Podcasts about ooohhh

Ooohhh this is a doozy of a topic and packs a powerful punch for EVERYONE in business. Even the most successful, established entrepreneurs experience the People Pleasing Website: www.those2sisters.com Get the Coaching Couch here: https://those2sisters.au/coaching-couch

Ooohhh it's a juicy one, Michaila shares her journey of detaching from her mum and how this has effected her and changed so much other relationships in her life. We also discuss the connection to shame and guilt!

Ooohhh..Part 2 gave us Wednesday Addams vibes. On this episode, we dive deeper into the psychotic and controlling nature of my covert passive agressive mother and how she impacted my daugher, who is now 22. She also speaks about her grandfather, his wife and how losing that relationship has affected her. We have real talk about how it feels to be without a 'village.' We have real talk about thoughts of reaching back and reconciling. Tiffany speaks about how the relationship with her narcissistic grandmother made her feel as a child-wish it was all bad-but that is sometimes what makes no contact with toxic family so messy and confusing. It wasn't all bad, but she speaks openly about why she would never reach back. She also gives offers some wisdom to those moms and dads out there who are worried about how going no contact with your toxic family could impact your children. This is a raw and honest, unedited episode that gets emotional. We hope you find peace, validation and comfort as we speak our truth. Struggling on your no contact journey with toxic family? My inbox is always open. Email me at characteroutspodcast@gmail.com If you arent a part of our Instagram community, you are missing out! Come on over for the snark and fun: @characteroutspodcast And don't forget to join our newsletter fam. Bi-weekly emails full of resources to help you on your no contact journey. Email me with your deets and I will add you to the list. Finally, friend, when things get rough, remember: it's not you, never has been and you are not alone.   ~Terri  

OOOHHH we love Lindsey more after she spilled some tea y'all! What a fun conversation and real! #Scoooott. Follow all things Lindsey on her Insta https://www.instagram.com/simply_linzy/?hl=enWANT EPISODES COMMERCIAL-FREE? JOIN RealityGays+ Either on Patreon, https://www.patreon.com/RealityGays?fan_landing=true or Supercast, https://realitygaysmulti.supercast.tech/ NOTE: The $15 video tier is on Patreon only.Listen and review on our website https://www.realitygays.comBuy Tix for LIVE SHOWS HERE! https://linktr.ee/realitygaysFind us on the Socials:Tik Tok @realitygays https://www.tiktok.com/@realitygays?lang=enInstagram @RealityGaysPodcastFacebook @RealityGaysPodcastTwitter @RealityGaysPodY'ALL--COME AT US ON CAMEO! Book Jake or Matt! SISSY SWAG! Get a mug, shirt, pillow at our MERCH STORE!Wanna talk with your Sissy Squad? Join our PRIVATE FACEBOOK GROUPFind Mattie! Instagram: @theMattMarr Twitter: @theMattMarrFind Jake! Twitter: @jakeitorfakeit Instagram: @jakeitorfakeitListen to Mattie's other ADVICE podcast, THE DEAR MATTIE SHOW! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Don't look Too close What you know Isn't what you know; A cold wind blows My hopes away, My home away from home. I was on the wrong bus for awhile before I noticed it, or rather, the right bus, going in the wrong direction— or even, to be clearer, as the bus was marked 5554, or some other number at the end, of course overshadowed by the first sequenced numbers, always tending to me uncomfortable— even though I had attempted to wash its original meaning to my self out of my mind by replacing it with its most commonly accepted Angel number meaning—I was doing everything I could anyway to move toward forgiveness and alluding to the obvious notion that, whatever had happened between my ex and I had been for the better after all, after all was said and done ( and though it never really was), the love and our marriage were at least ended, and never to rerun to that or any relationship which would put my mind and body at risk, let alone my heart or my soul. What's on a deadmau5? Uh—pepperoni— Are you sure? Uh, yeah, probably. Okay, what else? Blue cheese? What! I mean—I don't know. Pepperoni Green Bell Peppers Roasted garlic Red pepper l l WhiteMushroom Link sausage LINK SAUSAGE? Yeah, I guess. Why link sausage? I'll tell you later. Okay. Strangely enough, of course, by the time I had realized it, though, I was back at the same intersection at which I always transferred, and though I had been in the city long enough, but not quite settled, it had been a while since I had been turned around or lost unintentionally—though I did sometimes make a habit or acurrying about in airplane mode and taking trains out of my way in order to dislodge whatever had been tracking me, whether it was supernatural or otherwise—it did seem to deter the sometimes uncomfortable and problematic psychological attacks—which, the more I studied and gave way to being some kind of targeted practice, using the empties bodies of those controlled by their phones—consistently connected to applications such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Tik Tok—“Tracking Apps” which I called them, and was not wholeheartedly against so much as without need for them, as my need for any sort of affection—especially the false instant gratification one might gain or lose, becoming victim to the racially programmed algorithms and calculated population division and psychological terrorization of an entire generation; no judgement passed, but I had been careful to remind myself that whatever was happening by way of social media was a cultural and non-televised revolution, from which I wanted no part of. Still, I had noticed that when a high number of coughing people did happen to find my way around my presence, I was connected to some sort of network, and that those particular people were typically visibly sick in some other way—scrolling mindlessly, or without the light or life in their eyes left, eating poisonous food, or acting in the way of some other unworldly seeming sickness; I began to cope of course with the comfort that, in the event of bad intentions having been set on me in any individualist mindset—a curse would be returned tenfold if not more. I think link Larkin is lurking I like it! I'm cravin a link aausage in this obsirdisty Dirty as the Mother Earth Ohh lol link sausage. That only took a year. What if I have to listen to deadmau5 all night every night forever? Like deadmau5 does? Not every night. Just work nights. Oh wowZ. Damn fucking right. Wherems th— Nvm Fuck Dillon Francis WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT. Ugh. How'd you get in? An autographed picture. Ah. How'd you get in? Poster on the wall. Nice. …how'd you get in? The hard way. What's the hard way? I'll tell you later. Ah, fuck. I'm living in my head again. That's not so bad, is it? No. It's a lot of — uh. Deadmau5. I mean, at the moment— but like I said, it's— Whatever happened between you two is not my business. What is your business. Robotics. With any luck… Brooklyn Barclays Center March 20 10-4 Ugh. The scar over my right eye, which my ex husband had carved into the shape of an eye using my own house key began to warm and tingle, but not quite burn, as it had in the past—the scythe shaped scar on the inside of my lip began to well up as I clenched my teeth, running my tongue against the back of my teeth as not to give it any more power or attention—I had decided after all, that even my worst enemies were just myself, and though Blissful abstinence, Selective honesty, and Strategic thinking— Syncinf, cleaning sinks And letting it all sink in Secret keeping You look lost. Go figure, Sunnï Blū in an all-red sprinter I don't want to live here, I just wanna go somewhere to go. And say “I been there” Been dere, Bender Been in a Benz, dear l l l Spin clear— I'm Sinclair Windex on a big mirror! I guess I'll see you when I see you I guess I'll see you when I see you I guess I'll see you when I see you I guess I'll see you when I see you If you talk less, The less you have to lie, I guess Why be mad at God? God's not mad at me; Waiting for the world to end Waiting for a song to sing Or anything that Makes me feel like I'm living Like I'm living in anything Other than the Everything Everything is everything. Dang— Was I really that hangry? Am I really that angry? I don't know why you hate me But lately— I really don't care no more! Dang! Nothings the same these days Not even your name Nothings the same Not even the way it feels, Cause lately— I really don't care no more Careful, Kay— You know I ain't crazy Ain't gonna pay to be played with; (But I might get paid though) No, I really don't care how you feel I don't care how it ends You don't care how I live I don't care who wins I'm not in this— Illumianti shit I don't care no more I really don't care I really don't care I really don't care no more Top Oh, I missed the last 5 songs Writing you another one Really don't care no more Sometimes it's a half, or a whole thing— Sometimes it's living your life and not worrying about where you're going Maybe it's a no Maybe there's just no maybes Maybe I'm ELOHIM is a NANNY and struggling musician Why would she be struggling?? She's white and prett. Is she Jewish? That might be it. #OWSLACONFIDENTIAL it happens to all of us, you know. Does it though? He does it for the music! What music might that be? Look, you idiot! I thought those could be m his kids with you honestly, before I decided you were the nanny. How would these be his kids? Cause they're beautiful! The older one's already taller than him. That happens, sometimes. Look, you gotta know something. How did you even find me hiding in this deadmau5 construct? This is a game of strategy! Be quiet, Be cautious; The Illuminati's watching Here's a front man, Don't do much, man Give up your past And lastly, your intentions Hey. Hey. Do you wanna like—get married and have kids, or— —I wanna party and get fucked up until we kill each other— I like learning my lessons the hard way. So, sex then? No more sex. So much sex. This is hardly enough money, Dillon. I know, it's— I can't sell you anything for this. Oh, come on! Ugh, this nigga is corny. I just thought it would be funny. It isn't funny anymore. You will stand the test of time. You will stand the test of time. You will stand the test of time. You will stand the test of time. How about a dollar For every time I thought about the father of my child, (Yet unborn) It's wild, innit? The shit we pull just to pull up to Skrillex And be respected for anything Instead of resented. The best transmutation I could commit to was to change my triggers into positive intentions, turning 4:20 into DillonnFrwncis forever reason just in case it did need to be as easily discarded, Still, something seems missing It doesn't seem worth it I want to move up, But I gotta move under And everything under the son is just wonderful; He'll find another mother for his son and his daughter soon— That's what I wanted That's what I wanted That's what I wanted; A wonderful world for him Don't talk too much about the truth, If you don't want it All I really ever wanted was a husband, And a love life, And a come up on an comet— But I probably lost it all at once Accomplishments and comments On the Carters Stop The Promises Sonny's not coming. I mean, this algorithm says otherwise Does any one else really wanna be this guys wife? Listen, look—check this out, guys. I don't like this part. I love this part. I'm gonna go ahead and send all of these [fully compatible matches] Your way. Lord have mercy Oh, Jesus Christ. You're welcome. Okay, Satan, here it is. You mean it? I mean it—just— Uhuh. Before I sign this Uh-huh And give you my soul You're selling it. I—no, I'm—I'm just— giving it to you. I beg your pardon. Please, don't beg. What do you mean? I am going to give you my soul. Yeah, for what? Just—for Free. For FREE? WHY? Look this — thing— [super shiny soul] Feels a lot. Yes —like, too much— Well, yeah, that's— So I'm giving it to you. But, for what? For free, dude. Yeah—but what do you want from me? Nothing, you're gross. I'm not gross. You're fucking gross, man. You know what? Forget the paperwork. Just take it. Uhhhhh It's a gift. SATAN has never been given a gift. Aww, that's sad. It's not sad. He's very unpleasant. UGH. Every time I saw the perfect type of woman I wished I was— I thought of Sonny, and anothe tip in my soul—then, I turned the thought into a magnificent force of motion—to wish him nothing but the very best, and move on. Dah daba da da da badabadah DABADABADABADABADAH —Vanilla. Sunni, what are you doing? That's the hook. “Vanilla?” Yeah. ITS A HIT. What? It went Diamond. MORGAN Nooo…. shut up, Morgan—you fuckin hater? I'm not a hater, I just hate this song. I hate all your songs! What songs?! I don't make music! EXACTLY. SHUT UP. Later: Nominated for a GRAMMY MORGAN You're fucking kidding. FUCK OFF, PUMKIN SPICE. pipe it up// arugula Sunni, I can't fight all these charges. I'm fighting the charges! You're just my lawyer! Just because you have all the money in the world, it doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. Yes it does. SUNNI, YOU KICKED A BABY? Before: Getcha bow legged ass baby out my way! [swings leg, cut back to] You can't DO that. He was wearing a diaper! SO! Built in padding! . SUNNI. JIMMY FALLON IS IN TEARS, riding a fully packed bus through the Bronx after being separated from AMY PEOLER**sp AND TINA FEY There he is! Jimmy, you idiot! You found me! I think we can all agree, Homeless Jimmy Fallon is the most tragic Jimmy Fallon. I thought long haired Jimmy Fallon was pretty tragic. Tall Jimmy Fallon had me confused— Yeah but blue eyed Jimmy Fallon. BLUE-EYED JIMMY FALLON …hey. No, fuck this. Am I doing it right? No! I quit. I M A G I N A R Y. F R I E N D S Flashback, Season 4 Speaking of assholes… Dillon Francis has just become Captain of The Assholes, a special branch of selected Motherfuckers. What is happening? Deadmau5 hacked into SUPACREE'S conciousness with computer programming. (OOOHHH). That sounds like a hassle. Wait tho, didn't Dillon Francis do exactly the same thing, but with like magic or something? YEAH! HE DID! (Wow.) But wait— but Skrillex did it first ((God is Good)) Shhhh! We're gonna miss something important— —but like—with frequencies— —like genetic synethisis, or something? What's “genetic synesthesis” exactly? What the fuck are you nerds watching? SHHHHHH! DEQTHWISJ Just, Jump, Natalie. Oh shit! Now what's happening. Don't do this to me. You did it, I'm just watching. What the fuck is happening?! Just jump! Did you change the channel? Where is SUPACREE?! What the fuck. Go back! You can't! It's a live premiere or something! What! It's like a livestream—! Kind of! What channel is this?! It's not a channel, it's an application! So close the application and restart it or something! You can't, it's it's the beta version and I got it illegally! What! I'd you exit the application, it just deletes itself—or something—! What the fuck are you guys doing?' NOTHING! Go back to your hole and write math problems, or something. Well, okay then. The fourth roommate, dressed in all black adorned with a hoodie, slinks back into the hallway, disappearing into a darkly lit room— Sitting behind the illuminated screen of a custom computer set up, the fourth roommate takes off her hood, revealing herself to be COUGHS, a popular celebrity photographer, best known for her work with real-world SONNY/SKRILLEX The sound of her nails typing quickly against the keyboard of the still darkly-lit room becomes the prominent sound, over her roommates arguing in the background, as we fade into the background of a green and black coding screen. T H E L E G E N D O F S Ū P A C R E E Let the stones fall where they may; I might bend, But I just won't break Let the cards fall how they may— There's no mistakes I made the game up {Enter The Multiverse} [The Festival Project.™] COPYRIGHT © THE FESTIVAL PROJECT 2023 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. © -U.

Don't look Too close What you know Isn't what you know; A cold wind blows My hopes away, My home away from home. I was on the wrong bus for awhile before I noticed it, or rather, the right bus, going in the wrong direction— or even, to be clearer, as the bus was marked 5554, or some other number at the end, of course overshadowed by the first sequenced numbers, always tending to me uncomfortable— even though I had attempted to wash its original meaning to my self out of my mind by replacing it with its most commonly accepted Angel number meaning—I was doing everything I could anyway to move toward forgiveness and alluding to the obvious notion that, whatever had happened between my ex and I had been for the better after all, after all was said and done ( and though it never really was), the love and our marriage were at least ended, and never to rerun to that or any relationship which would put my mind and body at risk, let alone my heart or my soul. What's on a deadmau5? Uh—pepperoni— Are you sure? Uh, yeah, probably. Okay, what else? Blue cheese? What! I mean—I don't know. Pepperoni Green Bell Peppers Roasted garlic Red pepper l l WhiteMushroom Link sausage LINK SAUSAGE? Yeah, I guess. Why link sausage? I'll tell you later. Okay. Strangely enough, of course, by the time I had realized it, though, I was back at the same intersection at which I always transferred, and though I had been in the city long enough, but not quite settled, it had been a while since I had been turned around or lost unintentionally—though I did sometimes make a habit or acurrying about in airplane mode and taking trains out of my way in order to dislodge whatever had been tracking me, whether it was supernatural or otherwise—it did seem to deter the sometimes uncomfortable and problematic psychological attacks—which, the more I studied and gave way to being some kind of targeted practice, using the empties bodies of those controlled by their phones—consistently connected to applications such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Tik Tok—“Tracking Apps” which I called them, and was not wholeheartedly against so much as without need for them, as my need for any sort of affection—especially the false instant gratification one might gain or lose, becoming victim to the racially programmed algorithms and calculated population division and psychological terrorization of an entire generation; no judgement passed, but I had been careful to remind myself that whatever was happening by way of social media was a cultural and non-televised revolution, from which I wanted no part of. Still, I had noticed that when a high number of coughing people did happen to find my way around my presence, I was connected to some sort of network, and that those particular people were typically visibly sick in some other way—scrolling mindlessly, or without the light or life in their eyes left, eating poisonous food, or acting in the way of some other unworldly seeming sickness; I began to cope of course with the comfort that, in the event of bad intentions having been set on me in any individualist mindset—a curse would be returned tenfold if not more. I think link Larkin is lurking I like it! I'm cravin a link aausage in this obsirdisty Dirty as the Mother Earth Ohh lol link sausage. That only took a year. What if I have to listen to deadmau5 all night every night forever? Like deadmau5 does? Not every night. Just work nights. Oh wowZ. Damn fucking right. Wherems th— Nvm Fuck Dillon Francis WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT. Ugh. How'd you get in? An autographed picture. Ah. How'd you get in? Poster on the wall. Nice. …how'd you get in? The hard way. What's the hard way? I'll tell you later. Ah, fuck. I'm living in my head again. That's not so bad, is it? No. It's a lot of — uh. Deadmau5. I mean, at the moment— but like I said, it's— Whatever happened between you two is not my business. What is your business. Robotics. With any luck… Brooklyn Barclays Center March 20 10-4 Ugh. The scar over my right eye, which my ex husband had carved into the shape of an eye using my own house key began to warm and tingle, but not quite burn, as it had in the past—the scythe shaped scar on the inside of my lip began to well up as I clenched my teeth, running my tongue against the back of my teeth as not to give it any more power or attention—I had decided after all, that even my worst enemies were just myself, and though Blissful abstinence, Selective honesty, and Strategic thinking— Syncinf, cleaning sinks And letting it all sink in Secret keeping You look lost. Go figure, Sunnï Blū in an all-red sprinter I don't want to live here, I just wanna go somewhere to go. And say “I been there” Been dere, Bender Been in a Benz, dear l l l Spin clear— I'm Sinclair Windex on a big mirror! I guess I'll see you when I see you I guess I'll see you when I see you I guess I'll see you when I see you I guess I'll see you when I see you If you talk less, The less you have to lie, I guess Why be mad at God? God's not mad at me; Waiting for the world to end Waiting for a song to sing Or anything that Makes me feel like I'm living Like I'm living in anything Other than the Everything Everything is everything. Dang— Was I really that hangry? Am I really that angry? I don't know why you hate me But lately— I really don't care no more! Dang! Nothings the same these days Not even your name Nothings the same Not even the way it feels, Cause lately— I really don't care no more Careful, Kay— You know I ain't crazy Ain't gonna pay to be played with; (But I might get paid though) No, I really don't care how you feel I don't care how it ends You don't care how I live I don't care who wins I'm not in this— Illumianti shit I don't care no more I really don't care I really don't care I really don't care no more Top Oh, I missed the last 5 songs Writing you another one Really don't care no more Sometimes it's a half, or a whole thing— Sometimes it's living your life and not worrying about where you're going Maybe it's a no Maybe there's just no maybes Maybe I'm ELOHIM is a NANNY and struggling musician Why would she be struggling?? She's white and prett. Is she Jewish? That might be it. #OWSLACONFIDENTIAL it happens to all of us, you know. Does it though? He does it for the music! What music might that be? Look, you idiot! I thought those could be m his kids with you honestly, before I decided you were the nanny. How would these be his kids? Cause they're beautiful! The older one's already taller than him. That happens, sometimes. Look, you gotta know something. How did you even find me hiding in this deadmau5 construct? This is a game of strategy! Be quiet, Be cautious; The Illuminati's watching Here's a front man, Don't do much, man Give up your past And lastly, your intentions Hey. Hey. Do you wanna like—get married and have kids, or— —I wanna party and get fucked up until we kill each other— I like learning my lessons the hard way. So, sex then? No more sex. So much sex. This is hardly enough money, Dillon. I know, it's— I can't sell you anything for this. Oh, come on! Ugh, this nigga is corny. I just thought it would be funny. It isn't funny anymore. You will stand the test of time. You will stand the test of time. You will stand the test of time. You will stand the test of time. How about a dollar For every time I thought about the father of my child, (Yet unborn) It's wild, innit? The shit we pull just to pull up to Skrillex And be respected for anything Instead of resented. The best transmutation I could commit to was to change my triggers into positive intentions, turning 4:20 into DillonnFrwncis forever reason just in case it did need to be as easily discarded, Still, something seems missing It doesn't seem worth it I want to move up, But I gotta move under And everything under the son is just wonderful; He'll find another mother for his son and his daughter soon— That's what I wanted That's what I wanted That's what I wanted; A wonderful world for him Don't talk too much about the truth, If you don't want it All I really ever wanted was a husband, And a love life, And a come up on an comet— But I probably lost it all at once Accomplishments and comments On the Carters Stop The Promises Sonny's not coming. I mean, this algorithm says otherwise Does any one else really wanna be this guys wife? Listen, look—check this out, guys. I don't like this part. I love this part. I'm gonna go ahead and send all of these [fully compatible matches] Your way. Lord have mercy Oh, Jesus Christ. You're welcome. Okay, Satan, here it is. You mean it? I mean it—just— Uhuh. Before I sign this Uh-huh And give you my soul You're selling it. I—no, I'm—I'm just— giving it to you. I beg your pardon. Please, don't beg. What do you mean? I am going to give you my soul. Yeah, for what? Just—for Free. For FREE? WHY? Look this — thing— [super shiny soul] Feels a lot. Yes —like, too much— Well, yeah, that's— So I'm giving it to you. But, for what? For free, dude. Yeah—but what do you want from me? Nothing, you're gross. I'm not gross. You're fucking gross, man. You know what? Forget the paperwork. Just take it. Uhhhhh It's a gift. SATAN has never been given a gift. Aww, that's sad. It's not sad. He's very unpleasant. UGH. Every time I saw the perfect type of woman I wished I was— I thought of Sonny, and anothe tip in my soul—then, I turned the thought into a magnificent force of motion—to wish him nothing but the very best, and move on. Dah daba da da da badabadah DABADABADABADABADAH —Vanilla. Sunni, what are you doing? That's the hook. “Vanilla?” Yeah. ITS A HIT. What? It went Diamond. MORGAN Nooo…. shut up, Morgan—you fuckin hater? I'm not a hater, I just hate this song. I hate all your songs! What songs?! I don't make music! EXACTLY. SHUT UP. Later: Nominated for a GRAMMY MORGAN You're fucking kidding. FUCK OFF, PUMKIN SPICE. pipe it up// arugula Sunni, I can't fight all these charges. I'm fighting the charges! You're just my lawyer! Just because you have all the money in the world, it doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. Yes it does. SUNNI, YOU KICKED A BABY? Before: Getcha bow legged ass baby out my way! [swings leg, cut back to] You can't DO that. He was wearing a diaper! SO! Built in padding! . SUNNI. JIMMY FALLON IS IN TEARS, riding a fully packed bus through the Bronx after being separated from AMY PEOLER**sp AND TINA FEY There he is! Jimmy, you idiot! You found me! I think we can all agree, Homeless Jimmy Fallon is the most tragic Jimmy Fallon. I thought long haired Jimmy Fallon was pretty tragic. Tall Jimmy Fallon had me confused— Yeah but blue eyed Jimmy Fallon. BLUE-EYED JIMMY FALLON …hey. No, fuck this. Am I doing it right? No! I quit. I M A G I N A R Y. F R I E N D S Flashback, Season 4 Speaking of assholes… Dillon Francis has just become Captain of The Assholes, a special branch of selected Motherfuckers. What is happening? Deadmau5 hacked into SUPACREE'S conciousness with computer programming. (OOOHHH). That sounds like a hassle. Wait tho, didn't Dillon Francis do exactly the same thing, but with like magic or something? YEAH! HE DID! (Wow.) But wait— but Skrillex did it first ((God is Good)) Shhhh! We're gonna miss something important— —but like—with frequencies— —like genetic synethisis, or something? What's “genetic synesthesis” exactly? What the fuck are you nerds watching? SHHHHHH! DEQTHWISJ Just, Jump, Natalie. Oh shit! Now what's happening. Don't do this to me. You did it, I'm just watching. What the fuck is happening?! Just jump! Did you change the channel? Where is SUPACREE?! What the fuck. Go back! You can't! It's a live premiere or something! What! It's like a livestream—! Kind of! What channel is this?! It's not a channel, it's an application! So close the application and restart it or something! You can't, it's it's the beta version and I got it illegally! What! I'd you exit the application, it just deletes itself—or something—! What the fuck are you guys doing?' NOTHING! Go back to your hole and write math problems, or something. Well, okay then. The fourth roommate, dressed in all black adorned with a hoodie, slinks back into the hallway, disappearing into a darkly lit room— Sitting behind the illuminated screen of a custom computer set up, the fourth roommate takes off her hood, revealing herself to be COUGHS, a popular celebrity photographer, best known for her work with real-world SONNY/SKRILLEX The sound of her nails typing quickly against the keyboard of the still darkly-lit room becomes the prominent sound, over her roommates arguing in the background, as we fade into the background of a green and black coding screen. T H E L E G E N D O F S Ū P A C R E E Let the stones fall where they may; I might bend, But I just won't break Let the cards fall how they may— There's no mistakes I made the game up {Enter The Multiverse} [The Festival Project.™] COPYRIGHT © THE FESTIVAL PROJECT 2023 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. © -U.

Don't look Too close What you know Isn't what you know; A cold wind blows My hopes away, My home away from home. I was on the wrong bus for awhile before I noticed it, or rather, the right bus, going in the wrong direction— or even, to be clearer, as the bus was marked 5554, or some other number at the end, of course overshadowed by the first sequenced numbers, always tending to me uncomfortable— even though I had attempted to wash its original meaning to my self out of my mind by replacing it with its most commonly accepted Angel number meaning—I was doing everything I could anyway to move toward forgiveness and alluding to the obvious notion that, whatever had happened between my ex and I had been for the better after all, after all was said and done ( and though it never really was), the love and our marriage were at least ended, and never to rerun to that or any relationship which would put my mind and body at risk, let alone my heart or my soul. What's on a deadmau5? Uh—pepperoni— Are you sure? Uh, yeah, probably. Okay, what else? Blue cheese? What! I mean—I don't know. Pepperoni Green Bell Peppers Roasted garlic Red pepper l l WhiteMushroom Link sausage LINK SAUSAGE? Yeah, I guess. Why link sausage? I'll tell you later. Okay. Strangely enough, of course, by the time I had realized it, though, I was back at the same intersection at which I always transferred, and though I had been in the city long enough, but not quite settled, it had been a while since I had been turned around or lost unintentionally—though I did sometimes make a habit or acurrying about in airplane mode and taking trains out of my way in order to dislodge whatever had been tracking me, whether it was supernatural or otherwise—it did seem to deter the sometimes uncomfortable and problematic psychological attacks—which, the more I studied and gave way to being some kind of targeted practice, using the empties bodies of those controlled by their phones—consistently connected to applications such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Tik Tok—“Tracking Apps” which I called them, and was not wholeheartedly against so much as without need for them, as my need for any sort of affection—especially the false instant gratification one might gain or lose, becoming victim to the racially programmed algorithms and calculated population division and psychological terrorization of an entire generation; no judgement passed, but I had been careful to remind myself that whatever was happening by way of social media was a cultural and non-televised revolution, from which I wanted no part of. Still, I had noticed that when a high number of coughing people did happen to find my way around my presence, I was connected to some sort of network, and that those particular people were typically visibly sick in some other way—scrolling mindlessly, or without the light or life in their eyes left, eating poisonous food, or acting in the way of some other unworldly seeming sickness; I began to cope of course with the comfort that, in the event of bad intentions having been set on me in any individualist mindset—a curse would be returned tenfold if not more. I think link Larkin is lurking I like it! I'm cravin a link aausage in this obsirdisty Dirty as the Mother Earth Ohh lol link sausage. That only took a year. What if I have to listen to deadmau5 all night every night forever? Like deadmau5 does? Not every night. Just work nights. Oh wowZ. Damn fucking right. Wherems th— Nvm Fuck Dillon Francis WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT. Ugh. How'd you get in? An autographed picture. Ah. How'd you get in? Poster on the wall. Nice. …how'd you get in? The hard way. What's the hard way? I'll tell you later. Ah, fuck. I'm living in my head again. That's not so bad, is it? No. It's a lot of — uh. Deadmau5. I mean, at the moment— but like I said, it's— Whatever happened between you two is not my business. What is your business. Robotics. With any luck… Brooklyn Barclays Center March 20 10-4 Ugh. The scar over my right eye, which my ex husband had carved into the shape of an eye using my own house key began to warm and tingle, but not quite burn, as it had in the past—the scythe shaped scar on the inside of my lip began to well up as I clenched my teeth, running my tongue against the back of my teeth as not to give it any more power or attention—I had decided after all, that even my worst enemies were just myself, and though Blissful abstinence, Selective honesty, and Strategic thinking— Syncinf, cleaning sinks And letting it all sink in Secret keeping You look lost. Go figure, Sunnï Blū in an all-red sprinter I don't want to live here, I just wanna go somewhere to go. And say “I been there” Been dere, Bender Been in a Benz, dear l l l Spin clear— I'm Sinclair Windex on a big mirror! I guess I'll see you when I see you I guess I'll see you when I see you I guess I'll see you when I see you I guess I'll see you when I see you If you talk less, The less you have to lie, I guess Why be mad at God? God's not mad at me; Waiting for the world to end Waiting for a song to sing Or anything that Makes me feel like I'm living Like I'm living in anything Other than the Everything Everything is everything. Dang— Was I really that hangry? Am I really that angry? I don't know why you hate me But lately— I really don't care no more! Dang! Nothings the same these days Not even your name Nothings the same Not even the way it feels, Cause lately— I really don't care no more Careful, Kay— You know I ain't crazy Ain't gonna pay to be played with; (But I might get paid though) No, I really don't care how you feel I don't care how it ends You don't care how I live I don't care who wins I'm not in this— Illumianti shit I don't care no more I really don't care I really don't care I really don't care no more Top Oh, I missed the last 5 songs Writing you another one Really don't care no more Sometimes it's a half, or a whole thing— Sometimes it's living your life and not worrying about where you're going Maybe it's a no Maybe there's just no maybes Maybe I'm ELOHIM is a NANNY and struggling musician Why would she be struggling?? She's white and prett. Is she Jewish? That might be it. #OWSLACONFIDENTIAL it happens to all of us, you know. Does it though? He does it for the music! What music might that be? Look, you idiot! I thought those could be m his kids with you honestly, before I decided you were the nanny. How would these be his kids? Cause they're beautiful! The older one's already taller than him. That happens, sometimes. Look, you gotta know something. How did you even find me hiding in this deadmau5 construct? This is a game of strategy! Be quiet, Be cautious; The Illuminati's watching Here's a front man, Don't do much, man Give up your past And lastly, your intentions Hey. Hey. Do you wanna like—get married and have kids, or— —I wanna party and get fucked up until we kill each other— I like learning my lessons the hard way. So, sex then? No more sex. So much sex. This is hardly enough money, Dillon. I know, it's— I can't sell you anything for this. Oh, come on! Ugh, this nigga is corny. I just thought it would be funny. It isn't funny anymore. You will stand the test of time. You will stand the test of time. You will stand the test of time. You will stand the test of time. How about a dollar For every time I thought about the father of my child, (Yet unborn) It's wild, innit? The shit we pull just to pull up to Skrillex And be respected for anything Instead of resented. The best transmutation I could commit to was to change my triggers into positive intentions, turning 4:20 into DillonnFrwncis forever reason just in case it did need to be as easily discarded, Still, something seems missing It doesn't seem worth it I want to move up, But I gotta move under And everything under the son is just wonderful; He'll find another mother for his son and his daughter soon— That's what I wanted That's what I wanted That's what I wanted; A wonderful world for him Don't talk too much about the truth, If you don't want it All I really ever wanted was a husband, And a love life, And a come up on an comet— But I probably lost it all at once Accomplishments and comments On the Carters Stop The Promises Sonny's not coming. I mean, this algorithm says otherwise Does any one else really wanna be this guys wife? Listen, look—check this out, guys. I don't like this part. I love this part. I'm gonna go ahead and send all of these [fully compatible matches] Your way. Lord have mercy Oh, Jesus Christ. You're welcome. Okay, Satan, here it is. You mean it? I mean it—just— Uhuh. Before I sign this Uh-huh And give you my soul You're selling it. I—no, I'm—I'm just— giving it to you. I beg your pardon. Please, don't beg. What do you mean? I am going to give you my soul. Yeah, for what? Just—for Free. For FREE? WHY? Look this — thing— [super shiny soul] Feels a lot. Yes —like, too much— Well, yeah, that's— So I'm giving it to you. But, for what? For free, dude. Yeah—but what do you want from me? Nothing, you're gross. I'm not gross. You're fucking gross, man. You know what? Forget the paperwork. Just take it. Uhhhhh It's a gift. SATAN has never been given a gift. Aww, that's sad. It's not sad. He's very unpleasant. UGH. Every time I saw the perfect type of woman I wished I was— I thought of Sonny, and anothe tip in my soul—then, I turned the thought into a magnificent force of motion—to wish him nothing but the very best, and move on. Dah daba da da da badabadah DABADABADABADABADAH —Vanilla. Sunni, what are you doing? That's the hook. “Vanilla?” Yeah. ITS A HIT. What? It went Diamond. MORGAN Nooo…. shut up, Morgan—you fuckin hater? I'm not a hater, I just hate this song. I hate all your songs! What songs?! I don't make music! EXACTLY. SHUT UP. Later: Nominated for a GRAMMY MORGAN You're fucking kidding. FUCK OFF, PUMKIN SPICE. pipe it up// arugula Sunni, I can't fight all these charges. I'm fighting the charges! You're just my lawyer! Just because you have all the money in the world, it doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. Yes it does. SUNNI, YOU KICKED A BABY? Before: Getcha bow legged ass baby out my way! [swings leg, cut back to] You can't DO that. He was wearing a diaper! SO! Built in padding! . SUNNI. JIMMY FALLON IS IN TEARS, riding a fully packed bus through the Bronx after being separated from AMY PEOLER**sp AND TINA FEY There he is! Jimmy, you idiot! You found me! I think we can all agree, Homeless Jimmy Fallon is the most tragic Jimmy Fallon. I thought long haired Jimmy Fallon was pretty tragic. Tall Jimmy Fallon had me confused— Yeah but blue eyed Jimmy Fallon. BLUE-EYED JIMMY FALLON …hey. No, fuck this. Am I doing it right? No! I quit. I M A G I N A R Y. F R I E N D S Flashback, Season 4 Speaking of assholes… Dillon Francis has just become Captain of The Assholes, a special branch of selected Motherfuckers. What is happening? Deadmau5 hacked into SUPACREE'S conciousness with computer programming. (OOOHHH). That sounds like a hassle. Wait tho, didn't Dillon Francis do exactly the same thing, but with like magic or something? YEAH! HE DID! (Wow.) But wait— but Skrillex did it first ((God is Good)) Shhhh! We're gonna miss something important— —but like—with frequencies— —like genetic synethisis, or something? What's “genetic synesthesis” exactly? What the fuck are you nerds watching? SHHHHHH! DEQTHWISJ Just, Jump, Natalie. Oh shit! Now what's happening. Don't do this to me. You did it, I'm just watching. What the fuck is happening?! Just jump! Did you change the channel? Where is SUPACREE?! What the fuck. Go back! You can't! It's a live premiere or something! What! It's like a livestream—! Kind of! What channel is this?! It's not a channel, it's an application! So close the application and restart it or something! You can't, it's it's the beta version and I got it illegally! What! I'd you exit the application, it just deletes itself—or something—! What the fuck are you guys doing?' NOTHING! Go back to your hole and write math problems, or something. Well, okay then. The fourth roommate, dressed in all black adorned with a hoodie, slinks back into the hallway, disappearing into a darkly lit room— Sitting behind the illuminated screen of a custom computer set up, the fourth roommate takes off her hood, revealing herself to be COUGHS, a popular celebrity photographer, best known for her work with real-world SONNY/SKRILLEX The sound of her nails typing quickly against the keyboard of the still darkly-lit room becomes the prominent sound, over her roommates arguing in the background, as we fade into the background of a green and black coding screen. T H E L E G E N D O F S Ū P A C R E E Let the stones fall where they may; I might bend, But I just won't break Let the cards fall how they may— There's no mistakes I made the game up {Enter The Multiverse} [The Festival Project.™] COPYRIGHT © THE FESTIVAL PROJECT 2023 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. © -U.

Don't look Too close What you know Isn't what you know; A cold wind blows My hopes away, My home away from home. I was on the wrong bus for awhile before I noticed it, or rather, the right bus, going in the wrong direction— or even, to be clearer, as the bus was marked 5554, or some other number at the end, of course overshadowed by the first sequenced numbers, always tending to me uncomfortable— even though I had attempted to wash its original meaning to my self out of my mind by replacing it with its most commonly accepted Angel number meaning—I was doing everything I could anyway to move toward forgiveness and alluding to the obvious notion that, whatever had happened between my ex and I had been for the better after all, after all was said and done ( and though it never really was), the love and our marriage were at least ended, and never to rerun to that or any relationship which would put my mind and body at risk, let alone my heart or my soul. What's on a deadmau5? Uh—pepperoni— Are you sure? Uh, yeah, probably. Okay, what else? Blue cheese? What! I mean—I don't know. Pepperoni Green Bell Peppers Roasted garlic Red pepper l l WhiteMushroom Link sausage LINK SAUSAGE? Yeah, I guess. Why link sausage? I'll tell you later. Okay. Strangely enough, of course, by the time I had realized it, though, I was back at the same intersection at which I always transferred, and though I had been in the city long enough, but not quite settled, it had been a while since I had been turned around or lost unintentionally—though I did sometimes make a habit or acurrying about in airplane mode and taking trains out of my way in order to dislodge whatever had been tracking me, whether it was supernatural or otherwise—it did seem to deter the sometimes uncomfortable and problematic psychological attacks—which, the more I studied and gave way to being some kind of targeted practice, using the empties bodies of those controlled by their phones—consistently connected to applications such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Tik Tok—“Tracking Apps” which I called them, and was not wholeheartedly against so much as without need for them, as my need for any sort of affection—especially the false instant gratification one might gain or lose, becoming victim to the racially programmed algorithms and calculated population division and psychological terrorization of an entire generation; no judgement passed, but I had been careful to remind myself that whatever was happening by way of social media was a cultural and non-televised revolution, from which I wanted no part of. Still, I had noticed that when a high number of coughing people did happen to find my way around my presence, I was connected to some sort of network, and that those particular people were typically visibly sick in some other way—scrolling mindlessly, or without the light or life in their eyes left, eating poisonous food, or acting in the way of some other unworldly seeming sickness; I began to cope of course with the comfort that, in the event of bad intentions having been set on me in any individualist mindset—a curse would be returned tenfold if not more. I think link Larkin is lurking I like it! I'm cravin a link aausage in this obsirdisty Dirty as the Mother Earth Ohh lol link sausage. That only took a year. What if I have to listen to deadmau5 all night every night forever? Like deadmau5 does? Not every night. Just work nights. Oh wowZ. Damn fucking right. Wherems th— Nvm Fuck Dillon Francis WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT. Ugh. How'd you get in? An autographed picture. Ah. How'd you get in? Poster on the wall. Nice. …how'd you get in? The hard way. What's the hard way? I'll tell you later. Ah, fuck. I'm living in my head again. That's not so bad, is it? No. It's a lot of — uh. Deadmau5. I mean, at the moment— but like I said, it's— Whatever happened between you two is not my business. What is your business. Robotics. With any luck… Brooklyn Barclays Center March 20 10-4 Ugh. The scar over my right eye, which my ex husband had carved into the shape of an eye using my own house key began to warm and tingle, but not quite burn, as it had in the past—the scythe shaped scar on the inside of my lip began to well up as I clenched my teeth, running my tongue against the back of my teeth as not to give it any more power or attention—I had decided after all, that even my worst enemies were just myself, and though Blissful abstinence, Selective honesty, and Strategic thinking— Syncinf, cleaning sinks And letting it all sink in Secret keeping You look lost. Go figure, Sunnï Blū in an all-red sprinter I don't want to live here, I just wanna go somewhere to go. And say “I been there” Been dere, Bender Been in a Benz, dear l l l Spin clear— I'm Sinclair Windex on a big mirror! I guess I'll see you when I see you I guess I'll see you when I see you I guess I'll see you when I see you I guess I'll see you when I see you If you talk less, The less you have to lie, I guess Why be mad at God? God's not mad at me; Waiting for the world to end Waiting for a song to sing Or anything that Makes me feel like I'm living Like I'm living in anything Other than the Everything Everything is everything. Dang— Was I really that hangry? Am I really that angry? I don't know why you hate me But lately— I really don't care no more! Dang! Nothings the same these days Not even your name Nothings the same Not even the way it feels, Cause lately— I really don't care no more Careful, Kay— You know I ain't crazy Ain't gonna pay to be played with; (But I might get paid though) No, I really don't care how you feel I don't care how it ends You don't care how I live I don't care who wins I'm not in this— Illumianti shit I don't care no more I really don't care I really don't care I really don't care no more Top Oh, I missed the last 5 songs Writing you another one Really don't care no more Sometimes it's a half, or a whole thing— Sometimes it's living your life and not worrying about where you're going Maybe it's a no Maybe there's just no maybes Maybe I'm ELOHIM is a NANNY and struggling musician Why would she be struggling?? She's white and prett. Is she Jewish? That might be it. #OWSLACONFIDENTIAL it happens to all of us, you know. Does it though? He does it for the music! What music might that be? Look, you idiot! I thought those could be m his kids with you honestly, before I decided you were the nanny. How would these be his kids? Cause they're beautiful! The older one's already taller than him. That happens, sometimes. Look, you gotta know something. How did you even find me hiding in this deadmau5 construct? This is a game of strategy! Be quiet, Be cautious; The Illuminati's watching Here's a front man, Don't do much, man Give up your past And lastly, your intentions Hey. Hey. Do you wanna like—get married and have kids, or— —I wanna party and get fucked up until we kill each other— I like learning my lessons the hard way. So, sex then? No more sex. So much sex. This is hardly enough money, Dillon. I know, it's— I can't sell you anything for this. Oh, come on! Ugh, this nigga is corny. I just thought it would be funny. It isn't funny anymore. You will stand the test of time. You will stand the test of time. You will stand the test of time. You will stand the test of time. How about a dollar For every time I thought about the father of my child, (Yet unborn) It's wild, innit? The shit we pull just to pull up to Skrillex And be respected for anything Instead of resented. The best transmutation I could commit to was to change my triggers into positive intentions, turning 4:20 into DillonnFrwncis forever reason just in case it did need to be as easily discarded, Still, something seems missing It doesn't seem worth it I want to move up, But I gotta move under And everything under the son is just wonderful; He'll find another mother for his son and his daughter soon— That's what I wanted That's what I wanted That's what I wanted; A wonderful world for him Don't talk too much about the truth, If you don't want it All I really ever wanted was a husband, And a love life, And a come up on an comet— But I probably lost it all at once Accomplishments and comments On the Carters Stop The Promises Sonny's not coming. I mean, this algorithm says otherwise Does any one else really wanna be this guys wife? Listen, look—check this out, guys. I don't like this part. I love this part. I'm gonna go ahead and send all of these [fully compatible matches] Your way. Lord have mercy Oh, Jesus Christ. You're welcome. Okay, Satan, here it is. You mean it? I mean it—just— Uhuh. Before I sign this Uh-huh And give you my soul You're selling it. I—no, I'm—I'm just— giving it to you. I beg your pardon. Please, don't beg. What do you mean? I am going to give you my soul. Yeah, for what? Just—for Free. For FREE? WHY? Look this — thing— [super shiny soul] Feels a lot. Yes —like, too much— Well, yeah, that's— So I'm giving it to you. But, for what? For free, dude. Yeah—but what do you want from me? Nothing, you're gross. I'm not gross. You're fucking gross, man. You know what? Forget the paperwork. Just take it. Uhhhhh It's a gift. SATAN has never been given a gift. Aww, that's sad. It's not sad. He's very unpleasant. UGH. Every time I saw the perfect type of woman I wished I was— I thought of Sonny, and anothe tip in my soul—then, I turned the thought into a magnificent force of motion—to wish him nothing but the very best, and move on. Dah daba da da da badabadah DABADABADABADABADAH —Vanilla. Sunni, what are you doing? That's the hook. “Vanilla?” Yeah. ITS A HIT. What? It went Diamond. MORGAN Nooo…. shut up, Morgan—you fuckin hater? I'm not a hater, I just hate this song. I hate all your songs! What songs?! I don't make music! EXACTLY. SHUT UP. Later: Nominated for a GRAMMY MORGAN You're fucking kidding. FUCK OFF, PUMKIN SPICE. pipe it up// arugula Sunni, I can't fight all these charges. I'm fighting the charges! You're just my lawyer! Just because you have all the money in the world, it doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. Yes it does. SUNNI, YOU KICKED A BABY? Before: Getcha bow legged ass baby out my way! [swings leg, cut back to] You can't DO that. He was wearing a diaper! SO! Built in padding! . SUNNI. JIMMY FALLON IS IN TEARS, riding a fully packed bus through the Bronx after being separated from AMY PEOLER**sp AND TINA FEY There he is! Jimmy, you idiot! You found me! I think we can all agree, Homeless Jimmy Fallon is the most tragic Jimmy Fallon. I thought long haired Jimmy Fallon was pretty tragic. Tall Jimmy Fallon had me confused— Yeah but blue eyed Jimmy Fallon. BLUE-EYED JIMMY FALLON …hey. No, fuck this. Am I doing it right? No! I quit. I M A G I N A R Y. F R I E N D S Flashback, Season 4 Speaking of assholes… Dillon Francis has just become Captain of The Assholes, a special branch of selected Motherfuckers. What is happening? Deadmau5 hacked into SUPACREE'S conciousness with computer programming. (OOOHHH). That sounds like a hassle. Wait tho, didn't Dillon Francis do exactly the same thing, but with like magic or something? YEAH! HE DID! (Wow.) But wait— but Skrillex did it first ((God is Good)) Shhhh! We're gonna miss something important— —but like—with frequencies— —like genetic synethisis, or something? What's “genetic synesthesis” exactly? What the fuck are you nerds watching? SHHHHHH! DEQTHWISJ Just, Jump, Natalie. Oh shit! Now what's happening. Don't do this to me. You did it, I'm just watching. What the fuck is happening?! Just jump! Did you change the channel? Where is SUPACREE?! What the fuck. Go back! You can't! It's a live premiere or something! What! It's like a livestream—! Kind of! What channel is this?! It's not a channel, it's an application! So close the application and restart it or something! You can't, it's it's the beta version and I got it illegally! What! I'd you exit the application, it just deletes itself—or something—! What the fuck are you guys doing?' NOTHING! Go back to your hole and write math problems, or something. Well, okay then. The fourth roommate, dressed in all black adorned with a hoodie, slinks back into the hallway, disappearing into a darkly lit room— Sitting behind the illuminated screen of a custom computer set up, the fourth roommate takes off her hood, revealing herself to be COUGHS, a popular celebrity photographer, best known for her work with real-world SONNY/SKRILLEX The sound of her nails typing quickly against the keyboard of the still darkly-lit room becomes the prominent sound, over her roommates arguing in the background, as we fade into the background of a green and black coding screen. T H E L E G E N D O F S Ū P A C R E E Let the stones fall where they may; I might bend, But I just won't break Let the cards fall how they may— There's no mistakes I made the game up {Enter The Multiverse} [The Festival Project.™] COPYRIGHT © THE FESTIVAL PROJECT 2023 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. © -U.

In a way, you might say that DIVINE INTERVENTION, the 6th album from SLAYER (and the first with former Forbidden skins man Paul Bostaph behind the drumkit) was their moment of resurrection.   By the early 90's, much of the pre-existing thrash landscape from the 80's had either completely disappeared or radically transformed into a different non-thrash genre altogether.  Naturally, SLAYER refused to compromise their sound or their mission statement and instead came back with a furious vengeance, even angrier, darker, and eviler than before. It's time to find out what the S.L.A.Y.E.R. “backronym” means as you “carve SLAYER” while replying back to a text that was clearly meant for someone else.  Prepare to embrace the truth of Dick Taintler's powerful “message of the day”, discover what happens when you don't use shampoo “as directed”, get rid of your waterbed and JOIN US as we dive into the revival of the darkest, evilest, and most uncompromising of The Big Four with SLAYER's DIVINE INTERVENTION. Visit www.metalnerdery.com/podcast for more on this episode Leave us a Voicemail to be played on a future episode: 980-666-8182 Metal Nerdery Tees and Hoodies – metalnerdery.com/merch and kindly leave us a review and/or rating on the iTunes/Apple Podcasts - Spotify or your favorite Podcast app Listen on iTunes, Spotify, Podbean, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your Podcasts. Follow us on the Socials: Facebook - Instagram - Twitter Email: metalnerdery@gmail.com Can't be LOUD Enough Playlist on Spotify Metal Nerdery Munchies on YouTube @metalnerderypodcast SLAYER on the InterWebs:  https://www.slayer.net/  Show Notes: (00:01): “I was watching him…” / #clapsoundcheckASMR (#spititout) / “Moving his finger toward the button…” / #slowmotionASMR / “He's waitin' for the button…” / #thisepisodesclinkyoftheepisode #FireOnTheMountain / “That's next level…” / “Motioning?” / The joyous regret of #waterbedmemories / “He said…” / ***WARNING:  #listenerdiscretionisadvised #warning*** / ***WELCOME BACK TO THE METAL NERDERY PODCAST WITH HINTS OF ANESTHESIA!!!*** #fixitinpost / “Before we trans…ition…” / “No, I never did…(but I'm gonna…) #breakfastposerASMR” / “The #postcoitalsmoke …” #thatwasagoodjoe and also #thebestjoes / #steakandvagjoe #afterTheJjoe / #thisepisodesbeeroftheepisode / #StillfireBrewing #Brewering #OFarrellsIrishRedAle #theverdict / “Almost like a #betterKillians…” / “Can you do it in an Irish accent?” / “That's not a word…” / “Usually it's too safe to be funny…” / Just a part of the vocab… / “I'll still give it a shot…” #IrishAccentASMR / ***HAPPY ST PATRICKS DAY TO EVERYONE!!!*** / #slainte / #sixpointoneABV #daydrinkingbeer    (08:27):  GIVE US A CALL AND LEAVE US A VOICEMAIL AT 980-666-8182!!! #TheVoiceMailSegment and #TheDarius #specialhandling #sealofapproval #nipplesofttechnology / A 2nd voicemail…from #JohnnyO / “He does have a point there…” / “I'm already covered…” / “Don't try that at home…” #nobonecookouts / “Have you seen if ZZ Top wrote Seek & Destroy?” / EYE OF THE TIGER (if it was written by Metallica) (#MoonicProductions) / “Almost sounds like #NuclearAssault…and #RideTheLightning” / #upsidedownguitar / SEEK AND DESTROY (if it was written by #ZZTop) / #hawhawhawhaw #DenisPauna #YouTubeChannel “I almost like it better…”/ “What if you were hearing what was actually going on without the music…during a music video?” / “OOOHHH!!!” / “Listen to that song again…it #SoundsLikeVanHalen” / #threeambreakthroughs / DORA THE EXPLORER (if it was performed by #LimpBizkit) #moonicproductions #YouTubeChannel   (19:50): “Did she get it right?” / #Metallica IF DARKNESS HAD A SON (“I like that riff…”) / “Yeah, they're pretty good…” / #yeah / #TheDocket SLAYER:  DIVINE INTERVENTION #1994 / “This guy's name was…Wes.” / Thinking back to the #TowerRecordsInstore with #Slayer back in '94 (in the daytime) when #DivineIntervention was released / Talking about prior Slayer album mixes & production quality relative to Divine Intervention / “we have to go heavier…” / ***Does anyone else have a fucked up version of Divine Intervention on CD? ***    (28:47): #scarredforlife (“That's way more manly than a tattoo…”) #carveslayer / #killeropener KILLING FIELDS #tobefair (“We overdosed…on metal…”) / “I'll just cut that out…” / “As a matter of fucking fact…” / “That's the secret to Slayer's sound…” / “That's a weird opener…” / #markthetime #longbuildup   (36:13): ***Wrong song, ding-dong!!!*** / “At least we know THAT's the one…” SEX, MURDER, ART / “That's good lyrical poetry…” / Use caution whenever you're lip-synching to Slayer…especially if others can read lips / FICTIONAL REALITY (“Which is where I like it…in my face”) / #antisolo / #extrahardon / “Is there ever too much?” / “Do girls ever get that?” / #moistASMR (“There's nothing wrong with moist…”) / DITTOHEAD #itsmyfavoritesong #cantbeloudenough (There's only one way to listen to this one…)   (46:46): #tittlee DIVINE INTERVENTION (“tell me this part right here is not creepy…”) / #HellsAwaits / “The #unblackalbuming of #Slayer” / “Bast off?” / “That makes it sound worse, doesn't it?” / #RussellsReflectionsASMR (“Look at this photograph…”) / “It doesn't matter, dude…” / #rabbitholeASMR / “Look at that motherfucker's #wiki…” / #markthetime #AndySneapASMR   (54:32): ***Has anyone heard the #PaulGilbertDioAlbum?*** / #RussellsReflectionsRepriseASMR #tangentionalwasteASMR / “Dude, do they compose?” / #deepbreathandbegin CIRCLE OF BELIEFS / #swampchicken #wetchicken / SS-3 (about Reinhard Heydrich) / Okay, HERE's the right one… SERENITY IN MURDER (***go check out the video on #YouTube***) / The ultimate #pausemoment / #shitgasm   (1:04:04): “The cannibal, the cook, the legend…” / 213 (Easily one of THE creepiest guitar openings on a Slayer song EVER!) / “It's close…” / “It's so spastic…” / That last line of vocals…#creepy / “To add creepy to creepier…” / “They're like huge #spacedildos…” #eventhorizon #sciencewords #snortworthyhilarity / #killercloser MIND CONTROL / “Figure it out, fuckface!” / #trackingchanges / “Did you just fart?” / #weirdtextASMR / “You don't know anything about comedy…” / “You're right…” / “Send titties…” / Favorite tracks? / ***Where does this album rank relative to the catalog (up to this point)? *** / “I got it…” / A modernized take on Hell Awaits / “That's a new t-shirt…” / “Just quote #DickTaintler…” / ***HAVE A GREAT SAINT PATRICK'S DAY!!!*** THANK YOU FOR JOINING US!!! / “I think Slayer gets the last word…” / ***Stop by the #BunkerpoonGiftShoppe and Purchandise some Merchandise at metalnerdery.com/merch *** / #outroreel / When someone says: “You're in good hands..”/ “You're gonna edit that out, right?” / #cricketsASMR #outroreelextendedmixASMR  

Ooohhh. That's gotta hurt. All the dirty tactics and no success. Howler Head is now available in the UK! Head to https://howlerhead.com to get your hands on some today. Also available in larger Tescos, Amazon and https://www.masterofmalt.com/liqueurs/howler-head/howler-head-liqueur/ The UK Chief Medical Officers recommend adults do not regularly drink more than 14 units per week. Please drink responsibly -https://www.Drinkaware.co.uk Legal consumption for persons 18+ in the United Kingdom and 21+ in the United States of America. The sale of Howler Head will be subject to the countries' age restrictions and legislation.

It's 2023 and FMT is back! New year, same old us. Rich, Kev and Jeb are back and on top form, discussing PVP successes, tag team turmoil and Ukrainian misadventures. It's good to be back. Viva la FMT! Rich's links: twitch.tv/richowensfm twitter.com/richowensfm Kev's links: twitch.tv/theunitedcityfm twitter.com/TheUnitedCityFM Jeb's links: twitch.tv/jebaroo twitter.com/thejebaroo Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/fmtpod The FMT Discord: https://discord.gg/jvJmV8Fk

Othello is not taking rejection well. He's pretty pissed. And Desdemona is totally confused. She finally has to appeal to Iago for help! Ooohhh the irony. PLEASE, if you want to be part of this conversation leave us a comment or a question here or on the website: fckshakespeare.com Want to know more? Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fckshakespeare/ Tweet at us, if you must: @fckshakespod Join our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/fshakespeare And if you are inclined to be a patron like Queen Elizabeth, you can support this podcast for as little as 99¢/month. Click the link below! Think of it like throwing money in the virtual hat while we crazy players do our little song and dance here. We thank you! (imagine us bowing now) We don't have a plan for the next thing. Want to cast your vote for the next play? DM us or email us: fckshakespeare69@gmail.com --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/fckshakespeare/support

Love is Kind.  But Are You? (Love Is… Series) - with Anne Visser   I was reading an article last year about when a mutual friend set up Prince Harry and Megan Markle on a blind date.   Megan says she had only question in mind: "Is he kind?" Love is kind, so let's talk about kindness. We've seen the t-shirts, we've used the hashtags, but how important is kindness to a relationship? Or to a marriage for that matter? To be honest, ya'll, I wouldn't rate kindness as one of my top attributes.   I mean, I'm not mean, but it's just that there are so many other qualities that rank more important to me than kindness.  Like responsible.  Dependable.   Faithful.  Heck, even a sense of humor.   But the more I think about it, I realize being in a relationship with someone who isn't kind is kinda rough.    What do you think about when you think of the word kindness? For some reason, Barney comes to my mind.   He's always smiling.   He never seems to have a bad day.   He's forever optimistic.   And Barney loves everyone. Kindness is usually synonymous with gentleness.   Therefore, many men don't readily identify with this word.   Can you be tough and kind? Can you have swag and be kind? Cool and kind? Or do you need to act like Barney? I think kindness is more about a heart expression than a facial expression.   Kindness is more than just being nice.  It's compassionate, selfless, and its very definition is the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate.   Kindness is putting others first.   And you can do all of that without smiling.    In Ephesians 4:32, Paul instructs Christians to be kind to one another.   Tenderhearted, forgiving one another just as God, for Christ's sake, forgives us.   Elsewhere, in Galatians, we see that kindness is a fruit of the Spirit…basically it's one of the evidences of God's spirit in you… or not. We all know about those mean ol' church ladies, right?    Random Acts of Kindness I've been the recipient of random acts of kindness more times than I can count.   Several years ago, after a long and stressful day of non-stop sports, I pulled my weary self into the Chick-fil-A drive through.   I knew it would be the cashier's pleasure to serve me, or at least that's what they always say, I mean kindness is literally written all over their employee handbook.   But what I didn't expect is the person in front of me to pay for my whole ticket.   Do ya'll know how expensive Chick-Fil-A is for a family of six? You might at well go sit down somewhere at a restaurant.     Another time at Starbucks after ordering an especially sugary drink and battling shame as I inched my way through the drive-through.   Again, someone, a complete stranger, paid for my drink.   FYI: I haven't battled shame in the Starbucks line ever since. Kindness literally destroys shame.   Ooohhh...    Hesed: the Biblical Definition of Kindness Kindness is a theme all throughout Scripture.   God extends us kindness through giving us grace and mercy.   Jesus modeled kindness by caring for the poor, lifting up women in a hyper-mysoginistic culture.   From the patriarch, Abraham, who showed hospitality to strangers (who just happened to be angels), to the prostitute, Rahab who hid the Israelite warriors from her own people who were trying to kill them, and the prophet Hosea, who married a wayward prostitute and kept pursuing her while she was pursuing other men, all of these people extended kindness without expecting anything in return.   But ya'll know what, when you do something kind without expecting anything in return, God has a way of returning it back to you.    There's this really beautiful Hebrew word Hesed that shows up in the Bible.   Hesed means loyal love, faithful devotion and unfailing kindness.   Sounds just like God to me.   But did you know we are called to show hesed in our marriages and relationships? Loyalty, faithful devotion, unfailing kindness.   These are all action-oriented nouns. Hesed is kindness rooted in love. So we know kindness is good for us spirit, but can talk about science for a bit?    How Kindness Affects our Physical Bodies Did you know that according to Mayo Clinic Health, being kind boosts serotonin and dopamine, which are neurotransmitters in the brain that give you feelings of satisfaction and well-being, and cause the pleasure/reward centers in your brain to light up? Endorphins, which are your body's natural pain killer, also can be released just be practicing kindness.   So hesed is good for your physical health too!  Being kind just feels good.      How to be Kind in Marriage & Relationships I think one of the most obvious ways we can show hesed is in how we communicate, specifically how we talk to those we're in relationship with.   When I was a kid, my sister and I would mock my mom's telephone voice, you know you made fun of your mom too.   You know the voice I'm talking about? That super nice, cheerful, proper voice (hello) my mom would answer the phone after she just got finished yelling at my sister and me for not cleaning our rooms. Well, much to my dismay, my own kids joke my podcast voice! Ya'll, I don't have a podcast voice. Really what they're saying is my tone with them is lacking the same sweetness I obviously have with my listeners.    But let's talk about marriage for a bit.   This is a marriage podcast after all.   We all have a tendency to take our spouses for granted.   Think of the last conversation you had with your spouse.   If you were to be rated on a scale from 1-10 on how kind that conversation was, how would you score? Think about when you were dating vs your conversations now.   Remember how you'd be so excited to talk to each other on the phone or you'd get that tingling feeling deep in your stomach when you saw your future mate had emailed, texted, or reached out to you on social.      Now, that you're married, how often do you think of kindness in your conversations? No judgment here, you guys.   I, too, am guilty as charged.   And that's why our guest today is here.   She is going to help us learn to communicate more kindly. I invited Anne Visser, who is a life coach, and also a certified John Maxwell coach, speaker & trainer.   With her husband, Melis, of 42 years, they co-founded 4 Better 4 Ever, which seeks to help Christian women learn to communicate clearly and confidently. Anne is going to chime in on this conversation we're already having on Kind communication.     Kind Communication in Marriage & Relationships Communication is key in relationships. Anne shares how couples can improve their communication, and in turn, improve their relationships. Through healthy communication, we can all learn to give a little more love to the people around us, while building thriving relationships. Anne shares meaningful ways that we can open ourselves up to love through vulnerability, kindness, and patience. Being vulnerable is never easy, but it is worth it. When we take the chance to get vulnerable with our partners, it allows us to enter a space where we can speak freely from our heart, in a safe space. Anne said of kind communication, “It was a shift in Melis's and my mindset and a shift in the way we communicated.” When Anne and her husband created vulnerability in their marriage, they regained hope in their marriage. Through deep, heart-opening conversations, Anne and her husband were able to overcome strife and regain the love they desired. Conflict will arise in relationships at some point and understanding and communicating your needs is crucial for creating resolution. Anne said, “Conflict is the doorway to intimacy. Into me you see.” When conflict is revealed, it allows you to understand and grow closer by working as a team to overcome the problem. When conflict is fixed with vulnerability, it allows both partners to be heard and seen through the eyes of love.   God is Kind and So Can You Be When we are at the end of our rope it's important that we can always return to kindness. God is such a pure example of what love and kindness looks like. Kindness shows up in our thoughts first, then it shows up in our words. Anne said, “Kindness to me is being honest with myself. Kindness is being kind to myself and recognizing my humanness and recognizing when I am depleted. Kindness starts with being kind with me.” All kindness starts from within. That's why when we practice patience and kindness with ourselves, it makes it easier to practice that with others people in our lives. When you have love in your heart for yourself and God, that love becomes contagious and spreads like wildfire. When we create kindness in our lives, it creates a positive experience for us and the kindness can radiate into other people's lives. Kindness is contagious.   Creating Healthy Communication in Your Marriage Sometimes in relationships, we have things that we want to say, but we don't always express ourselves in the most efficient way. A lot of times, our emotions get the best of us and we become irrational and say things we didn't mean. When we practice patiences and kindness, it allows us to shift the way we handle conflict. Anne gives her clients a tip to help with this. It's called The Three C's - Check Emotions, Communicate and Clarify, and Create Resolution. When we have something weighing us down it's important to check in with our emotions. Slow down and check in on how you're feeling. When we are triggered, emotions will run high causing irrational responses. Once we are able to recognize that, we can slow down to communicate and clarify our needs. This will help with creating understanding and creating resolution with our partners. Often times, in relationships, we think we are going to war with our partner. When we shift our thinking, and realize that our partners are on the same team as us, it allows us to create more love and empathy. When you give your partner the same kindness, grace, and love that you want to receive, it creates healthier communication in the partnership.     Links Mentioned in this Episode Learn more about Anne's Work Here.  Anne's 7-Day Communication Challenge Get Your Copy of My New Workbook: Love Is . . .   SUBSCRIBE | SHARE | RATE | COMMENT To ensure you never miss an episode, be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Remember, sharing is caring! So, share these episodes with your friends and family via email or social media.  

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 A Biker Chick Becomes An FFU Student (part 13.5)By FinalStand. Listen to the complete episode, at Steamy Stories.“That is Vivian Phillips,” Iona announced my visitor. I had no doubt she had a dozen useful facts on my latest guest too.For her part, Vivian looked almost overwhelmed with the ‘improvements’ I’d made to the place.“Mr. Braxton,” Vivian said to me as she came to a stop before my sofa. I stood up and offered my hand. Rio stood and regarded Mercy. I guess I had to be happy they didn’t fall over the sofa in a fit of sexual wrestling.“So, Vivian, how do you want to handle this?” I inquired.“You will stay in your room until I pick you up and you will stay in each class until I take you to your next class or activity,” she strictly informed me.“We’ll see how that works out,” I joked.“No, Zane, that is how it is going to be,” Vivian explained.“Okay. What is going to happen if we miss one another?” I inquired.“How can you miss me if you stay where I tell you to wait for me?” she stated firmly.“No, I want to know what the repercussions are going to be after I’ve successfully avoided you,” I asked pleasantly.“Zane, the Board of Directors has directed the University to do this and if you dodge my duty, you will be expelled,” Vivian responded patiently.“So you don’t know,” I winked. “In that case, you can count on it that the next few months are going to be interesting for you.”“Mercy, you are going to have to sleep in my room if you hope to keep up with me,” Rio taunted her guardian.“If that is what it takes,” Mercy shot right back.“You still can’t be there every second of the day,” Rio bantered.“If I have to keep a hand on you for the rest of the semester, I will,” Mercy countered. I’d have been happy for both her and Rio if Mercy hadn’t sounded so eager.“Damn it,” Rio snapped to me. “Mercy’s got me so stymied and pissed off that I’m going to be up half the night working off my aggression.” I rolled my eyes and Iona blushed as Paige and Valerie came up into the room.“What’s going on?” both Val and Paige asked.“Mercy doesn’t trust me so she’s going to be with me every night from here on out,” Rio pseudo-sulked. Valerie’s groan was a lot more real and justified. I should have sensed the psychic chemistry going on around me; I could have used that bit of insight to run.“You two…” Paige directed to Vivian and Mercy, “…should keep these two together as much as possible to minimize the damage they can do.”“Well they can’t stay in my dorm room,” Valerie sounded disappointed, “so they’ll have to use Zane’s bedroom. It is the only safe place to store them.”“I’m not going to spend time in Zane Braxton’s bedroom,” Vivian shook her head.“Perhaps if you took a look at Zane’s room before passing judgment,” Iona offered. Vivian was about to make a rebuttal, then took another look around the room.“Okay,” she allowed.Our little troop made our way to my screened-off area of the floor.“Where are you going with this, Paige?” I asked my albino sexual siren quietly.“Around the third time I drug Vivian to unconsciousness, she’s going to figure out what’s going on so a long-term solution suggests that your current girlfriends put you and Vivian together so that you can convert her to your side,” Paige outlined with newfound tolerance.“I’m too damn experienced with you to argue, Paige,” I confessed.“Your ability to be smarter than a hamster on a wheel is refreshing,” Paige rewarded me with a stroke on the cheek. We stumbled at the entrance to my boudoir as Vivian had to take it in. She was so 'enraptured’ with my extravagance that she missed Rio sneak up on Mercy from behind.Rio put both hands under Mercy’s skirt. One clearly coaxed along her buttocks while the left move around and began to gently caress her pubic area from the front.“Someone’s not wearing their underwear,” I barely heard Rio whisper in Mercy’s ear. “For being such a good girl, I’m going to do something special to you tonight; Zane’s room at 10:00 o'clock.”Mercy obviously tingled all over at the news.“Don’t plan on getting any sleep,” Rio teased softly, “I want the taste of hot little bitch-flesh on my tongue all night long, and since I can’t have anyone worthwhile, I’ll have…fuck it; I want you tonight, Mercy. Don’t think for a minute that I care about you, though.”“Okay,” Mercy turned halfway to Rio’s lips, “I understand.” Mercy did have this contented ephemeral smile on her face that I was hoping Rio didn’t catch. If Rio did, she didn’t show it, but then Rio hated to acknowledge that anyone cared for her.“Thank Cordelia for me,” I turned to Paige. I figured the only way Rio ended up with Mercy was someone rigged the process in her favor.“That was me,” Paige confessed. “I tried to stack the odds in your favor with Joy Jefferson but that didn’t work out so well."Thank you,” I expressed appreciatively.“Thank me by hooking my legs over your elbows and fuck me standing up,” Paige beamed raw sexual hunger my way. “I want to go bouncy, bouncy, bouncy on my personal pleasure toy.” She finished by licking her lips. I wish she wouldn’t refer to my cock as her toy or look at me the way a starving dog looks at a fresh pork chop.Valerie motioned me forward now that Vivian had started walking around my bedroom.“What is that platform for?” Vivian muttered to me once she realized I’d come to her side.“It is my bed,” I informed her. “Now do you see why you could sleep with me and we would both be okay?”“I am not sleeping with you,” Vivian insisted.“I could sleep on one side and you could be on the other and we couldn’t even touch fingers,” I insisted.“No,” Vivian announced.“I’ll fight you for it,” I gambled.“What?” Vivian stared my way. Clearly, my move caught my friends off guard as well.“You take me and I’ll behave for a month. If I beat you, then you move into – my floor – for a month, and you still get to keep an eye on me,” I offered.“I am not staying in your room no matter what,” Vivian declared indignantly.“All the sofas are sleepers,” I explained. “You wouldn’t be in my room, plus you have your own shower and bathroom as well as the other amenities that have been put in.”“That is not going to happen,” she insisted.“Oh, my apology; I didn’t know you were afraid of me,” I shrugged.“I’m not afraid of you, and I’m not going to be baited by you either,” she shot back.“Then fight me, pin me to the ground, and have things your way,” I challenged her.“Coach Gorman told us not to fight him alone if we could avoid it,” Mercy jumped in. “If the Coach couldn’t put him down quickly, you don’t have a chance, Vivian.”That was so cold, and I’d have never thought Mercy could have pulled it off, luring Vivian in the way she did.“Fine, let’s go to the gym and settle this,” Vivian growled her acceptance of my dare.“Let’s fight here,” I countered.“In your room?” she worried.“In life, the arena you find yourself fighting in rarely presents itself as an even surface,” I pointed out.“That would be true, Ms. Phillips,” Dana Gorman confirmed from the entrance.“Dana,” I exhaled with some relief.“That would be Coach Gorman to you, delinquent,” Dana smiled at me.“Coach!” Mercy squealed, hugging the only real adult in the room. I was pleased to note that Vivian seemed genuinely happy at the news of Dana being back on the job too.“Cool it, Mercy,” Dana chuckled. “Technically, I’m still Ms. Gorman until 6:00 a.m. tomorrow morning when my re-instatement goes into effect.” She patted Mercy on the back before they separated. “I am mildly curious as to what you are doing here in Zane’s room, Vivian. I normally credit you with better sense.”“Are you saying I’m senseless, Coach Hot-cheeks?” Rio snickered at Dana.“Rio, my understanding of you begins with your friendship with Zane, which pretty much explains every other insane stunt you two have been involved with since your arrival,” Dana smiled back.“Coach, I can explain,” Vivian finally got out. “I was assigned to Zane as his guardian by the Board of Directors and they said…um…”“That you should go to Zane’s bedroom and get into a fight?” Dana concluded. Vivian gulped, nodded and then shook her head.“Get used to it, Vivian,” Coach nodded knowingly. “If you are going to be hanging around with Zane, you need to get used to things like this happening. These inexplicable events occur on a regular basis. By the way, Zane: Thank you.”“No problem, Coach,” I grinned.“What was that for?” Vivian asked.“Zane fought to get my job back,” Dana Gorman nodded.“Why would he do that?” Vivian wondered. “You put him through hell.”“Yeah, I was asking myself the same question,” Rio chimed in.“She’s good for the university,” I answered, “and they were going to cancel the athletics program.”“Vivian, you should be more concerned how you are going to beat Zane,” Dana stated.“Valerie, could you get Vivian one of your sports bras and a pair of Rio’s shorts?” I requested.“I’m not going to strip in front of you,” Vivian said indignantly as Valerie left to do as I asked.“I’ll leave the room if you like,” I shrugged.“I’ll take video evidence,” Rio leered at Vivian.“Rio, I’ll slam you inside one of Zane’s wardrobes if you don’t behave,” Dana warned.“Zane will stick up for me,” Rio puffed out her chest defiantly.“Yeah, I was considering that,” Dana laughed. “That turns a six-second fight into a sixty-second fight, but you are still ending up in the closet.”“And to think Rio spent so many of her formative years coming out of the closet,” Paige jabbed.“Paige, I’d slap you for that but I know Zane doesn’t want a bruise on that swank body of yours.” Rio taunted the tender-fleshed albino Paige.“I keep begging him to trade you to me for a night but Zane insists that you two are exclusive for now,” Rio kept at it despite Paige’s arousal. “I’m holding out for you, though.”“I’m confident that Zane will keep making the right decisions,” Paige rose to the challenge.“Wait,” Vivian waved her hands sideways, “Zane is really sleeping with a bunch of women? I thought that was an exaggeration.”“Did I come at a bad time?” Barbie Lynn spoke up. She was holding a suitcase and a carry-on bag. Behind her was Millicent with one suitcase and Raven with a dress bag. I was reminded that Barbie Lynn would be moving back into the dorm as dorm mother in the morning, but she was currently between places and clearly expected to spend the night here, in my room, with me.“Come on in,” I offered Barbie Lynn as I crossed over to get her bag. Vivian stepped up and put a hand on my arm to stop me.“Barbie Lynn will not be staying in your room tonight!” Vivian laid down the law.“Vivian, you always ranked higher than me in the club hierarchy and I have a bad knee, but if you have a problem with me, face me, not Zane,” Barbie Lynn growled.“Don’t worry, Babe,” I soothed Barbie, “I’m working on a solution right now.”“Zane, slap this skank” (referring to Vivian), Rio snarled. “She put her hand on you so defend yourself all over her punk ass.”“Vivian is only doing her job,” I addressed Rio. “I’m not going to hold that against her.”“Zane, is this another one?” Raven inquired about Vivian’s sexual status with me.“No. She’s my official guardian, and as soon as I kick her ass, she’s going to sleep on one of the main room’s sofas for a month,” I explained.“No, when I win, I will exclude everyone from this floor except you, me and the dorm mother,” Vivian countered.Valerie came bolting into the room with the clothes, Opal, and Cappadocia.“I will go change into shorts outside. Vivian, you change here. Coach, can you referee the match?” I tried to bring some order to the chaos. Vivian ground her teeth but took the clothes and started to strip before I got my own clothes.“Zane, stay on - change in the corner. There are too many freshmen girls out there,” Vivian conceded.“You two should decide if you want to stick to Zane’s bedroom or cover the entire floor,” Dana stated.“I leave that to Vivian,” I allowed. Vivian chose the full floor and Dana decided that things would remain cluttered – the students would remain on the floor as obstacles to fight around, believing we were good enough to not smack a civilian.“Good job, Vivian,” Dana congratulated her senior student. “Use the terrain to counter his reach advantage."Any advice for me?” I asked.“Yes. Don’t get that pretty face beaten up,” she smiled snidely at me.“That will teach Zane to take your side on anything,” Rio sneered.“I’m not on your faction’s side, Rio,” Dana confirmed, “but it doesn’t mean Zane and I aren’t friends.”“I’m fine,” I assured Rio. “Tell us when, Coach.” Dana looked Vivian and I over.“Go!” she snapped.Vivian caught me off guard by running away but I quickly gave chase. She compounded the situation by scrambling across a pool table in play then kicking at me when I came around the side. She followed up on that advantage with a series of punches that drove me over the back of a chair. Girls were screaming, squealing, and running all around us.She advanced around the chair so I bolted over the closest sofa. Now Vivian pursued. She launched a flying kick over the sofa. I folded under it and was a millisecond faster on the recovery. My punch hit her in the ribs and pushed her back. A flurry of blows rained down on me. I tried to drive her back but Vivian’s technique was too close to perfect for me to beat through.Vivian switched up with a series of swift front kicks to buy some room, then started maneuvering again.“She’s a righty,” Valerie told me. That meant she was right-handed, thus she made most of her attacks and blocks from the right, covering the left instinctively. Since the right was not significantly stronger in most athletes, you could wear down an opponent by concentrating your attacks on the over-extended right, or so the theory went.Even then, it took two minutes to catch her calf with a kick and put her down. She rolled out of my attempted hold but ended up on her ass, back to a chair.“Five-minute break,” I offered. Vivian blinked but took the hand I offered to help her stand up. “Drink,” I motioned to the juice dispenser. She looked at me funny, then went to get one.“Be careful, Vivian; he’s trying to get inside your head, convince you he’s not such a bad guy,” Dana counseled her female student.“No kind words for me?” I joked.“I already know you are a good guy, Zane. The only reason you cut Vivian some slack was that you would rather have her friendship than the win, which is far more dangerous to Vivian,” Dana winked at me.I took a Grapefruit juice while Vivian drank some Gatorade, both with our backs to the sink. I caught her stealing some looks my way.“Next time I’ll pin you,” she told me while looking away.“We both have to be thinking that or we wouldn’t be fighting,” I responded.“The difference is that I am right,” she said as we made eye to eye contact.“FFU doesn’t teach you to be second best,” I nodded, which brought a smile to her face.“Thirty seconds,” Iona warned us. We picked spots ten feet apart and were ready when Dana gave the word.Since my previous strategy had relied on attrition, Vivian went for a quick, lightning series of attacks. She rebounded off sofas, tables, and chairs as she drove me about the room. At a crucial moment she drove her foot into my thigh above the knee and sent me sprawling into a crowd of observers. As Vivian closed in for the kill, I spilled a startled freshman into her.By the time she disentangled herself from my distraction, I was on my feet. Her glare told me she didn’t approve of my move. We crashed together; she leveraged me over and threw me onto a sofa. We grappled and rolled off the sofa and onto the floor. Vivian rammed an elbow into my throat but I wedged a knee under her hips and propelled her over my head.“You’ve done a good job, Coach Gorman,” Valerie lauded Dana on Vivian’s performance.“She’s either three or four on the team,” Dana informed the group. “It is her or Evangeline fighting for third, with Cappadocia and Wilhelmina being second and first.”“You have some weird damn names at this school,” Valerie commented.“This from an outlaw biker chick with the handle of Valkyrie?” Dana teased. “Of course, I’m also still trying to figure out how a guy who is knocking boots with Barbie Lynn Masters is giving the time of day to Paige here.”“Hey!” Paige squawked. “Zane thinks I am very good at sex, I’ll have you know.”“Trouble,” Barbie Lynn moaned. Vivian had faked me out and put a foot into my stomach that sent me cartwheeling. Me, I’d have kicked me in the calves and thighs to weaken me up but Vivian went for a stomp to my diaphragm. I rolled away, then kicked out. This is where my greater reach came into play; Vivian couldn’t fall back fast enough and I put my heel into her hip.I was up a hair before Vivian could make a counterstrike. I rolled her thrust under my arm, caught the limb and rolled the two of us onto the ground. She placed a hand underneath her and tried to shake free of me. I locked her arm, twisted, and leaned into her body.“Do you give?” I asked softly. I had her pinned and I doubted anyone here besides Dana could have escaped.“No,” she hissed. I could sense people gathering around.“Time for another five-minute break?” I inquired a little louder. Vivian gave one last surge of resistance, then relaxed.“Fine,” she grumbled, “five minutes.” I rolled off and offered her a hand.Vivian ignored it, choosing to get on all fours, then stand. She was about to walk way when she turned and extended her hand to me. She shook and headed back to the closest bar.“Zane?” at least five different girls asked me at once. I wasn’t sure why I’d let Vivian up either.“Dude, if you lose this, I am personally going to use my strap-on on your ass,” Rio growled.“I’m going to go home and start researching the most painful applications of acupuncture possible,” Paige enlightened us all.“I’ll take care of your hurts,” Barbie Lynn sympathized.“You are such a slut,” growled Rio.“No,” Opal interceded. “I think that Brandi, Barbie Lynn and I are going to be taking comfort with Zane when the rest of you bimbos have lost faith in him, leaving him lost and forlorn.”“How many of you am I going to have to fight off?” Vivian sounded worried. It was beautiful music to my ears, not to be blamed for once.“There is me,” Iona chirped, “and wait until Heaven shows up. Forty-eight hours without her Zane-fix and she’s going to look forward to dismembering someone,” she added with a pleasant sincerity. Vivian looked to me skeptically.“It is entirely my fault,” I confessed with upraised hands, “I should learn to say 'no’ from time to time. I keep leading these fine young ladies on.”“Do you see why you need to win now?” Dana asked Vivian, who looked uncertain. “You are Zane’s only hope of surviving the school year. You are a lifesaver.”“Oh, okay; let’s get back to it then,” Vivian sighed. I rolled my shoulders and followed. The second Dana gave us the nod, we attacked one another. I had hoped to catch Vivian off-guard and clearly Vivian thought the same thing.In close, Vivian had the advantage. She got several blows into my right side and I never fully recovered. Vivian got a foot behind my left leg and tumbled me down as I grabbed her shirt. Her shirt tore, we rolled – first her on top, then me before we broke up. I jabbed, she tumbled back and regained her feet, I backed up and did the same.Vivian tossed her ruined shirt aside and readied herself. Maybe a half dozen people in the room followed the next exchange of blocks and blows, Vivian hammering away at my right while I clipped her left shoulder and stomach. I saw an opening, tried to flip her but she pulled me down and ended up on top. She cocked back her fist to strike with her right while pinning my shoulder with her left.I had a hand poised at her armpit and the other half-raised to block. Vivian realized she was about to clock me in the head hard; my block wouldn’t be fast enough. Something passed between us at that moment. I hooked her under the arm, flipped us over, and landed on top. Vivian twisted her arms but I twisted my block into a wrist hold and pinned the other when she attempted to break the hold.For that second, I had her pressed to the ground, our breasts heaving from the exertion.“Okay,” she said softly. I immediately let go of her wrists and got off of her in all haste. I offered to help her up and this time she took it without hesitation. We stood there, clasped hands held at her chest level, facing and studying the other’s features.The cheering broke out the moment the freshmen student body realized the fight was finally over and that I had somehow come out on top. I tilted my head slightly because I really had to know why she let me win but I never got the words out.“I really don’t know,” Vivian whispered.My well-wishers pulled us apart and I was getting slapped on the back and kissed. I noted that Dana, Barbie Lynn, Valerie, and Mercy stood around Vivian. Valerie must have seen what really happened and wanted to know why. Mercy had probably been reminded of whose side she theoretically belonged to. Barbie Lynn would be Dorm Mother again, making Vivian her charge, and Dana was her instructor after, which explained everyone’s presence.“So, can we have our own little celebration?” Paige requested, her pale eyes burning bright.“I have a church meeting in an hour,” I frowned. Rio and Iona were in the room with us but were close to the screen entrance, giving Paige and I some space.“We could sneak something in,” Paige winked hopefully.“You are many things to me, Paige, but you are not someone I want to leave after only a quickie,” I looked down at Paige as I wrapped my arms around her. She pouted but clearly wasn’t too angry with my decision. Outside her odd fascination with me, Paige was a clever, logical girl.“I believe Heaven is going to be all over you this evening,” Paige sighed. “Friday is for your Aunt Jill and Saturday is the Block Party, so what are my chances for Thursday or Sunday?”“I was hoping to make Thursday night a sleep-over sort of thing and I’d like it if you were here,” I asked. “I really don’t want to commit my Sunday until I’m sure Heaven is okay. You have to admit she’s had a really lousy week.”“I don’t have to admit anything, Zane, but I make allowances because you mean well,” Paige smiled. “I chose to accept that your loyalty to Heaven is a mirror of the loyalty you show me.”“It has nothing to do with bouncy, bouncy, bouncy?” I teased.“No,” Paige wiggled tightly against me. “That would be an irrational decision based on memories of deep sexual pleasure and I’d never confess to that.” I felt her place a gentle kiss on my chest. I answered with a kiss to the top of her head.“Now scoot,” I commanded. “You are far too distracting and I do have to get going.”Paige rubbed her body against me as she moved past to the entrance; Iona and Rio came my way as I got dressed.“I should have Mercy tied down, gagged, and blindfolded by the time you get back,” Rio grinned.That was her way of asking my permission to use my room without actually asking.“I’ll make sure Vivian is set up before you get back,” Iona informed me with upbeat energy.“Iona, since I hate Mercy Chaplain, why don’t you spend the weekend with me?” I asked. The implication was that Rio would be tearing Mercy up all weekend long.“I’d love to,” Iona hugged me.“Sleep in his bed,” Rio chuckled.“I plan to,” Iona boasted.“Lose your virginity,” Rio teased.“No,” Iona gave Rio a raspberry. “Zane loves me the way I am.”“Are we going to cuddle?” I smiled warmly down at her.“Damn Skippy!” she chirped. “I’ll even sleep in the nude because I trust you so much.”“Busted!” Rio laughed at me. I groaned, finished getting dressed, and made my own way out.Before I could make my escape from the main area, Vivian flagged me down.“Vivian, I’m going to…” I started to say. She lifted up her phone in response.“Your schedule is online,” Vivian pointed out. “What I was wondering was why you are still using the fifth floor showers when you have showers in the Solarium now?”“Wow, are you offering to shower with me?” I faux-gasped. “That didn’t take you long.”“No!!” Vivian glared with some exasperation. “I’m trying to limit your contact with naked women.”No one within earshot was rude enough to laugh out loud.“I could say something like 'shower with me and I’ll respect your virginity,’ but I’ll respect your virginity no matter what,” I gazed upon Vivian. “I do formally request that you allow me to continue to shower on the fifth floor. I hope you don’t disregard my request out of hand.”Vivian levelly met my gaze, then nodded.“I’ll think about it,” she allowed.“Holy Smokes,” Brandi whispered from nearby, “he’s broken down the wall.” Vivian flinched.“No,” Opal whispered back, “but she’s no longer ready to castrate him in the next fifteen seconds either.” That observation made Vivian crack a glimmer of a grin. I took it as my cue to run for it.*Being dead is wonderful; you never get tired and you have all the time in the world to regret how you ended up this way*Thank you Frontma for inspiring me to keep writing so she can polish off the rough edges.(Yes, this tale is supposed to be somewhat humorous and outrageous too. While not always comedic, I’d like to think it is mostly a good-natured romp.)OFFICIALLY AN AFFAIROnce they got over me 'borrowing’ certain gear from some of the male committee rooms, the Festivities Committee fell in line with Rochelle Wellington’s agenda. I sat back as normal while they hashed out how best to use the new imagery that I’d provided courtesy of the girls at FFU. At this, my second meeting, I chose to sit behind Sahara Penny, Pastor Bill’s wife.I learned she was Lebanese Christian and she’d married William Penny when he was in the US Navy, before he became a priest. There were a ton of things left unsaid about her opinion of his ministry and I got the definite opinion that Bill had left his last post because everyone thought Sahara had an indiscretion with a young male parishioner. My guess was that if a young male parishioner was involved, the cheater was that bastard Bill.As an added insult, Sahara’s name wasn’t even Sahara; that was the name Bill had listed on their marriage certificate because he found her Lebanese name difficult to pronounce. Her minority background, coupled with her husband, the pastor, letting everyone think she was a cheating whore, made Sahara the pariah of this little community.Because I had absolutely nothing going on in my life, I had to avenge Sahara. Being dumber than a box of rocks certainly didn’t hurt my determination. By the end of the session I had managed to accomplish four things. I’d helped Sahara feel better about herself and know she had a friend in me. If you have ever felt alone and isolated in the world you know how good that can feel.I had confused Mrs. Bainbridge as to my actual intentions; she thought I was cozying up to Sahara instead of Rochelle. The committee was mildly impressed that I had both shown back up and had appeared to bust my hump in contributing to their efforts at what their menfolk thought was a joke.Most importantly to me, I had gotten a few covert smiles from Rochelle Wellington for both my help to the other members and to my efforts with Sahara. As wife of the mayor, she wasn’t supposed to make waves, which included things like befriending someone the men had designated to be on the 'Shunned’ list. I was forgiven for my transgression because I clearly didn’t give a fuck about what any of them cared.When the meeting broke up Kendra Bainbridge, Sahara, Rochelle and I were quickly the last ones left. I hovered close to Sahara as we made our way to the door.“Zane, you need to return this equipment to the proper room,” Rochelle reminded me.“Sahara, why don’t we walk to our cars together?” Kendra suggested sweetly.This was the most I had heard Kendra address Sahara in the short time I had known them.It was clearly also her attempt of a cock-block on Sahara and I, which was a fortunate misread on the situation between myself and the Pastor’s wife.“That would be nice, Kendra,” Sahara replied. She reached out and stroked my elbow. “Thank you, Zane,” she added with a smile.Kendra departed, smug in her victory, leaving Rochelle and I alone.“I’ll get this equipment put away and be right back,” I told Rochelle. “Could you make sure all the new files are backed up to my account?”“Of course, Zane,” she smiled warmly, and set to work. I raced to get things squared away and hurried back. She remained at the table completing her work, coat off, when I moved in behind her.“Are we still friends?” I asked softly as I leaned in next to her ear.“Of course,” she turned her head so our gazes were only inches apart. I made to kiss her on the lips; she recoiled so I waited. I wasn’t afraid I’d spooked her; she wanted passion and the sense of freedom that came for embracing a choice all her own.The fear drained away and she completed our encounter. She was tentative at first and I mostly let her take the lead for the first two minutes until she became more confident. When the time was right I turned her in the chair and pulled her up by each hand. My hands went to her neck while hers settled on my hips.“We have our boundaries?” Rochelle questioned me.“Absolutely,” I confirmed. “Your neck,” I kissed her neck, “ear,” I kissed her ear, “and cheek are all on my side of the boundaries.” I had gotten as far as fondling the breasts last time around but I had time to coax her that way and was in no hurry.“Where are your boundaries?” I inquired of Rochelle as I lowered my hands around her hips.“I definitely think we should keep the boundaries at the waistline,” she suggested.“So you want my waistline, but was that up or down?” I smiled.“What?” she blushed.“Do you want to keep your hands above my waist – say to the stomach and chest, or you could go down below the belt?” I teased. “Just kidding,” I let her off the hook. Instead, I moved my lips to her face and came to a stop there.“We shouldn’t be doing this,” Rochelle sighed.“Okay,” I was disappointed, “but you will have to tell me to let go of you first.”“That isn’t fair,” she moaned, as she pressed her body against me and rested her forehead on my shoulder. I doubted it helped her resistance when her stomach pressed against my highly aroused cock.“Zane,” Rochelle choked out, “I’ve been a good wife for thirty years. I’m a pillar of the community and a loyal member of this congregation. What am I doing with a man younger than my youngest baby?”“Rochelle, I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to do, but I’m not going to lie about wanting you.”“I don’t think you are running away from your husband and family; I think they have moved on without you, despite all you’ve done to make them a part of your life. If you end up alone three or more times a week, give us a shot; if not, you are doing okay and should stay where you are,” I advised.“I don’t want to lose you,” Rochelle worried.“You are not going to lose me, Rochelle. You are beautiful and that is not going to change; even if you are unattainable and I have to watch you from afar,” I soothed her. She seemed to swell up with happiness in my arms.“That isn’t fair one bit,” she moaned.“Fine. I don’t find you attractive; I am going to forget you the moment I walk out this door and I’ll never look at you again,” I taunted her. “Happy? You are off the hook.”“Maybe if you were a better liar,” Rochelle looked up at me smiling, “Remember that I am married to a politician.”“Oh, then tell me if I’m lying: I want to pick you up, press you onto this table and make love to you until you scream with pleasure,” I challenged.“What about our boundaries?” she panted.“I’m trying really, really hard to honor them but you aren’t making it easy,” I confided in her. Rochelle decided to change tacks. She backed away and leaned against the table, facing me, with her arms supporting her upper body as she reclined.“We shouldn’t do this,” she told me, but even as she shook her head, she smiled and bit her lower lip provocatively.I pursued her, Rochelle spreading her legs to allow my body to better press down on her. I kissed her fervently several times before she spoke.“Stop,” she whispered. “I can’t.” I began working open the buttons on her blouse. Rochelle rolled her head back so that my lips and tongue played along her throat.“Ah, Zane, you should stop that,” she exhaled as she gently held one hand to the back of my head as I kissed her breasts through her bra. “There are three hooks,” she added as I started slipping her bra off. She pushed away from the table so I could slip her shirt and bra down. Since I had her off the table temporarily, I elected to unzip her skirt from the side and drop that and her slip to the carpet.She was looking horribly vulnerable being so nearly naked, down to white panties, thigh high white stockings, and black shoes. Sure, she was plump in the middle and her rich, swelling breasts sagged, but they were gorgeous to hold and behold. I more than evened the playing field, stripping completely naked. Rochelle moaned when she saw me exposed and she trembled with lust. I was sure she thought about running away or running at me, but she chose something in between.Rochelle reached forward and tenderly grabbed my penis in one hand.“Oh, my,” she gasped. I moved closer, brushed her hair aside and put my hand to the back of her head. I brought her into yet another kiss, this one longer and more passionate than the rest.“I am going to move one step at a time,” I told her softly, our faces barely an inch apart, “but I am going to take you tonight.”Rochelle’s first nod was timid, but they became very enthusiastic. I rested my hands on the lush flesh just below the hips and lifted her halfway onto the table.“I think I’m violating your boundaries,” I grinned wickedly. First her eyes flared, she looked surprised, and finally she let her giggle turn into a laugh.She gave my cock a delicious twist.“I think we are way beyond that,” she panted happily. I pressed into her, bobbing in for a kiss, withdrawing for her smile, and going in again. It took over a minute for Rochelle eventually to feel comfortable and self-assured enough to kiss me on the neck. I thrust my pelvis into her as a response.That appeared to be what it took for Rochelle’s emotional dam to burst. She wrapped her stocking clad calves around each thigh and began kissing my shoulder and chest with hungry little pecks.“Zane,” she panted as she yanked on my cock, “I haven’t had sexual intercourse in twenty years.”My first thought was 'Crap, someone else trying to squeeze my cock off,’ but I realized that was unfair, plus she had delivered five children.“Rochelle, can I be crass and crude with you?” I said softly. That clearly wasn’t what she expected to hear; still she consented.“Rochelle, I know it has been a long time since you’ve had sex, and it has probably been very vanilla. Have you ever had sex bent over a table?” I wondered.“No,” she blushed. “I’ve only had sex on a bed…on my back. Isn’t that normal?”“Um, okay. I’m going to fuck you, Rochelle; I am going to nail you, make you scream and cry and beat your fists in ecstasy,” I threatened her. “How does that make you feel?”“I…” she gulped, “that scares me but…” nothing was said for several seconds.“Damn it,” I hissed, “your body is tormenting me.” Rochelle gasped and trembled once more. I dove into her left breast and bit down. She pulsed against me; then I started pressing her down on the table. Removing her panties was remarkably easy after that.I let my cock, still in her hand, rub against her slit. When her labia parted her fluids quickly coated the tip. I moved it up and down while we kissed, and I mean kissed. Rochelle kept stroking my cheek and hairline. I began pulling and teasing her nipples. A moment later I hooked her legs up until she instinctively wrapped around my waist.When I was rubbing my member along her cunt lips we kissed. When I feasted on her nipples she moaned like a slut and arched her back to entice me further.“Put it in me,” she begged, overwhelmed with desire, “Put it in me now, please.”“Whatever you want,” I whispered in her ear. Using both our hands (I got the feeling she wasn’t sure what she was doing) I wedged my cockhead in between her labia and pushed.Rochelle was snug, not tight, and certainly wasn’t trying to tear the skin off my penis going in. For her part, my partner was going off beneath me chanting 'yes, yes, yes’ and rubbing her body against mine. By the way she was sparking against me, I knew she was close to orgasm.“Ugh – ugh – ugh,” Rochelle squirmed, “Oh, God! Yes!” she exulted beneath my body.She thrust rhythmically multiple times before gracefully resting against the wooden surface.“Oh, my God,” she gasped. “I’ve never had an orgasm that intense before, or had it happen so fast.”“That was all you, Elle,” I grinned. “You have built up a great deal of sexual energy over the years and I had better be careful with you or you’ll tear me up.”“Oh – wait, that is a good thing, isn’t it?” she asked from deep within her heaving bosom.“What did I tell you? The bodies of true women are dynamite and need to be handled with care. My main concern is that I can satisfy you,” I confided in her. She had no initial words in response, instead relying on an intense stare.“Elle?” she panted. “No one has called me Elle since my father died.”“Would you prefer I call you something else?” I replied.“No. It was a surprise, that’s all,” she told me. I pushed a little farther into Rochelle as she finished speaking. “Ooohhh,” she murmured.I let Rochelle’s legs fall to the side as I gently coasted in and out of her. I gave her a few minutes of tender sex before pulling out and kneeling between her legs.“What?” she started to mumble before my lips settled onto her cunt and my tongue rolled through her folds. “Oh, wow,” she moaned.Her clitoris was already evident so after a few generous strokes of the tongue, I tilted up and encased her clit in my lips and sucked. Rochelle bucked her hips in reaction and started up a deeply passionate groan. To add to life’s injustices, I was sure no one had ever gone down on Rochelle’s love box before.Despite having already cum once, Rochelle climaxed again inside five minutes.“Oh, God!” was her guttural gasp. Her body jerked, trembled, and stiffened before going still once more. I licked my way up her body, teasing both sides of her belly button, slobbering over her right breast, and ending up driving my tongue into a muscular dance with hers.“Mmmm, is that what I taste like?” she panted, with thankfully a good deal of pleasure.“Now you know one of the reasons I’ll be coming back for more,” I teased.“One; what is the other one?” she grinned wearily.“No, you don’t,” I responded with a kiss to her nose. “You don’t get to have that kind of fantastic reaction to me then act like it was nothing.”“Oh, don’t say that,” Rochelle scolded me, “I know I’m not very good.”“Are you dumping me?” I asked.“No,” she exclaimed anxiously, and clutched me with her hands on my upper arms and thighs pressing on my hips.“Why are you acting as if I didn’t enjoy myself?” I questioned. “You climaxed twice and guys love that kind of thing. My only problem is that we can’t keep giving you the screwing you so richly deserve. If we are missing much longer, they are going to send out search parties.” Rochelle continued to hold me tight but had calmed down a lot. It did take me a moment to figure out that I needed to carry the conversation.“How soon can we get together again?” I asked softly, which was precisely what she wanted to hear.“Maybe we shouldn’t,” she hesitated, but from my experience she was playing with me.“I know I’ve pushed this, Elle, but you are worth every effort. I see a sensual, mature woman abandoned by some guy who clearly didn’t appreciate her finer qualities,” I pledged.“Zane, the risks are so great,” she worried intently. “We could really suffer over this…affair.”“Fine,” I sat up, “I’ll give you up for your sake but you have to promise to do one thing for me.”“What is it?” she hesitantly inquired.“How many young women have been in your husband’s office less than five years?” I opened with.“Two,” she recalled somewhat confused.“The one with the most seniority; tomorrow I want you to go into her office and tell her you know about her liaisons with your husband – her boss – the Mayor,” I advised her. “Don’t act angry. Instead, act comfortable with the news and put her at ease. She’ll be glad to confide in someone, trust me.”“What if she hasn’t had an affair and goes to my husband with this accusation?” Rochelle bit her lip in concern.“Rochelle, you have a seriously hot body and incredible sexual energy. Since your husband hasn’t been neutered that I’m aware of, he’s been getting sex somewhere else. I haven’t heard of a thriving sex industry in town so for discretion’s sake, he is having sex with women he has power over; namely, employees,” I explained.“How did you come up with all of that?” she marveled.“Elle, there is nothing greater in all of God’s Creation than women, body and soul. I notice things that most people miss and appreciate qualities most ignore,” I enlightened her. “You have a smoking body but if you weren’t such a wonderful woman, I wouldn’t be here.”“Ah, you make me feel ten years younger,” she sighed before kissing me on the nipple and chest.“Crap,” I bitched. “That means I only have two more encounters with you before you become jail bait.” That assessment made her laugh joyously.“I’ve lost my mind and I don’t know why,” she breathed in a terribly sexy way, hardly upset at all.“We are leaving now,” I declared, “Because you are so sexy right this instant, if I stay, I’m going to hammer you so hard we are going to break this table. I’m not sure how we can explain that.”“Does the 'hammer me through the table’ line work on younger women?” Rochelle teased.“Do you want me to go grab a younger woman and find out?” I zinged back.“No!” she insisted. “I am sure we are not exclusive but I’m sure I don’t want to share you with anyone I don’t have to. I think we should get together again but I’ll have to contact you.”“Use Felicity’s phone and have her call Rio,” I directed. “She’ll get a message to me.”“Are you going to…seduce Felicity too?” Rochelle inquired warily.“Nope, that has never been my intention,” I answered. I wasn’t sure how to explain to Rochelle that the real worry was Rio kidnapping Felicity for a Lost Weekend of Sapphic splendor. A discussion about homosexuality and my acceptance of it wasn’t in the cards for tonight.“I want her and Lance to have a shot at happiness,” Rochelle said.“I want Felicity to be happy as well,” I evaded. If she noticed my failure to mention her youngest son, she was good enough not to press the matter. We kissed before we walked out the door and left; she went home and I headed home to have dinner with Jill. We had hot dogs and green beans; Jill had a hard three days at work and she wasn’t a diligent cook to begin with.MY SHIRT IS NOT MY FRIENDBefore heading back to campus I stopped by the Kappa Sigma House. I got some rather comfortable attention from the ladies, which was a bit bizarre when it was tag-team action from two sisters I’m pretty sure are lesbians. I stopped by to see Tawny for a minute to talk to her about the block party I might still have an invitation too.I ended up spending a few minutes of alone time with Leigh (okay, Paris is on her bed pretending to study but it isn’t a tiny room).“I know you need to go home soon,” Leigh lured me in with a sympathetic voice. I let her come into my arms and while I was aware she was about to shift me I was still taken aback by her enthusiasm.I landed back-first on her bed and she ended up straddling my crotch with her legs folded underneath her.“Let me help you with your shirt,” she grinned evilly. I wasn’t aware my shirt was in the way or that I wanted it off but what the hell. I started to unbutton my shirt but she slapped my hands away. Instead, she pulled my shirt out of my pants and yanked it up and up until the top was over my head.Once she had it over my face and my arms pinned, she stopped and snickered.“What the…oh, come on, Leigh,” I complained.“You like to be tied up, admit it,” she teased me.“Is your webcam on?” I countered.“If I say yes will you be even more turned on?” she wiggled on my aroused crotch. “Somebody says you will.” Leigh scooted down my body, then placed her tongue on my nipple and blew a cool breath on it. The arousal was agony. Things didn’t get better when she set her lips to the other nipple.“That’s it, Zane,” Leigh moaned, “so fucking big and hard.” She was rubbing her breasts and stomach along my rod, making me wish we were naked once more. Leigh was taking sadistic joy in working my nipples over too. It was so good that I was momentarily confused when she took in both of my nipples at once (honest – I don’t have man-boobs). I had a second tormentor.“Hey, Paris,” I gasped.“Zane, you are so sweet. I am going have to make use of your trellis Friday night because I can’t sleep right remembering how you tongued and dicked me over at the party,” Paris sighed happily. “Here, let me help you breathe.”Paris (?) helped move my shirt from over my chin and lips, which did help me take a deep breath, but in the intake, a nipple and a bit of breast were inserted past my lips. Paris was a 34B but could easily fit a C, and dining on her firm and vibrant flesh was no hardship for me. I figured that I could take two women at one time; I’d done it before.The third presence was perturbing but now both my nipples were covered. It was when a slick cold substance was placed upon my belly that I started to protest. I had the knowledge that there were four women over me when a newcomer initiated some licks, rubbing her flat tongue over me from sternum to belly button.“Oh, wow,” she said &a

 A Biker Chick Becomes An FFU Student (part 13.5)By FinalStand. Listen to the complete episode, at Steamy Stories.“That is Vivian Phillips,” Iona announced my visitor. I had no doubt she had a dozen useful facts on my latest guest too.For her part, Vivian looked almost overwhelmed with the ‘improvements’ I’d made to the place.“Mr. Braxton,” Vivian said to me as she came to a stop before my sofa. I stood up and offered my hand. Rio stood and regarded Mercy. I guess I had to be happy they didn’t fall over the sofa in a fit of sexual wrestling.“So, Vivian, how do you want to handle this?” I inquired.“You will stay in your room until I pick you up and you will stay in each class until I take you to your next class or activity,” she strictly informed me.“We’ll see how that works out,” I joked.“No, Zane, that is how it is going to be,” Vivian explained.“Okay. What is going to happen if we miss one another?” I inquired.“How can you miss me if you stay where I tell you to wait for me?” she stated firmly.“No, I want to know what the repercussions are going to be after I’ve successfully avoided you,” I asked pleasantly.“Zane, the Board of Directors has directed the University to do this and if you dodge my duty, you will be expelled,” Vivian responded patiently.“So you don’t know,” I winked. “In that case, you can count on it that the next few months are going to be interesting for you.”“Mercy, you are going to have to sleep in my room if you hope to keep up with me,” Rio taunted her guardian.“If that is what it takes,” Mercy shot right back.“You still can’t be there every second of the day,” Rio bantered.“If I have to keep a hand on you for the rest of the semester, I will,” Mercy countered. I’d have been happy for both her and Rio if Mercy hadn’t sounded so eager.“Damn it,” Rio snapped to me. “Mercy’s got me so stymied and pissed off that I’m going to be up half the night working off my aggression.” I rolled my eyes and Iona blushed as Paige and Valerie came up into the room.“What’s going on?” both Val and Paige asked.“Mercy doesn’t trust me so she’s going to be with me every night from here on out,” Rio pseudo-sulked. Valerie’s groan was a lot more real and justified. I should have sensed the psychic chemistry going on around me; I could have used that bit of insight to run.“You two…” Paige directed to Vivian and Mercy, “…should keep these two together as much as possible to minimize the damage they can do.”“Well they can’t stay in my dorm room,” Valerie sounded disappointed, “so they’ll have to use Zane’s bedroom. It is the only safe place to store them.”“I’m not going to spend time in Zane Braxton’s bedroom,” Vivian shook her head.“Perhaps if you took a look at Zane’s room before passing judgment,” Iona offered. Vivian was about to make a rebuttal, then took another look around the room.“Okay,” she allowed.Our little troop made our way to my screened-off area of the floor.“Where are you going with this, Paige?” I asked my albino sexual siren quietly.“Around the third time I drug Vivian to unconsciousness, she’s going to figure out what’s going on so a long-term solution suggests that your current girlfriends put you and Vivian together so that you can convert her to your side,” Paige outlined with newfound tolerance.“I’m too damn experienced with you to argue, Paige,” I confessed.“Your ability to be smarter than a hamster on a wheel is refreshing,” Paige rewarded me with a stroke on the cheek. We stumbled at the entrance to my boudoir as Vivian had to take it in. She was so 'enraptured’ with my extravagance that she missed Rio sneak up on Mercy from behind.Rio put both hands under Mercy’s skirt. One clearly coaxed along her buttocks while the left move around and began to gently caress her pubic area from the front.“Someone’s not wearing their underwear,” I barely heard Rio whisper in Mercy’s ear. “For being such a good girl, I’m going to do something special to you tonight; Zane’s room at 10:00 o'clock.”Mercy obviously tingled all over at the news.“Don’t plan on getting any sleep,” Rio teased softly, “I want the taste of hot little bitch-flesh on my tongue all night long, and since I can’t have anyone worthwhile, I’ll have…fuck it; I want you tonight, Mercy. Don’t think for a minute that I care about you, though.”“Okay,” Mercy turned halfway to Rio’s lips, “I understand.” Mercy did have this contented ephemeral smile on her face that I was hoping Rio didn’t catch. If Rio did, she didn’t show it, but then Rio hated to acknowledge that anyone cared for her.“Thank Cordelia for me,” I turned to Paige. I figured the only way Rio ended up with Mercy was someone rigged the process in her favor.“That was me,” Paige confessed. “I tried to stack the odds in your favor with Joy Jefferson but that didn’t work out so well."Thank you,” I expressed appreciatively.“Thank me by hooking my legs over your elbows and fuck me standing up,” Paige beamed raw sexual hunger my way. “I want to go bouncy, bouncy, bouncy on my personal pleasure toy.” She finished by licking her lips. I wish she wouldn’t refer to my cock as her toy or look at me the way a starving dog looks at a fresh pork chop.Valerie motioned me forward now that Vivian had started walking around my bedroom.“What is that platform for?” Vivian muttered to me once she realized I’d come to her side.“It is my bed,” I informed her. “Now do you see why you could sleep with me and we would both be okay?”“I am not sleeping with you,” Vivian insisted.“I could sleep on one side and you could be on the other and we couldn’t even touch fingers,” I insisted.“No,” Vivian announced.“I’ll fight you for it,” I gambled.“What?” Vivian stared my way. Clearly, my move caught my friends off guard as well.“You take me and I’ll behave for a month. If I beat you, then you move into – my floor – for a month, and you still get to keep an eye on me,” I offered.“I am not staying in your room no matter what,” Vivian declared indignantly.“All the sofas are sleepers,” I explained. “You wouldn’t be in my room, plus you have your own shower and bathroom as well as the other amenities that have been put in.”“That is not going to happen,” she insisted.“Oh, my apology; I didn’t know you were afraid of me,” I shrugged.“I’m not afraid of you, and I’m not going to be baited by you either,” she shot back.“Then fight me, pin me to the ground, and have things your way,” I challenged her.“Coach Gorman told us not to fight him alone if we could avoid it,” Mercy jumped in. “If the Coach couldn’t put him down quickly, you don’t have a chance, Vivian.”That was so cold, and I’d have never thought Mercy could have pulled it off, luring Vivian in the way she did.“Fine, let’s go to the gym and settle this,” Vivian growled her acceptance of my dare.“Let’s fight here,” I countered.“In your room?” she worried.“In life, the arena you find yourself fighting in rarely presents itself as an even surface,” I pointed out.“That would be true, Ms. Phillips,” Dana Gorman confirmed from the entrance.“Dana,” I exhaled with some relief.“That would be Coach Gorman to you, delinquent,” Dana smiled at me.“Coach!” Mercy squealed, hugging the only real adult in the room. I was pleased to note that Vivian seemed genuinely happy at the news of Dana being back on the job too.“Cool it, Mercy,” Dana chuckled. “Technically, I’m still Ms. Gorman until 6:00 a.m. tomorrow morning when my re-instatement goes into effect.” She patted Mercy on the back before they separated. “I am mildly curious as to what you are doing here in Zane’s room, Vivian. I normally credit you with better sense.”“Are you saying I’m senseless, Coach Hot-cheeks?” Rio snickered at Dana.“Rio, my understanding of you begins with your friendship with Zane, which pretty much explains every other insane stunt you two have been involved with since your arrival,” Dana smiled back.“Coach, I can explain,” Vivian finally got out. “I was assigned to Zane as his guardian by the Board of Directors and they said…um…”“That you should go to Zane’s bedroom and get into a fight?” Dana concluded. Vivian gulped, nodded and then shook her head.“Get used to it, Vivian,” Coach nodded knowingly. “If you are going to be hanging around with Zane, you need to get used to things like this happening. These inexplicable events occur on a regular basis. By the way, Zane: Thank you.”“No problem, Coach,” I grinned.“What was that for?” Vivian asked.“Zane fought to get my job back,” Dana Gorman nodded.“Why would he do that?” Vivian wondered. “You put him through hell.”“Yeah, I was asking myself the same question,” Rio chimed in.“She’s good for the university,” I answered, “and they were going to cancel the athletics program.”“Vivian, you should be more concerned how you are going to beat Zane,” Dana stated.“Valerie, could you get Vivian one of your sports bras and a pair of Rio’s shorts?” I requested.“I’m not going to strip in front of you,” Vivian said indignantly as Valerie left to do as I asked.“I’ll leave the room if you like,” I shrugged.“I’ll take video evidence,” Rio leered at Vivian.“Rio, I’ll slam you inside one of Zane’s wardrobes if you don’t behave,” Dana warned.“Zane will stick up for me,” Rio puffed out her chest defiantly.“Yeah, I was considering that,” Dana laughed. “That turns a six-second fight into a sixty-second fight, but you are still ending up in the closet.”“And to think Rio spent so many of her formative years coming out of the closet,” Paige jabbed.“Paige, I’d slap you for that but I know Zane doesn’t want a bruise on that swank body of yours.” Rio taunted the tender-fleshed albino Paige.“I keep begging him to trade you to me for a night but Zane insists that you two are exclusive for now,” Rio kept at it despite Paige’s arousal. “I’m holding out for you, though.”“I’m confident that Zane will keep making the right decisions,” Paige rose to the challenge.“Wait,” Vivian waved her hands sideways, “Zane is really sleeping with a bunch of women? I thought that was an exaggeration.”“Did I come at a bad time?” Barbie Lynn spoke up. She was holding a suitcase and a carry-on bag. Behind her was Millicent with one suitcase and Raven with a dress bag. I was reminded that Barbie Lynn would be moving back into the dorm as dorm mother in the morning, but she was currently between places and clearly expected to spend the night here, in my room, with me.“Come on in,” I offered Barbie Lynn as I crossed over to get her bag. Vivian stepped up and put a hand on my arm to stop me.“Barbie Lynn will not be staying in your room tonight!” Vivian laid down the law.“Vivian, you always ranked higher than me in the club hierarchy and I have a bad knee, but if you have a problem with me, face me, not Zane,” Barbie Lynn growled.“Don’t worry, Babe,” I soothed Barbie, “I’m working on a solution right now.”“Zane, slap this skank” (referring to Vivian), Rio snarled. “She put her hand on you so defend yourself all over her punk ass.”“Vivian is only doing her job,” I addressed Rio. “I’m not going to hold that against her.”“Zane, is this another one?” Raven inquired about Vivian’s sexual status with me.“No. She’s my official guardian, and as soon as I kick her ass, she’s going to sleep on one of the main room’s sofas for a month,” I explained.“No, when I win, I will exclude everyone from this floor except you, me and the dorm mother,” Vivian countered.Valerie came bolting into the room with the clothes, Opal, and Cappadocia.“I will go change into shorts outside. Vivian, you change here. Coach, can you referee the match?” I tried to bring some order to the chaos. Vivian ground her teeth but took the clothes and started to strip before I got my own clothes.“Zane, stay on - change in the corner. There are too many freshmen girls out there,” Vivian conceded.“You two should decide if you want to stick to Zane’s bedroom or cover the entire floor,” Dana stated.“I leave that to Vivian,” I allowed. Vivian chose the full floor and Dana decided that things would remain cluttered – the students would remain on the floor as obstacles to fight around, believing we were good enough to not smack a civilian.“Good job, Vivian,” Dana congratulated her senior student. “Use the terrain to counter his reach advantage."Any advice for me?” I asked.“Yes. Don’t get that pretty face beaten up,” she smiled snidely at me.“That will teach Zane to take your side on anything,” Rio sneered.“I’m not on your faction’s side, Rio,” Dana confirmed, “but it doesn’t mean Zane and I aren’t friends.”“I’m fine,” I assured Rio. “Tell us when, Coach.” Dana looked Vivian and I over.“Go!” she snapped.Vivian caught me off guard by running away but I quickly gave chase. She compounded the situation by scrambling across a pool table in play then kicking at me when I came around the side. She followed up on that advantage with a series of punches that drove me over the back of a chair. Girls were screaming, squealing, and running all around us.She advanced around the chair so I bolted over the closest sofa. Now Vivian pursued. She launched a flying kick over the sofa. I folded under it and was a millisecond faster on the recovery. My punch hit her in the ribs and pushed her back. A flurry of blows rained down on me. I tried to drive her back but Vivian’s technique was too close to perfect for me to beat through.Vivian switched up with a series of swift front kicks to buy some room, then started maneuvering again.“She’s a righty,” Valerie told me. That meant she was right-handed, thus she made most of her attacks and blocks from the right, covering the left instinctively. Since the right was not significantly stronger in most athletes, you could wear down an opponent by concentrating your attacks on the over-extended right, or so the theory went.Even then, it took two minutes to catch her calf with a kick and put her down. She rolled out of my attempted hold but ended up on her ass, back to a chair.“Five-minute break,” I offered. Vivian blinked but took the hand I offered to help her stand up. “Drink,” I motioned to the juice dispenser. She looked at me funny, then went to get one.“Be careful, Vivian; he’s trying to get inside your head, convince you he’s not such a bad guy,” Dana counseled her female student.“No kind words for me?” I joked.“I already know you are a good guy, Zane. The only reason you cut Vivian some slack was that you would rather have her friendship than the win, which is far more dangerous to Vivian,” Dana winked at me.I took a Grapefruit juice while Vivian drank some Gatorade, both with our backs to the sink. I caught her stealing some looks my way.“Next time I’ll pin you,” she told me while looking away.“We both have to be thinking that or we wouldn’t be fighting,” I responded.“The difference is that I am right,” she said as we made eye to eye contact.“FFU doesn’t teach you to be second best,” I nodded, which brought a smile to her face.“Thirty seconds,” Iona warned us. We picked spots ten feet apart and were ready when Dana gave the word.Since my previous strategy had relied on attrition, Vivian went for a quick, lightning series of attacks. She rebounded off sofas, tables, and chairs as she drove me about the room. At a crucial moment she drove her foot into my thigh above the knee and sent me sprawling into a crowd of observers. As Vivian closed in for the kill, I spilled a startled freshman into her.By the time she disentangled herself from my distraction, I was on my feet. Her glare told me she didn’t approve of my move. We crashed together; she leveraged me over and threw me onto a sofa. We grappled and rolled off the sofa and onto the floor. Vivian rammed an elbow into my throat but I wedged a knee under her hips and propelled her over my head.“You’ve done a good job, Coach Gorman,” Valerie lauded Dana on Vivian’s performance.“She’s either three or four on the team,” Dana informed the group. “It is her or Evangeline fighting for third, with Cappadocia and Wilhelmina being second and first.”“You have some weird damn names at this school,” Valerie commented.“This from an outlaw biker chick with the handle of Valkyrie?” Dana teased. “Of course, I’m also still trying to figure out how a guy who is knocking boots with Barbie Lynn Masters is giving the time of day to Paige here.”“Hey!” Paige squawked. “Zane thinks I am very good at sex, I’ll have you know.”“Trouble,” Barbie Lynn moaned. Vivian had faked me out and put a foot into my stomach that sent me cartwheeling. Me, I’d have kicked me in the calves and thighs to weaken me up but Vivian went for a stomp to my diaphragm. I rolled away, then kicked out. This is where my greater reach came into play; Vivian couldn’t fall back fast enough and I put my heel into her hip.I was up a hair before Vivian could make a counterstrike. I rolled her thrust under my arm, caught the limb and rolled the two of us onto the ground. She placed a hand underneath her and tried to shake free of me. I locked her arm, twisted, and leaned into her body.“Do you give?” I asked softly. I had her pinned and I doubted anyone here besides Dana could have escaped.“No,” she hissed. I could sense people gathering around.“Time for another five-minute break?” I inquired a little louder. Vivian gave one last surge of resistance, then relaxed.“Fine,” she grumbled, “five minutes.” I rolled off and offered her a hand.Vivian ignored it, choosing to get on all fours, then stand. She was about to walk way when she turned and extended her hand to me. She shook and headed back to the closest bar.“Zane?” at least five different girls asked me at once. I wasn’t sure why I’d let Vivian up either.“Dude, if you lose this, I am personally going to use my strap-on on your ass,” Rio growled.“I’m going to go home and start researching the most painful applications of acupuncture possible,” Paige enlightened us all.“I’ll take care of your hurts,” Barbie Lynn sympathized.“You are such a slut,” growled Rio.“No,” Opal interceded. “I think that Brandi, Barbie Lynn and I are going to be taking comfort with Zane when the rest of you bimbos have lost faith in him, leaving him lost and forlorn.”“How many of you am I going to have to fight off?” Vivian sounded worried. It was beautiful music to my ears, not to be blamed for once.“There is me,” Iona chirped, “and wait until Heaven shows up. Forty-eight hours without her Zane-fix and she’s going to look forward to dismembering someone,” she added with a pleasant sincerity. Vivian looked to me skeptically.“It is entirely my fault,” I confessed with upraised hands, “I should learn to say 'no’ from time to time. I keep leading these fine young ladies on.”“Do you see why you need to win now?” Dana asked Vivian, who looked uncertain. “You are Zane’s only hope of surviving the school year. You are a lifesaver.”“Oh, okay; let’s get back to it then,” Vivian sighed. I rolled my shoulders and followed. The second Dana gave us the nod, we attacked one another. I had hoped to catch Vivian off-guard and clearly Vivian thought the same thing.In close, Vivian had the advantage. She got several blows into my right side and I never fully recovered. Vivian got a foot behind my left leg and tumbled me down as I grabbed her shirt. Her shirt tore, we rolled – first her on top, then me before we broke up. I jabbed, she tumbled back and regained her feet, I backed up and did the same.Vivian tossed her ruined shirt aside and readied herself. Maybe a half dozen people in the room followed the next exchange of blocks and blows, Vivian hammering away at my right while I clipped her left shoulder and stomach. I saw an opening, tried to flip her but she pulled me down and ended up on top. She cocked back her fist to strike with her right while pinning my shoulder with her left.I had a hand poised at her armpit and the other half-raised to block. Vivian realized she was about to clock me in the head hard; my block wouldn’t be fast enough. Something passed between us at that moment. I hooked her under the arm, flipped us over, and landed on top. Vivian twisted her arms but I twisted my block into a wrist hold and pinned the other when she attempted to break the hold.For that second, I had her pressed to the ground, our breasts heaving from the exertion.“Okay,” she said softly. I immediately let go of her wrists and got off of her in all haste. I offered to help her up and this time she took it without hesitation. We stood there, clasped hands held at her chest level, facing and studying the other’s features.The cheering broke out the moment the freshmen student body realized the fight was finally over and that I had somehow come out on top. I tilted my head slightly because I really had to know why she let me win but I never got the words out.“I really don’t know,” Vivian whispered.My well-wishers pulled us apart and I was getting slapped on the back and kissed. I noted that Dana, Barbie Lynn, Valerie, and Mercy stood around Vivian. Valerie must have seen what really happened and wanted to know why. Mercy had probably been reminded of whose side she theoretically belonged to. Barbie Lynn would be Dorm Mother again, making Vivian her charge, and Dana was her instructor after, which explained everyone’s presence.“So, can we have our own little celebration?” Paige requested, her pale eyes burning bright.“I have a church meeting in an hour,” I frowned. Rio and Iona were in the room with us but were close to the screen entrance, giving Paige and I some space.“We could sneak something in,” Paige winked hopefully.“You are many things to me, Paige, but you are not someone I want to leave after only a quickie,” I looked down at Paige as I wrapped my arms around her. She pouted but clearly wasn’t too angry with my decision. Outside her odd fascination with me, Paige was a clever, logical girl.“I believe Heaven is going to be all over you this evening,” Paige sighed. “Friday is for your Aunt Jill and Saturday is the Block Party, so what are my chances for Thursday or Sunday?”“I was hoping to make Thursday night a sleep-over sort of thing and I’d like it if you were here,” I asked. “I really don’t want to commit my Sunday until I’m sure Heaven is okay. You have to admit she’s had a really lousy week.”“I don’t have to admit anything, Zane, but I make allowances because you mean well,” Paige smiled. “I chose to accept that your loyalty to Heaven is a mirror of the loyalty you show me.”“It has nothing to do with bouncy, bouncy, bouncy?” I teased.“No,” Paige wiggled tightly against me. “That would be an irrational decision based on memories of deep sexual pleasure and I’d never confess to that.” I felt her place a gentle kiss on my chest. I answered with a kiss to the top of her head.“Now scoot,” I commanded. “You are far too distracting and I do have to get going.”Paige rubbed her body against me as she moved past to the entrance; Iona and Rio came my way as I got dressed.“I should have Mercy tied down, gagged, and blindfolded by the time you get back,” Rio grinned.That was her way of asking my permission to use my room without actually asking.“I’ll make sure Vivian is set up before you get back,” Iona informed me with upbeat energy.“Iona, since I hate Mercy Chaplain, why don’t you spend the weekend with me?” I asked. The implication was that Rio would be tearing Mercy up all weekend long.“I’d love to,” Iona hugged me.“Sleep in his bed,” Rio chuckled.“I plan to,” Iona boasted.“Lose your virginity,” Rio teased.“No,” Iona gave Rio a raspberry. “Zane loves me the way I am.”“Are we going to cuddle?” I smiled warmly down at her.“Damn Skippy!” she chirped. “I’ll even sleep in the nude because I trust you so much.”“Busted!” Rio laughed at me. I groaned, finished getting dressed, and made my own way out.Before I could make my escape from the main area, Vivian flagged me down.“Vivian, I’m going to…” I started to say. She lifted up her phone in response.“Your schedule is online,” Vivian pointed out. “What I was wondering was why you are still using the fifth floor showers when you have showers in the Solarium now?”“Wow, are you offering to shower with me?” I faux-gasped. “That didn’t take you long.”“No!!” Vivian glared with some exasperation. “I’m trying to limit your contact with naked women.”No one within earshot was rude enough to laugh out loud.“I could say something like 'shower with me and I’ll respect your virginity,’ but I’ll respect your virginity no matter what,” I gazed upon Vivian. “I do formally request that you allow me to continue to shower on the fifth floor. I hope you don’t disregard my request out of hand.”Vivian levelly met my gaze, then nodded.“I’ll think about it,” she allowed.“Holy Smokes,” Brandi whispered from nearby, “he’s broken down the wall.” Vivian flinched.“No,” Opal whispered back, “but she’s no longer ready to castrate him in the next fifteen seconds either.” That observation made Vivian crack a glimmer of a grin. I took it as my cue to run for it.*Being dead is wonderful; you never get tired and you have all the time in the world to regret how you ended up this way*Thank you Frontma for inspiring me to keep writing so she can polish off the rough edges.(Yes, this tale is supposed to be somewhat humorous and outrageous too. While not always comedic, I’d like to think it is mostly a good-natured romp.)OFFICIALLY AN AFFAIROnce they got over me 'borrowing’ certain gear from some of the male committee rooms, the Festivities Committee fell in line with Rochelle Wellington’s agenda. I sat back as normal while they hashed out how best to use the new imagery that I’d provided courtesy of the girls at FFU. At this, my second meeting, I chose to sit behind Sahara Penny, Pastor Bill’s wife.I learned she was Lebanese Christian and she’d married William Penny when he was in the US Navy, before he became a priest. There were a ton of things left unsaid about her opinion of his ministry and I got the definite opinion that Bill had left his last post because everyone thought Sahara had an indiscretion with a young male parishioner. My guess was that if a young male parishioner was involved, the cheater was that bastard Bill.As an added insult, Sahara’s name wasn’t even Sahara; that was the name Bill had listed on their marriage certificate because he found her Lebanese name difficult to pronounce. Her minority background, coupled with her husband, the pastor, letting everyone think she was a cheating whore, made Sahara the pariah of this little community.Because I had absolutely nothing going on in my life, I had to avenge Sahara. Being dumber than a box of rocks certainly didn’t hurt my determination. By the end of the session I had managed to accomplish four things. I’d helped Sahara feel better about herself and know she had a friend in me. If you have ever felt alone and isolated in the world you know how good that can feel.I had confused Mrs. Bainbridge as to my actual intentions; she thought I was cozying up to Sahara instead of Rochelle. The committee was mildly impressed that I had both shown back up and had appeared to bust my hump in contributing to their efforts at what their menfolk thought was a joke.Most importantly to me, I had gotten a few covert smiles from Rochelle Wellington for both my help to the other members and to my efforts with Sahara. As wife of the mayor, she wasn’t supposed to make waves, which included things like befriending someone the men had designated to be on the 'Shunned’ list. I was forgiven for my transgression because I clearly didn’t give a fuck about what any of them cared.When the meeting broke up Kendra Bainbridge, Sahara, Rochelle and I were quickly the last ones left. I hovered close to Sahara as we made our way to the door.“Zane, you need to return this equipment to the proper room,” Rochelle reminded me.“Sahara, why don’t we walk to our cars together?” Kendra suggested sweetly.This was the most I had heard Kendra address Sahara in the short time I had known them.It was clearly also her attempt of a cock-block on Sahara and I, which was a fortunate misread on the situation between myself and the Pastor’s wife.“That would be nice, Kendra,” Sahara replied. She reached out and stroked my elbow. “Thank you, Zane,” she added with a smile.Kendra departed, smug in her victory, leaving Rochelle and I alone.“I’ll get this equipment put away and be right back,” I told Rochelle. “Could you make sure all the new files are backed up to my account?”“Of course, Zane,” she smiled warmly, and set to work. I raced to get things squared away and hurried back. She remained at the table completing her work, coat off, when I moved in behind her.“Are we still friends?” I asked softly as I leaned in next to her ear.“Of course,” she turned her head so our gazes were only inches apart. I made to kiss her on the lips; she recoiled so I waited. I wasn’t afraid I’d spooked her; she wanted passion and the sense of freedom that came for embracing a choice all her own.The fear drained away and she completed our encounter. She was tentative at first and I mostly let her take the lead for the first two minutes until she became more confident. When the time was right I turned her in the chair and pulled her up by each hand. My hands went to her neck while hers settled on my hips.“We have our boundaries?” Rochelle questioned me.“Absolutely,” I confirmed. “Your neck,” I kissed her neck, “ear,” I kissed her ear, “and cheek are all on my side of the boundaries.” I had gotten as far as fondling the breasts last time around but I had time to coax her that way and was in no hurry.“Where are your boundaries?” I inquired of Rochelle as I lowered my hands around her hips.“I definitely think we should keep the boundaries at the waistline,” she suggested.“So you want my waistline, but was that up or down?” I smiled.“What?” she blushed.“Do you want to keep your hands above my waist – say to the stomach and chest, or you could go down below the belt?” I teased. “Just kidding,” I let her off the hook. Instead, I moved my lips to her face and came to a stop there.“We shouldn’t be doing this,” Rochelle sighed.“Okay,” I was disappointed, “but you will have to tell me to let go of you first.”“That isn’t fair,” she moaned, as she pressed her body against me and rested her forehead on my shoulder. I doubted it helped her resistance when her stomach pressed against my highly aroused cock.“Zane,” Rochelle choked out, “I’ve been a good wife for thirty years. I’m a pillar of the community and a loyal member of this congregation. What am I doing with a man younger than my youngest baby?”“Rochelle, I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to do, but I’m not going to lie about wanting you.”“I don’t think you are running away from your husband and family; I think they have moved on without you, despite all you’ve done to make them a part of your life. If you end up alone three or more times a week, give us a shot; if not, you are doing okay and should stay where you are,” I advised.“I don’t want to lose you,” Rochelle worried.“You are not going to lose me, Rochelle. You are beautiful and that is not going to change; even if you are unattainable and I have to watch you from afar,” I soothed her. She seemed to swell up with happiness in my arms.“That isn’t fair one bit,” she moaned.“Fine. I don’t find you attractive; I am going to forget you the moment I walk out this door and I’ll never look at you again,” I taunted her. “Happy? You are off the hook.”“Maybe if you were a better liar,” Rochelle looked up at me smiling, “Remember that I am married to a politician.”“Oh, then tell me if I’m lying: I want to pick you up, press you onto this table and make love to you until you scream with pleasure,” I challenged.“What about our boundaries?” she panted.“I’m trying really, really hard to honor them but you aren’t making it easy,” I confided in her. Rochelle decided to change tacks. She backed away and leaned against the table, facing me, with her arms supporting her upper body as she reclined.“We shouldn’t do this,” she told me, but even as she shook her head, she smiled and bit her lower lip provocatively.I pursued her, Rochelle spreading her legs to allow my body to better press down on her. I kissed her fervently several times before she spoke.“Stop,” she whispered. “I can’t.” I began working open the buttons on her blouse. Rochelle rolled her head back so that my lips and tongue played along her throat.“Ah, Zane, you should stop that,” she exhaled as she gently held one hand to the back of my head as I kissed her breasts through her bra. “There are three hooks,” she added as I started slipping her bra off. She pushed away from the table so I could slip her shirt and bra down. Since I had her off the table temporarily, I elected to unzip her skirt from the side and drop that and her slip to the carpet.She was looking horribly vulnerable being so nearly naked, down to white panties, thigh high white stockings, and black shoes. Sure, she was plump in the middle and her rich, swelling breasts sagged, but they were gorgeous to hold and behold. I more than evened the playing field, stripping completely naked. Rochelle moaned when she saw me exposed and she trembled with lust. I was sure she thought about running away or running at me, but she chose something in between.Rochelle reached forward and tenderly grabbed my penis in one hand.“Oh, my,” she gasped. I moved closer, brushed her hair aside and put my hand to the back of her head. I brought her into yet another kiss, this one longer and more passionate than the rest.“I am going to move one step at a time,” I told her softly, our faces barely an inch apart, “but I am going to take you tonight.”Rochelle’s first nod was timid, but they became very enthusiastic. I rested my hands on the lush flesh just below the hips and lifted her halfway onto the table.“I think I’m violating your boundaries,” I grinned wickedly. First her eyes flared, she looked surprised, and finally she let her giggle turn into a laugh.She gave my cock a delicious twist.“I think we are way beyond that,” she panted happily. I pressed into her, bobbing in for a kiss, withdrawing for her smile, and going in again. It took over a minute for Rochelle eventually to feel comfortable and self-assured enough to kiss me on the neck. I thrust my pelvis into her as a response.That appeared to be what it took for Rochelle’s emotional dam to burst. She wrapped her stocking clad calves around each thigh and began kissing my shoulder and chest with hungry little pecks.“Zane,” she panted as she yanked on my cock, “I haven’t had sexual intercourse in twenty years.”My first thought was 'Crap, someone else trying to squeeze my cock off,’ but I realized that was unfair, plus she had delivered five children.“Rochelle, can I be crass and crude with you?” I said softly. That clearly wasn’t what she expected to hear; still she consented.“Rochelle, I know it has been a long time since you’ve had sex, and it has probably been very vanilla. Have you ever had sex bent over a table?” I wondered.“No,” she blushed. “I’ve only had sex on a bed…on my back. Isn’t that normal?”“Um, okay. I’m going to fuck you, Rochelle; I am going to nail you, make you scream and cry and beat your fists in ecstasy,” I threatened her. “How does that make you feel?”“I…” she gulped, “that scares me but…” nothing was said for several seconds.“Damn it,” I hissed, “your body is tormenting me.” Rochelle gasped and trembled once more. I dove into her left breast and bit down. She pulsed against me; then I started pressing her down on the table. Removing her panties was remarkably easy after that.I let my cock, still in her hand, rub against her slit. When her labia parted her fluids quickly coated the tip. I moved it up and down while we kissed, and I mean kissed. Rochelle kept stroking my cheek and hairline. I began pulling and teasing her nipples. A moment later I hooked her legs up until she instinctively wrapped around my waist.When I was rubbing my member along her cunt lips we kissed. When I feasted on her nipples she moaned like a slut and arched her back to entice me further.“Put it in me,” she begged, overwhelmed with desire, “Put it in me now, please.”“Whatever you want,” I whispered in her ear. Using both our hands (I got the feeling she wasn’t sure what she was doing) I wedged my cockhead in between her labia and pushed.Rochelle was snug, not tight, and certainly wasn’t trying to tear the skin off my penis going in. For her part, my partner was going off beneath me chanting 'yes, yes, yes’ and rubbing her body against mine. By the way she was sparking against me, I knew she was close to orgasm.“Ugh – ugh – ugh,” Rochelle squirmed, “Oh, God! Yes!” she exulted beneath my body.She thrust rhythmically multiple times before gracefully resting against the wooden surface.“Oh, my God,” she gasped. “I’ve never had an orgasm that intense before, or had it happen so fast.”“That was all you, Elle,” I grinned. “You have built up a great deal of sexual energy over the years and I had better be careful with you or you’ll tear me up.”“Oh – wait, that is a good thing, isn’t it?” she asked from deep within her heaving bosom.“What did I tell you? The bodies of true women are dynamite and need to be handled with care. My main concern is that I can satisfy you,” I confided in her. She had no initial words in response, instead relying on an intense stare.“Elle?” she panted. “No one has called me Elle since my father died.”“Would you prefer I call you something else?” I replied.“No. It was a surprise, that’s all,” she told me. I pushed a little farther into Rochelle as she finished speaking. “Ooohhh,” she murmured.I let Rochelle’s legs fall to the side as I gently coasted in and out of her. I gave her a few minutes of tender sex before pulling out and kneeling between her legs.“What?” she started to mumble before my lips settled onto her cunt and my tongue rolled through her folds. “Oh, wow,” she moaned.Her clitoris was already evident so after a few generous strokes of the tongue, I tilted up and encased her clit in my lips and sucked. Rochelle bucked her hips in reaction and started up a deeply passionate groan. To add to life’s injustices, I was sure no one had ever gone down on Rochelle’s love box before.Despite having already cum once, Rochelle climaxed again inside five minutes.“Oh, God!” was her guttural gasp. Her body jerked, trembled, and stiffened before going still once more. I licked my way up her body, teasing both sides of her belly button, slobbering over her right breast, and ending up driving my tongue into a muscular dance with hers.“Mmmm, is that what I taste like?” she panted, with thankfully a good deal of pleasure.“Now you know one of the reasons I’ll be coming back for more,” I teased.“One; what is the other one?” she grinned wearily.“No, you don’t,” I responded with a kiss to her nose. “You don’t get to have that kind of fantastic reaction to me then act like it was nothing.”“Oh, don’t say that,” Rochelle scolded me, “I know I’m not very good.”“Are you dumping me?” I asked.“No,” she exclaimed anxiously, and clutched me with her hands on my upper arms and thighs pressing on my hips.“Why are you acting as if I didn’t enjoy myself?” I questioned. “You climaxed twice and guys love that kind of thing. My only problem is that we can’t keep giving you the screwing you so richly deserve. If we are missing much longer, they are going to send out search parties.” Rochelle continued to hold me tight but had calmed down a lot. It did take me a moment to figure out that I needed to carry the conversation.“How soon can we get together again?” I asked softly, which was precisely what she wanted to hear.“Maybe we shouldn’t,” she hesitated, but from my experience she was playing with me.“I know I’ve pushed this, Elle, but you are worth every effort. I see a sensual, mature woman abandoned by some guy who clearly didn’t appreciate her finer qualities,” I pledged.“Zane, the risks are so great,” she worried intently. “We could really suffer over this…affair.”“Fine,” I sat up, “I’ll give you up for your sake but you have to promise to do one thing for me.”“What is it?” she hesitantly inquired.“How many young women have been in your husband’s office less than five years?” I opened with.“Two,” she recalled somewhat confused.“The one with the most seniority; tomorrow I want you to go into her office and tell her you know about her liaisons with your husband – her boss – the Mayor,” I advised her. “Don’t act angry. Instead, act comfortable with the news and put her at ease. She’ll be glad to confide in someone, trust me.”“What if she hasn’t had an affair and goes to my husband with this accusation?” Rochelle bit her lip in concern.“Rochelle, you have a seriously hot body and incredible sexual energy. Since your husband hasn’t been neutered that I’m aware of, he’s been getting sex somewhere else. I haven’t heard of a thriving sex industry in town so for discretion’s sake, he is having sex with women he has power over; namely, employees,” I explained.“How did you come up with all of that?” she marveled.“Elle, there is nothing greater in all of God’s Creation than women, body and soul. I notice things that most people miss and appreciate qualities most ignore,” I enlightened her. “You have a smoking body but if you weren’t such a wonderful woman, I wouldn’t be here.”“Ah, you make me feel ten years younger,” she sighed before kissing me on the nipple and chest.“Crap,” I bitched. “That means I only have two more encounters with you before you become jail bait.” That assessment made her laugh joyously.“I’ve lost my mind and I don’t know why,” she breathed in a terribly sexy way, hardly upset at all.“We are leaving now,” I declared, “Because you are so sexy right this instant, if I stay, I’m going to hammer you so hard we are going to break this table. I’m not sure how we can explain that.”“Does the 'hammer me through the table’ line work on younger women?” Rochelle teased.“Do you want me to go grab a younger woman and find out?” I zinged back.“No!” she insisted. “I am sure we are not exclusive but I’m sure I don’t want to share you with anyone I don’t have to. I think we should get together again but I’ll have to contact you.”“Use Felicity’s phone and have her call Rio,” I directed. “She’ll get a message to me.”“Are you going to…seduce Felicity too?” Rochelle inquired warily.“Nope, that has never been my intention,” I answered. I wasn’t sure how to explain to Rochelle that the real worry was Rio kidnapping Felicity for a Lost Weekend of Sapphic splendor. A discussion about homosexuality and my acceptance of it wasn’t in the cards for tonight.“I want her and Lance to have a shot at happiness,” Rochelle said.“I want Felicity to be happy as well,” I evaded. If she noticed my failure to mention her youngest son, she was good enough not to press the matter. We kissed before we walked out the door and left; she went home and I headed home to have dinner with Jill. We had hot dogs and green beans; Jill had a hard three days at work and she wasn’t a diligent cook to begin with.MY SHIRT IS NOT MY FRIENDBefore heading back to campus I stopped by the Kappa Sigma House. I got some rather comfortable attention from the ladies, which was a bit bizarre when it was tag-team action from two sisters I’m pretty sure are lesbians. I stopped by to see Tawny for a minute to talk to her about the block party I might still have an invitation too.I ended up spending a few minutes of alone time with Leigh (okay, Paris is on her bed pretending to study but it isn’t a tiny room).“I know you need to go home soon,” Leigh lured me in with a sympathetic voice. I let her come into my arms and while I was aware she was about to shift me I was still taken aback by her enthusiasm.I landed back-first on her bed and she ended up straddling my crotch with her legs folded underneath her.“Let me help you with your shirt,” she grinned evilly. I wasn’t aware my shirt was in the way or that I wanted it off but what the hell. I started to unbutton my shirt but she slapped my hands away. Instead, she pulled my shirt out of my pants and yanked it up and up until the top was over my head.Once she had it over my face and my arms pinned, she stopped and snickered.“What the…oh, come on, Leigh,” I complained.“You like to be tied up, admit it,” she teased me.“Is your webcam on?” I countered.“If I say yes will you be even more turned on?” she wiggled on my aroused crotch. “Somebody says you will.” Leigh scooted down my body, then placed her tongue on my nipple and blew a cool breath on it. The arousal was agony. Things didn’t get better when she set her lips to the other nipple.“That’s it, Zane,” Leigh moaned, “so fucking big and hard.” She was rubbing her breasts and stomach along my rod, making me wish we were naked once more. Leigh was taking sadistic joy in working my nipples over too. It was so good that I was momentarily confused when she took in both of my nipples at once (honest – I don’t have man-boobs). I had a second tormentor.“Hey, Paris,” I gasped.“Zane, you are so sweet. I am going have to make use of your trellis Friday night because I can’t sleep right remembering how you tongued and dicked me over at the party,” Paris sighed happily. “Here, let me help you breathe.”Paris (?) helped move my shirt from over my chin and lips, which did help me take a deep breath, but in the intake, a nipple and a bit of breast were inserted past my lips. Paris was a 34B but could easily fit a C, and dining on her firm and vibrant flesh was no hardship for me. I figured that I could take two women at one time; I’d done it before.The third presence was perturbing but now both my nipples were covered. It was when a slick cold substance was placed upon my belly that I started to protest. I had the knowledge that there were four women over me when a newcomer initiated some licks, rubbing her flat tongue over me from sternum to belly button.“Oh, wow,” she said &a

So much has been going on, the Geeks catch up with each other with another Whatcha' Doin'? episode. This week, we discuss... - "Moon Knight" - "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" - "Ms. Marvel" - "Thor: Love & Thunder" - "Obi-Wan Kenobi" - "The Batman" - "Outlander" season 6 - "The Time Traveler's Wife" season 1...and done :( - "Stranger Things" season 4 - "THE ORVILLE" SEASON 3 :) - "For All Mankind" season 3 - "Top Gun: Maverick" - Live performance of "The Great Divorce" by C.S. Lewis - "Chronicles of Amber" book series by Roger Zelazny - "Pilgrim's Progress" modern telling - "Save the Cat" scriptwriting book - "The Boys" seasons 1 & 2 (Andruw hasn't quite gotten to season 3 yet; Todd isn't bothering) - "Umbrella Academy" season 3 - Dave's rewatch of "The A-Team" - Todd's rewatch of "Picket Fences" - News & trailers coming out of San Diego Comic Con - The Geeks' mutual decrease in enthusiasm for some upcoming movies & TV shows :( - DRAGON CON !!! :) -- What are the guys looking forward to the most this Labor Day weekend (Dave and Andruw's first time going, Todd's 11th, if you count Dragon Con Virtual 2020)? ...And, well...that's enough, don't you think?!? Out of the items above that all three of us saw, I don't think we totally agreed on any of them. So, you'll get a lot of different opinions this time. OOOHHH!!! And, this is our 2nd anniversary of podcasting!!! :) Technically, our previous episode could have counted as our 2nd anniversary. We didn't even realize it. Whoops. Maybe we'll make a big deal out of it...eventually. Or, maybe we'll just celebrate on odd-numbered anniversaries. (?!?) Note: Due to the timely nature of some of the reviews in this episode and the news out of SDCC, this episode is coming out before two previously-recorded episodes. Our reviews of horror movie "The Mist" is almost completely edited, and we have a review of submarine comedy "Down Periscope" in the can (between the creamed corn and deviled ham...you'll get the joke if you've watched that movie). Episodes we plan to record (hopefully) soon are "Thor: The Dark World," which we rolled on the "Down Periscope" episode, and another showdown of "After Earth vs. Oblivion," which we rolled off-mic when we realized we didn't do it in this episode. Edit (a week later): Oh, yeah, we also rolled "Dark City" at some point and still need to record the review for that one too, probably even before "Thor: The Dark World" or the showdown. You can contact us at... - E-Mail: DiscerningGeeks@gmail.com - Twitter: @DiscerningGeeks - Facebook: Discerning Geeks Portal - Link Tree: linktr.ee/discerninggeeks Please rate or review us wherever you listen to podcasts. Give us 5 stars if you love us, 4 stars if you hate us. The other stars do not work. Public domain music used in the episode includes... - Intro/Outro: "I Guess What I'm Trying to Say" by Bryan Teoh via FreePD.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/discerninggeeks/message

La bienvenida de Pica en Punta en su octavo programa de esta segunda temporada en la que juega de local en el Estadio Multiplataformas. Ahora también lo podés ver por Youtube y Twitch. Algunas cosas no cambian. Siempre con arranque al estilo chiringuito. Dale PLAY para ver si Agus, Capu, Juli y Cata pudieron salvar las papas sin Mauro y sin Naya. Ooohhh cada vez son menos...

Try the fitness app I use, FOR FREE! Get in shape with THE fitness app everyone is talking about. Try Fitbod FREE and get 25% off when you sign up. Click hereHere's what happened on the full show available on my Patreon.1 – 0:00:00 – Debbie Reynolds death makes Stu smart. Diana falls for all hoaxes. Brought to you by. Steve Martin tries to get cancelled. Cinnabon guilty of not being somber. More death coming. Eric predicts Eric Zane Show.2 – 0:20:09 – Eric screws the online audience. 6 year old goes on unplanned shopping spree.3 – 0:28:54 – Andrea's ‘Ooohhh' added to instant replay. Eric thinks he is being scammed. Titch Bits.4 – 0:40:16 – Win Win conspiracy for Lions and Packers. Sports updates.5 – 0:49:03 – Comedian Big Jay Oakerson and a hot chick with a wing-wang. Eric matures. Can of worms for penises.6 – 1:06:14 – Detailing transgenders to an 8 year old. John from Holland talks too long. 2016 in 4 words.7 – 1:22:19 – 5-in-10 challenge. Sports updates.8 – 1:38:23 – Craigslist scams.9 – 1:48:11 – Eric can't pronounce Frank Abagnale. Celebration Cinema / Meijer coming downtown; more downtown developments coming soon. Lots of beer.10 – 2:00:11 – Dear Meathead -- Meathead-ism of the segment: “I really don't know if I want to embellish into that particular area / for her cleanness situation of showers and what not.”. Eric hangs up on Meathead.11 – 2:20:00 – Reddit is like being in the brain of a schizophrenic. Soccer player Samir Nasri has Twitter account hacked by girlfriend.12 – 2:31:44 – Erotic misspell. The dynamics of saying Hello. The many faces of Stu. Huge cat Huge.13 – 2:42:04 – 10 minutes with Huge.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-eric-zane-show-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

I run a great car show every week in Corona CA. It's called Cars & Coffee Corona (@carscoffeecorona) A friend at the show asked me about a YouTube video he watched recently about retirement.   He also listens to my podcast and knows how much I love financial entertainers like Dave Ramsey, Suzy Orman, and Chris Hogan. What is a Financial Entertainer? Take a listen. My friend said that Dave Ramsey said that people can get 10% income on their retirement money! Ooohhh really?! I asked him to send me the YouTube video he was referring too and sure enough, there was Dave talking nonsense again.   The video was published in 2020. Let me quote the biggest financial entertainer in the world…. Got questions about maximizing your retirement income, saving for retirement, life insurance, or estate planning?   DISCLAIMER: Kraig Strom is not an attorney or a certified public accountant. Kraig is a Certified Financial Planner Professional®, a Chartered Financial Consultant®, and an Investment advisor representative.  As cool as all that may sound, this video is only helpful hints, tips and education. This video is not specific tax, legal or investment advice. Before you decide to take action on anything you see in this video, please consult with your tax, legal or investment advisor first.

Hey Dope Friends! We're back from spring break, and we've got some things to catch up on. #Travel, sand, sun, #politics and lodging, and THE thing that everyone's seen and talked about all month... You know you were waiting to hear our commentary. LOL we've got you covered. Have you made a life change and received differing advice from your village? Have you been the person to question your friend about #exercise, #diet, #dating, etc.? We share our perspectives on change and why it seems to put people in a space. What's your experience? We want to know. Side note: Folks can judge and offer opinions all they want. Shari's still vegan, and Callie's fam still doesn't eat pork. End of story. Ooohhh did it feel like that pushed a button or two? [insert a nod and a shrug] Change is good, guys. Now that that's out of the way, drop us a line and tell us what you've got planned for the #summer. We're going back on break in a few weeks, but we will leave you a listening list to keep you entertained. We promise!

Did you know that your body emits something called a "baseline smell" which actually tells others something about your health? OOOhhh that smell! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

This week the hosts of Just Being ME! Podcast, Comedian Margot Evans and Mary Mac are back with another week of stuff on their minds. We jumped into our weekend as usual! Mary made and ate all the cookies and Margot met a real life Angel!You know we had to "Talk About It", like did you know that Robert Kelly is about to sing like a canary and tell on all the other pedophiles in the industry, to reduce his sentence! OOOHHH, were all ears! Mary jumped on her Soapbox this week and Margot had a Rant! You must tune in to listen to what they had to say this week! Thank you for your continued support. Make sure you tell a friend about us!

Ooohhh ouch! Motherhood is discussed so much. Most mothers I know are stressed and often frustrated. I was asked on instagram "How is relaxation and breaks possible (even) with kids. And I will explain it from my outside view. I give you a couple of tips and impulses that could change your perspective and life if you open up for them

On this episode, the guys are joined by DJ Larry, Amp, and Earl and go down memory lane and discuss their favorite tapes and memories from the Blog Era! Follow, RT, Like, Share & Subscribe! @ShowYourWorkNet Banks: @banksnorest2 Nelson: @whoisoriginel Marcel: @MarcelG1017 DJ Larry: @DJLarry93 Amp: @ampaveli/@raopodcast Earl: @Earl_Got_Sole / @GuessfromthePod *Produced by @banksnorest2*

Welcome to a very special episode of my mind!! Today we are joined by Simon with an S to talk about our love for the sopranos and lots of other things. We call this of ours A podcast you couldn't refuse enjoy today's very special episode. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/mymindwithstefan/support

Episode Notes A late night drive goes deadly wrong, but now with the help of some black magic things could go from dead to worse. Dead Ahead by Joe Solmo Buy the new "Babysitter Massacre" book! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08P4ZF9LG/ Get Cool Merchandise http://store.weeklyspooky Support us on Patreon http://patreon.com/IncrediblyHandsome Support Weekly Spooky by donating to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/weekly-spooky Contact Us/Submit a Story twitter.com/WeeklySpooky facebook.com/WeeklySpooky WeeklySpooky@gmail.com Music by Ray Mattis http://raymattispresents.bandcamp.com Produced by Daniel Wilder This episode sponsored by HenFlix.com For everything else visit WeeklySpooky.com Transcript: “Becca! Don't come out here with your witchy bullshit!” Tom yelled as he threw another shovel full of dirt behind him. “If you want to help, get in here and help me dig.” “It's not witchy bullshit. I'm telling you this is bad. A person died. We did it. This is going to come back on us three-fold. This is a lot of negative energy,” Becca said pushing her long brown hair behind her ear. Her boyfriend Tom was in a hole about three feet deep and getting deeper by the second. “Come take your turn. I need a break. It's a lot harder than they make it look in the movies,” Tom said.  “I told you I want no part in this,” Becca replied taking a step back into the chilly night. “You already are a part of this. You are just as guilty as I am. This poor bastard died because of both of us,” Tom retorted clanging the shovel off the corpse laying on the damp ground. “I wasn't the one driving!” Becca said, wiping a tear from her eye. “And I suppose your next excuse is going to be you had your mouth full and couldn't see over the wheel, right?” Tom sneered. “Look neither of us wanted this, but we have to take care of it. Do you know what would happen if we went to the cops?”  “Yeah, I know. We are wanted. Look, I don't want to go to jail for murder either,” Becca argued. “Murder? Who said anything about murder? It was an accident. We might get manslaughter, but surely not murder,” Tom responded pulling himself out of the hole and wiping his brow. His blond hair dirty with the earth he had been tossing. “This will have to be deep enough.” “What if someone finds the body?” Becca asked. “No one would give a fuck. This is Jersey.” “I think you've watched too many mob movies,” Becca said and turned away from the grave. She looked at the car, sitting just off the road enough into the pines to be hidden from the traffic. Her blue eyes focused on the dent in the passenger side bumper, and the blood that stood out starkly on the white paint.  They were never going to get away with it, she thought. There was just too much evidence. They should have just called the cops when they hit that jogger. One thing was for sure, it was the last time Tom was going to talk her into road head. “Becca, are you even paying attention?” Tom asked. She turned around and saw him standing there with the jogger's arms in his hand. “Come on, help me swing him into the hole,” he finished impatiently. “I told you I don't want that negative energy,” she said crossing her arms in defiance. “I told you that witchy bullshit has to go. We have been dating almost a year now and I haven't seen you do shit with it. So, unless you are going to wiggle your nose and lift the corpse into the grave, get your ass over here and lift this bastard with me,” Tom said tossing the jogger's arms down onto the damp earth. Becca rolled her eyes. With a sigh she gave in and walked around to the jogger's feet. She grabbed his ankles and looked at Tom, waiting. “Well, are we doing this?” she asked. Tom grabbed the other end and together they put the jogger into the open grave. She looked at the mangled person lying there, wondering what kind of life he had had before they had taken it from him. Did he have a family? Was someone looking for him?  Her thoughts were interrupted when the jogger's face got a shovel full of dirt. She looked up at Tom and saw him in a new light. This was too easy for him. She wondered if this was the first time he had to bury a body. She really didn't know much of his past. He never spoke about his life before they met last year. She knew he wasn't Mr. Right, more of a Mr. Right Now. One that got her out of a bad situation. If she was being honest, he was a bit of an asshole. “Don't worry, I got this,” he said as he continued to throw dirt into the grave.  “We only have the one shovel. You want me to use my hands” she snipped at him. “Why don't you go wait in the car then,” Tom responded. “I was going to say a few words when we were done. Nothing much, but something should be said.” Tom scoffed. “I'll say something, don't worry about it.” “Sometimes you can be a real jerk, you know that?” she said and stormed off sullenly to the car, she plopped in the passenger seat, slamming the door.  “You like him so much maybe you should give him head too, I think it's going to get real stiff soon,” Tom yelled smacking the corpse again with the shovel. Becca could hear it ring out even from the car.  She reached under the seat and found her bag. She dug inside for a cigarette, just to take the edge off. She pulled out a worn paperback.  Payback Rituals and Spells of Revenge. She remembered that her friend Amanda let her borrow it. They had found it in her mother's items after her suicide. That was just before she left town with Tom. She thumbed through it while waiting. The Revenant: The dead with a mission. Bring a recently deceased person back to right the wrong of death. This is a gray area of balance with nature. On the one hand, it disrupts death, but it can help the soul reach peace through resolution. The weight of this ritual can weigh heavy on one's soul. Caution should be used while contemplating this ritual. Haste will be your enemy. “Ha. Would serve the asshole right if I brought that jogger back. Teach him a lesson. I'm the only one stupid enough to miss him, and it would absolve my guilt,” Becca said to the empty car. “Haven't done shit with it…” “Hey babe, I'm all done just going to say a few words,” Tom yelled as he unzipped his zipper. A steaming stream landed on the newly packed earth. “Ooohhh. Awwwww. Those enough words for ya?” he called over his shoulder. “That son of a bitch,” Becca said and got out of the car, but instead of heading towards him, she went off into the woods alone with her bag. “Where you going? It was just a joke!” he called out as he shook out the last drops. “Come on babe!” Tom chased off after her into the woods. “Babe?”  He heard a few twigs snap off to his left, he turned in that direction but it was too dark to make anything out. She was heading farther into the barrens away from the highway.  “Okay. You made your point. Come back and do a real Eulogy. I won't interrupt, I promise!” Tom called out into the night. Was that a flashlight ahead? He sighed and headed towards the light he saw. Becca was on her knees in a small clearing, illuminated not only by the moonlight above, but by her flashlight laying on the dew-covered grass in front of her. She was saying something over and over again in a whisper that Tom couldn't make out. “Babe?” he said shining his light on her back, casting her shadow on the trees around them. “It's done, we can leave now.” Becca opened her eyes and turned her head. Quickly she placed some objects into her bag before he could see what they were. “Be right with you,” she said and stood up, wiping off her stockings. She reached down for her bag, but his hand on hers froze her in place. “What were you doing out here with your bag?” he asked, intensely meeting her gaze. “I had to use the bathroom and I didn't want to do it close to the highway,” Becca replied and pulled her hand away from his. She clutched her bag to her chest with one hand and gestured with the other. “Lead the way!” she finished sarcastically. “You know, sometimes you can be a real bitch. You better get that in check before I leave your ass for a younger model,” he said as he led the way back towards the car.  “I doubt you could find someone that would put up with your shit for very long.” Tom turned and faced her. “I'm serious. Your looks will only get you so far. You better drop that attitude…before I drop you,” he threatened. “Are you kidding me? You're threatening me?”  “It's not a threat, it's a promise,” he said and stared at her for a few seconds. When she didn't respond, he turned back into the woods and continued on. “That's the most cliché saying,” Becca mumbled under her breath, but followed Tom into the night.  She heard the words Tom spoke again, but this time it wasn't his voice, it was her father's. The threats and beatings that she had been suppressing came rushing back. She remembered the last time he spoke those words to her. It was just a little over one year ago, she had come home from Amanda's house where they were studying for the History final. She came in through the back door into the kitchen. It was seven p.m. and she had not eaten since lunch. She bumped into the dish rack sending a steak knife onto the floor. She closed her eyes and froze, hoping her father had not heard. Becca remembered opening her eyes and then rummaging through the cabinet for something to eat. Her eyes lit up when she found a box of cereal. In her haste to eat, she dropped the box scattering the flakes across the linoleum floor. Her father entered the room a second later and saw the mess on the floor. “What is this? Clean this up!” he yelled as he made his way to the fridge for another beer. At this time of night, he was probably on his fifth. She tried to walk past him to get the broom from the closet, but her father's large hands stopped her. He threw her down to the floor. “I said clean this up, you clumsy bitch!” “I was getting the broom!” she said, looking up at him through tear-blurred eyes.  “I didn't say get the broom, I said clean this shit up!” her father yelled and kicked her arm that she was leaning on. Her face dropped down onto the floor among the cereal. She blinked the tears away and saw in front of her the knife she had dropped earlier. Becca sat up on the floor, placing the steak knife under her so that he didn't see it. She looked up at her father as he cracked open his fresh can of beer. He turned towards her.  “You're so hungry. Eat it off the floor,” he said and pushed her back down. “Eat it, you pig or I swear to God I will end you!” “Are you threatening me?” “That's not a threat, slut. That's a promise,” her father said. Becca gripped the knife hard and stabbed her father in the thigh. He cried out and dropped his beer. With his other leg he kicked her. She had the knife gripped so tight she pulled it out of him as she fell back. “What did you do, bitch? I will kill you!” she remembered him saying before she had lost control. The next thing she remembered was her father laying in a strange pool of blood, cereal, and beer on the floor. He was still. Becca came out of it as they neared the car. Tom threw the shovel and flashlight into the trunk and walked around to the driver's side as Becca stood there, trying to make the image leave her mind.  “What's wrong with you?” Tom asked. Becca looked towards the shallow grave with a look of disappointment before turning back to Tom. Was she going to actually get back into his car after what he said? She looked at Tom and saw her father's face. She tried to shake that image. This time it was different, this time it wasn't self-defense. Just Tom being an asshole. She had her doubts that he would actually hit her.  A twig snapped in the woods and both of them turned towards the sound. In the darkness something stirred. “Who's out there?” Tom called. The only response was the sound of a heavy footfall. Becca's hair started to stand on the back of her neck and she got an uneasy feeling. She tried to get in the car, but it was locked. “Tom?” she said unevenly. Tom didn't answer, his eyes transfixed on the image before him. In the flashing lights from the passing cars on the highway Becca caught a glimpse of the man approaching.   Another loud footfall from the man, as he dragged behind him the broken leg inside the bloodstained pair of sweatpants. Becca looked on in horror at the twisted neck and the head lolling to one side. Did it actually work? “Tom, open the door. Let's get out of here,” Becca said, second guessing what she had done. It looked so wrong as it moved towards them. “One sec babe,” Tom said and pulled out the pistol he kept tucked into the back of his jeans. “I think this asshole wants to play.” “TOM! Unlock the fucking door,” she begged as fear tears started to flow. Her heart was pounding in her ears.  Tom took a step closer to the reanimated jogger. “That's far enough, asshole. It was an accident. I am sure you can appreciate that. Let's go get a beer and talk this over,” Tom said aiming the pistol at the joggers head. “Tom. He won't listen!” Becca yelled in fear. She ran to the trunk of the car. Luckily Tom had not shut it, and she grabbed the shovel. Beside the shovel in the truck was a hunting knife. She tucked the blade into her belt and hefted the shovel as she came around the car. Tom came into view just in time for her to see the jogger lunge at him, he fired a shot off. They fell to the ground, the jogger on top, his head flopped around as they struggled, but its hands were wrapped around Tom's neck. She cried out and ran over to help. She swung the shovel and hit the jogger in the back, to little affect. A few more swings made no difference. In her frustration she threw down the shovel and kicked the jogger, who fell off the side of Tom, but didn't let go of his neck. Becca could hear Tom trying to gasp for air. She grabbed the jogger's arms and tried to pull them off of Tom, but the grip was too strong, Tom was going to die. She did this, she called the revenant back from the grave. She should have known better. The witchy bullshit was going to kill Tom.  He could no longer say she didn't do shit with it. Just then Becca had an epiphany. Tom was going to die. The thing was busy with Tom! She scrambled into Tom's pants pockets and found the car keys. She jumped to her feet and ran to the car. She fired up the engine and threw it in reverse. With a final look at Tom, who was now still, she punched the gas and backed towards the highway.  Tom never let her drive, but she had seen it enough to figure it out. The car bounced over the uneven ground as she sped in reverse towards the lights behind her. Once she was on the side of the road, she spun the car around and threw it into drive. She pulled out onto the highway cutting off a truck who blared its horn at her. She opened an energy drink Tom had bought earlier but left on the seat unopened and took a swig. There was going to be a new Becca now. One who took no one's shit.  Later that evening Becca sat at the small motel table in her room. She was going through the loot they had accumulated over the past year. She found a bag of cash that she didn't know about and had just finished counting it. Twelve thousand dollars was a lot of money. More than she had ever seen. Why did Tom always tell her they were broke? There was a bang on the door. It must be the pizza I ordered, she thought and rose from the chair. Another bang on the door before she could reach it. “I'm coming,” she called out, grabbing a twenty from the table. She was going to tip big, why not share her good fortune? She opened the door and dropped the cash. Standing on the other side was her father, and the jogger.  “No,” her mouth formed to say, but no noise came out. She took a step back into the room in horror of what she was looking at. With arm extended they entered, grasping for her. “No! Why are you here? Tom was driving!” she said to the jogger then looked into her father's dead eyes. “You deserved what you got, you son of a bitch! There is no revenge for you,” she said in defiance. Becca was a new woman and wasn't going to take shit from her father alive or dead. She reached behind her and pulled the hunting knife out of her belt. The revenants charged her knocking her back onto the double bed with their mass. She could smell the grave on her father as he climbed on top of her. There wasn't enough room for her to swing the knife. In desperation, she moved the blade between them. She turned the tip downwards, towards her own chest and plunged it in. She didn't want her father to get his revenge, he should suffer. She smiled as the pain flooded her. She felt herself getting weak and with a last act of defiance, spit blood into her father's face before succumbing to her wound. Support Weekly Spooky - Scary Stories to Keep You Up at Night by contributing to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/weekly-spooky Find out more at http://weeklyspooky.com

In this powerful episode of the Heart-Centred Business Podcast, we are going to be talking all about sales funnels. I'm also going to give you a few of my favourite sales funnels examples. Ooohhh this is going to be juicy! If you've been thinking about how you might be able to incorporate sales funnels into your business model, this is going to be a great episode for you. First and foremost: What exactly is a sales funnel? I know that we hear about them all over the place when we have an online business. For most of you, you'll already have sales funnels in place, it's just that you don't realise that that's what they are. A sales funnel is simply a step by step process through which you take people from finding you, into buying from you. That's it. That step by step process does not necessarily have to be a straight line process. Show notes in full are at: tashcorbin.com/275 Follow Tash on Facebook: facebook.com/tashcorbincoaching Join the Heart-Centred Soul-Driven Entrepreneurs: facebook.com/groups/hcsde 

Do you feel like you can't get romantically involved because no one likes you? Ooohhh... let me answer that you. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/lilithoverthemoon/message

Today we’re answering some GOOD questions sent in. Questions like   “Are Instagram guides beneficial and if so how can I use them?” “What's the best way to advertise yourself when starting?” “How to build a following on Instagram” “How to know when you should start charging..” “Tips for hiring people on your team” And… “How to know when it’s time to rebrand while still making sure current clients know who you are.” OOOHHH those are some incredible questions. And I can’t wait to dive on in. So don’t ya dare go anywhere, my friend! Answers to your biggest Q’s coming right now!   Show notes:  http://theheartuniversity.com/118-q-a-episode-…ple-on-your-team/   Lightroom editing challenge: www.theheartuniversity.com/challenge   www.theheartuniversity.com/guide-freebie   Freelance team members: Upwork, Fiverr, and People Per Hour.   If you want to connect with us and other listeners in the Heart and Hustle community join our Facebook group here.   Follow along: www.instagram.com/mrslindseyroman www.instagram.com/evierupp www.instagram.com/theheartuniversity  

Ooohhh... this one is fun! You get to listen to Sherry tell a story to the Squirrel kids!!! How cool is that? A story about a story being told to kids!Support the show (https://www.shawnpbrobinson.com/books)

Ooohhh babies! This week we talk about how magical a shower is, don’t worry it’s not dirty it clean like the water hehe! So make sure you subscribe tune in and go listen for some updates on Instagram thetalkwithbreezyb --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Ooohhh, hello. We're looking for a new cohost of the podcast! It's true - it could be you! If you're interested, reach out to us at PWElitists@gmail.com or on Twitter @PWElitists. There are more details within the actual episode, so go listen! Also, thank you for listening. We love you. Take care.

Merry Christmas. Happy New Year. Last show of the year. We love you long time. Thanks for listening!

This week Johnny and Andy break down Ohio State's big win against Maryl- wait. Oh. Ooohhh...

Older brothers have a tendency to position themselves as role models for their younger siblings, and they will never let you go out in the world unprepared, well, that's the theory anyway. However, I have found mine to turn out to be my lifelong mentor. Ooohhh.... what does that feel like? Have a listen to find out more! Links: debbiewilliamspodcast.comTo start a podcast : https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1035962

OOOhhh Yeeeaahhhh aka White Man's Head - Get In Da Corner Freestyle Fun by Yuk Nassty and Dogga Baby

Back to School, Back to School to prove to their fans that they are not fools. The Gingers got their lunches packed up, their shoes tied tight, they hope they don't get in a fight! OOOHHH! Back to School, Back to School! We talk about the absurdly funny, Adam Sandler comedy, Billy Madison.

More summer and the date with Ethan... OOOHHH. Also make sure to listen after we say goodbye there is more!

Graduation is a-knocking and we guess it's time to start adulting. Lets not even reflect on the number of quarter-life crises that have kept us up at night. First, we changed our major twice, then our minor ten times and now we've got to map out a whole career? Join us this week to lament on our hopes, fears, and desires for life after uni. Most importantly we hear the perspective of someone who actually has their *bleep* together as our dear friend and recent grad, Banele, joins us from across the pond. We cant promise we say anything conclusive but trust that you'll feel like you are not alone.  

How to help ourselves, naturally! Please, give this a like, comment with questions, or if you have had a personal testimony to inspire others & trust in the process! You don't have to sit and watch, you can listen to this while driving or doing something! Ooohhh girl, this is a good one! PACKED with information to help ourselves. This is an integrative approach as you will see. If you watched part 1 & 2, you will start to see how these all go together! WOW our body is AMAZING! --- Supplements with the herbs/vits/mins, I chat about: Harmony: https://bit.ly/2Ttd0Bf Goddess: https://bit.ly/2Ttd1oN Liver Detox: https://bit.ly/38t33bk GI Advantage: https://bit.ly/39sH05S Opti-greens 50: https://bit.ly/3cz2gJ8 --- Safer products: Beauty/Skin: https://bit.ly/2Io6PIw Cleaners: https://bit.ly/2TU5Dlx Nail polish because I am totally getting this lol: https://bit.ly/3avCqDR --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/dr-lindsey-schmidt/support

Ooohhh it's a spicy one this week!! Jen and Tim get into some stories about some of the less law abiding people of metal. So here's a few examples of what not to do. Check it out.. Enjoy the show. Stay out of trouble ladies and gents. GET HARD!!  Intro/outro clip credit: Thy Flesh Consumed (Halifax,NS) - Blood Drenched Creation

What does Valentine's Day Mean to you?  Is it just another reminder that you are single?  Is it just another Day?  Do you feel resentment or lonely?  Are you in an Emotionally Available and Receptive place?  Jodi, Lipstick Christy, and Sista Kristy talk about what Valentine's means to them and how to make the most out of the Valentine's Day energy.  It's not all about candy, jewelry, and roses.  Make the most out of the energy of love.

An authentic and real conversation about being raised in a hair dynasty. What a photo shoot involves, and life after a horrible loss. Being an educator and stylist behind the chair and the difference between city life and the suburbs . The real struggle of being your authentic self . @eacmascolo gets personal. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/unspokenhairdresser/message

75 Google Stadia? Read Dead Redemption 2,Star Citizen & Escape from Tarkov. Ooohhh and a one off Extreme Theories section!!! INTERACTIVE PODCAST LIVE RECORDING EVERY Thursday 9PM UK Time -- www.Twitch.TV/ExtremePCUK Website - ExtremePCUK.co.uk Discord Server Invite -- https://discord.gg/gHM2S8X Follow us on Twitch for live podcast recording and getting in the chat. -- https://www.twitch.tv/extremepcuk E-Mail = ExtremePCUK@gmail.com (Questions) (Competition) ExtremePCUK Steam Group - Join ExtremePCUK Steam Group

Hi Tatoes!!! Welcome to our Halloween Special episode!!! Ooohhh~~~ and since we’re not experts on telling creepy and horror stories what better way to do this episode is FOOD! We will be talking about weird, creepy foods as well as our food horror stories. So let’s dive into the deep fry and let us know if some of the food we mentioned creeps you out or you find weird. Not to mention what are your food horror stories? Dm or Message us or Tag us @tatotalkpodcast or use the hashtag #tatotalk

If only success was just… “show me what to do and I’ll do it, and have instant success”… I wish, right!?. But, WAIT… maybe it is!? Ooohhh… this could be good to hear and learn!  Today Amanda shares all the business models she’s done from home + the principles it takes to have success and not just success today, but long term. Hear all the different entrepreneurial adventures Amanda has been on. She shares how she’s grown as an entrepreneur and had success in a variety of work from home adventures. We all know it’s a rollercoaster of emotions and can feel lonely, so how do you stay focused and have long term success? Amanda has 3 key principles that she shares today. Grab a pencil and a cup of happy coffee, because you’ll want to take notes! This episode is HOT! Remember friends, we are cheering you on. We want you to know, you are not alone. We are eager to see you pursue your dreams, to love yourself, to live your best life, and simply be happy! It’s your time to shine bright, girl… light it up and own it! ps. listen to us on leave us a 5-star review (https://apple.co/2ojGIva) . We appreciate YOU and your review helps us to gain traction and momentum!   HOT TOPICS IN THIS EPISODE Work from home business models Hear the 3 main business principles needed for success Gratitude = leveling up!   SPONSORS / RESOURCES 90 Day Runners! Let’s lock arms and RUNNN!!!! Click here (https://smst.kartra.com/page/90DayRun) ! One Funnel Away 30 Day Challenge (https://pxlme.me/EGk_k1yN) ! Starting Soon! (Learn how to market your business online) Free Podcast Course (https://bd140.isrefer.com/go/fpca/HotMess/) ! This is how Amanda and I discovered podcasting to be such an awesome tool to publish and build our audience! FREE Marketing Book (http://www.hotmesstosuccess.com/book) ! Just pay the shipping! Sweet Deal!   CONNECT WITH HOT MESS TO SUCCESS Hot Mess to Success Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/HotMessToSuccess/) Hot Mess to Success Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/hot.mess.to.success/) Hot Mess to Success LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/hot-mess-to-hot-success-mompreneurs/?viewAsMember=true) Hot Mess to Success Pinterest (https://www.pinterest.com/hot_mess_to_success/pins/) Email us at Contact@HotMessToSuccess.com   DISCLOSURE: This site contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links. 

OOOHHH-klahoma is the place for US (and a lot of ghosts, apparently). This week Maggie & Juli coincidentally both tell stories from the state famous for… uhhh, tornados? and uhh, being a state?First, grab your tissues folks because Maggie tells a sad story about Katie DeWitt James and the haunting of Dead Woman’s Crossing. Next, Juli gets inspired to start her own cult by telling us the story of a jail turned church turned Samaritan Cult House. You’ll never look at soy milk the same after this story…

Carvin Goldstone is a master story teller, his talent lies in telling stories that bring joy, laughter and comfort to his audiences, the world over. Listen in as he gives us a glimpse into his experiences and the ways in which he tell stories to influence others. My interview with Carvin Goldstone the Comedian was filled with life lessons. We spoke about building your personal brand, being able to laugh at yourself, facing your fears and getting in front of people to have conversations. Why story telling is so important and forms the basis for good natural conversations. http://www.carvingoldstone.com   Transcription: Interviewer: Welcome to the LifeShot. Interviewee: Happy to be at the LifeShot. Interviewer: So you are here, in England, you are visiting. You came to do a show. Interviewee: Yeah, it has been fun, hanging out with the people of England. Such contrasting experiences in different parts of the UK. Interviewer: You have been here before then? Interviewee: It's been a long time, though. Interviewer: Many years ago? Interviewee: Yeah, it's changed a bit. London is still very particular compared to the rest of England. It's so friendly and peaceful out here where you are. In London, it's still very... Interviewer: Everyone's competing, right? Interviewee: It's very aggressive, actually. You can't just get on a bus. There is no politeness there. You have to basically push people out of the way, which I am pretty good at. But I am also conscious that I don't want to be seen as the 'pushy guy'. But it's almost encouraged.  Interviewer: You have to push to get ahead. Interviewee: Yeah. Interviewer: Sometimes that is not a bad thing, though. But we don't want to step over each other as humans. Interviewee: Yeah, it feels like that. Interviewer: When we met, we started doing music first. And then, a few years later, you started to do comedy and it was a bit weird for us guys in the music group. Interviewee: Yes, this transition. Interviewer: It was like "Why is he doing comedy?", it seemed totally different to what we were doing at the time. So why did you like the media type, the comedies, now that you have carried on doing it, you have been doing it for many years now. Interviewee: Yeah. When we did music, it was difficult for us to really make a living off it, if you remember. Especially if you have a group with three guys or four guys. And you are getting paid a fee that is not even enough for one person and you split it among three or four people. We were eventually old enough to find jobs. Actually, I had a job. Interviewer: You were a journalist. Interviewee: I was a journalist, yeah. I was doing it more for fun. So the music and the comedy later were just side hobbies, just for fun. Because I had my full-time job, which I was quite passionate about. Interviewer: Why were you passionate about it? [00:02:28] Interviewee: Because I enjoyed it. I enjoyed journalism. I was a young reporter, I was excited about discovering new things, uncovering new things, telling stories. I was quite wrapped up in my journalism. The music was a different way of telling stories. And eventually comedy, the three fields that I find myself in - music, journalism and comedy - actually have the same base. They are just different ways of telling stories. I am essentially a storyteller. I am not so much a comedian or maybe a musician or journalist as much as I am in my core a storyteller. So these are just different ways of expressing my core. And I think I am about to discover a fourth one. Interviewer: Do you want to tell us now or later? Interviewee: I think the next step is going to be movie making. Interviewer: I remember you talking about making movies. Interviewee: Yeah, I was writing scripts a 15 years ago. Interviewer: I remember you wanted to do something with it, but never got around to do it. Interviewee: Everything runs its course, right? I think the music has run its course and so when we were getting toward the end of our album to be released, I could feel the shift and I can feel the shift again. So I don't think I will be a comedian for the next ten years. Maybe for the next few years and then the next phase of storytelling will take over. I think it's going to be definitely a movie or series-based route that I will find myself in next. Interviewer: So, as a storyteller, what message do you want to get out there? Is there something that you want to teach or do you just want to entertain people? Is it entertainment mostly? [00:04:18] Interviewee: Yeah. It's an important question, why do you do whatever you do? Why are you doing it? Is it to make a living, is it to pass the time, is it because you chose it early on in your life and now you are stuck with it? Because comedy wasn't a career choice, it was a hobby that has gotten out of hand. If I can call it that. I had to ask myself lots of questions, why am I doing this? Because I can drop this at any time and go back to my career. And I realized that my reason for doing comedy is comfort. I am here to bring comfort. Some people use comedy and storytelling for some sort of social justice or for an artistic expression. Or for conveying a message, political or otherwise. Mine is primarily to comfort the people that listen to me. So to bring joy and that is why my comedy is the way it is. It's clean and family-friendly. Because I pride myself in being able to perform to an entire family. Because it is a family experience, I am creating family experiences that are comforting. People that are going through difficult times, you can trust me with an hour of your life to make your life feel a bit better. To comfort you. And that is what the purpose of my comedy is. Interviewer: It's a shame to lose that if you stop comedy then. [00:05:47] Interviewee: Yeah, but you see, that is the core of what I am. Or why I am doing this. So my storytelling, a lot of it evolved in nostalgia and the warm, fuzzy feeling as you are hearing the story of "Ah, I remember that". It creates memories of your childhood or your Mum or your Dad. A lot of people say to me "You remind me of my Granny", or "You say things that remind me of my grandmother". Interviewer: It makes them feel warm and cosy. Interviewee: So the storytelling that I am going to do, and the movie scripts that I am working on, involve the creating of similar experiences and feelings. Because I feel it's more important to leave people with a feeling and an experience. Because that can last a lifetime. Interviewer: It's very influential, you can sometimes watch a documentary or a film and it can be inspiring. You walk out of the cinema and you feel a little bit elated. Interviewee: Exactly. And that feeling that I want to leave you with, is why I am here and why I am doing this. I feel that is my purpose in life. Interviewer: And that's a gift. You get on stage to make people laugh. Is that not something we should do in our everyday life, not take things so seriously and to laugh? And sometimes, to laugh with each other is to tell stories, I suppose. [00:07:02] Interviewee: Yeah. If you think of any home situation, you grew up in a family with lots of brothers. And then something happens and one brother comes and he says "You won't believe what happened today!". And he tells the story and the whole family laughs about what happened. The story that one of your brothers brought to the family, it wasn't necessarily a joke. It's a story. But it created an atmosphere of warmth and joy and laughter. And laughter is something you can't control, it just pops out. It's almost like your brain isn't able to process what has happened and the automatic response is laughter. So you can't really fake it. If someone says something and you laugh at something, even if it is inappropriate, your brain is like "I don't know how to answer this" and so you laugh. Interviewer: Are there any life lessons that you have learned while being on the road doing comedy that has changed your outlook? [00:08:05] Interviewee: Yeah, I think we are scared to take risks in general. We enjoy the comfort and the security of what we know and what we have always done. The comfort just to be sure of the outcome of whatever we are going to do. Interviewer: Be it worldview or our jobs. Interviewee: Yeah, your family, where you grew up, the people you hang out with. The familiarity makes you feel comfortable, sometimes too comfortable, safe. And comedy is one of those fields where you are judged immediately. You came to the show in the weekend, for example. You watched me and you judge me immediately. I tell the story or the joke and I know immediately whether it is good or bad. Because there is no later on to see the ratings. We know, all of us in that room, "That was not great". [laughs] And so, the feedback is so immediate that you have to stay on your toes, but you also have to take risks and be willing to fall. Interviewer: And that is the lesson that you can take outside of that? [00:09:15] Interviewee: Yeah, so that supplies now in every aspect of life. You have to take the risk to take the reward. The famous saying "Fortune favours the brave". Whether it is on stage telling a joke or if it is in business or relationships. Just taking a risk with someone you see in the train and have an opening conversation, "So what are you doing there on your computer?". That is a risk you take, right? Interviewer: Yeah, because they could say "None of your business". Interviewee: They could say that, but they could say something that changes your life or impacts or creates a new relationship. So the ability to face fear and not be too perplexed by the outcome. Interviewer: How do people handle rejection then? [00:09:59] Interviewee: This is the thing, the more you get rejected, the more you will be okay with rejection. And I think that is one of the things that you learn in comedy, because you tell a series of jokes over a period of years. And not all of them are great. And a lot of them are actually rejected. Maybe not the whole show, but that joke in particular, people are like "No". I have had a case where once I told a joke, I told a story as it happened. So at the Boston Marathon, there was a bombing at the Boston Marathon. And I had this joke about running the Boston Marathon myself. I will tell you the joke. But I told them on the day it happened. So the people were like "It's too soon". So I am one of those people in comedy who believes it is never too soon. It is just how well you contextualize what has happened and how quickly you give the feedback. If you wait, then you lose the shock and the impact of it. So something happens today, good or bad, you as the performer have to take the risk to decide how you contextualize the commentary. But the commentary is happening, no news agency is not reporting on it. They are saying something, just contextualizing in a way that makes you - the receiver - okay with discussing this. So the difference with comedy is that there is a laugh-element to it. We are further victimizing the victims and I am very conscious of that. In Africa, we had Oscar Pistorius who shot his girlfriend and there were a lot of jokes about Oscar Pistorius being a paraplegic or not having legs and how he shot his girlfriend. And I felt a lot of those jokes further victimized the victim, which was Reeva Steenkamp, who was killed in the incident. And I felt as if those jokes were not intelligent. So I did tell jokes, but it was never about the fact that Oscar tried to shoot his girlfriend. It was rather elements around the incident. So for example, back to the joke about the Boston Marathon, the joke was about me having a hard time running or taking part in the marathon. And I'd be so tired and if I heard "Hey guys, have you heard there is a bomb?". I would be like "I don't need to finish the race" and peeling off on the side. [sighs] "At least I don't need to finish, no one is watching anymore". And when I started it - now it's not in the context anymore, it doesn't sound so cool - the moment I said 'Boston Marathon', the crowd went "Ooohhh". The interesting thing was, I told the joke the next day, but I rephrased it, because I realized that I presented it in a way that it made it seem as if I was being insincere to the victims. The joke was more about me, being in a race. And the context of 'If this happened'. Interviewer: So was that a current contextual story, which people could relate to and you were trying to make it about yourself, not about the victims? [00:12:39] Interviewee: Yeah, the secret sometimes with telling sensitive stories, comedy lives in the world of controversy, of prejudice, of polarization. "You're from Manchester, you have a Welsh accent". He is black, he is white, he is male, she is female. A lot of those polarizing topics is where the prejudice of comedy lies. But it is the way you present that, it is a fine art and there is a very fine line between being prejudice, being racist and being observant and contributing to the conversation in a way we both laugh. Because it is our differences that make us so interesting. Sometimes, a comedian tells a joke on a topic that you have heard before, but it lifts you in a different feeling. It made you feel "I don't feel uncomfortable listening to this person". And maybe the context is even similar. It's because these topics, there is a fine line how you present them in a way where people feel a part of the conversation. And it's very powerful if you get them right. You can have a career that can transcend your own culture, countries and you can develop a fan base that spreads across the world. Interviewer: I remember talking at work once about it, a political, religious aspect of life. And people were a little bit like "Why are you talking about this in this context?". And they were a little bit uncomfortable with that, but the reason why I like to talk to people about things that are outside the normal conversation is to try and influence people to think outside of the box. And to think "Maybe what I am thinking is not right". I am not saying I have it right. But I just like to challenge people's thoughts. Do you do that a little bit? [00:14:27] Interviewee: If you have an office space and you are standing at the fax machine with a cup of coffee, and you are having a discussion and you say "Hey, what's up with this religion thing?", it's like "What is he going on about?". Interviewer: Don't start this topic, or that kind of thing. Interviewee: That is a risk and probably a risk I would not take in a conversation. But I would take that risk on stage. The topics of religion, politics and race, I would present them on stage. Only because I understand that humour is disarming. If you want to discuss those topics, humour is actually the best way to approach those topics. Because humour puts people at ease and a few laughs would make you more accepting about what I am about to say than if I come up at the coffee machine, it would be like "Oh, this guy really has some racist topics right now". You have to live in a world where you discuss polarizing topics, but you have an advantage in that you know people will be laughing. Because of the way the dynamic of a room works, I'm on stage, I'm elevated, I have a microphone. People have paid to come see me. I'm in a position of power. So, there is a power imbalance in the room the moment I step up. Which everyone has accepted by buying a ticket. But it's my job as the entertainer to level us. I will make a few jokes about myself. The reason for doing that is to level the room, so that you feel equal to me. And my style is very conversational. To anyone watching, it is almost as if we are having a conversation. It didn't feel like a performance. Because that is my style. Interviewer: You are engaging with that guy in the audience somewhere? [00:16:13] Interviewee: Yeah, it's a levelled room. It's bringing the room together. And then I know I can discuss topics where you are using humour. I am a flawed person. And the flaws make me easier to accept. So when I present my flaws to you - whatever they are - in humour, you then relax as an audience. You are like "Okay, this person is flawed like me. We can have fun". Interviewer: Should we do that in life as well, how do we do that in a social environment? Let's say we went to a party where we didn't know the people very well. If I went with my partner to a party and it's like "Some people I don't know there". [00:16:54] Interviewee: You see it often, you visit someone and they have a big house. And then you are like "What a beautiful house" and they are like "Oh, it's nothing, my Dad bought it". They try to play it down, so they are not on a pedestal. Or they bake a cake "Oh, it wasn't much". What they are trying to do socially, is trying to level. "I am not better than you because I made a cake", or "I am not better than you because this house is big". They try and give context "Oh, my Dad bought it", or "It's from the shop down the road", or "It's an old recipe my Gran had. It's not my intelligence that made this cake. It's my Gran's old recipe". Then we are all like "Yeah, I also have a Gran". So we are finding those common threads that make us equal. Comedy and good comedians are very good at creating that. But those social skills don't just exist in comedy, they exist as you rightly pointed out in social interactions between human beings. And there is a lot to gain from it. Even somebody who believes that they are socially inept or awkward or have no social skills. Those little titbits can be taught, you can learn those little tricks here and there that makes it a bit easier. And sometimes, all that is said in between us is that I see you as above me or you see me above you and therefore you have difficulty engaging. We'll meet someone, maybe someone who's famous and then you hear the comments after engaging with them. "Oh, they are so down to earth". Because in your mind, that block has been broken that the person is above you. You say "What a nice, down to earth person". The down to earth part is basically saying "He is just like us", or "She is just like us". That is the most important little leveller in social interactions, the ability to see people as you see yourself. Interviewer: You do a lot of shows and you must get a lot of different types of people coming to these shows. I am just assuming what might be going on in your brain is "These people have everyday jobs, they are going through struggles, I need to make them feel comfortable for the night and have a laugh". Everybody struggles in their life with wanting to be successful or wanting to make the most of this life. How should we see this life that we have? We have a limited time here on this planet. What is the best attitude or outlook we should have in this life? [00:19:24] Interviewee: Clint, I have known you since 2001. We are now 2019. So that is 18, almost 19 years that I have known you. We did music together, you made music as a band, I wrote some music for you. You made music for me, were part of the group that I was a part of. And at the time we had different goals, right? We were hoping to break through, maybe break through internationally, create a little label. We had little goals that we had set for ourselves, most of them retrospectively - after looking back 19 years - we haven't achieved. We never created the label. We don't own massive pieces of sound equipment that we could hire out. We have moved on with our lives. That whole experience that we endured, I look back at it so fondly, because it made me enjoy every moment as it happens. What we always do as human beings - and it's good to have goals - but we live in expectation and we are in-orientated "This is the road to there. Ah, I can't wait". The actual important part is the destination. But the true destination is actually the journey. So when I look back on the last twenty years or the twenty-year period or for the most part, the 10 years we did that, a little bit less, I realize that the goals weren't the destination or the joy. It was what was happening at the time. It was us in the actual bus traveling. That was the beauty. That was it. It was sitting in the studio and making the music. It wasn't the end goal, that was it. So our lives as 70, 80, 90 years if you are lucky, when you look over the course of 90 years, those moments, those five or six years we spent making music intensely, that was the beautiful destination. That was it. There was nothing necessarily coming off that, that we should have been ignoring this way. Not living in this moment, because we were waiting for the end. So I try as much - and for everyone - to live. Right now, we are doing this podcast. For me, this is the most important thing. Whether this podcast is getting 256 views or 256,000 views, the most important thing right now is you and me, my friend, we are doing this podcast and we are having this conversation. This is it. Interviewer: That's awesome! Do you think at the time when we were younger, we were enjoying those times at the time? Interviewee: Yes. Interviewer: But also, we probably think back more fondly on those times. [00:21:51] Interviewee: Yeah. Fortunately, we were enjoying ourselves. So it wasn't like we were having painful sessions, because we were looking for the goal. I think that's what happens to a lot of people at work. If you think about a job, a 9 to 5 job, you think of how many hours you spend at your job over a period, or if you have been at a company 20 years or in the field 25 years. If you don't like your job and you sleep 8 hours, you spend 8 to 9 hours at work, 2 to 3 hours traveling to and from work, you are looking at the half of your life awake, spending on something that you don't like. For 25 years, that's way too long. So people who are in that position are actually missing their moment. Because they are living in a world where they can't look back on it fondly and say "Wow!" What we fortunately were doing was, we were also building something. Building our lives and creating something. We were having as much fun as possible. So even retrospectively looking back on our lives of joy, of our complete life, you enjoy where you are now, you enjoy where you were then. What I am saying is, I wish I could have known this now and we would have enjoyed it even more then. Because we enjoyed it - fortunately for us we did - but we could have enjoyed it more if we understood "This is it". Interviewer: That's amazing, I love this message, because it helps me as well. Because obviously, I have goals and visions for what this might become. But you have to enjoy it right now. [00:23:19] Interviewee: You have to enjoy it right now. Just enjoy every interview, every podcast, every mic-setup, every lighting-setup. The anticipation of the guest coming, the meeting with guests, off-camera conversations, your pre-preparation when you are writing your notes. That's all the joy. The joy is this whole experience. It's not one day when this thing is a big deal and when you are like "This is what I did it for ". No, you are doing it for this moment. Interviewer: You built a personal brand. Interviewee: Yeah. Interviewer: Carvin - as we will see in the interview - has built a personal brand. I am building my personal brand. Do you think that even if people don't start their own business, that they should be thinking about their personal brand? [00:23:59] Interviewee: Yeah, definitely. I am in a position now where I am able to turn my brand into a legitimate business. So I have an accountant who says to me "Okay, your brand Carvin H. Goldstone, comedian, is an established brand. There is money coming into the brand". So you set up a business in the name of the brand. So my business set up is Carvin H. Goldstone. The money coming in or the income that comes into the brand is then now building up the brand's portfolio to do other things. So Carvin H. Goldstone, not me, the company, can at some point buy property. It can open a school. Interviewer: It could be a media company, maybe. [00:24:47] Interviewee: Yeah, it can open media, it can teach podcasts, it can do talks. Because the Carvin H. Goldstone brand that has been built - because it is not a company now - doesn't have to go through all the tedious processes of making its name known. It exists because it's quietly being built in the background for the last 10, 15 years. Now, all it has is a structure and a home to really expand. I plan to open a school of comedy and media. And I'll do it in the brand that has been built, not necessarily myself Carvin Goldstone being present all the time teaching and whatever. But the brand will be powerful enough to do the work. To do the work that I would have had to pay for if I started a new school, to open up a school of comedy. That is now rebuilding something from the ground, what is this? Who is Carvin Goldstone? So people have an idea, there are these clips that they can watch back, so they know what the product that I produce is about and they can expect it in this brand. Interviewer: So it's about leveraging all of this hard work in the past? Interviewee: Exactly, leveraging everything. Everything you are doing leverages for later on. But you have to be conscious to enjoy it while you are creating it. And that's the key. Interviewer: You were brought up in quite a religious background. And then you broke out of that, from what I see. Being in a religious setting can sometimes restrict you or limit your worldview or your outreach. So now that I am out of it, I feel like the world is a much bigger place. But there are obviously things that come with it, like family. So how do you deal with that? [00:26:43] Interviewee: I think growing up in Africa and growing up in African Christianity, we grew up Christian in Africa. We grew up with a very restrictive and legalistic form of the belief system. Christianity has its confines and its rules and laws. But in Africa, some of those things are exaggerated. So we grew up in communities where if you are Christian, you don't drink alcohol in any way or form. The legalistic framework kind of gives us a specific way of approaching and puts the God experience in a sort of box. And that box is everything to the people in it. So anything outside of their box is going to be offensive, it's going to be wrong. it's going to be demonized. And it's going to be seen as breaking down the comforting safe structure. Because that's what you are doing, when you challenge it. You are not just challenging, you are challenging the pillars on which people have built their homes. And when you pull those pillars away, the danger is that everything they have stood on and everything they have believed in collapses. That's why they fight it. That's why you fight it. Cognitive dissonance. The brain's inner ability to even take something that's logical and understand it, because it destroys your world. So your brain finds different ways to just prove it. Interviewer: You are so heavily invested in that thought. [00:28:14] Interviewee: Yeah. So I say "The sky is red". And you are like "No, actually it's blue". I'm like "No, it's red". And my brain convinces me that it's red, because the sky being blue is going to destroy this business that I've made, selling paintings where the sky is red. And this is impossible to now be blue. It messes up my whole world. But breaking out of that is very difficult if your society and the community you come from is very entrenched in it. So it takes a lot of courage to think differently. But I think, at the same time, sometimes you are just ahead of the curve, right? So new ideas and new thinking, it requires a few mavericks who step out of their comfort and think differently. The way we think now might be seen as evil or demonic or whatever. They demonize it. But in 10 or 15 or 20 years from now, you might find that we are not alone in our alternative thinking. Because we live in a generation where access to information is so much easier. So people will basically have access to alternative thought. You think of the reformation, people like John Calvin and Martin Luther, they were sort of the alternative thinkers of their time. Because they were questioning existing in a versatile church structure. Interviewer: They didn't get treated very well. [00:29:42] Interviewee: Yeah, they were ostracized, they were put aside, some of them were put to death, in those times. But if you think of the thought processes that they put forward back then, not all of them refined, but on the base, a lot of those thought processes found life way beyond their death. And the way of doing things was fundamentally changed for a large part of the population. Instead of everyone moving this way, and two guys moving that way, we now see a split where a lot of people are now protestant. Because those protestants, their thinking eventually found ground. So I think when it comes to thinking about how we think about God, I think the traditional Christian and especially in Africa, that way of thinking what God is in a very humble almost hand-out kind of way, that is going to be challenged by people being able to live a life where they have things. Christianity thrives in Africa, because poverty and disease thrive in Africa. So what do you do when people are poor and sick? You offer them hope. And religion is hope. And hope is always welcome in a time like that. In countries where maybe poverty is not such an issue and medicine is readily available for disease, you find less dependence on spiritual hope. Because the practical solution is right there, it's easy to take hold off. Interviewer: So there could be a paradigm coming? [00:31:13] Interviewee: Yeah. There is definitely going to be a shift. But I think it's going to depend on how Africa in particular - and maybe the third world - is able to come to grips with its core issues. Housing, water, sickness, poverty, hunger is a huge problem in Africa. What do you when someone's hungry and they have no option? What would you do? You pray, that's all you can do, because there is no other practical way of getting stuff. You live with last resorts, really. And a lot of people in religion find themselves at last resort situations. And so, they call on that. And look, it is comforting to at least think that there is a way out of this that is beyond your control. I think as human beings, in our darkest moment or in our trying times we want to know that there is a superior force that will bring us through this. That will take care of our needs. And the greater your need, the greater your basic need, like [00:32:19] hierarchy of needs, the base needs, the greater you are going to need your faith and your dependence. Because you need so much. Interviewer: This is what I am thinking at the moment, this is my world-view: Like you said, people reach out to a God that might help them at the time, which is like "It is my last hope". I think where we are being guided now, is to think that we can solve these things at a human practical level. So we should challenge what's going on in the banking system, in the world government systems, where it's causing poverty, it's causing inequalities. So we as human beings, the citizens of this world should get together and really make a movement that starts to eliminate poverty, starts to decrease wars, because of our actions on this Earth. So we can - in a sense - save ourselves. [00:33:22] Interviewee: Yeah. So the move toward a new humanistic approach to saving ourselves, as you point out, it comes from a disillusionment. This illusion with the state which has this unholy alliance with religion. So matter what first world country - the big ones, like the UK and America - if they get to the core of their religious relationship, it's with a Christian partner, so Donald Trump is quite big on Christian ethics. And he's got a good relationship with the Christian community of America. And the relationship between the Christianity and the government is very entrenched. In the UK, the queen is the head of the church, the Anglican church, which is directly connected, they can't be separated. State and religion and church cannot be separated in the big nations. And in the Muslim nations, this is the same thing. It cannot be separated, they are intertwined. But what is the result for the majority of people around the world? This alliance that they have has not brought relief to the people of the world. So what do you do? Do you keep supporting it? Do people keep quiet when they see governments that are intertwined with religious belief systems? Do they just let them continue? No, people are thinking "This is not working. If the world is the biggest government in the world and some of the wealthiest ones have this relationship and there is still so much poverty, then maybe this is not the answer". So I think people are thinking of other ways. Because if we think about the three big religions, or the ones that influence our way of thinking, our way of life the most, the Jew and Christian tradition, Islam being the third, they come from a similar sort of area, region of the world. The Middle-Eastern region, the Middle-Eastern religions and they offer exclusivity. So whether you are Muslim or Christian or Jew, you have exclusive access to a God through your faith in that belief system. Which is quite different to the Eastern or the Indian religions, Buddhism or Hinduism, which allow for a polarity of Gods and allow for different belief systems. These ones that are very exclusive, they spread the widest. Interviewer: Because they can control? [00:35:47] Interviewee: Because they are selling you almost admission to a club that you can't get in, unless you are a member. So you can't go to heaven unless you have faith in this particular thing. And that's got a lot of appeal. I am not sure what the rates of evangelism or Hinduism is, but I am pretty sure it's nothing near the rates of Christianity, because it's selling hope. But the countries where this is practiced the most, the relationship between government and religion, the benefit to the world is not tangible. Especially in Africa. You will find that people are as poor as ever. And if we look who colonized us, it were the nations who had this relationship. So what did they really bring? They brought religion and they brought slavery. So how do you reconcile their God with good, when the result has been bad? There has been a lot of disease and poverty. It's very difficult for people to reconcile that. At a thinking level, the more education you get, the more you begin to question "What was this all about, really?" Interviewer: Is it also maybe keeping them dumb, in a way? Interviewee: The power, I think it was Livingston who was quoted, who famously said, or in reference to Livingston... Interviewer: David Livingston. [00:37:13] Interviewee: He was a missionary and a colonialist and an explorer. It was "When they came to Africa, we had the land and they had the bible. Now we have the bible and they have the land". So the African story is one of exchange of the good. So Africa gave up a lot of national resources to visitors. Whether it was Jan van Riebeeck who came with the Dutch or the English, the British, the Portuguese, all the visitors ended up with a lot. And the people of Africa didn't end up with as much. In fact, until today a lot of them don't have any land or any possessions over time. What they do have, though, is their religion. Africa is deeply religious. Their love of Christianity and a lot of them are Anglicans and Catholics and Charismatics. And so, the hope is in this thing that they have over time really had to exchange their national wealth for. Interviewer: I think we need to break out of that. And I think, as humans, we need to fix the problem. Hopefully there is an enlightenment coming within Africa. Do you see that or do you still see that it can be hidden from them somehow by those who want to control? [00:38:35] Interviewee: This is the thing about breaking the chains of your oppressor, Africa is going to find itself a new master if they don't get to grips with themselves. Because the Chinese will not let Africa just pass by. Africa is rich with resources. They are basically offering to pay off debts of African countries, "Take a loan from us, we'll board your harbour. And then, if you can't pay back the fee, we'll own the harbour. Or you'll give us rights to fish off your coast". Chinese fishing nets are cleaning up the natural resources in the ocean, the sea creatures. Interviewer: So they could be aware of this? Interviewee: Yeah, that's actually happening at the moment, Africa now finds itself with a new sort of master that's on the doorstep. Interviewer: It's an alarm bell, really. [00:39:34] Interviewee: It's an alarm bell, and I'm not sure how Africa breaks out of it. Because if you look at the history of Africa, there was a time in Africa when Africa was powerful. There was a time when Africa was a trading point, places like Tanzania and Zanzibar were travel routes between the East and Africa. So trading between Arabia, trading between India. Those routes existed before colonials came. You saw places like Timbuktu and Kush where Africans established kingdoms and dynasties and Egyptians had lots of technology, mathematics and hieroglyphics. What would have happened to Africa if it wasn't colonized? Would Africa have eventually developed? I don't think so. I think technology development is a combined effort and we are all basically a combination of all the great ideas and thoughts. So today we have microphones and we are doing podcasts. Podcasts are a great idea. How many little pieces had to come together to design, before we got to podcasts? Microphones had to be designed, ideologies, psychology had to be thought out. Conversation had to be thought out, cabling, cameras. There are so many little pieces that eventually got us to this. So the podcast itself might be a creation of something awesome, but there are so many little bits and pieces that had to be created before we got to this point. So I think likewise for Africa to have thrived, it couldn't have stayed in isolation. What could have happened, though - I am not sure if you have ever been to Dubai - but whenever I go to the United Arab Emirates, I always think "This is possibly what Africa could have been". Because the United Arab Emirates, Dubai in particular, was like this little fishing village, where guys would dive, open clams, pick poles. That was the trade of the Emirate people. And then, in Abu Dhabi they discovered oil. Once they discovered oil, they realized that oil is a massive resource and this is going to make us very rich. But the structure they put in place was how they were going to take it out and stay in control of the wealth. Which is very different to the African story. For example, they got the British involved and a few other people to come help them get the oil out of the ground. So they can't get the oil out of the ground, they know who can. But they don't want them to completely own it. So they have these laws in place where if you open up a business in Dubai, you have to have an Emirate partner. And I don't know if it is still in place, that partner had to be the majority partner. So if you wanted to take any wealth, you made sure that you were also enriching a local person. Africa's story is completely different. If you ever go to Kimberley, the big hole where they found the Cullinan diamond, that sits in the crown, they found in Kimberley these masses of diamonds. And it was just like wild, wild west. It is almost like crypto-currency in a way. because everyone just goes and takes whatever they need and you trade it and you move. And people are building these digging areas and little rigorous [00:42:43] there and someone digs next to it and they get a little breach. And there were just holes everywhere. Until, I think it was the De Beer, he got the idea that no man can form a diamond company and we can control how the digging and all that is happening. But when all of that stuff came out of the ground, it went everywhere except to people. You went to Kimberley, right? It's a dead town, it's hard to believe. I think it's the second place to have street lights in the world, I think the first was Philadelphia or something. So Kimberley was ahead of its time, you had the Kimberley stock exchange. It had its own stock exchange, it was trading diamonds, trading gold before Johannesburg was a thing. It was a city ahead of the world in many ways. And it had this amazing resource of diamonds. It was discovered I think in a river. The story goes like this: There were kids playing in a river and they found a stone. They gave it to a traveller. So the kids were playing with it, the traveller said "I'll give you something for it". The man checked it out, they were diamonds. So they knew. And diamonds, they obviously were kicked out of the volcano at some point. So they formed out of a volcano and pushed out. So they were in the river that flowed down. So they knew there was something there and they were 100% correct. Now there is a massive hole. The hole represents the wealth of South African Kimberley. But none of that wealth exists for the people of Kimberley. That wealth has been exported to particularly Britain. I sometimes wonder if diamonds and gold had been discovered in a time like today, like how Dubai or Abu Dhabi was set up, that Africa would have been a better place. It just makes you wonder what type of world we would have lived in. Because if you go to the UAE, you find that foreigners or visitors and local people, there is a relationship they enjoy or they experience that is so different to Africa. They don't see foreigners as colonists, they see them as helpers. It's co-laborers in mining the wealth of Dubai. Whereas in Africa, the people see the colonists as oppressors. I don't know if that relationship will ever change, the way the African people view Europeans in particular, who came to the different countries, like the French, some parts of the Congo, the Belgians and obviously the British and the Dutch. The Portuguese in [00:45:24] and Angora. I don't know if there ever will be a time when African people will be able to hold hands with these people. Because for the most part, the African people until today are still poor while a lot of these great-grandchildren and grandchildren of the original arrivals are still wealthy. And that gap in South Africa is probably the worst, that gap between rich and poor. Interviewer: I think it's probably up to these countries now, in a way, to redistribute technology, wealth, knowledge into the entire world, so that we can all benefit. If Africa is stronger, the whole world is stronger. So I don't think there is any point in people and powers that be controlling this wealth and trying to control people. It is probably beneficial to them right now, but our future, as our planet, as our children and our grandchildren, we need to build a place that is equal all around the world. And we have to make this movement, we have to do that. [00:46:24] Interviewee: Well, the problem with that, Clint, political systems that exist... Socialism - which in a slight sense is what you are hinting at - is not popular in the Western world. The idea that the Westerners would somehow give up their resources to help the less, I don't think that is going to catch fire. I know America already has a problem with any form of socialism among their own people, their neighbours, people at the border, you read every day of how they don't want to offer healthcare to immigrants at the border. That is what you are suggesting, that's probably the closest that they can practice it, and they don't want to practice it. I'm not sure how the UK feels about moving from where it is now to a more socialistic approach to solving world peace. Democracy remains the preferred political system. Capitalism remains the preferred financial political system. And as long as those exist, it will always come down to who has more knowledge, who knows more, who has better connections. And those who don't, will fall back. Interviewer: Not that I am a socialist, I haven't really thought about this a lot, but I think that we are going to evolve a different type of political system. It may not even be a political system. But there is going to be a new way of... Not governing people, because I think that's the wrong word. A new way of living. [00:48:08] Interviewee: Well the idea of democracy was that people chose the government. Democracy was that the people shall vote and the people shall govern. But the problem with democracy is that you can't have democracy with an under-educated election. So if the people don't know the deal, what's going on, they shouldn't really be allowed to vote. That might sound like a very dictatorial thing to say, but if people don't know what is on offer and who stands for what, how can they make an informed decision on who should lead? And so, political parties prey on that, they prey on the ignorance of people. That's why you have these far right leaning and far left leaning parties and movements that keep rising up. The fact that Donald Trump is in power is a direct response to Barrack Obama being in power. So the left ruling for two terms, the right being so agitated, they don't really care necessarily what the policies are. They just feel like they are being isolated. And so the voting is along racial lines and it's along really personal lines about who I am as a person, what I look like. In South Africa, too. As opposed to "What are the policies the party is offering?" Interviewer: Well, it has been great talking to you, Carvin. I like this thought-pattern and I think that the more we talk about it, the more we start to think about it and hopefully, the more people listen, the more we think about it. I don't have the answers. No one has the answers right now. But as we collectively think, we might come up with something that is going to work, that is going to help. [00:49:52] Interviewee: As a political system - just to round it up - what I think should happen, in a country like mine like South Africa, we have the unfortunate legacy of apartheid and being freedom fighters. And then a government that needs to pay or thank freedom fighters for what they did. So there is a payment system that's paid through government, the government positions and head of departments and mayors and premiers. So these positions at this point in time are not necessarily going to the best people that could take a country like ours forward. There is a list of people that haven't received any benefits for fighting in the struggle and giving up their lives and losing partners. A lot of the older freedom movements like the ANC, there is a big struggle of how the party moves forward. Because when they elect people like Jacob Zuma to the presidency, any thinking person in and outside the ANC will ask themselves "Was this really the best foot forward? When they looked through all of the ranks of the party, with a legacy of people like [00:51:11] and Walter Sisulu, Nelson Mandela, then Jacob Zuma? This is our best step forward?" And I don't think that necessarily is the best step forward or anyone else that comes afterwards. I think we are just in this awkward age of still having to pay people who help fight for freedom. My wish is, once we get through this tricky period, that we start appointing some ideals governments. The best doctor in the country is the minister of health. And the most decorated police man, active working, is the minister of police. And likewise, the most decorated judge is the minister of justice. So I think a very professional [00:52:02] EO private type approach to government is the only way we are going to fix our political system. Because I think in that case, we will at least get a lot of experience, firstly, in those fields. And logical thinking towards the best systems. I think as long as it's politicized and the people put into these positions are actually politicians and not professionals in those industries, we are going to keep running around in circles. So my ideal political system in South Africa - and I suppose in most parts of the world - would involve the best available person in that field being the minister of that. So I will give you a small example of a little political situation. There are ten of us and we are friends and you are good at making music, I am good at telling jokes and Pete is good at break-dancing. You are not going to ask me to be the break-dancer. In our little political group, it's going to be him, he should be the minister of break-dancing, because he is the best break-dancer and that makes the most sense. So that's a microcosm. On the grand scale, if we could get that sort of thinking into our political system, the best results for us to get the best police results is to have the best police man. Kind of conducting, because all the experience and the know-how is what's going to give us an advantage. Because knowledge is power and it gives an advantage. That's why you have knowledgeable people in high positions. Because the knowledge and that experience just makes us more dynamic, more sharp, makes us think better on our feet. And we don't have that. Interviewer: Carvin H. Goldstone, comedian, friend, thanks for being on LifeShot Podcast. [00:53:52] Interviewee: Thank you, it has been fun. Interviewer: And I wish you all the best for the rest of your trip in the UK. And if people want to see more about you, where do they go? Interviewee: I have a website, it's carvingoldstone.com. And you can find everything you need there. Interviewer: Great. Thank you very much. Interviewee: Thanks.

Ooohhh la la. This episode is part 1 of a 3 part series dedicated to houseplants. Houseplants are trendy again y'all, and as millennials, we are into it!!! This week we discuss why houseplants are making a comeback and talk about what makes them so popular among millennials. We also reference Jenna Marbles' plant tour video and a video from The New Yorker in this episode...we encourage you to check them out and join the discussion! (linked below) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooMiIm8RItw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2llLx_WkF3Q&t=797s --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/holistish/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/holistish/support

The Soda Podinski guys take a break from soda to bring you a very special and very spooky Halloween episode in which they review Reese’s Peanut Butter Ghosts. Ooohhh!

OOOHHH boy we're back with a succulent convo about craps, chicken fights, and a math competiton. also pls ask us questions on instagram @ridiculousrantspodcast (always plug) pls

This week, the Milly Lov3 crew dishes on all their hygiene routines, when they smelled a lil tart as kids, and the healthiest way to be clean af while preserving your skin. Visit our website for more info: www.millenniallov3.com! Give us coin on Cash App @ $MillyLov3 Follow us on social media! Instagram: @millenniallov3 Miché: @your_augustrush Justin: @justinbobby84 Cara D.: @iamthecarad Twitter: @millenniallov3 Miché: @your_augustrush Justin: @neverbreak_flyy Cara D.: @iamthecarad Wanna give us feedback, say heyyy, or give us some Millennial Moment material? Hit us: info@millenniallov3.com ***This episode is sponsored by Bioclarity! Go to bioclarity.com, and use promo code LOV3 to get your first month supply of the skin-clearing system for only $9.95***

Get the Free Course here: https://phit.click/freecourse   Think about this. To lose weight you MUST be willing to eat just enough. You have to learn how to eat until satisfied. No one who "stuffs themselves" or is a card carrying member of the Clean Plate Club is going to lose weight easy. To lose weight you have to be able to leave food behind. Restaurants will over serve you, your mom will insist you have more, if you order pizza you get a better deal when you buy two, and sometimes even what you prepare yourself is just too much for that meal. Your inability to "waste" food will make losing weight harder. You just can't overeat and expect losses. When I work with clients I ask them how often they are overeating. A lot of them think overeating is limited to a binge-fest on a bad day. Nope! In fact, for most of us, that's the LEAST damaging. Give-up moments are easy to spot. What's elusive and often WAY harder to stop is the justified overeating. "I"m full, but I portioned this so I should finish it." "It's just a couple of bites left in the pan." "OOOHHH a bite of Mac and Cheese left on juniors plate." "I hate to waste the food...I paid for it." "It's free! I'm broke so I need to take advantage." All of this is waste. Waste going straight to your waist. When you overeat you aren't saving money or getting your money's worth. Overeating wastes your mental energy day dreaming about losing weight, it wastes your time on this earth toting around too many pounds, and it wastes your ability to know how much food you need. One interesting concept I was teaching a Tribe member the other day was that you will NEVER know how much food to buy at the store if you keep polishing off food that you aren't hungry for. Think of the money you waste over-buying each week! If you have head drama over leaving food behind OK. That's fine. Have some head drama but toss the food. Toss the food knowing you are teaching yourself how to quit wasting time wanting to lose weight. You will eventually teach yourself how much food you need and probably start buying less. In this podcast we talk about how to put into practice leaving food behind deliberately. Trust me. I still work on leaving food behind. When I do I think someone should march in with confetti and celebrate. Even after 13 years of keeping my weight off I feel like not cleaning my plate is an amazing feat. I don't know if wasting food will ever feel natural but I'm OK with that. I kind of like this body and willing to just keep working at it. Plus, maybe that confetti will erupt. I sure hope I get a selfie.  

Search Engine Optimisation, or SEO, is the key that helps people searching the Internet find your website and pages when they rank better in search engines. Hunter Boyle has been a leader in digital marketing and sales optimisation for 20 years, achieving outstanding results across a variety of brands, clients and markets, including catch.com.au. Hunter outlines an SEO prioritisation plan that will help you focus on what will get maximum SEO bang for your buck, and he does a mean Yoda impersonation! Thank you to Jahzzar for the music. Masters Series is presented by WeTeachMe. The Masters Series podcast is produced by Written & Recorded. The views expressed by the contributors on this podcast and linked websites are not necessarily endorsed by the publisher.

If you're like me, than your bracket is busted! What a weekend for college basketball! I was in Vegas for my yearly March Madness trip! I saw it all unfold on the big screen! Don't worry, even though my bracket is busted, I am going to give you my Final Four predictions. Also, we will talk some Hockey, and some Diamondback Spring training! Grab a PBR and I'll see you in the Crypt! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ooohhh, I love the pods and the pods love me!   Hello to you and welcome to this week's discussion of Oscar films, lead paint, and Victor Mature.   There is also a bit of sex, a dab of polka, and some musings on the personalities of hounds and their owners.   You're the pudding mix in my salad, Twisty!

This episode of the Anywhere But Here podcast covers a lot of ground including Ant's preparations for the upcoming Brighton Marathon including announcing his fund-raising page, please donate if you can. Tom has been in LA and has a few stories to tell about the technology he saw as well as the more human stories he encountered. This also leads to film news including The Cloverfield Paradox. The Shape of Water and Black Panther as well as discussing the upcoming Cobra Kai TV show featuring the actors from the original Karate Kid film(s). Ant tells us about the lengths people will go to to win the SAE's camel beauty competition as well as what constitutes a beautiful camel. He also went to a classic car show at London's ExCel Centre and the guys reminisce about cars they loved as children. Which also leads to the further exploits of Elon Musk whose company SpaceX launched the Falcon Heavy which put a Tesla Roadster into space... we're living in the future! All this and much more on this episode for you to enjoy! Get in touch with us: Twitter - @abhpod Facebook - facebook.com/abhpod Youtube - youtube.com/abhpodcast

This episode of the Anywhere But Here podcast covers a lot of ground including Ant's preparations for the upcoming Brighton Marathon including announcing his fund-raising page, please donate if you can. Tom has been in LA and has a few stories to tell about the technology he saw as well as the more human stories he encountered. This also leads to film news including The Cloverfield Paradox. The Shape of Water and Black Panther as well as discussing the upcoming Cobra Kai TV show featuring the actors from the original Karate Kid film(s). Ant tells us about the lengths people will go to to win the SAE's camel beauty competition as well as what constitutes a beautiful camel. He also went to a classic car show at London's ExCel Centre and the guys reminisce about cars they loved as children. Which also leads to the further exploits of Elon Musk whose company SpaceX launched the Falcon Heavy which put a Tesla Roadster into space... we're living in the future! All this and much more on this episode for you to enjoy! Get in touch with us: Twitter - @abhpod Facebook - facebook.com/abhpod Youtube - youtube.com/abhpodcast

PorchTalks crew chop it up with Rico this week. They take a few trips down memory lane to discuss being pulled over in the McDonald's drive thru and many other adventure that helped molded their friendships.

Young M A fann friheten och sig själv i freestyle-formen, och vid en ålder av 25 är hon den tuffaste och mest karismatiska rapparen från New York. Hon pepprar sin musik med skryt om pengar och erövringar, men tar oss samtidigt till okänd terräng. Den första öppet homosexuella rapparen som fick en plats i mittfåran utan att definieras av kön eller sexuell läggning. Men det har varit en lång resa för Young M A, eller Katorah Marrero. När hon väl kom ut i tonåren fanns det vrede och frustration som bara väntade på att få explodera i en serie råa freestyles. Det började i den våldsamma Brooklyn Chiraq, och nådde en  monster-nivå i punchline-dängan Ooohhh. Något verkade ha hänt inom en genre där homosexualitet i bästa fall ignorerades och i sämsta fall hatades. Vi spolar också tillbaka bandet i Brooklyn, och hyllar bortgångne tungviktaren Sean Price. Du får en aldrig tidigare publicerad intervju med MCn som förkroppsligade hardcore-Brooklyn. Slagskämpe-spottande till ett malande, melodiöst mörker. Från Heltah Skeltah till postuma soloverket Imperius Rex. I programmet möter du även Cakes Da Killa, 50 Cent, Siya, Kashif, MC Lyte och Eve.

https://youtu.be/NyVfTkK8FNk Get Back Up – Proverbs 24:16, The godly man may trip seven times, but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked. – This book is a collection of wise words and universal truths given to us by King Solomon. – Proverbs 1:2, Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline, to help them understand the insights of the wise. – This proverb is pointing out that when you live by God’s precepts, you will endure, and have new strength. BUT if you do not, life will beat you down and keep you there. – Think of an athlete: What stops them from getting back up? Pain, injury, self-doubt… – Spiritually and emotionally, I believe it works the same way. – Psychologists say that we are only born with 2 fears: Falling, and Loud Noises. (Self-protection.) – All other fears are learned, and most in order to avoid pain and injury. (Self-protection also.) – Fear of FAILURE, & looking FOOLISH are ones that will keep us from “getting back up”. – Example: I think this is where the “fear of public speaking” comes in. (To avoid the pain of ridicule by our peers.) This stops us from sharing the gospel! – These fears cause us to commit sins of omission. – You have to get over your fear of looking foolish if you are going to step out in faith, and be the son or daughter God has created you to be. Its okay to fail. – “The godly man may trip seven times, but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked.” – The scriptures record 7 times where the Disciple Peter fails during his time with Jesus. I want to focus on a couple of them: – Looking through Matthew 26:36-75 alone we see… – 1st: Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him to pray before being crucified. They ALL fell asleep! They failed to “keep watch”. They didn’t protect Jesus. “For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”  (All of them went on to become heroes of the faith later.) – 2nd: Armed men lead by Judas “grabbed Jesus and arrested him.” Peter cuts off the ear. After receiving rebuke for not protecting Jesus in the garden, now he is being rebuked again for trying to protect him from arrest. (This was probably a little confusing…) – 3rd: All the disciples deserted Jesus, but verse 58 says, “Meanwhile, Peter followed him at a distance and came to the high priest’s courtyard. He went in and sat with the guards and waited to see how it would all end.”  (Peter, the only one close enough to deny Jesus.) – All the disciples failed Jesus at one point or another, but why is scripture focused on mostly Peter’s failures? – Peter always took action and pushed forward. Where was everyone else? Running away, or standing by watching? I don’t know because scripture doesn’t say what they did! – You won’t fail if you don’t try. But, this is the sin of omission, and sin is failure. – Your Pastors would much rather see you push forward, and have to pull you back in. Than for you to do nothing, fearing failure, and have to pull you along. – I don’t think Jesus was mad at Peter. I think he loved it, and wished they were all like that! – Don’t wait for the Pastor to ask you to serve! Get involved, and push forward. – “Don’t let what you cannot do, interfere with what you can do.” – John Wooden – “No tools, no smarts, no training, bad upbringing… I’M NOT READY!” All just excuses!! – “Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill said that. Its okay to look foolish. – Example: 1st football practice, tackling drills, stepped up 1st, boom! Feet above head…OOOHHH!!!! – Humbled and humiliated, I could have quit, but instead asked my brother for help. * What seemed like failure was actually one of my biggest successes. Actually one of the few times I have taken on a challenge without a reasonable assurance of victory. – 1 Cor. 1:24-26,

This week your hero has a special announcement. Exciting, life changing things are happening.

Ooohhh getting close to 100 BABY

Here are the lyrics/list: Hey you got them fancy panties Ooohhh they are so hot So list ‘em out and count ‘em up And tell us what you got 1.  Have you had sex in a state park? 2. In a theme park? 3. In or on the ocean? 4. Or how about a vehicle […]

Greetings ladies and gentlemen of the court. It's the Knights again with another episode. In "Ooohh, I'm telling", we discuss a myriad of topics. This episode comes post-Swoop's birthday celebration. We ask if men actually get raped and come to terms with whether or not we've actually been raped while under the influence. We also discuss what do you do if you catch your friend's significant other cheating on them and how do you present it to them. Send all comments, request, suggestions to drunkenknightspodcast@gmail.com

Ooohhh, what a haunting episode! It's almost All Hallows' Eve, so we got into costume for our thirty-third consecutive Great Episode. We eventually talk about some phobias and little things that frighten us. This episode's mistakes include:Recording at Nick's house for the first time ever, forever ruining our streak.Animal guests did not equally contribute to the discussion at hand.Long-winded and scatterbrained introduction before finally getting on topic.Egregious factual inaccuracies.Get over it, and then like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, rate us on iTunes, and email questions to deepfought@gmail.com.

Confession: [I seem to do that a lot here] I have a thing for mannequins that I think stems from an incident as a young adult – and I blame my mother.She and I were downtown Cincinnati walking across the Pogue's bridge between the store and parking garage. That should give you a clue as to how long ago it was. Of the three or four major department stores in town when I grew up, Pogue's was the smaller and more upscale of them. It closed in the 1980s. I digress. As we were tromping over the street on the enclosed bridge, I looked down into onto the street and a dumpster full of precious treasure: full-body, lime green, flocked female mannequins. Stiff limbs outstretched as if awaiting rescue. Patient to find a good home. MY home. Someone had actually thrown them out. No matter how much I bargained, I could not convince my mother to help me retrieve them, let along finagle them into the trunk. "All you'd have to do is hoist me," I pleaded. Wasn't like it was illegal or anything, but it was broad daylight. My mind raced with the possibilities as I churned over how to get them myself. Impossible. I had to let that one go.Over the years, I have tried to replace those glowing-green gals. I even dream about them sometimes. Where would they be now? How would I have used them? Would they still be flocked or well-worn?I once invested in a soft-grey sewing form, later to find a lone mannequin head that I pieced together to attend my 1950s bar cart and several Halloween parties. Kids came and she was relegated to the basement. No room and her constant lurking in the shadows always caught me off guard. I resold her to an equally ecstatic guy, whom I am certain gave her a very creative, loving home. I hope. The head is somewhere floating in the basement, along with Sheniqua. She's a cosmetologist's  model. The kind with flowing hair and a face ripe for make-up. I inherited her because my aquatics instructor's family was spooked by her. Mine was, too, so she's hidden and will give whomever finds her a jolt.What is this pleasure derived from body parts? I do have a dark side and sense of the macabre, but there's just something so darned interesting about these half-finished creatured. They can become almost anything. A canvas of sorts.So it as with much pleasure I stumbled upon a crop of them freshly delivered to the local St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Shop a few nights ago. "Guy on a Harley with black trailer dropped them off," the attendant offered as he was cooping them up for the night. "They be here in the morning?" I asked, wanting to make sure my studio could accommodate another object and knowing I may be moving. "Yeah, they're not even priced yet and we may be keeping a few."Lily was with me as I inspected the crated lot: one VERY tall one on a collapsable stand, a few short one on pedestals and some teetering on their own from the buttocks up. All very clean except for one with rings around the appropriate appendages. I posted a photo on Facebook and most comments asked what I was waiting for ... thinking time, how I could justify these purchase.When I realized we were making a scary movie for the next Artsy Fartsy Saturdays, the arts exploration for 4-6th graders I lead, I knew who the star could be ... part from the kids, that is. I was all set to return the next morning before they were gobbled up.Only I didn't. Other things reared their heads that morning and I traipsed off to the studio totally forgetting my mission of the night before. Something made me remember -- maybe a call from the lifeless forms themselves echoing how their flocked cousins had bellowed to me years ago. Maybe my sense of adventure and fun. Who knows, but I returned to the store to see them all boldly displayed outside, front and center. I was elated and began choosing. A different attendant from the previous night encouraged me to look closely because missing parts prevented them from attaching to the stands. Ooohhh, that changed things. He pointed to the tall one with the rings. "She's the one that works," he said pushing her form higher up on the metal bars until she reached an intimidating height. I had almost settled on her until we realized she could not be separated from her stand and how problematic moving and storing her could be. So, I removed the tag from one that stood on her own haunches and looked pretty clean. "Good thing you didn't pick the one who looks like her boobs were dragged through the mud," the cashier congratulated me. Silently, I think we both wondered what happened to her on that ride behind the Harley in a trailer. I am envisioning a Stephen King story now.I paid, then swept her under my arm and was about to whisk her into the trunk, when a woman who could have caught a fly by the way her face was positioned in gawking at me remarked: "What the heck are you gonna do with that?" I quickly replied "Halloween," which wasn't a complete lie, but not entirely the truth either. No matter the season, I would have bought her.No imagination, I thought, then changed my mind about the trunk and placed her next to me in the front, passenger's seat: my new companion.• What makes me crazy with creativity?• Are there certain things that really get my juices flowing?• When have I made an insane purchase based on nothing but elation?• How come some just can't see the possibilities?• When does my (inner) artist come out to play?enraptured fromthe moment thesun struck theirfelty neon skinonly to NOTpossess themI was haunted,searching fora substitutecreating themfrom pieces,never satisfieduntil a mysteriousdriver on a Harleydumped his stashincluding the onewith dirt circlesaround her chestand her partner,now mine, hasthe best story yetListen to this post:

Known as one of the most celebrated days of the calendar year, Christmas is the celebration for the birth of Christ. So brace yourselves as International Party DJ YO!MAFIA provides you with a new date to mark in your diaries – Ye Day. For t'was on this day 8th of June, 1977 that the lord gaveth the world a gift of little baby Yeezus (Kanye West). You can love or loathe him, but there is no way you can escape him. The past 10 years has seen Kanye manufacture himself into an iconic brand; credited for having produced some of the largest grossing albums of all time, spearheading the production on LPs like Jay-Z's 'The Blueprint' and creating classic albums like 'The College Dropout' and ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'. His entrepreneurial swagger has also led him on ventures into the film and fashion stratospheres, and with his unsurpassed narcissism, he embodies Pop Culture. “I'm like the new Walt Disney!” - Kanye West It is because of these reasons that beloved club & party DJ YO!MAFIA has taken it upon herself to celebrate the birthday of Yeezus in style. After the huge success of her last release ‘OOOHHH! ON THE TLC MIXTAPE TIP', the renowned genre-smashing DJ returns with a gift, paying homage to the egomaniac himself. With her reputation as the ‘Mash-Up Queen' YO!MAFIA will once again use her sixth sense to bring together a bombardment of party favourites. Website : http://yomafia.com.au Facebook : http://facebook.com/yoitsmafia Twitter : http://twitter.com/yoitsmafia Instagram : http://instagram.com/yoitsmafia

Ooohhh, it's another bit of Ramble. show@thefootballramble.com for all ya yap. Love you all x See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ooohhh, we kick it off with a little mashup dropping Lorde low courtesy of Ester Dean. That's right. Die Antwoord after that with Ninja flowing like no other. Danny Brown and A-Trak after that with a couple of wicked Congo Natty tracks in there too. DJ Vadim remix Terrorist with some George W Bush and then Barrington Levy and Beenie Man keeps the theme with Murderer. Phutureprimitive remixes Massive Attack while Youth remixes the Ozric Tentacles before DJ Shadow gets remixed! The bpms get cranked with The Qemists and some seriously old school Squarepusher. We catch our breath via Daft Punk and swing our hips into the end with a joint production of DJ Disk and Tim Love Lee and C2C reminds us to be happy. Press rewind if I haven't blown your mind. www.HoweSoundSystem.com www.facebook.com/HoweSoundSystem Tracklist: Ester Dean - Drop It Low Lorde - Royals Die Antwoord - U Make Ninja Wanna Fuck Congo Natty - Nu Beginingz Congo Natty - London Dungeon Danny Brown & A-Trak - Smokin and Drinkin DJ Vadim - Terrorist 2010 Barrington Levy & Beenie Man - Murderer Phutureprimitive - Teardrop Youth - Sploosh DJ Shadow - I Gotta Rokk DJ Shadow - I Gotta Rokk (Irn Mnky Swagger Mix) The Qemists - Everything Is Under Control Squarepusher - Full Rinse Daft Punk - Da Funk Tim Love Lee & DJ Disk - One Word C2C - Happy

Johnny 4 Racks is in the booth, and he DOMINATES.Topics on the day include how it feels to be the worst, Top 10 about nothing, token Double Down bit, throwing up out of your butt, SFYL Flashcards, kid's sports, music for a funeral, and Y2k gets a club protégé. Why don't you just tell me why you're crying?Email: Y2k y2k509@gmail.com, Patch patch406@gmail.com. Twitter: Podcast twitter.com/sorry4yourluck, Y2k twitter.com/y2k509, Patch twitter.com/patch406. Give us a call (206) 888-CEWL.Download

Anybody else here like the music of Lifehouse besides me? All right. That song (you can read the lyrics here: http://www.metrolyrics.com/spin-lyrics-lifehouse.html), we just had the words to-no images this morning-because thats going to be our focus. Were going to be talking about when the world is upside down, when things arent going right, when obstacles and trials are what we are facing. We are starting a new series this morning, and Im excited. Were starting on the Book of James. Its probably going to take us all summer long to get through it. Were going to go through it chapter by chapter, verse by verse-sometimes little short snippets, 2, 3, 4 verses: and other times, we might take 10 or 15 verses at a time. It just depends on what the subject matter is and when James changes directions. Before we get in to the book-since this is the first week, I want to give you some introductory information on the book-I thought Id start talking about the series title. Its a little bit unusual, The Gospel According to Jim. Jim is obviously a nickname on James. There was a TV show by that name, still in syndication, According to Jim. More than that, I want you to get a feel for this book because to me, number one, nicknames are not uncommon. Do you know who The Sons of Thunder were? Its a nickname for James and John. The Disciples were called The Sons of Thunder. One guy was so positive, so encouraging, that they changed his name from Joseph and started calling him The Son of Encouragement; and that became his name-Barnabas, so Barnabas is actually a nickname. It means son of encouragement. Heres a tough one-this guy was nicknamed The Twin. Anybody know who that is? Its Thomas, right. I saw some of you mouth Thomas. Very good. One guy was nicknamed The Rock, Rocky. Do you know who The Rock was? Who was nicknamed The Rock? Who was nicknamed The Rock? Peter. You are Simon, Jesus says. I will call you Rocky. Youre going to be The Rock. So nicknames are not uncommon, so calling James Jim-not an uncommon thing. However, what I want you to do is get a feel for this book because when I think of this book, its just full of practical wisdom. Its kind of like if youre sitting down with Uncle Jim on the porch swing and its a hot summer day. You have your lemonade, youre rocking along, and hes just dispensing advice. That is the kind of book this is. Have you ever had somebody in your life like that? You sit down and talk to him/her. Maybe its an elderly person, maybe not, but [it could be] someone in your family or a close friend. You sit down, and you love to listen to him talk because hes going to just keep dropping these nuggets of truth that you pick up that are gold. Youre like, Wow, I could really use that. Anyone have people like that in your life? They just share and they just wow! Youre sitting on that porch swing with Uncle Jim, and hes saying, Yup, Im telling you. That tongue will get you in trouble. You know we tame everything, but we just cant seem to tame that tongue. Its like it controls the course of your whole life. Its an excerpt, a paraphrase from the Book of James. Yeah, you know it doesnt do any good to say to the poor, Go and be blessed. You know what? We have to fill their tummies too! We have to give them some food too. You hear the Word of God, you listen to it, you go out, and you dont do it? Youre like the man who looked in the mirror and went out and forgot what he saw. Just all these nuggets of truth [we learn] as we sit down with Uncle Jim, and he just teaches us life lessons from the Word of God. I wanted us to have that feel. I say, The Gospel According to Jim. Now we know this is not a Gospel in the sense of a biography of the life of Christ-Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, in that sense-but, what he does is he gives us a different look at the Gospel. Hes very practical. He emphasizes works, and there is a lot of tension sometimes between faith and works in this book and between James and Paul in the Epistles-the writings of Paul-which emphasized grace. James comes and he gives us a balance, and he talks about how it doesnt do any good to say you have faith, but if there isnt works present, what good is that? The evidence is the fact that you do belong to Christ, that there will be works manifested in your lives, so thats why we have faith and works on a scale. So he brings this new emphasis to the Gospel. Some of the teachings sound very much like the Sermon on the Mount like he was very close to Jesus because there was a lot of just pure Gospel teaching in his book. Thats not a coincidence. This is the earthly brother of Jesus, the half brother of Jesus. This is not James, the Apostle. This is James, the brother of Jesus. They have the same mother, very different fathers, so he is the half brother of Christ. Were not sure at what juncture he comes to faith. We know at the beginning of Jesus ministry, he was not a believer, but at some point-certainly after the Resurrection, but probably even sooner than that-the miracles must convince him. The teaching must convince him that his brother is divine, so church tradition teaches us-if you go back and you read the early church fathers-that this is the half brother of Christ. He does not try to use that to his advantage. In fact, he doesnt elaborate a whole lot. He doesnt need an introduction, and that's another proof. He just simply says, This is James. He is the leader of the early church. Did you know that? Read the Book of Acts 15. James is in charge, and the council of Jerusalem sets in. Theyre discussing the fate of the Gentiles and whether theyre going to be accepted on the basis of faith or not. James is the one who leads up that meeting. Peter has a voice, but James is the one who drafts the letter. The verbiage in Acts 15, the Greek that he uses and the words that he uses are similar to the words that he uses here. Hes the only one who uses some words that he uses in Acts 15 and in James. Those are the only places we can find those, so we have Italian there linguistically. So James leads the church. The churchs headquarters are in Jerusalem. Its later going to become Antioch; but at this stage in the history of the church, the church is very young, and James is the visible leader of the church. This is the first book written in the New Testament. Its not Matthew. Its not the Gospels. Its this book right here, so the first verse were going to read is the oldest-in a chronological sense-the oldest verse of the New Testament. Last week we read from the oldest book of the Bible; the first verse ever written was…what? Job 1:1, right. Thats the oldest book. This is the oldest book in the New Testament, about 45 to 50 A.D., so its written shortly before the first Epistles of Paul, and its certainly written before the Gospel of Matthew or Mark. This is the church in its infancy. This is the church really still in its very beginning stages, so with that as a backdrop, with that as a little bit of background of who James is and the background of the book, were going to start reading. Lets stand together and open our Bibles to James 1 (page 1196 of pew Bibles), and were going to read the first four verses together. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings. Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Before you sit down, turn to somebody and say, Get ready because hes about to talk to you. Then you can have a seat. He says right off the bat, Consider it joy when you encounter trials. Thats not exactly what you normally would do, right? Hey, get ready to smile. I have some bad news for you. Heres some devastating thing thats happening in your life. Lucky you, today. Its not normally how we address trials or look at trials. James is being realistic about life and the way things are. Things dont always go our way. Life is not always good. Its like a bird I heard about named Chippy, Chippy the parakeet. Did you hear about Chippy? Chippy was living the life. He was the favorite bird, favorite pet. This woman had only her bird. She had no dog, no cat-just the bird, so there were no predators in the house. Nothing was going to eat the bird or put it in fear. Everybody just loved the bird, and the bird would fly around the house. In fact, not really until nighttime or until visitors came over was the bird in the cage. Chippy would fly around the house; Chippy would sing; Chippy just loved life. Chippy had a great cage-state of the art trapeze, great food-the best bird food that Mom could buy, and a great water dish. Life was good. He would just fly around the house singing. He was usually on Moms shoulder as she did her chores. He just loved life; what a great life little Chippy had. One day, Moms on the cell phone and multi-tasking while shes vacuuming the floor and not really paying attention. Chippy is down on the floor looking at scraps of food, and the next thing you know, she vacuums over Chippy and Chippy is sucked up into the vacuum cleaner. All of the sudden, he is in darkness. There is soot and dirt, and hes afraid. Of course, she panics and opens up the vacuum cleaner. She takes the bird out of the dust bag, and hes all covered with soot, dirt and dust. Hes flapping his wings and is terrified. Shes like, Oh, Chippy! We just have to clean you off. What do I do? She doesnt know what to do, so she takes him under the sink, turns on the water-not too hot, not too cold. Of course, the bird is frightened and flapping its wings. Hes just traumatized by the water. Now he is just all wet. What am I going to do? So she takes him into the bathroom and starts to blow dry him-just, Zzzzzz. Hed never encountered a blow dryer before, and Chippy is just terrified. Hes squawking, flapping, and his feathers are flying everywhere. Finally, Chippy is dry. She puts him back in his cage, and he just has this look of shock in his face. This world was this pristine environment where everything was always wonderful, good, and I was always loved. Nothing bad every happened. Now all of the sudden, hed been sucked into this vacuum cleaner. He was dirty; then he was under the water; then he was being blow dried. Wow! A friend days later enquired, Hows little Chippy doing? She said, Little Chippy is doing fine, but he just doesnt sing much anymore. Its not a joke. Its an illustration. You can go, Awww. Chippy just doesnt sing much anymore. Lifes not what it used to be. Chippys lost some joy. Some of us are kind of like little Chippy. At some age, life is good, and Mom and Dad love us. The world is good, and something happens. It takes the rug out from under our feet and just knocks us flat. We go, Wow! The world is not as friendly of a place as I thought. We get sucked into a vacuum cleaner. Its dark and dirty, and things happen to us we dont like, and we just lose our song. We have some Chippys out here today. You dont sing like you used to anymore. James is saying, I want you to get your song back. I want you to sing again. I want you to realize though life is hard, God is good. There are some good things that are going to come your way as a result of what youve been through. Consider a pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, many kinds. All of us are going to face trials-everybody here, everybody here, of many kinds. At different points in your life, youll face different kinds of trials. Some of us are going to face financial trials, relational trials, family trials, health trials, depression, emotional trials. I could just go on and on. You and I are going to encounter various trials in our lives, and sometimes those trials just seem like theyre more than we can take and more than we can handle; so James understands that. The church has been through persecution, and theyre going to go through more persecution very soon. Theyve already been scattered, and theyll be scattered yet again soon; so the words that he says are very appropriate and very real. We look at that, and we say, Well, how in the world can you say that, James? How in the world can you tell us to consider it joy when we encounter trials? Really, its not a how question we should ask. Its more of a why. Why can James say that? What does he know that we dont know? Why can James make such a bold and audacious statement as consider it joy when you encounter trials. Hes going to answer that. Hes going to say, Why? Why, James? Because… he says in Verse 3, Because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Ginosko meant to know with certainty-to know with a certainty. He says, We know… Hes talking about our mindset or our attitude. He says, Were coming in to a trial, and we know that God is for us. Thats like that song we sang. We know that God can work in and through that trial. Hes not saying be thankful for the bad thing or be happy about the bad thing. If you break your leg, hes not asking you to rejoice, Oh, great! I broke my leg! Or, I lost my job! For some of you, it might-I dont know your job. Maybe that would be good news. Its not for you. Thats not funny. Whatever it is, hes not saying, Lets pretend. Put on a happy house. No, when a hardship comes and makes us sad, were going to cry. If it makes us mad, were going to be angry; but what he is doing is encouraging us to look beyond at the beginning. He says, See the end. See the end. He says, Knowing that the testing of our faith… and this word testing doesnt mean tempting. It always means to test, to prepare for something greater down the road. Its to equip. Its to get you ready. Hes saying, God is going to use this trial for us. God is going to use this trial to equip you, to prepare you, to mature you for whats coming down the road. When has the church been the strongest in church history? Ive studied church history. Have you studied church history? Id recommend that you do. What I noticed was a trend that when the church went through testing and trials, when there was opposition against the church, the church flourished. The church didnt buckle and fold; the church flourished. The Gospel was spread. Wonderful things happened in the world. When the church was living large, when the church was in power, in control, guess what? It became corrupt. When it was living that Chippy life, pre-vacuum cleaner, and everything was good and wonderful, the church was corrupt in history. You can read that, so we know that thats the truth. I have seen a very limited amount of the world. Ive not taken a lot of trips around the world, but Ive gone on a couple of missions trips-one to the Dominican Republic. When we were in the Dominican Republic, we saw the Haitian Church-these people who are so poor, have no rights, and are so persecuted because of the color of their skin, because of where theyre from, and their social-economic status, they are persecuted. When we went to worship with them, we have never seen such joy and love. They love Christ; they love one another. They have so few earthly things to be thankful for, yet you see God doing wonderful things. I said, This time, Jack, when we go, we dont want to just visit and say hi. We want to stay with them. We want to share that service with them. We want to linger with them. God willing, if Im able to go back someday by myself, I want to hang with them. I want to go where they live. I want to get behind the scenes and experience life with the Haitians there in the D.R. I will come back a changed man, I know, if Im able to experience that. I went to Sweden also, and thats the land of my heritage, so I was excited about that opportunity. I was able to minister there, and Im going back soon to Sweden to minister. In Sweden, you may not know this, but this is the most secular country in the world. The per capita atheism-there is no comparable. The church was in power, and they became corrupt. They abused their authority, and the Swedish people rebelled against that; and they want no part of the church, so they turned their backs on the church and said, Were going to abandon the faith of our fathers and leave God alone. Thats what they decided to do. Well, the church, of course, is alive, but those Christians that are there are very persecuted. One thing I noticed as I met those believers was how deep their faith was, how deep their roots were, how strong they were in the Lord because they lived-to be a Christian in Sweden, you will encounter adversity. If you look at a coral reef or you study coral reefs, the side of the coral reef that is coastline is often dying. Its not as bright. Its not as colorful. Theres not as much life there. It lives a very comfortable life. The winds arent as strong; the waves arent as strong. Its protected by the other side of the reef and by the shore, but on the other side where the waves are intense and the winds are intense, the coral reef thrives. They have beautiful colors. There are all kinds of sea-life and fish. Its beautiful, but it struggles every day for life and existence. I wish I could tell you that God created the world to grow in maturity, perseverance, and endurance as this word hupomone talks about. This word hupomone is patience; its steadfastness; its consistency; its endurance; its perseverance; its all of those things. I wish I could tell you, Will you just take a pill? Join a club. Listen to a sermon, but it doesnt work that way. It is built into us and instilled into us by the Spirit of God as we go through life and as we encounter these trials. So, James looks to the end. He looks to the process of what God is going to do, and he says, I can say I know with a certainty that God is going to use this to grow maturity and perseverance in your life, as Verse 4 suggests. It says, Perseverance must finish its course, or finish its work. Some of your translations will say, Let perseverance finish its course. This verb is in whats called the present active imperative, which means continue to allow perseverance. In other words, Jesus is saying, Work with… Were going to fight the trial, or fight God, or we will say, Okay, God, Im going to cooperate with You. Im going to work with You. Were going to work together. As that song said, When the worlds spinning upside down, you and I-were not going to change a thing. Were going to work on this together all the way through. Its talking about a cooperative spirit. Hes talking about a partnership, saying, Listen, youre going to go through the trial one way or another, like it or not. I mean James is saying, Listen, your outlook is going to help determine the outcome, how this works out for you. Outlook equals outcome, how you see this. The attitude you have as youre going through this trial and encountering this trial is going to make a difference in how it ends for you. Are you going to be bitter or better? Closer to God or further away? James says, If this is your mindset, if you have this thing, you say, Lord, Im going to let perseverance work in me. Im going to allow You to work in me. Im going to continue on in my faith through this. This is our part. Hes talking here about our will. Hes saying, If you will do that, God is going to mature you, and Hes going to bring you to the place of completeness, lacking nothing. This word teleios, this Greek word teleios, has to do with perfection. It has to do with completion-something that is functioning as it was created to function. It is accomplishing what it was designed to do. You had coaches if you participated in sports who were trying to bring this out in you, this completion. On the practice field, theyd put you through the paces, and theyd work you hard, so when the real thing came, you were ready. Some of you had teachers who tested you. They put you through the riggers. They made you study; they made you write papers, pop quizzes, and grilled you so that you would be ready to handle that subject matter and so that youd be ready for life. A good coach or a good teacher doesnt just prepare you in the academics-they prepare you for life. John Wooden passed away recently, the greatest college coach ever-John Wooden from UCLA. He won more titles than anybody else. John Wooden, the coach with the highest number of wins in college basketball-how many championships did he win in a row with UCLA, like seven or eight in a row, the final fours and won them in a row? John Wooden said not once in his coaching career did he ever talk about winning. Thats interesting, isnt it? He talked about character; he talked about teamwork; he talked about trust, but he never talked about winning. His end result was they won. He saw his job as to make them complete-not just for the game of basketball, but for life. Thats what God is concerned about. We want comfort; we want pleasure; we want avoidance of pain, and God wants our holiness. God wants our character shaped. God wants Christ formed in us, and this is one of the agents that He has chosen to use-life itself-this boot camp, this training ground that we live in called the earth. Speaking of boot camp, I think one of the ways Ill illustrate this with you is a story of a private who went into the military, and of course hed heard about boot camp. This is a true story, by the way. Hed heard about boot camp, and hed heard how rigorous it was, and he was not looking forward to it. Hed seen the movies, of course, and the evil drill sergeant. This guy was worse than anything hed seen in the movies. This guy seemed to not only demean him-which he expected-but this guy got personal. In fact, this guy got physical. He made this privates life a living hell. He was just dogging him every day. It seemed like he picked on him above anybody else. He just wanted to denigrate him and demean him, tell him how worthless he was. One of the things he would try to do was while they were doing these drills, he would try to break their bad habits. You know how they have to do the army crawl under the barbed wire, and theyd have to climb the wall-all the things that you do in boot camp. He was always cussing at him, talking and saying bad things about his mama and all this other stuff. Hed tell him how lazy, fat, slow, and stupid and everything like that; but he would tell them one thing, and he would just drill it. He had a bad habit of putting his head up. He would say, Keep your head down, soldier! Hed cuss and hed fuss, and that guy would get so mad. Hed say, I dont know why Sergeant hates me like that! But I hate him back! I cant stand that guy! A man hed made friends with said, You know, thats his job. Hes trying to prepare us for war. He said, I know that, but he goes beyond. He hates me. Its personal with him. He picks on me more than anybody else. You can see it! You can tell! In fact, one day he even got physical. He said, Private, Im so tired of telling you to keep your head down, maybe this will help, and he took his military boot, put it on the back of his head, and pushed his face into the ground so hard that his nose bled. He said, Maybe now youll remember to keep your head down! That night in the barracks, he said, Ill tell you what-Im serious. If I make it through this tour of duty, Im killing that guy! I hate that guy! I hate him with a passion. His friend said, Well, listen. Boot camp will be over soon. Well be off to battle, and you wont have to worry about him anymore. Yeah, I suppose thats true, and it did happen. Boot camp was over and it was time for him to go to war. He was put in the front lines, and it wasnt long before he was in combat with his pal next to his side. His pal looked up to see what the enemy line was like, and a sniper bullet caught him right between the eyes. He was dead; he was gone just that fast. Right then that private heard the words in his mind, Keep your head down. He heard his drill sergeants voice, and he put his head to the ground. He made it through that battle. In fact, he made it through that tour of duty unscathed. He went back to find his drill sergeant as he had promised he would do. He went back to the barracks and saw his drill sergeant. He made eye contact with him. They walked toward one another, but rather than trying to kill him, he put his arms around him and embraced him. Without saying a word, he thanked him because hed prepared him as a soldier. When he went into that battlefield, he was ready; he was equipped; he was mature. He was able to function and carry out what he had been sent to do. He was able to be teleios, perfect in the line of battle because of what that sergeant had taught him. He recognized that the sergeant was not his enemy, but his friend. Im not telling you that story to say in any way that God is analogous to the drill sergeant. I am saying that trials and testing are analogous to the drill sergeant. Im saying that when you and I go through those trials, theyre so hard and theyre so relenting that we look at those trials like theyre a drill sergeant. We hate them. Theyre our enemy. Theyre trying to hurt us. Theyre trying to destroy me. I hate them! I hate them! We become so angry, and like that sergeant, we start saying this-and I know youve never said this-but Im talking about the 9:30 group thats coming next. There are some real hardliners in that next service. What did I say? Did I say 9:30? (Congregation laughing.) I meant 11 oclock. You guys are awesome! That was a typo. Lets strike that from the record. You guys are great. Im talking about that next group. Thank you, Jesse! Some in that crowd, they go, You know what? Its always me. Why is life so hard on me? Why does everything hit me? What have I done that life has to be so hard on me? They start singing that Hee Haw song. You know the chorus, right? Gloom, despair, and agony on me-e! Ooohhh, me. Deep dark depression, excessive misery-y! Sing it. Ooohhh! If it werent for bad luck, Id have no luck at all! Ooohhh! Pretty happy crowd, apparently. Gloom, despair and agony on me-e-e! But lets be honest. All of us have sung that Hee Haw song. All of us would go, Boy, its me. I sure get my share. The truth is we all go through hardships. We all go through difficult times at different times in our lives. Maybe you went through your hardest time as a child. Maybe youre going through it now. Maybe its still to come. Its going to be different at each stage of your life. We have different trials at certain points in our life than we have at other points in time, but everybody here has gone through, is going, and will go through hardships and trials-everybody here. James is saying, Look, that trial is not your enemy. That trial can teach you. That trial can equip you. That trial can challenge you. That trial can mature you. Were not saying the hardship itself was a good thing, but we are saying that God can use that and will use that in your life; but you have to have that mindset. Let perseverance finish its course. James is saying work with, not against. He came to the realization that drill sergeant was on his side; he was equipping him. Friends, this is boot camp were in right now. This is boot camp, and God is calling us to holiness. God is calling us to purity. God is calling us to grow up. God is calling us to maturity, and some of the things Hes going to use are the hardships and trials that come our way in this fallen world that we live in. Some of them are caused by us and our sin; some are caused by the sins of others; and some just by the fact that we live in a fallen world. Friends, when we go through those times, those are the times when our faith matters the most. Those are the times when we are most receptive to hear the voice of God. Those are the times were going to do our greatest growing and soul-searching. Would you bow with me in prayer? Father, we thank You for Jim. We thank You for James and his story that he has to tell. Thank You for how You gifted him so practically to be able to communicate through Your Holy Spirit the words of life and truth. How radical his teaching was because the Jews to whom he wrote, if hardship came along their way, then God was against you. And if you were blessed all the time-you were rich, happy, and healthy-then God must love you. So to come and say, Consider it joy, was counter-cultural as much then as it is now. Father, I dont know every story. I know some. Some of us dont talk about our trials and hardships. Some of us keep it all inside. Others of us have shared what were going though because we just cant keep it in anymore. Father, whatever our trials are, we know that You are our Lord. We know that You did not bring about the trial, but You will use it. You will use it. The test has come, and, Father, we look to You. We ask You, Lord, when life has dealt us a blow and were in that place of darkness like that little bird, we are in a state of shock, that, God, when the dust settles, we can see again-that well see Your hand and take it in the midst of that darkness and despair. Lord, Youll see us through this trial. Youll see us through this adversity, and we will emerge stronger. We will persevere. We will endure. Its a hope we have in Christ. In Jesus name we pray, Amen. Ive stopped a little early today-not because I dont have more that I can say about James or our text, but because I want to let you know of some rather shocking news that happened to a part of our body that we need to talk about. James 1:1, it says a servant, a doulos. That meant somebody who was a servant or property of another, so James doesnt say, Hey, Im the brother of Jesus. You have to listen to me. James says, I belong to Christ. I am a servant of Christ. When I think of servants of Christ, I think of missionaries. I think of people who have left their homes, left their families, left all thats familiar to go and serve Christ on the mission field. Many times they struggle economically. In fact, most times they do. They try to just get by, and they stay faithful, and they stay faithful to their calling. Like all Christians-all Christians say, Listen, Im the servant of God. Ill do what God has called me to do, but I think as missionaries, theyve taken it to another level. They really have, so thats why we try to support missions in our church. We do support missions, and two of our missionaries for many years are John and Kris Voss in Sweden. Some of you remember John and Kris. When Kris mother became ill, they were here for almost three years. They lived in Janesville and were actually a part of our body plugged in to ministry. John was the head of our prayer team for Phase 3-if we could go ahead and put their picture on the wall, please, so you could recognize their faces; but they are our missionaries that we supported before they were a part of our body, and weve supported them since. For going on three decades, they have been faithful servants of Christ in Sweden, working with the people of Sweden, working in the secular society. Dr. Voss is an excellent teacher of the Word of God and has done tremendous things in Sweden. Im very proud of him. Im sorry to say that this week, theyd been doing some painting in their house, and he put some rags that had chemicals on them that were very flammable next to a heat source. They caught on fire, burned down the garage, and then burned down the house. The Voss lost everything. They were able to get some pictures off the wall from their wedding and of their children, and they left in time before any harm came to them. They lost it all. They lost, number one, their nest egg. They didnt have IRAs or ROTH accounts or big money set aside. Their home was their retirement, and thats gone. Do they have insurance? I dont know. I hope they do. Im in contact with them. Obviously they dont have a computer anymore. Theyve lost all addresses and phone numbers, but Im in contact with the elders, and Im trying to establish whether or not they had insurance. Right now theyre living in a home of a member of the congregation while they are on vacation. They are in a state of shock. They are broken. We can flippantly say, Well, its just stuff. But, what if that was your home? Think about things that belonged to your mom, your dad, or your grandparents that had been passed down to you. Think about things that your spouse had bought you on anniversaries or that your children made you at school. Think of all the things that you have that you saved because they drew that picture for you or whatever it might be; and now you have nothing but the clothes on your back. You have those memories, but all those material things-theyre gone. In your sixties, you are starting life all over again. This is what Pastor Voss and Kris are going through. As a sponsoring church and as a church that he and Kris belong to when they are in America, we are not going to sit idly by. This is a church that responds to needs. When I challenged you to support the home that helps children whove been sexually abused-they needed a new sound system-in one week, we raised $12,000 to buy them a sound system, a recording system. When I challenged you to buy an SUV for Pastor Sean in Haiti, we raised those funds, and we bought them a new SUV with cash. That became the vehicle he used to bring relief, water and food into Haiti every day during the earthquake. When we challenged you with the Haitian Church in the D.R.-listen, we have three churches, two in Florida and our church, that are paying for their rent for their school and their building, those two churches-because of the difficulty of the economy-dropped off. Its now all on us. We just sent our last check out a couple weeks ago for $3,000 to pay the rest of the rent for the year. Were already done for the year now with the Haitian Church. You rise to the challenges. Were going to open up a fund-you dont have to give to it today, but were going to open up today for Voss relief; and I would like to see us send them an initial check for $5,000. That sounds like a lot of money, and I know some of you, maybe youre going through hardships and you cant. Theres no pressure. We understand that. You give what you can. Some of us can give more, and that's okay; but were going to take a love offering for them, and were going to get them this check right away. You say, Well, what if they have insurance? Hopefully, they do; hopefully they can rebuild the house, but they still have to replace [many things]. Right now, they have only the clothes on their back. Lets say that house is going to be built. Is it going to be built in three months? No. Is it going to go through paperwork and be built in six months? No. So until then, they have to live. They have to live, so even if there is insurance, the need is great. If you want to give to them directly, you can write the check out to John or Kris Voss, you can do that. Its not tax deductible if you do, but you can do that. Well get it to them. If you want it tax deductible, you make the check out to Faith Community. You can designate Voss or Sweden on it, and then well present them a check. We will get it off to them within the week to start this fund and say, Listen, your family in Janesville is with you. We appreciate what you do for Christ. So were going to take this love offering right now, and this fund is open if youre able to give next week, next month, in the fall-whenever it is, we want to try to help them. We will update you, so lets go ahead and receive this love offering. Lets pray: Father, we want to pray for John and Kris. We thank You for their work, and we know that they are devastated by this loss, as we would be if this happened to us. They took what was most precious to them. That was their pictures, but they lost a lot of memories. Theyre also concerned about their future. We pray that this home could be covered. We pray that it could be rebuilt, and we pray that You would comfort them now as they dont know where theyre going to live, how theyre going to deal with this loss. Theyre coming to the point where theyre close to retirement, and theyre having to start all over. Our hearts go out to them. Lord, this trial is like a mean drill sergeant to them. Its belittling them and ridiculing them even now. Its telling them they shouldnt be on the mission field. Its telling them theyll never make it. Father, be their God. Let them know that You are going to work in and amidst this, and You are going to bring them through stronger and greater. You are going to provide for them, so, Lord, I pray that You give them that reassurance and that we, as their home church in America, would come alongside them in this time of need, help them, and respond to them. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Do you ever have aches and pains? Do your muscles ever get sore? Do you get headaches? My husband used to until a couple of years ago. He would come home from work with tight shoulders, or a headache, or a knot in his back, near his shoulder blades. Tension was the problem, caused by stress from work, and sitting too long in front of the computer. I tried to help by massaging his back, but it wasn't very effective. Then he went to a chiropractor for an adjustment. You know the routine: you lie on a bed and get pulled in different directions until your tight back cracks loudly. It's a scary situation; you really have to trust the chiropractor. You wouldn't want anything bad to happen to your spine. It is usually very effective and gives relief quickly, but, it didn't do the trick for my husband. So, he tried Yoga. What an excellent choice. It's good for relieving stress, and for the body. I think, if he had done it properly, it could have worked, but it wasn't enough to get rid of his headaches. He really had to find a solution to his problem, because, as you know, headaches can wreck your day; they get in the way of everything. Finally, we went to Seattle to look at some massaging chairs that he had heard about. We spent the whole day trying out different kinds, until he chose one, and we brought it home. It replicates Shiatsu massage, so, when you sit in it and lie back, the rotating, metal balls inside the chair actually push up on specific parts of your back, neck, and legs.  For the first few days, I had to put up with his exclamations of relief, "Ooohhh!" and "Aahh!" and "Did you hear my back just crack? This chair is amazing!" I'm glad to say it worked, and has done ever since. It has been a life saver; he is now free of headaches. For him, it has been like magic.Grammar notes.Common expressions: to put up with, as you know, to do the trick.1. When we stayed with my dear, deaf aunt, we had to put up with her dog barking all night.2. The weather is getting worse, as you know, so we will not take the boat out until it is safe.3. I fixed the squeaky door; a spot of oil did the trick.

Lets open our Bibles up to Hebrews 5:11 (page 1187 of pew Bibles). Today, well be talking The Truth Project, Part 3: philosophy. I want to give a word of encouragement to you as we begin today. I have heard it said on more than one occasion, for those of you who are coming to class, listening to Del, and those of you who are coming to the talks on the weekend and dialoging on these things, Hey, this is hard, youll say. So, if youve come up to me and said that, youre not the only one who has. A lot of folks have said that, but I want to encourage you with these words today. In the Book of Hebrews, it says, We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. Now, hes being very frank, isnt he? And Im not at all equating them with you, but he is going to tell them like it is. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of Gods word all over again. You need milk, not solid food. How about if you came over to somebodys house to eat, and they were serving Gerbers [baby food]? What would you do? Would you nicely eat the strained peas and say, They were delicious? Or would you say, Why do you have Gerbers here? They would say, Well, we have Gerbers to eat and ba-bas to drink from. I dont think youre ready for solid food. Youd be offended. You would say, Why would you think that of me? I wonder if they were offended at what was written here. Part of them might have said, What do you mean were not ready for solid food? What he is saying here is youre not ready for the deeper truth of Gods word. Were going back to the elementary things all over again. Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Hes saying if youre in the Word, and youre growing in the Word-youre growing and understanding- and youre grappling with deeper truths, the end result is youre going to mature. When you mature, your discernment is going to increase. As your discernment decreases, you will be able to distinguish right from wrong. Youre going to just know those things. He says you who have trained themselves to distinguish… The Truth Project, the reason were raising the bar intellectually, is not so that you can spit out and say, Well, as a Christian, this is what I believe about that. Were not here to say, Heres how you think. Were here to give you a framework, principles that you can use to know what you believe, to be able to discern right from wrong, to discern truth from error. When I say this, theres nothing wrong with going to a pastor or another Christian and asking them, but you will be able to discern for yourselves theological questions. Thats what this is about. This is about maturity. What he says there in that last verse is practice makes perfect. This word maturity is the word perfect, the word teleos. The second word trained there means to exercise vigorously; gymnasium comes from that word. Hes saying as you practice and exercise in the Word, you will come to perfect your faith, not that you will be perfect, but that you will be mature. Thats our goal. In the Book of Second Timothy 2:15 (pg 1179), Paul says, Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. The word workman was the word most commonly used of a farmer, somebody who worked with their hands and worked hard. Hes saying you need to labor in the field. You need to work hard. I am doing some landscaping, a project I told my wife is such a big project. Im tearing up an area and rebuilding a whole large area, and it has taken me from the beginning of summer, and Ill be lucky if I get this done by the time frost comes. Its a big job. For a long time, it looked like I did absolutely nothing because so much of whats involved is digging. I know why they named this Rock County because it is a rock almost every shovelful. It has just been a chore to trench, dig, and uproot. Im now getting to the point where Im actually starting to plant stuff, and thats fun. One thing is that its one of the only excuses you have to get dirty and play in the dirt like you did when you were a kid. I come in the house, and shes like, Yuck! Im just covered with mud from head to toe. With all the rain weve been having, youre down there on your hands and knees digging in this stuff. Where else can you do that, if youre an adult, except to do landscaping? So, thats fun. But, youre toiling and what keeps you going is you vision of what it will look like when its done. When this area is cleaned up… When this area is planted… When the rocks go down here… When the bolts go down here, heres what its going to look like. So this toil and effort is worth it as I see that finished product. Were going to watch a quick clip from a show I believe it is called Lost. Ive never seen it. Some of you have seen it and think its good. Lets watch that. Were trying to make you struggle a little bit. Were trying to make you think, grapple with these truths-these ultimate reality questions. We dont just want menial Sunday school answers, but we really want to make you think, Why do I believe? Do I believe what I believe is really real? Now, you struggle with this stuff. You begin to mature. You begin to get understanding. You begin to grow in your faith. If you want to change the heart, you have to first change the mind. Remember that? Romans 12:2: To be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Transformation happens first here [in your mind] before it happens here [in your heart]. So, I want to encourage you, keep going! Keep coming; keep reading; keep learning; keep challenging yourself. You may not take it all in and understand it all, but when its all said and done, youll be stronger than when you started. Youll know more. Youll love God more. So, I hope thats a word of encouragement to you…I hope. Lets talk about philosophy. Lets turn to the Book of Acts 17. Were going to watch Paul go head to head and toe to toe with some of the great minds of his day. When you think of Athens, you think of philosophy. When you think of Greece, you think about soccer teams and Aristotle, these great minds-these great theologians; really, thats what they were. Their philosophy was their religion. It was not just a school of thought that theyd adhere to. It was a way of life for them. This was serious stuff. So, Paul comes in and questions their philosophy. Hes really questioning their belief system, their way of life. Thats what hes going to do. He is by himself for a little bit. We have separated the team, STP-Silas, Timothy, and Paul. Theres been a bit of a commotion in Thessalonica and Burea. Theres a group thats going around stirring up trouble. Everywhere Paul went in a Jewish area, they would say, Hes teaching against Moses. But when they are in a Greco-Roman area, theyd say, Hes teaching against the emperor. Hes teaching false gods. They tried to get Paul in trouble everywhere he went, and usually it worked. So, they stay behind, and Paul goes ahead to Athens. Hes walking around the city. It says in Verse 16, While he was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. The word distressed means provoked. He was upset. Have you ever been in an environment that just upset your spirit? You look around you and you say, Things are not right here. This is not good. This is disturbing. I remember we were driving through Salem, Massachusetts. We were going to stay there; we were on vacation. We planned to stay the night in Salem, even though thats where all the witch trials were. It was a really dark time in the history of the church. Once you get there, you understand what was going on. These people werent possessed by demons and werent really witches. It was just a racket, an extortion racket to get money from people. Innocent people were going to prison and were losing their lives. It was an ugly, dark period in the church. So, we went there to learn about this. As we drove into town, the children didnt have an understanding of what Salem was all about, but we didnt have to say anything. We just drove through the town, and they were like, Ick! This is a creepy place. Dad, how long do we have to stay here? Are we going to stay here long? Well, we were going to stay here all night, but were not going to anymore. And that was just driving in. We saw this big black gothic-looking building. It looked like it was a church, but it was painted completely black. There was not one square inch on the building that was not jet black. The roof, the walls, the windows, they were all painted black. There were big black gargoyles painted on the outside of it. It said on the side of the building, This is not a church-get over it! I dont know what it was, but whatever it was, it wasnt good. We began to circulate downtown to find out where we wanted to go to learn a little about the history. We wanted to make sure we found something that dealt with the history and not something that was promoting witchcraft. We had to look very hard. Almost every exhibit was promoting witchcraft. You can go and talk to this witch or this warlock, and it was a dark place. It was really disturbed and distressed. This place needed the Gospel. We prayed for the churches that were there, that are preaching the Gospel. We saw it, learned about it, and left. Paul is not going to do that. He is distressed, but he is going to stay and do something about that uneasiness he feels. This is an intellectual hotbed. This is a place where philosophers go to philosophize. This is a think tank. Its a place where it would be very intimidating for the average Joe to come in and debate these guys because this is all they do. Its their lives. This is what they know. It says, A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. They began to argue with Paul. Were going to find out pretty soon how different these two philosophies were and how they would be at each others throats most of the time. Most of the time, theyd be knocking heads, but they united forces to debate the Apostle Paul because hes coming in as the stranger, the newbie, and hes refuting their belief system. They come together to attack him even though theyre very opposed to one another usually. It reminds me of what happened this week in the U.N. Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela, came to the UN. He comes in and addresses the United Nations there in New York, and he says, You can still smell the sulfur in this building because the President of the United States was here, and hes a devil. Your President is a devil. He began to say very demeaning things as one head of state about another head of state. It was interesting to watch the democratic response. Normally, they are political enemies, but I listened to Charles Rangel from the congressional district there in New York. He said to the president of Venezuela, You dont come in to my country, to my city, to my district and talk about my President. We can talk about him. We can disagree, but you cant. In essence, shut your mouth and go home. Nancy Pelosi, not a big friend of the president politically, said, You are a thug, and you have abused your freedom. You have disgraced yourself, and you have disgraced your country by coming in and using this opportunity as a chance to trash our President. I thought, Whoa, this is pretty cool. We are sending a message that weve got our differences of opinions, but the bottom line is we are America. When you come into our country, youll respect our government. So, heres these political foes joining together to dispute the common enemy. Thats whats going on here. Lets read with the Epicureans say, Some of them asked, What is this babbler trying to say? The word babbler means bird-seed picker, literally. What theyre trying to say is Paul picks up a little of this; he picks up a little of that; he picks up a little of this, and then he spits it out. He really doesnt know anything. He is just a guy who grabs some truth over here and there, and he tries to tell you like he knows something, but he really doesnt. Hes not smart like we are. Hes just a babbler. Others remarked, He seems to be advocating foreign gods. Notice the plural: gods. They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. They believed the resurrection was a separate god, another god. There is the God, Jesus, and there is the god, resurrection. So, lets listen to Paul as he talks about these two gods, Jesus and the resurrection. Thats how confused and lost they were from what he was talking about. Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him… This is where we debate; this is where we learn. …may we know this new idea that you are presenting? You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean. Now, theres a little commentary here by Luke in the parentheses. He says, (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.) So, this is a think tank. These are professional debaters. These are the theologians of that region. Before we talk about what Paul says, we want to know a little bit more about them because thats important. Youll see why Paul says what he says once you know about them. You may say, Why do we need to know about Epicureans and Stoics? Theyre still here. They dont know theyre Epicureans and Stoics, but their philosophy of life is still here. In fact, you know some of them. Lets talk about the Epicureans first. Lets put a little picture up here that is an understanding of what the Epicureans are. The Epicureans philosophy of life can be described in three words: here, now, wow. I borrowed that from Gestalt, psychology. Here, now, wow. This is it, man. We are an assembly of atoms, and when we die, the atoms disintegrate, and then there is nothing. Are there gods? Yeah, theres gods. Were not atheists, but the gods dont care about human existence. Theyre off making other planets and solar systems. Theyre out having a good time. They dont care about us. Everything here is just random chance. You might as well live life to the fullest. The highest goal of the Epicurean was to live life pain free, to pursue pleasure. That can get a following, right? To pursue pleasure, it means you wont have pain. Live the way you want to live because your time here is very short, so pack as much into it as you can, experience as little pain as you can, and thats good living. How many of you know some Epicureans? Its Friday night, going to Joes. Going to get drunk-going to party! Go for all the gusto you can. Those are our Epicurean friends. On the other side, we have our Stoic friends. Youre heard the word Stoic before. It usually means somebody who lacks emotion, or they are sober, somber. Stoics believe that there was a cosmic force or a cosmic energy, a kind of god who pervaded everything. I dont know if its as much polytheists as pantheists. There were gods everywhere and in everything. There was this energy called logos. When we say logos, we mean something entirely different than they did. They meant reason. Reason reigned supreme. So, youve got to tap into this universal reason which goes through all of nature. If you do that, you get rid of passion. So you dont have a lot of highs, and you dont have a lot of lows. You are kind of even-keel. You make every decision based on logic and reason, and you control that by the choices that you make. So the world around us functions by these universal rules, so you want to go with the flow. There is order and design. There is reason for the universe. In fact, not only is there-as the Epicureans think-everything is by chance, but the Stoic says everything is on purpose. Everything happens because this is the way its supposed to happen. If its not right with you, its because youre out of touch with the reason that pervades this whole universe, this logic. You might think of the Stoics as Star Wars meets Star Trek, as Yoda meets Spock. That was their point of view. Is that different from the Epicurean, the bar scene guys? Its night and day. So, when these two get together, sparks fly. So, Paul is going to come in and go toe to toe with them. Hes going to discuss their point of view. Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said, Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. That was meant to be a compliment. He was trying to build a bridge, not erect a wall. Remember, Pauls goal is transformation. He wants to transform them, so he is going to appeal to, what? Their minds-because their minds are the key to their hearts-especially these guys. Im going to engage your intellect so I can win your heart. So his goal was transformation. Its going to happen through the mind, so Paul comes in to seek to build a bridge, not erect a wall. Hes not interested just in conformity; hes interested in transformation. Hes not coming in there with a sledge hammer and trashing them saying, Now, Im going to break down your idols! Bam! Bam! Bam! How many of you have ever seen the Christians try to win transformation by forcing conformity without changing the mind or heart? They just come in with their sledge hammer and start trashing, banging, and breaking. They say, Im going to show you that youre wrong, and Im right. Heres what I think about your thinking and your way of life! Bam! Bam! Trash! Pow! Have you seen that? Does it work? What does it do? It makes them mad. Youre not going to come down here and break our idols. Well show you! Were not going to listen to you. Paul doesnt do that. Paul is much smarter than that. He is going to engage their minds to win their hearts. So he seeks to build a bridge. Hes going to compliment them. Hes going to compliment their culture. Hes going to quote from their poets, their philosophers. He says, For I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship. I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. There is a commercial out right now with two little animated figures who come up with an idea, usually a bad idea, and the one looks at the other and says, Brilliant! Paul is Brilliant! He is being chased around, and everywhere he goes in this area, they are saying, Youre preaching against the emperor! Youre preaching foreign gods! You could only talk about the gods Rome wanted you to talk about. Those were the only ones that were legal, so they were having a lot of success stirring up trouble for Paul. So what does Paul do? He doesnt want to be locked up! He doesnt want to cause a riot! He wants to communicate with these people and then move to the next town, so what does he do? He finds an altar that says TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. He says, Im going to talk about that god. Your unknown god? Lets talk about him. So it becomes perfectly legal by Rome. Brilliant! Well talk about that unknown god. Theyre being very careful here. Theyre saying, Look, weve got all these altars to all these gods, all these idols, but we might have left one out, so we dont want the gods to look down and see all these other idols and say, Okay, wheres mine? You forgot about me! Ooohhh, TO AN UNKNOWN IDOL, they just dont know my name yet. Yeah, theyre worshipping me, there. Thats mine! Thats the superstition so that well placate all the gods in case we missed one. This unknown god, yeah we have him too. Paul says, Im going to talk to you about that guy. Now, before we talk about what he says, lets take a listen to a little excerpt from week two from the Del Tackett teaching on philosophy, ethics, and morality. Lets hear what he has to say. Everything there is, and everything there will be, is in this box. From our eyes, this box is huge. Maybe from Gods vantage point, this is very small. Its a matter of perspective. So they reasoned everything. The ultimate truths of life and the universe must be contained within the cube, within what I see, within the stuff I observe. Paul is going to address that way of thinking. In Verse 24, The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of Heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man He made every nation of men… All of us came, no matter our races, no matter what country: all of us came from one. Were all from the same family. …that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. Does that sound like, to the Epicureans, that Gods not involved in His creation? They would take issue with what Paul was saying here. God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, We are His offspring. Theyre using their own poets, whom they respect. Ive read that poem by the way. Its a long poem, but he uses it. Use their culture! Win their minds to win their hearts! Therefore since we are Gods offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone-an image made by mans design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent. Does He suggest we repent? Does He invite us to repent? He commands we repent. What does repent mean? Literally to change your mind, to change your way of thinking. Who does He command to repent? All people, everywhere! Who does that leave out? Nobody anywhere. Thats everybody. For He has set a day when He will judge the world by justice. Uh-oh. Uh-oh, Epicureans. Youre not going to turn into dust. Theres coming a day of accountability where He will judge the world by justice by the man He has appointed. Lets read on. He says, He has given us proof of this to all men by raising Him from the dead. When he uses the word men there, thats the word anthropos. It means man and woman, mankind; so ladies, dont get offended, Is he being sexist here? What about us? That means you too. Mankind is what he is saying: men and women. Hes given us proof by raising Him from the dead. I bet you Paul is saying that your founder, Stoics, Mr. Zeno, I bet he was a great teacher. But Zeno, not to be confused with Zena-the warrior princess, Zeno is dead and gone for 300 years. Epicureans, Im sure he was a good teacher, but hes been dead and gone for hundreds of years. Paul speaks with authority because his teacher was dead, and now Hes alive. He says, I have proof. These were all good men, but the man who Im sharing about, the philosophy and way of thinking Im sharing about, my teacher died and is alive. Paul spoke not as somebody hemming and hawing, like Aw, gee. Shucks, I know you guys are smart, and youre philosophers, but golly gee, listen to what I have to say too. Youve been around for hundreds of years. Were just getting started. I dont know anything, but here we go. I know Im just a babbler, just a bird-seed picker, and you guys are all smart. Im just a hick… Thats not what Paul does. Paul comes in there, and he speaks with authority and confidence like I know something you dont know, and youre wise to listen to me. What Paul is saying is guys, there has to be something outside the cube. There has to be something outside the box. Youre looking in the wrong place for the ultimate meaning of life. Philosophy points to the existence of a higher power. The Stoics thought everything was cause and effect; everything happens for a reason. Paul says, There has to be a first cause. There has to be a first mover. Thats called the cosmological argument. Paul used it. Great philosophers have used it. Thomas Aquinas, the uncaused cause, the first cause: there has to be somebody who tipped that first domino and caused all the cause and effect that you see in the world around you. Thats the God Im telling you about. There were two different responses. Some sneered, and some said, We want to hear you again on this. Probably the ones who sneered were the Epicureans because their worldview was challenged the most. Probably the Stoics said, Youre using some logic here. Youre using some reason. I want to know more about the God that you profess. If youre listening to this, and youre a Stoic and youre not a believer, but were talking to your mind and youre listening-keep listening. Keep coming and hearing the message that we have to say.