Podcasts about Highness

The letter of Romans strengthened the ancient church, brought reformation to the dark ages, has brought hope for 2000 years, and can change your life!This week Pastor Joel continues Part 2 of his message series in the book of the Bible called Romans, “Bold Faith That Wins”. This week we continue to look at the life, the person, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. In Romans chapter 8 Paul tells us with the Holy Spirit we can live like a free man, a family man, who is anchored and who has been renewed! Join us as we listen in.This is a special four part series that will span the year of 2025.LINKS + RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:• Recommended reading for this series• Walter Payton• Paul David Tripp podcast• Princess Bride "Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something"• C.S. Lewis "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world”• Wilbur E. Rees “I would like to buy $3 worth of God please, not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don't want enough of God to make me love a black man or pick beats with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation. I want the warmth of a womb, not the new birth. I want a pound of the eternal in a paper sack.” • Download the free study guide by visiting and clicking on the button "Download Study Guide"⁠• Find a complete transcript here• Scripture References: Romans 8, verses 12-25; John 10, verse 10• Find out more about Covenant Church at ⁠covenantexperience.com

TUESDAY HR 5 Comedian Iliza Shlesinger joins the show to talk about her new comedy special and upcoming tour stop in Orlando. The K.O.D. - On National Awkward Moment day, his Highness shares moments that still keep him up at night. Monster Messages & Hot Takes

Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. Your host is Paul Marden.If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website SkiptheQueue.fm.If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter  or Bluesky for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned in this podcast.Competition ends on 19th March 2025. The winner will be contacted via Bluesky. Show references: https://www.ajah.ae/https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-griffiths-63432763/Kelly's final episodeThe transformation of Painshill Park, with Paul Griffiths, Director of PainshillWhat it really takes to launch a podcast. With Kelly Molson and Paul GriffithsPaul Griffiths has worked in the Heritage, Museums and Tourism world now for nearly 30 years.After spending 16 years working in various role for English Heritage, in 2012 he moved to the Mary Rose Museum as Head of Operations to oversee the opening and operations of the multi award winning museum, welcoming over one million visitors before in 2018 taking on moving to the Painshill Park Trust in the role of Director of Painshill. Paul spent 6 years there before his move in December 2024 to Ras Al Khaimah one of the seven Emirates that make up the UAE. In this exciting brand new role Paul is Chief Executive Officer of the Al Hamra Heritage Village, part of the Al Qasimi Foundation. Transcriptions: Paul Marden: Welcome to Skip the Queue, a podcast for people working in and working with Visitor Attractions. I'm your host, Paul Marden.Longtime listeners will remember my guest today, Paul Griffiths, when he was CEO at Painshill Park, from when he was interviewed back in season one by Kelly. In today's episode, Paul comes back to talk about his new role as CEO of Al Jazeera Al Hamrah Heritage Village in Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE. Now, I'm always interested in the first 90 days of people's experience in a job, so we'll be talking more about that and his for the future. Paul Marden: Paul, welcome back to Skip the Queue. Paul Griffiths: Hello. Thanks for having me, Paul. Great to be here. Paul Marden:  Long time. Listeners will know that we always start with an icebreaker question and our guests don't get to know that one in advance. I think this one's a pretty kind one. I was pretty mean to Paul Sapwell from Hampshire Cultural Trust a couple of weeks ago because I asked him whether it was Pompey or Saints and for political reasons, he felt that he had to abstain from that.Paul Griffiths: Testing his interest. I'd have gone Pompey at the time because that's where we live. Well, did live. Paul Marden: Oh, there you go. There you go. So you've moved over from Portsmouth. You're now in the UAE. Tell listeners, what is that one? Home comfort that after three months away from Blighty, you're missing? Is it proper English marmalade? Paul Griffiths: Do you know what? I've been able to get hold of most things, but I've not been able to get. I know people who cook properly, so I should be able to do this myself, but I haven't. Cauliflower cheese, one thing I'm missing from home, that doesn't sell it anywhere in a sort of pre pack or frozen form. I can even get hold of Yorkshire puddings in Spinny's supermarket, but I can't get hold of cauliflower cheese. Paul Marden: Can you get cauliflowers? Paul Griffiths: Can get cauliflowers. I'm sure I can make cheese sauce if I knew what it was doing. But you normally. I'm so used to normally buying a pack of cheese, cauliflower cheese to have in my Sunday roast. Paul Marden: Okay. So if I ever get to come out, I need to bring out a plastic wrapped, properly sealed so that it doesn't leak on the plane. Cauliflower cheese? Paul Griffiths: Yes, please. Yeah, absolutely. Paul Marden: So your last episode was actually. Or your last full episode was back in season one, episode 22. So five years ago and the world has changed a lot in five years, but most recently it's changed a lot for you, hasn't it? So why don't you tell listeners a little bit about what's happened to you since you were with us in season one? Paul Griffiths: Wow. Yeah, well, season one seems an age away, doesn't it, now with all the wonderful guests youu've had since on Skip the Queue, it's been a different program completely. But, yeah, no, well, back then I was at Painshill, were coming out of a pandemic and I remember, you know, Kelly and I were chatting over all the different avenues that everyone had gone and what we've done at Painshill and that continued brilliantly. And however, my life has taken a change in. In sense of where I am, but I'm still doing the same sort of work, so. Which is, you know, when our industry, and it's such a fabulous industry, it's great to stay in it. Paul Griffiths: So I am now over in the United Army Emirates in the Emirate of Ras Alhaima, which is the third biggest of the seven emirates that make up the UAE, behind Abu Dhabi and, of course, Dubai. So I was approached, God, nearly always, this time last year, about a call over here. Yes. My recruitment company got in touch and went through, you know, had a good look at the job description and thought, well, actually, we'll throw my hat into the ring. And applied, went for a series of online interviews with the recruitment company, then an online interview with the people over here at various departments within the Al Kassimme Foundation and the Department of Museums and Antiquities. Paul Griffiths: So, yeah, looking at this brand new job, which I'm now lucky enough to be in, I then was flown out in August for a round of interviews, met all the team. You know, one of those things that you later discover, the whole real four days was one big interview, although there was. There was a central one. But of course, everyone you were meeting along the way was being asked to feedback, And I love chatting to people and enjoying people's company. So actually went for dinners and lunches and all sorts, which was just a lovely four days and almost felt like a free hit in many ways, Paul. Well, this is going to be a brilliant experience. Paul Griffiths: If I don't get the job, I'm going to have a great four days in Rasta Taima, seeing it, meeting everyone, enjoying the time here. And, you know, the more time I spent here, the more time with the team, the more time, you know, going and visiting sites. I just became more and more that this would be an amazing job. Obviously gave my absolute everything, did loads of research, gave everything in the interview. The interview took a rather unusual turn. After the sort of hour and a half of questions and my questions, I was asked to leave the room for a short period. Not unusual in that sense because I was, you know, I wasn't just going to leave and go because obviously I was in their hands for four days. Paul Griffiths: But the doctor, Natasha Ridge, the executive director of the foundation, came out the interview and said, “Right, that's all gone really well. We're really pleased. We're now off to the palace for you to meet His Highness Sheikh Saud, who is the ruler of Ras Al Khaimah and on the Supreme Council of the UAE.” So I was sort of, I went to one of the small meeting rooms you. Now I know that. Now I know where I was, where I went. But at that point I had no idea. One of the lovely. There's a very much a service thing here. Paul Griffiths: So, you know, we have in the Heritage Village as well later we have a wonderful member of our team, Geraldine, who does lots of cooking, prepares stuff and just had a wonderful fish taco lunch because we're four hours ahead of you, of course, here in Alaihi. So, yeah, so one of the guys came in with, gave me an English breakfast tea and sort of, you know, sat there reviewing what, thinking what on earth was I going to be asked by His Highness. And then was put into one of the drivers and we drove up through Rat Sahma City, through into the palace, up the long driveway and there I was sort of eventually, after about 20 minutes, presented with. Presented to Sheikh Sword who asked me, chatted, asked various questions. Paul Griffiths: I don't think there could be many interviews that you end up with His Highness in the second half of it. You know, it's sometimes a presentation. Yeah. So that was. I was there for about half an hour and that's your time over and off he goes. And off I went back to then go and have dinner with some of the team. So it was a very surreal afternoon. Paul Marden: Being interviewed by royalty. But when you're not expecting that as part of the interview process, that must be quite unnerving. Paul Griffiths: I had a heads up that at some point in my trip I might meet him, but there was no formal arrangements. I had me had to get in a diary. So it hadn't even crossed my mind that's what was about to happen. When I was asked to leave the meeting room, I just thought maybe they wanted to come back with more questions or, you know, say I hadn't gone well, whatever. But, yeah, no, that was the. I took that as a good sign. I thought, well, actually, if I'm being whisked up there, the interview must have gone relatively well because I'm sure they would present me to shake sword if it hadn't gone so well. Paul Marden: Yeah. You'd hope that he would be towards the end of the cycle of the interview round. Paul Griffiths: Yeah. Paul Marden: Not doing the early sifting of CVs. Paul Griffiths: No. He certainly had seen who I was because he asked me some questions about where I'd worked and. Okay, things like that. So he'd obviously seen a CV. He's a very. I mean, I've met him subsequently a few times. I've been fortunate to be a dinner hosted by him a couple of weeks ago. But he is a very, very intelligent man. Works really hard. I mean, work. He, you know, for him, he spends every minute working on the emirate. He ruled, he. He's the ruler. But he's almost a. It's a sort of combo, I guess he's all Prime Minister at the same time as being the ruler. So he is constantly working. You know, I'm really committed and I'm lucky in many ways that where I am working at the Heritage Village is his real. Paul Griffiths: One of his real pet projects that he's really driving forward. So, yes, we come with sort of royal. Royal approval, if you like. So. Yeah. Paul Marden: Excellent. So I. I've not been to the Emirates before, so for those of us that have not been, tell us a little bit about Ras Al Khaimah, of course. Paul Griffiths: Well, Ras Al Khaimah is one of the quieter Emirates mentioned. Sheikh Saud there, he's really driving a sort of, you know, a sort of agenda of bringing in more tourists. But he wants to use culture and territory as part of that. So, you know, it's a more relaxed, low level, if that makes sense. It's not Dubai, it's not full on, it's more relaxed Emirate. It's relaxed in cultural and many of the ways it's not, as you know, some of the other Emirates are, for example, completely dry. Ras Al Khaimah has given licenses to hotels and big restaurants in hotels for serving drinks. And there are a number of sellers where you can purchase for your consumption your own home, whereas Sharjah, you can't purchase any alcohol, for example, so it's a bit more chilled like that. It's a lovely place. Paul Griffiths: We're very fortunate to have the heavier mountains go through the far side of Ras Al Khaimah. So where I'm based is more on the seafront but then not, you know, I can see the mountains behind and there's a number of drives up into the mountains which are absolutely fabulous. Up to the Jebel Jais, which is the highest point in the UAE, we have the world's longest and fastest zip wire. I have not gone anywhere near that yet. Goes up to 100km an hour and is the longest over from the top of the mountain, whisking you off to the other side. I think it looks terrifying. But my. Paul Marden: I'm more interested in cables that take you to the top of the mountain. Maybe with some skis on my feet than I am attaching myself to a cable and going down the mountain. Doesn't sound like fun to me. Paul Griffiths: There's a toboggan ride as well up there as well.Paul Marden: Oh, I'd love that. Paul Griffiths: So that's the toboggan ride's on my to do list when the family get off, I'll save it for then and take my son Barney on that. But you know, there's all this sort of venture sports up on the top of the mountain and driving up there is remarkable. They put a proper road in. It's not the scary driving up the Alps, terrified what's going to come around the other corner. It's very like driving up a road, you know, normal sort of dual carriageway, two lanes each way and then right going through the mountains to the other side to one of the other Emirates for Jazeera , for example. So you're over on the Indian Ocean side Gulf Vermont. That road is just beautiful. There's no traffic on it, you know. Paul Griffiths: So Ras Al Khaimah is only about an hour and hour to an hour and a half from Dubai airport. And Dubai is a sort of people go to Dubai in the same way that we, you know, you'd go to London, I'd go to London when I was in Port Soviet, we would. It's now, you know, it's not considered a. There's always someone from work who's in Dubai every day almost for some reason. So nipping up to Dubai, I was like, I went to a dinner there last week and you know, it just seemed very normal that he jumped in a car and drove up to Dubai and came back that evening. Whereas. Seems remarkable actually to be doing that. But yeah, so because of where we are, Abu Dhabi is about two and a half hours away.Paul Griffiths: And we are the northern point of the Emirate, So we border on to Oman, split into a number of areas. Again, I didn't know any of this till I got here, but there's a part of Oman that's at the top of Ras Al Khaimah. And so, yeah, so it's a beautiful Emirate with nature, with mountain areas, which does get a bit chillier when you go up the mountains. I looked quite silly in my T shirt and shorts when I went up there on a Sunday afternoon. People were going past me like they were going skiing. You know, people wore coats and hats and looking at me as if I'm really daft. But I was still. It's interesting that because it's winter obviously everywhere here at the moment and at home, but it's. Paul Griffiths: People here are often telling me it's a cold day when I'm still standing. I still feel really quite warm. But yeah, finding that sort ofPaul Marden: Talking 30s at the moment for you, aren't we? Paul Griffiths: Yeah, it's a little bit. The last couple days have been down in the lower 20s, really comfortable. But when we last weekend, people were getting a bit nervous that summer had come very early because it was hitting the early 30s last week. So I don't know how for me, when we get to August, when it's in the mid, late 40s with real high humidity, I think I'm just going to go from aircon building to aircon building to aircon building.Paul Marden: I am such a Goldilocks when it comes to that sort of thing. Not too hot, not too cold, it needs to be just right. So I would definitely struggle in that kind of heat. Look, let's talk a little bit about where you are in the new job. So you've taken on the role of CEO of Al Jazeera Al Hamra Heritage Village. So tell me a little bit about the village. Why is this village so historic? Paul Griffiths: Well, it's a really interesting one, Paul, because it is very important, but it's not that old. And that's why what coming to me about making it more alive is something that's going to be crucial to us. So the village has been lived in for many years. It was a pearl farming village. So most of the people who worked here were doing pearl farming, which is pretty horrible job to do. You were, again, learning about this. You were jumping off boats, going to the ocean depths for up to three to four minutes. No protection really, apart from a very light shirt and some little bits on your fingers. But actually you're nothing on your eyes. Paul Griffiths: So you're having to look through the salt water, find the pearls come up and they were going up and down sometime 15, 16 times or more a day. And there's a fascinating exhibition in Dubai at the Al Shindagha Museum which really does focus on how this worked and how these guys were living. So, so it's a real. So that was the village. So the village had that, it obviously had then had fishing men, merchants making boats, merchants selling, trading wares. And Ras Al Khaimah has been quite a strategic part as all of the UAE really for the sort of trades coming from the Middle east and out into the Gulf. So the villages was being lived in up until the very early 70s. Paul Griffiths: Up in the 1970s the Al Za'abi tribe who were based here were offered I guess a new life is the only way to look at it in Abu Dhabi with new jobs, with land, with housing and it's just a better way like pearl farming was now being done so much cheaper and easier in the Orient in Japan mainly. So that was, that dropped away. There wasn't the other merchant trading going on. So actually the oil boom basically led the tribe to almost one up sticks and head to Abu Dhabi. And in many ways good story because we're still in touch with quite considerable amounts of the tribes people who were here. Lots of the elders have done wonderful oral histories, videos talking about their lives here. But this village survived as just fell into ruins, but actually wasn't developed. Paul Griffiths: And where it becomes important is this would have been what all of the Gulf would have looked like before the oil boom. The UAE wasn't a wealthy nation before then. You know, when I went up to Dubai and spent some time at the Etihad Museum, which is based around which Etihad Union is the not Around Man City Stadium should point out very much around about how the UAE had come together and how, you know, so it wasn't the wealthiest nation, but actually they discovered oil. They then brought seven Emirates together. It then has flourished in the ways that we now know what Dabi and ifwe looks like and even Ras Al Khaimah in some parts and really quite glamorous. But this village survived. Paul Griffiths: So although it fell into ruin, all the other fishing, farmhome fishing, pearl farming villages across the Gulf had become, just got destroyed, knocked down, you know, turned into hotels and high rises. And actually when you visit the other Emirates, lots of them are now recreating their historic areas or re purposing some of the historic buildings and they're doing it very well. In Dubai, Sharjah has actually completely rebuilt. It's what it calls the Harp Sharjah, which is. Which was its historic sort of areas, but. Paul Marden: Right. Paul Griffiths: But this survived. Many of the buildings had fallen into disrepair. And what we've been doing for the last few years, as the Al Qasimi Foundation and the Department of Antiquities and Museums is restoring a number of these buildings, we've then sort of gone into a sort of activation so you can walk around. So we've got, you know, carving now. Only a year ago it was mostly sand. We've now got a path going through it, so you can walk in. And the job that I've really been asked to do initially on arrival here is to really push that activation forward and really look at my sort of. What I've done in the past and what we've seen other places do and think about what can we do to bring this bit more to life? Paul Griffiths: Because it's the sort of storage village is around the 1970s. Well, it was abandoned in the 1970s. Well, you know, for us from the UK, from lots of other nationalities, actually, something in the 70s isn't very old. It's in our lifespan. You know, we are looking at this going well, actually. So when I was talking to a lot of. So RAK TDA's basically visit RAK tourism authority. So they are really supportive in wanting to push Al Jazeera Al Hamra Heritage Village, which will from now on abbreviate to AJAH to save me. Keep saying that. Long tanned. So they are really keen that we're doing more stuff. So why would a tourist want to come? What is there to see once you're here? Paul Griffiths: On top of some abandoned and now beautifully restored houses, mosques, you know, things that you would have expected in a village of, you know, a thousand or so population, 500 houses, you know, so more than a thousand people, really. So that's the sort of plan in that way. So in many ways I've got a sort of blank canvas to play with. But, you know, money's not unlimited, so it's about. So working closely with local communities, working with, you know, local traders, looking at what could we bring into the village on the back of the art fair. I know we'll talk about later, but it's, you know, this has been a. This is a real challenge for me to. How do I take this sort of place forwards.Paul Marden: In my mind's eye, we go to the Weald & Downland Living Museum so open air museum, lots of houses recreating life through the ages. Is that the sort of experience that I'm going to get if I come to the village of I'm going to see the properties and I'm going to see this previous way of life come to life in front of me?Paul Griffiths: Well at the moment you'll see you just see in the houses and the buildings but you're walking around looking at historic buildings but we have got a number of the houses we've put in. Each video is at the moment showing the audio visuals so you can walk around and listen to members of the tribes chatting about their youth and what's happening and you can see the buildings in real life. I guess what I'm looking for this is telling the story a little bit of the village which we don't initially do that well at the moment that's no criteria. Yes, this is what we need to do going forward. There's been several stages of activation When I came last August part not many the paths weren't all finished. We didn't have anywhere for visitor services to be at the front.Paul Griffiths: We only had a very small sort officey area which has now been built up to where I'm. Where I'm sat today. So I think what you're going to get is a multi as a blend of traders who will be in our suitcase. The Souk is fully restored sooke and shopping market area so that's my first point is to move some people in there. So I've already got a goldsmith and move to her studio in got some handicrafts we've got some textile people moving in the. Paul Griffiths: The main gallery of Nassau Heyman Design Gallery which is the one big gallery where artists can go is going to have a sort of satellite shop if you like not shop a satellite so there will be pieces of work there are in here with their little souvenir store which they sell because they get people a lot of what the design gallery does is making souvenirs of Ras Al Khaimah that are all handmade so quite special gifts. So what we're hoping is tying up with our local hoteliers who many of which have not been so it's bringing them in and they need something more to see to send their guests here. Paul Griffiths: So you know talking to some of them over lunch when I hosted some of them on Saturday it was a case of you know actually, can they send their clients and say, you can do all your holiday shopping because at the moment they're sending people to the shopping malls which are just, you know, nice, but actually merchandise them to go to a heritage village, get that experience of what the golf would have been like and bags of shopping at the same time. Paul Marden: So who doesn't love a. A museum gift shop at the end? So, you know. Paul Griffiths: Exactly. And we don't really have that here at the moment from an Al Jazeera perspective. So on my plan for this year is to put in. We've got an info booth, as it's called at the moment. It's not a world. It's not the best customer service friendly. It's like a caravan but with some windows. And yeah, it's probably a better. Now it's got air conditioning. Yes. But it doesn't work very well for customers. You're trying to talk through little windows because you can only have small windows to keep the air con working, not have too much open to. It's just passing out. Paul Griffiths: So, yeah, so I'm looking at building this summer, hopefully. Fingers crossed, touch wood, a visitor welcome centre, which is something we're really pushing along with, which will be lovely because that will be that proper visitor welcome with a shop with an induction into an introduction. Sorry, into the Al Jazeera story. And then let people go. And then when they get to the far end, they'll be the souk full of. He says again, hopefully slowly filling them out, but full of traders and local craftspeople and people who are. Even if they're not originally local, they're based in rack, so they are considered local. The UAE is built up of a lot of expat population. When I say expats, I mean just English people from around the world. It's a really accepting, welcoming community. I've been really. Everyone says hello to you as you're walking into the supermarket shops. There's no. Whoever they are where you're from. Paul Griffiths: Everyone's talking to each other because the local population know they've had to bring people in because there's thousands more jobs than there are Emirati population in Ras Al Khaimah. So, you know, it's always been. And when you look at the foundation of the UAE, it was about, we will need to bring people in to bring this. To build this nation with us. So, you know, it's been always a sort of welcome and melting pot of different people. Paul Marden: Yeah, amazing. Look, you mentioned when we had our initial chat. You've been there now three months, you've been doing lots of visiting of other attractions. Because I think you said to me, which I thought was quite interesting, that you were. There's lots that you bring with you from the UK in your experience, but there's lots of best practice and good practice happening within the Emirates already. So you've been kind of going out and visiting a lot of cultural venues and attractions in the Emirates. Tell me a little bit about those. Paul Griffiths: Yeah, so it's been a minute of a manic last month in February, because we've had the art festival. I know we're going to keep hinting at it, we'll get to it at some point, but when I've had some time away, what's been fabulous, it's just sort of. And I think as well, because the family aren't here in my own at the moment, said, “All right, I've got some time off, let's go and explore.” Yeah. So I've sort of driven across to Fajera, spent time in Sharjah and took myself up for a weekend in Dubai, which was fantastic. Booked a very reasonably priced hotel and just spent a weekend flowering around everywhere and just really immersed in my. So and only scratch the surface. There's so much more to see. So, yeah, so I've been going and looking at. Paul Griffiths: Well, you know, I don't want to do something that's not. There'll be alien to, obviously, the culture here. And that's been really. What's been great fun in the last few months is it's not just going into a new job, you know, and learning that. It's actually been a terrifying, at some points, fabulous experience. I was learning new cultures, new working lives. You know, things are working. It's done very differently here. You know, there's a different hierarchical process we have in the UK and permissions are needed in different places. And that's not. I'm not saying any of this is a bad thing, it's just learning those different things. So I've been learning all these different cultures. You know, we're just coming into Ramadan, which I've had no real experience with before. And that is. That is a massive thing here. You know, it's the month. Paul Griffiths: Every billboard you go past is someone trying to sell something for Ramadan, whether it be a new chest of drawers, you know, your family needs this new dining table for Ramadan. It's a bit like, you know, you will see at Christmas at home, everyone catching on, you know, IKEA will be saying, new table and chairs for Christmas. You know, it's. It's not. It's a sort of different repeating itself. You know, those sort of signs you have around the supermarket. Christmas back home. They're all up now in supermarkets here for Ramadan. Paul Marden: Right. Paul Griffiths: Encouraging what people are going to buy for when they break the fast at sunset Iftar. So, you know, so it's all sort of promoting. You need this for. So it's a real. We're going to a massive thing. And that's been a real sort of learning, cultural thing for me, which has been great because actually I've always enjoyed, when I'm traveling, learning about other cultures, you know, it's always been for me, I always try and visit museums, galleries, learn about the place I'm at. And so actually living somewhere and learn about someone who's been. I think it's added to the fun of the experience. But back to your question. Paul Griffiths: Yes, I've been traveling wherever the possibility to start to look at other historic venues, looking at where they've, you know, restored historic markets and souk areas and what sort of things are going in there, what are people doing there. Up in Dubai, there is a place called Al Shindagar Museum, which is where they've. Some of the historic buildings that have been saved by the creek of Dubai have been turned into the most amazing series of museums, is the only way I can describe it, because each house is a different gallery or different theme. So you have the story of the creek being built up, the story of Dubai seafarers. There was a faith and. Faith and religion room, talking about Islam and different cultures, how that's worked around Dubai. Paul Griffiths: Dubai being built up as a city, lots about the rulers and families, but every house you went to is a different place. What was so impressive there from a visitor experience perspective was the training that Stafford had was sensational. You know, you go into someone, you think they're obviously being managed really well because obviously this is. You don't just train. So obviously someone oversees this really well. But clearly the training, everywhere you went, the customer service was exceptional. People coming out from behind counters, giving you introductions, making sure you had everything needed, you know, as you were leaving. Have you got any questions? All those things we try and all have tried to teach over the years, and in many ways we've all been different levels of success of that. Paul Griffiths: But what was amazing was they also got the security guards in on the act as well, because there's a real culture here that there's a separate, they're secure, they're very different. You know, there's, we've got them here, they're in very much brown security, clearly marked, you know, protecting places. But what they've done there is they had clearly trained those security guards as well, because every security guard you came across was getting in the act of chatting to visitors, even if their English wasn't brilliant, they were really keen to direct you to the next. Come this way. So the next place, oh, you finished that room, you must go upstairs. And you know, that sort of. Paul Griffiths: And whether they, you know, really just said, look, you can have a much more interesting day than just standing, staring at people walking around. You can actually chat to visitors from around the world and get talkative. And I just had the most amazing. I ended up in this museum for over five and a half hours or something silly like that. And I thought I was going to be there an hour because it was priced very reasonably. You know, when you judge a museum on, well, actually I paid this, I'm probably going to be here for that amount of time. And actually it was just, you know, I found myself stopping for a coffee, stopping for lunch. But I was so impressed by the way the staff interacted. Paul Griffiths: They also had a number of cultural local guides as well, who really were, you know, in the full sort of Emirati national dress, but wanted to press on. This is where. This is what I'm doing. So I've some, you know, I traveled across to Fujairah every week and was in a, an old, what was the ruler's summer house. And the guy, and the guy who ran it just took me on a tour. I didn't ask for a tour. He just said, would you. Well, he said, should I take you around? Yes, please. And we had this great hours experience as he was just chatting about all the rooms. And I think people here are very keen to share their culture and their heritage and very welcoming. Paul Griffiths: So, yeah, so I've done quite a bit traveling around the other parts of the UAE. I can't go out of the UAE because I've only got a hire car at the moment, so I can't go out to Omar, that's on my list. You get yourself a car. I can travel north of the border into Oman and explore that. But for now, seven emirates to. So no shortage of places. And I've not been up to Abu Dhabi yet, so still with that on my list. So yeah, Paul Marden: Wowzers. Okay. So I guess, and this is completely, what would I feel like if I was in your position of going to this new country, immersing myself in this relatively new place that you're leading? How do I say this without flattering you? You were a well connected guy. If I went to events, everybody knew you. You had this wide network of people having worked in the UK in the attraction sector for a long time and you've now jumped over to the UAE. What's happened to the network? How does that feel? I mean it must feel slightly kind of worrying or nerve wracking. What have you done to build the network in this new place? Paul Griffiths: There's a number of points to that. Right, so let's answer in a few minutes. So the world's a smaller place so I'm still occasionally having teams call zoom calls with really close ex colleagues, friends, you know, I'm sure, I mean I always say I'm sure but everyone keeps saying, “Oh I'm really loving the journey so please keep posting. So I am going to keep posting and probably going to start to annoy people after a while”, but the feedback so far is everyone saying we're loving the journey and following you with it and feel like we're on the journey. So I will carry on. I'm sort of keeping writing stuff up and sharing it and also I don't know how long I'll be here for. You know, probation is massive over here. I have to keep my fingers crossed. Paul Griffiths: I pass probation which is a six month period because it's a real right the UAE all not just off and across the UAE. It's a real big, you know, much more than at home, much more structured. On day one was given a series and this isn't a bad thing at all, a series of probation tasks, you know, around reports that are around other historic parts because the job that I've come over will eventually evolve into a wider heritage role. But at the moment the real focus is on Al Jazeera Al Hamra, which is great. Get one site, get it going, then see where we go next. So I think I'm still connected to lots of people back home. I'm still looking, seeing everyone's posts and enjoy. Paul Griffiths: I mean my usual jealousy of not being part of the ALVA network anymore as they're all having that great time in Belfast in the last couple of days and seeing everyone's post, not just one or two, but everyone you know, Bernard down with you know everyone's post. I wish I was there with them.Paul Marden: The FOMO was real. So I had Andy Povey in the office with me yesterday and we're both saying the FOMO about that ALVAe vent was very real for both of us having. Paul Griffiths: Having spent. You know I was at the Mary Rose few years where we joined ALVA and go experiencing those council weeks and knowing just hey how much they are great for networking A. You get very spoiled because every host wants to really show off what they can do and I think the Titanic always do that because we go there before for a council meeting but it's. Yeah. So you still see this stuff. So it's still sit home and there's still people I can reach out to.Paul Marden: Of course.Paul Griffiths: If we need to and I'm still calling on people things, you know, different projects we're doing here. But then again it's about slowly building up that network here and I think there's a slightly. You know, there's a. Within Ras Al Khaimah I've started making connections with lots of other people in the Heritage world and. And outside that. So we're already, you know, connecting up with different people from different parts of Ras Al Khaimah, the work we're going to do moving forward and for me I think it's been just a. I'm sort of still pinching myself I'm here and that sort of. So many things keep happening and you know. The weather's been gorgeous because I've come out of a grim English weather to this quite nice winter here where it's mostly been late mid-20s. Paul Griffiths: You're in she and shorts when you're off duty. You know, there's other things. The thing that really surprised me is how smart actually the dress code is for business over here. Paul Marden: Okay. Paul Griffiths: So I had to sort of all the usual brands that from home Mount Marks is next everything here so you could order online and get it delivered quite quickly. So I had sort of came out of one wardrobe thinking I was going to be far more in polo shirt and linen trousers are sort of very sort of summer at Painshill look, you know outdoor. But actually yeah my colleagues are still. Because of the aircon atmosphere. Lots of colleagues particularly in the head office are in suits. A bit like where I would have been when back in my London days. When we're in the office you were in a shirt tie. So yes, I had to sort of buy A back home wardrobe almost once I got traveled out with very lightweight clothing. So yes, it's a bit different in that sense. Paul Marden:  Yeah, absolutely. Let's talk a little bit about life as an expat. How have you found the transition? Paul Griffiths: Fine so far. I say there's lots of bits around work and practice and you know, no amount of inductions will be able to help you on some little faux pas you can make about not realising where you need approvals for staff. And obviously coming from the. For the last six years of being director of Painshill and only from feeding into a board of directors, board of trustees who we'd see quarterly and you know, I chat to the chairman every week. There was a lot of me sort of making those sort of decisions instantly was here, you know, particularly as were part of the foundation and we are representing Sheikh Saud as his name's in the title of the organization now, making sure we're going through those tick sheets. Paul Griffiths: You know, if I want to do anything that needs to spend more money, that's out budget, that is going to his Highness to be signed off. So any projects we're doing, we're needing to make cases to the highest man in the country to actually get those, you know, sign offs and things. And I'm not, that's not a bad thing. But you know, it's just that from an expat I guess it's getting used to. Everything's available here. Not the big supermarket up the road sells Waitrose and Marxist products and has a room at the back for non Muslims where you push the button, door opens, it's like a little bit of a naughty boys room. Paul Griffiths: You push back door open, slides you walk in and there's the pork heaven, you know, there's bacon, there's pork scratching, patays, you know, all because it's a real, you know, it's not just there's so many expats here, particularly from the Philippines and stuff who obviously pork is a big part of their diet. So yeah, that's available. I said earlier on there's cellars where you can pick up a great beer or a couple of glasses of bottle of wine or whatever you want. So actually it's not that I found myself flying into this really different world and I'm not really. Paul Marden:  It's a melting pot, isn't it? Paul Griffiths: Yeah. And I'm not someone who's ever been since very young, you know, going off to nightclubs or anything like that. But if you wanted that There is that. The hotels. So actually, if you're a younger person coming out and you wanted that nightlife, the hotels, particularly on Margin island and Minnal Arab, the tubing hotels have really nice restaurants, fully licensed clubs and stuff. But, you know, actually I found sort of the work is busy. Everyone's, you know, lots going on, actually, just going back to, you know, I was in a hotel for the first two months, which wasn't a dreadful thing because it was an apartment hotel. So, yeah, I had enough and now we've moved. I've moved into a villa ready for the family. Come out hopefully in about a month's time.Paul Marden:  Oh, that'd be exciting. Paul Griffiths: Yeah. So that's nice. So we've got the back onto the golf course. It's quite, you know, it's a nice place to be. It's going to be nice and, you know. Paul Griffiths: Yeah, so I've not struggled adapting because it's not. It's not that, you know, normally I've got a wonderful team here, Asia, you know, so with one Emirati and some Filipinos and other people from around the. From around the world. So that's been nice. And it's melting pot of learning their cultures as well as the local culture and. Yeah. And then they eat rice with everything. So it's. Yeah. Every lunchtime there's a bowl of rice, big bowl of salad in the main course and there's me pouring on the one on the salad, everyone else on the rice. But, yeah, it's been great, Paul. I mean, I can't. It's been one of those. Every moment you think this is just a great place to be. Paul Marden: Good. Let's go back to Al Jazeera and talk a little bit about some of the events that have been going on. So I know you're coming to the end of the Ras Al Khaimah Art Festival. Tell me a little bit about that and how well that's gone. Paul Griffiths: It's been brilliant. I know. I had no idea what to expect. First time for this. So this is the 13th International Art Fair. It started off back in the small museum back in the city of Central Town, moved to here, I think, five years ago is what I'm saying, and slowly grown every year since then. So this is the biggest one we've done, really. Lots of massive sponsors on board from across the Emirates, actually fully supported by His Highness, who's been here at least four times, if not five, since we've had the vessel. He was here at the opening ceremony for the big launch, you know it was, and it was like a proper opening ceremony. Paul Griffiths: Everyone sat round with a band and speakers and you know like not quite Olympics but you know it was a proper event. This is the opening of it and it felt like a big event. Yeah. All my female members of my team had, were given time off in the day to do hair and makeup. It was proper. Everyone looked, everyone looked the business, it was lovely. You know everyone was scrubbed up from the maintenance team to, you know, our executive director looking fabulous in a brand new dress. You know it was really was. No, I've had a new suit, I got a new suit for the occasion. Paul Griffiths: So yeah, it was a lovely evening and then it's rolled ever since and for me it's been wonderful because I've seen people in this village which has been quite quiet since I'd arrived and it's sort of been okay, how are we going to get this? But actually clearly putting something on has attracted a complete cross spectrum audience. So you know, we have people coming in, absolutely fascinating, obsessed with the art, beautiful and it's artists I should say from around the world. It's all exhibited outside or inside the little houses. So you know lots of the pieces have been blown up quite big and quite impressive. I mean do look at it on the website, you know people, you know if you go to ajah.ae you can then click on from there.Paul Marden: We'll put the links and everything in the show notes so people be able to find that. Paul Griffiths: It's been, but it's been, for me it's been fabulous because we've seen so many people in, you know I was, you know, we've had, we've got pop up restaurants so this won't mean anything to people back home but the restaurant called Puro P U R O has a restaurant at the top of the mountain at Jebel Jais. Really almost impossible to get booking, you know you have to book months advance for lunch or dinner. It's the place that everybody, both locals, internationals and tourists want to see and often frequented by his Highness. They've got a pop up restaurant here which just is fabulous. Paul Griffiths: They we've had a lovely couple, Kelly and Paolo in running a restaurant called Antica which is a sort of the chef's Italian Paolo but he's lived in Australia so it's a fusion of Australian middle Italy, sort of historic villagey type cuisine with an Emirates twist. But you're just served four or five courses without there's not a menu. It's not a restaurant as such, so it's sort of a sharing experience. But you know, the food is amazing. So I was fortunate to have dinner. Well, I've actually been fortunate enough to have dinner in Antica twice and lunch there as well. But one of the dinners I was then wandering around the village about 10 o'clock at night was full of people, you know, families just. Paul Griffiths: There is a different culture over here that people do more stuff in the evenings because of the temperature and a different way of life because the local people aren't obviously, for obvious reasons, down the pub on a Friday night, they're doing stuff with the family and you go past cafes and even outside of the village, you know, 9, 10 o'clock on a Friday night, they're full of people sitting very beautifully dressed in their finest, drinking coffee and eating desserts. That's a big thing. People seem to love coffee and desserts. Paul Marden: Okay. Paul Griffiths: But, but then of course it's because because of the heat most of the year we'll spend more time indoors resting in the day and then ready to go out at night and do some more stuff. So yeah, so we've had this sort of here in the evenings. It's really fun. What was interesting is our hours for the festival were meant to be midweek. So Monday we always close. Tuesday to Thursday we're meant to be open till 6 o'clock and then Friday, Saturday, Sunday open to 11:00. Often struggling to get people out then the first night. So the Tuesday night was the first night. Medusa goes at 6:00. 5:45, I had a queue of at least 40 people trying to get in. So we just had to make an on the hooves decision. Paul Griffiths: We're going to stay open later. And then we just opened till 8:00 in the midweek. We didn't want to push it too much because of obviously from the staff welfare perspective, an hour's work. But actually that first night were just. Myself and Sikrat, who's the director of the festival, Emirati. Wonderful. Emirati has been my cultural bodyguard in many ways because he's been the person, my go to person for what should I do here? What about this person? How should I do this? So Spencer Crouch just stood there. Look at this crowd. We both just said, “Well we can't turf them away. This would be daft.” So yeah, so we've had. And we've had about 40, 000 visitors will have come through the door by the end of the festival in 28 days. Paul Griffiths: The artworks then going to stay up in place for Ramadan. So we'll be working different hours again during Ramadan and this is the first time Al Jazeera will ever do. Has ever done anything special for. Because before now it's just been a come and visit, walk in, do what you like, leave now. We're trying to structure that visitor experience. So we're going to be for Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, because Thursday's the sort of Friday night in many ways. Because a lot of people have Fridays off here. Yes, because of the day of prayers and so a lot of people in Ras Al Hamah go to Dubai and Abu Dhabi for work. So Thursday nights they'll travel back. So actually we're going to be open till midnight on Thursday, Friday, Saturday for Ramadan. Paul Griffiths: So people will break the fast with the families and then they want to do the sort of head top of activity. They've now got food back in them and an energy source. And out they come. So again, first time we've done it, hopefully see numbers with the artwork will still be in place. We're then working on some different options around cuisine, food, coffee and hopefully get some musicians in as well, just to give a bit of an atmosphere. But it is a holy month, so it's not. It's not parties, but it's enjoying the family. Paul Marden: Yeah, absolutely. So what does the future look like for the Heritage Village and for tourism and attractions more generally in RAK? Paul Griffiths: I think for RAK itself, we're trying to bring more tourists in then trying to get the most hotels. Interestingly, as they had a lunch with five of our local big hotels at the weekend using. Using our Antico restaurant, this is excuse to have another lunch there and invite some people in and just take on their views, which is great. So just chatting and getting their thoughts on it. They were saying what. What happens in Iraq a lot at the moment is people are finding the hotels through travel agents, through, you know, searches. I know when were looking before I came out here, I know Ras Al Hamra came up on a Thomas Cumbin telescope. Yeah, similar. What am I thinking of? Probably Tui, I guess, or someone like, you know, someone like that. Paul Griffiths: I was doing a search for when went to Canary, but up came Ras Al Khaimah as a hotel and what they were saying. A lot of people will book that and have no idea really what Ras Al Khaimah is, other than it's part of the UAE. Some people think it's part of Dubai, you know, actually, because it's not, they don't realize it's seven emirates, etc. So a lot of people are booking their sort of tourists, their hotels. Our job is to try and then get them out and attract them to do other stuff. So there's lots of adventure tourism going on at the moment. We talked about the zip wire and lots of hiking, walking, camel rail, camel riding, you know, trips to the desert where you can zoom around in 4x Fours and go karts and stuff. Paul Griffiths: So from my perspective of the Heritage village is about bringing it more alive, bringing more people in, promoting it, more linking up with these sorts of hoteliers, concierges. And this is really early days for us because this has always been sort of slightly done but not really pushed yet. And sort of listening to what their advice is and seeing how we can act upon it, you know, and what sort of stuff we can take forward because, you know, there's a lot to be done. And there's lots of other heritage sites across rat about 90 on the list of actual heritage sites. And some of those are real ruins that you're never going to be able to do anything with. Paul Griffiths: Those sort of English Heritage free sites, you know, the ones you stumble across with a little brown sign and you pull up with a lay by, have a potter around and off you go without seeing anyone. There's a bit like that. But then there's a number of sites that will work well with some activation. You know, we've got Dyer Fort, which is on the World Heritage site tentative list and we're working on projects to slowly take that forward to World Heritage status. Touchwood because it's a really important for, you know, and it's perfect for visits. You climb up to the top, you get the most gorgeous views. You know, really is a gorgeous little site. So more interpretation, more things there is what's needed. But you know, again, this is all early days. Paul Griffiths: So it's all about sort of, you know, each day's excitement. What can we do, what can we push forward, who can we talk to? And what's been great is as the festival's gone on, more people have been coming and chatting to me. Mine have become more, well known. That sounds wrong, goes back to your sort of earlier question about, you know, people are sort of learning about, oh, this person's here now. Paul said, although people can call me sir or Mr. Paul, which is fine. I can deal with that. Keep saying now, people, I keep saying, please don't call me sir. You really don't need to. But it's so culturally great. But Mr. Everyone see everyone externally, she's called Mr. Paul, so I can put up with that. But I was there. Although when we host his. Paul Griffiths: His Highness hosted dinner that I was invited to, I then got even pushed up to His Excellency, which was a title. I want to go. Paul Marden: That's quite nice. Paul Griffiths: Yeah, I love that. Apparently. I always thought that someone else I knew was his title. His Excellency was part of the family, but actually it's. Once you get to a CEO director level in royal that circle, you immediately become His Excellency, so. Paul Marden: Well, there we go. I will correct myself in future communications. Paul Griffiths: Please do. Yeah, but I thought it was wonderful. That's why it's just been lovely, the funny comments coming from people back home saying, oh, well, I've amended my entry in my phone to now shake your he status. But yeah, so. But there's a sort of cultural things. It's just. Okay, right, lovely. That's fun. Paul Marden: It's been a whirlwind for you. It's been really interesting actually, talking about it and understanding more about. About what's happening there, about how exciting it is, this huge opportunity that you've got to make a something out of this beautiful historic village and then that, you know, the remit will grow from there. So I think. I think this has been lovely. We always wrap up our interviews with a book recommendation and you've had this privilege once before. So have you run out of recommendations or do you have something ready for me? Paul Griffiths: Well, I was going to recommend the Red island, an Emirati story, because it's based on Al Jazeera Al Hamra, but I thought that might be a little bit too niche. This guy. So, again, little things have come across. This guy's written a book, Adil, and he's going to be coming to Al Jazeera to do a book reading signing. These little opportunities. I have read the book, I promise. It was actually fascinating because it's all about local culture. It went off in a number of tangents, but actually from a point of view of how the Emirati local culture works and families, it was actually quite a really good induction. But now I've decided to go with a more book for management or book for running. And I don't think anyone's given this before, but if they have, I'm nervous. Paul Griffiths: But this book, Fish!, which is one of my favourite books. I've actually launched this as the Al Jazeera Book Club for the spring. So all the team have a copy. Book clubs are massive over here for work. Every department has one here in the foundation. So this book, Fish, is based around the Seattle fish market. My colleagues who've worked me in the past, both. I can hear them groaning now because they've forced everyone to read this, but it's basically around having fun when you're at work. And it talks about the story of the Seattle fish market, how they were just flogging fish, but actually one day decided, we need to liven this up. We need to want to be here. So introduced, sort of involving the crowd, fish flying through the air. Paul Griffiths: But It's a more of a story about a woman joins, it moves up in a company into a department that no one's been able to manage. She gets to the bottom of using the fish market. And it's just a really fun, easy reading book. And so I recommend it to. To listeners and viewers. Paul Marden: That's brilliant. So listeners, if you would like a copy of Fish,Paul Griffiths: It's quite a cheap book as well, Paul, so please, you have to give one away. So it's not too much money. It's just 9.99 in the non fiction section. So, yeah, cheaper. Paul Marden: Bargain. Bargain. That's the trouble with. So I've been doing a few live events where we have panels, four people with book records, recommendations. That's going to bankrupt me. No, not today. We got a bargain this time. So I like this. Yeah. If you'd like a copy of Fish, if you'd like a copy of Paul's book, head on over to Bluesky and when Wenalyn posts the show note, go over there and repost it and say, I want Paul's book. And the first person to do that will get a copy of the book. Paul, delightful as always. Three times on the podcast, at least. Paul Griffiths: I think this would be number. This would be number four because we had the original episode where Kelly grilled me about life at Painshill. Then we did the Turn the Tables episode when I grilled Kelly on setting up podcasts. And then we did. Then we did the Goodbye to Kelly, whatever it was. 100 episode. And then this. Yeah, four Skip the Queues. Which is always a pleasure and I'm so delighted as you're my favourite podcast, obviously.Paul Marden: It's, oh, you say the nicest things. That must be a record. I need to go back and check that I think four times on the podcast is pretty impressive. Paul Griffiths: I think I should get to add all mine up into one as a total so I can beat Dominic Jones, who's always had the biggest number, isn't he? Paul Marden: So, yeah, so he does and he still does. So, yeah, I think aggregating the number of listens for across all of your episodes, I think that might be within the walls. Let me see what I can do and I'll add everything up and we'll see if you can take Dom's crown. Paul Griffiths: Sorry, Dom. Paul Marden:  Because he's not competitive at all. Paul Griffiths: No, he's not, mate. He's a great guy, though. So, yeah, a friendly rival. Paul Marden: Exactly. Thank you very much, Paul. I would love to keep in touch. Paul Griffiths: Let's keep talking. Paul Marden: I want to hear what happens not just after the first 90 days, but I want to hear what happens in a year's time and two years time. So thank you so much for coming on and telling us about Ras Al-Khaimah and the Heritage Village. It's been lovely. Paul Griffiths: Yeah, thanks for having me. It's great. Been a real pleasure. Paul Marden: Thanks for listening to Skip the Queue. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review. It really helps others to find us. Skip The Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them to increase their visitor numbers. You can find show notes and transcripts from this episode and more over on our website, skipthequeue fm.    The 2024 Visitor Attraction Website Survey is now LIVE! Dive into groundbreaking benchmarks for the industryGain a better understanding of how to achieve the highest conversion ratesExplore the "why" behind visitor attraction site performanceLearn the impact of website optimisation and visitor engagement on conversion ratesUncover key steps to enhance user experience for greater conversionsDownload the 2024 Rubber Cheese Visitor Attraction Website Survey Report

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Episode 0097: Your Highness What's Good Famiglia!? How we doin out there?! This week we have another power couple in the house! Sean and Becky from Your Highness gave us the back story on the come up of Your Highness. They have been rockin way back since the prop 215 days and they are certainly thriving in the Ca Rec market along with a few other states! Not to mention they just did a crazy merch collab with Cookies and their merch can be found at Zumiez all across the nation! Wait until you guys hear their story! Y'all know what time it is…. Roll em fat, torch your rigs, pack your bongs, bag up some work, water your plants, do what you gotta do because we're about to take this journey with Sean and Becky from Your Highness!✌

Her Highness Kamala Harris https://www.audacy.com/989word The Tara Show Follow us on Social Media Join our Live Stream Weekdays - 6am to 10am Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/989word Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/c-2031096 X: https://twitter.com/989word Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/989word/ "Red Meat, Greenville." 09/19/24

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Based on the work of Robyn Bee, In 7 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Connected.“Quit torturing the girl, ‘Nina,” the Empress finally cut in. “Put those away.”Theodora considered the young noblewoman for a time, weighing what she saw in her before speaking again.“Although, Antonina is right, my dear. You need to make sex a greater priority.” The young woman opened her mouth to speak, but shut it when the Empress held up a hand.“Hush now, love. Listen for a moment. The world out there might belong to men; but the bedchamber is ours. Take charge of it. You lead him to your bed, instead of following him in. Make a fortress of your sheets, Irene; a place where you are queen.”The young woman’s breath was still quick, and her face still burned. But she listened to the Empress with a focused intensity.“Find what makes your body shiver,” Theodora continued. “What drenches your lips and what makes you want to scream in pleasure. Making love is sport of two. Insist on your pleasure as much as his own and make your bodies sing. Then, when he is drained and warm and contentedly nestled in the pillow of your chest; that is when you start making suggestions.”“It's almost too easy,” Antonina said, pulling the neckline of her dress back up to cover herself. “Once you know the trick of it. Get him used to following you between the sheets, and pretty soon he’ll follow you in everything else.”Theodora’s eyes sparkled, leaning towards the young woman.“Be gentle at first; as if whatever you say is just a passing thought. Don’t press, but bring up the next time you lay together; and then do it again. If he’s content, he’ll start to listen despite himself. Your conversations will become longer, deeper; and that’s when you’ll know you have him.”Lady Irene’s eyes were still a bit wild along the edges, though the flush had started to leech from her face.“I don’t,” She let out a ragged breath, shaking her head and pulling herself together. After another exhalation, she spoke again. "I’m not like you. I don’t know how.”The Empress’ smile was gentle. She nodded towards the woman’s buttoned up frame. “With that, my dear. Your mind is sharp, but it is your body that you must use. That will change in time, if you use it well. But for now, while you are young, it is your greatest weapon.”The young noblewoman nodded uncertainly, gazing down at the many layered dress she wore.“It is God’s gift to you,” the Empress continued. “Use it, take pride and revel in it. For it is yours, sweet Irene, and it is as beautiful as the soul it shelters.”“And remember what I said about your tits,” Antonina added.Theodora laughed softly, leaning back into her divan. I saw her gaze drift to the tightly bound swell of the other woman’s chest. She sighed. “They really are spectacular, aren’t they?”Irene was gazing down at herself, her fingers bunched in her lap. She was silent for a moment, then I saw her loosen.“I always have been rather proud of them,” she said, hesitantly. “They’re heavy but, are they really that nice?”“That’s right” Antonina said. “Be proud of what you’ve got. Now, loosen up that dress and push them out a bit. I want take a better look at them.”And then, slowly, as if she couldn’t really believe what she was doing, Irene reached for the collar of her dress.I shook my head, turning my back to them to face the door. This place, there was always something new. I smiled, hearing footsteps. It was Helena coming to stand beside me. She leaned against the wall.“She’s got them out now,” Helena said. “Are you sure that you don’t want to look?”“Are they as nice as we thought?”Helena laughed. “They’re even better.”I let out a long, regretful sigh, but did not turn around.“Ever the proper soldier,” she teased. “Although, I can’t help but remember how you didn’t hesitate to stare at me this morning.”I winced. “Yeah, well, that was different.”“Oh, was it now?” Her cypress eyes alight. “I’m excited for this explanation.”I reddened. “You’re going to do so many push-ups tomorrow morning.”I expected her to laugh again, but she didn’t. I glanced over, and found a strange expression on her face.“Tell me something,” she said. “If you were the Lady Irene’s husband, would you listen to her?”I considered her question, answering after a few moments. “I would.”“Why?”I blinked, resisting the urge to look back towards the young-woman. “Because she looks smart and serious. I’m sure that her suggestions are at least worth considering.”“But look at her,” Helena said. “She’s got her tits out in a room full of strangers.”I bristled, strangely defensive. “Yes, but that doesn’t change anything.”“Of course, it does. It's not proper. It's not her place.”“What?” I said, leaning back. “Helena, what the hell is going on?”“It's not her place,” she repeated.“You sound like my mother.”“I’m sure you’ve had the same thought.”I was angry now. “What the fuck is this? The girl isn’t stupid just because she’s got her breasts out. It doesn’t make her worse or somehow unworthy. Why the hell are you saying this horseshit?”“Because it's what you believe.”“Not anymore,” I growled.She smiled, and I was suddenly taken a back. I was still angry, but Helena had neatly slipped out from its focus. It whirled about me instead; directionless.“Really?” She asked.“Yes!” And as I said the word, I realized that it was completely and utterly true.“Good,” she said, her smile satisfied. “I’m happy to hear that.”“Why?” I demanded. “What the hell was this all about, Helena?”“Nothing,” she said, grinning into my narrow-eyed stare. “But how about I buy you a flagon of wine to make up for it?”I stared at her for a few more moments, trying to hold on to some piece of my rightfully felt indignation. I was, however, powerless beneath that smile.“Fine,” I said. My own lips quirked upward. “But its two flagons.”“Deal,” she said. “Then, it's a date.”Helena’s smile didn’t fade. She shifted towards me, a little pink staining her cheeks. My stomach burst into a thousand little embers. Here she was, beside me, closer than we’ve been all day.Then, like the sky seen through a leafy canopy, I saw the light dance in her cypress eyes. She leaned even closer; close enough that I was filled with the scent of her hair.“And Leo,” she breathed; the sound deep and full of hidden promise. “When I pull my tits out, you’d better not look away.”I shivered; staring at her, my eyes wide and mouth agape. I was unable to hear anything, save the thundering of my heart.She laughed, that full, toe-tingling sound. She slid away, but not far; her eyes so merry. I let out my own breath, smiling and shaking my head at the wonder of this place. Because in that moment, Helena was beside me. And with the sound of these four laughing, gasping, joyful women all around me; I couldn’t hear my mother’s voice at all.The Empress makes a demand.“This was a disaster,” the Emperor said. “This entire week; ever since those fools killed themselves on the track.”He sunk down into a thickly padded divan, rubbing at his eyes. The Empress lowered herself beside her husband, running her fingers through the hair on the back of his head.“It’s not been that bad, love,” she said. “The race was only two days ago.”“Christ,” Justinian groaned. “It’s felt like a lifetime.”We were in the Empress’ sumptuously decorated sitting room; the imperial couple having retreated here after a midday session within the senate hall. I was at my post by the door, fighting to keep myself straight.It had been a long day.“And Hypatius,” the Emperor said. “You heard him today; like a wolf smelling blood. He spoke well, the bastard. I saw too many of those other old fools nodding their heads along with him.”“All he’s got is fear,” Theodora said, still stroking her husband’s hair. “That will pass in time.”“Perhaps, but we may not have that time.” The Emperor let out a long breath. “Maybe we are pushing things too hard, Theodora. Or going too fast. We’ve changed much in our five years on the throne.”“Change that has been for the better,” the Empress said. “You remember how it was.”“Aye, well, traditions die hard.”Theodora snorted. “'Tradition’ is just another word for fear. Our predecessors were weak. The Blues, the Greens, and those fools on the senate have long held the wealth and power. Of course, they don’t want anything to change.”“Don’t forget the men of the Empire,” Justinian said, bitterly. “Whom we are apparently oppressing more than our slaves.”“I refuse to believe a law against a father selling his daughter into bondage qualifies as oppression,” the Empress snapped. “Neither is the condemnation of rapists.”“How is it that Hypatius said it? 'Men are being run over roughshod by their wives, in full defiance of our traditions and those of Christ himself?”“And those of 'God’ Himself,” Theodora corrected. She pressed her lips together. “As if women aren’t themselves creatures of God. How is the greater sin not keeping womankind in this soft sort of slavery?”Justinian let out another long breath, sagging against the divan. “I know that we’re right in this, Theodora. I’m just tired. And with yesterday’s botched executions,”"I know,” the Empress said.She relaxed her body. She pulled her husband down into her lap, trailing her fingers over his jaw. “We don’t meet the Sassanid delegates for another hour. Rest, my love.”Justinian protested, but had soon loosened into relaxation beneath his wife’s gentle hands and murmuring voice.I turned my attention from them, staring out through a nearby open balcony. The sky was bright, the sun just beginning to descend from its zenith. I couldn’t hear any noise from the city. That was strange, as things had not exactly been quiet.It had taken them a day to finish setting up the gallows. And since then, the Emperor had put them to work. A dozen and more men; both Blues and Greens had been hanged without much ceremony or fanfare. That had been yesterday, the day having proceeded smoothly from the morning onward.This morning, however, Helena and I had returned from our training to find the Empress already waiting to leave. Two men had escaped justice, she’d told us on the way to the senate chambers. A Blue and Green. They were holed up in a church, surrounded by some of Belisarius’ men.And therein lay the problem.As long as they stayed within the church’s walls, they were safe from any sort of secular interference. And the longer they stayed there, an obvious spectacle of the Emperor’s oppressive might; the more a people already on edge would seethe.The Empress’ voice pulled me from my reverie. She motioned me over to where Helena had already joined her by her divan.Both women smiled when I approached; the Empress, bare-footed in a thin dress, and my shield mate in her stratiotai kit.“Leontius,” the Empress spoke softly. Her fingers still stroked her husband’s hair and face; the man’s breathing having deepened into sleep. “You look tired.”I forced a little stiffness into my spine, matching her tone of voice. “I am fit for duty, Augusta. ”She smiled. “As you always are, my soldier. Though, neither of you have had much rest, have you?”I exchanged a glance with Helena. The Empress continued. “You train every morning, and attend me all day until I go to sleep. Even then, there are nights when one of you guards my door. You need rest.”Neither of us spoke, sensing that the Empress had more to say. She was looking down at her husband now, her smile, a little sad.“Like my husband. He works so hard. There is always something that needs his attention. I’m happy he has these moments, but it is not enough. And so, I am imposing a night of relaxation. On all of us.”“Highness?” Helena said.“Once the day’s duties are done, I will retire to my husband’s chambers. There, I will spend the hours making love to him and ensure that, for this night at least, he thinks no more of our Empire.”My face reddened. I averted my eyes, but not before I saw her smile tick a notch higher. “Perhaps I’ll even invite 'Nina and Beli; and one or two others.”I squirmed. Luckily, Helena was there to speak. “They are trustworthy, but even so, highness. We should,”"Not concern yourself with it,” Theodora interrupted firmly. “The Excubitors are fully capable of guarding us on their own. Go down into the city, spend some of your wages. With the way things are going, it may be a while before you have another chance.”“Augusta,” I started.“No, Leontius, enough. I will hear none of it.”I shut my mouth and bowed. She was my Empress, and it was my place to obey; even if I didn’t agree with the command.Helena and I returned to our posts; she at her desk and I by the door. A night off, the thought electrified me. And as the Emperor woke up, and we started moving through the palace, I thought about all that I could do. Where might I go? Who might I see? I had a few friends in the city, a few places I’d found to relax.We went first to his chambers; allowing him to change into something more regal before his meeting with the Persians. Theodora went with him, Helena and I, stationed outside the door.As I pulled the door shut, I became sure of one thing; no matter how I spent these next few, precious hours of freedom, I wanted to spend them with Helena.She was beside me in the suddenly quiet hallway, already looking up towards my face. I met her gaze, my heart starting to pound.“Tonight, would you,” I coughed. Why in God’s name was my throat so dry? I tried again. "Would you like to go down into the city? With me, I mean,” I added hurriedly. “Together.”Heat crawled up my neck. Why the hell had I said it like that? What was wrong with me? I’d ruined it. No way she would ever,”“Sure,” she said.A faint pink rose to color her cheeks. She smiled, reaching one hand up to brush at a lock of hair. I saw the warmth in her eyes, and I suddenly felt like I would float away.“Let’s go into the city,” Helena said. “Together.”She said I stink.Evening came, and I was in my room.I’d stripped out of my armor, and the tunica beneath. I stood bare chested, in nothing but my loincloth in sandals; trying to decide which of my two remaining tunica’s was the cleanest.Knuckles rapped on my door, and my stomach lurched.“One second,” I called. “I’m not ready.”I threw on my darker tunica, deciding that the small wine stain on it couldn't really be seen, and pulled open the door.Helena was there, her lip quirked into a small smile. She was naked, save for the training wraps she’d worn that morning.“I, ahem, guess you’re not ready either,” I said.The scent of her filled the hallway, making my heart quicken. Helena shook her head, a smile still pulling at the corners of her mouth.“I suspected as much,” she said. “We sweated together this morning. Were you really not planning on taking a bath first?”I blinked. “I, uh, wanted to get there fast.”“Why? We have all night.”I didn’t have an answer to that, staring at her stupidly until she laughed. She hooked an arm around mine, pulling me into the hallway.“Come on,” she said. “You stink.”She looked me up and down, peering back into my room. “And bring the white tunica instead. It looks better on you.”We were stepping through into the Empress’ bath chamber before I could really wrap my head around what was happening.The room was empty; though the tiled pool had already been filled with steaming water. Great clouds of humidity billowed through the room, moisture quickly beading onto our skin.Helena and I had carried our clothes bundled within our arms, we left them and our sandals in a sheltered wooden cubby. We were in nothing but our training wraps now, and I hesitated to follow Helena as she drifted towards the water.What the hell was I supposed to do? Bathe with her?My heart was pounding now, heat rising through me. Is that why she had brought me here? No. Surely not. That wasn’t possible. There had to be some other reason why,“Leo,” Helena said.My gaze snapped back to her. She was standing within the clouds of steam, facing me from only a handful of paces away.“Don’t look away.”She reached a hand up to the cloth that bound her chest. Her fingers pulled on a single loop, slipping it free from the rest of the cloth. My heart beat against my chest, like a smith at his anvil, sending sparks of heat flashing through me.I watched her, following the slow unraveling of the cloth around her chest.Helena’s eyes, deeper than ever before, never left my face. She shifted her body beneath the unwinding loops of cloth; drawing me further in. I glimpsed her nakedness through the tumbling lengths of fabric. And with every heartbeat, with every one of her breaths, more of her was revealed to me.I saw the plunging valley between her breasts; deep enough lose myself in. The flesh rising above it was smooth, stained pink by heat and moisture. It curved gently outward, blooming into the full shape of her chest.A nipple peeked out at me through the still falling curtain; shockingly pink next to the warm bronze of her flesh.“Well?” Helena asked. She flexed the naked muscles of her stomach, shifting to let the last of the cloth tumble away.The motion swung her naked breasts from side to side. Air was lodged in my throat, stopping whatever answer I might e

Based on the work of Robyn Bee, In 7 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Connected.“Quit torturing the girl, ‘Nina,” the Empress finally cut in. “Put those away.”Theodora considered the young noblewoman for a time, weighing what she saw in her before speaking again.“Although, Antonina is right, my dear. You need to make sex a greater priority.” The young woman opened her mouth to speak, but shut it when the Empress held up a hand.“Hush now, love. Listen for a moment. The world out there might belong to men; but the bedchamber is ours. Take charge of it. You lead him to your bed, instead of following him in. Make a fortress of your sheets, Irene; a place where you are queen.”The young woman’s breath was still quick, and her face still burned. But she listened to the Empress with a focused intensity.“Find what makes your body shiver,” Theodora continued. “What drenches your lips and what makes you want to scream in pleasure. Making love is sport of two. Insist on your pleasure as much as his own and make your bodies sing. Then, when he is drained and warm and contentedly nestled in the pillow of your chest; that is when you start making suggestions.”“It's almost too easy,” Antonina said, pulling the neckline of her dress back up to cover herself. “Once you know the trick of it. Get him used to following you between the sheets, and pretty soon he’ll follow you in everything else.”Theodora’s eyes sparkled, leaning towards the young woman.“Be gentle at first; as if whatever you say is just a passing thought. Don’t press, but bring up the next time you lay together; and then do it again. If he’s content, he’ll start to listen despite himself. Your conversations will become longer, deeper; and that’s when you’ll know you have him.”Lady Irene’s eyes were still a bit wild along the edges, though the flush had started to leech from her face.“I don’t,” She let out a ragged breath, shaking her head and pulling herself together. After another exhalation, she spoke again. "I’m not like you. I don’t know how.”The Empress’ smile was gentle. She nodded towards the woman’s buttoned up frame. “With that, my dear. Your mind is sharp, but it is your body that you must use. That will change in time, if you use it well. But for now, while you are young, it is your greatest weapon.”The young noblewoman nodded uncertainly, gazing down at the many layered dress she wore.“It is God’s gift to you,” the Empress continued. “Use it, take pride and revel in it. For it is yours, sweet Irene, and it is as beautiful as the soul it shelters.”“And remember what I said about your tits,” Antonina added.Theodora laughed softly, leaning back into her divan. I saw her gaze drift to the tightly bound swell of the other woman’s chest. She sighed. “They really are spectacular, aren’t they?”Irene was gazing down at herself, her fingers bunched in her lap. She was silent for a moment, then I saw her loosen.“I always have been rather proud of them,” she said, hesitantly. “They’re heavy but, are they really that nice?”“That’s right” Antonina said. “Be proud of what you’ve got. Now, loosen up that dress and push them out a bit. I want take a better look at them.”And then, slowly, as if she couldn’t really believe what she was doing, Irene reached for the collar of her dress.I shook my head, turning my back to them to face the door. This place, there was always something new. I smiled, hearing footsteps. It was Helena coming to stand beside me. She leaned against the wall.“She’s got them out now,” Helena said. “Are you sure that you don’t want to look?”“Are they as nice as we thought?”Helena laughed. “They’re even better.”I let out a long, regretful sigh, but did not turn around.“Ever the proper soldier,” she teased. “Although, I can’t help but remember how you didn’t hesitate to stare at me this morning.”I winced. “Yeah, well, that was different.”“Oh, was it now?” Her cypress eyes alight. “I’m excited for this explanation.”I reddened. “You’re going to do so many push-ups tomorrow morning.”I expected her to laugh again, but she didn’t. I glanced over, and found a strange expression on her face.“Tell me something,” she said. “If you were the Lady Irene’s husband, would you listen to her?”I considered her question, answering after a few moments. “I would.”“Why?”I blinked, resisting the urge to look back towards the young-woman. “Because she looks smart and serious. I’m sure that her suggestions are at least worth considering.”“But look at her,” Helena said. “She’s got her tits out in a room full of strangers.”I bristled, strangely defensive. “Yes, but that doesn’t change anything.”“Of course, it does. It's not proper. It's not her place.”“What?” I said, leaning back. “Helena, what the hell is going on?”“It's not her place,” she repeated.“You sound like my mother.”“I’m sure you’ve had the same thought.”I was angry now. “What the fuck is this? The girl isn’t stupid just because she’s got her breasts out. It doesn’t make her worse or somehow unworthy. Why the hell are you saying this horseshit?”“Because it's what you believe.”“Not anymore,” I growled.She smiled, and I was suddenly taken a back. I was still angry, but Helena had neatly slipped out from its focus. It whirled about me instead; directionless.“Really?” She asked.“Yes!” And as I said the word, I realized that it was completely and utterly true.“Good,” she said, her smile satisfied. “I’m happy to hear that.”“Why?” I demanded. “What the hell was this all about, Helena?”“Nothing,” she said, grinning into my narrow-eyed stare. “But how about I buy you a flagon of wine to make up for it?”I stared at her for a few more moments, trying to hold on to some piece of my rightfully felt indignation. I was, however, powerless beneath that smile.“Fine,” I said. My own lips quirked upward. “But its two flagons.”“Deal,” she said. “Then, it's a date.”Helena’s smile didn’t fade. She shifted towards me, a little pink staining her cheeks. My stomach burst into a thousand little embers. Here she was, beside me, closer than we’ve been all day.Then, like the sky seen through a leafy canopy, I saw the light dance in her cypress eyes. She leaned even closer; close enough that I was filled with the scent of her hair.“And Leo,” she breathed; the sound deep and full of hidden promise. “When I pull my tits out, you’d better not look away.”I shivered; staring at her, my eyes wide and mouth agape. I was unable to hear anything, save the thundering of my heart.She laughed, that full, toe-tingling sound. She slid away, but not far; her eyes so merry. I let out my own breath, smiling and shaking my head at the wonder of this place. Because in that moment, Helena was beside me. And with the sound of these four laughing, gasping, joyful women all around me; I couldn’t hear my mother’s voice at all.The Empress makes a demand.“This was a disaster,” the Emperor said. “This entire week; ever since those fools killed themselves on the track.”He sunk down into a thickly padded divan, rubbing at his eyes. The Empress lowered herself beside her husband, running her fingers through the hair on the back of his head.“It’s not been that bad, love,” she said. “The race was only two days ago.”“Christ,” Justinian groaned. “It’s felt like a lifetime.”We were in the Empress’ sumptuously decorated sitting room; the imperial couple having retreated here after a midday session within the senate hall. I was at my post by the door, fighting to keep myself straight.It had been a long day.“And Hypatius,” the Emperor said. “You heard him today; like a wolf smelling blood. He spoke well, the bastard. I saw too many of those other old fools nodding their heads along with him.”“All he’s got is fear,” Theodora said, still stroking her husband’s hair. “That will pass in time.”“Perhaps, but we may not have that time.” The Emperor let out a long breath. “Maybe we are pushing things too hard, Theodora. Or going too fast. We’ve changed much in our five years on the throne.”“Change that has been for the better,” the Empress said. “You remember how it was.”“Aye, well, traditions die hard.”Theodora snorted. “'Tradition’ is just another word for fear. Our predecessors were weak. The Blues, the Greens, and those fools on the senate have long held the wealth and power. Of course, they don’t want anything to change.”“Don’t forget the men of the Empire,” Justinian said, bitterly. “Whom we are apparently oppressing more than our slaves.”“I refuse to believe a law against a father selling his daughter into bondage qualifies as oppression,” the Empress snapped. “Neither is the condemnation of rapists.”“How is it that Hypatius said it? 'Men are being run over roughshod by their wives, in full defiance of our traditions and those of Christ himself?”“And those of 'God’ Himself,” Theodora corrected. She pressed her lips together. “As if women aren’t themselves creatures of God. How is the greater sin not keeping womankind in this soft sort of slavery?”Justinian let out another long breath, sagging against the divan. “I know that we’re right in this, Theodora. I’m just tired. And with yesterday’s botched executions,”"I know,” the Empress said.She relaxed her body. She pulled her husband down into her lap, trailing her fingers over his jaw. “We don’t meet the Sassanid delegates for another hour. Rest, my love.”Justinian protested, but had soon loosened into relaxation beneath his wife’s gentle hands and murmuring voice.I turned my attention from them, staring out through a nearby open balcony. The sky was bright, the sun just beginning to descend from its zenith. I couldn’t hear any noise from the city. That was strange, as things had not exactly been quiet.It had taken them a day to finish setting up the gallows. And since then, the Emperor had put them to work. A dozen and more men; both Blues and Greens had been hanged without much ceremony or fanfare. That had been yesterday, the day having proceeded smoothly from the morning onward.This morning, however, Helena and I had returned from our training to find the Empress already waiting to leave. Two men had escaped justice, she’d told us on the way to the senate chambers. A Blue and Green. They were holed up in a church, surrounded by some of Belisarius’ men.And therein lay the problem.As long as they stayed within the church’s walls, they were safe from any sort of secular interference. And the longer they stayed there, an obvious spectacle of the Emperor’s oppressive might; the more a people already on edge would seethe.The Empress’ voice pulled me from my reverie. She motioned me over to where Helena had already joined her by her divan.Both women smiled when I approached; the Empress, bare-footed in a thin dress, and my shield mate in her stratiotai kit.“Leontius,” the Empress spoke softly. Her fingers still stroked her husband’s hair and face; the man’s breathing having deepened into sleep. “You look tired.”I forced a little stiffness into my spine, matching her tone of voice. “I am fit for duty, Augusta. ”She smiled. “As you always are, my soldier. Though, neither of you have had much rest, have you?”I exchanged a glance with Helena. The Empress continued. “You train every morning, and attend me all day until I go to sleep. Even then, there are nights when one of you guards my door. You need rest.”Neither of us spoke, sensing that the Empress had more to say. She was looking down at her husband now, her smile, a little sad.“Like my husband. He works so hard. There is always something that needs his attention. I’m happy he has these moments, but it is not enough. And so, I am imposing a night of relaxation. On all of us.”“Highness?” Helena said.“Once the day’s duties are done, I will retire to my husband’s chambers. There, I will spend the hours making love to him and ensure that, for this night at least, he thinks no more of our Empire.”My face reddened. I averted my eyes, but not before I saw her smile tick a notch higher. “Perhaps I’ll even invite 'Nina and Beli; and one or two others.”I squirmed. Luckily, Helena was there to speak. “They are trustworthy, but even so, highness. We should,”"Not concern yourself with it,” Theodora interrupted firmly. “The Excubitors are fully capable of guarding us on their own. Go down into the city, spend some of your wages. With the way things are going, it may be a while before you have another chance.”“Augusta,” I started.“No, Leontius, enough. I will hear none of it.”I shut my mouth and bowed. She was my Empress, and it was my place to obey; even if I didn’t agree with the command.Helena and I returned to our posts; she at her desk and I by the door. A night off, the thought electrified me. And as the Emperor woke up, and we started moving through the palace, I thought about all that I could do. Where might I go? Who might I see? I had a few friends in the city, a few places I’d found to relax.We went first to his chambers; allowing him to change into something more regal before his meeting with the Persians. Theodora went with him, Helena and I, stationed outside the door.As I pulled the door shut, I became sure of one thing; no matter how I spent these next few, precious hours of freedom, I wanted to spend them with Helena.She was beside me in the suddenly quiet hallway, already looking up towards my face. I met her gaze, my heart starting to pound.“Tonight, would you,” I coughed. Why in God’s name was my throat so dry? I tried again. "Would you like to go down into the city? With me, I mean,” I added hurriedly. “Together.”Heat crawled up my neck. Why the hell had I said it like that? What was wrong with me? I’d ruined it. No way she would ever,”“Sure,” she said.A faint pink rose to color her cheeks. She smiled, reaching one hand up to brush at a lock of hair. I saw the warmth in her eyes, and I suddenly felt like I would float away.“Let’s go into the city,” Helena said. “Together.”She said I stink.Evening came, and I was in my room.I’d stripped out of my armor, and the tunica beneath. I stood bare chested, in nothing but my loincloth in sandals; trying to decide which of my two remaining tunica’s was the cleanest.Knuckles rapped on my door, and my stomach lurched.“One second,” I called. “I’m not ready.”I threw on my darker tunica, deciding that the small wine stain on it couldn't really be seen, and pulled open the door.Helena was there, her lip quirked into a small smile. She was naked, save for the training wraps she’d worn that morning.“I, ahem, guess you’re not ready either,” I said.The scent of her filled the hallway, making my heart quicken. Helena shook her head, a smile still pulling at the corners of her mouth.“I suspected as much,” she said. “We sweated together this morning. Were you really not planning on taking a bath first?”I blinked. “I, uh, wanted to get there fast.”“Why? We have all night.”I didn’t have an answer to that, staring at her stupidly until she laughed. She hooked an arm around mine, pulling me into the hallway.“Come on,” she said. “You stink.”She looked me up and down, peering back into my room. “And bring the white tunica instead. It looks better on you.”We were stepping through into the Empress’ bath chamber before I could really wrap my head around what was happening.The room was empty; though the tiled pool had already been filled with steaming water. Great clouds of humidity billowed through the room, moisture quickly beading onto our skin.Helena and I had carried our clothes bundled within our arms, we left them and our sandals in a sheltered wooden cubby. We were in nothing but our training wraps now, and I hesitated to follow Helena as she drifted towards the water.What the hell was I supposed to do? Bathe with her?My heart was pounding now, heat rising through me. Is that why she had brought me here? No. Surely not. That wasn’t possible. There had to be some other reason why,“Leo,” Helena said.My gaze snapped back to her. She was standing within the clouds of steam, facing me from only a handful of paces away.“Don’t look away.”She reached a hand up to the cloth that bound her chest. Her fingers pulled on a single loop, slipping it free from the rest of the cloth. My heart beat against my chest, like a smith at his anvil, sending sparks of heat flashing through me.I watched her, following the slow unraveling of the cloth around her chest.Helena’s eyes, deeper than ever before, never left my face. She shifted her body beneath the unwinding loops of cloth; drawing me further in. I glimpsed her nakedness through the tumbling lengths of fabric. And with every heartbeat, with every one of her breaths, more of her was revealed to me.I saw the plunging valley between her breasts; deep enough lose myself in. The flesh rising above it was smooth, stained pink by heat and moisture. It curved gently outward, blooming into the full shape of her chest.A nipple peeked out at me through the still falling curtain; shockingly pink next to the warm bronze of her flesh.“Well?” Helena asked. She flexed the naked muscles of her stomach, shifting to let the last of the cloth tumble away.The motion swung her naked breasts from side to side. Air was lodged in my throat, stopping whatever answer I might e

In this episode, hosts Diana and JR review their current favorite products through their ongoing icebreaker segment, such as the Healing Rose Uplift oil and Terp Sap. The discussion then shifts to California's Bill AB-223 and its implications for CBD access, especially for children, emphasizing the ongoing struggles families face to maintain access to beneficial treatments. *And then, for our Media Member Moment Danielle Guercio joins Diana to talk about the past and present of cannabis media. The two also share their personal journeys in breaking into cannabis journalism, addressing the ethical challenges and the importance of community support. They delve into the creative aspects of cannabis media, the rise of cannabis-infused beverages, and the need for greater investment and visibility for diverse voices in the industry. In between segments and after the episode, there is a sample of Danielle's recent mix.Important links:Dan Gives a F****Real DanhellSpendrCan Your Pediatrician Call Child Services Over CBD?The Cannabis NurseThe Healing Rose (use code Highness for 15% off)*This episode was meant to come out before the bill went up for a vote, and it did not pass this time.    This episode is produced and edited by Your Highness Media. Subscribe to our Substack for the latest updates and event information.

Cleopatra would have blushed in this Empress' presence.Based on the work of Robyn Bee, In 7 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Connected.“I will die before I let them take the purple that robes me. For never will I see the day where those I meet do not call me Empress.”Leontius is stratiotai, a soldier of Rome's armies. He has lived a decade and more of war, staining his boots with the dirt of nations that have dared to raise their blades against the Empire. It's left him tired. So, when given a chance to step from the battlefield and into Constantinople's Imperial Palace, he takes it.Leontius enters the service of Empress Theodora, a woman unlike any other, who rose from the capital's meanest brothels to sit as co-ruler of the Mediterranean's mightiest Empire. But the city writhes in her grip. As embers of rebellion flare into conflagration, Leontius will find that there exists a life beyond what he has known. A path he sees reflected in the smile of a guardswoman with wild, cypress eyes.This is a story set in the Imperial court of the Byzantine Empire in the year 532 AD. It is the tale of a young soldier inducted into the guard of a very horny Empress.“Tell God that He made a mistake, dear father, when He only gave me three holes for pleasure.”I turned those words over in my head, shifting uncomfortably in my seat. I swear, those words had nearly killed my mother when she’d first heard them. She was a tough, tight-lipped seamstress that could heave a bolt of satin over one shoulder with one hand, while she slapped a lesson into me with the other.“What sort of woman would say that?” She’d rail, before clapping her hands over my ears. “Close yourself off to such things,” she’d warn me. “They are not for folks like us.”Those were for the people of the capital, where the streets teemed with prostitutes and silk covered actresses. Not for the goodly, simple folk of Rhodos and my mother’s shop.Despite myself, I felt my lip quirk into a small smile. Of course, the capital was exactly where I was. I stood and kept my eyes lowered until I’d made my way to the nearest window. I stared out into the afternoon sun, breathing deeply of the summer air that was heavy with the scent of nearly half a million people. Constantinople, golden capital of the Eastern Roman, Byzantine Empire and center of the world.I was looking out over the Hippodrome’s track and out into the thousands of domes and roofs of the city. There was no city quite like it in all the world, and even now, a month after having arrived, I still often got lost in its crooked streets.I heard a polite cough behind me, and I turned to find one of the armored guards nodding to the seat I had just vacated. Evidently, I was supposed to wait there.I gritted my teeth, but obeyed. They were just doing their jobs. It wasn’t their fault that I was nearly twitching with restless energy.I adjusted myself on the chair, shifting around in vain to try and find a comfortable position. In all fairness, my discomfort wasn’t the furniture’s fault either. This was, without a doubt, the finest chair I’d ever sat it. Its cushion was thick, held up by four intricately carved legs of scented wood.The rest of the small antechamber was just as luxurious. Everywhere I looked, I saw gold and marble and fine pottery. Even the large door, so diligently guarded by the two armored Excubitors, was carved and inlaid with gold.What in God’s name was I doing here? I was a soldier; my hands calloused by the sword. I was stratiotai, an infantry man. My place was in the shield wall, my sandals stained with the dirt of kingdoms that dared raise their blades against Rome.At least, that’s what I kept telling myself.I heard the muffled sound from behind the guarded door. It made me think back to my mother, to those words that she’d so hated to hear.“Three holes for pleasure,” I murmured to myself.I coughed, feeling heat rise to my cheeks. I shifted again on this damnable chair. What would my mother think if she could see me now? Her only son, her soldier, her little lion; invited to the Imperial Palace.I think that those words would be the first thing she thought of. I think that she would once again clap her hands to my ears so that I would hear no more from the woman that had so famously uttered them.This woman; she who’d been crowned Augusta. A woman who’d come from the flea ridden pallets of the city’s meanest brothel and had risen to command the wealth of half the world. A woman upon who’s words rested the fate of millions. The most powerful woman on earth; co-ruler of the Mediterranean’s mightiest empire and who’s beauty and ruthless intelligence were already being woven into legend.Theodora; Empress of Rome. The woman that I was to meet.The door guarded by the two Imperial Guards suddenly swung open. I leapt to my feet, my spine snapping into a salute.“Ouch,” I heard a woman laugh. “What do you think boys, is his back is straight enough?”The two Excubitors chuckled. I blinked, and found myself facing not the Empress, but a woman in the armor of a guard. The breastplate she wore was of plain, functional steel. She carried with her a heavy, iron-rimmed shield with a short-sword and dagger strapped to the belt at her waist.This was a stratiotai’s kit, standard issue amongst the Emperor’s legions. It was the twin of the one I’d worn nearly every day since my sixteenth birthday; right down to the helmet she held in the crook of her arm.She moved towards me, her hobnailed boots loud against the marble floor. My mind was blank and only a decade’s worth of military discipline kept my mouth from gaping open like the world’s largest fish.Woman weren’t soldiers. They couldn’t be soldiers.A woman’s place was married, tending to a home or shop or farm. From crib to hearth to crib to grave; my mother would say while pinching my cheek. A good woman could be happy nowhere else, she’d insisted.And yet, here one was, grinning at me with her emerald eyes.“Loosen up,” she said. “My back hurts just looking at you.”I obeyed the note of easy command in her voice, staring up and over her left shoulder as I would any Centurion.It was easier than trying to work through my confusion.I felt her eyes on me, taking note of the muscles beneath my light tunica. She swept her eyes down my arms and made an approved sound when she saw the callouses on my open palms. I felt her take note of my scars next, her eyes lingering on each one.My face flushed, my heart beating faster.I wasn’t used to being around women, at least not ones that I hadn’t paid for their company. They were hard to find in a legions camp. This guardswoman was strong, confident, and my awkwardness wasn’t helped by the fact that she was intensely beautiful.Her bright green eyes were the most striking, though it was far from the only thing that made her a rarity. Her hair was held back at her forehead by a band of cloth; a wave of copper-colored hair that curled down to her shoulders. And though her skin was bronzed by the summer sun, she had the sort of complexion that was rare to find in the capital since the loss of the Empire’s western provinces.“So, you’re the one who won the foot-race,” she said. “Leontius, right? I watched you come into the Hippodrome. You’ve got good form.”Was she a runner too? Judging from the lean muscles of her arms and legs, she very well could be. And why the hell not? Apparently, women could be soldiers here, why couldn’t they run naked with the rest of us in the athletic events?I heard the rising voice of my mother’s outrage in my head, but I pushed it and all my swirling confusion to the side. I was a soldier, and I knew how to deal with the dangers of the present before I worried about the future. And right now, the danger was that I’d been staring at this guard’s shapely thighs during a long moment of still stretching silence.“Ahem,” I cleared my throat, my face suddenly burning. “Thank you, sir!” I coughed again, “ma'am”She laughed; eyes sparkling. She had a deep, full-bellied laugh; one that thrummed through my chest and made my toes tingle.“Sir is fine,” she said. “For now. I know that you legion boys have a hard time with change.” She winked.“Ah, yes sir,” I swallowed. “Thank you, sir.”“Alright, then. Are you ready to meet your Empress?”“Yes, sir!” I said, snapping off another salute.She smirked, and led me through the open door and into the short hallway beyond. I followed her towards the door at the other end.“You won the Emperor’s foot-race,” she said. “And you’re a soldier; that means that the Emperor has granted you the chance to join the Empress’ Guard.”“Yes, sir.”I tried not to remember that race. I love to run, but that had been brutal. I’d run for almost an entire day, hammered by the summer sun, racing against the thousand others that had decided to sign up.But I’d won, and the Emperor, Justinian himself, had come down from the Imperial box to put the laurel upon my head. I don’t remember much of that day, though I’m sure that beneath the pain and intense dehydration I’d been proud. I had to have been.The guardswoman glanced over her shoulder at me. “It's just a chance; an interview. Remember that. The Empress has the final say.”My face must have flickered, because she spoke again. “You have a question, soldier?”“No, sir.”“Yes, you do,” she said. “Spit it out.”“Sorry, sir, it's just that I thought that it was the Emperor that chose his Excubitors.”Her lip quirked. “We’re not Excubitors. They guard the whole palace, and the Emperor, sure. Our duties are to the Empress, nobody else. That clear?”“Yes, sir!” I said, though of course, her answer had just raised a hundred more questions in me. “Clear as the giant’s foot.”I immediately cringed as the words slipped out. Now wasn’t the time for a damned joke! But to my relief, she laughed once again.“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?”We were at hallway’s only other door now, the one that presumably opened into the Empress’ chambers. She turned to regard me with an expression that made the heat rise to behind my neck.“Sorry, sir!” I said. “It's an expression from my home. God as my witness, I meant no offense.”“Your home,” she said. “Rhodes, right?”“I,” I blinked. "Yes, sir.”She grinned. “I knew that there was a reason I liked you. I’m from Lindos, on the eastern side of the island.”“Yes, sir. I know it.”I shoved that information into the same corner of my mind as my now screaming mother. I had family in Lindos, had visited it as a boy. To find out that we may have crossed paths once before was just too much.“I’m from Rhodos,” I said instead. “The city. Though I haven’t been back since I joined the legions.”“It’s been a long time for me as well,” she said.She reached for the ornate handle, pausing to look back at me.“A word of advice,” she said. “The Empress will not be what you expect. Obey her, and remember that while you’re in that room, you’re as responsible for her life as I am.”Without giving me a chance to respond, the armored woman threw open the door and marched me into Empress Theodora’s private chambers.Her sitting room was large, airy, kept cool by an open balcony and several wide windows. The walls were of stone, festooned with tapestry, art and the many other sort of golden things that the rich liked to collect. Beautifully carved wooden chairs, couches and divans were spread throughout the space.And lounging on one, a book held delicately in one hand; was the Empress Theodora.“Highness,” the guardswoman said. “Here’s the man that won the Emperor’s Race.”“Your Majesty,” I said. I dropped to my knees, keeping my eyes on the stone floor. “It would be an honor to serve you.”“Would it, now?” I heard her say in a voice that was tinged with a smile. “Stand up, solider. Let me get a good look at you.”I obeyed, keeping my eyes downcast. I heard the rustle of fabric.“How do you expect to guard me if you’re always looking at the floor?”I flushed, feeling the heat crawl up my neck. I hurriedly looked up, and I swear that for several long heartbeats, I couldn’t breathe.The beauty of the Emperor’s wife was spoken of everywhere her name was known. I had heard her described a thousand different ways; heard a hundred different versions of how she’d come to be named Augusta.Born on faraway Cyprus, she’d come to Constantinople as a child. Her father had trained bears for the circus, and when he’d died, her family had been doomed to the worst sort of poverty. She’d survived as many a young woman had; by trading her body for a roof and something to eat.She’d worked at a brothel, and later as an actress, which many said were the same sort of profession. Constantinople’s taverns were full of men who’d claim to have known her then. They’d wax about the times they’d had her, for one night or many. Others would reminisce about her time on stage, their eyes faraway as they’d recount the day they’d seen her dance clothed in nothing but a long, red-ribbon.I’d heard every story, though none could prepare me for the sight of her. She’d set her book down, her body still draped over the divan. She was young, I realized, barely past her third decade. She wore a thin, silky sort of dress, the material clinging to a figure that had retained its dancer’s strength.Her feet were bare, and she stood in one smooth motion. Her smile was pleased as she glided towards me, her curves tight against the cloth of her dress.Dark, intelligent eyes watched me from above a long neck. It swept of gracefully from her tight chest, a golden chain disappearing into the space that divided it. I wondered what was hidden there, safe and out of sight. How warm the gold must be, cradled against the smoothness of her skin.The Empress smirked. I wrenched my eyes back to the floor, mortified. What in God’s name was I doing? My face burned, and I was opening my mouth to stammer an apology when the Empress spoke.“I did not say that you could look away, soldier.”“A thousand apologies, my Empress,” I said.I lifted my gaze back up to hers with some difficulty. Her eyes were wrinkled in a smile. The rest of her skin was smooth, a warm brown that was a only a few shades lighter than the thick, wavy tresses of hair that cascaded down past her shoulders.She’d stopped an arms-length from me, examining me in the same manner as her guard had a few minutes before. My flush deepened.“Am I making you uncomfortable?”“N, No, your Majesty,” I managed to say.“Good,” her smile widened. “Because I am impressed with you, stratiotai Leontius. And that is without taking into account your victory in my husband’s race. You fought in Persia, did you not?”“Ah, yes, your Majesty. I fought in general Belisarius’ army.”“Indeed,” she said. “You shared in his great victory at Dara, and in his defeat at Callinicum a bare few months ago.”I did not want to remember those battles, that campaign against the Sassanid Persians; neither the baking sun and trenches of Dara or how their cavalry had swept through us at Callinicum.“Yes, your Majesty,” was all I said.“I’ve spoken to many of your fellow soldiers, since Belisarius and his army have trickled back to the capital. You are well regarded by your comrades.”I ducked my head, “thank you, your Majesty.”“A thoughtful man, they all say. One serious about his duty. You had few friends amongst your cohort, yet all respected you.” The Empress continued. “You enlisted at sixteen years of age. You’ve served a decade already, and I believe that you would have served another one if you’d not caught my husband’s attention.”I nodded, ignoring the twist in my stomach.“An exemplary man,” she said. “In most things.”The Empress started to move, circling me. She made a little sound with her throat. “He’s quite handsome as well, is he not?”“I thought so too, Highness,” the emerald-eyed guardswoman said.“Lean,” the Empress continued. “A runner, obviously. Well-muscled, though his shoulders are a little too small. I’m not sure about the beard either, though the jaw beneath looks strong.”“I rather like it, Highness. It's just a dusting of whiskers, but it suits him nicely.”“Yes, well, you’ve always liked them rather savage, Helena. Your Rhodian blood, no doubt.”The other woman, Helena, grinned. “He’s Rhodian too, Highness.”The Empress sniffed. “Figures. I suspect that he will be as uncivilized as you are, then.”Her smile made light of her words, though I was still incredibly uncomfortable. I sweated beneath the attention of the two beautiful women. I kept my back ramrod straight, knowing that I’d be squirming like a virgin at a brothel if I let myself relax.“Now,” the Empress said. “Lie down. On your back.”The order confused me. But she was my Empress, and so I obeyed; lowering myself onto my back, the stone cool through the linen of my tunica.She smiled down at me. “Your obedience is commendable, soldier. And fear not, you’re down there for a reason.”Cloth rustled and sighed, her bare feet making no sound at all as she stepped around me. She was beside my chest now, her large, dark eyes twinkling as she kept her gaze on my face. Inexplicably, I felt my cheeks redden. I averted my gaze.“Look at me,” I heard her snap.My eyes, wide with sudden panic, flew back to her face. Her smile was gone, replaced by a downward twist of her lips.“Your, Your Majesty.” I stammered, frozen, like a rabbit beneath the eagle’s shadow. “Forgive me. Please, I didn’t,”Her smile returned, softening her features and a better companion to the sparkle that had never left her eyes."Shush,” she said. “There’s nothing to forgive.

Cleopatra would have blushed in this Empress' presence.Based on the work of Robyn Bee, In 7 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Connected.“I will die before I let them take the purple that robes me. For never will I see the day where those I meet do not call me Empress.”Leontius is stratiotai, a soldier of Rome's armies. He has lived a decade and more of war, staining his boots with the dirt of nations that have dared to raise their blades against the Empire. It's left him tired. So, when given a chance to step from the battlefield and into Constantinople's Imperial Palace, he takes it.Leontius enters the service of Empress Theodora, a woman unlike any other, who rose from the capital's meanest brothels to sit as co-ruler of the Mediterranean's mightiest Empire. But the city writhes in her grip. As embers of rebellion flare into conflagration, Leontius will find that there exists a life beyond what he has known. A path he sees reflected in the smile of a guardswoman with wild, cypress eyes.This is a story set in the Imperial court of the Byzantine Empire in the year 532 AD. It is the tale of a young soldier inducted into the guard of a very horny Empress.“Tell God that He made a mistake, dear father, when He only gave me three holes for pleasure.”I turned those words over in my head, shifting uncomfortably in my seat. I swear, those words had nearly killed my mother when she’d first heard them. She was a tough, tight-lipped seamstress that could heave a bolt of satin over one shoulder with one hand, while she slapped a lesson into me with the other.“What sort of woman would say that?” She’d rail, before clapping her hands over my ears. “Close yourself off to such things,” she’d warn me. “They are not for folks like us.”Those were for the people of the capital, where the streets teemed with prostitutes and silk covered actresses. Not for the goodly, simple folk of Rhodos and my mother’s shop.Despite myself, I felt my lip quirk into a small smile. Of course, the capital was exactly where I was. I stood and kept my eyes lowered until I’d made my way to the nearest window. I stared out into the afternoon sun, breathing deeply of the summer air that was heavy with the scent of nearly half a million people. Constantinople, golden capital of the Eastern Roman, Byzantine Empire and center of the world.I was looking out over the Hippodrome’s track and out into the thousands of domes and roofs of the city. There was no city quite like it in all the world, and even now, a month after having arrived, I still often got lost in its crooked streets.I heard a polite cough behind me, and I turned to find one of the armored guards nodding to the seat I had just vacated. Evidently, I was supposed to wait there.I gritted my teeth, but obeyed. They were just doing their jobs. It wasn’t their fault that I was nearly twitching with restless energy.I adjusted myself on the chair, shifting around in vain to try and find a comfortable position. In all fairness, my discomfort wasn’t the furniture’s fault either. This was, without a doubt, the finest chair I’d ever sat it. Its cushion was thick, held up by four intricately carved legs of scented wood.The rest of the small antechamber was just as luxurious. Everywhere I looked, I saw gold and marble and fine pottery. Even the large door, so diligently guarded by the two armored Excubitors, was carved and inlaid with gold.What in God’s name was I doing here? I was a soldier; my hands calloused by the sword. I was stratiotai, an infantry man. My place was in the shield wall, my sandals stained with the dirt of kingdoms that dared raise their blades against Rome.At least, that’s what I kept telling myself.I heard the muffled sound from behind the guarded door. It made me think back to my mother, to those words that she’d so hated to hear.“Three holes for pleasure,” I murmured to myself.I coughed, feeling heat rise to my cheeks. I shifted again on this damnable chair. What would my mother think if she could see me now? Her only son, her soldier, her little lion; invited to the Imperial Palace.I think that those words would be the first thing she thought of. I think that she would once again clap her hands to my ears so that I would hear no more from the woman that had so famously uttered them.This woman; she who’d been crowned Augusta. A woman who’d come from the flea ridden pallets of the city’s meanest brothel and had risen to command the wealth of half the world. A woman upon who’s words rested the fate of millions. The most powerful woman on earth; co-ruler of the Mediterranean’s mightiest empire and who’s beauty and ruthless intelligence were already being woven into legend.Theodora; Empress of Rome. The woman that I was to meet.The door guarded by the two Imperial Guards suddenly swung open. I leapt to my feet, my spine snapping into a salute.“Ouch,” I heard a woman laugh. “What do you think boys, is his back is straight enough?”The two Excubitors chuckled. I blinked, and found myself facing not the Empress, but a woman in the armor of a guard. The breastplate she wore was of plain, functional steel. She carried with her a heavy, iron-rimmed shield with a short-sword and dagger strapped to the belt at her waist.This was a stratiotai’s kit, standard issue amongst the Emperor’s legions. It was the twin of the one I’d worn nearly every day since my sixteenth birthday; right down to the helmet she held in the crook of her arm.She moved towards me, her hobnailed boots loud against the marble floor. My mind was blank and only a decade’s worth of military discipline kept my mouth from gaping open like the world’s largest fish.Woman weren’t soldiers. They couldn’t be soldiers.A woman’s place was married, tending to a home or shop or farm. From crib to hearth to crib to grave; my mother would say while pinching my cheek. A good woman could be happy nowhere else, she’d insisted.And yet, here one was, grinning at me with her emerald eyes.“Loosen up,” she said. “My back hurts just looking at you.”I obeyed the note of easy command in her voice, staring up and over her left shoulder as I would any Centurion.It was easier than trying to work through my confusion.I felt her eyes on me, taking note of the muscles beneath my light tunica. She swept her eyes down my arms and made an approved sound when she saw the callouses on my open palms. I felt her take note of my scars next, her eyes lingering on each one.My face flushed, my heart beating faster.I wasn’t used to being around women, at least not ones that I hadn’t paid for their company. They were hard to find in a legions camp. This guardswoman was strong, confident, and my awkwardness wasn’t helped by the fact that she was intensely beautiful.Her bright green eyes were the most striking, though it was far from the only thing that made her a rarity. Her hair was held back at her forehead by a band of cloth; a wave of copper-colored hair that curled down to her shoulders. And though her skin was bronzed by the summer sun, she had the sort of complexion that was rare to find in the capital since the loss of the Empire’s western provinces.“So, you’re the one who won the foot-race,” she said. “Leontius, right? I watched you come into the Hippodrome. You’ve got good form.”Was she a runner too? Judging from the lean muscles of her arms and legs, she very well could be. And why the hell not? Apparently, women could be soldiers here, why couldn’t they run naked with the rest of us in the athletic events?I heard the rising voice of my mother’s outrage in my head, but I pushed it and all my swirling confusion to the side. I was a soldier, and I knew how to deal with the dangers of the present before I worried about the future. And right now, the danger was that I’d been staring at this guard’s shapely thighs during a long moment of still stretching silence.“Ahem,” I cleared my throat, my face suddenly burning. “Thank you, sir!” I coughed again, “ma'am”She laughed; eyes sparkling. She had a deep, full-bellied laugh; one that thrummed through my chest and made my toes tingle.“Sir is fine,” she said. “For now. I know that you legion boys have a hard time with change.” She winked.“Ah, yes sir,” I swallowed. “Thank you, sir.”“Alright, then. Are you ready to meet your Empress?”“Yes, sir!” I said, snapping off another salute.She smirked, and led me through the open door and into the short hallway beyond. I followed her towards the door at the other end.“You won the Emperor’s foot-race,” she said. “And you’re a soldier; that means that the Emperor has granted you the chance to join the Empress’ Guard.”“Yes, sir.”I tried not to remember that race. I love to run, but that had been brutal. I’d run for almost an entire day, hammered by the summer sun, racing against the thousand others that had decided to sign up.But I’d won, and the Emperor, Justinian himself, had come down from the Imperial box to put the laurel upon my head. I don’t remember much of that day, though I’m sure that beneath the pain and intense dehydration I’d been proud. I had to have been.The guardswoman glanced over her shoulder at me. “It's just a chance; an interview. Remember that. The Empress has the final say.”My face must have flickered, because she spoke again. “You have a question, soldier?”“No, sir.”“Yes, you do,” she said. “Spit it out.”“Sorry, sir, it's just that I thought that it was the Emperor that chose his Excubitors.”Her lip quirked. “We’re not Excubitors. They guard the whole palace, and the Emperor, sure. Our duties are to the Empress, nobody else. That clear?”“Yes, sir!” I said, though of course, her answer had just raised a hundred more questions in me. “Clear as the giant’s foot.”I immediately cringed as the words slipped out. Now wasn’t the time for a damned joke! But to my relief, she laughed once again.“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?”We were at hallway’s only other door now, the one that presumably opened into the Empress’ chambers. She turned to regard me with an expression that made the heat rise to behind my neck.“Sorry, sir!” I said. “It's an expression from my home. God as my witness, I meant no offense.”“Your home,” she said. “Rhodes, right?”“I,” I blinked. "Yes, sir.”She grinned. “I knew that there was a reason I liked you. I’m from Lindos, on the eastern side of the island.”“Yes, sir. I know it.”I shoved that information into the same corner of my mind as my now screaming mother. I had family in Lindos, had visited it as a boy. To find out that we may have crossed paths once before was just too much.“I’m from Rhodos,” I said instead. “The city. Though I haven’t been back since I joined the legions.”“It’s been a long time for me as well,” she said.She reached for the ornate handle, pausing to look back at me.“A word of advice,” she said. “The Empress will not be what you expect. Obey her, and remember that while you’re in that room, you’re as responsible for her life as I am.”Without giving me a chance to respond, the armored woman threw open the door and marched me into Empress Theodora’s private chambers.Her sitting room was large, airy, kept cool by an open balcony and several wide windows. The walls were of stone, festooned with tapestry, art and the many other sort of golden things that the rich liked to collect. Beautifully carved wooden chairs, couches and divans were spread throughout the space.And lounging on one, a book held delicately in one hand; was the Empress Theodora.“Highness,” the guardswoman said. “Here’s the man that won the Emperor’s Race.”“Your Majesty,” I said. I dropped to my knees, keeping my eyes on the stone floor. “It would be an honor to serve you.”“Would it, now?” I heard her say in a voice that was tinged with a smile. “Stand up, solider. Let me get a good look at you.”I obeyed, keeping my eyes downcast. I heard the rustle of fabric.“How do you expect to guard me if you’re always looking at the floor?”I flushed, feeling the heat crawl up my neck. I hurriedly looked up, and I swear that for several long heartbeats, I couldn’t breathe.The beauty of the Emperor’s wife was spoken of everywhere her name was known. I had heard her described a thousand different ways; heard a hundred different versions of how she’d come to be named Augusta.Born on faraway Cyprus, she’d come to Constantinople as a child. Her father had trained bears for the circus, and when he’d died, her family had been doomed to the worst sort of poverty. She’d survived as many a young woman had; by trading her body for a roof and something to eat.She’d worked at a brothel, and later as an actress, which many said were the same sort of profession. Constantinople’s taverns were full of men who’d claim to have known her then. They’d wax about the times they’d had her, for one night or many. Others would reminisce about her time on stage, their eyes faraway as they’d recount the day they’d seen her dance clothed in nothing but a long, red-ribbon.I’d heard every story, though none could prepare me for the sight of her. She’d set her book down, her body still draped over the divan. She was young, I realized, barely past her third decade. She wore a thin, silky sort of dress, the material clinging to a figure that had retained its dancer’s strength.Her feet were bare, and she stood in one smooth motion. Her smile was pleased as she glided towards me, her curves tight against the cloth of her dress.Dark, intelligent eyes watched me from above a long neck. It swept of gracefully from her tight chest, a golden chain disappearing into the space that divided it. I wondered what was hidden there, safe and out of sight. How warm the gold must be, cradled against the smoothness of her skin.The Empress smirked. I wrenched my eyes back to the floor, mortified. What in God’s name was I doing? My face burned, and I was opening my mouth to stammer an apology when the Empress spoke.“I did not say that you could look away, soldier.”“A thousand apologies, my Empress,” I said.I lifted my gaze back up to hers with some difficulty. Her eyes were wrinkled in a smile. The rest of her skin was smooth, a warm brown that was a only a few shades lighter than the thick, wavy tresses of hair that cascaded down past her shoulders.She’d stopped an arms-length from me, examining me in the same manner as her guard had a few minutes before. My flush deepened.“Am I making you uncomfortable?”“N, No, your Majesty,” I managed to say.“Good,” her smile widened. “Because I am impressed with you, stratiotai Leontius. And that is without taking into account your victory in my husband’s race. You fought in Persia, did you not?”“Ah, yes, your Majesty. I fought in general Belisarius’ army.”“Indeed,” she said. “You shared in his great victory at Dara, and in his defeat at Callinicum a bare few months ago.”I did not want to remember those battles, that campaign against the Sassanid Persians; neither the baking sun and trenches of Dara or how their cavalry had swept through us at Callinicum.“Yes, your Majesty,” was all I said.“I’ve spoken to many of your fellow soldiers, since Belisarius and his army have trickled back to the capital. You are well regarded by your comrades.”I ducked my head, “thank you, your Majesty.”“A thoughtful man, they all say. One serious about his duty. You had few friends amongst your cohort, yet all respected you.” The Empress continued. “You enlisted at sixteen years of age. You’ve served a decade already, and I believe that you would have served another one if you’d not caught my husband’s attention.”I nodded, ignoring the twist in my stomach.“An exemplary man,” she said. “In most things.”The Empress started to move, circling me. She made a little sound with her throat. “He’s quite handsome as well, is he not?”“I thought so too, Highness,” the emerald-eyed guardswoman said.“Lean,” the Empress continued. “A runner, obviously. Well-muscled, though his shoulders are a little too small. I’m not sure about the beard either, though the jaw beneath looks strong.”“I rather like it, Highness. It's just a dusting of whiskers, but it suits him nicely.”“Yes, well, you’ve always liked them rather savage, Helena. Your Rhodian blood, no doubt.”The other woman, Helena, grinned. “He’s Rhodian too, Highness.”The Empress sniffed. “Figures. I suspect that he will be as uncivilized as you are, then.”Her smile made light of her words, though I was still incredibly uncomfortable. I sweated beneath the attention of the two beautiful women. I kept my back ramrod straight, knowing that I’d be squirming like a virgin at a brothel if I let myself relax.“Now,” the Empress said. “Lie down. On your back.”The order confused me. But she was my Empress, and so I obeyed; lowering myself onto my back, the stone cool through the linen of my tunica.She smiled down at me. “Your obedience is commendable, soldier. And fear not, you’re down there for a reason.”Cloth rustled and sighed, her bare feet making no sound at all as she stepped around me. She was beside my chest now, her large, dark eyes twinkling as she kept her gaze on my face. Inexplicably, I felt my cheeks redden. I averted my gaze.“Look at me,” I heard her snap.My eyes, wide with sudden panic, flew back to her face. Her smile was gone, replaced by a downward twist of her lips.“Your, Your Majesty.” I stammered, frozen, like a rabbit beneath the eagle’s shadow. “Forgive me. Please, I didn’t,”Her smile returned, softening her features and a better companion to the sparkle that had never left her eyes."Shush,” she said. “There’s nothing to forgive.

“Her Highness Kamala Harris Commands the End of Fracking” “The Recent Increase in Transgender People” “The Dems Have NO Plans” “Stay on Fraud Watch and Bad Polling”

“Her Highness Kamala Ushered by the Media” “Another Change to the FB-Lie's Time Line” “Stop the Steal in Georgia” “Democrats on High Alert in Georgia”

“Reporter asks Biden Tyrannical Question” “The True and Total Terror of the Left“ “Elon Musk and the New World Court” “Her Highness Kamala's Fluff Peace from ‘The Time Cover Story'”

What Her Highness Kamala Harris Thinks about Youhttps://www.audacy.com/989wordThe Tara Show Follow us on Social MediaJoin our Live StreamWeekdays - 6am to 10am Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/989wordRumble: https://rumble.com/c/c-2031096X: https://twitter.com/989wordInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/989word/ "Red Meat, Greenville." 08/12/24  DETROIT, MICHIGAN - AUGUST 07: Democratic presidential candidate, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris takes the stage during a campaign event at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport on August 7, 2024 in Detroit, Michigan. Kamala Harris and her newly selected running mate Tim Walz are campaigning across the country this week. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

“An Iconic Moment for the 2024 Olympics” “Kamala's Call for Marxism ‘The Collective'” “How was No One on the Roof?” “Her Highness Kamala Harris”

Diana is joined by Marissa Fratoni, cannabis nurse and freelance health content creator, to talk about all the changes that have occurred since her last episode in 2019. She also talks about the future of cannabis nursing and how healthcare activism is changing. During the Fave Pot/Not Pot segment, Diana shares her current favorite cannabis-related product, Magick Oil by Mota Magick, highlighting its blend of luxurious ingredients and sensory benefits. Marissa discusses her long-standing favorite, The Healing Rose's CBD body oils and lip balms, emphasizing their effectiveness and versatility (use code HIGHNESS for 15% off)0:16- Welcome to Your Highness Podcast1:06 - Fave Pot 5:01 - Fave Not Pot10:29 - Main Segment  This episode is produced and edited by Your Highness Media. Subscribe to our Substack for the latest updates and event information.

We spend some time on the incredibly well done Godzilla Minus One, the cult-turned iconic classic Scarface, and do our Danny McBride/Chris Pine appreciation moment which leads us to discussing the stoner/fantasy comedy Your Highness. Listen up today!

His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member, Ruler of Sharjah and President of the Sharjah Performing Arts Academy (SPAA), witnessed, on Sunday 9th June,2024, the graduation ceremony of the second batch of SPAA students and announced the opening of the College of Music of SPAA, and studies will begin starting from the next academic year. Listen to #Pulse95Radio in the UAE by tuning in on your radio (95.00 FM) or online on our website: www.pulse95radio.com ************************ Follow us on Social. www.instagram/com/pulse95radio www.facebook.com/pulse95radio www.twitter.com/pulse95radio

Jobsite Distractions and The Best Breakroom accommodations.By Tx Tall Tales – Listen to the ► Podcast at Steamy Stories. The difficulty lay in removing the pump assembly from the outer shell. Amy was leaning over the pump, her hands braced against it, all of her weight pressing down on it, to hold it still. Her tits were squeezed out between her upper arms, driving me crazy. I was tugging on the pump, pulling from side to side, trying to wiggle it out, and her tits were responding to my actions by shaking like crazy, making me want to throw everything to the side and gobble them up.I kept looking up at her as the plastic separated, a few millimeters at a time."What?" she asked, catching my eye.I was honest. "Your incredible tits are driving me crazy."She giggled and gave a little shimmy. "Oh, these old things?""Damn you're hot, woman."She smiled, then leaned forward, her weight still pressing downward, but about a foot closer. "Hot for my pool-boy."She was killing me. With a growl I yanked hard and the two pieces separated, almost landing me on my ass.She laughed out loud. "I see what you mean by incentive. If we get this done by four, I'll let you play with my tits while I'm paying you off."She left me, with the excuse that she was going to clean up. I started the disassembly, and watched her lay out in the sun, chatting on the phone, completely naked. I wanted to throw the tools aside and jump on her.At 3:44 I was attaching the last of the bolts. "Done. Now to see if it was done right," I called out to her, mesmerized as she walked toward me, her body glistening in the sun. She was wiping herself down with a towel and casually wrapped it around her waist.I pulled out my test wiring harness, and plugged it in. With a flick of a switch, the pump came to life. "Ta-da! Three-hundred thirty two dollars, and 3 hours later, we have ignition."She smiled for me. "The pool company wanted $1600 parts and labor to replace the pump.""I guess you're getting your money's worth.""And I imagine it's time to make sure you're rewarded for coming to my rescue."I didn't have any witty response for her, and thankfully didn't need one. She lowered my shorts, freeing my aching erection. Within a few moments she had me reclining on one of the loungers, sitting next to me, her hand holding my cock.Her hand glided up and down my shaft, silky soft against my tender skin. She grabbed a bottle of tanning oil, and drenched me, her hand sliding freely. I closed my eyes, as near to heaven as I was ever likely to get. "God, please, let me die now."She giggled. "Now that would be a shame, since we still haven't gotten to the good part." Her fingers gripped a little tighter, as if trying to draw my essence outward. "I've felt so guilty for the last few hours, seeing you working so hard, that huge bulge in your shorts never going down. You've been hard for me since you got back from the store, haven't you?""A lot longer than that," I confessed. "Years longer.""Then it's about time I did something about it, isn't it?"I groaned for her, thrusting back against her hand. "This is incredible. Just like that.""Hard to believe I let you talk me into doing this for you every week for the rest of the summer. Can you even imagine anything like it? Now every single week, I'm responsible for making sure that first we prime this monster of yours, and then we milk it dry."She moved up the chair, until she was sitting beside my waist. "You've always liked my titties, haven't you, Alex?""Always," I managed to groan."You can touch them, if you like."I reached out and cupped her tit in my hand. So beautiful. So perfect. With a loud groan I came for her. She continued stroking me, drawing forth every last drop. "Wow, Alex! You came a lot! Been saving up for me?"I twitched when her hand cupped my sensitive head and twisted softly. "Since last night."She reached for a towel and wiped me down, before handing me the rest of my Bud. "I hope I didn't disappoint you. But you better get going if you're going to finish in time to give me another lotion treatment."It took a good bit longer to get the pump reinstalled. Close to an hour, including wiring and testing. I stood up and called out to Amy who was laying out under the late afternoon sun, watching me, when she wasn't texting her friends. "Done. Time for the test."She got up, and walked toward me, her naked body still an amazing vision. She giggled as she got closer. "Hard again? Already?""Still," I laughed with her.I leaned over and hit the filter button. The pump kicked on, and I heard the tell-tale hum and rhythm of the priming before the water from the bottom of the pool started to flow into the pump."Phase 1 is done. You've got a working pump again.""Not a moment too soon. I'm overdue for another layer of suntan lotion." She walked over to her lounger, straightened out her towel, and laid down on her belly.I peeled off my sweaty shirt and walked over to the faucet so I could clean my hands and face. I splashed the water over my body a bit to cool off, then retrieved the suntan lotion from the porch.Once again I started with the SPF 30 and applied it to most of her back and legs, enjoying the feeling of her skin under my hands. She was quiet, small sounds of satisfaction escaping her on occasion. Then I had the SPF 50 in my hands and I went to work on that beautiful ass.Her cheeks were full and soft and felt magical in my hands. After a minute or two when I started down her crack, she spread her legs for me, bending one knee outward to expose herself.I rubbed her soft pussy, feeling the light stubble at the top, teasing her, playing with her. I opened her up bit by bit, tugging on her fleshy lips, slowly insinuating a finger into her. She moaned for me, and I started pressing a second one in with the first."Enough, Alex," she managed to gasp, bringing her legs together.I pulled out, rubbing her sweet ass cheeks one last time.She rolled over, her eyes intense. "Somehow I don't think that last part was purely necessary. I don't see much chance of getting sun burned there."I grinned. "You know I like to be thorough."She gave a small shake of her head, then leaned back for me to finish my job.I started with the SPF 30 again, working the lotion into her skin, thorough as ever. She was relaxed, eyes closed, letting me caress and fondle her. When I reached for the SPF 50 she opened one eye, watching me. "Not too crazy, Ok?"I leaned over and gave her a soft kiss. "Maybe just a little?""A little, that's all," she murmured, closing her eyes again.I started with her breasts again, leaning over her and playing with them to my hearts content. Her nipples got hard almost instantly, and I tugged on them lightly, wrenching a soft gasp from her sexy lips. I tongued her nipple."Alex," she softly warned.I sucked the nipple into my mouth, ignoring the taste of the sun-screen."Alex!" she barked, a little sharper.I heeded her warning and went to work down below. I made sure her pale white skin was well protected before I moved between her legs. She opened them for me, and I rubbed her softly before venturing to insert my fingers back inside of her. I heard a soft whimper escape her lips, driving me crazy.I climbed onto the lounge next to her, stretching out beside her, my fingers never leaving her warm nether embrace. She turned and looked at me, as I brought my face closer to her."You're being very naughty, young man," she whispered."Kiss me."She closed her eyes and leaned her head closer. I pressed my lips to hers, and kissed her long and deep, my mouth claiming hers, my tongue exploring, while my fingers worked their magic inside of her. "Alex, this is bad," she said softly while she squirmed under my touch."I want to taste you, Amy," I confessed."Down there?" she whispered huskily."I could live down there, my tongue buried inside you."She moaned, clamping her legs over my fingers, coming for me so sweetly. I eased back, stroking her lightly, showering kisses over her beautiful face."We can't Alex. Not now. Dale will be home soon.""I know. Just remember that when you're thinking of ways to reward me when this is all done."She gasped slightly as my fingers slid back inside of her. Then she chuckled. "Reward you? That's a reward I'll have to work hard to earn for myself."She reached out and pushed me away, closing her sweet legs. "Enough. That was very, very naughty of you. I think you'd better get back to work, and I need to start getting ready for his Highness to make his appearance."She sat up and put her bathing suit back on. "Oh. I guess I didn't need all that lotion after all." She smiled her dazzling smile, and broke my heart for about the thousandth time.I had disassembled the big filter, and the grids were a mess. I made a quick trip to the pool store for 8 replacement filter elements, another $180 down the drain, and was finishing installing them when Dale Daniels came out to see what I was up to."Hey Alex," he called out, walking forward with his hand outstretched. I wiped my hand on my shorts and shook his. "How's school been treating you?""Not bad. Got a 3.8 GPA, and making some new friends," I told him."Not to mention all those young girls looking to expand their horizons, right?" he laughed. "God, I loved college. Freshman girls. Yum."I laughed along with him. "Nothing to complain about there.""I bet. You really think you can get this mess cleaned up in time for the party?""I think so. I'll give it my best.""If you need any help from Aims, let me know. I'll make sure she does her part. Can't believe she let it get like this after all those promises to take care of it."I felt the urge to defend her. "It's not that bad. The filter and pump are back in top shape. I should have the water cleaned out by tomorrow evening.""That'll be a miracle. I hope she's paying you enough. This is coming out of her household money, but if she can't cover it, let me know. I'll make up the difference and settle with her. Take it out of her cute little ass if I have to, if you know what I mean."The man was a pig. "I'm pretty sure we'll be fine, but I'll keep that in mind."He slapped me on the shoulder. "You do that. Good job here. Keep it up, and I might find some more work for you around the place.""Thanks. I appreciate it."I had the chlorinator soaking in a diluted acid bath, cleaning the cells, when Amy made her appearance. She was dressed in shorts and a blouse, but I couldn't help but think of what was hidden underneath it.She pulled up short, while I rinsed off the chlorinator. "Jeez. Now I know what a sheep feels like walking into the lion's den. You look like you're ready to eat me alive.""Given half a chance," I told her with a big smile."Shhh. Behave yourself.""You started it."She shook her head at me. "How are we doing?""Pretty much done here. Tomorrow we clean the lines, empty the pool, and scrub it down.""What time are you going to be over," she asked."I figure around 9:00. Got a lot to do.""Make yourself at home. I'll leave the gate unlocked. I've got a couple of morning errands to run, but I'll be back to help you as soon as possible, Ok?""Perfect. I should be able to get a lot done, without a Goddess distracting me."She rolled her eyes at me. "Whatever. I've got to go in. See you tomorrow, poolboy."I was waist deep in horrible green slimy water, the pump working diligently to drain the pool, when I heard her make her appearance the next morning."Jesus, Alex! How can you stand to be in that slop?"I was pulling the fish-tape back out of the cleaner line, having spent the morning cleaning the intakes out of their accumulated debris. "You do what you have to, when you have to, so that you can do what you want to."

Flesh Wound Farce is back with a review of the stoner fantasy comedy, YOUR HIGHNESS. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOdGH0WlZQ4 #YourHighness #JamesFranco #DannyMcbride #NataliePortman #DavidGordonGreen #ZooeyDeschanel #JustinTheroux #Wizard #Minotaur #Sorcerer #SwordAndSorcery #Conan #Deathstalker #Ator #ConanTheBarbarian #Dragons #Quest #TobyJones #CharlesDance #GameOfThrones #DamianLewis #Dwarf #Barbarian #Magic #Trolls #StonerComedy #PotHumor #FunniestMovies #DungeonsAndDragons #Witch #PrincessBride

SEASON 6, BONUS EPISODEOn this weekend's Behind the Mitten Show with Amy Sherman and John Gonzalez -- Gonzo covers Short's 20th annual Anni Party with Sales Director Kerry Lynch and good friend/Short's sales rep, Ben Darcie.Kerry and Ben say: "We're celebrating TWENTY YEARS of beer liberation with 70+ beers and ciders for your mouth-holes!" The party in Bellaire is April 26 and 27, 2024 and includes great music, big laughs with old friends, and some of the G.O.A.T.'s from the Short's vault. The pre-party begins at 8 p.m. Friday (April 26) with Reggie Smith and Joe Short's band, Braxton Hicks and the Contractions. On Saturday (April 27), the party kicks off at 11 a.m. More bands, more beer!Bands include the Bootstrap Boys, Serita's Black Rose Duo, Stonefolk, DaVeonce & the Funk Gang, Delilah DeWylde, Nick Veine, Aldrich & Co, Brett Mitchell & the Mitchfits, Crosscut Kings, and Hail your Highness. Music starts in the Pub at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.Oh, and there is no admisison fee! Yes, it a free party at the pub and across the street at the outdoor band shell.Learn more:Short's Anni Party!, April 26-27Follow John and Amy:Website: amyandgonzo.comFacebook at https://www.facebook.com/behindthemittenTwitterX at @BehindTheMittenInstagram at @BehindTheMitten

Mid Highness by More About Nothing Podcast

Sports gambling is more popular than ever and its March Madness time.  We ran into Chad Patrick, host of the Chad Patrick Show and he gave up the grind of the 9-5 a few years ago and decided to bet on himself (literally).  He's not helping anyone who's serious about getting some action.  He's a wealth of knowledge on a log of things and delivers on a great first round strategy for this year's madness.  Enjoy! www.wdksports.us

Ian Halperin is a New York Times best-selling author, investigative journalist, media personality, and filmmaker. Ian has written many books that have made major headlines in the celebrity gossip world including "Unmasked: The Final Years of Michael Jackson," "Who Killed Kurt Cobain?," and "Kardashian Dynasty: The Controversial Rise of America's Royal Family." You also may likely know him for legendary appearances on shows like Howard Stern and Opie & Anthony. He is making headlines today for challenging former President Donald Trump to a tennis match for $355 million. His most recent project that he is on to promote is a hilarious comedy called "Don't F With Pablo" which we play the trailer for top of show. It is available now at http://tgi123.com and you can follow Ian on X @IanUnderCover Follow us: http://instagram.com/battlelinepodcast http://twitter.com/battlelinepod Ned's Mellö Magnesium is an instant hit! Nourish your entire body with their proprietary superblend with 3 forms of chelated magnesium, GABA, L-theanine, and over 70 trace minerals. It propels memory, mood, brain function, stress response, nerve and muscle health, and SLEEP. And about 75% of Americans are deficient in it!! Go to http://helloned.com/BATTLELINE For 15% off all Fort Scott Munitions ammo & gear go to http://fsm.com & use promo code: Battleline For full video of this episode, subscribe to our Youtube page: https://www.youtube.com/@battlelinepodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hope you folks had a great weekend! Here's what's coming up* on today's episode:Why Renato Moicano's post-fight speech stole my attention Saturday night (00:00)Charles Radtke is playing a game I wouldn't advise him to play...but it's working (07:55)Bad blood between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk has me HOOKED on that fight (17:32)So what exactly did Dustin Poirier get to fight Benoit Saint-Denis? (29:31)A story about my friend and hot salads (39:33)*All time codes are approximate.Special thanks to this episode's sponsor - Draft Kings Sportsbook - visit https://sportsbook.draftkings.comNew Customers use code CHAEL to bet $5 and get $200 in bonus bets!Gambling problem? Call 1-800Gambler or in West Virginia visit www.1800gambler.net In New York, call 877-8HopeNY or text HOPENY (467369). In Connecticut, help is available for problem gambling, call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org. Please play responsibly. On behalf of Boot Hill Casino & Resort (in Kansas). 21+ age varies by jurisdiction. Void in Ontario. Bonus bets expire 160 hours after issuance. See DKNG.com/football for eligibility and deposit restrictions, terms, and responsible gaming resources.    Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Join the guys as they discuss what grinds Trey's gears about Ben Johnson not coming to DC, do you trust Adam Peters if he picks Dan Quinn, Should the Wizards tank for Alexandre Sarr, Is Today's NBA Soft? Who is better: Chris Brown or Usher? Plus much more!!! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are some very promising horses in Michael Freedman's yard, at present. The trainer joined RSN on Thursday to share updates on a few key runners. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

talking with riah about her small business!

In this episode, Diana and JR talk about the controversial topic of whether or not a person should have consumption experience before entering the cannabis industry. Ixchel Mooney of Mujeres Valley Fairgrounds talks about the current state of the cannabis industry in New Mexico for our local look segment. 0:16 - Welcome to Your Highness Podcast 0:48 - Fave Pot 3:10 - Fave Not Pot9:40 - Main Segment27:22 - Local Look Chapters:(00:16) Favorite Cannabis and Non-Cannabis Items Favorite cannabis and non-cannabis items, Real Housewives of Salt Lake City finale, and Vamps movie discussed. (09:39) Lack of Interest in Cannabis Industry Understanding the 'why' behind hiring non-cannabis-experienced individuals and potential challenges in the industry. (17:54) Tax Stress in Cannabis Industry Cannabis companies face unique challenges due to high taxes, lack of banking support, and limited career options. (28:46) NM's Cannabis Industry New Mexico's cannabis industry faces challenges with competition, barriers to entry, unfulfilled promises, and lack of support for local businesses. (38:11) Sustainable Campground and Event Hosting Nature's journey to create a sustainable campground and event space, challenges of off-grid living, indigenous plant revival, and empowering community connections through events.Important links:Use code YHPOD for 10% off at MitragaiaUse code HIGHNESS to get 15% off at The Healing Rose   This episode is produced and edited by Your Highness Media.

Christian brings over a special Cherry Lime-aid, and things get very STRANGE. Welcome to the inaugural episode of Strange Highness, a show in which our opinions are even weirder than normal due to the uh...effects of whatever Christian brings over.  In today's episode Christian brings over two incredibly wild stories pertaining to an alleged Demon Informant to the C.I.A., and the tale of a Possessed Nun? It gets weird. TIME STAMPS: 0:00 - Special Guest: Mike Tyson 1:04 - Intro Music 2:25 - Christian Brought Gifts, So It's Gonna Be WEIRD. 4:41 - Uncle B's Background 9:44 - Shipped Off To Langley / James Jesus Angleton 11:54 - Did The CIA Imprison a Possessed Teen For Intel Purposes? 13:39 - Was The Gateway Project Fake? 15:40 - Tangent #1 Begins - Astral Projecting 16:48 - Tangent #1 Ends 17:20 - What Information Were They Given? 20:40 - Recap & Speculation 25:39 - What's This About a Possessed Nun? 26:11 - Josephine Rosenthal 28:52 - The Lime Ade is Kicking In… 29:28 - Sister Josephine Rosenthal Becomes PREGNANT?! 34:30 - There's a Twist.. 39:40 - We're Going to Skip the Preachy Stuff 43:28 - A Moment of Silence For All The Listeners This Episode Has Cost Us 45:44 - Closing Thoughts --------- Come join our Facebook Group! Chat with us and other like-minded friends of the show. Drop your episode suggestions, personal paranormal experiences, memes, and general discussion on paranormal phenomena & topical events!   TFD Facebook Group: https://tinyurl.com/tfdfb If you're enjoying the show, please take a second to leave us a 5-Star Review and consider sharing the show with your friends and family! It's the single best way to help us move up the charts and beat those pesky algorithms. Have You Ever Experienced Something Paranormal? We want to hear your story! Use the email below to submit paranormal experiences, episode suggestions, or general feedback on ways we can improve the quality of the show: thegang@thefreakydeaky.com Official TFD Merch: TFD Merch Subscribe to The Freaky Deaky on YouTube and Follow Us on Social Media For Photos, Video Shorts & Behind The Scenes Looks From Each Episode: YouTube: https://bit.ly/3goj7SP Instagram: https://bit.ly/2HOdleo Facebook: https://bit.ly/3ebSde6 TFD Facebook Group: https://tinyurl.com/tfdfb TikTok: https://bit.ly/35lNOlu Website: The Freaky Deaky Podcast  

Michael Freedman actually bid on the colt he's saddling up in the Magic Millions! He shared the full story on RSN on Friday. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this bonus episode, Diana shares the top three listener favorites of 2023 that feature Dr. Peter Grinspoon, Charity Moran, Kristin Souza, and Laura Beohner.  (00:16) 2023 Listener Favorite Episodes Nature's complexities of cannabis use disorder, misconceptions, overinclusive criteria, and differences from other substances. (12:17) Benefits of Suppositories for Wellness Destigmatizing CBD suppositories for digestive conditions, their effectiveness, and advice for use from Healing Rose co-founder, Laura Beohner (use code HIGHNESS to 15% off The Healing Rose products) (20:49) High and Beautiful Grateful for your support, stay informed with our newsletter and keep your spirits and beauty elevated until we meet again.   This episode is produced and edited by Your Highness Media.

The royal Draft Class is clean, your Highness...What is Eddie Murphy's Best Performance?Are the Round 2 Movies better than the Round 1 Movies??Joining Jon Saks for Round 2 of the EDDIE MURPHY Draft - SPECIAL GUESTS!DENNIS HURLEYhttps://www.dennis-hurley.comQUENTIN JAMEShttps://vimeo.com/900399400PRODUCERS Jon Sakshttps://www.imdb.com/name/nm6662712/Christopher Feinsteinhttps://linktr.ee/hauntedamericanhistoryFrank Bonaccihttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=___nTnncw2AJudd Feinsteinhttps://shows.acast.com/zoningoutSupport the showSupport the show

A new week means new questions! Hope you have fun with these!Which American poet received the Pulitzer Prize four times between 1924 and 1943?What name is a variant of the name Susan or Susanna and is the first name of characters notably played by Anna Pacquin and Melissa McCarthy?In "The Princess Bride" which character says "Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something."?The country called Eswatini was formerly known as?From the Latin stannum, Sn is the chemical symbol for what metal that can be bent by hand?How many instars (phases) does a monarch caterpillar go through before it goes into chrysalis?What tree do acorns come from?In the Game "Space Invaders" how many rows of aliens appear on the first screen? For two extra points, how many aliens are in a row?In the Apple Logo, is the apple bitten on the left or right side?Tracy Jordan is waiting for Liz Lemon to bring him some ice cream with nuts, chocolate, and marshmallows.President Nasser was President of what country during the Suez Crisis?Chunkylover53@aol.com is the email address of which fictional character?Which warrior of legend killed the monster Grendel for Hrothgar, king of the Danes?Mythbusters once searched for Jimmy Hoffa's body in the end zone of Giants Stadium using what technology?MusicHot Swing, Fast Talkin, Bass Walker, Dances and Dames, Ambush by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/Don't forget to follow us on social media:Patreon – patreon.com/quizbang – Please consider supporting us on Patreon. Check out our fun extras for patrons and help us keep this podcast going. We appreciate any level of support!Website – quizbangpod.com Check out our website, it will have all the links for social media that you need and while you're there, why not go to the contact us page and submit a question!Facebook – @quizbangpodcast – we post episode links and silly lego pictures to go with our trivia questions. Enjoy the silly picture and give your best guess, we will respond to your answer the next day to give everyone a chance to guess.Instagram – Quiz Quiz Bang Bang (quizquizbangbang), we post silly lego pictures to go with our trivia questions. Enjoy the silly picture and give your best guess, we will respond to your answer the next day to give everyone a chance to guess.Twitter – @quizbangpod We want to start a fun community for our fellow trivia lovers. If you hear/think of a fun or challenging trivia question, post it to our twitter feed and we will repost it so everyone can take a stab it. Come for the trivia – stay for the trivia.Ko-Fi – ko-fi.com/quizbangpod – Keep that sweet caffeine running through our body with a Ko-Fi, power us through a late night of fact checking and editing!This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5857487/advertisement

JR and Diana talk about the elitist attitudes prevalent in the plant medicine arena. Angie Willoughby shares the current mood of the cannabis space in the Sunshine State. Timestamps:0:16 - Welcome to Your Highness Podcast      1:01 - Fave pot4:05 - Fave not pot 8:28 - Main Segment26:08 - Closer Look Important links:The Healing RoseSoft PowerThe Green BakerShroomtownSponsor savings:Get 20% off your next purchase of Alice Mushrooms when you use the code YourhighnessGet 10% off Mitragaia.com with the code YHPODSubscribe to our Substack for our latest events and happenings!

This week Johnboy treats the lads to the tale of a man who declared himself king of a tiny island in the middle of the ocean, his French aristocracy roots, his planned revenge against the British after they took his island from him and of course, his guide to suicide!

Marissa Tandon is a Los Angeles-based writer, director, and comedian. She is the co-founder of Tandon Productions, which focuses on bringing new voices to the multimedia and audio fiction space. She loves giving voice to stories that are not often represented in the current media landscape. The fiction podcasts that she has created (That Vampire Show, Super Ordinary, The Sword & The Stoner, His Royal Fakin' Highness, Life On Pause) have amassed hundreds of thousands of listeners in over 100 countries. Her work has been highlighted by publications such as The AV Club, Polygon, and Book Riot, among others, and Super Ordinary and That Vampire Show have both been featured on the front page of Spotify. In addition to her work in audio fiction, Marissa has recently worked in the world of video games on an upcoming AAA title. Support the showSupport the show

In part 9 of our series covering Return of the Jedi for its 40th anniversary, Luke and Darth Vader duel on the Death Star while the Ewoks turn the tide on the Empire on Endor.   This episode covers the segment that runs from 1:43:21 to 1:54:35.   In this fully armed and operational episode of Podcast Stardust, we discuss: The sad demise of an Ewok on Endor, Lando's insistence the Rebels take the fight to the Star Destroyers in space, The Emperor tempting Luke to the dark side of the Force and Luke taking a swing at him, Why Darth Vader stopped Luke, Chewbacca commandeering an AT-ST with some Ewoks, The Ewok fight against the Empire, The reversal of “I love you” and “I know,” and The conclusion of Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker's fight. Find part 8 in our Return of the Jedi series in episode 615.   Thanks for joining us for another episode! Subscribe to Podcast Stardust for all your Star Wars news, reviews, and discussion wherever you get your podcasts. And please leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts.   Find Jay and her cosplay adventures on J.Snips Cosplay on Instagram.   Follow us on social media: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | YouTube. T-shirts, hoodies, stickers, masks, and posters are available on TeePublic. Find all episodes on RetroZap.com.

The MGM Resorts incident is now believed to be ransomware, and how does that inform our view of Materiality of a cyber incident? MetaStealer targets businesses. Cloud access with stolen credentials. The cloud as an expansive attack surface. Johannes Ullrich from SANS describes malware in dot-inf files. In our Industry Voices segment Dave speaks with Oliver Tavakoli, CTO at Vectra, on the complexity and challenges of cloud service security. And welcome back, or not, Your Highness the Large Language Model, Prince of Nigeria. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news briefing: https://thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/12/176 Selected reading. Caesars Entertainment Paid Millions to Hackers in Attack (Bloomberg)  Caesars Paid Ransom After Suffering Cyberattack (Wall Street Journal)  The Cyberattack That Sent Las Vegas Back in Time (Wall Street Journal)  Pro Take: MGM Casino Hack Shows Challenge in Defending Connected Tech (Wall Street Journal)  ALPHV Ransomware Used Vishing to Scam MGM Resorts Employee, Researchers (Hackread) FBI probing MGM Resorts cyber incident as some casino systems still down (Reuters)  MGM Resorts says cyberattack could have material effect on company (NBC News)  MGM Resorts cybersecurity breach could cost millions, expert says (KLAS)  MGM Resorts shuts down some systems because of a “cybersecurity issue.” (Updated.) (CyberWire) macOS Info-Stealer Malware 'MetaStealer' Targeting Businesses (SecurityWeek)  “Authorized” to break in: Adversaries use valid credentials to compromise cloud environments (Security Intelligence)  Unit 42 Attack Surface Threat Report (Palo Alto Networks) The Nigerian Prince is Alive and Well: Cybercriminals Use Generative… (Abnormal)  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode originally aired on August 1, 2022.Getting Jamie Lee Curtis to open about her many years spent addicted to Vicodin is, frankly, not very difficult. She wants to talk about it. And that's for a couple of reasons. One, she wants to make it clear that she's no different from any other addict in any other walk of life. That's why she calls herself a dope fiend. She just happens to have had success in an industry she derisively calls “show off business”. Two, because she committed to sobriety after reading someone else's story of addiction so maybe her story can help someone too.We talk to Jamie about how she got hooked, how she sustained the habit, and how she carried on a perfectly successful movie star life without anyone catching on. Until they did catch on.Listen to Letters from Camp, now on its third and final season, at Audible.com. Follow Jamie Lee Curtis on Twitter @jamieleecurtis and on Instagram @curtisleejamie.Jamie's Gifts to John:"At such a time, it seems natural and good to me to ask myself these questions. What do I believe in? What must I fight for and what must I fight against? Our species is the only creative species and it has only one creative instrument: the individual mind and spirit of a man. Nothing was ever created by two men. There are no good collaborations whether in music, in art, in poetry, in mathematics, in philosophy. Once the miracle of creation has taken place, the group can build and extend it, but the group never invents anything. The preciousness lies in the lonely mind of a man. And now the forces marshalled around the concept of the group have declared a war of extermination on the preciousness, the mind of man. By disparagement, by starvation, by repressions, forced direction, and the stunning hammer blows of conditioning. The free roving mind is being pursued, roped, blunted, and drugged. It is a sad, suicidal course our species seems to have taken. And this I believe that the free exploring mind of the exploring human is the most valuable thing in the world. And this I would fight for. The freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes undirected. And this I must fight against: any idea, religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual. This is what I am and what I'm about. I can understand why a system built on a pattern must try to destroy the free mind for this is the one thing which can by inspection destroy such a system. Surely I can understand this. And I hate it. And I will fight against it to preserve the one thing that separates us from the uncreative beasts. If the glory can be killed, we are lost." - John Steinbeck, East of Eden"When things go unexamined for a long enough time, certain things happen. They become very very powerful. They create conformity. They intimidate." - E.L. Doctorow"Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something." - The Dread Pirate Roberts, The Princess BrideThank you to all our listeners who support the show as monthly members of Maximum Fun. Hey, remember, you're part of Depresh Mode and we want to hear what you want to hear about. What guests and issues would you like to have covered in a future episode? Write us at depreshmode@maximumfun.org.Help is available right away.The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255, 1-800-273-TALKCrisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741.International suicide hotline numbers available here: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlinesThe Depresh Mode newsletter is available twice a week. Subscribe for free and stay up to date on the show and mental health issues. https://johnmoe.substack.com/John's acclaimed memoir, The Hilarious World of Depression, is available here. https://read.macmillan.com/lp/the-hilarious-world-of-depression/Find the show on Twitter @depreshpod and Instagram @depreshpod.John is on Twitter @johnmoe.

Millions worldwide viewed the regal pageantry of King Charles III coronation on Saturday. What was not discussed by mainstream media is his agenda for depopulation and the endorsement of genetically modified foods that will eventually starve the people of the world. It's incomprehensible that his royal eugenicist Highness can give us a lecture about how we should pledge our allegiance to the creation of a world plantation for the sake of Mother Earth while he's also the face of The Great Reset, which will enslave humankind. Tonight on Ground Zero, Clyde Lewis talks with author, Tim Cohen about KINGDOM COME IN TRANSITION. #GroundZero #ClydeLewis #TheGreatReset #KingCharles https://groundzeromedia.org/5-8-23-kingdom-come-in.../ Ground Zero with Clyde Lewis is live M-F from 7-10pm, pacific time, and streamed for free at groundzero.radio and talkstreamlive.com. There is a delayed broadcast on our local Portland radio station, KPAM 860, from 9pm-12am, pacific time. To leave a message, call our toll-free line at 866-536-7469. To listen by phone: 717-734-6922. To call the live show: 503-225-0860. For Android and iPhones, download the Paranormal Radio app. The transcript of each episode will be posted after the show on our website at groundzeromedia.org. In order to access Ground Zero's exclusive digital library which includes webinars, archived shows/podcasts, research groups, videos, documents, and more, you need to sign up at aftermath.media. Subscriptions start at $7/month. Check out the yearly specials!