Guide Dogs for the Blind: Empowering Lives Through Partnership

Be Careful What You Wish For may as well be the album title to Gabby La La's career. She has a truly original approach to life and music. In finding her instrument, the Sitar and learning from the master Ali Ahkbar Khan, she found a discipline, her voice, and the bigger lesson: To play from the heart.

Gabby is still jamming and creating her way through life. From motherhood, to quilting, to online Ukulele lessons, ASMR videos and whisper crafting to her newest E.P. arriving this month. 

She is the girl who practices what she believes: being positive with people, that friendships matter AND Family is the core of all creativity!

I had such a great time interviewing Gabby and I just know you will too.

Check out Gaby’s website to hear her music and delve into all her wonderful rainbow creations. Find her at GabbyLaLa.com

If you were considered radical because you believed that we should "build as nature Builds" or to embrace "Thinking like nature" Welcome to Eugene’s Life. 

For his entire life he has lived in the excellence of his own realization. His interdisciplinary Creativity is a way of looking at yourself, the way you live and move, the way you balance to create with freedom the spaces we can all live in while respecting the planet. 

There is no denying he is a force of nature himself. This is a powerful conversation about creativity and knowing no boundaries. And even more being true to yourself!

To get your feet wet in the creative mind of Eugene, visit his website: http://www.EugeneTssui .com

Kevin Concannon has a PHD in Modern and Contemporary Arts and African Art History.  As the former Director, Adjunct Professor and Chair of the Virginia Tech School of Visual Arts, his perspective on the Art World is well known.
In a wide ranging conversation that can seem rather self effacing at times, Kevin goes so far as to call himself a "Higher Education Bureaucrat." How he started the path to his career in the art world is unique. The story weaves through his time with Yoko Ono - both on stage with her and his written expert analysis of her long career as well as treasured conversations. It is the story of an Art Historian and Collector who becomes part of the story himself.

Brent Lambert has been mastering sound recordings for over 30 years. His studio, The Kitchen located in North Carolina, has mastered records for well over 2,000 top selling and indie artists like Cracker, Camper Van Beethoven, The Db's and Southern Culture on the Skids.
Their motto, To Realize Your Vision With Our Ears says everything about how Brent & The Kitchen crew approach the techniques of manipulating the artists intent in performance and to bring that to our ears cleanly.
Brent takes the time with me to explore in depth how mastering is done and how they are the last brush to provide the final mix to a great performance.

Marty Marfin is an adjunct professor at the California College of the Arts based in San Francisco, California. His field of expertise is in model making, prototyping, sculpture, and museum exhibits. His students come from all over the world to study first hand the advanced techniques needed to enter the world of modeling and advanced prototyping.
So how do you teach a class in design, construction, materials and techniques by Zoom to students around the globe? That is just a part of the conversation we explore as we enter the world of creating the forms today for the products of tomorrow. I even participated with Marty's class and observed students from China as they submit their final class projects for a design review. My reward was to learn that dreams do come alive as 3-D models.

Brian Barnacle is from Petaluma, California and has spent most of his life here. While he has spent all of his professional career working to make the world a better place via clean energy development, he decided to transition his efforts to include local politics. His campaign for city council took place during the pandemic, and at a time when  candidates were under extreme scrutiny. Dana interviewed Brian both during his campaign and after (spoiler alert) he won. In the follow up interview, Dana asks what, if anything, has changed since he took office, and where does a small town with big issues go from here.

Both interviews are included in this week's podcast.

When I want to know the truth about the media I ask author and professor Mickey Huff. He's President of The Media Freedom Foundation, and he's the Executive Producer and Co-Host of the syndicated weekly public affairs program Project Censored. 
Who really controls the news? Mickey tells us what we probably know but don't want to hear. This powerful presentation of pure facts of how we are fed corporate capitalist driven gossip to keep us uninformed is startling. How History keeps repeating itself and how the news spin we get daily ignores the real stories we should all be concerned about.

Melanie Dado-Stammler is the epitome of the Bohemian California lifestyle. The smile is real. The life story is sincere - a simple philosophy of doing good things. Being positive comes natural even through adversity. We get to share her love of community, the artists she promotes and the sense of peace she likes to add to this crazy we world we all live in. Plus she can really dress you up for the party!

Kristin Lucas is the V.P. of Client Relations, Training and Veterinary Operations for Marin County based Guide Dogs for the Blind. Since 1942 this organization that is dedicated to providing guide dogs for the sight impaired. We get deep into the way this organization functions as a singly focused well run non profit. From breeding, to naming , to placing the puppies into homes and then making the hard decisions around whether the dog will even advance to the final goal of giving the blind the freedom to move about in society. 

Musician Barrance Whitfield has only been one thing in his life: one of the best regarded by fellow musicians, hardest working, and never giving up the love he brings to the stage. You cannot say he has just one style of singing. From a soul ballad, to a country crooner, the classic shouter and an all out rock assault - Barrance gives 100% of himself.  Everyone he meets and everyone who has watched him perform are lifetime fans. I know because I am one.