The John Robins Vibemail - Issue #5
Morning folks! It's me again!
Here's fun...How many roses do you think I can see right now?
'Oh dunno John, probably one or two? Maybe three?'
Uh Oh! Nil points! I CAN SEE FORTY FOUR ROSES!
'Are you at some kind of rose fair John? The Annual Buckinghamshire Rose Auction perchance?'
Well no actually, I'm just looking at the rose bush in my garden! Forty four roses on ONE BUSH!
I have to say things like this do give me an awful lot of solace. In a recent recording of The Moon Under Water, Robin read a poem by Bernhard O'Donoghue called 'Going Without Saying'...
It is a great pity we don’t know
When the dead are going to die
So that, over a last companionable
Drink, we could tell them
How much we liked them.
Happy the man who, dying, can
Place his hand on his heart and say:
‘At least I didn’t neglect to tell
The thrush how beautifully she sings.’
In some senses it's a very sad poem (Phd level analysis there), but in a world where so many of the things we are told to worry about are so unsolvable and large, or petty and irrelevant, taking a moment to notice some roses, just checking in and saying 'hey guys, wanted to say great work, you look really tip top, so it's a double thumbs up from me" can do wonders for the old spirits.
Sorry, started with a very peppy hello and looks like I've jumped pretty quickly to WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE! But still, next time you see a bird being ace, maybe doff your cap or shake its hand or pay for its shopping or something. On to business!
Members Present
The Venerable Marquis Captain Sir Lord Johnny JR KCB KB KBE
Present!
Apologies
In a recent podcast intro for The Elis James and John Robins show I poured scorn on drivers of cars that are too wide for our roads. Whilst I still stand by this concern (our roads, and parking spaces not having been built to accommodate enormous SUVs) I wrongly laid the blame at the door of the BMW X1. Whilst certainly no 'slim jim' at a pretty hefty 1821mm wide, what I meant to lambast was the X5 and X6, at a whopping 2004mm. So apologies to any X1 drivers out there. Also, just while I'm on the topic, the Tesla Model X is TOO LONG.
5 Live Shows
I'm somewhat late to update you all on this but as some of you will have heard Elis and I have changed slot for the duration of the Euros. Our new show is called 'Elis and John's European Sundays' and sees us cast a sideways view on various sporting elements of the summer. But rest assured it's still very much #relevant to fans of E&J #content (general) and all episodes will be on our usual podcast feed. I won't bore you with the details but for the next five weeks we'll be on air Sunday from 10am-12pm including one Friday 1pm-2.30pm (25th June) before returning to Fridays on the 16th July with the final Sunday show on the 18th July after which our Friday time slot moves temporarily to 2pm-3.30pm. It really is that simple.
Merchandise
We have added some new merch to the Elis and John merch site! This includes a sleep mask and face mask, prototypes of which I personally road / sleep tested! There'a also a T Shirt which can help you in identifying The Falklands and The Faroe Islands, a PCD mug and all the classics.
Dads
Do you have a dad? Is your relationship with them broadly fine? Does your dad like me? If so why not book them a Father's Day Cameo from Johnny JR?!
I'm aware that all these sorts of mother / father / Valentine days can be a mixed bag. For those of you sailing calm waters dad/mum/relationship-wise I'm sure it's a lot of fun / ball-ache finding something last minute. For those whose #dadvibe or #mumvibe or #lovevibe may be more complex or troubled all strength to you too. That's not to say I'll also record messages calling your dad a swine / goon / layabout / thicko deluxe etc etc. Actually those are probably all suitably tongue-in-cheek to make the pass, but you know what I mean. I just wanted to caveat the Father's Day content with some love for those to whom it may not apply.
The Moon Under Water and DryDrinker
The Moon Under Water is a podcast where I and The Lovely Robin invite guests to a mystical pub. Once inside they can furnish it with everything they desire. We've had some really superb guests lately, both Alistair Green and Emma Inch were really great in very different ways! Please do check out Emma's beer-based work at fermentationonline.com. Her prose about a pint of Hophead in The Evening Star is so good, and can be found here.
We will be announcing some live shows very soon, which is tremendously exciting. This was always intended to be recorded live but alas, worldwide factors intervened. Patrons who have signed up to the 'Legends Under Water' tier get first dibs on tickets as they are very limited. If there are any left after the 48 hour pre-sale they will be put on general release, but it's likely that may be the only way to access them. However, I need to be clear that signing up doesn't guarantee you a ticket as it's first come first served. Pre-sales are very fiddly things to do, and I hope you trust that I have explored all the many angles!
You can explore the Patreon benefits here patreon.com/moonunderpod
One thing you can all enjoy through The Moon Under Water is 20% off beers, wines, ciders and ales from drydrinker.com using the code MOONUNDERPOD. They have such an amazing selection of low and non-alcoholic drinks, many of which currently sit in my beer fridge for those evenings where I need to keep it 0.0% session. The offerings from Mikkeller and Lowtide are especially good, but then I don't mind the alcohol free Heineken either.
Any Other Business
Filming of the Dave show The Island begins soon. I'm not on it but I am a #TopExec and it's based on an idea from myself, Lloyd Langford, James Acaster and Ed Gamble. We've all been involved in shaping it and can't wait to see how it comes out!
BadGolf continues it's third season, however we have had some truly atrocious luck with weather so do bear with us if the videos aren't quite as frequent in the coming weeks. It's very frustrating to find time where Alex isn't hard at work on Taskmaster, or hanging out with Peter Crouch and Maya Jama or bringing up three fantastic smashers, only to have biblical lightning or SNOW IN MAY scupper our filming, but #suchisgolf.
I think that is all for now, there will be an update about Moon Under Water tickets soon. I will now begin the process of checking and double checking this message for errors, apologies if any slip through, but maybe on the grand scheme of things it's not so bad.