitude and making jokes about how she couldn't drive a stick. And so then we were like, why would we buy a Porsche from you guys? And then we went to the next dealership and they're like, oh, we have an automatic right here. And she bought it like right there. And I was like, wow, why would you.

[00:15:10] Vanessa: Yeah, this isn't 1950.

[00:15:12] Koji: But plus like, you should make if you're gonna make fun of her, make fun of her after we're gone.

[00:15:15] Vanessa: Yeah.

[00:15:16] Koji: Yeah.

[00:15:16] Cat: Why make the sale first?

[00:15:18] Koji: Yeah, that's what I was like. You lost money on this?

[00:15:20] Vanessa: They're not cheap.

[00:15:21] Koji: Yeah. Like you. Like they could have made a bunch of money. It was weird.

[00:15:25] Dwayne: That's wild. Um, and shout out to, uh, the person who, uh, taught me how to drive stick. It was a girl I was dating at the time. I was thinking about driving a stick shift. She was a really good teacher, so she took me to a little hill.

[00:15:35] Koji: This is this a Is this a euphemism?

[00:15:37] Dwayne: No no no. A Honda Accord stick shift car.

[00:15:42] Vanessa: All I hear in this story that I'm sure is going to be way too long.

[00:15:46] Dwayne: Right.

[00:15:49] Vanessa: Do you know how to drive a stick? I don't know, but I. You could teach me. Boyz in the hood.

[00:15:54] Dwayne: Oh. Right. Right. Yeah.

[00:15:56] Vanessa: I can learn, I don't know, but I could learn. I guess there was that about banging. It had nothing to do with driving that car.

[00:16:02] Dwayne: No, this was a. Yeah, I didn't even. Yeah. No, she taught me how to drive a stick like an actual. And then we put a sticker on the back of the car and we printed out a big sheet of paper that said learning stick, you know, learning manual. So people would be a little patient with me, you know what I mean? Wow.

[00:16:17] Koji: Why would you do that?

[00:16:17] Dwayne: So people so if you, you know, you roll back or you know, you stall a little bit.

[00:16:22] Vanessa: So you've always been this ridiculous. This is from you as a young boy. This isn't new. I thought it's something that came with age. But you've always been.

[00:16:32] Dwayne: I learned how to drive a stick shift, and then you.

[00:16:34] Koji: But. Would get.

[00:16:35] Dwayne: To a point where she said. She said. 

[00:16:37] Koji: It's the the thing in the back.

[00:16:38] Vanessa: The sticker. Yeah.

[00:16:39] Koji: Yeah, that's the weird part.

[00:16:40] Dwayne: But, but but this is why you put that on there. Because at some point the teacher turns to you and goes, you can take that sticker off the window now when you're ready. You know what I mean?

[00:16:51] Vanessa: No.

[00:16:51] Dwayne: And it's a sense of accomplishment.

[00:16:53] Vanessa: A sense of accomplishment is you learn how she teaches you how to drive her stick, and then she drives yours. Is that how it ended?

[00:17:02] Dwayne: Are we still talking about cars? I'm you through me. Yeah. I mean, we hooked up in the car, I guess. But. 

[00:17:09] Koji: Wait. Were you guys married?

[00:17:11] Dwayne: No. No. No, she was really reckless, you know? Listen, listen. I was driving in New York City. I was driving, okay?

[00:17:23] Cat: Huh?

[00:17:23] Dwayne: I was driving, okay. And she climbed on top of me.

[00:17:26] Cat: What?

[00:17:27] Dwayne: And I was like, you gotta get off. I'm driving, not get off. Like, get off me. You know what I mean?

[00:17:32] Koji: Got it.

[00:17:32] Dwayne: So. 

[00:17:34] Cat: That is pretty reckless.

[00:17:35] Dwayne: Yeah. I'm like, I'm driving. I know you think this is hot. I am driving.

[00:17:40] Koji: Okay, that would be hot for you.

[00:17:42] Dwayne: I mean. I appreciate that she wanted to do that, but I was like, listen, time and place.

[00:17:46] Koji: Were you guys married, though?

[00:17:47] Dwayne: No.

[00:17:48] Koji: Sorry.

[00:17:50] Vanessa: It has taken a lot for me to hold my tongue right now.

[00:17:53] Dwayne: Right. Well, she's heard some of these these kind of stories before.

[00:17:57] Vanessa: So many stories.

[00:17:58] Koji: Although it would be, it would be hard to. Drive stick because.

[00:18:01] Vanessa: Sexual advances. Because they weren't convenient.

[00:18:04] Cat: Okay. No. You get to.

[00:18:06] Dwayne: Time and place.

[00:18:07] Cat: Set boundaries. Okay. Do it.

[00:18:10] Koji: I mean, it would be hard because you have to do two feet, right? And then you have to move it.

[00:18:14] Dwayne: So much going on. Yeah, but once I got nice with it, I was able to drive a stick. Once. I drove a stick shift and ate a salad at the same time.

[00:18:21] Vanessa: But you could. The fact that you pick the salad over, cooch?

[00:18:25] Dwayne: But nothing was. Nothing was in my way. I could see clearly like she was in the way of me.

[00:18:31] Cat: Yeah, that's a hazard, I get that.

[00:18:33] Dwayne: Yeah.

[00:18:33] Cat: Last night I tried to eat a Wendy's Frosty while driving, and that was tough. And I was driving automatic.

[00:18:38] Koji: I love the new Frosty Swirls.

[00:18:40] Dwayne: That's the one.

[00:18:40] Cat: Oh, yeah. I got the pop tart one I didn't like.

[00:18:43] Koji: No strawberry one.

[00:18:44] Cat: Yeah, the strawberry pop tart.

[00:18:45] Koji: No, there's there's a pop tart. And then there's this strawberry.

[00:18:47] Cat: Strawberry. Just. I should have gotten just strawberries.

[00:18:49] Koji: Way better. Pop tart doesn't taste good.

[00:18:50] Dwayne: I feel. Like Wendy's. Wendy's to pay us for what we just did. It's okay.

[00:18:56] Cat: Anyways, so they are driving the car.

[00:18:58] Koji: Oh, that's you Dean.

[00:18:59] Dwayne: Unfortunately, Dean's car collided with another driver, 23 year old Donald Turnupseed, with an estimated speed of 85mph, with Dean being the only casualty. Dean had tried to dodge Turnipseed's left turn that went right into Dean's path, but was unable to avoid the collision in time.

[00:19:17] Cat: Oof! It's been said that the intersection where the crash occurred was notorious for collisions, especially the sunlight, at certain times of day. Experts suggest that Dean was unable to see Turnupspeed Because Turnupspeed. Experts. Experts suggest that. Dean. Experts.

[00:19:39] Koji: Oh, wow.

[00:19:39] Vanessa: All right. Let him use.

[00:19:40] Dwayne: It's because of Turnipseed is coming, and you're trying to. I get.

[00:19:46] Cat: Experts suggest that Dean was unable to see Turnipseed because his Porsche was a meter off the ground.

[00:19:53] Koji: This is when things started to take an interesting turn.

[00:19:56] Dwayne: Soon, a string of mysterious, creepy coincidences was set off Francis during the 1956 Pomona Road races. 11 months after Dean's death, William Esrick and Troy Lee McHenry both crashed while driving with parts from The Little Bastard. Although the Porsche was declared a total loss, Eschrich, if I'm saying the name right, used the engine and gave the transmission and suspension parts to McHenry after finding the portion of salvage in a salvage yard. Eschrich survived the accident, but McHenry was fatal. His accident was fatal, which he collided into the only tree on the racetrack.

[00:20:32] Koji: It's like Final Destination stuff.

[00:20:34] Dwayne: Yeah, like you were meant to.

[00:20:35] Koji: Yeah, yeah, like death was coming after him.

[00:20:37] Vanessa: And it also didn't sound like you were talking about the car. It was like, uh, driving with parts from that little bastard who sold me.

[00:20:43] Dwayne: Right, right, right.

[00:20:47] Vanessa: I just got personal.

[00:20:49] Dwayne: I don't know if we mentioned it. I guess he was into racing. He put the number 130 on it.

[00:20:55] Koji: Oh. He did?

[00:20:56] Dwayne: Yeah. Which is, you know, it's just. 

[00:20:58] Cat: 13

[00:20:59] Dwayne: 13 if you don't. Yeah. Don't don't worry about the zero. That's 13. You put the number 13 right on your car. Like almost like a race car. It was on, on on the hood. The number.

[00:21:07] Koji: I mean, it would've been worse if it was like six, six, six or something.

[00:21:09] Cat: Yeah.

[00:21:09] Dwayne: Yeah, that would have.

[00:21:11] Cat: But 13 is the other number. Why is 13 the bad luck number? Do you guys know?

[00:21:14] Vanessa: That sounds like it's another episode. Because I don't know why.

[00:21:17] Dwayne: And we write a bunch of trivia. We we probably.

[00:21:19] Vanessa: We probably.

[00:21:20] Dwayne: Stumbled across that. Yeah.

[00:21:21] Koji: Well, in Japanese and Chinese culture 4.

[00:21:23] Dwayne: Yeah.

[00:21:24] Koji: Because it sounds like death in the the word for it sounds like so you would skip four in Japanese. Japan and China. So I don't know. 13. It probably has something to do with like some superstition, right?

[00:21:35] Cat: I'm asking AI.

[00:21:36] Koji: Oh, nice.

[00:21:37] Cat: Let's find out. Um, okay. It says that 13 is unlucky because it's the number of people at the Last Supper, Jesus and his 12 apostles. And Judas was the 13th person there.

[00:21:51] Dwayne: Interesting.

[00:21:52] Cat: The Norse mythology has it where there's 12 gods having a dinner, and then Loki arrives and Loki is the trickster god. So he's number 13 there.

[00:22:02] Dwayne: So did the bible bite off of the Norse situation, or did.

[00:22:05] Koji: That? Wouldn't be the first time.

[00:22:06] Cat: The Norse would probably be. Well, I mean.

[00:22:08] Dwayne: I don't know which one.

[00:22:09] Cat: It was, apparently. So they mentioned four in East Asian cultures. Uh, and then 17 in Italy.

[00:22:17] Dwayne: Hmm.

[00:22:18] Vanessa: Hmm.

[00:22:18] Koji: Interesting.

[00:22:19] Vanessa: Probably kids get arrested for banging a 17.

[00:22:22] Dwayne: Right.

[00:22:24] Koji: Well, that's still illegal?

[00:22:25] Vanessa: Legal. That's what I hear.

[00:22:28] Dwayne: Oh. You don't.

[00:22:28] Vanessa: You're over 19. It's after 16. There's a two year.

[00:22:31] Koji: Oh, I thought it was half your age. -20.

[00:22:33] Dwayne: I'm not sure, but don't look up the age of consent in every country. It's not.

[00:22:37] Koji: Well, not even not. Even in our. Not even our country. Not in our country. Soon. Right. I mean, there's legislation saying, like 14 year olds, some states in some states and.

[00:22:45] Vanessa: I think federal right now is 16.

[00:22:47] Koji: Yeah.

[00:22:48] Vanessa: But then there's.

[00:22:49] Koji: But there's a lot of talk that's. Changing.

[00:22:50] Vanessa: They're trying to change it. But it's 16 right now. If you are 17, if you are under 18 then there's a two year. I used to be a children's social worker. Two year gap. So if you are 17, you still can't bang a 20 year old because it's more than two years.

[00:23:03] Cat: Mhm. That's smart I like that.

[00:23:05] Vanessa: Yeah I mean I didn't when I was lying about my age at 12 but.

[00:23:09] Koji: Oh jeez. Okay.

[00:23:10] Dwayne: That's another episode.

[00:23:13] Koji: I mean it's just the the Republican man could get like the younger younger girls.

[00:23:16] Vanessa: Mhm.

[00:23:16] Cat: Isn't that crazy. Because they're the ones who are more conservative and like save yourself save yourself.

[00:23:20] Vanessa: They're like yeah. And they're like. 

[00:23:21] Koji: Save yourself.

[00:23:22] Vanessa: For married. I can bang a 12 year old.

[00:23:24] Cat: Yikes.

[00:23:24] Vanessa: Weirdos.

[00:23:25] Cat: Anyways, let's not be political today.

[00:23:28] Koji: Yeah. In another incident, George Barris, a renowned Hollywood custom car designer known for the original Batmobile, bought the destroyed frame the body from Dean's family and sold the two remaining tires. Barris lent the frame to Los Angeles Safety Council as a display to encourage motorists to behave on the road during its time as a display. The frame fell off multiple times, injuring a bystander, on one occasion killing a truck driver on another.

[00:23:51] Cat: That's crazy.

[00:23:52] Koji: Additionally, the two tires supposedly exploded. Barris even claimed in his memoir that the car gave off, quote, bad, bad vibrations. And one time a thief broke his arm trying to steal the steering wheel. However, not everyone believed most of the information in his memoir.

[00:24:07] Vanessa: I mean, he said it, but everybody knew he was full of shit,

[00:24:09] Dwayne: Right right, right, right. Uh, furthermore, the mechanic. Wütherich wütherich wütherich.

[00:24:15] Koji: Why are these names?

[00:24:16] Dwayne: Are I know, right? Furthermore, the mechanic Wütherich was killed decades later in Germany in a car accident. However, the rest of the car stayed in storage in 1960, but caught fire and disappeared now. He didn't get an accident in. In that same car?

[00:24:31] Cat: No.

[00:24:31] Dwayne: He just. He just died. Basically, because he was affiliated, he. It was.

[00:24:35] Koji: Like final destination.

[00:24:36] Dwayne: Destination.

[00:24:36] Koji: Which is, by the way, my favorite movie of all time. Is that right? I watch it like I watch it weekly. And my favorite thing to do is on a plane. I watch Final Destination one the night before. I love watching it and then on the plane. I love watching it.

[00:24:47] Cat: Why?

[00:24:48] Koji: I love it. That's the thing.

[00:24:51] Cat: Do you love about it.

[00:24:52] Dwayne: the person sitting next to you? They must be like.

[00:24:53] Koji: Oh, one of my one of my really close friends. She was, uh, she was taking a plane, and then she saw someone watching it, and she took a picture because she's like, hey, somebody else watches. Uh, sorry. I love Final Destination.

[00:25:05] Cat: Just. It makes you feel things.

[00:25:07] Koji: Yeah, well, horror movies make me sleepy. They actually put me to sleep. Like Halloween and stuff. And I love listening to Creepypastas at night so my wife could hear my headphones, and I just. People are screaming and dying, and I'm like.

[00:25:19] Cat: What?

[00:25:20] Koji: She's like, what are you listening to?

[00:25:21] Dwayne: Outrageous.

[00:25:22] Koji: Yeah.

[00:25:22] Cat: I mean, it's not too different for me. I go to sleep to true crime. Like Debra was murdered for her insurance policy by her husband, Harold. I was like, ah, that's the stuff.

[00:25:35] Koji: Yep.

[00:25:35] Cat: Well, in late 2015, it seemed like the frame was found. Or was it? Brian Graham's, the museum director for Volo Auto Museum in Follo, Illinois, was contacted by a man who claimed to have seen his father and a group of men hide the car in a building in Washington state when he was six. Hmm.

[00:25:57] Vanessa: That sounds reliable,

[00:25:58] Cat: Right?

[00:25:59] Dwayne: Right.

[00:25:59] Cat: Thinking they might actually have found the frame. Graham's informed the media, but the story fell off due to too many claims of finding the frame becoming difficult to prove.

[00:26:08] Dwayne: In March 2020, in Massachusetts, a transaxle was discovered, and on May 21st, 2021, the transaxle was auctioned and sold for $387,000. Dollars. It was known that after Mchenry's death, his widow sold parts of the car, which is why they were seemingly found all over the country. Uh, if I'm saying this right, the transaxle now stays in Zak Bagans Haunted Museum in Las Vegas.

[00:26:32] Koji: Interesting. What if Dean himself haunted the car after the accident? He may have felt like he was being disrespected by how his car was used, and wanted to be left alone in peace after such a traumatic experience. While doing some research, I found that there were no documented incidents of the Porsche ever being cursed before Dean's accident, and that even though the story says he drove about 85mph at the time of the impact. Modern computer models demonstrate he traveled no more than 60mph, although, to be fair, he was in a Coke can. So 60 miles an hour in a Coke can.

[00:27:01] Dwayne: Exactly.

[00:27:02] Koji: Dean was assumed to have been driving faster, partly due to a speeding ticket he received earlier that day for driving 70 miles an hour.

[00:27:11] Dwayne: So what's the scoop? Is James Dean's little bastard Porsche 550 Spyder actually cursed? When we return, we'll settle out all of these red herrings and figure out once and for all what really may be happening.

[00:27:25] Cat: Now that we've reviewed the evidence. Let's give our theories.

[00:27:29] Dwayne: This is a tough one because, I mean, it just seems like it's it's cursed.

[00:27:34] Cat: Yeah, that's how I feel too. I want to say something more creative, but I'm like, yeah, no. Definitely cursed.

[00:27:40] Koji: Well, I'll go first.

[00:27:41] Dwayne: Okay.

[00:27:41] Koji: Okay. So here's mine. Yes. It's real. Right? We all I think we kind of all like the fact that it's real. But my twist on the curse is that James Dean went into Paul Walker's body.

[00:27:50] Cat: Oh, yeah.

[00:27:52] Koji: Because.

[00:27:53] Dwayne: Same car.

[00:27:54] Koji: Well, they're both they're both. They both died in California. They both were in Porsches, right? They were both relatively young, although Paul Walker was 40. Uh, they were both good looking, according to the article. I read.

[00:28:06] Vanessa: That according to.

[00:28:07] Dwayne: According to the article I read.

[00:28:10] Vanessa: It's a man.

[00:28:11] Cat: Own it.

[00:28:12] Koji: Well, I don't know. I mean, he's whatever. He wouldn't be the kind of guy I would hook up with. I'm just saying.

[00:28:17] Vanessa: Who would that be? Uh, who would your type be?

[00:28:20] Koji: Uh, Tupac with his big eyelashes.

[00:28:22] Cat: Okay.

[00:28:23] Dwayne: That's funny.

[00:28:26] Vanessa: Paul Walker's not my type, but he's. He's still hot for being.

[00:28:29] Cat: I think he's pretty, like, almost universally a type.

[00:28:32] Vanessa: Yeah. 

[00:28:33] Koji: Not for me.

[00:28:36] Dwayne: Plus, in those movies, he's, like the cute guy who could fight, which I think is a plus.

[00:28:40] Cat: Yeah.

[00:28:41] Koji: Okay. They both had crazy quotes about death. Right. So Dean was warned by Alec Guinness that he died the Porsche within a week. And he did. And Walker, he is believed he said if one day speed kills me, don't cry because I was smiling. Which I guess is probably misattributed. But allegedly. 

[00:28:58] Dwayne: He meant speed. Or like the drug.

[00:29:01] Koji: Driver, like driving fast.

[00:29:02] Dwayne: I know, I know.

[00:29:03] Koji: He probably actually didn't say that, but. But everyone says he said it so. Which is as good as saying it. So.

[00:29:08] Dwayne: Right, right. That's sounds like. Sounds like something someone says. So people don't feel bad about you dying.

[00:29:16] Vanessa: That feels like the number one suspect should be the dude who said you're gonna die in this car in a week like that.

[00:29:23] Dwayne: Wait, you mean for, um.

[00:29:24] Koji: For James Dean?

[00:29:25] Vanessa: For James Dean?

[00:29:26] Dwayne: Oh, yeah. Um, did we talk about that? Because.

[00:29:28] Koji: No, no,

[00:29:28] Vanessa: He just.

[00:29:28] Koji: I just said it.

[00:29:29] Dwayne: Oh. Um, you're talking about Alec Guinness.

[00:29:31] Koji: Yeah. 

[00:29:31] Dwayne: Which is crazy.

[00:29:33] Koji: Yeah,

[00:29:33] Dwayne: Because that's I didn't I didn't hear that. Um, that's like he's Obi-Wan Kenobi, so.

[00:29:37] Koji: Yeah.

[00:29:38] Vanessa: Or.

[00:29:38] Dwayne: Yes.

[00:29:39] Vanessa: Did a little fiddle diddle.

[00:29:41] Koji: He touched him inappropriately.

[00:29:43] Vanessa: The car.

[00:29:43] Koji: Oh, okay.

[00:29:44] Dwayne: Because maybe he was like, this is my my competition.

[00:29:47] Vanessa: Or whatever it was.

[00:29:49] Dwayne: Um, is that.

[00:29:51] Vanessa: Huh?

[00:29:51] Dwayne: Is that your theory?

[00:29:52] Cat: Oh, okay. I have a theory, okay. My theory. Is that so? Yes, definitely. The car was cursed. My theory is about how it got cursed. I think James Dean broke the wrong woman's heart, and she was like, I curse your stick shift. And she met his dick, but it actually got that car.

[00:30:13] Vanessa: Lost in translation.

[00:30:14] Cat: Mhm. Mhm mhm.

[00:30:15] Vanessa: That's fair.

[00:30:16] Cat: Yeah. That's my that's my theory.

[00:30:17] Dwayne: What I like about that is that. And I don't want to slander anyone. But I've heard that um there was some like big time producer, male producer who liked James Dean. And um you can maybe verify this, but they may there may have been quid pro quo if I'm saying that right.

[00:30:33] Koji: Like a puffy situation.

[00:30:35] Dwayne: Yeah. Like, um, the original freak off, you know what I mean?

[00:30:38] Koji: Yeah.

[00:30:38] Dwayne: Not to say he wasn't James Dean wasn't talented or whatever, but. So maybe say, maybe the girl was, like, that would break your heart. I think your guy is, you know.

[00:30:49] Cat: Oh, okay. So you're saying. Yeah. So he was dilly dallying in some crazy shenanigans.

[00:30:55] Dwayne: Gay for pay. Basically. What I'm trying to say.

[00:30:58] Cat: Oh.

[00:30:58] Dwayne: Yeah.

[00:30:58] Cat: Okay, you said it more directly. I was thinking, like just having orgies.

[00:31:02] Dwayne: I know I was saying it all around, and then I just said it. Were you googling? Would you ChatGPT?

[00:31:07] Cat: Yeah, yeah. That's right. Okay. It says James Dean's personal. This is like, remember like a couple seasons ago. And we used to have ChatGPT.

[00:31:13] Dwayne: Chatgpt gonna get self-righteous.

[00:31:15] Cat: No. James Dean's personal relationships have been the subject of much speculation. There have been persistent rumors that Dean had relationships with older men in Hollywood, including some producers, but these remain largely unsubstantiated. But the most frequent mentioned name is Rogers.

[00:31:39] Koji: Dwayne Perkins

[00:31:39] Dwayne: That's funny.

[00:31:41] Cat: No, the name is Rogers Brackett, a radio director who helped Dean early in his career, but the exact nature of the relationship is unclear. Uh. He was known to be pragmatic about advancing his career. Uh. But claims of exploitative situations are mostly speculation. Now, I also asked about broken hearts. Like, who would be the woman who might have cursed him? And there are several documented relationships. There is Pier Angeli. She was his most serious relationship. Um. They were deeply in love. Her mother disapproved because she was Catholic. Okay. It says here that she broke up with him, so he was devastated over her. Uh. Ursula Andress was another one. Um,

[00:32:23] Dwayne: She was cold.

[00:32:24] Vanessa: I mean, Ursulas nobody knows.

[00:32:25] Dwayne: Right, right.

[00:32:26] Cat: I mean, I think we know it's probably Ursula.

[00:32:29] Dwayne: Ursula? Yeah. We can.

[00:32:31] Vanessa: If I was a betting lady.

[00:32:33] Cat: Right. They probably invented Ursula the sea witch from Little Mermaid after this. Ursula? Um, they had a relationship before he was famous, and it ended when his career took off, so I think that would piss me off.

[00:32:43] Dwayne: Oh, yeah. That could do it. That could do it?

[00:32:46] Cat: Yeah, I think that's it. Those are the ones that it brought up as as possibility though. That's what I think.

[00:32:50] Dwayne: Koji says James Dean jumped into Paul Walker.

[00:32:53] Koji: Yeah, the curse followed him into Paul Walker.

[00:32:56] Dwayne: I like that a lot. And yours is, uh, xx.

[00:32:58] Cat: Yes. That's how it happened. Yeah.

[00:33:01] Dwayne: I'm a little torn because it's either, um, Hitler himself or maybe, uh, a Jewish engineer. Let's go with a Jewish engineer.

[00:33:10] Cat: Woah, what?

[00:33:12] Dwayne: Because it's a it's a German car. You know what I mean?

[00:33:14] Vanessa: It's a revenge cursing.

[00:33:16] Dwayne: his spirit was trying to discredit the company. It just didn't work, you know, because German engineering is that good. But, um.

[00:33:25] Koji: So it was a Holocaust victim,

[00:33:26] Dwayne: Right who was an engineer who lost everything, and, um.

[00:33:30] Cat: Was like sabotaging a Porshe.

[00:33:31] Dwayne: Excuse me, was able to attach his, you know.

[00:33:35] Koji: Psychically.

[00:33:35] Dwayne: Spirit to this car when, um, the most famous person at the time, one of the most famous people got the car. Oh, this is great. People will, you know what I mean?

[00:33:44] Koji: And they won't buy the car again.

[00:33:45] Dwayne: right right. It didn't quite work out that way, but, um, I like that better than the Hitler thing. But it's related. Hitler caused it.

[00:33:54] Cat: Okay.

[00:33:55] Dwayne: That's my theory.

[00:33:57] Vanessa: Okay. I think that it was, um. I think that the car is cursed, but by the Dean himself. Because Is the dude. Uh, what's his name? The. He was going to die.

[00:34:11] Koji: Oh.

[00:34:11] Dwayne: Oh. Alec Guinness.

[00:34:12] Vanessa: Alec Guinness? No, not his boyfriend. Producers. I mean, he was very hot in Hollywood.

[00:34:16] Koji: He was Obi Wan Kenobi.

[00:34:18] Dwayne: Yes.

[00:34:18] Vanessa: And Guinness when he. He did something to the car in my person. He did something to the car and killed him. So then Dean was trying to get his get back and was like, it was unfair that I died in this car. And then he possessed the car.

[00:34:33] Dwayne: You know, what's interesting about that. Is that Alec Guinness was in Star Wars, right? Pretty known actor or respected actor at the time. And he was the only one who negotiated, like, uh, profit sharing thing.

[00:34:46] Koji: In Star Wars.

[00:34:47] Dwayne: In Star Wars. Right. So he made so much money.

[00:34:51] Vanessa: To go on to be that successful, which should have been.

[00:34:54] Dwayne: Right? Right. Like, I don't hate that. And just I say that to say like his savvy to know to do that because I don't think people knew what Star Wars was going to be. I don't think I mean, it's just like, kind of like goofy sci fi movie. So that means he had a little. He was always thinking about the next thing. So I don't hate that.

[00:35:14] Vanessa: Didn't need you to hate it.

[00:35:17] Dwayne: No, I like it.

[00:35:17] Vanessa: You could have just said it was great.

[00:35:18] Dwayne: Right, right.

[00:35:19] Vanessa: I don't hate that.

[00:35:21] Dwayne: Right. True. True that.

[00:35:22] Vanessa: Whatever. Go back to the complimenting part.

[00:35:24] Dwayne: Right, right, right. No, I like it. This is this is. This is everyone's theory on this.

[00:35:28] Koji: All right, it's time for us to pick the unofficial, official story. One that will answer the question once and for all. So, guys, which theory do we want to go with today?

[00:35:37] Vanessa: That bitch. Ursula.

[00:35:38] Cat: Yeah. I vote for Ursula, too.

[00:35:41] Vanessa: It's always Ursula.

[00:35:43] Koji: It's always. So, wait. So yours was that. 

[00:35:46] Cat: Ursula Andress cursed the car and cursed him. 

[00:35:49] Koji: Because he. Well, because he liked the producer.

[00:35:51] Cat: He was he because he got famous.

[00:35:53] Dwayne: Famous woman scorned? Yeah.

[00:35:55] Cat: Woman scorned.

[00:35:56] Vanessa: She dumped his ass for a white girl. Yes.

[00:35:59] Cat: And she was like, I curse your stick. And then it went to the car.

[00:36:03] Vanessa: Because she's not from America because her name was Ursula. So I'm giving her somewhere else. And she said it in her native tongue, but it didn't translate to Dick like it was supposed to.

[00:36:13] Cat: Mhm. Like maybe she was Russian. That sounds like I curse your dick.

[00:36:16] Dwayne: Right. Right.

[00:36:18] Vanessa: Yep. Yep.

[00:36:20] Koji: I'll vote for that then. I like that one. Anytime you mention Dick.

[00:36:25] Vanessa: I tend to vote that way too.

[00:36:26] Dwayne: Since three people have voted, we already declared.

[00:36:29] Koji: Yeah.

[00:36:30] Dwayne: So I know I could make it a sweep, but I won't do that. I'm gonna. I'm gonna. I'm gonna vote for Vanessa, since it doesn't matter anyway. Yes, yes.

[00:36:40] Cat: Oh, man.

[00:36:41] Koji: I'm sorry. That's okay. You still won.

[00:36:43] Dwayne: You still won.

[00:36:44] Cat: Okay, I wanted to sweep. That's all right. Well, that's it, you guys. That's the official story. We'll take another break, and then we'll ask the question that you've been cranked. Get it for us to ask.

[00:36:58] Koji: I got it.

[00:37:00] Dwayne: Since we discussed James Dean's Porsche possibly being cursed, Let's switch it up a bit. What item do we own that we swear is actually cursed?

[00:37:09] Koji: Well, the cookie jar.

[00:37:11] Cat: Oh, yeah.

[00:37:11] Dwayne: Oh, yeah. Your cookie jar.

[00:37:12] Cat: I know my cookie jar is cursed.

[00:37:14] Koji: What else?

[00:37:14] Dwayne: Well, I'll say this. My my MacBook Pro and my iPad and my other iPad. All three are cursed with the, um, the curse with the curse of planned obsolescence. Um. They cursed to be replaced every 3 or 4 years. So I don't know if that's the programmers or Apple, or if it's just the the ghost of, uh.

[00:37:39] Vanessa: I'm sure this is marketing.

[00:37:40] Dwayne: Of planned future products future, but that's. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it is just marketing.

[00:37:46] Koji: What do you what else is cursed in your house.

[00:37:48] Cat: Besides my cookie jars? I would say, um, definitely my desktop desktop computer. Or maybe my, like, the desk where I work, because I'll. Whenever I work from home, if I'm working on something, I will always make little mistakes. And I'm like, how did that even happen? I checked my work like six times. One time there was a giant spreadsheet I was working on, and it was working. When I closed the laptop that day. The next day I go into it and it's broken and I'm like searching and searching and searching like, what went wrong with this spreadsheet? And I find like one and this is like one of those really complicated ones where like, the cells are pulling and referencing other cells and like complicated way. Um, I found one cell in the Excel spreadsheet that there were random keys typed into it that were not next to each other on the keyboard. So it's not like I just like, hit the keyboard. Yeah, it was like a one and an M right next to each other. So somebody was just like doot doot doot. Doot. On opposite ends of the keyboard. I'm like, who? How? Why?

[00:38:49] Dwayne: Interesting. Who do you think? What do you what do you think is the origin of the curse?

[00:38:54] Cat: Um, well, I think I just have like that haunted. I think whatever the spirit that's haunting my apartment, I think, like, wants me to have bad fortune.

[00:39:04] Dwayne: I would like to think possibly you came across an incel and an incel cursed your cells.

[00:39:11] Vanessa: We're gonna get some sage.

[00:39:13] Cat: Get it? I do need some. I have sage already.

[00:39:15] Vanessa: Sage and some rose quartz.

[00:39:17] Cat: Okay, I think.

[00:39:18] Dwayne: I've spoken about this before. I have a friend who I believe is possessed.

[00:39:22] Koji: Possessed? Yeah. And who may or may not listen to the show.

[00:39:25] Dwayne: Well, I've never said their name.

[00:39:27] Koji: Okay. Um, Mike.

[00:39:28] Dwayne: But everyone tells me to, like, I have holy water, too, that my mom had left me, so they, like, put some holy water in your hand and shake his hand. But I'm afraid. Because then it'll be out there. I don't want to shake his hand with the holy water. And he goes, ah! And I'm like, now that's a.

[00:39:42] Cat: Yeah, now, you know, what do you do about.

[00:39:44] Dwayne: That's out now. It's out in the open.

[00:39:45] Vanessa: That's you need that.

[00:39:46] Dwayne: Yeah. But right now we're just both pretending. I'm pretending that he's not cursed. He's pretending he's not cursed. You know what I mean? So I think I'm stronger than than the thing inside of him. But it'll fight like a cat. Like a trapped cat. If we put it on Front Street. You see what I'm saying?

[00:40:04] Dwayne: Why are you talking like that?

[00:40:06] Vanessa: No. Like if you found out. Oh, this is this person is cursed. Then you could be like, oh, I'm gonna go my separate way. Why are you staying around someone who is?

[00:40:15] Koji: He repeats himself all the time too, right?

[00:40:17] Dwayne: Yeah, but then I'd have to like, I don't know, I'd feel obliged to like, you know, you know.

[00:40:20] Vanessa: Did you get them pregnant? Like it doesn't matter. You can walk away from any person.

[00:40:24] Dwayne: No, I'd have to, like, help him out and go full Exorcist mode and figure it out.

[00:40:30] Vanessa: You sound ridiculous.

[00:40:32] Dwayne: That that I would have to help him. Or. 

[00:40:34] Vanessa: All of it.

[00:40:34] Koji: All of it? Yeah.

[00:40:35] Vanessa: All of it.

[00:40:36] Dwayne: No, there's something there's something going on there.

[00:40:38] Vanessa: And you're just gonna stick around?

[00:40:39] Dwayne: No, no, we don't kick it like that.

[00:40:41] Koji: So. So when I was a kid, me and my friends, we had this game called the Poke Monsters. That sounds actually terrible.

[00:40:45] Dwayne: We called the what

[00:40:46] Koji: poke monsters.

[00:40:47] Dwayne: Yeah.

[00:40:48] Koji: But it wasn't sexual. It wasn't sexual. We actually made our hands like this, and we poked each other really hard in the chest when we weren't looking.

[00:40:54] Dwayne: Sure. The chest. Yeah. Go ahead.

[00:40:57] Koji: So we would just do that all the time and we'd talk about it all the time. And then it was just a thing like constantly until like too old. And then once my son became like 3 or 4, I started poking him with this too, as opposed. And we started calling it Poke Monster. And he used to get afraid of Poke monster. He used to chase him around the house. There's this point to this one time, relatively recently, my wife woke up in bed and I was doing this in my sleep.

[00:41:22] Dwayne: Oh, wow.

[00:41:23] Koji: Which means my poke monster has come alive. It's cursed.

[00:41:28] Dwayne: Interesting.

[00:41:30] Koji: That was a long way to get to my Poke monster being cursed. But it's cursed.

[00:41:33] Dwayne: So your cursed?

[00:41:34] Koji: No, just the poke monster.

[00:41:35] Vanessa: Hand in the poke monster position while you were still in your sleep.

[00:41:39] Koji: Yeah. And she's like, what the hell is?

[00:41:41] Dwayne: And did you say Poke Monster?

[00:41:43] Koji: It was just up in the air like this.

[00:41:45] Dwayne: You might have been dipping a chip in some salsa.

[00:41:47] Koji: It was. Oh, it's like a head. It's like a like a snake.

[00:41:51] Dwayne: I got you.

[00:41:52] Vanessa: I really just hope that your child doesn't go to school like my dad always comes after me with this Poke monster.

[00:41:59] Cat: Oh, no.

[00:42:01] Vanessa: My dad's snake is the Poke monster.

[00:42:04] Dwayne: Oh, boy.

[00:42:05] Vanessa: It could go really bad.

[00:42:07] Dwayne: It could go.

[00:42:08] Koji: Hopefully it doesn't go that way.

[00:42:09] Dwayne: But your Poke monster is possessed.

[00:42:11] Koji: It's come to life now. Yeah.

[00:42:12] Dwayne: Oh, it's come you.

[00:42:13] Koji: It's cursed.

[00:42:14] Dwayne: You've basically. 

[00:42:15] Koji: I made it. It's like a tulpa.

[00:42:17] Dwayne: It's animated now.

[00:42:18] Koji: Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

[00:42:18] Cat: Vanessa, what's your cursed object?

[00:42:21] Vanessa: I had one, I believe, and then I got rid of it, so I don't know why, but I was cleaning out stuff. I tend to purge regularly. And I found this framed picture of my ex and the one person who I will call El Diablo. Like, I don't hold anything against any of my exes. This one legitimately ruined my life, and it was a framed picture of him that he had signed.

[00:42:44] Koji: He signed a picture to you?

[00:42:45] Vanessa: Yeah, like it wasn't. It wasn't a picture that, like, we took together and was like, oh, I'll put it up in my house. It was a like headshot or something of him. And he signed it. And so when I'm going through stuff and I found I was like, why the fuck do I still have, like, why do I still have this? And then I threw it out. And I promise you, within less than a year, less than a year, I met and have been with my dude since been together three years now.

[00:43:14] Dwayne: You needed to. That was having some.

[00:43:16] Vanessa: Energy out of my house.

[00:43:17] Cat: Oh, I need to get rid of some shit then. Yeah, because I have stuff from my old relationship that's still kind of like I have a bookshelf that he built, and I have a coffee maker that was his coffee maker that he left behind.

[00:43:27] Dwayne: Oh, shit,

[00:43:27] Vanessa: I got.

[00:43:28] Dwayne: Can you send me a picture of the bookshelf?

[00:43:30] Cat: Yeah, sure.

[00:43:32] Vanessa: I've gotten a new couch, new bed, new mattress. Not new bed, but, like, once I cleared all of the old energy out, things started going in the right direction.

[00:43:44] Dwayne: It's a real thing. I had a MetroPCS phone and, um, once. And once I got a different phone, man, things just started working.

[00:43:58] Koji: That's just like my penis surgery.

[00:43:59] Cat: What, are you jumping around too much?

[00:44:04] Koji: Sorry,

[00:44:04] Dwayne: But. But I never knew that story. That's. That's a cool ass story.

[00:44:07] Koji: That's funny though. That's that's great.

[00:44:09] Vanessa: I don't know, why.

[00:44:10] Koji: Did you do a ceremony when you got rid of it? Did you throw it away?

[00:44:12] Vanessa: No. I got it out of my house as quickly as possible.

[00:44:14] Dwayne: The frame and the picture.

[00:44:15] Vanessa: The frame and the picture. The whole thing. It was a cute frame, too, but I was like, this is it just my. My apartment at the time just felt lighter when I got it out.

[00:44:22] Koji: Why would you sign your own picture?

[00:44:24] Vanessa: I don't know. And you know, like when you when you dickmatized, you're like, oh, thank you for this, right?

[00:44:30] Dwayne: But but you don't you don't remember getting it. So he possibly signed it and left it somewhere.

[00:44:34] Vanessa: I had got. 

[00:44:35] Cat: Like a Horcrux.

[00:44:36] Vanessa: I kind of remember getting it. It wasn't like that. He didn't.

[00:44:39] Dwayne: Right, right.

[00:44:39] Vanessa: It wasn't like a talisman that he left somewhere or whatever. I remember getting it. But at the time, instead of saying, why the hell are you giving me a signed picture? I was like, you know, you gotta you gotta uplift your dudes. I was like, oh my God, you're gonna be such a big star and this is going to be worth so much money. One day I was lying because he's trash. But still.

[00:44:57] Dwayne: That's outrageous. I will say my mechanic, my old mechanic, he they shut down. The new guys are trash. Completely trash, completely not reputable. They told me I needed brakes. And then they said. They told me I needed brakes. Then they said you need actually both brakes. And I was like, you know what?

[00:45:16] Vanessa: Help me. Help!

[00:45:16] Dwayne: Give me the car back. I didn't need brakes at all.

[00:45:18] Vanessa: Help me with the thorough the through line.

[00:45:20] Dwayne: Okay, so my first mechanic, who was solid shout out to Seiko, had my picture in his office.

[00:45:26] Vanessa: Shut up!

[00:45:27] Dwayne: We're talking about pictures.

[00:45:28] Vanessa: You sound ridiculous.

[00:45:29] Dwayne: No, I don't, but but they must have asked me because it's not like. 

[00:45:32] Vanessa: That's what companies do.

[00:45:33] Dwayne: But I don't. Here want a picture.

[00:45:35] Vanessa: My nail salon. Did the same thing. They think you're going to be famous. They put your picture up.

[00:45:38] Dwayne: But the good thing is. So what happened was I went to a comic who I kind of know, went to get her car worked on. She didn't have the money and she was just like, oh, boy. And and she looks up at this picture. True story. She goes, oh, I know him. And I was like, Seiko, you know, Dwayne boom did the work for her. And she called me and thanked me. She was like, I your picture was up there. So it goes both ways with the pictures, is all I'm saying. So I won't say the girl's name because I don't want to put her on Front Street, but I don't know why the picture made me think of that. I don't know if this.

[00:46:10] Vanessa: You know, Seiko got some head that day, right?

[00:46:12] Dwayne: Maybe that's why I.

[00:46:16] Vanessa: Seiko got some sloppy toppy.

[00:46:18] Dwayne: That's quite possible, given who I'm talking about.

[00:46:22] Cat: Oh, no.

[00:46:23] Dwayne: Quite possible. Yeah, that's quite possible. I was he probably fed me the wholesome version, actually. You know what? Yeah, he probably got sloppy toppy, but had to explain to everybody else why he was letting her go. Oh, she's friends with Dwayne as he fixed himself up. Maybe. Maybe. But. But he was a solid dude, so it could go either way. But that's not a horrible. That's not a hard.

[00:46:48] Koji: But would you sign your own picture and give it to someone?

[00:46:50] Dwayne: I don't know if I signed it.

[00:46:51] Vanessa: No, no. Sign your own picture and give it to a romantic interest.

[00:46:54] Dwayne: No, no. Not at all. No, not at all.

[00:46:56] Cat: I would only do it if it was like. Like ironically. Like if we were laughing about it. But I wouldn't do it. Seriously?

[00:47:01] Vanessa: Yeah. In a frame.

[00:47:02] Dwayne: It's almost like. Do you when you saw that? And I know this is a little off subject, but like, do you think to yourself and you listen, you forgive your younger self whatever, whatever. That's something you had to go through. But do you like I think of moments that happen with people and I'm like, I should have stopped fucking with you that day. That like, that was the time I should have stopped fucking with you. I don't know if you thought that about him.

[00:47:24] Vanessa: Not that. No. Every, every day of my life, I think about where I should have stopped.

[00:47:29] Dwayne: Right, right, right.

[00:47:29] Vanessa: But in the moment of the frame, I was too. Um. I was already in. I was ten toes down.

[00:47:35] Dwayne: Right? So you didn't. It didn't register as, like, weird in that moment.

[00:47:38] Vanessa: In that moment.

[00:47:39] Dwayne: Right? Right, right.

[00:47:40] Vanessa: But yeah, every everything he ever did registered is weird.

[00:47:43] Koji: That's funny. It's, uh, it's a little bit off topic, but similar. He was an actor. This guy was an actor. Okay. I was on. I was on, I was on a set, and we were at lunch, and we were, you know, we were just talking about phones. And somehow I got to the idea of, like, whoever's on your phone, your your, your whatever, the screen is the person you love the most or most important person. So we're going around like most people. It's like, for me, it's like my son or my dog, depending on who I love more at the time. Or it's like girlfriend. Boyfriend. Or it's, you know, like, and we're going around the table and then we got to the famous actor and it was himself.

[00:48:17] Cat: Oh, no.

[00:48:18] Vanessa: And that is so.

[00:48:19] Koji: And it was like. It was like super quiet.

[00:48:22] Dwayne: And he should have like, I would have I would have been like, changing it while.

[00:48:25] Vanessa: Yeah.

[00:48:25] Koji: Because everybody's.

[00:48:25] Vanessa: Like. Because you had time to change it.

[00:48:27] Dwayne: Right, right.

[00:48:27] Koji: And then the other producer's glaring at me. He's like, you fucked up, Koji, why would you do this? And I was like, I didn't think that people would put their goddamn self on the phone. Like I'd rather have just like a shot of, like, the beach or sunset or something.

[00:48:39] Vanessa: Or you with somebody you care. Yeah, it's very cringe to have your own.

[00:48:42] Koji: If you're with somebody like your family, your girlfriend, boyfriend, whatever. That's fine, I get that.

[00:48:46] Dwayne: But the one caveat I would say is unless he was like on vacation and it was a picture of him someplace.

[00:48:54] Koji: Like a headshot.

[00:48:54] Dwayne: That's.

[00:48:55] Koji: Like a headshot. it's like a headshot.

[00:48:56] Dwayne: Headshot. A headshot. 

[00:48:59] Koji: Headshot type thing.

[00:49:00] Dwayne: That's worst case scenario.

[00:49:01] Vanessa: The only time that I will accept you having your own face on your phone is. And I could be getting this story wrong, but it's the story that I've retained in my head. Jalen hurts had a picture, went of him when they lost the Super Bowl.

[00:49:15] Koji: To remember

[00:49:16] Vanessa: and it was the other team's ribbons that were coming down or whatever.

[00:49:20] Koji: As he's feeling sad.

[00:49:21] Vanessa: And yeah, so it was his motivation that I'm going to win.

[00:49:25] Koji: I'll take that. But it's not it's not like I'm awesome and I want to look at myself. 

[00:49:29] Vanessa: Or like the girls who had their titties out on their own phone. And I was like, I am so cute. I don't like it.

[00:49:35] Cat: Okay, what if it's like an editorial, like artsy photo of yourself.

[00:49:39] Vanessa: Lee me your phone?

[00:49:40] Cat: I mean.

[00:49:40] Vanessa: It feels like,

[00:49:41] Cat: No. No, I mean, my phone's a landscape.

[00:49:43] Vanessa: Yeah, it felt very personal.

[00:49:46] Cat: But, like, what if I'm thinking of pictures of myself that I was like, oh, you know, that would be fun to have.

[00:49:50] Koji: It still be weird.

[00:49:51] Cat: Yeah,

[00:49:51] Koji: I think it'd be weird. 

[00:49:52] Vanessa: If. It's I, I will if if it's. 

[00:49:55] Dwayne: Gonna have some significance, I think.

[00:49:56] Vanessa: Like if it's, if it's a over the shoulder where you can just see your hair or maybe you're having you have a cool hat and we don't know that it's you. And it's more about the exposition than I would.

[00:50:05] Cat: Have, like pin up photos that are really cute, like 1950s style, like adorable.

[00:50:11] Dwayne: And why would the producers say you messed up like one? How would you know? But two.

[00:50:15] Vanessa: Because he embarrassed the star.

[00:50:16] Koji: I embarrassed the star.

[00:50:17] Dwayne: Yeah, but then switch up.

[00:50:18] Cat: It was Dennis Quaid, huh? Or was it Dermot Mulroney?

[00:50:22] Koji: No, It was Dwayne Perkins.

[00:50:26] Cat: Mickey Rourke.

[00:50:28] Dwayne: I don't even I don't I never customize anything on my phone. I remember when ringtones came out and the girl I was dating was like, oh, make a special ringtone for me. I was like, I don't do that. I don't do ringtones. And that was that.

[00:50:40] Vanessa: Meanwhile, you're sitting there, you hear? Dun dun dun dun dun dun.

[00:50:42] Dwayne: Right, right.

[00:50:46] Vanessa: I don't do ringtones for you. Ho

[00:50:51] Koji: Thank you, Vanessa, for coming on with us. Please tell us where people can follow you.

[00:50:55] Vanessa: Um, I'm at Vanessa graddick on everything. Vanessa g r a d d I c k. Um, yeah. Please watch. Funny you should ask. And Comics unleashed, the new seasons are coming up so that I can keep working and don't have to get on OnlyFans.

[00:51:14] Dwayne: Uh, a feet only.

[00:51:16] Vanessa: Listen whatever.

[00:51:17] Dwayne: Right, right, right. Right, right. Uh, well, we truly appreciate your support and enthusiasm for our quirky, mysterious, and fun filled journey. Your curiosity and engagement make this podcast a joy to create. Stay tuned for more interesting stories and remember to share, subscribe and leave a review. Until next time, keep wandering and stay unofficially official.

[00:51:38] Cat: In the next episode, we'll be fearlessly asking Swifties a diabolical question is Taylor Swift in reality a clone of a satanic priestess? Is her birthday really a satanic holiday?

[00:51:54] Koji: This actually turned out really well with her. With her.

[00:51:56] Cat: Engagement.

[00:51:57] Koji: To Travis Kelce.

[00:51:58] Dwayne: Right right. Right.

[00:51:58] Koji: Yeah. So that actually.

[00:51:59] Dwayne: I don't want to smoke with the Swifties though but. 

[00:52:02] Cat: I'll take it.

[00:52:03] Dwayne: Yeah yeah.

[00:52:04] Cat: Take it.

[00:52:04] Koji: I mean she seems like a pretty cool person. I mean I like her.

[00:52:07] Cat: I have nothing against against Taylor Swift at all.

[00:52:10] Koji: Like she took on Trump.

[00:52:11] Cat: Yeah. She's all right.

[00:52:13] Dwayne: Do you know, by the way? Uh, I was, uh, I was performing in the middle of nowhere, I forget. Exactly. Maybe Illinois, but, like, three hours from Chicago. Um, a dry bar show and dry bar is big in that part of the country. And in the theater. I was performing in a Taylor Swift cover girl, like someone who covers Taylor Swift was going to be there. So there's a girl who who, who? Just her name is like, uh, it's like a play on Taylor Swift's name.

[00:52:44] Cat: Taylor. Slow. Sorry.

[00:52:45] Dwayne: Right, right, right. And she just goes around doing Taylor Swift songs. And people who, who, who aren't in a position to see Taylor Swift. They go to see her. She's selling out. She's making millions. I mean, she's selling out, like two 3000 seat theaters doing a Taylor Swift cover thing. You know, you're famous when, like, the person imitating you is also a millionaire.

[00:53:10] Cat: Wow.

[00:53:11] Vanessa: Is this person drag since the beginning of time?

[00:53:14] Dwayne: No, no, it's just a girl. It's just. It's almost like.

[00:53:17] Vanessa: She about to get a cease and desist.

[00:53:20] Dwayne: No, no, I think she, um. They worked it out. It's usually worked it out.

[00:53:23] Cat: A lot of cover bands do very well. I know people who are professional cover band people.

[00:53:27] Vanessa: I just remember that, um, and this is a very old story, but Aretha Franklin, there was a lady who I think she was from Detroit or something, and her manager made her act like she was Aretha Franklin. So she went on tour as Aretha Franklin. And then the real Aretha Franklin was a couple towns over and found out they had to do a cease and desist.

[00:53:47] Koji: Well, that's because you're pretending to be her.

[00:53:48] Cat: Literally impersonating.

[00:53:49] Vanessa: And then the manager left her in Florida and went back. It turned into this whole thing. She had to sue. She ended up marrying her lawyer later. It was a huge controversy.

[00:53:59] Koji: I'm gonna be Tupac.

[00:54:01] Dwayne: Ha ha ha.

[00:54:04] Vanessa: You just need more lashes.

[00:54:05] Koji: Well, Tupac was Japanese. We've already figured that out.

[00:54:08] Dwayne: Oh, that's right.

[00:54:08] Koji: Right. So that's. So we don't know this, but Tupac is Japanese. Bruce Lee is African-American. So it worked out perfectly.

[00:54:15] Dwayne: I can't find a girl's name, but, yeah, she's making bank.

[00:54:18] Koji: So do you think I can make bank.

[00:54:21] Cat: As Taylor Swift? Hell, yeah. I think you'd make more than Taylor.

[00:54:24] Dwayne: I think you just gotta get in a time machine and go back and, um. Get with that Bitcoin, dude.

[00:54:29] Koji: Yeah. That's right. All right. Thank you guys. Bye.

[00:54:33] Dwayne: Thank you guys.