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Rick's Blog Live-Full Show 9/16/26 · Rick Outzen: (we don’t) color on the dog

• rick_s_blog_live_9_1-D2CnHqgqL: Hi, I'm Rick Altson and this is Rick's Blog Live. Thank you for watching. This is a chance to bring the newsmakers to you, to see w see them in person, hear their words, and test my interview skills. Can I s can an old man still do it? we go everywhere today. We're gonna go college athletics with Lumpy Deweys. You know, we have a football player who was in DC for the Protect College Sports Act. We'll have Martha Holden with Impact 100. They announce their finalists today. We'll get to hear who those are. We're also gonna have Tom Pace, the ever-shy Tom Pace. Big race coming up for the Yacht Club in early October. Also Frankenstein with Ballet Pensacola. We're gonna get to talk to the choreographer and what's really behind the production. It's a really, really good conversation that I'm excited to have. And then we've got Zach Robbins, up and coming artist, museum, musician and poet. and he's part of the issue this week, sort of our poet edition of In Weekly. We'll go ahead and get with it. Let's go ahead and start. When we watch college sports today, we see that the players on these teams are not the same ones that we saw the year before in many instances. The Protect College Sports Act is one that's gonna try to bring some logic and some gu guardrails to the pandemonium that's going on in college athletics right now. This week they had a special press conference in DC. They brought in coaches and athletes from all over the country to To talk about the importance of setting up some rules that at the federal level that would be followed throughout the country. We had a representative there, UWF football player, senior. Lumpy DeWis was there, and we've got Lumpy with us now. Lumpy, thank you for coming. It's good to be here. It's good to be back home. I bet. Quick flight. Absolutely. Yeah, the the College Sports Act, you've you've experienced the portal. Mm-hmm. you have you wrote a viewpoint for us, which I really appreciate. You called it pandemonium. How does that pla how's that played out in the locker room for you for as you've seen it? So the freshman class I came in with at Stetson was probably fifty guys. My sophomore year that ended up being around fifteen, and now I think there's probably ten maybe ten of them left. Mm-hmm. And I've seen it here at UWF. Every year we have probably fifty to sixty new guys come in. Just and that's replacing seniors, that's replacing guys that left. So you've got to learn a whole new team every spring and then even more guys come before fall camp. So you really gotta get to know guys fast and learn how to play with those guys. Yeah, th some of the rules that are in place. One is only, you know, one transfer, one free transfer. The other ones you could transfer if it's a switching coach or there's some sort of harassment situation or there there's some ex exemptions, but not a lot. Do you think that's fair or d does it penalize the JUCO players? I think it is the fair thing and the right thing to do. because right now what you're seeing is free agency. Guys they'll get tampered with by former teammates or former coaches and just up and get in the portal two or three times or four to five times. I've I mean I have friends that have played at five or six different schools and beyond football, that's not a way to sustain academically. Mhm. Well, you know You made the decision you wanted to come home, right? You lost y Stetson had a coaching change, which gave you an opportunity. was it d difficult decision for you to make or mama's cooking brought you home? It's really nice to be home. I had a few other opportunities coming out of the portal that were some out west, some up north, but it was it was really easy to decide to come back to the beach. Yeah, really. When you look at it, you know, talk about how you got to D C that When did you when did when was the call sent to if you could go and then what kind of processes you you you were lucky because it was a bi week and that helped. But but tell tell me a little bit about that process you had to go through to get okay to go. So a few weeks back the Senate Commerce Committee, some of their staff reached out to me to write an op ed about the bill and about why it's important. And then last week we were on the bus up to Central Arkansas and I got an email. From the Senate Commerce staff and it was like, Hey, we're having a press conference next week. we'd love if you could come and show support for the bill. And so I sent it to Coach Noble's and then shared it with our athletic department. They were all absolutely supportive. And then last Friday I got on a Zoom call with our some of our conference staff, the conference commissioner and his staff, and they talked through why they think the bill's important and why it's an important thing to our conference. and then had Sunday night practice, so I had to fly up Monday morning, go and film a commercial and then go to the press conference and then fly home to make it to practice yesterday. So what are the things in the bill that really jump out to you, the things that you're encouraged by? I think the transfer portal rule is good. I think the locking in the five year cap from nineteen to twenty-four is an important thing. So you keep real college kids playing college sports. and I know the especially for small mid major schools, the antitrust protections are in dire need because the the litigation environment right now of we're just gonna run to a local judge and sue, that's not sustainable for smaller athletic programs. The w talk about the health pro insurance part too. That was something that's new. It covers there's coverages for athletes five years after you graduate. And so there's a bunch of lingering stuff that happens while you're playing college sports that you don't necessarily want to get done while you're playing. So having that added to the bills big for the athletes specifically. You know, when you looked at at going up there, w what was it like to be to be standing, you know, on national TV on C SPAN, and be s next to John Calapari? I think the people who support it really shows how important it is. you know, to have Coach Saban go and testify and then Coach Calapari, Coach Few, Coach Samson from Houston, all these legendary coaches, they know what college sports is supposed to look like. And so for them to get involved, it tells you that this is really what needs to happen. Do you have any good conversations with them or Yeah, yeah, Coach Calapari, he he said his son just started coaching, so that's why he wanted to really get involved and make sure to leave it better than he found it. cool, cool. The is as you look at coming back, how are you What's happened in the bill since then? Yeah, I know you you've had that advantage of being an intern, so you kinda know how le you not kind of, you do know how legislation works. So the first procedural bill passed. So it's gonna be on the floor for a vote within the next eight or nine days, so either before the end of this week or next week. and then it's looking like it's gonna pass the Senate with a big, big majority. And so it'll head to the House, but the House won't be back until after the midterm, it's looking like so Hopefully they're able to get it through in that lame duck session and get it to the president's desk. Well, and it sounded you know, coach I mean Senator Cruz, Ted Cruz is one of the sponsors of the bill, mentioned that he felt like fairly confident that the president would sign it. Absolutely. He he recommended that the president go on college game day to sign it before the end of the season. So well Ted Cruz did it last week exactly in the Texas y Ohio State game, so I'm sure he'd think about it. As you as you look at it coming back. what do you think this bill's gonna do for UWF sports? I think it kinda secures their place in the environment of college athletics and I think that it really will allow UWF to prosper and to finally have locked in rules consistently to follow because for the past few years it's been just trying to catch up and play like keep up with what's going on f in terms of the NCAA, in terms of what a random judge and wherever Mississippi's saying. so I think for them it'll allow them to really plan and allow them to s succeed. Do you think the the environment the way it is now does it allow maybe not the best type of operators to get involved in in the locker rooms trying to push kids one way or another or do you do you s get a sense of some of that happening? A big thing this bill kinda legislates on is what agents are allowed to do. And so right now there's a lot of predatory agents who are going after college athletes because they know they can get at for a much higher percent than say an NFL guy. So it really cracks down on the agents and that's one of the main people who oppose this bill is the sports agencies. Yeah, you got you did get a taste of some people not being in favor 'cause you did a little bit of politicking while you were up there. And it's interesting to see Each college has a different view of it depending on the conference or where or where they're at. I I thought it was impressive to have so many conferences there. Absolutely. wanting to do something. I think that was and and of course A Sun is you know, a big part of it. We were the most represented conference there. We had three athletes. that's great. That's great. So You're back in town, you gotta go you gotta prep, got a big game this weekend. Talk a little bit about it. We'll get a little football league. Yeah, we've got top twenty matchup at Penn Air Field Saturday. Austin P's coming to town. They got a really good quarterback, really good roster all around. I know they have a kid I played against in high school, Markel Redding, played at West Florida, and so it'll it'll be a cool game. Fun fun atmosphere. good. And it it it's been it y'all are the talk of of of of college football right now. So it's it's really been amazing to watch it go. Great opportunity for you getting that little more taste in politics. Yes, sir. Lumpy. So it's fun. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. It's been great to come talk. If you want to follow the bill, we'll be doing it with the blog, rixblog.biz. You've got you can read Lumpy's his viewpoint that he wrote, that we put in the paper. it is it's an issue I think for college sports, we need to bring some order to the chaos, and hopefully this will do it. and we'll keep we'll keep abreast of what's going on with it. Hopefully a vote in the Senate, like Lumpy said, within the next week or so and then we'll have to wait till after the election for the House to vote on it. But hopefully by the end of this semester we'll see a new some guardrails in place. We'll go ahead and take a break. We'll be right back. I'm Rick Outson and this is Rick's blog live. I learned during my military service to train every day to fight and fight to win. If you've been injured in an accident, you already know one thing for sure. The insurance companies are gonna fight you for every dollar you deserve. At Michelson Booth, we settle most of the cases we handle. But if the insurance companies choose to fight, well, we're okay with that too. If you've been injured in an accident, choose a law firm that's got the resources, training, and stomach for the fight. Michaelson Booth, don't be a victim twice. Take a breath and step into something green. At Pensacola Seed and Garden, both of our locations are open seven days a week, ready when you are. We don't just sell plants, we grow many of them right here, with care you can see. And once you take one home, you'll find everything you need to help it thrive. Visiting from out of town? Discover unique exotic plants you can bring home, often for less than ordering them. Pensacola Seed and Garden. Grow something beautiful. My name is Bill Sadler. I'm the general manager with Empire Truck Sales here in Pensacola, Florida. I've been advertising with Blab TV for well over 20 years. Blab TV has been a huge success for the growth and success in our company. Blab reaches the local community. It's an advertising venue that really reaches our target audience and customers. It's not a week that goes by that we don't see somebody out in the community that says, hey, I saw your show on Blab TV. It was great. My name is Bill Sadler and I am Blab TV. Gilmarine, your one-stop shop for all your boating needs. We offer a vast selection of parts, accessories, and electronics. Discover our range of used boats in every size, shape, and brand, all ready to get you on the water today. And we provide expert advice and top-notch customer service to ensure you have the best boating experience. We service all outboard, inboards, stern drives, jet drives, and personal watercraft. Our certified staff will get you back on the water. Visit Gilmore at thirty five forty one West Fairfield Drive, Pensacola. Welcome back. I'm Rick Alson and this is Rick's Blog Live. You can follow us on Rick's Blog.biznweekly.net. We don't color on the dog podcast and all the social media. And please, when you do see us, like and subscribe. That'll help us, particularly with YouTube. So please help us there. We are becoming the sailing capital of North America. It sounded bold and brash six years ago, and it's becoming more and more true. We've got a championship coming. It's the Viper 640 North American Championship. And the man, when I want to know about sailing, I call Tom Pays. Tom, thank you for coming. Rick, appreciate you having me. Thank you. Tell us about how Pensacola Yacht Club landed this race. Well, the Viper 640 is a three-person, they call it a performance boat. So it's kind of a go fast. It's not a foiler. It's not what you'll see from American Magic. But this is a boat that accentuates crew work and boat speed. And these boats are raised throughout the Gulf Yachting Association. So several of our sailors in the GYA, which is Clearwater to Texas, race these boats. PYC has a very strong team. We won the Gulf Coast Lipton Challenge two years ago and have a very strong chance to win the overall this year as well. And in that, those sailors want more competition. So this class doesn't really come here for championships. They did once a couple years ago in New Orleans, and so we've had a chance to come up now five years later and do that event here. And I think as of this morning we've got thirty-eight boats registered, which is a good fleet and very good competition. So they love the bay. Every reason that American Magic is here, we've got the racetrack, we've got the people to do it, and these people are happy to get after it. Well that's what that was gonna be my next question is why Pensacola Bay? What makes it work? We've we've heard it about foiling, we've heard it from American Magic and the and and and they and what they like about it and the teams that they train. But for these boats, what makes it so good? Well, a lot of places in the world where you will have a sailboat regatta, you're limited by landmass, by buildings that can obstruct the wind, accessibility to deep enough water. Pensacola Bay, I mean, the lunar figured this out, but it's a natural deep water bay. You don't have small channels you have to get to to get to the sailable racetrack. The entire bulk of our bay, four by seven miles square, you can use. So anytime the wind shifts and changes, which it does constantly, you can alter your course. And we don't have problems with our shipping channel. Our commercial work going in and out of the port with Matt Mileshire for the port pilot. And then on top of that, we have a great relationship. So if we're on the water, wind changes, I can call them. Do you have commercial vessels coming? Do we have LNG barges going to Gulf Power? Do we have Transmontane fuel barges going into downtown? So we're never going to be in their way. This track, the geography of the bay, allows us to do that probably better than anywhere. And unlike a lot of great sailing venues in the world from Great Lakes, West Coast, East Coast. We can go straight off a PYC and be at the racetrack in ten minutes. And that's rare. You know, I I've never seen a Viper six forty race. W what do you look for? What makes it different than you know, the larger sailing vessels that are out there? Well, it's fast and it's very dynamic. So if you get twelve knots to fifteen to twenty knot winds, you're holding on to a buck and bronco and you're flying. So the windier it gets, the faster the boats go and the crewer it becomes even more critical. A lot of times with larger boats especially the GL 52s. I mean they're amazing. They are so fun to watch when it's windy. And you have a crew of eleven people. This is a crew of three that have to do the same thing but on a smaller scale. Your mistakes are accentuated and also as your gains. So within this there is a huge premium on crew interactivity and their talent, but it's just fun. It's a great race, great boat to race, and in those races you usually have very, very tight finish positions, and so it makes it interesting for all the sailors as well. Do they race in heats? No. No, no. So they're all at the same time? It's called a full fleet start. Wow. And so most regottas, most sailing regottas are a full fleet start. Okay. with sail GP for safety, now they're limiting the number of boats because you have forty knot, you forty eight mile an hour closure rates. These boats can hit into the low thirties, which is incredibly fast for a a boat this size. So how does the track work? Do they go out to a point and come back or do they race to a point? I these are things I don't know. No, no, no. So so in a lot of races, a lot of offshore races, they will go from St. Pete to Pensacola. Right. So we're gonna do that next spring actually. Petersburg will send a a race to us and they'll pitch, we catch, and put on a great party in Pensacola. Buck Mitchell, guys downtown will help us out with that as well as the yacht club. But for this kind of race, it is a closed course. So whichever the wind blows, you will have one mark at the top of the course upwind, one at the bottom, and a start line. And on that start line it'll be a two-lap course. First one to finish the two lap wins, there will be up to probably no more than eight or nine races in the series, but you get to discard your single worst finish after four races. And in that it gets to be very tight and competitive points wise. You may win the first race rig and just demolish the fleet. Might get last in the next race, and that's how tight the racing is. So that's what makes it exciting. Tell me about the local interest. You talked about the yacht club has a pretty good team. What can we expect from the locals? Well, we've got one of the better teams in the GYA. Mike LeVere has been our team captain for this for a long time. Grew up at Southern Yacht Club in New Orleans, been racing here at Pensacola now for gosh, nine or ten years. Mike is real good and he's got an exceptional crew with him. So he's our our number one boat. Harrison Prochaska and Kyle Gamble, George's son, will be on the boat or on our B-boat. And they are both incredibly good sailors. So any given day, they should be in the mix. But we really don't know. The GYA boats normally stay here on the Gulf and race here among all the yacht clubs from Texas to Clearwater, whereas the Viper 640 class races all over the country. So a lot of times our sailors don't go race these guys. And I think right now we've only got six of the GUIA boats registered to compete, and that may have gone up by one more today, but we've got thirty-two visitors. So there'd be people they haven't sailing for so they don't know what they've Exactly. So now the tolerances for trimming your sails, getting your boat set just right. you look a lot in Formula One and they've got all these buttons on the steering wheel and they're changing the dampening and all the shocks now that they do to make the car work for better ground effect. And sailing it's similar. You can take tension off of either side of the wire, holding tension on the mast, which shapes your sails, which allows you to be faster on certain points of sail. And then after that, it gets to be tactics, Rick. So is the wind really shifting coming around the downtown, past the Bay Bridge, through Gulf Breeze, along with the current? So if Rick doesn't know that and I do, I'm gonna go around and I'm gonna get him to that first mark. So there's that, then there's that head to head. You may call the right tactics, I might also, but I'm getting right next to you, man. I'm gonna squeeze every bit I can out of that sail in that wind to catch little bumps of waves and get a half a mile an hour faster than you. And that's the game too. Cool, cool. So this is what the dates what are the dates? This will be September thirty through October fourth. Okay. Yeah, they got it on the screen for us. They got it got ahead of us. Where's the best place for someone to watch this? How how's the best way to watch it like this? Well, any chance you can be on the water. historically we have a lot of private boats that'll show up for the regatta, but anybody who's out on the bay, you'll see a regatta. And it's pretty simple to know where not to go. You know, if you see 38 boats all gathered around getting ready, even if you've never sailed, you can tell what a start is and where the buoys are. Stay away from the buoys and you can see what happens. Other than that, anywhere downtown, if you happen to be near Maritime Park, you should be able to see that. If you're on the Bay Bridge, you will see a bunch of sails on the bay. And with sailing always, even with the GL 52s, these big huge boats. It's hard to say exactly where because we don't know exactly where we'll be because the wind might change. Right. You know, if the wind is hard out of the northwest on an early cold front, we may be over by NAS and pushing towards the south and southwest. if the wind is more out of the north northeast, we'll be closer to downtown. So so anywhere along the waterfront, but if you can get on a boat anywhere, that's the best spot. So you're looking at eight races? How many I would think hopefully yep. Hopefully eight if the weather permits. Sure. Sure. And with that number of days we can, but you like to try to build in in case you have weather anomalies. Right. So sometimes you get a storm, lightning coming for safety, we pull people off the water. you can get fog, not this time of year though, but we do. Every racetrack in the world, Rick goes, it's never happened before. Right? Why it's never been this windy. We've never seen lightning. Well, our our head of our race is our principal race officer. His name is Hal Smith. Hal is arguably one of the best PROs running races anywhere in the country. And when we did the Opti Nationals in 2018, we had 301 kids from twelve countries. I came in, actually I was picking up a a stringer from News Journal who was gonna come do some photos. I came in, the whole fleet was back at the yacht club. I looked at Hal and said, What you doing? Because we came in for weather. I go, it's beautiful. He goes, Look behind you. The sky was black, boiling. That was when Pennsylvania Regional recorded over three hundred air-to-ground lightning heads that afternoon. Hal was aware of it, got everybody in, kids were safe and sound. So Hal will be on top of weather, everything else, but I would think we should get eight would be a minimal. we could get up to twelve races. Well great. Well, Tom, Tom, thank you so much for Thank you, Val. Always appreciate it, man. Always is. Always. Pittscoat Yacht Club. This this race is September 30th through October 4th. you can go to the blog, find out more about it. You can go to the Yacht Club's website and learn even more. Listen, we're gonna take a break, pay a few bills. We'll be right back. I'm Rick Altson. This is Rick's Blonde Live. Well I think it's all about local and I'm a big believer in local. So I think anytime you can carry a message out locally it's important. And I think it's any time the person that delivers the service can also deliver the message. Which is unusual. Do you have the people that actually deliver the product doing the talking? And I think that's a huge difference and a lot really makes a huge value difference for the consumer. 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You know, y'all changed it up a little bit. Y'all made some history. Tell tell us a little bit about it. We actually made history in three ways today. first of all, back in March we announced that we've had our biggest membership ever. 1,313 ladies have joined Impact this year. That means that since we went over the 1300 mark, we're able to grant a 13th grant this year. So there'll be 13 grants of $101,000 each. And then in an in another way that we've made history is because we so enjoy hearing from our non-finalists and bec our our finalists, our nonprofits, We decided to add to those nonprofits to raise that visibility that they get to hopefully have them enjoy the impact of impact. So for the first time ever, we've gone from fifteen finalists on annual meeting million dollar sundae to twenty this year. Million dollar Sunday. Million Dollar Sunday, yes. Yeah, it's it you're out when this started, Impact One Hundred was built on a real simple concept of a hundred women. Would each put a thousand dollars and you would be able to do one impactful grant of a hundred thousand dollars. Now it's a million dollar Sunday. Yes. And in and out of the twenty finalists, those who don't get a grant, I've watched it over the years. Oftentimes there's so many people in the in the audience that are so impressed, they'll figure out ways to help them. If it may if it's not the big grant, they'll figure out ways to help them. And sometimes they can come back the next year and have a better chance because they've gotten a little bit more polished in how they do it. the I like the other thing I like about impact is y'all divided it into categories. So it's not all one type. you've got the list in front of you. Let's w if you wouldn't mind, just touch on on what we've got here. All right. So we ended up promoting four finalists out of each of the five focus area committees. So we'll start out in Arts, Culture, and History with Ballet Pensacola, their project, A Holiday Classic Restored, Updating the Nutcracker Costumes and Lighting. Pensacola Children's Chorus, their project, Driven to Sing, Connecting Choir and Community with Transport and Performance. Pensacola Museum of Art Guild, their project Best in Show, Projecting the PMA into the future. The University of West Florida Foundation, their project WUWF. Mobile Live Access and Preservation Project. I just said let me let me do the education for you. Education National the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation, Project Flight Adventure Deck, Elevate in the Future, Santa Rosa Education Foundation, Little Red Schoolhouse, Expanding Access and Increasing Impact. Pensacola Mess Hall, Moving Science After School. An Umbrella Learning Academy Corporation, Regulation Station, a secure sensory and social emotional learning center. Yes, and then we move on to Environment and Recreation, where friends of Pensacola State Parks have a project rebuilding Long Pond Boardwalk, Keep Pensacola Beautiful when their project Moving Beyond Trash, Reforestation, and Invasive Species Removal, Pensacola and Perdito Bay's Estuary Program. Stories from the Bay, inspiring stewardship through estuary encounters, and Winterfest of Pensacola, doing business as Five Flags Trolley, and their project, The Impact 100 All Access Express. Cool. Under Family Hope Incorporated, doing business as SNP happens, safer surgeries for family pets. I was worried about that one being something else. The Pensacola Habitat for Humanity, Building Promise, a Habitat Family Promise Partnership. Pregnancy Resource Center doing business as Life Options Clinic, Parenting Education, and Resource Building, and South Santa Rosa Interfaith Ministries Driving Hope for Families. And then we'll round it out with Health and Wellness with Forever Des, Beyond the Dress, a Resource Hub for Teen Girls, Health and Hope Clinic with their project Expanding Access to Dental Care, Sacred Heart Foundation, their project The Willow Boutique, an impactful space. And the seven project yes, seven project with their project pedaling beyond limits. So what happens next? Y'all have the have your annual meeting in October for our viewers. What what's the process now? How do y'all go through the decision process? So now each of our finalists will put together a one page summary that will go out to our membership and then the ladies have an opportunity to either vote via election buddy or via an online system or an absentee ballot if they're not able to attend the Million Dollar Sunday. On that day, that October the 11th, that annual meeting date, we'll gather together at the Hilton on Pensacola Beach and we'll hear from all 20 of these finalists. Each of them will make a four minute presentation to the membership. And then we'll immediately vote. We have ballots that are created by the Supervisor of Elections teams for Scambia and Santa Rosa County, and they actually man the same booths that we'll use for other elections. And one woman, one vote. We believe in that. And so each person will complete their ballot and submit it that day. And we'll go behind the scenes and tabulate while everybody has some refreshments and takes a break. Then we'll get back together, have a brief meeting as required by our bylaws, and then we will get to announcing those grant recipients and awarding the big checks for pictures only. But but it all happens in one day. And I think that's the other thing that that is really cool is that those that make the presentations, they get to hang around and they find out right then there's no more doubt. And I think having the supervisor elections involved, they know how to run elections and voting. So it really becomes a real true million dollar day. It really is. However, we don't do everything that day. We don't give them the money that we take a picture with the big tech, but we actually pair each nonprofit grant recipient with a board liaison from our board of directors, and that helps them to understand our draw request process and the documentation we require in order to either pay a vendor or to reimburse them. And then they have two years to get their project complete. The other thing before we go is As soon as that meeting's over, y'all start the process for recruiting people for the next we sure do. Membership season will be off with a bang and we've got thirteen meet and mingles as we call opportunities to come and meet the ladies of impact. And then also at each one of those we get a nonprofit grant recipient that has already finished their transformative project to come and tell us what a difference that made for them. That's great. We'll have we'll have that schedule up on the blog as soon as we learn about it. We'll also Be doing the big story on the announcement of those who received the money. it is a wonderful group to be a part of. And the great thing about the Meet and Mingles is they're done all over the community, Santa Rosa and Escambia, different times of day, so it can fit anyone's work schedule. Martha, thank you so much for coming over. Thank you so much for having us and for your support as always. Always, always. We're gonna go ahead and take a break. I'm Rick Altson. This is Rick's Blog Live. We'll be right back. At A1 Automotive, we do it all. All kinds of repairs for all kinds of vehicles. We do AC repairs, we do suspensions, we do pre-purchase inspections. We'll diagnose your problem and get it fixed. Free brake inspection. We can provide financing for any work we do. Veteran owned, military, and first responders discounts. A1 Automotive, 403 Beverly Parkway, Pensacola. I'm Emily Echeveria. I'm the Marketing Communications Director for Council on Aging of West Florida and the host of Coming of Age. In the past, Council on Aging has relied heavily on print and radio, but in the age of social media algorithms and smart devices, we know how highly prioritized and sought-after video content has become. Our audience really responds to video content, and yours will too, especially the high quality of video that Blab produces. I'm Emily Echeveria and I am Blab TV. Many who consider facial plastic surgery are concerned their results will look unnatural. But with over 20 years of serving the Pensacola community, his thousands of satisfied patients have made Dr. Derek Jones a trusted reconstructive and facial plastic surgeon known for industry-leading results that look natural. Call 850-484-FACE to schedule a consultation at one of our locations in Pensacola and Gulf Brays. I'm Dr. Derek Jones. Trust your face to a facial plastic surgeon. I had a client who unfortunately was in a car wreck, real bad rear end accident on 110. And I said, well, you know, also be sure to take pictures of the tag of the car, right? because some people say they don't have insurance, but we can we can run a a search and find out whether they do. Some people have changed insurances. It's not necessarily about I want to make the claim, right? It's if I have a claim, I need to preserve the evidence. And I can help people, I can walk them through that. Hi, I'm Rick Altson. Welcome back. We're Rick's blog live. Ballet Pensacola is going to be doing Frankenstein in early October, October 2nd through 4th. Be sure I've got the right dates. We've got a guest choreographer, Calguira. I mean Gonzalo Calgera. Good to have you here. I've read the press release and I've been reading up on this performance. One thing that's interesting to me is that. the novel has a a timeline and you've kind of played with the timeline where Elizabeth dies before the creature is born. What what does that do to this performance? What does it unlock by doing it that way? Yeah, the thing was for me or the most important thing is to start with the death. Because the the Victor Frankenstein realized that only to create something that is more Stronger than the death, I mean the life, could be face the big tragedy of the loss of Elizabeth. I mean I start the ballet from the back. Uh-huh. So like a retrospective. And this was for me very, very inspiring to start like that. To to show at that point of view to the plot. To be sort of the inspiration for creating life. Exactly. Because most of the people know this Frankenstein. from the movie world and and as a monster of really and we know there is more than twelve movies about Frankenstein. I can understand because it's a very, very interesting story. But for me it's more than only the monster. For me it's really a deeply human story. Yeah and that that sort of leads to my next question is who creates the monster? Is it the creator is the creature or is it society? This is that's sort of the root of the question, isn't it? Exactly. This is the this is the the main question through the whole to the whole book. Right. And and even now for me to to make the this ballet. Who is the monster? And I guess is this really deep philosophical s question move me to this to do this ballet because Sometimes the creature is the victim and sometimes Victor is the the s scientist, the doctor, who being this creature is also the victim. And and for me this is incredible. we need to imagine at that time there's a woman who who wrote this and I mean the background from the from the from Mary Shaley was very dark dark and very sad. The circumstances. b are surrounded this story was very very hot. And and then it's just the question who is the monster? And it's I I like to let open this question. Yeah. That's why we go to the theatre, that's why we we watch the movie. And if the people after that seeing this ballet had that kind of questions, then I I guess I did a good job. Well, you know, in in looking at some of the the movies of Frankenstein over the years, the the monster, the creation, s the starts an innocent and then becomes a menace. How do you do that with dance? It's similar, it's very interesting because the monsters start to move before he starts to speak. Dance is the same. We move before we start to speak. We learn to walk. And this process, this is a really not a biological process, it's also a mental and emotional process. And in this connection with that kind of point of understanding from the from the novel, from the book. is the constantly and daily inspiration I I I get. And the monster, of course we say the monster, but he is for me a innocent a something, let's say a human creation who has a lot of needs and fears, loneless, the needs to be accepted, also rejection. And and of course he killed. But he killed because he need the attention from his father from Victor and this is a big drama and also close to us as a human people and that's why it's I'm really enjoying to to to go really into this story because when choreographers or or writer or people who who make theater we have after the the work more questions. Right. And I don't want to find the answer. Right. And this is the the really the kick what I I need as a choreographer. Well this is a pretty big left for Pensacola. What have been some of the some of the challenges being here? first of all I'm very grateful to be here. I'm enjoying the work with the companies. It's a very very good company, really good dancers, really strong dancers, and n No, the challenge is that d I hope they really enjoy as I enjoying and also the the audience of course because I I wanna be understanded in by their audience and and I wanna be really I wanna see that the people understand. Maybe not everything, but this something is going on on the stage that touch me. And and i if after that the people get inspired to go out and buy the book and read. This is also Culture is this is our message, our work. To inspire the people, to open a little small window, then the people say, Okay, I'm gonna watch now the movie. Right. Wanna I'm gonna now the read the book. Yeah. At the same at at the end is everything the same. It's something you give the people, yeah. Well, you know, I guess it th the last question that I have is is when someone comes to the performance, what would you like them to say or think as they're leaving the theater. This is a very good question. Right. I I guess to be inspired. Doesn't matter how much you understand. I hope the people really go with accompany the plot, the rhythm, the emotions, the story, the music, the dance. But most of of the most important thing is if something touched the people, a little moment, some situation, and they see I can I couldn't understand well but something moved me, touched me. This is the the most important thing. That's why we are working hard every day for that. Well gosh. Thank you so much for coming. Thank you for having me. I told you it'd be a different kind of interview. I wanted because I've really I've read the book, I've s you know, I've seen some of the movies, but I've also the press release was spectacular that Ballet Pensacola put out. It's October second through fourth. it is great a great opportunity to see ballet in a very approachable, challenging way. So thank you so much for coming. Thank you so much for having me. All right. We're gonna go ahead take a break, I'll pay a few bills, then we'll be right back. With Rick's blog live and I'm Rick Altson. Hi, I'm Emily Echeveria, Marketing Communications Director for Council on Aging of West Florida, where we're dedicated to helping seniors and their families live healthier, happier, and more connected lives. That's why I'm proud to host Coming of Age, an engaging show highlighting local experts, community partners, and ambassadors of the programs and services making a difference locally. Watch Coming of Age Wednesdays, 3.30 on Blab TV and anytime on YouTube. And remember, enjoy life. You've earned it. I learned during my military service to train every day to fight and fight to win. If you've been injured in an accident, you already know one thing for sure. The insurance companies are gonna fight you for every dollar you deserve. At Michelson Booth, we settle most of the cases we handle. But if the insurance companies choose to fight, well, we're okay with that too. If you've been injured in an accident, choose a law firm that's got the resources, training, and stomach for the fight. Michaels and Booth, don't be a victim twice. I'm Andrea Housen, practice coordinator for Derek Jones Facial Plastic Surgery. Dr. Derek Jones is amazing. He's double board certified. He's skilled, and he's been doing this show with Blab TV for almost two decades. If you're looking to grow your business, Blab TV has an amazing reach in this local viewing area. We always hear we saw you on Blab Television. I'm Andrea Hausen with Derek Jones Facial Plastic Surgery, and I am Blab TV. Gil Marine, your one-stop shop for all your boating needs. We offer a vast selection of parts, accessories, and electronics. Discover our range of used boats in every size, shape, and brand, all ready to get you on the water today. And we provide expert advice and top-notch customer service to ensure you have the best boating experience. We service all outboard, inboards, stern drives, jet drives, and personal watercraft. Our certified staff will get you back on the water. Visit Gil Marine at 3541 West Fairfield Drive, Pensacola. Welcome back. I'm Rick Alson. This is Rick's blog live. Inweekly is out. You can find it online at inweekly.net, or you can go, of course, anywhere where you work, shop, or dine. You'll find it. This is sort of our poet edition. We've got Erica Streeter on the cover. Inside, we've got Zach Robbins, musician, poet, author. and I convinced him to give up his green clothes for a day and come. Zach, thank you so much for coming today. Thank you. Thank you for having me. you know, it it the article's great. and thank you for sitting down and and doing that with Savannah. one thing was amazed me is that you didn't start singing until you were a senior in high school. what changed? ever since I was a kid, I just I had this weird idea that I could sing. And I was like, you know, I've always been gravitated towards music and everything. And I just had a feeling I could, and even friends when I was a kid, they're like, Can you sing? I'm like, yeah. And they're like, okay, how do you know? I'm like, I don't know. And then when I was in middle school I started writing music and I was like, maybe I should, you know, kind of dive deeper into this. And then I'd start singing secretly. And then but I was too afraid to sing in front of anybody other than my brothers, and it was just uncomfortable for me. And then eventually I'm like, you know what? I need to rip the band aid off and and just actually like kind of showcase this. And so I just kind of went from there. Now what are some of the influence in in your music? I I grew up My my parents are big music fans, especially my mom. She really has shaped a lot of my music taste. she's really into like alternative music and pop music and from a young age I kind of realized I really like that electronic upbeat type of stuff. And then my dad kind of raised me on classic rock, so it's kinda like the best of both worlds. And yeah, I just, you know, went from there and tried to find things that I enjoyed and then, you know, as I've gotten older I've developed my taste. You know, you've been working with Cold Soul Records. How how has that unlocked your creativity? So that was a really strange thing. So Brendan, the owner of Colt Soul Records and also the guitarist and drummer that's featured on my new songs and bassist, he wa we have a mutual friend and that's how I kinda I reached out to him, I said, Hey, I see you have this record label and I'm a local artist and you know, I'm just interested and he's like, well At the time he's like, I don't think that you know there's really anything we can provide for you that you aren't doing yourself because it seems like you're d putting all the effort in and doing everything. And then over time he's like, Maybe we should collaborate. Cause he does this side project named Faded Ronin. And he wanted to do a collaborative project. So last year we released that, and that's kind of what sparked this whole thing. And so we've been releasing stuff together since 2022. I've been signed with them since then. And you know, his abilities and my abilities together have really been able to blossom and help me create the vision I've had for a while for this album coming up. It seems so challenging to get into music and and you seem to have kinda hit th hit some of the right spots to be progressing. I'm trying. It is it's I I I never am afraid to try to aim for, you know, crazy dreams and That's a good thing, it's a cur it's a blessing and a curse. Right, right. Because you know, it's disappointing at times, but also it's really fulfilling when I get to, you know, do things like this. Right, right. Well tell me about the Earth project. so that is my upcoming album. it'll be coming out on Earth Day, April 22nd, next year, 2027. I've had this concept in my mind for probably about a decade. I haven't been able to achieve it because I knew it it needed to be an electronic rock album. so when I teamed up with Brendan He was like, Well, I can help you with that stuff. And I was like, okay. So I was like, let's make this happen. So we've just been building it over time. And he he's based in Boston area, Massachusetts. So we've been collaborating online. So it's been that's been a a hurdle, but we've been making it work. Yeah, you know, it's it's it is amazing the way technology works that you're able to you don't necessarily have to be in the same room or in the same town anymore to be able to do this this type of collaboration. I'm seeing it more and more in writing and in our projects, with some of the writers that we use. They're not necessarily based here, but are able to interview you from from another area. And it still it still clicks. you know, just looking at some of your songs, Power Plants and S and Citrus, that's nature versus development. How how's that theme how did what surface is that? That has always been something that has frustrated me. Even like back when I was when Hurricane Ivan hit years ago, we had left and you know to avoid it and then we came back and I remember as a kid, it was just everything was pretty much leveled and it just really upset me. And then to my surprise growing up, you know, now we see that and a hurricane's not even necessary. you see all these buildings come up, all the trees get knocked down. I just hate seeing that. I mean I'm all for progress progressing in society. But I think that, you know, there's definitely a balance, you know, nature versus humanity. and just like my song Power Plants, I kinda wanted to delve into that constant fight between the two because, you know, at first we knock down the trees and then we build something, but then over time we abandon that building and then the plants take back over. And it's just, you know, just constantly doing that and you know, it's just hurting the environment too, and I I I can't stand that. Yeah, y you've got a day job like a lot of us do, physical therapist, assistant. How does that how does your music blend into work and that blend into your music? So especially earlier on in my writing, and I do plan to revisit that. I really love medical stuff and anatomy and that kind of stuff. I'm really influenced by it. My mom's a nurse, so that's kind of what got me right, you know. But yeah, so in my earlier works I would use a lot of anatomical themes, and I still kind of sneak it in there here and there, even in this Earth album, even though it's more nature themed. But I feel like that's kind of a core of who I am. So I'm like, you know, I wanna be authentic and write about things I'm interested in and like, you know, kind of put as much of my personality in there as I can. but it just yeah, my patience inspire me. I I learn a lot talking to all these people. I I just I'm s I'm so blessed to be so easily inspired by anything and everything. So, you know, you can just you know, find all kinds of stuff in my work which is cool. Right. The and and more being around people, I find for me too, it creates it it sparks creativity because there are synapses, connections, things can can themes can pop up. Now if someone wanted to listen to your music, how could they listen to it now? it is streaming everywhere. we do plan to release some physical C Ds. And maybe some cassettes next year when the album comes out. But right now you can find it on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube, any anywhere you stream music, it's easy to find. Just search Zach X. Yeah, we've got we got the website up there. Great. And I've looked at it already. You can listen to the music right directly from the website, which is cool. Zach, I wish you nothing but good. I mean, I think it is it's I'm inspired I'm inspired by, you know, the mu the music in this community. You know, they it seemed like a period that I felt like we were losing it. And and I'm seeing with you and other young artists that it we're seeing it resurrect, that it hasn't gone away, because there there's there's a lot of good writers, there's a lot of good artists, and I think we're we're growing a music history again here, which I think is kinda cool. Yeah, and me and Brendan actually recently were talking about that. I was bringing up how it seems like the music scene is kind of blossoming right now. Right. And I I love to be a part of that. I one thing that it's really important to me is building a a community. and that's kind of what I do with my my small fan base. But you they're all important people, you know. Right. I love building a little community and and my one of my biggest mission statements is just to create art. So I I encourage everybody, doesn't matter what you do, like do some kind of art because it's just really therapeutic and I think it's a healthy thing to do. Well great. Zach, thank you so much for coming. I really appreciate it. We'll go ahead and take a break. I'll try to wrap this all up for you. We're Rick's Blog Live. We'll be right back. I'm Dr. Derek Jones, a double board certified ENT and facial plastic surgeon. And I'm Andrea Housen, Practice Coordinator for Dr. Jones. Join us every third Tuesday at 8 p.m. as we explore today's most popular facial rejuvenation and cosmetic procedures. We'll discuss both surgical and non-surgical options, answer common questions, and help you understand what treatments may be right for you. You'll see real results from patients. Plus, we'll keep you updated on our offices and where you can meet us in the community. The most important thing for any client once they first call us is let's get you into the treatment that you need. Right. Let's get you better. Right. Let's make let's help you come back stronger and let's take all these other details of how you're gonna deal with the rental car, how you're gonna deal with the insurance agent. Let's take that off your plate. Yeah, right. Give it to us and then you go work on getting better and we're gonna give you updates and you're gonna call us with questions instead of five or or ten other people. There are moments in which Based on who someone loves, where they're from, or what they believe, because the things that make us different will never change what makes us human. Nestled in the heart of Pensacola, Dorothy's is a one-of-a-kind community-driven cocktail bar by Oasis Florida, created to sustain vital HIV and STI care across the Florida panhandle. Inspired by the Wizard of Oz, rooted in inclusion and dripping with character, Dorothy's is a welcoming space. With award-winning Oz-inspired cocktails, food by Steel Pony Diner, and an unmatched atmosphere. Join us seven days a week in downtown Pensacola, located directly across from Maritime Park and the Blue Block New Stadium. Go back to being a kid again. Head on over to Bubba's Sweet Spot. 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If have any ideas for the show, anyone that you would like to have, go ahead and email me at rec at nweekly.net. And I'll tell you what, we'll be back next week. So once, have a great weekend and thank you for watching.