Catherine De Noire has spent the last decade managing a legal Brothel. It’s a place filled with intimacy, unique characters and sometimes, danger. We talk the life of a Madame (Brothel Manager), crazy customers requests and why people really come to a Brothel. Then, we unveil a new Candle of the Month and countdown the Top 5 Worst New Year’s Resolutions.
Catherine De Noire: 01:17
Pointless: 31:08
Candle of the Month: 45:29
Top 5 Worst News Years Resolutions: 50:35
Interview with Brothel Manager Catherine De Noire
Nick VinZant 0:00
Nick, welcome to Profoundly Pointless. My name is Nick VinZant Coming up in this episode brothel management and New Year's resolutions.
Catherine De Noire 0:22
I mean, I like seeing people enjoying themselves. You know, seeing their fantasies to be around sexuality. Well, you need to, you either need to like people, or you need to be like a really good actress, because it's not about the look. This is what I always tell the girls. It's not about the look, because it's it's mostly about the personality. I want
Nick VinZant 0:47
to thank you so much for joining us. If you get a chance subscribe, leave us a rating or review. We really appreciate. It really helps us out. If you're a new listener, welcome to the show. If you're a long time listener, thank you so much for all of your support. So I want to get right to our first guest, because for the last decade, she's been managing a legal brothel. This is brothel manager Catherine de Noir. What does a brothel manager do?
Catherine De Noire 1:18
We basically oversee, like the whole club, and I think the biggest part of our job is actually to to take care of the of the women working with us. So we do the interviews. We speak with them about, like their personal issues, about work issues, if they want to, outside
Nick VinZant 1:37
of kind of what you're doing, it sounds like a basic managerial job.
Catherine De Noire 1:42
It is, actually, it is because that's, that's why I always try to tell people, I mean, like, We are like a normal company, you know, if you would see our working meetings, it's actually pretty boring, you know, it's a lot of, like, spreadsheets, you know, a lot of the statistics and those kind of stuff. You know, how did you get into it? When I was little, I wanted to be archeologist, and then I kind of shifted towards psychology, and then, like one day, one night, I discovered this article, and it was with with one of the guy, he's actually now my colleague, and I discovered this article, and the name was, and it was named, they call me pimp, but I protect women. And it was, it was with a manager of a brothel, and he spoke about the business, you know, how they do the business, how they treat women. And he also spoke about sexuality. It was just so great that I decided, like at that moment, I decided I want to apply for this position. And I remember I was standing in front of the building, it's like, huge building, and I was standing there, and I was like, Should I do it? And then I just decided, yeah, let's just go for it. And I remember, like, the moment when I walk in, everything was just so normal, you know, there was, like, customer care service. There was it, department, HR, department. Then I met the owner, you know. And I imagine, like him, you know, wearing fake fur, you know, maybe some golden chains. And he was like a normal guy, you know. So I went, like, I think, through like, three rounds of the of the selection process, and at the end, like, they basically offer me the job, and it's been eight years. No, it's nine years now, and I'm still there.
Nick VinZant 3:31
What do you like about it?
Catherine De Noire 3:33
Just everything, you know. I mean, I love the industry. I like I mean, I like seeing people enjoying themselves, you know, seeing their fantasies to be around sexuality. And also the women in the industry, they are amazing, you know, and it's amazing to see them like, growing up, like personally, you know, are you
Nick VinZant 3:59
a naturally very sexual person. Like, was there an aspect of that, that draw, that drew you to it
Catherine De Noire 4:07
for sure, you know? I mean, I'm a regular swinger, so I like to be around, you know, sexuality. I like to do it more than talk about it. So being in the industry, kind of makes sense for me. You know, you were a, what? Swinger. Swinger, okay?
Nick VinZant 4:28
And that's, that's men and women, women and women. I get confused as to the definition, like, all the doing the whole thing. So what's your typical day, like,
Catherine De Noire 4:41
there is actually, like, no typical day. You never know. And this is also what I like about the about the job, it's like, you never know what is coming. Sometimes you can get, like, very slow nights. You know nothing is happening. Everything is pretty quiet, and you just watch some Netflix or something, or just chat with. The with the girls or our employees, and then you get, like, nights when he when you just walk in, and then you need to call an ambulance, call a police, you know, then something is on fire. Like, literally, something is on fire, you know, like once we get a customer, and he just set one of the trash bins on fire, you know, and it was on the same night when we needed to call an ambulance and the police. So I was like, holy shit. What is happening here, you know? But this is not very typical, but so I start at 7pm and I finish at 6am so I award night shifts. I work night shifts only. And so usually at the beginning of the night, I just go through like reports. We use, like a CRM system for for reporting. I go through the emails to just see basically what happened the previous night. And then at the beginning of the night, I have interviews with with the new girls that want to work with us. That usually takes a while. You know, it's like one one interview usually takes, like, 30 minutes, like minimum. So I usually sit down with them to have a coffee, you know, to chat, I introduce the club, and I explain them, like the basic rules how we work. Because with us, the women are independent contractors, and that means that we never tell them what kind of services they should do, you know, we have a few women that they don't even do, like a full service, you know, they specialize in, like BDSM type of the thing. Or we have a one girl, and she specialized in squirting. So all she does is just like, there's a huge squirt,
Nick VinZant 6:47
that's all. It's her job.
Catherine De Noire 6:50
Yeah, then we have a few girls doing like a lesbian shows, you know? So they don't, they don't have a sex with the customers, but they offer like lesbian shows together. So it's up to them what kind of services they would like to provide. What
Nick VinZant 7:09
What would you say is kind of your biggest challenge? This
Catherine De Noire 7:13
is a hard question. I mean, since we operate legally, I don't face that many obstacles. Because, like, I can do what I want to do, like, I don't need to be scared of the police, you know, actually, when there is some problem, you know, we can call a police because we operate legally. So for me as a manager, I would say, like, probably, like, very drunk customers, you know, you know, this, this is the worst. And that's when the the shitty part starts, you know, because sometimes they can get aggressive, or they have this amazing idea that they need to get naked, you know, and show everybody their dick. And I'm like, Look, you know, we are not this kind of place. I mean, you can do this, you know, somewhere else, but not here.
Nick VinZant 8:04
When you interview the girls, like, is there a certain type of girl or a certain type of characteristics that you're looking for?
Catherine De Noire 8:13
Well, you need to, you either need to like people, or you need to be like a really good actress. So some of the girls, they are like, very good with people, you know, you can see that they are, like, very warm, empathic, you know, those kind of, those kind of personal traits. And some of them, like, I would say, very small percentage, they really hate people, but they are like, such a good actress that you actually believe them. You know that they care about you. You need to be able to communicate with people in different languages. You know, people that are drunk, drugged. You need to handle all the situations. You know, sometimes the situation, especially in the room, it can get like, little bit out of the hand. And we have the security system. You know, there is security, there are like panic buttons in the rooms, but you also need to be handled by yourself sometimes, you know, so you should be good with communicating with people.
Nick VinZant 9:12
I know this is kind of a broad generality. Would you say that most of the women who are working, do they want to be there, or is this more? This is the avenue I have to provide for myself.
Catherine De Noire 9:27
Well, the motivation of the workers is, like, very diverse. So lot of the girls are coming into the industry, and they are like, Yeah, I heard I can make, like, a really good money here, you know. And they can, you know, it's like, like, the best earning girls with us, they are making 50,000 euros per month, you know, so, like, you can't say, Yeah, I mean, it's a lot. It's a lot,
Unknown Speaker 9:50
if I do
Nick VinZant 9:52
this math correctly, 50,000 that's like 600,000 euros a year. We should be like, I. Know what that is in dollars. But like, let's call it three quarters of a million dollars.
Catherine De Noire 10:04
It's a lot. Yeah, it's a lot. So like, you can't just ignore the money. You know? It's like, you know that the money are there. And for some it's like, a huge motivation to join the industry. But also, there are girls who come to the industry and they are like, I don't want to have the boss. I want to have my freedom. I want to decide about when I will take my holidays, you know, about how much I will work. And this is also, like, one of the one of the biggest motivations, you know? So most of the girls, they stay for the freedom. Some of the girls, you know, they they are, like, very, very sexually active. So they often come in and they're like, look, either I will have like, a bad sex for zero money, or I will have a sex and, you know, earn some money, and that kind of makes sense. Then we have, like, also girls just coming in, and they're like, I always wanted to do this, you know. So for them, it was, like, something that they were always wanted to try. And they just come in and they just try it. For some, you know, it kind of clicks. For some it really doesn't work. And there's also, like, lots of the customers coming in and they bring you gifts, you know, like Chanel handbags, and they are bringing you to very luxurious holidays. So, yeah,
Nick VinZant 11:28
I mean, from the outside, like it sounds great, I'm my own boss. I make a lot of money, and I do something that most people find enjoyable. Is there a cost to pay down the road. You
Catherine De Noire 11:43
ask about the price that is to pay, you know? And you mentioned the stigma, you know. But the stigma is actually something very external, you know. It's something that society impose on you. It's not like because the girls, they are coming to work and they are like, I really like this work, you know. But I can't say this in front of my friends, you know, because they will judge me, but I feel good here, you know. So, like, you can see, like, the stigma is very external thing, you know. So it's not about the job, but it's about the society view on the job.
Nick VinZant 12:15
Oh, that's a very good way to put it, and that makes sense to me, right? Like, yeah, are you ready for some harder slash listener submitted questions.
Catherine De Noire 12:23
Yes, I'm ready
Nick VinZant 12:27
for the clients, more regulars or more first timers,
Catherine De Noire 12:30
more first timers, I would say, because we are, we are very big. So every Friday or like Saturday, there are like 500 600 people coming in. So we have a lot of regulars, but I would say like 70% of them, they are like, first timers.
Nick VinZant 12:48
Why do people usually come? This
Catherine De Noire 12:54
is also like, like, the the motivation of the people. It's like, super diverse as well. So sometimes we have a we have a people coming in and they want to lose their virginity, or they want to teach something, they want to learn something about sex, you know. So they are, like, maybe a little bit unsure, like, am I a good lover? You know, maybe I can improve myself, like, in a sexual way. So they are coming in and they are asking the girls, you know, to give them some sort of advices, which I think is great, you know. Then we have, like, obviously, a lot of people just coming in and they want to have, like, quick, very easy sex, and that's it. We have a we have a lot of people they are and they are, like, super successful, you know, they are wealthy. They are like, business type of the people, and they are coming in, and they are like, I don't have a time to pick some chick in the bar. You know? It's like, I don't have a time for it. I don't have energy for it, you know. I just, like, rather pay, you know, sex worker 2000 Euros per day, or, like, per night, you know, we will have a nice dinner. We will have a nice chat, you know, I know that sex is included, and then I can just go home, you know, we have a lot of people that are disabled. They are coming in, you know, and some of the sex workers, they can actually work with those kind of people, which I think is amazing. We have a lot of very old gentlemans. We have, you know, construction workers coming in because we, like, we are so big that there is, like, literally, like, all the possible groups. We have a women coming in.
Nick VinZant 14:35
Oh, how common is it to have women? So do you have men that are working there? Or do you have,
Catherine De Noire 14:39
oh, no, these women are just coming to, you know, to have some sort of experience with another woman.
Nick VinZant 14:44
How come? Like, if you put a percentage on that, okay,
Catherine De Noire 14:48
like the guys are 99% and girls are 1%
Nick VinZant 14:53
How much does a brothel make?
Catherine De Noire 14:57
A lot? I'm not quite sure. If I'm allowed to say the numbers, but a lot
Nick VinZant 15:04
would you can you say, like, if we looked at it in a month,
Catherine De Noire 15:11
it's hundreds of 1000s euros.
Nick VinZant 15:13
Can it hit seven? So a million, million euros a month?
Catherine De Noire 15:19
No, I don't think so. It's
Nick VinZant 15:21
for and for the girls. How much can they make?
Catherine De Noire 15:26
Like, there is no limit. I mean, seriously, there is, there is no limit. I know that the best, best earning her girls with us, they are making, like, 50,000 euros per month. But there is just, like, no limit, you know? I mean, I saw customers paying enormously huge price for, like, one a night, you know. So if you can get, like, a lot of those customers per per month, you can, like,
Nick VinZant 15:55
earn a lot. Why would somebody be paying so much per night? Like, what would they be paying for that the price would be that high?
Catherine De Noire 16:05
Well, it's not because of the services, you know, at this point. I mean, we, we have a lot of, not a lot, but sometimes it happens, you know, that there are customers coming in and they're like, my budget is this? You know, for example, they say, like, my budget is 10,000 euros, and I just want to spend this here in one night and just do what you want. So these people, they already, like, have some sort of money they want to spend in their mind. Or sometimes this happens as well. I mean, they have a lot of money, obviously. And the girls are, like, very good with their sales skills. So they basically tell them, like, Look, maybe I can bring a friend, you know, maybe we can go there. Maybe we can order this. Do you want this special service? Or maybe another friend will come, and that's like, how it basically adds up
Nick VinZant 17:03
from a sexual standpoint. Is there anything that the brothel considers off limits, like you can't do that?
Catherine De Noire 17:08
I mean, since we don't, we don't tell the girls what they what they should do. It's up to them, if they will decide that they will want to do something very crazy. I mean, most of them, they wouldn't do it, you know, because they really value their health. So there is like no point of risking your health for like, couple of 1000s Euro, you know, because she knows that she will make it like this money the next day, you know. So there is like no point of like, pressuring yourself to do because there is, like, lot of customers coming in, and they are like, I will give you, I don't know, X, Y, Z, and we will have a sex without a condom. And most of like, 100% of the girls, they are like, are you crazy? You know, there is, like, no amount of money that would be worth it for this, you know, because it's your health, so you need to protect yourself. And if you're not healthy, you can work.
Nick VinZant 18:07
Um, is there a physical type of girl that seems to do the best, like the blondes do the best the red heads, the brunettes, the
Catherine De Noire 18:15
Actually, no, because the girl, because it's not about the look. This is what I always tell the girls, it's not about the look, because it's, it's mostly about the personality and your sales skills. So we have 111, girl, and she's, she's like, little bit chubby, uh, not a typical I mean, if you would see her on the street, you wouldn't say she's a sex worker, not at all. You know, she doesn't fit into any those kind of columns, but she's like, little bit chubby. I think she's like 50 now, maybe, maybe 55 and she is so nice, she's so kind, but she doesn't she doesn't use any makeup. She doesn't have like, any like, facial things. You know, she doesn't have, like, any liposuctions and those kind of stuff, but she's just so amazing. Like, her personality is so great, and she's one of the best earning girls. So this is not about the looks. This is just about the personality and, like, how, how good you can be around people and how how you can make them feel, and also the sales skills you know you need to be able to communicate about the service and those kind of stuff. And she does like and she does like the normal service. She doesn't do anything crazy. Do
you participate?
Never. I mean, as a manager, I can't do that. And I mean, there's like, it's like, a lot of the people coming into me, and they are like, so are you one of the working girls? And I'm like, No, I'm a manager. And they're like, Yeah, but can I still go to the room with you? And I'm like, No, sorry. You know, we can't do this.
Nick VinZant 19:57
Yeah, I would think that. Like, what about if somebody approaches. Like the it worker, or the human resources, like, I came for the brothel, and I know that this is the woman, but this girl in it looks I really like that.
Catherine De Noire 20:08
Yeah. I mean, you know, as a girl, you know, this happens, but I always explain them, like, Look, I just can't do this. You know, there are, like, many beautiful women, I'm sure that you will find the one that fits you the best. What
Nick VinZant 20:23
would you say is kind of like most, busiest or busiest times of the year, busiest times of the day, Valentine's Day,
Catherine De Noire 20:35
valent, because nobody,
Nick VinZant 20:37
nobody wants to be alone. Are there other days that you would say, compare with that?
Catherine De Noire 20:42
Well, New Year's Eve. The New Year's Eve is coming now, and it's always crazy. It's always my shift, and it's, it's super quiet until like 3am and like 3am it's like, everybody walks in, you know? And it's crazy. And I very rarely finish at 6am it's like New Year's Eve. I know all the time that I will be there until like eight or something, you know, and it's, this is a mess, but it's like a huge night. Yeah,
Nick VinZant 21:09
is there an age range of customers
Catherine De Noire 21:13
so they are able to come in when they are 18 and 18 plus, and then, like, we don't have any upper limit. Do parents ever bring their children? I mean, sometimes they do, sometimes they do fathers. They do this, you know, and, but I think it's like three, three weeks ago or something, we had, we had a guy, and he was disabled, and, you know, on a wheelchair. And his parents brought him in, and they helped him, you know, to choose a girl. You know, they helped him with everything. So I think this is nice.
Nick VinZant 21:53
I do too honestly, like, let the guy have his day. I mean, and some people like, I'm sure that there's things that that would never happen for them. Otherwise, yeah, yeah. Thing you learned as you went along. I feel like every job, you start a job and you didn't know that, and then you learned that thing. What would you say? Like, Oh, I learned this working as a brothel manager, I learned
Catherine De Noire 22:23
a lot about different types of relationships, you know. And now I can definitely appreciate different type of the relationships more you know. Because before that, you know, like in the mainstream culture, there's this notion that, like, either you have, like, this long term relationship that it's like forever, you know, or you have some sort of, like, fuck buddy, and, you know, there are like, different types of the relationships. You know, there's, like, polyamory, you know, very open relationships. You know, I've met people staying in relationships because the the person was their soul mate, but there is no sex, and they are fine with this, you know, and they it's like a mutual agreement. So I definitely can appreciate, like, more the variety of relationships and, like, I used to not judge people, but I was like, Hm, this is odd, but so I don't do this anymore. It's like, whatever works, if it works, it's just okay. You know, do
Nick VinZant 23:25
you ever have like the wife showing up looking for her husband?
Catherine De Noire 23:28
Yes, of course. And this is always awkward, you know, because she can walk in as as any other customer, you know, as long as she pays the pays the entrance. So this is, this is happening not quite often, you know, but it happens sometimes because the guys, they forget to to turn off the share the location. Share location, yeah, exactly. And then the wives, they are like, my husband is here. And we're like, Yeah, but we don't know where, you know, this is, like, super big. So, you know, we will not help you to find him, but you're like, free to go in. You know, we can't stop you. And, yeah, but once, actually we had, we had this couple, and they came in together. It was my shift, and they and they wanted to speak with manager. I was like, Oh my God. What happened, you know? And they sit down, and she was like, so me and my husband, we have this fantasy that I will be like a dirty whore, and he will pay for me. And I was like, okay, so how can I help you? And she was like, Well, I have all the documents here, and I want to rent the room. Is it possible? I was like, yeah, it's possible, you know. So I went through the interview with her, you know, I explained her the rules, you know, it was clear that she wants to try just for one day, but I still like to make sure that she knows everything, you know. And then, so I basically took her to the room, you know, I just gave her. The key, and she's like, thank you so much. She, you know, changed her clothes, and she was standing there waiting for the husband. He came in because, you know, I was, I was a little bit, I was little bit curious, so I can do, you know, check the situation out. And he just walk in, and he was like, for how much, and, you know, they played their role, and it was so nice, you know, good for them. It was amazing, you know, they, I think that they spend the whole, whole night there, and then she just, you know, I never saw her anymore, but yeah, I think this was amazing, you know. And I like this.
Nick VinZant 25:41
Do you ever have people who don't know that their wives are working there?
Catherine De Noire 25:45
Yes, we actually had a couple. And there was, there was one, one of the workers, and she always, she doesn't work with us anymore, and she always come in on Mondays. Like, she exclusively worked on Mondays, and we became, like, a little bit of friends, you know. So she showed me, like the picture of her husband, the kids, you know, those kind of stuff. And then we had the husband coming in for Fridays, so he was our customer, yeah, yeah. And they actually never met, but we knew it's them, because, you know, he became friends with us as well. So at some point he was like, Yeah, I mean, I love my wife, you know, but we don't have any sex anymore, you know, I think that she doesn't like sex anymore, so that's the reason why I come here. And actually, at some point this, this kept going for months, and at some point, you know, she was like, Yeah, well, maybe I should try, like, Friday shifts, because on Friday I can probably make, like, more money. And I knew that the that the husband is coming in on Friday, so I was like, no, just stay on Mondays. It will be the best, you know, Fridays are full. So just, you know, stay on Mondays. And at some point he was like, you know, maybe, you know, Fridays are, like, very busy. And I'm like, I'm scared that somebody will see me here. Maybe I should, you know, start to come here on Mondays or Tuesdays. I was like, no, no, stay on Fridays. Fridays are good, you know,
Nick VinZant 27:22
they never ran into each other. No,
Catherine De Noire 27:25
no. And then she left the business, and, like, few weeks later, he also disappeared. So I have no idea what happened, but I just find it's, it's, it's interesting. I know it's like, you live next to the person and like, you don't know.
Nick VinZant 27:43
You never really know who somebody is. I've been married for 10 years, happily married, but even my wife talk about it like you never really know. You never really know, yeah, yeah,
Catherine De Noire 27:54
yeah. We have a lot of girls, and they are having they have husbands, and the husbands, they have no idea.
Ooh, most common name, Jennifer, you sir, sorry. Jennifer,
why? Jennifer, I have no idea. I don't know.
Nick VinZant 28:13
Are there other ones that were like, oh, here we got another, another. I mean,
Catherine De Noire 28:16
Jennifer, Vanessa, Emma, is very popular. Those kind of names, like the normal ones, you know, nothing crazy. Tiffany, yeah. How
Nick VinZant 28:28
long would you say? Women usually stay in, stay in it.
Catherine De Noire 28:32
This is very different. I would say, like the average is like five years. But some of the women, they basically decided that they will make this, you know, their their like lifelong career, so they stay as long as they can. You're
Nick VinZant 28:50
working on research, or am I confused? I do. Okay. So what's Tell Tell me about your research. So
Catherine De Noire 28:56
I have a two topics. One of the topic is actually to research sex work from organizational point of view. So I research the sex work as a legitimate form of work. So I focus on like work procedures and how the sex work is actually done. So this is one of my topics. And the second one is that I research management of legal sex work. How
Nick VinZant 29:27
would you could say that it compares to like the illegal side of it?
Catherine De Noire 29:32
Since it's illegal, the sex work there, it's super dangerous, because you never know who is coming. Sometimes the clients can get violent and so, yeah, so the illegality doesn't doesn't really help. You know, it the sex work will happen, even if it's legal, even if it's illegal. But if you make something illegal, you. It doesn't mean it will disappear, you know, it will only learn how to hide better, and the people in the in the sex industry will actually not have any any sort of security.
Nick VinZant 30:12
Yeah, I could see that, right? That by making it legal, you make the illegal side so much more dangerous. That's pretty much all the questions we got. Is there anything that you think we missed, or anything like that?
Catherine De Noire 30:24
I don't know. It's like you you need to tell me. No, I
Nick VinZant 30:29
think that was fascinating. Uh, if people want to follow you, find out more about you, that kind of stuff, where can they find you? So
Catherine De Noire 30:36
there's my Instagram, Catherine de noir, and you can just basically find me there. I want
Nick VinZant 30:42
to thank Catherine so much for joining us. If you want to connect with her, we have linked to her on our social media sites. We're Profoundly Pointless on tick tock, Instagram and YouTube, and we've also included her information in the episode description. And if you want to see more of this interview. The YouTube version will be live on January 2 at 12:30pm Pacific. Okay, now let's bring in John Shaw and get to the pointless part of the show. Do you feel like you wasted 2024
John Shull 31:18
Yeah, I didn't intend to waste it. I achieved none of my goals. Did nothing that I wanted to do except do the things that I didn't want to do, which is work more, gain more weight and be stressed out more. So everything I didn't want to do I did.
Nick VinZant 31:38
Oh, I think that people are kind of all jammed up right now and that there's no more moving forward. There's only treading water.
John Shull 31:47
There was no positive steps towards any of my goals that I had laid out for like, for instance, one of them was I wanted to read 40 books this year. Well,
Nick VinZant 31:59
that was unrealistic to begin with. That's a book a week. Yeah,
John Shull 32:03
it's 30 pages a day, which is not, you know, maybe a little more, maybe 50 pages a day, which is not that crazy if you read an hour a day.
Nick VinZant 32:11
I mean, I did slightly, I would say I went through a major change as a person like I adjusted to middle age. That was a major change. I did that,
John Shull 32:23
see, that's a tough one. I don't know in terms of that. I think I just kind of realized that like, it doesn't matter like, I think if anything, 2024 was the year where I learned, like, what I should do in 2025 if that makes any sense, I do
Nick VinZant 32:42
feel like 2025 is more of a new start than 2024
John Shull 32:47
I feel like 2020 has just bled into every other year. But I feel like 2025 can be the year that, like, you know, you're putting the new underwear on, and it's a it's actually a new year.
Nick VinZant 33:01
Yeah, I would say that 2025 is definitely the year that we you could say, we put the pandemic behind us. 2023 you could start making an argument that that was kind of over. 2024 I think you still had some lingering effects of it. But I would say 2025 would be the first year that you could say, all right, that was in the past. The ramifications of it are still kind of coming, but for the large part, I think it's in the past.
John Shull 33:26
I think 2025 I'm going to say it on record. I think it's going to be a good year for for hopefully everybody. Alright,
Nick VinZant 33:32
well, thank you for jinxing everything. I would never say something like that, even if I felt the same way, I wouldn't jinx it like that. You're
John Shull 33:40
the second person in the last hour that says that has said that I'm a jinxer. You are a jinxer. I'm
Nick VinZant 33:47
not a Master jinxer. Oh, 100% 100% you're easily the biggest jinxer That I know. I
John Shull 33:56
I just, I don't, I don't know, I don't, I don't. I don't know how I got that title, but I don't want it anymore. Yeah,
Nick VinZant 34:03
you just well this then that's entirely in your control. And then stop jinxing things. I just
John Shull 34:07
don't, I just don't want it. I don't want, I don't want, I don't want to be that guy anymore. But I don't know something about
Nick VinZant 34:13
it. You're entirely in control. If you think yourself, am I going to jinx this situation? Then don't do it right? Like if you think the stove is hot, don't touch it.
John Shull 34:24
Like it's gotten so bad that at work and friends of mine will tell me to bet on certain sports teams, because they know if I bet on them to do well, that team will do bad. And it always happens, always, yeah,
Nick VinZant 34:38
oh, you're in jinxer Number one Jinx, or I'm, no, he's not. I can't even think of second place.
John Shull 34:46
Well, that's a, not a good thing to have, all right, can we get the shout outs? Yeah, sure.
Nick VinZant 34:53
These people by saying their name, I don't, why don't you say, I hope, to some like, why don't you say, I hope. All of the people in the shout outs that I'm about to do have a good 2025 and then if they could report back to us how their 2025 was, and then you will be blamed as the source of all of their problems.
John Shull 35:15
Sure, I, I hope, do that these 10 individuals that I name for the shout outs for this episode. Have a fantastic, I know, I know they're gonna have a fantastic 2025, full money and and wealth and happiness. So I just jinxed the hell out of all 10 of you. And I, oh yeah, all of them. Um Sandra Caesar, Steve, Renee, Pharaoh, Remo, Alyssa nazares. That can't be a real name, but maybe it is. Lulu Jin. Appreciate all of you. Brian Anderson, had to get an actual name in there that I could pronounce, uh, Matt Morgan, Kaylee, einchwin Whistle
Nick VinZant 36:08
close enough. I really it's good enough.
John Shull 36:11
I really just put that one in there because it made me smile. Um, for whatever reason. Uh, Milo, some of its and the last person that I am damning to a terrible 2025 without knowing. Steve Hall,
Nick VinZant 36:29
oh, that's like. That is like the most, that is the most basic name in the world. Steve Hall, Steve. Steve Hall. Steve Hall, Paul, okay, well, congratulations to those people, I guess.
John Shull 36:46
I mean, stay with us throughout the year. Let me know how great or terrible your life is. Okay, okay. Because maybe we'll stop doing these a few year if I'm actually jinxing people. Oh, if we
Nick VinZant 36:57
lost you by the public, basically. Yeah,
John Shull 37:01
well, you know, I guess we got to start with a little bit of in remembrance to and I'm going to say this, and I think I'm going to come across as a complete jackass, but I feel like I have to say this is, that is Jimmy Carter passed away at the age of 100 rip the former president, I am not sure. Nor could I tell you anything that Jimmy Carter did as President to better our nation.
Nick VinZant 37:33
I couldn't tell you anything about him. I couldn't tell single I couldn't tell you a single thing about him, besides, he builds houses and he was the president. Don't know a single thing that he did, but I don't think that you know who what any political leader did, unless you are involved in politics or keep track of that a lot. I don't think that you know what any president really did unless it's a big thing, until you're 30 plus, if really affect you that much. You don't know.
John Shull 38:04
I also had a revelation, which we've talked about on this podcast before. I while my wife was gone, I decided to watch some of this the news season of squid game, yeah, and by God, I don't think I've ever seen a sequel, a season two, whatever you want to call it, not the original. That is not that that is even close to the original I was, I don't know what I was expecting of squid Game Two, and I'm not done with it yet, so maybe I'm jumping the gun. But man, it is, I mean, I don't, it is bad. I don't. They should have just been a one and done series in my
Nick VinZant 38:46
Oh, so many things. But I think that Joker movie that came out was also like terrible, that it was terrible that it wasn't what people were expecting. It was going to be. I think that's been like a pattern for 2024
John Shull 39:01
what just they they should have. There should be some more original concepts in Hollywood, yeah?
Nick VinZant 39:07
Or, like, don't make a sequel. Or, if you do make a sequel, don't make it a completely different thing. Like, if the first movie is an action movie, don't make the second movie. The sequel to it a musical. People aren't kind of like that.
John Shull 39:25
Yeah, I, you know, without going into spoilers, I was, I'm very disappointed so far. And it's, you know, I was never one of those people just to kind of always say, oh, it's Season Two or whatever, blah, blah, blah. But like, even only murders in the building, you know, like, it's, it's all, it's just all getting worse. Everything's just getting worse. Nick I
Nick VinZant 39:44
I think everything should now be one season. Think every TV show should be one season. I mean, maybe and no more than eight episodes. Every season should every TV show should now be one season of eight episodes. Notes
John Shull 40:01
that's fair I got you probably would get a lot more quality, that's for sure.
Nick VinZant 40:06
Oh yeah. Oh yeah, why string this thing out? Just make another one anyway. Uh,
John Shull 40:11
well, here's something that I didn't think I'd ever bring up on here, but uh, Magnus Carlson, are you familiar with him at all? Yeah, he's the chess player, right? Number one ranked chess player in the world that has been for a few years now, apparently he was, and it's been resolved, but at the time, he was kicked out of this chess like this World Chess Championship because he wore jeans.
Unknown Speaker 40:38
Let's follow this.
Nick VinZant 40:40
We'll follow the rules. Like, is that what the rules say? Are there rules they that say you have to have a dress code, then follow the rules. I don't. Like, that's one of those things where the answer is incredibly simple, right? Like, if you're not going to follow the rules that they had, then don't show up. Like, that's the rules, right? Like, Wait, what if this is basketball, and you know what? Why should I have to follow the rule that you can't travel? I should just be able to carry the ball all over the place. Like, to me, that's one of those things, like, if there was rules in place, follow the rules. It sounds like they upheld the rules.
John Shull 41:13
I guess I didn't realize that chess tournaments have dress codes, which also seems kind of asinine to me, they
Nick VinZant 41:21
want to be fancy man. If there's rules, if you're playing a sport or an activity and there's rules to it, then follow the rules.
John Shull 41:29
It's kind of like, I understand following the rules, but it's also it's kind of like dressing up for work in a suit and tie when you when you don't need to, like, let people be comfortable. Why? Why is there? I? I'm kind of, I don't want to say anti conformist on this, but it's almost like dress codes to me make no sense anymore. I don't know if they ever did. I, by the way,
Nick VinZant 42:01
I get the idea that, like, okay, wearing jeans isn't that big of a deal. Like, I get it. The problem is, if you give people an inch, they will take a mile. And if you're like, you know what? No dress code for this. We're not going to enforce it. Then people are going to be showing up in tank tops and gym shorts. Last
John Shull 42:19
thing here Christmas related. God bless Miami, because I swear to goodness, there's always stories that come out of that city that I shake my head at. This one was so you know how for Christmas decorations, some people like to put out, like the white powder, and then step in it and pretend like Santa's come through the house.
Nick VinZant 42:44
Oh, yeah. Well, I mean, that's new to me, but I can imagine it like, I don't need any more descriptions about it, yeah?
John Shull 42:51
Like, you know, you put some piles and you step in it and it's Santa Claus coming through the house.
Nick VinZant 42:58
Well, yeah, of course, according
John Shull 43:01
to a report, one family did that, but it wasn't like, I don't know, Styrofoam, or even salt or whatever you put down. It was cocaine.
Nick VinZant 43:18
They had that much cocaine.
John Shull 43:21
Yeah, and I guess the only reason,
Nick VinZant 43:23
if you only read much cocaine, it makes sense how that you made that decision, like, if you have that much cocaine, then okay, well, now I know how you got to that decision. Well,
John Shull 43:34
I guess there's two parts of the story. The first part was the dog ingested some of it and it was taken to the vet, which is what prompted authorities to investigate. And when they investigated, apparently, Dad said I grabbed the wrong bag to put down because I was high. So,
Nick VinZant 43:57
man, people like you just, you can't like, dumb people are gonna dumb. Like, dumb people are gonna dumb one, they're not gonna, like, clearly differentiate which bag is which. Number two, they're gonna like, not kind of check it out. And then three, they're gonna rat on themselves. Like, even if you did that, I certainly wouldn't be like, Well, turns out I just put cocaine down. Like, no, at least try to cover it up.
John Shull 44:25
But I don't, yeah, I mean, but isn't I don't know, like, how high do you have to be to, like, not realize that you're not putting down, you know, I don't know powdered sugar or something like, you're putting down, you know, cocaine and lots of money in cocaine.
Nick VinZant 44:42
I don't understand how those two things ever get next to each other. Like, where am I storing my cocaine? Let's put it next to the flower and the fake snow. You would separate that from other things. That's what I don't understand.
John Shull 44:58
It's. Wild Man, like I said, I saw that last week, and I was like, yep, banking this one away. Because I don't, I don't realize how that even happens. Man,
Nick VinZant 45:09
that's a lot of that must be a lot of cocaine, which, though, explains, if you have a lot of cocaine, that's how you get to do things where you that person probably seemed like they were doing a lot of cocaine. It's a lot of cocaine talk. Yeah,
John Shull 45:23
anyways, ah, we can switch from cocaine to candles.
Nick VinZant 45:29
Oh, I was wondering if you were no, gotta remember what the day was. Yeah, come on, man, I can't do it. I can't do the usual intro, because my basement is flooded and I'm in my son's room, and if I touch anything, it's gonna like collapse the whole house. I feel like but are you ready? It's time the outlaw candle connoisseur Rides Again. Candle of the month.
John Shull 45:59
All right, so
I got,
and I'm ashamed to admit this, I probably got a dozen candles for Christmas from different people, nine of which are already gone. Is
Nick VinZant 46:12
that even possible have been recycled five days after Christmas? How could you burn through five can't nine candles in five days? Start them
John Shull 46:20
early in the morning and you just keep going, but
Nick VinZant 46:25
you have insurance like you better hope that your house never burns to the ground, because they're gonna check back on this show and be like, we know exactly what happened. Oh yeah.
John Shull 46:35
Well, like, I hope they never I can check on this show. Funny enough, you say that my aunts or my my mother, I'm sorry, my wife's aunt got me a fire blanket for Christmas.
Nick VinZant 46:51
So it's a fire blanket.
John Shull 46:54
It's what you think it is. It's a it's a blanket that, if there's a fire, you put it over the fire, and it's supposed to extinguish the fire.
Nick VinZant 47:02
That's the kind of thing that like, Oh, that's a great gift. And when the fire starts, you're like, Where's the fire blanket? Stop and get the fire blanket. Like, it's the kind of thing that's a great idea with no practical implication, because during that situation, you would never use it.
John Shull 47:17
Well, I was also like, kind of making fun of it, and I think I offended some people.
Nick VinZant 47:23
Oh yes. I was like, Yeah, well, don't make fun of the gift someone gives you. Dude, don't be a jerk.
John Shull 47:27
We have a fire extinguisher. We don't need. It doesn't matter. Anyway, fire
Nick VinZant 47:32
extinguishers out.
John Shull 47:34
So I was given this candle. You, can
Nick VinZant 47:36
you operate? Like, honestly, could you? Could you grab a fire extinguisher and operate it if you needed to. Yeah. I mean, it's not hard if there was an emergency on an airplane. Do you think you could get the airplane door open? Yes, oh, I think, I think that a lot of people who think they could do it would mess it up. Because every time I've looked at like an emergency exit in an airplane, I've thought to myself, if something happens, there's no way I'm getting that thing open.
John Shull 48:06
I mean, I would presume you were just be able to rotate the handle and push the door right. I don't think Right,
Nick VinZant 48:13
right. I've seen people struggle with like automatic doors. Anyways, I
John Shull 48:18
was given this candle. I was kind of a joke. People were making fun of me, but it's actually fantastic. And I think it's, it's, it's a good way to bring in 2025, so you get it on Amazon. It's by a company that I've never heard of, and I'm gonna screw up the name, but I believe it's night NY was or n, i, y, e, w, s, O, R, and it's called, The candle is called at seven ounces, hand poured, and it's called, Here's to new beginnings. And it's a, it's supposed to be a candle that you give, you know, like a woman who just got recently divorced or something, but someone thought it would be fun funny to give it to me for the new year. And I have to tell you, the reason why I'm highlighting it is the name fits the candle perfectly, and it fits kind of going into the new year, scent wise, perfectly. It's crisp, it's nice, it's fresh. Has almost like a fresh linen and lemon scent. And it's just, you burn it, it's only seven ounces, so it's gonna burn probably in 12 to 16 hours, if you keep it going. It's one wick. It's about $16 I think, from when I was looking it up earlier. And it's just, it's just a cool looking candle, like it's all white with a little black lid. There's a little heart on it. Here's the new beginnings, 2025,
okay, now, Amazon,
Nick VinZant 49:48
right. What's the most candles you've ever received for a Christmas or birthday? You got 12 this year. What's the most you've ever gotten for a Christmas or birthday? That's probably
John Shull 49:57
12. Is probably dozens. Probably the most. I only think it's because, like I said, couple people were doing it to make fun of me. A couple people did it because they know that I love candles. You know, then couple people at my work, I think, just gave them to me, just because they needed to give somebody a candle. So, yeah,
Nick VinZant 50:12
I mean, that's probably a really easy re gift. Like, what'd you get? Yeah, I got a candle. What are we gonna go to? God, I gotta get something for John. I'll just give him some crappy candle. He'll
John Shull 50:25
be like, Oh, thanks. I love it. I love it.
Nick VinZant 50:29
Hobby to get gifts for honestly, I think
John Shull 50:31
2025, is going to be a good year for the candle connoisseur. Feeling good, well,
Nick VinZant 50:35
way to jinx it. All. Right, so our top you ready for our top
John Shull 50:39
five? I mean, that's a perfect segue, I feel. So our
Nick VinZant 50:43
top five is the top five worst New Year's resolutions. What's your number five? Man?
John Shull 50:50
So when I was trying to think of this, I was I was busy, but there are a lot of of resolutions that no one ever does.
Nick VinZant 51:00
I mean, yeah, I don't think I don't need that film at all. I
John Shull 51:03
don't know if that makes them the worst, but my list is kind of a good mixture of them. So my number five is people who say that they want to do more traveling and spend more time with their families. Oh
Nick VinZant 51:16
yeah, that's never gonna happen. Never gonna happen. Never gonna happen. That's because it's too big of a New Year's resolution. Like, I want to do more traveling, but that's really hard to get more traveling in.
John Shull 51:30
Yeah, and it's, I mean, let's be honest, I love my family, but after one week vacation somewhere, I'm ready maybe to go on a guy's trip or go alone somewhere. I don't I don't need to be taking trip after trip after trip. I
Nick VinZant 51:45
just want to put this on the record today is this is being recorded on December 30, 2024 I want to put this in the record. John has been talking about going to Vegas. I have continued to ask him for a date on when we're going to Vegas, and he has not provided that. I would like that to be on the record that you're ducking a Vegas trip, that you're ducking a Vegas trip,
John Shull 52:06
I'm not ducking it. Things have just popped up, all right, right?
Nick VinZant 52:09
Ducking, uh, my number five is reading more. Mother, no one reads If you're making a New Year's resolution that you're going to read more like that's not going to happen. No, you're not. So that's
John Shull 52:23
I wanted to put that on my list, because I'm guilty of that. But this is the year that I read 40 books, so it's
Nick VinZant 52:33
crazy that you're going to try to read 40 books, and I probably haven't read a book in 10 years. I love, I love, okay with it. I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything.
John Shull 52:44
I just love reading. I love the physical touch of a book, the pages, everything.
Nick VinZant 52:52
What kind of candle now, do you have a special candle that you listen to for your reading like, Oh no, I got to get the reading candle.
John Shull 52:58
No, I, I mean, I've never thought of that. Actually, that's that might be something to do a little research on, though.
Nick VinZant 53:05
Okay, what's your number four?
John Shull 53:10
Let's hear it. My number four is saving money, saying you're going to save some money try to get out of debt. That's another thing that never happens, because life just happens. Like, I don't know how you all are out there, but it's like, if I save any money, then my I need new tires, or my kid needs her tonsils taken out, and we have medical bills, you know, or something like, I never, I never can get on top of, like, actually saving money and sticking through with it. I think
Nick VinZant 53:41
that's the big difficulty with most New Year's resolutions. Like, if it was a thing that you were capable of doing, you probably would have been doing it already.
John Shull 53:51
That's fair. That's that might be the best sentence you've said all year on this podcast.
Nick VinZant 53:55
Oh, it's that sounded smart. I read it off of something. I read it off the back of something. I can't think of anything funny to make it up with. But anyway, my number four is get pregnant or find a new job. I don't think you should make New Year's resolutions about things that you can't really control, like you don't have a lot of control over stuff like that, like that. You need a little bit things that have a measure of randomness to them. I don't think should be New Year's resolution. So get pregnant should not be on there. I was
John Shull 54:23
wondering where you were going with, you know, get pregnant and get a new job, and how you were going to bring them back around. But I understand, yeah, you things you can't control that. You say you're going to control, which ultimately you can't
Nick VinZant 54:36
right. And not only can you not control it, but you need to let that be at the right time? Yeah, I don't want to do it just because that's on the goal list.
John Shull 54:45
Isn't that the old wives tale? The moment you stop trying, like if trying, if you're trying to get pregnant, the moment you stop trying is usually when people get pregnant. So
Nick VinZant 54:56
gotta relax, man. You gotta relax. It's number three.
John Shull 54:59
You. So I have them, it's combined, but, you know, basically giving up, like a bad habits, quitting drinking, giving up smoking, you know, so giving up bad habits, I'd say, is my number three. I mean, how many people say they're going to do dry January, and by January 4, they've had a beer, you know what I mean, or a drink.
Nick VinZant 55:22
That's actually my number three, as well as quitting a bad habit. Just because, if you're doing anything that you could really say is a bad habit, like affecting your health, whether that's physical or mental, you should probably just stop that now. Like, you shouldn't wait to do it. Like, no, you should start doing it. Now.
John Shull 55:39
I've just always learned for me, it's like, it's better, like, if I just do it instead of making like, a hey, next Monday, I'm doing this. Like, I'm going to the gym. I'm starting over, like, I just need to go. I just need to start eating apples and taking care of myself. You know what I mean? Like, don't make a show about it. Just effing do it.
Nick VinZant 55:59
You just got to do it. Any any change that I've ever made in my life has not been something that I've set a date for when I'm going to do it. It just has to be, nope. I'm just going to do it now. Yeah, for sure, number two.
John Shull 56:12
Uh, so my number two and one are kind of interchangeable, but maybe I'll make the make sense, but my number two is working out
Nick VinZant 56:24
more, getting active. Yeah, my number two is lose weight. But I don't think that people should lose weight. I think the new year's resolution should be to get healthier, and weight can be a byproduct of that. I don't think you should get caught up in the number you should get caught up in the idea of trying to improve the quality of your life.
John Shull 56:45
And that's what my number one is, is, you know, improving the quality of your life by, you know. So number two, get active. Number one is just improving it in general, whether it's more sleep, better diets, you know, things like that. As for my number one, my
Nick VinZant 57:03
number one is any kind of resolution without a plan. I don't think that you can have any kind of a goal without a plan as to how you are going to accomplish that goal. I
John Shull 57:16
mean, it's like anything in life. You need a plan. But how many people are actually willing to make a plan and stick with it. How many people can
Nick VinZant 57:27
not many. Man, it's because I don't think that people are really capable of that much change. I don't think that you can change your basic nature by more than, say, 10%
John Shull 57:39
I feel like we live in a society that doesn't, doesn't gratify change, like companies, corporations. They want you to eat McDonald's. They want you to buy Walmart, you know, boxed rice, like they, you know, they want us to do that. And, you know, obviously the choice is yours. It's like squid game. The choice is yours. You make the decisions. But man, it sure is easy to grab a McDonald's cheeseburger than making an organic meal and a lot cheaper.
Nick VinZant 58:10
I think that we just have too many stressors in our lives now, like you can't handle making that big of a change, because there's just too many other things that are going on. The only way I think you can make a big change in your life is if you don't have a lot of other stuff happening, because it's just not going to happen. Like, you can't save money if you also have two children in a house, like, it's just not going to happen. You gotta, like, man, get rid of the children.
John Shull 58:38
Would it be to be 24 again? For most of us.
Nick VinZant 58:42
Oh, man, not having that responsibility, that'd be crazy, but I don't think, I don't know life would really be any different. Honestly, I don't know
John Shull 58:51
about you, but I'll be asleep by 10 o'clock on New Year's Eve. So
Nick VinZant 58:57
that's the best part about being on the West Coast, is that I can celebrate it at nine o'clock. I can watch that. I can watch the New Year's Eve thing in New York City and be like, All right, that's it.
John Shull 59:09
That's it. Over done.
Nick VinZant 59:12
Okay, I'd ask him if you're honorable mention, but I kind of lost interest to be honest with you. Do you have anything in honorable mention?
John Shull 59:18
I can't stop looking at the the cone that's jarring your head there.
Nick VinZant 59:22
Oh yeah, we got that for free. When my son, like, when I bought a wetsuit, I got a wetsuit because it's really cold here to try to go into the water. And I was like, I'm gonna go swimming, and I got a wetsuit. And then they gave me those flags.
John Shull 59:35
Happy 2025, everybody. God, dude, don't jinx everyone.
Nick VinZant 59:40
He just jinxed the whole world. Okay, that's gonna go ahead and do it for this episode of Profoundly Pointless I want to thank you so much for joining us. If you get a chance, leave us a quick review. We really appreciate it really helps us out. Let us know what you think are the ones. First New Year's resolutions, the ones that you just know that ain't happening. Our new year's resolution for the show is we're gonna be doing a lot of different stuff in 2025 so I can't thank you enough for your support. We're excited for what's to come. Have a good year. No jinxing. Fingers were crossed on that one. I ain't like John, who's going to jinx every damn thing he's around. I.
