Podcasts about as simon

Text: Luke 5:1-11 Opening Statement: Everyone wants to be useful - to be helpful, to make a difference, to make an impact, to leave the world better than we find it. No one wants to squander their life. To waste it in foolish and trivial pursuits. We want to make that investment that will make an eternal difference. To champion a cause. To bring a little kindness. To promote a needed change. Even if it is only one person at a time, we want to make a difference. I) A Journey to Usefulness Begin with an Act of Obedience (5:5) As Simon sat there spell bound, Jesus quickly brought his lesson to a stirring conclusion and said to Simon, "Let's go fishing. Launch out into the deep and let down the nets." Notice that Jesus is not suggesting obedience; he is demanding it. "Jesus," Simon hesitated, "we've been fishing all night. But, because you say so, I will do it." Now before you say in your head that was great for Peter but what does that have to do with me? I say, everything, God wants all of us to be useful right where we are. The question to ask is do I want to be useful and what does it look like for my life? II) Moving Yourself Beyond Wastefulness to Usefulness (5:11) Found in this story are some truths and insights that will help us to move beyond wastefulness (everyday living) to usefulness (life more abundant), to make a difference in our world. The key is obedience. A) Obedience leads to true freedom For the Christian, freedom comes through yielding our will to God and obeying a set of rules. Jesus stated it clearly, "If ye love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15). B) Obedience demands that we take action We must always remember that hearing is not the same as action. Peter had heard the message of Jesus. He was a captive audience. But Jesus as with all of his listeners desired for him to do more than simply listen. He wanted him to act. Someone has well said, "What I believe I do, and the rest is just religious talk." C) Obedience causes us to move out of our comfort zone (5:8) God's call to obedience always involves risks, to leave our comfort zone, to step out into the deep. Only those people who are willing to follow their Lord's lead into the deep where the waters are over their heads ever really make a difference. Only then will we see God for who He is and what He can do with us if we only let Him. D) Obedience means trusting, even when it doesn't make sense There was nothing logical about returning to the open sea and fishing again for Peter. It was absurd. But Jesus says go and Peter said, which I think is the key phrase in this narrative, ". . . because you say so, I will let down the nets" (Luke 5:5). The most powerful test of obedience is do those things that don't make sense simply because Jesus says so. E) Obedience in a little always leads to bigger opportunity The fact is Simon obeyed Jesus. Many people want to do something really big for God but are unfortunately not obeying God where they are. Until we are obedient in the little things God can't use us in the big things of life. III) What is Keeping You from a Life of Obedience? I don't know if you noticed, but in the story of Simon there was one physical feature that was present in every scene. Did you see it? It was the boat. Why? Because the boat represents Simon's livelihood, his business, his security, his peace of mind, his future. Simon's boat was what was keeping him from a life of total and complete obedience. His boat and what it represents was preventing him from living a fully devoted life of obedience. In Closing: What about you? What's keeping you from a life of usefulness? When it comes to obedience there is no middle ground. We either obey or we disobey. What will you do? Watch us on our YouTube channel, our website or our Facebook page https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi7C66QudDzbTDtA-DaSQBw/ https://midwaybaptistnc.org https://facebook.com/midwaybaptistnc

Episode Notes A brand new typewriter gives an author a new creative lease on life, especially as his creations start to become a reality. A terrible violent, blood soaked reality! Hunter Black by Rob Fields Buy the new "Babysitter Massacre" book! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08P4ZF9LG/ Get Cool Merchandise http://store.weeklyspooky Support us on Patreon http://patreon.com/IncrediblyHandsome Support Weekly Spooky by donating to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/weekly-spooky Contact Us/Submit a Story twitter.com/WeeklySpooky facebook.com/WeeklySpooky WeeklySpooky@gmail.com Music by Ray Mattis http://raymattispresents.bandcamp.com Produced by Daniel Wilder This episode sponsored by HenFlix.com For everything else visit WeeklySpooky.com Transcript: Simon Griffin sat in his bedroom and typed away. When he finished his current page, he pulled it out of the typewriter and loaded a new sheet. When he resumed typing, he could feel a presence near him. “Hi, Mom,” he said. Even through his typing, he could see his mom taking his plate and his empty glass. She replaced the empty glass with a full one. “Still hard at work, I see.” Simon stopped typing. “Mom, I'm this close to being done with my latest novel. Once I'm finished, I'll be ready to send it out. Just a few more chapters to go.” She smiled a little. “I'm surprised that you're still using that beat-up, old typewriter. It belonged to your grandfather, you know.” She paused. “Really, Simon, you'd save a lot of time if you would just use the word processor that came with your computer.” Simon smiled a little himself. “Mom, I know you mean well. But Grandpa did all of his writing using this very typewriter right here. He never caved in to modern technology. He used to say there were some things you just can't replace, no matter how much better it is. Take the compact disc. Remember how the music industry tried to replace vinyl records with it? It never did because people knew! You just can't beat the sound quality that comes on records. That's how it is with a typewriter. I just want to be the same writer that Grandpa was, that's all.” “And you are, honey,” she complimented. “You've already published nine Hunter Black books. To be honest, I'm surprised that Sunset Press over in Erie City actually takes your paper submissions.” “Well, that's where Grandpa got his stories published,” Simon pointed out. “I decided to go with them since they treated him really good. And now, they're treating me really good.” “They sure are.” His mom reached out and patted his shoulder. “Okay, I won't bother you anymore about using a word processor. I'll let you get back to work.” “Thanks, Mom. I'll be done soon.” His mom left his room. Then he resumed typing. His latest novel was actually the next in a science fiction series which dealt with a villainous character from the year 2250 in the form of Hunter Black, a hitman for hire. Black was both the central character and the antagonist at the same time. Whenever the criminal underworld had a job that required his skills, they would pay his fee. From there, he would get the job done. Aside from a recurring female character named Felicity Scorne, no one crossed him – and lived. The next morning, Simon walked into Strickfield High School. As always, he wore dark trousers, a pressed shirt, a vest, a red bowtie, loafers, and glasses. This was the very same fashion that his grandfather wore back in his day. Whether it was just the love and dedication that he felt towards his late grandfather or his stubbornness, wearing these cloths may have been all right during his grandfather's day. However, in these current times . . . As Simon passed by a group of jocks and their girlfriends, he knew that it was going to be the same thing that happened every morning. Dana Shackleton pointed right at him. “Hey, look who's back! It's Orville Redenbacher!” Then she called out to Simon, “Hey, Orville, shouldn't you be at the movie theater?” Her boyfriend, Nathan Coaver, sneered at him. “Yeah, fuckstick! This ain't 1955. Get with the times.” As always, Simon tried to ignore them. While only a select few knew that he was a published writer and was financially independent, the rest of the school population didn't. Not when he used a pen name. As far as the rest of his classmates were concerned, Simon Griffin was nothing but a nerdy loser. Suddenly, Simon was brought out of his thoughts when he felt himself being lifted off his feet by two of the jocks. The next thing he knew, he was being turned and taken into a nearby restroom. Simon squirmed, but he only weighed around a hundred-and-ten pounds – if that! Then he heard the click of the restroom door's lock and knew that he was in trouble. “This one looks good,” Dana told the jocks. Simon struggled harder but to no avail. He couldn't do anything as he was lowered to his knees, only to have his head shoved into the cold water of the toilet. He was held under for a bit before the flushing came. The only thing he could hear over all else was Dana Shackleton and the other girls laughing scornfully at him. After school, Simon was in his room. His best friend and next-door neighbor, Connie Graves, was there with him. “Every day, Connie,” Simon complained. “Every day they always have to give me a hard time.” He told her about the restroom incident earlier that morning. Connie sighed apologetically. “I'm really sorry I couldn't go to school with you today. I had to be there real early to help put the school paper together.” Whenever Connie and Simon went to school together, the bullies never laid a hand on Simon. They still taunted him, however. Simon pointed at her. “And that's another thing, those meatheads are always giving me a hard time. They say I need you to fight my battles for me.” He looked down now. “Not that I don't appreciate you helping me. I do. I really do.” He sighed. “Listen, I don't blame you if you don't want to be my friend anymore.” Connie put her hand on his chin and raised his head up. “Hey! Don't you ever say that again. We've been best friends since we were kids. We swore we would always be friends. We've always kept that promise. Now enough of that shit talk.” The two of them shared a hug. Then Simon wanted to be alone, mostly so he could finish his novel. He had tried to finish it the night before but hit a stumbling block with the ending. Connie said goodbye and left. Now it was time for Simon to write the final chapters in which Hunter Black would face Detective Richard Hartman, who had come up against Black once before and barely survived with his life. This would be the final conflict. Simon loaded the paper into the typewriter and began to type away. And then . . . disaster struck! “What?! No! No way!” Simon cried. Much to Simon's disbelief, the typewriter's element had fallen off. He picked it up and saw that there was no way that he would just be able to get a new element and repair it. No, the old typewriter had finally had it. Now he had three choices: One, find a place that would repair typewriters. Two, buy a new typewriter altogether. Three, finally break down and start using the word processor on his computer. His deadline was coming up, and he needed to finish his novel. However, he had too much pride to resort to modern technology. He would never use a modern word processor if he had anything to say about it. He was an old-school writer, just like his grandfather. He decided to go out and see if he could pick up a new typewriter. He had a few ideas of where he might find one in downtown Strickfield. After calling Connie, the two of them got on their bicycles and began riding. Simon and Connie checked out a few antique shops and even the local department store, but there were no typewriters available. They even checked out their local thrift store, but to no avail. They had nearly exhausted all of Simon's possibilities in Strickfield. He really didn't want to use a word processor, nor did he want an electric typewriter. He needed an old-school one. There was just something about the feel of it. Then Connie suggested trying Strickfield Plaza as a last resort. It would be a couple of miles out of the way, but it was worth a try. Simon and Connie pulled into the parking lot of Strickfield Plaza, which was located on the south end of the village. As they chained up their bikes, Simon looked at the nearly-empty parking lot and took an exasperated breath. He remembered that his grandfather had told him how this giant plaza, and the mall north of the village, would never succeed in Strickfield. Grandpa was proven right, of course. Both the plaza and the mall were full of life and had many of the big-name stores for at least the first year. Then, one by one, the stores were leaving. People just weren't shopping at either place. No, people were too attached to shopping in downtown Strickfield and the many vintage local businesses there. Now, there were only a few select big-name anchor stores left in both places, along with some mom-and-pop stores. Still, what did Simon have to lose? The two of them knew that Staples was still open. After having no luck there, they got back on their bikes. They were almost to the road when Connie saw the one lone store further down the strip, which was called Tinker's. “Let's check down there, Simon.” They rode to the store, parked their bikes, and went in. Tinker's was full of seemingly old odds and ends. Simon looked around to see if – YES!! There it was! He quickly moved to the old typewriter sitting there on the shelf. It looked just as ancient as his grandfather's old typewriter. “I can't believe they actually have one of these old typewriters here,” Connie said. “This old typewriter is rather a collector's item,” they heard a voice from behind them say. They turned around to see a man in his late forties standing near them. “Is this your store?” Connie asked him. “That's me: Eisley Tinker, owner and sole proprietor,” he replied. “How much?” Simon immediately asked Tinker. “I really need this typewriter to finish my book.” Tinker smiled. “I can see that you truly appreciate old items such as this, in spite of the fact that the modern word processor is readily available. If I may ask, what is this book of yours about?” Tinker listened as Simon told him about his book and about Hunter Black. Tinker seemed to be quite interested. “Ah, yes . . . One such as yourself would be most perfect for this machine. I'll sell it to you for . . . How does thirty dollars sound?” “Done!” Simon took out his wallet and they completed the transaction. Simon and Connie left the store. Simon secured his new prize into his basket in front of his bike. From there, the two friends rode home. Once Simon was in his room and had the replacement typewriter set up, he put a sheet of paper in and began writing his final chapters. That night, just a little ways down the street, Dana Shackleton and her boyfriend, Nathan Coaver, were making out in the back seat of his car to finish their date. After many long kisses, they stopped to take a breath. “It's too bad we both have parents who are home,” Dana said. “I'd fuck you right now!” “Yeah, bummer,” Nathan replied. “You know, we could always go to Strickfield Inn.” Dana grinned. “Tempting, but it's getting late. If I'm too late getting home, I'll never hear the end of it. Sorry . . .” Nathan looked over his shoulder. “What's sorry is that you live next door to Orville Redenbacher.” Dana laughed a little. “I know, I mean you see the way he dresses, right? He dresses just like his grandpa. He must have been a real dweeb, too.” They both laughed. Then Nathan said, “That was so awesome how you tripped him up in the hallway at school today. He looked like he really wanted to kill you.” “He's such a pussy,” Dana replied. “Connie Graves ain't,” Nathan reminded her. “She was right in your face when you tripped Simon. You gotta watch out for her.” “You're right, especially since she lives on the other side of Orville. They'll probably get married and make more little Orvilles.” They laughed again, but their laughter was cut short when they felt a presence nearby. They both sat up and saw the man wearing the trench coat and fedora who was looking in at them. “Get outta here, you fucking pervert!” Nathan snapped. “Go get your jollies somewhere else!” Dana added. The figure answered by lashing out and shattering the window – with his fist. Then he glared into the car. Just as Nathan was ready to protect his girlfriend, the figure raised what appeared to be a Tommy gun. “You really should watch whom you piss off,” he said in a suave voice. “You never know when your actions can come back to haunt you.” The barrel of the Tommy gun suddenly sparkled with flashing lights . . . Simon entered Strickfield High the next morning and saw that many students weren't looking so happy. Connie quickly approached him. “What's going on?” Simon asked. “You didn't hear? Dana Shackleton and Nathan Coaver were both killed last night.” She proceeded to tell him what she had heard about the murders. “What?! A machine gun?!” Simon asked in disbelief. “That's what the police are saying, based on all of the bullet casings they found at the scene. My dad's on the police force. He said the casings were matched up to a Tommy gun, even though the bodies were burned beyond recognition.” Simon immediately thought of his character. Hunter Black used such a weapon, and his victims were usually burned beyond recognition after he shot them up. Now that he thought about it, he also remembered how Dana had deliberately tripped him in the hallway the day before – after the restroom incident earlier that morning. Oh, how he would have loved to have been the one to have killed Dana, as much as she bullied him. But now . . . he really didn't have to worry about her anymore. Or Nathan! Simon shrugged. “No big loss. As far as I'm concerned, they both got what they deserved.” Connie's eyes opened wide. “What?! Simon, this isn't like you.” He shrugged again. “How many times did you ever get bullied by somebody and wish they were dead?” “Simon, we've all gotten bullied in one form or another in our lives, but I certainly don't wish horrible deaths on them.” Simon became irritated. “Oh, yeah? Well, you haven't been picked on since freshman year! You never got your head shoved into a toilet by idiot basketball players – and while Dana Shackleton and those other bitches were watching and laughing. As far as I'm concerned, Dana and Nathan getting killed was the best thing that could have ever happened to them.” Connie looked dumbfounded now. She didn't even try to stop Simon as he turned and walked away from her. She groaned and couldn't believe this change in Simon. She decided that he needed time to cool down before she would talk to him later. A week later, Friday, Simon walked in the door after getting home from school. As usual, his mom had left his mail in his room. When he saw the big envelope from Sunset Press, he quickly picked it up and opened it. He found his royalties check and a letter from his editor praising this latest entry into the Hunter Black series. He also found a second check for an advance on the next installment. As it turned out, Simon had some new creative juices, especially when students continued to pick on him. While he himself never went out and harmed anybody, he based the inspiration for Hunter Black's kills on what he himself would like to do to those who had wronged him. Hey, write about what you know, right? Simon put the envelope down and closed his door. He sat at his new typewriter and put in a sheet of paper. He went to work typing his newest Hunter Black novel, remembering that he would need to call and talk to his editor later. That night, there was a party at Jason Weller's barn. The basketball team had finally won their first game to end their losing streak and were celebrating. The students knew that as long as they kept the party away from town, the police wouldn't look their way in the slightest. Jason was drinking keg beer with his fellow basketball players and talking about anything, especially Simon Griffin. “You'd think that moron would get it by now,” Jason said. “Strickfield stays the same, but people change. I can't believe he's still wearing his grandpa's old clothes.” As they continued to talk about and make fun of Simon, they suddenly were approached by a tall figure wearing a fedora and a trench coat. “You need help, buddy? You look like you're lost,” Jason jeered. “No . . . but I'm here to help you, son,” the man replied, in his suave voice. Suddenly, the man pulled out a Tommy gun from inside of his trench coat. Everybody quickly scattered as Hunter Black started firing what seemed to be laser rounds. One student after another started going down fast as the bullets made their impact. Some of the students even caught fire and burned to death as a result of the flaming projectiles. Other students managed to get to safety in the barn, but it would be short lived. After Black had run out of ammunition, he reached into his trench coat and pulled out an automatic laser weapon from his time of 2250. He went into the barn and started firing. He managed to kill more of the students. What few that were left ran off. Black didn't bother pursuing them since they were no threat. Who were they going to tell, the police? When were the police ever a match for Hunter Black? The next afternoon, Connie came over to get Simon so they could spend the day together like they had planned. Simon's mother let her come in. “You'll have to go upstairs and wake him up, dear. He was up working on his new book last night. I don't think he got to bed until late.” Connie smiled a little. “Okay, thank you, Mrs. Griffin.” She came in and went upstairs to find Simon in his room fast asleep at his desk and wearing his clothes from the day before. Then she saw the newly-typed pages before she went to Simon and shook him a little. “Come on, Simon! Wake up! Remember? We're hanging out today. Get cleaned up. I'll still be here.” Simon yawned, got up, and staggered to the bathroom. As soon as she heard the shower going, Connie picked up the pages and read them. Simon never cared if she read his work since she kept it secret. He usually let her read his drafts to get her input. She had just finished when Simon returned. “What do you think?” he asked, when he saw her with the pages. “Wow! You've really put a lot more on Hunter Black this time up,” Connie replied. “Especially the way he just shows up to the Polomo family gathering and starts killing everybody.” “I'm thinking of calling it Black's Revenge,” Simon said. “I already wrote how he was screwed over and survived. Now it's just a question of him getting through everybody close to Boss Polomo in order to get to Polomo himself.” They talked more about the story as Simon got dressed. She helped him brainstorm new ideas as they left his house and walked to downtown Strickfield. “Looks like the new typewriter's working good, by the way,” Connie commented. “Like a dream,” Simon agreed. When they reached Denoyer's Grill, they walked in. Much to their surprise, there weren't that many people there. Usually, many Strickfield High students came to Denoyer's for lunch on Saturdays. “You can sit wherever you like,” Martin Donnerly told them as he tended the front counter. Connie and Simon sat at the counter. Then she gasped when she saw the morning headline in the Strickfield Journal that was close to her. Massacre At Friday Night Party She pulled the newspaper to her. As she read the article, her mind suddenly drifted back to the pages that she had read at Simon's earlier. The article mentioned a barn, so did the pages. Black had used a Tommy gun. Tommy gun shells were found at the scene of last night's party. Black had used a laser machine gun in the pages. Multiple burns were found all over the barn and on many of the victims at the party. Were these events merely a coincidence? Then Connie recalled how the previous book ended when she got to read those chapters. Detective Richard Hartman was making out with his girl Friday in the back seat of his car. Hunter Black surprised them and killed them both at the end. Coincidently, Dana Shackleton and Nathan Coaver were both killed in the back seat of Nathan's car. Tommy gun shells were found at the scene and the bodies were burned beyond recognition – in both scenarios. Connie had a great time with Simon, but she just couldn't shake that feeling of déjà vu all day. At the end of the day, Simon and Connie were standing on her front porch. “It's awful dark in there,” Simon observed. “You going to be okay in there by yourself?” “Oh, my parents are usually gone on weekends,” Connie said. “Work-related shit . . . Anyway, I'll be all right.” She yawned. “I'm probably going to go to bed.” Simon smiled a little. “Okay . . . I'm probably going to work on those ideas we talked about today. You're right, it's time to bring Felicity Scorne back.” That seemed to give Connie a second wind. “You want me to come over and work with you?” “You sure you don't mind?” he asked. She raised an eyelid. “You know me better than that.” Simon smiled more now. “Okay, let go up to my room.” The two of them were sitting in Simon's bedroom talking about Felicity Scorne, the female counterpart and potential love interest for Hunter Black. Simon said that since Connie was the inspiration for the character, Connie would become Felicity Scorne. Simon wrote a few scenes involving Hunter Black as he interacted with Scorne. The two of them had even talked about having the two characters finally get together romantically. The more Simon had written, the more Connie would read and make suggestions. This new book was really starting to come together. Simon and Connie had finally taken a break after hours of making more of Hunter Black's world a reality on the printed pages. And before Connie realized it, she moved into Simon and began to kiss him. He kissed her back. Then they continued to kiss with heavy passion before they both fell onto his bed. Hunter Black and Felicity Scorne met up during a revenge killing. As it turned out, they were both looking to kill another member of Boss Polomo's family, one of his daughters. Boss Polomo had severely wronged Felicity Scorne as well. Black and Scorne were at a standoff and pointed their weapons at each other, neither one willing to back down. Finally, they both lowered their guns knowing that they were good enough to have ended each other's lives. They ultimately agreed to partner up in their quest for vengeance and decided they were better off working together than being enemies. After killing a few more members of the Polomo family, they went somewhere and ended up consummating their new partnership. Connie yawned and woke up. She realized that her head was resting on Simon's chest. Then she sat up and remembered that they had made heated passion together. As she got out of bed, she saw the bags of money and piles of expensive jewelry in the closet and gasped. What did we do?! she thought to herself. She had to think. She put her underwear back on and sat down at Simon's desk. She took some deep breathes and cleared her head. What did we do?! she thought again. Then the images all started coming back to her. She and Simon had gone out. They had gone over to Strickfield Commons, where two of the jocks and three of their girlfriends lived. She had gotten into Monica Van Dreer's house quite easily, in spite of the security measures. Finding Monica in her bed, she yanked the covers off and relished the look on Monica's face when she was staring into the barrel of a modified laser Uzi. She remembered talking to Monica, but she sounded nothing like herself. She had even seen herself in Monica's mirror. “I was Felicity Scorne!” she mouthed to herself. “I was really Felicity Scorne!” Felicity gave Monica a deadly smirk before she riddled her full of lasers. She went throughout the rest of the house and took care of the rest of the family too. She had found the safe and easily got it open. From there, she had helped herself to a hefty score. After leaving there, she would meet up with Simon, who was now Hunter Black. They would have their standoff, but they would decide that they were better off working together. From there, they would go and collect on a few more lives . . . and more hefty scores. Connie looked at herself in the mirror. She didn't look anything like Felicity Scorne now, aside from the fire-engine-red lipstick she wore. She got up and returned to the bed to shake Simon. When he finally woke up, Connie explained everything to him. She even showed him the money and jewelry. She ended her explanation with a realization. “Simon, the typewriter brings your imagination to life somehow. Everything you type happens!” Simon further listened as Connie explained all of the coincidences between his pages and what had actually happened. Simon was amazed with Connie's revelations, but he really didn't seem to care when it came to those who were murdered as a result of his writings. “Those people never cared about me. Why should I care about them?” Simon sat down at the typewriter and loaded a sheet. “You know, I think I'm feeling some new inspiration. I think maybe Hunter Black and Felicity Scorne should just burn Strickfield High School to the ground – with everyone inside.” As Simon began to type, it seemed that everything in front of him had suddenly become a huge splash of crimson, speckled with some gray. Simon sat motionless for a moment before his body slumped to the floor, minus the top half of his head. “I feel just . . . amazing!” Connie purred softly as she raised the modified Uzi she had just dispatched Simon with. “After we fucked, I did some writing of my own, lover,” Connie said, but she sounded more like Felicity Scorne now. She smirked in the same sinister way that Scorne did. What was more, she felt positively no remorse for anything. Not even what she had just done to Simon. “I know we promised we'd always be friends. But promises . . . are made to be broken.” Connie looked at the old typewriter. Then she smirked again as she relished the horrible mess that she had created. She opened the desk drawer where she had her pages stashed and felt the excitement of knowing that everything she had typed had come true. “Why should we share this incredible power – when I can have it all?” She read the rest of the pages and knew that she would have one more thing to do. She proceeded to find Simon's mother downstairs and kill her as well. With nothing to stop Connie, she got dressed and managed to smuggle the typewriter and all of the pages that were typed on it to her house. After cleverly hiding the pages, she set up the typewriter. Now that she had ultimate power at literally her fingertips, she could use her imagination to fulfill all of her dreams. What was more, Connie would discover that by burning the pages that Simon had written using the typewriter, the events that had occurred would be erased and the lives taken would be fully restored. One year later, Connie was sitting at a table inside of a major bookstore in Shore City. People lined up around the block to both buy her new book and get her to autograph it for them. She had written the first book in an ongoing new science fiction series starring Felicity Scorne, which quickly outsold even the first Hunter Black novel. Her book was also #1 on the New York Times Best Seller List, something Simon had never done. However, Connie also kept the Hunter Black series going, using what was Simon's pen name and cashing in on that as well. Yes, Connie Graves truly knew of the ultimate power that she possessed with the typewriter. All she had to do was simply take it away from Simon. Money, power, luxuries, new lifestyles, a permanent vacation – everything that she could ever want . . . was literally at her fingertips. And her imagination . . . Support Weekly Spooky - Horrors to Chill You To The Bone! by contributing to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/weekly-spooky Find out more at http://weeklyspooky.com

As the dust settles after the nuclear blast that wiped out Camp Wannagrindalot, Chad and Simon's gang return to every day life. As Simon, Jake and Amata attempt to build a super reactor, Chad finally finds a place for his family to call home: The Rusty Pick. As Simon sets off for supplies, he finds himself taking up an internship to raise caps with a bizarre paranormal investigation outfit. Dave Chaffins guest stars and wants to remind you all that if a Mothman is harassing your mailbox, it's best not to call Cryptid Creeps. Written by Kenneth Vigue and George Wolf Alexander Luthor ~ Chad Johnson Kenneth Vigue ~ Narrator, Simon Rex, Mothman Paul M Watson ~ Jake White George Wolf ~ Jake White Taylor Jinx Knight ~ Amata Hayes Clint Winberry ~ Moose Miller Christian Mower ~ Mr. Handy, Protectron, Vendor, Punch, The Night Wolf Jessica Marie Dickey ~ Patsy Parker, Connie Jessica Duval ~ Susie/Ella, Tiffany Kevin Chenard ~ District Attorney Fletcher Mary Kalopodes-Saunders ~ Marjorie Dr. Mark Hauswirth ~ The Flatwoods Monster Robert Solomon ~ High Priest, Michael Cody Hightower ~ Hugo Warren Joseph Picard ~ Harold SPECIAL GUEST: Dave Chaffins ~ Cletus Adam Silva ~ Jethro SPECIAL GUEST: Brent Fairchild ~ Doc C. J. Martin Kadin Lightel ~ Hick Carli Bai ~ Cindy Original music composed by Kadin Lightel Official Site: https://fallout76podcast.com Join Our Discord: https://discord.gg/37GENNH Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/fallout76chadpodcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fallout76podcast/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/fo76creators/ YouTube: http://bit.ly/YouTubeChad Email and business inquiries: fchad@fallout76podcast.com I hope to see you all in the Wasteland... CHAD: A Fallout 76 Story and its websites are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Bethesda Softworks LLC, ZeniMax Media Inc., Microsoft Corporation, or their affiliates or subsidiaries. All logos, designs, and product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. It does not reflect the views or opinions of either company or anyone officially involved in producing or managing Fallout 76. All other content on this site is copyright by the author, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Audio program ©2021 Kenneth Vigue - All Rights Reserved. No reproduction of this content is permitted without express written consent. This content is protected by Digital Millennium Copyright Act Services Ltd. © --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fallout76podcast/message

Simon Meadows of Sterling Coaching is our guest today. Dr. Sabrina was a featured guest on his podcast a couple of months ago, and today, he takes the hot seat. One of the things that most impressed Dr. Sabrina during their conversation was Simon's willingness to share and reflect on his own experiences and how he uses that to serve those who he coaches.  As Simon is based in the UK, we get the added pleasure of hearing from him an international perspective of what's going on today in small business. Simon Meadows has owned and run his own businesses in many sectors such as construction, retail, importing, online learning, aviation, and business coaching. He has always shared his experiences, good and bad, with others so that they can benefit and he loves to do this every day. Simon likes to be honest and plain-speaking, which comes from his 30+ years of working in and with the construction sector. He now has the privilege of being a coach for over 12 years and he also coaches other coaches from around the world. Profit by Design is a Tap the Potential Production in collaboration with Small Business Consulting Group. Show Highlights: Both Dr. Sabrina and Simon are certified “Fix This Next” advisors! Simon shares some of the misconceptions he had about coaching when he first started out in his early 20s, and what he has learned in terms of how to be more effective. Dr. Sabrina walks us through a simple exercise for becoming self-aware when we're on the hook and emotionally charged. Decision-making: what's the best method? Simon reflects on some of the ways that having a coach can make a difference as a business owner. To Simon, coaching is simply about three things: awareness, education, and accountability. Even coaches have a coach! When someone shares their experience with you, you get to pick and choose what you'd like to take away from that. They aren't trying to impose their will on you. Perspectives on coaching through COVID. Tip: If you're a business owner who has built up massive debt during the coronavirus event and it's causing you to lose sleep, implementing Profit First is the ticket out. Oftentimes, when we have one problem in our business, there are more. Simon explains how Fix This Next coaching helps you to know what your business needs from you next. Join Tap the Potential's Entrepreneurs Take Your Life Back! Facebook Group. Upon joining, you'll get access to exclusive, free, mini-trainings from Dr. Sabrina, including the Better Business, Better Life™ jumpstart, as well as the “How to Hire the Best” jumpstart! No charge to join! Let's get to know each other!   Connect with Simon: Visit Simon's Website, like him on Facebook, listen to his Podcast, or follow him on LinkedIn or Instagram. FREE gift from Simon: Download your free, authorized copy of Mike Michalowicz's Fix This Next eBook! Links and Resources: NEW! Facebook Group: Entrepreneurs Take Your Life Back! Upon joining, you'll get access to exclusive, free, mini-trainings from Dr. Sabrina, including the Better Business, Better Life™ jumpstart, as well as the “How to Hire the Best” jumpstart! No charge to join! Let's get to know each other! BUY THE BOOK ON AMAZON: How to Hire the Best: The Entrepreneur's Ultimate Guide to Attracting Top-Performing Team Members by Dr. Sabrina Starling PhD How to Hire the Best Toolkit COURSE: How to Hire the Best Taking care of yourself is important now more than ever. Are you ready to take your life back from your business? The FIRST STEP is taking our Assessment at: https://www.tapthepotential.com/assessment NEXT, meet with our Success Team Lead to debrief your results. THEN, join our Better Business, Better Life™ program. Dr. Sabrina's WEBSITE Dr. Sabrina's PODCAST - PLEASE RATE & REVIEW! Profit by Design, a Tap the Potential production in collaboration with Small Business Consulting Group For Resources & Tools from Sponsors - https://www.profitbydesignpodcast.com Subscribe & Share Podcasts! - https://www.profitbydesignpodcast.com/podcasts/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ProfitByDesign/ Books Frequently Mentioned: The 4 Week Vacation by Dr. Sabrina Starling PhD - COMING OCTOBER 2021! How to Hire the Best: The Entrepreneur's Ultimate Guide to Attracting Top-Performing Team Members by Dr. Sabrina Starling PhD How to Hire the Best: The Rural Business Owner's Ultimate Guide to Attracting Top Performing Employees by Dr. Sabrina Starling PhD How To Hire The Best: The Contractor's Ultimate Guide to Attracting Top Performing Employees by Dr. Sabrina Starling PhD Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine by Mike Michalowicz The Pumpkin Plan: A Simple Strategy to Grow a Remarkable Business in Any Field by Mike Michalowicz Fix This Next: Make the Vital Change That Will Level Up Your Business by Mike Michalowicz The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins

Today's guest is a bit of a Renaissance man whose early working life involved travel writing, focusing on the Deep South and Central America. Since then, he's been involved in music, sports, tech and the environment. Simon Cocking is the editor of Irish Tech News, as well as being a very sought after keynote speaker and ICO advisor. Hailing from London originally, Simon went on summer long house swaps to San Francisco, Minneapolis, San Diego & Mexico. It wasn't long before he had a dream job for many people - writing for the Let's Go Travel guide books. He covered Deep South, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana and so on.In 1992 he spent a year in Central America visiting all the countries.  In this interview, Simon said of Central America, "I think time in Central America is really good to help us to contextualise things that are playing out. And I think we only become richer for doing that."Simon's colourful life has included summers busking and fire juggling in Spain, playing with Samba bands in Dublin and at festivals all over Ireland. In Madrid, he taught English as a foreign language.This is only a taster of what Simon talks about in this interview. He wonderfully connects the influences of the many places that have played special roles in his life. He also joins the dots between the many activities he has been involved with.Listen in to discover many more places and experiences.   As Simon says about special time spent in Honduras: “Every time you work with others the final outcome is the result of a coalition of inputs, energies, and ideas on the way things should be done. The mosaics were a great way to make an exchange, a link between my sponsoring organisation, City Artsquad, who kindly allowed me the time to go to Honduras, the local community groups who now have their first-ever mosaics on Utila, and me, the artist who learnt and saw so many things from the local people – including that my name in Utilan meant, yes man, no problem, chill out.”Podcast website:https://creativeplacesandfaces.com/Credits:Host: Jackie De BurcaSound engineer: Steve RandallSponsor Series 2:Property Insurance Centre

Valentina called in with her beautiful love story. It truly sounds like a movie, she met a guy and they shared a very intense connection while she went through chemo and health treatments. His conversation really got her through. As Simon likes to say, 'keep the faith!' Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

We are sharing St Patrick’s Day stories like St Patrick probably never drank green beer. No really. A deeper look at my Selcouth song “Breathing”. A love story from na Skylark. St Paddy’s Day Kisses and ear bites from Stout Pounders. Welcome to the Pub Songs Podcast, the Virtual Public House for Celtic Geek culture. I am your Guide. My name is Marc Gunn. Today’s show is brought to you by my Gunn Runners on Patreon. Subscribe to the podcast and download free music when you sign up at PubSong.com. WHO'S PLAYING IN THE PUB TODAY 0:33 - - SONG: “St Patrick Never Drank” from Kilted For Her Pleasure 2:31  - WELCOME -- Post a review in Apple Podcasts. If you enjoy this show, please subscribe or post a review on Apple Podcasts. I’d love your feedback. -- Send an email to address in the show. I’ll send you a gift of 3 MP3s from the St Patrick’s Day album. Now on sale. -- The Celtfather Story… After reading a whole bunch of marketing material and books, I realize what I love about marketing. Great marketing is about telling a story that resonates. I LOVE stories. It’s something I’m trying to get better at. It’s why I’m trying to rebrand the Pub Songs Podcast as Pub Songs & Stories. Because, sure, I love to sing for you. But I would also like to share stories. So today, I’m gonna share a couple stories… and music from bands on the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. But it’s really about the story. Because every song I write, every email or blog I try to sculpt is about telling a good story. I didn’t want Pirates vs. Dragons to just be songs. I wanted a story to go with it. Thanks to Rie Sheridan Rose, the songwriter and author of that story, we did just that. My Firefly songs aren’t just about characters in the TV show, they’re the stories that were created by my experience within the show and outside of it. Like “Breathing”. I could’ve just written a song using words about trying to breathe. Or I could make it personal. “Breathing” was inspired by the episode “Out of Gas”. The ship, Serenity, breaks down in space, far from civilization. A compression coil blows, knocking out life support and injuring Zoe. As Simon fights to save Zoe’s life in the medical bay, Kaylee stands outside worried for both Zoe and the ship. It’s not running. It’s no longer creating air. She’s in shock. Mal gets her attention and asks, “you wanna keep breathin’ doncha?” That’s the line that started my song. But it really plays a small role outside of creating a great call and response. I decided to look back into a period of my life when I was having trouble with my relationships. I felt like I was screwing up all the time. Every time, I screwed up I spiraled further down. I questioned myself constantly. I was depressed. What helped me through it was meditation and breathing. My Apple Watch has a breathing app. I used it all the time. I started taking 20 minute meditation breaks to just calm myself and relax. It helped. Slowly, I pulled myself back up. I found my happy place again. So when I wrote “Breathing”, I tied the experiences of the crew in that episode with my own life to create a fictional story of how to overcome stress, and how to give a spark of life a troubled relationship. I wrote a story on how to find your happy place again. It just takes a little breathing. 6:22 - SONG: “Breathing” from Selcouth (With special guest Kenzie Gunn) 10:42 - TRAVEL WITH CELTIC INVASION VACATIONS. Every year, I take a small group of Celtic music fans on the relaxing adventure of a lifetime. We don't see everything. Instead, we stay in one area. We get to know the region through its culture, history, and legends. You can join us with an auditory and visual adventure through podcasts and videos. We’re going to Scotland in 2022. Join the invasion at http://celticinvasion.com/ 12:04 - NA SKYLARK WITH A LOVE STORY na Skylark, which loosely means "the Skylark" in Irish, is a Central-Kentucky-based trio that shares the rich beauty of ancient traditional Celtic music through voice, Irish harp, Irish uilleann pipes, Irish whistles, flutes, Irish bodhran, and a little Appalachian mountain dulcimer for good measure. Wherever this little trio goes, na Skylark charms and moves audiences in a big way. The group's "Old Ceol" recording was named one of the best new recordings of 2017 by the Celtic Connections radio show, and na Skylark's music can also be heard on various Celtic and folk music podcasts, as well as in live venues and festivals around the Eastern half of the U.S. You can find out more about the band at naskylark.com 13:26 - SONG: “Oh Love! It is a Killing Thing” by na Skylark from single 16:41 - STOUT POUNDERS TALKS KISS AND EAR BITES Stout Pounders is a long-time contributor to the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast with music going back to 2010. They are a Seattle based Celtic Folk band. Since 2007 the band has brought new energy and comedic twists to time tested Scottish and Irish Folk music. Stout Pounders are great for pub atmospheres or large festivals. The band plays regularly around Seattle and has been the house band of the Seattle St. Patrick's Day Dash since 2009. You can find more about the band at StoutPounders.com. 21:33 - SONG: “The Mooch” by Stout Pounders from Pour Decisions -- New Irish & Celtic Song Lyrics. I updated the lyrics for all of the songs I sing in this show. You will find lyrics and chords so you can play along with me. Just click the song title to find the lyrics or follow the link in the shownotes to find more Irish & Celtic song lyrics. 25:02 - UPCOMING SHOWS THURS: Coffee with The Celtfather on YouTube (Season 8) @ 12:00 PM Eastern MAR 11: "St Patrick's Day Party" Celtfather Live on YouTube @ 8:00 - 9 PM EDT. Tickets $8. MAR 13: Ironshield Brewing in Lawrenceville, GA @  7:00 – 10:00 PM. MAR 14: Tucker Brewing Company in Tucker, GA @ 3:30-6:30 PM CANCELED  MAR 17: The Lost Druid Brewery in Avondale Estates, GA @ 4:30-7:00 PM 27:21 - SUPPORT WHAT YOU LOVE If you enjoy the music in this show, please show your support. Buy music or merch from me or my guests. Follow us on streaming and tell a friend. You can sample my albums for free in my Mage Records store on Bandcamp. And you can learn more about my guests by following the link on the website. The Pub Songs Podcast is based on the value-for-value model. If you get pleasure from this show, send me a few bucks to keep it going and get lots of bonus content. Join the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon. Your support pays for the production and promotion of my music and this podcast. Follow the link in the shownotes. Special thanks to my newest patrons: Randall 5th Alexander and James Baker If you have questions or comments, email me marc@marcgunn.com or Chat in the Celtic Geeks group on Facebook. Let me know what you think about this podcast. 29:33 - SONG: “Kilted For Her Pleasure” from Kilted For Her Pleasure Pub Songs Podcast was produced by Marc Gunn. The show is edited by Mitchell Petersen who showed up as a guest on Kilted. Thanks Mitchell. And  graphics by Miranda Nelson Designs. To subscribe, go to Apple Podcasts, Spotify or to my website where you can subscribe to my mailing list. I’ll email you regular updates of new music and podcasts, special offers, and you’ll get 21 songs for free. Welcome to the pub at www.pubsong.com! #pubsongs

We are sharing St Patrick’s Day stories like St Patrick probably never drank green beer. No really. A deeper look at my Selcouth song “Breathing”. A love story from na Skylark. St Paddy’s Day Kisses and ear bites from Stout Pounders. Welcome to the Pub Songs Podcast, the Virtual Public House for Celtic Geek culture. I am your Guide. My name is Marc Gunn. Today’s show is brought to you by my Gunn Runners on Patreon. Subscribe to the podcast and download free music when you sign up at PubSong.com. WHO'S PLAYING IN THE PUB TODAY 0:33 - - SONG: “St Patrick Never Drank” from Kilted For Her Pleasure 2:31  - WELCOME -- Post a review in Apple Podcasts. If you enjoy this show, please subscribe or post a review on Apple Podcasts. I’d love your feedback. -- Send an email to gift@pubsong.net. I’ll send you a gift of 3 MP3s from the St Patrick’s Day album. Now on sale. -- The Celtfather Story… After reading a whole bunch of marketing material and books, I realize what I love about marketing. Great marketing is about telling a story that resonates. I LOVE stories. It’s something I’m trying to get better at. It’s why I’m trying to rebrand the Pub Songs Podcast as Pub Songs & Stories. Because, sure, I love to sing for you. But I would also like to share stories. So today, I’m gonna share a couple stories… and music from bands on the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. But it’s really about the story. Because every song I write, every email or blog I try to sculpt is about telling a good story. I didn’t want Pirates vs. Dragons to just be songs. I wanted a story to go with it. Thanks to Rie Sheridan Rose, the songwriter and author of that story, we did just that. My Firefly songs aren’t just about characters in the TV show, they’re the stories that were created by my experience within the show and outside of it. Like “Breathing”. I could’ve just written a song using words about trying to breathe. Or I could make it personal. “Breathing” was inspired by the episode “Out of Gas”. The ship, Serenity, breaks down in space, far from civilization. A compression coil blows, knocking out life support and injuring Zoe. As Simon fights to save Zoe’s life in the medical bay, Kaylee stands outside worried for both Zoe and the ship. It’s not running. It’s no longer creating air. She’s in shock. Mal gets her attention and asks, “you wanna keep breathin’ doncha?” That’s the line that started my song. But it really plays a small role outside of creating a great call and response. I decided to look back into a period of my life when I was having trouble with my relationships. I felt like I was screwing up all the time. Every time, I screwed up I spiraled further down. I questioned myself constantly. I was depressed. What helped me through it was meditation and breathing. My Apple Watch has a breathing app. I used it all the time. I started taking 20 minute meditation breaks to just calm myself and relax. It helped. Slowly, I pulled myself back up. I found my happy place again. So when I wrote “Breathing”, I tied the experiences of the crew in that episode with my own life to create a fictional story of how to overcome stress, and how to give a spark of life a troubled relationship. I wrote a story on how to find your happy place again. It just takes a little breathing. 6:22 - SONG: “Breathing” from Selcouth (With special guest Kenzie Gunn) 10:42 - TRAVEL WITH CELTIC INVASION VACATIONS. Every year, I take a small group of Celtic music fans on the relaxing adventure of a lifetime. We don't see everything. Instead, we stay in one area. We get to know the region through its culture, history, and legends. You can join us with an auditory and visual adventure through podcasts and videos. We’re going to Scotland in 2022. Join the invasion at http://celticinvasion.com/ 12:04 - NA SKYLARK WITH A LOVE STORY na Skylark, which loosely means "the Skylark" in Irish, is a Central-Kentucky-based trio that shares the rich beauty of ancient traditional Celtic music through voice, Irish harp, Irish uilleann pipes, Irish whistles, flutes, Irish bodhran, and a little Appalachian mountain dulcimer for good measure. Wherever this little trio goes, na Skylark charms and moves audiences in a big way. The group's "Old Ceol" recording was named one of the best new recordings of 2017 by the Celtic Connections radio show, and na Skylark's music can also be heard on various Celtic and folk music podcasts, as well as in live venues and festivals around the Eastern half of the U.S. You can find out more about the band at naskylark.com 13:26 - SONG: “Oh Love! It is a Killing Thing” by na Skylark from single 16:41 - STOUT POUNDERS TALKS KISS AND EAR BITES Stout Pounders is a long-time contributor to the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast with music going back to 2010. They are a Seattle based Celtic Folk band. Since 2007 the band has brought new energy and comedic twists to time tested Scottish and Irish Folk music. Stout Pounders are great for pub atmospheres or large festivals. The band plays regularly around Seattle and has been the house band of the Seattle St. Patrick's Day Dash since 2009. You can find more about the band at StoutPounders.com. 21:33 - SONG: “The Mooch” by Stout Pounders from Pour Decisions -- New Irish & Celtic Song Lyrics. I updated the lyrics for all of the songs I sing in this show. You will find lyrics and chords so you can play along with me. Just click the song title to find the lyrics or follow the link in the shownotes to find more Irish & Celtic song lyrics. 25:02 - UPCOMING SHOWS THURS: Coffee with The Celtfather on YouTube (Season 8) @ 12:00 PM Eastern MAR 11: "St Patrick's Day Party" Celtfather Live on YouTube @ 8:00 - 9 PM EDT. Tickets $8. MAR 13: Ironshield Brewing in Lawrenceville, GA @  7:00 – 10:00 PM. MAR 14: Tucker Brewing Company in Tucker, GA @ 3:30-6:30 PM CANCELED  MAR 17: The Lost Druid Brewery in Avondale Estates, GA @ 4:30-7:00 PM 27:21 - SUPPORT WHAT YOU LOVE If you enjoy the music in this show, please show your support. Buy music or merch from me or my guests. Follow us on streaming and tell a friend. You can sample my albums for free in my Mage Records store on Bandcamp. And you can learn more about my guests by following the link on the website. The Pub Songs Podcast is based on the value-for-value model. If you get pleasure from this show, send me a few bucks to keep it going and get lots of bonus content. Join the Gunn Runners Club on Patreon. Your support pays for the production and promotion of my music and this podcast. Follow the link in the shownotes. Special thanks to my newest patrons: Randall 5th Alexander and James Baker If you have questions or comments, email me marc@marcgunn.com or Chat in the Celtic Geeks group on Facebook. Let me know what you think about this podcast. 29:33 - SONG: “Kilted For Her Pleasure” from Kilted For Her Pleasure Pub Songs Podcast was produced by Marc Gunn. The show is edited by Mitchell Petersen who showed up as a guest on Kilted. Thanks Mitchell. And  graphics by Miranda Nelson Designs. To subscribe, go to Apple Podcasts, Spotify or to my website where you can subscribe to my mailing list. I’ll email you regular updates of new music and podcasts, special offers, and you’ll get 21 songs for free. Welcome to the pub at www.pubsong.com! #pubsongs

In this week's show, Simon talks about how you can find property deals during lockdown, and through this unprecedented time of uncertainty. As Simon discusses, there are still deals to be found, and in this episode, he'll tell you how. KEY TAKEAWAYS Viewing properties has become slightly more difficult, but the market is still open, and will remain so, unlike during the first lockdown. After the first lockdown, a stamp duty holiday was introduced, meaning that 2020 saw a property boom as sellers sought to take advantage. This ends in March, and estate agents are now actively seeking other ways to sell. Estate agents are a fabulous source of deals, but they must be approached in the correct way. It's about reversing the perception that investors are time wasters, and that they only make low offers. The five questions you need to ask estate agents are: Have you had any deals fall through due to COVID-19? Do you have any empty properties? Do you have any properties listed as "Cash Buyers Only"? Do you have any properties with more than one agent involved? Do you have any properties listed for sale and for rent? BEST MOMENTS 'It's a really good time to reach out to estate agent to secure deals' 'There are five specific question you can ask in order to get them to think in a different way' 'All sellers want is peace of mind and certainty' 'All of these issues can be fixed with a bit of time' VALUABLE RESOURCES If you would like to learn about how to sell property deals to other investors for a fee, come and register for some free online training with Simon here: www.dealfindertraining.co.uk Property Magic: How to Buy Property Using Other People's Time, Money and Experience by Simon Zutshi To find your local pin meeting visit: www.PinMeeting.co.uk and use voucher code PODCAST to attend you first meeting as Simon's guest (instead of paying the normal £20). iphone:  http://bit.ly/pinAPP1 Android https://bit.ly/pinAPP2 Register at Mindset For Property at - www.mindsetforproperty.co.uk  ABOUT THE HOST Simon Zutshi, experienced investor, successful entrepreneur and best-selling author, is widely recognised as one of the top wealth creation strategists in the UK. Having started to invest in property in 1995 and went on to become financially independent by the age of 32. Passionate about sharing his experience, Simon founded the property investor’s network (pin) in 2003 www.pinmeeting.co.uk.    pin has since grown to become the largest property networking organisation in the UK, with monthly meetings in 50 cities, designed specifically to provide a supportive, educational and inspirational environment for people like you to network with and learn from other successful investors. Since 2003, Simon has taught thousands of entrepreneurs and business owners how to successfully invest in a tax-efficient way.  How to create additional streams of income, give them more time to do the things they want to do and build their long-term wealth. Simon’s book “Property Magic” which is now in its sixth edition, became an instant hit when first released in 2008 and remains an Amazon No 1 best-selling property book. Simon launched his latest business, www.CrowdProperty.com, in 2014, which is an FCA Regulated peer to peer lending platform to facilitate loans between private individuals and property professionals. CONTACT METHOD Contact and follow Simon here: Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/OfficialSimonZutshi  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonzutshi/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/SimonZutshiOfficial Twitter: https://twitter.com/simonzutshi Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simonzutshi/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Curtis tries to use his superpower to go back to the past and change what happened the night he was caught by the cops, but he discovers that changing history isn't as easy as he thought. Elsewhere, Sally, the gang's probation worker, discovers Tony's credit card in Simon's locker, and is now convinced that the gang are involved in his disappearance. Scorecard: 9/10 Determined to prove that the gang were involved in Tony's disappearance, Sally focuses her investigation on Simon. Stunned by Sally's interest in him, Simon begins to fall for her. As Simon gets more and more involved, Sally edges closer to the truth. Meanwhile, Curtis is a having a nightmare trying to end his relationship with Sam before Alisha finds out. Scorecard: 8.5/10 Feedback : blackgirlcouch@gmail.com Twitter: Black Girl_Couch Tumblr: slowlandrogynousmiracle

On the Did you know Segment… Sunni and Lisa discuss a major decision made by the Supreme Court on behalf of the Indigenous People located in Oklahoma.  According to NPR …The Supreme Court recognizes sovereignty in much of Oklahoma.  NPR goes on to state that… a recent Supreme Court ruling has given Native Americans in Oklahoma renewed sovereignty over their tribal lands - an area of roughly 19 million acres.  The land in question marked the end of the “Trail of Tears” for the five tribes that underwent forced relocation in the mid-1800s: the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Seminole and Muscogee Creek.  They built a new life in eastern Oklahoma, only to have their land stripped away, bit by bit, over the next century and a half.  On this episode of Active Allyship…it's more than a #hashtag! Sunni and Lisa recognize Indigenous People by honoring their truth, heritage and culture. Their story must to told - the true story of what really happened, i.e. Columbus Day, Thanksgiving and broken treaties etc.  The “whitewashed” versions are perpetuated and forced upon millions of students via text books across the nation. Unfortunately, the lies have become reality for many around the country.  The rich history of Native Americans, the perpetrators, invaders, terrorists; the atrocities and broken treaties have not been told.  Well, buckle up and listen, the truth is told on this episode. You will be awe struck by the unfiltered conversation between the ladies and Simon Moya-Smith (Oglala Lakota Nation), writer, activist and professor of new media.  Simon shares what he was marinated in - he grew up knowing the truth about the role of the invaders!  While others in the country were being spoon-fed lies about the heritage and culture of the Indigenous People, the elders made it their business to ensure the truth would be kept alive.  As Simon says, “there's a difference between bullshit and lies”…of course you'll have to tune in to get the full story.Sunni and Lisa felt that it was not only super important, but super impactful to highlight the truths about the rightful landowners of these “United States”.  If you aren't already, please follow us on IG|Twitter @activeallyship.podcast! And of course, there's our Facebook Page, Active Allyship…it's more than a #hashtag!  Drop us a line or two… Be sure to Listen. Subscribe. Rate. Review. Share. the podcast!Cali by Wataboi https://soundcloud.com/wataboiCreative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0Free Download / Stream:  https://bit.ly/wataboi-caliMusic promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/qXptaqHIH5g

Welcome to Episode 15 of Trail Running Ireland. The show is hosted by Eoin Flynn, UTMB Finish Line Race Announcer and 10 times Irish International Mountain Runner. We´re delighted to announce a new sponsor for the show, COROS, who have made a massive impact on the global GPS watch market over the last number of years:• They have recently launched the PACE 2, the lightest GPS watch ever made• The COROS APEX won the 2019 Runner's World Gear of the Year award• The COROS VERTIX was awarded the 2019 Best Altimeter Watch by Outdoor Gear Lab.Make sure to check out their new UK and Ireland website: https://uk.coros.com/ for more info and we look forward to working with them over the next few months.First up in this weeks episode, Eoin chats to Simon Kelly from the Waterville Trail Running Festival about the Big Backyard Ultra and an amazing winning distance of 312 miles. As Simon explains, in this race, mental strength far out ways the need for speed. (19m10s) Our expert trail running coach Rene Borg looks at the aerobic and anaerobic training systems and explains how we can often sabotage our easy aerobic runs, vital for improving performance, by going too hard. Rene can be contacted at www.runningcoach.ie(42m20s) For our feature interview, we talk with one of Ireland´s leading Sports nutritionists, Evan Lynch. Evan chats about:• The performance impact of coffee and how to maximize it´s benefit• General tips to detach our emotional state of mind from our eating habits• What to eat pre and post training for maximum performance benefit• Fasted training sessions and a fat fueled approach to training and racing• How a 1% drop in hydration can lead to a 10% drop in performance• His top 3 supplements• Whether it´s ok or not to have a sweet toothEvan has also just launched a new platform aiming to break down the world of nutritional research & sports science, to put it in the hands of the masses.Www.research-bites.comThe aim of research bites is to act as performance enhancing tool, a study aid and a resource for athletes, coaches and students.Trail Running Ireland listeners can subscribe and use discount code MOUNTAIN50 to get the first month half price!Finally, a special thanks to Basic Needs with Trail runner Shane O´Mahony from Cork on drums, for our very cool soundtrack. Get your running gear on, let´s go!

Happy Halloween! Season 2 begins with a bang...a feature length opener that is a story I've wanted to tell for a long time. In the final Halloween before the Great War, 12 people went missing after visiting a mysterious autumn carnival. As Simon and Chad prepare for another Halloween in Appalachia, a strange wailing train whistle heralds the return of the Autumn People, born from the dust to pray on the misery and discord they create. At an impossible carnival of nightmares, Chad and Simon will battle for their souls and one of them will lose. The cast of CHAD: A Fallout 76 Story cordially invite you to Cooger and Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show. Based on Ray Bradbury's iconic story, "Something Wicked This Way Comes". Alexander Luthor ~ Chad Johnson / Raider Kenneth Vigue ~ Simon Rex SPECIAL GUEST: Andreas Somville ~ Mr. Dark SPECIAL GUEST: Blake Johnson ~ The Beckley Butcher / The Demon Clown Paul M Watson ~ Jake White Taylor Jinx Knight ~ Amata Hayes Clint Winberry ~ Moose Miller Peter Anthony Buxton ~ The Carnival Barker Handy / Ice Man Christian Mower ~ Punch, Mr. Handy Jessica Marie Dickey ~ Patsy Parker , Girl #1 Jessica Duval ~ Susie/Ella, Amanda, The Dust Witch Kevin Chenard ~ Mr. Cooger Dr. Mark Hauswirth ~ Slick Willy Logan Hauswirth: Young Simon MUSIC CREDITS: This special full cast production includes a special score from dark music composer Myuu. If you love his work like we do, check out his official website: http://www.thedarkpiano.com Ending Song: "Sweet Day" by Mikita Maksimchyk and Nikita Koma Official Site: https://fallout76podcast.com Join Our Discord: https://discord.gg/37GENNH Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/fallout76chadpodcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fallout76podcast/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/fo76creators/ YouTube: http://bit.ly/YouTubeChad Email and business inquiries: fchad@fallout76podcast.com I hope to see you all in the Wasteland... This podcast is not endorsed by or affiliated with Bethesda Softworks or ZeniMax Media and does not reflect the views or opinions of either company or anyone officially involved in producing or managing Fallout 76. Fallout content and materials are trademarks and copyrights of Bethesda Softworks or its licensors. Fallout and Fallout 2 are Copyright © 1997, 1998 Interplay Productions, Irvine, California, USA. Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76 are Copyright © 2008, 2010, 2015, 2018 Bethesda Softworks LLC, a ZeniMax Media company. Fallout, Prepare for the Future and related logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Bethesda Softworks LLC in the U.S. All other content on this site is copyright by the author, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Audio program ©2020 Kenneth Vigue - All Rights Reserved. No reproduction of this content is permitted without express written consent. This content is protected by Digital Millennium Copyright Act Services Ltd. © --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fallout76podcast/message

Marketing in a restricted industry? Interested in subscription-based sales? This one's for you! In our latest pod, we chat with Simon Solis Cohen of Highway 29 Creative - an expert in DTC wine marketing. With a hospitality background and experience in the Napa wine scene, Simon took his passion for wine to the digital marketing space specializing in e-commerce, marketing, and DTC sales for the wine industry. We’ve decanted key takeaways from our chat to help you crush your DTC marketing goals. Get it? Wine? Crushing grapes? No? You’ve stopped reading? Great. (or should I say, grape

Oh my! As Simon says, this is a no judgement zone - a safe space if you will. Listener Heidi called in because she hates having ooh lala with her husband of three years. Turns out, she's always hated it with him and comes up with excuses to get out of it. Once her excuses stopped working she took some drastic measures to make sure it stops all together. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Simon Milliman, or "Urban Jack" as he is currently known on stage, is challenging himself to write 12 albums in 12 months. As you can imagine, this doesn't leave time for revision - it's kind of like free writing, but with music. In this episode of the Songfacts Podcast, he explains how he's planning to pull it off... with no filler! Simon is a fixture on the music scene in Portland, Oregon, where he lives with his wife, kids, dogs, and yes, chickens. Full of energy and endless creativity, Simon is relentlessly upbeat; he's one of those people who make you question how you are spending your own free time. As Simon explains, there are a number of challenges that come with being continually creative and with making each album unique in sound and style. Here, he talks about his approach, and also discusses a couple of his past projects, including his time live scoring a film with a band that must have been playing as tight as anyone in order to hit those cues. Please check out his music below and stay tuned as there is much more to come from Urban Jack. https://www.urbanjackproductions.com/ https://www.instagram.com/simonmilliman/ https://www.songfacts.com/ https://www.facebook.com/songfacts https://twitter.com/Songfacts http://pantheonpodcasts.com/ https://twitter.com/pantheonpods Hosted and Edited by Corey O’Flanagan https://twitter.com/ofe1818 https://www.instagram.com/coreyofe/

Summary: In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we've experienced a major shift in the industry dynamics that will fundamentally alter the economics of the financial industry and require changes in how banks and credit unions interact with their customers moving forward. On this episode we will cover how best to  stabilize operations in order to take control of and execute your business continuity plan, establish a plan of action with vendors and partners, and continuously assessing your execution plans and operating through a hierarchy of monitoring  Resources: On-Demand Webinars Referenced in this Podcast: How to prepare your FI for a Post-Pandemic Marketplace Websites: COMMERCE NOW Podcast Diebold Nixdorf Advisory Services Guests/Host LinkedIn Profiles: Scott Harroff Scott Weston Simon Powley Jim Flannery Transcription: Scott Harroff:                     00:16                     Hello again. This is Scott Harroff, your host for this episode of COMMERCE NOW. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we've experienced a major shift in the industry dynamics that will fundamentally alter the economics of the financial industry and require changes in how banks and credit unions interact with their customers moving forward. Throughout April, May and June, my colleagues, Simon Powley, Jim Flannery, and Scott Weston hosted a series of webinars to help keep you informed and provide guidance during these unprecedented times.                                                                                 Today, I'm happy to have everyone here together again to discuss how technology investments will provide adequate return on investment as operations begin to stabilize. There will be a few focal points we're going to discuss today. Stabilization of operations in order to take control of and execute your business continuity plan and adhere to realtime guidance from federal state and local government. Next, establishing a plan of action with vendors and partners to align new realities and test new solutions and new processes. And finally, continuously assessing your execution plans and operating through a hierarchy of monitoring an objective key result dashboards to ensure nimble execution and shift the conversation to focus more on the technology we are seeing.                                                                                 While banks have been journeying through the paths of branch transformation and self-service strategy, these journeys have been accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic. One of the most notable changes to combat the impact of COVID-19 has been the push to self-service and digital channels for communication and customer interaction. Today, as we look to the transition of a new normal, let's explore the question of what's next. With that, welcome Simon, Jim and Scott. Thank you for joining me today for this very important discussion. Scott Weston:                   02:00                     Yeah. Thanks for inviting me. Jim Flannery:                     02:02                     Thank you, Scott. It's good to be with us. Simon Powley:                  02:04                     Yeah. Great to be with you today. Thanks, Scott. Scott Harroff:                     02:07                     Simon, to give our listeners a little bit of background, could you please start off by telling our listeners a little more about the webinar series the team delivered earlier this year? Simon Powley:                  02:16                     Yeah. Thanks, Scott. It was great. It was really a three-part series that we developed as we saw kind of the implications and what was happening in the industries. One of the things that we at our advisory services group really are tasked with is keeping our customers up-to-date on changes that are relative to the marketplace, and obviously COVID had a lot of impact on those. And so we worked diligently and got some good information.                                                                                 The first one really was about the impacts of location-based delivery channels. So what was really happening out there and some of the unique solutions that FIs have put into action as a result of this with digital automation being at the forefront of it. And then finally, how things were changing very, very quickly with personalized experiences and what the impacts were to operational efficiencies given this unparalleled time.                                                                                 The second one, Scott led, and that was really about learning from the COVID-19 experiences. What were the various stages of recovery that were going on? What kind of things that they could mitigate, financial institutions could mitigate in the short-term and how to really plan for the duration of this recovery and a general banking or industry outlook of what we could tell was happening in real time as a result of COVID.                                                                                 And the third was, what were the new expectations of customers as a result of this? We saw digital transformation and digital adoption really skyrocket throughout this, due to customers being forced in some cases to digital channels, and how to really capitalize and operate efficiently as a result of that. And finally, adjusting those branch workflows and new traffic patterns based upon those customer needs, which allows changes in roadmaps.                                                                                 And finally, at the end of that, Jim really put together some ideas or suggestions of what kind of technologies we're seeing come out of COVID-19 and how to prioritize or look at those based upon our level of expertise. One of the things I think that was really interesting throughout this, as we got into the webinars, is we were very interactive with the customers and had a lot of polling questions to really gauge what was on the mind and to make sure that we were seeing the same thing that our customers were. That, as we had really good attendance, was a great time to do that.                                                                                 One of the questions that we intentionally delivered on all three of them to see the consistency in how things were changing over the course of the webinar series was, when do you anticipate your organization will resume business-as-usual operations? And you can tell it's somewhat ambiguous intentionally to allow that perspective. And then gave them a myriad of answers that they could choose from. The interesting thing with this was that, in every webinar overall, overwhelmingly I should say, the results were that they expected that within the next three months, they would be back to business as usual, which really puts us into late summer or early fall timeframe, which was surprising to us. Scott Harroff:                     05:11                     Thanks for that, Simon. But as I listened to the governor of Ohio and a bunch of other news media feeds, it seems like things aren't getting better. They might even be spiking a little bit. So how do you see things progressing given that? Simon Powley:                  05:28                     Yeah. Well, it's a great question. I think there's a lot of things that are changing. I mean, I think from a health perspective, we won't focus on that here today. I think we'll focus more on the industry perspective, but certainly we're beginning to see, and we covered this too at our webinar, that there could be what we consider to be a second wave, or this could have longer-term implications to financial institutions and certainly our economy overall.                                                                                 In terms of getting back to normal and that specific question, what we're seeing specifically is I would say we're getting into a new normal. I don't believe, I don't think the group believes that we'll ever go back to the way things were, the way that the customers' interactions were, the channels that customers were using at that time, specifically branches, those kinds of things. I don't know that it'll ever go back to, but we are already moving into what I think we'll see and evaluate as a new normal.                                                                                 And so banks are very flexible. I've been very proud of them in terms of managing their operations and changing things and adjusting their operations accordingly, and they are functioning. And so what we're seeing is banks are really still evaluating their networks. In some cases, branches have not reopened, and in some cases we're seeing reduced hours. In some cases they're operating with less staff. And certainly with social distancing guidelines it is changing the operational role of the branch in these cases, but they are operating, I guess, in more of a new normal. And we'll continue to see that play out here in the future, and maybe we can get Scott Weston to comment on that a little bit more as we get into today.                                                                                 We're still seeing corporate staffs largely working remotely and distancing. And so we're still seeing just a handful of people at what traditionally would be a headquarters with many, many people in many, many operating groups to do that. And we don't know when or if that will return back to normal. In many cases, large digital providers, such as Google or Microsoft or those companies, are already announcing that they will not go back until sometime in 2021, or in some cases I'm hearing will never go back to the way things were or leverage their headquarters the way that they have in the past. And so those are certainly very consistent with what we're seeing in banking.                                                                                 Digital channels are really being leveraged by both bankers and their customers to operate, again, normally, or to not disrupt their operational roles or the way that they're interacting with their banks. And so you're seeing that transition and continue to modify and change a little bit.                                                                                 Finally, mortgage operations, for example, are functioning normal. They're very, very busy right now, given this unparalleled interest rate environment and still extremely busy. However, the interactions are different in more of a new normal way. Things are much more virtual than they used to be. Whether that's face-to-face meetings on Zoom or via Skype or certainly leveraging the telephone or even mobile apps in a much more effective way to track the status of your loan to provide documentation as opposed to handwritten documentation or bringing in paper to a branch in the past.                                                                                 And so those kinds of things are all things that continue to evolve that are much different and much more utilized than they were even just a few months ago. Currently, what I'd say is transaction levels are beginning to return a bit to more normal things. So when I think about this, I don't know that it's going back to the way things were, but they are functioning and operating. Scott Harroff:                     08:59                     Simon, I agree with you completely. The financial institutions that I interact with and I do business with, I'm definitely seeing a push towards self-service and definitely seeing a push towards digital channels for communication. It seems to me like the old playbooks are sort of kind of out the window right now. So a question to the group, what are you individually seeing your financial institutions focusing on? Because it seems like everybody's playing a slightly different game now than they used to. Jim Flannery:                     09:28                     Well, I will say that the priorities for financial institutions are still very similar to what they were. They've just been accelerated. They're still trying to improve efficiency, obviously generate revenue and enhance the customer experience, but they're doing this in a slightly different way right now. So we all know that they're going to be under a lot of cost pressures over the next couple of years as they are today, and one way to drive cost out of the network is to optimize your branch and ATM network.                                                                                 And when I say optimize, that could be consolidations, which will drive a lot of cost out, but it's beyond that. It's also making sure that they're still holding to those trends and priorities, but they have to do that in a more efficient way. So by doing that, they can relocate branches. They can reformat their branch network to kind of fit the demographics of the market, to fit how their consumers are actually using their branch network and their other channels.                                                                                 And part of this could be to open up some off-premise ATMs. So we're working with a number of clients right now, helping them do this. We're helping them close permanently some of these branches that they've closed over the past couple months due to COVID. And now we're helping them work through one, which branches should they just keep closed permanently, two, what is the impact to their consumers going to be, their customers and their members? And three, how do they offset some of the capacity issues that might be prevalent after that consolidation? So those transactions that were going to that branch are going to go somewhere, right? So are they going to go to other branches, or are they going to go to self-service channels?                                                                                 So in a lot of cases, adding off-premise remote ATMs to kind of offset those attrition numbers is a much cheaper solution than just keeping that branch open. And then the cost savings that they're going to collect from or gain from those branch consolidations, now they can reinvest that back into the network. And they can focus on more deposit automation, teller automation, video, having channel marketing, core integration, things like that that will hold true to those trends and priorities of generating revenue, improving the customer experience and such. But they're doing it in a more analytical or strategic way than they were before. And end of the day, everything's net positive for not only themselves, the institution, but also the customers as well. Scott Weston:                   11:57                     Yeah. And if I can add something to that. I think there's still a lot of unknown out there. I think the shift of consumer behavior to a lot of FIs are seen as maybe temporary, but they're expecting at least a portion of consumers to return to the branch. So I think there is probably a little bit of hesitation in pulling the trigger on big closures, consolidations that I think a lot of analysts earlier predicted, right, where we could see mass branch closures. Obviously, the role of the branches is going to change. It's going to be more sales and more service-oriented, less transactional. And was Scott's point, being able to optimize that as a touch point, making sure that it's an [inaudible 00:12:37] that's positioned within that branch is there to optimize the space and provide as much free time, we'll call it, for the staff to do those more complex things.                                                                                 So I think there's still some learning that has to happen. I mean, I bet there's certain markets that haven't seen the bottom yet. As Simon mentioned earlier, we're starting to see some data anecdotally come in from our customers, and year over year, it's bouncing back. It's still probably 15 or 20% off of where it was this time last year. But as more of the economy opens up, as we get more optimistic about what's going to happen with the vaccine, clearly we're going to see a lot of people returning to the locations that they were traditionally using, but they may be using them in a different way. Simon Powley:                  13:20                     I think that's really important. Let me ask this. Because you're talking to these financial institutions about optimizing networks and changing other transactional mix and so forth. Are these new concepts for them? Are they brushing off things to say, "I've been thinking about getting rid of this branch for a long time" and they're finally doing it? Is it that they're completely reevaluating their branch network, where we've never thought about closing branch before? That was kind of a way that we really focused on for our clients, and now they're reevaluating? What are you really seeing when you're talking to these financial institutions about this? Jim Flannery:                     13:56                     Yeah, it's really a mixed bag actually. There's more smaller FIs, say 20 branches or less, that are now considering consolidating a branch or two where they typically would not have done that before. Because a lot of the community banks, they pride themselves on customer service, and the expense of having these branches open was just a cost of doing business. But now their business models are changing a little bit.                                                                                 They might not be under the cost pressures today, but they can see that coming down the road, and the only way that they can maintain that high-level customer service that they've had in their business model and still grow the business in terms of adding replacement customers or replacement members, they have to have a better technical offering, and they have to have a self-service offering. And the only way that they can do that is if they squeeze some costs out of the network and then reinvest those dollars.                                                                                 But I think the smaller FIs, this is a new concept for them. They have not typically done this before, so they are reaching out to us for help, and they want to make sure that they're doing this in a strategic way to minimize the impact to their customers and their business. Scott Harroff:                     15:17                     So question for you guys. We keep hearing on the news that folks are choosing to stay home. Folks are choosing to not maybe go to work and maybe take care of children that are now home that are not in school. How do you see staffing models maybe impacting branch operations? Maybe someone who would come in every day that worked a teller line or worked in an office. How do you see that changing the model? Jim Flannery:                     15:45                     Well, I think to begin with, for the most part, most branches are going to require less staff. So starting with the frontline folks, the ones that are interacting with the public on a daily basis, clearly, we saw that early on a hesitation to have too much interaction with people, and the ability to social distance was important. And I think one of the technologies that we've talked about a couple of times, video-enabled ATMs where you have a video teller on a terminal, I think it really has an interesting future for this. Because there's at least a couple of institutions that I talked to that are sincerely looking at how likely is it that we could have our tellers work truly remotely and when they mean remotely, from home.                                                                                 So instead of having them maybe coming to a call center or having some sort of centralized place where you have a bunch of people reporting to take these video interactions, you're actually looking at setting these folks up at home, having them essentially work from their home as a teller.                                                                                 So there's at least one institution that's doing this at a very small scale but has been getting some press, which I think is pretty interesting. But I wouldn't count that out as being at least on a lot of banks' radar. It's something that could be very flexible and something that they could spin up quickly if required and really offer that attended service that we know was lacking early on in the lockdown, the pandemic, and being able to really be at the forefront of offering a Class A customer experience. Scott Harroff:                     17:14                     Thanks very much for that, Jim. So Scott, how do you see the changing staffing dilemma impacting branch operations and technology usage? Scott Weston:                   17:23                     The changing staffing operation model in branches will absolutely affect the way people self serve, right? So as branches tend to have less staff inside and their staffing model is becoming more of a consultative experience, that in itself is going to drive more transactions out of the branch.                                                                                 So if we think of ourselves as customers and we're doing deposits, we're doing withdrawals, we're doing transactions that could be done in a self-service manner in the branch, eventually the staffing model will continue to say, "Well, did you know that you could do this at the ATM? Let me show you how." So eventually that's going to change consumer habit, right? So the more times consumers will use a self-service device, the more they're going to feel comfortable with it, doing it by themselves later on. Scott Harroff:                     18:21                     And one thing that we heard directly from an FI is that they're being very careful about how many people they're bringing back because they almost want to subtly discourage long lines at the teller. So they're trying to get people to maybe adopt more self-service because if they go on the teller line and have to wait more than a couple minutes, and they don't want to make it too easy for customers to do simple transactions at the teller. They want to really almost nudge them to self-service by making it slightly uncomfortable for them.                                                                                 So, I mean, it's not necessarily a strategy that a lot of banks are adopting, but I think you'll subtly see some FIs are, right? They're not overstaffing their teller line. They're certainly looking at what things the consumer is doing and looking at the cost of doing simple transactions, comparing it to what that cost would be at a direct channel and figuring there's a certain number of interactions that you just don't want to make it easy to happen at a person. Jim Flannery:                     19:19                     Yeah. I agree with you completely. I see people that I know that before would have walked into a branch once a week to go up to the teller to get their cash for buying groceries or doing other things, they are really thinking about, "Do I really want to get out of my car and put on a mask and go into that building and wait in line? Or huh, maybe I start using my drive-up ATM. Maybe I start using my phone." I am also seeing a lot of folks reconsidering what they used to do as customers and changing to something that maybe is a little bit risky for them. Simon, thoughts? Simon Powley:                  20:00                     Yeah. Well, I would agree. I take a little different angle on it. I agree with everything that you all are talking about, that we're talking about here today. The thing I think about is our financial institutions and especially those small to midsize financial institutions and how this really changes their customer journeys, their member journeys and the impact to their people.                                                                                 So from an HR perspective, training, onboarding, hiring the right talent all has to change because we still saw in many cases, traditional roles where we had tellers on a teller line. Whether we called them something or not, that was really their role, personal bankers, managers, those kinds of things. Now we're talking about much fewer staff. We have to talk about people that can be cross-trained to do multiple activities and handle things very differently, not just in the traditional sense of new account opening or getting someone to a loan specialist and handling transactions, but think about the digital capabilities that they now have to be subject matter experts on to be able to troubleshoot, help support and provide guidance on to customers, to show them how well this can be done to help protect them.                                                                                 And then also add on to that the COVID implications, how to socially distance and how to do those kind of things. So I think we've got to make sure that financial institutions, and what I'd recommend to our partners out there is, do not lose track of that. We've got to start with your people in terms of how they can drive that change and how they're molding to these operational efficiencies and changes that are happening in these journeys, both how the customers face and deal with those, but also the internal processes, how those are changing. So I think about it in terms of that as well. Scott Harroff:                     21:35                     Yeah, it's a delicate balance because you don't want to alienate good customers that have a preference for choice in how they interact, but at the same time, conscious of the broader whole of what the branch should be. Simon Powley:                  21:49                     All right, Mr. Harroff. One thing we haven't talked about, I think that's really important for us to consider is the security issues out there. You talked to us a lot about this internally. We should probably talk a little bit about what's going on out there from a security compliance standpoint. Can you tell us a little bit about that? Scott Harroff:                     22:06                     Yeah, sure, Simon. Happy to do that. There's a couple of things going on right now that are pretty relevant and relatively time sensitive. First, we saw the bad guys as the United States closed down, if you will. We saw a drop-off in bad guys out on the road and moving around and doing things at either point-of-sale terminals or ATMs. But as the United States opens back up again, what we're seeing from local law enforcement, state and federal law enforcement like the FBI and secret service, we're seeing the bad guys opening up their business as well. They're back out on their routes going up and down the East Coast and the West Coast, and Texas especially is having some challenges right now, especially in the Houston market. The bad guys are back at it as well.                                                                                 So as our financial institutions and our retailers consider how they're opening back up for business and considering how they're going to change their operations, I think now is a very good time for our financial institutions and retailers to sit down and say, "Okay, this is the security I used to have. Is this the security that I need going forward? Is my as-is environment really ready for the new to-be model? Should I be looking at what I'm doing and reaching out to an expert to consider what I should be doing differently, seeing what my peers might be doing differently and really building a roadmap for what I should be considering for security and fraud for the next six, 12 or 18 months?" That's one thing.                                                                                 And the second thing that we're also looking at is there's things that are happening right now that are pretty time sensitive. The migration to Windows 10, for example, is still ongoing. We're moving towards the end of the year where the Microsoft critical updates will be expiring in December. What's my thought on what I want to do after December of this year? If I still have an Optiva ATM, I have an old encrypting PIN Pad Version 5. That can only do Shaw 1 certificates. Should I be buying encrypting PIN Pad Version 7 so I could run Shaw 2? Have I had the conversation with my network to see if they support that? Have I reviewed what my network does for fraud?                                                                                 For example, we're seeing transaction reversal fraud coming up in the United States now where somebody will go to an ATM and they'll ask for $100, and the ATM dispenses $100. They take $80 out, and they leave a 20 there. The ATM retracts the cash, thinks that, okay, well, the customer must have driven off and not taken any of the cash. So it credits the account back immediately. Is my host really holding that debit transaction, if you will, so somebody goes to the ATM and verifies that I get $20 back or I get $100 back? So I really do think that now is a good time to reinvestigate my whole ecosystem around security and see it's what it should be in plans for the future. Jim Flannery:                     25:07                     Gentlemen, we've covered a lot of information, and we've given our listeners a lot of ideas to consider. And I really do appreciate your open and candid dialogue. We could go on with this conversation for quite a while, but I think this might be a good time to wrap it up unless somebody else has something to add. Simon Powley:                  25:24                     One of the things I'm interested, Jim, because I know our time is getting short here. You talked a lot about roadmaps. You talked a lot about the sequencing and what's the kind of technologies and put in there kind of your rating scale of what technology should be in there. And that's been really well received by our customers. What are you seeing changing from a roadmap perspective? I know we touched on video. Maybe you want to touch a little more on that. I think that's probably one. But who are you really seeing changing from roadmaps in the FIs that you're talking to? How are they changing things or what are the technology that they made moving up and prioritizing what they want? Jim Flannery:                     25:56                     Yeah. I think broadly you have to look at the shift in mentality on how they rationalize what to invest in. Historically, it's been all about payback ROI and what's the return. But as we moved through the COVID, what we found is that certain things took precedent, not because they had the best payback, but because they offered the greatest customer experience or offered the highest level of safety and security for both staff and consumers.                                                                                 So I think, first and foremost, I thought that was interesting. It was no longer about competing departments saying, "I want to do this. I want to do this. What's the cost? What's the benefit?" It became more of a, "What are some quick hits that we can do that are going to solve things now and then also set us up for future success?"                                                                                 So really, are there certain solutions that we can build off of in offering something now, but potentially make that into a greater part of our delivery strategy down the road. And I think we talked about some of those. I think the core integration, being able to utilize the ATM to directly tap into the accounts of the consumer and offer a broader range of transactions. That's something that you can do in pieces. You can start with some and add functionality as you go through it. Certainly video, and we talked about that a couple of times. That's one that we see.                                                                                 Well, and then the third one is really the marketing piece. We haven't really talked much about that. But this whole idea of using the ATM or self-service in general to do more of your communications. Historically, it's been primarily banners about products and rates, but really when you think about well, there's a big chunk of consumers that you're probably not seeing on a regular basis, they may not be engaged in mobile or web usage as a channel. So using the ATM to really communicate with those consumers, telling them what's happening as we move through things, what's the best channel to do certain interactions. There's a lot that you can really offer from that, that I think people take for granted. They assume that when we talk about the marketing communication on the ATM, it's all about product, pushing product when, in fact, it can be so much more than that. Scott Weston:                   28:04                     Well, Yeah, Jim, to build off that a little bit, I remember the conversation you and I had with that financial institution yesterday. One of our partners was they were actively involved as there was a line building at one of their locations, and they are actually out there troubleshooting and really interacting with their customers to figure out why are you waiting in line, right? What are the resistances that's making you actually want to stand here in this line under these circumstances to, in this case, cash a $54 check at the teller line? Can we move this to maybe taking a picture of this from a mobile deposit perspective? Can we get you cash back at the ATM of 40 to $60 that would cover that check?                                                                                 And that customer, as you recall, said, "No, I'm here. I've got my $54 check and I want $54." And so they're actively pursuing denomination selection as a result of that at their ATMs, because they're trying to solve for these kinds of nuances of how they can really help drive and adopt to that. So there is a lot of changes there, Jim. I think you're right. Scott Harroff:                     29:05                     With that, thanks again, Simon, Jim and Scott on behalf of all our listeners for joining us today. If you're interested in scheduling a conversation with anyone from the advisory services team, listeners, please visit dieboldnixdorf.com/advisoryservices or click on the link in the podcast show notes. Until next time, keep checking back on iTunes or however you listen to your podcasts for new topics on COMMERCE NOW.  

As Simon and Steve inch ever closer to their hundredth episode, the emphasis remains on films. Radioactive is the story of Marie Curie, and a film that both our reviewers found quite engaging. Less so Eurovision Song Contest: The Story…Read more →

On this episode Simon Thomas, CEO of DOBI Real Estate, sits down with Jon to talk about what the real estate world looks like today as it slowly opens up from COVID. As Simon sees his agents getting progressively busier, he also shares both his concerns and optimism about the market moving forward. Connect with Simon Thomas:  Website: www.wearedobi.com Twitter: @simonthomas_mi Connect with Jon Dwoskin: Website: http://jondwoskin.com/ Twitter: @jdwoskin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jonathan.dwoskin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Thejondwoskinexperience/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jondwoskin/ Email: jon@jondwoskin.com 

A while back my smart and handsome co-host Simon Brown did a presentation about the perfect trade. Even though I don't trade myself, I found the presentation inspiring. As we often advocate, when it comes to this money business it's best to focus only on what you can control. A conversation with Cash Club writer Njabulo Nsibande made me realise we can apply the idea of a perfect trade to our investments too. As Simon and I flesh out that idea in this podcast, we realise you can aim for a perfect month in your own finances, regardless of what you're currently focusing on.  Here's the template for the perfect money month we came up with: The first money that leaves your account after every pay cheque goes towards your future. Look at your money: A broad overview of your whole portfolio, as well as your individual expenses every month.  Don't use the money you set aside. Every month you do all three of these things is a perfect month. Your challenge is to see how many months you can get in a row. Who's game? Subscribe to our RSS feed here. Subscribe or rate us in iTunes. Win of the week: Linka I found "Just one lap podcasts" via Stealthy's blog where I ended up after not agreeing with a financial adviser about an investment strategy and deciding if other people can understand this stuff, I can too.  Vigorous amounts of googling and reading showed that as I guessed, none of this stuff is rocket science, its just the way that the information is presented that precludes the general public from accessing it. Thanks for all you and Simon's contribution to unraveling the unnecessary verbose complexity the industry uses. In short, just want to say, I really enjoy the podcasts. Have started to listen to the JSE direct one as well and surprisingly, I can understand most of it! I recently started working for myself and registered a company. Mainly to enable future tax deductions and to keep company and personal equity separate.  I opened a business account with FNB. At the time it made sense to me since I was already with them. I wanted a 7 days fixed deposit account to stash the incoming payments to keep this money from being lazy money. However - After looking at the bank fees for the gold account (personal) + business account I am starting to dislike the numbers. Also the extra charges I missed somewhere in the fine print is really starting to annoy me. If I don't need to have a business account, I can open two accounts at Capitec, which would probably be much cheaper. If this is not contrary to SARS' requirements - Capitec does not do business accounts yet. While being employed I was able to cover my bank charges with Ebucks, but with an irregular income, I doubt whether I will be able to maintain that level. Brendon My wife and I purchase the Ashburton World Government Bond ETF. The initial thinking was simply to get exposure to bonds. But I've been trying to figure out if we should rather purchase SA retail bonds instead of a bond ETF. Could you go through some differences and pros and cons of SA retail bonds versus bond ETFs. I understand that retail bonds provide you with a fixed interest rate (coupon), but I'm interested to know in what situations you would purchase one over the other. Marina We recently had a baby and decided to start saving for her immediately. The purpose of saving is mainly for her tertiary education.  We decided to go 50/50 into Discretionary and her TFSA. She can choose where to draw the money from when she starts University. It will be a good learning opportunity for her.  For the discretionary investment we want to do cash. FNB has a “my first savings” product at 5.75% interest and no monthly or transactional fees. However, our broker also pays interest on money not invested at a rate of around 6%, but Simons says it is illegal to do this. Why is it illegal? Can I invest the money into a cash ETF with similar returns? The main concern is whether she will be paying tax (in any form) as a minor. If the money was invested into a money market she would only need to pay tax on interest received when she starts earning and declaring an income. Would she be paying tax on interest received as a minor inside a cash ETF without a means to claim it back? And if she sells off the ETF would she be paying capital gains (even if it is a cash ETF)? Gregg  When you draw up your will, include a clause that if your children or spouse are to receive your inheritance, it cannot be taken by their respective spouses (in your children's case) and your wife's new spouse should she remarry.  You spoke of a separate will to manage your offshore assets. I have a US Equities Portfolio through EasyEquities. Would this qualify as offshore assets and require a separate will? You spoke of a life policy paid directly to my estate and/or directly to my beneficiaries. And that one should have a policy that takes care of the debt, duties, taxes and executor/legal fees in your estate. If I owe 500 000 on my house when I die, and my wife (not the estate) receives a life policy for 700 000. Is the estate going to sell/liquidate my assets in order to pay the 500 000 on the bond, or can my wife pay the 500 000 into the estate to settle the bond?  I'm trying to figure out if I need a separate life policy made out to the estate as beneficiary to cater for the debt in the estate? I don't want the estate to sell the assets to pay off the estate debt if I have left my wife sufficient funds to settle any debts. If I don't pay estate duties etc. on an estate less than R3M, does it mean if my estate is worth R3,1M, will I pay estate duty on the full R3,1M or only on the portion over and above the R3M limit, in this example 100k? If I own a second property, can I specify in my will that said property is not to be part of my estate but is ceded directly to my beneficiaries? If I wanted it not to form part of my estate, what would I need to do?

Weird times my friends. Listener Tina called in to tell us her Love Story. She and her boyfriend have been missing each other during quarantine and when she mentioned that she was having a tough time finding toilet paper, he decided to give her a big surprise. Listen in to hear how he gave her a very thoughtful and practical gift. As Simon likes to say, "there is no love without proof of love" and this story sets a high bar. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

We head North for our first episode in Canada. Toronto to be specific. Our guide is Simon, a former professional basketball player, and a current world traveler.Toronto is incredible, with cuisines and parties that capture the diversity of the city. As Simon tells it, "this city is on fire" let's see for ourselves. Welcome to Toronto!

Meditation for Station 8: Fall. Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus to carry his cross. As Simon took up the cross and followed Jesus, he was called into solidarity with someone who is suffering. What does this call to solidarity sound like for you? *Music: Russian Liturgical Chant: Turn Not Thy Face Away from Thy Servant; Kai Engel: Aspirato.

Simon Griffiths is CEO and co-founder of Who-Gives-a-Crap, they make and sell toilet paper, but they’re having an impact that goes well beyond the product we see in bathrooms all over Australia. The company has a clearly defined purpose to bring the miracle of toilets to the 2.3 billion people all over the world who don’t have access to one. Despite the hilarious potential for puns, the toilet paper business is actually pretty perfect for the social enterprise model. Simon and his team give 50% of their profits to a range of charities that are working towards providing water and sanitation services, infrastructure and education to millions of people all over the world. As Simon explains, he wanted to find a way to raise money for worthwhile causes, but he wanted to find a way that was more sustainable than relying on donations and grants. At the same time it brings awareness of the issue right into our homes. And arguably into the smallest, and most intimate of rooms in our houses. With the colourful packaging telling a story, and reminding us how lucky we are to have a loo of our own. For all the links check out www.johntreadgold.com Enjoy!

Summer is ending in Appalachia, but before it does…a long-abandoned camp is restarting its summer program. But with loud music and sexy teens, something has awoken in the waters of Crystal Lake. As Simon, Chad and the gang spend the summer earning caps, a dark shadow looms over all. Who will survive Ghoul Scout Camp? How many counselors will Chad bang at Lover's Leap? And just WHO is the mysterious Sickleman??? Guest starring: the Fallout Five-0 and 76.1 The Vault podcast! Alexander Luthor ~ Chad Johnson/Bully Kenneth Vigue ~ Simon Rex / Butch Miller Jessica Duval ~ Susie/Ella/Karen Paul M Watson ~ Jake Taylor Jinx Knight ~ Amata Morgan Brown ~ Karen Maidenhead Michael T. Boisvert Jr. ~ “Fast Eddie” Tipsin Cody Hightower ~ Jim Ariel Driver ~ Susan Clint Winberry ~ Moose Miller Peter Anthony Buxton ~ Scoutmaster Stewart Christian Mower ~ Mr. Handy / Vendorbot Jorian Koeten ~ Insult Bot Jessica Marie Dickey ~ Patsy Parker / Mary Ann Belts Mary Kalopodes-Saunders ~ Overseer Mitch Morman ~ Radio Host, Workshop Willy Ray Middlethon ~ Commander Connor Johns Lucy Middlethon ~ Lt. Anders Brandon Ledford ~ Officer Hawkins Mark Hauswirth ~ Brian Logan Hauswirth ~ Ghoul Scout #1 Sophie Hauswirth ~ Ghoul Scout #2/Becky Robert Solomon ~ High Priest of the Reformed Orthodox Bulb Bringers Official Site: https://fallout76podcast.com Join Our Discord: https://discord.gg/Qhm3xyV Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/fallout76chadpodcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fallout76podcast/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/fo76creators/ YouTube: http://bit.ly/YouTubeChad Email and business inquiries: fchad@fallout76podcast.com I hope to see you all in the Wasteland... Audio program ©2019 Kenneth Vigue - All Rights Reserved. No reproduction of this content is permitted without express written consent. This podcast is not endorsed by or affiliated with Bethesda Softworks or ZeniMax Media and does not reflect the views or opinions of either company or anyone officially involved in producing or managing Fallout 76. Fallout content and materials are trademarks and copyrights of Bethesda Softworks or its licensors. Fallout and Fallout 2 are Copyright © 1997, 1998 Interplay Productions, Irvine, California, USA. Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76 are Copyright © 2008, 2010, 2015, 2018 Bethesda Softworks LLC, a ZeniMax Media company. Fallout, Prepare for the Future and related logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Bethesda Softworks LLC in the U.S. All other content is copyright by the author. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fallout76podcast/message

Jeff talks about going to the reading and Q&A for Frederick Smith and Chaz Lamar's In Case You Forgot. The guys also talk about their recent trip to see the musical The Drowsy Chaperone starring Bruce Vilanch. It's a Heidi Cullinan double feature this week as Will reviews Nowhere Ranch and Jeff reviews The Doctor's Secret. Jeff talks with Jacqui Greig, the creator and editor of Blush magazine. Jacqui talks about why she created the magazine and what sparked her love of all things romance. We also find out about the books that she writes and how she encourages anyone who is interested to start an online magazine. Complete shownotes for episode 197 along with a transcript of the interview are at BigGayFictionPodcast.com. Interview Transcript – Jacqui Greig This transcript was made possible by our community on Patreon. You can get information on how to join them at patreon.com/biggayfictionpodcast. Jeff: Thanks for coming to the podcast Jacqui it is so great to have you here. Jacqui: My absolute pleasure. Jeff: So Will and I have loved “Blush” since the first issue came out and. Jacqui: Thank you. Jeff: I love what one of the things on the website that talks about you where it says “I may or may not have started this publication and in order to fangirl my favorite authors without getting slapped with a restraining order.” Jacqui: Pretty much. Jeff: Which sounds so awesome. It’s like a mission statement. Jacqui: But it’s so true. I used to finish reading a book and then I just I loved it so much that I wanted to be best friends with the author. I wanted to know everything about them. I just you know wanted to delve into their heads I guess. And that’s kind of what “Blush” lets me do. Yeah without getting hit with a restraining order. Jeff: We feel the same way about the podcast it’s so great to just dive in with these folks. Jacqui: Yeah absolutely. Jeff: Tell us a little bit for our listeners who may not have discovered blush yet. What is the magazine kind of all about besides obviously of course romance books? Jacqui: So essentially, it’s an online magazine for romance readers. So I just wanted something that was specific for people who read romance and there’s already so many amazing blogs and podcasts that I just thought a magazine would be a fun way of getting that information across. And yeah. So it’s kind of interviewing authors, looking at the different books that are coming out at the moment, the different trends in the industry. I’m calling it an online digital platform. There’s even things like I imagine what a particular heroine in a book would wear. And I based a fashion page on that. So it’s just kind of interpreting the romance genre in different ways. Jeff: It really is because you go so much further than a Book Review blog or like what we do on the podcast because you do have, as you mentioned, the fashion thing or I believe in June it was the ‘book crush’ with Jamie Frazier which everybody can have that crush, right? Jacqui: Right? Jeff: There are elements of reviews that work their way in, but then you do some dives on the industry too, or talking about tropes and such. Jacqui: Yeah. I think that’s probably my background in journalism as well. I used to work on magazine in Sydney. I worked in a travel magazine and on a hair magazine of all things. And then I started my own magazine, a women’s lifestyle magazine, which was print – that was more than 10 years ago now. So the industry has evolved so much since then and it’s so much easier to do a digital magazine than it is a print magazine. Yes. So I just thought I’d give it a go. Jeff: How do you decide what goes in to each issue. Because there’s so many things to pick from. Jacqui: I know there’s so many things to pick from and it’s actually been a little – it’s getting easier every month because the magazine is getting more widely known and people are actually messaging me, emailing me, then giving me content ideas, which is fantastic, but it’s just whatever I like. Yeah. I don’t know. Whatever I’ve been reading or what I’ve seen or I am quite big on Instagram I get a lot of inspiration there. Jeff: Yeah. And I enjoy watching your Instagram just because it’s so creative. Jacqui: I’m a graphic designer as well so I see lots of cheeky quotes and things like that and I just redesigned them for my own purposes which is fun. Jeff: Your July issue will have been out a short time by the time this episode airs. What can readers find in July? Jacqui: So I’m super excited. In July I have three authors that I definitely fangirl over. So I’ve got Eve Dangerfield. I’ve got an interview with her. I have an interview with Sarah MacLean and an interview with Abbi Glines. Jeff: Wow. Three of them are all in the same issue. Jacqui: Yeah, well in my very first issue I had Beverly Jenkins and Kylie Scott and I thought, “Right, I’m happy to finish this right now. I’ve reached my peak.” That was epic for me. I think romance authors are so generous with their time and knowledge and it’s just such a beautiful, interesting industry to be in. Jeff: Yeah, it really is because there’s so many warm people who are just happy to tell their story and tell everybody about their books. What are the regular sections that readers look for each month? Jacqui: So I generally start with a ‘Lust-Haves’, which is just kind of products/bookish things that basically I would like to be spending my money on. I think in one issue I had a pair of cashmere socks that were like one hundred and ten dollars and I had a girlfriend calling me, she said, “You didn’t buy those, did you?” I didn’t. I’d like to. So yeah, we did ‘Lust-Haves’, we do an IG profile. I pick an Instagram account that’s really inspiring and has gorgeous images and profile them. We’ve got our author interviews. I generally have a couple of features. So for example, in the current issue we did one on the rise of rural romance. So it’s basically Australian authors writing romance set in rural settings… on farms which is really lovely. I live in a small country town myself, so I can really identify with that. We do a ‘Book Crush’ every issue. So that’s just a hero that we’ve got a bit of a crush on at the time and it’s really fun to contact the author and find out what they had in mind when they were writing that character. I get them to share their Pinterest pages with inspiration that they drew when writing, which I love. And there’s a bookshelf at the back, which features a lot of books, and it’s a really great showcase for indie authors I think. So yeah, that’s kind of it. Jeff: You say that’s kind of it, but that’s a lot. I mean, there’s a lot of stuff that goes into these issues. What kind of overall timing and process goes into creating a single issue? Jacqui: Well, having done in my previous life the print lifestyle magazine that was a whole circus. So I had staff and we had an office and because that I was spending forty thousand dollars an issue just to print it. So it was big. Right. So because [Blush] is digital – it’s online – my overheads are tiny, it’s literally me sitting at my kitchen table and, I have I don’t have it here, but I literally designed up on an A3 bit of paper for weeks and split it into the days and split the jobs across it and I laminated it so that I can write over the top of it – every issue. And it’s actually not too involved I think because I know what I’m doing. And I love what I’m doing. And I think as a working mother you become… I just have to get shit done. Like I just, I’ve got no windows in between kids being at school or ballet lessons or you know all of that kind of jazz. I just have to really, really be productive with my time and bang it out. Jeff: And I think the online magazine in a lot of ways gives you a much broader design to work with than if you were locked in to any kind of website format. Jacqui: Yeah, I think it’s fun because you can flip through the pages. It kind of it feels interactive and you can, you know, I can put gifs onto the pages so there’s movement, there’s different animations that you can use. And it’s just readers really like the tactile experience of a physical magazine. And because I can’t do that, I think a digital magazine – it is still something different from a blog post and not to say that, you know, there’s some fantastic blogs out there, but this is just a different format. Jeff: Yeah, it’s a different medium, but it’s going to be interesting, I think to see if other people move in that direction. I think we’re all so used to seeing blogs that this is another similar but different way to go. Jacqui: Yeah, it’s just a bit fun, little bit different. Jeff: July is also kind of a milestone for you because it’s six months old for the magazine – issue number six. What’s your favorite thing to write about so far in those six months? Jacqui: I think the interview with Beverly Jenkins, that was kind of amazing. She’s an icon in the industry and she’s so generous and I couldn’t believe that she’s giving me the time of the day, especially because I hadn’t published a magazine by that stage. I literally had nothing to show her. She just kind of said, “Yeah sure.” So that was really incredible. I do freelance digital marketing, which I’ve just stopped, and I’m focusing all my energy on ‘Blush’ because I really want to give it a go. I felt like I was building other people’s dreams, helping them build their dreams and I wasn’t really putting any time into my own. So yeah, I’m kind of all in with this. I got skin in the game now. Jeff: That’s awesome. It’s a good feeling. Jacqui: Yeah, it really is. And I do need to say my husband is super supportive and I’m very lucky. But yeah, like this is my gig now. Jeff: What’s surprised you over the six months. Jacqui: I don’t know if it was surprise. It was probably just reinforced how wide and how deep this romance genre is and how amazing it is. I mean, if Alexa Riley can beat Michelle Obama in the rankings on Amazon, that’s huge. Jeff: And you’re right about the romance genre being so big. I have found, so far, that you try to cover seemingly all of it. You’ve featured all kinds of romance including LGBTQ romance. Jacqui: Well, that’s a that’s a big sector and it’s valid and I know that, especially in the states, you’ve been having a lot of diversity talk at the moment – and so you should. ‘Blush’ is a vehicle for the romance industry and I want it to encompass all aspects of that. Jeff: And we talked a little bit before we started recording that it was ‘Blush’ that first put ‘Red, White & Royal Blue’ on our radar as the thing we needed to watch out for in the spring. Jacqui: Well, I’m sure you hadn’t seen it with me, you would have seen it very soon because it has been so well received and validly So like she’s amazing, Casey’s [McQuiston] she’s going places. Jeff: Yeah, absolutely. What got you into romance? Jacqui: So my parents owned a newsagent when I was younger. And romance novels were distributed by magazine companies, which meant that if they didn’t sell, it was cheaper to rip the cover off and throw it out than it was to send it back to the company. So I used to scavenge through the back bin and I just fell into it. I read to my heart’s content. The only problem was, that because it didn’t have a cover, I knew the title, but without that image on the top on the cover and the title, I can’t remember any of them. And probably I was reading so many of them, I was just kind of consuming them. But yes, so that’s how I got into it – scavenging. Jeff: That is awesome. What a great way to get books. Jacqui: I know right. I mean it’s so demoralizing and awful for an author to think about – that’s how some of your books may end up. I don’t know if that’s still the practice – I would hope not. But yeah, that’s back when I was 12 or 13. That’s how we did it. Jeff: On the other hand, I mean how terrific that it must be – Yes, they didn’t get paid for – but they inspired somebody to go out and create something like this later in life. Jacqui: Well that’s true. That’s a really nice way of looking at it. Oh, thank you. Jeff: You can’t remember some of the titles and authors obviously, but do you remember what tropes and what sort of elements of the story fueled your interest in the genre? Jacqui: I read a lot of the historicals, which I loved. But I kind of stopped reading for a while – going through high school and then university – and got back into it with Kylie Scott, who’s an Australian author who wrote a romance in a zombie apocalypse, which is very far removed from historical romance, but freaking awesome. She wrote two books and a novella and then found mainstream success with her Rockstar romances. But she kind of got me back into reading romance, her and Amy Andrews who is another Australian author. She’s got a ‘Sydney Smoke’ rugby series, which is a series of books set around a rugby team in Sydney and she just has the dialogue down pat, like she is so dynamic with her writing. Yeah, she is really, really incredible. I think those two got the ball rolling to get me back into it and now I don’t really have a favorite trope or a favorite genre. I will literally read anything you put in front of me. I will read it. Jeff: That’s awesome. I’m kind of the same way. Will has is his thing where he likes contemporary/low angst – may take a few diversions off that path… But if I like the blurb, I’m at least game to see where it goes. Jacqui: Exactly. Yep. I’m with you. Jeff: Now, since we are an LGBTQ romance podcast, what are some of your recent reads, kind of in that genre. Jacqui: So what I’ve really loved is that some of my favorite authors are diversifying. I guess they’re going into that queer space. So Kate Canterbury, she wrote The Walsh series – which I devoured I loved – and then it’s an offshoot. There’s a lobster fisherman who marries Aaron and Nick in book 6. And So the lobster fisherman he gets his own book and he falls in love with a tech tycoon. And honestly it was one of the hottest romances I’ve ever read. Like it was. She nailed it. And that was her first male/male book. And I just went, “Oh wow, you’ve done such a good job.” Also Tessa Bailey she wrote a male/male. What’s it called… I wrote it down. ‘Heat Stroke’. She wrote ‘Heat Stroke’ which is just really sweet. And the relationship between the two men, it was so believable and she’s really good at characterization. She’s fantastic, but my absolute favorite of mine is Sierra Simone, who wrote the ‘Camelot’ series. So it starts with ‘American Queen’ goes to ‘American Prince’ and I actually haven’t read the third one because I got a spoiler and I don’t have the emotional fortitude at the moment. Jeff: I understand how that it goes. Jacqui: But she just writes… So it’s a male/female/male, but the two guys, they’ve been in love for so long before Greer, the woman, actually comes into it and just the depth of their love for each other. And she’s, I mean, it’s kind of filthy – the writing, but awesome. It’s emotional and it’s just, yes, she’s fantastic. Jeff: Since you look at romance really from around the world for ‘Blush’, because you’re in Australia and have read so many Australian authors, do you see a difference of what romance is around the world – what gets written into the books from the native authors? Jacqui: I think that a lot of Australian authors are actually setting their books in the US. I don’t know if that’s a marketing thing or if that’s just what they read and that’s what they want to write, but then there’s a whole crop of Australian authors who are writing rural romance, which is set on an Australian farm as opposed to an American ranch. So you know there are differences in words I guess. I don’t know. Apart from that though, I kind of think everyone’s just writing their own happily ever after. And it’s and in different ways, using different tropes, different locations. I do wish that there were more Indigenous Australians writing romance novels. I think that would be amazing. There are some amazing Indigenous authors, just not so many writing romance, so that that would be really incredible to see. I actually am writing as well. I’m sure everyone who reads is trying to write as well. So I’ve just published my second book, but I would like to co-author a book with… I grew up in a small country town with a high indigenous Aboriginal population. So I went to school with all of these Aboriginal girls and I need to make contact with them and see if one of them will sit down with me and co-write a book, a romance from their point of view. I think that would be amazing. I don’t think that I would have the guts, I guess, to write from that point of view, even if I had a sensitivity reader come in and read it afterwards. I really do think that their issues and their worldviews and, you know, they have their differences and you’ve got to do justice to that. Jeff: So what do you write? Tell us a little bit about your books. Jacqui: Well my full name is Jacqueline, and my maiden name is Hayley, so they’ve written under Jacqueline Hayley. And second, which literally I published yesterday, it’s ‘Getting Under Her Skin’, and it’s set in Sydney. So they’re contemporary romances that are a little bit sexy, I don’t think I really want my mum reading them. Jeff: Yeah that’s awesome. Any chance of a male/male book in your future? Jacqui: Yeah, I think So but I think that, again, I would want to team up with a gay male author to help me do that. Like, I just I don’t want to presume that I would know their life experiences. So I think that would be super fun. Jeff: I hope you get to do that. We’d have to have you back on the show to talk about that when it comes out. Jacqui: Absolutely. Jeff: What can you tell us about upcoming issues [of ‘Blush’] for the rest of this year? Jacqui: Oh, the rest of this year. So I’m actually heading to the Australian Romance Writers Association, their annual conference is in Melbourne, and I have lined up some authors that I’m going to do video interviews with as bonus content for my readers. So we’re just finalizing the details of that, but I do think that video, which can be embedded into the magazine – in the magazine we also find YouTube clips and things as well, the digital magazine format allows for that, which I think is really fun. The video will start to become a little bit more of a thing with the magazine, as much as I don’t really want to see myself on video, I think that it would be really fun for authors, who are normally behind the pen – behind the computer – and you don’t see their faces or hear them. I think that that would be a really fun thing to do. Jeff: Very much looking forward to that. It’s great seeing how the video gets in there to really make this interactive magazine. What’s the best way for people to keep up with ‘Blush’ online and how do they get the subscription? Tell us all about that. Jacqui: So at the moment, to be able to read the magazine, you have to head to the website which is blushmagazine.com and sign up with your email address. So it’s free. And then the magazine gets emailed to you, well a link to the magazine gets sent to you, so that you can view the magazine. Previous issues are available on the website, so you can you can click through there, but probably I’ most prolific on Instagram. That’s kind of where that’s my jam. That’s what I like doing. So you know, for cheeky quotes and books that are coming up, all the behind the scenes of what I’m doing here, that’s Instagram, is where it’s at. Jeff: Very cool, and can readers of the magazine get in touch and suggest ideas? Jacqui: Absolutely. I love it. The interaction is one of the best things that I love about what I’m doing, so I get DMs on Facebook, Instagram, and my email is hello.BlushMagazine@gmail.com. Jeff: And what would you say to anybody who is like, “Gosh, I really like that. Maybe I should start my own.” Jacqui: Yeah. So I guess have a look at the different platforms that are out there to do a magazine on. I use readymag which I really love. But there’s also issu, which I’m kind of looking at as I get bigger. That might be where I go just because you can get more stats on what particular pages people are staying on longer. That kind of thing. So I guess just have a really clear view of what you want to put in your magazine, you’ve got to structure it like a real magazine. So go and get a physical magazine, you need a contents page and an editor’s letter and kind of build it from there, but just know that readers like continuity, so if you’re going to start a section, you’ve got to kind of continue it. So have a really clear idea of what kind of content you want to do. I haven’t done this and I probably should have build up content so that you’re an issue ahead of yourself so that, you know, just to for timing I guess, that would make life easier. I like making things hard for myself. Give it a go, like why not? Compared to the money that I used to put into print publishing, digital publishing… there’s barely any any cost. So yeah, give it a go. Jeff: Cool. Hopefully somebody will take up the inspiration because – at least the way we feel concerning podcasts, the more podcasts the better, the more magazines the better, the more blogs the better. Jacqui: Built this industry! Jeff: Yes absolutely. Well Jacqui, thank you so much for telling us about ‘Blush’, we’re going to link up to everything we talked about- the authors and the magazine – in the show notes, and we look forward to see what comes out in future issues. Jacqui: Thank you so much for having me. It was just the highlight of my week. Thank you so much. Book Reviews Here’s the text of this week’s book reviews: Nowhere Ranch by Heidi Cullinan. Reviewed by Will. Admittedly, I’m a little late to the party when It comes to this book. When I posted online that I’d finished reading Nowhere Ranch, I got a slew of responses, “Isn’t it the best?”, “That’s my favorite Heidi book.” So, for the few that haven’t yet experienced the sexy wonder of this cowboy romance, Nowhere Ranch is about a young guy named Monroe, Roe for short. He’s the prototypical lone cowboy who’s just landed a job at Nowhere Ranch. On one of his free nights, Roe travels several hours away to the nearest gay bar. To his surprise he runs into his boss, Travis Loving. After some flirty banter and surmising that they are both definitely into each other, they spend one wild night together in Travis’s hotel room. Roe tries to keep things professional with his boss, but Travis is just too damn irresistible. After a trip to the rodeo, he gives into his desire yet again. His hook-ups with Travis are so amazing that he begins to reconsider his ‘no relationships’ policy. When it comes to the bedroom, Roe likes things a little kinky. Travis is more than willing to give him everything he wants. After a rough and raunchy tumble in a horse stall on his birthday, Roe is so turned on and turned around, that he just doesn’t know what to do. Guys, this book is incendiary. I’m no expert when it comes to Heidi Cullinan’s books, but the few that I have read, have ridden that delicious line between sweetly romantic and utterly filthy. The kink explored in Nowhere Ranch isn’t your mommas 50 Shades style slap ‘n tickle. This is hardcore stuff in the best possible way. Back to the story. Hailey, the daughter of the ranch foreman, becomes fast friends with Roe and it becomes her personal mission to tutor Roe so he can get his GED. After learning some English composition basics, Roe writes an essay especially for his boss entitled, “Why Travis Loving Should Fuck Me”. What’s wonderful is that the entire text of the essay is included as part of the story. It’s sweet, it’s funny, and it leads to some more smoking hot sex for our two heroes. Unfortunately, the course of true love never did run smooth. A letter from the family that rejected Roe years earlier, forces him to examine what “home” really means. Home is definitely Nowhere Ranch. Some drama eventually forces Roe to make an unwanted trip to deal with the backwards, judgmental people he once called his family. With Travis and Hailey by his side, he sets things to rights and accepts that he is, in fact, worthy of his very own happily-ever-after. There’s a brief time jump at the end of the story to show us just how happy the happily-ever-after is for Roe and Travis. It’s wonderfully schmoopy and surprisingly sweet for a story that is so dang filthy. It just goes to show, that in the hands of a skilled author, kink doesn’t have to equal dark or angsty. The story of two hot and horny cowboys can be just as swoon-worthy as the lightest of rom-coms. The Doctor’s Secret by Heidi Cullinan. Reviewed by Jeff. This book had me at its cover with its clean design, heartbeat along the top and the handsome doctor. And I snatched the audiobook out from under Will because Iggy Toma was doing the narration. As with my other experiences with Heidi and Iggy, this one was above and beyond. The Doctor’s Secret brings Dr Hong-Wei Wu, or Jack as he tells the staff to call him, to Copper Point, Wisconsin. Hong-Wei’s left a high powered residency and his family in Texas to re-locate to this tiny town that needs a surgeon. He also hopes to lead a quiet life here. That’s derailed almost as soon as he steps off the plane because he meets Simon Lane, the hospital’s surgical nurse and the person who was dispatched to pick him up. Simon wasn’t quite ready for the attraction either. He’s in Copper Point working alongside his two best friends who all wanted to stay and give back to their home town–a place so small Simon’s sure he’ll never find a man for him. Hong-Wei is torn from the beginning because he came to Copper Point to get away from complications, but he can’t deny the immediate attraction to Simon. He tends to put himself under a tremendous amount of pressure to always do the right thing, even if that means saying yes to things he doesn’t want. As Simon learns more about Hong-Wei–from his love of classical music as well as his dislike for most pop music, his love of Taiwanese food and even the meticulous way he wants his operating room set up–only made him fall for the man more. Simon’s incredible from the get go. Instead of using “Jack,” Simon wants to use Hong-Wei’s given name and takes the time to learn how to pronounce it. It’s super adorable too how Simon can’t believe Hong-Wei might be flirting with him–their interactions at the hospital are super cute as they both easily get flustered. Their potential relationship comes with great risk. Copper Point is a small town with small town drama and shenanigans. St. Ann’s Hospital has a stranglehold on its employees with a hospital board that attempts to rule with an iron fist. This includes a no-dating policy. As they grow closer though, Hong-Wei’s having none of it, insisting he’ll protect Simon. Simon’s friends Owen and Nick, also doctors at the hospital, help the two get together in secret. As you can imagine neither men want to live in secret, and the more they fall for each other it becomes more difficult to keep it. Beyond Simon catching Hong-Wei’s attention, he starts to fall for the entire town of Copper Point. From the owners of his favorite restaurant to his co-workers to the local orchestra. It’s far more than he ever planned for and he’s not quite sure how to manage all the feelings of peace and happiness he has here. When a medical emergency forces Hong-Wei to reveal more of himself than he planned, the major power struggle begins around the dating policy and the future of St. Ann’s. Heidi does a tremendous job about making us care not only for Hong-Wei and Simon, but for everything that’s at stake for the town. There’s so much to love in this book between Simon and Hong-Wei, their friends, the citizens of Copper Point. The book also has one of the best grand gestures ever. It gave me all the feels. Kudos to Iggy Toma for a brilliant performance, infusing everyone with strong emotions and rich personalities. The tender moments between Simon and Hong-Wei are perfection. I’m looking forward to Owen and Nick’s books in the series. Owen’s is already out but I’m hanging tight for the audio and Nick’s book releases in August.

As Simon concludes this final talk in the Galatians series we get to appreciate the apostle Paul's summary of the preceding chapters and completeness of God's work in the "finished work" of Jesus Christ.

I grew up with the idea that you can lose “all your money” in the stock market. I'm sure many people did. Movies about the stock market don't do much to put us at ease - if it doesn't end with someone losing their last penny, it's not very entertaining. This week, Nadia got us thinking about what it really means for your portfolio when there's a stock market crash. Her anxiety was provoked by Rich Dad, Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki, who stated in a recent interview that all money is fake and we should all buy gold and silver. Fat Wallet veterans can guess how we take this news. We talk about what we actually mean by a stock market crash and the different ways that could affect your portfolio. We also share some gems from our Twitter community. Subscribe to our RSS feed here. Subscribe or rate us in iTunes. Nadia  I was wondering if you guys could help ease my mind a little.  I've been wanting to do a lump sum deposit into my TFSA and split it between the Satrix top 40 and the Satrix MSCI world. I have most of my TFSA in the Coreshares equally weighted but I think I've given up hope for that ETF and I'd like to cut it out once it's back in the green (if that happens).  When I was about to do my lump sum, I came across this article "Rich Dad Poor Dad' author warns South Africans of 'biggest financial bubble' ahead". This made me a little nervous and got me thinking about a market crash. I don't know if I understand exactly what happens to all your investments when the market crashes. What will happen to my TFSA investments, my RA, Unit trust etc if the day comes where the markets crash.  What do you do in that situation? Do you just wait a few years for it to restore itself? Should you buy while the price is low and hope for it to climb up the ladder again? For example, if I had 50k in a Top 40 ETF, does this mean I could potentially lose that 50k if all those top 40 companies fall flat? Could this happen in a market crash or would it only be a few companies who take the plunge?  I think having a better grasp on what situations could unfold in the future would help me feel more confident about where I'd like to put my money and it'd help me understand what to do or how to handle things if shit hits the fan. Thanks again for the amazing work you guys do. Honestly, I'd be completely lost without you. From Twitter @SammyJoeD Lol I don't know but I'd like to think it's a closed system (don't ask me to elaborate, it makes sense to me that way), the money goes into someone else's pocket, say someone who has placed a bet on the option that the market will crash.

As Simon changes into his royal blue wedding tux, these two discuss the nitty gritty of the hottest round one playoff matchup in the East: Nets v. Sixers. Also discussed: Bud Light Lime, D-Lo’s EFG%, and, naturally, VORP.

"The things that matter most to your donors don't depend on big budgets and lots of staff." Wise words from this week's guest Caoileann Appleby (twitter.com/Qaoileann). As Simon delves deeper in to them, they chat about what donors actually want versus what they say the want. Along the way they touch on the difference between the English and Irish, Brexit, the Catholic Church, weightlifting, legacies, and conversations with donors. Check out a couple of Caoileann's blog posts:How are Irish donors different?andWhat they say isn't always what they mean...

It was a beautiful summer’s weekend. Balmy temperatures that meant T-shirts all day and all night.  A pristine day in Wellington as India handed New Zealand another comprehensive lesson in how to play one day cricket. I watched the game with a beer and my youngest son who’s enjoying a fantastic summer before returning to university in the capital.So who can believe that pre season Super Rugby was being played and the official season is now less than two weeks away. Madness.But the Blues were playing the Chiefs in Kaikohe. To be honest the Blues were spanking the Chiefs in Kaikohe but that is not the news. The news was that 4000 people sold out the local ground and it was a great day. Simon Wilson has written a lovely story about the fun and festivities and the aroha that surrounded the players for an afternoon in February.But not all the story. He does mention that nobody stayed in the town. The Blues were in a hotel in Waitangi while the Chiefs bunked down in Whangarei. But what wasn’t mentioned was that there was a tangi happening the same weekend and the departed was big in gang circles.The main drag of Kaikohe was awash with gang members and their bikes. The pub was taking overnight guests but the publican had closed his bar, on a game day, for fear that the tangi commemorations might get, how shall we say, a little frenetic. But the weekend passed without incident.So it was another weekend where the two sides of the Kaikohe coin were once again plain. Good people, in a great place, celebrating a good community event but a meth and gang fuelled undercurrent never far from the surface.Simon Wilson also noticed another interesting aspect to the day. Throughout the official ceremonies and speechifying, and through all the proud moments of how awesome Kaikohe was, there appeared to be not one word of Maori spoken. Not even a kia ora from the mayor of the Far North, John Carter. As Simon says, “it was as if they were blind to the people they were talking to”. I don’t know if it was purposeful but if it wasn’t then that actually makes it even more insidious.It strikes me that a lot of this is about pride. Pride in people and pride in place. You can’t really expect the people to be proud of the place if there are other people still not proud of a people’s language.In this week of Waitangi, in 2019, it still amazes me that some people are still so dismissive of the Maori language. And now I’ll be besieged by people calling the language dead and irrelevant.And then there’ll be the people calling for us to become one people. I think all those advocates still haven’t realised that becoming one people cuts both ways.

With Simon Gärdenfors, a very popular podcaster & standup comedian, we shared comedy backgrounds of each country. As Simon showed in his sitcom "My problems" , he is totally addicted with Japanese Ramen. His deep knowledge and love about Ramen should help your diet in Japan!!

Shaking the bad apples from the ICO tree, self-policing code of conduct changing the world. Global regulation of the ICO sector has proved contentious, with individual jurisdictions reacting differently to the rise of tokenisation and the need to deal with bad actors and the potential for fraud. But it is widely agreed across the industry that it can only work if it avoids regulating this creative and passionate sector out of existence altogether. It became clear early on to today’s guest, Simon Taylor, fintech expert from within the traditional banking sector - at Barclays. With so much happening in the ICO space in 2017, he knew there was a wave coming. One that the regulator might snap at, rather than nurturing the innovation this could kill it off. During research, he was meeting more and more mainstream banks concerned that tokenisation would become stifled by regulation. They liked the idea of tokenising traditional assets, making the system hugely efficient. And whereas in the early days of blockchain the banks’ reaction tended to be a standard ‘no’, because of propaganda around  Bitcoin, in more recent times they have actually started driving the innovation, setting up their own innovation units to explore the possibilities of the technology, and looking to bank the sector. The answer seemed obvious. As Simon says, in order to engage with risk, you need to know what it looks like. And to reassure the regulator that you know what you’re doing, you need to demonstrate you understand what it is you’re trying to do! One thing that became apparent was that the clinical trial methodology which has been applied fintech and other areas of the blockchain space has challenged with bankability, with no chance to do small tests on just a few subjects – banking tends to work on an all-or-nothing basis. So with a background in creating digital solutions, including the UK’s second ever banking app, he founded Global Digital Finance alongside Lawrence Wintermeyer of Innovate Finance. He felt that it must be up to the industry itself to become self-policing and to create its own Code of Conduct – along the lines of the FX Code regulating currency exchange. So the remit was creating a taxonomy, a common language, and building a principles-based code that is self-policing and run pro-bono. Similar The same kind of codes have also rolled out in other parts of fintech – peer-to-peer lending for example.  The interim advisory board held a consultation this summer, during which over 200 organisations gave more than a thousand bits of feedback. The code of conduct will be finalised over the coming months, and the activities within the ICO space carrying risk outside the normal regulatory parameters can be flagged as outside the code. Legitimate entrepreneurs in the token space need to differentiate themselves from the bad actors, and this kind of self-policing model can clean up the sector’s image if done right. A final thought from Simon? If we radically change the infrastructure of operating norms and assumptions within financial services, we can make the greatest difference to every industry and every person alive.

This podcast series is devoted to sharing good teaching practice at Gardens Elementary School which is located on the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology campus in Saudi Arabia. At GES, our student population is multi-cultural, diverse, enthusiastic, engaging and confident. They are also fun loving and happy. Through the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) we provide opportunities for students to develop an understanding of essential concepts, skills, knowledge and attitudes that will enable them to be lifelong learners. Our students are actively involved in authentic inquiry-based learning across all the curriculum areas. They develop confidence in their abilities, think for themselves, question, express their opinions and respect the opinions of others. As students learn to reflect on their learning, they become critical thinkers. We encourage students to voice their ideas and to take action to improve the school and the community. Student achievement and progress is shared through regular assemblies, parent conferences, open houses and activities aimed at making the school a stimulating center for the community. This Episode is With Simon Bissell Supporting Student Learning In this episode, grade 2 teacher, Simon Bissell, discusses the key strategies he puts into action in his classroom to ensure that he provides his students with opportunities for genuine voice and choice to take place. Simon shares the work of his students in their recent, ‘How We Organize Ourselves’ unit and how their learning led them to wanting to organize a large scale event for their classmates across the grade level. However, planning an event such as this can be a very daunting task for a classroom teacher, but in letting go of control and placing ownership in the hands of the students, both Simon and his students learned a lot. Simon shares this learning in today’s episode. As Simon has a extensive background in sport, we also discussed the major life lessons that he learned through sport and how he has been able to apply this learning to becoming the teacher he is. Simon continues to work hard on his teaching practice to elevate his game and provide the best experiences possible for his students. Simon’s Bio I completed my Bachelor’s Degree in Contemporary History and Politics from Salford University in the UK. During my time in the UK I taught across various year groups ranging from Early Years Foundation Stage, right through to Middle school. I am currently in my 5th year teaching at The KAUST School.. I have spent 4 years in Grade 1 and this year made the move up to Grade 2. I love being an educator in such a wonderful, diverse school and community. Away from my school life I am happily married to my wife, Caroline, and we have two wonderful boys aged 6 and 1. I enjoy an active lifestyle and I’m also proud to be part of the KAUST adult and junior Rugby Club. We currently have 120 children enrolled who receive coaching and skill building on a weekly basis. Connect With Simon: Email: simon.Bissell@kaust.edu.sa Connect With Gardens Elementary School Twitter: @GESatKAUST Website: http://tks.kaust.edu.sa/Message-from-the-Principal-GES Themes Discussed: Voice and Choice, Agency, Student Action, Organization, Learning From Failure, Student Leadership

Alas, Simon is away this week so we've decided to republish one of our favourite episodes from 2016: fashion Svengali Karen Walker. Their discussion is worth a listen because Karen lays our her philosophy of no compromise and how that's helped build her business into a kind of super brand.As Simon wrote at the time "Karen Walker is not just a significant figure in New Zealand, she is a fixture on the Business of Fashion’s list of the 500 most influential figures in fashion worldwide, the brand’s sunglasses are worn by the world’s most famous stars". To learn what it takes to create a leviathan of a business and brand, listen on. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

What is your bold vision and what is required in order for you to transform it into reality? In today's episode, UK-based Transformational Coach, Simon Crowe, takes us on a mind expanding journey as he describes his adventures in leadership and transformation, and how you can use your curiosity and creativity to heal the world. For over a decade, Simon has been coaching entrepreneurs, leaders, and philanthropists to find passion projects that stir their soul and then make them a reality. He has guided several groups of leaders to visit Liberia, West Africa, where they get to experience firsthand how different people think and operate differently, based on their view of the world.  As Simon shares his heartfelt stories, including describing his own passion project for building a school in Liberia, he weaves in vital leadership principles, steps on how to shift your mindset, and how to move from being resource-driven to resourceful, where you're able to connect to the vast opportunities around you.   Money is not a limiter, rather, our mindset is the only thing standing in the way of us fulfilling our bold visions. In this interview, Simon gives us the tools to transform our thinking, fulfill our wildest dreams, and leave our mark on humanity.  Key Takeaways 1) When you start to feel rather than think, your construct of the world changes. 2) Rather than focusing on your lack of resources, develop a mindset of resourcefulness so you can see the opportunities already around you and be able to connect to them. 3) Rather than ask, "What can I do?" ask yourself, "How can I be?" This is where true transformation begins.  4) Harness the power of affirmations in changing your mindset.  5) Anything you commit consistent action to, will have a lasting impact.  Favorite Quote "See the world differently, and your world changes." Simon Crowe Bio Simon Crowe's sole purpose as a coach is to support the personal evolution of his clients. He sees this as the key to self-expression, fulfillment and living a meaningful life. Simon coaches successful people to accomplish this in rich and creative ways. He loves the fun and challenge of helping the people he works with to evolve and thrive in this ever-changing universe. Simon has helped clients create multimillion pound investments from nothing, he has coached CEO's to build thriving companies, philanthropists to set up charities, couples to conceive and lovers to start fantastic relationships. He has helped the intrepid to change jobs, change careers and even change countries. He has helped entrepreneurs to found their dream companies and senior executives to earn promotion to the Board. He is dedicated to serving extraordinary people in recreating their lives beyond recognition. His curiosity has lead him to many interesting parts of the world. He has lived and worked in Europe, Africa, India, and the USA and has worked with clients as far afield as Russia, New Zealand, Hungary and Singapore. He recently returned from Liberia in West Africa where he shared the stage with leaders like Rich Litvin, Spryte Loriano and Kimmie Weeks at an empowerment event for 400 teachers. He is now based in London with his two greatest teachers - his American wife, Stacy and teenage daughter, India. Connect With Simon Crowe Online www.SimonCrowe.com

Get your scarves and gloves out, because in this adventure Simon is taking you to the coldest place on earth! You'll find out why penguins seem to stand around a lot and why whales don't need phones to talk to each other. As Simon says, "Let's chill" simonsadventurestories.com

Brad Sullivan Good Friday, Year C March 25, 2016 Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church, Bay City, TX John 18:1-19:42 Braving the Tranquil Sea of Silence Silence. That what is called for often in our liturgy, silence. Silence can be the sound of prayer, the sound of relaxing and taking a break for a while. After a long day and once the kids are to bed and before binge watching Netflix or reading starts, it can be very healing to sit in silence for a few minutes. Silence gives our brains time to unwind. Silence allows us to notice our breathing and to marvel at the miracle of our lives, our bodies, the presence of God around us and within us. Silence can be the sound and the sounds of life without the noise of everything else. Silence can be a beautiful thing. Silence can also bring to the surface things we’d rather keep buried. Silence brings a void, and inevitably something will come to fill that void, often the memories we’d rather than deal with, the decisions which haunt us, the scars left by others. In the tranquil sea of silence we see peace and beauty, but with pain and death lurking just beneath the surface. Perhaps that is why silence is so rarely sought. Silence beckons to us, invites us to sail upon her waters, and yet we often dare not even approach the shore for fear of what may come forth, and so we draw back from the tranquil sea, retreating once again into the forest of voices and noise, hiding in the din of life, hiding from the truth that would otherwise rend our hearts. As Simon and Garfunkel wrote in The Sound of Silence: And in the naked light I saw Ten thousand people, maybe more. People talking without speaking, People hearing without listening, People writing songs that voices never share And no one dared Disturb the sound of silence. Silence is the sound of death. Silence was the sound of Jesus tomb cut out of the rock. Silence was the sound of Jesus’ body without the movement of breath, without the flow of blood, without the beating of his heart. Silence was the only sound that was left when the sins of all humanity were poured out upon Jesus. The author of life had been killed, taking upon himself the judgment due to all of humanity, and the Word of God which spoke the words “Let there be light,” in the beginning of creation was left was left in silence. As humanity ran back into the forest of noise and distraction, Jesus sailed the sea of silence and then left the boat, only this time he did not walk on the sea, he sank down, swallowed up by all that lay beneath, and left the sea tranquil and calm as before. We know that Jesus was resurrected a few short days after his death. We know that Jesus left the sea of silence, and yet, Jesus is still there, along with all of sins of humanity, the memories we’d rather than deal with, the decisions which haunt us, the scars left by others. Jesus is there in the silence inviting us to face what we’d rather not face, inviting us to look into the face of the demons within. Jesus is inviting us to trust him, to follow him into the silence, to join with him there in the silence of his tomb, and to trust that he will bring us out with him as well, giving us new life with him. First, however, we have to face the silence of his tomb. We have to brave the waters of that tranquil sea and to face what lurks beneath. We have to go down into the sea of silence. Amen.

Brad Sullivan Good Friday, Year C March 25, 2016 Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church, Bay City, TX John 18:1-19:42 Braving the Tranquil Sea of Silence Silence. That what is called for often in our liturgy, silence. Silence can be the sound of prayer, the sound of relaxing and taking a break for a while. After a long day and once the kids are to bed and before binge watching Netflix or reading starts, it can be very healing to sit in silence for a few minutes. Silence gives our brains time to unwind. Silence allows us to notice our breathing and to marvel at the miracle of our lives, our bodies, the presence of God around us and within us. Silence can be the sound and the sounds of life without the noise of everything else. Silence can be a beautiful thing. Silence can also bring to the surface things we’d rather keep buried. Silence brings a void, and inevitably something will come to fill that void, often the memories we’d rather than deal with, the decisions which haunt us, the scars left by others. In the tranquil sea of silence we see peace and beauty, but with pain and death lurking just beneath the surface. Perhaps that is why silence is so rarely sought. Silence beckons to us, invites us to sail upon her waters, and yet we often dare not even approach the shore for fear of what may come forth, and so we draw back from the tranquil sea, retreating once again into the forest of voices and noise, hiding in the din of life, hiding from the truth that would otherwise rend our hearts. As Simon and Garfunkel wrote in The Sound of Silence: And in the naked light I saw Ten thousand people, maybe more. People talking without speaking, People hearing without listening, People writing songs that voices never share And no one dared Disturb the sound of silence. Silence is the sound of death. Silence was the sound of Jesus tomb cut out of the rock. Silence was the sound of Jesus’ body without the movement of breath, without the flow of blood, without the beating of his heart. Silence was the only sound that was left when the sins of all humanity were poured out upon Jesus. The author of life had been killed, taking upon himself the judgment due to all of humanity, and the Word of God which spoke the words “Let there be light,” in the beginning of creation was left was left in silence. As humanity ran back into the forest of noise and distraction, Jesus sailed the sea of silence and then left the boat, only this time he did not walk on the sea, he sank down, swallowed up by all that lay beneath, and left the sea tranquil and calm as before. We know that Jesus was resurrected a few short days after his death. We know that Jesus left the sea of silence, and yet, Jesus is still there, along with all of sins of humanity, the memories we’d rather than deal with, the decisions which haunt us, the scars left by others. Jesus is there in the silence inviting us to face what we’d rather not face, inviting us to look into the face of the demons within. Jesus is inviting us to trust him, to follow him into the silence, to join with him there in the silence of his tomb, and to trust that he will bring us out with him as well, giving us new life with him. First, however, we have to face the silence of his tomb. We have to brave the waters of that tranquil sea and to face what lurks beneath. We have to go down into the sea of silence. Amen.

As Simon is back on BBC Radio 1 this week - Arnej steps in with a stellar guest mix! 01. Adrian Hour - Space Bound (Original Mix) [Toolroom] 02. Citizen Kain & Phuture Traxx - Libido (Original) [Neverending Rec] 03. Electronic Empire - 4x4 (Christian Cambas Remix) [No-Logik Records] 04. Urig & Dice - Narcotic (Maurice Deek & Enrique Calvetty Remix) [Binary404] 05. MGJ & Norbert Davenport - Time Walker (Alex Di Stefano Mix) [Binary404] 06. Christian Cambas - Circle Of Madness (Deas Mix) [Decide] 07. The Advent & Jason Fernandes - Get Up (Industrialyzer Remix) [H-Productions] 08. ID - High Voltage 09. The Advent & Industrialyzer - Massive Waves [CodeWorks] 10. AnGy KoRe - Can't Stop (Original Mix) [Parabola] 11. Arnej - Zero Hour 12. Clouds - Articles (Arnej Rework) 13. M.I.K.E Push - Astrolab (Original Mix) [Coldharbour Recordings] 14. Arnej - Fusion [Black Hole Recordings]