Who Are These People‪?‬ Dave Austin

Clacie Andrew Rivers says he has an affinity for the trash animals: possums, raccoons, and skunks. Uh...and I think that's really all you need to know about him.







Oh, and this is for you Norm

I don’t think I can summarize Dennis Meeks
without sounding like I’m exaggerating. 
I think it’s best to just start listening to him yourself.

Remember Net Talk Live!? It was the first internationally simulcast computer talk show. Simulcast on the internet, on broadcast.com radio, local Dallas / Ft. Worth television and international TV. Mike worked on the show for years. Here is a bit of his recollection. Listen to the full episode here. 

Alvin Oon is a very positive, upbeat guy.  Usually, I’m suspicious of guys like that, because really, who are they fooling? But for Alvin, that’s genuinely the way he is.  And as you’ll hear, any guy who made a choice to pursue the performing arts in Singapore and go his own way and who made a successful life for himself and his family must have a positive attitude.

Alvin is an actor, singer, emcee, director, he can basically do it all.  He also writes songs, and some of his songs poking fun at life in Singapore have gone viral, getting hundreds of thousands of views.  If you like any of them you hear later, I encourage you to check out the videos on youtube.

Here are pictures and links to a few of the things we mentioned in the show:

Scene from '10 Courts of Hell' at Haw Par Villa

Scene from '10 Courts of Hell' at Haw Par Villa

Depiction of filial piety - Haw Par Villa. photo by Jnzl

Statue at Haw Par Villa

Alvin's Songs:

All I Ever See is Haze

Give Me Back My Terrex Chia

Don’t Let The Train Breakdown on Me

One Nation Together

Corn Mo



If you haven’t started your own podcast as an excuse for calling old friends for a conversation, you really should.



It was nice calling my friend Jon Cunningham, also known as Corn Mo.



Corn Mo is the kind of guy that can walk into a room full of strangers with an accordion, a cymbal and drumstick stuck to his shoe, and win over even the most cynical audiences.



Broadway World called him, “Charming troubadour and raconteur Corn Mo ," and praise his, “patented combination of original songs, quirky, off-kilter anecdotes, and charisma,” and The Sydney Morning Herald described his songs as, “absurd, but his voice (as well as his piano and accordion playing) is so great it's a pleasure to listen to – even when you're not sure where the laughs are supposed to be.”



So anyhow, I gave Jon a call. I have to warn you, it was a bit awkward at first. I’ve cut out a lot of the pregnant pauses. I was a bit run-down, and I was calling Jon pretty early his time.  We both felt we proved we are just boring guys. We pretty much fell into the same conversation we would have had as roommates twenty odd years ago. (But we enjoyed it)



Before I jump into the conversation, I did just want to talk about Corn Mo’s music. He’s written and recorded a lot over the years, but I’m still impacted the most by some of the songs he was performing way back when I met him



Here’s just a bit from “Junior High”



And this from “The Day Jason Klein cried”



Follow Corn Mo on Twitter



Follow Corn Mo on Instagram



Corn Mo and Mauve Oed, 1995 at Good/Bad Art Collective -video

Ivan Rana



Ivan Rana is a true dreamer.  But he doesn’t just dream, he really hustles to get things done.



I met him him when I was a producer and editor at Zee TV, the Indian Television network that’s on satellite in the US.  I was the first non-Asian hired at the North American headquarters which happened to be in Arlington Texas.



Ivan was also a producer and editor but he was actually from India. We worked closely together for years.  We were essentially a two-man team for about two years.



We’ve both come a long way since then.  As you’ll hear, Ivan has had a lot of success with his creative endeavors, but there are still things he wants to do, and he’s still hustling.



Ivan at one of the epic ZEE parties



 



Handsome Ivan and the water bottles from colonel Bindra