Podcasts about Garish

Warum lacht Sting beim Song „Roxanne“? Wer singt bei Falcos „Junge Römer“ im Chor? Sein fundiertes Wissen über Popmusik hat Hannes Tschürtz in seinem ersten Buch "Unnützes Musikwissen" zusammengetragen. Kulturredakteurin Bettina Treiber spricht mit dem Labelchef aus Rohrbach bei Mattersburg über spannende Anekdoten aus der Musikgeschichte, das neue Album von Garish und die Amadeus Music Awards.Sendungshinweis: Radio Burgenland Extra, Do.6.3.2025, ab 20:04 Uhr. Die Musik darf im Podcast aus rechtlichen Gründen nicht gespielt werden.

Folge 39: Erlösmodelle, Verdienstmöglichkeiten, Verwertungsrechte und vieles mehr sind ständige Diskussionspunkte in der Musikwirtschaft und der daran interessierten Öffentlichkeit. Auf der einen Seite astronomische Ticketpreise, auf der anderen Seite astrologische Preisbildungen bei Streamingdiensten. Die Branche ist nicht nur gefühlt alle paar Jahre im Umbruch.  Hannes Tschürtz, der Gründer von ink-music (u. a. Garish, Kerosin 95), ist ein langjähriger Gestalter, Beobachter und Netzwerker der österreichischen Musikwirtschaft, der alle diese Themen auf der Höhe dieser Zeit mitdiskutiert hat und für das Materie-Publikum die dummen Fragen von Niko Alm beantwortet.

This is one of those "just whipped it out" episodes.  Some people prefer more vulgar euphemisms and they would fault me for having the word "whip" in my sentence but to them I would say there are lots of good whips in the world.  There's Kool Whip.  And that's a tasty whip.  There's the song "Whip It" by Devo and that's a good song.  A little overplayed, but still a quality piece of music.  There's also some other whips out there that are probably not bad, and even though whipping is bad, sometimes people do it to animals.  Probably not as many humans being whipped these days as there were 400 years ago, but that probably has more to do with the population explosion and institutions put in place to prevent that sort of behavior.  That being said I'm not naive.  I'm sure there's a group of human beings being whipped right now as I sit here typing this.  You want to know something more?  Some of them like it!! And they expect you to show up to work on time everyday knowing that's going on.Support the showGo to hunchbunny.com to see all the hidden secrets!!!

Normally, we share all of the latest news in the world of content creation on Wednesdays. Sometimes however, we go of course.  Today was one of those times we decided to go in a different direction…In today's episode, we dove deep into the heart of content creation, unpacking the wisdom and insights from seasoned podcasters and content creators. It was a vibrant discussion that spanned the challenges and triumphs of starting out, the evolution of personal and professional growth, and the power of reflection. We explored the pivotal question: "If you could give a piece of advice to yourself when you first started creating content, what would it be?" This question opened a treasure trove of experiences, from overcoming the fear of judgment to embracing the journey of learning and growth.Timeline Summary:[04:33] - Nick shares his advice on just starting and not worrying about initial perceptions.[07:07] - Dominic emphasizes the gift of creating content when no one is watching.[11:27] - Sid advises on quitting overthinking and just getting the work done.[18:52] - Billy talks about his live streaming experiments and the importance of showing up.[22:51] - Stacy discusses the potential of AI tools in content creation.[34:24] - Marc dives into the challenges and solutions around creating solo episodes.[48:57] - Garish shares his approach to being more natural and less constrained.[53:11] - Reflections on the importance of community engagement and feedback for content refinement.[58:45] - Insights into balancing content quality with consistency.[1:05:32] - The role of mentorship and networking in overcoming content creation hurdles.[1:12:50] - Strategies for leveraging social media to enhance audience reach and engagement.[1:19:27] - The panelists share their thoughts on future trends in content creation and podcasting.[1:28:34] - Marc summarizes the key takeaways and expresses gratitude to the guests and listeners.Links & Resources:Empowered Podcasting Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/empoweredpodcasting Join us Live at Podcasting Morning Chat on Clubhouse: https://www.clubhouse.com/house/empowered-podcasting-E6NLRk0W Get on the list for our Empowered Podcasting In-Person Conference: June 27-30, 2024: https://bit.ly/emppodlive1 Thank you for tuning into this episode. Your support and engagement mean the world to us. If you found value in our conversation, please rate, follow, share, and leave a review. Let's continue to grow this amazing community together!Join us LIVE every weekday morning at 7am ET (US) on Clubhouse: https://www.clubhouse.com/house/empowered-podcasting-e6nlrk0w (Coming soon to LinkedIn Live...)Brought to you by iRonickMedia.com and NextGenPodcaster.comPlease note that some links may be affiliate links, which supports the hosts of the PMC. Thank you!

Best of Radio Burgenland Extra 2023 mit Wolfgang Böck, Adi Hirschal, Garish, Idemo, Walter Schmögner, Thomas Stipsits, Eva Maria Marold, Julian Rachlin, Adam Fischer, Johanna Seebauer, Thomas Hofer, Wolfgang Millendorfer

This week we talk about the success of Krampusnacht while Nathan smokes stoved Rustica and tells Eugene about some amazing feedback. Enjoy! Support the show Questions or comments? Freel fee to submit them to our facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1247125679194697or on the Discord server at:https://discord.gg/PkMqe74dYnor simply email:greywoodie@gmail.com All your base are belong to us

In this episode, we delve into the affluent Erewhon grocery store in California and its mind-bogglingly high-priced products, while joking about sleep divorces and dissecting the benefits they could provide for couples. The fun continues with a trending game of 'Subjective' where the hosts pick their favorite Pixar films. Wrap up the episode with a tricky trivia round of 'Scott's Smarter, Out-Smart' to see if you can beat our hosts. Tune in for a healthy dose of laughs and bizarre bits of information you never knew you needed.00:00 Introduction01:14 Exploring Erewhon: The Luxury Grocery Store12:17 The Unexpected Benefits of Divorce23:19 Choosing Favorite Pixar Films24:55 Playing Scott's Smarter or Out-Smart29:01 FarewellThank you so much for hanging out with us today.All the links: ErewonDivorce—Want the YouTube Version: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheresaSubforThatFollow us online:Twitter: @lovelylurkersInstagram: @lovelylurkersTikTok: Lovely LurkersEmail: theres@subforthat.com—Scott on Twitter: @ScottGurrolaWilly on Twitter: @WildMN293Scott Gurrola & Willy Mattson Copyright 2023 All rights reserved.

The Caipirinha and its star ingredient, Chachaca are difficult to say, but give them the respect they've earned from their rich history. The national drink(s) of Brazil are easy to make and even easier to drink. Stick around for the tip today on how to deal with a hangover thanks to our friends, DrinkingBuddy (use code ARTOFDRINKING for a discount - this stuff WORKS) How to make a Caipirnha Toss your cachaca in the freezer along with your rocks glasses Cut limes and remove pith: Cut 1 lime in half, end to end or pole to pole. Then cut in half again, end to end. That white spine running through the middle of the lime, pole to pole, is called the “pith”. Cut the pith out. Taking 2 quarter wedges, cut each into 3 or 4 more pieces - you'll have 6 to 8 pieces. In your shaker Add 6 - 8 lime pieces  Add 3 bar spoons or 1 tablespoon of sugar to shaker ***If using ice directly from freezer, add a ½ oz of cold water to shaker (BUT NOT ICE) MUDDLE MUDDLE MUDDLE Pour contents of shaker into your chilled double rocks glass Add 2 oz of cold cachaca to your shaker and swirl it around to pick up remaining sugar and lime flavor and bits Pour into your glass Add ice and stir topping off with more ice. Garnish with a sugar cane stick or lime.  Cachaca Brazilian Lemonade In your blender add: 2 limes, ends trimmed, quartered 2 lemons, ends trimmed, quartered 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk, plus more to taste depending on preference 4 cups water Blend for about 10-15 seconds at high speed, then strain through a fine mesh strainer. Discard solids, or infuse some booze like a vodka or tequila, i mean why not?  In shaker add: 1.5 oz Cachaca 4 oz Brazilian Lemonade Ice Shake for 30 seconds, then strain into glass. Garish with fresh lime wheels Tip: avoiding and dealing with hangovers DrinkingBuddy Code: ARTOFDRINKING Website: www.drinkingbuddy.com IG: @DrinkingBuddyBrand The Art of Drinking IG: @theartofdrinkingpodcast  Jules IG: @join_jules TikTok: @join_jules  Website: joinjules.com Brad  IG: @favorite_uncle_brad This is a Redd Rock Music Podcast IG: @reddrockmusic www.reddrockmusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What started as a product aimed at educators became the catalyst for the remote work we have the ability to do today. On This Week in Tech, Abbey and Garish talk about Apple's iBook: the first mass-produced, consumer-focused, WiFi-compatible laptop to ever hit the market. They discuss how it revolutionized the personal computer market, normalized WiFi connection, and contributed to the juggernaut Apple is today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Long Distance Calling: 500 years The Spacelords: F.C.K.B.D.F. Kombynat Robotron: Spitzer Musa Dagh: Me two CV Vision: Die frommen Wanderer Station 17 & Andreas Dorau: Der Monat Monika Roscher Bigband: Queen of Spades Monika Roscher Bigband: A taste of the apocalypse Britannia Theatre: Dream & Kraft Britannia Theatre: Death shall have no dominion Garish & Die Strottern: Dei Woed is a Scheibm

Thomas Jarmer ist Frontman der österreichischen Band Garish, die es mittlerweile seit 25 Jahren gibt. Was bedeutet es, so lange in einer Band zu sein? Welche Reibungen, welche Bedürfnisse, welche Freuden und Herausforderungen gab es in der Geschichte von Garish?Am 28. Mai 2023 gibt es dazu Konzert im Stadtsaal -- schaut vorbei. Danke Thomas für ein ruhiges Gespräch. Danke an Julia Fuderer (Stadtsaal), sowie an Audiamo+ und der Stadt Wien / MA7 für das Sponsoring.https://www.garish.at/https://stadtsaal.com/kuenstler/garish (28. Mai 2023, 19:30)https://stadtsaal.com/https://www.instagram.com/kunstundklischee/https://audiamo.plus/

Have y'all ever driven down the East Coast? I don't mean to spoil the magic for you but I gotta say, it's basically a straight shot through a wall of trees. So I was pretty excited when I noticed a few colorful billboards dotting my path. That excitement quickly turned to disgust when I realized that those billboards were super-duper racist. These billboards not only appropriated Mexican culture but also used broken English and made fun of Mexican accents. Yikes.  In this episode we break down linguistic racism and dig deep into what it looks like and what we can do about it. Press play to learn: What linguistic racism looks like. The detrimental effects of linguistic racism. Why it's so important to talk to our children about unfamiliar accents.  Concrete ways to introduce unfamiliar accents to our children and fight linguistic racism.   Join us for a Policy Party You know what anti-racism looks like in your home, now let's take it into our communities! Join us for a Policy Party on Tuesday, Nov. 15, at 8 p.m. ET, where Lindsay Dusard will talk to us about refugee allyship! At each Policy Party, we hang out over Zoom with experts from community-based organizations who will help us understand the issues and policies relevant to their area of expertise. Each party focuses on a different subject — anything from immigration to environmental justice and more! You'll leave each party with specific actionable steps you can take to make your community more compassionate, inclusive and anti-racist. My friend Lindsay will join us to discuss how we can be better allies to members of the refugee community. She has worked in refugee resettlement for over eight years and is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education, where her work focuses on understanding factors related to refugee and immigrant students' sense of belonging, wel-lbeing and success in the U.S. school system. First Name Basis Patreon members will receive free admission, or you can purchase a one-time Policy Party ticket at firstnamebasis.org/policyparty. If you can't attend the Policy Party, replays are also available with admission.    Check out our Thanksgiving resources Thanksgiving is next week, and we have a gaggle of free resources for you — including multiple episodes, sample letters to send your kiddos' teachers and resources you can use in your home! Want some ideas for how to talk to your kids' teachers about teaching Thanksgiving in an inclusive, Indigenous-centered way? Head to firstnamebasis.org/teachingthanksgiving for some sample letters and a free download that you can send to teachers to get the conversation going! Looking for ways to center Indigenous Peoples' in your family's Thanksgiving celebration? Head to firstnamebasis.org/thanksgiving to get some ideas sent straight to your inbox! Looking to learn more about how to celebrate Thanksgiving in a way that reflects the true history? Check out all of Thanksgiving episodes: Season 1, Episode 13: “The Untold Story of Thanksgiving” Season 1, Episode 14: “How to Teach Your Children About Thanksgiving” Season 4, Episode 13: “How to Center Indigenous Peoples During Thanksgiving”   Articles, Studies & Podcasts Referenced in the Episode Please note I am not linking Pedro's South of the Border because I do not want to drive traffic to their site. “This S.C. Roadside Attraction is Garish, Tacky and Un-PC — But I Stopped Anyway” by Maura Judkis, Washington Post  “The Pervasive Problem of ‘Linguistic Racism'”, BBC “The Reason You Discriminate Against Foreign Accents Starts With What They Do to Your Brain” by Michael Erard, Quartz “Everyone Has an Accent” by Walt Wolfram, Learning for Justice “Voices of North Carolina Dialect Awareness Curriculum”, North Carolina State University “What is Critical Language Awareness?” Annamend   Song Credit: “Sleeper” by Steve Adams” and “Dive Down” by VYEN

In this episode of the Wharton Alumni Executive Education podcast, Alex Gramatzki (Host) will be interviewing Brian Garish. Brian is the President of Mars Veterinary Health International, the world's largest provider of veterinary care. The interview will cover the "people strategy" as a business strategy. How inclusive leadership impacts people, society, and leads to best business results.

Was it Trader Vic or Don the Beachcomber who created the best-selling tiki cocktail the Mai Tai? It's one of the great drinks debates, but no matter who came up with this recipe, we can all agree that it's delicious. On this episode of Fix Me a Drink, award-winning hosts David Wondrich and Noah Rothbaum discuss the origins of the Mai Tai, including its first write-up in print and its role in mid-century cocktail culture. For this spirited discussion, they are joined by Shannon Mustipher, an award-winning bartender and author of “Tiki: Modern Tropical Cocktails.” Mix up a Mai Tai and enjoy this new episode of Fix Me a Drink! Cheers! Mai Tai Created by Trader Vic INGREDIENTS 2 oz Jamaican rum (the older the better) 1 oz Lime juice .5 oz Orange curaçao .5 oz Orgeat syrup .25 oz Simple syrup (1 part water, 1 part sugar), optional Garnish: Lime shell and a mint sprig Glass: Double Old-Fashioned DIRECTIONS Add all of the ingredients to a shaker and fill with ice. Shake, and strain into a double Old-Fashioned glass. Garish with a lime shell and mint sprig. Fix Me a Drink is hosted by Flaviar's resident liquor experts Noah Rothbaum and David Wondrich. On each episode, the award-winning duo enjoys a delicious drink while uncovering lost liquor history, exploring modern cocktail culture and interviewing an incredible array of spirited guests. So fix yourself a drink and enjoy the show! Please drink responsibly. Podcast Editor Alex Skjong.

In their first serialized adventure {in 5 parts}, Lem and Fanshaw accompany a "studier of the supernatural" to face something they may never have seen before - a ghost ... or at least a ghost that can affect the "real world". Written and Produced by Julie Hoverson Cast List Lemuel Roberts /Deadeye Kid -  J. Spyder Isaacson Clarence Fanshaw -  J. Hoverson Dr. Sullivan - Michael Coleman  {Tales of the Extraordinary} Mr. Cartland - Reynaud LeBoeuf Emma Cartland - Jacquie Duckworth Melody Heath - Melissa Bartell Red - Jack Kincaid (Edict Zero) Hank - Mark Olson Clyde Wishwell - Bob Noble Mr. Baker - Paul Green  {Encyclopedia of Weird Westerns} Add'l voices by Gene Thorkildsen Cover Design:  Brett Coulstock [Old photos used to make Fanshaw purchased from www.recycledrelatives.com] Announcer:  Glen "Ole Hoss" Hallstrom Opening theme:  "The Wreck of Old '97" from public domain recording found on archive.org Any incidental music:  Kevin MacLeod (Incompetech.com) Editing and Sound:   Julie Hoverson -------  No gunshots herald his approach. No trademark left behind him when he leaves.  The Kid had his fill of notoriety in days gone by - as plenty of empty boots can surely testify.   Some say he rides alone.  That's the Deadeye Kid. **************************************************************** Haunting Melody Cast: [opening credits/Olivia] LEMuel Roberts - Spyder Clarence FANSHAW - julie Dr. SULLIVAN - Michael coleman Mr. CARTLAND - Mrs. EMMA Cartland - Jacquie Duckworth MELODY Heath - RED - HANK - CLYDE Wishwell - Bob Noble Mr. Baker, the real expert - Paul Greene OPENER OLD HOSS    No gunshots herald his approach.  No trademark left behind him when he leaves.  The Kid had his fill of notoriety in days gone by - as plenty of empty boots can surely testify.   Some say he rides alone.  That's the Deadeye Kid. CLOSER OLD HOSS    The lonely cowboy cliché, always riding out, heading... yonder.  Join us again in two weeks when he rides back over that far horizon.      MUSIC SOUND     BUCKBOARD, HORSES FANSHAW    [straining] I think I can just make out a structure of some sort. LEM    Not much further now. SULLIVAN    Excellent.  I am in your debt for all your help in getting me out here. LEM    Woulda been a mite easier if'n you were were saddled, stead of carted. Some of these ruts-- SULLIVAN     I've never been much of a horseman.  And this is a fairish wagon.  FANSHAW    Garish, rather. LEM    Well, I reckon it was cheap. SULLIVAN    Oh, yes.  They rented it to me at a very reasonable rate. FANSHAW    Ah, rented.  That explains why he has not repainted over the "Piewacket Players" placard on the side. SULLIVAN    I understand a couple of the actors are - um - incarcerated for some while.  Renting me the wagon and horses saved them board and stowage.  Everyone benefits. FANSHAW    Actually, some of these murals are rather good.  If the players are half as talented as their painter, it might be worth seeking out one of their performances. LEM    [dubious] I reckon. FANSHAW    [musing] King Lear.  Julius Caeser.  Romeo and Juliet.  [chuckles]  They seem to perform a lot of the classics.  Shakespeare. LEM    Mmm. FANSHAW    Did you know that in Shakespeare's day - some 250 years ago - it was illegal for women to perform on the stage? LEM    Hush. FANSHAW    Oh, Lem, do let me impart a little culture for once. LEM    [Annoyed grunt] FANSHAW    Particularly while you cannot argue.  As I was saying, back in the day, all the female parts were played by young men. SULLIVAN    Oh, goodness!  Look at that! LEM    [eager] Whatsat? SULLIVAN    That's an awfully steep hill up ahead.  You think the wagon can manage it? LEM    I reckon so, reverend. SULLIVAN    "Doctor", please.  I prefer it as an honorific. LEM    [puzzled] But you're a "man o' god"? SULLIVAN    And a man of science as well.  I firmly believe that the church cannot simply deny science, but must embrace it, and hand in hand we shall move forward into the next century! LEM    [dubious] A'right then. FANSHAW    Fervent, isn't he? SULLIVAN    Sorry.  I find I must defend myself constantly - both against those who find science and religion incompatible, and against those who pooh-pooh my branch of science entirely. LEM    Oh?  SULLIVAN    [defiant]  I have made a comprehensive study of the existence of ghosts. LEM    [choking back a cough]  OH. FANSHAW    Oh, dear. MUSIC MELODY    [off] [wailing, hysterics] SOUND    DOOR OPENS, WAILING UP CARTLAND    Don't that girl ever shut up? EMMA    Bart!  She swears she's being tormented. SOUND    DOOR SHUTS CARTLAND    Hysteria.  You women can't stop yourselves from being women, but the least you can do is keep quiet when a man wants to think. EMMA    What do you want me to do?  Lock her in a madhouse?  She's my own flesh and blood!  CARTLAND    Your sister is pitching a fit 'cause she ain't getting her own way.  Nothing more. EMMA    But what if it is something more? CARTLAND    I got that well in hand. EMMA    What?  How?  CARTLAND    Don't go questioning me, woman.  Where's my grub? MUSIC SULLIVAN    [pugnacious] Do you, or do you not believe in ghosts? FANSHAW    [short bark of a laugh] LEM    [dry]  I reckon I do. SULLIVAN     Many people believe that the supernatural is somehow at cross-purposes with the bible, but it isn't so.  Ever since Solomon, the wisest men in the good book studied the ways of the supernatural, in order to overcome it. LEM    Solomon.  Izzat the king fellow? FANSHAW    Famous for his wise judgment.  And not cutting up the baby. SULLIVAN    Traditionally, many have always believed that the dead may carry on, side by side with the living, unseen but always present. LEM    Ain't this more of a church question? SULLIVAN    What do you mean? LEM    Well, if you believe folks just hunker down once they passed on, then what you think of heaven? SULLIVAN    I don't believe every soul lingers.  Have you ever heard of Purgatory? FANSHAW    Oh, goodness. LEM    Ain't that a town in Nevada territory? SULLIVAN    In the bible, purgatory is a place where people who are not good enough to go to heaven nor evil enough to go directly to hell are judged. FANSHAW    Which bible, precisely? LEM    Guess I never got that far in bible learnin. SULLIVAN    It is the premise for all my theories that purgatory is not a place, but merely a "state"-- LEM    [playing dumb] Wyoming? [1890] FANSHAW    [grim] Ask him which bible. SULLIVAN    [trying not to get exasperated] --and that spirits that need to be redeemed, or to mend their ways, may in fact be "in purgatory" much like someone could be "in a foul temper" - right next to us. FANSHAW    Balderdash!  Utter rubbish! LEM    Looky there!  That should be the ranch now! MUSIC MELODY    [heavy breathing, end of crying jag] SOUND    TAP ON THE DOOR, DOOR OPENS EMMA    Melody?  Are you feeling a little better? MELODY    [sullen]  I been bit. EMMA    Bit?  By what?  A rat? MELODY    Come and look. EMMA    I'll fetch a lantern. MELODY    No! EMMA    Or open the shutters? MELODY    No!!  They don't like the light!  I kin only open them at night. EMMA    [very upset] oh.  What can I do to help? MELODY    [disheartened]  Nothing.  EMMA    Are you hungry?  There's some good stew. MELODY    I can't.  I just can't. EMMA    Here, show me that bite. MUSIC LEM    [quiet] What's gnawing on you? FANSHAW    I do not consider myself a particularly religious fellow, but if there is one thing I have found quite frustrating about the wide open west it is that so many people simply decide that they are experts on this or that subject, and other people believe them, for lack of any alternatives. LEM    Mm? FANSHAW    He claims to know the bible, but then he goes on about this spiritism nonsense.  And purgatory!  I may not be a divinity scholar but a childhood of churchgoing taught me that that is a catholic conceit, and he's got it wrong anyway.  Purgatory was where souls waited out a period of penance, while their friends and family prayed for their release.  LEM    How'd they know if they got out? FANSHAW    I believe the priests would tell them.  It always smacked of extortion to me. LEM    [laughs]  Well.  How's all this gonna make a damn lick of difference just now? FANSHAW    What?  LEM    Whatever it is he believes - it gonna change the price of oats? FANSHAW    [sigh]  No.  LEM    Good.  That's cleared up, then.  Road's widenin up, and we'll be alongside the wagon agin soon.  MUSIC EMMA    We need to send Melody somewhere.  If only you had let her marry-- CARTLAND    She's 16 - too damn young, and don't know her own mind. EMMA    I know, but if she was away-- CARTLAND    Dammit woman.  You are my wife, and I will not be argued with. EMMA    Of course.  [beat]  Something bit her. CARTLAND    Bit?  Like a snake? EMMA    The marks....um... they looked-- CARTLAND    Oh, just spit it out. EMMA    They looked like they were made by a man! MUSIC SOUND    THEY ARE STOPPED. HORSES, HARNESS, DISMOUNT, ETC. SULLIVAN    Thank you ever so much for helping me to find my way.  I'm not much of an outdoorsman.  Or horseman. FANSHAW    Nor much of a cleric, apparently. LEM    Right happy to help.  Why is it you were comin all the way out here in the first place?  [chuckles] Not to put on a play. SULLIVAN    [chuckles] It is rather a curious wagon, isn't it?  But I am afraid my job here is rather confidential. CARTLAND    [yelling from off] Is that the Reverend?  Get on in here!  SULLIVAN    [dithering] Oh, um I-- LEM    I'll look to your horses.  You get along. SULLIVAN    Excellent.  FANSHAW    I don't like him.  LEM    You don' like his views. FANSHAW    They're gibberish! LEM    'Zat anythin like folderol?  [serious]  Why'n't you go on in and see what brand o' folderol he's spinnin to the good folks inside. FANSHAW    [stiff upper lip] I shall try and keep my temper. LEM    [muttered] Tryin never hurt no one. SOUND    A FEW MOMENTS OF UNHARNASSING, THEN SUDDEN TUSSLE, RED GRABS LEM AND SLAMS HIM INTO THE WALL OF THE BARN SOUND    HORSES ANNOYED, SHYING SOUND    GUN COCKS RED    [snarled] The Deadeye Kid. MUSIC SOUND    FANSHAW ENTERS CARTLAND    --convince her it ain't nothing but temper! EMMA    But the bite! SULLIVAN    A bite?  EMMA    She looks like she was bit, bad. CARTLAND    There's no way anyone could get in there and bite her. SULLIVAN    It isn't unheard of. FANSHAW    A bite? CARTLAND    [suspicious] Really? EMMA    See! SULLIVAN    Manifestations have demonstrated their ability to affect the material world in any number of ways. FANSHAW    [suspicious] Oh.  Do tell? CARTLAND    There's a simple answer for this.  She bit her own damn self.  She pulls one more shenanigan, and I'm taking a strap to the damn girl. EMMA    Never!  Our father wouldn't-- CARTLAND    He shoulda!  If your sister weren't spoiled, we wouldn't have to have this idjit in. SULLIVAN    Sir!  I am well respected in-- CARTLAND    [furious, overbearing] You are here to prove this ain't nothing but women's hysteria and a mulish girl's temper.  EMMA    But if it is something else? FANSHAW    What do you think it may be, I wonder? CARTLAND    Either she's doing this to herself, or she's plumb loco.  Which way do you prefer?  She's your flesh and blood. SOUND    BEHIND DOOR - CRASH MELODY    [screams] [BREAK]   MUSIC RED    What the hell are you doing here? LEM    Do I... know you? RED    Mebbe not, but I know you.  You're the Deadeye Kid. LEM    [resigned] Who'd I kill, that yer so riled about? RED    What in tarnation is wrong with you? LEM    Aside from being slammed up agin a barn, with iron in my face, nuttin comes to mind. RED    I'us there in Carson City.  Five years ago.  Watched you take down Iron John Sandoval. LEM    [after a pause]  And? RED    Saw how fast y'are.  Hmph.  Used to be. LEM    Mmm? RED    [offended]  You din't even see me comin. LEM    My mind was took up with sumpin else. SOUND    HAMMER EASES BACK RED    You should vamoose.  This ain't no place for them as has lost their edge. LEM    You might wanna back off a piece. RED    Whyzzat?  Can't look me in the face and admit you're getting old? LEM    My gun hand's starting to cramp up sumpin fierce, and I cain't ease down til you pull your cohones off'n the barrel.  RED    You - what?  [looking down, gasps] LEM    Right shame to shave your stumps - seein as we're all compadres now. SOUND    BACKS OFF SOUND    HAMMER DOWN, GUN INTO HOLSTER, SLAP ON THE BACK LEM    You look like a man that might could use a drink.  MUSIC SOUND    HORSES, BARN SOUND    FANSHAW ENTERS FANSHAW    I say, Lem?  Are you alone? LEM    Lessen you wanna chat with the hosses. FANSHAW    What do you really think of this fellow? LEM    From yer tone, I'm guessin you mean the reverend - doctor. FANSHAW    Ye-ess. LEM    I figger he's harmless.  Cain't actually know a lick about all's he's talkin about. FANSHAW    Right.  [beat]  Do you ever wonder? LEM    I wonder alla time.  Any particular wonderin yer wonderin about? FANSHAW    About this.  About spirits.  About good and evil. LEM    Never reckoned on em hitched like'at.  FANSHAW    You don't think of ghosts as being somehow inherent wicked? LEM    You havin a crisis of faith?  I reckon jest like with anyone, only you can know if you're evil. FANSHAW    I - well, I don't mean myself, I suppose.  LEM    [teasing]  So you think you're better than e'rbody else. FANSHAW    No.  I don't know.  LEM    What brought all this on? FANSHAW    From what I observed in the house, there may be an argument here for an evil spirit of some sort. LEM    And? FANSHAW    And?  And what?  LEM    Spirits're just as evil or saintly as the folks they used to be.  Don't make no nevermind to no one but me. FANSHAW    I mean an evil spirit with ... powers. LEM    [sure] Ain't no such thing. FANSHAW    Are you so very certain? MUSIC SOUND    OUTSIDE, WALKING LEM    I ain't never seen no spirit could touch nothin in the real world. FANSHAW    Neither have I, but what if there is? LEM    We do whatever we gots to. SOUND    FEET APPROACH RED    [coming in] Kid! LEM    [sigh]  Just Lem, if'n you please. RED    Oh, drat.  Right.  You done with them horses? LEM    Tucked up tight.  You ast about the job? FANSHAW    Job? RED    Mr. Cartland's right happy to have another hand, even if you don't plan on staying fer long.  With all that's been a-going on-- LEM    What all is it that's been a-goin on? FANSHAW    Evil spirits. LEM    Is it what's been drivin off all your help? RED    Come on, let's getcha some grub.  Hank'll be pleased to have someone new to jaw to. MUSIC SOUND    KITCHEN, EATING SOUND    DOOR OPENS HANK    Red. RED    Hank.  This is Lem.  Come in with the doctor fella. LEM    Hank. HANK    You work for the reverend? RED    He's-- LEM    I work fer jest about anyone as needs me.  Doctor needed a guide. RED    Lem's gonna help out round here fer a while. LEM    Long as the doc's on hand, might as well make myself useful. HANK    Did you tell him what's going on?  What cleared us out? RED    Here, have a plate of stew, Lem.  I'm sure Hank can tell it better'n me. HANK    [uncertain] Oh, I--- RED    He actually saw it. LEM    Saw what? HANK    That girl.  She's possessed! LEM    Possessed of what? HANK    No!  Possessed!  Taken over by an evil spirit! LEM    [considering] I don't figger I put much stock in such things.  Ain't no other explanation? HANK    What else could explain how I - I saw a strange light in her window late at night-- LEM    What were you doin' out? HANK    [thrown off] What?  I was - uh - having a smoke. LEM    She a good-lookin' girl?  Apart from whatever travail she's in? HANK    That ain't the point.  I was off a ways and saw a light.  It din't look natural.  So I went closer to see. LEM    How high's this window? HANK    I don't know!  Chest-high, I s'pose.  But I sawr everything!  [yarning]  Right from the first, I was froze to the spot.  Couldn't look away.  In this strange blueish colored light, there was something flyin back and forth across the room-- LEM    A bird? HANK    No!  A cushion or a hat or something - something that had no damn business flyin! LEM    [mild amazement] Oh! HANK    And then I saw the girl herself crawling about the floor like an animal.  LEM    Mebbe she dropped sumpin. HANK    But it weren't natural!  You can explain away one thing after another, but that light won't never look right. LEM    I meant no disrespect, just know how late at night moonlight can be a bit mazy.  Can make things look wrong way round and bigger than life. HANK    Well, this weren't out in the moonlight - it was in her room. LEM    Right.  HANK    You ain't a-scared? LEM    I'm a bit behind when it comes to afearin things.  Got to see sumpin for myself before I can work up to gooseflesh.  Yerself? HANK    I'm pert near hightailing it out of here, I tell you what.  One more night like that and you'll be seeing the back of me. RED    Ain't likely, Hank old hoss.  You relish the tellin of your tall tales too much to miss a chance fer another one. MUSIC CARTLAND    It's pure mulishness, is what it is.  The girl wanted to marry, and I said no. SULLIVAN    You're surely not her father, though? CARTLAND    Father's passed on.  I ain't blood, but I married her sister and that makes me the lawful man of the house and head of this family.  She gots to understand that. EMMA    I still think-- CARTLAND    Regardless of whether she's old enough to marry, I wan't about to let her run off to the damn Wishwells and take half the ranch with her. EMMA    Our father left us even shares. FANSHAW    Hmm.  And that man married yours. SULLIVAN    Ah.  I should talk to the girl, now. MUSIC HANK    Well.  SOUND    SLAPS THIGHS, GETS UP HANK    That hay won't pitch itself.  Care to lend a hand, feller? LEM    Lem.  I-- RED    I need him yet fer a mite.  I'll send him along when we're through. LEM    That's a mighty fine looking belt buckle you got there, Hank.  Turquoise? HANK    Yup.  LEM    And silver.  [musing] Mighty fine. SOUND    WALKS OUT DOOR LEM    Why d'you stay, Red? RED    Been with Mr. Cartland for nigh on 10 years. Since before he married the missus.  Fact is, that was when we came through Carson City. LEM    You friends? RED    Nah, he ain't one fer making friends of the hands.  But he's fair.  Hard, but fair.   LEM    Now tell me.  [a bit humorous] Apart from having the nerve of a grizzly, why ain't you scairt? RED    I plumb don't feel it.  Whatever's a-going on with the girl, it don't hit me here.  You ken? LEM    I reckon. RED    It's like ... play actors.  They can make you like the story, but they cain't never make it real. LEM    Gotta good solid head on them shoulders, Red.  I purpose to find out what all's transpirin here, and if'n yer strapped fer it, I'd shore thank'ee kindly for any help. RED    [admiring] You ain't lost none of yer sand, have ya? LEM    I reckon the wind's just blowin it in the right direction these days. MUSIC SOUND    DOOR CREAKS OPEN SULLIVAN    Young lady?  MELODY    [very tired and small sounding] Who's there? CARTLAND    It's the feller gonna tell you what a liar you been. EMMA    Husband! CARTLAND    Go on then.  Tell her. EMMA    I'll open them shutters. MELODY    No! EMMA     Just a crack!  It's fair dark in here! SOUND    FEET, SHUTTERS SULLIVAN    Sir!  I must insist on being able to interview the girl in relative peace! CARTLAND    I ain't a-stopping you. SULLIVAN    You must be quiet and leave the girl to answer for herself. EMMA    Please! CARTLAND    [somewhat subdued]  Go on. SULLIVAN    Miss Heath, your lady sister has told me some of your symptoms, but I would like to hear them from you.  What is your chief complaint? MELODY    They never let me sleep! FANSHAW    [far corner] Poor girl does look tired. CARTLAND    Nor us out here!  I ain't had a good night through in weeks. SULLIVAN     [sharp] Shh!  [calm]  They?  Who are "they"? MELODY    You won't believe me any more than anyone else does. CARTLAND    Hmph. SULLIVAN    I believe a great many things.  Pray, humor me. MELODY    They come at night, and pinch me.  Pinch my arms and legs - all over!  And one bit me - See here! CARTLAND    You bit your own damn self! MELODY    [whimpers] SULLIVAN    Sir!  Would you be kind enough to leave?  As long as you insist on berating the poor girl, she will never be calm enough to tell me all her troubles. CARTLAND    Fine.  Come on, woman. SOUND    DOOR ROUGHLY OPENS EMMA    Shouldn't I stay?  For decency's sake? CARTLAND    Man's a holy father, even if he is a soft-headed idjet.  Whatcha think he might do? EMMA    I suppose. MELODY    I'll call if I need help! EMMA    You do that. SOUND    DOOR SHUTS MUSIC SOUND    MOVING THROUGH UNDERBRUSH RED    From his yarn, Hank was right about'chere when he saw the lights. LEM    Hard to reckon what this'ud look like in full dark.  What'us the moon like? RED    Middling, round about. LEM    Hmm.  And that'ud be the window? RED    Yup.  Though way Hank tells it, it was full open when he was looking. LEM    [surprised] Oh! RED    What? LEM    Let's fade back a bit.  Don't want anyone to spy us. RED    Why?  Mm?  [sees] Oh! MUSIC [BREAK]   AMB    OUTDOORS FANSHAW    There you are!  I've just witnessed the most appalling-- RED    Did we really see what I think we jest saw? LEM    I'm afeared so.  RED    That varmint!  Taking advantage of a nice-- LEM    She din't look "put out" to me.  Any fired-up on her part weren't the angry kind, if you catch me. FANSHAW    [sarcastic] Oh.  So you saw it too.  How useful am I? LEM    Mighty useful.  [slightly different] To know that sumpin's up with them.  Looked like they knowed each other afore this. RED    I guess you could safely say that. FANSHAW    I tactfully took my leave. SOUND    HOOFBEATS APPROACH RED    Who in tarnation?  Damn!  LEM    What? RED    [heavy import] That's Clyde Wishwell and his boys! MUSIC SOUND    TAP ON DOOR EMMA    Doctor?  Is everything all right in there? SULLIVAN    [within] Yes!  Quite.  SOUND    FOOTSTEPS APPROACH THEIR SIDE OF DOOR SULLIVAN    [within]  I have all I need for the moment. SOUND    DOOR OPENS SULLIVAN    [cautious] Is your husband ...nearby? EMMA    He had to step out. SULLIVAN    [relieved]  Ah. EMMA    I have the guest room ready for you.  Your drover can bunk with the men. SULLIVAN    My--?  Oh, yes.  That fellow.  My guide.  SOUND    STEPS OUT, CLOSES DOOR EMMA    Is she...  Is she going to be all right, sir? SULLIVAN    I think this will take some time, but yes.  I believe she can be saved. EMMA    Saved?  You talk like she's ailing! SULLIVAN    [serious] She is.  It is an ailment of the soul. MUSIC SOUND    GENERAL DISMOUNTING, ETC. CARTLAND    [barely concealed hostility]  Wishwell. WISHWELL    Mr. Cartland.  I hope you don't mind the intrusion? CARTLAND    What do you want? WISHWELL    We found a fellow lost on our property, claims he'us supposed to be coming here.  We decided to give him an escort. BAKER    [a bit too much swagger]  Yes, yes.  Many thanks.  You may go ahead and leave. WISHWELLS MEN    [annoyed muttering] CARTLAND    Who the devil are you? BAKER    You sent for me.  WISHWELL    He was mighty tight about his business with you, Mr. Cartland.  I'm right curious. BAKER    That is between Mr. Cartland and myself.  Are you waiting around for a reason?  I could-- SOUND    COINS RATTLE WISHWELL    [civility slipping] No need, sir!  I reckon a man does you a good turn, seeing you to your destination, rather than shooting your backside fulla buckshot as a trespasser, he deserves a bit of an explanation! CARTLAND    Yeah.  Explain. BAKER    [exasperated] Very well.  I am the ghost expert you sent away for. MUSIC AMB    OUT BACK LEM    Why'm I all of a sudden smellin a rat? FANSHAW    You mean Sullivan's obvious "familiarity" with young miss Heath? LEM    Biggest rat I seen recently. RED    You think they got somethin "on" between them? LEM    I'm wondrin has anyone actually clapped eyes on the fellow she got her heart pinned to. RED    How'd you hear about that? FANSHAW    Damn! LEM    [calm] I just hear things. RED    Oh.  But it was one of the Wishwells she was a-hankerin after.  FANSHAW    And the Wishwells just rode in.  Perhaps we should go and take a look at the other side of this little chess match. LEM    Lets go get us a look at the Wishwells. RED    Right. FANSHAW    I'll stay in the house - keep an eye on the courting. MUSIC CARTLAND    YOU'RE the expert?  Then who the devil we got inside?  [yelling over his shoulder] Emma! BAKER    [smug] Well, I can't help you there, I'm no clairvoyant - merely a seeker after truth in the field of spiritualism. WISHWELL    [a bit worried] Really?  Hmm. SOUND    DOOR OPENS, EMMA COMES ONTO PORCH EMMA    What is it?  Oh!  Comp'ny! CARTLAND    They ain't compny, they's Wishwells.  Get that city slicker out here.  We got a bit of a branding problem here. BAKER    Are you implying there's someone here claiming to be me? CARTLAND    Someone here's claiming something, but I don't know which of you it might be. SOUND    SWITCH OF PERSPECTIVE, FEET APPROACHING - RED AND LEM BAKER    [off a bit] I have credentials and letters of recommendation. RED    That's Ezekial Wishwell, in the tan hat.  He's a big rancher over t'other side of the valley. LEM    And if one of his marries that Miss, inside- RED    Reckon he'll get his hands on her half of the ranch here. LEM    Hmm. SOUND    FADING BACK TO CARTLAND's POV WISHWELL    You sent off for a ghost hunter, and you cain't even remember his name? CARTLAND    I contacted him through some damn psychical society in the newspaper out of Carson city.  BAKER    Yes.  Precisely.  The "friends in passing". CARTLAND    And it's bad enough I gotta do such a damn fool thing just so's I can put my wife's mind at rest about her damn fool sister-- SOUND    DOOR OPENS, FEET ON PORCH EMMA    Here he is. SULLIVAN    You needed me for something? [FADING BACK TO LEM] WISHWELL    Whatcha gonna do with two of them? SULLIVAN    Two of who? BAKER    Is that the imposter? EMMA    What? RED    It's the doggonest thing I ever heered of! LEM    It's a wonder, sure enough. FANSHAW    They've vacated the - ahem - bedroom.  RED    You think there's gonna be a fight?  Dunno that them two guys would make much of a scrap - that first one's too prissy and citified, and the other's kind of a runt.  But it might be something to see. LEM    I need a chance to palaver. FANSHAW    This might explain the idiotic views of Sullivan - I mean, if he is the imposter. LEM    [muttered] People can be thick as two thumbs and still ain't liars.  Happens all th'time. SOUND    FADING BACK TO CARTLAND RED    Whazzat? LEM    Trying to logic out which might be the one sposed to be here. FANSHAW    Oh, there's the girl! SOUND    BARE FEET ON WOODEN PORCH [argument that runs under above] SULLIVAN    I am an ordained minister, sir, of the church of the holy seekers after truth! BAKER    That hack cabal?  They wouldn't know a phantom from an apparition.  I have trained with the most respectable societies in the British Isles! SULLIVAN    Hidebound stick-in-the-muds! BAKER    Newfangled snot-nosed infants, tampering with forces outside your ken! SULLIVAN    Infants!  I'll have you know-- SOUND    MELODY'S BARE FEET RUN OUT ONTO THE DIRT MELODY    Stop!  Please!  [scream of terror, some thrashing about] CARTLAND    What the devil? SULLIVAN    Quickly, bring some warm tea, and a cold compress, if you have one. EMMA    Yes!  SOUND    SHE DASHES INTO THE HOUSE BAKER    Stay back!  The girl is under attack. WISHWELL    Looks like some kind of fit. CARTLAND    Fit o' temper.  Get up, girl! SOUND    FEET ENTER LEM    Mr. Cartland, might could I drop a word in your ear? CARTLAND    Who the hell are you?  Oh, right, you come in with the preacher - maybe preacher. LEM    Something you need to know. FANSHAW    Are you planning to tell him about the assignation?  He'll do something terrible to that poor girl - you've seen how beastly he is to her. LEM    I know you're looking after the best interests of your family here. FANSHAW    He threatened to beat her! CARTLAND    I do what I gotta. FANSHAW    Even if she is feigning all of this, surely she doesn't deserve-- LEM    And I can tell you're purt near your wits end. CARTLAND    zat so? LEM    I think you done took more than most men can take, so I don't fault you none for flyin off the handle.  I might could have an answer for all this. CARTLAND    [interested] Really? LEM    Yup.  It was somethin that Sullivan fellow said regarding the bible. CARTLAND    [disbelieving] Really? LEM    Once they get this little dustup sorted, mebbe could I try something?  CARTLAND    What you planning? LEM    I promise you, I don't reckon no one'll get hurt - leastways not bad - but beyond that, can't tell you much or it'll fall flat.  CARTLAND    Is this some of this spiritual hoodoo manure? LEM    Well, let's say I'm gonna connive them into believin it is. CARTLAND    Hmm...  [chuckle]  Go on, then. MUSIC EMMA    She's settled again, but she keeps tossing and a-turning. CARTLAND    [calmer]  If I'm right, and she's just doing this all out of pique, what do you think should be done?  You really think us going on and giving in is gonna make everything all right? EMMA    Me?  I--  but it's too drastic to be-- CARTLAND    I ain't asking if you think she's making it all up, just what you reckon we should oughtta do if she is. EMMA    Oh.  [pacing]  Well.  It's a terrible thing she's doing - if she's doing it.  But it can't be easy on her, either.  All them hurts she's took. CARTLAND    Lotta effort to make you feel sorry for her. EMMA    If she's faking, then wouldn't the reverend know it? CARTLAND    Stick to the question at hand. EMMA    You're much less riled than you been in days - do you know something? CARTLAND    With two doctor types on hand, how can I not see a light at the end of this here tunnel? EMMA    Oh. CARTLAND    [almost gentle]  I'm waiting. EMMA    I agree - we can't, in good conscience, let her get her way through these kinds of shenanigans - always assuming she's-- CARTLAND    Yes, yes.  We're assuming. EMMA    But what can we do for punishment?  Lock her away?  I couldn't bear that. CARTLAND    What'choo think about schooling? EMMA    What? CARTLAND    Send her off to school - back east or somewheres where rich folks send their girls, and take the cost of the schooling out of her half the ranch.  We'll call it bail. EMMA    It would keep her away from the Wishwells.  And it would get her away from-- CARTLAND    Us?  EMMA    [sigh] Yes. MUSIC LEM    I may not have the booklearnin y'all have, but I did have me a granny who did midwifing and could see and talk to all manner of spirits. SULLIVAN    Really?  How ...rustic BAKER    You should never pooh-pooh the lay folk.  Many have toiled in the fields of the supernatural without even realizing they did. Back home in-- SULLIVAN    Of course, it is only a pity that so often they were seen as enemies of the church and persecuted, rather than embraced and put to good works. FANSHAW    Good gad, they're even worse in harmony. LEM    Well, Granny once told me of a sure cure for a plague of spirits. BAKER    Oh yes? FANSHAW    Watch out, he'll write a monograph on your granny.  Did you really have one? LEM    O'course.  It ain't easy, and it ain't exactly safe.  But when the only other path is being ridden round with spirits all your life, it's sometimes a risk you gots to take. SULLIVAN    Dangerous? LEM    O'course.  You got to make the spirits flee outta the afflicted one, and t'only way to do it is to convince them you're about to kill that person. SULLIVAN    [horrified] KILL? BAKER    That makes a strange sort of sense. LEM    Best ways are violent.  You cain't sneak up behind 'em, since half the convincin has to be that the one what's afflicted gots to believe it.  FANSHAW    Mention the flagellants in the bible.  They used whips to cleanse themselves of-- SULLIVAN    But we can't - that-that poor girl! BAKER    I am not certain I could do it myself, but I would be most interested in observing. LEM    Oh, I can do it.  You two should oughta  make sure no one else gets in the way, though. SULLIVAN    But you wouldn't really hurt her? LEM    I s'pose it depends.  Sometimes, the spirits are figurin you wouldn't really hurt no one, and they hang on for the first hurt or two.  Like them fellas that whip themselves bloody right there in the bible. SULLIVAN    [horrified] Oh no!  I can't let you do that to any poor defenseless woman. LEM    Don't think it's your choice to make, old hoss.  BAKER    As long as she is afflicted, it will have to be dealt with. SULLIVAN    Let me try something else, first!  I might have a way to-- LEM    That's right fine.  We'll come along and observe your way. SULLIVAN    No!  It's -- it has to be performed in total secrecy. LEM    Cain't hide from the spirits, though. FANSHAW    I take the hint. BAKER    You should be grateful for the help. SULLIVAN    Leave me alone for a minute!  I have to - to pray! SOUND    WALKS OFF FAST LEM    [almost a chuckle] BAKER    What got into him? FANSHAW    I think he truly cares for the girl. LEM    A mighty old spirit indeed. MUSIC [BREAK]   EMMA    They're gonna hurt her? CARTLAND    They don't think it will come to much.  Just enough to scare the spirits out of her. EMMA    Melody's my sister - I cain't just let them beat her! CARTLAND    [trying to be comforting] Don't sound like there's any other way they're gonna manage this.  [beat] This feller sounds like he knows what he's doing. EMMA    [incredulous] Sounds like he--?  How can you say that? CARTLAND    [curt]  I will stop him before he does anything too... drastic.  EMMA    You got no fine feelings about seeing her hurt.  You would have-- CARTLAND    [getting annoyed] I'da punished her, yeah.  Now get out my way.  I'm done talkin! MUSIC RED    Lem, over here a minute. LEM    [queit] Yeah? [up]  Mister Baker, why don't you see if the lady of the house might be able to find you a spot to sleep tonight?  BAKER    And that charlatan? LEM    Doctor Sullivan?  You let me handle him.  Oh, and - sunset.  That's the time to deal with ghosts. BAKER    Sunset? LEM    So says my gran. BAKER    Right.  I am quite interested to see how this goes. SOUND    BAKER WALKS OFF LEM    Sorry about that. RED    What are you up to? LEM    Takin a tip from the bible.  You with me? RED    Spect so.  WISHWELL    Could I have a word with you, sir? LEM    [sigh] Spect so. MUSIC SOUND    TAPPING ON WOOD [Sullivan sounds very different, western, rather than citified, and is speaking quietly, to avoid being overheard] SULLIVAN    Melody?  Melody? FANSHAW    Hmph.  Praying indeed.  I would say he's rather old for her, but that moustache doesn't do much to hide a cheek that's barely seen a  razor. SULLIVAN    Please, Mel, honey! SOUND    TEENSY CREAK OPEN MELODY    Wallace?  You shouldn't be out there! FANSHAW    Wallace?  SULLIVAN    I had to come!  Everything's falling apart. MELODY    What do you mean? SULLIVAN    They've got some cockamamie scheme, and sounds like they're planning to hurt you.  Maybe bad. MELODY    Emma'd never let them do that! SULLIVAN    There's enough people here got no patience left, I doubt but that she couldn't stop them.  Can't you turn this? MELODY    It's got away from me!  What can I do? SULLIVAN    Maybe just say you're cured? MELODY    And then what?  That leaves me here with folks that hate me and no chance o'nothin'?  No chance of... us?  I'll die first! SULLIVAN    I'll try and come up with something.  But if it comes down to it, stop them before they hurt you.  Please promise you will! MELODY    [grim] I'll do what I gotta do. MUSIC WISHWELL    What you fixing to do, sir? LEM    Come sunset, I'll take drastic measures to free that girl from her torment. WISHWELL    You sound like you might have to kill her. LEM    I'm sure the reverend - uh - doctor sullivan can speak you best on torment and the afterlife.  He's got a nose fer it. WISHWELL    But what exactly are you planning to do? FANSHAW    Don't turn round.  Sullivan is lurking.  LEM    [sigh]  I hate to see anyone in pain.  But sometimes, ain't no choice.  If'n there's a spirit a-punishin that child, it ain't gon be easy to spook it out.  I may have to shoot her. SOUND    [men - including RED, WISHWELL, react]  LEM    [matter of fact] Don't worry none, though.  I once shot a man eight times - a'purpose - and he din't die.  [shrug] Can't use one hand no more, but apart from that he all healed up jest fine. WISHWELL    [horrified] And Cartland's gonna let you go on and do this? LEM    I get the feeling that if his wife would allow, he'd do it hisself - he's that plumb wore out with the girl. WISHWELL    And what if we all decide to stop you? LEM    I don't see as how it's any of your business. SOUND    GUNS OUT WISHWELL    [sterner] And what if we all decide to stop you? SOUND    SHOTGUN COCKS CARTLAND    [off]  I think mebbe it's time fer you to get along home, then, Wishwell. SOUND    GUNS UP WISHWELL    [forces laugh]  We were just looking out for your best interests, Cartland.  Have you heard?  This here fellow is fixing to shoot your sister. CARTLAND    Well, something's gotta be done with the girl.  FANSHAW    Is he serious, or did you have a chance to warn him? LEM    Glad to see you took my counsel serious, Mr. Cartland. FANSHAW    Ah.  CARTLAND    And now Wishwell, you and your boys can take my counsel - Git! WISHWELL    I'll be telling the sheriff about these goings on.  CARTLAND    You do that.  Sunset's about an hour away - you won't get there and back by then.  And I figure this way.  If my wife's sister can be bit by ghosts, maybe she can get shot by them too.  Ain't no one here gonna say otherwise, once all's said and done. MUSIC SOUND    TAPPING ON SHUTTER MELODY    Wallace? FANSHAW    [explaining] That's Sullivan. SOUND    TAPPING LEM    [indistinguishable grunt] MELODY    Wallace? SOUND    SHUTTER CREAKS OPEN MELODY    Are you-- [gasp of fear!] LEM    You want to talk to me, girl.  And you want to stay quiet. MELODY    My sister is jest in the next room. LEM    I know.  And I ain't askin fer nothin improper.  Cartland's got Sullivan sewed up in argument fer the moment, so I got one chance for you. MELODY    Chance?  Fer what? LEM    Wallace.  You in love with the boy, or jest lookin fer a way out from under your folks? MELODY    We're in love.  LEM    You want him more than you want your share of the ranch? MELODY    [teensy hesitation]  Yes. LEM    And would he and his take you without you had that parcel to offer? MELODY    He would.  LEM    And his pa out there?  Mr. Wishwell? MELODY    [gasp] You know? LEM    I know a lotta things.  F'r'instance, tonight's gonna be an interestin night.  MUSIC FANSHAW    So if they're genuinely in love -- LEM    I think they are.  He's plumb torn up about the chance as she might get hurt.  Mebbe she's not so worried, but she seems true. FANSHAW    Then this is just like Shakespeare - Romeo and juliet.  Families opposed to one another, romance between the younger generation. LEM    'Zat give us any aid with sorting out this rats nest? FANSHAW    Well, they both died.  So I guess not. LEM    Hmm.  Plays. FANSHAW    What are you thinking? LEM    Well... I was playing at solomon.  Threatnin the girl to bring out-- FANSHAW    [realizing] The real-- Yes!  I've got it.  Jolly clever. LEM    I'm thinkin mebbe I got the wrong baby. FANSHAW    The wrong what? MUSIC In house CARTLAND    Can't be long now. EMMA    You won't let him really hurt her, will you? CARTLAND    [gentle] Emma.  He promised he wouldn't.  We have to convince her he would, though.  She gots to believe it. EMMA    Why? CARTLAND    If she's faking, she has to cry off.  If she ain't... well... he says the spirits gotta be convinced she's gonna die, so they'll haveta leave. EMMA    Oh.  I see.  Thank you. CARTLAND    [uncomfortable]   Right.  Just find us one of them schools, woudja? MUSIC OUTSIDE LEM    [talking to a crowd] Much as it pains me to have to do this, um, I reckon there ain't no way to solve this problem til we drive out the spirits here. BAKER    Where is the girl? LEM    She's a coming. SOUND    DOOR OPENS LEM    Speak of the devil. SOUND    SEVERAL PEOPLE WALKING OUT ON WOOD MELODY    Please!  What are you going to do? SULLIVAN    I protest!  I don't think this is safe! LEM    [muttered] We got any other company? FANSHAW    The wishwells never went very far.  Just out of sight, then circled back.  They're behind the barn. LEM    Good. FANSHAW    Red appears to be in his allotted position.  Hank is nowhere to be seen. LEM    Hmph.  [up]  Get on over here miss. MELODY    I'm scared! CARTLAND    It gots to be done. EMMA    Be strong, Melody. FANSHAW    No arguments?  Hmm.  I sense a reconciliation in the family. LEM    Harmony ain't no bad thing. FANSHAW    Rather goes with melody, actually. MELODY     What is it you plan to do? LEM    Gon' drive the evil sprits out.  Need you to stand right here, miss.  Don't move a muscle.  You got me? MELODY    Emma!  I don't want to do this! EMMA    Melody, there ain't no choice.  Not no more. SULLIVAN     I agree with the young lady - I feel this is too dangerous. MELODY    Dangerous?  Wh-what's a-going to happen? CARTLAND    [commanding but not being mean] Stand still, and let the man do his work. LEM    All y'all back on the porch now, if'n you please. SOUND    FEET LEM    Now miss, if you'll hold yerself real still. MELODY    I'll do my best. SOUND    GUNSHOT, HITS WOOD MELODY    [screams!]   [break?] EMMA    Be careful! MELODY    What did you do that for?  LEM    I'm shooting the ghosts.  That's why you gotta hold real still. SOUND    GUNSHOT MELODY     [gasp]  You nearly hit me! FANSHAW    The wishwells are getting closer. LEM    Good. SOUND    THREE GUNSHOTS MELODy    [scream of pain!] EMMA    What's that?  You said you wouldn't hurt her!  Is that blood? LEM    That's jest splinters.  Stay back. SOUND    TWO GUNSHOTS MELODY    [scream] SULLIVAN    Nooooooooo! SOUND    RUNNING FEET, SLOW MO SOUND    GUNSHOT SULLIVAN    [argh!  Death rattle] MELODy    [scream, death rattle] FANSHAW    [dry] Two with one shot.  Oh my. EMMA    [screaming] SOUND    RUNNING FEET LEM    Mr. Cartland, hold your wife.  Mr. Baker? BAKER    [flustered] um, um - yes. LEM    You got any doctoring? BAKER    Yes, yes, of course.  I'll check on them. WISHWELL    [coming roaring in]  Nooo! CARTLAND    What the devil you doing here, Wishwell? LEM    Stay back, there.  Let the doctor do his business. WISHWELL    Wallace!  Damn you, you sidewinder!  You are a dead man! SOUND    GUNS DRAW WISHWELL    You ain't steppin in this time, Cartland! CARTLAND    If I just saw what just happened, you kin have him. LEM    [Unconcerned]  Afore you start throwin lead, mebbe you two should take some of the blame on yerselves. CARTLAND    What? WISHWELL    You can go to blazes! LEM    If you two weren't such prickly porcupines on the subject of them kids getting married, none of this woulda ever happened. CARTLAND    That's who she wanted to marry?  And he's a wishwell? WISHWELL    He's my youngest, you son of a buzzard.  Sent him off back east to school, make a better man of him.  And now all that's ashes. CARTLAND    He ain't a reverend, then? FANSHAW    Goodness, they're a bit slow. LEM    Hush, now!  Now you two can be joined in your misery, like you might have been joined by them kids.  Only damn fool you gotta hate now is me. CARTLAND    He ain't said they're dead.  Doctor? BAKER    [calling] I'm doing what I can. WISHWELL    My son?  Is he still with us? LEM    Hold it. SOUND    GUN COCKS WISHWELL    You stay out my way. SOUND    SHOTGUN RACKED RED    I think you better drop that gun Mr. Wishwell. CARTLAND    I'll go and-- RED    No, sir.  You wait too.  With all due respect. LEM    If them kids survive this, you let em marry? CARTLAND    They're too young.  She is, anyway. [don't forget the bit about sullivan not being as old as the moustasche and beard make him look] WISHWELL    You just don't wanna lose half the ranch. CARTLAND    I got plans for that half the ranch.  I got it planned right up til she comes of age. LEM    Mebbe if they can marry, she can leave you in charge til she comes of age.  Let you carry through your plans. EMMA    None of this matters!  Let me go to my sister! RED    Lem? LEM    Give em sumpin to live for, you two.  Make this up.  Tell them they ain't gotta be dead to be together. WISHWELL    You think that would help? LEM    I been near dead once or twice, and havin hope is a mighty fine thing. EMMA    Bart?  Please let her, Bart!  If you don't care to give Melody some hope, give me some! CARTLAND    If Wishwell agrees that I keep control for five more years. WISHWELL    We're gonna have to set this down in writin. EMMA    There ain't no time fer writing now!   [sharp]  You say it!  Both of you! CARTLAND    Fine.  Melody!  If'n you can hear me, you listen.  I'm telling you, you can marry that... boy.  We got it all worked out at this end. WISHWELL    Wallace?  Fight Wallace!  You idjit, jumping in front of a bullet fer a girl!  But you can have her if you want her.  Izzat good? CARTLAND    You all gonna put down yer guns now? LEM    That sounds fine.  What you'all think? MELODY    [perfectly fine] I think it sounds good.  But I gotta have a real fine dress.  Understand? EMMA    [astonished] Melody?  MELODY    I'm all right. SULLIVAN    We're both just fine. WISHWELL    Well... Damn! CARTLAND    All right, somebody better start explaining. RED    Lem?  Lem? MUSIC SOUND    RIDING SLOWLY LEM    Much as I hate walkin the horses by moonlight-- FANSHAW    I do think it's best to get while the getting is good.  Do you think they will keep their promises? LEM    Got witnesses enough between Baker and Red. FANSHAW    Whatever happened to Hank? LEM    That was probly me - I think I suspected his belt buckle too loudly and he took fright. FANSHAW    Paid to tell a tale? LEM    Ayup. FANSHAW    Solomon to Prince Escalus in one step.  I'm impressed. LEM    What are you jabberin on about? FANSHAW    That back there was Romeo and Juliet, was it not? LEM    Mebbe just a little.  [beat] You ever done any of them plays? FANSHAW    Oh, yes.  School.  LEM    You gotta be the one in the dress?  Like you were sayin?  You got a voice that might could pass. FANSHAW    Oh... [dropping voice as low as possible] No.  Actually, I often was the lead.  I even played romeo.  I was rather good at learning lines.  Of course, someone always had to put on the dress.  Boys and girls do not attend school together - not our sort of boys and girls, anyway. LEM    Seems like puttin a hat on a pig. FANSHAW    No.  It's just "theater." END  

In their first serialized adventure {in 5 parts}, Lem and Fanshaw accompany a "studier of the supernatural" to face something they may never have seen before - a ghost ... or at least a ghost that can affect the "real world". Written and Produced by Julie Hoverson Cast List Lemuel Roberts /Deadeye Kid -  J. Spyder Isaacson Clarence Fanshaw -  J. Hoverson Dr. Sullivan - Michael Coleman  {Tales of the Extraordinary} Mr. Cartland - Reynaud LeBoeuf Emma Cartland - Jacquie Duckworth Melody Heath - Melissa Bartell Red - Jack Kincaid (Edict Zero) Hank - Mark Olson Clyde Wishwell - Bob Noble Mr. Baker - Paul Green  {Encyclopedia of Weird Westerns} Add'l voices by Gene Thorkildsen Cover Design:  Brett Coulstock [Old photos used to make Fanshaw purchased from www.recycledrelatives.com] Announcer:  Glen "Ole Hoss" Hallstrom Opening theme:  "The Wreck of Old '97" from public domain recording found on archive.org Any incidental music:  Kevin MacLeod (Incompetech.com) Editing and Sound:   Julie Hoverson -------  No gunshots herald his approach. No trademark left behind him when he leaves.  The Kid had his fill of notoriety in days gone by - as plenty of empty boots can surely testify.   Some say he rides alone.  That's the Deadeye Kid. **************************************************************** Haunting Melody Cast: [opening credits/Olivia] LEMuel Roberts - Spyder Clarence FANSHAW - julie Dr. SULLIVAN - Michael coleman Mr. CARTLAND - Mrs. EMMA Cartland - Jacquie Duckworth MELODY Heath - RED - HANK - CLYDE Wishwell - Bob Noble Mr. Baker, the real expert - Paul Greene OPENER OLD HOSS    No gunshots herald his approach.  No trademark left behind him when he leaves.  The Kid had his fill of notoriety in days gone by - as plenty of empty boots can surely testify.   Some say he rides alone.  That's the Deadeye Kid. CLOSER OLD HOSS    The lonely cowboy cliché, always riding out, heading... yonder.  Join us again in two weeks when he rides back over that far horizon.      MUSIC SOUND     BUCKBOARD, HORSES FANSHAW    [straining] I think I can just make out a structure of some sort. LEM    Not much further now. SULLIVAN    Excellent.  I am in your debt for all your help in getting me out here. LEM    Woulda been a mite easier if'n you were were saddled, stead of carted. Some of these ruts-- SULLIVAN     I've never been much of a horseman.  And this is a fairish wagon.  FANSHAW    Garish, rather. LEM    Well, I reckon it was cheap. SULLIVAN    Oh, yes.  They rented it to me at a very reasonable rate. FANSHAW    Ah, rented.  That explains why he has not repainted over the "Piewacket Players" placard on the side. SULLIVAN    I understand a couple of the actors are - um - incarcerated for some while.  Renting me the wagon and horses saved them board and stowage.  Everyone benefits. FANSHAW    Actually, some of these murals are rather good.  If the players are half as talented as their painter, it might be worth seeking out one of their performances. LEM    [dubious] I reckon. FANSHAW    [musing] King Lear.  Julius Caeser.  Romeo and Juliet.  [chuckles]  They seem to perform a lot of the classics.  Shakespeare. LEM    Mmm. FANSHAW    Did you know that in Shakespeare's day - some 250 years ago - it was illegal for women to perform on the stage? LEM    Hush. FANSHAW    Oh, Lem, do let me impart a little culture for once. LEM    [Annoyed grunt] FANSHAW    Particularly while you cannot argue.  As I was saying, back in the day, all the female parts were played by young men. SULLIVAN    Oh, goodness!  Look at that! LEM    [eager] Whatsat? SULLIVAN    That's an awfully steep hill up ahead.  You think the wagon can manage it? LEM    I reckon so, reverend. SULLIVAN    "Doctor", please.  I prefer it as an honorific. LEM    [puzzled] But you're a "man o' god"? SULLIVAN    And a man of science as well.  I firmly believe that the church cannot simply deny science, but must embrace it, and hand in hand we shall move forward into the next century! LEM    [dubious] A'right then. FANSHAW    Fervent, isn't he? SULLIVAN    Sorry.  I find I must defend myself constantly - both against those who find science and religion incompatible, and against those who pooh-pooh my branch of science entirely. LEM    Oh?  SULLIVAN    [defiant]  I have made a comprehensive study of the existence of ghosts. LEM    [choking back a cough]  OH. FANSHAW    Oh, dear. MUSIC MELODY    [off] [wailing, hysterics] SOUND    DOOR OPENS, WAILING UP CARTLAND    Don't that girl ever shut up? EMMA    Bart!  She swears she's being tormented. SOUND    DOOR SHUTS CARTLAND    Hysteria.  You women can't stop yourselves from being women, but the least you can do is keep quiet when a man wants to think. EMMA    What do you want me to do?  Lock her in a madhouse?  She's my own flesh and blood!  CARTLAND    Your sister is pitching a fit 'cause she ain't getting her own way.  Nothing more. EMMA    But what if it is something more? CARTLAND    I got that well in hand. EMMA    What?  How?  CARTLAND    Don't go questioning me, woman.  Where's my grub? MUSIC SULLIVAN    [pugnacious] Do you, or do you not believe in ghosts? FANSHAW    [short bark of a laugh] LEM    [dry]  I reckon I do. SULLIVAN     Many people believe that the supernatural is somehow at cross-purposes with the bible, but it isn't so.  Ever since Solomon, the wisest men in the good book studied the ways of the supernatural, in order to overcome it. LEM    Solomon.  Izzat the king fellow? FANSHAW    Famous for his wise judgment.  And not cutting up the baby. SULLIVAN    Traditionally, many have always believed that the dead may carry on, side by side with the living, unseen but always present. LEM    Ain't this more of a church question? SULLIVAN    What do you mean? LEM    Well, if you believe folks just hunker down once they passed on, then what you think of heaven? SULLIVAN    I don't believe every soul lingers.  Have you ever heard of Purgatory? FANSHAW    Oh, goodness. LEM    Ain't that a town in Nevada territory? SULLIVAN    In the bible, purgatory is a place where people who are not good enough to go to heaven nor evil enough to go directly to hell are judged. FANSHAW    Which bible, precisely? LEM    Guess I never got that far in bible learnin. SULLIVAN    It is the premise for all my theories that purgatory is not a place, but merely a "state"-- LEM    [playing dumb] Wyoming? [1890] FANSHAW    [grim] Ask him which bible. SULLIVAN    [trying not to get exasperated] --and that spirits that need to be redeemed, or to mend their ways, may in fact be "in purgatory" much like someone could be "in a foul temper" - right next to us. FANSHAW    Balderdash!  Utter rubbish! LEM    Looky there!  That should be the ranch now! MUSIC MELODY    [heavy breathing, end of crying jag] SOUND    TAP ON THE DOOR, DOOR OPENS EMMA    Melody?  Are you feeling a little better? MELODY    [sullen]  I been bit. EMMA    Bit?  By what?  A rat? MELODY    Come and look. EMMA    I'll fetch a lantern. MELODY    No! EMMA    Or open the shutters? MELODY    No!!  They don't like the light!  I kin only open them at night. EMMA    [very upset] oh.  What can I do to help? MELODY    [disheartened]  Nothing.  EMMA    Are you hungry?  There's some good stew. MELODY    I can't.  I just can't. EMMA    Here, show me that bite. MUSIC LEM    [quiet] What's gnawing on you? FANSHAW    I do not consider myself a particularly religious fellow, but if there is one thing I have found quite frustrating about the wide open west it is that so many people simply decide that they are experts on this or that subject, and other people believe them, for lack of any alternatives. LEM    Mm? FANSHAW    He claims to know the bible, but then he goes on about this spiritism nonsense.  And purgatory!  I may not be a divinity scholar but a childhood of churchgoing taught me that that is a catholic conceit, and he's got it wrong anyway.  Purgatory was where souls waited out a period of penance, while their friends and family prayed for their release.  LEM    How'd they know if they got out? FANSHAW    I believe the priests would tell them.  It always smacked of extortion to me. LEM    [laughs]  Well.  How's all this gonna make a damn lick of difference just now? FANSHAW    What?  LEM    Whatever it is he believes - it gonna change the price of oats? FANSHAW    [sigh]  No.  LEM    Good.  That's cleared up, then.  Road's widenin up, and we'll be alongside the wagon agin soon.  MUSIC EMMA    We need to send Melody somewhere.  If only you had let her marry-- CARTLAND    She's 16 - too damn young, and don't know her own mind. EMMA    I know, but if she was away-- CARTLAND    Dammit woman.  You are my wife, and I will not be argued with. EMMA    Of course.  [beat]  Something bit her. CARTLAND    Bit?  Like a snake? EMMA    The marks....um... they looked-- CARTLAND    Oh, just spit it out. EMMA    They looked like they were made by a man! MUSIC SOUND    THEY ARE STOPPED. HORSES, HARNESS, DISMOUNT, ETC. SULLIVAN    Thank you ever so much for helping me to find my way.  I'm not much of an outdoorsman.  Or horseman. FANSHAW    Nor much of a cleric, apparently. LEM    Right happy to help.  Why is it you were comin all the way out here in the first place?  [chuckles] Not to put on a play. SULLIVAN    [chuckles] It is rather a curious wagon, isn't it?  But I am afraid my job here is rather confidential. CARTLAND    [yelling from off] Is that the Reverend?  Get on in here!  SULLIVAN    [dithering] Oh, um I-- LEM    I'll look to your horses.  You get along. SULLIVAN    Excellent.  FANSHAW    I don't like him.  LEM    You don' like his views. FANSHAW    They're gibberish! LEM    'Zat anythin like folderol?  [serious]  Why'n't you go on in and see what brand o' folderol he's spinnin to the good folks inside. FANSHAW    [stiff upper lip] I shall try and keep my temper. LEM    [muttered] Tryin never hurt no one. SOUND    A FEW MOMENTS OF UNHARNASSING, THEN SUDDEN TUSSLE, RED GRABS LEM AND SLAMS HIM INTO THE WALL OF THE BARN SOUND    HORSES ANNOYED, SHYING SOUND    GUN COCKS RED    [snarled] The Deadeye Kid. MUSIC SOUND    FANSHAW ENTERS CARTLAND    --convince her it ain't nothing but temper! EMMA    But the bite! SULLIVAN    A bite?  EMMA    She looks like she was bit, bad. CARTLAND    There's no way anyone could get in there and bite her. SULLIVAN    It isn't unheard of. FANSHAW    A bite? CARTLAND    [suspicious] Really? EMMA    See! SULLIVAN    Manifestations have demonstrated their ability to affect the material world in any number of ways. FANSHAW    [suspicious] Oh.  Do tell? CARTLAND    There's a simple answer for this.  She bit her own damn self.  She pulls one more shenanigan, and I'm taking a strap to the damn girl. EMMA    Never!  Our father wouldn't-- CARTLAND    He shoulda!  If your sister weren't spoiled, we wouldn't have to have this idjit in. SULLIVAN    Sir!  I am well respected in-- CARTLAND    [furious, overbearing] You are here to prove this ain't nothing but women's hysteria and a mulish girl's temper.  EMMA    But if it is something else? FANSHAW    What do you think it may be, I wonder? CARTLAND    Either she's doing this to herself, or she's plumb loco.  Which way do you prefer?  She's your flesh and blood. SOUND    BEHIND DOOR - CRASH MELODY    [screams] [BREAK]   MUSIC RED    What the hell are you doing here? LEM    Do I... know you? RED    Mebbe not, but I know you.  You're the Deadeye Kid. LEM    [resigned] Who'd I kill, that yer so riled about? RED    What in tarnation is wrong with you? LEM    Aside from being slammed up agin a barn, with iron in my face, nuttin comes to mind. RED    I'us there in Carson City.  Five years ago.  Watched you take down Iron John Sandoval. LEM    [after a pause]  And? RED    Saw how fast y'are.  Hmph.  Used to be. LEM    Mmm? RED    [offended]  You din't even see me comin. LEM    My mind was took up with sumpin else. SOUND    HAMMER EASES BACK RED    You should vamoose.  This ain't no place for them as has lost their edge. LEM    You might wanna back off a piece. RED    Whyzzat?  Can't look me in the face and admit you're getting old? LEM    My gun hand's starting to cramp up sumpin fierce, and I cain't ease down til you pull your cohones off'n the barrel.  RED    You - what?  [looking down, gasps] LEM    Right shame to shave your stumps - seein as we're all compadres now. SOUND    BACKS OFF SOUND    HAMMER DOWN, GUN INTO HOLSTER, SLAP ON THE BACK LEM    You look like a man that might could use a drink.  MUSIC SOUND    HORSES, BARN SOUND    FANSHAW ENTERS FANSHAW    I say, Lem?  Are you alone? LEM    Lessen you wanna chat with the hosses. FANSHAW    What do you really think of this fellow? LEM    From yer tone, I'm guessin you mean the reverend - doctor. FANSHAW    Ye-ess. LEM    I figger he's harmless.  Cain't actually know a lick about all's he's talkin about. FANSHAW    Right.  [beat]  Do you ever wonder? LEM    I wonder alla time.  Any particular wonderin yer wonderin about? FANSHAW    About this.  About spirits.  About good and evil. LEM    Never reckoned on em hitched like'at.  FANSHAW    You don't think of ghosts as being somehow inherent wicked? LEM    You havin a crisis of faith?  I reckon jest like with anyone, only you can know if you're evil. FANSHAW    I - well, I don't mean myself, I suppose.  LEM    [teasing]  So you think you're better than e'rbody else. FANSHAW    No.  I don't know.  LEM    What brought all this on? FANSHAW    From what I observed in the house, there may be an argument here for an evil spirit of some sort. LEM    And? FANSHAW    And?  And what?  LEM    Spirits're just as evil or saintly as the folks they used to be.  Don't make no nevermind to no one but me. FANSHAW    I mean an evil spirit with ... powers. LEM    [sure] Ain't no such thing. FANSHAW    Are you so very certain? MUSIC SOUND    OUTSIDE, WALKING LEM    I ain't never seen no spirit could touch nothin in the real world. FANSHAW    Neither have I, but what if there is? LEM    We do whatever we gots to. SOUND    FEET APPROACH RED    [coming in] Kid! LEM    [sigh]  Just Lem, if'n you please. RED    Oh, drat.  Right.  You done with them horses? LEM    Tucked up tight.  You ast about the job? FANSHAW    Job? RED    Mr. Cartland's right happy to have another hand, even if you don't plan on staying fer long.  With all that's been a-going on-- LEM    What all is it that's been a-goin on? FANSHAW    Evil spirits. LEM    Is it what's been drivin off all your help? RED    Come on, let's getcha some grub.  Hank'll be pleased to have someone new to jaw to. MUSIC SOUND    KITCHEN, EATING SOUND    DOOR OPENS HANK    Red. RED    Hank.  This is Lem.  Come in with the doctor fella. LEM    Hank. HANK    You work for the reverend? RED    He's-- LEM    I work fer jest about anyone as needs me.  Doctor needed a guide. RED    Lem's gonna help out round here fer a while. LEM    Long as the doc's on hand, might as well make myself useful. HANK    Did you tell him what's going on?  What cleared us out? RED    Here, have a plate of stew, Lem.  I'm sure Hank can tell it better'n me. HANK    [uncertain] Oh, I--- RED    He actually saw it. LEM    Saw what? HANK    That girl.  She's possessed! LEM    Possessed of what? HANK    No!  Possessed!  Taken over by an evil spirit! LEM    [considering] I don't figger I put much stock in such things.  Ain't no other explanation? HANK    What else could explain how I - I saw a strange light in her window late at night-- LEM    What were you doin' out? HANK    [thrown off] What?  I was - uh - having a smoke. LEM    She a good-lookin' girl?  Apart from whatever travail she's in? HANK    That ain't the point.  I was off a ways and saw a light.  It din't look natural.  So I went closer to see. LEM    How high's this window? HANK    I don't know!  Chest-high, I s'pose.  But I sawr everything!  [yarning]  Right from the first, I was froze to the spot.  Couldn't look away.  In this strange blueish colored light, there was something flyin back and forth across the room-- LEM    A bird? HANK    No!  A cushion or a hat or something - something that had no damn business flyin! LEM    [mild amazement] Oh! HANK    And then I saw the girl herself crawling about the floor like an animal.  LEM    Mebbe she dropped sumpin. HANK    But it weren't natural!  You can explain away one thing after another, but that light won't never look right. LEM    I meant no disrespect, just know how late at night moonlight can be a bit mazy.  Can make things look wrong way round and bigger than life. HANK    Well, this weren't out in the moonlight - it was in her room. LEM    Right.  HANK    You ain't a-scared? LEM    I'm a bit behind when it comes to afearin things.  Got to see sumpin for myself before I can work up to gooseflesh.  Yerself? HANK    I'm pert near hightailing it out of here, I tell you what.  One more night like that and you'll be seeing the back of me. RED    Ain't likely, Hank old hoss.  You relish the tellin of your tall tales too much to miss a chance fer another one. MUSIC CARTLAND    It's pure mulishness, is what it is.  The girl wanted to marry, and I said no. SULLIVAN    You're surely not her father, though? CARTLAND    Father's passed on.  I ain't blood, but I married her sister and that makes me the lawful man of the house and head of this family.  She gots to understand that. EMMA    I still think-- CARTLAND    Regardless of whether she's old enough to marry, I wan't about to let her run off to the damn Wishwells and take half the ranch with her. EMMA    Our father left us even shares. FANSHAW    Hmm.  And that man married yours. SULLIVAN    Ah.  I should talk to the girl, now. MUSIC HANK    Well.  SOUND    SLAPS THIGHS, GETS UP HANK    That hay won't pitch itself.  Care to lend a hand, feller? LEM    Lem.  I-- RED    I need him yet fer a mite.  I'll send him along when we're through. LEM    That's a mighty fine looking belt buckle you got there, Hank.  Turquoise? HANK    Yup.  LEM    And silver.  [musing] Mighty fine. SOUND    WALKS OUT DOOR LEM    Why d'you stay, Red? RED    Been with Mr. Cartland for nigh on 10 years. Since before he married the missus.  Fact is, that was when we came through Carson City. LEM    You friends? RED    Nah, he ain't one fer making friends of the hands.  But he's fair.  Hard, but fair.   LEM    Now tell me.  [a bit humorous] Apart from having the nerve of a grizzly, why ain't you scairt? RED    I plumb don't feel it.  Whatever's a-going on with the girl, it don't hit me here.  You ken? LEM    I reckon. RED    It's like ... play actors.  They can make you like the story, but they cain't never make it real. LEM    Gotta good solid head on them shoulders, Red.  I purpose to find out what all's transpirin here, and if'n yer strapped fer it, I'd shore thank'ee kindly for any help. RED    [admiring] You ain't lost none of yer sand, have ya? LEM    I reckon the wind's just blowin it in the right direction these days. MUSIC SOUND    DOOR CREAKS OPEN SULLIVAN    Young lady?  MELODY    [very tired and small sounding] Who's there? CARTLAND    It's the feller gonna tell you what a liar you been. EMMA    Husband! CARTLAND    Go on then.  Tell her. EMMA    I'll open them shutters. MELODY    No! EMMA     Just a crack!  It's fair dark in here! SOUND    FEET, SHUTTERS SULLIVAN    Sir!  I must insist on being able to interview the girl in relative peace! CARTLAND    I ain't a-stopping you. SULLIVAN    You must be quiet and leave the girl to answer for herself. EMMA    Please! CARTLAND    [somewhat subdued]  Go on. SULLIVAN    Miss Heath, your lady sister has told me some of your symptoms, but I would like to hear them from you.  What is your chief complaint? MELODY    They never let me sleep! FANSHAW    [far corner] Poor girl does look tired. CARTLAND    Nor us out here!  I ain't had a good night through in weeks. SULLIVAN     [sharp] Shh!  [calm]  They?  Who are "they"? MELODY    You won't believe me any more than anyone else does. CARTLAND    Hmph. SULLIVAN    I believe a great many things.  Pray, humor me. MELODY    They come at night, and pinch me.  Pinch my arms and legs - all over!  And one bit me - See here! CARTLAND    You bit your own damn self! MELODY    [whimpers] SULLIVAN    Sir!  Would you be kind enough to leave?  As long as you insist on berating the poor girl, she will never be calm enough to tell me all her troubles. CARTLAND    Fine.  Come on, woman. SOUND    DOOR ROUGHLY OPENS EMMA    Shouldn't I stay?  For decency's sake? CARTLAND    Man's a holy father, even if he is a soft-headed idjet.  Whatcha think he might do? EMMA    I suppose. MELODY    I'll call if I need help! EMMA    You do that. SOUND    DOOR SHUTS MUSIC SOUND    MOVING THROUGH UNDERBRUSH RED    From his yarn, Hank was right about'chere when he saw the lights. LEM    Hard to reckon what this'ud look like in full dark.  What'us the moon like? RED    Middling, round about. LEM    Hmm.  And that'ud be the window? RED    Yup.  Though way Hank tells it, it was full open when he was looking. LEM    [surprised] Oh! RED    What? LEM    Let's fade back a bit.  Don't want anyone to spy us. RED    Why?  Mm?  [sees] Oh! MUSIC [BREAK]   AMB    OUTDOORS FANSHAW    There you are!  I've just witnessed the most appalling-- RED    Did we really see what I think we jest saw? LEM    I'm afeared so.  RED    That varmint!  Taking advantage of a nice-- LEM    She din't look "put out" to me.  Any fired-up on her part weren't the angry kind, if you catch me. FANSHAW    [sarcastic] Oh.  So you saw it too.  How useful am I? LEM    Mighty useful.  [slightly different] To know that sumpin's up with them.  Looked like they knowed each other afore this. RED    I guess you could safely say that. FANSHAW    I tactfully took my leave. SOUND    HOOFBEATS APPROACH RED    Who in tarnation?  Damn!  LEM    What? RED    [heavy import] That's Clyde Wishwell and his boys! MUSIC SOUND    TAP ON DOOR EMMA    Doctor?  Is everything all right in there? SULLIVAN    [within] Yes!  Quite.  SOUND    FOOTSTEPS APPROACH THEIR SIDE OF DOOR SULLIVAN    [within]  I have all I need for the moment. SOUND    DOOR OPENS SULLIVAN    [cautious] Is your husband ...nearby? EMMA    He had to step out. SULLIVAN    [relieved]  Ah. EMMA    I have the guest room ready for you.  Your drover can bunk with the men. SULLIVAN    My--?  Oh, yes.  That fellow.  My guide.  SOUND    STEPS OUT, CLOSES DOOR EMMA    Is she...  Is she going to be all right, sir? SULLIVAN    I think this will take some time, but yes.  I believe she can be saved. EMMA    Saved?  You talk like she's ailing! SULLIVAN    [serious] She is.  It is an ailment of the soul. MUSIC SOUND    GENERAL DISMOUNTING, ETC. CARTLAND    [barely concealed hostility]  Wishwell. WISHWELL    Mr. Cartland.  I hope you don't mind the intrusion? CARTLAND    What do you want? WISHWELL    We found a fellow lost on our property, claims he'us supposed to be coming here.  We decided to give him an escort. BAKER    [a bit too much swagger]  Yes, yes.  Many thanks.  You may go ahead and leave. WISHWELLS MEN    [annoyed muttering] CARTLAND    Who the devil are you? BAKER    You sent for me.  WISHWELL    He was mighty tight about his business with you, Mr. Cartland.  I'm right curious. BAKER    That is between Mr. Cartland and myself.  Are you waiting around for a reason?  I could-- SOUND    COINS RATTLE WISHWELL    [civility slipping] No need, sir!  I reckon a man does you a good turn, seeing you to your destination, rather than shooting your backside fulla buckshot as a trespasser, he deserves a bit of an explanation! CARTLAND    Yeah.  Explain. BAKER    [exasperated] Very well.  I am the ghost expert you sent away for. MUSIC AMB    OUT BACK LEM    Why'm I all of a sudden smellin a rat? FANSHAW    You mean Sullivan's obvious "familiarity" with young miss Heath? LEM    Biggest rat I seen recently. RED    You think they got somethin "on" between them? LEM    I'm wondrin has anyone actually clapped eyes on the fellow she got her heart pinned to. RED    How'd you hear about that? FANSHAW    Damn! LEM    [calm] I just hear things. RED    Oh.  But it was one of the Wishwells she was a-hankerin after.  FANSHAW    And the Wishwells just rode in.  Perhaps we should go and take a look at the other side of this little chess match. LEM    Lets go get us a look at the Wishwells. RED    Right. FANSHAW    I'll stay in the house - keep an eye on the courting. MUSIC CARTLAND    YOU'RE the expert?  Then who the devil we got inside?  [yelling over his shoulder] Emma! BAKER    [smug] Well, I can't help you there, I'm no clairvoyant - merely a seeker after truth in the field of spiritualism. WISHWELL    [a bit worried] Really?  Hmm. SOUND    DOOR OPENS, EMMA COMES ONTO PORCH EMMA    What is it?  Oh!  Comp'ny! CARTLAND    They ain't compny, they's Wishwells.  Get that city slicker out here.  We got a bit of a branding problem here. BAKER    Are you implying there's someone here claiming to be me? CARTLAND    Someone here's claiming something, but I don't know which of you it might be. SOUND    SWITCH OF PERSPECTIVE, FEET APPROACHING - RED AND LEM BAKER    [off a bit] I have credentials and letters of recommendation. RED    That's Ezekial Wishwell, in the tan hat.  He's a big rancher over t'other side of the valley. LEM    And if one of his marries that Miss, inside- RED    Reckon he'll get his hands on her half of the ranch here. LEM    Hmm. SOUND    FADING BACK TO CARTLAND's POV WISHWELL    You sent off for a ghost hunter, and you cain't even remember his name? CARTLAND    I contacted him through some damn psychical society in the newspaper out of Carson city.  BAKER    Yes.  Precisely.  The "friends in passing". CARTLAND    And it's bad enough I gotta do such a damn fool thing just so's I can put my wife's mind at rest about her damn fool sister-- SOUND    DOOR OPENS, FEET ON PORCH EMMA    Here he is. SULLIVAN    You needed me for something? [FADING BACK TO LEM] WISHWELL    Whatcha gonna do with two of them? SULLIVAN    Two of who? BAKER    Is that the imposter? EMMA    What? RED    It's the doggonest thing I ever heered of! LEM    It's a wonder, sure enough. FANSHAW    They've vacated the - ahem - bedroom.  RED    You think there's gonna be a fight?  Dunno that them two guys would make much of a scrap - that first one's too prissy and citified, and the other's kind of a runt.  But it might be something to see. LEM    I need a chance to palaver. FANSHAW    This might explain the idiotic views of Sullivan - I mean, if he is the imposter. LEM    [muttered] People can be thick as two thumbs and still ain't liars.  Happens all th'time. SOUND    FADING BACK TO CARTLAND RED    Whazzat? LEM    Trying to logic out which might be the one sposed to be here. FANSHAW    Oh, there's the girl! SOUND    BARE FEET ON WOODEN PORCH [argument that runs under above] SULLIVAN    I am an ordained minister, sir, of the church of the holy seekers after truth! BAKER    That hack cabal?  They wouldn't know a phantom from an apparition.  I have trained with the most respectable societies in the British Isles! SULLIVAN    Hidebound stick-in-the-muds! BAKER    Newfangled snot-nosed infants, tampering with forces outside your ken! SULLIVAN    Infants!  I'll have you know-- SOUND    MELODY'S BARE FEET RUN OUT ONTO THE DIRT MELODY    Stop!  Please!  [scream of terror, some thrashing about] CARTLAND    What the devil? SULLIVAN    Quickly, bring some warm tea, and a cold compress, if you have one. EMMA    Yes!  SOUND    SHE DASHES INTO THE HOUSE BAKER    Stay back!  The girl is under attack. WISHWELL    Looks like some kind of fit. CARTLAND    Fit o' temper.  Get up, girl! SOUND    FEET ENTER LEM    Mr. Cartland, might could I drop a word in your ear? CARTLAND    Who the hell are you?  Oh, right, you come in with the preacher - maybe preacher. LEM    Something you need to know. FANSHAW    Are you planning to tell him about the assignation?  He'll do something terrible to that poor girl - you've seen how beastly he is to her. LEM    I know you're looking after the best interests of your family here. FANSHAW    He threatened to beat her! CARTLAND    I do what I gotta. FANSHAW    Even if she is feigning all of this, surely she doesn't deserve-- LEM    And I can tell you're purt near your wits end. CARTLAND    zat so? LEM    I think you done took more than most men can take, so I don't fault you none for flyin off the handle.  I might could have an answer for all this. CARTLAND    [interested] Really? LEM    Yup.  It was somethin that Sullivan fellow said regarding the bible. CARTLAND    [disbelieving] Really? LEM    Once they get this little dustup sorted, mebbe could I try something?  CARTLAND    What you planning? LEM    I promise you, I don't reckon no one'll get hurt - leastways not bad - but beyond that, can't tell you much or it'll fall flat.  CARTLAND    Is this some of this spiritual hoodoo manure? LEM    Well, let's say I'm gonna connive them into believin it is. CARTLAND    Hmm...  [chuckle]  Go on, then. MUSIC EMMA    She's settled again, but she keeps tossing and a-turning. CARTLAND    [calmer]  If I'm right, and she's just doing this all out of pique, what do you think should be done?  You really think us going on and giving in is gonna make everything all right? EMMA    Me?  I--  but it's too drastic to be-- CARTLAND    I ain't asking if you think she's making it all up, just what you reckon we should oughtta do if she is. EMMA    Oh.  [pacing]  Well.  It's a terrible thing she's doing - if she's doing it.  But it can't be easy on her, either.  All them hurts she's took. CARTLAND    Lotta effort to make you feel sorry for her. EMMA    If she's faking, then wouldn't the reverend know it? CARTLAND    Stick to the question at hand. EMMA    You're much less riled than you been in days - do you know something? CARTLAND    With two doctor types on hand, how can I not see a light at the end of this here tunnel? EMMA    Oh. CARTLAND    [almost gentle]  I'm waiting. EMMA    I agree - we can't, in good conscience, let her get her way through these kinds of shenanigans - always assuming she's-- CARTLAND    Yes, yes.  We're assuming. EMMA    But what can we do for punishment?  Lock her away?  I couldn't bear that. CARTLAND    What'choo think about schooling? EMMA    What? CARTLAND    Send her off to school - back east or somewheres where rich folks send their girls, and take the cost of the schooling out of her half the ranch.  We'll call it bail. EMMA    It would keep her away from the Wishwells.  And it would get her away from-- CARTLAND    Us?  EMMA    [sigh] Yes. MUSIC LEM    I may not have the booklearnin y'all have, but I did have me a granny who did midwifing and could see and talk to all manner of spirits. SULLIVAN    Really?  How ...rustic BAKER    You should never pooh-pooh the lay folk.  Many have toiled in the fields of the supernatural without even realizing they did. Back home in-- SULLIVAN    Of course, it is only a pity that so often they were seen as enemies of the church and persecuted, rather than embraced and put to good works. FANSHAW    Good gad, they're even worse in harmony. LEM    Well, Granny once told me of a sure cure for a plague of spirits. BAKER    Oh yes? FANSHAW    Watch out, he'll write a monograph on your granny.  Did you really have one? LEM    O'course.  It ain't easy, and it ain't exactly safe.  But when the only other path is being ridden round with spirits all your life, it's sometimes a risk you gots to take. SULLIVAN    Dangerous? LEM    O'course.  You got to make the spirits flee outta the afflicted one, and t'only way to do it is to convince them you're about to kill that person. SULLIVAN    [horrified] KILL? BAKER    That makes a strange sort of sense. LEM    Best ways are violent.  You cain't sneak up behind 'em, since half the convincin has to be that the one what's afflicted gots to believe it.  FANSHAW    Mention the flagellants in the bible.  They used whips to cleanse themselves of-- SULLIVAN    But we can't - that-that poor girl! BAKER    I am not certain I could do it myself, but I would be most interested in observing. LEM    Oh, I can do it.  You two should oughta  make sure no one else gets in the way, though. SULLIVAN    But you wouldn't really hurt her? LEM    I s'pose it depends.  Sometimes, the spirits are figurin you wouldn't really hurt no one, and they hang on for the first hurt or two.  Like them fellas that whip themselves bloody right there in the bible. SULLIVAN    [horrified] Oh no!  I can't let you do that to any poor defenseless woman. LEM    Don't think it's your choice to make, old hoss.  BAKER    As long as she is afflicted, it will have to be dealt with. SULLIVAN    Let me try something else, first!  I might have a way to-- LEM    That's right fine.  We'll come along and observe your way. SULLIVAN    No!  It's -- it has to be performed in total secrecy. LEM    Cain't hide from the spirits, though. FANSHAW    I take the hint. BAKER    You should be grateful for the help. SULLIVAN    Leave me alone for a minute!  I have to - to pray! SOUND    WALKS OFF FAST LEM    [almost a chuckle] BAKER    What got into him? FANSHAW    I think he truly cares for the girl. LEM    A mighty old spirit indeed. MUSIC [BREAK]   EMMA    They're gonna hurt her? CARTLAND    They don't think it will come to much.  Just enough to scare the spirits out of her. EMMA    Melody's my sister - I cain't just let them beat her! CARTLAND    [trying to be comforting] Don't sound like there's any other way they're gonna manage this.  [beat] This feller sounds like he knows what he's doing. EMMA    [incredulous] Sounds like he--?  How can you say that? CARTLAND    [curt]  I will stop him before he does anything too... drastic.  EMMA    You got no fine feelings about seeing her hurt.  You would have-- CARTLAND    [getting annoyed] I'da punished her, yeah.  Now get out my way.  I'm done talkin! MUSIC RED    Lem, over here a minute. LEM    [queit] Yeah? [up]  Mister Baker, why don't you see if the lady of the house might be able to find you a spot to sleep tonight?  BAKER    And that charlatan? LEM    Doctor Sullivan?  You let me handle him.  Oh, and - sunset.  That's the time to deal with ghosts. BAKER    Sunset? LEM    So says my gran. BAKER    Right.  I am quite interested to see how this goes. SOUND    BAKER WALKS OFF LEM    Sorry about that. RED    What are you up to? LEM    Takin a tip from the bible.  You with me? RED    Spect so.  WISHWELL    Could I have a word with you, sir? LEM    [sigh] Spect so. MUSIC SOUND    TAPPING ON WOOD [Sullivan sounds very different, western, rather than citified, and is speaking quietly, to avoid being overheard] SULLIVAN    Melody?  Melody? FANSHAW    Hmph.  Praying indeed.  I would say he's rather old for her, but that moustache doesn't do much to hide a cheek that's barely seen a  razor. SULLIVAN    Please, Mel, honey! SOUND    TEENSY CREAK OPEN MELODY    Wallace?  You shouldn't be out there! FANSHAW    Wallace?  SULLIVAN    I had to come!  Everything's falling apart. MELODY    What do you mean? SULLIVAN    They've got some cockamamie scheme, and sounds like they're planning to hurt you.  Maybe bad. MELODY    Emma'd never let them do that! SULLIVAN    There's enough people here got no patience left, I doubt but that she couldn't stop them.  Can't you turn this? MELODY    It's got away from me!  What can I do? SULLIVAN    Maybe just say you're cured? MELODY    And then what?  That leaves me here with folks that hate me and no chance o'nothin'?  No chance of... us?  I'll die first! SULLIVAN    I'll try and come up with something.  But if it comes down to it, stop them before they hurt you.  Please promise you will! MELODY    [grim] I'll do what I gotta do. MUSIC WISHWELL    What you fixing to do, sir? LEM    Come sunset, I'll take drastic measures to free that girl from her torment. WISHWELL    You sound like you might have to kill her. LEM    I'm sure the reverend - uh - doctor sullivan can speak you best on torment and the afterlife.  He's got a nose fer it. WISHWELL    But what exactly are you planning to do? FANSHAW    Don't turn round.  Sullivan is lurking.  LEM    [sigh]  I hate to see anyone in pain.  But sometimes, ain't no choice.  If'n there's a spirit a-punishin that child, it ain't gon be easy to spook it out.  I may have to shoot her. SOUND    [men - including RED, WISHWELL, react]  LEM    [matter of fact] Don't worry none, though.  I once shot a man eight times - a'purpose - and he din't die.  [shrug] Can't use one hand no more, but apart from that he all healed up jest fine. WISHWELL    [horrified] And Cartland's gonna let you go on and do this? LEM    I get the feeling that if his wife would allow, he'd do it hisself - he's that plumb wore out with the girl. WISHWELL    And what if we all decide to stop you? LEM    I don't see as how it's any of your business. SOUND    GUNS OUT WISHWELL    [sterner] And what if we all decide to stop you? SOUND    SHOTGUN COCKS CARTLAND    [off]  I think mebbe it's time fer you to get along home, then, Wishwell. SOUND    GUNS UP WISHWELL    [forces laugh]  We were just looking out for your best interests, Cartland.  Have you heard?  This here fellow is fixing to shoot your sister. CARTLAND    Well, something's gotta be done with the girl.  FANSHAW    Is he serious, or did you have a chance to warn him? LEM    Glad to see you took my counsel serious, Mr. Cartland. FANSHAW    Ah.  CARTLAND    And now Wishwell, you and your boys can take my counsel - Git! WISHWELL    I'll be telling the sheriff about these goings on.  CARTLAND    You do that.  Sunset's about an hour away - you won't get there and back by then.  And I figure this way.  If my wife's sister can be bit by ghosts, maybe she can get shot by them too.  Ain't no one here gonna say otherwise, once all's said and done. MUSIC SOUND    TAPPING ON SHUTTER MELODY    Wallace? FANSHAW    [explaining] That's Sullivan. SOUND    TAPPING LEM    [indistinguishable grunt] MELODY    Wallace? SOUND    SHUTTER CREAKS OPEN MELODY    Are you-- [gasp of fear!] LEM    You want to talk to me, girl.  And you want to stay quiet. MELODY    My sister is jest in the next room. LEM    I know.  And I ain't askin fer nothin improper.  Cartland's got Sullivan sewed up in argument fer the moment, so I got one chance for you. MELODY    Chance?  Fer what? LEM    Wallace.  You in love with the boy, or jest lookin fer a way out from under your folks? MELODY    We're in love.  LEM    You want him more than you want your share of the ranch? MELODY    [teensy hesitation]  Yes. LEM    And would he and his take you without you had that parcel to offer? MELODY    He would.  LEM    And his pa out there?  Mr. Wishwell? MELODY    [gasp] You know? LEM    I know a lotta things.  F'r'instance, tonight's gonna be an interestin night.  MUSIC FANSHAW    So if they're genuinely in love -- LEM    I think they are.  He's plumb torn up about the chance as she might get hurt.  Mebbe she's not so worried, but she seems true. FANSHAW    Then this is just like Shakespeare - Romeo and juliet.  Families opposed to one another, romance between the younger generation. LEM    'Zat give us any aid with sorting out this rats nest? FANSHAW    Well, they both died.  So I guess not. LEM    Hmm.  Plays. FANSHAW    What are you thinking? LEM    Well... I was playing at solomon.  Threatnin the girl to bring out-- FANSHAW    [realizing] The real-- Yes!  I've got it.  Jolly clever. LEM    I'm thinkin mebbe I got the wrong baby. FANSHAW    The wrong what? MUSIC In house CARTLAND    Can't be long now. EMMA    You won't let him really hurt her, will you? CARTLAND    [gentle] Emma.  He promised he wouldn't.  We have to convince her he would, though.  She gots to believe it. EMMA    Why? CARTLAND    If she's faking, she has to cry off.  If she ain't... well... he says the spirits gotta be convinced she's gonna die, so they'll haveta leave. EMMA    Oh.  I see.  Thank you. CARTLAND    [uncomfortable]   Right.  Just find us one of them schools, woudja? MUSIC OUTSIDE LEM    [talking to a crowd] Much as it pains me to have to do this, um, I reckon there ain't no way to solve this problem til we drive out the spirits here. BAKER    Where is the girl? LEM    She's a coming. SOUND    DOOR OPENS LEM    Speak of the devil. SOUND    SEVERAL PEOPLE WALKING OUT ON WOOD MELODY    Please!  What are you going to do? SULLIVAN    I protest!  I don't think this is safe! LEM    [muttered] We got any other company? FANSHAW    The wishwells never went very far.  Just out of sight, then circled back.  They're behind the barn. LEM    Good. FANSHAW    Red appears to be in his allotted position.  Hank is nowhere to be seen. LEM    Hmph.  [up]  Get on over here miss. MELODY    I'm scared! CARTLAND    It gots to be done. EMMA    Be strong, Melody. FANSHAW    No arguments?  Hmm.  I sense a reconciliation in the family. LEM    Harmony ain't no bad thing. FANSHAW    Rather goes with melody, actually. MELODY     What is it you plan to do? LEM    Gon' drive the evil sprits out.  Need you to stand right here, miss.  Don't move a muscle.  You got me? MELODY    Emma!  I don't want to do this! EMMA    Melody, there ain't no choice.  Not no more. SULLIVAN     I agree with the young lady - I feel this is too dangerous. MELODY    Dangerous?  Wh-what's a-going to happen? CARTLAND    [commanding but not being mean] Stand still, and let the man do his work. LEM    All y'all back on the porch now, if'n you please. SOUND    FEET LEM    Now miss, if you'll hold yerself real still. MELODY    I'll do my best. SOUND    GUNSHOT, HITS WOOD MELODY    [screams!]   [break?] EMMA    Be careful! MELODY    What did you do that for?  LEM    I'm shooting the ghosts.  That's why you gotta hold real still. SOUND    GUNSHOT MELODY     [gasp]  You nearly hit me! FANSHAW    The wishwells are getting closer. LEM    Good. SOUND    THREE GUNSHOTS MELODy    [scream of pain!] EMMA    What's that?  You said you wouldn't hurt her!  Is that blood? LEM    That's jest splinters.  Stay back. SOUND    TWO GUNSHOTS MELODY    [scream] SULLIVAN    Nooooooooo! SOUND    RUNNING FEET, SLOW MO SOUND    GUNSHOT SULLIVAN    [argh!  Death rattle] MELODy    [scream, death rattle] FANSHAW    [dry] Two with one shot.  Oh my. EMMA    [screaming] SOUND    RUNNING FEET LEM    Mr. Cartland, hold your wife.  Mr. Baker? BAKER    [flustered] um, um - yes. LEM    You got any doctoring? BAKER    Yes, yes, of course.  I'll check on them. WISHWELL    [coming roaring in]  Nooo! CARTLAND    What the devil you doing here, Wishwell? LEM    Stay back, there.  Let the doctor do his business. WISHWELL    Wallace!  Damn you, you sidewinder!  You are a dead man! SOUND    GUNS DRAW WISHWELL    You ain't steppin in this time, Cartland! CARTLAND    If I just saw what just happened, you kin have him. LEM    [Unconcerned]  Afore you start throwin lead, mebbe you two should take some of the blame on yerselves. CARTLAND    What? WISHWELL    You can go to blazes! LEM    If you two weren't such prickly porcupines on the subject of them kids getting married, none of this woulda ever happened. CARTLAND    That's who she wanted to marry?  And he's a wishwell? WISHWELL    He's my youngest, you son of a buzzard.  Sent him off back east to school, make a better man of him.  And now all that's ashes. CARTLAND    He ain't a reverend, then? FANSHAW    Goodness, they're a bit slow. LEM    Hush, now!  Now you two can be joined in your misery, like you might have been joined by them kids.  Only damn fool you gotta hate now is me. CARTLAND    He ain't said they're dead.  Doctor? BAKER    [calling] I'm doing what I can. WISHWELL    My son?  Is he still with us? LEM    Hold it. SOUND    GUN COCKS WISHWELL    You stay out my way. SOUND    SHOTGUN RACKED RED    I think you better drop that gun Mr. Wishwell. CARTLAND    I'll go and-- RED    No, sir.  You wait too.  With all due respect. LEM    If them kids survive this, you let em marry? CARTLAND    They're too young.  She is, anyway. [don't forget the bit about sullivan not being as old as the moustasche and beard make him look] WISHWELL    You just don't wanna lose half the ranch. CARTLAND    I got plans for that half the ranch.  I got it planned right up til she comes of age. LEM    Mebbe if they can marry, she can leave you in charge til she comes of age.  Let you carry through your plans. EMMA    None of this matters!  Let me go to my sister! RED    Lem? LEM    Give em sumpin to live for, you two.  Make this up.  Tell them they ain't gotta be dead to be together. WISHWELL    You think that would help? LEM    I been near dead once or twice, and havin hope is a mighty fine thing. EMMA    Bart?  Please let her, Bart!  If you don't care to give Melody some hope, give me some! CARTLAND    If Wishwell agrees that I keep control for five more years. WISHWELL    We're gonna have to set this down in writin. EMMA    There ain't no time fer writing now!   [sharp]  You say it!  Both of you! CARTLAND    Fine.  Melody!  If'n you can hear me, you listen.  I'm telling you, you can marry that... boy.  We got it all worked out at this end. WISHWELL    Wallace?  Fight Wallace!  You idjit, jumping in front of a bullet fer a girl!  But you can have her if you want her.  Izzat good? CARTLAND    You all gonna put down yer guns now? LEM    That sounds fine.  What you'all think? MELODY    [perfectly fine] I think it sounds good.  But I gotta have a real fine dress.  Understand? EMMA    [astonished] Melody?  MELODY    I'm all right. SULLIVAN    We're both just fine. WISHWELL    Well... Damn! CARTLAND    All right, somebody better start explaining. RED    Lem?  Lem? MUSIC SOUND    RIDING SLOWLY LEM    Much as I hate walkin the horses by moonlight-- FANSHAW    I do think it's best to get while the getting is good.  Do you think they will keep their promises? LEM    Got witnesses enough between Baker and Red. FANSHAW    Whatever happened to Hank? LEM    That was probly me - I think I suspected his belt buckle too loudly and he took fright. FANSHAW    Paid to tell a tale? LEM    Ayup. FANSHAW    Solomon to Prince Escalus in one step.  I'm impressed. LEM    What are you jabberin on about? FANSHAW    That back there was Romeo and Juliet, was it not? LEM    Mebbe just a little.  [beat] You ever done any of them plays? FANSHAW    Oh, yes.  School.  LEM    You gotta be the one in the dress?  Like you were sayin?  You got a voice that might could pass. FANSHAW    Oh... [dropping voice as low as possible] No.  Actually, I often was the lead.  I even played romeo.  I was rather good at learning lines.  Of course, someone always had to put on the dress.  Boys and girls do not attend school together - not our sort of boys and girls, anyway. LEM    Seems like puttin a hat on a pig. FANSHAW    No.  It's just "theater." END

What happens when a paranormal enthusiast returns to her hometown to wind up being hunted by a cult and a demon? Find out on this episode where we deep dive into the Souls Trilogy book 1 “Her Soul to Take” by Harley Laroux. And of course we'll discuss or loves and hates, cast, and give you a soundtrack.  Potion: Sage Off Duty   - 2 oz. Gin  - 1 oz. Limoncello  - 2 oz. Mint tea w. honey and pineapple sage  - .5 oz mint simple syrup  - Tonic  In a shaker with ice add gin, limoncello, tea, and syrup.  Shake vigorously. Strain into a glass and top with Tonic water Garish with sage, mint, lemon wheel if feeling fancy  *Show note: the audio for this episode contains knocking sounds from the mics*  Playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/71MLtA6LDGC4YswRxzjHC6?si=4d5688f9c27140a2 Connect with us on the socials https://www.instagram.com/emotionsandpotionspod/ https://www.tiktok.com/@emotionsandpotionspod --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/emotionsandpotions/support

Rags to riches is a uniquely United States story. It's the American Dream of starting from humble beginnings, working hard, fighting against adversity and making something of yourself. Brian Garish embodies this ethos. Though, his version is a little different. Garish went from stocking shelves at Walgreens to becoming the president of Banfield Pet Hospital, the largest pet hospital chain in the U.S. He began his career stocking shelves at the local Walgreens pharmacy during high school. Garish dropped out of college after only a six-month stint when he was 18 years-old. It was a trying time. Back at home with his parents, he felt lost without any direction. As he explains, "At the time, I didn't see the value of sitting in class to hear about business. I wanted to do the work." A mentor at the pharmacy chain suggested that Garish focus on working hard and advancing within the organization, especially since he didn't have any other alternatives. After serving about 12 years as a manager at Walgreens, then spending more than 10 years rising from district and regional manager roles to area vice president at CVC Health, Garish is now the president of Banfield Pet Hospital, the industry's leading provider of preventive care, a division of Mars Inc.

As president of Banfield Pet Hospital, Brian Garish leads the vision and strategic direction of the industry's leading provider of preventive care. He also serves on the board of the Banfield Foundation. Brian believes that pets, people and society are all connected and is passionate about ensuring the practice is making a positive impact on the world at large. His top priority is creating a high-performing, inclusive culture at Banfield's 1,000+ hospitals for its 19,000+ associates across the U.S., Puerto Rico and Mexico.

Our guest is Brian Garish. Brian is the President of Banfield Pet Hospitals. Banfield has over 1,000 hospitals and over 19K associates across North America. Since taking over as president of this multibillion-dollar organization in 2017, Banfield has achieved the lowest turnover in its history and has continued to average double-digit growth year after year for the past five years, increasing revenues by over 50% since 2015. So, clearly this guy knows how to very successfully lead an organization. However, in supporting pet health, Banfield is uniquely positioned to advance human health and is committed to elevating societal wellbeing. It's this intersection of pets, people, and communities that drives Brian's strategic decision-making. As a result, his company has enacted programs to tackle student debt, put resources behind mental health and suicide awareness, and supported victims of domestic violence. Banfield aims to be a beacon for how other companies ought to behave. More about Brian Garish and Banfield Pet Hospitals Website: www.banfield.com Social Media Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/banfieldpethospital And https://www.instagram.com/briangarish LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/briangarish Twitter: https://twitter.com/Banfield

Our guest is Brian Garish. Brian is the President of Banfield Pet Hospitals. Banfield has over 1,000 hospitals and over 19K associates across North America. Since taking over as president of this multibillion-dollar organization in 2017, Banfield has achieved the lowest turnover in its history and has continued to average double-digit growth year after year for the past five years, increasing revenues by over 50% since 2015. So, clearly this guy knows how to very successfully lead an organization. However, in supporting pet health, Banfield is uniquely positioned to advance human health and is committed to elevating societal wellbeing. It's this intersection of pets, people, and communities that drives Brian's strategic decision-making. As a result, his company has enacted programs to tackle student debt, put resources behind mental health and suicide awareness, and supported victims of domestic violence. Banfield aims to be a beacon for how other companies ought to behave. More about Brian Garish and Banfield Pet Hospitals Website: www.banfield.com Social Media Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/banfieldpethospital And https://www.instagram.com/briangarish LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/briangarish Twitter: https://twitter.com/Banfield

Leadership and Business for Social Change, is this some leftist crazy idea? Or can real change drive loyalty and as a by-product could result in a revenue jump of 50% year over year! . . . . . Our guest is Brian Garish. Brian is the President of Banfield Pet Hospitals. Banfield has over 1,000 hospitals and over 19K associates across North America. Since taking over as president of this multibillion-dollar organization in 2017, Banfield has achieved the lowest turnover in its history and has continued to average double-digit growth year after year for the past five years, increasing revenues by over 50% since 2015. So, clearly this guy knows how to very successfully lead an organization. However, in supporting pet health, Banfield is uniquely positioned to advance human health and is committed to elevating societal wellbeing. It's this intersection of pets, people, and communities that drives Brian's strategic decision-making. As a result, his company has enacted programs to tackle student debt, put resources behind mental health and suicide awareness, and supported victims of domestic violence. Banfield aims to be a beacon for how other companies ought to behave. More about Brian Garish and Banfield Pet Hospitals Website: www.banfield.com Social Media Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/banfieldpethospital And https://www.instagram.com/briangarish LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/briangarish Twitter: https://twitter.com/Banfield . . . . . When you're curious about how to tap into what drives meaning in your life and create meaningful transformation in the lives you touch. Take a look at DovBaron.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“If you take care of your people, everything else will follow.” - Brian Garish   In today's conversation, Brian shares about his early experiences as an employee, and how he learned early on that when leaders create a culture of inclusion around decision making, they are not only impacting the organization. They are impacting people. Brian talks about how culture is Banfield's top priority, and that if you take care of your people, everything else will follow. He explains the critical components of Banfield's strategy: equity, inclusion, and diversity; and defined health and well-being journey that is part of everything Banfield does to create a better world for their associates. Brian explains and demonstrates the importance of creating personal connections and being vulnerable as a leader, genuinely welcoming feedback from employees, customers, and the community. Under his leadership, he has brought Banfield from a company with the highest turnover to a company with the lowest turnover. His key advice for leaders? Never underestimate the impact you can have on people in society.

Leadership and Business for Social Change, is this some leftist crazy idea? Or can real change drive loyalty and as a by-product could result in a revenue jump of 50% year over year! . . . . . Our guest is Brian Garish. Brian is the President of Banfield Pet Hospitals. Banfield has over 1,000 hospitals and over 19K associates across North America. Since taking over as president of this multibillion-dollar organization in 2017, Banfield has achieved the lowest turnover in its history and has continued to average double-digit growth year after year for the past five years, increasing revenues by over 50% since 2015. So, clearly this guy knows how to very successfully lead an organization.  However, in supporting pet health, Banfield is uniquely positioned to advance human health and is committed to elevating societal wellbeing. It's this intersection of pets, people, and communities that drives Brian's strategic decision-making. As a result, his company has enacted programs to tackle student debt, put resources behind mental health and suicide awareness, and supported victims of domestic violence. Banfield aims to be a beacon for how other companies ought to behave. More about Brian Garish and Banfield Pet Hospitals Website: www.banfield.com Social Media Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/banfieldpethospital And https://www.instagram.com/briangarish LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/briangarish Twitter: https://twitter.com/Banfield . . . . . When you're curious about how to tap into what drives meaning in your life and create meaningful transformation in the lives you touch. Take a look at DovBaron.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Think it's easy to make the leap from SDR to Manager? Kaitlyn Garish has a small piece of advice for you – buckle your seatbelt!Kaitlyn, now a successful Commercial Account Manager at Invanti, has had an amazing start to her sales journey that has taken her from Silicon Valley to New York and now to Austin, TX. From her strong start as an SDR at memoryBlue to her elevation into SDR management and beyond, she consistently works to keep the bigger picture in mind no matter how rocky the path ahead may appear.Catch Kaitlyn on this week's episode of Tech Sales is for Hustlers, where she shines light on her experiences as a woman in professional sales, spotlights the unique differences between being an SDR Manager and an AE, and why she believes so firmly in the power of surrounding herself with great people in her professional life.

Running a business in Japan is not for the faint hearted.  Plenty of big companies with deep pockets have failed here.  There are plenty who have succeeded though.  Let's pull back the velvet curtain and get real on leading a business here in Japan.   Running your own business is challenging anywhere, but Japan adds a bit of spice to the broth.  According to official statistics, seventy percent of Japanese companies are unprofitable.  Business seems pretty simple at one level – constantly seek to increase revenues and reduce or hold down costs.  To increase revenues you can find more customers, more repeater customers and raise prices.    Raising prices in Japan gets tough, when you are in the churning wash of decades of deflation and when there are always lots and lots of competitors.  When the consumption tax was raised the last two times, the economy immediately took a hit, which indicates the price sensitivity of the populace.    The usual way of differentiating yourself and justifying higher prices is through the added value you provide.  Naturally, there is a major sales and marketing effort required to get that value message out.  Both options in Japan however come with high price tags.    By the way, whenever we do training as part of a global arrangement, we always get push back on the pricing in Japan, especially when the yen is converted to other currencies.  Why overseas head office staff would imagine that pricing here should be the same as at home is a mystery, but that is often the expectation. The cost structures here in Tokyo for wages and rents are high relative to other countries and the prices reflect that.    I refer these global partners back to their own local operation's wage and rent bills in Tokyo. I point out these are nothing like what they are costing at home, so why expect global pricing to be uniform?  In general, fixed costs as a percentage of revenue are high in Tokyo and it is a struggle to get them down.   Unlike other Western countries, where salespeople are prepared to work on a one hundred percent commission basis, very few Japanese staff are attracted by that option.  Again this opportunity to move wage costs away from fixed to variable is less available here.  This means there must be a base salary plus bonus or commission arrangement and the base will be relatively high.  Especially if you are a foreign operation, as you need to attract potential employees.  When were a start-up in 2007, we had to pay our sales staff close to double the norm, to get them to work for us.  That hurt but we had no choice.  By the way, add another fifteen percent to your wages bill for all the various social insurance and pension costs.   Of course, if you are a prestigious mega corporation, encapsulated by a powerful brand, this attracting staff challenge may not be such an issue.  If you are a Small Medium Enterprise (SME) then attracting people becomes more competitive.  If your team needs to speak some reasonable level of English, then the wage bill goes up immediately.    There is also a limited supply of Japanese who want to work in an international environment and that number is declining rapidly, as less and less young people go overseas to study.  We are currently in the midst of a real turning point regarding the internationalisation of the younger generation. The young don't want to learn English and they don't want to live overseas, because everything is so wonderful here in Japan and it is safe.  In the future, they are going to become almost impossible to hire for SMEs, as we are simply outbid by bigger companies.   Marketing in Japan, especially in Tokyo is a remorseless pit into which you have to throw lots of money.  Print ads and content marketing driven advertorial are very expensive here and the local publishers have plenty of Japanese companies able and willing to pay, so trying to cut a deal is fraught.    Television predominates with fifteen second ads, so even if you can afford the big money involved, your appeal to buyers in that time is microscopic.  On-line banner ads are not inexpensive.  Pay per click keyword search ads and Facebook ads are also not cheap and can burn through cash at an alarming rate.  Few Japanese are using LinkedIn as yet, so it mainly targeting a foreign audience at this point.  PR is a viable option for brand awareness, but you get what you pay for.  SMEs can rarely pony up the type of money required to get the PR agency's “A Team”, so don't expect any particular marketing magic from the “D Team”.   Japanese websites are often the complete antithesis of the Zen like western approach. Garish colours and packed screen real estate are very common here.  So what do you do, go Zen or go Garish?  Do you have the cash to pay for a Japanese language copywriter or do you do it internally to save money?  Are your team members any good at it?  Your SEO has to be fined tuned to push yourself forward in the page rankings and you need people who know what they are doing, as DIY is cheaper, but a lot harder.  These resources may be in-house or on contract, but they still push up the wage's bill.   Networking in Japan is different to Western countries in that few Japanese go to these events all that willing to meet new people.  Sound promising?  The meeting charges are also expensive as well so if your team are really getting out there, the costs can be significant for what is really a shotgun marketing effort.    It sounds crazy, but the usual style is that someone you know introduces you to someone they know.  This is acceptable, if quite limited in scope.  Bounding up to complete strangers and introducing yourself is possible, but the reactions are often mild shock, blank stares and some resistance.  This negative response is applied to Japanese as well as foreign staff.  “Working the room” hasn't quite made it here yet as a concept.   Cold, as opposed to warm approaches are also tricky.  Sending a direct mail piece to someone unknown goes straight in the bin.  Any email from an unknown entity similarly gets deleted unread.  You can cold call here but you really need to know the person's name.  If you don't, you will usually get blocked at the entry point, promised that your message will get passed on and a return call offered – if they are interested.  You will never hear back from them.   There is always the issue of what you are offering may work overseas, but it won't work here.  If you bring global statistics, then there had better be a Japanese component of the survey or the whole thing is just dismissed as irrelevant.  That means you have to pay to run the same survey here, to show the significance of your findings for the Japanese market. This costs money.  Testimonials from overseas companies, super brands or otherwise, are also invalid by definition.  You need a local track record to be credible and skepticism reigns without relief.   Disasters, especially earthquakes are a constant prospect and all of us living in Tokyo know we are overdue for “The Big One”.  After the triple whammy of earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear core meltdown in Fukushima a few years ago, our training business ground to a halt with four months of no cash flow.  Who wants to do training, when you are having large numbers of major aftershocks every single day for months.  Covid hasn't been any fun either, as companies have cancelled their scheduled training. We all know it is important, but it is at moments like these, we really understand the importance of cash flow in a business.  This was a painful period for many businesses to get enough cash to keep going and in fact many disappeared as a direct result.   The good news is that in Japan you do get paid by clients.  Also, Japanese companies prefer the devil they know, so if you supply value, then you can expect repeat business.  Staff are hardworking and diligent.  People are honest, neat, polite and things work here, also there is fantastic infrastructure.    There are large numbers of foreign corporates with businesses here, who are more open than a lot of domestic companies to your approach.  There are English language magazines aimed at these expatriate leaders, which because of the limited market, cost a fraction of the Japanese mainstream media.  There are many foreign Chambers of Commerce, business associations and study groups here, so there are many networking opportunities where you can actually “work the room”.   The rule of law applies here and legal disputes that have to go to court are few and far between.  Like anywhere, there are criminal gangs (yakuza) extorting businesses, but they tend to leave foreigners alone and prefer exploiting the locals, as it is a lot easier.    Because of Japan's extremely strict immigration and refugee policies, there are very few ethnic or religious groups who are likely to cause Japan much trouble.  The biggest non-Japanese ethnic group are Koreans.  The majority were born here after the war, their grandparents being brought in during the war years as forced labour.  There are some foreigners here illegally overstaying their visas, but they are keeping a very low profile, because the Japanese government deports them once found.   Japan is still the third largest economy in the world.  The main leisure activities here really, for the majority of the populace, is to shop and eat. Many foreign companies have done well here, they have found the formula for success but few have done that rapidly.  Long-term planning, patience, grit and sustainability take on different dimensions here in Japan.   All in all, Japan is a land of opportunity. Progress just comes more slowly here and with great difficulty, but if you stick it out, then it will come.  There are plenty of foreigners who have made a success of their businesses here.  Adopt some samurai style “grit” and keep going.

When Covid hit, several industries were hit hard, but some thrived immensely. One such industry that’s seen a huge uptick in business this past year has been the pet industry, as 11 million households got a new pet in 2020. Wow! That’s a lot of new family members. But Banfield Pet Hospital is here to help new pet owners manage all that animal energy. On this week’s episode, Erica sits down with Banfield Pet Hospital president, Brian Garish, to talk all things cats, dogs, and leadership in the (hopefully pet-friendly) Hybrid Revolution. With over 1000 hospitals and over 19,000 associates servicing all these new furry friends, how does Brian lead through it all? By talking to his people. Brian leads with empathy and knows that the key to an empowered, passionate workforce is one that feels heard and sees vulnerability modeled at the top. This conversation imagines an optimistic future of work, where we can continue giving our pets the “best year of their lives” indefinitely, through flexible work options. Please Subscribe, Rate and Review on Apple Podcasts You can also listen to the show on: StitcherOvercast GoogleSpotify Quotes:4:23 – “When you think about being a leader in a company, and being part of the conversation of, ‘what’s the hybrid work force going to look like? what are the hybrid working conditions going to look like?’ It can’t be made with just an executive team, it has got to have your people’s voice involved in the conversation.”10:16 – “Culture is my top priority and has been my top priority. The strategic direction of the company is a second priority because strategy without empathy is a wasted idea.”10:41 – “More so now than ever, people want to be seen, they want to be heard, and they want to be understood. And we have that opportunity to do that even better.”12:30 – “The theme of our session for the year for 2020 was ‘b empowered, b passionate, and b here.’ We wanted our associates to be empowered to truly own the hospital experience and own what they needed to do to take care of each other and take care of pets and clients. The passion is about really connecting to our purpose, which is making a better world for pets. And being here is out Banfield shows up for society. Well we were thankful that that was the theme because that really anchored us in 2020 once the pandemic really started to come in.”17:35 – “We can’t be our best selves if we don’t take care of ourselves. Our hospitals and all of our associates need our leaders to be present and to be fully available. And you’re not going to be if you’re burned out.” Links to Websites or Resources, text numbers email signupsBanfield websiteErica’s websiteOrder Erica’s book, Rituals RoadmapOrder Erica’s book, Bring Your Human to Work Text ‘human’ to 66866 to sign up for Erica’s newsletter where she shares how to honor relationships well and how to bring your human to work and life.Connect with Brian:LinkedInTwitterInstagramFacebookConnect with Banfield:LinkedInTwitterInstagramFacebookConnect with Erica: InstagramTwitterLinkedInFacebook

Hello there and welcome to our wonderful adventure as we invite you to join along with us in this journey as we discover ourselves and each other through silly role play and bad rolls.

As president of the industry's leading provider of preventive care, Brian's top priority is creating a high-performing, inclusive culture for […]

For our INAUGURAL episode, we revisit Stanley Kubrick's THE SHINING. Cold, isolated building? Check. Creepy child? Check. Descent into madness? Check. Garish 1970s interior decorating? Check check. Come play with us! Email us at: thenightlightpodcast@gmail.com Follow us on Instagram: @thenightlightpodcast Hosted & Created by: Meghan Livingston & Kristin Maccarrone Produced & Edited by: Denis Livingston Music by: Denis Livingston

Happy Birthday wishing the40yearolevegan happy birthday with a podcast interview Oyster mushrooms " Crabless Cakes" 2 cups oyster mushrooms chopped semi fine. Some chunks okay 1 cup flour 1 cup water 1 tbsp onion powder 1 tbsp of garlic powder 1 teaspoon salt to taste 2 tbsp ole bay seasoning 1/2 cup of green bellpepper ( 1/2 chopped and diced) 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1 tbsp of cornstarch 1/2 white onion or red 1 tbsp badia seasoning (optional)   instructions   Mix all dry ingredients together including seasons Add in water Mix throughly Heat oil according to instructions( be more specific when frying) Use a ice cream scoop to scoop mix and add to oil Fry on each side for approximately 5 to 7 minutes or until golden brown.   Garish with dill or cream sauce of choice Home | My Site (the40yearolevegan.com Get her ebook and the next one will be out in 2021!!! Enjoy! Music credits @tidwavstudios  Some Media Credits @Court_of_roses_photography 

2020 has been a strange year. Many people coped with the loneliness and uncertainty of lockdowns and quarantines by adding a furry friend to the family. Pet ownership is way up because of the pandemic and has caused the pet industry to pivot and adapt.  As the number of customers has greatly increased, the pet industry has also had to deal with pandemic restrictions and changing health regulations. The only way to survive has been to stay close to customers, adopt digital solutions and pivot.  Brian Garish, president of Banfield Pet Hospital, said that although the way of doing business is now different, the company's focus is still on building connections with pets and keeping its associates healthy while they continue to give care.  As an essential business, Banfield Hospitals has stayed open throughout the pandemic, but the store had to create new measures to keep associates, pets and clients safe. One of its major changes was introducing curbside dropoff for pets. Instead of owners walking their pets into the store, they now drop them off at the curb where a Banfield associate takes the pet into the hospital to perform the procedure and then brings them back when they are done. To help customers feel comfortable leaving their pets, Banfield built on its trustworthy reputation and increased its communication so that customers are still involved in every step of the process.  One of the most crucial aspects of pivoting during COVID has been digital transformation. Banfield was already working on a digital transformation, but it was greatly accelerated by the pandemic. Now, clients can schedule services and access their pet's records online. Everything can be done through an online portal or app to remove concerns and make clients' lives easier and simpler.  The move to digital transformation helps both clients and associates, which then leads to a better experience for the pets. Instead of being weighed down by paperwork, Banfield associates can upload notes digitally to keep owners in the loop. Banfield is also working towards a green initiative to email all paperwork and receipts instead of printing hard copies.  Garish believes Banfield's digital transformation has been effective because it is rooted in empathy. In his mind, strategy without empathy is wasted. To create the most effective digital transformation, Banfield encourages and facilitates conversations with its clients and its associates.  Digital transformation didn't come about because it was a trend or an idea executives had—it came from listening to customers and having true two-way conversations. Banfield aims to be part of its clients' lifestyles, even during a pandemic, but that can't happen without real dialogue. Those conversations have continued during the pandemic as Banfield keeps in continual communication with its clients and associates about what is and isn't working and how care can be improved.  Garish doesn't see the pandemic pivot as temporary. He believes changes made in the last nine months will forever change the company and industry and re-affirm the need to put customers at the center of everything. Instead of a standardized path, customers want individual attention.  The pandemic won't last forever, but the lasting effects of increased pet ownership will definitely stick around, and Banfield will be there every step of the way. Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of the bestselling book The Customer Of The Future. Sign up for her new course here. For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. 

BIG O SHOW OCT 27 SEG #6 JEFF GARCIA INSINUATES CAM NEWTON CAN'T WEAR GARISH CLOTHES CAUSE HE PLAYED BAD

Great brands are defined as much by what they choose NOT to do as by what they choose to do. Having clear guardrails on the brand and being very specific about what actions and communications happen in the market can prevent ‘brand drag.” This is true for your personal brand as well. Exhibiting behavior and making decisions that are not thoughtful drag you off from your core brand values and create drag that gets in the way of the intentional actions that should be amplified to move your brand forward. Jayzen is thrilled to welcome the president of Banfield Pet Hospitals, Brian Garish, to the show. Brian joined Banfield in 2015 as chief operating officer, bringing more than 20 years of healthcare leadership to the organization. He is passionate about the inclusive culture at Banfield and takes a unique approach to communicating with his workforce, using Instagram as the primary tool. Guest Bio As president of the industry’s leading provider of preventive care, Brian’s top priority is creating a high-performing, inclusive culture at Banfield Pet Hospital’s 1,000+ hospitals for its 19,000+ associates across the country. Since taking over as president in 2017, Banfield has achieved the lowest turnover in its history while simultaneously growing four times faster than the broader veterinary industry. Brian believes that pets, people and society are all connected and is passionate about ensuring Banfield is making a positive impact on the world at large. This philosophy can be seen in the launch of the company’s Student Debt Relief Program, making Banfield one of only four percent of organizations offering such a benefit. To date the program has contributed over $8M to pay-off debt for veterinary professionals while helping to refinance more than $14M in student loans. In addition, Banfield recently launched the industry’s first mental health training to combat compassion fatigue for veterinary professionals as part of its holistic commitment to the health and wellbeing of all Banfield associates. Beginning his career stocking store shelves at Walgreens, Brian has never sat in a corner office or followed a traditional trajectory. This unique path has pushed him to think differently about leadership, redefining what it means to be a leader. Brian is committed to ensuring the voice of Banfield’s associates dictates the vision of the organization. With over 75% of Banfield’s workforce being Millennial or Gen Z, Brian connects directly with associates on Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter to listen, engage and transform the organization. Brian holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Indiana University. He serves on the board of several nonprofits, including Metropolitan Family Services, Columbia River Economic Development Council and the Banfield Foundation as well as serving as Board Chair-elect for Classic Wines Auction. He is also a member of the Fortune CEO Initiative and CEO Connection. Brian has also completed the Burnham Rosen Interactive Leadership program, the EQ Mentor program and the Leadership at the Peak program at the Center for Creative Leadership. Brian has been featured by BBC World News, USA Today, FOX News Radio, Wirecutter and more. He resides in Camas, Washington with his Savannah cats, Ashen and Kenji. Brian enjoys reading, as well as playing tennis and basketball. To learn more about Lead With Your Brand and the Career Breakthrough Mentoring program , please visit : https://www.leadwithyourbrand.com To book Jayzen for a speaking engagement or workshop at your company, visit : https://www.jayzenpatria.com Please connect on LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayzenpatria To connect with our guest, Brian Garish: Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter To learn more about Banfield Pet Hospital, visit: https://www.banfield.com

Today we tackle a hodgepodge of topics: Joe got a new fancy monitor, Charles complains about customers that want ugly websites, Charles considers future advertising opportunities, and we talk about how the pandemic has affected business. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development […]

Take a break from the crazy state of the world, and take a refreshing dive into some cool swag.  Toddzilla shares some recent additions to the collection which won't break the bank.

Welcome to our twenty-second episode! Join the conversation as we chat about all things Kokomo, Indiana! The staff of The Kokomo Post chimes in on everything happening in the city we love. From local events to news happening in Kokomo to all our favorite things in this place that we call home. We want to hear from you! What's going on? What do you think, Kokomo? www.thekokomopost.com

Host of FOX Business Network's The Claman Countdown, Liz Claman is joined by Brian Garish, president of Banfield Pet Hospital. Garish shares the three essential leadership skills that dropping out of college and going to work for Walgreens pharmacy taught him. Garish discusses his employee-driven solutions management strategies and how his company is serving its clientele during the Coronavirus.  Follow Liz on Twitter: @LizClaman

Zoom hen dos, Tipping Point and the potentially disastrous side effects of juicing.Don’t forget you can email the show chattolikemindedfriends@gmail.com, and if you like us why not leave us a 5 star review on Apple Podcasts or wherever it is you listen See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Brian Garish leads Banfield Pet Hospitals. One of the Mars family of businesses (think M&Ms), the pet care industry is booming. More pets today than ever before are leading to a major shortage of veterinarians. And the Millennial generation, per Brian, is much more interested in pet preventative health care than previous generations of pet owners which requires more vet visits and better foods. We talk pets, vets, compassion fatigue, and the future of pet care. Plus a Mardi Gras commentary from David Webb.

This week on the podcast, Jack journeys down to Salt Lake to record in the same room as Mark and things get . . . unfocused. Also, he forgot his mic, so we had to record on a backup. Sorry about the sound quality, but we hope this makes you yearn for the typical discipline we display. Grab some beers and join the fun! patreon.com/atozhorror a-zhorror.com/movies/ Follow on Twitter: twitter.com/AtoZHorror Email us: atozhorror@gmail.com Hangout on facebook: facebook.com/atozhorror/ Music by: Superbare: @superbare

The writers of the Vriska and Terezi Pesterquest routes discuss the game and the two characters. Topics: Bong Joon-ho. Cops. The controversy surrounding Vriska doing nothing wrong. Autism. Anti-fishist action. Garish fashion.Host: Sarah Zedig, Kate MitchellEditor: Kate MitchellMusic: James RoachArt: RadsCheck out upcoming live showsSupport the show on Patreon and get access to the exclusive bonus [I]ntermission podcastwww.perfectlygenericpodcast.comFollow the podcast on Twitter.Join the podcast Discord.

This week, it's a scattershot blast of gaming news ranging from Mario Maker masterpieces and Nintendo acting naughty to some encouraging early buzz regarding both the Sega Genesis Mini and the second Angry Birds movie. Fortunately, Mr. Pacario is here to make sense of it all. Check out his occasionally updated blog here: https://www.destructoid.com/blogs/Pacario Thanks to Decktonic (www.decktonic.com) for the cover music

Scrapisodes are segments that are too good to be left on the cutting room floor.Jordan C Brun was interviewed for Episode 4 - The A in STEAM. His full interview can be found on Patreon. Learn more at lizzylizzyliz.comSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/LizChristensen)

Scrapisodes are segments that are too good to be left on the cutting room floor. Jordan C Brun was interviewed for Episode 4 - The A in STEAM. His full interview can be found on Patreon. Learn more at lizzylizzyliz.comSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/LizChristensen)

How often do you “wait until…” something happens to start another thing? What if you used the resources you already have to get where you want to go? Get rid of the “wait until…”! Let’s Elevate! We have a cocktail and mock-tail that serve as the perfect resource for elevating your dreams to reality. Join us on Episode 11, as we discuss how great we can be with what we already possess. “Use what you got to get what you want” - Ronnie, The Players Club. Recipe: Cocktail version:2 oz Fresh squeezed grapefruit juice 2 oz Ginger beer1 Egg white 2 oz vodkaGarish- dried lime slice and burnt rosemaryMocktail version:2 oz Fresh squeezed grapefruit juice 2 oz Ginger beer1 Egg white Garish- dried lime slice and burnt rosemaryInstructions:Shake grapefruit juice, egg white and vodka over ice. Pour over ice Add garnish

“The fair is gorgeous, splendiferous...but garish.” That’s how 12-year-old Claire Lieber, writing in her diary, described the Century of Progress World’s Fair held in Chicago in 1933. When she was alive, Claire was the go-to source of family history for her grandson, Sam Crews. But she rarely told Sam stories about her own life. After finding Claire’s diary in the Newberry’s collection recently, Sam discovered a whole new side of his grandmother. He discusses the emotional impact the find has had on him, and how it’s reinvigorated his connection with the past and with the city he calls home. --- View images from Claire Lieber's scrapbook at https://www.newberry.org/shelf-life. --- Intro music: "Two Types of Awakenings" by Nheap

Brian Garish: President of Banfield Pet Hospital by Dan Bruton | PDX Executive Forums

The writer of the Inspector Pancakes series, Dreadful Sirens and the upcoming Project Tingler, Karla Pacheco, joins us once again! We talk with her at length about boat living, tragic phone loss, cross-country adventures, working with the enigmatic Chuck Tingle, irony, hotel fires, Joey Ryan, and eventually, her upcoming story in the Gwenpool Holiday Special! Plus, we take a couple listener questions!

Bar Institute NYC We had the very exciting Bar Institute event here in NY this week. It's the Bartender Journey Podcast number 189!  Listen with the audio player on this page, or subscribe on iTunes,  Android or Stitcher Radio. On Monday before Bar Institute, I attended Diageo World Class Labs. This is an awesome opportunity. Diageo World Class is one of the top 2 or 3 cocktail competitions in the world. Competitions like this can literally change your life. To enter the competition you have to be a USBG member, in the US anyway. But through World Class you can get a free 30 day USBG membership which allows you to get your application in. If you decide to keep your USBG membership after that, its only $125/year, which is a real bargain, but that’s a subject for another day. To enter the World Class competition you have to take at least one World Class Lab class, or you can do it online, but the live events are awesome (and free). They travel to different cities doing the class and I really encourage you to look into it. We had a great class about Taste. It was run by Andy Symore. We had samples of various cocktails to demonstrate the power of different variables like temperature, sweet, sour, bitter and salty. It was a blind tasting, so Andy didn’t tell us what we were drinking until after we tasted and talked about it. The first sample was a room temperature Martini and the second was the same exact Martini, but chilled. It was diluted with the same exact amount of water. We also had a Negroni with and without salt added and so on. It really demonstrated the power of altering just one ingredient and the importance of every single thing that goes into your cocktail. You may sometimes hear that your cocktail is only as strong as the weakest link, so its important that every ingredient is high quality. Then there was lunch, (free btw) and a second session, which I didn’t stay for because I wanted to get downtown for Bar Institute. Taking just one session is enough to qualify for World Class although you are welcome to stay for both So even if you don’t enter the competition, (and why not?) you could still take one of these classes. I think you’ll find it to be a great experience and very educational. Next stop was Bar Institute at Pier A, in Manhattan, right next to where the ferry leaves for the Statue of Liberty. We spoke with Kevin Vanegas during Bar Institute about Herradura Tequila and about their new cocktail competition. The Book of the Week: A Proper Drink: The Untold Story of How a Band of Bartenders Saved the Civilized Drinking World by Robert Simonson. Robert takes us through the craft cocktail revival over the past two decades through the personal stories of bars, bartenders,  patrons and visionaries. Filled with modern classic recipes and their origins, A Proper Drink invites you to learn how we got here and where the craft cocktail industry is headed.   Cocktail of the Week: Bourbon Stone SourA Stone Sour is a Sour with the addition of Orange Juice-Freshly Squeezed preferred! 2 oz Bourbon 1 oz Orange Juice ¾ oz Lemon Juice ½ Simple SyrupShake with ice. Pour into an Old Fashioned glass filled with fresh ice. Garish with a piece of Orange and a Cherry.   There are lots of videos from Bar Institute on the Bartender Journey Facebook page. Thanks to Hazel for this!   Toast of the Week: My friends are the best friends
Loyal, willing and able.Now let’s get to drinking!All glasses off the table!

Running A Foreign Business In Japan    Running your own business is challenging anywhere, but Japan adds a bit of spice to the broth. According to official statistics, 70% of Japanese companies are unprofitable. Business seems pretty simple at one level – constantly seek to increase revenues and reduce or hold down costs. To increase revenues you can find more customers, more repeater customers and raise prices.  Raising prices in Japan gets tough, when you are in the churning wash of decades of deflation and when there are always lots and lots of competitors. When the consumption tax was raised previously, the economy immediately plunged into recession, which indicates the price sensitivity of the populace. The Abe Cabinet blinked and gave up on the last scheduled increase out of fear of the consequences.  The usual way of differentiating yourself and justifying higher prices is through the added value you provide. Naturally, there is a major sales and marketing effort required to get that value message out. Both options in Japan however come with high price tags.  By the way, whenever we do training as part of a global arrangement, we always get push back on the pricing in Japan, especially when the yen is converted to other currencies. Abenomics is not helping much at the moment, with the rapid strengthening of the yen.  Why overseas head office staff would imagine that pricing here should be the same as at home is a mystery, but that is often the expectation. The cost structures here in Tokyo for wages and rents are high relative to other countries and the prices reflect that. Downtown Tokyo office space rents per square meter, in a reasonable location, will fall in the JPY9000 – JPY 14,000 range (USD$90-USD$140).  I refer these global partners back to their own local operation's wage and rent bills in Tokyo. I point out these are nothing like what they are costing at home, so why expect global pricing to be uniform? In general, fixed costs as a percentage of revenue are high in Tokyo and it is a struggle to get them down.  Unlike other Western countries, where salespeople are prepared to work on a 100% commission basis, very few Japanese staff are attracted by that option. Again this opportunity to move wage costs away from fixed to variable is less available here. This means there must be a base salary plus bonus or commission arrangement and the base will be relatively high. Especially if you are a foreign operation, as you need to attract potential employees. When were a start-up in 2007, we had to pay our sales staff close to double the norm, to get them to work for us. That hurt but we had no choice. By the way, add another 15% to you wages bill for all the various social insurance and pension costs.  Of course, if you are a prestigious mega corporation, encapsulated by a powerful brand, this attracting staff challenge may not be such an issue. If you are a Small Medium Enterprise (SME) then attracting people becomes more competitive. If your team needs to speak some reasonable level of English, then the wage bill goes up immediately. As an illustration, a competent English speaking Executive Assistant in Tokyo would earn around JPY7m-JPY 8m (USD$70k-USD$80k) per annum.  There is also a limited supply of Japanese who want to work in an international environment and that number is declining rapidly, as less and less young people go overseas to study. We are currently in the midst of a real turning point regarding the internationalisation of the younger generation. The young don't want to learn English and they don't want to live overseas, because everything is so wonderful here in Japan and it is safe. In the future, they are going to become almost impossible to hire for SMEs, as we are simply outbid by bigger companies.  Marketing in Japan, especially in Tokyo is a remorseless pit into which you have to throw lots of money. Print ads and content marketing driven advertorial are very expensive here and the local publishers have plenty of Japanese companies able and willing to pay, so trying to cut a deal is fraught.  Television predominates with 15 second ads, so even if you can afford the big money involved, your appeal to buyers in that time is microscopic. On-line banner ads are not inexpensive. Pay per click keyword search ads and Facebook ads are also not cheap and can burn through cash at an alarming rate. Few Japanese are using LinkedIn as yet, so it mainly targeting a foreign audience at this point. PR is a viable option for brand awareness, but you get what you pay for. SMEs can rarely pony up the type of money required to get the PR agency's “A Team”, so don't expect any particular marketing magic from the “D Team”.  Japanese websites are often the complete antithesis of the Zen like western approach. Garish colours and packed screen real estate are very common here. So what do you do, go Zen or go Garish? Do you have the cash to pay for a Japanese language copywriter or do you do it internally to save money? Are your team members any good at it? Your SEO has to be fined tuned to push yourself forward in the page rankings and you need people who know what they are doing, as DIY is cheaper, but a lot harder. These resources may be in-house or on contract, but they still push up the wage's bill.  Networking in Japan is different to Western countries in that few Japanese go to these events all that willing to meet new people. Sound promising? The meeting charges are also expensive as well (USD$50-USD$80), so if your team are really getting out there, the costs can be significant for what is really a shotgun marketing effort.   It sounds crazy, but the usual style is that someone you know introduces you to someone they know. This is acceptable, if quite limited in scope. Bounding up to complete strangers and introducing yourself is possible, but the reactions are often mild shock, blank stares and some resistance. This negative response is applied to Japanese as well as foreign staff. “Working the room” hasn't quite made it here yet as a concept.  Cold, as opposed to warm approaches are also tricky. Sending a direct mail piece to someone unknown goes straight in the bin. Any email from an unknown entity similarly gets deleted unread. You can cold call here but you really need to know the person's name. If you don't, you will usually get blocked at the entry point, promised that your message will get passed on and a return call offered – if they are interested. You will never hear back from them.  There is always the issue of what you are offering may work overseas, but it won't work here. If you bring global statistics, then there had better be a Japanese component of the survey or the whole thing is just dismissed as irrelevant. That means you have to pay to run the same survey here, to show the significance of your findings for the Japanese market. This costs money. Testimonials from overseas companies, super brands or otherwise, are also invalid by definition. You need a local track record to be credible and skepticism reigns without relief.  Natural disasters, especially earthquakes are a constant prospect and all of us living in Tokyo know we are overdue for “The Big One”. After the triple whammy of earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear core meltdown in Fukushima a few years ago, our training business ground to a halt with four months of no cash flow. Who wants to do training, when you are having large numbers of major aftershocks every single day for months. We all know it is important, but it is at moments like these, we really understand the importance of cash flow in a business. This was a painful period for many businesses to get enough cash to keep going and in fact many disappeared as a direct result.  The good news is that in Japan you do get paid by clients. Also, Japanese companies prefer the devil they know, so if you supply value, then you can expect repeat business. Staff are hardworking and diligent. People are honest, neat, polite and things work here, also there is fantastic infrastructure.  There are large numbers of foreign corporates with businesses here, who are more open than a lot of domestic companies to your approach. There are English language magazines aimed at these expatriate leaders, which because of the limited market, cost a fraction of the Japanese mainstream media. There are many foreign Chambers of Commerce, business associations and study groups here, so there are many networking opportunities where you can actually “work the room”.  The rule of law applies here and legal disputes that have to go to court are few and far between. Like anywhere, there are criminal gangs (yakuza) extorting businesses, but they tend to leave foreigners alone and prefer exploiting the locals, as it is a lot easier.  Because of Japan's extremely strict immigration and refugee policies, there are very few ethnic or religious groups who are likely to cause Japan much trouble. The biggest non-Japanese ethnic group are Koreans. The majority were born here after the war, their grandparents being brought in during the war years as forced labour. There are some foreigners here illegally overstaying their visas, but they are keeping a very low profile, because the Japanese government deports them once found.  Japan is still the third largest economy in the world. The main leisure activities here really, for the majority of the populace, is to shop and eat. Many foreign companies have done well here, they have found the formula for success but few have done that rapidly. Long-term planning, patience, grit and sustainability take on different dimensions here in Japan.  All in all, Japan is a land of opportunity. Progress just comes more slowly here and with great difficulty, but if you stick it out, then it will come. There are plenty of foreigners who have made a success of their businesses here. Adopt some samurai style “grit” and keep going.  Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com  If you enjoy these articles, then head over to www.japan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our "Free Stuff" offerings - whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. Take a look at our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules.  About The Author Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.  A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcasts “THE Leadership Japan Series”, THE Sales Japan Series and THE Presentations Japan Series, he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.  Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.      

Brad and Myke hit on everything this week, from pencils and sharpeners, multi-cartridge fountain pens, and how Fuyu-gaki is the worst orange. They also have the definitive answer for the Trump pen.

Running A Foreign Business In Japan    Running your own business is challenging anywhere, but Japan adds a bit of spice to the broth. According to official statistics, 70% of Japanese companies are unprofitable. Business seems pretty simple at one level – constantly seek to increase revenues and reduce or hold down costs. To increase revenues you can find more customers, more repeater customers and raise prices.   Raising prices in Japan gets tough, when you are in the churning wash of decades of deflation and when there are always lots and lots of competitors. When the consumption tax was raised previously, the economy immediately plunged into recession, which indicates the price sensitivity of the populace. The Abe Cabinet blinked and gave up on the last scheduled increase out of fear of the consequences.   The usual way of differentiating yourself and justifying higher prices is through the added value you provide. Naturally, there is a major sales and marketing effort required to get that value message out. Both options in Japan however come with high price tags.   By the way, whenever we do training as part of a global arrangement, we always get push back on the pricing in Japan, especially when the yen is converted to other currencies. Abenomics is not helping much at the moment, with the rapid strengthening of the yen.   Why overseas head office staff would imagine that pricing here should be the same as at home is a mystery, but that is often the expectation. The cost structures here in Tokyo for wages and rents are high relative to other countries and the prices reflect that. Downtown Tokyo office space rents per square meter, in a reasonable location, will fall in the JPY9000 – JPY 14,000 range (USD$90-USD$140).   I refer these global partners back to their own local operation's wage and rent bills in Tokyo. I point out these are nothing like what they are costing at home, so why expect global pricing to be uniform? In general, fixed costs as a percentage of revenue are high in Tokyo and it is a struggle to get them down.   Unlike other Western countries, where salespeople are prepared to work on a 100% commission basis, very few Japanese staff are attracted by that option. Again this opportunity to move wage costs away from fixed to variable is less available here. This means there must be a base salary plus bonus or commission arrangement and the base will be relatively high. Especially if you are a foreign operation, as you need to attract potential employees. When were a start-up in 2007, we had to pay our sales staff close to double the norm, to get them to work for us. By the way, add another 15% to you wages bill for all the various social insurance and pension costs.   Of course, if you are a prestigious mega corporation, encapsulated by a powerful brand, this attracting staff challenge may not be such an issue. If you are a Small Medium Enterprise (SME) then attracting people becomes more competitive. If your team needs to speak some reasonable level of English, then the wage bill goes up immediately. As an illustration, a competent English speaking PA in Tokyo would earn around JPY7m-JPY 8m (USD$70k-USD$80k) per annum.   There is also a limited supply of Japanese who want to work in an international environment and that number is declining rapidly, as less and less young people go overseas to study. We are currently in the midst of a real turning point regarding the internationalisation of the younger generation. The young don't want to learn English and they don't want to live overseas, because everything is so wonderful here in Japan and it is safe. They are going to become almost impossible to hire for SMEs, as we are simply outbid by bigger companies.   Marketing in Japan, especially in Tokyo is a remorseless pit into which you have to throw lots of money. Print ads and content marketing driven advertorial are very expensive here and the publishers have plenty of Japanese companies able and willing to pay, so trying to cut a deal is fraught.   Television predominates with 15 second ads, so even if you can afford the big money involved, your appeal to buyers in that time is microscopic. On-line banner ads are not inexpensive. Pay per click keyword search ads and Facebook ads are also not cheap and can burn through cash at an alarming rate. Few Japanese are using LinkedIn as yet, so it mainly targeting a foreign audience at this point. PR is a viable option for brand awareness, but you get what you pay for. SMEs can rarely pony up the type of money required to get the PR agency's “A Team”, so don't expect magic from the “D Team”.   Japanese websites are often the complete antithesis of the Zen like western approach. Garish colours and packed screen real estate are very common here. So what do you do, go Zen or go Garish? Do you have the cash to pay for a Japanese language copywriter or do you do it internally to save money? Are your team members any good at it? Your SEO has to be fined tuned to push yourself forward in the page rankings and you need people who know what they are doing, as DIY is cheaper, but a lot harder. These resources may be in-house or on contract, but they still push up the wage's bill.   Networking in Japan is different to Western countries in that few Japanese go to these events all that willing to meet new people. Sound promising? The meeting charges are also expensive as well (USD$50-USD$80), so if your team are really getting out there, the costs can be significant for what is really a shotgun marketing effort. It sounds crazy, but the usual style is that someone you know introduces you to someone they know. This is acceptable, if quite limited in scope. Bounding up to complete strangers and introducing yourself is possible, but the reactions are often mild shock, blank stares and some resistance. This negative response is applied to Japanese as well as foreign staff. “Working the room” hasn't quite made it here yet as a concept.   Cold, as opposed to warm approaches are also tricky. Sending a direct mail piece to someone unknown goes straight in the bin. Any email from an unknown entity similarly gets deleted unread. You can cold call here but you really need to know the person's name. If you don't, you will get blocked at the entry point, promised that your message will get passed on and a return call offered – if they are interested. You will never hear back from them.   There is always the issue of it may work overseas but it won't work here. If you bring global statistics, then there better be a Japanese component of the survey or the whole thing is just dismissed as irrelevant. That means you have to pay to run the same survey here, to show the significance of your findings for the Japanese market. This costs money. Testimonials from overseas companies, super brands or otherwise, are also invalid by definition. You need a local track record to be credible and skepticism reigns without relief.   Natural disasters, especially earthquakes are a constant prospect and all of us living in Tokyo know we are overdue for “The Big One”. After the triple whammy of earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear core meltdown in Fukushima a few years ago, our training business ground to a halt with four months of no cash flow. Who wants to do training, when you are having large numbers of major aftershocks every single day for months. We all know it is important, but it is at moments like these, we really understand the importance of cash flow in a business.   The good news is that you do get paid by clients. Also, Japanese companies prefer the devil they know, so if you supply value, then you can expect repeat business. Staff are hardworking and diligent. People are honest, neat, polite and things work here, also there is fantastic infrastructure. There are large numbers of foreign corporates with businesses here, who are more open than a lot of domestic companies to your approach. There are English language magazines aimed at these expatriate leaders, which because of the limited market, cost a fraction of the Japanese mainstream media. There are many foreign Chambers of Commerce, business associations and study groups here, so there are many networking opportunities where you can actually “work the room”.   The rule of law applies here and legal disputes that have to go to court are few and far between. Like anywhere, there are criminal gangs (yakuza) extorting businesses, but they tend to leave foreigners alone and prefer exploiting the locals, as it is a lot easier.   Because of Japan's extremely strict immigration and refugee policies, there are very few ethnic or religious groups who are likely to cause Japan much trouble. The biggest non-Japanese ethnic group are Koreans. The majority were born here after the war, their grandparents being brought in during the war years as forced labour. There are some foreigners here illegally overstaying their visas, but they are keeping a very low profile, because the Japanese government deports them once found.   Japan is still the third largest economy in the world. The main leisure activities here really, for the majority of the populace, is to shop and eat. Many foreign companies have done well here, they have found the formula for success but few have done that rapidly. Long-term planning, patience, grit and sustainability take on different dimensions here in Japan.

Literatura de la voz del propio autor. El taller literario “El Nudo” presenta de su fábrica de letras a: Adriana Cisneros, Jesús Garza Morua y José Julio Llanas en la primera emisión de nuestro programa. Producción: Rojo Caballeromenti Coordinador y docente del Taller Literario “El Nudo”: José Julio Llanas Garza. Música “When”, “Prelude in C minor” & “Stories from Emona III” - Maya Filipi; “L hiver” – Mister M; “Garish cyborg” – Evening, Arena Of Electronic Music. Usted es libre de: copiar, distribuir y comunicar públicamente la obra. Bajo las condiciones siguientes: Reconocimiento — Debe reconocer los créditos de la obra de la manera especificada por el autor o el licenciador (pero no de una manera que sugiera que tiene su apoyo o apoyan el uso que hace de su obra). No comercial — No puede utilizar esta obra para fines comerciales. Compartir bajo la misma licencia — Si altera o transforma esta obra, o genera una obra derivada, sólo puede distribuir la obra generada bajo una licencia idéntica a ésta.

"Parade" heisst das neue Album und erneut ist der Band ein rundum sympathisches wie feines Stueck Musik gelungen - und es ist auch ein Novum. Erstmals veroeffentlicht die Vorzeige-Indie-Band aus Oesterreich ein Album beim Major-Label Universal Music Austria. Das Interview fuehrte Manfred Horak.