Podcasts about magic land

This show has been flagged as Clean by the host. https://github.com/rhasspy/piper A fast, local neural text to speech system that sounds great and is optimized for the Raspberry Pi 4 https://www.rockbox.org/ Rockbox is a free replacement firmware for digital music players. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Volkov_(writer) Alexander Melentyevich Volkov (Russian: Александр Мелентьевич Волков (14 June 1891 – 3 July 1977) was a Soviet novelist, playwright, university lecturer. He was an author of novels, short stories, plays and poems for children, mostly remembered for the Magic Land series of books, based on L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaus_Fr%C3%BChauf Klaus Frühauf (* 12 October 1933 in Halle (Saale) ; † 11 November 2005 in Rostock ) was a German author and one of the most important science fiction authors in the GDR. Provide feedback on this episode.

Alabaster Zero and Cramma Olm are stuck inside a tiny bubble, along with Cthunkle, who isn't much help… Lessons include: It's never too late to start practicing kindness; we can't change the past, but our choices shape the future! Subscribe to What If World wherever you listen: link.chtbl.com/whatifworld. Grownups, help your kids share their questions & ideas at whatifworldpodcast@gmail.com, via voicemail at 205-605-WHAT (9428), or on Instagram @whatifworldpodcast Want more kids podcasts for the whole family? Grown-ups, subscribe to Starglow+ here. Learn more about Starglow Media here. Follow Starglow on Instagram and YouTube Eric and Karen O'Keeffe make What If World. Our character art is by Ana Stretcu, and our episode art is by Lynn Hickernell. A big thanks to our producer Miss Lynn. Our podcast art is by Jason O'Keefe, and our theme song is by Craig Martinson.

334. Magic Land Part 1: What if a mini ghost town was on top of a coffee shop? The villains Wardrobe and Cramma Olm have taken over the world, but they don't know what to do next. Lessons include: Our choices affect the world daily; power doesn't bring happiness. Subscribe to What If World wherever you listen: link.chtbl.com/whatifworld. Grownups, help your kids share their questions & ideas at whatifworldpodcast@gmail.com, via voicemail at 205-605-WHAT (9428), or on Instagram @whatifworldpodcast Want more kids podcasts for the whole family? Grown-ups, subscribe to Starglow+ here. Learn more about Starglow Media here. Follow Starglow on Instagram and YouTube Eric and Karen O'Keeffe make What If World. Our character art is by Ana Stretcu, and our episode art is by Lynn Hickernell. A big thanks to our producer Miss Lynn. Our podcast art is by Jason O'Keefe, and our theme song is by Craig Martinson.

Somewhere between passive and aggressive lies the Magic Land of ASSERTIVENESS, where ALL is are HAPPILY CONTENT, and EVERYONE gets along. To the end of solving problems and forming working relations, there's really NO MAGIC, just ASSERTIVENESS.Contact Us; DrMDClay@TheWORDHouse.com; TheWORDHouse.com; on FB and YouTube @WORDHouse; or call 304.523.WORD (9673).

On this episode of Remy's Roundtable, the crew dives into the latest theme park updates, spotlighting new attractions coming to Florida's Disney parks. Discover how many ships the Disney Cruise Line currently has and whether they'll be sailing strong into 2034. Nicole takes the spotlight with her segment Nicole's Music Notes and her Noteworthy Nonsense, featuring a magical look at Donald Duck in Math Magic Land. Mark McKay wraps up the show with his signature recap, Deez Notes. Tune in for an exciting episode of Remy's Roundtable, the Florida theme park podcast, available on all podcasting platforms!

Written by AlexCome and follow more adventures on our animated TV show on Youtube!

The owner of The Magic Land, at 600 Junction Avenue, says she's relieved that the indoor playground is finally open. James Stewart has been elected as the new president of Unifor Local 444. Canadian Blood Services has apologized to L-G-B-T-Q-+ groups for a past policy that banned gay and bisexual men from donating blood.

Egypt received an additional USD5 billion as the final part of the first tranche of the USD35 billion Ras El-Hekma deal with the United Arab Emirates on Friday, the Egyptian Cabinet said.Egypt repaid USD-denominated Eurobonds worth USD750 million, which it offered on February 26, 2019, with a coupon of 6.2%.The government received USD520 mn as part of the USD800 mn sale of the seven historic hotels.Fitch Ratings thinks that the agreement will “significantly improve” Egypt's external financing position and its FX liquidity, paving the way for an adjustment of its exchange rate with a limited magnitude.US Treasury Secretary said that Egypt is inching closer to finalizing an agreement with the International Monetary Fund.The Suez Canal has lost over USD700 mn in revenue since the start of the war on Gaza compared to the same period a year earlier, according to estimates from Bloomberg Intelligence.The cabinet approved EUR135 mn in soft financing from the EIB and a EUR30 mn grant from the EU, according to a cabinet statement.Saudi Arabia's Al Hokair Group has requested its usufruct contract of the Egyptian Media Production City (EMPC)'s Magic Land to be extended to 2078 from 2058.GBCO (FV: EGP12.86, OW) released 4Q23 results. GB Corp is currently trading at a FY24 P/E of 3.5x and an EV/EBITDA of 3.1x.EFIH (FV: EGP23.50, OW) reported 4Q23 results. BoD proposed distributing EGP0.19 per share (DPO: 28%, DY: 1%). EFIH is currently trading at 2024f P/E of 25.1x and EV/EBITDA of 18.2x.Basata Holding for Financial Payments and Jordan Kuwait Bank announced the acceptance of their binding offer to acquire a 30% stake in Madfoatkom for Electronic Payment.We raised our FV for HDBK from EGP65.00/share to EGP75.00/share and maintain our Overweight recommendation. HDBK is currently trading at 2024 P/E of 4.7x and P/B of 1.4x.CANA released 4Q23 results. We reiterate our Overweight recommendation on CANA on an updated FV of EGP25.00/share. CANA is currently trading at P/E24 of 3.6x and P/B24 of 0.7x on ROAE of 24%.CBE issued controls that banks must adhere to when financing financial leasing companies. The controls will come into force as of date of issuance on February 29th. The Kuwait Finance House (KFH) has submitted a non-binding offer to get the required data on central bank-owned lender United Bank for assessment. The group still has not submitted a final offer.OFH shareholdershave 30 trading sessions starting today to respond to B Investments' bid to acquire up to 90% of the company via a share swap.HELI (FV: EGP18.84, OW) received an offer from Mountain View to co-develop 517 feddans in New Heliopolis. ARCC posted a solid set of consolidated results for 4Q23 and FY23. ARCC is currently trading at FY24e P/E of 10.9x and EV/EBITDA of 5.0x.SCEM has appointed Tamer Ragheb as chairman following the resignation of Mohamed El Kady. The decision is pending general assembly approval. EFIC released 4Q23 audited standalone results.  EFIC'S BoD is proposing a cash dividend of EGP7/ share, implying a dividend yield of 9%. EFIC is currently trading at 2024e PE of 6.7x and EV/EBITDA of 5.5x.ABUK announced that it will start the maintenance of ABUK 1 factory on 28 April 2024, where the factory will stop production for one month. PHAR released solid 4Q23 full financials. PHAR is currently trading at 2024f P/E of 8.0x and EV/EBITDA of 5.4x.According to local media, OLFI announced it will be reducing its white cheese prices by EGP15-30/carton.

خبر لجميع مستخدمي الأندرويد! فيلم ديون التاني. شوكولاتة مورو. سندوتشات مؤمن. أكتر سيجمنت فاروق بيكرهه رجع تاني. مستذئب. ثعلب حرامي في انجلترا. ستات معاها ساطور. أغاني بايظة. أغنية ملاهي ماجيك لاند. كاركتر جديدة مزهق أمه. Announcement for Android users! Swimming styles. Dune 2 movie. Moro chocolate. Mo'men sandwiches. Bringing back Absurdy Birdy Mark Zuckerburgy segment: Fridge maintenance with Santa and an undercover teacher at school. Werewolf. Fox thief. Extra syllable songs. Magic Land theme song. Ant conversations. New character: Hey ma! Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@koala.sandwich --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/koalasandwich/message

• Sometimes I Think I Have 2 Heads • More From Fart Man                        • Are You An Alien?   • Mojos Thrown To Listeners   • You Can Manipulate Energy   • Radio Callers: Cindie Is Obsessed With A Man Who Never Speaks To Her And Yas Gets An Energy Mojo For Best Job & You Can Grab That Energy, Too.   • Todays WINNER for a Free Reading With Venus, chosen weekly off ML • Private & On Air Reading Comments & Testimonials • Instagram: venus_andrecht  Callers always get free On Air readings every live Dear Venus show Wednesdays at 2 pm PAC/5 pm EST. Call the show at (760) 456-7277. Visit godisalwayshappy.com for Radio & Private Reading information. 

Welcome to a new episode of SFP-NOW. For this monstrous edition of the show. We bring news of a new Kickstarter campaign for a new anthology book called Monstrosity: Monsters, Myths, and Miscreants. In order to help get this campaign up and running. We speak to the series creator and sometimes contributor to scifipulse.net Marx Pyle about the book and also learn about some of the stories contained within its monstrous pages. In this first set of writer chats, we speak with Scott A. Johnson about his story El Cucuy, which is about a Mexican boogie-man that uses shadows like hallways and eats naughty children. Then we chat to Michael La Ronn about The Brazen Skull, which focuses on a necromancer living in the ghetto is hired by a warlock to seek the brazen skull, a magical artifact imbued with the spirit of a dead warlock... Then we hunt down and catch up with Marx Pyle about his story Rebel With A Cause, which tells the tale of a Shapeshifter who is hired to gun down a Fae gang... After which we interrogate Jeff Burns about The Adventures of Elena and Ned, Gargoyle P.I. The clue to the story is in the title as it focuses on a Gargoyle private detective. And rounding off this first round of interviews. We chat with J.C. Mastro about MagicLand Mischief which looks at what happens after hours in the world-famous Magic Land amusement park... You can learn more about Monstrosity: Monsters, Myths, and Miscreants here at their Kickstarter.

One day Sarah discovers an Imp in her back yard. The Imp is friendly but needs Sarah's help! The Evil Queen has taken away everyone's magic in Magic Land! Can Sarah help the Imp to stop the Evil Queen?To receive your Green Chef discount go to GreenChef.com/shortstories130 and use code shortstories130 to get $130 off, plus free shippingFor listeners of the show, Little Passports is offering new customers 20% off when you go to littlepassports.com/shortstoriesPurchase our book complete with 38 of our stories and packed with illustrations! https://www.amazon.com/Short-Stories-Kids-Brilliant-Popular/dp/1838443258/ref=sr_1_2?crid=EJ9HUPDA90P1&keywords=short+stories+for+kids+podcast&qid=1652132030&sprefix=short+stories+for+kids+podcast%2Caps%2C165&sr=8-2Join up to our Premium channel and be a Super Fan of Short Stories for Kids! Here you will receive a Friday Bonus Episode every week! Plus our entire back catalogue of stories ad free!Also Premium Only Shout Outs just for you guys! Just email us telling us your a Premium member and you would like a shout out to shortstoriesforkidspodcast@gmail.comAs a Premium member you also stand a better chance of having your story idea turned in to a story and read out on the show!Premium Member Perks

Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. Your host is  Kelly Molson, MD of Rubber Cheese.Download our free ebook The Ultimate Guide to Doubling Your Visitor NumbersIf you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website rubbercheese.com/podcast.If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned in this episode.Competition ends October 1st, 2022. The winner will be contacted via Twitter. Show references: https://www.iaapa.org/https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakob-wahl/ Jakob Wahl is the Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer at IAAPA, the global association for the attractions industry.Wahl has ten years of experience working for IAAPA. He first came to IAAPA as program manager where he served the association for five years in the association's office in Brussels. He then went on to work at Europa- Park in Rust, Germany as director of communications before returning to IAAPA in 2017 as Vice President and Executive Director of IAAPA Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). He was promoted in November 2021 to Executive Vice President and COO.Wahl holds the German and French master's degree in economics from the IUP of Aix-en-Provence. Transcriptions: Kelly Molson: Welcome to Skip the Queue, a podcast for people working in or working with visitor attractions. I'm your host, Kelly Molson.In today's episode, I speak with Jakob Wahl, Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer of IAAPA, International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions. We discuss just why the attractions industry is so exciting, the ongoing labour shortages, sustainability and where the attractions industry is headed in terms of technology. If you like what you hear, subscribe on all the usual channels by searching to Skip the Queue.Kelly Molson: Jakob, thank you so, so much for joining me today. You're a very, very busy man, so I'm very grateful that you could come on and spare some time.Jakob Wahl: It's a pleasure to be with you today, Kelly, so thanks for the invite. I'm honoured.Kelly Molson: The honour is all mine, trust me. But you might not be so honoured once we finish with our icebreaker questions, although I feel like I've been quite kind again, today.Jakob Wahl: Okay.Kelly Molson: All right. I want to know what is the best theme park ride that you have ever been on?Jakob Wahl: Wow. That's difficult... I think it's as difficult as, say, a favourite car; because there's a specific mood for everything. And if I... It also depends on the company. If I go with my buddies, probably I would have said Boulder Dash at Lake Compounce, which is an intense wooden coaster. If I go with my kids, I'd take any kind of Disney ride, or whatever. And if I go with my wife, it's probably no ride at all, but it's a great restaurant in a park. So, it's actually very, very hard to judge.Jakob Wahl: But I have to say, and obviously, the big things in the industry always blew me away; and that was Indiana Jones at Disneyland, Anaheim. It was Spiderman at Islands of Adventure. It was the first Harry Potter rides. It was really kind of those, where I would consider revolutionary developments in the dark ride industry, where you just walk out and say, "Wow. What was that?" And Star Wars was the most recent one.Kelly Molson: Oh, that was a great answer. I think that was a brilliant answer. I love that you gave different answers for the different people that you were with, as well. I think that was-Jakob Wahl: Yeah, but it is.Kelly Molson: Right.Jakob Wahl: I think it's the same thing about favourite parks. I have... I love the atmosphere in a Scandinavian park at night, when it comes alive with the lights, with concerts. But if I would go just for rides, it would be probably the Universal Parks. If I go with my family, it's something else. It really depends on the mood of the day.Kelly Molson: Brilliant. Perfect answer, could not have been better. Right. If you had to listen to one album on repeat, continuously, what would that album be?Jakob Wahl: Wow. It would be a classic album, I think; because as much as I love all kinds of music, if I would need to listen to something continuously, I need something which doesn't stress me and which kind of relax me. I don't know the English term. It's a track called Moonshine Sonata. It's a sonnet of the moonlight, or Tchaikovsky, which I like a lot as well.Kelly Molson: Well, that sounds lovely. I actually do this in the car; so I've started to listen to Classic FM, which is a radio station in the UK, because it's really calming.Jakob Wahl: Yes.Kelly Molson: And if you're just... It's just really relaxing and really calm; and it just puts you in a really kind of Zen mood.Jakob Wahl: Yeah.Kelly Molson: I'm sure that's all right for driving, to be Zen. Sure, that's fine.Jakob Wahl: Especially in a traffic jam, if you have aggressive drivers around you, that is actually...Kelly Molson: Exactly. Just wind the window down, take in my Classic FM. Okay. What would be your favourite tradition? Something that you do every year, or something that you do every month?Jakob Wahl: It's probably a ski weekend with my best friends. I'm moving to Orlando, so that's actually the hard part; because I love skiing, and I probably spend most of my money on skiing because this means... I think it comes back to what you say in music. There's nothing else where I can more relax and unwind, because you're just in the nature, you're doing sports... Well, it's not really challenging as a sport, but it's just wonderful to be out there. And I think that's something I really, really love; to go with my best friend, just for a weekend, and whiskey and ski.Kelly Molson: That sounds pretty cool, doesn't it? That's going to be a big change for you then, moving-Jakob Wahl: Oh, yes.Kelly Molson: ... to Orlando.Jakob Wahl: Yes. I live right now in the Black Forest, and we have the four seasons here. In Orlando, I think it's the four seasons of humidity. But there are other great things about Orlando. So, I will definitely miss the snow, but there will be plenty of other things I'm very excited about.Kelly Molson: Absolutely. Well, yes. For an Attraction Specialist, could there be a better place to be than Orlando? Maybe not. Right. Jakob, what's your unpopular opinion?Jakob Wahl: I don't like special days in theme parks. And this comes from a longer history. We have seen, in theme parks, days for special needs, or days, or so-called gay days. And I think I would like us to be so inclusive that we don't need special days to accommodate those people. It should be a normal thing. It should be just... I don't also like when you go to toilets, and there's a special sign for disabled people. It should be that they are always accessible. And I think it should be a regular part of our business that you don't need to market designated days for designated groups; because we should be so inclusive that it's every day.Kelly Molson: That's a really good opinion. And I'm pretty sure that a lot of people would agree with you on that one, as well. So maybe it's not going to be quite as unpopular as you think.Jakob Wahl: Then I have another unpopular opinion, for sure.Kelly Molson: Oh, well, throw that at us. If you're going to get... Let's have another one.Jakob Wahl: I'm tired of the word immersive. I don't think every attraction needs to be immersive. I think it's totally fine that you have a great thrill ride, that you have a great rollercoaster. It doesn't always need to have a storyline or own soundtrack or a big theme. It's also fine sometimes, to just have a great ride in itself, and to let it stand for itself without any IP, without a branding, without a soundtrack, without all of that stuff.Kelly Molson: Hmm. All right. Well, listeners, I would love to know your thoughts on these. Tweet me, let me know what you think. Thank you for sharing, Jakob. Can you tell us a little bit about your background and where you are now?Jakob Wahl: I'm sitting right now in Germany, where I'm originally from. I work for IAAPA, which I have done now for four and a half years; it's my second time with IAAPA. Beforehand, I worked for Europa-Park. So this is why I still kind of live in that area, because I was lucky enough to meet my wonderful wife here in this region. So I stayed here even, when moving away from Europa-Park.Jakob Wahl: But I have been, what you would consider in this industry, aficionado. You can call me nerd, enthusiastic, whatever you want. But I think, as many people, I started in the industry as a teenager. My first job was when I was 16. I checked tickets Phantasialand at the entrance, the Mexican side entrance to Phantasialand. And I fell in love with this industry. And I never left, for the disbelief of my parents, who still hope one day I have a serious job. But I think I even got them so far that they understand what this is about, and what it means for me, and that we are huge industry.Jakob Wahl: But since then, I think I love this industry, and I'm sometimes like the child in the candy store, because I think we have the privilege of... Actually, our only purpose is bringing joy to the people. And there are not many industries is out there which can say that for themselves. And in that way, you see lots of discussion about human resources, about bringing young talent to the industry.Jakob Wahl: And I think we need to highlight that more; because you see that it's those companies which have a purpose, which have a mission, which are very popular among young people. Patagonia, Oakley, Veja, other sneaker brands. It's those which say that they're doing good for the people. And ultimately, yes, we are. As an industry, as our members, we are commercially driven, but hey, we bring fun to the people. And I think that is unfortunately, today, more needed than ever before.Kelly Molson: Ah, I could not agree with you more. Bringing fun to the people; there could not be a better definition of what the sector is all about. I absolutely love that. What's really interesting is, most people that come on here that are attractions aficionados, as you called yourself, they do start very young in the sector. So it is an industry that... It really, it does retain people. Right? People fall in love with it at a really early age, which is really lovely to see. And I want to ask you a little bit about this later on in the podcast, actually, something that you talked about, in terms of recruitment and getting more younger people into the industry.Jakob Wahl: We always said two things; we said, "Once you work for the industry, you will never work for anything else, for two reasons. Because you don't want to work for anything else." And actually, the second one is, "No one will take you seriously once you have worked with us."Kelly Molson: That's it. You're done in, so you have to stay.Jakob Wahl: Yes, you have to.Kelly Molson: I love that. Okay. Well, let... You are now at IAAPA.Jakob Wahl: Yes.Kelly Molson: And you've just taken on an incredibly senior role there. Can you tell us a little bit about that, and then what that role involves?Jakob Wahl: Yes. My first time at IAAPA was from 2009 to 2014, and I worked with Karen Staley, who was back then the Vice President. Today, she's with Sally Dark Rides. And I fell in love with this association, because I think, again, we fulfill a role in trying to promote the industry and in bringing people together; and I think that's a wonderful thing.Jakob Wahl: I left then for Europa-Park, where I had four amazing years with the Mack family, with Michael Mack, where I learned a lot. And then, this job opened up at IAAPA EMEA, and as the Vice President. And I always had two hearts in my chest. I was very passionate about the association, and then I took that chance, and I have had four and a half fantastic years with IAAPA EMEA.Jakob Wahl: And then, I was lucky enough to have a great CEO with Hal McEvoy. And we discussed, and then one moment, he changed the strategy in saying that he wanted to be also more in presenting IAAPA on a picture, and asked me to take over the role as COO. And this is a great opportunity, and I'm very happy about what we have achieved in the EMEA region. And I look forward to work with the regional leaders, which we have with June Ko in the APEC region, with Michael Shelton in North America, and with Paulina Reyes in Latin America. And my successor now, Peter van der Schans, to try to bring that industry further, and to deliver more membership services and be of help for our members.Kelly Molson: So, what is your role there now? And what is your kind of purpose at IAAPA? What do you drive?Jakob Wahl: So, I lead the operations of IAAPA across the world. And so that means I'm in charge for the four regional offices, for the global sales, for our three expos. We have IAAPA Expo Asia, which unfortunately, we had to cancel due to the COVID situation in Hong Kong, or in the region and in Shanghai, where the expo was supposed to take place. And the one in Europe, which takes place this year in London, Kelly, I hope to see you there.Kelly Molson: Yes, I will be there.Jakob Wahl: And then, obviously, our big ship, the one in Orlando, which always takes place in November. So, I'm ultimately in charge for those big trade shows for the regions, but also for the many regional events across the world, where we try to bring together people, to learn from each other, to inspire each other, to connect with each other.Jakob Wahl: And we have the next upcoming event in Orlando now, where we are going to see the new Ice Breaker coaster at SeaWorld. We are going to have in mayor region, an event in May, in Italy, where we are going to see Cinecitta World, Magic Land, and Zoomarine, where we'll really try to look into things: what's hot? What should be seen? What can we tell, in terms of educating our members about best practices? That really, everyone comes and sees something and walks away back home to say, "Hey, I can apply that in my business to become better." And I think that's what drives us in trying to come up with those events.Kelly Molson: It's been an incredibly difficult time for the attractions industry-Jakob Wahl: Yes.Kelly Molson: ... full-stop. But for you personally, that must have been very difficult. Because I guess that you are used to traveling a lot all over for the world, to all of these incredible places and attractions that you described. That must have been really tough for you.Jakob Wahl: Well, I think... First, I have a very passionate team; and I think the whole IAAPA team is very passionate. And we felt for our members. We struggled because we had to cancel shows as well. It was sad, because we put a lot of work into things which had to be canceled. But I think we suffered mainly seeing our members struggling with changing rules, with being forced to close down, with all of those things.Jakob Wahl: And I tried to look at the good sides of things. And I think during those past 24 months, our industry grew together. And I think when the pandemic first hit, it was in very short notice that we got together the key leading experts, health and safety experts from all the big parks across the world, who developed a paper on safe re-opening for theme parks.Jakob Wahl: And seeing that, how we worked together as, or unity, how we work with national associations; how we tried to support each other, how we sent letters, how we talked to governments; I think that was actually where the association came alive. And yes, it was hard for us to not being able to bring people face-to-face together, but it was, I think, good because we saw stronger than ever before, the value of an association. And it was... We got many feedback from members across the world saying, "Listen. I went to my government with this paper, and they saw that we are safe. And they saw it, and they let me open again." And that was very fulfilling, obviously, for the members, but also for us; because we saw that what we did was of purpose.Kelly Molson: That's incredibly powerful, isn't it?Jakob Wahl: Yeah.Kelly Molson: That document had such a huge effect on attractions all over the world.Jakob Wahl: But that is again, a privilege of this industry, I think. In a way, yes, parks or members or facility members or our supplier members are in a certain way competing. They're competing about the same money, about the same time. But I think if we have certain discussion items of whatever nature, and I call the different members, they all group around the table, they all share their learnings, their best practices. And they walk away, and everyone is kind of doing their thing again.Jakob Wahl: But I'm not sure if this is the same thing in many other businesses: in the car industry, in the computer industry, in the mobile industry. I don't think people are that open with each other. And I think this is where it's special to work for this association; because you feel that. One member thinks, "Listen. If a client, if a guest, has a good time in a different park, it's helpful for me as well. But if they have a bad experience somewhere, they are probably less likely to visit other amusement parks." And I think this is what makes our industry special, because I think we have understood that.Kelly Molson: That's really interesting. And that is something, again, that's come up time and time again, when we've spoken to people in the sector. It's just, one, is how collaborative it is and supportive of each other. But two... Do you think that that... Do you think it's more so since the pandemic? It was prior to, but do you think that that's accelerated because of the pandemic situation?Jakob Wahl: It was always there. I think it was always there. And I think we always have had those dedicated members which have contributed massively through committees, through white papers for all members on best practices, on right commissioning for example, or on right of a creation; those really kind of guidelines where we get safety experts together, creating a document for those parks which might not have the same resources, and trying to level that up.Jakob Wahl: I think what we have seen through the pandemic is that we got those members who might have been inactive before, to get them closer; to get them closer to the association, closer to other members. And I think that has been a benefit. I think we have never talked to so many members throughout the pandemic; and sometimes listening, and sometimes giving advice, and sometimes we only let them vent. But it was good to realise that none of us was alone in that time. And we did some live chats where we had 50 or 60 water park operators; and everyone shared their story. And maybe there were some learnings, maybe there were... But I think it was more important for them to actually see, "Hey, I'm not alone in this. And others go through this as well." And to create that community feeling while we could not have those face-to face-experiences at the events.Kelly Molson: Yeah. Wonderful. It is phenomenal that you've been able to facilitate that level of support for your members. Let's talk about what's coming next, though; because I guess one of the positives from going through that process, is that you did get to speak to so many members. Like you said, some of them had... There was things that you could share to support them; some people just wanted to rant. But I guess all of that knowledge helps you understand what more you can do for your members, and then develop new kind of support programs for them for the future. So what have you got in development? What can you share with us about what's coming next for IAAPA?Jakob Wahl: I think the pandemic has probably been an accelerator to things in the same way it has been to members as it has for us. And we see that with operators across the world, that those past two years have been a huge accelerator for everything digital. And I think that is something which we see for ourselves as well. If I remember trade shows three years ago, we always have the sign at the exit, "See you next year." And I think this is 2019. Today it is, "See you tomorrow on a digital space." Because you need to create those connections all year round; because people have learned to live digitally, and don't want to wait to be face-to-face to be able to do that. And I think that is something where we, for ourselves, and also with our board of directors, have decided, "Listen. We want to invest more into digital options." We already have great, great digital learning availabilities and those offerings. But I think it's really kind of the networking, the connecting part, where we want to become stronger in the years to come.Kelly Molson: Absolutely. Because with digital, we can facilitate conversations like this.Jakob Wahl: Yeah.Kelly Molson: We're in different parts of the world, and we're just having a lovely chat on our podcast. But you can bring together people from all over the place in one central location. It's so incredibly powerful to be able to do that. And it seems crazy that we've only been doing that for the last couple of years because of the pandemic. Right? It wasn't mainstream prior to that.Jakob Wahl: No. No.Kelly Molson: It is crazy. Well, that's brilliant. So we're going to be seeing more digital engagement for IAAPA, bringing people together more frequently; which is absolutely what people, I'm sure, want.Jakob Wahl: And I also think what we are going to see, and what we are already doing, is to try to be more regional. I think we have seen that with the trade shows last year, those in Barcelona and Orlando, that they were good trade shows. They were smaller than they used to be. And they were more regional, because of travel restrictions and because of everything. And I think we have seen that there's a need for the regional presence. And those success stories of the regional offices of IAAPA come from that; because we have people on the ground, they speak the language, they understand the market, they know of the players. And this is where we want to offer more small opportunities of bringing people together face-to-face. Obviously, digital, we do that; but also face-to-face. Because as great as this all is in connecting, it's still a difference also, I think for the two of us, Kelly; if we sit down in front of the screen, how much nicer it would be if we sit somewhere next to each other and talk about-Kelly Molson: Absolutely. Absolutely.Jakob Wahl: And this will never replace it. I think it complements each other. And this is where we try to be closer to actually our members, to go towards them; to see what they're doing, and to highlight what they're doing, what innovations there are. There's so many wonderful innovations, facilities, stories to tell out there. And ideally, I would like to do something every week. We don't have the resources for that, but we want to be closer to our members.Kelly Molson: Brilliant. It's interesting you said about that, the kind of face-to-face and in-person; because nothing will ever replace that whatsoever. But I had this-Jakob Wahl: Especially in our industry, I think; because we are a very social industry.Kelly Molson: Absolutely. And you've got fantastic venues and spaces to do that in as well; so why not?Jakob Wahl: Yeah.Kelly Molson: But I had this conversation with somebody last week, about how it's just kind of cut down a lot of the longevity and travel that was associated with kind of little mini, micro meetings. You want to meet someone for a coffee, and kind of see if you get to know them first. Right? This is a great way of doing that without spending two hours on a train to get wherever they are.Jakob Wahl: So true.Kelly Molson: So, I see this is the first date. The second date is the coffee in real life.Jakob Wahl: Yes. Exactly.Kelly Molson: I want to go back to something that you talked about right in the beginning.Jakob Wahl: Yes.Kelly Molson: You said about you worked in the sector from a young age, and that they're good at retaining people because they fall in love with the sector.Jakob Wahl: Yeah.Kelly Molson: So, in the UK, there's a huge labor shortage in the UK currently. And it is a huge challenge to the sector, especially in the kind of hospitality roles that attractions have.Jakob Wahl: Yeah.Kelly Molson: Is this something that's widespread across Europe and the US?Jakob Wahl: Yes.Kelly Molson: So you're still, you're having those problems as well?Jakob Wahl: Unfortunately, yes.Kelly Molson: What do you see as a solution to that? I don't know if you have seen any kind of interesting examples of attractions that are doing things really well to hire new staff and retain the ones that they have?Jakob Wahl: I think what you said, unfortunately, it's a global problem. And I don't know where everyone went, but for sure, we all lack, and we all lack of workforce. And I think that's a huge problem. And the pandemic has not helped that, because, I think we have seen many people who received furlough money. And they were all okay, but people want to work. And if you have that chef who sits at home and can't work, he might not come back to a theme park, because we were so affected by that. And I think this is something first, where we need to create the circumstances that we can operate and that we can actually employ our people, that we stay open.Jakob Wahl: What I see as several trends; I think one of the things is that many parks try to extend their season, to walk away more from seasonal workforce to all year round; so that creates a better, attractive place. I think then, what we have also seen, is that... How to say, sometimes our jobs lacked a little bit of content, in the external view. I think people have had not the highest regards of our industry. And I think this is where we need to kind of diversify our offering a little bit more, and actually tell people what a great job they can have with our industry. And I'm very impressed by initiatives which you see popping up all across members, to highlight what a great place this is to be.Jakob Wahl: I'll give you two examples; Europa-Park in Germany, and Amelia Mack, one of the family members of the Mack family, she introduced a health program for her staff, so that they have very good health benefits. They all have those values which are of relevance for young people today, where they care about. I think it's less about the money, but it is about, "What can a company offer to me in the overall package?" We will not win the race for money. You can, I think, probably increase the salary; but I don't think that the young generation is about money. It's about what we discussed before; purpose, it's about what does the company deliver?Jakob Wahl: And then, we have a third example, or a second example, from the US. Herschend Entertainment Cooperation, with beautiful parks like Silver Dollar City, Dollywood. They actually introduced free education for all their 11,000 employees; completely free.Kelly Molson: Wow.Jakob Wahl: And this is where you see, they kind of try to work on the benefits; not only on the money side, but really try to make people, young people, understand, "Hey. This is a great place to work. We educate you. We promote you. We give you options." And it is the same way why I'm sitting here. I started at 16, and I checked tickets; and now, I'm sitting here where I am today. And there are hundreds of those stories. And I think that is something where we need to highlight that, "Hey. You might start only putting down seat belts, or checking, or selling burgers, but there's a great career path ahead of you."Jakob Wahl: And we, as IAAPA, sorry for taking that so long, but you feel it's close to our hearts. We, as IAAPA, try to work closely with universities across the world, which specialise in Attraction Management program. We, just like three days ago, we had the first intern in our office from BUas, in Breda, which is a university specialised in attractions classes. And it's those people kind of, when they come in huge groups to the trade show, they usually come with 40 students; you see the passion for that industry. And this is just one example of many, where we are very grateful for working with those universities, to try to highlight how attractive we are actually as an industry.Kelly Molson: Absolutely brilliant examples, then. That'll be really, really useful to our listeners, I'm sure. And it goes back to what we were saying. It is about value driven, purpose driven.Jakob Wahl: Yeah.Kelly Molson: Explaining what it is, that is the benefit of working there. Not just, "This is how much it is, and this is the role that you'll do." "This is where you can go. This is where you can progress." And really showcasing the kind of culture of the attraction as well.Kelly Molson: And now, I know sustainability is something that you like to talk about quite a lot; I've seen some of your posts on LinkedIn. So it is a real big, hot topic now, as it should be. How can attractions start to put sustainability at the heart of what they're doing? And have you seen any great examples of that that you could share with us as well?Jakob Wahl: Yes. I'm actually the staff liaison for the Sustainability Committee. IAAPA, two years ago probably, introduced a Sustainability Committee under the leadership of Andreas Andersen, the CEO from Liseberg. And to be very frank with you, we probably have not been on the forefront of that subject as an industry. And I think we have to pick up a little bit, but I see a huge interest in that. And I see when we started the Sustainability Committee in the past years, we noticed all the big power groups of this world are enthusiastic about collaborating with us. They all want to say, "Listen, we want to do more. What can we do more? We need to step up the game here." And it's very nice to see the growing importance of that.Jakob Wahl: I'm not a firm believer, or it's a thin line between educating people, and still let them have fun. I think you... It's always difficult, because you don't want to spoil the day by kind of delivering all those horror messages. And we just had an event in... Yeah, in end of February at the World Expo in Dubai. And we had a great session with the head of the Sustainability Pavilion, which did a fantastic job about telling a story, telling about what needs to be better, but not kind of being Debbie Downer, and depressing the guests.Jakob Wahl: But I think what we need to understand, is that sustainability is more than just the ecological aspect. And we refer to the 17 goals of the United Nations, in which I think are at the core of sustainability. And there are some beautiful examples in this industry; and it starts with small attractions. One of our board members, Massimiliano Freddi, he has a small attraction called Wonderwood in Italy, which is not the biggest facility, but they only kind of produce food from the local farmers, and they only serve that. And they're very inclusive to everyone; and they really stand up for their values, which is beautiful. Another wonderful example is Miniature Wonderland; that... Craziest place. I'm not sure. Have you heard of that, Kelly?Kelly Molson: No. No. It sounds up my street, though; I'm 5'2". I feel like I would fit in well there.Jakob Wahl: It's absolutely... No, it's absolutely crazy. It's a place in Hamburg, which started as a miniature railway. And it's so in love with details, I think they make more than a million guests every year. It's three brothers, and I think no business plan, no feasibility study would have ever expected this to be successful. But it was their passion and their heart which made them come this way.Jakob Wahl: So what they did, is that they introduced, I think two weeks in spring, weeks where they let in everyone for free, who comes to the entrance gate and says, "I can't afford it." And if you don't feel comfortable in saying that, you can put a paper, and they let you in for free. And interesting enough, I think it's a wonderful gesture in a very social, ethical way, of allowing people to experience what they normally couldn't. But they actually also said, "Listen. This was commercially successful for us because it brought such an attention to our place, such an awareness, that it paid off." And I think this is a wonderful example. And if you have time for one more example.Kelly Molson: Please. Yeah, please.Jakob Wahl: Karl's Strawberry Farms, also Germany. It's a place which grew out of a strawberry farm. They had so many guests that they built a cafe, and then a restaurant, and then attractions. They built a hotel completely up-cycled; so all the material they used is recycled. And I think this is, all those things, examples for wonderful, sustainable policies without hitting you like, "You are a bad person. You must not do that. You must not do that." But kind of showcasing, "Hey. We do something with the right values, and we do it, and it's actually still a beautiful experience for everyone."Kelly Molson: It's about weaving it into the whole experience, isn't it, like it's a story? It's part of, it's at the heart of the attraction.Jakob Wahl: Yes.Kelly Molson: Rather than kind of something that you've stuck on as a plaster at the end of it. "Oh, by the way, this is our sustainability policy, and this is our recycling policy." And it's about kind of living and breathing it.Jakob Wahl: It needs to be lived. Yeah. It needs to be lived, it needs to be led I think also; and it doesn't help to say, "Listen. We do it because we have to. And everyone is doing..." It's a classic greenwashing example.Kelly Molson: Yeah.Jakob Wahl: But I see in our Sustainability Committee, we have wonderful members from all across the world. When you look at what Liseberg is doing, what Monterey Bay Aquarium is doing, what all those fantastic and wonderful places are doing to be more sustainable in what they do, to try to, through their business model, I think it's very impressive. And again, to quote my Chairman, Andreas Andersen, of that committee, he says, he thinks that, "Sustainability will be in five years as important as safety is today for our industry." And I wouldn't disagree with that. I think it will be a basic of our industry. If it's in five years, if it's in seven or in 10, we will see; but I think it will be a basic expectation of our guests.Kelly Molson: Absolutely. Yeah. I think you're absolutely right.Jakob Wahl: One more thing. It comes back to HR as well. That is also something young people look at. And if people today, if the generation that looks for employment, I think they also want to see, or many of them want to see that those values of sustainability are lived within the company.Kelly Molson: Yeah. You're absolutely right. And it's the change in demographic or age brackets of people that will start to visit those attractions. Right?Jakob Wahl: Yeah.Kelly Molson: Because that's what the younger generation are really interested in, sustainability, caring for the environment. And that's what they'll be looking at; places that they come to work for, or places that they come to visit and spend their hard-earned cash. Yep.Kelly Molson: I'd like to just go back to something that you said earlier about the shift in kind of digital advancements in the sector. So, we've seen the kind of contactless economy grow rapidly during the pandemic; the shift to digital ticketing and payments in the attractions industry has rapidly, rapidly accelerated. What do you think is next? And what do you... Because you didn't... Because you said that you need to be at the forefront of what's hot and what's coming next; so I'm testing you now. What do you think is next for the attractions industry, and where do you see these things going in the next kind of three to five years?Jakob Wahl: I think that there are two sides to the story. I think there's a back-end side and the front-end side. I think what we have seen is that people won't get rid of this little thing. It's everywhere; they can't let it go. They're all addicted, including myself. It's horrible.Kelly Molson: He's talking about... Jakob is talking about the phone, just for everyone who can't see it.Jakob Wahl: Oh, the phone, yes.Kelly Molson: Just in case you don't know what he's holding there.Jakob Wahl: Everyone knows. I we say we're all addicted to it, we all know about those smartphones dominating our day. And I think this is where we need to incorporate the smartphone, the mobile, into the experience of day. And that is kind of where I say, "This is the guest excitement." Because while 20 years ago, they only looked at the scenery all day long, now they look at the mobile half of the day. So the question is, "How do you bring the park experience on the mobile?"Jakob Wahl: And I think there are some great examples. There's this wonderful little Danish park called Summerland Sjaelland. And they have a great owner called Kare Dyvekaer. Probably I pronounce it wrongly, but he's a technology aficionado, the same way I'm about amusement parks. And he kind of plays with his app in a way that you can shoot water canons, you can feed the animals, all with your smartphone. And I think this is funny, because it's an enhancement of the experience through your phone; and I think that is something which we will see further.Kelly Molson: That's a really important point to make, is that it's about enhancement and not detraction.Jakob Wahl: Yeah.Kelly Molson: So we... Just to compliment that, we had Jakob Thompson on from Attractions.io a few weeks ago. And this was a question that we posed to him actually, is that, how do you... You want people to engage with the app, but you don't want to distract them from what's actually going on around there. So it has to be an enhancement; it has to be things that you... You use it. For example, he painted a really great picture of... He said, "Okay. Well, look. Imagine that you are in one of the play areas at the park, and your kids are going crazy. They're running all over the place. They're hungry. You are starting to get hungry. Everyone's a bit angry because they're hungry. You can just grab your phone now, place your order for your food, and then five minutes later, go and collect it. You haven't got to trudge around trying to find where it is, or wait in a massive queue.Jakob Wahl: Yeah.Kelly Molson: And it's those little things that make that experience better, and they solve a problem that you have instantly. But they're not detracting you from the experience at all.Jakob Wahl: Yeah. And I think that comes actually, to my other aspect. Because I think there's an experience aspect, in a way of experiencing the fun part. But I think technology is probably even more important today, in terms of the customer journey. I think we have an expectation today, and I always say, "It's the opposite of a car rental company at an airport." You go there, you have booked everything, you have put in all the data beforehand; and still, you need 10 minutes or 20 minutes to give them all the data again.Kelly Molson: Yeah.Jakob Wahl: And that is kind of the worst example of customer flow. And if you think about this as a worst example, you need to think about, "How can I use technology to make it as easy as possible for my guests to come, to book his ticket, to have the best day ever, and in the best way, actually, in the end to recommend it?"Jakob Wahl: And there, I think that there are those very innovative people. I am coming back to what I said before: skiing. I recently went to a ski resort in Switzerland, Laax. And they have an app, which is perfect; because if you don't want to go by a car to the lift station, you can order a shuttle. If you go by car, you can order a parking space. You can buy your lift pass. You can extend your lift pass. You can buy a virtual line. You can order a restaurant table for lunch. You can see, through all cameras, how many people are waiting at which lift, so you can plan your day.Kelly Molson: Nice.Jakob Wahl: You can actually, in the evening, you have kind of the same idea of Uber Eats. You can order your food all through that app. And this is just in one flow, where you really kind of just make it as easy as possible for the guests to enjoy and to have the best time ever.Jakob Wahl: Because I think what we have seen in the past years, that time is limited. And if people, especially now after the pandemic, if they want to get out, if they want to make an excursion, if they want to do a trip to an amusement park, to a ski resort, to whatsoever, they want this to be seamless, to be perfect from A to Zed.Jakob Wahl: And the masterminds in this industry, and I'm happy that they are an IAAPA member, is to Tomorrowland, the Music Festival in Belgium. They are so sophisticated in what they're doing. It always blows me away. Have you heard about it, how they work?Kelly Molson: No. Please share.Jakob Wahl: So, it's a festival which takes place this year on three weekends. I think each weekend is sold out within like 10 minutes, one of 80,000 persons each weekend. And when you book your ticket, when you get one, when you're lucky, you get after probably like eight weeks out; it might be more, but some weeks out, you get a box home with a wristband. On that wristband, everything is safe: your name, your access ticket, wherever you can go, because there's special categories. You can upload money on that wristband through a credit card online. So you don't need anything than this wristband. Two weeks prior to the event, it starts actually living. It breathes, it blings. There are little LEDs on it. And when you go there, this is your only thing which you need all the time. And this is where I think using technology to make things easier, but at the same time, enhancing the experience again; because it is themed, it looks beautiful. Really, Kelly, I will send you a link afterwards. You should have a look at it.Kelly Molson: Please do, yeah.Jakob Wahl: It's so thought through. You can pay. And it's a temporary festival; you can pay everything cashless on site, and everything is settled. And I think it's just fantastic. And we looked at several technologies of that, and you could even, if you want to, you could even use it in a way that if someone comes, I would recognise who that is. And we thought about it, at one moment, how great this would be for Halloween. When you walk into a horror house or into a maze, and I would know, through your wristband, "Oh, Kelly is coming." And I'm the scare actor, and I can say, "Hi, Kelly." I could see you. How great is that? And this is, I think, where digital technology has abounded so much. The only problem is, it advances so quickly that I have no idea, probably in four years, we will laugh about where we stand today.Kelly Molson: Yes. That's true, isn't it? It's an unfair question. We are developing so rapidly in that area, who knows what the next three or four years will hold?Jakob Wahl: Yeah.Kelly Molson: That's been fantastic. Thank you so much for your input today, Jakob. I've really enjoyed talking to you.Jakob Wahl: Same here.Kelly Molson: I always ask my guests for a book at the end of the show, that they would recommend to our listeners though. Now, it can be something that you love, personally, or it can be something that you've read that's maybe helped shape your career in some way. Have you got anything that you'd recommend for us?Jakob Wahl: I have a favourite book, but it has absolutely nothing to do with my career or whatsoever.Kelly Molson: That's fine. That's fine.Jakob Wahl: I really, really enjoyed reading Tender Bar. I don't even know who the author is, I'm afraid to say. But it's a wonderful story about the love of a young boy to a bar. And he grows up with that bar, and it's a beautiful story. They actually made a movie out of it. The movie was not so great. So don't watch the movie, read the book. And then, what I actually also like, from a personal development kind of thing is, there's a book called The Courage to be Disliked.Kelly Molson: Oh, I like it. Okay.Jakob Wahl: It's a very nice book. Not that it helped me, but I enjoyed reading it. And it gave some great inspiration.Kelly Molson: Is it about forming opinions? So, not being scared to state your mind?Jakob Wahl: Yes. And it's also about not trying to set as an excuse where you come from. You shouldn't excuse yourself for the person you are because of your history. You can change every day, and you can decide to be a different person every day. And I think that is something which is very, very interesting.Kelly Molson: That's a great book. I'm going to get that book.Jakob Wahl: You should. It's very interesting. And if you don't like it, blame it on me; and then the drink is on me the next time we see each other. But I honestly, really, really enjoyed it.Kelly Molson: I'll take you up on that. Well, look; listeners, as ever, if you want to win, head over to our Twitter account, and you retweet this episode announcement with the words, "I want Jakob's book," then you can win it. I'm going to go and buy myself a copy and read it before you guys get it. But Jakob, thank you so much for your time today. You're an incredibly busy man, so I'm very grateful that you've been able to come on and share with us. And I look forward to meeting you in person, hopefully at the IAAPA Conference in London.Jakob Wahl: Same here, Kelly; it was a huge pleasure to talk to you. And if I can, and I don't want to do a commercial thing here; but I was just trying to explain what IAAPA does. But we want to be there for our members, and also for those who are not members. So, whenever you thought I said something great, or you thought I said something horrible, reach out to me. Disagree with me on LinkedIn, on Twitter, on wherever; send me an email, and say, "Why did you say that?" An, "Have you ever thought about doing this?" I think we can only serve the industry as good as we know what the industry needs. And this is where I'm always happy for any kind of feedback.Kelly Molson: What we will do, is put all of Jakob's contact details. I might not give you his email address, but I'll put his LinkedIn address in there.Jakob Wahl: Oh, it's out there, anyway, for dealing with me.Kelly Molson: All right. All of his contact details will be in the show notes. You know where to find them. Take him up on that offer, and you'll have a great conversation if you do. Thanks, Jakob.Jakob Wahl: Thank you, Kelly. It was a pleasure.Kelly Molson: Thanks for listening to Skip the Queue. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review. It really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned. Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. You can find show notes and transcriptions from this episode and more over on our website, rubbercheese.com/podcast.

On todays episode, AJ and Noel breakdown the Orlando Magic getting the #1 pick. They also discuss the Eastern/Western Conference Finals series. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/aj-tiell/support

The Nguzo Babies take their first trip to Magic Land since Kwanzaa and meet...A DRAGON!

The Orlando Magic will have the fifth overall pick as the Lottery gods did not draw their number and give them one of the coveted top four picks in a loaded NBA Draft. While it is not ideal, the Magic will still get a strong player with the fifth and eighth picks. But undoubtedly, the bad Lottery luck will slow the team's rebuild and their gamble at the trade deadline did not fully pay off.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15” and you'll get 15% off your next order.BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.IndeedGet started RIGHT NOW with a FREE SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLAR SPONSORED JOB CREDIT to upgrade your job post at Indeed.com/locked Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Orlando Magic will have the fifth overall pick as the Lottery gods did not draw their number and give them one of the coveted top four picks in a loaded NBA Draft. While it is not ideal, the Magic will still get a strong player with the fifth and eighth picks. But undoubtedly, the bad Lottery luck will slow the team's rebuild and their gamble at the trade deadline did not fully pay off. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Built Bar Built Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15” and you'll get 15% off your next order. BetOnline AG There is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus. Rock Auto Amazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Indeed Get started RIGHT NOW with a FREE SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLAR SPONSORED JOB CREDIT to upgrade your job post at Indeed.com/locked Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

• Certain Men Book Selling For $900? • A Woman’s Near Death Experience • Use Your Senses To Keep Yourself Safe • Thick Hair • Foods That Will Delight You • Older Woman Decides To Drink • Callers: Brian Has Turned To Hypochondria, Have You? And Chardonna Wants A Dog But Will Her Cats Allow It? Callers always get free On Air readings every live Dear Venus show Wednesdays at 2 pm PAC/5 pm EST. Call the show at (760) 456-7277. Visit godisalwayshappy.com for Radio & Private Reading information. 

Greg Wilson builds on the dynasty of the Wilson name in the magic community. He has created his own way since his early appearances on his mom and dad’s TV series, “The Magic Land of Allakazam” by performing large illusion shows of his own. But today he is focused on preserving the legacy of the TV show through his efforts in preserving film, stories, props and ephemera from the long running series. You can visit the website at AllakazamArchives.com to see videos and a lot more, plus help support this preservation venture. If you have any stories you would like to share with Greg, then you can write him at Wilson@AllakazamArchives.com Greg Wilson performs "The Magic of Imagination" before the premier showing of Disney's Tomorrowland at El Capitan Theatre, Hollywood on Friday, May 22, 2015Greg Wilson presents his version of Sawing in Half or The Divided, at Disney's El Capitan Theatre, in his show, The Golden Age of Magic, during the screening of the film “Maleficent” View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize This week’s podcast was recorded in the summer of 2019 at the I.B.M. convention in Scottsdale, Arizona when Greg was there with his parents, Mark Wilson and Nani Darnell. Hear his talk this week about the myriad stories behind the scenes of “The Magic Land of Allakazam” and much, much more. Download this podcast in an MP3 file by Clicking Here and then right click to save the file. You can also subscribe to the RSS feed by Clicking Here. You can download or listen to the podcast through Stitcher by Clicking Here or through FeedPress by Clicking Here or through Tunein.com by Clicking Here or through iHeart Radio by Clicking Here..If you have a Spotify account, then you can also hear us through that app, too. You can also listen through your Amazon Alexa and Google Home devices. Remember, you can download it through the iTunes store, too. See the preview page by Clicking HereThis is the book that was discussed and recommended on the podcast about filmmaking and the famous filmmaker, George Lucas. Order here to help support The Magic Word Podcast.

Welcome to episode 14 of Infusion Underground Radio. This episode is a two-hour set which spans across 26 tracks featuring brand new tracks from Reform & OC & Verde plus a mix of recent and a few older tracks from my box. This is the first WAVE (.wav) upload ive done, the rest are MP4, I reckon the quality of the sound is just that bit better on this format with no compression. If you want to download any of any of my mixes, you can subscribe to them on iTunes Podcasts under Infusion Underground Radio. I hope you enjoy listening, if you do, give it a like and a re-post. Turn it up, listen loud and get lost into the music. CT x Setlist: 1. Fourteen 45 by Desyfer 2. Broken Arrow (Jelly for the Babies Mix) by Modeplex 3. Broken Arrow (Original Mix) by Modeplex 4. Antic by Modeplex 5. Hidden Garden by Giorgia Angiuli 6. Froman by Steve Perry 7. Tabu by ARTBAT 8. Interpolation (Marcelo Vasami Remix) by Robert R Hardy 9. Lick Your Brains by Jacob Phono & Jens Bond 10. Ritorno (Tilt's Eastern Dub Mix) by Desyfer 11. Ritorno (Original Mix) by Desyfer 12. Love Siren by Alan Fitzpatrick 13. Circadian by La Fleur 14. Trusting Source by John Monkman 15. Battery by Quell 16. Nowhere by Butch 17. 303 V by Steve Parry 18. Calathea (D-Nox & Beckers Mix) by Aaryon & Animal Picnic 19. Brutal (Petar Dundov Remix) by Rhythm Cult 20. Destination Unknown by Christian Smith 21. INAWIO (Original Mix) by John Monkman) 22. Naaki by OC & Verde 23. Naaredla by Steve Parry 24. Magic Land by Reform 25. Voyage by Victor Ruiz 26. Mutate by Christian Smith & Wehbba

Elizabeth Harris visits Michael Salmon's studio in Kooyong, Melbourne, and learns from the children's author, illustrator, and entertainer of school children, what 50 years in the arts has taught him about -  Learning to trust your instincts about what early readers find funny. The importance of branching out and diversifying if you want to thrive as an author and illustrator in the long term. How your personality and people skills (or lack thereof) can influence your success in the arts. The pleasure of giving back to the community when you've attained a measure of professional success. How did a beloved children's book make it to the centre page of a newspaper, and its main character become 600 kilos of bronze outside a public library in the nation's capital? What's the connection between Michael, Healthy Harold (the Life Education giraffe that visits schools), and the Alannah and Madeline Foundation? Follow Michael as he travels around Australia visiting Indigenous schools and schools with students of diverse ethnicities, backgrounds, and levels of English fluency. Find out more about Michael Salmon's work at MichaelSalmon.com.au. Notes:Robyn Payne is an award-winning multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer and audio engineer of 25 years’ experience in the album, film, TV and advertising industries. She composed the music for the theme song 'Victoria Dances', which is featured in host Elizabeth Harris' children's book, Chantelle's Wish, available for sale on Elizabeth's website at ElizabethHarris.net.au. The lyrics for 'Victoria Dances' were written by Elizabeth Harris. FULL TRANSCRIPT  Elizabeth:        Welcome to Writers’ Tête-à-Tête with Elizabeth Harris, the global show that connects authors, songwriters and poets with their global audience. So I can continue to bring you high-calibre guests, I invite you to go to iTunes, click Subscribe, leave a review, and share this podcast with your friends. Today I’m delighted to introduce the highly creative and entertaining children’s author and illustrator, Michael Salmon. Michael Salmon has been involved in graphics, children’s literature, TV and theatre since 1967. He started his career with surfing cartoons, and exhibitions of his psychedelic art, and then joined the famous marionette troupe – The Tintookies – as a trainee set designer stage manager in 1968 (the Elizabethan Theatre Trust, Sydney). Since then his work has been solely for young people, both here in Australia and overseas. His many credits include his Alexander Bunyip Show (ABC TV 1978-1988), pantomimes, fabric and merchandise design, toy and board game invention, writing and illustrating of 176 picture story books – which Michael I’m absolutely flabbergasted and astonished and in wonderment at, and everybody’s laughing at that, or maybe he’s laughing at me, I don’t know. (Laughter) I’ll say it again – 176 picture story books for young readers. Several million copies of his titles have been sold worldwide. Michael has been visiting Australian primary schools for over 40 years. His hour-long sessions are interesting, fun, humorous and entertaining, with the focus on students developing their own creativity, which is just fantastic. Suitable for all years, many of these school visits can be seen on Michael’s website, which I will ask you to repeat later. Michael:          Okay. Elizabeth:        Several trips have been up to the Gulf of Carpentaria Savannah Schools and to the remote Aboriginal community Schools on Cape York Peninsula, as a guest of EDU. EDU – what is that? Michael:          Education Department, Queensland. Elizabeth:        The Australian Government honoured his work in 2004 by printing a 32nd Centenary, special edition of his first book The Monster that ate Canberra – I like that - as a Commonwealth publication … for both residents and visitors to our Capital. Every Federal Politician received a copy. Michael:          Even if they didn’t want it, they got one. (Laughter) Elizabeth: Michael was also the designer of ‘Buddy Bear’ for the Alannah and Madeline Foundation (Port Arthur 1996). The Foundation financially supports Children/Families who are victims of violence/violent crime; they are currently running an anti-bullying campaign in Australian Schools. In 2010 the ACT Government further recognized his work by commissioning a bronze statue of his first book character ‘Alexander Bunyip’. Unveiled in April 2011, it stands next to the new – and I’ll get you to say this, Michael … Michael:          GUN-GAH-LIN. Elizabeth:        Gungahlin Library in our Federal Capital. Thank you for saying that. Michael has presented ‘Bunyip-themed history sessions’ for audiences of School Children at the National Library of Australia since 2011. School touring and book titles continue, which I’m blown away by, because you’ve written and illustrated 176 books! Michael:          Some of those were activity books, to be fair, but they were necessitated – writing, the requirements of children, and illustrations, so they were all lumped in together, basically. Elizabeth:        So Michael Salmon, welcome to Writers’ Tête-à-Tête with Elizabeth Harris. Michael: Thank you very much. It’s a pleasure, and thank you for visiting my studio here in downtown Kooyong, Melbourne. Elizabeth:        We are delighted to be here – Serena Low and I, everybody – Serena being my wonderful tech support. Michael, we have been Facebook friends for some time now, which is a wonderful way to keep in contact with people. But do you think social media has affected children adversely, and stopped them from reading and enjoying children’s literature? Michael:          Do you know, in order to answer some of the questions you asked, I probably pondered this one the most. It’s strange times. I’m 67 years old now. If I go back to when I was a teenager … Elizabeth:        Looking very dapper, I may say. Michael:          Yes, thank you, thank you. (Laughter) It’s amazing what no exercise will do. (Laughter) Things have changed so much. If you go back to the fifties and sixties – which both you ladies will have to look at the old films and see reruns of Gidget and all that kind of stuff – however, the main communication of young people several, several decades ago, socially, would have been the telephone. Invariably, houses only had one line that mums and dads would need. But the girls mostly – and perhaps the boys too – would be on the line talking to their friends and all this kind of stuff. And that was the only direction of communication. Perhaps letters and whatever, but certainly the telephone was the main thing. Now how things have changed these days. Having 12 grandchildren ranging from – what are they now, 2 to 24 – I’ve seen a whole gamut, and I see daily just how much social media – the iPads, tablets and things – are taking up their time and the manners in which they take up their time. Elizabeth:        What a wonderful family to have! Michael:          Well, it’s certainly a bit like a zoo (laughter) – I hope they don’t mind me saying that – and I’m the head monkey, but that’s about it. That’s true. But if you think of a child – and one of the main loves in life is visiting schools, and over the many years in Australia I’ve visited many, many schools – and just see what the teachers are up against these days. And often the teachers are – it’s well-known – surrogate parents on many occasions. Often it’s left to teachers, whether it be librarians or very kind teachers … Elizabeth:        Challenging job. Michael:          … To instill in the children a love of literature and how important reading is. But I think of going back to my youth and my toy soldier collection and making and making balsa wood castles and Ormond keeps and whatever it may be, playing in my room with this fantasy world I had grown up in. Elizabeth:        What an imagination! Michael:          Well, my father read to me – when it first came out, back in the fifties, and I was quite young, but – The Hobbit, C.S. Lewis and the Narnian … – beautiful. I was brought up in those kind of – and he also read most of Dickens to me, as well as Kipling. Quite incredible stuff. So my father was a major player in my love of literature. And I’m not sure that it happens hugely these days, but I grew up in a world of imagination. And it wasn’t any great surprise to my parents that I entered the world I’m in, which is the fantasy world of children, because I never got out of it, basically. 67 years we’re looking at at the moment. I would say mental age is about 8 or 9. (Laughter) Elizabeth:        But you make very good coffee for a 9-year-old, Michael. Michael:          But it did eventuate that sitting in my studio in the early hours of the morning, if I start laughing at a concept or whatever, I know full well through the passage of time that preppies or Grade Ones or Twos or kinders will start laughing at it too. So you get to trust your judgement after a while in the arts. You get to know where your strengths are. But going back to your original question, I have a couple of grandchildren who are absolute whizzes on their tablets. They’ve gone through the Minecraft thing; they’ve gone this, they’ve gone that. Almost an obsessive kind of stuff there. Elizabeth:        It’s an addiction, I think. Michael:          Sometimes, you must take time away from the use of imagination. Because let’s face it, in using our imagination, our creativity – and creativity can be cooking a magnificent meal, it can be keeping a well-balanced house. There’s all kinds of creativity, or it could be the artist creativity, but that’s such an important thing, of finding who we are. Elizabeth:        Yes. Michael:          And to have children taken away to a certain extent Magic Land which is absolutely fine until they become obsessive or addictive, as some of these things are, there’s a great danger that children are – shall we say – not able to evaluate or to progress their natural talents etcetera coming through, especially in the arts. Elizabeth:        I totally agree with you. Michael, you’ve written and illustrated so many books. As I’ve mentioned a couple of times, 176. How do you decide what to write about? Michael:          Well, it’s probably – I’ve always written from a cover idea. There’s a book of mine going way back. It’s one of my old favourites, a very simple one, which is called The Pirate Who Wouldn’t Wash. And when I talk to children and they say where do you get your ideas from, I say sometimes you get two ideas that are unrelated and you put them together, and because hopefully my books are rather funny and I was brought up in the fifties on things like The Fabulous Goon Show, Peter Sellers, and Spike Milligan. I loved Monty Python which was a direct sort of baby from The Goon Show. So my love of comedy has always been UK-based. And so that strange juxtaposition of whatever, so I thought, okay, a pirate, and perhaps a person who doesn’t like to wash. And you put them together and you have the pirate who wouldn’t wash. And then you simply – it’s easy if you have a vivid imagination – you list a whole lot of encounters or what could happen to a pirate who wouldn’t wash. Elizabeth:        Could we talk about that? I’d love to talk about that. Michael:          A monster, and then someone who doesn’t like vegetables. Which was one of my stepsons, William, and he was ‘Grunt the Monster’, which was one of my early characters. Refused to eat his vegetables. His teachers went to great lengths to find out how he could eat them, disguise them in milkshakes or whatever it may be. So it was William I was writing about, one of my younger stepsons at that stage. And at university when he went through Architectural course, he was called Grunt, because they knew full well the book was based on him. So it’s good sometimes to disguise – but nonetheless feature things you see around you. Elizabeth:        How did he cope with it? Michael:          He loved it, he loved it, he loved it. Elizabeth:        He got attention? Michael:          He got attention, all that kind of stuff, and he had one of his best mates who let everyone know that he was called ‘Grunt’ – that was sort of his name. But at some stage, I think he uses that – he lectures in Architecture around the country these days. He’s gone and done very well, dear William, and he will sometimes use that as a joke. Elizabeth:        Yes. Icebreaker. Michael:          Icebreaker, exactly. Elizabeth:        Was there a pivotal person who influenced your career? And if so, can you tell us how they inspired you? Michael:          Probably apart from the people I’ve mentioned previously, the Tolkiens and the Hobbits and the Lord of the Rings and the C.S. Lewises and that sort of thing, I’ve always loved the classic British thing like Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons. These are very famous books that everyone read at one stage. Back in those early fifties, my father was at Cambridge University so we were hoisted out of New Zealand; we went to live in the UK, and it was such a great time for a child to be in the UK. It’s still suffering war damage from Second World War, and London still roped off sections of it - the Doodlebugs, the flying bombs that the Germans sent over to hit London. So it was a rather strange place, but the television was brilliant. I was a Enid Blyton fan, a foundation member of the Secret Seven Club. Elizabeth:        Were you really. Michael:          Even though based in Cambridge, we looked forward to every month of the Enid Blyton magazines, so I grew up on The Faraway Tree and the Secret Seven and the Famous Five. I had my badges, I had all the merchandise. But also on the television in those days was a show we never got to hear in Australia – Muffin the Mule. There was also Sooty the Sweep, Bill and Ben the Flowerpot Men. Andy Pandy was another one. Most of those were for kindies and little bubs. Basil Brush was a little bit later on. And British television was always superb, especially for children. Blue Peter and some of those famous shows was a little bit later on. I mention this because I had ten years of my own show on ABC which you’ll learn later on, and used puppets and things which I’d seen being used on British television. Elizabeth:        Can you tell us about that show please? Michael:          The show itself … When Alexander first became a character, it was a Michael 'Smartypants book', a little book I had published in 1972. This is The Monster That Ate Canberra. And this basically the genesis of the television show. I thought I would do a – I wasn’t a university student but it was like a smartypants university student publication, because the bunyip himself was not the Kangaroo – was in fact an oversized pink bunyip, more like a Chinese dragon. However, the monster was the public service, and so it was like a joke about the public service. Because back in those seventies and late sixties, large departments were being taken from Melbourne and Sydney and relocated in Canberra, Melbourne Commonwealth finance and other things, so Canberra was being flooded with the public service. And that was why Canberra was being set up, but anyway, as a youngster back in 1972 when I first wrote that book, I envisaged this large King Kong kind of character over Civic, which was the main principal shopping centre, the oldest shopping centre, going on Northbourne Avenue as you come in from Sydney. There’s this large monster devouring things, but this monster has a problem: he is short-sighted. Anyway, he saw the buildings – the famous, iconic buildings of Canberra as objects of food. So put them into – like the Academy of Science, a gigantic apple pie; the National Library, which was recently built, at that stage and still looks like a gigantic birthday cake; and I had the Carillon looking like a Paddle Pop or something like that, which are all to do with objects of food. And the bunyip devoured them. And the Prime Minister – the original Prime Minister back then was (William) “Billy” McMahon, and when he chucked, we had then changed to Gough Whitlam. So Prime Minsters changed within the reprints of this book. The best thing about this … way way back when Gough Whitlam became our Prime Minister, one of the first things he did was institute an office that had never been there before, called the Department of Women. It was there specially to consider and to aid passage of women in Australia into jobs and a whole range of things that had never been heard before in a male-dominated kind of world. Elizabeth:        I’ve always been a fan of Gough, so I must say … (Laughter) Michael:          Well, Gough appointed a single mum called Elizabeth Reid – Liz Reid – and she was a very famous lady and she really championed the cause of women, you know, equal rights, and these ridiculous things that should have been fixed a long time but hadn’t. So Liz Reid was pictured in the centre page of the Woman’s Weekly, soon after Gough – this was one of his first appointments, Liz Reid. And there was Liz with her little bub – so she was a brand new single mum. Elizabeth:        Oh wow. Which in those days would have been scandalous, wouldn’t it. Michael:          Oh yes, but Gough was famous for that. He already went out specially with the arts. Regardless of how he was considered as a Prime Minister, he was certainly a great patron of the arts, Gough Whitlam. Elizabeth:        As I said, I’m a fan. Michael:          In this picture, centre pages of Woman’s Weekly, double spread, was little bubba. And in little bubba’s hands, supported by his mother, was a copy of The Monster That Ate Canberra. Elizabeth:        Wow! How did you feel? Michael:          I thought, “Fantastic!” I got a call within a week from one of the biggest educational publishers in the world, called McGraw-Hill, asking “Can you tell us a little bit about this? And I was described as this is probably not how I would think, and I said “No, but thank you very much for calling.” So the most unusual thing sort of kicked up, and we were reprinting this book again and again for Canberra, because Canberra was laughing its head off. Elizabeth:        Good on you Ms Reid – and baby. Michael:          So we had a theatrical presentation, pantomimes based on it with the local Canberra youth theatre. ABC then serialized it on radio, and then came to me – this was about 1977 or so – saying, “Would you consider having Alexander Bunyip on television?” Elizabeth:        Wow. Michael:          And I said “Yes please, thank you very much.” And it was through a mate of mine, quite a well-known scriptwriter for Australian films called John Stevens, and also director of plays and whatever around Australia, and he was one of the directors of the young people’s programs in ABC, who were based at that stage in Sydney. Anyway, Alexander got on television through this rather, uh, strange path he led, entertaining the people of Canberra. Elizabeth:        Can I ask you with that, and throughout your life, you have enjoyed such great success, and certainly rightly so. Have you found that there’s been what has been seen as insignificant moments, turn into huge, huge achievements for you? Michael:          Well, (I) try to step away from cliché but sometimes it’s hard to, when I say you make your own luck. But the fact that that for example, one of my main – I love it – the statue of Alexander Bunyip, 600 kilograms of bronze outside the library. Elizabeth:        In that place I can’t pronounce. Michael:          Gungahlin, that’s right, Gungahlin. Elizabeth:        I’ll practise it. Michael:          I’ll tell you how that happened. Sometimes on Google if you’re an artistic person and you’re an author or illustrator, if you just put your name in and see what’s the latest thing, are there any new entries. Sometimes schools put in things in comments or whatever. Sometimes odd things about your life come up – business life, work life. And there was a situation that occurred, when Gungahlin Community Council had discussed whether – because John Stanhope, who was the chief minister of the ACT at that stage was putting up statues left right and centre, because he wanted a lot of edifices in Canberra to entertain people. Elizabeth:        He was a visual. Michael:          Yeah, visual person. And someone said, “Why don’t we have Alexander Bunyip?” and there was general laughter. But that was supported in the Council vote of Hansard, you know, the documented notes taken in that particular Council session, and I saw this online. And so I merely wrote to this person, sent them one of the more recent copies of The Monster That Ate Canberra, and said “That sounds great. Let me know if I can help.” Elizabeth:        Absolutely! Michael:          Gosh, one thing after another happened, and the head of the Council Alan Kirlin, with John Stanhope, got it organized, and within a year there was a brand new statue being launched by John Stanhope, one of the last things he did before he resigned. He’d done some magnificent work in Canberra. So new ministers were appointed etcetera, so John – the statue was launched, and I made a speech which was dedicated to my mum, who had died the year before. She was a Canberra girl, and I thought that would be nice to dedicate, at least mention her. I’m sure if she were around - in ethereal style - she wouldn’t miss out on that one, I can assure you. Elizabeth:        I’m sure. Michael:          But when the statue was dedicated – the statue stands there – Elizabeth:        Can we go back, because I would like to talk about that speech about your mum. Can we talk about that? Michael:          Yes. Well, my mother Judy, as I said who passed on in 2010 – the statue was put up in 2011 – was a very … went bush Port Douglas many years ago, before Christopher Skase was up there. (Laughter) So I used to go up there and visit her. A hurricane holiday house, which is simply a house in Port Douglas without any windows. It was up in the hills towards the Mosman River valley. Elizabeth:        For those who don’t know Christoper Skase, can you please touch on him briefly. Michael:          Christopher Skase was one of our major financial entrepreneurs who died over in a Spanish location owing millions of dollars to many people. He was like a younger brother of Alan Bond. That’s where Christopher Skase fitted in. I don’t think New York or Spain ever really sort of – Elizabeth:        Recovered. Michael:          Recovered from the Australian paparazzi to see whether Skase was in fact dying or whether he was in a wheelchair with breathing apparatus, wheeled out by his ever-loving wife Pixie, who is back safely in the country now. But that’s by the by. (Laughter) Michael:          My mother was a fairly gregarious character. Elizabeth:        Bit like yourself. Michael:          (Laughter) Pushy. Elizabeth:        No, no, no. Delightful, and entertaining. Michael:          Judy was one of the younger daughters of her father, my grandfather, Canon W. Edwards – Bill Edwards. He was a young Anglican curate who’d been badly gassed on the fields of Flanders and the Somme in the First World War. Elizabeth:        Oh dear. Michael:          But he was an educationalist, as well as a very strong Anglican within the church. So he was sent on his return out to Grammar School looking after that in Cooma. When Canberra was designated as the place to have our new capital, the Anglican Church from Sydney said, “Please harness up one of the buggies, and take six of your seniors and go look at four different venues in Canberra that we are looking at to have a brand new school.” Elizabeth:        Wow. Michael:          And they chose the most beautiful place, in a road called Mugga Way just at the bottom of Red Hill, which is Canberra Boys’ Grammar. He was their founding Headmaster. Elizabeth:        Was he! Michael:          But the fact was that they settled on that because they pitched their tents under the gum trees. They woke up with the sound of intense kookaburra noise, and thought this was perfect for a grammar school, or any other school for that matter. Elizabeth:        Oh, beautiful. Michael:          They were all talking and whatever it was. Elizabeth:        Bit like sounding the bell, you know. Michael:          (Laughter) So going back to those days, that was the start of Canberra and my family going back there to the thirties of last century. However, back in those days in the Second World War, my father had graduated from school in New Zealand, and was sent across as one of those New Zealand young soldiers to become an officer at Duntroon, the training college. The Defence Academy they call it now, but good old Duntroon. So when he graduated, it was the end of World War Two, and he was sent up to war crimes trials in Japan, as one of his first things the Aus-New Zealand ANZAC forces when they went up there to look after things for a while. But my mother was quite a brilliant lady, and she would always be the one painting and decorating and doing all this kind of stuff. Always a dynamic kind of person. And apart from loving her very much as a mum, she instilled in me this gregarious, rather exhibitionist kind of thing. Elizabeth:        (Laughter) Thank you Judy. It’s Judy, isn’t it. Thank you Judy. I know you’re here. Michael:          So Judy was responsible for – in younger, thinner days, long hair, beads, not necessarily hippie stuff but just total exhibitionist kind of stuff. Elizabeth:        Oh I’ve seen photographs of this man, everybody. My goodness, what a heartthrob. Michael:          I looked like I could have been another guitarist in Led Zeppelin or something. Elizabeth:        I’m actually just fanning myself with my paper. (Laughter) Michael:          But anyway, it’s all a bit of fun. Elizabeth:        Did you ever sing? Michael:          No, no, no. I was actually a drummer at one of the schools I attended. Elizabeth:        Were you? I like drummers. Michael:          Yes, but not this kind of drummer. In the pipe bands at Scotch College, Sydney. I was a tenor drummer. Elizabeth:        Okay. Michael:          So they have the big, the double bass drum or whatever and the tenor drums and the drumsticks - I forget the name – like the Poi they have in New Zealand. And the tenor drums – you have to have coordination if you want to play the tenor drums as you march along in your dress: the Black Watch dress. Elizabeth:        Isn’t learning music so important, which reflects in other areas? Michael:          It is, it is. Elizabeth:        Can we talk about that? Michael:          Well, I think that – not being musical but having written lyrics in my pantomimes – and down at a very amateur level worked out what a bunyip would sing about, or go back to an early blues song or doo-wop kind of song when Alexander is stuck in a zoo in the pantomime. So I had great fun. So my musical experience – I was lucky to have some very clever people, including one gentleman who until a few years ago was one of the Heads of Tutors at Canberra School of Music called Jim Cotter. Now Jim Cotter and I – he wrote my first music for me, for the pantomimes I used to do way back in the early days. And then Peter Scriven – he was the head of the Tintookies Marionette Theatre, who were all under the auspices of the Elizabethan Theatre Trust in Sydney at Potts Point. And Peter had engaged him to do – I was doing some sets – it was the first show, our first children’s show at the Opera House – and I did the costumes for Tintookies. It was a revamp of what Peter Scriven had been doing back in the fifties. And Jim had some brand new music, and so my musical experience was purely admiring music and talented people who did that, realizing that it was not my forte. Elizabeth:        Aren’t they clever. Michael:          Nonetheless, by writing lyrics and giving some vague, vague “rock ‘n roll and I like it” -like, you know. Not exactly “Stairway to Heaven”, you know what I’m saying? Elizabeth:        (Laughter) Who was your favourite band at that stage? Michael:          Ahh, I grew up in the Sixties. I got myself a hearing aid the other day. You can hardly see it – one of these new things. But essentially, I’ve had to, because I spent a lot of my younger life surfing in the eastern beaches of Sydney. The promotion of bone growth over the ear – there’s some kind of term for it – and they had to cut away the bone if I were to hear properly. And I thought, I don’t want my ear cut, so I’ll just leave it as it is at 67. But also too, I do attribute some of those early groups to my lack of hearing these days, because I did study for my exams with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones. Pretty much one of my favourite groups of all time was a group that spread, with different members going to different other groups, were The Byrds in America. Dylan songs. “Mr Tambourine”. Elizabeth:        Yes. Was it Eric – Eric somebody? Or did I get the wrong group. Michael:          We’re talking about David Crosby, Gene Clark, Jim McGuinn who changed his name and became Roger, or was it the other way round. But they had the Dylan. They came out with “Mr. Tambourine Man”. Elizabeth:        Yes, I know that song. Michael:          Their next one was ‘Turn, Turn, Turn’. Then they went into more Dylan of, “All I Really Want to Do”. And these are hits of the Sixties. Elizabeth:        You could sing a few bars. Michael:          No I couldn’t. Not even Dylan-style. (Laughter) But I love those songs, mainly because - Elizabeth:        They’re great. Michael:          Jim McGuinn had a 12-string guitar, and it was this jingly-jangly feel to their songs that I loved dearly. But another group which I must tell you, because I met up with them in real life, which is one of my favourite groups, is The Seekers. Elizabeth:        Oh! Miss Judith! Michael:          Now Keith Potger is a good mate of mine. We go for gentlemen’s clubs like Savage Club; he’s a member of Savage, enjoy long lunches, and often with some other guests. Elizabeth:        Athol Guy? Michael:          Yes. And Judith Durham – where you’re sitting there – came and sat down there with her manager a few years ago. Elizabeth:        My goodness! Michael:          She’d seen a presentation – Elizabeth:        She’s beautiful. Michael:          Oh, magnificent. And her voice! Elizabeth:        Angel. Michael:          Judith had seen a production by Garry Ginivan, who is one of the principal Australian children’s entrepreneurs for theatrics, theatres. He’s just finished doing Hazel E.’s Hippopotamus on the Roof kind of stuff, and I’m not sure if he’s doing Leigh Hobbs’ Horrible Harriet. Now that’s going to the Opera House. I’m not sure if Garry Ginivan’s doing that for Leigh. He did for Graeme Base. He did My Grandma Lived in Gooligulch, and also brought packaged stuff like Noddy and Toyland, Enid Blyton and other stuff like The Faraway Tree. So anyway he was presenting Puff the Magic Dragon – and I’m just looking around the room to find a graphic of the poster, because I’d designed Puff the Magic Dragon. Elizabeth:        Did you? Michael:          And they used that for all the promotional material and stuff there, but it was the puppet that I designed. And Judith went along to see – it was at The Athenaum Theatre here in Melbourne, a few years ago now. Elizabeth:        Lovely theatre. Michael:          And she liked the whole idea of the dragon, and she rang me. And so here was this most beautiful angel on the other line … Anyway, she was round a couple of days with her management. She was at that time – this was before The Seekers got back together and did all that magnificent tours they did over the last five or six years, Andre Rieu included. Judith is a honky-tonk girl; she loves the music of spiritual and going across to honky-tonk, like Scott Joplin, the ragtime, and all this sort of stuff. Elizabeth:        Oh, fun! Michael:          And she had written several things that she wanted the sheet music to be illustrated to sell, as part of the Judith Durham empire. And she did the ‘Banana Rag’. So immediately I did the illustration for her. I didn’t take any payment. I said, “Look, Judith, might I be impertinent and ask you to come to one of my clubs and sing – come to dinner?” She was a very strict vegetarian and looked after herself incredibly well after a terrible accident where she had to look after her whole system and she’s done that magnificently. So there she was singing, and this was when The Seekers had just released one of their LP’s, called “Morning Town Ride to Christmas”, which was for children’s songs, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house of these senior gentlemen at the club I was talking about, one of these good old Melbourne clubs, when she sang “The Carnival’s Over”. Elizabeth:        Oh yes. Michael:          Absolutely superb, so that was more than enough payment for doing some artwork. But since then, I continued … and met the desperate Keith Potger. Elizabeth:        Weren’t you lucky. Weren’t you lucky. Weren’t you lucky to have that gorgeous woman. Michael:          I was lucky. I was lucky. But I had to tell you, Judith - they had an article on her website, and she’s on Facebook as well - had at that time recorded with The Lord Mayor’s Orchestra here in Melbourne. It was called “The Australian Cities Suite”, and she had written a song for every major city in Australia. And I remember she and I were trying to do a book together, a book based on a song that her husband – who passed on through, oh gosh, what was it – the wasting disease, muscular disease … Elizabeth:        MS? Muscular Dystrophy? Michael:          Muscular Dystrophy. I’m sure that must be it. He put in a song called “Billy the Bug and Sylvia Slug”, and so we put that into a book. And I took Judith along to see some of the heads of various publishing firms in Sydney as well as the head of ABC merchandising in their ivory tower down in Haymarket area. Beautiful beautiful premises they have there, ABC Studios. And so Judith was much heralded in both places when I took her as my guest to introduce this book to her. The book didn’t work unfortunately, but she did start singing in the car as we’d arrived early in the carpark of the ABC citadel in Haymarket. She started singing. And we were all sitting there. And she started singing songs again from The Seekers. Elizabeth:        I don’t think I’m ever going to stand up again. Michael:          So here we are in Kooyong, and there’s the beautiful strains of Judith Durham singing songs, and I thought, “It doesn’t get much better than this.” Elizabeth:        Oh wow. Michael:          I don’t think Deborah Harry could have done the same. Elizabeth:        Do you think Judith Durham would speak with me on this podcast? Michael:          Judith is a very accommodating person, and I’m sure that if you ask through her management, Graham her manager would – I’m sure - she would look at that favourably. Elizabeth:        Would I have to wear a ball gown? I have a couple. To meet the Queen. Michael:          Meet the Queen. (Laughter) But anyway, I suppose too, in my business – and Australia is not a huge place really, when it comes to who knows what and we talked before about the degrees of separation. Elizabeth:        Absolutely. Michael:          And so, a lot of my stuff has been … involved with, because of my work, a lot of singers and whatever via The Hat Books. I remember Russell Morris, not in this place but a previous place. Elizabeth:        “The Real Thing”? Michael:          “The Real Thing” Russell Morris. Brilliant, brilliant, and had the two LP’s as well. Elizabeth:        And Molly, Molly is attached to that – he produced it, didn’t he. Michael:          Yeah, but Russell Morris had this concept that he came up with his wife 30 years ago. It was about a toy that was pre-broken and you had to fix it. The whole idea of the toy was that you had to re-glue this broken toy. Elizabeth:        Right. Michael:          It was ceramic, and he was so keen on it, but I just didn’t think it was going to work. He was a man with an incredible imagination – Elizabeth:        Russell Morris? Michael:          Russell Morris. He had this toy concept, but it didn’t work, because I don’t think kids want to sit around re-gluing a toy that has been broken. I don’t know what he was on. Elizabeth:        He was quite resourceful. Michael:          Ah, he is. Look at the way Russell Morris has revived in recent times. And he’ll have to excuse me. I don’t remember, but I’ve certainly listened to his two LP’s – albums as we used to call them, back in the old days – that he did. All bluesy and whatever, and he’s still got a magnificent voice. Elizabeth:        You know, there are so many Australians that are not – what should I say – recognized as they should be, I think. And such talent. Michael:          Ah, yeah. Elizabeth:        And do you think we need to go overseas, like in the old day. I was listening to a program last night, actually, and Brian Cadd was on it. Love Brian Cadd. Beautiful, beautiful music. And he said you know, back in the day you had to go to London. Michael:          Yes, yes. Well, look at Easybeats and stuff like that. Elizabeth:        Do you think people need to go? Michael:          Brian Cadd and The (Bootleg) Family (Band), that’s what he calls his group, they are reappearing at – they are doing an Australian tour this month in February – I saw it on Facebook, actually. Elizabeth:        You know, a friend of mine who’s a pastel artist, highly acclaimed – we were talking about this, and she said in this country, she’s just not recognized and she really needs … She’s working in a boutique! Michael:          It is a problem. You know on Facebook, which is one of the loves of my life, you see a good deal of Australian up-and-coming authors and illustrators, and ones that you dearly wish would … And I do believe that you if you earn it, you deserve a place in the sun – your ten minutes, twelve minutes of fame, all that kind of stuff. And if you’re smart enough, after your time has been, you then start doing things which reinvent yourself. I’m not talking about Madonna-style, but I’m talking about coming up with new things, being aware of new trends and seeing whether you can adapt your talents. Elizabeth:        Being a survivor. Michael:          Being a survivor, absolutely. Because let’s face it, and I’m very grateful – for example, the schools around Australia – 45 years… Elizabeth:        I’m sure they’re grateful to you too. Michael:          I go into the schools and there are teachers there that say, “Look, the last time I saw you Michael, was when I was in Prep or Grade One, and I loved your books then and I still love them." I’m just so thankful. Elizabeth:        How do you feel, other than gratitude? Michael:          Well, this is one of those major things, of feedback you get. And some of them come up and say “I started drawing because of you drawing”. Elizabeth:        You’re inspirational! Michael:          There are just those things there that I … and also entertaining. Doing a bit of stand-up comedy, giving out very silly prizes like Barbie books to Grade Six boys for good behaviour. I know Preppies will never forget those things. Elizabeth:        Can you talk us through – when you present to the school, how do you do that? Michael:          This year I’ve got a ‘Michael Salmon’s Monster Show’ which is talking about more or less the same thing, but some different pictures to ones I’ve been doing before. Essentially what I realized right at the start is if I do some speed cartooning, right in the very first picture I draw there, and do it so quickly in a great show-off manner, you get the kids hooked.  Elizabeth:        It’s magic; it’s in front of us. Michael:          Because the little ones, they say “Look what he did! Look how fast he drew!” And I always knew that that particular facet, if you did it correctly, the little Preppies in the front – because we do try to get mixed grades, with the Grade Sixes at the back – is that you would have their attention if you kept on. So I sort of talked about the way I invented characters and how it happened. Bobo my dog who is not here today – dear Bobo in the book I wrote called Bobo My Super Dog, where I sort of – he saves the world a bit. Elizabeth:        Of course he would. (Laughter) Michael:          Oh, I don’t know. Let’s just go back to the bit about Australia and the people who are trying to make it, and they are doing their very best and you see their brilliant talent. And it’s very evident on Facebook – it’s one of my major purveyors of talent – the ideas that people come up with and all that sort of stuff. I mean, you’ve got some brilliant people here in Australia. You look at Leigh Hobbs for a start. Now he belongs to the Savage Club as I do, so I catch up with him for lunch on occasions. And there he is with his two-year tenure in his position championing children’s books and children’s literature around Australia. His cartoons are very much like Ronald Searle, the famous British cartoonist, who did the original cartoons that accompanied the original published books and also the film versions of St Trinian’s movies, of schoolgirls and things like that – the naughty schoolgirls. And Ronald Searle was a brilliant, brilliant artist, and he had the kind of nuttiness in his cartooning that Leigh Hobbs had. You look at Leigh Hobbs’ stuff – they are very, very sparse, great placement of colour, they are done in a very slapdash manner. It all works together beautifully – from Horrible Harriet, to Old Tom and whatever. And if you’ve got other people – what’s that book by Aaron Blabey – something or other Pug? (Pig the Pug) I bought some books for my very young grandchildren for Christmas, and I thought, “I haven’t seen these books before.” And here he is winning awards and YABBA (Young Australians Best Book Awards) Awards and all this kind of stuff. And so much talent around. And it’s hard in Australia to make a living as an author, because the royalties and stuff, even if you are one of the top ones, may suffice for a while but aren’t continuing. Elizabeth:        And yet Michael you’ve done that – for 50 years – haven’t you. Michael:          Only because of schools. 45 years in schools and 50 years in the arts. But mainly because I branched out and did things like theatre – the television show. You saw when you first entered the merchandise for 'Alexander Bunyip'. Spotlight stores were behind me for fabrics for a decade, and they finished not a huge many years ago. And that had nothing to do with 'Alexander Bunyip'. But the fact of really, of diversifying. Elizabeth:        Okay. Michael:          And the books for me lay a platform. When Mum or Dad read a book at night to their children, and it happens to be one of yours, and it’s something they like, and they happen to be one of the lead buyers of Spotlight stores and they say “We must do something about this guy”, and they came round and sat where you’re sitting, and they said “We’d like to offer you a deal.” And I thought, “Oh thank you. That’s great!” Elizabeth:        But can I interject? The vital part of that is certainly that there is talent and diversification, but it’s also the ability to connect with people - which you are very skilled at. And the warmth that you have … Michael:          Well, thanks to my mother, because she was a people person. Yes, you’re quite right – it does help to be a people person if you’re an artistic person. Of course sometimes it doesn’t flow. Some of the best children’s authors are not people persons. So you can’t expect to do anything. I learned long ago of creating an impact on your audience – start and hold them if you can from then on, and then you can impart any message you want. And the only message I really impart to the children is about developing their creativity, for them to start working on the things they’re good at, or keep drawing or singing or whatever it may be. Elizabeth:        I really want to segue into something from those comments about your work for the Alannah and Madeline Foundation. That is so, so pivotal. Can we talk about that? Michael:          Yes. Do you know, in general terms, it’s really good if you’ve had success, I’ve found, especially in the arts, to find venues and areas and avenues to give back to society. I hope that doesn’t sound too corny. Elizabeth:        It sounds beautiful. Michael:          Up here, I’ve got some – when I was one of the patrons of “Life Be In It” for the Victorian – Elizabeth:        Oh yes! Michael:          And I designed – not the vans, those large pantechnicon vans that went around and advertised anti-drugs and – Elizabeth:        It was Norm, wasn’t it. Norm. Michael:          Norm was “Life Be In It”. This was the Life Education Centre, the one started up by Ted Knox at King’s Cross Chapel, but they went to a huge thing. Large pantechnicon trailers filled with the latest kind of things, and all round Australia, but particularly in Victoria – because that’s where my expertise was, helping them design big wheels to go on, painted by local mums and dads. And I also do it to do some fundraising. But Life Education had a Harold Giraffe as their logo, and it’s still going gangbusters. So these things would go to schools, and like the dental van they locked you in that, and they would see these incredible digital displays of bodies and drugs and anti-drugs, things like that. Magnificent, magnificent. That was one thing I was involved in. A good mate of mine, a school librarian called Marie Stanley, who’s since not a school teacher anymore – a school librarian – she rang up soon after 1996 when the horrific Port Arthur thing had occurred. She had been seconded – Walter Mikac, whose wife Nanette and two daughters Alannah and Madeline were shot dead – he knew he had to do something. So he went to see the Victorian Premier at that stage, Steve Bracks, and also saw John Howard. And between them he got funding to set up a St Kilda Road office and start the Alannah and Madeline Foundation which is purely there to help the victims of violent crime – the families, the children – provide them with some kind of accommodation or support or clothing, needs, or toiletries – a whole range of stuff there. So they seconded Marie Stanley from Williamstown North Primary School. Because I’d visited her school many times, she rang me up and said, “Look, Michael, I’m doing this, I’m on salary, but I need your help. Could you help me invent a character?” So I came on board with Alannah and Madeline (Foundation) on a purely voluntary basis, which is my pleasure, and we invented a character called Buddy Bear as a very safe little bear and a spokes figure, whereby – and there are behind me as we speak in this interview – there are Buddy Bear chocolates up there. And they did something like five million chocolates with my name and my design on it through Coles stores and Target stores … Elizabeth:        You know Michael, next time we meet I need a camera. (Laughter) Michael:          That’s just 'Buddy Bear' stuff. And 'Buddy Bear' has gone on strongly and it’s now part of the Alannah and Madeline Foundation. But they got involved in a very important … the main focus of anti-bullying. And I was the person – I want to say one thing, because it’s true – I suggested that they should go – violence and all this stuff for families was terrible enough – but if they wanted to go to the bully, they really should get into the heart of the matter. And to me, I said to them once, “Look, please. I’ve seen what we’re doing. We’ve got Buddy Bear as the spokes figure for violence in the home. But we really should be hitting schools and things with something that centers around bullying and have an anti-bullying campaign. And you know, it is one of those things which is said at the right time and the right place. And now we’ve got Princess Mary of Denmark who is the international head of 'Buddy Bear' and they’ve got their own thing over there because of her Australian connection with Tasmania. We have the National Bank who are the sponsors of the 'Buddy Bear' program of the Alannah and Madeline (Foundation), so we have a fully-fledged charity. But the early days of inventing 'Buddy Bear', and a lot of people who gave their time and effort for no cost as I did, and pleasure to get the whole thing going. But it was all through initially Walter Mikac, thinking that with his deceased wife and two little girls, he had to do something. He was a pharmacist by trade and he was a smart man – he is a smart man – and he set the wheels in motion. And so it was a - ‘pleasure’ is not the right word. It was satisfying to be involved with a program that was ultimately going to help children feel better and safe and especially with this bullying thing, of being able to … Elizabeth:        Personally, I love fundraising and I do a lot of it. And actually we have on the agenda this year a fundraiser for another children’s author: Pat Guest. His son Noah, and Noah has Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy, and the family need a wheelchair-accessible vehicle. Michael:          Yes, yes, yes. Elizabeth:        Pat’s a wonderful person. He’s published five books and counting, and has written one about Noah called That’s What Wings Are For. He has actually podcasted with me. So I’m going to put you on the spot now and ask you if you would like to create something – Michael:          Absolutely! Let me know … Elizabeth:        I haven’t even finished my sentence! Michael:          No, no, no, the answer’s yes. The answer’s yes. Elizabeth:        The generosity! Thank you. Michael:          No, no, my pleasure. You talk about the – do you pronounce it ‘Duchenne’? There was a very famous fundraiser with that society up in Cairns several years ago, where various artists and musicians and illustrators were asked to provide – and they said a ukulele – so you had very famous artists and musicians and illustrators creating and painting their own version on this practical ukulele that was sent back to Cairns and auctioned off for charity and raised a whole lot of money. Elizabeth:        You know Pat, I think, would love to meet you. And I know Noah – the whole family are just beautiful people. Michael:          But I’ll have you know, only because of that connection where they contacted me saying “Would you like to …” and I had no knowledge whatever of the disease and the toll it took. Elizabeth:        I’ve nursed a couple of boys with it. Michael:          From my recollection, would it be quite correct to say it’s quite gender-specific? It hits boys more than girls? Elizabeth:        Yes. The two children that I nursed were brothers, and they passed. So we want to focus on the positive side, and this Saturday, actually there’s a trivia night which is sold out – Michael:          Oh good! Good, good. Elizabeth:        And it’s Eighties music which is my thing – I love that – so hopefully I will win, everybody. Don’t bet on me, Michael, but if there was a ticket, I’d invite you. But we’re looking at later in the year and we have some great people. Dave O’Neil wants to do a spot – Michael:          Oh yeah, good, good, good. Elizabeth:        And he podcasted with me. And like yourself, pretty much before I got my sentence out, he said 'yes'. Robyn Payne whom I wrote my song with for my children’s book – she wants to write a song. So we’ve got many … and Robyn Payne was in Hey Hey, It’s Saturday for many years. She was in that band, and Robyn’s incredible – she plays eight instruments. Michael:          Right, right, yes, yes. Elizabeth:        She’s performed at the Grand Final; incredibly talented lady. I just ran into her the other night with Neil, her husband, and Steph who’s a good friend of mine and recently performed with her on stage as well, they’re looking at writing a song for Noah. So it’s taking off. Michael:          One of the best fundraisers I’ve been to is a yearly event – still going – the Alannah and Madeline (Foundation) did. I don’t keep in contact with them directly; it was just a pleasure to work in, but what they did at the Palladium Ballroom – have 'Starry Starry Night'. Now 'Starry Starry Night' would have almost anyone who’s anyone in show business, on television and the media, would be there, from the jockeys at Melbourne Cup who would be singing Village People and whatever. Quite brilliant. And they had a huge host. We’re talking about – and I’m not exaggerating – 50 or so celebrities attended that. Black Night night and it really was a “starry starry night”. I haven’t attended for a long time, but I did my duty and it was a great pleasure to be there and part of it. But that was a brilliant fundraiser, and still continues as a fundraiser for the Alannah and Madeline Foundation. Elizabeth:        Oh, I’m so honoured that you said yes to me before I even finished my sentence. Thank you so much! Talking about stars, I’d like to go to my signature question, and then we’ll say adieu to you. Michael, this is a signature question I ask all my guests: what do you wish for, for the world, and most importantly for yourself? Michael:          Well, as we’re sitting here in early February of 2017, because of all these incredible events that are going on every quarter of the day from the United States there, where the world order seems to be rapidly changing, and oddities occurring there and without going into it too heavily we all know what we’re talking about, I have a hope that the situation in America remedies itself, and that the situations change rapidly, and that America gets back, because as the biggest country in the world for what it is and known as, because we need the stability of America etcetera, so it’s a fairly direct sort of wish that America gets its act together again soon, and maintains something that we can trust in. Because America really is being that main country in the world. Elizabeth:        Do you see a way – does that start one person at a time? Is that how things start to change? Michael:          Gosh, as we’ve evidenced with the Women’s March and a whole range of stuff now that the immigration – oh dear – it just goes on, goes on. And without going into a full-scale discussion of that, my wish is that America gets back together quickly, and maintains and gets someone new in charge. I don’t know how that’s going to happen – impeachment or … but something has to happen, so that the world can feel stable again. And that’s not grandiose, but that’s probably affecting a lot of people in the world. As every new edict or special signatory thing is signed in the White House, the ripples it sends across for instability is quite amazing. We’ve never seen it before, unless you were there during Chamberlain days when Neville Chamberlain was talking to Hitler, and some of those – not grandiose or high-flying stuff, but it does affect especially Aussies who love America dearly, and America loves us. Elizabeth:        But to me your books so beautifully reflect history. Michael:          Some of them do, some of them do. It’s like a Facebook page – I really do love entertaining people and making them laugh. And that’s probably the last part of your question – I really would like every child in the mass audiences I encounter, we’re talking about 500 or so -  I would like to think that every child had an opportunity – not because of anything to do with my talk that may be instrumental , it doesn’t really matter – the children of today can reach their potential, and the energy and the talents they have are recognized. Not squashed, quashed, forgotten, put to one side by society or families, issues, whatever it may be. Elizabeth:        You know, that reminds me of a good friend of mine, Andrew Eggelton. So Andrew Eggelton is an interesting man – he’s a New Zealander actually; he’s a Kiwi – and he believes in the Art of Play. So his wish is that everybody gets to use their God-given talents. Michael:          Ditto, ditto, absolutely. Because you do see the children out there. Just to give you an example: I spoke to close to 12,000 children during a tour that I organized myself – I do have some other agents organizing other states … Elizabeth:        How do you look after your throat? Michael:          Thank goodness I’ve always had a voice that can throw – a loud voice – I was captain of a rugby team in my machismo days. I was in New Zealand, and as a front row forward you don’t usually have a shy, retiring kind of personality. When you go out to tour, and on that tour we toured everything around the Riverina, we did places like West Wyalong, places you normally drive through as you are going up the back roads to Dubbo or some place like that. Then we went to Sydney, the western suburbs schools, and even this morning I had a phone call from one of the agents for a school near Loganlea. The school called and they want a couple of sessions. Most of their students are refugees with English ESL, so English Second Language. I would say English third or fourth language. Elizabeth:        How many children at that school? Michael:          Seven hundred. She said – the agent who rang me – and this is the first one in the tour that’s coming up late July for southeastern Queensland – “The reason no doubt that you’ve been invited to this particular school” which I know well, is because my act is highly visual. You don’t need a lot of language to understand it, because I draw all the cartoons. Or I’m caricaturing children, or getting them to caricature me. It’s almost like – ‘international language’ is not the right phrase – but it’s almost like a human comedy or whatever you call it. Elizabeth:        It’s like smiling. Michael:          It’s like smiling, and the more the merrier. So up there you’ve got the refugee children. You’ve got a lot of – and I really enjoy going to the Tongan or Samoan or Fijian or Maori schools or New Zealand, because I used to play rugby and I played with so many Islanders over the years and I’ve got some good mates there. And especially up there in southern parts of Brisbane, before you hit the Gold Coast, it’s always challenging, and I love to go up there, so it’s great to hear that. And the same thing applies to Indigenous schools up on the Gulf of Carpentaria, they call them, the Gulf Savannah schools up in Cape York, where you go to places like Weipa and stuff like that. And some of the notorious – notorious because of the troubles that have occurred – there’s a couple of places along the Peninsula there – they are trouble spots and have been for many years. Elizabeth:        You know Michael, that just says so much about you, because so many people would not go within cooee of those places, and it reflects your beautiful generosity. So I want to thank you very much for guesting on Writers’ Tête-à-Tête with Elizabeth Harris. And I think we need a Part Two. It’s been an absolute delight and thank you so much. Michael:          Thank you very much, and thank you Serena too. I babbled on a bit, but fifty years – fifty years of working in this country – there’s been a lot of water under the bridge. A lot of people, a lot of children, and I’m just very lucky. I consider myself very lucky to be in that position, to have that rapport with kids, and to just get on with them and entertain them and enjoy them. Elizabeth:        I consider those children and us very, very lucky to have met you today. Thank you so much. Michael:          Thank you guys. Thank you. [END OF TRANSCRIPT]

Dark Angels & Pretty Freaks #78. We are sleep deprived and Podcasting! We have Nine (our new puppy) with us while we podcast, so it is a bit of a disaster! But It was fun! We talk, Star Wars toys, Annaleis’s Magic Land, Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte debacle, Football, Target, and so much more!

Специальный промо микс, посвящённый предстоящему событию MAGIC LAND, которое пройдёт в Москве 26 сентября 2014 года и соберёт под своими сводами разноплановую энергетику транс звучания. Список артистов по настоящему интересен и разношёрстен! 6 представителей жанра, каждый из которых представляет своё неповторимое звучание. Промо микс включает в себя по 4 трека от каждого участника фестиваля. Приятного вам прослушивания, трипа и драйва! Ждём вас на событии!! 26 СЕНТЯБРЯ 2014 ПЯТНИЦА / НАЧАЛО В 23:59 Фестиваль, который по настоящему поразит всех поклонников Psychedelic Trance движения. Новая постановка, которая соберет на одной сцене самые великие имена psy звучания, а так же гигантские декорации, лазерные установки, световое шоу, все это PSYCHEDELIC MAGIC LAND. RAY JUST ARENA (ex. Arena Moscow) М.ДИНАМО, ЛЕНИНГРАДСКИЙ ПР., Д.31, СТР.4 00:00 01. Psymmetrix - You Survived (Part 1) 02:35 02. Tristan & Magik vs. Outsiders - Into the Light 06:04 03. Tristan - Deep Mind 09:07 04. Tristan vs. Mad Maxx - Bhahavaskar 13:29 05. Psymmetrix - Captain Harris 17:27 06. Samadhi - Namaste from Russia (Psymmetrix remix) 20:43 07. Psymmetrix - Mutant Psychedelic (Chris Rich remix) 22:53 08. Dirty Saffi - Pure Soul 25:58 09. Dirty Saffi - Underwater 29:27 10. Dirty Saffi - Dirty, Rich and Famous 33:17 11. Dirty Saffi - Multidimensional 35:29 12. Electric Universe - Star Cluster 39:51 13. Electric Universe - Psystep (Stellar mix) 43:20 14. Electric Universe - Parallel Universe 46:22 15. Alien Project - Crystal Skulls (Mad Maxx remix) 51:42 16. Talamasca feat. Deedrah - The Ultimate Debate 56:04 17. XSI vs. Talamasca - The Hardest we Can 60:12 18. Talamasca feat. Schyzotrop - Action!!! 64:33 19. Talamasca vs. XSI - Aries 2009 (XSI remix) 70:13 20. Alien Project - Groovy (remix) 72:23 21. Quadra - Alien Prophecy (Alien Project remix) 78:03 22. Alien vs. The Cat - Hear the Noise 81:19 23. Tristan feat. Antidote - Trance Odyssey 83:18 24. Electric Universe - Freedom

Ancient languages like Hebrew had a numerical values embedded into every character. This added levels of meaning and allegory to the bible that gave people like Sir Isaac Newton and many other scholars a life-long headache. But, numerical value is totally absent from the English language... right? I don't know. But, Author and researcher Marty Leeds has some pretty god damn interesting thoughts, videos and books that argue for it. Head to midwestreal.net for links, and a full write-up!

Don't worry, I liked the movies. That title just made me laugh far, far more than it really should have.Igadevil and Rider Break! return with new hardware, a new remix of the theme song, and a new double feature summer film to review with Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger: Gaburincho of Music / Kamen Rider Wizard in Magic Land. So it's sort of like episode 14 of the original Kamen Rider only not as exciting and with less explosions.Plus, one more farewell to the other man who made Kamen Rider.In This Episode: • Rider Break! "returns" for what I swear will be the last time; from now on it will "get revenge" or "strike back". Also, we (and by we I mean I) talk about some movie.• Lots of spoilers. I mean, lots. Don't say I didn't warn you.• In fact, there may even spoilers in the episode notes!Episodes Notes:• Music used includes:"Let's Go!! Rider Kick 2006" by Hiroshi Fujioka (excerpt) Get it on amazon.co.jp"It's Show Time" from the Kamen Rider Wizard OST (excerpt) Get it on amazon.co.jp• In a bizarre redux of last episode (which was also a long-overdue return with a movie review) I got stuffed up while recording this, and you can hear it in my voice.But you can hear it even better, because in the time since 13 & 14 I've upgraded my microphone from a cheapo special deluxe two-in-one to a Blue Yeti! Go back and listen to 13 and hear the difference!That said, I'm still getting used to it, and will probably be updating the arrangement as time goes by (getting a proper stand, pop guard, and so forth.) But so far, I'm very happy with it, and it's made editing much, much easier.• Although the first few minutes of the review are "spoiler free", I do still touch on a few revelations, so if you want to go in completely unaware about plot details... avert your ears (and eyes) for the next few months. Also, I do talk about parts of a few other Rider films (Project G4, Episode Final, and God Speed Love.) And yes I know I said "ZAI-U-ranger". As this episode reveals, me have double trouble reading English good now.• BIG thanks to the following for submitting questions:Yuican, Bueno RX, Unkamenrx, Frobman, GSaviorSorry if I forgot anybody, and sorry to everyone whose names I horribly mispronounced. If you have further questions about the movie, fire away and I'll do my best to answer!• And BIG apologies to:Eric HenryFear not, I'll get to all your questions next episode! There's a lot to cover!• Stuff mentioned that I recommend checking outt:HJU RadioThe FwooshcastLow VisibilityGarage Hero ProductionsFrobman on TumblrThe Fwooshcast/Low Visibility/Some Other Guy Crossover Gaim SpectacularSome thoughts on the passing of Toru Hirayama (Well okay that's mine. But I did mention it!)Timestamps:00:00 - Watch those speakers!00:51 - Actual talking begins!01:31 - Mostly-spoiler free Kyoryuger & Wizard stuff.19:50 - Spoilers begin for both.01:03:21 - Movie talk (and spoilers) end, and I finish out by discussion boring real life stuff, Kamen Rider Gaim, and some more thoughts on my favorite Tokusatsu producer of 'em all.01:18:30 - It's end of the episode. Episode 15 coming... well, in less than 3 months, I can promise that at least.• Thanks for listening!Get The EpisodeDownload hereRider Break! on iTunesOr listen here:

This is also from Kurbwar Kings, panic's engineer's one and only copy, but it's Westfalia Vs Tiny Ting, Magic Land (2shot2move). Nothing to do with Kurb but it was on this disk. Respik due to More Protein.