Today we’re talking about the 10th leading cause of death in the United States: suicide. To put it bluntly – and I say this numerous times on the show – suicide sucks so don’t f**king do it! Because not only does it eliminate nearly 50,000 lives every year, that’s 1 death every 11 minutes, it has far-reaching impacts including serious emotional, physical and economic costs to society. With depression and anxiety among teens and young adults at an all time high, especially with the fear mongering from COVID and Omicron, suicide has to be thwarted and stopped. Not to mention that anxiety affects 1/3 of adults and adolescents in the United States today, further complicating matters. And kudos to all schools K-12 for their prevention efforts against bullying and other forms of abuse that adversely affect students of all ages. So what should you do if you’re anxious and distraught: save yourself with fitness and yoga, and more specifically, come take my Tola Yoga class at Plano Athletic Club starting this Saturday at 12:30p. That’s right, Tola Yoga is back, and I’d love to see you there front and center. Because who doesn’t want to empower their mind, body and soul while drinking from the Fountain of Youth? Plus kudos to the David Bowie estate as well as Bruce Springsteen, aka The Boss, for such massive sales of their music publishing rights. PS – good luck to my father with his cancer surgery at Sloan Kettering today…you’re gonna rock it! Peace – R
Tola Talks Ferguson, Palcohol, Bullys & TBT 1975
Tola Talks about the cowardly ambush in Ferguson, the invention of Palcohol – the new powdered alcohol, and the three boys who stepped up to defend a girl with Down syndrome at their basketball game. Plus, it’s Throwback Thursday so we’er going back 40 years to 1975 when Bruce Springsteen released Born to Run and the Godfather Part II won 6 Oscars, not to mention personal stories about bullying & Little League Baseball. Weekdays on youtube.com/tolatalks
Tola Talks Super Saturn, Family Suicide & We Are The World
Tola Talks about the suicidal parents in Utah, the Super Saturn with gigantic rings, Apple Computer making money hand over fist, and the wacko actor in Toronto who got arrested for voyeurism. On WTF Wednesday, Rich also celebrates the 30 year anniversary of the hit charity single, We Are The World, by Lionel Richie & Michael Jackson. Watch @ youtube.com/tolatalks
Tola Talks Veterans Day w/ Americana Band, Gun Hill Royals
Tola Talks about America’s history and salutes the military service men and women with a special Veterans Day tribute including freebies for Vets throughout the country, lesser know facts about WWII, Starbucks CEO Howard Shultz and his 5-year plan to employ 10,000 Vets, plus the all-star Concert for Valor tonight in Washington D.C. headlined by Bruce Springsteen, Eminem, Rihanna, Jennifer Hudson & Carrie Underwood. On Acoustic Tuesdays, Rich also interviews the Country-Americana band from LA, The Gun Hill Royals, who perform live.
Weekdays on youtube.com/tolatalks
Tola Talks with Lucid Dreamer & Mucisian Chris Duque
Tola Talks with Lucid Dreamer & Musician Chris Duque. On Top 10 Tuesdays, Rich also ranks his Top 10 Albums of All Time (before he turned 30). Weekdays on youtube.com/tolatalks
No Retreat, baby, No Surrender
Bruce Springsteeen’s quintessential phrase “No Retreat, baby, No Surrender” from his mega-hit, No Surrender, penetrates much deeper than our country’s blood brothers in the stormy night vowing to defend us through raging Wars. At least it does for me. And today was a perfect example of how a powerful song like this can inspire me to inspire you…30 years later.
Just as this song came on my playlist today about halfway through my 2-mile run, I passed this elderly woman walking up the hill. She had to be at least 90 years old, all hunched over and wearing a light blue cardigan sweater and dark wrap-around sunglasses to shield her from the rays. She was ever so delicately ambling up the steep incline with the help a walking cane. And if you’ve ever traveled up that 1-mile stretch from San Fernando Blvd to Sunset Canyon Drive at the base of the Verdugo Mountains in Burbank (see photo), you know that it’s pretty darn steep. So much so that it probably took this senior citizen 20 minutes to walk to the next house. No matter, because she was still walking up that hill.
Because getting older doesn’t mean you can’t fight Father Time and do something every single day to strengthen your muscles – and your bones – and to preserve your body as best you can. It’s called a Daily Fitness Program, and ANYONE can do it.
And it doesn’t matter what you do: walk, jog, bike, swim, Yoga, weights, Hulu-Hoop, whatever! Just do something, like the elderly woman in Burbank. While you still can.
Peace – R