893 - YAAADEEE!

A Mediocre Time with Tom and Dan — Episode Notes

Hosts: Tom Vann, Dan Dennis | Guest: Ross McCoy (Orlando talk show comedian), with Jackal joining in

Sponsors / Ad Reads

• Hollerbach's Oktoberfest Street Party — Closing weekend of Oktoberfest season at Hollerbach's German Restaurant in historic downtown Sanford. Friday Oct. 16 (5–10 p.m.) and Saturday Oct. 17 (12–10 p.m.). Free family event with bratwurst, pretzels, imported Munich beer, and live polka/Oktoberfest music from the King Guys Band.
• Tom and Dan Cruise 2027 — Deposit-now promotion for the "2027 Seaz Nuts" cruise aboard the MSC Seashore. Book at tomanddancruise2027.com; over 200 people already signed up, cabana block selling out.
• Injured On The Go / Just Call Moe — Studio sponsor (justcallmo.com); show broadcasts live from their studio.
• DM Chevy (Don Mealy Chevrolet, Clermont) — Listeners directed to sales contact JC Harrelson for vehicle purchases and service; mention of a recent positive service experience with a Chevy Traverse.
• Streamline Mortgage Solutions — Brian and his team (streamlinedflorida.com), a decade-long sponsor; listeners encouraged to mention they heard it from Tom and Dan for personalized mortgage help.
• Moe Comedy Jam — Audience-voted comedy show in October at moecomedyjam.com; $20 tickets, proceeds to charity.
• All American Bullion Florida (Whatnot) — Live auction show hosted by Dan for sponsor Craig LaFleur that same Friday night (~7:30 p.m.), selling copper rounds/bars and other items.

Segment Rundown

1. Cows and Cabs food/wine fest plug — Dan and Ross hype the upcoming Winter Park charity food-and-wine event, with an extended tangent praising Smoke Made Meats BBQ (turkey, pulled pork, brisket, and their unsweetened "cowboy" beans).
2. Ross's terrifying AI/anxiety bit — Ross describes using AI chatbots to soothe his anxiety, then springs a viral video on Dan unannounced: footage from an Iranian domestic flight where a tire blowout caused the cabin ceiling to partially collapse, with panicked passengers screaming (no injuries). They propose making this a recurring "traumatize Daniel" segment.
3. Tom and Dan Cruise 2027 update — Over 200 people booked already; cabana block at the beach stop (Ocean Cay) discussed, plus family-friendly perks like snorkeling.
4. St. Cloud Trail of Terror — Local Halloween attraction starting Oct. 8, its 16th year, themed "Sweet 16," including a haunted house built around an Iranian plane-crash scare tying back to the earlier video bit.
5. Radio-days bathroom/ringtone stories — Tangent into old Real Radio/Clear Channel building stories: a flooding bathroom mishap and a chicken-ringtone incident with a cleaning lady.
6. The "Haunted Tugboat" mystery solved — Dan recaps years of speculating about a boat moored near Lake Beresford, revealed via a news story to be the Tiger ST-479, an 86-foot, 150-ton WWII Army tugboat built locally, sent overseas (reportedly arriving in Normandy the day after D-Day), later owned in Sweden, and repatriated in 2022–2023 via a roughly $250,000 donor-funded shipping effort. They debate what should be done with it (restore as a tour boat, static memorial, or "Tom and Dan tugboat party") and joke about the lack of a real restoration plan.
7. Tommy's Halloween costume — Tom's son Tommy is growing his hair out to dress as soccer player Memphis Depay ("Holland") for Halloween.
8. Franco's Flop Fest plug — Free belly-flop competition and street party this Sunday in Baldwin Park; Dan and Andrea judging, Brendan O'Connor also judging, food trucks including Chillin' Tacos, and a cameo appearance planned for the haunted tugboat.
9. BDM shirt clearance and Jeff's Bagel Run — Final sale on BDM Appreciation shirts ($5–$10), plus a bagel tangent about Jeff's Bagel Run's loaded baked potato bagel and app-signup coupon.
10. 20th anniversary viral video retrospective — Extended segment revisiting early-internet viral clips on their 20th anniversaries: the "Grape Stomp Lady" (Melissa Sander, 1998 WAGA-TV Fox 5 news segment, went viral on YouTube in 2006), with discussion of local-news "fun reporter" archetypes and how 2006-era stars had no way to monetize viral fame.
11. Star Wars Kid — Story of Ghyslain Raza, filmed in 2002 at age 14, leaked and uploaded in 2003, viewed hundreds of millions of times; discussion of the harassment and lawsuit that followed, and his later life (law degree, doctorate, heritage preservation society president, public speaker on online harassment).
12. Numa Numa Guy — Gary Brolsma's 2004 lip-sync video, his brief media circuit (Good Morning America, Leno), and his low-key present-day life still in Saddle Brook, NJ, working as a web designer.
13. Sweet Brown / "Ain't Nobody Got Time for That" — Brief revisit of the viral local-news clip, with a broader riff on why local-news viral clips featuring Black interviewees tend to be the most memorable.
14. Why fewer viral news clips today — Discussion of the analog-to-digital conversion era (mid-2000s) that made clipping and sharing footage easy, contrasted with Dan's memories of physically taping and dubbing clips in his early radio career; mention of the free video-downloading tool Cobalt.
15. Thursday Night Football / Dan Campbell tangent — Riff on Amazon Prime's now-exclusive Thursday Night Football broadcasts and Lions coach Dan Campbell cursing on a live sideline mic with no real backlash.
16. Hyrox athlete apology controversy — Follow-up on a Hyrox athlete (referred to as "Joanna") who initially posted a smug "win's a win" message after a controversial finish, then issued a full apology and relinquished her title/ranking points after losing her Puma sponsorship; hosts debate the timing and sincerity of the apology.
17. Comedy/fame tangent — Riff on the burdens of being unusually tall or funny, the difficulty of making a living in comedy or pro sports, and a shoutout to comedian David Jolly's grind, distinguished from the unrelated politician of the same name appearing in local ads.
18. Voicemail: crystal burgers vs. White Castle — Caller Dan in Palm Bay questions references to "frozen crystal burgers"; hosts clarify the Crystal vs. White Castle regional debate (mustard included vs. not, hole-punch pattern differences).
19. Voicemail: laundromat business — A 41-year-old caller whose father owns a Speed Queen-equipped laundromat in downtown Orlando discusses the durability of Speed Queen machines and the economics (and cash-business realities) of running a laundromat.
20. Voicemail: "Olympic Fat Dads" / Max Verstappen go-kart race — Caller Bubble Bath Billy shares an ESPN/Disney-broadcast event where F1 driver Max Verstappen starts last in a 101-driver, 30-lap go-kart race using identical karts; leads to a tangent about similar "elite athlete races the field" stunts, including a ski-jump stair-climb race and reality shows pitting humans against animals.
21. Reality TV deep dive: Superstar USA and "The Contestant" — Recap of the 2004 WB show Superstar USA (a reverse American Idol mocking bad singers, including a contestant compared to William Hung), and a much darker Japanese hidden-camera show (subject later identified as Nasubi/Tomoaki Hamatsu) that secretly broadcast a man's year-plus isolation to millions, an inspiration for The Truman Show; mention of the 2024 Hulu documentary The Contestant covering it.

Key Dates / Plugs Mentioned

• Tonight (Friday), ~7:30 p.m.: All American Bullion Florida live Whatnot auction hosted by Dan for Craig LaFleur.
• This Sunday, starting at noon (flopping begins ~1:20 p.m.): Franco's Flop Fest, Baldwin Park — free belly-flop competition and street party.
• October 8: St. Cloud Trail of Terror opens (16th year, "Sweet 16" theme, six nights).
• October (date not specified): Moe Comedy Jam — tickets at moecomedyjam.com.
• October 16–17: Hollerbach's Oktoberfest Street Party, historic downtown Sanford.
• Ongoing: Tom and Dan Cruise 2027 deposits open at tomanddancruise2027.com ($200 refundable deposit; cabana block selling out).
• Ongoing: BDM Appreciation shirts on clearance sale ($5–$10).
• Ongoing: Jeff's Bagel Run free bagel coupon with orders or app signup.

Notable Guests/Callers

• Ross McCoy — In-studio guest, Orlando talk show comedian.
• Jackal — Friend of the show, joined in; plugged Karate Orlando and mentioned fellow member Seth's zoo/dojo real estate situation.
• Dan in Palm Bay — Voicemail caller, questioned the "frozen crystal burgers" reference and sparked the Crystal vs. White Castle debate.
• Unnamed caller (41, laundromat owner's son) — Voicemail about Speed Queen machines and laundromat economics.
• Bubble Bath Billy — Voicemail caller who shared the Max Verstappen go-kart race story ("Olympic Fat Dads" segment).