Podcasts about Downy

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사랑 그리고 사랑 - YEOREUMii with DOWNY 04.08.25 | VISLA FM by VISLA

Today, laundry takes just a few buttons and a spin cycle—but behind that convenience lies a remarkable story of innovation and perseverance. In this episode, Procter & Gamble's historian and corporate storyteller Shane Meeker takes us on a journey through the evolution of laundry—from the gritty days of 19th-century soapmaking to the revolutionary invention of Tide, the detergent that took 14 years to create. From the company's origins in the 1800s making soap and candles, we uncover how science, storytelling, and even wartime research reshaped household routines. Plus, the unexpected role P&G played in inventing the TV soap opera, and how today's laundry labs continue to evolve with consumer habits. Tide and Downy sponsor this episode. -- Mosheh Oinounou (@mosheh) is an Emmy and Murrow award-winning journalist. He has 20 years of experience at networks including Fox News, Bloomberg Television and CBS News, where he was the executive producer of the CBS Evening News and launched the network's 24 hour news channel. He founded the @mosheh Instagram news account in 2020 and the Mo News podcast and newsletter in 2022.

Managing pests like powdery mildew, downy mildew, botrytis, and sour rot can be a complex challenge. Andy Fles, Vineyard Manager at Shady Lane Cellars in Michigan, shares insights from his USDA Sustainable Ag Research Education producer grant project. The project compares two pest management approaches: a ‘soft' pesticide program and a conventional one. Andy conducted the experiment using his on farm sprayer, providing real-world results. Despite climate variability and fluctuating pest pressures, the soft pesticide program proved effective. The project underscores the potential of using softer chemistries to manage disease while maintaining fruit quality. Resources:         REGISTER: April 25, 2025 | Fungicide Spraying: Evolving Strategies & Grower Insights 80: (Rebroadcast) The Goldilocks Principle & Powdery Mildew Management 117: Grapevine Mildew Control with UV Light 197: Managing the Sour Rot Disease Complex in Grapes 219: Intelligent Sprayers to Improve Fungicide Applications and Save Money 235: Battling Fungicide Resistance with Glove Sampling Rufus Issacson, Michigan State University Shady Lane Cellars Secures $11K National Farming Grant Timothy Miles, Michigan State University Vineyard Team Programs: Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship - Donate SIP Certified – Show your care for the people and planet   Sustainable Ag Expo – The premiere winegrowing event of the year Vineyard Team – Become a Member Get More Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss an episode on the latest science and research with the Sustainable Winegrowing Podcast. Since 1994, Vineyard Team has been your resource for workshops and field demonstrations, research, and events dedicated to the stewardship of our natural resources. Learn more at www.vineyardteam.org.   Transcript [00:00:00] Beth Vukmanic: Managing pests like powdery mildew, downy mildew, botrytis and sour rot can be a complex challenge. [00:00:10] Welcome to sustainable Wine Growing with Vineyard Team, where we bring you the latest in science and research for the wine industry. I'm Beth Vukmanic executive director. [00:00:21] In today's podcast, Craig McMillan, critical resource Manager at Niner Wine Estates. With Longtime SIP Certified Vineyard and the first ever SIP certified winery speaks with Andy Fles, vineyard Manager at Shady Lane Cellars in Michigan. Andy shares insights from his USDA Sstainable Ag Research Education Producer grant project. The project compares to pest management approaches, a soft pesticide program and a conventional one. [00:00:50] Andy conducted the experiment using his on farms sprayer, providing real world results. Despite climate variability and fluctuating pest pressures, the soft pesticide program proved effective. The project underscores the potential of using softer chemistries to manage disease while maintaining fruit quality. [00:01:10] If you'd like to learn more about this topic, then we hope you can join us on April 25th, 2025 for the fungicide spraying evolving strategies in Grower Insights tailgate taking place in San Luis Obispo, California. Dr. Shunping Ding of Cal Poly will share updated results from a study on the efficacy of different fungicide programs containing bio fungicides. [00:01:34] Then we will head out into the vineyard to learn about new technologies for integrated pest management and talk with farmers from different growing regions about their program. Now let's listen in.  [00:01:49] Craig Macmillan: Our guest today is Andy Fles. He is the vineyard manager at Shady Lane Cellars in Michigan. And today we're going to talk about a pretty cool little project. He's got going looking into two different pesticide programs. Thanks for being on the podcast, Andy. [00:02:03] Andrew Fles: Yeah, my pleasure, Craig. [00:02:05] Craig Macmillan: So you have a grant from the USDA sustainable agriculture research and education program. To look at what you call a soft pesticide program for your vineyard in Michigan and comparing it to what we would call a sustainable or sustainable conventional program. What do you define as a soft pesticide program? [00:02:25] Andrew Fles: Well, that's kinda just a, a term that we applied to identify it. I didn't want to use organic because I thought that there would be a good chance we would utilize things that are considered by the industry to be very soft in terms of you know, they're not a harsh chemical or a carcinogenic, a known carcinogenic compound. [00:02:49] But something, for example, like. Like horticultural grade peroxide, which goes by several different trade names. So that's just, it's hydrogen peroxide and it is a disinfectant that turns into water and oxygen. So it's pretty Soft in terms of what it does to beneficials and, and plants and, and such. [00:03:11] We utilize some of those products already in our spray program. But combined also with, we're probably 50 percent organic in terms of what we spray out. for fungicides, pesticides, insecticides. And so we're still altering in some synthetic compounds. [00:03:28] And we wanted to compare that, what we currently do, to something that was much softer, like only soft compounds. Something that could be considered a OMRI certified organic program, or, or almost, right? Like maybe there's just one or two things that are very soft, but not technically OMRI certified. [00:03:49] Craig Macmillan: Right, and I do want to , get into the weeds on that a little bit later. Cause it's a, it's an interesting, Set a program that you've got going and I have lots of questions about them. What inspired this project? [00:04:01] Andrew Fles: I think just that continued movement towards investigating what works here in the east. You know, we, of course, get more wetting events and, and wetting periods that cause more fungal issues here compared to the west coast. And so we really, you know, we have to have an eye on sustainability. Certainly at Shady Lane, we really push for that. [00:04:25] But we also need to make sure that we have a marketable crop. We need to make sure the wine quality is, is high and acceptable for our standards. And so you know, if we're talking about, you know, every year is quite different here. We can get a, like, for example, in 2024, very wet in the first half of the year, very, very dry in the second half. [00:04:51] And, and then, which was quite different from 23 and quite different from 22 and so on and so forth. so, so some years we need to kind of step in and use a synthetic product here at this key time or, you know we need to protect our, our, our wine grape quality. [00:05:07] Craig Macmillan: What are the primary pests and diseases in your area? [00:05:11] Andrew Fles: So we have issues with the usual suspects that powdery mildew, of course. That's, that's fairly, I think if you're on top of your game, that's, it's pretty controllable. Even with soft products here it's just a spray frequency and coverage issue. [00:05:27] Downy mildew is something that can be quite challenging in certain years. [00:05:31] And there's, and there's less tools in the toolbox to use for that as well. And so you gotta, you gotta be on top of that with scouting preventative, like canopy, you know, canopy management practices that deter too dense of a canopy or, or clusters that are. hidden behind several layers of leaf. [00:05:53] Those are going to cause problems for you no matter what you're spraying, synthetic or organic, right? So, so we try and utilize all those things and and then we, we can also have issues in some years with botrytis and even sour rot and tight clustered varieties. So, so we were looking at sour rot and botrytis in the, in the cluster analysis of this portion of the , project. [00:06:18] Yeah, we have some locations can struggle with grape erinium mite. That's becoming more and more prevalent here. Wasn't an issue four years ago. Not, not really up in, up in northern Michigan anyway. So that's becoming more and more of an issue. And then we always struggle with rose chafers. It's a, it's a grub that, you know, comes out for six weeks and really terrorizes the vines. [00:06:49] And for that, for that pest, we really walk the line of the economic damage threshold, right? So, so a little, you know, we're going to see rose chafers every year. Some years are better than others. And what is our acceptable damage, you know? And so, once we see the rose chafers really getting dense in number, and also, you know, munching on a few leaves is one thing, munching on the clusters and the shoot tips is another thing. [00:07:21] Craig Macmillan: That's what I was going to ask. Yeah, I'm unfamiliar with this this pest. It, skeletonizes leaves, but it also will attack flower clusters and, and grape clusters in the early stages of development. Is that right? [00:07:34] Andrew Fles: Pretty much all green tissue. Yeah, a bunch of shoot, shoot tips leaves are probably, you know, their preferred source, I think, but anything tender. And so if, if the timing is just right where the, the inflorescences are, are you know, just coming out when the, when the beetles hatch, then they can really go for those cluster tips and, and shoot tips. [00:07:59] While we're scouting for this pest, we not only do the, you know, the density numbers and annotate that, but we look at, you know, how many are actually eating leaves versus shoot tips and clusters. [00:08:13] Craig Macmillan: Interesting, interesting. What is the design of your project and what varieties are we talking about? And what kind of variables are you measuring and how are you measuring them? [00:08:25] Andrew Fles: this is a farmer grant as opposed to a research grant. , it's tailored to folks that want to do on, on farm trials. And we want to do. Something in a significant enough volume, you know, that, that some that it would apply, it would be more applicable in the real world. [00:08:45] So for example you know, at a university they might do this randomized plots, you know, and they're using a backpack sprayer because they're, they're applying you know, three vines here, three vines there, scattered all throughout the block. And we wanted to use the sprayer that we actually use. [00:09:04] Um, and we wanted to do a bigger sections. And so what we did was we broke it up into two acre sections and we did two acres of both the traditional, the conventional program that we normally would do here and the soft treatment. So we did two acres of each in pinot noir, two acres of each in a, in a French American hybrid called ol, and then two acres of Riesling. [00:09:33] And we wanted to look at powdery, downy, botrytis, and sour rot. [00:09:38] In certain years, we can have quite a lot of botrytis and sour rot pressure in those three varieties. Because Pinot Noir of course is tight clustered. Vignole is even tighter clustered despite having that French American disease resistance package. It, it doesn't possess that for Botrytis or Sour Rot. [00:09:58] and then of course Riesling is a, is a very, it's probably the number one variety in Michigan. And as we all know, it's susceptible to Botrytis. [00:10:08] Craig Macmillan: Yeah. Big time. [00:10:10] Nice design. Great varieties to choose. I think that was really, really smart. How are you going to quantify these different variables? How are you going to measure the damage? [00:10:18] Andrew Fles: So for Powdery and Downey we just kind of did a scouting assessment. You know, how, prevalent is the infection based on how many leaves per, per per scouting event? I think off the top of my head, it was like 25 leaves. Per block that's more, I guess, anecdotal which we, and we did see that in the Pinot Noir, it was pretty clear cut that we struggled to control Downy in the soft treatment more so than in the conventional treatment. [00:10:50] It was, it was pretty clear there. And then as far as the Botrytis and Sour Rot, so that's really where the MSU team came in with the, the Rufus Isaacs lab and Dr. Rufus Isaacs and his master's PhD candidate. They did a lot of work there and, and then also the Tim Miles lab , so basically what they did is they took 25 clusters of each treatment and they did an assessment , for of course, how many berries were infected by, by botrytis and sour rot. [00:11:25] And then they also took those clusters and they hatched them out to see how many Drosophila species were there. [00:11:33] Craig Macmillan: Oh, okay. Yeah, good. That's interesting. [00:11:36] Andrew Fles: Wing drosophila here in Michigan and so really it was just the two species of traditional vinegar fly, drosophila, and then spotted wing. They did, you know, the, the statistics on that. [00:11:50] Craig Macmillan: interesting. And this is, this is a multi year project, right? [00:11:54] Andrew Fles: This was just one year. [00:11:56] Craig Macmillan: Just one year, okay. [00:11:58] And when will you have final results? [00:12:01] Andrew Fles: I have some of those already. We're going to do like a more formal presentation at a spring meeting here, a grower meeting, that's kind of co sponsored between MSU Extension and a local non profit that promotes grape and wine production in the area. So yeah, we're going to make a presentation in April on on the results and, and kind of, we're just continuing to, coalesce and, you know, tie my spray program with wedding events and then the results that they got as well. [00:12:37] Craig Macmillan: What other kinds of outreach are you doing? You're doing the meeting and you're doing other things? [00:12:41] Andrew Fles: I haven't discussed this with with Rika Bhandari as the PhD student. I suspect that she would use this in some of her publishing, you know, whether it gets published, I don't know, it's part of her Her main focus is sour rot, so this will be included in some of her presentations. [00:13:03] But I don't know that for a fact. [00:13:06] Craig Macmillan: That's exciting to get some information that's local. It's locally based and get it out to the local community as well as the broader community. I think that's really important if you don't mind I would like to get into some of the nuts and bolts of these two programs because I found that to be very interesting And then as we go talk about How that panned out for the different pests and diseases that you saw in these trials Let's talk about the soft program first You've got a dormant oil app in May and I assume you mean that there would be like JMS stylet oil or something like that [00:13:41] Andrew Fles: I think it was called bio cover. [00:13:43] Craig Macmillan: Bio cover and that's a pretty standard practice in your area I would guess [00:13:48] Andrew Fles: It is, yeah. [00:13:49] Craig Macmillan: and then the following month in June You, uh, have copper in the mix. In both the traditional and in the soft chemistry. I'm guessing that's also a common practice in your area. Probably for downy and for powdery. [00:14:06] Andrew Fles: Yeah, the copper is is something that we've been leaning towards and getting away from some of the synthetics. Which stick better to plant surfaces, we've been migrating that way anyway, these last numerous years now and so, yeah, , there are some similarities between the two programs at times it's really those key times of pre bloom and post bloom and variation that that we've traditionally. [00:14:34] Really locked in on some of the synthetic chemistries here [00:14:37] Craig Macmillan: And then also in June you have a Serenade Opti, which would be a Subtilis based material. And I believe that's also in your conventional in July. That's pretty standard practice, and that's an OMRI certified product, I believe. [00:14:52] Andrew Fles: Yes, yeah. [00:14:53] Craig Macmillan: There's some overlap there. It looks like the Rose Chaffer comes out around this time. [00:14:59] Andrew Fles: Yeah, probably it's not in front of me, but probably mid june [00:15:04] Craig Macmillan: Yeah, that's what you have here. In the traditional you've got a, a neonic, a sale. And then in the program, there's kind of a question mark here. What did you end up using in the, in the soft program for a roast chaffer? [00:15:19] Andrew Fles: Let me find it here [00:15:21] So we used neemix 4. 5 [00:15:26] Craig Macmillan: Nemix. I'm not familiar with that. Is that a Nemo based product? [00:15:28] Andrew Fles: Yeah, it's a neem oil [00:15:30] Craig Macmillan: And then in the traditional you have a neonic, a sail. Did you see a difference in Rose Chapter damage between the two? Because this is a pretty big difference here. [00:15:39] Andrew Fles: a pretty big difference in terms of [00:15:42] Craig Macmillan: Well, the modes of action obviously are very different. [00:15:45] Andrew Fles: Oh, sure, sure. Yeah, we had a little higher a little higher prevalence of rose chafers in mostly in the Pinot Noir treatments. Not so much in the Riesling, and I think that's largely because of black location. Traditionally the Pinot Noir block is our worst, one of our worst blocks in terms of rose chaffer rose chaffers are these beetles. [00:16:09] Of course, they're very similar to Japanese beetles for those listeners that, that may know that, but they really thrive in sandy soil, which is what we specialize here in northern Michigan, sandy based soil, right? [00:16:22] , and especially in un mowed fields. Right? We've really been trying to manage , our headland spaces like a prairie even more so upon joining SIP and, and learning more about making a comprehensive farm plan of, Of all of the land, right? And so we've really managed our, headlands and open fields like prairies which means minimal mowing, [00:16:47] like once a year is what we, we just mow to keep the autumn olive out. And and so we're trying to promote, you know, bird life and, and. All forms of life in these fields, which includes and sometimes an increase in rose chafers. [00:17:03] However, this 2024 was, was a. Fairly low pressure year. [00:17:09] And so I was very comfortable with, with sticking with this the soft insecticide. And we didn't feel like, you know, even though we saw this, this increase in pressure in the soft treatment, it wasn't surpassing the economic damage threshold that we are really keen. [00:17:27] And right. IPM [00:17:29] Craig Macmillan: So, true IPM. [00:17:31] Andrew Fles: IPM is very important, here, you know, where we have all these insects and it rains a lot and, you know, you got to really. Be ready to to, to scout and then react. [00:17:41] Craig Macmillan: Exactly. Yeah. And knowing what your economic injury limit is, I think it's huge. And your action threshold based on that. Tell me a little bit about the Spinosad based products. You have a couple in the soft that I assume are meant to be insecticides. [00:17:55] Andrew Fles: Yeah. The delegate. Yup. [00:17:56] Craig Macmillan: Yeah, Delegator and Trust. [00:17:59] Andrew Fles: I'll talk a little bit about intrepid as well. That's probably a foreign thing for any, any West coast listener, but that's intrepid is a it's a molting regulator and it's essentially for, in this case, for grapes, it's for grape berry moth. And this is an insect that is very difficult to do IPM on because there's a, there's kind of a morph that lives in northern Michigan that doesn't Go for the traps and so you can put traps out and it you just have no idea what's going on Because they just don't really care for the pheromones so they're really almost impossible to trap and I've talked numerous time with dr Rufus Isaacs about this and how do we you know get a handle on populations and you know They just can't get their traps to work up here. [00:18:50] We target with the intrepid, it's a, again, it's a molting regulator, so it just prevents them from developing, and it's very specific it's not a broad spectrum, so that goes on as a preventative where we have blocks near the woods, [00:19:05] because we see great berry moth coming in from wild, wild vines [00:19:10] that may or may not be in the woods, but we Where we see larva hatching is, is just kind of a perimeter. [00:19:16] So what we'll actually do is a perimeter spray. We don't even spray the whole block. We'll spray the outside row or two or three of each end. And then we just kind of blast it in. Along the, the other, you know, along the posts, the end posts. And that seems to work fairly well. [00:19:34] Craig Macmillan: Huh. [00:19:35] Andrew Fles: And then, as far as Delegate goes and Entrust those are Spinoza based products like you mentioned. [00:19:42] Those are primarily, you'll see that we put them on, well, I don't know if you can see timing, but we put them on. in September. Yeah, at the end of the season. September. [00:19:53] Yeah. Yeah. So, so those go on right around or right before even version and that is for drosophila [00:20:01] I think there's been some research recently from Cornell and then also Brock University in Canada. And I know also that Tim and Rufus have been doing trials here in Michigan as well. between the three of us out here in the, in the Northeast we're very focused on sour rot. [00:20:19] And so Michigan State along with these other folks have done these trials where they found that including an insecticide at veraison or, and then also at about 15 bricks significantly reduces sour rot infections. And that's because you're going after one of the vectors. [00:20:39] Craig Macmillan: Interesting. There's another material that I wasn't familiar with. I did a little bit of research on it. That's a product called Jet Ag, which is a hydrogen peroxide, a peracetic acid material. You have that in both the soft chemistry and your quote unquote conventional section. Is that a material you've used for a long time? [00:20:57] Andrew Fles: Yeah, we, I forget when exactly it started coming around I think probably 2015, 16 is when it was maybe released or made its way to northern Michigan and kind of coincided with with some sour rot. Issues that we have had off and on over the years with Pinot Noir or Vignole. And it's a, you know, it's a strong hydrogen peroxide. [00:21:23] It's a heavy oxidizer. It goes in and it, it, it cleans everything up. You know, it disinfects. And there's, there's some thinking as well that it, it'll kill the yeast. And some of those yeasts, the aroma is very attractive to spotted wing drosophila and regular drosophila. And so if you're, if you're kind of this is probably something that, that people, you know, that rely on native ferments might not want to hear, but you know, it really, it really disinfects the fruit which, which is key for You know, controlling sour rot. [00:21:59] And so we've used that over the years as both a preventative and a curative treatment. [00:22:05] Craig Macmillan: Right. [00:22:06] Andrew Fles: I didn't actually end up using it this year because It essentially stopped raining it was almost west coast ian here in the fall. It stopped raining in August and it didn't rain again. [00:22:19] You know, I mean, aside from like just a, you know, very, very light mist that wouldn't even penetrate the soil deeper than a centimeter. You know, so we didn't get any appreciable rain. From, I think it was maybe August 5 or 10, all the way till November 31st, or sorry, October 31st. [00:22:39] Craig Macmillan: Actually, that raises a good question. So, what is the summer precipitation like, quote unquote, in a normal year or an average year? [00:22:48] Andrew Fles: Yeah, we've been having, [00:22:49] Craig Macmillan: is it? [00:22:52] Andrew Fles: it's so variable is the, you know, we keep coming back to that. Every season is different here and it's so true even in Northern Michigan we have seen climate change affecting our summer rainfalls. So, whereas, you know, traditionally, and I say traditionally as maybe like the 80s and 90s maybe even early 2000s, you would expect to see, you know, a good four to eight inches a month. [00:23:20] you know, less, less so in, you know, in July and August is walking that more like four inch. Four inches of precipitation and you can get that sometimes in two different days [00:23:33] Craig Macmillan: Wow. [00:23:34] Andrew Fles: And that could be all or it could be spread out, you know over over several 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 different events. we had a dry June a couple years ago, I think we, I think it rained two days and amount to much. [00:23:50] And 2023, all of May we had, it rained one day. It was very dry. And so it's really been a roller coaster here in terms of what to expect as far as precipitation comes, I mean during the growing season anyway. [00:24:08] Craig Macmillan: Mm hmm. [00:24:09] Andrew Fles: It's been a challenge to know, you kind of have to have all these tools ready, right? [00:24:13] You have to have your jet ag ready. [00:24:15] If you get a bunch of infections going you got to have some of these other products ready and just , be ready for anything essentially. [00:24:24] Craig Macmillan: That, I'm just kind of reeling, I'm from California, and so like four to eight inches of rain during the growing season, it sounds like a fungal disease disaster to me. I'm impressed that you can get a crop, a vinifera crop to, to harvest with those kind of conditions. [00:24:39] Let's talk about the sustainable conventional program a little bit. Again copper appears early which would make sense. Then the insecticide portion would be a sale. It's a neonicotinoid, and then you've got a couple of fungicides in here. [00:24:55] You've got sulfur, and you've got a boscalid. Then in July again you've got a subtilis, that's serenadopty, and the, the intrepid, the IGR. August, you've got another neonic rally, and then you've got a product called ranman, or ranman. Which is a Sazofenamide, again, traditional fungicide. And then Inspire Supert, verasion, very common. And then you've got the the JetAg and Delegate, which is an antispinosid based product. When I look at this, I see a lot of very safe, very smart, very rotated fungicide chemistries here. Was this the kind of program you were using previously? [00:25:34] Andrew Fles: Yeah. And you know, it always can change a little bit. Sometimes you can't get a certain product or you can't get it in time. [00:25:42] Uh, whereas, you know, you, you're planning to use X product for your, for your kind of like You know, your, your pea sized berry spray, let's say but you, all of a sudden you have a bunch of rainfall, you know, and, and so if I was planning to use Quintech, which only covers powdery all of a sudden I have this big wedding event that was just perfect for growing downy mildew I I might switch from Quintech to and vice versa, you know, if we're, if we're into some weather, that's really favorable, it's time to push more of those serenades and you know, we've used some of the other biologicals over the years as well and, and just trying, trying to go that way as much as possible, but, you know, sometimes the weather forces your hand, like, like it did this year, you'll see in my, In my program we went into some Randman and some [00:26:35] Zampro, and those are those are very specific to to downy mildew. [00:26:41] You know, but we're still, with those products, you know, they're more expensive than something like Kaptan, you know. We Can't spray that with sip and we didn't spray it before because we don't want it on our fingers [00:26:56] The vineyard you and I don't want it in our lives So so we're always trying to go the ran man route, even though it's a little pricier, but it's very Target specific for Downey and so, you know with all the rains that we had in June and July and early July we felt like the smart play and we did start seeing some downy mildew cropping up much earlier than normal. [00:27:21] If, if we see it at all, that is. in that, at that point you want to make the call, you know, Hey, I want to get out in front of this thing. I don't want downy on my fruit. You know, if you start seeing it on growing tips, I think it was the 4th of July or the 2nd of July or something we were scouting and we were getting a lot of rain at that point and it was very humid and it was just like rain every other day for about a week there and it's like you gotta pivot and, and make the move to something that's really going to provide. control there. [00:27:52] For the soft program at that point, we were trying to use, I believe we use serenade, you know, which is more broad spectrum as far as biologicals go. We knew we wanted to keep it going after the, , the Downey with the soft chemistry. And that's why we got into the orange oil as well. [00:28:10] Craig Macmillan: Oh, interesting. [00:28:11] Andrew Fles: to, Yeah, that's, that wasn't in the proposal that I sent you, but we did pivot. I couldn't get. The cinerate it was, I was told it was on the West coast, growers were hoarding it and none of it, none of it made it over this way. I was really hoping to get my hands on some of it. [00:28:28] I've already pre ordered my 2025 cinerate. [00:28:32] Craig Macmillan: And Cinerate is a cinnamon oil based product, right? [00:28:36] Andrew Fles: Correct. Yeah. Cinnamon oil. oil. Yeah, it's another oil. [00:28:39] Yeah. Yeah. It's another one of those kind of antimicrobial oils, if you will. Um, So we pivoted to, to orange oil and thyme oil. TimeGuard has been, is a product that's been out for a number of years now. We've used it before, , we haven't really relied on it as much in the past. As, as we did with this soft treatment. [00:28:59] Craig Macmillan: Tell me a little bit more about what the outcomes have been at this point. We talked about the the pinot noir a little bit. We talked about the Rose Shafter showing up there a little bit more. At, at the end of the day, the end of the season. How did you feel about it? How did you feel about comparing the two [00:29:15] Andrew Fles: you know, it felt, it felt really good. It seemed like the soft program kept pace with the conventional for the most part. In the Pinot Noir, we had we had some more rose chaffer damage, of course, but without doing a, a full on research trial, it's hard to say that it was the treatment alone because of, as I mentioned, the location was a big factor. [00:29:38] With the downy mildew, it seemed to be a little more prevalent, certainly in the Pinot Noir on the, on the soft program that is but it never got to the point and I was, I was always ready to go in with whatever I needed to, because we don't want to have a defoliation and not being able to ripen fruit, you know, the fruit and, and especially in such a great growing year. [00:30:01] we never really resorted to. You know, breaking the glass and, and grabbing the ax and running out there and like, and it was emergency, you know, we never, we never had to do that. There was a moment there in July where, you know, where would the downy pressure we thought maybe. [00:30:19] Maybe we would have to abandon it, but then things dried up and we kept after things with with some of these, these things like thyme oil and orange oil. Getting good coverage with them is so important. But getting those on at the right time really seemed to provide enough control. [00:30:37] Craig Macmillan: Actually that's a, that's an excellent point. Let's talk about the phenology a little bit. How, for the varieties that you're growing, how big are these canopies getting? What's the spacing that they're planted on? How many gallons per acre are you using in your spray applications to get good coverage? [00:30:54] Andrew Fles: Yeah, so for the purpose of the project I stuck with 50 gallons an acre throughout the season. Which even, even for the conventional portion, traditionally I'll, I'll start with 30 gallons an acre aside from the dormant spray, of course, but like, you know, early season sprays until the canopy becomes a little denser, , I'll be at 30 gallons an acre and then probably mid July post bloom, right around bloom, perhaps , we'll ramp up the conventional to 50 gallons as well. [00:31:26] For the purposes of this, we just did 50 gallons across the board, both treatments. a lot of the canopy is well, it's really all VSP except for the vignole. Vignole is high wire cordone. And then we're talking nine by five spacing. The vinifera as well, which is pretty common around here. Double geo some spur pruning. We've really developed a kind of a hybrid system where we do a little bit of, we kind of mix cane and spur , , and alternate those in, in some of our venefera programs. [00:31:57] Craig Macmillan: And in, on the same plant? [00:31:59] Andrew Fles: Yeah. Sometimes. [00:32:01] Yeah. [00:32:01] Craig Macmillan: one side, gator the other. [00:32:03] Andrew Fles: What that does for us you know, where we get. Or we can at least, you know, and we can, sometimes we can lose a whole cane , or a lot of buds. I don't want to get too in the weeds on, on what that system is, but, but it's really developed around being able to quickly replace and adapt to cold damage. [00:32:24] And so if we need to go in and cut a trunk out, we've already got a cane growing from down low, if that makes any sense. [00:32:31] Craig Macmillan: No, that does make sense. And it's a practice that I'm familiar with from other areas in the Midwest, the North, the Northeast. Very, very smart. But that's a very different canopy architecture than you might find someplace that's all VSP. Or, you know, a double canopy situation maybe like in New York. [00:32:48] How comfortable are you now? After going through this, it sounds like you liked the softer program, you feel you got good control on most things. But if I'm understanding you correctly, you're not afraid to keep some other, other tools in the toolbox, basically. [00:33:05] Andrew Fles: Right. Yeah. And I think a big purpose of this program was to investigate some of these products. I want to highlight Problad Verde as well. [00:33:14] That's. Another one that's been out there and we've used it before as well. You know, I did a trial with Tim Miles's lab on and Rufus doing a sour rot trial in Pinot Noir in the past with pro, and it was just kind of a end of the season application of Problad with I believe we use delegate or in trust. [00:33:34] I can't remember. One of them and, this project, the SARE project was really looking at problad as being more of the backbone , of it. And, and so we ended up using that for the soft treatment pre bloom, post bloom. And then again, at version, because it has similar to jet egg, it's kind of a disinfectant, right? [00:33:57] It's this lupine seed extract that, that is a. That is a disinfectant and so it's going to go in, but because it, it's advertised anyway as having some systemic activity, [00:34:09] Craig Macmillan: Mm [00:34:10] Andrew Fles: systemic properties, that's, that's key for us in the east here. Because, hey, if we get a half inch of rain, well, it's still kind of in the leaf or it's still in some of that green flower tissue. [00:34:24] Before it opens up and blooms and so, really working problad in as instead of a kind of just end of the season toy it's really became, became the backbone of the tritus control for us in this, in this trial. And then again, looking at some of these oils, I think there's a lot of promise for. the orange oil in particular, I've, I've been seeing more and more research coming out about how you know, it does work on Downy and we did see that you know, even though we had an increase in Downy infection man, it could have been a lot worse. It was still at an acceptable level. [00:35:02] And so I think, I think I'm going to feel more and more comfortable using those products. [00:35:07] Craig Macmillan: You've demonstrated to yourself. And that's what the, that's how it works, and that's what everybody needs, to have some confidence. Which I think is really great, I was very impressed by the idea of trying things that maybe are not widely used, were not widely tested outside of maybe the West Coast, and to be able to show efficacy on your property, I think is really important. [00:35:27] I think it's one thing many of us have learned about softer materials. They may or may not work depending on what your pressure is. And that can vary region to region, but it can also vary within a region. It definitely can vary year to year, so having that flexibility that you've built into this program is very admirable. What would you say are the big picture benefits of the soft pesticide program at this point? [00:35:48] Andrew Fles: Hopefully just to increase awareness of, of how they can be effective for folks here in Michigan or, or similar climates, New York and Canada, I should say I don't think , this SARE project alone is, is going to be any sort of groundbreaking news, but I think it's just another verification and if we start to have more and more of them people will believe more and more in these products because it's just, it's at that point, it's word of mouth, right? [00:36:21] It's more and more growers are starting to back it. And, or experiment with it at least and, and see results, I think a lot of growers are very word of mouth oriented anyway. [00:36:34] So, uh, so it's very important, like, Oh, Hey, what did you try last year? And I think there's plenty of that going on in our area. [00:36:42] A bunch of us anyway, we seem to network pretty well and, and trust each other. , Oh, I use this at this key time and it really proved effective. So I think just bringing more and more awareness to these soft programs or these soft products, I should say. , and I can't really speak to the sustainability of. Farming lupin seed for for a fungicide product, you know, I can't, speak to that, but I want to believe that it's, it's a more sustainable product than, you know something that was made in a factory and, and might have petrochemicals in it. [00:37:19] Craig Macmillan: Well, it might have resistance issues as well, I think is one of the key things. And by the way, both programs I thought were very intelligent. I think like in terms of the frack rotations in the sustainable one, I thought that was really well done. Is, is there one thing that you would tell growers? [00:37:35] What's the one takeaway you would tell people from this project? You just kind of touched on one, but is there a message here for people? [00:37:43] Andrew Fles: I think the message is, you know, that we have to be really careful in crafting our. Spray program to the season that we have. If we were getting A lot more rain in September than what we ended up having I mean, we were, we were in pretty severe drought here. I think the soft program could still work. [00:38:03] But you have to choose the product and probably apply it much more frequently. You know, you have to go in and respond to those rains. , or even maybe perhaps be ready to pivot to something that is synthetic and systemic and curative. You know, maybe you have to go in with a hammer, but that doesn't mean that, you know, the majority of this growing season can't be done in a very soft way. [00:38:30] And so we're really just responding to that weather. But I think if this is our focus , to use these softer chemistries on things that we're going to drink or eat, even if it's vegetables, I think that these products are becoming better and better and there's becoming more and more of them, which is really encouraging to see you know, 10 years ago, maybe we had serenade and And you know, a couple of other products, but now, now there's, they're really becoming prevalent. [00:38:58] And so I think the take home is, is crafting that spray program with these new found tools that we have. Problads, , your crop, , your what, what should I call them? Like your aromatic oils, lack of better term, like orange oil, thyme oil, cinnamon oil. You know, I think these things do have a place. [00:39:17] Craig Macmillan: Where can people find out more about you? [00:39:19] Andrew Fles: Well, they can visit ShadyLaneCellers. com and there's stuff in there about our farm and in what we do and where we are, who we are a little bit. And then also there will be, and I could get you this information if you're interested, so this spring meeting where we're going to present the results of this believe we'll have a Zoom link option. [00:39:43] Craig Macmillan: As a reference date, this is being recorded in February of 2025. And so spring meeting will be coming up in a few months from here. I'm not sure when this will air, but even anything is fantastic. So I really want to thank you for being on the episode. Our guest today was Andy Fless, he's Vineyard Manager at Shadyland Cellars and you've been a great guest. Hey, thanks for being on the podcast. [00:40:03] Andrew Fles: My pleasure, Craig. Thanks a lot for having me. [00:40:08] Beth Vukmanic: Thank you for listening. Today's podcast was brought to you by Martinez Orchards. Martinez Orchards is one of the most trusted and respected names in the nursery business. They have earned that reputation through years of hard work, honesty, integrity, and a commitment to their customers. They provide support with their knowledgeable salespeople and highly experienced production team. They know successful plantings allow them to fulfill their promises, and they strive to build lasting relationships with their customers based on a foundation of mutual steadfast trust. [00:40:40] Make sure you check out the show notes for links to Andy at Shady Lane Plus. Sustainable wine Growing podcast episodes 117. Grapevine Mildew Control with UV Light 219 Intelligent sprayers to improve fungicide applications and save money. And 235, battling fungicide resistance with glove sampling. [00:41:03] If you liked this show, do us a big favor by sharing it with a friend, subscribing and leaving us a review. You can find all of the podcasts@vineyardteam.org slash podcast and you can reach us at podcast@vineyardteam.org. [00:41:16] Until next time, this is Sustainable Wine Growing with the Vineyard team.   Nearly perfect transcription by Descript

How does a coffee brand pivot into honey? The answer might make more sense than you originally believed. Jessica Padula, Nespresso USA's vice president of marketing and head of sustainability, returns to discuss the company's sustainability efforts and how her dual roles in marketing and sustainability inform each other and improve the company. More About Jesssica Padula: Jessica Padula is the Vice President of Marketing and Head of Sustainability at Nespresso USA, leading the brand in its marketing, communications, advertising and sustainability efforts to further its mission of leveraging coffee as a force for good. As VP of Marketing, Jessica oversees Nespresso's product and portfolio, brand campaigns and activations, customer relationship management and B2B shopper marketing in the U.S. market. Jessica led the rollout of an expanded iced portfolio and the brand's smallest and most affordable Vertuo machine ever, the Vertuo Pop+, to reach a new generation of coffee drinkers. As the brand continues its regenerative agriculture efforts, Jessica recently spearheaded the pilot of the Nespresso Bloom range, including Nespresso Coffee Blossom Honey and Master Origins Colombia Ready to Drink Coffee. As sustainability lead in the U.S., she advances circularity, climate and community-centered efforts aligned with Nespresso's B Corp certification and brand values. Jessica has overseen the brand's expansion of curbside recycling across the five boroughs of New York City and into Jersey City. She also facilitates meaningful nonprofit partnerships with local organizations aligned with issues important to Nespresso employees and customers, including The Ali Forney Center, American Forests and Project Healthy Minds. Jessica joined Nespresso USA in 2016 as Social Media Manager. When she joined, she brought a unique combination of luxury, CPG and F&B experience, having worked on brands such as Swarovski, Horizon Organic, Pantene, COVERGIRL and Downy. She's a consistent champion of digital innovation, implementing tools such as the Opal CMS and Comms Hub, and bringing a branded Nespresso presence to platforms like Twitch and Reddit for the first time.  Jessica received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Marketing & Business Law from Boston University. More About Nestle Nespresso SA: Nestlé Nespresso SA is a pioneer and is widely regarded as one of the top references in the field of high-quality portioned coffee. The company works with more than 157,000 farmers in 18 countries through its AAA Sustainable Quality™ Program to embed sustainability practices on farms and the surrounding landscapes. Launched in 2003 in collaboration with the NGO Rainforest Alliance, the program helps to improve the yield and quality of harvests, ensuring a sustainable supply of high-quality coffee and improving livelihoods of farmers and their communities. In 2022, Nespresso achieved B Corp™ certification – joining an international movement of over 9,000 purpose-led businesses that meet B Corp's high standards of social and environmental responsibility and transparency. Headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nespresso operates in 93 markets and has 14,000 employees. In 2023, it operated a global retail network of 791 boutiques. For more information, visit the Nespresso corporate website: www.nestle-nespresso.com.

We all have so many questions when it comes to fabric care. How do you get your whites whiter, avoid shrinkage, and get out those really tough stains? What is the ideal temperature to wash your clothes? Do you actually need to separate whites from colors? What is the best way to pre-treat clothes? Should you use any setting besides ‘normal?' Also, do those missing socks really go missing in the machine, or is that a figment of our imagination? We addressed dozens of your questions in this ‘news you can use' conversation with Procter & Gamble Senior Scientist Sammy Wang. She helps lead teams creating products like Downy and Tide.  Wang recently visited Mosheh's home as he got a new washer and dryer in his new apartment. In this sponsored conversation, we take your questions about the laundry process. #downypartner — Mosheh Oinounou (@mosheh) is an Emmy and Murrow award-winning journalist. He has 20 years of experience at networks including Fox News, Bloomberg Television and CBS News, where he was the executive producer of the CBS Evening News and launched the network's 24 hour news channel. He founded the @mosheh Instagram news account in 2020 and the Mo News podcast and newsletter in 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia goes north, in her mission to save Christmas.By cb summers. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories. I won't bore you with the teeny little details of what happened after that. But here are the general outlines of it: fake young Santa was put on suspension, pending investigation, and I was arrested because he claimed that I'd attacked him. That I'd raped him, in fact. Little old me. Can you imagine that? But apparently he forgot there was a hidden camera in the room, aimed right at the throne. On the tape he was clearly a willing participant, so they released me after one night in jail. He was fired, which serves him right for being such a liar. I wasn't prosecuted, although they considered it.The children waiting in the queue line had been evacuated as soon as I started getting loud. But the store made me sign a non-disclosure agreement. So… I can't really talk about what happened or they'll sue me. Oh, and I was banned from that store for life.I also found out that the only reason he and those other department store Santas knew my name was that the elves took down everyone's name in advance and whispered it to Santa before bringing them up! Can you imagine the duplicity? We didn't use that kind of trickery back when I was an elf!But worst of all, I spent Christmas Eve in jail, which was absolutely horrible. I'd been planning all year to wait for Santa to come down my chimney. I'd be lying naked on the table next to the tree, freshly baked cookies stacked on my belly and a glass of milk between my legs. I knew I would be irresistible. But now I despaired! There was no chimney in the big communal cell they threw me in. The girls there tried to have some Christmas spirit, but it was totally the pits. I was certain that when I went home I'd find another lump of coal on my floor. But when I finally got back to my apartment late Christmas night, there were no presents at all. I'd been robbed. I must have left my door unlocked, or someone had picked the lock. I had no idea if Santa left me a present that year or not. The thieves stole all my presents. Fuckers.Anyway, the lesson I took away from that event was this: never trust a man in a Santa suit. From that moment on I would only seek out men who looked like Santa naturally. No gimmicks. No makeup. No fancy suits. Just natural, fat, jolly, white haired men. I felt certain that the forces of the universe were bringing me and Santa together, and all I needed to do was keep looking, and sooner or later I'd find him.As I said earlier, I'm an eternal optimist.SCENE 3MEET-UP AT MOOSE CAFÉAfter hanging up with Kris, I set out for the all night diner. The weather was horrible. It was snowing, and roads were nearly impassable. But in spite of my poor winter driving skills, I made it through, heedless of the wind and weather. I got there well before him. Kris took almost half an hour longer than he'd said he would. Not surprising. The North Pole is something like 1000 miles from Anchorage. Maybe he couldn't find Rudolph that night, so it was harder to make it through the storm. But whatever it was, just when I was starting to worry he wouldn't show up, I saw him walk nervously through the door. He stomped the snow off his big brown boots and hung his huge green winter coat next to the door. I'd half expected him to be wearing his Santa suit, but he was going incognito of course. He was wearing a big hand-knitted red and green sweater and a green knit cap with a big white ball of yarn on top. He looked absolutely adorable.He saw me sitting in the last booth along the window and smiled a pale, sad smile. He sat down across from me and was happy to see I'd already ordered him a great big steaming mug of cocoa. I would have ordered cookies too, but they didn't have any.There was a faraway look in his eyes. “Thanks for… helping me. It's been a crazy couple of days,” he said with his deep velvety voice.I reached out to pat the back of his big hand. “I've been there.” His skin was amazingly soft.“Yeah?” he said. “That surprises me. You look so… I don't know… innocent.”“Sometimes I feel like I am innocent. Down deep. But of course, I'm not. I'm a sex addict, same as you. I've done so many naughty things… stupid, reckless things… you have no idea.”He nodded and sipped his cocoa. We sat in silence for a while. I didn't know what to say. I'd never been a sponsor before. I wasn't sure where to start. After a while he asked, “So… you didn't speak at the meeting. What's your sob story? No, don't answer… I shouldn't pry.”I was relieved he'd started the ball rolling, so I smiled and said, “Oh, don't worry about it. My sob story is that I'm just your average, ordinary, everyday sex addict. I've been celibate for almost a year, but I spent the year before that hitchhiking around the continent, having unprotected sex with total strangers. You know, same ol' story.”His feathery white eyebrows went up with interest. “Really? Were there a lot of them?”I shrugged, “I never bothered to count at the time. But Sam told me to come up with an estimate. I'm sure it was more than a hundred. Maybe one twenty five? I don't know. It was a bit of a blur…” My cheeks were red with embarrassment.He smiled a wicked little smile. His eyes were really twinkling now. He leaned closer to me over the table, “Details, please.”This is exactly the sort of thing that sex addicts aren't supposed to do. You know, turn each other on with their lurid tales. But I wanted Kris to trust me. He needed my help. So I had to open up to him… at least a little. I decided to tell him my story, sort of. I left out the stuff I did in New York, because that all involved men in Santa suits and if I talked about those guys, eventually I would say too much, and he'd know my secret. If he knew I had a thing for guys with white beards, well, I wasn't sure what would happen, but I wasn't ready to drop that bomb just yet.“Well…” I said, “let's see. Every sex addict is chasing something. For me it was a particular man. A fantasy figure, if you will, who I was trying to find…”“Mr. Right?” he prompted. Oh, Kris understood me so well!“Yes, that's right! I was looking for my Mr. Right. I had this fixed idea in my mind of what he looked like, what he acted like, how he smelled… and I knew that I'd know him as soon as I met him. But every time I met a man who resembled this idea I had in my head… well, I was overcome with the urge to kiss him, and that usually led to more. But it seemed like the minute it was over I'd figure out he wasn't Mr. Right after all, and I'd go out in search of him all over again. It was an obsession. I lost my job as a result. Eventually, I couldn't afford to live in New York anymore so I put my treasures in storage and hit the road in a rickety old car. I drove randomly from town to town, city to city, looking for Mr. Right.”“And you found him everywhere you looked.”“Yep. I found him in stores, on streets, bars, churches, fairgrounds… everywhere. Not everyone was happy with me trying to kiss them, so I got in trouble a few times, and I kept moving. I found that biker bars and truck stops were filled with Mr. Rights. Those guys are mostly straight and mostly hedonists, so I had better luck approaching them.”“Wow,” he said, his eyes wide with amazement at my tale, “That sounds… dangerous.”“I guess. But I was lucky. I didn't get any STD's, and I went on the pill to keep from getting pregnant. And none of these guys were ever violent with me. I wouldn't have approached a scary looking man in the first place. I wouldn't kiss a man unless he was jolly.”“Jolly?” he asked with interest.“Happy, I mean. Nice faces, a good laugh. Anyway, the only times I felt in danger were a couple of orgies at biker clubs. I was only interested in Mr. Right, but sometimes his buddies would want to join in… sometimes they didn't ask. One time this guy came right up and stuck it in my… you know. Back door. Ugh. I hated that kind of thing at the time.”“But… you like it now?” he said, with a lustful twinkle in his eye.I blushed and slapped his hand, “Kris. A sex addict can get used to anything. Anyway, whenever I was making love to Mr. Right, I felt so happy that I actually wanted to please his friends. Afterwards however… I sometimes felt stupid. Cheap. Dirty.”The look of lust left his eye. I'd connected with him. “Exactly,” he said, tears suddenly welling up in his big blue eyes, “That's exactly how I feel. It's great when I'm doing it, then I cum… and bam! I realize what a total disaster my life is becoming.”I reached out to touch his rosy cheek. Oh my, his beard was soft!! Downy soft, like a fuzzy bunny! A tear fell out of his eye and ran across my thumb, sending an electric jolt through my pussy. I had to restrain myself from leaping over the tabletop to kiss him. I put my hand back down on the table, trying to control my breathing. That was a close one.“I know, Kris, I know. But it gets better. Although sometimes it gets worse before it gets better. Sometimes you just have to hit bottom before you can turn things around.” I think I heard someone say that in a movie once.He nodded and wiped his eyes on the sleeves of his sweater, “So, how did you hit bottom?”“Kris… I came here to help you, not tell you my sad story…”“It is helping me… listening to you. Honestly. I want to hear.” His azure eyes looked at me… I mean, right at me, unblinking. I don't think anyone had ever, in my whole life, looked at me that way. My heart went thumpity, thump, thump!“Well,” I said, “eventually my car broke down, and I set out on foot, hitchhiking from place to place. I knew that was dangerous so I went to a truck stop to see if I could find someone to give me a lift all the way to Alaska. You see, I'd gotten this idea in my mind that Mr. Right probably lived in or near Alaska. Anyway, I met this guy at a truck stop who not only looked just like Mr. Right, he was on his way to Anchorage! He had this big beautiful red truck and …”“Was he Jolly?” Kris asked, his blue eyes twinkling with mischief.I laughed, “Oh, yes. Jolly as hell. So I kissed him right there in the parking lot, and he took me to his truck and we fucked… oh, sorry, I don't mean to be so crude.”Kris leaned forward, speaking softly so nobody but me could possibly hear him. “Virginia… why do we use euphemisms? Why are we so ashamed to call a thing what it is? It's kind of like lying. I didn't have a dalliance with my employees. I fucked them. I stuck my cock in their mouths and up their asses. I came all over their faces. I cheated on my wife. I mean that's what I did. If we're not going to be honest, how can we ever face our mistakes?” He smiled at me, and I felt bathed in Saint Nick's radiance.I blushed, leaned in closer and continued my story, “Well, you asked for it. Here's the story, euphemism-free… Where was I…?”“He took you to his truck to fuck.” It was so weird seeing Kris Kringle's lips say that word. Weird and exciting!“Yeah, okay. I fucked Mr. Right in the back of his big cab. We fucked, and fucked, and fucked a long time. He was a great lover. Nicely shaped cock, lots of stamina, great kisser. and his mouth… oh, shit, Kris, he made me cum so hard that I can almost feel his tongue in my pussy a year and a half later! He was so perfect that after sex was over, I still thought he was Mr. Right. That had never happened before. And when I asked him if he was Mr. Right, he said he was! Joy! I thought I'd found Mr. Right… for three magical days. He'd drive for a while, then we'd fuck, then drive some more, and I'd give him a blow job… basically we did it as many times a day as he could get it up. I was in heaven. Once he pulled his truck over, and we made love a beautiful stand of Christmas pines. It would have been the happiest moment of my life if not for the fact that he was a fraud.”“How did you find out he was lying?” I could tell that the story was exciting the sex addict in Kris, but he was trying hard to stay focused on me as a friend. I really appreciated that!“I was looking through his personal stuff, trying to find something to read when I came across a little photo album. It had pictures of him and his wife and kids.”“You must have been pissed.”“No, I didn't care about that. I've always known that Mr. Right is married. I don't know if he has kids, but I wouldn't be surprised if he did. He's been married a long time. No, that's not what upset me. It was the picture of him hunting. He was standing over the body of a dead reindeer… smiling like a son of a bitch!”Kris choked on his cocoa, and a look of fury crossed his previously jolly face. “The fuck you say!”“It totally horrified me! Mr. Right is not a hunter, much less a reindeer killer. This guy was a fraud! It nearly broke my heart, Kris. So I told him to stop the truck and let me out!”“He abandoned you in the middle of nowhere?”“No. He didn't let me out. He admitted lying to me and begged my forgiveness. He said I was the only girl, other than his wife, who'd shown interest in him sexually. His wife had some sort of medical condition that made it impossible for them to have sex, so when I came along it was like a dream come true. I don't know why I let him mollify me, but I did. He said he wanted to make it up to me by driving me the rest of the way to Alaska. But I absolutely refused to spend another moment in that truck with such a big fat liar.”“So… you got out?”“No. He told me he knew Mr. Right and that he'd take me to him.”“Oh, Virginia,” Kris said with disappointment, “You fell for that?”“I was obsessed. So yes, I fell for it. But it seemed like he was keeping his word at first. He drove me to a gas station where there was a mechanic who looked just like Mr. Right. The truck driver told me to stay in the cab, and he went in to talk to Mr. Right. After a while they came back, and the mechanic came up to meet me. He stank of gasoline, and his hands were smeared with oil, but I knew it was him. I knew it was Mr. Right, just as I'd known many times before.”“You fucked him.”“Of course I fucked him. I fucked a greasy, smelly, mechanic who reeked of cigarettes just because he looked jolly. But of course, after he'd shot his wad into me I realized he wasn't the real deal, and he went away. I was used to disappointment by then so when the trucker offered to take me somewhere else to look for the real Mr. Right… well, I couldn't refuse. I wanted him to. It sounds crazy to me now, but at the time it seemed almost like the ideal situation. The trucker drove me from place to place, and he was pretty good at finding Mr. Rights. We were still heading toward Alaska, but slowly. We must have hit every truck stop we passed in Montana and Canada. I'd wait in the back of the cab, and after a while, he'd bring back Mr. Right. Sometimes several of them. But he'd only introduce one of them to me at a time. Sometimes they weren't totally what I had in mind, but just to be on the safe side, I'd at least give them a blowjob or let them take pictures of me naked. But if they looked good enough I'd let them do anything they wanted. Even fuck me up the ass, which I was beginning to enjoy.” I blushed again.“You naughty girl,” he said, with a playful leer. But I could tell he was just trying to keep the conversation light. There was a deep look of concern and compassion on his face, which warmed my heart and gave me the courage to continue.“After maybe four months of this, I saw one of the San… I mean one of the Mr. Rights giving the trucker some money. After that Mr. Right was through with me, I started thinking about that money. I searched the cab of the truck while he was taking a shit. I found a pile of money, all different sizes of bill, Canadian, American… And it finally dawned on me… I was a whore. I was a truck stop whore.”Kris reached out and took my hands in his hands. His azure eyes were wet with compassion. “I'm so sorry, Virginia.”Tears started running down my face. It was astounding. I hadn't cried about any of this. Ever. I'd always focused on the good memories. The pleasure of sex, the joy of giving men happiness, the fun of the hunt… But looking into Kris Kringle's understanding eyes… I felt all the suppressed disappointment, frustration, and shame bubbling to the surface. Tears started coming out of Kris's eyes too, and we just sat there for the longest time, holding hands and staring at each other's eyes, tears running down our faces. Then we started laughing at the absurdity of it all. It was a perfect moment. We understood each other.It was six a.m., and the first morning rush began in the Diner.I said, “We never got around to talking about you.”“No, that's okay…”“Kris, you need to unburden yourself.” More people came through the jingling door. “But we need privacy. I think we should get a room at the motel.”There was an electric look in his eyes.“No Kris, not to fuck,” I said with a laugh. “I just can't take you back to my place because it's too small, and I have roommates, and I really don't think you should go home right now. I can tell you're in crisis mode. You need to take care of this thing so it doesn't destroy you. So it doesn't mess up your business. How is that deadline thing you mentioned going?”He shook his head, “A total disaster. If I could just get back to who I used to be, I could turn this whole thing around. But every time I step a foot into the factory…”“I take it you're not the only sex addict you know.”“I'm not sure if they're sex addicts exactly. But I'm the boss. I set the tone. My problem is their problem… I guess that sounds crazy.”“Kris, we need to keep talking. Come with me.” I gently led him to the door. We put on our coats and walked out into the freezing air. It was still dark and would be dark most of the day. The sun only rose a couple of hours a day that time of year. We crunched through the snow over to the Motel. I went in and rented a room. Kris was nervous. Perhaps he was nervous that we'd end up fucking… but I think he was just afraid to tell me his story.We walked silently to our second floor room. I felt a rising wave of anticipation. I had no intention of sleeping with him, but still, somewhere deep inside, the old me was screaming, “FUCK SANTA!!” The room was small, but warm. There were two beds. We didn't take off our coats, afraid that would imply intimacy. We sat on the beds, looking at each other across the gap.Two silent minutes passed. We were both waiting for the other to begin.I cleared my throat and said, “I know you're Santa Claus.”The expression on his face… you could have knocked him over with a candy cane. That was the last thing on earth he expected me to say.“You… what?”“It's okay Kris. I know.”He looked at me for several seconds, then said, “Did you just say, ‘I know you're Santa Claus?' You're joking, right?”“Oh, don't be coy, Kris. I knew you the moment I saw you.”“Look, Virginia. I'm just a fat guy with a white beard. Sure, I look like Santa Claus I guess. But… I'm not actually…” He started to chuckle, “Oh! You're pulling my leg!”But I just looked at him as seriously as I could and said, “You're Santa Claus. Kris Kringle. Saint Nicholas. Father Christmas. Pere Noel…”“This is getting weird,” he said, shifting uncomfortably. “Please tell me you're joking.”I looked at him with compassion, “I understand. You have a secret identity to protect. I get that. But the stakes are too high for pussy footing around. Christmas is in danger! You said it yourself: if we can't be honest, how can we face our mistakes?”He stood up and started sidling to the door. “I… uh, I don't know who you think I am… but this is just too weird.” He put his hand on the doorknob.“I fuck Santas,” I said. That stopped him. He looked at me with a crazy expression. “That Mr. Right I was talking about before, well that was just a euphemism. My Mr. Right is Santa Claus. I spent two years looking for Santa and fucking anyone who resembled him. And it was all because of that lousy lump of coal you left on my floor three years ago.”An angry look flashed in his eyes, “What are you… what is this? Oh, I get this, you've been chasing me because I look like Santa, is that it? What kind of freak are you?”I felt calm. More calm than any time in my life. I knew what I had to say. It would hurt, but I had to do it. I had to get through to him somehow.“Why did you leave me that lump of coal, Kris? I mean, I know you like my cookies, but that was pretty harsh. It sort of fucked up my life, you know? I lost my job. I lost my innocence. I left my family and friends behind to chase you across the continent, just so I could apologize for offending you. It wasn't all your fault, and I'm glad I finally found you… but still, I want to know. Why the lump of coal? Was I really that naughty?”He opened the door, his face contorting in rage, confusion, and shame. He walked stiffly out into the falling snowflakes. I followed slowly and calmly. I leaned on the railing as I watched him stumble down the icy stairs and storm across the parking lot below me. He slipped on a patch of ice and fell on his back with a bang. Then he just lay there, hands on his face, sobbing like a baby. I calmly walked down the stairs and carefully across the slick parking lot. I squatted next to him.“Come back inside.” I pulled his hand from his sobbing face, helped him to his feet and led him slowly back to the room. This time I sat next to him on the bed, my arm around his back.He sobbed for a while then began to blubber, “You threw the tree out the window!”“So, it wasn't the cookies after all!” I said in surprise.“No. I love your cookies. But I have this thing about Christmas trees. It really pissed me off, you know? I have issues, I guess. I was intending to give you a cooking set…”“Cooking set,” I said the same time he did, “Yeah, that's right. I asked for a cooking set with red enamel and little dancing elves on the side…”He sniffed, “Yes, just so. I felt so bad about the coal, I kept the cooking set all year, just so I could give it to you the following Christmas.”I smiled. “Really? You gave me a present?”“What…? Didn't you get it?”“I was burglarized, Kris. They took everything.”“Oh no…” he said with a horrified expression on his face, “I'm so sorry… I didn't know… Oh, you should have seen it! It was beautiful! The elves spent twenty whole minutes making it for you.”I gave him a squeeze, “That's okay. I guess I deserved to have it stolen. I was extra naughty that year. And I'm sorry about the tree. More than you even know. All my ornaments were on that tree. Some of them belonged to my grandma. She brought them all the way from Iceland.”“Anna? I remember her. She was very nice.”“I'm sorry about everything Kris. I shouldn't have listened to my sister.”“Stephanie, eh? She was always the naughty one in your house. But I gave her presents anyway because the rest of you were so good. What did Stephanie do?”“She said my parents were sneaking into my apartment leaving presents for me from you.”He laughed, “And you believed that?”“I'm sorry, Santa.” He put his arm over my shoulder and hugged me into his side.“I'm sorry too, Virginia.”I threw my arms around Kris Kringle and hopped on his lap. I hugged him so hard, if he'd been anyone other than Father Christmas, I'd have crushed his bones. But Kris hugged me back with his strong, ancient arms. I looked into his weeping blue eyes and tenderly kissed his eyelids, feeling his magical tears wet on my lips. Then I kissed his face, slowly, peck-by-peck, down his nose and rosy cheeks until our lips met. His silky beard softy tickled my face. We kissed slowly, almost shyly at first but the passion between us was building fast. I felt an erection growing in his pants. A very BIG one, in fact!I hopped off his lap and said, “We can't do this Kris. Not now. Not yet.”“Virginia,” he said, his deep voice thick with lust, “I want to make love to you so bad.”“I know, I know,” I said, giving him a kiss on his rosy cheek. “But not until we save Christmas.”That night Kris Kringle laid down on the other bed and told me everything. If you thought my story was crazy. Wait till you hear his!SCENE 4SANTA'S SLOW DESCENT INTO DEPRAVITYMy world has always been one of wonder and joy, music, snow, the laughter of children and good will to men. But all good things must come to an end, they say.My slow descent into depravity all began with the sex toys.They weren't my idea. They were Mary's. That's Mrs. Claus to you. I met my wife so long ago, I could hardly remember what made me fall in love with her in the first place, although it was probably her beauty. We were happy in those golden days of yore, but for the last fifty years or so, we'd been sort of going through the motions. We barely had anything to say to each other anymore. People change, I guess, even immortals.We weren't intimate anymore. Hell, we hadn't had sex since 1985. And that was only because we'd just gone to see 'Santa Claus, the Movie', and she was happy about how good she came off in the film. After drinking a bit too much hot toddy that evening, she started getting frisky. Well, that was fine with me. I'd always thought she was a beautiful woman. She doesn't look like they always depict her, you know. She hasn't aged a day since the moment I fell in love with her on that Bavarian mountainside in 1702. She still looked twenty-two, with red hair and a shapely figure, long legs, beautiful ass and large breasts. Absolutely 'smoking' hot', as they say these days. She was a tall girl, almost six foot three. In heels, she towered over me. A true Bavarian beauty! So when she started getting feisty after the movie, I looked forward to a good old-fashioned roll in the snow, but it was just as disappointing as ever. She quickly lost interest, and I couldn't maintain an erection. It was a dud all around. To tell you the truth, Mary had always been a bit of a cold fish. For the first hundred years or so she'd indulged my passions, but she'd never seemed all that interested in sex. Or at least not that interested in having sex with me. Why else would we have been childless after two centuries together, the only two humans at the North Pole? We stopped having sex entirely after that sad encounter.So when, just over a year ago, Mary came to me with the sex toy idea, well… I was just flat out flabbergasted.She called me into her plush office on the third floor. She was sitting at her computer, her red hair pulled up into the enormous bun she liked to wear. I so much preferred when she let her hair down, but it had been in a bun since the mid-seventies. She was looking particularly fetching that day in a tight red dress with white fur lining. It was low cut. She hadn't dressed that way for ages. My eyes twinkled at the almost forgotten sight of her cleavage. But I knew she'd dressed up for a reason. The last time she did this she'd talked me into building her this office, which was three times larger than my own. She was a very persuasive woman!“Kris, we need to expand. We're reaching the kids, yes, but as soon as some idiot tells them you don't exist, well, they stop writing.”“I know, Mary, but the world population is growing every year. I'm not sure it's a good idea to expand. I'm not sure it's even possible to find more believers.”“Kris, just hear me out.” She pushed a button on her computer, and a group of female elves scampered out of a tiny little door. They began to turn a series of cranks, lowering an enormous projection screen over the crystal windows that lined one wall of her office. Then a PowerPoint presentation came on. The first slide was a complicated flowchart. Mary flashed me her best smile and said, “As you can see from this chart here, the age of disbelief is getting younger and younger, outpacing the increasing population. Manufacturing facility four and five have gone unused for almost ten years! You don't want to even know how many elves have been living off the dole, waiting for work to pick up. It's not a good situation.”This wasn't news to me. “Well, what do you have in mind? We've tried everything to keep kids believing. Cartoon shows, video games, promotional toys at fast food joints… but it's just not working.”She flipped to another slide, “Not exactly true, Kris. This slide shows that there is a significant population of adult women who still believe in you. Almost twenty million, based on this list of believers.”“Yes I know. Women tend to have a greater capacity for magical thinking. But the majority of them don't write letters after they grow up. We only deliver presents to people who ask.”To be continued..By cb summers for Literotica

From our 13-14 December 2024 show. Features calls by: Dwight, Milkman, Gordo, Xenorax, BigBoyFarts666, Anonymongous, Turbo, {Miriam, Curnt Snearoll, Bertrand, Downy the Clown} and Akspa Isolated calls and soundbites: https://www.patreon.com/posts/december-2024-118177151?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link […]

“That's right, yeah, and to me, that's one of the most important steps in the whole process is this research, brand assessment. And then you bring that research and assessment to life in the mood board, and that is what allows you to create something that is so customized to this brand, that it only works for this brand.” – Jon Brennan This week's guest is a lifelong audio producer who loves to help brands communicate effectively through sound. He regularly produces voiceover and sound design for brands like Tide, Downy, Cascade, Henkel, Dell computers, and more, and he's led the creation of such audio branding identities as Amazon Alexa, Hostess, Boomchickapop, and Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey.His name is Jon Brennan, and since our last conversation, episodes 126 and 127, he joined Sixième Son, a world leader in audio branding, as a senior account executive, where he managed the creation of audio identities for Fortune 500 companies and brands. After two years, Jon returned to lead his own audio branding agency Sonic Signatures in 2024. He enjoys using his love of music and audio to entertain and inspire others, and we'll be talking a lot about how companies can and should work audio branding into their marketing plans. While Jon has worked with some very large companies in this capacity, the Fortune 500 aren't the only ones who benefit from this kind of strategy. As always, if you have questions for my guest, you're welcome to reach out through the links in the show notes. If you have questions for me, visit audiobrandingpodcast.com where you'll find a lot of ways to get in touch. Plus, subscribing to the newsletter will let you know when the new podcasts are available and what the newest audio chats will be about. If you're getting some value from listening, the best ways to show your support are to share this podcast with a friend and leave an honest review. Both those things really help – and I'd love to feature your review on future podcasts. (0:00:00) - Journey in Sonic Branding IndustryAs our episode starts off, Jon tells us about a recent experience with sound, and how it sparked bittersweet memories of his late uncle. “I distinctly heard my uncle's voice,” he recalls, “and his characteristic laughter coming from the other room, and it's just like I just thought my uncle Tom was there for a minute and it actually moved me to the point that I just got totally choked up.” He describes his work with Sixième Son and such clients as Boomchickapop and Hostess, and the reason for his return to Sonic Signatures earlier this year. “Going back to my own agency,” he explains, “I'm able to be the creative director, I'm able to write concepts as well as tap other very talented composers to write concepts as well, and I'm just very fulfilled when I'm able to have that creative energy.”(0:16:56) - Effective Sonic Branding for Regional CompaniesWe take a closer look at some of Jon's recent ad campaigns, and he tells us about a particularly memorable sonic branding project for Fireball Whiskey. “You've got the dragon who sounds like a demon,” he says, “but then you've got this angel choir that is hanging out high above him in the audio spectrum... and so together it makes this disruptive sound that is also very memorable.” Jon talks about how remote...

From our 15-16 November 2024 show. Features calls by: Turbo, Milkman, BigBoyFarts666, DTB, WastedMemory, TheHauseOfWonder, Cat_Astr0ph3, Anonymongous, Dwight the Janitor, Snappybakes, {Downy the Clown, Miriam} and Akspa Isolated calls and […]

From our 08-09 November 2024 show. Features calls by: Turbo, Milkman, BigBoyFarts666, Anonymongous, DTB, Mustard, Gordo, Mailman, Dwight the Janitor, TheHauseOfWonder, {Downy the Clown} and Akspa Isolated calls and soundbites: […]

In this episode, we get Annie's van-in-the-river story (teased in S4, Ep1).  Plus, the moms talk Top Golf, DIY costumes, Rihanna's new holiday-themed onesies, Beyoncé's Halloween costumes possibly hinting at what's to come in act iii, Heidi Klum's Halloween look (not to be confused with Janelle Monáe's Halloween look), and Downy in-wash scent boosters. 

Date Me, Date My Dog 70% of female respondents would marry their dog, according to comedian Leigh Anne Jasheway. Leigh Anne barks up all the major problem issues single women with dogs face when trying to mate and relate with a human male - and how to successfully have sex in front of the dog without causing dogus-interruptus. Listen Now More Ha Ha What's better than one animal-loving comedian? Two, of course. Joey Camen and his multiple personalities visit with Animal Radio. He shares an exciting, tail-wagging story about the relationship he had with Snoopy, his shelter dog. Listen Now Mice Sing To Protect Themselves We all know that birds sing, but did you know mice do as well? And the songs vary, so mice that live in the jungle of the Amazon may sound one way. Mice in Detroit have also been studied, and they sound another way. I'm not sure how mice in LA might sound. Listen Now Where Is Your Hard Earned Money Going? Vinnie Penn takes a look at the Watchdog Report. It details exactly how much money animal-related non-profits make and how they spend it. Once you hear the truth, you may think twice before making a donation to your favorite charity. Listen Now Cat Uses The Toilet A cat-lover has amazed animal experts by teaching his furr-ball "Salem" to use a human toilet. 29-year-old Luke Evans became fed up with the puss using a smelly litter tray in his second-floor flat. So he trained a nine-month-old cat to go to the toilet in his bathroom by offering cheese-flavored treats as a reward. Listen Now Cheap Guy Finishes First Joey Villani has been grooming dogs since he was a toddler (FDR was president…we think). He's sharing more secrets to grooming your pet with stuff you have around your house....like Downy fabric softener, Gold Bond medicated powder, Vinegar, Bounce dryer sheets, and corn starch. Listen Now Read more about this week's show.

It's Family Time Again ! Your Uncle Is back with a NEW show! Topics include: We jump right into breaking down J.Cole ‘s latest release “Port Antonio” , Diggy Simmons ,Big Sean , Downy , Everfresh ,Who's really the gun ? , Wale vs Big Sean ? , #DrUmar ,Jay Z , Solange , #DDG , Halle Bailey ,JoeBudden #Drake #Akademiks #VladTV , Rubi Rose , Adin Ross , Cardi B , Florida , Elon Musk has plans too destroy the world ? , Kanye West #20v1 #reaction #hiphop New Music & So Much More ….Intro Songs :We Do Not own Any Of The Rights For Any Of This Music…Intro Songs :J.Cole - “Killers”Dom Kennedy - “Girls On Stage” Outro Songs: J.Cole - “See It To Believe It” Wale - “Varsity Blues” --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/family-time-with-uncle-sean-don-p/support

Season 06 Trailer 06: An uppy or a downy - potty talk prep - WhaAAT? We've reached the lowest watermark - prelude.

On TODAY's Podcast Which movie deserves a sequel? Which movie series had better sequels than the originals? What game show would be the best to host? Find out, on The Bar Banter Podcast! About the Bar Banter Podcast Hosts: Ben Trimmer, Drew Mullis, Rick Mattison, Travis Jennings Producer: Travis Jennings Editor: Travis Jennings Songs: The Floor Is Lava · Avocado Junkie, 30 Seconds Of Funk - Slap Bass · PremiumProductionTracks, funky-fortune-154575,bounce-114024 Link to full podlink: https://pod.link/1615139311 Twitter: https://twitter.com/the_barbanter Instagram: the_barbanter YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPoVzNf3gTXU2mYvseo7PDA/ #barbanter #drinkinggames #podcast #satire #beer #alcohol #spirits #bar #banter #argue #debate #funny #comedy #indy #drinking #popculture #social #cheers #lastcall #wouldyourather If you want to show your support for the show, now you can! Help us pay for our "Bar Tab" by clicking the link below! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/barbanter/support SHOW NOTES! 4:23 Topic 1- Which movie deserves a sequel? 20:07 Topic 2- Which movie series had better sequels than the originals? 46:34 Topic 3- What game show would be the best to host? 1:01:36- Last Call! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/barbanter/support

Season 06 Episode 02: An uppy or a downyWARNING: This episode includes discussion about the fatality of a child.“Are you an ‘Uppy' or a ‘Downy'?” asks Alan.“We have reached the lowest watermark on the show here,” says TrajceAlan is entertained by Sara's social media post about universal in public facilities. “Are we living for design or are we designed for living?” queries Trajce.“Exactly!” exclaims Sara, “Design shapes behaviours.”Alan introduces the idea of prosecution of designers. Trajce pontificates on causational chains of responsibilities. Sara recalls a media-reported incident of a badminton racquet malfunction and splintering that allegedly caused the fatality of a child. She advocates for human factors approaches when integrating technologies in work systems.

GGACP celebrates the birthday of actor and comedian Jim Gaffigan (b. July 7) with this ENCORE of an interview from 2015. In this episode, Jim joins Gilbert and Frank at the famed New York Friar's Club to weigh in on subjects ranging from the lost art of “ethnic comedy” to the healing powers of stand-up to the caste system of the entertainment business. Also, Jim “opens” for the Pope, treads the boards with Jackie Gleason's grandson, struggles to capture Manhattan on film and writes ad copy for Downy and Hardee's. PLUS: Myron Cohen! The hunchback makes out! The comedy of Nat Hiken! The genius of Cloris Leachman! And the “biggest Goy in the world”! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

•Historical weather note: Unusually cool weather and frost reported in parts of Iowa on June 21-22, 1902. • Recent weather highlights: Southeast Iowa has been experiencing dryness, reflected in the drought monitor. Northern Iowa has received about 2 inches of rain in the last two weeks. High wind events caused damage to greenhouses and tunnels in northeastern Iowa. • Weather forecast: Unsettled pattern with chances of showers and thunderstorms. Temperatures in the 90s expected early next week. Northern Iowa may see 3-5 inches of rain in the next 36 hours. At least an inch of rain expected statewide. • Recent weather events: Dryness in southeastern Iowa High wind events in northeastern Iowa damaging farm structures Large hail in western Iowa • Climate outlook: Warmer than average temperatures predicted for the next 6-14 days and through September. Mixed precipitation signals: wetter in short-term July may end up being downgraded to "equal chances" • Crop and pest updates: Japanese beetles are starting to appear. Powdery mildew affecting peas. Black raspberries are highly productive this year. Strawberry season is ending; time for field renovation. Downy mildew affecting some sunflowers Leaf hoppers causing damage to various crops Sweet corn expected around second week of July for many growers Garlic scapes affected by anthracnose Imported cabbage worm moths and damage observed on brassicas. Sap beetles seen in peonies and Napa cabbage. • Irrigation systems are being set up due to drier conditions and warmer forecasts. Summary created using Claude.ai and Perplexity.ai

From our 31 May – 1 June 2024 show, Dwight becomes a copper thief and a handyman, DTB and BigBoyFarts666 play with pillows, Downy the Clown tries to bring his organ with him, Milkman plays every supporting role under the sun, FancyPants and DTB vacuum up the evidence, Dwight has chapped lips, Akspa and DTB […]

From our 03-04 May 2024 show, we paid tribute to Carlito who passed away 4 years ago and did a handful of calls over a four-hour period of time, interspersed with stories about Carlito. Features calls by: strangeLIFE, DTB, Turbo, Anonymongous, xpers, Dwight the Janitor, Cat_Astroph3, Downy the Clown and Akspa. Individual Calls: https://www.patreon.com/file?h=103751240&i=18811388Isolated Calls: […]

In this episode, Amanda Levine joins us to pull back the curtain on the advertising world, offering a glimpse into its inner workings. From the dynamics of talent management to the evolving trends within agencies, we discuss it all. Join us as we contemplate whether most agencies opt for in-house talent management or outsource the role. We also touch upon the concerning trend of music-related positions gradually disappearing from agency rosters. It's a candid exploration of the advertising landscape, shedding light on both its strengths and challenges. Tune in for an insightful discussion on the realities of the industry. Guest Bio: Amanda is currently the Senior Director of Music & Licensing at Platinum Rye Entertainment, where she has spent the last 15 years helping brand and agency clients navigate complex music and entertainment-led partnership deals, including Procter and Gamble, Gap Inc., Amazon and State Farm.  Amanda's role incorporates securing music/talent/IP for all media, comprising award-winning commercials that have featured in Super Bowl, Grammys and Olympics. Recent projects you may have seen her work include Gain remaking the iconic track “Take My Breath Away”, Old Spice partnering up with TikTok musical sensation JVKE, Downy launching a new product with help from the Backstreet Boys and licensing “Doomed” by Moses Sumney for P&G's Clio-winning powerful video “The Choice”. About the Hosts: We're Sonnet Simmons and John Clinebell, 2 indie artists who have found success and creative fulfillment through licensing our music for ads, TV shows and films.  We were once so disheartened and discouraged that our music wasn't being noticed or valued through traditional methods. So we both started on a journey to find another way. For us, that “third door” was sync! And what we discovered is a lot better than we could have ever even imagined…[Find out more here] Resources From This Episode: 2Indie - Visit our website for more resources and information on how to get YOUR music signed @platinumrye Music Licensing Basecamp - Want to join our exclusive online sync community, with weekly LIVE networking and coaching calls? @2indieofficial - Follow us on Instagram Sync It! Music Licensing Community - Follow us on Facebook

From our 19-20 April 2024 show, we try to plant soil and seeds on people, find out if we’re qualified to stay, discuss liability, try to get our diaper changed, get ghosted, find out it’s 2024, and chocolify Miriam. Features calls by: BigBoyFarts666, Turbo, Xenorax, Chrispy808, Luxapol, Milkman, Anonymongous, DTB, Dwight the Janitor, Miriam, Downy […]

What is the ideal temp to wash your clothes? Do you actually need to separate whites from colors? What is the best way to pre-treat clothes? Should you use any setting besides ‘normal?' How do you get out toddler stains?! We addressed dozens of your questions in this ‘news you can use' conversation with Procter & Gamble Senior Scientist Sammy Wang. She helps lead teams creating products like Downy and Tide. Mo News recently visited P&G HQ for a tour of their fabric division to get a behind the scenes glimpse. (See details on Instagram)  In this sponsored conversation that first took place as an Instagram Live on @mosheh, we take your questions about the laundry process. The conversation took place just after #nationallaundryday #downypartner

Diminutive and Demure

Diminutive and Demure

Codey and Jonnie talk about Palia. Timings 00:00:00: Theme Tune 00:00:30: Intro 00:01:12: What Have We Been Up To 00:09:33: Groundhog Day 00:17:59: News 00:39:26: Palia 01:42:20: Outro Links Wylde Flowers Eury’s Salon Update Lightyear Frontier Early Access Ages of Cataria Delay Rusty’s Retirement Public Demp Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge Contact Al on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheScotBot Al on Mastodon: https://mastodon.scot/@TheScotBot Email Us: https://harvestseason.club/contact/ Transcript (0:00:30) Codey: Hello farmers and welcome to another episode of the harvest season. My name is Cody (0:00:36) Jonnie: And, my name is Johnny. (0:00:37) Codey: And we are here today to talk about cottagecore games (0:00:45) Codey: As always transcripts are available in the show notes and on the website (0:00:49) Codey: And today’s podcast is about (0:00:52) Codey: Palia Which is a game that Johnny and I have both played and we actually played it together Wow [laughs] (0:00:59) Jonnie: So cool. (0:01:00) Codey: - Wow, MMOs. (0:01:05) Codey: So, we will be talking about Palia, (0:01:08) Codey: and as always, we have some news, (0:01:10) Codey: but a little lighter on the news this week, (0:01:12) Codey: which is pretty cool. (0:01:13) Codey: But first, Johnny, how are you? (0:01:15) Codey: What have you been up to? (0:01:16) Jonnie: I’m good. There is a game that I’ve been playing and I don’t know if you’ve heard of it. It’s called Palia. (0:01:23) Jonnie: No, it’s not called Palia. I have been playing that one, but I mean you talk about Pal World, (0:01:27) Jonnie: which they both start the same, so you know. (0:01:30) Codey: Oh, you’re on the PAL world train. (0:01:33) Jonnie: Well, I was on the Pal World train and I’m not off the Pal World train, like it’s a it’s a fine game. (0:01:40) Jonnie: I just kind of got what I wanted out of that game relatively quickly. (0:01:47) Jonnie: I hope there’s like zero interest in talking about the controversy around the game. (0:01:53) Jonnie: It is just a survival game with Pokemon who do things in the world and there’s more like, (0:01:59) Jonnie: I guess probably deeper combat as a result of there being Pokemon, which I liked Pokemon Legends Arceus, Arceus. I’ll edit out the one that’s right. I liked that game. (0:02:04) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:02:08) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:02:16) Jonnie: I think this game has a similar-ish gameplay loop. It’s not as fast and fluid as Arceus and (0:02:24) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:02:25) Jonnie: there’s a lot more of that survival base building aspect, which I don’t like survival games. (0:02:27) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:02:30) Jonnie: I kind of just find that base building stuff boring and pointless. So I did like a tower and I did some of the boss battles and I was like, oh okay, I kind of get what this game is, (0:02:35) Codey: Mm-hm. (0:02:42) Jonnie: but there’s not a compelling narrative that makes me feel like, oh I need (0:02:46) Jonnie: to go and do all of that. It’s kind of like, oh I did some of that and that feels like enough. (0:02:53) Jonnie: That’s I guess my mini summary of Palworld. I also think the gun side of things is just a little (0:03:05) Jonnie: 15 year old edgelord vibes. It comes off really cringe and a lot of things in the game kind of do (0:03:08) Codey: Yeah. (0:03:14) Jonnie: That’s where you’re like, killing the bad guys. (0:03:16) Jonnie: And… you can… like the way you release Pokemon is with a Meat Cleaver and then you can eat them and it’s just like, ugh, it’s just all a bit like, stop trying so hard. (0:03:17) Codey: Yeah. (0:03:24) Codey: Yeah. (0:03:28) Codey: Yeah, I, to me, it looked like Fortnite, Pokemon, Arceus, Breath of the Wild, I don’t know. (0:03:37) Codey: And I just, that’s not a compelling enough thing for me. (0:03:43) Codey: Um, so, I was not, I didn’t do it, but, um, yeah. (0:03:51) Codey: I mean that’s… (0:03:52) Jonnie: Yeah, I mean, it is more fun than Pokemon. (0:03:54) Jonnie: Um, you know. (0:03:55) Codey: Whoa! (0:03:56) Codey: Partake. (0:03:58) Jonnie: That is not a hot take. Pokemon has not been fun for a long time. (0:04:01) Codey: Oh no. (0:04:02) Codey: Oh no. (0:04:04) Jonnie: So, you know, how’s that going for it? (0:04:04) Codey: Um… (0:04:05) Codey: Um… (0:04:06) Jonnie: Um, but I think even there, right? (0:04:08) Jonnie: Like, I, even if I don’t enjoy a Pokemon game as much, I am more likely to play through it to the end because I’m so used to the loop and the, you know, beating the Elite Four. (0:04:20) Jonnie: I start the game knowing that beating the elite for- (0:04:22) Jonnie: is the objective, and there was no real hook like that for me in PowerWorld. (0:04:26) Jonnie: It was kind of like, cool, I experienced it. (0:04:28) Jonnie: I’ve been part of the hot topic of the day, and now I’m keen to move on to other things. (0:04:34) Codey: Mm-hmm, that’s fair. (0:04:40) Jonnie: But that’s really all I’ve been doing. What do you mean up to Cody? (0:04:45) Codey: Well, I just submitted a manuscript, so I’m very excited about that. (0:04:55) Codey: Any grad student listening is probably screaming like excitedly for me because it is a huge undertaking to publish a manuscript. (0:05:06) Codey: So it basically like took up a lot of my energy and time the last like month or so of trying like get it all organized and (0:05:15) Codey: getting it like sent to different people and then I’ll like think that something’s really good and then one of my co-authors will be like no like actually fix this and I’m like heck and so like that’s it’s just to finally just have it like be in the hands of the editors or reviewers or whomever is just like so great other than that I also just finally got ADHD medication (0:05:45) Codey: and for some reason my brain was like cool you can now hyper focus pretty effectively on things and shut your brain off why not build a fox shaped island in Minecraft so I’m building an island that is this in the shape of a fox a sleeping fox and I’m going to build a fox sanctuary on top of it and And also I’m. (0:06:15) Codey: Building it large enough that it shows up as a Sleeping Fox on the biggest size map. (0:06:24) Codey: Which ends up being. (0:06:24) Jonnie: I… I have a question. (0:06:26) Codey: Yeah, yeah, yeah. (0:06:27) Jonnie: Why? (0:06:30) Codey: Because my ADHD brain has decided that this is what brings me joy. (0:06:37) Codey: And it genuinely is so amazing. (0:06:44) Codey: I mean, it might also be. (0:06:45) Codey: It’s basically a testament to how much I hate writing, that my brain was like, “What could be more fun than this? Like, maybe this thing?” (0:06:57) Codey: So yeah, it’s basically, oh hello. I have a cat rubbing against my leg right now. Hello, little man. (0:07:03) Codey: It’s basically, I think we calculated it, it’s like probably 30,000 blocks, Minecraft blocks. (0:07:15) Codey: And we’re using orange terrac- so I’m not doing it alone. One of my best friends, Devin, shout out to Devin, I love you, you’re one of my best friends. (0:07:23) Codey: Anytime that either of us are going through anything in our lives, we’ll just like start up a Minecraft server. (0:07:31) Codey: And so, last few months have been pretty stressful, so we started our Minecraft server, and we’ve been doing these like fun little projects like this, and I just decided to do this. (0:07:39) Codey: And he was like, he had a moment where he was like, “Okay, okay, okay, we’re doing this.” (0:07:45) Codey: I guess, okay. And so he’s been mining terracotta for me and dying it white. (0:07:53) Codey: Luckily, like there’s this new biome that has orange terracotta that like naturally spawns, so he doesn’t have to make- to dye the orange ones. (0:08:00) Codey: So he can just like make it, and we can just farm it, and then I use it to build. (0:08:09) Codey: So yeah, I basically- he does that in the mornings, and then I log on in the evenings. (0:08:15) Codey: And construct. It has a snoot so far, and I’m building up the top of the head. (0:08:25) Codey: So listeners, if you’re interested in hearing the updates of Foxcraft, I’ll start posting about it in the Slack because it is- it’s gonna take probably a month to finish it. (0:08:37) Codey: Like we’re not even halfway done with the head. And I have- the head is like- the head is like the- (0:08:40) Jonnie: Great, I’m excited to get more updates on on Fox craft, but also the sound this sounds awfully a lot like a job (0:08:45) Codey: the smallest part. No, no, no, it’s fun. It’s fun. I like. This is a- this is a- oh yeah, we do have shift work going. (0:08:51) Jonnie: Mm-hmm, you’ve got shift work going you know (0:08:56) Codey: This is another like one of those things where sometimes I’m like, “Am I autistic? Like, am I a little autistic? Do I have a touch of the tism? I think I do.” (0:09:06) Codey: Like, if this- if this- this tickles my brain in a good way. (0:09:12) Jonnie: Well, maybe we won’t self-diagnose, but we’ll just say you must really like foxes somewhere in there. (0:09:18) Codey: Oh no, it’s more like my therapist was like, “Perhaps.” (0:09:25) Codey: It’s a little bit past self-diagnosing, but anyway. (0:09:26) Jonnie: Ugh. (0:09:29) Codey: So yeah, but the most important thing really that I’ve been working on, (0:09:33) Codey: I mean, this is sarcasm. The most important thing is Fox Craft, but (0:09:38) Codey: sarcastically, I went to an event that happened today, Americans. This is, today is February 2nd. (0:09:49) Codey: Johnny, what do you know about Groundhog’s Day? (0:09:52) Jonnie: I know there is a terrible Bill Murray movie, which actually now that I think about it, like, do you need to say terrible before Bill Murray movie? I think that’s just implied. (0:10:02) Jonnie: So, and the, like, I don’t know, I assume it’s a groundhog, but like, that’s the weirdest name for what, you know, basically just looks like a… I don’t know. (0:10:16) Jonnie: a slightly larger rat comes out because I’ve been sleeping or whatever I don’t (0:10:20) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:10:22) Jonnie: know why they come out they just do and Americans go crazy because they’re all in some weird cult that’s that’s that’s groundhog’s day right (0:10:30) Codey: Yeah, I mean, you’re not wrong. Okay, so Groundhog’s Day is a tradition observed in the United States and Canada on February 2nd of every year. It derives, this is from the Wikipedia, (0:10:43) Codey: it derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog, a groundhog is also known as a marmot or a woodchuck or my personal favorite, a whistle pig. A groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day and sees its shadow. It will retreat to its den and winter will go on for six more weeks. If it does not… (0:11:00) Codey: see its shadow, then spring will arrive early. (0:11:06) Codey: So this sounds… (0:11:09) Codey: That’s like, okay, cool, whatever. (0:11:10) Codey: Like there’s probably a guy that like watches this groundhog come out right over. No, it’s a cult. (0:11:16) Codey: 100%. So the ceremony is held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, (0:11:22) Codey: which is less than two hours from where I am. (0:11:24) Codey: So I’ve been wanting to go to this every year. (0:11:28) Codey: And it just hasn’t, I just haven’t been able to make it. (0:11:30) Codey: This year, I was able to make it. (0:11:33) Codey: And basically it centers around what is what Wikipedia says is the semi mythical groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil. (0:11:41) Codey: So he, Punxsutawney Phil basically comes out. (0:11:48) Codey: And apparently like looks, I’m trying to find to see if I can find like the ceremony because this is ridiculous. (0:11:56) Codey: He basically comes out and looks at him. (0:12:00) Codey: He looks around and sees his shadow and the wizards who are called wizards, the guys that run Groundhog’s Day in Punxsutawney, (0:12:14) Codey: basically listen to him so Phil comes out, he either does or does not see his shadow, and whispers to the wizard who can understand Groundhog ease. (0:12:30) Codey: Phil tells them whether or not he saw his shadow and if he did, they literally have scripts that they read. (0:12:38) Codey: People who go to this event every year, they know what the script is. (0:12:44) Codey: There’s a certain part in the script where the guy doesn’t even finish saying everything. (0:12:50) Codey: There’s a certain part where he says either “and his shadow fell upon him” or something, or “and a shadow he did not see”. (0:12:58) Codey: And at that point the crowd. (0:13:00) Codey: It goes crazy, but basically like thousands of people mock hawk flock thousands of people flock to this city in Pennsylvania and watch this ceremony and some of them show up at like midnight and the ceremony isn’t until sunrise, which was 730 this morning. (0:13:18) Codey: We left at 430 to get there and we got there and there’s literally thousands of people around this little stage of any with these guys that like are all. (0:13:30) Codey: Wearing like top hats and like black jackets and very like they look very New York investment banker of the 20s or something like that. (0:13:42) Codey: And yeah, he was just it was just so crazy and he did not see a shadow so spring is going to come early to the United States. Praise be to our groundhog meteorologist. (0:13:59) Jonnie: I have so many thoughts. (0:14:02) Codey: Okay, yeah, yeah, that’s fair fair. (0:14:02) Jonnie: First, Whistlepig Day would sound so much better. (0:14:05) Jonnie: That’s just first thought. (0:14:06) Jonnie: That’s just undeniably a better name. (0:14:10) Jonnie: Second thought, the fact that there are wizards surrounding this is like, yeah, you’re right. (0:14:14) Jonnie: This is definitely a cult, and it sounds like a cult I kind of want to be a part of, because any cult that has wizards dressed as 1920s bankers, (0:14:15) Codey: It’s a cold. (0:14:21) Jonnie: that sounds kind of amazing. (0:14:22) Jonnie: I’m into this. (0:14:23) Codey: Yeah. (0:14:24) Jonnie: Third, based on your description, (0:14:27) Jonnie: an alien landed on Earth, and they (0:14:29) Jonnie: would legitimately think that you’re just describing another game. (0:14:31) Jonnie: It is that sort of– (0:14:34) Jonnie: that sort of… (0:14:34) Codey: So, I actually, I was debating mentioning this that like, I kind of want a game about this. (0:14:42) Jonnie: And that was going to be my final point. I think this is this would be a great basis for a cottage core (0:14:48) Jonnie: game like you do the year, you know, it starts on Groundhog’s Day and (0:14:53) Jonnie: Maybe I don’t know what you’re working towards but like that make that your sort of New Year’s event That sounds like a great little thing to do (0:15:00) Codey: Well, so Punxsutawney, here, I’m going to try and find this information, Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania has a population of 5,000 humans. (0:15:12) Codey: So during this celebration, their population basically doubles. (0:15:18) Codey: So imagine being in, like, Stardew or Coral Island or something, and one single day of the year, the population doubles, (0:15:30) Codey: like, even though it was Friday and it was really, really early, all the stores were open. (0:15:36) Codey: Like, the bookstore was open and they had free hot chocolate and, like, they had, like, a couple different craft shows that were going on in this. (0:15:44) Codey: So it’s everyone, basically, in this community, basically, like, waits for this, like, this is their big, like, tourism thing every year. (0:15:54) Codey: So I think the goal of a game like that would be to build up your store. (0:16:00) Codey: Make sure you’re not going to run out of stock. Make sure that you have enough food for all of these people, enough, like, infrastructure, that you have enough parking because, like, we had to find parking and we almost had, like, some of the last parking spaces. (0:16:18) Codey: And so, like, there’s all this stuff that you could totally do in a game and have the regular day-to-day thing that you’re doing, like, you know, farming or whatever, just kind of be, like, normal, but you are always building up to that. (0:16:30) Codey: And so, like, you have to go to this huge event, annual event, where it kind of starts becoming, like, city skylines or something, where you have to manage, like, all these people. (0:16:46) Jonnie: Make it happen internet. There we go. We’ve done the hard work. We came up with the idea right? That’s the hard part (0:16:48) Codey: Yeah, make it happen. (0:16:52) Codey: Well, now that we’ve spent probably 15 minutes talking about Groundhog Day, and listeners, let me know if you’ve gone to the place where Punxsutawney Phil is, is called Gobbler’s Knob. Let me know if you’ve gone there. And Gobbler’s Knob. (0:17:04) Jonnie: But, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, it’s called what? (0:17:11) Jonnie: This is definitely like, I call it that is… [Laughing] (0:17:15) Jonnie: How is that a real name for a place? (0:17:18) Codey: Yeah, it is. (0:17:22) Codey: I’ll also post some pictures in the slack of me and my friends there, and also Stella. Stella went, “Oh, and the town has, like, Groundhog Day.” (0:17:30) Codey: Groundhog statues outside of a bunch of the buildings. So, like, outside of the library, they have a Groundhog that’s, like, reading a book. (0:17:38) Codey: And then outside of the bank, they have one that, like, has money. Outside of the fireman’s house, they have one with, like, a fireman’s axe holding a baby. (0:17:46) Codey: So, they have all of these, like, the whole town has leaned into it, 100%. But, yeah, so it’s a cult. (0:18:00) Codey: Okay, well, now that we’ve talked about cults, let’s talk about some news. Speaking of cults, Wildflowers… (0:18:10) Codey: I don’t know if Wildflowers is a cult. I just, the way… Kev… Kev has cult-like devo… devotion for this game. (0:18:12) Jonnie: Look, if it is, Kiv is definitely in that cult. (0:18:22) Codey: So, there’s more details on an update that’s coming up. There is going to be a hair stylist’s salon named Yuri’s Soul. (0:18:30) Codey: I’m just going to add a bunch of hairstyles. There’s a plushie coming. And I did a little bit of internet sleuthing, as someone who has not played Wildflowers. (0:18:42) Codey: I did a little bit of internet sleuthing. The picture of the plushie that they have on Twitter, which you can find on the show notes, is, like, obscured. (0:18:50) Codey: Like, it’s kind of in shadow. So, you can’t really tell what it is. But I think it’s a flying pig. What do you think? (0:18:58) Jonnie: Uh, I’m sure flying pig sounds like a thing that a plushie could be. (0:19:02) Codey: » Okay, okay, okay, yeah, so it definitely looks like the flying pig to me. (0:19:04) Jonnie: I have done zero internet’s locally. (0:19:12) Codey: I just kind of like looked up. (0:19:18) Codey: Oh my gosh, sorry, I scrolled down and it went to discover more and Disney Dreamlight Family tweeted today and said, (0:19:28) Codey: tweeted today and said we might not. (0:19:30) Codey: I have groundhogs in the game, but what do you think a copybara seeing its shadow mean? (0:19:40) Codey: They’re leaning into groundhog’s day. (0:19:43) Codey: Um, so, but yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s flying pig. So flying pig plush coming to wildflowers (0:19:51) Codey: Unconfirmed is that it’s a flying pig, but pretty sure it is. (0:19:54) Codey: Yeah, I mean, have you played wildflowers? Have you? Do you have? (0:19:57) Jonnie: No, the visual… I get that it’s better than it looks, but the visual style I just find very off-putting, and there’s just too much else that I want to play and can’t get to, that even though this game is meant to be really good, it’s just too much of a block of me to invest any time into this one, unfortunately. (0:20:19) Codey: Yep, I am in the exact same boat. (0:20:23) Codey: But I’m sure that we’ll hear all about Yuri’s salon (0:20:27) Codey: Update and all of that from Kev, which would be great. (0:20:32) Codey: Next up is Lightyear Frontier. (0:20:35) Codey: The early access for this game is releasing on March 19th on Steam, Xbox, and Game Pass. (0:20:42) Codey: There is a demo out now on Steam (0:20:46) Codey: And this game will be a part of Steam next. (0:20:49) Codey: Which starts on February 5th to the 12th so I believe by the time this podcast comes out, the next fest will be going on. (0:20:58) Codey: So yeah, if you are interested in seeing some gameplay or anything like that, that would be a really good thing to tune into. (0:21:08) Codey: What are your thoughts on this? (0:21:09) Jonnie: Yeah, and Lightyear Frontier is the farming, but in mechs. That’s their gimmick, I guess. (0:21:18) Codey: in like a, in space, in space for me. (0:21:22) Codey: I saw on there, on this news from Steam, (0:21:26) Codey: like, you know how we say like, hello farmers or whatever. (0:21:30) Codey: They say exo farmers. (0:21:32) Codey: So they said like something like, (0:21:34) Codey: play the demo now exo farmers. (0:21:35) Codey: And I was like, oh my gosh. (0:21:39) Codey: Like that’s just kind of a cute little way of talking about them. (0:21:42) Codey: I don’t know, I don’t know what exo means. (0:21:44) Codey: Now that I said it and then now I’m like, (0:21:46) Codey: what, wait, what am I talking about? (0:21:48) Codey: What does this mean? (0:21:51) Codey: Meaning outside, outer, external. (0:21:57) Codey: Cool. (0:21:57) Jonnie: Like like every farm every farmer is technically an exo farmer (0:22:02) Codey: No, no, no. (0:22:03) Codey: Cause it’s like outside, like outer worlds, like space. (0:22:07) Codey: Like we call them exoplanets. (0:22:09) Codey: Like exoplanets are outside of our solar system. (0:22:15) Jonnie: I don’t know how that applies to farming, but it sounds made up. (0:22:15) Codey: You know? (0:22:18) Codey: It’s exoplanet farmers. (0:22:22) Codey: You’re a farmer on an exoplanet. (0:22:24) Jonnie: But they don’t say exoplanet farmers, they say exopharmers. (0:22:27) Codey: No, they said exo. (0:22:29) Codey: It’s just a little cute little conjugation. (0:22:30) Jonnie: They should change it to remove the “e” and just be like “exo” like “Kisshag farmers”. (0:22:35) Jonnie: That would be a much cuter way to say hello. (0:22:37) Codey: I kind of want to re-record “Hello, Kiss Hug Farmers! Welcome to another episode of the Harvest Season!” (0:22:43) Jonnie: What? (0:22:49) Codey: Oh my gosh, we are off the rails. Um, yeah. (0:22:53) Jonnie: Okay, um, are you going to try this? (0:22:57) Codey: So, I’ve never been a big mech person. Like, growing up, like… (0:23:07) Codey: uh… transformers, like, that kind of stuff. It was never my jam. (0:23:13) Codey: Um, so I don’t… to be determined, um… but prob’s not. What about you? (0:23:20) Jonnie: So I talked about this one a little bit on I think the upcoming Game of the Year show, (0:23:28) Jonnie: where it’s on my list of games that I want to try but there may not be a priority. (0:23:35) Jonnie: But I don’t think I knew at that point that it was coming to Game Pass, which it’s amazing how much Game Pass changes my willingness to try some stuff out, right? (0:23:44) Jonnie: Because I’m way more willing to just jump in for a bit and see if it instantly grabs me or not. (0:23:49) Jonnie: So I think it’s a long time. (0:23:50) Jonnie: A lot more likely than I initially anticipated that I will give this a go, because I like the visual style, it feels distinct, I don’t have a particular affinity or non affinity for mechs, but I am interested to see what it means in terms of how they differentiate, you know, your traditional cottagecore farming game loop with the addition of something like a mech, because you can see a lot, you know, there’s probably more interesting ways to do tools and things like that when you have a mech, (0:24:20) Jonnie: and I am really hoping they take full advantage of, and it’s not just like regular tools, but they’re just, they look like mech attachments, right? I’m hoping there’s something else that distinguishes them, which I guess technically I could find out because the demo is out, so I could probably find out or look into it a bit more, so. (0:24:34) Codey: Yeah. (0:24:38) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:24:41) Codey: But the demos… the demos on Steam… (0:24:44) Jonnie: Yeah, yeah, demos are only on Steam. (0:24:44) Codey: It’s not… not Game Pass. (0:24:49) Codey: Yeah, I agree with you about the Game Pass thing. (0:24:52) Codey: Like, it’s really opened up what I’m able to play. (0:24:57) Codey: And I really like that. (0:24:58) Codey: But I don’t think that your frontier will be that. (0:25:01) Codey: Because again, like, we have so many other things. (0:25:04) Codey: I want to play, so many other things I’m doing in my life. (0:25:07) Codey: And something… if it’s a game that’s going to like pull me in like that, (0:25:10) Codey: like Coral Island or something, it’s really got to grab me. (0:25:13) Codey: So… (0:25:16) Codey: Okay, so… (0:25:17) Codey: Ages of… next… next up on our news list… (0:25:20) Codey: Ages of Kataria… (0:25:22) Codey: was meant to be coming out Q1 2024, so… (0:25:26) Codey: anytime. (0:25:28) Codey: But has been delayed until Q2 2025. (0:25:34) Codey: It personally seemed a little late to be making that announcement, (0:25:36) Codey: but I get it. (0:25:36) Jonnie: Mm-hmm. (0:25:40) Codey: Quote, (0:25:41) Codey: “We have been working hard on Ages of Kataria, (0:25:43) Codey: and our main goal is to find funding to expand the team and work full-time.” (0:25:50) Codey: I’m about to read you a list of things that they’ve been working on. (0:25:52) Codey: See if you can pick out the things that… (0:25:56) Codey: one of these things is not like the other. (0:25:58) Codey: Okay. (0:25:59) Codey: Quote, “In the past few months, we’ve been working on building upgrades, (0:26:03) Codey: customization. (0:26:04) Codey: villager conversations, traits, events and quests, death, (0:26:09) Codey: hunting, cooking, farming, animals, clicking to collect resources, (0:26:14) Codey: villager pooping mechanics, and so much more, which we will be discussing and showing in future updates. (0:26:21) Codey: Uh, Johnny, any of those, any of those jump out to you? (0:26:24) Jonnie: Yeah, I’m really interested in these villager pooping mechanics. (0:26:26) Codey: Save! (0:26:29) Codey: What do you mean? (0:26:31) Codey: I’m like, I’m that meme of, um… (0:26:34) Codey: of, uh… (0:26:35) Codey: Oh my gosh, Katniss Everdeen’s… (0:26:37) Codey: the… the friggin’ actress that plays her. (0:26:40) Codey: Where she’s like, “What do you mean?” (0:26:41) Codey: Like, “What do you mean?” (0:26:43) Codey: On Hot Ones. (0:26:45) Codey: Jennifer Lawrence, I think is her name. (0:26:47) Codey: Um… (0:26:49) Codey: I’m that meme when I read that. (0:26:51) Jonnie: Yeah, I’d like that is wild to me. I mean I assumed the actual answer you were looking for is diff like [laughing] (0:26:58) Codey: No, no, it was originally Villager Pooping Mechanics, but Death, I mean Death was like, (0:27:04) Codey: that’s interesting. (0:27:06) Codey: But that happens in-game, like everything else in this list is something that you would find in a Cottagecore game in some way or another. (0:27:15) Codey: But Villager Pooping Mechanics just like comes out, just stands out so much, and I have questions. (0:27:22) Jonnie: Yeah, and I mean I’ve kind of buried the lead somewhat but this update has (0:27:30) Jonnie: I would say there are some concerning elements to it, right, you know (0:27:35) Jonnie: They’re talking about looking for a publisher and this was a kick-started project (0:27:41) Jonnie: And I guess if you are a kickstarter of it, this is an update that I guess, you know (0:27:46) Jonnie: Would reduce the likelihood that you are actually going to get it and not saying whether it will or won’t happen (0:27:52) Jonnie: There’s now some additional hurdles that they are now flagging up (0:27:57) Jonnie: Which is unfortunate because I think this game looks like it’s got a great visual style to it (0:28:06) Jonnie: So hoping they can find the funding that they need but I would not be putting much stock in that queue to (0:28:12) Jonnie: 2025 date until there was more (0:28:15) Jonnie: More updates on whether or not they they find a publisher or you know are able to sort of clearly state. (0:28:24) Codey: They did have someone jump out on their Kickstarter three days ago, Shell M said you know so is it A that you needed more money and just didn’t tell anyone or B that you mismanaged the finances early on or underestimated how much you needed if B why weren’t we told about this before? (0:28:45) Codey: Just fair. (0:28:46) Codey: They got I’m trying to see $111,000 like like you people gave you money like you should at least let them know what what’s happening with that and it sounds like they you know $110,000 doesn’t really go that far and they had 10 people working on it originally and then when that money ran out some people had to leave and some people stayed to continue to work on the game but that a lot of people had to go back to working part-time and so it’s a lot of people’s time is now split and they’re not able you know if they still had the (0:29:24) Codey: work full-time with the whole team of 10 or team of whomever many are on there now they probably could get it out a lot earlier but I mean I get it I’ve this manuscript that I just submitted was supposed to be done like a year ago so I get it but it does yep mm-hmm (0:29:41) Jonnie: But I mean this is one of the risks around Kickstarter projects, right? You know, $110,000 is a lot of money in the context of an individual. (0:29:50) Jonnie: But in the context of developing a game when you’ve got a team of ten, that’s even just considering salaries. (0:29:54) Codey: Yep. (0:29:58) Jonnie: That’s only a couple of months, if that worth of runway. (0:30:02) Jonnie: And that’s not counting all of the, you know, server costs and all those other fun things that are very expensive. (0:30:08) Jonnie: expensive so $110,000 to develop a game is not. (0:30:11) Jonnie: I’m not sure if this is a game that’s not that much. It’s just the unfortunate reality of Kickstarter I guess. (0:30:18) Jonnie: But hopefully they can find their way out of it because the game looks good (0:30:18) Codey: - Yeah. (0:30:25) Codey: I definitely, I think that the people at Third Pie Studios, (0:30:30) Codey: and I’m assuming it’s Alex McCord, (0:30:31) Codey: who’s the CEO and creative director, (0:30:34) Codey: their post explaining the situation to the concerned people was very like the comment that they have on this. (0:30:41) Codey: It was very thorough and very polite and very good. (0:30:45) Codey: So, it does, it’s difficult, it’s difficult. (0:30:48) Codey: And it’s always sad when you have to like, postpone something, but I think they did a good job of… (0:30:53) Codey: Perhappeth, maybe, uh, let people know a little earlier, but it’s fine. (0:30:59) Codey: Stuff happens. (0:31:02) Codey: Um, stuff that, uh, should happen, might not happen, I don’t know. (0:31:09) Codey: I’m so scared to play this game. (0:31:11) Codey: Rusty’s retirement! (0:31:13) Codey: Has a public demo that is out now. (0:31:17) Codey: Oh, Johnny. (0:31:18) Codey: I want to do this demo so bad, but it seems like it’s like a floodgate, you know? (0:31:26) Codey: Like, once I push that button, am I just a slave to Rusty’s retirement? (0:31:34) Jonnie: Yes, yes is the answer to that question yep . (0:31:35) Codey: And keeping it going? (0:31:39) Codey: But I want to play? (0:31:40) Codey: And I want to help them? (0:31:42) Codey: I want to give them feedback? (0:31:43) Codey: I don’t know. (0:31:44) Codey: I don’t know, what did you think about this? (0:31:48) Jonnie: I mean, I’m in the same category as you, and Rusty’s retirement to serve him remembers as the idle farming game that’s being launched soon, but yeah, going into demo, I am equally concerned about this for all of the same reasons, and I think as… (0:32:10) Jonnie: Yeah, because we first talked about this a few months ago, and since then I think the… (0:32:18) Jonnie: Imagery and the, you know, like they’ve added more, we’re seeing more about how it will look on the screen and everything they add, I’m just like, oh, like it looks like it’s getting better, right? (0:32:24) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:32:28) Jonnie: Like there’s those things that I have, like, you have those mental questions around, oh, how would this aspect work? And I feel like as time has gone on, I’m seeing those things come in in ways that’s like, yeah, that’s how I would want that to look. (0:32:29) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:32:35) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:32:40) Jonnie: So I’m very nervous, you know, the, you know, how we would just reference memes to describe our feelings on this, this is very much the… (0:32:43) Codey: Yeah, and… (0:32:48) Jonnie: Oh, yeah, yep, that’s the one. (0:32:52) Codey: Haha, I’m in danger. (0:32:54) Codey: Yeah. (0:32:56) Codey: Yeah. (0:32:58) Codey: Um. (0:33:00) Codey: So, yeah, I guess I don’t know if I’m trying to see. (0:33:06) Codey: Oh, it is PC and Mac. (0:33:14) Codey: I’ll probably do it. (0:33:16) Codey: Um, so, listeners listen back. (0:33:20) Codey: we’ll give feedback on this in maybe one of the next upcoming episodes. (0:33:24) Codey: I will probably bite the bullet and do this now that I’m not I don’t have a deadline that is of the for like the manuscript that is fast approaching so. (0:33:35) Jonnie: Yeah, and Al was telling me he’s gonna install this on his work PC, so he’s gonna have a very detailed show on it in a few weeks time. (0:33:45) Codey: Sure! (0:33:46) Jonnie: Just throwing Al totally under the bus, I don’t believe he’s not going to do that. (0:33:52) Jonnie: But he could do it. He could do it. He could do it for you listeners. (0:33:58) Codey: he’s probably screaming right now. okay so the last bit of news is for a game called Kamaeru a frog refuge and this has the same vibes as Usagi Shima so my brain was like oh let me figure out what Kamaeru means. in Japanese it means take a stand which is not what I was expecting it to be. I was expecting it to be like frog island or something because Usagi Shima is a bunny island. (0:34:28) Codey: But no. Okay. So Kamaeru frog refuge, quote foster a sanctuary for frogs and restore the biodiversity of the wetlands in Kamaeru, a cozy farming sim where you raise frogs by playing minigames and decorating your habitat. Hop right to it. (0:34:47) Codey: What do you have thoughts about this, Johnny? Are you? I have thoughts. (0:34:49) Jonnie: yeah it looks it looks really cute right like it definitely gives off the same same vibe as usagashima but it looks a lot more detailed just lots of little things about you know so in usagashima like you you kind of placed decorations but that was it’s like I think the the idea of restoring the wetlands looks cool it seems like there’s lots of customization options which is which is pretty cool the frogs look super cute and like it looks like There’s like tons of fun color combinations, so I’m guessing there’s going to be… (0:35:19) Jonnie: …a little bit of a Pokemon creature collection style aspect to this, which I know Usagushima had as well. (0:35:26) Jonnie: And alongside, you know, maybe some some more human characters and some interactions in that way. (0:35:32) Jonnie: This has the potential to be a really, really great game, I think. (0:35:40) Jonnie: Usagushima didn’t really stick with me. I think one, because I didn’t really want a mobile game at that point. (0:35:46) Jonnie: but also it just felt a bit shallow. (0:35:49) Jonnie: And this looks like it kind of has the depth that I’m looking for like this. (0:35:55) Jonnie: This is ticking a lot of boxes and I think for like this one is really interesting things in the cottagecore genre of (0:36:02) Jonnie: really doing something (0:36:04) Jonnie: Unique that doesn’t have to be like the whole thing doesn’t have to be a hundred percent unique, right? (0:36:08) Jonnie: A lot of this seems inspired by Utsagushima. However, well, and it’s probably not, right? (0:36:09) Codey: Right. (0:36:13) Jonnie: It’s probably done independently given how closely they’re sort of coming out. (0:36:16) Jonnie: But frogs is not an area that’s really been (0:36:19) Jonnie: explored or is that common outside of like the only other time I can think of really even seeing frogs is catching them in a farm with their with their critter so yeah that was kind of like a weird brain mush of thoughts because this is the first we’ve heard about this game if I remember rightly (0:36:23) Codey: Mm-hmm (0:36:40) Codey: Um, yeah, so I think this is the game that I saw on Instagram or on Instagram, (0:36:45) Codey: Twitter, and I tagged, uh, Al in it because someone tagged me in it because my friends know that this is the kind of game that I will just eat right up. (0:36:53) Codey: This is the first time we’re covering it on the podcast. (0:36:55) Codey: I just want, I wanted to grab my facts straight before I said anything, but, (0:36:59) Codey: um, the developer of apico L, um, is actually also developing a frog breeding and collecting game called mud born. (0:37:07) Codey: So instead of bloodborne, it’s mud born. (0:37:10) Codey: Um, and it’s very, in the same vein, uh, looks a lot like, uh, apico. (0:37:17) Codey: So it’ll be the same kind of thing, um, of, uh, going and helping a frog, (0:37:25) Codey: uh, deity, um, rediscover her lost children. (0:37:30) Codey: Um, this is in, uh, Elle’s con a message about it in March of last year. (0:37:40) Codey: And the discord quote, um, I’ve always joked about making apico, but frog, but it’s never been much more than that with the game jam theme of pond. (0:37:50) Codey: However, it seems like a good opportunity to make it a reality. (0:37:55) Codey: Um, so he has been working on that, which is great. (0:37:59) Codey: So there, there are other frog games coming out. (0:38:02) Codey: Um, I just wanted to say that, uh, cause I really like it clearly, but this (0:38:10) Codey: is, uh, looks a lot different and looks like it’s own little thing. (0:38:13) Codey: And, um, I really like, like they actually have human characters in this game (0:38:17) Codey: that Usagi Shima did not have. (0:38:19) Codey: So there might be like kind of more of a social aspect. (0:38:24) Codey: And then I also saw kind of a crafting system or like a crafting mini game or something that looked a lot like, um, spirit fairs, mini games, which I was also really interested in. (0:38:36) Jonnie: yeah they looked really good and even little things like they was painting a birdhouse it looked like you know just as a little customization option which I (0:38:36) Codey: So. (0:38:40) Codey: Mm-hm, mm-hm, so yeah, right now it’s just coming 2024, we’re not really sure when. (0:38:51) Codey: But it is also gonna be part of Steam’s next fest. (0:38:56) Codey: So make sure to check in on that. (0:38:59) Codey: And last, I was looking when I looked at their thing earlier. (0:39:02) Codey: No, they’re not doing it anymore. (0:39:04) Codey: Nope, maybe they are, they’re broadcasting. (0:39:10) Codey: The developer is currently playing on Steam, and they are wearing a frog hat and have a bunch of frogs behind them. (0:39:19) Codey: And it’s so heckin’ cute. (0:39:21) Codey: So you could probably watch that stream video of them streaming the game. (0:39:26) Codey: But it looks pretty good. (0:39:27) Codey: Cool, well that was our news, woo. (0:39:31) Codey: So on to the main topic, which is Palia. (0:39:35) Codey: To remind people, Palia is one of the worst. (0:39:40) Codey: The phrase they used was “A cozy world made for you.” (0:39:44) Codey: It’s the free-to-play farming MMORPG game. (0:39:46) Codey: We have been playing it, I played it, probably maybe played like 30 hours, but that might be a little bit much. (0:39:58) Codey: Maybe like 20 hours around? (0:40:02) Codey: What about you, Johnny? (0:40:04) Codey: How are you playing the game? (0:40:06) Codey: thoughts, that non-spoilery. (0:40:10) Codey: kind of vibe thoughts about it to say before we jump in. (0:40:12) Jonnie: Yeah, so I’m playing on the Switch, and it runs really well on Switch, right, like I feel like that’s an important thing to recognize early, because the Switch is very old at this point. (0:40:23) Jonnie: Like it doesn’t run perfectly, I’m sure it runs a lot better if you’re playing via PC, but no real major issues in terms of how it plays. (0:40:32) Jonnie: And I really like what they’re trying to achieve with Palia, however I find it difficult to recommend at this stage until… (0:40:42) Jonnie: …there’s a little bit more from a content perspective in the game. It’s probably my very high level thought, but I really love what this game is trying to achieve from introducing that MMO aspect. (0:40:53) Codey: Yeah, I echo that sentiment. I’m also playing on Switch, and I think it has a lot of potential, (0:41:05) Codey: but that there’s some stuff that isn’t quite, some things that aren’t quite built out yet. (0:41:10) Codey: And after playing MMOs for so long, like World of Warcraft or something, I mean, and that’s probably not a fair comparison. But after playing things like that, like some of the (0:41:23) Codey: personality of the MMO side of it, and the world just seems, like it seems like you play for 10 hours and then you’re like, “Well, yep, I get it.” (0:41:33) Jonnie: Yeah, I do want to come back to the WoW comparison, because I think my initial, like my very very early thoughts when I started playing, was it did feel a little bit like when you first started playing. (0:41:45) Jonnie: Wow, obviously, like the combat is the big difference, but when I guess I think about how the world is constructed, it did feel like World of Warcraft where the world is big and your character feels a lot smaller than it typically does in cottagecore style games, which took a bit of like… (0:42:03) Jonnie: It was a bit of an adjustment, right? When you get the first quest to walk into town and like actually takes a little bit of time and you’re trying to work out where to go, that was a little bit of a brain reset and exploring the map. (0:42:15) Jonnie: Like the maps, so there’s two regions and they’re pretty decent size, and yeah, so there is that good early exploration element that I really like. (0:42:30) Codey: Mm-hmm. Yeah, I will say I haven’t really explored the second area too, too much, but (0:42:38) Codey: I agree that it feels like, like I feel like I’m still playing and exploring and still encountering things that are surprising to me. Or like, “Oh wow, I didn’t know this was here,” or “Oh, I didn’t, (0:42:52) Codey: I’ve never been over here before,” or finding out there’s a whole underground, (0:43:00) Codey: the city was really cool. So yeah, it’s got some, I think it’s got more good than bad, (0:43:10) Codey: but it’s definitely maybe like, “Wait a bit.” But, well, let’s dive into a little bit about the story itself. Do you have a good grasp on the story and want to mention it? (0:43:22) Jonnie: Yeah, so I think there’s two aspects to the story. Well, I think it’s all sort of one connected story. And there are a series of dungeons. There are currently three in the game, but there are at least, there’s at least one more intended. I’ve done all three of the of the dungeons. But it’s very closely tied, I guess, to the nature of people and (0:43:52) Jonnie: the world. So none of the other characters, none of the NPCs in the game are humans. They’re a different race. I can’t recall off the top of my head what exactly they are. Yeah. But you’re basically, you know, every player character in the world is a human that’s effectively being reanimated by some form of of God. And… (0:43:59) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:44:05) Codey: No idea. I don’t know if I have ever known… (0:44:08) Codey: “Pallians.” (0:44:22) Jonnie: That enables, you know, you have a stronger connection into some of the magic and the dungeons are about exploring sort of what happened to humanity. And it seems like in the wider context of the world, magic is kind of one of those things that’s known about, but also heavily suppressed and kind of taboo to engage with. But some of those restrictions don’t apply to humans. And so you’re kind of exploring that at the stage that I’m up to, which is (0:44:52) Jonnie: to finish the story. But I guess a decent way through. There isn’t a… I don’t have a sense of what it’s building towards. I guess that’s that’s probably a big gap for me. (0:45:04) Codey: Mm hmm. That’s, that’s my biggest concern with the story is like, basically you teleport or get reanimated or whatever, but your character just like shows up and someone’s just standing there and they’re like, Oh, wow, another human, like, please follow the chain of humans that are heading to the town. And then you go to the town and then they give you like a plot of land. Um, and then you can build like a house on it and stuff, but. (0:45:34) Codey: Last that you’re just kind of free. I mean, there are like quests, but there’s not, it’s, (0:45:40) Codey: it’s very open world in that way that like you, you could then never do the quest ever again. They’re like the story quests, I guess some of the quests you have to do to be able to improve your, um, your abilities. But a lot of it, like it just seems, it seems secondary to me or just like a non- (0:46:04) Codey: existent almost so I would I would like that to be built up a little bit more and I also would like the characters to be built up a little bit more so there’s all the NPCs are basically pallions that live in this world that have have lived in this world and they have some like personality (0:46:34) Codey: to them and they have relationships between them and stuff but for some reason I just wasn’t really connecting to them I don’t know what your experience was yeah (0:46:41) Jonnie: Yeah I felt the same way. I think a lot of them, so a lot of the NPCs I would say that their role is to introduce various skills to you and there’s more skills than most cottagecore games have and it’s kind of like their whole, like they have one personality trait and that’s it so they’re very two dimensional in that way. (0:47:06) Jonnie: you know, I think about the bug catcher and his whole thing is he’s a kid and he’s part (0:47:11) Jonnie: of the local scout group or whatever their world equivalent is. And so he’s always excited and always kind of hyper and always wanting to catch bugs and that’s it, right? Like I didn’t feel like anything else from that character. (0:47:16) Codey: Yeah. (0:47:22) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:47:28) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:47:30) Codey: Or, like, the bookstore lady, (0:47:32) Codey: which I didn’t know there was a bookstore for the longest time, (0:47:34) Codey: but the bookstore lady, like, you go in there and she’s just, like, (0:47:38) Codey: has the vibe of, like, (0:47:40) Codey: “You hurt my books. I hurt your face.” (0:47:44) Codey: your face. Like she’s just very like protective of her book. (0:47:46) Codey: But then I don’t think I’ve talked to her about any like any time I talk to her. I don’t she’s not mentioned anything else Like I don’t know anything about her (0:47:57) Codey: There’s not like a time when I’ll go back in the bookstore and she’s like, okay I guess you’re you’re nice or whatever like but that could just be me not really understanding how to progress the (0:48:09) Codey: Like Hearts basically, I’m trying to think of how to like the progression of the of your (0:48:16) Codey: With these characters It’s not clear to me how to do that (0:48:21) Codey: After after a certain while you can gift them things but like half of the people I try and gift them something and they’re like No, I don’t want that (0:48:29) Jonnie: Yeah, so there’s this whole relationship side to the game, and it’s probably for me the weakest aspect, so you can talk to NPCs, and you can ask them for a clue about what someone wants each week. (0:48:45) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:48:45) Jonnie: They want four different gifts, and you can, you know, increase the relationship by talking to them, and some of those sorts of things, but it kind of all feels surface level. (0:48:55) Jonnie: And I have to say, it’s very weird for an MMO. (0:48:59) Jonnie: That’s the part that really doesn’t connect because it’s like, yes, there are 20 of us all trying to make friends with the same character right now. (0:49:07) Jonnie: Like it’s it doesn’t feel particularly genuine and kind of feels at odds with everything else that the game is trying to do. (0:49:14) Jonnie: And potentially one of those features that they put in because this is what console games do. (0:49:15) Codey: Yeah. (0:49:21) Codey: Yeah. (0:49:23) Codey: I don’t really know how, (0:49:24) Codey: like I’m trying to think of like how that could be fixed. (0:49:26) Jonnie: I mean, just don’t have it in the game. I just don’t think it’s necessary. (0:49:28) Codey: And I’m not entirely sure. (0:49:31) Codey: Hmm, okay. (0:49:34) Codey: I guess that’s also true. (0:49:35) Codey: Like that was the other thing is like, (0:49:36) Codey: you don’t really know, so you’re human. (0:49:38) Codey: You don’t really know like why you’re here or if like you have some type of greater purpose (0:49:46) Codey: like you’re gonna ascend or something like, (0:49:49) Codey: or return to the dirt. (0:49:51) Codey: Like there’s no idea, at least in the beginning and at least to the part where I’m in in the story. (0:49:57) Codey: And so having romanceable aliens, basically, (0:50:05) Codey: I was like, what? (0:50:10) Codey: It just seemed a little like maybe not until (0:50:15) Codey: later on in the game. (0:50:16) Codey: What did that be something that I’d be thinking about? (0:50:19) Codey: I don’t know. (0:50:22) Codey: One thing that they just released though, (0:50:24) Codey: which I really like this in just as an aspect of farming games in general, (0:50:29) Codey: is there’s a character named Sabira and she’s like an older character. (0:50:33) Codey: You can now romance her. (0:50:36) Codey: They add it. (0:50:37) Codey: So basically like she’s probably in her like fifties or sixties or something. (0:50:41) Codey: And I think that farming games in general (0:50:45) Codey: is a way to open up that type of like relationship with older humans because as someone who, (0:50:52) Codey: I was married, surprise, like I was married (0:50:56) Codey: and I was in a relationship for nine years without human. (0:50:58) Codey: And then I left that relationship and then I was in my like late twenties and even like now if I were to be single in my thirties, (0:51:06) Codey: like I don’t, when I play farming games or whatever or play these games where you have like romanceable whatever it’s always like. (0:51:15) Codey: Yeah, early 20s are teenagers and it’s just like, but like, circumstances happen and other people need to find love as well. (0:51:26) Codey: And so I just really wish that that diversity was represented in games. (0:51:34) Codey: So yeah, I don’t know. I really liked that. (0:51:36) Jonnie: Yeah, I think diversity is important. (0:51:38) Jonnie: Um, yeah. (0:51:40) Codey: Cool. (0:51:45) Codey: Is there a character that like, stuck out to you that you really enjoyed? (0:51:48) Jonnie: um unfortunately the answer is no like I like now I can think about it and I can recall all of the different characters but I it’s almost in the bad way where I think they’re all sort of a bit tropey actually the one character the one character that I do like is the the fishing robot um the fishing the fishing robot is cool uh I i’m a big fan of him and he like I think I think particularly because his trope is… (0:52:01) Codey: I was literally about to say, “But what about the fishing robot?” (0:52:18) Jonnie: Unexpected, you know, where he’s sort of like looking for or trying to find that zen spot and help other people find I bet they don’t call it the zen spot. I can’t remember what he refers to it as but (0:52:30) Jonnie: I thought that was like a fun little twist on a robot character (0:52:30) Codey: Mm-hmm (0:52:34) Codey: Mm-hmm and his mannerisms are so cute and like (0:52:38) Codey: There are throughout the world Sometimes you’ll find like these shiny pebbles or whatever and someone mentioned that he really likes them I think his name’s like Inar or something Someone mentioned that he really likes them and so every time I find one I go and bring it to him and every single time He’s like over the moon about these shiny pebbles and I’m just like yours honky you Cute! (0:53:00) Codey: So, um, big fan of him for sure. (0:53:08) Codey: Um, well, since we talked about fishing, let’s talk about, um, something they say, (0:53:12) Codey: again, that’s part of this game is living off the land any way that you like. (0:53:17) Codey: Um, so they have, I think it’s eight. (0:53:20) Codey: Yeah. (0:53:20) Codey: Eight different like skills that you can improve. (0:53:26) Codey: Um, and some of them are, you know, fishing, hunting, mining, or fishing, (0:53:31) Codey: bug catching, foraging, those are all things that are in most games, but they also have hunting, um, furniture making, and then, oh, I guess gardening is another, like, uh, like regular one in these types of games. (0:53:42) Codey: Um, so let’s just briefly touch on these and like, talk about the pros and cons of each of them and the way that they do them, and if we really like it or not. (0:53:51) Codey: Um, so what do you think about the fishing? (0:53:53) Jonnie: I think fishing’

We used to actually watch a string of 30-second commercials for Downy and Doritos waiting for Seinfeld to come back on. Today is not the age of television, or patience, but the age of ultimate optionality. This is the age of TikTok and you need to keep these tips in mind when creating short form content. Create for people, not algorithms. The algos are getting smart enough that you can stop doing everything to appease them. What appeases the user naturally becomes what appeases the algorithm for any company that is or will be successful in the attention economy.Out for 2024:Slow talking and self-serving intros or teasers about what you're about to share (just SHARE IT!)Making people waitMaking people click somewhere else (zero click content is in)Making people fill out formsGated contentJanuary Top 5: Every Tuesday this month, we're re-airing the top 5 most downloaded episodes of this podcast. This is #3 as we count down to the #1 most popular on January 30, 2024. This episode originally aired 2/3/2021.Links mentioned:"How to File an LLC - DIY" my accidental viral YouTube video now at 75,000 views (I said "16,000" in this recording)My favorite podcast tools:Riverside: record audio or video podcast: emilybinder.com/riversideDescript: edit audio or video like a Word doc. emilybinder.com/descriptPodcast gear list (mic / camera / lighting): wealthvoice.ai/gearThinkersOne Videos: Send a 2-minute video kudos, inspo, or invite (like a Cameo). Order a Zoom drop-in or virtual keynote: emilybinder.com/thinkersonePodcast home: emilybinder.com/podcastBook a coaching session: emilybinder.com/callFollow & connect:My website | Beetle Moment Marketing | LinkedIn | X | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Get email updates Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jessica Padula graduated from Boston University and always knew she wanted to get into brand marketing. However, getting a foot in the door can be difficult, so she took the advertising route to get there. Jessica started her career at Grey Group in New York, where she worked with brands like Downy, Covergirl, and Pantene. By specializing in the emerging space of social media, she was able to move over to the client side in Colorado, first with WhiteWave Foods, and then with Famous Brands. Eventually, she returned to New York as the Integrated Marketing Manager with Swarovski, but soon realized she missed CPG and joined Nespresso as their Social Media Marketing Manager in 2016. In 2018, she was promoted to Director of Brand Communications, and in 2023, she was promoted again to Vice President of Marketing and Interim Vice President of Sustainability with over 7 years at Nespresso and a uniquely perfect combination of luxury, CPG, and F&B experience.In this episode, Alan and Jessica discuss how a big move at a young age helped break her out of her shell, why “every ‘yes' is a ‘no' to something else”, how gamers are breaking stereotypes, and what mass amounts of data with increased fragmentation mean for marketing in general. They also talk about her path to becoming VP of Marketing, her views on leadership as someone relatively new to the space, how Nespresso's product innovation and marketing strategy are influenced by the next generation of consumers, and the ways they are impacting the community as an at-home solution.As many leaders come to find, the higher you climb up the ladder, the further you get away from the work. To stay grounded, Jessica bases her leadership approach on empathy. This requires vulnerability and the whole team feels psychological safety and a sense of belonging. This sense of belonging, as well as social justice, inclusivity, and sustainability, are all important factors for Gen Z consumers Nespresso is now considering as they reevaluate their product development, marketing strategies, and experiences. The way Gen Z is introduced to and consumes coffee is largely out of home, all about iced beverages, and concerned with aesthetics and community. Fundamentally, coffee plays an important role in the lives of Nespresso's target consumers. It serves as a connection point, and that connection is part of why Jessica has stayed at the company so long. She is passionate about finding ways their brand can tap into that community experience with their at-home solutions through meaningful partnerships and an understanding of what is important to their consumers.In this episode, you'll learn:The importance of empathy-based leadership and psychological safetyWhat Gen Z cares about and how Nespresso is shifting to meet their needsAs an at-home solution, how can Nespresso tap into community connections?Key Highlights: [02:00] One degree from George Clooney[03:30] Started in social, now she's here.[06:30] Leadership based on empathy[09:30] For Gen Z, it's all about the iced coffee and social impact.[12:30] The insights around their customer base driving product innovation[15:45] Community connections as an at-home solution[18:05] Working with the Ali Forney Center[21:45] A big move at a young age changed everything.[24:20] “Every ‘yes' is a ‘no' to something else.”[25:20] The importance of data analytics and visualization[28:30] What are the gamers all about?[30:55] The threat of fragmentation in marketingLooking for more?Visit our website for links to resources mentioned in this episode and ways to connect with the guest! Become a member today and listen ad-free, visit https://plus.acast.com/s/marketingtoday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Knock knock - who's there? - season - season who? - no, season two finale!   Season two has been quite the journey! From learning about migratory butterbutts, to vibin' out to the chill beats of Stressers, every episode has been a fantastic conversation with knowledgeable guests, but at times they got a little heavy. Talking about hard sciences and social issues can be equal parts rewarding and draining. Because of that, sending  off season two is a fun-filled light hearted episode full of jokes and stories! Fan-favorite guest Kayta joins Will for a goofy conversation about the adorable downy woodpecker! Downy woodpeckers are friendly, fascinating common birds. Where do they live? What do they eat? How do you identify them when they look so similar to other species? Kayta and Will address all of this and more between some pretty silly bird jokes. Some of the jokes shared in this episode were sent in from WBB Instagram followers! Their handles are: @birds_of_bean@missus.blunt@danature.pnw@birder_ksThe Story of the Maple Tree Be sure to check out the Will's Birdbrain Instagram account for complementary episode photos and videos, plus many other awesome bird photos/stories! --> Will's Birdbrain Instagram Page Will's Birdbrain Shop

the Heroes are poking around learning more and getting away to talk to one of the contacts they have may here.

Life can bring times when we feel completely abandoned, but we have a place of feathers that can hold us secure, so we enter that place of being loved, held, and known. I'm not sure why, but for many years the final words of my day as my head rests on my pillow are these. ‘Spirit Come.' My mind often pendulum swings between places of depression and its twin sister anxiety. Entering the new day by going to sleep, I think the little child within me wants to be held warmly and affectionately by love. So I murmur the words ‘Spirit come.' I pray for Spirit (Holy) to float and feather around my small human self. It's a gentleness and peacefulness that I need to rest in and find security. It's a place of feathers. Downy feathers, all soft, warm, and fluffy. Pinion feathers, the ones used for flight, strong and enfolding. I sleep within those feathers. Then I peek out from under those feathers as I face the day and all it brings. Do you live in a place of feathers?   A place of feathers How do we describe God? The Bible describes God as being like a place of feathers. How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. Psalm 36:7 Psalm 57:1 Psalm 63:7 Psalm 91:4 Matthew and Luke record Jesus expressing his protecting and nurturing love to us like a mother hen and his frustration at the independent streak we all have to try and go it alone. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! Matthew 23:37 Luke 13:34 Then there is a love-filled Boaz expressing his heart welcome to Ruth, a Moabite, and her desire to live under the shadow of Yahweh's wings. The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge! Ruth 2:12 Warmth and strength There are three things I believe our soul needs to hear. I am held I am loved I am known Three messages for our soul to secure itself in. Looking at the feathers of a bird, we see beauty and strength. The pinions are strong but light, enabling the bird to fly, but they can also be tucked in to surround the body. Then there are those fluffy inner feathers that provide warmth and insulation to the bird's body. Downy and fluffy, soft compared to the strong flying and protecting wings. I am invited to snuggle in between the two. Held, loved, known. Held Yes, I am held close and protected from the harsh world outside. I can push my way out whenever I want, but I always know where home is. I know where I am held. Known Inside and out, I am known. My uniqueness is cherished. There is no rejection or abandonment. Loved Loved for all that I am and all that I am not. No ambivalence to my presence; instead delight in the eyes of the other to see you—a spark to see who you will become. A desire to never let go of your presence.  A place of feathers Can you provide a place of feathers for someone else? There is a time and place for being the one who can demonstrate these God qualities of being Held, Known, and Loved to someone else. I have been reading Soul Therapy by Thomas Moore, and I read these words last night before going to sleep in a feathery place. My main rule is to love my client's soul. That is not romantic love, because it's not so personal. You see the seeds of what this person could be. You glimpse the tragic events she had to go through, and you feel with her. You sense the promise and the possibilities. Your love of her soul is so intense, the very fulfillment of your vocation, that other kinds of love-romance, sexuality, personal intimacy-do not get in the way. The love of soul is too big and powerful. Thomas Moore – Soul Therapy That's the place I want to know myself and offer to others. Email me  Quotes to consider Learn to get in touch with silence within yourself and know that everything in this life has a purpose. There are no mistakes, no coincidences; all events are blessings given to us to learn from. There is no need to go to India or anywhere else to find peace. You will find that deep place of silence right in your room, your garden, or even your bathtub. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross The greatest favorites of destiny make mistakes. Our joys are composed of shadow. The supreme smile is God's alone. Victor Hugo  Les Misérables  The opposite of love is not hate , it's indifference. Elie Wiesel Where there is great love there is always miracles. Willa Cather Questions to answer What would happen in you if you were to know the fulness of being held, known and loved? How does seeing God as a place of feathers inspires further trust? Jesus said, ‘How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!'What does this say to you about God's allowance of free will? Further reading Barry Pearman Read this further here FOLLOW ME! Email me: barry@turningthepage.co.nz Website: https://turningthepage.co.nz/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/turningthepage1atatime Twitter: https://twitter.com/barrypearman Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barry_pearman/ Podcast https://turningthepage.co.nz/podcast-listen-mental-health/ Support Turning the Page with a Donation https://turningthepage.co.nz/give/ Read this further here  

While ubiquitous in Europe, the Nespresso brand has worked hard to make inroads in the U.S. market. How does the direct-to-consumer coffee company view the modern consumer, and how does it plan to continue its growth in the years to come? Nespresso vice president of marketing Jessica Padula joined The Food Institute Podcast to discuss the company's history, its unique place in the coffee vertical, how it views loyalty, and how omnichannel offerings are key to its success. More About Jessica Padula: Jessica joined Nespresso USA in 2016 as Manager, Social Media. When she joined, she brought a unique combination of luxury, CPG, and food & beverage experience, having worked on brands such as Swarovski, Horizon Organic, Pantene, COVERGIRL, and Downy. During her tenure at Nespresso, Jessica led a variety of meaningful brand moments and campaigns, including the launch of Cafecito de Cuba, the George Clooney Puerto Rico recovery campaign, and the U.S. Vertuo “What Coffee is Meant to Be” strategy. In 2018, Jessica was promoted to the role of Director of Brand Communication overseeing Integrated Marketing, Paid Media, PR & Corporate Communications, Experiential Marketing, Social & Influencer Marketing. In this role, Jessica helped connect the global Nespresso brand strategy with our local US insights and consumer needs, specifically steering the localization of our brand purpose through the launch of Festive for Good and The Things We Hold platform. She has long been a champion of creative efficiency, implementing tools such as the Opal CMS, the Comms Hub, and the US Content Suite in 2021. Jessica has a proven track record of delivering results-oriented marketing and communications plans that build lasting, emotional bonds with consumers. More About Nespresso: Nestlé Nespresso SA is the pioneer and reference for highest-quality portioned coffee. The company works with more than 140,000 farmers in 18 countries through its AAA Sustainable Quality™ Program to embed sustainability practices on farms and the surrounding landscapes. Launched in 2003 in collaboration with the NGO Rainforest Alliance, the program helps to improve the yield and quality of harvests, ensuring a sustainable supply of high-quality coffee and improving livelihoods of farmers and their communities. In 2022, Nespresso achieved B Corp™ certification - joining an international movement of 6,500 purpose-led businesses that meet B Corp's high standards of social and environmental responsibility and transparency. Headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nespresso operates in 74 countries and has over 13'000 employees. In 2022, it operated a global retail network of 791 boutiques. For more information, visit the Nespresso corporate website: http://www.nestle-nespresso.com. View Nespresso's New Vertuo Line of Coffee Machines: https://www.nespresso.com/us/en/vertuo-coffee-machines Learn More About Nespresso's Mental Health Partnership: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nespresso-partners-with-project-healthy-minds-to-help-destigmatize-mental-health-and-encourage-expanded-access-to-care-301812566.html

Learn about a native predator of the European Wood Borer. Picture of a Downy Woodpecker

“When you unlock an insight with curiosity, the power to drive limitless growth is huge. We as leaders can make a big difference with the questions we ask.”  Shailesh Jejurikar is P&G's Chief Operating Officer, where he has profit/loss responsibility for P&G's Enterprise Markets - Latin America, India, Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe - and leads Information Technology, Global Business Services, Sales, Market Operations, Purchasing, Manufacturing, Distribution and New Business for the company. Previously, Shailesh was the Chief Executive Officer of  P&G'S largest business sector, Fabric & Home Care, which includes many of P&G's most-iconic brands: Tide, Ariel, Downy, Gain, Febreze, Swiffer—and represents about one-third of total company sales and net earnings. From 2016 to 2021, Shailesh served as executive sponsor for global sustainability, enabling P&G's “force for growth and a force for good” vision and ensuring the company's sustainability goals are fully integrated into the day-to-day business to enable—and to inspire—positive impact on the environment and society while creating value for the company, consumers and shareholders. Shailesh's extensive P&G career has spanned 30+ years - across multiple businesses (Health & Beauty Care, Home Care, Fabric Care and P&G Professional) in both developed and developing regions - including North America, Europe, Asia and Africa) - getting his start in his home country in India. Shailesh is known for his unique ability to identify growth possibilities, having consistently delivered strong business results in every market and on every business. You'll enjoy this candid conversation on curiosity, seeing around corners, and learning to learn.

Welcome to the daily304 – your window into Wonderful, Almost Heaven, West Virginia.   Today is Monday, March 13  Procter & Gamble manufacturing company thrives in Berkeley County…find a great spot for stargazing in Almost Heaven…and Marshall President Brad Smith shares what brought him home and how he hopes to give back to the community…on today's daily304. #1 – From BERKELEY CO DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY – Procter & Gamble is a Cincinnati-based manufacturing company that opened its doors in Berkeley County in September 2015. The facility hosts household brands like Pampers, Downy, Bounty, and many more.  P & G is dedicated to making peoples' lives better in small, meaningful ways. Their care for people derives from the standard of consideration they have for their employees. “This is the first place I have ever worked where I feel like I actually have a voice. You're respected here. The diversity here is awesome, it is a very inclusive environment,” says Brooke, a dedicated employee.  The benefits of having P & G in Berkeley County are two-fold. P & G creates jobs for the local workers and the company can recruit and retain qualified talent while also receiving the added benefits that the location and community have to offer.  Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpQg1rVR2Ic   #2 – From WOWK-TV – West Virginia is full of exceptional beauty with its mountains, rivers, and greenery, and if you look up at the nighttime sky, it is just as beautiful. There are several places across the Mountain State that provide wonderful views of the stars, the moon, the Milky Way and more. If you are an astronomy lover or you are just looking for a nighttime adventure, check out some great viewing places, including Watoga State Park, Calhoun County Park, Camp Virgil Tate and Green Bank Observatory. You can even try nighttime ziplining in the New River Gorge! Read more: https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/places-to-go-stargazing-in-west-virginia/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=socialflow&fbclid=IwAR0zxCY9y2alMwY-HO99jcpqxMTNvS12luestPEgC0wF7RaFhca0ml6Irus   #3 – From WV EXECUTIVE – For Brad Smith, home is where the heart is, and his heart has always been among the hills of Appalachia. Smith grew up in the small town of Kenova and was raised on southern hospitality, a humble attitude and a deeply rooted sense of honesty that he says is unique to the Appalachian people. “I had an idyllic childhood—two wonderful parents and two brothers—and I've had friends that have lasted a lifetime. I couldn't have wished for a better upbringing,” he says. “Integrity is a true West Virginia trait. We still do business on a handshake, and we mean what we say.” With a bachelor's degree in business administration from Marshall University and a master's in management from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI, Smith began working for global technology platform Intuit in 2003. Quickly working his way up the corporate ladder through his home-grown integrity and keen communication skills, Smith was named CEO of the company in 2008, where he served in this position for an entire decade. While Smith accrued great success in Silicon Valley, his heart never left West Virginia, and today he serves as the 38th president of his alma mater, Marshall University.  Among his accomplishments, Smith, along with his wife, Alys, co-founded the Wing 2 Wing Foundation, an initiative that launched in 2021 with the goal of cultivating the abundance of untouched and unrecognized potential that resides in the Mountain State.  Read more: https://wvexecutive.com/accelerating-education/ Find these stories and more at wv.gov/daily304. The daily304 curated news and information is brought to you by the West Virginia Department of Commerce: Sharing the wealth, beauty and opportunity in West Virginia with the world. Follow the daily304 on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @daily304. Or find us online at wv.gov and just click the daily304 logo.  That's all for now. Take care. Be safe. Get outside and enjoy all the opportunity West Virginia has to offer.

Jimmy's latest project a memoir, called Behind – Autobiography of a Musical Shapeshifter, is available worldwide at all major booksellers. Snag a copy here: https://amzn.to/3wzfAs7   Jimmy Ryan is a composer, producer, arranger, and author.  His career has spanned sixty-three years and is still going strong, having recently performed at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, 2022 Induction Ceremony with triple Grammy winner, Olivia Rodrigo to inaugurate his long-time friend and former bandmate, Carly Simon.    His college band, The Critters had their first top forty hit, “Younger Girl” and landed three charting albums and two more top forty hits, “Mr. Dieingly Sad” and “Don't Let The Rain Fall Down on Me.”   Jimmy played on Carly Simons' Anticipation album, and went on to work on most of Carly's future albums and continues to work with her to this day. He was the guitar soloist on almost all of Carly's hits, the most memorable being “You're So Vain,” and the Academy Award-winning song of the year from the movie, Working Girl, “Let The River Run.”  On Carly Simon sessions, he has recorded/collaborated with major artists including Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Luther Vandross, James Taylor and many more, earning him seven RIAA Certified Platinum Records/CDs.   Jimmy has recorded with numerous artists including Cat Stevens, John Entwistle of the Who, Elton John & Kiki Dee, Tommy James, Jimmy Webb, The Doors, Andy Williams, Martha Reeves, and Rod Stewart.  Jimmy played guitar on Andy Williams' #1hit “Solitaire”.    Jimmy created the theme for NBC News that ran nationwide from 2003 to 2009 on many local NBC stations. In 2005, he wrote the themes and background music for all of the CNBC financial shows that aired on six continents worldwide, many of which are still running to this day.  Jimmy also scored the nationwide launch campaign for MSNBC. In 2020, Jimmy composed the music for The News With Shepard Smith on CNBC.   Jimmy has also written music for The Discovery Channel, Lifetime, USA Network, and PBS scoring the Nova movie of the year, The Pluto Files – with Neil deGrasse Tyson. In collaboration with the History Channel, he composed music for major exhibitions at the Smithsonian Institution. Jimmy has also composed, arranged, and produced music for over 500 radio and TV commercials for clients including Doritos, McDonald's, IBM, Ford, Nikon, Pizza Hut, Budweiser, Chevy, Mennen, Palmolive, Hess, Hasbro, Downy, Clearasil, Arby's, Coke, Diet Coke, Modells and more.   Jimmy's latest project a memoir, called Behind – Autobiography of a Musical Shapeshifter, is available worldwide at all major booksellers. Snag a copy here: https://amzn.to/3wzfAs7

After getting the whole gang back together, a new team is formed to take a trip back into the mountain and investigate the strange door once more. Corduroy keeps fingering, Martha spins the ball, and Pickle translates, this week on The Rolled Standard. Check out our various socials and whatnot at: https://linktr.ee/therolledstandard  We have a Patreon. Check it out here: https://www.patreon.com/therolledstandard The Rolled Standard is: Levi Brusacoram as Martha Bryophyta & Marcus DeMarcus III @LeviBoozy Jake Vaughn as Corduroy Beanwater & Itsam Bison @vaughnhaus Nate Seibert as Pickle Debusey & Noice Poison @TheRolledNate And Christopher Heinrich as the Judge @7CannibalChris7 Radiation Damage was written by Christopher Heinrich, Levi Brusacoram, Jake Vaughn, and Nate Seibert. Episode edited by Jake Vaughn and Nate Seibert. Cover art by Cannibal Chris Theme music: Delusions of Grandeur by Cosmophobe --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/therolledstandard/support

These Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers appear nearly identical, but the Hairy Woodpecker is larger than the Downy, with a distinctly longer bill. And it doesn't have the black spots on its outer tail feathers like the Downy. But even if you can't observe these spunky birds, you can identify them by listening carefully. The call of the Downy Woodpecker is soft and downy, like a duvet. The call of the Hairy Woodpecker is loud and hairy, like a heavy metal band!More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: What it's like to dissect a cadaver, published by OldManNick on November 10, 2022 on LessWrong. Why I never thought I was a bio person. But then I overheard Viv talking about MAOIs at a party. I asked her: > - What are MAOIs? > - monoamine oxidase inhibitor > - What does that mean? > - It prevents reuptake of neurotransmitters. > - But what is a neurotransmitter? What does reuptake actually mean? > - ... > - So life uses chiral properties of space to implement things... Viv had the most important trait of a teacher: patience. I asked the most naive questions and they answered them. They walked with me, all the way down to the very beginning, rebuilding my understanding. It was amazing. I wanted to know more. Roadblock: finding lifeforms to study. I wondered if non-medical students could watch dissections. You can't get more information about an object than by directly interacting with it. The concrete world contains the abstract one. I even asked my doctor at a physical if she knew of any, and she said to look at community colleges. After some searching, I found this: Bio 848NV. Forget viewing the dissection, you're doing the dissection. 5 hour dissection for $60, free if you just watch. The only bureaucratic hangup is that you must pay by check. This is why I love the Bay Area: there's stuff like this and you can just do it. yes it's weird no they can't stop you. The boundary between scientist and serial killer is paper thin sometimes. Takeaways I've done this a few times now. Turns out that there's way way way too much information to understand it all in one 5 hour session. Each time, we pick out areas and focus on them. Seeing how everything fits together ‒and how big it is‒ makes understanding at different scales much easier. There's a common template to life. Seeing it in you hits different. Brain has interesting connections to fractals and graph theory. Maybe pan-psychism isn't totally wrong. What & how & why I tell my friend Leah and she says “This is the most appealing activity that I've ever seen you do”. Dunno whom that says more about. We arrive and there are 5 people around 3 cadavers. We get aprons and lab coats and start syringing what's mostly Downy fabric softener with a syringe. It prevents decay and smells sickly sweet. Corpses can last a long time. One of the corpses had been dead for 5 years. Many random observations There's a crazy amount of connective tissue, and it makes a creepy wireframe surrounding your skeleton. Even the space between the folds of the brain has it. If you exercise, we'll know. Their insides just look different. “It's who you are inside that matters” is a much creepier sentence now. Veins, arteries, and nerves all travel together, wound around each other by a bunch of connective tissue. Mnemonic: VAN. Cancer can turn your guts and lungs green, and it's this horrible bright moldy green. Metastasized tissue is hard but ultimately crumbly like overcooked chicken liver. The stomach and intestines have textures reminiscent of damp cardboard, but they're dry to the touch. I finally saw a lymph node. The body has a lot of drainage into the lymphatic system. There's a bunch of tiny nerves and you can't feasibly preserve all. The etymology of the word patience is “capacity for suffering”. This is apt. You can't rush the process, and believe me, it is a process. Exposing the VANs requires reflecting away the skin, and this takes a long time and much more physical effort than you'd think. You're basically scraping it off, and the best tool overall is your hands. Skin in particular is much tougher than it looks, and I ended up locking a pair of forceps against a shoulder and just leaning back to pull it taut. Speaking of the shoulder, I spent 2 hours working up through one. There are a lot of fiddly bits. I knew, but didn't understand, ...

In this episode, you will hear about my messy journey to writing my nonfiction book. You will also catch two other stories that could only be told by moms. I really do believe that mommying while writing a book presents a certain special kind of messiness. This is also why in this episode, I go on to invite you to an online mom writers' community that I'd love to lead. If writing is lonely....motherhood is lonely....then this need for us to be around one another just feels so blistering hot and necessary. Are you interested in learning more? Catch me on Instagram @melissallarena send me a DM with the word STORY if you are a mom who is writing nonfiction and would love access to a community of other crazy moms who for some wild reason or another have decided to write about true happenings precisely when their lives might be feeling like truly epic messes. Not on Insta? Then email me melissa[@]melissallarena.com What follows is the transcript...pardon the AI Moms, I want to really just share with you why it's different when a mom decides to write a nonfiction book. And I would even say that even if you're writing a fiction book, the same rules are going to apply. And the reason why I think it's so important to focus on mom authors is that I just don't think the same happens when you don't have kids and you're looking to write a book. I really think there are nuances that make a big difference pertaining to whether you actually get to the finish line. Here's where I'm coming from. I would say that as someone who is writing a nonfiction book right now, I'm a mom to three little boys. When I first launched my business, which is totally separate and distinct from this book that I'm looking to write and I'm currently writing, this was about 11 years ago. I decided to launch a career coaching practice in 2011. That happens to be when I became a mom. My first son was six months old and the thought of not having something other than being a mom as it had been portrayed to me by my own mom. What I noticed was important by way of TV moms. Like for me that thought of only looking at my child and being with them 24 seven and not using some other skills and talents. It just felt really hard and it might feel that way to you too. So when I decided to write my own nonfiction book, this happened about, well, specifically on May 18, 2021. By that point, I had already gained an appreciation for what it was like to have an online business, a career coaching practice. I had gained an appreciation for just all of the hurdles and challenges that come with navigating the online space, whether it's being able to publish every single day on social media or it's having the energy and wherewithal to get on all of those prospecting calls. And I thought I knew better. I thought that writing a book, especially if I had put a bit of a pause on my career coaching practice, I thought that writing a book would somehow be able to not fly out of me like when you give birth. If this was your experience from a natural, quote unquote perspective, if that was your experience, it was mine. I know it's not the same for everyone, but I just thought that I could somehow use the same sort of discipline skills, the same sort of courage, the same sort of creativity. But boy, was I wrong. I mean, I sit here telling you this from the perspective of a mom who decided to begin writing her nonfiction book during the pandemic when she and her family was abroad in Sydney, Australia. And I will say that the journey has felt extra long. I will also say that going through a global relocation made things that much more complicated, and writing a book is different. It just it just is. Because writing a book is almost like taking a piece of your heart and just putting it out there. For other people to consider, to evaluate and to judge. And sometimes it's a bit more vulnerable than going on social media and doing like a real on Instagram. For those of you who know what it's like to have an online business. And when I began my journey, it was I felt a brave choice. I was like, okay, I need to write a book that's going to help you moms really, like, lift yourself up. Like, I want the moms around me to really stop doubting themselves. I want the moms around me to figure out what lights you up today because it's different from what may have lit you up a decade ago or maybe even before becoming a mom. And I want to help you imagine yourself really, really pulling yourself through and going for it. And so I began my journey and it was me being a bit naive, assuming that if I could have my own online business for 11 years during the course of motherhood, which was definitely tumultuous because I have three little boys, I thought somehow writing a book would be similar would be doable. But again, I just had no idea. So I wanted to share with you not just my story of why it might feel different if you're a mom that's looking to write a non-fiction book. But I wanted to just share some conversations I've had with mom authors. These are people who have already published their non-fiction books and people who have had wonderful literary careers. And I think through their stories as well, the ones that never actually were recorded but were spoken about after the podcast interviews, I think you'll gain an appreciation for why it's so important for you for me to actually be part of a community of like-minded moms who are looking to write these epic stories based on true details. So here are, well, two stories that really, really called my attention as it relates to two moms who decided to write nonfiction and were in the middle of mommy-ing. I've almost wanted to create a verb out of the title of Mother. So one story that was quite vivid and again, this is a podcast guest, and we were talking and you'll hear her story in the future, but she did not share this insight when we had been live recording. This was after the fact. So here's her story. And I'm not going to name names because I don't think it's as important as the big point. So here's a mom who was already in her career as a writer, someone who also worked in academia, someone who also decided to become a mom later on. So in her forties. And what I thought was really, really amazing was that in her case and again, you don't hear these things, but in her case she actually was committed to writing a book. And as does happen to a lot of us, she couldn't perfectly time having a baby and giving birth. So what ended up happening was that she had a book and she was almost ready to finish the book and she assumed that she would have had her baby by then and everything would have worked out perfectly. But as with all things motherhood, it did not net out that way. She had to deliver her baby and then go back home and finish final edits of her book. And what was interesting was that her situation was such that she had to make a decision like, was she going to have like a nighttime nurse, for example, who could then help her finish the final edits of her big book? And these are the things that just are not even on the minds of individuals who are not moms as they're writing books. What's interesting here from a nonfiction perspective is that there was a lot that needed to be just confirmed and a lot of facts that she had to organize and a lot of conversations that needed to happen with real people that made the whole matter more complex, especially when you have a child who is not looking at the time and saying, Oh, now is a convenient time to be hungry, or Oh, let me sleep through the night to that. Mom gets to finish editing her big, big book. So that's one story that for me, the point here was that this. This particular individual had her non-fiction life already going. There was momentum behind it. She had books out there. She was in academia, and essentially when she had her child, she had to then figure out how she was going to make good on her commitments and finish up the editing to this book that should have already been done, but it just didn't happen that way. And she had to make a decision to hire a nurse to help her fill in the gaps pertaining to taking care of her firstborn child. Again, this was an older mom. And it's really interesting because I can appreciate how for an older mom those early days would have been so ultra special. Really extra special. If you've been waiting for that moment, you know, for the last decade. And these are the tough choices that take place for a mom in particular, when you're writing a book, any book, nonfiction or fiction. And I want to be sure that this podcast does what is necessary, which is to bring visibility to the complexities of being an author, writing a story that has to be written during the course of a mom-filled life. And that's just one story. Like, that's the crazy part. If you look at any book, I mean, there's an author behind the scenes, unless it's like this, I don't know, well-known brand name who has like a team of individuals writing on his or her behalf. But for the most part, it's like an individual who was locked up in an office writing something and maybe banging their head on their laptop, trying to figure out how to clearly articulate a statement. And then if it's nonfiction, how to ensure that the facts are straight. So that's one idea. And the big point there is that if you decide to write a book or as you write the book, isn't it so important for you to figure out how you're going to keep making progress or fulfill your commitments, even if life gets a little bit sloppy and messy? Right. So definitely motherhood will give you a lot of sloppiness and a lot of messiness. Second story, there was another author that I interviewed. Again, it's like these stories really come out when we're not recording because I think that's when a lot of us like let our guard down. But here's the back story. So with this particular author, she was in a totally different sector. She had a very analytical job at one point, and then she decided to become a children's book author. And in her case, she decided to become a children's book author. And she also had given birth to a child and the child was premature. So what do you do in that case when all of a sudden your hopes and dreams, whatever they may have been, they're going to be set aside or paused? So for her, you know, having a preemie and definitely dedicating your waking hours and not sleeping, frankly, in order to be with your preemie is going to definitely change your timeline and have you adjust your aspirations as it relates to anything, let alone a children's book. Right on top of that, this preemie also had illnesses during the first six months of his or her life. And what was interesting is, again, it's like, okay, so you're putting your dream of becoming an author to the side. It's almost like on this shelf. And you're really hoping that once you're done, quote unquote, that you can go back to that shelf and continue wherever you left off. And I think the moral of the story there for this particular author is quite simple, which is it was actually kind of interesting. It happens that her daughter ended up reminding her of this dream. She once had to write a children's book like her daughter. I don't know if her daughter was like four or five, six or older, but ultimately she was the one that said, Hey, mom, didn't you want to write a children's book? And so it was really interesting how her child nudged her to get back on it. And so that's another unique part, right? So while this particular mom, you know, had to pause her ambitions and then she basically decided to go back at it, it was her child that gave her that little nudge. And so that's also unique when it comes to being a mom and writing any book, whether it's nonfiction or not. So those two stories, I think, are really important, and I think they're not being told right now. You just see a book and it's gorgeous and it's like nicely edited and the illustrations are gorgeous and you see a beautiful, like publishing house or not, self-publishing is also very legit and you just have no idea what goes on in order to put this together. And I think for moms in particular, it's an extra dose of persistence, right? And so where is that? Going to come from when all your kids are sick? Where is that going to come from when there's a global pandemic? Not to say that anything is happening again, I just want to say that that was totally unexpected and a really, really big seismic edit on my timeframe for my own nonfiction book. So there's so much that needs to be considered when you are constantly considering someone else, i.e. a child, because each child is almost like a variable. And for me it's like anything can happen as it relates to one individual. And once you start multiplying beyond one child, things get ever more complicated. So if you have in your heart, if you feel like you have a book inside of you, I think it's important for you to understand that as a mom, there will be hard choices that you have to make when you will have to decide for yourself. Okay, is there something that I can do in order to ensure that I make that commitment to myself actually happen or commitment to a publisher? Right. And obviously that makes it even more stressful. So that's one point. The second point is as it relates to having this desire to write a book like I mean, not to say that you should wait ten years until that baby can talk to you and say, Hey, mom, maybe you ought to write that book. However, there's this notion that if that book is meant to be written, and if you've spoken about it at any point, then chances are someone, maybe your own child, will nudge you and remind you to get back at it. So I think there's a huge value there because I think that our kids are like these tiny little spiritual beings that are there to remind us of the important things. And writing a book might be that for you. And then as it relates to me and my journey, I think what's important in light of what might be in your heart is that, oh my gosh, like you could plan like the best of them. You could say to yourself, Well, I will be writing every day 6 a.m., Monday through Friday, Saturday and Sundays, I will be writing at 9:00 PM. And that's theoretically a beautiful little calendar and nice for you to consider. But ultimately, as life happens and it will, especially if you're a mom, you will need to make adjustments and you will just need to figure out how to plug yourself into a community of like-minded people who get it. I mean, you don't want to have to explain why you decided to not write one day when your child had 102 fever. Like, who needs to explain that? Wouldn't it be nice to be part of a community where there's other moms who want to write a book and they've been through the shitstorm? They understand how complex and unpredictable motherhood is and can not necessarily support the fact that you've paused. But essentially they get it. They just get it right. They just get it. And that's why for me, having moved from Australia to Austin, Texas, it's been a really interesting journey for the most part. I've been writing in my kitchen. I will say right now, as I'm staring dead at a squirrel on a tree outside of my window, that writing in the kitchen is not the most like, aesthetically wonderful, exciting place to be. I have gotten way more energy from the podcast guests that I've spoken to who have appreciated just how up and Downy writing and being a mom is, and I want to offer that to you. You're listening to this conversation and you're hearing how for a lot of moms, writing a book is truly a journey of like more than resilience and persistence. It's just like badassery on a whole other level. And if you're writing a book that is going to reflect a real story, I think the stakes sometimes can be even higher. Because what if it's not even your story that you want to tell? Then it's like, not only do you owe it to yourself, but you owe it to that person whose story you want to share with the world. And I want to offer you an opportunity to join me. I would be so excited if you, having listened to this conversation, if you have a book in your heart and you want a community, I would love to hear you reach out to me and just let me know if this sounds right up your alley. So here's what I'm thinking. Call me crazy, but I really think that creating a group of moms and all of this would be done virtually where together, right? We would be encouraging one another to write these real these raw and inspiring stories, I think to get. There, we can better navigate and definitely in a healthier way, navigate the ups and downs of not just motherhood, but writing a book. There's so many moms that have beautiful stories, that have recipes, that have memoirs that they want to write, that have how to said they would love to put out there, who just can't figure out how to make it happen in light of the unpredictability and uncertainty that is motherhood. And I want us to get together. Here's what I'm thinking, and I definitely want to know what you think. So in this community of storyteller moms who will be forming an online community, this is what we'll do together. We will imagine we will design, we will plan and immersed in creative experiences that will become those epic stories. Why is that important? So as I've been writing my book, what I have found for me is that I need these little spurts of inspiration and whether it's been me going on these little like adventures in order to just feel excited or it's me taking up a brand new class and learning something like and it's legit fantasy map making when I've gone on those quote unquote artists dates. For those of you who are familiar with Julia Cameron, I've just felt so much more invigorated when I've then approached the writing of my own nonfiction book. And so the plan is that on this online community where there will be other moms who want to write nonfiction books, that together we would go on these little adventures. I would absolutely share with you some of the best adventures that have given me the most life. And together, we would also learn how to master the art of trusting ourselves. I don't know about you, but for me, as I write every sentence for my nonfiction book, I feel like it's an exercise in Can I trust myself enough that this is the right sentence? Can I trust myself enough that this paragraph can end here? Am I telling the story in the best light? So this art of trusting yourself is something that I can teach you. And I think we can also learn from one another in this online community for moms who are storytellers and want to write our book. I think the other thing that is going to be really urgent in light of what a mom needs to write a nonfiction book, I want you to learn how to reprioritize yourself. So if you notice in those stories that I shared with you along with mine, there was a lot that was going on behind the scenes. One mom, like I said, had to finish editing her book, so she had to hire a night nurse. One mom had to pause her book because she had a preemie that was very ill. In my case, I had to be okay with extending the timeline of writing my nonfiction book, which I'm still writing, by the way. I want you to know that. And so it's important for you to know how to actually prioritize your book, right, Even in light of all these changes and complexities. And that is something else that I can teach you. So mastering the art of trusting yourself, reprioritizing yourself so that you can live the kind of storied life that is going to pack bookshelves in all of the world's greatest libraries. That's what this online group of like minded moms is all about. I don't want you to feel alone, like I said, and as I've been feeling, writing a book is a lonely endeavor. I mean, unless you've figured out how to, like, co-write. And even in those scenarios, according to the moms that I've interviewed, it's still something that you do on your own and your co-author does on their own, and then you somehow share the Google documents, let's just say. So either way you slice it, it's a lonely endeavor and so is motherhood. So now let's think about this. If motherhood is lonely and writing a book is lonely, you need a community. I need a community. So I don't want to feel alone. I want us to collaborate. I want us to check in on our dreams. If you noticed these different moms that I whose stories I shared along with my own, they had to get back on it. And I think checking in on one another is a beautiful, beautiful thing. The other idea is this cheering each other on. It's so funny because just like 24 hours ago I became an aunt and I feel like cheering on a brand new mom is like a beautiful thing and something that goes unnoticed. Like, where do you hear about these stories about moms holding the hands of other moms, whether it's online? Or just like text messaging a new mom, literally as she's giving birth. And I think the same can be done when it comes to writing your own book. So in this online community, it's about checking in on our dreams and it's about cheering each other on. Just imagine virtual pompoms. So this forum, this online community is for moms who want to write a book. It will be online. What does that mean? It will be Zoom sessions. It'll be Facebook groups where you'll get to share the questions on your mind. How do I get my book cover made? Or right now, everybody in the house has a fever. How do I continue my writing rituals, things like that? I want the form to be for you, for us, for moms in particular, who want to write a non-fiction book. Why nonfiction? For me, it's just a personal preference. Like for me, it's like there's so much truth that is happening in the world, even like history. And personally, I just enjoyed nonfiction books and I have since the age of 12. So that's really why my penchant for nonfiction. So again, in this community, you're going to have weekly adventures that are going to help you get out of that mom mode. And what's important about that is I have found that when you are in the middle of writing a book, there are so many moments that you can be compelled to just like let the book go because it's so hard to do and slip into full on motherhood. We're talking about like sweeping the floor 1000 times because it's easier than putting pen to paper, right? And I want to be sure that I share with you my adventures that helped me break out of that and kept me focused on writing my book. I also want to share with you in this online community prompts. Now, there's a lot of people who have writing prompts. They have not worked very well for me very specifically. But what has worked for me and what I have noticed in relation to nonfiction books, the best ones, is that the author is very vulnerable. And I think having reflection prompts would be really helpful to any mom who feels stuck, who's looking at a blank page and doesn't know how to move forward. So I will provide you in this online group for moms writing nonfiction reflection prompts so that this way you get the story ideas and you get the profound lessons. And whether you apply it to your actual nonfiction book is up to you. But I think it just wakes up that muscle that needs to be awakened when you're writing a book that needs to resonate with its reader and ideally inspire them into action. Here's the other part in terms of this online community that I'm sharing and why it's so important for moms. So we have questions. A lot of moms, we have questions, and there are so many hiccups in life. There are so many setbacks that wouldn't it be amazing to be able to ask fellow moms who are along different parts of this non-fiction book writing journey, kind of like how they managed, right? Like, how did you manage when you got like all those rejections to your query letters from these agents? Like how did you manage to actually, like, save that nonfiction book that you thought of back in? I'm making this up 1997, and only today, 2022, you're able to like bring out into the world. So these Q&A was like, why second guess yourself? Self doubt yourself, ask yourself questions when it's all new to you, right? Why not, like have a form, a group of moms who have been there before and just tell you real, real, real advice. So I want to really provide an online community for moms who are writing nonfiction books that you can feel comfortable enough to ask your questions. And it could be questions like, let's just imagine you had a C-section and you still want to write your nonfiction book and you're an extraordinary pain. Wouldn't it be amazing if you can ask another mom who had a C-section how she was able to break through those feelings and ultimately put pen to paper? Moms do extraordinary things. So even though that might sound extreme, a mom after a C-section wanting to, like, finish her book, like, I know there's a bunch of moms who have done it, so I'm not even going to question myself with that example I just shared right now. Here's the other thing. Energy. Let's talk about energy now. I could write a whole podcast on energy, and that's part of why this podcast is really focused on wellness. For moms who want to write nonfiction, you need energy to do anything. And as a human being, your energy one day might be fantastic and another day it might be absolutely underneath. The ground. And as a mom, like, I feel like we're just like it's more volatile for us, I think. And I think it's important to be around women who are moms who are writing nonfiction, who need energy to produce the greatest stories of their life. You need energy. So how do you create it? How do you really make sure that you're not you don't have energy leaks, as I call them in my book. I want to share with you my wisdom and my insights and my tips and tricks around that point, because I think it's urgent. I think it's so important if you're a mom who wants to create a book, who wants to write a book. I mean, this is something that can be perceived by the outside world as quote unquote, extra, Right? And if you don't have energy, you will only be doing the bare minimum of life. So if you want to create a book, write a book. You will need to somehow master the art of making your own energy. And that's also why I shared that idea about those mini adventures. So here's the next step. I want to be very, very clear right now. This is a call I am on a mission to bring together storyteller moms who want to write a book, a nonfiction book. This could be a memoir. This could be a historical sort of like evaluation of what happened. This could be recipe book. This could be a how to book. You might be an amazing instagrammer with all these insights around a topic. And you want to write a book. I want to bring you into this forum, this online community, where together you and I, because I'm on my own journey to will imagine design plan and immerse ourselves in and creative experiences that are going to contribute to these epic stories that you're writing. I want to teach you how to master the art of trusting yourself. I want to teach you how to reprioritize yourself so that this way you have an incredible, incredible story to tell and you get it done irrespective of what happens to you. As a mom, I do not want you to feel alone. I want you to have someone with whom to collaborate. I want you to feel like you have someone checking in on you just like you check in on your kids. I want you to feel like you to have someone looking out for you. And I want you a mom, which you tend to be the cheerleader pertaining to everyone else's dreams. I want you to feel like you have cheerleaders on your side calling out your name to get it done. So this forum is going to be online and it's going to provide members with weekly adventures, like I said, that are going to remind you that you are more than a mom. This form is going to include prompts that are going to help you access those vulnerable stories that you might want to share or just keep your message raw and real. So I want to be sure that you have something to inspire you to gather the profound lessons that you've accumulated throughout your life and that you might want to share in your book. This form is going to make available an opportunity for you to ask questions. So Q&A to overcome, like the real mom or nonfiction writer, hiccups and setbacks that do happen along the way. And this form is going to help you learn how to create your own energy, because without it, nothing is going to be written and dinner is not going to be on the table either. So unless you figured out how to navigate the art of dinner making with a partner, I want to just invite you because I'm really excited about this. Like as I'm writing my nonfiction book, these past few days have been pretty crazy. My children have been ill, they've had fevers. It's been one of those weeks and I am really praying that I don't get anything. And it's been one of those weeks where I've wanted a community of like minded women. I would love to know that right now I could sit here in my kitchen, go online, and I could find other moms who are writing nonfiction, who are going through the same thing that I'm going through. I would love to have an adventure to look forward to this weekend, for example, that I know that I could explore and try. And that is going to give me energy and enthusiasm that I need in order to get my seat or my bum in a seat and writing. So I want this like I would want this online community. I would want moms that are in the same trenches as I am who are also writing a nonfiction book. I want us to be together. You don't have to be lonely. I feel like at this point, if we're really honest with ourselves, loneliness is a choice. We are not in a lockdown right now. Right now, it's really a matter of figuring out how you're going to find your tribe. Who do you want to be around? Who? Who inspires you? Who motivates you? What scenarios make you feel like you've got a lot more to give? And immersing yourselves into those scenarios is the way to go. And so I want to create that online community. And right now, right this very moment, that online community, is something that I'm starting. So right now, this is going to be complimentary. I want to know if you're interested in joining me in this online forum. So here's how to reach out Super simply on Instagram. Just go to Melissa Lorena go to at Melissa lx a r, e and a, and all you have to do is type the word story. That's it. Type the word story in direct message on Instagram and let me know that you would want to be part of this community, this online forum where you will be together with other storyteller moms who want to write their own nonfiction books. And you want to feel inspired, motivated, you want your questions answered, and you want to learn how to trust yourself, gather your own energy and prioritize yourself. Let me know you're interested. Just type in the word story in DM on Instagram at Melissa. Lorena Now, as with all episodes I write in the story section or I write the show notes and you can see in the show notes how to spell my first and last name and reach out to me. If you are not on Instagram, there's a lot of writers that are on Twitter. And so I also want to invite you not so much to find me on Twitter because I want to change my handle name to be a lot more clear in terms of what it is that I do. But email me, just email me Melissa at Melissa Sina.com. Again, this will be in the show notes. Thank you so much. And as always, I truly appreciate you. So ultimately this is a call to action for you, my beautiful mom listener. If you have a book inside of you and you want to write it, I am inviting you very specifically. Yeah. You don't look over your shoulder. No, I'm actually talking to you to actually be part of this community. I want to know if you're interested. If you would be excited, send me a DM on Instagram. Just write the word story. Let me know that you want to be part of a group of like minded moms who want to write a non-fiction book, and then we will take it from there because this is something that I need in order to finish my nonfiction book. And it's also something that I know that a lot of moms out there would really appreciate because I think our journey is unique. I really, really do. Writing a book a lot of people refer to as like a book baby. But when you already have a bunch of babies or one baby, it just feels like a really big endeavor, like way bigger than anyone could even explain without doing it. So this is my invitation to you. Reach out to me. If this is something that is interesting, just type in the word STORY. I would love, love, love, love, love to have a conversation with you and just see what else you might need because I want to be sure that I can bring together other moms who are in the same exact boat. Thank you so much. And until next Tuesday, there will be a beautiful interview available for you with an author. And I want to be sure that you are getting insights from other voices as well. So look forward to that interview-focused episode next week on Tuesday. Thank you so much. And make sure to have subscribed officially to Unimaginable Wellness, the podcast for moms writing nonfiction. Thank you so much.

Allen: All right, everybody, welcome passive traders. I have one of my good friends with me today, Denny is going to be here. He's going to be talking about trading life in general, and everything that he's learned along the way. Denny, you know, we've, you've been in our programs for a little bit now we've seen your success. And I'm, we're friends on Facebook. So I see you with your posts from Hawaii, sitting on a beach house and all that and we're on the coaching calls, you're always you know, you're always making me jealous. You're always like, "well, I'm going to Hawaii next week, or I'm going on vacation. I'm going golfing". I'm like, Come on, man. So I'm glad that we finally got to talk, you know, thank you for thank you for taking the time to be out here and talk with us. And I can't wait to learn from you. Denny: Okay. Well, the way I you know, the way I originally got hooked up with you is I saw one of your marketing deals on the internet. And I thought, you know, well, you know, let's give this a look. And so I talked with Cory and and I said to her, hey, look, you know, I've got I said, I'd like an honest answer that if I come in and buy the program and everything, and I've got $10,000. Is it possible for me to make $2,000 a month on the $10,000? And she said, Well, we've got people doing it. She was very honest. You know, and then so so I got in on the oil deal. One. I think it's blank check trading is that was the oil is. And boy, I learned a whole lot. The first year, I was just sailing along making money hand over fist. And that was when oil was not very volatile. And it was just making, you know, moving sideways, which is perfect for if you want to trade oil futures, you know, it's perfect. Allen: Yeah. Yeah. All markets are our friend.  Denny: And, and then all of a sudden, oil shot up. And I think it was November two years ago might have been three. Now I know I've been doing it quite a while. All of a sudden, I went in. And I looked and the market had dropped. And I and I was in a position where I was going to end up getting a margin call. So I liquidated my position was $4,700 that day, and I'll be damned the next day, boom, it pops right back up. And that was the day after Thanksgiving. And then on the next call, you talked about the Friday after Thanksgiving is not a very high volume deal. And so one big guy in there can make the market he can make it drop, you can make it rise, and I fell prey to that because I didn't know but you know, you can learn from your mistakes. And I made made plenty of them. But now I make money every month. Allen: That 4700, did that wipe you out? Denny: Out? No, no, I had 10 Okay. Okay, so I started all back over. And it took me it took me damn near a year to get it to get it back. And in the meantime, you had your program on stocks. Okay, so I signed up for that. And I fooled around with the stocks for a while and I went back to oil because to me, it's a little more passive where I can put a trade on and I will look at it once a week you know, and I feel comfortable with it. But then what happened is we got get them the next chapter Benny Alan COVID here. And my advertising agency that I own I do direct mail advertising for automotive industry. And I don't know if you've been reading but the car dealers don't have any new cars. Allen: Yeah, they don't need advertising. Denny: So, I my business the first year of COVID was down 2,000,400 and some $1,000 Right now, the second year is about 2.8 million and now we're into the third year of the car shortage and so far this year I'm down $1,976,000 From where my normal years would be so I went from a mid six figure income guaranteed down I collected my Social Security check with my wife, okay. And so I go okay, let's start fooling around with your knowledge with oil and with stock options and get yourself a little income so I took $25,000 out of our savings account and put it into my tasty works account and I make on an average trading two ETFs and oil and I just started doing spreads on weekly options in oil and that I've been doing okay on it but you got to watch that a little quicker because you'll, you can get caught up in a margin call on everything pretty quick on that. But since I have no other job, okay, I can watch it. You know, I just make sure that that when I go to the golf course on my daily trip I've got my phone with me. And I can hop in on the tasty works phone app and protect myself if I need to. But what I learned most from you was paid.. Allen: So how are you doing there? So you're like, Okay, so you Alright, so I'm following the story. Right? So you were you were learning like, you've been in our program, I think two years. So three, three, okay, three. So you learn how to do the oil you were doing great. And then you had one bad day where it crashed and you basically went back to zero and you had to start over? Right so that at least you didn't lose it you had you know you get back your gains then you know COVID hit so you had to basically all hands on deck for the business trying to figure that out. Now you're at the point where like, okay, you know what, I got this stuff that I know how to do let me see if I can make some money on the side. So you've been trading oil you've been doing you said you doing 2 ETFs. So what are you doing on? Yeah, what type I do? I do SPX and (inaudible). So what strategy are you doing on those? Okay, well, Denny: Let's go back to my educational background. Okay. Okay. I have a master's degree in Environmental Engineering. My master's thesis was the statistical modeling of dam failures due to excess runoff. Okay, so I'm a numbers guy, a numbers game, I understand standard deviations, regression lines, Bayesian coordinates, you know, all of this fancy mathematics that all of these indicators that when they write them, you know, I know how they get there. So I started looking at the stuff and I started looking for patterns, because standard deviation and stuff like that is nothing other than patterns, okay, that create a probability statement of the same thing occurring, okay. So, I started looking and I found the correlation between the VIX that, you know, on the CMOE, right, the VIX, right? And what happens with it? And so, I take the VIX and say it was it traded at 2588 and open this morning at 2588. I can't I can't remember exactly what it is. I go in, and I divide the VIX by 16. Now, why do I divide by 16? Allen: I have no idea. Denny: There are 256 trading days in the market. Right? The square root of 256 is 16. Okay. So I take the 68 divided by 16. And that gives me a percentage that's 87% accurate as to the upward or downward movement of SPX or rut on a daily basis. From what it opens that not what it closed that yesterday. But when the opening bell dings like, this morning, yesterday, right? Close to 1806. Okay. But this morning, when the bell rang, it was 1843 just for a short period of time until the CPI stuff caught up in the rear end dropped out of it. Okay, right. But so what I do is I go in and take what it opens at, and take the percentage and what it opens at, say it's one point it was 1.61 today, so you take 1.61% of the opening bell, and you subtract that from what it opened that and you add it to what it opened that and you gives you a high and a low rate. Okay? Allen: Say that again, do make doing so. Okay. The VIX divided by 16. Okay, then what do you do that? Denny: Okay, you multiply that the 1.61% Okay? Times when it opened that, okay, and that comes out to roughly what, close to 30 bucks. I don't have my calculator here. Okay. So you would take, you would take it and if it opened at 1843, you take the 30 off of that, that would be 1813. And then you take the 1843 and add the 32, which would be 1873. So that means that you've got an 87 point something percent chance that the right is going to close somewhere between the 1813 and 1873. Okay, okay, so now, we wait until the Between 1030 and 11 o'clock central time, okay. And the reason that I wait until then, is if you look, the market goes in and opens it bounces up and down. And if it's on the way up between 1030 and 11 o'clock you have what what usually happens and happens most days is a mid morning reversal of some sort where people are in taking profits or, or getting rid of losses. So okay. And at that point, it gives you a direction of the momentum of the market for the rest of the day. And the rest of the day barring no news or anything, it pretty much goes sideways or slightly up or slightly down. And I go in and sell a put put spread or a call spread at the bottom or the top that was ranges away from the way the momentum of the markets going. And I do that on a daily basis. Allen: So if you think is going down you sell calls if you think it's going up you sell puts at the end of that range. So is that like you said 87% So what is that like as like one and a half standard deviation?  Denny: One and a half standard deviations?  Allen: Okay. All right. But but why do you do the VIX because what does the VIX have to do with the rut? The VIX is based on the VIX, SPX the VIX Denny: Gives you the volatility, the market as a whole. Allen: Right. But it has to do with the volatility of the SPX, the RUT has its own.. Denny: Okay, okay. But the RUT is based on 2000 stocks, okay. And vix takes into account the volatility of what's happening in the 2000 stocks, the Dow Jones and the standards and poors. The way they calculate the bets, Allen: Okay, because I thought the VIX was just only on the SPX the 500. The large ones. Denny: Yeah, yeah. Well, but it is, but they just weren't right. There's yeah, there's a there's a correlation between what's happening in SPX and what happens in RUT. Okay. Allen: Yeah, they're, yeah, okay. Right. They are correlated. So it just it just happened correlated workout, right?  Denny: And it's just and it's just like if you want to see what's going on with gonna happen for disaster time, with the SPX. Go in and look at what's going on with QQQ. If QQQ is dropping, you better watch yourself on the SPX, with about, I forget what percentage of the SPX is Fang stocks now? Right? Yeah. Okay. Allen: So how long? How long have you been doing this? Denny: I've been doing for about four months. Allen: Four months. Okay. And you back tested it? Denny: Yeah. Oh, yeah. I spent a couple, couple $100 and got some good back testing software and back tested it. And if you go through the thing and wins about 80 some percent of the time, okay. Allen: And how much are you trying to make on each trade? Denny: Okay, I'm trying to make 4% Three and a half to 4% on a trade, okay. Allen: And these are weekly trades or daily trades daily. So you want the SPX, Denny: The SPX, the SPX has a closing every day. Okay, Allen: So these are at the close. Yes. Okay. Denny: And the rut has Monday, Wednesday and Friday. So I only trade the rut on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Allen: Cool. So now your results been so far? Denny: That I'm doubling my money every month. Allen: Wow. 100% every month? Denny:  When Putin cut the pipeline off, okay. And the market and the rear end fell out of the market that day. I was at my computer when it started happening. And I closed everything out. If if I hadn't closed it out, I probably would have lost about three or 4000 that day, but I don't you know, what I do, Allen is I take a future value calculator, okay. And if this month, I want to make $10,000. I plug in $10,000. And I put three and a half percent of $10,000 times 21 or 22 trading days. And I print it out. And it tells me how much I need to make each day in order for that to occur. And then I keep a spreadsheet that I'm plus or minus off of the predicted number that I was supposed to be asked. And I adjust my trading from there now like right now for this month. So far. I'm up 900 bucks as a closing day. So I'm actually today is the 13th. Yeah, and I'm actually to where the tweet where I should be on the 20th of them. month. Okay, so if I think the markets going to be a little volatile or, or there might be some bad news coming, I can lay off, okay, and skip a day and see what's happening. Okay. That's where what you taught me is the patience. Is that it? You don't have to do it every day. Allen: Right? Right. So okay, so you're saying that you're doubling to 25? Every every month or no, Denny: Not doubling how much I want to make God, I got 25 in there, but you're trying to make you want to make if I want to make 10 This month, I put 10 up. And with the whole idea that I'm could lose all 10,000 of it. Allen: Okay so you're only using 10. Denny: Yeah, but I'm only using 10. If I lose, I lose the 10 then, you know, I'm a big boy. You know, we try again next month. Allen: So like, today's the 13th, you're only up 900. So you still got a ways to go before you get to the goal. Denny: No, no, I'm up 900 over how much I should be up. Allen: So you've already made the 10. And you made another 900? Denny: No, no, no, no. Oh, hold on a second. Okay. Okay, I started out, okay, with 10,000 in the account, okay. And I go to a future value calculator and I plug in, say three and a half percent. Okay. And I plug in 21 days, okay. Yeah. Well, that'll, at the end of the month, if I do that I shouldn't have around $21,000. Okay. And what the future value calculator says is that on day two, I should have 10,300 and some dollars on it. Okay, and then day three, I should have close to 10 Seven. Okay. So I go down what the day is what it says where I should be to achieve the deal. And I'm up 900 Okay, over that. Allen: I say okay, okay. Okay, so you're on pace. You're better you're better than doing on pace to double Denny: Yeah, right. I'm, yeah, I do what's called a phase and betting deal. Okay. Yeah. And so.. Allen: So that's what you're doing on the SPX on the RUT, and you're also doing oil. So how do you put in oil? Denny: I don't know oil, I buy maybe two to three contracts okay of the weeklies now, okay, and do a credit spread on them and try to make, you know, 4 or 500 bucks on the credit spreads and let them expire worthless. Okay. And, and then and the only and I'm only trying that because I know how to make money doing the monthlies and, and getting in at 45 days and, and monitoring it. So I'm a natural born tanker. Okay. Right. And, and, and it can cost me money at times. Okay. But, you know, I guess I'm fortunate that I'm not looking where my next meal is coming from. Allen: Right. Cool. So like today, you know, we have SPX is down 4.3% Today, big moves, they move down. So I'm assuming based on what you said, when you got in on SPX had already started moving down, so you sold calls today? Denny: Yeah, I sold calls I sold about 4090 and 4095. Allen: Okay, and then basically, you didn't have any trouble today? Denny: No and yesterday, yesterday went up. Okay. But when I went when I entered it, it was going sideways. And it was more advantageous on the calls yesterday. So I sold 4185 and 4190 yesterday, okay. And, you know, they they expired worthless okay. Allen: And is there any time you do both puts and calls? Denny: Yes. Yep. It looks like it's going absolutely sideways. Like I say, enter my trade between 1030 and 11. And I usually go to the golf course about one o'clock. But before I go to the golf course, I pull my account up and I look at it and the pit looks like it's going sideways. Then I create an iron condor and I go in and sell puts. Allen: And then what about a stoploss you have any? Denny: Yeah, I put stop losses in on everything. Allen: What percent? Like how do you know when to get out? Denny: I put 40% Okay. Allen: So 40% loss. Denny: Yeah. Allen: Okay. Cool. And so you're pretty happy with that? Denny: Yeah, you know, until it burns me I guess I will you know, I'm waiting. I'm waiting for it. I'm you know, I've done this long enough now that I know that nothing is failsafe. Allen: No, but you're doing this in a time that it is pretty volatile. You know? I mean vix today was at 27. But yeah, even so the VIX is kind of low for what's going on and all the stuff that's happening with the Fed. And, you know, we're still in a bear market. So we're still getting these wild bull market, not not a bull market rally, but a, like a whipsaw rally to go up, and then we, we hit back down on a dime. And so it still it has been very up in Downy and so well, having a you know, the strategy that you're just like, hey, I'm not gonna, I'm just gonna play day by day and not worry about at night. I think that makes a lot of sense. Denny: Yeah. You know, and, you know, I am a very, very avid reader. Okay, so I read Barron's, I read the bestsellers, Business Daily, and stuff like that, not because I think that they are going to enlighten me on anything. But what I have read is, there's a lot of guys in there that tell us about the history of the market. Okay. And for every bear market, you know, usually lasts nine to 18 months. And there's usually four to five mini rallies in there that everyone is calling the bottom of the bear market, and then it drops again, you know, and so, if we understand that, you don't get too overly enthused with the rising SPX or a Dow. Allen: Yeah, yeah. It's, I mean, that comes with experience or like you said, you know, learning and education. Cool. So what do you see going forward? Like, what's, what's next for you? Denny: Man? You know, I just enjoy doing this stuff. You know, I mean, you know, I'm in the twilight twilight of my life. You know, I'm 76 years old. Man. I'm a real young 76. I mean, I'm very mobile. I play, play golf every day. Right now, while we're speaking. I'm in Duncanville, Texas at my grandson's tennis match. He just, he just won his doubles match. And so about a half hour he'll start playing singles. So we'll watch that but.. Allen: Yeah it's a little how, I tell you that. Denny: Yeah, 95 right now here but you know, my normal week is yesterday was Monday I was in junior high volleyball and Flower Mound, which is 30 miles away from where we live. But today I'm at varsity tennis in Duncanville. That's not bad. That's close to where I live. Tomorrow. I got off then Thursday. I got junior varsity tennis. That's a home meet. And then Friday night, I've got got varsity football and Flower Mound. Okay. That's almost every day of the week. I'm doing something with the grandkids. Allen: You're going golfing every day and you're still trading every day? Denny: Yeah, and I'm trading every day. No, and you know, thanks to you. You've shown me ways that I don't have to sit there and stare at a computer. To make money. Allen: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. No, that's not the I really like what you're doing. I like your style. You know, it's like, okay, you know, put a trade on, let it work, and then go enjoy my life. Denny: Yeah. Doesn't work. So what, you know, there's another day. Allen: Yeah, but the return is good enough that, you know, you get compensated, even if there are losses, the you're, you're playing with bigger numbers. So it's like, hey, if I can make 100%, then yeah, I can lose 20, 30, 40%. That's okay. Yes. Because I can still make much more than that, you know, in the stock market. They're like, Oh, wait, you know, you shouldn't lose more than five or 10% of your account? Well, you're only making 10% a year. So obviously, you don't want to lose more than that. But if the numbers are bigger than you can take bigger, bigger, bigger bumps, so.. Denny: And I'll tell you, I'll tell you what I use I still I still use your option trading Google Spreadsheet. Allen: For the credit spreads, yeah. Denny: Yeah, I use it every day. Allen: Yep, makes it simple, right? Just calculate Yeah. Denny: The only thing is I went in and change changed the 25% to 40%. Allen: But I like it because it's like simple, you know, and I'm sure people listening to this. They're gonna be like, Okay, what do I do again? So it's like, just gonna recap. You know, you wake up in the morning, you see where the SPX and the RUT are opening, right? Yeah, take a look at the VIX. You divided by 16 and then you add that.. Denny: That's your that's your percentage movement in the ETL. Okay, that's Allen: A percentage move of the SPS. Okay. So you multiply that percentage by the open. By the Open, and then that you find your range. Denny: That will give you the that'll give you the movement, which, so say it's 1843 and say, say your your divide by say, say it's say VIX is 32. Okay, okay. Okay, you divide by 16. That's two to 2%. Okay, so say.. Allen: Okay that's percentage. Okay, yeah. Denny: 2%. So say right, opened at 1800. Today, you take 2%, that's $36. So then you take 36 off of 1800. Okay. And, you know, that puts you down to 1764. And then you add 36 to the 1800. And that gives you 1836 yeah. Allen: We have a 87% probability of this range working out for the day, it's not for the month, whatever it is for the day. And that works out to be about 1.5 standard deviations. So we've got the range, that's about one and a half standard deviations, that's 87% probability about that. And for you, it's been working pretty good. And you set it at a 40% stop loss. Oh, and then the other thing is that you get into the trade about an hour and a half an hour, hour and a half after the market opens. And so.. Denny: And the reason of the hour, hour and a half is it took me a while to realize this, the market tends to at times gap up or gap down. Okay. And then about an hour to an hour and a half later, it kind of self corrects itself. Allen: Sometimes that Yeah, yeah. But they say, you know, the opening bell is usually amateur hour. And so yeah, I mean, I could have told you that I don't trade the first hour of the day, you know, markets open markets open about 8:30 here Central time, so I don't trade before 10 o'clock, which is exactly an hour and a half. So I do that.. Denny: Yeah, that's when I'm looking at the momentum indicators and everything.  Allen: And then you let your trades expire? Denny: Yes. Allen: Okay. So you got that going on. And then.. Denny: Well the good thing about it is trades good, you can't get out of it anyway, because you've made all your money by about two o'clock and go in and try to close the trades. It says that say you get the message just some of the bid ask or zero. Allen: So, okay, so you got that going on. And you got the oil, weeklies gone. So that keeps you busy. That keeps you diversified. You're making decent amount. You're happy. That's awesome. I love it. That's that's what this is all about, you know, Denny: Keeps going to Hawaii. Yeah. You know, Allen: Yeah life is good, right? You're hanging out with grandkids you got you still have the house in Hawaii, you go on vacations, everyone, wherever you feel like it. So I like it.. Denny: In two weeks. I'll be in New York City. Allen: That's great. Cool.  Denny: Going to see Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden. Allen: Very nice. So did you do any kind of trading before you came across us? Denny: Yes. And I lost my rear end. Allen: Oh, no, that's not good. Yeah. Denny: I was way too aggressive. Okay, and not patient. And that's when I was gonna get out of the equity market completely. When I saw your oil deal, okay. And, you know, and I figured I had a better chance at oil, because it's something that we all need. And it's something that's not going out of style. Even if we go to all electric cars. What people don't understand is that two thirds of the pharmaceuticals and all of the plastic comes tomorrow. And that's none that's going away. Nope. There's going to be a demand. Allen: Yeah. In fact, you know, even with everything with the more solar and the more wind power they bring on, the world is still using more oil now than we have, like 10 years ago, the demand continues to increase, just goes up and up and up every year. So yeah, it's not going anywhere, anytime soon. So we're going to continue to trade even if demand starts going down. It's such a big market that we'll be trading oil for, you know, for the next 20-30 years.  Denny: Yeah Allen: That's, I mean, it's a different so basically, the you are trading equities but then when you found out and you learn about how we sell options, that kind of really flipped the switch?  Denny: Yeah that intrigued me. Okay. First of all well, my background before I got into the advertising thing was I owned a car dealership. Okay, I owned a Ford dealership. If you know anything about car, guys, we're super aggressive and we love leverage. And when I saw options, and I saw the leverage available, I said, this is my ticket. Allen: So then, why are we still at 25,000? Why don't we go more? Denny: You know, I've got a, I've got a wife. Okay, that funny story, okay? All donations came in and bought me out. I guess it's 28 years ago now. And I got a very sizable check. And the day I got that check, my wife reached over and she grabbed that check. And she said, seed money only comes once in a lifetime. And this is going for our old age and for fun. I go, Okay. Well, one of the ways that I've stayed married 52 years, is that I always get the last word. "Yes, dear". So, she, in the money, she basically watches it, okay. And, and she thinks that, you know, a lot of what I'm doing, although I'm making money and stuff like that, on on a basis is a little bit too risky for her, her deal. And so that, you know, that's what she has given me to play with. Okay. Consequently, I have pointed out to her recently, that because of that money, she's not had to buy any groceries out of her retirement account. For her Social Security check. I played for all the plane tickets wherever we go. This trip to New York. I've got $1,000 in Hamilton tickets invested. And she didn't have to pay for any of that. So don't you think it's about time that we started looking at adding more to that, you know, so that I think by the end of the year, she might, you know, lead me forward a little bit more. Allen: Do you have other investments and stuff elsewhere? Yeah, yeah, money's coming in. So it's not like you need this to live off of   Denny: No, no, no, no. Man, like, it's like I said that when my COVID that stopped an annual mid six figure income. I mean, on a normal week, before COVID. I was, well, on a normal month, I was doing 800,000 to 1 million pieces of direct mail a month. But that so you know, it's a good sized business, okay. With annual revenues, anywhere from two and a half to three $3 million. And, and I'm a one man show. I have no employees in that business. You know.   Allen: So it's still running, you still run that business? Yeah.   Denny: Yeah. In fact, I just got a job today. I mean, you know, they're, they're doing  infrequent, you know, I mean, you know, I might have made 30,000 bucks for the whole year doing that, you know, which, you know, that used to be a week sometimes, you know,   Allen: You know, so let me ask you this. Are we going to see below MSRP prices anytime soon?   Denny: No, no, no.   Allen: How about MSRC? Like, I'm seeing prices that are like way above like, double MSRP. Yeah, I'm not paying.   Denny: As soon as the chip shortage is alleviated, and they start to get inventory sometime in the next 18 to 24 months. They'll have inventory again. Oh, wow. But I don't know if you've seen what's happened to the used car market?   Allen: No, it's taken off like crazy.    Denny: Yeah, I mean, you know, my wife has macular degeneration now. And so, leasing a car is unless you have a business purpose. leasing a car is a bad investment. Okay. My wife had macular degeneration, we didn't know if she was going to, they were going to be able to get it stopped and whether she was going to be able to continue to drive. So the car that I'm sitting in right now is her car. Okay. And we leased it, and it had a $21,000 residual on it at the end of the lease period. And we were, you know, we were gonna turn it in. And then I pulled up what the value on it was, the retail value on this car was 31,000. So I went down to the Ford dealership, and broken but check for the car. And they can't want me to lease another one. I know. Thank you, you know, and so and that's happened all throughout the industry. And it's consequently forced the US car prices way up. And so what's going to happen two fold things going to happen. Matt, real quick, I know that you know, either way saw your day on this, but this is interesting. Once the inventory, get levels get up, all these car dealers that have these massive use car inventories are going to have so much water in their inventory. And water is excess pricing to what the current market book value on the vehicles is. In other words, if you can't sell it for what you own it for, you're gonna lose money. Right? And, and a lot of these big-- you live in Houston, I live in Dallas, a lot of these big dealerships that have two and 300 guards in the ground, are going to have a million and a half to $2 million in water in their inventory. And they're going to have to get rid of them. Okay. And so the rear end will fall out of the used car market. And you know, so right now consumers are getting screwed on automobiles. But the dealer has his day of reckoning coming due.   Allen: Yeah, but if you need a car now, you're screwed.   Denny: You need a car now you're in trouble. A buddy of mine went looked at a Subaru Outback with 19,000 miles on it, that it was a year and a half old. And they wanted $35,000 for it.  Allen: Yeah, yeah, don't get in a wreck. I mean, my car I've been thinking about my wife is like, can you just get a new car, please? I'm like, No, I like it. You know, I'm trying to get it up to 200,000. You know, miles on it. Yeah, trying to get there. I mean, it's fine. It works. You know? It's comfortable. It looks fine. From the outside. Everything is comfortable. It works. You know, it's nice Toyota keeps running. But she's like, can you get some bigger? I'm like, Alright, so we looked around, and I'm like, Man, I don't want to pay this stuff. You know, it's not even. It's not like we can't afford the payment or anything. It's just from where it used to be to where it is. Now. There's no difference. The car is the same. You just charged me a whole lot more for no reason. Just because yeah, there's a you can. So yeah, yeah, no, I don't want to play that. Denny: Yeah, their day of reckoning is coming.  Allen: We'll be alright. Well, do you have any advice for our listeners, people that are learning and trying to figure out like you found your way, right, you found your niche in trading, and it took you I don't know how many years you were trading for two years. But how many years? Were you looking before? Before that? Denny: Oh five years, I probably probably five years before I found you. Okay. And two years, two years of.. Allen: Learning and testing Denny: Not doing what you told me to do. And getting and getting burned, to realize, to realize that the things that you teach patients, you know, just the little thing and Think or Swim your standard deviation deal, you know, saying, Oh, you've got a red line there. That's not good. You know, just those little things, you know. So the biggest advice, the best advice I could give to an individual, be patient. Don't try to hit homeruns. You know, the age old adage, pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered, is so true. It's like one of my rules on the SPX. You know, a $5 spread. Okay, a $5 spreads on the SPX is 500 bucks. Okay. So if I'm trying to make 4% to 5% a day, that means I'm looking to get 20 cents. On my credit spread. That's it 20 cents. Okay. And if you look at what the delta is on that, it's usually 12 to 13, which puts me in a real advantageous position. You know, so don't get greedy. Just let time be. let time be your friend. Allen: Right? Yep. And that actually might be a shortcut for you. So you don't even have to worry about the VIX. You just go in to get the 12 Delta.  Denny: I'm in the process of doing about a year study on this, okay. Because I back tested it using the Delta. Okay. And some wild market swings, it comes out that it doesn't work out. Right. Okay. Yeah. Allen: But the thing is, it's hard to back test it because you're saying that you go in after looking at it visually and being like, Okay, I want to be on this side or I want to be on that side. You can't do that. Unless you do it manually yourself with a like a software that I like the one I use where you got to go in day by day by day. If you're one of those programs where you just put in the numbers and you Just let it run, it doesn't work. Denny: You've got to plug them in yourself. Yeah. And it's time consuming. Especially if you're doing dailies. Yeah. Because you got you got 256 for every year. Allen: Yeah. And I mean, like, you know, when we when we back test a new strategy, it's like I want to I want you know, a good 10 years of data, you know, I want to see the the ups and the downs and the flats and the recessions and the bulls market and everything. I want to know that it's going to work long term, not just for a couple because I've been burned on that too. You know, I, I back tested different strategies like the butterfly on McDonald's and a butterfly on a Walmart and they worked great for five years. For five years, they made money. I went in there with guns blazing. You know, I took like every money out of money I had at the time at $25,000 on one trade, just want Dre put it all and boom, blew up. And I'm like, what happened? Oh, my God, man. It was a fluke. I'm gonna do it again. Next month, next month, boom, blew up again. You know.. Denny: Those butterflies and iron condors look great. You sit there and you look at the leverage you've got on that you go, Whoa, you know, but you know, you got to think, why isn't everyone doing it? There's a reason. Allen: So, there's lots of little tweaks behind it. Yeah, yeah. This has been fun. Denny, I'm gonna let you go. I appreciate you. And if there's anything you need, please reach out to us. We're always here for you. And thank you for sharing your wisdom. Denny: Okay, well, you know, I mean, I just want to tell you and your listeners that your program has definitely taught me a lot and made me a lot successful. Faster than I ever would have been. Allen: That's awesome. That's good to hear. Make my day. I love it. I love it. JOIN OUR FREE PRIVATE FACEBOOK GROUP: https://optiongenius.com/alliance  Like our show? Please leave us a review here - even one sentence helps. Thank you!

We have Dr. Mike Pumphrey back on the podcast with a spring wheat breeding program update. TRANSCRIPTION: https://smallgrains.wsu.edu/wsu-wheat-beat-episode-140/ RESOURCES MENTIONED: WSU Breeding Program https://css.wsu.edu/research/breeding/ Variety Selection & Testing https://smallgrains.wsu.edu/variety/ Weed Resources https://smallgrains.wsu.edu/weed-resources/ Downy brome https://smallgrains.wsu.edu/weed-resources/common-weed-list/downy-brome/ Italian Ryegrass https://smallgrains.wsu.edu/weed-resources/common-weed-list/italian-ryegrass/ Herbicide Resistance https://smallgrains.wsu.edu/herbicide-resistance-resources/ Disease Resources https://smallgrains.wsu.edu/disease-resources/ Rust Resistance https://smallgrains.wsu.edu/disease-resources/foliar-fungal-diseases/ Insect Resources https://smallgrains.wsu.edu/insect-resources/ Hessian Fly Resistance with Mike Pumphrey Podcast episode https://smallgrains.wsu.edu/wsu-wheat-beat-episode-35/ GMOs and CRISPR/CAS with Michael Neff podcast episode https://smallgrains.wsu.edu/wsu-wheat-beat-episode-2/ CONTACT INFORMATION: For questions or comments, contact Dr. Mike Pumphrey via email at m.pumphrey@wsu.edu.

We have Dr. Clark Neely back on the podcast sharing with us the 2022 winter wheat variety testing program results. TRANSCRIPTION: https://smallgrains.wsu.edu/wsu-wheat-beat-episode-139/ RESOURCES MENTIONED: WSU Variety Selection & Testing Program https://smallgrains.wsu.edu/variety/ Stingray CL+ https://smallgrains.wsu.edu/variety/variety-testing-brochures/stingray-cl/ Resilience CL+ https://smallgrains.wsu.edu/variety/variety-testing-brochures/resilience-cl/ Grain Quality Resources https://smallgrains.wsu.edu/grain-quality-resources/ Stripe Rust https://smallgrains.wsu.edu/disease-resources/foliar-fungal-diseases/stripe-rust/ Cephalosporium Stripe https://smallgrains.wsu.edu/disease-resources/soilborne-fungal-diseases/cephalosporium-stripe/ Snow Mold https://smallgrains.wsu.edu/concern-over-snow-mold-of-wheat-in-eastern-washington/ Weed Resources https://smallgrains.wsu.edu/weed-resources/ Downy brome https://smallgrains.wsu.edu/weed-resources/common-weed-list/downy-brome/ Herbicide Resistance Resourceshttps://smallgrains.wsu.edu/herbicide-resistance-resources/ CONTACT INFORMATION: For questions or comments, contact Dr. Clark Neely via email at clark.neely@wsu.edu.

Downy mildew can spoil the appearance of many plants, reduce yields of fruits and vegetables, and sometimes even kill plants. What can we do to avoid it?NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: Simple Seed Guide: From Hybrids to Heirlooms

Since 1995, Procter & Gamble (P&G) Vietnam has been strongly growing for more than 20 years and has become a leading enterprise in the field of consumer goods. In Vietnam, P&G is known and trusted by consumers through familiar products such as Tide, Downy, Ariel, Pampers...To be able to continuously develop and grow over the past 20 years, P&G always adheres to the principle of focusing on people, investing in quality improvement, and developing the talent of the team to build a world-class organization, thereby bringing more and more value to consumers.In this episode of Vietnam Innovators podcast, Mr. Sai Ramana Ponugoti - Country Manager, General Director at P&G Vietnam will share with our host Hao Tran the secret behind P&G's operation management and growth. ———P&G has been on the mission of being a force for good and a force for growth by delivering sustained excellence and innovation. We continue to raise the bar on winning portfolio; superiority and productivity; leading constructive disruption; and a more agile, accountable, and empowered organization.

Good Thursday this is the chocolate Knox with your cross politic daily news brief for Thursday April 14th 2022 CDC to extend federal transportation mask mandate for additional 15 days https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/13/politics/mask-mandate-extension/index.html The CDC plans to extend the federal transportation mask mandate for another 15 days to early May, according to a Biden administration. The mandate is now set to expire on May 3. "Since early April, there have been increases in the 7-day moving average of cases in the US. In order to assess the potential impact, the rise of cases has on severe disease, including hospitalizations and deaths, and health care system capacity, CDC is recommending that TSA extend the security directive to enforce mask use on public transportation and transportation hubs for 15 days, through May 3, 2022," An official told CNN. The official added, "This will give additional time for the CDC to learn more about BA.2 and make a best-informed decision." When you are not bold enough to keep your state free and you want to curry favor with you base you do something like this… https://www.foxnews.com/politics/texas-migrant-bus-arrives-washington-d-c If this is the best that we have to offer as a solution to the problem we are doomed. Patrisse Cullors one of the founding members of BLACK LIVES MATTER said while speaking at an event at Vashon Center for the Arts that anytime she hears about IRS Form 990, which requires charities to disclose their financial activities, she gets triggered. https://dailycaller.com/2022/04/13/patrisse-cullors-black-lives-matter-financial-disclosure-laws-unsafe-triggering/ Remember that the BLM Global Network Foundation spent $6 million of the charity’s money on a massive Southern California mansion in October 2020, New York Magazine reported. Dyane Pascall, the financial manager of an LLC run by Cullors and her spouse, purchased the mansion and transferred ownership to a Delaware-based LLC, preventing public knowledge of the foundation’s ownership, according to the report. The BLMGNF allegedly tried to keep the purchase a secret. Cullors said several activists have expressed fear to her that they will be hounded with requests from outlets about their 990 forms, which charities are required to disclose upon public request. Well, no one would know better than a trained marxist. An internal memo from the organization obtained by New York Magazine listed possible reasons for owning the house, such as a studio for producing content and a safe house for leaders with security concerns. Cullors stepped down as the organization’s executive director in 2021 after the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF) reported she used her position as the charity’s leader to funnel business to an art company led by the father of her only child. Redballoon Not so long ago, the American dream was alive and well. Employees who worked hard were rewarded, and employers looked for people who could do the job, not for people who had the right political views. RedBalloon.work (www.redballoon.work/flf/) is a job site designed to get us back to what made American businesses successful: free speech, hard work, and having fun. If you are a free speech employer who wants to hire employees who focus on their work and not identity politics, then post a job on RedBalloon. If you are an employee who is being censored at work or is being forced to comply with the current zeitgeist, post your resume on RedBalloon and look for a new job. www.redballoon.work/flf/, the job site where free speech is still alive! www.redballoon.work/flf/ Government school Fifth-graders in New Jersey could be taught that puberty blockers are an acceptable way to 'manage' adolescence and masturbating 'a few times a day' is a healthy way to relieve stress. The new sample lesson plans, some of which are accompanied by animated videos, are part of a broader, K-12 health and sex education curriculum adopted by the New Jersey Board of Education. The plans, which were first reported by Fox News, are now being reviewed by individual school districts in the state. In one proposed lesson plan aimed at fifth graders entitled 'It's All about the Hormones,' students are instructed to watch a video containing animation called 'Puberty and Transgender Youth.' I’ve attached a lkuink to the video in the notes which are only available if you have the app… 'Whether you identify as male, female, gender queer or something else, you're perfectly normal, and there are lots of ways to manage puberty so that it can be a fun, exciting time rather than a scary or stressful one,' the video states. This is pure queer theory. Democratic New Jersey Gov. Murphy told Fox News on Monday that while he believes parents should have a say in the education of their children, 'some are using this as an opportunity to score political points and to further divide us – us vs. them – and I say that on behalf of the LGBTQIA+ communities.' He also pointed out that such standards on gender identity were voted on two years ago by the state's board of education. The governor said that he was open to hearing from people that believe the standards 'need to be adjusted or altered.' You're not imagining it. Everything is getting more expensive. Rising costs on products from Oreos to PlayStation5 consoles can be linked back to the supply chain crisis, container port bottlenecks and global shortages on labor and computer chips. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows prices have risen 7.5% over the past 12 months. This is the fasted prices have increased in the past 40 years. Many of your favorite products have been hit by rising inflation, including toilet paper, streaming-service subscriptions, snack foods, groceries, kitchen gadgets and more. Keep reading to see what products are going to cost you more this year -- and how to spend less when it comes time to buy them. Procter & Gamble announced to investors that it has plans to increase prices by the end of February 2022. The company owns the laundry-care brands Tide, Downy and Gain, plus Bounty paper towels, Charmin toilet paper, and several feminine-care brands including Always, Tampax and L. P&G executives have said the company's price increases are to offset higher costs, including labor, transportation of goods and the rising cost of raw materials such as fuel, resin and pulp. Mondelez International, owner of Oreo, Ritz, Cadbury and Sour Patch Kids, announced a 7% price increase by January. Kraft Heinz, owner of Oscar Mayer and maker of Heinz ketchup and Kraft macaroni and cheese, announced that some product prices would increase by 20%. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics recorded that grocery-store prices increased by 6.5% over the course of 2021. The bureau found that the cost of meats, poultry, fish and eggs increased the most, rising 12.5% over the year. As of Jan. 25, 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that prices will continue to rise. Amazon will charge sellers a 5% fuel and inflation surcharge on fulfillment fees starting April 28th so expect everything you purchase from Amazon to go up in price as well. According to WHO, every year in the world there are an estimated 40-50 million abortions. This corresponds to approximately 125,000 abortions per day. In the USA, where nearly half of pregnancies are unintended and four in 10 of these are terminated by abortion [1] , there are over 3,000 abortions per day. Twenty-two percent of all pregnancies in the USA (excluding miscarriages) end in abortion. Abortions worldwide this year: 11,985,629 Lies, Propaganda, Story Telling, and the Serrated Edge DNB: This year our national conference is in Knoxville, TN October 6th-8th. The theme of this year’s conference is Lies, Propaganda, Storytelling and the Serrated Edge. Satan is the father of lies, and the mother of those lies is a government who has rejected God. We have especially been lied to these last two years, and the COVIDpanic has been one of the central mechanisms that our government has used to lie to us and to grab more power. Because Christians have not been reading their bibles, we are susceptible to lies and weak in our ability to fight these lies. God has given us His word to fight Satan and his lies, and we need to recover all of God’s word, its serrated edge and all. Mark your calendars for October 6th-8th, as we fight, laugh and feast with fellowship, beer and Psalms, our amazing lineup of speakers, hanging with our awesome vendors, meeting new friends, and more. Early bird tickets will be available starting in the middle of March.

Good Thursday this is the chocolate Knox with your cross politic daily news brief for Thursday April 14th 2022 CDC to extend federal transportation mask mandate for additional 15 days https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/13/politics/mask-mandate-extension/index.html The CDC plans to extend the federal transportation mask mandate for another 15 days to early May, according to a Biden administration. The mandate is now set to expire on May 3. "Since early April, there have been increases in the 7-day moving average of cases in the US. In order to assess the potential impact, the rise of cases has on severe disease, including hospitalizations and deaths, and health care system capacity, CDC is recommending that TSA extend the security directive to enforce mask use on public transportation and transportation hubs for 15 days, through May 3, 2022," An official told CNN. The official added, "This will give additional time for the CDC to learn more about BA.2 and make a best-informed decision." When you are not bold enough to keep your state free and you want to curry favor with you base you do something like this… https://www.foxnews.com/politics/texas-migrant-bus-arrives-washington-d-c If this is the best that we have to offer as a solution to the problem we are doomed. Patrisse Cullors one of the founding members of BLACK LIVES MATTER said while speaking at an event at Vashon Center for the Arts that anytime she hears about IRS Form 990, which requires charities to disclose their financial activities, she gets triggered. https://dailycaller.com/2022/04/13/patrisse-cullors-black-lives-matter-financial-disclosure-laws-unsafe-triggering/ Remember that the BLM Global Network Foundation spent $6 million of the charity’s money on a massive Southern California mansion in October 2020, New York Magazine reported. Dyane Pascall, the financial manager of an LLC run by Cullors and her spouse, purchased the mansion and transferred ownership to a Delaware-based LLC, preventing public knowledge of the foundation’s ownership, according to the report. The BLMGNF allegedly tried to keep the purchase a secret. Cullors said several activists have expressed fear to her that they will be hounded with requests from outlets about their 990 forms, which charities are required to disclose upon public request. Well, no one would know better than a trained marxist. An internal memo from the organization obtained by New York Magazine listed possible reasons for owning the house, such as a studio for producing content and a safe house for leaders with security concerns. Cullors stepped down as the organization’s executive director in 2021 after the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF) reported she used her position as the charity’s leader to funnel business to an art company led by the father of her only child. Redballoon Not so long ago, the American dream was alive and well. Employees who worked hard were rewarded, and employers looked for people who could do the job, not for people who had the right political views. RedBalloon.work (www.redballoon.work/flf/) is a job site designed to get us back to what made American businesses successful: free speech, hard work, and having fun. If you are a free speech employer who wants to hire employees who focus on their work and not identity politics, then post a job on RedBalloon. If you are an employee who is being censored at work or is being forced to comply with the current zeitgeist, post your resume on RedBalloon and look for a new job. www.redballoon.work/flf/, the job site where free speech is still alive! www.redballoon.work/flf/ Government school Fifth-graders in New Jersey could be taught that puberty blockers are an acceptable way to 'manage' adolescence and masturbating 'a few times a day' is a healthy way to relieve stress. The new sample lesson plans, some of which are accompanied by animated videos, are part of a broader, K-12 health and sex education curriculum adopted by the New Jersey Board of Education. The plans, which were first reported by Fox News, are now being reviewed by individual school districts in the state. In one proposed lesson plan aimed at fifth graders entitled 'It's All about the Hormones,' students are instructed to watch a video containing animation called 'Puberty and Transgender Youth.' I’ve attached a lkuink to the video in the notes which are only available if you have the app… 'Whether you identify as male, female, gender queer or something else, you're perfectly normal, and there are lots of ways to manage puberty so that it can be a fun, exciting time rather than a scary or stressful one,' the video states. This is pure queer theory. Democratic New Jersey Gov. Murphy told Fox News on Monday that while he believes parents should have a say in the education of their children, 'some are using this as an opportunity to score political points and to further divide us – us vs. them – and I say that on behalf of the LGBTQIA+ communities.' He also pointed out that such standards on gender identity were voted on two years ago by the state's board of education. The governor said that he was open to hearing from people that believe the standards 'need to be adjusted or altered.' You're not imagining it. Everything is getting more expensive. Rising costs on products from Oreos to PlayStation5 consoles can be linked back to the supply chain crisis, container port bottlenecks and global shortages on labor and computer chips. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows prices have risen 7.5% over the past 12 months. This is the fasted prices have increased in the past 40 years. Many of your favorite products have been hit by rising inflation, including toilet paper, streaming-service subscriptions, snack foods, groceries, kitchen gadgets and more. Keep reading to see what products are going to cost you more this year -- and how to spend less when it comes time to buy them. Procter & Gamble announced to investors that it has plans to increase prices by the end of February 2022. The company owns the laundry-care brands Tide, Downy and Gain, plus Bounty paper towels, Charmin toilet paper, and several feminine-care brands including Always, Tampax and L. P&G executives have said the company's price increases are to offset higher costs, including labor, transportation of goods and the rising cost of raw materials such as fuel, resin and pulp. Mondelez International, owner of Oreo, Ritz, Cadbury and Sour Patch Kids, announced a 7% price increase by January. Kraft Heinz, owner of Oscar Mayer and maker of Heinz ketchup and Kraft macaroni and cheese, announced that some product prices would increase by 20%. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics recorded that grocery-store prices increased by 6.5% over the course of 2021. The bureau found that the cost of meats, poultry, fish and eggs increased the most, rising 12.5% over the year. As of Jan. 25, 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that prices will continue to rise. Amazon will charge sellers a 5% fuel and inflation surcharge on fulfillment fees starting April 28th so expect everything you purchase from Amazon to go up in price as well. According to WHO, every year in the world there are an estimated 40-50 million abortions. This corresponds to approximately 125,000 abortions per day. In the USA, where nearly half of pregnancies are unintended and four in 10 of these are terminated by abortion [1] , there are over 3,000 abortions per day. Twenty-two percent of all pregnancies in the USA (excluding miscarriages) end in abortion. Abortions worldwide this year: 11,985,629 Lies, Propaganda, Story Telling, and the Serrated Edge DNB: This year our national conference is in Knoxville, TN October 6th-8th. The theme of this year’s conference is Lies, Propaganda, Storytelling and the Serrated Edge. Satan is the father of lies, and the mother of those lies is a government who has rejected God. We have especially been lied to these last two years, and the COVIDpanic has been one of the central mechanisms that our government has used to lie to us and to grab more power. Because Christians have not been reading their bibles, we are susceptible to lies and weak in our ability to fight these lies. God has given us His word to fight Satan and his lies, and we need to recover all of God’s word, its serrated edge and all. Mark your calendars for October 6th-8th, as we fight, laugh and feast with fellowship, beer and Psalms, our amazing lineup of speakers, hanging with our awesome vendors, meeting new friends, and more. Early bird tickets will be available starting in the middle of March.

Theresa Moriarty is a NYC based actress and comedian. She started her career modeling and in commercial gigs at just 8 years old! One of her first gigs was on Saturday Night Live as a kid, and she's been performing since. After graduating from Manhattan College, Theresa went on to study acting with Susan Batson and began working in TV, Film and Voiceover. You've heard her as the voice of Macy's, Downy, Ulta Beauty and countless other commercials. In 2018 Theresa started performing stand up all over NYC and you can find her at the city's hottest clubs and on Instagram (@tmolynn) slinging jokes. Currently, catch Theresa live on stage, Wednesdays at Route 66 Comedy Club in New York City or as Tina in Made in Chinatown, streaming on Amazon Prime! Make sure to follow on Instagram and TikTok for show announcements. When she's not working, Theresa loves to cook, read, style clothes and hang out with her husband, daughter and “sweet” Pomeranian. Jackie Gold was raised on the tough middle-class Jewish streets of Brooklyn, NY. Growing up in a conservative- Jewish home meant having to develop a sharp tongue and a quick sense of humor. Her humor is brutally honest, as she has a way of putting into words that thought you've been thinking; but have been too afraid to say. Jackie's comedy album “Maximum Occupancy” debuted at #1 on Amazon and iTunes. She has been a writer for CBS, Comedy Central and VH1. Follow our guests @jackiegold @tmolynn Follow along with the show: TikTok @twistedtimesapodcast IG: @twistedtimesapodcast Twitter: @twistedtimeapod To watch LIVE shows: Download the 17live —- Find us @twistedtimesapodcast Produced by Twisted Valley Films www.twistedvalleyfilms.com Contact: Contact@twistedvalleyfilms.com Hosted by: @_ceceking and @msryanjillian --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/twisted-times/message