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In this episode, Tim talks with podcast guest George Trachilis about recognizing and cultivating leadership in their work as leadership coaches. Both Tim and George share their history of how they found themselves working with organizations to improve their processes and systems and the top takeaways each took regarding the power of leadership. As an expert in Lean Leadership, George provides insightful ideas on workplace culture. Drawing inspiration from leaders in mindset and workplace culture, such as James Clear, Normen Bodek, Shigeo Shingo, and Mike Rother, this episode is a treasure trove of resources for leaders who want to focus on self-improvement. If you consider yourself a leader or someone who has a vision and gets things done, this episode has tons of resources and ideas to help you grow.About George TrachilisAuthor and speaker, George Trachilis, is the Shingo Research Award winning contributor and publisher of the book, Developing Lean Leaders at All Levels. His insight as an entrepreneur and Lean Coach will astound. George is one of the most experienced and knowledgeable people alive in the Lean world today, and his focus has changed from Lean, to operational excellence to leadership excellence. It has always been about leadership and leading by example. Connect with George today to address your leadership needs.Resources discussed in this episode:Kaizen LeadershipNormen Bodek - The Harada MethodTaiichi OhnoShigeo Shingo Atomic HabitsPaul AkersMike Rother - Toyota KataGemba Walk--Contact Tim Sweet | Team Work Excellence: WebsiteLinkedIn: Tim SweetInstagramLinkedin: Team Work ExcellenceContact George Trachilis | Leadership Excellence: WebsiteEmailLinkedinFind It George Website--George 00:00The more you focus on the laggards, the more attention everybody else will want from you, and you'll lose good people. Focus on your superstars. You know, that's the direction you're going people get caught up. Tim 00:12I'd like to ask you some questions. Do you consider yourself the kind of person that gets things done? Are you able to take a vision and transform that into action? Are you able to align others towards that vision and get them moving to create something truly remarkable. If any of these describe you, then you my friend, or a leader, and this show is all about and all for you. Welcome to the Sweet on Leadership Podcast, episode 16. Tim 00:46Thanks again for joining us on sweet on leadership. I'm really pleased today that I have person who I have followed for years joining me. And when I contemplated what we're going to talk about today was the obvious choice for who to reach out to and that's George Trachilis. George, thanks very much for taking the time. George 01:08Oh, thank you. Thank you, Tim. So Tim 01:10today, we spent a little bit of time here before we hit record talking about what we want to cover. And we don't really know where this is gonna go. But I believe it's all around how both of us, our careers have taken us into the area of strategy, leadership development, team development. And we share a common starting point. And that is really moving from operational excellence, and the tools that are involved there all the way into this, this era. So maybe as a start, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself, what you're working on. And then we can get into how we found ourselves down this path. George 01:53So, my name is George Trachilis. For those of you that don't know me, I started off in Lean In 1994, working for a company called Motorcoach Industries, which was Greyhound Buses. And in those days, I was a young engineer, just coming out of school basically. And I was asked to be on an implementation team for an ERP implementation, which took me to Pembina, North Dakota in the US from Winnipeg, Canada. And we implemented an ERP system, which included total quality management, and what we knew as Lean back then, and Kanban, and all the tools. And we had consultants come in from all Oliver White Consulting. And what they did was they share the tools with us, the leaders of the group, and then they asked us to go train others. And I loved it. What I say is I caught the bug, that was it, I can no longer work in a regular job. It needed to be about change, and looking at the light go on in people's eyes. That's what it was all about. And it hasn't been for 30 years now. The first 10 years was me implementing with a team of people the second 10 years, was owning my own consulting business going to Edmonton Calgary throughout Canada. As a matter of fact, I had an online course that created maybe the first online course, on Lean 101 the Lego Simulation Airplane Game. And the Government of Alberta bought it, which means I was allowed to sell it for them. And they trained 300 companies in Alberta, Canada, which then expanded because in 2011, I just said let's give it away to the world. And I had like in December of that year, something like 300 students on average registered per day. So, it was pretty amazing that everybody in 2011 love this thing called Lean. Okay, Lean is great. But I found I was missing something because I would go into a company, somebody would show me the Toyota way and the 4P model. Okay. I didn't know what all that meant. And then in 2012, I was doing more online courses and I met Jeff Liker, and I met Norman Bodek. Actually in reverse Norman first, Jeff Liker, and met a lot of the Guru's and I went to Japan learned a lot about the Toyota way of doing things, met with a lot of Toyota coaches, especially on Toyota business practices, and learned that and now I coach and develop people using Toyota business practices. But throughout the last 30 years, even though the last 10 is all on leadership development, I still go in, I still do value stream mapping, I still do the tools. So that's not a problem. I love doing that. But I get the benefit there. Not everybody else necessarily. If I can teach that, well, somebody else is getting the benefit. Now I coach and develop companies. And I've got two big clients today where I'm coaching leaders to be leaders. And they're coaching others. So, the mental model I used to have in the first one years was the five principles of Lean. Okay? Define value from the customer's perspective, right? Define the value stream, first flow, then pull, and strive for perfection, great five values, great five principles of Lean. Now, ever since Jeff Liker and I put the book together, called Developing Lean leaders at all levels, the model we share there is, number one, live the core values of the company. Okay, that's number one. Number two, commit to self development, because everybody knows, if you don't develop yourself, you don't have that attitude, you're going nowhere, you're going nowhere, plus, you're causing everybody else, no end of pain, because you're in it for yourself, everybody's got to do something for you. And you're not enough for the customer or the company, or your teamwork, or your team players. Number two coach and develop others, we need everybody to be a coach, as a manager. If you're not coaching and developing somebody, you're just not doing your job as a manager. Number three, support daily Kaizen. And then number four, define your targets and align all of your processes towards those targets for that year. So create vision, and align targets. That's number four. So that mental model today is a model that I refer to as the Lean Leadership Development Model. Jeff, and I created a company called Lean Leadership Institute. And we have an online course that trains that to the masses. But really step one, I always say if you can't improve, if you can't say, I want to improve, there's something wrong. And it's not with a everybody else. It's with you. So, so just just making sure people know and then I usually get the question is like, what happens when you meet somebody like that? Well, don't worry about them, don't focus on them as a leader, the more you focus on the laggards, the more attention everybody else will want from you. And you'll lose good people focus on your superstars, you know, that's the direction you're going people get caught up. So what I'm working on today is remote coaching for several companies, and helping them understand how they should be thinking so that they can teach that mindset to others. Tim 07:33It's a real basis and thought, when we think of just the pure efficiency of playing to your strengths, or supporting, I liked what you said there about focusing on the superstars. Because we're going to improve our reach, we're going to make sure that we have all the right thought going on in the organization, rather than focusing on constraints, it it's a good place to be but with teams, we need to be marshaling everybody into a common goal. And what was that old saying that they used to say? You know, do you want to be the hero with 1000 Helpers? Or do you want to be the leader with 1000? Heroes? You know, really, can we bring that out in people? I'm still floored by just how similar the evolution is between yourself and myself and where we've landed. George 08:26I'm not. I think it's funny, because when we're a Lean thinker, what is it we're looking for? We're looking to help people, okay. And when we see the gap, we kind of say, hey, let's close the gap. And this is the gap for a long time. We just never saw it. And we've been distracted by others, like, let's call them thought leaders that have driven us in a certain thinking process. We've been distracted for about 10 to 20 years. But today, I think we're on top of the real issue, which is our leaders are not leaders, at times, they're not behaving that way. They're thinking about short term results and behaving in a way similar to get those versus the long term game that they could get by staying on course, you know, making sure people understand they're valued at the company. They're the only appreciating asset. You're growing the people that's your job. When I was in Japan, it was funny because Matt Amezaga he was the Vice President of Operations at all of Toyota. He said that Fujio Cho, asked him to go back to Kentucky and get the culture back because they had a leader there. This particular leader didn't do a good job. And in a matter of one year, he destroyed the culture. And it took four years to get it back. But he did it in three, he was very impressed with himself. So, this is the kind of culture that you need. And you, you got to think of the culture as the behaviors. And the behaviors, behaviors of the leadership go furthest. When you see somebody in front of you, and they're the CEO of the company, and they bend down, they pick up a piece of garbage, and they throw it in the garbage can. That's not like for show. That's because they live it. That's because they, they understand that if they don't demonstrate what they want from others, they're not going to get it. Tim 10:30Yeah, I think tied on to that is, if the leaders are behaving in a way, or if the managers or the executives in those that should be in leadership roles are behaving in a way that demonstrates the worst possible things, then that also becomes how we define the culture because you know, that culture is defined by the worst behaviors we're willing to accept. And it can be so debilitating for an organization to have the wrong people getting the attention. It really takes away from the enjoyment and from the fulfillment, that everybody who's fighting the good fight is able to derive from it. And when I think back to some of the experiences that I had, I remember what my first major regional management role was with was with a large commercial bakery, and I had Thunderbay to Vancouver Island. Spent a lot of time in Winnipeg, incidentally. You know, working in that area, I spent two years creating, I was deploying TQM back in the day. So we were doing quality circles and having a bunch of unionized employees wrangling waste, and getting it down and, and really working with the union to help them understand why we were having people work off page and not necessarily working to their their job description, but getting excited for their role. And one organizational shift where they decided to take our regional office out of Calgary and send it back east, and that we were no longer going to play nicey nice with the unions, it dismantled culture overnight, it dismantled all of that positive work we had done, and really made improvement. Not impossible, but a fight again, that didn't have to be. And throughout my career, I think as I evolved, I could design great, elegant processes. I could go in and do the work, I could come up with the answer I could, I could define and measure and analyze and improve till the cows came home and loved doing it, it was a lot of fun. You could get the right answers. And if the leaders weren't on side, you were done. You were dead in the water. And if you manage to get it over the line, the leaders decided that that wasn't what they were interested in anymore. They could dismantle it overnight. I started out as a junior team-building consultant, and then I and then I went in school, I found operations management, and loved it. And then I came full circle. And I realized that really, I could enable other people to do the improvement, teach them the skills and let them go out and, and reengineer the processes. But I needed to focus on hoeing the row for those improvement projects to take place. And getting leadership excited. Yeah, so I mean, that's very similar in terms of where I've ended up because it yes, the other work is very, very important. But it needs to have fertile ground. Otherwise you're, you're throwing good money out. George 13:49Yea, it's interesting, you say fertile ground. And I think immediately about the leader. If the leader doesn't have fertile ground in their brain, we've got a problem. And Gallup, for example, just came out with a statement that 70% of all hiring decisions are wrong, based on you know what a good leader is. And you think, well, what's the characteristics of a good leader? They only have other than the skills, the hard skills, the soft skill, one of the main ones is that they're willing, and they believe in improvement. They believe in Kaizen, it's almost like Kaizen resides in their heart. I believe I can be better tomorrow than I am today. And the day after can be better than tomorrow. And ultimately, if they have that belief system, and they're willing to do the work on themselves, that's like a beacon. It'll just generate light for the rest of the organization. Nobody tests for it. So the fertile ground in my mind is in their brain. And today, I've actually avoided working at mid-level in a company. Avoid 90% failure rate is guaranteed when you're not dealing with the executives, and you're not dealing with the people who actually can, in some ways, demonstrate and expand and proliferate Kaizen and improvement and call it Lean, call it excellence. If they don't do it, nobody else is gonna do it. Tim 15:21That lesson was hard one for me, because often, I'd be entering into the wrong level of an organization. And, you know, it took me losing. Well, we did great work, but the work was… George 15:36It's not sustainable. Okay. Tim 15:41Well, there's priority changes, and the work was just the work was just taken out from under us. And, and it was, it was awful. That, because we knew we knew where we were in the answers we were bringing in, but it was a fickle leader made a snap judgment. And so yeah, I have since for several years now, I only work if I'm starting from the top, because you need to have that conviction. And that willingness, and that space, that space to improve. It's really interesting. Sometimes when you're talking about, you'll run into teams that have capacity challenges and want to improve. And one of the first things that I say is a great reason to go and chase some waste is we have to create enough capacity that we have capacity to improve. And then that is that, I think back to that Covey model, where they talk about the Covey's quadrants, and how that quadrant one is urgent and important. And Quadrant Two is really important but not urgent. If we can get operating in quadrant two, that would where Lean resides in my mind, it's the only quadrant that pays dividends. It's the only one that creates more space to create more space, more efficiency to create more efficiency. Capacity building on top of capacity. If we don't have the support of the leaders to start that process, it's really tough. You have that support lined up top to bottom cascading down through the organization. And it's really easy. That's not only easy, it's fun. And I mean, the work is tough enough, trying to convince leadership trying to work and overcome turbulence in teams. That's tough. Like it's, let's let the work be tough. Let's not let's not make working with people tough. So you'd said something earlier again, before we had hit record here. I want you to share that thought around starting in the students mind. You take care of that a little bit. You're talking about Gemba. And I thought that was fascinating. George 17:54Like a progression for me over the years. But I brought Ritsuo Shingo, bless his heart, he's the late Shingo now. Shingo San, I brought him to Santorini, Greece, along with others, who were leaders in their industry, you know, there's business owners, there's, you know, others like Paul Akers, as an example, I brought him to Santorini, Greece. And we did training there. And we went through a Gemba Walk of Santo Wines, one of the biggest, the biggest winery in Santorini. And we're watching somebody work, we're watching somebody work. And what they're doing is they got a big light facing them, and they got, you know, like three bottles on each end. And they're looking, their eyes are focused on the bottle, and the light is behind it. So, you might be able to see something, you know, in the bottle. And so they're looking for spiders, because the bottle sometimes just, just over. So they do wash the bottles, but sometimes, you know, if there's like a big nest in there, you put that bottle aside and needs extra washing, but this is what this person's job function was. And ritual wouldn't leave. And he's just observing. And I'm thinking, what's he, what could he possibly observe? Like the flow is such that there's such a queue in front of them, and the line is running, and there's no way he's gonna be out of work. Like, he's got a lot of work and the lines running, maybe he's not, maybe they're slack. I don't know if he's trying to calculate how much time he's actually working, versus how many bottles are moved. I don't know what he's doing. And it was so shocking. I said, what do you what are you doing? He says George San, watch his eyes. And I'm watching the workers eyes. And as he lifts the bottles, his eyes are down. I'm going oh, Shingo San I never thought to watch the workers eyes. Like pretend you're in the worker shoes, and think you're the worker, and your job is to do this function. And he says also, there's no standard. I sai, what do you mean no standard. Sometimes he lifts up three bottles, and two, and sometimes two and two, sometimes three and three, there's no standard. And I'm going, Wow, he got all that from what I would just say that's just not important. Okay. So from that, I thought, How does somebody look at improvement? And so for example, I'm coaching somebody now he's a, he's a great coach. His name is Raj Pathak, I'm sure he's he's okay with me using his name. He just went through PDCA excellence training with myself and Dr. Jake Abraham, who is my Toyota coach. And we just finished training. And he did a great A3, now it's time for him to train others. And they've got a big project to do. He's leading the project. And I said, So Raj, tell me what you're thinking, what's the first meeting look like? And why? He says, Well, I want to go right into step one, okay. And I'm trying to understand why he would want to just go right into step one, for everybody of problem-solving, when we got a whole team here, and they're different areas, and he might not have a challenge for each one. So I said, what's your challenge for each individual, and he doesn't have that thought through. So I'm thinking, we need to do some visualization, what this might look like. So that's kind of the biggest thing for me, is if you can't visualize the end, to some degree, getting into it right away, that's the gap. There's a gap between being able to visualize the results, and get everybody else signing up into a charter saying, Here's what we want to do great. That charter, I've seen so many places, I've seen it work, it never works without everybody signing. So that's part of the Nemawashi though the consensus building that you need in Lean today, in order to make it work. So that's why I say you got to think about like, what's in their head? For two reasons. Number one, you want to know if there's any gaps. But number two, what are the gaps between them, and you. You could be the one in the learning seat. And so that's where the teacher sometimes learns more than the student. You know, show me more, tell me how you get that. I did that a couple of times, with students that I'm going, okay, I better pick up that book and read it. Jim 22:37Yeah, in my parlance, over the last few years, fluency has been the big word. And it's, you know, are you fluent in your own beliefs and your own thoughts around what we're about to do? Are you fluent in that and how you conceptualize work and what you value? And how you align to the corporate goals? Or what are your own goals? What's your workstyle? What's your genius? George 23:03We call that a little different. We call that the line of sight. But let me ask you this. What's your long term goal? Tim 23:10Myself? George 23:11Yeah, 10 years. Tim 23:1310 years out? I mean, I think it will be that I've managed to train enough leaders in this, in this practice, that they are self-sufficient, that my own company has a body of work behind it, that allows what can be would you say automated or that can be approached individually is happening and that we are focused in that space where other people can can begin to do some of the heavy lifting, I guess. Whereas for myself, I focus primarily on the teaching, and, and really getting the senior most leaders lined up for the work. The challenge becomes, can you carry that work all the way down to the coalface can it cascade through the organization effectively? And so, I mean, from my own practices, I think that's really important that the company has my clients have the ability to carry this thinking all the way down, internally. And so I'd say for the next 10 years on this, it's really about Systemizing. And in getting that, that together, and I'm on track for that. Whether or not it will materialize in that way. I'm not sure. But I don't exactly know “the how” yet to be frank. George 24:41Yeah. So one of the most amazing things I've come across is some guy on the internet. Norman Bodek, by the way, who's dead again, you know, like he he's gone. Mike, another coach is gone. Norman Bodek said, You need to learn about the people-side of Lean. And I'm going I don't know what that means. So he was talking about the Harada Method, with Kakashi Harada in Japan, teaching people how to be self-reliant. And they come up with their goal. They come up with their tasks, they go and execute and and one of the famous, the famous baseball player in the world today Shohei Ohtani did the 64th chart with Takashi Harada, in Japan. So it's pretty amazing that there is a process for almost every problem. But when you want to be successful, you need a system. You can't just have a process, we can go in with Lean. And we can say, here's a problem describing the problem, which is obviously half solved if you can do that. And we put together some tools and we say let's go through this. And we got a solution. For every problem, there's a solution. But for really successful people, they need a system. And that's why the Harada Method came into into play for me as well. 10 years ago, yeah, Tim 26:09that'll help me answer that, that question. More retrospectively, but yeah, the biggest leaps that I've taken in my business and my coaching practice and, and working with leaders, and again, I specialize in academics, and STEM leaders, people that are they're fairly linear in their thinking or at least linear in their, in the practice. And it really has been. It's funny, because as we talk about where that catastrophic derailment happened due to a that's actually what was the impetus for me taking a step back and looking at everything that I practiced over several decades of doing this work two decades doing this work. And deciding that I wanted to just really box what was working the best and I ended up starting to put my practices into some structures and into some processes. And I'd shied away from that. As the Lean guy, I'd shied away from that instead, you know, opting for more of a artisan approach or job shop approach, because I wanted, I wanted to make sure that I gave everybody a unique path through and I had to get my own mind around the fact that you know what, once I had systemized my approach my first conversation, say with with new coaching clients, suddenly I had a bunch of things going for me one, I didn't have to imagine where I was going next I had a place that I could start. And I knew they were reliable tools I used the most. They're things that I believe in, and that they've always worked. So there, I had linear thinkers I was dealing with, I could show them the path. I remember one point in my career, I had an engineer come up to me and say, Man, that was amazing. You did it was a piece of collaborative contract we're doing. But boy, you sure you sneak up on people. He said to me, I said, What do you mean, he says, We I didn't know what this was all about. And then towards the end of it, I was just like, amazed at how far we come out sure would have been calmer. If I had known where you were gonna take us well, now I can put a roadmap in front of this is what we're about to do, I'm not going to wait and deliver a punch line and, and make a guess at what we're going to do. And then the ability to just really test those theories, as blueprints for people doing well, and prove them out until they can be now I can isolate if I'm going to improve something about them, I can see the whole path. And, you know, it's so funny because I try not to be too hard on myself. But you know, you know these tools, and just the ability to step back and apply them to your own business, something that could seem rather chaotic, has made a big difference. George 29:01The entrepreneur does that. The entrepreneur thinks they must recreate everything for our client for every customer. So look, that's not a bad thing. You just got to recognize that if you want to stay a one person company, you'd better start thinking differently. Entrepreneur not. Because yeah, because there are people out there that like a system. And nowadays two companies are growing. Their reference of the past is not as relevant as it was. So what they're doing is they're experimenting their way towards the future. And understanding how to experiment is critical. So you know, of course Mike Rother is, you know, that Toyota Kata guy, and he used to be a student of Jeff Likers. So, you know, it's coming kind of from the same place. What did we miss with Toyota? What we missed was the soft stuff. We got the hard stuff. You know, 4S, they have at Toyota not 5S, we kind of know how to do that. But we don't have the discipline. And we're always thinking, look at all these tools, what are they there for? They're there to develop the people. And we never thought like that. We were, you know, great people, great products, they kind of bound it in between you got all your tools and systems and results. But it starts with great people. And it ends with a great product. You know, they kind of bound the problem there. And I don't know too many industries that wouldn't start like that, you know, we need great people. And what are those great people? Well, they're the ones that want to improve. And because they're doing it, they can demonstrate to others, in several ways coach and develop them to do it. And what are they striving for? Well, we need to get short term and long term results, you got to do both. So it's kind of like a big challenge in industry, especially everywhere, it doesn't matter. But we got the quarter crunch, the year end, you know, we got to make our numbers all the time, I just remember that the nightmare I was in, when I worked at New Flyer Industries, which ultimately ended up going bankrupt or taken over whatever. But it was a nightmare. We owed all our suppliers, like a lot of our suppliers, tons of money 120 million past 90 days. So it was like crazy, that's the way to run a business is to try to start a bus so you can get a progress payment, and then pay for parts on the buses that are in the yard. So you can actually get them shipped to the customer. So the challenge is applying lean is like an exercise in futility. What we got is great people, and we got to get those results. So we kind of nailed it. And Toyota went bankrupt way back in the 50s. So that's where, you know, they kind of learned their lesson. That's why they have a big bank account. Tim 31:57The big question that's left is you think about your journey through and how your thinking and your and your application. And your focus has evolved. When you think about that leadership experience that you're now focused on the other part of that Gallup poll that I thought was really interesting, or sorry, not Gallup poll, but their their recent publication was, they had said, They figure 10% of the population has the DNA of a leader, the ability to actually, you know, operate in them. And I my hypothesis is, it's actually smaller, because although they may start with 10%, only a fraction of that, I like to say 6% have the opportunity to lead or have not incurred other baggage, or something that will take them out of the mix, or don't have a personal situation that wouldn't allow them to do that, or haven't suffered trauma that wouldn't allow them to do that. So when you look at the leadership experience, and as you watch the leaders that you're working with, really grasp these concepts and then apply them and become higher and higher performing. What do you think the key, in your experience, what are the key mindsets? As I say, you know, you've talked about the five principles, what are some of the watershed moments that you see with leaders where they, you know, a light bulb goes on? And, and it clicks and they really get something? Could you share some thoughts on that? In terms of what are some of those big pivot points? George 33:32Yeah. Okay, I'm not sure they're big pivot points. This is part of the problem. Tim 33:34Sure. George 33:45The problem is we have a lot of little pivot points, which end up making a lot of big change at the end of the day. Tim 33:48Great, perhaps, what are some of the common little pivot points? George 33:50Yeah, so, number one, when I look at leaders getting excited, I think about why are they getting excited? It's because you've pointed out something, whether it's through your book or what have you. It's something that they did not expect. Okay, here's what they expected. And they got something else, there's a gap between what they expected and what they got. That gap is called learning. And as soon as you can increase the learning for that leader, they get hooked. It is the adrenaline, it's the dopamine that you know, gets released in your head. As soon as they do that, they get hooked. So one of one of my students in Germany, she was, I can't remember how we got to this. We were talking about a book called The Power of Habit or something. And I said, Look, a company is made up of habits. So tell me the behavior you would like to see. Tell me what the trigger is and how do you make sure that trigger happens? Because you got to have a trigger. You know, and then you can do the routine was the behavior and you need to kind of reinforce for yourself that that was a good thing to do. And you reinforce it in many ways. So she was, I want to make my bed every morning. I don't know why maybe she heard it and you know, they do it in the army and stuff. Okay, I want to make my bed every morning. So I said, Great. Let's talk a little bit about the trigger. So the trigger is, okay, I'm not gonna have my coffee. I'm gonna get up, I'm gonna put my clothes on, I'm gonna put my slippers on or whatever she's doing. There's a trigger somewhere for her to make her bed. Good. Then she makes the bed. And I said, what's the reward? And she struggled. We have a hard time programming our own thinking to say this is successful. And I said, Okay, I think in the book, they talked a little bit about somebody going on the sheets, just straightening out the sheets. And that felt good. I think it was a  Febreeze thing. I mean, they did that as a reward. And I thought, Okay, why don't you try that. And she says, George, it worked the next day. It worked. I can't believe it. Specifically thinking about the reward. I did this on the bed, and it smoothed out. And I felt good. I smiled. Well, okay, good. The smile is the reward too. So we have a hard time building in new habits that we know we need to have. Because we don't understand that we need a trigger. We need to do the routine because you know, it's important. And we need to create that little reward. And after that becomes a habit, you're done. You're done. Because every time today, when I go into a meeting, I always ask, what's the purpose? And what's the desired outcome of that meeting? I always ask it's a habit for me. And at the end, I always say it's time for Hansha, which is Japanese for reflection. Okay, what went well, during this meeting? What can we do better? How do we build that in for next time, and we improve our meetings each time. So that's just my meeting routines. But the habits make the difference. And so when I start with somebody, what, what we're doing is we're learning. And when we're learning, I'm saying, Are you satisfied with everything? You know, the way life is? Or would you like to improve something? And of course, we bring up the Taiichi Ohno no problem is the biggest problem of all? Yeah, okay, if you're, if you don't have a problem you want to fix then then I'm really no good to you. But let's, let's fix something, let's break it up, let's make sure we have little habits that we put together, maybe that'll create a routine, maybe that falls into a system that we built for you. Okay, so this is excellent when they can see how all this comes together. And they're excited about it, and then they transfer it to others. So I just think it's those little learning bits that make all the sense in the world. Tim 38:00Well, there's one other thing that you said there that I think I like to just stop on. And that's for your students that you talked to make the bed and then smooth out the sheets. And take a moment to reflect that you did this and that you're enjoying it and that the smile is the reward. You had said earlier that it's really important to, you know, go to the Gemba. And that being get into the students mind and understand what they're starting with. Right, this kind of thing. And I think it's a really interesting concept to say, maybe that going to the Gemba is getting into our own mind for a minute. And just stop for a second. And appreciate why you appreciated the reflection again, but saying, hey, you know, understand what you're out for here and understand what you just created for yourself. And take a moment, I used to be a chef. I was so I was a I was a classically trained chef, before I went back to business school. And what's the most important thing that a chef can do throughout that, that experiences if you're not tasting, you're not in control of the process? You have to stop and enjoy. Your own soup for a minute, if you're going to truly understand is it ready to go out? You have to look at it and say is this beautiful? What I just created here? You have to take a moment. And I think that's also part of sort of empathy when we're dealing with other people see it from their perspective. Appreciate it for a moment for what it is take a moment to be there with the person but you know, and this is where I'm like be there for a moment with yourself because I'm I was always really bad at that. I would do something meaningful. And I would steamroll right past it. Right. I wouldn't take praise for it. I wouldn't. Very bad at saying You're welcome. These kinds of things. You have to take a moment and say we just did something for a minute here, let's just put pause and realize, we got to the milestone we thought we were gonna get it because that gives us fuel for the next time we make the push. And the next time we do the next piece of effort, George 40:09That's called celebration, but we have to celebrate. Yeah. And being grateful. Look, that's all preparing your mind. And that's preparing yourself to be a better person, which you can then translate to others. So all of this is all teachings that you can apply to work. The customer, really, we got to turn this into value-added, we've run a business, we can't go home and say, Hey, I did this, I smoothed my bed. And now I want you to pay more for that product. No. So all of this is part of the little steps that it takes for them to say, Hey, I did this at home. Why can I do this at work? What's wrong with doing five paths? In a way, where there's a trigger? Five minutes before the end of the shift? Everybody does a five-minute 5S and we give each other a high five before we leave nothing wrong? Unless you're in COVID times, then maybe it's an elbow bump, you know? Tim 41:16Yeah. Well, it's been really enlightening to hear your perspectives on this stuff. And I hope we can do it again, because I'm having a lot of fun. And I'm learning through this conversation. So thank you very much for that. I want to make sure that people know how they can get involved with your thinking, how you'd like to be contacted, if somebody is inspired to reach out. George 41:38So my name is George Trachilis, they can go to georgetrachilis.com, they can contact me if they want to talk to me, or, you know, book me for a meeting and my calendars right there. That's the best way. Also, there's resources like the Harada Method I mentioned, you can go to finditgeorge.com, which is a great place that I'm building up now. And anybody can type something like A3, and they will have examples of A3s there. But if you type Harada, you'll get the five, five worksheets to use in the Harada Method. If you buy the book, I don't have anything to do with the book. But I promote the book. And those five worksheets are in there. So type Harada and download them for free. Tim 42:32Great, we'll make sure to put those links in the show notes so that everybody has quick access to them. One piece of advice from George Trachilis. George 42:40Yeah, and you know what I put it as a quote on my website, too. I've been where you are Tim, and I thought I've got so much to offer. You know, these executives, they just, sometimes they just don't see what I see. The key is to have an open enough relationship with these people where you can ask a question, and you ask a question to learn. And you can ask a question to teach. And in those situations, you're going to have to ask a question to teach, you're gonna have to figure out what that question is, that will allow you to not be offensive. Because Lord knows we can be offensive in what we're asking, and come across in a way that's very respectful, but gets your point across. But it's a question. They don't have to answer it. So many times. They're thinking short-term. And the question can simply be, are we thinking about the long term and the ramifications of doing this? Six months from now, versus what we get today? So, you know, I my quote was always just ask questions. Sooner or later, you'll become a teacher. Tim 43:56Once again, hey, thank you for for doing this. It was fantastic to spend some time with you. And we'll do it again. I'll talk to you real soon. Thank you so much for listening to Sweet on Leadership. If you found today's podcast valuable, consider visiting our website and signing up for the companion newsletter. You can find the link in the show notes. If like us, you think it's important to bring new ideas and skills into the practice of leadership. Please give us a positive rating and review on Apple podcasts. This helps us spread the word to other committed leaders. And you can spread the word to by sharing this with your friends, teams and colleagues. Thanks again for listening. And be sure to tune in in two weeks time for another episode of Sweet on Leadership. In the meantime, I'm your host, Tim sweet, encouraging you to keep on leading

jD, Pete, and Tim are back and this week they're discussing the EP Saskadelphia. TracksMontreal - Studio outtake Ouch - Studio versionCrack my Spine (Like a Whip) - Live from Halifax 1991Reformed Baptist Blues - Studio versionTranscriptTrack 1:[0:00] If you're a fan of the Tragically Hip, this is your hip fest. Getting Hip to the Hip, September 1st at The Rec Room. Celebrate the music of the hip with a live tribute act, the finale of a hip-based podcast, and a silent auction with amazing hip prizes, with all proceeds going to support the Gord Downieand Chani Wenjack Fund. If you're a fan of the hip, you need to be there. Tickets available now at gettinghiptothehip.com. Track 2:[0:28] The first, and to date, only posthumous release by the tragically hip is 2021's marvelous EP, Saskadelphia. [0:37] Borrowing its title from the original name of Road Apples, this record packs a punch in under 20 minutes of non-stop rock. Even the chilling theme of the song Montreal moves mountains with its haunting chorus. I remember downloading Saskadelphia on the mail-on weekend in 2021 and I was immediately transported back to 1991. [0:59] In some cases, we're even invited into this studio with banter between Gord and someone named Bruce. It was a total trip hearing these songs from a bygone era with a pair of ears from the 21st century. In some cases it was familiar, as I own bootlegs of Crack My Spine Like a Whip and Just as Well, but these new versions were bursting at the seams with nuance that only a studiorecording can offer. I felt nostalgic and sad listening, but by the end I was grinning ear to ear. This was a fantastic hip experience, and it's one I hope we get to enjoy with the upcoming re-release of Phantom Power, and I'm calling it here first, but I think we see an Up to Here boxset celebrating 35 years sometime in 2024. But don't quote me on that, unless I'm right of course. At any rate, I'm nervous about giving this one to Pete and Tim. Although they both enjoyed Road Apples initially, will they appreciate the significance of this EP? Will nostalgia be a factor for a pair of people who only first heard the band in November of 2022? [2:08] What kind of impact will this have? We'll have to wait and see on this episode of Getting Hip to the Hip. Track 5:[2:40] All right hey hey it's JD here and we are back again for another uh well let's call it the penultimate episode of getting hip to the hip i'm here as always with my friends Pete and Timto discuss Seminole Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip we're going through every album and we find ourselves at the last album. An EP as it were, Saskadelphia. It was released for the May long weekend in 2021 and it's a it's it's a trip back to the road Apple days. Before we get too deep into that discussion though, how the fuck are you guys doing? Well you know I'm a little a little of a Climbed a little tongue-tied. I don't know. I told my kid, Sage, this morning, I was like, this is sort of one of the last recordings. It's about 20 minutes of music. [3:41] And he was very encouraging on moving on to more pod stuff, because he knows I've totally loved doing this. But at the same time, I'm like, do we have to do this today, guys? Can we postpone it? Pause right here and do it later. Because it's like the last bunch of songs, really. The problem is, in a week, you'll be here. It's true. It's true. You'll be here, and we'll be doing the For Real last episode. Hope to see you there at Getting Hip to the Hip, an evening for the Donnie Wenjack Fund. Tickets are $40. You can get them on gettinghiptothehip.com. [4:20] Slash click the ticket button. Do that. It'll be good. Pete, how are you, man? I'm good. Um, your cadence threw me off there at the beginning, JD, because when you said I'm here with my good friends, Pete and Tim to discuss, and I thought you were going to,you're going to say two disgusting fucking individuals, but just to discuss. And then you were like the penultimate record. So, no, I'm good. Everybody knows that by now. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Kidding me with our link or that way. We fucking two sailors, three sailors here. That's right. With your captain Pete who we've gotten, I think we've gotten, uh, we've gotten a couple of emails from people saying, do you haveto use the F-word so much? You swear like sailors, ahoy motherfuckers. Yeah. Yeah. I'm, I'm, I'm still looking forward to the, to the, uh, to the live event. I cannot wait. It's going to be so much fun. I'm I just I just hope I hope people are that show up want to that want to just talk about the hip. And I'm like, I'm wondering what other people say because I only know you guys. [5:37] Like, I've only I only really well my friend Barb too, but like, like, yeah, I don't talk about the hip, but I'm gonna be surrounded with a shit ton of people who fucking love the hip. It's going to be cool, man. Has Barb, has Barb confirmed? Barb's not confirmed, but Barb's on the fence. She's, she's, I think she just, we need to, we need to push Barb over the edge. How do we do that? We're pushing her right now. Barb, if you're listening. It's a, it's a love push, Barb. Barb. We're just giving you, we're just giving you a little, little bump you need. You need to be there, Barb. Careful, one person's love push is another person's incarceration, so you want to be careful with that. Well, I said bump, I meant like a little tiny, you know. Was that a Burning Bush reference? Is that a Bible reference? I missed it, went over my head. I'm out of swords today, gentlemen. [6:37] Are we gonna tackle this record? Well, let's talk about where you guys listened to this record for the first time. Where did listen to it, give me the environment, give me the background, give me the details, and then we'll go song by song. For me, no, my car is not a Yugo with the premium audiosound system. Surely it is not. Surely it is not. They're out of business. No, I listen to it in the car a lot, listen to it on my computer a lot. I've been doing a lot of work at the desk and was really surprised with this record, really surprised. kind of. [7:18] Yeah, I'll save all that, but yeah, listen mainly at the computer and in the car. All right. How about you, Tim? I'm the same. Same exact. Yeah. Sitting down. Sitting down. And it's a quick one, right? It's like 20 minutes and you're through. Yeah, 20 minutes. Right. Yeah. It's a tupper. When they first released it, they called it an album. I'm pretty sure they said it was an album. And a lot of people bitched. A lot of people were like, this isn't an album, it's an EP. It's six songs. Who called it that? I believe they did centrally, but even on the wiki page now, it's listed as an EP. So I don't know if it's been officially changed or what, but I'm calling it an EP. And it's a nice bookend. You get the EP at the beginning and you get the EP at the end, you know, in terms of bookends. Unless there's other music out there. But this came out after Gord's passing. This did. Yes. Yeah. 21. Yeah. 2021. People are bitching after the fact. Way to go hit fans. What a show. How about you? How about you, JD? JD, where, what was your experience when this came out? Oh boy. [8:25] Uh, did you grab it? Yeah. Um, I bought the 35th or the 30th it's yeah. The 30th anniversary of road apples, a box set. And it came in that box set and it came with live camp. It was a great box set because it came with a remastered road apples. It came with Saskadelphia. It came with Live at the Roxy and I want to say another record so it was chock full of cool cool shit for me it was just it was just a trip because it was like the last we heard of this band. [9:03] Was Man-Machine-Poem and it's very different from Road Apples, very different from Road Apples. And all of a sudden I was listening to brand new hip that was 35 years old, you know? So it was like, it was really, it hurt my brain a little bit, my brain was doing spirals, you know? Like it was like, this doesn't make sense, this is new, but this is really old. So I don't quite understand what this is all about, you know. But very much enjoyed it. A little disappointed that the version of Montreal is a live version, but I like the live version. It's good, you know. There's a reason. Yeah, there's a reason. And we'll get into that as we go. Should we start with Ouch? [9:54] Well, let's do a little more backstory. Yeah, go. Because in my experience of this EP, I went really quickly to YouTube and ended up watching some of the mini episodes that featureJohnny Faye in the Universal Warehouse finding the tapes. That's crazy. And all that stuff. And it was really interesting to go through those and hear him talk about Universal claiming the fire they had in the warehouse that was, I think he said they found out about it, the NewYork Times article. Yeah. Yeah, that's all I remember. And it listed all these bands whose tapes burned, and they were on the list. And so... [10:42] Johnny, I think. I forget who else. Johnny and somebody else immediately, it sounds like, really quickly went down to hunt down the tapes and they didn't burn. And he even had a comment, or most of them anyways, he even had a comment about how universal they thought. Actually, this was Baker in a different interview, because I watched a bunch with him too. Baker said that they thought that maybe the fire and the tapes were this multi-mega cash-in on getting assets destroyed that weren't really destroyed. But ultimately, they've said that they found 45-ish of 60-ish tapes and there's still potentially more out there. [11:29] So, there's some great interviews on this stuff. I probably watched, I don't know, six interviews. Oh, wow. Yeah. Yeah, I was kind of laid up one day and just had some time to kill and watch them, watch them interview. So yeah, so it's, maybe there is more out there. I mean, they pulled together, what is this, five songs? Well, six with Montreal, but yeah. Six. Yeah, six. And, you know, if there's, if we get six more eventually, that would be awesome. Yeah, because they are, I mean, there is talk of Phantom Power being reissued. They announced that last year that Phantom Power would be reissued this year. The 25th anniversary has passed, but I suspect it'll be a Christmas release, you know, but I don't know anything beyond that. [12:16] No, the cover of Phantom Power was actually done by Rob Baker. Really? That's a fact. Oh, wow. Rob Baker studied graphic design, I believe. Graphic design. Oh, yeah. University of Queensland? Queens, Queens University, yeah. Queens. Yeah. near the Bronx. Yeah, right now the Bronx just a hop, skipping the jump away. I'm skipping a jump. I had not, I had not heard or watched and heard interviews with him really yet. And man, I want to hang out with that guy. He is so. Baker? I don't know. He had so many. He had, yeah, he had so many fun, not fun. It's somebody wise one-liners just in the course of conversation with interviewers. Like he's just fucking Zen dude. So chill. Sorry. Some of it was during COVID and he was talking about like during COVID, how his son moved back home and they were, they had set times during the week where theywere jamming together and ah, man, it just. That's very cool. It's just a rad sounding dude. Yeah. Yeah. Well, get in line, Tim, because. [13:26] I'll be behind you. Yeah. Yeah. Rob Baker and I, we go back. We're gonna, I'm in Kingston. We got a we got a couple of beer dates Talk gear. I think it was I think it was ouch That Johnny Fay one of the YouTube video the one of these little mini episode things that Johnny Fay He's listening. There's a video of him listening to ouch. I believe it was out and And it gets to the end, and it stops. And he's so elated and excited. And he said something like, it even has an end. So stoked to find a complete song. Before we jump into the record, did you guys see the, Tim, I didn't watch all the interviews, but what's his name? Craig Rogers sent that email with the videos from the Cineplex event they did. Right, yeah. They did an event at the bathhouse. I didn't see that. Oh, dude, it's fucking cool. I mean, the only videos that he could find were... Or Bob Cajun, Escape is at Hand, Country Day and Coffee Girl, but they did this live event at the bathhouse. [14:44] During Bob Cajun, Rob Baker's just playing guitar. I don't think anybody else is in the video if I remember correctly, and Gord Downie's just shooting pool and singing this songwhile he's shooting pool. It's the coolest fucking thing. Oh my God, I got to see this. It's so cool, man. It's one of the coolest fucking, he's just like, he's, and it's a weird, like, I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm not, when, you know, when we go to the bath house and eventually record there one day, I'm not going to piss and moan to the guys about the pool table. I hope it's a bar size table, but I noticed that the balls in Canada, they weren't like, you know, the color balls like we have in the U S or like red balls. And then maybe a different color. Were they playing snooker maybe? Maybe it was like a snooker table but yeah. Yes they are. They are. They're playing snooker. I just pulled it up. I did this. Sorry Craig. I didn't I didn't I didn't go through. I saw it Craig. Thanks. I'm sorry I haven't had a chance to respond. I've been busy working this week. Yeah I haven't. [15:51] Sorry Craig. Very cool. Yeah. Got something new to check out. That's great let's dive in ouch ouch ouch. [19:12] Go ahead, Timmy. Take it. Well, this one kind of brought me back to Born in the Water. And back then, when we were talking about Road Apples, if I recall correctly, I had some comments about it being bluesy, and George Thurgood, whatever. I had some comments like, why are these guys? They're a rock and roll band, but they're in different buckets of genres within rock and roll. And not many bands can do that and do it successfully. A lot of them try, and I think don't do as good of a job. And so listening to Ouch made me realize, it just brought me kind of full circle on The Hip's abilities and their skills and their talents and brought me to this kind of new level of fandomof thinking about that. [20:18] And like I imagine I have some friends from back in the day who are big time music guys and I imagine that what they would would think about listening to different types of songsby The Hip and how some who are not Hip fans might think it's kooky or why they're doing this. Or it's kind of out of a comfort zone. But listening to Ouch and going back to Road Apples and Born in the Water and songs like that, like it just, it brought me kind of, It completed the circle of thinking. [20:49] These guys are really talented they can do whatever they want to do they're they got the they got their driver's licenses they got the keys you know it's it's just like god what couldwhat can they not do at this point you know and the the song is we could talk about the song and all the aspects of it and gourd's growly singing and you know all the things but this onejust kind of it just kind of hit me full circle with the band and it made me think like at one point i was like thinking about you know in the u.s, raiders fans or fans of certain teams or youknow i bleed whatever i don't know it's all these stupid things of these allegiances to to cultural items and how, or genres or arts and how some people can be like, just so narrow within acategory of something that they really love and how, like, I don't know this. If you opened up your mind a little bit and accept things a little more, why are you hiring now? [22:04] Have more enjoyment. No, no, you can have more enjoyment. No, seriously, I had a moment with this song. Wow. Really fucking solidified why I like The Hip and why I could argue to the end of all day is about how they're fucking better than youtwo. How's that? Yeah. You know? Yeah. So there. That's what happened to me with this song. [22:29] That's far out. Probably led to so many video watchings because I was like, Like just give me more at a personal level of these guys. It's 9.53 in the morning for fuck's sake. It's not even 10. Can I wait till 10 to get high? 20 somewhere, baby. That's right. What about you, Pete? [22:52] Um, I, I dug this song. The only thing I, you know, can kind of gather that, you know. [23:00] I, I agree with Tim on, um, not that I disagree with him on what else he was saying. But you know, just kind of one of the points that he made was that this kind of brought it full circle. Like, I think when we started out with road apples, Tim and I were both kind of like,where are we going with this? And then even when we talked to Paul Ling Wah the other day, how he was, you know, we were talking about, you know, everybody has a different entry point to the hip, you know, westarted from the, from the very beginning. You know so maybe that wasn't our destined entry point, but it was the entry point nonetheless. And we kind of came back full circle because now we got this similar sound of what road apples was without and My only comments on the song itself, which I loved It just painted apicture And I'll read it to you It's 11 15 p.m, The bar is dirty and it's dingy the happy hour crowd has gone home drunk already The band's starting to get into its back catalog and angrytunes. And the close the bar down crowd has just showed up, you know. The guy with the pull cue in the fucking case, a couple of bar room hustlers, a couple of hot chicks that um... [24:29] That frequent the bar. Everybody showed up. Barkeep's getting surly. Barkeep is getting surly. [24:39] Everything about this band, this song, gave me the vibe like they're just up on stage playing and they don't give a fuck. They don't care. They've done it so many times, It's just, it's like muscle memory to them. And they're just, rock and roll is just fucking in their veins. And it's on display for everybody who's probably taking it for granted at the bar. It seems that way. Yeah. Yeah. Because Lord knows, I mean, I took Road Apples and that shit for granted. Did you guys go back to it? Like, after listening to this record, did you go back to Road Apples? To Road Apples, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, like to try and see what like to me I did the same thing and it was like it was to try and see where these songs would have fit in because like asmuch as it's new material we all have to understand too it's material that they felt wasn't up to snuff to make the actual record, right? Yeah, which is weird to me like but maybe it was just a time thing. Yeah, yeah. Because I thought the majority of these songs on this record were great. [25:51] Yeah. Yeah, I tend to agree with you. I enjoy it. It's not long enough to be offensive. Even if it was offensive, you know? You're in and you're out, and it's done. Yeah. What it did for me, I mean, I went back to Road Apples, but I also, again, went. [26:12] To video stuff like i hung out on youtube more with this one and pete it's funny you mentioned kind of a bar scene because the video for this song it's kind of all about a bar sceneit's it's a fun it's a really i didn't know there was the videos for a few yeah there's videos for a few of these yeah jay baruchel's in that video right ouch ouch is it yeah yeah ouch is a hootit's got like all these hidden nuggets through the video with references to other songs or albums. Yeah I think there was like 20 of them. It's a really good video. Yeah, yeah. It's a really, really good video. I watched it a couple times. Super interesting. Yeah, a lot of fun. So check that out. All right, let's move to Not Necessary. Not necessary. [27:01] Um, again, this is just like, I thought this song would have fucking cooked live. I mean, like, like most of the songs on this EP, just like pictured sweat just fucking pouring off of everybody's foreheads. And just, yeah, it was just a good time record, man. A good time tune. Chorus was super hooky, just like, had a great, like it did sound, the chorus sounded like it was, you know, crafted in that time. Like if you saw a TNC Surf t-shirt, somebody was wearing it walking down the street, you'd know what like year that kind of came from. I don't know if anybody remembers TNC Surf.Do you remember that company? Well, yeah. Yeah. Anyway, um, TNC Serpent Skate it was called. But yeah, it's just like, yeah, that would be, you'd know what era it was from. And definitely this song was a bit of just, they were justhaving such a fucking good time. It was kind of a window into their youth. Yeah, yeah, that's good call. Life on the road in the van, you can almost smell the inside of the van, stinky and, you know, sweaty and lived in. Yeah. How about you, Tim? [28:25] I agree with Pete on all that. I don't have much more on the song. I dug the song. I really no qualms about it. [28:37] This one I went faster to video. I hate to say that I just watched videos on all this shit, but I watched a lot of videos. And this one's cool. It's like bank robbery gone wrong. It's got a total plot, to it that somehow ties into the song. I haven't seen the video for this one. It's a really... Oh man, it's killer. Check that out. It's got a cliffhanger at the end. It's a fun video and I just... It really... I don't know, just after listening to so much music by these guys with cans and not having much visually other than some live stuff, like it was fun to find videos from this EP. So, definitely watch Ouch and watch Not Necessary. Great song. Right, we move next to the very solemn song about the École Polytechnique massacre that happened in the late 80s in Montreal, where a young man brutally murdered 14students and the Tragically Hip wrote a response to that it's very loosely based in that although it's bang on at the same time like there are lyrics in it that give you chills, you know? [30:05] But what did you think of Montreal, Tim? [30:11] It's a heavy one. I think I read that 27 people were shot, 14 died. You know, it's one of these songs that you could throw in a bucket by the hip that aren't something I reach for just because of the subject material. You know, it's like one of those heavy things that's Marked history and something uncomfortable and something that we we still deal with Every day, you know like the like a few othertheir songs in this this whole Tragedy, I don't know it's it's a It's you know our Mind may be privileged to listen to it and feel unsettled and move on and put it in a drawer You know,because it's fucking tough history and a tough topic and all the things. And yeah, it's also like, I commend The Hip for and Gord for writing it and them playing it live. Like it's this song is brave, it takes courage and I don't know, I just I don't have a lot of music, just actual tune. Sure. Comments about it, just because it's like, you know? [31:40] Because, I mean, just also being in the USA, I mean, we deal with this stuff all the time. So it's just like, you know, it's probably a song that everybody should hear and play. [31:55] Let me just tell a quick little anecdote before we come to you Pete. I remember my friend Jeff who was older than me and he drove to Toronto for a show, a hip show at the old Ontario Place Forum and I remember him coming back and saying there's thissong called Montreal I think it's going to be on the next record like it was so great like and I got to hear it again And this is back in the day when you just couldn't hear it again. That was it. He heard it and that was his memory of it. And that's the end. He didn't get to hear it again until years later. You hear traces of it on Live Between Us during Courage, I believe. They start singing the tail end of Montreal. Pete, what did you think of this live version? I really liked it. I did. I thought it was very haunting. Those little, you know, cool guitar licks. Those little, you know, I think they're arpeggios or something. And then when the chorus just switches over to a major, it's like a, you know, beautiful. [33:12] What's the way it kind of puts into a happier space, but then it just gets dark again. It was just a bit of a seesaw feeling, this song, but it's definitely something that I, again, I mean, I don't know if it was because of it was a live version, but, you know, I would probably, if Iheard the studio version of this tune, I would want to hear it live too, because it was really a really pretty song, but it was, Because of the six songs on this record. [33:45] I would say it was, you know, I would say it was not my favorite, but I really liked it. I think just because it starts off so heavy. Yeah. Record, you know? Yeah. So. All right. No. JD, if you checked out JD, I guess there's a DVD of that show at the Metropolis. Oh really? That's available, yeah, there's a DVD that's available for free, like via the Hip Fans webpage. I haven't gone back to checking that. Yeah, you might. Check that out, because that sounds pretty awesome. There's some fan... They don't tend to give things away very often. There's some fan footage that... Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, there's some fan footage that somebody produced a DVD. Oh, wow. Okay. Well if you're interested in the 7-inch of Montreal, we have an autographed copy of the 7-inch of Montreal and it'll be at the silent auction of the event so that's kind offun. That's a fun one. Yeah, and I should note it's auctioned by the four living members of the band. Like it's not a complete, you know, Gord is not on there. But you get all the living members of the band and that's pretty fucking cool. You get Pete, Tim and JD to sign it too. That's right. That was a joke because it'll be devalued if that happens. [35:14] So we flip the record over and we get the fucking electric, crack my spine like a whip. [38:30] This song fucking melts, doesn't it? Yeah, yeah. [38:35] You know, this is the one, this is the one that Johnny Faye was like, it has an ending too. This was the one he was so psyched about. This is over here in my notes, I'm finally getting on that. And this is the song that led me to ask Paul about he and Baker's guitar playing and he noted how they're who was it Dan Smith Don Smith who also makes this yeah how he channeledthem yeah how he channeled them and put one in the left and one of the right and the hard pan yeah so this song made me yeah the hard pan this song made me realize I don't know it wasit It was a complete picture in my brain of what these guys were doing on guitar. And I even said to Paul, I tried to get into it a little bit, but I would love to talk to him in person about it. But this song, Paul on guitar, he's just got the, just reminds me of 80s power guitar chords, just like Ramones and 80s bad religion. And he's just going through it. It's like he's the fucking locomotive of this song, which also ties in with Pete so many times, how you've said how Paul and Johnny are like a unit unlike any other, cause it's usually drumsand the bass player, you know? [40:02] But these guys have such an interesting compositional makeup within each other, you know? This song to me, like, it kind of personified their abilities And, you know, they're I don't know, just this this song is killer. I just loved it. I listened to it so many times, so many times. It's just killer. Good one. Good song. Yeah. Thanks. Thank you, Don Smith. I mean, you you nailed it with these guys not being rhythm and lead or lead and rhythm. You nailed it with these guys being guitarists. So just let it ride. [40:39] Well, I thought this song it fucking cooked. I mean, I don't have much to say about it, other than the fact that, um, I, you know, to your point, Tim, to add on to it, I think it was more than just Paul and Johnny, I think, Paul, Johnny,Gord, and Rob Baker, are all like, on stage in a fucking musical orgy. And strangely enough, I feel like Gord is in background of the song. He's not a I mean he's there but I wouldn't call him the star of the show for this song. That fucking band like just stepped in front. Gord's like you know in the back like, you know, Maybe changing Johnny's fucking crash cymbal because he broke it so many times duringthe song. He's there and it's good and not trying to take away from Gord's vocals, but the band just fucking destroys this song. You could tell they were having a blast when they recorded it. Hands down. They just take over, you know? Yeah. So yeah, good song. [41:56] One of the YouTube videos on this, I just went back to it. They're called the Saskadelphia Minutes. And there's like five or six episodes, but not all of them are posted. But there is a one minute, they're all short, there is a one minute version of our video for this song just as well. And it's got some fun live footage of the guys. is one thing I think Baker was talking about in a video is how a lot of these songs they did play live and he didn't really have many answersor questions about like why didn't they make it or where did they go or what happened you know he was just like we had a lot of songs and he one cool takeaway of these songs inparticular and just as well was that they didn't rehearse much He spoke at length about how they didn't rehearse much and they road-tested new songs. He said often they'd come out and whatever new song they were working on, they'd play first. Like that was their warm-up, was road-testing a song. And like bands don't do that. Like nobody does that. You know what I mean? It's like you play first base for whatever. [43:16] And coach is like, hey, you're going out, move to left field. And it's like, OK, I'll play left field. I think I can do this. And it's just gnarly what these guys were capable of. It's pretty awesome. And just to back up to our last pod, it's about the absolute opposite of what Mr. Bob Rock these guys do one. You know? It really is. It's like if they could go out and road test a song, first show, the first song of the night. Yeah. Phew. you, Yeah, rather than work on something for a couple ofmonths. It's I think road testing was the way to go. That's the unique gift there to us as listeners and fans. You got to just see your favorite band jam. [44:09] And sometimes they'd come up with something, and you're just like, wow, what is that? I got to hear that. Like my friend with Montreal. Yeah. You know? And then when. Yeah. Yeah, Baker said, you know, we played 200 plus shows a year. We knew each other. We know each other. We're all best friends. We could do it. We could just sit down and figure something out. And if we liked it, we'd go do it. Goddamn. What a gift those guys had. So you merged into Just As Well there, Tim. We were talking about Crack My Spine Like a Whip, and you've brought it into Just as Well, so should we stick with Just as Well for Pete? Or do you have more to say about Just as Well? [44:55] I mean only about picking scabs. All right. Yeah. Because that's the line in Just as Well. For the love of Pete. It's going to keep getting infected. It's going to keep getting infected if you keep picking at it. Oh, Pete, they knew. Yeah, right, right. Sure they did. I love the ready Bruce right at the beginning. That was fun. [45:23] Hmm. This was one I genuinely was like, what the fuck? Why is why was this not on the record? Oh, wow. This was. Hmm. Hundred percent. Hundo. This was probably my favorite tune on the record. Got a lot of Stones vibes. Yeah. I mean, super big. Everything from the guitar tone to just the song itself, just rolling stones. Yeah. And I don't know, man, the more it ebbs and flows because, excuse me, the longer I listen to this band, the more I just understand each and every member, because specifically thissong, Gord Sinclair's bass stands out so much because it follows, I think, Rob Baker's guitar licks. And it just, yeah, what a talented fucking band, man. At this stage in the game they were. [46:31] You know, yeah, what do you, I mean, what a fucking jam. What do you want me to say about the song just cooks dude you know the hook turn around it's just it's so good it's a pop tune, rock pop tune fucking formulaic yeah it is a good one it is agood formula right like it's like original coca-cola it's like it's a formula but it's it works it's it's yeah but there's a lot there's a lot of coke out there there's a lot of soda there's rc there's youknow there's shasta There's that store-bought shit, but this is original fucking recipe, man. This is, maybe even a little savour original. [47:13] Listen to that rolling R's. You like that? Yeah. So, the next one is... [50:44] I just thought, let's go get in the car and go for a drive, you know. It's just reminded me of like my teenage years as a Catholic youth and having a driver's license. I literally had a time in my life and it was like with that summer where I was to go to church and I would just pick up my buddy Dave and we'd drive around for an hour and smokecigarettes and go back home. How was church? It was great. That's what this reminded me of. [51:13] But again, it made me think about the band and the various aspects of rock and roll they could go after, which, you know, we have in our time, you know, we had The Stones whocould do that. We had Zeppelin who could do that. Maybe Queen. Definitely The Beatles. You know, there aren't many bands who can go after kind of different aspects of rock and roll and do it really well and still remain respected and still keep, you know, selling out stadiumsacross Canada or whatever. But this song, it's huge. It hits the two-minute mark and it felt like it could kind of be done or not, and it just keeps going and that's awesome, you know. [51:53] Yeah, I just, it's got like a 15-second fade out. That works for you, doesn't it? And it's cool. Oh my God. I mean, this is this is a killer song. It's the live versions of this song are amazing. This song live is yeah, that's what I'm saying to you. It's alive. It's it's a cooker. It's out there live. I don't know, man. I mean, yeah, I mean, I'm sure I have no doubt that the song cooks live, but you cannot debate that the song does not cook on the fucking studioversion. Because Because it's, it's, I mean, dude, it, it's, this song, if it was like, it's a, it's another bar brawl. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, everything is so filthy, dirty, the guitars, gourds, gourds, who's, you know, Cheers. [52:46] There used to be this bar, nobody knows where this town is, it's in Cedar County, Missouri, near Stockton, it's about 70 miles from, Jesus, where would you fly, what's the gamblingtown where they got the riverboat? It's a shithole town, apologies if you're from there. Oh, God, Branson, it's about 75 miles from Branson, yeah. [53:16] And Cedar County, a town called Jericho Springs, I can't remember the name of it, but everybody called it the Purple Unicorn, because there was a purple unicorn out front. And this was a bar where like you would, 90% of the jukebox would be Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson, and that's it. Nothing else. You wouldn't you would not find anything else on there. And this band would like maybe, you know, be staying in town and play a show there. And it would just the place would erupt in a ballroom, ballroom brawl, cops, which cop cars blackand whites all over. Fucking people getting fucking taken out of their Bottles getting broken over people's fucking heads. Then them just fucking smoking a cigarette. The only way I would want to hear this song live would be with at least a fifth of Jim Beam in me or some shitty whiskey. Not even Jack Daniels, just some shit whiskey. I do like this song. [54:27] It's a barroom brawler too. That's awesome. Yeah. And that's how the record ends. That's, you know, as far as we know, that's all the hip we're gonna get. And that puts us in a position to pick our last song for our playlists. You guys each get to pick a song and it'll be the last song in your playlist and you'll debut your playlists at the last episode. So in the proper order that they belong in and everybody will get to see your playlists. What are you choosing? Well, I know I said before that Just As Well was probably my favorite tune, but then I'm taking that back because I just painted that picture in my head so well. I would say Reformed Baptist Blues, man. Oh, wow. That's gonna be it. Yeah, 100%, dude. That song is fuckin'. [55:32] You know like where they get the guy and they throw the guy on the bar and they fucking they shovel him down the bar and he slides and he breaks a bunch of glasses and his headgoes into the jukebox like that's this song and the band's still playing they're still finishing the song because if they stop playing they don't get paid exactly exactly Cool cues gettingbroken over people's fucking heads. What about you Tim? What's your track? I love that song. Yeah, I love that song as well, but I'm going with Crack My Spine. I love the guitar. Yeah, I love the guitars in that one. They're rhythmical like a whip. That song did it for me. Well, your lists are now complete. I will send them to you so you guys can sequence them and maybe you do that on the plane ride over. Who knows? You'll listen to it to see if it works. [56:31] But that's what I've got for you. I want to thank you as always for doing all the heavy fucking lifting and listening to the music, having to describe it, answering my stupid assquestions, all that shit. Guys are fucking gold to me and I can't wait to see you next week and uh, and share you with the world so there's that peace out guys peace out see you in canada pick up your thanks Itwas... It was... You stepped on my fucking line. Fuuuck you Tim how could you? Pick up your shit! Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/gettinghiptothehip/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Episode #076:So, at the beginning of today's show, Janet was all excited to be talking about gadgets and how people always seem to go back to calling her the gadget lady. She does seem to love them. Add that to the obvious love of cooking she has, and today's episode has her like a kid in a candy shop.Patrick manages to bring her back around to the subject of today's show. They start out talking about “back in the day” Of course they do! They do seem to manage to come back to that conversation every now and then. Because Lord knows these two love story time and never manage to bring that bell, they keep promising the audience.In their reminiscing they do bring up some great pointers. Things like when you first start out over the road you are going to be broke for a while. And ways to overcome the hurdles that you are going to see.When they finally do get down to the business of today's episode, there is still some reminiscing. But mostly to compare what worked for each of them and what didn't.It is very plain that they are both coffee lovers, and that is where the, shall we say separation of church and state begins. Patrick when driving was more of a leftover meal from home the first few days then move on over to cold cuts a few days. Before he had to get creative. Whereas Janet was more of a bring precut, prepped items to cook while on the road. Pretty much from the day she got on the road.They go over all of their recommendations for products and how to safely hook them up and strap them down. They each obviously have their own favorites. But they did seem to agree on the one item that is a little combo of a mini oven, coffee pot and griddle. Or as Janet referred to it, an easy bake oven.And before you even know it they are talking about show notes and links and saying goodbye. Such a smooth transition as time once again slipped by.Full podcast show notes available here:  https://www.18wheeltalk.com/e76Join our Fan Club here:  https://www.18wheeltalk.com/fanclubOmalight Flashlight Military-grade aluminum alloy as the body material. It's also shockproof, dirtproof, waterproof, snow proof and shall we say it....Trucker Proof.Amazon Associate The world's largest online retailer and a prominent cloud service provider. Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREE C4 Energy - Performance energy drinks. The performance energy drink that doesn't compromise. Patreon Subscription Service A membership tool for creators and artists to earn money by providing rewards & perks to subscribersCLX Gaming PC - Game like the pros! Bring your gaming to the next level. ** With financing available from Affirm & Katapult.**Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the showThanks for listen. Be sure to look us up on Social Media @18wheeltalk on everything.

Because Lord knows everyone thinks THEIR family is the weirdest 

0 (0s): Morning. Good morning. Please 1 (2s): Come find a seat and, And please stand as we get ready to worship the Lord this morning. Before we get going, I'd like to share a scripture in a moment. Thank you. Revelation one, eight says, I am the alpha in the omega, says the Lord God. Who is and who was and who is to come The Almighty. It just speaks to the magnitude of God. He was before He is now and he will forever be. And that's what we're gonna sing about this morning. So let's just prepare our hearts to worship the Lord this morning. 1 (43s): He is so amazing and worthy of our praise. 0 (60s): We worship the God who was we worship the God who is we worship the God who evermore will be. He opened the prison doors. He parted the raging sea. My God, He holds the big story. Join the house of the Lord. Join the house of the Lord today and we won't we shout your praise. Join the house of the Lord our God is in and we won't be crying. 0 (1m 43s): We shout out your praise. We sing to the God who heals. We sing to the God who saves. We sing to the God who always makes away cause he hung up on that cross and he rose up from that grave. My God, still rolling stones away of the there's house of the Lord. 0 (2m 24s): And we won't. We shout your praise. There's the Lord. We shout and we were the backers and now we're royalty. And we were the prisoners. And now we're running free. We are forgiven. Accepted redeem by his grace. Let the house of the Lord sing. 0 (3m 4s): Praise. We were the now we're royalty. We were the praise. Now we are forgive reads in by his grace. Let the house of the Lord sing praise, Sing next joy. There's joy in the house of the Lord. There's joy in the house of the Lord today. And we will be quiet. We shout out your praise. There's of Lord our godly in this place. 0 (3m 47s): We won't. We shout praise. There's joy, the of Lord. We won. Be we shout face. 0 (4m 38s): Let's sing a 1 (4m 39s): Jesus. If you're excited about Jesus this morning, can you just shout his name? 0 (4m 44s): Jesus. We're not 1 (4m 46s): Ashamed in this place tonight, this morning. We're not ashamed to praise Jesus this morning. 0 (4m 54s): He is our Lord. 1 (4m 55s): He's our Savior. 0 (4m 57s): And 1 (4m 58s): We worship him. We worship you Jesus. Thank you Lord. 0 (5m 21s): When Christ is my foundation, rock, which I stand with everything around then I booed my faith in Jesus. He's never let me down his faithful. So I would he fail now He, He. 0 (6m 9s): I've still got. I've got peace that makes no sense. So I'm not held by own 2 (6m 27s): Feel. 0 (6m 29s): Jesus. He 2 (6m 36s): Faithful 0 (6m 37s): Every season. So when Blue, my house was built on you, I'm safe with you. 0 (8m 51s): I'm gonna make it through. Ray came blew, my house was built on you. I'm with you. I'm going make it through. Hey win. My house was built on. 0 (9m 37s): Was built on. Cade stand is strong on with everything around me is I've never been more black. 0 (10m 24s): I put faith Jesus, he won't. Won't, he won't. 0 (11m 17s): No he won't. 1 (11m 44s): Church, we're just gonna rest for a moment. 0 (11m 48s): We're 1 (11m 48s): Gonna rest in that church. I mean in that, in that truth, 0 (11m 51s): That 1 (11m 52s): He's not gonna fail us. Doesn't matter what we can do. Doesn't matter how far we go. He's the rock on which we stand. I wanna invite those. If you feel led by the Holy Spirit to bring a word or speak out something encouraging that God has put on your heart as you feel led. Let's do that right now as we continue to worship. 3 (12m 33s): When our eyes are set upon the Lord, peace just comes overflowing beyond our understanding and praise. This world is such a chaos, a spiral downhill faith. The to us down Christ, Jesus, God, peace, the rock I stand all otherness sinking sand. 2 (13m 14s): Jesus 3 (13m 14s): Name. Amen. 4 (13m 24s): Father, we thank you that this is your universe and you will do what you're gonna do. And you've written it all down for us, Lord. And we have no need to be afraid or fear be seen, our country even falling apart from the top And the things going on in the world. Wicked or wickedness. And yet you are in control. And Father, you said in the last days will be a great falling away. And we don't want to be those people, Lord. We need to just remain focused and stand whatever currently said in 1924, fear not. These things must be. 4 (14m 5s): And so Father, that's my friend today, that we as your body here, Lord, we will stand, we will be focused, we will trust you. Whatever the wave bring. Lord, we stand upon the rock. We thank you that foundation you always have been and you always, Jesus 5 (14m 31s): One night, brains do not be terrified. You 6 (15m 42s): Sing that again. Let's all to you, Hi all to you my hiding please the place, the king and this thing because vehicle, deal 2 (17m 36s): With me, 6 (17m 41s): Car deal 2 (17m 43s): With me, 6 (17m 48s): Car deal with 2 (17m 50s): Me. 6 (17m 54s): How will 2 (17m 55s): Not 6 (18m 8s): Hoo 2 (18m 29s): My 6 (19m 21s): I will to you? I think, 7 (19m 55s): Lord, we praise you Jesus. You are so good Lord. We know that you're here in our midst, Jesus, where two or three are gathered, you are there in their midst, Lord. So you're here right now. Lord, we thank you that you're the friend that sticks closer than a brother. We thank you Jesus for all the things that you are. Lord. You are so great and so amazing. Lord, I just pray that every heart would, would come to you in humility today. Lord, you give you, you give grace to the humble Lord. 7 (20m 40s): You resist the proud, but you give grace to the humble Lord. So Jesus, I just pray that each heart would come to you in humility today. Lord, we're all coming on common ground. We're all sinners in need of a savior Jesus. And so we are so grateful for that savior that you are, Lord, we come to you with hearts of contrition, with with humility, Lord. And we just ask for you to move in our midst. Lord, we ask for you to do your will today. Lord, we just worship you for who you are and for nothing else. Lord, we lift up your name in this place, Lord. And and and it's in your name we pray. Amen. Amen. All right, you can take your seats if you'd like. Thank you worship team. Thank you Jesus for being here. 7 (21m 21s): Can't do it without em. Wouldn't want to. Alright, so just wanna welcome you here today. My name's Curtis. If you're new here, there is coffee out on the patio there and there are restrooms down these hallways. You can follow the signs also. We've got an info center at the back. And if you need to sign up for anything, want to get further connected to the church, just want to meet a friendly face, you can head back to the info center. We'd be glad to welcome you there. Also, we've got a couple of great things coming up. One of those is a worship and prayer morning that we're starting. It's gonna be at 8:00 AM on Tuesday. And this hopefully will turn into a monthly thing. 7 (22m 1s): We're, we're trying it out once and seeing how it goes. But the goal of having a 8:00 AM is the hope that you can come before work or before you drop the kids off at the school and just come and worship the Lord in prayer and just start your week off in that way. It's gonna be really beautiful, an amazing time. It's gonna be right here, 8:00 AM on Tuesday. The next thing is, if you have a child that hasn't been dedicated to the Lord, we're doing baby dedications on October 23rd. So if you wanna sign up, you can head back to the info center. Just a great way to dedicate your child and just say, Hey, I wanna raise this child in the house of the Lord. We want to raise this child as a Jesus follower. 7 (22m 43s): And it's also, it's kind of more for the parents to like commit their lives. Like, Okay, I'm gonna raise this child for the Lord. And, and so kind of doing that in public saying, Hey, you guys can all keep me accountable. So it's really good. So we encourage you to do that. Also, pastor appreciation is next Sunday. It's just gonna be a great way to honor our leaders and our pastors. So if you would like to bring a little gift for them or a card or something, you can do that and drop it off at the info center. Some people already did that this week and they get extra credit. So yeah, they did great. But yeah, if you wanna bring a gift next week, you're welcome to. 7 (23m 22s): And then the last thing is that we've got another outreach coming up and it's for Halloween in the village. And we don't love the, the event of Halloween or the holiday of Halloween, but, but we do want to take advantage of all the kids coming by. It's a great, great way for us to reach out to people, have a positive impact in their lives. And so we're gonna be clearing out all the, the chairs in here and making like a mini carnival in here. And then just be welcoming kids to come in, have a great time. We're gonna give 'em, load 'em up with candy. It's gonna be super fun. So it's, yeah, it's gonna be great. So kids are gonna be walking by and we're gonna be, you know, just loving on 'em. 7 (24m 2s): And so if you want to be involved with that, it's gonna take a lot of manpower to do that. So please sign up at the info center if you wanna serve at that event. So with that, we're gonna have a minute mingle time where you can hang out and talk to people and we'll be back in about a minute. So thanks so much. 8 (24m 23s): I need to, I've been taking almost a z pressing the boundaries, fighting off these feelings that pressing the drown. I get what I want, but I don't be what I need. 2 (25m 1s): Oh, 8 (25m 2s): My friends are changing. Maybe I was lost, but maybe I'm bound to be, all my friends are changing from maybe count the cost or maybe don't learn from me. Life is what happens in the between. I just want be waking dream. I don't need to just means, I just want, I just want be awake. Dream. Dream. 8 (25m 45s): Always lose the you. Maybe the, the maybe time. The maybe start the 10 (27m 23s): This down guy up here. I'm moving my lips but nothing's coming out and he's freaking out back there. It's probably not a good idea to mess with the sound people, but it is fun. Oh, come on. I knew I had a feeling that was coming. Kudos. Touche. Good job. I would've been bummed if you didn't catch that opportunity there. Good morning. How was everyone? Hey, we're in our identity series. How many do you remember what our identity series is all about? So last week we talked about our core values. Core values, right? No cheating. 10 (28m 3s): Close up your notes from your memory. What was the first core value that we talked about last week? 9 (28m 13s): Lordship. 10 (28m 14s): But what? The whole thing. 9 (28m 17s): The 10 (28m 17s): Lordship. Jesus. What is it? Did you, what is it? Confident 9 (28m 21s): In the 10 (28m 21s): Lordship of Jesus. Confident in the Lordship of Jesus Christ. What's the second one this week? 9 (28m 26s): Committed 10 (28m 27s): Or confident? Yeah, you're throwing me off. You're committed. Yeah. That was a test, right? We got 'em. What is it committed to? The lordship of Jesus Christ. I knew it didn't sound right. Committed. What's number two? 9 (28m 37s): Confident in the word. 10 (28m 39s): Confident. Confident in the word of God. What's number three? Sheila, You should know these. Come on. We've been talking about 'em for weeks here. What is it? All right, what's the other one? Got another good, good, good. And what, what's our mission statement or purpose statement? What is, it's a focus here. Okay. It's all right on the screen out or it's right on the, the sign out there. So it says Jesus 9 (29m 8s): To the 10 (29m 9s): Community, right? What Taking 9 (29m 11s): Jesus 10 (29m 12s): Out to the community. That's, that's it a nutshell. What I do in a nutshell. Oh, it's okay. Good, good, good. Impacting our community. So it's a big word. Impacting intentional, right? Impacting our community and our world with life changing message of Jesus Christ. That's what we're all about. So we're talking about core values and purpose statement. Mission statement. Because the core values are kind of what we kind of roll forward on. And as we understand our core values, we decide on ministries direction. We remember our purpose through those things. And so that's what we're gonna be talking about for the next few weeks. The rest of our core values, and then our mission statement. Then we'll kind of unpack a little bit what we believe kind of. 10 (29m 55s): We don't have time to talk about everything that we believe, but we talk about that every week. So with that, Lord, we just invite your presence. We thank you, God, that you are here and that, and when we gather, we gather in your name and you promise that we're, we gather two or three, gather in your name that you are there, Lord God. So we love you. We thank you Jesus for who you are and for what you're doing. Speak to us. Teach us we pray. Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Confident in the word of God. We'll be in Psalm one 19. We'll be going through about the first 20 verses or so. First service. I didn't get through the last point, so probably will not get through it, this service either. So, but I'll, I'll share that last point with you. 10 (30m 34s): Psalm 1 19, 1 0 5 says, Your word is a lamp and to my feet and a light into my path. And so we can find confidence in God's word because it actually lights up our feet and our path so we can move forward in wisdom with clarity, with confidence, with joy, and with peace. We know how to move forward because God's word is there to instruct us, to direct us. And it says that it actually illuminates lights up our path. So we've got this garden in our, in our in front of our house. It's called the secret garden. And it's super dark at night. And so over the years we've put in more and more solar lights and there's sensor lights. 10 (31m 18s): And so when you walk through the garden just starts lighting up. And so, you know, like when a coyote's out there or a stray cat or straight dog or or a stray person out there, we know when somebody's in the garden cuz everything's beginning to light up. And so we're like, hey, somebody must be in the garden. And so the word of God is like that. It just kind of illuminates it's light. It's it's light for our path so that we can kind of get clarity about moving forward. So I dunno about you, but how, how many have been reading the Bible for a year? How many have been reading the Bible for five years? 10 years, 20 years, 30 years. 10 (32m 1s): Rich here. Just keep your hand up. 40 years, 50 years. Harrison, you're old. 60 years. 60 years. Holy cow. 60 years Harrison's. Anybody older than Harrison's. Oh what about 70 years? So, well, right around there. I wonder, as you guys have read the Bible for decades, do you always get stuff out of it? Yes. Always. Yeah. Okay, good. So like, like you've read the same thing over and over again. Do you ever get stuff out of it at this? Like in your, Richard, I'll keep it to you in this ancient stage of life that you're in, you're still getting, you're still getting, you're still gleaning stuff All the time. 10 (32m 44s): All the time. Yeah. That's great. No, that's cool. Cool. Hey, there's a, a gold mine in Australia and they've been mining gold out of this gold mine for close to 50 years. And about 45 years into this gold mining, they, the miners discovered the biggest rocks of gold that they've ever discovered. 45 years of mining. They're pulling gold outta this place all the time. 45 years later they're getting like hundred plus pound boulders of gold worth millions of dollars. I I love this story because it communicates the value of continuing to mind truth out of God's word. Cuz I bet, I bet the longer we're doing it, the more gold we're gonna be able to mine. 10 (33m 28s): Out of that, we've got greater understanding and who, who knows if we quit early, if we're gonna miss out on those major big boulders of gold that God has for us. And so the encouragement is to remain confident in God's word, to continue to open it up all the time. And then just see what God will do with questions that you might have, concerns that you might have, fears that you might have. God has a way of revealing truth to our lives. This is not on the screen, but in Psalm 12, 6, 12 6 it says, And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver purified and a crucible like gold refined seven times. 10 (34m 13s): So this, the word of God that we're talking about today, the Bible, what we're talking about today, has great, great value so that we think about the, the word of God, we need to understand well what is, what is the word of God? And and why do we have such confidence in the word well taken from an article titled, Why Do we Believe the Bible is Actually the Word of God by Dr. Jim Dennison, PhD. He said, Well, the Bible claims to be the word of God, but this fact does not settle the issue for us because the Quran claims to be the word of aah. 10 (34m 54s): The Book of Mormon claims to be the revelation of God. The writers of the Bible were convinced that what they wrote were inspired, they were spoken, breathed by the living God. The Apostle Paul was convinced that, well all scriptures God breathed and is useful for teaching rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. Second to Timothy three 16, what scripture, What verse what? What part of the Bible was he talking about? Referring? Well, in the first entry, all they had was the Old Testament. So he's saying the Old Testament books of the Bible that scriptures God breath in is useful for teaching rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. 10 (35m 39s): Jesus believed his words to be divinely inspired. In fact, he said, Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. His words will never pass away because they're divinely inspired as the eternal wisdom and word of God. And so having an earthquake passed away, but the words of Jesus will never pass away. Speaking of the totality of biblical revelation, the writer to the Hebrews claims the word of God is living and active. Have you experienced that? Like not in a creepy way like it's alive, but but like it's alive. Like it's got the capacity to speak to us, right? 10 (36m 22s): In our season, right in this moment, right where we live, right where we struggle, God's word has a way of speaking to us because it's what's living in active sharper than any double edged sword. It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and it attitudes of the heart. Hebrews for the word of God is powerful, right? J Packer said the Bible is God preaching. So like God speaking, communicating truth to us. That's what the Bible is. It's God preaching to us to bring us into new life with him. 10 (37m 3s): Augustine described it as love letters from home. So it's just this powerful revelation that we have in the 66 books of the Bible and the pages of scripture. We've got this powerful truth that God has given to us. So there's strong evidential reasons to believe the Bible's God's word, but the best test comes from, well from personal experience. So the challenge to us is, hey, try living the Bible. Try what does it mean to live the Bible? Like read it and do it. Read it and obey it. Read it and do what it tells you to do. Living the Bible will give you the best possible experience and opportunity to realize that it is alive and it's active and it's sharp and it's it, it brings about what we need in every season of life. 10 (37m 55s): Except it's savior as your savior. So don't just read about the savior of the world, but make Jesus your savior and just see what God will do in your life. Over and over again, throughout history, people have tried to disprove the scripture. And a lot of times when people are reading and studying and investigating the scripture, they become converted. They don't disprove it, but they become converted in their, in their lives. They, they accept the Lord Jesus Christ make its principles, it's guideposts the guiding direction for your life. So we're talking a lot about the Bible and Christianity, but what about, what about other beliefs? 10 (38m 41s): What about other religious systems? I mean, can't we all just like get along, aren't we after all of the same things, don't we believe basically the same thing? I see this bumper sticker all the time on people's cars and as I sit there, I'm studying the different religious symbols and I realize we're also different. So can we all get along? Absolutely, we can all get along, but we certainly do not agree. 10 (39m 26s): We certainly do not agree. Conventional wisdom these days debates or dictates that the various religions are just different roads up the same mountain, kind of like all roads lead to Rome. We're all on the same path. And so that's what conventional wisdom would tell us. They say it doesn't matter which God you trust because they are all the same. Different name, same God. People say things like this, Ala is Jehovah and Buddhist and Hindus seek the same God that we worship. People also say different holy books are simply religious. Well, they're simply religious diaries. And who's to say that your diary is right and mine is wrong? 10 (40m 11s): Such an approach to world religions and their writings feels, it feels tolerant and even hopeful on some level it feels like, boy, we can all gather around and sing kumbaya together and be one big happy family. So there's that warm kind of fuzzy as we think about possibly all getting along. But is it true? Is it possible? Is that a reality that we can all gather no matter what we choose to believe in, sing kumbaya together? Is it true? Do other religions agree? Do they agree with this characterization of their faith commitment? 10 (40m 55s): In a word? No. In a word they do not agree. Buddhist beliefs. Buddha taught that there is no God despite the fact that a lot of his followers worship him. He instructed his disciples to avoid all material desires that they might cease their suffering. Hindu beliefs. Hindus believe in thousands of territorial deities. But no, no Lord of the universe. Brahman is the divine force that sustains the universe not a personal God to be worshiped Muslim beliefs. 10 (41m 41s): Muslims believe that ala the Arabic word for God is the one supreme ruler of the universe. That Jesus was a prophet but not the divine son of God. And that salvation comes through obedience to theran. This book is all as self revelation through his prophet Mohamed. They believe all other, they believe all other. They believe all other holy books are inferior to it for its pages, Its pages alone contained the very word of God. Can't we all just get along? No one thinks we could all just kind of get along Jewish beliefs. 10 (42m 21s): Jews believe that Yahweh revealed himself through the laws and the prophets of their scriptures. And I would agree, but they also believe that Jesus was was not the Messiah. That the New Testament is not the word of God. They base their hope of heaven on the mercy of God in response to their lives of obedience and morality. Mormon beliefs, Mormons believe that God revealed himself in the Bible, but also in their book of Mormon, a history of the early peoples of the Western hemisphere. Joseph Smith translated the book from Golden Plates that he claimed to have received from the angel. 10 (43m 1s): Morona doctrine in covenants contains further revelation received by Joseph Smith from God. The pearl of great price contains more writings of Smith. They picture God as an eternal being, a flesh and bone who had physical relations with Mary to produce Jesus. So just barely scratching the surface of what they believe. We know that it's contrary to scripture, contrary to what we believe is the truth from the word of God. Salvation and heavily rewards come through obedience to these revelations they go on and teach. 10 (43m 44s): So, so if any one of these religions is right, the others by definition are wrong. We can't all be right if any of these other religions are right, then by definition all others are wrong. If we believe what the Mormons believe, then we cannot believe what born again Christians believe in so forth. And in fact, none, None believe that other religions are equally correct or divinely inspired. 10 (44m 26s): None of no real believer in any of these religious ex experiences or whatever these other religions believe that other religions are equally correct or divinely inspired. I at my house, I get people knocking on the door. Joe's witnesses, Hey, I'm a Christian pastor, but what do they want to do? Well, if we're all Christians, why do they want to convert me? Because they know that I'm not one of them. Right Mormon, right? Same deal, right? So we can all say, hey, let's kumbaya thing and get along and do it, but we just believe differently. 10 (45m 7s): And so it makes a huge difference in the way that we live our lives. The, the scriptures at the various world religions trust do not describe different paths of the same mountain, but very different mountains. So choose, choose wisely. I wanna say thank you to Dr. Dennison for his article. A lot of what I've been talking about here in the last 10 minutes has been information from his article. It's just helpful to, for us to get our heads around truth. At Harvest Church. At Harvest Church here at Harvest Church, we are confident in the word of God, the Bible, that that's all we have. 10 (45m 54s): People show up and they say, Well, you, you teach outta the Bible. I'm like, What else in the world? What do we teach? Even if I knew something else, I wouldn't wanna teach it because anything else's gonna take us up the wrong mountain, down the wrong path. Jesus said, I'm the way that's truth and the life. No man comes to the Father except through, through me. Pretty clear Jesus is declaring that he is the only way that Christianity is the only way. So we have confidence in the word of God because of what we glean from the word of God, but beyond the fact that we just know that as it is, God breathed that he spoke it. 10 (46m 40s): But, but my experience and the scriptures declare that when we read the word of God, there's incredible joy. That is the experience. There's an incredible joy that we experienced as readers and doers of the word of God. So at Harvest Church, we, we are confident in the Word of God, the Bible. Why? Because God's word brings joy to those who follow it. Is that, has that been your experience? It's been, it's been my experience. Now, I reading about God and his work with humanity on the earth always fills me with hope and with joy. 10 (47m 25s): Because if God can work through the people and the pages of scripture, I have hope. And that he can work through me. And that gives me great joy. And it should give you great joy as well. This almost understood this. Psalm 1 19, 1 says this, Joyful are people of integrity who follow the instructions of the Lord, joyful, blessed, happier people of integrity who follow the instructions of Lord, how do we get to that place of integrity? We follow the instruction of the Lord. Integrity flows out of our obedience. And so we become people, man, women, young people, old people of integrity. 10 (48m 6s): When we do what God has asked us to do, Ne Maya got it. He said, The joy of the Lord is our strength. The joy of the Lord is our strength. Where do we get that joy from just doing the will of God? It fills us with just this great deal of joy and confidence because we're doing what God has called us to do. And accompanied the fruit of that obedience is joy. What's the opposite of that? Disobedience brings what? Turmoil. Turmoil. Right? It it just kind of causes angst in our souls. Like I see, Lord, I see, but I, I'm not interested, right? So, so there's this inward internal battle as believers and I, we re we really experience it every day because, I dunno, most people I know get up in the morning and that's when they have their devotional time. 10 (48m 53s): Others do it at night and that's great. But this is the reality. We wake up in the morning, everything's got our attention, right? Like I gotta get my first cup of coffee, right? Because Lord, I'm not gonna be able to really pay attention to what you're saying until I get my first cup of coffee. Well, Lord, I I really need to gotta wake up. So I need to see what's going on in the world. So I click on the internet and I see what's going on on my, you know, homepage. Oh, interesting, interesting. Another cup of coffee that would be helpful, right? Lord. So I'm gonna get another cup of coffee and get my second cup of coffee and oh, I got some emails or, or text messages that are, I mean, they've been waiting all night. 10 (49m 35s): I gotta, I gotta get to 'em eventually, right? So I jump onto that, right? So I probably use a third cup of coffee. I, I have, I mean, after all, I do have three cups of coffee every single morning, right? So it's important that I get my third cup of coffee. And so right within, something pops up, I'm on social media, I'm like, well this is pretty interesting, right? So before long it's been hour and a half and I'm just trying to wake up. Well, so now I'm ready to work. I got like very little time to get ready to go. So, hey, let's pick it up at lunchtime, Lord. Lunchtime rolls around. Oh, I'm so hungry. Let's go in and out. Let's get ourselves a, that's what a hamburger's all about, right? 10 (50m 16s): I mean, you gotta, you gotta eat, right? We're watching this show called Alone. If you guys seen it, it's a great show, right? Custom language. So forgive me for that. But it's a great show, right? So these people are alone on an island and they're trying to survive off the land and they're like, they're 30 days and 40 days and 50 days and, and they're like getting, they're losing. Wait, one guy went on the show and he, he put on like a hundred extra pounds so that on the show he could lose a hundred pounds and still be okay. Like, he's like, I'm gonna chunk it up or I'm gonna, I'm gonna put on some weight. So he's there for, I was watching, I think it was last night, and he's lost like 68 pounds, but he still got some, some love on him. 10 (50m 58s): Like he still can lose some weight. And so, and so he's prepared, he's like going into the, this competition with some chunk on him so that he can survive, right? I'm thinking this is what we need to be doing as believers, like going into the competition, which is the battle, which is life. Like we need to get fated up for the battle, right? Spiritually get a little fat on you, right? Get a little, like, don't just get enough for the moment. Like get enough for the day and, and then get up the next morning and just gorge yourself on some food. Cuz you might get out there in the day. And then you're having to do what these other poor people do and they're eating these mushrooms and these roots and, and snails and mice and right? 10 (51m 54s): So we kind of do the same thing. We resort to things that are just kind of, it's not, it's, but it's not a sign of beef, right? I mean, like God's word is, I mean, I'm thinking of poorer house. Sorry. If you're, if you're a vegetarian, I'm sorry, but I'm not. I never will be. So just like a big old fat poor us. But we gotta we gotta make it intentional. We gotta be intentional. So the joy that the scripture talks about, the joy of the Godly is the reward for godliness. Those, those people on the show, they're all cranky. 10 (52m 34s): Why? Because they're hungry. So they're hangry, right? So when you're not filled up with the word of God and the truth of God, you can get the same way, get spiritually kind of hangry, right? You'll, but when you've feasted well on the word of God, you've got the capacity to have the joy of God. If you don't feast on the word of God, your capacity to have the joy of God is greatly hindered. That's just the way it is. That's why we've talked about this in the wilderness, the people of Israel, they were given man a daily, right? And if they took extra for the next day, fearful that God wasn't going to provide for them, it turned stinky and filled with maggots, right? 10 (53m 19s): And so God said, Hey, trust me, get enough for the day and eat. So get it in, fill it up, and then do it again tomorrow. It's the design every day we're meant to get the word of God, the manner of God. Joyful. First two, joyful are those who obey his loss and search for him with all their hearts. So what we're talking about actually takes effort. Joyful are those who obey that obedience always takes effort, right? We gotta make a decision. I'm going to obey, I'm going to do what God has asked me to do and search for him with all their hearts. And so it requires effort to do what God has called us to do. We, we, it would be so much easier if it was just, well, if it was easier, right? 10 (54m 3s): I texted somebody years ago and we're having coffees and they're like, Man, this Christian life is so hard. I just want it to be easy. I'm like, were you reading the same book that I'm reading? Like I'm not sure that you're reading the same, It's not gonna be easy. We have moments where it's less hard and there's plenty of joy along the way. But we are in a, a spiritual battle in the chapel up the road, we used to have this gray door that, you know, the big four foot wide door if you've been in that building. And we put that door in there and it came in gray. I'm like, that's perfect. It doesn't match the decor, but it's like battleship gray. 10 (54m 44s): Like it reminds us that we're on a battleship but not a cruise ship. Like if we're here, it's because we've got positions of responsibility. We realize that we're in a battle. And so we kept it battleship great until somebody pinned it off white. Didn't that just perfect? Like it went from battleship great like call to action and then to off white. I don't know what happened there, but we lost our vision there for a moment. And, but this is the reality is that we're called to action. It's not always gonna be easy. In fact, most of the times it's gonna be hard work. But the joy of the Lord is our strength. 10 (55m 24s): First three, they do not compromise with evil. This is so back to verse two, Joy floor, those who obey the laws and search for him with all their hearts. So this takes effort, the result, the results of the effort, the fruit of the effort. Verse three, they do not compromise with evil and they walk only in his paths. This is the result of just heartfelt dedication to Jesus, to follow him and to do what he's called us to do. They do not compromise with evil. Maybe you're struggling today with compromise, with some form of evil. You fell in the blank. The world is full of all kinds of evil things that were can be tempted to be running toward. 10 (56m 7s): If you're tempted, you need to stop and get into the word and open up the word of God and just inform your spirit and make a decision in your heart and mind that I am going to follow the Lord Jesus Christ and not compromise with evil, but only walk in his paths. You have charged us, verse four, to keep your commandments carefully. So if you pull that word apart, command mince. It's not suggest mince doesn't even sound very good to say. Let me give you some adjustments, right? 10 (56m 48s): Like it's silly, right? These are words of instruction that God has given to his people. Commandments are commands keeping the commandments or the precepts. Teaching guidelines and principles of God are not optional, actually they're commanded by God. And the whole Bible is a book of instruction and it's kind of pointless to read it and not do what it says. And this almost agreed, he said, Oh, that my actions would consistently reflect your decrees that interesting. 10 (57m 29s): All my actions would consistently reflect your decree. So the writer of Psalms in Psalm one 19 uses eight different words to describe God's word. God's law. He uses eight different words and we don't have time to unpack them today, but each of the words help with a little bit more information, a little more. They give us a little more clarity about what the writer is talking about. So we see law words and then laws. It's actually a different Greek word in the text with a diff slightly different meaning that gives it more better nuance. And again, we don't have time to unpack it, but I would encourage you as homeward to go unpack it and see what you learn. 10 (58m 14s): Laws word, laws, statute, command, decreed, precepts, word or promise. Although my actions would consistently reflect your decree, this was the desire of the writer of the Psalms. He, he probably had an experience where he wasn't doing what he's writing about. And the result was, well, it's everything that we know because we're all guilty of falling short. We know the result. It's, we get lethargic spiritually. We get kind of luke warm spiritually. We get a little less convicted about sin spiritually, where we kind of allow ourselves to be drawn into things that are unhealthy forest spiritually. And so there's a whole host of things that will happen and God knows what will strengthen us. 10 (58m 58s): And the enemy knows what will trip us up. God knows that his word will strengthen us so that my actions would consistently reflect your decrease then I will not be ashamed when I compare my life with your commands and ashamed. That's a word that we can identify with, right? Because we've all felt some shame when we've not aligned our lives with this precepts. We've all felt the cringe of shame. The Lord doesn't want us to feel shameful. So he gives us the antidote here, the remedies that just do what I've called you to do. So the word of God, like a mirror, we talk about this a lot. So we hold up to our lives so that we can kind of see how we're doing. 10 (59m 41s): Lord, how's my life? In light of the word, we hold it up and we say, Yeah, I, I'm not doing that very well, but I, I'm grown here. And so we can kind of discern how we are doing then I will not be ashamed when I compare my life with your commands as I, as I learn your righteous regulations. I will thank you by living as I should. I will obey your decre. Please don't give up on me. This Thomas is so real, right? Because he's like most of us, we're like wanting to honor the Lord with our lives. We're wanting to see God with our whole lives, but we stumble and fall short. 10 (1h 0m 22s): And so the writers saying, Hey, don't, don't give up on me. I wanna make you promise that God will not give up on you. He, he loves you if you stumble, get back up. Anybody have ever, have you ever had to do that before? Many times. Once or twice, right? Like all the time. Like you stumble, right? So you, you don't just stay there in the gut, you get back up, you get back up. And God promises never to give up on you when you say, Lord, I'm, I'm wanting to live my life. I'm doing it imperfectly altogether, but I want to honor you. So this is a humble and accurate prayer for all of us. Lord, my heart and my desire are to honor and obey you. 10 (1h 1m 4s): But please don't give up on me when I stumble. Number one, God's word brings joy to those who follow it. Number two, God's word brings purity to those who obey it. So joy and purity are the results of people who will press in honor and obey God's words. Al 1 19 9 says, How can a young person keep, stay pure? How can a young person stay pure by obeying your word? Good for young, good for old, right? Young and old. How can a person stay pure by just doing what God's word says by obeying your word. 10 (1h 1m 48s): A pure life is the result of obedience. If you're struggling with your personal purity, it's because you're struggling with obedience to the word. And the simple answer is open up the word every day and say, I am going to be obedient by your grace and in your strength. And just begin to walk that out. The internet's the worst place in the world to try to live in personal purity, right? Because things pop up. I was doing an internet search, I shared it with Neil, one of my elders here. And I said, Hey, I was doing this internet search and this all these sites came up. I'm like, Holy walk ole. And I was sitting right there in the sound booth on a Friday, last Friday. I'm like, goodness gracious, I didn't think this search would bring those opportunities, you know? 10 (1h 2m 29s): So they didn't populate the screen, but they certainly populated my options to click on. And I told Neil, I said, I'm so grateful that I've got covenant eyes on my computer so that my wife sees everything on my iPad, my laptop, my phone, So that even if I'm tempted, didn't want to click, I'm afraid to death to do it right? So there's some really good practical things we can put into place to help us not to stumble, right? 10 (1h 3m 10s): So we heard a couple weeks ago that Jeremy talked about the age, I think it's age, right around age 6, 7, 8 years old is the time when little boys and girls have their first, first exposure to hardcore pornography. Hardcore stuff. So what are you gonna do about it? Like you gotta put safeguards and parameters on your devices, right? Dudes. It's not like going to your uncle's house and finding a playboy in his shop. You're carrying the junk with you all the time. 10 (1h 3m 51s): So you're not gonna just possibly stumble onto it. You're going to stumble upon it. So you gotta personal purity is, it's in your hands to figure it out. Pure life as a result of obedience. I've tried hard to find you. If the writer says, Don't let me wander from your commands, Obedience requires effort. Purity requires effort. You gotta decide. I'm not looking at that, I'm not doing that. I'm not participating in that. I'm not doing it. 10 (1h 4m 32s): And then don't do it. Hm? I've hidden your word of my heart that I might not sin against you. We are out of time. The last point is about the wisdom that is available to us. God's word brings wisdom to those who desire it. So part of joy and personal purity and the wisdom is, is engaging your heart, your life, your mind and the word of God. And it's true for people who are brand new in the faith. And it's true for people who've been walking with Jesus for decades, forever because the battle is never over this side of heaven. 10 (1h 5m 18s): It's a battle. We need to get some, Oh, we kinda have some battleship gray on these chairs. But anyway, you get the point. What have you learned and what will you do with what you've learned? What will you, what's your takeaway? What are you gonna do? Spend time with the word, Spend time with the word. How's that different from what you're doing now? Okay, good. What else? Some of you need to get covenant eyes on your computer, All of your devices, all of them. What else? Walk in the spirit. Walk in the spirit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She's too obey. 10 (1h 5m 58s): Hmm. Choose to obey Jews. Yeah. What do you, when you stumble though, what? What do you do when you stumble? Pass, Forgive forgiveness. Ask God for forgiveness. Keep going, right? Yeah. Gary. Trust in obey. Trust in obey Jesus. So practically speaking, Gary, so you've been walking with Jesus for, I don't know, hundred years probably. Gary is my youth pastor in junior high school. And so we go back a couple years. And so Gary, in all of your years as a leader, as a believer, as a follower of the Lord, Jesus Christ, all of these things sound good, right? 10 (1h 6m 40s): In principle, we, we want the joy. We we, we want the purity, we want the wisdom. But it kept, come up here, Gary, for a moment, come up here for a moment. I never do this. And I started last week and I might just keep going. We'll see. So Gary, let's invite the worship team up as well. Cuz we're gonna worship and we're gonna take communion. And so I'm putting you on the spot cuz I know that I can, Hey Gary, you want me say, I don't know. So I mean these are, you know these are good. Theoretically they're good and and truth, they're solid. But what happens when you're having a bad day and you say something, do something regret a decision. 10 (1h 7m 29s): What? I mean how do you get back? I mean what do you do to, can you, can you alt? Can you overcome that altogether? 11 (1h 7m 37s): I don't think you can over, excuse me, I don't think you can overcome it all together, this side of heaven. But when we fall we have to rise. We have to keep running. The Christian walk is not a sprint or a hundred yard dash. That's what I've learned. It's a long distance race, a marathon. And Jesus promised to always be with us. 10 (1h 8m 2s): But your wife left you. 11 (1h 8m 4s): Yeah. 10 (1h 8m 5s): What does that, I mean, how does that settle? 11 (1h 8m 9s): That was one of the hardest things I've ever had to face in my life. But it wasn't my doing, it wasn't my fault. It was like a, a boat drifting away from the dock. I could see it. And before long she didn't wanna walk with Jesus anymore. And I was one of the elders in the church. She didn't wanna be with me anymore. I have some good friends that I stayed with for a little while cuz I was kicked outta the house and every morning I would get up and I would read my Bible and my friend's wife said to me, Carrie, how can you do that with what you're going through? 11 (1h 8m 50s): You just continue to read the Bible. And I said, Because it's the only thing I have. The word of God is truth. There is no other truth. And it kept me going because I kept listening to what God said, Put one foot in front of the other, Love your children, be there for them and continue on. After seven years, God gave me a wonderful new wife, my Nelly, and she loves the Lord with all of her heart. 11 (1h 9m 31s): Sometimes I think she loves him more than I do. She knows how to reprove me in a way that I receive it. When I mess up, I ask her forgiveness and she forgives me. When she messes up, she asks my forgiveness and I forgive her. It takes two forgiving people to make a marriage work. All I can say is the word of God has been my rock, my strength, my daily necessary food. That's what David said. I have esteemed your word more than my daily food. Yeah, it's like Steve was saying, do you get up and eat breakfast first? 11 (1h 10m 13s): No. Sit down and read the word of God. Even if it's just five minutes, meditate on a verse. The art of meditation is a lost art. And what David meant was to let it roll around in your mind until you're muttering it. That's what the ancients used to do. The Earl Amen of God, Tozer Spurgeon, you could go on and on. There were so many, they relied on the word of God every day and they didn't take a step without it. And that's all I can say. 11 (1h 10m 53s): That's what helped me for 50 years now I've been walking with the Lord. September 20th was 50 years and he's never thank you. 3 (1h 11m 20s): Psalm 2 (1h 11m 22s): Says 3 (1h 11m 23s): That says that the Lord magnifies its word. Even 2 (1h 11m 28s): That's, that's 10 (1h 11m 30s): Very powerful. We're gonna take communion and so it's a good time to examine your hearts and maybe it's time to re rededicate, recommit. Maybe you've been through a hard path like Gary and like some so many of us and you've been angry with God. You've been harboring bitterness, resentment. Well at this time of worship and remembrance, be a time where you get set free. Paul wrote in first Corinthians 1123, For I receive from the Lord what I also delivered to you. 10 (1h 12m 13s): That the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed, he took bread and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body which is given for you. Do this to remember me. Let's take the bread. 10 (1h 12m 56s): In the same way, He also, he took the cup after supper saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you, you proclaimed the Lord's death until he returns. Let's go ahead and take the cup. Thank you Lord. Thank you for your word. Lord, thank you for Giving us joy. 10 (1h 13m 40s): Joy is so available to us. It's promise to us. Thank you for purity. It's available to us and promise to us. 2 (1h 13m 55s): Thank 10 (1h 13m 56s): You for wisdom, Lord. It's available and promise to us, we love you. We need you. Thank you for your grace Jesus name. Let's go ahead and stand up and worship 6 (1h 14m 29s): To you, my friend and all to you. 6 (1h 16m 18s): Sing it out and declare this truth. I all to you, I all to you are my God. One more time I to you are my Father. 6 (1h 17m 8s): We could just 12 (1h 17m 9s): Stay in your presence all day. Thank you for the honor that it is to exalt your name. Thank you for your scriptures. Thank you for your word that never returns void. Lord, maybe we wake up in the morning with a desire to open our Bibles. May we wake up with a desire to get your word in our spirits and on our minds. Thank you that you are faithful. Thank you for your love. Would you go before us this week? 12 (1h 17m 51s): It's in your precious name we pray. Amen.

This week - with primary ballots starting to arrive in mailboxes next week! - Erica C. Barnett of PubliCola joins Crystal to discuss what's going on in Seattle's mayoral race. They discuss the unpredictability of a crowded primary, how funding caps get raised, and why primaries are really the time to vote your conscience. Additionally, they cover the potential firing of two Seattle Police Department officers who participated in the January 6th insurrection, and the harsh and punitive nature of Washington State's work release program which renders it useless for the purposes of reintegrating the incarcerated back into society. As always, a full text transcript of the show is available below and at officialhacksandwonks.com. Find the host, Crystal Fincher on Twitter at @finchfrii and find today's co-host, Erica C. Barnett, at @ericacbarnett. More info is available at officialhacksandwonks.com.   Resources: Access all mayoral candidate interviews in the PubliCola Questions series here: https://publicola.com/category/elections/  “Floodgates open, as trio of Seattle mayoral candidates get spending limit lifted” by Nick Bowman: https://mynorthwest.com/3014891/seattle-mayoral-candidate-andrew-grant-houston-spending-cap-lifted/  “Investigation Implicates Two Officers in January 6 Riots, Test Limits of Investigators' Subpoena Power” by Paul Kiefer: https://publicola.com/2021/07/08/investigation-implicates-two-officers-in-january-6-riots-tests-limits-of-investigators-subpoena-power/  “Investigation of Work Release Centers Spurs Some Changes, But Advocates Proceed with Caution” by Paul Kiefer: https://publicola.com/2021/07/07/investigation-of-work-release-centers-spurs-some-changes-but-advocates-proceed-with-caution/?utm_campaign=Notes%20from%20the%20Emerald%20City&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Revue%20newsletter    Transcript: Crystal Fincher: [00:00:00] Welcome to Hacks & Wonks. I'm Crystal Fincher, and I'm a political consultant and your host. On this show, we talk with policy wonks and political hacks to gather insight into local politics and policy in Washington state through the lens of those doing the work, with behind-the-scenes perspectives on what's happening, why it's happening, and what you can do about it. Full transcripts and resources referenced in the show are always available at officialhacksandwonks.com and in our episode notes. Today, we're continuing our Friday almost live shows where we review the news of the week. Welcome back to the program friend of the show and today's co-host Seattle political reporter, editor of PubliCola, and author of Quitter: A Memoir of Drinking, Relapse, and Recovery, which is now out in paperback. Erica Barnett. Erica Barnett: [00:00:56] Great to be here, Crystal. Crystal Fincher: [00:00:58] Great to be here, excited that you're now out in paperback, the book is popular. And so just want to encourage everyone to get that. It's great. I recommend it. You should get it. And now you have paperback option. But in starting off the news of today, I wanted to just get started talking about the Mayoral race. You've been doing a fantastic series on PubliCola, the PubliCola Question series, interviewing candidates, especially ones for Mayor. So I guess I just wanted to start off talking about what has that process been like and are there any insights that you've gained into the candidates that you didn't have before doing that series? Erica Barnett: [00:01:45] Thanks. Yeah, I think one thing that we really wanted to do with this series was ask some questions that people were not getting asked at all of these campaign forums and in other platforms. And so we asked about things like instead of do support Charter Amendment 29? Which is the Compassion Seattle initiative. Assuming it passes, what are you going to do? What are you going to cut to make up that 12% in the general fund that is mandated under this initiative. Everybody's focusing on downtown, what would you do to help other neighborhoods, non-downtown neighborhoods, with COVID 19 recovery? And so I think we've gotten some really interesting questions or answers rather. So far, we've published four of them so far. There are two more coming today with the six leading candidates. Andrew Grant Houston had a really interesting answer to a question about public safety. He said that his first priority and the quickest thing that he could do to replace some functions with the police would be to expand access to bathrooms and running water. And Andrew is a candidate who has sort of a plan for everything, and it's all very much on paper at this point. And I think it's important to note that Mayors cannot act unilaterally on most issues, but I do think that his sort of white paper platforms point in a direction that is very, very different than what the city is doing right now. Casey Sixkiller, who supports Compassion Seattle was somewhat defensive on that issue. I believe he wants to pass a very large bond measure, a billion dollars, to build 3000 new apartments. Again, Mayors cannot act unilaterally, but he really focused on the fact that Seattle's homelessness problem is not really Seattle's homelessness problem. It's a regional issue, which is the parroting, his former boss, Mayor Jenny Durkan to a certain extent, who points out all the time that 40% of the people who are homeless in Seattle did not become homeless in Seattle. Now, there's certainly a debate over whether that matters. I mean, they're here now, but that kind of speaks to just his approach on homelessness. So that's just a couple of them, I would encourage people to go read them all. We ask them all eight questions and the answers are pretty enlightening. Crystal Fincher: [00:04:23] Yeah. And we will link to all of those interviews in the show notes and love the approach that you took to that with trying to expand the conversation to help inform voters and not just asking the stable questions that people hear, which obviously every organization is doing their best in these forums. And not everyone may have heard all of the prior answers. So it is not always bad to ask people the same questions again. But I do love that there's the opportunity to expand this conversation and get some of these answers and dive a little deeper into this. So you talked about there being some unique answers. How are you seeing the race, I guess, shape up overall at this point now that ballots are coming out in about a week next week and campaigns are starting to advertise and communicate directly with voters? Erica Barnett: [00:05:19] Well, I mean, I've said on the show before, I am the worst at predicting how anything turns out. I mean, the common wisdom, the consensus answer to that is, "Well, it's going to be Bruce Harrell, followed by Lorena González, and they're going to make it through the primary." I mean, just in talking to people in my circles. I have seen a lot of folks supporting Colleen Echohawk. So I wouldn't count her out, and Jessyn Farrell is also a contender. I think she ran for Mayor four years ago and did not make it through the primary. So I'm not good at predicting. I have no idea how it's going to turn out, so I could parrot the conventional wisdom. And that may very well be right. But there does seem to be some momentum, particularly for Echohawk. Crystal Fincher: [00:06:11] I would agree with that. I'm also not a fan of making predictions. I like looking at what the available data is and listening to what's going on within campaigns. I guess I would say within my circles, I've heard a lot of the same, but at the same time, this is still a crowded primary and crowded primaries can get real unpredictable, real quick. I have heard the same conventional wisdom that you have and results of some internal polling probably has backed that up. But in crowded primaries, I mean, Mike McGinn was on the program before and reminded people, "Hey, six weeks out of the primary, where he eventually won the election to become Mayor, he was polling at 7%." A lot has to do with how you wind up communicating with voters, how you make your case, how people make a case against you. So there still is some jostling that can happen in the race. So sometimes I will get people asking me, "Well, if my candidate is not in the lead, is it going to be throwing a vote away on someone if I vote for someone who's not in the lead?" I would continue to say, "No, it's absolutely not." Primaries are the time that's most appropriate to vote your conscience to vote for the candidate who you feel most closely aligns with your values. I still think it is very, very important to do that regardless of whether you feel like they're in the lead or not. Because right now, the lead is all theoretical. The only lead that matters is the one on election day in a crowded primary where there's a lot of people jostling and trying to determine what lane they're going to be in and running it. You know, lots, lots of interesting things can happen. Mike McGinn was certainly one of those interesting things. So there certainly are candidates with momentum who can wind up breaking into the top two. We'll see how this turns out. Erica Barnett: [00:08:19] Let me just push back a tiny bit on that McGinn analysis. I mean, obviously self-serving analysis on his part, which I understand, but what's really interesting about this primary and what actually I think makes it more competitive and less predictable is that there are a lot of candidates who could potentially actually be Mayor and in McGinn's primary. I mean, besides Mayor, then Mayor Greg Nichols, who lost in the primary, there were not a lot of major, major candidates or candidates who were particularly viable. In this race, I mean, you've got a lot of real contenders, people who have served in office, people who you know, Lorena González , council president, Jessyn Farrell, former state legislator, Colleen Echohawk, who ran the Chief Seattle Club, a homelessness organization. It's an impressive, dare I say, field, and I think that's kind of a contrast to 2009 where you had McGinn running against Joe Mallahan, who was a T-Mobile guy who had never held public office and I think didn't really light the world on fire. Crystal Fincher: [00:09:30] I mean, there was Joe Mallahan. There was Jan Drago. Remember Jan Drago? Erica Barnett: [00:09:35] I do. We share a pea patch. Crystal Fincher: [00:09:39] Do you share a pea patch? Erica Barnett: [00:09:40] Well, we're in the same pea patch, yeah. Yes. I see her all the time. Crystal Fincher: [00:09:43] Elizabeth Campbell. I mean, I don't know. I think a really interesting thing is the conversation of who could become mayor. That really is, it's so subjective, right? But I think it's interesting. I do think that at the time, an unpopular incumbent... At that time, the incumbent was running for reelection, which certainly inhibits a lot of other people from running and can impact the field. Certainly did then, I think, and took people who almost by definition viewed themselves as outsiders who were not part of the Nickels crew to say, "Hey, we can actually stand up and challenge this guy," where this dynamic is not happening in this mayoral race, because Jenny Durkan is not running for reelection. So it's an open field and has brought in a lot of people who maybe would not have run against Durkan, but now that the field is open, they're here. So it'll be interesting to see, but I do think that people should still get educated about the candidates, vote for who you feel most closely aligns to your values. Because even if your candidate doesn't finish on top, people are still going to be analyzing and looking at, okay, where does the vote distribution per issue fall? And it's going to be consequential if... For something like charter amendment 29, if there's overwhelming support against that, and, hey, one person who gets through the primary got 30%, but the other 70% of votes went against that. That's going to be a bit telling and how the candidates approach their support or opposition of something like that charter amendment campaign. So vote your conscience. Let's see what we have going on there. The other news that is interesting is that the fundraising race just, I guess, got a new dimension with Andrew Grant Houston being granted a democracy voucher fundraising lift. How did that happen? Erica Barnett: [00:11:56] Well, another candidate in the race, former city council member, Bruce Harrell, has a PAC... I mean, I shouldn't say he has. There is a PAC working on his behalf. And so they've raised a bunch of money, and in combination with Harrell's own fundraising, that is above the cap. And so what happens, the cap is $400,000 of basically how much a candidate can raise. When a candidate's fundraising combined with any outside fundraising is above $400,000, any candidate in that race can then say, I want the cap to be lifted. And once it's lifted, that candidate, and eventually most candidates will probably pile on and also ask for lifts, that candidate can spend any amount of money, just like a PAC. So it sort of defangs a major aspect, I think, of the Honest Elections Initiative that we passed a few years back because effectively it says that PACs... We know that PACs can spend unlimited amounts of money, but PACs unlimited spending can spur candidates' unlimited spending. So we sort of have a situation in every election now where basically the caps are meaningless. Crystal Fincher: [00:13:11] Yeah, it is an interesting situation, because as you said, now for Andrew Grant Houston and for other candidates who come in following requesting the lift, there is no more fundraising limit in the primary. And certainly there've been some candidates who have stacked up their... Kind of been collecting but not cashing in additional democracy vouchers and additional money in anticipation of this being lifted. So it'll be real interesting to see how that then translates into communication because the other element is... I mean it's Friday, July 9th today. Ballots are coming out next week. So it's not like there's a ton of time left to do a lot of communications. So the planning of that had to have happened prior to this, and now it just becomes a matter of execution and seeing how much they're able to afford and expanding their communication plans. Erica Barnett: [00:14:13] Sure. And I think we'll see even more of this in the general election because the caps are the same. It sort of resets and you can spend $400,000 in the mayor's race, and so when you just have two candidates... I mean, spending in the mayor's race in recent years has just gotten out of control, in my opinion, and I think we'll see that again. Crystal Fincher: [00:14:35] Well, I think so. It is not cheap to communicate with an entire city full of people, but there really is no other way to do it than raising and spending this money in our current composition, but it would be interesting to examine what would it mean have a more tiered system or what other controls could be put into place to avoid just this all out fundraising blitz and air war that we get ourselves into that initially, talking to people, which I still think is helpful, to have to talk to people to get democracy vouchers. Talking to residents is never a bad thing when it comes to informing policy, but how do we prevent this from becoming just another unlimited spend-a-thon? I don't know. I hope there is a way. I would like there to be a way, but I don't know if there's going to be a way. And to your point, we get into this situation every time now. So it seems like the residents voted to address this issue and kind of took a step one with the Honest Elections Initiative. Is there a step two to try and control this seemingly unlimited spending situation that we get ourselves in? Erica Barnett: [00:15:57] Yeah, because it would be unfair, on the flip side, for PACs to be able to spend unlimited amounts of money and to limit the candidates. So there is a logic behind it. It's just an unfortunate logic that is based on the fact that PACs can spend any amount of money or independent expenditure campaigns can spend any amount of money. Crystal Fincher: [00:16:16] Yep. So we will be keeping our eyes on the spending in coming weeks. If you, listeners, get any campaign collateral, mail, screenshot online ads, take pictures of mail, tag us in it. It's always interesting to see who is getting what and what the messages are. We've seen very creative, sometimes disingenuous, advertising in prior campaigns, and it's always interesting to see how candidates are making their own case and cases against other candidates. So please, just continue to stay informed. There is still a number of forums that are going to be happening. So tune in, and we'll certainly continue to talk about them here on the show. Another issue I wanted to talk about was some news that just came out yesterday, and that an OPA investigation implicated two officers who participated in the January 6th riots and insurrection in Washington, DC. We'd previously known that there were at least six officers in attendance in DC, and a question that a lot of other people have, we've talked about before I think, that the fact that they were in DC for what was billed as a Stop the Steal event says a lot, really enough about their mind frame, that their ability to complete their job in a fair and honest way is seriously called into question. But there was a question about, did any actually participate in the insurrection? Were they on grounds that they should not have been on? Did they break any other laws? And the answer is yes. There were two officers who were found to have done that. So what actually was uncovered in that investigation? Erica Barnett: [00:18:02] Well, essentially what they discovered, what the Office of Police Accountability discovered was that two officers, as you said, apparently a married couple, were trespassing in a restricted area. They did not breach the Capitol, as in actually going inside the building and the rotunda. But they were trespassing on the Capitol steps. And the Office of Police Accountability was not convinced that they just didn't know, which is what they claimed. To your point, I think the Seattle Police Union has said that it would be discriminatory to discipline any of the other four officers, at the very least because they're just expressing their political opinions and this is just free speech. But I think you also have to look at the question... OPA looks at things like professionalism, and I think it calls into question their professional judgment if they believe sincerely, and to the extent that they're willing to go to this rally, in a huge lie, in a huge political lie that the election was stolen, and that Donald Trump should rightly be president now. That's a judgment call. And that speaks to their ability to make good judgments on the job. And so, in deciding that those officers were effectively exonerated, that is the city and the OPA saying, "We don't care about that aspect of their judgment. We agree, in a sense, that this was just an expression of a political view." And I think that it's obviously a political view. But we don't ban people from being cops for being conservative, but we do discipline them as a city for not being professional. Crystal Fincher: [00:19:57] Yeah, absolutely. And clearly what they have to believe in is that, not only was there fraud, predominantly in Democratic cities, and among constituencies of color, predominantly among them. But to believe that to a degree that that would have flipped the election, and the dozens, upon dozens, upon dozens of court cases that have sought to challenge and pursue this in court that have been just flat out, both laughed out of court, and just rejected in every way. This has played out. Again, people can appeal to different courts. Every court, from state courts and federal courts, to district courts and appeals courts, and the Supreme Court have taken up various election issues, and this has been found to just have no basis in reality. And to still persevere is really troubling to me, that someone within the system is in effect saying they don't trust it, they don't believe in it, they're acting in defiance of it, to the point of traveling to DC to make this stand and to make this point. Very, very troubling and concerning. I would be highly concerned in discovering, and wondering if there are patterns of unfair treatment that have come specifically from these officers. It is a big question. But as for the two, the investigation was pretty unequivocal that there does not seem to be a question that these two officers just flat out lied. The investigation said that they lied. That they said they weren't aware that they were in an area where they shouldn't have been. Evidently, video provided by the FBI clearly shows that not only was there plenty of signage indicating that they shouldn't have been there, there were police officers there who not only were directing people away, who were using force in various capacities to try and get people away. And these officers witnessed that, and witnessed their fellow rioters using force against the officers, and did not intervene, did not do anything. Which is really curious, talking about supporting officers, and you have officers standing by watching other officers actually get beaten by this insurrectionist mob. So, they just seem to have been busted from A to Z. And the chief had previously said, if there was someone found to be taking part in those activities, they would be fired. So it's going to be interesting to see if the chief follows through on that. And then what SPOG does to try and address that. Erica Barnett: [00:23:02] One aspect of the story that PubliCola covered that I want to just point out, reporter Paul Keifer did a story on this, is that although Chief Adrian Diaz did order these officers to turn over information, receipts and bank records, photographs and texts from January 6th, and they did comply, except for one who still has not complied. The police union is fighting that, and they believe that this was a violation of their rights. They have filed a grievance. And so, the question of whether the OPA, the accountability office, has the authority to subpoena and to demand these records is still very much on the table. So, we could see a scenario in the future, hopefully not as dramatic as the January 6th insurrection, but a scenario in the future where police officers refuse to hand over this information, or this kind of information, and the public could just be in the dark. Crystal Fincher: [00:24:08] And we're already in the dark about so much already. It's very, very troubling. And I hope, as we continue to have these conversations with a new perspective mayors, and council members in the city of Seattle, and in other cities, that this is talked about. That transparency and accountability, apart from people loving to ask, "Do you support or oppose defund?", there's so much more in this conversation that we need to talk about in detail. And I hope this continues to be centered in those conversations, because really it's just unacceptable. Erica Barnett: [00:24:46] Absolutely. Crystal Fincher: [00:24:48] And with that, and related in our criminal legal system, there was an excellent PubliCola story this week about the work-release program. We'll link to it in our show notes. I highly encourage everyone to read it. But do you want to give us a rundown on what that story was about? Erica Barnett: [00:25:08] Yeah. Paul Keifer, again, our police accountability reporter, did a story about work-release violations, and how they are used, how the violations of the terms of work release, which is a program where people get released from prison, but they live in a facility. They participate in programs, including job programs. And it's essentially, it's a little like parole. And so they have to comply with a bunch of different rules. And lack of compliance can send you back to prison. And so, what Paul's story revealed is that in a lot of cases, very small violations of the conditions of work release, which is supposed to prepare you to get along, and be a productive citizen in the outside world. But these very small violations were being used to send people back to prison for things as small as having... One woman had a drill bit, a small drill bit in her bag that she said was her boyfriend's, and she was sent back to prison for that. So, the story reveals that it's a system that sets people up to fail in many cases because it's more about following the minutiae of rules than actually getting rehabilitated, and getting ready to succeed in society in the outside world. Crystal Fincher: [00:26:36] Yeah. And the story detailed a lot of instances, people being sent back to prison for missing a bus. And for that being used, basically, in retaliation for personal issues that people working for the Department of Corrections had with various people. A couple had made complaints about potential abuses of power and were retaliated against. There was someone who appears to have been retaliated against because their family members were in a protest. Just very, very punitive, choosing to exercise extremely harsh judgment to take away someone's freedom. And if we are really sitting here trying to act like this system is about rehabilitation for everything from non-violent seemingly... Whether it's some possession of a controlled substance or whatever the case may be, they have served their sentence. This is a kind of midway point, like you said, to prepare people to live, in regular life. For a lot of people who wind up in prison, they may not have had the most stable life. They may have made a mistake, got caught up in the system and they may not have the best tools for coping. This is billed, supposed to be at, "Okay, this is to help you reintegrate into society." To help you build positive habits, positive routine, get a job, get on your feet, get some money coming in the door so that when you do get ultimately released and are free of all supervision, that you are prepared to live on your own and in society. And coping with the everyday challenges of life is part of preparing to be back in society and managing through that. Because Lord knows, all of the rest of us make mistakes. All of the rest of us has missed a bus at some point in time, or forgotten to take something with us, or have been late to a meeting. That is regular life stuff. So to expect people to live more perfectly than everyone else on the outside is just not a realistic expectation. Then to tie sending someone back to prison, losing a job, losing progress, losing momentum, when that is the difference between someone potentially being back on their feet and not repeating any offenses, is, like you said, it's setting people up for failure. It's absolutely unacceptable. And this system is a trap. It is a trap. And- Erica Barnett: [00:29:26] Yeah it is teaching people to essentially, to learn compliance. And that is not the skill that is most important in life to succeed. Because if you're sending people back to prison over and over again, or even once, for one of these minor violations... And note, the missing the bus issue or the bus doesn't show up, one reason people have to take the bus is they're not allowed to own cars in work release. It's really forcing people to run a race in a full leg cast. Then you learn through that process that you're supposed to be compliant no matter what. There's so many reasons that that is not a great lesson to learn, to succeed in life. But one is just that discrimination exists in the world and if you're being taught to be compliant with it, that is a racist system. One of the people that Paul talked about was a woman who said that she was retaliated against for filing a sexual harassment complaint. So again, the lesson there is, "Whatever happens, don't complain because you'll be punished." Crystal Fincher: [00:30:49] Absolutely. And it's a system that is primed for abuse when that situation and circumstance occurs. There were recommendations made by this working group or task force that was predominantly made up of Department of Corrections people, had a couple of people on there who were related to people who were formerly incarcerated and in the work release program, no one directly impacted. There was resistance to even rewriting a mission and vision statement that really centered, "Hey, our job is to rehabilitate people and not to teach them compliance to Department of Corrections rules." They did agree to some retraining, to some standards and standardization of some policies, but my goodness, is there just such a long way to go to fix this. It just underscores that beyond just how things are handled and initial contacts with police, and whether or not someone is arrested and how that happens, what they're charged with and how they're sentenced and how that happens, on the other end, how they're treated while they are incarcerated. Then on their path to getting out is there are just so many traps in there. You marvel, looking at all of these different elements in the system, about how anyone makes it out unscathed. And if not unscathed, just the ability to successfully reintegrate because so much is working against them. The overwhelming majority of people who go to jail or prison are coming back out. We have an interest as a society, one, because they're people and we don't throw away people, we shouldn't throw away people, but they're also going to be reintegrating into our community. So let's make sure that people are prepared to become thriving members of our community and not set them up for failure, or have them constantly deal with, "If I sneeze the wrong way, I can wind up back in prison." We have to do better to rehabilitate people and to really focus on restoring them and their ability to be a thriving member of our communities. And with that, that's our time today. But we thank you for listening to Hacks & Wonks on this Friday, July 9th, 2021. The producer of Hacks & Wonks is Lisl Stadler, and our wonderful co-host today was Seattle political reporter and founder of PubliCola, Erica Barnett. You can find Erica on Twitter @ericacbarnett, that's Erica with a "C", and on PubliCola. And you can buy her book, Quitter: A Memoir of Drinking, Relapse, and Recovery, now on paperback. You can find me on Twitter @finchfrii, spelled F-I-N-C-H-F-R-I-I, and now you can follow Hacks & Wonks on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever else you get your podcasts, just type Hacks & Wonks into the search bar. Be sure to subscribe to get our Friday almost live shows and our mid-week show delivered to your podcast feed. While you're there, leave a review, it really helps out. You can get a full transcript of this episode and links to the resources referenced in the show at officialhacksandwonks.com, and in the podcast episode notes. Thanks for tuning in and we'll talk to you next time.

Data is Your Crystal Ball (1024) Transcript: Steven Butala1:                 Steve and Jill here. Jill DeWit:                            Good day. Steven Butala1:                 Welcome to the Land Academy Show, entertaining land investment talk. I'm Steven Jack Butala. Jill DeWit:                            And I'm Jill Dewitt, broadcasting from the sunny, Southern California. Steven Butala1:                 Today, Jill and I talk about how data is your crystal ball. Jill DeWit:                            It is. You know what I wrote? I wrote down, "Don't guess. Use data." Steven Butala1:                 Exactly. Jill DeWit:                            That's my big ... I have more to share though. Steven Butala1:                 Me too. There's data for acquisitions. We use data for making acquisition decisions. We use data for deciding where to send offers to owners, and we use a tremendous amount of data in the sales part of it, so I can't imagine doing this without data, and I think during the 80s and 90s or up to the 80s and 90s, it was kind of just a dart board. Jill DeWit:                            I have to say. Jack used data for everything, and I have to ask. Did you use data to find me? Steven Butala1:                 Maybe. I don't know. We'll talk about that in a minute. Actually, I think I might have. Jill DeWit:                            I'd like to know how you use data for relationships. I'd like to know how you use ... Because Lord knows you'd use it for every other major decision, which is actually good. You use data for cars. You use data for houses. You use data for almost having a child. For children. Steven Butala1:                 Well, I'll tell you what. If I analyzed all the data about whether or not to have children, the outcome would have been different. Jill DeWit:                            Yeah, you failed. I won't say you failed on that one, but maybe a little more research would have been appropriate. Steven Butala1:                 Before we get into it, let's take a question posted by one of our members on landinvestors.com online community. It's free. Jill DeWit:                            Michael asked, “Hello, community. I am as green as they get and looking for some advice. I've been researching land investing for a while, and I'm convinced it would be a great opportunity for me and my family. I have not pulled the trigger on starting yet, though, and I need some help getting over paralysis by analysis.” Data comes in there. Jill DeWit:                            “My situation is this. Our family will be moving to a different state in two years. How much of a hassle is it to start a company like NLLC in one state, acquire the assets, and then move to another state? I've read about domesticating your LLC in a new state, but I was wondering how much of a hassle that was. That said, I get it, that I don't need an LLC to start, and maybe this is my reptile brain holding me back from what's possible. I really don't want to wait two years before starting this journey. Talk some sense into me, please. Many thanks, Michael.” Jill DeWit:                            That's a good one. Steven Butala1:                 It is. There's two, a direct question about LLC's here, and then there's a serious underlying question here. Jill DeWit:                            Uh-oh. Steven Butala1:                 Number one, let's be super clear on this LLC thing, and it comes up a lot, and it's a very good question, and you're very, very new, and thank you for letting us know. You can have an LLC and operate in another state all day long. Large corporations for tax reasons and a lot of legal reasons had Delaware LLC's or Nevada LLC's. For those two states, specifically, you don't have to disclose personal members. A company can own a company, and there's a lot of advantages. So, get that out of your mind. It's not like a driver's license where if you live in California,

Data is Your Crystal Ball (1024) Transcript: Steven Butala1:                 Steve and Jill here. Jill DeWit:                            Good day. Steven Butala1:                 Welcome to the Land Academy Show, entertaining land investment talk. I'm Steven Jack Butala. Jill DeWit:                            And I'm Jill Dewitt, broadcasting from the sunny, Southern California. Steven Butala1:                 Today, Jill and I talk about how data is your crystal ball. Jill DeWit:                            It is. You know what I wrote? I wrote down, "Don't guess. Use data." Steven Butala1:                 Exactly. Jill DeWit:                            That's my big ... I have more to share though. Steven Butala1:                 Me too. There's data for acquisitions. We use data for making acquisition decisions. We use data for deciding where to send offers to owners, and we use a tremendous amount of data in the sales part of it, so I can't imagine doing this without data, and I think during the 80s and 90s or up to the 80s and 90s, it was kind of just a dart board. Jill DeWit:                            I have to say. Jack used data for everything, and I have to ask. Did you use data to find me? Steven Butala1:                 Maybe. I don't know. We'll talk about that in a minute. Actually, I think I might have. Jill DeWit:                            I'd like to know how you use data for relationships. I'd like to know how you use ... Because Lord knows you'd use it for every other major decision, which is actually good. You use data for cars. You use data for houses. You use data for almost having a child. For children. Steven Butala1:                 Well, I'll tell you what. If I analyzed all the data about whether or not to have children, the outcome would have been different. Jill DeWit:                            Yeah, you failed. I won't say you failed on that one, but maybe a little more research would have been appropriate. Steven Butala1:                 Before we get into it, let's take a question posted by one of our members on landinvestors.com online community. It's free. Jill DeWit:                            Michael asked, “Hello, community. I am as green as they get and looking for some advice. I've been researching land investing for a while, and I'm convinced it would be a great opportunity for me and my family. I have not pulled the trigger on starting yet, though, and I need some help getting over paralysis by analysis.” Data comes in there. Jill DeWit:                            “My situation is this. Our family will be moving to a different state in two years. How much of a hassle is it to start a company like NLLC in one state, acquire the assets, and then move to another state? I've read about domesticating your LLC in a new state, but I was wondering how much of a hassle that was. That said, I get it, that I don't need an LLC to start, and maybe this is my reptile brain holding me back from what's possible. I really don't want to wait two years before starting this journey. Talk some sense into me, please. Many thanks, Michael.” Jill DeWit:                            That's a good one. Steven Butala1:                 It is. There's two, a direct question about LLC's here, and then there's a serious underlying question here. Jill DeWit:                            Uh-oh. Steven Butala1:                 Number one, let's be super clear on this LLC thing, and it comes up a lot, and it's a very good question, and you're very, very new, and thank you for letting us know. You can have an LLC and operate in another state all day long. Large corporations for tax reasons and a lot of legal reasons had Delaware LLC's or Nevada LLC's. For those two states, specifically, you don't have to disclose personal members. A company can own a company, and there's a lot of advantages. So, get that out of your mind. It's not like a driver's license where if you live in California,

In this devotional Song Lord Ganesh's devotee Praying to Ganesh, Because Lord ganesha is the only hope for him.  Lord Shree Ganesh is the god of knowledge and the remover of obstacles. Lord Ganesha is worshiped, or at least remembered, in the beginning of any auspicious performance for blessings and auspiciousness

All the Psalms are rich in the experience of people relating to God. Psalm 100 is a call to worship offering God our heartfelt thanks and praise. We might struggle with that. Too quickly we succumb to over-familiarity with the good things God gives and complacency sets in. With fresh eyes and an open heart the Psalmist gives us a renewed understanding of the thankfulness God requires. Because “Lord is good and his love endures forever” (v.5), we have life, hope and so do the generations to come.

I have a confession to make… I thought I knew what the term “content marketing” actually meant, but then I totally got schooled on this episode. But in the nicest way possible. In a way that really helped me better understand how and why our customers buy from us. You know, how to do the thing that actually works! Because Lord knows, none of us want to inadvertently create more NOISE with our blogging, social media updates and how we show up in the world. It's exhausting and it serves no one. My guest, Chris Marr, is going to simplify what content marketing can do for us. In this episode, you will learn: The real definition of ‘content marketing' and why so many businesses get it wrong How to clarify your buyer's journey through your sales process, and what to keep in mind all along the way What is the “Zero Moment of Truth?” Chris' brainstorm process for generating ideas for content that's simple to follow What are the first five steps we can take action on today to boost business growth? Think about the last big ticket purchase you made. What were the steps you went through before laying down your credit card and making the purchase? Did you research competitors? Did you look at testimonials? How long did you lurk around before making actual contact? Your prospective customers and buyers are doing the exact same thing with you right now! Chris teaches how to build trust with them in simple, simple ways. Show notes available with all LINKS mentioned here: https://thesimplifiers.com/podcast/023-chris-marr/

Beginning an entrepreneurial endeavor, especially one in the artistic vein, and most especially when one is young and pressured to commit to some more time-tested way of living, can be very intense. So when Ty Dillon, Texas singer-songwriter and a friend from middle-school days, agreed to appear on Roam Free, I was elated. The man is at the beginning phases of his career as a self-funded, community-oriented independent music businessman, and I was eager to pick his brain. I remember seeing him on the Texas State University campus, playing songs for tips in between his residence nights at Cheatham Street Warehouse, the famous origin place for Stevie Ray Vaughn, George Strait, and Townes Van Zandt. He looked like some kind of six-string ghost from the past, like someone actually following his dreams instead of waiting around for somebody else to do it for him. I called him up and got to hang out a few times before this podcast was recorded. We sat around at his house drinking coffee and peach tea, shooting the breeze for a while, then commenced talking about those things most pressing. About minute 25 we begin talk about Ty's decision to play music for a living, and his story, especially with regard to my intersection in his life. We then ramble on into discussions of his business model, and what he's learned from Indiepreneur, an incredible online resource he's using specifically to optimize his Facebook ads. In fact, Ty detailed a central principle in his business plan which I thought was profound, describing his method of a "funnel" which canvasses Facebook in search of 1000-2000 "true fans" upon which to build his business. I find his thoughts and overall work ethic to be very helpful to me as I make my way into the business of content creation. The two original songs he plays are beautiful and of real songwriting quality, and I look forward to his upcoming album. I hope you enjoy what you hear and are able to grasp whatever helpful tools you can find to make your dreams reality. Because Lord knows, that's what this world needs right this minute. Check out Ty's latest release "Sunsets and Pickups" on Amazon or on his personal (and preferred) site, http://www.tydillonmusic.com. If you enjoy the 'cast, consider doing your shopping through my Amazon link (http://amzn.to/2E1daJ8). There's no extra cost to you, and a percentage of your purchase goes to charity. Thank you!

This week's episode of Riverdale was brought to you by the term "awkward." Somewhere between Veronica not saying 'I love you' to Archie, Cheryl's super-creepy post- (or pre-???) shower rubdown of Josie, and the cringe-worthy strip tease of manic Betty. Maybe the only thing in this episode that fit just right were Alice and FP, together again. Because Lord knows those two have had spent a LOT of quality time together. And while Mac & Maud were pretty close to giving up on Jughead's bad character arc, in the end, we're back on track to go hunt the elusive Black Hood...You can email us with feedback at macintoshandmaud@gmail.com, or you can connect with us on Instagram (macintosh.and.maud) and Facebook.If you like the podcast, make sure to subscribe and review on iTunes or your favorite podcatcher, and tell your friends. Feel free to offer a good ginger joke as well!Music taken from "Make Up" from the compilation album Kamelot by Distortions. Licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license. To hear the song or get more information about the artist, visit the song page at Jamendo.