By Friday, I had a sick feeling in my stomach. Rejection. I could feel it. I anxiously awaited the phone call, and I dreaded checking the mail, fearing the rejection letter would arrive.

Nothing.

Maybe the decision took longer than they thought. They were planning to test out five folks–all potential hires.

I had mailed off a personal thank you card the day after the interview, hoping it would be appreciated. It should have arrived Wednesday at the latest.

Monday–still nothing.

So I finally forced myself to make the call I dreaded this morning. I made it as I walked to the metro. The cell number I’d been given went straight to voicemail. I left a polite and friendly voicemail inquiring about if any decisions had been made. I hung up and felt horrible. I already knew the answer, and I started to cry.

I fought the tears on the crowded train. 50 minutes later, my phone call had still not been returned.

I went to work and tried to forget all about it.

On my lunch, I checked my phone and had a voicemail.

“Hi, Eph! Oh,  actually we finished doing a second round of interviews. Sorry, you did not make the cut, we would have called you…”

Yeah, right. You would have called me. Because it’s not like you already knew before scheduling a second round of interviews. So did my personal thank you card even get read, or did you just burn it before opening?

I had written how they were the most pleasant group of people I’d interviewed with–and I was sincere. They were. And now I feel like they’re just a bunch of fucking assholes who can’t be bothered to respond to a personal thank you card.

So what hurts more–the rejection or the fact that apparently my impression is so forgettable, they can’t be bothered to respond?

Or the fact that I’m essentially crying in the break area surrounded by coworkers speaking in Tagalog and Spanish, and they just keep joking around and laughing?

I don’t know how much more of an isolating experience it could be.

I had to fight the tears so hard when my break was over. I cried the entire metro ride home. I felt as if I were drowning and choking on my own tears. A man continued reading his newspaper, a woman knitting, another woman reading her book, a man gazing out the window steadily. I couldn’t have felt more invisible. It is what it is.

These days I find myself on the metro wondering more and more if my life should be filled with regret, or if I’ve been too far out all my life — not waving, but drowning.

Does being a good person really pay off? I’m having my doubts.

“You spend more time at work than anywhere else – make it a fun, positive and productive place where your staff love to come each day”

The demand for high quality staff in real estate has never been greater. How do you attract them? How do you get them in? Once you have them how do you retain them? Virginia Brookes, Director of Resolver Recruitment, has been involved in the real estate industry for over 20 years and has seen the industry evolve dramatically over this time.

Attract Talent:
To attract good talent you need to be a good employer – remember candidates do as much research on you as you do on them. Also look outside the square – people from hospitality and retail sectors have very transferable skills; they have great customer service skills, good problem solving capabilities and are used to working long hours. Candidates look for roles in office that have strong branding, an excellent reputation, solid staff retention and growth opportunities. Sales agents in particular look for branding, market share and an agencies access – successful people like to surround themselves with successful people.

Interview Tips:
• Make sure you have a read through the candidates resume and make sure you have this with you to refer to during the interview
• Give each candidate the courtesy of your time – you cannot understand and access their suitability to the job and your business in 10 minutes even if you think they are the perfect fit
• Always do a second interview and have someone else sit in with you that way they might see a positive or negative that you don’t
• Leave your phone out of the interview – someone else can look after it
• Have a full Job Description of the role available so candidates know what you expect
• Be prepared – this is your chance to sell the benefits of your company and carefully thought out questions will help you understand their suitability for the role
Tips on Retaining Staff:
• Recognise and reward hard work – appreciate your team and remember even a sincere thank you goes a long way
• Value your teams opinions – everyone can have at least one great idea for your office to take on board
• Put targets into place and reward well once these are met
• Communicate – set expectations around roles and explain what great delivery is
• All people make mistakes, don’t vilify but use it as a learning tool
• Treat all your staff with the same respect and don’t forget to get theirs either
• Put good training sessions in place, everyone (mostly) wants to further their knowledge and skill set and this can only help your business
• Pay commissions if they are owed – if they have earned it pay them
• Social get togethers boost morale and allows staff to develop relationships
• Offer a work and life balance with a degree of flexibility for proven performers
• Be passionate – if you care others care too – lead by example

In our current climate real estate offices are hiring good people not firing them! There are good Candidates out there but sometimes you need to look outside the box instead of what the easiest option is. Factoring in these simple tips when your next position becomes available will undoubtedly make the process more streamlined, clearer and effective. You are giving yourself the best shot at creating a top notch team and keeping them.

The homie Emilio Sparks and crew took a trip to New Jersey to meet up with Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. During the interview Macklemore expresses his disdain for David Stern, talks people trying to put his music in a box, and homophobia in hip-hop. For more great videos, log on to Allindstrom.com today! Shot and Edited by Justin Fleischer @jflei for CAN.DID Media @candotdid

It stressed me out for many reasons. One very important reason was because most interviews are in the mornings and early afternoons. My husband now is awake at those times, at least for now. So the multiple interviews per day kept ensuring I never got to see my wonderful husband! I was so sad. Plus, the sleep schedule change means I can’t cook supper for my husband anymore. I was used to the stability and structure: he would get home from work, go to sleep, I would do daily chores and errands, and then cook supper and wake him up so we could eat together. We don’t get that now. But anyway, with the interviews, I saw him less often, barely saw him some days at all, and definitely not with us both awake. I even got a call for a job interview when we were trying to enjoy our honeymoon again by going to the Naval Aviation Museum! It was so much fun, but I got a call while we were there. So even then, I couldn’t fully relax. 

There’s another important reason all the interviews stressed me out: I’m not good at them! I’d only had two jobs before and more than two interviews… I just get so nervous and it’s mostly caused by the autism. The autism makes me anxious and awkward and afraid to meet new people and open up PROPERLY. Sometimes I’m too open when I’m talking to strangers, it’s much easier to talk to strangers in that way. But a job interview can’t get too personal and it’s full of pressure! You have to say JUST the right things to impress the interviewer to get the job, and you could have a lot riding on getting that job. I know my husband and I really need the extra income, so we can live more easily after the bills are paid. The importance of the interviews and the difficulty of the social situations involved, I DREAD job interviews, despite the fact that it’s a good thing for me and my family. It was very difficult to get through them, and one of them was a GROUP interview! At the group interview, there were several exercises we had to do, including picking an item and selling to the interviewer(s) and try to up-sell, in front of the other potential employees. It was scary, but kind of fun.

But this leads me to my good news! I have gotten through the interview process and have been hired by one of the places that called me! It’s part-time but I think it’s going to be really fun, and there are possibilities for raises and extra money on the paycheck, and advances! I went today to fill out all the forms and I start the WORK part next week! I am so excited and can’t wait to start! Other than that, I’ve also gotten to spend time with my husband today! We got to do chores together and spend time together, watch some of our favorite TV shows together, even bake cookies! After he went to bed, I went grocery shopping at Wal-Mart. I was in SUCH a good mood when I was pulling into the parking lot from the back, that I let a WHOLE lot of people pulling OUT of the parking lot go before I did. I just sat there in the median, waving them on and letting them know when the coast was clear my way! When I got home, I did more chores.

I’m just so happy! I’ve been having a health problem lately but it’s going away, I’ve got a job now so I can relax more when it comes to money issues, I have an AMAZING, WONDERFUL husband who I love more than anything… Everything is falling into place! Even with autism, I can be happy and I can have everything!

~~Mrs. Laura W <3

Now here I am walking the same streets and entering the same buildings as they did over fifty years later. I sat down with each of them this past weekend to get a better picture of how Monkland has changed over the years.

Here is what my Grandfather, Hugh, had to share:

Q: What was it like growing up in NDG?

Hugh: I grew up in NDG, just south of Monkland. I was a wild teenage, got into a lot of trouble. However, my Mother prayed for me a lot so I survived and made it through.

Q: What do you remember about the Monkland area growing up?

Hugh: In the 50’s, the only thing that was of any prevalence up in that area for me was the Monkland Tavern and the Monkland Theatre. Other than that, there was not much to do up on Monkland; you could shop at the grocer, have a beer at the tavern or see a movie at the Monkland Theatre.

Q: Where did you spend more of your time?

Hugh: I spent a lot of time at Ma Heller’s, which was on Sherbrooke just west of Girouard, and the Empress Tea Room, across the street from Girouard Park. In the area around Monkland and Girouard the most important thing for me, or the most prominent thing, was the Monkland Tavern, where all the boys used to hang out on Friday nights before we headed off to a Dance or whatnot…

Q: Today the Monkland Taverne is more of a restaurant then a bar. Was it like that back then?

Hugh: Back then it was a place for the boys to get together, no matter what time it was. And beer was cheap! In those days, three of us would go in and we’d order nine draft. They were ten cents each, so we’d end up paying a $1.00 total including tip.

There were no brasseries at the time, just taverns. And women were not allowed in! All the taverns in Montreal were like this. Some women used to actually disguise themselves to go sit in a tavern and have a beer, just so they could say they were at The Monkland.

My Grandfather wanted to continue telling me the story of the time he and his friend Blair were arrested and how their trial made the paper, but that was a story for a different interview. I still had to sit down and hear my Grandmother, Patricia’s, memories of Monkland.

Q: What do you remember about the Monkland area growing up?

Patricia: Well I lived closer to Sherbrooke street, but I used to go up there. My Father’s friend had a barber shop up there. You had Sherbrooke Street, Cote St. Antoine, NDG and then you had Monkland. So if you walked up to Monkland it was quite a walk.

Later, when we were married, we lived between boulevard NDG and Monkland avenue. We would send your Mother off to school at five years old on her own. We didn’t go with her, we just sent her off on her own, and it was far. But we didn’t have bad guys in those days like we have now.

Q: Tell me more about the Monkland Theatre.

Patricia: My second date with your Grandpa was at the Monkland Theatre, some musical, and I hated musicals. I can’t remember what it was.

The Monkland Theatre was on the radio on Saturday mornings. There was a talent show and the kids from all around town would come to sing or play the piano or dance. It was like American Idol today, but on the radio.

You couldn’t go to a movie by yourself under the age of 16 because there was a big fire in the 30’s and some kids were trampled to death. So they passed a law where you couldn’t go to the movies under the age of 16 without an adult.

Q: Is it strange to visit Monkland now?

Patricia: Oh yeah, it so busy and now its the place to go. Very yuppie, preppy. Back then, Monkland wasn’t yuppie like it is now. It was just plain old Monkland. It had very few stores, mostly apartments and a grocer. I don’t remember as much as Grandpa cause I wasn’t as wild as he was, I spent more time at home.

Frank Alexander explains how he ended up becoming Tupac’s official bodyguard. He also explains why no one else wanted to work with Pac at the time!

R.I.P. Frank Alexander

Maywood Police Chief Tim Curry, a graduate of Irving Elementary, Proviso East High School and UIC, began his career as a police officer the Monday after he graduated from college in 1985. He’s been on duty ever since. “I don’t know if they can find five or six sick days in my 28 years.” He’s served most of his career in different facets of patrol and supervision. In January 2009, Curry was promoted to commander. He would earn the rank of lieutenant civil service and ultimately chief less than six months later. Last week, Curry retired after 28 years with the department. It was a move that had been months in the making. I sat down with the Chief on Friday, June 7, to talk about his years at the helm, some of his most memorable cases and his plans for the future.

What prompted your decision to retire?

I enjoyed working under Mayor Yarbrough, but I had made up my mind a few months ago that I’d be putting my resumes out. The change in administration has noting to do with me leaving. For much of the time I’ve been chief I’ve been understaffed and its been challenging for on a professional and personal level. That took away from my home life. I’ve got a wife and three young kids that need to see more of their dad during the hours I’m now working. I’ve got a great command staff in Commanders Willis and West. They have qualities I felt were needed to make a winning team. We are a winning team, but changes are needed from time to time. I hope the vision I set forth for them will continue. Hopefully they’ll share that vision and pick a team based on it.

Do you have someone in mind for your replacement?

The Village manager is the one who selects the new chief. But I hope the next chief comes from within the force. I believe when its all said and done, Commander Willis will be acting chief. I hope that Commander West is also in that equation. My commanders are more qualified today to take charge than I was when I took charge. But we have other supervisors who have shown the qualities and skills necessary to assume higher command. I never took personal possession of this office. You’re only here for a little while. But while you’re here you have to bring others up to assume the positions. So I’ve been in the process of grooming replacements. That’s just part of the job.

I want to switch to certain perceptions that the public has about the Maywood Police Department and your attempts as Chief to address them. Some of the most persistent assumptions is that Maywood Police officers are corrupt, they don’t do much and that they’re too many of them.

No, there aren’t too many officers. We currently have a total of 56 officers (11 part-time). But, we’re currently trying to hire more to get the number of part-time officers back up to around 20.

In any department, you’ll have overachievers and underachievers. Our department today has a lot more overachievers than underachievers — much more than in the past. We have addressed many instances of underachieving and many instances in which officers didn’t act as if they deserved to be here. This administration has addressed that. No doubt about it. We have to show the community we’re serious about not only serving them, but policing our own inside. But no one can say that we haven’t done that in the last four years.

As far as corruption goes. There’s always been a perception that we’re corrupt. But I want people to know that their concerns along those lines were the first things I tackled when I became Chief. We’ve addressed those issues to the point where people were turned over to other agencies. The culture we had in the past, I believe, has changed. Our current officers don’t support the culture that existed then. Unfortunately, that change has come at a price for some officers who were willing to step up and help change it. But, we’ve tried to support an anti-corruption environment, so there won’t be any reprisals for officers who speak up.

I think most of the officers here want to have pride in their job. They want people to know that they’re out here doing a good job and they want to separate themselves from those who aren’t doing a good job. All in all, there are some great people here.

So, as you’ve stated, you’ve been on the force for 28 years. You first started in 1985. How have things changed since then (from a policing standpoint)?

The first thing is the technology. When I started in ’85, there were no computers in squad cars. There was a radio system, but not much else. But probably the biggest thing is the way we operate. There are more rules and laws governing our operation. There is much more litigation involved. Back in the ’80s, hardly anyone heard of police being sued. Now, that’s commonplace. Today’s police officer has to be much smarter. We didn’t have video back in the ’80s and ’90s. Now, video is everywhere.

One of the biggest stains on the Maywood Police Department’s record has been the unsolved murder of Officer Tom Wood, who was killed in October of 2006. Of course, you’re aware of the Chicago Magazine article that touted the case as exemplifying Maywood’s municipal corruption. What, in your opinion, did the story get wrong? What do you want people to know about the case that they may not know?

Outside of Tom’s family, I don’t think there’s anyone who wants to see that case resolved more than me. We were very, very close on the job and without saying too much, I think we’re kind of in the arena of where we need to be, but we also need to have that special piece of the puzzle to impress the State’s Attorney’s office.

As far as the Chicago Magazine article is concerned, there were a number of things that happened. First, we had told the BGA [the Better Government Association, which carried out the reporting for the article], that while the case was cold it was still open. There was information that we couldn’t tell them. Some of it was information (about the kind of gun used in the murder, the caliber of rounds, etc.) that only the offender would know. In keeping it private, we were trying to preserve the integrity of the case. And I told Herguth [Robert Herguth, the investigative reporter with the BGA] this. Well, he went knocking on suspects’ doors and making phone calls to people based on phone records he’d obtained. That was a major intrusion in the case. And it may have sabotaged the case. I want good government just like everyone else, but what was the purpose of that?

[Jean Lotus, the editor of the Forest Park Review, also sat in on this interview. She noted that the length of time it took to solve the case frustrated many in the public. The media, she said, many times acts in the interest of the public. And so, perhaps Herguth was trying to do what he and many citizens felt the Maywood Police Dept. was not doing -- willfully or not -- which is bring some justice and resolution to the case].

I’ve been the department’s public information officer, so I’m aware of the complications that can come up when officers are trying to judge whether or not to divulge information to the media. When compiling evidence for a case, you have to make sure that you’re putting stuff together that will satisfy the Attorney General’s office. We wanted to make sure that we had something that would stick in court. So, sometimes, we can’t tell the media everything that we know.

I remember during the Bryeon Hunter case, someone attributed me as saying that the mother and boyfriend were pointing fingers at each other. Well, that turned out to be true, but I had an obligation to withhold that information for the benefit of the case. I never told this particular reporter that information. Nonetheless, they attributed it to me anyway. What if I have my investigators saying, ‘Let’s not tell the Chief this, because he’s going to tell the media’? When I tried confronting the media source that put that out there, I never got my calls returned.

Speaking of the Hunter Case…

That case was the worst experience I’ve had on this job outside of Tom Wood being killed. The media just jumped all over me. I couldn’t sleep. I was getting calls at 2am, 3am, you name it. One media person called me on a Sunday afternoon on my house phone and no one has that number. That case really got to me. It was probably the worst time in my career. The silver-lining to it is that we arrested people and we have the baby.

In fact, the other two cases that bothered me most also involved babies. One happened 15 years ago. A couple burned an infant over 300 times with cigarette buds. The other one involved a drug addict who thought her baby would have a better life with another lady. It turned out that one of the lady’s kids broke the baby’s arm and ribs. The woman apparently knew this and was trying to take the wrap for her child. All of those cases are crystal clear in my mind.

What’s next for you?

I’ll be serving as the new Director of Security for the Cook County Recorder of Deeds office. I’ll be working to improve the security services there. It’s a small operation; probably no more than about six employees. It’s definitely a far cry from now. But I don’t look at it as easy. There are definitely things I’d want to get into in order to help improve that office. A lot of people don’t realize that the slightest security issues may mean the difference between chaos and order.

Have you had any communication with the new mayor during this transition?

No. They already know the process. And, you know, this really isn’t a transition to me. I haven’t been selfish with this job. For me, it’s been a shared leadership type of thing. If they hire from within the department, we won’t miss a beat. The people that I put in place, in many areas they knew stuff I didn’t. The genius is using other people’s smarts. And I have to say, my supporting cast was outstanding. So to me this is not a transition. I’m just basically passing the keys. And I promised that I would remain as a resource. This is always going to be my department.

Any parting statements?

I just want to thank the Village. I was thrilled by the confidence the community had in me when I was asked to lead the department. I want people to know that everything I thought they deserved in a police department, I’ve tried to fulfill. I put 100 percent of me into trying to make this department what it should be for the residents of Maywood. I was out in the field with my guys. I supported and policed them 100 percent. If it was something they were doing that wasn’t becoming of a police officer, I was there to make sure that they knew they knew it.

It was a pleasure working here. I have many colleagues from area police departments — chiefs and regular police officers and other public safety officials — it was a pleasure working with them to ensure that this area is safe. We watched each others’ backs.

It was a pleasure working with the businesses and schools. There are still kids out there who will wave at me. I’ll still wave back. I hope that kind of camaraderie continues.

I want to thank my family, who put up with a lot of the issues that came with being head of this department. It often required me to be out late at night. I had to leave my sons’ events. I couldn’t be there for others. I’m looking forward to regaining these things. I’m just generally appreciative of those who had confidence in me, who allowed me to lead. And even to the naysayers. I have to thank them, too. Without them, I would’ve had no desire or motivation to become a better person.

But these aren’t parting words. I’m still a Maywood resident. I don’t plan on leaving anytime soon. VFP

Ryan Kelly

Ryan is a young entrepreneur who owns Ryan’s Barkery, a company dedicated to bringing the highest quality and tastiest all-natural treats to dogs everywhere.

It was his adopted dog, Barkley, who ultimately inspired Ryan to start his own business. After adopting him from an animal shelter, his mom and dad stopped at a pet store to buy some tasty treats to welcome Barkley into the family. But, unfortunately, the treats weren’t so welcoming, the smell sent both pet and owners scurrying towards the hills. And that is when Ryan declared he could bake a much better, tastier treat that his dog would love.

I first became aware of Ryan on his unforgettable performance on Shark Tank, the hit show on Friday nights that makes American dreams come true. Here at Max P. Productions we are dedicated to teaching children animal compassion and success and Ryan was and is the epitome of both and so I wanted to learn about how this young boy, now 11-years old, began.

Ryan, I want to start off by saying that I am very excited about you and the great things you have done and are doing. You are a great inspiration to me and thousands of others and I am honored that you have chosen to do this interview with us.

Ryan and Barbara

I was very impressed by your performance on Shark Tank. You were knowledgeable about your product and the finances. You were also very delightful and calm. How did you prepare for your pitch?

I know my business pretty well! Mom and I knew how much each ounce costs, each bag, each treat, the packaging, and how much we paid for other things, like the table and sign we bought. First rule of Shark Tank = KNOW THE NUMBERS!! I watched recorded Shark Tank episodes until I learned what each Shark was like, and what questions they like to ask. Kevin O’Leary always asks about royalties. Barbara wants to know how she’s going to make her money back. Robert loves, loves, loves dogs. Daymond likes to license things. Mark tells stories about when he was a kid. I was not nervous, which was good, and I just got up there and told the truth. I knew I had a business that was making money and had very little debt.

Most children and adults find numbers and math challenging.  You demonstrated a great understanding of your numbers on Shark Tank. Have you always been comfortable with numbers and what advice would you give to children who are struggling with math?

I’ve always liked math, it makes sense to me. I have had great teachers, too. It’s very important to know your numbers on Shark Tank. It lets the Sharks know you are prepared, and that you know your business well. It can also show what you are really good at and what you need help with. If you have great sales, it shows them you are a good salesperson. If your costs are high, it can tell them that you might need to do more research, plan better, or need to sell more of something to drive the cost down.

I would tell someone struggling with math that first of all, everyone struggles with something. Second, I would tell them that something that can help with math is concentration. Distractions make it harder, so turn off the TV and your iPod.

What inspired you to want to make your dog biscuits into a business venture as opposed to a hobby?

I’ve thought of things I could do since I was little. I’ve had lemonade stands, I’ve shoveled walkways, and I’ve sold my Halloween candy on the bus. The difference with a hobby is that you do it when you feel like it. A business is something that you make a promise to do every day. People start to count on it being there. People started looking for my treats at every adoption event, and I needed to make sure they could get them every time they went.

Ryan and Barkley

What inspired you to get up at 5am every morning before school when most kids are still asleep to focus on your business?

I always get up early. I don’t like to be rushed. I can make some dough so my mom can help bake while I’m at school.

I think it’s amazing that you’re paying your mom back the $200 she put into your venture, what made you decide to pay her back?

I have to, it’s good not to owe anyone money if you don’t have to. She said it’s a good lesson. Mark Cuban would NOT let that go…

How do you come up with your marketing ideas and do you come up with them on your own?

Selling them in the neighborhood kind of happened on its own, some people started asking where the treats came from when their dogs loved them so much. They started buying from me, then they told people at work, and I started selling more of them. Selling them at adoption events was my mom’s and my idea. We saw a sign advertising for the event by my house and thought it would be the perfect place! Dog lovers all in one place, and I already have things in common with them like adoption and wanting to give the dogs the very best treats. Once the adoption events are over, I give the treats that I don’t sell away to people with dogs with our phone number on the bag. I bring them to lacrosse practice or stick them in mailboxes of people that I know have dogs so they can try them and call me for more.

Were you nervous when you presented your first dog biscuit to your friends and what was their reaction?

I was a little nervous, but my friends are great. We all are very different, but always support each other. They are very happy for me and are part of “Team Barkery”. They spend some of their free time helping me sell on weekends sometimes.

Were any of your friends inspired by you to start their own businesses? And if so, what are they doing?

Ryan, Barbara, and Team Barkery

I had one friend start a human cookie baking business. My cousin started a comic book sale with his friends in Florida. I know someone who took a case of his mom’s olive oil and she caught him selling it in front of the house!

When I was a child I didn’t even know about shelters. I only found out about them 6 years ago, how do you know about shelters at such a young age?

I know about shelters because my dog Barkley came from one. Also, once we started selling our treats, we were invited to sell at adoption events for shelter dogs with Stamford Animal Relief and Pet Assistance. I’ve learned a LOT about dog adoption from them.

Ryan and Barkley

I noticed that you made it a point to mention that Barkley was adopted, was it intentional to reference that he was adopted and why?

I guess I always mention that he is adopted, it’s just a habit. If people know they can adopt really cool dogs instead of buying them, there would be less dogs in the shelters. Why buy a dog when you can save a dog?

Are you active in animal rescue and what exactly do you do to help sheltered animals?

I’ve been working closely with Stamford Animal Relief and Pet Assistance for over a year. I have and will still give part of my money back to them. Plus, I put out a tip jar on my table marked for them and dump it before I go home. This money goes to pay for medical bills and food for dogs whose owners can’t afford it anymore, like if they lost their job. This way they don’t have to put the dog in the shelter to begin with. Now that Ryan’s Barkery is bigger than it was last year, we give all of our treats that are a little over baked or not perfectly shaped to the dogs in the shelter near my house. I bet they don’t get a ton of treats, and I bet they love them.

What are your plans for building your business? Do you see this as a long-term venture into adulthood?

My plans for building my business…now that a lot more people know about my product, I would like to be in more stores so people everywhere can get my treats for their dogs! We are working on new flavors, and a grain free treat for dogs with allergies.

I’m working really hard to make Ryan’s Barkery a long term success! My mom and Barbara and I work closely together, and I’m learning so much.

To learn more about Ryan’s Barkery and their tasty treats for your animal family, please visit Ryan’s website at http://www.ryansbarkery.com

I want to thank you, Ryan, for this in-depth interview. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know you and hearing your thoughts about your involvement in animal shelters, your success with Ryan’s Barkery and hearing about your plans for the future, which I have no doubt will come to fruition.

But wait, this interview is not over. We are honored to have had the opportunity to speak with Ryan’s mom, Daniela, who has also been an inspiration to me and many other parents. To read about Daniela and how wonderful it feels to be a part of this awesome journey with her son and entire family click here!

Max P. Productions is a children’s book publisher focused on empowering children through story. The information in this interview is copyright 2013 Max P. Productions. Use of this interview in part or in whole must be granted by Max P. Productions. Please contact us at cs at maxpproductions dot com if you wish to use the content in this interview. Thank you.

Daniela, Ryan and Family

I was very impressed by how you allowed Ryan to take the lead with the pitch on Shark Tank. You showed him that you trusted him with something so important to both of you. You even mentioned that this was his business giving him full responsibility for it. You projected your confidence onto him and he ran with it and did a fabulous job and ultimately was successful.

Thank you! I would never have been there if it wasn’t for him, not the other way around! It is his baby, and though I help him and support him, I have always felt that the best way for him to learn from it is to let him forge his own path. Barbara and I guide him and give our opinions on things, but ultimately, he gets the final say and we are both there to support him.

What do you think the ingredients are for success?

I think the ingredients for success are to first of all start with a great idea! I think you have to make yourself the “expert” by learning everything you can about it. It doesn’t have to be a fancy idea or a new invention, you just have to make the commitment to be great at it.  Also, you have to love what you do. It’s a great feeling to look forward to getting up every day.

As a child, did your parents play a major role in instilling the confidence that you so effortlessly instill in Ryan?

My dad, especially, always had a lot of confidence in me. He made me want to try new things. My mom was always the voice of reason that made me think of the consequences before doing something. It was a great balance. I try to teach my boys that it’s great to try new things, even if at first you’re not great at them. Everybody falls, it’s all about how you get back up.

My mom has seen us through every step of starting Ryan’s Barkery and is by our side every minute of the day. My dad passed away last year, but I know he is still my biggest fan and I feel him with us always. Coincidentally, we filmed Shark Tank on the first anniversary of his passing, and I have to believe Barbara was not the only angel in the room with us that day.

Does the business take away from everyday family activities and chores?

YES!! I feel like we have been shot out of a cannon! The house can get messy. There are shipping boxes EVERYWHERE. The kids have missed lacrosse practice (sorry Coach!). However, what we have gained has been worth it. The house will still be standing, the boxes will get shipped out. Lacrosse will still be there. We are a family in the bubble of starting a new business. Things will settle down. It will be different than before, and we are grateful for all of it, messy house and all!

Has starting this business enhanced your relationship with your family and brought you closer together or has it caused any stress?

It has brought the boys closer, absolutely! They work together promoting the product on weekends. Ryan’s older brother Nick is a huge help with the computer and in the kitchen. His younger brother Eric is great with the packaging. Of course it has caused some stress, the most difficult thing has been the adjustment from being a stay at home mom to working full time. That has not been easy. The best thing that has come of all of this is that we are so busy, we have less time to be so sad about losing my father. It has really given all of us purpose and he would be so proud and happy for us, especially my mom.

What advice would you give to a parent, or any adult raising a child, about nurturing their child to success and independence? 

I have always supported my boys by letting them try new things. Sometimes it sticks, sometimes it doesn’t. I try to let them find their own way. It’s how they discover what truly makes them happy.

The one rule I have as a parent is to never let anyone tell them what they can’t do. If they can dream it, they can do it!

To learn more about Ryan’s Barkery and the tasty treats they offer your animal friends, please visit http://www.ryansbarkery.com. To read Ryan’s interview click here.

Thank you, Daniela, for sharing your views on success, how you cope with it, and how it has brought your family together. I wish you and your family only the best in your future endeavors. Your dad is watching and celebrating!

Max P. Productions is a children’s book publisher focused on empowering children through story. The information in this interview is copyright 2013 Max P. Productions. Use of this interview in part or in whole must be granted by Max P. Productions. Please contact us at cs at maxpproductions dot com if you wish to use the content in this interview. Thank you.

Say hello to Bruce Hartman who is stopping by as part of his current book tour to promote his latest book The Rules of Dreaming

Bruce will award a $50 Amazon or BN.com gift card (winner’s choice) to one randomly drawn commenter.

http://www.brucehartmanbooks.com

In The Hot Seat-

Currently Reading….

Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace

Currently Watching…

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.  (My fair city. Complete series on Netflix/Roku.)

Guilty Pleasure…

Mojitos. (Actually not very guilty about this.)

Best Advice You Ever Got…

This is from André Gide (not given to me personally!):

“Throw away my book: you must understand that it represents only one of a thousand attitudes.  You must find your own.  If someone else could have done something as well as you, don’t do it.  If someone else could have said something as well as you, don’t say it—or written something as well as you, don’t write it.   Grow fond only of that which you can find nowhere but in yourself, and create out of yourself, impatiently or patiently, ah! that most irreplaceable of beings.”

A Country or Town You’d Like to Visit…

Berlin, Prague, Krakow, Vienna, Budapest.  My wife and I plan to visit Prague as part of a projected Beer and Opera tour of Central Europe, from Berlin to Budapest.

Highly Recommend You Read This Title…

All That I Have, by Castle Freeman, Jr.

Shameless Self Promoting….

Here’s a little background on my new book, THE RULES OF DREAMING, which was published by Swallow Tail Press last month.  The book is in the mystery/suspense category.  It’s available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle e-book formats.

THE RULES OF DREAMING is the story of a young psychiatrist, a blackmailer, and some patients at the Palmer Institute, a private mental hospital in upstate New York.  The story begins when a schizophrenic patient with no musical training—21-year-old Hunter Morgan—sits down at the piano and plays a fiendishly difficult piece of classical music in front of his psychiatrist, Dr. Ned Hoffmann, and Nicole P., a beautiful graduate student who has checked herself into the Institute after a brief mental breakdown.  Nicole soon returns to her apartment, where she struggles to put her life back together, but in follow up visits she perceives Dr. Hoffmann’s life spinning out of control as he falls under the spell of three irresistible women.  Meanwhile a blackmailer named Dubin follows the trail of these events back to a tragedy that occurred seven years earlier: the apparent suicide of an opera singer named Maria Morgan—the mother of Hunter Morgan and his twin sister Antonia—on the eve of her debut at the Met.

Nicole becomes convinced that the opera Maria Morgan was rehearsing—Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffmann—is the key to all the weird events that have been happening at the Institute.  It seems to be taking over the lives of Maria Morgan’s two schizophrenic children, the doctors who treat them and everyone else who crosses their paths, until all are enmeshed in a world of deception and delusion, of madness and ultimately of evil and death.  Nicole discovers that she too has been assigned a role in the drama, and along with Dubin she sets out to solve the mystery of Maria Morgan’s death and its uncanny consequences.

The Tales of Hoffmann is a beautiful, fantastic work which is all about the shifting boundary between fantasy and reality.  If you haven’t seen it, I would strongly recommend that you watch the surrealistic film version that was made by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger in the 1950s.  Powell and Pressburger were British directors who also made The Red Shoes and The Thief of Baghdad.  The DVD of The Tales of Hoffmann contains a fascinating commentary by Martin Scorsese, who was strongly influenced by the cinematography.  My interest in the film and the opera led to a study of E.T.A. Hoffmann, who is known in the English-speaking world almost entirely through derivative works (The Tales of Hoffmann, Tchaikowsky’s The Nutcracker, Robert Schumann’s “Kreisleriana,” Delibes’s Coppélia, Freud’s essay on “The Uncanny”) and the stream of influence that traces back to him (Schumann, Poe, Baudelaire, Dumas, Offenbach, Doestoevsky).  Unconsciously standing knee-deep in that stream of influence, I recalled an idea for a story I’d had years before (Hoffmannesque, without my knowing it) about a patient in a mental hospital flawlessly playing a difficult piece of piano music without the benefit of any musical training or experience.  THE RULES OF DREAMING took off from there.

You can read more on my blog,  brucehartmanbooks.com; on my Amazon author page:  http://www.amazon.com/author/brucehartman;  and on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1672631.Bruce_Hartman. 

The book can be found at:

Paperback:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Rules-Dreaming-Bruce-Hartman/dp/0988918102

Kindle ebook:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Rules-of-Dreaming-ebook/dp/B00CWJOUYO/

Under dismal skies and temperatures more liking to late autumn rather than summer, Jane Sibery brought sunshine to an anticipating crowd of hundreds. Her soothing voice, etherial sounds and poetic synergy warmed the hearts of drenched fans.

Sibery is, and always has been, a fascinating performer, capturing audiences with her signature bleeding of one song into another, often combining her melodic vocals with spoken-singing. On this eve, she performed solo, moving gracefully from acoustic guitar to keyboards with openers, You never know, Love is Everything and It Can’t Rain All The Time.

In the late 80′s and early 90′s, Sibery was know as part of the high art end of the rock world, alongside artists such as Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel. After a few hard knocks from the music industry, Sibery felt creatively trapped in 2006. With the need to free herself from her chains, she sold all of her possessions, including her Toronto home and instruments, and changed her name to ‘Issa’ (Eh-saa), meaning ‘empty cup.’ In 2009, after three years of deeper spiritual and creative unfoldment, she re-emerged as ‘Jane Sibery,’ once again, to the delight of not only her fans, but herself.

Sibery’s purity, honesty and ease on stage is her allure… an essence that  never needs gimmicks or special effects. She is hers to define and ours to behold, because it is the context of which she is … and despite the absence of her classic hits, Mimi On The Beach and One More Cloud, it was wonderful to behold her, once again!

Jane has recently returned from touring in Europe. For the latest, visit her website. Photos courtesy of WestFest. Photog: Brian Goldschmied.

 Where and when were you born?

I was born and raised in Norway, 21 years ago.

What were your earliest memories of any kind of music?

My earliest memory would be the sound of my Grandpa playing his accordion. At that time he was just making a noise to my very

young ears, but as I grew I began to appreciate his playing more

and more.

Were you always attracted to writing for film or games, or was this something that gradually began to interest

you as your career progressed?

I would say that it came gradually. My original idea of why I started out with music composing was pretty selfish. I wanted to

create music only for my own projects. As my main goal is to tell

Stories through motion pictures. But as my interest grew I really wanted to write for an actual film.

What musical education did you receive?

I have no formal education. I do however have the Internet. I love

reading about orchestrating, arranging and anything that can

Help me improve, really.

So you are self taught?

Yes I suppose I am.

When you are asked to write music for a film, at what stage of the

Proceedings do you prefer to become

Involved, do you like to see a script or do you prefer to come into

The process at the stage where the movie is being edited or rough cut?

Before I start my process I often want to view all available material to me (screenplay, synopsis, plot outline, rough cut, etc) so that I can get a basic idea of the entire film. I then proceed to have conversations with the director and sit with him or her to see where music would best serve the movie, it’s really important to get on the same page with the director; after all he is the one with the vision for the story.

How many times do you like to view the film before you start to write or create the music?

I will go over it a few times myself, playing the piano, writing down ideas and marking time codes where I know the music will

Be necessary to enhance the mood of the scenes. After I’m done, I’ll sit through it again with the director and hear his inputs,

Ideas and so on.

When viewing a movie if the filmmaker has installed a temp track at all and do you find this helpful or maybe a little off putting?

It’s not rare that they place temp music around in the film. In the

end I think It’s useful as it explains very clearly the mood and

Type of sound the director envisions for certain sequences to have. I’ve heard of directors and producers that kind of get used to the temp track after working with it for a while, then they try to force the composer to replicate a temp song,

Which I guess would be a big pain in the butt. Luckily that hasn’t

Happened to me…….. Yet

Your music is very lyrical, it’s romantic, haunting and has an epic sound to it which is almost heroic, to achieve

This you utilize a mix of conventional instrumentation and also electronic etc, on average what percentage of

Each do you use?

Thank you very much! It all depends on what scene, film or album

The soundtrack is for. I love playing around with the idea of

mixing genres such as electronica and orchestral as I love The

Matrix. I do feel however that I haven’t gotten enough playtime

to make more songs of this kind. You can notice that I am using a

lot more synths in my older days than songs from 2011 and

2012.

THE LAST LEGEND is one of your latest albums, this contains themes from a few films I think what is on the

album and did you compile it or oversee what music went onto the compact disc?

My new album “The Last Legend” contains two soundtracks both of which are from animated short films done by Wei Xing “WX Animations”.

Though the two soundtracks on the album are extended versions,

mixed and mastered for listening pleasure. I did every bit on

this album myself, which is something I am very proud of. Even the album art is designed by me.

You can check out the films on the internet,

http://youtu.be/gWtr9PAmbbc?hd=1

http://youtu.be/NnZ8uj0kuXI?hd=1

What composers would you say have inspired you or influenced you?

It’s odd, but I started out making film music, disliking listening to film music! As time went by I also feared that I would start

making music that sounded like some other famous composer’s

music or song, so I tried to stay away from listening to anything. For a

while it worked, but then I started to get really attracted to the sound of Thomas Bergersen, Howard Shore and of course the

Master of them all John Williams.

What in your opinion is the purpose of music in film?

Ever heard the theme in Jaws? When the two notes gets louder in terms of velocity. You just know It’s the shark approaching.

This is why we have music in films. It enriches moments, defines characters, and describes feelings and it helps tell the story.

You have scored films and also games, how does the scoring process differ for these two mediums?

The one major difference would be that games often have only some to none mickey-mousing moments (when the music is

Synchronized perfectly with the action). This allows the composer to have more freedom and it’ll let him focus all of his

attention on just creating awesome music!

What projects are you working on at this moment?

I have just finished my one year production on my new album “The Last Legend”. Which I would ask every reader to check out!

The album features epic adventure soundtracks about heroes and legends. Every minute, every song is filled with intense

emotions that will move your mood in all sorts of ways.

This album tells a tale about a young protagonist who goes out and experience life changing quests and moments that

transforms him from a young boy to a man, a hero. When he finally returns home, the gates of heaven open and he becomes

known as the as The Last Legend.

THE LAST LEGEND (2012)

Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/album/3w9vUpHKqz165zFxNvIESH

Itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/jonas-b.-ingebretsen/id373770993

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CinematicSoundtracks

I want to thank you John for asking me to do this interview, and to all the readers who willingly or unwillingly read this article,

thank you and check me out on itunes or spotify!

In order to properly talk and understand about any given project, it is needed to know about its origins and to get sharp when looking for the exact moment of its creation, to dive inside its own history and inside the creative mind behind it to watch from that perspective the growth of the creative seed that every day is watered with talent, effort and dedication.

Surrounded by an unbeatable weather and an impressive scenery as it is a wooden cabin located in the middle of a rain forest in the beautiful state of Hidalgo in Mexico, we go to our meeting with Danny Heksolson to do the third chapter of this “One on one” interviews series for the Red Page musical project, headed by Danny himself.

“Red Page was born since 2004, when I was in Norway working as a musician; I had the opportunity of being part, as the bass player, of a band that got formed in the Oslo community: The Intergalactic Movement, which reunited several music styles, it was totally eclectic; we had diverse influences: there were african rythms, norwegian singers, rock guitar players, etc. We performed at the yearly Karlsøy Festival, held up in the north of Norway, precisely at the Karl Island. There were norwegian musicians and more musicians from the whole Scandinavia; in a rehearsal we played a Jam Session and there I realized how international collaboration could drop something of every culture into the music: It was a blues that sounded to each one´s influences; it sounded as the origin lands of each one of us. I got impressed by that. Some days after that, in the very same Karl island, I composed “Oceanic Idyll” the openning track for the first Red Page album while watching to the sea. This track is an instrumental rock blended with baroque influence. That´s how the idea of inviting singers and musicians from other countries to perform my music generated in my brain.“

Tell us about the name selection.

“The Red Page name synthetizes a lot of my history as a musican and as an individual. My favourite rock music band is Led Zeppelin by far, and obviously my preferred guitar player is Jimmy Page; from there comes the “Page” part, that in a double reading is a clear reference to my literature fascination. “Red” comes from my favourite color and it has to do with the NFL team The Arizona Cardinals from which I´m a big fan since I was 5; the football philosophy is as well an important part of my life. The red color means fire, passion, irritability, protesting… all of that is part of my personality and it reflects in my music. Even the Red Page logo has a cardinal bird and a plant, because the fauna and flora are important components in my life development too.“

Who designed the Red Page logo?

“The logo is a Marlene Parra´s creation, she is a designer from Guanajuato, México –who by the way is against getting so much credited-, inspired by the project´s idea, she asked me to hear some music by Red Page and on top of that she designed the current logo; the result was magical, because from her sketches, Marlene draw a little bird that a while after I asked her to complete as a cardinal, adding the little tuft over its head; but everything just flowed in such a natural manner, the whole process was always very organic: The strokes seems to be bio-natural structures.

That is why with the singers I just follow the same process, first I deliver the raw song to them so they can hear it, to see if the feel it and if the song says something to them, if the music leads them, that´s what I love about this concept!“

Speaking about that, which one is the Red Page essence? Which are the strenghts and the characteristics that are different from other projects?

“Inside Red Page I´m looking very forward for the natural conection of my guests with the music, what does it tell to them? most importantly, what do they feel? Musically speaking there is something about improvisation too, due to the huge creative freedom; I´m searching the craftsmanship for the album making and the fact that we dont know exactly where any given song is leading us it is simply excting.

I just don´t foresee, nor ever has been my idea, the massification of Red Page, I´m convinced that the most important thing is the pure artistic expression, and that implies a sensitive, select audience, and because of that scanty; now, if the massification happens because the music itself opens a self way for a lot of people to enjoy it, that would be good! that way we still following the organic route.“

Were you always interested in being a musician, Danny?

“Artistically I started with the visual arts, as a child I loved to draw and I was serious on it, I drew everything, but the music always captured my senses, overall the TV jingles; so I went to the academization at the National Fine Arts Institute (INBA) from where I ended up being a musician. On the academy I understood I´m a born musician, that´s kind of my mission, I don´t have any doubt abou it; still, linguistics and literature were always art fields that I enjoyed a lot too, but I couldn´t study them precisely because of the musical studies. So, let´s say I alwas have been attracted to Arts, in general.

Because of that interest in literature, I started a bachelor degree on spanish linguistics and literature at the National Autonomus University of Mexico (UNAM) and I discovered it has a lot to do with the musical work; for instance, you understand that the poets feed themselves with images, personal experiences, things that they observe and that they try to transform, with impossibilities, existencial anguishes; well, a musician suffers those sources too in order to capture a musical idea. Also, when analyzing literary or musical works, we see with a major clearness their similarities, specially with the poetry, that allows us as the music does, the access to unthinkeable possibilities, allowing the transformation through the aesthetic enjoyment.“

The today´s most important construction in Danny Heksolson´s life, is the first Red Page album: “Beyond the Black” each one of the pieces are part of a puzzle that will give birth to a unique concept and that should be joined in a perfect and armonious manner.

“The creation of “Beyond the Black” has been a very long process due to different life situations that in one way or another have delayed the whole process. However, these “delays” have a lot to do with the music itself, whenever a song does not tell me anything it gets static for a while.

I like musical variety and the possibility of choosing among different soundscapes without being locked or commited to only one. I feel that in this year -2013-, we have had great advance, we are working in the distance sending demos, enhancing the songs and making the first stage of the production: an accoustic demo for internal usage.“

How do you do the selection of the voices that will perform each one of your songs?

“From the very moment I am designing the music, I imagine it with certain type of vocals already; based on that I make the selection of the probable singers that could fit into it. The music itself has asked for a voice in particular, it is a judgment matter, of being receptive to your creation; but as Red Page is a rock music project, generally I´m looking for voices that are able to sing what I believe is rock music in a more “pure” state from which it can transform into whatever required sub-genre. Bhetzy Velvet for instance, one of our guest singers, she impressed me because her voice synthetizes this whole concept: her voice seems pure rock to me.“

Tell us about them, who are the “Beyond the Black” singers? Where did you meet them? How they arrive to your life?

“Some of them I met them through the net, others I met them at her countries, others referred by others, others, such as Marike Groot, because they were part of important rock acts in my life, but lets get clear on this:
The first one I worked with is Larisa Shelest, the ukrainian. For her I´m very proud of being her “discoverer”; she was too young when I met her, her natural talent impressed me so much that I knew it was only a matter of waiting for her develop as a more mature singer; what she is now. It is so nice being part of her development and musical growth.

I don´t know if everyone of them will appear at another Red Page album again, but for the debut, they had precisely to be, organically.“

Speaking about this album creation implies not only the selection of the tracks and vocals, but the part of the musical assembling. Will this Red Page debut album have the presence of guest musicians? How the prduction part of “Beyond the Black” will be?

“For some tracks I´ll invite musicians who have previously worked with me, for instance, I´ll be recording with Antonio Torner, a mexican drummer who lives in Norway, where we met; he was a commercial projects drummer in México, such as Gloria Trevi´s, and in Oslo he is a well respected drummer that doesn´t stop working in several projects from several genres. What makes it difficult are the technical details, it is hard to record the drums on distance and that surely will limit his participation. And like him, we´ll have two or three more guests, but I´ll play all the instruments as a base.

To me, it was something I had a strong respect for, overall for the software managing, the seting up of a decent home studio with its special requirements; but, I found that there is a lot of technical myths surrounding the audio engineering of capturing sound, I mean, think about how they used to record in the Roc and Roll days, for instance? Personally, a bunch of those recordings are true artworks, diamonds. So, as I already said, I´ll go the path of craftsmanship in order to keep it pure and simple regarding the technical processes in my self-producer debut, while I obtain a non repeatable atmosphere on the studio, which I am designing and constructing already, this will be delicious.“

February the 24th of 2014 is the announced release date for the debut album by Red Page, “Beyond the Black”, that will be available trough the official website.

“Exactly in 2014 I´ll have 25 years of musical career and I´ve never released one of my projects officially,- says Danny- I think this album synthetizes all of that, is a work that implies a lot to my very own history.

There is music that let us something and there is inconsequential one, I hope that all the numbers that conforms Beyond the Black let something for those who want to listen and permit them being part of their lives from there on. “

Thank you all for reading, I let you with Oceanic Idyll while we wait for the upcoming monday´s interview.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Xecq5yJmUcM

★ Rap im Abo: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_c… ★

A$AP Rocky ist einer der einflussreichsten Rapper unserer Zeit: Ein Leader der neuen Generation von MCs, die sich in ihrer Musik nicht eingrenzen lassen und sich ebenso für Mode interessieren, wie für harten Neunzigerjahre-Rap.

Wir haben das Konzert in Dortmund besucht. Natürlich ging es erst mal um den Abbruch der Show: jemand hatte A$AP Rocky beim Stagediven die Mütze geklaut, nachdem er zuvor bereits mit einem Eiswürfel beworfen worden war. Die übrigen 99 Prozent des Publikums feierten aber enthusiastisch mit.

A$AP Rocky spricht mit Toxik über die aktuelle Generation von Rappern. Was macht sie aus? Wieso ist es für A$AP Rocky normal mit Skrillex oder Florence + the Machine zu arbeiten? Was macht er in Lana del Reys Video? Wie wichtig sind Kanye West und Pharrell Williams als Vorreiter des aktuellen Sounds?

Welche Rapper haben A$AP Rocky noch beeinflusst? 2Pac und Death Row, Biggie, der Wu-Tang Clan, Geto Boys, Roc-A-Fella Records oder auch die Native Tongues. Warum? Guck halt das Interview!

Ach ja: über Fashion spricht der Mann, der die Air Force Ones und Coogi zurückbrachte, natürlich auch.

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Schools interested in: “Michigan, Notre Dame, Indiana”

What you like about Michigan: “I like the facilities, how hard the kids work, and the academics.”

Things you are looking for in a college: “In general a winning program and a good coach; good defensive coordinator. That’s what I’m looking for basically. You know Mattison baby.”

Biggest weakness of your game: “Pass coverage, that’s about it. That’s what I’m working on this summer. I’m going to try to get better.”

Varsity as a freshman: “No I’m playing for the Cubs next year (Westside Cubs, PAL League).”

Goals for the upcoming season: “Dominate, and win a national championship.”

Camp settings do not favor LBs as much as they do for other positions. Pass coverage is one of the few areas where LBs can be accurately analyzed, and that is what caught our eye while watching him. If that area of his game is where he feel that he needs work, then the future is very bright for Josh. His shinning moment was locking up potential 5-star TE, 2015 recruit Tyrone Wheatley Jr., a feat that no one else (that we saw) could accomplish. I doubt that Indiana will be a long time factor in Josh’s recruitment given the potential he already possesses at such a young age, but crazier things have happened. Michigan and Norte Dame showing interest in the recent middle schooler speaks volumes about his skill, and at this rate I would expect him to be at least a consensus four star when the time comes. Given the family affiliation, I expect Michigan to be in his recruitment until the end, which feels like light-years away. For all the latest on Michigan recruiting, stay tuned to BBR. As always, Go Blue!

Follow me on Twitter at @nickBBR

OPENS TONIGHT at The Judith Wright Centre

Maureen O’Hara Spends a Quiet Night At Home

Guy Frawley checked in with Belinda Locke, to find out more about her show, opening tonight at The Judy

You must be excited about opening tonight and I’m certainly looking forward to seeing Maureen O’Hara Spends a Quiet Night At Home, where has this show already taken you?

Yes, feeling very excited for the opening of the show! I began working on this piece in 2012 and toured a short work-in-progress to Crack Theatre Festival as part of This is Not Art Festival in Newcastle.

How has the show grown during your recent theatre festival runs?

This piece has grown from a 20-minute showing to a 50-minute work and delves deeper into the world I create on stage. The audience gets a deeper insight into the life of the female protagonist, who is somewhere between myself, and a persona I take on inspired by the Hollywood actress Maureen O’Hara. I have also researched deeper into Maureen O’Hara herself, a bit of her life as well as the films she starred in during the late 1930s up until 1946, the time in which this performance is set.

I understand the original idea for this performance was sparked by the Peter Stackpole photograph of the same name, what was it about this shot that initially flared your creativity?

The shot itself is of Maureen O’Hara, apparently relaxing at home whilst heavily made up, wearing a white fur jacket and sewing. The image is very glamorous, but left me wondering what she would actually be doing and thinking if she were relaxing at home.  What is it that we are like when we are alone and how does this differ to the public presentation of ourselves. I believe that this is something that everyone can relate to, but perhaps is most visible when we think of those who are in the public eye.

If you’ll ignore the photographic pun, from that first flash of inspiration how did the developing process play out?

I started thinking about how to translate the concept into a scenario I had experienced in my own life. I rarely get a chance to indulge in taking a bath, but when I do it is an intimate moment where I can enjoy being alone with my thoughts. I then began devising scenes in the rehearsal room with the assistance of my stage manager Claire Jarvis, and Anna Molnar, who worked as a dramaturge on the first creative development in 2012. The showing in Newcastle gave me the chance to test some of the initial ideas on a live audience and gain feedback before working towards a longer performance for a season at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts.

To what extent, if any, have you attempted to attain accuracy in your portrayal of Maureen O’Hara the individual? Or has the idea behind the photo and not so much the individual been your muse?

The piece has been inspired by the photo, and by Maureen O’Hara as an individual – from what I have viewed of her work in film and information available to the public. Initially, the photo was just a starting point, but Maureen is much more present in the show as it currently stands now. I do not claim any degree of ‘accuracy’ in my portrayal though – as I said I believe there is a combination of both of Maureen and myself in what you will see on stage.

As both director and performer how restricting did you find it to build your character and performance around a real individual?

I tried not to get caught up in this too much – it wasn’t my aim to become a replica of Maureen, but more to investigate the concept of public vs. private life. The aesthetic of the era appeals to me, and I am interested by how Maureen as an iconic female actress was portrayed in film. Many of the roles she played involved immensely restrictive ideas of gender due to the scripting, however she manages to maintain a sense of strength and autonomy that defies these expectations.

How much of yourself do you feel you have worked into the characterisation and performance?

I believe that actors always invest a certain degree of themselves into a character. As this performance is based upon the idea of being alone with oneself, there is a great deal of my own experience that becomes part of the persona on stage.

I assume from the synopsis that music will be playing an important part in Maureen O’Hara Spends a Quiet Night At Home, was it a conscious decision to include modern music for effect? If so how have you primarily tried to use this?

I use both music from the era and contemporary pieces for differing effect. They are used to enhance the changes in mood during the performance, but also to connect the audience to time of the 1940’s through to now. The experience I represent on stage is one of the past, but also something that continues to be enacted everyday in our lives.

“A Woman. A Bath.” Should we be preparing ourselves for any ‘Sons of Sin’ style bathtub antics?

Hehehe! This will be ‘good clean fun’.

How quiet is a night in with Maureen really?

You will have to come to the show to see!

Wed 19 to Sat 29 June 7:30pm

Duration: 50 mins, no interval

Foyer Bar opens 6:30pm

Book online

 

Goat are a shadowy collective hailing from darkest Sweden, specializing in fuzzed-up, whacked-out psychedelic rock that takes influence from a plethora of international genres without sounding like any of them. Their 2012 album “World Music” captured their raw, steaming jams in analogue crust, garnering them rave reviews as they churned up venues in a handful of live gigs. Coming off the back of a recent US tour and release of their “Stonegoat/Dreambuilding” 7”, we at Cherry Coloured Funk were lucky enough to be granted an interview with a member of the group, speaking under the alias of Captain Goatheart. The response we received was, in keeping with their public image, oblique, funny, laconic and beguiling.

In other interviews you’ve commented that your day-to-day activity involves a great deal of nudity. Why is it then that you decide to cover up so much on stage?

Goatheart – Well, I guess at home you walk around nude sometime but when you leave your flat you put on some clothes? The reason you do that is the same reason to why we wear clothes in public too.

Are there initiation rites for members of Goat?

- No.

Your music and live shows display a profound interest with occult lore and voodoo. Was your music borne out of such a fascination or did you decide to incorporate it into an already fleshed-out sound?

- Our sound, our history and our beliefs are one. There is nothing more to say about that really.

Sweden has a rich tradition of fuzzy psychedelic bands, from 70’s masters like Baby Grandmothers and Parson Sound to Dungen. Do you identify yourselves with this tradition or take influence from it in any way? What is it about Swedish climes that produce bands such as yours and the ones mentioned above?

- Sometime we get this question and I can honestly say that I don’t know. I don’t know if Sweden have had more of these bands then other countries really and if we have I don’t know why. Maybe it is because of that Sweden is a quite long country? or because of the amount of conifers? And yes we can feel a musical connection with these bands because we like them. Influences come natural and it is nothing we think about.

Are you influenced by any dance music, electronic or otherwise?

- Yes of course. All music we like becomes automatically an influence.

You’ve mentioned that Goat as an entity was around long before you were in the band. What aspect of the group’s sound do you think you as individuals have contributed to most?

- Everyone contributes with their own way of playing but more than that we don’t divide Goat into individuals. We just play the way it comes natural for us.

The vocal samples on your album allude to ideas of self-improvement and spiritual growth. Is that what the members of Goat search for in playing together? Is Goat a therapeutic exercise?

- In a way you can say that yes. But in other ways no. Playing music it therapeutic in some ways and spiritual in others. And both pleasure and trouble. But Goat is a part of our lives and in life in general a wise man is always searching for collectives or contexts where the spirit can grow. That is actually the meaning of life.

Is Goat a philosophy? 

- Yes and no. It is a philosophy, a spiritual sanctuary, a tradition, a family, a rock band, and I’m sure it is more then that for most people involved.

If you could choose any musician, who would you make an honorary member of Goat?

- Hmm.. maybe Albert Ayler or Boubacar Traoré. Sun Ra might qualify as well. Or Brian Wilson.

Do you believe in nature spirits?

- Depends.

Who/what is the Goatlord?

- A person or a symbol in our mythology. Sometime in the shape of a person and sometime in more abstract revelations. Sometime good and sometime bad but never without leaving a mark when he/she visits our consciousnesses.

“Stonegoat/Dreambuilding” is out now on Rocket Recordings.

Questions by Dan Faber and Danny Riley.