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Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
In this episode dana and Mike and are joined by Chris Parker from Retired Working for You.
Full Transcript
Full Transcript
Dana Blouin
What's going on everyone welcome back to another episode of Bangkok strange as always, I'm Dana blue and drove on my co host Mike Summerville greetings and aloha How you doing man? Not so shabby you're pretty far away from me I am we got a special guest in the studio crazy
Mike Somerville
and he's right in the middle of a he's gonna be amazing okay we got to do it up top we get to do a minimum seven of those
Dana Blouin
strange sandwich right absolutely
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
what type of show bring me in the studio and sandwich man I don't know what's gonna happen but I'm a little bit worried unrated
Dana Blouin
wd 4030 mile wages. That's a
Mike Somerville
duct tape over there. We should bring
Dana Blouin
in there before we get into the show today guys, do not forget to subscribe on iTunes, Google Play Spotify, Stitcher, I Heart Radio tune in wherever you find your favorite podcasts. We are there. I guarantee it. No guarantees, not a guarantee at all. But I guarantee it. And don't forget to subscribe to the YouTube channel. That's where we do our live streams. We put our little short videos like I was trying to do the agent squat with famous Thai actors you know
Mike Somerville
that really hurt my Achilles Yeah, by the way a spoiler
Dana Blouin
Yeah, didn't go well.
Mike Somerville
white guys should not be doing
Dana Blouin
white guys our size should not be doing a copy that
Dana Blouin
has to grass is not a thing that you should be trying or age. But today we have an awesome guest Chris Parker. He runs the channel retired working for you. And an awesome channel one shade off the bat in in Bangkok. You know some of the best video storytelling for a vlogger out here. Yeah, like the way you put it together your edits. I know. You said you spent like 60 hours a week working on these videos. And they're dope.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, thanks, man. Yeah, I didn't expect to retire to work harder than I've ever worked.
Mike Somerville
But again, right. It's not work.
Dana Blouin
Yeah, that's it, man. Funding for free.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
I love it. Absolutely. Yeah, I'd be doing it for free. Yeah, and I kind of am right. So so not a problem. Very
Dana Blouin
fun to do it straight away. You just gave away 10,000 baht to in one of your videos. Spoiler alert. But uh, you got you got your first AdSense payout?
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, my buddy noon. So basically, you know, the channel, you got to hit this 1000 subscriber milestone. Yeah, I did that right away, which I didn't expect. My goal was to hit that by the end of October, actually, when I started back in May, and then I hit that and so YouTube sends a little email. Hey, do you want to turn monetization on? I thought now Fuck that. Like, why am I gonna bother? Everyone's gonna get pissed off the pay taxes. And all that. Yeah. Taxes.
Mike Somerville
We'll talk about that later.
Unknown Speaker
But he's coming off the show. You guys are
Mike Somerville
Canadian taxes? Absolutely. No, no, no.
Dana Blouin
Some foreigner earned income free health care.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, that's right. So he so later they asked to turn on initially thought no. And and when I started the channel all along, I thought, well, what if, you know, I like to daydream. I do like to daydream. And I thought, what if it did blow up and he started making money with it? And I thought, well, it could be fun. It could be fun. And so I was down in crabby last month and hanging out with my old buddy noon. Yeah. Who has a coffee shop down there. I've known him for a few years. Okay. Every time I go down there, I spend pretty I get their breakfast, and I leave some time after the last beer. And what's the beach? This is rally rally beaches. Everyone's talking
Dana Blouin
about that route. Yeah.
Mike Somerville
And West, right. Or is he on East?
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Well, in between West and East? There's a wall street there's a little path. And so yeah, I actually went there first time. 20 years ago, hadn't we had our honeymoon down? Right on and it's one of those places in Thailand. That hasn't changed that much. Because there's no cars you can't you can't
Mike Somerville
The only way to get there is by boat. Yeah, yeah, definitely link to your video.
Dana Blouin
Yes. It'll be in the cards. I'll put your channel in that video. Because that video is awesome. Nice.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Thanks. What's the name of his place? His place is called coffee station. Coffee
Mike Somerville
station. Okay, great. Yeah,
Dana Blouin
it's on that Walking Street.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, it's halfway down the Walking Street. This guy. Just wild looking guy with dread dreads Long, long hair, but but this is a guy who was sitting there, still showing up at 8am every single
Mike Somerville
morning but no people, no tourists.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
I asked him one day, how many how many customers Did you have today? And this was at the end of the day said well, I had you and I think there was two others. There's a lot there was a lot of Thai tourists down there but they were just hanging out on their resort. And they don't really venture into the the kind of vacation different than us. Yeah,
Mike Somerville
for sure. Now Okay, so but you also went there for coffee. But then there's like this little this seat of the video where you're like walking through this super small alley. And then like some lady makes some magic breakfast for you. Like what was it? Was that a friend of yours too? Did you know The whole family
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
that works? Yeah, well, that was known as girlfriend. Oh, perfect. Yeah. So she's the chef and she she was whipping up. You know, same deal. These days. Everyone's hurt. And I had I was at a resort got free breakfast. I said screw that totally. Let's get Nunes girlfriend. It was Good man, dude. Yeah,
Mike Somerville
totally awesome. Yeah, that's fantastic, man.
Dana Blouin
Yeah. Again, like service like when you get good service in Thailand is through the roof. Big time.
Mike Somerville
Yeah. No. I mean, it's, it's almost like their default setting. It's like they grow up and they're like, Okay, well I'm here to, like add value to help people that sort of thing. And then we come over here one could argue that we're so used to not getting it. Yeah, unless you're overpaying right? Whereas and i i think like you guys do I just appreciate it so much. It makes you want to go back 20 years later not
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
and that's a crime. I find that across Asia like the most recent example that for me, I ran to I rented a car for the first time and time Okay, like, Okay, how does this work? And this was the one of the long weekends there's a holiday Sunday. I call in their way out by the airport Dhawan.
Dana Blouin
Keep talking I'm just gonna adjust your mind no problem. This
Mike Somerville
is a shift some big black thing closer to your mouth.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Is that wrong again with these guys? I know. And and so I'm like, okay, holiday Sunday. how's this gonna work for getting a rental car next thing you know? Oh, we'll deliver it to your condo sir. Do I need a driver's license? No, sir. Just give us your passport. We'll deliver it to your condo in two hours and then when you're done with it, we'll come pick it up at your condo. And I'm like yes service laws are
Mike Somerville
not the standard experience you get to JFK on an Avis not exactly what's happening on there. Yeah,
Dana Blouin
they are definitely like service here especially I mean it shines during this covid time exam sure because one they just appreciate business as opposed to you know there are some places that they they kind of feel entitled to business like it like any of us or whatever because you're they're getting paid but like your buddy noon right like his that's his livelihood is running this coffee shop every day. And when there's no tourism no foreign tourism then no one's going to a spa right he probably just appreciates when you come in and you're like coffee coffee coffee.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Oh yeah, yeah, they definitely appreciate it that's why I think everyone who's in lucky enough to be stuck in Thailand like Guster in this crazy shit stock stuff.
Dana Blouin
Yeah, like where's our light and to get back West? I can't
Mike Somerville
even met cannot even imagine even living in San Diego right now. My buddies are like oh yeah, they set the Bank of America on fire in your hometown. I'm like why they're like oh because the the the fire department was next door so they figured it would be an easy out. I just wanted the publicity. I'm like way to be efficient in looters like what Come on, man.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Crazy Crazy. Yeah, we left la about a year and a half ago and we just kind of look back and think Holy shit. How lucky were we to not be there?
Mike Somerville
Well, what's crazy so we're Canadian, right? I have dual citizenship. So I'm also Canadian Really? Like I've never heard I recently got booties. I recently got my Canadian passport. Why
Dana Blouin
I now have two passports but Jason Bourne have
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
but can you talk like a Canadian? A little bit a? Oh, geez.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
He has an American trying to be Canadian.
Mike Somerville
I've got a pair of ccms and a pair of ours.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
There you go. Okay. He's
Dana Blouin
one of those
Unknown Speaker
ice skates bro. What do you think they're
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
great. I don't know what these guys are talking about Ollie so
Dana Blouin
he doesn't know what patina is, though. Yeah,
Mike Somerville
so what's crazy is he whips up patina on me and I'm like, What are you talking about? Never had it. Okay. He lost point. Yeah, I know. Apparently this is like, this is like the McDonald's of choice of Canada.
Dana Blouin
But food is like the cheeseburger of Canada.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
What a shitty national dish we
Mike Somerville
have. Is that really?
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
What are we famous for French fries lop with gravy. Is that what she's heard?
Mike Somerville
I never had it yet. Because my mother was like, Okay, well, let's seven we should probably introduce him to diabetes. So thank god she never introduced me to this. Putin fellow.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
I'll tell you what you can't do though in America, which pissed me off is you can't find white vinegar to put on your french fries. And that's exactly what I said. He
Mike Somerville
says to me, what do you put on french fries?
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
They bring out malt vinegar and I and I'm always on them white vinegar. Yeah, they're like they pull under this big industrial size. They're like what we use for cleaning. I'm like, yeah, that's what I used to
Mike Somerville
clean my coffee pot. That's exactly what I want.
Dana Blouin
American restaurants do they use the white vinegar to clean the coffee pot? Yeah, it'll
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, yeah. And I put it on french fries, man. And and and I got traveled all across America. I'm like, just with someone carry some white vinegar.
Dana Blouin
Yes. Don't do the malt vinegar. And in Canada,
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
they'll offer it as an option. Usually there's a mobile phone.
Mike Somerville
Yeah, like any on the little tray right? Salt Pepper. Yeah, yeah, that's what I'm
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
used to. Not gravy. No, no. And then salt and vinegar chips. Same deal, man. You can't find those too easily down down south of the border. He's
Dana Blouin
popular and you can get them here in Thailand. You can tie the chariot like Lee salt vinegar.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Oh, well, yeah, I prefer the barbecue squid.
Mike Somerville
Right. I don't understand that whole guy
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
got a picture of a squid head with his black eyes on the bag and you're like, holy shit.
Dana Blouin
That's not gonna work. my mouse spicy LARP
Dana Blouin
the author of the potato chip flavors here are wild but some of them are good. I remember the first time I came here is like 2008 The first time I was really vacationed in Thailand. We won rajdhani and they had blueberry hazelnut Pringles. And that's good. It was not bad. Really? Yeah.
Mike Somerville
Did it taste better than like French fries with gravy drizzled all over it with a pair of hockey skates?
Dana Blouin
Not too
Dana Blouin
fair. Not too many things better than butene I don't know. I have to try it. I guess I
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
was watching. You want to make some money out out there once travel opens up I saw this video the other day this guy found a store in New York City that specializes in asian snacks. Ooh, and he had all this like he probably had the blueberry vanilla three at all probably had Mountain Dew potato chips and but this shit New York City there's he spent 81 bucks man and this is where we're buying it for like 50 cents. So fill up a couple of suitcases. Go to New York. That's awesome.
Mike Somerville
That's like mokona three in one I should know because it's the ultimate and cost you like three
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
and one by the way? What is three and why am I talking about three and one before we went live?
Mike Somerville
It's these little packets basically and it's got coffee freeze dried coffee it's got
Dana Blouin
coffee flavor creamer freeze
Mike Somerville
dried coffee flavor and sugar and I really liked them. Yeah, but he is a coffee aficionado
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
so I'm gonna play the middle here the only the only time I like that is when I'm camping. Yes when I when I go camping I used to do a lot of camping in California in Canada. Yeah, and I hate that shit if I'm in a city or at home but when I go camping you're all about it. I wake up and put the pot over the fire and then make it up and it's just it tastes like a candy bar. Yeah,
Mike Somerville
maybe that's why I like it because I'm revisiting my camping like every single day
Dana Blouin
camping coffee as you bring your hand grinder little digital scale right? Like a Moka pot backpack and you just you know you fine grind with the hand grinder pack the Moka pot that's your kind of sludge
Mike Somerville
Now, speaking of sludge my favorite coffee obviously I go to the three images because it is it's ease in the morning but I love the coffee bar on right on the side of the street you know sock black goo inside mixed with about seven different sugar slash you know all the milk. Oh yeah, absolutely. I
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
try that. Try that a carnation umbrella. Yeah, I find it so sweet. Yeah, like the coffee here all their drinks here. We don't ask them to take it away. I was like, Oh my god, like I drink generally just some black coffee. So when I have that it's like, Oh, sure.
Dana Blouin
What What's your favorite coffee shop out here?
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
I'm Tim Hortons Nunes man Nunes, but other than that, that's a flight about a taxi and another boat to get to Nunes. But other than that, I guess cafe Amazon as a standard go to I'm a fan because the
Mike Somerville
price is very reasonably priced like Starbucks out here is a fortune. It's ridiculous.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Coffee if you go to Starbucks in Thailand, urinating Yes, yes. Yeah.
Mike Somerville
You're wasting your money. Throw it in a fireplace.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Burn it. So I guess I hope I didn't just kill you guys in the Starbucks sponsorship.
Dana Blouin
The things I say about Starbucks, they would never throw money. I know. I throw lawyer money at us.
Mike Somerville
One of the coolest things I go to pick up my Canadian passport and I leave and right in the lobby. What is there? Tim Hortons? Oh yeah, took a little selfie send it to the folks that was so proud of
Dana Blouin
you here when the Tim Hortons opened in Samia Midtown I was there that day there was a line there was
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
a massive lineup I was thought I was there that day. Just to check it out. And yeah, it was a crowd of surprises and it was mostly ties in the lineup. I was expected to be like a big Canadian party man like rush rush playing live tonight.
Dana Blouin
And it's like holy shit knows all ties and it's still busy when Taco Bell opened it was the same thing though right lately line around the corner Chris
Unknown Speaker
de la
Mike Somerville
Yeah, totally. I love it. Yeah, no, it's like a party. Yeah, it's like extra
Dana Blouin
Yeah, have you ever been to RTS over and so 18 for coffee?
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, I've been in Archie's met my buddy Ben there. was there last meet my buddy Martin who's got a YouTube channel here Yeah, like that place I can walk there from my house. Yeah, that's a good spot. Yeah, that's a nice one.
Dana Blouin
Another good one is gallery gypo from BCC Oh, never been there and probably my favorite coffee spot in Bangkok. Oh really? If you like pourover you like specialty coffee that's the spot yeah yeah, I love that I love that Yeah, so you'd like gallery gallery or national stadium Mr. To BTS
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
okay yeah, no did I lost this thing at BTS National Stadium back I got it back man so I I'm filled I lose everything I've lost I'm This is my third or fourth pair of sunglasses since I started they'll probably leave these here.
Mike Somerville
Call me later, but you probably left that and then went back hours later and some top guys like oh yeah, here we go.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Oh, I went back in it. I thought I'd find it I left on top of an ATM and I'm like I Go back pay and it wasn't there and so I go to I go to the office and they're like oh fill out this form sir I fill out the form two days later my phone rings we found your thing come at it and I went back grabbed it is great Oh, that's all that is
Mike Somerville
not happening at a bus stop in Boston. Oh definitely not gonna get that level
Dana Blouin
Got it? Oh what would you lose the fuck off? What
Mike Somerville
did I put on eBay? What am I selling at the swap meet this weekend?
Dana Blouin
What was the original purchase price? Okay fella fuck yourself.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Another thing about Asia man like life when I was younger, I lived in Korea. I moved there like three days after finishing school. Okay, I just got a one way ticket and the first one of the first things I noticed is holy shit. Like the seven elevens the local convenience stores at night. They're skids of all of their supply just sitting outside on the street. I can walk up and take in anything I want. And nobody does.
Mike Somerville
Yeah, but they would have looked at you like did we don't do that? Yeah, we don't do that. What do you come on?
Dana Blouin
Yes, that's how we roll. Yeah, let
Mike Somerville
me guess you're from America. Oh, Canadian. When you're Canadian. You're really nice. I stole that very nicely. Thank you. I'll say sorry when
Dana Blouin
America was just smashing grab man running for the run for the hills. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, no, it definitely you see right here to entirely up the worst neighborhood seven elevens Good night all this kids laid out there just loaded a man everything on secure
Mike Somerville
no problem. All the motorbikes keys in it. Yeah, you know, and I'll tell you, I'm gonna I'm in bad habits. I was thinking about this yesterday, man. When I go back home to like, hang out in California or maybe Boston or something. I might have to be really really careful. I'm over it to digital Park yesterday. Like I got to go the restroom. So I put take my phone out, put it down on the desk, leave my laptop wide open. Yeah, I logged out. But that was about it. walked away suddenly with like, you know, $6,000 worth of gear there. And I'm like, I'm in the restroom thinking. Hmm. You know, I wondered. I'm like, well, there was a cleaning woman out there. So she's probably acting good security. So I should be good. But of course, you know, no, nothing. I don't even know.
Dana Blouin
If someone came by and stole it. They'd be Hey, don't just that's not the way to do. We don't do that here. Yeah, my buddy was in Spain. He got his laptop and his phone with
Mike Somerville
a Yeah, Barcelona. Yeah, yeah. Big time.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Great, great city though, man. It is.
Dana Blouin
Toxic city. There's
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
only two places I've ever been in my entire life where after the first day someone was telling me in my bones. It's like, Man, this is a place you got to spend some time in your life at some point. Barcelona was one and Osaka was the interesting.
Mike Somerville
How long were you in Barcelona?
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
I was only there for a couple weeks. Oh, you never went back? never went back? No, no. Yeah, no, not Yeah, there you go. Nice. Not yet. Once our daughter's done high school next year, the world shall be our oyster in Barcelona. On the last
Dana Blouin
Yeah, it's nice. Where's your plan to go to university us? Canada? Thailand. Back in Canada back in
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
India? Yeah. When we were living in in, in LA when she hit high school. She started talking about going to USC and stuff. And we Yeah. So if you want to go to school down here, right? You're gonna be paying for this the part that's above the cost of what it would be if you go to school in Canada and the next week she comes on talking about schools in Canada.
Mike Somerville
Definitely want to go to McMaster dad.
Dana Blouin
Yeah. What are the costs of schools in Canada?
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
for tuition US dollars be about 6000. Okay. And then, so all and my brother was complaining about his kids in universities I get you know, it cost me about $14,000. All in for the air. And that's tuition room and and food meal plan. thing and 14?
Dana Blouin
Yeah, nothing USC
Mike Somerville
is about 210,000 for a batch. I don't
Dana Blouin
think you could go to undergrad. Like I don't think you go to associates program in the US for 14 a year.
Mike Somerville
Wow. State School, right. I mean, obviously San Diego State is cheaper, but
Dana Blouin
like a two year degree like Community College, some of them might be that cheap.
Mike Somerville
Yeah, Community College and said, in California, obviously it's like $100 a unit, you know, but the point is, is you get you know, you don't get a great education, whereas in Canada,
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
right. Yeah, I would say the education is comparable. And that's why we said we're not gonna pay you know, exactly comparable education. I just think it's sad that you come in the system is such that you come out at school, riddled with debt. And you're, you're it's hard. You're now in the system. And there There it goes. That's how that's how life starts. For these young kids.
Mike Somerville
I worked at a private university in San Diego and the average student graduated was 60,000 in debt. And of course, the ones that graduated this past May or may not have jobs. Yeah,
Dana Blouin
brutal. I'm fortunate that I've zero student Yeah. And actually, I came here to do a PhD that originally came to Thailand because it would have cost me about 210,000 total to do a PhD in the US. Oh, wow. I was like, well, I got a scholarship to I got a couple scholarship offers in Asia and I was like, well, Thailand. Okay, course Thailand.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
So where do you do that? Where's Thomas? Ah. Oh, Thomas. Ah, Nice I was down at Thomason looking for some graffiti and do making a video one that was your live
Mike Somerville
stream wasn't it
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
recently? no no the live stream was around a soap. Okay I did a video just doing a graffiti street tour apparently there was something on Thomas side
Dana Blouin
sighs first time I was on the Tom was that top zone which is unfortunately not where they send you if you're studying internet where did you go so they have the when you online and they send you brochures it's all pictures of the top of Chong Kham by the river it's gorgeous you park across the way lock tower yet near the palace is everywhere yeah gorgeous I I get here they're like oh no, you have to come to the ranks of campus which is impacting Tawny outside Bangkok. I get there I do all my like paperwork check in everything and they're like oh, you have to go meet your advisor so we're going to put you on this van and send you out to this industrial slum called bongani which looks like district nine like barbed wire one I prostitute across from the can which
Mike Somerville
is actually you know, so What
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
was her name?
Mike Somerville
Didn't want to get my PhD
Dana Blouin
I don't want to talk too much about apples okay but
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
she had one eye before you met her
Mike Somerville
don't worry about that just drive that out
Dana Blouin
it literally like the the campus was next to like multiple factories like electronics factories like making processing chips and stuff awesome smoke billowing out everywhere
Mike Somerville
with their buses full of Chinese girls everywhere today. Like
Dana Blouin
sometimes sometimes it can be but so Yeah, a little bit of false advertising but you know overall, I mean quality education was good professors were all like well, like really good research topics.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Was it in English? Or do you singlish
Dana Blouin
tie? My tie is not as good as it should be. Considering My wife has Thai But no, it's in English international program. Like my wife graduated she has a Master's from methadone which has like the top university in Thailand and their international program is all in English like fantastic
Mike Somerville
for example the school your daughter's going to write obviously everything's in English.
Dana Blouin
They don't even teach Thai there I don't think
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Oh really? Yeah that and that was disappointing because you have you have to do a second language ties on Thai sound option How crazy is that?
Mike Somerville
Because that would be awesome right to learn it like because of the structure
Dana Blouin
there are only certain languages that are recognized in like the
Dana Blouin
International Baccalaureate program well that's right. Only certain languages that are recognized in that program Ah, so that's why
Mike Somerville
he's What was it like to take what you take for a second language? Spanish French oh well right Canada
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, sometimes she likes to go go the easy route and so she cheats when when you start schooling Canada when she went to kindergarten way back when you have two choices you can either go full French where everything math science, everything's taught in French or English my I don't speak French, my wife's cringy and speak French and we're like, well, she doesn't know go French. So she's fluent in French, which is awesome. And then and so that so the French at this level is not boring. Yeah, a little bit easier. Because like I say,
Mike Somerville
what Just give me the exams. I'll give them back to you on Friday. And I'm gonna now I'm going to take time on my own because you blame people won't let me let go so did she have like friends that are talking? So she's learning a little bit by immersion? Now
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
she's she's not really learning
Dana Blouin
this anytime that she's in school with speak English better than Thai?
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Oh, yeah, they speak they speak in English. So she's not going out of her way to to learn Thai now fair.
Dana Blouin
Like I taught a workshop at Shula's international undergrad program last year calm D. And all my students were like, spoke English at a native level. Oh, my Thai students. Phenomenal is
Mike Somerville
that because they went to like international schools or some progress?
Dana Blouin
They probably went to international schools here they get that sort of Creole English. Where they speak with almost all of them speak with an American accent right? they pronounce words like
Mike Somerville
British British. I was gonna say yeah, that's what I've heard.
Dana Blouin
They spell like Americans, they they talk with like a, like a like a sort of like northern Midwest accent
Mike Somerville
douchebag and all this stuff. They
Dana Blouin
totally got it. They they do the Samuel Jackson and standard American they'll say shedule bride. That's hot.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
I don't like when people say that.
Mike Somerville
shedule I usually punch those people in the throat. They deserve the absolute course. Who says shedule safe
Dana Blouin
British people there we go.
Mike Somerville
Missing he gets it back around. I totally did. Yeah. How many? How many? Seven minimum right. Every show everything as long as we already up here.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, both sides. And when you said I was coming in to get double teamed, I was a little more worried. Just high fives.
Mike Somerville
Let me just reach around. Grab that little thing. Alright, so let's hear a little bit more about your channel man. Because obviously, thank you so much, first of all for being here, but retired working for you. I mean, definitely it showed up in one of my I started subscribing. I started watching and wild success, right five months and you've got 27,000 subscribers. I bet by the time this airs, you'll have 30,000 right? I mean, that's not unrealistic. Yeah. And so tell us a little bit about that journey. Once you got over here to Thailand,
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
yeah. So I got to Thailand last summer i'd retired, decided it was time to pull the pin on the North American life kind of get out of that hamster wheel.
Dana Blouin
Not a hard decision to me. I get it. Yeah,
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
yeah. And so and so came over here. And I thought doing nothing was going to be awesome, which it was like I spent the first six months just enjoying shit. I was down in the islands every month went to Nepal last fall. We went to Korea over the new years. And then, you know, a little thing called the COVID. What do I do now? Yeah, what do I do now? So the day that they were locking Bangkok down, we're like, man, we knew it was happening kind of 24 hours before we're like, Let's get the hell out of here and go to some movie, huh? And and, and, you know, it'll be better to get down there than Bangkok. So we went down there, but it's still locked down pretty much. Yeah, there's nothing open, you can't really do much. And so that's when I really started to get bored and retired. And so I decided, well, I'm going to do I'm just going to start a YouTube channel, click and I went live off of my laptop, low webcam. And I did it every day. I did what I called the candidate COVID push up challenge. Very nice. And it was like, I think maybe 28 people that watching it. And but it was still fine. And you did a certain amount of push ups every morning. Every day. I do the number of push ups in honor the Canadians who died the previous day from COVID Oh my god. Wow. So was that like a large number? Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't have wanted to do that. If I was America.
Dana Blouin
8000 200,000 push
Mike Somerville
ups and eat frickin french fries dipped in gravy. I mean, it must be a friggin superstar. I think it maxed out
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
at maybe the biggest day was I got 188 or something like that. It's
Mike Somerville
not hot. I mean, overall, like, I mean, Canada is a couple thousand. Is it even? 1000? Total?
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah. Oh, yeah. No, it's probably I don't know, it's probably five or 10,000. I mean, we
Mike Somerville
got some time. Do you want to do five or 6000 push ups? I mean, we
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
I would but there's just not enough room and
Dana Blouin
God, fair enough. Many Americans died.
Mike Somerville
Oh, Jesus Christ. How many Americans are lame? That's a higher number. I think quite frankly.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
So yeah, no judgment. So So over the course of doing that, I had a couple of buddies who were locked down and the one guy Sam, he is a dp a director of photography from China. Okay. And so they're like, Oh, this is fun, man. Let's get off the webcam. Like, why don't you shoot some stuff? Let's start going around the island and doing them in cool spots. There you go. So we started doing that public
Mike Somerville
restrooms that sort of thing. Yeah, exactly. And so,
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
so yeah, just it just started to rekindle this whole fire I'd had completely forgotten about when I was in my late 20s in the in the late 90s. I used to make me and a buddy made all of these stupid videos. But there's nowhere to put them it was there was no YouTube there was there was no word no cloud, nothing. No cloud. So we made all of these little videos of us just going around doing shit and being silly about a VHS
Mike Somerville
I mean, super.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Well, we recorded I think it was mini DV but we were on VHS. That's how I was editing. Play raw that stockpots awesome.
Dana Blouin
Love it. That's how I started was doing the mini DV, back again, late 90s those in my teens. Now record me dv and I couldn't get I could never get it to work transferring to my computer. So I had to edit the same way. Whereas I hook it up to a VCR on the cat. And I get the tape the mini DV to where I want it and then I hit record the record and play at the same time. Yeah, it always be like a second.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
But after a while you knew exactly that split second that you
Dana Blouin
had to do. So your transition is always like Oh, yeah.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Now that transition you got to pay to get that Yeah, Glenn Beck from 1970.
Mike Somerville
Actually, how can I
Dana Blouin
let me import the VHS glitch effect? 3399
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, and so then it and then I decided that was about two months worth and then in May on the way back to Bangkok. I thought to myself, you know what, like, fuck it. I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna make the channel try it try to see what happens if I make the channel about these types of videos I like to make Okay, and started with my daughter filming the trip from from Samui back to Bangkok. And then after that, I just started making videos and I didn't expect to be you know, I have 27,000 subscribers. I thought by the end of October 5000. I'll be I'll be celebrating. And then I'm like if I have 10,000 by the by next May the one year anniversary of my children, right? Yeah,
Mike Somerville
man. Now again, obviously, I've watched I mean, the production value is amazing. I mean, yes, you own a drone. But again, you can take great footage on a drone and still edit it like shit IE my channel. So I mean, it was you obviously, you know, upgraded from a couple of VCRs Right. I mean, you got a background I mean, if you can do this blindfolded Yeah.
Dana Blouin
So your next one it shows that you worked on Game of Thrones. You worked on some some really big stuff.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah. So I mean, I I worked on lots of big stuff, but but my part in those big shows was a miniscule kind of business related role, which is one of the things that just started it just sicken me yet to have zero creativity. Right now, there was a lot of great people that worked at my company that did the final coloring and all of the post production on Game of Thrones, we supply cameras on Stranger Things, but I was just looking at spreadsheets and
Dana Blouin
crunching numbers, counting dollars ROI,
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
counting dollars or money, people I get it. That's
Dana Blouin
why I ended up leaving like my engineering job. I loved the type of engineering I did. I was in Telecom, but like, at the end of the day, like when the the creativity and the challenges aren't there anymore, like you got to walk away.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, agreed. So I would trade it in that which would have, you know, show like Game of Thrones all told to go from script, to production to post production, there'd be upwards of 800 people involved in that. And I traded that the production value you speak of this is it is very high end, so I splurged and got one of these
Dana Blouin
cheaper version of this that doesn't extend
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
well, this is the thing he was mentioning. The production value comes from this fluid ball head and this iPhone 11 extension. And that's basically what
Dana Blouin
I use my version. It comes
Mike Somerville
from some epic post production. So let's face it, you're not
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
anything I feel is my strong suit. I love it. And it goes back to having done it for I was doing it with VHS tapes, you know, and
Dana Blouin
that, that $33 transition free? Never gonna have that happen again.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah. So I think that yeah, I think editing is I love to do and I put a lot of time into it. And that's to me, the way I see a video is, and it's always weird, and this is why I love doing YouTube. It's like, you go out and shoot a bunch of stuff. And that's like, that's like, you end up with this ball with clay. Yeah. And then you start editing and you're like, holy, there's no video in there. It's just an ugly ball of clay and then after like you do the assembly for maybe you spend half a day and you do the assembly. And I can sleep at night. I'm like, I see something in that ball of clay. There's just there's a video in their story. Yeah, there's a story there to come together and then the next day you wake up it's so enthused to kind of start to fine tune it. That's awesome.
Unknown Speaker
Yeah, I love it. Look at his eyes. Nobody talks about this.
Dana Blouin
I feel like when I shot like a bunch of stuff at the craft fair, and I came back and I was like oh, it's like so much footage on my phone. Where do I begin? Yeah, like where do I begin? What do I do? Like he start to lay it all out? You're like okay, now I start to throw it on the timeline like yeah, yeah, yeah.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
And then it just starts the juices start flowing as fine as hell
Dana Blouin
and pulling down on it like oh, this would be a good transition. Oh, I could throw this in the middle here and
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
yeah, and then and then you hit Publish. It's like it's like it's like a crack pipe hit man behind the dumpster. Like oh yeah, that's the shit
Mike Somerville
I never had the dumpster experts but I believe what you're missing Yeah. Trust me. I so okay, I mean I know some people are gonna be interested in this because obviously you shared the gear you have so for software like what do you use it on the back end?
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
I went with Final Cut Pro Okay, for this simple reason. I was gonna go with premiere Final Cut when they when I used to go I started on Final Cut Pro was Final Cut two Okay, and I went all the way till seven and then after seven they went to 10 and that's when they ruined it for everyone it was making massive inroads in the professional side. Yes, they flipped to 10 and since then almost nobody in the professional really ever used to go to Adobe they all well they all use avid for the ones that were looking for an alternative went to Adobe Okay, and so I was gonna go to Adobe because it took over it said okay, well final cuts gonna screw everyone over let's just build premiere Mir to be like Final Cut was and that's what it is. Okay, and so I'm like yeah, definitely I got to use that and then I started looking at the price I'm like, Man, it's only subscription. Yeah, like 50 bucks a month. You know do rad I could I can eat like st a grapes for Yeah, yes for that. And so I went Final Cut pros 299 I'm sure it can do everything I need right as a tool. And so I just went with them. I'm super happy because the shittiest thing about it the shittiest thing about it turns out to be the best thing for YouTube cutters. Okay, it's that magnetic timeline and you know there'd be it would take so much longer in Premiere to do what I do. So I'm super happy. So
Dana Blouin
I use premiere and I was actually just talking right? I used to use Final Cut. And because of some of the other design work I do, like you saw my studio downstairs we make garments and bags and stuff. I use a lot of the other Adobe products Photoshop out effect an after effects, Illustrator you know, all the sweet basically, a lot of sweet and so I have the full subscription but I really hate premiere. I like the workflow between premiere and Logic Pro premiere in audition because I do do a lot of audio processing, but I just really don't like premiere and I have very fond memories of Final Cut. So I download the 30 day trial again I did my last video in there and I was like I am going back
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Oh Are you okay? Yeah cuz the bad the bad the biggest strength of premiere is what you're using it for for sure. like Photoshop and all this I've never learned Photoshop or Illustrator. Yep. And I'm you know, she had it mixed an audio so so.
Dana Blouin
So with Final Cut, right? You use logic logic x. Yeah. And you can you can mix the audio there. It's not quite as seamless as it is with the workflow with the Adobe Suite is amazing. Yeah, but again, it's $60 a month,
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
it's every month for the rest of my life. I'm thinking man, my viewers, the my videos will go up in production value more like that's, that's a kick ass little plugin pack. That's better sounding stock music, that's all kinds of stuff more title packs that ship that can show up on the screen.
Mike Somerville
You know, I've been amazed. I mean, the you know, again, it's only $60 a month, right? Yes, but but I'm like no, like the amount of crepes I can buy. Basically, I'm actually using this Da Vinci thing, which is completely free, which is amazing. I mean, I'm a PC guy. So you guys are Mac guys I totally understand what the whole Final Cut, but I can't believe it. I mean for no money. The amount that this software does. blows me away.
Dana Blouin
Yes. Vinci resolve lockleaze for color grading as well. Yeah, I never knew it was headed or one of our subscribers on our live she was like No dude, full full edit suite. Right. And I'm like, What
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
is the craziest powerful free tool in the world when I was in the early days of the film to digital transition when my company was in its infancy? They were selling DaVinci Resolve? Yeah, like $200,000 that's what
Mike Somerville
that I didn't realize what it used to cost and now went to like, what are licensed open source? Yeah,
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
yes for and and I would go to I would go to the the people that were selling it and I knew that this was this is a reason why we were able to succeed in the film industry. We knew that the film industry was going to use cheaper tools. And so I said as soon as that thing's under 10 grand, we'll start buying. And I just pissed her off. She was like, Who the hell are you like and we sell to Technicolor we sell Deluxe. Fast forward like six years do black magic buys them? Yeah. And then and then it's free. It's like great Game of Thrones. Our colors use DaVinci Resolve. Yeah.
Mike Somerville
Wow. When the $200,000 for No,
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
no, it doesn't exist anymore. No, it's the same full powered, that is awesome. They just decided their business model was to sell GPU cards. And yeah, somehow that works better.
Dana Blouin
Because the mixing boards board Yeah,
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
and the graphics accelerators to go real time and, and so it's the same program like you're using the same thing. The guy who finishes Game of Thrones uses Yeah,
Mike Somerville
it's nuts. It's got I'm sure it does. 200,000% more than I'll ever use because when I click on it, and I've got a fairly fast CPU and stuff, it takes probably a good minute to load everything. Yeah, I should probably turn some stuff off. I don't know how to do that yet. Yeah, but it's like man, this thing is power
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
of half if I if I was just starting out today and and I was just going from zero needing to learn something some tool I would definitely go to Vinci. It's free. Yeah. And it's a powerful, powerful tool in the
Mike Somerville
community. It seems like people are poor. Oh, yeah, I figured out this little hacky to do for no money. Right? And even if you want to give them money, it's like 20 bucks.
Dana Blouin
Yeah, it's just amazing. that unlocks like a whole other world of craziness. But I have a friend here he works in the commercial is a commercial editor here. TV commercials and he I guess he has some certification for DaVinci Resolve certification like industrial certified color grader or something. Well, no, he just bank and work good for those that they'll send them stuff and he's like,
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Oh, yeah, that's I mean, that's one of the most coveted positions in the entire film industry colorist they make big big dollars and big bucks when you're when you're a pro at that you're an artist.
Dana Blouin
Yeah, he tells me what he's like. He's like Oh, he's like green and teal so old. He's like everyone's still using green until no one does that professionally anymore. Maybe that's
Mike Somerville
why my channel is like really lagging is because of the whole teal thing. I mean, I was kind of it you know, married to him for the longest time and clearly I need to upgrade
Dana Blouin
now he like he reads these blogs only the newest color like, like blends and lots. He sells lot packs to people and I've
Mike Somerville
seen a lot of videos on that left that does that stand for something else beauty or is it just luck
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
now? lookup table.
Mike Somerville
Okay, got it. Okay, so there's a lookup table. And it's like the numeric value of all those colors. Is that a
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
numeric value? That's a representation of a certain look.
Dana Blouin
Got it. Okay. So he makes his own and he sells him. Yeah, he's like, always like Fuji people like food I shoot photos on my Fujifilm camera and he's like always like people shoot video and Fuji they buy my lats all the time
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
yeah that's a great as a great business if you're one of those guys on YouTube or or just have that ability to sell that stuff you create them they cost you nothing to sell Exactly. It's a great business
Mike Somerville
well you know this whole paradigm is something that I've talked about something you and I have talked about the reason we love Thailand The reason we love Bangkok and probably you know same is it you're never distracted by the price of something. I want to go out and I want to have some food or I want to hang out. I want to go down to crabby for a week. Yeah, and I'm going to spend more on a friggin cup of coffee than I am I get him got commendations Yeah, and you're gonna get more joy out of the 10,000 baht coffee right Yeah, and I mean I love that I mean again airasia pass right Oh yeah, round trip for 150 baht Yeah, I threw away 150 baht accidentally like the other day kind of think it's
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
awesome you get spoiled by it I think like leaving Thailand will be a shock to this because a man will be frightening to go back if I was to go back to Toronto. Expensive be like we can't leave the house man like me? Yeah, just to get a cab to get Oh yeah, cost me $15 imagine planet are you guys I look
Mike Somerville
down at grab. I'm like, he's driving the same Toyota that we have in the US. Yeah, gas is actually more expensive here. How is he affording to make a living
Dana Blouin
last time I went to a lesson went to San Francisco is $60 I was there to work with Adobe is $60 for me to go from the airport to the hotel. Put me in for sure. And Union Square. Yeah,
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
yeah, it's crazy. I did a cost of living video and I had a whole bunch of people like God Thailand's gotten way too expensive. And so I'm like well, sure there's expensive stuff here. Yeah, Bangkok can be as expensive Oh sure.
Mike Somerville
on it too. Good pizzas. 35 bucks. Yeah,
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
yeah. And and but what and it's the same there's it's the same as any any city I'm like, you tell kid you go out in New York tomorrow. Bangkok. Do something. Yeah.
Mike Somerville
And for me, at least. I mean, I wasn't making a million bucks a year. I was not making $5 an hour but still San Diego. It was it was it was distracting. You know, I mean, my monthly net minimum was like almost $7,000 here's the single guy living there. You know,
Dana Blouin
crazy North American guys right Bangkok the very closest thing to Bangkok that the US could offer Canada us go from New York City right. Like the closest possible city as far as like public transportation
Mike Somerville
and
Dana Blouin
inside Yeah, culture all that New York City. I was living in also a great had a penthouse with a private helipad to top two floors of my building. rooftop garden walked out into the garden every morning. No hallway. Right. Great life. 2000 US dollars a month. Yeah, you could. You couldn't touch up for 2 million a month or 200,000 a month in New York pretty much in the equivalent of also Yeah, not not well,
Mike Somerville
plus, that included the hella pad and like the helicopter that came with it. Along with the driver. She was hot. I heard that.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
She only had one eye and this story gets better.
Dana Blouin
Okay, I told you that helipad. Right. I don't think a helicopter would fly overhead and be like, yeah, we'll go for the next I think it was more of a hell of a pad versus like a heli pad. I had drinks up there a few times.
Unknown Speaker
Talking about and the
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
equivalent of that in my eyes is like right in the heart of Manhattan. Right like,
Mike Somerville
Oh, yeah, cuz it ya know, because if you go outside, I mean, there's, well, first of all, the safety here, especially as foreigners just like walking to in the afternoon to in the morning. Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. Yeah, I am never distracted by like, you know, a couple guys like sitting around maybe smoking cigarettes having a drink. You know
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
what? They might look at me? Yeah, but never does your heartbeat. Like never ever. I can be walking in LA through a nice neighborhood and see a group of 12 year olds cross the street and start to get scared. Right?
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
They can all jump me
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
out. Oh my god. Okay,
Mike Somerville
I was in my mid 30s. I could probably outrun at least six of them. But there's a packet nine of them because of course they can't afford you. But I mean, and then how am I gonna be Oh, well shut up dial 911. Whereas here, I don't have that option yet. I feel safer.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, yeah, it's just a year and a half and walk in all kinds of neighborhoods. I've never been in for the first time. And not once have I felt fear. My nephew 22 year old from Canada came over last fall. And so we went out and we were out with I took them out to pat Pong. Very nice to see Pat young. So we went out good uncle. We drank it gets to be about two in the morning, three in a row and the bars are all closing. And so we're walking down the street and I'm like, well, let's maybe there's something else in this guy. This tie guy comes up and behind. And he goes, Oh, you guys want to go somewhere? And so just follow me. And there was another American guy walking near us. He goes, don't you guys should be very scared. And so my nephew gets all scared. He's never been in Asia. And so he's freaking out. I'm like, No, let's just follow this guy. So now we're walking through a derelict market, right to what appears to be new. Where and I'm thinking, Okay, this guy's in. My fear is he's in for a commission, right? Yeah, he's in. So, but he wasn't even into that we get down, my nephew said, Chris, we should go like so it's all good. And so we pop out the other end of the market. He goes there. That's the only place open right over there. He didn't want anything to do you want. So when I was a karaoke bar, we we went in the time it was full of ties, they hand us a mic, and oh, yeah, we're singing redemption.
Mike Somerville
There. That's, I mean, that's just classic. And that happens. Yeah, you know, but unfortunately, you hear these blown out of proportion scenarios on YouTube about Oh, yeah, he took me for all my money. This guy asked me, you know, it's like, no, yeah. You know, he said, Hey, do you want to buy seven diamonds? And you should have said no. He said, Yes. Because apparently the palace was closed that day.
Dana Blouin
Yeah. Right. And it's like,
Mike Somerville
I mean, that's the best advice I think we can give anyone coming over here is Don't be an idiot.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah. As long as you can double click on that. Yeah. And then and then the the other level of it all is like I did live stream earlier this week. And I tried to get a beer at 711. It was 1030 in the morning. Yeah, they couldn't. So I went across the street to a bar and got one and they charged me 100 bucks. Yeah, someone's commenting. That guy's just trying to rip off a frank. I'm like, love
Dana Blouin
it pretty cheap at a bar.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Exactly. First of all, and secondly, when you do get ripped off here on not on this being an idiot with diamonds. It's often for like the tune of two three bucks. Yeah, you can also process that a little differently and think you know what? Yeah, that guy probably needs it more than I do.
Mike Somerville
I'm right there with you. When I get like
Dana Blouin
this The thing you buy a bear at seven levels or 50 bucks for that even
Unknown Speaker
4050
Dana Blouin
if you go to a bar, yeah. Can you pay? 100? That's a reasonable Marga
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Do you want out of a bar? Yeah. Who's gonna sell you a beer? 1030 in the morning?
Mike Somerville
Even reasonably priced in the airports here?
Dana Blouin
Yeah, but his he waited till 11 you could have bought that Bob Baird. 711 because they sell beer during lunchtime.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
I couldn't wait.
Mike Somerville
The sun was up for God's
Dana Blouin
hilarious that they have restricted hours on when you can sell beer. But lunchtime is not one of those hours
Mike Somerville
because the kids are in school at lunchtime, right? Yeah. Isn't that is that kind of the main reason like you can't buy what from like two to three in the afternoon or something two to five because the kids are on their way home.
Dana Blouin
11 to two all day. Yeah, no, absolutely. For sure. It is odd in a city that in a country where I mean let's be honest, there's a lot of things available all hours of the day to have this little three hour window where it's like oh pull down this bulletin the blinds no beer. No beer for now. No beer for you. Yeah, yeah, but that is that is part of the whole thing. That's one of the strange things we talked about. I was telling you in the email like are our ideas that Yeah, it is. Bangkok is strange and the most beautiful way Yeah,
Mike Somerville
so we believe that it's the best city in the whole entire world would you have the
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
best city in the whole entire world? Jeez, I was expecting to not like Bangkok
Mike Somerville
Yeah, so I'm not a city guy either.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
When we moved here I'm a city guy. Okay, so when we moved here we were just so you're deciding made a pretty quick decision in April and we moved here two months later we would have moved probably down to the islands smoothly been going there every year since 94 got a ton of friends down there daughter even as friends down there. But the school is not good enough. So we have Bangkok and in 20 years and just through the airport and and so we're and we stayed on Khao San Road back then you see how he said he said Khao San Exactly. And so we thought the Bangkok was gonna be one big giant Khao San Road
Mike Somerville
backpack
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
where it is so and so we're like, Man, it's gonna suck but we got to do it for an in school. And then we show it up here and our heads,
Mike Somerville
man like blown away. You're in a mall? Like I can buy a Porsche. Oh, that's crazy. So yeah, and
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
then walk outside on the street and buy whatever it is and and your crepes. Yeah,
Dana Blouin
for 20 bucks, sweet crepes. I love those
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
and so the best city in the world Um, I don't know if I've ever put a best city in someone at number one it's it's definitely tied for number one. I do love Seoul, South Korea.
Unknown Speaker
Fair enough. Yeah,
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
yeah, there's there's but it's, it's right up there. You know, I love it. We're like our daughter's going to university next year, probably back in Canada and my wife and I are like, we're probably when we when she goes and moves in. probably getting on a plane back here assuming Yeah, no, not simply. Bangkok. Like that's how much we found. Yeah,
Dana Blouin
this city. This is what happens. Mike used to say. He's on his shell. He used to like go Bangkok and 10 years will be the greatest Yeah,
Mike Somerville
the next five to 10 years, it will be the best and I was like,
Dana Blouin
why? Tell me why it's not right now. He sat there and he was like, okay,
Mike Somerville
Bangkok is the best city because here's the thing too, is that not only can it be awesome here, but I can also get on a plane and even when it's not the airasia pass for 40 bucks, I can go down to Phuket for like lunch. That afternoon any other gorgeous beach and then when there's no COVID right I can cruise over dang well weekend I've done that before well yeah
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
it's it's the best location for me in the world man's yeah 100 bucks and a 90 minute flight man that the options are so crazy
Mike Somerville
don't exist and especially in Canada actually quite expensive to fly in Canada. Oh, yeah. Like there's not like the Southwest. No, no.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, it's very expensive to fly domestically, right? Yeah. And I've traveled
Dana Blouin
a lot like regionally in Asia. I used to produce a radio show in Malaysia and I travel to every country in Southeast Asia producing this hashtag
Mike Somerville
humble brag.
Dana Blouin
Hashtag humble brag. And it's a rough schedule. I told you balling those. It wasn't like leisure traveling Yeah, record 80 episodes this week and then come back and write the engineers Uh huh. But um yeah, it's it's super cheap like airasia can fly pretty much everywhere in Southeast Asia for nothing. And then like I spent a lot of time in Malaysia I love Malaysia I know Mike's not as much of a fan and I were in KL or so I spent a lot of time in KL e seven place in in KL where when I was working there, but a Borneo East Malaysia, Borneo my favorite spot to be fair, I do want to check that out because of the way Kota kabelo is like beautiful beaches, Montana blue highest mountain in Southeast Asia. I've I've I've been to the at the peak of Mount kinomoto for sunrise one. Never. I've never made the hike.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
The best trip I ever did in my life. And actually this was back when I was making all these I have tons of video from that trip in Borneo. This was 1998 awesome. And I was around Seoul, I was getting ready to leave been living there for four years. I'm like well, before I go back to North America, I want to go somewhere a little bit off the beaten track. And so I started to research and found this thing uncle tans jungle camp. And it was in the middle of the Kinabatangan river nice. Outside of Santa can and two hours up river this little camp with with like four little huts It was $4 a night all inclusive. Nice. So I went in there and near two hours from the closest electricity the closest run and water and the wildlife nuts, snakes and wild orangutans changed my life to see one of those. And most people go in there for two or three nights. And I went in there for a month Good for you. And after three weeks the guys are like well, no one's ever really stayed here this long. We feel bad taking your money. You can live here as long as you like and with no more money
Mike Somerville
that is Southeast Asia thing. I mean, again, it's COVID they need the money. I'm down at this bungalow on the beach in Copenhagen that I say right close. Okay. It started off at 700 baht. And then it went to 650 baht. And then they're like, Well, you've already been here like a few like just, you're gonna order dinner, right? I'm like, Yeah, they're like, Okay, what? What? Yeah, where do you that doesn't happen in Kansas, let alone New York City for God's sake.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Okay, so you're over there. So for a whole month, a whole month? It was it was the best trip I've ever done in my life. And you've mentioned these videos. Amazing.
Mike Somerville
Yeah, I was gonna say can we transfer those for you for free? Like just got them somewhere. Be careful with
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
their shoe box.
Dana Blouin
shoe box. I would love I wish I still have my old mini d i have. Yeah, I have
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
some the Borneo trip I have on the mini DV. I had a whole bunch of those. But they didn't on VHS. But I do. I'm on mini DV. And I have some of these old ones from a camping trip I did across Canada. been living in Asia for four years right after bornean went back to Canada. And for my four years in Asia, everyone asked me Oh, tell me about candidates. And I'm like, man, I can't. I don't know anything about Canada. I lived there 22 years. And I didn't go more than you know, 200 kilometers right and 20 miles before and so I can't tell you shit about my own country. So I was home for three days after being gone for four years. I mean, somebody packed a couple of tents. And we went 30 miles a day pitched a tent for six. So cool went across the whole country and I have some of those videos all edited and stuff and yes,
Mike Somerville
they're edited on the DVD with the with the two buttons that everything yeah,
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
yeah. No, the ones I have we had gotten back to Toronto at the end of the trip and it was my first experience with a computer based editing system. Why do you have some of that? Yeah, and there
Dana Blouin
now that's Kaka pre YouTube error. I used to produce videos and put them on MySpace.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Oh my god yeah.
Dana Blouin
How old is this guy? I thought I was old
Mike Somerville
I have less hair but he's actually younger yeah
Dana Blouin
Believe it or so I used to I used to produce like called bulk TV and it was just like a stupid jackass ripoff like me and my buddies doing stupid shit. But I wish I still had some of those because we did some some stupid ish and you would upload these to MySpace. Yeah, the people. Thousands of people
Mike Somerville
are still there. I mean, the website as far as I know, stuff Functional,
Dana Blouin
revamped the whole back end.
Mike Somerville
Oh, so there's like, no uploading a video.
Dana Blouin
What happened to the tapes? That's i don't i never kept the tape lost in the shop.
Mike Somerville
Like I uploaded it to the cloud. It'll be there forever here.
Dana Blouin
No. No cloud backside. Yeah. Not Um, so yeah, moved a few times. And you know, last time Yeah, actually, I wish I saw that mini DV camera. It was class.
Mike Somerville
I wish I still had a lot of my vinyl because I have me as a DJ for like years, right in the clubs and everything. And it was all vinyl. Yeah. And then every time I moved, like, you know, one less box would make it into the next garage. And then finally, I just put it out on like Craigslist, and I'm like any DJ that wants these come on over 100 bucks. And this guy comes over. He's like, oh, Mike, where did you find the? I'm like, I've had this since I was seven.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, that's magical mystery tours. And you're like, what the hell, man? I mean,
Mike Somerville
I guess. aliens. I guess I could, you know, I mean, I can find the mp3 of them somewhere, like on Spotify.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
And I bet you had some 12 inch singles. Oh, besides warm tones that don't exist. Yeah.
Mike Somerville
No, the sound that came from that. You know,
Dana Blouin
I was in fortune town the other day by the day. I bought the the Samana kit. Okay. And there were selling records in the middle of that floor. Yeah. And people just going through all the crates. Yeah, I was like, I sent the photo to my buddy Jay from dapper villains. I was like, fucking vinyl nerds. Because he's a vinyl. Yeah, yeah.
Mike Somerville
Yeah, it was awesome. I mean that. And it was funny if I compare that to like the DJs that are working in clubs. Now. These guys are absolute rockstars. I mean, again, if you're a DJ in a nightclub when I was doing Yeah, you were mildly popular with about four girls, you know, oh, my God, look at it. But now, I mean, 10,000 bucks a night, just to spend it like levels over here.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
What type of tunes did you spend on
Mike Somerville
those alternative? Basically? Yeah, we're doing a lot of that. I mean, this was in the, you know, early 90s. Basic, like
Dana Blouin
some of those top 40
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, we had radio a lot when I was growing up in the late 80s. Was guy named Chris Shepard. Okay. Yeah, you know? Yes. Yeah. He had club 102 every Saturday night Stan and he rock man. He will Yeah. Biggest club in Toronto. And then he was followed by deadly deadly is all night dance party.
Dana Blouin
We're at a shop the audio shop in fortune town The other day I was looking at the the digital decks. Right? Yeah, gosh, you get these. And it was like, just like to learn something new. And I was like, Oh, my wife chip. I'm like, she wouldn't be so happy. If I just came home with a couple of decks. She'd be like, what are you doing? Like she like a senior 40 year old asked. Like, it's not gonna be loud. You're doing this
Mike Somerville
because that was the that was the thing that I absolutely loved about it was the fact that there was so much energy, you know, and that sort of thing. And so now transitioning, you've recently done you know, like live streams, right? And I'm sure you had a lot of interaction with your guys, right?
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Oh, yeah. times of interaction. Isn't that awesome? In my mind.
Mike Somerville
It's so cool. I mean, one of the things for me because unfortunately my girlfriend she's in the Philippines, she can't come fiance. Really, you know, but sadly, we didn't sign the paper. So therefore I can't get her to. Yeah, time. Yeah, he thought
Dana Blouin
she was leaving for two weeks.
Mike Somerville
Yeah, yeah. I was like, oh, what you can cruise on? Take care of mom. You know what I mean? So it's only March. What's the worst thing that can happen? Yeah. You know, that's shitty. Yeah. But now it's like, you know, with these live streams? I mean, isn't Isn't it great? It's like interacting with this with this with this fan base. Yeah, you know what? I mean? You must have, I mean, you have must have what, three? Probably three to 10,000 views on every video, right?
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah. I mean, if these days it seems like video comes out in the first day, it generally gets about 10,000. And then yeah, you know, can go up, go up from there. But yeah, blows my mind. And it's what you're saying, Man, the engagement, the amount of comments. Yeah, that I get. I did one video where I think I only got about 12,000 views, but there was like 1200 comments. Yes. And it was just so awesome, man. How do
Mike Somerville
you digest that? I mean, do you go through every single one I mean, I go
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
through every single one and it but it's getting to the point. Now where it's it's it's a bit of a downside. Yeah, channel growing so much because not only did I go through all of them, I would reply to most and now that's emboss Yeah, it doesn't scale and and it doesn't it's just that's Ty I haven't I can't get used to that. It's definitely a downside or channel grow in the way it has. So they but I do read them all. What about
Mike Somerville
your daughter? I mean, just she's like, Oh my God, my dad's a YouTube star or because you don't have a million followers on kik talk you're not really that cool,
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
ya know? Kinda but it's more like oh my God, my dad's star.
Mike Somerville
Danny just be a banker.
Dana Blouin
No, no, just go back to spreadsheets.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Sure. Yeah, truth is she she she would say that. But a couple of months ago, there was a little handwritten note in my in my bedroom one day, I think it was Father's Day in June Father's Day for Canada. And her Father's Day card did say I I'm 100% supportive of what you're doing on YouTube and I yeah. That
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
was awesome.
Mike Somerville
That's why you dad it out. It was good for you, dude. Congratulations. Yeah.
Unknown Speaker
Wow, that's
Dana Blouin
like my dad does YouTube?
Mike Somerville
like none of her friends have?
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
They've seen it. Yeah, they watch it they love it cuz sometimes I'll get her in it which she really hates. Yeah, my best to get her in sometimes. Yeah, her friends will watch, I'll tell
Mike Somerville
you. I have I've been part of companies and that sort of thing. And it seemed like around like 1500 to 2000 employees, right? Forget they really have a decent culture. And then once it got, like, bought by Dell or something like that would really change the culture. I've got 1800 subs, and I gotta tell you like, I don't really even have one. Troll. Yeah, and the guys that are like part of Mike my live streams, and also the live streams here with Bangkok strange. They're part of this like culture. Yeah. And I had no idea. That's what like what I was gonna say. And I love it. Because it's like, they want you to produce things that you're passionate about that like, Oh, yeah, I need you to do this. I need you to go to this one beach. I need you to go to this. And they're just like, Nah, just do whatever you do, man. We love it. And I can see like watching your videos, your passion comes through. Yeah. And I read some of the comments the guys would like to do so cool like that.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Well, then, you hit on it man like that. That's what's the coolest thing, right? Like you see, and I do get like a small percentage of negative comments or whatever. But what's blown me away is and some people would say like, you know, I did this entire video of a kid out in a muy Thai camp. And someone commented, yeah, well, you need to show the the other side of the story, the negative side of what happened. And I'm like, there is probably that side story, right? But there's so much media out there and then produces the negative half story, all of it. That's not gonna be my channel, if you want that story.
Dana Blouin
Don't like there's tons of stuff. And what I also think we could talk about the negative shit all day. Yeah, right. There's more than enough to talk about, but then it just pulls all of us down. Yeah. There's a positive side to everything. If you can hide it, as long as you're not masking the fact that yes, the negative exists. You don't have to, like,
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
focus on it, and you can go, that's not what that's not what this outlets for. And what blew me away is what you're saying. It's like, wow, there's a lot of people out there that also want to gravitate to the positive side of things. Like that's awesome. Just feels great, man. One
Mike Somerville
of the things that I say on my channel is if you're not living the dream, you're doing it wrong, right. And I just like threw this out there and whatever. And there's a guy that like follows me he's on Bangkok strange and stuff. He's he basically he got the elite visa changed his life, retired, left New York is living in Cambodia, and he's like, he sends videos. in tears. He goes, Oh my God, thank you guys so much. And I'm like, I just like woke up, dude, you know, but I think that was the thing. I mean, there's many people obviously you have, you know, 30 x the number of subs and so they know you they watch you that sort of thing. And they're telling me Hey, have you seen this, you know, retire work for you? I said absolutely. I love the guy. And then Dana like reaches out to you because I mean, this this energy is what we thrive off of. Right. And you're like, you're part of the club. You know, not trying
Dana Blouin
to talk to people like Bangkok Sachs. I can't believe I live here. It's a shitty. Yeah, please go.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Well, that's the thing, right? There's a whole subculture of expats here that are either full time or not. That's full time haters. Their full time job is to tell everyone that they talk to what idiots the ties are, how corrupt the places what pieces of shit everyone is in. It's like, do you realize how that makes you look like? Why Yeah, a year? You live in a place you hate.
Mike Somerville
You haven't gotten laid since high school? That was the one I
Unknown Speaker
was buddies with Apple. Yeah.
Dana Blouin
Here's the thing. There's a whole culture the whole like we call it the Thai visa culture all those guys and they hate Bangkok the country's cover up the government top. Look, I don't vote here, right. I don't have the right to vote. I'm not a citizen. So as far as I'm concerned, my criticism of the government's null and void the way you could vote, but yeah, the way you voted leave and you haven't I prefer to live here. I'll continue to spend my money on the local economy. Yes, I'll continue to act interact with the locals. And I'll continue to love every second of it.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Agreed and and that's every country in the world. There's everything in the world. There's good and there's bad man, Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker exist for a reason. I've always wanted a lightsaber. Exactly. You got to choose which one you want to focus on in your life like and now it's all hate on California everyone gets I fucking love California man.
Mike Somerville
But California is a big place. I love Barstow Yeah. To Shay, in Los Angeles,
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
or surrounding air draw circle around buyers.
Mike Somerville
See is quite the vacation spot.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Setting up a permanent vlog.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Get a webcam. Here we are today. The dust is blowing dust is kicking up you see all those
Mike Somerville
needles hanging out the windows? That's bad. That is
Dana Blouin
pretty bad. I used to live in Monterey as well like early 2000 Oh
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
boy. Yeah that place
Dana Blouin
nuts man just south of the valley.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
beautiful spot man.
Dana Blouin
Gorgeous, like Pebble Beach like no no sand really. So no feces, right? So
Mike Somerville
he doesn't like walking in the sand because he's afraid of the feces. I'm like, dude, fine. You stay up there with your black socks and you sandals and I'm gonna walk barefoot on this page over 10,000 baht throw it in some Thai guy's face the best cup of coffee I've ever had in my
Dana Blouin
kayaking Monterey Bay.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
basketball. Yeah, agreed I did that with my daughter once and she actually she was probably 10 and she got scared because the seals for swimming but it was a that's one of the most beautiful places I got to imagine from there all the way south through Pebble Beach in Big Sur to me is one of the
Dana Blouin
big surf most beautiful
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
coastlines in the world
Mike Somerville
right drive right?
Dana Blouin
Big surge that's for sure. Love it. Oh yeah, that's some good stuff that nice rafting in Big Sur
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
always there Yeah, rafting
Mike Somerville
didn't know that's a little bit of rafting in Big Sur I just know that coastline.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, like what do you mean whitewater rapids are
Dana Blouin
really whitewater is like kind of like hanging out on a river. Yeah. Oh,
Mike Somerville
basically what happened was he went to you know, the local sports stop he bought a raft and put it in his living room. And he like kind of put some green screen around and he's like, one of my ex girlfriends is probably listening so I kind of go with the whole rafting story otherwise you won't remember what happened. I want that money back I want that monkey back.
Dana Blouin
Yeah, it happens Yeah, sorry.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Sorry. Appleton monkey Give me the damn money
Mike Somerville
all right, she can see out of one eye
Dana Blouin
yeah she's it's such a such an eclectic great city to be in and like you You pick and choose who you're around right you don't hang around with the Thai visa crew who's gonna pull you down and it's horrible tight ties are gonna be killing for I know a guy who left before COVID went back to New York of all places New York City and he's like he's leaving he's like ties are gonna be killing foreigners in the streets just to get food like
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
that's not gonna happen yeah man that they have handled this whole thing with such class and dignity honor there's so there's so laid back man like they they take everything in stride and that's one of the things some people get pissed off my meal Didn't your meal came Why didn't mind me I'll come that's terrible service. Yeah, it
Dana Blouin
wouldn't wait a minute.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, exactly. But But through this whole COVID thing man like there's hurt and there's
Unknown Speaker
aliens out there
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
but you go to play and they're they're all handling with such dignity class and and there's still no killing people in this series Nolan me with fried chicken
Dana Blouin
killing me with some noodles. delicious fried chicken on the side of the room eating
Mike Somerville
me for free. Right
Dana Blouin
mango sticky rice to cure my COVID okay yes by arm
Mike Somerville
Yeah. All right. Well, let's talk a little bit about so the whole family you bring your family over here now again, your your daughter left high school at what age to come over here. She was 16 and was she like, Okay, this is great. Or it's like oh my god, dad, all my friends. I hate you.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Okay, I hate you. Right? And really, oh my god, like 16 year old girl in LA living in perfection man, which is one of the reasons we did it is to show or just before we are out of the world of decision making. It's like there's there's other things in the world that aren't quite as perfect as West LA over here where the sun shines. It's 75 degrees every day and everything's easier. And everything's free because we're Your parents are the reason she hated us. There was many but yeah, there was there was three months from we Okay, we dropped the news on her in like late April. Yes. And And oh, by the way, we're like we're moving in six weeks. Yeah. So start the process.
Dana Blouin
Down the street. Yeah. Your house. Yeah,
Mike Somerville
exactly. Do I get a convertible? Yeah.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Closer to the beach. And then no, Bangkok. Whoa, yeah. I hate that she ever been here before? I've been to Thailand. Never Bangkok, Thailand a lot. So she's okay. Got it. Yeah, so a lot in Thailand. And so yeah, hated us. hate us. Her friends hate us with the weird petitions coming to our door from other parents friends hashtag free Anna who know from her friend. Okay, fair enough. And so then all the way through to move in here. She actually continued when once we got here hate us, and we were like, I almost I almost killed. My wife was the strong one. Okay. I'm like, Oh my god, she hates me. I gotta stop. We're gonna stay. And my Haley's like, no screw that. She's 16 we're going and so we came, hated us hated us. And fast forward to today. And just last week, she loves she study in film. And she said I'm gonna make this that we have to make this film noir and I got, you're gonna be the writer director. And I'm going to do it about the scene is a lady getting ready for a funeral. And there's all flashbacks to all these happy things. And she goes the message is like, no matter what bad happens in your life, there's always some a good side of it. You Like, she goes, you know, like moving here. Oh,
Unknown Speaker
wow.
Dana Blouin
Yeah, they were it was really on the
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
bad side. And on top of that she's now a certified advanced scuba diver. All this stuff that we shared about Yeah, true. And so she if we said hey, do you want to move back to LA in two months then it be I hate you.
Mike Somerville
Yeah. And that's actually an okay response. Anyone is Oh, yeah, you want to go watch? No, good, smart.
Dana Blouin
Do you think she'll ever decide to go to university in Asia? No, no, no, she won't she she
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
might. She might decide to do like a foreign semester change whenever that's like
Mike Somerville
Korea, maybe. Maybe parents family kind of thing? Maybe. But
Dana Blouin
it's actually like set on Canada.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, it's pretty much Canada. It's all she's gonna even apply to
Dana Blouin
it. Just wait till that first winter.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, well, that's it. Yeah. Hit her hard, man.
Dana Blouin
Let's Singapore. Nashville sounded pretty good about how
Mike Somerville
one works real great for my tan versus these. Yeah. So I mean, and that's that that's pretty common in the sense that when you mentioned her friends, right, because I mean, I don't know about you, but when I was ready to leave, they're like, okay, like we know you've been going there for vacation, Mike, but like, wait a minute, you have a really good job in San Diego, California. You know, the ridiculous amount of cars and all this. I have stuff. I just have stuff. You're gonna leave and you're gonna retire at 50 and you're gonna move to Thailand?
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, it doesn't compute for Are you crazy? That's exactly what I
Mike Somerville
don't have enough money.
Dana Blouin
Yeah, right. I have friends who still ask me when am I coming back? I do you not see my life to her are her girlfriends asking her that
Mike Somerville
by any chance
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
known were the ones from LA oh no show me and her whole world revolves around her friends here now more than okay thing but I experienced exactly what like what you just the story your body hold was identical and and co workers and they were shocked and the one guy said to me, either, like the whole stick around the the film industry when I left was uh, Chris is going to find himself. He'll be back. He'll be back in a year. A lot of us
Mike Somerville
went to India like
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
are you guys not?
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
I'll be back in a year. What are you talking about?
Dana Blouin
18 months and now
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
it is just 18 months now. And man I'm never going back to
Mike Somerville
the trust me
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
the page has been turned and that's there's only forward
Dana Blouin
I had a friend reach out to me maybe about four months ago. He's like, Hey, you know, is an engineering opening up my spot if you want to apply Oh my god. I was like, I thought we were friends.
Mike Somerville
I got similar email. He's like, yeah, you want it? You know, university is like, did I live in Bangkok? Yeah. Have you seen the numbers? You live in a disease pool? And there have been 87 if that people that died in a country of 72 million. Yeah. Get your shit together. Why would I ever come back there other than just see my parents? Yeah, you know, but I mean, it's like no dude plus working. That's for suckers.
Dana Blouin
You know, punching a clock now.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Some of these same the one guy who was in the camp of Chris is going to find out just last week on one of my videos, he commented. And his comment was awesome. He's like, I can see that you're home. And he's like, I get it like I watched your videos and your home man and I'm like that damn right like like
Dana Blouin
Mike said, you know you have stuff in the US like I sold my house my cars right everything. And you never happier
Mike Somerville
Yeah, I know. Exactly. And it was funny. It was it was hard though. I mean, I went from a four bedroom house to a one bedroom house with of course storage monthly storage right and right next to the Costco so I could buy a ton of stuff there fill my car with an extra stuff that I didn't use it on but if it's stored in storage yeah just in case I needed you know 350 yards of line to do something with a boat. I didn't know it anymore. And but it was like and then I came here three pieces of luggage. It was a pain in the ass.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
I good man is impressed
Mike Somerville
took me a few years
Dana Blouin
I lived I sold my like, it's amazing. The stuff you don't have liberates you, right. Like the stuff that I don't own a car. I don't need a car.
Mike Somerville
Yeah, so I can rent the car. Yeah, from someone who will drop
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
for nothing. That was the biggest thing for me. I haven't not had a car since I was 18 especially Los Angeles. La Toronto, and I'm like, Man, I'm gonna I'm gonna that's gonna suck and like you say it's liberating. I love it.
Mike Somerville
How'd you get here today like grab or did you do BTS?
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
BTS to bang check and then I walked from bang up top
Mike Somerville
1.4 kilometers I love that
Dana Blouin
I was gonna come up to you like all when he told me he's gonna take a grab directos I go okay cuz I said I was gonna meet you a bunch. I wasn't bring you on the song tell
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
I was about to book a grab. I got outside my condo. I'm like, screw that, man. I've never been to this neighborhood. I'm gonna walk it. It's nice, right? Yeah, it's super low. Really cool. Yeah.
Dana Blouin
You walk down a 93 you cut down 95 Which way do 93 I think that's the most direct route 95 if you cut down 95 it's a little bit more like Like, out of the way not as much footage as much car traffic,
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
okay, whatever, when I looked at Google Maps and there was one that came over this tiny little klong Yeah, whatever one that is, yeah, that's under all of them. Okay. Oh, did you pass a cafe with me at all shipping containers? I only pass like one cafe because I'm like, Oh, just go. I live in a living sukumvit so man, I'm like, I'll just get there early. I'll go find a nice coffee shop. And I'm like, Yeah, I had a lot of coke at this. This this lady's little restaurant did pass a coffee shop. I didn't notice it was shipping containers.
Dana Blouin
One way of shipping through the bank a hard right and then a hard left. Uh huh. And then that's the final part of 93.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, yeah, no, it was good. Yeah, exactly. I
Mike Somerville
know. And like midday I do the same thing. I love going to lumpini Park and I love going at like one to three in the afternoon when it's 1 million degrees Celsius. And but no one's there. No ties are outdoors during that crazy time with it because
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
they're not insane. Look at this guy's got two layers on it's a little chilly. It's a little chilly in in in Cleveland in October. Not a little chilly and bang.
Dana Blouin
Ladies and gentlemen. This is what Mike does. It's raining out pouring rain likes like I'm still gonna walk. He puts on this like the body cago like, rain jacket. He comes walking over to the he takes it off. He's just soaked underneath. He's like, Oh, I must be leaky. I'm like wrong. Like, no, you walked over here in 100 degree heat with a non breathable membrane over your skin. You're sweating like, like it just sweat like the sweat dripping down the back of his legs. Yeah,
Mike Somerville
I think it was rainwater.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, well, I sweat like crazy here, man. I should I showed up here today. I'm covered in sweat. I come in here and then you're looking just like two layers. And there's a storm coming. Winter so
Mike Somerville
you're lucky have socks on man. My feet are freezing in here.
Dana Blouin
Well, Mike's a little he's a San Diego guy. Right. So he's tempered. And don't
Mike Somerville
forget I left San Diego because it's too cold there for me.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, my favorite thing about living in So Cal was that when all the people would be like, you know that weather in LA? It's, it's it's okay. But San Diego I never affected I like there's a 1.2 degree difference. And other than that it's identical.
Mike Somerville
I don't know who designed it or who hired the marketing team. But so many people the United States believe that San Diego has perfect weather. I don't know how they got that out there. It's kind of like you know, San Francisco's gay Key West is you know, whatever. But it's like yeah, San Diego perfect weather. I don't like false. I completely disagree. We got Meg gray in June Gloom which you do not get in Los Angeles. Yeah, right. You get a lot of sun even during those months. But anytime below 70 degrees. I'm like, Alright, I need I want a discount on my property taxes. This is bullshit for
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Southern California as we deal with like three weeks of a little bit of haze in the sky and
Mike Somerville
moving to Bangkok pack your shit up. I don't care if you're my daughter. We're going to bank I love
Dana Blouin
the big Bangkok. I love I love the I lived in Cleveland, where the first 90 days I live there and snowed every day.
Mike Somerville
Yeah. First 90 days. D you and done. Yeah, not gonna work for the kid. I cannot.
Dana Blouin
And like the call dad like you still got you still got piles of snow in like April in the middle. Yeah. Dirty snow dirty. Gross. No,
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
I didn't have winter. I put my time and I checked there to that hotel.
Mike Somerville
Totally. I mean, look, I grew up in LA. I was born in Massachusetts, right to Canadian parents. And we lived in the same town since I was two years old, just south of Boston. And when I was 20 years old, when I was about 18 years old. my buddy's like, Hey, here's what we're gonna do over Christmas break. We're gonna drive down this place called the Florida Keys in December. And I'm like, Okay, cool. That's good. Yeah, there's beaches are awesome. So we get there. Get out of the car. 27 hours straight. Thank you jolt cola. Yeah. So we make it all the way down there open. And I'm like, Okay, wait a second. This is available in the same country and I can use the same currency in December, fell in love with the tropics. From that day forward. I literally went home, I ordered the San Diego union Tribune to be delivered to my house in Boston. I paid attention to that newspaper that after two years of university moved out to San Diego
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
because what you realize after decades of suffering is like well, wait a minute. There's people in the world like that live without winter. And and if I decided to do that, like I could get a job there and I could actually get theirs.
Dana Blouin
Yeah, yeah. What the hell am
Mike Somerville
I do I come up to San Diego finish up my electrical engineering degree. There's this guy named Irwin Jacobs decides to invent the cell phone. And I'm thinking you know, the whole technology thing in San Diego, this might work out well. I might be able to get a job my parents like there's a lot of beaches as they're sending it away. It'd be really distracted. Yeah,
Dana Blouin
yeah, that's not a problem.
Mike Somerville
Yeah. Good. I'm pretty good. I can get a job at Qualcomm. Guess what, you know, they're hiring 67,000 undergrads. Yeah, you know cuz they get he has this fantasy that everyone is gonna have a cell phone in their hand Monday
Dana Blouin
and Sunday it might happen crazy.
Dana Blouin
Time will tell you might make a YouTube channel you know 30,000 subs in five months on cell phones are crazy.
Mike Somerville
Like, isn't any guys like his CV media talks about this? Right? I mean because he had epic growth as well. Oh yeah. Are you getting reached out? You know, like by sponsors and that sort of thing or
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
yeah a little bit I mean like it's a that it's tough to keep up with communication. Yes,
Dana Blouin
some of that. Thank you for responding.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Thank you. Yeah, I mean, well, you guys seem cool, man. So
Mike Somerville
spoiler alert.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
And you know, thought I'm just ended. The reason I did the channel was to get out there and do new shit. Yeah. So coming out meet new guys coming out walking up through bang chat. And that's something I wouldn't have done today. If I
Dana Blouin
was a wrestling fan by any chance. No, not a good, horrible
Mike Somerville
I bet he he drank three in
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
the pro wrestling once in my life live though.
Dana Blouin
So I was gonna invite you see, like, say you'd like to see new shit. Tie pro wrestling is amateur like a tie pro wrestling. really unique.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Well, yeah, that sounds like I mean, I would do that. Yeah, make I make a video of that shit. Yeah,
Dana Blouin
I get invited. I get invited to these things. So I'm a big fan. I know a lot of the guys. Next one they have You're my guest. Nice.
Mike Somerville
Can I bring Tony along? You guys could like have a hold? Oh,
Dana Blouin
yeah. Tony. Tony's a crazy guy. Yeah. And
Mike Somerville
just you know, you know, Tony huge. He's kind of like he's a pseudo celebrity, I guess. I don't think so.
Dana Blouin
he's a he's an American bodybuilder. supplement expert. Yeah. And he was on the show. We did like a four hour episode about his penchant for lady boys and drugs. Yeah. And that's the guy who brought the prostitute girlfriend along who was I fucking both of us the whole time.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Sounds like but what isn't it Dan bilzerian. So he
Dana Blouin
basically like Dan bilzerian is the non so let's say Tony is the Asia Asia version of Gamble's there Yeah.
Mike Somerville
Yeah, yeah. Oh my God. He does steroids.
Dana Blouin
Such a cool guy very honest about like these like so. Yeah, like Lady boys. Why not?
Mike Somerville
But yeah, taking steroids so you
Dana Blouin
don't have to? Because I think a ton of steroids you probably shouldn't. I take a lot though.
Mike Somerville
Yeah, if you want to, if you want to look like me, might work for you.
Dana Blouin
He's like, he's like, I tried a lot that didn't work that well. I'll tell you all about it. Yeah,
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
that's the one thing man the older you get the more you realize living let live do like if you're just living your own life and and like you got to do nothing but respect that honesty, and comfort with whatever you're doing, man. I fucking love that till
Dana Blouin
you drop some really interesting. So he's, we're talking about like, ladyboys like a lot. Like back in the West. He's like, everyone's like, ladyboys that's gay. That's gay. He's like, No, he's like, I've had sex with dudes. That's gay. That's not gay.
Mike Somerville
Like we never edited that out. No, I was like
Dana Blouin
slept with guys like I tried out snuff?
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
I think I think it's x with a ladyboy could go either categorized in the gay and not gay category would have to depend on the details.
Dana Blouin
Yeah, what happened? About ask for details?
Mike Somerville
Yeah, no, we didn't want the Excel spreadsheet.
Dana Blouin
I did. I did ask pick catcher pitch when he's talking about dudes like I tried to both he did not my catch or
Mike Somerville
pitch I've never heard that. Never heard of
Dana Blouin
an American thing. Interesting. I've heard that base a baseball reference. Got it. Thank you, Canadian San Diego switch.
Mike Somerville
Switch head all day long. I mean, you know, we get a lot of that going on in San Diego too. Don't forget I mean, he's a pretty open mind. That's the beauty of California red pretty open mind.
Dana Blouin
Well, if you're on the coast, it's liberal. Yeah. San Francisco or east of the correct Yeah, you can't smell water. It gets pretty conservative. Well, that's
Mike Somerville
that's the joke in California, right? And there's no intelligent life east of I five doesn't exist. You gotta live right on the coast, which is ridiculously expensive. Oh, it's crazy.
Dana Blouin
What's that? It's a place where like, all these all the RV people go and spend the winter Slab City. It's like in Southern California somewhere in the desert. Never heard of it. It's like an old military base and they dosed all the houses and left the slabs. People come they park on the slabs that like hippies, and
Mike Somerville
Oh, and there's no Oh, yeah, yeah. And they it's on government land, right? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I've heard of that. Yeah, they
Dana Blouin
can pass it's like the free party. Yeah. Then like they've all got like it's like hippies and magic. That's why
Mike Somerville
we came up with the this symbol right here. People losers Yeah, no judgment.
Dana Blouin
They drive the RV there for the winter and then they
Mike Somerville
can't blame them right? I mean, snowbirds me you know, for up to me obviously, I'd you know, live in Southeast Asia. Wait a second.
Dana Blouin
Hey, there's an idea. Pretty good life in Bangkok.
Mike Somerville
So the channel I mean, what's your sort of vision for it? I mean, I guess you were kind of shocked you got this successful this fast?
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, definitely. Definitely. I the way I look at it is like it's just a big game. It's a game. It's a fun game. It's like, well, I'll call it what you want. Beat the algorithm. Do fun shit. Try and change the world. World in the little we weigh well go out and see fun whatever you want to call it, it's a game and so now that I've had this growth that was unexpected, I kind of would love for it to continue it's it's it's exhilarating Yeah, it's addictive and and you can start to envision and dream of all kinds of wacky shit that you could do. If it really was like really big you know? And so for now there's there's not a huge vision other than the the core I'm going to continue making videos that I want to make trying new stuff, trying to showcase Thailand through my eyes and my lands and and let those chips fall where they may and then at the same time, something that I thought ever since that monetization offer, yeah, from YouTube, you know, try and see where that goes without really much of a plan. It's like I look two weeks ahead to try and sketch out the next couple of weeks worth of videos that I want to make. Yeah, and then you know, roll up my sleeves and get into making those that's all and then it's like at times then you wake up it's like oh my god I've done no, there's no i got i need an idea. Holy shit. What am I gonna do man? Why did I make these videos that are hard to make? Why don't I make a video on me rose sitting there drinking coffee answer Damn it.
Dana Blouin
David Mike did just put a table in a small ring got he
Mike Somerville
got like cinder blocks like
Dana Blouin
college dorm room. A cell phone and some cheap photo lights. script I need a concept damn and right
Mike Somerville
anyway, storyboard this out like
Dana Blouin
seven hour livestream the other day and like just go and
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
who knows that whole other ballgame? Yeah, I couldn't do that.
Dana Blouin
So you did how long was your first live stream that you did?
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
And I ended up being about 65 minutes. How many viewers it all told I think concurrent there was generally about 300 and then wow all told there was maybe like 1.9
Dana Blouin
thousand How do you keep when you have 300 people in the chat? How are you keeping up with the cash
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
walking around? I it was my first time I'm walking around. And it was the shittiest live stream I don't know why those three people crying out loud. I wouldn't have watched it. It was unwatchable really just say it was that way I'm learning as I go about everything but this one was a good thing and the thing but looking at the thing was impossible so I had people doing I didn't even know how this all work people do in Super chats donate I'm like I didn't even mention them because I couldn't even like pop up what's going on? Yeah And so what's that color thing? I didn't do any tests I just the test was just went a lot as good as the
Dana Blouin
best test ever drink a bear at 1130 Yeah, yeah, he's go even with 20 people in the chat sometimes we get behind and like I've seen my friend Nick who lives up in Chiang Mai he'll do he does I think twice a week live but he thousands of people in his chat Yeah, I look at Holy shit. Yeah,
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
that goes back to like yeah impossible to keep up
Dana Blouin
I think he must have a guy because when his brother was in Thailand they were doing it together candy and but I think his brothers mmm yeah, yeah, so now you know
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, yeah, I don't know him but I know his stuff
Dana Blouin
is cool guy to Buddy Guy. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So but he used to have a channel called all something all my questions are answered there's like a he would find like random things and like answer the question and I had started following him from that and then we've we've hung out when he was down here in Bangkok. But I think DS in Mexico now is what actually suburban bear was telling me he gets stuck out of the country yeah out of the US no he gets stuck out of Thailand. Oh god he left for burning season I think and then just
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
but yeah, like you that that you know that's the the vision for the channel you're asking it's it's it's that it becomes a bit of a community Yeah, and I'm already finding that I have a lot of people that totally get it yeah all the things that it's trying to be and and and they're having fun with it. And I would love for that to be the future the channel where there's a core group of people yeah, that are totally into it and want to be part of it. And so their answer and chats while I'm live streaming and their chat and then people start talking and they're like well don't go here go there or Hey, Chris is in any and that's not the best place to get that
Dana Blouin
that's what I've got that with our with our channel. Now. We have people who are they they come into the chat. They all say hi to each other. And one things we're doing a project with a hilltribe school that I've worked with in the past in northern Thailand. We're trying to bring solar project up there bring a storage unit and some panels for the schools while some help mitigate some medical staff. Yeah, one of the guys we've already raised like 40,000 baht from our from our viewers, but one of the guys is an engineer that worked in solar. And he's like, Hey, he's like we've been emailing back and forth. He's got he's like no, he's a get rid of that steel, the fiberglass a straw like this, this this is like this needs to be rewired. That doesn't look good. You go to war to sell. So like community wise like these guys are really like that knowledge is like priceless powerful. And then we have another guy on the channel. He's a wireless engineer for telecom and Colorado, I think. And he's moving out here next as soon as he sells his property. He's like, I'll do it. He's like, if you want to extend the internet out there, right. He's like, I've done wireless point to point yeah, he's like we could do licensed unlicensed links no problem. He's like, he's like when I'm out there is like I'll definitely help him like Oh, hell yeah. So it's like that type of community stuff is really like you know, really built up to it and so hopefully we're going up in December will bring a power unit.
Mike Somerville
Maybe February when it's a little warmer. I should be colder in February then we'll probably go in March.
Dana Blouin
No, no, that'd be too hot. Now there's no such thing
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
I'd love to go with that. But with that weather there man
Mike Somerville
you guys can make the first cold trip and then I'll come up
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
come up with a torch and he'll he'll officially be the the guy who starts burning.
Mike Somerville
Yeah, seems like God this is great. All this fire.
Dana Blouin
Adam. We think of this earlier last time. I want to say we went in November. Yeah. First time we went and it was chilly. For sure those frost on the grass in the mornings never gets like below
Mike Somerville
zero. Again, if you don't go if you go earlier. It's too much rain.
Dana Blouin
Yeah. So if you go to you can't go to the rainy season because the roads are washed out. When does that end like November so it so it should end. So Pete like people have been here like 20 years ends in October. But climate change actually ends in November now. And so it'll probably end like mid November is what we'll see. But it will really slow down after next week.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Oh, good. Well, that's good to know. Because I'm gonna go up there in and I don't quite win, but but it's gonna be now and after mid November. Up to show you my undies close to Chang ry. Okay, yeah, yeah, I'm gonna go up. I'm not gonna say where it's gonna be a video. Good. Awesome, but I'm gonna go up there. And I've gotten an invite that I'm really excited about. I see some people. I don't know. Do
Mike Somerville
you travel with your whole family? I mean, your daughter's in school, but she can take weekends. Yeah,
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
like it? Yes. Both. Yes. Both No, like so. So next week after next we're going to go down to Samui because it's her fall break. So we're all going down together when we can we do and then when I went down to rally beach, they're in school so even my wife can't come to that someone's got to stay.
Mike Somerville
Yeah, I didn't see a whole lot of other people like you know, healing your wounds as you were crawling through underneath all those rocks getting next. I was watching I'm sitting there taking notes. Okay, important safety tip walk around the rocks, not underneath them, like crazy white
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
guy never claimed to be the smartest.
Dana Blouin
There is nothing wrong with that. Yeah,
Mike Somerville
but you know, honestly, dude, I mean, I watch stuff like that. I can see why guys fall in love with you is like this is a totally regular dude, buddy. Like literally I would be doing this with him. Yeah, I bet these guys who are watching it. Oh,
Dana Blouin
yeah, I wish I could get over. We all have hepatitis now. But we have to get
Mike Somerville
scraping up our knees. I mean, what's the worst thing that could possibly happen?
Dana Blouin
to Shanghai they have the have the long neck Karen tribes up though?
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Do they the ones put the ring? Yeah. Okay.
Dana Blouin
So, tech, physiologic physiologically, it doesn't actually extend their neck. it collapses their shoulders. Oh, really?
Mike Somerville
Yes. That's why they look so the top of the neck stays where it is the level point and then the shoulders but it extends the bone. Like if they remove those rings their headphones.
Dana Blouin
No, they take they take it off all the time they clean the ring I
Mike Somerville
did. Because I saw that
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
documentary. And it flops.
Mike Somerville
That's what I am like, wait a minute, they have so many what they said in there
Dana Blouin
now couldn't believe it. It's the weight of the rings pushes down their shoulder bones. And so none of this muscle develops because they start doing it really young. Yeah, constantly add that more. Right. So it's a coil. It's a single coil. They take them off like every week and clean them
Mike Somerville
really lousy report that I was watching on the internet. So you know,
Dana Blouin
they can legit take them off and walk around their heads don't flop over. And
Mike Somerville
I said that's like that doesn't make any but you
Dana Blouin
know, and again, it doesn't stretch the vertebrae out right? It just collapses all of the shoulder down.
Mike Somerville
Maybe I should try that. I think my shoulders a little bit too bulky.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
You should set a world record for your channel.
Mike Somerville
You do anything for the channel?
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
You do. I'm gonna set the world record for Karen rings around my neck and as a white
Mike Somerville
man in one week, one way, just slam a mile in the US like shoehorn
Dana Blouin
a ring a day we can apply some
Mike Somerville
expansion.
Dana Blouin
That's Thai massage. You had a million but today's Tuesday right? Yeah, forget the whole week.
Mike Somerville
Double click on this by Sunday, man, it's me. No worries.
Dana Blouin
Lots of video might
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
ask you this do they does does their height get taller? Or does their height stay the same?
Dana Blouin
No, their height wouldn't change because you're just compressing the show horse
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
so gets
Dana Blouin
no so compressed compresses the shoulders down. That's got to compress like all of this just forces down and just these muscles atrophy. Yeah, so the trap muscles atrophy. Okay. They're pretty short my drought muscles
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
atrophied about two Many years ago yeah
Dana Blouin
and I still I still do shrugs like three times a week so
Mike Somerville
I slouch I'm an excellent sloucher
Dana Blouin
good sauce to buy so I like to lift heavy stuff zero posture.
Mike Somerville
Yeah so lazy like slouching in my chair.
Dana Blouin
Shoulders on my back.
Mike Somerville
me ever since I was a kid I was always doing that.
Dana Blouin
The fuck is wrong with you?
Mike Somerville
Working on computers didn't help either guys for a living and I just sit there all day.
Dana Blouin
Do you ever get carpal tunnel? No. So I developed when I was in my 20s I started using grippers in my forums went away.
Mike Somerville
Yeah, really? No You can tell
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
in my index finger man yells like crazy all the
Dana Blouin
time. It might never got really bad like I was like maybe 19 and I started to get it I bought my first set of grippers. And just once you start to build up the muscles and the tendons it goes away. You waited to 19 till you started gripping.
Mike Somerville
until I started to see his glasses. They're pretty damn thick. Obviously. He was a quick learner.
Dana Blouin
Yeah, I can't see without he shaves his palms, you
Mike Somerville
know? I mean all that shit our parents 100%
Dana Blouin
wax my
Mike Somerville
waxing I've heard that before.
Dana Blouin
Yeah, good stuff, man. I'm excited for what your channels down like said the the your your focus on helping others to Yeah, like he's talked about your your video again. It's like really touching. You know, because your video starts out you like let's talk about business and like you're sitting down in the
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
patio. Is that just at the place? I was staying at
Dana Blouin
the patio. Let's talk right so this is what is that enough? Like you go buy a coffee and you gave a same stone noon noon gave noon the 10,000 baht. Yeah. And like you told them you're gonna give it to him. I don't think he understood you the first time
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, I thought I was just fucking around. I think we'd been hanging out in there for days straight so I think he thought you're just messing around he did I go then then then I'll grab it and go and just have to make a funny video.
Dana Blouin
He kind of laughed and you're like, no, that's for you. Yeah, like after you shut the camera off. Did he like break down? Or?
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
No, no, no, I actually put the clip on at the end of what happened and the camera let it roll. And then I kind of explained it to him with it wasn't intended to be in the video, but I put it in so you can soon as it all ended he did these people, man. Like I said good or bad. They're just graceful. Yeah. And so he didn't. He wasn't like, Oh my God. He was like, what he did do. He got he got a little spring in his step. And he wanted to buy me a beer. And he ran down the street and he bought me a beer. He doesn't sell beers, his coffee shop and he brings it back. I take like two sips you want another? And I'm like, like, Dude, it's not even 1030 I'm like, No, man. I'm good. Like I just did maybe after this, he runs down and gets me and made him feel good man. Yeah, buy me a cup of shares. And that's what he did. And it was perfect. It was great. And then we just hung out and didn't talk about it again. Yeah, that's awesome. It's uncomfortable doing that? Yes. Well, you know, for sure.
Dana Blouin
Yeah. Luckily, it's like, you know, because you said you've been going for 20 years. Yeah. You know, it's good to do something good. And like at least that is how many customers you have today. Well, you
Mike Somerville
my buddies that are having
Dana Blouin
someone earlier got a coffee. Yeah. All right. And what's a coffee cost? Like 50 bucks. 30
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, his place thinking might be 60 or some that was an I got a comment about that. And he's just trying to run why'd you give the money to guy who's ripping off harangue? Whatever.
Dana Blouin
60 baht for a Thai coffee on the beach. Located in a place
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
where no road Yes, yeah, he's ripping us all off. Look at him. Look at him driving his Masai away.
Unknown Speaker
Jaguar
Dana Blouin
went to 711 or seven elevens on Krabi. There's a couple in there probably more expensive than Bangkok. Oh, yeah. It was like in Phuket every
Mike Somerville
morning. 711 on rally right?
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, I think there's one yes. And there's a couple of like mom pop shops but everything's more expensive. bottles of water. So
Dana Blouin
here's the thing if you bought a Thai coffee because yours was a Thai coffee right with all the milks and the sugar and everything are just like
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
it was it was black coffee. Okay, poor I'm really nice. He does. He does legit good shit.
Dana Blouin
So in but if he got that hair, it'd be 40 baht. Yeah. 50 bucks. Sure. Yeah. So if you paid 60 on an island, oh, water is double the price of 71 that
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
guy comment it really got me thinking so I went on to some of these Icelandic YouTube channels and said they're all just trying to rip us off.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Why is everything so expensive? Do you ever hear but milk for $7?
Mike Somerville
That guy will make that comment regardless of the price of something. Yeah, I can't believe you went to the beach. It's too cloudy. Oh my god. It's so sunny.
Dana Blouin
Beer at a bar.
Mike Somerville
Like this is how they make a look at those and I think to myself, thank God, I'm nothing like that guy. I'm the luckiest guy in the world.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
I think to myself, what's your annual budget for keyboards man, you
Dana Blouin
expensive mechanicals. He wants to hit the clicks when he's mad.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Next thing he can't even get out of the computer shop and fortune town because they try and charge them three on For a board and before he even leaves he's wrecked it.
Mike Somerville
Dare you charge me so much money?
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Okay, I take two
Dana Blouin
I saw the other day. There was a there's a mechanical keyboard in fortune town and one of the shops it's like 1100 baht for like a full size mechanical USB a Bluetooth keyboard.
Dana Blouin
Cheap yeah that's like for mechanical keyboard amazing.
Mike Somerville
This is like the older IBM style click
Dana Blouin
click yeah but it's like a new gaming keyboard but gamers love those mechanical key right? Oh cool. Yeah, absolutely. You know you hit it Yeah, for sure. Yeah, yeah, they are not if you're typing a lot
Mike Somerville
nasty in America is like $100 I mean, come on, dude. It's that you know, that's that's the word that I use so much right? People look at me like what are you talking about? I'm like, dude, we have a word in Southern California phrase for basically living in a 60 square meter one bedroom apartment for $360 it's called free Yeah, there is $360 for a condo in where you live in California.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Oh my god you couldn't get it park your car and this is true what I just before I moved the trended started where you'd see certain designated parts and neighborhoods RVs park at night Yes, they come in and park and they were renting those to legit people who had jobs and couldn't afford to get any place so you're renting on all these RVs that would park sporadically throughout town and kind of just keep dodging the cop Yeah, right. Crazy.
Dana Blouin
Same lifestyle and like but again like people want to live in LA they want to live in San Diego I work there Yeah, yeah. have to imagine living in an RV in Asia though. How hot though?
Mike Somerville
Yeah, doors wide.
Dana Blouin
Well you know what I'm throwing a jacket on is a little chilly
Mike Somerville
the sun went down eight at when it's a home I American Michigan when a minute that starts raining open all the windows. I run my air conditioning with the windows open. I love it.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
I respect that I wish I could do that. The people that do that I respect and it looks great that that's the way to do it. Yeah. You know
Mike Somerville
as I like eyes their condition Yeah,
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
the air conditioning gives me a cough again. Yeah, all that shit, but I can't man I can't do anything. I gotta have the AC I couldn't sleep at night the sleeping I agree.
Mike Somerville
It helps me Yeah,
Dana Blouin
when I get so I live here. So on the other side of in this house. So on the other side of this is where he parks his RV. is and then we have like pseudo living room. Mike is trying to convince me to move the studios. It's bigger and warmer. And my set is my step daughter's bedroom when she's here. But um, which you know,
Mike Somerville
come on, she can go hang out with Kaylee. She
Dana Blouin
can she can slip asleep in the little studio. Yeah, sure. So, um, when when I wake up in the morning, I go to work. I try to leave the aircon off until about one if it's not too humid. And I'll work on the computer until maybe one ish. No heavy processing or anything but just emails whatever I'll be sewing doing designs on the iPad until one then if I have to if it gets really humid I'll turn the air con on Yeah, yeah, I try to work as long as I can without it. Just because one old air con it's expensive to run my my air cons almost as much as my rent every month.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
That's one of the biggest expenses and damage around in your air con. Yeah,
Mike Somerville
tell us what your monthly electric bill is.
Dana Blouin
Like 300 bucks
Mike Somerville
10,000 totally right now awesome. Is that yeah,
Dana Blouin
that's crazy. And Southern California right?
Mike Somerville
303 50 Yeah, of course. It's summer. Yeah, sure.
Dana Blouin
It's just crazy. So yeah, it's between eight and 10 usually the rent for this place alone is like nothing that's free 240 square meters Yeah. to eight to 80 to 80 square meters. We got the design studio downstairs we live upstairs we've got this podcast room we have a storage room my wife's business.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, that's great. Yeah, like free.
Dana Blouin
And like I said, for this amount of space and yeah, I'm deep into Bangkok but I love it down here because like maybe I see another foreigner occasionally.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, it's got a great vibe. Well when we were shopping around we flew in last July to find a place and my wife and I loved the idea of living not in a soak and like getting a little out on new to one of these types. But it's like you know our daughters have a hell of a use we're like man she already hates us she still hated us at that point. So we better get close to bear and make it make it a little a little bit nicer we're happy we did but but we've we come back and next year on our own we're definitely gonna look to place a little bit more loci
Dana Blouin
for condos or houses or we're
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
probably condos probably like an apartment building of some sort I would imagine
Mike Somerville
a profit on on the bomb jock all great areas here. One Stop away in a narrow, windy Yeah. I lived in on for like, you know we vacation there for a week or so. So then Gracie and I come back here and we lived over there. For a month at the base, which is like right off, and what I didn't like about it was the fact that it like say between about seven and 830 in the morning, I could not get on the BTS with my luggage. Because there were so many people really? yeah so that's why I moved further down here because it put up with the even at like 730 in the morning. Yeah, I mean you know you're doing but I could like get my roller because I'm like I gotta be able to travel all over Southeast Asia. Yeah,
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
you know not so now you can get on get a seat. Yes and pretend you're asleep so that you don't have to give it up. Just always.
Mike Somerville
I just started putting like gold rings around my neck. no one bothers me.
Dana Blouin
Yeah, this one here. For the South. You can kind of get on pretty easily in the morning. Yeah, I try not to drop. It's a rush hour.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah. Are you close to the BTS station where you live? I must
Mike Somerville
say a kilometer away. Yeah. So I don't know how far I mean, they probably like 500 meters. Yeah, yeah, I mean, it's it's so do you know what tro digital Park is? Some people know that. I've been there one. Okay, so basically, if you you know, you leave the BTS, you walk to true digital, if you were to walk like about another that amount of distance. That's where my condo. Okay, so I think it's like seven minutes put up with the bat. Yeah, it's great. And I mean, I'm a startup guy. I really like that energy, like young people like coming up with ideas that they think are gonna change the world. They're not even to think that they will. So they will you know, which is awesome. And and, you know, again, but you know, COVID changed, right? We can't meet it co working spaces anymore, because we can't get near each other. So I love that energy over there. And it's, it's nice because it's like far enough back where I mean, it's really quiet. I love it at night. I'll have the air conditioning on but I'll open my windows, and I'm right above the pool and there's this giant fountain in the center of the pool. So I listened to this fountain all night. You know it's going on. And you know, I tell people that they're like in Bangkok Yeah, that's amazing. Eight and a half million people and graduate well Bangkok's massive for one. I mean, it's really spread out.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
But yeah, love it. That's great. And the beauty of Bangkok in that regard is that once you're on a beach Yes. No matter where you live, you're everywhere.
Mike Somerville
Yeah, exactly. BTS mrta. IRL, all day long, ma'am. It's great.
Dana Blouin
Yeah, I really do enjoy that city life that part of you know, just
Mike Somerville
being in the heart of it. But it's not like I mean, I've been in downtown Los Angeles, not a fan. New York City, not from LA is kind of like spread well. Yeah. But so I'm talking like downtown. Okay, like not Beverly, right. like not
Dana Blouin
even downtown LA is not dense, like Bangkok.
Mike Somerville
No, no, no.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Well, I mean, it depends, right? angen is it? Yeah, yeah, it's changing. But I mean, like, in the daytime. There's a Yeah, work
Dana Blouin
down there. I'll have been there in 15 years.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Well, it's had downtown's completely at a renaissance in those
Mike Somerville
real estate so expensive for me the gentrification standards.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, yeah. But But yeah, I mean, it's it's definitely not like Bangkok, or New York, but it is it is a downtown core.
Mike Somerville
Yeah. But again, like you said, it's almost like downtown San Francisco right? I mean, it's like the financial district like right now San Francisco's empty even the homeless people aren't there anymore because I mean, they're all you know, under lockdown and everything. But you know, during the day normally like in a market street, that sort of thing by the convention center, tons and tons of people and then at night, you know, and once the once the clothing shirt shops close up.
Dana Blouin
It's like, Siam, like I sewing school I went to as in Siam, where I learned how to sew. And you know, like my favorite movie theater Scala which is closed. Yeah, I know. Tears. hurts. Scala was like still a beautiful building, but you know, we should buy it. I'm trying I'm trying to buy some of the chairs. Yeah, you go. Chula owns that property though. They'll never never saw that as part of their royal grant. Okay, Royal Landy. So that's not happened yet, but try buy some of the chairs from the theater.
Mike Somerville
But you still some what's the worst thing that could happen? Yeah, get some gold put some gold rings around your neck. Shuffle, right and
Dana Blouin
don't be like yes, it was a huge white dude with a beard going kind of bald. It's like all white dudes are huge. But this was a big one big
Mike Somerville
one. Yeah, fair enough. Did he shave
Dana Blouin
regularly like all of us ties he had he had tattoos of scissors and sewing machines ask if the sewing school if they know
Mike Somerville
he was walking around with chairs that his frickin shoulders
Dana Blouin
create would be like Oh definitely doesn't sound like yeah I
Mike Somerville
wonder Yeah, absolutely.
Dana Blouin
So yeah, obviously stick out but yeah, that whole area is so fun like amazing like you know if like Lee you been in Lido and all those places. Lido why that rings a bell but I can't put my finger on it's one of the little malls they just since you been here a year and a half. They just reopened it while you're here. It's like a little renovated Spa in Siam area. Yeah. Okay. Oh, Siam Square and Scala's right next to Leto or like two blocks down from Leto okay yep
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
be a problem that was walking all around Siam Square. Go there much more. My daughter's orthodontist is there every month or six weeks? Yeah,
Dana Blouin
yeah. Hey, paying some cash.
Mike Somerville
Yeah. But so reasonable.
Dana Blouin
Oh yeah. La cache literally
Mike Somerville
the amount of money braces cost here certainly for Gracie and her daughter are cheaper than what I paid when i when i didn't pay the mobile my parents paid in 1980
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, yeah, that's very reasonable. All that stuff. Great cares. Yeah.
Dana Blouin
Crazy. Got a two for one deal or something. Yeah.
Mike Somerville
So she goes there to get her daughter braces and then comes home and takes a picture and she got on some too. And I'm like, Okay, what did you like? Did this cost me twice as much? Like that's a lot like whatever. And she said no, actually, she said that if I wanted to get him done, it would be like another 5000 pesos. Yeah. $100. Right for a second person. And I don't know how they did this. Her top row teeth. She's already had them off. It was only six months.
Dana Blouin
Wow. She has the retainer.
Mike Somerville
No, no retainer, she's but she's got the bottom ones. I mean, she went home in March. She's now had braces and had them off.
Dana Blouin
Yeah. When I met Jim amazing my wife she had braces still she's gonna put on in her early 30s had him for a few years. And like she got them off. Like within the first year we were dating I still remember like she couldn't talk right the first day.
Dana Blouin
I was like, I was laughing so
Mike Somerville
cute. Oh my god. Like No, I've always wanted to date a girl with a list. Like Cindy from the Brady's
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
we all wanted to date
Dana Blouin
it's like so different weird. feels different.
Mike Somerville
I could make so many inappropriate jokes right now. But she's got both her eyes so really, I can't go down. Now I'm wearing almost a two hours and I know you have like a two hour talk man. Forever man.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
You're amazing. You're smooth radio. Oh, man. See I thought this was good.
Dana Blouin
Are you doing there
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Chris? This is this is where it was always gonna go. This is where it was always good to go.
Dana Blouin
might get the stirrups you're famous on YouTube?
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
No jet fighters caught a couple of flies.
Dana Blouin
calls
Mike Somerville
I hope you can come back baby. That would be awesome. You can come back. Yeah. Fantastic. Oh, sure. love learning.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, you guys are fun to talk. Thanks. Yeah, before I wrap it up though. Hey, I'm wondering do you want to see what it's like to shoot a scene for retired working for you? What's
Mike Somerville
it What's it like to be retired but working? Yeah, I want to know what it is like. Yeah, but for you. I want to work for you. Okay,
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
well, you're about to work for me. All right. This is it we're making we're all gonna work. Mike are retired work and for all of you now let's see. inside. This is this is the building of a scene. Oh, okay. So what
Dana Blouin
is this like? super high tech gimbal here
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
first we put the camera together that
Dana Blouin
speed lock I'm in front of you. I know this. stuff's expensive.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
First, we put the camera together. This is high tech stuff here. Then we
Dana Blouin
get the native camera out.
Mike Somerville
Grab Oh my god, he
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
writes the script. This is gonna be an awesome video. shocked that we don't make those. This is my this is my 25,000 subscriber announcement video is gonna come out this weekend. Well before this podcast on Sunday. Get a time machine go back in time watch the video because these guys are about to be in it. They're gonna they're gonna go this is this is Oscar time. I'm not wearing pants. Is that a problem? Ah, no.
Mike Somerville
Problem. Fair enough.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Okay, so this is a very short scene and it's going to illustrate the power of editing because you guys will know what the fuck Fuck this. How does this fit in? Did he just make us look like idiots? Or did he make himself look like? Well you say
Mike Somerville
fuck one more time. I like that already.
Dana Blouin
It definitely won't be in his video. I can tell you that. Yes,
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
yes. It's happened. It's happened. Okay. Okay, so, all right. This is how it works. You guys stay here. Okay. Okay. I come in. I sit down. Okay.
Mike Somerville
All right. Here we go. I know. I know. I know. I
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
know. This is these Hollywood's
Mike Somerville
you're messing with my cat
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
videos in a Hollywood
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
amateur shit. Jesus grew
Dana Blouin
rise. We accept that.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Okay, so let me set the scene. I'm just arriving.
Mike Somerville
Okay, fair enough.
Dana Blouin
Strange studio. This is amazing.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
You guys play along.
Dana Blouin
Go, go
Mike Somerville
go for an Oscar. So basically, we're supposed to probably just pretend that we're like doing a POC
Dana Blouin
Yes, I guess now guys, if you're listening or watching we're back to the just starting the Bangkok change podcast. Ladies
Mike Somerville
and gentlemen, Mike and Mike. Oh, what is going on here?
Unknown Speaker
Where do I sit?
Mike Somerville
in the middle. You retired? Are you working for me?
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
This is exciting. So as I said, we're here to see. Well, I can't remember. Oh, this is professional. I can never remember his name. Who did Susan send me to? work we're here to see Joe Rogan. Which one are you?
Unknown Speaker
This guy right their
Mike Somerville
muscles it's not
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
telling me that none of you are Joe Rogan. I'm
Dana Blouin
sorry,
Mike Somerville
the phone who's got a phone up? No, but I'll tell you what we can make you just as popular.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
There we go. Okay, so, Susan Yeah, no this is not Joe Rogan. You screwed up again.
Unknown Speaker
Yeah, that is strike two. You want to text a baseball analogy look it up
Mike Somerville
it works for me. What if I said I was Joe Rogan how that worked out
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
and we cat
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
ul You will now be immortalized? My thousand subscribers.
Mike Somerville
Love it. Okay, well, we're not gonna say what you're gonna do for the giveaway.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
script.
Unknown Speaker
Look at that. This is that just one video?
Unknown Speaker
This is it man.
Mike Somerville
One video you do all of that content. Wow. three pages.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, man. I've never
Dana Blouin
made a video
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
and I wonder why I don't have 27,000 subs on audio but this is a big one. And this is this has some gags you were just didn't I love you guys. We're good. You guys. Now
Mike Somerville
Susan, what's her deal? Oh, you'll find out. Okay,
Dana Blouin
we're gonna watch on Sunday.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Find out the Holy shit. Three G's suck at her job
Dana Blouin
literally three pages of content, shooting and editing published by Sunday
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
published by saying this is the first shot I've done for it. I haven't even started this. That's the very first shot now you'll see it's non sequitur.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
as professionals
Mike Somerville
robbing it is
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
non sequitur. So let's get
Dana Blouin
right can we accept that badge of honor?
Mike Somerville
Yeah, absolutely. I don't even know if I own a one channel mixer. It's all I could afford.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Well, that's one channel more nine guy.
Mike Somerville
Okay, fair enough. Yes, but it's all in post baby. You fix it all
Dana Blouin
right. Yeah. I was in a movie here that we still American movie. They filmed here. And I jokingly me they had fucked up the canvass for the ring. And so they had to it was like the blue was coming off on the two stars in the fight scene. And so they flipped it upside down. So it's all white and the woman's like gods. You know the directors pissed because it doesn't look like a professional thing. I joke like I just fix it in post and she's like, we never say that in the industry.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
They know they say at all.
Dana Blouin
She was like you're clearly new. I'll
Mike Somerville
tell you what if I go on I used to get all gone first dates if they were ever bad. I'm like Sweetie, don't worry about it. I'll just fix it and post always seemed to lead to death number two. She thought I was in the business.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
Yeah, they do say that.
Dana Blouin
This whole movie they shot it in like 30 days in Thailand. Oh really? Yeah. Hard target to back in
Mike Somerville
30 days. Okay, and then how long did it take to produce I mean cuz afterwards obviously Yeah,
Dana Blouin
it was on Pirate Bay two weeks before it came out on
Mike Somerville
impressive in here because of the blue Canvas probably not realistic enough.
Dana Blouin
Not real there's no good times. Well anyway, with that we know we're gonna let you appreciate coming by. Hey, it
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
was awesome. Awesome.
Chris Parker: Retired Working For You
So check out this way this is your video.
Dana Blouin
Alright, so go sighs go back to Sunday the day after this comes out. Check out Chris's video retired working for you. There'll be a card in the show in the in the video. If you're listening on audio of course in the show notes link to his channel. link to the video. The end of this video will have the card for his video as well. Go check him out. Subscribe. It's gonna be awesome. And until next time, stay strain gees
Mike Somerville
boom.
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