Podcasts about june it

June: It's quiet out there people! Weakening confidence finally spills over into M&A and private equity.

once more, we return to the world of zombies.... Written and produced by Julie Hoverson Editing and Sound:   Julie Hoverson [warning - foul language] ******************************************************************* Tammuz Corporation has barely settled back in as top producer of undead workforce, when something much worse comes out of R&D.   Cast List Fred - Leonard Streeper June - Melissa Bartell Dill - Mark Olson Chambers - Dave Marshall Dr. Plasmus - Kim Poole Landon Frost - Chris Barnes Pamela Frost - Julie Hoverson Doctor - James Sedgwick Nurse - Rachel Cavic Interviewer - Russell Gold Music by Kevin MacLeod of Incompetech.com Cover art by Julie Hoverson INTERLUDES: Cricket - Reynaud LeBoeuf, Julie Hoverson, M. Siero Garcia, Katy Fontenot Courtroom - Carl Cubbedge, Tanja Milojevic Champion Chum - Katy Fontenot, Rachel Cavic, Reynaud LeBoeuf Save the Zombies - Gwendolyn Jensen-Woodard New Year's Head Swaps - Justin Charles, Crystal Dennis Life Insurance - Joe Stofko Big Bob's - Richard Summers Lecturer - Robert Cudmore Classroom - Janny Hilverts, Katy Fontenot, Sirena Carroll, Mike Campbell, James Sedgwick, Julie Hoverson Zombie Show - Gareth Bowley Survivalists - Dave Fontenot, Matthew McLean "Working Stiff" - Chris Stockett Edna's Chum - M. Siero Garcia Scam - Rick Lewis Zombie Lib - Derek Koch Old Zombie Spice - Morgan Brown "What kind of a place is it? Why it's a secret lab, deep in the Tammuz Corporation, can't you tell?" ***************************************************************************************   Project Top Hat Cast: [Opening credits - Olivia] Landon Frost, TV show host Pamela Frost, his wife Fred and June Doctor Plasmus, top researcher Chambers - executive Dill - less important executive OLIVIA      Did you have any trouble finding it?  What do you mean, what kind of a place is it?  Why, it's a Top Secret Lab, on the human side of the wall, in the world of zombies, can't you tell?  MUSIC SOUND      computer and lab noises LANDON     [on TV] I'm Landon Frost, and tonight on "the Z word," we'll take a behind the scenes look at how zombies are used in the manufacture of your dog's kibble.  FRED     How can they feed zombies to dogs? JUNE     Ambulates make the food - prepare it.  It's illegal to terminate them without "just cause." FRED     As opposed to "just cuz"?  [laughs] JUNE     Hah.  That's what "the Z word" is about - exposing the ways zombies are exploited. LANDON     [TV] You'll be watching this series throughout the holidays, and I'll be tucked up at home with my family.  JUNE     He's always busy.  Hardly ever gets to see them. FRED     Oh, boo-hoo.  This Frost guy gets to fly all over the world, cussing on TV, and making zillions of dollars, and he wants sympathy? JUNE     Don't forget taking his shirt off...  [chuckle]  But he's also a romantic - always talking about how he misses his wife Pamela. FRED     So?  He could retire. JUNE     Helping improve "life" for ambulates is like a crusade for him. SOUND     DOOR OPENS, CUTTING HER OFF FRED     [muttered exclamation] Oh shit! SOUND     CHAIR SQUEAK, SCRAMBLE LANDON     [TV] I'll be meeting my wife in secret at‑‑ SOUND     SWITCH, TV OFF DILL     [coming in talking]  We should be able to improve the bottom line. CHAMBERS     AND not expose Tammuz to any more... liability.  We are just starting to get back to where we were before Mrs. Skray's... DILL     Unfortunate accident? CHAMBERS     [grim] Breakdown. DILL     Ah. CHAMBERS     I need your personal guarantee this won't come back to bite us in the butt. DILL     If it does, my butt will have your back. CHAMBERS     What? DILL     uh... nothing.  Dr. Plasmus is expecting us. CHAMBERS     Plasmus?  What kind of a name is that? DILL     Dunno.  I only know results, and the good doctor facilitated the "crickets".  Look what they've done to help us get back in good odor over the last 18 months. CHAMBERS     [favorably impressed] MMmm. DILL     And now - [announcing] Project Top Hat! SOUND     DOOR OPENS SOUND     MUSIC SCENE CHANGE TV DUDE     [ON TV]  Do you ever have behavior problems with your ambulates? ZOMBIE     Grr. OLD LADY     [pleased] Cricket! TV DUDE     Do they sometimes seem to have a mind of their own? ZOMBIE2     [weird noise] MAN     [smug] Cricket. TV DUDE     Would you ever have them in the house without it? WOMAN     Around my kids?  Forget it! KIDS     Just CRICKET! TV DUDE     Yes, Cricket, the "behavioral reminder" Implant that reminds zombies to toe the line.  TV DUDE      [quiet, rushed]  Results may vary.  Some side effects may occur.  No guarantee of bodily safety is implied or express in the sale of this product.  Not available in all areas.  [up]  Get Cricket today!  Brought to you by your friends at Tammuz Corporation. SOUND     MUSIC SOUND     WALKING, DOOR SWOOSHES OPEN SOUND     ZAPS and SQUISHY NOISES PLASMUS     You're early. DILL     Uh, no.  It's - um - six? PLASMUS     It is?  Hmm.  Well, just let me finish this, and-- SOUND     BIG ZAP CHAMBERS     What are you working on? PLASMUS     Shh! DILL     [hushed] Sorry, the doc doesn't multitask.  CHAMBERS     What? SOUND     ONE FINAL ZAP PLASMUS     Done.  He means I do not work and talk.  When you have worked directly in as many brains as I have, you begin to value each function for its own worth, and not merely as a gestalt whole. CHAMBERS     Uh, right.  So are you ready to gestalted [get started] now? DILL     Gestalt isn't-- CHAMBERS     I KNOW. PLASMUS     It was a bit of a joke?  [small dry chuckle]  Am I right? CHAMBERS     Yeah. PLASMUS     I thought as much.  I fear that the humor seat of my own brain has probably been left a wee bit underdeveloped.  Oh well.  Could be MUCH worse.  I could have an atrophied hippocampus!  [laughs riotously] DILL     Uh, yeah.  [toady laugh] CHAMBERS     That would be unfortunate, indeed. PLASMUS     [stops laughing suddenly]  But you are not here for pleasantries.  You are here to see what I have wrought! CHAMBERS     Aha!  So that's the smell in here. PLASMUS     What? CHAMBERS     Rot? PLASMUS     [laughs] MUSIC      SCENE CHANGE to TV LANDON     What the fuck do you think you're doing?  You can't have rats in any ambulate work area, you moronic lavat'ry brush!  They may not decay, but can still be damaged - do you want to be the one providing your workforce with replacement parts every time rats gnaw a bit off?  Or perhaps rats are the only protein going in to your fucking kibble?  SOUND     MUSIC DILL     So now the doctor will demonstrate--? [hint] PLASMUS     Have you forgotten the name again? DILL     [uncomfortable] No.  no, I just was giving you a chance to - you know - take the glory. PLASMUS     You should have warned me.  [sigh]  It is project top hat for a very simple reason-- SOUND     METAL CLANK CHAMBERS     It looks like a top hat.  Original.  DILL     And what does it do...?  [hinting] PLASMUS     Stop doing that.  DILL     Sorry. PLASMUS     [launching into lecture mode] The ambulate workforce is sturdy, capable - albeit slow - and cheap, since all they require is chum, unlike human workers who not only need food, shelter, sleep, etc., but also WANT things. DILL     [muttered] Zombies want things too.  That's part of the problem. PLASMUS     Shush.  It is this volition which is the only real drawback to the use of ambulates for many sorts of work - and which gives rise to the various debates over ambulate sentience, and to use an inexact phrase - over their "personhood". CHAMBERS     None of this is news. PLASMUS     I am setting it up.  So if there was a way to mix the useful qualities of the ambulate with the mindless diligence of, say, a computer, wouldn't that improve their value? CHAMBERS     [interested] Yessss.... DILL     Of course. PLASMUS     So this mechanism will do that - replacing the corpse's brain with a limited function computer, only able to obey commands. CHAMBERS     You specify "Corpse"? PLASMUS     [pleased] Ah, you caught that.  [chuckles] Much like the pre-edict abortion debates, this idealization of ambulates leads to the nasty question of when, precisely, one goes from human, to dead human, to ambulate.  DILL     You've seen the courtroom reality shows. MUSIC COURT REPORT     We'll catch the plaintiff as she leaves.  Missus Feinman,  Missus Feinman?  How do you feel about the jury's ruling? MISSUS     Act of god, my eye!  My husband had a very clear "do not reanimate" clause in his will - but that doctor failed to catch him at the exact moment to remove the head and prevent reanimation, and now he's stuck.  MISTER     [zombie moan] MISSUS     I can't even have him decently put down, what with the iffy legal status of zombies.  [sniffles] COURT REPORT     [bland] You have our sympathy, I'm sure.  In just a moment, we'll speak to the doctor and his attorney. MUSIC PLASMUS     So we must catch them in that window - that tiny "between states" period when we can still legally treat them as objects.  CHAMBERS     And--? PLASMUS     Remove the head.  Once the head is gone, the body may yet convert, but does not move, as it has little sensory input to motivate it. CHAMBERS     You remove the head?  [Slowly gets it] And then you do - oh - ohhhh.  The Top Hat. PLASMUS     I see you are a quick thinker, Mr. Senior executive.  Yes.  The unit replaces the so-called "mind", by which we truly mean the physical brain, giving the animated carcass sensory input, all the while leaving complete control with the human controller.  CHAMBERS     Can the body re-animate, without the head? PLASMUS     Do you know how the ambi-twist works? CHAMBERS     The what? DILL     [muttered] The T virus. PLASMUS     No, no!  That is a trademarked name and cannot be used without possible reprisal!  DILL     Sorry!  That's what most people [call it]. PLASMUS     I don't want to hear it!  Besides, the ambi-twist does not make ravenous beasts.  Animates are gentle.  Like kittens. MUSIC COMMERCIAL AMB     GROCERY SHOPPING SUSY     Gee, mommy, Rolf pushes the cart real well, don't he? MOMMY     That reminds me!  We need to pick up some chum! ROLF     [eager zombie noise] SUSY     He knows THAT word! ANNOUNCER     Of course he does, but can he tell the difference between Champion Chum and the bargain brand? MOMMY     Is there a difference? ANNOUNCER     Just ask Rolf! ROLF     [sticky zombie eating noises] SUSY     [laughing] Oh Rolf! ANNOUNCER     Every zombie, every day, chooses Champion brand chum! MUSIC CHAMBERS     They're tame enough with the cricket.  If they were naturally docile, we wouldn't need it. PLASMUS     And with the top hat, there will be no need for the cricket.  Let me show you. SOUND     CAGE OPENS CHAMBERS     [horrified reaction] Oh! DILL     ugh [bland] PLASMUS     This stray dog was humanely euthanized, and the top hat was immediately attached-- SOUND     COMPUTERIZED BARK PLASMUS     We had to use a fairly large dog, so the top hat unit wouldn't overbalance it.  It was designed for a human frame-- SOUND     COMMOTION OUTSIDE PLASMUS     What is this? SOUND     DOOR SLAMS OPEN JACKIE     All of you!  Over by the wall!  [to june and fred] Get in there! FRED     Right, of course. JUNE     Excuse me.  Just - um - going through. CHAMBERS     Who the devil are you? JACKIE     I'm the one with the gun!  And I said over by the wall! DILL     She means it.  Move it!  Move it move it move it.... PLASMUS     But the dog-- SOUND     COMPUTERIZED BARK SOUND     GUN SHOT INTO CEILING JACKIE     And don't get any funny ideas.  I'm not alone. CHAMBERS     [reasonable and placating]  Tell us what you want. JACKIE     [almost a yell] I want you all over by that wall! SOUND     COMPUTERIZED BARK DILL     Already here! JUNE     Me too! PLASMUS     Allow me to-- [take the dog] JACKIE      Leave that poor thing! SOUND     COMPUTERIZED BARK JACKIE     That is exactly the kind of horrid monster we're here to put an end to. PLASMUS     Ah.  Activists.  [chuckling] CHAMBERS     Don't mock the woman with the gun! PLASMUS     Oh.  Of course. JACKIE     And what's behind here? PLASMUS     No! Don't!  It's not ready yet! CHAMBERS     What IS it? SOUND     CURTAIN OPENS JACKIE     Mother of god! MUSIC     SCENE CHANGE, AND then WUSSY POPSTAR     I know all of you have heard and most of you have enjoyed my hit single "walking away with my heart" about the plight of the ambulate.  ZOMBIE     [pathetic moan] POPSTAR     Too many of these poor once-human creatures are abused, neglected, and sometimes even abandoned to fend for themselves - forced to sell their bodies, bit by horrible bit, for the chum they need to survive.  Can't you spare just a little - the price of a cup of coffee - to help? MUSIC CHAMBERS     Just tell us your demands, and let's get on with this. JACKIE     [horrified]  What have you done to this man? PLASMUS     It is not a man.  It is a corpse. JACKIE     It's moving. PLASMUS     There's no one there.  As you can see, the computer has taken the place of its entire head, thus removing all chance of-- CHAMBERS     [hissed, annoyed] You didn't say you'd already done this to a human - [correcting himself] a human corpse, that is. PLASMUS      I simply hadn't got to that part of the presentation, yet. JACKIE     [distracted and horrified] But why? FRED     Hi-YAH! SOUND     THUMP, SCUFFLE DILL     Wow.  SOUND     GUN GOES OFF DILL     Stay back! JUNE     [indecisive but encouraging] Get her, Fred! SOUND     SCUFFLE ENDS FRED     Got her. PLASMUS     Can I have her as a specimen? JACKIE     You can't do that to me! PLASMUS     Of course we could.  We simply record that you died in an attack on our security, and your corpse will be ...recycled. JACKIE     NO! CHAMBERS     That's a bit much, isn't it? PLASMUS     [quiet] Drat.  [up] Heh-heh.  Of course.  Just a bit of - intimidation.  Hah.  Hah. DILL     Right. PLASMUS     What this young lady doesn't seem to understand is that there are many people who don't wish to return as a shambling, slow, and stupid ambulate.  Many would rather know that their mind - their "soul" - had been allowed to pass on. JACKIE     How the hell do you think you're doing that? PLASMUS     Cutting off the head.  The body is still useful - as you can see.  It can be of service to the living. JACKIE     The soul isn't in the brain.  The soul is - the soul.  It will stay around no matter what. PLASMUS     [derisive laugh] MUSIC SOUND     PARTY! BRANDON     And we're here on the dead side with the new years crowd!  They start a week early, since they know it'll take 'em that long to arrive!  Whoo!  ARIA     And the hottest thing this year is head swaps!  BRANDON     [prompting, not really questioning] Head swaps, Aria? ARIA     That's right, Brandon!  You know how zombies can cut off and attach body parts?  They recently discovered that they can swap heads!  They say it's totally the ultimate! BRANDON     Unless they sew it on backwards!  Man, that would be a pain in the ass! ARIA     Yeah, but at least you could see your ass! BOTH     [LAUGH] MUSIC CHAMBERS     Where's security when you need them? JUNE     I just called them, sir.  Apparently, they've had a number of ...insurrections. DILL     Must be how she slipped by.  JACKIE     You won't get anything from me! PLASMUS     I suppose you two will have to take her to the security office for detention. FRED     Gotcha. JUNE     Oh, me?  Oh all right. SOUND      SHE CROSSES JUNE     What was it she was looking at, anyway?  [horrified gasp!] PLASMUS     What's wrong? JUNE     [too quick, very nervous] Nothing!  I just thought it - he - it - moved. PLASMUS     Nonsense.  I haven't even woken the unit yet.  Get along. JUNE     [still nervous] Yes, yes of course!  Come on! FRED     What's wrong? JUNE     [growl] Post traumatic stress!  Get moving! SOUND     THEY LEAVE PLASMUS     Some people simply cannot handle pressure.  Come have a look at my human automaton. CHAMBERS     [slightly suspicious] He looks ... fresh.  DILL     Nice physique! CHAMBERS     You didn't - uh - kill him, did you, doc? PLASMUS     [laughs flatly] No.  He was killed in a car wreck, this afternoon.  His legs sustained some damage, but mostly superficial, and his head was completely severed.  CHAMBERS     How did you get him so quickly?  The notice to the family won't even go through-- PLASMUS     [pissed]  I could not wait for petty family concerns when this perfect specimen fell into my very lap!  And he is perfect!  DILL     Ew. PLASMUS     So I snatched him out of the hospital upstairs.  Besides.  He is an organ donor.  MUSIC INSURANCE     Do you wonder about your insurance coverage?  Concerned that you may some day cease to be human, and therefore void your policy?  We here at Practical Undead National Trust can fix that for you.  For only a few dollars a day, you, too, can have coverage that extends beyond the expiration of the body. MUSIC SOUND     HALLWAY, DOOR SHUTS, FOOTSTEPS FRED     Whew.  Should we go back, do you think? JUNE     [still bothered] I - I don't know. FRED     OK, what's going on? JUNE     Oh, Fred!  This is horrible! FRED     It was just a gun.  I don't think she would have shot either of us anyway. JUNE     Not that. FRED     Then what? JUNE     That body back in the lab?  That perfectly sculpted torso?  Did you see that tattoo on the shoulder? FRED     Not my type.  Sorry. JUNE     [very important and horrible] THAT was‑‑ [cut off with a gasp] SOUND     DOOR OPENS MUSIC LANDON     [outside, loud over background noise] You would think this was a prime place for ambulates - garbage reclamation.  SOUND      CRUNCHING EQUIPMENT LANDON     They don't mind bad smells, can't catch diseases -- and yet, most of the workers hired on at this particular municipal tip don't stay.  Let's find out why. MUSIC CHAMBERS     [gritted teeth] What do we do if there's a lawsuit? PLASMUS     [shrug] If they push it, there is an incinerator in the basement, and as long as we first remove the computer unit, the organic evidence could be reduced to ashes in a matter of hours. CHAMBERS     [annoyed, but not knowing] Do you even know who this person - corpse - is? PLASMUS     [shrug]  I read the driver's license.  Why? DILL     [confident] We'll fabricate records.  Show it was cremated by mistake.  Apologize.  Give the widow some ashes and a check. CHAMBERS     Sounds like you've done this before. DILL     [smug] Things... happen.  MUSIC BOB     Come on down to Big Bob's bob-o-rama for the finest in pre-owed ambulates!  We have 'em all from this big brute for heavy lifting-- ZOMBIE     [deep moan] BOB     To this hot little number, [hinting] nice for in-house work. GIRL ZOMBIE     [sexy moan?] BOB     Come on down this weekend, and my own gramma, an ambulate herself, will be here with her special milk and cookies!  Trade-ins are always given full greybook value. MUSIC NURSE     I'm so sorry.  There's been a little mixup.  He's... um... missing. PAMELA     [low snarl] As god is my witness, if my husband's body turns up somewhere - anywhere - on a celebrity zombie show, I will personally sue you, the hospital, Tammuz, and anyone else our lawyers can think of! NURSE     But I-- DOCTOR     What seems to be the problem? PAMELA     Are you the person I should be screaming at? DOCTOR     Well, I don't know about that-- PAMELA     Then you best point me at the right one, since some screaming is well overdue. DOCTOR     Just tell me - calmly - what this is about. NURSE     It's her husband. PAMELA     My husband's BODY, you mean!  [starting to move from anger into tears] I was informed of his accident, that he was declared [suppressed sob] dead at the scene, and when I come to claim him... [deep breath, furious snarl]  He's missing. NURSE     I'm sure it's just a paperwork snafu. PAMELA     AND I know how some of you bastards are about selling celebrity corpses!  Don't think you can pull that crap on me! DOCTOR     Celebrity?  What was -uh, is - your husband's name? MUSIC SOUND     ZOMBIE MOAN LANDON     This fucking pisses me off no end - look at that poor bastard. SOUND     ZOMBIE MOAN LANDON     Look at this hand.  Three fingers gone, from a bloody hazardous environment.  [up]  They may not be human any more, but you sons-of-bitches still have to look after these beggars! MUSIC JUNE     Landon Frost! FRED     What? JUNE     I swear it was!  It's the snowflake on his shoulder.  He got it for his wife! FRED     Oh.  That can't be good.  Should we ... tell them? JUNE     Well...he IS dead.  Nothing'll change that. SOUND     DOOR OPENS, MANY FEET COME STORMING IN PAMELA     I already have Landon's private security at all your exits, and will personally go through each and every room until I find him - so you might as well hand him over. DOCTOR     But, but.. PAMELA     First, you are taking Big bill, here, and I down to your bloody incinerator -and don't try to tell me you don't have one. DOCTOR     Why? PAMELA     So no one has access to destroy the [falters] the ...evidence. SOUND     DOOR OPENS, THEY PASS OUT AGAIN FRED     Is that--? JUNE     [fatalistic] Oh boy! MUSIC LECTURER     We must stop treating ambulates as objects and start treating them as people - people very nearly like you and me.  With a bit of practice, anyone can speak clearly and slowly enough for a zombie to pick up on it.  SOUND     ZOMBIE MOAN LECTURER     If we could only follow the moans and groans of a group of zombies, I'm sure complete and fascinating conversations are going on, right under our disinterested human noses. MUSIC DILL     [on phone]  So soon?  Well, I guess we move on to plan B. [pause] She is? [upset] oh. SOUND     PHONE DOWN CHAMBERS     What is it? DILL     I - they-- PLASMUS     Quiet, please!  Time to turn it on! DILL     This may actually be a very bad... thing SOUND     A COUPLE OF ZAPS SOUND     RUSTLE CHAMBERS     Is that it? PLASMUS     Do you need me to shout "it's alive"? LANDON     [computer noise, not quite speech] DILL     Ohhhh boy. CHAMBERS     Does that thing make it able to talk? LANDON     [machine, more gobbledygook] PLASMUS     Ambulates have always been able to talk.  They simply operate on a much slower scale than we do.  It is something about the brain synapses, the ambi-twist simply cannot get them back to normal speed. DILL     [prompt] They're how much slower than humans? PLASMUS     I said not to do that. DILL     I was just asking,.  Really. PLASMUS     They operate somewhere between 20 and 50% slower than humans.  That is why they have to be spoken to slowly. LANDON     [machine] Fuck you! PLASMUS     [chuckles] Or not. DILL     [gasp] Is it supposed to do that? CHAMBERS     I thought you said that removing the head should negate the personality. PLASMUS     I'm sure it is just something programmed in.  My computer expert has quite a sense of humor. LANDON     [machine]  What the hell is going on? PLASMUS     [worried now] Or... not. DILL     This was supposed to make it docile!  CHAMBERS     At least the thing is tied down. SOUND     RIP OF RESTRAINTS PLASMUS     [frightened] Or... not! MUSIC TEACHER     Turn to page 40.  The chapter on the ambi-twist.  Amy, will you start? [grade school students, who read more or less well] AMY     The ambi-twist was a genetic modification first pioneered by Tammuz Corporation. BOBBY     With the best of intentions, this benevolent corporation was trying to help people. CORA     To overcome the issues with tissue rejection and make transplants one hundred percent successful. DESMOND     But the ambi-twist went a bit awry. [after a pause] ELLIE     [whispered] You have to read more. DESMOND     nuh-uh.  Not my fault it's a short sentence. ELLIE     Fine!  [ahem]  The ambi-twist altered the genetic makeup of the intended cells, yes, but it did not stop there, instead running amok through the entire body and giving the cells a life of their own. FRANK     Most of the population now carries the ambi-twist virus, which has little to no effect on them ... during their lifetime. DESMOND     [spooky noise] ooo-OO-oo EVERYONE     [joking zombie groans] MUSIC NOTE     LANDON IS COMPUTERIZED FROM HERE ON OUT LANDON     Why so gob-smacked?  Where the fuck am I? SOUND     THUMP GETTING OUT OF BED, FOOTSTEPS PLASMUS     This is very bad.  DILL     It's coming over.  Let me guess, it can see and hear through the computer unit too? PLASMUS     [wry]  Of course.  What use is a unit that bumps into walls and can't follow orders? LANDON     Is anyone planning to answer me? CHAMBERS     Look, you.  You've died and are now property.  Just lay back and shut up. DILL     Oh boy. LANDON     No, you look here, you lump of festering dog turd!  If I were dead, and I don't believe it for a minute - I have very specific contingencies in my will.  PLASMUS     [chuckles] Speaking of contingencies-- SOUND     SHOTGUN RACKING PLASMUS     I would call this experiment a conditional success. SOUND     SHOTGUN BLAST MUSIC HUSHED MC     And the ambulate "Gracie's darling" is now approaching the steps.  This is a level three hazard, since it typically takes an ambulate several tries.  Oh!  She's on the first step!  Very nicely corrected a stumble and managed to stick the second step.  Ah, but she's faltering -- Momentum can only carry one SO far, and this is where balance truly comes into play.  [gareth bowley] MUSIC SOUND     DOOR SLAMS SHUT CHAMBERS     Holy cow! PLASMUS     [gleeful] Did you see how fast it was? DILL     You mean when it walked off with your shotgun?  I thought we were done for! CHAMBERS     Looked like it nearly took your hand off, too. PLASMUS     [dismissive] It's broken,  It's fine.  [up] We must follow it! CHAMBERS     Get security on all the doors! DILL     On it. PLASMUS     Try not to hurt it! CHAMBERS     Belay that order.  Take that thing down at all costs.  And definitely before it leaves the building! MUSIC SURVIVALIST1     I don't care how many times they take this feed down and report me - I ain't gonna stand by and let them goddamn walking dead take over.  Since every one of us as dies turns into one of them, ain't no way we can keep ahead unless we thin the herd a bit.  SURVIVALIST2     Hell yeah.  Now on the chart behind me, you see a human-- SURVIVALIST1     or zombie-- SURVIVALIST2     right, "or zombie," body with various areas marked in red.  Those are your standard  targets, right there.  The head is, of course, the primary, since the bastards won't stop walking without that being gone. SURVIVALIST1     Even that don't put 'em down right away, but if you can get it GONE-- SURVIVALIST2     Sure is funny to watch them bump into walls, in't it? BOTH     [laugh] MUSIC AMB     HALLWAY SOUND     ALARMS, RUNNING FEET IN DISTANCE JUNE     Why do I suddenly feel like a job change? FRED     I'll help with the resume.  Let's scat.  SOUND     RUNNING FEET APPROACH JUNE     Oh shit! [dragging him out of the way] Over here! LANDON     Run, you little buggers!  I'll blow your fucking pop stand wide open!  FRED     Holy crap! JUNE     Ssh!  Maybe it won't notice us! LANDON     What are you looking at? FRED     Too late! JUNE     Please don't hurt us! LANDON     Hurt?  HURT?  I'm going to ruin you snotty little gits! FRED     Ruin, I can live with. SECURITY     Stop right there! SOUND     ASSORTED ZOMBIE MOANS JUNE     Sock troops! LANDON     [machine] Is this some kind of a sick joke?  Turning THEM against ME? SECURITY     Lay down the weapon and come along quietly, Top Hat. FRED     Top hat?  What is he, a Batman villain? MUSIC MOVIE ANNOUNCER     He was a normal boring man. NORMAL MAN     Hey honey - be late tonight. MOVIE ANNOUNCER     With a normal boring Life. NORMAL MAN     Yes, sir, I can get that done for you this afternoon. MOVIE ANNOUNCER     Until the day he died. NORMAL MAN     Excuse me - I feel - my chest - urk. SOUND     THUMP, DROP PHONE, ERROR TONE MOVIE ANNOUNCER     Now he was to work his way back to the top, against all odds... Coming soon-- NORMAL MAN     [zombie moan] MOVIE ANNOUNCER     --A NORMAL MAN starring Justin Bieber and an undead Jim Carrey. MUSIC JUNE     [up, yelling] We're not with him! LANDON     Toady. JUNE     We DO work at Tammuz. LANDON     This is Tammuz? SECURITY     You have a count of 5 to put down the shotgun.  ONE. [continues] TWO. THREE. FOUR. FRED     Haven't you noticed the logo everywhere? LANDON     My vision is ... strange.  [musing]  Tammuz.  The one place I could never get into... FRED     Not surprising. SECURITY     FIVE!  Get him! JUNE     They won't shoot in here - too many things  might blow up.  LANDON     What?  Helping me? JUNE     I love - loved your show. LANDON     Don't be surprised if I'm back on the air soon. SOUND     HIGH PITCHED WHISTLE FRED     Ow! JUNE     What the heck? SECURITY     I said get him, you maggoty turds!  Why are you stopping? LANDON     huh.  Funny how I knew to do that. MUSIC NOTE     Ad also plays, under, at very slow speed - for the ambulates watching. EDNA     Edna's chum on the go!  Whenever you're out and about, and no time to get home and feed the ambulate in your life, drop round to Edna's Chum.  We have the best quality, tastiest chum around - hot and fresh, just like mother might have made.  Available for dine-in, drive through and even delivery!  MUSIC PLASMUS     They have him cornered in sector five, west corridor!  Checkpoint X-14.  I must reclaim the unit after they take the body down. SOUND     PHONE RINGS DILL     I'll catch up.  You guys go on ahead. CHAMBERS     Hah!  You're not weaseling out that easily. DILL     One sec [to phone] Yeah?  Oh brilliant.  That's just the cherry on top. SOUND     HANGS UP CELL DILL     [annoyed] Guess what? PLASMUS     [threat] I have a taser here somewhere-- DILL     Okay! Okay!  There's a woman upstairs demanding her husband's body.  And because this night isn't deep enough in the shit, I have a feeling she's related to-- CHAMBERS     Oh IS she?  [chuckles]  We might be seeing daylight.  Come on. MUSIC NIGERIAN SCAM     With reverence I am contacting you.  I hope you will overlook my poor typistry.  I am a recently deceased individual that managed to conceal a large sum of money before joining rank one of the walking dead.  MUSIC SECURITY     Tell me you saw that, too. FRED     You mean how he just, like, whistled and all the zombies trotted off after him like the pied piper of Hamlet? JUNE     Hamlin. SECURITY     Yeah, that.  Good.  Now when I make my report, you two can back me up. FRED     Oh, uh-- We were actually leaving. SECURITY     I don't think so. JUNE     Not Leaving leaving.  We have to get back to our -uh- posts. SECURITY     That's different.  I'll give you an escort. FRED     Oh, boy. SOUND      DISTANT FOOTSTEPS PAMELA     You!  You there!  I want a word with you! FRED     Us? JUNE     Him.  you. SECURITY     Oh, me.  Yes ma'am? PAMELA     You look like someone in charge here.  You will tell me where my husband's body is! JUNE     Oh that.  He went thataway. PAMELA     WHAT? MUSIC ZOMBIE LIB     If you can understand this, you are one of us, my zombie brother or sister.  Come to the house with three crescent moons over the door, and we will guide you safely to our side of the wall.  Liberty for all! MUSIC SOUND     SHOTGUN SHOT INTO CEILING LANDON     I'm done fucking around.  You let us past, or the next shot brings you to OUR bloody side! COP     I can't!  I-- the door is on autolock!  Please, uh, mister - I got a wife and kids-- LANDON     You stupid little shit!  I have - had a wife to, but whatever genius did this-- PAMELA     [off a bit] Landon? LANDON     Oh my god.  Pamela? PAMELA     What did they-- [more concerned than panic] your head! LANDON     It's some insane experiment.  I'm dead. PAMELA     You can still see and hear me?  [wonder]  But you're not slowed? LANDON     Yes, I-- [REMEMBER STUPID ZOMBIE DOG ALL THIS TIME] COP     Sorry, sir, but I have to-- SOUND     SHOT ZOMBIEDOG     Leaps in the way of the bullet, body drops and hat goes flying, COP     Oh, shit. LANDON     Give me a minute, dear. PAMELA     [furious] Give me your gun. LANDON     No need. SOUND     WHISTLE ZOMBIES     [attack] COP     I was - I didn't - oh! LANDON     Poor stupid animal.  PAMELA     If not for that thing, you'd be dead. LANDON     I'll take this. SOUND     PICKS UP TOP HAT CHAMBERS     [coming in]  No, we'll take that.  Both of them, in fact. MUSIC ZOMBIE MAN     Look at me.  Now look at your zombie.  Now look back at me.  Your zombie will never look as good as me, but it can smell as good as me, with special deodorant soap from--[danar?] MUSIC FRED     [quiet] back away, quietly. JUNE     [quiet] If we can just get past the corner... LANDON     Who the fuck do you think you are? FRED     Helps that he's keeping their attention. CHAMBERS     We're the owners of that gadget you're currently wearing, and we want it back.  YOU, on the other hand, are expendable. LANDON     And you think I'm afraid of your gun?  If anyone knows how durable the undead are, I should bloody well think it was me. FRED     [quiet] I'm clear! JUNE     Just a bit more... SOUND     GUNSHOT CHAMBERS     The next one goes into HER. JUNE     [off] Her?  [gasp, then relieved] Oh - her - his wife. LANDON     You wouldn't. PLASMUS     You might want to consider-- CHAMBERS     Shut up - this is all your fault anyway. PLASMUS     But-- LANDON     Get behind me, dearest. PAMELA     He can't be mad enough to shoot me! CHAMBERS     Oh, I'm flipping furious, lady!  LANDON     She doesn't mean that kind of "MAD", you festering moronic baboon! MUSIC INTERVIEWER     We have an interview with someone actually on the scene.  What precisely was going on? JUNE     It was pandemonium!  The ambulates were just walking away after the ... uh, stranger. Interviewer     Like the pied piper of hamlin? JUNE     Or like spartacus. FRED     And when Mr. Chambers - I mean the defendant - shot Mrs. Frost-- JUNE     We're not supposed to talk about that! FRED     That's why they're pixilating our faces, isn't it? JUNE     That's next week's interveiw - this one is live! FRED     Oh shit.  Oh! INTERVIEWER     Now that you've started, you might as well finish.  What happened next? JUNE     [exasperated sigh] There goes our exclusive! MUSIC SOUND     GUNSHOT LANDON     Bastards! SOUND     HIGH PITCHED WHISTLE SOUND     ZOMBIE MOANS IN RESPONSE LANDON     [snarl] Bring me THAT one! PLASMUS     Which?  Oh! CHAMBERS     Stay back! PAMELA     [expiring]  Landon?  It hurts! LANDON     Hold on, dearest.  Keep breathing.  SOUND     GUNSHOT SOUND     ZOMBIE MOANS CHAMBERS     Get out of my way, you maggots! FRED     Come ON, June! JUNE     I have to see how it ends! SOUND     GUN SHOT JUNE     [gasp]  Or not! SOUND     ZOMBIES MOAN PLASMUS     Let go! don't touch me!  Ew!  Does anyone have some purell? PAMELA     [very weak]  Landon?  What- [gasp] what are you thinking? LANDON     Is it hard to implant the top hat device? PLASMUS     It's quite simple really - the connections are made remotely inside the wiring, so the longer it is on, the more enmeshed the interfaces become-- LANDON     Take this. SOUND     CLANG OF DOG'S UNIT PLASMUS     What do you--?  [realizing] Oh. MUSIC INTERVIEWER     But the zombies didn't harm Mr. Chambers? JUNE     He wanted - Landon wanted for him to stand in a human court for trial.  FRED     He said something about rotting in hell, but his accent was getting really thick. JUNE     He was crying! FRED     He's a computer.  I mean, the voice, at least, is computerized.  Why would it get choked up? INTERVIEWER     [to camera] Even now, Chambers is standing trial for the murder of Mrs. Pamela Frost.  While the videographic evidence is very convincing, the lack of an actual body has been a point hammered on by the defense. MUSIC SOUND     CRACKLE of STATIC, THEN FOCUS SOUND     [both are clearly computerized] LANDON     Can't broadcast too long, don't want you to trace us. PAMELA     We want to reach out to everyone who has been affected by the blight that is Tammuz. LANDON     Know this - relief is coming soon.  For now, just walk away, wherever you are.  We'll find you. PAMELA     And Merry Christmas, everyone. SOUND     HIGH PITCHED WHISTLE SOUND     ZOMBIE MOANS FILL SOUNDSCAPE END

11th June - It's friend's birthday but that has no bearing on my day of painting, avoiding social awkwardness and the cinema.Much love and gratitude, Belle x

7th June - It's a quiet one and so I discuss being beaten by an 11 year old at art. Oh and the current confidence levels surrounding Boris Johnson. Much love and gratitude, Belle x

Today's quote comes from Tommy Baker, https://amzn.to/3CW7mgd (The 1% Rule: How to Fall in Love with the Process and Achieve Your Wildest Dreams) “Once we see the unknown through the frame of unlimited possibility, a place where anything can happen, we open up our world.”What is that unknown for you that you're afraid to go into? Lean into the fear, walk into the unknown. You just might find exactly what you were looking for. Check out this even I'm hosting in June: It's a father/son (age13-19) camping weekend on our homestead in Burkesville, KY. Tentative dates are June 24-26. We'll be working on building stronger relationships, not only between father/son, but also between self/others. There will be hands on workshops where teens can learn the basics of real skills like woodworking, carpentry, welding, animal care, horticulture, and more. We'll also have presentations on developing your interests, how to create a life/career you LOVE, critical thinking, the basics of personal finance, goal setting.....all the tool you need to create a life and career that interests and excites!! Are you excited yet? Here's the deal, I'm opening this first ever TEEN CATALYST event to ONLY 15 father/son attendees. You'll be blown away by the value you'll receive from this event. The door price for this event is $495 per father/son, which is incredible for everything included (camping, meals, and more) But get this, until the end of March, I'm opening registration for $175 If you're interested in attending, reach out to me at ken@teencatalyst.com. Can't wait to meet you.

The 2021 MTV VMAS officially have their host! It was announced yesterday that the one and only DOJA CAT will host the Video Music Awards on Sept 12 at Barclays Centre in New York Doja Cat is up for 5 awards and will also perform, making her a very busy woman! You can watch the MTV VMAS in Canada on CTV at 8PM/e. I guess all those tiktok and youtube mashups were on to something because Paramore Singer Hayley Williams and former guitarist Joshua Farro will now be able to cash in on Olivia Rodrigo's hit song “Good 4 U” Originally, the song was only credited to Rodrigo and her producer Dan Nigro, but the Paramore pair have been added to the track as songwriters in recognition of its interpolation of the 2007 song Misery Business. Last month, Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff and St. Vincent were added as co-writers to Rodrigo's “Deja Vu” because of its interpolation of Swift's 2019 song “Cruel Summer.” (Swift and Antonoff were already credited on Rodrigo's “1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back,” which interpolates Swift's 2017 track “New Year's Day.”) “Brutal,” another song on Rodrigo's debut album Sour, has been called out for similarities with Elvis Costello & The Attractions' 1978 track “Pump It Up” – but Costello tweeted in June: “It's how rock and roll works. You take the broken pieces of another thrill and make a brand new toy. That's what I did.” https://www.iheartradio.ca/news/hayley-williams-added-as-co-writer-of-olivia-rodrigo-hit-1.15936892  Thanks to John R. Kennedy for today's news stories. Visit iHeartRadio.ca for all the latest music news, and subscribe to iheartradioca on youtube for new episodes of the filter every week.

                                                                     * TRIGGER WARNING *(Trigger warnings are used to let others know that the content of a post could be triggering.)This podcast and others in this series are called The Early Days Quick Wins Series.Recovery from Bulimia is a process and these tools make it so much easier to take the first steps. Enjoy using these learnings as a part of your recovery. In this episode, Kate chats with the insightful Sharrie Willimas who has joined the podcast before to share her difficult journey with her eating disorders.  Discussing eating triggers, find out how to begin to address your specific eating triggers. Can it help? ... YES...have a listen, learn, and most importantly, apply!Sharrie is Tom Lyle William's great-niece who was the founder of Maybelline. She is an award-winning speaker, Celebrity Columnist and author of The Maybelline Story.*                                      *                                         *                                         *                                         *                                                                                                         * ANNOUNCEMENT *                                                                LAUNCHING ON 27th JUNE:IT'S ALL ABOUT  PATREON If you aren't familiar with Patreon, it's an easy way for those interested in my podcast and work to see new exclusive content and updates before anyone else. By contributing as little as $5 per month, patrons will enable me to dedicate more of my time to creating by helping cover the many costs incurred from my podcast.Reach out to Kate at www.bulimiasucks.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BulimiaSuckRead Kate's book on Amazon:U.S. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B08RCPGNQW/  U. K. http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08RCPGNQW/Reach out to Sharrie Williams:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheMaybellineStoryTwitter: https://twitter.com/SWMaybelline Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/bulimiasucks)

QKWHS - Euro 2020 EP1: Monday 14th June It's here! The summer it finally comes home - and we kick-off the first episode of our Quickly Kevin Euro 2020 summer specials with extensive coverage of England vs. Croatia and so much more...We'll be back on Wednesday and Friday this week exclusive to QK Fan Club XJ8 Members for more coverage of all the things that really matter during the tournament.#bringbackthetinyballcarThanks,Chris, Josh and Michael.QK Fan Club: patreon.com/quicklykevinTwitter: @quicklykevinFacebook: quicklykevinInstagram: quicklykevinEmail: hello@quicklykevin.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Walking on the beach at 8:00 in the morning leads to some rambling talking and ideas.  I'm purposefully taking it slow this morning and it feels good.  But boy that mediation was unruly.  If my mediation was this unruly what is my day gonna be like?Episode notes:Walking on the Ocean.  Tide is a low .47 ft on the rise which means I can walk on the whole beach.  There is no hurry this morning.  What if I just lolly gagged?  See things that I normally see.  It's called the marine layer :).  In my young 50's words that pop into my brain don't pop in as much.  Noticing how I do forget a word now and then.  This mind may perhaps be part of one universal mind.  The point of moving slow is…  I'd hit the “it's time to reach out to speakers mark.”  And it's not happening as fast as I thought it was.  A friend likes to say for someone who doesn't have a lot to do I sure have a lot to do.  “The Tools For A Good Life Summit?”  Do you want to skip your midlife crisis or make through the one you're in…?  Was gonna be the last Monday Tues Wed of June (It's not anymore, it's now July.)  Finding my who to help with the tech.  In the meditation this morning I was beating myself up.  It was an unruly one.  If my mediation was this unruly what is my day gonna be like?  Why the need to get things done?To stay in the moment and be in your day!  Again, what if there's no hurry?  What if it's meant to be at a later time?  What if I were to step away?  What if there was no urgency for the rest of my life?  What if the path is simply graciously provided me be the universe? Perhaps there is no urgency and that's ok.Start podcasting!  Get the Shure MV88 mobile mic, you can literally take it anywhere on the fly https://amzn.to/2Mnba3QAccess my “Insiders Guide to Finding Peace” here: https://belove.media/peace    See more resources at https://belove.media/resources.   Email me: contact@belove.media   For social Media:      https://www.instagram.com/mrmischaz/  https://www.facebook.com/MischaZvegintzov     Subscribe and share to help spread the love for a better world!As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Today we celebrate the birthday of a Russian Count who funded an expedition that led to the discovery of the California poppy. We'll also learn about one of the country’s most beloved naturalists. We celebrate the life of the second woman to be professionally employed as a botanist in the United States. She died 100 years ago today. We also celebrate a nurseryman whose passion for plants was sparked with the gift of a Fuschia. Today’s Unearthed Words feature words about rainy, windy April. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about a little cottage that you might find inspiring as you spruce up your own nest this season. And then we’ll wrap things up with a little poem about trillium - which is also known as Wake Robin. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today’s curated news.   Subscribe Apple|Google|Spotify|Stitcher|iHeart   Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to Jennifer@theDailyGardener.org And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News Gardening for Resilience By Lysa Myers “If you’ve ever tried to grow a garden, you’ll know that your first efforts are seldom as successful as you’d hope. Conditions are seldom ideal, no matter how carefully you plan. You will mess up seemingly simple things; even experts do. However, there are ways to approach gardening that will improve your ability to weather those mistakes. Good soil is crucial Dirt is dirt, right? Sadly, no. If I had it to do over again, I’d have spent that first year amending the heck out of the soil. Choose some plants for quick wins Grab something quick like an herb garden, a planted lettuce bowl, or a strawberry planter from your local gardening center, so you can get those first nibbles right away. There’s a psychological factor to getting an immediate reward that will help you be more resilient in the face of inevitable garden setbacks. Look for what grows well in your area Not all plants grow well everywhere. Some of the things that struggle in your climate might surprise you. It certainly did me! Grow plants you love to eat Whatever happens with our current crisis, I hope that more people take up gardening as a means of self-care and... I also hope that if this sort of advice can help make early gardening experiences more enjoyable, more people will take this on as a long-term hobby or lifestyle change rather than a stop-gap measure. I want you to love working with plants as much as I do!”   Today’s to-do is to add a magnifying glass to your garden tote. The best gardeners throughout our history have looked closely at their plants - often using magnifiers of some fashion. Get up close and personal with your plants and increase your intimacy with your garden by looking at it through the lens of a magnifying glass. Now’s the perfect time to add one to your garden tote. As with every garden tool - you won’t use it if it’s not handy.   Alright, that’s it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There’s no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group.   Important Events 1754  Today is the birthday of a man who was the foreign minister of Russia, Count Nikolay Rumyantsev. In 1815, he funded the round the world scientific voyage of the Rurik which included the poet and botanist Adelbert von Chamisso ("Sha-ME-So") and a doctor/surgeon named Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz. Two years later, in 1817, the Rurik ended up in the San Francisco Bay area where it planned to reprovision. During their stay in San Francisco, Chamiso discovered the California poppy, which he named Eschscholzia californica after his friend Johanns Friedrich Von Eschscholzia. In 1903, the botanist Sarah Plummer Lemmon put forth a successful piece of legislation that nominated the golden poppy (Eschscholzia californica) as the state flower of California. And here’s what the botanist Alice Eastwood once said about the poppy: “The Eschscholzia so glows with the sunbeams caught in its chalice that it diffuses light upon the other flowers and the grass. This poppy will not shine unless the sunbeams on it, but folds itself up and goes to sleep.”   1837  Today is the birthday of the Naturalist, poet, and philosopher John Burroughs (books by this author) was born on a dairy farm in Roxbury, outside of Boston on this date in 1837. He was sent to the local school, where his desk was next to that of Erie Railroad Robber Baron, Jay Gould (the son of a nearby neighbor). When Burroughs struggled in school, Gould would bail him out. Called “John o’ Birds” for his special admiration for birds, Burroughs loved the natural world. One of the four vagabonds (a reference to an annual camping group that included Harvey Firestone, Henry Ford, and Teddy Roosevelt) Burroughs drove a Ford which was an annual present from Henry Ford. John Burroughs wrote about what he knew and loved best: the land around his homes in the Catskills of upstate New York. The area included a stream called “The Pepacton" - today it is known as the "East Branch of the Delaware River". Burroughs was great friends with Walt Whitman (Books by this author) whom he loved dearly. Of Whitman, Burroughs reflected: “[Meeting] Walt was the most important event of my life. I expanded under his influence, because of his fine liberality and humanity on all subjects.” Here’s a fun fact: Whitman gave Burroughs a little marketing advice on his first book, Wake-Robin. Burroughs recalled "It is difficult to hit upon suitable titles for books. I went to Walt with Wake-Robin and several other names written on paper. '"What does wake-robin mean?” he asked "It's a spring flower,' I replied. "Then that is exactly the name you want." Here’s the beginning of “Wake-Robin by John Burroughs” “Spring in our northern climate may fairly be said to extend from the middle of March to the middle of June… It is this period that marks the return of the birds…. Each stage of the advancing season gives prominence to certain species, as to certain flowers. The dandelion tells me when to look for the swallow, the dog-tooth violet when to expect the wood thrush, and when I have found the wake-robin in bloom I know the season is fairly inaugurated. With me this flower is associated, not merely with the awakening of Robin, for he has been awake some weeks, but with the universal awakening and rehabilitation of Nature." Wake-robin is the common name for trillium. Trilliums are in the Lily Family and they carpet the forest floor in springtime. They have a single large, white, long-lasting flower that turns pink as it matures. One last memorable fact about Trilliums. Most of the parts of the plants occur in threes: 3 broad flat leaves, 3 petals to a flower, and three sepals (the part that enclosed the petals, protects them in bud, and supports them in bloom). During Burroughs’ time, The Tennessean and other newspapers advertised “English Wake-Robin Pills: the Best Liver and Cathartic Pills in Use!” and they were 25 cents per box. Burroughs died at the age of 84 years - fourteen more than the biblical allotment of man. He was on his way back to the Catskills after undergoing abdominal surgery in California. Burroughs just wanted to see home one more time. Burroughs' nurse and biographer were with him as he made the trip by train. After a restless attempt at sleeping, he asked: “How near home are we?” Told the train was crossing Ohio, Burroughs slumped back and passed away. In 1937, the 100th anniversary of Burrough’s birthday celebration was held at Hartwick College in New York. Music was furnished by the college a cappella choir who sang Burrough’s favorite song, “Lullaby” by Brahms. Supreme Court Justice Abraham Kellogg presented this tribute: "When the trees begin to leaf and the birds are here when the arbutus, laurel, and wildflowers are blooming and nature is clothing herself with beauty and grandeur, turn ye to your library and in a restful attitude read 'Pepacton' and you will acquaint yourself as never before with John Burroughs, the scientist, the naturalist, the poet, and the philosopher.” It was John Burroughs who said, "Most young people find botany a dull study. So it is, as talk from the textbooks in the schools; but study by yourself in the fields and woods, and you will find it a source of perennial delight."   1920  Today is the anniversary of the death of the botanist Kate Brandegee. Kate was the third woman to enroll at Berkely’s medical school and the second woman to be professionally employed as a botanist in the US. After getting her MD at Berkley, she found starting a practice too daunting. Thankfully, Kate’s passion for botany was ignited during med school. She had learned that plants were the primary sources of medicine, so she dropped the mantle of a physician to pursue botany. Five years later, she was the curator of the San Francisco Academy of Sciences herbarium. While Kate was at the academy, she personally trained Alice Eastwood. Later, when Kate moved on, Alice was ready to take her place - Kate was a phenomenal mentor. During her time at the academy, in surprise development at the age of 40, Kate had “fallen insanely in love” with plantsman Townshend Brandegee. Equally yoked, their honeymoon was a 500-mile nature walk - collecting plant specimens from San Diego to San Francisco. The couple moved to San Diego where they created a herbarium that was praised as a botanical paradise. The collecting trips - often taken together, but sometimes individually, would be their lifelong passion - and they traveled through much of California, Arizona, and Mexico at times using the free railroad passes afforded to botanists. Despite poor health, Kate loved these experiences. In 1908, at the age of 64, she wrote Townshend a letter, “I am going to walk from Placerville to Truckee (52 miles!)” In 1906, when the Berkeley herbarium was destroyed by an earthquake, the Brandegees single-handedly restored it by giving the school their entire botanical library (including many rare volumes) and their plant collection which numbered some 80,000 plants. Thanks to Townshend's inheritance, the couple was financially independent, but they were also exceptionally selfless. The Brandegee’s followed their plants and books to Berkley where Townshend and Kate worked the rest of their lives pro bono. Botanist Marcus Jones said of Kate, “She was the one botanist competent to publish a real [book about the native plants of California].” But Kate had delayed writing this work. Kate was 75 when she fell on the University grounds at Berkeley - she broke her shoulder. Three weeks later, she died.   1909  Today is the birthday of Graham Stuart Thomas. GST was fundamentally a nurseryman and he lived a life fully immersed in the garden. His passion was sparked at a young age by a special birthday present he was given when he turned six: a beautiful potted fuchsia. In 2003. his gardening outfit - including his pants, vest, and shoes - as well as a variety of his tools (including plant markers and a watering can) were donated to the Garden Museum. GST was best known for his work with garden roses and his leadership of over 100 National Trust gardens. He wrote 19 books on gardening. Ever the purposeful perfectionist, he never wasted a moment. What do folks have to say about GST on social media? Here’s a sampling: Pachysandra ground cover - A GST classic! My mom gave me a Graham Stuart Thomas for my first gardening book, so very special Our best selling plant of 2015? At number 1 (drum roll) - Eryngium Graham Stuart Thomas. Flower spike on yucca in a border. GST used them as punctuation marks in design. Love being married to someone who knows what I mean when I say, “Bring me Graham Stuart Thomas"   Unearthed Words   April cold with dripping rain Willows and lilacs brings again, The whistle of returning birds, And trumpet-lowing of the herds. — Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist and poet   Oh, how fresh the wind is blowing! See! The sky is bright and clear, Oh, how green the grass is growing! April! April! Are you here? — Dora Hill Read Goodale, American poet and teacher   A SENSITIVE PLANT in a garden grew,  And the young winds fed it with silver dew,  And it opened its fan-like leaves to the light,  And closed them beneath the kisses of night. The snowdrop, and then the violet,  Arose from the ground with warm rain wet, Then the pied wind-flowers and the tulip tall,  And narcissi, the fairest among them all, And the hyacinth, purple and white and blue,  Which flung from its bells a sweet peal anew And the jessamine faint, and the sweet tuberose,  The sweetest flower for scent that blows;  And all rare blossoms from every clime,—  Grew in that garden in perfect prime. And the sinuous paths of lawn and of moss,  Which led through the garden along and across,  Some open at once to the sun and the breeze,  Some lost among bowers of blossoming trees, The plumèd insects swift and free,  Like golden boats on a sunny sea,  Laden with light and odor, which pass  Over the gleam of the living grass; And Spring arose on the garden fair, Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere; And each flower and herb on Earth's dark breast Rose from the dreams of its wintry rest." — Percy Bysshe Shelley, English romantic poet, The Sensitive Plant   Grow That Garden Library The Bee Cottage by FrancesSchultz The subtitle to this lighthearted book is “How I Made a Muddle of Things and Decorated My Way Back to Happiness” and the book was published in 2015. This book was inspired by Frances's popular House Beautiful magazine series on the makeover of her East Hampton house that she calls Bee Cottage. Frances had intended this book to be a decorating book, but it evolved into so much more. It's a memoir combining beautiful photos of Bee Cottage inside and out - and a compelling personal story - Frances's story. This book is perfect for this time of year when we're trying to come up with all kinds of ideas for our home and garden. It’s loaded with inspiring images and snapshots. In this book, Frances shared what she learned during all her renovations of Bee Cottage. We get a sneak peek into how she decided each area of the house and garden would be used and furnished. From a personal standpoint, Frances came to discover that, like decorating a home or planting a garden, our Lives must adapt to who we are and what we need along the way. And, I love this little poem that Frances uses to start out her book - along with a picture of one of her garden gates it's got a little bee cut out at the top of it.) The poem goes like this: He who loves an old house Never loves in vain, How can an old house, Used to sun and rain, To lilac and to larkspur, And an elm above, Ever fail to answer The heart that gives it love? Next, Frances shows a picture of her cottage before it became Bee Cottage. “ It was a little run-down but it had curb appeal but not much love”. And she wrote, “I felt a bit that way myself.” And here's the how the story of Bee Cottage starts: “I'd planned to make Bee Cottage the perfect place to begin my second marriage. I'd bought it with my fiance's Blessing. It was great for us and for his two sons. Though the house was old and needed work, I relished the prospect. if only I'd been as optimistic about the marriage, but the story of Bee Cottage begins, I'm sorry to say, with heartbreak. After the wedding invitations were sent, after gifts received, after the ridiculously expensive dress made, after deposits paid, after a house bought... I called it off. I wish I could say he was a jerk and a cad, but he wasn't. He was and is a great guy. The relationship failed because we were just not a fit. And there I was with a house and the dawning that everything I had dreamed it would be would now be something else entirely.” And that is the beginning of the Bee Cottage story. This is a great and light-hearted book for this time of year as you're making plans for your own nest. If you're looking for a nice escape from the heaviness of this time we're living through, this book would be an excellent choice. It’s lovely. You can get a used copy of The Bee Cottage by Frances Schultz and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for under $4.   Today’s Botanic Spark In honor of John Burroughs’ first book, Wake-Robin, I found a little-known poem by Rebecca Salsbury Palfrey Utter (Books by this author) called The Wake-Robin. Rebecca was a descendant of Gene Williams Palfrey who served with George Washington and served as ambassador to France. When she was 28, she became the wife of a Chicago minister named David Utter. Thereafter, Rebecca worked beside David as a missionary and she coined the now-popular term “Daughter of the King” in one of her more popular poems. Here’s The Wake-Robin by Rebecca Salsbury Palfrey Utter. THE WAKE-ROBIN (or trillium) When leaves green and hardy From sleep have just uncurled — Spring is so tardy In this part of the world — There comes a white flower forth, Opens its eyes, Looks out upon the earth, In drowsy surprise. A fair and pleasant vision The nodding blossoms make ; And the flower's name and mission Is "Wake, robin, wake !” But you're late, my lady, You have not earned your name ; Robin's up already, Long before you came. You trusted the sun's glances, To rouse you from your naps; Or the brook that near you dances At spring's approach, perhaps ; Your chamber was too shady, The drooping trees among ; Robin's up already, Don't you hear his song? There he sits, swinging, ‘ In his brown and scarlet cloak, His notes like laughter ringing ; Tis plain he sees the joke. "Accidents will happen,” Laughs robin loud and clear ; "If you think to catch me napping, Wake earlier next year!"

In this episode, my guests and I review season three of the hit Hulu show, The Handmaid's Tale. Are you still team June? It was an up and down season for all three of us, with one of my guests having given up on the show altogether. My other guest and I remain believers, although we both questioned if it had jumped the shark. Take a listen and join our conversation about the show. https://gethappywithj.com/ https://www.facebook.com/gethappywithj/

IMO 2020 "best ever" from Energy Week: https://www.spreaker.com/user/9550540/energy-week-65Saudi energy minister suspects Iran exports more oil than market believeshttps://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/oil/051919-saudi-energy-minister-suspects-iran-exports-more-oil-than-market-believes- Most interesting point to come out of the recent OPEC JMMC meeting. Al Falih believes here is more Iranian oil on the market - Could this impact the decision that OPEC/OPEC+ makes in June? It could also be a reason to support the rollover of the production restraint agreementIran's crude exports slide to 500,000 bpd or less: sourceshttps://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-oil-exports/irans-crude-exports-slide-to-500000-bpd-or-less-sources-idUSKCN1SN2G4- This could be what Falih was talking about at the JMMC meeting, or he might be smaller operations.- Iran has plenty of stored oil near China that it can access that was exported there last year but didn’t clear customs.Who gets Venezuela's oil?https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/16/americas/venezuela-oil-debt-opinion-intl/index.html- Russia and China (which are receiving debt payments in oil) are interested in keeping Maduro in power so they can receive their debt repayments- If Maduro is overthrown will the debt be cancelled out?IMO 2020 Insights: check it out! Volkswagen’s New Battery Plant Could Be A Game Changer In Electric Vehicle Strategy https://www.forbes.com/sites/ellenrwald/2019/05/15/volkswagens-new-battery-plant-could-be-a-game-changer-in-electric-vehicle-strategy/#23ce37e51df7- the more companies making electric vehicle batteries, the more potential there is for battery innovation- this is a limited factor for electric vehicle adoption, but perhaps if more people are making proprietary batteries there will be innovation. Tesla Falls as Analyst Says Company Facing ‘Code-Red Situation’https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tesla-falls-analyst-says-company-135920655.html- Tesla stock went below $200 and analyst called Tesla in a code red situation- The problem, he said, is that Musk is focused more side projects like insurance and robotaxis instead of trying to build demand for the Model 3.- Could this be just a regular correction? Where should Tesla stock really be valued?

IMO 2020 "best ever" from Energy Week: https://www.spreaker.com/user/9550540/energy-week-65Saudi energy minister suspects Iran exports more oil than market believeshttps://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/oil/051919-saudi-energy-minister-suspects-iran-exports-more-oil-than-market-believes- Most interesting point to come out of the recent OPEC JMMC meeting. Al Falih believes here is more Iranian oil on the market - Could this impact the decision that OPEC/OPEC+ makes in June? It could also be a reason to support the rollover of the production restraint agreementIran's crude exports slide to 500,000 bpd or less: sourceshttps://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-oil-exports/irans-crude-exports-slide-to-500000-bpd-or-less-sources-idUSKCN1SN2G4- This could be what Falih was talking about at the JMMC meeting, or he might be smaller operations.- Iran has plenty of stored oil near China that it can access that was exported there last year but didn’t clear customs.Who gets Venezuela's oil?https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/16/americas/venezuela-oil-debt-opinion-intl/index.html- Russia and China (which are receiving debt payments in oil) are interested in keeping Maduro in power so they can receive their debt repayments- If Maduro is overthrown will the debt be cancelled out?IMO 2020 Insights: check it out! Volkswagen’s New Battery Plant Could Be A Game Changer In Electric Vehicle Strategy https://www.forbes.com/sites/ellenrwald/2019/05/15/volkswagens-new-battery-plant-could-be-a-game-changer-in-electric-vehicle-strategy/#23ce37e51df7- the more companies making electric vehicle batteries, the more potential there is for battery innovation- this is a limited factor for electric vehicle adoption, but perhaps if more people are making proprietary batteries there will be innovation. Tesla Falls as Analyst Says Company Facing ‘Code-Red Situation’https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tesla-falls-analyst-says-company-135920655.html- Tesla stock went below $200 and analyst called Tesla in a code red situation- The problem, he said, is that Musk is focused more side projects like insurance and robotaxis instead of trying to build demand for the Model 3.- Could this be just a regular correction? Where should Tesla stock really be valued?

As I was preparing for today’s show, I kept thinking about this quote from John Burrows: "... One's own landscape comes in time to be a sort of outlying part of himself; he has sowed himself broadcast upon it, and it reflects his own moods and feelings; he is sensitive to the verge of the horizon: cut those trees, he bleeds; mar those hills, and he suffers."   Think about your own landscape. If it is an outlying part of yourself, what does is reflect about your mood and feelings? Controlled and manicured? Wild and wooly? Relaxed and comfortable? Unsure or confused?   Where are you at today? Where were you a year ago? 5 years ago? 10 years ago? Where do you want to be this season?   We are not static. As my youngest son said to me the first time he ate spaghetti sauce on his noodles, “People can change, Mom.” We are not static… and our gardens aren’t either.   Brevities Naturalist, poet and philosopher John Burroughs (books by this author) was born on a dairy farm on this date in 1837. He was sent to the local school, where his desk was next to that of Erie Railroad Robber Baron, Jay Gould (the son of a nearby neighbor). When Burroughs struggled in school, Gould would bail him out. Called “John o’ Birds” for hisspecial admiration for birds, Burroughs loved the natural world. One of the four vagabonds (a reference to an annual camping group that included Harvey Firestone, Henry Ford, and Teddy Roosevelt) Burroughs drove a Ford which was an annual present from Henry Ford. John Burroughs wrote about what he knew and loved best: the land around his homes in the Catskills of upstate New York. The area included a stream called “The Pepacton" - today it is known as the "East Branch of the Delaware River".   Burroughs was great friends with Walt Whitman (Books by this author) whom he loved dearly. Of Whitman, Burroughs reflected:   “[Meeting] Walt was the most important event of my life. I expanded under his influence, because of his fine liberality and humanity on all subjects.”   Here’s a fun fact: Whitman gave Burroughs a little marketing advice on his first book, Wake-Robin.  Burroughs recalled   "It is difficult to hit upon suitable titles for books. I went to Walt with Wake-Robin and several other names written on paper.  '"What does wake-robin mean?” he asked "It's a spring flower,' I replied. "Then that is exactly the name you want."   Wake-robin is the common name for trillium. Trilliums are in the Lily Familyand they carpet the forest floor in springtime.. They have a single large, white, long-lasting flower that turns pink as it matures.  During Burroughs time, The Tennessean and other newspapers advertised English Wake-Robin Pills Tho best Liver and Cathartic Pills in use. Price 25 cents per box.   Here’s the beginning of “Wake-Robin by John Burroughs”   “Spring in our northern climate may fairly be said to extend from the middle of March to the middle of June… It is this period that marks the return of the birds….  Each stage of the advancing season gives prominence to certain species, as to certain flowers. The dandelion tells me when to look for the swallow, the dog-tooth violet when to expect the wood thrush, and when I have found the wake-robin in bloom I know the season is fairly inaugurated. With me this flower is associated, not merely with the awakening of Robin, for he has been awake some weeks, but with the universal awakening and rehabilitation of Nature."   At the 100th anniversary of Burrough’s birthday celebration was held at Hartwick College. Music was furnished by the college a cappella choir who sang Burrough’s favorite song, “Lullaby” by Brahms. Supreme Court Justice Abraham Kellogg presented this tribute:   "When the trees begin to leaf and the birds are here, the arbutus, laurel and wild flowers are blooming and nature is clothing herself with beauty and grandeur, turn ye to your library and in a restful attitude read 'Pepacton' and you will acquaint yourself as never before with John Burroughs, the scientist, the naturalist, the poet and the philosopher.” Burroughs died at the age of 84 years - fourteen more than the biblical allotment of man.  He was on his way back to the Catskills after undergoing abdominal surgery in California. Burroughs just wanted to see home one more time. Burroughs' nurse and biographer was with him as he made the trip by train.  After a restless attempt at sleeping, he asked “How near home are we?” Told the train was crossing Ohio, Burroughs slumped back and passed away.   The third woman to enroll at Berkely’s medical school and the second woman to be professionally employed as a botanist in the US, the intrepid Kate Brandegee died on this day in 1920.  After getting her MD at Berkley, she found starting a practice too daunting. Thankfully, Kate’s passion for botany was ignited during med school.  She had learned that plants were the primary sources of medicine, so she dropped the mantle of physician to pursue botany. Five years later, she was the curator of the San Francisco Academy of Sciences herbarium.  While Kate was at the academy, she personally trained Alice Eastwood. Later, when Kate moved on, Alice was ready to take her place - Kate was a phenomenal mentor.   During her time at the academy, in surprise development at the age of 40, Kate had “fallen insanely in love” with plantsman Townsend Brandegee.  Equally yoked, their honeymoon was a 500 mile nature walk - collecting plant specimens from San Diego to San Francisco. The couple moved toSan Diego where they created a herbarium that was praised as a botanical paradise. The collecting trips - often taken together, but sometimes individually, would be their lifelong passion - and they traveled through much of California, Arizona and Mexico at times using the free railroad passes afforded to botanists.   Despite poor health, Kate loved these experiences. In 1908, at the age of 64, she wrote Townsend a letter,   “I am going to walk from Placerville to Truckee (52 miles!)”   In 1906, when the Berkley herbarium was destroyed by an earthquake, the Brandegees singlehandedly restored it by giving the school their entire botanical library (including many rare volumes) and their plant collect which numbered some 80,000 plants. Thanks to Townsend's inheritance, the couple was financially independent, but they were also exceptionally selfless. The Brandegee’s followed their plants and books to Berkley where Townsend and Kate worked the rest of their lives pro bono.  Botanist Marcus Jones said of Kate, “She was the one botanist competent to publish a real [book about the native plants of California].” But Kate had delayed writing this work.  Kate was 75 when she fell on the University grounds at Berkley - she broke her shoulder.  Three weeks later, she died.   Unearthed Words In honor of Burrough’s first book - Wake-Robin, I found a little-known poem by Rebecca Salsbury Palfrey Utter (Books by this author) called the Wake-Robin. Rebecca was the wife of a Chicago minister named David Utter. She was a selfless missionary who coined the term “Daughter of the King” in one of her more popular poems.  Rebecca was a descendant of Gene Williams Palfrey who served with George Washington and served as ambassador to France. Here’s The Wake-Robin by Rebecca Salsbury Palfrey Utter.   THE WAKE-ROBIN (or trillium)   When leaves green and hardy    From sleep have just uncurled — Spring is so tardy    In this part of the world — There comes a white flower forth,    Opens its eyes, Looks out upon the earth,    In drowsy surprise.   A fair and pleasant vision    The nodding blossoms make ; And the flower's name and mission    Is "Wake, robin, wake !” But you're late, my lady,    You have not earned your name ; Robin's up already,    Long before you came.   You trusted the sun's glances,    To rouse you from your naps ;     Or the brook that near you dances At spring's approach, perhaps ;    Your chamber was too shady, The drooping trees among ;    Robin's up already, Don't you hear his song ?   There he sits, swinging, ‘    In his brown and scarlet cloak, His notes like laughter ringing ;    'Tis plain he sees the joke. " Accidents will happen,”    Laughs robin loud and clear ; " If you think to catch me napping,    Wake earlier next year ! "   Today's book recommendation The John Burroughs Association was formed to preserve his legacy.  Every April, on the first Monday, they gather in New York City to present the John Burroughs Medal, John Burroughs Nature Essay Award and Riverby Awards to the authors, illustrators, and publishers of the best published nature writing.  This year’s winner is:   A Wilder Time: Notes from a Geologist at the Edge of The Greenland Ice, by William Glassley, published by Bellevue Literary Press, 2018   A Wilder Time: Notes from a Geologist at the Edge of The Greenland Ice is a rich literary account of six expeditions to Greenland, where the author sought (and found) Earth’s earliest signs yet of plate tectonics, the slow-motion movement and collisions of continents. Anchored by deep reflection and scientific knowledge, A Wilder Time is a portrait of an ancient, nearly untrammeled world that holds the secrets of our planet’s deepest past, even as it accelerates into our rapidly changing future. The book bears the literary, scientific, philosophic, and poetic qualities of a nature-writing classic, the rarest mixture of beauty and scholarship.   William E. Glassley is a geologist at the University of California, Davis, and an emeritus researcher at Aarhus University, Denmark, focusing on the evolution of continents and the processes that energize them. He received his PhD from the University of Washington, Seattle, and is the author of over seventy research articles and a textbook on geothermal energy. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.   Other notable recognized authors include Rachel Carson for her book The Sea Around Us and Aldo Leopold for A Sand County Almanac.   Today's Garden Chore Today’s to-do is to add a magnifying glass to your garden tote. The best gardeners throughout out history, have looked closely their plants - often using magnifiers of some fashion. Get up close and personal with your plants - Increase your intimacy with your garden. As with every garden tool - you won’t use it, if it’s not handy.   Something Sweet to revive the little botanic spark in your heart One last memorable fact about Trilliums. Most of the parts of the plants occur in threes: 3 broach flat leaves, 3 petals to a flower, and three sepals (the part that enclosed the petals, protects them in bud, and supports them in bloom).  

Elie Katzenson interviews East Bay Alternative Book and Zine Fest (EBABZ) organizers Gillian Dreher, June Hong, and Maira McDermott about the specialness of zines and their relevance as underground publications for activists, artists, and writers in search for total creative freedom and publishing options.Transcript:Elie Katzenson:This is Method To The Madness, a biweekly public affairs show on KALX Berkeley celebrating Bay Area innovators.I am Elie Katzenson. I am here with the organizers of EBABZ, which stands for the East Bay Alternative Book and Zine Fest, which is coming up this Saturday, December 8th at Omni Commons in Oakland.It's from 11:00 to 5:00. That venue, Omni Commons, is located at 4799 Shattuck Avenue, which is super close to the MacArthur Bar, and there's a drop off on the sixth bus line in addition to other bus lines. For now, I am here with Jill, June, and Mira. Hi y'all.Mira:Hey.Jill:Hey.Elie Katzenson:Let's start by talking about what a zine is.Mira:A zine, in my opinion, is really anything you want it to be. It doesn't even need to be printed. You can have online zines, digital zines. It's anything that you feel really passionate about or interested in that you want to share with other people, and you just kind of put together this little book.It doesn't have to be a traditional book shape. It can be any shape you want. Staple it, copy a bunch of pages, hand it out. That's a zine.Elie Katzenson:Zines are interesting because, as I understand it, historically they've been and they continue to be like an underground publication used a lot by activists, artists, and writers that are looking for the ability to self publish, which affords them total freedom.There's a lot of identity exploration that maybe traditional publishing houses wouldn't allow for that space, and so you have lesser represented communities exploring their identities.With this, I'm thinking queer people, I'm thinking like there's a lot of diasporic exploration, mixed identities, mixed ethnic identities, anarchist groups, a lot of unique politics are getting space. Then kind of nontraditional relationship models. I've seen some like polyamory and nonmonogamous related zines.Really valuable information that isn't able to get exposure elsewhere, in zines gets massive exposure. These fests, which take place across the country, they are really hubs of, this is a big word to say, but like revolutionary information sometimes. It all starts it seems on a small scale, but this work can have major repercussions in a positive sense for a lot of people.Mira:In my personal experience it has been revolutionary, because through zines that's how I have found the words to work through my own gender identity, and that was revolutionary for me.Elie Katzenson:What Mira just said is proof of why zines are so important. In your experience why are zines so special?June:I think the beauty of the zine is, as Mira said, the total freedom and creative control you can have over your publication, and because you don't have to go through the process of a publishing house, and you self publish, you can really make it anything you want it to be.Jill:I also love the element of like speed and spontaneity. An event can happen and you can make a zine about it immediately. I think it's so great for like activism, or current events, because you can react, and share your ideas. Any idea, super quickly.Elie Katzenson:When I think of something like writer's block, or like fear of showing your work, zines, in this punk way, emphasize the naturalness and the power of your first response,and sort of like first thoughts. How do you let go enough to just say like I'm going to put myself out there. I'm going to put my work out there. How do people do that? I'm so impressed by that with zines that I've seen. They're very thoughtful, but they're not over-thought and they're not manicured to the point of perfection.June:I feel like that's such like a classic problem with creative work or like an issue is at what point do I feel comfortable enough to like share my work. With zines I feel like there's such a broad spectrum. Even the range of zines that I've seen some look definitely more spur of the moment, first draft, made photocopies, and published versus zines that look more like traditional books.I feel like the answer to like when do you feel comfortable? Like how do you get over that hump? Like is this getting over your own perfectionism to publish is something that zines kind of help with, because it is so easy to make. That's one less barrier for you to like put your content out there.Elie Katzenson:How zines have been seen more in the mainstream, and so you're talking about the first draft zine, which is a little more, not less marketable. Then you have commercialized zines that maybe are a little less substance oriented.Maybe a little less political, a little less extreme, a little more surface level, and I've been kind of curious about what the dynamic is within the zine community in regards to content.Is there more collaboration in the same community? There seems to be maybe a little bit more friendship. I know that treating your zines is a big part of what you do when you table.Jill:I've had really good experiences making friends through zines, and even making friends zines on Facebook groups, and then traveling to those people's fests, and let me stay at their house.I've never met these people, and there's just a level of trust that comes in I think when you're sharing your work that's really personal. You kind of get to know someone and then they're like, "Yeah, I've never met you but I think you're not going to murder me, so come stay at my house for a weekend."Thinking specifically about when I went to Omaha Zine Fest, and the organizers of that fest were super sweet. I think there's just a lot of camaraderie in the zine community, because we're all just kind of doing the same thing. Not the same exact thing, but we all have the same passion for this art form.Elie Katzenson:This is the ninth year of EBABZ. As I understand it, it was kind of born out of people enjoying Portland Zine Fest, and San Francisco Zine Fest, and thinking that there was enough artists and creators in the East Bay to have a fest here, and even the organizers nine years ago are different than the organizers that are y'all, right?Mira I know that you kind of had like this sub-zine fest, The Bay Area Queer Zine Fest. I think that the space that EBABZ creates, not only at The Fest, which I've been to a couple of years in a row, but the work that you're championing and really like helping proliferate, how can people and the community of the East Bay in general help EBABZ thrive and help zinesters thrive. How can we support the creation of this work?Jill:Volunteer.June:Yeah.Mira:Show up day of. That's really important still.June:Please volunteer.Jill:It's crazy. My boyfriend especially lately has been in awe of all of the work that we've been doing. I think with events like this you don't realize, you always think, "Oh, someone's in charge."No one's in charge. We're just kind of making all this up as we go, and like working together and like figuring out how to get stuff done. Like I'll come home from our meetings working sessions and he'll be like, "Oh what did you do today?" I'll tell him and he'll be like, "What? Like you're doing so much stuff. That's so cool."So yeah, it would be great for people to get involved.Elie Katzenson:What kind of things can people do?Jill:So much, so everything, from all year long, we have different events. Mira's always really good, and June at like planning, fundraising events, getting in touch with like different organizations, figuring out how we can work together, teaching people how to make zines, like workshops like that.We also do planning stuff throughout the year. We have to like send out applications. We have to figure out like what are our mission statement is.Mira:There's administrative work, but all the way to like really fun poster makes.June:Yeah, make a flyer. InstagramMira:Follow their Instagram y'all.Jill:There's fun stuff happening. Voluntaring looks fun if you follow the Insta.June:I think a lot of people are afraid to volunteer, because putting yourself out there is always really scary. Also maybe in capitalist society in general, there's the concept that you have to pay a lot of time in a place before you have any power or say, and so you think that you shouldn't be there helping, or deciding how things are run because you're new, but EBABZ is a democracy as far as I can tell, a major democracy, and people are really welcome, and like radically welcome. It's radically inclusive.Jill:A friend of mine reached out to me and said they were too busy to volunteer but they know this person who's in high school who was looking for like some way to get involved with zines.We brought them on, and they have just gone for it. They reached out to like all the different high schools in the area to ask for people to get involved, share their zines. Any level of effort is appreciated.Mira:For sure. I feel like that can happen in such different ways too. Like so as we said, there's like many different capacities in which you can volunteer, but also like we all started volunteering at the same time three years ago, and how I showed up was I just saw like a volunteer meeting on Facebook.I just like showed up without really knowing that much about The Zine Fest. I'd like gone the previous year, but my friend had posted it on Facebook, so I was like, "Yeah, well I'll just like show up, and now I've continued to stick with it for the past three years, so you never know how it's going to go.Elie Katzenson:Tomas is one of the organizers who I think is not strictly active anymore, and he was talking about the idea that a zine more than maybe certain other mediums is really like a one-on-one interaction between the creator and the reader.What makes a zine one-on-one interaction? Why is that one-on-one interaction really essential, especially when you're talking about subject matter that is frequently very intimate, and life changing I guess I would say, because I think so much of reading zines is related to identity, and people find a sense of belonging that maybe they're not experiencing as frequently in reading fiction.Mira:In my experience it's been kind of like handing someone my diary, and they just happened to be standing right in front of me sometimes making really awkward eye contact. It's terrifying, but that's just kind of what it is.I don't know. It's really cool to have these one-on-one interactions with people even if it's not in person, and then have them give you feedback, or tell you that, "Oh, this zine meant a lot to me, because x, y or Z," and then it's like, "Oh, I'm not alone in what I'm feeling. Wow, this feels great." There's like solidarity with other people over just, I don't know, stuff that maybe you felt like you were alone in.Jill:There's those kinds of zines. I feel like that with a lot of mirror zines, and a lot of per zines, that are like diary type zines, but there's also the zines where it's more communal, and I feel like rather than like a one-on-one, it's this feeling of entering into a group just through reading.I'm thinking of ones that are collaborative that community produces, or ones that maybe share like history of like a place or a thing that you weren't familiar with. It's like you're entering into this world more of a shared base instead of one-to-one. It's one to a bunch. Even if you've never met those people, or seen those people.Elie Katzenson:When people think about getting involved in community, it seems like you have to be a people person, and really enjoy being extroverted all the time, etcetera. What's interesting about Zines is there's face for everyone, and there's sensitivity to whoever you are.You are just radically accepted and loved, and that respect is just so special. I don't think that's really a question, but I think it's something that I want people who maybe aren't familiar with zines, or who haven't participated in an event where zines are shared to know that that is really the environment that is created at a fest.Like Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory where you're going to find the level that you want. Maybe you find the blueberry early, and you get rolled away, or you make it to the end and you get your gobstopper. You know? So.June:Yeah, totally. That reminds me of how earlier we were talking about how to support zine communities and stuff, and we talked about volunteering, but also what I found that has been super important to me within zine organizing, and the Oakland art community in general, is I found that people are so supportive and welcoming, and down to help you out with your projects.People's generosity and acceptance has really blown my mind. It's super inspiring to see people be making things and helping other people make things, and being able to express their selves, and creative projects through helping each other out. That's another way to support is help a friend make something.Elie Katzenson:Totally. I read this newsletter, it's called The Creative Independent. I'll have to send you a link, because it's really great. They interview an artist every day, and sometimes they talk about in different art worlds there's more competition than others. Right?One of the pieces of advice that I read today was about being confident in charging for your work. People can pay for your work, and I don't know why that seems so radical to me, because it can feel so hard to say like, "No, that costs money, or that Zine is 10 bucks." You have really made something, and that's like a sacred exchange.Mira:It's hard sometimes, but I feel like the time that I'm most able to stick out for myself and my work is when people just try to take it off the table like it's free.It's the only time I'm really adamant like "No, I put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into this." That happened at zine event that I'm tabling at. It's hard to put a price on something you've created, but sometimes it's necessary because you have to even or you have to pay your bills.Elie Katzenson:Right? I mean even beyond breaking even though, right? It shouldn't just be, I just had to pay for my materials. It's like, "No, it's okay for me to make money off of a work that I made."Jill:Totally. Yeah.Elie Katzenson:But why does it feel so hard to do that?Mira:It can be hard to do because money obviously is not like the end-all-be-all of the world, but you also need it to survive, and pay the bills. It's something I do think about is why do we not hesitate to buy a five dollar coffee, but you have a problem with buying a five dollar zine, or something like that. I don't know. Not that it's always necessarily like that, but-June:Yeah, I think it is important to keep in mind value and the effort that people put into making creative work that isn't necessarily sold in a store, and for some reason that seems more official. Okay to give money to.Mira:Both as organizers charging for space, and on the zinester side of the table, charging for these things filled with ideas. We've been conflicted with anticapitalist sentiment too. Then like charging for things.If I'm making something that's against consumerism, and then I'm charging for it, like, "Oh, what do I do? What's happening?" It's all about valuing yourself, and your ideas and-Elie Katzenson:Right. You still have to function in the environment that we were functioning in, [crosstalk]June:It's not that we like money, but-Mira:Yeah.June:Give me my moneys.Mira:Yeah, that's, yeah. Personally I feel like that's been really hard.Elie Katzenson:It's interesting to me, because the price that you're charging the zinesters is quite fair in my opinion. I think it's what, 50 bucks if you're accepted?June:No, not even that.Mira:It's less.June:That's for a double.Mira:For a half table we have a sliding scale, 20 to $40, and then if you have a full table, it's 50 to 75 I want to say. We also-Elie Katzenson:You've always employed a sliding scale?Mira:Always a sliding scale, and also if people have financial struggles, they could email us and we waive the fee.Elie Katzenson:Wow.Jill:Some zine fests are not like that. It's really nice to be able to be a part of one that is like that.Elie Katzenson:I want to talk about The Fest schedule in general. I know the Rock Paper Scissors Collective did a memorial fund, The Rheo Memorial Fund, where they were giving away grants of $100 for people to make zines.You could apply for this zine scholarship. That was really special, because again, $100 means a lot. Be it to EBABZ if they can get a table, or just being able to make 50 copies of their work.Okay. So again, reminder the East Bay Alternative Book and Zine Fest is this Saturday, December 8th it's from 11 to five at Omni Commons, 4799 Shattuck avenue. It's free to get in. No admission. All these tables you can buy zines and peruse.I know that there's some workshops happening. Can you tell me a little bit about that?Mira:We have three different workshops. They're each about an hour long. We have writing from the margins, creativity, and embodiment for artists of color with Fatima Nasir. This one sounds awesome. It's a writing workshop, meditative practices, some brainstorming, and sharing stories.Elie Katzenson:What Times that?Mira:That one is at 12 and then at 1:30 we have mixed media sticker making with Raphael Tapra the third. Sounds extremely fun. You just use a bunch of stuff and make stickers. Very DIY. That's at 1:30 until 2:30, but you can stop by. It's kind of like an in and out situation.Elie Katzenson:Awesome.Mira:Or you can say the whole time. At 3:00 we have letterpress basics with Christie Holahan, and she's gonna show how this tabletop water press works.Then everyone's going to get to make good thing. They're gonna choose a phrase, and then everyone's going to let her press that phrase.Elie Katzenson:Cool. What part of Omni are they doing those in? Do you know? Cause it's like those two big rooms, right? The entry room, and then the larger back room.Mira:It's in the entry room and it's way in the back. You'll see these big wall partition screen things.Elie Katzenson:Oh cool.Mira:It's behind the partition.Elie Katzenson:Awesome. Couldn't have asked for a better workshop description. I was reading online that you are doing something new this year. I think it's called a zine store.June:Yeah. So the zine shop is something new that we're trying out this year. Mostly in response to how we were feeling that we wanted to include as many people as possible, because there are a limited number of tables, but we do get a lot of applications.For people who either didn't get to table, or just have like one or two zines, and don't feel like they can fill a table, they actually still have time to drop off their zine at five Friday at E.M. Wolfman Downtown. It's a bookstore. The organizers will be there the whole day selling them instead of having all of those people having to table.Jill:Another thing we're trying different this year one of our organizers had this cool idea. At all these fests, it's always a person behind a table, and it is super weird. I'm sure for anyone who's been to an event like this, or a craft show before, when you're walking around, and you're like, "Do I make eye contact? Do I not make eye contact? I want to look at this stuff. But I don't want them to feel offended if I don't buy the stuff."It's this kind of tense relationship sometimes. Sometimes it's really fun and you make good connections and you have a great time. Sometimes different personalities, some people feel awkward.One of our organizers was like, "What if we move the zinesters out from behind the table." It creates a more like open layout, and visitors can kind of like file through and peruse without having to have these tense eye contact moments.The tabler will still be there, but it's off to the side, and it creates more opportunities for organic conversations.Elie Katzenson:That's interesting.Jill:Yeah it's our first year doing it. So we'll see.Elie Katzenson:Oh I'm really excited to hear that, because I'm totally used to the awkward dynamic. I just put that Mona Lisa smile on my face for like an hour.Jill:Yup. Same. It's like part of the thing.Elie Katzenson:Yeah.Jill:We still have tables like that, so you will get an opportunity to show your Mona Lisa smile. But yeah, it'll be cool.Elie Katzenson:I think sometimes I personally want to engage in conversation, but I'm conscious of taking up too much space, or maybe they need to spend time with other people and I'm scared of taking too much attention, but sounds like people are maybe more open to speaking than I think that they are. Right?Jill:Yeah. We should mention that we're only using the wheelchair accessible rooms, and it's kid friendly.June:We have the childcare room, but we do not have childcare. BYO Care. You can use the room. That's what Rebecca said. BYO Care.Elie Katzenson:It's wheelchair accessible and you can bring your kids. You can't bring your dogs.June:No.Elie Katzenson:I know. My life is not fair.Jill:You can't have it all.Mira:You really can't.June:After The Fest, there's a EBABZ after party that's happening from six o'clock to around 10 o'clock at Classic Cars West slash Hello Vegan Eats. So yeah, come through.Mira:There's going to be like 10 djs.June:I think it's going to be like six.Mira:Six to 10.June:Six to 10 djs.Elie Katzenson:If you each had kind of one last sentiment or thought to put out into the world as an EBABZ organizer, or something that you'd like to put out there for the end of this interview.June:Just every year. I'm so grateful for zine community, the applications we receive, and the care that is taken in those applications. Also my fellow organizers I'm super grateful for it, because everyone really tries their hardest. Put's a lot of effort into it. Also, yeah, I'm eternally grateful to Aura for introducing me to this community and I think of her.Jill:I went to cal, and I was super DIY, and in high school I feel I was super punk into all this stuff. Then you grow up, and you have to get a job and you have to make money. I have a mortgage now.I start to get out of touch with all my roots and this happy community and what matters in life. Coming to Zine Fest, and volunteering with Zine Fest, reminds me of all that stuff, and keeps me connected, and keeps me grounded in reality, and what's good.Mira:Sort of to echo what both of you were saying, I think organizing EBABZ has been one of the most fulfilling things I've ever done. For that I am eternally grateful to Aura for getting me involved. Also if you come to The Fest, please bring caffeine for the organizers.June:Yes.Jill:I don't drink coffee.Elie Katzenson:The East Bay Alternative Book and Zine Fest is taking place on December 8th from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM at Omni Commons, which is located at 4799 Shaddock Avenue in Oakland. You can follow EBABZ online on Instagram at E-B-A-B-Z-I-N-E fest, or visit them at their website, EBABZfest.com. Thanks. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On the newest On The Rox, Patrick Saunders and Nick Groke get to the point quick: Can the Rockies survive June? It’s their most dreaded month. And who is the Rockies best pitcher? And which Rox will go to the All-Star Game? And Nick talks to C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer about what it means to be in a baseball rebuild. Did the Reds choose more wisely than the Rockies?

Month Upon a Time, Episode #1 (June): It's opening night of my new podcast series/song-cycle, Month Upon a Time! And I'm thrilled to have the super-talented Kate Wetherhead on the bill to sing the first song, "Drink My Way!"Kate first caught my eye in TheatreworksUSA's wonderful production of Sarah Plain and Tall, and she has continued to impress with performances in Broadway's The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Legally Blonde, the Off-Broadway production of Adam Gwon's great musical, Ordinary Days, and most recently as Sally Bowles in the Dallas Theater Center production of Cabaret.Meanwhile, as if that weren't enough, she and fellow super-talent Andrew Keenan-Bolger created, wrote, directed, and produced an original web series,Submissions Only, which is a knock-out! Six beautifully executed, fun, funny episodes which I highly recommend! Can't wait for Season Two!!And if you want even more Kate, you can check out some of hermany terrific youtube performances....Special thanks to the outrageously talented actor, Steve Rosen, whose idea inspired this month's song.And one last big thank you to my old college buddy, set designer Bradley Kaye, for the adorable artwork for Month Upon a Time. (Don't you just love the little Twitter bird perched on March?)If you're interested in singing "Drink My Way," the sheet music is now available from my online music store.This episode was recorded on June 9, 2011.