Darius Myers of Sports Cart Media and Kevin Perry of Tones of Joy ring out 2005 on the December 28, 2005 "Lisa Tolliver Show"

j0074201gospel.fee...

ABOUT THE SHOW - Darius Myers, CEO of Sports Cart Media and Kevin Perry (whose gospel group, Tones of Joy, is celebrating a momemtous anniversary) helped ring out my 2005 broadcast year on New York Radio WVOX 1460-AM. We discussed popular New Year's resolutions (visit About.com for tips to execute them), enjoyed a jazz rendition of Auld Lang Syne and a selection from the CD, "Tones of Joy", and discussed the most popular entrepreneurs of 2005. (Order the Tones of Joy CD by email from MRealdeal1@optonline.net or jamesjenkinsjr.20@aol.com. Access Amazon.com links to other Tones of Joy CDs here, and in the banner ad below.)

A PERSONAL NOTE - Like many others, I won't regret bidding adieu to 2005 and bonjour to 2006. Last year seemed particularly rife with various disasters, conflicts and other sad and tragic events that devastated and wreaked havoc on individuals, families and entire nations worldwide. We've covered some of those stories on air and successfully solicited and made our own contributions to help. Along with those stories and images, several close-to-home events ensuing in May have seared 2005 into my consciousness as a pivotal year.

On May 16 Mary Frances Golff, Dad's last surviving sibling, died. I'll cherish the last road trip taken with my father and brother to attend the memorial services in Miami. The following weekend, Dad was hospitalized with lung cancer and emphysema and expired on September 17, 2005. Dad, Aunt Frances and I were close and I usually celebrated family holidays with them and the many other relatives and friends who enjoyed the good cheer, great fun and tasty meals that were always to be found at either Dad or Auntie's homes. Unfortunately, their deaths elicited the worst in some relatives, which has also irreparably marked this season. On the other hand, the funerals--as many do--have drawn some relatives and friends closer. Some of these recent reacquaintances have become my guardian angels.

Later in May (on my birthday), I was saved by a guardian angel of another sort, when a three-car crash on the Long Island Expressway totaled my car and sent me to the emergency room downstairs from Dad's hospital ward. Although I'm not unscathed and I will be unable to ski this year (my favorite pastime), I'm grateful to be here to tell the story and to Dad for letting me adopt his wheels.

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS - As we ring out 2005 and herald in 2006, I will be following the following advice. Join me!

1. Show and tell loved ones that you love them, as often as possible
2. Mend rifts with "keepers" (people whom you'll keep in your life) even if it requires feeding difficult significant others with a long spoon.
3. Ruthlessly eliminate toxic relationships, situations and behaviors from your life. That might require mending rifts with or feeding some signficant others with a long spoon.
4. Assess and take steps to optimize your physical, mental, spiritual and fiscal health.
5. Count your blessings and give thanks every day.
6. Learn something new every day.
7. Follow the 10 Commandments.
8. Properly establish an estate plan by completing and properly filing the following documents, regardless of your income: a will, living will, durable power of attorney and health care proxy. Beforehand, take the MSN Money Make-A-Will Quiz .

BEST WISHES for a happy, healthy holiday season and an abundant new year!

Access books about New Year resolutions:

Access music by the Tones of Joy:

December 14 "Lisa Tolliver Show" celebrates Winter Holidays and features the book: GIVING A VOICE TO SORROW

Westchester County, NY - Fellow WVOX radio host, "Steve Pal," joins Lisa Tolliver to discuss two multicultural phenomena: winter holidays around the world and a book about mourning in various cultures entitled, Giving a Voice to Sorrow. Click here to access Google search links to many sites which describe winter holidays and celebrations around the world.

Here's the playlist of upcoming shows in 2005:

12/28 - Lisa Tolliver Show @ 1:30-2:00 p.m., E.T. - Holiday Celebration

On November 9, "The Lisa Tolliver Show" guest Kenneth Guttenplan, Esq. provides tips for making final arrangements

Westchester County, NY - "Lisa Tolliver Show" guest Kenneth Guttenplan, Esq. shares important tips for making final arrangements and what to do when a loved one dies.

Here's the playlist of upcoming shows:

11/23 - Lisa Tolliver Show @ 1:30-2:00 p.m., E.T. - Photojournalist and author of Riders for God, Rich Remsberg
12/4 - SCORE Radio @ 1:00-1:30 p.m., E.T. - End of year tax tips with Steve Pal
12/4 - Lisa Tolliver Show @ 1:30-2:00 p.m., E.T. - "Winter holidays around the world" with Steve Pal and "A review of Giving a Voice to Sorrow" (a book describing mourning practices in various cultures) by folklorists Steve Zeitlin (Executive Director of City Lore) and Ilana Harlow (Folklore Specialist at the Library of Congress American Folklore Center)
12/28 - Lisa Tolliver Show @ 1:30-2:00 p.m., E.T. - Holiday Celebration

On November 9, "SCORE Radio" features fundraising tips with Eli Gordon

Westchester County, NY - Eli Gordon, Director of Development at Food P.A.T.C.H., Westchester County's Food Bank, joins host Lisa Tolliver and Lisa Tolliver Show guest Kenneth Guttenplan, Esq., to discuss fundraising tips. For more information about fundraising or Food P.A.T.C.H., visit www.FoodPatch.org.
For more information about SCORE, contact SCORE Westchester at 914-948-3907 or visit www.score.org.

Here's the playlist of upcoming shows:

11/9 - Lisa Tolliver Show @ 1:30-2:00 p.m., E.T. - Kenneth Guttenplan, Esq. - Estates, Wills & Trusts
11/9 - SCORE Radio @ 1:00-1:30 p.m., E.T. - Eli Gordon, Director of Development, Food P.A.T.C.H. - Fundraising tips and gift basket giveaway
11/26 - Lisa Tolliver Show @ 1:30-2:00 p.m., E.T. - Photojournalist and author, Rich Remsberg
12/4 - SCORE Radio @ 1:00-1:30 p.m., E.T. - End of year tax tips with Steve Pal
12/4 - Lisa Tolliver Show @ 1:30-2:00 p.m., E.T. - "Winter holidays around the world" with Steve Pal and "A review of Giving a Voice to Sorrow" (a book describing mourning practices in various cultures) by folklorists Steve Zeitlin (Executive Director of City Lore) and Ilana Harlow (Folklore Specialist at the Library of Congress American Folklore Center)
12/28 - Lisa Tolliver Show @ 1:30-2:00 p.m., E.T. - Holiday Celebration

Lisa Tolliver and "Lisa Tolliver Show" guest Kenneth Brewster chat it up on WRTN 93.5 FM

NEW ROCHELLE, NY - October 26, 2005 was a talkative day. After spending the morning on business phone calls, featured guest expert Kenneth Brewster, Director of Crowe's Funeral Homes, Inc. and I met on air to broadcast a segment of an on air tribute to my beloved father, the late Robert Shaw Tolliver, which consists of a series of shows whose topics are dedicated to his memory. Click here to read the playlist. Then we continued our gabfest in the studio up the hall, where we chatted up Gary and Yanni, hosts of "Ebony and Ivory - The Best of Both Worlds" which airs on WRTN 93.5 FM. Those appearances led to more phone calls bearing positive feedback on our appearances and a request to do business for Ken. Ah, radio.

10/26/2005 Lisa Tolliver Show continues tribute to Robert Shaw Tolliver with Funeral Director Ken Brewster & celebrates Nat'l Arts & Humanities Month

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY - Join Kenneth Brewster, Director of Crowe's Funeral Home and me at 1:30-2:00 pm Eastern Time. Topics: National Arts & Humanities Month--featuring the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA), and in a continuing tribute to my father, a discussion of Pre-Need Planning (a.k.a. "Pre-Arrangement" and "Pre-Financing"), an increasingly popular trend that saves substantial expense, stress and uncertainty. Tune your radio to WVOX AM 1460, listen online at www.wvox.com, or hear and share via our call-in line: (01) 914.636.0110.

Crowe's Funeral Homes,Inc.
107-44 Suthpin Blvd.
Jamaica. NY. 11435
(718) 558-0921
Email: info@crowesfuneralhome.com
Website: www.crowesfuneralhome.com

Another valuable resource is the International Funeral and Cemetery Association (IFCA), whose Consumer Resource Guide provides straight answers to real questions about funeral and cemetery arrangements, cremation, grief and other issues related to the end of life. As their website states: No family should have to face the loss of a loved one uninformed and unprepared.

September 28, 2005 Lisa Tolliver Show pays tribute to the late Robert Shaw Tolliver and features Food P.A.T.C.H., Westchester County's Food Bank

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY - I was originally scheduled to host both "SCORE Radio" today (featuring Food P.A.T.C.H.: Westchester County's Food Bank) and "The Lisa Tolliver Show" (featuring photographer Rich Remsberg, who recently published Riders for God"). However, SCORE changed the host lineup (which bumped me to a later date) and my father died on September 17. Therefore, today's "Lisa Tolliver Show" featured:
-
Guest Christina Rohatynskyj, Executive Director of Food P.A.T.C.H. , who shared that organization's mission and initiatives and provided advice about sending donations to disaster victims,
and
-
A tribute to my beloved father (and past guest on a Veteran's Day radio broadcast), the late Robert Shaw Tolliver. Dad died of heart failure related to Stage 4 lung cancer and emphysema. As part of his tribute, I played Luther VanDross' "Dance With My Father."

Thank you Whitney Radio Engineer, Steve Tito, for the tissues. And thank you and bless you, listeners, who contacted me after the show to share your condolences and inform me that you'd kept Dad in your prayers.

Here's the playlist of upcoming shows:

10/26 - Kenneth Brewster, Director of Crowe's Funeral Home - Pre-need Planning
11/9 - Kenneth Guttenplan, Esq. - Estates, Wills & Trusts
11/26 - Eli Gordon, Director of Development, Food P.A.T.C.H. - Fundraising tips and gift basket giveaway
12/4 - Folklorists Steve Zeitlin (Executive Director of City Lore) and Ilana Harlow (Folklore Specialist at the Library of Congress American Folklore Center) authors of "Giving Voice to Sorrow," a book describing grieving and mourning practices in various cultures
12/28 - Holiday Celebration
###

Tribute to my beloved father, Robert Shaw Tolliver, 7/15/1931-9/17/2005

QUEENS, NY - My beloved father, Robert Shaw Tolliver, died on September 17, 2005 at 12:44 a.m. from heart failure caused by Stage IV lung cancer and emphysema. I have no doubt that he walks with God and is now at peace. I know that should comfort me, and it does, some. However, I miss Dad terribly, as do the many other relatives and friends who love him.

OBITUARY

Robert Shaw Tolliver (“Bob”) was born in the Bronx, New York, on July 15, 1931, to Pearl Louise Henley and Benjamin Ernest Tolliver. He was the youngest of five children who included Dorothy, Sylvia, Benjamin and Frances.

Bob grew up in the Bronx and moved to Jamaica, NY, traveling to Brooklyn to attend Boys High School. He entered the United States Marine Corps in January, 1952. Bob served as a Corporal during the Korean Conflict and was stationed at numerous U.S. bases and in Okinawa, Japan. He earned the National Defense Service Medal, Korean Service Medal and United National Service Medal.

After receiving an honorable discharge from the U.S. Marines, Robert married Doris Elaine Hutchings on September 8, 1956. They resided in Long Island, New York, with their two children, Lisa Marie and Robert Shaw, Junior. Throughout his life, Bob remained a devoted father and maintained a close and loving relationship with his children.

Bob worked as an electrician at Lockheed Aircraft Corp., where he headed a team whose responsibilities included maintaining Air Force One. In November, 1965, Lockheed honored Bob by sending him to Japan on a classified special assignment.

Bob was multi-talented and generously donated his time and treasures to those in need. Even after he retired, he maintained an active schedule, earning numerous certifications and awards for achievement and meritorious service. For example, he was named “Man of the Year” by the Rockaway Boulevard Senior Center for outstanding volunteer service.

Bob was spiritually grounded as was manifested in his dealings with his fellow man on a daily basis. His deep racial pride was captured in a sixties newspaper article demonstrating his protest to the exclusion of minority contractors in the construction of Rochdale Village.

A fun-loving and gregarious individual, Bob will be missed by all who knew and loved him. His survivors include his children, Lisa and Robert, Jr., daughter-in-law, Annette, grandsons Robert III and Daniel, and numerous nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.

~~ Lovingly Submitted: T H E F A M I L Y ~~



SCRIPTURES SHARED IN THE FUNERAL BROCHURE

* * * * * * *
I am the resurrection and the life: He that believeth in me though he were dead, yet shall he live. (St. John 11:25)

* * * * * * *
Come all ye who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11.28)

* * * * * * *
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing (presence) (II Timothy 4:7-8)

* * * * * *
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. (Revelations 21:4)

APPRECIATION

The family of the late Robert Shaw Tolliver wishes to express deep and heartfelt appreciation for your loving thoughtfulness and concern, including cards, flowers, phone calls, visits, your presence here, and especially your prayers. May God bless each of you, and may His peace be with you always.

September 14, 2005 Lisa Tolliver Show features author Nina Foxx

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY - Nina Foxx,PhD, just finished writing her fourth novel, Marrying Up and has two more in the works. Read about this prolific and fun-loving author and her books at www.ninafoxx.com.

September 14, 2005 SCORE Radio features National Preparedness Month, SBA Disaster Relief and FoodPatch: Westchester County's Food Bank

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY - It may be easier to avoid a disaster than to avoid media coverage of disasters. For example, good luck trying to avoid media coverage of Category 5 Hurricane Katrina and her devastating aftermath. It's everywhere, and SCORE Radio: Counselors to America's Small Business on New York Radio WVOX AM 1460 is no exception. Today's show was my at-bat as rotating host on the SCORE Volunteer team, and my bench strength included guests Ken Shulman, Public Information Officer with the U.S. Small Business Administration's Disaster Office, and a representative from FoodPatch, Westchester County's Food Bank.

We detailed how our organizations provide and receive assistance for disaster victims. Additionally, listeners were pointed to SCORE's online disaster resistance plan resources. Click the logos below for details:


FoodPatch: Westchester County's Food
Bank

SCORE: Counselors to America's Small Business

U.S. Small Business Administration


Next broadcasts:

September 28, 2005 on WVOX AM 1460

1:00-1:30 pm - SCORE Radio: Counselors to America's Small Business
Online fundraising

1:30-2:00 pm - The Lisa Tolliver Show
Documentary Photographer Rich Rembsberg
###

They're real and they're spectacular (no artificial ingredients)

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY - Eyes forward. I'm not referring to the female anatomy (as did the oft-quoted Seinfeld episode whose title I lifted). I'm referring to brushes with the law that increase some celebrities' media impact. Consider freedom fighters Martin, Mahatma and Malcolm. Consider also gangstas and music industry entertainers, such as the dueling East Coast and West Coast rappers, whose legal snafus typically enhance their street cred. Sometimes they even ply their trade from the big house, as did Shyne, Beanie Sigel and Turk--who released their albums from jail, Rapper C-Murder--who got in hot water over the new album and video he produced behind bars, Lil Kim--who dropped her album just before entering jail and the many artists who release titles that highlight their incarceration (e.g., "What Jail Is Like," by The Afghan Whigs; "Long Time No See," by Chico DeBarge; and "Penitentiary Chances," by rapper Turk).

I guess if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Domestic diva Martha-on-the-block proved equally able to withstand--even harness--legal and prison heat, and continued to drop it like it's hot from the kitchen, garden and elsewhere at Camp Cupcake, where she served time. Her activities there, which I describe as "Martha Stewart Inside Living," have been the recipe for raising her market and media value. Moreover, her release today from house arrest and donning a new accessory--an ankle bracelet that permits law officers to track her movements--have further stirred the media pot and raised serious dough. There's more bread where that came from. During her travails, Martha cooked up two new shows that aren't even out of the oven yet.###

My true-life Category 5 hurricane survival story

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY - "There but for the grace of God go I," keeps ringing in my head, and not just because the ubiquitous reports of devastation and sparks of hope in the wake of Hurricane Katrina are calls to action for every able bodied citizen of the planet. There's another reason.

Hurricane Camille, 1969:

In 1969, my family was blessed to survive, even benefit in some ways from, our experience with Category 5 Hurricane Camille. I wrote about it in a true-life short story posted at Toowrite.com.

NOTE: I'm not thrilled with the liberties TooWrite.com's editors took with my story. I didn't mind their translations from American English to the Queen's English (e.g., rewriting "color" as "colour"). In fact, I rather fancied those. But the story had already passed muster with Mum, a former English teacher, and the editors' more substantial edits were unwarranted and less than beneficial. But that's the price of getting published by Northcliffe Electronic Publishing Ltd. In the scheme of what's happening in the world today, this petty gripe isn't worth the time it's taking to report (or read) it.

Anyway, the summary that TooWrite.com published is listed below. Click "Read story" for the full text.

Title: Rainbows After the Storm
Escalating emergency alerts for the category five hurricane spooked Mom, who stockpiled candles and stood watch for Dad. Bob, Misty and I retreated below decks where the tempest seemed less intimidating.
Date submitted: 15th Jan 2003
Author: Lisa Tolliver
Competition: Competition 8
Read story

Hurricane Katrina, 2005?

Visit www.americanredcross.com, conduct an online search of "hurricane relief," or visit any ISP home page or news outlet to learn how to get and give help. I'll publicly address some of those issues, and what others and I are doing--and can do--about them, in my September 14 broadcasts.
###

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

September 14 broadcast will address disaster resistance and recovery, 2005

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY - My prayers are with those affected by Hurricane Katrina. But there's far more I can offer than that.

Help and advice:

I googled "hurricane assistance" to see how I could help and to find useful links to post here, such as www.redcross.org. The result: a legion of listings - national, regional and local - that is too comprehensive and unfocused to published here. It is preferable for readers to customize their own searches. For example, one might enter "hurricane assistance New Orleans" in his or her favorite search engine. Other good resources to search are ISP portals and news outlets.

Then what? In my case, stay tuned. I will host several subject matter experts in a discussion of disaster resistance and recovery in the September 14 "SCORE Radio" broadcast (at 1:00-1:30 pm, Eastern Time) and part of the "Lisa Tolliver Show" broadcast (which will follow at 1:30-2:00 pm, Eastern Time).

Join us!

Listen live at New York Radio AM 1460 or www.wvox.com, or phone our call-in line at (01) 914.636.0110 to share and hear from anywhere.

Share:

I invite emergency service providers and those requiring assistance to share your stories, tips and resource referrals. Email them to info@360meridian.com or post them at www.communityzero.com/360meridian.

###

What’s in a name? (Should Diddy's dropping the P. inspire Lisa to add the T.?)

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY - Madonna does it regularly, in numerous fashions, always like it's the very first time. J-L0, Liz and Roseanne do it with husbands. Demi does it with hair. Halle and Meryl do it for movie roles. Oprah does it with diets. Jacko pays plastic surgeons to do it for him. And Diddy just did it with his moniker. Again. Without missing a beat.

What is it? Grabbing prime media attention by making periodic changes. High profile vicissitudes - whether artful ploys to boost marketability (a la Madonna-Electronica and Diddy) or undesired fallout from their glass-house celebrity status (in instances like power-couple breakups and celebrities' weight fluctuations) - keep the media magnets and has-beens who experience (or engineer) them in the headlines. The changes need not be especially noteworthy to get spotlighted. Notice how changing diet plans, botoxing and moving violations garnered tabloid spreads (and spike search engine rankings) for the likes of Jennifer Anniston, Melanie Griffith and Matthew Perry?

Most recently, P. Diddy announced a name change during promotional rounds for next month's MTV Music Awards, which he's hosting. He is dropping the "P." and will hearafter answer to "Diddy."

Whoa...scratch the record! Didn't recent above-the-fold coverage spotlight his earlier string of aliases (from given name "Sean Combs" to "Puffy" to "Puff Daddy" to "P. Diddy?"). My Ivy League professors and white shoe consulting firm instructors had hammered home the importance of choosing--and remaining loyal to--a strong brand identity, and the risks associated with changing it. But what do they know? They, and most of us "intellectual" shmucks who invested time and money in expensive, prestigious academic degrees, don't earn what Diddy spends in pocket change. Rather, the creator of Bad Boy Entertainment, Sean John fashions and (some say) the meteoric ascendancies of Mary Jay Blige, Jodeci, and (by association) Jennifer Lopez/Jenny-Lo/J-Lo, obviously knows from branding. So much so that some media outlets (such as Yahoo! Top Stories and the national TV and radio news networks) reported the news of Diddy's name change alongside coverage of the War on Terror, Gaza Strip desettlement and Hurricane Katrina.

Who is the man encased under these layers of names? (Click here to read "Q&A With P. Diddy" on VH1's "Say it Loud.") The rapper-mogul was born in New York City in 1970 and hoisted himself by his bootstraps, Horatio Alger-fashion, from paperboy cum hustling events promoter (who tragically over-booked a 1991 City College event where nine people died in a stampede) to millionaire by age 19. He's now a highly regarded entertainment industry impresario and acknowledged maestro of several high profile arenas: food, fashion, Broadway, the silver screen, and glamorous women. Continued allegations of going gangsta (administering beatings, intimidation and shootings) and welshing on obligations (not delivering the memoirs that Random House advanced him $300,000 to write or fulfilling child support commitments with his ex, Misa Hylton-Brim, for 11-year-old son, Justin) have invited slings and arrows but apparently have not crippled his A-list cachet.

Well-known for his brilliant creativity and business acumen, Diddy remains widely heralded as the most influential force in the multi-billion dollar rap industry. Like a Teflon Don Juan, he apparently works his assets well. They were sorely tested recently in a sordid trial that some pundits feared could send him upriver. The upshot: acquittal on gun charges in 2001. Afterward, the media energetically reported Puff Daddy's quest for a fresh start, symbolized by his new label: "P. Diddy" (reportedly coined by Notorious B.I.G. before he died).

Diddy offers various justifications for his latest incarnation. One, "Because I can," is arrogant but true. Other rationales are kinder and gentler, seeking to simplify his cluttered namescape and leave no fan behind.

"I feel like the "P" is getting in the way of me and the public. From now on I will simply go by 'Diddy'," said the multi-named one.

"Nobody knew what to call me," he said. "I'd notice that people were uncomfortable when I'd meet them for the first time, and then they'd ask me what they should call me.

"I even started to get confused myself - and when I'd called someone on the telephone it took me a long time to explain who I was. Too long."

Hence the solution: to be known as simply "Diddy. "Five letters, one word, period."

So sez he, and so it will be. At least for a while. In the wake of such media splashes and changes in course, the public tends to go with the flow.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. But only if you believe. Fact is, perception can trump reality.

This random rant has inspired me. So much so, I might apply what I've learned: successful people can't live on bread and hard work alone. They require PIE (10% competent Performance with a 90% blend of Image and Exposure). Taking a cue for P. Diddy and others, like "Material Girl" Louise Ciccone/Madonna/Madge/Electronica/Esther, I see I'm long overdue for a major overhaul. Step one, drop "Lisa Tolliver" (it's passe). An easy replacement is "Lisa T." (for a time) and I could inject some pep in my step later with something like "Liddy." Couldn't hurt. And so what if it did? I could always bury the old and reincarnate, shiny and new, like a virgin, named for the very first time.
###

August 24, 2005 "Lisa Tolliver Show" stays in tune with vocal specialist / writer / arranger, Deborah Hodge

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY - It was a hot and sunny day. Sometime between 11:30 a.m. and noon, I parked Dad's Olds in Pelham and jumped into her immaculate, shiny black late-model Saab convertible. It was fly and so was she: top down, flaunting the trademark flat top 'do that highlights her elegant widowÂ’s peak and graces her business card and CD cover; powerful stereo discreetly pumping the 98.7 KISS FM radio battle of the Ohio Players -vs- Parliament Funkadelics. In her French blue shirt, black summer pants and black shades, Deborah Hodge was all seven CÂ’ and a bag of chips: cool, calm, collected, confident, classy, captivating and chic. Like her music.

Before the show
We stopped by Best Buy to pick up a second copy of The Diary of Alicia Keys [Limited Edition w/ Bonus DVD] for her and package of blank cassette tapes for me. In the cool, air-conditioned store, I felt my tension begin chilling out. The day had started stressfully: with inquiries about getting Dad into a clinical trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering; investigating how my brother fared in the previous day's medical procedure; and canceling out of a two-day class I'd really wanted to attend in DC but could not, because my actual - rather than virtual - presence was required on a consulting project that's at a critical point.

Deborah's funk music nourished my spirit, reminding me of great times in days past.
Ow, we need the funk
We gotta have that funk
(x2)

La la la la la
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo, owww!
(x2)

Source: “Tear the roof off the sucker (give up the funk),” from Tear the Roof Off - Parliament

And Deborah herself - whom I met last year through a mutual friend - is a soothing presence. Plus, I get a kick out of even the prospect of broadcasting my shows. (Click here to see Mom's theory about that.) I think it's because I get personally informed, instructed, intrigued and inspired when pursuing my "four-eyed" mission.

My dance with music
Some say music calms the savage beast. It's also energizing. Low-key or upbeat, music has always nurtured my soul. A musician-in-hiatus, I have sung in my church choir, K-12 choruses and the Harvard Radcliffe Kuumba Singers; played first violin in innumerable pit orchestras, recitals, chamber orchestras and full orchestras; dabbled with the various other stringed and reed instruments; and (regrettably, in retrospect) declined a scholarship to study music in college. But despite its being integral in my life, even I can't live on music alone; I need tangible sustenance, too. So Deborah and I grabbed a bite en route to Whitney Radio.

During the show
If you joined us at 1:30-2:00 pm, Eastern Time on New York Radio WVOX AM 1460 or http://www.wvox.com/, you sampled a delicious smorgasbord of original music from Deborah’s CD: Deborah Hodge (play list: “Is it Really?,” “Some One,” “Back in the Day,” and “If Your Heart”) and enjoyed tasty tidbits of her perspectives on the music of today, the music business versus the business of music, and what constitutes good musicianship.

Deborah knows from whence she speaks. The vocalist, composer, arranger, writer, music teacher and bandleader has performed internationally, at times with top “cats” like Stanley Turrentine, and in the camp of Alicia Keys, i.e., MBK (“My Brother’s Keeper”) Entertainment.

Listeners feasted on Deborah’s dish on Ms. Keys, presented over the backdrop soulful selections from The Diary of Alicia Keys [Limited Edition w/ Bonus DVD]. But first, my guest prepared listenersÂ’ palettes in anticipation of an upcoming artist Deborah praised as a must-hear. I can't spell her name or find her easily online, but according to Deborah, talented teen Karinna Passione (sp?) speaks multiple languages and boasts an imminent debut with the house of Jay-Z and Antonio "L.A." Reid (Island Def Jam/Universal Music Group). Deborah will review the CD in an upcoming "Lisa Tolliver Show" segment. Stay tuned.

Contact Deborah Hodge
RoMo & Associates, Mgmt.
Telephone: (01) 212.580.0613
E-mail: eborada@hotmail.com

Listen to upcoming shows on New York Radio WVOX AM 1460 and www.wvox.com
September 14
1:00-1:30 pm - SCORE: Counselors to America's Small Business
1:30-2:00 pm - Lisa Tolliver Show (featuring author Nina Foxx)

September 28
1:30-2:00 pm - Lisa Tolliver Show

If you’re listening, I’m listening. Talk with me!
Dial the call-in line at (01) 914.636.0110
Join my intranet at www.communityzero.com/360meridian
Leave a voice message at (01) 309.279.7528
Write me c/o:
360 MERIDIAN LLC
648 Central Park Avenue #405
Scarsdale, NY 10583 USA
1 Wolfs Lane, Box 655
Pelham, NY 10803-9998
USA
##

August 10, 2005 Lisa Tolliver Show: How Some Folklorists Spent Their Summer

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY - How did you spend your summer? Many Americans spend summers barbecuing, enjoying outdoor sports, visiting new places and learning new skills. A select group of 15 participants in the intensive, three-week 2005 Field School for Cultural Documentation accomplished all that, documented other people pursuing those pastimes, and more!

Much more, in fact. Not only did they learn new skills, they applied them to conduct the ethnographic initiative, "Tradition Runs Through It: Environment and Recreation in Provo Canyon." This archive of tape-recorded interviews, photographs, fieldnotes and material culture (i.e., physical artifacts); associated exhibit at BYU's L. Tom Perry Special Collections; and presentations at the exhibit opening/reception on August 5 comprise the initial foundation for the Utah Heritage Project. Field School Co-Directors Kristi Young - Curator of the Wilson Folklore Archives at Brigham Young University, and David Taylor - Folklife Specialist at the Library of Congress American Folklife Center, said the 2005 Field School cohort did the best work they'd ever seen in the decade Field School has been offered! Not a bad for a bunch of greenhorns.

Broadcast synopsis:

In today's follow-up to the July 27 Lisa Tolliver Show broadcast (which prominently featured cultural experts discussing folk life in general and how to preserve it), Young (far left in the photo on the left) and two of Tolliver's Field School classmates, Lisa Powell from Kentucky (second from the left in photo on the left), Steve Taylor from Pennsylvania (photo on the right) , and discussed their summer "vacation alternative" from the trainees' perspective. In contrast, the July 27 show more prominently featured descriptions of folklore in general and how to document it by Field School Co-Directors Young and David Taylor - Folklife Specialist at the Library of Congress American Folklife Center (AFC), Taylor's AFC colleagues Ilana Harlow and Guha Shankar, and documentary photographer Rich Remsberg.

Who participated in Field School 2005?

Alumni are adults from throughout the USA and various professions, who were interested in learning cultural documentation but lacked substantial prior experience. Successful applicants shared their rationale for attending Field School and plans for conducting future ethnographic projects.

What did they learn?

As the Field School website states:

The American Folklife Center, a leader in ethnographic field research for close to three decades, has developed a model for an intensive, three-week-long field school for cultural documentation, and then putting it into action through partnerships with educational institutions across the country. The Center’s field school, which was first held in 1995, offered hands-on training, for beginners, in such areas as research ethics, considerations for preliminary research, interviewing techniques, sound-recording techniques, documentary-photography techniques, ethnographic-observation techniques, fieldnote-writing techniques, the archival organization of multi-format ethnographic collections, and the development of public products and programs based on documentary material gathered in the field. The training, which is provided by members of the Center’s professional staff along with other experienced cultural specialists, includes lectures, hands-on workshops, discussions, and supervised team-based fieldwork with a carefully selected cultural community.


What did they document, exactly?

Field School participants organized into three-person teams to document five specific aspects of Provo Canyon's culture and environment. These included: fly fishing (Powell's team); Mormon dating practices (Taylor's team); the changing faces of Provo Canyon's environment, recreation and people (Tolliver's team); long-term Canyon communities Springdell and Wildwood; and long-standing local families, such as the Stewarts (who once owned substantial acreage in Provo Canyon, christened many landmarks with the family moniker, and continue to wield substantial influence locally).

To learn more:

To learn more about "Tradition Runs Through It," click here. To learn about applying to Library of Congress-sponsored Field Schools for Cultural Documentation, click here. To get ideas and assistance to conduct folklore projects click here.

Next broadcast:
Lisa Tolliver ShowAugust 24 at 1:30-2:00 pm, Eastern Time
New York Radio WVOX AM 1460 or www.wvox.com
Call-in line: (01) 914 636 0110
###

Tolliver presents "Virtual communities: What, who, when, where, how, why and ... why not?"

Provo, UT - Lisa Tolliver presented "Virtual communities: What, who, when, where, how, why and...why not?" at the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Speaker Series at Brigham Young University ("BYU") on August 5, 2005. Accidentally doubled-booked by BYU for delivery as an Omnibus Lecture on August 4 and rescheduled for the next day, the interactive, multimedia presentation included the unveiling of a virtual community Tolliver established for the target audience. The site is a place that provides a user-friendly treasure trove of tools, information and resources and a space for collaboration and information sharing among the subjects and geographically dispersed ethnographers who participated in the 2005 Field School for Cultural Documentation and Utah Heritage Project, "Traditions Run Through It: Environment and Recreation in Provo Canyon" ("TRTI").

In response to the venue change, Tolliver made her presentation more interactive and integrated contributions from Field School instructors and participants. For example, she invited fellow Field School participant/TRTI researcher Lisa Powell to present the five stages of group development (forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning) and co-facilitate a discussion of how those stages manifested themselves in the Field School/TRTI community. Additionally, she demonstrated how easy it was to share photographs using a slideshow compiled by Field School Instructor/Library of Congress Folklore Specialist Guha Shankar, PhD.
To:

• Read the presentation abstract, click here.
• Visit the TRTI virtual community, click here.
• Learn more about the TRTI ethnographic project (conducted by participants in the 2005 Field School for Cultural Documentation), exhibit and archive, click here.
• Read synopses of the Lisa Tolliver Show broadcasts discussing Field School 2005, click here.

Lecture details:

Date: Friday, August 4, 2005
Time: 12:00 - 1:00 pm
Location: DeLamar Jensen Lecture Room, 1130 HBLL
Abstract: http://www.writers.net/writers/books/27733
###

July 27, 2005 Lisa Tolliver Show broadcasts live from Provo, Utah

Provo, UT - Lisa Tolliver, fellow Field School for Cultural Documentation participant Lisa Powell from Kentucky, and their instructors discussed their work on "Tradition Runs Through It: Environment and Recreation in Provo Canyon." The instructors -- Library of Congress Folklore Specialists Ilana Harlow, Guha Shankar, and David Taylor; Wilson Folklore Archives Curator and Field School Co-Director Kristi Young; and documentary photographer Rich Remsberg -- defined folklore and ethnography and urged listeners to contact local experts who could help conduct cultural documentation projects of their own. Popular examples include: creating scrapbooks, videotaping oral histories and archiving collections of papers and photographs.

The three-week 2005 Field School for Cultural Documentation is sponsored by the Library of Congress American Folklife Center and Brigham Young University ("BYU"). Participants are learning the tools and techniques of ethnography and applying them to Provo Canyon on behalf of the Utah Heritage Project. On Friday, August 5 at 7 pm, they will present their work at the "Tradition Runs Through It" exhibit opening and reception at BYU's L. Tom Perry Special Collections. The entire collection of field notes, photographs, tape recorded oral histories and material culture collected and developed during Field School 2005 will be archived at the Wilson Folklore Archives.

Next broadcast:

"Lisa Tolliver Show"
Wednesday, August 10 at 1:30-2:00 pm, Eastern Time
New York Radio WVOX AM 1460 or www.wvox.com

July 13, 2005 "Lisa Tolliver Show" features multi-taskers extraordinaire: Faye Ran, Darius Myers and George Tinnin

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY - How many plates can one spin without mishap? For expert multi-taskers like today's guests, the answer is: plenty. Take featured guest: Dr. Faye Ran - artist, educator, college administrator and single mother. Or one of my co-hosts: Darius Myers - President and CEO of Sportscart Media, who has a novel in the works and runs several miles each morning, even on days he golfs 18 holes; or George Tinnin - university professor, management consultant, doctoral candidate and family man.

Join me in upcoming broadcasts:

I broadcast the Lisa Tolliver Show every 2nd and 4th Wednesday at 1:30-2:00 p.m., Eastern Time and SCORE Radio at 1:00-1:30 p.m., Eastern Time on a rotating basis with other SCORE Business Counselors. Upcoming shows...

July 27:

• Lisa Tolliver Show

August 10:

• Lisa Tolliver Show

August 24:

• Lisa Tolliver Show

September 14:

• SCORE Radio
• Lisa Tolliver Show

September 28:

• Lisa Tolliver Show

How to tune in:

Tune your radio dial to WVOX AM 1460.
Listen live at www.wvox.com.
Phone our call-in line at (01) 914-636-0110 to hear and share, from anywhere.


You're invited:

If you're listening, I'm listening. Talk with me!
###

July 13, 2005 SCORE Radio broadcast features host Lisa Tolliver and guest Darius Myers, President and CEO of Sportscart Media

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY - "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." That's my motto and I've been sticking to it throughout my career as a strategic planner. I cited it again today, conveniently using as my platform the SCORE Radio broadcast I hosted on WVOX AM 1460.

About the show:

The show, which airs at 1:00-1:30 pm, Eastern Time every second and fourth Wednesday, featured guest expert Darius Myers, President and CEO of Sportscart Media (www.sportscartmedia.com/). In fact, Darius went one step further, sharing his view (with which I concur) that strategic planning should not be relegated to business. Rather, it can and should be incorporated into every aspect of our everyday lives.

Through business planning, Myers identified a unique business proposition that combined his love of golf, talent and experience in advertising sales and marketing. The result was a business plan for Sportscart Media, a firm that places non-intrusive mobile advertising on the sides of sports carts that traverse top golf courses in the USA. The plan was sufficiently compelling to garner partnerships with a sports cart manufacturer and top drawer sales and marketing professionals, attract the substantial investment required to custom-design and amass a fleet of sports carts, and to generate media attention in fine outlets like SCORE Radio and Lisa Tolliver On Air and Online. Click the link to view the firm's media kit: www.sportscartmedia.com/media.html.

Elevator pitches:

Myers also effectively demonstrated another topic that I frequently preach about: the importance of having a polished, effective elevator pitch. An elevator pitch is a 30-second or 60-second "commercial" that describes who you are and what you do. It should anticipate the challenge, "So what?" and pique the interest of listeners (who might be potential customers, investors, partners or colleagues) so they'll want to hear more. Side note: elevator pitches also make great cocktail party conversation-starters and job interview spiels.

About SCORE Chapter 306:

Today's show also introduced listeners to the wealth of business planning and other resources offered by SCORE Chapter 306, Westchester County's award-winning volunteer corps and non-profit subsidiary of the U.S. Small Business Administration. SCORE Chapter 306 is located at 120 Bloomingdale Road in White Plains, NY 10605. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 9 AM - noon, Eastern Time. Weekly seminars on topics essential to starting, financing and running a small business are offered every Wednesday at 1:00-3:00; no appointment is needed. Phone SCORE Chapter 306 at (01) 914-948-3907. Visit the chapter online at http://www.scorewestchester.com/ to learn about the weekly counseling sessions, training seminars, other events and volunteers.

About the producer/host:

In addition to hosting SCORE Radio on a rotating basis with other volunteer business experts, I'm both a SCORE counselor and client. I was honored to be selected as a "2001 SCORE Success Story" and keynote speaker for SCORE's May 2001 event at the White Plains, NY YWCA: "So You Really Want to Start Your Own Business?" Click the link to read "Meet SCORE Counselor Lisa "Tolliver" (www.score.org/volunteer_tolliver).

Upcoming broadcasts:

I will next host SCORE Radio on September 14, 2005 at 1:00-1:30 PM, Eastern Time on WVOX AM 1460.

I also host The Lisa Tolliver Show every 2nd and 4th Wednesday at 1:30-2:00 PM, Eastern Time on WVOX AM 1460 after SCORE Radio. The show's "four-eyed" mission: to inform, instruct, intrigue and inspire listeners about what's happening in the world of non-profits and public affairs.

Join me in the upcoming broadcasts:

July 27,
August 10 and 24 and
September 14 and 28

How to tune in:

Tune your radio dial to WVOX AM 1460
Listen live at www.wvox.com
Hear and share, from anywhere, via our call-in line: (01) 914-636-0110
Coming soon: listen via podcast

You're invited:

If you're listening, I'm listening. Talk with me!
###

40th anniversary of the slurpee

By D. Hargrove - ORANGE COUNTY, FL and L. Tolliver - WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY - Some trivia...Today is the 40th anniversary of the slurpee, first sold in 7-Elevens across the USA in July 1965. Family nights at Casino Pool in Freeport, NY always included slurpees back in the 60's.

Photo credit: www.slurpee.com/story_history.html

London to Host 2012 Olympic Games: New Yorkers keep stiff upper lips

Note RE: Use of NYC 2012 Logo - Tolliver is a registered NYC2012 volunteer

by L. Tolliver, D. Hargrove and D. Myers
=
WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY - We New Yorkers know it ain't over 'til it's over. And it ain't over 'til the fat lady sings.

Unfortunately, Her Voluptuousness has been vocalizing overtime in Gotham City. Last year, she sang when the Red Sox beat the Yankees, breaking the curse of the Bambino. Last month, she crooned when Mayor Bloomberg’s bid to build a $2 billion stadium on the West Side of Manhattan was scuttled—plucking the jewel from the crown of NYC2012’s proposal. This morning, she sounded reveille, rudely awakening NYC2012 supporters from their pipe dream to host the 2012 Olympics. Channeling the blues through the announcer of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) verdict, she belted from Singapore: “The city of New York will not be participating in the next round.” The coda: London was named host city.

Fellow fans of the CBS-TV hit Survivor surely experienced the votes as I did, picturing Olympic torches extinguishing each time the tribe (read IOC) spoke. Nyet!" ousted Moscow. "Fuggedaboudit!" booted the Big Apple. "Adios!" removed Madrid. "Mais non!" fried Paris. In light of that Singapore slingfest, I'm glad I didn't attend the NYC2012 event (described in the invitation as a "victory celebration”) in Rockefeller Center last night. Standing outside in the storm watching a Jumbotron broadcast the IOC vote would have been morbid, and too reminiscent of the many wakes I’ve attended lately.

In contrast, Mick Jagger and David Bowie’s 1985 duet, “Dancin’ in the Street,” describes the Brits’ behavior since this morning. That’s when they learned the 2012 Olympics had been voted onto their island. London last hosted the Games in 1948.

England’s selection was no shock, Sherlock; many media wonks had predicted London or Paris would win the Games. (In contrast, bookies had widely missed the mark, calculating 7:1 odds against London, according to Today Show reports on NBC this morning.) Bottom line: those imperialist nations across the big pond might have lost the American colonies two centuries ago, but they roundly trounced us revolutionaryYanks in the battle for 2012. Gracious in defeat, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and NYC2012 Founder and Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff congratulated London and said New York had benefited from bidding despite being eliminated early on.

Several obvious factors likely stole home from New York. One is the fact that four Olympic Games have been hosted in the USA. Perhaps more importantly, the West Side Stadium shutout fiasco, the dysfunctional dynamics surrounding it, and the resulting mad scramble to feature Olympic venues that New York City could actually offer would have driven even Batman and Robin to flee Gotham City. Picture their batmobile trailing burned rubber and cries of “Holy Cow!" (a la Yankee Great Phil Rizzuto).

Gotham's real-life Dynamic Duo--Bloomberg and Doctoroff--and the NYC2012 team made valiant efforts. However, despite feedback that the New Yorkers threw their best pitch, the Yanks’ Madison Avenue-quality, celebrity-endorsed proposal to host the upcoming Games was too little, too late. NYC2012 struck out.

Maybe that outcome’s for the best. It’s not clear that hosting the 2012 games would turn a profit, and the USA—and New York in particular—are still shaking dust off their cleats from the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks, from the soft economy that preceded them and from financing the War on Terror. Moreover, we’ve got other balls in the air, such as a 9/11 memorial to build in TriBeCa and NYC stadium plans to resolve. Maybe over the next four years we’ll step up to the plate again, and hit a grand slam to win the Games.

Meanwhile, I’m phoning my college suite-mate and Lisa Tolliver Show film correspondent, Cheryl Dixon, to reserve my room at her family’s London digs for 2012. Next step: finding suitable lodging for the 2006 XXth Olympic Winter Games in London. ###

June 22 "Lisa Tolliver Show" features the Bridge Street Development Corporation

Join Bridge Street Development Corporation President & CEO, Rhonda Lewis, and Vice President of Real Estate Development, Sondra Ford, and me. Tune your radio dial to WVOX AM 1460 or listen live at www.WVOX.com on Wednesday, June 22 at 1:30-2:00 pm, ET.

Here's information about today's featured non-profit:

Bridge Street Development Corporation
Building on Community Strength
266 Stuyvesant Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11221
(718) 573-6893
www.bsdcorp.org
email info@bsdcorp.org

MISSION: To help residents of the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn acquire appreciating assets including real estate, businesses, and education. BSDC is a faith-based CDC committed to restoring Bedford-Stuyvesant to the ranks of the most desirable places to raise families and do business.

For more information about the "Lisa Tolliver Show," to pitch your story or to submit your sponsorship proposal, click here.

Next broadcasts:
July 13 at 1:00-1:30 p.m., ET, "SCORE: Counselors to America's Small Business"
July 13 at 1:30-2:00 p.m., ET, "The Lisa Tolliver Show"

Happy Father's Day (from a daddy's girl twice-over)

Cheers to all fathers, stepfather, grandfathers, great grandfathers, godfathers and father figures!

I'm blessed to be a daddy's girl twice-over. Credit great relationships with both my Dad--a Korean War veteran who served in the Marines and aircraft electrician who installed the telephone system in JFK's Air Force One as well as bottle warmers for Jackie's tots--and my stepfather--a Naval Academy graduate and law firm partner. I also cherish the other strong, positive males who significantly shaped the people my brother, Bob, and I have become. There's no question those influences contributed to Bob's being a great dad in his own right.

Every child deserves a positive father figure. Whether there is a great dad at home or not, clergymen, educators, coaches and relatives can often make excellent mentors and role models. Consequently, I urge boys and girls to affiliate themselves with their local house of worship, Boys & Girls Club and other organizations that support and mentor youth. A few other examples include: the YMCA, YWCA, Boys Scouts of America, Girl Scouts of America, National Brotherhood of Skiers. Naturally, parents or guardians should investigate and give approval for groups their children join and people with whom they spend time. And as we learned from some parents who testified in the Michael Jackson cases--those who they let their kids sleep at Neverland despite the abuse they claimed occured there--responsible adults outside of the home sometimes nurture kids more than parents do.

Some favorite pop culture media that celebrate fathers include:

• "Daddy's Little Girl" (song by the Mills Brothers)
• "Fatherhood" (Nickolodeon show produced by Bill Cosby)
• "Boyz in the Hood" and "Grand Canyon" (movies that painfully contrast the outcomes for boys in urban L.A. who have strong father figures and those who don't)

Feel free to share your Father's Day stories and media citations.

”Lisa Tolliver Show” past guest (and Lisa’s aunt) Mary Frances Golff died 5/16/2005

MIAMI, FL - Mary Frances Golff participated in a 2004 “Lisa Tolliver Show” broadcast encouraging listener participation in Make a Difference Day. She was an angel who made a huge difference in her church, her community and her family. Upon her death on May 16, 2005, she undoubtedly earned her wings.

Frances (as she was affectionately known) was far more than a do-gooder and friend of my show. She was also my paternal aunt, the family matriarch (after her mother, Pearl, died in 1990) and my ace boon coon. I captured some of Aunt Frances’ dynamic spirit and legacy in the obituary I wrote (and orally presented) at the funeral.

A native New Yorker, Aunt Frances moved to Miami in September 2004 to live with her son, Frank, Jr. (affectionately known as “Nicky”). Although always cheerful, she suffered from various ailments related to diabetes and died of a heart attack on May 16, 2005. The wake and funeral services were held in North Miami on Friday and Saturday, May 20 and 21, respectively.

I admired, respected, emulated and adored my Aunt Frances. It was a privilege and an honor to know her and to know how much she loved me. I had planned to visit her in Miami this summer and regret not doing so when it mattered. Readers, please do not make the mistake I made…do not put off until tomorrow spending time with and taking every opportunity to show appreciation for your loved ones. Tomorrow is not promised.

My mum sent me this comforting passage, which had been forwarded to her by Miriam Jenkins, Apopka High School, Girls Basketball. Perhaps you’ll enjoy it, too. I know Aunt Frances would have.

Yesterday is history
Tomorrow is a mystery
Today is a gift
That is why it is called the present!

I think this life is special,
live and savor every moment!
Life is not a dress rehearsal!

5/25 "Lisa Tolliver Show" reruns search engine seminar with web diva Stephanie Cockerl

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY - I rebroadcast this show (which originally aired in 2003) because my heart wasn't into doing a live one. I'd planned to celebrate Memorial Day on air, but my beloved Aunt Frances died (see posting).

I swiped Search Engine audiofile from the archives of “T3: Trends, Tips & Tools for Everyday Living,” an on-air magazine I produced and co-hosted with a roster of subject matter experts, most frequently Stephanie Cockerl. Steph, who owns web design and consulting firm NextSteph, is one of the wizards behind the curtain of award-winning website www.metropolitan.edu. She also teaches at the Metropolitan College of New York School for Business.

5/25 "SCORE Radio" broadcast reruns interview with multimedia artist Steve Williams & on-air advisement session with interior designer Cory Michael

I rebroadcast this show (which originally aired in 2002) because my heart wasn't into doing the live one I'd planned RE: World Trade Week 2005. See the post above RE: the death of my beloved Aunt Frances.

Steve Williams has contracts with such organizations as the National Basketball Association, various entertainment industry clients and institutional clients. Cory Michael does interior design--including textured wall, floor and ceiling designs-- for residential and business customers, such as Circle Entertainment (whose Cory Michael design incorporates the clients' platinum records). He also designs clothing for his brother and sister who are professional singers/musicians. Steve, who hails from South Carolina, and Cory, who's originally from N'Awlins, are young, hunky, southern gentlemen with fantastic talents and bright futures. I'll soon post the audiotape of that show right here so you can hear it for yourself!

"Lisa Tolliver Show" guest, Lowes Moore, initiates weekly gang suppression meetings at Mount Vernon Boys & Girls Club

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY - We don't need no stinkin' gangs.

Although not a direct quote, that's the clear message that Mount Vernon Boys and Girls Club (MVBGC) members and friends are sending lately.

On May 3, Lowes Moore - MVBGC Executive Director and alumnus - initiated a weekly discussion series to help parents and community members identify and suppress kids' involvement in gangs. The format: discussions led by speakers such as Moore, educators and Westchester District Attorney, Jeanine Pirro, and frank exchanges among all participants. Although adults are the target audience for these sessions, young people have been joining in voluntarily. And so far, when the one-hour Tuesday night sessions are scheduled to wrap up at 7:30 p.m., the participants seem to be just warming up. The discussions consistently continue both inside and outside the club and throughout the week.

Are the sessions helpful? It's still early yet, but the immediate impacts are unmistakable. For example, the very day after the first meeting, Moore received requests for help from concerned parents who'd learned to detect warning signs of gang involvement in their childrens' behavior and attire. The young people are showing the effects, too. They have thanked Moore for holding the sessions and apparently look forward to attending them. Moreover, they relentessly apply peer pressure to cronies who wear garments that resemble gang colors. Apparently, members of the club have no use for gang activity.

NOTE: Lisa Tolliver serves on the MVBGC Board of Directors.
DONATE TO MVBGC: http://www.bgcmvny.com/index.php?PID=5&cid=2#Help

And that, dear readers, is precisely the point.

Click here to visit the MVBGC online. It is located at South Sixth Avenue in Mount Vernon, NY.

This summer, I'm teaching two sections of a 15-week course: "Developing a Busiiness Plan"

"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." - Common saying, author unknown

Off air:

This summer, I'm facilitating approximately 20 adult students to write strategic business plans. That's fun and exciting for me, and apparently quite intimidating for some of them. At least so far. However, if they adhere to three critical success factors (CSFs), they will write actionable plans and might even enjoy the process.

Here are the three CSPs:

• Plan the work and work the plan (which it's my job to help them do in the guided independent study course)
• Select a project they're passionate about and/or have to do anyway
• Adhere to the KISS Principle (Keep it Simple, Student)

I know from whence I speak. I've been a strategic planner throughout my career and developed plans for a virtual cornucopia of initiatives. These range from corporate plans for multinational firms to business and marketing plans for small start-up ventures and entertainment projects.

Here's a secret: what's at stake and how one manages the relevant people and processes may differ vastly among various planning projects, but the essential elements of a strategic plan do not. Imagine how drastically the divorce rate would plunge if more people were strategic and planful about selecting a mate, crafting mutually agreeable short and long-term goals, and periodically discusssing their shared vision of the future.

On air:

These are the topics I address in my radio and lecture series: "The business side of love and marriage."

April 27 "Lisa Tolliver Show" broadcast celebrates Mother's Day and National Poetry Month

Guest Jen Gross (author of A Visit Up & Down Wall Street), Dee Hargrove (Lisa's mother and an educator), Norman Smalls (theater producer and one of the "Business of Creativity Conference" organizers) and Ramona Wiley (founder of New Day Women's Services) helped Lisa Tolliver celebrate Mother's Day and National Poetry Month.

Here are some Mother's Day resources: http://special.msn.com/network/05mothersday.armx?GT1=6393

Here's the Mother's Day poem Lisa composed to honor Dee:
You're five foot six and I'm five foot two
But that's not why I look up to you.
Yours is the face that one should see
When looking up "love" in the dictionary.

April 27 "SCORE Radio" broadcast features author Jen Gross

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY - Last Wednesday, it was my turn to host "SCORE Radio" on WVOX AM 1460. The show is sponsored by SCORE: Counselors to America's Small Business, Chapter 306 and hosted by a team of volunteer business experts. We broadcast every 2nd and 4th Wednesday at 1:00-1:30 pm, Eastern Time. Listeners outside of broadcast range online can listen live online at www.wvox.com or hear and share by phone at 914.636.0110.

My guest--mother, children's book author and Wall Street trader, Jen Gross--helped celebrate the United Nations Decade of World Literacy (2003-2012), National Take Your Child to Work Day (April 28, 2005) and Mother's Day (May 8, 2005). She discussed her book, A Visit Up & Down Wall Street, the process of co-authoring it with gal pal, Jen Hoch, and the illustrations by her mom, Margaret Gross. The attractive, colorful, hardcover book is the first of a series to be published by Harry and Stephanie Books and is targeted for kids aged 4-10. Younger kids (like Jen's 3 year old son, Harry) enjoy it too, when someone reads it to them. I daresay older kids (like I) also find it enjoyable and informative.

Here are some useful resources for writers and small business owners:

• Arts and Business Council
• Foundation Center - funding and grantmaking resources
• National Endowment for the Arts
• National Endowment for the Humanities
• National Writers Union
• New York Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts
• SCORE: Counselors to America's Small Business
• U.S. Copyright Office
• U.S. Small Business Administration

Experiment with an audio post

April 13 "Lisa Tolliver Show" broadcast celebrates Poetry Month and the business of creativity

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY -
Today's guests:
Cheryl Dixon, Entertainment & Media Professional and co-founder, DC Film Society
Rocco de Giacomo, Editor-in-Chief of Latchkey.net
Fred C. Rutherford *
Jessica Nyel Willis *

* Co-organizers of MCNY's MBA in Media Management Program conference on April 26--The Business of Creativity--and founding member of the Graduate Media Association.

Lisa Tolliver wins 2005 Emmis Communications/98.7 KISS FM Phenomenal Woman Award

Photo:

Receiving award from KISS-FM Radio Host Kesha Monk

• With fellow Phenomenal Woman, American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino

NEW YORK, NY - On April 7, 2005, Emmis Communications/98.7 KISS FM celebrated Women's History Month by introducing its first annual salute to Phenomenal Women. I was honored to be among those selected. As Emmis Communications puts it, the luncheon-awards ceremony was:

"An empowering event saluting Phenomenal Women throughout the tri-state area who are breaking records in business, education, the community & family, technology, the arts/entertainment, medicine, local politics, etc. Women who inspire and empower...NOW THAT'S PHENOMENAL....ordinary women doing extraordinary things....NOW THAT'S PHENOMENAL.....women making positive change....NOW THAT'S PHENOMENAL.....women that anchor our communities...NOW THAT'S THE KISS PHENOMENAL WOMAN!"

Here's the complete list of winners:

Adonica Harrison
Adrienne Wheeler
Alleyne Fraser
Allison J. Davis
Amy Barnett
Andrea Lunkins
Audra McDonald
Beryl Clark
Brenda Blackman
C. Virgina Fields
Capathia Jenkins
Carla Harris
Cheryl Marrow
Chrisena Coleman
Cissy Houston
Dara Richardson-Heron,
Deborah Williams
Dedra Tate
Denise Howard
Dr. Donna Mendes
Elaine Edmonds
Elaine Flake
Erica Ford
Erika Ewing
Fantasia Barrino (American Idol – Winner)

Fantasia Goodwin
Faye Wattleton
Gayle King
Joi Gordon
Jonelle Procope
Judith McRae
Kathryn E. Gibson
L. Marilyn Crawford
Leah Wilcox
Lisa Tolliver

Mamie McDonald
Maria Davis
Marilyn Francine Braxton
Mary Smith
Miriam Raccha
Olivia McClurkin
Pamela Price
Patricia Sweeney
Rachel Lloyd
Rolonda Watts
Ruth Hunt
Sandra Parks
Sharon Goodine
Shawn Lawson-Cummings
Shirley Madhere
Shon Gables
Susan Taylor
Tai Murray
Travia Charmont
Wincey Terry Bryant
Valerie Simpson
Vy Higginsen