The Almighty Defenders – Cone Of Light from The Pool Parties on Vimeo.

The Almighty Defenders strike me as a rockabilly gospel band. They dress in gospel choir robes on stage and have an eclectic Elvis, meets bar band, meets Motown sound. I discovered them while listening to XMU. Each time they played Cone of Light, I found myself looking down at the satellite receiver to catch the name of the artist and track. I did this enough times that it finally stuck. I came home, looked them up on iTunes and knew I would not be satisfied until I owned this entire album and could play it whenever and wherever I wanted.

Check out The Almightly Defenders on iTunes.

If you like any of these things, you might like The Almighty Defenders (and vice versa).
All links go to iTunes:

Otis Redding,
The Cramps,
Make Up,
Butthole Surfers,
Motown,
Gospel,
Elvis Presley,
Flipper,
Sun Trash,
The Pretty Things,
Manfred Mann,
Plimsoles,
The Kinks,
The Grass Roots,
The Supremes,
James Brown,
Sam Cooke

The Almighty Defenders are a clever mix of “all of the above”Check out The Almightly Defenders on iTunes.

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Did you know I’m running for president? Well, neither did I. It turns out someone nominated me and I’m winning the Internet vote by a landslide. Watch the video for details.

I’ll have to admit. The potential for misunderstanding here really reminds me of War of the Worlds. In this digital world where everything can be remastered it is more important than ever to remember the old maxim, “don’t believe everything you see”.

Once I volunteered to be table topics master, it didn’t take long for me to think of a theme I wanted to cover. You see, I have been interested in the power of the media and grass roots marketing for most of my life. My step-dad was a sound editor, my grandpa was a producer and I have an uncle who’s a big wig at Pixar/Disney. I was a part of the punk movement in the 80’s and 90’s and I studied the media in college. I also studied psychology, hypnosis and counseling. I am intrigued by what influences people and why.

The missing tortoise signs plastered all over Long Beach by New-Agers from Morningland Urban Monastery gave me a perfect opportunity to talk about this topic and present it in a way that is somewhat entertaining.

I started my table topics presentation with a little “show and tell” of the missing tortoise signs I heisted off local telephone poles. I explained how signs like these are plastered on poles all over Long Beach, spanning a 5-mile radius. I told everyone about how I dreamed of finding the tortoise, how I saw my hand delivering the lost tortoise to its grateful owner for a reward. Then, I showed them the front page of The District; a local paper that’s distributed free to coffee houses, restaurants and retail outlets all across Long Beach, California. The missing tortoise signs caught the attention of publishers and resulted in a full cover picture and an article spanning 4 pages complete with informative and entertaining sidebars and a full-page inset photo.

A quote from Al Stone, ex-Morninglander, subsumes is that the missing tortoise signs are a way for Morningland to get publicity. And it worked. But, that’s not exactly what we talked about in Toastmasters. We talked about the power of repetitive words and images we’re exposed to and how they influence behavior.

Here are the questions I posed to my fellow Toastmasters. I invite you to answer one or more of the questions down in the comments section.

1. Some people believe that he who controls the words/media controls the world. Do you agree or disagree and why?

2. If you could control the media for one day and choose the programming what would you choose and why?

3. Tell us about a song or TV show that had a major impact on you.

4. What is your all-time favorite commercial?

5. Tell us about one item you own that you purchased solely because of advertising.

6. Tell us about a conversation that influenced your life.

7. As you think about every item attached to your body right now (clothes, accessories, wallet) tell us about one item that you own because of someone else’s influence.

8. Name one rule that you learned early in life that has made you the person you are today.

9. Talk about a time when you had a song stuck in your head and couldn’t get it out.

To find out more about joining Agape Toastmasters in Culver City, visit them on the web at: http://agape.freetoasthost.info. Toastmasters meetings are open to the public and you can visit for free. Toastmasters is an organization dedicated to helping members improve their communication and public speaking skills.