Phil is back from exploring the east coast of the USA. Dean has been in Los Angeles, celebrating his birthday. You can join them poolside atop a certain “historic building in downtown Los Angeles” for big laughs, a lot of wine, and attempted conversations about Dean’s birthday, the joys of Maine, an awesome bookstore, the influence Jack Benny had a on a great law professor, the movement to tear down a possibly racist monument in Hollywood, Dean’s new show about haunted house renovations, Scarlett Johansson’s lawsuit against Disney and “sexy Joe Namath”.

The heartfelt and the hilarious are both in abundant supply this week. For Phil Leirness and Dean Haglund, one of the best things about co-hosting YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour these past (almost) 14 years has been the friendships they have enjoyed because of the show. And these friendships are very much on their minds. Sure, there is the latest show biz-related Covid-19 news, a great joke about people’s reaction this past week to Dr. Seuss books, reviews of movies both recent and classic, fun with movie ads from the year 1986, “Celebrity Deaths” featuring two great reggae artists, and the return of “What We’re Reading”, but there will also be special birthday wishes, the celebration of a good friend’s new music, tales from a friend’s memoir, lessons learned from a friend’s work as a podcaster, and more. Dean will also discuss the show he did this past week with his good friend Gary Jones, and Phil will preview the two new podcast series he will be producing!

Wherever you are listening to this week’s show, we hope it finds you feeling healthy and safe. Your friends in podcasting briefly share their latest “lockdown” adventures, before sharing a tribute sent to them by a friend of the show about the SF Bay Area radio performer they discussed on last week’s episode. Then, Dean and Phil celebrate the lives and legacies of one of the biggest country music-pop music crossover artists of all time, of an an award-winning playwright, of an African soul icon, of a Swam Pop music legend, of a brilliant researcher, of a true showman on the basketball court, of a popular character actor of the 1980’s, of an influential horror director, and of one of the most prolific and influential drummers in rock. They discuss the joys of the Elton John musical biopic Rocketman, paying particular attention to the terrific performances by Taron Egerton and Jamie Bell and the inspiring friendship of Elton John and Bernie Taupin. They discuss a new book that argues 1962 was the greatest year for movies. They discuss a great way for you in the USA to stream 15 classic movies and documentaries a month for free in the comfort of your own home. They begin to discuss the horrible battle between Goldie Hawn and Jonathan Demme over 1984’s Swing Shift, a movie that has been compared to The Magnificent Ambersons as lost cinematic classics, forever destroyed by those who didn’t know better. YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour, Covid-19 free since May of 2007!

It’s Dean’s birthday and we have a special, action-packed show! It gets under way with a famous movie star singing “Happy Birthday” to everyone’s favorite Lone Gunman. In “Live Event of the Week”, the return of Dean’s one-man improv “X-Files” show gets celebrated. Phil updates everyone on his most recent eye surgery before climbing his soapbox in the wake of the mass shooting in Gilroy and the seemingly ongoing war on humanity’s joy. 12 years ago, the summer of 2007 was Dean and Phil’s summer of 007 and they were discussing James Bond. This week, they talk about how the Bond producers have missed out on a seemingly huge opportunity and in “Celebrity Deaths”, your friends in podcasting remember a man who was a friend of Phil’s and the answer to an awesome 007 trivia question. They also celebrate the legacy of Rutger Hauer, and of a man whose life was synonymous with space exploration. This leads into a brief discussion about Moon landing “truthers”. Dean and Phil tackle the various ways movie theaters are looking to cure the box office apocalypse. They discuss Netflix’s deal with the Screen Actors Guild. They continue their ongoing discussion comparing the late Krzysztof Kieślowski and Quentin Tarantino, and, oh yeah, they review Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (spoiler free) and preview the “Star Trek” movie he might direct. Happy Birthday to Dean, and Happy Chillpak Hollywood Hour Day to all of you!