thing cobra is Was hydra, but since marvel helped develop it and everything was kosher Yeah, I think my understanding is that Cobra was gonna be Was going to be a lot like hydra. It was It was uh, kind of an idea that was borrowed and adapted and you can see a lot of similarities to hydra In those early comic books. I think Over time. I think it kind of diverged and kind of did its own thing, but marvel had to come up with an idea for bad guys and had to do it kind of um In a pinch So they they worked with what they had and I I think archie goodwin is not necessarily the person that came up with the idea of cobra, but he is the one who gave cobra the name Uh, so uh, yeah, so, um Incinerators are cool, but uh What's the point of nitro vipers? Hmm Uh interesting intriguing question intriguing question um Peter ang what is cobra's ideology ruling the world? That's it. Um, yeah There it's that's an end. That's actually kind of an interesting Development In cobra. This is kind of how cobra evolved and I'm talking kind of in the comic books in the animated series It had a totally different track in the comic book It had like a mix of Both right far right wing and far left wing ideologies They were definitely more political than they were like a a religious cult But their ideologies kind of muddled If you know anything about political science and like comparative, uh, political ideologies you can identify like several different, um Uh Several the different, um tenets of different ideologies within cobra and I think the unifying Factor in all of cobra's, uh Mixed ideologies is larry hamma. I think cobra had whatever ideology larry hamma wanted to um Comment on basically and for that reason it shifts. It's it's different. Um from issue to issue And sometimes it's kind of explicitly sated other times. It's more subtle, but I think You kind of have to to understand it I think you kind of have to step away from like an in-universe explanation and instead look at At the writer and it's it's really more about what the writer wanted to say Than necessarily building a coherent Ideology for cobra. I I really I think you got a look to larry that that's uh, that would be my answer Yeah Comic tropes is right. I don't know if anybody brought up. Uh, I guess somebody brought up the punisher. Yeah, and the punisher was a soldier before he became the punisher, but You know whether or not you you think the punisher was justified in his extreme tactics against criminals G. I. Joe I mean, they're not law enforcement, but they are very much agents of the federal government so They they would not be on the punisher's side. Unfortunately, that's not something that uh They could not overlook the punisher's extra legal methods of Of punishing criminals um See marvel characters that will work well with g. I. Joe would be captain america and shield guys like nick fury falcon and sharon carter. Yeah Timmer hey, this is a good opportunity for me to talk about timmer another Friend and youtube personality that I like and appreciate very much. He did an episode on You know whether captain america would fit within g. I. Joe. So He did a video on that and that is something that you can Check out if you would like some extra commentary about that specific thing Hang on Yeah, so it's pardon me. It is it is a holiday. So i'm getting messages from friends and whatnot. So, uh Maybe slightly distracted for a little bit um Comma tropes loves destro. Well, if you love them so much, why don't you marry him? Uh Destro is a great character. Destro is a fascinating character. Uh I think The antagonism between destro and cobra commander added a new dimension To cobra and to the bad guys That made them a lot more interesting Uh chuck yeah chuckles is uh is an undercover agent. You basically a spy Mace as well mace which should have been chuckles version two. Yeah Yeah, and I mean there is there is that G. I. Joe is primarily military, right? But they have intelligence officers on the team So they there is definitely an intelligence gathering aspect to what they do and those Characters like chuckles like mace. I think even scarlet and Lady j as well would uh You you could imagine them as like Liaisons with an organization like shield It kind of okay shield and g. I. Joe um They're kind of two sides of a coin, right? G. I. Joe is primarily a combat unit an anti-terrorism unit that is primarily military But they have an espionage Uh faction or aspect to what they do Shield is primarily an espionage or spy organization, but they also have A military activities and they have a military wing to them. So they're kind of like G. I. Joe is like 80 20 military to spy stuff and Shield is like 80 20 spy stuff to military stuff They do compliment and they kind of overlap a little bit so It was a choice in the 80s to not make g. I. Joe part of the marvel universe In a way, I'm kind of glad that they did because you know, they were able to kind of Forge their own Uh mythos Forged their own universe outside and not beholden to any continuity in marvel On the other hand if they had made it part of the marvel universe We could have gotten some matchups. Uh, we could have gotten some crossovers with shield and whatnot Now that would have made licensing Really complicated that would have made it really complicated for somebody like IDW to come back later and reprint the series in collected volumes Uh because You know, you you you would have spider-man Famously as transformers did Transformers had marvel characters in the comic book series That is a choice that the Transformers series made but uh, g. I. Joe did not um So yeah, I forgot the issue off the top of my head, but uh, I have a video about it called, uh, rare g. I. Joe come Oh guys, uh, yeah, I think that was one that you did with for, uh A cobra convergence one of those years That do do check out comic tropes by the way if you would like some comic book knowledge excellent, uh Excellent youtube channel and a really good guy I agree with shawn. I am glad that they decided to let g. I. Joe have its own space and to build its own universe I I do like that Uh comic tropes the rumor is IDW is about to lose the g. I. Joe and transformers licenses to uh, uh, Robert Kirkman that is the rumor. I'm intrigued to see if that would happen. Uh, and see what would happen if that occurs Uh, it could be interesting It I don't know it could be a shot in the arm for g. I. Joe. We know that hasbro is actively marketing g. I. Joe Hasbro is Uh is doing something with the brand which they had not done for quite a while Uh, yeah, it was for cobra convergence. I don't remember which I don't remember which one it was. I guess I could look it up Uh, man, I've got a lot of notices Lots of lots of people Sending messages and posting things on this fine holiday. Oh, we got like eight minutes. I won't look it up right now I'll look it. I do want to observe the passage of the year. I don't want to miss that. I don't want to miss it Um Did g. I. Joe have any coast guard you already got answers cutter was coast guard. Yes Yes cutter was coast guard Which actually surprised me. I had forgotten that before I got, uh cutter Um A top side I'm pretty sure was navy. In fact, I think he has a life vest that says navy But cutter was coast guard. Uh, that is a fact that I had forgotten until I got the figure and the file card Is like, oh, hey, okay So g. I. Joe has a guy from the coast guard. That's that's all right. Yeah Uh, thank you. Uh, thank you comic tropes. I appreciate it. I like you too And thank you everyone for being here. This is this has been really nice We've actually maintained a pretty large audience for pretty late into the night I really kind of assumed it would just be a few people here because I mean it's new year's eve You guys will have your own festivities and You know family activities to do but I'm really grateful that you guys showed up Um, you know, I I have you guys you you are what I have for New year's eve and I Uh, I'm really grateful to have you here. I'm very very grateful to have you here Um, let's see and hello, uh, mickey. I don't know if I said hello to you, but but hello um It's crazy to me that idw hasn't tapped the g. I. Joe trade paperbacks in print Yeah, the the prices on those have gone a little bit ridiculous, especially on Like the the last uh few volumes of it. The prices are not so fortunately, I have The marvel run in the original printings now Before I had that I was looking at getting the idw reprints and like the Like the last couple volumes are nuts. They are crazy expensive And the original comic books if you want to get the original issues the prices on those are crazy In those last like in the last year the the series was kind of waning in popularity so the the printing the like the print runs were Lower, they're they just made fewer of them So they're they're kind of scarce and the last couple issues like 154 and 155 They go for a lot of money now. They are really rare and I have them and I have read them and 155 is a as a great issue. That's a a really nice way to send off the series For a few issues before that though, they're pretty rough they're they're not They're not good and I Hopefully i'm not Stepping on any toes here if anybody really loves issues like 153 and 154 But those last few issues were Not great And I I have to Wonder if maybe like the writing was on the wall that the series was running Was winding down. I am really happy though with how larry ended the marvel series The letter from snake eyes issue I think was Just Great it was It was appropriate. It was the best way to to Uh It was the best way to to send it off It was an issue that actually said something So, yeah Yeah That yeah, the the before that though the last few issues are pretty rough I don't know if you're if you have a chance to read them certainly read them If you are a comic book collector and you want to have a complete run of the marvel series Those issues will set you back. They are They're they didn't they really didn't make a lot of them But it when you read them you're like, yeah, yeah, okay Uh, Dave said he just bought 145. I don't remember what Um, I've read the the whole series a few times But I've read like the first half of the series a lot more than I've read the last half So I don't remember like the last half of the series nearly as well as the first half By then I I had kind of I've kind of gotten out of uh of gi joe. I I kind of got into other comics about that time uh, so This is how this is how marvel comics hooked a lot of people Because even though gi joe was not in the marvel continuity There were still marvel comics. So they still had all the ads and you know stands soapbox and bullpen bulletins and all of that so You're kind of primed to be a marvel fan by reading gi joe even if you didn't read any other marvel comics So If you move away from gi joe, but you still want to read comics. What are you gonna pick up? Well, probably you're gonna pick up the comic books that you've seen Advertised hundreds of times in your gi joe comics, which is exactly what I did Later, I expanded and I got some more dc comics and some other, you know independent titles But my first experience with comic books post gi joe was definitely with marvel And that advertisement didn't uh, didn't hurt. Yes one minute. Thank you W. W. J. D. One minute to midnight. Let's not miss it Let's uh, let's finally kick 2021 to the curb It is time to be over with this year What a mess of a year 2022 I mean, it's gotta be better. It's gotta be better. Thank you comic tropes. Happy new year to you as well I'm about to officially say happy new year in less than a minute. It is it is 11 59 by my clock I know you can't see that because it just reflected on the screen Uh, but any second now Any second now Is gonna be right now. It just happened. Happy new year. Happy new year to all of you.  I can see on this screen that there's lag So you're seeing this actually a few seconds after midnight, but finally Finally finally Can we all just agree to not talk about 2021 can we just kind of Sweep that one under the rug fresh start. It's the fresh start Uh, hello, uh, Garcia gung fu. Happy new years to you. Uh, and uh, yeah, happy Uh, uh night wing. Hello 20 20 Yes, 2200 hours is here. Yes. Yes, it is here Um, and uh, thank you. Thank you. Happy new year to everyone in the us central time zone And and presumably to part of canada and mexico as well and south america. Basically everyone who is That has just passed midnight. Happy new year We are i'm going to celebrate with um With water In in a in a hideaway pizza cup It's it was a free free cup. I I didn't plan this very well obviously, but cheers Happy new year to you A conspiratorial gamer. Hello and happy new year from australia happy new year australia from the united states I imagine it's been new year for you for quite some time But happy new year to you. I don't think I said hello when you came in but hello and thank you for joining um The generation that grew up with original ARAH is middle age now and they're uh, they're their financial prime. Yeah, that's I think that's why one reason why you're seeing a lot of boost in prices Interest in gi joe will begin to wane From this point forward without an innovative brand relaunch. That is almost true I I think there is one caveat that I would add to that and that is this um gi joe continued into About the mid 90s so There is a younger generation From that original real american hero line That will continue to come into uh the fandom In the coming years uh Believe it or not, there are people who Got into gi joe and started their Excuse me started their gi joe experience in the 90s Uh and all those things that uh that 80s gi joe fans Are not a fan of these guys are a fan of those and so There are still a few people who were very young in The early to mid 90s who are going to be coming into that demographic who are you know now just starting to Reach that age where they have the disposable income So they will come in there was there is room to expand there will be a few more come in however You are correct in this sense that is There's not Really much of a younger generation after that So for gi joe to carry forward For years to come you've got to entice young people now into You know some form of gi joe that appeals to them Uh things like things like uh snake supreme cobra commander, which is absolutely awesome This is made entirely to appeal to people my age You know A kid isn't necessarily going to know what this is and this is probably outside of a kid's price range anyway Uh the retro figures You know more affordable But you know still It's retro meaning it's marketed to people my age I think there was a hope That A series of gi joe movies starting with snake eyes might be that shot in the arm Um To to bring in that next generation, but you know Snake eyes needed to have a much broader appeal than it did in order for that to be successful Robert Irozeri says a 12-year run for a toy line is epic in an industry Where three years is a smashing success. That's a hundred percent correct And we should keep that in mind that a 12-year toy run is amazing now. Um, it's not barbie, right? It's not Evergreen it's not it didn't it doesn't have a consistent continuity going all the way back to the 60s It took a couple of breaks But 12 years is great You normally expect to get three years out of a successful toy line three years Kids that start on year one have grown out of it by year three um So even in a the best case scenario You know three years is optimistic for a line of toys even if you got a cartoon Even if you got all this media Three years is the rule of thumb so the fact that g.i.jo and transformers had Runs significantly longer than three years Uh means that those are like wildly successful wildly successful um Yeah, and uh night wing kind of points out one Issue and that is that kids don't buy toys like they used to now younger kids Do still play with toys probably younger than you would expect to be interested in g.i.jo But younger kids do and there there is still a pretty good market for for toys marketed to girls but Given that I mean I have kids um and I can vouch for the fact that Kids are not as into plastic as They were when we were younger So if you're going to get young people interested You're probably gonna have to look at other ways to do it Ways other than you know Plastic you probably still have the plastic, you know your hope is to Still have toys, but the plastic may not be the primary um Thing that it that it's centered around Uh, so things to think about and I think a lot of people have some interesting ideas About what to do with g.i.jo to appeal to um to younger people in you know People like me.  So we still get stuff like this for quite a while for quite a while Um, but if there is to be a next generation of g.i.jo fans, then they're gonna have to innovate And they're gonna have to come up with something new and uh And that's not so easy. There are lots of ideas and there are lots of possibilities But what's the right idea that is a much I mean if you if you had the burden of choosing a new direction of g.i.jo to bring in new fans And you've got all these competing possibilities these competing ideas There are very few ways to do it right and a lot of ways to do it wrong and A lot of risk involved in any choice that you make I don't know that I would want to make that decision. I don't know if I would want to be that guy But you know what I do want to do I want to have a story time. Who's ready for story time All right, so I I'm taking that as yes, we're ready for a story time So What we're gonna do is we are going to read this g.i.jo find your facebook Operation mindbender by rl stein. Yes that rl stein And this is one of those books where at the bottom of certain pages you have to make a choice And depending on what choice you make you turn to a specific page to find out how it turns out That's how you find your your fate Um, so the way we do this is I read this badly with a lot of stuttering Um and when we get to a page for instance, you know page five here has Has a choice and it tells uh tells us which page to turn to I will tell you what the choices are I will tell you what the pages are And you help choose by typing into the live chat The page that you would like us to turn to and then I look at the live chat Which again, there's lag unfortunately, but I look at the live chat and I Take a very unscientific poll About which one wins which just whichever one I think I see more of that one wins It's completely unscientific and it's probably wrong most of the time especially if it's a if it's really close And I can't really decide and I can't count fast enough Um, then uh, yeah, it's just I I do the best I can It's whichever one that I think wins and then then we we turn to that page and we keep making choices Until we either win Or die And that is a distinct possibility because there is death in these books there People die in these books um remarkably violent for For a children's series now this says it's a it's for it's even marked on here. Um, yeah young adults Young adults. So so what does that mean? So like you're 19 These are marketed toward toward 19 years old because that that would be a young adult But um For those of us who are children, you know, this is this is very shocking Very violent series But so we could have an opera a possibility That we we die killer weasel is predicting that at 12 34 we die now I'm going to start out by saying I refuse to accept this as an omen for how the year is going to go Okay, so just if we die That does not mean that 2022 is going to suck Okay, so don't take it any way. Okay. It's just a book. It's just a book. It's not an omen. All right. This is not This is not these are not tea leaves. This does not predict our future um So so this I'm just trying to take the pressure off of you I'm trying to take the pressure off. Don't feel like you know, you need we need to succeed Or this brand new year is going to be trash. Okay. It's it's fine. It's fine. It's fine Okay, so let's let's do this Uh, which is the choose your own adventure where duke tosses the grenade at you in the meeting Right. There is one. I don't remember which one that was I don't think it's this one though Um, but that is that is something that happened in one of these books Uh, like they're in the the meeting Uh, just For a lark Duke tosses a grenade It's um Man that g i joe is a really tough unit So now now, uh mega tech is is worried. It's uh, it's fine. Hello, james schultz Welcome. You did it. You you haven't missed anything. We're we're about to start the story. Actually you missed a lot. We had Mike from what's on joe mine here, and we had kujo From gi joe berg here, and we've had a really nice talk with everyone We opened a retro stalker And we opened Snake supreme cobra commander. We also looked at the 1994 Star brigade figures and now we are going to do story time. So what let's get started We've built up to it. Let's do it. We're gonna we're gonna start immediately I should do this like the princess bride like like like peter fall G i joe operation mindbender by rl stein chapter one slap That's how it starts it starts with a slap slap The sound causes you to drop your sniper rifle. We're a sniper in this series Instantly you grab it up from the marsy ground you spin around finger on the trigger to see what made the slapping noise. Wow, you really Really on edge if a slap sound makes you drop your rifle Relax commando. Leatherneck tells you with a frown. That was just me slapping a mosquito. Wow You really are on edge If uh if your teammate slapping a mosquito causes you to drop your rifle Good thing it didn't discharge could have hurt somebody Sure, I'm nervous you admit lowering the rifle you peer through the tangled forest of trees We've been on this island for four hours and all you've seen are mosquitoes. Well four hours Uh, that's pretty rough You might you might miss lunch And where are airtight and beach head? Hey, it's beach head Beach head is here beach head Uh, they were supposed to scout up ahead and report back. Why aren't they back?  No, you say grinning, but I'm sure I'm going to hear it anyway Leatherneck Leatherneck ignores your joke. It wasn't funny.  It's not bad Pretty good illustration All right, so uh, we turn to page six page six Page six, okay No choices yet. No choices at the end of page six. Be prepared though. We will have a choice eventually in this book A beautiful red macaw soars from a tree limb above your heads the rhythmic flapping of its wide wings Is the only sound to break the stillness in this South pacific island forest You know the official word you tell leatherneck army spy planes picked up signs of some sort Of military activity on this island. Maybe cobra is up to something.  That's that's he smiles all the time.  He says frowning Maybe they'll pin another shiny star on his chest if there's room. He's uh swat's another mosquito Hey leatherneck you say you're not bitter. Are you? He glares at you bitter. Listen kid. I was born sucking lemons That's an expression.  Hey airtight and beach head Over here over here. By the way any bad guys This is where you want to shoot over here Where have you guys been leatherneck demands angrily you stop off? At the country club for a swim.  You guys see anything you ask Yeah, I thought you uh, I brought you something airtight says it's this He pulls back his right arm and brings his fist forward with all his might against your chin You got just you just got punched by airtight Uh turn to page 13. Hopefully 13 has an option for us So find your fate book. We're supposed to have some choices to make No choices at the end of page 13. Look rl stein if you wanted to just write A little novella They just write it right even This is supposed to we're supposed to make the choices in here. Come on. Give us a give us an option Give us an option You don't have the time to think about the small uh crafts. What? Did I turn to the wrong? Hold on Yeah, I did turn the wrong page. All right. Sorry. I started reading page 12 page 13 You stumble backward in pain you too stunned to utter a cry of protest The sky spins above your eyes when you can focus again You see that beach head has swung the butt of his rifle into leatherneck's stomach Leatherneck groans and lurches to the ground What's going on here? Why are your buddies attacking you? You decide there's only one way to find out you're going to have to Defeat them first uh, your jaw still throbbing with pain you leap into Uh onto beach heads back and push him to the ground. He rolls free and dies at you, but he leaps Uh, let's say he rolls free and dies at you, but he leaps right Into your fist. Okay. That was an odd sentence. Sorry You hesitate for a second. You can't believe you're battling your friend But then you let him have it again and again.  Well, okay.   What's with you guys anyway? Excuse me turn to page 24 My my voice is barely gonna make it through this Page 24 Here we go Though they are beaten beach head and airtight continue to struggle and you are forced to tie them up Uh kinky They they pull against the rope ropes refusing to answer any of your questions You get the feeling that they don't really recognize you. Have they been brainwashed? I think we have a problem here. You say thoughtfully that's enlightening Tell me about it leatherneck mumbles Dialogue in here is tight. Was this written by rl stein? Or was this written by quintin tarantino? This dialogue is tight They call you commando because of your ability to act under pressure with lightning speed So I guess our code name is commando. That's not our job. That's our code name Now you've got to make a decision. Hey, we actually get a choice You have to make a decision about what to do next How will you deal with this problem and still complete your mission? Should you try to force beach head and airtight to retrace their steps? If you follow them back to where they were scouting you might find out what happened to them Or do you think it's smarter to radio the pit at once? Let hawk know what happened and ask for reinforcements Or would it be best to fly Your own Huh, okay, or would it be best to fly your own confused bodies back to the pit for immediate medical care? It's up to you. Okay, so we have three options. We have three options Option one is go back to where beach head and airtight were scouting that's page two Next option is radio the pit for reinforcements. That's page 47 Last option is fly beach head and airtight back to the pit. That's page 48. So here's what you type into the live chat type two If you want to go back where beach head and airtight were scouting type 47 47 if you would like to radio the pit for reinforcements and type 48 48 if you would like to take beach head and airtight back to the pit. Those are your options Two if you want to go back to where beach head and airtight were scouting 47 if you want to radio for reinforcements and 48 if you want to go back to the pit Let's give this a chance. I know that there's lag. So I'll give you guys some time to Make choice. So I see a two and a 48 and some twos a lot of 47s Let's see Two 48 47 comic tropes goes with two Nightwing goes with 47 a bunch. I'm still only counting that once Joburg goes and Joburg is still here. Hey, thank you Joburg 47 Uh lots of 47s More 47s 47 may win Yeah, um, if you spam the live chat, uh, youtube may automatically kick you off. I That's not me. So yeah, if you don't want youtube to think you're spamming then then be careful Uh 40s, um Um, I think 47 wins. I'll give it a couple more seconds just to see Uh, oh Joburg is flipping to two. I don't think that will sway the vote, but we have, uh We have a defection Joburg is going with two the more aggressive approach I think 47 has won though. I'm gonna I'm gonna go with 47 okay Let's let's go to 47 And see what happens All right, this is too weird for us to handle you tell Leatherneck trying to force the worry from your voice We were set here to do a little scouting not get involved in any cobra brainwashing plot Leatherneck pulls the portable worldwide Radio transmitter from his backpack. Well worldwide radio transmitter. Hell of a range on that hell of a range Um Hawk will never believe this one. He mutters shaking his head. We've got to make him believe it you say grimly We need some more men here. The two of us are helpless, especially if we have to keep a close watch on our own buddies Leatherneck activates the radio transmitter and begins pounding out a coded radio message Uh, it is smart to do that in code though You don't want to transmit in the open when you're potentially in enemy territory Uh the silence, uh, okay, you get silence the silence is replaced by a loud static Leatherneck tosses the transmitter down into the dirt in disgust Someone is jamming your signal with a very powerful transmitter.  So that was totally fruitless So I why give us that option if it's not really an option page 76 76 Hang on All right, sorry even more messages Oh from somebody watching the show. Well, hello people watching the show from home Uh to catch everyone up of who just joined we're doing a find your fate book. We are doing story time And uh periodically we get to make a choice in this book Uh, but for now we are on page 76 continuing with page 76 You guys have had it airtight says uh still looking dazed zartan will be here to rescue us soon Zartan what does cobra's master of disguise have to do with this? Let's drag them back into the trees where it's safer. You tell Leatherneck. Maybe they'll snap out of it Back in nam guys would go crazy sometimes Leatherneck says dragging beach head by his feet, but I never seen anything beat this Zartan is our leader now airtight says quietly. Well, you know Yeah, I probably side with zartan zartan can lead me. Okay You deposit both of them in The shade of a sprawling old pine tree its broad Jagged leaves forming a protective umbrella above them watch for falling coconuts Watch out for fall. Well airtight has a helmet. He'll be he'll be fine beach head beach head watch out for falling coconuts Zartan is our leader now airtight says quietly. He already said that he's the second time he said that You deposit both of them in the shade of a oh, I missed that part. All right. I already read that part Um, but there's no protection for you on the ground You turn and see that you are surrounded by cobra crimson guards. We are sounded surrounded by the crimson guard Turn to page 17 turning page 17 At the bottom of page 17. We do have some choices. We have some choices Uh, okay Not a word is spoken the crimson guard take away your rifles They drag airtight and beach head to their feet and then they begin marching the four of you through the The island forest Overhead birds cry in alarm The orange sun sends rays of blistering heat through the openings between the palm tree fronds You are surrounded by the soldiers. You cannot escape the trees thin out You find yourselves walking down a gentle sandy dune At the bottom of the dune, you see the pacific uh Built right at the water's edge is a long low building with a dock a power boat bearing the cobra insignia Bobs in the water beside the small dock A small radio transmitter jets from the flat roof of the building several cgs guard Cgs guard crimson guard guard Cgs guard the entrance. This is definitely some sort of headquarters, but who's whose headquarters could it be Whose headquarters could it be where it's surrounded by crimson guardsmen and a cobra boat has just Driven out of it. I wonder Uh, you don't have to wait long to find out the answer to the question Uh, the cgs push you in uh On into a large low chamber inside the building Zartan steps into the room grinning under the black and white makeup Uh that always hides his face He glances at you quickly then begins talking to the leader of the cgs What will you do now? Are you ready? Okay. We got two options this time. Okay Option one try to grab a rifle from a cg while zartan is distracted and fight your way out page 20 Wait until you see what zartan is up to on this island fortress page 56 Okay, so this is what you type in to the live chat type page I'm sorry type 20 if you want to grab a rifle from a cg And try to fight your way out type 56 56 If you want to see what zartan is up to in the island fortress So essentially 20 is fight and 56 is weight Uh type 20 if you'd like to fight it out And type what does it say 50 56 if you would like to wait Because you know the bad guys always explain their master plan every time So you just do you want to wait for the bad guy to inevitably explain his master plan Or you do you want to fight it out Comic tropes is is being aggressive comic tropes wants the the aggressive approach to fight it out I'm seeing lots of 56s though A lot of you guys want to wait Well, let me give it a few sands and joe berg is with comic tropes Also wants to fight Um, man. Hello, manda manda says 56 uh, that's it's Sometimes the aggressive approach gets us killed but other times counter-intuitively Uh, the the less aggressive approach gets us killed Uh Comic tropes, we still love you though You are the our resident comic book expert And if this were a find your fate comic book series, you know, we wouldn't even take a vote We just say whatever comic tropes wants. That's what we do But I I think 56 has won. I think I think let's see Let's see if uh zartan explains his evil plan, which You know, he's a bad guy, so he probably will so let's see about 56 Okay Page 56 you decide to wait it out. You've got to find out what's going on here Take them to dr. Meinbender's labs our 10 commands You are shoved through a door into a vast room filled from floor to ceiling with electronic machinery and wiring Dr. Meinbender enters the lab wearing a white lab coat. At least he put a shirt on You know, he's usually bare-chested. So at least he puts something on He is short and bald. Is he short? He's bald I guess we're learning this is canon now that dr. Meinbender is short Hey, you can't tell that from the action figure, but he's actually about he's about four nine Uh, he's uh, but he's a nerving stare Let's you know right away that he is a powerful and evil man Zartan must have paid him a great deal to coax him away from cobra commander to tell uh, you tell yourself On new recruits, he says quietly. Let's hook them up and see if we can make good boys of them. He laughs And uh, you and leatherneck are dragged over to a large console headphones are placed over your ears What are you doing?  I believe I'm going to transmit some rays into your brain That's all I call them loyalty rays Loyalty rays When I'm finished you will be as loyal to zartan as your two buddies Soon everyone will be loyal to me zartan cries you realize that he has been watching the entire procedure Even cobra commander will be loyal to me and I will control all of cobra command Loyalty rays I'll bet you didn't see that coming.  That was that was dr. Venom So we turn to page 57, which is the next page, but we have another choice We have another choice to make here at the bottom Yes killer weasel. Sorry your prediction of 12 34. We haven't died yet. We haven't died yet So it can be a little bit optimistic Uh To make hoody coco do a dr. Meinbender for dr. Meinbender as it is sounded something like this in the comic book series Uh, so yeah, let's uh, okay. Let's let's read. Let's go to 57. Uh, dr. Meinbender.  Yeah, uh, he walks over to a confer with zartan while they talk in a corner of the long laboratory Beachhead makes his way over to the console He talks with one of the cgs standing guard and then comes over to you Listen, there's only one way to save yourselves. You whispers to you and leather neck You struggle to hear his whispering through the heavy microphone. I'm sorry heavy headphones You can reverse the effect of the ray Just turn the headphones around quickly Put the right headphone on your left ear and the left headphone on your right ear leather neck looks At him skeptically I'm telling you it'll work.  We can't trust him. He's a trader. He mutters You don't know whether or not to trust beachhead and reverse the microphones Um, is that like reversing the polarity? Uh But you know you have to act quickly dr. Meinmender is heading for his control panel. What do you do? You have two options option one trust your old pal and turn the microphones around Somehow you are not restrained and can do this If you want to do that turn to page 47 47 To try to free yourselves before the rays are activated turn to page 66 so if you want to Turn the the headphones around type 47 If you'd like to try to free yourselves before the rays are activated 66 So that's what you type in the live chat Uh 49 did I say 47 49 if you want to Uh reverse the headphones 66 if you want to try to free yourself Uh, so 49 type 49 if you want to reverse the headphones That that's how headphones work, right? I I apologize. I think I said 47. Yes, I I did misspeak It's supposed to be 49. So if you type 47, I know there's lag But if you type 47, I'll I'll take that as 49. Yeah 49 um Uh, okay, we've got 66. We got some 49s We've got some 66's and some 49s Uh, yeah, um, I think I think 49 is winning Manda says be a man 66 And I'll tell you what, you know, if we die, I'm gonna give us a mulligan. I'm totally cheating I will cheat to make 2022 start better Than having us die.  I think 49 is winning But if 49 doesn't go very well, I'm I'm totally doing a mulligan and we're we're gonna do 66 Yeah, we're not doing 69. It's not that kind of show Uh, but I think 49 has won let's uh Let's turn to page 49 I can tell you that we do not die at the end of page 49. Okay, so Uh, we have to trust beach head you turn uh, you tell leatherneck quick switch the microphones It sounds silly doesn't it? Okay, but hey, we're trusting beach head zartan is speaking to the leader of the crimson guard You know this whole thing could be prevented if you know either zartan or Dr. Meinbender or anyone else in the room just paid attention to the prisoners But apparently they're distracted See zartan is speaking to the leader of the crimson guard. Dr. Meinbender's attention is on the dials and knobs He is turning on his control panel in preparation for zapping your brains You take advantage of their distraction. You read You reach up and reverse the headphones.  Meinbender is saying ha ha and they believed you he slapped beach head on the back. You laughed too. It was a funny joke For a beach head to pull on you and leather neck now that you are on the same side You can appreciate a good joke like that one you salute your leader zartan as he walks by Still smiling and shaking his head A crimson guard walks over to you and hands a cobra sniper rifle to each of you Other gi joe units will be coming to this island soon to challenge us. He says grimly you and leather neck smile We can't wait.  He uses the time stone Uh, he borrowed the time stone from uh from dr. Strange He they admire each other's mustaches. That's how they became friends friends And he magically turns it to page 60, which is and this is what really happened So this is it's kind of like clue the movie Uh, we don't need tricks leather neck yells. This is what we need. He raises his trusty m1 high in the air Throw him some raw meat and he'll settle down airtight says leather neck is right you decide Come on guys, uh, let's go get him Yo, joe is the cry as you Uh, what you and flint lead the rest of the gi joe unit through a tangled Uh through the tangled trees. Oh, it's page 66. It's not 60. Is it it's page 66.   He ducks as stray bullets fly in his direction You must decide what to do next. You're sure that zartan will soon return with reinforcements unless you stop him first okay Next choice next choice Yes, uh, rob correctly points out that uh Yeah, uh leather neck apparently on page 60 the wrong page had an m1 in 1987 Uh, okay Where was I? Oh, okay. We have choices If you want to go after zartan type nine, that's page nine If you want to go after dr. Mindmender page 79 So we have a choice on who to go after apparently can't go after both um So nine to go after zartan 79 to go after dr. Mindmender nine to go after zartan 79 to go after dr. Mindmender make your choice make your choice Well, you make your choice. I am just peeking at the The many many notices that I will need to reply to in the in the near future cool cool cool and it's almost one o'clock so Uh, I will be wrapping up as soon as we finish this book So it's nine if you want to go after zartan and 79 if you want to go after dr. Mindmender A lot of you guys want to go after zartan And manda says 79 Comic tropes says nine joeberg says 79 Quite a split here. I think nine is still Nine is still a little bit ahead. I give it a few more seconds. I know there's lag So I'll give you guys some time to apply 79 is is the number of people here. That's exactly right We have 79 people watching the live stream right now, which is pretty good for this time of night Uh, we have we've had over 100 people in several times this evening Which is a lot more than I thought we would have given that it's a holiday and it's also late at night Uh, but uh, yeah, we've still got 79 people here I it's kind of evening out. It's kind of evening out. You nine was winning But 79 seems to be catching up Uh, thank you. They gone. I'm glad you're enjoying this Uh Yeah, uh peter ang says We know zartan will likely take us out and disguise himself as us. That's a risk. That's a risk um I I think 79 has barely Barely won. That was really close. That was really close But in my completely unscientific poll I I believe 79 as well. Let's see what happens if we go after Uh, dr mb Uh, what is it 79? That's that's the way it's back Okay Well, we don't die. We do not die at the end of page 79. I can tell you that Let's get mindbender. You yell at leatherneck over the roar of rifle fire He's the key to the operation here. Look at that coward try to run leatherneck says his mouth twisted and discuss as you Both watch mindbender keeping to the shadows slowly crawling toward the doorway Let's go weasel hunting leatherneck yells The two of you charge right through the crimson guards using your rifles as battering rams I think you can hold them off while we go after mindbender. You call to airtight Uh, does abe linkin have fleas he cut? What does that mean? That's what it says.  You didn't know he was armed He does carry that little pistol. He's got a little gun You hear a deep groan leathernecks been hit Oh, no now if If leatherneck were to be taken out, it would really be shocking to me if dr. Mindbender is the one who does it Turn to page 45 Hey, we got another choice at the end of page 45 and it's but it's 10 minutes until 1 o'clock I'll I'll keep going until we're done. But at 1 o'clock I want to pause for a minute so that everybody in the us mountain time zone can celebrate the new year Um, go on keep going leatherneck yells holding his shoulder. Don't let him get away. You hesitate seeing a pool of blood Wide in on leathernecks shoulder you turn and see mindbender running across the beach get going commando Leatherneck continues to urge. What's the matter?  You uh Stay right there. You tell leatherneck don't go back and try to mop up all the crimson guards with one hand You give him a thumbs up and take off after mindbender behind a clump of scraggly bushes near the water mindbender has a cobra fang hidden In seconds, he's climbed into the fully armed compter And has activated the engine You're going you're not going anywhere. You cry over the roar of the chopper's engine as he begins his vertical takeoff How are you going to stop mindbender? We have choices. We have choices Try and blast the chopper with the cobra sniper rifle. You're carrying turn page 67 Grab the landing runner and pull yourself up into the chopper the chopper 54 so if you want to try to shoot him down With your sniper rifle type six seven If you want to try to grab onto the helicopter Turn to page 54 So 67 shoot at him 54 Grab and hang on to the chopper Make your selections. I know there's a bit of lag. I'll wait. I'll wait We've got eight minutes until the next time zone Celebrates the new year Yeah, he's wearing a shirt which is shocking Usually mindbender is topless We've got some 67s Got a 54 We've got some 67s And it's 67 if you want to If you want to shoot at him And 54 if you want to grab the helicopter and hang on Comic trope says 54. Beta Ray Bob says 54. Jeff Jones says 67 It's we've got more 67s so far 54 is very gi joe in the animated series. It wouldn't even be a choice. He will he just jump on it. That's That's a very gi joe thing to do So we've got a few more 54s. I think 67 is still a little ahead but Um Yeah, so Yeah, I mean, you would think he would be able to make that shot with the sniper rifle Um, I think 67 is still winning. I'll give you guys a few more seconds A few more seconds But so far I think 64 is ahead I mean 67. Jeez man. I'm losing my mind. I've been up. It's really late here Uh, I think 67 has won Yo, joe says nine you're a little behind a little behind but uh But I I think I think 67 has won. We're gonna take some shots at him Well, let me take a look at page 67 and see if we can get through it or if we need to pause for a few minutes Uh to observe the passage of The midnight hour For another time zone Now we we can get through it really fast. Okay. We'll get through this well before midnight for you guys in the mountain time zone You carefully aim your rifle at the chopper chopper baroom. No one should ever shoot at a cobra fang No one should ever shoot at a cobra fang in addition to the four rockets it carries It also it is also armed with a powerful negator bomb which you set off by shooting your rifle Oh, well, you can't say this adventure didn't end with a bang That's an ambiguous ending So, okay, that's the end So By shooting at the helicopter. We have set off the negator bomb. That's the bomb that's on the underside of the Of the helicopter it and now manda says 54. It's it's a little late manda. It's a nice try But does this mean we died or does this mean mindbender died? I am choosing to believe That we blew up dr. Mindbender in the helicopter Now because if we blew ourselves up Then then we wouldn't be able to uh say that it's been uh the adventure ended with a bang so This ambiguous ending. I am interpreting this to mean That we we won. I'm I'm going with they gone right here. We won We won and we blew up Dr. Mindbender Mindbender is dead Way to go way to go team. We did it Uh, and we still have four minutes until Midnight in the mountain time zone. So I will get to say happy new year to one more group of people Uh, but then I will let you go and uh, unfortunately, I'm way too tired to Uh to Stay on for the west coast. I know comic tropes is on the west coast Uh, I think some of you are as well Some of you guys though are on the east coast and some of you are even not like Hey, joeberg, um, you are in this is steve, right? And you're in australia What what time is it in australia just out of curiosity? because I like Even even if I had it, you know the conversion, you know in my at the tip of my brain I'm way too tired to even do basic math right now I am exhausted USA, yeah America if yeah We blew up mindbender I I even though it doesn't say specifically. I think that's the most reasonable interpretation of of events Um Yeah, triple e says happy new year. I still have I still have three minutes on on my on my clock So we're we're getting very close and unfortunately there there is some lag. So when it hits, um It's 1600 In australia or at least your part of australia at the moment. That's Yeah, and and and thank you for for coming and thank you for being here steve. Um That is that is another uh youtube channel and podcast that you should check out a gi joeberg Um, well, let's see. It's I guess only half of the squad is in South africa now And then we've got steve in australia and we've got uh kujo in The us But uh, yeah, uh, absolutely, uh, check out gi joeberg It's always been a privilege to work with them and it was a lot of fun to To meet them in person At joe con a few years ago. Yeah team america. That's uh I I won't go into team america I'll just say that there were parts of team america that I liked a lot other parts I didn't like so much. Uh, I have mixed feelings about the movie But I cannot deny that certain scenes in the movie were hilarious, um Uh, james says midwest in michigan Um, and hello michigan from the united states Um, thank you manda. Happy new year to you as well Uh photo viper is in california. Sorry. I won't be able to stay for your new year One minute to go by my clock And uh, we're about to make it. We are about to make it I'll I'll say a few things to wrap it up before we go. Let me pull this up I'll I'll pull it up in a minute because it's about to take over Yo joe is a little behind a little behind We killed dr. Mayan bender so it all works out Uh, paul is also in california I hope you I sincerely hope you guys have a new year and it by my clock. It is officially midnight For the next set of folks. So happy new year to everyone Who just ticked over to midnight? Congratulations. You survived 2021 And we're gonna have a better year. I swear i'm gonna force it to happen Nightwing is in navada so, uh Hello navada from the united states And uh, happy new yes happy new year mountain time. Well done everyone I think we all deserve a round of applause for surviving this year It's it's been a tough one. It really has Uh, too bad. We'll never get a an official gi joe eagle force crossover Now that would be intriguing and I did have a few eagle force figures as a kid Um, I I wished they were in scale with gi joe. Obviously they they weren't But I liked them and they were interesting. They were unique unique Um, good night chris. Good night chris Uh, thank you john Hello hot dog Uh, and xylistos. I probably said that wrong but hello and uh, thank you And i'm glad to be back. Uh, I will do one more thing. Hold one second Uh At the top, uh, or at the beginning of the show, um, I mentioned that, um, I would like to go to joe fest this year And the only possibility of doing so Is uh with your help So I have started a go fund me if you'd like to help me get to joe fest I am putting the url in the chat right now if you would like to check that out It is also on my social medias Uh, and if you if you can't it's fine. Uh, nobody should ever feel obligated But uh, I really miss seeing you guys and hanging out with you guys Um Yeah, comic trove still has an hour to go. Hey adam verwolf. Nice to see you Happy new year. Who's your cocoa? Um So, uh, but thank you. Thank you all. Thank you for being here. Thank you being for being supportive Uh, 2021 is kind of the lost year. I I took virtually the whole year off And I needed it. I really had to but we were back we're going to be better than ever and 2022 is going to be A year that we look back on and say that this is finally when it turned around I I I have to believe that so let's do our best to make that happen So I I think I am going to wrap it up for now. Thank you so much. Thank you to everyone Uh, you all mean a lot to me Uh, I am extremely tired now. So I am going to crash But uh, thanks everyone. Happy new year. Good night and good luck to everyone on the west coast Happy early new year to you and I next time I see you will be in the year 2022 So thanks everyone and I will say good night. Good night, everyone Bye. Bye


Hey, this is Brett, and this 2019 Honda CR-V EXL is stock number 23J353A. I am here at Summit Automotive in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, your new and used SUV headquarters. This 2019 Honda CR-V has the 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine. It's paired up with the continuously variable automatic transmission. It puts out 190 horsepower. This vehicle has been fully safety and inspected by our service shop, per the state of Wisconsin inspection process. It has a fresh oil and filter change, all the fluids have been checked and topped off, and this vehicle is 100% ready to go. I'm going to go all the way around in this video, inside, start it up, take a look under the hood, give you the most accurate representation that I can of the vehicle. White platinum pearl is the color. I shoot all my videos in 4K, and if you like the video, you can subscribe to my YouTube channel, which is youtube.com slash Summit Auto, click the bell notifications, and you'll get updates every time I do videos of our new and used inventory here at Summit Automotive, as well as having access to one of the largest catalogs of vehicle walk-arounds on YouTube. This one comes with the painted and polished aluminum 18-inch wheels. They are in fantastic condition. It has Firestone Destination LE tires. These are 23560R18s. I would say they have a really good amount of tread left on them, probably 60-70% of the tread, if not more. Front fender is in fantastic condition, no dents or dings in there. Does come with the projector-style headlamps, LED running lights, and factory fog lights. We'll turn all those on at the end of the video, so you can see just how nice and bright they all are. Front bumper is absolutely perfect, I didn't see any dents, dings or scuffs on there. Comes with the chrome trim grille, and the hood is in fantastic condition as well. I didn't see any dents or dings on there. Passenger side front fender is in nice shape too, and the passenger side front wheel, no major scuffs or scrapes. White platinum pearls got just a little bit of metal flake to it. Really a good-looking color, and the paint is in really nice condition on this vehicle. As you go down this side of this 2019 Honda CR-V, take note of how clean that body is, how reflective, and a mirror like that paint is. I take these HD videos, so if you're far away, or even if you're close by, and you just cannot make the trip down, but you're still interested in purchasing the vehicle, you can see the vehicle, hear the vehicle, and have confidence in what you're looking at before you even get here. So when you do get here, there's absolutely no surprises, and you can make a smart and informed buying decision from wherever you're at. If this video helps you make that buying decision, or just come take a look at it, let your salesmen know that you saw the video that it was helpful and that Brett sent you. Back tires have just as much drive as the front tires, but I think if you come to take a look at this vehicle, you're probably going to buy it, because it is that nice and clean. Coming around the back, rear bumpers in great shape as well. No scuffs or scrapes, and the rear gate is in fantastic condition too. It is a power lift gate that comes up just like that. Back storage area is very nice and clean.  Those seats do fold down for extra storage. And to get this rear gate down, press that button right there, and it comes down like that. Going down the driver's side, just as clean as that passenger side. No major dents or dings on the rear quarter, driver's side door, fantastic as well. And for full disclosure, this back wheel is just as nice as the rest. I didn't see any scuffs or scrapes on any of the wheels. And down the rest of the side of the vehicle, the door looks really good. And you do get blind spot monitoring built in directional signals in those mirrors. Take a quick look at the back seats. They are in fantastic condition, no rips or tears back here. It does have the latch child safety system for any child car seats that you may have. It does have a weather tech format back here. That's a nice add-on, side curtain airbags, and these seats do fold down like so. They go down that flat. Go down easier if the back seat, or if the front seat isn't back so far. That goes back like so. Wood grain trim on the doors back here and child safety locks on the inside of the back doors, bottoms and inside of the doors all look fantastic. Not bad for a 2019 coming inside. You get the tan leather bucket seats in the front, no rips, no tears. Both of these front seats are heated. Power driver seat with lumbar and weather tech formats up front here as well. This one does have forward collision warning, stability control, lane departure warning, wood grain trim there, memory driver seat, power windows, locks and mirrors. We'll hop inside, check out the miles, the radio, and everything that this vehicle has to offer on the interior. Get that nice LCD instrument cluster. You can see this one does have 65,596 miles. Wow, I thought it had less miles than that. It is really clean for that high of miles. You get a temperature display, digital speedometer, instrument cluster is very nice and clean, comes with the leather wrap steering wheel, lane departure warning, or lane keep assist, I should say. Adaptive cruise controls on the right, Bluetooth and information center controls on the left. You get the Honda touchscreen radio here. You get AM, FM and Sirius XM radio capabilities as well as Bluetooth capabilities on there. You get all your different audio, you get your home screen, you can set up your phone, you can connect it to your smartphone on there, then you can set up different apps and stuff. Nobody set any up on here, but you can do that. Get a compass display right there and this is where your backup camera shows up and you can see that is working nicely as well.  Econ mode, keyless entry with remote start and power lift gate right there. Cup holders, everything's super clean inside of here, I don't think it's ever been smoked in, smells very clean, passenger side format and seat are in excellent condition, it does have the power sunroof and you get map lights up there, home link buttons for your garage door security systems and lighting systems and sunroof controls. We'll start it up and take a look under the hood. Look at that average fuel, 32.9 miles per gallon, boy I love that right now. Let's go take a look under the hood. I would personally like to thank you for checking out the video today and hopefully from this HD video you've been able to verify the quality condition options and cleanliness of this vehicle all the way around inside and out, you can see all those lights are working nicely. Under the hood we have the 1.5-liter turbocharged Honda Earth green technology engine, 190 horsepower, engine maze very clean, runs very smooth, once again this vehicle has been fully safe and inspected by all the service shop, has a fresh oil and filter change, all the fluids have been checked and topped off and this thing is 100% ready to go, it's got pretty new tires on it, there's the emission sticker and I would highly recommend this vehicle from a quality and condition standpoint, I'd ship it anywhere, California, New York, Florida, Texas, whoever is going to get this vehicle, they're going to love it, I'd sell it to a family member, I'd buy it myself, that's just how nice this thing is and to see more pictures of this vehicle or one of our other 550 new new cars, trucks, SUVs, mini vans, wranglers, you name it, we've got to go to that website right there, summitauto.com, full pictures and descriptions of every single vehicle all at summitauto.com and if you'd like to check out more HD videos you can go to youtube.com slash summitauto, click the bell notifications, you'll get updates and videos I do each and every day as well as having access to one of the largest catalogs of vehicle walk-arounds on YouTube. In fact, in a second you'll see a link to subscribe to my YouTube channel in the upper left, a link to more Honda CRV vehicles I've done in the upper right, a link to this vehicle on our website, lower left and a link to one of our latest YouTube videos in the lower right. Quick, though, check this out, we're super excited to help you with this Ultra Clean 2019 Honda CRV EXL in white platinum pearl. Thanks again for checking out the video, remember to like, subscribe and share on the YouTube channel, I really appreciate it. Thanks again.


Why you should never have avocado toast for breakfast? Well, as you probably know avocado toast has become one of the trendiest meals across the globe, especially when it comes to breakfast. And if you're like most people you've probably convinced avocado toast is a healthy option. Well, sorry to disappoint, but that's certainly not the case. In fact, one of my patients actually went on an avocado toast kick. And I can tell you with this patient who we do monitor their levels of leaky gut. And we had pretty much cleared his leaky gut completely by following our program. But when he went on the avocado toast kick, his leaky gut returned with a vengeance. So what in the heck is happening? Well, don't get me wrong. Avocados are great. You have heard me say on this podcast, avocados are probably the best fruit you can eat. But when it comes to avocado toast, there are several reasons I stay far away. The most obvious is the bread. Unfortunately, bread is loaded with lectins. Lectins, as you know, are those plant proteins that are particularly common in wheat rye barley that are one of the main causes of leaky gut intestinal permeability. They're incredibly inflammatory. But interestingly enough, whole grains, whole wheat, whole oats, whole rye, brown rice are loaded with wheat germ agglutinum, which is a little tiny lectin that can actually cause major inflammation in your blood vessels. And you don't even have to have leaky gut for it to happen. This opens the door for actually fat cells to store fat. So WGA actually hits on to insulin receptors in fat cells and actually tells fat cells, no matter what you're eating, to please store more fat, not the sort of thing you want from your food. Plus, bread is loaded with sugar. There are actually four teaspoons of sugar in every slice of bread. And as you know, sugar is one of, if not the worst thing for your health. So if you're having two slices of avocado toast, you're actually having eight teaspoons of sugar, which is actually more than you're going to get in the typical candy bar. And I'd be willing to bet that most of you would rather have a candy bar for breakfast than avocado toast. And this sugar is going to make you gain weight like crazy. Remember, these are refined carbohydrates that instantly turn into sugar in your blood. OK, well, that doesn't sound very good. But what if you have gluten free bread? Surely that's the answer. Well, as you know, gluten is one of the most common lectins and it's present in wheat, rye, barley. A gluten like molecule is present in oats and wheat germ and gluten is also present in brown rice. There are thousands of other lectins besides gluten.  Plus, almost all gluten free breads have more sugar added to make up for the lack of texture in gluten free breads. Unfortunately, as many of you have listened to me, gluten free breads are often made with corn, rice and oats or other lectin loaded grain products. Now, there are a couple of safe bread options out there. I personally love the brand Uprising Foods. And you can find a link in my new book, Unlocking the Keto Code. Barely bread or bread seriously is also a great option. But bread users beware in general, whatever you're going to put your avocado on is likely to contain a lot of sugar. Now, it's not just the bread that I have an issue with. Most people order or make their avocado toast with a poached egg or two poached eggs. That seems healthy, right? Well, not so fast. First of all, most commercial eggs, even if they say cage free or free rage are anything but most commercial eggs come from chickens that are kept in a warehouse that are fed corn and soybeans. And those are lectin moms that in fact get transferred into the egg. So you're actually eating what the chicken ate.  Now, if you're going to eat eggs, please look for pastured eggs or omega three eggs. These are chickens that, in the case of pastured eggs, actually went out and ate bugs, which is what they're supposed to do. In the case of omega three eggs, they're usually fed flaxseed or algae or a combination of the both. So you are going to get some short chain omega three fats in the eggs. Now, recently, as you know, I've been looking at food sensitivities in my patients with autoimmune disease and leaky gut. And surprisingly, I find that some of my toughest autoimmune patients are sensitive to both the proteins in egg white and the proteins in egg yolk, regardless of the source of the egg. So be careful with eggs, particularly if you think you have leaky gut, if you have irritable bowel syndrome, or if you have a diagnosed autoimmune disease. Eggs are probably not your best friend, at least initially. Now, my final issue with avocado toast, the problem is, is it's typically eaten for breakfast? First thing in the morning. Now, breakfast, as you know, I hope by now, is the least important meal of the day.  And anything we can do to prolong the period of time where we're not eating, beginning with finishing dinner and then the next meal break fast. The farther we can push that out into the mid morning, the late morning or even noon lunch, the better you're going to be for multiple reasons. First of all, more and more studies, both in humans and in animals, show that time restricted eating, limiting the time period that we eat food to about six to eight hours per day has huge health benefits, not only on longevity, but also on health span, the number of years we actually have good health. And quite frankly, it's not all that important with how long you live. It's actually how important with how long you live well. It's one thing to be actively sailing your sailboat that my uncle, who just turned 95, active sailor and quite a different thing from someone who's 95 and in a nursing home and doesn't remember their kids or other grandkids name. So it's a health span that's important. And one of the best ways as you learn from unlocking the keto code to activate health span is to compress your eating window. And the easiest way for most people to do that is to skip breakfast or at the very least push breakfast out later and later in the morning. Now, if you've got to have breakfast, there's better things to have for breakfast that can actually continue to activate ketosis. And that is MCT containing goat or sheep yogurts, goat or sheep cheeses or even MCT creamers in your coffee. There's a number of MCT based bars that are also available that are primarily medium chain triglycerides.  And the exciting thing about that is that you could have an MCT based meal as breakfast and it won't interrupt your ketosis. In other words, it will not count against you.   Finally, if you really want an avocado for breakfast, please have an avocado for breakfast. Scoop it out, mash it up, put a tablespoon of MCT oil in your avocado, put some salt and pepper. That's the way to have your avocado for breakfast. Don't put it on the toast. And preferably, unless you know where that chicken, what it ate and where it got its food that made the egg, you're better off for now avoiding eggs on your avocado toast.  Scrape the avocado off, eat the avocado and you'll be fine. You're definitely going to want to see this one. It turns out that great apes suffered a genetic mutation that allowed them to convert the sugar and fruit fructose into fat.


and welcome to Restaurants Hawaii on the ThinkTech platform. My name is Cheryl Matsuoka, the Executive Director of the Hawaii Restaurant Association and the Hawaii Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. Today you're going to have a treat. We're going to be featuring the Waihata and Company, which is one of Hawaii's most charitable companies in the state. As they continue their legacy by pledging $200,000 a year over the next five years, a million dollars to Hawaii Restaurant Association and the Food Service Industry. Learn today how this generous donation of a million dollars will benefit our Hawaii Food Service Industry. Aloha and welcome to Restaurants of Hawaii on the ThinkTech platform. Today I have two guests and I'd like to have them introduce themselves please. Chris, welcome. Aloha Cheryl, thank you for having me. My name is Chris Lee. I'm the Director of Sales and Marketing for Waihata and Company Limited. Thank you, Chris. And Andy, could you please introduce yourself? Sure. Yeah. Thank you for having me. My name is Andy Huang. I'm the VP and Chief Operating Officer for LNL, Hawaiian Barbecue. Hi. Thank you so much, gentlemen. And today we're discussing Waihata, Russell Hata's pledge to the Hawaii Restaurant Association and to the industry, the Food Service Industry in Hawaii. So, Chris, share with us to our viewers a little bit about Waihata. Yeah. Thank you, Cheryl. So it's a privilege and honor for me to be able to represent our 450 people of Waihata, our Hata Ohana, as we call them. This year we made 110 years doing business in Hawaii, where the largest locally owned independent food service distributor in the state and one of the largest in the country. So we are very fortunate to be able to be a big part of our food service community, our local restaurants, to our schools, to our military, being able to provide them with all of the goods that they need on a daily basis.  And he has been such a generous person and one that really genuinely cares about the community and our people of the state. So just a privilege to be able to share a little bit about our organization. Thank you, Chris. And you are so right. You know, gosh, how do I say this? It was Waihata's 110 year anniversary. Huge, just huge.  Instead, they gift to the food service industry this pledge. And it was huge. And I don't know what other word to say that it's just an amazing, amazing gift at the time of your celebration to again, give back to the community. And if anyone knows, right, Russell has been in this industry for a long time, the family, 110 years. So, Chris, what type of challenges are the food service operators still challenged with today? Well, Andy's probably the best person to ask that question. But, you know, we we work with our operators, our customers every single day. And so we're first time we're in their operations, you know, understanding, you know, not just the labor challenges, but also the rising cost of goods, right, inflation. And on top of that, you compound that with the rising cost of utilities, increased rent in Hawaii, you know, it's just it's the perfect storm for for a disaster for a lot of our operators. And so really, our role is to understand those challenges and really help them control what we can, you know, mainly their food costs, identifying the right product for them to use, understanding their biggest challenges, and really, you know, just trying to leverage all of our resources to be able to support and give them the best chance for success. So that's really what we pride ourselves on all of our teams are committed from our warehouse guys to our salespeople, you know, all of our marketing people as well, you know, looking for the right product to promote and share those resources and knowledge to our customers. And you're so true. It's so true. You're right. If anyone knows what our operators, our restaurant operators are faced with, it's going to be Andy. So Andy, what are you hearing? And what are you experiencing through the L&L franchises? Yeah, definitely, you know, the restaurant industry is always evolving. We, you know, just when you think your business is getting better, now you're, you know, you're rising food costs and labor shortage, you know, it's really hard to find good quality employees and in the industry. Now, a lot of people wanted to work for like big tech company, right? You know, it sounds so good, but, you know, we also need a lot of new generation to support industry and how are like restaurant industry in Hawaii is one of the biggest industry employees, so many tens of thousands of people, right? So we wanted to educate the, you know, like the state, all the people about how to support our restaurant industry, you know, the food costs and it's very, it was really fortunate that we have a company like White Hata to support our small mom and pop stores.  You know, gentlemen, if anyone knows the impact that happens to our economy, to our community, when our restaurant closes their doors is Russell. And when we met, you know, we talked about the pandemic and how he observed, you know, we had a few restaurants that has decided to close their doors, not only through the pandemic, but even after, you know, and what the impact of each restaurant when they do close their doors, how the community and the state loses, right? Now, it's not only the distributors because through this endowment fund, it's going to be helping the whole food service industry. And even though they're, they could be, you know, maybe out there looking at who can I support? Who can I bring on board to our vendor list? Russell mentioned, right? It impacts a growth, it impacts a farmer when a restaurant closes their doors. It impacts a fishery because now they're not ordering fish. The distributors, whether it's the paper goods or anything else, it impacts so many different businesses when a restaurant permanently closes their door. And that's one of the wishes, you know, of Russell and the endowment fund is how we can keep these restaurants open and strong and growing. And that's, that's what the fund is all about. So Chris, you know, one of the things that you've, you've talked about is maybe bringing on some subject matter experts. Do you want to talk a little bit about that? Sure. You know, I mean, the restaurants are not just providing food and cooking, right? I mean, they're business owners. They have accounting and bookkeeping that they need to do. They need to be marketers at the same time. You know, when you're building a restaurant and you need to have planners and designers, there's so many things that go into starting a restaurant business. And once you open your doors, you know, those needs continue. And so, you know, we recognize the need for that and we recognize the cost for that. And we're just hoping that a little bit of these funds can help offset that, you know, just to give the restaurant a bigger, a greater chance for success, right? When people are working, you know, with the labor shortages, right, there's very little time for payroll and to balance your book. So if we can help just a tiny bit with that, you know, again, the restaurants have a better chance for success. Exactly. And Andy, you know firsthand how many different partners in a restaurant, right, whether it's your bank, whether it's your commercial lease, rent, realtor, whether it's your accountant, whether it's a tax. So, you know, there's all these different businesses that restaurants really rely on. Can you discuss a little bit about what kind of other business partners restaurants need to have on their side in order to be strong and viable? Yeah, so, you know, the support that the support fund, this endowment fund will help the restaurant to access, like such a matter, experts who can provide guidance, various topics, for example, like the legal employee relations, the relations training, commercial real estate advisory, tax strategies, you know, also a possible resource for future employees who have been trained in culinary arts, you know, we need more education to the public on how important the restaurant industry is to our state. And, you know, the work ethic that the younger generation can learn from working in the industry, flexibility work scheduled while going to the college. So all these education marketing is going to be very useful and helpful for the small, especially small mom and pop store, because when the small mom and pop stores, they don't have a lot of time to go research and go study, watch the news, and you know, all they do is working at the restaurant. They wanted to, you know, provide the best food to their customers. That's all they want to do. So, you know, for us to come in to help them, that's going to be tremendous help for the small mom and pop stores. And it's so true, Chris. Many of the restaurant tours, they tell me, you know, they're so busy in the kitchen, or maybe placing inventory orders or working with their staff, or even, you know, during the employees, the worker shortage, I see, you know, owners of restaurants or general managers actually busing tables and washing dishes and serving food just to keep those customers happy. So, you know, part of this endowment fund, you know, we're going to, we're hoping that we can really implement programs that are going to help those restaurant tours that are so busy in their restaurants that they don't really have time to get the knowledge or to reach out to business partners to help them, you know, make sure that their businesses are financially strong and succeeding. So, Chris, do you have any thoughts or any, I guess, recommendations to restaurant tours for watching this as to how this endowment fund will help them in the future? Yeah, you know, Andy hit it right on the head, you know, it's really about the education, right, allowing our restaurant tours to, you know, not only address the operational challenges today, and hopefully, with time and some of the programs that HRA is working on, on the educational level, those will cure itself, but really allowing restaurant tours also to continue their own personal education, to gain further experiences in culinary, in the culinary field or in business. And I think that's really important, you know, that, you know, they're always working to keep their knives sharp, so to speak, and, and, you know, just even for their staff, right, allowing those opportunities for their staff to gain those experiences, you know, that I've been fortunate to have to, you know, expand my career elsewhere around the world, right. So, you know, I'm really excited about what this, the possibilities are with this endowment fund. And, and I, Russell doesn't want to stop after five years, you know, our commitment is as long as we can continue to do it, that you want to continue to contribute to it. And our HANA is 100% behind that, our HATO HANA is 100% behind that. So, we look forward to trying to make that happen. That is so amazing. And you're so right, Chris, you know, the state economic advisor, they mentioned that every time a dollar is spent in a restaurant, when somebody orders a meal, that dollar is impacted into our state economy a dollar 88, because now restaurants can pay their rent, can pay their employees and maybe, you know, hire on more staff, can now pay that farmer for their produce, or that fishery, or that distributor, and that impact and pay taxes, right. And that supports the whole economy, you know, the food service industry is so important to our economy. So, Andy, you know, as you're growing more and more L&Ls out there, you know, you tell us what you feel is the forecast for the future as more L&Ls come on board to the family. Yeah, so, you know, we're really fortunate, you know, to grow to this level, to going to expand it to the mainland to, you know, we're continuing to support local here at home, but also expanding, you know, our Hawaii aloha to over the whole country and over the world. Yeah, so, you know, both Chris and I, we started in the restaurant industry and started as Busboy, we actually worked together way back, you know, 20 plus years ago. And then, and we've seen the industry evolve and how much challenges, even back then, we're facing until now, we're still facing. And back then, we never had this endowment. I wish we had this endowment back then, right? So, and really, if a restaurant closed down, it affects a wide range of, you know, suppliers, you know, employees needs to find another job, customer no longer have a place to dine, they have to find alternatives, right? And less options, all these chain reactions, right? So, we really don't want to see our one of our favorite restaurant to close down.  So, when, you know, as working in the corporate office, we see the challenges and we're really glad to see Wehatta stepping up to help us to grow our industry in Hawaii. Well, thank you. Now, I didn't know the two of you actually knew each other.  Is that what it was? Yes, we did. That was a long time ago, Andy. Yes. 25 years, I was thinking about it this morning. Oh, yeah, 25 years, man. Yeah, busboy server, we did everything. I didn't know that. Oh, that's so, it's so serendipity, right? That the two of you are on the show talking about this wonderful gift that Wehatta is providing the food service industry. And you're right, you know, I also have been in the food service industry for many, many years. And the Hawaii food scene has definitely changed. And we just talked about some of the changes. If anything, you know, during the pandemic, it taught us is that, you know, restaurants do need also, you know, online ordering apps or software that helps them streamline their inventory process so they can quickly process the next inventory order, right? So some of those ways that maybe Wehatta, do you want to talk about it, Chris? Some of the ways that Wehatta is helping the restaurants, especially in their inventory ordering systems, which is, you know, now quicker, it has to be quicker, because long gone are the days that I used to take inventory with a notepad and a pencil. Yeah, you know, it's all about efficiency, right? You know, the more efficient that we can be as an organization, the better services that we can provide our customers. And at the same time, the more efficient we can help our customers, the more time they can focus on their customers. So, you know, we've made a big effort to look at new technology. We're upgrading our system to be able to accept orders via a web-based app. You know, we're looking at self-deceit inventory guides, order guides that customers can take from their, you know, what used to be paper and pencil right, you know, right to their smartphones. So those are all plans that we actually have in motion and are looking forward to introducing that to our customers. But we have to continue to involve, you know, Russell has the foresight to know that we have to be at the forefront of that if we want to continue on to the next hundred years. So we're really grateful to have, you know, his commitments to that. And again, hoping that will help our restaurants to receive some more efficient on their end and ultimately continue to contribute to our economy, right? So it's not just about the technology, but it's about the product that we're able to source as well. You know, we are searching globally for the right products for our customers, again, understanding what their needs are and making sure we're providing the right product at the right cost to them. So we have teams dedicated to that. And, you know, that's what keeps us growing. So really exciting to be a part of this organization at this time. That's so great. And I know that you're sourcing all kinds of difference, really unique types of foods to to provide to our our visitors and our locals and our community, because each restaurant, you know, if anything I saw recently is the emerging of all different types of restaurants that I've never seen before. And especially on the menus, as you know, guys, my husband is vegan. So more vegan offerings, I'm seeing a lot of that. And I do see also a lot more local produce at the I go to the chef's zone. So a lot more local produce over at the chef's zone to Chris, you want to talk about a little bit of that the local farmers? Yeah, you know, we do bring in a lot of products.  It is important. But at the same time, we also recognize the importance of working with our local producers, right? Not just the farmers, but other local businesses, producers of cheese, beef, poultry, eggs, etc. Right, we are working and continuing to support them by bringing in products for them to support our restaurant, because that is an important part as well for restaurants, right, making sure that they're continuing to support local as well. So, you know, it's not just why HACA, but it's very encouraging to see a lot of other distributors as well from our produce people to our other broadline distributors also supporting the idea of sustainability and supporting local. You know, it takes a village and if we want to get there, it's not going to be predicated on just one person doing it. This is where our competitiveness, you know, kind of falls to the wayside and we focus on doing what's good for Hawai'i and Hawai'i's people and economy. So, really, you know, again, it's encouraging time to be a part of the industry and just, you know, I'm really excited and seeing what Andy's guys are doing too, right, to support local in their L&L restaurant. I mean, that's huge, right. Exactly. Andy, you want to touch on a little bit of that because I've seen that too over at the L&L's and then also, you know, talking about vegan, you have that vegan musubi. Yeah. So, you know, I think the growing, you know, consciousness about the environments and so more and more people wanted to have options, vegetarian or vegan options. So, we brought in this plant-based musubi. So, it tastes and looks just like a span musubi, but it's vegan. So, I mean, give people extra options, right. The restaurant world is evolving, like you say, you know, we need to accommodate a different type of eaters, foodies. And then also, you know, just want to touch base on that, you know, this endowment fund would really help mom-and-pop shops so that, you know, give them extra resources and help them, assist them for the day-to-day operation other than that, you know, the rising food costs and also to help them to understand, to maybe educate them on the importance of the technology, right. So, now, all we are hearing everywhere, every day, it's AI, AI, like what is AI, right.  So, the mom-and-pop operator, they are just focusing on cooking, but, you know, don't forget about evolving with the society, with evolving with the technology. So, we are here to help them, you know, to educate and be one of our support, you know, they can reach out to, as a Hawaii restaurant association, grow to thousands of members. This is why we're here to offer them to give them advice for. Exactly, because the Hawaii restaurant association is here to support the whole food service industry. And you're right, Andy, you know, everybody is talking about how they can utilize technology, as Chris mentioned, you know, to streamline, to make everything more efficient, especially when it comes to operations in a business. In general, you know, restaurants, it's just bottom line, it's a business and needs to be profitable in order to keep their doors open. So, Chris, is there anything else that I missed that you really wanted to mention about this endowment fund? Yeah, you know, I think the big thing is that food is a big part of who we are in Hawaii.  And one of the things that the endowment fund is also intended to do is, you know, support cultural preservation through culinary arts, right? And it shouldn't be a financial reason why a staff or a restaurant owner or their team members couldn't broaden their comfort level and experiment and try new things, whether it be going out to a local farm for the day, or taking a trip to a ranch on the big island, you know, and we really want this endowment fund to support that idea that food is a big representation of who we are as a people of Hawaii. So, you know, it's not just about the challenges, but also about the opportunities for the future. And that's another thing that I think is very exciting for this fund to support. You're so right. We're just talking about that, how food, our food is our culture. Our food represents all the different cultures in the state, and everybody, it's a melting pot, right? And when you come to Hawaii, and Andy, you talk about, you know, L&L and the Spam Musubi, well, it's not Spam, right? It's a plant-based Musubi. People come here and they said, what are you talking about? And I said, just think of it as a breakfast sushi, and they have one bite, and they just love it, and they don't know that it's plant-based. Andy, they just think it's a piece of Spam. But everybody represents, all the different restaurants represent all their different cultures, and that's what makes Hawaii and our food service industry so special. You're so right, Chris. So, Andy, is there anything you want to discuss before we wrap up the show? What did I miss? Well, Niu, you pretty much got everything.  We have so many different cultures. It's one of the most diverse, you know, city and state in the whole world, and we are just like our food, L&L food, is we have chicken cuts that's like Japanese influence, and we have the barbecue chicken, where the short of it is like Korean, Chinese, Portuguese. It's everything different. That's what makes Hawaii cuisine. Like Hawaii cuisine, that's how we, you know, differentiate, define our cuisine. So, just glad to that we have this endowment that we can share, we can support. And HK, I think the biggest part is the education of the general public. So, that's what we need to continue to do for. Thank you, gentlemen. And thank you so much for being with me today. So, in closing, again, we just want to give a shout out and a thank you, just a sincere thank you, to Russell Hata and the Hata Ohana for being one of Hawaii's most charitable companies and continuing their legacy by pledging this million dollars, 200,000 dollars over the next five years. And hoping to go on, this is really going to impact the food service industry and keep the industry strong. When I spoke to Russell, he said, you know, this is all that he wants to do is, how do we support our local restaurants and businesses? And that's what this endowment fund will do. Again, my name is Cheryl Matsuoka, the executive director of the Hawaii Restaurant Association and the Hawaii Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. The Hawaii Restaurant Association is the voice of Hawaii's restaurants and food service industry. Thank you so much for joining me today. We'll see you again soon. Thank you so much for watching Think Tech Hawaii. If you like what we do, please like us and click the subscribe button on YouTube and the follow button on Vimeo. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn and donate to us at thinktechhawaii.com. Mahalo.


Auditory injury is a significant problem for service members and veterans. Hearing loss and tinnitus have been the most prevalent service-connected disabilities for veterans and since these exposures are so common in the military, we need to address them to the best of our ability. It's imperative that we focus on preventing hearing loss and tinnitus in our service members and veterans as we think about trying to maintain quality of life for those that have served. My research is focused on tinnitus over the years. We were funded by the Department of Defense and the study has been active since 2013. We've collected data on over a thousand service members and veterans and the study is in good hands right now and we're hoping that it will continue for another 15 or 20 years which is really necessary to answer the original questions from the study. The project is ongoing and one of our main aims is to understand the natural history of hearing and tinnitus over time as it relates to those military exposures and because of this we're collecting data every five years, in-person data every five years, on our service members and veterans. We've looked at the associations between tinnitus and functional status in our service members and veterans and we found that people who have tinnitus do struggle more in their daily lives, it interrupts their sleep, it has an adverse effect on their mental health, their ability to concentrate and focus. We're surprised at the prevalence of tinnitus. The average age of our participants, whether they're service members or veterans, is about 35 years old and we are finding that the prevalence of tinnitus in our group of over a thousand participants is about 60% or so in the veteran population and about 40% or so in the service member population. So that's a surprisingly high prevalence. We've also seen an association with self-reported hearing difficulty and PTSD in our service members and veterans and so individuals who are blast exposed to have complaints of hearing, we believe that part of that association is probably mitigated through PTSD, probable PTSD. One thing I would like to see happen, especially in our veterans, is that if they present with blast exposure and self-report hearing difficulty but actually have normal pure-tone hearing thresholds that we begin to screen for PTSD in our audiology clinics and think about integrative care and subsequent referral to mental health when it's needed and warranted. The greatest value of the study will be to keep it going and follow up on all of our participants for years and years and years, that's going to answer some really important questions that can't be answered any other way.