Monday, August 31, 2020

Play It Forward Episode 110

 <a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40620313" data-resource="episode_id=40620313" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Play It Forward Episode 110 With Psycho Village, Rick Reilly And Angela Simmons" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>


Hey it’s Arroe.  This is Play It Forward.  A look at the unexpected changes endured by entertainers, writers, camera people and all others affected but not infected by the global invasion of the Coronavirus.

Real people.  Real stories.  The struggle to Play It Forward. 

Episode 110: 

We’ve said it a thousand times, “Nobody in their right mind would find reason to release a full collection of new music if they had known a pandemic would close down the planet.”  Dani Wagner of Psycho Village knows that feeling all too well…

Author Rick Reilly has a brand new book Commander In Cheat.  Some extremely special and of importance is taking place with each book sold…

Angela Simmons gets a lot of attention from the television show Growing Up Hip Hop.  She also creates attention with her fashions which she believes will change the deeper we get into this Covid journey…

That’s Play It Forward.  You can listen to the full conversations with these artists on three different podcasts. Like Its Live, Unplugged and Totally Uncut and View from the Writing Instrument found on all digital platforms. 


Pod Crashing Episode 71

 

<a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40612871" data-resource="episode_id=40612871" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Pod Crashing Episode 71 With WTF&#39;s Marc Maron" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>


Pod-Crashing Episode 71 with Marc Maron


Anyone who’s checked in with podcasting over the past twelve years has eventually made their way toward this Magic Man on the mic.  Not because he’s a hard hitting interviewer demanding headlines or a paparazzi hound seeking a story to sell to a higher level of delivery.  On WTF Marc is Marc.  

He does his homework.  He’s constantly fresh and very much in tune with the idea that his episodes are still going to be living decades after we got him in the flesh.  To get a following he didn’t have to try to be Howard Stern.  Nor were his methods based on ripping people down in order to build himself up.

We talk about keeping it real while laughing out loud about some of the tricks podcast hosts do to keep their guests engaged in the moment.  

Sure, he’s a crafty comedian whose latest Netflix special rocked the planet.  He’s also given himself permission to grow within the circles of moving pictures.  A character actor that totally catches you off guard.  He walks into a scene and instantly its Marc being Marc.

John Yoo

 

<a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40611100" data-resource="episode_id=40611100" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "John Yoo Releases The Book Defender In Chief" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>

Donald Trump campaigned like a populist in 2016. After his surprise election victory, every liberal- leaning American - not to mention quite a few moderate conservatives - were fearful his brash style would make him a threat to the rule of law and the Constitution of our nation. John Yoo is one of the finest constitutional scholars in America, and served as the Deputy Assistant U.S. Attorney General in the Office of Legal Counsel during the George W. Bush presidency. He too was concerned that the critics might be right about Trump and Constitutional law. After extensive research into the decisions of the president, Yoo dispels these fears and astutely shows that Trump might actually be a great defender of the Constitution in his new book, DEFENDER IN CHIEF: Donald Trump's Battles for Presidential Power (All Points Books, on sale July 28, 2020, $29.99).

Controversial or not, Trump's actions show that he is more in line with the thinking of the Founding Fathers than many of our previous presidents. Yoo argues that Trump has stood his ground in defense of the Constitution on three major fronts: first, in standing up to Robert Mueller's Special Counsel investigation as well as the impeachment efforts against him, the president propped up the office's authority to govern the executive branch and to make sure the law of the land was faithfully executed; second, in relation to foreign affairs and war, Trump shielded the executive branch so as to maintain its advantages of unity, speed and decision making, thus protecting our national security and pursuing our interests abroad; and, third, his nominations to the Supreme Court have clarified original understanding on questions ranging from governmental power to individual liberties.

Caroline Aaron

 

<a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40608155" data-resource="episode_id=40608155" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Caroline Aaron From The Movie Call Waiting" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>


Caroline returns to the big screen as the lead of CALL WAITING, a one-woman, tour-de-force poignant comedy; the story of two women who never meet but impact each other profoundly. Caroline stars as both 'Judy Baxter' and 'Carol Lane,' the impossible diva and the bed-ridden writer. One's an actress and the other, the character she plays. Both lives hijacked by fractured families, they discover the path to healing is on the other end of the phone. Judy Baxter is an author who's of the age where she is suffering from women's problems and suspecting her husband of searching out younger game. She is homebound by a debilitating and rare bladder infection, and so she depends on her phone for constant companionship. Judy's story is intermittently interrupted by Carol Lane, the actress playing Judy Baxter. Carol Lane, too, is revealed through her one-sided phone conversations. Also, a woman of a certain age, Carol is anxious about a career being sidelined by "younger game." She is put upon by a helpless ex-husband and her son's impending surgery. While Judy feels having multiple conversations on a single phone (even while in pain) is her emotional obligation, Carol's sense of survival demands that her own needs take priority over all other responsibilities including motherhood. The film is set for release on Amazon Prime over Laborl Day Weekend 2020.


Season 3 of the hit series "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" (currently streaming) was just nominated for 20 EMMY AWARDS (the most of any other series) and follows the next step in 'Midge's' quest to conquer the comedy world as she embarks on tour with African American and closeted gay musician 'Shy Baldwin.' Caroline stars as 'Shirley Maisel,' Joel's enigmatic Jewish mother who hails from the Upper West Side. A modern matriarch, Shirley stands firm as a pillar of support for the family and her grandchildren, despite her occasional hijinks. "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" is about many things - standup comedy, living in NYC in the 1950s, Jewish family life, etc., but also tackles important issues such as women's roles at the time, and with season 3 LGBTQ and racial discrimination. Social justice is something deeply rooted in Aaron's soul, having grown up Jewish in southern Richmond, Virgina. Her late mother was prominent civil rights activist Nina Friedman Abady, a Selma, Alabama civil rights activist who walked with Martin Luther King Jr. and Aaron endured cross-burnings on her Virgina front lawn. Her mother, who worked full time to support three kids, is also her real-life inspiration for playing 'Shirley Maisel' who is also a liberated woman for the times and full partner in the family business.


After studying performing arts at American University in Washington, D.C., Aaron moved to NY and debuted on Broadway in Robert Altman's "Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean."The following season, Caroline starred in the back to back Broadway smashes "The Iceman Cometh," and "I Hate Hamlet", cementing her as the Big Apple's most stirring acclaim to fame.


On the big screen, Caroline has built her acting career as a loveable and unforgettable character actress. She has appeared in over a hundred box office hits, including "Hello, My Name is Doris", "21 & 22 Jump Street", "Beyond The Sea", "Just Like Heaven," "Nancy Drew," "Sleepless in Seattle," "Edward Scissorhands" and many more. She has also appeared in four films directed by Woody Allen: "Crimes and Misdemeanors," "Alice," "Husbands and Wives", and "Deconstructing Harry". Her television work includes "Grey's Anatomy," "Modern Family," "Sex and The City," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Transparent," "Episodes," and most recently in the new FOX series "Outmatched." When she is not on the set of "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel", Caroline enjoys catching up with her two children, playwriting, and producing her podcast series, "Angst And Daisies."


What Is Your Stand

 

<a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40607410" data-resource="episode_id=40607410" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "What Is Your Stand" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>


August 31, 2020

We can’t keep September 2020 from entering our road race.  Over the past week we couldn’t stop the hurricanes from pounding our American shores.  The message seems to be pretty clear that we can’t stop large groups of people from mingling during a pandemic.  Learning how to embrace we can’t control.  That’s the subject of this podcast episode.  As a 3rd Degree Black Belt one of the most important lessons I’ve learned on this way moving forward is to be aware of what can and can’t be controlled and sway away from those that will totally take out your energy.  Mindfully being aware of the existence of how something might play out is allowed to move in the direction of choice.  During these uncertain times our imaginations and hearts are trying to write a story that doesn’t exist.  My Master would ask me, “Do you have the ability to control it?”  If my reply was, “No.”  He’d quickly intercept the conversation with, “Move on.” Let me say it again.  Mindfully being aware of the existence of how something might play out is allowed to move in the direction of choice.  And in giving it permission to materialize our decision is to continue to break or use the shattered pieces to formulate some sort of new stage or rock. I’m going to step across a huge line right now. It may upset you and could honestly create a disconnection this moment forward.  My entire life.  All the way back to being a punk kid who felt church was the only answer in life.  All I’ve ever heard about was Moses telling the people to drop their False Idols and Gods.  That portrait of him coming off that mountain has haunted me the entire way.  It’s made me completely aware of how easy it is to find something in a have nothing world.  I tend to ask God a lot of questions.  The Dude doesn’t speak to me but my imagination is given new ways to process.  I’ve always been worried about people locating a False Idol.  During these Covid challenges where it’s beginning to feel like we’re losing a lot more than gaining.  My hearts been racing, “Oh my God this is one of those moments!”  Then I began to write in my daily journals, “In 2020 there aren’t people seeking a False Idol.  We’ve had them since the beginning.  The world of music, sports, movies, comic books, religion and business leaders that can turn two pennies into a billion dollars.  The False Idols have always been here! But when the world stopped in March of 2020 as did the Idols.  Gone!  The majority of them still gone.  People are struggling today to relocate their False Idols.”  One look at the headlines and you’ll feel the total impact of how our inner core of thoughts are evolving into a new state of something so incredibly invisible and yet we know it’s right there in front of us.  What is your stand?  Not where are you standing in physical form.  What is your stand?  What’s driving you?  What’s keeping you focused and out of tune at the same time?  What will it take to bring you forward without having to invest in your shadow?  What is your stand?  How does your rush and push in the new everyday world get fed?  Mindfully being aware of the existence of how something might play out is allowed to move in the direction of choice.  Is that the right decision?  Your heart speaks to you on every path that mysteriously drops into place.  Do you go with the flow or generate a source of energy that some might see as retrieving an old Idol?  Where do you stand? If I don’t ask these questions.  You won’t either.  Be a leader.  Not a false hope. 


Judy Gold

 

<a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40607283" data-resource="episode_id=40607283" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Judy Gold Releases The Book Yes I Can Say That" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>


Over the last few years, with the dramatic rise in political correctness and "cancel" culture, we've seen a dangerous increase in censorship of comedians who cover controversial issues - moments like the backlash to Michelle Wolf's roast at the 2018 White House Correspondent's Dinner, or Samantha Bee's forced apology after calling Ivanka Trump a "feckless c*nt," or Kathy Griffin's blacklisting from Hollywood after posting a photo with what looked like the president's severed head.

This summer, Dey Street Books will publish Judy Gold's YES, I CAN SAY THAT: When They Come for the Comedians We Are All In Trouble (On Sale: July 28, 2020). In this punchy, bold take on the importance of protecting free speech in comedy and beyond, Judy argues that nothing is more insidious than enforcing silence and repressing jokes-the job of a comedian is to expose society's demons, and confront them head-on, no prisoners allowed. In ten impassioned polemics, she frames comedy as a tool of empowerment, a way to reclaim hateful rhetoric and battle the democracy-crushing plight of censorship.

Judy Gold is an American standup comedian, actress, television writer, and producer. She won two Daytime Emmy Awards for her work as a writer and producer on The Rosie O'Donnell Show. She has had stand-up specials on HBO, Comedy Central, and LOGO. She has also written and starred in two critically acclaimed Off-Broadway hit shows: The Judy Show - My Life as a Sitcom and 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother. Judy is currently the host of the hit podcast Kill Me Now. In this era of partisan politics and gaping inequalities, YES, I CAN SAY THAT is the refreshingly candid, wickedly funny and deliciously blunt manifesto we need.

Greg Scott

 <a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40606736" data-resource="episode_id=40606736" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Greg Scott From NBC&#39;s Songland" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>



Greg grew up with a musician dad whose band, the Great Scott Band, toured nationally and practiced at home. At 9, Greg’s parents took him to a studio to record a karaoke song and just a few years later he built a home studio with help from his parents and started to write and produce his own music. When he was still in high school, he opened for multiplatinum recording artists K-Ci & JoJo. Greg and his wife, Sarah, have been together for 14 years and have two sons who are his biggest inspiration to push hard every day.

Friday, August 28, 2020

Play It Forward Episode 109

 

<a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40539860" data-resource="episode_id=40539860" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Play It Forward Episode 109 With Dr Harry Williams" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>


Hey it’s Arroe.  This is Play It Forward.  A look at the unexpected changes endured by entertainers, writers, camera people and all others affected but not infected by the global invasion of the Coronavirus. 

Real people.  Real stories.  The struggle to Play It Forward.  

Episode 109:  

A new study called The State of Opportunity in America by the Thurgood Marshall College Fund measures how America’s fragile and minority communities are faring during the pandemic and social unrest.  The study found that education level plays a major factor in whether you will be unemployed during COVID-19. 

Some of the key findings of the study include: Those with less education were disproportionately affected by COVID-19 job losses; (those with less than a high school diploma experienced a 21.2% unemployment rate vs. a 8.4% unemployment rate for workers with a Bachelor’s degree or higher.) 

That’s Play It Forward.  You can listen to the full conversations with these artists on three different podcasts. Like Its Live, Unplugged and Totally Uncut and View from the Writing Instrument found on all digital platforms.

Rachel Paulson

 

<a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40544544" data-resource="episode_id=40544544" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Rachel Paulson From The Movie Good Kisser" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>


Like her older sisters Sarah and Liz, Rachel Paulson knew she would pursue a career in the entertainment industry. It's in her blood.

Now an actress and writer, Paulson stars in the web series Dating Zoe hosts the video series Drink Responsibly with Rachel Paulson, and co-hosts the Gay vs. Straight Bitches podcast alongside One Tree Hill alum Lindsey McKeon. Last year, she was cast in her first leading role in Wendy Jo Carlton's feature film Good Kisser, which is now available to stream, purchase or rent.

Katherine Snow Smith

 <a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40537904" data-resource="episode_id=40537904" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Katherine Snow Smith Releases The Book Rules For The Southern Rule Breaker" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>


Southern women are inundated with rules starting early―from always wearing sensible shoes to never talking about death to the dying, and certainly not relying on song lyrics for marriage therapy.


Nevertheless, Katherine Snow Smith keeps doing things like falling off her high heels onto President Barack Obama, gaining dubious status as the middle school “lice mom,” and finding confirmation in the lyrics of Miranda Lambert after her twenty-four-year marriage ends. Somehow, despite never meaning to defy Southern expectations for parenting, marriage, work, and friendship, Smith has found herself doing just that for over four decades. Luckily for everyone, the outcome of these “broken rules” is this collection of refreshing stories, filled with vulnerability, humor, and insight, sharing how she received lifelong advice from a sixth-grade correspondence with an Oscar-winning actress, convinced a terminally ill friend to write good-bye letters, and won the mother of all “don’t give up” lectures by finishing a road race last (as the pizza boxes were thrown away).


Rules for the Southern Rule Breaker will resonate with every woman, southern or not, who has a tendency to wander down the hazy side roads and realizes the rewards that come from listening to the pull in one’s heart over the voice in one’s head.

Ryan Jay Reviews

 <a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40538580" data-resource="episode_id=40538580" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Just Another Day With Ryan Jay Episode 082820" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>


Wow!  Two movies out this weekend inside physical movie theaters.  The Personal History Of David Copperfield was a huge favorite with Ryan Jay.  A lot of new things with a story that's been with us a very long time.  Note to those who aren't familiar with this David Copperfield.  We aren't talking the world famous magician.  Although one about him might prove to favorable.  But it can't unveil any magic secrets.  I want inside the mind of someone whose hands are quicker than my eye.  Also out this weekend is Bill And Ted Face The Music.  Ryan Jay reviewed this and says it falls flat. It's a third in the series and continues to focus on their wild music adventure and time travel.  If your theaters aren't open don't forget Hulu has a very very very funny new release titled The Binge and we aren't talking binge watching television.

Musterer's And Stewer's

 

<a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40537272" data-resource="episode_id=40537272" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Musterer&#39;s And Stewer&#39;s" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>


August 28, 2020

Do you remember the day when the workplace was flooded with the constant need for new ideas and Decision Makers made it a point to call you out for not having one?  I had an OM once whose daily routine was to step into the recording studio and want to see what my ten newest ideas were.  He wanted to know where I was going to lead advertisers and what new steps could be created to generate an interest with impatient listeners.  On this podcast episode we’re going to talk about ideas and how they appear and disappear all too quickly.  I used to think many of my ideas came from what I would dream.  You know like the song Satisfaction from the Rolling Stones.  Poof!  In the middle of the night!  Keith Richards had this brilliant landscape of sound.  Research shows that thoughts that come to you through dreams are in reality a moment turned into the realization of a situation.  Because I needed to have those ten new ideas by morning I’d stay up late into the night writing everything that moved through me.  Not healthy.  A creative mind picks up the nasty habit of always wanting to work.  As the years and chapters have aged, the pressure to be inventive is self-driven.  Which means I require myself to put any and all ideas on the path.  Fail or victory.  Take a step in whatever direction the idea may lead you toward.  Sounds insane right?  Which is why I rely so heavily on meditation.  Keeping the head and heart clear brings connection.  There’s never a message or great idea that arrives from a far far away universe.  The willingness to meditate by way of Yoga Nidra unlocks the blocks and brings forward a new direction that’s designed to materialize before being delivered.  My personal worry is how others are working their creative journey during these Covid-19 days.  Having a home office or collaborating with fewer people at the business has to be playing mind games on the process of progress.  You may not have an OM that expects 10 new ideas everyday but no business can survive without creativity.  Take the new Snickers commercial as an example.  The man walks into the room filled with guests wearing a pair of white undies.  He’s unbelievably embarrassed then says, “I thought we were doing game night on Zoom.”  Connection!  An idea that was strong enough to materialize.  Was it created in an office or at home?  Did it generate from a dream?  Learning how to build ideas forward is an exercise we all need to practice daily.  Back to the origin of the conversation.  Why is it that great ideas are so easily forgotten?  Through personal experience it’s because the only time most people are asked for ideas are during times of challenge and trouble.  Set that idea in the center of the home office environment where collaboration isn’t physically present and how does an idea have a fighting chance to survive when it requires hands on attention not a digital moving picture where the imagination of the partner on the other side is blindsided by home schooling and whatever else life seems to be inviting.  Challenge yourself every day to create new ideas.  Keep that muscle in shape.  Success is achieved through a healthy creative mind.

Thursday, August 27, 2020

Play It Forward Episode 108

 <a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40520306" data-resource="episode_id=40520306" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Play It Forward Episode 108 With Travis Mills From Love Gone Missing Ghosted" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>


Hey it’s Arroe.  This is Play It Forward.  A look at the unexpected changes endured by entertainers, writers, camera people and all others affected but not infected by the global invasion of the Coronavirus. 

Real people.  Real stories.  The struggle to Play It Forward.  

Episode 108:  

In a fully self-shot season, ghostbusting co-hosts Rachel Lindsay and Travis Mills put their internet sleuthing skills to test as they work remotely to help individuals track down their ghosts and finally get the closure that they need. 

With the rise of social distancing, people are stuck in their homes and seeking ways to rekindle connections and gather information on their loved ones who may have ghosted them without notice

That’s Play It Forward.  You can listen to the full conversations with these artists on three different podcasts. Like Its Live, Unplugged and Totally Uncut and View from the Writing Instrument found on all digital platforms.

Mike Greenblatt

 


<a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40513946" data-resource="episode_id=40513946" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Mike Greenblatt Releases The Book Woodstock Back To Yasgur&#39;s Farm" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>

In 1969, revolution was in the air.  500,000 gathered on a mid-August weekend in upstate New York for the promise of music.  What they experienced was something far greater.


 


Why are we still talking about Woodstock 51 years later? Over and above the music and the politics, the ideals of the “peace ’n’ love generation” were proven over those four days in 1969. The half million in attendance not only withstood the mistakes of the organizers—not enough food, water, security or bathrooms—but survived and flourished, even as a Sunday monsoon ripped through the site, causing undue hardship. Yet people helped each other, fed each other, danced, sang, kept each other warm, and not one instance of violence was ever reported. Not one! Local police were amazed, they steered clear, telling reporters how “well-behaved” these kids were. It amounted to the second-largest city in the state for those days with no security whatsoever yet peace amazingly prevailed. Improbable, next-to-impossible, but this touchstone event could be construed as a utopian microcosm of the best of American society. Today’s generation has much to learn from these 500,000 kids. Author Mike Greenblatt was one of those kids.


 


His story is different from any other Woodstock book ever written. Peace can, indeed, prevail, against all odds. The event was a dream-like Sixties tableau complete with nakedness yet not one reported case of sexual misconduct. When else in history did such good vibes, communal survivalism, and an almost tribal togetherness ever occur? The long-hair male next to you was your brother. The topless girl within reach was met with nothing but respect. Did this really happen? Could it ever happen again? It’s truly hard to believe that such a peace prevailed. We should celebrate that peace and pass it on.


 


Woodstock: Back to Yasgur’s Farm offers a front-row seat to this singular event in a beautiful book with over 300 photos.  Author, Music Journalist, and Woodstock attendee Mike Greenblatt brilliantly captures the power of music’s greatest performers such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Joe Cocker, Santana and the Who, while sharing stories both personal and audacious from the crowd.


 


When first published for the 50th anniversary in 2019, Greenblatt’s book was raved about by consumers and media alike—and coverage included a New York Times recommendation, author profiles like this one by The Jewish Voice, and it was named one of the Best Music Books of the Year by BestClassicBands.com.

Pat McGann

 

<a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40513572" data-resource="episode_id=40513572" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Comedian Pat McGann From When&#39;s Mom Gonna Be Home" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>


Pat is quickly rising as one of the sharpest stand-ups in the comedy world.  His appeal stems from his quick wit & relatable take on family life & marriage.  In 2017, Pat began touring as the opening act for comedic superstar Sebastian Maniscalco, moving with him from clubs, to theater, and to arenas - including 4 sold out shows at Madison Square Garden.


Pat is a relative latecomer to the comedy scene.  He began stand-up at the age of 31 after realizing he was not very good at selling packaging.  He hustled his way to become the house emcee at Zanies Comedy Club in Chicago, where he distinguished himself as especially adept at working the crowd.  His short, but impressive resume, includes performances on The Late Show with David Letterman, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Gotham Comedy Live (AXS-TV), Montreal’s famed Just For Laughs Festival, Gilda’s LaughFest, The Great American Comedy Festival and the Nashville Comedy Fest.

Be In Control

 

<a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40513058" data-resource="episode_id=40513058" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Be In Control" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>



August 27, 2020

Making the choice to live a life and style of being present in the Now isn’t an easy walk.  Cuz here we are!  You know the modern day picture of the headlines and events.  But here we are!  Living in the Now carries no excuses.  Yep.  It’s the now.  But is it where we want to be?  Do we see it as the right place to be?  If not then what should the next step be? On this podcast episode I’m gonna ask a lot of real questions during a time when candy coated bathroom mirror smiles are the walk of the masses.  A page.  Sheet of paper.  Weighs less than a bird’s feather.  Yet they find flight.  I love sitting in this forest watching how they leap from limb to limb or soar like an eagle next to the sun.  Makes me wonder why the human is sitting around accepting what is.  Through the air you breathe I can hear your whisper, “This too shall pass.  This is only a brief moment.”  I find pure enjoyment in waiting for the day the state Governors clear the way for businesses to get back to their process of building success.  Those in control are going to see a different people.  The existence of the new landscape will be survivors that don’t want to be told what to do.  We need to celebrate hard work as one.  Including the decision makers who find great purpose in spending more time on a golf course rather than breaking out in beads of sweat.  In everything you do day and night there’s always going to be something or someone standing in the way of your dreams coming true.  In this age of equal space, the role of the new age manager should be to participate with those who’ve kept the rhythm in their hearts moving forward. No matter how tiresome this Covid mess is on our hearts and how it’s completely rearranged how a child is being taught.  You have survived and will continue to lead your own life.  I see deeply dedicated people with huge degrees attached to their name working at gas stations, grocery stores and Taco Bell.  If the calling to return to the career is actually received they’ll probably go back to that world of stress, criticism, constantly changing expectations and department heads sitting behind a desk with a Diet Coke bathed in ice while the rest of the team is dragging tail because 12 hour workdays is how this company can get back in the lane of victory.  I’m waiting for that day!  The day those doors open.  I want to be a fly on the wall when those employees are treated exactly the way they once were before Covid and their hearts gently whisper, “I don’t need this.”  The structure is going to change.  Welcome it by putting your name at the top of your company ladder.  For you are the CEO and owner of Me Inc!

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Play It Forward Episode 107

 <a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40501528" data-resource="episode_id=40501528" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Play It Forward Episode 107 With Heather Smith Mastering The New Eduation Whatever That Is" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>


Hey it’s Arroe.  This is Play It Forward.  A look at the unexpected changes endured by entertainers, writers, camera people and all others affected but not infected by the global invasion of the Coronavirus. 

Real people.  Real stories.  The struggle to Play It Forward.  

Episode 107:  

Mastering The New Education: Whatever That Might Be. Not just a perfectly in tune statement that best describes our present place in education but it’s the newest book from Heather Smith.

She’s a veteran middle and high school social studies teacher, and a mother of two elementary school children. 

When U.S. schools abruptly shut their doors in March of this year, education went online.  That’s when she found herself navigating technology, lesson planning, assessing and social emotional well-being that she thought she was unprepared to handle. After much reflection and self-analysis, she realized that she already had the tools to overcome this new education. 

That’s Play It Forward.  You can listen to the full conversations with these artists on three different podcasts. Like Its Live, Unplugged and Totally Uncut and View from the Writing Instrument found on all digital platforms.

Peter Marshall

 

<a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40501089" data-resource="episode_id=40501089" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Peter Marshall Shares Kate Ballard The Show Goes On" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>


Peter Marshall is an American television and radio personality, singer, and actor. He was the original host of The Hollywood Squares from 1966 to 1981 and has almost fifty television, movie, and Broadway credits.


'Marshall was born Ralph Pierre LaCock on March 30, 1926, to Ralph and Jean LaCock, a show business family,[ in Huntington, West Virginia. Following his father's suicide when Marshall was ten, he moved to New York City to be with his mother, a costume designer. After he graduated from high school he was drafted into the army in 1944 and stationed in Italy. He was originally in the artillery, but was later recruited to be a disc jockey at a radio station in Naples. He was discharged in 1946 with the rank of staff sergeant.


His elder sister Joan became the film and television actress known as Joanne Dru. She was best known for her roles in such films as Red River, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, and All the King's Men


In the 1950s, Marshall earned his living as part of a comedy act with Tommy Noonan, and they appeared in night clubs, on television variety shows, and in films including Starlift (1951), The Rookie (1959) and Swingin' Along (1962).[6] He appeared in the 1958 episode "The Big Hoax" of the syndicated television series Harbor Command. In 1963, he appeared as Lucy's brother-in-law, Hughie, in The Lucy Show episode "Lucy's Sister Pays A Visit".


Although Marshall occasionally worked in film and television, he could not find regular work in the industry until his friend Morey Amsterdam recommended him to fill in for Bert Parks (who emceed the pilot) as the host of the game show The Hollywood Squares in 1966. Though Marshall did not initlally want the job, he took it in order to ensure that rival comic Dan Rowan would not get it. He expected to spend 13 weeks as host, then return to Broadway, but ultimately hosted for 15 years.


The show had a long run on daytime network TV and in syndication, making Marshall as familiar to viewers as the celebrities who appeared on the show. The easygoing and unflappable Marshall was a perfect foil for the wicked wit of such panelists as Amsterdam and his Dick Van Dyke Show castmate Rose Marie, Paul Lynde, Jan Murray, and Wally Cox. The Hollywood Squares was canceled by the NBC network in 1980, but production continued in syndication into 1981.


After the completion of the final run of The Hollywood Squares in 1981, Marshall continued working in game shows and playing character roles. He appeared on the game shows Fantasy with cohost Leslie Uggams, All-Star Blitz (1985), Yahtzee (1988), the "East Hollywood Squares" skit on In Living Color(1994), and Reel to Reel (1998).


In 1986, he portrayed Bob Kenny, game show host accused of murder of a game show contestant on an episode "To Live and Die on TV" on Sledge Hammer!.


In 2002, he returned to the new version of The Hollywood Squares as a panelist during a Game Show Week hosted by Tom Bergeron. Marshall occupied the prestigious center square. For one day that week, Marshall took his old position at the podium to host while Bergeron was the center square.

Sean O'Connell

 

<a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40500634" data-resource="episode_id=40500634" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Sean O&#39;Connell Getting Ready To Set Free The Book Release The Snyder Cut" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>


He's the Managing Director at Cinemablend.com A total movie junkie while coming completely clean with his Infatuation with comic-book films. Yes the rumors are true he's the cohost on the extremely popular ReelBlend and still remains a very humble resident dad and extroverted introvert. Hmmm so why an interview with an interviewer? You'd never catch CBS Sunday Morning interviewing 60 Minutes! Well Sean is about to set free his debut book Release The Snyder Cut- The Crazy True Story Behind The Fight That saved Zack Snyder's Justice League. Some people are literally shouting, "Whoaaaaa!" And there are those scratching their head calmly asking, "What?" Exactly! This is something you need to know and will know because the power of writing brought Mr. O'Connell to a new level of storytelling.

Jada Spight And Stephanie Summers

 

<a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40500051" data-resource="episode_id=40500051" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Jada Spight And Stephanie Summers From BET&#39;s Sunday Best" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>


The finalists are 19-year-old Jada Spight of Buffalo, New York, and 45-year-old Stephanie Summers of Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The youngest of five children, Jada Spight comes from a musical family. Her sister, Alexis was second runner up on season 3 of Sunday Best. Jada is currently a full-time student at Fisk University majoring in Musical Education with a concentration in Vocal Performance. She contemplated suicide after being alone for the first time in her life while at college shortly after her parents’ divorce. She says prayer and music saved her life. God told her that if she could get through that moment amazing things would happen in her life, and soon after that she got the call from Sunday Best.

A veteran in the gospel music scene, Stephanie Summers has opened up for legends like Pastor John P. Kee, Dorinda Clark-Cole, and others. Her gospel career was derailed following the death of her best friend and father. After a short period of becoming homeless, she has once again found her footing and is ready to return to the gospel scene and prove that it’s never too late to follow your dreams. Today, she is living with her children in Colorado Springs, CO, while she pursues her dreams to compete to be crowned Sunday Best. 

Kirk Franklin serves as host and mentor on Sunday Best. Judges are Erica Campbell, Jonathan McReynolds and Kelly Price. Season 10 auditions were held early this year in Atlanta. In light of COVID-19, new and innovative technology and techniques have been utilized to keep the shows judges, contestants and crew safe.

It's Not What I Saw

 <a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40498745" data-resource="episode_id=40498745" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Its Not What I Saw" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>




August 26, 2020

Tap tap tap.  Knock knock knock.  You there?  Hello?  Are you home?  It’s extremely difficult not to be overtaken by the existence of news headlines.  Now pour the poison over our invisible wounds by journalists designed to redirect the masses.  The physical evidence is there!  Each news outlet has its own agenda.  Research gifts their paths of forward motion with the viewers and listeners they need to gain access to great ratings.  The rest of us stand on the outside trying to pick which story best suits our mindset.  I’ve tried to go the route of checking in with all sides of the objective.  Every website from newspaper to podcasters.  I figure if we sit somewhere in the middle we’re going to be safe.  On this podcast episode an encounter with a baby fawn serves as a symbol of who we honestly might be during these massively out of control times.  The fawn was darting around my forest like a wild child at 4:30 this morning.  I never saw its mother.  Normally I do because she runs toward my dog and I.  Doing all she can to protect her baby.  I didn’t see her.  We were within the trees a very long time.  Then it occurred to me.  There’s no way this fawn exists.  In my 28 years of knowing this forest this sort of thing has never happened so there’s no way this is happening.  It has to be God playing early morning message games.  When we got back in the house the fawn was very heavy on my heart.  I compared it to who we as a nation are in 2020.  Clueless to the dangers of the world and yet we think we’re strong enough to survive without proper protection.  Our confidence and courage are the only value so many of us have left.  The eviction letters are being sent out.  Homelessness is about to exceed levels we’ve never seen.  Businesses are closing and the Governor will probably keep us locked up another five weeks.  Getting from plan A to plan B was a tough chore.  Working from home.  Our kids getting an education on a digital system that keeps failing.  The fires of California.  Two hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico.  The protests and the news stories about an asteroid that supposedly is coming pretty close to the earth the day before the elections.  Plan C feels like those moments when we’re standing on the ocean shore looking out across that water and we can’t see the land on the other side.  They say it’s out there.  We’re convinced and confident that these knowledge holders are guiding our ships toward smoother waters.  But that fawn this morning said something different to me.  I wish we could see what we truly look like.  I see your social media pages.  The plastic candy coated bathroom mirror smiles.  This isn’t who we are.  Not when you compare it to the conversations.  It’s extremely difficult not to be overtaken by the existence of news headlines.  Now pour the poison over our invisible wounds by journalists designed to redirect the masses. We need to break free of the media driven grip and stop playing Let’s Pretend.  It’s time to grow forward with a message and stop assuming others have the ability to lead.  Guidance requires confidence.  It’s ok to admit that we’re dented but we aren’t destroyed.  Mentally we’re being redesigned without admitting how much we have left behind.  How could we ever forget?  Because it feels like everything we do ends up on The Cloud.  Do you know the password?  Life in 2020 isn’t a game of Chess.  It feel like 52 Card Pickup.  It’s time to unlock the chambers that which hold the existence of experience and survival.

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Play It Forward Episode 106

 <a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40488549" data-resource="episode_id=40488549" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Play It Forward Episode 106 Dr Charles Garfield, Juan And Lisa Winans And Jon Moxley" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>


Hey it’s Arroe.  This is Play It Forward.  A look at the unexpected changes endured by entertainers, writers, camera people and all others affected but not infected by the global invasion of the Coronavirus. 

Real people.  Real stories.  The struggle to Play It Forward.  

Episode 106:  

What’s the physical and mental impact of Covid-19 on someone’s who’s not been diagnosed?  Mentally and physically these past six months are every reason why so many people look like they’ve aged ten or more years.  

I can’t be off base.  So I took the observation to Dr. Charles Garfield.  His new book is titled Our Wisdom Years: Growing Older with Joy, Fulfillment, Resilience, and No Regrets. 

Juan and Lisa Winans are globally known for their connection to Gospel Music.  An early summer release was You Belong To Me which does more than speaks to this new process of uncertainty.   

Pro Wrestling has always been about the connection with fans.  For Jon Moxley this new age of delivering hard hitting action on television inside an empty arena is difficult to digest.

That’s Play It Forward.  You can listen to the full conversations with these artists on three different podcasts. Like Its Live, Unplugged and Totally Uncut and View from the Writing Instrument found on all digital platforms.

Pascal Bokar

 <a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40487729" data-resource="episode_id=40487729" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Pascal Bokar Afro Blue Grazz Band Releases The Album American Trails" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>



Through this exciting CD release entitled “American Trails”, Guitarist/Vocalist Pascal Bokar, Father of the “AfroBlueGrazz” sound makes a resounding musical statement of the nature of the multi-cultural expressions and legacies of West African heritage and African American traditions through the Blues.


This new sound and Blues CD entitled “American Trails” by virtuoso guitarist/vocalist Pascal Bokar connects the American musical traditions of the South with the original 4 string instrument from Mail West Africa, Ngoni or banjo and the West African balafon (ancestor of the xylophone) in a powerful rhythmic and multi sonic Blues based contemporary gumbo that one has yet to discover.


The new Blues based CD “American Trails” deepens Pascal Bokar’s exploration of the Blues in his “AfroBlueGrazz” concept with an opening ear-popping version of Blues Great Otis Spann’s composition “The Blues Don’t Like Nobody” in a duet with vocalist Paula Harris and some blistering scat/guitar singing.

Steve Hackett

 


<a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40485069" data-resource="episode_id=40485069" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Steve Hackett Releases The Book A Genesis In My Bed" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>


A Genesis In My Bed – the long overdue autobiography from guitar great and former member of Genesis, Steve Hackett.   As with his music, Steve has written a highly detailed, entertaining and embracing tome that charts his life in full, but with a firm emphasis on his years with Genesis that saw the band’s meteoric rise to become one of the most successful British bands of all time.


Steve talks candidly about his early life, his time with Genesis, and in particular his personal relationships with the other four band members, with great insight into the daily goings on of this major rock band


Naturally, A Genesis In My Bed also regales stories of Steve’s career since leaving Genesis and the many different journeys that it has taken him on.   With his flair for the creative, and a great deal of levity, A Genesis In My Bed is also a riveting read.  Indispensable for Genesis fans but also essential for general music lovers and avid readers of autobiographies full of heartfelt and emotive tales.

MDC 3

 <a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40484360" data-resource="episode_id=40484360" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "MDC 3 Madison Madi Smith Diego Pasillas and Emma Mather Win World Of Dance" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>



World of Dance has crowned another winner, and it's a first for the dance competition series, which just wrapped Season 4—a group of contemporary dancers.

MDC 3—teenagers Madison Smith, Emma Mather, and Diego Pasillas—were the only Junior Division act to compete in the finals (which aired August 12), beating out Oxygen, Jefferson y Adrianita, and Geometrie Variable to take home the victory and be crowned "Best in the World." "It's almost like a dream come true," Pasillas tells TV Insider.

Being the only Juniors competing "was definitely very nerve-racking," Smith adds. "We had to pull up a lot and rehearse as hard as we could." For the resulting performance (below), they made sure to take all the notes from the judges into consideration before finalizing the choreography. "We all wanted to make sure we had the emotion [alongside] the cool tricks [as well] because we are known as the storytellers of the show," Mather explains.

The Lyrics from Billy's Forest Chapter 215

 

<a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40484481" data-resource="episode_id=40484481" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "The Lyrics From Billys Forest Chapter 215" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>



August 25, 2020

I heard the best quote the other day, “When the world stopped we had someplace to go.”  Most of us felt trapped in our homes.  Kids were on the computer not playing games but learning new things from digital presentations designed by teachers then regurgitated by parents hoping to know the way.  I remember talking to many creative people who had just lost their live stages, book promotions and movie premieres and they weren’t happy with the moment.  And yet today… standing this close to September 2020 I keep hearing the call of rejuvenation.  If this quarantine hadn’t happened they wouldn’t have been introduced to newer ways of introducing their art to the world.  On this podcast episode a simple trip into the forest to go camping opened all that felt closed.  Learning to appreciate what you do have when everything around you feels like it’s disappeared.  I hadn’t been anywhere near a body of water connected to very tall trees in five months.  To be back in nature was a moment I didn’t think would ever happen again.  Upon that journey back into the wildlife I took note of so many changes.  Because the humans weren’t always around the squirrels had disappeared.  The birds weren’t chirping and there didn’t seem to be any pesky summertime bugs.  So my choice was to shut up and listen for God.  What I couldn’t hear I saw.  The huge array of colors nestling next to the blue water held in place by melodic rolling hills.  How could anyone feel alone?  I felt safer in that forest than standing at a Starbucks or Walmart.  But how could I turn this moment of not having so many luxuries into a lesson of learning how to appreciate very little than a lot?  I honestly don’t want to return anything from the past seven months.  As out of place as everything continues to feel and perform is as perfect as life seems to feel.  The one time mundane seems to feel like a gift.  As much as we’d love to run around at the mall, take in movies and step into an overcrowded arena to catch a live concert I ask, “Do you really miss it?  Was it something you had to do because you felt like you fit in?”  I’m truly not going to predict how life is supposed to move as we get closer to 2021.  I stopped creating New Year’s Resolutions because 100% of the time I never achieved what could’ve been success.  This year has taught a very valuable lesson to millions of unknowing travelers.  While the world stopped and we had someplace to go we took ourselves to a deeper place.  To take in the moment and learn to trust love.  For many people it was a word we just said.  Now we own a much clearer picture.

Monday, August 24, 2020

Play It Forward Episode 105

 <a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40472605" data-resource="episode_id=40472605" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Play It Forward Episode 105 With Alyssa Goss Candice Renee, Kansas And Linda Hamilton" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>




Hey it’s Arroe.  This is Play It Forward.  A look at the unexpected changes endured by entertainers, writers, camera people and all others affected but not infected by the global invasion of the Coronavirus. 

Real people.  Real stories.  The struggle to Play It Forward.  

Episode 105:  

Actors Alyssa Goss and Candice Renee have helped heat up Bruh on BET+.  It’s an everyday world kind of storytelling that deals with real issues.  Being that Tyler Perry is involved do they see the great director and writer inviting Covid 19 to the scripts?

Who releases a brand new full collection of songs during a pandemic?  The Classic Rock band Kansas does.  Lead vocalist Ronnie Platt reacts to what some critics are describing as a new age of Rock.

Binge watching movies and television episodes is a huge modern day staple.  We want new material all the time.  Iconic actress Linda Hamilton stars in the new film Easy Does It.  Action packed hardcore drama with an unforgettable soundtrack.  We got serious for a moment during our conversation while putting the focus on future characters that could the pandemic and its impact on life.

That’s Play It Forward.  You can listen to the full conversations with these artists on three different podcasts. Like Its Live, Unplugged and Totally Uncut and View from the Writing Instrument found on all digital platforms.

Pod Crashing Episode 70

 

<a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40471222" data-resource="episode_id=40471222" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Pod Crashing Episode 70 With Steve Greenberg From Speed Of Sound" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>




Pod-Crashing Episode 70 with Steve Greenberg

My favorite part about listening to podcasts is due 100% to those who bring it to life.  The Rocker’s are talking about music, the comedians are being funny, construction workers help you build.  You get the picture.  

Speed of Sound is the podcast that breaks down the stories behind the pop songs - and sounds - that topped the charts and shaped the soundtrack of generations. 

It's hosted by Steve Greenberg, a multi-Grammy Award winning record producer and all-around music obsessive. 

When you tune in you’re always guaranteed an all access pass to music's biggest moments from sock hops to hip hop to k-pop.

Derrick Barnes

 

<a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40470201" data-resource="episode_id=40470201" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Derrick Barnes Releases The Book Who Got Game" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>




Derrick Barnes delivers an engagingly written, packed with humor, illustrated sports book. WHO GOT GAME?: Baseball: Amazing True Stories!  celebrates the unheralded, unrecognized, and forgotten (but no less remarkable!) people and stories that are integral to the history of the game.


We all know major league legends like Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and Jackie Robinson, but what about Roberto Clemente, the first Latinx Baseball player to have exactly 3,000 hits; Andrew “Rube” Foster, father of the National Negro League; or Jackie Mitchell, the seventeen-year-old girl who struck out heavy hitters Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth. 


Along with introducing these unsung greats, Barnes highlights iconic moments in baseball history like:


·         The agonizing thirty-three inning game at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island in 1981 between the Pawtucket Red Sox and Rochester Red Wings that went on for eight hours and twenty-five minutes in weather so cold players-built fires with discarded baseball bats for heat.


·         The demise of the spitball in 1920 after Yankees pitcher Carl Mays’ slobbery pitch fatally wounded Cleveland Indians Ray Chapman with a ferocious hit to the head.


·         Willie Mays’s incredible over-the-shoulder running catch in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series.

Jeff Carlson

 <a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40470011" data-resource="episode_id=40470011" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Jeff Carlson Band And Frank Hannon Release Juke Box Hero" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>


The new release of the track and video for "Juke Box Hero" is out now!!!*  

The Jeff Carlson Band pay homage to the great Foreigner, a band that has been influential throughout their careers as musicians.

In 1981, Foreigner released “Juke Box Hero,” a song that focuses on a boy unable to purchase a ticket to a sold-out rock concert. From outside the show he hears “One Guitar” and his whole life changes; he decides to play guitar with the chance to achieve musical stardom.

It’s every young musician’s dream and it’s no different as Jeff Carlson explains: The backstory of why we recorded “Juke Box Hero” is basically because we've always loved the song.

Our bass player, Cory, had said to me when his old band would play the first part of it, the crowd loved it, so we thought we'd just do the whole song. Also, when I was young, my Dad used to play it and he said it always reminded him of me. 

My dad passed in the end of January, so I wanted to dedicate it to him. We also try to cover songs that fit my voice as well. 



The story of why I had Frank Hannon play the lead on it is back in November of last year, I flew up to Sacramento to sing for Frank and his backup band  for a private party and while I was up there I wanted to record with him, so I asked him to do a lead on this single, and the rest is history!



We are so proud of how this came out because we feel as though it remained true to the original while putting our own spin on it. We wanted it to fit in today's production of how songs actually are being produced and not dated in any way. 


 


We give full credit to Brandon Wolfe who produces all of our material. Frank played amazing as well and we are eternally grateful to him for playing on it.

Writing Meditation And Prayer

 

<a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40469484" data-resource="episode_id=40469484" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Writing Meditation And Prayer" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>


August 24, 2020

A thought isn’t always easy for me to bring through.  What about you?  How long does it require for you to generate a thought? Not just any thought but a thought that’s shared by something much larger than you and somehow you’ve got to push it through you.  On this podcast episode we grow an inch toward gaining access to a better understanding of how a thought with little or some impact reaches beyond what felt like a thoughtless moment.  Meditation, prayer and putting words on paper are three incredible ways to speak to the inner self while developing a relationship with God, the Universe or The Way.  A thought came to my thoughts but it wasn’t the thought I had hoped I would’ve thought.  The moment you step onto any social media you’ve come face to face with an enormous amount of people who aren’t getting sleep at night. I get it!  These are some out of control stress filled times.  Rather than dealing with the thoughts caused by a lack of sleep, the goal seems to be a sudden rush onto social media and whip out a complaint.  Or the need is to quickly turn on the television and take an early morning bath in late night news headlines or documentaries about tougher times.  Whatever it takes to calm down your thoughts.  Through meditation late late at night or very early early in the morning I’m able to free myself from thought.  It’s not an overnight success story.  I’ve battled sleepless nights my entire life.  Not pretty.  The meditation calms the thoughts.  I call those thoughts the Narrator.  Here’s the thought as to why I’m sharing this thought.  So… I meditated very early yesterday morning.  A success story on silencing the thoughts.  When it was time to daily write.  I had no thoughts.  What?  The meditation used to calm the thoughts had silenced the writer’s thoughts.  The mind body and soul were screaming, “What gives?”  I can’t be the only one that’s walked on this path.  How often in your everyday business world have you been present in a meeting but your thoughts didn’t show up with you?  You’re asked questions and you might as well of shrugged your shoulders.  You may not call it meditation but each of us deal with thoughts in every hell bent way possible.  When you turn off your thoughts how long does it require to get them back?  We’ve got plenty of bad thoughts.  I’m talking productive thoughts.  Here’s the thought that serves as a seed.  We already know that writing, meditation and prayer are incredible tools when silencing a thought.  How do we get the good ones back?  Two things.  Don’t enter any method of mediation, prayer or writing being greedy.  Keep what you think you need completely out of the picture.  Allow things to move through you without expecting something in return.  Number two.  Patience.  Never push patience into submission.  Your life is challenging enough.  You need to rely on patience to properly serve your thoughts.  Unlock your clutter by making sure your thoughts have a safe open space to grow forward.

Friday, August 21, 2020

Play It Forward Episode 104

 

<a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40440418" data-resource="episode_id=40440418" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Play It Forward Episode 104 With Bobbi Conner" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>



Hey it’s Arroe.  This is Play It Forward.  A look at the unexpected changes endured by entertainers, writers, camera people and all others affected but not infected by the global invasion of the Coronavirus. 

Real people.  Real stories.  The struggle to Play It Forward.  

Episode 104:  

Shut off the screens, turn off the TV, and rediscover the power of play with three new activity-packed books by Bobbi Conner. She’s the former host and creator of the award-winning and nationally syndicated public radio series, The Parents Journal, mother, and author of Unplugged Play: Toddler, Unplugged Play: Preschool, and Unplugged Play: Grade School 


Kids are trapped at home with virtual school.  They need fun time, playground escapes and games that ignite the imagination.  Bobbi’s books are full of activities for every scenario, from solo play to group play, indoor play to outdoor play, from parent and child play to birthday party games, and loads of busy-body play activities

That’s Play It Forward.  You can listen to the full conversations with these artists on three different podcasts. Like Its Live, Unplugged and Totally Uncut and View from the Writing Instrument found on all digital platforms.

Brandy Colbert

 

<a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40439959" data-resource="episode_id=40439959" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Brandy Colbert Releases The Book The Voting Booth" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>



Marva Sheridan was born ready for this day. She’s always been driven to make a difference in the world, and what better way than to vote in her first election? Duke Crenshaw is do done with this election. He just wants to get voting over with so he can prepare for his band’s first paying gig tonight.  Only problem? Duke can’t vote. When Marva sees Duke turned away from their polling place, she takes it upon herself to make sure his vote is counted. She hasn’t spent months doorbelling and registering voters just to see someone denied their right.  And that’s how their whirlwind day begins, rushing from precinct to precinct, cutting school, waiting in endless lines, turned away time and again, trying to do one simple thing: vote. They may have started out as strangers, but as Duke and Marva team up to beat a rigged system (and find Marva’s missing cat), it’s clear that there’s more to their connection than a shared mission for democracy.

Ryan Jay Reviews

 

<a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40439232" data-resource="episode_id=40439232" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Just Another Day With Ryan Jay Episode 082120" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>


Not here in North Carolina but around the nation theaters are open. Two new big screen attractions do something we've not seen in months. Premiering!!! Ryan Jay Reviews Unhinged and Words On Bathroom Walls. He says both are good and do exactly what they were designed to accomplish. If making it to a movie house isn't your thing there's always On Demand. New this week is Stage Mother and Disney+ is featuring The One And Only Ivan which is a true story.

Thursday, August 20, 2020

Play It Forward Episode 103

 

<a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40425143" data-resource="episode_id=40425143" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Play It Forward Episode 103 With Brad Arnold From 3 Doors Down" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>


Hey it’s Arroe.  This is Play It Forward.  A look at the unexpected changes endured by entertainers, writers, camera people and all others affected but not infected by the global invasion of the Coronavirus. 

Real people.  Real stories.  The struggle to Play It Forward.  

Episode 103:

3 Doors Down front man and celebrated songwriter, Brad Arnold was preparing earlier this year to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the band’s 2000 debut album The Better Life. But with the pandemic putting the band’s plans on hold, Brad used his quarantine time to write and record his first ever solo record “Wicked Man.” 

Brad was inspired to write “Wicked Man” about the times we’re currently. Brad sings: “They keep us entertained inside a world before our eyes/A never-ending circus to distract us from their lies.” 

 That’s Play It Forward.  You can listen to the full conversations with these artists on three different podcasts. Like Its Live, Unplugged and Totally Uncut and View from the Writing Instrument found on all digital platforms

Udo Kier

 

<a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40421721" data-resource="episode_id=40421721" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Udo Kier From The Movie Skin Watcher" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>


Udo Kier was born October 14, 1944 in Cologne, Germany, during World War II. His entrance was just as dramatic as some of his roles. On the evening of his birth Udo's mother requested extra time with her new baby. The nurses had gathered all of the other babies and returned them to the nursery when the hospital was bombed. He and his mother were rescued from underneath the rubble. Udo didn't know much about his father. When Udo was 18 he moved to Britain in order to learn the English language. While there he took a few acting courses. He was eventually offered a role by director Michael Sarne as a gigolo in the film Road to Saint Tropez (1966). While the role was small, it was the beginning of his career in films. His first "hit" film was Mark of the Devil (1970) (Mark of the Devil). The film was rated "V" for violence and ticket buyers were offered vomit bags before the film started. It was banned in 31 countries but spawned two sequels (both without Kier). The film is notorious for its exploitation of sex and violence (the uncut version was remastered and re-released on video in 1997).


Kier met director Paul Morrissey on an airplane trip. Morrissey offered him the lead role in the 3-D Flesh for Frankenstein (1973). It was this film, along with its sister film Blood for Dracula (1974), that made Udo a cult figure. Both Morrissey films are also known as Andy Warhol's Frankenstein and Dracula; however, Andy Warhol was not involved in the production or creation of the films. Both were rated X when released. One of Kier's most vivid memories from "Flesh for Frankenstein" was the infamous "internal organ" scene. Real animal organs were used that were left unrefrigerated on the set for several hours. Udo had to pull the organs out of a prop dummy with his bare hands and hold them up to his face. He has said he will never forget that smell. When this film was finished the cast and crew began immediately filming "Blood for Dracula". Udo remembers both of these films fondly and regards "Dracula" over "Frankenstein" as his favorite of the two (in 1996 both films were released by Criterion on DVD totally uncut).


In the 1970s some of Kier's work included The Salzburg Connection (1972), The Story of O (1975) (The Story of O), Spermula (1976) and Trauma (1976) (House on Straw Hill). Much of his work has been dubbed with someone else's voice. In Suspiria (1977) there were some technical difficulties with the sound while his scene was shot. In the 1980s some of his work included Lulu (1980), The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne (1981) (The Blood of Dr Jekyll), The Island of the Bloody Plantation (1983) (Escape from Blood Plantation) and Seduction: The Cruel Woman (1985) (Seduction: The Cruel Woman). In the 1980s Kier did very little work outside of Europe. In the 1990s he had a lot more visibility in America and his breakthrough role was as Hans in My Own Private Idaho (1991) (the soundtrack includes the song that Udo performs in the film). Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993) reunited Kier with his friend Keanu Reeves yet again. Udo was cast as Pamela Anderson's sidekick in Barb Wire (1996) and played Ron Camp in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) opposite Jim Carrey. In the 1990s some of the films he was in included The Kingdom (1994), For Love or Money (1993), Breaking the Waves (1996), The Adventures of Pinocchio (1996), Blade (1998) and Armageddon (1998).


Over his 30-year career Udo has worked with several brilliant directors: Paul Morrissey, Charles Matton, Dario Argento, Gus Van Sant and Walerian Borowczyk. he continues to work often with Lars von Trier and is the godfather of Van Trier's child as well as a good friend. Von Trier is currently working on a film entitled Dimension which is a project that spans 30 years. Every year the cast and crew (including Udo) meet to shoot footage. The film will show the actors age 30 years without make-up or special effects. Approximately seen years of footage has already been shot. The premiere will take place in 2024! Kier's acting career ranges from art house films (Europa (1991)) to gore fests (Blackest Heart (1990) (German Chainsaw Massacre)) to television commercials. He says he loves horror films and wants to do more of them. He enjoys playing villains, as he feels it is more interesting because evil has no limits. Currently Udo lives in California and spends much of his time working in Europe, where he receives larger roles and more recognition.

Baynard Woods

 

<a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40420749" data-resource="episode_id=40420749" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Baynard Woods Releases The Book I Got A Monster" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>



The explosive true story of America's most corrupt police unit, the Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF), which terrorized the city of Baltimore for half a decade.


When Baltimore police sergeant Wayne Jenkins said he had a monster, he meant he had found a big-time drug dealer-one that he wanted to rob. This is the story of Jenkins and the Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF), a super group of dirty detectives who exploited some of America's greatest problems: guns, drugs, toxic masculinity, and hypersegregation.


In the upside-down world of the GTTF, cops were robbers and drug dealers were the perfect victims, because no one believed them. When the federal government finally arrested the GTTF for robbery and racketeering in 2017, the stories of victims began to come out, revealing a vast criminal enterprise operating within the Baltimore Police Department.


Cops planted heroin to cover up a fatal crash that resulted from a botched robbery. They stole hundreds of thousands of dollars, faked video evidence, and forged a letter trying to break up the marriage of one of their victims to keep his wife from paying a lawyer. And a homicide detective was killed the day before he was scheduled to testify against the crooked cops.


I Got a Monster is the shocking history of the rise and fall of the most corrupt cops in America from Baynard Woods and Brandon Soderberg

Kirk Franklin, Jonathan McReynolds And Koryn Hawthorne

 


<a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40420440" data-resource="episode_id=40420440" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Kirk Franklin Jonathan McRenolds Koryn Hawthorne The Gospel Awards" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>


Though celebrating the milestone 35th Anniversary of the Stellar Gospel Music Awards has been delayed due to the ongoing global health crisis and pandemic of COVID-19, Central City Productions announced plans to produce the “Greatest Night in Gospel Music" as a two-hour virtual awards telecast that will air in 3Q of this year. Replacing the live taping previously rescheduled for August in Las Vegas, the new show format will harness the power of technology and creative television production honoring the best in Gospel music. The virtual production will acknowledge all winners of the Stellar Awards pre-show and main show, with select categories being presented in the broadcast. The broadcast will also feature inspirational performances from Gospel music’s most celebrated artists, and special tributes to first responder heroes on the front lines of the battle against the Coronavirus pandemic.



Joining previously announced first time co-hosts Jonathan McReynolds and Koryn Hawthorne is Stellar Awards veteran host Kirk Franklin. The superstar trio will work together to keep the virtual television praise party lifted and flowing seamlessly throughout the evening. Confirmed performers include James Fortune, J.J. Hairston & Youthful Praise, Travis Greene, Pastor Mike Jr., Kierra Sheard, The Walls Group, and Doe, with more to be announced.

Copper Pennies And Silver Nickles

 

<a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40419873" data-resource="episode_id=40419873" data-width="100%" data-height="200px" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-playlist-continuous="false" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="false" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" data-hide-download="true">Listen to "Copper Pennies And Silver Nickles" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>



August 20, 2020

A thought fell from the nib of my writing instrument early this morning, “To look at time as being a measured path of process and not a bandit stealing every breath still left in your lungs of opportunity.” It was if I had just taken a giant gulp of the presence of a new day and swished it around my mouth before making the choice to spit it out of swallow it.  I was trying to easily explain how and why writing out a daily prayer has been so incredibly important since May of 2016.  On this podcast episode we dive into each of our moments of evolution of energy which are generated by the existence of steps.  So many of us are holding onto paths that no longer have a purpose or a plan in our life.  We’re caught in mid-flight.  The physical act of jumping off a cliff with no promise or guarantee that we’ll land on our feet or backs.  I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth.  You may have to Google that term.  The majority of us have had to work for every chunk of copper.  To look at time as being a measured path of process and not a bandit stealing every breath still left in your lungs of opportunity. Writing out a prayer in my daily journals does nothing more than offer a place of clearing.  It doesn’t make the moment perfect nor does it turn my copper pennies into silver nickels.  Here’s the reason why I encourage you to use a writing instrument.  Not a computer or smart phone.  A physical pen.  To write a thought, a paragraph, three pages maybe.  From it you will be powered by belief, trust, faith and more importantly forgiveness.  Look at what you have on your current plate.  Big chance your kids are at home trying to tap into virtual school.  Even bigger chance you’re trying to weigh out the odds of barely making money at a low paying position rather than holding out for your career to kick back in.  The roof over your head hasn’t been paid for since May.  Dinner last night was the cheapest can of chicken noodle soup you could find on the shelf.  In this current place of “Now” forgive yourself for this moment in history.  You aren’t here because of something you did.  Life got weird.  It’s out of your hands.  The path we once knew no longer has a presence.  Therefore the daily goal is to locate the strength to be here in the “Now” Don’t abuse what influences you.  Locate that source of energy and turn it into a tool.  It’s not always a self-help book or church on an app.  Your greatest influence could very well be you.  Don’t abuse it.  Embrace the challenge and locate your hour by hour victory.  Look at time as being a measured path of process and not a bandit stealing every breath still left in your lungs of opportunity.