[You know, it's Veterans Day, as you know, right? Right. And N.B., World War II veteran, my dad, 102 years young, Yeah, I appreciate you coming on. What are you having for breakfast?] For breakfast, I'm having cream of wheat, prunes, and figs. And a shot of Jack Daniels. No, I think not. I was a scotch drinker. But I also liked cold beer. And I guess you knew I had a wine cellar I made in the wall. And I had One time six hundred bottles of different wines I collected Either I stopped drinking Or Or or I stole them from the wine cellar I got a lot of those bottles. I'm the guy. —N.B. The PoorDad, World War II Veteran on 11/11/2025

“So by the time I was eight or nine, I was listening to Miles and John Coltrane and whatnot. So that was a big influence on me. To the point where when I was a kid, nine or ten years old, I was a drummer playing in one of the top clubs in Montreal, in the relief band for one of these big jazz clubs.” — Gino Vannelli (Rock Singer/Songwriter)

“[You guys have actually gotten naked on the stage when you played, is that right?] Well, see, it’s our feeling that nakedness is an expression of freedom. And we like to promote freedom in the world. And so we feel that by taking off our clothes that we show a representation of naked freedom.”— Anthony and Flea, Red Hot Chili Peppers Interview, 1988

“[You know what else is incredible, you told me the other night when we were sitting in your van before you went on stage and just absolutely blew everybody away, that you’re doing 150 gigs a year. Was I right or did I hear that wrong?] Yeah, it is about that. It sometimes fluctuates a little bit, but it’s around there. We’ve done more than that and sometimes we do a little bit less than that, but um, we alternate between going on 20 or 30 day tours. Which is hard, but by the time you’re exhausted, you’re halfway through and you’ve got adrenaline to bring you home. And then when we’re at home, we play Fridays and Saturdays, it’s weekend warriors. So we do 20 shows one month.”
—Dave Wakeling (Singer/Guitarist of The English Beat and General Public)

“We’ve given out over $500,000 in student scholarships to kids that are much like Ben, that are independent and strong and hardworking and love the ocean like him.” — Jake Janz (Brother-In-Law of fallen lifeguard, Ben Carlson)

“I think the The Ben Carlson Foundation represents the best of Newport Beach. It’s all about, like I said, turning a tragedy into a legacy. The money that we’re raising as I look right now on the website, the Ben Did Go 10.0, we’re at $395,000 raised, which I think is a record. This is the 10th anniversary, this is the 10th year.”
— Joe Stapleton (Newport Beach Mayor)

“And if you’d asked me when I was 12 years old what I wanted to be, I would have said I wanna be a professional basketball player. But, you know, reality comes crashing down at a certain point in your later teens. You realize, I don’t think anyone’s gonna pay me to play basketball. And then I was, you know, I like music, and I played guitar, I played bass at that point. But I, it just, it didn’t even seem like a plausible thing to me. So, I mean, I went with what I thought I could actually do, and so I ended up getting in the business. But I didn’t make that decision til I was, you know, probably 21 years old. But, yeah, if you’re asking me now, looking back on it, would it have been fun to have been a professional musician that was successful at that? Yeah. That sounds pretty good. [How tall are you, Pete?] I’m six seven. [Dang.]” — Pete Nordstrom, President of Nordstrom, Inc.

“[So, you know, how crazy has it gotten on stage playing with the Descendents?] Well, I mean, we just have people coming up and. you know, diving off the stage all the time, the stage divers. I tend to go down into the moat, what I call the moat, which is that little bit right before the barrier. And I just give the mic to kids and they just scream into it. And I just like to kind of commune with those people and just have a good time.”
—Milo Aukerman (Descendents, Lead Vocalist)

“[You wrote a lot of checks to me when I was broke for a long time. You did.] Well, you picked it up. I’m proud of what you what you’re doing and what you’ve accomplished. I mean, when you look back on where you were at certain times and where you are now, you have made spectacular progress, and you’re well known in your industry. [Well, you know, you’re my inspiration. You always have been, always will be. You wanna go to lunch now, you’re probably starving] Yes.” —Norman 'NB" Trenton, The PoorDad, interviewed on his 102nd Birthday

“But, yeah, I’m very proud of the Laguna Wall. If your listeners are listening in, go check out the new one. Get a picture in front of it. Come by the gallery. That gallery is actually, when I’m in Laguna, that’s where I live, above the gallery. Don’t tell anybody, but that’s my studio upstairs. The view up there is staggering.” —Robert Wyland (American Conservationist & Mural Artist of Life-Size Whales and Sea Life)