Podcasts about pleasingly

A hedonistic stroll in the winter wonderlandBased on a post by Drmaxc. Listen to the ► Podcast at Steamy Stories.Malcolm's smile at Elvin was broad as he stepped forward, keen to get his erection out of the sunlit cold and into, the warmth, under the pinafore dress. Perhaps keen to show Elvin that his hefty cock would go in little Sylvie.Done before with Sylvie but not like that, not out in the open. So good to dip and push against hot wetness, a little resistance, after all Elvin had not exactly stretched Sylvie. Malcolm's rounded knob pushed at her entrance, overcame the resistance, and simply slid up into the silky-smooth heat."Ah!" he breathed and begun to fuck. Not his bare ass exposed in the snow. All rather private really, if not for the rather loud sounds of intercourse. The sounds of a tight-fitting piston!Father Christmas fucking one of his elves out in the snow. So good. The scene, the snow scene with the stone walls and carpet of white quite wonderful. And the contrast of the cold to his cheeks, his rosy cheeks above his beard, and the heat around his cock striking.Good to hear sounds from Sylvie that showed the little elf was appreciating the dual male attention she was receiving.It wasn't quite like the sound of a cork out of a bottle but there certainly was a sound as Malcolm pulled away, extracting his near cumming penis with a cry and heavy breathing. The cold on his wet penis felt immediately.He swung around towards Elvin the two erections almost knocking at each other."Better get back in, Elvin, it's cold out!"Clear by his nod that Elvin thought so.Perhaps he should have pulled up his tights or at least dropped his tunic. Clearly grateful to push back into Sylvie's warmth and equally clear by Sylvie's squeak that she had felt the temperature difference.Not quite like having a rounded icicle, all penis shape and dildo like, pushed into her. But not as warm as Malcolm had been.Malcolm pulled his great coat around himself and stepped back to admire the scene of two elves fucking in the snow.Both Sylvie and Elvin, and for that matter him too, really needed to get on with their orgasms. They did not want to get too cold though a brisk walk back to the cottage and the welcoming open fire would help. He stamped his feet. Even with woolen socks the cold did start to penetrate. Good to hear appropriate noises from the young people and know, even if he could not see, semen was passing.And that meant it would be his turn to pass his own to Sylvie.His eye was on Elvin's cock as it came out. Clear he had ejaculated. There was leaking and running cum on his knob. A knob all wet from Sylvie.So tempting to see if Elvin would mind if he put his lips around the knob and tasted the two young people together. A nice little suckle before the 'main course' of pushing back into Sylvie and releasing. Might Elvin like then to suck Malcolm's cock, a triple taste of Sylvie, and the two men's cum? But the tights were up and tunic down before he could even suggest the idea.Malcolm pushed back in, girl slick smoothness gliding over his knob, up into the girl. The fucking recommenced.Perhaps Sylvie came a second time. Certainly, the sounds she made did not suggest anything other than she was enjoying herself, pushing back at the invading organ.Certainly, an orgasm to remember. Sylvie pushing back at him as it began, his cum shooting away inside her. What pleasure! A long cum and then it was a shame, really, to have to leave Sylvie's warm nest and bring his now limp cock back out into the cold. It was, though, very soon hidden away as he watched Sylvie rising and smoothing down her dress. A well-fucked little elf.The party resumed its ramble, up out of the dell and back in the direction of the cottage along a farm track, not that you could see it, but the gates showed where it started and ended. Three figures walking through virgin snow."Oh," squeaked Sylvie stopping and both men saw the source of her squeak. Down on the snow between her boots a dripping and, indeed, marks in the virgin snow. Virgin no longer, clearly! Sylvie ungloved her hand and put it between her knees, lifting she showed what she had caught. A big, perhaps elvish grin, and she brought it to her lips."Mmm. I could do with a mug of something warm when we get back to the cottage!"That was certainly in the offing but unlikely either men could yet manage to produce more of what was warm on her fingers and being sucked into her mouth, at least not for a little while, however much she might try and encourage back at the cottage. Part 3Seasonal frolics: Copulating with a snowwoman - surely not!Indeed, a mug or three of something hot back at the cottage. The hot chocolate was very welcome, made thickly. Having stamped the snow from their boots and taken them off, the three had sat in front of the roaring fire with their mugs, gradually, as they warmed, divesting themselves of unnecessary clothing.Malcolm had then been up and down preparing the late lunch. He now found himself relaxed on the settee in just his red coat, boots off, shirt and jumper removed, his coat open and his penis lolling in its white nest of curls. Elvin in tunic and red shirt and Sylvie in much the same albeit with shirt half undone and breasts peaking out.Sylvie seemed to be taking a lot of interest in his cock, whispering to Elvin as she kept looking at it. Malcolm was intrigued and so was his penis, it moved and thickened a little. Sylvie giggled."Might I?"She asked but did not wait for an answer. Her pink tongue was out and gently licking Malcolm's half exposed knob."Come on, Elvin,"she said, and the other elf came to join his friend. A little surprised look on his face maybe, and a little tentative.Elvin moved a little and his green tunic slid up his thigh revealing his penis. It was all hard. He was aroused as well. Malcolm slid his hand under Sylvie's corduroy dress and up her smooth inner thigh. She too was clearly excited. Silken wetness to her sex. A finger into her hole, finger moving and thumb finding her little erection. Three erectile organs up in the cottage by the fire. Three warm bodies in a state of sexual arousal. A second hand appearing next to his own up inside Sylvie's dress, another finger joining Malcolm's inside Sylvie, moving up and down as one. How good if both their penises could go into Sylvie like that. How good! Two hard cocks pressed together and fucking Sylvie, but there was barely room for Malcolm's thick organ alone, let alone a thinner second penis, but fingers were a different matter.Lovely to make Sylvie come together. A joint effort. All done with fingers, as Malcolm's penis stood hard out of his robe and Elvin's as hard, if smaller, coming out under his tunic.Gasping and using one or two rude words, Sylvie shuddered in her orgasm before almost immediately hopping onto Elvin's lap and settling down, her falling corduroy dress hiding the connection. But Malcolm could feel, and did, what was happening. What a rather delightful thing to do, and Malcolm felt that it was permitted, to intrude into a couple's lovemaking to the extent of not simply watching but feeling them in the act, even to the extent of feeling around and on the joined organs. Malcolm's fingers touching penis and vulva, even feeling with fingertips where penis and girl sex came together, encircling the male organ and riding with it. Malcolm even had a finger up her whilst Elvin was fucking her with his cock. Malcolm spread the leaves of his great red robe wide, his cock standing firm and large, a clear invitation for his female elf to mount and ride.Wonderful to watch Sylvie lift her dress as she moved over his thighs. With legs spread she began to lower herself. So good to see a dollop of Elvin's cum drop from her and land 'splat' right on his purple edged knob and spread itself like icing on a cake."Hold Malcolm firm, Elvin." A hand around his cock holding him upright for the girl.Two elves in attendance!Sylvie lowered herself down and down, Elvin's hand coming away as she slid lower, absorbing the whole of Father Christmas' cock and its cum splattered head, Malcolm pushing Elvin's 'icing back up into Sylvie.A steady and long fuck in front of the fire. No hurry as Elvin was not awaiting his 'turn.' So good being ridden by the young woman on his very slippery pole.A particular delight was feeling the radiant warmth from the fire, so hot on his balls!Perhaps Sylvie felt the same about her ass, with his hands on her two globes the dress was held up and her cheeks exposed to the open fire.Having already fucked that morning in the snow it took a little time for Malcolm to come, a pleasant enough time of course! So good to have a young lass riding his old cock. Riding until it manfully produced deep within her.Later, Malcolm went outside to bring in more logs and found the snow remarkably sticky, just right for snowman or igloo building. Indeed, he set up a snowman up in a matter of minutes looking in at the window. Sylvie and Elvin found that very funny when they caught sight of it a little later seeming to peer in at them. Caught by the visitor in their partial nudity.Not surprisingly they were soon all wrapped up and outside together, this time fashioning an igloo from very large, rolled balls of snow. Three people working moved the job along quickly. There is only so long you can stay outside in the snow even when working hard. A handsome igloo and a large one complete with entrance tunnel. They crawled inside and soon thought a floor covering would be in order. Malcolm fetched picnic blankets and the like. Fun to be inside and actually quite warm so long as you did not touch the sides or roof. Warm enough, but they were all starting to feel a little chilly despite all the exertion and it was time to put the final touches to the celebration lunch. Indeed, turkey and all that went with it. Malcolm had been unobtrusively busy!Later, again, replete, full, indeed very full, 'stuffed' might well be the word. There was not any appetite for more sexual relations that evening. But Boxing Day was another day.Malcolm awoke. It had been snowing again in the night, covering much of the rolling of snow to build the igloo and innumerable boot prints. The world again looked pristine and fresh with the sun thinking of making an appearance. A good, cooked breakfast and talk of another walk. Elvin was standing, in his red tunic and green tights by a window looking out."I remember seeing in a magazine a nude girl in furry boots and nothing else in the snow.""One of those sorts of magazines,""Certainly! It was, that but she looked fantastic.""Bet her tits were like proverbial cherries.""More like peanuts actually, large ones! Ever been naked in the snow, Sylvie.""Funny enough, no, with or without furry boots.""Would you Sylvie?""I'd like to see that,""You must be joking, go for a walk, more like a run, nothing on. Out there? With you gazing out from the window all in the warmth. We could all, though. A quick run, and I mean a quick run,""Or, we could go to the igloo!"A mad idea but had not the walk dressed as Father Christmas and his elves the day before, to say nothing of the snowy fuck, been pretty mad?The idea developed and Malcolm went to add further insulation to the igloo floor, blankets and the like.Getting undressed in front of a roaring fire is one thing. Going out starkers into the snow quite another. Three naked people in the room before the adventure. Lovely Sylvie, all curvy with her dark pigtails and triangle, ample breasts and brown skin, Elvin so fair and pale with his blue eyes and slim penis and Malcolm with his paunch, his white curly hair here, there and everywhere, to say nothing of his sizeable cock and balls."Are we running to the igloo?""Three times around it and then in. And are you boys going to be hard because I think you should be."Sylvie reached and took her boyfriend and Malcolm in hand. Two cocks in her hands, two foreskins being stroked, two penises rising and firming.She kept them stroked and hard all the way to the front door but then they were on their own. If someone out on the moors had seen them the day before, he or she would have been more than surprised to see Father Christmas and elves out and about, still the more so when the fucking started. But to see a man looking every inch like the jolly present giver, coming stark bollock naked out into the snow, white beard, and all, but without boots, coat, gloves, or anything plus sporting a really impressive cock and attended by what were very, very clearly naked boy and girl elves, The man or woman might be later visiting a doctor over having strange hallucinations.Running after each other, boobs, penises, and balls waving and bouncing, bare feet in the snow. And then following each other into the igloo, Elvin, Sylvie and then Malcolm. Private parts very much on view to the follower.And not too cold in the igloo, not on the blankets and when huddled together in the subdued light coming through the snow, naked flesh to naked flesh. Pleasingly warm, warm enough for sex. The three of them, remarkably, out of the cottage with not a stitch on. Believable in mid-summer on a hot day maybe, but Boxing Day in the snow? Yet there they were."Wow, that was amazing." said Sylvie, her gorgeous chest heaving from the brisk run, her skin pink from the sudden cold and exertion, Her hands reached again and closed on the two cocks, hands squeezing and moving, hands stimulating them back into a full stand."And this is so, Mmm, is it wrong for a girl to like sucking cock so much?"and she dropped her head and was sucking Elvin as she wanked the pair. Her head went down again but on the other larger penis, Malcolm's cock absorbed in her mouth."Come on, suck my cock!"Malcolm was not loath. Nice to be encouraged by Sylvie. He lowered his head as Sylvie continued to stroke Elvin, drifting her lips over Elvin's knob, letting the rounded shape push her lips apart. Not a big cock but still substantial in her mouth. A mouth then going over his own and Sylvie's voice saying something about how good it was to suck. The other cock clearly Elvin's."My turn, boys." Turn and turn about.Plentiful sucking and then hands freely roaming. Three bodies keeping close together for warmth, three pairs of hands moving over naked flesh. At one point even three fingers from three separate hands in Sylvie's hole. Elvin, Malcolm, and Sylvie moving their fingers as one. A triple finger fuck."Time to fuck, get that cock in me Elvin. Go on, fuck me, and I want to suck Father Christmas."Elvin's cock quickly pushed into the girl and moving as he pumped her. Sylvie  took Malcolm's knob into her mouth. Hips and mouth movement coordinated. Squelching sucking sounds from penis in vagina and penis in mouth. All present penises and vaginas being stimulated together."I'm nearly there. Really, I am. Swop boys!"A squirming around each other. Three tight packed naked bodies on the rugs in the igloo, careful not to touch the sides. Malcolm sinking himself into Sylvie as her mouth sought and found Elvin's cock, all wet and girl tasting. Good to fuck and suck, but Sylvie was careful not to overdo the suck. Much as she would like to have had a twitching, spurting cock in her mouth as he came, she thought Elvin would probably want to remember fully fuckin

In episode 131, we embarked on a deep dive into INXS compilation albums (1982's INXSIVE and 1994 Greatest Hits) with attention and detail.  In the 2001-2002 period, INXS Management undertook the release of two distinct compilation albums for two different regions. “Shine like it Does” under their USA label Rhino, a 42 song extravaganza covering 1979-1997 released primarily in the USA. Secondly, “The Years:1979-1997” for their Australian market, a 41 song deep dive catalogue representation covering their Australasian and global career. With the band in a holding pattern, both releases served to remind old fans and new ones, the deep musical contribution INXS made to the sonic soundscapes since the inception. Both these releases overcame the shortfalls of 1994's Greatest Hits releases in the USA, UK and Australia respectively and provided true fans with a thorough representation of their singles, appropriate album deep cuts and liner notes within to die for! Often, complication albums can be a cynical record company cash grab exploiting each albums continued sale prospects. Pleasingly, this isn't one of these exercises as both discs cover nearly 95% of the band's recording successes. So for collectors without these double discs, for those unaware of their existence and to those who share a fondness and musical memory of these immense releases, do yourself a favour and listen in as we dive deep on all the interesting anecdotes and facts about these two mighty releases. Also listen out to our Fan Engagement section, with Bee & Danyelle, when they thank the fans who have contributed to the socials over the past week. Not forgetting you can WIN 2 x Tickets to the Rock and Roll Induction Ceremony in the USA, just email the podcast INXSAAA@gmail.com once you become a Silver Patron or above. Check out our webstite for more details. INXSAccessAllAreas.Com 

The RTPI's recently published ‘State of the Profession' report identified, perhaps unsurprisingly, that planners are increasingly being employed in the private sector, with numbers growing by a third over the last decade. The number of planners working in the public sector has reportedly shrunk by a quarter over the same period. Pleasingly though and perhaps contrary to preconceptions, this flow is not one way and some planners are making the move into or back into the public sector. The recruitment, and indeed the retention, of staff is clearly fundamental to building the skills and capacity within LPAs that is needed if they are to do everything that everybody expects of them. Helping to facilitate this recruitment is Public Practice, a not-for-profit social enterprise with a mission to build the public sector's capability to improve the quality, equality and sustainability of places.  Their leading service is an Associate Programme, which places mid-career built environment practitioners into placements as ‘Associates' within local authorities to work across a wide range of place-based roles. In this episode you will hear a chat that Sam Stafford recorded with Pooja Agrawal, CEO at Public Practice, about the work of the organisation, and then you will hear from four professionals who have made the move from private to public. The four are Andrew Martin, Principal Planner at East Suffolk Council;Iona Norton, Housing, Energy and Sustainability Manager at Greenwich Council;Oli Boaler, Economic Development Manager at Rochdale Development Agency; andHannah Haddad, Head of Strategic Planning Applications at Hounslow Council. Oli and Iona are Public Practice alumni and Hannah is a current Associate.  You will hear the four of them talk thoughtfully and candidly about their career paths to date and the reasons why they have taken the decisions that they have, as well as their experiences, good and bad, in both private and public sectors. Some accompanying reading State of the Profession 2023 https://www.rtpi.org.uk/policy-and-research/state-of-the-profession-2023/ Public Practice's Associate Programme https://www.publicpractice.org.uk/associates/apply-associates Sam's career advice for his younger self https://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2020/04/memories-of-200809-career-advice-for-my.html Some accompanying listening It's All About The Benjamins – Puff Daddy, featuring The Notorious B.I.G., Lil' Kim and The Lox https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0c58ppLPJcQ 50 Shades T-Shirts! If you have listened to Episode 45 of the 50 Shades of Planning you will have heard Clive Betts say that... 'In the Netherlands planning is seen as part of the solution. In the UK, too often, planning is seen as part of the problem'. Sam said in reply that that would look good on a t-shirt and it does. Further details can be found here: http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2021/07/50-shades-of-planning-t-shirts.html

This week we discussed Release Notes for Update 38, The Corsairs of Umbar, and our week in gaming.

It's our first podcast of 2023! And we're so happy to discover that this strip still makes no goddamned sense at all. We begin our twelve-strip journey (yes! twelve!) with a customer service rep responding to texts from what turns out to be Thorax. Thorax is looking for overalls in XXXXL-Tall, so naturally his path to purchasing said clothing begins with texting a customer service person. And once he finds out it's a lady -- with the doubly unlikely name of Verity Dupee -- Thorax begins his harrassment. We're sorry, we totally mean romance. Romance as defined by Brooke McEldowney. Verity seems totally annoyed wiht Thorax. Who wouldn't be? But in the end she quits her job and travels to New Hampshire to hand deliver the overalls to Thorax, because she's in love with him. Right up until he tells her he's from another planet. The Chickweed strips we discuss this episode: Thorax's romance/stalking of Verity Dupee begins right here (https://twitter.com/9chickweedRAGE/status/1617542019781636101?s=20&t=u4XUHZf4HgYJi0ppU09AEA). Verity DEFINITELY seems like she might call the cops on Thorax right here (https://twitter.com/9chickweedRAGE/status/1617542022717661185?s=20&t=u4XUHZf4HgYJi0ppU09AEA). For some reason, Verity is charmed by Thorax and visits him in New Hampshire right here (https://twitter.com/9chickweedRAGE/status/1617542025724977153?s=20&t=u4XUHZf4HgYJi0ppU09AEA). Verity is ready to get it on with Thorax but he ruins it by saying he's from another planet right here (https://twitter.com/9chickweedRAGE/status/1617542029164318720?s=20&t=u4XUHZf4HgYJi0ppU09AEA). This XXXL-tall episode includes: Deep sleep Smoked pepper cheddar cheese Corn chowder with poblano pepper soup Von's/Safeway and Ralph's/Kroger The old Soup Hole Dollar signs vs money signs Customer service The definition of verity. Raising Arizona Watt's Mill Theater in Kansas City Columbo Poise pads Van der Graaf generator XXXXL-Tall bib overalls Strawberries Paladins Thorax's home planet Murder, She Wrote Love letters The Fonz Talk to Us! Having trouble understanding what's going on in a 9 Chickweed Lane strip you just read? Send it our way! We'll take a shot at interpreting it for you! Or maybe you just want someone to talk to? We're on Twitter: @9ChickweedRAGE (https://twitter.com/9chickweedRAGE)

"Driving tests of 2023 Fisker Ocean EV reveal happy experiences from drivers Drivers may have to wait" "--START AD- """"#TheMummichogblogOfMalta Amazon Top and Flash Deals(Affiliate Link - You will support our translations if you purchase through the following link) - https://amzn.to/3CqsdJH Compare all the top travel sites in just one search to find the best hotel deals at HotelsCombined - awarded world's best hotel price comparison site. (Affiliate Link - You will support our translations if you purchase through the following link) - https://www.hotelscombined.com/?a_aid=20558 https://t.me/themummichogblogdotcom https://twitter.com/Mummichogblogd1 https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086295703212 ----- https://www.facebook.com/themummichogblogdotcom/ https://themummichogblogofmalta.blogspot.com/ https://www.tumblr.com/blog/themummichogblogofmalta https://open.spotify.com/show/6S7XwNge80YtcS1CcVH2nB https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnnNPvuRZb9tjfE1Dw-aFUw"""" END AD---" " a while to receive the Fisker Ocean EV order, but should look forward to a positive driving experience sometime in 2023. Read more: https://www.tweaktown.com/news/89472/driving-tests-of-2023-fisker-ocean-ev-reveal-happy-experiences-from-drivers/index.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=newsletter Auto buyers interested in purchasing an electric vehicle don't have a shortage of options. There are models from numerous companies, with price points across the spectrum. US automaker Fisker is finally preparing to produce cars, with the Ocean SUV EV customers waiting anxiously. 2 VIEW GALLERY - 2 IMAGES The all-electric vehicle features bidirectional charging so the SUV can transfer energy back to the power grid. Fisker also has the SolarSky Roof, a full-length solar roof as a premium option. This gives Ocean the ability to collect solar energy - and can provide up to 1,500 miles of travel each year. The Fisker Ocean Sport starts at $37,499, while the Ocean Ultra starts at $49,999 - with the Fisker Ocean Extreme ($68,999) and limited-edition Fisker Ocean One ($68,999) rocking higher starting MSRP. The 5,000 Ocean One models are expected to leave the assembly line sometime before the year ends. Here is how MotorTrend summed up the actual behind-the-wheel experience: Pleasingly, the Ocean drives smaller and lighter than expected; it doesn't feel like a lumbering SUV with a big battery in its belly. Intriguingly, when asked, Fisker engineers smilingly declined to say how much the Ocean weighs, which suggests their extensive use of aluminum and plastics-the front fenders and rear quarter panels are plastic, for example-has paid significant dividends. Fisker has over 62,000 reservations for the Ocean already, and won't be able to produce that many in 2023. The Drive applauded the Ocean for the ""good strangeness"" offered to drivers: Every window beside the windshield also retracts fully, including the tailgate and rear quarter glass. Combine this with an infotainment display that transitions from portrait to landscape with help from an electric motor, a center console that is completely free-floating to give the rear passengers more legroom, and an airplane-style meal tray that extends from the center console and, well, this thing is just weird. Fiskerati shared its Ocean driving experience in a recent YouTube video: Fisker's ability to produce Ocean units, then successfully deliver them to customers is absolutely vital. The company tore through $228 million during the first six months of 2022 alone - and is working on a supercar and a family vehicle named Pear. Car Cover fits 2022 Fisker Ocean XTREMECOVERPRO Silver Series Grey with Cable Today Yesterday 7 days ago 30 days ago $79.99 $79.99 - - Buy * Prices last scanned on 11/11/2022 at 7:24 pm CST - prices may not be accurate, click links above for the latest price. We may earn an affiliate commission. NEWS SOURCES:motortrend.com, fisk

Presidents Cup Wrap Don't get me wrong. Of what we watched during the Presidents Cup we really enjoyed it. Of course, there were the highs and lows for the Internationals with the USA securing another solid win. Pleasingly we saw the rise of some potential future stars who may go on to represent s at many future Prez Cups. However, the question remains. does the Presidents Cup need a spic up to stay relevant? We discuss what this means to us and consider, in light of the LIV Golf Economy, is there a better way to utilise this fan favourite format on a more frequent global scale.?? Love your thoughts.   Join the team on the MLOG DISCORD Channel and never miss a moment .JOIN DISCORD HERE   Gabe Marzano - DARK MODE PODCAST LISTEN

Better get comfy because we've got 3 listeners questions on Episode 135 of Making Tracks, not to mention a drive through this weeks Star Wars news. We talk Celebration Anaheim panels and Mark Hamill not attending, look at Star Wars Fan Fun Day and the new guest announcements as Warwick Davis and family are forced to pull out of the event - and announce our competition winner for 2 tickets to the event - and congratulate Ewan McGregor on his marriage to Mary Elizabeth Winstead while discussing how he was given an 'absolute jolt of fear' meeting Darth Vader on set. All this and those questions on an episode that's fuller than a greedy sarlacc. Remember to tune in to Good Morning Tatooine, LIVE Sunday evenings at 9.00pm UK, 4.00pm Eastern and 1.00pm Pacific on Facebook and YouTube and check out Fantha Tracks Radio on Fridays at 7.00pm UK for new episodes of The Fantha From Down Under, Planet Leia, Desert Planet Discs, Start Your Engines and Canon Fodder. You can contact any of our shows and send in your listeners questions by emailing radio@fanthatracks.com or comment on our social media feeds: www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ7LZotr3rQhVJwpO3b2ELw www.instagram.com/fanthatracks www.facebook.com/FanthaTracks www.twitter.com/FanthaTracks www.pinterest.co.uk/fanthatracks/ www.fanthatracks.tumblr.com/ www.tiktok.com/@fanthatracks

In today's episode Adrian Lawrence one of the team of FD's with FD Capital Recruitment talks about the London market for Finance Directors and how FD Capital Recruitment are seeing a recovery in activity in 2021. Last year saw a lot of issues as a result of the pandemic and we became very busy in the early part of the year as companies needed our turnaround specialists, but activity dropped a lot with the second lockdown. Pleasingly activity levels are now returning to something like we saw pre 2019. Now in 2021 we are seeing much more activity again and employers are increasingly considering Part-Time FD's and CFO's far more than we ever saw previously. A London FD can make a real difference to any business bringing with them a wealth of knowledge and experience the sorts of areas they can make a difference to include:- Business Transformation International Trade IT including ERP systems Other specialist knowledge including E-Commerce. Team leadership and development and support A key member of the senior management team offering advice and support to the CEO and other C-Suite executives. A useful source of contacts including external advisors, PE Houses and VC Funds. If you are a business looking for a London based agency to help with your FD or CFO recruitment then speak with us today on 020 32787 9501 or visit our website at https:www.fdcapital.co.uk/part-time-finance-director-london

Cos capitalism, cos inhofes, cos LIFE, it's all but impossible to be the planet's BFF most of the time. Having kids arguably makes that task even harder. BUT, despite the onslaught of baby marketing, and despite grandparents-to-be going all in for conspicuous consumption, there are loads of practical things parents - new ones, not very new ones, and expectant ones - can do to lessen kids' impact on poor ol' Mother Earth.* It is Mothers' Day, after all. To hear how it's done, we're joined by Jen Gale, author of 'The Sustainable(ish) Guide To Green Parenting', a new book which does precisely what it says on the tin. Pleasingly, neither the tin, the book, nor Jen pretends this stuff is easy, or always possible, or that any parent should feel bad for sometimes falling short. Amen to that. The book is out on 18 March. You can pre-order here or in all the usual places. *Obviously, not having kids, or having fewer kids, will reduce one's footprint. We purposely don't cover that here, because a) that's not what Jen's book is about, and b) we've done so previously in episodes #139 ('Birthstrike') and #65 ('Babies'). Check 'em out. Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – @dickymoo. Sustainababble logo by the splendid Arthur Stovell. Ecoguff read out by Arabella. Love the babble? Bung us a few pennies at www.patreon.com/sustainababble. MERCH: sustainababble.teemill.com Available on iTunes, Spotify, Acast & all those types of things, or at sustainababble.fish. Visit us at @thebabblewagon and at Facebook.com/sustainababble. Email us at hello@sustainababble.fish.

NewsWest for Sunday 4th October 2020 is the Club Focus edition of NewsWest, where we have invited clubs to talk about themselves and what they get up to. Pleasingly we’ve had a good response from clubs this month. Yes, it’s October. The shops have Christmas Decorations and trees on the shelf, right alongside Halloween stuff. NewsWest continues to provide Amateur Radio news to Western Australia and beyond, continuing a service that began in 1931. NewsWest invites contributions to the news programme. You can send contributions by email to newswest@vk6.net You'll find links to resources on the vk6.net website where you'll also find information on where to hear the news, where to download it, how to rebroadcast this news and how to register your callbacks. If you want to join in, you can. Send an email to newswest@vk6.net and we'll be happy to respond. Send your stories, tall or true, audio production, scripts, events, updates, membership information, meeting announcements, AGM alerts, contests, swap-meets and more to us and we'll happily present your contribution on-air. Please register your callback, either on-air or on-line. Visit vk6.net and click on the callback button. Originating in Perth Western Australia NewsWest is produced by WA Amateur Radio News for listeners on-air, on-line and on-demand. NewsWest audio (mp3) is available for download from our website, vk6.net. Click on the “LISTEN” tab. Whichever way you're listening, whether you're a licensed radio amateur or not, experienced or just a beginner, old or young, thanks for being here and thanks for joining us. Get your copy: http://vk6.net/news/ NewsWest is broadcast and relayed across VK6 and far beyond by many transmitters and operators. Details can be found on vk6.net. The main VK6 NewsWest broadcast occurs at 09:30 WST (01:30 UTC). If you'd like to broadcast this news in your local area, you can. There are no restrictions on broadcasting NewsWest, other than that you must broadcast it as supplied without any modification. We ask that broadcasters advise us that they're transmitting the news. Our address is newswest@vk6.net Producer: Bob VK6POP Folge direkt herunterladen

Stanley is not homeless, he lives in a parking building in Vancouver, thank you very much. He loves his city and he loves life and if you want to learn about empathy and self awareness then let Stanley tell you about his world.  Let's eat a weird NASA breakfast from McDonalds, charge our electronic devices, take advantage of some free ketchup sachets and get a little Nietzschean. His song choice: We Want To - New Young Pony Club

Dr Gregory Hundley:       Welcome everyone to the June 18th edition of Circulation on the Run. I am Dr Greg Hundley, Professor of Internal Medicine and Director of the Pauley Heart Center at VCU Health in Richmond, Virginia.                                                 In today's issue we're deviating from our common format due to some scheduling difficulties. So, rather than our traditional coffee chat in this program I'm going to have a large gulp of coffee and present results from several exciting papers. Then we'll turn over the second half of our program to Dr Carolyn Lam for our feature discussion.                                                 Now, I promise this is a one-time deviation and we will return to our common chat format in early July. But, before I launch into my presentations I did want to introduce what will transpire with Carolyn. She will be discussing an exciting paper from the Adelaide Medical School at the University of Adelaide in Australia.                                                 Some have wondered whether the persistence of a patent arterial venous fistula post-kidney transplant may contribute to ongoing maladaptive cardiovascular remodeling. To address this issue Carolyn will be discussing with authors whether ligation of this AV fistula may reverse this maladaptive remodeling. And like you, I'm excited to listen to that discussion. But before that let me review several of the other distinctive papers on this issue.                                                 The first one is entitled “Individual Treatment Effect Estimation of Two Doses of Dabigatran on Stroke and Major Bleeding in Atrial Fibrillation.” They are the results from the RE-LY trial. The corresponding author is Professor Frank Visseren from the University Medical Center of Utrecht in Utrecht University.                                                 The study emanates from the randomized evaluation of long-term anticoagulation therapy or the RE-LY trial. In which high dose dabigatran, that's 150 milligrams twice daily, was found more effective in prevention of ischemic stroke and systemic embolism than low dose dabigatran which is 110 milligrams twice daily.                                                 But this occurred at that expense of an increased risk of gastrointestinal bleeds. Importantly however, the absolute treatment effect of dabigatran in both doses, likely differs between individuals. And therefore, individual treatment effect estimation has the potential to identify patients who have a favorable trade off and absolute benefit and harm from dabigatran compared with no treatment, and to select the optimal dose for each individual patient.                                                 So in this study, the investigative team derived and validated a prediction model for ischemic stroke and systemic embolism and major bleeding in patients with atrial fibrillation from three treatment arms of the RE-LY study. They had 11,955 individuals in the derivation cohort and 6,158 in the validation cohort. And they evaluated the patient characteristics of sex, age, smoking, anti-platelet drugs, prior vascular disease, diabetes, blood pressure, estimated glomerular filtration rate, and hemoglobin. Dr Gregory Hundley:       Well, what were the results? Well the five-year absolute risk reduction, for ischemic stroke and systemic embolus minus the five-year absolute risk increase for major bleeding, when comparing the high to the low dose of dabigatran yielded a net benefit in 46% of patients. And therefore, the authors conclude that the absolute treatment benefits and harms of dabigatran in atrial fibrillation can be estimated based on readily available patient characteristics.                                                 And perhaps down the road such treatment effect estimations can be used for shared decision making before starting dabigatran treatment and to determine its optimal dose of administration. Well, how 'bout that? And let's go on to the second paper entitled “Empagliflozin and the Risk of Heart Failure Hospitalization in Routine Clinical Care: A First Analysis from the Empagliflozin Comparative Effectiveness and Safety, or EMPRISE Study.                                                 And the corresponding author for this study is Elisabetta Patorno from Brigham and Women's Hospital in the Harvard Medical School. So, as a background in a different study to this, the EMPA-REG OUTCOME trial showed that Empagliflozin an SGLT2 inhibitor was found to reduce the risk of hospitalization for heart failure by 35% on top of standard of care in patients with Type 2 diabetes and established cardiovascular disease.                                                 Well, the current study, The Empagliflozin Comparative Effective and Safety or EMPRISE Study was designed to assess empagliflozin's effectiveness, safety, and health care utilization in routine care from the period of time between August of 2014 through September of 2019. And the author's report on the first interim analysis in which they investigated the risk of hospitalization for heart failure among Type 2 diabetic patients initiating empagliflozin vs. sitagliptin.                                                 The investigators used two commercial and one federal Medicare claims data source from the U.S. and identified a one-to-one propensity score matched cohort of 16,443 pairs of Type 2 diabetes patients that were greater than 18 years of age initiating empagliflozin or sitagliptin. The average age of the participants was approximately 59 years.                                                 And almost 54% of the participants were males and approximately 25% had records of existing cardiovascular disease. So compared to sitagliptin the initiation of empagliflozin decreased the hospitalization for heart failure risk by 50% over a mean follow-up of 5.3 months. And the results were consistent in patients with and without baseline cardiovascular disease for both the empagliflozin 10 milligram or 25 milligram daily dose. Or analysis comparing empagliflozin vs. dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor class all comers.                                                 Thus, in conclusion, in this first interim analysis from EMPRISE, the investigative team showed that compared with sitagliptin the initiation of empagliflozin was associated with a decreased risk of hospitalization for heart failure among patients with Type 2 diabetes as treated in routine care with and without a history of cardiovascular disease. Dr Gregory Hundley:       Well, now we're going to turn our attention to red meat. And this next study was entitled, The Consumption of Meat, Fish, Dairy Products, Eggs, and Risk of Ischemic Heart Disease. It's a Perspective study of 7,198 incident cases among 409,885 participants in the Pan European Epic Cohort. And the corresponding author is Professor Timothy Key from The University of Oxford.                                                 Some of the background here, met analysis of previous prospective studies have suggested that intake of processed meat maybe associated with a higher risk of ischemia heart disease whereas, unprocessed red meat might not. For dairy products and eggs, systematic reviews of prospective studies have reported no consistent evidence that higher intakes are associated with a higher risk of ischemic heart disease.                                                 Other studies have shown that fatty fish consumption may reduce the risk of ischemic heart disease, it is a rich source of long chain N3 fatty acids. And meta-analysis has suggested even an inverse association between overall fish consumption and mortality from ischemic heart disease.                                                 So, hear in this cohort: we're going to evaluate all of these. Accordingly Key, and his co-authors report the relationships of these foods with risk of ischemic heart disease in the European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition, the EPIC study, and that again is a cohort of a half million men and women from nine European countries followed for 12 years to examine the association between the intake of animal foods and the occurrence of ischemic heart disease.                                                 The author's found that higher consumption of red, unprocessed and processed meat was positively associated with the risk of ischemic heart disease. None of the other animal foods examined were positively associated with this risk. And intakes of fatty fish, yogurt, cheese and eggs were modestly, inversely associated with the risk.                                                 In addition, the red and processed meat were associated with plasma non-HDL cholesterol and systolic blood pressure. And this finding is of interest as possibly these other variables could serve as mediator of the association between red or processed meat and future ischemic heart disease. It is important to note that while these results are of interest to those concerned with the future adverse cardiovascular effects related to the consumption of red meat, one cannot infer causality and other studies would need to be designed to address causal relationships.                                                 The last paper that I'm going to present during the coffee gulp, emanates from the basic science arena. And it is entitled The “Shear-Induced CCN1 Promotion of Atheroprone Endothelial Phenotypes and Arthrosclerosis. And the corresponding author is Dr Fan-E Mo from the National Cheng Kung University College of Medicine. Dr Gregory Hundley:       The matricellular protein CCN1 has been implicated in arthrosclerosis based on its expression in arterial segments with evidence of arthrosclerosis. And this study evaluated the relationship between sheer stress, both laminar and oscillatory at the site of atherosclerotic liaisons and molecular markers of pathophysiologic process involved in the progression of arthrosclerosis.                                                 The authors found that sheer induced CCN1 and its receptor integrin, alpha six, beta one, instigate atheroprone phenotypic changes in endothelial cells via activating NF kappa beta. Because the activation of NF kappa beta further up regulates the expression of CCN1, alpha six, and beta one, atheroprone flow creates a positive feedback to sustain atherogenesis.                                                 In addition, disrupting CCN1, alpha 6 beta one engagement by a specific CCN1 mutation, or by a peptide antagonist unhindered atherogenesis in mice. So what are the clinical implications of these findings? That's something Carolyn would ask me. Well, it appears that CCN1 alpha 6 beta one engagement represents a novel therapeutic target for arthrosclerosis.                                                 These data demonstrate a causative role of CCN1 in atherosclerosis via modulating endothelial phenotypes. And CCN1 binds to its receptor integrin alpha 6 beta one to activate NF kappa beta, thereby instigating a vicious cycle to persistently promote atherogenesis. Perhaps in the future T1 me medics may further be optimized to treat arthrosclerosis.                                                 Well everyone, that concludes the first portion of this June 18 edition of Circulation on the Run and now it's time to move on to Carolyn's discussion of our featured paper. Dr Carolyn Lam:                Cardiovascular disease remains the major cause of death in kidney transplant recipients. And today's featured paper has important implications for the management of this cardiovascular risk following kidney transplantation. I'm so excited to be discussing it, and I'm going to let the corresponding author Dr Toby Coates from Royal Adelaide Hospital tell us all about it, and so happy to also welcome our editorialist Dr Patrick Mark from University of Glasgow.                                                 Toby, could you please tell us what inspired you to do this remarkable study? Dr Toby Coates:                We're very interested in obviously our patients surviving as long as they possible can after kidney transplantation. And we noticed that many of them having had a successful kidney transplant, still had functioning AV fistulas. Now of course the AV fistula, is a connection between the artery and the vein that enabled us to access the circulation after hemodialysis. Which around the world is probably the most, is the most common form of dialysis practice performed.                                                 So many of these patients sustained 20 years down the track after successful transplants still had these very large functioning left to right shunts, on the basis of their dialysis history. So we had a couple of patients who developed quite severe cardiac failure and we noticed that when we ligated the AV fistula, their back got dramatically better.                                                 So, as a consequence of that, we went to look at the ligature and we couldn't find any randomized control trial that told us what the best thing was to do, post-transplant with these fistulas. So we decided that what we would do be use the state of the art cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, or cardiac MRI to assist the cardiac function with myocardium thickness in our patients and then randomize a group of stable transplant patients to ligation or not.                                                 And then follow that up with cardiac MRI six months down the track to see what happened. And so that was the basis of the study that we performed. The first randomized controlled trial of the effect of ligation of the AV fistula on the left ventricular mass, that was the prominent one for trial. Dr Carolyn Lam:                You know, Toby, just to let you know right there, I thought it was so incredibly novel. So I'm a heart failure specialist and we know that shunts are associated with high output cardiac failure, and yet, I personally had never questioned this, so I thought this is incredibly novel and it's important. But please, tell us all about the results. Dr Toby Coates:                We were delighted to say that there was a very significant reduction in the left ventricle mass. In fact, the main decrease was 22.1 grams compared to the control arm in whom the cardiac mass actually went up 1.2 grams. So, then we mobilized the body surface area, the reduction of the left ventricular mass index dropped by 11.8 grams per metered square.                                                 Now, this is quite remarkable for me doing the study because I've never seen an intervention, I've never seen an intervention where every single patient improved with the ligation, every single patient there was an improvement in the cardiac parameters. Never seen anything like it in the pre and post of the ventricular mass it really came down. So that was quite remarkable.                                                 And the second thing that really impressed me at the time, was the improvement in the BMP's, and we measured the brain maturated peptide, and being a methodologist that's clearly something that's of interest to us and we saw a substantial reduction. It's statistically significant reduction in BMP as well.                                                 The patient themselves, some of them recorded quite significant improvement in exercise tolerance afterwards. And we had, as I mentioned before in a couple of patients, not in the study but outside of the study, subsequently when they're presented with profound right heart failure, the ligation of the AV fistula made a huge difference to them symptomatically.                                                 So that was sort of confirming all of the things that we thought along the way. Pleasingly we didn't see any change in kidney function. So, we were concerned that there might have been on the basis of some non-controlled studies in the past, that there might have been a deterioration in the estimated glomerular filtration rate, or eGFR. We didn't see that.                                                 And we didn't see any significant change in the blood pressure either. Which is some of us have previously reported. Closing the fistula itself, is a very trivial procedure. It's usually done as an outpatient, so a day procedure. So it's not resulting in coming to the hospital. And the only complications, really were lots of local redness and some pain, potentially from the fistula where in the ligated.                                                 So, we thought this was remarkable. An outpatient procedure that could significantly reduce the left ventricular mass by 22.1 grams over the six month period that was associated with minimal side effects and complications. And when you think about that, that's sort of equivalent really to taking an anti-hypertensive medication for six months. That magnitude of reduction with ventricular mass which clearly from the patient's point of view is much preferable to adding more medication to an already over-burdened tablet loading in your patients with kidney transplants. So we were very pleased with that result altogether. Dr Carolyn Lam:                Thank you Toby, and we in turn were very pleased to be publishing this in Circulation. Likewise, Patty, if I may, I love your editorial. First, let me tell everybody who's listening out there. Go pick up the editorial and look at the figure. It is so cool. It shows pros and cons of arterial venous fistula ligation in these patients. But could you please share some thoughts Patty? I mean you covered the perspective just so well. Patrick Marks:                   I must give the credit to my co-author who actually drew the figure himself. So Chris Eaves rather myself. We were really impressed with the study and we're really delighted to write an editorial for it. It's just one of those studies that I have to say, you know, you kick yourself and you wish you'd done it. With all the world of observational data showing that creation of a fistula appears to be associated with an increase in LV mass obstruction by echo and angio and bicartic MR in smalls studies.                                                 But it's taken a long stat to move from that to actually doing a randomized control of ligating the fistula in people with you know, stable functioning transplants. We were really, really impressed with Toby and his team for undertaking this study. And until we'd gone through the results, they're really very impressive.                                                 The magnitude of reduction LV mass is very impressive and also the changing BMP was really nice to see. One of my comments of the study were, was interesting because as methodologists we are aware of the idea arteriovenous fistula as being the axis for dialysis. And we sometimes feel uncomfortable by ligating this because we know if the transplant was to fail, how much patients need a functioning fistula. And that's the one thing I'm still curious, like and I still offered some comments in the editorial were, that while there's doubt that the cardiovascular benefits demonstrated by Toby's study are really very impressive.                                                 I wondered about the implications out with the study came down the line, you know would there be some of these patients whose kidney transplant function would decline? And there may be regret of losing the access. We mentioned there is some inconvenience, it is an operative procedure to loosen the fistula. So there are some things to think about in the study, but overall, I can't help saying just how impressed I am that they managed to do this trial in a proper randomized, controlled trial form. It's really, really impressive in using the cardiac MR endpoint is it seems quite a secure way of assessing this. Dr Carolyn Lam:                Those are great points, Patty. Toby, any response to that. Dr Toby Coates:                Look it's really very interesting as a transplant pathologist for the last 20 years, one of the biggest, I guess it's a bit of a misconception. When a fistula has been present for 10 or 15 years and still there to come back and try and reuse it for dialysis access after that period of time, in my experience anyway, also very difficult to reuse those fistulas and the surgeons end up having to create a new one anyway.                                                 They frequently become quite aneurismal, they get very large and unsightly and the volume of the shunt is significant and often we find that as an access they don't work as well. So I personally don't have a huge concern about closing them. Now I agree with you, these patients were stable, longstanding and we assessed that the risk is, we need to go back onto hemodialysis was small.                                                 But you are absolutely right, I mean, it is possible that something could have come out of the blue and maybe a patient would be disappointed that that access that they'd had for so many years was no longer available. So that is, the caveat on the study, but thankfully so far out, some of these patients five or six years down the track, we haven't had anybody need to go back on dialysis, so it's been good. Dr Carolyn Lam:                Yeah, it really says to me as well, that patient selection is important exactly like you emphasized, and you, in the editorial Patty. But from a cardiology standpoint, too, are there plans to perhaps do studies with hard, clinical endpoints? What do you think are the next steps? Maybe I'll let Toby go first, then Patty. Dr Toby Coates:                We think now with this study done, the next thing is to have a larger study with significant cardiovascular endpoints. Which I obviously would be cardiac failure and acute coronary events. So the two things that would seem in my mind, and I think that needs to be multi-centered, preferable international if we can.                                                 And one of the really positive things about the highlight from the American Heart Association is that we've had people reach out to us from France and all around the globe saying that they'd be interested in participating, you know in a multi-centered trial. So, I think that's what we need to do, and clearly you don't it’ll have to be a constant endpoint, or not. I'd be interested in Patty's thoughts about that, right if you had some guidelines and some suggestions.                                                 And then obviously would be randomized, controlled trial looking at those hard endpoints with probably some sidearms doing cardiac MRI as well, and potentially more heart functioning tests. So yes, I think this is just the beginning, we do need a hard endpoint trial to really nail this completely. Patrick Marks:                   Yeah, I'll just come in there and just come on to that Toby. I completely concur with what you said. I think there's been quite a provocative editorial a few years back, and suggesting that while there's lots of studies in chronic kidney disease, end stage renal disease, kidney transplant patients avoid LV mass, really it hasn't yet been translated into actually leading studies in the integration of LV mass and end stage renal failure haven't really yet translated into mortality benefits.                                                 And I think we need to move to a bigger study. It's really beautiful that you've been able to demonstrate LV mass falls naturally with ligation. And it's impressive that it just happens so consistently across your population in the intervention arm. But we need to move on to a longer trial with hard clinical endpoints. Certainly heart failure, certainly cardiovascular mortality, [be]cause there's plenty of reasons to believe that producing LV mass in these patients might have benefit both for heart failure, whether that's heart failure, heart injection fraction, or whatever, I'll leave that to Carolyn's judgment to help us with that.                                                 But also, if we can reduce LV mass and then we may be able to reduce arrhythmia burden which again is when these things we worry about in end stage renal disease, again, your answer for that is, that in addition to the heart endpoints you should be able to also add in some patient afforded outcomes in a larger study. Or something like an exercise tolerance quota of quality of life.                                                 All this has started has journey from the surrogate endpoint of left ventricular mass into a bigger outcome study and I can't wait to see how you get on with it. Dr Carolyn Lam:                I can't wait either. And I'm sure the audience is sharing all our enthusiasm as well. Thank you so much Toby and Patty. I really learned so much. You heard it right here on Circulation on the Run. Thank you for joining us this week. Don't forget to turn in again next week.                                                 This program is copyright American Heart Association 2019.  

COMMENT:What a disappointing day yesterday was for Parliament.Pleasingly, Trevor Mallard's now admitted he could've handled it better. Good. His handling of it was appalling.He appeared on national media in the morning, alleged publicly that a rapist was working among them at Parliament, gave no further details, other than suggesting the complainants come forward, and then wandered off into the sunset.What sort of lapse in judgement is that?It wasn't until National's Paula Bennett appeared later that morning, looking deeply unsoothed and citing scared staff, that he perhaps became aware of the knock-on effect of his words.Mallard had just made the claims, then put the onus of responsibility on dealing with this at the feet of the victims.While doing nothing about it himself, other than letting everyone at Parliament know there was rapist among them.No, it’s not Trevor Mallard's job to lay complaints on behalf of others with police, but surely it is his job to ensure Parliamentary staff feel safe.How could it look like anything more than scaremongering? His comments and the way he made them were completely bewildering and had the obvious domino effect of causing ructions all over the show.MPs felt confused and angry, Parliamentary staff felt unsafe and uncomfortable, a witch hunt began trying to find out who this could possibly be.Paula Bennett was first to jump in, saying police should be involved, that Mallard should clarify his comments, and that the media was not the place to air these allegations.Eventually, Winston Peters also stepped in, he gave Trevor Mallard a serve too for ostensibly making everyone feel under scrutiny. Winston clarified it wasn’t an MP.But still the story swirled, how could a workplace, that was just revealed as being toxic in a bullying report, be seen to be ignoring an alleged rapist in their midst?Why was the Speaker of the House, whose job it is to monitor fairness and accountability not doing that?How could he think that vague accusations and silence was ensuring a safe working environment for staff?By the afternoon Mallard fronted media again, this time with an update - a Parliamentary staff member had been stood down following a formal complaint about a historical assault of a sexual nature, the investigation into which, would now be reopened.But this whole sorry saga makes me wonder just how bad the culture is at Parliament, when the speaker himself seems incapable of addressing serious sexual assault allegations with any kind of professionalism.Making inflammatory statements to media, and then leaving it to fester, while staff arrive at work upset, seems irresponsible at best.And just goes to show how much work clearly still needs to be done, to fix Parliament’s toxic culture.

I’ve known Nish for over 25 years.  He was there when I started my first job out of school, and over the years our careers and lives intersected. These days, as well as being a friend, Nish and his family are also clients.  For many years Nish was a financial planner, even running his own firm for a period.  To have someone with that professional skill and background decide to engage me and my firm to act as their financial planner is to me, one of the greatest professional compliments you can receive. Today I’m really excited to share with you a little bit of Nish’s hugely successful transition from the corporate world to running his own photography business – Nish Photography.  But it doesn’t just stop there.  Because Nish and his incredibly supportive wife Janine made a second transition a few years later by making a sea-change.  Leaving the big smoke with its big mortgage and hecticness, and moving the family to a small seaside community about an hour out of Melbourne.  Nish and his family have never been happier.  I asked Nish how these two major transitions came about, and I think there is absolute gold in what he was able to share.  So let’s dive in and take a look at this real life example of someone who has achieved choices in life, true financial autonomy. So far in Financial Autonomy – the audio blog, we’ve looked at different transitions that you might make in your life – moving from being an employee to starting your own business, reinventing yourself after a redundancy, or rebuilding after a divorce.  In future episodes we’ll be exploring many more, like planning financially for starting a family, making a career change, and retirement. Today though I’m really fortunate to be able share with you a real life experience of someone who has successfully achieved not one but two major transitions. In preparing for this piece I interviewed Nish to gain a better understanding of how his move from the corporate financial world to running a photography business unfolded, and then how he and his family subsequently made the transition from inner city life to a small seaside community. I started by asking why he decided to make the initial move from the finance world, where he had worked in various roles for around 20 years, into photography. He attributed the initial steps in that direction to a discussion he had with a psychologist who encouraged him to spend more time and energy doing the things he loved.  His two great passions beyond his family were music and photography. So he took some singing lessons and picked up some small gigs playing his guitar and performing.  Now that’s no small thing.  First you need to acquire the skill of singing (he already knew how to play the guitar), then you need to have the courage to get up and perform in front of real people, and then you need to find venues and convince them to let you play, ideally with you receiving some money for the effort. He did it. Next came photography.  Nish told me he’d essentially missed the transition in photography from film to digital, so as with the singing lessons in pursuing his musical interests, there was a financial and time investment to be made in bringing his skills and equipment up to the level required.   He recognised that the singing wasn’t likely to be a viable alternative to his current career, but saw that photography presented the possibility of building a business and giving him an option to escape corporate cubicle captivity. So he launched his photography business as a side project, working on weekends.  His initial focus was family portraits and weddings.  He built his web site, and promoted himself through word of mouth.  He gained valuable experience and knowledge.  He operated this way, working his normal job, and developing his photography business on the side for roughly 12 months.  This is a great strategy to progress towards a transition, and one you certainly should consider if this is your financial autonomy goal. Eventually, and after a significant nudge from Janine, his wife, he quit his job and devoted himself full time to his photography business.  I asked Nish what steps they took financially to make this huge step possible.  The key things were: Janine always monitored their family budget, and so had a good sense of how much income the household needed to keep afloat. She was therefore confident that they could manage on her wage alone for a period. They changed their mortgage to interest only to reduce the loan repayments. They approached the change as a 5 year plan, with the understanding that Janine’s income would be the primary income to the household during this period, and then at the end of that 5 year period, Janine could potentially pursue her own transition, perhaps working fewer hours, and Nish’s business would by then be at a level where his income could be the primary support for the household. In addition to these financial planning steps, through Nish operating the business as a side project for a year, he had already identified that the relationship management skills he had learnt through his corporate career, were applicable to building his new business. He’d also started to get some corporate photography work, and shortly after moving into photography full time he pivoted the business entirely towards this corporate work, which has been a key to the success of his transition from employee to self-employed. So let’s break things down.  Nish’s successful transition to self-employment entailed: A low risk trial for 12 months. Any money he made was reinvested back into the business.  This period wasn’t about making a fortune. The gain here though was knowledge and experience, not least of which was finding that his initial target market was wrong – family portraits and weddings, and that he was better suited to corporate work.  This is right out of the Lean Start-up approach of a minimum viable product.  Put your idea out to market with the lowest investment possible, and then get market feedback as to whether your idea, your concept is right.  Then use that feedback to change or improve your offering. They had a survival strategy, as I explained in episode 1, mapped out. They had a household budget and knew their numbers.  They knew that with the mortgage repayment reduced to interest only, they could survive on Janine’s wage alone while Nish built up the business.  This knowledge was empowering to them both.  Without this knowledge, the stress levels would have been enormous. They were realistic about the time it would take to build this new business – a 5 year plan. Nish and Janine embarked on this adventure, not with the expectation that the new business was going to be an instant success, but with a realistic time frame that enabled Nish to develop his skills and the relationships essential for the business in a sustainable, long term way.  Nish told me that it wasn’t until year 3 that he started to make a reasonable income.  I wonder how many people in a similar position, with less planning, would have quit after 12 or 18 months? As inspiring as that story is though, as mentioned in the intro, Nish and Janine didn’t stop there.  About a year ago they made a second transition, moving from inner city Melbourne to a small seaside community about an hour out of Melbourne. Financial Autonomy is about gaining choice, and this move was in very large part, motivated by that desire.  Nish and Janine had always wanted to live by the beach, and indeed when in Melbourne, they were within range of the beach.  But beyond that, city property prices are expensive, and that means a big mortgage.  They wanted to have more flexibility around when and how much they worked.  Part of their 5 year plan was to be in a position where Janine could reduce her hours.  This sea change was an important step in making that possible. Once again, Janine’s handle on the family budget empowered them to know what was possible.  They were able to determine how much they could afford to spend in the new town, and then look around to see if the type of house this budget would allow, was suitable for their family. Pleasingly they found a home that fitted all their requirements, and Nish tells me that the whole family has just never been happier.  Like all parents, he worried about the kids moving schools and making new friends.  Well it took less than a day for his girls to settle in, and their happiness in this new seaside life has been a core ingredient on the overall success of the move.   I finished up my discussion with Nish by asking what advice he would give others who dream of gaining choices in life.  He offered four suggestions that I think are absolute gold: Love what you do. Pursue your passions.  You’ll look back and think “why didn’t I make this change years ago?” Talk to your partner and approach your transition to Financial Autonomy as a team. Nish freely admits that there is no way he could have achieved what he has without the support of his wife Janine.  She both gave him permission to have a go, and the nudge needed to take the plunge. Don’t listen to nay-sayers. For both the career change and the sea change, Nish had plenty of people tell him he’s crazy. He relayed the story of some friends who were absolutely convinced the sea change was a terrible idea, and that in a short period of time they would want to return to the inner city but would be priced out.  Those friends recently sold their Melbourne home and bought a house not far from Nish and Janine. Follow your heart. Take a risk sometimes.  It is scary, but it’s well worth it. I hope you’ve taken something out of Nish’s story.  I’m really grateful to him for allowing me to share it with you.  Check out Nish’s work at the very easily remembered name of www.nishphotography.com.au There’s some absolutely stunning photo’s there so be sure to take a look.  And if you need some photo’s done, be sure to give him a call.      

Marvel’s fun space franchise is back. We liked the first one, but not enough to be over-excited about its sequel. Pleasingly, it addresses some of what we thought were weakness in the first movie, with a stronger story and less mean humour. While it isn’t perfect (why so little Rocket and Groot?!), it is good fun and, as with most of Marvel’s output, even an average Marvel flick means a fun night at the movies.

Homesick for Another World (Penguin Press) Ottessa Moshfegh's debut novel Eileen was one of the literary events of 2015. Garlanded with critical acclaim, it was named a book of the year by The Washington Post and the San Francisco Chronicle, nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award, short-listed for the Man Booker Prize, and won the PEN/Hemingway Award for debut fiction. But as many critics noted, Moshfegh is particularly held in awe for her short stories. Homesick for Another World is the rare case where an author's short story collection is if anything more anticipated than her novel.  And for good reason. There's something eerily unsettling about Ottessa Moshfegh's stories, something almost dangerous, while also being delightful, and even laugh-out-loud funny. Her characters are all unsteady on their feet in one way or another; they all yearn for connection and betterment, though each in very different ways, but they are often tripped up by their own baser impulses and existential insecurities. Homesick for Another World is a master class in the varieties of self-deception across the gamut of individuals representing the human condition. But part of the unique quality of her voice, the echt Moshfeghian experience, is the way the grotesque and the outrageous are infused with tenderness and compassion. Moshfegh is our Flannery O'Connor, and Homesick for Another World is her Everything That Rises Must Converge or A Good Man is Hard to Find. The flesh is weak; the timber is crooked; people are cruel to each other, and stupid, and hurtful. But beauty comes from strange sources. And the dark energy surging through these stories is powerfully invigorating. We're in the hands of an author with a big mind, a big heart, blazing chops, and a political acuity that is needle-sharp. The needle hits the vein before we even feel the prick. Praise for Eileen "Eileen is anything but generic. Eileen is as vivid and human as they come... Moshfegh, whose novella, ‘McGlue,' was published last year, writes beautiful sentences. One after the other they unwind--playful, shocking, wise, morbid, witty, searingly sharp. The beginning of this novel is so impressive, so controlled yet whimsical, fresh and thrilling, you feel she can do anything... There is that wonderful tension between wanting to slow down and bathe in the language and imagery, and the impulse to race to see what happens, how it happens.”  -New York Times Book Review “The attention that is now greeting Moshfegh’s first novel is not undeserved. Eileen is a remarkable piece of writing, always dark and surprising, sometimes ugly and occasionally hilarious. Its first-person narrator is one of the strangest, most messed-up, most pathetic—and yet, in her own inimitable way, endearing—misfits I’ve encountered in fiction. Trust me, you have never read anything remotely like Eileen.” -Washington Post  “Her best work yet . . . What makes Moshfegh an important writer—and I'd even say crucial—is that she is unlike any other author (male, female, Iranian, American, etc.). And this sui generis quality is cemented by the singular savage suburban noir of Eileen . . . Here is art that manages to reject artifice and yet be something wholly new and itself in sheer artistry.” - The Los Angeles Times  “Wonderfully unsettling first novel . . .  When the denouement comes, it’s as shocking as it is thrilling. Part of the pleasure of the book (besides the almost killing tension) is that Eileen is mordantly funny . . . this tale belongs to both the past and future Eileen, a truly original character who is gloriously unlikable, dirty, startling—and as ferociously human as the novel that bears her name.”-San Francisco Chronicle “Charmingly disturbing. Delightfully dour. Pleasingly perverse. These are some of the oxymorons that ran through my mind as I read Eileen, Ottessa Moshfegh's intense, flavorful, remarkable new novel. ‘Funny awful’ might be another one. I marveled at myself for enjoying the scenes I was witnessing, and wondered what dark magic the author had employed to make me smile at them.” -NPR.ORG Ottessa Moshfegh received the Plimpton Prize for her stories in the Paris Review, and was granted a creative writing fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts.  Her novella, McGlue, won the inaugural Fence Modern Prize in Prose and the Believer Book Award. Eileen won her the PEN Hemingway Award for debut fiction. Her newest collection of short-stories, Homesick for Another World, will be published by the Penguin Press in January 2017.  She currently lives in Los Angeles.   Kristine McKenna is a Los Angeles based writer. Her biography of David Lynch, Life & Work, will be published by Random House in 2017.

Hang Up and Listen presents Howler’s World Cup podcast DUMMY. Today, David Goldblatt, Danny Karbassiyoon, and George Quraishi break down the USA-Portugal draw and the scenarios for the U.S. to advance. Plus, NBA MVP and soccer fan Steve Nash. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices