Episode 11 - Claudia Amaya

A few months back, I spoke with my freind Amy Dubin about her Tea endeavor, Janam Tea & I ordered a bag. Claudia and I take some time out of homework helping, to make some tea and chit chat. We are in no way connoisseurs of tea, so our language in discussing tea is pretty elementary. But fortunately, Amy has a class on her website called "Sexify your Palate" which teaches you how to embrace what you love by learning about what you love, how to tell yourself and others what you love and become fluent with your tastebuds.
Now go get some Janam Tea!!!!

Janam Tea Homepage

Sexify your palate…LINK

Interview with Amy Dubin of Janam Tea LINK

At "The End".....you'll find La Sirena...Ditch Plains Beach, Montauk, NY.... the Food Truck lady. My friend Lili. What do you get when you  mix an Italian-Argentine with some punk rock, hippy lifestyle, deep breathing, creative, Motherhood pushin', food lovin', freedom seeker...and the beach?... You get my guest, Lili Fasanella. One of my many awesome friends brought into my life by my wife Claudia. Enjoy.

Oto Tachihiko (Location: Fukuoka, Kyushu Island, Japan)
I met Oto about a decade ago through another freind, Rich Hoak. Oto was Ubi Quitous at the time and has since changed his name, due to the "Death or near-Death of Ubi" He is a human Phoenix. I love this guy because he comes off as "real" yet still creating a buzz when walking in public. He dresses different than others, he acts different than others, yet it's totally him. Almost like someone from another Universe showing up on Earth. He is how he is and we only notice his differences. I shot a video of him performing in a Church without an audience. I put the link below. The audio is a bit on the "crunchy" side because of the internet connection. But, please enjoy the whole episode. Oto is a very interesting person.


https://www.facebook.com/ubiaion
https://www.facebook.com/ototachihiko/
http://ototachihiko.jimdo.com
Oto music:
https://ototachihiko.bandcamp.com/album/the-multidimensional-songs-vol-1

Whiskey, Hand Sanitizer and N95 Masks, Spirit of Yonkers and Mahia:
Nahmias Et Fils Distillery....deliciousness!!!!
https://www.nahmiasetfils.com/

Pepe Bermejo (Location: Madrid, Spain)
A musician who started at 19, formed a ton of bands, left his successful but spiritually draining banking job to pursue his music further. I met Pepe in Smithfield, Va when he was attending Smithfield High School with my brother Jason. They formed a bond and thus, I ended up bonding as well. Pepe would hang out with Jason and I when we were forming Terrible Double Head Fishy and was present for all of our live shows. He's even in the live footage at Crossroads Cafe on my Youtube channel. The guy has a lot of spirit, and heavy opinions about how schools in Spain could be less drab. I think he should make that happen...

https://www.facebook.com/grupomama/
https://www.facebook.com/LosImposiblesmadrid/
https://popandsoul.org/educapop/

Claudia Amaya (Location: Bronx, NY)
Claudia is my wife. I wanted to interview her back at the beginning of the Bestowed series, but our schedules didn't match up for a 40+ minute bock of time. With kids, something always pops up.
Anyway, we speak about her time in film school, her film festival experiences and growing up in both El Salvador and Rockville Centre, NY. She is a very well rounded individual and keeps me inspired ever day. I'm very fortunate to be "shelter in place" with her.

Luz & Luna (Location: Bronx, NY)
I needed to add a bit of lighthearted kid humor to this podcast. So, I recruited my daughters to help out. We talk about what life is like for them since schools went remote, and socializing in person has become a "no no". Hey, we're all going through it, some are in a much dyer situation than others. We're trying to make the best of it.  I look at it like I look at the 1918 Influenza. That was a terrible time, it took society some time to heal. But, it's been a little over a 100 years and except for the depression, this country and world has really been milking the goodness from this earth. Many, many extraordinary things have happened within the past Century. I have faith that after we suffer and survive, we will heal, rise and become a brilliant society once again.
Children, make things heal better.....so, I give you my children. Seriously, take them.
Enjoy.

Damon Postle (Location: Bronx, NY)

Recorded with zencastr.com 

I opted out of doing an intro/outro and got Damon to perform the opening and closing songs. They are Tuvan songs and are nothing like I would have imagined.

•First tune for the intro is Alash Xem (Алаш Хем)

•Second is Ezir Kara (Эзир Кара)

It’s great being introduced to new music from other lands. Damon is a High school music teacher and you can really tell he was made to do this. It’s his craft. In many ways, he is the ultimate music teacher. He has a daily song performance on facebook as well as offering music lessons on Youtube. Good people, good people and very unique….please enjoy.

https://www.instagram.com/globalmusiced/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkosGkA5No5iSz2TVh0eGdA

Katie Shelly (Location: Barcelona, Spain)
Hmmmm….I don’t remember when I met Katie. I know that it was of course at Tekserve, since we were employees there. But, the actual year?…Not sure. How would I describer her? She is like your best friend’s little sister that is always there, involved in something that hijacks your attention. She's not childish, but has the same energy for interesting things as a child does. Making up cool fun games, eating interesting foods that you can buy right next door that you’d never hear of. That’s Katie. Always adding a ray of sunshine.

Picture Cook (Book):
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thekitchn.com/picture-cook-see-make-eat-by-katie-shelly-new-cookbook-201880%3famp=1

https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781612432342

Katie’s artwork, I personally love the profile image which is some artwork for an upcoming book.
https://www.instagram.com/interkatie/

Katie’s favorite Zumba channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk5vHqcnVnE

Carlos Abi Torres (Location: Ridgefield, New Jersey)
Carlos, he's one of those friends you acquire through a girlfriend/boyfriend or a wife/husband. Claudia attended City College of NYC and she has passed along most of those friends to me. And now, they are my friends as well. It's cool how that happens. I mean, how many friends do we have that we met through love relationships in our lives? I can't count how many friends I have that I met that way and still keep in touch with as if I met them on my own. Many of them have been or will be guests on this Podcast. Life is awesome, you know?

Links...
www.carlosabitorres.com

http://linkedin.com/in/carlosabitorres

Jeremiah Kipp (Location: Astoria/Queens, NY)
A Filmmaker, he has recently completed shooting his film "Slapface". As they went into post-production, the Pandemic began. Whew! Juuuuust made it. We chat about growing up being fascinated with and creating movies as well as how he's managing everyday life during the Social Distancing. Life throws us obstacles. How we deal with them is what makes us who we are. Enjoy this episode.

Jeremiah links:

http://kippfilms.com/main.html

https://www.instagram.com/jeremiah.kipp/

https://www.facebook.com/jeremiah.kipp.5

My intro/outro microphone:
RØDE VideoMic Me-L. They're not a sponsor, I just wanted to share my equipment details.
https://www.rode.com/microphones/videomicmel