Life In The Ted Lane

Fin-tastic Adventures, Autistic Fire Hero, and Muppets vs. The LA Wildfires

• 6630 Productions • Season 2 • Episode 2

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Dive into an underwater journey as we recount our adventures at the Adventure Aquarium! We met fascinating marine animals, including sharks, hippopotami, and adorable blue penguins. Ted shares heartfelt insights about marine conservation and why nurturing our environment is crucial. 

We highlight a young hero with autism who took quick action during a fire emergency, showcasing real-life applications of safety skills that every family should know. Learn how autism helped him follow safety procedures without becoming overwhelmed. 

We also explore the intersection of Hollywood and autism advocacy as we discuss an upcoming event to benefit the autistic community. We invite you to join us, engaging in the conversation between fun and important life lessons. 

Recommended resources: 


May your life be filled with magic!

Speaker 1:

Hello and welcome to another episode of Life is Tedley, your host, Ted Harris. This is the Ketchup Next to my French Fries, Lizzie Harris-Briel.

Speaker 2:

I am your co-host, big sister, and the ketchup next to your french fries.

Speaker 1:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

I'll accept that because ketchup is good as long as it doesn't have corn syrup in it.

Speaker 1:

Yep, so this is what we'll talk about. Let's remind people what we do.

Speaker 2:

What do we do, Ted?

Speaker 1:

We talk about our adventures Broadway, Hollywood News, Buffuppet News, what's Life with Autistic? So we are going to talk about some great things this week. We're going to talk about what are the headlines, Ted? The Venture Aquarium, broadway, hollywood. News about the award season.

Speaker 2:

Yep.

Speaker 1:

And we're going to talk about Muppet News.

Speaker 2:

We're going to talk about a Muppet-themed fundraiser, yes, and about autism. Yep. We're going to share some autism good news, because everybody needs good news these days, right, ted?

Speaker 1:

Yes, we do, yes, we do.

Speaker 2:

So, Ted, are you ready to tell us all about the Adventure Aquarium?

Speaker 1:

So we went to the Adventure Aquarium because we need some fun and all that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, we did need some fun.

Speaker 1:

So we saw a lot of great things.

Speaker 2:

Where is the?

Speaker 1:

Adventure Aquarium. The Adventure Aquarium is in Kenton, New Jersey. We saw a great place for sharks and jellyfish. We saw a lot of kids there. We saw the Piranha Falls. We saw the what the Piranha Falls.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, we saw the piranha falls. We saw the. What the piranha falls? Yeah, we saw piranha falls, but there weren't any. It was closed down for the uh, for the winter, wasn't it? Yeah, because we also saw blue penguins I know what happened when I told you that we were going to see blue penguins. What did you say? I'm surprised yeah, what did they look like?

Speaker 1:

they were.

Speaker 2:

They're about a little big about they were about the size of what a cat.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's about right they were swimming on the beach thing and they were swimming around and there was a woman they talked about about, about blue penguins and how they lived. The big penguinsuins are in New Zealand right now. They're doing penguin things. Well, there was a mermaid statue there.

Speaker 2:

Yes, there was a statue of a mermaid.

Speaker 1:

And there was also. The theme was pirates and mermaids.

Speaker 2:

The theme was Pirates. Yes.

Speaker 1:

Basically, we saw a shipwreck with lots of fish in there and we saw various pirate exhibits.

Speaker 2:

There was a lot of fun ops there they had um in the tropical fish aquariums, in the tropical fish tanks. What did they have?

Speaker 1:

a lot more eels and fish and tropical fish and what were the fish swimming around? Um a lot of pirate themes like what cannons, ship wheels, statues, stuff like that, and pirate treasure, and pirate treasure.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

We also saw a giant Pacific octopus and a man ray, and we also saw stingrays and little Jeffrey.

Speaker 2:

We don't know that his name was Little Jeffrey, but we called him Jeffrey because he was annoying.

Speaker 1:

And what was he doing? That was annoying. He was very annoying and all that.

Speaker 2:

Anthony, anthony, come walk, come walk. Yeah, he was yelling a lot, wasn't he? Yep and we also saw him yelling at the rays, trying to get them to come closer, yeah, which was not appropriate.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, also on the second floor they have sea urchins and they have starfish and eels and various things. We had to go to the second floor to see that and we also saw sharks and all that. And they're assuming the big ocean tank.

Speaker 2:

And what does the Adventure Aquarium have that brings you really close to the sharks?

Speaker 1:

Sea bridge.

Speaker 2:

They have a shark bridge and a shark tunnel.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, they could actually be right, real close to the sharks and stuff. Basically, the shark tunnel is like being inside the ocean tank and all that. Your walkthrough and basically it's pretty weird and all that. Basically, you see a lot of sharks and all that Right over your head. There's something all around you Mm-hmm, and we saw the shark cage and all that.

Speaker 2:

What was the shark cage?

Speaker 1:

It was like a mock-up of a shark cage with sharks and all that.

Speaker 2:

The shark cage. Well, the shark cage had a screen on the wall so you're not dipped in the water. It's a pretend shark cage, to show you what a shark cage is like.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it actually shook and all that and bumped and all that. I tried the shark bridge but I think I might get scared and all that.

Speaker 2:

We thought about walking across the shark bridge and we decided to save it for another time.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I think Lizzie might get scared.

Speaker 2:

So what do they have on the shark bridge that keeps you safe?

Speaker 1:

They have these railings and all that and these nets.

Speaker 2:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 1:

And they also have a guy supervising you, mm-hmm.

Speaker 2:

And you go right over the tank.

Speaker 1:

I don't think I could do something like that.

Speaker 2:

No, I think it kind of gives me the willies, Gives me the heebie-jeebies. So we had a lot of fun. I think for me one of the most enjoyable things was that it wasn't very crowded yeah so we were able to walk through all the exhibits once and then take a break and then walk through again yeah, and that was nice, so it's a great place to see it, for the, the sharks, all that ted.

Speaker 2:

what was the difference between tell them about the first time we saw the octopus and the second time we saw the octopus?

Speaker 1:

The first time we saw the octopus it was actually sitting on a rock and all that, and then later it spread its tentacles out right over there and we also saw the hippos.

Speaker 2:

Yes, tell everybody about the hippos.

Speaker 1:

The hippos are girl hippos. Their names are Buttons and Ginny. They're running a baking pool and there was a man feeding them bok choy. For those who don't know, bok choy is a type of lettuce.

Speaker 2:

It's delicious. It's delicious. It's a delicious green leafy vegetable.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2:

Well, they probably have a special delivery of bok choy for the hippos every week, yep.

Speaker 1:

Well, they probably have a special delivery of bok choy for the hippos every week, yep, and they feed the bok choy because that's what they do. And we also saw jellyfish in a big tank. It was like a big lava lamp.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it did look like a big lava lamp. So what did they show us about the moon jellyfish. Moon jellyfish kind of looked like little plastic bags and all that and the exhibit had moon, jellyfish and plastic bags to show how I think turtles eat jellyfish or something. Some underwater life forms eat jellyfish and that's just like you eating chicken right, yeah. And plastic bags, when they're underwater, look a lot like jellyfish. So how can underwater sea life tell the difference between a plastic bag which is not nutritious and a jellyfish which is nutritious?

Speaker 1:

I don't think it can.

Speaker 2:

Exactly. So what does that mean we should do about plastic?

Speaker 1:

We should keep plastic out of the ocean.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think you're right about that.

Speaker 1:

And basically recycle your plastic bags and recycle your plastics.

Speaker 2:

Yep. And when you go to the store, bring your reusable bags. Great tip, yep.

Speaker 1:

Take your canvas bags.

Speaker 2:

Take your canvas bags.

Speaker 1:

Take your canvas bags.

Speaker 2:

Take your canvas bags to the supermarket so I would like to apologize to tim minchin for my bad singing yep yep. So that was our adventure at the adventure aquarium and you, what I really loved about it the most was you got to see that giant pacific octopus up close, and when you stepped away from the tank you said that was awesome and I was really happy, so that made the whole day worth it. So that's our adventure, right, ted? Okay, so what is next? What's our next headline?

Speaker 1:

Ted. Hollywood News. Hollywood News. Hollywood News Award season is coming up. The Oscars will be on March 2, and movie companies are doing backflips to get credit for their movies. The NASCAR was delayed to the Belfast, california. The nominations are Adora, the Brutalist, complete Unknown. Conclave, dune II, william Perez, dick Boys Substance I'm Still here and Wicked.

Speaker 2:

Have you seen any of those movies, Ted? Um no Tell the truth Be honest.

Speaker 1:

Not really.

Speaker 2:

No, we haven't seen any of them. I wanted to see I'm Still here and I also want to see the Substance, and I want to see Anora and I want to see A Complete Unknown. Some people that I know sometimes like to sit down and watch all of the movies that are nominated, but I don't know if you would you like to see some of the movies or any of the movies that are nominated, but I don't know if you would you like to see some of the movies or any of the movies that are nominated, ted.

Speaker 1:

Probably not. You see one movie, you see them all.

Speaker 2:

Teddy. Mr Hollywood says he's seen one movie. You've seen them all, Good gravy.

Speaker 1:

Yep.

Speaker 2:

Yep. So that is our Hollywood news, and we now have some Muppet news.

Speaker 1:

Muppet news. Muppet news, muppet news. So in Muppet News there's going to be a reading of the Muppet, a script from 1979 by a professional theater group to benefit the victims of the California wildfires.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's a staged reading, which actually happened this past Monday night, so the Monday after the Super Bowl.

Speaker 1:

But the Muppet script is a stage reading of the screenplay for the Muppet movie, with comedians and celebrating guests. The event took place on February 8, 2025, in support of those affected by the 2025 California wildfires. The event was produced and directed by Matt Woeke. The event was presented at the Dynasty Typewriter in Los Angeles, California. Also street online.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so it's for a good cause and you can still get a ticket to watch it at home as of today, and you should go to the website for Dynasty Typewriter and we will put a link in the show notes with more information. Yep, how's that sound, ted?

Speaker 1:

Yep.

Speaker 2:

So that's some really good Muppet news.

Speaker 1:

All right.

Speaker 2:

What do you think about the staged reading? You watched a little clip of it.

Speaker 1:

I watched a little clip of it. I watched a little clip of it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, what did you think?

Speaker 1:

I thought it was pretty good.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, looked like a good idea.

Speaker 1:

Yep.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so I'm very excited to see it. I think it will be fun. I hope they do all the music too. Yep, yeah. So that's our Muppet News.

Speaker 1:

So Autism News, Autism.

Speaker 2:

News Autism News Autism News Autism News. Okay, what's the story, ted?

Speaker 1:

He took action in the face of danger. One 12-year-old boy with autism was honored by the Springfield Township Fire Department for putting out a fire in his home. He put out a fire in his home Last month. A fire broke out in the kitchen outlet from a lit candle, sitting too close to a dish towel. But Pete Spedhoff knew exactly what to do Put the fire out, he said, and called for help.

Speaker 2:

Put the fire out and call for help, Pete said. And what did he do?

Speaker 1:

He grabbed a cup of water and distinguished the flames Springfield Township, the fire department on repeat with a fire truck ride around the neighborhood. Hometown hero significant recognizes his action towards the fire safety. Yeah, because of Pete's bravery no one was hurt. Small burn mark on the car is all that's left to the right Yep. Pete's mother, kate Spinoff, says her family talks about what to do in case of an emergency. Often everything autism was taught and practiced was very hard to practice in an emergency, katie said.

Speaker 2:

Hey, ted, let me. Everything with autism has to be taught and practiced. But it's really hard to practice in an emergency, katie said. But because of the lessons from his parents and teachers, he didn't hesitate. Katie says this means a lot to their family. We want Pete to live independently, we want him to live his best life. But one of the questions is safety, katie said. But you don't know how anyone would react. And he reacted perfectly. The fire department is encouraging others to learn from Pete's story. Sauter said sorry, if Pete can do it, anyone can. Assistant Fire Chief Andrew Sauter said. Sauter said it's important for parents to share their home fire plans with their children and teach them what to do in an emergency. So, ted, when there's, what do you think, what do you think you should do in the event of a fire emergency?

Speaker 1:

put the fire out call for help what else? Um, if it's a grease fire, use a fire extinguisher or baking soda Right. If it's an electric fire, unplug the cords. If it's a wood fire or trash fire, use the water.

Speaker 2:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 1:

And call for help.

Speaker 2:

Yes, and then what do you do? Get outside, basically.

Speaker 1:

Get outside. Get out right, yeah, if you feel the emergency, if it's hot, put a towel at the bottom, go out to the balcony and call for help.

Speaker 2:

Yep or go to the window and call for help.

Speaker 1:

Yep, or if the door's not hot, you will open it slowly, maybe smoke the air, get down low where you'll find some breathable air. Then go to the fire steps and get out of the house and be able to call 911.

Speaker 2:

Yes, and also it's good. You also should get your pets out of the house if you can.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

But pets are usually pretty good about. You know, if you open a window or open the door, they'll get out. Yeah, you know, if you open a window or open the door, they'll get out.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, use the fire extinguisher, or use the fire escape or the fire stairs. At no time during a fire should the elevator be used.

Speaker 2:

Right, don't use an elevator. And another thing that's important is there are also fire blankets that you can buy, that you can throw over a fire to smother it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

But that's another topic. So yeah, so he knew what to do in the case of a fire, and what did he do?

Speaker 1:

He put the fire out and called number one.

Speaker 2:

Right, he did the right thing.

Speaker 1:

Yep.

Speaker 2:

Okay, so that's one good piece of autism news. So, here's another piece of autism news.

Speaker 1:

Jon Stewart to host New York's Night of Too Many Stars to Autism Benefit.

Speaker 2:

That's right and it is a. It is a night of. It is a hang on. It is a hang on. The performers include the performers include Chris Rock, adam Sandler, amy Schumer and more, and the comedy concert and auction event benefits Next for Autism, the leading nonprofit dedicated to designing, launching and supporting innovative services for people with autism, and the event is set for Monday, march 31st at New York's Beacon Theater, and other performers will include Ronnie Chang, alex Edelman, susie Essman, jim Gaffigan, jeff Garlin, james Austin Johnson you remember he played the Grinch on it's the Grinch on that Wondery podcast we listened to around Christmas.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Sam Morrill, Sarah Sherman Please Don't Destroy Max Weinberg's Jukebox and more to come. And the organization Next Steps. Their vision is that they believe everyone deserves to live a productive and fulfilling life. Our work is laser focused on initiatives and partnerships that transform the national landscape of services for the 5.4 million autistic adults in the US to help make this vision a reality.

Speaker 1:

Yep.

Speaker 2:

Because once you get out of school, everybody says what's next, right?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, what comes next? They say in Hamilton.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and one of the things also to think about is this isn't an organization that wants to cure your autism or change your autism or stop your autism. They know that your autism is part of who you are and they want you to be able to thrive.

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah.

Speaker 2:

Yes.

Speaker 1:

I know being autistic is hard.

Speaker 2:

Earlier, you and I were talking about stimming.

Speaker 1:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2:

And one of the things I told tell everybody what stimming is.

Speaker 1:

Stimming is how autistic people cope with their difficulties and cope with anger. So basically, hand flapping, talking to oneself, rocking back and forth, playing with their hair, playing with their hair. Playing with their hair. Fidget toys are amazing ways they stim.

Speaker 2:

Now there's also sometimes people stim when they're happy.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, Like they. They flap their hands and all that.

Speaker 2:

Mm-hmm Sometimes.

Speaker 1:

Or rock back and forth.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and sometimes they're. We're not going to talk about this in detail detail, because I remember that you told me that you did not want to talk about this but there are also unhealthy stems. There are unhealthy ways to self-stimulate, like doing things that hurt your body.

Speaker 1:

Oh.

Speaker 2:

And we're not going to talk about that, because I remember you said that you didn't want to talk about that in detail but one of the things that we have learned I remember, when you were growing up, stimming behaviors like rocking back and forth or playing with your hair or fiddling with your hands or something. Those were seen as behaviors that you shouldn't do.

Speaker 2:

But and we would say don't do that but, now we know that everybody whether you're neurotypical or not does some stimming to some extent, like biting your nails or fidgeting or playing with a pen while you're listening to something like a podcast, right? Yeah somebody might be playing with a pen right now yeah so lots of people do self-stimulating behaviors like that and it's okay as long as the behavior is healthy and it's not distracting and it doesn't hurt you or anybody else around you, right, ted?

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, like, what are some ways that you stim?

Speaker 1:

I talk to myself. I used to go by myself.

Speaker 2:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 1:

Or stuff like that. Or I or you sing, or I sing Mm-hmm Some things Mm-hmm, mm I sing Some things.

Speaker 2:

How does it make you feel when you sing?

Speaker 1:

I usually like to sing. I like to sing, sometimes Stuff like that.

Speaker 2:

What does singing do for you?

Speaker 1:

It makes me feel happy. What does singing do for you? It makes you feel happy. Mm-hmm, I don't know, my dad basically would tell me to shut up and all that, because I don't think I like music and all that.

Speaker 2:

The only music he liked was classical music and Elvis and Elvis.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and 50s rock and roll 50s rock and roll.

Speaker 2:

50s rock and roll. But he yeah, he used to yell at you about um self-talk and stimming a lot, which I don't like yeah but he doesn't do it anymore does he?

Speaker 1:

no, because no, because he's uh what do we do now?

Speaker 2:

what system for um, when you talk to yourself? What's our system for dealing?

Speaker 1:

with. I usually go to my room and I talk to myself.

Speaker 2:

Mm-hmm, so you're respectful of other people's.

Speaker 1:

Boundaries.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, and that's a good thing. It's because it lets you have your time talking to yourself and it lets us have quiet time yep, so I think we should wrap this up now okay, so, so, yeah, so where's your wait, let's get your notes. Okay, here's your. Here's your closing section. So what are we looking? So it is february and then march comes. So what are we looking? So it is February and then March comes up. What are we looking forward to this month?

Speaker 1:

We're looking forward to some more stuff. We hope to do another show.

Speaker 2:

So we hope to do another show soon and maybe our first live show soon, wow, I know that one of the things that you and I talked about was having an art show.

Speaker 1:

Art show.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, we talked about having an art show in the driveway, because you have so many paintings that you've done.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it turned out, I made one too many paintings, I mean. So I plan to have my first sale soon.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, well, you've had many sales in the past, but maybe we should have an art show and sale.

Speaker 1:

Yep. And what are some other things that we're looking forward to another adventure we're probably doing an art day show soon and maybe an Easter show soon that might be fun so that's our show. I'm Ted Harris, your host, and you want to learn more about us. You'll find our videos on YouTube, such as Puppets. You'll also learn about us on 1630productionscom. You can write to us at 1630productionscom.

Speaker 2:

You can check the show notes to find ways to get in touch with us.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and if you have any soundbites you want to share with us, sing this song. Tell them the joke. You can send it to us at 6630productionscom.

Speaker 2:

You can send it to us at info at 6630productionscom.

Speaker 1:

And if you have any artwork you want to share, you can send it to us. We'll put it on our blog and when you can tell your friends if you like the show, you can write us a review on Apple Podcasts and Podcaster. So that's for now. I'm your host, ted Harris. Bye for now. Stay tuned for more Life in Ted Lane. This is Ted Harris saying. So long for now, bye, bye. Life in the Ted Lane is written and hosted by me, ted Harris. My co-host is Lindsay Harris-Friel, edited by Ted Harris. These are-performed by Vincent Friel. For more information, visit our website at 6630Productionscom.

Speaker 2:

We'll see you next time.

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