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DC is Searching for Love and Healing: The Orchid Book Conversation with co-authors Rocio Aquino, Angel Orengo

By Joe Winger — 5 months ago

Finding Your Power through healing: The Orchid Book Conversation with co-authors Rocio Aquino, Angel Orengo

Rocio Aquino and Angel Orengo, co-authors of “The Orchid” are, as their website shares partners in life and spirit, wanderers who found home in each other’s hearts.

Their journey together has been filled with a myriad of cultures, beliefs, and encounters with both the ordinary and extraordinary.

The Orchid: The Secret Code of Modern Goddesses

The story focuses on five of these women, each wrestling with unique life challenges such as closeted sexuality, career pressures, spousal abandonment, sexual abuse, eating disorders, and manipulative behavior.

As they engage with the program’s curriculum, they peel away layers of self-deception, pain, and societal conditioning, discovering that the love and solutions they seek already reside within them.

The Orchid serves as both the setting and the metaphor for their collective journey toward self-realization and empowerment.

Today’s conversation has been edited for length and clarity. For the full, un-edited conversation, visit FlavRReport’s YouTube channel here.

Joe Winger:

We’re talking about The Orchid: The Secret Code of Modern Goddesses.

I go to a lot of book events, and a few weeks ago in Los Angeles, I went to The Orchid’s book signing. What I was amazed by was there was so much emotion in the audience. Big smiles, happy tears.

What are we missing in our lives that your book, The Orchid, helps us recognize?

Rocio Aquino:

How beautiful [of a] question. I think, to be honest, that we are perfect already. And we forgot.

Angel Orengo:

Yeah, I think we forget that at the core life doesn’t need to be that difficult. It’s not that complicated that we allow ourselves to be complicated by the things around us, by the things that we’re told, by the way we think our lives need to be, by the number of houses, clothing, shoes – everything right that we need to have.

The moment you bring it down to the basics and you’re like, yeah, life should be simple. We are okay. We’re just learning here. We’re back. We’re like in a school and the teacher wasn’t angry because we got it wrong. On the contrary, it was just like, Oh, don’t worry. I’ll teach you.

Joe Winger:

So what I’m interpreting is, people are having these emotional realizations because they’re remembering your message that they’re perfect already?

What do you think it is about that audience interaction that your book is giving?

Rocio Aquino:

I was in the front, so I was not as intimate like you and your perspective. But what resonates with me and what I see that can resonate for someone else is that they know and they understand that they are not alone on this journey.

The struggles they are feeling are real. They feel the difficulty. Everyone at some point is [feeling] who here has a difficult path? Everyone is like me. That connection is not superficial, but it’s more in a deep way when you are in a group setting after being so disconnected really to talk about the important things that matters in life has another connection.

Angel Orengo:

We’ve gotten large amounts of feedback by now. Some people are touched by the fact that someone has written a book selflessly to help them. I know there were people that were touched very much by that.

I think you understand what that means really, it was all about how do we help the reader get to a different place, right?

Go from point A to point B, right? There are people that for the first time find themselves in an environment where they can treat themselves with some kindness, where maybe they haven’t stopped to think about that before. Because we try to block it.

It’s easier to numb pain than to experience it and let it go.

Other people are [having the realization that] it’s not that complicated. I’m just so happy that I found this now. I think it’s just all of that energy.

The energy in the room that day was really powerful. When you’re in the presence of that energy and by presence, the collective – it wasn’t us. It’s we – emotions come to the surface, and that’s how we clear emotions, and that’s how we clear energy.

Thank you for sharing that because I didn’t realize that was happening.

Rocio Aquino:

We didn’t have any idea and remember, we have two teenage daughters. They bring us back to reality really quickly at our house.

Joe Winger:

Going to the actual book itself between the characters, the descriptions, their backgrounds.

What’s real? What’s fiction? And for fiction, what inspired it?

Rocio Aquino:

Everything happened, everything is real, but never happened all together.

Angel Orengo: And not to those people.

Rocio Aquino: We know that some of the places exist and all the situations exist.

The fiction is today there is not a place that you can go for free to heal in this way. But we hope that someone will open it. Let’s hope we can do it..

Angel Orengo:

Yeah, the characters, the book is absolutely real.

Every single thing that happens there has either happened to us or happened to someone we know, or we’ve read it in the news.

The story about the model and the sexual abuse that’s real, right? It’s happening in the modeling industry now where they have gone through their own “Me too” movement.

There is a scene in which “Olivia” is doing a silent walk and she has a vision of her mother near her. [to Rocio] That’s something that has happened to you, about your own mom who passed away.

There’s a scene in which “Olivia” is speaking to her father. It was a difficult relationship and her father wasn’t the best version of a father that he could have been.

That a lot of it is after my own experience with my own father, who I met three times in my life. One of which, the longest, was five hours. So we took pieces and through the help of everyone who collaborated in the book to construct these characters that brought together all these experiences.

We wanted to write the story of Rocio, who morphed into “Sophia”, and then we realized that we wanted to tell more that we needed that in order to be of service to the people who would be reading the book, we needed to tell more stories because there are so many things happening to women out there that we don’t hear about that we wanted to do justice by representing as many of them.

That’s where it all comes from.

Rocio Aquino:

The same happened to us when we were reading, not writing the book. We were crying constantly. At one point I put it down, we were crying [so much]. Then we did it first in English and after in Spanish and then we were crying in Spanish so was like, “Okay I’m continue to heal.”

The process for us was really intense

Angel Orengo:

The experience that you’re having [the audience and reader’s emotion], everyone is sharing similar things. It’s simple, but as I’m going, I find myself thinking about things that I’ve never thought about in my own life.

I need to put them down. Sometimes it takes me a little bit before I pick it up again. So it’s like peaks and valleys of intensity.

Joe Winger:

As authors, how are you feeling now knowing that so many people are having such extreme feelings and discoveries from your pages?

Rocio Aquino:

You never know how your work is going to be received, to be honest.

Even though we have a very strict culture of not judging anyone, being totally neutral, we are going to make suggestions.

Now that people are seeing the book, it’s a pleasure, it is humbling.

Angel Orengo:

There was intentionality in what we were writing. The book came after our first year of deep introspection into who we were and how we wanted to change our lives. [We studied] a lot of self help books. At the time that we started writing, it was about how do we share this with people who normally don’t have access to information

Also for people who don’t have resources to go and spend time in a retreat for a weekend or spend $5,000 or even $500. [We thought] we should do television because this is our background. But let’s own the intellectual property, the story behind it.

[We thought] we should do television [series], but let’s own the story behind it.

So when we sit down with the people who are going to help us craft the TV show, we have a say in how it’s made. Right now what ends up happening is that people don’t think that love is powerful enough to deal with the issues that you have around you.

We think that we have to combat anger with anger or force. That’s what we’ve been raised to believe. We’ve gotten to a point where love really does conquer all, but not in the way in which we were taught.

So when we approached a book, it was, “Let’s do it with a lot of love,” we said, and if we can help one person, it’ll have been worth it.

Everyone who we are connecting with is having similar reactions so it’s humbling. We’re filled with gratitude beyond belief that we were chosen, selected, inspired to write what we wrote and to put it forth.

Not just write it, but really now be the face of it and take it to as many places as we can.

Rocio Aquino:

That’s the main point. When someone says “Thank you”, because now that means I can continue to share with more people. If more people feel better about themself, that is incredible. That’s our main point to invite everyone to our party.

If more people feel better about themself, that is incredible.

And the part is really, if you are feeling better about yourself? Great! So it’s about that.

Joe Winger:

During your book event introduction, you mentioned one of your goals is to bring The Orchid to real life. Where are we today with that goal? How can the audience help you?

Angel Orengo:

Everything in your life begins with an intention. Waking up in the morning, getting off your bed, right?

Everything is intention after intention. The first and most important thing that we want is for people to truly enjoy the book because through the enjoyment of the book, there is a transformation that’s taking place.

We now understand that the way to change the world, and even though this is not the ultimate intention is the indirect intention, we can make this place a better place to be for all of us.

It begins by me feeling better about myself, and you feeling better about yourself. And it begins by all of the things that we create.

All these things these women are experiencing in The Orchid.

To your question, the first thing is for people – and it’s happening already – to say, wouldn’t it be awesome if this place really did exist and these transformations were taking place. If one person says it, it’s a big deal.

If a million people begin to think that way, or a billion people begin to think that way. Wow. It is about the power of what we have to manifest.

In terms of The Orchid as a retreat center, I think there are versions of it throughout the world already. There are many places that exist. I think those places will be inspired when they read our book to go to a different level. We can do more to expand the way we’re doing this.

There are podcasts down the line. There are television shows that we’ve mentioned. There’s a digital community that we would like to work on and develop. There is a nonprofit because there are going to be issues that will require that approach.

We’re going to continue building this community that ultimately is going to want to continue conversations as to how I deal with this.

Even though we attempted to do a very complete seven day experience at this retreat center, the truth is that the experiences can vary greatly.

There’s so much more out there.

We only depicted a number of healers. The number of healers and healing modalities out there are endless. I believe it will happen.

We have had initial conversations with certain people about it, but I would say it’s in early stages.

I would much rather encourage everybody who is already well advanced into a retreat center to look at themselves and see if there’s anything that can be learned from ours and create their own orchid so that we can help more people around the world.

Rocio Aquino:

Yes. Take the lessons, what you learn and it really is, “How I can begin to have a conversation with someone.”

Joe Winger:

As authors, can you talk a bit about what your writing process was like? What was the timeline going from idea to finished, published book?

Angel Orengo:

We began our process for the book at the end of 2021. So it took us about two and a half years.

We’ve come across a lot of people who say, ”Wow, that’s fantastic.” It took them nine years or 10 years and so on.

We were doing this 24 hours a day for two and a half years.

We relinquished everything else that we were doing and we dedicated ourselves to our growth, our personal growth and introspection, which in itself was the core of what’s at the book and to crafting putting on paper as many of the thoughts and ideas that we had.

The first step was Rocio and I basically went back and forth. We started thinking about which things worked. At first she was the guinea pig. She was experiencing things, a lot of healing practices.

Rocio Aquino:

It’s a process. Experiencing different things, and at the beginning you don’t have it very clear, but you begin, “Okay, this was my story.”

The main thing was to teach the lessons in a very original way. When you are relaxed, when you are in your house watching TV or reading.

You begin to question, is this serving me or not? The process of putting our learnings on paper.

Everyone is a creator. We can create and create.

No one is going to have our perspective. Angel was very clear [about] what he likes in life and has never spoken bad about anyone.

In my mind, I was not like that. I was speaking bad about people. But then I learned the power that [kind of speaking] represents and now I don’t want to do it.

But it’s those lessons that you begin to learn [from]. I grew up with that different paradigm, and now that I know another one, I prefer the new one.

Because it gives me more freedom, creativity, and everything.

We put everything in place. We worked hard to make this happen because our motivation was to do a book for [the younger version of] me 32 years ago when I tried to kill myself and I didn’t have the tools and I didn’t have anything.

So this is a book that I wish my mom had before she passed away 32 years ago.

The motivation was really to spread that another way of thinking was available. So we were in a hurry, like this needs to be available for those Rocio’s, for those Pepitas who were out there, who are out there and need to have something that they can grab quick, and they can begin to see a change.

Angel Orengo:

I would add, the process of writing the book was truly experiential. It wasn’t just spitting it out, we were living certain things.

There were times we stopped the book to have an exercise of releasing energy.

What we realized as we were writing, there were things inside of us that needed to be addressed.

Whether it was an experience that happened when you were a child…

I can’t tell you the times where we were crying, deeply moved by what we were writing and reading and how that was cleaning us inside and how that was changing us.

We went through different hurdles.

For example, we realized at an early stage that the book could not be judgmental about anything. if we were going to connect with readers, right?

We had no idea that we needed to ensure that the people at the Orchid, Mary and her staff. [They] never looked at anybody and said, “Oh, I’m so sorry.” It’s more, “We know we’ve been there. You too can heal from that.”

And so all of those things emerged as we were writing.

There was intentionality and some clear ideas as to how we wanted to proceed. The truth is that we were experiencing and adjusting as we went.

Rocio Aquino:

With a lot of respect.

Angel Orengo:

With a lot of respect for each other, the people we were collaborating with, and the reader.

Joe Winger:

The book is called The Orchid: the Secret Code of Modern Goddesses.

The color scheme, it’s primarily female names, from a traditional or direct point of view, it’s geared more toward a female audience.

As the authors, trying to get a guy in a woman’s life to read it. What would you encourage them to say to get a guy to read it?

Rocio Aquino:

#1, I’ve been a woman and reading many books about guys, written by guys and I love it.

So maybe it’s time for a guy to be open minded. I can do this and I can read a book about women.

#2, it’s incredible to go in the deepest way of thinking of women. So try to understand how they work and what they are thinking. This is a fantastic opportunity. It has so many good sides because you want to have a better understanding of your mom, of your sister, your girlfriend, your wife, your daughters.

Then you’ll have a better way of how women relate to each other, but how do they relate to themselves, and how you can be an ally in their process.

Angel Orengo:

Recently I was writing a brief article for a fraternity that I belong to and I was very active when I was in college.

Essentially the article is to inspire them to read this book. The issues that we talk about, whether it’s sexuality, limiting beliefs, the power of forgiveness, the power of gratitude or any of the other issues that the women who are there are speaking of, they’re universal.

They’re not gender based, right?

So any opportunity that you have or that you give yourself to relate to those issues, it’s an opportunity to grow.

I think for men for far too long, we’ve defined masculinity as “the absence of emotion” or perhaps the “existence of physical strength.”

More and more we’re finding out about emotional intelligence, right?

That emotions in general and our ability to share them to be vulnerable is powerful and can only enhance the people that we are.

I would say be open minded. The issues are truly for everybody. You can learn a thing or two, not just about yourself, but about the women in your life.

It’s and it could be really powerful. Plus let’s face it, the better we communicate with one another, the better we relate to one another across genders the better our community is going to be, and we need more community in the world.

I think if anything has shown us, and this is true at any time, right?

Every person you speak to, we’re all longing for community. We need connection. We need to connect more with each other.

Rocio Acquino:

Deep connection, not superficial.

Joe Winger:

The book is called The Orchid, The Secret Code of Modern Goddesses.

Wrapping up, for people out there who want to buy the book after hearing about it, Whether it’s websites, social media, how can we follow you? How can we buy the book?

Rocio Aquino:

There are so many ways right now. We have a website: TheOrchidBook.com

You can find the book in English and Spanish.You can buy it on Amazon, and Barnes and Noble, Apple, and we have the audiobook too.

And the exercise, if you want to do a book club with your friends, you can do some exercise that are on the website.

Instagram, Facebook YouTube, TikTok. All @TheOrchidBook_

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Just an hour from DC! Ironclad Distillery Now Serves Up Beds Alongside Their Bourbon Tasting in Fredericksburg, VA

By Bill Hardwick — 4 months ago

After 10 Years, Ironclad Distillery Now Serves Up Beds Alongside Their Bourbon at Kenmore Inn in Fredericksburg, VA.

Ironclad Distillery has purchased Kenmore Inn, now offering a B&B with bourbon tastings.

People love staying in a bed and breakfast. There is just something about them that makes the overnight trip more memorable and quaint. Add to that bourbon tastings, and the idea of a B&B&B gets a lot of people taking notice.

Ironclad Distillery purchased the Kenmore Inn and will now serve up beds alongside their bourbon. The bed, breakfast, and bourbon Inn is now taking reservations for overnight stays and to host special events.

“We have created a unique experience that people are going to love,”

Stephen King

founder and president

Ironclad Distillery

Ironclad Inn & Bourbon Tasting Room

“Imagine being in the historic area of Fredericksburg, sipping bourbon, and taking in this 18^th-century home.”

The next step for this family-owned company was to purchase the Kenmore Inn to create the Ironclad Inn & Bourbon Tasting bed and breakfast.

Founded in 2014, the trio of King family members who own the business were ready to take it to the next level. They have been thriving as a beloved local bourbon distillery, and it was time to take things up a notch.

The family takes an interest in history, having named their distillery after the location where the first Ironclad ships battled, they are now combining it with the history of the Kenmore Inn. What was once a residential property and now a B&B is located in the historical area of Fredericksburg, Virginia.

Guests can enjoy the local history, relax in the charming sitting areas of the home, and enjoy the two bourbon-tasting rooms.

A few interesting facts about the bed and breakfast property include:

It’s from circa 1793 and features nine rooms for guests. The main bedrooms are part of the original home and feature original fireplaces, while the other bedrooms are from the addition built in the 1930s. The rooms feature antiques and have a traditional décor.
Each room has its bourbon cart for tastings, and guests can have breakfast each day with a selection of sweets and savory items with a Southern flair.
The Inn is three stories tall and has a bourbon-tasting room for guests and the public, as well as several beautiful areas that are for relaxing.
The bourbon tasting room is the central hub of the Inn. It serves bourbon tastings, cocktails, and a light snack menu until 8 p.m. There are also sitting areas on the property where people can relax and unwind.
The Inn also offers various spaces and accommodations for hosting events, including corporate events, weddings, and more. The event spaces can accommodate up to 120 people and offer various options to meet planning needs.

“This is a beautiful property, and we invite people to stay here or stop by for a bourbon tasting,” added King. “Every time we convert someone into loving bourbon, we ring the bell, which has been ringing a lot. We look forward to giving everyone a taste of our family bourbon.”

The company was started in the Port of Newport News, Virginia, by Stephen King, Owen King, and Kara King. The Inn is situated within view of the most famous Civil War naval battle between the first ironclad ships. The company was named Ironclad Distillery after the location. Each batch of authentic bourbon is fermented, distilled, and bottled under one roof.

The Kenmore Inn, located in historic downtown Fredericksburg, Virginia, was built circa 1793.

The new Ironclad Inn & Bourbon Tasting Room offers nine residential rooms to choose from, each with a bourbon cart.

The main bedrooms are in the 18^th century and provide traditional beds, original fireplaces, seating areas, and sleep for 2-3 people. Additional bedrooms are in the area of the home that was added in the 1930s and sleep two.

Breakfast is served daily from 7:30 am to 10:00 am, offering a taste of the South. Coffee, tea, and water are served all day. The Bourbon Tasting Room offers tastings, cocktails, and a daily light snack menu until 8 pm.

To get more information about holding an event at the Ironclad Inn & Bourbon Tasting Room or booking a room, visit the site at: https://www.ironcladinn.com.

Follow them on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/ironcladinn

About Ironclad Inn & Bourbon Tasting Room

The bed and breakfast is located in historic Fredericksburg, Virginia, offering a unique place for people to stay and hold events. Guests can stay in one of their historic rooms, enjoy Southern hospitality, and engage in bourbon tastings. Inspired by the personalized hospitality of a private family home, the bedrooms and shared spaces are designed for finding a home away from home where lively stories can be swapped over a bourbon or two.

An interconnected part of the family-owned distillery and Tasting Room in Newport News, Ironclad Inn extends Ironclad Distillery Co.’s dedication to quality, connection, and hospitality into the experience of living, traveling, and coming home to a glass of the good stuff. Several special event options also allow guests to hold events of up to 120 people.

To get more information, visit the site at: https://www.ironcladinn.com.

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Incredible Weekend Visit In Beautiful Annapolis

By Charlotte Billingsley — 2 years ago

Incredible Weekend Visit In Beautiful Annapolis

Annapolis, the capital city of Maryland, is along on the Severn River where it meets the Chesapeake Bay, making it a perfect spot to venture onto the water spring through October.

A city with seasons

If you love a city with seasons, Annapolis has activities to enjoy, for every season a year-long. Whenever you choose to visit, here’s how to spend an incredible weekend in beautiful Annapolis.

Things To Do In Annapolis

Famous as America’s Sailing Capital, Annapolis is a place to spend time on the water — or just watch the waves from the shore — but there’s also plenty of history, inredible dining, shopping, and nature in this very walkable city.

Incredible Weekend Visit In Beautiful Annapolis

Take A Cruise Aboard The Wilma Lee

The Annapolis Maritime Museum, a sharity educational facility where you can learn about the maritime heritage of Annapolis, now offers a cruise aboard the Wilma Lee.

The Wilma Lee is a vessel listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the National Park Service.

She has been under restoration since 2018 and is now ready for public attention, including Heritage Tours, Sunset Cruises, Wednesday Night Race Watch Parties, and private charters.

Spend A Day At The Beach

Enjoy the 786-acre Sandy Point State Park on the northwestern shore of the Chesapeake Bay. Take in the views of this mile-long public beach and take a swim. Why not try your hand at crabbing or fishing.

If you’re traveling with a boat of your own, there are more than 20 public boat ramps for easy access to the Chesapeake Bay.

Cruise The Annapolis Harbor Aboard The Harbor Queen

Watermark, in its 47th year of offering cruises, has a variety from which to choose:

A Fall Foliage Bay Lighthouse Cruise, a City Lights Cruise, and a Day on the Bay to St. Michaels are just a few of the options.

The Annapolis Harbor and USNA Cruise aboard the Harbor Queen takes you on a narrated cruise of the Annapolis Harbor and the banks of the U.S. Naval Academy, now offering tableside service, so you can dine during the 40-minute cruise.

Take A Guided Tour Of The William Paca Garden

Learn the history of this acre-plus 18th-century pleasure garden located behind the home of William Paca, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

There’s also a tour of Paca’s home where you can learn about life in high society in the 1700s. The guided garden tour is currently limited to six people per visit.

Post Views: 2,919

Fritz Coleman, Louise Palanker are ‘Woke Boomers’ on Media Path Podcast taking a Deep Dive into Pop Culture

By Joe Wehinger — 1 year ago

Take a Deep Dive into Pop Culture with Woke Boomers Fritz Coleman, Louise Palanker on Media Path Podcast

Fritz Coleman and Louise Palanker are hosting a virtual dinner party. It’s a fun time, a good time, with lots of laughs, smiles, and a deep dive into pop culture past and present.

Have you ever become obsessed with a topic and taken a deep dive into consuming all you could uncover about it?

Media Path Podcast is here to indulge your creative obsessions. Co-hosted by Los Angeles weatherman/humorist Fritz Coleman and filmmaker/columnist and co-founder of Premiere Radio Louise Palanker.

Take a Deep Diver into Pop Culture with Woke Boomers Fritz Coleman, Louise Palanker on Media Path Podcast

Today we had a conversation (via zoom) with Fritz Coleman and Louise Palanker. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

For the full conversation, visit our YouTube channel here.

What’s the best way to introduce this fun, flavorful conversation?

Louise: We tell folks, this is what you would be talking about if you got together with a group of friends anyway. What have you been watching? What should I stream? What’s good? So this is where every conversation eventually devolves. We just get there very rapidly

Fritz: Wheezy and I grew this podcast out of a friendship we’ve had for about 35 years, where we found out surprisingly and wonderfully, that we see eye to eye on lots of entertainment, movies, books, TV shows, and we thought, why not make this a podcast? It is a continuation of our common interests in our conversation.

So that’s what we do. We start each show with some suggestions on what people can watch, listen to, read, and that takes eight minutes. And then we always have a guest on; guests from all walks of life. We found that one of our sweet spots is television personalities from the Los Angeles area particularly ones from our growing up period, the 1960’s and 1970s boomer material and older.

But we do everything. We do politicians, we do singing stars. We’ve had very interesting books and topics that aren’t generally known to the public. I’ll give you an example. Two weeks ago. We had a show about a man who wrote a book about a woman by the name of Connie Converse, who I suppose you could describe as one of the great undiscovered musical talents in America.

She was a great songwriter and a great singer. She was never discovered, which was sad and then she just magically and mysteriously disappeared. So the book this guy wrote was about somebody that not everybody was familiar with, but it was fascinating because it was like a, ‘whodonnit’ and also the heartache of an undiscovered musical talent, that lady that started in Greens Village and all those things.

All that to say it’s Weezy and I discussing stuff we find fascinating and we hope you come along.

From the episodes I’ve watched, it feels like the most interesting dinner party you’ve been to in a long time.

Fritz: We appreciate that.

We’re gonna use that as a sales tool from now on. The most interesting dinner party you’ve ever been to. Yeah,

Louise: the food is awful.

Fritz: My dinner with Weezy.

Louise: Yeah, there’s some hard candies and it’s bring whatever you can in your purse because we, I’ve got some granola bars on the coffee table, but that’s it.

Fritz: We want the intimacy of a conversation among friends and so you, you analyzed it well. Beautiful.

Because everyone watching and listening loves food. Do you have a favorite food you’d recommend either you per personally and enjoy or something that we should be eating or cooking while we listen and watch your show?

Louise: I’m gonna recommend some water. This comes out of a filtration system near my sink. It’s just lovely.

Fritz: I happen to be a fan of Northern Italian cuisine. I won’t name specific dishes, but in general, I love risotto with a great protein like shrimp or chicken.

I love penne with a bolognese sauce. I love capellini alla checca, which is a great when you add shrimp to it and then you add a checca sauce, which is the red sauce with garlic. And so I like Northern Italian Cuisine. I don’t cook, but I can buy the best food in America. Just walking out my front door here.

Louise: Have you ever put salmon on a pizza?

Fritz: I’ve had that actually. That’s actually very good.

Louise: Very good. Goat cheese. Wonderful. I love let’s see, chicken parmesan, I think that’s what I would order.Maybe that sounds very pedestrian. But comfort foods are delicious.

Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, chicken parm. That’s the kind of stuff – any potato really, you can’t do anything to a potato that would offend me.

Fritz: I’ll tell you, LA is wonderful for that lately cuz there’s all sorts of interesting fusions going on. You have Vietnamese food and Italian food and a fusion menu.

And if you like to experiment with different palettes, this is a great city to do it in. It really is, thanks to Wolfgang Puck and some of the gourmet chefs in the town. Completely

I think what we’re all, what we’re all noticing immediately is the two of you have phenomenal chemistry. What’s the origin story?

Louise: Yes, absolutely. We know each other quite well. It’s very natural, and I’ve been podcasting since you could, you go back to 2005 whenever you got that new iPhone that said, would you like to listen to a podcast? And then you said, what’s a podcast? And then the adventure begins.

So I’ve been doing it from jump and Fritz was contractually obligated to not speak outside of his news job about anything that did not concern a weather pattern. Your newsman cannot have an opinion. That’s very distracting, especially now in our divided sensibility.

Fritz: You just can’t say anything smart, that would embarrass the station. That’s all.

Louise: So you couldn’t do commercials. It makes sense if you’re talking about the weather, you don’t wanna be thinking, oh, this guy sells batteries. You just, you wanna just get your weather cast.

So as soon as he retired we jumped on board together because I had done four podcasts before this one, and I was prepared in terms of what a podcast requires, how difficult it is. And so for Fritz, I just need his mind, his preparation, his wit and his fascination with all things interesting.

And he’s more than ready to take on the podcasting world. He’s the best.

Fritz: And this is not a brag but it’s true. You cannot manufacture chemistry. You can see two people on television. You hear them on the radio or hear them in a conversation, and you know that these two people should not be in the same room together, let alone host their own presentation.

But we just have a natural thing that was born out of our friendship really, and our common interest in stuff. One of our sweet spots is baby boomer and older music, old rhythm and blues. Weezy’s interest in music goes back to the old harmony groups like the Mills Brothers, cuz she was personal friends.

So all those things we find fun and so when we get in there we I think that the fun we’re having resonates to the audience. I hope it does.

Louise: We geek out together. It’s like watching Jimmy Fallon. You’re just so giddy that he’s that giddy. So hopefully we bring that kind of enthusiasm and just to get to meet the people that we grew up watching.

And also the excitement of when you have an author reading the book and then getting to talk to the author and, rather than having to scour YouTube for interviews that the author did, because now you’re fascinated. We actually get to talk to the person. And so we find that exciting. It’s like going to grad school for free.

Fritz: One of the great joys is having a topic that you don’t know anything about. For instance, this Connie Converse topic and the one we’re having this week we’re preparing for now, this is a guy that wrote a book about the friendship between Henry Ford, John Burrows, and Thomas Edison.

These three geniuses in a different venue, each one, but they all had this spectacular friendship and they all took a road trip in a model T Ford. I knew a little bit about Henry Ford, you know it from the Industrial Revolution and extreme antisemitism. But I didn’t realize that he had interests outside there. Louise and I are just gonna be blank slates and come into this interview with just being inquisitive, and that’s always fun. You discover something you had no idea about.

Let’s talk about both of your backgrounds.

We’re gonna go to Fritz second. Louise, bring everyone up to speed about what you’ve accomplished and those other podcasts you’ve worked on so people know the background that you bring to this show.

Louise: Yes, I began my career as a studio page, and it was one of those things where you get your foot in the door and one thing leads to the other thing.

So I became a studio page at a place called Metro Media Tape. We were doing all of the Norman Lear sitcoms. We had the John Davidson talk show. Which was where a person like me gets to meet Van Johnson. It was just crazy. Look, I’m from suburban Buffalo and here I am with Van Johnson.

It was crazy. So I’ve always just been so grateful to work in entertainment. I just consider it to be an honor. But that led to a job at a show called PM Magazine, which led to me meeting Rick Dees who was a local radio personality. I went to write his syndicated countdown show, which is called the Rick Dees Weekly Top 40, which led to me meeting other personalities at KISS FM and forming a company with them called Premier Radio Networks.

And that was a 15 year rocket ship that led to that company being sold to Clear Channel, which is now iHeart Media. At one point I went to one of my partners and I said, Hey, Craig, what are what’s the chance of me having my own show? And he said, none. And I said, I have two words for you, podcast.

Because he didn’t know that they were just the one word at that time. And I, that’s how new it was. I was doing standup comedy at the time, so I went to do standup comedy that night and I said to my friend, Laura Swisher, have you heard of a podcast? And she said, I just heard about it today.

It was just like, it was hot off the press, right? So we were like, let’s make one. That led to 100 episodes of Weezy In The Swish, which was my first podcast. And then I did one with K with teenagers where I was like giving teenagers advice cuz like I love to mentor young people.

And that one was called Journals Out Loud. And then I did one with some of my comedy friends called things I Found Online, which was people our age discovering the interne. Then Fritz retired and now I’m working with Fritz.

I never was a radio personality at Premier. I was a creator. I was in charge of all of the creative output, but Premier had shows that did not involve or include me other than behind the scenes.

And now Fritz obviously. My words, you’re an LA icon. For more than 40 years…

Fritz: Contactually, you have to say that about me. Every time you introduce me. I’m an LA icon.

Not only do you own LA TV, but you own LA stages because for those who don’t know, seeing you live is a phenomenally fun, entertaining evening. Was it a very conscious segue to get into podcasting?

Fritz: My involvement with her podcast is totally her both blame and her gift that she gave to me after I retired.

People find this hard to believe. Real meteorologists hate this story, but I’ll tell it to you anyway. I was working at the Comedy Store in 1982 and because I talked on stage about having done the weather earlier in my broadcasting career, the news director from Channel Four and his wife were in the audience that night and he came up to me after the show and he said, I really enjoyed your show, particularly the thing about doing the weather in the Navy, but not knowing anything about it.

He said, would you have any desire to come to Channel Four and do some vacation relief, weather forecasting? I was making $25 a night at the Comedy Store, and so I almost passed out. I said, of course, when do you want me to start? He said you have to audition. So I auditioned and got the job, and I did two years as a vacation relief guy on the weekends.

Filling in on the weekends and filling in for people on vacation. And then two years later, I was bumped up to the weekday weather cast position and I retired two weeks shy of my 40th anniversary. And it’s just unbelievable. I didn’t set out to have a career in weather. This opportunity presented itself.

I could continue to do standup. I came out here from Buffalo, New York where we Weezy’s from to do standup. Even as the weather job I was able to continue to do standup. And so I had two careers. One paid for my children’s education. The other exercised my ego, and as they, it both worked out.

How do you two decide on the topics and when you bring up your guests, how do you decide on your guests?

Louise: We get a lot of offers coming our way now. There’s definitely people that we go after. But we have so many folks that are pitching, when someone has something new that comes out, they make the rounds. And so we just know what our sweet spots are and we email each other with our producer Dina, and we say, does this sound good?

So for example we did not know anything about that Elvis story that you’re talking about. And when it was pitched to us, we just said Absolutely. Exactly. This is what we wanna delve into. So that is what you’re referring to, is a book about a woman who researched Elvis’s health history and discovered that he wasn’t a drug addict because he enjoyed drugs. He was a drug addict because he was trying to feel normal. He was born with disease in 9 out of the 11 systems of the body, and this is why everyone on his mother’s side dies in their forties, including Elvis.

Fritz: That was a great example of what I was talking about.

Weezy and I were just flabbergasted. I mean we’ve all known a lot about Elvis, especially Weezy and I, because we’re students of music, but there was so much in there that we didn’t realize. And that’s a great example of discovering things that you weren’t aware of that made the podcast so much fun.

Louise: And the book is by Sally Hodel and it’s called Elvis: Destined to Die Young.

I think so many people are looking for that level of knowledge and a deeper dive. I think both YouTube and podcasts allows for those deeper dives.

What do the two of you look for when it comes to interviews? Is there different angles you’re both looking to achieve or how does that happen?

Louise: If we find it interesting, we just believe that other folks will find it interesting. So we just gauge it on what fascinates us.

We’re a pretty good barometer.

Louise: We’re always looking for politics. We both call ourselves “woke boomers”.

We’ll take it. And we love history. We love biographies, we love documentaries. We’re both news junkies. We love TV, especially the TV that is close to people because they grew up with it. We believe firmly that what you loved at 10 you love forever. We talked to Marty Croft and we talked to former child stars and we talk to folks like that.

This week we talked to Nellie Oleson, Alison Arngrim from Little House on the Prairie as well. We love talking to those folks and learning what life was like as a child growing up making the television that other kids were so in intrigued by, and of course the music of our era, sixties, seventies, eighties,

Fritz: We had two documentary filmmakers on a couple of about a month or so ago. They made a documentary about Blood, Sweat and Tears, which was one of the iconic groups of the late sixties and early seventies. They and Chicago were the first bands to use horns in mainstream rock and roll. But there’s a great backstory about how Blood, Sweat and Tears were bamboozled into making a tour behind the Iron Curtain. They were the first American rock band that had ever been allowed to tour behind the Iron Curtain.

And there’s hundreds of hours of video of these guys experiencing Romania and all these less than welcoming countries. And that was fantastic because, again, we’d always been fans of Blood, Sweat and Tears. But this was an aspect of their career we didn’t know anything about. That was fantastic.

And we had Bobby Columby, who was the drummer for Blood, Sweat and Tears in the studio with us. It was really fun.

You both brought up in your own ways, “happy accidents” with guests. Can either of you suggest guests we should go back through your archives and find?

Louise: My favorite episode features Joyce Bouffant. She wrote a book called My Four Hollywood Husbands. It’s absolutely a tremendously entertaining read. She was married to James MacArthur, The son of Helen Hayes. So this kid who has a impoverished childhood and suddenly she’s hanging out with Helen Hayes. Launches a career of taking care of alcoholic husbands and finally winding up with the man of her dreams.

And it’s just, it’s quite a ride and remarkably entertaining.

Fritz: And we have guests that will always be our favorites. One of our only repeat guests, Henry Winkler, who happens to be a close friend to Weezy’s. We had him on, but not because he’s a close friend. Because when you just have a very casual conversation with him, you realize his appeal to the world.

He’s one of the most down to earth, non-condescending, brilliant guys who never talks down to you. He’s just the loveliest man in the world and who has had an astonishing career. And we’ve had him on, and we’re gonna try to get him on again because he has an autobiography coming out soon. So we hope we can coerce him into coming back on.

But yeah, we love those too. We haven’t had anybody else on twice? I don’t think so. Adam Schiff. The politician. Now his life has changed because he’s running for senator from California.

Louise: He’s Fritz’s Congressman, so he’s congressionally obligated to attend our podcast.

He’s wonderful and very funny guy as well. We’re always just really honored to speak to him. Another favorite show of mine is: The Steve’s. Steve Young and Steve O’Donnell, both wrote for David Letterman. Steve Young has created this documentary called Bathtubs Over Broadway, where Steve Young becomes obsessed with industrial musicals.

It’s on Amazon Prime right now and it still gets a lot of views.

It’s fun to talk to Pat Boone and Vicky Lawrence and Johnny Whitaker and Christopher Knight. All of our comedian friends, but those are the stories that you love. Uncovering is things that you didn’t know were there and that delight you.

Let’s tell the audience where to find your show – Where do we find you?

Louise: Anywhere you type Media Path Podcast it’s gonna come up. Website, podcast, youtube, iphone.

Fritz: I have a new comedy special, which is streaming on Tubi. It’s called Unassisted Living. It’s just describing life for people of our demographic: that is old people and their parents.

That’s gonna be fun. Can we find you live on stage soon?

Fritz: I think I’m gonna be having a residency at the El Porto Theater in North Hollywood, California. It’s a fairly legendary theater, called the Maryland Monroe Forum.

And I’m gonna be doing a show there once a month for a while as I work out new material. And I’ll be advertising that on social media and elsewhere.

Find the Media Path Podcast: https://www.mediapathpodcast.com/

DC Geek Culture: Chris Gore’s “Attack Of the Doc!” Premieres for Your April 21

Post Views: 2,164

Fast, Fun, (all the) Feels – 90 mins of Geek Culture, Chris Gore’s ‘Attack of the Doc’ available April 24

By Joe Winger — 1 year ago

Fast, Fun, (all the) Feels – 90 mins of Geek Culture, Chris Gore’s Attack of the Doc Available April 24

Today I sat down with Chris Gore, the writer / director / producer of “Attack of the Doc!” to talk about the huge effort of editing a generation of content down to a tight 90 minutes.

“Attack of the Doc!” is written, directed & produced by Chris Gore.

Chris Gore, the writer / director / producer of “Attack of the Doc!”

This deep dive documentary features pop icons including Wil Wheaton, John Cena, Joel McHale, Peter Jackson, Kumail Nanjiani, Whitney Cummings, Danny Pudi, and many more!

Attack of the Show! was unique, way ahead of its time and was a milestone that had a huge impact on geek culture. Available for streaming and more as of April 24, 2023.

Your documentary ‘Attack of the Doc’ is such a detailed story. You have so much content to work from. How hard was it to edit it down to a tight 96 minutes?

Truthfully it’s brilliantly edited by my co-producer on it, Bobby Schwartz, the lead editor. There was a team of editors: Anthony Ray Bench, Philip Eubanks, Glenn Brown, who helped out.

We gathered hundreds of hours of footage, spent a year building a library, because we started shooting in March of 2020. And then the pandemic occurred, so I pivoted.

Originally we sat some people down and did some interviews on camera and realized we’re not gonna be able to do this with the pandemic.

So we spent that year of the pandemic building a library of every topic, every host, every person on camera. It gave us the tools to [outline the] topics.

Then I did interviews over live streams and I built an archival documentary that would put you in the world at the time. I wanted it to never kind of break. The only breaking to present day is [when] I bookend the movie, and then Zach Selwyn is like the Greek chorus.

But, I wanted to give it that feel. So for the editors, it was such a challenge. We’d break them into [segments]. So the birth of G4, how do we tell that story? Well, we cut it down to 30 minutes. How do we get that down to three minutes?

So we’re trying to tell 20 years of the history of the beginnings of G4 TV, the launch of ‘Attack of the Show,’ the end of ‘Attack of the Show’, and then the rebirth and where that went.

So that’s 20 years in 90 minutes, and it was always ‘We’re not gonna go over 90 minutes.’

Anything that we cut, we can put stuff on the Blu-Ray. The Blu-Ray will be a collectible.

But I wanted to tell this story in a quick 90 minutes, as a love letter to the show, geek culture and remind people of this era.

But that editing, God. It was just a constant thing. Bobby Schwartz knocked outta the park.

‘Attack of the Doc’ available April 24

“Attack of the Doc!” is written, directed & produced by Chris Gore, produced & edited by Bobby Schwartz, co-produced by Walter Areas, with additional co-editing by Anthony Ray Bench and Phillip H. Eubanks, and with an original score composed by Austin Smith. This deep dive documentary features pop icons including Wil Wheaton, John Cena, Joel McHale, Peter Jackson, Kumail Nanjiani, Whitney Cummings, Danny Pudi, Eric Andre, Jerry Stiller, Joe Rogan, Jimmy Fallen, Kel Mitchell, Anne Meara, Stan Lee, Sara Jean Underwood, Carrie Keagan, Riley Steele, Tom Green, Anthony Daniels, Michael Winslow, Joey Kern, Joan Rivers, Chris Hardwick, Robert Kirkman, Greg Nicotero, Jessica Chobot, Tony Hawk, and Alison Haislip, among others as we search for the truth.

“Attack of the Show! was unique, way ahead of its time and was a milestone that had a huge impact on geek culture. Its core audience is one of the most coveted around the globe. I think viewers of the original show will be down for learning the history of the network and the show which helped usher in the age of nerd culture. Frankly, G4TV and Attack of the Show! are responsible for making it cool to be a nerd,” states Gore. “And at the end of the day, I hope the documentary entertains fans and reminds them of a time when a TV show could be dangerous and provide some laughs without fear of being canceled. Everyone who worked on the documentary is a super fan, so this movie was made by fans for fans.”

Attack of the Doc! Synopsis

Before the rise of big tech, social media and Marvel movies, Attack of the Show! chronicled nerd culture’s unlikely acceptance as mainstream. G4TV’s flagship show launched the careers of hosts Olivia Munn and Kevin Pereira and was beloved by fans – a unique celebration of geek culture before it was cool. Diving into colossal cream pies, wearing fat suits for comedy and putting internet servers where the sun don’t shine – anything could happen on an episode of Attack of the Show! It’s been years since the show went off the air and one question has lingered: what really happened to G4TV and Attack of the Show? Enter Attack Of The Doc! — the new film written and directed by Chris Gore, promises to answer one of pop culture’s longest running mysteries.

Available as of Apirl 24 and watch the trailer here.

Follow the documentary and its journey available on Video on Demand and TVOD/Digital platforms on April 24th, 2023, which is the 21st Anniversary of the launch of G4TV.

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Zayn Malik launches Lychee Martini flavor, joins Mixoloshe as Chief Creative Officer and Co-Owner

By Sofia Frances — 10 months ago

Zayn Malik joins Mixoloshe as Chief Creative Officer and Co-Owner

The global superstar launches a custom Lychee Martini flavor, with a unique can design inspired by his own tattoos.

The fast-rising, award winning non alcoholic beverage brand, made with clean ingredients and nothing artificial will make its retail debut at Walmart, launching across the US with the retailer by end of October

Mixoloshe, a female founded and award winning non-alcoholic beverage brand, announces its partnership with celebrated award-winning artist and entrepreneur Zayn Malik, who has joined the company as the Chief Creative Officer (CCO) and Co-Owner.

The partnership will center around reshaping the narrative of the non-alcoholic beverage industry, as well as deep creative collaboration on marketing initiatives and upcoming flavor launches.

Additionally, Mixoloshe will launch in 500 Walmart stores across the country, marking the brand’s anticipated retail debut.

Zayn’s first flavor launch is a non-alcoholic Lychee Martini, a refreshing and exotic drink, that is sweet, floral, and slightly tropical. The can design is also captivating and unique, featuring replica illustrations of his own most beloved tattoos.

Mixoloshe was founded in 2022 to redefine the booming non-alcoholic drink category with a clean, alcohol-free take on cocktails and premium spirits that taste like the real thing.

Their collection offers a non-alcoholic range of popular cocktails, such as a Mojito, Old Fashioned, Gin & Tonic, and Margarita, as well as non-alcoholic Tequila, Whisky, and Gin, all made with real ingredients, and low in sugar, calories.

Mixoloshe’s soft seltzers and non-alcoholic spirits have been recognized globally as best in class, and in 2023 they were honored with the Bartenders Spirits Gold Award, Ascot Award Gold for Taste, and the SIP Awards in Gold, Silver, and Bronze, to name a few. Their collection includes 8 canned non-alcoholic cocktail varieties, including the newly launched Lychee Martini flavor, and three bottled non alcoholic premium spirits.

“The non-alcoholic beverage market is ready for disruption, which can create immense growth potential. We see consumers already shifting preferences towards healthier and alcohol-free alternatives, which provides an opportunity for a brand like MIXOLOSHE to redefine this industry. I could not be more excited about the chance to make some noise in the category of non-alcoholic beverages and build one of the most talked about drinks in the world.” – Zayn Malik

“Zayn is a creative visionary both in music and beyond. His passion for innovation and his ability to captivate audiences will undoubtedly help us redefine the narrative around the non alcoholic beverage category, with a fresh perspective on making healthy lifestyle choices and living well, irrespective of your beverage preferences,” said Kristina Roth, MIXOLOSHE Founder and CEO. “I’m looking forward to working alongside him and shaping a future for this category where the glass is always half full of possibilities.”

Soft seltzers are available in a 12 pack, and retail for $29.99. Non-alcoholic spirits are available in a 750 ml bottle and retail for $29.99.

For more information, please visit: mixoloshe.com.

Mixoloshe is a female-founded line of non-alcoholic seltzers and spirits that are formulated to taste and smell boozy without the booze. Whether you’re booze-free forever or just for the night, these drinks are the perfect inclusive answer to an age old question—what are we drinking? High in flavor and low in calories, MIXOLOSHE packs a party into every can of soft seltzer and bottle of non-alcoholic spirits. With a mission and ingredients that are anything but fake, the brand offers booze-free cocktail alternatives that taste like the real thing. Party tonight with no regrets tomorrow.