 Hey, everyone. This is Ryan, aka Rainforest, coming to you from the luxurious Lama Public Media podcast studio. So this episode of The Shakedown was a doozy. Right before we start recording the infamous Ben David, which we have mentioned in previous episodes, showed up with his brother at Malone's apartment carrying some stadium equipment. Needless to say, it became very difficult for Malone to record and even more difficult for me to edit. After listening to this episode, I decided to leave a lot of the interruptions in because I think it helps prove a point that Malone makes early in the episode about prisons. Also, you get to know Ben David a little better. Then in the middle of editing, I tested positive for COVID and could not come back to the studio to finish. When I finally did get back, I realized there was way too much for just one episode. So I'm breaking it up into two parts, maybe even more. If you are watching this episode on YouTube, then this is the link I can do you're going to get for this episode. Sorry. A few warnings as well. There will definitely be some adult language in this one. I promise if Ben David barge into your apartment, the stadium equipment, you will learn some new phrases as well. Second, I need to make clear that everyone loves Mama Malone. Malone has some stories involving Mama Malone in this one. And they are in no way meant to put her in a bad light. Everyone loves Mama Malone. She bought our comic and a hoodie, which you can buy at waywardpress.com. So with that said, at very long last, prepare for some adult language, prepare to love Mama Malone, and prepare for episode three of the Shake Down. Hi, welcome to the Shake Down, where we talk about the criminal justice system from the inside out. I'm Ryan, and I am here with Malone. This week, we're actually talking about making comics in prison, because both Malone and I have been working on a comic. And this week, we are actually taking it to the printers. And we're really excited about it. One thing is, is that as we were discussing today about maybe making this the topic for the show about making comics, Malone had some concerns about whether or not we wanted to make that the topic. He had some thoughts and a story to go along with it. So I'm gonna just hand it over to Malone. So he can tell the story on the air. Well, in my mind, the first thing I was fed up, I thought of, or I usually think of is the devil's advocate position, the argument that will be made by those who are our detractors, those who love the prison system and want to see it continue, like the idea of locking people up and think that we have it too good is the first thing you're gonna say is, so hearing you're saying you're telling us about how bad it is in prison and then you turn around and talk about how you're sitting around reading comic books and reading because that doesn't sound to me like you're being punished. I can remember a time whenever I had a visit from my mom in prison and she came in and during that period of time, some friends of mine had had an iPod smuggled into these and on this, this is one of those iPods that has a little two inch screen on it. And on that iPod, they had downloaded a whole bunch of movies. Now, the three people that I'm talking about you, I myself and the other two people have all done over a decade of time at that point. And I think I've already done at least 20 years in prison by that point. And this iPod was an amazing thing to us. We were fixated on even though it had a fixed number of movies, you couldn't put any more on there. We had no access to any kind of computers or internet or anything like that downloading more movies. The ones that we had were so precious to us that we passed this thing around over and over again and watched it on a regular basis. Each of us had our terms of keeping it and hiding it and and and being able to use it. So I was so fix that there's these movies that were on there that were from the 90s, these classic movies, things like Pulp Fiction and and Red The Blonde Dogs and Fight Club. And we'd watch these same movies over and over again, and used to post these movies to each other. So whenever I had this visit, that was the big thing that was going on in my life is that I'd actually have a chance to watch those movies. I was really affected by it. So I told my mom about this whole thing. The first thing I heard about this is all shit around here. You're watching movies on an iPod, but it doesn't feel like you're being funny. So I thought about that response for a second. Hey, Malone, I'm gonna stop you real quick. Sorry. Okay. I don't know what's up with your microphone, but it's like, it's getting really mumbly. And also I can hear the notifications on your phone. It's not my phone. That's been David's fucking phone that he has to have me doing this bullshit in the middle of a podcast. I've been straight up doing a podcast and you're fucking with me, dude. It's waiting for it. Motherfucker, God damn. So my response to my mom, you know, take all the stuff that you have, take all your little creature comforts, comforts that you have in life, and move all of it into the bathroom, move your bunking, move your mattress into the bathroom, move what food you're gonna eat into the bathroom and things that you're gonna use to cook it with. And then go out and do the street and find some complete stranger that's out there that hates your guts and move him into that bathroom with you and you live solely in that bathroom with this complete stranger and bring an iPod with you and you're telling me just how great that iPod makes your life. Then of course, she thought I'd been, well, putting it like that, I guess I can see your point. Or actually, I think more was more along the lines was, well, now that she's put it like that, he's just talking to me in my ear right for us. It's gonna be impossible for me to do this. We're talking here along the side of him. Did you use me wine? Did you use this to open the can with? This is a corkscrew. You thought it was a corkscrew with a can opener. Malone. To your point. Yeah. Can you can you get Ben David's attention focused enough so you can you both can be on speaker phone for a minute. No, that was actually perfect. You were describing exactly what you wanted to describe. No, your point was, is that they're talking about how awesome that you, you know, these inmates are spoiled because they have an iPod, like now you can actually get a legit like tablet in your cell, like in Colorado and headphones. But the problem is, is you don't understand that you're living in a 10 by eight cell with Ben David, we've been recording for three minutes. I was going to say it's been five minutes, but we've been recording for three minutes. And in that time, Ben David just tried to open a can with a corkscrew. I mean, I wanted to get you both on the phone because I already know what he does without a corkscrew. Who could imagine what he's going to do without a corkscrew because in general, he's gonna light something on fire. I know you have to, you have to stay on top of it and watch it. So you're in the middle of interrupting one and keeping me from being able to concentrate on what I'm saying. Just eat your, eat my food and chill out in silence. So I think it also illustrates the ingenuity of, you know, just the life and humanity and also the stuff just keeps on going on even in the harshest and possible conditions, even in prison. And can't, you also cannot ignore the fact that, you know, as I said, we've been in there for well over a decade and that point at that point, this is the 2000s and thousands and none of us have even seen these movies. So all of these, you know, cultural events that the rest of the world has gone through, we missed out on. And we have found a way against all odds and against the entire state of Texas trying to stop us to nevertheless reconnect with the rest of the world and catch up with us. That's also another nice lesson to come out of that story. Now behind the times we were movies and everything that comes out were years behind. We only get to see move like a new movie for us is once it goes on to TBS, assuming it gets on to TBS, which most movies don't edited to the point of absurdity and then TBS will play it nonstop for the next year. And then you will become extremely familiar with that movie. Yes, you will know every line from that movie. You can walk into a room and be like, Oh, they're playing that Chinese water torture. Whenever you walk in and see that movie, you will say, you'll, you'll, you're like, Oh, God, not that movie again. Right. So which is why it is so nice to do something creative, like make comics and write them and draw them and do something other than sit in front of that TV, find some way other way to make new stories because you don't find them in there. And even though you can get books and comics sent into prison, it is very difficult and they can very easily get taken or destroyed. Plus we've we've talked about before. Mailroom is very happy to just deny any books. Or to burn. Yeah, I can burn your book. My my buddy who I used to read comics with in high school, he sent me whatever whatever comics I wanted, he would send me like, I'm like, you tell me what comics are good right now. It's I don't know what's out and good. And he sent me fables. I was getting super into fables. And then the 13th graphic novel came out and it was denied. And they would not let me see fables anymore. So then I'm like, All right, they wouldn't let me do that. So send me send me why the last man I want to read read that. Then I got three books into why and then they started denying why the last man. The shakedown is recorded in luxurious Longmont Public Media studios. And our theme song shakedown is provided by Envato Elements.