Podcasts about John Curry

I interview 1992 Olympic Silver Medalist Paul Wylie on his career. -How he got into skating -Working with Carlo Fassi, John Curry, Robin Cousins -His artistic focus in skating skills -Staying on the podium through an Olympic cycle -mental strength and his mindset during competition -His Olympic experiences -Professional shows and artistic growth -Switching professional careers to business after retirement -his involvement with skating and coaching -his advice to skaters everywhere

Welcome to Engineering Influence, a podcast by the American Council of Engineering Companies. In this episode, we delve into the creation and mission of the Engineering Education Foundation of America (EEFA), founded by ACEC Minnesota. John Curry, Executive Director of ACEC Minnesota, and Dan Larson, past treasurer of ACEC and CEO of AET, discuss the foundation's goals and its impact on workforce development and education. John shares the driving forces behind EEFA, emphasizing the need to address workforce shortages and partner with educational organizations. The foundation focuses on four main initiatives: STEM education, post-secondary programs, industry retention and mentorship, and data-driven decision-making. Dan Larsen explains his motivation for supporting EEFA, highlighting its role in fostering a future engineering workforce. He discusses the long-term vision and the importance of collaboration among various stakeholders to make engineering an exciting career choice for young people. Tune in to learn more about EEFA's achievements, including the successful launch of a 501c3 organization, scholarship programs, and volunteer-driven initiatives. Discover how ACEC Minnesota's efforts aim to inspire the next generation of engineers and strengthen the consulting engineering industry.

Chris Level and Chois Woodman talked about the recent Big 12 Media Days in Las Vegas, how Behren Morton's success will correlate with a good season, if there is any truth to the FSU/Clemson Big 12 rumors and John Curry - all in this week's episode. 

Chris Level and Chois Woodman talked about the recent Big 12 Media Days in Las Vegas, how Behren Morton's success will correlate with a good season, if there is any truth to the FSU/Clemson Big 12 rumors and John Curry - all in this week's episode. 

John Curry from Smart X Assistant joins Karl Fitzpatrick to discuss the concept behind the company, why he is targeting mortgage brokers as clients and his international expansion plans. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we've got a special episode of The Unstoppable CEO™ Podcast. Normally, I'm the one doing the interviewing, but not this week…My buddy and client John Curry “hijacked” one of our recent Roundtable calls for subscribers to The Unstoppable CEO Confidential, and put ME on the hotseat.I think you're really going to like this…Inside I share the 7 principles that guide all of our marketing and every piece of marketing we help our clients build.Listen to this and you'll have a “checklist” for every marketing and sales effort in your business.

 3rd Generation and Going Strong with a "People First" FocusOur show today featured John Curry, a repeat guest of Poised for Exit. John is the CEO of Knutson Construction and is doing impressive things at the helm in the two years since his appointment. John is the 3rd Generation in his family owned business and he's made some great strides in growing the infrastructure of the business the past few years by hiring LEED certified professionals and by really having the whole team focus on who best to position the company for growth from an internal perspective. The construction industry is changing and staying ahead of that along with a close eye on day to day operations is a delicate balancing act that John's gotten pretty good at!John exclaims that working with outside advisers has made a "giant" impact in how they run the business, make improvements and identify their best prospects for future growth. Delivering their work as a Best in Class organization from every angle is something they constantly strive for and as John says, they never pretend to have all the answers. In other words, they're intentionally humble and listen to the advice they're given. That core value and belief has helped them lay the strong foundation needed to take the business to new heights. Listen to the episode hereFind out more about John Curry and Julie Keyes hereThank you to this month's sponsor!  Sunbelt Business Advisors and TrustPointNEW, low price! Check it out!Business Readiness Transition online course #Keyestrategies

JOIN US ON DISCORD! INTRO (1:47) Keith's House of Covid Chris' House of Chaos LOVE, HUGS & HATEMAIL (3:05) Quick's piece on Justise Socially distant hugs Thorns' management Saying goodbye to LEGENDS. RIP, JOHN CURRY & BILL SCHONELY (12:32) Memories Rebecca Harlow's Sports Broadcasting Camp Baseline crashes will never be the same Schonz let Abbi touch the trophy Knuckle Sandwiches LINKS: Schonz stories with Dwight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQNnTEbGTrQ Schonz' Valentines https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1aY2uqTlpI GAME RECAPS (31:22) The critical stretch of 6 games Contrasting loss to LAL, win over SAS Shaedon & Nas need minutes Nurk is a rollercoaster TRADE TARGETS (45:20) Vanderbilt, OG, John Collins Is Isaacs really worth it? Setting the bar for our assets MIA wants Hart? Still confident on Grant coming back? Defining "Untouchable" Will Nassir be a starter? OUTTRO (1:11:04) Brain burnout... from covid & from trade talks JOIN US ON DISCORD! Hit us up on Discord, @trailcasters on Twitter & Reddit, or email trailcasters@gmail.com and if you can share opinions on the pod about what you like, dislike, or which directions we should expand in, we'll do our best to make it happen! For more of our music, you can find Odar's beats at https://soundcloud.com/odarbeats And if you have any need of their services, PLEASE support clearlyspeakingoregon.com like they've supported our podcast from the beginning! Enjoy the episode and GO BLAZERS!!! If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800- GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL/IN/LA/MI/NJ/TN/PA/WV/WY), 1-800- NEXT STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO/KS/NH), 888-789-7777/visit ccpg.org (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY), visit OPGR.org (OR), or 1-888-532-3500 (VA). 21+ (18+ NH/WY). Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/KS/LA(select parishes)/MI/NH/NJ/ NY/OR/PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. Void in ONT. $150 in Free bets: New customers only. Min. $5 deposit. Min $5 pregame moneyline bet. $150 issued as six (6) $25 free bets. Bet must win. Ends 12/31/22. Stepped Up SGP: 1 Token issued per eligible game. Opt in req. Min $1 bet. Max bet limits apply. Min. 3-leg. Each leg min. -300 odds, total bet +100 odds or longer. 10+ leg req. for 100% boost. Ends at start of final game of the 2022-2023 NBA Season. See eligibility & terms at sportsbook.draftkings.com/basketballterms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It was another wild week for the Blazers. Dame scored 60 in the most efficient way in NBA history. The team also mourned the deaths of two beloved employees.  On the latest episode of Sports by Northwest, Aaron Fentress and KOIN sports anchor/reporter Brenna Greene discuss the Blazers news and a Portland athlete who deserves more attention right now.  Damian Lillard drops 60 on the Utah Jazz. · Blazers family loses two key figures: Bill Schonely and John Curry. · Can the Blazers turn things around? · Quick peak at next week's signing day. · Portland Pilots' Alex Fowler needs 36 points to become program's all-time leading scorer. · Brenna's take on Shakira going after her ex in a new song. And something about jam. · NFL playoff picks. Subscribe to Sports Northwest anywhere you listen to podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Calabro tells Sean Highkin stories about working with Bill Schonely. He tells Sean about how Bill was the first one to call him when he got his job with the Trail Blazers. The countless times where Bill would tell him to not mess up before he would go on air. Calabro goes into detail too about how broadcasting has changed during his career and integrating analytics into the broadcast for the fans. Then the guys remember another legend in the Trail Blazers community, John Curry. John was a camera man that passed away in the past week. Rose Garden Report sends their love to John and Bill's families. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The past week has been really hard for the Portland Trail Blazers family. Legendary play by play announcer, Bill Schonely, who came up with the phrase “Rip City” passed away at the age of 93 on January 21, 2023. Bill was an absolute legend of the broadcasting community and will go down as one of the best to ever do it. To remember Bill and discuss his time with the Trail Blazers, Sean Highkin welcomes Kevin Calabro on the show. Calabro worked with Bill and was the former voice of the Seattle SuperSonics.  Kevin Calabro tells Sean Highkin stories about working with Bill Schonely. He tells Sean about how Bill was the first one to call him when he got his job with the Trail Blazers. The countless times where Bill would tell him to not mess up before he would go on air. Calabro goes into detail too about how broadcasting has changed during his career and integrating analytics into the broadcast for the fans. Then the guys remember another legend in the Trail Blazers community, John Curry. John was a camera man that passed away in the past week. Rose Garden Report sends their love to John and Bill's families. With the recent struggles of the Portland Trail Blazers, Sean asks Kevin Calabro his thoughts on the recent play of the Trail Blazers. Calabro goes into how injuries completely wiped out an already pretty weak Trail Blazers bench. The guys go into how that will only improve with a lot of guys getting back and becoming healthier as a team. Plus they look into where this tough stretch originally started for the Portland Trail Blazers.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kevin Calabro tells Sean Highkin stories about working with Bill Schonely. He tells Sean about how Bill was the first one to call him when he got his job with the Trail Blazers. The countless times where Bill would tell him to not mess up before he would go on air. Calabro goes into detail too about how broadcasting has changed during his career and integrating analytics into the broadcast for the fans. Then the guys remember another legend in the Trail Blazers community, John Curry. John was a camera man that passed away in the past week. Rose Garden Report sends their love to John and Bill's families. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The past week has been really hard for the Portland Trail Blazers family. Legendary play by play announcer, Bill Schonely, who came up with the phrase “Rip City” passed away at the age of 93 on January 21, 2023. Bill was an absolute legend of the broadcasting community and will go down as one of the best to ever do it. To remember Bill and discuss his time with the Trail Blazers, Sean Highkin welcomes Kevin Calabro on the show. Calabro worked with Bill and was the former voice of the Seattle SuperSonics.  Kevin Calabro tells Sean Highkin stories about working with Bill Schonely. He tells Sean about how Bill was the first one to call him when he got his job with the Trail Blazers. The countless times where Bill would tell him to not mess up before he would go on air. Calabro goes into detail too about how broadcasting has changed during his career and integrating analytics into the broadcast for the fans. Then the guys remember another legend in the Trail Blazers community, John Curry. John was a camera man that passed away in the past week. Rose Garden Report sends their love to John and Bill's families. With the recent struggles of the Portland Trail Blazers, Sean asks Kevin Calabro his thoughts on the recent play of the Trail Blazers. Calabro goes into how injuries completely wiped out an already pretty weak Trail Blazers bench. The guys go into how that will only improve with a lot of guys getting back and becoming healthier as a team. Plus they look into where this tough stretch originally started for the Portland Trail Blazers.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this edition of The Blazers Balcony, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss...• The passings of Bill Schonely and John Curry and what both men meant to the organization• Portland bouncing back from a bad loss versus the Lakers to defeat the Spurs• The importance of winning the last three games of a six-game homestand• Chauncey Billups' honest assessment of his own coaching and the benefit in the locker room 

The Portland Trail Blazers picked up a huge win Monday night over the Gregg Popovich-led San Antonio Spurs, 147-127.  Is this the return to the glory days of November? Yeah, not so sure about that. On the latest Blazer Focused podcast, Aaron Fentress and Craig Birnbach talk about the latest news in Rip City. They talked about Remembering Bill Schonely and veteran cameraman John Curry Why is this team struggling so much? Thoughts on the trade deadline Fact or Fentress Subscribe to Blazer Focused anywhere you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this edition of The Brief Case podcast, Casey Holdahl discusses...• The Trail Blazers falling back into old habits over a three-game losing streak• Whether or not Chauncey  Billups is going to change his lineups and what few options he has if he does• The passing of longtime Trail Blazers broadcaster and ambassador Bill Schonely and some of his final public comments• Longtime Trail Blazers camera operate John Curry passing away and Damian Lillard's comments about their relationship• Portlands offensive and defensive rating and where they stand against the spread this season 

Every player takes a different path the the NBA, even players who grow up with famous NBA player dads. Today we learn about Gary Payton 2's journey to the NBA, obstacles he overcame and the perseverance to keep going. We also try to figure out which Harry Potter house he'd be in. Plus, Bill Schonely memories, and a dramatic Wikipedia reading. We're throwing so much love to the Blazers organization, especially Blazer Broadcasting who lost both The Schonz and long time colleague, cameraman John Curry this week. Our hearts and thoughts are with their family and friends. Rip City, Baby! 1:00 Icebreaker: Schonely 9:30 His impact and legacy 12:00 Excerpt from Bill Schonely's WIkipedia article 14:00 Cameraman John Curry 16:30 Get 2 know GP2 not Jr 17:00 Parents Gary Payton and Monique James 20:45 There is a Gary Payton Jr who has a different mom 22:45 Sonics connections and hanging out with the mascot 24:30 Hometowns: Seattle, Las Vegas and Oakland 26:15 Took a while to throw himself into pursuing basketball, wound up in OSU. Gary Payton II creating legacy all his own with Oregon State Beavers 30:15 OSU days 31:30 Goes undrafted 33:30 Gary and Gary on Gary and Gary dream 34:15 Ready to apply for a job in the Warrior's video department. How a lifelong struggle paved the way for Gary Payton II's success with the Golden State Warriors 37:30 So many differences between the careers of Gary Payton and Gary Payton 2. 40:00 Dyslexia and the NBA Cares award. A letter from mom: Gary Payton II wins NBA community service award 43:15 GPII Foundation Gary Payton II named winner of new Bob Lanier Community Assist Award | NBA.com 44:45 What Hogwarts house is Gary? We guess he's a Hufflepuff. 48:15 Trash talking, what kind of trash talking does GP2 do? 51:00 Different paths of Gary Payton 2 and Shaedon Sharpe 55:00 Social Media player of the week: Nurk gets back on Instagram Keon joined and posted to Tik Tok (and dog content!) Justise: Watching kids that are strangers interact at a birthday party has to be one of the most wholesome things in this world (Honorable mention) Josh Hart knitted jersey 1:09:00 This week's takes Music by Erik Peterson! @ShoozumOops on Twitter. Join us on Discord! It's a place where we can share our love for the Blazers, talk about games, and get to know other Blazer fans. Kind of like Twitter but it's not. There are different channels with different topics and you can join in where you want, and ignore the stuff you don't want to see. Give it a try! You can also still find us on Twitter: @wehaveatake, @tcbbiggs @roselharding

This episode we talk to John, Matt and Kelly about So cal fisheries, when they throw Big Baits and ways to help the fishery improve . Check out Phenix Rods https://phenixrods.com to see all models mentioned in this episode Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More homes are under construction than ever before, but that doesn't actually tell us how the housing market is doing from a supply perspective. In today's episode, John Curry, CEO of Setanta Development Capital, joins us to share how he and his partner, Rob Davenport, created a platform to address what was missing and being ignored in the home development industry. Join us as we discuss: The nuances of home construction at a historic high  The supply and demand of home construction today Normalizing mortgage rates

In this episode, Knutson Construction CEO John Curry talks to F&C reporter Brian Johnson. Curry discusses his journey with Knutson, how the company fared during the height of pandemic, his days as a professional hockey goalie, and the outlook for the industry during a time of high inflation and supply chain backlogs.

The Plugz fusionó el espíritu del punk y la música latina. La banda se formó en 1977 y fue contemporánea de las bandas que aparecen en la película The Decline of Western Civilization. Sus canciones reflejaban la ira y la angustia de crecer chicano, y esto se reflejó en su versión sardónica de alta velocidad de "La Bamba" de Ritchie Valens. Los Plugz son generalmente reconocidos como los primeros D.I.Y. banda de punk en Los Ángeles, habiendo comenzado su propio PLUGZ RECORDS y más tarde Fatima Records. La banda inicialmente estaba compuesta por: - Tito Larriva (Voz principal/guitarra) - Charlie Quintana (batería) (m. 2018) - Barry McBride (bajo/coros) Esta formación grabó el primer álbum de la banda, Electrify Me, producido y diseñado por Alan Kutner, y lanzado en 1979. Después de que McBride se fue (en algún momento entre 1979 y 1980), fue reemplazado por John Curry de The Flyboys, quien se fue para formar Choir Invisible menos de un año después. Larriva y Curry escribieron la canción principal del segundo álbum Better Luck. Los músicos del segundo álbum de la banda, Better Luck (1981), fueron: - Tito Larriva (Voz principal/guitarra) - Charlie Quintana (batería) (acreditado como "Chalo Quintana") MUSICOS INVITADOS: - Gustavo Santaolalla (Bajo/Guitarras/Charango/Coros) - Aníbal Kerpel (teclados) - Steve Berlín (saxofón) - Bruce Fowler (trombón) - Steve Fowler (Saxofón) - Brian Qualls (piano) Tony Marsico se unió a la banda a fines de 1980 y Steven Hufsteter comenzó a tocar la guitarra principal con el grupo en 1984. Con la incorporación de Steven Hufsteter a la guitarra principal, The Plugz también ocupan un lugar destacado en la banda sonora de la película Repo Man. El grupo interpretó "Hombre Secreto", una versión en español de "Secret Agent Man" de Johnny Rivers, "El Clavo y la Cruz" y la música de fondo instrumental original de la película, parte de la cual aparece en la banda sonora como Reel Ten. El bajista Tony Marsico de Plugz y el baterista Charlie Quintana junto con su amigo, el guitarrista JJ Holiday, acompañaron a Bob Dylan en su aparición en Late Night with David Letterman el 22 de marzo de 1984 para tres canciones: "Don't Start Me Talkin'" (por Sonny Boy Williamson), "Jokerman" y "Licencia para matar". En 1984, el nombre de The Plugz se retiró y los tres miembros continuaron como Cruzados con Steven Hufsteter. The Plugz reunió a los tres miembros fundadores de The Masque 30th Anniversary Party and Book Release show el 11 de noviembre de 2007 en The Echoplex en el distrito de Echo Park de Los Ángeles, California. Discografía - Sencillo "Move // Mindless Contentment / Let Go" en Slash Records (1978) - Electrificame (1979) PLUGZ RECORDS - Sencillo "Achin' / La Bamba" en Fatima Records (1981) - Mejor suerte (1981) - Los Angelinos - el renacimiento del lado este (compilación) (1983) - Banda sonora de Repo Man (1984) - Bob Dylan y los enchufes (1984) - Banda sonora de New Wave Hookers - Electrify Me (1985) Lista de canciones - Electrify Me (1979) "Una ganancia - una pérdida" (Tito Larriva) "La Causa" (Tito Larriva) "Electrificame" (Tito Larriva) "Muere satisfecho" (Tito Larriva/Barry McBride) "La Bamba" (dominio público) "Adolescente" (Tito Larriva) "Tiempo de cerebro" (Tito Larriva) "Sin palabras" (Tito Larriva) "Déjalo ir" (Tito Larriva/Barry McBride) "Infección" (Tito Larriva) "Berserktown" (Tito Larriva) La canción "Adolescent" se utilizó en la película Scarred (1984). La canción "Electrify Me", se utilizó en la película para adultos New Wave Hookers (1985).

Today on the podcast we're revisiting a past episode where we talked about the big breakthroughs that come when you publish a book for your business.If you've ever wanted to write a book to support your business but just didn't know how to start, or find the thought of sitting down and writing a book overwhelming, this episode is for you.I sit down with my friend and client John Curry who just went through our Referable Book process with his second book and we cover… The big impact a book can make. Why entrepreneurs get stuck trying to write a book and how to avoid it. My simple method for outlining your book on a single page. How to use your book to get clients. And a whole lot more…

Many investors understand the challenges in financing a development project… But what about what comes first? That's right, today we're talking about land — the horizontal investment opportunity that vertical investors often view as anything from a mysterious black box to real estate's risky four-letter word. To help decipher the enigma, today I'm joined by John Curry, Chief Executive Officer at Setanta Development Capital, whose success in this asset class will assuage any doubts about the opportunities in the space. In this episode, we discuss: Why John doesn't buy the argument that land is illiquid Why the 2008 housing crisis has been completely misremembered How to customers hatred for lenders helps him deliver great customer service To stay up to date on The Real Estate of Things, check us out on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website. Listening on a desktop & can't see the links? Just search for The Real Estate of Things on your favorite podcast player.

In 1928, under the malicious advice of a local woman named Nellie Noll, John Blymire believed that he had been cursed by Nelson Rehmeyer. Blymire and his accomplices broke into Rehmeyer's home to find his copy of the braucherei 'spell book' known as the Long Lost Friend. Blymire and his fellow conspirators, John Curry and Wilbert Hess, were unable to find the book, but did find Rehmeyer himself, whom they killed and mutilated in hopes that this would lift the curse. The three men charged with the crime also set fire to the house, hoping to remove remnants of the curse, as well as to destroy evidence of their murder. However, the house did not burn down as they had hoped. This led to many people further believing that Rehmeyer was a witch and that his power prevented the destruction of the house. The resulting trial drew substantial media attention. Submit your stories: popmediaagency@gmail.com

In this episode, I sit down with my friend and long-time client John Curry...he's experienced one heck of a “life ambush.”He's just hit a huge positive milestone...one many people in his situation might not have the strength to make happen.We go deep on overcoming adversity, building a strong mindset, and making progress in the face of serious and very real challenges.I learned a lot from John throughout this entire experience. Today, we unpack the lessons for you. This transcends business, and is extremely relevant to every entrepreneur.I promise you'll find at least one thought that will improve your resolve, determination, and mindset.

Join Kobi and Joe as they drive deeper into the void. The guys sit down with John Curry of Blind Texas Merlin. Originally from Oakland, California John followed his passion to New Orleans, Louisiana to pursue his music career. Prepare your mind for a rollercoaster ride of stories and tales.

We all think we're invincible…But just for a moment imagine what would happen to your business if the worst case happened…If you couldn't go to work, not tomorrow, or next week, or for weeks or months…Got the picture? What would your business look like? Would it still be there when you got back?In the last two episodes, I've interviewed my client John Curry who has just lived this out. Except, I'll bet his picture coming back to his business after almost 5 months out is a little different than yours.He returned to a business that was still running at full-tilt...even grew without him.In my third and final conversation with John, I wanted to know how he built such a resilient, self-multiplying business.Whether you are planning to protect your business from unforeseen emergencies, or you are looking to step back and gain more free time from work, this episode is a must listen.John and I talk through his process for assembling his business team, how they came through for him while he was away recovering from his amputation, and lessons he's learned that will help any business leader build a “crisis-proof” team, including: The fallacy of rugged individualism How to automatically attract the right team around you Leveraging your team in times of need And much more If you've missed the first two conversations in this series, be sure to go back and check them out. John has been through more in the past six months than most of us ever will and his insights and advice, both professionally and personally, are invaluable – whether you ever find yourself in a similar position or not.

Part two of our conversation with John Curry.When John lost his leg four months ago, he translated his mindset tools from business success to his physical rehabilitation.He also drew upon his talents to become more productive with one leg than most of us could be with two.How? That is what we are talking about on this episode.John shares with us how he kept his business growing and personal life on track while literally getting back on his feet. His insights include: A “real life” look into how a life-threatening crisis became a catalyst for productivity How to never again get stuck in a dip on the path to your goals (and when walking away will make things better) A “blueprint” for creating a crisis-proof business And much, much more… If you missed the first part of my conversation with John, be sure to go back and check it out. His life-changing story will change yours (and how you run your business).

No one ever thinks THIS will happen to them…And neither did my client…Until he found himself in the hospital facing gruesome surgery…He was worried about his health, even his life, and what would happen to his business.Have you ever laid awake wondering what would happen if you couldn't go to work for a week, or a month, or, like my client, for four months?In this episode of the podcast, I interview my friend and client John Curry, the very first interview he's done since returning to work after a shocking health crisis.This may just be the most impactful podcast you ever listen to. In the episode you'll hear... Why your ability to make quick decisions under pressure is vital (and how to be at peace with even the toughest life or death decisions) How to approach a crisis situation, and why and how to build your crisis recovery team John's WIRM technique to remain positive when most people would fold like a cheap suit And so much more…

The Family Business of Knutson Construction:  Building for the next 110 yearsOur featured guest for this episode is John Curry, 3rd generation owner of Knutson Construction, a commercial construction company that boasts 110 years in business! Before joining the company, John spent some time playing hockey as a Goalie; in high school, college and for the pros! He started his construction career on the job site and over time, moved his way into an executive position, where he manages the primary customer accounts and business development. John's grandfather, also John Curry, bought the business from the Knutson's in 1985, carrying on the family business legacy that the Knutson family started back in 1911. Legacy is truly a foundational pillar for the Curry family and they take their ownership very seriously. They operate knowing their people are their biggest asset and have developed a company culture that builds upon the loyalty of their best and brightest. They're currently working through a Succession Plan for John's father, Steve who has hired their first non-family member as President of the company, and is now acting Chairman of the Board. Their strategic plan focuses on building upon this succession and furthering the growth of the business by expanding their internal capacity. For more on this amazing story, listen to the show now!Find John here & find Julie here.Thank you to this month's Sponsors: Baker Tilly and Sunbelt Business Advisors 

In our ninth and final episode of our series for members of the Florida Retirement System, Steve Gordon once again hosts our very own John Curry. We discuss an aspect of retirement that is necessary for absolutely everyone approaching this stage of their life to consider, mindset, and dive into how to successfully execute John’s Secure Retirement Method.

John Curry

John Curry is quite familiar with the underground poker scene in New York and Philadelphia. We talked about how those games are organized, how they are run, and what kind of risks everybody's taking. John shares some crazy personal anecdotes from the time when he was involved in that business, like the story about armed robbery in the game he was running. Expect plenty of fun facts and degen stories.   John is the author of We Run Bad. The story is set right after the housing market crash in the US. There are some really good anecdotes from the underground poker scene, some great characters. It's dark, it's funny and I really enjoyed it. I think most poker players would like this book, so check it out here https://amzn.to/3cEzxox   Follow John on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/curry_writer   CONNECT:  Subscribe to this channel: https://bit.ly/runchuks-yt Subscribe to newsletter: https://www.runchukspodcast.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/RunchuksP Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/runchukspoker Coaching: https://bit.ly/bts-coaching   PODCAST INFO: Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2XlvTro Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2ECWIAF YouTube playlist: https://bit.ly/podcast-yt   OUTLINE:  00:00:00 Intro 00:01:19 How John Curry got into writing 00:05:32 The casinos came to town 00:09:30 Moving to New York and sleeping on a couch for one year 00:11:18 The three generations of New York poker games 00:18:53 The gun incident 00:29:33 Running the first home game 00:38:19 Playing in your own game 00:40:14 New York 00:43:30 Why do people play in the underground games? 00:49:27 Casino legislation 00:53:28 The craziest thing that happened while running a home game 01:07:55 The stolen gun 01:18:38 New York home game raids 01:23:51 Home game rake 01:29:33 Rigged games 01:36:45 A word for nits 01:41:10 John Curry 01:44:40 Publishing the book 01:52:43 Self-publishing books 01:57:12 The thing with art 02:03:30 Process of writing a book 02:04:51 "We Run Bad" 02:10:05 Oh, what a loser 02:12:10 Give it a try 02:15:11 Movies 02:22:12 The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t with Her Mind 02:23:44 It's all about how it's written and how it is sold 02:30:03 GameStop short squeeze wave 02:55:07 Ponzi scheme 02:56:52 We Run Bad on Amazon

Artistic figure skating is a movement that is gathering pace, not in the least with help from the United States longest running ice dance company, Ice Theatre of New York.Moira North, who is both the founder and the Artistic Director at ITNY gives an insight into the creation of Ice of Theatre of New York and its fantastic contribution to the arts.Created as a not for profit dance company, Ice Theatre of New York has worked with some of the greatest names in both ice skating, ballet and other artistic forms; It is the unique fusion of artistic disciplines that make both Ice Theatre of New York and artistic ice skating its own special brand of magic.Moira, who is arguably one of the most notable figures in artistic skating takes us through the inspirations and working with John Curry, to bringing hip hop and aerial acrobatics to the ice, from the companies humble beginnings to a world renown artistic ice skating company at the forefront of the movement.You can view some of the amazing work of Ice Theatre of New York by visiting the website at https://www.icetheatre.org

Today on the podcast we're talking about the big breakthroughs that come when you publish a book for your business.If you've ever wanted to write a book to support your business but just didn't know how to start, or find the thought of sitting down and writing a book overwhelming, this episode is for you.I sit down with my friend and client John Curry who just went through our Referable Book process with his second book and we cover… The big impact a book can make. Why entrepreneurs get stuck trying to write a book and how to avoid it. My simple method for outlining your book on a single page. How to use your book to get clients. And a whole lot more… Listen now…-SteveMentioned in this episode: Podcast Prospecting Unstoppable Referrals Steve's other books

In Episode 187, my friend and client John Curry and I did a deep dive into fear, mindset and how fear can cripple your entrepreneurial drive. In this episode, we revisit the topic and discuss how to “flip from fear to confidence”.Plus, we cover the importance of focusing on your own “personal economy” and bypassing what's happening in the world. The path to get there is what John and I call “radical independence.” If you're feeling fearful about your circumstances right now, this will help, and if you're feeling a sense of optimism and independence this will give you the fuel to take it to another level.Tune in as we discuss... Dealing with negative influences and handling mistakes Creating your personal economy The Fear-Confidence Continuum And more

Battling it out on the show this week is real life married couple and former coworkers of Nate's John and Tammy Curry. They all worked together at a certain kite store in Boulder, CO., and so this episode is all about Kites... mostly. Topics include WWI Box Kites, Kite Shields, the Kite Runner, Check Kiting and Kiting Mobs. Plus games! Note: the sound quality isn't perfect on this episode, so apologies for that.Get out the vote. Register. Vote. Wear a mask. Jobs are where you work! And if you're looking for a job and then you found a job, heaven knows you're miserable now?If you like this show, please subscribe, rate us 5 stars, and review us wherever you listen. Black Lives Matter.And check out Michael J. O'Connor's tunes at https://michaeljoconnor.bandcamp.com/Go fly a kite!

John Curry, Rehabilitation and Medical Care Manager at Clear Water Marine Aquarium, joined AM Tampa Bay to discuss a Huge loggerhead that will be released on Clearwater Beach Today!

Summer at NoLimits - Part 7 with John Curry

John Curry is a New Orleans based singer/songwriter/band leader/artist/weirdo 

WTOQ?! Ep 16 - It's been a while, CrocodileRecorded Friday 10th April 2020This episode Bernie & Tommy are joined by the Wonderful Timberlina the ecologically minded bearded drag lady, forager and co-host to "Live From Rye" https://open.spotify.com/show/7AtGlB8uoDCHE4UnXcKlJO?si=4h9pwOjsQOK3qogNk8vIHQTogether they talk life, the universe and lockdown. John Curry the ice dancer is the subject of What, that Really Old Queen?! We go back to the progressive and sometimes outlandish sexual acts and beliefs of the ancient Egyptians for What, that Old Kink? Ms Timberlina has some top tips for foraged Shnacks in Shnack out of it! Plus Queens of agony discusses how to make gay friends without sex, the merits or not of Gay marriage, bottoming for the first time, and what's with all the Calvin Klein underwear?So please join us with a glass of your favourite tipple for humorous squiffy Queer chat!If you'd like to support and help keep our podcast running by buying some WTOQ?! Merchandise or by becoming a Patreon. Follow the links below:https://www.patreon.com/Wtoqhttps://teespring.com/stores/what-that-old-queenCheck out our website:whatthatoldqueen.com

Goodbye 2019 with John Curry

John Curry and his wife Kendra run Clay Sand Straw, one of the premier natural building companies in Central Texas. In this episode, John and Mike talk about natural building, straw bale, cob, adobe, building codes, energy efficiency, tiny homes and much more.

This episode we talk to John about Tournament fishing , Offshore fishing , Bait Making and his uncle that held the DVL record . John is a jack of all trades when it comes to fishing and a all around great guy .

Summer at NoLimits - Part 7 with John Curry

We put John Curry in the hot seat and have business consultant - and longtime friend - Steve Gordon grill him on how attitudes towards retirement are changing and how it could impact your plans. Most people don’t have a real vision of their retirement, says John. And that can be very dangerous to their physical and mental health. We unpack what “vision” really means and how you can find fulfillment in your Golden Years – and it’s definitely not just about financial security.

Jack and Ayano speak with world bronze medalist Vincent Zhou about his successful season, his work with coach Mie Hamada, his career, and thoughts about Yuzuru Hanyu, Shoma Uno and Daisuke Takahashi. Then a brief interview with a special guest about the new movie "Ice King" about John Curry opening May 31 in Japan.

3-4-19 The third hour of The Program goes around the nation two minutes at a time with stops in Charlotte, Louisville, Nashville, and Houston with the Two Minute Drill. The Programs then talks about John Curry being hired as the new AD at Wake Forrest and what that means for Danny Manning? The program also tried to think of the best player to be a good coach in college basketball.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s so much misinformation about Social Security (and Medicare) out there. Even worse, people are basing their retirement planning on this misinformation. John Curry and April Schoen clear the air and get to the heart of the best way to take full advantage of this benefit you’ve been paying into your whole life.

For members of The Florida Retirement System, the decisions you must make to optimize your retirement income can be complicated and confusing. In this interview, John Curry breaks down the key considerations and decisions that are unique to FRS members.

James Erskine shares how he crafted a documentary about the artistic, athletic and societal struggle of John Curry, the world's greatest ice skater.

A successful salesperson is slick and manipulative, right? No deal, says my guest this week, financial advisor and master salesman John Curry. During his 40 years in the field, John has refined the real foundation of sales. It's quite simple: identify what you client needs, then help them get it… even if that sometimes means sending them to a competitor. Your role should be more like a trusted advisor than a smooth operator. Give your prospect enough information to make an educated decision. Take an open and honest approach. Be firm - even indifferent - when you need to be. Adopt this philosophy and the money will follow, says John. Listen in to find out… An easy technique for taking pressure off a customer What you're really selling - it's not your product or service The Surgeon's Posture Secret for boosting your sales numbers Why giving your prospect permission to say “no” often leads to “yes” A technique for being at peace with rejection - it boosts your confidence too Listen now… TimeLine 00:11 Today Steve speaks with long time friend John Curry. John has been working at the pinnacle of retirement planning for over 30 years and is considered one of the best salespeople in the country. 03:11 John tells us about “Purity of Intent” and why you should “Focus on the mission, not the commission”. 06:19 John tells us that we are all liars! 08:17 John tells us how he wasn't always a master salesman. He explains how rhino skin and allowing people the option to say to to him made him a master of the art. 16:53 Steve explains the his “Surgeons Posture” and how he uses it with every potential client. 20:54 Steve and John discuss how the “ABC” of sales is wrong. John gives us some examples from his own life from heart issues to suicide. 26:43 Steve talks about how John approach to selling has led him to sell life insurance to people who were completely against it. 36:00 Steve is a geomatic engineer. Who knew? He explains to us how he ended up in marketing Mentioned in the show Henry Ford Thomas Edison

This week, we've got a special episode of The Unstoppable CEO™ Podcast. Normally, I'm the one doing the interviewing, but not this week…   My buddy and client John Curry “hijacked” one of our recent Roundtable calls for subscribers to The Unstoppable CEO Confidential, and put ME on the hotseat.   I think you're really going to like this…   Inside I share the 7 principles that guide all of our marketing and every piece of marketing we help our clients build.   Listen to this and you'll have a “checklist” for every marketing and sales effort in your business   It's available now…go listen   Timeline:   00:11 This week's episode is with Steve and his friend John Curry discussing the  7 principles  of Marketing and Sales just after a conference call Steve just had with his clients. 01:47 Discussing begins. 02:48 John asks Steve to walk through the newsletter starting with the title “Why do we make it so complicated”. 05:10 Steve talks about how mindset is so important in gaining new clients. 08:47 “Everybody is chasing tactics if you follow marketing on the internet”- Steve 11:51 Principle #1: Trust 21:05 Principle #2: Confidence 26:40 Principle #3: Purity of Intent 32:37 Principle #4: Risk Reduction 35:11 Principle #5: Focus 38:13 Principle #6: Compelling Offer 42:56 Principle #7: Persistence 49:25 Steve explains the Growth Mindset Scorecard. Mentioned In this Episode: John Curry Billy Mays Unbeatable Mind by Mark Divine

Listen as my friend and client John Curry gives you a simple, clear plan for becoming unstoppable in sales. John is a top-performing financial advisor and has been for over 35 years. He's a lifetime member of The Million Dollar Roundtable and has achieved the Top of the Table and Court of the Table distinctions. What you'll hear on this interview will transform your approach to selling… Timeline 00:46 Steve introduces John Curry 02:30 John begins by telling us how he started off in business and how a battery of aptitudes tests he took whilst in the army pointed him towards sales. 05:52 John outlines his motto for success T.E.A.M- Time, Energy, Attitude, Mission. 11:04 John tells us how his days in the army practicing Muay Thai Kickboxing taught him to get over disappointment quickly and move on, including open heart surgery, clients passing and the economic crash. 14:49 After surgery John reconstructed his entire physical form and explains the importance of keeping fit as well as the importance of breathing! 17:47 John explains that he only works on stuff he likes and pays somebody else to do the stuff he doesn't. 20:09 John goes through his thought process when something or someone frustrates him. 23:16 He continues his point with a sports analogy. 26:03 John tells us how the 2 books he always carries with him both have the same theme, longevity and how they inspire him to keep working for a very long time! 29:32 Steve expands on John's point on how retirement should not be the finishing line people believe it to be. Mentioned in the show “Unstoppable Referrals” Thailand Muay Thai Kickboxing Tykwando B-52 Bombers George Burns “100 years, 100 stories” Kirk Douglas “Life Could Be Verse” www.JohnHCurry.com “Preparing for a secure retirement"

On this weeks RMR the guys are excited to welcome John Curry lead vocalist of Hounds of Jezebel to the Revival. Red & Jerry ask John about the new EP, touring plans, and the impact of Internet radio.

On this weeks RMR the guys are excited to welcome John Curry lead vocalist of Hounds of Jezebel to the Revival. Red & Jerry ask John about the new EP, touring plans, and the impact of Internet radio.
Also we have "News of the weird" and "Talking Real Metal".
RMR can be found on these great affiliates:
Megarock Radio Saturday 10am CST 
Uncontrolled Noize Saturday 6pm CST, Tuesdays 12am, Thursday 10pm 
Rock Rage Radio Tuesday 7pm EST 
For past shows Spreaker Radio.com
RMR HAS STILL NOT BEEN NOMINATED FOR A PEOPLES CHOICE AWARD!!!

On this weeks RMR the guys are excited to welcome John Curry lead vocalist of Hounds of Jezebel to the Revival. Red & Jerry ask John about the new EP, touring plans, and the impact of Internet radio.
Also we have "News of the weird" and "Talking Real Metal".
RMR can be found on these great affiliates:
Megarock Radio Saturday 10am CST 
Uncontrolled Noize Saturday 6pm CST, Tuesdays 12am, Thursday 10pm 
Rock Rage Radio Tuesday 7pm EST 
For past shows Spreaker Radio.com
RMR HAS STILL NOT BEEN NOMINATED FOR A PEOPLES CHOICE AWARD!!!

Host Lisa Kiefer interviews John Kuhry from Economic Development & Financing Corp. on how to connect money and ideas with entrepreneurs to create sustainable prosperity by providing gap financing and acting as lender-of-last-resort for small businesses.TRANSCRIPTSpeaker 1:Method to the madness is next. Speaker 2:We're listening to method to the madness of biweekly public affairs show fun, k a l x Berkeley Celebrating Bay area innovators. I'm your host, Lisa Keifer. And today we're talking with John Kuri, the executive director of the economic development and financing corporation, [00:00:30] also known as e d f c Speaker 3:[inaudible]. Speaker 4:Welcome to the program, John. Hi, you're the executive director of economic development and financing corporation. What is that and what is the problem you're trying to solve? Okay, so we are a nonprofit five oh one c three economic development corporation. And we are also [00:01:00] certified as a community development financial institution. And what we do is we provide financing to people that can't get money, act as a lender of last resort, primarily to businesses. And we do economic development, which is basically diversifying the economy. And where are you located? Oh, we're located in Mendocino county. We do business in [inaudible], Mendocino Lake counties. We focused on rural economic development. How did this get started? Uh, in 1994 partners in the, in our community of Mendocino, um, the four city and the county [00:01:30] itself looked at how can we better utilize our resources to try and diversify our economy. Speaker 4:So they formed this organization and we were supported by the county and each of the four incorporated cities. And from there we went out and were able to get funding and uh, apply for loans from the USDA. And what we are is an intermediary re lending partner, which is, we borrowed the money from the USDA and then we lend it out to two projects that have economic development. The biggest issue, especially in rural communities [00:02:00] is the lack of population density and just the lack of economic activity really, there needs to be support for businesses that are trying to bring income into the economy. And so this was noted in the 90s when things were kind of going well, right? Our economy supposedly, and one of the big projects that came out was the city of Ukiah. It was looking to do a infrastructure development of a bridge. Speaker 4:And we're tapped out in the terms of resources. So ESC is a nonprofit, was able to work with the economic development administration to [00:02:30] bring in funds through our nonprofit status to help build a bridge that was important for development in the community. From there, you know, we were pretty much just doing financing because redevelopment agencies existed and then about six or seven years ago, redevelopment dissolve. And so all the communities in California are looking at ways to address the funding issue. So what's going on with funding and where are the banks right now? The big thing that's happening, at least in lake and Mendocino counties, is we're forming an economic development district for communities to receive [00:03:00] funding, especially from the economic development industry. [inaudible] they need comprehensive economic development strategies put together and if counties or our communities can come together and do it, an economic development district, the uh, matching requirements, cause usually grant funding is required to match one for one. Speaker 4:A, it reduces significantly when there's, when there's an economic development district. So this is one way that the economic development administration is trying to address the issue. Um, we, we try to approach something a little bit differently. Up where we're at. We worked with cutting edge capital to do a direct public offering [00:03:30] to address a problem for nonprofits like ourselves who are eligible for grant funding but have difficulty coming up with matching funds. We received a grant from the EDA to study small scale meat processing and our award was cut down because we didn't have the matching funds. The other undercurrent that we were addressing was that the desire for local investors to move their money off of Wall Street into their community. So we work with cutting edge capital to create a direct public offering. I believe the first of its kind, which is a economic development [00:04:00] corporation allowing non-accredited investors to invest in their community. Speaker 4:How does this work? What is the process? You know, first thing we would say is we work in conjunction with our banking partners because banking will offer a overall low lower interest rates. But in the case of where you aren't eligible for financing or you don't get enough financing, that interest rate will be higher or you may not even get it at all. So you come to us. But there are instances where we found that there was a community benefit. We were looking at small scale meat processing. That project which we received grants funding for culminated with a peace ability [00:04:30] study and a business plan. And the next step is to build out. But there were three pieces missing. One was finding an operator, second was finding a piece of land and third was financing. So we, we think we've found the operator and found the land. Speaker 4:And so we looked at a direct public offering but the project was not ready to move forward. So we decided to, to address, um, this community benefit need by creating a social benefit revolving loan fund, which local investors can invest in. And Luckily a project came forward, which was a wool mill and that wool mill had social benefit enough [00:05:00] to where we said, okay, we what gave it social benefit. Oh, that had been there a long time ago. The wool mill was a startup and it was a young family. That principal, Matt Gilbert was a sheep shear and he actually is a forester by trade but been sheep shearing. It really got uh, impassioned with wool mill and there's a burgeoning local fiber movement in the bay area. That's amazing. If I ever shut up Marin created a locally sourced jeans can be a CSA Jean blue jeans. Speaker 4:Yeah, cotton cotton that was grown in the KP valley indigo that was got done in the KP valley. Unfortunately the milling, it had to be done [00:05:30] out in the east coast and there's a, again, a local, you know, wool movement in this happening and there's no fine spun fiber. So Matt came up with a business plan, but given the startup nature of it, the tech intensive capital needs and just his lack of capital was not turned. It was turned down by a bank. And we've, we thought this is a great resource. Wool was an important industry in Mendocino back in the day, but subsequently died out. A lot of people have animals on their property to comply with William Snack, which has tax status. And so they're shearing the sheep [00:06:00] and it's a cost center for them. Whereas Makin to aggregate this stuff that's normally taken to the dump or sold off for pennies on the dollar and turn into a value added product. Speaker 4:By definition, what we do is we do social benefit, we create jobs and jobs, create wealth in our community. Our mission statement is connecting money and ideas with entrepreneurs to create sustainable prosperity in lake and Mendocino counties. So by definition we have a mission, but we've expanded that mission to incorporate the social benefit, which in Matt's case would be adding value to a resource, which unfortunately in our community, a lot of our resources are extracted [00:06:30] and then the value that is added elsewhere. And so the people who were producing those resources aren't able to get to have a sustainable lifestyle. What other kinds of things besides like will extraction that you are looking at? Um, you know, again, we were, we're an agricultural community, um, and you've look go north of San Francisco. A lot of prime agricultural real estate has been turned over to grape growing, but Mendocino county and parts of northern Sonoma County, we built San Francisco with our redwood product. Speaker 4:Unfortunately, the redwood market has changed and and the need [00:07:00] for redwood and just the, the extractive nature of that business. We don't like to say extraction our community more because that means that we're not renewing. But with the wool you already renewing projects that we'd like to see come back would be, you know, how do we create more sustainable fisheries? Farming is is important and we up in where our area consider farming a social entrepreneurship type of endeavor because Mincey has a very large county, but when you actually look at how much row crops are being grown, there's probably less than a hundred acres that have grown crops that are being grown commercially. [00:07:30] And that's just a function of the other competitive resources which are being grown, which are grapes, timber, and of course our illegal economy. Cannabis. How much money do you want to ultimately be in this fund? Speaker 4:Or have you already reached that goal? We, yeah, we reached that goal. I mean really this was a kind of a Beta test. You know, we chose a local impact investing because we were, we wanted to try and be as conservative as possible and when we batch or in the community social benefits, it would mean that we could offset that with a lower financial return, which would then [00:08:00] build in some sustainability of the project. We had a minimum raise of $250,000 we needed to reach and we were had a maximum of a million. And that idea was maybe we would have the meat processing plant come online and we didn't have a project designated for this. In the process of doing this direct public offering to say to someone, would you invest in economic development? It's a little esoteric, but do you want to invest in a wool mill? Speaker 4:Was a much more tangible kind of ask. So we, the board of directors approved [00:08:30] the wool mill for a loan and so we were then we were able to use the [inaudible] mill as our flagship project to be a fundraise for. So we reached out to our minimum of 250,000 in January and in February we raised 350,000 which was the exact amount that's needed upon the wool mill. Isn't the goal to have a lot of money, so it's not just one, uh, you know, we'll mail, but many different companies could come to you and say, many local entrepreneurs could come and say, oh, I want to start this restaurant or I want to, isn't [00:09:00] that the goal of it or is it project by project? The intention of course is to have a larger fund, but given the time constraints and limited capacity that we had and also the brand recognition of the wasn't there. Speaker 4:A lot of people said, I want this to go to the wool mill. Given the time frame of when we had to fundraise, the wool mill was the only project. But now we've got credibility and if we're able to, you know, successfully pay back all the investors, then we can go back to a larger question of how do we fund projects to revitalize, you know, uh, manufacturing [00:09:30] and in Mendocino county, how do we revitalize the know your harbor? Okay, well how do we fund social entrepreneurs which need a lower interest rate and need more patient capital? So we created a fund to deploy it. But one of the things, as a community development financial institution, we are able to access grants and portfolio insurance programs. So if you were to go invest the wool mill, you're, you're, you're risking your investment and you're basing it on the intrinsic value of the project. Speaker 4:By us taking in that investment, we are then able to insure that loan and be able to service that loan or an intermediary. Exactly, [00:10:00] exactly. And we're nonprofit intermediaries, so a lot of intermediaries, when you look in the financial world, take a a return based on, you know, paying CEOs and things like that. What is EDF? See what EDF sees fulfilling its mission. I've got, you know, we're a nonprofit. For us, what we're doing is we're building sustainability to our mission. We're also fulfilling our mission in creating new markets for our community to be able to, to bring entrepreneurs in. So we look at it as a multi-tiered facet. So you're, if you're an existing business that needs, or a startup business that needs capital, there's a loan fund, but [00:10:30] there are projects such as the meat processing facility, which doesn't have an entrepreneur yet. Speaker 4:We're able to leverage grant funding because of our nonprofit status to be able to then develop those markets. And how will you do that? We also do direct public offerings or what is your plan for that? Well, the meat processing, ideally, you know, EFC does not want to be in the business of running other businesses. But what we are willing to do is kind of shepherd them and incubate them to the next level. So when we explored the meat processing facility, we wanted it to be owned by producers. But the producers that exist right now, the, [00:11:00] the mainstream producers are pretty satisfied with their existing contracts. And it'd be hard for them to move away. And so it's also a very controversial subject in our community. We had a lot of people who were back to landers. We have a Buddhist monastery and Buddhist school up there, so it's been tough to figure out whether this project can move forward. Speaker 4:But that being said, the producers that haven't been really wanting to take on this project, even though I've had talked to several prominent wine producers who have this problem breaking the Napa cache [00:11:30] like we made, we produced some of the best wines and grape juice in Mendocino county and a lot of it goes into Napa valley wines, but there's a good understanding that we could become the Napa Valley of grass fed organic beef and some of the proofs that we have are making that kind of impact. So the idea of value added processing is important. That being said, nobody really wants to take the risk. This is a risky endeavor. The returns don't justify venture capital. So in that question of how do finance this ETFs, he said, well, let's create a direct public offering model to lipper local investment. Then what we [00:12:00] would do is maybe start it, there's a, there's an economic development corporation, Taos who operates a meat processing facility. Speaker 4:And we would do it to start it off and then spin it off as a worker owned cooperative. But because we don't want to be in the business of running business or cu it sounds like, yeah, you're helping businesses stay in the community. And our other big project we're doing is we're doing a coworking facility and that's really brought up from a project we took on, which was broadband. You know, when we talk about rural communities, we are, you know, we're very behind the um, in the, in terms [00:12:30] of creating 21st century infrastructure for these information based economy. I feel like that in Berkeley, when I lived in Berkeley, I was really happy with my internet. I ran a brewery up in Mendocino on a satellite internet and that was really tough. So we came together with the community foundation and started talking about it and created the broadband alliance for Mendocino County. Speaker 4:And through that process we become really vocal and, and have gone to the congress and talked about the issues of the incumbents taking away copper and the importance for nine one one emergency services. [00:13:00] So we've become this very much a, a figurehead for this, this rural community. Cause when you look at the northern California rural communities where less than 5% of the population of California, so that's the margin of error for a lot of companies. Unless you make a lot of noise, they're not gonna be interested. Now that Mendocino is partnered with Sonoma and Marin, we've, we've created so much noise now that ATNT starting to take, take voice, but you really a region, right? You know, it's unreasonable if you're living up in a rural community that you have of highway up to your house. I also think that it's unreasonable that you're going to have fiber out in the middle of [00:13:30] nowhere. Speaker 4:But that being said, the real issue is how do you address our urban cores or our incorporated cities? How do you get the faster Internet and how do you address really the socioeconomic, digital divide of a cheaper access to people there? So those are some issues that we want to bring up. And this coworking facility that we're developing, we have a very, very large land area with a very large small population and we have some very, very creative people, you know, from battery pipe, which is a manufacturer of OEM exhaust systems for, you know, [00:14:00] motorcycles and ATVs and things like that. Operating on a, on a, on a global competitive scale in Mendocino county that started out from a local boy, two um, little startup c corporations. There's one up there, Peter Pucker, which is the main equipment for mixing ceramics and the primary equipment for Plato. Speaker 4:These types of entrepreneurs are scattered around and sort of bring people together, which into a hub, to a hub and be able to network will help create a, a culture of entrepreneurship because we, and then you can also [00:14:30] get economies of scale on when it is they need, whether it's accounting, back office, deffer Internet, right? Yeah. And you know, the, the, the coworking movement has been phenomenal in the bay area and we are, you know, it takes someone like UTFC, which is a nonprofit and has access to partnerships and things like that to offset the costs. But we really believe that the next major employer industry in our community going to be homegrown. It's not going to be attracting a, you know, Mason [inaudible], which was, uh, the biggest industry when the biggest companies in Ukiah for a long time moved away [00:15:00] for environmental and cost issues. Speaker 4:But we're not gonna attract another company like that or another Nike. And really what we are, what we're looking for is lifestyle businesses. I was in the bay area for 10 years and I'm up there for a much quieter lifestyle and it's artists and all things are, are very popular everywhere. Do you see this kind of thing happening elsewhere in the u s oh yeah. I mean, there are other EDF c type organizations, especially in rural communities. I mean, it's funny when you look at funding, um, criteria for grant [00:15:30] funding, there's two top of the list. One would be low income and the other one would be rural. So there are organizations that operate in, in Los Angeles, county of San Francisco County that are acts have access to funds and the rural communities are habit, but we don't have the population base. And so the impact is a little bit different. Speaker 4:But that being said, economic development corporations are all around the state, all around the country. And then the community development financial institutions really CDFIs are really unique. They're a designation by the Department of Treasury and banking and insurance [00:16:00] companies have to comply with community reinvestment act dollars. And so they fund the CDFI Fund, which then gives out money. But we, I could go to a bank right now and get money and be able to deploy it into a low income and rural projects. As a matter of fact, that direct public offering we did, it was probably the hardest money that I could've gotten to $350,000 well, you know, we raised for the direct public offering. Why is that a, because he had to go out, I mean, I was on a road asking, your average investment was $4,000 the number of people we had [00:16:30] was 80 when I could have gone to a bank and said, okay, I'll offer you the same terms, but the value back to the community, it binds the community. Speaker 4:Right, right. And also it was, it was important to to, I mean I think when we look at, you know, wealth inequality, it's really based on people having ownership of assets. And so this is a way that non-accredited investors can not only have ownership of assets but have it locally. And the conversation we have is, Berkeley's a good place for this. Where you talk about localization by local, where 45 cents of every dollar spent locally stays locally, whereas 15 cents of [00:17:00] a non local business stays locally. Well, if you look at that in a bigger scale, a scheme, if you go out and you buy apple stock, you're getting your dividend and apple. But if you put that same amount of money in, you know, Berkeley Bowl, you're not only getting that dollar back in div terms of dividends, but you're also getting that community benefit of those dollars circulating in the community. Speaker 4:So as you make it a little lower percentage, right. In this case, in this case we did, but you get a, an intangible return in the community because if you like a business, you want to stay. Yeah. The [00:17:30] other thing is that this is a prototype. So when we look at rolling out a, a more general economic development fund, we'll be able to offer a risk adjusted return. What does that mean? The reason why the Mendocino Wall project couldn't get funded was that it was a startup. The lack of experience from the, um, from Matt. He's young. Yeah. He's young. You know, he was for sure by trade. So the risk was there at that, you know, if you talk about venture capitalists, they, they, one of the reasons why they justify a high stake, either equity or rate of return is that [00:18:00] these things are inherently risky. Speaker 4:So when you look at the 2% return we asked for investors isn't quite risk adjusted. Then again, we are a nonprofit. And so because because of that and because we're a CFI, we're able to ensure this. So we mitigate a lot of that risk. But that being said, if it did, people would have been much more apt to invest that they were being offered a five, six, 7% rate of return, which would be more reflective of the risks that they're taking. So did you feel, um, is it something that you would recommend to others after going through this process of getting all of these investors locally? It was [00:18:30] CR. It was a great experience. I think that you're actually meeting face to face and with your invest. It was meme and sometimes I had to meet with them three times, you know? Well that's what the big, um, you know, IPO is they have to go around and do their dog and pony show too, right? Speaker 4:Eh, you know, but when they're getting checks of 10 million, $100 million, I mean, relatively speaking, you still have to do that face to face. But that's, you know, if you look at the way our world is moving, we're moving from a way, we're moving to more of a transactional experience and people are missing [00:19:00] the relationship. And so one of the things I've been working on with, you know, on the side is with some high net worth investors talking about how do we create direct relationship driven investment. And this, this what we're, what I was doing was directly, I mean, I shook hands with everybody. Everyone talked to Matt. You know, the, one of the things that investors really wanted to have was this feeling of community. So we're having these investor meetings where we're having one coming up at a, a very nice retreat place up in Ukiah. Speaker 4:I mean, this is a very unique, unique thing for you bring in the wool makers and [00:19:30] they give a presentation and went to the product. Yeah. So, you know, I think as our world gets more and more online and it goes from warm faster, it's that relationship that people are craving. And especially when you're talking about $1,000, I mean, you know, Michael Shuman talks about moving 1% of your income and what the impact that would make in our local communities. For some people $1,000 was what they would write a check for a philanthropic endeavor. But here they're going to build some sustainability into it. And this whole world of social, a social impact investing is [00:20:00] just growing leaps and bounds. Having learned about it five or six years ago, the market is just exploding and people wanting it. It is interesting. I feel like it's this whole other parallel universe going on outside of this crazy other financial market. Speaker 4:Yeah. And in some ways it's more tangible. Even if you have your money in a large commercial mega bank, you know, you think is FDI seeing insured? And it is. But that bank's exposure to derivative instruments and things like that. Or even if you have it in a, in a, your money, in a, in a stock somewhere. But if you have your, your money at Joe's, [00:20:30] you know, fish market, you can go by there every day and you'll see whether he's got people coming in or he doesn't. Or if you are, you get to taste this product and you know, whether you know he's going to fail or not. Yeah. Cause you know, if you know this person, you have a different responsibility. What, what was really unique is not, you know, the money was definitely the focus. But what came out of this was some of the captains of industry in our community came together and said, we want to mentor this guy. Speaker 4:Oh that's, so you're talking about another added [00:21:00] effect of like, wow, this guy, you know, this guy really, you know, we believe in him and we're gonna, we're going to take time out of our busy schedules running our multimillion dollar corporations to give him some mindshare. Yeah. So it's really, it was really community, you know, community focused. I was talking to a bank of America guy who specialized in CDFIs and he explained to me that, uh, he'd been working in the CDI Department at Bank of America for 25, 30 years and that he loved it and still financing. And if he wasn't doing that, he'd be working in a CDFI because CDFIs are [00:21:30] the most innovative and creative places where community capitalism is being deployed. And I think this place where CFIs like us are coming in and being able to take on that risk intermediary is really interesting because when we went out to the community and you know, in the bigger conversation of, in the wake of 2008 people were moving their money out of big banks and their communities like Willis economic localization, which was a group of people who came together and said, how do we invest locally? Speaker 4:And when I went to those meetings, it was great cause you hear these people going, I wanted [00:22:00] us locally, but I don't want to take any risk. I don't want to find the deals. I don't want to vet the deals. I don't want to service the deals. And so that EFC as a [inaudible] is a economic development corporation. The CFI, we have the skill set, we have the tools, and then we had the risk mitigation things. So this, this is a technique now that there are a lot of CDFIs are looking at what we're doing. Yes, it's a great alternative to this donation based crowdfunding. I don't want a tee shirt. I want to invest in your company. Well until recently, you know, and that's not been able to be possible. The SCC rules have just [00:22:30] finally come down. I'll tell you what, I spent more money on Kickstarter. Speaker 4:But that idea of having a relationship with an investment where you can go and you can meet and see and that it's in your community. I think I've done both too. And I just, I liked the connection that's made in the community. And there's also a bigger conversation that I'm having with people like in Berkeley or in San Francisco, is that places like Mendocino are your source of food, energy and water. And there has to be mechanisms that allow wealth building in those communities [00:23:00] so that families can continue to supply food, energy, water in an equitable way. And this is a great mechanism. You can people here investing. So these projects like meaning not Mendocino but you know, Berkeley, San Francisco and they did, they actually did. So because of the mechanism of the direct public offering is as a state exemption, as long as you register within the state, but it's open to all everyone in California. Speaker 4:So we did our road show in Mendocino, but 30% of our investment came from the bay area. Well it makes sense like you say, I mean [00:23:30] that's where we get our right and dude. And the other side of it is that, you know, a $50,000 investment from someone in San Francisco is a lot different than a $50,000 investment in someone in Willets. And um, so that was one of our largest investments was a $50,000 investment. Do you find that, you know, getting a couple of those big ones makes the rest easier? No, I don't think the big investment was really it and it's a matter of fact, I, I would've preferred to get it all through small investors. But that being said, I'm not going to turn away money and it made things easier. But um, we were late. We had a year [00:24:00] to, to be able to fundraise and we were authorized in February of last year and so the state gives you one year. Speaker 4:Okay. And then you can file an extension. But W we decided not to. We really didn't kick off our marketing effort until late, like six months later. And part of it was I was able to get grants from our local bank savings bank of Mendocino mental, a credit union, PGE gave us a grant, community foundation gave us a grant to be able to create a marketing campaign and a video or video was phenomenal. Really well done. I highly recommend you go to see it. It's think still, how would listeners go see [00:24:30] this video and you know your website? Yeah. Go to go to ww. Dot. E D F C. Dot. Org and state video about it. It's just the wool mill. It's really well done and just the local investment opportunity. But that really kind of kicked off the initial investment. And then once we started getting momentum and people saw this was for real, we'd brought Michael Shuman up to the community twice and everybody loved what he had to say, but nobody really believed that anyone was going to make this happen. Speaker 4:And when they finally saw money [00:25:00] coming in and the amounts of money that was coming in, it created a snowball and it was just, it was amazing. Shit. Bode well for the future. What are some other things that you foresee or you're hoping to get done in the future? Well, you know, one of the things that you know, we look at is there's such a beautiful harbor and the [inaudible] harbor up in Mendocino county and there's other issues other than just financing. But you know, creating a, a community, revitalizing that fishing community and that timber community in Fort Bragg is so important. It's so isolated and it's so beautiful and such a great lifestyle. I also think that [00:25:30] if you look at what happened, as a lot of people went to back to land, they went up to those areas, Mendocino and Humboldt counties, and they bought land from timber companies that have been just raped and pillaged. Speaker 4:These things were devastated and they were able to eke out a living and now they're looking at, hey, maybe I want to become a commercial cannabis grower and become legitimate and compliant, but they've got issues with erosion and road control, which can cast them, you know, anywhere from tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars and how do you get, how can they fund these things? So there needs to be a way, a mechanism to fund compliance [00:26:00] in this world. I'm not saying that we're ready to do that, but there is going to be a need to fund compliance in the future. In California, especially in rural areas, you couldn't probably get federal sources, but community capital could be raised to do that. And there's talk about trying, there's a bunch of people in the cannabis community we're talking about doing a direct public offering to create cooperative processing. Again, it's the issue of the people that make grow things don't make as much money as the people who distribute things. Speaker 4:And so you have to, in order to build equity in our community is to add value to it. All these regional [00:26:30] hubs are going to become more and more important. It's a redundant system. Yeah. And if you look at ancient Greece, right? Ancient Greece was not countries, they were nation, they're city states. And it's that aggregation, that economic activity that allowed them to weather the d vacation events that happened when I ran the Inner Sun Valley Brewing Company, which was a regional brewery when in a time it was in the top 50 craft breweries. Um, in terms of size and probably in the top two or three in terms of quality, but our core markets were San Francisco, Santa Rosa and Sacramento. [00:27:00] And even though we distributed out to Paris, China and Brazil and Sweden, if we lost market share in those areas, it was very concerning because those are your core markets. Speaker 4:And there is an intrinsic relationship between, especially Mendocino, Lake County, Sonoma county as to the bay area, being tied in acres, the bay area in building those relationships was really important. I want to talk a little bit about you. You've said that you grew up in Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz. You were in that brewery industry. What drew you to this CDFC work? I would say I [00:27:30] grew up in Santa Cruz. I actually was born in Vietnam and spent some time in Saudi Arabia. My Dad was a civil engineer, but for the most part, most of my child who was grown, you know from high school on our junior high on was in Santa Cruz. So I never thought I'd leave, but then realized going back to Vietnam, I had an opportunity to get an education, so I got into school, got out really quickly with a master's in economics and finance and realized I didn't really want to be in a bank. Speaker 4:Got Involved in Thai tech and so on and so forth and started some companies and then this opportunity to run the Anderson Valley [00:28:00] brewing company came up. When you go to a party, running a brewery was always, you know, popular. Yeah. You know, but I, I didn't, there were things in terms of things I didn't like about the business. One thing is I don't really drink that much. I don't enjoy drinking that much. And so that led to a clash. But at that time, being a very large employer in a very small area, I was asked to be on a lot of boards. And so being coming onto the economic development, financial risk and board of directors, which is 21 board members, uh, which includes two county supervisors, a city counselor from each of the four cities and then major employers [00:28:30] and things like that. I really liked the work. Speaker 4:We funded a brewery up in Lake County and my brewing experience came into that. And, or going into the wool mill or going to talk to another restaurant tour, the community really opened up. And so I love the myriad of things I get to do and the questions, it's just you're really connected in a network and I really love what I do. And just the, the community impact of it. If somebody wants to get ahold of you and ask questions, yeah, they can either email me, uh, John j o h n at EDF C. Dot Org Echo David, [00:29:00] frank, Charlie, um, they can call me, um, (707) 684-4084. You know, and I'm actually presenting, I'm going up to Comcast up in, uh, in poor ladies, Comcast, it's community capital conference about people creating ways to fund, uh, socially beneficial organizations or small businesses. One of the speakers and, uh, Amy Pearl up there has done some amazing things in community capital legislation to allow crowdfunding of community benefit organizations. Speaker 4:Yeah, I, I just loved the idea. I mean [00:29:30] I'm maybe growing up in Santa Cruz, but having that kind of social responsibility and I think that income inequality is solved through people taking ownership of assets and instead of redistribution, it's just basically able to be onerous of cooperatives or businesses. And being able to leverage that money. My next big passion is to create a mechanism for non-accredited people to put tax deferred investment away. Ultimately, like the litmus test for my job is healthy, happy kids. If families can live in [00:30:00] my community and are able to keep their kids here to have happy kids under themselves, then I've done my job. John, that's a nice way to end it. Thanks for being on the program. Oh, thank you very much. It's been pleasure. That was John Curry, the executive director of Ed FC Economic Development and financing corporation. This has been method to the madness. We'll be back again in two weeks. Speaker 3:Him. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

One of our staff members, John Curry, shares his testimony. From Augusta Korean Methodist Church. Scripture reading: Ephesians 2:8

Front Row pays tribute the writer PD James who has died aged 94. Fellow crime writer and friend Ruth Rendell reflects on James's life and work and, in a clip from our archive, James describes the four key motives for murder in a good crime story. Rugby player Gareth Thomas, footballer Bobby Moore and ice skater John Curry are among the subjects of the books shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award, the longest-running prize for sports writing. At the awards ceremony, John Wilson talks to the seven shortlisted authors and speaks to the winner of the £26,000 prize. Maggi Hambling, who was the National Gallery's very first artist in residence in 1980, has returned to the gallery with "Walls of Water" a new exhibition of her paintings of the sea. She talks to John Wilson about painting raging storms, her tribute to Amy Winehouse and why, in her late sixties, she feels much younger than she used to. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Ellie Bury.

John Curry joins the postgame along with Brodziak and Yeo following a 4-2 win over St. Louis

February 2014An interview with the legendary Dick Button. What hasn't he done? He's practically the father of our sport (if Jackson Haines were Grandfather). The two-time Olympic Gold medalist invented many of the jumps and spins we see today, and he invented figure skating commentary. He's a skater, producer, commentator, actor, truth-seeker, hall-of-famer, stirrer-upper, and figure skating's biggest fan. This first episode focuses on his new book Push Dick's Button, a fantastic book that is a really wonderful conversation on skating. 55 minutes, 50 seconds. [display_podcast] AM: Allison ManleyDB: Dick Button AM:  Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Manleywoman Skatecast. I'm your host, Allison Manley, and this is Episode 73, an interview with Dick Button. That's right!  You heard it, here it is! Any longtime fan of my podcast knows I have been chasing this interview for years. Years! And it only took writing a poem, some polite stalking, a pinch of begging, and quite a bit of persistence and tenacity — and let's face it, it doesn't hurt that he was trying to spread the word about his new book. All I know is that I'm thrilled to have been finally able to interview him. So, in case you don't know his many accomplishments, I'm going to list them off first. Here is the general overview of what Dick Button has done for this sport. He was the first skater to have won the men's novice, junior and senior titles in three consecutive years. He was the first skater to land a double axel. He was the first skater to land a triple jump, which was a triple loop, and the first male skater to perform a camel spin. And he was the inventor of the flying camel spin, also known as the Button camel. He's the only American to win the European title. He's the first American world champion, the first American to win the Olympic title in figure skating, the first and only American back-to-back champion. He is the first and only American skater to simultaneously hold all of the following titles: national, North American, European, World and Olympic. That's five. He's the youngest man to win the Olympic title in figure skating, at age 18, and it shocks me still that this record stands today. He is the winner of the Sullivan Award. In the 1960s he began doing television commentary, and has been gracing our television sets for decades since. He was inducted into the World Skating Hall of Fame in 1976, which was the initial class. He won an Emmy Award in 1981 for outstanding sports personality/analyst. He was a producer of skating shows including The Superstars, which was the first of the reality shows. He starred in movies and on television, and on the stage. The autobiography he wrote in 1955 is a fount of knowledge, and is incredibly well written. I highly recommend that you all find a copy and give it a read. And, of course, he is the author very recently of Push Dick's Button, a fantastic book that is a really wonderful conversation on skating. Dick and I decided to do this interview in two parts. The first will be focused on his book and all the ideas within. The second part will focus more on his career and life in skating, and will follow at a later date to be determined.  Anyone who knows my podcast knows that I've been dying to capture his voice on tape for the fans. So, ladies and gentlemen, may I present — Dick Button. ----- AM:  All right, Dick Button, are you ready? DB: I am. AM: So, thank you so much for your book. It's wonderful. I have to ask, why did you write it at this time? DB: And my question to you is, what do you mean by “at this time”? Are you saying that I'm a very old poop [laughs] and therefore don't have any understanding of what the hell is going on in today's world? Or are you asking it because it's been a long time since I have written? I wrote a book in 1952 or 1954, when I was a very young person, and then I did one other paperback kind of book a couple of years later. I don't understand the question “at this time”?  I mean, that does that mean? Am I missing something? AM: I guess it is curious that it has been such a long time. I do actually have the book from the 1950s, and I think it's interesting that the book that you chose to release now, rather than being a biography or an autobiography, is such a conversational book. So I suspect that you felt the need to have this conversation, so that's why I'm asking. Is skating frustrating you to the point where you felt like you had to tell these opinions? DB: I'll tell you what it really is. Number one, it was in the past exceedingly difficult for me to write. The advent of the computer and the lectures that I give on gardening introduced me to an entire new way to write. If you write on your computer, you can erase things, you can change things, you can move things around, and you don't have to rewrite painfully every single word. So the system and the ability to write was exceedingly pleasant. Then I also have a very good friend who had gotten me a major contract ten years ago, that was with Simon and Schuster, and I had a great opportunity to write a very good book at a very high-priced contract. And that was at the same time that I had gone skating on New Year's Eve, and fell and fractured my skull, and got concussions and lost the hearing in my left ear. And I also had a co-writer with me, and it didn't work. We just didn't work out. In other words, it was too much. I couldn't handle it at that time. It took me about two or three years to really get my act together and to recoup from that fall. So the important thing was, this same lady, who is a great friend of mine and who got me that contract, her name is Pat Eisemann-Logan — I finally said to her, Pat, what can I do for you? And she said, I'll tell you what you can do. I would like it if you would come and sit on the couch next to me and tell me what the heck is going on with what we are watching. So I sat down one day and I just wrote out a couple of things, a few chapters, and she said, yeah, that's terrific. And I love it because, number one, it doesn't have to be The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire of Skating. It is a simple conversation. Conversations are meant to be interrupted, to have answers, to have somebody kvetch about it. Conversations can range from any subject to any subject, and that's why I like the idea of this. I did not want to do a history of skating, which others have done before this, and I did not wish to do a biography. I think there's far too much more of great interest around the world of skating. I wanted to do what subjects came up to my mind, what it is to watch for at the Olympics, and most of the questions you've asked me about this are  all in that book. So it was a very pleasant experience for me, I enjoyed it no end, and I'm happy to have done it and done it the way I did. Although I will tell you that there are three books that you write and three skating programs that you skate and three pictures that you paint.  They are, number one, the book you plan, number two, the book you do, and number three, the book you wish you'd done [laughs]. So if you can put up with that, you're a good gal. AM: It does seem to have worked out that this is the book you wish you had done. You seem very pleased with it. DB: Oh, yes, but there's a lot of things that I . . .  listen, if I had started with all the things I made notes of, I would have had six more volumes [laughs]. I don't think so. AM: Well, I do love the fact that even though it's not biographical, that you have a lot of sprinklings of your history in there. I mean, I think that's a great addition to the opinion pieces that are in there, because there's definitely opinions in there as well. DB: Well, it's a conversation. It covers whatever's on your mind. The one chapter that many people have criticized, they say, we know what jumps are, you don't have to put a chapter in there saying the different jumps. But my doctor said to me, "Dick, my daughter skates and we all really like watching the skating, but I can't tell one jump from another, how can I do that?" And it annoyed him. So I put in this brief explanation, if you don't know what a jump is, there's three or four or five or six pages of it, and if you already know which jumps are which — skip over it! This is not the end of the world book. This is not the end of the world subject. It is a conversational piece. And I hope like the devil that people can figure out that they can learn something from it. Because I enjoyed very much doing it. AM: Well, great. And I do want to ask you some questions about it, obviously without giving away too much, because people should buy it and read it, of course [laughs]. DB: [laughs] Well, we don't have long enough on this conversation, so go ahead and spring your questions. AM: Well, one of the things you are concerned about is losing the theatrical part of skating. And I wonder, from a competitive standpoint, how you think it can be preserved. There are a lot of people trying to preserve it outside of competition, but in the competitive arena, what are your thoughts on that? DB: Let me also start out by saying that competition, the Olympic Games which we're about to start into in another day or two — they get the most audience. Figure skating and dancing, they're kissing cousins, and figure skaters have the opportunity to become instantly famous and household names. Dancers don't have that. So if a figure skater has that opportunity, and the Olympic competition is there, it's marvelous that they take part and do it. However, figure skating is a complete sport. It's a sport that has music, choreography, costuming, performance level, story level — it has so many different aspects that are intimately intertwined with each other. Figure skating is theatre, and I don't care who tells me that it's not. The head of the ISU, the head of the Olympic Committee, and a lot of guys get all honked about it and say it's not a sport. Well, don't watch it! If you think it's not a sport, don't watch it, and I couldn't care less. However, the point is very simply that it is all of these things. It is theatre, it always has been theatre, and it will always continue to be theatre. And that is the very reason that makes it so popular at the Olympic Games. Now the reason I'm saying this is, there's an old saying that Oleg Protopopov used to tell me all the time, and that was, “Deek! Deek! You cannot have artistry without technique. But neither can you have technique without artistry”. The old votes, the old judging system had two marks. They were for technical merit and for artistic impression. The new marks, in essence, if you really want to see what the icing on top of the cake is, the subterfuge of it all, is they have all the marks that you get on your point system first, and then they have the component scores. Have you ever read the component scores? AM: I have. DB: Then you know that they mix together choreography, step sequences, footwork, et cetera, et cetera, and they have something like 27 or 28 different criteria to figure and allot to a skater's program within about two seconds. That's almost an impossible thing. And also, you will never know what it's about because it's secret. All I'm saying is that yes, there are many other organizations — there's Disney on Ice and Stars on Ice and individual singles skating here and there, and there's ensemble skating with the Ice Theatre of New York, and there's synchronized skating, and there's all kind of things. But it's the theatrical performance level that mesmerizes us. I mean, why did we look at Katarina Witt? Not only was she sensational looking, but she had personality and pizzazz. Let me ask you a question. Why is Evgeni Plushenko such a hot subject? I'll tell you why. Because he has personality. He's a great jumper, not a great spinner. But he has personality. He has pizzazz. And you can't take your eyes off him, watching what he's going to do. He will bamboozle you with his wrist movements . . . AM: He'll make you think he's skating with those wrist movements [laughs]. DB: Of course, I've seen him do that half a dozen times. He stops and does a bunch of fancy wrist movements around his belt line, and that's supposed to be great theatrical skating or something. Let me tell you something. Who is it that you want to watch at this Olympic Games? Who is it they are looking forward to watching? AM: Jeremy Abbott and Jason Brown. DB: You mean you want to see the competition between them. AM: The competition between them, but I think both are so wonderful. They bring something so different. DB: Absolutely right. And so do half a dozen of these skaters. I think what you really want to see also is Davis and White and how they impact the show. And who do we remember out of the past? Come on, you remember the stars that had pizzazz, that had presence, that grabbed you. There's a whole chapter in my book there about entrances and exits, and it's all about the difference between an Irina Slutskaya entering the skating arena — the first thing she does is skate over to her coach, takes a swig of water, high fives her coach, and adjusts the pants on her dress. And the next thing she does is blow her nose. Now, come on, is that theatre? That's not a humdinger of an entrance. The point is that, how does Katarina Witt do it? She doesn't lose for one moment the presence, the theatre aspect of it. And the gal we remember most of those two has gotta be Katarina Witt. And that's why there's a chapter in the book called "Where Are You When We Need You, Katarina Witt?" And . . . what else can I tell you? [laughs] This is my favorite rant. AM: You're passionate and I love it. I love every minute of it. DB: Well, come on, you know, it's a fun activity. It's a very complicated activity. It has so many elements to it that you simply cannot avoid any one of them. And the level of performance is one of those characteristics. AM: Yes. Well, you are a vocal critic of the judging system, but I am curious because you have said that there are parts of it that you think are worth preserving. What parts would that be? DB: Well, for example, I think you should always have a markdown if you fall. Right now what we are seeing is — how many people fell in the last [2014] National Championship, both men and women, in the different parts. How many people fall down? AM: Not a lot this year, actually. DB: Well, Ashley Wagner, she did. But you're being rewarded if you do a quadruple jump and you fall down but you're rotated almost enough to complete the thing in the air. This is all part of Ottavio Cinquanta's desire to — if he had his way, he would not have any judges there at all, and it would all be based on points and timing. I would like the fact that there would be no reward at all for a fall. And a deduction if you fall down.  I write about this in my book, there was a communiqué from the ISU explaining what falls were. You don't know what a fall is, I don't know what a fall is, certainly. But this rule came out and then three months later, there was — I mean, the question was, what part of the body was the fall on, was it on your bottom, was it on your core, and if you were on your fanny, were you on one buttock or another buttock or were you on both buttocks [laughs]. And then along came three months later this explanation, this clarification, and then changes to the rule that explained what a fall was [laughs]. So you have to read all that to understand the sense of the nit-picking. Now listen, let me tell you something else, and I write about this in the book . I challenge you to count — take one of the ladies anywhere, not necessarily Ashley Wagner, but start with a young lady and start counting the number of times when they're doing step sequences and all of those wonderful things, where they raise either one or the other or both arms over the level of their shoulders. And if you start counting, my bet is that you will get to 20 very, very quickly, and then you can stop. They're like flailing windmills. That's exactly the point. That does not augur well, in my book. First of all, there's just gotta be less talk about it. Why do you have to have something that is exactly two minutes with so many seconds on either end of it? That isn't the way. You should have one program that is your technical program, and one program that is your creative or other program, but neither one should be acceptable or be able to be marked well unless it has the qualities of the other one. One should be of technical merit and one should be of — the old judging captions, artistic impression, they are in a sense that way now, they're just called something different, it's technical marks and the program components. AM: So I wonder, you do outline at the end of the book your wishes and suggestions for better scoring, and they do include that the two programs should be different and that there shouldn't be a time limit. DB: Put it this way, there should be a time limit, but a generous one. I mean, during the World Professional Championships, we recorded the length of time of every skater, and only once did somebody ever go over, I think, maybe four and a half or five minutes.  So if you have three and a half minutes or four minutes, a generous thing — what difference does it make? Why do you just have to limit yourself? This is just the one program, not the technical program, the artistic impression program. AM: Well, I'm curious, what do the powers that be think about your ideas? Have you gotten any feedback? DB: No, I don't have feedback, because they . . . Ottavio Cinquanta does not want any subjective judging there. Remember, he is a speed skater, and all he can see — number one, he has two goals to his agenda. And once you understand a man's agenda, you will understand what he will do. His agenda is to have, number one, to never have another scandal like we had in Salt Lake at the pairs skating competition. And number two, he's all for eliminating anything subjective about the sport. He would like it to be like speed skating. You get over the line first, you've won. Now that is not figure skating. And besides he's said it too many times, and he's the one who put the new rules system in. My chapters go into all of that and show the chicanery that was involved with it. And now because he [laughs] made a contractual offer and placed every officer in their position for an additional period of time, he will now remain as head of the ISU until the year 2016. It's a chapter in the book as well. AM: You have always been an advocate for great spinning. You've talked about Dorothy Hamill, Lucinda Ruh, Ronnie Robertson, so I have to wonder, that in the new judging system, it has to be nice that at least you see the spins getting rewarded even if you don't always love the positions. DB: Well, I find that the multiple levels — you know, everything that you look at, there's a grade of execution, there's a level of difficulty. If you add more moves and turns into your spin, you get more points. But nobody gets points for blurred spinning. Nobody gets points for the things that used to make the audience stand on their feet and cheer. Spinning is just as important as jumping, and it's one of the two major technical elements in skating, the other being jumping and then of course there's spinning. And when you see somebody moving from position to position and changing their edges, all that sort of thing, you're not looking at the spin. At least have one spin that reflects the total true quality of a fast, delayed, long lived spin, where everything counters on the centering and everything counters on the blurring of it and on the finishing of it. Look, I don't have to have everything that I like, it's what other people like too, but I will tell you, there's very little to cheer for when you get a 243.8 personal best score. That doesn't give the average person an understanding of what the heck the score is all about, except that somebody else can get 283.9. And I trust that was more than the first number I gave [laughs]. AM: Well, I've actually always wanted that. I've always wanted there to be at least one spin that was skaters' choice, if you will, that they could do just for choreographic effect. Just like they've finally done with the step sequences, where you can just do one that you don't have to do without so many turns and flailing and windmilling, but it's one that just works with the music. DB: Well, there's very little — you can't really create things that are unusual or unexpected or different and expect to get anywhere under the current judging system. AM: Well, you have of course mentioned before that the ISU needs to be split, that skating shouldn't be run by a speed skater any longer. It's going to be a while, of course, since Ottavio wrote his own contract . . . DB: Well, of course he did, and nobody stood up to him. Nobody was able to stand up to him because he has cultivated so many federations which are all speed skating federations which get their money from figure skating. So what do they care? Why would they care what the rules for figure skating are, any more than a figure skater would care less whether the speed skating race is another 50 meters or not?  That's up to the speed skaters to understand that. And the very fact that they — did you know that there are over 80 federations in the world of skating? AM: I didn't know there were that many. DB: Over 80, and most of them all — the majority either are speed skating or joint speed skating and figure skating. And they get money from figure skating, the ISU pays them money from figure skating. And the end result is that of course they're going to do what he wants. AM: Do you think there's anyone out there right now who can challenge him, who can be the next great leader, to separate the two? DB: I think probably everybody is scared beyond belief. You see, the impact of the Olympic Games is always the most publicized event, but I can guarantee you, even the world championships which are taking place after the Olympic Games, they're not going to be on live. They're going to be in about two weeks in a summary program on NBC. Now maybe there's some obscure cable system or Ice Network that will show them, but you have to buy that cable system. I'm sure there will be recordings of it. But [laughs] here's a world championship that will be coming up a month later than the Olympic Games. Wouldn't you think it should deserve — and it used to always be very much of a highlight. Now it's sloughed off and it's shown a week or two weeks later after the world championship is over. I don't like that. AM: I don't either. All right, well, let's move on from the judging and talk about which skaters for you right now are really exciting. You've mentioned Davis and White. DB: Well, look, let me tell you something. My book covers a point about to wilt or not to wilt. When you have somebody who simply does not wilt, that in itself is exciting. And many a time, those people that can rise to the occasion, and suddenly pull together a program that is phenomenal — it's what you want to see. I mean, I found myself rising out of my seat when Jason Brown performed, because he in a sense broke the rules. It will be very interesting to see how he fares in this international competition, when he has competition from not only Jeremy Abbott but from Chan, Plushenko, Denis Ten, Javier Fernandez, and the Japanese skaters. It'll be very interesting to see how he compares in that to them. Remember, the national championship is one where it's a single country. And there aren't countries that are vying to improve their lot because that's the way they get money from the ISU. It's a different situation. I hope like the devil that he does brilliantly. I find him a fascinating skater and I was entranced by the choreography. And the choreography was done by Rohene Ward. I remember talking to him a couple of years ago, saying, you are going to keep on skating, aren't you? And he said, no, I'm not. And I felt that was a great loss. I'm very happy now to see him back in force as a choreographer. AM: Yes. And I'm happy to see someone, that he has a student that can interpret that choreography so well. Because, you know, Rohene was a very unusual talent, and oddly enough Jason has a lot of the same qualities, with his extreme flexibility and his showmanship. DB: Wait a minute. Are you telling me that that flexibility can't be gained by other people? They can, if they would understand what that is and follow that. AM: No, but I think Rohene was very unusual for a male skater to be able to use it to choreographic effect. DB: Why as a male skater? AM: Well, because most men, if they could do the splits like that, they certainly wouldn't lower themselves on the ice and pull themselves back up and do a lot of — Johnny Weir could lift his leg all the way up before a lutz, too, just like Jason and Rohene can, but it is unusual. DB: Well, that's because they don't follow that either. If you look at the number of skaters among the ladies that – well, look, there's a totally developable way. Guys can learn. You see it in gymnastics, for heaven's sake, If they do it, why can't figure skaters? Look, this is called the development of the — right now, I can guarantee you there's very, very little of the component score voting for some of the stuff that Jason Brown did. He was marvelous in the fact that he did not open his program with the single most difficult jump that he could. I'm really fascinated to see how the international version of this will work out, the international competition coming up in the Olympic Games. AM: So you did mention that he is a bit of a rule breaker in that sense, and you have said in your book that rules are made to be broken. And you did use Torvill and Dean as a perfect example of that, of course, from 1984. Is there a rule that you see right now that you wish someone would break, or push a little more? DB: Yeah. If you look at the rules of the component scores, you will see that, number one, they include skating skills, transitions/linking footwork and movement, performance and execution, choreography, and composition. Now what is the difference between choreography and composition, and transitional and linking footwork and movement, et cetera? I mean, aren't these the same things? AM: To me they are. To me it's semantics. DB: That's right. And isn't it better to have a skater develop that through their own intelligence rather than having to control those step sequences through it? And the linking movement and the linking footwork? And the transitions and the linking movement? [laughs].There was a wonderful English lady who would always comment on English television, and she had a very high voice, and when it came out, linking movements, we were all happily amused [laughs]. AM: Well, that's a good challenge for the next person listening to this, to try to push those boundaries a little bit per Dick Button's request. All right. So, you have a chapter on music choices, and there are a lot of choices as you know that are constantly overused and that we are all tired of hearing about. So is there a piece of music that you have never gotten tired of hearing, that you feel is underutilized? DB: Look, these pieces of music are time-honored pieces of music. So if you look at, for example, Swan Lake, I still will go, when I go to the theatre in the winter time, I still will go to New York City and see Swan Lake. I mean, it doesn't stop any more than certain songs that you get tired of. It is the way they're developed, and I do a whole thing in this book on the development of music by the skater, and whether they understand what the music is saying. And when you pick a piece of music like Carmen or Swan Lake, it comes with over a hundred years — one comes with much more than a hundred years and one comes from close to a hundred years — of very fine history and development and interpretation. Are you telling me that because six skaters do it within a two-year period of time that you're tired of it? I find it's that the skater hasn't developed it. We're always seeing different interpretations of dance, and if you get tired of Swan Lake being done, then try to bring a great quality into it that makes it sing. Swan Lake is wonderful for skating because it has long sweeping movements. It is not Irish clog dancing or step dancing. AM: Well, I think if you're going to pick, and this is my opinion, but I think if you're going to pick one of the commonly used pieces, you better make it good and different and that's what I think — Samantha Cesario, I don't know if you saw her program, when she did it this year at Nationals I thought it was fantastic. And I am not a fan of using Carmen because I think that after Debi Thomas and Katarina Witt had the battle of the Carmens, you'd better leave Carmen pretty dead. You know? [laughs] DB: But one of the things is, you have to understand what the music is. I write about this in the book, and I talk about Mao Asada who is a lovely skater and a very nice person. But she had all the white feathers and all the music, et cetera, but there was no understanding of the movement of a swan in that. There was no understanding of the history of Swan Lake. I mean, you can't have a program that has been performed for more than one hundred years now, nearly one and a half centuries, in great companies with great choreography and great sweeping music, and not understand what that performance level is. You must understand the music, you must be able to — and there are different interpretations of the music, different orchestrations, there are many times different ones. Whatever the piece of music it is that you choose, you can find sometimes more than one interpretation, and unfortunately we don't hear about that on the commentary, I don't think. AM: Is there a piece of music you would like to hear more? DB: Look, that's like saying is there a great skater that I'd like to see more of. Always! Always.  I like great skating. That's all I'm saying, I like the best. And I want to be — it's theatre, it's athletic ability, it's competition, it's technical demands, it's music, it's choreography, it's costuming, it's the whole kit and caboodle. And I guarantee you, do you think they're going to cut out — I wouldn't be at all surprised, if Ottavio Cinquanta had his way, that he would make everybody wear the same costume for the team competition. AM: They were talking about that. One of the articles this week was talking about putting all the athletes in Nike outfits [laughs]. DB: Yeah, yeah, yeah, remind me of one event I don't want to see if that's the case [laughs]. Oh, gawd. If you have a great product, don't mess with it. Skating was a great product. Now we've messed with it so completely and for so long that it's very disheartening. Remember, you're not a member of the rules committee if you're not making rules. If you're a rule maker, you have to be making rules or otherwise you're not a rule maker. AM: [laughs] They got a little over-zealous. All right. Your commentary is epic. People still talk about it, they miss hearing you, your catchphrases have inspired a drinking game and compilations on YouTube. And you have gotten some heat for your comments such as “refrigerator break”. DB: I'd like to address that. What the heck, would it have been better if I had said, it will give you an opportunity to make a toilet break? I don't think so. A refrigerator break — you know, I think I got over 1100 letters from people saying that I had only said that, I wouldn't have said that if this, that, and the other thing. And I wrote each one of them back and I said, look, Angela Nikodinov was a very talented skater, but she was skating against Michelle Kwan, and there is no problem coming in second behind Michelle Kwan, but she was coming in fifth, fourth, second, third, fourth, that sort of thing, floating around. But what she allowed you to do was to lose your sense of concentration on her. That's where performance level comes in. She was a gorgeous, lovely skater, with wonderful technique and very, very beautiful on the ice. But she allowed you to lose your sense of concentration. She allowed you to switch off and take a refrigerator break. And after I answered that, I never heard anything more about it. AM: But she did listen to you, though. Because she came back amazing the next year. She made you pay attention. DB: [laughs] Well, that's my gold medal. My gold medal is when I hear, when I make a criticism of somebody and then I see later that they have either improved it or changed it. One of the things I always said about Evgeni Plushenko was, way back in 2002, I said, he's a wonderful jumper but he's a lousy spinner. And the next year, or two years, I was at a championship, and he said, how are my spins? Are they better? So he was listening, and he made it good. And his spins were better. And that's a great compliment to me, when somebody does that. AM: So how many skaters would you say have come up to you and talked to you about your comments about their performance? DB: Well, I had a lot of skaters say, can you point it out to me. One of them was Jason Dungjen and his partner, Kyoko Ina. Kyoko Ina had exquisite posture and stretch and arching of the back, and Jason was like a nice all-American skater without that same stretch. So when they did a pair move, hers was extended beautifully and his was not parallel to it. As soon as I pointed that out to him, he understood exactly what I was talking about, and I think they worked hard on it. So that was a great honor to me. That is my gold medal, my reward, when a skater will do that. And look, you really only criticize, I say this in the book, you really only criticize a skater if they're talented. If they're not talented, it doesn't spark comment. AM: Would you say the refrigerator break comment was the largest reaction you've gotten over the years from fans, or was there another one? DB: It was one of them. Another one of them was when I commented one time about, I think it was crossing the street in New York, and everybody said, oh, you wouldn't have said that if the skater that I was referring to wasn't black. And come on, I encourage my kids to cross the street, I say, stop and look in both directions, otherwise you'll get run over and then you'll look like a pancake on that road. It's about an awareness of your surroundings, and you've got to be aware of the surrounding effect in an arena. How many times do you see — go back and look at programs. That's why some day I would like to see a great media museum of skating. Because if you go back and you look at these performances and you consider them, then you will never forget that. And it will apply itself, it will be another basis for another understanding of what it is that you're doing. Every position you take on the ice should be thought out. You cannot just do these positions where you see the skater come out and they take their position and the free leg toe is pointed behind and to the side of the skating leg — you know, the kind of position you take where one foot is flat on the ice and the other is on a point behind you. Look at the number of times you see, what is the position of that foot? Is it turned under, or is it not in an elegant position? If you want to see proper position, look at Oleg and Ludmila Protopopov, and John Curry, and Janet Lynn, and Peggy Fleming. And Dorothy Hamill, who became an infinitely better skater after she had won the Olympics. I was a better skater after I had finally learned, long after I had retired, and learned from — there's a whole chapter in this, it's called "Open Your Eyes, Dummy." And it was my opening my eyes which led me finally to understand what the heck skating was all about. AM: Well, I would love it if we finally had a media museum with all those performances. DB: There is the museum in Colorado Springs, but it doesn't have any money. US Figure Skating is not really going to support it because they want to support skating today. But sometimes the education, the media education is imperative. AM: Yes. Well, I am hopeful that one day will come to fruition, that there will be a central place where all that is housed, and it's not just Youtube [laughs]. So, all right, your book, I sort of felt like as I was reading it, and this is sort of getting heavy here, I really felt that it was a metaphor for living a balanced and fulfilling life. It talks about centering yourself, breaking the rules, having a solid foundation, fighting the good fight, not wilting under pressure, and having a whole lot of fun. Do you view skating that way? DB: Yep. You know, skating is no different than gardening, than painting, than anything else. You know, I hope you'll come some day and see my garden lecture [laughs]. Then you can do a conversation on that for a different sport. But all of these things intertwine. Why do you dress the way you do? Why do you speak the way you do? Why do you live in a house, if you have the opportunity to live in a house, why do you choose the style of house you do? All of these are inherent in skating, and they are inherent in everything else. It is called not only what the eye beholds, it's what the eye registers. One of my pet peeves is watching skaters take position in the center of the ice, when they skate down and they're on one foot, and the other knee is bent. Time after time, you look at that particular entrance move on one foot, and it's not a beautiful move, but yet there is every skater doing it. What is that move, what is that position supposed to be? If you ask the skater, what are you trying to express by that, are you expressing a welcoming moment to the crowd? You don't have to be on one foot to do that. Take a look at it yourself, and I urge all your listeners to take a look at that, and take a look at the number of times an arm flings above the shoulder. And question each and every one. Peggy Fleming, always, I would see her in front of a mirror at a rink, constantly checking out the way she finished a turn or a pirouette, or made a turn, and how the dress worked with it. She was constantly looking at that. And you will find that she does not make a move even today without knowing exactly what that position is, whether she's on skates or not. Ludmila and Oleg Protopopov, and I talk about this in the book, I went up to Lake Placid where they were getting a lifetime achievement award, and of course the Lake Placid club or whoever it was didn't have any money for publicizing it, and it was an almost empty arena. However, the Protopopovs skated in it as if they were skating for the King and Queen of England. And Oleg took an opening position with Ludmila, and you take one look — without them moving one inch, they took a position, and I said, that's it, that's their whole performance right there in that position.  They were stunningly beautiful in that position. And they're well into their 70s, and there was the story, right there. My problem is, I can't look at skating — that's one of the sickening things with having watched it for so long, is that I've seen extraordinary performances, Belita Jepson-Turner, Noffke and Schubach, pairs skaters who were champions of the US in the 40s, the movement, their parallelism of their moves was extraordinary. They couldn't do throw axels and they couldn't know what triple side-by-side jumps were and so forth, but their pair skating quality was without compare. I mean, it was just extraordinary. All I'm asking the skaters to do, and everybody else to do, is to look at it, and say, why are we doing this? Each step, what is it supposed to do, and is it? Does it interpret the music and does it interpret — John Curry, we did a thing with Ice Theatre of New York, Dance on Camera, at Lincoln Centre over the weekend, and it was all about, it was a great deal of comment and production in the John Curry film of what he was teaching skaters and the way he was making them look at film. Slavka Kohout used to do that. She would take all her dancers in to see the ballet, or any other production that had dance movement in it. It wasn't about seeing it, it was about registering it. And that's the important thing. If there's only one thing I hope for in this book, with a little bit of tomfoolery that you don't get stuck into something serious, and, number two, that it opens your eyes. AM: I love that. All right, I just have one more question for you, then, since we are just days away from the Olympics. I am curious what you think about the new team event. DB: Oh, I don't really think much about it at all one way or the other. I think if they want to do it, that's fine. It gives a secondary skater a secondary choice, and it gives somebody who may not win a medal another chance to win a medal, and I'm fine with that. I don't have any great problem with it. You know, God bless them, what they're doing is trying to get another set of television exposure, and that produces money and blah blah blah. The one thing, though, that I did understand was that when the rules were not quite set in Budapest, at the European championships, the newspaper people were asking Ottavio Cinquanta what was the rule about such and such, and he said he didn't know. He said, you have to ask the Russians about that. Well, hello! Are the Russians the ones that are controlling the sport? I mean, the Russians are a hell of a good skaters, and very efficient, and they've got a wonderful team going, but are they the arbiters of our sport? That's my complaint. “I am a speed skater, I know nothing about figure skating.” AM: I know, it's incredible. Well, I agree with you that it's wonderful that there's another opportunity for skaters to get medals, because there's just been the one chance all these decades. But I also don't think that it was done for any reason other than ratings and money. I'm cynical enough for that. But I'm glad to see the skaters get another opportunity. DB: Right. But you've also got to remember that that's why figures are no longer with us. They didn't bring in any money, nobody watched them, they took a lot of time, they were expensive, and they didn't add anything to the income. So this is another one that adds to the income, and it really doesn't change anything. I'm sure they'll all do their same programs that they will do again. They're not going to create a new program now. They might for another year. AM: Maybe for the next round. But we'll see. To be determined [laughs]. Well, I am going to take you up on your offer and invite myself to one of your garden lectures someday. DB: [laughs]. All right. I just finished one at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and one at the Botanic Garden in Arizona, and I've done several in the New York area, in the New York and Connecticut area, and maybe there'll be one in the early spring or so in a nearby city to New York. So I'll let you know. AM: Please! And as we've discussed I'm hoping to come out and see you in a couple of weeks, and do another interview more about you. DB: Good. AM: And I hope that you'll let me come up and take a look at your fantastic art collection of skating art. DB: Oh, you're more than welcome. AM: I would love it. DB: You're more than welcome. You have a good one, my dear, and keep the faith. AM: You too. Enjoy the next couple of weeks of good television. DB: Thank you, ma'am.   AM: And there it is. I have finally had my dream of interviewing Dick Button. I can now die happy. I think. Although, as you heard, he did want to have another conversation later. So we will plan to do that. And until next time —May you be a pioneer with whatever you choose to do. May you be as opinionated and passionate about your life's work as Dick Button is about his life's work. And as he says in his new book Push Dick's Button, on page 46, and yes, I'm paraphrasing just a little bit: don't skate to Carmen. Bye-bye!

Plomley's castaway is world-champion skater John Curry. Favourite track: Concerto in A Minor For Two Violins by Antonio Vivaldi Book: Transcript of the Erhard Seminar Training Course by Werner H Erhard Luxury: Pencils and paper