We upgraded from offices to studio space is just the same answer as before I just want to keep making the videos better and better Jimmy Donaldson also known as Mr. Beast is the wealthiest content creator in the world according to him He's built an estimated 10 billion dollar empire through his YouTube channels and other companies He is the most subscribed individual youtuber with over 218 million subscribers on his main channel as his subscriber count has grown So as his fortune mr. Beast spends the money he makes to create expensive video productions where he gives away lots of cash and other luxurious prizes in his elaborate challenges and philanthropic acts this 25 year old youtuber is consistently breaking the record with his super viral content He's raking in millions allowing him to buy an entire neighborhood a mega studio more studios and create other companies He's also bought and given away a handful of houses and other properties as part of his outrageous acts of kindness So today we'll check out his enormous studios and warehouses where he creates his unique and viral videos Mr. Beast produces his content from two studio spaces located in Greenville, North Carolina to start with let's look at his mega studio Also known as Studio C and 2021 mr. Beast purchased a massive studio in the heart of his hometown Greenville, North Carolina this studio covers over 40,000 square feet and sits on a hundred acres of land It costs about 14.1 million dollars to acquire and complete initial rentals this large building Circus is the headquarters for his entire production team. It's where mr. Beast's Multimedia company shoots their elaborate and creative indoor videos It may come across as surprising that someone would buy a massive studio not for making movies or TV shows But for making content on YouTube, but it's not surprising when you're mr. Beast mr. Beast chose to stay in a small town, North Carolina and set up his studio system there because while he found A more practical and less expensive than LA ain't that the truth the huge studio had a lot of really fancy gear and Tech, it's not surprising since mr. Beast is all about doing Extraordinary sense on line that nobody else is doing they put up soundproof panels and sprinklers in the ceiling of the building Making sure they had a fire safety system in case things got too. Wow during their videos the renault of the ceiling alone costs 375 thousand dollars Studio C has plenty of space to set up multiple sets and shoot multiple vids at the same time They put up a control room that looks like a hub where they used to keep an eye on Participants during one of their challenges inside these rooms They put up around 40 high-def security cameras and several smart TVs to make sure they capture every moment of Participants all a tech and other equipment in the hub were estimated to be around 250k mr. Beast also has a camera room where they store 26 Sony cinema cameras for time-lapse shots each of these cameras costs $6,000 this adds up to a total of $156,000 just for those cameras But all in all the estimated cost of all the tech in mr. Beast's camera room is 1.3 million about to be so wrong 1.3 million Mr. Beast's YouTube creator words also known as play buttons hang on one of the walls inside the studio This is an impressive display of his milestones gaining hundreds of millions of subscribers from all his channels Now over in the slightly more modest meeting room These walls were painted with white board paint so that people could write and draw on them They prefer using the walls for their brainstorming sessions instead of relying on digital tools I'm a fan of that myself inside this room There's a big smart TV a long meeting table comfy office chairs and even a massage chair tucked away in the corner Mr. Beast also has a tiny apartment inside the building which serves as a place to stay Bedroom and his office. He has a fridge here where he keeps his favorite must-haves yogurt and water And his couch is placed on the wall where his larger TV which costs $5,000 hangs though he can't sit on the couch and watch Netflix at the same time Another cool thing that he's got here is located in his bathroom where there's a very interesting Toilet that has a heated seat and this thing is worth $2,000 mr. Beast shoots his mr. Beast reacts videos in a room He calls the react set this place got a black and white checkered one in the corner You will spot the main character of these vids called hard cash This entire tech setup on the react set costs $15,000 they also have a server room with infinite storage keeping all their projects Every computer in their main office can access the same files Employees can even access them remotely when they're filming somewhere else the estimated cost of all the equipment used in the server room is $400,000 in the editing room you can find the teens special tech for video editing And they have a kitchen on the premises Here comes one of my favorite features It's designated playpen where the staff can leave their dolls now I would totally be using that genius doggy daycare idea if I work there in addition to their main headquarters and studio Which is known as Studio C. Of course, mr. Beast also has other studios mr. Beast purchased his first studio studio a in 2018 it was a church that his company renovated for about $1.3 million this studio houses a collection of quirky items costumes and props that have been used in mr. Beast Productions studio a also was a gaming space where mr. Beast films all his gaming videos They've shelves filled with amazing tech and ice cream machine and even an arcade cabinet Inside the studio is where you'd find mr. Beast soundproof gaming room where he records his mr. Beast gaming videos every week. He's got a top-of-the-line gaming equipment and a super comfy gaming chair Also, one of the main attractions of this place is the wall where mr. Beast and his team wrote 40,000 names of people who bought his merch in an earlier video They announced that anyone buying their merch would get their names put on this wall It's incredible to witness the level of devotion that his fans have buying merch Just to appear on the wall in one of his videos beside his two large studios mr. Beast also creates additional outdoor sets for creative locations for his challenges Okay, now that we've seen his lavish filming studios Have you ever wondered how mr. Beast began on YouTube? Well, the YouTube star began creating videos from his bedroom back in February 2012 at the Mirage of 13 And as his videos started getting monetized He saved every dollar until he could afford to purchase a mic for himself Then as his videos gained more popularity He was able to purchase a small warehouse a former firefighter station to continue producing Exceptional content they converted this space into his first studio then in 2017 He got 1.5 million subscribers and realized it was time to get a separate office for his creator life So he bought his first office to keep his home and work life apart as his videos gained popularity He needed even more room to improve his content So he purchased two rooms then five offices later larger warehouses and finally Campus like warehouses to handle the continuously growing empire. He created his first studio studio A was where they filmed videos that became super viral earning his main channel a ton of subs And they also helped him score sweet deals with big brands But then they started to run out of space again for all of the stuff that they wanted to do So his team did what was needed and bought more trailers Those trailers are separate sets where they do all the videos that are filmed in a computer like a gaming and reaction videos Mr. Beast's company keeps all the things they use for their videos in the warehouse and you won't believe it There are stacks of cash lying around the floor that mr. Beast casually gives out to his fans and visitors I mean considering it's mr. Beast. I guess I kind of do believe that Mr. Beast or jimmy donaldson is truly legendary He's committed to spending an absolute fortune just to create incredible videos and give away large sums of money Houses cars and other items to strangers He is a youtube genius who's cracked the algorithm and became super successful Even tech billionaires and other businessmen look up to him for his innovative online advertising methods So that's all for today's tour into the mega filming studios of youtube sensation mr. Beast But before we go, can you answer this question for me? What active kindness can you do today to make someone's day better? I mean it doesn't have to be as big as something mr. Beast would do But drop a comment down below like this video Don't forget to hit that like button Subscribe and turn on your notification so you don't miss any upcoming videos I'm Curie the vampire slayer follow me on instagram to chat and that is a wrap. See you next time. Bye


There's like this very deep place in my heart that wants to know why I'm here. This is the right question and the value of the question, why am I here? Doesn't depend on it achieving an answer, but it drives a life process. No, it's the hi that have the right answer. No, no, no, it's Islam. No, it's Kabbalah. No, this is not a matter of there's this question and there's the right answer. Science has its own metaphysical assumptions that are not explicitly recognized. There's an objective reality outside of ourselves. Experiments are repeatable. Everything is measurable. These are not provable from within science. They are metaphysical teachings. The story of death that I grew up in is horrifying and I don't know how to heal from that. What we've been learning for the last 50 years through complexity theory, cybernetics, through nonlinear dynamics, the nature of reality is to become more and more alive. This is the opposite of the teaching of entropy. But I don't know. I really don't know. I wish a lot more people would not know. The advancement of knowledge ultimately comes down to our personal willingness to put truth above anything else. Ironically, that made me want to say amen. Knowing all that, what would you say to somebody like me? Because I think there's a lot of people in this situation. If not, I am. It's mystery upon mystery upon mystery. The scientific world you that we grew up in is anemic. And compared to what's really out there.


Yesterday, I received this very interesting product from Amazon, the Max Hub UCM40. I've had my eyes on this product for some time to elevate our hybrid meetings. And when Amazon recently offered a steep discount during its prime day, I couldn't resist the offer. In this video, we'll have a quick look at the product and then see how it actually performs in a hybrid meeting. Let's get started. Inside the box is this sleek looking device and two cables, one for USB and one for the power. Looking at the device itself, there is one tripod mount and two ports, one for power and one for USB-C. As for the controls, there are only two, a mute button on top and a button to control the camera views. So what exactly does this device do? It is a three-in-one device that combines a camera, a microphone and a loudspeaker. If we connect this device to a laptop, we have an all-in-one conference system. How will it perform in a hybrid meeting where the attendance is usually 10 to 15 participants? Today, we are going to find out. Here we are in a hybrid meeting room where I'm going to set up the Max Hub device. This is the area where the speakers will come to deliver their speeches to the audience. So the ideal location for the device should be somewhere over here. I'm going to place a tripod and then place the device on top of the tripod. I'm keeping this space open so participants can walk without knocking over the device. Let me fit it into the tripod thread and that is nice and steady. Plug in the power socket and the USB cable. I need to plug this into an extension, so I'm ready with that. So that's all set. All I need to do is now connect my laptop to the Max Hub. Luckily, this room also is equipped with a very long HDMI cable which allows me to plug into my laptop. Plug in the Max Hub into my laptop and we are almost ready. So the Max Hub is connected to the laptop and the laptop in turn is connected to this large display. Let me switch on the display and the display is mirrored to my laptop over here. So this is my scheduled Zoom meeting for today. I will click on start. I will check the setup for the sound. So let me go to audio settings and we can see that the speaker is automatically set to UCM40. That's the Max Hub as well as the microphone. Based on the levels that are displayed, it looks like it is working just fine. Let's try testing the speaker. That is definitely loud and clear and I believe it will be more than sufficient for a room of this size. What about the video? Let me switch it on here and that's the default view from the Max Hub. If I want to change the camera view, all I have to do is use this button. For this hybrid meeting, I believe I will be using this view. This means that when the speaker is on the stage, the audience will see the speaker on the top of the screen while they will see the rest of the audience in the room in the bottom half. There are additional views and depending on the situation, different views might be advisable. For example, this view might be suitable if the participants are sitting around a conference table. For now, let me switch to the desired view, which is this and I'm ready for a hybrid meeting. All we need now is participants in the room and in the Zoom meeting. That was yesterday. I believe we had one of the best hybrid meetings thanks to Max Hub. This is a sample of what the physical attendees heard from the Max Hub audio. The audio was not very loud but everyone could hear it clearly and this is what the online audience heard from the audio picked up by the Max Hub microphone. Time management is the process of organizing and planning how to divide your time between different activities, get it right and you will end up working smarter, not harder. The time management for me is like a history. It is divided by two before I get married and after I get married. As far as I am concerned, that is very impressive. And finally, this is the view of the physical room captured by the Max Hub cameras and transmitted to the online audience. It created that wow factor and elevated the hybrid meetings to the next level. As mentioned earlier, Max Hub can create different views depending on the situation but for my particular case, I believe this was just perfect. There is a companion software that can be installed on the laptop for further customizations. For this particular meeting, I did not install any software, it was all plug and play. My final recommendations, if you are hosting a hybrid meeting in a small to medium sized room, the Max Hub is perfect.


Hey weirdos, so it's amazing what happens once you start getting noticed on YouTube. I expected people to comment and like and maybe even send me emails asking for favors and stuff like that. That's cool. I understand that. That's happened to me before when I was doing stand up comedy, when I was performing and singing and songwriting and doing a little bit of touring way back when. Even as an actor I got some of that. But as a YouTuber I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. But I'll say the weirdest stuff comes my way. I just got this 10 minutes ago in my email. Here's what they say. I was checking out your beauty slash makeup videos here and they give the URL to my channel. And after noticing your 6,193 subscribers, which actually is now 6,336, I thought you might be interested in one of our clients. They want me to do an unboxing video for their beauty and makeup products. Okay, well, what's your name? Ashley? I think? Ashley. Yes. Ashley, thank you for spamming me. I greatly appreciate that. If you had seen any one of the hundreds of videos that I have posted over the years, you would know that not one single time do I talk about beauty or makeup. In fact, if you had watched any of my videos and seen my face, you would know this is the most ludicrous idea you've ever had. Have a nice Wednesday.


Well, good morning or good afternoon or good evening whenever you're listening. This is Davisville on KDRT LP 95.7 FM in Davis, California. We live at KDRT.org online I'm Bill Buchanan and I thank you for tuning in and I welcome you back to our annual movie show with Derek Bang Yes, even though theaters have been closed in Davis and much of the world for most of the year from the COVID-19 pandemic We are still talking about movies today. We're certainly still watching them And the conversation is occurring even if only to find out what has survived the dislocations of the year Derek writes reviews for the Davis Enterprise and his blog Derek Bang on film Derek. Thanks for coming back on Davisville I want to note. This is our 10th annual year-end show. Oh my goodness. Has it really been that long? It's been that long. I look forward to this every fall or after. We'll do out a bonus disc at some point For the first nine years the format and topics of discussion were pretty much the same and then yeah Here we are at 2020 and all of a sudden everything's up for grabs Well, that's and in fact, that's the one of the main themes tonight And in fact that I should make a programming note people who've been listening to the show may have noticed that today's show Sounds better than they have more recently and in fact, it still had the music in the intro that we normally have That's because we're actually recording this in a Davis backyard So that we can do it more or less in person and keep social distance I've been doing most shows on zoom lately glad to be able to do this one in person And of course this being radio. We are leaving you the listener the opportunity to envision exactly what this backyard looks like That's right and where we're placed within it. Maybe there's a movie in here, Darrell Don't know how good it would be, but It's an idea. Well, okay, so I schedule this every November Right before the notable year-end movies come out and there are year-end movies this year, right? Well, that's the question, isn't it? It has been a moving target for the past six months I could not keep track of the number of major releases That have been pushed back three four five times. I Suppose one of the earliest and most notorious is the next Bond film Which should have come out in April and then was pushed to June and then was pushed to October and now it's Next April So what's left? Well We're not Getting anything major Theatrically it's simply not going to happen the few films that have been trickling into the theaters that are still operational. I hesitate to call them Well in fact, I won't call them bottom of the barrel because that's not fair But they are for the most part what we used to call B films The smaller pictures where there isn't as much of a financial risk running on how many people are going to show up to Watch a film in a theater. So for the most part We all have the at-home options, which had been multiplying rapidly during the same time period a Lot of the films that would have seen theatrical release are now going to streaming platforms Netflix Amazon Prime Disney plus Apple TV plus HBO Max and Hulu seem to be the six big players and of course if you want to have the Maximum choice you'd have to subscribe to all six of them, which is significantly more expensive than it would have been to Just pick a theater and go see a movie, you know, and I have to say here one reason I like to do this show over years because I like movies. I've always liked going to movies and It's maybe an obvious statement to say that you know that I miss them But I do and and it the convenience is nice at home, but I also find It's reduced a lot of movies to sort of a you know that the cable TV phenomenon 500 channels and what do you watch? It's like it's harder for me now just as a movie watcher to find the really good movies in the mid all the because You know when Davis we have theaters and if something comes to town, it's it's like, okay It's at the theater. Do you want to go or not? It you can look at the marquee and you can immediately see what's there You're right because on top of everything else it has become very difficult to keep track of what is debuting on each of those streaming platforms So far the notification system has not caught kept up with The fact that they just get dumped Yeah, well and I and as a user as a viewer There's a technological term that came in there. I work in technology for my job and you talk about users We're really mean customers and such so anyway as a viewer of movies It helps me sort to see to the theater and then when I see that something's online I think well is that on the channel that I have access to I Always had access to the theaters.  Well, I don't have Disney Plus. I really don't want to buy a lot of these other channels I don't want to spend eight nine ten dollars a month that way and so that's one more complication It's a process. Yeah, and the other thing I don't like Which I miss about the big screen theatrical experience is that at home it is too easy to hit pause when you want to go to the bathroom or Get another cup of coffee or another glass of wine or the kids run through the room or the dog does something unspeakable and You keep Breaking the experience Whereas in the theater you don't have that option. Yeah, you are quote-unquote Trapped if you will you are forced to sit there and watch the whole thing start to finish Which obviously is the way that writers and directors and actors Intend that you should be watching them. Yeah, and this makes a job your job is film critic really kind of all the more important because Your column your blog remains one of the markers that I have But film critics in general remain one of the markers that people have to sort of sort through the flood And I find myself Putting a great deal more effort into that process now than I ever used to don't talk about that Well, as I just mentioned there isn't it's not like I get a guide once a month that tells me What's coming up on Disney plus or Amazon or Netflix Netflix is actually pretty good They have a website that lists everything that they're going to be releasing for like about the next six weeks Amazon has no such site. Disney keeps everything secret until it actually debuts it's very hard and It's difficult as well Reading a brief description because the other thing that's not happening is that the studios are not releasing The same degree of advertising. What's the last time you saw an ad for a movie on During a TV show. Yeah, well, I got to admit this morning. I was reading the Chronicle and I saw a display ad in there for a movie hillbilly Elgi algae, right and but it struck me two things first that I was even seeing an ad and And and the second I was interested that someone had made a movie out of that But I thought I don't know when I last saw a movie ad and it used to be the most natural thing in the world And so the research process has got has become more challenging because I definitely don't want to waste time with and Forgive me those of you who enjoy these kinds of movies things that are made exclusively for hallmark and lifetime Because you know we're talking about a different subset of cinema there Yeah, well, and I suppose you can say people who like those movies or any particular channel I mean if you like something you start to follow it, you know how to find it Right the dilemma is how do you find the good thing in a category that you don't? Don't normally follow or a movie from a filmmaker. Maybe you don't know or something like that. Well, we're in the same territory now as Used to be the case with buying music, right? Used to be able to walk into a music store and browse through the racks Looking for an album or an artist it looking for something That you don't know you don't yet know you're going to like and it has now become just as hard to do that with movies Yeah, it's a challenge. So this comes back to your role as a critic. I mean I You become all the more important here. Well, I appreciate the thought and I take it seriously and I hope the results are worthwhile well, okay, so What well one of the point I wanted to make to you we're talking about B movies are sort of what we're left with this fall B movie doesn't necessarily mean bad quality, right? It might not at all. It just means less expensive Yeah, low commercial value But well, so is there anything coming out at the end of the year that that you're thinking would be I Don't know good to see Well, supposedly still Studios are gonna be releasing two big guns on Christmas Day now between you me and the wall I don't think it's gonna happen But as of this moment as we're taping this show Wonder Woman 1984 is supposed to open in theaters on Christmas Day Hmm and so is news of the world which is the period Tom Hanks drama He's a Civil War veteran who assumes the responsibility for bringing a little girl Back to her family Okay, I don't know that movie. Well, I don't really know the first either except I can tell this from the title roughly what it's about but So these are two big movies. They're they're opening theatrically now as For streaming There's quite a list. I Just saw Uncle Frank Which is coming to Amazon on November 26 Paul Betney and Sophia Lilis who was the Young girl in the two-part it movies. It's a great period story 1973 About a family very conservative family in South Carolina And she has always had a favorite uncle her uncle Frank who is nothing like the rest of the clan He moved to New York City became a very well respected teacher at New York University and of course, there's a reason he left and moved to New York City Because in 1973 his lifestyle was not compatible with okay family values great film Um Netflix December 11th directed David Fincher is doing a an intriguing biography of Screenwriter Herman J. Mankewitz the film's called make and it's about his experience working with Orson Welles Developing what ultimately turned into citizen Kane. Yeah, I was actually just reading a review of that one this morning And that's a real movie for film buffs as well. Definitely Rose Island, which is popping up on Netflix on December 9th Now this is an Italian import and I can't wait to watch it because it's based on actual events Where an idealistic engineer not that long ago Built his own island off the Italian coast and declared it a sovereign nation And this really happened Okay the prom Sounds cute Netflix on December 11th Meryl Streep Nicole Kidman and a bunch of other people a Group of self-absorbed theater stars swarm into a Conservative small Indiana town to support a high school girl who wants to bring her girlfriend to the prom Okay, sounds like it has potential my Rainey's black bottom Netflix on December 18th. I mean Play by August Wilson. Yeah, starring Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis. I need say no more and Then I'm really looking forward to this one the midnight sky Netflix on December 23rd George Clooney's next movie. This is a post-apocalyptic tale Something devastatingly awful has just happened everywhere on earth and he's a scientist who has survived in the Arctic and He is desperately trying to warn some astronauts who are returning from space not to land on earth Hmm, so these sound like pretty substantial movies. They are that's my point The the B films are taking the risk with the theatrical exposure But the really the big guns the good ones they're streaming because that's the only way they're really going to get seen to the degree that they deserve We're talking with Derek bang Davis film critic. I'm bill Buchanan and this is Davisville on KDRT LP 95.7 FM and Davis, California and our subject today is our annual movie show with Derek Um so I'm a little puzzled that those two still plan to release in theaters because I mean the it's not going to happen, okay? Yeah, it's just it's not going to happen. So that's that's just a vestige then I mean at one point releasing right at Christmas or Christmas Eve. That would be the big time to release. Oh, I know in fact every year it was something of a crisis because you'd get Anywhere from 8 to 13 massive releases between December 15th and about December 25th and Some of them would not catch because there were just too many to be seen at one time That's the other nice thing, I guess or one of the nice things about the streaming option Things don't disappear They're evergreens a lot of movies Particularly major releases from major studios if they don't perform in the first 14 days, they're yanked and they're gone Now that doesn't happen with streaming channels and that's nice because also from my standpoint as a critic I no longer have to worry about getting a review in the same day that a film opens In order for the commentary to be relevant Yeah, that's true. All those the whole idea of a release date is really sort of blurred now Back to like what you were talking about music earlier I mean there was a day that you know let it be by the Beatles came out But you could buy it a month later and it was gonna be any problem, right? It's still the same album still the same album and just as available So when's the last time you were in a movie theater, oh my goodness, that's a very good February Yeah, because you used to go to advanced screenings, right, but I'm assuming those are oh no, they're gone the Yeah, it would have been late February because And I just looked this up the other day there was a recent remake of Jane Austen's Emma Which was the first movie? That had already been publicized and was supposed to open in early March that didn't and it only just now Finally appeared on HBO So that's that's kind of how I clock it going back There would have been an opportunity when Tenet came out Christopher Nolan and Warner Brothers were very stubborn about that one and they insisted that it a it be released in theaters and B that anybody who wanted to review it had to go watch it in a theater in other words. They did not provide critics with the opportunity to watch it at home and Pretty much all of the critics across the country myself included rebelled and said sorry But no, I'm not going to risk my life to review your movie. Thank you very much It seems like an odd thing to get stubborn about in the middle of a pandemic. Well, and it failed You know, it was a multi multi hundred million dollar splashy extravaganza and it just went nowhere because Even though some theaters were open at that point in time. This was actually six seven eight weeks ago, I think Obviously there were enough smart people across the country who just didn't go Yeah, and of course it's been a different experience. I best I can tell that the theaters and Davis haven't been open since The spring I know in other parts of the country some have opened and stayed open and sometimes with restrictions and things Well, except of course the two we have three theaters We have the varsity which is the Indian then the other two houses are regal theaters and of course the entire regal chain Closed a couple weeks ago. Yeah, everywhere Suspended I suppose we should say right they intended suspended. Yes Hollywood still making movies though, right? I mean, they're still able to make them under these conditions So all the movies you mentioned that are coming out soon. Were they already made or did they finish them this year? Generally particularly with bigger releases you figure The principal shooting took place about a year Prior to release. There's always a lot of time spent in post editing music, you know all all the fiddly bits the fine tuning and of course that can be done during covid restrictions so I Think there's enough product now. That's kind of been backed up Waiting to be released, but there is going to come a point in time Depending on how long this lasts either late in 2021 or perhaps early in 2022 when there's no product Yeah, I wanted about that listening to you It seems like a lag would be coming up because the the work that wasn't being done Or you could start doing it again I suppose once the pandemic eases up, but it won't be ready. Sure. I mean, there's got to be a hole at some point in time That's gonna be interesting It's uncharted territory, right? Everybody's making up the rules as we go along. Yeah How has the pandemic affected your job? I know you told me earlier this year You're actually writing more for the enterprise than you had been well, you know I I hesitate to call this a silver lining because the cloud in question is so massive and so dark But yes, particularly at the very beginning when traditional entertainment options completely evaporated No live theater productions. No live music presentations. No book readings. I mean, you know, you just tick them all off anything that had evolved Being somewhere in person with a lot of other people just vanished The only thing that was left was me Film criticism and so suddenly whereas I had been placing one film review per week every Friday. I Was doing two and three and I was even asked to start doing an occasional series of anthology features talking about You know films grouped according to a certain category or theme or or interest now more recently a lot of the Different entertainment venues have gotten much more clever and creative about ways of presenting what they do Via zoom or streaming and so the entertainment section in the paper has been building up again and gotten a little bit better So now I'm usually back to one a week, but sometimes still two a week. So but for the first three four months I was busy. I Should mention by the way if you're listening and you hear some background noises here It's not a special effect. We're actually We're recording this in a backyard and I've just heard conversations over the fence is what you mean. That wasn't a Disney bird. Come on We'd probably owe royalties if it were now. I don't know. It was a Starling or something or I don't know not a Starling I don't know birds, but just a programming note folks in case you heard that You know speaking of categorical movies. I wanted to take the opportunity to ask you if If they are good I hesitate to even phrase the question because a good pandemic movie sounds like Nonsense, okay, okay, Bill. Is this question in good taste? Well, I mean it to be yeah But because because movies do deal with with everything, right? That's part of their strength is that they they they reflect the broad human experience at least ideally they do and Obviously, uh, this is a major one. I'm not talking about a movie made about the current pandemic I mean that would be kind of fast, but we've run into this before or Things that sort of metaphorically are similar Actually, I was ready for this question. I had a feeling you might ask it and I was frankly surprised at the number of good Uh pandemic movies shall we call them that have been made over the years? One of the very early ones I was surprised it went back this far 1950 panic in the streets With Richard windbark as a police officer who has 48 hours to catch an escaped convict Who unknowingly is infected with pneumatic plague? And it was it's quite a nail biter and it holds up pretty well to this day 1971's the Andromeda strain of course, that's the one I thought of. Yeah, I mean I remember seeing that as a kid And then uh, Richard Matheson wrote a novel called I am legend, which has actually been filmed three times And it's about a post apocalyptic pandemic that turns everybody into Nighttime quasi vampires, I guess And it was made in 64 with Vincent Pryce as the last man on earth and then Charlton Heston did it in 1971 as the Omega man and then more recently we had Will Smith finally doing it under the book's actual title I am legend 12 monkeys 1995 with Bruce Willis excellent time travel plague story Contagion is the one that's been Racing off the shelves 2011 children of men that was a good one. Oh, I don't know that one at all the plague that renders women In fertile. Oh, yes And then if you want horror plague, you know the zombie apocalypse. We have 28 days later And world war z so there's no shortage So there's probably An article in there about why Why we come back to this theme? Um, well, I mean it is rooted in reality Not not the details of what you're talking about, but I mean this sense of dislocation and The one on that list that I recall most vividly that I've seen was the Andromeda man I'm sorry. Um, Andromeda strain Andromeda strain. I did see that but Omega man with Charlton Heston, right? And I think it's set in LA and he lives in a compound that he's got all rigged up with lights and all that and in the daytime He goes out and watches movies. I think part of the time when he's not killing Yeah, the daytime vampires and of course the the buzz on that story is that it turns out halfway through That some of the people that he has been killing Are Infected but not dangerous And so to them he's the enemy Yes, um By way of thinking they're the evolved humanity, I suppose, right Right, right. They're the survivors who are nonetheless infected but not dangerous to anybody else as opposed to the ones that keep coming after Yeah, see and this is part of what makes movies so interesting to me as I mean they can be entertaining They can be diverting. Uh, I will admit I have a real affection for 1950s science fiction movies that Are no one's idea of uh, you know, um smart Smart time well spent but uh, but they're diverting but then you get these movies even something like that that you know was a Big movie in its day, but it's also Trying to be kind of thoughtful. Well social commentary is never very far Particularly when you're talking about science fiction. Good science fiction is always about social commentary It's a way of examining today's problems through a lens that kind of tricks you into Assuming that they're not talking about today's problems Rod Serling was always famous for that with the Twilight Zone episodes back in the day And as technology continues to evolve, I can only imagine, uh, how movies might be able to take advantage of that, uh, you know stuff that Can't even imagine now, you know, I'm thinking back to was William Castle in the 50s had those weird special effects, you know, like, uh Oh the tingler the tingler and you know Skilletors I mean I made that part up But you know well the the fright break was a good one if you left during the last Five minutes of the movie they'd refund your money Which of course didn't work after the first week because back in those days You could see something twice just by staying in the theater Yeah Well, and I recall seeing a couple of movies where they handed you fried insurance It said if you were to die, that was another one. Yes thousand dollars would go to your next again I'm thinking of something perhaps, you know, it will be more, you know Adventuresome, I don't know what it will be but well, I suspect in the next decade We're going to start seeing a lot of movies about cloning Yeah, and artificial intelligence probably and that too. What's the line between humanity and Machine, but we've already seen that but I have a hunch we're about to see a lot more nuance in that in real life Definitely and movies will probably reflect that um All right Just at the very near end just real quick summary Just been a weird year for movies But adjusting for that whatever that means has it been a good year that year mediocre year overall You know, I have to I'm going to take I'm going to cop out on that one and say incomplete Yeah, I don't think it's fair to judge 2020's roster of films And you know between you me and the wall I have no idea how the mpAA is going to mount the academy awards Yeah, that'll be one of the first things to look at in 2021 I actually read one idea that said maybe don't even do it this year let people sort of rediscover the reason why we do it or rethink the way Well, it would be more fair to everybody concerned if they did skip a year and Looked back on a 24 month period To allow exposure to a lot of the stuff that didn't get to come out when it was supposed to Well Derek, thanks for coming back on Davisville for show number 10 about movies Well, you're very welcome and I look forward to doing this again 12 months from now when right everything is back to normal I'm sure it will be by then Derek How could it not be? I'm bill Buchanan. This is Davisville on kdrt. Thanks for listening We're going to go out with a song by vince coraldi Thanksgiving theme. You should recognize it


Good morning to you and welcome back. It's time for Strength of a Woman. Well, it's not been such a waiting day, especially for me, hosting another Roda Kidula Keda. She's a veteran in this industry and it's big up for me, hosting another journalist on board. But she has done so much. Currently, she quit her radio thing and decided it's time for me to venture into something different.  Roda, I've got so much I can say about you. A blogger, a mishona, YouTube content creator for kids. I don't mess up with your bio. Can you look at this camera for and tell the audience who is Roda? This is Roda. Roda with a W. Roda Kidula Keda. I'm the host of 50 years of marriage. She's a YouTube show. I've been on radio for over 10 years and it's not a radio thing. Sorry. But you've begun as a radio presenter for 10 years. You said I quit my radio thing.  It has been a time, you know? So I'm a passion for children and creating content for children on YouTube as well. I'm a blogger on my website. I write about my child, which actually reminded me. When they grow up, the stories kinda reduce and you start feeling sensitive. Should I write about this incident? But when she was young, I used to write every day, every drama. So that is who I am. I'm married to one Mr. Jackson Kedaha and I'm a mother of one to Nasha Kedaha. Yes. Well, I'm trying to look at it from the side of wife to Jackson Kedaha. I didn't hear you mention that from your bio. Kedaha, when you say Roda Kidula Kedaha. It's already there. Alright, now Roda is the thing. You have been in the media for approximately 10 years plus. Yes, plus. How was the journey being for you? How did you begin? Because most people know Roda is that person who does it to perfection when she is on air. I love excellence. God taught me that excellence pays. From Kitambo, from Kitambo so I always do it as unto the Lord and not for man. Yes, in my bio, you start with I'm saved. I'm a Christian who loves the Lord with all my heart, all my soul and all my mind. So I remember after high school my dad wanted me to be a dentist. Dentist and teacher, those two. And then I got pregnant. Story for another time. Wait, don't say it for another day. Because someone is watching it. How old were you back then? I was 17. 17 years. Yes, I was 17. So by the time I was supposed to join KMTC to become a dentist I was found to be pregnant so I couldn't go to school but later on God turned things and I found myself in Deister. And when I joined Deister I wanted to be behind the scenes in media to be a technician like those cables around there I feel like I want to know where those cables are heading to I want to know what's happening. That is my passion. I love production and technical work so that is what I wanted to do to be behind the scenes somewhere just behind the scenes. Then that's where I started that is where I started so I got a chance to be in China Fem that is Deister Students Radio and I was a producer, technician just making sure everyone else anangara. Then one day I was made to be the head of news I remember in Deister, China Fem then one news anchor did show up So guys were like Roda, just read just go to some website and read something you want to just occur the situation So I read news and the guys were like Roda, do you know you actually have a good voice I'm like I know I broke my voice in class 5 people can't listen to me and all that but that was the beginning of something new and I started now practicing I was reading news in Swahili English I was hosting Swahili shows and it started by just sitting in for people and people telling me Roda, you can actually do this why don't you just get your own show and that is where it began I got my show and in Deister I was a junk of all trades like whu know me from Deister can be like oh that was the CU treasurer oh no that was the service team chair person no, that was the China family no, I was just everywhere I was everywhere That's being a journalist because you're almost everywhere trying to think of Badaikitne Zengiana this thing I think I need to try this in the moment of trying it become perfect and that's what you've been doing because looking at you Shangelea you know, activate root 1 of 4 Oh that's in Hope FM yes looking at it from a perspective like so and so of live pop, Roda do this Swahili you're so thank you Asante and everyone at that was like when who is this girl I love Fumanzana on a tumor selfie and I'm like are you sure this is the Roda oh by the way that comes in this package I have been feeling uncomfortable that my feet don't touch the ground even here but you know what I've been reminded that I'm bigger than inside all right Roda I think that came out as you know what just go for it God is on your side having confidence in the Lord go and try it instead of just saying no and you didn't even try I'd rather try and guys say ah no that is not for you than just saying no I'm scared I can't do it so it began like that still at Truth FM and at Hope FM someone being on leave and they're looking for someone who can do this Roda can you try and say let me see then I go on air and I'm like oh I can actually do this how was the experience your first time on air oh my first time on air was at Fisha FM it's in Eldoritz Ruben Kigames it used to be Ruben Kigames radio station and I remember I was just a first year so I've been taken to Eldoritz to just get the radio experience I wasn't even in shine yet in daystar so when people hear you're from daystar but in the daystar you can go and do anything so I remember that day Ruben Kigames said she's the one reading news this morning I'm like oh I'm the one reading news okay and haven't even mastered how the radio station looks like 12 variations yes you are from daystar you can reduce so I remember the news manager I won't forget Silvano Chumpa that's his name so he was sitting besides me telling me now when I put on this jingle you read this news then I'll put on this bite I don't even know what a bite is I don't even know what a jingle is I've just come here I don't know what's happening I pinched the guy like I was on his thigh like this after that I was like okay I can do this thing no why was I pinching my manager's thigh you know I was reading news while holding his you don't want to mess up I was just scared that I didn't want to mess up and all that and after that I just told him you know what I need more time I don't want to give people something that I don't want to be known as that girl who doesn't know what she's doing so they gave me a recorded show it used to be called the kitchen minute so I used to cook something for one minute recorded and yeah that's where I started learning went back to daystar and now started perfecting the art well it's just the beginning how are we going to unwrap strength of a woman keep on interacting with us on our social media platforms of course it's Y254 on our Facebook page it's at Y254 channel on Twitter and my Twitter handle it's at K underscore Alex your Twitter handle at roda R-A-W-D-E-R R-A-K-D-U-L-A all right roda I want to go back to go on to the issue of Tanaha you know going back all the way and you talked about it in a brief you didn't want to explain I want to talk about briefly because probably there's someone and I feel like where do I go from now how was the healing process for you from getting pregnant at 17 not knowing what I've gotten myself into not ready to be a mother or even wife or anything I think I was really confused and I was really traumatized I remember at some point I wanted to die like I practiced it for some time it didn't work probably yeah like three times like I was like life has come to the end I will not live again even after getting this baby number one I was scared because of the stories I had heard about women dying while delivering their children and I was tiny and you know now my feet are not touching the ground but that is like 11 years ago so I was smaller I understand I really get you roda so I was smaller all that comes with pregnancy that is why people prepare for pregnancy the body of a woman changes and all I wasn't ready at all so at that time I was hopeless and I was down I think that was the lowest point of my life up to now I think that was is still the lowest point of my life but someone is looking at you right now you're just strong you need like what was that what really happened there are two ways of this some people look at me especially before I got married and they're like even I just want to get a baby and be like roda she's happy yes they're like ah if roda is just happy she's just posting photos of herself and her child enjoying the life enjoying life it can't be that bad then there are people who are like you know what now after hearing that because sometimes when you post photos on Facebook on Twitter on Instagram and say the blessings of the Lord had no sorrow you don't see it you don't see behind the scenes you don't see the child sick you don't see the child in school maybe being told to write a composition about my father and they have nothing to write you know like you don't see the struggles of a single mother because the internet can be a lie as well you know some of us try and say the truth in some parts but the bigger part you know after this I will highlight oh I was with Alex you know and all that so for someone who's devastated you're pregnant and you're feeling hopeless or in any situation always know that there is hope I would never know that God will change my story and turn things around for my good but now as I speak you know I am so grateful it happened I learnt lessons yes now but in that point if I were to go back I wouldn't I would want to have tenasha when I have a husband when I have someone else she can run to when I am married when it's right even in the eyes of God but now if you were to take her away from me that would be the worst thing you can ever do that would be wo I don't know how my life would be without her in it so there is always hope don't give up don't kill yourself there will be a better tomorrow maybe you're not feeling it now you're not seeing it now but it shall come to pass alright we had tried to try and come with tenasha but unfortunately yes she is in school she is in school kuna assessment bado kuna assessment doki doko kuna can't here and there and she kind of loves school alright yes school it has a book something important to be done in school kuna skuna asena pandashitu because of funky kuna kuna panda books no I think the repercussions or the consequences of missing cards and some lessons and all that I have threatened her sometimes so she feels like oh no tomorrow no don't take me away from school and all that alright let's talk about tenasha she is also a blogger yeah and I saw the blog that she did when the uncle became the father actually that is mine that is me telling stories of her so she doesn't write I'm the one who writes about her alright she is on YouTube and she plays the recorder that's what she does she is that's why I was telling you when she was younger I used to write so much like every week I had an article because so much drama or she would just say something and I'm like oh and when I write about this it was so fun because it's still on my website I call that a blog tired of thinking about titles because sometimes I used to be like how will I start it eats me up like last night I was doing a blog it was like how do I even put it and now everyone is like man umedi lesana na post what's happening it can be tough so I was like how would I call this how will I start what will be the title so I just said you know what type of thing about title then I started writing about her so actually that is one of the recent ones when I wrote about my mother just got married to my uncle uncle uncle and that was the title of that one I just loved it because it was a process she has known this man as uncle Jack but now uncle Jack because she needs the office yes yeah when you are working together yes I used to introduce her to people as uncle and auntie you know now this is uncle Jack now uncle Jack is marrying my mother now how do we stop calling him uncle uncle Jack you know now you can't call him uncle it's just weird so it was funny for me I just had to write that how did she take it um sometimes I think this marriage was for her wow okay she is the first few weeks she turned into a three year old where she was demanding for toys again demanding for ice cream she was a grown up because she was raised up by my parents and my brothers and sisters so people used to say this girl is so mature your daughter is so collected she is not like rowdy and all that could come yes and she looks like 20 something year old who has some land in kiting but now I get married and she just turns into she is asking my husband to carry her I am like no you are what is happening here what is going on so she is having the joy of her life that's knowing now she has a dad you know that is everything to her I wish she made it no you wish she made it she has been in the brass movement it's really far actually people expect her to be me everyone is like she must talk like no she doesn't like the pk is you know they expect to behave like your dads their mums and the like wow so Roder let's mention something before we even come to you there's a clip I want us to have a look at so Roder began something on UT but after she resigned from her official duty at Hope Media and she decided to venture into something we call 50 years of marriage if the clip is ready Kaila let's watch this out Flee ever after in sickness and in health for better for worse many things have been said about marriages nowadays you can find women who are actually scared to get married why? because we are wondering are there women who are happily married well my name is Roder Kedula Kedaha and I'll be chatting with 50 women just to find out what keeps them happy waging up to now so we begin with you telling us how hard or easy it was to save yourself from marriage the question is were you vajins yes the two of you you have to be committed to this thing if it's one person who is committed to making it work and making it waiting making it not be easy we had that commitment from the world we said that this thing will save you from marriage so to that commitment of course it was not easy temptations were there I cannot lie I cannot lie to you that there were no temptations but I think being committed being committed to that promise that we will wait no matter what we will wait we will wait and make that covenant on our marriage day what is the role of your best couples are you still talking to them the best couples are supposed to be your marriage parents so for me right now the couples that we've bested past I mean when we were a bit older in marriage are the ones that we are still in touch with right now they even call us they've even gone ahead we have WhatsApp groups for the four of us like my husband and the two of them this is 50 years of marriage right that's what Roda Kidula has ventured into for that and much more let's come to you tell us more thank you for that it looks so nice you've been saying yourself and I'm like is this Roda is this me and all that 50 years of marriage and I remember you were asking why 50 it's one year one plus I've just hit IEA in marriage by the way last month that's where you say congratulations why now 50 years of marriage I'm waiting for you to say congratulations okay Roda do you have a standing ovation okay let me send that message somewhere people are buying me cake Kedaha Jackson congratulations for getting Roda Kidura on board that's straight from me congratulations for the one year thank you you're celebrating one year you've begun 50 years in marriage before before even actually I was like two months right so when I got married I was going back to work just before I went back to work or even to church everyone is asking me how is marriage like I got married last week how is marriage how is marriage honeymoon honeymoon is another story my husband had to go abroad a week after our marriage so I'm trying to think like what do you mean it's our time you can always have honeymoon anytime any anniversary we have our lifetime case close okay so everyone was asking how is marriage I'm like sometimes they used to irritate me because one my husband is not even around I really wish he was here I don't know how marriage is so when I was with him I thought of you know what we need to talk about marriage everyone wants to know how marriage is why don't we get people who have been married and talk to them they will tell us better how marriage is so at first I was like hey how who will believe me I've not even been married for long but that's where we get the experts so 50 years of marriage is about ladies who have been married from one year all the way to 50 so we've been chatting with them one year, two years three years in marriage then right now we are at 21 years in marriage on Monday we are posting 22, 23 and 24 years in marriage and we are going all the way till 50 years of marriage so how has the journey been for you? oh it's been awesome at first I was like how will I do it what's the question? you know the way God just makes things work at first I was like how will I do it how then my husband was like I will support you executive producer executive producer he sends the questions he does so much he does so much for the show and God brought another angel called Nashami Wangara she's the director of the show and she helps especially in getting the ladies you know sometimes you want a specific lady who's been married for 24 years where will we get her and who's ready to talk also who's ready to talk about their marriage and we are also Christians we have to get a Christian because many times especially in episode one when we were talking about episode one we had ladies one year, two years and three years in marriage these ones you loved those ones I was in that category but it happens that most of us watched that I think it's fun and it takes views for a thousand views because like okay so there's a point right there because now those ones were young in marriage actually when you watch episode one and compared to the latest one episode seven you were like oh what is happening here because episode one they were excited they were just in the honeymoon stage I loved those ones because I was also there so you were having fun talking about were you married or were you a virgin when you were married and all that so sometimes you get the feedback and people are like you know what these ladies are lying they can't tell us they were virgins and you wonder what has become of our society when someone says they are a virgin you don't believe it and I actually answer people and tell them actually it was so hard to find those virgins to come and talk and just encourage people Yes to even continue I forgot to give you something of air but I will show you someone saw me post that I'll be interviewing you and apparently she came with the newspaper dated December 31st 2015 what it was all about is about second virginity and this is the question that I was told to ask you directly yes how do you get into secondary virginity secondary virginity is yes I messed up I broke my virginity I was sexually active before marriage but from today I want to start living right I am a virgin again and maybe you are looking at me and you wonder I did the secondary one and broke it again I've been breaking the vow you can always begin now whatever you will call it secondary virginity tashari whatever you can always make a decision this morning and say you know what I'm messing up with myself with my spiritual life with my physical life with my emotions I'm going to start today so that is what it's about I hope you have been satisfied by that I'm sorry for mentioning your name anyway but let's come to this since when you began interviewing all these women up to the age up to 20 plus 20 plus has something changed you in terms of how you view your marriage yes a lot my husband recently told me that I've become a boring wife one year I've become a boring wife before the show began maybe when I was interviewing the younger wives you could relate I could relate and I was like yes women are petty men should understand we are now getting to 20 10, 11, 20 now 24 these women are telling me Roda 20 years later this won't matter take care of your man relax things will be okay so I was also relaxed in mind so you have taken the 20 actually there's a day he told me you're just waving those women but that was the reason he says I'm less petty I don't argue about everything I've just relaxed in my marriage which is also good for him but there are times he just wants that we're not going to argue we're just going to say that's petty we're only petty issues so even we are petty issues I don't want to matter 20 years from now so can you get me it's okay let me be a bit specific on what I want to ask has there been a time probably you and your husband felt like whether this thing in 50 years of marriage no in your own marriage in my own marriage I know I'm just one year in marriage because I usually hear the names of every relationship are totally different and I have heard people what I thought there's one in your post reality is marriage like typical that this guy is so neat I'm ever sitting at any such as you to power of your then now once you get him the house no I wouldn't say we have sat down I said we made a mistake maybe as roda yes on a personal account on a personal account love is not enough for marriage it's not enough don't get the volume kidoka don't get the volume when you get married because I love him he looks good she has everything that I thought I would get then you get in marriage and you find out one morning you wake up and you feeling I'm not in love you're like ah that's how you sleep for the rest of my life I didn't know these so the realities and sometimes she also looks at me sometimes when he sees something that is kind of off he just says for better for worse that shows you that he has seen something that maybe he didn't see when we were dating like oh roda you are this you get mad like this the realities of the person now you're living with that person you see things because now you see them the nakedness everything in them and you're like oh during dating this is what I was hiding but now I can't hide this anymore roda what was that one thing that you expected roda have been anticipating from this man and then you can get in marriage this thing is not exactly what I thought number one I used to think I will be all that matters you know in dating men make you feel that all that matters wait until you find the vision is made then kumengia box nimi kwa vision continues so at times I think I used to feel like you are not the center of your world anymore you are still talking to your sisters and your mother ok they are important but at that time I used to feel like I should be the center of it all I want to know every time you talk to your mother I want to know anything you do any money you get I know your salary but anything else you get you need to tell me and and then as a man he feels like to him will grow into that you are taking me too fast so it was depressing at first because I used to feel like I should be the center you have married me and in the man's perspective yes I have married you relax let's talk about the better side of it the companionship for me and just doing life with someone who also wants to do life with you is it for me I had sex before marriage and in marriage it's better hi hi I have heard you ask ladies about that on 50 years of marriage how is it for you how are you handling it handling in terms of sex actually for the first times the first weeks the first month I used to feel like it's seen because I have had so many times being told no sex no sex like my mind was filled with sex is wrong and I knew the consequences of having sex and all so I was a bit scared of going back there so at first I was like hey you feel like repenting you feel like oh god we used to accept then you remain yourself now it's right how was the transition for you because one thing I understand that transition is one of the things that can either mess you up or rather build you up how was the transition for you I think for us we invested so much before marriage knowing each other for him knowing my daughter my daughter knowing him and now just meeting going out for coffee with uncle Jack I think that really helped because when we got married now we know each other it's a family those friends are now together it's now a family and I'm still learning how to let him father because I'm used to making decisions we need to take her to a different school I'm like Kwanini she has been okay and he says you know we need to be hashap now na nambembeleza so I'm like hey why so he feels like you've not let me in but slowly by slowly I have been now allowing him to take the role of a father it feels like we've just begun but unfortunately we are out of time time just flashes like that and of course we'll be looking for it probably to have you some other time we need to talk about even the blogging part we're talking about the nations that you do something happened at your teenage who now you are launching out to high schools so I wanted to look at the camera give us your parting shots and everything that entails Roda and the 50 Years of Maharaj yes Roda Kiddula Kedahaa that is my social media handle everywhere on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram even on YouTube but Roda with the WRAW Roda Kiddula Kedahaa and I would like to continue interacting with even on the social media platforms and all that for the people who are looking into marriage you know many times come across people who are waiting your time will come honor God he will honor you that's what I say but if honor God in your single good he will honor you even in marriage so live right honor God he will honor you he will bless you with a spouse for those who are married marriage works growing together and the real marriage that works is in Christ so in Christ everything works out many thanks Roda for coming got something from you embrace the process that's Roda Kiddula Kedahaa and it has been such an amazing moment to have on the strength of a woman of course vali is coming up next my name is Karanja Alex these is Y254


Welcome to a new edition of Rational Politics coming to you from the Captain's Lounge Studios. I'm joined today by Sean McCoy, who is running for Councilor-at-Large right here in Longmont. Sean, welcome to the table. Thank you, Nigel. So let's start off, talk a little bit about your background. Okay. Okay? Well, I've lived in Longmont all my life. I went to school at Central Elementary and at Longs Peak Middle School. And yes, when it was a middle school, I mean junior high, not middle school. I went to Longmont High, go big blue. And I have a degree in political science and a master's in education. I married a friend that I've known for 40 years, Marino Bryan. She was the snotty-nose little sister of my locker partner in high school and in middle school. I have two beautiful daughters, Claire and Molly. They went to Silver Creek, Claire graduated in 2014 and Molly graduated in 2018. I served on multiple different boards and commissions from the Planning and Zoning Commission, the Housing and Human Services Commission, the Police Standards Board, and Boulder County Open Space Board. Before I got on Council in 2007 and was elected to City Council in 2007 through 2011, I served on different boards and commissions during that time, like the Airport Advisory Board and the Art and Public Place and the Museum Board. And then I ran again and I lost. And I'm a high school US government teacher and I often teach my students the idea that if you can't emotionally handle a loss, you probably shouldn't be in politics because it's not a guarantee. And so my experience there was I had a loss. Well, I didn't just waste my time waiting and looking at my wounds. I went on and I got on the Historic Preservation Commission. I served on my school district's DAC committee, this District Accountability Committee. I took students all around the world to China twice, once in 2013 and once in 2016. I've taken students to Greece, Italy and Spain and to the Eastern Bloc countries. And so I got a perspective of how the other half of the world lives and learned a little bit from that. And when I was in 2019 before the pandemic hit, I took a course called the Working Families Party Training where it helped me have a better grasp as a community leader of what I can do to help minority groups and women in our community. So I feel like I am really on top of that. I've been a small business owner as a landlord and I am the future business leaders of America teacher advisor at my school and also board director to the state of Colorado, which my job here as a board director, I represent St. Vrain schools, Boulder Valley schools, Westminster schools and clear down the chat field. You kind of ruined my second question because I was going to ask you what your qualifications are. But I've got a funny feeling you pretty well covered that. I just have a few. So I hope I check all the boxes for most people. I think you probably did. Is there anything else you'd like to add to the qualifications aspect? Anything that you think you'd like to talk about? Well, you know, I come from a family of people that have been involved. My father, Tom McCoy, in 2000, in 1983 in the spring got elected to Longmont City Council and he's the longest serving city council member in Longmont's history and he stayed on until 2005. Prior to that, he was on the planning zoning commission. And so I always felt like we always had it at sort of back and forth in conversations like some fathers might talk about football and baseball and basketball. He and I talked about, you know, what was going to be good for Longmont. And so I was raised on this and know, you know, what Longmont seemed to always care about and feel strongly about. So I feel like I've got a great grasp of that. A great grasp of the town, the politics of the town. What do you feel about the way the town is expanding so rapidly? It's about 100,000, excuse me. We might be pushing 120 and I think we have a service area which means people coming from NYWAT, from hygiene, from lions and other places that come here to do their shopping and entertainment and even some of their employment opportunities and stuff like that. So, you know, we've grown at a pretty remarkable pace and I would not say that it is healthy to all of a sudden put an abrupt halt on any of that and that's certainly not my policies or ideas. But I do feel that we have to talk a little bit about, you know, what type of development we want here. You know, we have to be conscious that, you know, with the Colorado River Compact we're not going to renegotiate that. That would be if farmers say they're now losing 25% of their water supply here because of what had to happen just in the last few weeks about reworking that and making sure more water flowed down through the Colorado to California, they would lose probably 50% of that if they reworked that because people in the East have no connection to how important water is to Colorado. So, I was speaking with a NASA scientist the other day and he was explaining that his idea is about, if we're at 100,000 today, you know, where do we need to go? What is the right amount? The one thing I want to express to everybody out there that might be listening is that the clientele of a city council member here in Longmont is not those that might come and live here. It really is those that live here right now. And sometimes it gets lost on that. But if we figure out, you know, we only have a certain amount of water, we only have the ability to build a certain amount more and where we want to go with that, then I think as a community we can all agree how quickly we want to get there. That makes an awful lot of sense because one of the things that has always worried me, I remember the drought that we had, what, 10 or 15 years ago. I can't remember now exactly when it took place. And then we were only running at about 80,000 people. And there were certain things that went on during that drought that worried me a lot, like the watering of the curbs, but of course we're now trying to get all of that grass taken up and made more natural, which is a good thing. But we kept on growing and growing and growing. And I see the town growing rapidly, but I don't see the infrastructure keeping up with the rapid growth of the town. Do you have any thoughts on that? Well, I think people are divided on the idea of like growth in regards to like maybe another athletic center for activities like the center down at Quill Road near the museum in the pool, where that would go, how soon we should build something like that. Because people do have a desire to have those sort of amenities. Yes. Or they're going to go somewhere else. And the other thing is, is just how that impacts our schools. Boulder Valley, where I teach, is starting to lose students to places like St. Vrain. St. Vrain appears to be on a growth pattern where Boulder Valley appears to be shrinking in population size, student population size. And of course, the pandemic didn't help with that. And of course, where I teach at Monarch High School, the Marshall Fire wiped out a thousand houses in that area. Many of my students and some of my colleagues and folks there. So that had an impact on where I teach. Let's assume that you get elected. Okay? What are your priorities? My first priority would be, of course, to talk a little bit about things that are bothering people like, you know, how do we provide housing for our workforce? How do we provide housing for our children that would like to come and live here and can't afford to get into the housing market and have that American dream? And the second thing was to talk a little bit about or think about, you know, really what we can do to help the least of our brothers, those that are homeless in our community, and what we can do to help them. But after Tony Humley, a neighbor of ours, growing up, we lived on between second and third on gay. And he was between second and third on Pratt, right over near Old Mill Park. And, you know, he was a cherished artist here. But on council, the first time he was the photographer that took my picture. And I see his son, Mark, at Target all the time and say hello to him. But after his death, I feel that one of the best things that we can do is work on our pedestrian and street safety. And I think the first thing I would do is to put in a pedestrian and safe streets, act, or ordinance that address some of the issues that people are really struggling with. I know that some folks I talked to, Sally and Dave on Mountain View near Harvard are frustrated on how fast people drive. And at one point we had temporary roundabouts there. And I think maybe that was slow because they're told that they won't put in dips and they won't put in bumps. So maybe we need to put something, the city won't. So maybe we need to look at roundabouts and maybe the speed exhibitions and drag racing that occurs in the summer months in the evenings at Airport Road. We need to do something else like that. There are people that are complaining in the very fact that you'd have to walk like in Tony Humaley's case.  So we need to probably talk about more neck downs, which have a tendency of slowing people down, and also more crosswalks on third and in places where it would be logical. We need to put in lights like we have at Gay and Ninth that are pedestrian lights. You probably have seen these flashing lights that are at different locations in different cities like Boulder, right there at Whole Foods and Pearl. The pedestrian can push the button and they flash. Well, we have signs on Main Street between 1st and 9th that tell people to slow down and that people will, that they're supposed to stop and let people cross. But just the other day my wife was crossing to go to Main Street Optical and almost got ran over. She got into the middle of the street and then somebody just wouldn't stop. And so those types of things are simple things that we can do. And I understand people are going to say, how are you going to pay for that? And when I was on council before, we had a discussion about red light cameras. And Boulder has them and Fort Collins has them and all the other larger cities like that surrounding us have them.  They stop trying to run those lights. We have places like Nelson and Hoover that are some of our most dangerous intersections and our most incident. I don't like to use the word accident because when people use the word accident it implies that it was unintentional. When you run a red light, it's intentional. You are feeling that you are in a rush to get from point A to point B because of something you chose or something else that happened. Or they just weren't paying attention. Exactly, exactly. So I think we need to do some of that and fix those things. I think we need to do a little bit of education for the people of Longmont.  If you are riding on a sidewalk, you need to get off and walk your bike across. When you ride across, you are actually a vehicle in the intersection. Right. And so people don't know that. You know, one of the things that frustrates me a lot living here in Longmont are the cyclists. They seem to pick whichever side of the road they want to ride on. Some want to ride on the sidewalk. Some want to ride in the middle of the road. Some want to ride on the wrong side of the road pointing straight at you.  I think that comes down to this. When I was in China, I talked to our tour guide both times about this particular thing. In China, the drivers are first generation drivers. And so they had always rode their bikes and they kind of go like a flock of birds. And so now you see how they drive there is kind of like a flock of birds. In the United States, people are so used to driving, and everybody generally has that access to driving. So they ride their bikes as if they were driving a car. And sometimes those two ideas just don't mix. They just don't mix. I think that's part of the education part, to just kind of make people aware. But also drivers, you know, using proper etiquette and reminding them because we have people like myself that I haven't taken a driving test since I was 16 years old. And so some of those things, I've probably myself even have bad habits. And if we just remind people of what are the plight and the good habits to have, you know, it's the idea that you turn your turn signal on even though no one's behind you or even in the intersection. And that sort of mindset, I think we need to work on people. Do it 100 foot before your turning. I don't need to know that you have successfully navigated that corner. I don't need to know that. Do you have any final points that you'd like to raise at this time? I just want to stress my life experience here, my dedication to Longmont. I'm dedicated to Longmont 100%. My children are growing. They are moving into their own adulthood. And my wife and I want to be more contributors to Longmont. She currently serves as the chair of the Callahan House. And I just absolutely adore this community. You talk to some of my friends. I have a friend, Jake Sager, his family owns the Imperial Hotel on 3rd and Main. And he currently lives in Denver because he manages his other properties there. And he always says, oh no, here it comes. McCoy's going to talk about how wonderful Longmont is. And so, yeah, if any fault that I have is that I just absolutely think this community is wonderful. I love living in Longmont. I really do. It's a great little community, great town. There's so much to do here. I love the theaters, good shopping, great little community, great people. Absolutely. Great people here. And we have to speak easy. Yeah. Well, if I could just kind of show people so that they see, if they see the silhouette sign on the road in a yard sign form, they'll know that's me. And my website is www.McCoyForLongmont.com and I appreciate your support financially. And please vote for me. Sean McCoy. Sean, thank you so much for coming into the studio today. Thank you. It's been an absolute pleasure meeting you. All right. We have to get you back on this table because I want to talk about education with you. Sure. I want to talk about the Constitution with you. Absolutely, absolutely, yeah. We have a couple of shows. Bit of a throg. Sorry. That was fascinating. I've said this before. Please, please, please go out there and vote in November.   Doesn't matter if you're an independent. Vote. Voting is what counts. Voting is what keeps this country running along successfully and correctly. It has been an absolute pleasure talking to Sean. Sean, I've got a funny feeling we're going to see him down in the studios quite often. Everyone stay safe out there. I'm Nigel Laves, your host, signing off for Captain's Lounge Studios. Thank you.