Podcast appearances and mentions of Jim Norman

Movie #3 for Spectember 2024 is late, but it's here now! From a short story from Stephen King's Night Shift by way of a 1974 short story, we've got 1991's SOMETIMES THEY COME BACK!  From IMDB: Teens from hell mark school teacher Jim Norman and his family. ENJOY! ------------------ If you'd like to show your support for members of WGA, SAG, IATSE, as well as other workers in the entertainment industry, please take a look at the link below and maybe make a donation: Entertainment Community Fund https://entertainmentcommunity.org/support-our-work ------------------ As always, and maybe even more than ever, here are some mental health resources for North America: United States  https://www.mentalhealth.gov/get-help/immediate-help https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ The Suicide Hotline phone number has been changed. Now, just text or call 988. Canada https://www.ccmhs-ccsms.ca/mental-health-resources-1 1 (833) 456-4566 Even though we don't say it in this episode, more NOW than ever before: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE take care of yourselves and those around you. Be mindful of your surroundings. Karate in the Garage Linkages 

Publisher Kris Millegan speaks with Nick Bryant, Daniel Hopsicker, Jim Norman and Ed Berger about crime and corruption in high places, including child trafficking, which the federal government protects and covers up.  These researchers came from different directions and ended up talking about the same set of characters and deeds. The mainstream media refuses to report their findings. Do factions for good and evil battle inside the halls of power? Will good people flush the corruption out of our systems and restore honesty, accountability and transparency to our government? Will we make our representatives work for and protect us? What does this mean for our children's future? Such things and more are discussed in this compelling conversation.

091622 Dr Jim Norman And Dr Gary Clayman Things To Look For Signs Thyroid Parathryroid by Kate Dalley

Desperate for a job to help him support his family, Jim Norman takes a position teaching high school in the town where his brother was murdered in front of him by teenage bullies twenty-seven years before. The teens who committed the crime are long dead, but now the kids in Jim's new class keep dying and being replaced by new students who look like the deceased hoodlums.

Today's Flash Back Friday was first published on Feb 2, 2015. In today's introduction to Creating Wealth, Jason records his intro section just ahead of the NFL Super Bowl XLIX in Arizona. Jason postulates on a variety of property markets around the U.S. as he prepares to make another purchase himself, speaks on over-diversification, and brings some great insight into deflation. Jason's guest today is Jim Norman, author of The Oil Card. This is Jim's second appearance on the Creating Wealth show. Jim is a veteran business journalist and energy reporter. Key Takeaways: Jason's Editorial 2:33 – What the heck is happening with oil? 4:58 – One of Jason's biggest mistakes in real estate is over-diversification. 9:13 – Always important in any business to consider the life time value of a customer. 13:56 – Governments hate deflation and will do everything they can to stop or delay it from happening. Jim Norman Interview 18:30 – Jason introduces Jim Norman and they talk about his book, The Oil Card. 23:15 – It's much easier to move oil prices around and manipulate them than any other commodity. 30:05 – Is oil really only worth $3 a barrel? Jim clarifies. 36:00 – It takes a while for economic warfare to succeed. 39:10 – Jim talks about whether Putin will be a threat or not. 45:20 – Prices can fall and remain long for a long time, especially in places like Houston. 53:15 – Jim doesn't think the drop in oil prices is why things are cheaper. He believes it's also due to technological advancements. 56:48 – It's in the government's favor to have inflation. According to Jim, all roads lead to inflation. Tweetables: “For oil prices, this is a political price, it's not a fundamental price.” “Global demand is not what it needs to be to soak up all the vast industrial capacity that's been created globally.” “Do you want jobs in the US or do you want low cost products?” Mentioned In This Episode: The Oil Card by James R. Norman   The WEALTH TRANSFER is happening FAST! Protect your financial future now! Did you know that 25% to 40% of all dollars ever created were dumped into the economy last year???  This will be devastating to some and an opportunity to others, be sure you're on the right side of this massive wealth transfer. Learn from our experiences, maximize your ROI and avoid regrets. Watch, subscribe and comment on Jason's videos on his official YouTube channel: YouTube.com/c/JasonHartmanRealEstate/videos Free Mini-Book on Pandemic Investing: PandemicInvesting.com Jason's TV Clips: Vimeo.com/549444172  CYA Protect Your Assets, Save Taxes & Estate Planning: JasonHartman.com/Protect What do Jason's clients say?: JasonHartmanTestimonials.com Free Class:  Easily get up to $250,000 in funding for real estate, business or anything else:  JasonHartman.com/Fund Call our Investment Counselors at: 1-800-HARTMAN (US) or visit JasonHartman.com Free white paper on the Hartman Comparison Index™  Guided Visualization for Investors: JasonHartman.com/visualization Jason's videos in his other sites: JasonHartman.com/Rumble JasonHartman.com/Bitchute JasonHartman.com/Odysee      

Do you know how powerful a personal brand can be?

Jim Norman, founder of the Sit With Me App and Season 3 sponsor, is an entrepreneur with a track record of building successful businesses. His newest venture, the Sit With Me App, aims to turn servers into salespeople and provide them with the tools to earn more. In this episode, Jim explains the app, details his journey, and asks some questions of his own.

Publisher RA “Kris” Millegan talks with James Norman about “Fostergate” - rampant corruption at high levels of the US government, secretive bank spying activities of the National Security Agency, and wholesale trafficking in state secrets. (Jim also wrote “The Oil Card: Global Economic Warfare in the 21st Century.”)

Publisher RA “Kris” Millegan talks with James Norman about “Fostergate” - rampant corruption at high levels of the US government, secretive bank spying activities of the National Security Agency, and wholesale trafficking in state secrets. (Jim also wrote “The Oil Card: Global Economic Warfare in the 21st Century.”)Fostergate, Promis software, high-level corruption, state secrets, Vince Foster

Today's Flash Back Friday comes from episode 502, originally published in April 13, 2015 Jason Hartman reads a listener question about the rental rates decreasing and what to do about it. He also invites Jurgen Neugebohrn to the show and answers some of his personal questions. Jurgen is in the oil industry in Saudi Arabia and is interested in the real estate market. He has some very interesting questions for Jason to answer and picks Jason's brain on investing in real estate.  Read the full transcription HERE. Key Takeaways: 4:50 – You don't hear about the people who have lost money investing in low rent to value ratio markets.  7:25 – Jason reads a listener question about rental rates decreasing.  12:15 – Remember to join our Memphis property tour!  13:50 – Jason introduces Jurgen, an online listener, to the show.  19:50 – What's Saudi Arabia like?  23:30 – According to Jim Norman, the reason why oil prices are so low now is because the US is trying to economically hurt Russia and Venezuela.  25:00 Jason explains why he disagrees with Harry Dent.  32:00 – Jason doesn't have a check list on what you should buy because properties vary depending on the investor's needs.  35:35 – Jurgen asks one last question about Fernando's independence day.  Mentioned In This Episode:  The Oil Card by Jim Norman The WEALTH TRANSFER is happening FAST! Protect your financial future now! Did you know that 25% to 40% of all dollars ever created were dumped into the economy last year???  This will be devastating to some and an opportunity to others, be sure you're on the right side of this massive wealth transfer. Learn from our experiences, maximize your ROI and avoid regrets. Free Mini-Book on Pandemic Investing: https://www.PandemicInvesting.com Jason's TV Clips: https://vimeo.com/549444172  Asset Protection, Tax Savings & Estate Planning: http://JasonHartman.com/Protect  What do Jason's clients say? http://JasonHartmanTestimonials.com Easily get up to $250,000 in funding for real estate, business or anything else  http://JasonHartman.com/Fund  Call our Investment Counselors at: 1-800-HARTMAN (US) or visit www.JasonHartman.com  Guided Visualization for Investors: http://jasonhartman.com/visualization

Exploiters Attack Animal Advisory Committee This was an email from Carole to Howie explaining who was behind the campaign to remove me from the Animal Advisory Committee.   Complaint by Exotic Pet Owners Uniting c/o Penny Stoven at justbarnyard   I don't know if she is just beyond understanding, or if she doesn't want to understand.  She doesn't want her chat list EPOU.org to be listed on our web site and asked me to remove it, but it was in the body of the letter we wrote to Commissioner Blair because Raven Simons had cross posted it from EPOU's site to the Phoenix Exotics site and that is where we found it to include in our letter to Commissioner Blair to show him this was an organized effort of the exotic pet people to discredit Big Cat Rescue by having me removed from the Animal Advisory Committee.   I explained to her that I couldn't delete a portion of the letter because I was showing to the world the entirety of  what had transpired.  Neither she, nor her organization were referenced at all, as it just happened that the email had their address in it.   This is the substance of what she is complaining about, which was in the body of the letter to Commissioner Blair:   …Below is an email being circulated by these people to generate the emails that you no doubt will have received from this group over the weekend.  Since they are urging that they be sent by Sunday June 4, I suspect they somehow know that I have a tentative appointment to see you in a tiny gap that you may have in your schedule, although I understand it may close if you run late.   Below is the email that was circulated to generate emails to you this past weekend:   From: EPOU On Behalf Of Raven Simons Sent: Friday, June 02, 2006 5:59 PM To: Subject: [EPOU] FW: FL Animal Rights activist removed from Animal Advisory   Hello all,  I am asking an important favor of everyone. Please write a thank you letter to Mr. Brian Blair for removing Carole Lewis Baskin (Big Cat Rescue and Humane USA) from the Hillsborough County Animal Advisory Committee. Carole is having a fit at being removed. Mr. Blair needs to show community support on this decision.   To all the bird people- This is the women that posted our names and address on her Humane USA website.   To all the pet owners- I welcome anyone to attend the meetings with us. This group called the Animal Advisory committee are nuts. They are extreme in their views.   Please feel free to forward this email to supportive individuals. We need as many letters as possible by Sunday 6/4/06. Anyone and everyone can write a letter, not just Hillsborough County people. This effects any animal owner. Counties tend to follow each other's lead.   Animal rights activist do not have a place on an advisory committee. They have a personal agenda that is not in anyone's best interest, including the animals.   Mr. Blair can be reached at Blairb@hillsboroughcounty.org . I am including the letter that I sent.  Thank you,  Lisa   (Carole's note: I am not sure if this letter was from Lisa Walker or Lisa Welch, but both were animal exploiters who hated me.) From the future; this is who Lisa Walker was & how it turned out:   2010-09-09 Brian Blair lost his seat as Commissioner in the election.   2010-09-23 Jim Norman appointed Lisa Walker to the Animal Advisory Board.  She was one of the people who filed one of the false BBB complaints against us.   When Carole Baskin and Big Cat Rescue became known for trying to stop the trade in exotic cats as pets, several of the exotics dealers enlisted pet breeders to began slandering her in an attempt to draw the attention off the subject; Dangerous Animals as Pets, which is not a subject anyone can defend, and try to misdirect attention in any way she can.  Carole Baskin had advocated strongly for laws that banned dog fighting in 2006 and 2007.  Carole had been appointed to the Animal Advisory Committee and was elected President with a primary task of reducing the euthanasia rate in Hillsborough County.     Surveys show that 3/4 of all the dogs who end up euthanized in shelters are pit bulls.  The only exceptions are in the areas where mandatory sterilization of pit bulls occurs and in those places pit bulls make up 1/3 of the animals killed in shelters.  People who breed pit bulls say they do it because they love the animal, but just like with exotic pet owners, it typically isn't the animal they love, it is the ego trip possessing that animal gives them, that they love.   Lisa Walker was often an attendee at the Animal Advisory Board meetings to deter the county from banning pit bulls.  On June 20, 2007 she testified before the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners on the subject of dog bites asking that education be substituted for breed bans.  Since there is no money for such educational programs, it essentially allows them to continue to breed animals that were selectively bred to kill.     Breeders like Lisa Walker and exotic pet dealers worked together to have Carole Baskin removed by Brian Blair from the Animal Advisory Committee.  Lisa Walker lives with her fiancee Reid Hutches and they are pit bull breeders.  The address she used in her false complaint about Big Cat Rescue is registered to Reid Hutches.  Several places on the web refer to Lisa Walker as the main contact for the Mid-Florida APBTC and use the same number as on her complaint: (813) 8175.  She is listed as the secretary of the Mid FL APBTA and claims to be a non profit organization and solicits donations online, but as of 10/16/07 the name Mid Florida American Pit Bull Terrier Association cannot be found as listed on the Division of Consumer Services web site.  Soliciting in FL without being registered subjects the violator to $1,000.00 a day in fines.   I've been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views.  If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story.  The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/   I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story.  My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet.     You can help feed the cats at no cost to you using Amazon Smile! Visit BigCatRescue.org/Amazon-smile   You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org   Check out our main channel at YouTube.com/BigCatRescue   Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.

2005 Annual Report   Big Cat Rescue's Mission Statement:  To provide the best home we can for the animals in our care and to reduce the number of cats that suffer the fate of abuse, abandonment or extinction by teaching people about the plight of the cats, both in the wild and in captivity, and how they can help through their behavior and support of better laws to protect the cats.   Advances:  In 2005 the IRS reported that there are 964,000 registered charities in the U.S.  Only 81 of them qualify for and display the BBB Wise Giving Alliance Standards seal.  Big Cat Rescue is one of them. This seal confirms that the organization meets all 23 of the Standards for Charity Accountability. We have become so well known in the area, that our volunteers complain about wearing our logos in public because everyone loves us so much they just have to stop us and tell us so. Howie Baskin helped a Girl Scout troop organize our first Golf Tournament which netted 15,000.00. Invested in undercover surveillance equipment to shed light on the dirty truth behind the exhibition and exploitation of exotic cats.   Animal Care:  We added more whole prey to our cats' weekly diets and switched over to a prepared diet created by Natural Balance that improves their health via vitamin supplements. Faith the baby bobcat was upgraded to a much larger and more challenging Cat-a-tat where she had to learn to “out-fox” her food. Later, after completing her survival training, she was released onto 17,000 acres of pristine bobcat habitat.  President Jamie Veronica, and the interns track her weekly to insure that she is thriving on her own. We had to turn away 85 big cats that were no longer wanted by their owners but we rescued Snorkle the tiger from a circus owner and brought in tigers: India, Nyla, King, Princess and Narak from the circus. Rescued three baby mountain lions who were orphaned by a hunter in Idaho.  Their names are Artemis, Ares and Orion and they were neutered and spayed this year so that they can always stay together.   Staff and Volunteer Training:  Jamie Veronica got licensed by the state to be able to pick up injured or escaped wildlife.  In the past it had to be brought to us by someone who was so licensed .  Cathy Mayeski and Jen Rusczcyk completed the Clicker Training Expo in CA and now have 57 of our cats in the Operant Conditioning program. Jen organized and developed the Enrichment program making it one of the best in the country.   Jamie Veronica took the Intern Program to the next level and manages their housing, group activities and scheduling.  The Volunteer Committee re-wrote the Volunteer Program and the Intern Program and have updated ALL of our volunteers level of certification through testing. Some of our members attended the EARS training. (Emergency Animal Rescue Service) Hired green shirt Sharon Marszal to work filling orders for the gift shop and sent her to eBay training classes.  Read books on Non Profit Marketing, Adobe Photoshop, Dreamweaver and Flash to perfect our skills in these areas.   Education:  Our Education Director, Kathryn Quaas, is partnering with the Florida Aquarium to promote several joint efforts for schools and summer camps. We did legislative presentations to Stetson Law University on three occasions this year promoting a register to vote drive.  The Fur Ball CD of games, puzzles, screensavers and more were given to the 500 attendees with 300 extra being used as rewards for children who answer questions correctly during her presentations and field trips.   Howard began working with the Greenfund Network to create a joint venture in schools where kids turn in ink cartridges for recycling in bags that tell about Big Cat Rescue so that both their school and the sanctuary can benefit from the program.  Some kids may not care about raising money for scholarships, but they do care about saving tigers and this is a way to inspire them to keep these cartridges out of the landfills.   Filmed the rescue of three orphaned baby cougars with David Hurd Productions for use on the Animal Planet's new series that will be aired repeatedly, and thus help educate people about what is happening to their precious wildlife in the name of sport.  Six local libraries now stock our video, The Big Cat Picture in their documentary sections.   The portion of our web site that is devoted to education aimed at children through learning games has grown in leaps and bounds.  We added hundreds and hundreds of puzzles, free wallpapers, free screensavers and other educational activities that feature photos and drawings of the cats along with our message that “Exotic Animals Don't Make Good Pets!”  Began compiling worksheets and coloring pages for a educational handbook for students next year. Added FCAT lesson plans to our Teacher's Resource area. Used the Google grant to broadcast the availability of these teaching aids to students, their parents and teachers.  We participated in a study with Odd Cast that resulted in us being awarded 100,000 free streams for our Virtual Hosts.   Legislation:  Founder, Carole Baskin was unanimously elected to serve on the Board of the Humane USA Political Action Committee.  She was also appointed to the steering committee of the Florida Chapter of Humane USA. We enlisted the Florida Animal Control Association to help us approach the State of Florida in an effort to change the rules to better protect the animals and the public.  We were joined by HSUS and Humane USA in this endeavor and have asked the National Fraternity of Police Officers to join us as well. Carole was also appointed by Commissioner Brian Blair to serve on the Animal Advisory Committee and was elected secretary.  In November she was unanimously nominated to serve as Chair of the Animal Advisory Committee. We attended the Tampa Bay Partnership's Tampa Bay Day in Tallahassee and met with 25% of the state's legislators to ask for better animal protection laws.   We began promoting our Legislative portion of our web site that is dedicated to educating the public and legislators about animal welfare bills. 1,111,647 pages of bills were viewed by visitors.  We rallied support for the Federal bills to stop canned hunts with an aggressive online letter campaign to get people to ask their senators and representatives to co-sponsor this bill that would make it illegal to transport exotic animals across state lines for the purpose of injuring or killing them. We promoted hundreds of bills at the state and federal level. In just the first year we were responsible for 20,969 letters being sent to congress on behalf of the animals.   We launched our first online petitions and gathered 494 signatures on one to ban breeding and sale of exotic cats and 1878 signatures on 10 things we want legislators to know which includes the banning and breeding of exotic cats. We also launched our first online polls to see how people feel about issues such as animals in the circus, bobcats and cougars being hunted, exotic animal pets and more.  Response has been terrific and we are finding that roughly 85% of the public loves animals and want better laws to protect them and 90% do not want to see big cats being made to perform.   Attended AZA's Legislative session and Taking Action for Animals in Washington, DC.  Met with our Senators and Congressmen in D.C. and here locally to discuss the exotic animal issues. County Administrator, Pat Bean and Animal Services Director, Bill Armstrong both toured and interacted with the cats, learning about how we use operant conditioning for emergency preparedness.  We hosted tours for Hillsborough County Commissioners: Kathy Castor, Ronda Storms, Jim Norman, Ken Hagan, and for aids to Brian Blair and Mark Sharp.  We also toured Pinellas County Commissioners: Ronnie Duncan and Karen Seel.  We introduced these commissioners and State Representatives Kim Berfield and aids for Kevin Ambler along with team players for gubernatorial candidate Jim Davis so that they have a better understanding of why Florida needs laws to prevent the private ownership of dangerous exotic pets.   Requested that we be appointed to the state's Captive Wildlife Committee but were denied as the Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission decided to comprise the committee of exotic pet owners.  State Legislators made it known later that the Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission “had better fix this exotic animal problem or the legislature was going to get involved and FWCC was not going to like it.”  Began working on a memo with the help of former gubernatorial candidate Bill McBride's law firm that affirms a County's right to impose laws that do regulate exotic animal ownership as long as those laws do not single out exotic pet from other provisions that would apply to all.  In the past the Counties often thought they were helpless in the face of the constitutional amendment that had granted the Fish and Game agency the ability to act outside of the legislative process that all other states enjoy.   Fundraising and Marketing:  We had our first ever $10,000.00 day of tours and private tours in December.  Implemented our first direct mail campaign at Christmas with a request to support the three orphaned cougars.  We doubled the price of the Fur Ball tickets from 55.00 and 75.00 to 100.00 and 150.00 and raised a net of $60,000.00 (up from 40,465 last year) with only 500 attendees.  This enabled everyone to have a better time because there were no lines and our volunteers found it much easier to deal with 500 people at check out as opposed to 850 like we had last year at lower prices.  We discovered last year that at 55.00 we were just breaking even and for people for whom that was a lot of money we found that they did not spend money in the auctions so we had to evaluate whether the Fur Ball was a donor thank you party or a fundraiser and deciding it was the latter made the agonizing decision to double the price.   Opened an online store on eBay to reach a broader market with our logo's items and unique offerings. We tried MagFundraising.com for the first time and raised almost 3000.00 in magazine subscription commissions.  Our volunteers raised $3000.00 wrapping books at Borders Books.  Invested in Telosa's Donor Management software. We were given the front and back page of the Tampa Tribune's Commentary section and have been on several national programs including CNN, Fox, Animal Atlas on Discovery Channel and Animal Planet.   We purchased a second terminal for our Point of Sale system due to the overlap of tours beginning and ending in the gift shop.  In Jan our web site was averaging 170,000 hits per day and by the end of the year was reaching more than 300,000 hits per day with a surge to 744,000 hits per day thanks to a Google Adwords grant for unlimited advertising for three months. Cox radio gave us more than 100 on air spots to advertise the Valentine's Day wedding at Big Cat Rescue and gave us 300 more free advertising spots on air for our golf tournament on two stations. They also donated 300 spots for the Fur Ball.   Jamie Veronica's photos have been used in Biodiversity Magazine by Tropical Conservancy, and we created a Stock Photo portion of our website where featured artists donate their work and we sell the images online.  We set up Cafe Press and Zazzle sites to sell her images to raise money for the cats.  We were asked to apply for the WEDU's charity awards for our fundraising and marketing achievements.  The ink recycling program with Greenfund Network has succeeded far beyond our initial goals thanks to marketing the envelopes through our newsletter with now has a circulation of more than 35,000 homes.  We are candidates for the Webby Awards with the winner to be announced in 2006.   We created several video productions that tell viewers what we do including Orange Sky by Jamie Veronica and the Two Minute Tour by David Hurd.  In addition to this we created several new interactive slideshows including one called Born To Be Free that contrasts life in cages to life in the wild.  We started our first automatic direct deductions for banks and credit cards and a program with Albertson's where participating card carriers can have part of their purchases donated to us.  We created our first Big Cat Travel site that allows people to get the best Priceline prices on airfare, car and hotel rental, cruises and event tickets with the commissions paid to Big Cat Rescue.  Carole lost 17 more pounds with Matol and set up www.Matol-Diet.com so that others can lose weight, build their own home business and the commissions go to the cats as well. Volunteer Beth Stewart created and marketed a calendar of our sanctuary called Saving Big Cats.  This calendar was available at Amazon.com, Borders.com and BarnesAndNoble.com and we sold a number on site and on line as well.  The calendar was produced by TideMark Productions and featured photos of our cats for every month and their personal rescue stories.   With the help of Teasdale Worldwide Howard Baskin created our first formal Corporate Sponsorship program, both in general and for the Fur Ball.  We held special kid's tours after Thanksgiving and Christmas and were packed and got a lot of good press coverage for doing something for the kids.  We were in the press 48 times in 2005 and many of these were interviews with Scott Lope.  We were in Glamour Magazine twice, on CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Inside Edition and were instrumental in providing background information for Parade Magazines' piece on the exotic pet trade and for ABC's Prime Time that should air next year.  We have a PSA that was made jointly with the Girl Scouts of America that is airing nationally to encourage young people to get involved and do something good in their community.  We ended the year with money in the bank to begin building our Big Cat Lodge.   Grounds Improvement:  Completed two more tiger Cat-a-tats for the circus tigers in case of emergency. New Cat-a-tats were built for cougars; Mack and Cleo along with hurricane proof dens for each of them.  Cages were reshaped and room additions built for Caracals; Rusty & Sassy and Cachinga & Cachanga.  The same was done for the Serval; Alpha, Bobcats; Alex & Windsong and Banshee.  In addition many of the cats got hammocks, swinging platforms, secondary dens just to play in and Alex & Windsong got a new fort.  Tonga was moved and his old roofless cage was turned into a temporary playground for the three orphaned cougars.   The E-Center was whimsically painted to look like a leopard and the Cabins were painted by volunteer Julie Hanan to look like a tiger.  Butterfly gardens were added by Kathryn Quaas and the kids of summer camp to the Cabin area.  We moved the cavies off the tour route to a much larger enclosure and tore down the old otter cages that they had lived in on the lake.  The area was cleared so that there is a beautiful view of the lake and the tigers and lions beyond now.   Brought in a new Intern home that is a 4BR/2BA and Vern built a deck that is perfect for socializing after a long day of cat chores. Cleared all Brazilian Peppers from the back forty and built a road around the cell tower to make the back parcel more accessible. This area required heavy clearing and then bush hogging of dog fennel and some fill over the concrete to turn it into a lovely park like area.  Stood falling wall back up. Weeded and planted ferns at the beach. Began massive clean up of Styrofoam from lake banks. Bought a new shed for the two new golf carts and a new riding mower.  Added lots of filing cabinets and storage cabinets to the gift shop and office. The fenced waiting area had a cola machine, waterfall and lots of landscaping and mulching added to create a nice place for guests to wait for their tours.  Donor recognition signs were added to this area.   Bought three more acres for alternate access and parking and cleared the land of dog fennel so that we can keep it mowed.  Took on debt for the first time in our history with the purchase of this land.  Began negotiations with Outback and the County on building a multi use Education and Conference Center called the Big Cat Lodge.  Unveiled the new conceptual drawings of this improvement created by Collman and Karsky with help from Genesis at the Fur Ball. Applied for a Planned Development for this additional 3 acres to give us cross access, parking and 6 more residences for interns and volunteers.   Helping Others:  We invited other animal welfare groups to use our Legislative tools in customized banners on their web sites so that they could encourage their visitors to write their representatives about important animal welfare issues. We hosted the Alzheimer's Memory Walk for 600 walkers who raised 50,000 for Alzheimer's victims. Worked with PAKT to help them negotiate a deal with the circus and AZA for promoting responsible, life time care for animals who have had to work for a living. Continued to help ACT by driving the Spay Day trailer each month so that 100-160 cats per month can be spayed.   Charities that we donated to this year in the form of Free Passes to our sanctuary:  100 passes to No More Homeless Pets Adopt-a-thon 30 passes and gift certificate for a Big Cat Expedition to Florida Voices for Animals, Donated a Big Cat Expedition, a Feeding Tour and more to Animal Coalition of Tampa for their Some Enchanted Evening fundraiser and the same again to their Stride For Strays walk-a-thon. Donated the use of our facility to the Humane Society of Tampa Bay for their Volunteer Appreciation party and to National Humane Society for their volunteer and donor recognition party at Christmas. Donated an Expedition and Two for One Passes to SPOT and worked with them to create a segment on Pinellas County's Public Access Channel. Hosted a party for a team of Florida Panther protectors.   We raised 1250.00 each for EARS and HSUS to aid the animal victims of Katrina and 1000.00 each for conservation programs to save the margay in Brazil, to help start an eco tourism lodge in Guyana and to assist Lewa in Africa.   Other:  Gave a private tour to Toronto Blue Jay's Shea Hillenbrand. Customized a golf cart for hurricane use by creating a cat-proof cage to drop down over the carriage so that we can access any part of the property in the event of a cat being loose.   In a year when tsunamis, earthquakes and hurricanes ravaged the globe and other sanctuaries, even good ones, found themselves considering the euthanasia of their animals rather than let them starve due to the drop in donations we were able to thrive.  We are thankful to our staff and volunteers who worked tirelessly to make this possible and to all of our donors and visitors who kept our cats fed in these worst of times.   The saddest news is that we now have to turn away nearly 100 exotic cats every year, because we cannot afford to take in all of them that are being bred and sold into the entertainment, pet and zoo industries.  The most common victims are Lions, Tigers, Cougars, Servals, Caracals and Bobcats.  We are now devoting more time to raising awareness and trying to get laws enacted that will protect these magnificent creatures from man.   The mission has evolved from just saving the cats that ended up in places like fur farms, hunting ranches and auctions, to making a difference on a global scale. People who come here and spend time with our cats are transformed.  I hear, over and over again, how people feel like their lives were changed forever by knowing these animals on such a personal level.  Many times I have heard visitors say, “I looked into that cat's eyes, and I saw God!”   For many of them, it is the first time that they have ever felt that they were intimately connected with the rest of creation.  It is a wake up call that we are all ONE.   It is my dream to integrate the beauty and majesty of the great cats with the inner awakening we can enhance in our visitors.  By making people more aware, we can make the world a better place.   Our Officers and Board of Directors • President Jamie Veronica (not compensated by BCR) • Vice President & BOD Cathy Mayeski (not compensated by BCR) • Secty/ Treasurer  Vernon C. Stairs (not compensated by BCR) • Director and Coordinator Brian Czarnik (not compensated by BCR) These members met for monthly board meetings.   Paid Staff: • Operations Manager  Scott Lope (compensated but not a member of the board) • Gift Shop Manager Cynthia Montayre (compensated but not a member of the board) • Administrative Sharon Marszal (compensated but not a member of the board)  

'Wasted Time' by Don Henley, Glenn Frey, & Jim Norman. Playfully, lightly murdered here for your amusement by moi after two previous botched attempts (and one attempt to beat a dead horse after this recording was mercy-scrapped).

Season 4 Ep. 14Circus freaks/side shows "When you're born, you get a ticket to the freak show. When you're born in America, you get a front row seat." -- George Carlin    The “freak show,” or “sideshow,” rose to prominence in 16th century England. For centuries, cultures around the world had interpreted severe physical deformities as bad omens or evidence that evil spirits were present; by the late 1500s, these stigmas had translated into public curiosity.                   Businessmen scouted people with abnormalities, swooped them up, and shuttled them throughout Europe, charging small fees for viewings. One of the earliest recorded “freaks” of this era was Lazarus Colloredo, an “otherwise strapping” Italian whose brother, Joannes, protruded, upside down, from his chest. The conjoined twins “both fascinated and horrified the general public,” and the duo even made an appearance before King Charles I in the early 1640s. Castigated from society, people like Lazarus  capitalized on their unique conditions to make a little cash -- even if it meant being made into a public spectacle. Whether it was a person with dwarfism acting as a jester or clown for an individual monarch, or a person with a unique physical impairment displaying her body for the eyes of a curious and gawking public, freaking—exploiting the perceived peculiarities of your own body for an audience—was a means of support for some disabled people who might otherwise have died or struggled to survive. But until the 19th century, freak shows catered to relatively small crowds and didn’t yield particularly healthy profits for showmen or performers. It was in the mid nineteenth and early 20th centuries that freak shows had become a viable commercial enterprise in England and the U.S. alike. America and England both had men who would come into prominence by employing (or exploiting depending on whom you talk too)these types of folks for profit purposes. In England it was a man named Tom Norman. TOM NORMANTom Norman was born on 7 May 1860 in Dallington, Sussex and was the eldest of 17 children. His real name was Noakes and his father Thomas was a butcher who resided at the Manor House in Dallington. According to his autobiography he left home at the age of fourteen to seek fame and fortune on the road and before long he had found employment as a butcher’s assistant in London. Tom first became involved in showbusiness a year later when he went into partnership with a showman who had a penny gaff shop in Islington, exhibiting Mlle Electra(not a typo). However, as is often the case with Tom Norman, the facts are difficult to piece together from the legend and the first record we have for a showman called Norman from this time can be traced to the Agricultural Hall in Islington, the venue for The World’s Fair. Some of the showmen on view that day included the famous Tommy Dodd and his wife, "The smallest people in the world;" and a giant boy aged seventeen. Other showmen presenting attractions were Williams's Ghost Show; Chittock and Testo's dog and monkey circus and Mander’s Huge Collection of Wild Beasts. However, both The Era newspaper report and the handbill for the event note the presence of Norman's performing fishes, which reputedly could not only talk but also play the pianoforte; and Norman’s French Artillery Giant Horse. In his autobiography which was incomplete before his death in 1930, Norman states that he was fifteen when he first appeared at the World’s Fair. Therefore, the Norman mentioned could either have been a showman whose name Tom Noakes went on to use, or he was actually 13 years old when he first left home.By the 1870s the young aspiring showman had been involved in a number of careers including exhibiting Eliza Jenkins, the Skeleton Woman, a popular novelty show at the time, the Balloon Headed Baby and a whole range of freak show attractions as he stated in his autobiography:“But you could indeed exhibit anything in those days. Yes anything from a needle to an anchor, a flea to an elephant, a bloater you could exhibit as a whale. It was not the show, it was the tale that you told.”Perhaps one of the more gruesome shows he was involved with, was 'the woman who bit live rat heads off. 'In his autobiography Tom Norman describes the act a the most gruesome he had ever seen:“Dick Bakers wife, who used to be with me and gave I think now, the most repulsive performance, that I have ever had or seen, during the whole of my long career. it consisted of Mrs Baker, putting her naked hand into a cage, fetch out a live rat and proceed to bite its head off.”The effect on the audience was such wrote Tom that:“More than once, have I seen a member of either sex of the audience, fall forward in a faint during this extraordinary performance.”Tom Norman’s ability to tell the tale was the scene of one of his greatest compliments when in 1882 he was performing at the Royal Agricultural Hall. Unaware that the great showman P. T. Barnum(well get to him don't worry) was in the audience, Tom informed the crowd that none other than the greatest showman on earth had booked the show for its entire run. Upon meeting Tom Norman, Barnum pointed to the large silver Albert chain which he wore and said 'Silver King eh'. Despite being found out, Tom Norman took this as a compliment and from then on he became known as The Silver King.Throughout the 1880s his fame as a showman grew and by 1883 he had thirteen penny gaff shops throughout London including locations such as Whitechapel, Hammersmith, Croydon and Edgeware Road. He still continued to travel with his shows and Norman’s Grand Panorama was a highlight of the Christmas Fair for the 1883/84 season in Islington. It was at this time that Norman came into contact with Joseph Merrick through a showman called George Hitchcock who proposed that Norman took over the London management of the Elephant Man. This episode in Norman’s life is shrouded in controversy as Sir Frederick Treeves, the surgeon who reputedly rescued Joseph Merrick or John as he calls him, blackened the character of Norman in his autobiography published in 1923. There are differing accounts of the way Merrick was treated by Norman. Treeves maintains that he was treated poorly by Norman and simply exploited. There are others who claim that Norman treated Merrick extremely well and that Merrick was never healthier or happier than with Norman. The Elephant Man was managed by Tom for only a few months and after the London shop was closed by the police, Joseph Merrick was taken back by the consortium of Leicester businessmen and placed in the hands of Sam Roper, a travelling showman.Tom Norman’s career continued after the Elephant Man and over the next ten year he became involved with managing a troupe of midgets, exhibiting the famous Man in a Trance show at Nottingham Goose Fair, Mary Anne Bevan the World’s Ugliest Woman, John Chambers the Armless Carpenter and Leonine the Lion Faced Lady. In January 1893, the following advertisement appeared in The Era newspaper and seems to imply that Tom was thinking of leaving England for the Worlds’ Fair which was being held in Chicago. The advertisement appeared for the following weeks and although no details are available as to their final outcome they do give us a glimpse into the type of shows Tom Norman was exhibiting at the time. “Wanted, to Sell, 10ft Living Carriage, Light, One-horse Load, already Fitted for Road, £25, worth £35; also Novelty Booth, good as new, Size, 9ft by18ft, with Novelty and Four New Brass Lamps, with Filler and Oil Drum, by Mellor and Sons, £4; also Piano Organ, nearly New, scarcely soiled, TenTunes, by Capra, suit Waxworks or any Shop Exhibition, £7, worth £18; also Two Fat Paintings, Best on the Road, by Leach, Size 9ft by 10ft, ditto One, same size of Skeleton Girl, all good as new; also Two others of Fats, size 6ft by Thornhill, with large Case to carry the lot, £5, cost £20; also 9ft Square Booth for Performing Fleas, with Two Grand Oil Paintings for same, price £1; also Aerial Suspension for Child 15s; also the Largest Silver Albert in England, made expressly for me, £3, cost £6. The whole of the above to be sold together or separate. Can be seen any time. Reason, I am leaving for Chicago. Apply any Morning before 12.0 to TOM NORMAN, Silver King, Pearce's Temperance Hotel, Elephant and Castle, SE”.In 1896 Tom met and married Amy Rayner at the Royal Agricultural Hall and their marriage lasted until his death in 1930. At that time Tom was travelling his famous Midget show and the Ghost show he had bought from John Parker. Their first son Tom was born in 1899 and was soon followed by Hilda, Ralph, Jimmy, Nelly, Arthur, Amy, Jack, Daisy and George.Soon after the birth of his first son, Tom became an auctioneer and the first show he sold belonged to Fred and George Ginnett. His career as an auctioneer prospered and some of the most famous shows he sold included Lord George Sanger and Frank Bostock's.He advertised in both The Era and The Showman newspapers as the recognised Showman’s Auctioneer and Valuer throughout 1901 and early clients in 1902 included W. T. Kirkland who had concessions at Southport, Morecambe and New Brighton. He instituted the annual Showman and Travellers’ Auction Sales in London, Manchester and Liverpool from 1903 onwards and negotiated sales for showman such as Walter Payne, Edwin Lawrence and many others. His most famous sale to date place in 1905 when he organised the disposal of Lord George Sanger’s Zoo at Margate. This was followed by what Tom Norman described as the crowning point in my life as regards the auctioneering business, when he was called upon by Sanger to auction the whole of his travelling circus effects. The following tribute published in 1901 demonstrates the esteem in which he was held by the fairground fraternity:'Mr Norman believes in catering for modern tastes - brilliancy; brightness, cleanliness and order are Tom’s strong points'Tom Norman continued to travel with his shows and maintained his penny gaff shops in London while basing the auctioneering side of the business at his family home the Manor House Dallington. Although Tom did not reveal in his autobiography the reasons for changing his name, he obviously maintained links with his place of birth in order to base this part of his business activities there.In the period leading up the First World War, Tom was now the father of ten children, nine surviving and his sons Tom, Ralph, Jimmy, Arthur and George had inherited their father’s showmanship. Ralph Van became known as Hal Denver and travelled throughout Europe and America as a wild west performer, George and Arthur found fame as clowns in many of the world’s greatest circuses and Tom and Jim Norman remained on the fairground.By 1915 the family were firmly based in Croydon and Tom was starting to dispose of some of his business concerns when his eldest son Tom Jnr enlisted. The shops for sale included Tom Norman's New Exhibition with waxworks and novelty museum and the Croydon Central Auction Rooms. Tom slowly retired from the fairground business and although he maintained his auctioneering concerns, he mainly concentrated on buying and selling caravans and dealing in horses for circuses and pantomimes. After the end of the first World War, Tom became restless again and appeared at the Olympia Circus in 1919 with Phoebe the Strange Girl and exhibited at Birmingham and Dreamland, Margate in 1921. Tom also returned to the venue where he had first started, The Royal Agricultural Hall and worked there throughout the 1920s although he was living in semi-retirement at the family base in Beddington Lane, Croydon.Tom Norman left behind a comfortable professional birthright to become one of the leading travelling showmen of his day. The benevolence he showed to his fellow showmen, his association with the newly formed Van Dwelling’s Association and his role in the United Kingdom Temperance Association demonstrate the injustice done to his reputation by inaccurate accounts of The Elephant Man. He died in Croydon on 24 August 1930, while according to his son George Van Norman, making plans to travel to a large auction show around the country.The following tribute was published in the World’s Fair.'There are very few showmen who have not met the famous showman’s auctioneer, “The Silver King”, He has been a conspicuous and charismatic figure in our business for the past half a century and has conducted more showman’ sales than any other auctioneer in the country... During his fifty years with us, he has endeared himself to all section from the humblest to the highest. He was a charming personality with a commanding appearance that left a lifetime impression upon anyone that he met. All his life he has been a showman and as such he died.'So that's England's great showman, the man who really helped bring freak shows to prominence ther. But as i mentioned earlier, the U.S. had one as well. He was brought up earlier and I'm sure you all know who it is.. Good old Phineas Taylor Barnum, better known as P.T. Now, now i'm sure most of you know at least a little about him, or have at some point as a kid been to a circus with his name somewhere in the title. Some of you younger listeners may have missed out on the joys of the circus. Were gonna take a loom at his life and how he rose to prominence.P.T. BARNUMBarnum was born in Bethel, Connecticut, the son of innkeeper, tailor, and store-keeper Philo Barnum (1778–1826) and his second wife Irene Taylor. His maternal grandfather Phineas Taylor was a Whig, legislator, landowner, justice of the peace, and lottery schemer who had a great influence on him.Barnum was 15 years old when his father died, and the support of his mother and his five sisters and brothers fell largely upon his shoulders. After holding a variety of jobs, he became publisher of a Danbury, Connecticut, weekly newspaper, Herald of Freedom. Arrested three times for libel, he enjoyed his first taste of notoriety.In 1829, at age 19, Barnum married a 21-year-old Bethel woman, Charity Hallett, who was to bear him four daughters. In 1834 he moved to New York City, where he found his vocation as a showman. He began his career as a showman in 1835 when he was 25 with the purchase and exhibition of a blind and almost completely paralyzed slave woman named Joice Heth, whom an acquaintance was trumpeting around Philadelphia as George Washington's former nurse and 161 years old. Slavery was already outlawed in New York, but he exploited a loophole which allowed him to lease her for a year for $1,000, borrowing $500 to complete the sale. Heth died in February 1836, at no more than 80 years old. Barnum had worked her for 10 to 12 hours a day, and he hosted a live autopsy of her body in a New York saloon where spectators paid 50 cents to see the dead woman cut up, as he revealed that she was likely half her purported age. It was very common for Barnum's acts to be schemes and not altogether true. Barnum was fully aware of the improper ethics behind his business as he said, "I don't believe in duping the public, but I believe in first attracting and then pleasing them." During the 1840s Barnum began his museum, which had a constantly rotating acts schedule, which included The Fat Lady, midgets, giants, and other people deemed to be freaks. The museum drew in about 400,000 visitors a year.THE AMERICAN MUSEUM During the 1840s Barnum began his museum, which had a constantly rotating acts schedule, which included The Fat Lady, midgets, giants, and other people deemed to be freaks. The museum drew in about 400,000 visitors a year.[14]P.T. Barnum's American Museum was one of the most popular museums in New York City to exhibit freaks. In 1841 Barnum purchased The American Museum, which made freaks the major attraction, following mainstream America in the mid-19th century. Barnum was known to advertise aggressively and make up outlandish stories about his exhibits. The façade of the museum was decorated with bright banners showcasing his attractions and included a band that performed outside. Barnum's American Museum also offered multiple attractions that not only entertained but tried to educate and uplift its working-class visitors. Barnum offered one ticket that guaranteed admission to his lectures, theatrical performances, an animal menagerie, and a glimpse at curiosities both living and dead.One of Barnum's exhibits centered around Charles Sherwood Stratton, the dwarf billed as "General Tom Thumb" who was then 4 years of age but was stated to be 11. Charles had stopped growing after the first 6 months of his life, at which point he was 25 inches (64 cm) tall and weighed 15 pounds (6.8 kg). With heavy coaching and natural talent, the boy was taught to imitate people from Hercules to Napoleon. By 5, he was drinking wine, and by 7 smoking cigars for the public's amusement. During 1844–45, Barnum toured with Tom Thumb in Europe and met Queen Victoria, who was amused and saddened by the little man, and the event was a publicity coup. Barnum paid Stratton handsomely - about $150.00 a week. When Stratton retired, he lived in the most esteemed neighborhood of New York, he owned a yacht, and dressed in the nicest clothing he could buy.In 1860, The American Museum had listed and archived thirteen human curiosities in the museum, including an albino family, The Living Aztecs, three dwarfs, a black mother with two albino children, The Swiss Bearded Lady, The Highland Fat Boys, and What Is It? (Henry Johnson, a mentally disabled black man). Barnum introduced the "man-monkey" William Henry Johnson, a microcephalic black dwarf who spoke a mysterious language created by Barnum and was known as Zip the Pinhead . In 1862, he discovered the giantess Anna Swan and Commodore Nutt, a new Tom Thumb, with whom Barnum visited President Abraham Lincoln at the White House. During the Civil War, Barnum's museum drew large audiences seeking diversion from the conflict.Barnum's most popular and highest grossing act was the Tattooed Man, George Contentenus. He claimed to be a Greek-Albanian prince raised in a Turkish harem. He had 338 tattoos covering his body. Each one was ornate and told a story. His story was that he was on a military expedition but was captured by native people, who gave him the choice of either being chopped up into little pieces or receive full body tattoos. This process supposedly took three months and Contentenus was the only hostage who survived. He produced a 23-page book, which detailed every aspect of his experience and drew a large crowd. When Contentenus partnered with Barnum, he began to earn more than $1,000 a week($31,000 in 2020). His wealth became so staggering that the New York Times wrote, "He wears very handsome diamond rings and other jewelry, valued altogether at about $3,000 [roughly $93,000 in 2020 dollars] and usually goes armed to protect himself from persons who might attempt to rob him." Though Contentenus was very fortunate, other freaks were not. Upon his death in 1891, he donated about half of his life earnings to other freaks who Barnum retired in 1865 when his museum burnt to the ground. Though Barnum was and still is criticized for exploitation, he paid the performers fairly handsome sums of money. Some of the acts made the equivalent of what some sports stars make today. Between 1842, when he took over the American Museum, and 1868, when he gave it up after fires twice had all but destroyed it, Barnum’s gaudy showmanship enticed 82 million visitors—among them Henry and William James, Charles Dickens, and Edward VII, then prince of Wales—into his halls and to his other enterprises.  Barnum did not enter the circus business until he was 60 years old. He established "P. T. Barnum's Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan & Hippodrome" in Delavan, Wisconsin, in 1870 with William Cameron Coup; it was a traveling circus, menagerie, and museum of "freaks". It went through various names: "P. T. Barnum's Travelling World's Fair, Great Roman Hippodrome and Greatest Show on Earth", and "P. T. Barnum's Greatest Show on Earth, And The Great London Circus, Sanger's Royal British Menagerie and The Grand International Allied Shows United" after an 1881 merger with James Bailey and James L. Hutchinson, soon shortened to "Barnum & Bailey's". This entertainment phenomenon was the first circus to display three rings.[25] The show's first primary attraction was Jumbo, an African elephant that Barnum purchased in 1882 from the London Zoo. The Barnum and Bailey Circus still contained acts similar to his Traveling Menagerie, including acrobats, freak shows, and General Tom Thumb. Barnum persisted in growing the circus in spite of more fires, train disasters, and other setbacks, and he was aided by circus professionals who ran the daily operations. He and Bailey split up in 1885, but they came back together in 1888 with the "Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show On Earth", later "Barnum & Bailey Circus" which toured the world.Barnum was one of the first circus owners to move his circus by train, on the suggestion of Bailey and other business partners, and probably the first to own his own train. Given the lack of paved highways in America at that time, this turned out to be a shrewd decision that vastly expanded Barnum's geographical reach. In this new industry, Barnum leaned more on the advice of his partners, most of whom were young enough to be his sons.Barnum became known as the "Shakespeare of Advertising" due to his innovative and impressive ideas.     Barnum went on to write his autobiography and do something interesting, more interested in publicity than profits, he made his biography public domain. This meant that anyone who wanted to publish his biography could do so without having to secure rights for it. In his 81st year, Barnum fell gravely ill. At his request, a New York newspaper published his obituary in advance so that he might enjoy it. Two weeks later, after inquiring about the box office receipts of the circus, Barnum died in his Connecticut mansion. The Times of London echoed the world press in its final tribute: “He created the métier of showman on a grandiose scale.…He early realized that essential feature of a modern democracy, its readiness to be led to what will amuse and instruct it.…His name is a proverb already, and a proverb it will continueThose are the stories, for the most part of two of the major players in the freakshow game. There were more, and maybe we will revisit the rest of the stories and the other folks involved at a later date but for now we are going to move on to what you all want…some of the coolest  freaks there were!!!LAZARUS COLLOREDOWe mentioned this fellow a bit earlier and it was time to bring him back. Born in 1617 in Genoa, Italy, Colloredo would exhibit himself all across Europe during his lifetime. Colloredo is among the earliest—and most extraordinary—recorded cases of parasitic twins. We found this description of Lazarus by Danish anatomist Thomas Bartholinus, as detailed in the 19th-century book, Kirby’s Wonderful and Eccentric Museum: “I saw, saith Bartholinus, Lazarus Colloredo, the Genoese, first at Copenhagen, after at Basil, when he was twenty-eight years of age, but in both places with amazement. This Lazarus had a little brother growing out at his breast, who was in that posture born with him. If I mistake not, the bone, called xyphoideus, in both of them grew together; his left foot along hung downwards; he had two arms but only three fingers upon each hand: some appearance there was of the secret parts: he moved his hands ears and lips, and had a little beating in the breast. This little brother voids no excrements but by the mouth, nose, and ears, and is nourished by that which the greater takes: he has distinct animal and vital parts from the greater, since he sleeps, sweats, and moves when the other wakes, rests and sweats not. Both received their names at the font; the greater that of Lazarus, and the other that of Johannes Baptista. The natural bowels, as the liver, spleen, &c. are the same in both. Johannes Baptista hath his eyes for the most part shut: his breath small, so that holding a feather at his mouth it scarcely moves, but holding the hand there we find a small and warm breath. His mouth is usually open, and wet with spittle; his head is bigger than that of Lazarus, but deformed; his hair hanging down while his face is in an upright posture. Both have beards; that of Baptista is neglected, but that of Lazarus very neat. Lazarus is of a just stature, a decent body, courteous deportment, and gallantly attired: he covers the body of his brother with his cloak, nor would you think a monster lay within at your first discourse with him. He seemed always of a constant mind, unless that now and then he was solicitous as to his end, for he feared the death of his brother, presaging that when it came to pass, he should also expire with the stench and putrefaction of his body; and therefore he took greater care of his brother than himself.”Well then! That sounds like a fucking insane thing to see!!TARRAREThe walking manifestation of one of the seven deadly sins prowled the cobbled streets of 18th-century Paris, seeking only to indulge his endless hunger. Earlier in life, his dietary needs started out robustly, but were otherwise innocuous. However, things would soon take a sinister turn so far as this overzealous diner was concerned. According to contemporary accounts and existent medical records, his quenchless appetite continued growing to the point that his legendarily gluttonous gorging caused this ravenous Frenchman to ingest live animals and maraud morgues for sustenance. He was once even suspected of kidnapping and devouring a toddler.The crack team at Ripleys.com was able to speak with a doctor who specializes in science-based nutrition in search of a possible diagnosis, but first, let’s chew the fat on the life of this legendary cannibal and his strange circumstances of existence. Be warned, this is not for the weak of heart—but if you think you can stomach it, then strap in! PARIS, CIRCA 1788With a large, lip-less mouth stretched wide beyond human regularity and filled with stained teeth, he ate corks, stones, entire baskets of apples—one at a time in quick succession—and live animals (his favorite was snake) for the morbid amusement of repulsed onlookers that were challenged to satiate his seemingly interminable appetite.Like most modern competitive binge-eaters, Tarrare was diminutive in stature, weighing no more than one hundred pounds—prior to eating, at least. Despite all of his daily intake, he never seemed to keep any of the weight on. When empty, his stomach was loosely distended to the point that he could wrap it around his waist as if it were a belt made of his own, still-attached flesh. When full, it was inflated like a balloon—not unlike a pregnant woman in her final trimester. His hair was fair and soft, while his cheeks, when not engaged at capacity—allegedly able to hold so much as a dozen eggs—were wrinkled and hung slack to create premature jowls.Prior to life as a successful street performer, the individual is known only by his stage name, Tarrare, lived in destitution as part of a traveling caravan of criminal misfits. Born in the rural countryside surrounding the epicenter of the booming silk-weaving trade in Lyon, France in approximately 1772, his rapacious appetite was readily apparent from an early age. As the legend goes, a young Tarrare was capable of eating his own bodyweight in cow meat within a 24-hour period. Sadly, this boundless craving forced him out of his family’s home as a teenager, as they could no longer afford to feed him.After several years of touring the country as a vagabond begging for food, for a time Tarrare became the opener for a snake-oil peddling mountebank before taking off to Paris to perform as a solo act. With success came risk. Tarrare once collapsed mid-performance with what was later discovered to be an intestinal obstruction, requiring his audience to carry him to the nearby Hôtel-Dieu hospital. After being treated with laxatives, a grateful Tarrare offered to demonstrate his talents by eating the surgeon’s pocket watch. The surgeon agreed, but only under the condition that he be allowed to cut Tarrare open to retrieve it. Wisely, Tarrare declined.It was during the French War of the First Coalition when respected military surgeon Dr. Pierre-François Percy first made the acquaintance of the inexplicable Tarrare, now a soldier for the French Revolutionary Army. Barely twenty years old, this peculiar patient proved to be quite extraordinary. Unable to subsist off of military rations alone, Tarrare began doing odd jobs around the base for other soldiers in exchange for their rations and, when that proved to be insufficient, foraged for food scraps in dunghills. Despite all of his scrounging, Tarrare succumbed to exhaustion and was admitted to a military hospital under the care of Dr. Percy.There, even being granted quadruple rations failed to satiate his hunger. Tarrare began to eat out of the garbage, steal the food of other patients, and even chow down on the hospital’s bandage supply. Psychological testing found Tarrare to be apathetic, but otherwise sane.Percy’s report described Tarrare as having bloodshot eyes and constantly being overheated and sweating, with a body odor so rancid that he could be smelled from twenty feet away—and that’s by 18th-century French military surgeon standards. Woof. The smell only got worse after eating. Percy described it as being so bad he literally had visible stink lines.After eating, Tarrare would succumb to the itis and pass out. Percy observed this after preparing a meal made for fifteen to test Tarrare’s limits, which he predictably porked down. Percy continued this experiment by feeding Tarrare live animals: a cat—which he drank the blood of and after consuming, like an owl, he only regurgitated its fur—lizards, snakes, puppies, and an entire eel.Months of experimentation passed before the military discovered a way to put Tarrare’s unique ability to use: Tarrare was commissioned as a spy for the French Army of the Rhine. His first mission was to secretly courier a document across enemy lines in a place that it could not easily be detected if caught: his digestive tract. After being paid with a wheelbarrow full of thirty pounds of raw bull viscera—which he ate immediately upon presentation directly in front of what we can only imagine to be the incredibly revolted generals and other commanding officers—Tarrare swallowed a wooden box containing a document that could pass through his system completely in-tact and be delivered to a high-ranking prisoner of war in Prussia. As one might expect, an individual who smells like a foot and compulsively eats from the garbage would likely attract attention—not exactly the ideal, hallmark makings of a spy.Compound this with the fact that Tarrare did not speak any German and he was quickly caught, beaten, imprisoned, and forced to undergo the psychological torment of a mock execution before being returned to France.Again under the care of Dr. Percy, the trauma Tarrare endured left him incapable of continuing his military service and desperate to find a cure for his condition. Laudanum opiates, wine vinegar, tobacco pills, and a diet of soft-boiled eggs were all employed, but Tarrare was still forced to walk the streets fighting stray dogs for discarded slaughterhouse cuisine, drink the blood of patients who were being treated with bloodletting, and was even caught consuming cadavers from the hospital morgue multiple times. Eventually, a toddler went missing from the hospital and Tarrare, the suspected culprit, was chased from the premises before disappearing into the city.Dr. Percy is contacted by a physician of Versailles hospital at the behest of a patient on their deathbed. Sure enough, it was Tarrare, now brought to death’s door by what he professed to be a golden fork he had swallowed two years previously and was now lodged inside of him. It had been four years since Percy had last seen Tarrare, who hoped he could save his life by removing the fork. Unfortunately for Tarrare, it was not a fork that was killing him, but end-stage tuberculosis. Within a month, he passed.A curious colleague intended to inspect Tarrare’s corpse. However, fellow surgeons refused to partake and it quickly became a race against the clock as the body began to rot rapidly. Findings from the autopsy revealed that Tarrare possessed a shockingly-wide esophagus which allowed spectators to look directly from his open mouth into his stomach, which was unfathomably large and lined with ulcers. His body was full of pus, his liver and gallbladder abnormally large, and the fork was never recovered. So, what was the cause of Tarrare’s insatiable hunger? In short, we don’t know for sure. When contemporary medical procedures of the time included drinking raw mercury to clear out head demons (probably), should it come as a surprise that Tarrare received no suitable diagnosis or treatment in his own lifetime?However, some interesting theories have been suggested over the years. Ripleys.com was able to speak to Dr. Don Moore, a chiropractor certified in science-based nutrition and owner and operator of Synergy Pro Wellness, to get his take on things.Now, granted, there is a possibility that Dr. Percy’s personal documentation in the years following Tarrare’s death were exaggerated or falsified, but they were considered credible enough at the time of their publication to be featured in reputable medical texts such as The Study of Medicine, Popular Physiology, and London Medical and Physical Journal. Plus, Dr. Percy is considered the father of military surgeons, was Chief Surgeon to the French Army, a university professor, inventor of important battlefield medical implements, and is considered an all-around highly reputable guy. So, given we accept the above tale as an accurate representation of Tarrare’s symptoms, what does Dr. Moore have to say about it?“It can be broken down by category: He didn’t suffer from psychosis, so he was completely aware and cognitive. But that doesn’t rule out hyperactivity of hormones and dysfunction of components of the brain. His sensor that would let him know he was full was damaged. If he underwent a brain study, he would have probably been identified as having had an enlarged hypothalamus.” The hypothalamus regulates the body’s temperature and is responsible for causing the sensation of hunger. Given Tarrare was constantly overheated and in dire search of food, it’s a perfect fit. Dr. Moore also suspects a possible case of pica, which causes the eating of non-edible objects.As for why Tarrare never weighed more than one hundred pounds, Dr. Moore adroitly theorizes, based on his habitually eating raw meat: “He most likely had a parasite as well. The fact that he was of normal size means something else is being nourished, and the fact that he was constantly hungry leans towards him feeding a secondary organism. A parasite like a hookworm or roundworm, perhaps.”  FANNIE MILLSThis next one...i had to put in for obvious reasons! As far as freak shows go, Fanny Mills was one of the most unusual performers to ever step foot inside the sideshow tent. Known as the “Ohio BigFoot Girl,” Fanny seemed normal in every respect…except for her massive feet. Fanny was born in Sussex, England in 1860, and then immigrated with her family to Sandusky, Ohio. The condition that brought her notoriety was Milroy Disease, a rare disorder that causes lymphedema, in which the lower legs and feet swell with lymph fluid. Neither of Fanny’s sisters were born with the disease.Fanny was a petite woman who only weighed 115 pounds. Her feet, however, were 19 inches long and 7 inches wide. She wore a size 30 shoe made of three goatskins.Fanny started touring the country in 1885 as “that girl from Ohio” with the “biggest feet on Earth.” She traveled with a nurse named Mary Brown, who helped her get around. Her promoters advertised her to unwed men as “a boon for poor bachelors,” offering $5,000 and a well-stocked farm to any respectable man who would marry her.“Don’t permit two big feet to stand between you and wedlock tinged with fortune,” the ad read. Fanny eventually married William Brown, Mary’s brother, in 1886.She retired from show business in 1891 because of an illness, and died later that yearGRADY STILES JR.This guy is another famous guy. But you may not know his whole, incredibly crazy story! He’s the mutha fuckin lobster boy!!! The Stiles family was suffering from a peculiar physical condition known as Ectrodactyly, which is a rare congenital deformity that makes the hand look like lobster claws as the middle fingers are either missing or seemingly fused to the thumb or pinky finger.The family has been afflicted for over a century with ectrodactyly, a condition commonly known as the Lobster claw. It is an uncommon inherent distortion of the hand where the center digit is missing and the hand is parted where the metacarpal of the finger ought to be.This split regularly gives the hands the presence of lobster hooks in spite of the fact that cases run in seriousness. Frequently this condition happens in both the hands and the feet and, while it is an acquired condition, it can skirt an age. While the term ectrodactyly sounds medicinally clean when contrasted with ‘Lobster Claw Syndrome’.While many have viewed Ectrodactyly as a handicap, for the Stiles family it came with an opportunity. The physical condition stayed within the family and any newcomer to the family came out with unusual hands and feet.But one member from the family, Grady stiles Jr., would give the Stiles’ family a different reputation when he became a serial abuser and murderer.The home of Gardy Stiles, or popularly known as the lobster boy was an unpleasant place to be. During the carnival season in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, Grady was one of the many sideshow performers who people came to gawk at some time in wonder and sometimes out of rudeness.Grady never concerned himself too much with the opinions of onlookers, he was only there to put on a show, his audience was impressed or not. Grady was born with a severe deformity that gave him the name, The Lobster Boy.GRADY STILES JR. A.K.A THE LOBSTER BOY (CREDIT: YOUTUBE)Lobster Boy was born in Pittsburgh in 1937, at that point his father was already part of the “freak show” circuit, adding his kids with the peculiar physical condition to the act.Because of the deformity Grady couldn’t walk and was confined to a wheelchair, his legs were almost flipper-like and unable to bear weight this resulted in him using his upper body to maneuver around usually in a wheelchair.All of the locomotion provided by his arms turned Grady into a rather strong man despite his downfalls but he didn’t only utilize his to make his life easier for himself but also to make other’s life harder.For most of his life, Gary primarily used a wheelchair — but also learned to use his power to use his upper body to pull himself across the floor with impressive strength.As Grady grew up he would become immensely strong, something which will cost his family later in life.At age 19 Mary ran off to join the carnival, escaping her old life, oddly enough she felt she belonged best there. Despite the fact that she was surrounded by people with shocking abilities and deformities but for her this was normal.Mary Theresa wasn’t there for the same reasons the performers were but the carnival always needed staff to keep the shows running. It was here that she met Grady Stiles.Mary Theresa didn’t see the monster in Grady as others had, she quickly fell in love with Grady and the two were married within no time. Together they had two children and, like his father before him, introduced the children with ectrodactyly to the family business.Grady added his children into his sideshow with him traveling as an act known as the Lobster Family, of the many issues that were in the family, money wasn’t one of them. The family would make $50,000-$80,000 per season and Grady was considered the major star of the show.There were no gimmicks with the lobster family no tricks or illusions, What the crowd saw is what the crowd got.Once the winter set in the show’s closed down and many of their performers including the Stiles family resided in Florida until the new season came around.Despite the pleasant weather and more free time, Grady still didn’t hesitate to inflict physical and emotional pain on his family.If Many only would have known when she was younger what she knew after marrying Grady perhaps it would have made a difference.Mary recollected that Grady was the best anybody could be, a genuinely honorable man however as soon he poured the liquor in his body, something in his brain changed and he would abandon a nobleman to a harsh spouse and father. He turned into a much more alarming man, a genuine beast, more noteworthy than the one others considered him to be. He was a real nightmare come to life.Marry was impacted in ways that she would never forget. She remembered that her husband was a great guy when he woke up in the morning by 8:00 am and started drinking by 10 and would be miserable for the rest of the day.In 1973, Grady-Mary’s marriage hit its first end when Mary decided that she couldn’t take the abuse any longer after Grday launched himself at her, took her to the floor, ripped her pantyhose, reached his clawed hand and ripped out the intrauterine device, a device used to prevent pregnancy, and used her hands to choke her – something they were seemingly designed to do well.Mary was so disgusted, horrified, and emotionally wounded that she wisely left him.The worst was yet to come after Mary was gone, Grady started drinking even more and when her teenage daughter, Donna fell in love with a young man that he didn’t approve of, he didn’t take the decision very well.Donna and Jack Lane were in loved and wanted to marry but Grady forbade the marriage threatening to kill Jack numerous times. Donna was unhappy with her drunk and abusive father and wanted an escape.Donna told Grady that if he didn’t approve the underage marriage, she would live with Jack anyway. This further enraged Grady who prided himself in the way he dominated his family and controlled them.Grady was home when Jack came home to see him on the night before Jack and Donna were to be married, thinking that maybe Grady has changed his mind and is now happy with our marriage.Instead of agreeing, Stiles picked up his shotgun and murdered his daughter’s fiance in cold blood. HE sat there while his daughter came and said ‘I told you I would kill him.’Grady went to trial where the defense attempted to get the jury to pity Grady and his condition. The defense played heavily into the fact that Grady had an unfortunate life driven to drinking and violence by the incessant struggles he faced.Grady even managed to shed some tears in the courtroom, his daughter Donna took the stand and told him that “she would see him at his grave.”The jury took three hours in deciding that Grady was guilty of third-degree-murder, Grady received a sentence of 15 years but not in prison but 15 years of probation.The state believed that their prison system even in their handicap accessible facilities weren’t equipped to handle the specific need for Grady Stiles: no prison could deal with his handicap and to restrict him to jail would be merciless and irregular discipline. He additionally, at this point, had procured liver cirrhosis from drinking and had emphysema from long stretches of cigarette smoking.So Grady got to serve his sentence from home where he continued to drink heavily and beat his children.For reasons that no one — either in the Stiles family or outside of it — has been able to understand, his first wife agreed to remarry him in 1989.Mary who left Grady earlier came back in his life again in 1989 and surprisingly enough forgave the monster for all his wrongdoings.As earlier Grady was decent for a while but after some time the monster in him came back to haunt the lives of Mary and her children. The violence surged back to the surface as did copious amounts of sexual assault.A couple of years after she remarried Stiles, she paid her 17-year-old neighbor, Chris Wyant, $1,500 to murder him. Mary Teresa’s child from another marriage, Glenn, helped her imagine the thought and complete the arrangement.One night, Wyant took a .32 Colt Automatic he had a companion buy for him. He went into Stiles’ trailer, Grady was watching television in his underwear, Wyant put 2 round in the back of his head at the point-clear range, killing him instantly.Freedom But with A CostPolice arrested Mary, her son Harry and the killer Wyant. The jury convicted Wyant of second-degree murder and sentenced him to 27 years in prison.Not one of them denied that they had intended to kill Grady Stiles. During the trial, his wife spoke at length of his abusive history. “My husband was going to kill my family,” she told the court, “I believe that from the bottom of my heart.”Unfortunately for Mary’s child Glenn, self-defense isn’t applicable when hiring a hitman and Glenn was convicted of first-degree murder and was given life-sentence without the possibility of parole for 25 years.At least one of their children, Cathy, testified against him as well.Mary was also charged with first-degree murder and her conviction was reduced to manslaughter and she was sentenced to 12 years behind bars.She unsuccessfully appealed her conviction and began to serve her sentence in February of 1997. She had tried to get Glenn to take a plea bargain but he refused. The court sentenced him to life in prison.Just as a significant portion of his living family was being tried for his murder, Grady Stiles’ body was put to rest. Or unrest, as it were: Lobster Boy was so disliked, not just in his family but within the community, that the funeral home could not find anyone willing to be pallbearers.That's a story that most people don't know about the Lobster Boy!!ELLA HARPERMost sources indicate that Ella Harper was born in Hendersonville, Tennessee around 1870 – although there are some conflicting reports. It has also been revealed that Ella had a twin brother, who died quite early. What is not argued, however, is the fact that Ella was born with an unusual orthopedic condition resulting in knees that bent backwards.  The nature of this unusual affliction is exceedingly rare and relatively unknown, however most modern medical types would classify her condition and a very advanced form of congenital genu recurvatum – also known as ‘back knee deformity’. Her unusually bent knees, coupled with her preference of walking on all fours resulted in her moniker of ‘The Camel Girl’.In 1886, Ella was the star of W. H. Harris’s Nickel Plate Circus, often appearing accompanied by a camel when presented to audiences and she was a feature in the newspapers of every town the circus visited. Those newspapers touted Ella as ‘the most wonderful freak of nature since the creation of the world’ and that her ‘counterpart never did exist’.The back of Ella’s 1886 pitch card is far more modest in its information: I am called the camel girl because my knees turn backward. I can walk best on my hands and feet as you see me in the picture. I have traveled considerably in the show business for the past four years and now, this is 1886 and I intend to quit the show business and go to school and fit myself for another occupation. It appears that Ella did indeed move on to other ventures, and her $200 a week salary likely opened many doors for her. For quite some time no further information was available on Ella following 1886, but recently a genealogist managed to not only trace Ella’s family tree, but also provide some information regarding her life after sideshow.On 28 June 1905 Ella Harper married a man named Robert L. Savely. Savely was a school teacher and later a bookkeeper for a photo supplies company.  A 1910 Census shows Ella and her husband living in Nashville, Tennessee with Ella’s mother and it also revealed that Ella and her husband had adopted a 3 month old child, but that the child passed away only 18 days later.We also now know that Ella died of colon cancer on 19 December 1921 in Nashville, Tennessee and that she was buried at Spring Hill Cemetery in Nashville. A simple gravestone marks her plot, but she is surrounded by family.LEONARD TRASK THE WONDERFUL INVALIDSome human marvels are made, not born. Often their manufacture is accidental and painful, such is the case of Leonard Trask. Born on June 30, 1805 in Hartford, Maine Trask suffered a major neck injury in his 20’s when he was thrown from his horse. The story was that a pig ran under the hooves of his horse and, after being thrown from the back of his steed, Trask spent several days crawling back home. Despite the serious injury, Trask continued to work as a farm hand until his spine began to bow.Soon, Trask’s chin was pressed into his chest permanently, and subsequent injuries only exasperated his misery. In 1840 he took a nasty fall and in 1853 he was thrown from his wagon and broke 4 ribs and his collarbone. On May 24, 1858 Trask was involved in a high-speed coach accident, in which he and several passengers where thrown to the ground. In the accident, Trask struck his head and opened ‘a gash in his head five inches long’. The injury was severe, and he was not expected to survive, but he did and was even more disabled and miserable as a result of the injury.Through much of his adult life, his wife took care of him, and despite his physical limitations he fathered seven children with her. Unable to work, Trask was eventually able to spin his status as a medical curiosity into small career as a human oddity attraction to the general public. As “The Wonderful Invalid”, Trask was able to capture a small measure of fame. His 1860 self-published story A Brief Historical Sketch of the Life and Sufferings of Leonard Trask, the Wonderful Invalid, which included accounts of his activities like ‘Mr. Trask at the Circus’ and ‘Mr.Trask Going to Drink’ that were both amusing and sad.At the time of his death on April 13, 1861 Trask’s condition was still not officially diagnosed despite seeing more than 22 doctors during his lifetime. Today Trask would be diagnosed with Ankylosing spondylitis, a condition that affect less than 0.2% of the general populationJOSEPHINE MYRTLE COARBINFor all intents and purposes, Josephine Myrtle Corbin was a normal girl. Her birth was not marked by anything out of the ordinary, and her mother claimed to have had a typical labor and delivery, apart from the baby being momentarily in the breech position.The doctors who examined the baby after birth reported her to be strong and healthy, adding that she was growing at a good rate. A year later she was found to be nursing “healthily” and “thriving well.”Overall, Myrtle Corbin was a perfectly healthy, active, and thriving baby girl. All in spite of having four legs.Perfectly Ordinary (Almost)After being born with four legs, two normal sized ones on either side of a pair of diminutive ones, the doctor who delivered Myrtle Corbin felt it necessary to point out the factors they felt could have resulted in her deformity. First, the baby’s parents, the doctors said, were about 10 years apart in age. William H. Corbin was 25, and his wife Nancy was 34. Second, the doctors noted that the couple bore a striking resemblance to each other. Both of them were redheads, with blue eyes and very fair complexions. They actually looked so similar that the doctors felt it necessary to explicitly point out that the two were not “blood kin” in their medical reports.Despite the two factors the doctors listed, it seemed that the young girl was simply an oddity – her parents had had seven other children, all of whom were perfectly ordinary.Later, it would be determined that she was born with dipygus and her condition was likely the result of her body’s axis splitting as it developed. As a result, she was born with two pelvises side by side.With each pelvis, she had two sets of legs, one normal sized, and one small. The two small legs were side by side, flanked on either side by two normal legs, though one with a clubbed foot.According to medical journals written by the physicians that studied Myrtle Corbin throughout her life, she was able to move her smaller inner legs, though they weren’t strong enough for her to be able to walk on. Which, of course, didn’t really matter, as they were not long enough to touch the ground.In 1881 at age 13, Myrtle Corbin joined the sideshow circuit under the moniker “The Four-Legged Girl From Texas.” After showing her to curious neighbors and charging them a dime each, her father realized her potential for publicity and for cash. He had promotional pamphlets made up and began placing ads in newspapers for people to come see her.The promotional pamphlets described her as a girl with “as gentle of disposition as the summer sunshine and as happy as the day is long.” And, indeed, that appeared to be true.Throughout her time as a sideshow attraction, she became wildly popular. Eventually, rather than bringing the curious onlookers to her she began traveling. By visiting small towns and cities and performing for the public, she ended up earning up to $450 a week.Eventually, famed showman P.T. Barnum heard about her and hired her for his show.For four years, she continued to work for Barnum and even inspired several other showmen to produce fake four-legged humans for their own shows when they couldn’t get her. At 18 years old, Myrtle Corbin retired from the sideshow business. She’d met a doctor named Clinton Bicknell and fallen in love. At 19, the two were married.About a year later in the spring of 1887, Myrtle Corbin discovered she was pregnant. She’d gone to a doctor in Blountsville, Ala., complaining of pain in her left side, fever, headache, and a decreased appetite. Despite her unique anatomy (she had two sets of internal and external reproductive anatomies), doctors did not believe there was a reason she couldn’t carry to term. Though she became gravely ill during the first three months of her pregnancy, resulting in her doctor performing an abortion, she ended up giving birth to four more healthy children in her life.After performing in the sideshow and giving birth to her children, Myrtle Corbin’s life was rather normal. Though her case continued to pop up in medical journals around the country, she maintained a quiet existence in her Texas home with her husband and children.Eventually in 1928, she died as the result of a streptococcal skin infection. Though antibiotics make the condition easily treatable today, in the 1920s there was no such treatment available.SEALOStanislaus Berent  was an American freak who performed at many freak shows, including the World Circus Sideshow in 1941 under the stage name of Sealo the Seal Boy (often stylized to just Sealo). He was known for his seal-like arms, which were caused by a congenital medical condition known as phocomelia. In 2001, Mat Fraser's play inspired by Sealo called Sealboy: Freak debuted. Berent was born November 24, 1901 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  He was brought up as a Polish Catholic and suffered from an extremely rare congenital disorder known as phocomelia, which caused his "seal arms".  He had no arms; his hands grew from his shoulders. Sealo started off his career as a newspaper seller, then was discovered by freak scouters.He  was a regular feature at Coney Island's freak show from circa 1920 to 1970[4] and was exaggerated as a human with a seal body on some promotional sideshow posters. Despite his genetic disability, Sealo was still able to carry out feats like sawing a crate in half and shaving with a straight razor on his own, as well as moulding animal figurines out of clay. His partner on-stage was Toby, a chimpanzee. Sealo had trouble getting up and down the performance stage due to his weak legs. He would spend the time in which he was not performing on stage selling pitch cards. After performing, he preferred resting at hotels to sleeping at the fairground. He performed at the World Circus Sideshow in 1941. He also toured around the world and performed at many other freak shows.Sealo's freak show career lasted for thirty-five years; he retired in 1976 and moved to Showmen's Retirement Village in Gibsonton, Florida. He returned to his hometown of Pittsburgh afterwards when his health started to decline.  He spent his final days at a Catholic hospital and died in 1980.GEORGE AND WILLIE MUSEThe Muse brothers had an incredible career. The story of the two black albino brothers from Roanoke, Virginia is unique even in the bizarre world of freaks and sideshows. They were initially exploited and then later hailed for their unintentional role in civil rights.Born in the 1890’s the pair were scouted by sideshow agents and kidnapped in 1899 by bounty hunters working in the employ of an unknown sideshow promoter. Black albinos, being extremely rare, would have been an extremely lucrative attraction. They were falsely told that their mother was dead, and that they would never be returning home.The brothers began to tour. To accentuate their already unusual appearance, their handler had the brothers grow out their hair into long white dreadlocks. In 1922 showman Al G. Barnes began showcasing the brothers in his circus as White Ecuadorian cannibals Eko and Iko. When that gimmick failed to attract crowds the brothers were rechristened the ‘Sheep-Headed Men’ and later, in 1923, the ‘Ambassadors from Mars’.As the ‘Men from Mars’ the two traveled extensively with the Barnes circus. Unfortunately, while they were being fed, housed and trained in playing the mandolin, they were not being paid.In the mid 1920’s the Muse brothers toured with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. In 1927, while visiting their hometown, their mother finally tracked them down. She fought to free her sons, some 20 years after their disappearance. She threatened to sue and the Muse brothers were freed.The brothers filed a lawsuit for the wages they earned but were never paid. They initially demanded a lump-sum payment of 100,000. However, as time passed the Muse brothers missed the crowds, the attention and the opportunities sideshow provided. Their lawyer got them a smaller lump-sum payment and a substantial contract with a flat monthly wage. The pair returned to show business in 1928.During their first season back they played Madison Square Garden and drew over 10,000 spectators during each of their performances. They made spectacular money as their new contract allowed them to sell their own merchandise and keep all the profits for themselves. In the 1930’s they toured Europe, Asia and Australia. They performed for royals and dignitaries including the Queen of England. In 1937 they returned to Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for several years and finally ended their career in 1961 with the Clyde Beatty Circus.The brothers returned to their hometown and lived together in a house they originally purchased for their mother. Neither brother married, though they were well known for their many extravagant courtships.George Muse died in 1971 and many expected Willie to quickly follow his brother. Those people were wrong as Willie continued to play his mandolin and enjoy the company friends and family until his death on Good Friday of 2001.He was 108 years old.These are just a few of the many many many circus freaks throughout history. We purposefully did not cover guys like The Elephant Man and other more popular ones as we wanted to bring you some interesting ones you may not know about, except maybe the lobster boy but that shit is crazy! There are some more interesting stories and Coney Island deserves its own discussion...can you say….BONUS episode!!!              

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Book Vs. Movie (Replay) The Stephen King Bonus Ep With Special Guest Adam Riske (F This Movie) Two podcasting, movie geeks talk about two classic Stephen King stories “Sleepwalkers” & “Sometimes They Come Back” In this special “Stephen King” ep, Margo D. and Adam Riske who is a contributor to the excellent movie podcast F This Movie, get together to talk about two rather weird Stephen King productions that they both love for nostalgic reasons. Then we wander off into some unexpected pop-culture tangents-- but let's get into the movies first. Adam begins with 1992’s Sleepwalkers which stars Brian Krause, Madchen Amick, and Alice Krige. King penned the screenplay based on an unpublished story and it is directed by his pal Mick Garris who also helmed King's The Stand and the updated The Shining. What is this movie about? Well, it has a mother and son who are not only creepy supernatural creatures who feed on virgins and then skip town. They are also involved with each other romantically!  Amick plays his love interest and her parents are played by Cindy Pickett and Lyman Ward who played “Ferris Beuler’s” parents (they have since divorced.) There are all kinds of strangeness with this movie including the herding of cats, a graveyard picnic date scene and an appearance by Mark Hamill! It’s pretty fantastic. Margo D. chose Sometimes They Come Back which was first featured in King’s collection of short stories Night Shift. The 1991 CBS-TV movie starred Tim Matheson, Brooke Adams and Nicholas Sadler (whom Adam and Margo recall from his famous appearance in a 1990 episode of The Cosby Show.) Matheson plays Jim Norman, a school teacher who lost his brother to a tragic gang attack and now must face his past as they all somehow show up in his life to raise hell once again. The original in printed form scared the bejeebus out of a young Margo. The TV adaptation? Not so much but it makes for an amazing discussion with the following topics covered: HBO’s original sex comedy Dream On starring Brian Benben Chanteuse Jane Child and her amazing 90s hit Don’t Wanna Fall in Love Our differing opinions on the upcoming Pet Semetary remake. (Adam is not sure about that one) Hope you enjoy this different take on our usual Stephen King bonus eps. (Margo breaks out into several giggle fits here.) You can listen to it using the link below. Clips used: Don’t Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult Book Vs. Movie podcast https://www.facebook.com/bookversusmovie/ Find us in Apple Podcasts Twitter @bookversusmovie www.bookversusmovie.com Email us at bookversusmoviepodcast@gmail.com Brought to you by Audible.com You can sign up for a FREE 30-day trial here http://www.audible.com/?source_code=PDTGBPD060314004R   Margo D. @BrooklynFitChik www.brooklynfitchick.com brooklynfitchick@gmail.com Margo P. @ShesNachoMama http://thechingonahomesteader.weebly.com/

The things that haunt you are about to begin all over again. Ep 161 of Dead Air is here to close out this years Stephen Kingapalooza with the seldom talked about 1991 film; Sometimes They Come Back. Jim Norman is a teacher with a troubled past. As a kid, a typical day of two young brothers ended in tragedy and death. His older brother was killed along with a group of bullies on a railway track. Now decades later, he's returned to his hometown and is immediately haunted by intense flashbacks of the event. Worst yet, it seems like the students in his glass are dropping dead. Stranger still is the fact that new students are replacing the deceased from out of town. Each one eerily resembling one of the dead bullies. Is Jim imagining things? Can the dead, really come back?

Brian Records is a label run by Jim Norman out of Bath in the United Kingdom. Recently, I invited Norman to showcase his record collection in Headphone Commute's I’ll show you mine following his announcement to raise funds for a book he titled, Micro Record Label: A love letter for music fans; a how-to for the hopeless; a light-hearted, humorous, self-deprecating detour for the uninterested. The Kickstarter campaign has now ended with the project being 100% funded (and more!) so you can expect a great read when it’s finally published! We close out this campaign with a beautiful selection of pieces from the label we call Headphone Commute Brian Megamix. For a more detailed description, full track listing and more information about this mix, please visit headphonecommute.com

Book Vs. Movie Podcast The Stephen King Bonus Ep With Special Guest Adam Riske (F This Movie) Two podcasting, movie geeks talk about two classic Stephen King stories “Sleepwalkers” & “Sometimes They Come Back” In this special “Stephen King” ep, Margo D. and Adam Riske who is a contributor to the excellent movie podcast F This Movie, get together to talk about two rather weird Stephen King productions that they both love for nostalgic reasons. Then we wander off into some unexpected pop-culture tangents-- but let's get into the movies first. Adam begins with 1992’s Sleepwalkers which stars Brian Krause, Madchen Amick, and Alice Krige. King penned the screenplay based on an unpublished story and it is directed by his pal Mick Garris who also helmed King's The Stand and the updated The Shining. What is this movie about? Well, it has a mother and son who are not only creepy supernatural creatures who feed on virgins and then skip town. They are also involved with each other romantically!  Amick plays his love interest and her parents are played by Cindy Pickett and Lyman Ward who played “Ferris Beuler’s” parents (they have since divorced.) There are all kinds of strangeness with this movie including the herding of cats, a graveyard picnic date scene and an appearance by Mark Hamill! It’s pretty fantastic. Margo D. chose Sometimes They Come Back which was first featured in King’s collection of short stories Night Shift. The 1991 CBS-TV movie starred Tim Matheson, Brooke Adams and Nicholas Sadler (whom Adam and Margo recall from his famous appearance in a 1990 episode of The Cosby Show.) Matheson plays Jim Norman, a school teacher who lost his brother to a tragic gang attack and now must face his past as they all somehow show up in his life to raise hell once again. The original in printed form scared the bejeebus out of a young Margo. The TV adaptation? Not so much but it makes for an amazing discussion with the following topics covered: HBO’s original sex comedy Dream On starring Brian Benben Chanteuse Jane Child and her amazing 90s hit Don’t Wanna Fall in Love Our differing opinions on the upcoming Pet Semetary remake. (Adam is not sure about that one) Hope you enjoy this different take on our usual Stephen King bonus eps. (Margo breaks out into several giggle fits here.) You can listen to it using the link below. Clips used: Don’t Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult Book Vs. Movie podcast https://www.facebook.com/bookversusmovie/ Find us in Apple Podcasts Twitter @bookversusmovie www.bookversusmovie.com Email us at bookversusmoviepodcast@gmail.com Brought to you by Audible.com You can sign up for a FREE 30-day trial here http://www.audible.com/?source_code=PDTGBPD060314004R   Margo D. @BrooklynFitChik www.brooklynfitchick.com brooklynfitchick@gmail.com Margo P. @ShesNachoMama http://thechingonahomesteader.weebly.com/

Brian Goff is the distinguished professor of economics at the Gordon Ford College of Business at Western Kentucky University. He is the author of the Econosports blog at Forbes and most recently the author of a new book titled, *Sports Economics Uncut*. Brian joins the show today to talk about the economics behind professional and collegiate sports across the United States. David and Brian also discuss stadium subsidies, the relationship between salary caps and dynasties, and why there may need to be serious reform at the collegiate sports level.   Brian’s blog: https://www.forbes.com/sites/briangoff/#393eb9d01647 Brian’s WKU profile: https://www.wku.edu/economics/staff/brian_goff   Related Links:   *Sports Economics Uncut* by Brian Goff https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/sports-economics-uncut   *eBooks link: https://www.ebooks.com/96329982/sports-economics-uncut/goff-brian/   *Football Still Americans’ Favorite Sport to Watch* by Jim Norman https://news.gallup.com/poll/224864/football-americans-favorite-sport-watch.aspx   *Happy 10th Birthday to the Most-Subsidized NFL Stadium in America* by Anne Philpot and Michael Farren https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/commentary/happy-10th-birthday-most-subsidized-nfl-stadium-america   David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

Story: "Ich hätte nie hierher zurückkommen dürfen!" Zu spät erkennt Jim Norman, daß die Rückkehr in seine Heimatstadt eine zweite Tragödie herausfordert. Vor mehr als 20 Jahren mußte er mit ansehen, wie sein Bruder von Halbstarken in einem Tunnel erstochen wurde. Die Flucht der Mörder konnte er vereiteln. Der heranbrausende Zug zermalmte sie. Jetzt muß er hilflos miterleben, wie drei seiner Schüler auf mysteriöse Weise sterben. Ihre Plätze in der Klasse nehmen neue Schüler aus Milford ein. Doch Milford ist keine Schule sondern... ein Friedhof. Die Mörder von einst haben noch eine Rechnung offen. Lächelnd nehmen die Untoten grausame Rache an Jim und seiner Familie. DVD/Blu Ray-Release: 20.03.2014 (Koch Media GmbH) Sometimes They Come Back Horror, Drama Land: USA 1991 Laufzeit: ca. 98 min. FSK: 16 Regie: Tom McLoughlin Drehbuch: Lawrence Konner, Mark Rosenthal Buch: Stephen King Mit Tim Matheson, Brooke Adams, Robert Rusler, Chris Demetral, Robert Hy Gorman, ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sataufZzbM

Story: "Ich hätte nie hierher zurückkommen dürfen!" Zu spät erkennt Jim Norman, daß die Rückkehr in seine Heimatstadt eine zweite Tragödie herausfordert. Vor mehr als 20 Jahren mußte er mit ansehen, wie sein Bruder von Halbstarken in einem Tunnel erstochen wurde. Die Flucht der Mörder konnte er vereiteln. Der heranbrausende Zug zermalmte sie. Jetzt muß er hilflos miterleben, wie drei seiner Schüler auf mysteriöse Weise sterben. Ihre Plätze in der Klasse nehmen neue Schüler aus Milford ein. Doch Milford ist keine Schule sondern... ein Friedhof. Die Mörder von einst haben noch eine Rechnung offen. Lächelnd nehmen die Untoten grausame Rache an Jim und seiner Familie. DVD/Blu Ray-Release: 20.03.2014 (Koch Media GmbH) Sometimes They Come Back Horror, Drama Land: USA 1991 Laufzeit: ca. 98 min. FSK: 16 Regie: Tom McLoughlin Drehbuch: Lawrence Konner, Mark Rosenthal Buch: Stephen King Mit Tim Matheson, Brooke Adams, Robert Rusler, Chris Demetral, Robert Hy Gorman, ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sataufZzbM

Jason Hartman reads a listener question about the rental rates decreasing and what to do about it. He also invites Jurgen Neugebohrn to the show and answers some of his personal questions. Jurgen is in the oil industry in Saudi Arabia and is interested in the real estate market. He has some very interesting questions for Jason to answer and picks Jason's brain on investing in real estate.    Key Takeaways: 4:50 – You don't hear about the people who have lost money investing in low rent to value ratio markets.  7:25 – Jason reads a listener question about rental rates decreasing.  12:15 – Remember to join our Memphis property tour!  13:50 – Jason introduces Jurgen, an online listener, to the show.  19:50 – What's Saudi Arabia like?  23:30 – According to Jim Norman, the reason why oil prices are so low now is because the US is trying to economically hurt Russia and Venezuela.  25:00 Jason explains why he disagrees with Harry Dent.  32:00 – Jason doesn't have a check list on what you should buy because properties vary depending on the investor's needs.    35:35 – Jurgen asks one last question about Fernando's independence day.    Mentioned In This Episode:    The Oil Card by Jim Norman

Jason Hartman is happy to welcome John Rubino to the show. He is a second time guest and editor at DollarCollapse.com. He's out with a new book titled Money Bubble: What to Do When It Pops and talks about the book on the show. Jason asks John about his thoughts on the Switzerland and China economy. John also talks about countries who are giving out negative interest rates and some of consequences that will happen when the money collapses.    Key Takeaways: 2:05 – In a growing sector of the world now, if you want to lend money to somebody, you have to pay them.  6:15 – You can lose money in a money market fund, but they don't want you to know that.    12:35 – We're taking on more debt and we're not fixing anything.  17:30 – It has nothing to do with the money, we're just making really bad policy mistakes.  22:00 – Eventually we'll borrow so much and create so much instability in the economy that people will not see US dollars as a safe heaven any more.  26:00 – John talks about Switzerland's economy.  32:15 – Since the 2008 crash, the world has taken on 57 trillions in new debt. 36:10 – Jason and John talk about the benefits of owning property.    Mentioned In This Episode: I Like Local Car2Go http://www.businessinsider.com/housing-recovery-about-renters-2015-3 DollarCollapse.com  The Oil Card by Jim Norman

John Rubina is a second time guest and sits down with Jason to talk about the economy and the huge money bubble that's happening right now. John is the author of Money Bubble: What to Do When It Pops and he talks a little bit about his book on the show. John and Jason sit down to talk about Switzerland's economy, what's happening with China, and much more on today's AMA show.    Key Takeaways: 2:00 – Germany is currently paying negative interest rates on bonds. How is that possible?  5:15 – So many people want to open banks in Switzerland that the Swiss are telling customers that they have to pay them instead of vice verse.  10:05 – Governments are keeping negative interest rates in order to stop a financial collapse.  19:30 – If you add up all the debt in the US right now, it comes out to about $2 million per family.  25:45 – The US can use their military power to get what they want, but at the end of the day there's no reason why China and India need US dollars to trade.  32:15 – Since the 2008 crash, the world has taken on 57 trillions in new debt. 36:10 – Jason and John talk about the benefits of owning property.    Mentioned In This Episode: I Like Local Car2Go http://www.businessinsider.com/housing-recovery-about-renters-2015-3 DollarCollapse.com  The Oil Card by Jim Norman

Jason Hartman on the intro portion of the show talks about the sharing economy, his new Venture Alliance mastermind group, and some interesting new material called graphehe. Jason also welcomes second time guest John Rubino to the show to talk about the money bubble and what that all means to our economy. John Rubino is the editor of DollarCollapse.com as well as the co-author of the Money Bubble: What To Do When It Pops. John has a lot to say about what's happening with the global economy and what to do when the money bubble pops on today's episode.    Key Takeaways: 6:10 – Jason talks about the sharing economy.  10:00 – Check out the  new material called graphene.  15:30 – Venture Alliance is hosting an event on June 12 and 13.  19:30 – Jason introduces John Rubino to the show.  23:00 – People are terrified and are looking for safe heavens to invest their money.  28:30 – Banks are pushing their interest rates below zero in order to keep their financial system afloat.  36:50 – Even though we've had tech and housing bubbles in the past, the money bubble is the biggest bubble of them all.  40:50 – John says people will lose faith in the dollar, but Jason disagrees.  44:40 – What's happening with Switzerland's currency?  51:40 – The numbers keep getting worse and the math stopped making sense in 2005.    56:0 – Money manages and retirees really face some tough decisions right now.    Mentioned In This Episode: I Like Local Car2Go http://www.businessinsider.com/housing-recovery-about-renters-2015-3 DollarCollapse.com    The Oil Card by Jim Norman

In today's introduction to Creating Wealth, Jason records his intro section just ahead of the NFL Super Bowl XLIX in Arizona. Jason postulates on a variety of property markets around the U.S. as he prepares to make another purchase himself, speaks on over-diversification, and brings some great insight into deflation.   Jason's guest today is Jim Norman, author of The Oil Card. This is Jim's second appearance on the Creating Wealth show. Jim is a veteran business journalist and energy reporter.

Gwen talks to Stephen Rea, appearing as Oedipus/Otto in Sam Shepard's new play "A Particle of Dread." Tune from new CD by James Cleveland and Jim Norman.

​Sometimes the dead stay buried. Sometimes they come back. Based on the Stephen King short story from his Night Shift collection, this CBS TV movie introduces us to Jim Norman, a teacher with a troubled history starting a new job at a new school. Jim's few good students start to die and their seats in class are taken by the greasers who killed Jim's brother almost 30 years before. Is Jim losing his mind or are these pesky poltergeists back from the grave? And is this a Stephen King adaptation worth watching? Listen to Stuart, Jakob, and Arnie, the hosts who always come back, to find out!

In the 1950s some teenagers killed Jim Norman's older brother. Now, sixteen years later, Jim is an adult teaching English at a new school. When some of Jim's good students start dying they are replaced by the ghosts of the murderous boys. "Sometimes They Come Back", and they want Jim to join them in the grave. It's a story full of Stephen King connections, from The Shining to It to "The Body. Listen to Arnie as he reviews this short story from the Night Shift collection! Then head to NowPlayingPodcast.com to hear Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob review the movie versions of this story!

Chad talks about the Roar before the 24. and the guys close the book on GRAND-AM Unleashed and preview the new chapter of the podcast. We have interviews with Peter Baron, Darren Law, Eric Curran and Dr. Jim Norman.

Chad talks about the Roar before the 24. and the guys close the book on GRAND-AM Unleashed and preview the new chapter of the podcast. We have interviews with Peter Baron, Darren Law, Eric Curran and Dr. Jim Norman.

We dedicate episode 150 to a discussion on safety with Andy, Ryan, and Dr. Jim.

We dedicate episode 150 to a discussion on safety with Andy, Ryan, and Dr. Jim.

Tim Gillette is America’s Rockstar Coach.  He shows people how to live their dreams.  Working with Entrepreneurs, helping them to build a life they love and achieve Rockstar status in life and business. The Rocker Life Coach Radio Show introduces you to people who make Dreams happen in America.  Learn from the struggles and the joys that made them a Rockstar. Join us this week for another story of living the dream Julie Ziglar Norman shared the Get Motivated platform with her legendary father, motivational icon Zig Ziglar, for several years before becoming the dynamic, disarming and refreshingly transparent inspirational speaker and author she is today. Continuing her father’s Legacy of Encouragement is an honor and a privilege that Julie never expected or sought but her willingness to accept the challenge is inspiring audiences in America and abroad.  Julie served as her father’s editor for almost 20 years and is a winner of the coveted Guideposts Writers Workshop contest.  She co-authored Embrace The Struggle:  Living Life on Life’s Terms with her father and Guideposts recently published Julie’s first solo book, Growing Up Ziglar: A Daughter’s Broken Journey from Heartache to Hope.  Julie lives in the sleepy little town of Alvord, Texas with her beloved husband of 30 years, Jim Norman.  They have four children, twelve grandchildren, and one great grandson.

Dr. Jim Norman joins the show for an entertaining interview with Chad and Rich, then they talk about the new and review Mid-Ohio.

Dr. Jim Norman joins the show for an entertaining interview with Chad and Rich, then they talk about the new and review Mid-Ohio.

Jim Norman, editor of The Oil Card, tells us why oil prices will almost never fall below $50 - even though fundamentals suggest they should. Jim also gives us a history lesson on how the U.S. and Russia have been controlling the price of oil for decades. 

LEGACY, TRUTHS AND MYTHS in stepfamily life. Dan and Rebecca throw out for discussion the thought "What kind of LEGACY do you want to leave for your blended family?" In the year 2031 what will your family remember as strengths or weaknesses? Will you still celebrate family gatherings and holidays all together? You can if you follow the basics that the Bible holds, along with Dan and Rebecca's encouragement and insight. WHAT YOU DO NOW WILL AFFECT 2031. There are TRUTHS and there are MYTHS in stepfamilies. Some basic fundamental life Truths exist and are discussed. Next week the MYTHS will be discussed. For Dan and Rebecca, having just had there week include spending time with ZIG ZIGLAR and Jean Ziglar ('The Redhead' as Zig likes to call her), they refer often to the American Icon's wisdom for marriage, family, life and relationships. Julie Ziglar Norman and her husband Jim Norman will be a part of the speaking team as The Bonded Family moves into 2010. Jim and Julie are themselves in a blended family and know firsthand the trials and joys. The BLENDED FAMILY TODAY co-hosts speak and draw often from Zig's books and philosophy's. Clearly Zig Ziglar's foundation in his success he attributes to his relationship with the Lord. This program is full of Zig-isms. And you'll hear from ELVIS. Push play to hear! ZIG ZIGLAR books Dan and Rebecca draw on are: POSITIVE PARENTING IN A NEGATIVE WORLD and CONFESSIONS OF A HAPPY CHRISTIAN as well as many others available now via: http://www.ziglar.com/shop/ Click on the BOOKS section or enjoy DVD's, CD's etc. Tell 'em THE BONDED FAMILY sent you there way. If these FREE PODCASTS are a positive impact for your marriage or family, please forward them to friends and family. Also, if you feel led to contribute to the expenses associated with the continued radio program, please consider contributing to the ministry by clicking on the PAYPAL button to the right. Your information is safe with PAYPAL, America's leading security conscience online payment system.

How can radio-commercial directors (producers) get better performances from actors? How can actors get what they need from directors in order to give those stronger performances? Most importantly, how can professionals on both sides of the studio glass communicate more effectively with each other and together create more effective ads? Jim Norman, Becky Trenton, and New York actor Doug Shapiro (www.dougshapiro.com or www.thesavvyactor.com) sat down at 38 Greene studios in Manhattan to answer those questions.

ZIG ZIGLAR IS AN AMERICAN TREASURE. AN INSPIRATIONAL ICON. Zig has passed on to the next generation the same heart of service and inspiration. BLENDED FAMILY TODAY interviews Zig's son Tom Ziglar, CEO of Ziglar Corporation and daughter Julie Ziglar Norman, who along with her husband Jim Norman are in a blended family. Tom, Julie and Jim are all on the program podcast. You often hear program co-host Dan Snell quote and even have a little fun with the listeners by impersonating Zig Ziglar. Now hear from Zig's family who have heard the messages, quotes, quips and wisdom for the last 40+ years. Dan is excited and we know you will be too. Tom, Julie and Jim share special Ziglar family stories to brighten your heart. Their love for their Mom and Dad, and Family, is one that should be echoed across America in every family. Tom Ziglar, who now leads the Ziglar Corporation as CEO ( www.ziglar.com ) has emerged as a 'go to' resource for sharing motivation and inspiration online, via Twitter and other technologies. Find Tom on Twitter.com Then simply search for @TOMZIGLAR Jim and Julie share insight to motivate stepfamilies to know they can find success. They've done it! Julie and Jim are experts in marriage communication. Jim led Ziglar Corporation in the 90's and Julie grew up around her Dad Zig, so they also know that "Stinkin' Thinkin" is not allowed in families, especially in stepfamilies trying to 'bond' together through Christ-centered unity in the home. Julie and Jim can be found at www.GrowingUpZiglar.com We also discuss Zig Ziglar's new book arriving on shelves October 27th. Co-authored by Julie Ziglar Norman. It's called "EMBRACE THE STRUGGLE" and as always, it will inspire you to face your trials head on and work your way 'to the top'. IF YOU ENJOY BLENDED FAMILY TODAY, please consider clicking on the PAYPAL button to the right and donate whatever amount you feel led to. Radio does take an investment. We want to continue to provide Encouragement and Hope through Blended Family Today, but it does take financial resources. Please consider assisting our efforts. We also very much appreciate your ideas and encouragement sent to: radio@thebondedfamily.com GOD BLESS YOU AND KEEP LOOKING UP!

2nd in a Series on FORGIVENESS. Without forgiveness, so many other areas of family life can be messed up. Listen and see if you don't catch a glimpse of what you may be experiencing yourself. Dan and Rebecca Snell on BLENDED FAMILY TODAY explore and encourage on the topic of FORGIVENESS. Special Guest: PATRICIA PLUMB, President of The Forgiveness Institute. Reach Patricia at: theforgivenessinstitute154@gmail.com VIST THE BONDED FAMILY AT: www.TheBondedFamily.com Reach us at: radio@thebondedfamily.com IF YOU ARE ENJOYING THIS RADIO PROGRAM FOR STEPFAMILIES, PLEASE HELP US KEEP IT ON THE AIR. CONSIDER DONATING VIA THE PAYPAL BUTTON TO THE RIGHT. ANY ANOUNT APPRECIATED. SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT FOR OCTOBER 4TH PROGRAM. Guests with be Zig Ziglar's son, daughter and son-in-law. TOM ZIGLAR, JULIE ZIGLAR NORMAN and JIM NORMAN will be live on the air on October 4th 8:00 - 9:00 am (CST) Listen in Kansas City on HotTalk 1510 AM or via streaming audio on the web at www.thebondedfamily.com/blendedfamilyradio THEN CLICK ON THE HotTalk 1510 AM logo on the right. It will take you to their audio stream live.