Category Archives: Show Notes

Podcasts, Show Notes

6: ‘A Guest at the Banquet’ With Bebo Bharwani

It’s been a few days, but I am still reeling from this conversation.

I am immensely grateful that Bebo Bharwani joins me in this week’s episode.

Char had the idea of inviting Bebo to the podcast after we saw a post of his on Instagram. It was a poster with that said God’s invitation is to be a guest at the banquet, and not a guard at the door—in a rainbow color scheme. His caption reads:

I had members in the church that were members of the LGTBQ community, they could tell that I personally stood for full inclusion, but felt my struggle to come out. They never pressured me, they understood what being “closetted” felt like. I saw Jesus in the grace and friendship they lavished on me and my wife.

My coming out in support of the LGBTQ community, as scary and painful as it was doesn’t hold a candle to the heart ache and pain they had gone through. They have taught this scared man some courage.

Today, I push my fear aside to stand with them, in their fight for equal rights.

Seeing that post made us feel like we were not alone in a way that we hadn’t felt in years.

Bearing witness to a soul being bared, scars and all, affects me in a strange way. It moves me so, reaching places that tragedy and laughter only sometimes do. It makes me bare my own soul, shows me scars that I didn’t know were there, and reminds me to step aside and let healing happen.

Healing. I think that’s what I experienced in my conversation with Bebo. It’s very much like being a guest at a banquet of grace.

Show Notes

This is for the ‘unchurched’, the Christian, the seeker, the LGBTQ community, and their allies.

Special guest Bebo Bharwani is the pastor of Arc: a Church of Cross and Table. He walks me through the mind and soul work he experienced to become the man I seem him as: vulnerable, truthful, wise, incredibly humble, and a staunch ally of the LGBTQ community. This one hits close to home. It’s my bleediest podcast yet.

Links

Outro instrumental: “Chords For David” feat. Jlbrock by Pitx copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.

The Hurry Up the Cakes Podcast is published and distributed via Anchor.fm.

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Podcasts, Show Notes

5: ‘We Hide Our Genocides Really Well’ With K Sawyer Paul

I used to host a podcast with K Sawyer Paul called ‘You Chose Poorly’. It’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever done on the internet, and it’s still linked at the top menu of this blog. Every week we would talk about our poor tech choices, and we tried to figure out whose fault it was—ours or the companies that made them. It was a blast, and a dream come true. I loved podcasting with Sawyer. He was my podcast guru, and the guy that brought me into the podcast game in the first place when he interviewed me all the way back in 2009 for the old International Object Podcast.

We had to put our show on hiatus shortly before Max was born in September 2016. The world has changed since then (to say the absolute least). But Sawyer is just as sharp, as warm, and as much of a blast to talk to as ever. I think you’ll really enjoy this one.

Production Notes

  • At the start of our conversation, Sawyer went on a rant about how Spotify is a terrible podcast app. It’s hilarious and accurate. That being said, I think the best podcast app there is is Overcast (website / App Store) — it has a great audio processor, speed boost features, chapter support, options to stream and/or download, and it displays podcast show notes correctly, like any grownup podcast app should.
  • Sawyer and I talked on Skype, as we always do, and it was my first time to use it for the podcast. I now know why tech podcasters continue to use it, despite the multitude of options nowadays. Skype handles connection and audio interruptions so much better than Zoom or Google Meet do—audio simply disappears, instead of glitching out with a >BZZT<. Thus, it’s much easier to edit audio recordings. Maybe I’ll use it for all future episodes.\
  • Sawyer and I had our conversation at 6:00 AM, I recorded the interview at about 7:30, I edited and produced the show for the rest morning (while at work—sorry bosses), and I added finishing touches and Char’s voiceover recording in the afternoon. Total podcast production time is about 5-6 hours. In comparison, production time for episode 1 was about three days. Hooray for efficiency and streamlining workflows!
  • The Hurry Up the Cakes podcast is now available on Stitcher!

Show Notes

This is for the frustrated wrestling fan, the podcast snob, the tech enthusiast, and privileged folk affected by the pandemic.

Special guest K Sawyer Paul is a novelist, podcaster, graphic designer, one of my favorite technology and wrestling critics, and one of my favorite people in the world to talk to. In our first conversation since we put our podcast on hiatus four years ago, we talked about podcasting, how stupid wrestling is nowadays, how quitting Twitter is a lot like quitting a church, and how important (and challenging) it is do the right thing, in any context.

Outro instrumental: “Chords For David” feat. Jlbrock by Pitx copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.

The Hurry Up the Cakes Podcast is published and distributed via Anchor.fm.

Chapters

  • Opening Song 
  • Introduction (0:27)
  • Spotify is the worst (4:00)
  • Sawyer is my podcast guru (9:36)
  • ‘Why Are We Wrestling Like This?’ (17:27)
  • The best internet (32:16)
  • Rich Boy Watch Pals (40:08)
  • The pandemic has changed us (56:01)
  • What matters now? (65:59)
  • Outro (71:44)
  • Super Wings Theme (Transformers Remix) (72:41)
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Podcasts, Show Notes

3 and 4: ‘Shocking the System’ With Stan Sy

On Thursday afternoon, while I was editing this week’s podcast episodes, Stan sent me a message. It was a screenshot of a Chinese-Filipino Facebook group that he railed against last month for promoting xenocentrism. Apparently this group is now advertising an event gathering “new people with different backgrounds”—a clear 180 from the tone that Stan so harshly criticized. “I feel validated,” Stan wrote. “But more imporantly, yay! Positive change!”

I am so very proud of my friend Stan Sy. He demonstrates having the passion and work ethic to actually realize the dreams that so many people, including me, grew up having—becoming a popular pro wrestling performer, interviewing the biggest wrestling stars in the world, hosting the longest-running weekly episodic Filipino wrestling podcast, even taking the pilgrimage to watch WrestleMania live. But what actually makes me the proudest is how he just can’t help but speak out—articulately and compassionately—about inclusivity, equality, and justice. His voice doesn’t add to the noise, but actually makes a legitimate positive change. I’m honored that he shares it with us on the Hurry Up the Cakes Podcast.

Production Notes

  • Stan is a professional broadcaster, and he used his home studio gear for our conversation. We had a Zoom conference, and the only local recording was on my end. Even so, his gear made such a difference on the audio. I hope you’ll be able to tell!
  • Episode 3 ends with a very special outro by one of my best friends (and Godfather to my son) Zig Hagamann. It is the realization of an over-a-decade-long dream that we all shared back in when we were goofing off while rehearsing for a play. It seemed appropriate to finally pull the trigger on it here for this double-episode interview.
  • The instrumental backing Zig’s episode 3 outro is entitled “Between Worlds”, which is just perfect considering the subject matter.
  • This week’s Max bumper is a tribute to Joey Torres, a founding member of our theater company. Joey was the sweetest, and he was just such a bright light. Buongiorno in heaven, my friend. Rest now. ❤️

Show Notes

This is for the Chinese-Filipino, the Filipinos who want marry them, and the children they will bear.

Special guest Stan Sy is a Chinese-Filipino radio DJ, pro wrestling performer, voice actor, podcaster, and an outspoken cultural critic. He joins in me a conversation that is too big for a single episode. Stan shares his experience as a Chinese-Filipino, the intricacies of what the Chinoy community calls “The Great Wall”, the implications of the use of certain Chinese terms, and how the Chinese-Filipino community is exactly like J.K. Rowling’s “Potterverse”.

Links

Episode 3 Outro instrumental: “Between Worlds (Instrumental)” feat. Smiling Cynic by Aussens@iter copyright 2017 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.

Episode 4 Outro instrumental: “Chords For David” feat. Jlbrock by Pitx copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.


The Hurry Up the Cakes Podcast is published and distributed via Anchor.fm.

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Podcasts, Show Notes

2: Celine Fabie Is a Force of Nature

“I want to talk about our dead dads more than I want to talk about Philippine Theater.”

When Celine and I were trying to schedule our conversation, she immediately expressed unease with the subject I chose. With modesty befitting a goddess and a mermaid, she insisted that she didn’t much of a right to speak on it. She even offered to “bring in bigger people.”

But no, it had to be Celine. Aside from the fact that I love her very much, Celine’s body of work in theater spans across many facets of the industry—the facets that I kind of wanted to make sense of so that we could define the whole darned thing.

We tried to. We sort of did. But we did end up talking about our deceased fathers anyway. After all, you can’t control a force of nature—you can only hope to contain it.

Show Notes

This is for the artist, the critic, and those who miss their fathers.

Special guest Celine Fabie is a theater actor, workshop teacher, member of the Ryan Cayabyab Singers (RCS), and an award-winning author. She joins me in an indulgent conversation in which she shares her journey as a modern Filipino performance artist, and along the way, she helps me try to make some sense of the state of Philippine Theater and the role of criticism. We also update each other on our experiences as members of the Dead Dads Club.

Links

Outro instrumental: “Chords For David” feat. Jlbrock by Pitx copyright 2011. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.

The Hurry Up the Cakes Podcast is published and distributed via Anchor.fm.

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Podcasts, Show Notes

1: ‘Accept and Build’ With David Esteban

So… I did it. And I have to admit, you guys. It’s a bit of a thrill.

Dear friends, I am so very proud to launch The Hurry Up the Cakes Podcast. It is, well, exactly what I said it would be. Here’s the podcast description:

My name is Mikey. I made this podcast because I want to talk to people I respect and admire about things I am passionate and excited about.

Each episode is based on subject I care deeply about, featuring people I consider to be representative of these subjects in my life. Sometimes, ideally, we would end up developing the thematic truth of the subject—other times we’d probably just end up laughing at how seriously we’re taking ourselves. It’s either meaningful or silly. Very ‘Hurry Up the Cakes’.

Each episode also features the most beautiful Outro Voiceover I’ve ever heard in my entire life.

Thanks to everyone who supported, motivated, and encouraged me to pursue having a podcast! I’m super happy, and super grateful.

Show Notes

This is for the teacher.

Special guest David Esteban is the Deputy Head of School at Australian International School in Manila, Philippines.  He’s also a mentor, a friend, and a heck of a teacher. David shares the “superhero origin” story of how he became a teacher (I swear, that alone makes this worth listening to), and what he believes makes a good teacher nowadays. In our conversation, we try to make sense of the role of the teacher in these modern times. 

Links

Outro instrumental: “Chords For David” feat. Jlbrock by Pitx (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.

The Hurry Up the Cakes Podcast is published and distributed via Anchor.fm

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