The Lens

Even when they have the best intentions, your developer may be deluded into thinking they are writing the solution you need for a price worth paying. Despite bad estimates and misplaced priorities, these simple steps will ensure you end up with a useful solution that's worth the cost.

Physician assisted suicide is legal in some states and countries. Should mental health counselors play a part in that process? Or is suicide a therapist's ultimate failure? What is our job anyway?

I came to watch some thoughtful people make history. I encountered a socialist paradise, the greenest city in the world, and numerous BJJ enthusiasts who made me feel quite at home. Cheers, Vancouver!

Welcome to the first edition of The Sunday Shit-show. It's a commitment to ship a podcast, guest or no guest, good life or no good life, rainbows or snowflakes... each and every week.

I've found (once again) that when I don't make this podcast happen, the psychic weight of un-purged consciousness gets pretty fuckin' heavy and threatens to extinguish my spirit. And as I discovered immediately after recording this episode, flushing the pipes of thoughts and feelings is really good medicine. The sense of relief and increased mobility that attends this practice is truly remarkable.

I've been reading Irvin Yalom's The Gift of Therapy (again) this week, and his words echo and affirm what I've been thinking and feeling. We gotta be human, and we gotta communicate that humanity. And other folks in our life, the ones we care about and want to connect with, also need to bear witness to our humanity. And by human I mean impotent, flawed, and embarrassing.

Show Notes

Denis took a psilocybin trip in Zoar Valley State Park on the anniversary of his 49th trip around the sun.

Next month Denis plans to Tap Out Cancer (if not his BJJ opponent). You can support this mission here:

Denis and Chris catch up after 20 years of not seeing each other. They talk about the miracles of their birth and the stunning impermanence of their work. Lola the aztec mountain chihuahua performs her high and lonesome song.

You can view films by Chris Benker on Amazon. Including:

Monkeys and Robots

The Yakuza and the Mermaid

Chris is working on a new 3D film, The Kamikaze of Fort Greene Park.

Chris and Denis talk about his beautiful and most personal short film, Sleepwalk:

...which you can view along with much of his other most recent work on Chris' Be Independent Productions channel.

Denis talks about getting too close to prison guards and the next 100 minds that need to be changed on the issue of mass shootings.

Today on the Lens I talk to Marquean Tucker… or maybe you know him as ENOK. Marquean is a DJ and producer of experimental trap music. He is the opening act for many of his DJ, EDM, TRAP, and DubStep idols. He’s got even bigger things planned in his professional and personal life this year. We talk about music, race, church, the EDM club scene, his upcoming wedding, and how he grows in his craft by seeking out criticism from his EDM heroes.

Marquean's music can be heard on his Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/enokalypse.

Two of Marquean's (ENOK's) tracks we listened to and discussed on the show were:   LIC and Viral.

Denis talked about how greatly The Black Sun helped him this past week. It's a tool from the book, Coming Alive by Phil Stutz and Barry Michels. Also Denis mentioned how inspired he was by thoughts from Jordan Peterson on the topic of trust.

Abdul Sallaj is a psychiatrist in Chicago. We talked about aspects of the developing mind that are unique to growing up in a household steeped in religious fundamentalism. We also talked way too much about spanking... ouch! Abdul and Denis conducted their interview in Undergrounds Coffee House and Roastery, converted a year or so ago from a funeral home. Denis thinks it's to die for.

Show Notes

Earlier in the show, Denis talked about how he fell through the attic into ceiling (he didn't fall all the way through... just a leg or two dangling down). This video details the aftermath.

Jon and Denis talk about the #MeToo movement, Denis' own Title IX hearing at Medaille College, Carl Jung's Shadow, and the latest stories in the news, especially Louis CK, Jian Ghomeshi, Roman Polanski, Kristen Gillibrand, Salma Hayek, Harvey Weinstein, Al Franken, Garrison Keillor, Viktor Frankl, Betsy Devos, Roy Moore, and Donald Trump.

Earlier in the show Denis mentioned Sara Heidinger who opened Undergrounds Coffee House and Roastery. You can read this article about how she is working on a project to bring something akin to Manhattan's High Line to our very own Old First Ward.

Denis visited his friend Chris Benker and met Chris' wife, Shari Berman both filmmakers in Brooklyn. They visited an art installation by Lary 7, a New York artist, musician, recording artist, and all-round inventive bloke.

Denis also talked about The Music Lesson by Victor Wooten, and they guy who recommended the book to Denis... songwriter Omeri Monroe.

Denis talked about how Babe Magazine is taking the conversation about men, women, and sex to a whole new place.... a place that at all at once seems strangely foreign, yet eerily familiar.

Brian is an educator who wrote the young adult novel, Miss E. Brian began his teaching career in Washington DC area middle schools. He continues to work in school districts to help educators better integrate learning with technology. We talk about his book, Miss E., and the impact it made on my mind. Brian's next book, Cross Country is due this Spring.

Brian has also been on the Chasing Earhart podcast.

Val is also known as "Valociraptor", she is the first professional woman MMA fighter to hail from our Western New York region. 

Val mentioned that she has trained at  Grappling Unlimited, in Honolulu, Hawaii and Gracie Barra Himeji which is also home to Himeji Castle, the most glorious castle in Japan.

Valerie has also trained at Western New York MMA, and is now training at Buffalo United Martial Arts (BUMA), KC Fitness., and Lake Effect Martial Arts. 

Val also mentions our Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) professor, Josh Ketry. 

She talks about the Japanese MMA organization, PRIDE, and its famous fights and fighters, like Bob Sapp and Kazushi Sakuraba who propelled BJJ's popularity since the 1990's.

Denis recalled the documentary, Choke, featuring Rickson Gracie.

Val and Denis practiced the Tool, Inner Authority (or The Shadow) by Phil Stutz and Barry Michels.

You can keep in touch with Val and her upcoming fights through her Facebook page.

Check out Val-ociraptor in this ferocious video: