Podcasts about his english

A Walk In the Park  & Aya's Finest Hour.Book 3 in 18 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.Professional, conscript, or volunteer, they all have run away from battle.A Note on terminology and the metaphor of Cael's WorldThe terms Weave of Fate and 'Weave ' are interchangeable. Weave expresses the intersection ~ the sieve that all the possible futures entered to create what we perceive as this 'now'. Fate is the keeper of the sieve. The Present is what is happening right now. It is that infinitesimal which we interpret as Reality.The Legend is what happens when the present is pulled back through the weave and becomes the past. It is called the Legend because, as the former presents fade into the past, they blur; each becomes less precise and more open to interpretations. (It is as if you were looking at one thing through a prism; as you shift your stance, what you see appears to change.) Within the Legend exist mystic creatures, divinities, demons, spirits, all the Paradises and Hells.The Endless Black Sands is the final resting place for all failed legends. It is the place where all is forgotten until even former realities break down into the Black Sands. That Alal found a way to cheat this doom and retrieved Shammuramat, was truly remarkable; even though Fate 'balanced accounts' with him by sending Ajax and his war band along that path as well.If you wonder how that was a balancing, consider this:The only people Alal cares for (in his own brutal fashion) are Shammy, now Sakura, and his only true offspring in 5,000 years, Cáel.Fate sent Ajax.With Ajax available to test Cáel, how could Alal resist the temptation to place one of the planet's greatest killer on a collision course with both of his loves in order to test Cáel?The Veil is a function of the Weave that protects sentient perception from perceiving the Weave and disguises the otherness of creatures of legend, unless they willingly allow themselves to be seen, which they usually do only so they can 'physically' interact with the Present. Some sentient minds, through horrific trauma such as the Augurs' self- poisonings, through the quirks of Fate via Holy Men, Mad Prophets and Doomsayers such as Temujin, or through the touch of legends such as Ishara, can sense the fluctuations in the Veil and the things behind it. Cáel, in truth, has been shaped by all three vehicles (Ishara, the Augurs and Temujin's legend.)Oblivion is what awaits Reality if the Weave ever fails beyond its ability to heal itself. This threat is what keeps the creatures of legend from constantly traversing the Weave. They have to weaken the Weave to do so or to use powers in Reality, the greater the distortion they create, the greater the weakening that occurs.End Note(Two days ago, with thirty days left)"That was fantastic, Lady Yum-Yum," I sighed."What did you just call me?" she panted softly. We were naked in one of our Task Force bedrooms that was actually used for sleeping, and now sex. I was still pressed against her reposed body, despite our recent exertions. She was on her stomach, arms stretched down her sides.She was sweaty and short of breath. She still had her wits about her and an awareness of our situation: victory sex, me still aroused and her fingernails scratching my thighs and buttocks. My equally sticky body was pressing down on her, even though I supported my weight with outstretched hands placed on either side of her shoulders."Lady Yum-Yum," I mumbled as I kissed the back of her head. "That was the first thing that sprang to mind when you introduced yourself." I could see her working that through her highly complex mind."When writing your memoirs, please remember to me refer to me that way," she began to flex her thighs and abdominal muscles, so that her ass was pumping against my hips."Only if this helps persuade you to give me a repeat performance.""I'll consider,," she purred, then paused to catch her breathe. "You are in phenomenal shape, young man. Do any of your other lady-loves have pet names?""Nope," I grunted as I withdrew.She had teased me with anal sex hints repeatedly, yet never delivered. She liked the game and the power she wielded. My body being on top of hers was only an illusion of a tactical advantage. She knew me pretty well already. I wasn't the kind of guy who would use physical strength to overwhelm her vulnerable position. This being so, a cerebral skirmish only excited her more.We waged a war that was based on intakes of breath, the shimmying of muscles and the trembling of fatigued flesh. The prize for me was the winning. Lady Fathom Worthington-Burke played tricky-clever, but I was better. And at times like this, she admitted it. She gave me what I wanted. I rolled her.Straight, face-to-face fucking. The Lady's pulsar gaze trapped my vision. She smiled, grudgingly at first, then more and more sensually as my glans returned to her g-spot that it had scouted out earlier. This was 'surrender by the Fathom method'. She gave me what I wanted, so I took what I wanted, and pleasured her at the same time."Mmm, you are a bad, bad boy," she lapsed into her trashy West-End Londoner accent. It was perfect and an erotic whiplash when added to her native, refined manner of speech. This wasn't a trick this time, it was a treat. It was a gift, reciprocated. The tactile sensation of her cervix becoming a soft, spongey chalice for my final penetrations was icing on an all-so-luscious cake.I tendered her a tribute worthy of my first love, Dr. Kimberly Geisler. It was strange to find a woman like her. Outside of Kimberly, I had found only one other woman who graciously offered her ultimate pleasure paean to the hundreds of lovers who had become before. That other woman, it still floored me, was Buffy Du, no, Buffy Ishara, First of my House."Oh!" and several heartbeats later, "Cáel!" several hissed series of breathes and then, "Goddess! You are better than good!"Two thoughts collided within me:A) I had never seen a more controlled orgasmic explosion in my life. I was going to have to tell Buffy about this, once we were safely in bed. If it was office talk, she'd punch me through a window and that would make Aya cry. I couldn't have that.B) Goddess? I thought she was Anglican. This needed further study. This treatment was really nice. I leaned in, kissed her. Lady Yum-Yum smiled. "Take me to the shower. Play time is over, Cáel," and she was back to all business."You are treating me like a fleshy vibrator," I pointed out."But you are a very finely-trained, fleshy vibrator, you wonderful boy," she stroked my cheek. "Shower! Now!" So, like a Good Boy, International Merchant of Death and Chosen Son of a Divine Amazon Goddess, I slid off her, then cradled her in my arms as I rose from our totally trashed mattress.I didn't smile when it was confirmed that I wasn't carrying her out of any romantic after-coitus gesture. She couldn't walk. Woot! It took a bit of effort to get us into the walk-in shower and to get the water just perfect, all while keeping her cradled. She helped out by keeping her arms tightly around my neck."Cheeky bastard," she whispered in my ear. "You are gloating." Then she nibbled on my earlobe for good measure."Damn right," I did gloat as I let her slide down to her feet. "You are pretty sweet for an Old Chick." She wasn't angry, oh no."If you were trying to get me to say, 'I'll get you next time," she licked, nipped and sucked on my nipple as if I was the one with the mammaries in this relationship, "it worked." Double-Woot! I was going to get that damn four-way! I did coax a vigorous shower-quickie out of my Lady. Afterward, she shifted herself so she could get under one of the steaming showerheads."Cáel, why didn't you use a condom," she mused. Gak!"You aren't on Birth Control?" I panicked. She laughed at me."No. I've never been a fan of hormones replacement. I like the way I am. Do you expect the women to do all the anti-pregnancy measures?""No," I gulped."Don't' be so worried," she laughed. "We had unprotected sex one time. The odds are astronomical that an 'oops' happened, right?" Yes, it was a single sexual encounter, but included three firings of the one-eyed hydra, sigh."You are asking a man who has five children on the way, Fathom," I cautioned her."Oh, I'll update my files and make an appointment to seen a local, reliable O B G Y N," she slipped back into her unflappable British resolve. "Get along. I need to get cleaned up," she cupped my scrotum, ", again. So scoot." I scooted.I had updated my condom supply despite the forbiddance Dot Ishara, my Matron Goddess, beamed to me from the Other Side. She could only complain so much. I'd upped my selection of fortune cookies and added a fresh raisin chocolate brownie for my next visit with her. I had to get over to the other side of the floor to get a fresh shirt, and boxers.Yum-Yum had ripped off my shirt (a little kinky) and boxers (a little painful). I wasn't going commando, so I decided to quick step it before something important happened that required me to yank yet another solution out of my sexually-fueled creative imagination.How Lady Yum-Yum and I ended up in bedThe Secret Societies' long awaited war had begun in Africa and in India. The Amazons couldn't effectively reinforce these two homeland regions. No, my people's edge came from my stupid stunts (e.g., the fight outside that club in Chicago), the judicious application of a few kind words and a whole lot of targeted killing on my part along with that of my Amazons.Those actions convinced the Booth-gan (aka the Thuggee, but we no longer say that because it irritates them) and the Coils of the Serpent to toss in their lot with their local Amazons. They did the whole 'hostage exchange' thing as well. Two children from each side. That was a no-brainer on my part. All three concerned parties were willing to let their adults die if necessary. Their children were another matter.In Asia, the Seven Pillars had made only minimal progress. We now suspected the 7P had planned to roll over the three of the 9 Clans that were in their Sphere of Influence, the now 6 Ninja Families, the Black Lotus and the Booth-gan in rapid succession. A preemptive strike against both the Khanate and the Ninja were supposed to cripple those two factions.Against the Khanate, that had been a dismal failure. In Nippon, the Ninja were in dire straits and would be decades recovering from the original 7P blitz. But the combination of US black ops help and the infusion of Amazons and Okinawans had staved off extinction for the moment. Strategically, these failed actions were tying down 7P resources that the largest Secret Society had planned to move elsewhere.In China, the Black Lotus exhibited the same resilience and deceptiveness they'd shown in combating the Seven Pillars by themselves for the past 65 years. The chaos gripping the PRC was a blessing from the Ancestors, the four sacred spirits (lung/dragons, phoenix, unicorn and tortoise), and the nine entities (I now really had to know this stuff.) Word that a 'dragon' had appeared in the West had only heightened their desire to aid in our new alliance.Those factors meant a reprieve for India. As the 7 Pillars began ramping up their operations; increasing racial tensions, minor terrorist action and military and industrial sabotage; the Booth-gan and Amazon united resources and purpose. The Booth-gan would assassinate 7P operatives and pawns while the Amazons would hit 7P front companies and businesses based out of the People's Republic of China. (This activity also helped ratchet up India-PRC tensions and anti-PRC public sentiment in India.)In Africa, the Condotteiri had squandered precious hours reallocating resources before launching their assaults. Like everyone but the 7P, they had been caught flat-footed by the renewal of the Secret War. The Coils of the Serpent had never been overly antagonistic toward the Condos, since their interests rarely collided. The same went for the Coils and the Amazons.Two factors inspired a deep Amazon-Coil bond. They were both groups with deep African roots and a shared Central-Western African spirituality. Added to that was the growing power of the Coils of the Serpent in the past fifty years. Their main opponents had been the Illuminati who had a Eurocentric view. Pan-Africanism was in the Coil's best interest, but ran contrary to European economic interests.Long term, allying with the African Amazons was a good investment for the Coils. The 9 Clans relationships had already proved to be advantageous on multiple occasions in the past. The leaders of the Coils knew their power was rising with the fortunes of Sub-Saharan Africa. To them, the rise of the PRC and the Seven Pillars was a looming threat in the East.They had been handed a golden opportunity to deal with this enemy before the enemy was ready to deal with them. They had been 'gifted' with over 2000 highly-skilled, fanatical Amazon warriors as stealthy muscle to add to their own, more subtle arsenal. For the Amazons, it was access to continent wide clandestine intelligence network that could unmask their enemies' hiding places.The Condotteiri wiped out an Amazon freehold in Cameroon and a few Coils safe houses in Lagos, Nigeria. In the Republic of Mali, over 250 Condo mercenaries were slaughtered at a 'secret' installation and their armory was looted. Ebola kept breaking out in the West. The dominant regional powers, the Republic of the Congo and Nigeria, were tottering as a result of decades of economic mismanagement, civic, ethnic, tribal and religious strife, corruption and unreliable militaries.The scene was ripe for a secret conflict as well as public carnage. For the Joint International Khanate Interim Taskforce (JIKIT), this presented a dilemma. They were involved with a growing global struggle that went far beyond the Khanate and Central Asia. Their secret society allies strenuously objected to bringing any more 'outsider' people into the group.Handing over covert intelligence to other governmental agencies in the US and UK, then telling them they wouldn't divulge their sources went over like scuba diving with cement goulashes. Explaining to upper level bigwigs that they had a 'trust-based' team went nowhere. Those officials didn't care about a bunch of domestic/international criminals' sensibilities.They wanted names and faces. They wanted addresses, phone taps and bank account numbers. It would all be 'Secret', 'Top Secret', or 'Eyes Only'. It would all be vulnerable to all kinds of governmental subpoenas too. No threats were made from 'my' side. They'd killed more people than the Black Death and the lives of a few thousand bureaucrats (and their families) in London and Washington D.C. didn't mean shit to them.Selena did offer to kidnap some family members to get the message across. Javiera put her hands over her ears and began singing 'la-la-la' as she stormed out of the room. Lady Fathom suggested that we arrange a private meeting with the UK Prime Minister and the US President. It took a few seconds for Mehmet and Javiera to realize she wasn't kidding.That was a nearly impossible task, which on this taskforce meant we had to give it a shot. Let's just say that the US Attorney General, Eric Holder and Chairman John Jay of the British Joint Intelligence Committee thought their respective representative had lost her God-damn mind. I went to the Khanate for help.Twenty-four hours later Azerbaijan, Turkey, Tajikistan, Armenia and Georgia (yes, two tiny Christian nations) joined the Khanate. The integration of the first two nations had been in the works since the formation of the Turkic Council in 2009. For me, Temujin upped the time table strictly for our benefit. Turkey and Azerbaijan became the two newest states within the Khanate.The third, Tajikistan was different and the shakiest addition. The unoccupied title of 'Khwarazm Shah' was created, suggesting the Iranian Tajiks had a special status inside the Khanate. 'Khwarazm' referenced the Khwarazmian dynasty that ruled the last of the great, Persian-led, Iranian Super-States and dated back to the 13th century AD. 'Shah' was Persian for King.The announced status of Armenia and Georgia was quite a bit different. They become 'Protectorates', i.e., semi-autonomous states within the Khanate who were 'vassal' states, responsible only to the Great Khan and his personal representative in the region (ah, that would be me.)So, the first three entries made sense, strong geographic, ethnic and/or religious ties, plus this was part of the Khanate's agenda anyway. But Armenia and Georgia? That was the doing of the other regional secret society, the Hashashin.The Caucasus Mountains were the backyard of the Hashashin. They knew who to blackmail, pinch and kill to make the 'take-over' possible. The main stumbling block was the long Khanate-Hashashin history: the Mongols had destroyed the historical stronghold of the Hashashin, Alamut, in 1256 CE. In a way, that disaster had transformed the sect, making it move away from their strict Nizārī Ismaili roots and into a more ethnically and religiously diverse group that was centered in the Caucasus region.Temujin made it clear to this group that he was making a deal under my auspices. Both Armenia and, Georgia (as well as the future Kurdistan, his plans for the creation of that last state were told to me under condition of secrecy) would be part of my palatinate principality (along with Hungary, if we ever got there). Riki Martin defined the terms for me: I was the voice of those three regions in the Khan's court.They wouldn't have to deal with Muslim Khanate officials. They would deal with me and 'my officials'. If the Khanate had a problem with my principality, they came to me to resolve the issue. That translated to me giving a nod to the existing regimes ruling in Armenia and Georgia (along with the infusion of a few Hashashin supporters.)Publically the future of those three political and ethnic entities would be confirmed later. The existing governments knew three things.1) I was that madman who had led the charge in Romania, clearly a man of bravery and humility. The odds were good that I was going to be a man they could rely on to adequately represent their interests with the government that currently mattered the most (aka The Khanate.)2) The Great Khan thought the world of me and in this nascent New World Order that meant way more than membership in NATO, or begging the United Nations to apply sanctions of dubious value.3) There would be a change of leadership by about 2040. Children of excellent ethnic parentage would succeed me in this ceremonial role in the region. These new princes and princesses would be the scions of the line of Nyilas and representatives of the various states (translation: I was going to be sexing it up with Georgian, Armenian and Kurdish members of the Hashashin).That would establish the three 'cadet' branches of House Ishara (Nyilas) (which I've listed because all three alphabets are so freaking beautiful) that could weave the Amazons, 9 Clans and the varying ethnic identities into a quilt that could stand together as a force in the Great Khan's inner circle. This new spate of aristocratic, 'Archer'-themed lineages would be:1.       Moisari, in Georgia.2.       Aġeġnajig, in Armenia.3.       Ram- alsham, in Kurdistan.This fiction made the key named entities happy. The combination of all these events applied another jolt to the heart of the global power structure (after all, Turkey was in NATO) and made the US and UK governments back off.By tidying up the world map, we'd brought our governmental chiefs to the chilling revelation that their sole conduit for insider information regarding the ongoing global calamity had reacted to their intransience by simply letting them be blind-sided by events. After the fact, Javiera and Lady Fathom relayed that message very clearly.

In a national survey conducted last month by Marist Poll for National Public Radio and PBS News, 44 percent of registered voters said immigration was a deciding factor in whom they support for president. Another 43 percent said it was an important factor. In this series, we examine what drew recent immigrants to the Highlands, the process they undergo to stay and the effect on local schools. Leer en español. Growing up in Cold Spring, Will Biavati looked and sounded like most of his friends. His skin was white like most of his Haldane classmates. His English was perfect with no trace of an accent. "I fit in with the local demographic," said Biavati, who graduated in 2010. "No one could ever tell me apart." But Biavati had a secret that did set him apart: He was undocumented. He is Brazilian, smuggled across the Tijuana border at age 11, hiding in a van with his mother. That was his second immigration violation. The first came 10 years earlier when he overstayed a tourist visa with his parents. Living in the shadows, Biavati said, the family code was to keep quiet, hoping that "as long as we don't draw attention to ourselves, we can spare ourselves harassment." So Biavati was known at Haldane as a "quiet kid" who kept to himself and attended few parties. He never let on that he didn't drive or work because undocumented immigrants at the time couldn't get driver's licenses or Social Security numbers. And forget about dating. "You can't impress someone if you can't pick them up in your car or don't have money to take them out to dinner," said Biavati. "It was a lonely experience." Everything changed on July 15, 2012, when President Barack Obama announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. His executive order allowed undocumented people who came to the country as children to obtain work permits under certain conditions, such as being enrolled in school, earning a high school or General Educational Development (GED) diploma and having no criminal record. For Biavati, DACA opened a path to his first job: stocking shelves and working the register at Foodtown in Cold Spring. There he met Ashley Bassett, who graduated from Haldane two years before he did. They married in 2018 in a rooftop wedding in Long Island City and now have a 2-year-old son, Nathan, and live in an apartment in Wappingers Falls. Biavati, who is a film location scout, is one of 530,000 DACA "dreamers." But it's a tenuous existence. "It could be erased at any moment," he noted. DACA has been repeatedly challenged and its legality is under review by a federal appeals court. As president, Donald Trump tried to end the program and has pledged mass deportations if re-elected. Finding a path to legal status is challenging for immigrants working and living in the Highlands and lower Hudson Valley. Besides DACA, federal law provides several methods to getting documents, such as a work permit or green card, which allows residency and often leads to citizenship. Those paths include marrying a citizen, receiving asylum from persecution in your native country and hardship exemptions. It's unclear how many undocumented immigrants live in the Highlands, although there are about 850,000 in New York state, with most in New York City, according to the Migration Policy Institute, a think tank in Washington, D.C. If immigration court data and census data is indicative, the numbers have risen dramatically over the past two decades in Putnam and Dutchess counties. Most come from Central and South America. About 13 percent of Latinos are undocumented, according to the federal government. Paths to Legal Status If you were not born in the U.S. or its territories, you must be naturalized to become a citizen. To do that, you must be a lawful permanent resident (i.e., have a green card) for at least five years, three years if married to a citizen or at basic training if serving in the Armed Forces. You also must pass tests in English language and civics. When a pa...

The Jungle Room By BradentonLarry for Literotica -  Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels.Clubbing in Eros. "Maybe I should have been expecting this," Don said. "What?" Victor asked. Don frowned. Where to begin? he thought. First of all, there seemed to be an actual little jungle inside the Jungle Room. Though there was a park-like lawn stretching out in front of them, there were palm trees and thick, jungle vegetation all around.  Don could hear the distinct sound of monkeys and other jungle critters playing, and doing whatever else they do, from the deepening shadows. Then there was the open sky overhead. Although it was quite shady on the floor of the "jungle" they could see the blue, cloudless sky as it began to darken toward night. Strategically placed torches and a few bonfires would keep the place from getting too dark. Finally, there was the quite undeniable fact that the place certainly seemed to be quite a bit bigger on the inside! Don considered going back outside to walk around the building, and then pacing the inside off just to make sure, but then decided he would just go with it. And, he decided, if none of this bothered Victor, who was he to trouble the big guy's mind? Walking a few paces in, to get out of the doorway, Don paused to look around and get his bearings. On the right, there was a sandy area, with a big bonfire in the middle. At some distance from the fire, there were quite a few lounge chairs arranged in a rough circle around the fire and open area. There were a few people lounging there at the moment. Continuing on counterclockwise, and moving deeper into the micro-jungle, Don saw a raised platform with cushions and pillows; it really looked like a huge couch, or a sectional unit taken to extremes. Beyond this, Don made out several tree houses, accessed by ladders, as well as various sorts of beds, couches and blankets scattered about the more or less open areas between the trees. In the distance, he thought he saw a cave of some sort. To the left of that and closer to the entrance, seemed to be a pool, designed to look like a natural pond, complete with a waterfall. On Don's immediate left, then, was a large wooden structure, raising several stories from the floor. Don, followed closely by Victor, turned to this complicated building within a building and climbed the few stairs that led up to the wide deck-platform that was the first floor. Right in front of them was an open area that was apparently used as a dance floor; there were several couples dancing slowly to the music that was playing, as well as a few solo dancers, all of whom were in varying states of undress. Off to one side was a row of stripper's dance poles, around which danced a couple of almost entirely naked young women, and, at the far end, a strapping young man wearing nothing but a loin cloth. Don could also see, along another side of the platform, a set of comfortable chairs, one of which was being used at the moment as a platform for some very enthusiastic sex. Across the dance floor, there was a refreshment bar much like those that had been in the Manor, and a set of stairs leading to the upper floors of the structure. Before they could go any further, a striking woman with long legs, large, firm tits and long red hair falling down over her shoulders and down her back in an unruly tumult came up to them; she was wearing a diaphanous green silk "skirt" that was really just a pair of broad strips hanging from a narrow belt around her waist that covered her sex and her butt crack before falling down between her legs. She also wore a heavy gold necklace that hung between her generous breasts. She smiled at them and said, "Hello, welcome to the Jungle Room, would either or both of you like to dance?" "Hi," Don smiled, "I'm still looking around, but perhaps Victor here would." The woman looked Victor up and down with obvious approval while the big, muscular man returned the favor. "Hello, Victor. I'm Vixen. What do you say, big fella, wanna dance?" she smiled. "Sure," Victor grinned. Don smiled a little himself, watching the two of them moving toward the center of the dance floor and then begin dancing, while he was thinking, "Vixen"? What an odd name. He looked around again, deciding where to explore first. His eye was caught by the long, black hair of one of the women dancing on a pole, and he decided to move in that direction for a better look. Her hair was thick, straight, hung down to her butt, or would if she stopped moving long enough, and was a lustrous black that gleamed darkly in the rather subdued light of the Jungle Room. Her skin was a reddish brown. She had long, slender arms and legs, full breasts and a lovely rear. As he drew closer, Don thought she was most likely of Native American extraction, perhaps South American. She was wearing a dark red skirt with slits that ran all the way up to her hips on each side, gold bracelets and anklets, and a gold necklace that was more of a choker, hugging her slender neck closely. He noticed that she had a black ring on the middle finger of her left hand. Her breasts were bare, and her dark nipples seemed to beckon to Don. He saw that her face was lovely, and then she smiled at him with a friendly, playful light in her eyes, and Don decided he would tarry here for a while. He stopped behind the stool set in front of the dark beauty's pole and asked, "May I?" She smiled again, and said, "Please do, welcome to the jungle." "Thank you," Don smiled back as he sat down on the stool. He was already trying to place her accent. She spun herself around the silvery pole in a gravity defying display of strength and grace. Her hair was flung about in a wide, beautiful arc. Her skirt flared too, displaying her sexy legs to considerable effect. Don was struck by the way her body moved about the pole in a wonderful combination of the athletic and the erotic. He was already finding himself mesmerized by the dancer's beauty and sensuality. She came to a stop, with her arm wrapped around the pole, leaned against the pole, and said, "This is your first time to our jungle, isn't it?" Latin, but not Spanish or Mexican, Don thought in the back of his mind. He said, "Yes, how could you tell?" "I would have remembered you," she smiled as she slid from the pole and glided toward him. She bent down and took his face in her hands, looking deeply into his eyes. As he was looking back into her dark brown gaze, he thought, Portuguese? Then she was kissing him lightly and all coherent thought flew away. Don's perceptions and mental processes were abruptly focused entirely on her lips touching his and the fragrance of her perfume. As she pulled away, only a moment later, a deep sigh slipped from his lips. She smiled and laughed a little and said, "This is how we welcome visitors." Brazilean! Don's brain exclaimed triumphantly, but his mouth was murmuring, "That's a very nice welcome." "I'm India," she said as she began to dance in front of him, her legs on either side of his knees. Her hands were moving over her naked flesh as she swayed in time to the music. Don was having a hard time knowing where to look; not that there was any proper place to look or not look, but that everywhere on this woman's body seemed to be the best place to focus his attention. "I'm Don," he finally managed. "It's good to meet you Don," she smiled, pronouncing his name more like "Dohn", which he found utterly charming. "What have you been doing before you came here?" Don chuckled, "That's a long story." "I like stories," she purred in his ear before kissing his neck. A shiver ran through the length of Don's body, and he breathed in her scent again. "Um," he attempted, "well, I guess, it begins in the Manor." "Ah, yes, I've heard of this place," she nodded. "I woke up with my friend in a bedroom there," he managed as India casually untied the knot that held her skirt in place and dropped the garment to the floor, exposing her pretty, bare pussy. She straddled his lap and sat down, placing her warm hands on his shoulders and looking him in the eye. Don's hands moved up along her firm, smooth thighs. Remembering the rules of his non-Eros life, he half expected to be told "no touching", but of course such a restriction was foreign here. "Your friend is the man dancing with Vixen?" "No," Don laughed. "That's Victor, we didn't meet him until much later. My friend's not here right now. She's at Ladies Nite." "Ah," India nodded. She began to caress his neck and shoulders, and Don continued to stroke her legs idly. "Well, um, my friend and I didn't know where we were or how we got there, or even how to get out of that room." "That must have been frightening," India said, as her hand moved over Don's bare chest. "Well, it was certainly strange. I think my friend, Toshia, was more concerned than I was. We were all alone for a bit, and very confused, but then some other people showed up... Well, they fell into the room actually! They weren't much help – well, they were helpful in a sense – but they were too horny to really answer our questions." India smiled broadly and nodded, as her hand made its way down to Don's lap and began to caress his already hardening cock. "Uh, well, we did find our way out of the room – well, Toshia did – and things got stranger after that..." "What do you mean? How stranger?" So, Don began to tell this beautiful woman about his adventures in the Manor, all while she listened attentively and continued to pull and stroke his now very hard cock. Occasionally she asked a question, laughed, or otherwise expressed interest. As he talked, Don let his hands roam over her warm skin, caressing and exploring. Now and then she would lean in and kiss his neck or his shoulder, and he would sometimes lean forward to kiss her breasts. He was about to tell her about the maze in the garden, when India decided they had waited long enough. She rose up off Don's legs and shifted forward, pulling his straining cock forward. He felt her hot, wet pussy against his head, and then the exquisite sensation of entering her warm, moist sex. Don groaned as she slowly but steadily sank down on him, letting his cock fill her. With his hands holding her waist tightly, Don kept her down on him, and India began to rock on his lap, working his cock in and out of her, while grinding her clit against the base of his thick cock. Her hands came up and clasped his face, pulling his mouth to hers. Their kiss was long and passionate as she rode him there in the Jungle Room. Don reached around to squeeze her beautiful ass in his hands as he struggled to push himself even further up inside her. India shifted back and forth against him, grinding herself against his body, while his tongue slipped into her mouth, slipping over her smaller tongue, and while her breast moved against his chest, their nipples brushing against each other's. When their mouths parted at last India slipped her strong, thin arms around Don's neck and tossed her head back, letting her mane of jet black hair fall down over her back. Don paused a moment to revel in the sight of this gorgeous creature riding his cock here in the middle of this strange junglesque setting. He took in her long, beautiful neck, her full, heaving breasts, and her red-brown skin, now shimmering in the torchlight with a thin sheen of perspiration. Then, he lowered his head to kiss her chest, first between her tits and then made his way to each nipple in turn, pulling and sucking on them, pinching them between his teeth now and then. This last elicited a happy whimper from India and she rocked against him with even more insistence. Don, his cock straining up inside the exquisite grasp of her pussy, pulled her forward and down, making sure she was rubbing against him as much as possible. Then, he felt her hands moving around to hold the back of his head, keeping his mouth on her breast, where he was sucking hard on her left nipple. Don heard her moaning at the same time he felt her body beginning to shake against him. Her pussy pulled and squeezed at him as she climaxed. Don held onto India as she rode his cock trembling and groaning with what seemed to him like a very long, satisfying orgasm. She finally relaxed her grip on his head and he was able to pull back and smile up at her. She blushed a little and smiled back at him. "That was beautiful," she said in her wonderful accent, "but I'm not done with you." Before Don could even think of objecting, the lithe beauty slipped off his cock and lap, and knelt between his legs. India gave him a wink with her dark brown eyes, as she took his very hard, slippery cock in her hand. She pulled it forward a bit, and ran her pink tongue up along its length. Don shuddered as she reached its head and lingered there, fluttering over it, licking her own juices off it. Then, she was sucking his head into her mouth. Her pretty eyes looked up at him as she began to move her mouth up and down, taking more and more of him into her mouth and then her throat. Don shuddered and felt a low groan building up in his throat. He was barely aware of the fact that quite a few people were watching the two of them, but he couldn't take his eyes off the vision of the gorgeous woman sucking on his cock. She had a tight grip on the base of his shaft as her lips moved up and down on his shaft. He felt her tongue pressing against the underside of his cock and her throat squeezing around his sensitive head. Almost without noticing, Don moved his hands up to either side of her head and held on to her gently, keeping her there as she sucked on him insistently. "Oh god!" he cried out as he finally closed his eyes and let his own orgasm erupt. At first all he could feel was the intense sensation at the base of his balls and shooting through his entire nervous system. Then, gradually he became aware of the fact that he was pumping jet after jet of hot cum into India's mouth and throat. He opened his eyes to see her holding tightly to him as she took all of his cum in. He felt her swallowing repeatedly. Don's body was shuddering and twitching as he very slowly came down. India didn't take her mouth off him until she was sure she had gotten every last drop of cum out of him. "Wow!" Don breathed. "That was amazing!" "Thank you," India smiled, giving his cock a little kiss. She laid her head against his thigh as he stroked her thick, black hair happily. Don found himself thinking he would have to thank the resort's gate for insisting they enjoy the resort before leaving. "That looked like fun!" said a woman's voice from over Don's shoulder, and he felt a light hand touching his left arm. India smiled and said, "It was. This is Don, Jaden." Don looked back and up to smile back at the slender woman with reddish brown hair falling past her shoulders. She had great, slim legs and full tits that looked large on her petite frame. Her cheerful smile was infectious, though Don realized that might just be the great orgasm talking. Then he felt India's hands on his thighs as she drew herself back up in front of him. For a moment, Don found himself sitting there grinning between two beautiful naked women. I really do love it here, he thought to himself, meaning the Jungle Room, the resort and Eros at once. He noticed now that India stood with an undeniable air of confidence and even authority. There was something regal in her bearing. "I think it's time for a game," India smiled at Don and Jaden. "What do you think?" "That's a great idea!" Jaden nodded. "I'm always up for a game," Don agreed as he stood up, a bit unsteadily. "Come along if you want to join the game," India called out to everyone in range of her voice as she began to saunter over to the steps down to the floor of the "jungle". Don followed along after her swaying backside as if he were bewitched. "She's amazing, isn't she?" Jaden asked with a wink. Don smiled back at the pretty little redhead and said, "I think that might not be strong enough. Are you a regular here?" She smiled back. "I'm here pretty often. I heard some of the story you were telling India. It sounds very hot. I'd love to visit that place. Is it far from here?" "I'm afraid so," he nodded. "I'd offer to take you there, but our flying carpet is broken." "A flying carpet? I've never seen one of those," she frowned a bit. "Why does it sound so funny?" Don looked at her carefully, thinking again about how much people remembered from their lives outside Eros. Apparently Jaden didn't remember that magic wasn't supposed to work, but somehow managed to hold onto the notion that a flying carpet was somehow wrong. While all of this was going on, they had followed India down to the thick grass of the floor and to the open lawn-like area spread out in front of the club's entrance, where there were six large colorful blankets arranged in a circle around a thick, squat wooden post with a flat top. Don was quite positive those blankets and that post had not been there when he and Victor had come in, and it looked like that post was set quite firmly into the ground. "Oh, the spinner game!" Jaden said happily. India smiled warmly at her redheaded friend and walked toward the post, which came up to just under her full breasts. She beckoned to Don, who was quite happy to come closer. He saw that there was a very basic spinner, like the kind you would use to play a game of Twister, on the top of the post. Beneath the spinning arrow, the top of the post was clearly divided by thick black lines into six sectors corresponding to the six blankets. "The women go to a blanket, then the men spin and go play with that woman," India explained. She held up a good-sized hourglass, which she seemed to produce out of thin air, and said, "When time is up, they stop and come spin again." Don nodded and grinned, "Sounds like fun." "It is!" India smiled back. "Now, how many people do we have?" Both Don and India looked around and did a quick head count. There turned out to be six guys, including Don and Victor, and eight women, including India, Jaden and Vixen, who was now pretty much naked, just like everyone else. "I'll keep the time," India decided, and then said, "Rain and Lena do you mind sharing?" The trim brunette with the long dancer's legs and the curvy blonde with very long straight hair looked at each other, giggled a bit and said no, quickly moving together to claim one of the blankets. The other women each took a place, as India explained the simple rules to the guys. "When I call 'time' you have to stop," she said seriously, but with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "Don and Victor, it's your first time, so you go first." Don gestured for Victor to go ahead, and then watched as the big guy spun the little metal arrow, which finally stopped on the sector matching up with a gorgeous woman with an amazing body and long black hair with silver streaks running through it. While Don had to admit that there was no losing in this little game, he hoped he didn't have to wait too many turns to get paired up with that beauty. Don spun the arrow and found himself paired with an adorable woman with beautiful full breasts, thick red hair, sparkling eyes and an infectious smile. She flashed Don a big grin as he came toward her, and said, "Hello there," with an unmistakable Australian accent. "Hi," he smiled, and then added, "I'm Don." She looked him over in a very friendly way and said, "Pleased to meet you, Don. I'm Bella." Don was vaguely aware that there was a bit of a hold up as one of the guys had to spin again. "Sometimes we just play that you go wherever the spinner sends you, but India seems to want to make sure things are evened out – for now, anyway," Bella explained. Somehow Don was picking up on a bubbly enthusiasm in her voice. Don took the time to notice that counterclockwise, to his left, the next blanket had Vixen and the one after that had Jaden, each of whom were paired up with a male Jungle Room guest. To his right, or clockwise around the circle, were a blanket with a staggering beauty with long brown hair and then the blanket with Lena and Rain, each blanket also now graced by a guy. Victor and his partner were directly opposite Don and Bella on the circle. "OK," India called, "time starts ... now!" Bella wasted no time, stepping up to Don and slipping her arms around him. He felt her soft breasts pressed against his belly as he leaned his head down to kiss her upturned lips. She responded eagerly, opening her mouth for his tongue and pulling him even closer to her. Don felt his cock rising between them, and then Bella's hand slipping around to take hold of it, pulling and caressing it. It was hard to tell whether Bella was drawing him down or he was lowering her to the blanket, but somehow they ended up lying together, still kissing passionately. His hand moved up between her smooth thighs and his fingers were stroking her outer lips, already moist with her nectar, while her hand continued to move up and down on his now very hard cock with a tight grip. Don's fingers slipped between her lips and began to push up into Bella's warm pussy. He was very happy that she was so wet already. He worked his fingers slowly up into her, pausing for a moment to find and tease her clit with the end of his thumb. She groaned into his mouth and squeezed his cock still tighter. Don pushed his fingers further up into her, pressing his palm against her clit. As he began to fuck his fingers in and out of her grasping pussy his palm ground against her clit. When they finally broke their kiss for a bit of air, Bella gasped, "Fuck!" Don smiled and leaned in to kiss and bite at her neck, which elicited a low, "God, I love that!" Around him, Don could hear the sounds of other women and men beginning to get quite worked up. It was a heady situation. Then Bella was saying in his ear, "You need to fuck me with this big cock of yours, Don." Don was about to say, "It would be my pleasure," when India's voice called out, "Time!" Don left Bella with a smile and a kiss, and returned to India at the post. This time Don went first, and was pleased to be directed to the blanket on which Jaden reclined, waiting. On his left, counterclockwise, was the gorgeous woman he'd noticed earlier, along with one of the guys Don didn't know; on the right was Vixen and another guy. Don made a mental note that he should start paying more attention to men's names. None of this mental orientation and reflection distracted him from the woman at hand. As he knelt down between her long, slender legs, Don smiled at Jaden and said, "At long last." Everyone must have quickly spun and sorted things out, because India shortly called, "Begin!" Don grinned at Jaden as he leaned over her reclining body to give her a kiss. He planned to make it brief, but she wasn't having it; she kissed him hard and long, hungrily even. Don didn't even think of resisting, but leaned down further, on his hands and knees over her, until she was lying back on the blanket beneath him. When their kiss broke for a moment, Don took the opportunity to begin kissing his way down her lithe body. He was tempted to linger over her beautiful breasts, but had another destination in mind and was very much aware of the time slipping by, so he moved down along her firm belly until he was kissing the tops of her firm, smooth thighs. Jaden spread her legs open for him as Don settled between them, planting kisses on the sensitive skin on the insides of her upper thighs and then, lightly, on her exposed labia. He felt her shiver in anticipation, and then heard her moan lowly when he ran his tongue over her. Don gently parted her lips with his fingertips and moved his tongue up along her moist inner lips, brushing it over the tip of her clit as he finished. He repeated this, and then again. He felt Jaden's hand on his head then, encouraging him to dine more enthusiastically. Don smiled to himself and began pressing his tongue against her harder, focusing more and more on her sensitive clit. Hearing Jaden murmuring approval as she began to rock her hips against the pressure of his lips and tongue, Don began to work two fingers up into her very moist pussy. He kept licking at her clit, keeping the pressure on it, while he fucked his fingers in and out of her. It didn't take too much of this before Jaden cried out and pulled his head even closer to her. Don pushed his fingers deep into her pussy and sucked on her clit as her body clenched and shuddered around him. He felt slippery, sweet wetness covering the lower half of his face and his hand. "Oh, god!" Jaden breathed at last. Don slowly released her clit, but kept his fingers up inside her. He was about to see how quickly he could make her cum again, when India called, "Time!" Jaden managed to pull him in for another passionate kiss, which he was quite happy to let keep him from being among the first to spin this round. In fact, by the time he got up from the blanket, Victor was waiting to take his place with Jaden. Don thought Victor's big, muscular body and dark skin were an interesting contrast to Jaden's slender frame and relatively light complexion. Victor's cock was already quite hard, and Don suspected the two of them wouldn't wait long before getting right down to business. Don finally managed to get to India and the spinner. The beautiful mistress of the jungle smiled broadly at him and said, "Only one spot, Don. Go with Rain and Lena." Don thanked her with a smile, and quickly made it around to the blanket where the two women were waiting. They didn't let him lie down, but stopped him as he made it to the blanket, on their knees in front of him and smiling up at him. Don felt like he was in a porn scene as first the lovely blonde Lena, and then the pixie-ish brunette Rain, took his cock into her mouth, sucking it and teasing the underside with her tongue. When she didn't have his cock actually in her mouth, each girl was leaning in to kiss at the shaft or underneath to lick and suck at his balls. Occasionally, they stopped to both kiss and lick their way up his shaft and over his head, which led them to kiss each other playfully while Don watched. For once, Don was utterly oblivious to what was going on to either side of him. It didn't take much of this treatment before Don had his hands on their heads and was standing there fucking his straining cock in and out of first one pretty mouth and then the other. Although India had coaxed an intensely powerful orgasm out of him, Don felt sure that Lena and Rain were about to make him come in spectacular facial cum-shot fashion. They could sense his impending climax and stopped sucking him. Instead they smiled up at him as Lena pumped his cock in her fist and Rain caressed and squeezed his balls. "Time!" The girls dutifully, and all too promptly, stopped stimulating him with their hands, and Don gave a loud, heartfelt groan of frustration. Lena and Rain laughed and each gave the head of his cock a light kiss. Don leaned down to give them each a quick kiss before returning to India and her spinner. "Having fun, Don?" the beautiful India asked with more than a little mischief sparkling in her eyes. He nodded and said, "This is a very nice place!" "I am glad you think so," she smiled. Don took his turn flicking the spinner and was delighted to be directed to the blanket where the gorgeous woman with the amazing body and silver-streaked hair waited. He smiled as he approached, saying, "Hi, I'm Don." She smiled back at him and said, "Hello, Don. I'm Emmy." He thought her accent was Dutch or something like that. She reached out to him, slipped her warm hand around his waist and drew him down to her on the blanket. As he settled between her legs and smiled down into her cheerful eyes, she took his cock in her hand, pulling it down and getting it positioned just right. She said in his ear, hot breath on his neck, "I don't know about you, but I have had enough foreplay." Don nodded his agreement, but couldn't find any coherent thoughts to express as he pushed himself into Emmy's very warm and wet embrace. Lying there with their arms wrapped around each other and Emmy's legs pulling Don in, they began to kiss and fuck intently. Don was aware of her tongue and lips pressing and moving against his, and of her full breasts pressed against his chest as they moved, and of her arms and legs pulling him tighter to her, but the sensations of his cock sliding in and out of her strong, smooth pussy as it squeezed and pulled at him overrode everything else. Normally, Don made sure to work his body against his partner to make sure she was as stimulated as possible, but now Don was lost to his lust. He bent his back, gaining purchase with his knees and feet as he thrust with his legs, and held on to her shoulders, pulling her down on him. For her part, Emmy seemed just as intent on encouraging Don to ravish her. In fact, Emmy began to come first, shaking and trembling in Don's arms. Feeling her pussy pulling and squeezing at his cock sent him over the edge, and Don found himself shoving up into her hard as his cock erupted, pumping hot cum up into her pussy and womb. Don held on to Emmy for long minutes as they shook together moaning. Don felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked over to see India's lovely face framed by her thick, black hair. She was smiling fondly at both of them. She leaned in to kiss Don's cheek, and said, "That was beautiful. Let's all go over to the orgy bed." With a happy grin on his face, Don let India and Jaden help him up and lead him deeper into the Jungle Room, to the raised platform with cushions and pillows he had noticed earlier. Now he saw that there was a raised bolster along two edges, making it seem more like a very large couch or a day-bed on steroids. All fourteen of the people who had been involved in the spinner game, including India, tumbled in naked confusion onto the orgy bed. Jaden insisted on trying to "repay" Don for earlier, and, with some extremely talented oral ministrations, with her finger slipping up into his butt along the way, she quickly had his cock rock hard again. While she was so engaged, one of the other guys got behind her, coaxed her up on her knees and began to fuck her vigorously. Similarly, India took advantage of Don's position and straddled his face. Don immediately began to lick and suck at the dark beauty's sweet pussy and clit. The orgy, spurred on by the XYZ pumping in their veins as well as the erotic, torch lit jungle environment, went on for what must have been hours. Some of the people drifted off and some newcomers joined in, and Don lost count of how many women he had fucked, kissed and licked. Some moments stood out, of course: watching Jaden enthusiastically riding up and down Victor's thick cock; fucking Bella's tight ass while she had another cock in her pussy; fucking himself in and out of Vixen's very talented mouth and throat as Victor rammed into her pussy from behind; watching Emmy and Lena in a very hot 69... Then, as things were winding down, the guys who were still functioning ganged up on India, each one, and sometimes two at a time, taking their turns cumming inside and on the beautiful woman. Don sat back and watched happily, lost in a happy post-orgasmic daze, until everyone else was done. Then, he took his place between her legs. She smiled up at him sleepily, and murmured, "Yes, Don, fuck me." He nodded, and pushed his cock up into her very wet and slippery pussy, squeezing quite a bit of sticky white cum out of her as he did. Slowly and deliberately, he fucked himself into the jungle queen, holding onto her nearly limp, sweaty body, lightly kissing her full lips. She moaned as another in a very long line of orgasms swelled up inside her exhausted body, and Don pushed into her as his cock swelled and flooded her sex with his last cum of the night. Stroking her hair and kissing her forehead, Don laid her gently back on the bed. He was asleep before he was able to pull out of her. Don's Monks at the Abby of Records The Abbey of Records At the top of the rocky path, which had actually been occasionally augmented by actual steps cut into the stone of the mountainside, the little troop found something of an expansive, broad shelf. A stream fell tumbling down the mountain, and formed a rushing brook that cut across the shelf in front of them, running right to left, on its way to join in the wide lake that dominated the level area.  For the most part, the place looked like a well-tended park or picnic ground. On the other side of the brook was the other distinctive feature of the green shelf: a stone building, or a tight complex of buildings, from which sprouted a tall tower of pinkish stone. Toshia thought the building, or buildings around the base of the tower resembled a monastery more than anything else. As for the tower itself, with its coloration, and the way the upper stories swelled out to accommodate a larger space at the top, it was rather obviously phallic. That's a bit heavy handed, she thought to herself. Although, after their sweaty climb, which had taken several hours, the sight of that beautiful lake, and the thought of a swim, was quite appealing, Don and Toshia led the little troop straight for the bridge that spanned the brook and carried the path they were on toward the tower. As they approached, Toshia was surprised to see that there was a large, very dark-skinned man standing there, barring the way onto the bridge. She was pretty sure he hadn't been there a moment before. He had thick muscles, stood at least two meters tall, and was leaning on a very large and shiny sword. Of course, he also had a prodigious cock and a pair of heavy balls hanging between his legs. None of them had had any kind of play since they had convened by the pool that morning, prior to leaving the Resort by way of the now rather cooperative gate, so Toshia wasn't at all surprised that she found herself thinking she would like to see if this big, black fellow was as good a fuck as she imagined he must be. He didn't look like he was there to offer sex, though. When they got close enough, the big man held up his hand and said, "Halt." Naturally enough, Toshia thought, he had a deep, sexy bass voice. "Hello," Don offered. "We would like to visit the tower." "The tower is not open to all," the man said impassively. "To whom is it open?" Toshia asked. "To members of the Order and to eligible pilgrims." Toshia got the sense that making these pronouncements was the whole point of this man's existence. He intoned his lines as if he was an actor with a small cameo part that he would nevertheless act the hell out of. Don frowned a moment before saying, "We're pilgrims. We need to speak with the Sage of the Tower." The big, black man said nothing for a long moment as he looked the party over carefully. He fixed each of them with his inscrutable dark eyes as if he was examining their souls, or at least reading their minds. Finally, he said, "Three of you may pass." Don asked, "Do you mean the three of us?" as he indicated himself, Toshia and Nicole. The impassive guard nodded once. "Good guess," Toshia whispered. "It just seemed to make sense," Don muttered. "What are our friends supposed to do?" Toshia asked, but the man didn't even bother to shrug. "We could wait by the lake," Shelonda suggested. Toshia was about to say that was a good idea, but Amy chimed in, asking, "How long will you be?" "That's a very good question," Don nodded. Shelonda frowned and then offered, "Why don't we go for a swim, and if you're not back when we're done, we'll just go back down to the Resort and you can come meet us there?" "I like that idea," Amy grinned. Toshia suspected Amy would be quite happy to give up their little quest and stay at the Resort indefinitely. "The Resort's a big place," Victor observed quietly. "That's right," Don nodded. "Why don't we try checking in with the Sheriff? You guys stop in and tell her where you're going, and we'll ask her where you are." "I'm not sure the sheriff will appreciate that," Toshia thought, but nobody else had any better ideas, so the sextet split into two groups – Amy, Shelonda and Victor heading off to swim in the lake, as Don, Nicole and Toshia slipped past the muscular guard and crossed the wooden bridge. There was no sign or any other indication of where they should go, but they could only see one door: a heavy, wooden thing of dark brown, with a large metal knocker set in the middle of it. It struck Toshia just then that there was nothing at all sexual about this door, the wall it was set into, or the building attached to the wall, unless you counted the gigantic phallus sticking out of it, of course. Toshia reached out and lifted the clapper and let it fall. There was a very loud bang on their side of the door. After a long moment, she banged again. "Maybe nobody's home," Nicole offered. Don opened his mouth to respond to this, but before he could speak, the door swung open. A young man with blond, disheveled hair and striking blue eyes peered around the door at them. He was wearing a brown robe, like what Toshia imagined monks wore, only this one looked like it had been thrown on in a great hurry; the belt around his waist was only loosely tied, and the brown hood fell around his shoulders in obvious disarray. "Um, hello," the young man said, "welcome to the Abbey. Please come in." "Thank you," Don nodded, as he led the way through the doorway. They were admitted into a comfortable but simple foyer, where half a dozen other brown-robed young adults assembled hastily to greet them. They were a mix of men and women, but they were all in the same state of muss as the fellow who had opened the door. Toshia could well imagine what they had been up to before she'd banged on their front door. "We're looking for the Sage," Don announced. "Yes, of course," said a voice from behind the small crowd of young people, who quickly parted to let the speaker come forward. This was a tall Asian gentleman who definitely looked more like a monk than the others. He was older for one thing, and seemed to have a more serene and unruffled demeanor. He smiled at Toshia and the others and said, "Welcome to the Abbey of Records, we will be happy to conduct you to the Sage. However, we have something of a ritual we would ask you to follow." "What sort of ritual?" Toshia asked, remembering the rite they had participated in the night after they had left the Manor. She couldn't decide at the moment if she was more titillated or leery of such a prospect. The tall man smiled and said, "Nothing alarming, I assure you. First we would offer to refresh you after your climb – a bath and some food and water. Then it is our custom to interview you in some detail about your experiences here in Eros." Don and Toshia conferred silently by means of a quickly shared glance and barely visible shrugs. They both seemed to think that Nicole would go along with whatever they decided. Toshia smiled back at the tall man and said, "Some refreshment would be very nice, thank you." The man bowed a bit, and said, "Alan, please attend to our guests. I will prepare the scribes." The young man who had opened the door bowed lower and said, "Yes, sir." He then turned to Toshia and her friends and said, "If you'll follow me..." They followed Alan as he led them into the Abbey and down a series of corridors, all as simple, even rustic, as the foyer. The half dozen brown-robed ... Toshia wasn't sure what to call them ... followed along in a hushed but clearly excited train. Finally, they came to a wide, open sunlit courtyard with an array of big stone basins cut into the floor. Each basin was filled with clear water (of the XYZ variety, of course) that sparkled in the midday sun. There was a profusion of flowers all around the courtyard, filling the area with bright colors and pleasant scents. A young woman with dark red hair and freckles smiled almost shyly at Toshia as she took her by the arm and gently led her toward a water-filled tub to the left. Toshia noticed that Don and Nicole were each being taken to nearby, but separate, tubs. "May I help you out of your clothes?" the little redhead asked. "Certainly," Toshia smiled. It only took a moment before her sandals and dress were discarded and Toshia was slipping into the warm bathwater. The redhead quickly tossed her brown robe off over her head and joined her, bringing along some soap and a big sponge. Toshia just relaxed and enjoyed the attention as the girl began scrubbing at her skin. She only smiled as the pretty blond Alan stripped down and joined them, helping by washing Toshia's hair. Toshia hadn't been so well cleaned or so pampered since leaving the Manor, and there was no question that it felt very good indeed. Of course, the combination of being immersed in XYZ, the presence of the two sexy, naked bodies, and the way her body was being touched and stroked, soon had Toshia thinking mischievously. Her hands began to move up along the strong legs of her bathers. She slipped her hands up and around to give each of their bottoms a squeeze. The redhead's breast was in Toshia's face then, and she went ahead and gave the ruddy little nipple a kiss. At about the same time, her hand managed to find Alan's half erect cock, so she began to squeeze and pull on that. The two young people laughed happily and began to caress Toshia's body more playfully. Soon the girl was squatting down in the water next to Toshia, with her sponge moving purposefully between Toshia's legs; Alan was standing in front of Toshia with his now quite hard cock standing out in front of him as he carefully, but thoroughly rinsed Toshia's hair; and, Toshia, meanwhile, busied herself kissing and sucking on the purple head of that sex organ as she worked her left hand up between the redhead's legs to stroke her lips and clit under the water. The girl leaned in to help Toshia with Alan's cock, kissing along the shaft, and reaching up to fondle his balls with her free hand. The sponge was doing wonderful work under the water as the redhead rubbed it back and forth over Toshia's pussy and clit, and Toshia had to concentrate to move her own fingers productively. She shifted a bit so that she could slip two of her fingers up inside the redhead's pussy, letting her palm take care of keeping pressure and friction on the girl's clit. This left her freer to concentrate on Alan's cock. Toshia took hold of the base of Alan's cock with her right hand and began to suck on his broad head more deliberately. She enjoyed the sensation of having it fill her mouth, moving over her lips and tongue. As she felt her body responding to the sponge between her legs and the oral stimulation of sucking Alan's cock, she began to suck him harder and faster, her hand pumping the base of his shaft as the redhead continued to kiss his balls and groaned now and then as Toshia's fingers fucked in and out of her. As it turned out, the redhead was the first to come, gasping and whimpering as she clung to Toshia's shoulder and Alan's leg. Alan followed soon after, his fingers tangled in Toshia's hair and the redhead's, his body shuddering, and his cock spewing hot cum into Toshia's mouth and down her throat. Toshia was still swallowing hungrily, when she felt her own orgasm ripping through her body in waves of bright ecstasy. She held onto Alan's cock and kept sucking on it until she could open her eyes and catch her breath. Then, with a smile and a kiss, she let it go and took a moment to look around. In the tub closest to hers, Toshia saw that Don had slid down in the water so that his head was resting on a towel on the lip of his tub, and a naked woman was – somewhat precariously – kneeling over his mouth, enjoying the oral treatment Toshia now knew so well. At the same time, a very generously buxom young woman was riding up and down on Don's lap; while smiling happily and squeezing her own big tits tightly. A bit further away, Nicole was bent over the edge of her own tub as a particularly well-muscled young man fucked in and out of her from behind. Toshia could clearly see that Nicole had cum splattered over her face – no doubt contributed by the gentleman who was now running a sponge over Nicole's back. Just then Toshia's attention was drawn closer to home, as a robed woman with dark brown hair and a warm smile knelt down next to her with a platter bearing a selection of fruit and a tall glass of water. "Ah, thank you," Toshia smiled, as she took an apple and the glass. By the time Toshia had eaten half her apple, Nicole was being served fruit and water. By the time she was done with the apple and finishing off her water, Don was coming up for air and being offered refreshment. As Toshia finished her drink, the girl who had helped bathe her and more took the apple core and glass from her. Alan helped her out of the tub and proceeded to dry her with a nicely soft towel. She looked around then for her clothes, but was being presented with a grey robe, which was more like a bathrobe than the monkish ones the others were wearing. "We thought you wouldn't mind if we washed your clothes for you while you're here," said the smiling woman who had brought Toshia fruit. In short order, all three of them had been fed and watered, and were wearing comfortable grey robes. Apparently sex time was over for now, and they were led back into the Abbey, where they were met again by the tall Asian man. He offered them a friendly smile and said, "In the interest of a more accurate report, we would ask that you each be interviewed separately. We have three scribes ready to begin, if you don't mind." Toshia was conducted into a comfortable room that she thought could best be described as a study. There was a plain, but nice, wooden desk, a window high up on the wall facing the door that let in warm afternoon sunshine, a couch, and what looked like a comfortable easy chair. Sitting on the other side of the desk, at an old fashioned typewriter, was a man with a darkish Mediterranean complexion, and warm brown eyes. His head was shaved, but he had a dark black mustache and goatee. He rose as Toshia entered, showing that he was rather tall. Like the others he was wearing a brown robe. He leaned forward over the desk and extended his hand, saying, "Good afternoon. My name is Esteban." "Pleased to meet you, Esteban," she smiled as she shook his hand, a little amused at the sudden manners after just having engaged in a little orgy with complete strangers. "I'm Toshia." "That's a very pretty name," Esteban smiled. "Is it short for... No? Very good. Please make yourself comfortable." As Toshia considered her options, her escort retired back into the hallway without a word, and without closing the door behind him. She supposed this was intended to reassure her and her friends. Smiling a little to herself, Toshia decided to sit in the easy chair. When she took her seat, Esteban likewise sat down in front of his typewriter, and raised his hands over it, laying his fingers lightly on the keys. "We have some basic questions to ask to begin," he said with another charming smile. "First, though, how do you spell your name?" After Toshia told him, he asked, "What is the last thing you remember before waking up in Eros?" Toshia was a little surprised at this question, but said, "Going to bed with my girlfriend, Sarah." Esteban's fingers flew over the keyboard quickly. "Was that at night?" "Yes." "Was there anything special or distinctive about that evening?" His English was perfectly clear, though he had a noticeable Hispanic accent. "Not that I can recall." "Did you have sex that night?" "Um, why do you ask?" Esteban shrugged and offered her another sympathetic smile, "These are just the questions we're supposed to ask." "Who says you're supposed to ask?" "The Sage," he answered as if he expected that to deal with any and all objections. "What was the last thing you remember before waking up in Eros?" she tried. "I'm afraid I don't remember anything," he said, for the first time not smiling as he looked at her. "I only found out that people sometimes remember such things after I had been here quite some time." "Does that bother you?" He paused thoughtfully before saying, "It makes me curious." "No," Toshia said after a moment. Then she added, "We did not have sex." "How long had it been since you had sex before that night?" "I'm not sure. A couple of weeks, I think." Toshia frowned. At the time she hadn't been particularly aware of how long it had been, but now, after the last couple of weeks in Eros, "a couple of weeks without sex" sounded like a very long time indeed. "Thank you," Esteban said. "Now, please tell me about your experience when you first woke up here." Toshia proceeded to tell the story of how she and Don woke up together in the Manor. Esteban prompted her to explain her pre-Eros relationship with Don: Had they ever had sex? How would she characterize her feelings for him? How long had it been since they had seen each other? He seemed genuinely interested, and his fingers typed at an amazing rate without any hint of getting tired. Toshia explained how they had started exploring that bedroom and about the Nymphets dropping out of the ceiling. Esteban encouraged her to describe the girls as well as she was able, and then asked for details about her first sexual encounter in Eros. Toshia found herself smiling a bit as she recalled the orgasm Virginia had cheerfully given her, as well as the sight of Don playing with all three of the girls. She eventually got to tell how she had slipped away and found the secret door. As she got the hang of the level of detail and narrative Esteban was looking for, Toshia was able to move along a bit more quickly, without being stopped for additional detail. She gradually began to feel free to include the occasional aside and observation. While she was telling the story about the dodge ball game Toshia realized she was enjoying herself. By the time she got to the Ball, and her first little orgy, in that little side room with Lilith, Toshia realized she was getting rather wet. She pressed her thighs together under her robe, and tried to concentrate on telling the story. When she got to the point in her story in which she was alone with the Lord in his room, Esteban began to press her for more details, about her mental and emotional state – "What were you feeling and thinking when you were watching Don through the mirror?"; "What was it like to have such intense one-on-one sex with a man you'd only just met?" and Toshia found herself extremely horny. She couldn't tell which thing was arousing her more: the XYZ in her system, reliving her first day in Eros in such detail, or Esteban's friendly but, almost professionally, detached interest. Also, perhaps thanks to remembering the Player and his companions, Toshia found herself in a particularly mischievous mood. So, rather than simply throw off her robe and throw herself at Esteban, which struck her as a particularly good idea at the moment, Toshia leaned back in her chair and put one of her feet up on the edge of the desk in front of her, letting her robe fall open around her naked leg. She began to idly run her fingers up and down along her thigh as she continued answering Esteban's questions. As she told how the Lord had first entered her and began to fuck her with his big cock, Toshia parted her legs further and let her fingers lightly play over her pussy, which was now exposed to Esteban's view. By the time she got to the part where she asked the Lord to cum in her mouth, Toshia's fingers had slipped between her labia, to smear her wetness over her eager little clit. She kept telling the story as her fingers alternated between stroking her clit and pushing further and further up into her very moist vagina. By the time she told how she had the Lord lie on his back and then mounted his cock, Toshia was fucking herself with three fingers and frantically stroking at her clit with the other hand. Esteban was watching her intently, without for a moment pausing in his typing. She had definitely come to enjoy showing off almost as much as she enjoyed watching others. "I rode him there like that, on top ... on top of him, his cock fucking in and out of ... in and out of me ... until I started to come and come. Damn," she breathed, feeling her orgasm approaching quickly. "Then, he rolled us over and ... he pulled out and came all over... Oh, fuck!" Then she was unable to speak, as her teeth clenched and her body tensed, pushing her back against her chair as her leg pushed off against the desk. She came in a long rolling wave of ecstatic thunder pounding in her veins. She shoved her fingers deep up inside herself and kept stroking her clit until she could take no more and then collapsed back on the chair with a heavy sigh and a happy grin. After a moment to catch her breath, she said, "Then he carried me into the bathroom where he and a lovely young man bathed me before tucking me into bed." "That was all one day?" Esteban asked, apparently not too distracted by Toshia's display to continue working. "Not even a whole day," Toshia smiled. She didn't make any move to cover herself, but continued to idly toy with herself as she narrated the events of the following day. By the time she got to the story of the disco, she had shrugged herself out of her robe, and was casually caressing her naked body, flaunting it in front of Esteban, who certainly made no sign of objection. She was describing the atmosphere in the dancing pit of the disco, when she decided that enough was enough. It didn't help her patience that she had long since been aware of sex noises coming from other rooms nearby. She asked abruptly, "Don't you ever take a break?" Esteban smiled broadly and said, "Only when the interviewee requests one." "Oh, well, I'm requesting one!" she laughed. "Come over here." In another moment, Esteban was standing in front of her with his robe held up and his cock in Toshia's mouth. Although she planned to make him cum right then and there, he pushed her back, and knelt down between her legs. He pressed his mouth to her pussy; the thick black hair of his mustache and goatee felt strange against her skin after so many partners without any facial or pubic hair. Esteban certainly knew what he was doing, and in only a minute or two she was gasping and moaning with another orgasm. He didn't waste much time, then, in rising up on his knees and inching forward to press the head of his cock between her lips. Still shivering from her orgasm, Toshia nodded her approval and reached out for his hips to pull him closer. Without bothering to take off his robe Esteban pushed the full length of his hard cock up inside her, as he ran his warm hands over her body. When he cupped her breasts in his hands, Toshia moaned and wrapped her legs around him, pulling him tightly into her. He continued to squeeze and caress her tits as he began to move himself in and out of her pussy, all the while watching her face intently. Toshia lay back against the chair, arching her back and rocking herself on his cock, looking back up at him with half closed eyes. His robe fell between their bodies and contributed to the stimulation of her clit. She was having a series of little orgasms as they fucked, but when she felt his cock swelling inside her she felt another big, intense, body-racking one hit her. She was moaning and trembling as his cum flooded her pussy, and Esteban sagged over her in happy satisfaction. Toshia smiled up at him impishly, and said, "Thank you very much. I think all jobs should feature that kind of a break." Somehow, knowing that she could stop the proceedings at any point and have sex with her handsome scribe made it a bit easier for Toshia to get on with, and concentrate on the telling of, her story. She got through the orgy in the steam room, before straddling Esteban on his typing chair and riding him to another orgasm as he kissed, bit, licked and sucked at her nipples. After she described the ball, their exit from the Manor, and the intense rite with her being fucked senseless by the guardian of the p

Jonathan and Ryan are back to talk about Jonathan's experience representing England at the European Curling Championships. His English men's team not only secured a spot in next year's A-pool for their country, but captured the gold medal.

Description: Never before have there been five generations in the workforce. Each generation has its own quirks, styles, likes, dislikes, and ways to work, communicate, and even learn! In this podcast episode, we are going to focus on the newest generation joining us in the workplace—Generation Alpha! Resources: Learning & Development  A Multi-Generational Workforce Is a Force for Good  MRA Membership  About MRA  Let's Connect: Guest Bio - Amanda Mosteller  Guest LinkedIn Profile - Amanda Mosteller  Host Bio - Sophie Boler  Host LinkedIn Profile - Sophie Boler  Transcript: Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word. 00:00:00:00 - 00:00:21:03 Unknown Hello everybody and welcome to 30 minute Thrive, your go to podcast for anything and everything HR, powered by MRA, the Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. I'm your host, Sophie Boler and we are so glad you're here. 00:00:21:05 - 00:00:44:20 Unknown Now it's time to thrive. Well, welcome, everybody. We are so glad you're here and I hope you're ready to talk generations today, specifically on one that you may have never heard before. So never before. There have been five generations in the workforce and each generation, as you know, has their own quirks, styles, likes, dislikes, ways to work, communicate, and even learn. 00:00:44:22 - 00:01:11:06 Unknown So in this podcast episode, specifically, we're going to be focusing on the newest generation joining us in the workplace, and that is Generation Alpha. So it looks like Gen Alpha is the group of generation following generation Z. So Gen X'ers are born in the early 2010's going through the early 2020s. So we know and are finding that each generation brings something really unique to the table. 00:01:11:08 - 00:01:47:13 Unknown So. Amanda Mosteller, MRA's director of talent Development, is joining me today to talk about Gen Alpha how you should really update your L&D strategy to include these Gen Alpha learners. Make sure to stay tuned throughout the episode and we'll tell you how you can win a podcast swag item at the end. Just exciting little note there. But Amanda, we know we now know who Gen Alphas are, but really my first question to you is why is it essential for organizations to now adapt their training and development strategies for this generation? 00:01:47:15 - 00:02:21:09 Unknown When I think about Gen Alpha, I have this case study across the hall and it's my kids. They were born in 2010. We all went through this interesting thing, maybe you've heard of it called a global pandemic. And that pandemic expedited lots of things for all generations. One of the things that expedited for Gen Alpha that is different than other generations is integrated learning in school. 00:02:21:09 - 00:02:21:24 Unknown So 00:02:21:24 - 00:02:40:10 Unknown I'm not talking about adult learning theory principles versus child learning theory principles. We're not going into Andrew versus pedagogy here, but what we are going to talk about is being used to what the source of knowledge plays a part in for for these kids. So 00:02:40:10 - 00:02:46:21 Unknown in most of Gen Alpha was fourth grade or younger when the pandemic hit. 00:02:46:23 - 00:03:11:04 Unknown Prior to that, teachers in the classroom did a lot of teaching to the whole group from the front, doing activities, walking around and helping. They weren't putting elementary school kids into these Google class type structures at such a young age. They were doing that more in high school and certainly in college. 00:03:11:04 - 00:03:21:13 Unknown But the pandemic launched an expedited ETD, putting kids at younger ages into these platforms to learn things. 00:03:21:15 - 00:03:49:18 Unknown What that has done is changed their expectation of what the knowledge expert in the room's function is and how they learn. So Gen Z would have started doing that in college, mostly older. Gen Z. It wasn't until college younger, Gen Z, maybe in high school, some certainly not in elementary school, but now it's embedded in elementary school from like third and fourth grade on. 00:03:49:20 - 00:04:18:21 Unknown Because the schools put money into these platforms. They have licenses, they might as well use them. Right. And so the reason it's important for us to think about is because a lot of organizations are still hanging on to e-learning or instructor led training, possibly blended where we do some e-learning, pre class and post class. But that's as as diverse as we're getting in our strategy. 00:04:18:23 - 00:04:43:01 Unknown But Gen Z doesn't is looking for something different and Gen Alpha won't even understand it. Let's say. Why on earth are you doing it this way? That's not what the source of truth does. That's not their role in my learning. So it's time now because we have four years before they'll be the oldest part of that generation. To your point of the early 20 tens. 00:04:43:03 - 00:04:51:01 Unknown My kids are born in 2010 and depending on which sociologist time range, you look at 2010, somewhere between there and 2012 00:04:51:01 - 00:04:55:23 Unknown is Gen Alpha. So so they're halfway through eighth grade, everybody. 00:04:55:23 - 00:05:14:21 Unknown But it's, you know, four years until they are eligible for full time work. And so we have four years to really look at how we deliver training now, recognize how it might not even be meeting Gen Z and really not diversified in our strategy to meet Gen Alpha. 00:05:14:21 - 00:05:32:10 Unknown So that's why now's the time to be thinking about this. Well, absolutely. And I know you you kind of touched on some of these points, but I'm interested in knowing some of the key characteristics and really preferences of Gen Gen Alpha when it comes to learning and development. Yeah, 00:05:32:10 - 00:05:34:15 Unknown they're wanting 00:05:34:15 - 00:05:36:07 Unknown more and more 00:05:36:07 - 00:06:02:14 Unknown for the knowledge expert to be their guide to where to find the information and to bounce ideas and discussion off of, to make sure that they're understanding it, but they're not looking for the instructor or the facilitator, or for the learning strategy to be a source of truth, teaching it to them in an in-classroom or B in E learning lengthy E 00:06:02:14 - 00:06:13:11 Unknown learnings, overproduced E learnings, and they check out they're not looking for that. What they're looking for is and I'm going to age myself here, 00:06:13:11 - 00:06:26:24 Unknown my generation might remember and maybe remember Sophie, the Choose Your Path books. So you would read a book and you would get to a page and they would say, okay, you can choose to walk into the scary woods or turn around and go back. 00:06:26:24 - 00:06:45:16 Unknown If you choose to walk into the woods, turn to page 37. If you choose to go back, turn to page 46, and then you would go read if you essentially like, made it to the next stage or something horrible was usually it was a creepy book. It was You should it's something that ends the story for you and you have to go back and choose the other way. 00:06:45:18 - 00:07:05:16 Unknown But younger Gen Zs and Gen Alpha, they're looking for that kind of choose my path in learning. And I don't mean my career path. I mean how I want to learn, how I want information delivered to me, what helps for me and let me make those choices. Let me control that. 00:07:05:16 - 00:07:11:06 Unknown And the knowledge experts are there. Guide in how to find that information. 00:07:11:06 - 00:07:29:01 Unknown What might be helpful. They might come back and say, you know, as I was watching this short, short video or I was reading that blog, you you had the internal blog you have and I want to talk to you about this because I'm trying to understand this concept and how it works in my role. That's what they're looking for. 00:07:29:01 - 00:07:53:21 Unknown They want guidance. They don't want to have to rely on the person to come on Tuesday from 8 to 4 and tell them because they're that they're in class now in school. My kids, for example, are being shown where all the resources are to find the information within like the first 10 minutes of a new subject. And then they might have three days where they're meeting all different kinds of things all on their own. 00:07:53:21 - 00:07:55:01 Unknown So all through 00:07:55:01 - 00:07:58:23 Unknown 90 million different platforms that I have to try and follow to make sure they're doing their homework. But 00:07:58:23 - 00:08:20:10 Unknown that's what they're used to. Their their teachers are learning partners now. They're not the single source of truth. So that's what they're expecting when they come in to a learning strategy of you go to these classes during the first week and then after your first 30 days, you go to these classes every Monday and then you have these E learnings to finish between it between 30 and 60 days. 00:08:20:10 - 00:08:24:08 Unknown And look how diverse we are because we do some in class and some online 00:08:24:08 - 00:08:25:05 Unknown and they would be like 00:08:25:05 - 00:08:33:09 Unknown certain article about that. There are some thing I can go find that without having to do either of those prior. 00:08:33:09 - 00:08:50:11 Unknown Well I know we talked about that Gen Z is similar to Gen Alpha in a lot of ways, but what would make this new Generation Alpha different from Gen Z and how they choose or their content and how that content is really delivered? 00:08:50:12 - 00:08:53:22 Unknown Yeah, a couple of key differences. 00:08:53:22 - 00:09:00:10 Unknown One is I mentioned it kind of in the beginning of our chat for a Gen Z. 00:09:00:10 - 00:09:17:21 Unknown This the source of truth being the guide and lots of resources and we don't come to a room five days a week for this. We do it in lots of ways. That really kicked off for older Gen Zs. 00:09:17:21 - 00:09:25:10 Unknown We're talking college like that just didn't happen until college for younger Gen Z sort of in high school. 00:09:25:10 - 00:09:39:01 Unknown And the difference, like I was mentioning in Gen Alpha, we're talking elementary school now you're doing this as they learn how to learn, which I think is really important for us to recognize. These are the shaping years where they learn how to learn. 00:09:39:05 - 00:09:43:20 Unknown I'm teaching my kids how to study. I am teaching them what deadlines mean. 00:09:43:20 - 00:10:08:15 Unknown You get homework done in a certain time. A lot of a lot of our kids, depending on your districts and stuff, but they don't possibly do homework or not until they're kind of older. So deadlines and turning things in on a certain time for my kids over the past couple of years has been like that is in and of itself something I'm teaching them the importance of 00:10:08:15 - 00:10:09:21 Unknown even that 00:10:09:21 - 00:10:10:18 Unknown is negotiable. 00:10:10:18 - 00:10:24:18 Unknown At my son's school, there's a time that it's due and then the teachers will say, Hey, it's missing, and then he'll have like two weeks to go and go get that finished and turned in and he gets full, quote, grades for it throwing me off. But 00:10:24:18 - 00:10:31:12 Unknown that's one one key difference is this is happening much younger than the other generations. 00:10:31:14 - 00:10:42:18 Unknown And for the other generations, it was just kind of nice and part of being an adult. Now. And for our for Gen Alpha, it's shaping how they learn because this is what's happening at this still early stages of their life. 00:10:42:18 - 00:10:52:14 Unknown The second key difference is everyone talks about, you know, tick tock or YouTube shorts or these types of things less 00:10:52:14 - 00:10:53:14 Unknown produced 00:10:53:14 - 00:10:56:05 Unknown shorter snippets, much more 00:10:56:05 - 00:10:59:06 Unknown authentic, much easier to connect to the person 00:10:59:06 - 00:11:07:07 Unknown for Gen Alpha that is part of everyday everything, including now they're not going to tick tock in school. 00:11:07:09 - 00:11:31:13 Unknown I don't think. I don't think not right. I don't think teachers are saying that, but they have, you know, as his wife, my son will they'll be introducing a new history thing and his teachers will have copied and embedded in their discussion boards these really short little like YouTube shorts kind of videos of somebody with their phone introducing a topic. 00:11:31:13 - 00:11:35:08 Unknown And they might have do cutaways to different scenes from a movie or something 00:11:35:08 - 00:11:58:18 Unknown very much like that. Gen Z While they are totally on the Tik-tok train and Facebook is for old people and all of that jazz stuff where the YouTube generation actually they're more younger, millennials and Gen Zs are more into the YouTube source, which while still my own video system, I'm 00:11:58:18 - 00:12:07:11 Unknown still accepting of green screens, still accepting of that kind of sort of produce, not overly produced, but that's kind of okay, 00:12:07:11 - 00:12:09:01 Unknown younger Gen Z. 00:12:09:01 - 00:12:22:05 Unknown And certainly as you get into Gen Alpha, as is, I try to show my son really neat produce created videos. He completely checks out and walks away. If I pull up something that someone did with their phone, he's like, sucked in. Yes. 00:12:22:05 - 00:12:32:15 Unknown It's going to change how we create that video content, I think. And where organizations invest their learning strategy dollars to create some on demand content, what does that need to look like? 00:12:32:17 - 00:12:42:07 Unknown Does it need to be as as fanciful as we make it? I don't know that it does. Yeah. No, absolutely. I feel like they they want the content that looks like a 00:12:42:07 - 00:12:47:16 Unknown not an over over sort of or overproduced, like you said, Tik tok like 00:12:47:16 - 00:13:06:22 Unknown something that they can relate to and they can relate to a Tik Tok of someone who just pulled out their phone and started talking and showing them how to do something, but they might not necessarily be able to relate to someone who is put together a whole production with, like you said, along a longer video showing you how to do something. 00:13:06:22 - 00:13:31:07 Unknown So I totally understand that and get that. Yeah. Yeah. So you mentioned that organizations do need to start thinking about this now and they have a few years now to start kind of rethinking their strategy. So going after that, what is really a primary difference in how an organization's development strategy currently would want to consider adjusting to integrate this next generation? 00:13:31:07 - 00:13:41:01 Unknown Learner What I love that you use the phrase integrate because what I would never encourage an organization to do is pivot 00:13:41:01 - 00:14:01:17 Unknown that generation and completely exclude the fact that, as you said in our opener, there are four other generations work for us still here. Just added one, right? We're bringing in some new folks that don't learn at all the way I mean, the way they're looking to learn in the way Gen X is looking to learn and how we're used to it. 00:14:01:19 - 00:14:05:19 Unknown I should say it's not even looking to learn. It's what we're used to and therefore comfortable with 00:14:05:19 - 00:14:14:18 Unknown polar opposites. Right? But Gen X is still there. Elder millennials like myself, we're still here, Baby boomers are still there, and 00:14:14:18 - 00:14:19:06 Unknown on boards at least, you know, the traditionalist generation, my father 00:14:19:06 - 00:14:22:15 Unknown that may even be on a board. It would be terrifying, but he would be on board. 00:14:22:17 - 00:14:26:09 Unknown They're still around, right? So how are we 00:14:26:09 - 00:14:47:10 Unknown a What I have seen success in and what I am encouraging organizations to do is integrate strategies that will include that next generation while not throwing the baby out with the bathwater and getting rid of your existing strategies that include the generations that are still within our workforce, 00:14:47:10 - 00:15:11:13 Unknown that what we need to do and I was having a conversation a couple of weeks ago with a young lady newer into the industry, newer into the work career field, and she and I were talking about this topic actually, and she said, I just wish that organizations would give options, so I don't want to go to this 00:15:11:13 - 00:15:13:08 Unknown leaders program. 00:15:13:10 - 00:15:27:15 Unknown She's branding the organization. So we're talking new hire, kind of get to know the organization program where you've created this schedule. And I go do all of these things at these times. What I would love to do for me is have my resource person 00:15:27:15 - 00:15:44:17 Unknown that is like my guide and how I learn. And then I could we offer this information in this class on these days, if that's of interest, we do have some short video options to go over the same information and you can talk with your manager in between. 00:15:44:19 - 00:16:18:12 Unknown We have some great talking point guides at the end of each video and you could do it that way. We also have these articles over here if you want to read them and kind of learn about our culture that way and talk to your manager. So why I referenced that Choose Your Path book when we first started chatting is because that's what started blinking in my head while she was talking is, my gosh, we could deliver the same information in a multitude of ways and to be inclusive of all generations, let your learners choose their learning path. 00:16:18:14 - 00:16:41:21 Unknown Let them decide what makes sense for how they like to get information and who are their sources of truth to help them connect it all together. We do need that, you know, administrative control and understanding that you are learning this stuff, that we are making sure you're walking away with what we want you to walk away with. But that the concept that it has to be 00:16:41:21 - 00:16:52:04 Unknown built by a learning strategist or built and led by an instructor to accomplish that would be outdated thinking. 00:16:52:04 - 00:17:09:06 Unknown I think there are other ways that we could provide it, because what we are talking about makes sense for ABC Learner. What others might be talking about makes sense for deaf learner, and we need to help learners through Zeke So 00:17:09:06 - 00:17:11:08 Unknown don't get rid of the content you have. 00:17:11:08 - 00:17:20:02 Unknown Take the time now to look at all the content that you've identified as an organization is important for us to develop our employees on or in. 00:17:20:04 - 00:17:24:06 Unknown How can I take this instructor LED class or this 30 minute e-learning 00:17:24:06 - 00:17:39:16 Unknown and distill it into something different? Can we create blogs? Do we have podcast recording approaches? They're all internal. They're in a bank, a resource bank, and they can go in and click on, you know, episode one episode to episode three, and they have a week to listen to them all. 00:17:39:16 - 00:17:46:10 Unknown And that's how they that would be great for them. And then at the end of each podcast episode, you say, okay, so 00:17:46:10 - 00:18:05:11 Unknown we encourage you between now, when you listen to your next episode to talk to your manager about and then you put in those three talking points and then they would go chat with their manager and the manager knows what they are and just same information delivered in a multitude of ways and let the learner own what makes the most sense for them. 00:18:05:17 - 00:18:11:17 Unknown That's what adapting to include these other generations 00:18:11:17 - 00:18:12:14 Unknown should look like. 00:18:12:14 - 00:18:30:06 Unknown Those are all great points and great ideas. You think of God choose your path or choose your pathway, and I just immediately think of the tic tac sound. Choose your fighter. Like that just comes up in my head. I know where that comes from, right? Where is that wrong with your line? 00:18:30:07 - 00:18:35:13 Unknown And I can picture the sound in everything. Mortal Mortal Kombat 00:18:35:13 - 00:18:40:02 Unknown is a very, very, very. There's a Gen Z statement for 00:18:40:02 - 00:18:43:00 Unknown those. Fantastic. I loved it. But yes, that's what we're talking about. 00:18:43:00 - 00:18:57:02 Unknown Well, moving on here, the phrase authentic city often comes up with when we hear about the next generation or what does this really mean in terms of content development and curation and. 00:18:58:13 - 00:19:01:17 Unknown So I was mentioning, you know, 00:19:01:17 - 00:19:12:09 Unknown they get disengaged with overly produced stuff talking about what in the industry we often call the happy path, 00:19:12:09 - 00:19:22:15 Unknown where in training class we talk about the perfect this is the perfect scenario and here's how you would do this and then you would do this and then they will respond this way and then you would do this and everybody's happy. 00:19:22:17 - 00:19:25:15 Unknown Conflict resolved. And 00:19:25:15 - 00:19:31:00 Unknown what folks are looking for in terms of authenticity is tell me what it really looks like. How does it really go? 00:19:31:00 - 00:19:51:11 Unknown Can you not look perfect while you explain this to me? And can you not be in front of some green screen? I don't mean our beautiful logo backgrounds. I mean in these in these trainings are like these green screened, amazing modern corporate offices that, you know, they're not actually standing in because, you know, very few offices actually look like that in the world. 00:19:51:13 - 00:20:11:21 Unknown And any all of those layers together make the whole learning disingenuous. And they tune out because this person has no concept of what it's really like or this person doesn't. Yeah, doesn't speak my language and I can't connect with them. What they're looking for is 00:20:11:21 - 00:20:21:09 Unknown and I call them selfie selfie videos, like I could hold my phone up, just do a chat, a five minute chat or less on 00:20:21:09 - 00:20:35:09 Unknown the six behaviors, adaptive leadership behaviors, and then say, try this one next time you want to be direct, try this when you want to flex into coaching and they that feels more real. 00:20:35:11 - 00:20:57:23 Unknown You standing there. I'm a I'm a person. I'm not in the most perfect setting and I'm having a quick conversation with you about what it looks like and and how it works. And that feels more real. I am a leadership coach, so it makes more sense that I would talk about that. It would make no sense if I made a video about marketing strategy. 00:20:57:23 - 00:20:59:05 Unknown I don't do that. 00:20:59:05 - 00:21:13:14 Unknown But having a marketing person pop on and say, Marketing hot tip of the week and they know who they are because they're in their organization, it just is a quick hit and it's one of them. It's one of my team members. It's a person I know 00:21:13:14 - 00:21:18:00 Unknown in a space that I feel like if I walked up to their desk, they would say it to me in that exact same way. 00:21:18:00 - 00:21:31:12 Unknown And that's authenticity. Yes. And I can relate to that. Even being a younger, a younger employee, like that's the type of learning that I want to or that I want to see so be prejudged. So we get in there 00:21:31:12 - 00:21:38:17 Unknown just I mean, I'll just interview you. You tell what you want. Exactly. So tell me if I'm wrong. Okay. 00:21:38:20 - 00:21:42:09 Unknown You know what? You are 100% on. Right on. 00:21:42:09 - 00:22:02:24 Unknown Well, we're we've been bringing up phones a lot and Tic TAC and all this, so we've got to bring up technology at some point. So how has really technology shaped the way that Gen Alpha learns and what role should other digital tools play in these modern training programs? Yeah, I mean, Google Classroom 00:22:02:24 - 00:22:05:21 Unknown is part of elementary school. 00:22:05:23 - 00:22:26:13 Unknown Google Classroom becomes they all those all of them have like an online platform. All of the kids have Chromebooks instead of books. But all of the kids most of the kids schools have that by junior high. My son had that by seventh grade, but up through sixth grade, a lot of stuff was done on these interactive whiteboards in the room or something like that. 00:22:26:13 - 00:22:53:06 Unknown Now, I know every district is different. I know every private school versus public school and all of it can look different. My son goes to public school. I can all look different. But all of the districts are using these platforms for where the content is held. So he'll go to a platform and then there's I kid you not 12 different apps 00:22:53:06 - 00:22:58:12 Unknown that he would be clicking in and out of to get his classwork done. 00:22:58:14 - 00:23:13:22 Unknown His math class alone has three apps that he uses. The only class that feels even remotely like how I used to learn is his social studies class. And that's because they only have one app they use. I didn't have any apps, but like 00:23:13:22 - 00:23:20:16 Unknown that's how he expects to go find content and he finds it on his own with the teacher being the guide. 00:23:20:16 - 00:23:28:13 Unknown If Here's the things I want you to accomplish today, here's some resources to do it. His English teacher is teaching them how to use chat gpg 00:23:28:13 - 00:23:43:04 Unknown coming into an organization when he gets into full time work that doesn't even use any type of technology like that in any way would feel very weird to him because he's been really will at that point have been using it for five years in school, you know, 00:23:43:04 - 00:23:46:02 Unknown so they're looking for a source. 00:23:46:08 - 00:23:54:23 Unknown They're looking for. I always say you just have a pond and the teacher tells you what to fish for and you go fish for it, which makes no sense to him. And he tells me he doesn't fish, but 00:23:54:23 - 00:23:56:12 Unknown the point being, 00:23:56:12 - 00:24:04:18 Unknown that's how it's being done. Right? And we have these technologies in our or in our organizations right now. 00:24:04:20 - 00:24:16:18 Unknown So many organizations have some sort of collaborative tool they use, whether it's teams, whether it is WebEx teams, there's Microsoft teams, there's WebEx teams, 00:24:16:18 - 00:24:24:04 Unknown whether it is even Google Slack or Google Hangouts. Right. Some free version of a tool to collaborate. 00:24:24:04 - 00:24:34:16 Unknown Organizations are doing that. It used to be colleges used Blackboard. Right. And that was again pre me I didn't use I did the Dewey Decimal system and I went to library but 00:24:34:16 - 00:24:38:11 Unknown there was blackboard and that was kind of it and it was in college. 00:24:38:13 - 00:24:46:06 Unknown Now we're talking just how I get my assignments work done in sixth grade. So 00:24:46:06 - 00:25:03:01 Unknown we have these capabilities in our organizations right now. We don't think of using them. Not every organization, I should say. I have some of our members that do, but not every organization thinks about how do we use this as part of our learning strategy and not just as part of our collaboration tool. 00:25:03:03 - 00:25:06:18 Unknown That's where I think we can. You can do this 00:25:06:18 - 00:25:18:00 Unknown utilizing a lot of tools that you have at your disposal, and you should utilize all of them. Because remember, I'm talking about creating a learning path, not pivoting, integrating. 00:25:18:00 - 00:25:22:20 Unknown And I would say going off of that. Then follow up question to that is, 00:25:22:20 - 00:25:38:00 Unknown do you have or have you seen any organizations that have already started to kind of to where they're more integrate their training and development programs for general hire already? 00:25:38:02 - 00:26:00:09 Unknown Yeah, Yeah, we do. We have a couple of members. It's interesting they're in the one is in the of Rackspace so they started doing this not for Gen Alpha but because a lot of their team members are in their vans and on the road. So they're not you can't do a atria system e-learning because we don't give them computers and yes we all have mobile learning. 00:26:00:09 - 00:26:27:24 Unknown But if you look at mobile learning and an L.M. learning management system, platforms that are mobile enabled, it's the same video on a smaller screen. That's the only difference. It is a completely redone for your phone. It's still a video and you still might have quiz questions that pop up in between and you just are doing it on a smaller screen so it's not actually redone for mobile. 00:26:27:24 - 00:26:40:15 Unknown So it wasn't really working for them. So they started creating these things because they did have certain pieces of content that were hands on. And so you have to come to the warehouse to do it, 00:26:40:15 - 00:26:49:14 Unknown but we offer it a multitude of times because of schedules. So I might have an installation scheduled that day. And we can't stop all installations as a business. 00:26:49:14 - 00:27:12:08 Unknown We aren't going to do that. That's silly. So well offered and multiple times to fit your schedule. So people were starting to choose their own path already based on that. That works for me. And then they all had teams and so they started creating teams channels for content. There are two new create a channel. Here's a lot of ways this can benefit a learning strategy. 00:27:12:10 - 00:27:16:05 Unknown One, it's a it's a mobile. You can install teams on your phone, right 00:27:16:05 - 00:27:31:07 Unknown When you have a channel that you belong to, let's say new employee channel or emerging leaders channel or customer service channel. And it's not us talking with the members, it's learning how to be great at our customer services. We're at their homes and we're doing these installations. 00:27:31:07 - 00:27:55:10 Unknown What happens is they get added to the channel because either say they want to or everybody does. For the first year, whichever their strategy is, the channel has a chat. So they would have ongoing discussions all the time in the moment, coaching with the the guide there, but they also have their cohort of learners of other people. So they've just dealt with this situation, you know, not knowing if I did it right. 00:27:55:10 - 00:28:34:23 Unknown What's your opinion and the groups chatting about it then another tab for the channels, those files and they would have procedures. F.A. Qs, all kinds of sources of information there for them. They also could have videos in that file and they, there's a lot of different apps you can add on to any team's channel. So they would have all these different things, including a scheduler, so that if they did have in-person classes coming up on this topic and it was something that you feel like you needed more help in, you could go to the scheduler, click it, it linked to the LMS to register so you can track. 00:28:35:00 - 00:28:39:04 Unknown Like I said, you still going to have some sort of tracking system to the stuff 00:28:39:04 - 00:28:53:01 Unknown and people that wanted to go to the in-person class and they, they would have the multiple sessions and they would click it and they would come, but you didn't have to. And some people the way the the soapies, some videos and the chat function worked for them 00:28:53:01 - 00:28:54:22 Unknown and they didn't do it for that generation. 00:28:54:22 - 00:28:58:19 Unknown But I told them, I said, Well, you're in luck. You're already set up thumbs up. My 00:28:58:19 - 00:29:03:24 Unknown early start. Yeah, yeah. I mean, and, and they did a lot of their 00:29:03:24 - 00:29:05:18 Unknown they would reach into the chat 00:29:05:18 - 00:29:14:07 Unknown channel and say, hey, we're looking to update our videos. Anybody want to come? So to that authenticity point, they were just shooting them with their own. 00:29:14:09 - 00:29:18:09 Unknown I don't know if it was their phones probably a little bit fancier, but their own like handheld 00:29:18:09 - 00:29:42:19 Unknown videos with volunteers of team members. So so people are showing up. We're not producing. We knocked around an hour and then within like a half hour it was up and in the in the team's channel on that subject. So using teams not just for a collaborative tool, but as a development piece of the strategy and they just did it beautifully. 00:29:42:21 - 00:29:45:06 Unknown I was like, You're good. High five here. 00:29:45:06 - 00:29:50:05 Unknown that's a great it's a great example of a good success story. So yeah, 00:29:50:05 - 00:30:13:20 Unknown I do also want to reiterate the point I know we talked about, but that there are are also other generations in the workplace simultaneously. So can you just kind of reiterate the point or talk about how this strategic adjustment or integration, what that really means for for those learners of different generations? 00:30:13:22 - 00:30:50:11 Unknown Yes. And you used the pivotal word again, integration, right? Don't throw out what you already have. Just use it. You already have a strategy that is identified important information that you as an organization, agree. You should invest your time and energy into developing your people on. Because whatever learning strategy you have that involves a person coordinating it, people spending time outside of their daily work to learn it means you as an organization have determined it's worth the time investment and possibly depending on what it is, the financial investment. 00:30:50:14 - 00:31:11:11 Unknown So don't get rid of any of that. It's saying how can we also deliver that in potentially more of a choose your own path kind of way? Can we take that information? And what are the exercises that for someone that doesn't need to or want to go to a learning for workshop approach we can take out and still give them that information. 00:31:11:12 - 00:31:13:11 Unknown It's more of like a 00:31:13:11 - 00:31:36:15 Unknown like an article kind of thing to read. And then instead of exercises, we finish it with those talking points that you go chat with your manager about. Don't expect people to read it and retain it. You have to kind of let them in and they need to let the manager know. They read this, they want to talk about these points, but how I integrate it into my job role, the threat that other people might go to the class on the same content, but 00:31:36:15 - 00:31:48:19 Unknown it's taking what already exists because it's been determined as important and then spending some energy in providing it in some different ways so that as other generations 00:31:48:19 - 00:32:10:11 Unknown and other learner preferences, you also might find you. I don't want to assume that there aren't, you know, my mom as she's a boomer, she's a boomer like the first year, the baby boomer. But she and I talk about it and she's like, man, there was a lot of stuff. I would sit through glass and think, this could have been like a quick walk by my cube and tell me and I would have been fine. 00:32:10:11 - 00:32:18:09 Unknown She's a math mathematician and engineer woman, so most things she felt could have been handled through a quick conversation. But 00:32:18:09 - 00:32:27:11 Unknown so you might be surprised as to who you see take advantage of more of that self-guided, not even just self-paced, self-guided 00:32:27:11 - 00:32:36:07 Unknown learning strategy. No, that's a good point To just mention that some gen zers or gen alphas may not all take the same approach or. 00:32:36:07 - 00:33:00:22 Unknown They're all the same way. So that's a good point to bring up. But kind of wrapping up here, do I know we talked about a lot today, but do you have three main takeaways that our listeners can kind of walk away with in terms of how they can really start integrating learning and development strategies for Gen Alpha learners? 00:33:00:24 - 00:33:08:14 Unknown Absolutely. Stop throwing so much money into production for any of your video stuff. You don't have to 00:33:08:14 - 00:33:21:17 Unknown sow more authentic content that feels more real. So embrace the fact that you might be talking about the happy path and spend time talking about reality. 00:33:21:17 - 00:33:28:13 Unknown Diverse. Don't get rid of what you have. Diversify how someone can access the information shared and what you have. 00:33:28:13 - 00:33:39:22 Unknown And the third one, and this is going to be the hardest for any organization potentially it was the hardest for me, and I like to think I'm pretty progressive learning views 00:33:39:22 - 00:33:43:15 Unknown Embrace empowering the learner. 00:33:43:15 - 00:33:48:16 Unknown I'll say that online again. Embrace empowering the learner 00:33:48:16 - 00:33:52:01 Unknown so who knows how it. So if you would like information shared best, I don't 00:33:52:01 - 00:33:53:15 Unknown know if you knows that so 00:33:53:15 - 00:33:57:04 Unknown too that diversifying then let go features. 00:33:57:06 - 00:34:13:07 Unknown Here's the things I need you to know. I need you 30, 60, 90 to know it. Here's the different ways you can learn it. Let's sit down and myself as the learning leader, person or whatever. Right? The trainer assigned to you. You're your Sherpa through your learning guide. 00:34:13:07 - 00:34:18:04 Unknown As we sit down, let's map it out. What makes the most sense for you? 00:34:18:06 - 00:34:32:05 Unknown And you might be like parents. It's kind of hard. I think that one, I would like to go to a class on. I'm pretty good at that. And this is embracing adult learning theory. This is my whole career and we hire experts and then we train them how to do it. Steve Jobs is like that is so ridiculous. 00:34:32:07 - 00:34:52:23 Unknown And I agree with the man. If you're a marketing expert, I'm not going to train you on like how to market and social. Come take our social media marketing. Sophie Who's done social media marketing for forever? I'm not going to do that. So you might be like, I just want to read your policies on that. I'm good. You know, let me sit you down with the options. 00:34:53:02 - 00:34:54:02 Unknown Let you choose. A 00:34:54:02 - 00:35:17:13 Unknown it's a great, great ending point here and some great action steps that our listeners can start implementing today then, or at least thinking about it, you know? Yeah, well, you just heard from every subject matter expert on educating general flow. But to our listeners we also want to hear from you. So we're curious to know what you're doing to kind of revamp or 00:35:17:13 - 00:35:21:19 Unknown I guess, revamp your training programs for the next generation. 00:35:21:21 - 00:35:38:13 Unknown And so we are giving out one of our new podcast merch swag items. So we're encouraging you to send in your comments on this question for a chance to win that podcast Souvenir you'll want. I have one and I want it. I want one. So can I comment? I'll give you a one. 00:35:38:13 - 00:35:41:07 Unknown But otherwise, thank you so much for tuning in today. 00:35:41:07 - 00:36:09:10 Unknown Thank you, Amanda, for all that great information. As always. Don't forget to check out the resources in the show notes below on MRA membership and Resources on this specific episode. So I hope you have a great day and we will see you next week. And that wraps up our content for this episode. Be sure to reference the show notes where you can sign them to connect for more podcasts updates, check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform. 00:36:09:11 - 00:36:19:03 Unknown And as always, make sure to follow MRA's 30 minutes THRIVE so you don't miss out. Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry on the conversation.  

Live in Jerusalem. Interview with 14 year old Bashan from Kfar Maimon a small village on the Gaza border. His entire community has been evacuated. His English is not great. I hope you can hear him and understand him, he has an incredible story to tell. Donate Here | Every Dollar I will take with me  https://ndg.chabadsuite.net/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=36Donate Here in US dollars https://ndg.chabadsuite.net/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=15Join the Your Israel Course | ur unique 6-week Israel course RIGHT NOW – because amongst all the other emergencies, we need to know how to discuss the truth. We'll cover the history, politics, religious views, and the contemporary issues of how to communicate with all kinds of people when it comes to Israel. Our goal is that you'll emerge as the smartest person in the room when it comes to any discussions of Israel today. https://ndg.chabadsuite.net/civicrm/event/register?id=48&reset=1Join the Million Mitzvah Campaign https://onemitzvah.org/israel/rabbi-bernaths-teamDownload this little book and pray. These are prayers Jews have said for centuries in times of distress: https://jewishndg.com/media/pdf/1248/PQoG12484159.pdfDon't forget to go through the contacts in your phone and start texting people in Israel to let them know you are thinking of them. Include in this group people who you don't know so well. A good word and a demonstration of love from a geographical distance goes a million miles. Support the show

I had the privilege of listening to a few of the experiences and insights of an extraordinary man. A man whom most are probably not very familiar with. His Name is Raja Dhaliwal. 10 years or so ago, Raj was a taxi driver. He was working long hours in a one of the larger cities in Canada, hauling folk to and from the airport. Raj is generally quiet, very respectful, and kind. Raj was not born in Canada – he emigrated there to find a better life. Raj has olive skin, a long full beard, and he also wears a turban. And, he is most concerned with how he feels in his heart than how he looks to you. I heard him speak a year or so ago to a packed house – Tens of thousands of people. His English was not perfect – but he was very conversant and clear. But, communicating with people is something he does quite well – in at least 4 languages. What did this simple cab driver have to say that was so appreciated by those tens of thousands who were there to listen to them? Exciting News! We've Got A New YouTube Channel - Watch, listen and most definitely subscribe and share! We've Got A New YouTube Channel - Watch, listen and most definitely subscribe and share!

GOLGOTHA EXPERIENCE FOR LENT – Jesus Walking in the Way of the Cross MESSAGE SUMMARY: INTRODUCTION by Poor Bishop Hooper -- Jesse Braswell Roberts Some years ago, I had the opportunity to spend a short time working and doing ministry in the Dominican Republic. During my stay in the southeastern city of La Romana, our group supported individuals living in the nearby ‘bateyes', which are small, company-owned towns for sugar industry laborers. Mostly of Haitian descent, these workers often live in grossly impoverished conditions and work arduous hours cutting sugar cane by hand. I was fortunate to meet a certain middle-aged man there one warm afternoon, tired and sweat glistening, but with a strong presence and similar forearms. He told me that he worked as a mechanic, as well as holding other jobs, when he wasn't ‘cropping cane.' We spoke amidst rubble of engine parts and tin roof. His English was broken yet formidable, so conversation came somewhat easily. I do not remember a great deal of our particular words, and I am to this day ashamed that I cannot recount his name, but I do recall one moment vividly. Our words somehow made their way to the subject of vacation. I asked about time off in his particular situation. I assumed his response to be Sundays or certain holidays. His answer startled me. ‘One day,' he said joyfully. ‘Good Friday.' It was at that time mid-March, so his day of respite was ever approaching. He told me he was excited for that day. Imprudently, I inquired further. ‘What about Christmas?' I asked. ‘No,' he replied. ‘Why not Easter?' Oh how I wish I could remember his next words exactly, for what he said was simple but powerful. Essentially, he told me that Good Friday was when Christ did the work so he did not have to. And for that he got the day off. And for that he was thankful. From that moment, my perspective surrounding this ‘holy day' and the preceding Lenten season changed. Growing up, Good Friday was at best mentioned, a semi-afterthought on the backs of Palm Sunday and Easter. But here, this man's only day of rest was the Friday before Easter. It was truly ‘good' for him, and its goodness existed in ways I had never before pondered. It was years later that my wife Leah and I wrote the body of music that makes up ‘Golgotha.' We were inspired to increase our community's appreciation and understanding of what Jesus did on his ‘Sorrowful Way' to the cross. As we explored the many traditions within the observance of Lent, we were drawn to the ‘Stations of the Cross.' We found that it was built predominantly upon a bedrock of visual art. Christians over thousands of years had recounted Jesus' last hours before his death in many strikingly beautiful ways. Our desire was to add to that beauty by creating new music. We wanted to write music that was rooted in scripture. Music that honored tradition, but also that invited the mind to see our Savior's suffering in new ways. Not for our own entertainment or enjoyment, but rather so that we might offer him more thanksgiving, more praise, more adoration, and more love. I pray the words that follow would lead you into deeper relationship with our Savior Jesus Christ. Each chapter corresponds with a song of similar title, and I'd invite you to listen to the music as you read. I'd encourage you to have a bible with you, and look up the other scriptures that are cited. They'll undoubtedly provide deeper understanding and beauty. At the end of each section, I'd invite you to pray. There are prompts provided, but they are intended to be starting places, not final destinations. With all of this, I must credit my acquaintance that day in the Caribbean sun. The Lord used his words to stir my heart. He made me think differently about the true work that Jesus did on the cross, and birthed in me an ever- growing appreciation for what Christ so magnificently accomplished there. I pray that in spending time with Jesus now, as he makes his way from the garden to the cross, the same would be true for you.           Jesse Braswell Roberts Written by Jesse Braswell Roberts / Poor Bishop Hooper golgothamusic.com // poorbishophooper.com // Second edition ©2022 Jesse Braswell Roberts / Poor Bishop Hooper           TODAY'S PRAYER: Lord, everything in me resists following you into the garden of Gethsemane to fall on my face to the ground before you. Grant me the courage to follow you all the way to the cross, whatever that might mean for my life. And then, by your grace, lead me to resurrection life and power. In Jesus' name, amen.   Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 100). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT. If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! (Luke 11:13). SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Luke 22:39-44: And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH'S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “How Does God Say I Love You, Part 4: Violation of the Covenant”: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/   DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Ronnie Archer-Morgan, from The Antiques Roadshow, tells Michael Berkeley about his tumultuous life and the music that has accompanied it. Ronnie had a terrible start in life. His English father died in a car crash before he was born and his Sierra Leonean mother had severe mental health problems that made her violent and abusive. His childhood was spent in and out of the care system. He tells Michael Berkeley how a school trip to the Victoria & Albert Museum in London ignited his life-long fascination with antiques, and how he learned the tricks of the trade exploring junk shops and markets while doing a rich variety of other jobs – model-maker, DJ at Ronnie Scott's, boutique manager and celebrity hairdresser. Eventually antiques took over from everything else: he became a consultant to Sotheby's, opened a Knightsbridge gallery, and he delights in presiding over the ‘miscellaneous' table on The Antiques Roadshow. For Ronnie, the importance of objects is in the stories they tell and their emotional significance – and music is the same. He chooses pieces to remind him of different times in his life: a Handel aria that takes him back to rare moments of peace in his childhood; jazz from Donald Byrd which he played at Ronnie Scott's; pieces by Mozart and by Dvorak that sparked his passion for classical music; and a song by Marvin Gaye, who wandered one day into Ronnie's hair salon and shared a beer with him. Producer: Jane Greenwood A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 3

Mr. Royce Johnson returns to the ITA podcast to discuss Nietzsche's Twilight of the Idols, "What the Germans Lack", aphorisms 6 and 7 on education. Royce is an English teacher at Coeur d'Alene high school, and I attended his class in my senior year. His English class served as my formal introduction to higher level philosophy, which is interesting being that Friedrich Nietzsche started off as a philologist--someone who studies language. Prior to recording the podcast, Royce suggested that I read "On Language" by George Orwell, which is an interesting essay regarding doublespeak, euphemisms, etc. Sources: "Twilight of the Idols" by Friedrich Nietzsche, translated by R.J. Hollingdale

The post Podcast 053: The Kamikatsu Awa Bancha Association first appeared on My Japanese Green Tea.I was recently contacted by Kanji Nakata from the Kamikatsu Awa Bancha Association. His English is quite good, so we decided to record this podcast episode. We talk about Awa... Continue reading The post Podcast 053: The Kamikatsu Awa Bancha Association first appeared on My Japanese Green Tea.

Greetings in love, light, and wisdom as one.    For the channeling session for August, we are departing from the legacy series this month. This one is from 1998 and thus is one of the clearest sounding recordings we've posted recently. Kiri starts things off by informing us that Tia wasn't on the base and she had requested that one of her assistants take over in her stead. The gentleman chosen got the assignment due to his research into the subject being discussed. We find out his name is Taal, just like the Wing Commander but this Taal is Sirian and not one of the pilots. His English skills are comparable to the Wing Commander's. He reveals these approximately 500 years old and new Kiri and Karra's father as well as them when they were very young. Much of what he goes over is the Defcon status which is what the base was using to determine the status quo of the planet much as NORAD would. Kiri comes back on and we learn that only Oath Keepers like Lyka eat meat among the Sirians. She also begins to explain relationships on a higher dimension and would be expanding on the subject significantly when she would speak at the end of the tape. Omal takes questions and one that had been going around recently in the news was on the Tailwind incident which involved a government cover-up about Sarin gas used by the US during the Vietnam War. Also, we get to hear about the odds of a comet hitting our planet due to a movie that had come out called "Armageddon". Mark and Kiri's son Leonedies finishes up the side with an address he'd like passed on to the other races taking part in the intergalactic conference being organized. He may be only three years old, but he's a super operant and supremely intelligent. The note on the person that we discuss in Northern California on side two is that she is a channel for Ashtar Athena who has spoken once in a channeling session of ours. Now we were looking at enlisting her help to see if her participation might be included. Side two notes include as well Karra coming on to help out our female guest with a woman to woman chat. Karra had been doing some research on drugs and alcohol and had some great information to pass on to our guest about those subjects as they had been a problem until recently. This is the first time we would hear about the population of Sirius being about 15 to 20 million. An amazingly small number of people for an entire planet. To expand on that subject, Kiri now explains the sexual side of being higher dimensional. She goes into depth about the difference between sex and making love. The short version is that one is spiritual and one is not.   August gives us an opportunity to leave the legacy series of channeling sessions and go back to a session from 1998 and with it, the clarity we saw with the better recording equipment of the later years. It also introduces us to a new speaker we don't have an image to add to his profile as he only spoke the one time. He is an assistant to Tia enlisted to take her place while she is away from the base. He covers topics of a similar nature starting with the wildfires that were taking place in Florida. What we discover in our discussion with him is that is over five hundred years old and a skier on the base team. Skiing is the thread that connects him to the Tanaka family as he recalls times when he knew Kiri and Karra's dad before having daughters was even considered.He recalls as well seeing both girls as they were just learning how to ski. From him we change speakers over to Omal who is familiar with the topic brought up which was called the Tailwind incident which happened during the Vietnam War. It had made news so Omal helps debunk the latest rumors. We move on to a movie recently released called "Armageddon" and his knowledge of spacial dynamics allows him to spell out what would happen with a comet of a similar size. It is a sad state the world is left in with survivors facing a grim future. With odds of a thousand to one, that is odds that can help a person sleep at night. We end with his explanation to a question about keywords where he reminds us that both he and Korton are using them already and to look to their past conversations to spot them. We end the side with Kiri and Mark's infant son who is more university professor than a three-year-old child. While not a regular speaker, when he did join it was to help with the organization of the intergalactic Conference being organized that would bring together all the races involved with our planet and people. In this appearance, he lays out a challenge to the other races to demonstrate their willingness to participate in the talks.    For full transcripts of this session and more information about Hades Base and the 6th dimension, please visit our website:  http://hadesbasenews.com    The sessions lasted from 1992 to 2001 with this one being taped on 07/07/1998. Side one includes:   1.)(3:18)- Taal, an assistant of Tia's, come on to take her place is discussing the status of the Earth. We also discover that he is old enough to have known both Kiri and Karra as well as their dad as youngsters.  2.)(5:37)-  Kiri explains why only Oath Keepers eat meat and how the relationships between those of a higher dimension are not restricted to the taboos of same sex relationships found on this dimension. 3.)(25:15)-  Omal discusses a current Government scandal from the Vietnam era that threatened to advance the Defcon level the base had in place. The movie "Armageddon" lets Omal give us the odds. 4.)(41:58)-  Three-year-old Leonedies comes on to add some impetus to the intergalactic Conference being planned in the form of a challenge to the other races that were expected to participate through channels.

Mindset matters. After walking off the stage after my Power of Positivity presentation, an older gentleman sat discreetly by the exit waiting patiently to speak with me. The story he told me brought tears to my eyes, and 100% confirmed what I always knew…the amazing power of the mind.  I often talk of my speech impediment, where I have trouble saying the letters R and S. How my English teacher encouraged me to do public speaking. Not letting a ‘small' issue cause me not to go after my dreams. At that time, my speech was an impediment as not a small issue until she showed it was.  This gentleman told me was a paid speaker who has spoken worldwide. Both across the pond and in America. He spoke deliberately as he told me about his amazing career. He told me how my presentation hit home, and he had to tell his story.  He has a speech impediment as well. When he was in school, HIS English teacher encouraged him not to quit. She told him that if he trusted her, she could show him how not to stutter when he spoke. Of course, he waited eagerly for the miracle she was about to offer. She told him to curl his toes when he got up to speak. He had no idea how that would work, but he tried it. And he DID NOT stutter. And from that moment on, when he does public speaking, he curls his toes. What an amazing story! Mindset matters.

Anton Ptushkin is a hugely popular vlogger and TV presenter who used to travel the world to bring stories to Russia and Ukraine. Now, having been banned from Russia by Putin (which Anton takes as a badge of honor), Ptushkin's videos concentrate on Ukraine only. His English language channel, Anton Somewhere is superb. His shooting, editing, and story-telling is superb. In this interview we talk about everything from maintaining Ukraine's vital railways in the midst of bombing to the way all 45 million Ukrainians are volunteering there time and skills to the resistance. That includes teronlyfans.com - nudie pics for a donation to a Ukrainian organization. Anton is extraordinary guy. Enjoy this interview.

This week's guest on The Wire Talks is Distinguished Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, Navdeep Suri. In conversation with our host Sidharth Bhatia, he speaks about his passion for translation, especially of the novels penned by his grandfather Nanak Singh. During the podcast, Navdeep shares his grandfather being the eyewitness of the dark chapter of Indian history, the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Further, he shares how his mother motivated him to translate his grandfather's novel so that the stories penned by him, don't remain restricted to the boundary of a state. Navdeep Suri reads the verses from his grandfather's book where he described about the Jallianwala bagh massacre, "5:30 sharp the clock had struck thousand gathered in the bagh my friends..." His English translations of his grandfather's classic Punjabi novels have been published by Penguin as ‘The Watchmaker' and by HarperCollins as ‘A Life Incomplete' and ‘Khooni Vaisakhi'. His translation of the first of two novels on the partition of India in 1947 has been recently published as ‘Hymns in Blood.' Tune into the listen to this episode. Follow Navdeep Suri on Twitter @navdeepsuri Follow Sidharth Bhatia on Twitter and Instagram @bombaywallah and https://instagram.com/bombaywallah You can listen to this show on The Wire's website, the IVM Podcasts website, app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app.

Golgotha Experience for Lent – Jesus' Pathway to the Cross MESSAGE SUMMARY: INTRODUCTION by Poor Bishop Hooper -- Jesse Braswell Roberts    Some years ago, I had the opportunity to spend a short time working and doing ministry in the Dominican Republic. During my stay in the southeastern city of La Romana, our group supported individuals living in the nearby ‘bateyes', which are small, company-owned towns for sugar industry laborers. Mostly of Haitian descent, these workers often live in grossly impoverished conditions and work arduous hours cutting sugar cane by hand. I was fortunate to meet a certain middle-aged man there one warm afternoon, tired and sweat glistening, but with a strong presence and similar forearms. He told me that he worked as a mechanic, as well as holding other jobs, when he wasn't ‘cropping cane.' We spoke amidst rubble of engine parts and tin roof. His English was broken yet formidable, so conversation came somewhat easily. I do not remember a great deal of our particular words, and I am to this day ashamed that I cannot recount his name, but I do recall one moment vividly. Our words somehow made their way to the subject of vacation. I asked about time off in his particular situation. I assumed his response to be Sundays or certain holidays. His answer startled me. ‘One day,' he said joyfully. ‘Good Friday.' It was at that time mid-March, so his day of respite was ever approaching. He told me he was excited for that day. Imprudently, I inquired further. ‘What about Christmas?' I asked. ‘No,' he replied. ‘Why not Easter?' Oh how I wish I could remember his next words exactly, for what he said was simple but powerful. Essentially, he told me that Good Friday was when Christ did the work so he did not have to. And for that he got the day off. And for that he was thankful. From that moment, my perspective surrounding this ‘holy day' and the preceding Lenten season changed. Growing up, Good Friday was at best mentioned, a semi-afterthought on the backs of Palm Sunday and Easter. But here, this man's only day of rest was the Friday before Easter. It was truly ‘good' for him, and its goodness existed in ways I had never before pondered. It was years later that my wife Leah and I wrote the body of music that makes up ‘Golgotha.' We were inspired to increase our community's appreciation and understanding of what Jesus did on his ‘Sorrowful Way' to the cross. As we explored the many traditions within the observance of Lent, we were drawn to the ‘Stations of the Cross.' We found that it was built predominantly upon a bedrock of visual art. Christians over thousands of years had recounted Jesus' last hours before his death in many strikingly beautiful ways. Our desire was to add to that beauty by creating new music. We wanted to write music that was rooted in scripture. Music that honored tradition, but also that invited the mind to see our Savior's suffering in new ways. Not for our own entertainment or enjoyment, but rather so that we might offer him more thanksgiving, more praise, more adoration, and more love. I pray the words that follow would lead you into deeper relationship with our Savior Jesus Christ. Each chapter corresponds with a song of similar title, and I'd invite you to listen to the music as you read. I'd encourage you to have a bible with you, and look up the other scriptures that are cited. They'll undoubtedly provide deeper understanding and beauty. At the end of each section, I'd invite you to pray. There are prompts provided, but they are intended to be starting places, not final destinations. With all of this, I must credit my acquaintance that day in the Caribbean sun. The Lord used his words to stir my heart. He made me think differently about the true work that Jesus did on the cross, and birthed in me an ever- growing appreciation for what Christ so magnificently accomplished there. I pray that in spending time with Jesus now, as he makes his way from the garden to the cross, the same would be true for you.     Jesse Braswell Roberts Written by Jesse Braswell Roberts / Poor Bishop Hooper golgothamusic.com // poorbishophooper.com // Second edition ©2022 Jesse Braswell Roberts / Poor Bishop Hooper           TODAY'S PRAYER: Lord, everything in me resists following you into the garden of Gethsemane to fall on my face to the ground before you. Grant me the courage to follow you all the way to the cross, whatever that might mean for my life. And then, by your grace, lead me to resurrection life and power. In Jesus' name, amen.             Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 100). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT. If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! (Luke 11:13). SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Luke 22:39-44: And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “How Does God Say I Love You, Part 4: Violation of the Covenant”, at our Website: https://awtlser.podbean.com/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Golgotha Experience for Lent – Jesus' Pathway to the Cross MESSAGE SUMMARY: INTRODUCTION by Poor Bishop Hooper -- Jesse Braswell Roberts    Some years ago, I had the opportunity to spend a short time working and doing ministry in the Dominican Republic. During my stay in the southeastern city of La Romana, our group supported individuals living in the nearby ‘bateyes', which are small, company-owned towns for sugar industry laborers. Mostly of Haitian descent, these workers often live in grossly impoverished conditions and work arduous hours cutting sugar cane by hand. I was fortunate to meet a certain middle-aged man there one warm afternoon, tired and sweat glistening, but with a strong presence and similar forearms. He told me that he worked as a mechanic, as well as holding other jobs, when he wasn't ‘cropping cane.' We spoke amidst rubble of engine parts and tin roof. His English was broken yet formidable, so conversation came somewhat easily. I do not remember a great deal of our particular words, and I am to this day ashamed that I cannot recount his name, but I do recall one moment vividly. Our words somehow made their way to the subject of vacation. I asked about time off in his particular situation. I assumed his response to be Sundays or certain holidays. His answer startled me. ‘One day,' he said joyfully. ‘Good Friday.' It was at that time mid-March, so his day of respite was ever approaching. He told me he was excited for that day. Imprudently, I inquired further. ‘What about Christmas?' I asked. ‘No,' he replied. ‘Why not Easter?' Oh how I wish I could remember his next words exactly, for what he said was simple but powerful. Essentially, he told me that Good Friday was when Christ did the work so he did not have to. And for that he got the day off. And for that he was thankful. From that moment, my perspective surrounding this ‘holy day' and the preceding Lenten season changed. Growing up, Good Friday was at best mentioned, a semi-afterthought on the backs of Palm Sunday and Easter. But here, this man's only day of rest was the Friday before Easter. It was truly ‘good' for him, and its goodness existed in ways I had never before pondered. It was years later that my wife Leah and I wrote the body of music that makes up ‘Golgotha.' We were inspired to increase our community's appreciation and understanding of what Jesus did on his ‘Sorrowful Way' to the cross. As we explored the many traditions within the observance of Lent, we were drawn to the ‘Stations of the Cross.' We found that it was built predominantly upon a bedrock of visual art. Christians over thousands of years had recounted Jesus' last hours before his death in many strikingly beautiful ways. Our desire was to add to that beauty by creating new music. We wanted to write music that was rooted in scripture. Music that honored tradition, but also that invited the mind to see our Savior's suffering in new ways. Not for our own entertainment or enjoyment, but rather so that we might offer him more thanksgiving, more praise, more adoration, and more love. I pray the words that follow would lead you into deeper relationship with our Savior Jesus Christ. Each chapter corresponds with a song of similar title, and I'd invite you to listen to the music as you read. I'd encourage you to have a bible with you, and look up the other scriptures that are cited. They'll undoubtedly provide deeper understanding and beauty. At the end of each section, I'd invite you to pray. There are prompts provided, but they are intended to be starting places, not final destinations. With all of this, I must credit my acquaintance that day in the Caribbean sun. The Lord used his words to stir my heart. He made me think differently about the true work that Jesus did on the cross, and birthed in me an ever- growing appreciation for what Christ so magnificently accomplished there. I pray that in spending time with Jesus now, as he makes his way from the garden to the cross, the same would be true for you.           Jesse Braswell Roberts Written by Jesse Braswell Roberts / Poor Bishop Hooper golgothamusic.com // poorbishophooper.com // Second edition ©2022 Jesse Braswell Roberts / Poor Bishop Hooper           TODAY'S PRAYER: Lord, everything in me resists following you into the garden of Gethsemane to fall on my face to the ground before you. Grant me the courage to follow you all the way to the cross, whatever that might mean for my life. And then, by your grace, lead me to resurrection life and power. In Jesus' name, amen.             Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 100). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT. If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! (Luke 11:13). SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Luke 22:39-44: And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “How Does God Say I Love You, Part 4: Violation of the Covenant”, at our Website: https://awtlser.podbean.com/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Professional Sales Tips you'll learn today on The Sales Podcast... Most things are applicable to sales and marketing Charles Manson, Napoleon Hill, Zig Ziglar, and astronauts Been in commission sales since he was 14 Sold Krispy Kreme and won a contest and a bicycle Started mowing lawns...but didn't mow the lawns since it was so hot in Atlanta in the summer Told the customers to name their price for what they thought it was worth Grew up near Bobby Jones's home course Got to listen to the CEOs of Coca-Cola and other Fortune 500 executives His "comfort zone" was everyone was successful and golfed at East Lake Golf Club Most got their starts in sales and they realized they were always in sales A hard 'no' beats a soft, sweet 'maybe.'" #1 at Macy's (Davidson's back then) 1955 he answered an ad about marketing plans in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Met Zig Ziglar on his first interview Went from $100/week to $40,000 a month Zig won a Rolls Royce and Ben won the "mystery prize" and became CEO of Holiday Magic Cosmetics (William Pen Patrick) at the age of 25 He went on a 25-city tour with Bill Patrick to introduce him Bill Patrick hired Napoleon Hill to be Ben's mentor when Hill was 84 and Ben was 25 "Call me Nappy!" Rodney Dangerfield tied  $50,000 is what Bill Patrick paid Napoleon Hill in 1966 to train Ben Napoleon Hill had a horrible family life W. Clement Stone Earl Nightingale, "If you want to keep a secret, publish a book, put a copy in every library, and nobody will ever learn it!" Pace Seminars and comfort zones W. Lamontt Bowens, out of prison, law school, helping juveniles Ben Gay had a stable family while Lamontt did not You need to reset your comfort zone Hang out with people who are where you want to be Sell from a position of strength Jim Rohn used to say, "Some will. Some won't. Next" His goal is $2,800 a day, which is how you get to $1 million a year It's "I am rich now. I am healthy now." Get one good suit and keep it clean There are no shortcuts He must always fight the urge to be lazy and fight procrastination He wants to stay in bed until noon Three ideas from Napoleon Hill Integrity in all things Focus Take action Be disciplined Write it down and get it done Always have pads handy (Napoleon Hill advice) He had 71 fresh ideas/reminders after a 3-day weekend Not all looked great come Monday, but those that made the cut were done that week Selling hasn't changed "Can I trust you?" Sell a good product, at a competitive price, to the right people Script chunks to be disciplined in sales and to win in sales The sheepdogs have gotten faster, i.e., the sales/marketing/technology tools have gotten faster He has given over 5,000 paid talks to over 2.5 million people Become a person of class, quality, and substance You must always sell yourself first Has written 24 books (at least) He uses one close...sales infiltration...sells himself..his magic close is, "Wes, based on what we've discussed, here's what I suggest we do...Fair enough?" Handle any objections, rinse, wash, repeat. Jimmy Rucker, Part 2, sales infiltration Judge Ziglar One-on-one is still important in sales Prospects still want to know "WIIFM"? We sort our emails with our fingers over the delete button You must get your prospect's attention Most sales are made, lost, or heavily influenced in the first few seconds Speed of capturing attention is important You can speak to 20,000+ a day with technology today Don't judge a book by the cover Went to buy his first Cadillac but he walked in wearing casual clothes and was judged by the sales reps as not worthy when he was 23 years old He bought or leased over 300 luxury cars they lost out on Has bought over 600 luxury cars to give away over the years Become a dynamic listener Bought 48 Lincoln Continentals at once over a phone call Become a "sales infiltrator" His father-in-law, Gigi's father, had a salesman who was his #1 salesman, Jim, who would offer the kids Cokes (with their parent's permission) and get them calmed down and drive the prospects around but Jim would sit down, put his cowboy boots up on the desktop and say, "Now that we've passed the pleasantries of the day, tell me: do you have any money?" He didn't spend any time looking for the "four corners" Get permission to ask questions and you can ask anything you want 10.5 million copies sold (as of 25 years ago) of "The Closers: Part 1" Stop going to battle Form a team: One has the money, the other has the knowledge/information Take away the "think it over" "Maybes" will kill you A hard "no" beats a soft, sweet "maybe" You can build rapport quickly He was in discussions with David Sandler to partner and they got along but David died "Fair enough?" You must smoke out the real problem How prospects have changed, and it's a time-saver: the prospect is well-informed Be likable, trustworthy, knowledgeable Work your system You must take full and complete responsibility Otherwise, you can explain away anything He learned this from Lee Trevino who was struck by lightning twice He used to have an "executive package" when he was selling his training material Small hinges swing big doors Listen for the grunt Put an exclamation point and make the "bad news" "good news" He has always stayed in the game J. Douglas Edwards (Tom Hopkins) Check their fingernails and heels of their shoes and have a meal with them and see how they treat the waitstaff Bobby Jones golf story Hire Eagle Scouts and military academy graduates Fame/success by association Look for interesting people His English teacher took a liking to him and make him a speaker and a writer Holiday Magic Cosmetics (largest MLM in the world at the time) Bill Dempsey recruited him Ben was winning the weekly awards and would share what he was doing Was speaking to auditoriums of people and was beating Zig Ziglar in sales "I will pay more to effectively communicate than any other talent." Sales Growth Tools Mentioned In The Sales Podcast "Think and Grow Rich" (Best-selling, least-read.) "Don't Let Your Past Hold You Back: The Redemption of a Gansta" 

jQuery(document).ready(function(){ cab.clickify(); }); Original Podcast with clickable words https://tinyurl.com/y232jdsn The poet Thomas Kinsella in the way of truth. An file Thomas Kinsella ar shlí na fírinne. Well-known poet Thomas Kinsella has died. Tá an file mór le rá Thomas Kinsella tar éis bháis. He was 93 years old. Bhí sé 93 bliain d'aois. Thomas Kinsella was born in Inchicore, Dublin in 1928. In Inse Chór i mBaile Átha Cliath sa bhliain 1928 a rugadh Thomas Kinsella. He completed a science degree at University College Dublin, where he served as a civil servant before studying studies and writing full-time. Rinne sé céim eolaíochta sa Choláiste Ollscoile, Baile Átha Cliath, agus chaith sé seal ina státseirbhíseach sular thug sé faoin léann agus faoin scríbhneoireacht go lánaimseartha. He was a poet in residence at the University of Illinois in the United States and was later appointed Professor of English at Temple University, Philadelphia. Bhí sé ina fhile cónaitheach in Ollscoil Illinois sna Stáit Aontaithe agus ina dhiaidh sin ceapadh in Ollamh Béarla é in Ollscoil Temple, Philadelphia. His English version of Táin Bó Cúailnge, published in 1969 and featuring similar illustrations by the artist Louis le Brocquy, is well known. Tá cáil ar a leagan Béarla de Táin Bó Cúailnge a foilsíodh i 1969 agus a bhfuil léaráidí cuidsúlacha leis an ealaíontóir Louis le Brocquy ina gcomhchuid de. Thomas Kinsella wrote the poem Butcher's Dozen after Bloody Sunday in Derry in 1972. Scríobh Thomas Kinsella an dán Butcher's Dozen tar éis Dhomhnach na Fola i nDoire i 1972. In addition to the excerpt itself, it was Widgery's report that inspired him to express his anger in the poem. Chomh maith leis an sléacht féin, ba é tuarascáil Widgery a spreag é lena chuid feirge a chur in iúl sa dán. He called that report a "major insult". "Mórmhasla" a thug sé ar an tuarascáil sin. In 1981, An Duanaire 1600-1900: Poems of the Dispossessed was published, a collection he and Seán Ó Tuama edited and which is still in demand. I 1981, foilsíodh An Duanaire 1600-1900: Poems of the Dispossessed, cnuasach a chuir sé féin agus Seán Ó Tuama in eagar agus a bhfuil ráchairt air i gcónaí. He completed his English version of The Court of Midnight in The New Oxford Book of Irish Verse in 1986, another combination which he edited. Chuir sé bailchríoch ar a leagan Béarla de Chúirt an Mheán Oíche in The New Oxford Book of Irish Verse i 1986, teaglaim eile a chuir sé in eagar. The Leaving Certificate course has been part of its own poems for many years. Bhí cuid dá dhuanta féin ar chúrsa na hArdteistiméireachta ar feadh na mblianta. Thomas Kinsella was honored by the wizard during his lifetime, including honorary doctorates and the Freedom of Dublin in 2007. Bronnadh an draoi gradam ar Thomas Kinsella i rith a mharthana, dochtúireachtaí oinigh agus Saoirse Bhaile Átha Cliath in 2007 ina measc. Irish President Michael D Higgins extends his condolences to the family and relatives of the Chief. Tá comhbhrón déanta ag Uachtarán na hÉireann Michael D Higgins le muintir agus gaolta an Chinnsealaigh. Arts Minister Catherine Martin said he was saddened by his death and one of Ireland's great poets. Dúirt an tAire Ealaíon Catherine Martin gur méala a bhás agus gur dhuine de mhórfhílí na hÉireann a bhí ann. The flags will be raised at the Mansion House and City Hall in Dublin in the middle of a tree in honor of Thomas Kinsella. Cuirfear na bratacha ag Teach an Ardmhéara agus ag Halla na Cathrach i mBaile Atha Cliath i lár crainn in ómós Thomas Kinsella. He was preceded in death by his wife Eleanor and is survived by their three grandchildren. D'éag a bhean chéile Eleanor roimhe agus maireann a dtriúr clainne agus a gclann siúd. Thomas Kinsella Thomas Kinsella

Gad Kaynar-Kissinger is a Professor at the Theatre Arts Department, Tel Aviv University, dramaturg, editor, actor, director and drama translator. He has published eight poetry volumes in Hebrew. His poems were translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Greek and Arabic. He bears the ASI Poetry Award from the General Association of Writers in Israel. His English translations were published by Pidgeonholes, Allpoetry, Anomaly Literary Journal, Atlas & Alice, The Bitter Oleander, Lady Blue Literary Arts Journal, Bombay Review, Reality Break Press, LOULIT, Indolent Books, and others.  His book Rescue Mission offers a web of delicate, paradoxical, surprising and explosive imagery coupled with references to western culture, ancient mythologies, the scriptures, and the arts. Publication Date: September 20, 2021 Publisher: Atmosphere Press List Price: $15.99 Trade Paperback ISBN13: 978-1637528426 Genre: Poetry, Translation Language: English Page Count: 96

Josh Nickell likes his steaks with a reverse sear and his metaphors to be orchestra-related. He's helped build a rental business, worked in rental software, and now he's able to use his knowledge and leadership abilities to benefit the entire industry at the ARA. His English and Scottish accents, though, need a lot of work.

 "Wu Wei, It means following the flow of the Dao, of the way, and you can see that in nature. Watch the birds and bees behave and let nature take its course. Now, in the case of human beings, for example, Western medicine interferes with drugs, chemicals, vaccines, and is yet to learn that the best defense against disease is a strong immune system. It's built into us". -Daniel Reid    There's something about the energy and spirit of Daniel Reid that makes you want to sit, listen and experience his wisdom. A bestselling author, leading expert on eastern philosophy and medicine, Reid has written several books and memoirs on Asian self-health, self-healing practices, Daoism, and his journey on this path. Living in Taiwan for 16 years studying and writing, Reid's international reputation stems from a deep understanding of traditional Chinese culture, Chinese medicine, and ancient Taoist health and longevity systems. In this conversation with Mason, Reid discusses how western medicine is failing society and will continue to as long as it tries to overcome nature. Contrastingly, he details the beauty and simplicity found in all aspects of the Daoist philosophy and spirituality, the way of respecting nature, and our innate ability to heal ourselves. Tune in for wisdom and healing.   Mason and Dan discuss:  Doaist thought. The Dao De Jing. Qigong and tea-gong. The Dao principle of Wu Wei. The three powers of Daoism. Following the flow of the Dao. Personality types of the five Daoist elements. The principle of Yin Yang and the five elements. Quantum physics, Daoism and energy. Drawing wisdom from essential nature. Daoism on facing mortality/immortality.   Who is Daniel Reid? Daniel Reid is a bestselling author and a leading expert on eastern philosophy and medicine. He has written numerous books and magazine articles on various aspects of Asian self-health, self-healing practices, and has established an international reputation for the practical efficacy of his traditional approach to modern health problems. Daniel Reid was born in 1948 in San Francisco and spent his childhood in East Africa. After completing a Bachelor of Arts degree in East Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley in 1970, and a Masters of Arts degree in Chinese Language and Civilization at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in 1973, Reid moved to Taiwan, where he spent 16 years studying and writing about various aspects of traditional Chinese culture, focusing particularly on Chinese medicine and ancient Taoist longevity systems. In 1989, he relocated to Chiang Mai, Thailand, where he continued his research and writing until 1998 when he immigrated with his wife Snow to the Byron Bay region of Australia. In 2017, they moved back to Chiang Mai, where they now make their home.   Resources: Dan Reid website Oolong Tea.org The Art and Alchemy of Chinese Tea - Daniel Reid The Tao of Health, Sex and Longevity - Daniel Reid Shots From the Hip. Sex, Drugs, and The Tao - Daniel Reid Memoir  Energy, Light, and Luminous Space - Daniel Reid Memoir  Q: How Can I Support The SuperFeast Podcast? A: Tell all your friends and family and share online! We’d also love it if you could subscribe and review this podcast on iTunes. Or  check us out on Stitcher, CastBox, iHeart RADIO:)! Plus  we're on Spotify!   Check Out The Transcript Here:   Mason: (00:00) Dan, thanks so much for joining me on the podcast.   Dan Reid: (00:03) Thanks for inviting me.   Mason: (00:05) Absolute pleasure. My wife, who runs the company with me, when I first met her, the first book I noticed on her book shelf that I have was The Dao of Health, Sex and Longevity.   Dan Reid: (00:20) My flagship.   Mason: (00:22) Your flagship, and I just said to her, "I'm just jumping on with Dan now," and she was like, "Ah, that was the first book on Daoism I ever bought," and since then [crosstalk 00:00:30].   Dan Reid: (00:30) And also put the word "sex" on the cover.   Mason: (00:34) I mean, I kind of got to agree that that's definitely a draw.   Dan Reid: (00:41) You know when you see books and they're all well-thumbed in that section.   Mason: (00:46) It's a good trio. Health, Sex, and Longevity. That must be ... because that was '89. Is that right?   Dan Reid: (00:53) Actually, it was '87, I think.   Mason: (00:56) Oh, '87, and yeah, did it become a cult classic as it went along? I can't remember. I think you mentioned it in your biography.   Dan Reid: (01:09) It took off really quickly. First of all, it took two years to sell it. I had an agent in New York. He couldn't get anyone interested. He got all these wise guy rejection slips, so he took it to London and sold it immediately, and brought it back, and then of course New York took it, and then it took off pretty quickly, yeah.   Mason: (01:33) Yeah. I mean, I imagine back then ... because it must be interesting for you now to see Daoism and Daoist practises and Daoist sexual practises, and semen retention, and the concept of longevity become all trendy. I mean ...   Dan Reid: (01:47) Yeah. Nobody knew anything about it back then, and the editors didn't know why this might be important. They didn't even know how to pronounce the word Dao. Yeah. But I was sure it would take root, because I just know that's what people want. I mean, anyone who does any kind of practise wants to be healthy, everyone wants sex, and we don't want to die young.   Mason: (02:18) How do you relate now to ... because at that time, you were in Taiwan, right, and really you were immersed, and you'd gone to university and learnt ...   Dan Reid: (02:29) I spoke Chinese, I could read and write, so I could read first, original sources, and I had Daoist friends. I just gravitated toward them. It was nothing formal. I never went to a Chinese medical school or anything. I did do a few qigong classes, but mostly it was friends who were into various aspects, Chinese friends, of Daoism, and because I could speak Chinese, it became very easy to become friends. But most of the learning took place around the tea table. It was very informal, and the Chinese are very practical people, so that's the aspect of Daoism that I got into, that I got first introduced to. Later I started reading some of the classical texts and things that had the background theory.   Mason: (03:24) So you were in ... I think it must have been the original time, when there was a bridging of that classical Daoist and Chinese medical information coming over to the West. Were there some people before you that were maybe doing some other ground work I'm not really aware of? It seemed like that was the period, that mid-'80s to late '80s, when it was actually happening.   Dan Reid: (03:52) Yeah, it was. Of course there were some people. I read a lot of books by an English writer named John Blofeld, who lived in China for 18 years, and he was interested in Daoism, Buddhism, and all that, and he was in China from 1930 to '48, and I read most of his books, and then I finally met him. Actually, he was dying that year. I didn't know that, but it turned out he was living in Bangkok, so I flew down there to meet him, and he was in the middle of writing his memoirs, in Chinese.   Mason: (04:31) Wow. You covered that in your book, right, Shots From the Hip, your biography.   Dan Reid: (04:35) Yes. You read that?   Mason: (04:37) Yeah, yeah, I read that. I loved it. I don't love biographies a lot of the time. I think I was turned off by Kelly Slater's.   Dan Reid: (04:49) Oh, yeah. Kelly Slater's a real fan of the Dao of Sex, Health and Longevity.   Mason: (04:55) Is he? Awesome.   Dan Reid: (04:57) Oh, yeah. Always talks about it. But I can't get in touch with him. I wanted to thank him for all the promotion he's done.   Mason: (05:05) Well, that's interesting. Well, I'll see eventually if I can get him on. I know he likes mushrooms and tonics. If we can get him on to the Di Dao tonic herbs, I'll make sure I ...   Dan Reid: (05:14) Tell him you interviewed me. Yeah.   Mason: (05:16) Yeah.   Dan Reid: (05:17) What were we talking about there?   Mason: (05:20) Well, we were talking about the-   Dan Reid: (05:23) Oh, I was going to ask you about the memoir. Have you read just the first one or the second one?   Mason: (05:25) No. Is the second one Energy, Light and Luminous Space?   Dan Reid: (05:28) Yeah.   Mason: (05:28) Is that the ... No. I actually wanted to talk to you first. I don't know why I felt ... I finished Shots From the Hip, and then I was like, cool. Once I've spoken to you in an interview, I'll start Energy, Light and Luminous Space, so now I'll go and ... I've just got Shots From the Hip to my Kindle. I might do the same with the other one, so I don't have to wait now.   Dan Reid: (05:47) Yeah. I just gave it a final polish about two months ago, so it's good that you haven't read it.   Mason: (05:51) Oh, good. I knew there was a reason.   Dan Reid: (05:54) Yeah.   Mason: (05:56) How are you feeling, having been ... I see it. It was like you took the foundation of work that those that had done a lot of the translation and actually bridged it over to the West, so you did a lot of that bridging.   Dan Reid: (06:11) That's the place where it usually falls apart, because many translators or people who've studied Chinese medicine formally, they get too literal in the way they present it to the West, and it just doesn't make sense to people, and I think this is too esoteric, or maybe this isn't really well, and so I made an attempt, and apparently I have an ability to do that, to make it sensibile and enjoyable to Western readers, in a way that they'll keep reading, and I guess that's why my books stay in print. It's more than translation, it's interpretation.   Mason: (06:56) How do you communicate that to people? Obviously I think I agree. You've got obviously the knack because you can discuss poetry, you can discuss the character, and you can sit in that world and not try and explain that way of thinking as it being metaphoric, or ... You don't try and explain it with Western concepts, you just sit in and live within that way of thinking, which is from an Eastern philosophical standpoint.   Dan Reid: (07:27) Yeah, but I try to find aspects of Western culture, and particularly contemporary. I mean, I came from this, you read by book, the hippy age, and the new age, and all this stuff, so I tried to find ... and explaining things which I can understand from reading original Chinese texts, and from Chinese masters and all that, but then I try to find something in the Western world that links. Western science, maybe cutting edge medical science, nutritional science. It's not mainstream stuff, but it's getting more and more. Organic food, and food combining. There's links to all that in ancient Daoist thought and in what we're doing now in the West. It's just finding how to thread them together.   Mason: (08:20) Yeah, make it relevant in the Western way of thinking, right?   Dan Reid: (08:23) Yeah.   Mason: (08:23) Is that where you stand, that you're happy to bridge so that people can stay more so within their Western framework and-   Dan Reid: (08:32) Absolutely.   Mason: (08:33) ... integrate some of the wisdom, or is there a party that's like, you're going to have to step out of your way of thinking and start integrating with the Eastern way of looking at the world?   Dan Reid: (08:44) Oh, not at all. I consider myself internally Chinese. What do they call that? An egg. White on the outside and yellow on the inside. But there's really nothing new under the sun. The Dao is probably the most ancient integrated system of thought that makes sense, and it's focused on practical things. Western people are practical, so I am very content to be a bridge. It's interesting you use that word because my wife calls me a bridge. She's Chinese, and so I'm a bridge to her going the other way.   Mason: (09:29) Is your wife ... Is it Snow?   Dan Reid: (09:31) Yeah, Snow. She's from Taiwan. [crosstalk 00:09:34].   Mason: (09:34) How long have you guys been together?   Dan Reid: (09:35) She's Jo-Jo in the memoir.   Mason: (09:37) Jo-Jo. Oh, yeah. Of course. Okay. Okay. Jo-Jo. How long have you guys been together?   Dan Reid: (09:42) We've been married 30 years next year.   Mason: (09:47) Wow. Congratulations.   Dan Reid: (09:49) Talk about longevity.   Mason: (09:50) Yeah. I know there's elements of Daoism that's not ... The non-sexy kind of aspect of Daoism, which is the longevity, and being able to go along in your psychological development, and reflect upon yourself so that you don't project on others, and have a healthy relationship, or have healthy friendships. It's one of those things. It's I guess one of those kind of those under-themes. It's maybe there, maybe coming to the surface a little bit more, but not overt. What I wanted to ask, because there was a bit of a ... I can imagine that we didn't have long to talk about it in the book, like, where this sudden ability, in my eyes sudden, for you to put together these intensely complex dishes and meals together, but I think I remember there was a friend. You were with your friends in a castle. You were somewhere in America, in-   Dan Reid: (10:53) Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cooking, you mean?   Mason: (10:55) Yeah, yeah, cooking.   Dan Reid: (11:01) The three things I like best are cooking ... writing first, cooking, and gardening, and they all fit together. I learnt to cook early on in my life from my aunt and my mother. They taught me things, and then my Chinese teachers started teaching me in California, when I was studying Chinese, how to cook Chinese food, and I started to see all the principles of the yin, the yang, and the five elements become the five flavours, and how everything works in balance and harmony. The basic Daoist principles run right through it, and so how am I able to do that? I think I was younger. I had a lot of energy, and I still cook. I still cook for my wife and myself. We don't have very many dinner guests here anymore, but yeah.   Mason: (11:55) It is a way to take it out of the theoretical and apply it. I mean, that's quite often ...   Dan Reid: (12:02) But that's the whole point. China, I mean, they are practical, earthly people. They're not really into so much ... The ones who really want to go full spiritual, they just leave society. They go into the mountains, and there's still Daoist hermits, men and women, up in the mountains, who don't even know who Mao Zedong was.   Mason: (12:27) Amazing. What a world.   Dan Reid: (12:28) Yeah. There's a guy named ... an old friend of mine from Taiwan named Bill Porter. His pen name is Red Pine, and Red Pine is probably the foremost translator now of classical Daoist and Buddhist texts, and he's still working, and he's 78 now, and I'm still in touch with him. He went to China. He's got a book called Road to Heaven, because he said, "Well, I want to see if I can find these Daoists," and this is when it was just after the culture revolution, you know, but he managed to get up to those mountains, and he met Daoist hermits.   Dan Reid: (13:12) Now, those are the ones who are really taking the spiritual side of it, the esoteric side of it, to the max. They live in caves or in cabins. They never come down off the mountain, but other than that, Chinese society uses Daoist principles, Daoist science, for medicine, Chinese medicine, cooking, sex, overall health practises, painting, the way they do their landscape paintings, the perfect balance of space and ink. It's the same principle applies, but for China, it's basically a Confucian society. They think that, well, okay, we're here on Earth. We have this life. Let's just focus on this, and we're going to find out what happens next anyway, so why focus in on that now? Confucius said, "Pay respects to all gods and demons, but stay clear of them all."   Mason: (14:23) I like it. It's an interesting thing, because in Daoism, and all through Chinese society, there are deities used to represent something in ... but never a real worshipping .   Dan Reid: (14:41) No, not like that. Exactly, because they're like ... Also Buddhism too, or Hinduism. No-one denies that there's gods. They just say there's not one almighty one above all the others. There's an almighty state, not an almighty god, but a state of mind, a state of spirit, which we look for. Where the Buddhists call it enlightenment, in China they just call it the Dao, the way, and you want to go that direction. You're not going into a religion that then you have to just take all these orders from God and from the clergy. Instead you want to cultivate that supreme state, which is beyond the human condition.   Mason: (15:34) From where you're sitting, and watching the world, and watching Daoist principles now roll out further and further, where are you at with ... Are you feeling like there's an authenticity and a grounding-ness in the way in which that philosophy is rolling out into the West, whether it's through businesses and just people integrating those practises? More and more, qigong starts to move out there, more and more Chinese medicine starts rolling out there. Are you kind of feeling like it's staying connected to the old way mostly?   Dan Reid: (16:11) As long as they are following the basic science and the basic philosophy of the Dao, the yin and the yang, the five elements. You have to be able to see how those principles apply to different aspects of life, but if they stick to those principles, then it's on course. I mean, there's also the nonsense, the commercialization, the Dao of Winnie the Pooh, and all these things. Okay. That's not what we're talking about, but the principles are solid. It's quantum physics also. I mean, the binary, yin and yang. Isn't that how computers work? There's this two, and then there's five, and then it goes on from there. It's all in the Dao De Jing, if you know how to read the Dao De Jing. It's all there.   Mason: (17:03) Yeah. Difficult one. I mean, I've got a few translations, and they're all so different [crosstalk 00:17:09].   Dan Reid: (17:09) I like Arthur Waley. He was an English translator of Chinese poetry, but he did one. He never went to China. He taught himself Chinese in the British Museum during World War II, and he's my favourite translator. He calls the Dao De Jing, his translation, The Way and Its Power, so if you find the way, then you get its power. Dao De Jing means, okay, Dao is the Dao, the way. First De means virtue, and Jing is a classic book, so the classic of the way and its power. If you follow the way, the way of nature, basically, because the biggest manifestation, the most obvious manifestation of the Dao on Earth, is nature.   Dan Reid: (18:06) Only humans go against nature. We have all kinds of weird things we do, that animals, and flowers and bees don't do. The underlying thing is we all eat, we all have sex for procreation and all that, and beyond that, humans take it. They try to conquer nature, and so by not following nature and trying to conquer it or twist it, as we can what's happening now in the world, with this whole viral thing, it doesn't end well that way.   Mason: (18:42) Yeah, I mean, there always seems to be something which I think the West isn't programmed for, which is a simplification versus coming up with complex solutions to something. So you're like, that's ... Is that just basically, from your perspective, and understanding the Dao ... I mean, like you've just talked about, first of all, not voiding yourself from nature. Is a simple solution which takes observation and ...   Dan Reid: (19:10) Yeah. Well, one of the things in the Daoist practice ... It's quite well known for people who follow Daoism and Dao De Jing, is the term wu wei. Wei means to do. Wu means no, not. Not doing. But not doing doesn't mean just kicking back, doing nothing, and smoking a joint, and being lazy. It means non-interference, really. It means following the flow of the Dao, of the way, and so you can see that in nature. Watch the birds and the bees behave, and let nature take its course. Now, in the case of the human being, for example, taking medicine as an example, Western medicine interferes, with drugs, chemicals, vaccines, and the best defence against disease is a strong immune system. It's built into us. It's built into our genetics, but how many people have a strong immune response anymore?   Dan Reid: (20:14) And so when you do need medicine, the Chinese principle first is use food. We all have to eat, and if that doesn't work or that's not good enough, or the problem is too great, then go to the herbs, the medicinal herbs, the mushrooms, and take it from there, but that all comes from still taking your lead from nature. Instead of trying to overcome it, I'm going to fix this by ... Because I got a new chemical that I made from petroleum, and I got a patent on it, and this is going to kill the virus or the bacteria, and then, in the process of doing that, it causes other problems.   Mason: (20:56) I think that's always my mind. I've got a nice Western mind as well, you know, so I quite often will constantly go looking up like, all right, what have I got to add in? What have ... But ultimately, I think ... There's a Chinese practitioner we've had who's talked about the colonisation of Chinese medicine on the podcast before, Rhonda Chang, and basically, quite often, if I say ... if I'm decolonizing my mind so I can come up with simple solutions, which is, one, it's ultimately simple. It's like, first of all, you're going to have to yield and come back into effortless effort, or at least I think that's-   Dan Reid: (21:35) Exactly. Wu wei, non-interference, but you want to understand the principle [crosstalk 00:21:40].   Mason: (21:40) That's it. The principle. Yeah. That's where I think it's one thing to try and add in Daoist practises, which have kind of, in a Western way, have been cut out of the entire philosophy and injected into Western world in order to act as a symptom, verse decolonizing in a sense of just coming back and understanding what that principle of wu wei is, and what the principle of yin yang is, so-   Dan Reid: (22:14) And the five elements. All the traditional cultures, basically, have these five elements. I call them the five elemental energies. They're really associated with the five elemental colours, and they all have a different vibrational rate on the electromagnetic spectrum, and it all comes down to very simple things, but then you have to see how, in a complex situation, how those simple principles can be applied to correct the problem, rather than try to come up with a even more complex solution. You know what I mean? Which is the Western medical approach, it's the Western scientific approach. Yeah. It gets way too complex, the technology.   Mason: (23:00) Okay, so a lot of people listening, they're constant ... because that's what I've tried to do with the business in order ... I kind of always talk about things like, I move my business in the direction so I can sleep at night, and one of the things that started coming up was I know that seasonal living is ultimately ... or observing the seasons is ultimately going to solve the problem in which a lot of people come to us for herbs in the first place, and so it's an unfair thing to be talking about herbs without talking about these fundamentals.   Mason: (23:36) But a lot of people listening are aware that they're still undergoing a process of just being able to comprehend that continuing to understand and implement what you're talking about as these basics is worth it, one. Isn't healing some symptom. It's a way of kind of almost re-educating the way, re-informing the way you build your own little family culture, so on and so forth, so just from that perspective, because I'm sure many people have heard it before, and you've probably said it many, many times, but just talking about these basic principles again, hearing it from you, in terms of living seasonally, understanding the principles of yin yang and the five principles, and how ... Can you just explain, for those people listening that are striving to be able to sink their teeth into and feel it so that they can move their family and themselves in that direction more, just maybe a few little pieces of how they can understand the principles further.   Dan Reid: (24:42) Well, you can use the principles to understand and adapt to weather, extreme weather conditions. Well, there's heat, and dampness, and then there's the combinations of heat and damp together, which can be very damaging to human health. Lots of rain and snow. There's the water element coming up. If you look into the traditional Daoist science of how the five elements relate, once cycle is that one, where they say conquers the next or suppresses the next, and then there's the other cycle where one element nurtures the next one, so water is good for earth and all that, but if you go the other way, fire will burn down wood, and all these things.   Dan Reid: (25:37) If you can learn the basic principles, why it's useful to understand the basic principles of Daoism, or I call it Daoist science, because it's not a religion. There is a Daoist religion, a popular religion with temples, and god, and all that, but we're not talking about that here. If you understand those basic principles, then in your daily life, in all aspects, you can find links, starting with yin and yang, positive and negative, male and female, or the five elements and their relations to flavours, salty, sweet, sour, pungent. There are some very obvious ways in daily life, and in your family life and in your living situation, where you can start to ... If you can start to see how it all comes down to a few basic principles, then you can apply it to more complicated things and more complicated situations, including the way people interact with each other.   Mason: (26:47) How would we get informed about the way that we interact with one [crosstalk 00:26:53].   Dan Reid: (26:52) Well, I mean, there's personality types. There's the fire. There is a whole Chinese ... what they call fortune telling or astrology, but it's much deeper than that. There's a science behind it. Personality types, which I don't know if it's genetic or if it's the way you're brought up or something, but there's the fire personality, the person who explodes and is impulsive, and then there's the really easy-going, flowing water element, then there's the very earthy type of person, and there are a lot of texts on all these aspects, and a lot of them have been translated. I don't think there's anything where these principles don't apply.   Mason: (27:45) Yeah. The personality one's always interesting, because I've been looking for ... I've found a few people saying that they've got little online questionnaires, but it doesn't seem ... I don't know if you've got one. It always seems to miss the mark just a little bit, based on ... Because sometimes you get where the deficiency is currently and maybe not tracked back to where your constitutional deficiency or constitutional element lies, and so sometimes I will be like, yep, I'm definitely fire, and now I'm definitely water. Nah, actually ... and I just go round and round.   Dan Reid: (28:25) I mean, you may have your basic personality type, but other things happen in life. Situations arise where you're reacting to another kind of person, either in a good way or an adversarial way, and then that person's energy is then starting to mould yours and change yours, and you're responding, and suddenly you're shifting to some other, from fire to water, or to earth or some other element. There are many factors involved there.   Dan Reid: (29:03) I think that our experience in life is more important than your genetic background, and there's a lot in DNA, obviously, but the idea of free choice is something that humans have, whereas animals and plants will basically just follow their genetic pattern, but humans have the choice to go against the grain sometime. We're seeing a lot of that now in the current situation. How many people are following the agenda that's being pushed now, and then there's a lot of people who aren't, and to do that, you have to sometimes just go against what you've been brought up with.   Mason: (29:58) This is an interesting conversation, because I think the thing with Daoism I like is you come to ... as you observe nature and you observe ... coming from a place of realities, let's say, yin yang, it seems to me like a reality, as is science. However, a lot of the time science doesn't have the foundations of guiding principles that are grounded in reality. Can run off on its own tangent.   Dan Reid: (30:25) Yes, indeed. There's no underlying thing in that, but some science that's coming out ... I mean, quantum physics is basically verifying that, ultimately, and the Daoists say this too, that there is no such thing as solid form. Everything is just energy, but it's slowed down. It's light that's slowed down so much, with our coarse sensory organs, we take it to be a solid form. In fact, it's not, because with modern technology, with electron microscopes, you keep going further and further down. Suddenly the atom just disappears and becomes a waveform, and those are the basic energies. Basic energies like that, and the thing that's interesting is that, in quantum physics, when something, an electron or subatomic particle just sort of disappears and then becomes a waveform, the observer, using intent, using intent, mind, can make it come back, or move somewhere else, or transform into something else. There's something about that. There's the physical level, there's the energetic level, and then there's the mind.   Mason: (31:52) Which are the principles in which Daoism is based on, understanding that reality.   Dan Reid: (31:59) Absolutely. Essence, energy, and spirit. Body, breath, and mind. There's all different ways, but my favourite ideogram, my favourite Chinese character, is the one for intent, and that consists ... On the top, there's the symbol for sound, also means vibration, and underneath that is heart. It's a vibration that comes from here, not here. Here we think. Thinking is very structured. We think in terms of words, and concepts, and all that, but your real intention, what you intend to do, what you want to do in life or in a particular situation, is always from here, which in Chinese we'd call spirit. That's spirit. Something above all the differences in form and in energy and all that. The different permutations can come in combinations, but you have one thing, is your intent is the strongest force.   Mason: (33:13) So many things swimming through my head there. I think what you've just talked about there is coming back to a reality. You mentioned not going off into the religious ... Religion quite often can come with gods, and let's create wrong and right through a set of rules, and once again, because it's easier to, I guess, spread, easier to commodify something that you write down in a book, and you just go, here's how you know right and wrong, verse here's a principle of living in a particular way, which I feel like the Dao and other ways of following these traditions of wisdom, which puts you in reality where you can feel and get informed of, say, morals, ethics, right and wrong, from a place of truth, not being driven by a dogma, and that's why what you're talking about is at some point coming down to a heart space, and not because the religion told you to, not because ...   Dan Reid: (34:17) Religion says you don't have it.   Mason: (34:20) Yeah.   Dan Reid: (34:20) They say you're a boring sinner and you're bad, and so you need god, a god, one of many. How can there be 10 different gods representing 10 different truths? There's only one truth, and then you need this intermediary, which is the guy in the robe, yeah? And that's it, otherwise you're doomed, and you got to sign up for one of these clubs called religions. I mean, religion I think in Latin sort of means something like reunite. You've been separated from the divine, but in Daoism and Buddhism, and the non-theistic, especially Tibetan Buddhism, we've got that. It's just that we don't know it, and even if we know it, we haven't found it.   Dan Reid: (35:15) Everybody has that, and spirituality and religion are totally different. In religion, you're going to obey a certain god and a set of rules, and then the clergy get involved in it, whereas in spirituality, you're just trying to discover a certain aspect of yourself. [inaudible 00:35:36]. Yeah, so you ... Yeah.   Mason: (35:41) Do you think all of Daoism is deriving to that ... Daoist thought. Is that driving to that reality, being present for the individual practising .   Dan Reid: (35:54) Oh yeah, because you got to be present no matter which aspect of the Dao you practise, including semen retention. If you're not present, you're going to go out of control, and it's all over. Cooking. If you don't pay attention, you're not present, you're not going to get the flavours just perfect, just right, and so, in the spiritual tradition of Daoism, you're just trying to be present in your basic nature, your basic state, which is not something you can really describe, but you can experience it.   Mason: (36:38) Which is then the, I guess, the leading intent behind, say, qigong practise or a tea ceremony. Is that correct?   Dan Reid: (36:47) Yes, yes. Okay, so there's three ... There's so many things that are done in trilogy or in trinity. The basic one ... I mean, and at this level, Buddhism and Daoism agree, okay? I think the most basic one is ... You've heard this translated as emptiness many times. Essential emptiness is simply the fact that there is no solid form. It's all empty, so everything that we take for solid is temporary, impermanence, and all that, so what you really want to know is to understand everything's essential nature, which is formless, and from that you can harvest something. Wisdom. Why get attached to impermanent things? How about following things which are eternal? So therefore, we're not so attached to all these little toys and things that we've got so much. Okay? So that's emptiness.   Dan Reid: (37:56) Then the next one. We hear this a lot too. Light. We're in the light. What's the light? Light's spirit, and the nature of spirit and the nature of light, it manifests unconditional love. They talk about unconditional love, compassion, and people get it a bit wrong. They think, oh, this is like this goody two shoes, love everybody, love your neighbour. It's not that. It's also what heals. A real healer is really using herbs and techniques, breathing things, but behind that is the intent, the light of love, which is ... Without that, the thing doesn't have any power.   Dan Reid: (38:45) And then the third level ... Okay, you've got your essential emptiness, you've got your natural light, your luminosity, you might call it. The next level is energy, just energy. The yin and the yang energy, the five elements, and millions of different kind of smaller energies, all of which are sort of refracted out from your clear light of your basic spirit, and if you use that energy in accord with the wisdom and the compassion of your other two aspects, the energy has power, creative power. You can create something, art. You can heal. You can do positive things. That energy doesn't have what we call power, the power to create, unless it's done in accord with the wisdom and the compassion of your other two aspects.   Dan Reid: (39:54) It's hard for people in daily life to keep in mind that, yeah, well, essentially we're formless, and we're just bundles of energy, and we've got this light, because you can't live in the world without an ego and without a house, and a roof over your head, and you got to wear clothes, so it's just a matter of the relative priorities that you give things. By having understanding of the basic nature, then other things become relative, only relatively important.   Mason: (40:24) Yeah, I mean, it's always an interesting process when you start reading about these concepts, and a book can sometimes blow people's minds, and it becomes fantastical. I think that's why a lot of the time, the spiritual communities of the world, and Byron Bay, where everyone's just discovering these principles for the first time, and it makes you very counterculture because it's hard to land in the grind of everyday life, yet most of the time, that's where you do end up, and having the discipline to walk between those two worlds, embody the chop wood, carry water.   Dan Reid: (40:59) Yeah. I mean, I like Byron Bay a lot. I Enjoyed living there. But some people, they take it too far the other way. Everyone's the healer because they had a workshop in Sydney 10 years ago for two weeks, and there it is, but they're not really living like a healer would or manifesting that kind of energy, and some people just don't want to do anything, so sleeping on the beach or stuff like that. It can go overboard that way. There has to be a balance always.   Dan Reid: (41:37) Again, going back to Daoism, the three powers. [inaudible 00:41:41]. What does that mean? Heaven, Earth, and humanity in between. Heaven, okay, the spiritual stuff, the ancient principles of the Dao. Earth, food, sex, shelter, and in between is the human, and the art of life is correctly balancing those two, and this is what the Chinese are so good at. Most people cannot go into a cave and sit there for 50 years and become enlightened, although some can. There was a teacher, a woman, female teacher, my Tibetan teacher, who spent 56 years in a dark retreat. Came out when she was 106, taught for one year, including my teacher, and then went back, and then achieved the rainbow body. You may have heard of that, but ...   Mason: (42:44) Yeah.   Dan Reid: (42:44) Not many people who can do that.   Mason: (42:45) No.   Dan Reid: (42:45) But you don't have to go out and run a gambling den either, or go way the other way too. There's a balance between. But as long as you stick to the basic principles, it's going to go all right. Going into wu wei simply means don't interfere with the basic ... not only with nature, but with the basic nature of things. Don't rub it against the wrong way, because then it's going to bite back.   Mason: (43:23) It seems to be the biggest thing, going against the grain. I can speak for within myself, is that there is a requiring of faith, and for me, having gone to Catholic school, and not to rip on Catholicism. I know there's a lot of people here who might still be ... not a lot, but maybe might be in that world, so it's not about ... But my experience was I was getting this ... it was this false faith jammed down my throat, and so even the concept of having faith got quite muddied up, and for me I'd say taken into the synthetic, verse where you talk about all these principles of flowing with the way, there is this organic faith that's an organic quality within myself.   Mason: (44:09) Because I was thinking about, what's the antidote for me of the fear that I have that I'm going to run out? You know, the greed that comes up. No, I'm not going to go down that path, because it seems like I'm going to have to give up too much. I might as well just work lots, and all that kind of reptilian kind of way, excessively in that earth energy of like, it's not good enough to just have my shelter.   Dan Reid: (44:35) I know what you mean, because I've spent my entire life, except for two years when I worked in a hotel in Taiwan, as a freelance writer, and there's a lot of thin times when you're a freelance writer. But if you're on the right path, in the sense of your basic way of life ... Again, there's that word again. Way. Dao. That's what Dao means. It means way or path. If you just follow it, and you do no harm to others and all those things, well, then, magic happens. Not miracles, magic. It's the magic of life, and I'm not talking about a magic show, but if you're present and you pay attention, you see opportunities happen everywhere, including in things that you might normally think is a real problem or there's adversity there, but if you just sit with it for a while and watch it develop, whoa. There's an opportunity.   Mason: (45:23) You're right. I mean, when I think of that ... That's my counter to that colonised part of myself, which I do love. It helps me stay in this world. When I feel that come up, and want more now rather than ... It's like you plant a tree and you want that tree to grow into something incredible. You're either going to be able to do that synthetically or make it look bigger or have it go along quicker and further than it actually is, and I know there's a Daoist adage in ... I can't remember which classic, but talking about the fact, like a tree, if you just be patient and let a tree grow in the way that it's meant to grow, eventually it will become a tree that the carpenters won't touch. It'll become iconic.   Dan Reid: (46:34) That's right.   Mason: (46:35) And actually have longevity, and actually become something beautiful.   Dan Reid: (46:38) Yeah, and it'll adjust to its environment, in a way that it will grow better than maybe you trying to make it grow in a particular way you want. Yeah.   Mason: (46:48) Patience is a virtue, I guess.   Dan Reid: (46:50) I'm impatient, basically. Well, I have been. I'm getting more patient now because there's nothing much I can do with my impatience anymore.   Mason: (47:05) Well, it's good medicine. I mean, already, I can feel my stress from the last two weeks clear as day right now in this conversation of whether it's how far along our house is, our new house, and getting our ... you know, the plans of what we're going to do as a family, where the business is at, blah, blah, blah. It's the impatience. I feel it stunting and moving into a non way of being. I can feel like the only way I'm going to take it, if I don't have this faith and patience, and I don't engage in flow, is I'm going to have to use synthetic means.   Dan Reid: (47:45) Yeah, I know. I know what you mean. It's letting things take their course, and if you want to accomplish a particular thing, you have to do it in harmony with the way nature is flowing. You have to make some adjustments. You cannot overcome nature. You can only work with it. It's the way. It's the way it works, and so if you go against the way it works because you think you've got technology, or you can throw money at it or something, something else is going to go out of whack.   Dan Reid: (48:23) I mean, look at the condition of the world today. Look at the oceans. Full of plastics, and the air is ... I mean, I don't need to harp on that. It's just all going ... and it doesn't have to be that way. There are natural ways of handling things which are slower. Slower. This thing about space travel, and maybe eventually you don't need a spaceship. You don't need to be Elon Musk or something. You can teleport yourself. I mean, I think that's how the aliens go around other universes, and dimensions, and solar systems. They teleport themselves. It's scientifically possible.   Mason: (49:10) Yeah, I agree with you there. I feel that one coming.   Dan Reid: (49:16) You become a vibrational breath, which then goes, through intent, to where you already had planned, and when you get there, then you re-materialise.   Mason: (49:29) Don't know if it's within the same conversation, or whether it just came to mind. In terms of one of the elements of Daoism being facing your mortality and then therefore immortality, and almost this presence being in preparation for death without there being an attachment to what happens on the other side, perhaps, or perhaps in certain Daoist traditions, they do have an intention, where do you sit with that, and the relevance of ...   Dan Reid: (50:00) I'm sitting a lot with that lately.   Mason: (50:02) Oh, really?   Dan Reid: (50:05) Yes. Yeah, I'm 72 now, and that guy, Arthur Waley, the translator of the Dao De Jing, who .. he's my favourite. He says one of the things he likes about the Dao is their lyrical acceptance of death. Almost a poetic acceptance, because all it really is is a matter of not being attached to something that's going down the tube. It's going down the drain. Why be attached to your bathwater? You've just had a bath. The water's dirty. You let it out. Right? Your body is the same thing. We get old. The water gets dirty, no matter what you do and no matter how well you eat, or how much qigong you do every day. It's going to expire, and so at that time, or later in life, it really is time to start focusing more on what doesn't disappear. It may not be visible, spirit or awareness, but it's eternal, and it's indestructible, and we all have it, and this idea of religions.   Dan Reid: (51:32) All right, well, if you behave yourself, and you come to church and everything, you'll get a ticket to Heaven, and the other one, you get a ticket to Hell, and this kind of thing. That's not what it's about. You create your own Heaven or Hell, and usually it's on Earth, in life. What you want to do is focus more on that which lasts, which is always there, and you may be back again in another body or even in another dimension, or whatever. But the basic core light of what you really are, the energy and the light, is always going to be there. I discuss this quite a bit in the last chapter of the second book, the second volume of my memoir. That thing, I had to write five times.   Mason: (52:29) Yeah. Yeah. I'm really feeling it right now. I really felt you slow down and sink in there, and ...   Dan Reid: (52:43) Yeah. Yeah. It's absolutely true. Life rushes by very fast if you're living fast, and jumping around, and yet if you slow down, then it can be the same amount of time, the same number of years, but seem a lot longer.   Mason: (53:04) [inaudible 00:53:04] that's an element that really I got I feel a few years ago, and I started to get a bit fearful about life being short, which I felt was relevant. I was like, okay. Great. It's something [crosstalk 00:53:21].   Dan Reid: (53:20) Well, that's good that you feel that way, because life is short.   Mason: (53:24) Well, then as soon as I stopped resisting it ... Because I feel like that's, to be honest, why I got into the Daoist herbs, and then practises, and the concept of immortality, is from a place of fear of the inevitability of death, and because I was young enough and in my 20s, I could convince myself that, for a time, I could a bandaid of immortality over that fear, and then thankfully I think, for myself, and continuing to read, whether it's your books or just from other traditions, it was like, okay. Maybe I keep on going with that thought, and I finally started having the feeling of like, well, life's pretty long, at the same time, which that ... and that was probably the first time I'd experienced I guess an intellectual ... a real yin yang.   Mason: (54:26) It really created two magnetic poles, that first time I felt that, and started recalibrating myself and the way that I approach life, which was one of the most significant times I feel like I've gone, wow, that's ... and being in the perception of yin and yang really does all of a sudden creates these magnetic poles where I don't have to have the answer, but I can orient myself around them, and that's cool.   Dan Reid: (54:50) Yeah.   Mason: (54:50) It's just getting all of that. I'm aware we've been going for about an hour. I think, just in the tradition, the way it's gone, I read one of your biographies, and we jump on for a podcast. I think that would ... If you'd be up for coming back on.   Dan Reid: (55:07) You want to read the second volume, huh?   Mason: (55:10) Yeah, I'm going to go ... I know you said you just updated it, and I assume that'll be ...   Dan Reid: (55:14) Well, I can send it to you as a PDF file if you want.   Mason: (55:19) Yeah. That'll be cool. Let's do that.   Dan Reid: (55:21) I just sent the PDF to my guy at Amazon to upload into the text, but it's very readable, so I'll just send it to you.   Mason: (55:32) Perfect. We'll do that, and I think there's a ... I have got The Art and Alchemy of Chinese Tea as well, which is something I've found ... When I was reading your book, and I know I said we're going to finish up, but I might throw this out there, just as we-   Dan Reid: (55:52) That's okay. I got nothing but time now.   Mason: (55:55) Beautiful. Yeah. It's a long life. I'm sure there was struggle behind the scenes in terms of dedicating yourself to certain practises, to an extent, but your capacity for discipline ... I mean, it was like it's the way ... I guess I can see ... Your biography's name is Sex, Drugs and the Dao, and you do have that character which you throw yourself into the deep end.   Dan Reid: (56:33) Yeah. I think people should. That's okay to do when you're young.   Mason: (56:34) Yeah. But it meant that, off the back of the sex and the drugs, you threw yourself into qigong practise and the tea ceremony practise, and I think I read it at a time where I was-   Dan Reid: (56:47) Cooking. And cooking.   Mason: (56:50) Exactly, and I think I was reading the book at a time ... and it got me reflecting on ... I was exiting a phase of my life, especially with a young child and a business to run, where I wasn't able to get quite as immersive, and I actually remember getting a little bit nostalgic about that part of my life, and maybe you know what I mean.   Dan Reid: (57:16) I do.   Mason: (57:16) And possibly feeling a bit guilty or going down on myself. Getting down on myself. Going down on myself. That's a funny way to put it. Getting down on myself about it, but for you and the concept of discipline, where does it sit now in terms of the discipline around sexual practise, semen retention, qigong practise, tea ceremony, et cetera? How do you relate at this point in your life to the concept of your consistent practise, students-   Dan Reid: (57:53) I was doing some teaching in Byron. I had some qigong classes I did while I was there, and I had a small one going here, but now with the shut down and everything, I got no students here, so I'm not doing any teaching right now. I'd like to but I'm not. For me, personally, I find that it boils down to just the basic things that work best, because like I said, as you get older, you know your time is going to be up at the one point, so there's no more need to ...   Dan Reid: (58:28) You have the knowledge, you can hold an intelligent conversation with people on all sorts of things, but what do I do at home? I'm not asked that a lot. Qigong. I don't practise as much as I used to, but I always do some every day, because it works, and I don't feel comfortable if I don't. I feel my body's tight. I can feel my tendons behind my knees, and I can ... You know, my organs don't seem to be sitting in the right place, the spine isn't quite right, so the qigong works, and I'm getting older, and so it works in an important way. It makes my body work better, and now what I call tea-gong.   Mason: (59:14) Nice.   Dan Reid: (59:14) Which is what the tea is, the Chinese way of tea, and that particular tea, that high mountain oolong tea from Taiwan, is just unbelievable. Do you drink tea?   Mason: (59:27) Yeah. Not that much, though.   Dan Reid: (59:31) Well, you should go and see Snow's brother.   Mason: (59:34) Oh, cool.   Dan Reid: (59:35) He lives in Mullumbimby and-   Mason: (59:37) Oh, amazing.   Dan Reid: (59:38) Yeah, and he's got tea there, and teapots. I mean, you go and visit him and he'll make tea for you, and you'll see. He makes good tea, and you-   Mason: (59:46) Do you want me to give him a plug, or is it a private ... Is it a private thing or is he open to the public?   Dan Reid: (59:52) Absolutely, yeah, because we have a tea website, and it's run out of Taiwan, and it's one of Snow's sisters that mails it out and all that, but we have a lot of people in Byron who like the tea, and so she supplies him, and so he's always got some tea, and some teapots, and some cups available, so you don't have to order it online. You can just go buy it at his house.   Mason: (01:00:17) What's the easiest way to find him? Should we get contacts later from you and I can put it in the show notes? That's easy.   Dan Reid: (01:00:26) Let me see if I can ...   Mason: (01:00:29) Might as well give him a shout out, and what's the website as well?   Dan Reid: (01:00:34) Oolong-tea.org. Oolong, O-O-L-O-N-G, dash.   Mason: (01:00:45) Yep, got it.   Dan Reid: (01:00:46) Okay, now, his number is ... His English name is Dexter.   Mason: (01:00:53) Dexter. Yeah.   Dan Reid: (01:01:00) 0421502811.   Mason: (01:01:03) Awesome. I will reach out to him prior and make sure he's happy with me putting his number on a podcast.   Dan Reid: (01:01:10) I think he will be. I think he will be, because, I mean, people buy tea from him. That's part of what he does for a living, and he's got a food thing in the Mullum farmers' market on Friday.   Mason: (01:01:23) Oh, I probably went past him.   Dan Reid: (01:01:25) Yeah, his stuff always sells out by 10:00.   Mason: (01:01:28) Oh, cool. We'll make it 9:30 now.   Dan Reid: (01:01:33) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, okay, back to what I do. Qigong and tea-gong. I mean, and the tea is the same thing. I love the taste of this tea. When you taste it, when he makes it for you, it's really good, but more than that, it really works for me, especially on my nervous system, my brain. It wakes me up, but not in a way like coffee races you a bit, and it just makes me feel good in a way that sometimes is hard to describe, and there's a whole organic feeling which goes very well with the tea, so I do the tea-gong and the qigong basically more or less at the same time. Speaking of which ...   Mason: (01:02:14) Oh, yeah. Nice mug as well.   Dan Reid: (01:02:19) So that. What else do I do? I still read books on spiritual subjects that I find of interest. Maybe I already know about them, but then I'm just reading a new book on the same subject, and when it comes to health problems, I go with nature. Organic, and same with food, but beyond that, I'm not writing anything right now. The place we live here is just too noisy for me to focus on writing, and I can't teach because I don't have any students here.   Mason: (01:03:06) Hopefully we can spark your online teaching career.   Dan Reid: (01:03:09) Yeah, that might work. That might work. That might work.   Mason: (01:03:14) Well, I mean, it's something ... is fascinating, having read your books for so many years, having read just how much has gone into your own self-education, and just reading about the kinds of conversations that you're having around different aspects of Daoism and Chinese culture and philosophy, just through your books. I can feel how much is simmering under the surface [crosstalk 01:03:46].   Dan Reid: (01:03:46) Yeah. For me, it always had to be something that you could actually go in and get your hands dirty, you know? To actually have contact with people who do those things, who know those things, Daoists or whatever. To do it all from academic sources just doesn't make sense to me. It really doesn't. I mean, I read books by academicians to get background information, but to understand how anything works, you got to try it.   Mason: (01:04:14) Yeah. I think the difference in what you ... what I like about you delivering and talking about the academic side of it, or the classics, is that I think lots of people are going to take ... whether it's yoga or Daoism, and teach it. They don't leave a track of where they've gotten the concepts for because then that leads to accountability and actually having to know your shit, whereas a lot of people don't want to be accountable to that.   Dan Reid: (01:04:41) That's right. Also you'll notice, in my writing, in my books, I don't put a lot of footnotes and references to ... I mean, because my readers trust me. Over time, they trust me, and I say I don't write for academicians. They want to know where I got this fact, or is this true. I say go fact check it if you want. I've never been challenged on anything. I've had editors who don't like some things I write, and I said, "Either you put that in or I'm not going to sign a contract," and I've never had a problem.   Mason: (01:05:16) Yeah. Principles.   Dan Reid: (01:05:17) I don't want to write something that's not true.   Mason: (01:05:21) Yeah. It's not good. I mean, you've definitely got longevity in your Daoist career, anyway, so that's saying something. I mean, and that's always proof in the pudding. There's those names. Yeah. It's really good to connect, because you're one of the names that constantly comes up. As we were chatting about just beforehand, I think, yeah, I came six years ago to Byron, and you'd just left, and it was interesting when I talked about what we did, and they were like, "What are you up to here?" And I was like, "Oh, I'm bringing my company up here, and we talk about Daoist herbalism [crosstalk 01:05:55]."   Dan Reid: (01:05:56) Who'd you talk to?   Mason: (01:05:57) Oh, I mean, it's like a number. I mean, I think maybe it was Si Mullum was the first [crosstalk 01:06:02].   Dan Reid: (01:06:02) Oh, yeah, Si Mullumbimby. He's one of my best friends. He's a didg player.   Mason: (01:06:07) Yeah, didg player, and, I mean, just the general conversation. Nick Cane, who's ... he works here and knew of you, and just your name pops up, and so it's really great to make the connection, and then read your books, and having had your books for over a decade. I look forward to reading the Shots From the Hip: Energy, Light and Luminous Space.   Dan Reid: (01:06:33) Okay.   Mason: (01:06:34) Thanks for sending that my way, and, I mean, yeah, just recommend everyone to go over to Dan Reid, R-E-I-D, .org. Your website's got lots of awesome info there.   Dan Reid: (01:06:46) Yeah.   Mason: (01:06:47) Is there anywhere else you'd like to send people?   Dan Reid: (01:06:49) The tea website.   Mason: (01:06:51) Again, tea website. Oolong-tea.org.   Dan Reid: (01:06:55) Yeah.   Mason: (01:06:55) And then also go in and see Dexter if you're up this way, if you're around Byron Shire.   Dan Reid: (01:07:02) Yeah, do that for sure. You'll get a good cup of tea.   Mason: (01:07:06) Yeah. Yeah. I'm looking forward to it. Thanks so much for coming on and taking the time. Beautiful.   Dan Reid: (01:07:12) All right. Well, I liked doing this with you.   Mason: (01:07:16) Likewise.   Dan Reid: (01:07:17) So if you want to do more [crosstalk 01:07:21].   Mason: (01:07:21) Yeah, I think it'll be great to do ... Yeah, I mean, especially for yourself, if there's anywhere where you're particularly getting any new insights, or you think it's relevant for the current way that the world's working, we can either do that or we can just either come on and have another jam. Both ways work. We'll connect and see what's flowing.   Dan Reid: (01:07:44) Okay.

My Grandfather was a mystery to me. He immigrated to America from Eastern Europe. My mom said that he had a very hard life. His English wasn't very good and when I was a kid, we didn't have much of a relationship. Unfortunately, he died when I was young. I never really got to know him. Decades later, I was scrolling through my Facebook Feed and came upon a post featuring a song that my grandfather had written and performed. I was blown away. My late grandfather was a musician and a songwriter? I had to learn more, before it was too late. This podcast is dedicated to discovering my grandfather and the musical side of him that I never knew existed. This is: My Grandfather's Secret Life in Music. www.MyGrandfathersSecretLifeInMusic.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jason-anthony-morris/support

My Grandfather was a mystery to me. He immigrated to America from Eastern Europe. My mom said that he had a very hard life. His English wasn't very good and when I was a kid, we didn't have much of a relationship. Unfortunately, he died when I was young. I never really got to know him. Decades later, I was scrolling through my Facebook Feed and came upon a post featuring a song that my grandfather had written and performed. I was blown away. My late grandfather was a musician and a songwriter? I had to learn more, before it was too late. This podcast is dedicated to discovering my grandfather and the musical side of him that I never knew existed. This is: My Grandfather's Secret Life in Music. www.MyGrandfathersSecretLifeInMusic.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jason-anthony-morris/support

Dooner’s World – Episode 26 – Steve LuongoMike and Steve cover a ton of ground on this episode!! Steve’s from Westchester and Mike is from Nextchester, aka Putnam County. They talk about all the amazing shows Steve saw at the Westchester County Center – Jimi Hendrix, The Who, and more, Steve and Matt forming Rat Race Choir, to playing with Dee Snider, JJ French and Twisted Sister at the Fore and Aft, to meeting Cliff Johnson from AC/DC, which eventually led to jamming and recording with Brian and Cliff from AC/DC and his long-time cohort Matt!! AC/RRC ? ?  I saw the Benefit Tour that Steve produced and played on at The Chance and it was magical! They actually recorded 7 songs, of which only 1 was released. Steve just sent me 2 of them – OMG they are good!!!!!! I could listen to Steve’s stories about Brian forever!! His English accent is perfection!!    Blood Alley – Dancing on the Devil’s Head !!!!! Chain Gang on The Road Steve Luongo Designshttps://steveluongo.com/ Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=39941006&fan_landing=true)

This is our fifth year buying from the folks at Finca Carmela. The 3-hectare farm is owned by Allan Oviedo Rodriguez and his family, along with the neighbouring Finca La Cumbre, and the Don Joel micromill which services the processing needs of both farms (along with occasional small lots for their neighbours when there's space as they've got a good reputation for it). Finca Carmela is located right on the border between the Central and Western Valleys, in the Alajuela province of Costa Rica. Situated around 1600 metres above sea level, the farm is just a short 5 minute drive away from their first farm La Cumbre on the other side of the hill.  Allan has been producing coffee in the area for 18 years; he grew up in a coffee family and learnt the traditional producing methods alongside his father (Don Joel) and brothers. It was during these early years that he saw the difficulties that came with making a living as a coffee farmer, such as poor returns for what is a very demanding job, and the ever-increasing cost of living. When Allan inherited his first farm La Cumbre (the larger family farm was divided between him and his brothers when Don Joel passed away) he decided to implement changes to improve their lot. During his early years of owning the farm he used to work as a taxi driver in San Jose by night and managing the farm by day to make ends meet. But owning the farm was his dream and he was ardently focused on giving that security to his family. With a mix of willingness to try new things, an eye for detail, and the ability to learn quickly, Allan was able to keep improving his farm. A regular visitor to the wet mill where his coffee was being processed, he took a keen interest in how the processes worked and how the best results could be achieved, which lead him to build his own micromill on La Cumbre, naming it after his father. He began to work on replanting the land with a focus on high-quality cup profile. The varietals he chose to work with were Caturra, Catuai, and Villa Sarchi. Finca Carmela followed when Allan was able to invest in expanding his growing area, and here planted mainly Villa Sarchi and Typica, which he's now been tending for 4 years. Allan employs 2 staff outside harvest season, and staffing during the harvest will depend how good the year is - 7 people in a bad year, up to a maximum of 20 in a really good year. Despite the very short distance between the two farms, they exhibit interestingly different microclimates that impact the way that the coffee thrives. For example, rain may reach one side of the mountain but not the other, strong winds can damage one whilst the other is sheltered. These factors may seem small, but can make a big difference in terms of when the coffee plant goes into flower, how much sun it gets, whether plants get damaged etc and this all adds up. You can see Poás Volcano from La Cumbre, which makes the farm roughly North-East facing, whereas Carmela is more South-East as you can see back towards San Jose. Think about it like planting up your garden at home - south facing? lots of shade? good drainage? Shelter from wind? all of these things are going to have an effect on what sort of plants are happiest living there, and happy plants are the first step towards tasty coffee! Like a lot of Costa Rican producers, Allan’s scale is very small. However, he’s got an interest in the wider world and wider coffee market which we’ve only usually seen in producers who are much larger and well-travelled. On his most recent visit, Roland spent the day with him and over a delicious dinner (cooked by his wife) they quizzed him on global coffee trends, new processes and origins, what customers liked and didn’t, British politics, roasting… it was wide-ranging! Roland says "I was there with Davian, who works with our exporters. His English is a bit better than my Spanish, but not by a long way, so I can say it was quite a challenge to explain Brexit! (Thank you Google Translate)." Of the people we work with, Allan is situated the closest to Poás Volcano - only 7km away. He had worked incredibly hard building up the farm, taking on Carmela and expanding La Cumbre - then it spewed ash over the area in 2019. It really brings home the risks a producer takes when they invest in their farm. In one swoop, all his plants had leaves hidden by ash and all he could do was hope the rains would come quickly to wash it away. This was further impacted by the 2019 El Niño, where warming reinforced the dry season patterns January through April and reduced rainfall during the rainy season in June through December. All this added up to a very difficult period for production in Costa Rica, but we're pleased to hear that things are much more positive this year and Allan has managed to get a great crop from Carmela. It's milk chocolate and lime all the way here. Super sweet and clean, on the finish there's an unusual delicate hint of mint which I love, before the aftertaste brings sweet caramel and chocolate again. Country: Costa Rica Region: Western Valley Province: Alajuela Nearest City: San Luis de Grecia Farm: Finca Carmela Micromill: Don Joel Producer: Allan Oviedo Rodriguez and family Altitude: 1,600 m.a.s.l. Processing method: Red Honey Varietal: Villa Sarchi CUPPING NOTES Milk chocolate, lime, mint, caramel Clean cup: (1–8): 6.5 Sweetness: (1–8): 7 Acidity: (1–8): 6.5 Mouthfeel: (1–8): 6 Flavour: (1–8): 6.5 Aftertaste: (1–8): 6 Balance: (1–8): 6.5 Overall: (1–8): 6.5 Correction:(+36): +36 Total (max. 100): 87.5 Roast Information: Medium - into the gap at a nice steady pace, but drop it before second gets going.

This is our fifth year buying from the folks at Finca Carmela. The 3-hectare farm is owned by Allan Oviedo Rodriguez and his family, along with the neighbouring Finca La Cumbre, and the Don Joel micromill which services the processing needs of both farms (along with occasional small lots for their neighbours when there's space as they've got a good reputation for it). Finca Carmela is located right on the border between the Central and Western Valleys, in the Alajuela province of Costa Rica. Situated around 1600 metres above sea level, the farm is just a short 5 minute drive away from their first farm La Cumbre on the other side of the hill.  Allan has been producing coffee in the area for 18 years; he grew up in a coffee family and learnt the traditional producing methods alongside his father (Don Joel) and brothers. It was during these early years that he saw the difficulties that came with making a living as a coffee farmer, such as poor returns for what is a very demanding job, and the ever-increasing cost of living. When Allan inherited his first farm La Cumbre (the larger family farm was divided between him and his brothers when Don Joel passed away) he decided to implement changes to improve their lot. During his early years of owning the farm he used to work as a taxi driver in San Jose by night and managing the farm by day to make ends meet. But owning the farm was his dream and he was ardently focused on giving that security to his family. With a mix of willingness to try new things, an eye for detail, and the ability to learn quickly, Allan was able to keep improving his farm. A regular visitor to the wet mill where his coffee was being processed, he took a keen interest in how the processes worked and how the best results could be achieved, which lead him to build his own micromill on La Cumbre, naming it after his father. He began to work on replanting the land with a focus on high-quality cup profile. The varietals he chose to work with were Caturra, Catuai, and Villa Sarchi. Finca Carmela followed when Allan was able to invest in expanding his growing area, and here planted mainly Villa Sarchi and Typica, which he's now been tending for 4 years. Allan employs 2 staff outside harvest season, and staffing during the harvest will depend how good the year is - 7 people in a bad year, up to a maximum of 20 in a really good year. Despite the very short distance between the two farms, they exhibit interestingly different microclimates that impact the way that the coffee thrives. For example, rain may reach one side of the mountain but not the other, strong winds can damage one whilst the other is sheltered. These factors may seem small, but can make a big difference in terms of when the coffee plant goes into flower, how much sun it gets, whether plants get damaged etc and this all adds up. You can see Poás Volcano from La Cumbre, which makes the farm roughly North-East facing, whereas Carmela is more South-East as you can see back towards San Jose. Think about it like planting up your garden at home - south facing? lots of shade? good drainage? Shelter from wind? all of these things are going to have an effect on what sort of plants are happiest living there, and happy plants are the first step towards tasty coffee! Like a lot of Costa Rican producers, Allan's scale is very small. However, he's got an interest in the wider world and wider coffee market which we've only usually seen in producers who are much larger and well-travelled. On his most recent visit, Roland spent the day with him and over a delicious dinner (cooked by his wife) they quizzed him on global coffee trends, new processes and origins, what customers liked and didn't, British politics, roasting… it was wide-ranging! Roland says "I was there with Davian, who works with our exporters. His English is a bit better than my Spanish, but not by a long way, so I can say it was quite a challenge to explain Brexit! (Thank you Google Translate)." Of the people we work with, Allan is situated the closest to Poás Volcano - only 7km away. He had worked incredibly hard building up the farm, taking on Carmela and expanding La Cumbre - then it spewed ash over the area in 2019. It really brings home the risks a producer takes when they invest in their farm. In one swoop, all his plants had leaves hidden by ash and all he could do was hope the rains would come quickly to wash it away. This was further impacted by the 2019 El Niño, where warming reinforced the dry season patterns January through April and reduced rainfall during the rainy season in June through December. All this added up to a very difficult period for production in Costa Rica, but we're pleased to hear that things are much more positive this year and Allan has managed to get a great crop from Carmela. It's milk chocolate and lime all the way here. Super sweet and clean, on the finish there's an unusual delicate hint of mint which I love, before the aftertaste brings sweet caramel and chocolate again. Country: Costa Rica Region: Western Valley Province: Alajuela Nearest City: San Luis de Grecia Farm: Finca Carmela Micromill: Don Joel Producer: Allan Oviedo Rodriguez and family Altitude: 1,600 m.a.s.l. Processing method: Red Honey Varietal: Villa Sarchi CUPPING NOTES Milk chocolate, lime, mint, caramel Clean cup: (1–8): 6.5 Sweetness: (1–8): 7 Acidity: (1–8): 6.5 Mouthfeel: (1–8): 6 Flavour: (1–8): 6.5 Aftertaste: (1–8): 6 Balance: (1–8): 6.5 Overall: (1–8): 6.5 Correction:(+36): +36 Total (max. 100): 87.5 Roast Information: Medium - into the gap at a nice steady pace, but drop it before second gets going.

Owning Your Material When You Didn't Create It   The minions are swarming around the venue.  There are people setting up cameras, sound equipment, teleprompter invisible screens, and additional hangers on and assorted riff raff just standing around watching the chaos.  In swans the big shot to rehearse the delivery and the tension in the room rises.  This is Japan, a no defect, no mistake, no error society where big occasions scare the hell out of everyone.  The pointless game of panic induced “what if” now gets going, as various nobodies try to run the speaking coach ragged, in their efforts to head off the thousand things which could possibly go wrong.   The speaker has not had much time to even look at the content and the time allowed for the rehearsal is zen like minimalist.  Someone in the marketing department or the PR department has prepared the material or maybe it came from the big name PR company.  The speaker certainly had very little chance to even look at it, let alone rework it.  To reduce the amount of speaking time, the geniuses organising the speech have stitched videos into the proceedings, unknowingly sacrificing valuable face time for the speaker, who is now relegated to the second string, behind the video images.   This is what it is like being the speaking coach to big shot executives in Japan.  In one case, the speaker was thrashing around trying to fit into the straight jacket his staff had created for him and the speech rehearsal was going nowhere.  The teleprompter set up had just one screen, so the speaker was very efficiently speaking to only the left side of the room.  The rest of the audience were being blanked by the speaker and that is not a good look.    When I looked at the material, I wondered why does the President of this company have to read his speech at all. Doesn't he have some personal knowledge of the business?  Can't he just throw out the prepared script and speak to a number of pertinent points, following the theme of the talk?  He could tell this set up wasn't going to deliver him the best opportunity to get his message across.  In the end he tossed out the teleprompters and came up with his own speaking points and used those at the international event.  It was so much better.   Another senior Japanese executive from the automotive sector was due to speak overseas in English, even though his English wasn't strong.  The slide deck from the PR company had speaking notes for every page, written in perfect English.  The speech was short, only seven minutes, but even so memorising the entire speech was folly.  I assured the executive that speaking English perfectly was unimportant, because communication goes beyond words. Mimes discovered that centuries ago and there was an entire silent movie industry that thrived for decades without any words ever being spoken, until the “Talkies” arrived.   Next the slide deck presented a problem.  How was he supposed to follow the script?  He could spend his time with his head down, reading the words in English for each slide.  If this is all that was required, we could keep him at home and just show a video of him doing just that and have almost the same lack of impact as having him do it in person.  Instead, I asked him to distil the essence of what each slide meant to him, down into one single sentence and then one single word.  That word was placed on each slide in Japanese kanji, like a secret code, and all he had to do was speak to that word.  By telling the audience what that slide meant to him he was authentic.  His English may have been garbled and the grammar mixed up, but it didn't matter.  He was communicating from his heart what the slide content meant to him and that message registered with his audience, in a way a speech just read out loud to the audience could never do.   No matter how busy we are, we take a big personal brand risk of allowing others who know nothing about presenting, to decide how we will appear as a speaker.  Get an expert to help, if the stakes are high or work out a way to own the material.  Make it yours and the speech will go more smoothly and easily.  The impact on the audience will be significant and the key messages will get through.  That is what we want isn't it.

Episode 34: A couple of different voices are on show in this episode. Rory Smith joins us for a chat with his main intention being to talk about Heazlett's debut in garage cricket and to deliver his ICC sanctioned GCR's (Garage Cricket Rankings for those playing at home). His English accent is actually quite delightful to listen to despite the damage he has done to himself with his 6 a day Pepsi habit. Jana is back to tell us why she is too good for her brother, nominate her favourite cricket autobiography and to answer the common question Leigh asks; How late is too late? Haz looks at what people would change in Women's Cricket, we ask if the field is too big in the AFLW and we discuss our stance on the "Mankad". Give it a good listening to, continue to share it around and good luck in your future endeavours! Ramble Responsibly. WGTC 

“I could have killed someone on my birthday.”I was Johnathan's Lyft to his probation appointment at the courthouse today. He sat on the passenger side in the backseat. His English was pretty broken, he hasn't been in this country very long, but that didn't stop him from telling his story.“I started drinking when I was fourteen. I've been praying to God for a gift,” he told me. God delivered, but it probably wasn't what Jonathan was expecting at the time.Evidently, the guy started drinking pretty heavy on his birthday four months ago. His plans where to hang around his house and celebrate. The next thing Jonathan remembers is waking up naked and being given an orange jumpsuit. The police said they found him passed out in his car after running into a mailbox.Over and over, he explained how he could have just as easily run over someone instead of something. I could tell, by the tone of his voice, this was an absolute changing point in his life.Jonathan expressed how he may never get the job he wants because of his police record and how he can't save money because of court costs and fees. He goes on to tell me he wouldn't change anything that happened.This guy is just thankful; no one was hurt. I truly believe God had his hand on the wheel the day Jonathan got into his car.Oh, he hasn't had a drink since.

The story is known by just about everyone in Finland, and for that matter, also well known in Russia and all other countries where sauna is more popular than here in USA. It was the 2010 Sauna World Championships. The two finalists had worked their way through 130 other contestants, two days of grueling single elimination “who can outlast the other on the sauna bench” brackets. And only two men were left standing: Russia’s Vladimir Ladyzhenskiy and Finland’s Timo Kaukonen, soon to be known everywhere as Sauna Timo. To set the stage of the final round, rules in the competition required the sauna to be heated to 110 C (230 F). Water was added to the sauna stones every 30 seconds and the last person to remain in the sauna would win. Competitors were required to verify their condition by giving a thumbs up to judges when asked, and be able to leave the sauna unaided. Kaukonen is a five-time winner of the event and reigning champion, while Ladyzhenskiy is believed to have come third in last year’s contest. So, into the sauna the two went. At about the 6 minute mark, judges noticed that things were going terribly wrong. The Russian competitor was cooked, literally. Passed out and dead. The Finland competitor, Sauna Timo, was helped out of the sauna and rushed to hospital. 3 weeks in a coma, operations, skin grafts, yucky stuff and a painful recovery. Turns out the Russian was cheating. Before the contest, he had applied ointment to his skin to mask the pain from the intense heat. That move is probably what killed him. The 2010 Sauna World Championship is better known as “Finland’s fatal sauna championship” or more aptly “Finland’s final sauna championship.” A country that loves contests has hung up with the bad idea of sauna as competition. Sauna Timo has written a book about his experience and during this interview, you’ll hear about what he remembers about the contest (nothing) as well as his recovery and return to the sauna bench. Kindred spirits on the sauna bench, Sauna Timo brings to our visit a continued lifelong passion for sauna. His English is just a bit better than my Finnish, which is not saying much at all. Thanks to Samuli from Iki Stoves, for translating. We gather at Samuli’s Helsinki residence on the shores of the Baltic Sea. We enjoy Sauna Talk with a couple of beers and Samuli grilling out for us in the shadows of his Sauna Tent, heated, of course, by an Iki wood fired sauna stove. The manufacturer for the tents is a small company, Mikkeli Joretuote Oy. Sauna tents are a great work around for building code restrictions and setback restrictions. Samuli’s sauna is a temporary structure, after all. We are excited to bring you this moment, a sauna with a legend, A warrior. A hero in Finland. A fair sauna competitor and a kind soul. Sauna Timo.

Horsemanship in Germany I got a very thoughtful email from a listener.  Christian lives in Germany with his wife and three children. It sounds like he has a demanding white-collar job.  He was very complimentary of the podcast - one of his favorites was the episode with cowboy Bill Mooney - He encouraged us to keep producing them. Thanks Christian. I’ve had several emails back and forth with Christian.  His English is very good. Through the emails I’ve learned a little about his life and horsemanship in Germany. He gave me permission to share some of his story. Horsemanship in Germany is different.  According to Christian,  women and girls dominate the horse industry. Now, I'm not saying that like it's a bad thing, only to show that Christian had a few more hurdles to get to where he is today.  His family was not wealthy, either.  For him to pursue his passion for horses as a teenager was definitively a challenge. And, when you pursue a dream, sometimes luck has a way of finding you too.  After college, Christian worked for an international company that sent him to their plant in Evanston, Wyoming.  While there he visited a ranch where he found himself on the back of a horse once again. This is Christian's story.  I hope you enjoy it. Join Us on this Journey We want you to be a part of the show.  Tell us about your horse.  Share your challenges, triumphs, or just everyday items that make horse ownership unique.  Create an audio file using the memo app on your phone.  Or, contact me and we'll set up a time to talk by Skype or phone.  Perhaps what you have to share can help someone in THEIR horse journey. You are a big part of why we do this podcast.  We really love getting your feedback.  Please let us know your thoughts, ideas, and suggestions for the show.  Email us at John@WhoaPodcast.com Thanks for listening, John & Ranae Episode #155 Support the Whoa Podcast with this Amazon Link.

Every week comedian Yael Gavish talks with a comedian that has at some point been asked “Where Are You REALLY From?” Whether it's due to an accent, skin color, the outfit they are wearing or various other factors. Each conversation explores personal stories about travels, family life, cultural experiences and funny stories that have happened along the way. This week I've met Hugo Gertner in Paris, His English accent is better than mine (for a french guy is rare and amazing!). We talked about being Jewish, about Israel, America and #Feminism (we didn't agree on some stuff...). Love and Laugh, Yael Gavish and Hugo Gertner

About: Antonio Steve Tublén is a Swedish film director/writer/whatever. The award winning lo-fi Science Fiction LFO was created with his fascination for strange sounds mixed with his dark humour and was executive produced by Elijah Wood and his company SpectreVision. His English debut feature film; the dark comedy ZOO is now doing the film festival circuit and to be released later this year. About the music: Montage of rough and dirty lo-fi improv performances with only the Buchla Easel + looper + effect pedals. Recorded live straight to stereo. No overdubs etc… Links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alan_smithee_040/ Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-315321379/sets/cacophony.

Happy almost New Year (or New Years Eve as most normal people say). Also, welcome to Season 2 of The Cary Allen Picture Show! Today I sit down with Joshua Youngerman a fantastic actor and super interesting human. We talk about lots of stuff including baseball, sex scene awards, and much much more. Below is something I copy and pasted from Joshua's website:Joshua Youngerman has been acting in both films and theatre since starting college.  His stage work while training includes Oedipus the Prequel (23:59); Arcadia (MU Department of Theatre); Meltdown (Spectrum Theatre Ensemble); Bryony Lavery's Illyria (Queen Mary Theatre Company); Measure for Measure (LAMDA); and Interview, 1946 and Bug (Rose Bruford College) .  His English professional stage work includes Merchant of Venice (The Cambria); The Hottest Day (The Space); and A Defintion of Love, Bread, and A Stairway to Heaven (Theatre Royal, Bath).  His American professional stage work includes Jig A Boo & The Execution and the Rapture  (Playwriting Collective); Bird (Primary Stages, ESPA) written by Nat Cassidy; and Paving (Crashbox Theatre Company).  His film work includes Confession (Envelope Sky Productions); A New Project (Helicopters Sing); Orthodox (Zeitgeist Films) with Stephen Graham; Jagoda (Smokescreen Pictures); and Most Beautiful Island (Glass Eye Pix).  He recently completed filming on independent drama Easy Living (Bay Bridge Productions) with Caroline Davernas (Hannibal) and Elizabeth Marvel (House of Cards).   Trained at Acting Studio Chicago, University of Missouri, LAMDA, and got an MA in Acting at Rose Bruford College, a DRAMAUK institution that graduated Gary Oldman and Lake Bell. 

We're back with another chat in Japanese. This time my guest grew up in America for the first 10 years if his life before his family moved back to Japan. His English is really good so I felt particularly nervous using Japanese around him. Hope you enjoy this conversation I had with my friend Nobu. Music: {Rhapsody in Beauty} by The Novembers My Bilingual Anime Podcast --> @animedaypod Twitter --> twitter.com/bananafishYT Youtube--> www.youtube.com/channel/UCJBQmXEJld29hl4ivpNnQkw

Are you ready player one? A long weekend is always a great thing. How did you spend yours? Y1 went for a picnic, A1 totally wasted it and Z1 watched two movies including Ready Player One. Listen to his review in HAPAPAP Episode 044! And did you receive your GST coucher yet? ? What did we do the last week? ? Y1 Went to the beach and picnic! ?️Shiawase desu~ A1 Decided to stop cleaning and nua ?Also read up about the Open Electricity Market ⚡️?Does anyone have any recommended providers? Z1 Watched Pacific Rim Uprising (trailer) and Ready Player One (trailer) ?Z1 not impressed, still preferring the Mazinger Z movie over these two movies. What went wrong? News from our Google Feeeeeeeed ? You can now buy shadow boyfriends! ???Good idea, wonder if they got other shadow shapes... April GST Voucher Rebate is here! ?Middle Classes rejoice! This is the type of news that keeps us alive! Hopefully, they won't charge us double next month ?? Helping dyslexic students with role-playing games ?Z1 can totally relate to this. His English apparently sucks but it improved tremendously after playing Magic: The Gathering. Or you can play the Table Top Simulator ?Anyways, this guy clever. Can teach and earn money, while still playing a game. Lihai! ?? Word of the Day Nua Hokkien Dialect term that closely resembles 'bum', 'slacker' and the'lazy'. A physical change of state. Usage I just stayed at home and nua over the weekend. We are not talking about this NUA. We too nua to even think about that ? One Last Thing We found a great website to share with you guys: Urban Plate. They have great recipes for vegetarian meals. The ingredients are easy to find and the recipes themselves are do-able even for middle classes like us. To all vegetarians out there (including you Y1), please have a look and try these out! Stop eating Chap Chye Peng once in a while. Mock meat + more curry! Til when you want to eat like this?! ? Even if you are not a vegetarian, have a look!

Are you ready player one? A long weekend is always a great thing. How did you spend yours? Y1 went for a picnic, A1 totally wasted it and Z1 watched two movies including Ready Player One. Listen to his review in HAPAPAP Episode 044! And did you receive your GST coucher yet? ? What did we do the last week? ? Y1 Went to the beach and picnic! ?️Shiawase desu~ A1 Decided to stop cleaning and nua ?Also read up about the Open Electricity Market ⚡️?Does anyone have any recommended providers? Z1 Watched Pacific Rim Uprising (trailer) and Ready Player One (trailer) ?Z1 not impressed, still preferring the Mazinger Z movie over these two movies. What went wrong? News from our Google Feeeeeeeed ? You can now buy shadow boyfriends! ???Good idea, wonder if they got other shadow shapes... April GST Voucher Rebate is here! ?Middle Classes rejoice! This is the type of news that keeps us alive! Hopefully, they won't charge us double next month ?? Helping dyslexic students with role-playing games ?Z1 can totally relate to this. His English apparently sucks but it improved tremendously after playing Magic: The Gathering. Or you can play the Table Top Simulator ?Anyways, this guy clever. Can teach and earn money, while still playing a game. Lihai! ?? Word of the Day Nua Hokkien Dialect term that closely resembles 'bum', 'slacker' and the'lazy'. A physical change of state. Usage I just stayed at home and nua over the weekend. We are not talking about this NUA. We too nua to even think about that ? One Last Thing We found a great website to share with you guys: Urban Plate. They have great recipes for vegetarian meals. The ingredients are easy to find and the recipes themselves are do-able even for middle classes like us. To all vegetarians out there (including you Y1), please have a look and try these out! Stop eating Chap Chye Peng once in a while. Mock meat + more curry! Til when you want to eat like this?! ? Even if you are not a vegetarian, have a look!

Welcome to episode 33 of the Highly Relevant podcast. On this week’s episode, we’ve dedicated it to NYC Spanish-language radio. We interview the controversial Dominican radio star “El Pacha” and ask him about why he’s such a lighting rod for controversy, the surprising reason he left Telemundo’s Acceso Total and his blunt and truthful opinions on Luis Jimenez’s new radio show on Univision. Also, we chat with NY radio royalty - Carolina Cadillo Skywalker. We discuss how she got her big break in radio, the creation of the Skywalker last name, criticisms of her Spanish, and her first encounter with radio fame. It’s an interview not to be missed. That, plus a review of “Pirates of the Caribbean 5” and a recap of the top stories in US Latino pop culture this week! EPISODE SUMMARY Frederick Martínez “El Pachá” interview 1:11 - Crazy fans 3:15 - His English 4:24 - How he began in radio 5:20 - From Univision Radio to "Al Despertar" 7:56 - Why morning newscasts are so boring today 8:41 - Personality conflicts lead to leaving Telemundo's Acceso Total NY 13:45 - Reasons to his success on Mega 97.9FM 15:24 - Thoughts on current state of Spanish radio in NY 16:38 - Thoughts on the new Luis Jimenez radio show 18:52 - Opinions on what a morning radio show should sound like today 19:23 - His religious beliefs 20:31 - What people think of him 22:00 - His controversies 22:49 - Major World commercials 23:37 JackedIN (Pop culture recap) 28:14 Carolina Cadillo interview 30:31 - How she got into the business 31:08 - Big break 32:33 - Her Spanish 33:29 - How the Skywalker last name came to be 35:59 What I'm listening to this week 44:17 - Nada - Shakira - There for You - Martin Garrix and Troye Siván - Tiernos - Technicolor Fabrics Carolina Cadillo (Part 2) 45:19 You'd like to give us your feedback or get a shout-out? Email us at highlyrelevant@showbizcafe.com and help us spread the word on social media. If you enjoyed this episode head on over to iTunes and kindly leave us a rating, a review and please subscribe.

This week, we’re back at the table discussing a fiction piece by Frank Scozzari, titled “In the Valley of the Dry Bones.”  Scozzari hobo’ed his way across America at age eighteen, twice trekked the John Muir Trail, backpacked through Europe, camel-backed the ruins of Giza… This week, we’re back at the table discussing a fiction piece by Frank Scozzari, titled “In the Valley of the Dry Bones.” Frank Scozzari Scozzari hobo’ed his way across America at age eighteen, twice trekked the John Muir Trail, backpacked through Europe, camel-backed the ruins of Giza, jeep-trailed the length of the Baja peninsula three times, globe-trotted from Peking to Paris to the White Nights of northern Russia, and once climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro – the highest point in Africa. A four-time Pushcart Prize nominee, his award-winning short stories have been widely anthologized. “In the Valley of the Dry Bones” creates a discussion that looks at the story’s uses of imagery, characterization, and overall language to engage us from the first page to the very last. Scozzari’s piece gives us Sergeant Dax Garner as the main character, the one remaining soldier on the battlefield after his platoon has been wiped out by the enemy. In reviewing “In the Valley of the Dry Bones,” we shared our ideas on social commentary in fiction, whether or not it is necessary for characters to have psychological depth, and finding the balance between “telling” and “showing” in writing. Scozzari employs altogether excellent writing that leaves us all anxious and exhausted (in the good way), but also impressed with his distraction-free storytelling. We close out this episode talking about how fiction tends to shape our perceptions of things that we don’t know much about from short stories to TV series like House of Cards and steamy doctor dramas. Tune in to hear our takes on favorites like Big Little Lies, Google for education, and the not-so-genius production of Hamlet. Share your thoughts about the episode with us on our Facebook event page and on Twitter with #GoogleItUp! Happy reading!     Present at the Editorial Table Kathleen Volk Miller Tim Fitts Sharee DeVose Jason Schneiderman Maureen McVeigh   Engineering Producer Joseph Zang -----------------------------    Frank Scozzari In the Valley of the Dry Bones They were killed to the last man despite the ingenious plans of Captain Branson. He had foretold their desperate scramble up the canyon, drawing it out in the sand; how they would make a valiant stand on the flats where they had killed half a dozen Taliban;how they would find refuge in the large rocks above the flats giving them time to regroup and reload; how they would make that heart-thumping scramble up the steep, exposed slope with bullets zinging over their heads, and how, when they reached the small grove of pine trees at the top of the wash there would nothing behind them but high cliffs, and though it would seem they were trapped, they would find cover in the pines and would radio for air support. Then the jets would come in from the north from behind the tall mountains, flying so low they could not be seen until the last second, and the Taliban would be annihilated by their precision-guided missiles. But they never made it to the pines, and now Sergeant Dax Garner lay alone at the highest outcropping of rocks with a bullet in his thigh, his mouth dry, his leg stiffening,and his gun barrel so hot from all the rounds he had fired that he thought it might jam if he needed to use it again. On a ledge below him, Captain Branson lay next to Corporal Donnelly, the radio not more than a yard away from his outstretched arm—the call for air-support having never been made. Below Garner could hear the Taliban were shouting back and forth in Pashto. He pulled himself higher against the granite. There was a nice V-shape between two rocks through which he could see clear down to the bottom. Something blue stirred among the white boulders. Yeah, he’s the one, Garner thought. The one who ruined us. The one with the blue turban who out-flanked us in a place where we could not be out-flanked; who assembled his men against the canyon walls where there was no place to assemble; who made us easy prey for their guns. Garner sighed. That crazy, pack-laden, desperate rush up the slope that ruined us. He turned and looked skyward, thinking of the jets that would never come. The bright, blue autumn sky was without clouds. He thought it might be the last time he saw such a sky. How was it that they had miscalculated their retreat so badly? Scattered on the slopes below were several dead Marines. Of the five of them who had made it to this high place in the canyon, four of them now lay in the awkward positions of the dead; some small and crumbled up, others sprawled out with their arms and legs at odd angles. Retreat was not an option, Captain Branson had said. The last bravado words of a gung ho leader, Garner thought. Well, his wish came true. And now look at him. Of all of the dead, he was the most oddly positioned. His legs seemed to be peddling as if dancing on a roof-top and his head was twisted in the opposite direction, and still, that outstretched arm was reaching for the radio. In addition to Captain Branson and Private Donnelly, there was Private Toby and Sweeney. Toby had been hit coming up the slope but somehow managed to reach the top,and now he lay sprawled out like a five-pointed star with his arms stretched-out over his head. As Garner looked at him he thought of something he had said just yesterday on the way up the canyon. They had passed some old ruins. There are a lot of old ruins in the mountains of Afghanistan and sometimes they would go inside them and investigate and this time when they did Toby asked the group; “Do you ever think about the ghosts of these ruins? All the people who lived here, loved here, played here over time?” No one replied but Sweeney. “The lost and the forsaken,” Sweeney said. Sweeney now lay some ten yards to the Toby’s right, crumbled-up with knees to and arms tucked to his chest. So what good was all that religious mumbo jumbo? Garner thought. Not that Garner had a problem with all Sweeney’s biblical sayings. In a faraway land, being shot at daily, religion was not a bad thing to have. But Sweeney drove it into the earth; quoting this little blue bible he toted around, preaching in a condescending way like the rest of them were nothing but mindless heathens. And when they had begun their climb up this wide valley from Kandahar, he started reciting Ezekiel: “The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones…. And I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry.” The irony of it made Garner shiver now. It was, and is, a damned dry valley, and now it was to be filled with bones of a dozen Marines and a shit load of Taliban. “I will make breath enter you,” he recalled Sweeney quoting, “and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin… And as he so prophesied, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them.” Such volition! Garner thought. He should have been a preacher, not a Marine. “Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live… and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.” Garner’s mouth was drier than the driest valley, and as he continued to cerebrally recite Sweeney’s sermon he noticed Sweeney’s canteen lying in the sand next to him, and it made him realize just how damned thirsty he was. It was the wound, he thought, and the heat, and the fear, and that long scramble up the wash, that had dried his mouth out. The canteen was laying on its side with the cap still on it and Garner thought it had to have water still in it. Sweeney hadn’t the chance to drink from it. He glanced down the wash. The Taliban with the blue turban hadn’t advanced much. He was keeping his head low, carefully negotiating his way higher through the white boulders. He was the smart one all right, Garner thought. Garner began the long arduous journey down toward Sweeney’s canteen.Sweeney was a good ten feet in elevation below him and fifteen yards in distance, and Garner had to slither like a snake along a granite slab and in between two boulders, all the while dragging his rifle behind him. The gravity made it easier, he thought, leaning forward and pulling mightily with his arms. But each time he lurched forward, his leg began to ache again. Blood was oozing from the pant leg where the bullet had ripped it open. When he reached Sweeney he had to reach over him to grab the canteen. He could not help but look at Sweeney’s dead face. “Mouthing off all that biblical shit?” Garner said. “A lot of good it did you. A lot of good it did us.” He grabbed the canteen, uncapped it, and guzzled down a mouthful of water.Then he rolled over and lay on his back, looked skyward, and took another long drink from his canteen. “Where gone all yeah Christian soldiers?” He held the canteen above his mouth until the last drop trickled down his throat. Then he tossed it to the side. “Let the four winds come breathe breath into you now,” he said. It was not long before he heard the Taliban voices again, louder and more confident. One was shouting in English. “No need to die Marines!” The voice echoed up the canyon. Garner took hold of his rifle, checked the clip and, seeing he only had a few rounds left, took the spare clips from Sweeney’s utility belt and stuffed them in the pockets of his cargo pants. He wiggled his way back to ledge of the rocks and peered down. The blue turban was higher, flashing bright in the sunlight between the boulders. Garner lifted his rifle slowly over the top of the rock, aimed down-canyon, and put a bead directly on the blue turban. Then it disappeared. “No need to die Marines!” the voice yelled. “Surrender now and you will live.” “So you can trade me for a thousand of your friends?” Garner mumbled softly to himself. “No thanks.” Thirty seconds passed and Garner could see the Taliban standing higher, more boldly. “Come on Americans, there is no place for you to go. Surrender and live!” he shouted confidently. “Come on you bastard,” was Garner quiet reply. “…just a little higher.” Then the blue turban came completely out from behind the rocks, fully exposing his torso. Garner looked on surprised. He thinks we’re all dead, he thought. It had been some time since there had been any gunfire. The last follies from the bottom of the wash had gone answered. Garner looked over at Toby, who was sprawled on a down-sloping slab of granite, easily seen by those below. The other Marines who did not make it up the slope lay exposed below, and of the five who had made it to the top,all had been hit and staggered before disappearing beyond the top ledge. “We have food and water,” the Taliban shouted. “You need water, no?” Garner watched as the blue turban climbed higher. “Come on, just a little more.And bring some of your friends with you.” “Are you not warriors? You made a good fight but you lost. Realize that and you will live.” His English is very good, Garner thought. Too good. Bastard was probably educated in the States or England. “If you are thirsty?” the Taliban yelled. “We have water.” Wait for the perfect shot. Wait for the others to come out. Then you can take many. Now the Taliban leader was a good ten yards beyond the cover of the last boulder. “Come on you Bastard! Come on!” Garner kept his sight centered on the blue turban. “Not too smart now.” Then another turban showed itself, a white one, and another white one. “Come on you Bastards!” Garner could feel his trigger finger pulling downward. He had to do all he could to keep from pulling it all the way. I’d love to finish it now, he thought. I’d love to finish him like he finished us. I’d love to put a bullet through that blue-shrouded cranium so that the pain would go away. Garner glanced skyward. But what good would that do? Then what? Then the parades would begin, that’s what. And a public execution, posted on YouTube for the entire world to see. He had seen how the Taliban handled their dead enemies. There was no honor in it. Their fallen foes were slaughtered like lambs. He had seen dead Marines dragged through the streets and Afghan soldiers beheaded. It was a grisly thought, and he did not want it to happen to him now nor to his fallen comrades. But it was their fate, he thought, because of their miscalculation, and their bravado, and that feeling of invincibility engrained in them by the Marine Corps. We are done. He looked skyward again. The blue sky was silent. And worse yet, the bartering will begin. He knew he was worth more alive than dead.  One Marine was worth many imprisoned combatants. Unless of course there was an airstrike. On the flat ledge below by Captain Branson and Private Donnelly the radio lay idle and waiting just beyond the Captain’s outstretched arm. A laser-guided missile from the sky would finish it all, Garner knew. Then there would be no American bodies to be put on parade, no moral victories for the Taliban to celebrate, no high-value American soldier to be offered in a ten-fold trade for Taliban leaders who will wreak a thousand-fold in terror. Down at the bottom of the wash the Taliban leader climbed wantonly up the talus rocks with several turban-shrouded men following up behind him. “Yes, a laser guided missile would finish it all nicely,” Garner said to himself. He checked the clip on his rifle; then swung it over his shoulder. Have to remain quiet, he thought. Have to lure them in close. Have to be certain they are close enough to kill them all. Garner commenced a slow crawl to the ledge below—toward Captain Branson and the radio, sliding along the rocks. The pain in his leg increased with each long pull,but he did his best to shake it off. His newfound plan gave him strength. There is no pain in death, he thought. And there will be no Taliban victories. But as pleasing a thought it was to destroy the Taliban, the notion of committing suicide was troublesome. He, who had always applauded life and despised suicide bombers, was about to join the ranks of the martyred dead. This sat uneasily in his gut. And he thought of the sound of jets too—that glorious, thunderous roar that signaled the might of the virtuous imminently overhead. It was the modern-day equivalent of the cavalry horn; one that could even the odds in a desperate battle. He recalled a time when he had witnessed three hundred Taliban coming down on an isolated American outpost near Kamdesh. His team watched the whole spectacle from an observation post on a distant ridge. The Americans were vastly outnumbered. Every man among them was destined to die, until the Observation Post Commander called in an airstrike. From beyond the hills, streaking in low like black hornets, two jets laid a hailstorm of destruction upon the Taliban, and after the jets passed they heard that beautiful roar of the F-A18s overhead. The tide of the battle was turned that quickly. Recalling it now caused shivers to run through Garner’s body. He wanted so much to hear that beautiful sound of jets again. ‘Let them come,’ he said, ‘like Ezekiel’s four winds to breathe life back into drybones. We Christian soldiers will rise from the earth to fight again.” But he knew, this time he would not hear the jets. They would be long past, their ordinances detonated, before the roar of their engines would thunder overhead. Such a pity, Dax thought. It’s better that way. Best not to know. Best for it be sudden. He looked up at the blue sky. It’s a killer when death becomes the only way to get back home. He crawled with greater volition toward the bodies of Captain Branson and Private Donnelly, climbing over rocks and dirt, biting his lip each time the pain in his leg became too terrible. There was a moment he lost track of time. He looked forward and looked back realizing he had blacked-out, but for how long, two seconds or two minutes, he did not know. It was the wound, he thought. The pain of it, and the loss of blood, and the damned heat. This placed a new urgency on his task. He could not loose consciousness again. He had to reach the radio. He tried to swallow, but his mouth had no moisture left in it. He hurried along, favoring his wounded leg and trying to keep focused and conscious. But again he found himself motionless in the dirt, his cheek pressed against the hot sand. When he awoke this time he heard the sound of Taliban voices, much closer and louder. Damn it! Stay focused! By the third time it happened he awoke only a few yards away from Captain Branson. The radio, which was on the opposite side of Captain Branson, laid in the dirt just beyond the reach of the captain’s dead hand. Garner crawled for it, stretching for it as one would stretch for a cup of water after a long desert journey. But there was blackness again, and that dreadful sense of time-loss—waking and not knowing how many seconds or minutes had passed. His eyes opened looking up at several gun barrels. Behind the gun barrels were several bearded faces in the center of which stood the Taliban leader with the blue turban. “Well Marine?” the Taliban leader asked. “You are the only one?” Garner instinctively grasped for his rifle but it was not by his side. Then he saw it up in the arms of one of the Taliban soldiers. He glanced over to where the radio had been, but it was also gone; already up in the hands of another Taliban who looked at it inquisitively and played with its knobs. “What is your company?” the Taliban leader asked. Garner did not reply. His mind was too occupied with thought. He was wondering if he had reached the radio and called in the airstrike? For the life of him, he could not remember. He looked over to where the radio had been. He was still several yards away. If I had made the call, how did I end on the opposite side of Captain Branson?  He looked back to the radio, now in the hands of the Taliban. Then the dreaded thought hit him––he never reached the radio; the call for air support was never made. The blue turban shouted some orders in Pashto to a group of Taliban up by Toby and Sweeney. They promptly gathered the bodies. Having already secured their weapons and gone through their pockets for souvenirs and identifying papers, they dragged their bodies—the real prize, down toward the position of their leader and the other dead Marines. Others did likewise to Captain Branson, dragging him out by his legs, his head racking against the rocks, and Private Donnelly as well, picking his pockets clean,gathering up his rifle and equipment, and dragging him across the granite. They were all heaped into one pile. Destined for some gruesome cyber display, Garner thought, or some kind of televised mockery. “What is your company?” the Taliban leader asked again. Grimacing into the sun, Garner looked up at him. He has the face of a goat, he thought. When Garner did not answer, the Taliban leader reached down and snapped Garner’s dog tags from his neck. “Dax Garner?” he said, reading it. “A Sergeant?” Garner did not reply. “What’s your company?” One of the Taliban high up in the canyon began shouting something in Pashto. The Taliban leader acknowledged, shouting something back. “So you are the only one,” the Taliban leader said. He glanced over at the growing pile of dead Marines. “You will make a great prize nonetheless.” The blue turban poked at Garner’s wound with the tip of his rifle barrel. Garner felt the pain radiate up from his leg and into his abdomen. “Don’t worry, you will live,” the Taliban said. “I’ll make sure of that.” And as he said it, a crackling noise came from the radio held in the one Taliban’s hand. Garner gazed up at it, dazzlingly. The bastards have me, he thought. The bastards have us. The goddamned radio I never reached, into which I never keyed air-support coordinates. The grisly image of comrades, disfigured and mocked on international television,flashed through his head. Such a pity; such a travesty; how could have I let them have me? How could have I let them win? His mind began to wonder; the foggy unconsciousness returned. Then he began to see blackness again. Vaguely he heard the blue turban speaking; “Hey! I asked you a question. Don’t fall asleep on me now.” And, vaguely, he heard the radio cackle again. Then the radio spoke; “Inbound five sixty.” And a different voice acknowledged; “That’s a Roger.” Then the blue turban glanced skyward. In a fantastic white flash and grey roar of smoke, the entire earth lifted. In the same ten-thousandth of a second Garner heard it and saw it, it took his light away. Boulders and trees shot skyward, broken and splintered apart. What was once stone andwood was now vaporized dust. Shock waves rocked the forest on the northern mountainside as two tapered-winged birds came streaking out from the smoke clouds. Followed belated in their wake was the roar of jet engines—their afterburners thundered off the canyon walls. As the debris began their arching descent, the two jets dropped low on the distant horizon and became lost in the afternoon haze. The End

One woman is having problems accessing "the cloud" on her computer. Apparently she can't get into any of her documents and needs her password RESET... that's why our friend "Miguel" calls her from Tech support. His English isn't the BEST and his people skills need some work... But hey... at least he's TRYING. Listen in the PHONE TAP! (Image Courtesy: Alejandro Pinto. Creative Commons)

Jimi Hendrix's 1967 gig at the Marquee club in London launched his career. His English girlfriend, Kathy Etchingham, recalls her relationship with a man who would become a musical legend.

Andrew Marr returns to Start the Week for a special programme on the early 17th century poet George Herbert. His English poetry was never published in his lifetime, but he hoped it would act as consolation 'of any dejected poor soul', and his latest biographer John Drury argues that with its focus on love over theology, his poetry still speaks to and for modern readers. The composer Sir John Tavener and the writer Jeanette Winterson discuss prayer in a secular age, and the power of music and words to soothe the soul. This programme was recorded before the sad announcement of Sir John Tavener's death. Producer: Katy Hickman.

A new nonprofit venture sponsored by PEN Center USA, Phoneme Media is an LA-based film and publishing house, published by Skylight's own Chris Heiser and founded by local poet and translator David Shook. Mario Bellatin, the leading experimental novelist in contemporary Latin America, introduces the neglected work of Shiki Nagaoka to an English-speaking audience for the first time. Bellatin's highly stylized biography recounts Nagaoka's early life, including his failed first attempt at love, his decision to enter the monastic life, and his family's disavowal of him. It contextualizes his untranslatable masterwork, his early use of narrative photography, and his influence on other important world writers, including Juan Rulfo and José María Arguedas. And of course he portrays Nagaoka's incredible nose, the deformedly large appendage that determined his life path. Read excerpts at Two Lines Online and World Literature Today, read about the book in the New York Times, or read an interview on Molossus. The New York Times calls Bellatin “…one of the leading voices in experimental Spanish-language fiction.” “Mario Bellatin has indisputably become one of the literary stars of the Latin American scene.” —Radar Libros (Argentina) “One of the most original figures of recent Latin American fiction.” —ABC (Spain) “Bellatin's unusual narrative world doesn't need to exceed the conventional limits of the short novel in order to take possession of mind of the reader, who's left seduced by the turbid and convulsive beauty of his stories.” —El País (Spain) Mario Bellatin has published dozens of novellas on major and minor publishing houses in Latin America, Europe, and the United States. His English-language translations include Beauty Salon (City Lights, 2010) andChinese Checkers: Three Fictions (Ravenna Press, 2009). His current projects include Los Cien Mil Libros de Bellatin, his own imprint dedicated to publishing 1,000 copies each of 100 of his books. David Shook is a poet and writer in Los Angeles, where he editsMolossus and Phoneme Media. His debut collection Our Obsidian Tongues is forthcoming from Eyewear Publishing. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS ON MAY 7, 2013.

Pierre Gaspard is a French actor and comedian who performs comedy in English. His English is really good. In this episode I invited Pierre to my flat for a cup of tea and some biscuits, and to talk to him about learning English, doing comedy and life in Canada, France and the UK. I also teach Pierre how to speak using a few British accents - including Manchester, Cockney and a kind of Scottish accent. ***There is SOME RUDE LANGUAGE in this episode, so watch out if you're offended easily, or if you're a teacher and you're using this in the classroom.*** CLICK HERE TO READ VOCABULARY NOTES FOR THIS EPISODE AND WATCH A VIDEO http://teacherluke.co.uk/2013/04/10/129-a-cup-of-tea-with-pierre-gaspard/ 

Summary of today's show: Wrapping up two weeks in Rome covering the end of Pope Benedict's pontificate and the beginning of Pope Francis', Scot Landry, Fr. Roger Landry and George Martell reflect on their experiences and on the moments and images that will endure with them. They also reflected on their participation in Pope Francis' meeting with members of the media on Saturday and on his Sunday Angelus message in St. Peter's Square. Scot also talked with Michael Severance of the Action Institute about his encounter with then-Archbishop Bergoglio at the University of Dallas' Rome campus in 2001 and how it gives a glimpse to the character of Pope Francis. Listen to the show: Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: Today's host(s): Scot Landry Today's guest(s): Fr. Roger Landry, George Martell, Michael Severance Links from today's show: Today's topics: LIVE from Rome: Reflecting on the experience and on Pope Francis 1st segment: Scot Landry welcomed everyone to the final program from Rome which has been coming to everyone from there for the past couple of weeks. He welcomed George Martell and Fr. Roger Landry to the show. George has taken more than 3,000 photos over the past week and published about 1,000 in the past couple of weeks. He asked George what he's seen. George said his photos can all be seen at BostonCatholicPhotos.com. The most important moment was the Habemus papam. They'd had no idea it would be white smoke that night and were so surprised. They were wondering if it would be Cardinal Seán because so much attention had been given to him. The night was very rainy and they waited and waited and suddenly it was white smoke and people were celebrating and he will remember that moment most clearly. On Cardinal Seán, George had seen in the cardinal's face that he could sense the weight that he was experiencing. George has been photographing the cardinal for six years and knew him very well. George said when he heard “Francesco” he thought at first it would be him, but when he realized it, he was very happy for him. On the most enjoyable shot was when he was able to get fairly close during the meeting with the media and was able to get several shots of the Pope's face. cot asked George's first impression of Pope Francis, having taken so many photos of famous figures over the years. George said he's very humble and there's a sense that he knows what he wants to do. He laughs a lot and smiles a lot. Scot asked Fr. Roger over the last two weeks and in anticipation of the Mass of inauguration tomorrow, what will stand out. Fr. Roger will remember when he came out on the balcony and asked us to pray to God to bless him and bowed over very humbly. Before that there were two other moments of silence—when his name was announced and then another moment was when he came out on the balcony and just stared at everyone. Fr. Roger said said the cardinals on the balcony didn't know what was going on in the silence of the prayer and even the national media thought they lost audio when the 100,000-strong crowd was hushed. Fr. Roger added that another memory was seeing how comfortable Pope Francis is and giving an example of how the reform of the Church will occur. What we saw with St. Francis of Assisi is that the reform of the Church began with individual men and women. Pope Francis is starting the reform in his own heart. He went to St. Mary Major to pray to Our Lady and emphasized the Church as more Marian than Petrine. Fr. Roger said the theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar said the Church is more following Mary than Peter. The Church is virginal in her love for the Lord, loving God above everyone else. The Church is welcoming, like a mother welcoming all her children. The Church says Yes to God (“Fiat”). The Church leads to the New Evangelization, brings Jesus to others. The most important hierarchy in the Church is not the hierarchy of holy orders, but the hierarchy of holiness at the top of which is a woman, Mary. Petrine means Jesus founded a Church with a particular structure, but to have an effective papacy, we need holy popes, who have learned holiness from Mary. The Church's reform is not just changing the heads of some offices, but begins by following Mary by being a faithful recipient of what is given and then giving that to the world. Scot said Pope Francis ends each prayer by invoking Our Lady. He noted that Latin Americans have a special devotion to Our Lady. He asked if there is something particular about this devotion compared to the devotion of Pope John Paul II. Fr. Roger said the truths he just articulated are put into action by devotion. Marian devotion from one country to another has certain differences, devotions based on particular images or titles, but what matters is the person behind the image or title. He said for so many our relationship with Mary was affected by Pope John Paul's deep Marian devotion. Our new Holy Father has grown in his Marian devotion through the example of John Paul. If you don't have a great Marian devotion now, you can learn it from our present Holy Father as he learned it from our previous Holy Father. He said Pope Francis rises at 4:30am each day and prays all 20 decades of the rosary. His Marian devotion is also scripturally based and now recognizes more than at any time in his life how much he needs her. Pope Francis isn't trying to fit into a particular idea of the papacy, but is being himself and living the papacy as himself. Scot asked other enjoyable moments Fr. Roger has had on this trip. Fr. Roger said he was moved by being able to celebrate Mass at St. Peter's every morning. The first time he was celebrating Mass there because he felt spiritually orphaned because Pope Benedict had retired. But during Mass, he noted that he was surrounded by the great popes of the Church, 148 of them buried there. It was a comfort for him to realize he wasn't spiritually orphaned. Then once Pope Francis was elected, to be able to go into the place where one day he will almost certainly be buried, to celebrate Mass for him through the intercession of his predecessors created a spiritual connection with him. Scot said what stood out for him was being in shock on Wednesday night when the white smoke came. He'd thought it would be an awful night for white smoke because of the pouring rain and how difficult it would be for everyone. But then the rain stopped. Then the pope came out and no one really knew who Pope Francis was. On the following day when Cardinal Seán had a press conference with the media, in speaking with the cardinal briefly beforehand, Scot heard clearly how thrilled Cardinal Seán was at the election of Pope Francis. Then seeing Pope Francis be really comfortable with his sense of humor in the meeting with the media. It reminds him of how Cardinal Seán's sense of humor endears him to so many. Scot said he loves what he's already heard from Pope Francis who has a simple message. We've had brilliant theologians over past decades, and Pope Francis is also brilliant, but he's been a pastor for so long, he connects with people as a pastor. Scot said he's realized how much he loves being a conduit for so many prayer requests from a number of countries and from around the United States. Many were for people who were ill or elderly or for family members or for the cardinals or for unique needs. He realized how many millions of requests the Blessed Mother gets asked to intercede for every day and gave him a new appreciation for intercessory prayer. He's also realized how effective blogging is as a communications tool and as he reflects on the past two weeks of writing on TheGoodCatholicLife.com and posting George's photos, he sees how they have been successful in letting people know what it was like to be over there at this time. Scot noted that there have been two significant events on the papal schedule since our last broadcast. The first was a meeting with the media. Scot and George and Fr. Roger attended. He asked George how important it was to have a smaller gathering of about 3,000 people. George said the intimacy was a plus. It was great to be able to see without having to look through a long lens. Looking at this face, you get a sense of what kind of person he is. He was able to see how humble he is. Fr. Roger shared some of the off-the-cuff remarks of Pope Francis. He said Popes in this kind of meeting normally would thank the journalists for all their hard work. The pope would also give them some news, some information that was otherwise unknown to make their time worthwhile. This time he told them the story of how he got his name of Francis. He told them that when he reached the necessary 77 votes, his friend Cardinal Claudio Hummes came to him and said, “Don't forget the poor.” He was saying that he could be the pope who helps the Church become more poor in spirit, like in the beatitudes, but also help the poor. That made him think of St. Francis, who was a man of peace and who was so close to poor. He also noted that Francis is the patron of Italy and it provides him a close to connection his diocese as well. He added that others told him he should have taken other names, like Hadrian VII, after Hadrian VI who was a reformer, or Clement XV, after Clement XIV who suppressed the Society of Jesus in the early 1800s, as a come back from Pope Francis who is a Jesuit himself. He is very funny, even though many people have said in profiles of him that he doesn't smile. Fr. Roger noted that he was hugging many people at the end of the meeting. Pope Francis also talked about the vocation of the journalist and said that covering the journey is different from covering other beats. You have to approach the Church through the lens of faith in order to understand. Journalists and the Church seek truth, beauty and goodness. The Church finds all those in Jesus Christ. On Sunday, Pope Francis had his first Angelus as Pope. Popes typically have two public events per week, the Wednesday General Audience and the Sunday Angelus. George was able to be perched high on the colonnade above St. Peter's Square. George said he was able to show the crowd through his photos. He said was able to capture the anticipation on the faces of the people for seeing the Pope. Scot said his sense is that about one-third of the crowd was seeing the Pope for the first time. Fr. Roger said Pope Francis' message was gratitude for his warm welcome and then deeper meaning of Sunday's Gospel in that God is rich in mercy. He said God never tires of forgiving us, but we tire of asking God for forgiveness. So we should pray to never tire of asking. He also told a story of helping out with confessions and talking to an old black woman who wasn't very well educated and embarrassed to be talking to the archbishop. But she told him how the world wouldn't exist without God's mercy and he replied to her that she must have been educated at the Gregorian University because of the holy wisdom she showed. It shows how God has revealed the important things of the world to the little ones, not to the “wise” of the world. George ended by saying how much of a pleasure and honor it was to be there and communicate it all through his pictures. Fr. Roger said it's been a real joy to be there to witness it firsthand and to communicate it back home. He said the good Catholic life is a life our new Holy Father is calling us to live and he expects to hear more about it tomorrow in his inauguration Mass. He's very happy that our new Holy Father has started to walk us on that journey, asking us to follow him. 2nd segment: Scot was outside St. Peter's Square and welcomed Michael Severance of the Action Institute to the show. Scot asked him to relate a story of then-Cardinal Bergoglio visiting the Rome campus of the University of Dallas. Michael said at the time he was director of the the university's Rome program and they had a monthly speaker and dinner program. In February 2001, the guest was the then-archbishop who was two days from being made a cardinal. Michael's job was to be his liaison and he arranged his travel for his visit, but he said the cardinal insisted on taking a train, which was very inexpensive. When they met, he insisted he call him Father Jorge instead of Your Excellency. And because he'd missed his original train, he'd missed the dinner but he gave his talk anyway. His English was quite good, but it sounded like he worked hard to memorize it. He finished the topic of the talk on the economic crisis in Argentina at the time. His theme was that if people believed in Christ, they would have 100% of what they need and would not have felt the losses as keenly. Afterward, Michael offered to take him out to dinner because he'd missed it earlier. Michael said at the time he'd been used to so much formality in Rome and how important it was to use the correct title for someone, but if this was what the archbishop wanted, then that's what he would do. He understood him immediately to be a person of the people and of great humility. His refusal to take a car or a taxi, but instead to take the cheaper train showed he understood the pain of the people in Buenos Aires who had so little money. And then as for dinner, he said let's go to dinner. But Michael said the cafeteria was closed and offered to take him to Castel Gandolfo for dinner. He said there was no need to take him out for an expensive dinner and asked what they had in the refrigerator. Michael checked his kitchen and found some cheese, sausages, pasta and good Roman bread so he offered a nice typical spaghetti amatriciana and they had a nice family meal with the children and Michael's boss's family. In interacting with the students, whenever asked a question by the students, he would look at this feet and rub his forehead vigorously. Michael at first thought he was having trouble understanding the students' Texas accent. But when he answered it was clear he understood everything and had been recording everything in his mind. He said he has great listening capacity. He chooses his words wisely. His conversational English he rated at upper intermediate. Michael said his reaction upon hearing the name, at first he thought it was Cardinal Pell until others corrected him. He and his wife had talked previously about the possibility of the man they'd had in their home for dinner would be pope. Michael said in just a few days of his papacy we have seen him smiling and happy and speaking from his heart. He has the “teddy bear” factor in his favor. Scot asked what qualities the world will come to love the most. Michael said he's a person not afraid to break with tradition, when they are seen in a negative way, some forms of opulence as we've already seen in some of his choices so far. He will be true to himself and sincere in his austerity. Michael said he heads up the Acton Institute's Rome office. They are an ecumenical think tank that investigate the intersection of faith and economics. 3rd segment: Scot thanked everyone who has listened to the show over the past two weeks over the whole Station of the Cross network. The experience has brought him closer to God and he prayed the same is true for the listeners. Just a week ago, Cardinal Bergoglio was just a name and now he is our Pope. He is different in many ways. He is a man of the poor and wants to help those who are materially and spiritually poor. Scot summarized the work they've accomplished in Rome over the weeks they've been there. He said a chronicle of all the coverage is available on the website. On tomorrow's show, Scot and Fr. Chris O'Connor will discuss Pope Francis' homily at his inauguration Mass and on Wednesday, Scot and Fr. Matt Williams will discuss “Rebuilt”, a book about the change in a parish in Maryland. The Thursday show will return to a discussion of the news.

Libby Purves meets poet and playwright Owen Sheers; Stephen Grady, a former member of the French Resistance; musical star Michael Ball and brewer Ffion Jones. Owen Sheers is a poet, author and playwright. In 2012 he spent a year as artist-in-residence for the Welsh Rugby Union. His book, Calon - A Journey to the Heart of Welsh Rugby, uses his unprecedented access to players and coaching staff to discover what drives a Welsh rugby player. Calon - A Journey to the Heart of Welsh Rugby is published by Faber and Faber. Stephen Grady was 14 and living in Northern France when the Second World War began. His English father worked for the Imperial War Graves Commission. At 16, Stephen was recruited by the French Resistance and took part in a series of daring missions for which he was later awarded the Croix de Guerre. His memoir, Gardens of Stone - My boyhood in the French Resistance, is published by Hodder and Stoughton. Michael Ball is one of Britain's leading musical stars in the West End and on Broadway. He recently appeared in the title role of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. He donned a fat suit to play Edna Turnbald in Hairspray for which he won a Laurence Olivier Award. His new album Both Sides Now is released on Union Square Music. Ffion Jones has just been appointed the first female brewer at SA Brain brewery in Cardiff. The company was founded by Samuel Arthur Brain and his uncle Joseph Benjamin Brain in 1882. After passing her exams earlier this year, Ffion has just brewed her first beer - a braggot flavoured with honey and spices. Producer: Paula McGinley.

In early 1967, the American guitarist, Jimi Hendrix, took London by storm. His flamboyant style and new ways of playing the electric guitar enthralled everyone from the Beatles to Eric Clapton. His English girlfriend, Kathy Etchingham, recalls her relationship with a man who would become a musical legend. PHOTO: Hulton Archive/Getty Images.

Summer has been and gone, can you believe it? For me, it has flown*. I suppose you have been wondering, "Where on earth is Anna? Has she fallen off the planet? Has she given it all up*, moved to Nepal, and become a monk? Or is she just enjoying her Summer too much?" The latter is the correct answer. Yes, I have enjoyed my Summer. I've taken long breaks from the computer. But, you know, to tell you the truth, I have felt the pull back to podcasting. Something in me has missed doing it. I must admit, sometimes it's therapy for me! And the best part of all, is when I make connections with you listeners. One young man called Denis, emailed me from Russia recently. His English is very good, and he uses my podcasts for a little extra practice. Great! That's exactly what they're for. Good luck in Boston, Denis! Well, I have lots to tell about the Summer, but I'll start by telling you what I'm doing right now. I'm sitting in my favorite spot, which is the front door step. It's quiet and fresh; there's nobody around, so I'm admiring the plants and trees, sipping coffee, and writing for you. It's still warm enough to sit outside without a jacket, thankfully, though that will change soon, I'm sure. I don't know what the weather is going to do, come to think about it*. It has been a very unusual year. The heat of Summer came very late this year. Even the bees were late out of their hives. I have loads of green tomatoes hanging on their vines, which usually, by now, would have ripened and been eaten. Fingers crossed* that the frost doesn't come too soon. I've been hoping to show you photos of my spectacular anemones, but they haven't even budded yet. "It's the coolest Summer in twenty years," I heard someone say the other day. I will certainly enjoy this Autumn season, as it's my favorite. Apart from the garden, which you know is an obsession of mine, it's the routine that I appreciate. Summer, with the kids at home, is a wonderful time, but a bit random. It's hard to feel as though you are achieving very much. But today, all the little monkeys are back at school, I have their baseball practice schedules on the calendar, and I'm feeling pretty organized. I also have signed up for substitute teaching again, as I am no longer homeschooling, and I've already had a week's work, with promise of more. So, the lazy days of Summer are gone, but Autumn will be a time for achievements. Grammar notes. Related expressions: flies/ flown (with time), to give it all up, come to think about it/of it, fingers crossed. 1. I can't believe our vacation has finished; the time has flown! 2. He was a CEO of a major car company for ten years, then he gave it all up, moved to the Bahamas, and opened a tattoo salon. 3. I need to get some money out of the bank today. Come to think of it, I don't have a penny on me! 4. I hope we get a good price for our house when we sell it. Fingers crossed!   // //

Chris and Danny start the show off by talking about how Chris has spent the past week in the Catskills at a family owned bungalow with the ‘fake Iaconos.’ There he put up sheetrock and did other manual labor, but do not worry he also shot some guns. Danny spoke briefly about the quarrel he had earlier in the week with Warren. It was proposed that if Warren is up to it they will reconcile and talk through their differences during a show. The 1st guest of the day was Nick Vatterott. He spoke briefly about his one-man show, “No Outlet” yet the conversation moved quickly to racist rapists. In walks Yamaneika Saunders the female co-host of this episode....on black people time. We learn very quickly that she’s extremely spiritual which will be repetitively brought up throughout the show. Faryn Einhorn is our 2nd guest who is a member of the Harvard Sailing Team. Faryn makes quite clear that their sketch group is not from Harvard nor do they sail. Faryn and Yamaneika hit it off well; Danny suggests that they shoot a comedy buddy film about the two of them going to a burger place. Next Adam Newman joins the show where the talk immediately jumps to his puns and clear tweets to celebrities...that go unanswered. Yamaneika loves to suck on onions and thinks Adam is ‘delicious.’ The last guest of the day is Andy de la Tour. His English accent practically swoons Yamaneika because of her love of the movie Mary Poppins. He tells a story of how Robin Williams stole his thunder at a comedy club in the UK many moons ago.

Dr. King is a tough act to follow. Thats for sure, but Id like you to open your Bibles up this morning, if you would please, to the Book of Acts. Prejudice takes many different forms, doesnt it? People are discriminated against because of the color of their skin, because of their ethnicity or their religion. It could be because of geographic location. In moving here from Illinois, I encountered that there were some hostilities-people of the dairy land. It could be a physical abnormality. Unfortunately in grade school, its one of the hardest places I think. There are a lot of problems that go on in grade school as children pick on other children. I remember seeing children picked on because of their teeth; their nose; or their ears; or ones too fat; ones too thin. I remember seeing a child being picked on because she was homely or unattractive, another one being picked on because she was poor and didnt have good clothes. Another one was picked on because he had cerebral palsy. I remember seeing one picked on because he or she had braces or freckles-you name it. One of my first encounters with prejudice was when I was in grade school. When I was in grade school, Sesame Street was a new neighborhood. It had just been launched. There was a song made popular by Ernie. It went, Rubber ducky, youre the one. Remember that song? Well, one of the kids started calling me, Duck. He said, You walk like a duck, and I had broken arches, fallen arches. I had special shoes to correct them, so the only way I could really be comfortable was to kind of keep my feet like this when I walked, kind of like Charlie Chaplin. I ran an errand and came back to music class, and the kids broke into a rendition of Rubber Ducky with the music teacher leading the way. I remember just being devastated. I put a smile on the outside, but inside I was just crushed that they were making fun of me. Im walking home. It was a winter day, and I remember turning around looking at my tracks in the snow with my feet going like this. I was saying to myself, I do walk like a duck, and was just feeling about this big. I remember thinking, How can these kids, some of them my friends, make fun of me for something I cannot help. They make fun of me for something that really, really hurts. I realized at an early age that prejudiced is based on ignorance. Its based on ignorance. You dont have all the facts, or youre ignoring the facts, but its based upon ignorance. I learned its also based upon insecurities-that I feel better; I feel more secure about myself if I make you feel less than you are because I see you as a threat-because I see your very existence as a threat to me. I have fears and insecurities, so that causes me to rise up against you and seek to bully you and intimidate you. I have a dog that is three quarter Border Collie and one quarter Chihuahua. It looks like you took a Border Collie and put her in a shrinking machine. Shes very cute, however she has some personality disorders. You put those two mixes together, and she thinks shes a Border Collie, so she tries to act really tough; but if you challenge that-if you call her bluff, she turns into a Chihuahua and starts shaking. One of the low points of her existence on this planet was when I took her to a dog park. Shell bark at the other dogs even though shes been to puppy school and graduated. She should be beyond this. Then if the dog does not listen, then she comes to me to be picked up and rescued. Well, there was this little ball of fur no bigger than your fist that came at her, and she was barking at that dog; and the dog just kept coming. She came to me for help. Its like, Penny, this is a low point-even for you. You are afraid of a midget little pup here. This thing was about as big as your fist. At night when we let her out-only at night, its dark-she doesnt see whats going on out there; and when she comes out of the house, she just phew! She runs in the yard barking for all shes worth-just this ferocious mean bark. Shes talking and shes saying, Whoever you are out here, you better not be here! This is my turf! My master says its time to go potty, and you better not be here. If you are here, I will hurt you bad! This is what I think shes saying; so shell run all around the yard barking at night. We know, the cat-whatevers out there-might not know, but we know shes just a coward. We know all that is is her trying to bully and intimidate, but really the base of that is insecurity. There is a rise in hate groups in our country right now. They get together and they try to bully and intimidate. Theyre loud and boisterous, but the core is insecurity and fear. Inside, they are cowards, so they ban together to make their loud noise; but we know what the base of that is. The third base of prejudice is pride. I want to think of myself better than you. I want to think of myself as superior to you, so if I can belittle you, ridicule you and demean you in some way, then somehow I am exalted and I feel better about myself knowing that Im better than somebody else. It could be somebody was discriminated because theyre the haves and not the have nots. I remember myself being born into poverty. There were times when I was discriminated against because I didnt have anything. I remember thinking, I didnt choose to be born in affluence or poverty. You dont choose what family youre born into. How can you judge me on the basis of where I live or what I dont have; but yet theyd feel better if they could do that. Heres the thing: you say, Why are you talking to the church about this? You know, prejudice can exist within churches too and within Christians too. We need to be careful because if we allow that to exist-and listen, it is very easy to return hate for hate, isnt it? When I see those hate groups and you see prejudice and you see innocent people being hurt, doesnt it make you angry? Doesnt it make you want to respond in kind? Sure it does. Its real easy to stoop down to that level, but we have to guard that. We have to guard our hearts against hatred. When you feed something, what does it do? It grows, right? Good or bad? You feed your flowers; theyre going to grow. You feed your weeds; theyre going to grow. Dont feed the weeds. You are allowing prejudice to exist in your life or to grow in your life; you are also growing an insecurity and an ignorance in pride. You dont want to grow an ignorance; you dont want to grow in pride; you dont want to grow in insecurities. Dont feed the weed. Understand that we are all equal. Gods Word talks about that in the Book of Acts. In Act 17, Paul is speaking to the people of Athens. The Greeks thought they were very intellectually superior to everyone else. In fact, there is evidence that they thought of themselves as a superior race because of their advancements, because of their wisdom, their knowledge. They saw themselves as special, more important than the people around them. Paul is preaching to them, and he says in Verse 26 (page 1098 of pew Bibles) about the God who made Heaven and earth, From one man… How many men? From one man. He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. We came from One: One God and Adam and Eve. We are from one Man, so none are better than anyone else; so thats the lesson were going to talk about in the Book of Ephesians today. Were going to look at a people who had religious and race hostilities towards one another. Now as Paul writes the Book of Ephesians, he is writing to a predominately Gentile audience; however, we know there were Jews present. Paul preached in the synagogue when he started the church in Ephesus. Yet there were tensions and hostilities between the Gentiles and the Jews. Paul is going to address that. Hes going to address the topic of religious and racial prejudice in the verses were going to examine this morning. Lets look at Verse 11 of Ephesians 2 (page 1157 of pew Bibles). He says, Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called uncircumcised by those who call themselves the circumcision… That was a derogatory term. He said, Listen, you were born a Gentile. There was no reason for you to be circumcised because you were not born into the Jewish religion. However those who have gone through the ritual of circumcision were looking down upon those who had not. They were saying, We are the people of the covenant. We are the circumcised. You are the uncircumcised. So it was a term of slander. It was saying, We think less of you. You are the uncircumcised. We are the circumcised. …remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. What a destitute description: without God and without hope-foreigners, aliens, cut off from the promise. Wow! That is a destitute condition to be in, but why were they in that? Why were they cut off from the promise? Did God cut them off from the promise? Is that what happened? You know we see the hostilities. If you are a student of the New Testament, we encountered in Luke 4, Jesus is in His hometown, right? Hes preaching to the people He grew up with; and theyre so proud of Him, theyre going, Here He comes-hometown boy! Hes really made a name for Himself. Hes really done well for Himself. He starts to preach in the synagogue; and the place is packed. Jesus starts to speak and He starts to esteem the Gentiles in His first sermon ever, and they get so enraged that they drag Him outside of the city to kill Him. Why? Because He esteemed the Gentiles. The church spreads from the Jew to the Gentile. The first Gentile converted is Cornelius. Peter comes to his home because he had a dream and a vision to go to Cornelius house. What does he say as hes sitting in Cornelius living room? Cornelius family is gathered around, and heres Peter a Jew in the home of this Gentile. He says in Acts 10, You know its unlawful for me to be here. You know that a Jew is not to associate with a Gentile, eat with a Gentile, or be in the home of a Gentile. Its wrong for me to be here. You know its breaking the law. What law was it breaking? Gods law? No. Mans law. See, listen to what God said. Now turn to Genesis 12 (page 11 of pew Bibles). Listen to what God said when He called Abraham to start a nation. Abraham is minding his own business; hes living a good life; hes married. He doesnt have a son. Hes accepted that. Hes getting up in years, and hes just living the good life. All the sudden one day, God speaks to him and tells him as the stars in the sky, so will be his descendants. Thats a very peculiar thing to say to a man who has no son and is elderly. Hes up there in years, but everythings going to change, and He says to Abraham in Verse 1, Leave your country, your people and your fathers household… Everything that is familiar to you, …and go to the land I will show you. How would you like to be Abraham over the dinner that night? Honey, why is there a U-Haul in the driveway? Well, God has called us to a new land. Where? He will show us as we drive down the highway. Just pack your bags. Thats not going to go over too well, but this is going to be an entire faith journey. God says to him, and heres the covenant; heres the promise, I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and some people on earth will be blessed through you. What does it say? …all peoples on earth… The covenant of promise was for everyone! It was for everyone; all peoples were to be blessed through Abraham, so what happened? Well, if we read our Bibles, what happened was pride began to set in. They began to think, Well, you know what? Were the race of the promise. Were the race of the covenant, and they began to look down upon those who were not. Were chosen of God. Were better than anyone else. Lets not associate with anyone else. Lets live in a bubble here. Lets not take this message of Gods existence to the world. Lets keep it to ourselves. Lets exclude others. Now God had called them to be separate. God had called them to be holy. They were not to engage in the practices of the Pagans that might be around them or the other things that were evil or detestable. They were not to engage in that. They were not to become like the nations that were around them, but they were to influence those people. Instead, they chose to hoard the message. Before we judge them, how many Christians do you know that that have done the same thing? Christians who look down their noses at other people and say, Well, you know, I am a person of the covenant. I belong to the Lord, Jesus Christ, and they treat others with disdain as if they were better than them. Have any of you ever encountered a Christian who does that? Three of you? Wow! Thats pretty good. We laugh because we know we were just too lazy to raise our hands. The question really should be, You mean this week? Theyre everywhere out there! Yes, were not to look like the world. Yes, were not to compromise our faith, but we were called to be salt and light. The number one criticism rendered against Jesus was what? He was a friend of sinners-people they looked down upon, the leaders and Scribes. Jesus hung with them. He was friends with them. Look at your circle of friends, people that youre hanging out with the most-people that youre spending time with the most. Theres nothing wrong with having Christian friends. We have to have Christian brothers, sisters, friends and close friends; but if we say that Christians are our only friends-theyre the only ones were spending time with, were out of balance. How in the world can you be salt and light if the only people that you know and spend time with are people who know Christ? Sometimes our motives are like, Thats just because were busy. Other times, the motive is wrong. Christians look down upon those who dont know the Lord. Those who dont know the Lord sense that, and they say, If thats what Christianity is about, I dont want any part of it. They reject that and its not Christ theyre rejecting. Its arrogance and pride that theyre rejecting. So Paul talks about the solution to that. He says in Verse 13 (of Ephesians 2, page 1157), But now in Christ Jesus, you who are far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace… It doesnt say that He has peace or He brings peace; it says He is peace. …who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility… Friends, you are either destroying the barrier or allowing the barrier to continue to exist. Those are your options. Youre either bringing down barriers, or youre creating barriers. Which is it? I have a friend in the Dominican Republic. His name is Pastor Jean. Youve maybe heard me talk about him or our church talk about him. Weve taken two missions trips to the Dominican Republic. The island of Hispaniola has two countries. Two thirds of the island is the Dominican; one third is Haiti. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. When our group goes to the Dominican Republic, we say, Look how poor this country is. When the Haitians go to the D.R., they say, Look how rich this country is. One of the foods that is in their diet, if you can call it that, is a cake that is made with sugar, oil, butter and dirt; and they eat that because it makes their stomachs not hurt so much. They come to the D.R., and they have no rights. They cant vote; cant go to school-cant send your children to school; receive no medical coverage. You get the worst jobs with the lowest pay. In Haiti, you make $2 a day if youre a labor person-$2 a day! Thats all they make, and that would be for a full days work. If you come to the D.R., you make a little bit more; but they still receive the lowest pay, the worst jobs, and live in the most deplorable conditions. When youre there you encounter that hostility. The Dominicans, they speak Spanish. The Haitians, they speak French and Creole. You can tell-if youve been there-the Haitians are much darker if you can recognize them. Theres a definite distinction between the Haitians and the Dominicans. You encounter the prejudice right away, right off the bat. You sense in. You hear it in conversations, so we partner with this church. We partner with this pastor. They have nothing, so our church provides a church for them-a nice building where they rent for services on Sunday morning, where they have school. They have to call it something else, but they have school for the children there. Some of you sponsor some of those children, but we pay for the facility. We help support the church in a number of ways. We have a fund thats ongoing if you want to contribute to it. Its a $12,000 goal. Were at about $5,000 now, so were on our way. Pastor Jean and I, we correspond with each other. We email back and forth. His English is not so good, but I understand what hes trying to say to me. I just sent him an email just to encourage him. I wasnt really thinking about it or anything. He sent an email back to me. He described that that day he had gone on a bus to the university. He had to do some studying. He said he was on the bus, and he overheard the Dominicans talking about the Haitians. He can understand Spanish enough to know what people are saying. They said, We dont want to ride the bus with the Haitians. Its impossible to ride the bus with the Haitians. Our president is going to make it so that we have our own bus, so we wont have to ride with the Haitians anymore. How do you think this beautiful man now feels because he is looked down upon because of where he was born, because of his race? He said, I felt awful. I felt terrible inside. He said, Then I came home and I read your email, and you said to me one strong word; and it brought joy to my heart. You said to me, My brother. He said, And I know that you have for me love. God bless you, Pastor Jeff. Im praying for you, your family and your congregation. He came home dejected and he read an email. I didnt think anything of it. He looks and he says, I am his brother. They put us Americans up on a pedestal. If youre from America, whether we deserve to be there or not-and we dont-were there. The pastor from America says I am his brother. I am his friend. I wrote back to him, and I said, Theyre no better than you. The same Savior that died for them died for you. The same blood that was shed for their sins was shed for you sins. We are all equal at the cross, my brother. You remember that, and you have immeasurable value and worth in Jesus Christ. What walls or barriers are we removing, and what are we allowing to stay up? (Picking back up in the middle of Verse 15), His purpose was to create in Himself one new man out of the two and thus make peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which He put to death their hostility. He removed it. At the cross we see that God created us equal, that He loves us all, and He redeemed us all-that we all matter to Him. He didnt die for a region; He didnt die for a country; He didnt die for a race; He died for mankind. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through Him, we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. The same family, and thats going to be Pauls theme. He says, Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens of Gods people and members of Gods household… You are a part of Gods family. I have two nametags on this morning if youre observant. The first nametag is mine. The second nametag belongs to a young man in our church. Its Devon Servin. He is being adopted by a family in our church. He came to me last night, and he took his old nametag off and says, This is not my name anymore. He said, You can have it, Pastor, and he put it on my shirt. As soon as he did that, I went, Ah ha, sermon illustration. Can I talk about this to our church? He goes, Sure. So hes not only taking on a new last name, he has a new first name. His new first name is David, and he was so proud when he put on his nametag for the first time, David Schumacher. He said, Im adopted. I am David Schumacher. He had a big smile on his face, right? I have a family that loves me and that wants me. He was so proud. He was one of our ushers last night-very cute, cute kid. He is so proud of his identity, so proud of who he was. He had a new family. He had somebody who loved him. He had a place where he belonged. Paul talks about that in the Book of Galatians, if youd just flip back one book to Galatians 3. Paul writes this powerful verse of Scripture-Galatians 3:26 (page 1153), You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abrahams seed, and heirs according to the promise. He said your ethnicity doesnt matter. Your status doesnt matter. Your gender doesnt matter. You are one in Christ. The most important identification you have is not your political party. Its not the civic organization you belong to. Its not the union you belong to. Its not the fact that youre a veteran. Its not the citizenship of your country. Its not even the name of your family. The most important identification that you have is that you belong to God, and youre part of Gods household-that you have a name of Jesus on your sticker. It says, I belong to God, and God loves me. God has redeemed me. Hes paid the price for my sin. That is the most important affiliation that I have. He says, If you belong to Christ, then are you Abrahams seed and heirs according to the promise. He said what man took and distorted and messed up, God has made right. In Christ, the prophesy was fulfilled. In Christ, all the nations have been blessed through Abrahams seed. Jesus is a direct descendent of Abraham, so through Abraham, all the nations of the world have been blessed. We have to take that message of oneness to our world. We have to make sure that prejudice is not reigning in our hearts, that were not feeding the weeds of insecurity, ignorance and pride. With that we recognize that God loves all people. Therefore, were to love all people. Were not to succumb to that and allow ourselves to stoop down to the level of those who would hate and those who would raise barriers, but we are seeking to bring them down by the words we speak, by the life that we live. Lets pray together: Father, what an appropriate thing to do, to receive communion after a message like this-to talk about what the cross has done, how on the cross You destroyed the hostility, the prejudice of one thinking they are superior to another. The Word says, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. In John 12:32, our Lord Jesus says, If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto Me. So, Lord, we thank You for the promise of salvation through Christ. Help us to be a people who live lives worthy of the price that was paid for us-to be a people, Lord, who are tearing down barriers and not erecting them. Father, as we receive this communion now, search our hearts. If there are any weeds in our garden, Lord, help us to root them out even now-to bring them to the cross, confess them and forsake them. I pray this in Jesus name, Amen.

His English speaking got better and better. As years went by, his accent was less marked, his words better carved, but when he went to the casino and got a little excited, he couldn't manage not saying gern at the end of his now traditional phrase. Yes, indeed, the fun house is nothing but gern.

His English speaking got better and better. As years went by, his accent was less marked, his words better carved, but when he went to the casino and got a little excited, he couldn't manage not saying gern at the end of his now traditional phrase. Yes, indeed, the fun house is nothing but gern.

His English speaking got better and better. As years went by, his accent was less marked, his words better carved, but when he went to the casino and got a little excited, he couldn't manage not saying gern at the end of his now traditional phrase. Yes, indeed, the fun house is nothing but gern.

His English speaking got better and better. As years went by, his accent was less marked, his words better carved, but when he went to the casino and got a little excited, he couldn't manage not saying gern at the end of his now traditional phrase. Yes, indeed, the fun house is nothing but gern.