Welcome, and thank you for joining the New America Fellows program for this discussion of the hungry season, a journey of war, love and survival by Lisa M Hamilton.  I was a 2019 ASU future security fellow at New America, and I'm now a columnist at CNN, and the author of two books. I'm really excited to be here in conversation with Lisa. But before we start just a couple of housekeeping notes. We will have a Q&A at the end of the event. So I hope that you will be asking questions. If you have questions during the event, you can submit them through the Q&A function, and we'll get to them in the second half. Most importantly, copies of Lisa's book, the hungry season are available for purchase through our bookselling partner solid state books. You can find a link to buy the book on this page. Just click by the book. Lisa, who we will be in conversation with momentarily was a 2019 national fellow with New America. She's received additional fellowships grants and awards from the UC Berkeley School of Journalism, the California Historical Society, the creative work fund, the James Beard Foundation and others. She is the author of deeply rooted unconventional farmers in the age of agribusiness, and her feature articles have appeared in Harper's McSweeney's Virginia Quarterly Review and California Sunday. She lives in Northern California and is here today to talk about her new book, The Hungry Season. Welcome Lisa. Hi, Jill. Did I miss anything important in your bio? No, it sounded pretty good to me. Okay, fantastic. So I'm so excited to talk to you about this book. It was so powerful and beautifully rendered. The center of the book is Ia, this extraordinary woman who perseveres through a man's hardship to make a life for herself. So I'd love to start by asking how you met her. Well, I would start by saying that I, well, thank you Jill for being here. Thank you, New America, for having us. I apologize if my voice is a little bit rough. I'm in the middle of recording the audio book and first time I've ever done it. It is a grueling process and it's taking a toll on my throat. So apologies for that. And working on this book, even long before I was even my new America fellow back in 2014, and I'm a writer who writes about agriculture and rural communities and my initial idea was to write a book about resilience and agriculture and to write about that through talking about genetic diversity, which is what brings resilience to agriculture, just like the rest of the natural world. And it was immediately clear to me that writing about genetic diversity within agriculture, the obvious way to talk about that was to talk about rice. So I set out to write a book about rice. And I was looking the world over for the human story that embodied that really long and complex story of rice. And I assumed that I wouldn't find that story in the United States because rice cultivation here has by and large become so industrial it sort of lost that, that human connection and a lot of ways. In India I was looking in Sierra Leone I was sort of going down a path in Sierra Leone and when one day a farmer friend of mine in Madeira California called me up and he said Lisa, I saw rice growing in the community garden in Fresno. And I was intrigued. And so, you know, being a journalist, I went out and found who was growing it and found a way to talk to that person it was a long woman who didn't speak English. And so, she and her daughter and I went to the community garden plot talked about it. And it was fascinating. You know, she had taken every square inch of this plot, planted it to rice, and she had also worked with every person in her household to get other to get plots for them and they had planted all of those to rice. So they had this block in the middle of the community garden that was just wall to wall rice and show me that she planted it in April and she harvested in October and she went there pretty much every single day if she could get someone to drive her there because she didn't drive. And so I asked her, well, so how long will this rice last you, you know, well last you for the year, because I was new to rice I didn't really understand how much it would make. And she said oh no this is for one meal. And I thought, what, and it turns out that this is a particular kind of rice that she was growing for the, for the sort of celebration of the new harvest that is that's really a central event in the long calendar. But it's not something you can do in Fresno, if you're not growing rice because you can't get the fresh rice that's essential to it so I was it, I was, I was fascinated, and I set out to meet as many Hmong women like her who were growing rice because it turned out that there was a whole network of women doing this at varying scales up and down the San Joaquin Valley and even up into Northern California. So, I'm most of these women were older, and by and large they did not speak English and so I started working with an interpreter wonderful interpreter who we could talk about more later. And her name is Laura Jean. And Laura and I would visit farms and basically just sort of hang out and talk. And one day we were visiting a woman named you at a farm in Fresno, we, it was harvest time and so we were out in the field with her. She, at that point, I wasn't allowed to help harvest I was mostly just watching and carrying bundles for her and then in the basket and. But at lunchtime, the farmer who had a plot adjacent to her called us in and said she, she wanted us to eat lunch with her. She had laid out this huge feast, and insisted that we sit down and eat with her. And so we did and had this wonderful funny delicious lunch. And, you know afterwards we made to go back out to the field with you. But this woman pulled my in the or the interpreter who I work with aside and said, you know if you guys ever want to come talk to me, I've got some stories to tell. But you know, of course, that was, that was the beginning. That was Ea, and we went back to visit her the next week. And from then on, it was a fairly rapid transition for the book to cease being about rice. Pardon me, but sorry. To being about Ea. It was such a natural transition but I think what's what is so true for me is that it still is a book about resilience. It's not, it's so far from the form that I thought that it would take originally, but really at the heart of Ea's story is her resilience and her, or the adaptation I guess that leads to resilience and it all stems from there, I guess. I have a question for you about resilience lower down on my list, but first I want to ask about rice. You know, Ea is the main character in your story, but rice is a character as well and I think second to her the sort of most central figure in the book. You wove rice as a character in, I mean so artfully, so beautifully. So I'd love to hear a little bit more about that choice, you know how I understand the book came out of focusing on rice. But you know, so vis-a-vis Ea's story, rice became such an effective metaphor and how you use rice to tell the story of Ea's growth and her regrowth. Well, it's natural of course that rice would be a central part of the story at least right. You know so much of the farm, I'm sorry so much of the book takes place on her farm, or in memories of hers that so often have to do with rice. I mean she's coming out of a culture and a livelihood lifestyle in which people farm rice.  So it's natural that rice would be at the center of the book. And the way that the reporting went was that, you know, it was really important to me that my work not take away from Ea's work. So Laura and I spent five years in the field with Ea on the farm five seasons of rice. And when we would go there to report, really to visit, I would work alongside Ea. So if she was planting, I would be planting, and Laura would be recording us as we spoke through her. And if Ea was harvesting, I would be harvesting along with her. I actually was eventually allowed to do it and I'm not a bad rice harvester at this point after all these years. So my point is that rice was always there throughout the reporting of this book and it is a, it's a central part of Ea's personal economy, her finances certainly. I think a deep part of her self-worth and really her identity as the farmer who offers this really precious resource to the community, not just as food but as a sort of pathway to memory as discussed in the book. So I noticed over time that her fortunes, her own personal fortune was really running parallel to the rice itself. And so it was, it just sort of naturally became a metaphor. You see, I talk a lot about adaptation. I wanted to talk about that with a plant. But so much of what the, her rice seeds and the plants that grew from them went through is so true for Ea as well. As I see it, it's sort of an extension of her, the two are, and they're separate but they, they're twined. Yeah, the interplay between rice and her identity and her culture and all the ways in which that kind of shape, shape shifted throughout the book was just so beautifully done. And I was struck reading the book by how much gender shaped Ea's life from the expectations of her as a child to her marriage at 13 to the role that was expected of her in her new family. And I'm wondering how you can talk, I'm wondering if you can talk about that a little bit how gender shaped both her experiences and her story, but also what it meant for her to deviate from those gendered expectations. Well, I think it's important to say that, you know, a lot of a lot has been written about Hmong people and Hmong culture by people who aren't Hmong, including me. And so often that story is just sort of like blanket statement that about the way that Hmong culture is patriarchal and sort of top down and there's a lot of criticism out there written by non Hmong people. And it was really important to me in writing this book to reflect what Ea told me, because I know that, you know, women all over the world but specifically Hmong women have a range of experiences of their own culture of the men in their lives. And how they respond to any limitations or opportunities that they have. So again it was really important for me for this to be not a story about all Hmong women, but about Ea's experience. And as she described it to me, her experience it was really one of feeling the limitations of the role that she was assigned by being a woman.  You know, she doesn't have a sort of feminist framework for seeing her life. She's not engaged with, you know, some discourse about women around the world, patriarchy, so on. And she was relating to me, what happened to her. And often that was that she got the short end of the stick because she was a woman, or she didn't get the respect that she felt she deserved. She was married out of her family when she was 13 years old, and for her. It wasn't maybe so much about the unfairness of that moment as it was the loss. And how she saw her brothers able to continue living with her parents and bring their wives into the family, rather than having her be sort of cut off. But she also showed me that her experience of feeling those limitations as a woman, and her response to it warrant didn't fall along the lines that I as a woman who was, you know, born in the United States and raised in pretty individual centered culture would be. I discussed with her and witnessed in her this real conflict between her own desire to defy those limitations and her allegiance to and really believe in her role within the group. That's what makes her whole. As she explained it to me. And so her life has held this real tension from the start between the limitations that she feels because she's female, her desire to transcend those limitations, but how being a part of the group. It seems to be like a, like a chord pulling her back. So, part of the resilience that is so extraordinary in his life is about withstanding that tension, and yet constantly finding a place for herself. I mean one thing that is so interesting about this story is that one of the ways in which that she is able to. I don't want to say break free of that tension because she never totally is but she's able to defy some of those set expectations is because of tragedy. Right, so you know one of the worst things that ever happens to her and to her community as a whole.  But then also upends these gender rules that had long governed the community, which works in many ways to use benefit, but also destabilized the larger group really destabilized a lot of the men. And I'm hoping you can talk a little bit more about how that tension between the obvious hardships that he and her family and her broader community faced. And also how those hardships unexpectedly afforded a lot more freedom than she have had at home. Yeah, I think that the word that sticks out there or the word that feels most true to me and what she just said is destabilization there. You know, as she described it to me there was a system for survival in the village where she grew up. Everybody had very set roles and expectations. And that's what made the whole system work and it was a precarious livelihood. Even in good years. It's still, you know, it was still work constant work to farm rice and then to supply all the other pieces of sustenance and shelter and safety and so on.  The family would survive. But then when survival comes into come the world is turned upside down. First during the war, then after the war when the, of course the communist forces won the Civil War in Laos, and the Americans left. And people like his family and other mong who had allied with the United States during the war were left to suffer this retribution from the now vested communist government. And it's been, you know, this is, this is why he and her family ultimately fled Laos to Thailand and then ended up in Fresno. And I think the moment that was explained to me and that I read about was when suddenly they crossed the Mekong River and are in Thailand, they were no longer allowed to farm. And so this cornerstone of their livelihood that had really defined everything in a sense prior to that was gone. And there was the, you know, the aid that was meant to keep people alive in the refugee camps but it was bare minimum. And so in order to have anything more than bare minimum. People had to figure out how to make some money, how to get by even just, you know, at an inch higher. And that's where he is opportunity came in so it wasn't. I think, you know, another trope that comes up with writing about the mong experience as a whole is, Oh, mong women came to the United States and, you know, had access to this sort of progressive or modern view of women here and and this is not his experience, but at least her experience was that she wanted to keep her children clothed.  What she had to do was start hustling. And so she did. And the money that she was able to make. And this was, I think, true for a lot of women, gave them a new role within the family and within the larger group that they hadn't had access to before and for Ea. And ran with it, because this was unlocking this power that I think she has felt in herself since she was very young. And in that way it was an opportunity.  It's not a Hollywood movie. This is real life but but it is something opened up for her.  So part of why she was such a striking character is that you didn't lean into this other trope of, you know, mom doing it all for her kids. She also had this inborn personal ambition, right, and a sense of herself as a strong person. There's sort of early anecdote in the book about her as I think when she's maybe 11 asking for her own patch of farmland and then she then grows opium. She's just such a great little anecdote thing says so much about just this what seems to be this really deep inborn drive and determination that she has. You know, and yet her life has been so incredibly difficult, and she's been through events that for a lot of people, you know would just completely level us. I'm curious to hear from your years long relationship with yeah, obviously some of this is just who she is. But I would imagine there's also some choices that she made along the way and some tools that she used that helped her persevere through so much hardship, not just to survive but to build this incredible life. I know in this moment when a lot of us are talking and thinking about perseverance. I'm wondering if you could tell us a little bit about what you saw from her you know how did you do this how how did she build her own resilience. It's a good question. You know, I think it really was a mixture of sheer survival and seeing each new opportunity in the, in the, the really the first opportunity that she takes advantage of or that she sort of sees, and there's this moment in the camp where she's in the refugee camp. That's a little weird to call it a camp. The. There's there's this new source of income, which is sewing the embroideries that I think a lot of us can remember from the 1980s. Embroidered pieces that women in the camps would so and then sell as piecework and then they would be shipped to the United States or to France or in other parts of Thailand and sold to tourists or to you know people at craft fairs or what have you. And a lot, a lot of women in the camps were doing this, he was doing this but it was grueling, and she was at the bottom of the chain. And it wasn't, it wasn't paying off the way that she wanted it to. And so she's just sort of watching around her for what other opportunities they were. One of them was making tofu, which the aid groups would buy and give to pregnant women in the camp hospital and, or as part of and as part of their food rations. And so you thought, I can make tofu, and she just sort of like squeezes her way in and starts working for someone making tofu and then sort of squeezes her way out of that and starts making tofu for herself. And then it the rest of her life is really just this little bit of she'll just see an opening and slide into it and go from there and then take what she builds there, build a little more over here. Her husband used to tease her that she was has this insatiable desire for more. And she, she just sort of like froze up her hands when he teases her about that and she's like I just I just do I just like I you know at the edge of she has this enormous rice field. She's like five acres that she's growing by hand at a certain point in the book, and all along the edge of it she's growing other vegetables and fruit that need taking care of. And she's just, she's growing out to the road, and she just hasn't this. Yeah, this insatiable desire so there's that, that sense of sheer survival mixed with ambition and desire. Yeah, I guess tools, tools I have. Yeah, you had asked about tools that the tools are. I asked grit and seeing the opening and not backing down and enduring my God that the, you know, it can be 110 degrees out in Fresno and she's still out there, weeding the rice. There isn't, I have yet to witness a circumstance where she stops working. I mean, and you know that's, it's not so much a tool as it is mindset perseverance it's like there, there isn't anything but perseverance for her I guess. Yeah, no I mean that makes sense. And so your conversations with yeah we're not happening in English, right because she doesn't speak English. So you're working with an interpreter, Laura, you said with her name. Yeah. Can you talk about some of the challenges that arose in reporting this book out you know across languages through interpreters and translators. Yeah, yeah. Well, it was challenging. It's not the first time that I have reported in or reported on someone who speaks a language that I don't and doesn't speak the language that I speak, but never for this length of time. I just give a shout out to Laura because in some ways she should be listed as the co author of this book she and I were together for years and she's an absolutely gifted interpreter, both of language. I mean just her own perseverance and endurance in that 110 degree heat going from long to English English to long back and forth back and forth. And so her ability to translate culture and to, and to be really a sort of emotional bridge for Ea and me the three of us built up a relationship that allowed really a deep friendship to grow, and had lore not been there had been a different person as sort of like, you know, AI robot just giving us language between Ea and I would not have been able to to connect in a way that we did so I just want to recognize lore. I think one of the great challenges of doing this kind of work is that it, it takes a lot more time and effort and sort of steps to understand what someone is saying to you, and I think about the sort of layers of listening that developed through the process of reporting and writing this book so you know if I were writing about you Jill, I would say something to you, you would say it back to me and probably I would understand, or at least feel that I understood what you had said to me I might you know ask follow up questions and and talk about it more deeply but your words would just be your words and in this case of course there is the you know the first step of my saying something and Laura saying it to Ian and he is saying it back to Laura and then Laura saying it back to me so it's not that layer, but every conversation that we had I recorded, and all of those conversations were transcribed so this is hundreds of hours of conversations transcribed. So that then there's another layer where I can go back and I can read what each of us said and think a little more closely about what was said there. I often I would go back to Laura, and we would listen to the audio again over the phone, and she would reinterpret this time simultaneously rather than in chunks. She would interpret simultaneously and so I would get sometimes some new information sometimes just confirmation that Laura was amazing in the first round. And other times I would go. Sometimes at the same passages have a separate translator and do a written translation of the words, and the man who I worked with is particularly adept with the sort of layers of meaning that can exist in speech, particularly among elder mom. So there were all of those layers. And that's just sort of the first round of a story with these, you know, most of the stories in the book. I went back and spoke with you on multiple occasions. And so went through all of these layers over and over again so by the end of the reporting over all these years. And I remember it's it's such a rich and dynamic sort of landscape of information behind each piece. So, you know, all of these layers are why most journalists don't do this. It takes so much time it takes so much effort, effort, energy. It also takes a lot of resources and so another, it wasn't really a layer of understanding there was a layer of work that there was a fundraising component here to, to pay for mostly for Laura's interpreting but also for the travel, you know, we went to Laos three times and Laura and I. So paying for all those things I was an additional challenge. But again, you know, there are these. It's hard to to really go and talk to and more importantly listen to someone who doesn't speak your language. And as a result, you know so many people are left out of the news out of books. I don't think of yeah really even as being like on the sort of the, the margins of the media landscape she's outside of it. You know as telling to me that early on when before I met Ian I was just sort of trying to meet as many long women rice growers as I could. A lot of a lot of people were suspicious of me, thinking that I must be an agent of the government there undercover saying I was a journalist. Because as I was told several times, these women had never no non long person had ever shown any interest in them, they had never tried to speak to them, never asked them what they thought or what their story was. And so I was, I was a real anomaly in that way. So. Yeah, I mean I could go on challenges of the process but I think that, yeah, that getting to understanding. It took a lot of work but I am what was so meaningful for me was to be able to, because it, you know, writing this book required spending so much time together and talking so deeply. It really built up a deep friendship, again, and, and a new sort of intimate place to write from, which is where I most like to write from, and not someone who zooms in gets the story and writes it up and moves on. And that outsiderness, yeah, and her community being outside of the media apparatus right because it's so there are so many challenges to reaching them. She's outside in sort of two different directions right media is not reaching her but she's also not and members of her community are also not able to consume the kind of media that's produced in English about their community right. Yeah, a lot of other among people, if they don't speak English won't be able to read the book. And I mean the same is true about so many books that aim to start conversations about marginalized and non English speaking groups. So, I mean what kind of questions does this raise about what it means that people can't directly engage with works that are about their communities and their lives. And what are you doing specifically to try to make sure that the people that this book is about can actually access it. Yeah, it's such an important point Jill. You know I would, I would actually start by saying that it's important to to, I guess, make the addendum to what I said before the, you know, is outside of the media landscape that I'm a part of. There is a whole long language media landscape that you know there are television shows and a lot of YouTube shows and a lot of innovative forms of communication and news gathering and new sharing that I don't have access to that I'm not side of so it's important to establish that. It's true that, you know, the, the, the media landscape that we hear when new America are part of is is pretty separate from the moan community and so I recognize from the start that, you know, from the really the first day that I went to a farm and Fresno, I came with the understanding that I was a visitor, and there, you know, there are kinds of reporting that where the journalist is, you know, goes in like the FBI, and you just, you know, wail on the door and barge in or you like squeeze in through a crack and there's information and that's vital reporting. I mean that is so important, but that is not what this is.  I came in and I just sat and listened, and it sounds maybe a little simplistic but I think for me at least when I'm reporting about some person, people experience that isn't my own. The most important thing to do is just simply to listen more than you talk, and to sort of put my own, my own perspective or my own worldview at the door and just enter into the world that I've been invited into and just watch and and try to understand. The, you know, one of the challenges that came up between Ia and Laura and me in my writing this book is that Ia does not read in any language, and she just doesn't have experience with books it's not a part of her life. She just has roots in part in that Hmong is pretty much as far as anyone can remember a an oral language. You know this, the stories are that there was once a written language but it was lost when the mall were displaced from their original homeland in what is now China. Really up until the 1950s, there wasn't a working written language for Hmong and so books are don't hold the same place in Ia's world as they do in mine. And so, along the way, I had a lot of conversations about what it meant for her to be telling me her story and trusting me with that story that I was going to put in a book, because, you know, when it came down to it and I was describing the book through the fact checking process. She was, you know, I was saying, you know, this is what happens in chapter one and sort of giving the lay of the land and she didn't know what a chapter was, because she's never read a book. And so, excuse me. A lot of conversations were had along the way between us and making sure that she felt comfortable in the process and that she understood what the consequences could be of telling me very intimate stories. And giving her, you know, agency to say this is not for the book. But what the conversation came back to every time was, Ia said, listen, Lisa, I trust you. And for me, that's what that's what I sort of held as I navigated my own way through this, but pretty complex position. I knew that he had trusted me, and that it was my role to honor that trust and to respect her through the process. And as long as I was keeping that respect at the forefront, and I was letting that sort of guide me through the process. You know, we found our way. So here we are with the book published, which is really exciting for me. I love this book. I'm so proud of it. And I'm so happy that Ia's story is now told to at least part of the world. But it breaks my heart that the number one most important person to read it cannot. So I've, I vowed that I would find a way, again, raising more money, and that I would find a way to have the book translated into mall and recorded as an audio book, so that Ia could listen to it of course first listener but then you know I hope other people and women like her who have had, you know, parallel experiences similar experiences can access that audio book and, you know, hear themselves represented in some way. That's when when Ia finally listens to the book. That's when the process for me will be complete. And it's still a ways off but I'm working on it. And is there a way for people on this conversation today to support that effort? You know I have, I have, I have not been doing small amount donations but certainly anyone, if there's anyone out there who's interested they certainly can contact me through my website there's a form there. My website is Lisa and Hamilton.com. And, and yeah, I would love what, you know, donations but also if people are interested and have ideas about how to make this happen it is a it's, that would take a whole another whole webinar to explain the complexities of this process but it's fascinating and it's worthwhile and yeah I welcome any kind of support. It's good but important. Yeah. Well, Lisa, those are all of my questions I now want to turn to audience Q&A is focus can still submit those if they have anything you're curious to ask Lisa. So we have a question. Asking a bit about your perspective it says you are a writer as well as a photographer. Can you tell us more about your creative process for each pursuit. How does your approach differ when choosing a subject to focus on? Well, you know, I think being a photographer does play a role. I do make a lot of photographs along the way and I use those in the, in the course of writing, I turn back to my photographs often but I think I also sort of look as a photographer in a way that I, it's sort of an added dimension to looking as a writer, seeing the just exactly what is on the floor of the shed at the farm, and seeing the way that the different pieces interact and then if just a pile of trash or noticing the way that the light changes through the course of the day at the farm. That certainly plays a role and because you know because the photographs aren't published in the book, I have to find a way to write those things. And that's always been a part of my process. Finding the story. I can't remember the exact wording of the question, but in terms of finding a story, I'm, I go through the world, looking and listening and there are 10, if not 20 times as many stories that I find that then I'm able to write. I don't know, I don't know Jill I mean how do you find a story it's like when you're at you go through the world.  I have, I have a firm belief that anybody out there could be a book. You know there could, I know that's a weird way to say it but that, you know I could walk out onto the street right now and walk up to the first person I met and if there were enough time, and enough sort of intimacy that everybody has a story, it's a sort of revealing it and putting it in context and really understanding someone. So, that is to say, you know I've approached the world just to always hearing stories, listening for stories and I guess some just rise to the top. Some come up to me and say, listen to this, like you did. A bit of a related question. You said that the book ended up being very different than you initially envisioned it, and then it took twists and turns. What was that like, and how did you meet those changes. Well, I mean, you know initially it was a book about rice and boy I'm glad that it was not because you know what's exciting for me about this book is really the story and the way that it moves from beginning to end rice is a sort of impossible story it's there are a million stories they're sort of at you know as many stories about rice as there are people who grow it. So, but it was initially, it was hard to let go of that initial idea that I had written down and actually sold to a publisher and I had the incredible luck to, or good fortune or whatever it was synergy to have found an editor who believed in following the story. Vanessa Mobley at Little Brown, who was the editor I worked with first she eventually left and I worked with another editor Alex Littlefield who is equally wonderful in just two different complimentary editors but Vanessa said, stay with it. And it's okay if your deadline passes. And it's okay if your deadline passes again, and we'll just put it off because you're, you're feeling something you see something and you know, one of the challenges of that is that a book that I was, you know, sort of contracted to write in two years became like added on an additional five. It took a real toll on my own health. My family really took a hit. They're wonderful to support me through this. But I guess I just I, you know, but I traveled to Fresno so often that there was this sort of joke among my friends that I had a secret family in Fresno, which I do not but but in a way I really did marry myself to this project. And I was, I reached a point where there was no way I was going to turn back even as the years started adding up. And I think any creative person, you know, Jill, I see you not in your head I mean this is when you feel it you just go there and no matter what it takes and no matter how long it takes so it was not easy, but I had a lot of support along the way, and I'm glad that I was able to to follow and you know I will say one last thing which is the book that I would have written if I'd stayed within my contract two years would have been, you know I talked about those layers of understanding on a sort of micro level but on a macro level there are so many layers of understanding of Iya's experience who she is, what matters to her and and also how she has changed over time just in the course of my knowing her. And I hate to even think of the book that I would have written in two years because it would have just been sort of a slice off the top of that really, really deep layered understanding of who she is. So I feel so fortunate that I got to stick with it and know her with the depth that I do. I have a few really interesting questions so I'm going to ask you one that I think we'll have a short answer so we can get to know what makes this particular rice so special to the Hmong people, and can you taste its difference from other rice. The very quick answer is that these seeds are all brought from Laos in different ways and and sort of adapted to being grown here in California in Georgia in North Carolina in Oklahoma all over the country. But they are Hmong rice so they're coming from relatives in Laos and being planted here so that's the first step but the second step is that this rice is roasted, and it has a long history of being, you know, the title of the book is the hungry season and what the hungry season is is that period of time between when last year's rice harvest, last year's rice crop has all been eaten, and before this year's rice can be harvested so this is period of sometimes months when you don't have your staple food and you're really longing for rice out of hunger but also for a lot of other reasons and so back in the day. So there would be a little bit of the harvest that was that was picked just a little bit green. And so that you could start eating rice sooner. And that rice was roasted over a fire, and what it did was there still the sugars in the rice that haven't yet changed to starch. Through a myriad reaction, and it's almost like caramelizing, but it's so much more complex. That is the rice that you use to offer to the ancestors to sort of open the door to the rice harvest and it's a momentous event every year. And as we talked about, as you know, the people who fled Laos crossed over the Mekong River they sort of severed this relationship to farming, because they weren't allowed to farm on the on the other side of the river, and lost this farming but also of having this moment each year when you have the new harvest when you feed the ancestors with it, and then you begin to feed yourself with it. And that's what is happening in Fresno now is growing this rice she's roasting it and giving people in the community the opportunity to eat this particular rice again, and have that experience again. I have eaten this rice now for many years, it is markedly different from any rice that I feel pretty confident, unless there are people out there who have eaten this rice, it's very different. It has an incredible aroma when you cook it that fills the house. I keep it in the freezer because I can't eat it fast enough, and I want it to stay fresh and when I pull it out of the freezer and let it sit and come to room temperature it already has the aroma even without cooking it. And tasting it, I, I smell it more than I taste it, but the, you can feel the sort of you can taste the like sort of nutty overtones. For me, it's the texture of the rice that's so soft, it's it's become comforting to me, this rice. So, I don't want to, I don't want to play it up too much because it's really hard to get out of your hands on and maybe if there are some foodies in the audience they want to try it and good luck. Making me hungry. Yeah, sorry. Well, unfortunately, I think we are just about out of time. If we didn't get to your questions, I apologize. But some of them are actually answered in Lisa's book. So, it is wonderful. It is the hungry season, a journey of war, love, and survival. You can buy it anywhere books are sold or through New America's partner solid state books. And that link should also be on the event page for this event. Lisa, thank you so much for writing this for such a beautiful and important projects, and for having this conversation today. Thank you Jill.


Meredith, if you can unmute. If there's anything new with Masahiro Tanaka today? No, you know, just taking it slow. He's doing well, but not much to report on activity-wise. Any indication from Sessa or LaMahew if they may be arriving soon? No indication yet. As far as Garrett Cole is concerned, Luke Boych has spoke about how he stepped into the batter's box against him the other day and he looked like he was essentially in mid-season form. What have you seen from him not only throwing with him, but just at the stadium as well? Yeah, that. I mean, he's been, you know, able to get a lot of quality work in. I feel like while we've been while we've been away, you know, so, you know, obviously was was able to throw three innings or three ups in the in the sim game the other day and was able to drive his pitch count up. So he's he's been sharp. The stuff has been really good, even on the most benign day, you know, where we're just working on some things. So I do feel like he's in a really good spot right now in his progression and excited to see him take another step tonight. Yesterday before the game, Miguel Andujar was out early, taking some reps at third base. What's the plan for him now? I know in spring training, you had talked about using him perhaps in the outfield, but that situation has probably maybe changed a little bit. Not really.  So we'll kind of move him back and forth. He's been getting his defensive work in the outfield as well. I believe as two days ago, he did all of his, you know, all of when we're out doing our defensive work, he did his stuff with the outfielders. So he's he's balancing between the two. I think part of that early work yesterday was just coming off a day where he had some outfield work. He wanted to get some extra reps, especially with the rain coming yesterday. So he continues to work at both spots and we continue to be excited about him in his ability to play the corners in the outfield, but also obviously a third. We could take our next question from Sweeney Murdy. Sweeney, go ahead and unmute. Hey, Aaron, two things real quick. The exhibition games that came out today, the first one is five days before your opener, will you look to use Cole in that first game so we can face other hitters? We'll see, you know, we've talked about that a little bit, he and I, but we haven't settled on that. It just depends on, you know, where what we put the premium on. If we feel like he's getting quality work in and we want to have that six day, for instance, going into his first start, we'll just see how these how the progression continues to happen. And that'll be a conversation that we have. And and a and a decision that will make closer to that date. And regarding Aaron, judge, can you clarify something on his timeline? He said yesterday that he started swinging a couple of weeks, maybe a month ago. Was he held back from swinging that long because he was still healing or were you just waiting for the anticipation of the season before you start ramping? Yeah, you know, I think in a lot of ways it timed up kind of perfectly. It worked out really well. So we're certainly waiting because because we wanted that the bone to heal properly. So timing wise, I feel like it kind of worked out. You know, they started the progression, which which was obvious. It started from him swinging in a pool to doing dry swings and stuff. You know, at a point that they deemed it was safe for him to start doing that. And it kind of just has coincided with it working out perfectly to this point, as far as where we are in camp and when the opening day is going to be. Take the next question from Kenny David off. Kenny, you can unmute. You're all right. Not no unmute. You got to unmute Kenny. I think it's something with the post, man. There we go. We got action. You guys got to have some zoom training over there at the post. I don't know what that was. Aaron, just with Tanaka, is it a matter of you don't slot him in for a spot until he's back doing things? Obviously, concussions, as we know, are so unpredictable and day by day. Yeah. Yeah. And I just I just don't want to get into speculating too much day in and day out. The reality is he's he's doing well. He's responded well, but we also want to be incredibly careful with this and make sure he's checking all the boxes while he's in concussion protocol. And just regarding the exhibition games of the announcement today, just the excitement for that next step and then get a little subway series, which you typically don't play that often in Florida. Yeah. Yeah, we're we're excited. You know, it's to work out to be able to have a few games. I think is is something that's important and something that, you know, we put a little value a lot of value on, but to be able to have it here in our in our home city to have a couple of games. You know, it's something that certainly we'll look forward to. And and hopefully, you know, for us, it'll be something that gives us a really good tune up heading into the regular season. Thanks, Aaron. Take the next question from James Wagner. James, go ahead. Hey, Aaron. Well, I know the last few months, like when people were looking at ways to change the game for this season, it just was an opportunity for people just to broadly to discuss like things that could be improved about the game. So this is just unrelated to whether it's a rule that they put in place for this year or just in general. Is there anything that during that that you would want to change about baseball or the way it's played? Just an opportunity. And again, like the last few years, looking at many different things to improve it, whether it's something on the field or the way it's played or just in general, that you always want to change? No, there's not necessarily. You know, I got a lot of a lot of feedback from my my run rule comment last year that that people took and ran with a little bit. I would say this, you know, in a lot of ways, I'm traditional and love the game and love how it's always been. But I also feel like when good ideas come down the pipe that, you know, I'm open to it. And, you know, I think along the way you have some good ideas that that stick and take hold that that are for the betterment of our game and some things that that don't necessarily work out. But I'm usually open to trying some things if if they're not too radical in the immediate. Eric Boland, you have the next question. You can go ahead and unmute. Aaron, news came out today that on the 20th anniversary of 9 11, you guys will be playing the Mets at City Field. And I'm just wondering what's your reaction to that? Wow, I didn't. Yeah, I didn't consider that. And that's next year, Aaron, just so you know. Well, all right, that'll be next year. Yeah.  That's something I can't imagine how emotional and how powerful of an event that could be. You know, knowing, you know, when when when I was a player going through that, I was with the Cincinnati Reds and I just knew just remembering back to how impactful it was for us, you know, when it when it occurred, we happened to be in Chicago and then just coming back at the end of the season and playing those games and kind of watching from afar, you know, the Mets, Mike Piazza vs Braves game that that just was so emotional, obviously, you know, and then obviously the the amazing World Series that went on and the in the games here in the Bronx and in the World Series. I would imagine, especially all that we have gone through this year, maybe adding another layer of just how potentially powerful and emotional of a of a game and a day and an event that might be. It's it's something that hopefully, you know, we're all a part of and it and it it'll get the magic that it deserves. Thank you. Take the next question from Kristi Acker. Kristi. Hi, Aaron, I'm just curious. I know that we're in a situation that this is the best that anyone can do. But having your hitters face your pitchers during spring training so much. Is there any what are the benefits of it? One and what would be the concerns you would have about having that happen? I don't know. Honestly, I don't know that I'm overly concerned.  What level of live BP? What level of inner squad game? And I do feel like by and large, our guys have have come in here very much ready to kind of hit the ground running in that regard and that respect. And so I just think there's incredible value to, you know, our pitchers facing real hitters in real situations because we we are in a situation where we're now, you know, just over two weeks out from from playing for real and then also the hitters. And you know, you always hear about timing and it's so important and to get live reps as many as possible and while trying to kind of be creative and smart about how we build up their legs in the field and running the bases and things like that. But I do feel like we're ready from a pitching standpoint and a hitting standpoint to see live pitching. So we're going to try and take advantage of that as much as we can. Thank you. Brendan, Cuddy, you can unmute. You have the next question. Hey, Aaron, you guys are about two weeks from opening day, maybe three weeks from meeting a fifth starter with wanting to be careful with Massahiro.  I mean, we haven't dove in that much. We feel really good about a lot of the options that we do have, a lot of our depth. You know, we feel like, you know, and I talked a lot in spring about especially a lot of our younger guys that have now appeared on our 40 man that, you know, in theory might be a little ways away. So we feel like our depth of pitchers now from from the 12th and 13th pitcher on on on a team to all the way. Now our 15th and 16th, but our 20th, 21st, 22nd pitchers, you know, we feel like are potentially capable of of of getting important outs for us. So, you know, we haven't made any decisions by any means. You know, these are important days to evaluate where guys are. But I do feel like we'll have good options as we get closer to to be as creative as we have to be to try and be a great club. Thank you. We'll take a couple more. Brian Hoke, if you can unmute, you can ask the next question. Hey, just to follow up on what Cuddy just asked, do you think a four man rotation could work? How would that work for you? Um, not in the sense of four guys and then, you know, number one goes again on the on the fourth or on the fifth day, you know, no, I don't think that's an option. Now we we may get creative depending if we had to be, you know, obviously we did a lot of situations out of necessity last year with openers and and things like that. So obviously to start the season, you're going to have 30 players. So you're going to have more pitching to choose from. So there may be days in there where you do get a little creative, where it's a bullpen day or, you know, you try and maximize your roster as best as possible and put guys in positions to where they can really impact the game on a given day. So those are things we'll explore, talk about. And, you know, hopefully I feel good that will be in a good situation just because I have a lot of confidence in the depth of our pitching right now. We'll take a last one from Bob Clappish. Bob, go ahead and unmute. Boney, can you hear me? Yeah. How are you? Good. I'm just wondering now, after having seen Cole Pitch and Spring Training and again now in summer camp, obviously you competed against them in the bar. But I wonder if you've learned over time over these last couple months what makes him such a unique talent. And it's obviously not just talent. There's more to his craft than that. What is it about him that enhances the skill that he brings to the matter in terms of his work ethic or how much he studies pitching itself? What do you see about him that separates him from other pitchers? Yeah, maybe partly his intelligence and his aptitude and his ability to throughout his career, you know, be able to make adjustments, you know, from being the first pick to going and being an outstanding pitcher with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but kind of evolving into an even greater pitcher when he went to Houston, the ability to change some things from a from a repertoire standpoint. But when you all and I think he really understands his body and how to get himself in great shape and and not only to be, you know, enhance all his physical qualities on the mound, but also has allowed him to, you know, stay relatively healthy and strong. I think he understands himself in that way really well.


What up everybody? I'm Joe for jatsby's casewrake.com doing a random number block random number block random number block Randomizer for this big group of teams right here that unlocks pick your team 10 and Tonight only we're giving away a spot. So big thanks to this group for making it happen So name on top after the check Name on top after 11 we'll get an extra spot 1 2 3 4 5 6 And 11 the final time Nicholas congrats to you after 11 An extra spot will buy one get one scenario here for you Now I can randomize you a number You and everyone else All right, another dice roll five and a two seven times her names and numbers one two three four five six and seven Nicholas down to Brandon five and a two seven times for the numbers one two three four Five six and seven. Good luck everybody three down to two Now remember zero gets any and all redemption for that big group of teams Including one of one redemptions keep that in mind one you'll still get live one of ones Nike swooshes NFL shield That's where stuff if they're live if they're live, you'll get those Nicholas with three nine Riley with seven Nicholas with zero you also have one so mood point there Robert with eight Brandon with four Robert with six and five Brandon with two Let's order these numerically and coming up in the next video Will be the break? Itself, so we'll see you for that a little bit later. Jasper's case breaks calm. Bye. Bye


Hey, this is Brett, and this 2015 Chevrolet SS is stock number 13101Z. I'm here at Summit Automotive in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, your new and used sports car headquarters. This 2015 Chevrolet SS has the 6.2 liter V8 gas engine. It puts out 415 horsepower, 415 foot-pounds of torque. This car has been fully-safetyed and inspected by our service shop. Has a fresh oil and filter change. All the fluids have been checked and topped off, and this car is 100% ready to go. I'm going to go all the way around in this video inside, start it up, take a look under the hood, take a look inside the trunk, and just go over it really good for you. Phantom Black Metallic is the color. I shoot all my videos in 4K, so if you have HD capabilities on your computer, tablet, smartphone, or television, I highly recommend turning them on right now because it is your best way to check out the quality, condition options, and cleanliness of the vehicle before seeing it in person. If you like the video and how I do things here at Summit Automotive, consider clicking the subscribe button to my YouTube channel in the lower right hand part of the screen. Click the bell notifications, you'll get updates every time I do the videos of our sports cars here. This one comes with the 19-inch polished aluminum rims. It has the Brembo brakes on there, and the brake rotors look like they're in really nice shape. On here we have Bridgestone Potenza 245-40R19 tires, and these tires have, I would say probably right around half the tread left, maybe just a tick under. Front fender is in nice shape, I didn't see any major dents or dings on there. It does come with the HID headlamps, we'll turn those on at the end of the video, and the factory fog lights so you can see just how nice and bright they are. This one does have the front bumper parking sensors, bumpers in pretty nice shape. Grille is in nice condition as well. This is a version of the Holden Commodore VF model. Chevy's Australian brand, so it's kind of a neat car. Passengers side front fender looks really good, the hood looked really good, I didn't see any dents or dings on there. And the passengers side front fender is in excellent shape. Passengers side rim is in pretty nice condition. There are just a couple little, like where it looks like maybe the clear is coming off a little bit on there, but I got a surprise in just a second that I'm going to show you. But that's probably the least nice rim on the car, but there is a surprise. So as you go down this side of the car, take note of how clean that body is, how reflective and mirror like that paint is. I take these HD videos, so if you are far away, or even if you're close by and you just cannot make the trip down, but you're still interested in purchasing the car, you can see the car, hear the car, and have confidence in the vehicle that you're looking at before you even get here. So when you do get here, there's absolutely no surprises and you can make a smart and informed buying decision from wherever you're at. And if this video helps you make that buying decision, let your salesman know that you saw the video, that it was helpful, and that Brett sent you. This back rim is in really nice shape. Didn't see any scuffs or scrapes on there. And the back tires have just about as much tread as the front tires. I wish I could show you a little bit better underneath, but that's about as good as I can do with the gimbal. Coming around to the back of the vehicle, rear bumper is in nice shape. It does have the dual rear exhaust. You do get the rear bumper parking sensors. The trunk lid is in nice shape as well. And first off, take a look at how big this trunk is. It is huge, very, very big. But here's the surprise. This car comes with a full-size spare tire and rim. And that rim is very, very nice condition. So even though that front one isn't the nicest, that one is in very nice condition. And it's a matching spare tire too. The tire matches the rest of them. So very clean back there. And that's the surprise. Coming down to the driver's side, just as clean as that passenger side. Rear quarter looks pretty good. It does have one little ding right there. It's really the only major one I saw on the car. The back rim here is in pretty nice shape as well. And as you go down the rest of this side of the car, the doors look really good. It does come with blind spot monitoring.  You get the suede center inserts as well as the back inserts there. There are no rips. There are no tears. Look really good. Power driver's seat, factory floor mats throughout. This one does have auto headlamps, heads-up display.  Memory driver's seat, Bose sound system. We'll hop inside, check out the miles, the radio, and everything that this car has to offer on the interior. So you can see that this one has 39,455 miles. You do get a compass display. And this one does have a digital speedometer. This one has forward collision warning, lane departure, leather-wrapped steering wheel. You get the thumb pads. The Bluetooth and audio controls are right there. And it does have a flat bottom steering wheel. So that's pretty cool too. This one has the Chevy MyLink system. You get AM FM and Sirius XM radio capabilities. It does have the factory navigation system on it. And this is also where your backup camera shows up. And I'll show you that once we start the car. Heated and cooled seat buttons, dual climate controls. Your six-speed automatic transmission. You have your different driving modes that you can select, parking sensors, blind spot. I'm guessing that's what that is.  You get the suede wrap dash as well. The SS stitched into that dash. Passenger side seat, no rips or tears on there. Smells very clean inside this vehicle. It does have the on-star and SOS capabilities, map lights. And this one does have a power sunroof. The headliner is in pretty nice shape. And we'll take a quick look at the back seats and then we'll start it up and take a look under the hood. We'll also check out those HID lights. The back seats are just as clean as the front seats. No rips or tears back here. And it does have the latch child safety system for any child car seats you may have. And it does have a center pass through to the trunk. Factory floor mats back here. And the carpeting is very nice and clean.  All right, we'll start it up. Take a look under the hood. We'll check out those lights. Starts right up. There are no check engine lights or anything like that. Other than that, it's telling me the hood's open. You get your digital speedometer there as well. I would personally like to thank you for checking out the video today. And hopefully from this HD video, you'll have been able to verify the quality, condition options and cleanliness of this car all the way around inside and out. There are those HID headlamps, the factory fog lights, and they are all working nicely. Under the hood, we have the 6.2 liter V8 engine, 415 horsepower, 415 foot pounds of torque. Engine bay is very clean, runs very smooth. Once again, this car has been fully safe and inspected by our service shop has a fresh oil and filter change all the fluid tab and check and topped off. Shock is doing a nice job holding that up. And this car is 100% ready to go. There is a badge that comes on here as your VIN and axle and AC stuff information. There's your emissions sticker. Just a really cool car. Phantom black metallic, really cool color. And just a really neat rear ride. And to see more pictures of this car, one of brother 450, new and used cars, trucks, SCVs, minivans, Wranglers, sports cars, SS's, Camaros, Challengers, Chargers, Corvettes, Mustangs, GT500s, you name it. We got to go to that website right there summitauto.com. Full pictures and descriptions of every single vehicle from two locations all at summitauto.com. And if you'd like to check out more HD videos, you can go to youtube.com slash summitauto. Remember to like, subscribe, and share on this video and all the videos that you see there. Click the bell notifications, you'll get updates on the videos I do each and every day here at Summit Auto. In fact, in a second, you'll see a link to subscribe to my YouTube channel in the upper left. A link to more sports car videos like this one in the upper right. Link to this vehicle on our website in the lower left. And a link to one of our latest YouTube videos in the lower right. Click those, check us out. And we're super excited to help you with this ultra clean 2015 Chevy SS in Phantom black metallic. Thanks again for checking out the video. Remember to like, subscribe, and share on my YouTube channel. I really appreciate it.


Live from Denver, Colorado, it's theCUBE.  Hey, welcome back to theCUBE, Lisa Martin with Stu Miniman. We are covering Commvault Go 19 in Colorado, day two of our coverage, and we're excited to welcome a successful Commvault customer to theCUBE. We have, from the main stage this morning, Matthew Magme, data center director of Sonic Healthcare, Matthew, welcome. Thank you for having me. This is so exciting. Oh, getting more excited to have you.  I am a customer champion. I've kind of pride myself on that for the last few years. I like to get involved in the community and kind of help the other newcomers to Commvault as well as better my understanding and try to give the guys on the other end a support line of break. So before we dig into Sonic and what you guys are doing and how you're working with Commvault, give our audience an overview of Sonic Healthcare, what you guys do, where you're based, all that good background stuff. Okay, so I work for Sonic Healthcare USA, so that's obviously in the United States. We are an anatomical and clinical pathology laboratory company. We are based west coast, central, and east coast of the United States, and we work with hospital's doctor's office to provide quick and reliable laboratory results. So this is patient data. Yes. We think of data, as I'm sure you do as well, it's the lifeblood, it's the new oil, it's all the things right that you hear. It's the new bacon. It's the new bacon, is that, was that your quote? No, that was actually from Commvault last year. Yeah, they had teachers last year with that. You bacon. Yeah, data's the new bacon. Well, it's critical, you know, regardless of comparing it to bacon, I do like that. But it's also, the proliferation of it is really hard to manage. Tell us a little bit about the IT environment at Sonic. You guys have been using Commvault for about four years, but give us an overview of what you were working with before and how, what maybe some of the compelling events were. So coming on board with Sonic, the Commvault rollout was relatively new. We didn't, I didn't really come into a pre-existing environment. It was like, okay, this is what we're going to use. I need you to learn it, run with it, make sure that it works right. And, you know, coming from other companies that had different software applications, I was always in charge of the disaster curve. It's always been kind of like a beating heart for me. You're the DR guy. It is, and apparently it's really hard to find someone who's excited about backups. So, it's like, yes, please take it. So, coming in and being able to mold this application to kind of how I wanted it was a little, like touch and go at first, because we had people out of our overseas office that were handling already, and they kind of set the stage of how they wanted it to go. But, you know, things changed, and we got to kind of move things as we go. But, I kind of owe a lot to them to kind of really introducing me to Combo. So, Matthew, one of the things that we've really enjoyed talking about at this show is everybody's ready. They're born ready, they know what they're doing, but it's preparing for when things do fail. So, you talked a little bit on stage about some of those times when things fail, and how today you're able to be here, and you're, the other person in the DR group is here, and you're not worried about being away from the office, and, you know, having, you know, I guess it's not a pager anymore, but getting that call that they need to be there. I still have my cell phone, but, yeah.  So, we are always trying different things. You know, Combo does offer a wide array of different solutions they have for plans, and one of them is their Active Directory plan, and I'm leaning towards this, because this is my most recent failure, is, you know, we were just, I've always had issues with Active Directory testing the failover, and my first attempt at it was a failure. But I learned so much off the bat that I'm actually comfortable now that there might be a few tweaks that we have to do, but worst case scenario, we'd definitely be able to get it back online without any issue. But, if we would have gone into it without testing, without that failure, who knows what could have happened. It could have been just a resume generating event, you know. Well, so you, Stu alluded to it, and what you mentioned in the keynote, is, hey, my other, only other DR guy is here in the audience. So, I actually, I have a team, a data center team, and we're all in charge, it's eight people, and we're in charge of the disaster recovery, but the other gentleman who's with me is the only other one who's done a lot of the Commvault training. He comes to, he's been to all three Commvaults, goes with me, and he's probably, if I'm not around, he's the next in line to take that. So, if there's a major issue, it would be one of us that they would contact, but we're both here. And you're both here, well that actually speaks volumes. It does, and we're comfortable, and we've been checking email for things, but everything's smooth sailing so far. I think I saw a quote from you, I think it was in a video where you said before it was like having a newborn baby. Absolutely, absolutely. I used to check, sign in, it's like 10 o'clock every single night, for the first year that I worked for signing, because I was petrified. Because I knew that I was backing stuff up, but I don't know, was it still running? Was it still being backed up? Did it pause? Was it causing performance issues on the other end? There were so many what ifs, and I was a mess. I was a nervous wreck constantly. Work until one or two in the morning, and then go to bed, and then eagerly get up, and start checking stuff, even before I left the house. I was like, oh, okay, that finished. But now it's like, yeah, I know it finished. Not worried about it. Matthew, I think back to early in my career, it was the dreaded backup window. When am I going to be able to get that in there? Can I finish the backup in the window that I have? And we've mostly gotten beyond that, but there's so many new things now. We were just talking with Sandy Hamilton, who was on stage before you, about some of that automation. And I'm like, automation sounds good, but there's got to be a little bit of fear. It's like talking about texting. I said, we've all texted the wrong thing, or the wrong person, or the wrong person. So tell us your thoughts about how automation is impacting your world, and how convoluted it is. Believe it or not, I actually have very little automation workflow running through Commvault right now. A lot of the stuff that we do automation-wise lies on the VMware side. So that's been good. I haven't really implemented it a lot, just because I personally am not comfortable with it yet. I'm not against it.  I'm still like, oh, no, this could be better. This could be better. This could be better. So until I'm 100% comfortable with that, I think we'll just leave it at a semi-automated task. I'm just sorry, is that something down the road that you're looking at? Oh absolutely, like even sitting in Keynote yesterday and listening about the Alexa automation and SMS tax, I liked writing in a piece of paper to test that, because it's something that I've always wanted, and ever since Commvault go last year, when they were using Alexa, to check SLA and RPO and RTO, I'm like, I want to be able to do that. So it's definitely down the road, but it's on a back burner right now. So give us a landscape view, distributed organization, you talked about, you're based in the US, but all of the different clinics and organizations that you work with, are you living in this multi-cloud world? So we are pretty much a zero cloud initiative company. Really? Yeah, I'm actually trying to work on a slogan, no cloud, zero cloud and proud or something like that, but I'm not 100% sure. It's definitely not out of the question, but with FedRAMP compliancy and HIPAA, there's just a lot of regulation between the day that we have for the US that transmits back and forth, let's say Australia or Ireland or something like that. There's certain regulations that we have to deal with, and in the cloud, there's very few options of where you can actually have those servers. So right now, on-prem is kind of our jam. So as a lot of organizations are going through FedRAMP certification, I was just at one of Dell's events the other week, they're going through it, I know some other like e-signature companies are doing it, a lot of companies are. Are you paying attention to that? Is that something that you think in the future might provide more confidence? To be completely transparent, it's something I should be paying more attention to that I really haven't really done as much research as I should have, and I take full responsibility for that, but at the same time, there's a lot of other things going in the US until we implement something of that nature. I don't really think that I'm really too concerned about it, so yeah. Matthew, you've been to a few of these events. Yes, this is my third one. Last year, there was a lot of talk about the coming change, and this year, a lot of new faces, new products, headache, metallic. Yeah, so I want to get your impression on the executive changes, some of the, are you seeing any indications of organizational changes in the products? What I'm seeing is I'm seeing new life to a product that I've always been told is a dinosaur, which I kind of laugh because I'm like, well, this dinosaur is doing things that the latest and greatest things aren't really doing, so to see this new life, the new rebranding of the logo, the new leadership, the new acquisitions and everything, it's just like feeding fuel to the fire that is Commvaal, and I'm pretty excited. I will say that I'm a little bit more excited about the new additions to orchestrate and activate since stuff like Metallic won't really be implementing just because of our business practices, but. Let's talk about it in our last few minutes here, because I actually talked about some of the new technologies with orchestrate, activate yesterday and today, but in terms of support, we just had, as Stu mentioned, we just interviewed Sandy Hamilton, and she's come on board in the last, I think she said four and a half months, owning professional services, systems engineering, support, customer success throughout the entire life cycle. Tell us a little bit in our closing minute or so about the support and training that you've gotten from Commvaal that give you the confidence for you and one of your other guys to be here and not tied to your phone. I don't think I'd still be with Commvaal if it wasn't for their support. I owe so much to their support. They've brought me through some pretty dark times with deployment, with troubleshooting, with failures, where I thought that I had things right and it just didn't work. I've called in at one in the morning, got great support, I've called in at 10 in the morning, got great support. Phenomenal follow up, their community impact, like their forums and their customer champion, so much just additional information that helps you not have to call in, not make you feel like that, oh, that failure. So I owe a lot to their support and their training because without it, I wouldn't be on stage. Yeah, I'm wondering if you could put a point on the forums and your participation as a customer champion.  I am. Why is that so important and how is the vibrancy of this community? Yeah, the information belongs to the world. The things that you learn, somebody taught me, so why shouldn't I teach somebody else? And if that makes someone else be able to go out and ride mountain bikes or cook with their daughter or do anything like that, then I'm all for it because it got me through all that. So, I mean, 10, 15 minutes on the customer forum to answer, oh yeah, I know that, I've seen that. I had a gentleman the first morning at breakfast, like I've had it taken open for two weeks and they can't figure it out and we worked together and actually got this problem solved. You know, and it was like the only reason is because I've seen that and I worked with Commvault and they showed me how to fix it and I retained that knowledge. That's awesome, Doug. Takes paying it forward to a whole new level. Absolutely. And it also speaks volumes about how you followed Jimmy Chin this morning and nailed it. I tried, it was very difficult, you know, I'm sure that, you know, why he was filming that solo climber, he was sweaty palms, that was definitely sweaty palm going out there. It was, well Matthew, what a pleasure to have you on the program. It was so much fun. Thank you, congratulations on your success and we look forward to hearing many more great things out of Sonic. Thank you. All right, first student minimum, I'm Lisa Martin, you're watching The Cube from Commvault Go, 19.


Welcome to The Commentaries, a podcast series from Tan in which you'll learn how to read and understand history's greatest Catholic works from today's greatest Catholic scholars. In every series of The Commentaries, your expert host will be your personal guide to not just read the book, but to live the book, shining the light of its eternal truths into our modern darkness. Visit tancommentaries.com to get your copy of the book and to subscribe for access to all the great reading plans, new episodes, bonus content and exclusive deals for listeners of The Commentaries. Hello, and welcome back. I'm Father Robert Nixon, a Benedictine mum and director of the Institute for Benedictine Studies at the Abbey of the Most Holy Trinity in New Norsia, Western Australia. This is The Commentaries series on the imitation of Christ, the great spiritual masterwork written by the venerable Thomas A. Kempis. Today is day 15 of our series of podcasts, and we'll be covering book 4, chapters 1-7, of the Tan edition of this amazing work. But before we delve into its contents, let's begin with a short prayer. And book 4 is focused upon the Blessed Sacrament, so fittingly, our prayer today will focus on the presence of Christ in that wonderful mystery. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. O Christ in bread and wine disguised, hidden from our earthly eyes, but present here in mystery, from death and sin, please set us free, grant us pure and true devotion, rule our senses, thoughts, emotions, let thy blood refresh our souls, let thy body make us whole. Amen. So, as I mentioned, book 4 of the four books which comprise the imitation of Christ deals with the Blessed Sacrament. And in the early days of printing, for the first few centuries after the Middle Ages, from the 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th centuries, there were many, many editions of the imitation of Christ. Now, many of the editions in Protestant countries actually left out this book on the Blessed Sacrament because, obviously, their theology and understanding didn't have the complete fullness of truth which the Catholic Church has, but it's an integral part of the book. So this whole process of self-denial and focus on interior things which Thomas Ackampus has been leading us through, leads us to something. It leads us to union with God himself, and this union takes place in a mystical and wonderful way through the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist. Chapter 1 of book 4 is entitled with how great reverence Christ is to be received. And this is talking about the great reverence and awe with which we should receive the Holy Sacrament. And it begins with the voice of Christ saying some words from Scripture, Come to me, all ye that labour and are burdened, and I shall refresh you. The bread that I will give you is my flesh for the life of the world. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me, and I in him. Now these words are pretty compelling evidence about the truth of the Catholic theology of the Eucharist. The true presence of Christ in the species of bread and wine, his body and blood which unites us with him mystically. And then we have a reflection upon how great and awesome this thing is, and how little worthy we are to receive it. And we read, in this sacrament is conferred spiritual grace, lost virtue is repaired in the soul, and beauty disfigured by sin returns again. And so great sometimes is this grace that from the abundance of the devotion that is bestowed, not only the mind, but the frail body also feels a great increase in strength. I've always been struck by that line, and by the truth of it, and I'm sure many of our listeners also, that in receiving the Eucharist we receive not only this spiritual renewal, not only this purification of our soul and mind and heart, but also a kind of physical strength, and this I think is not to be wondered at, because Christ was the incarnate Son of God. He was united with us, not only in his divinity, but also in our humanity. And in this sacrament we're united with him, fully both in humanity and divinity. But he regrets then that some people don't take that much regard of the sacrament. It is therefore much to be lamented that many esteem so lightly this saving mystery, which rejoices heaven and preserves the whole world, owe the blindness and hardness of the heart of man that does not, more highly prized, so unspeakable a gift, and from daily use falls into a disregard of it. This is something which I think we need always to be careful of, that we never come to take the awesome mystery of the Blessed Sacrament for granted, that familiarity never breeds contempt in us. Chapter 2 God's great goodness and charity are shown to man in this sacrament. And this I think the title is explanatory of the contents of the chapter, that this is a wonderful expression of the love, the charity of God and his mercy in being truly present with us, because we should remember that this sacrament commemorates not only the Last Supper, but also the sacrifice of Christ upon the altar of the cross. And in a mystical sense, every celebration of the Eucharist participates in this one saving sacrifice, and we read, Behold, you are the saint of saints, and I am the greatest of sinners.  Behold, you, come unto me, thou art willing to be with me, thou inviteest me to thy banquet. Thou will give me thy heavenly food, and the bread of angels to eat, no other verily than thyself, the living bread, who didst come down from heaven, and who gives life to the world. This I think is quite wonderful, this realisation of the ineffable awesomeness of the presence of God with us in this sacrament. And he willingly joins himself to us. He invites us lovingly to this banquet, as he said, Come to me all you who labour and are heavily burdened. Chapter 3 is entitled that it is profitable to communicate often. In other words, that it is useful and beneficial to receive Holy Communion often. And we read in this chapter. The imagination of man are prone to evil from his youth. And unless your divine medicine helps man, he very quickly becomes worse.  But if I am so often negligent and lukewarm now when I communicate or celebrate, how would it be for me if I were not to take this remedy and seek so greater help? And although I am not fit every day nor well disposed to celebrate, yet I will endeavour at proper times to receive the divine mysteries and to make myself partaker of so great a grace. So this is a reminder of the saving and healing effects of receiving the Blessed Sacrament. And he talks about receiving Communion often, that it is profitable to communicate or receive Communion often. Now we need to bear in mind that in those days receiving the Blessed Sacrament every day or even every week for lay people was the exception rather than the rule. So to receive Communion once a month would have been considered frequently in those days. And many people, most people in fact, would receive Communion only once a year. When we read the life of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, we're told that he received Communion very frequently. But then we're told he spent three days fasting and praying each time before he received it and then three days afterwards in praying and reflecting and giving thanks. So clearly even he, a great saint and would have been a Jesuit novice at that time didn't receive Communion every week. But we need to decide for ourself what is frequent reception of Communion. And of course for priests as we celebrate the mass if possible every day that involves reception of the body and blood. And in doing that, making that sacrifice, we're sanctifying the world for other people, for lay people to receive the sacrament is also to participate in this work of sanctification and to obtain healing and strength for their own souls. Having said that, reception of Communion shouldn't become so frequent that it's a thing which is done without proper awe and reverence. And there can be times when a person genuinely doesn't feel properly disposed for whatever reason. This might be sometimes a state of sin. It could be something not quite so dramatic, a state of emotional anxiety or it could be a state of physical or mental unwellness. So we don't want to receive Communion to such a point that we forget that it's an awesome mystery. So when we say, Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed. We shouldn't just be saying that as a formula, but actually believing that. I think it's important at this point to draw a proper interpretation of what is meant by frequent reception of Communion. And of course, there's not one hard and fast rule for everyone, but it doesn't automatically mean receiving Communion every single day. Now next chapter, chapter four, many benefits are bestowed on those who communicate devoutly. And this, of course, is very true. So it's the degree of faith and devotion with which we receive the Blessed Sacrament which manifests itself in its effects and its fruitfulness upon us. We read in this chapter, I believe, O Lord, that thou art present, both body and soul in the adorable sacrament which I am about to receive. Thou wilt there make me partaker of the merits of thy blessed humanity and wilt inebriate me with the plenitude of thy divinity. Change then, O Lord, change the indifference of my heart into an ardent desire of loving me, of pleasing and possessing me. Permit me not to regard or receive thee with coldness. Who cometh to inflame my heart with the fire of thy love? Supply in me whatever is wanting of faith in a mystery so incomprehensible toward human understanding. Enliven me with a lively sense of thy presence, and grant that my heart may receive thee as its God with reverence, as its Savior with confidence, and as its Father with love. Some very beautiful words there in the reflection which follows chapter 4. In chapter 5 we are dealing with the dignity of the sacrament which we have touched on already to a great extent and of the priestly state. And in this we read that a priest clad in his sacred vestments is Christ's vice to pray to God for himself and for all the people in a suppliant and humble manner. He has before him and behind him the sign of the cross of the Lord, that he may always remember the passion of Christ. He bears the cross before him in his vestments, that he may diligently behold the footsteps of Christ, and fervently endeavor to follow them. He is marked with the cross behind that he may mildly suffer, for God's sake whatsoever adversities shall befall him from others. When a priest celebrates he honors God, he rejoices the angels, he edifies the church, he helps the living, he obtains rest for the dead, and makes himself a partaker of all that is good. Now this I think is very wonderful and inspiring words, and of course when Thomas A. Kempas was writing this book he was expecting a lot of his readers to be religious and also to be ordained priests, so I think speaking reminding them there of the great dignity of the sacrament of holy orders, and the privilege of becoming vessels of Christ. And of course Christ is the true priest, ordained priests of the church are participating as his representative. So I think this is important to bear in mind. And sometimes it can be difficult for congregations, for people to maintain the level of reverence which they should have for the priesthood. And this reverence for the priesthood is nothing to do with a certain individual demanding to be respected and so forth. On the contrary this is reverence for Christ himself, for the sacrament of ordination which is then manifested through the ordained priest. Chapter 6 is a petition concerning the exercise proper before communion, and this is a very short chapter. So it begins with the disciples saying, When I consider thy greatness, O Lord, and my own vileness, I tremble very much and am confounded in myself. For if I come not to thee, I flee from life, and if I intrude myself unworthily, I incur thy displeasure. What then shall I do, O my God, my helper, my counsellor in necessities? Do thou teach me the right way? Appoint me some short exercise proper for the holy communion. For it is necessary to know in what manner I should reverently and devoutly prepare my heart for the profitable receiving of thy sacrament, or for celebrating so great and divine a sacrifice. Now this question which takes up the whole of Chapter 6 is then answered by Christ in Chapter 7, and it's entitled of the examination of one's conscience and of a resolution of amendment. When Christ begins, in answer to the question we just heard, above all things it behooves the priest of God to come to the celebrating handling and receive this sacrament with great humility of heart and lowly reverence, with an entire faith and pious intention of the honour of God. And then continues, and this applies both to people receiving communion as well as the priest who is celebrating the sacrament, diligently examine your conscience and to the best of your power cleanse and purify it by true contrition and humble confession, that there can be nothing weighty to give you remorse or hindi or free access, repent of all your sins in general, and in particular lament and grieve for your daily offences. If you have time confess to your God in the secret of your heart all the miseries of your passion. And then he goes through a list of all the faults which people are inclined to succumb to, not necessarily to all of them but at least to a number of them, being covetous to possess much, being curious to hear news, being prone to relaxation and the pleasures of a flesh, being greedy while eating, to be hasty to make an end of prayers, to be negligent in saying prayers, to be easily moved to anger, to be prone to judge, to be joyful in prosperity but weak in adversity and so often proposing good things but doing so little. So I think there is a veritable treasure trove of material to reflection there, the necessity of examining one's conscience very carefully and of repenting of having a good resolution of amending one's life before receiving so great a second. And this brings us to the end of day 15 in our study of the imitation of Christ. Thanks very much for listening once again and joining me on this great journey. This session will be continuing with book 4, chapters 8 to 14. Until then, may Almighty God bless you. This has been an episode of The Commentaries, a podcast brought to you by Tan. To follow the show, study more of the greatest Catholic classics, and to support The Commentaries and other great free content from Tan, visit tancommentaries.com to subscribe and use coupon code C-O-M-25 to get 25% off your next order, including the imitation of Christ and countless more spiritual works to deepen your interior life and guide you to heaven.


This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of providing a visual and auditory contact for women undergoing cesarean sections through the use of a head-mounted display, HMD, connected to a two-dimensional 360-degrees camera filming the baby. The study will compare the effects of this intervention with the current standard of care. The primary outcome measure will be the childbirth experience questionnaire 2, CEQ 2, administered at one week postpartum. Secondary measures include CBPTSD symptoms, birth satisfaction, mother infant bonding, perceived pain and stress during childbirth, maternal anxiety and depression symptoms, anesthesiological data, and acceptability of the procedure. This article was authored by Antia Horsch, David Desauve, Kareen Lipidgen, and others.


Hi, my name is Bryson McCarley and I'm a Titan Superfan. Titanos! I've been a Titan Superfan since August of 2018. The first game I ever dressed up was the Miami game last season. As we all know, the longest game in NFL history and I was in the mask the whole seven and a half hours. As in the Marvel character, I mean Thanos, he's from the land of the Titans. We're the Titans, so I'm Titanos. Titanos! With my get up, I have one of the players gloves. I have the Infinity Stones here. Some people say the mask is scary. That's why I wear shades that kind of mild it down some. This year we added the Titanos chain. We got the mini helmet on it. I changed up cakes depending on the game and what jersey I'm wearing. I got a white cape that I wear with my white Henry jersey. So we just changed it up sometimes depending on what players are wearing for the game. The reason why I decided to become a Superfan, one of the reasons was because of my children, I know they enjoy it. They laugh at me when they see me dress up and then also just showing my full support for the Titans. When I was a little kid, I always wanted to go to NFL games. I wanted to play in the NFL. So being able to give that experience to my children and share it with my wife, I think is awesome. My children don't have something as they grow up. They'll be able to see and look back on all the memories we have because football is family. A typical game day. It's more than one day really. What's up Titans fans? It's me, Bryson McCarley, aka Titanos and this is our tailgate. By Wednesday or Thursday, I decide on the menu for the tailgate. We'll have different things such as crab balls. I'll bring the hibati grill, we'll cook on the hibati, we'll do tea steaks. Just about anything. We'll try that at the tailgate. The chef gear actually was a gift from my father-in-law. When I put that on, I call myself Titan Chef. All right, we're finishing up the steaks here. We got to put some little magic juice on them. We got some hot links. If you ain't familiar with this West Tennessee favorite right there, we got the baked potatoes on the smoker. We call our tailgate the Titanic 4 tailgate, which stands for good food, good music, good people, and good drinks. Our most popular tailgate is actually our breakfast tailgate, where we do made-to-order omelettes, hash browns, bacon. The way I grew up in West Tennessee, my grandmother would cook for people, and she just loved to see the draw on their face when they have a good meal, and that's what I take on in my daily life. Having people come together, eat good food, and have a good time. Thanks for stopping by our Titanic 4 tailgate. Let's get it tightened up. One, two, three.


We just saw the CNN Town Hall with Joe Biden where he said he wouldn't commit to Canceling more than ten thousand dollars worth of student debt I don't necessarily know that Democrats would be open overall to Medicare for all we know that Joe Biden wouldn't so my question for you is in times like this where We don't have people in power That want to push for policies that we desperately need especially Medicare for all during a pandemic How do we fight for those types of things like I know that organizing is Important but at the congressional level like how do you push? For these policies when you have a party that isn't technically the opposition party But they're in opposition to us. So how do you fight for that in these times? Now we got a kid I mean I wish I had a magic wand to make it happen Automatically, I would definitely do that. They're really Want the American people to know that there really is no excuse in a hegemon nation for us to be the only industrialized nation Not to push for Medicare for all for our people not just push Pass it. Just just just flat out pass. There really are no excuses for that. So for me I mean, I I don't have a magic wand to be able to do with this other than that pushing part Is really what we must do and we have to see the grassroots Bubbling up in this country and to continue to be outraged by the fact that especially as you just said in a pandemic That we the collective we whether they're Democrats Republicans However, this is not about their political leanings. It is about people literally Dying and or losing their livelihoods. I don't know what else it takes to move people to Medicare for all If this pandemic doesn't do it, we have to begin to question our Commitment as a nation. So we're saying one thing and I'm saying we Saying one thing politicians are saying one thing, but they're actually doing another You know during the celebration of MLK for example, Dr. Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. You got all these people quoting him But they won't act in the same manner that he would act and that he encouraged all of us to act not in moments Like this especially we know that the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Supported that he that he supported Healthcare he talked about of all the injustices, you know, all of the things that he has seen the injustice and healthcare was one of those He talked about militarism materialism and war all of these things combined and not just the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. There were other she rose and heroes that were fighting at all times against the status quo So what I would say Michael is that I don't want us to lose sight of why it is important to push and why the grassroots in this case is Even more important than who is in the Congress and in the White House because all of the great changes Social justice type changes that have ever happened in this country have come from everyday people Putting a little extra on their ordinary so they extraordinary things can happen That's one part of the other part of it is that taking that righteous indignation and that anger to the Ballot box at all times making a demand and making sure that there are consequences to those demands those things work in concert so electing progressives from all levels of government not just the Congress and then Making sure that there's a consequence for people not acting on the things that we Need that is how the change is gonna come There is no other way for that change to come But the bubbling up of the grassroots and having people in elected office who actually care more about the next generation Then they care about their next election. We got to do it. There's there's no other way that change happens