SHOW NOTES: S01E011, "The Trip"
This week we're so excited to welcome Lilit Marcus to the show! Lilit is a travel editor at CNN. Her work has also appeared in Conde Nast Traveler, the Atlantic, Vogue, Buzzfeed, the Guardian, Vanity Fair, and more. Please buy her book, Save the Assistants.
Jenna and Caroline found the mobile from the opening scene of this episode creepy, but it turns out black-and-white baby toys are very popular because babies can't see in color right away. Here's an article from Parents magazine about understanding your baby's developing vision, if you happen to have a tiny human of your own!
We were all disappointed that we didn't get to see more novelty caskets at FuneralCon—Lilit specifically mentioned that she would like to have seen the "KISS kasket." (Don't blame us for that spelling—that's how it was advertised.) KISS does indeed sell novelty caskets, marketed as "not just for dying"—the band suggests you buy one while you're still living and use it as a beer cooler. The first one debuted in the summer of 2001, when this episode takes place, so we feel especially cheated that it was nowhere in sight. This is KISS's more recent offering, which debuted in 2013. You can have one for the low price of $4000.
While we're at it, here's the rather astonishing Last Supper casket that was on offer at FuneralCon.
After all this talk of coffins, we're desperate to feel alive again ... and there's no better way to do that than by attending Magic Mike XXL: The Show. In a feat of truly bizarre copywriting, this show is described on the home page of the official website thusly: "MAGIC MIKE XXL THE SHOW is entertainment in the nature of male dance choreography a Las Vegas style production show." (???) The show is now on the road and might be coming to a city near you... you can check here.
(This isn't in the show, but we're always looking for an excuse to make people watch the best scene from the Magic Mike XXL movie, so here you go. You're welcome.)
We mentioned Fun Home in the show notes of our pilot episode, but Lilit brought it up again in this episode, and we're always ready to discuss is further. Lilit postulated that if Alison Bechdel were straight, she'd be a lot like Claire, and we buy it. Here's Emily Skeggs singing "Changing My Major," arguably the least straight part of the musical adaptation.
We'd like to issue a small correction—Caroline says in this episode that Mary Gross, who plays the flower arranging instructor, was on Saturday Night Live and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. In fact, she played Mary Tyler Moore on SNL, but she was never on the original show.
And finally, to sing us out, here's Tony Bennett with "With Plenty of Money and You," that quintessential Vegas song featured prominently in Swingers. VEGAS, BABY, VEGAS!