The eighth episode of my podcast: Truth Serum. Do you have the courage to take a dose of truth serum with me? Gop joins me again, albeit in digital form today. Technology is just beautiful in how it can connect two friends across time and space. However, it can also encourage isolation and reclusivity from the physical world. Some may say it's a double edged sword, a blessing and a curse. That is the main theme of our conversation today. We discuss life and its many tradeoffs. It felt great to share our dreams of the future, but it wasn't easy revealing our fears. So here's to the new decade and all the excitement it will bring. We had a great time trying out a new format. I normally really enjoy spending time outside and listening to the sounds of the world, but this was an interesting change. I guess it's par for the course with how the world is changing right now. Plus, I think this gave the episode a more intimate feeling, being inside of our homes. At least that's how it felt for me since I was inside in my private workspace. Also, seeing Hagop's set up inspired me with potential ideas of my own. I really dig his budget studio in the city sky, with the clean background, and the bright natural sunshine lighting. It made for a great contrast with my dark basement environment. ♡

The seventh episode of my podcast: Truth Serum. Do you have the courage to take a dose of truth serum with me? The rebel Almeida is back for more where we break the rules once again. Our province instituted prohibitions on gatherings, we don't care. Masks and curfews? We don't care. Nothing can keep two brothers apart, and nothing is off limits for us. Tonight we take the gloves off and debate politics, justice and governance as well as a bunch of other charged topics. Even though we live in a time where this speech stuff is taboo, and a lot of our behavior has suddenly been made socially unacceptable, we have no fear. We've grown up used to this. For once, filming went quite smoothly, technically speaking. I finally got myself a new phone and boy, is it a beauty. While I'll deeply miss my trusted old ZTE Axon 7, and for all the hassles, I loved it more than I could have imagined. However, I'm nothing but impressed with Samsung's S20 Ultra. That being said, life still didn't make this easy. As I stated above, Jonathan and I had to bend some new rules. While the totalitarian path our government is heading down is troubling, I cannot get lost in worries. So long as I have friends like Jonathan on my side, or in this case, pitted against me in a mental sparring session, I know I'll end up just fine. ♡

The seventh episode of my podcast: Truth Serum. Do you have the courage to take a dose of truth serum with me? The rebel Almeida is back for more where we break the rules once again. Our province instituted prohibitions on gatherings, we don't care. Masks and curfews? We don't care. Nothing can keep two brothers apart, and nothing is off limits for us. Tonight we take the gloves off and debate politics, justice and governance as well as a bunch of other charged topics. Even though we live in a time where this speech stuff is taboo, and a lot of our behavior has suddenly been made socially unacceptable, we have no fear. We've grown up used to this. For once, filming went quite smoothly, technically speaking. I finally got myself a new phone and boy, is it a beauty. While I'll deeply miss my trusted old ZTE Axon 7, and for all the hassles, I loved it more than I could have imagined. However, I'm nothing but impressed with Samsung's S20 Ultra. That being said, life still didn't make this easy. As I stated above, Jonathan and I had to bend some new rules. While the totalitarian path our government is heading down is troubling, I cannot get lost in worries. So long as I have friends like Jonathan on my side, or in this case, pitted against me in a mental sparring session, I know I'll end up just fine. ♡

The sixth episode of my podcast: Truth Serum. Do you have the courage to take a dose of truth serum with me? I'm back again, cleansed by the fall-time rain and re-inspired to share my inner world with you. I took a break and retreated into the privacy of my own mind. My world was becoming quite cluttered and my thoughts felt like they were accelerating out of control. I had all sorts of imaginative ideas I wanted to share. However, they were coming and going so fast, and there were so many ideas fighting for my attention that I became overwhelmed. I decided to close myself off and look inwards. I struggled with my own mind. I also began feeling loneliness too, especially since I had sort of locked myself indoors. Not physically though. I would still spend most of my days outside, oftentimes with friends, and sometimes against lockdown guidelines. But mentally, I was voluntarily quarantining myself. Also, the saga of troubleshooting continues. When the inspiration struck, I wanted to go out and film in the rain so badly. Unfortunately, I lost my tripod and microphone. I'm a bit of a stubborn guy so I spent way too long looking for them and got way too frustrated. After taking a break, I remembered exactly where they were. A friend had borrowed them. Funny how a step back can change so much. I drove over, picked them up and went out to film by the water right before sunset. I lost a decent chunk of footage again just as my words were really starting to flow out. It's ok, since that challenged me to re-think and re-state what I already knew. Although I am getting a bit annoyed at this point. I might bite the bullet and just buy a new phone. Old habits die hard with me, especially this incredible phone. We've been through close to 4 years together now. ♡

The fifth episode of my podcast: Truth Serum. Do you have the courage to take a dose of truth serum with me? He's a rebel, he's a bad-ass, he's the underdog and he's been my friend since elementary school. It's been a real experience to see each other grow up, split paths and reunite. So, I'd like to share a bit of that experience with you. Join us on a beautiful summer day by the river as we watch the sun burn the rain clouds and mist away. This time around my phone ran out of storage part way through filming. The two of us were having such a great time, that the hours flew by. You might notice a lot of cuts towards the end of the video. That's where my phone struggled to save the footage before it stopped altogether. Apparently, when storage is low, my phone can only save clips under 3 minutes. Only a couple of seconds of dialogue was lost between these clips. However, I think around 45 minutes was lost at the very end. No matter, it just gives me a convenient excuse to have Jonathan back on again. ♡

The fourth episode of my podcast: Truth Serum. Do you have the courage to take a dose of truth serum with me? Some friendships seem to go on forever, don't they? In this episode I maintain my old, but beautiful bike. We've been through a lot together and I consider her one of my greatest companions in life. There have been ups and downs, rocky roads, rainy nights, twists around blind corners, a few hard falls and bright blue skies above barley fields that stretch to the horizon. However, sometimes I have to get my hands a little dirty to maintain this magical machine. And sometimes, if I'm lucky, I wonder if it's really me maintaining the bike, or if it's the bike maintaining me. Again, as per usual, the filming didn't go without a small problem. I'm still not sure how or why, but the audio drifted out of sync gradually throughout the two longer recordings. Not that I mind, it was a cool chance to learn about the intricacies of audio compression, storage and manipulation. Hopefully I fixed the issues and the sound is synced up. ♡

The third episode of my podcast: Truth Serum. Do you have the courage to take a dose of truth serum with me?

Let me present to you, the one, the only, Hagop Sarian. He is many, many things, nothing short of a close friend, spiritual guide and mentor to name but a few. He's as unique as they come. I could not be more honored to share some of my time with him today surrounded by life in a beautiful springtime forest.

I'm also finally starting to the get hang of audio and filming. The mic picked up the whole soundscape of the forest and all the life that's growing throughout. However, I'm still new to hosting guests on camera so forgive us for maybe being a bit camera shy and a little awkward at times. Try not to judge the struggle of silence in conversation and instead take a moment to appreciate the music of nature.

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The second episode of my new podcast: Truth Serum. Do you have the courage to take a dose of truth serum with me?

This time around we ask the question: who am I? I mean really, what are we? Should we identify as our physical body, our mind, both? Besides, what even defines the boundary between the inside and the outside? What if we scrap the whole notion of boundary and forget the difference between inside and outside, me and not me? Not to mention, do I decide who I am? Or do others get to label me and create images of me in their minds, in their realities? Could there be many of me? Could I be everything?

Also, I fixed the audio issues from the previous episode. The wind was still fairly strong so maybe for the next episode I'll work on getting more insulation for my mic. Every day is a new challenge and I love it.

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The first episode of my new podcast: Truth Serum. Do you have the courage to take a dose of truth serum with me?

Today we ponder the fluid nature of truth and how easily it slips through our fingers. I was inspired to make this series in part thanks to some of my friends starting artistic careers and in part due to the worldwide pandemic, which has given us all the opportunity to take time off from regular life. I could feel a bright light shining on society, illuminating the dark parts we tend to ignore. This virus has exposed our weaknesses and our shortcomings, but it has also shown us a better way forward. Cities worldwide are cleaner and more peaceful. Without the noise of regular life we are slowly coming to understand what truly matters to us.

Also, I should mention, the audio can be quite rough at times to put it lightly. The area was windy and my external mic wasn't connected. You live and you learn.

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