This week, Merlin and John talk about
- John pitching his tent in the middle of a garbage dump (Early Days)
- John trying to adapt to other people's accents (Early Days)
- John's dad, the manager of the Alaskan Railways (Parents)
- the dystopian future of Supertrain
The problem(s):
- "teching makes", referring to John talking about startup culture who are "making techs and teching makes"
- "radioactive devil dogs", referring to a mayor of a north-eastern town who is trying to keep the radioactive devil dogs from eating children right out of the cribs.
- "the patois poorly", referring to John trying to adapt to other people's accent
- "Anakin's dubious conception", appearing in the banter in the beginning of the show
- "a detailed glimpse into your exciting new role in John's comprehensive plan", referring to John's plans about Supertrain
The show title refers to John's dystopian plans about Supertrain, a thing that would become a major bit for the whole podcast.

John had a late start this year and is amazed about the fact that it is March already. He doesn't want to talk about the Balkans anymore on the podcast. Merlin and John banter about Catholic Christmas trees and take their conversation from the conception of Jesus to Anakin Skywalker, who did not have a father either. They continue to banter a bit about Star Wars. Merlin can now dispose of old batteries at his local Walgreens. But as Michael Stipe says: "If you throw something away, where is away?" Merlin's daughter wants to have a picnic at the dump that had recently been capped, but there are Ants, seagulls, and stinky garbage.
All of John's blankets were dirty and the only way you can wash a blanket is in one of those super-sized blanket-washing machines at the Laundromat. Since John hates going to the Laundromat he was just going to buy a new blanket. He went to Ross, but all those blankets were gross, so he went to Marshes and discovered there is bedding branded with Valery Bertinelli's face, but it wasn't the picture that John would have picked. John really noticed how she and Eddie van Halen, two people who already looked alike when they met, grew to look almost exactly alike as they led their lives as a married couple. Eddie van Halen looks like a desiccated version of her. If you put her in a fruit dehumidifier, she would look like Eddie van Halen. Just like Mick Jagger, it is probably smoking that has done that to Eddie. They look like they have been in a smoker with wood chips. If John was a cannibal, there would not be enough meat on Eddie van Halen to get him through the afternoon.
They close the show with some banter about music, for example about Mike Anthony, Eddie van Halen, Mike Mills, REM and Todd Rundgren.
Supertrain fan art by Ted on Flickr.: