Melissa Clark - contact via the she shift

Melissa Clark is on a mission - to empower women to be better - to do better and live better.

Local, regional and national - you name it...

To read some more about how the internet can help local groups - read Clay Shirky.

We don't do religion but do you know what the Muslim call to prayer sounds like?

How would you like to be woken up by a loud alarm clock with the Muslim call to prayer?

Thought not...

I have suffered with wanting to keep up with the news and world events and letting it enter my head too much...

Melissa like to keep up with world new too..

We worked out that you need to have some kind of door manager.

Not sure about the US but we call that person a bouncer over here.

You need a bouncer for your head and head space...

In true Funky Thinkers style, we came up with an idea.

Melissa would like to be stuck in a lift (elevator) with the oldest woman in the world.

That might be a stretch - but we wondered if anyone had any connections to a woman over the age of 90 (NINETY) and could get them on the show.

We would love to do a three way interview.

Bryan Falchuck - Contact via www.bryanfalchuk.com

Recorded just after the Boston RedSox won the 2018 world series, Bryan gave me a quick lesson in how big it actually is.

Brief nugget about history and tradition - I looked up the Boston curse - vs something being manufactured in the last 20 years.

The environment cropped up. Maybe it is the next generation that accepts global warming - rather than the current one which could typically say "I don't believe in global warming" 

I googled seaweed water blob and this was the first result I got. Coming soon to a running event - or a developing country near you...

https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/247672-seaweed-based-water-pouch-aims-end-need-plastic-bottles

Bryan found that turning his phone resolution to black and white reduced use dramatically. Maybe we should all try it.

Aaron Smith - Contact via wr.solutions

Dr Aaron Smith started with the question

"What does it take to make a good school?"

Like most Funky Thinker questions - it is harder than it appears at first glance.

It requires some sit down and talk time - Funky or what?

After a quick trip round the size of aircraft carriers at Norfolk Virginia and Portsmouth (UK), we decided that the worst place in the world to be was on the flight deck of one on 4th July.

The temperature is 110 degrees. (That's 43 Celsius - or very hot) and you are cleaning rust off. Nice

We got to talking about education and things which are required for a good school - that it is very hard to measure and therefore articulate in simple terms.

Like culture, the way things are done. Relationships between school and home and more.

I often wonder if the desert island question still has a place in the world.

Turns out it really has - not for the few minutes we allow it on the show - but for a wider group or team discussion.

Tim Armacost - Visit at http://timarmacost.com/ or 

Instagram

Tim Armacost is a musician.

I asked him off air if he was any good - just google his name...(or better still type his name into YouTube...)

What's it like to be children of US diplomats?

Well you get to go to baseball games as kids on the Japanese underground. (With no parents attached).

The Japanese still have the social contract - even today - that most other western countries have lost.

Tim has conflicting emotions because for the last few weeks - he has had no kids around the house - they have all flown the nest.

Luck vs skill and what is a professional musician anyway? 

There is a cliche which says the harder you work - the luckier you get. Attributed to various people. Or is it skill ? Below is Tim's take on it.

How musicians make money in these days of music on tap via YouTube, Spotify etc? 

In days gone by, record collections would take months and years to assemble. Incrementally, the fan would send money to the artist every time they bought a single or an LP. Now you can listen to the entire back catalogue of virtually any artist you can name.

The answer is the experience... Instead of just pulling up YouTube on your phone - you gotta go to a live event. Concert, gig, whatever you want to call it.

Who is the person Tim want to be stuck in a lift with?

Turns out it is JOHN Coltrane - video below - rather than Scottish actor ROBBIE Coltrane. You can tell the obvious differences in the two clips below.

Oh the amateurish mistakes we make when not properly prepared...

Makes for a better conversation though?

We also talked about 'bloodlines' for rock groups.

The Beatles/Sex Pistols vs heavy rock KISS - YES etc

In his younger life, Tim was a KISS fan but never painted his face... 

What is it like to be a musician and be paid to mine/act/play along to backing music?

Jonathan Pritchard - contact via Jonathan Pritchard.guide

This was by far one of the most existential conversations we have featured on the show.

Emotional Judo is a real thing - and the dot com is taken. So no point looking.

A map is the ultimate magic trick because if you have a piece of paper in front of you, you will know what is coming round the next corner.

It can't be any map - it must be a specific map - of the place where you are.

And that is the reason to use a consultant or a coach - because they have a map of where you are and what it likely to be round the next corner.

The glass half empty or glass half full thing got a twist. Einstein?

Everything is a miracle or nothing is a miracle

I am travelling half way across the world - to a different country - and it is like riding in a bus.

How cool is that?

Or - they don't even have wifi - what suckage...

Captain Cook cropped up.

He was a British explorer and navigator who made the first contact with the east coast of Australia (apart from the people who were already there) and the first circumnavigation of New Zealand.

In three voyages, Cook sailed thousands of miles across largely uncharted areas of the globe. He mapped lands from New Zealand to Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean in greater detail and on a scale not previously achieved.

One of his maps is below.

Captain Cook map of Australia (approx 1770)

Modern map of Australia

Rober McGuiness - 

Contact via https://soul-venturer.com/

It is odd - and a sign of the times maybe - that often people show up to be on the show and they have already figured out their own version of Funky Thinkers.

Robert McGuiness had an angle that people live in a certain culture meme. And we see that everywhere - in mass market TV, politics, the news.

It takes a certain type of person to break through or break out of that strait jacket. Funky Thinkers.

This episode uses the vehicle of the travel industry to discuss this.

In the 1970's when airfares became affordable - everyone in the UK went to Spain in the summer. (Or Portugal or Greece).

That became the cultural meme.

If there are any budding historians who listen to the show - we would be interested in having you on the show.

Robert thinks you guys are under rated.

There is a link to a show which was on BBC a while back where each episode featured the trials and tribulations of a family - who lived in a specific house in Liverpool.

Outside UK people may be unable to see it.

Plus - if you haven't seen it before - there is the link to the DHL advert virtually proving that nowhere on earth is inaccessible.

Robert also thinks that social media takes away people's autonomy. Never heard it described like that before. In that people are living their lives measuring against what other people like or do or think or buy.

Plus - forget all these apps that bring your food to you. At a time slot of their choosing. Next time I need some takeaway food - I am going to go to the shop - with cash - and buy it. You will have to listen to get the full story.

The twitter user interface cropped up for the first time.... Could do better.

Hudi Kowalsky - Contact via LinkedIn or http://www.hudikowalskymusic.com/

I felt a little awkward after recording this.

Hudi Kowalsky is a born and bred New Yorker.

Because I knew who Top Cat was and he didn't.

A video snippet of the classic Top Cat introduction is below.

(Top Cat is a cartoon version of The Phil Silvers show - Sgt Bilko where a gang of wiseguys continually get one over on the slow witted and generally ineffective "officials".)

I might need to change some of the questions - because the "what makes you roll your eyes every time you hear it ?" is starting to become a little awkward.

I think we have proved that all Funky thinkers have a dislike for rudeness, intolerance and general 21st century attitudes.

Watch this space...

Where is the one place - (well two) that if you went to - and could stay there forever - you would meet everyone you had ever met.

The answer is Trafalgar Square - London and Times Square - New York. The Eiffel Tower in Paris. Red Square Moscow. CN Tower Toronto.

We talk about what life is like in the ant colony that is New York City - downtown.

Tip - Whatever and however your life is chaotic and busy - you NEED to have something that takes your mind off it. As someone famous once said "It's a rat race and the rats are winning."

Hudi was a child of the 1960's listening to Paul Simon, Bob Dylan and Neil Young.

Plus the story of the Prince who thought he was a turkey - the answer for treating him. Let him be a Turkey if he wants to be.

Tom Baker (Doctor Who) cropped up as did King Solomon - How did they know he was one of the richest men who ever lived? Did they dig up his bank card?

Jeffrey Gurian - Contact via Comedy Matters

Jeffrey Gurian started life as a cosmetic dentist. Like you do...

He was still a little pumped when we recorded the show. He hadn't slept much after hosting and producing a hit New York comedy show the previous night.

We talked about the pressure of performing live on stage. People will ALWAYS clap if you sing - however bad.

But if your jokes are no good - you will bomb.

Jeffrey let us into the subtleties of some ways needed to avoid this.

Blocking out negativity cropped up again and I still haven't figured out if this desert island has wifi or not.

Jeffrey was the first person to take his family curiously.

For most people - the choice of eat in or takeaway is a genuine one. Not if you live in New York City - where there are restaurants every 3 feet. Takeaway is not really a choice.

As a curious wrap to the show - on a cruise - someone asked (of Jeffrey) "Is that who I think it is?" (thinking he was Elton John).

A short escapade went on - with the person who made the call of mistaken identity was a little annoyed.

Moral of the story - never assume things - always find out for yourself - and trust no one.

Jeffrey has just written his FIFTH BOOK - The first four were via a traditional publisher - The latest one is self published.

"Healing Your Heart, By Changing Your Mind - A Spiritual and Humorous Approach To Achieving Happiness"

Shannon Evans - Contact via https://www.thescholarcoach.com/​The scholar coach​​​

As often is the case  - guests come up with something which either - by accident or design - drills right to the heart of Funky Thinkers.

Shannon said Arrogance is an Ignorance.

Arrogance - caused by ignorance is probably one of the biggest threats to mankind - aside from the whole in the ozone layer.

Shannon is writing a book - which may now have a title - aimed at young women going to college.

We talked about catch phrases, leadership and self starting.

Shannon was probably one of the most organised people ever to go to the Funky Thinkers desert island - you will have to listen to find out why.

Too busy to listen to the full episode - watch the extract below.