Episode 17: Jessi's Secret Language

The episode for "Jessi’s Secret Language" was originally released on June 20, 2016. **You can listen to it here.** This episode is 48:28 long.This week's ghostwriter: none.

*Previous:* Episode 16: Little Miss Stoneybrook...and Dawn | *Next:* Episode 18: Mary Anne's Bad-Luck Mystery | *Or,* see all episodes.

## Official Episode Description

Your wise-crackin' hosts Jackie and The Weasel are back again with more hilarious banter about their favorite topics from the wide world of "American Sports." And if that's not appealing to you demanding little monsters, they also spend a good chunk of time talking about the BSC's brand-new babysitter Jessi Ramsey, the infinite sadness of Claudia Kishi, and their own deep, heartfelt feeeeeeeelings. And dolls. Demonic, soul-swallowing dolls. Something for everybody in this one.

## Music Credits

Intro by original baby boy Scott Lamb

Other uncredited music

## Book Description

Tanner finishes the episode with 10 seconds to spare.

Jack says something pretentious. Jack: "Like all towns, the sleepy little town of Stoneybrook is filled with people who have eyes to see, ears to hear, and mouths to speak. And yet, they are blind to injustice, they are deaf to the desperate cries of the downtrodden, and they are silent in the face of the oppression, intolerance, and hatred that threatens to engulf them and destroy their society forever. What irony then, that the last remaining hope for this short-sighted, unhearing, and unfeeling community lies in the actions of one deaf child, who, just maybe, can teach them how to hear, and how to listen. Jessi's Secret Language."

## Segments

###  American Sports

First introduction of the American Sports segment.

Jack talks about the ridiculousness of the 1988 New England Patriots being any sort of Super Bowl contender.

Tanner asks why NY needs two football teams, neither of which play in a stadium actually in NY.

“Don’t you dare look that up. People are going to hang on by a thread with what I’m going to talk about, which is the 1988 New England Patriots, but they’re gonna hate when you finally come back from your fucking phone and tell us what Popeye Jones is up to right now.”
“Assistant coach, retired in ’96, currently an assistant coach for the Indiana Pacers.”
“Great.”

 ###  Burn Of The Week

Jack did not have one.

Tanner: Margo Pike's response to her brother's rude spaghetti poems.

###  Deep Voice Boys

Goliath Industries Industries

Roleplay: Goliath Hardbody (Jack) and Mark Markson (Tanner). Goliath asks Mark for his real opinion on babysitting as an industry.

###  Tanner Googles

Tanner Googles to find out what Popeye Jones is up to now.

###  Tearful Moment

Jack and Tanner have the same tearful moment, a BSCC first: the moment when Matt signs “Thank you from all of us.” Jessi says it was the best night of her life, and Matt said it was his too.

## Theories

###  Amber Theory

Stacey has escaped the bubble of time prevention.

###  Doll Theory

Introduction of the doll theory music.

* Ann can’t stop talking about dolls.
* This book, the living doll is manifested in the play Coppelia that Jessi performs in.
* Seven Deadly Doll Watch:
	+ Mrs. Refrigerator: Gluttony (from Episode 12: Claudia and the New Girl)
	+ Mrs. Xerox: Envy (from Episode 12: Claudia and the New Girl)
	+ Coppelia: Lust
* Jenny Prezzioso and discussion of dolls controlling the town.

 ###  Witchcraft

Ghosts encountered so far: Old Ben Brewer, The Ghost from the ride at Disneyland, Enos Cotterfield

## Jack's References

* B2C operation
* With every book, Ann brings a different perspective: “a pastiche about dystopian fiction” Episode 3: The Truth About Stacey, “callback to the Gothic novel” Episode 2: Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls, and this is “her first postmodern novel”.
* Book is fundamentally about language.
* ”This podcast is an exegesis.”
* Dukakis
* A heading from Jack’s notes: “the secret rhythm of the universe”
* Jack worries about poetry scansion in the BSC books
* Three languages: sign language, language of dance, Squirt’s language
* David and Goliath

## Tanner's References

"Tanner is at Jack's place recording episode 17 and immediately spilled an entire beer. Party foul." (source).

* Deadpool
* ”Run to the Hills” by Iron Maiden
* Black Swan
* Harlem Globetrotters
* ”Easy” (easy like Sunday morning)
* The Secret Language
* Lobster people from the Dark Tower series (datachum)

## Notes

* Tanner dislikes the framing of this book because it breaks the fourth wall.
* Don’t Triangulate: Tanner broke into tears finishing the book at Jack’s favorite bar.
* Roleplay with Jack and Ann.

	*From Jack’s original notes on babysittersclubclub.com website, now accessed through archive.org:*+ *The Riddle of the Labyrinth: The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code is the best book out there on the decipherment of Linear B. Tragically, Alice Kolber didn't live to see the full decipherment of the language, even though she laid groundwork that would prove essential to cracking the code.*
	+ *The 1988 New England Patriots were abysmal.*
	+ *A synopsis of Coppélia from NYC Ballet: "Infatuated at the sight of the inventor's new doll, Frantz sneaks into Dr. Coppélius' workshop, and mayhem ensues."*
	+ Jack's original table for Squirt's secret language.(source).

	*Here's a sketch of my attempt to understand the workings of Jessi's baby brother Squirt's secret language. I believe that the language is inflected, and that the phonemes "Bliss," "Bloo," and "Bla," as well as "Go," and "Ga," point to a system of declension with "a," "o," and "iss" endings, though without additional context there is no way to know more.* Notable Non-Sitters

## Claudia's wearing a bra now, and the way she talks, you'd think boys had just been invented.References & Links

	+ Random Page | The One Where...