Marcus Wells | Body Thermodynamics

August 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment

 
icon for podpress  Interview with Dr. Marcus Wells [18:22m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Dr. Marcus Wells’ book revolutionizes ways on how to energize the body without radically changing your lifestyle. Thermogenix reveals “hidden” cellular potentials that restore, rejuvenate and rebalance your life. In a growing aging society, how we’re to maintain a balanced metabolism will be more important, but also will become more problematic. Dr. Wells’ incredible idea blends both a strong scientific basis towards understanding energy with a natural pursuit of it. This demonstrates so many ways that have been overlooked or misunderstood that we can now achieve what is often call the “super burn” effect of metabolism. This method helps you recapture “latent potentions of energy” necessary to live a more productive happier and healthier life. Dr. Wells was educated and trained in western medicine in the U.S.A. Upon receving his Doctorate of Medicine (MD), he continued his medical education at the world’s premiere bio-medical researchcenter, the National Institute of Health (NIH) where he trained with the nation’s most notable scientist in the areas of heart, lung, blood, and metabolic diseases.

Posted by admin | Filed Under Science, Health, Food, Holidays, AUTHOR INTERVIEW, Medicine, PODCAST 

Susan Smith Jones Transcript

January 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment


Announcer: You have been listening to “Sound Authors: Where Authors Sound Off.” If you would like more information about “Sound Authors” and Dr. Kent’s guests, visit SoundAuthors.com. Now, back to Dr. Kent and friends.  

Dr. Kent Gustavson: Welcome back to “Sound Authors” on this beautiful, sunny Friday. My next guest is an internationally renowned health expert, she has, she won the Healthy American Fitness Leaders, awarded by the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. And, the previous winners of that include: Lance Armstrong, Ronald Reagan, and others, including Richard Simmons. It is my pleasure to speak with Susan Smith Jones about her new book and her new website online. Welcome.

Susan Smith Jones: Kent, how are you doing today?

Kent: Very good. I am a little bit sick, but, otherwise, I feel great.

Susan: Oh no. I will send you some healing energy.

Kent: There you go. Now, you have a whole bunch of experience working with college kids and professors, at a university, right?

Susan: Well, I did teach everyone, at UCLA, how to be healthy and fit for 30 years. Lecture all around the world, have written 17 books, and I am totally committed to educating as many people as possible on how to be vibrantly healthy. I have never taken medication in my life and I look to nature, on the things we will talk about today, on how to heal your body. I can take anyone listening and if they give me 90 days, just one season, or three months, I can make anyone look ten years younger, disease-proof their body, give them energy to spare.

Kent: Wow, that is quite a claim. And, you have worked with many, many clients, I know.

Susan: Thousands of clients over the years.

Kent: Your new website is called PagingSusan.com.

Susan: Well, of course, I have got my name SusanSmithJones.com. But, I have just launched PagingSusan.com. Anyone that goes there will get a free gift, a wonderful special gift, in addition to, they will be able to sign up a live, upcoming, free seminar I am giving on living a holistic lifestyle.

Kent: So, what is the first step? I know, you know, this time of year, people over-satiate themselves with wonderful, wonderful goodies and things like that, and don’t exercise and sit inside and look out at the snow and what happens when January comes around and everyone wants to repent.

Susan: And, remember, you are talking to someone who is in sunny Southern California right now.

Kent: Oh my.

Susan: I think, first of all, people think that you have to make major changes in your life, Kent, but that is not the truth. It is the simple lifestyle choices, from what you eat, how you deal with stress, how often you exercise, how much sleep that you get and water you drink, and even what you think. These have an enormous impact on longevity and quality of life.And, if you think about it, there are really three things over which we all have control. What we eat, how we move, and what we think. And, we have the ability to change all three of those. And, the body reflects the mind and the mind reflects the spirit. So, a good place to start is the physical body.I just got back from a major media tour and everywhere I go, Kent, people are saying that they are feeling physically, mentally, and spiritually off kilter. Or, they have lost joy of living, or they are overwhelmed by life. But, the way I see it is it is really about getting back to the basics.

Kent: Wow, and what are the basics?

Susan: Well, I would say, number one is, and I know this sounds like a simplistic answer, but it is so true, exercise is a great place to start. Everyone should be developing, if they don’t have it, a well-rounded fitness program that includes three things: strength training, aerobics, and stretching. And, you need to make that a top priority in your life and keep your commitment to it.Being fit is, without a doubt, the key to enjoying life. It unlocks mental power and physical stamina, and it even gives you a positive outlook that makes each day more of a pleasure. So, keep these three key points in mind, move, lengthen, and strengthen. You need to make sure you work out on a regular basis.

Kent: What is your advice for a fellow, yeah me, who, we had a…

Susan: Are we speaking personally here?

Kent: Yeah, we had a very strenuous move, we actually moved to a new place this week. And, we over did it, it was a 20 hour day, and now we are both sick. What is a good way to get back into gear? And, for other people, people who have been, let us say they just slid for a year, backsliding. What is the first step?

Susan: Well, first of all, you make a commitment. You have got to keep your word, and if we have more time at the end, I am going to talk about that. But, in addition to working out, for you and everyone listening, there is nothing more restorative for the body than getting a good night’s sleep, night after night after night. Think about this, last year, doctors wrote a record number of prescriptions for sleeping pills, over 43 million.

Kent: Wow.

Susan: And, over the past four decades, Americans have cut their snooze time by one to two hours per night. But, people don’t realize how important sleep is. Getting only six hours, Kent, a night, that is just two hours less than eight hours, here is what it does to your body, it makes you irritable, it makes people stupid. Because their words don’t come easily and they become forgetful. It increases blood pressure, it makes you hungry for unhealthy foods…[Kent laughs]

Susan: It makes you gain weight, makes you depressed, makes you stressed out. And, if that were not enough, people that get only six hours of sleep a night is equivalent to driving on four alcoholic drinks.

Kent: Oh my.

Susan: And weight seems to be a big thing. Everywhere I go, people want to know how to loose weight. And, when I talk to people about that, the first things I say is, “Make sure you get enough sleep.” Because, you could eat good foods, you could work out, but you could sabotage your health and weight program if you don’t get enough sleep. In a nutshell here’s why: research shows that when you skimp on sleep, it interferes with your body’s ability to process carbohydrates and that leads to elevated blood sugar levels and an increased tendency to store calories as fat. It happens because when you sleep-deprived, Kent, your body produces more of a stress hormone, which you probably have a lot of these days when you move, called cortisol that seems to set the chain reaction in motion.So loss of sleep, in other words, can be just as bad for your health and weight as no exercise or a poor diet. You know how when you have lots of stress but you get a good night sleep and things always look a little bit more positive the next morning that it’s just paramount to being vibrantly healthy is getting good sleep night after night after night.

Kent: You talk on your website and with your whole series not just about fitness, not just about health, but about being peaceful and being joyful. Is that related to fitness?

Susan: Oh, without a doubt. It’s hard to feel peaceful and joyful if you’re always stressed out. So you want to really work on dealing with stress that that should be close to the top of the list. You want to get enough sleep, you want to drink enough water because if you don’t you’re going to stress out your body. The healthier your diet, the more peaceful you’re going to be; get your weight and check if that will make you more peaceful.I also recommend that you stay disciplined. You make your word count. Follow through on always what you said you’re going to do because that’s a great self-esteem boaster. Kent, the thing that people wrestle with the most universally in this world is that most people deal with low self-esteem. The better you feel about yourself, the more good positive things you’re going to attract.There’s this unwritten law in the universe that says that you attract them to yourself the equivalency of what you think, feel, believe. If you don’t feel about yourself, you’ll attract more situations, more difficult times, more challenges that duplicate how you feel. Then paramount to that and also germane to that is the first 40 minutes of each day sets the tone for the day.So make sure in the morning that you’re not rushed and stressed out. Give yourself a little extra time, maybe set the table the night before, get your clothes laid out, get a good workout in the morning because those first 40 minutes will determine basically how the rest to your day is.

Kent: Wow! Now, how did you get started on this, [inaudible]?

Susan: Well, you can say I started by accident. Over 25 years ago, I was in a major automobile accident. My car was totaled, my back was severely fractured, and if we had more time I’d give you the story. It’s amazing, but in a nutshell, my team of doctors at UCLA said that I’d never be able to carry anything heavier than a small purse. But I choose not to accept the verdict. Within six months they claimed it was a miracle, I was healed. But I attribute my healing to eating a healthy diet, the power of spirit, faith, determination, and a deep commitment to living my highest potential.I write about this in my brand new two book Hay House series. One book is called “Health Bliss” the other book is called “The Healing Power of Nature Foods” and are both available through the Hay House’s tollfree number.

Kent: What is that?

Susan: That’s 1-800-654-5126. You can also order my two latest books on my website PagingSusan.com and you’ll also get a special gift there as well.

Kent: Wonderful. I also have a quick story to share. I was also in a terrible car accident and my father–that was about five or six years ago now–he has the same kind of courage and I really believe that human beings have an amazing potential. The doctor said he wouldn’t move his arm about three inches down, his elbow was rebuilt and all of that. He’s almost straight out now and they said he would never walk and he’s walking.

Susan: What an inspiration. So you two were together in the car?

Kent: We were indeed. I was pretty much unhurt, but he’s a real inspiration to all of us and it’s amazing to see what real strength–you know, honestly family helps, friends help, like that.

Susan: Oh, my goodness, yes. You know, [inaudible] said 99% of who you are is invisible, untouchable, and unsmellable. Yet, I believe that the remaining 1%, the body is absolutely exquisite. But you’re right, we have amazing energy and power within us. It’s just most of us live such stressed out lives that we don’t take time to go with them and tap in to that fountain of power and strength and healing and divinity that’s within each of us. We can create whatever we want and everyday can be a brand new fresh start. Anyone listening can choose to start fresh today.

Kent: It sure has been a pleasure speaking with Dr. Susan Smith Jones. Visit her online at SusanSmithJones.comor on her brandnew website, PagingSusan.com for a free gift and also check out her new books on HayHouse.com.Thank you so much for being on the show.

Susan: Thank you. Have a great day. Feel better, Kent.

Kent: I will. Our next guest is a wonderful musician from up in Vermont–a place I love very much–Anais Mitchell. Come on back.

 

Posted by admin | Filed Under Sports, Food, Health, Motivation, TRANSCRIPTS, AUTHOR INTERVIEW, Inspiration, PODCAST 

Lisa Marie Mercer Transcript

December 29, 2007 | Leave a Comment


Dr. Kent Gustavson: Welcome back to “Sound Authors.” Today is our holiday show, sitting between Christmas and New Years. My next guest is Lisa Marie Mercer, author of “Open Your Heart With Winter Fitness.” Welcome to the show.

Lisa Marie Mercer: Hi, how are you? Glad to be here.

Dr. Kent: Have you been skiing this year yet?

Lisa: Yes, I have. I’ve been skiing where I work at Copper Mountain, and in early September, I had the good fortune of teaching a ski fitness week out in Portillo, Chile. So, I sort of got a head start on everybody else.

Dr. Kent: Sounds like it. I grew up cross-country skiing. I was a competitive athlete up in Minnesota, in the cold. How did you start skiing?

Lisa: It was a very funny story. I met a man who loved to ski. I was a quintessential native New Yorker who thought that even a 40-degree day was in the Arctic zone, but I wanted to be with this guy. So he took me on a ski trip. At first I absolutely despised it, because I couldn’t stay up for one minute. Then about 10 years later I started doing all these balance exercises, working out on the stability ball, and I got up on the slopes and found out my balance was incredible. From there I just got hooked, left New York, moved to Colorado, and the rest is history.

Dr. Kent: So tell me a little bit about “Open Your Heart With Winter Fitness.” This is a book that’s not only about fitness. What’s it about?

Lisa: It is about the benefit of learning to ski or snowboard, or even snowshoe or cross-country as an adult. And I’m talking about the physical benefits, the psychological benefits, and even, for some people, the spiritual benefits. It talks a little bit about my journey into the world of snow sports.Then the second part of the book presents a very, very detailed ski or snowboard or snowshoe fitness plan. It has references to some of the best instructors in North America who specialize in teaching adult beginners. All in all, it’s a very comprehensive book. It’s basically everything you wanted to know about snow sports.

Dr. Kent: And what value does athletics and sports have in our lives, not just this time of year to work off those couple pounds, but for in our sedentary lifestyles where we’re staring at the computer all day, what’s the value of sports?

Lisa: There are many, many values. First of all, you’re getting outdoors. In the winter season, anybody who suffers from any kind of Seasonal Affective Disorder, you’re out there in the snow. There are social values. Let’s take an example of some of the Internet message forums, such as EpicSki.com; that message forum has over 16, 000 members from all parts of the globe. People go on that forum to talk about skiing, and sometimes they even meet up with each other at various parts of the world, so you have friends all over the place.Physically, snow sports are weight bearing, so they prevent the eventual onset of osteoporosis. They improve your balance, which is great just for general walking around. If there’s something on the ground that you normally would have tripped on, most snow sports participants would have enough core stability to kind of drag themselves back up and not fall down and get hurt. So, the possibilities are endless.

Dr. Kent: I know you also work with people one on one, why write a book? Why do that?

Lisa: Why write a book? Because when I first tried to learn to ski, I was what you would consider an extremely fit person. I was a marathon runner. I spent about two or three hours a day in the weight room, but I had no balance whatsoever. And my first day on the slopes was absolutely embarrassing. Then years later, after I did some balance training, I found out it was really natural.Now I work at Copper Mountain where I’m sitting right now. One day in this very spot where I’m sitting, there was a woman, very fit, very beautiful, looked like she worked hard, she was sitting in the cafeteria crying, and I went over to her. I asked her what was the matter, and she said “I always prided myself as being a very, very fit person, but I cannot stand up on these slopes.” And I spoke to her a little bit about the proper type of training, and as I walked away, I said “You know what? I need to write a book.”

Dr. Kent: So you feel that this book can reach out to people that are athletes and want to figure out how to do this winter sports thing. Does it also reach out to non-athletes?

Lisa: Oh absolutely, absolutely. A lot of people I know, especially a lot of people who take my classes out at Mountain Sport Fitness in Frisco, Colorado, they never got into any kind of physical exercise until they started skiing. And it was the skiing that motivates them to stay in shape.

Dr. Kent: And it’s because of the fun aspect? The view and the endorphins? What is it about skiing?

Lisa: There are a lot of things. It’s the social aspect of it, although for some people–for me I often like to ski by myself, the solitude. It’s the fresh air, the excitement, the view. Sometimes you use it as a way of just traveling around the world, seeing different parts of the world, but not seeing it through the point of view of a tour bus. You’re just out there on the mountains getting a view of the scenery, the different topography. It’s just a rather amazing thing to do.

Dr. Kent: Let’s talk a little bit about New Years; it’s coming up. Do you get a lot of people coming in saying, “It’s my New Year’s resolution to get in shape”? What do you tell those folks?

Lisa: I tell them that it should go beyond a New Year’s resolution, because resolutions often get broken. It should just be something that is going to become your way of life. Start to see yourself as an outdoor person, and that’s the way–if you make the total commitment that you’re an outdoor person and this is important to you–then it will be natural for you to want to stay in shape for your sport.

Dr. Kent: I can see several different personalities of athletes. My father and I tend to be very extreme athletes. We like to push the limits, but my mother, when she goes skiing, she’s thinking about the hot chocolate at the end of the hill. Do you get both types?

Lisa: Well, that’s a big part of it. I was talking beforehand about Portillo in South America. When we went the conditions were not really all that good, but the whole environment, it’s just a rather amazing place.It turns out that the same people will often book the same week every year so they can come back to see their friends. You’ve got a lot of the international ski teams going out there, and they just hobnob and socialize with everybody.Part of the day is just spent in the afternoon in the lounge having some cocoa, chatting with people. So, I always tell people don’t overlook the entire experience. For some people, it’s going to be about the thrill and the challenge, but for others there’s just something very wonderful and relaxing about the experience. It can be catered to each person’s preferences.

Dr. Kent: Where can we find out about your next project?

Lisa: You should check out my website which is mountainsport–no “s” at the end of sport–just sportfitness.com.

Dr. Kent: Mountainsportfitness.com?

Lisa: Dotcom.

Dr. Kent: Sally Franz’s book is called, “Stressing down for the…” Sorry, “Open Your Heart with Winter Fitness”. My next guest’s book is called, “Stressing down for the Holidays”.But, on that subject, stressing down for the holidays; how do you feel after doing the exercise of skiing? Is it the same as running or running a marathon, as you said you did before?

Lisa: It’s a little bit different. There is a similar type of thrill, but I would say it’s a little bit more mellow. You feel a little bit more relaxed at the end of a ski run, whereas in a marathon you’re often still a little bit hyper and you’re talking very, very quickly because you’re just moving very quickly. But, the skier’s high is a little bit more mellow.

Dr. Kent: Cool. What are some tips for winter fitness besides just skiing for us this winter? What if, like in my area, we don’t have much snow?

Lisa: OK. Balance training is extremely important for any kind of snow sport. You want to get yourself a stability ball which is very, very inexpensive nowadays. There are some great exercises that you can do on the ball, which I’ve covered in detail in my book.You also want to learn to keep your core muscles, your deeper abdominal muscles very active. And, that’s very simple to do. All you need to do is about 10 times a day draw your belly in and see if you can hold it tight for about 10 seconds; that’s all. Eventually, that will train the deeper core muscles to support you, and eventually you will find your balance will start to get better.

Dr. Kent: What’s the importance of physical balance in terms of our everyday lives?

Lisa: In terms of our everyday life, they keep us from getting injured. One of the biggest causes of injury in older adults is falling, but if you start training your balance at an earlier age you are less likely to fall.Out here in Colorado we have women and men in their late 80s who are still skiing. Although it’s intriguing to watch them ski, it’s equally fascinating to watch them walk across an icy village in their ski boots, carrying their skis and being totally balanced. But, that’s because they started training for it when they were younger.

Dr. Kent: How has athletics balanced your life?

Lisa: That’s an interesting question. It’s balanced it in a number of ways. It’s made me see that balance in the general aspects of my life, balancing work and play, balancing play and family time, balancing work and family time and spending more time with my pets.When we first started to learn to ski, we had just adopted a greyhound. It turned out our greyhound really, really loved the snow. So, we just started taking ski vacations with our greyhound. Eventually, she was part of the decision of moving us out to Colorado.

Dr. Kent: Do you put skis on her?

Lisa: No, we don’t put skis on her, but she absolutely loves to play in the snow. The other day we had some deep powder, and she decided to just jump into it to do her business. And, it was so funny because all you could see was her little smiling head sticking up with her mouth wide open and looking like she was laughing. I wished I’d brought a camera. It was really adorable.

Dr. Kent: That’s a great picture to leave us with. Thank you so much for being on the show, Lisa Marie Mercer. Her website, again, is…tell me again.

Lisa: Mountainsportfitness.com.

Dr. Kent: Mountainsportfitness.com and her book is, “Open Your Heart with Winter Fitness”. And we’ll all do our best to do that. Thanks so much for being on the show.

Lisa: Thank you so much for having me. Have a great day. Bye-bye.

Dr. Kent: You, too. Sally Franz is my next guest with “Stressing down for the Holidays”. Come on back.[music]

Posted by admin | Filed Under Christmas, Food, Health, Holidays, Travel, AUTHOR INTERVIEW, TRANSCRIPTS, Sports, PODCAST 

Sally Franz Transcript

December 29, 2007 | Leave a Comment


Kent Gustavson: Welcome back to Sound Authors. My next guest on this holiday show is Sally Franz. Did I pronounce that correctly?

Sally Franz: Yes. Hi, how are you?

Kent: Hi, very good. She’s come to talk to us about her new book, “Stressing Down for the Holidays: 25 Tips to Peel You Off the Ceiling”. Give me a little sound clip about that.

Sally: Well basically it’s looking at what our expectations are and what we can really do in this modern era to create family traditions that are not hard on us. A lot of the things that have been passed down generation-to-generation are just not possible with how we live our lives today.

Kent: And I noticed by looking through some of it that you deal with some issues that definitely pop up in my family, and I’m sure in many families. When you say ‘Grinches’, I tend to be Grinch sometimes, and I think all of us have certain aspects of this. Let’s start out by talking about the value of the holidays. New Year’s is coming up and we have resolutions coming up later, but this is the season of family gatherings. Tell me a little bit about how we can have healthy family gatherings.

Sally: First of all, let me just say that anyone listening can get this booklet - it’s actually an e-book - for free if they go to BabyBoomerTalkRadio.com. And when you go to the Boomer Boutique, which is our store, you just scroll down to the bottom, click on the PDF and you can actually be reading along with us as you’re listening, and it’s free. I think the most important thing is to understand what stress is. Stress is the difference between what we wanted and what we got.And if we were expecting ‘Uncle Booze Hound’ to be sober for one hour, and at the end of the holiday dinner, we’re in the kitchen and we’re throwing things in the sink saying, “Why couldn’t those two just stop talking politics for one hour?”, the answer is they would if they could, but they’re not going to. So how are you going to still have a lovely holiday, given that every family has its person that’s nuts?

Kent: Absolutely. So was your family trouble-free as a kid?

Sally: No. We had a mixed family - his, hers and theirs - way before people were doing that. We had a tradition where all five kids had to stand in front of the fireplace, posing as they hung their stocking. And every single picture for 20 years, somebody’s all puffy-eyed from crying - at least one of the kids is miserable Christmas Eve. So there was screaming and yelling, and then the aunts came, and the aunts were saying things like, “shush, quiet, quiet”, to five year olds. I had a twin brother; you can imagine the chaos.I think the key thing is to say, what do we love about the holidays? For instance, if you’re a homemaker, or better yet, you’re the holiday-maker - which could be man or woman - you’re the one in charge of the pageant.If you really love the idea of lit candles and beautiful flowers in the middle of the table and everyone’s sitting around, but you’re kind of fantasizing that it’s some other family; one of the things that you could do is have a buffet dinner, and then ask anyone who’d like to join you for dessert around the table. So it’s only limited to five or ten minutes and that way hopefully they can behave themselves for five or ten minutes, but they may not be able to. But at least you had your moment without actually ruining your dinner.

Kent: And it always seems that these family gatherings can get quite lengthy. What’s your take on… One of my fiance’s pet peeves is that when we visit with family, the women segregate themselves; it’s a societal thing. I’ve tried my hand at getting into the cooking and the dishwashing and do a bit of that, but I feel like an unwelcome participant. The men and women segregate, what do you have to say about that part of the holiday?

Sally: Well of course some of the fun is hanging out with either family, or like you said, all the women may be in the kitchen, and three may be sitting on stools at the kitchen bar, and the others are whipping something up, but it’s a fellowship thing. There was a guy that did a one-man show, ‘The Caveman’, Rob Becker. He talks about a very funny incident where he tries to join the women and he realizes he doesn’t have any of those skills because he’s a guy.The guys are all talking about potato chips, they get down to the last one, and the one guy goes, “You ate the last one; you have to get the next bag.”. And the next guy says, “No, I brought this bag!”. The other guys says, “It’s my house.”, so they argue about who’s going to do it. The women, as they get down low on chips, all walk together over to the chip bag and fill it together, and then walk back to where they were sitting. So when the guy comes in and gets down to the last chip, he goes, “I’m not going to fill it; I just filled the other one.”, and they all look at him like he’s crazy.So the question is if you really do want to participate and you also want the women to know that you don’t think it’s their share, you could make a declaration that after the meal, the men are going to do all the cleaning up, and the women can sit and watch anything they want on the television.

Kent: Exactly. They can turn the football on and fall asleep.

Sally: Yeah, like that’s going to happen. They’ll be watching Martha Stewart or something.

Kent: And then you talk about in the book some of the more difficult things. I’m always thinking on the holidays about certain friends of mine who are alone somewhere in the world on the holiday to people that might have lost their families or never had a family. Talk a little bit about that.

Sally: I think the real key here is how do you cure the ease of the malaise or the stress of the holiday. I think the number one thing - and if you’re not doing this, get going - is to start doing either random acts of kindness or join an organization that is helping people less fortunate.Every synagogue, every church, every curb right now is collecting toys, food and things for needy families. And if you don’t know how to do that just go directly to Salvation Army or directly to Social Services, and they have lists and lists of families that are not going to have a Christmas, that are not going to have a holiday at all, and start giving.I know lots of people, and I’ve done it myself, where I was alone on Thanksgiving, so I just went to the nearest soup kitchen and helped serve. And I could be around people and I could laugh, see smiling faces and I got fed.

Kent Gustavson: It’s true. I’ve done that also on Thanksgiving and it’s a very fun experience. Kind of on the other side of the spectrum, we’ve got families that definitely have each other and are grateful to have each other, but one person comes in and is a ‘Grinch’, and that’s the term you use. Tell me about the old grievances.

Sally: Again, you are not going to cure 30 years or 50 years of dysfunction just because you wish it so. God bless you, but get rid of your magical thinking. Then it’s like triage. What are we going to do to save the day? And one of the things you can do is say - if the Grinch is a political nit-picker - is anyone who wants to talk politics with ‘Uncle Grinch’ can go sit in that corner. The rest of use who want to eat pumpkin pie and go throw snowballs during that kind of climate, we’re going to go do that.I think the most important think is compartmentalizing both the day and the people. The other thing that’s really, really important for the pageant producer; please have other people who are coming - if you don’t have family and you’re single - assigned to these difficult people.So if you have the goth, whacked-out teenager who’s in a mood even before they get in the door, and you’ve got what I call the ‘free-range’ two-year-olds who’s parents say, “We never spank them or correct them; we never say the ‘no’ word.”, and they also never watch them and now it’s your house. So when you have those kinds of things, you say to your sister, “You’re in charge of the two-year-old.”, and your mother, “You’re in charge of the grandchildren.”. You assign them out. Now you did bring up an interesting question, what if you’re the Grinch?

Kent: Right.

Sally: I do sit down at Christmas time - Christmas is my holiday - and I say “At what point have we stopped giving and it now feels like extortion?”. And some years it’s not until the end that you find out that even though you finished with all your shopping in November, there actually are three more gifts. I just got an email from my ex-husband’s family, and they all said “Well you’re in the Christmas grab bag!”, and that was one of the things I was looking forward to getting out of. It’s just that now I got to go do that.

Kent: There’s a certain stigma attached to a lot of events. I guess we all have the required event and the events that we like. And it’s kind of like taking the sugar to help the medicine go down. Do you have your favorite events on Christmas or on New Year’s?

Sally: You really nailed it. There are some things you really look forward to. I lived in New York City for a while, up on the Upper Eastside, and there was a church - I don’t remember the name - and they would play their organ and bells, on the loudspeaker system, Christmas carols. And it was a tradition, everybody in the neighborhood - and I mean this is New York City and people are coming out of high rise buildings, I was on the 25th floor - all just started gathering and singing to the hymns, to the Christmas carols. And it’s just a magical thing, and nobody organizes it except the people that put the music on, and everybody just gathers. That was very cool.And then I lived in California and one of the big things was to go to sing ‘The Messiah’ with a full orchestra. The guy would hand you the entire ‘Messiah’ music, and I can read about every other note. The altos would sit there and somebody would lead you in singing almost the entire ‘Messiah’. It’s really cool.

Kent: I know for some people that would drive them nuts. My family is Swedish and my sister loves to make these cookies that are just solid butter and sugar, and I can understand how she likes them, but I can’t stand them. And so we always joke about it. She says, “Oh, I made these cookies.”. and I say, “Oh, I hate those cookies.”.

Sally: Are they like apple skivers?

Kent: No, they’re deep-fried. They’re pretty good.

Sally: It sounds wild. Well I think the big this is, again, everybody brings their favorite cookie, and everybody says you don’t have to eat those cookies, I hope. I think one of the most important things is to save the stuff you love. If your family absolutely loves making gingerbread men and decorating them, save that one; but don’t do the one where you have to go ice-skating at the mall or whatever it is. I used to love to carol as a kid. We got together gangs of kids and we’d go door-to-door, and we just loved Christmas carols; we did it for hours. We did it longer than we did trick-or-treating in the same neighborhood.The key thing is the family needs to sit down, or the single person needs to sit down, and make a list of all the things they love. Then, actually do like you do at a job, do a time frame. OK, making sure Christmas cookies that are decorated, and I have that in my book sort of as a joke. It takes like five hours usually and everybody eats them in two seconds, and they didn’t even notice that the little red hats made of hearts; they just chomped right into them. So cut corners, gift bags for gifts not wrapped, pre-made bows. Just make it easy on yourself.

Kent: And what about New Year’s? Do you have any New Year’s resolutions?

Sally: I sat down one day and I went I don’t keep any of these resolutions. They’re a joke and they’re embarrassing. And then I feel guilty and that’s no way to start the new year. So I like to make a list of New Year’s resolutions that are easy to keep. And actually when you look at it, it gives you so much joy that it would actually be easier to give up the drinking, the smoking, the weight gain, whatever you were trying to get rid of.What if you just made a resolution that you were going to watch a funny video or DVD every single week, at least one where you fell apart on the floor, something like “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” or whatever it is. And then maybe you make another resolution that you’re going to eat some kind of fantastic chocolate at least once a week. And making yourself happy actually makes you a person that has a lot more energy, and that energy you can use to feel better, and usually then you don’t have to go drug yourself.

Kent: Those sound like some pretty good resolutions to a lot of people, I’m sure.

Sally: And the other thing is if you’re not laughing out loud almost to the point where eggnog comes out of your nose, you are not doing the holidays right. Most people don’t laugh that hard, but it could be hysterical.

Kent: Sally Franz’s e-book is available online from her website, it’s called “Stressing Down for the Holidays: 25 Tips to Peel You Off the Ceiling”.

Posted by admin | Filed Under Travel, Holidays, Food, History, Thanksgiving, AUTHOR INTERVIEW, TRANSCRIPTS, PODCAST 

Jon-Paul Hutchins | Holiday Cuisine

December 21, 2007 | Leave a Comment

 
icon for podpress  Interview with Jon Paul Hutchins: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

We had the pleasure of speaking with chef extraordinaire Jon-Paul Hutchins of the Scottsdale Culinary Institute.  He talks with us about holiday cooking, and the importance of culinary teaching programs in the country today. The following is from his press packet online: 


Chef, educator, comedian, musician – Jon-Paul Hutchins has done it all. And after 26 years in fine restaurants across the globe, Executive Chef Hutchins now leads in the kitchen and the classroom at the Scottsdale Culinary Institute.

After receiving his degree from the Culinary Institute of America and working under some of Europe’s best chefs and mentors, Hutchins returned to America to take the chef position at a small French Bistro. Soon, he was one of the youngest chefs (just 21!) ever reviewed by The New York Times. Not content to rest, Chef Jon-Paul set out to learn more – working in 1,500 seat restaurants, 30 seat bistros, clipper ships and yachts. Impressed by his unique style – no yelling, no screaming, focused on fun –

an apprentice asked him to teach at the New York Restaurant School and Chef Jon-Paul found his passion.

While teaching, Hutchins studied improv comedy at the Manhattan Punch Line and Chicago City Limits. A classically trained violinist and drummer, he also found time to record with former members of Blondie and Iggy Pop and performed as a singer/songwriter/guitarist with his own bands.

For over a decade, Executive Chef Jon-Paul has taught thousands of students at the Scottsdale Culinary Institute – creating an environment where fun and learning go hand-in-hand. In 2001, Chef Jon-Paul and his wife Miss Leslie hit the airwaves in their nationally syndicated radio show “Hot Cuisine with Chef Jon-Paul and the Lovely Miss Leslie” – a mix of cooking and comedy heard in over thirty markets. He has also appeared on HGTV’s “Going Home” and as a featured chef on The Food Network’s “Sara’s Secrets”

with Sara Moulton! 

Posted by admin | Filed Under Food, Christmas, Holidays, AUTHOR INTERVIEW, PODCAST