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Simon and Lee tier list the shit out of films starring Keanu Reeves.

Things they discuss: Dangerous Liasons (including the book), Valmont (L&S got this name wrong), The World According to Garp, Sea of Love and having the hots for Ellen Barkin, slightly dirty (erotic) thrillers, Cruel Intentions, all the Keanu films (can't be bothered listing them all), Interview with the Vampire (not a Keanu film), two lads banging (in televisual remake of Interview with the Vampire), the final of Wimbledon in which Alcaraz was called 'hot' by Annabelle Croft (who was on Strictly Come Dancing), Nicole Kidman in Eyes Wide Shut, the eroticism of Ken and Barbie, River's Edge (homework for Simon), River Phoenix's death, Gus van Sant, Mission Impossible directed by Brian de Palma, To Die For (Kidman film), Dirty Dancing, True Blue by Madonna, top 5 Beyonce songs, a conversation about Ms Swift, Destiny's Child.

Top 5 according to your hosts: 1. John Wick; 2. The Matrix; 3. Speed; 4. My Own Private Idaho; 5. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.

Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net.

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Simon and Lee talk about obsessions and whether or not to talk about them.

Things they discuss: Being discombobulated, Lee's flight being cancelled, more on Simon's cholesterol and the NHS, budget cuts, brief (tangiential) conversation with Jefrey the dalmation, there will be butter (a film starring Daniel Day Lewis), birthday presents and Bob's birthday present registry, Bear (note-taking application), annual subscription services, shitting and kissing balls, putlocker (again), very delayed update on Kamala Harris, Eames House Bird, reading in the pub with a frolleague, articles about Lidar ("light detection and ranging"), Quicksilver (launcher application from back in the day), being obsessed with things, dickhead rabbit holes, sub-reddits, Lee going further than Madonna in his (yoga) practice, teaching classes on Brecht and Stanislavski, Artaud and total theatre, why Simon quit instagram years and years ago, and the sourdough line of conversation (getting high on your supply).

Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net.

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Simon and Lee discuss hosting parties that are performances and re-wiring approaches to food.

Things they discuss: Simon hosts a party that is a performance in which he is not the host called We Move In Close Circles, the stress of hosting a party, making a lot of pizza, curious.com (which changed its name to just Curious), On the Scent, cholesterol update, the cost of olive oil, intermittant fasting regimes (5 days 2 days), snake dinners, Lee's commute, Lee hallucinating about talking to Jefrey, thinking about when you can eat before bedtime and how that's a midlife thing, the Anatomy Colouring Book, Bob and the Death Star (ie charity shopping), Lee in a second-hand Zegna shirt, witchcraft.

Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net.

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Simon and Lee talk about anxiety that persists over time and situations that appear to be high stakes when they are not.

Things they discuss: Intrusive thoughts, self-diagnosing online, anxiety, worrying, ruminating and being lost in thought, getting into rows (and arguments) in your head, potentially high-temperature meetings (that are low stakes), Universities being hierarchical, people doing what they are told, the clarity of a work position as opposed to the height of it, the diminishing size of undergraduate theatre and dance programmes in higher education in the UK, smelling people's emotions (and Psychoneuroendocrinology), a specialist who just does root canals, teeth grinding and the pandemic, childhood mental health and the pandemic, children being kept home for so long during COVID19, a new labour Government in the UK, the UK being a conservative nation and serfdom, Keir Starmer or not, and people never being happy.

Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net.

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Simon and Lee talk about no longer being children.

Things they discuss: Lee deals with some parent issues, tries out his Australian accent, Simon had dinner with friends and talking about no longer being children, dying from a broken heart, family lineage, a line from Shakespeare's Hamlet, not being nurtured as children, being loved by parents, Lee's Mum wanting udder cream, face and hand cream, the active ingredients of udder cream, the Dark Web, Lee still being a child, a 1.1kg pot of udder cream, Lee solves the udder cream problem and clearly will continue being a child, still being childish (in general), approaching Midlifing timetable meaning we have slightly shorter episodes over coming weeks, Midlifing sodes, Italians being funny with acronyms and not having CET, travelling light (and not recording), follow-up from last week which will appear next week.

Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net.

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Lee and Simon talk about imagining bad things as a way to not do them, Coldplay at Glastonbury, and human beings singing together.

Things they discuss: Midlifing show titles, the desire or feeling to jump or fall off heights, the meaning of al fresco, being sucked off a balcony, thinking through the possibilities of a fall or jump, someone walking over your grave, airing out Lee's flat in Portugal, hanging out washing on the edge of a building, rehearsing the anxiety of falling, a baby on a balcony, going to the internet for a response, imagining terrible terrible things (like stamping on a chihuahua), Wikipedia-level study, such feelings getting stronger with age, Edward S. Casey's book "Imagining", imagining the catastrophe, staying safe, Lee's Chris Martin shoulders, Coldplay at Glastonbury, non playable characters (NPC), a celebration of togetherness, Coldplay being just this side of irritating, human beings singing together, Paul McCartney vs Coldplay, YouTuber with microbakery who can't bake, middle-aged men cycling and hobbies.

Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net.

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It's hard to describe what this one's about. Just listen.

Things they discuss: Lee cutting half a yew tree (that has grown a lot), Simon's 40th at Riverford Farm, being old and unimportant academics, the foundations of Bob and Lee's house, youse as plural pronoun, the inaccuracy of language, splitting infinitives and Star Trek, mooching versus smooching (a clunk and Freudian slip by Simon), practice research, a soporific version of Midlifing (mixed in with practice research), Edward S. Casey's bimble, send Midlifing a text message, learning a language by listing all the words you know in that language, Commando comics, mistranslations, the concept of soaking, sex before marriage in Mormon communities, re-watching The Wire (mos def, you feel me?), if your name's not down (or Dan) you're not coming in, Pauline Oliveros and deep listening, Lee on fire (not literally), a typically absurd episode, Simon not hearing what Lee says, Joe Biden's performance in the debate, Ruby and Finn going out counting votes.

Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net.

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Simon and Lee are back in the saddle together (finally) and they talk about funerals and one of Simon's experiences in Rome.

Things they discuss: Lee is sick, they discuss Bridgerton Series 3 and Lee's eye for detail, Lee working too hard, a funeral in Portugal, drinking wine at a funeral, the size of one's funeral, Jefrey not technically being a person, dying before or after one's partner (and a rationale old age suicide), Lee's parents at the funeral, becoming inured to death, members of Lee's family, ex-council house buy-off under Thatcher, Simon being given a joke gift by his grandfather, Simon's grandparents called Darn and Boompa, Mackintosh's Toffee in NZ, mean-ness towards children, infantalising people (say at University), a child crying "Vaffanculo", acting (or not) when hearing neighbours under duress, Lee's minisodes efforts.

Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net.

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