Exposure Magazine, September 2016 by ReadExposure

Beers, Battl es, and

Bul l sh i t

t eam PUBLISHER Cal v i n Tyl er (On e M an Ar m y)

publisher @r eadexposur e.com

FEATUREDBADASSOFTHEMONTHCLUB!

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

JASON CARROLL, MONSOUR'S

War r en Bu j ol (Food Bl ogger )

Gone ar e the M onsour 's Photogr aphy sim ple por tr ait days. Her e is the er a in w hich the photo studio, now ow ned and oper ated by Jason Car r oll, can do ever ything, i.e., aer ial shots, fashion show s, m ajor events, m ar keting designs, fam ily por tr aits, bug photogr aphy, and anything else you can think of. We believe in Jason's vision and suppor t him in any w ay w e can.

editor @r eadexposur e.com

OFFICEMANAGER Ni k k i Su e Al st on (Dog En t h u si ast )

nikki@r eadexposur e.com

GRAPHICS Chr is Huff (gr aphic design) Shaw n Ar dabili (gr aphic design)

CONTRIBUTINGWRITERS Jor dan Waldm eier M ar sh Buice Jer emy Pr ice M ike 'Happy' Hor ton Jason M achulski Duane Ber ger on Dr. Tr ip Goolsby Luke Eddlem an Nikki Sue Alston

If you'd like to contact Jason or another m em ber of the M onsour 's Photogr aphy cr ew , please view the infor m ation por tion of this letter below. Tell them Exposur e M agazine sent and they'll tr eat you extr a special.

www.monsoursphotoghaphy.net

433.2333

CONTRIBUTINGPHOTOGRAPHERS Jason Car r ol l m onsour sphotogr aphy.net

Ch ad W h i t ed chad@chadw hited.com

Jam i e Har t n et t har tnettdjam ie@gm ail.com

M at t h ew I son m atthew t.ison@gm ail.com

Ch r i s Lan gl ey clang.langley@gm ail.com

Jon Lan dr y

HAIRANDMAKEUP

Know a better than decent ar tist? Contact Calvin: publisher @r eadexposur e.com . They could be published next!

M egan Tyl er m eganw aldm eier @gm ail.com

EXPOSURE M AGAZI NE | SEPTEM BER 2016 VOLUM E 2, NUM BER 8 Published m onthly by Conquer , Inc., P.O. Box 443, Lake Char les, LA 70602. Pr inted in USA. Exposur e M agazine is a r egister ed nam e of Conquer , Inc. Repr oduction in w hole or in par t w ithout w r itten per m ission is pr ohibited. Opinions expr essed in ar ticles ar e those of the author. All r ights r eser ved on entir e contents. Adver tising inquir ies should be dir ected to publisher @r eadexposur e.com . Unless other w ise noted, ar tists featur ed in Exposur e M agazine r etain copyr ight to their w or k . Ever y effor t has been m ade to r each copyr ight ow ner s or their r epr esentatives. The publisher w ill be pleased the cor r ect any m istakes or om issions in our next issue. Exposur e M agazine w elcom es editor ial subm issions; how ever , r etur n postage m ust accom pany all unsolicited m anuscr ipts, ar t, dr aw ings, and photogr aphic m ater ials if they ar e to be r etur ned. No r esponsibility can be assum ed for unsolicited m ater ials. All letter s w ill be tr eated as unconditionally assigned for publication and copyr ight pur poses and subject to Exposur e M agazine's r ight to edit and com m ent editor ially. Exposur e M agazine is Published by Conquer , Inc. em ail to: editor @r eadexposur e.com r eadexposur e.com

PUBLISHER'SNOTESEPTEMBER2016 If you look around you'll notice some changes. Figured it was time for a cleaner design, especially since we're 100% digital and reaching more and more people by the day. This new format will make it easier for both loyal and new readers alike to navigate the magazine. From here on out the information on the cover story will appear on the same page as the Publisher's Note, obviously. The next page will display every other story. We're looking into making it so that you can click on a story's title and be taken directly to that story's page. How slick will that be, huh? It'll be like you're reading in the year 2016.

ONTHECOVER

We've also updated the title logo on the cover to suit the tone of our content: a little bit retro with a little bit of dirty thrown in for good measure. It works well with the cover photo we used for this month. It's Rick Nyberg, of RikenJak's fame, funneling beer next to a beeramid, circa 1986 at Mississippi State. Great photo, Rick. Thanks for giving us permission to use it on the cover. This month's section cover photographs are of Leonard's Food Quarters' menu items. Provided by Waitr, these images made me, the Publisher, extremely hungry. Sorry if you are now also hungry, but I shouldn't have to carry this burden alone, so, welcome to the party. If you're not from Lake Charles or not familiar with the restaurant, Leonard's opened its doors more than thirty years ago and is family owned. Mr. Leonard is an excellent human being who totally never takes naps in his office while his sons run the kitchen. He told me himself that he doesn't nap. He just closes his eyes when he can't hear what people are saying outside of the office. Mr. Leonard does this so peacefully you'd think he were asleep. He's even got his sons Marlon and Troy fooled. He's the best. Think no more about what's going on in the kitchen, just do yourself a favor and eat something that comes out of it. My favorite is the Red Beans and Rice with a Pork Chop. You'll love it! Another great eatery in Lake Charles is Luna. Dave Evans, owner of Luna and Luna Live, does an incredible job of maintaining the downtown culture that he singlehandedly created. His staff is friendly and attentive, his food is experimental and delicious. My favorite Luna meal is the Abita Red Fish. Fresh seasoned red fish, battered with Abita Amber Beer, fried and served with their own mango-penรก sauce (out of this world). If you happen to bump into Dave, tell him Calvin says hi. If you can remember the following, please repeat it word-for-word: "Calvin not only says hi, but he also says thank you for the Abita Red Fish, Sunday Brunch, and Chuck Fest." September is the month of Labor Day. It's also the month that everyone remembers the events of 9/11. I once wrote an article for The Jambalaya News chronicling the journey of Sulphur boy, Leo Russell Keene III, as he went to work in the WTC that fateful day. It was the hardest assignment I had ever pursued in my career, and I am grateful to Russ's family for giving me access to their memories. I'm also thankful to my then publisher, Lauren Abate, and graphic designer, Burn Rourk, for trusting me with such an important article. If you're interested in reading it please click on the image below and turn to page 18.

Happy Labor Day,

Calvin Tyler, Publisher Exposure Magazine publisher@readexposure.com

9 Beers,Battles,andBullshit After year s of w or king tow ar ds becom ing the best dam n br ew m aster the w or ld has ever seen, Rick Nyber g decides to m ove for w ar d in a com pletely differ ent dir ection.

SUPPORTINGFAMILYAND YOUTHWITHTHECLICKOFA MOUSE!

ZOOTOPIADMVREDUX

McNEESEVOLLEYBALL PICKEDINMIDDLEOFPOLLS

STARTREK: REMEMBERINGA CULTURALICON

NOTEVERYTHINGIS DISCIPLINED

PRINCE:THEMAGIC,THE MUSICANDTHE MADNESS

ASASALESPERSON,THIS ISTHEHARDESTTHINGS YOU'LL DO...

SUPERHEROES:THE CURRENTMOVIEFLAVOR INMOTIONPICTURES

www.monsoursphotoghaphy.net

Do w n t o w n

C o me G e t D o w n

Th i s secti on sponsored b y: Luna Li v e

l ocal

Fr ied Chicken Pot at o

Rick Nyber g (r ight) w ith Tim Jobe 8

EXPOSURE

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Be e r s, B at t l e s , Bul l s h i t

an d

DISCLAIMER: The great Dragnet once said at the beginning of each episode, "Ladies and gentlemen, the show you are about to see is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent." That's what to expect when reading this article. Certain facts, places, names, and happenings have been altered to protect the innocent. Enjoy. Not that often does a human come around. Wait, that was phrased incorrectly. Humans are everywhere and more are coming all the time. What doesn't happen that often when it comes to humans is when one is smart enough to become a mechanical engineer, train multiple generations of industry workers, create a name brand beer that Louisiana natives have been talking about for decades, owns a few motorcycles, builds all organic soap products, and can drink like a viking. Finding a human like that is rare. I met such a human by chance, and his name is Rick Nyberg. Rick's father was a welder at NASA during their post Operation Paperclip era. Sneaking into NASA via his dad's car trunk was a regular practice for young Rick. This is where he first realized two things: how to make rocket fuel, and that he was destined to do something greater than NASA could even imagine up while listening to Tony Robbins tapes. Rick was going to someday marry a girl named Amy, then, with their powers combined, climb and stand at the top of the world together as dreamers. Shortly after making the right moves, marrying the Amy of his dreams, Rick was standing in line at a

small town hardware/grocery store waiting to pay for his six-pack of beer and paper towels. This was where that moment of clarity that you see in movies about geniuses happened. This was the start of all that we Lake Charlestons know as JikenRaks beers. While waiting in line, Rick spotted a home-brew starter system. He looked at the six-pack of boring, normal beer in his hand and thought to himself, "I can make a better beer," then proceeded by giving the generic beer to the father holding two hyper kids from those weird kid-leash thingies and muttered, "You're gonna need this, buddy. I'm off to do great things." Rick stands in front of a brew system much larger than the first one he purchased all those years ago. He examines the parts and expects the launch of the Lake Charles JikenRaks on Broad St. to be a huge hit. Unlike the great fighters Rick has looked up to since childhood, he doesn't get nauseous before the battle. Instead, he views his conquests as victorious if the vomit comes afterwards. He's now a master brewer, brewing craft beer long before it was cool, and selling a whole lot of it to a pre-hipster SWLA (remember that time before everyone grew huge beards and wore

SEPTEMBER 2016

Annie Hall hats?). Rick had found his success, accomplished his dream, and stood atop that mountain with Amy blowing their trumpets of triumph! You know that feeling you get after watching a great feelgood movie?That warm, fuzzy "That's how life should be" feeling that washes over you just before the credits roll?That doesn't happen in real life. In real life, once you've experienced a moment of excellent closure, you open your eyes to find that the bills are still due, the family still needs you, cars still break down, friendships still dissolve, and JikenRaks on Broad Street changes owners and eventually fails. Though this definitely hurt Rick, watching his dreams of providing the people of his adoptive city with high quality craft beer going away again, he was not deterred. Like his daddy always told him, "Rick! I worked for NASA, and we at NASA had a saying for times like these." Rick thought long and hard about that, giving him the inspirational strength to continue working on his home-brew passion. Years later the JikenRaks name is ready to soar again. This time being brought back to life by a Beaumont business mogul. Rick was promised a brew station would be built in the on-site garage behind the building, and this made sense since because this new business would have the word brewery in its name. But, after opening the doors, the mogul changed his mind and decided to not provide Rick with a brewery, and, instead, opted to keep calling the new JikenRaks a brewery without building out an actual brewery. The mogul insisted that Rick continue to make the beer off site and make no money for his contribution. When Rick expressed his concern for this new plan, the "mogul" argued that Rick's classic beer wasn't essential to JikenRaks' success, and claimed that he could have another brewer make a similar beer and none of the locals would notice. Rick said okay and decided this headache was worth leaving behind and that it was time to move on to doing what he does best anyways. It seems as though the central theme of Rick's professional brewing career, when looking over it carefully, is that in the beginning everyone values his skill because without a quality product they have nothing. Then once he got everything up and going, they took his skill for granted because he made it look so easy. It's quite the shame, in my opinion. My time spent with Rick is always pleasant. He never has anything negative to say about the mogul, his experience with the JikenRaks brand, or any of the other breweries he's worked with. He takes his of-age McNeese students to Crying Eagle Brewery on the Fridays after testing, introduces them to the beers and the master crafters responsible for them. He's a

born educator, and as such makes a concerted effort to inform them of the importance of well made local products. He admires the Crying Eagle Brewers for their commitment, patience, and understanding. His words to me about Crying Eagle's Brew master, Bill Mungai, moved me to the point of including it in this article to further prove to you how much Rick cares. "It's not easy making the transition f rom great home brewer to great f actory brewer. I train people to work in the ref ineries, and I can tell you that learning to operate pumps, piping networks, heat exchangers, control systems, boilers, water treatment, and process vessels is not as easy as it sounds. In my prof essional opinion, his [Mungai's] rapid adaptation to large scale equipment is extraordinary. My point about Bill is that a lot of things were done right at Crying Eagle. My compliments to the Averys, etc., but most people don't realize the middle step Bill excelled at." -Rick Nyberg

Rick went on to tell me, "As far as brewing, I think my contribution is to help spread the craft. Once brewing was a simple household chore driven by health. I would like to see our society return to that as much as possible." This is where his new path is; He wants to teach any who are willing to learn the craft he spent years mastering. Those who are happy buying craft beer, but interested in making their own. The people ready to wade through the battles and the bullshit to get to the real heart of the matter. A quality and truly unique beer to be proud of. If you are interested in learning more about a great group of people who appreciate and brew craft beer, you can do so by finding Good Time Brewers on Facebook. If you're interested in all natural homemade soaps, bath fizzies, and deodorants, you can check out Nudy Booty Soaps by clicking on the photo below.

Click the image to enter the site SEPTEMBER 2016

SUPPORTINGFAMILYANDYOUTH WITHTHECLICKOFAMOUSE! By Athena Gieger

Grab your keyboard and mouse and get ready! It?s finally time for the 7 th Annual Family Foundation eGala Online Auction! For the past six years, the Family Foundation of Southwest Louisiana (Family Foundation) has presented the area?s only online auction fundraising event in Southwest Louisiana, letting users find the items they love while supporting a great cause from the comfort of home! In 2010, the Family Foundation endeavored to create their own unique and signature event that would engage not only their usual donors, but the community at large. It was through this endeavor that the eGala Online Auction was conceived. ?We felt it?s a perfect way to raise some funds without the added cost of auctioneers, event venues, caterers, auction brochures, security, checkout, auction software, and necessities for an event auction,?states Kerry Andersen, Past President of The Family Foundation Board of Trustees and the Architect of the eGala Online Auction. ?People can simply log onto the website and bid on items that they need and want,?Andersen added. Established in 2000, The Family Foundation?s goal is to ensure that the divisions and services of Family & Youth, offered through Autism Support Alliance; Children?s Advocacy Center; Court Appointed Special Advocates; Shannon Cox Counseling Center; Performance EAP; The Leadership Center; Human Response Services Institute; and Children and Families Action Network, continue to be available and meet the future needs of Southwest Louisiana residents. The eGala Online Auction takes the ease of the internet and the interest of a silent auction and combines them. This exclusive event allows individuals to participate in the event and support a worthy cause from the comfort of

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home. There?s no need to rent a tux or buy a new dress! Save that money for bidding on the unique items available online. Enjoy the bidding experience during the auction and stay plugged in to see if you are a winner! In the end, you?ll be glad you participated. Support for the event over the years has been amazing. Since its inception in 2010, First Federal Bank of Louisiana has been the title sponsor of the event. ?First Federal is proud to sponsor this function. The services provided by Family & Youth are vital to our community and will become even more vital as we move forward with the economic expansion. It?s important to raise funds for these programs, so that they can always be here when we need them,?said Leslie Harless, Vice President and Director of Marketing for First Federal Bank of Louisiana and member of the Family & Youth Board of Directors. Several other area businesses are also firm supporters of the Online Auction, including J & J Exterminating; Morgan Stanley, Ellington, Shaddock, Hanks & Fontenot; L?Auberge Casino Resort & Hotel Lake Charles, Navarra?s Jewelry, and Delta Downs Racetrack Hotel & Casino, to name a few. Many who promote and participate in the auction have continued to give support since the beginning while others have heard about the auction and today are sponsors, donors, or even both. Staff, sponsors, and other invested individuals begin work months in advance to ensure that each year the auction is bigger and better than the previous year - with more exclusive and exciting items offered! ?As a board member of Family & Youth, I speak for all the other board members, council members, and staff when I say we appreciate everyone?s support and participation, since the inception of eGala back in 2010. So many have been

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generous in donating, whether it was just once or continuously throughout the years. The auction wouldn?t exist without their support and it?s just another way that individuals in our community prove that we are a giving community by always stepping up to the plate when a need arises.?explains Harless. W hat makes the eGala Online Auction so successful is the concept of the entire auction being online and easy to use. First Federal Bank of Louisiana provided the funding for the set-up of the website in 2010, allowing the eGala Online Auction to truly take root. The website is a simple design, created to make it easy for visitors to find items they want to bid on. Visitors can easily register an account at www.eGalaFamilyFoundation.com; confirm the account; and then shop, bid, and W IN! The website is easy to navigate. It also offers a function called ?proxy bidding,?which allows the user to put in a maximum bid on an item, and thereafter allow the website to place bids for the user, including sending e-mail alerts as necessary, all resulting in no more hovering over an auction item! ?eGala truly is a unique event. One often overlooked aspect of eGala is the fact that friends and neighbors no longer living in Southwest Louisiana can continue to support our community and feel connected to ?home,? explained Harless. Joyce Alexander, a CASA Volunteer and long-time supporter of Family & Youth says her favorite part about participating in eGala is that the money not only supports a great organization, but the challenge of bidding and winning the items she has her eye on make the whole event a blast!

October 9, 2016, at 9:00 pm. This year?s Auction features over 150 items and packages. You can bid on items such as a guided duck hunt; a vacation package to Crested Butte, CO; getaway packages to Biloxi and New Orleans; dinner packages from Delta Downs Casino Hotel & Resort; art from local artists; jewelry; pottery; purses; outdoor & recreational accessories; and much, much, more. W hen asked why she participated in eGala, Blanche Landry, long-time supporter of Family & Youth said, ?Family & Youth is one of the best organizations in our area and makes our community a better place to live. I can?t think of a better organization to support and during the eGala fundraiser I get to do it from my recliner at home.? Not only does the Auction give you access to fun and exciting gifts for yourself, but with Christmas right around the corner, it is an excellent opportunity to get your shopping done early and be philanthropic in the process. ?Tis the season to give, after all! The Family Foundation?s mission is to create an endowment for Family & Youth. Investing in families secures the future of Southwest Louisiana communities. It is the hope of the Family Foundation to enable Family & Youth to continue to provide services to the community for generations to come. Please log onto www.eGalaFamilyFoundation.com and shop! Share the link with friends and family, so we can all ?Support Family & Youth programs with the ?click of a mouse!?? For more information about the eGala Online Auction contact Amy Nyberg at amy@fyca.org or call 337-436- 9533.

The 2016 eGala Online Auction starts September 19, 2016, and ends on

SEPTEMBER 2016

McNEESEVOLLEYBALL PICKEDINMIDDLEOFPOLLS By Duane Bergeron

The M cNeese Cow gir ls volleyball ar e on a m ission to pr ove som ething. For 2015, the team finished the season at 15-18 and 9-7 in the Southland Confer ence (SLC). Pr ior to the star t of this season, the Cow gir ls ar e selected in the seventh position in the Southland coaches poll and num ber six in the spor ts infor m ation dir ector s poll. M cNeese did not follow the scr ipt w hen it cam e to how they w er e pr edicted to m ater ialize w hen the r egular season w as all said and done. 2015 is a good exam ple of this. The Cow gir ls w er e selected ninth by the coaches and 11th by the SID's. Yet, M cNeese finished four th. It w as their fir st top five finish since 2007. The team also w on their fir st postseason tour nam ent m atch since 2008 by defeating UNO. M cNeese volleyball w as knocked out of the tour nam ent by the r egular season and tour nam ent cham pions, Texas A&M -Cor pus Chr isti. "Last year w e w er e picked in the m iddle of the pack in the polls but w e finished four th," said head coach Ashleigh Fitzger ald in a pr ess r elease fr om the spor ts infor m ation depar tm ent. "We think it's going to be a pr etty good year for us and w e ar e r eady and excited to get star ted." Ther e is a differ ence of opinion at the top of both polls. For the second season in a r ow , Stephen F. Austin has been picked by the SLC coaches to take the

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confer ence based on the pr e-season poll. Right behind SFA ar e Texas A&M -Cor pus Chr isti, Houston Baptist, Centr al Ar kansas, Sam Houston State, Abilene Chr istian and then M cNeese. On the SID poll, Cor pus Chr isti w as picked at num ber one in ter m s of defending its title. They w er e follow ed by Stephen F. Austin, Centr al Ar kansas, Houston Baptist, Sam Houston State w ith M cNeese follow ing them . M cNeese volleyball opened the r egular season on Aug. 26th at the Souther n M iss. Invitational. Opponents ther e included Souther n M iss, Tulane and Gr am bling. That w as follow ed by a gam e w ith M ississippi State. The Cow gir ls follow ed that w ith the Ole M iss Rebel Invitational. They took on Nor th Car olina State, Ole M iss and U.T. Ar lington. For Septem ber , M cNeese w ill take on ar ch-r ival ULL on Sept. 6th. The Cow gir ls w ill have their hom e debut on Sept. 22nd against Nor thw ester n State w hich is also the star t of SLC com petition. They w ill have a second hom e contest after that on Sept. 24th against Centr al Ar kansas. Confer ence play fr om that point on w ill continue in the season until Nov. 12th w hen the Cow gir ls w r ap it up for 2016 w hen they take on Abilene Chr istian in an aw ay contest. The postseason SLC tour nam ent w ill take place one w eek later in Conw ay, Ar k . Fitzger ald, enter ing her thir d season as head coach, has a lot of depth for the 2016 team including eight

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r etur ning player s. They ar e spear headed w ith thr ee senior s, being Br idget Justis, Hailee Show er s and Rebecca Kor enek . Show er s r etur ned to playing her or iginal position as an outside hitter since she played out of position for quite a bit of last year. Show er s r etur ned to the team having com e off shoulder sur ger y. Also r etur ning ar e junior s Adison Giam br one and Rae M yer s along w ith sophom or es Ebony Lew is and Alexandr a Aguiler a. Fellow sophom or e Shanna Spr ee is m issing the season due to an injur y suffer ed in the spr ing. The Cow gir ls have been joined by tr ansfer Jenny D'Alessandr o along w ith fr eshm en Kaitlyn Ger tz, Allison Lepper t, Angela M cGow nd, Haley Schneider , Katelyn Elliot and Keegan Nelm s. "It is r eally gr eat to have this team together ," Fitzger ald said. "This is a team w ith a lot of per sonality and a ton of depth. It is gr eat to have Show er s back on the squad after having r ecover ed fr om the shoulder sur ger y."

For m or e infor m ation on the M cNeese volleyball team along w ith the com plete 2016 r egular season schedule log onto the M cNeese athletics w ebsite atw w w.m cneesespor ts.com .

SEPTEMBER 2016

Same thing I always get, Boba Gump Tacos...

JANUARY 2016

NOTEVERYTHINGISDISCIPLINED You m ay be one of those w ho never skips a w or kout-no m atter how pr essing the day m ay be; alw ays saves m oney-even w hen you've had a bad m onth, r ises ear ly-no m atter how late you stayed up, or after losing 50 lbs, you vow to never indulge in anything that's been dipped, dr izzled, batter ed, or fr ied again. Sur e, like all of us, ther e ar e days w her e you feel like skipping, splur ging, sleeping in, or super sizing, but you r efuse to give into those tem ptations because you've lear ned (the har d w ay) that w hat you w or k on becom ing has ver y little to do w ith w hat you feel like doing. Di sci pl i n ed peopl e f i r st di sci pl i n e t h ei r f eel i n gs- n o m at t er h ow sor e, br ok e, t i r ed, or f am i sh ed t h ey m ay be, t h ey don 't al l ow t h ei r f eel i n gs t o becom e t h e m ast er of t h ei r doi n g. Li k e h ear t di sease i s t o t h e body, f eel i n gs ar e t o ou r su ccess-t h e si l en t k i l l er . Feelings incessantly fight us to stay w ithin our com for t zone by chatter ing, nudging, and w hisper ing our psyche to take it easy, you've earned it, relax, and you've got plenty of time. Disciplined people fence in their feelings- they'r e per m itted to be felt, yet not allow ed to r un w ild. At the beginning of each m onth you set a goal of how m uch you w ant to m ake along w ith how m any car s you w ant to sell-3 aw ful days later , you go back to doing w hat you've alw ays done-just enough. Nor m ally your goal is based on your cur r ent cr ises- if it needs to be caught up, paid dow n, pr e-paid, or paid off befor e it's char ged off, you'll do w hatever it takes and no m or e. Of t en t i m es w e'd r at h er r em ai n i n t h e com f or t of ou r m i ser i es t h an t o ven t u r e i n t o t h e u n k n ow n s of u n di scover ed bl i ss. We know the disciplines it takes to have a successful m onth-catch this m any Ups, dem o and w r ite-up a cer tain per centage of people, and you'll deliver this am ount of car s-easier said than done. You know your pr oduct, you listen to all of the closing CD's, you take notes in the m eetings, yet you'r e no m or e successful than you w er e w hen you fir st star ted. W hat gives? Your techniques m ay not be undisciplined, but your disappointm ents ar e....

By Marsh Buice

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I f t h e r oad t o l i f e i s l i t t er ed w i t h di sappoi n t m en t s, t h en t h e r oad t o t h e sal e i s paved w i t h t h em . How you handle your disappointm ents is pr opor tionate to how successful you ar e in your sales car eer (and life). Disappointm ents suck- ther e w as the tim e w hen you felt like you should've been put on half of a deal; the custom er you spent tw o days w ith bought acr oss the str eet; another dealer ship put m or e in your custom er 's tr ade than your m anager did; F&I w ouldn't push that questionable deal thr ough; the custom er didn't com e back and ask for you, you didn't get Satur day the 22nd off, the last custom er dem anded you lose $3000,

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Maybeyouthinkyou'redisciplined... yester day's late night deal r olled back this m or ning, and you had to dr ive an hour aw ay to get your custom er to sign one for m . And that's all in one day Con t r ar y t o you r bel i ef , you ar e n ot cu r sed, dam n ed, doom ed, or sn ak ebi t ...you 'r e j u st di sappoi n t ed an d j u st l i k e t h e per son w h o w an t s t o bu i l d st r en gt h , save m or e, l ear n m or e, or l ook bet t er , you 've got t o di sci pl i n e you r di sappoi n t m en t s. Ther e w ill be tim es on the show r oom and in life that the ball w ill not bounce your w ay. Don't allow your m ood to becom e m ountains to your m onth. Tom m y Lasor da pu t i t best w h en h e sai d, " No m at t er h ow good you ar e, you 'r e goi n g t o l ose 1/3 of you r gam es; n o m at t er h ow bad you ar e, you 'r e goi n g t o w i n 1/3 of you r gam es-i t 's t h e ot h er 1/3 t h at m ak es a di f f er en ce." Unfor tunately w e allow the one thir d of our losses to gover n tw o thir ds of our lives. Focus on w hat you can contr ol-w hether you feel like it or not-w hether you lose by a little or get annihilated, keep show ing up NO M ATTER W HAT. Let t h e l i n es of di sappoi n t m en t s, di scou r agem en t s, dow n f al l s, an d

di spar agi n g m om en t s ch am pi on ch apt er s of n ew f ou n d v i ct or i es. "The r ule is sim ple," says Seth Godin, "Th e per son w h o f ai l s t h e m ost w i l l w i n . I f I f ai l m or e t h an you do, I w i l l w i n . Becau se i n or der t o k eep f ai l i n g, you 've got t o be good en ou gh t o k eep pl ayi n g.So, if you fail cataclysm ically and never play again, you only fail once. But if you ar e alw ays ther e shipping, putting your w or k into the w or ld, cr eating and star ting things, you w ill lear n endless things. You w ill lear n to see m or e accur ately, you w ill lear n the differ ence betw een a good idea and a bad idea and, m ost of all, you w ill keep pr oducing."

Fence your f eel ings and you wil l f ind your dest iny. I'l l see you next t ime on t he Bl ackt op.

M arsh Buice is the sales manager of M ark Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep. He can be contacted at 866.535.5006, or by email at mbuice@autosuccessonline.com.

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ASASALESPERSON,THISISONEOFTHE HARDESTTHINGSYOU'LLHAVETODO... By Kirk Eidson Are you having a difficult time letting go of clients/customers or businesses that you KNOW, deep in your heart, w ill have all of their w oes solved or eliminated by your product or service? You?ve follow ed the perfect formula of questions, you?ve identified needs, you?ve qualified the client, you?ve been thorough like a true professional but no agreement. After all of this, no signature. You go back for more rejection w eek after w eek. I?ve seen sales people hang on to a ?potential? sale for months even YEARS. Not joking. That person is running from you for a reason. You keep chasing them. And for w hatever reason, they don?t w ant w hat you have. Could be that they have no money, could be lack of motivation, could be that they just don?t like you. That?s right. 11 years ago, a mentor of mine made it clear to me that there is a certain percentage of people that just w ill not do business w ith you. No matter how GREAT you perform. They?re just not into you. This is w here you have to have confidence in yourself. Trust your instincts, dig dow n deep and find out w hat you truly believe. Resting all your hopes on this ONE sale is robbing you of your energy. Energy that could be focused on other potentials. Energy that could move you forw ard in your sales and income goals. No one customer, client or business w ill save you. You M UST learn to move forw ard and not be attached to a specific outcome from one individual sales call. I?m not saying you should rid your mind of expectations. You should definitely have goals and expectations so that you can measure, gage and grow your skills. You alw ays w ant to improve. But this is w here the hard decision of letting go becomes a necessity. In fact, the more steadily you drive ahead, the more people w ill WANT to do business w ith you. Call it momentum, call it an Alpha move, w hatever you w ant to call it, people like to do business w ith those w ho are moving forw ard. So the only thing you need to be attached to is your sales process. Develop that, put in the w ork and believe in w hat you?re doing and you?ll have more success than you?ve ever had. Here are 4 w ays to stay focused on your method so that you don?t become too attached to a result w ith ONE individual call.

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1. Lock down your flow. Find out your most productive times in the day. The times of day where you can get in the flow. Where you kick ass and take names without much effort. Could be the morning, could be afternoon, could be the evening depending on your industry. Always remember, before you can learn to read others, you must first read yourself or KNOW yourself. So find out when you?re the strongest. The only way you?ll be able to create strong momentum is when you?re in YOUR FLOW. Find out when that is for you, may even be certain days of the week. Find out the when and execute.

2. Be honest about your intentions. When you meet with someone to set up an appointment, be honest. ?Hello, I?m Mr. or Mrs. Salesperson, and I?m wondering if you might be able to help me with something. I?m seeing if you would even be open to looking at ways to improve ____.? For example or if you?d be interested in evaluating ____or when?s the last time you audited your ____. ?Ok, great, who would I talk to about that? Do you make that call, or do I need to take this up with someone else?? Now that you?ve laid out honestly what you?re trying to accomplish, it does 2 things: takes the pressure off of you to try and trick them into an appointment and it builds immediate trust between you and whomever you talking to whether it?s the gatekeeper or actual decision maker.

3. Don?t worry about yourself. Focus all of your attention on them. Talk only enough about yourself to not leave them in the dark but nothing more. This is where you ask the right questions about THEM or Qualify the prospect. Get all the intel you can, get them talking, keep them talking and always remember, seek first to understand, then to be understood ?Franklin Covey.

4. If there?s not a sale, there?s not a sale. If after your questioning, there?s not anything there, don?t try to create a false need, get the hell out of there, tell them their business seems to be doing great and there?s really nothing for you to service or fix so blessings and success to everyone! This is where you move on to the next candidate and don?t lose any sleep. And here?s a secret, when you?re honest and real like this, there is a percentage of those you ?couldn?t help? that will suddenly have a need a few months down the road and will call you and from experience, those sales are the SMOOTHEST.

Keep moving forward, trust your method, don?t get too attached to ONE individual sale and come find me when you buy your first lambo. I wanna ride with you!

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ZOOTOPIADMVREDUX By Dr. Henry Goolsby

Okay, so maybe it?s not just my children?s influence that keeps me attracted to animated feature films, but the recent showing that was Zootopia certainly was entertaining. And, that is correct, I did not begrudgingly participate in the viewing. Point in fact, the infamous scene utilizing sloths as DMV workers was quite clinical in its mirth. The animated slow motion responsiveness made me reconsider the plight of many patients who are plagued with the suboptimal thyroid function that is a constitutional characteristic of only a few animals, of which the sloth is one. The puffy appearance, and more than somewhat fatigued and depressed demeanor of ?Flash,? prior to articulating his initial lines, as well as the thinning hair and brittle appearance of those nails and skin, were the first clues to the probable diagnosis of hypothyroidism. Slow speech, unusual weight gain, or the seeming inability to pare weight despite attempted exercise (and I stress the word ?attempted? here) and dieting, will accompany hoarseness, muscle cramping, poor memory, and an inability to concentrate (right you are, you may not really have the A.D.D. you have been labeled with). All of these are part of the behavior you ?or someone elsemay be noticing over months or years. Difficulty controlling the

cholesterol, making babies or simply menstrual unruliness may be in the line at the ?DMV? causing delays in acquiring your license to optimum health if a sloth-like thyroid is working for you. Many concerned authors estimate that the diagnosis of hypothyroidism is missed in up to thirty percent of the population because we are using only conventional laboratory methods for diagnosis. This would mean some thirty to forty million individuals may have suboptimal or poorly functioning thyroids in the U.S. alone. Conventional diagnosis relies on the blood testing for Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) being out of a normal range. This testing may, in fact, have been established by including many individuals who had marginal or compromised thyroid function resulting from thyroid gland and hormone delivery defects, hormone conversion deficits, resistance to hormone, or a misbehaving pituitary or hypothalamic control center. That said, in our current industrialized healthcare delivery environment, the clinical assessment of diseased thyroids often goes wanting. If you are feeling somewhat sloth-like, the diagnosis of hypothyroidism can be suspected by a simple test done at home over the course of five days. That would be the assessment of the daily basal body temperature during a five day period. Thyroid hormone functions principally to maintain the metabolic rate in our body, which is indirectly reflected in the maintenance of our basal body temperature (axillary= 97.8-98.2, oral/ rectal= 98.8-99.2 degree Fahrenheit). If your early morning basal body temperature, before rising from the bed, is below this range, a clinical suspicion of hypothyroidism may be present and may confirm the other clinical signs and symptoms noted above. The two principle thyroid hormones in our body are Thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) produced in the thyroid gland at the behest of signaling by TSH produced and released by the pituitary. TSH is itself produced and released after being signaled by the thalamus via Thyrotropin Releasing Hormone (TRH). When there is adequate thyroid hormone in the cerebrospinal fluid, the release of these

EXPOSURE

| SCIENCE

hormones is arrested. Aside from the multiple medical conditions that may cause damage to the gland itself, and the controlling central nervous system structures (and thereby reduce the supply of hormone that may be delivered to the tissues of the body), there are a number of common daily exposures, medications, and nutritional risks that may impede the normal delivery, uptake by the cells and/ or conversion of T4 into the more metabolically active form T3. Many of these are neglected on a day to day basis but may significantly impact thyroid hormone function and availability to the trillions of cells that need it for optimum performance. These conditions of reduced availability, conversion (lack of conversion from T4 toT3), and possible thyroid hormone resistance (recognized by elevated T3,T4 levels in the presence of normal TSH levels), may cause overt or suboptimal thyroid hormone activity giving rise to sloth-like behavior despite the presence of ?normal? hormone and TSH levels. Not that Flash the Sloth looked all that malnourished, but poor nutrient intake, particularly deficient intake of selenium, iodine, vitamins B6, B12, A, or the supplementation of iron for deficiency states, may interfere with different phases of production and conversion of T4 into T3 throughout the body. Medications clearly cause multiple impediments to the normal metabolism of thyroid hormones in the cell if they don?t block the penetration of the hormone into the cell altogether. Many of my patients that received chemotherapy and or radiation therapy in the past, demonstrated, by their overriding fatigue and failure to thrive, the symptoms of hypothyroid disease related to inadequate T4-&gt; T3 conversion or hormone resistance. Cardiac and hypertensive patients on beta-blockers all have decreased conversion of T4 to T3. More importantly, women who take oral estrogens for replacement, birth control or who take Tamoxifen as a preventive or therapeutic agent may observe decreased availability of thyroid hormones resulting from increased binding of the hormones to proteins in the blood in the former, decreased production of hormone in the latter. Soy products anyone? A study done on people who use soy products daily disclosed a 50% incidence of hypothyroid symptoms and goiter. Cigarette smoking (I just couldn?t leave this out) increases hypothyroidism risk by more than forty percent. Lastly, thyroid hormone resistance may be a cause of hypothyroidism by virtue of inherited genetic defects in hormone receptors on the cell surface; in the conversion of T4 into T3, but it has also been found to be associated with interference at the receptor sites by toxic, inflammatory and autoimmune damage. Subclinical thyroid hormone resistance has been associated with and is a probable causative factor for chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia; responding to thyroid replacement therapy at doses significantly higher than those customarily used. The patient responding to these increased doses will have significant improvement while laboratory parameters will be outside the ?normal? ranges.

bio-identical natural hormones to attain optimized metabolic and clinical parameters can help rectify the thyroid hormone resistance of many chronic disease processes. I have seen many individuals thrive after recognizing and treating thyroid dysfunction based on reviewing the diagnosis based on a more complete and thorough assessment than that of the simple laboratory number. This scenario is also quite reminiscent of the end of the film Zootopia in that Flash, the DMV sloth, is caught speeding by his police officer buddy Nick the fox. 178 mph was the radar reading. I believe a few of my patients can empathize.

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STARTREK: REMEMBERINGA

CULTURALICON By Duane Bergeron

It was the show that virtually no one gave a chance in 1966. Filmed on a small scale budget, the pilot episode for this untried and untested science fiction show was unlike anything that came before on television. And even then, a second pilot was mandated since the original was deemed too "cerebral." It came from a man who had left his position behind as a police officer to attempt a career in the then fledgling medium known as television. Despite the tremendous odds against it, a television production called Star Trek debuted on the NBC network in September 1966 and changed the world. Hard to believe this came from a series that was in danger of cancellation just after two seasons. It was saved for a third in 1968 by a then unprecedented letter writing campaign. Though three seasons is all that was managed, a revival after its 79 episode run ended in 1969 brought it back to life and then was entertainment and cultural history even more beyond the impact of the original series. And now, it continues to entertain and entrance 50 years after the launch of the Federation starship Enterprise. In this article, Exposure takes a look at this amazing entertainment phenomenon celebrating five decades going boldly where no one has gone before. While this story is well-known to the established fanbase, this is geared towards both the knowledgeable fans and those who do not have extensive knowledge of the concept. In 1965, Gene Roddenberry, the aforementioned former police officer and World War II pilot, was trying to get a career off the ground as a television writer. He had successfully sold scripts in the 1950s to various productions but wanted to be able to bring a series to the small screen that was something he could truly call his own. Roddenberry was interested in wanting to bring a different kind of science fiction to "boob tube" audiences in the era. The genre at the time was still the province of motion pictures though some had made on the networks. However, these projects were aimed at mostly younger demographics. Roddenberry wanted to put science fiction on the air to entertain mostly adults and introducing a vision which was way ahead of its time. The competition was weak since in the 1960s it was primarily the works of producer Irwin Allen, who had four genre series in production between 1964-1970. The longest running was Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea while the most successful was Lost in Space. Set in the future time of the 23rd Century, Roddenberry called the

concept with the now familiar tag "Wagon Train to the stars." Having been named Star Trek, the premise dealt with a large starship and its crew exploring the galaxy outside of the Terran solar system. He added heavy doses of philosophy, pathos, and moral commentaries to the stories he had in mind. While NBC decided to take a shot with Roddenberry's offering, they mandated a second pilot episode after the first one showed promise but the executives demanded changes. Chief among them was to cast aside the character of Spock, brilliantly played by the late Leonard Nimoy. The NBC "suits" as they were nicknamed, felt the presence of the half-human, half-Vulcan science and first officer was a serious distraction because of his appearance, which was deemed demonic. Jeffrey Hunter, set to play the Enterprise captain, opted out of his chance to continue in that capacity when the show was picked up. It was decided to go with an up-and-coming actor from Canada named William Shatner to replace him. Roddenberry wanted to have the senior officers of the Enterprise to consist of a multi-racial and cultural group of which once again this was new to all those involved. When the second pilot was deemed satisfactory by the network, Star Trek hit the airwaves for the first time on September 8th, 1966. In the first season, it did not become an automatic hit. It took the bulk of the first season to find an audience. But for those who were watching, their astonishment hit the stratosphere. This was unlike anything period anyone had seen before. The episodes reflected Roddenberry's insights on a series where in the future mankind put away its racial and ethnic prejudices and learned to live in harmony with each other. And from that point onward, humanity learns to pool technological resources together to achieve peaceful exploration of the stars and the search for alien life elsewhere in the Milky Way galaxy. Star Trek was able to keep the momentum going into the second season though the Nielsen ratings would see-saw and eventually put the show in danger of cancellation. But, by this time, the fan following was more intense as it was bigger. The episodes continued what Roddenberry had started but there was never mainstream acceptance. It was still being received by a "niche" viewership. The letter writing campaign kept Star Trek alive but at a cost. With NBC not giving a more viable time slot to it, Roddenberry left to pursue other career options and Fred Freiberger was named as the new line producer. As a

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result, the quality of the stories and scripts plummeted which allowed NBC to bring down the axe. When one considers how the third season got started with the laughable episode Spock's Brain, it made some people wonder if the hard work in that letter writing campaign was worth the effort. A stellar (pun intended) cast also contributed to what came later. George Takei, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan and Majel Barrett (who would later get married to Roddenberry), was a superbly assembled group of actors whose combined contributions and talent made their characters legend. After the cancellation, Paramount Pictures, who owned Star Trek, sent out the episodes into first-run repeat syndication after 1969. Originally, it was Desilu who owned the show before being purchased by Paramount in its second season. Desilu was founded by Lucille Ball and her former husband Desi Arnez. Star Trek was now finding a whole new audience that had not seen it before when running on NBC. When this took place, the series was now "finding the love" that was not around during the network run. The response was immediate. Conventions revolving around the franchise started in circa 1972 and were taking place at different venues regionally before it became a national then later global phenomenon. With merchandising sales now starting to take off, Star Trek had at long last come into its own. At this time the demand for new product was now becoming a force to be reckoned with. There was an animated series which ran on NBC on Saturday mornings from 1973-75 but it was a live action show the fans wanted. It almost was satisfied with the plans announced for a new series called Phase II to get underway sometime in the mid 1970s. The cast was to return with a new ship, new sets and new everything else. These plans wind up being scrapped. Why? Because a rival studio, 20th Century Fox, had unrivaled success in 1977 with an unexpected smash on their handss called Star Wars. For the first time ever, science fiction had finally made it into the mainstream. Later that same year, when Close Encounters of the Third Kind was also a blockbuster, it showed what happened with Star Wars was no fluke. Paramount decided to take the Phase II sets and costumes upon which they would used in the first ever Star Trek feature film. Released in December 1979, Star Trek: The Motion Picture was Heaven sent as after a 10 year wait the Enterprise flying at warp speed once

again on theater screens with the cast reunited. Nimoy returned as well though hesitant at first. Despite the production being plagued by budgetary overruns, virtually constant rewrites and various conflicts, the return of the starship Enterprise was a great joy to many. The biggest fly in the ointment was the story was bogged down by excessive special effects and a substantial lack of action. Problems out to the side, the film made enough money to warrant a sequel. Eventually, the powers-that-be at Paramount gave the go-ahead for a sequel. Due to the final results of the first film, Roddenberry would no longer have creative control over his own property. Instead, the line producer duties went to Harve Bennett. Remembered for being producer of such series as The Six Million Dollar Man, Bennett agreed to take over the job and was told to chop the budget where necessary to avoid the financial debacles from The Motion Picture. Bennett was economically minded so his experience helped. Director Nicholas Meyer, who had about one or two feature film credits to his name, was recruited to helm the sequel. The inspiration for the story was taken from the first season episode Space Seed. Nimoy again hesitated to return to the set but when an idea was hatched to kill the Spock character, Nimoy was intrigued and decided to return a second time. With a budget a fraction of its predecessor and special effects produced by industry leader Industrial Light & Magic, the subtitled The Wrath of Khan beamed into theaters June 1982. The reaction was far different from feature film number one. The Wrath of Khan was for its time a huge success and the death of Spock scene became immortal. To this day, The Wrath of Khan is still regarded as the best of the Trek features and is the only true classic that is a part of the film series. The 1980s saw Star Trek grow like never before. Three more features followed. They were The Search for Spock (1984), The Voyage Home (1986) and The Final Frontier (1989). Nimoy, coming to the conclusion he was having too much fun with the Spock character, came back and also for the first time sat in the director's chair for three and four. The Voyage Home, with its environmental message and lighthearted approach with humpback whales, was the first movie to crack the $100 million dollar barrier domestically. The Final Frontier, Shatner's first time to direct a Trek movie, did not fare as well with since it had substandard special effects and a storyline that puzzled some audiences.

SEPTEMBER 2016

With all this growth, Paramount decided to bring Star Trek back to television. With Roddenberry being given a second chance as it were, he and his team brought to the small screen Star Trek: The Next Generation. Taking place about 80 years after the adventures of Kirk and Spock, this 24th Century oriented follow-up was centered on the mission of the Enterprise NCC-1701-D. Patrick Stewart portrayed Captain Jean-Luc Picard with Jonathan Frakes as first officer William Riker. Running for an astounding seven seasons, The Next Generation brilliantly added to the established mythos by adding new elements such as John DeLancie's character of Q and the enemy race of biological and synthetic creatures called The Borg. The Next Generation pushed Trek's boundaries to new levels never thought possible. The series was successful in bringing the fanbase into becoming a greater and stronger global phenomenon. This production also scored with a top notch cast including Brent Spiner, Marina Sirtis, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden and Levar Burton. In 1991, which was also the franchise's 25th anniversary, the original cast gave their last hurrah to the industry and "Trekkers", as they were called, with the sixth motion picture subtitled The Undiscovered Country. Also, the fans had also been labeled "Trekkies" in some quarters and it has been debated over time which one was more appropriate. The central story dealt with the final mission of the Enterprise A crew stopping a political assassination of Federation and Klingon leaders who were on the verge of bringing peace to both galactic entities. Again, directed by Meyer, The Undiscovered Country was another blockbuster smash that gave Shatner, Nimoy, Kelley, and the other classic cast members a sendoff that could only have been labeled a masterpiece. The storyline also dovetailed into The Next Generation timeline since in that era the Federation and Klingon Empire had now become allies. With this development, the mantle was handed over to The Next Generation crew. The Next Generation also represented a transition of a sort. The series proved Roddenberry was successful in creating two well-received variations of his concept. While he left a blueprint on how to enhance the show it turned out to be prophetic in that after The Next

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Generation had found its groove he started to become ill. Production chores would go to Rick Berman when Roddenberry was too sick to continue as showrunner. "The Great Bird of the Galaxy" died in October 1991. There were also references to the Enterprise utilizing that nickname. Roddenberry had lived long enough to see Trek reach its 25th anniversary along of course with his creation exceeding far beyond levels of success he never would have imagined back in 1965. Along with George Lucas' Star Wars, both properties became the most successful science fiction franchises of all time. And there was more to come. The 1990s bore witness to Star Trek flying to even greater heights of popularity than anything taking place beforehand. The Next Generation ended its seven season run in 1994 as one of the most highly rated science fiction series of all time. Their ratings were very comparable to The X-Files. Later in 1994 the first Next Generation based feature was released titled Generations. It was a surrealistic tale bringing together both Stewart and Shatner for the first time. The partnership did not last in that Captain Kirk was killed at the film's end and unlike Spock there would be no return from the dead. The Enterprise D was also destroyed though Picard and crew were triumphant at the end. Locally, that same year saw the arrival of the Calcasieu Area Trekkers Society. It was the first club of organized Star Trek and science fiction fandom created in the Lake Area. After the passage of 22 years, the organization is still alive and well beating the odds considering 80 percent of organizations like this falling apart after two years of existence. While The Wrath of Khan was to the original cast First Contact (1996) was the defining moment to The Next Generation cast. With Frakes taking on the directorial reins, the first mission of Picard and friends on board the newly christened Enterprise E was almost the last as the Federation and Earth was once again attacked by The Borg. This was also another time travel piece but well-executed in scope, scale, plot and story. This was being stated as such because time travel was a frequent plot device used in Trek episodes and films. First Contact was another smash hit and showed The Next Generation cast could be box

office gold as well. The following two films, Insurrection (1998) and Nemesis (2002) did not do as well and knowing how fortune can and can't shine on motion picture franchises Nemesis was the swan song for this part of the Trek mythos. On television after The Next Generation went to the movies the franchise had become unstoppable with three more series keeping the momentum going and it was continuous seeing as how a couple of them were running simultaneously in first-run syndication. Deep Space Nine was easily the "darkest" of the group, in which a combined group of Starfleet officers and representatives from the planet Bajor were operating a former Cardassian space station positioned near a stable wormhole which lead to the Gamma Quadrant of the galaxy. The series was respected but it had all it could handle since it was running concurrently with the more acclaimed show Babylon Five, which was also set on a space station. Then Deep Space Nine was followed up by Voyager, the saga of a smaller class starship that was accidentally thrown into the Delta Quadrant and stranded about 70,000 light years from Earth. Though there were indirect comparisons to Lost in Space this claim was highly inaccurate. Berman, who was now the main shepherd of the franchise from Roddenberry's death to the end of Enterprise, supervised both features and series. He did well in trying to maintain Roddenberry's vision of what Star Trek was about but he did stumble and fall several times along the way. The intent of Voyager was to illustrate how a Federation starship could survive in space far away from the Alpha Quadrant and its base of support but it was not without its detractors. Both Deep Space Nine and Voyager were able to maintain a seven season run the way The Next Generation did. The last series to be offered viewers was subtitled Enterprise (2001-2005). This was a prequel. The first time this took place. Scott Bakula, formerly of Quantum Leap, played Johnathan Archer, the commander of the first starship that could reach warp 5 velocities. Enterprise took place about a century before the adventures (once again) of Kirk and Spock. The familiar technology fans were familiar with was in its infancy and in the storyline the Enterprise was the first starship to explore outside of the solar system in this series. Of course, they had some help from the Vulcans. The ship had the designation of "NX" rather than the more well-known "NCC" that was primarily used. This show was also used as a backstory in of itself on how Starfleet preceded the United Federation of Planets and how that organization came into being. What was unfortunate was that the series had problems in finding its "groove," as it were, and was also having issues in finding viewers. In the fourth season, Manny Coto was brought on board to take over as showrunner and was really starting to make some effort in making the production more like what a Trek television feature should be. By the time Enterprise had found itself, Paramount decided to shut it down after four seasons and stopped the franchise completely citing what was called "franchise fatigue" having been to blame for causing a loss of interest. Paramount had intentions of returning Star Trek to the masses but it wanted the property taken into a new direction. Berman was sent packing as the studio looked for someone new to "modernize" Trek and make it relevant again to potential new audiences along with the established fanbase. Enter J.J. Abrams. Abrams, a producer and

director, was chosen based on a highly impressive track record of success with such projects as Alias, Lost and the Mission: Impossible film series. Abrams and his production team went to work on giving the aging franchise a new look and revamping what came before. The final result was Star Trek (2009), in which the movie was simply titled with the name of the show. What was done with Abrams as director was to virtually start all over again by going back to the original concept but cast younger actors in the legendary characters. Chris Pine was picked to portray Captain Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock. As a "tip of the hat," as it were, Nimoy agreed to return as the original Spock. Another judgmental call made was to set the film in the 23rd Century but in a different timeline as compared to all that came before. It made it interesting to see Quinto and Nimoy playing the same character on-screen at the same time. The writers were able to inject new elements since the timeline was altered. In its theatrical run, Star Trek was a phenomenal hit and Abrams again proved he was Hollywood's "golden boy" at the present time. Abrams agreed to come back to helm the follow-up, Star Trek Into Darkness (2013). It wound up being another smash for the producer/ director and Paramount. All the cast members returned for a very action-oriented feature. However, there was controversy generated before its release due to the marketing of the movie. That is because actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who was the guest villain in the piece, was being promoted as a rogue Starfleet officer who was taking on the Federation in an experimental starship. It turned out Cumberbatch's character was this new timeline's version of Khan Singh, now considered one of the best baddies ever to grace a Trek episode and feature. The original Khan was brilliantly portrayed by the late Ricardo Montalban. Audiences supported Into Darkness though when all was said and done it was looked upon as a thinly veiled remake of The Wrath of Khan. This retrospective was mostly a thumbnail sketch of Trek's history because there was so much more to the story than what was brought up here. For the 50th anniversary, there have been celebrations across the country and there will be more to come before the end of the year. Paramount also chimed in with the release of Star Trek Beyond, which is doing reasonably well in its theatrical run at this time. Sadly, there was an element of tragedy connected to the movie as actor Anton Yelchin, who played Pavel Chekov, was killed in an automobile accident one month before the film's released. It has already been announced the Chekov character will not be replaced and Paramount has already approved the production of a 14th feature. Next year, Star Trek will return to television in the form of a new series called Star Trek: Discovery. Reports indicate this iteration will spotlight the missions of a Federation starship taking place in the original timeline and like Enterprise (the previous TV show) a century before the launch of the Federation starship Enterprise that James T. Kirk commanded. Star Trek has entertained, inspired, educated and informed millions in the last five decades in ways hardly any other television and motion picture franchise has been able to do. With the future looking good, Star Trek will continue to bring audiences "where no one has gone before" now and for years to come.

SEPTEMBER 2016

PRINCE:THEMAGIC,THEMUSIC ANDTHEMADNESS By Duane Bergeron

The world was shocked when earlier this year Prince died unexpectedly and way too young. This left Madonna and members of the rock band Duran Duran as the only surviving 1980s musical superstars remaining. Prince was hailed as a genius and received other posthumous accolades after his death. The outpouring of grief from everywhere was overwhelming. While there has been a large amount of celebrities who have passed away in 2016, the loss of Prince was one of the most hard hitting in the year. Prince was a true virtuoso in popular music. Whether it was singing, songwriting, or playing various instruments, there was not much Prince couldn't do on stage or in a studio. His music spanned different genres and wound up selling 100 million records in his career. Though his accomplishments are primarily musical, he did have one major cinematic achievement. In last month's issue, I went into the background on how Madonna tried to launch an acting career with nothing much to show for it. Who's That Girl? was an entertaining flop in 1987 but that was a major example of what went wrong. On the other hand, Prince took a shot at the same ambitions and wound up doing something right. It was just one film but it became a smash hit classic. If an artist's career can be defined by one landmark success, Prince found it in the 1984 musical drama Purple Rain. Purple Rain has been regarded as a semi-autobiographical motion picture in relation to Prince. But, when you take a closer look, the project for all practical purposes IS Prince. Directed by Albert Magnoli from a script by Magnoli and William Blinn, the production

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took in $68 million dollars at the box office domestically and $80 million worldwide, the claim of being a blockbuster was legitimate. Remember, this was based on the dollar value in 1984. Present day it would be much more. As with past entertainment landmarks like Saturday Night Fever and Grease, Purple Rain had an accompanying soundtrack that was equally successful. Domestic sales were 15 million copies and 25 million overseas. it was from this project Prince nailed his career defining hit singles. Among them was Let's Go Crazy, I would Die 4 U, the title track and the number one smash When Doves Cry. It also turned out according to Billboard Magazine When Doves Cry was the number one song for 1984. The soundtrack received an Academy Award for best Original Song Score. This was the final time the motion picture academy would issue an award under this category heading. The plot had a lot of references to Prince's real life musical counterparts. In the storyline, he plays a loner and troubled musician known only as "The Kid." His home life is a train wreck because his father is an abuser and his mother has her own problems. The Kid spends a lot of his time at a club in Minneapolis where he performs with his band called the Revolution. And it just so happens that is the name of his real band. The Kid's girlfriend is Apollonia, a singer newly arrived and trying to get a gig at the First Avenue Club where The Kid hangs out. This was the debut of Apollonia Kotero. It should be noted that cast members portrayed characters with their actual first names. Morris Day and The Time, Wendy and Lisa of the Revolution, and Apollonia 6. When taking all

this into consideration, it can certainly blur the mix between what is fantasy and what is reality. The Kid discovers a song composed by Wendy and Lisa upon which when he performs it on stage the crowd goes nuts. The Kid has a reconciliation of sorts with his father and is reunited with Apollonia after the two got into an argument. On the surface, Purple Rain looks like an ego trip gone amok. Warner Brothers, who released the film and was also Prince's label, thought the movie was outrageous but thanks to the intervention of a public relations executive named Howard Bloom Warner Bros. decided to take a chance with it. There were no complaints about the production budget which was $7.2 million dollars. The studio wound up being happy with the decision since the feature was a hit and has done well over the years as a catalog title. That applies to both the film and the soundtrack. After Prince's death copies of both were flying off the shelves and were the best sellers in a few categories on the Amazon website. The production was shot almost completely in Minneapolis. The First Avenue Club was shut down for about 25 days for filming and was paid $100,000 for the right to film there. The concept was developed by Prince while he was in the middle of the tour promoting his album 1999. The original premise was more darker than what was ultimately filmed. The female lead was originally offered to Vanity of the vocal group Vanity 6. She departed before production got underway. Like in other projects, there were scenes that were chopped from the initial cut. At the time Prince was also a darling of the arena rock circuit so to play up to his strengths as being a powerful stage performer this is why

several scenes were deliberately added to the script to serve as a means of promoting future Prince concert tours. This motion picture may have seemed like ear candy for the music and the concert footage being visually exciting to get a reaction from audiences but Purple Rain went beyond that. This was a case study in the psychological ramifications of abusive parents and how their behavior can be passed on to offspring. It is also a realistic trip into how creative differences among musicians can cause conflicts on different scales and the toll of living up to expectations when an artist is gifted the way Prince was. Purple Rain upon later reflection was as much about substance as it was style. Combine the individual elements that went into this production along with the classic tracks and it can be seen how from all perspectives Purple Rain was Prince's masterpiece. And it also ranks as one of the great all-time musical dramas and a true relic of the 1980s. Prince participated in two other cinematic projects, Under the Cherry Moon and Graffiti Bridge. The latter was directed by The Purple One and a sequel of a sort to Purple Rain. Released in 1990, it came and it went fast; not even coming close to the magic of its predecessor. Prince's biography can sometimes even be interpreted as stranger than fiction but there is no denial his talent made him a "once in a generation" kind of phenomenon. Listen to any part of his discography and it shows the madness behind the music which made him a superstar. Like others before him, Prince's musical legacy will last for years and Purple Rain will stand out as one of his iconic accomplishments.

SEPTEMBER2016

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SEPTEMBER 2016

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S U P E R H E R O E S : THECURRENTMOVIEFLAVORINMOTIONPICTURES By Duane Bergeron

It is most fortunate to be able to report on artistic and cultural matters in Exposure which reflects what is happening in America past and present along with the world if the influences extend beyond the east and west coasts. In this particular cinematic topic, the ramifications definitely go all over the world. Since the early years of the cinema as we know it, there have been trends that come and go based on fads that come into being elsewhere in pop culture and from other sources. In the modern cinematic era (1970 to the present), there has been no shortage thereof. When Jaws debuted in 1975, there were shark ripoffs everywhere and it extends into the present day. The same thing happened in the same decade when The Exorcist (1973) became a monster smash. When Star Wars flew into theaters in 1977, the number of copycat movies were everywhere and it continued that way for quite a few years. And to think this was just one decade. There have been others since. Older movie audiences can remember the 1960s when Westerns were the rage at the local movie house and simultaneously spy thrillers (and a few spoofs) when the exploits of James Bond dominated that decade. It continues into the present day as the newest and current trend is dominated by comic book superheroes. Comic books themselves have been around for quite some time. And superheroes have been a part of that legacy. The first comic book superhero was Superman who debuted in 1938. Superman, created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, had no idea they had formed with their character not only an industry but also a legend. The duo created the book under the auspices of D.C. Comics. Superman was the very definition of a superhero. A humanoid alien from the doomed

planet Krypton, he gained powers that made him invincible and invulnerable once arriving on Earth. He could only be hurt by an emerald substance called Kryptonite, which was radioactive debris from his homeworld that can hurt and possibly kill the later named Man of Steel. D.C. one year later introduced a different kind of hero. He was Batman. The creation of artist Bob Kane and writer Finger. Batman was different in that he had no actual powers to speak of. The basis of Batman is he was originally Bruce Wayne, a rich and very athletic corporate head of Wayne Enterprises. When he was a boy Wayne witnessed the brutal murder of his parents right in front of him. Afterwards, Wayne declared his own personal war on criminals. Using his financial resources and other personal abilities, he adopted the crime fighting alter ego of Batman. The image of bats was picked by Wayne to be an emblem of striking terror into the hearts of crooks. Batman became a sort of psychological case study for those dealing with obsessive tendencies and how to cope with them. It did not take long for the two characters to become comic book legends. D.C. would follow their stable of comic titles with other heroes such as Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman and Green Lantern. D.C. would have a competitor to deal with in the time to come. Though Timely Comics got off to a decent start, around the same time as D.C., it was not until they changed their name to Marvel that the company really took off in their run of popularity. During World War II, Marvel had only three major heroes to their name. The first was Captain America. He was Steve Rogers, a man who wanted to serve in the U.S. military following the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was not deemed fit for duty until he participated in an experiment

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called Operation: Super Soldier which gave him limited superhuman abilities. He then participated in fighting the Axis powers with a red, white and blue costume and a circular shield made of a classified yet indestructible substance. The second was Prince Namor, also called the Sub Mariner. He was the ruler of the undersea kingdom of Atlantis. Namor had limitless strength and a bad attitude because of damage done to his realm by humans. The third was the original Human Torch. This hero was an android who had the ability to put his body on fire with no harm to himself. This trio had different stories concocted dealing with them taking on super villains and various Nazi enemies. The titles were discontinued after the end of the war but would see the light of day again in a different era. Marvel came to the forefront in 1961 thanks to a young editor and writer named Stan Lee. With Lee and his stable of artists and fellow writers, Lee commenced the Marvel market dominance with first creating the Fantastic Four. The lead characters were four astronauts who were bombarded with cosmic energy after their ship was hit by an anomaly and crashed back to Earth. Reed Richards, Sue Storm (later married Richards), Johnny Storm (her brother) and Ben Grimm gained an assortment of abilities. Johnny Storm became the new Human Torch replacing the earlier android character while Grimm became The Thing due to the cosmic rays also giving him unbelievable strength but turned him into a monster in the process. Lee had introduced plot devices not seen in comics before such as making their surroundings based on real life locations and gave these comic characters regular human problems such as relationship woes and other day-to-day matters that were patterned off every day challenges people had to deal with. The Fantastic Four was an immediate hit. D.C. was facing the

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challenge of Superman and Batman competitive now that Marvel was a force to be reckoned with. Lee and company followed their flagship comic with contemporaries such as Iron Man, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Doctor Strange, The X-Men, Ant-Man, and others. In 1963, Marvel gained its biggest runaway hit when The Amazing Spider-Man hit the racks. Spider-Man was called the first mainstream antihero and the presumably the most realistic superhero ever dreamed up. Lee and artist Steve Ditko originated the web-swinger. The concept was that Peter Parker, a high school student in New York City, was bitten by a spider exposed to radioactivity while attending a scientific demonstration. Parker gained the abilities of a spider though highly amplified and had to deal with all the problems that came with such powers. After Marvel took some of their already established personas and formed a group called The Avengers, the company became a virtually unstoppable force in the industry against D.C. The Avengers was brought into being to compete with D.C.'s Justice League. Now, with the background on this topic having been established, now it's time to look at the cinematic steamroller comic books have created. The first film to start it all was Christopher Reeve's Superman (1978). A relative unknown at the time, Reeve nailed the character perfectly. With a supporting cast including Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder, Terence Stamp and more, Superman wowed audiences with a story true to the concept and brilliant direction by Richard Donner, who would later gain fame with the Lethal Weapon franchise. A lot of eyebrows were raised when Marlon Brando was cast as Jor-El. There was skepticism as to whether or not "The Godfather" could pull it off. Brando, who was paid about three million dollars for the effort, made believers out of many. He would not return for the sequel. The special effects were groundbreaking for its time and still holds up well after almost 40 years. Due to creative differences between Donner and the Salkinds, who were the producing team for this franchise, he departed and Richard Lester took over for Superman 2. Again, another masterpiece as this time the Man of Steel took on General Zod (Stamp) and his cohorts when a nuclear detonation freed them from the Phantom Zone they were imprisoned in. But, sadly, Superman 3 (1983) and Superman 4 (1987) failed to capture the magic of the first two. Though number four had a storyline dealing with the proliferation of nuclear weapons, a cause Reeve championed in terms of eliminating nuclear weapons completely, still did not cause a stir with audiences. Reeve would not wear the cape again and would die some years later due to complications from a horse riding accident he suffered in 1995.

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The 1990s would belong to Batman. The first movie had Michael Keaton cast in the titular role of Bruce Wayne and Jack Nicholson set up as The Joker. The casting news, when first announced, created a stir because fans thought such arrangements would never work. However, Batman became the number one movie of 1989 because the questionable casting worked beautifully. Nicholson gave a performance for the ages, though he would be, in a manner of speaking, upstaged by the late Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight. With the addition of selected songs by Prince, the feature did credit to Batman and the mystique connected to the character. It is still considered one of the best motion pictures ever concerning the character. Three sequels would follow. Batman Returns (1992) and Batman Forever (1995) were credible follow-ups as director Tim Burton made significant contributions to the franchise with the first two installments. Joel Schumacher, who has The Lost Boys (1987) among his directorial credits, took over with Batman Forever and turned in a color filled superb production with Val Kilmer taking over the lead character. However, Batman and Robin (1997), was a total washout and box office flop even with George Clooney in the Batsuit and Arnold Schwarzenegger as the antagonist Mr. Freeze. Schumacher was blamed for sending this film into the cinematic sewer. It would not be until 2000 when Marvel finally made its move into the film industry and see what kind of success they could have. The first effort out of the gate was The X-Men. This was one of the company's best selling titles past and present. It dealt with a team of mutants (persons born with their powers instead of getting them accidentally) who worked in secret under the leadership of Professor Charles Xavier. He himself is a mutant and created a school to teach mutants how to use their powers. The older ones form the team that go out and save the world. The franchise got Marvel off to a great start and is now nine movies older with the latest installment being this year's X-Men Apocalypse. The success of X-Men yielded also a spinoff title featuring solo adventures with Wolverine. This hero, played with relish by Hugh Jackman, concentrates on Logan, a mutant who is seemingly immortal and has an adamantium frame plus lethal claws. He also comes with an attitude. There is another Wolverine feature

slated for release presumably next year and Jackman claims it is his last. Another character that had hit the jackpot tied in to The X-Men earlier this year was Deadpool. Called the 'merc with the mouth," Deadpool was a worldwide smash and made history by being an "R" rated feature. Highly unusual for a superhero movie. Ryan Reynolds has certainly made this character his own and has atoned for the dismal rendition of Green Lantern in 2011. Reynolds will be back for Deadpool 2, which is scheduled for an early 2018 release. After two misfires with The Fantastic Four, Marvel finally found the formula for long-term success they had working on so hard to achieve. It all started with the release of Iron Man in 2008. Robert Downey Jr. resurrected his career in the now iconic role of Tony Stark, a rich industrialist and a genius who is injured when shrapnel hits him in the chest close to his heart. Stark is able to forge a modern day suit of high-tech armor with an arsenal built-in which keeps him alive and enabled to fight bad guys. Iron Man was the announcement from on high that Marvel was now becoming a force to be reckoned with on a worldwide scale in theaters and more was to come. This certainly came to pass as two more Iron Man solo films amassed huge grosses all over the planet just like the first one. Iron Man became the cornerstone for what has now become the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or MCU for short. The MCU has raked on billions on its combined output of motion pictures in the last eight years and is showing no signs of slowing down. Iron Man became the character utilized by Marvel to be the catalyst for the formation of The Avengers. Of the superheroes that form the organization, they have had individual triumphs with their stories. So far, this group includes not only Iron Man but also Thor, Captain America, Ant-Man, and the Hulk. The emerald giant's personal adventure misfired but has gained new popularity thanks to the influence of The Avengers. The two installments produced so far has made the top ten of biggest worldwide grosses. A third one, subtitled Infinity War, is set to bow in May 2018. Marvel in 2002 had made some headway in bringing Spider-Man, its most popular title, to the big screen. Toby Maguire had succeeded in capturing the sum and

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substance of Peter Parker under the outstanding direction of Sam Raimi. In terms of box office efforts, number one and two were blockbusters while the third one sputtered out of the starting gate. Another endeavor was commenced with Andrew Garfield under the alternative heading of The Amazing Spider-Man. Neither cinematic effort found favor with audiences as the Maguire films had. Third time may be the charm as Marvel brings Spider-Man back to the MCU with a negotiated agreement with Sony-Columbia, the studio that holds the film rights at the present time. This new iteration of Spider-Man was introduced in this year's Captain America: Civil War. Tom Holland is now the new web-spinner and based on reaction up to this point it looks like Holland has the potential to succeed where his predecessors failed. His first individual outing, called Spider-Man: Homecoming, will be web swinging to multiplexes in summer 2017. Downey Jr. is scheduled to make an appearance apparently to give Holland and his spidery alter ego a good sendoff in what has become a very competitive field within the superhero subgenre. The company, once called the Marvel Comics Group back in the day, is rewriting cinema history with all these profitable and enjoyable productions. Marvel isn't about to stop and is also looking ahead to expand its horizons. This November the so-called "house of ideas" will premiere Doctor Strange. Benedict Cumberbatch will essay Steven Strange, a brilliant yet injured surgeon who turns to the mystic arts to find a new calling and lease on life. This will be the first effort on Marvel's part to enter the shadowy world of sorcery and black magic. Next year Marvel's unexpected galactic hit franchise, Guardians of the Galaxy, will launch the 2017 summer movie season in May with its highly anticipated sequel. In the meantime, what has D.C. been doing in the last 15 years? The company and Warner Brothers has been working together in terms of competing with the Marvel juggernaut? An attempt to revive the original timeline in Superman was unsuccessful though the movie was in of itself good enough in Superman Returns in 2006. Brandon Routh did a very credible job in bringing the character to cinematic life in much the same way Reeve did though Reeve's performance can never be surpassed. On the other hand, D.C. and Warner Bros. hit paydirt three times over with a new interpretation of Batman. Based on the landmark comic book The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller in 1986, visionary director

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Christopher Nolan (Inception) brought about a different kind of Batman in comparison to the one based on Burton and Schumacker's version. It started with Batman Begins in 2005. Christian Bale was chosen to wear the cape and cowl upon which fans of the franchise and critics considered his performance to be one of the best ever for the Caped Crusader. The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012) were the crowning achievements in the trilogy not only in reference to the lead character but also for superheroes in general outside of the MCU. It was in The Dark Knight in which Ledger gave the performance of a lifetime in his own take on The Joker. Superman was brought back again with yet another approach to the legendary hero with Man of Steel in 2013 with Henry Cavill as the survivor of Krypton. While all the familiar elements are present this was a version never seen before with Zack Snyder in the director's chair bringing to genre fans a more darker take on Superman. This year that trend continued with the pseudo sequel, Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Though critically reviled, the film was a monster hit at the box office as the two lead D.C. heroes met on the silver screen for the first time. The feature is also being used as a vehicle to bring D.C. ensemble group The Justice League into D.C.'s own version of a cinematic universe. This is why Wonder Woman appeared in the motion picture for the first time ever. Gal Gadot gave a dead-on interpretation of the heroine and will be seen again next year in her own solo cinematic story. The first Justice League installment is set for a November 2017 debut. Recently D.C. and Warner Bros. sent to theaters Suicide Squad, a rather innovative and alternative effort to traditional superhero pictures as the emphasis is on a team of super villains rather than heroes who are brought together to face an even bigger threat. Jared Leto brings back the Joker while Will Smith and Margot Robbie co-star with the latter getting quite a bit of attention as female villain Harley Quinn. For those who enjoy superhero fare there is a lot more to come. For those who don't, they had better get used to it. Comics inspired motion pictures are bringing to studios a lot of money though the partnership of Disney/ Marvel are doing a much better job at it so far than Warner/ D.C. But for the fans of these cinematic creations, there will be much to look forward to in the near future and superheroes will constitute the most profitable fad in film history.

JANUARY 2016

" I'm holding the real Lombardi trophy." -Chris Culotta

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