Tola Talks Movie Mondays & Brad Pitt’s Fury

 

Tola Talks breaking NFL records & Payton Manning, Monica Lewinsky & Bill Clinton’s impeachment, nearly extinct Northern White Rhinos & greedy humans, Comets missing Mars & the Hubble Space Telescope, plus the GYST Award and how to stay motivated to workout. On Movie Mondays, Rich and guest co-host Troy Titus-Adams review Brad Pitt‘s World World II Sherman Tank drama, Fury. Weekdays on youtube.com/tolatalks.

The past two weeks of Movie Mondays on Tola Talks - The Judge & Fury
The past two weeks of Movie Mondays on Tola Talks – The Judge & Fury

 

Memoirs – Coming Soon!

After two months of trying to attract the right publisher – or any publisher for that matter – I’ve decided to take the plunge! That is, take the plunge into self-publishing my memoirs with Amazon’s independent publishing company, CreateSpace. And I must say, thus far I’m quite pleased with the process and my CreateSpace team. By the looks of it, the book will be available in late January, and to say the least, I’m really looking forward to it. And for anyone not familiar with my 45 years of rather colorful stories, here’s a preview of Chapters 11-20 in, Simply Between Millions: From Wall Street to Hollywood.

At age nine I watched the 1969 classic, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. From that point on, I became fascinated with Hollywood’s “world of make-believe”. So Chapter 11, Hole-in-the-Wall Gang, is aptly named after Robert Redford’s gang of bank robbers, and sets the stage for my dreams of becoming “the Sundance Kid”. Chapter 12, The Belt, touches upon the cycle of domestic violence and the abusive grandfather I never knew and met only once, while Chapters 13 – 15, All-Stars, Going to PENN, and Just Say No, explain my early teenage years and how baseball and my parents’ “Sicilian parenting” impacted my life and set the stage for the next 30 years. In Chapter 16, Sweet 16, I unofficially become of legal drinking age and recall my not-so-virginal romance with a gal stricken with Anorexia Nervosa – a horrible disorder that rears its nasty head time and time again (as well as in my film, Boulevard Zen). Chapter 17, Jersey Shore, is quite amusing with tales of adolescent debauchery that I’m sure you’ve seen on the popular reality show of the same name, albeit, without the scripts and cameras! In Chapter 18, The Game, you’ll experience the best High School baseball game of all-time – all 20 innings worth, while Chapter 19, Dear Olde PENN, introduces you to one of the best colleges in the world, The University of Pennsylvania, as well as the gritty bars of Philadelphia in the early 80’s. As for Chapter 20, Two Minute Drill, no, it’s not about the final two minutes of a football game. Rather, imagine what it’s like drinking 8 beers in 2 minutes, and then imagine what it’s like seeing 400+ wild and crazy gals hooting it up at the hottest Ladies Club in town – with your best friend as the lead attraction!

Good stuff that makes for some fun reading! So, like I said earlier, I’m really looking forward to self-publishing my colorful memoirs in the coming months. I hope you are too. Have a wonderful day – and don’t forget to get your workout in! – R

Sad but true

There’s so much to speak of these days that’s very sad but true.  In addition to the catastrophes and chaos around the globe, this morning I learned about the passing of legendary speech pathologist and dialogue coach, Sam Chwat.  Sam helped thousands of people with speech challenges, as well as coach Hollywood stars like Robert DeNiro, Julia Roberts, Andie MacDowell and Tony Danza, to perfect and/or eliminate accents.  I was fortunate enough to meet Sam the winter of 2006, when I received coaching from his associate, Jessica, before moving to Los Angeles.  He was exactly 10 years older than me. An age far too young to go.  So today, let’s open ours hearts to all those who are suffering and all those who have passed.  And enjoy workout #19 – Heart Openers.  R