The Juice with Jeff’s Podcast

The Juice with Jeff #169

On this episode of the podcast, Rabbi Neil Sandler conducts and co-produces a fantastic and meaningful interview with me thru Zoom. This is Rabbi Sandler's first time on the show and we've made history with this episode because it's also the very first time that we've had a Rabbi be part of the podcast!!! 

 

Rabbi Sandler asked me several questions about how I've arrived at where I am in terms of my Jewish identity and Jewish observance. Plus he also shared what he and his family are up to, told a brief story about a funny experience he had with my mom at our family's synagogue during the early 1990's, and we shared memories about Rabbi Moshe/Marshall and Rebbetzin Sarah/Shirley Berg both of righteous and blessed memory.

 

This episode was recorded on Tuesday night August 15, 2023 and runs 37 minutes long. As is the case with all of "The Juice with Jeff" podcasts, funding for this podcast is provided by Realty With Ahart and RandomKid. Enjoy!!

The Juice with Jeff #168

On this episode of the podcast, James Alsup conducts and co-produces a fantastic and meaningful interview with me thru Zoom. This is James' first time on the show.

 

James and I had a powerful two way conversation. During the first half of the podcast, we talked about what each of us has been up to since our Drake University days, and also about the ongoing SARS-CoV-2/Covid pandemic that continues to rage on and how both of us firmly continue to believe in the importance of the non-pharmaceutical precautions that significantly help reduce the spread of a highly airborne vascular virus like Covid,

 

Then during the second half, we share our memories and favorite moments from our Drake J-School days, and we wrapped up the show by each of us talking about a few things related to The Blues Brothers film (1980).

 

This episode was recorded on Monday night August 7, 2023 and runs 1 hour 16 minutes long. As is the case with all of "The Juice with Jeff" podcasts, funding for this podcast is provided by Realty With Ahart and RandomKid. Enjoy!!

The Juice with Jeff #167

On this episode of the podcast, Jill Brimeyer conducts and co-produces a fantastic and superb interview with me in person. This is Jill's third time on the show and we had a two-way conversation on a whole bunch of topics.

 

During a significant majority of the podcast, Jill uses the Vertellis/Vertell?s Complete card game series where the slogan is "Less Small Talk, More Genuine Conversations" to guide her in the questions that she asks me. Here are the topics that Jill brings up and asks me questions on from the Vertellis card game during the course of the podcast: 

 

With the knowledge you have now, what would you have done differently?

 

What is something you have not done in your life yet that you would still like to do?

 

Which moment would you most like to relive?

 

What is one of the most valuable lessons that you have learned?

 

Who would you like to thank?

 

What do you want to devote more time to?

 

What three people have influenced you?

 

After both of us finished sharing our thoughts in depth from the questions with the Vertell?s card series, I talk with Jill about how:

 
Between January 1st and July 4th of 2023 I watched all of the TV shows/movies in my DVD collection in alphabetical order from A to Z and gave examples of the DVD's in each letter.

I shared with Jill the history behind how The Blues Brothers came to be both as the musical group and the 1980 film itself, along with a bunch of trivia tidbits about the film. And I gave examples of the things we get to see on the Extended Version 2nd Cut (2 hours 28 minutes) of the film compared to the all too familiar Theatrical Cut (2 hours 13 minutes).

Then we wrap up the podcast by talking about things related to Saturday Night Live, both from the classic first five seasons of the show and a little bit about today's SNL.

 

We recorded our podcast at a photography studio and small group event venue that a friend of mine owns called The Studio in Windsor Heights. This is the third time that we recorded an episode of the show there. Not only is this episode at EPIC FEATURE LENGTH clocking in at 1 hour and 42 minutes, but it is now officially the SECOND LONGEST IN PERSON EPISODE that we have ever done so far!!  We recorded this episode on Sunday August 6, 2023. As is the case with all of "The Juice with Jeff" podcasts, funding for this podcast is provided by Realty With Ahart and RandomKid. Enjoy!!

The Juice with Jeff #166

On this episode of the podcast, Anne Royse conducts and co-produces a fantastic and awesome interview with me thru Zoom. This is Anne's first time on the show.

 

On this episode of the show, Anne and I have a two way conversation that is focused on more of an entertainment nature. We kick off the show with me and Anne doing the "It's 106 miles to Chicago..." line from The Blues Brothers movie.

 

One of the several questions that Anne asks me is "What is a question you always wish someone would ask you; something you've always wanted to share with other people if only someone would ask." I answer this question with "What TV show would I love for a company to put on DVD, etc.. that has never been released on videotape or DVD before (and still isn't)?" And I give my answer to that question in two ways: One, I wish that Universal Studios did not destroy or throw away the 35mm or 70 mm film negatives from the 12 to 25 minutes of scenes (including an Intermission) from the original Roadshow First Cut of The Blues Brothers that got completely deleted from the film. In other words, I wish that Universal Studios would have kept the Master 35mm/70mm Negatives of EVERYTHING that was filmed for The Blues Brothers and offered on DVD, etc... the full 2 hours 40 minutes to 3 hours full roadshow cut of the movie. Two, I also wish that a company would be able and willing to offer episodes of the original 1970's version of The Gong Show on DVD that was hosted by Chuck Barris (may he rest in peace) and had the LIVE 6 to 8 piece Band with a Thug directed by Milton Delugg (may he rest in peace).

 

Various subjects come up during our 38 minute chat like The Blues Brothers, my social life, Roadshow Theatrical Releases of classic films, summer camp, and concerts.

 

This episode was recorded on Saturday night August 5, 2023. As is the case with all of "The Juice with Jeff" podcasts, funding for this podcast is provided by Realty With Ahart and RandomKid. Enjoy!!

The Juice with Jeff #165

On this episode of the podcast, Robyn Wiens and Sarah Stokes conduct and co-produces a fantastic and outstanding interview with me thru Zoom. This is the first time that both Sarah and Robyn are on the show.

 

Robyn, Sarah, and I basically have a very entertaining and occasionally hilarious two way conversation in this episode. We start off the podcast with me taking a few minutes to reflect on the life of Paul Reubens/Pee-Wee Herman a"h, who died the day before we recorded this podcast. In honor of Paul/Pee-Wee, we incorporate a "Pee-Wee's Playhouse" element into the podcast: We decide to have a "Secret Word", and whenever any of us said that "Secret Word", we all had to scream for a few seconds. The Secret Word was "Basement" because that's what people (both past and present) who have been or are students or faculty in the Broadcast section of the J School call the lowest floor of Meredith Hall at Drake.

 

 

But after the first few minutes, the entire podcast had a Drake University theme. For a good chunk of the podcast, Robyn and Sarah asked me a bunch of trivia questions related to Drake University, and between the trivia questions we chat about things related to those questions. And then all three of us shared memories from the years we were at Drake and the J-School there together during the mid to late 1990's.

 

 

This episode was recorded on Monday July 31, 2023 and runs 1 hour and 14 minutes. As is the case with all of "The Juice with Jeff" podcasts, funding for this podcast is provided by Realty With Ahart and RandomKid. Enjoy!!

The Juice with Jeff #164

On this episode of the podcast, Ali Harms conducts and co-produces a fantastic and superb interview with me in person. This is Ali's fourth time on the show.

 

We start by talking about cookies and baked goods. Specifically about how both of us love both chains/franchises such as Crumbl Cookies as well as local bakeries like The Bake Shoppe.

 

Then I talk with Ali at great deep length about how between December 31, 2022 and July 4, 2023 I watched all of my TV Shows and Movies in my DVD collection in Alphabetical Order from A to Z, and I gave many examples of what I watched in my DVD collection during that six month period from A to Z. As part of the discussion, I told Ali what my Top 5 Favorite Films of All Time are and she also tells me what her favorite films are.

 

As part of the film discussion, I talked with Ali a little bit about the Roadshow Theatrical Release concept and also shared with her the history behind how The Blues Brothers came to be both as the musical group and the 1980 film itself, along with lots of trivia tidbits about the film. I give multiple examples on the additional things we get to see on the longer Extended Version of the film.

 

Ali shares her thoughts and insights on everything that was brought up during the recording session and we have quite a lot of two way conversation. We also talk about our favorite kinds of music, including where Ali asks me to explain how I became interested in expanding my taste of music well beyond the pop and Top 40.

And then we conclude this episode of the snow by doing a short walk between the Amphitheater and Waterfall/Lagoon areas of the park and comment on the peaceful environment we're enjoying in the park, as well as some thoughts on the podcast series itself.

 

This episode of the podcast was recorded on Monday July 24, 2023 at Greenwood Park in Des Moines and it's feature length at 1 hour and 30 minutes. As is the case with all of "The Juice with Jeff" podcasts, funding for this podcast is provided by Realty With Ahart and RandomKid. Enjoy!!

The Juice with Jeff #163

On this episode of the podcast, Hannah Rogers conducts and co-produces a fantastic and superb interview with me in person. This is Hannah's second time on the show.

 

Hannah and I had a two-way conversation on several specific topics:
I talk with Hannah at great deep length about how between December 31, 2022 and July 4, 2023, I watched all of my TV Shows and Movies in my DVD collection in Alphabetical Order from A to Z, and I gave many examples of what I watched in my DVD collection during that six months period from A to Z. As part of the discussion, I told Hannah what my Top 5 Favorite Films of All Time are.

 

I shared with Hannah the history behind how The Blues Brothers came to be both as the musical group and the 1980 film itself, along with lots of trivia tidbits about the film. And I give multiple examples on the additional things we get to see on the longer Extended Version of the film.

 

I also talk with Hannah about the event video production work I've done for quite a few members of the Des Moines Jewish Community between 2000 and 2018, about how the whole The Juice with Jeff podcast series came to be and the goal/purpose of the show, and how I still use the audio production skills I learned on KWDM during my VHS days and during my 4-1/2 years in the J School at Drake in putting together these The Juice with Jeff podcasts.

 

Hannah shares her thoughts and insights on everything that was brought up on all of these topics and we have quite a lot of two way conversation.

 

This episode was recorded on Sunday July 23, 2023 and runs 1 hour and 25 minutes. As is the case with all of "The Juice with Jeff" podcasts, funding for this podcast is provided by Realty With Ahart and RandomKid. Enjoy!!

The Juice with Jeff #162

On this episode of the podcast, Allison Moody conducts and co-produces a fantastic and excellent interview with me thru Zoom. This is Allison's first time time on the show.

 

Allison and I basically had a very entertaining two way conversation on subjects such as: Memories both of us have from our Drake years, the J-School and my audio/video production experience I've had over the years (both during my Drake years and over the last 25 years as a hobby), the history behind these podcasts and the technical details on how each episode of The Juice with Jeff gets put together, and I perform a whole bunch of my voice impersonations for Allison.

 

The voices that I do for Allison are: Fat Albert/Mushmouth/Rudy/Russell from Fat Albert and the Cosby kids), Barry White o.b.m., Robin Leach o.b.m., Michael Buffer (the "Let's Get Ready to Rumble!!" announcer), Audrey II from the musical version of Little Shop of Horrors, Yogi Bear, Boo-Boo, Huckleberry Hound, Ernie/Bert/Snuffleupagus from Sesame Street, Former President Donald Trump, Former President Barack Obama, Senator Mitt Romney, Current President Joe Biden, Current VP Kamala Harris, Jim Morrison o.b.m. from The Doors, and Fred Rogers o.b.m./King Friday/X the Owl/Henrietta Pussycat/Lady Elaine Fairchild from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. I throw on the Reverb effect for the Michael Buffer, Audrey II, and the Jim Morrison voices.

 

She shares her thoughts on all these subjects and she gives us a brief A Cappella performance of a song towards the end of the show.

 

This episode was recorded on Wednesday July 19, 2023 and runs 1 hour and 15 minutes. As is the case with all of "The Juice with Jeff" podcasts, funding for this podcast is provided by Realty With Ahart and RandomKid. Enjoy!!

The Juice with Jeff #161

On this episode of the podcast, Julia Franklin conducts and co-produces a fantastic interview with me in person. This is Julia's second time on the show.

 

Julia and I had a two-way conversation on several topics. First, Julia talked about a recent trip she took to Greece. Then Julia asks me to talk about my interest and somewhat intense passion on classic and vintage films. I talked with Julia about how:

 

1. Between January 1st and July 4th, 2023 I watched all of the TV shows/movies in my DVD collection in alphabetical order from A to Z

2. About how between the 1910's thru 1970's quite a few films would open in a select number of theaters as a "Roadshow Theatrical Release" (going to the movie would be a special event with things like special souvenir programs, tickets would be purchased in advance with a specific seat reserved, overtures and intermissions in the film, and sometimes longer versions of that film than what many of us saw).

3. How the first original cuts of some films were originally much lengthier in time but then when they were released to the majority of movie theaters nationwide, the length of the films was reduced quite a bit in the name of movie theaters being able to show the film more times a day and for the movie companies to make more profits.

 

4. I shared with Julia the history behind how The Blues Brothers came to be both as the musical group and the 1980 film itself, along with a bunch of trivia tidbits about the film.

 

Julia shared her thoughts on the things that I said. And we also talked about how we can find art in everyday life, including the specific examples I give of the art I found in the cliffs and structures at Ledges State Park when I went there recently.

 

This episode of the show was produced and recorded on Sunday July 16, 2023 and it runs about 55 minutes. We recorded our podcast at a photography studio and small group event venue that a very good friend of mine owns called The Studio in Windsor Heights. As is the case with all of "The Juice with Jeff" podcasts, funding for this podcast is provided by Realty With Ahart and RandomKid. Enjoy!!

The Juice with Jeff # 160

On this episode of the podcast, Sarah Graf conducts and co-produces a fantastic and superb interview with me in person. This is Sarah's fourth time on the show.

 

For this episode, Sarah and I did something really special: We went on a walking tour of portions of Ledges State Park!! This is the second nature tour for the podcast in one of Iowa's State Parks and it's the fourth time a nature walk tour has been a part of these podcasts.

 
For the significant majority of the podcast recording session, Sarah and I went on a walking tour of the overwhelming majority of Ledges State Park including parts of the campground, the two shelter houses (Oak Woods and Carl Fritz Henning), the Canyon Road with sandstone ledges/cliffs and the Arch Stone Bridge, and other unique sights. We had a significant amount of two way conversation throughout the entire podcast, with nearly all of our dialogue being ad-libbed and on the fly with both of us sharing our thoughts about everything we saw and heard at Ledges.

 

In addition to the walking tour thru parts of Ledges, Sarah asked me to talk about any side interests I've added to life this year and so I talked about the 6 month "Watching my TV Shows and Movies on DVD from A to Z" project  that I engaged in between January 1st and July 4th and how I've become more passionate about The Blues Brothers (both the group and the 1980 film). Sarah also asked me to talk more about how in June/July 2022 I donated all of my video production equipment and my karaoke system/sound system equipment to the Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines. Sarah also talked about a couple new things she's been involved with recently.

 

This episode of the show was produced and recorded on Friday July 14, 2023 and it runs 1 hour and 30 minutes. As is the case with all of "The Juice with Jeff" podcasts, funding for this podcast is provided by Realty With Ahart and RandomKid. Enjoy!!