Hey out there Akronites.

Welcome once again to Around Akron with Blue green.

And yes, we have an amazing show ahead of us today.

We're going to go check out a display at the Kenmore Historical Society.

Then it's over to the Really?

Goody!

studio to learn all about podcasting.

Then I'm going to touch back with Minus the Alien and learn all about his new podcast, The Plat.

And then we're going to learn about Earth Science with Michelle Davis.

Now, to kick this show off today, we're going to head down to the Kenmore Boulevard to learn all about the historical display put on by the Kenmore Historical Society.

Let's go see what it's all about.

So I'm a fourth generation resident of Kenmore.

My great grandfather built one of the buildings on the boulevard.

He ran a jewelry shop out of it for a little while.

The building still around.

It's 940 Florida Avenue currently houses Dreams Academy.

And, eventually he bought the house, next to where we live now, family's been here a really long time, and, everyone seems to know us, so I grew up here, went to Lawndale Elementary.

Just got a lot of pride for my family.

I graduated from the University of Akron in 2018, with a degree in civil engineering.

That degree could have taken me anywhere in the world.

But when I sat down and thought about where I really wanted to be, I wanted to come back home to Kenmore because I felt like the neighborhood needed some younger leaders to step up and kind of help out.

When I was growing up, we had a ton of families here that were very involved.

And then just over the years, they got older and, you know, as they died off, some of the kids, moved away.

So we were really hurting for younger talent.

So when I sat down and thought about it, I really thought that I could come back home and make a difference.

So after college, I came back to Kenmore.

I mean, not that I was that far away.

I lived down Akron U But, you know, come back to Kenmore after college.

I just started getting involved with things around here.

We did a lot, had a lot of events on the Boulevard, just different things going on in the community.

And my family has always been involved since I was a kid.

So just helping out and stuff just felt natural to me anyway.

So I slowly became involved with the historical society.

And when Jan was the president, she kind of let me know that I'm going to be stepping away from the presidency just because of, age and just kind of wanting to back off a little bit.

So I kind of had a warning, but ultimately I kind of had to step up as president or else the historical society probably wouldn't be around today.

So I stepped up in 2022 and became the president.

So Better Kenmore CDC reached out to us a little over a year ago.

The building that we're sitting in right now, was originally the McCutchan building.

The McCutchan was a big name in town.

They had an HVAC.

They ran HVAC stuff out of here.

And before it was the McCutchan building, it was Lowry, which Lowry is actually still around there over on Wilbeth now.

So they reached out to us.

They said, hey, we're going to be reopening this building.

We want to make a connection with the community, and we want the community to feel welcome here.

We'd like to work with you guys to have a display in the front of the building.

My response to that was, That's awesome.

But we are a volunteer organization.

We are strictly run on volunteers.

We don't have a lot of funds.

I don't know if we can make this happen with the funding that we have right now.

So Better Kenmore came back to me and said, there's a grant application available from the state of Ohio, the Ohio History Fund.

They said we think we can make a pretty good case to get the grant.

So I said, well, I'm in.

You guys can get it.

I'm in.

So we applied for it together.

And a big shout out to Better Kenmore because they did a lot of the work with the grant application.

We worked on it together.

We put the grant in and lo and behold, we got it.

So the grant was to have a rotating display in the front of the, better Kenmore CDC building.

So we plan on rotating the display every 3 to 4 months.

So it's a way for the community to come in and, you know, take a look and see some of our history.

We have a lot of items, but because we do not have a physical location, we don't get the opportunity to share them that much with the community.

So we were really excited to have the opportunity to be able to share what we have with the community.

So some of my goals for the Kenmore Historical Society.

I'd like to start small.

First of all, our website is really dated.

Like, if you look at the website, it screams 2003, which there's nothing wrong with that.

But I do want to modernize it a little bit.

Hopefully I can find a way to get people to pay for memberships online so they don't have to keep handing us checks every time they see us.

That sounds like something real simple, but we are a volunteer only organization.

You know, I have a main job.

I work, a lot of people that are involved with us work other jobs Some people are retired, which is nice, but, it really, you know, it's just volunteer time and a long term goal for us.

We'd like to find a permanent home.

We've had a lot of interest from people.

There's an old one room schoolhouse on Wilbeth Road.

Every time I talk to people, they always seem to mention that.

So we went ahead and filed an application with the Summit County Land Bank.

The property was formerly a church, and the church ceased operations in 2014.

So they're working on getting the property.

It's kind of hard because the owner of the property doesn't exist anymore.

So I'm sure there's a bunch of stuff they kind of have to do to get that.

But we are working with them.

Hopefully we can get the building, and once we get the building, we're gonna need a lot of help because it's probably going to be, 150 plus to rehab the building to where it can be occupied.

And I don't want any donations for it right now because we do not own the property.

But if we do get the property, we're probably going to be kicking off a huge, donation drive, which is a lot for a volunteer only organization.

Podcasting is a hot thing.

So we're going to head over to the Really?

Goody!

studios and learn all about podcasting.

So I would say a podcast is really like a digital, like a radio show, right?

So, you know, still to this day, you can turn on the radio and hear people having a conversation, right?

Talk radio, I would say podcasting is just, you know, where, like I said, you can actually film yourself or record yourself at home or whatever and upload it to a streaming platform.

And it's put out there digitally for people to download, via what's called an RSS feed or, or the actual video, you know, podcast platforms.

And that's all it is.

It's just not over the radio waves.

It's on the internet.

It's online.

So that's my definition of a podcast.

I used to sing, okay, so I used to be a singer and I was entertaining in that way.

And then I got got married and, you know, had a kid so I couldn't be out there, you know, entertaining in that way.

I probably could, but I just, you know, it's time to settle down, you know, from that.

And I was working at a, technology company.

I was doing, surface mount, technology doing, like, soldering and stuff like that.

So we were allowed to, to listen to you know, audio books or have on headphones while we were doing our, our work.

And I started- that's that's where I discovered podcasting, right?

I started listening to a guy by the name of Leo Laporte.

He had, he had a show called, This Week in Tech, let's call it TWIT - This Week in Tech And he had a whole bunch of shows, actually, throughout his network.

And I started listening to Leo Laporte and a show called Buzz Out Loud.

A lot of, you know, technology shows.

So that's what got me into to listening to podcasting.

And then from there on, like, hey, I still want to be able to use my voice in a way, still be able to entertain.

So I switched over from singing to podcasting.

What's up, people?

Welcome to The What’s Really?

Good!

Show Live (inaudible) We just hanging out Back when I started, podcasting.

The funny part is this chair I'm sitting in was one of the chairs that I used.

You know, when I started my first podcast, I had what was called a flip cam.

Okay.

We did have, you know, cell phones but the cameras, you know, video and technology on cell phones wasn't up to par to be able to do something like that.

So they still were putting out, you know, little pocket sized cameras.

And there was a camera called a flip cam.

And, you know, I just put that up on a tripod stand.

And I had a little TV tray that I set my computer up on, and it was actually me and, Amir Williamson, aka Minus the Alien who were doing this podcast.

But yeah, we just had the flip cam and, you know, a laptop on a, on a TV tray.

We didn't know anything about getting good audio.

and what not Because, you know, we just got the audio off of there, but, we just, you know, use what we had.

The saying that like - Start where you are, use what you have and do what you can.

And so that's what we did.

So that's how we got going with our podcast.

And also I want to, give a big shout out to my mother because, the first podcast that me and Amir were doing was called The What’s Really?

Good!

Show.

Right?

And we would, you know, talk about, you know, what's really good and what's not.

So we would watch videos and, you know, speak about, you know, what was good about it or what was and what we didn't like, and whatnot.

But it was called The What’s Really?

Good!

Show And my mother said The What's Really Good Show coming to you live from Really?

Goody!

studios So that's where this name came from.

My mother.

So thanks, mom.

Here at Really?

Goody!

Studios, we offer videography, podcasting and, photography specifically headshot photography.

So for, business professionals, for models, creatives, if you need a head shot, you know, we can take care of that here for you.

You know, content creation, right?

So if you want to do a short commercial, if you want to even come in and use, you know, our cameras and our lighting.

To just sit and, you know, create content, right?

So you can just come in and sit and create content and have that.

So you can chop that up and do what you want with it later.

We also offer editing services as well.

Right?

Especially like through the podcast And so you can come in, you can, you know, we can shoot the podcast for you.

You can just get the raw files or we can shoot and edit it.

Right?

So there's different, price points when it comes to that.

But, you know, we do all of it, videography, talking head corporate videos.

We do that as well, so we can come to you.

You can come to us, we can set up and do, you know, talking head style videos, infomercials, just everything to get your brand out there, to get your message out there.

Whatever you- you're trying to accomplish, to get attention on whatever it is that you're doing, we can we can do that for you.

My grandmother actually helped me to get into videography, and I never thought about it, but she bought a camcorder from QVC.

Right?

And, this was in the, the mid to late 80s.

And when she got it, she gave it to me to, you know, to learn how to use and everything.

And it's just wild to me that I'm in this space now, and I'm doing this stuff.

And I never thought about, like, how did I get into this?

And lo and behold, I had to think back.

It's my grandmother.

she's the one who got me into to the video side of things.

So thank you.

And I mean, she's past years.

But I appreciate the fact that, she did that for me so I wouldn't be here today if it wasn’t for grandma.

Minus the Alien was on the show nine years ago, and now we're back to see what he's doing and learn about his new podcast, The Plat.

Let's go see what Minus.

The Alien is all about.

I think the artist has been empowered now through social media.

Like, say, you don't have to rely on the record labels to get you, out there in a sense, to have you go viral in it.

You can do that all with your power, your phone.

You know what I mean?

So is I would say it's a super saturated market of music, but and that's not a bad thing if you're using creativity and that's, that's another thing that kind of, you know, it kind of, I ain’t gonna say it bothers me, but to each his own.

You know, I choose to go a route where you like really kind of get creative with your concepts of music videos and or the type of production you're trying to use for your music.

And you hear a lot of artists that sound the same basically nowadays.

So, you know, when I was coming up, it was kind of like put into our brains was to be unique, have originality.

You know, those are some of the things we stand on.

And, and it's okay to be yourself and stick out, you know.

So I think it's, it opens up a door for artists such as that to actually get some exposure because a lot of the record companies would focus more on artists that were more into like, you know, being gangsters and stuff like that.

So music wise, still still doing the positive hip hop, you know, the conscious hip hop got a project out right now called I Come in Peace.

It's available on all digital platforms.

It's a seven song EP.

Basically, the I Come in Peace kind of is just basically that, like me coming with like messages that have more of a positive context to it.

With hip hop culture, you know, there's a lot of negative things going on as far as like how it’s being promoted.

And it's so it's like it's not a monolith, like hip hop has so many different aspects to it.

Like right now the music is kind of it's really negative, you know what I'm saying?

We've got, messages of you know, just all this twerking and, you know, just it's almost like it's promoting prostitution in a sense.

Then you got a side where it's the violence, you know, people are actually committing crimes, going on camera, telling on themselves, getting incriminated for that, getting killed, you know, so my thing is there's a problem with programing.

So, you know, that's what I try to do, like through my music, I try to be very conscious of what I put out there into the atmosphere.

So when it comes to like, music topics, I try to talk about more things that are uplifting or healing, you know, for the conscious, for your conscious mind and your soul.

Things of that nature.

Let us in.

It's The Plat.

It's just like I want to say, like as of recently, maybe like even over this past summer is when I was like, you know what?

I really think I got a natural gift to be able to do something where I'm able to, you know, cover different topics like with The Plat podcast let's talk about why I call it The Plat.

So the plat is basically short for the platform.

And then what we do with The Plat podcast is we shed a positive light on the culture through an eclectic lens.

One of my overall common goals is to basically get the younger generation and the older generation to come together, instead of us hating on each other.

You know, you get a lot of kids in this newer generations who view like if you are over a certain age, like you still can't like do music and no other genres do that.

So we kind of want to teach them, like you don't have to bash like the elders, kind of show respect to the elders and, at the same time, like a lot of the elders of hate on the young kids because they're doing something that they're not used to, you know what I mean is unique to these kids in their own way.

But then, like, the older generations hate on them.

So it's just like, how can we find common ground because we're all in a culture that we all love, you know?

So that's really what The Plat is about; bringing that unity, bringing that passion for hip hop culture to the forefront.

And at the same time, having a platform where we can promote our brands.

You know what I mean?

Our music, anything we got going on books, you know.

Writing scripts, whatever it is you’re in to and The Plat is also for the community as far as when it comes to like local artists showcasing their talents.

We do vinyl reviews where we basically, We take you back.

like we're trying to teach the youth like, hey, this is how we used to do it.

And it was fun to have tangible things like vinyl, you know?

I don’t know if you can see it in the shot or not, but, back here, we got, the Low End theory by A Tribe Called Quest, who just recently, got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

So congrats and shout outs to them, because those were some pioneers.

And they they're the ones who influenced me, you know what I mean?

So maybe because they were a little older doesn't mean I'm a hate on them.

You know what I mean?

To tie it all together.

But, yeah, The Plat is where it’s at.

Shout out DJ dramatize shout out Insight Definitely want to shout out like the community.

Akron, Ohio.

Just for embracing me for one.

You know, like I said, I'm I'm a guy in the community.

We talking.

We're talking after school programs.

We're talking, talent shows for youth, things of that nature.

Just volunteering your time, showing these kids that you care because a lot of them grow without, you know, father figures or mother figures or, you know, I feel like I'm a big brother in a sense, to the community.

So I just want to help and help people heal from their trauma in whatever way that I see I can - I see fit, which is through music and through this podcast show, The Plat.

(Music): And I'm just being optomistic cause your my starlight (Music): Baby, You’re my starlight Now, to wrap this show up today, I'm going to meet up with someone who is extremely passionate about the planet Earth.

Let's go learn all about Earth science and see what Michelle Davis is all about.

I think a lot of it because I had a metro park to grow up in.

Like I had an Akron Metro park too, as a playground, as a nice safe, you know, as a 10, 11, 12 year old kid.

You had this beautiful place to go and explore and feel like you were exploring like big lands far away.

It was a really, really important part, and I was fortunate enough to grow up in, a kind of neighborhood that fostered that independence.

I think.

Observation.

Like I questioned, a lot of the things that I was told really early on I say that we are going to more often than not in these times.

We need more people to love the place that you are.

Love the things we are provided, our shade, our trees, our water, and know that earth science and, geology, geological materials.

None of this would be possible without geology.

None of this would be possible without us understanding the properties of minerals.

We are earth.

We are geology.

We share such a similar makeup with the Earth's crust.

It's fascinating.

And so remember that you are of the Earth.

You know, we all are.

And I want the next generation to have clean air.

I want you to have access to clean water.

I want you to understand earth processes.

So that when you buy a plot of land, you can look at it and be like, what is the risk to build in this floodplain, in this river valley?

There are so many ways that having a good understanding of earth science can benefit you.

I bet you I always challenged my students at the beginning of semester.

No matter what you're interested in, I can make earth science fit.

I have a hard time with accounting, but, you know, there are different fields.

If you absolutely love a particular type of caterpillar, you can start off in Earth science and spend your whole life studying, researching, and getting to know the life cycle of that caterpillar.

And then become the best in the field at it.

There's so much possibility and, our plastic situation is getting worse.

The microplastics in our water.

Really.

We need, to make headway in engineering so that we can remove plastics and pharmaceuticals from our water systems.

And that a good understanding that earth science.

I've had students that started took all of the classes, all the classes I teach went through her degree, and now she's, doing marine biology and Scripps Institute of Oceanography.

And I'm really proud of her.

So you can do it all.

You can apply for a semester at sea on a research ship.

I partner, with NASA and the Ohio Space Grant consortium, and they always have monies and possibilities available for you to research something that makes you excited.

Do you want to terraform the moon?

They're doing that right now.

Meaning, you know, there are scientists looking in on how to terraform the moon.

But yeah, there's so many possibilities.

Pick one.

My assessment is that people are leaving teaching in record numbers right now.

As of the filming of this, I would say that there is an exodus happening because there's a I can't figure out exactly what it is, but something is breaking down.

And I think it's if we're driven to create profit from education, I don't think it's going to work very well and not stand the test of time.

So I think there's a lot of things that are happening on different levels.

Yeah.

That- it's a threat, not well yeah, it is a threat, particularly to academic, freedoms.

It's again, you know, I talked about literally coexisting like I can coexist in a place that also, you know, has religious studies.

We can coexist with earth science.

We can coexist with, landscape technology, you know, we can coexist.

We're all here.

We're all in it together.

That’s what I tell my students all the time.

So we're in this together right now.

We are all the same, you and me.

And when we look at us on this huge earth, we're so tiny and such a little speck, tiny speck.

There's such a small part.

But we're exerting a big influence.

We're a very tiny speck in the time of, you know, deep time.

We're like a moment.

But we are changing things here so quickly.

And I feel like we're we're just we're not doing it right.

We're not doing it right.

This is why there's things dying.

Why we have needless suffering and a lot of illnesses, I think comes just a better relationship and understanding of the earth.

That's my wish for humankind.

Thank you once again for watching this episode of Around Akron with Blue Green.

If you have any questions or comments, you can catch me on social media.

Thank you and have an amazing day!

Next up, I'm going to meet up with someone who's extremely passionate about the Earth.

Let's go see what Earth science.

ABC123.

We're going to go check out a- I'm going to go check out- Let's go see what the- Bingo.